1892. 



GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL HIMALAYA. 447 



white or grey limestone, containing Rudistes, Inoceramus, and other 

 marine Upper Cretaceous fossils. These upper beds are widespread, 

 and although in the Himalaya and immediately adjoining areas there 

 is no visible unconformity with the beds below, yet in areas beyond 

 there is evidence of decided overlap accompanied by unconformity. 

 Regarding the Tertiary strata, it is found that there is a marine 

 Nummulitic formation, apparently conformable to the Upper Cre- 

 taceous, much disturbed and altered by masses of igneous rock. 

 This formation is overlaid unconformably by sandstone, probably 

 of Miocene age, and resembling some lower Siwalik Beds, and above 

 these rest irregularly the younger Tertiary strata of Hundes. 

 These younger Tertiary strata form a striking feature in the geology, 

 as they are found at elevations of 14,000 to 16,000 feet, and pre- 

 serve an almost horizontal character. They are of great thickness, 

 and cover all the older Tertiary strata, and perhaps the Secondary 

 rocks which form the trough of Hundes. Mr. R. Lydekker has 

 shown that these beds are probably younger than the Siwaliks, 

 almost certainly not older than Upper Pliocene, and very likely of 

 Pleistocene age. The position of the strata and their structural 

 relations forbid the notion that any great change in physical con- 

 ditions has taken place since their deposition. They appear to be of 

 lacustrine formation. 



The work is admirably illustrated. There are two large geo- 

 logical maps, six plates of sections, seven panoramic views and 

 profiles, taken with the aid of the camera lucida, and sixteen photo- 

 graphic pictures reproduced by the process of heliogravure. These 

 pictures are exceedingly well executed, and they show various forms 

 of mountain scenery, glaciers, rock-structure, and contortions. 



H. B. Woodward. 



[Since the above work was published, we learn that Mr. Gries- 

 bach forwarded to Vienna many fossils of the Mesozoic age, which 

 he had collected during his geological explorations in the Central 

 Himalaya. These fossils were examined by a specialist in Alpine 

 palaeontology, and found to correspond in a remarkable way with 

 those of the alpine strata. Such a fact has so interested the autho- 

 rities of the Royal Imperial Academy of Science, Vienna, that they 

 have, with the co-operation of the Government of India, determined 

 to send out an exploring party to the Central Himalaya to compare 

 their geological features with those of the Eastern Alps. Dr. Carl 

 Diener, Lecturer in Geology at the University of Vienna, has been 

 chosen leader of the party.] 



