Hercynian Forest (Lat. Herceynia silva), the general designation of the entire wooded mountain-ranges of middle Germany, from the Rhine to the Carpathian Mountains. Different ancient writers apply the name sometimes to one of the constituent ranges, sometimes to another. Modern geographers, and more particularly geologists, apply the term Hercynian system to all the mountain-chains between Westphalia and Moravia. These have for the most part a north-west to south-east strike, and are all older than the close of the Cretaceous period.
Hercynian Forest
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 5: Friday to Humanitarians, p. 674
Source scan(s): p. 0689