400 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
pebbles agglutinated by a calcareous sandy cement, penetrated by 
grains of iron from the " terrain siderolitliique," are so closely packed 
that the prominences of some make indentations on others, the cavities 
corresponding as when a hard substance is pressed into a softer. This 
phenomenon has often excited attention, both in this locality and else- 
Tihere, and has recently been receiving the careful and acute attention of 
Mr. Sorby, from whom we are likely to receive shortly a very interest- 
ing explanation of its cause and the manner of action. Above these mas- 
sive conglomerates, beds of "pudding-stones," alternating with sands and 
clay, occur ; and finallj^ in the upper part, is homogeneous sandstone, or, 
properly called, Molasse. The fossils are rare and badly preserved. In 
the upper sandstone are impressions of mytilus, cardium,and some fragments 
of oysters, and bones of the sea-cow or lam an tin. Beds of freshwater lime- 
stone, highly charged with silex, occur at Dampierre, Chatenois, and other 
places, and contain snails, lymneas, paludinas, etc. At Chatenois these 
beds are more than 8 metres thick. The relationship of these freshwater 
deposits with the marine beds of the Molasse is very difficult to make out. 
The hills and plateaux of the lower regions are covered over the greater 
part of their surface by patches of diluvium, which augment in thickness 
towards the plain of Alsace. To the south, these deposits invade the pla- 
teaux to the height of 450 metres. The diluvium consists of sands, pebbles, 
and clays confusedly mixed, without assortment or of visible stratification. 
The sands and pebbles are of Yosgiau or Hercynian origin, and are of 
crystalline schists, granites, syenites, quartzites, porphyries, and ancient 
sedimentary rocks reduced to fragments varying from a grain to the size 
of the head. As the Vosges are approached these debris become more 
numerous and larger. The bones, and particularly the teeth, of Elephas 
primigenius and Rhinoceros ticJwrimis, characterize these deposits. 
There are within the arrondissement numerous caverns and osseous 
breccias. The best known are those of Vaucluse, Mancenans, and St. 
Julien ; the latter 200 metres aboA^e the bed of the Dessoubre, and the 
entrance to which is absolutely inaccessible without a ladder. Up to the 
])resent time no human remains have been found in any of these caverns. 
The ordinary mammalia are bear, hyfena, cave-lion, several kinds of deer 
and ox, some rodents and insectivora. Some bones of birds have also been 
found. In the escarpments of the Chateau de Chatillon, near St. Hippo- 
lyte, fissures exist partly filled with osseous breccia, amongst the frag- 
ments in which M. Duvernoj^ has recognized bones of the cave-bear. 
Erratic blocks are also very frequent, scattered over the heights and 
ridges of La Haute-Montagne. These are of crystalline schists, protogene, 
black-limestone, and other rocks coming from the Alps of Monte Eosa. 
The turf-bogs are formed almost entirely of mosses of the genus Sphag- 
num. The gravel-beds contain often blocks of considerable size, and the 
bones and teeth of beaver, small rodents, and insectivora, which have long 
since been extinct in the district. The superficial deposits often present 
remains of vegetables and minerals such as now exist, as also products of 
human industry. 
M. Contejean's book consists of ninetj^-two pages, and the brief inkling 
we have given our readers of the contents of a few is an earnest of the 
valuable and interesting matter contained in that still larger proportion 
w hich space prevents us from noticing at all. 
