BOOK Ridge of every living being, names have been assigned them, which, together with their antiquity, indicate the forms of their jawbones and teeth. Thus the palæotheria (ancient animals) have been divided into seven sorts, of which the largest may be equal in size to a horse, and the smallest, somewhat larger than a hare. The only animals to which they bear any resemblance in shape, are the tapirs that exist at present in the new world. The anoplotheria (defenceless animals) are divided into six species, the largest are three feet high by five long, and the smallest, not less than a rat. The remains of the lophiodontes* are chiefly found in calcareous marl; they resemble tapirs in many respects, the difference consisting principally in their greater or smaller size. When the marine calcareous masses in the departments Auvergne. round Paris were covered with fresh water, there must have been large lakes in the highest part of France, on the mountains in the departments of Puy de Dome, Cantal, Lozere and Ardeche; for no marine calcareous rocks can be observed in that lofty country, and the deposits left by the lakes, are still found on the granite. The waters appear to have passed from their basins in a northern direction, and by their rupture to have augmented other deposits, which were forming in the great northern basin. In the same deposits are contained a great many organic remains, some of the same sort as those on Montmartre, others of hippopotami and of the anthracotherion, an animal in some respects similar to the hippopotamos. In addition to these might be mentioned the remains of birds, different from any that now exist, and what is a new fact in the science, gallinaceous eggs perfectly entire. Lava and basalt rest above these fresh water basins; although the volcanoes from which they were vomited, are now extinguished, their height and their craters still excite admiration. While they were emitting flames, animals existed in that part of France, which at present are only found in the warmest climates. From lophos, a crest or hill, and odon, a tooth. + See the introduction to the work entitled Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles du departinent du Puy-de-Dome, by M.M. Croizet and Jobert, 4to. 1828. CXLI. Fossil ani Among others, the rhinoceros, elephants, hyenas, lions BOOK and stags of an immense size, mastodontes or large quadrupeds that have disappeared from the surface of the earth, but of which the remains are still collected in the new world. mals. The most of these animals succeeded those which have been described, and others that are found in marl and gypsum; in Auvergne, however, their remains are contained in alluvial lands that cover ancient streams of lava and basalt, from which it may be easy to prove the existence of volcanoes at different periods in that part of the country. It must not be imagined that these large animals, which now inhabit Africa and Asia, were confined to the banks of the Allier. On the alluvial lands that cover the caverns of Montpelier, are found tigers, lions, hyenas, panthers and hippopotami. The transition lands in the vallies throughout France contain the remains of the same quadrupeds, and very many have been collected in the country round Paris. It is certain, therefore, that the climate of France, and, in general, of all the temperate regions, was at the epoch in which these animals existed, much warmer than in the present day. Corsica. The greatest part of Corsica belongs to the granite for- Lands in mation. Calcareous rocks similar to those on the Alps and Jura are observed in two different parts of the island, on the eastern coast towards the north of Porto Vecchio, and on the northern near the gulf of St. Florent. More recent calcareous rocks and calcareous sandstone, left by the ocean, the last time it covered the continent, can only be seen in the southern part of the island, in the neighbourhood of Bonifacio. used in the The account that has been given of the different lands Substances in France, in the order of their formation, may prepare arts. the reader to judge more readily of the mineral riches in the same country. From the variety of these lands, some notion may be inferred of the substances which are contained in them. and por We may commence with the rocks that are used Granite in the arts, some of which serve to decorate edifices phyry. and monuments. In the department of the High BOOK CXLI. Marble. Alps are found gray, green, and rose coloured granite, and syenites of various colours, long confounded with granite, but more valuable from the fine polish of which they are susceptible. Besides these substances, there are brown and fine green porphyry, variolites with white and brown or black stains on a green or violet ground, grey, green or brown serpentine, and many jaspers of different shades. The same rocks are obtained in Corsica in greater varieties. Porphyry abounds in the Vosges, and granite is by no means uncommon in other departments, such as the Lower Loire, the Manche and the Sarthe. It was employed in paving the streets of different towns, but for some years past, the lava of Auvergne has been substituted in Paris for the same purpose. Frenchmen envied long the marble quarries of the Italians, ignorant that others in their own country, might rival the most renowned in Italy. At present, different sorts of marble are worked in forty departments; the best kinds are situated in the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, the Upper Garonne and the Eastern Pyrenees, particularly the schistous marble in Campan, which is of a red, green and delicate rose colour, it was first brought into repute by Lewis the Fourteenth, who used it in decorating the castles of Trianon aud Versailles. It might be tedious to enumerate all the different kinds of marble in France; several sorts are well adapted for statues, that of Sarancolin is very valuable. Those who have seen the eight pillars that support the triumphal arch on the place Carrousel, may form a correct notion of the red and white marbles in the department of Aude. The marbles in Arriege are of a dark blue or violet colour; the two sorts in the Bouches du Rhone have been incorrectly called Aleppo and Memphis marbles. Two different kinds in the department of Herault, the one of a white, and the other of a red colour, have served to adorn several edifices in the capital. Statuary, cipolin and other sorts are obtained in Corsica, and the varieties in the departments of Isere and Ardeche are not less numerous. The marbles in Jura and Lot are worked in these two departments; quarries of a finely grained and white colour are situated in the neighbourhood of Vienne. It would be almost endless to mention the departments in which the same substance is found; suffice it to say that it is obtained in Puy de Dome, Lower Charente, Saone and Loire, Cote-d'Or and Aube, Maineet-Loire, Sarthe and Pas de Calais. BOOK CXLI Other rocks, less ornamental but more useful than mar- Slatestones ble are worked in different parts of France. Many work- for building men are employed in the extensive slate quarries at the base of the Pyrenees, in Maine-et-Loire, Meuse and Ardennes. Limestone, admirably adapted for building, is worked in the departments of Dordogne, Herault, Loire, Cote d'Or, Yonne, Meuse, Moselle, Oise and Seine. Other sorts, not inferior to the last, are common in Seine-etMarne, Seine-et-Oise, the departments of Calvados and Manche. Excellent lithographic stones are exported from the neighbourhood of Mulhouse, Belay, Dijon and Château roux. celain. The ancient provinces of Burgundy, Champagne, Flan- Argil, porders and the Isle of France abound in argil, which the inhabitants convert into bricks and tiles. The decomposed feldspath contained in the granite rocks near Limoges and St. Yrieux, furnishes kaolin, a very useful substance in the manufacturing of china. Pipe clay, not inferior to any other in the continent, has been long worked at Forge-lesEaux in the department of Lower Seine; another sort near Elbeuf is much used in claying sugar. The argil in the neighbourhood of Beauvais and Montereau is changed into the finest porcelain. The departments of Yonne, Cher and Flint,chalk Lower Charente abound in flint; and the small town of La Ferte-sous-Jouare exports mill-stones of the same substance, into different countries, even into America. The soft chalk in the departments of Marne, Seine, Seine and Oise, is fashioned into different shapes, and sold as an article of commerce; lastly, the gypsum obtained in the neighbourhood of Paris, furnishes the plaster so much used in the capital. An increase has of late years been perceptible in the products that form the mineral riches of France; they may still be greatly augmented. The following is a list of the Metals. Mineral Silver in ingots Lead ore is more common in France than in many other countries, it was from the mines of argentiferous lead in the. departments of Finistere, Lozere and Vosges, that the above quantity of silver was obtained. Mines of the same sort, at present unworked, are situated in other departments, in Arriege, Puy-de-Dome, Upper Vienne, the two Sevres, Manche and Lower Rhine. The mountaineers in Isere sell frequently pieces of silver ore to the jewellers in Grenoble, from which it might be inferred that the mines of Chalance, and perhaps others at no great distance, are very valuable. Manganese abounds so much in France, that it contains more than sufficient to supply the whole of Europe. Gold may be found in the alluvial deposits that are borne by several rivers. Many individuals formerly employed themselves in collecting particles of gold on the Salat, which issues from the Pyrenees, on the Sexe and the Gardon that rise in the Cevennes, on the Arriege and Garronne near Toulouse, on the Rhone near the frontiers of the department of Ain, and on the Rhine below Strasburgh. At present, however, the trade of a gold-searcher is not very profitable, for on the banks of the Rhine, which are supposed to contain the greatest quantity, the value of the gold collected from Bale to the neighbourhood of Mayence, does not exceed in ordinary years L.625. The other mineral substances, worked in France, make up substances, a considerable part of the territorial wealth. Coal is found lic. in thirty-two departments; others possess lignites, a differ not metal * See the Report on the products of French industry in the year 1827, by M. A. Heron de Villefort, Inspecteur des Mines, et Membre de l'Academie des Sciences. |