4 o 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
giates in the air, but contains beds of excellent stone 
of which Neuchatel is built. 
The Urgonian (so called after the town of Orgon, 
near Arles), or Schrattenkalk, is widely distributed in 
the Alps. It is a hard white limestone, the surface 
of which is often furrowed by innumerable channels, 
which form a perfect labyrinth. It stands in rocky 
walls often several hundred feet high, and from its 
great powers of resistance often forms the ridges and 
water-sheds. It is arid and barren, offering a great 
contrast to the Neocomian, which generally bears a 
luxuriant vegetation. 
The Gault contains many dark green grains 
which are a silicate of protoxide of Iron. It forms 
the dark bands which are so conspicuous against the 
paler colour of the other Cretaceous rocks. 
The Seewen Limestone, so called from the village 
of Seewen on the Lake of Lowerz, corresponds in 
age to our Chalk, and like it consists mainly of 
microscopic shells. The eastern and western parts 
of Switzerland differ considerably in the species. 
The Cretaceous deposits being of marine origin we 
cannot expect to know much of the land animals or 
plants. The forests, however, contained Cycads and 
Conifers, Pines, Sequoias, etc., and Dicotyledonous 
trees now make their appearance, the earliest being 
