ASIA. - 151 



few of sandstone, <S:c. ; above this are clays and conglomerates that 

 enclose pebbles of the sandstone (apparently) of the Disang group. 

 These two groups, the Tipam and Dihing, belong to the great Sub- 

 Himalayan series, which stretches along the base of the mountains. Five 

 small coal-fields are described in detail, and an estimate is made of the 

 amount of coal available in each at a moderate depth ; at least 

 36,000,000 tons could be brought to market ; and there is great proba- 

 bility of much more. Many analyses of the coal are given ; the average 

 amount of fixed carbon is 60 p. c, of ash 3'8, comparing favourably 

 with the coal of Eaniganj : most of the coal is caking ; some of it is of 

 a hard character, and alters little on exposure to the weather. Petro- 

 leum has been found in 17 places, all on or close to the outcrop of the 

 coal-bearing group. Iron-ore, in the forms of clay- ironstone and im- 

 pure limonite, was extensively worked by the Assamese ; but the industry 

 is now extinct. Though there is enough of the ore to keep any num- 

 ber of native furnaces going, it is doubtful whether a blast-furnace 

 could be fed from any one locality. Some alum-shales are noticed. 

 Limestone is very scarce. The account is prefaced by a pre'cis of all 

 the information regarding coal and petroleum in Assam, and a list of 

 all papers bearing on the geology of that country. F. D. 



Marchesetti, C. D. On a Pre-historic Monument of the Western 



Coast of India. Journ. Bombay Branch B. As. Soc. vol. xii. pp. 



215-218. 



Near the village of Cotandem, 48 miles from Goa, is a petrified forest 



extending over a surface of several miles. The stems of the trees lie 



on granite, and are imbedded in laterite. Of the silicified trees, most 



are monocotyledons, but some are conifers. Many of the trunks bear 



traces of the instruments employed to cut them down. F. D. 



Medlicott, H. B. Note upon the Sub-Himalayan series in the Jamu 

 (Jummoo) Hills. Bee. Geol. Surv. Lid. vol. ix. pp. 49-57. 



A comparison of the subdivisions of the Tertiary Sub-Himalayan beds 

 of the neighbourhood of the Sutlej with those of the Jummoo country 

 and of the tract beyond the Jhelum. The lowest beds are inliers of 

 limestone conformably overlain by Subathu beds. The Nahan beds are 

 recognized and traced through the countr}'', and the question of their 

 relation to the formations below and above is discussed. An upper 

 division of the Siwalik group is proposed for the conglomeratic zone and 

 its equivalents ; and it is remarked that the Siwalik conglomerates occur 

 near the great Himalayan rivers. High-level river-shingle within the 

 hills, 400 to 500 feet above the present watercourses, is noted. F. D. 



Mellera, V. [Geological Sketch of Ilimsk and Yuknov.] Svo. 

 St. Petershury. (In llussian.) 



Merrill, S. Palestine Explorations. Athenasum^ July to Dec, 



pp. 84, 85, 117. 

 Notes on physical geography, &c. 



