CHAPTER II. 
SILURIAN ROCKS OF SCANDINAVIA. 
The Lower Silurian Rocks of Scandinavia shown to form the true base of all deposits 
containing Organic Remains. — Their relations in the Territory of Christiania to 
pre-existing Gneissose and Granitic or Azoic Rocks. — Norwegian Sections showing 
the ascending order from Lower through Upper Silurian to Old Red Sandstone 
inclusive. — Intrusive Rocks associated with the Palceozoic Formations distinguished 
from those which have affected the Azoic Rocks . — The chief Palceozoic Phenomena 
of Sweden explained, and the Lower Silurian Rocks of various localities shown to 
rest upon Granitic Gneiss, which has furnished the materials of their lowest stratum 
( Sections of Kinnekulle, Lugnos, Omberg, Grenna, Berg, fyc .). — Upper Silurian 
Group of England perfectly represented in the Isle of Gothland. — Comparison of 
the Fossils and close analogy of Lower and Upper Silurian Divisions of Scandinavia 
with those of the British Isles. 
A GLANCE at our Map and a few words of explanation from ourselves, will at 
once lead the reader to understand, that the geologist who would effectively write 
a history of the whole series of sedimentary deposits that encumber the surface 
of Russia, must naturally begin with a sketch of the adjacent Scandinavian regions, 
which, chiefly occupied by highly crystalline rocks, are in many places covered 
with patches of ancient strata containing organic remains. This indeed was spe- 
cially called for, by the previous works of Hisinger, Wahlenberg, Von Buch and 
Dalman, whose representations of organic forms had long ago led us to conclude, 
that deposits of true Silurian age existed in Sweden and Norway 1 . Finding that 
the low level of the country, and the mass of detritus with which it is covered, 
prevented our detecting junctions between the lowest known sedimentary deposits 
1 See Silurian System passim. 
