The Express.
London, England, 1847-12-30 00:00:00

COAL-BEDS OF THE RHINE.

There is a map published in the sixtii;al;me albs
transactions of the Geological Society which will furnish the
reader with the best survey of the gigantic highlands ski*
the Rhine traverses in its course between Bonn acid Mel.
enoe. The roc* of old formation are there shown se
have been upheaved in immense muses, which may be to,
pared in extent and character to Wales. The Ruhr, like*,
Severn, runs between the old rocky mountainous trio
and the new formations, containing the coal ray
sores and salt deposits But the Rhine cuts the
great highland into two parts, the northern beg
Lying between Ruhr and Lahn, while the southern list
between the Mau and the Nab. and Saar. The coal beg,
of the neighbourhoods of Aix la Chapelle, and of Litge, ors
like those of Westphalia, in deposit' formed on the norther%
fall of these hills. The coalfield of Surbruck lies on the
southern declivity. To the east the valley of the Ism
marks its subsidence to tertiary formations of recent limestone
and accompanying rocks, and in the indentures formed hy
the Lahn, and the Rhine between Rolston and the Dm
cheat's similar rocks also occur. But on exterior tie
gorge that forms the picturesque part of the
these recent formations disappear, and the river seem. is
have eaten its way between old slaty rocks, that forms*
stood in connexion with each other The irregular mama
presented by the rocks that overhang that part of the rives
speak as imposingly to the scientific as to the sentimental tts
yeller, and the irregularity and frequent reversal of the
strata betoken the force of the subterranean heat whit
raised such immense masses without at all crystallising thug.
In the dislocations and ruptures formed during this grid
natural convulsion the veins of metal that traverse thin
hills in all directionetwere, with their accotormnying
tures, infiltered into tSeir present locations. The hills that
look so barren to the traveller's eye possess a deeper inter*
than that awakened by their outlines or gloomy mums.
They are filled with wealth and inducement* to exertion.
This highland is at once the Wales and the Cornwall or
western Germany.
The scientific world is much indebted to the labours of
Professor Sedgwick and Sir R. Murchison' u well as to the
munificence of the society which provided the funds for chi
useful undertaking. Our readers can trace the map to good
account by using it as a guide to the prominent features of
the country that we have undertaken to describe.
In following its indications we find that the regions where
coal is deposited are three where manufacturing
• large: scale has commenced, and may be expected
to attain great extent. These are the districts adjoining the
Ruhr and the Lippe, in Westphalia, the country between
the Belgian frontier and Cologne, and the vicinity of the
Upper Saar and Moselle, between Strasburg and Tryon.
The seats of smaller manufacturer may be sought between
the localities here pointed out, as being those where water
power abounds, or which are supplied with coal by the LISTi•
gable rivers and railroads. As • natural consequence, the
etreams that fall from these hills formed the only power
in ancient times that was available for the manufac-
turer : and it would: be a curious subject of research
to ascertain at how early • date the water, which was
here in use, was a substitute for the human arm.
That it was not employed in the most ancient period* is
clear from the scale on which smelting was evidently carried
on, as this: process was confined to small furnaces attached
to portable forges. The cinders and slag of these old fur-
naces are constantly found in remote parts of the forests,
and although it seems probable that malleable iron was
tamed from the ore at one process by a slow and wasteful
manipulation, yet the quantity gained can never have been
more than it was possible to work up with hammers of no extra-
ordinary weight. We were repeatedly shown the remnants
' of those hand furnaces in the hills round the Upper Slcq,
where slag both of iron and copper is constantly met with.
Turning our view from the boundaries and outskirt of the
great highland of Rhenish Prussia to its internal parts, we
can trace a line running from the neighbourhood of Dom&
dorf N.E. put Meinerthbagen to Bilstein, in various putt
of which the old mountain limestone rises to the surfaca
' This is the water shed between the rivers Sieg and Wormer.
Its elevation is very considerable, being, near Maine
I 1,200 feet. On the north of this line, recent limestortil=
various sandstones occur. On the south aide nothing bat
slate and graywacke is to be met with, excepting along the
banks of the Rhine. The slate of which the oldest fame
tion is composed is broken through by a line *kit
to runs nearly el the former, and which,
drawn from e waters of the Eifel to the Dm.
chenfels, rises behind Altenkirshen and Hashenbarg
to 2,000 feet above the sea, forming the summits of he
Westerwald chain. These summits are all of Walt. Oa
the south aide of the Westerwald, towards the Lahn, the old
states are continued between the Drac.henfele and Lula-
stein, where they merge into the states of the Taunus. Bat
from Hamburg towards Limburg, and from the summits of
the Westerwald towards Deltenburg, crystallised formations,
green-stone, " schalstein," tic., are found ; and these are
succeeded by limestone and diluvial deposit*. This polo
gical sketch, which it is very easy to follow on the map ws
have named, gives the key to the mineralogical features that
most interest the manufacturer. In the old states, between the
basalt of the Westerwald and the limestone of Meinertzhagee,
the 'parry iron ore is exclusively found. It may be said to be
monopolised by the fluvial regions of the Sieg and the %via.
The largest copper deposits again are found in the trip for-
mations about Dillenburg. The red hermalite ore belonp
to this division.

Lead;eil;,acocen ponied with silver and zinc, blend sad
traverse the whole of the highlands, but the most productive
are found in the old slates of the Sieg and Wied, and ta the
prolongation ease the lower Icahn to the Taunus. la the
tertiary formations falling towards the mouth of the Wupse
and towards Westphalia, ite well as towards Aix-la-Chapels,
calamine is the most remarkable mineral, being both aka-
dant and rich in metal. Manganese is abundant in the di-
luvial deposits, and is most so in the neighbourhood of the
Upper Lahti.
Another remarkable mineralogical fact is, that in the ell-
ley of the Lieg cobalt is found without nickel. At Duis-
burg, nickel is found without cobalt. Few tracts that has
been fully explored present such distinct mineralogical dio
racteristics as this highland, and there are here material
enough for study and speculation. The owners of the sail
have not been backward in appropriating what they dies
vered to their own use, and, as we have already stated,
mining is their chief occupation. Whatever other basins&
man may follow, he is sure here at some time of his lib Is
be entangled in mining speculations, which, indeed, kint
the sole object of the thoughts of the majority, for whom the
gambling nature of the occupation is rather enticing thee
discouraging.
One of the first observations that eters to have led to a
practical result was that the sparry iron ore was codas&
within the limits we have pointed out, and which were
mostly embraced by the principalities of Nassau, Sieges, sad Sari, with the valley of the Zeller, the seat of some asa
free dynasts. We shall see the political consequence' le
which this discovery led.
We may
.conclude our geological survey with polnting
the salt sings that ran south of the Taunus in stank
along a line drawn through Crentynach and Wiettedea,
Soden, Hamburg, and Nanheim, in Hesse. Salt is Ile
found in the north side of the hills at Neusalswelk,
Weetphalia, but at a great depth below the surface.