THE GEOLOGY OF SWITZERLAND. 
31 
No fossils have been found in them, though the pre- 
sence of Graphite and seams of Limestone have been 
supposed to indicate the existence of vegetable and 
animal life. The more ancient were perhaps depo- 
sited while the waters of the ocean were still at a 
high temperature. So generally distributed are these 
Schists, that in the opinion of many geologists they 
everywhere underlie the other stratified formations as 
a general platform or foundation. In parts of Switzer- 
land, however, sedimentary strata have been so much 
modified by pressure, and in many cases by heat, 
that it is very difficult, and even in places impossible, 
to distinguish them from the older Crystalline Schists. 
“At one end,” says Geikie, “stand rocks which are 
unmistakably of sedimentary origin, for their original 
bedding can often be distinctly seen, and they also 
contain organic remains similar to those found in 
ordinary unaltered sedimentary strata. At the other 
end come coarsely crystalline masses, which in many 
respects resemble Granite, and the original character 
of which is not obvious. An apparently unbroken 
gradation can be traced between these extremes, 
and the whole series has been termed Metamorphic 
from the changed form in which its members are 
believed now to appear.” The discovery of fossils 
has indeed proved that certain Schists are Silurian, 
