348 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



The province of tlie Institute is to collect materials for elucidating the 

 geology of the Austrian Empire, the order of its labours being : — 1. The 

 geological exploration of the Trhole Austrian Empire. 2. The collecting 

 of specimens and arranging them in a Central Museum. 3. Chemical 

 analyses to be carried on with the minerals collected. 4. Chemical 

 analyses to be extended also to the interest of mining and smelting ores. 

 5. G-eological maps to be constructed and published. 6. Publications to 

 be carried on, givmg the results of the work of exploration. 7. A library 

 and archives to be opened to assist the studies and labours of the persons 

 employed. 



A yearly grant of 36,000 florins (about £2760) is appropriated for these 

 purposes. At first the Museum was placed in the palace of the Imperial 

 Mint : but the collections soon increasing, it was necessary to remove it 

 to another more convenient place, and one of the palaces of Prince Liech- 

 tenstein was rented for the purpose. An extraordinary grant of 10,000 fl. 

 was devoted in 1849 to the first arrangements, and two other special 

 grants, the latter of them to the same amount, have been since passed for 

 the expense of publication of Dr. Homes' ' Eossile MoUusken.' 



The articles sent to the Exhibition are : — 



I. Geological Maps. — There are three different sets of G-eological Maps, 

 They are all grounded on the publications of the Military Geographical 

 Institute and the field-work of the General Quartermaster Staff. The fol- 

 lowing are finished in the greatest detail the published maps will allow, on 

 the scale of one inch to 2^ English miles (2"25225) : — 1. Upper and Lower 

 Austria. 2. Salzburg. 3. Styria and lll3a'ia. 4. Bohemia. 



The following are general maps, executed on the scale of one inch to 4^ 

 miles : — 5. Tyrol and Vorarlberg. 6. Lombardy and Yenetia. 7. Hungary 

 and Croatia. 8. The Banat of Temesvar. 



The following, also general maps, but executed on the still smaller scale 

 of one inch to 6f English miles [cartes roidieres) :— 9. Transylvania. 10. 

 Galicia. 



The lists of the colours and signs employed in geological maps necessa- 

 rily gives the order and succession of the recognized divisions of the earth's 

 strata ; and thus, although designed for one purpose, they manifestly 

 effect another. The following general view of names of deposits and rocks 

 refers to the ten excellent maps exhibited by the Austrian Geological In- 

 stitute, explanatory of the colours and signs employed in these maps, thus 

 gives a valuable list of the divisions and subdivisions of the Austrian beds, 

 which we think it well worth while to find a place for in this journal. 



By comparing such lists with others, such as that of our own Geological 

 Survey, students will get a fair idea of the comparative synchronisms of the 

 various periods indicated in these classifications. The Austrian list shows 

 no less than 174 different shades of colours, partly pure, partly combined 

 with signs, particularly of differently coloured lines in various directions. 

 The same tint gives the general idea of sameness of rock or deposit ; the 

 numbers express more detailed references. It may here be observed that 

 in the Austrian list, beginning with Alluviam, the order of names denotes 

 the strata following each other in a descending order, down to 96 and 97 (the 

 sandstones, slates, and limestones of the Carboniferous series). But M. 

 Barrandc's Silurian rocks of Bohemia, from B to H. or from jS^o. 98 (the 

 Pribram slates) to No. 112 (the Hlubocep strata), follow an ascending 

 order m the Austrian list, but have been transposed into descending 

 order in tliat we have printed at page 350 ; the rest, from I^o. 113 to 

 No. 127, is again descending ; and then the massive and mostly crys- 

 talhuc and eruptive rocks from granite, No. 128 to No. 160 (extinct 

 volcanos;, arc again arranged in ascending order; while numbers 160 



