142 GEOLOGY. 



and a conclusion drawn that before the deposition of the Sivalik group 

 the whole Himalayan area was 12,000 or 15,000 feet higher than now. 

 The paper is succeeded hj a short criticism by the Editor. F. D. 



Theobald, W. Eemarks on certain considerations adduced by Fal- 

 coner in support of the antiquity of the Human race iu India. 

 Eec. Geol. Surv. Ind. vol. vii. pt. 4, pp. 142-145. 



This refers, first, to an argument of Dr. Falconer's that the idea of a 

 gigantic tortoise in Hindu mythology may have originated in a tradi- 

 tional aquaintance with Colossochelys atlas of the Sivalik fauna. Mr. 

 Theobald maintains that the force of this argument is weakened by 

 later discoveries having shown that Colossochelys belongs to the older 

 Nahan fauna, it being less likely that man will be proved to have been 

 contemporary with that than with the Sivalik. Secondly comes a 

 criticism on Falconer's inference that the extinct Hippopotamus pala;-' 

 indicus was the original of the Sanskrit -'jalahasti," or water-elephant. 

 Mr. Theobald brings philological authority to show that the word is as 

 likely to mean " shark ;" but he himself inclines to believe that the 

 animal thus named is the dugong found in the Bay of Bengal, and that 

 the argument drawn from it will not support the inference of the co- 

 existence of man with the extinct animals named. F. D. 



TiETZE, Dr. E. Geologische Notizen aus Persien. [Geological Notes 

 from Persia.] Yerh. k.-k. geol. Eeichs. pp. 53-55, 77-79, 318, 

 319, 360-363, 377-380. ^ ^ ^ 



Describes certain geological phenomena noticed in a visit to Persia. 



Yerbeee:, 0. Eerste Verslag over een onderzoek naar kolen op het 



eiland Nias. Jaarb. Mijnw. Ned. Oost-Ind., 3 Jaar., 1 Deel, 



pp. 157-163 ; 2 maps and 1 section. 



Report on examination of coal- deposits in the island of Nias, on the 



west coast of Sumatra. The coal occurs in marl, probably of Miocene 



age ; but the seams are too poor to be worked. The marls are covered 



by limestone. F. W. R. 



"Wynne, A. B. Observations on some features in the Physical 

 Geology of the Outer Himalayan region of the Upper Punjab, 

 India. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxx. pp. 61-80, map and 

 6 sections. 

 The crystalline and schistose rocks found far in among the hills are 

 succeeded by slates and limestones, which are unconformably overlain 

 by Triassic rocks ; these, again, are unconformably succeeded by Jurassic, 

 Cretaceous, and Nummulitic beds (each also unconformable). The 

 author calls the beds from the Trias to the older Tertiary " hill lime- 

 stones ; " outside of these is a tract occupied by an enormous thickness 

 of sandstones and clays of later age. The extension of this outer zone, 

 and the character of its contact with that within, are then described in 

 detail. A Table, correlating the strata as described by different observers 

 from the Salt range to the Sutlej, is given. F. D. 



