the eastern side of the Pennine
Hills, although here it is not so readily differentiated from the Keuper
beds. The English Bunter rests with a slight unconformity upon the older
formations. It is generally absent in the south-eastern counties, but
thickens rapidly in the opposite direction, as is shown by the following
table:--

+----------------+----------------+---------------------+
| Lancashire and | | Leicestershire and |
| W. Cheshire. | Staffordshire. | Warwickshire. |
+----------------+----------------+---------------------+
|(1) 500 ft. | 50-200 ft. | Absent |
|(2) 500-750 ft. | 100-300 ft. | 0-100 ft. |
|(3) 200-500 ft. | 0-100 ft. | Absent |
+----------------+----------------+---------------------+

The material forming the Bunter beds of England came probably from the
north-west, but in Devonshire there are indications which point to an
additional source.

In the Alpine region, most of the Trias differs markedly from that of
England and northern Germany, being of distinctly marine origin; here the
Bunter is represented by the _Werfen beds_ (from Werfen in Salzburg) in the
northern Alps, a series of red and greenish-grey micaceous shales with
gypsum, rock salt and limestones in the upper part; while in the southern
Alps (S. Tirol) there is an upper series of red clays, the _Campil beds_,
and a lower series of thin sandstones, the _Seis beds_. Mojsisovics von
Mojsvar has pointed out that the Alpine Bunter belongs to the single zone
of _Natica costata_ and _Tirolites cassianus_.

Fossils in the Bunter are very scarce; in addition to the footprints of
_Cheirotherium_, direct evidence of amphibians is found in such forms as
_Trematosaurus_ and _Mastodonsaurus. Myophoria costata_ and _Gervillea
Murchisoni_ are characteristic fossils. Plants are represented by _Voltzia_
and by equisetums and ferns.

In England, the Bunter sandstones frequently act as valuable reservoirs of
underground water; sometimes they are used for building stone or for
foundry sand. In Germany some of the harder beds have yielded building
stones, which were much used in the middle ages in the construction of
cathedrals and castles in southern Germany and on the Rhine. In the
northern Eifel region, at Mechernich and elsewhere, this formation contains
lead ore in the form of spots and patches (_Knotenerz_) in the sandstone;
some of the lead ore was