STRATIGRAPHICAL GEOLOGY. 457 



German " Copper Slate." The uppermost member in the 

 Alpine succession is a bituminous marine limestone known as 

 u Bellerophonkalk," from the large number of Bellerophon 

 species contained in it. The fauna has a fairly diversified 

 pelagic character, but G. Stache in his memoir on the 

 Bellerophon Limestone (Jahrb. k. k. geol. Reichs., 1887-88) 

 showed that there were several species common to it and to 

 the Zechstein of the German area. 



A striking facies of the youngest Palaeozoic and the oldest 

 Mesozoic deposits occurs in Central and Southern India. 

 Instead of the marine strata present in the Punjab, the 

 deposits south of the Narbada river are of fresh-water 

 origin, and comprise Conglomerates, Sandstones, and Car- 

 bonaceous shales. They were for the first time examined in 

 detail near Talchir by the brothers Blanford (1856) and 

 Theobald, and these geologists sub-divided the deposits into 

 four palaeontological groups (Nagpore, Talchir, Damuda, and 

 Mahedewa groups). The lower divisions were placed in the 

 Upper Permian formation, and the upper divisions were 

 assigned to the lower Trias. The Talchir group consists of 

 conglomerates with very large boulders and striated surfaces, 

 and W. T. Blanford argued from this and other evidences that 

 the boulders had been transported to their present position by 

 means of icebergs, and that consequently there must have 

 been an ice age during the latest Permian eras. 



The whole complex of Permo-Triassic fresh-water strata, 

 about 6000-7000 metres in thickness, received the name of 

 Gondwana System from Medlicott, and according to the latest 

 investigations, the lower members, including the Talchir and 

 Damuda groups, are of Permian age, the " Panchet Series " is 

 probably Triassic wholly or in part, and the upper horizons 

 apparently represent a considerable portion of the Jurassic 

 deposits. The lower members are especially subject to local 

 variations, and the Talchir conglomerates repose unconformably 

 upon different horizons of the older rocks. 



The Kahabari, Damuda, and Panchet groups present inter- 

 calated coal-seams accompanied by fossil plants, amongst 

 which the genera Glossopteris and Gangamopteris abound. The 

 rich flora and the occurrence of remains of Vertebrates (Stego- 

 cephali and Anomodontia, cf. p. 417) give a distinctive 

 impress to those groups, and render it difficult to find a com- 

 parison with European developments. Nevertheless, the com- 



