AZOIC ROCKS OF SCANDINAVIA. 
10 * 
and any crystalline rocks of anterior age in Russia, it became indeed essential, 
’ at ~ t0 writin S our first P a ges of the history of succession in this part of 
we should see and describe what might be exhibited amid the hard and 
lands of Scandinavia, of the absolute contact of the lowest sedimentary strata 
with the crystalline rocks of that region. 
° U thlS pomt we have recently convinced ourselves, by clear and indisputable 
-ec ions, that the lowest beds charged with anything like animals or vegetables, 
' e 1 le 6Xact equivalents of the Lower Silurian strata of the British Isles, and that 
^ese lave been distinctly formed out of, and rest upon, slaty and other rocks which 
too- ^ nc ^ er ° one crystallization before their particles were ground up and cemented 
c °° et 6r t0 com P ose the earliest beds in which organic life is traceable. To the 
crystalline masses which preceded that palieozoic succession to which our researches 
“° Stly directed ’ we a PPly the term “ Azoic,” not meaning thereby dogmati- 
) ° affirm, that nothing organic could have been in existence during those 
J >est deposits of sedimentary matter, but simply as expressing the fact, that in 
found* - aS hUman reSearches have reached, no vestiges of living things have been 
° UUC m them > so also from their nature they seem to have been formed under such 
accompanying conditions of intense heat and fusion, that it is hopeless to expect 
u in them traces of organization 1 . 
the stTOctur 8 ^ ^ ° b ^ eCt ’ ° n this occasion > to enter further into the details of 
fundament-T ^ Scandinavia than is essential to sustain the accuracy of this our 
w u: i " we wd l now mer ely offer a general sketch of the phenomena on 
Wll,ch 0Ur inferences are founded. 
Sur . 16 ® can dinavian features which first strikes the ordinary observer with 
°f tlie * ^ ^ le enormous am °unt of crystalline rock that occupies the surface 
helono- C ° Un ^ r ^ ^ ^ ie *‘ erm i ^ z °l c rocks, we include all the crystalline masses 
tonic t>ln& t0 aUC ^ ent group of gneiss, together with ancient granitic and plu- 
c ^ . ° C ^ S which they have been invaded. Those who wish to become ac- 
var' lnte ^ W * tb tbe var ^ ed composition of these rocks, must consult the works of 
thos° US aUtb ° rS ^ r0m fl 10 ^ °f V°n Buch, who first described them in Norw r ay, to 
ose of Keilhau, who in the same country has recently bestowed so much labour 
a ge, ilThkht? 117 ’ 11 may be Sa ' d tHat th ’ S W ° rd m ' Sht alS ° be applied t0 ° ther de P° sits of subsequent 
But in our" ^ ° rgamC remains are also obliterated, and thus be merged with the Hypogene of Lyell. 
fessor Phm Sen ! e the W ° rd aZ ° ic is s y non y m ous with pro -zoic, or before recognizable traces of life. Pro- 
lpS las appiied the word Hypozoic to the same rocks which we term Azoic. 
