34 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
it is often called, Sernifite, from the Sernfthal, is a 
sandy or pebbly deposit belonging either to the close 
of the Carboniferous or commencement of the Per- 
lman period. 
Permian. 
During the Permian period also Switzerland was 
partly above the sea-level, partly covered by the sea. 
The land appears to have gradually sunk, commenc- 
ing in the east, and in the 
Triassic 
period the sea appears to have covered the whole 
area of Switzerland. The name “Trias” was given 
to it because in many districts, though not every- 
where, it falls into three principal divisions, a brown, 
white, green, or reddish Sandstone, known as the 
Bunter Sandstein, the Muschelkalk or Shelly Lime- 
stone, and the Keuper, consisting of marls and lime- 
stones. 
In Switzerland, as in England, there are con- 
siderable salt deposits belonging to this period. An- 
other very characteristic rock of this age is Gypsum, 
and the Dolomites also belong to this period. Many 
mineral waters spring up from, and owe their pro- 
perties to, the Triassic beds. The Keuper districts 
are generally rich, Dolomites on the contrary poor, 
