In studied, confusion is of course the necessary consequence. grouping such previous observations, it by no means suffices that all the fragments of former sketches should be joined in one picture; the hand of a master acquainted with the ground, and thus enabled to interpret the meaning of those scratchy outlines, must be exerted with as great care in removing their faulty detail, as in supplying the few touches required to harmonize the whole. The structure of Bombay itself has been described both by Dr. Carter and Dr. Buist, and much light has been thrown upon the peculiar and very interesting geological features of that island. The former author would seem to have an irresistible love for numbering and naming, and to be gifted by nature with a kind of method, which would render his services invaluable in charge of some extended collection. We will quote here a short sentence in illustration of this. He describes four distinct periods in the formation of Bombay: 1st, that of the Primary Volcanic or Trappean Effusions: 2nd, that of the deposit of the Freshwater Strata: 3rdly, &c. &c. And he then proceeds to describe these four periods in order. "1st PERIOD. With the rocks of this period we have little or nothing to do, as they form no 'part, so far as my observations extend, of the Island of Bombay." If so, it is difficult to see how they can properly be brought into a description of that island, excepting on the conviction of a systematic mind that something must have preceded the earliest known beds in that locality. It is an easy task to multiply periods and times on this elephant-tortoise plan! But it is rather inconsistent with the requirements of a descriptive paper, to pass from an account of what is seen, into speculations as to what is unseen. Dr. Buist's paper is of a different character, and deals more with practical results. In the same volume are two excellent communications from Lieutenant Aytoun, and some valuable contributions by Dr. Carter to our knowledge of the geology of Arabia and Scinde, and of the Foraminifera which occur in such countless numbers in those districts. Passing from Bombay towards Bengal, one of the most interesting papers which the last ten years have produced, is Captain R. Strachey's account of parts of the Himalaya and of Thibet.* To the North of the outer watershed of the Himalaya, and at an elevation of 14,000 to 16,000 feet above the sea, there occurs an immense plain composed of nearly horizontal beds of Tertiary age. These extend for some 120 miles in length, with a breadth varying from 15 to 60 miles, and are intersected by numerous ravines of stupendous depth and size, the result appa* Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc., London: Vol. vii., p. 292. 1851. rently of the long continued erosion by the waters of the rivers which now flow in those ravines. These beds yielded to the hurried inspection of Captain Strachey, who could only bring away a few things, remains of Hippotherium, Horse, Rhinoceros, Elephant and of Ruminants; and the beds are supposed to be of about the same age as those so well known to geologists from the researches and collections of Falconer and Cautley.* (more recent ?) Captain Strachey's section represents, near the plains of Hindostan, a considerable thickness of " Secondary" rocks in junction with these Sewaliks from which, he states, he had procured "what he believed to be the impression of a Trilobite." We think we are correct in stating that this supposed Trilobite turned out, on closer examination, to be no fossil at all, but simply a concretion in the clayey bed. The fossil evidence from these rocks is, therefore, confined to a few imperfect vegetable remains. In these rocks are stated to occur seams of lignite, and a frequent association of marl and gypsum, and sometimes of salt springs. From the mineral character Captain Strachey surmised that these beds were of Saliferous age, and were a continuation of the strata containing rock-salt in the Punjab. (These Punjab rocks have since been proved not to be of this supposed age.) With this view we cannot agree at all, and we would suggest as an important subject of enquiry for any geologist visiting these hills, whether these beds are "Secondary" at all, and whether they do not form a part of a great series of beds constituting a portion of the Tertiary rocks of that country, and above (not below) the important Nummulitic group, whether they are not in reality the representatives of that "Gypsiferous series' which Loftus has so admirably described in his valuable memoir on the geology of the Turko-Persian frontier.† which group appears, judging from published accounts, to be also represented in Western India, and which also appears far to the East in Burmah, as Mr. Oldham has recorded in his account of the geology of the Irrawaddee. In the second edition of his report on the Khasi hills, the same author refers more forcibly to this series, and alludes to the probable occurrence of it in Eastern Bengal. He says.|| Again in connexion with the occurrence of an upper group resting * To the great regret of all geologists, and to the great discredit of the authors, the splendid work commenced by them many years since, The Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis—is still in precisely the same incomplete state, in which it was 10 years since. + Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc., London: Vol. xi., p. 247. Yule's Mission to Ava, p. 309. || p. 171. upon the true Nummulitic rocks, in all known localities, extending from Arabia and Persia on the West, to Burmah on the East, this upper group being characterized generally by the presence of gypsum and of petroleum (the "Gypsiferous" series of Loftus) I would allude to the occurrence of petroleum springs in the vicinity of Cherra, and also further to the East, near Cachar, as an additional proof of the remarkable constancy in general character and detail, which this important group of rocks presents over a widely extended area. * י י There have been reports, both by Dr. Fleming and Mr. Theobald, on the geology of that most interesting portion of the Punjab, the Salt-range. But very much yet remains to be done there, before we can say that there is any connected account of its structure; and the paleontological evidence which its rocks seem to contain in abundance, must be worked out carefully, not in the strangely confused way in which it has hitherto been brought up. That there are, in that part of the country, representatives of almost the whole series of Indian rocks, appears certain from the few fossils which have been procured. And it will be a noble field for any one, who may have the oppor~ tunity and ability to work it out. From the recent alluvial beds, downwards through the Sewaliks, with their rich fauna, to the Nummulitic group, with its beautifully varied series of marine molluscs, thence to the Jurassic, and Triassic, the Permian (undoubtedly proved to exist by some few fossils we have) Carboniferous, Devonian, and Silurian, this portion of our Indian Empire appears to possess the most complete and satisfactory series of successive formations, which have yet been made But it is still almost a "terra incognita. out. وو In connection with one of the great formations we have just alluded to, we would notice the splendid and valuable contribution to the knowledge of the Nummulitic group in general, and that of India in particular, the title of which we have given among others at the head of this Article. M. M. D'Archiac and Haime have certainly, by their beautifully illustrated and most carefully edited work, done more to elucidate this series than any other labourers in the field. We would only say to others, go and do likewise for other formations equally impor tant. The first portion of this work is devoted to a masterly exposition of the structure, history and relations of those most interesting fossils, the Nummulites and other allied Rhizopoda; the second portion to the description, with beautifully executed lithographs, of all the fossil invertebrata, as yet known from the Indian rocks, representing this great sub-division of the Eocene Mem. Geological Sur, of India: Vol. 1, Part II. epoch. One word of caution here for future enquirers. It is this; the materials from which the authors worked had been contributed by many hands, and had frequently been collected under circumstances of considerable difficulty and even danger (witness Vicary's noble efforts, when marching with troops in the face of a watchful and treacherous enemy) and it was therefore scarcely possible to avoid sometimes confusion and intermingling of specimens. In a few cases, we believe, this has occurred, and it will be found that some of the fossils described in this most valuable memoir in reality do not belong to the Nummulitic group, but to rocks of a more recent date. These cases are, however, but few, and by their very rarity shew the care with which such a work, prepared thousands of miles from the country whence the fossils were derived, and prepared from materials collected from various and distant localities, by many different observers, has been executed. To all students of Indian geology, it must ever remain a standard work of reference. We have above limited the period over which we would extend our review to the last ten years. During this time the only truly geological additions to the knowledge of the structure of Bengal proper, are to be found in the memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, and in the detached papers by the officers of that establishment. To them we are indebted for the first lifting even of the corner of the thick veil, which cast so much doubt and difficulty over the question of the age of some of the most important groups of rocks in Eastern India. Previously to the commencement of their enquiries, all the coal beds of Bengal, and of India at large, were indiscriminately placed as truly Carboniferous, by the official report of the coal committee. The Survey has shewn them to be of very different ages, and it is even more than doubtful whether any are really Carboniferous; the great group of sandstone connected with these coal beds has been proved to belong to three or four different series; and many of the apparent anomalies thus at once take their appropriate places in order and succession. Some of the laws which have regulated the disturbances to which these rocks have been subjected, the lines of the great dislocations and the consequences of them, have also been shewn. It is not as yet possible to reduce all these to their proper system, and to fix the relative age of each, but much has been done. In Central India, also, the very locality, taken by previous writers as the typical representative of their so-called Oolitic formation, has been shewn to belong to a totally different age, and to have no affinity whatever. with the rocks to which it was referred. And the Vindhyan group of the Geological Survey classification stands out boldly, as one of the great landmarks of Indian geology. There have been fixed besides, the great groups or formations of the Talcheer, the Damuda and the Mahadeva, all great series of rocks representing great lapses of time, and separated by intervals marked by the unconformity of their superposition. To the detailed reports of the Survey we must refer for the proofs on which this classification is based. In the various summaries of their proceedings submitted to Government from time to time by the brothers Schlagintweit, in connexion with the Magnetic Survey of India, some of their geological results are given. It would be scarcely fair to look to such brief abstracts for any important facts, and we must await the publication of their details. There is but little geological information given, and even that little has in many respects been proved quite untenable, by the more careful or subsequent examination of the officers of the Geological Survey. We shall not, therefore, delay here to notice these reports. Turn we now to Madras. The principal publications bearing on the geology of the Madras Presidency, have issued from the Government Central Museum. Contributions of the kind published in the catalogues, &c. of that institution, cannot fairly be expected to be of that general character, or high stamp, which would mark them as valuable additions to a general knowledge of the structure of the country; they naturally, indeed almost inevitably, assume the form of merely descriptive catalogues. But even catalogues can be rendered valuable, when properly arranged, a credit which we regret to say we cannot assign to those of the Madras museum. Presuming that the objects catalogued have been themselves arranged in the order in which they are so numbered and named, we ask of what possible service can a collection of natural objects, of fossils for example, prove, when arranged without any regard to the affinities of the organisms it contains, but simply in the alphabetical order of the first letter of the names! How can the student learn anything, but confusion of ideas, from seeing thus mixed up plants and other terrestrial remains with marine shells and fishes, &c. Let any one read the following, taken from the catalogue headed Paleontology, and judge for himself what a clear notion he would obtain of the physical conditions under which the beds containing the several fossils were deposited. Astræa, Astarte, Ceriopora, Cidaris, Coral rag (is" Coral rag," a bivalve shell, a sea urchin, or a coral; we always thought it was a rock) Lithodomus, Nucleo·lites, Pecten Pentacimites (sic) Terebratula, Pecopteris, ! ! again, Astræa, Bellerophon, Cyathophyllum, Goniatites, Phacops, Spirifer, Cytherea, Euomphalus, Freshwater limestone (to what group of fossils this is supposed to belong we are not in |