Dr. P. M. Duncan on some Fossil Corals from Sinde. ^95 



cultivation; the improvement of which, with the aid of the 

 chemist, might be expected to afford important results for botany 

 and physiology. 



Edenhridge, March 8, 1864. 



[To be continued.] 



XXX. — A Description of, and Remarks upon, some Fossil 

 Corals from Sinde. By P. Martin Duncan, M.B. Lond., 

 F.G.S. &c. 



[Plates XVIII. & XIX.] 



It must be evident to all who have studied the distribution of 

 the Corals of the Secondary and Tertiary formations, that the 

 Eocene Coral-Fauna is very poor in genera, and that it is much 

 less important than those of the lower Cretaceous and the Miocene 

 strata. The comparative scarcity of Eocene Corals rendered 

 M. J. Haime's description of seventeen species from the Num- 

 mulitic formation of Sinde of great interest, especially as several 

 of them were well known in the French and Savoyard Nummu- 

 litic strata, and also because a new genus was added to the 

 fauna*. Since the decease of this gifted naturalist, a part of 

 the Blagrove Collection belonging to the Geological Society of 

 London has remained undescribedf ; and a very fine series of 

 Coral§ from Kurrachee, inthe. British Museum, -also. I was 

 tempted to search for n^w, forms, and found many more than I 

 had anticipated ; but all of them are not of Eocene age. MM. 

 d'Archiac and J. Haime appear to ignore the Miocene in the 

 great chain of hills which extends from the " Salt range " almost 

 due south to Kurrachee ; but the memoir written by Grant J, 

 and illustrated by Sowerby, strongly advocates the existence of 

 more Ihaii one Tertiary formation of marine origin. The dis- 

 covery of three fossils from Kurrachee identical in species with 

 common forms of the Nivaje shale of San Domingo leaves no 

 doubt in my mind that several of the species about to be noticed 

 ought to be separated from the Eocene Coral-fauna. 



The following list embraces all the species as yet found in 

 Sinde ; and I have appended the other localities where they have 

 been observed. The species which came under M. J. Uaime's 

 observation are also noticed. 



* Deserip. des Anim. Foss. du Groupe Nummul. de I'lnde, par MM. 

 d'Archiac et Jules Haime, 1853. 



t See my note on the Sindian Fossil Corals, ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc' 

 vol. XX. 1864, p. 66, 



.: Trans. Geol. Soc. ser. 2. vol. v. 1837. 



