88 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



nees on the north. There are smaller formations of the same nature, 

 such as those at Boulogne, in Picardy, &c. 



3. The carhoniferous and mountain limestone formations of the north-east 

 of France, at Valenciennes, &c. forming part of the same series in the 

 Belgian and Prussian territories. The coal field of St. Etienne and its 

 environs south-west of Lyons ; the coal and iron field of Nevers and parts 

 of the Limousin, &c. 



4. The older formations^ including all beneath the carboniferous or 

 mountain hmestone series, the Silurian system, the schistose, the grani- 

 tic, and the other primitive systems. The district of Brittany, which is 

 one of considerable extent, terminated towards the east, by a curved line 

 extending from Angerson, the Loire to Cherbourg on the British Chan- 

 nel, on the south by a line from Mort to the ocean, and on the west and 

 north by the coast lines of La Vendee and Brittany. The granitic district 

 of the Pyrenees, which includes the whole of that stupendous range of 

 mountains, and is of peculiar interest to the geologist and mineralogist, 

 from its phenomena of dislocation, and from the great variety of mineral 

 products to be met with throughout the whole Hne ; the primitive district 

 of Provence and Dauphiny, which forms part of the Alpine chain, and 

 can hardly be studied ^vithout connecting the general series of the Alps 

 with it ; the great central granite plateau of Auvergne, one of the most 

 remarkable formations in Europe, from its being in immediate juxtaposi- 

 tion with the tertiary formations of the Limagne, of Auvergne, and the 

 sundry formations of Beny ; and also from its being pierced by the num- 

 ber of immense volcanoes, which must have made this district, in former 

 ages, one of the most extraordinary spots of the globe. This great cen- 

 tral formation, which is of vast extent, is connected with similar forma- 

 tions in the Cantal, Rouergne, Velay, Forez, and the Nivernois ; throw- 

 ing out into these latter provinces branches or arms, which connect it 

 with almost all the other formations of France. The granitic district of 

 Alsace, and the schistose districts, on the north-eastern or Belgian fron- 

 tier, complete the transition and primitive formations. 



5. The volcanic formations of Auvergne of the Cantal, Velay, Langue- 

 doc, and Provence, may all be studied separately from the formations 

 through which they have pierced ; and they are second to none in Europe 

 for extent or richness of mineralogical treasures. — The paper then conti- 

 nued with observations on the extent, &c. of the tertiary basin of the 

 Gironde ; the great cretaceous formation of the North of France, and 

 those of other portions of the kingdom ; the Oohtic or Jurassic series 



