316 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— C. 



The Permian of Murchison begins with the Kazan group and closes with the lower 

 part of the Tartarian, both correlated with the Upper Permian or Zechstein of 

 Germany. These are underlain by the Kungur and Artinsk beds which overlie 

 unmistakable Upper Carboniferous rocks and which are now claimed by many as 

 Permian. 



Again, marine developments in other areas containing Ammonites, as does the 

 Artinsk, are considered to be of slightly older Permian age than the latter, namely, 

 the Lower Wolfcamp formation of Texas and the lowest zone of Timor (Somohole). 

 ' The fauna of Timor,' says J. P. Smith [1927], ' is the richest in the world in genera, 

 species and number of individuals collected. . . . The forbears of all the statelj^ and 

 beautiful genera of the Triassic may be seen in the simple and unpretentious forms of 

 the Permian.' 



With regard to the limits of the rocks at present claimed as Permian, there is 

 within them ample room for a system. Schuchert, for example, who in 1928 published 

 a review of the Permian with special reference to the glaciation in Permian times 

 (and who, if he stands alone in his total claim, is supported by various individual 

 claims), has no doubt whatever that the system is valid, and concludes that all the 

 tillites — whether considered by others to be Permian, Permo-Carboniferous, or 

 Carboniferous — are not only of Permian age but Middle Permian. This is a bold 

 statement which will probably be combated strongly in various quarters. 



To mention only two cases : he attributes from 4,000-6,000 ft. of sediments, more 

 than one-half limestones, in the Glass Mountains of Texas to the Lower and Middle 

 Permian, and these are surmounted by 2,500-3,000 ft. of Upper Permian equivalent 

 to the Zechstein. In the Karroo he classifies the Lower Beaufort Series as Upper 

 Permian, averaging about 8,000 ft. ; on the Basal Upper Permian or Ecca Beds, 

 from 2,000-3,000 ft. The Dwyka Series, up to 2,900 ft., he ascribes to Middle 

 Permian. 



With regard to the Permian fauna, ' Diener (1921) tabulates 193 forms of 

 Ammonites, to which 17 others have been added (1928), making 210. These are 

 grouped in 41 genera : 11 come up from the Upper Carboniferous, 10 going into the 

 Trias, leaving 22 restricted to the Permian.' 



In the American Permian the reptiles form a striking and characteristic group. 

 Some such enlargement of the ' System ' as originally defined, although perhaps 

 not acceptable in its entirety, is no argiiment against acceptance of the Permian as 

 a ' System ' so long as it fulfils the other requirements as defined above. Do the 

 rocks which are nowadays ascribed to the Permian by Schuchert and others contain, 

 in general, organic remains of types showing distinctive characters which link them 

 together as a whole and which distinguish them from those above and below ? This 

 implies more than normal evolutionary changes throughout. 



Let us now consider the other side of the question, and this brings us nearer home. 

 In England a series of breccias, conglomerates, sandstones, marls or shales and 

 limestones, overlying Coal Measures of normal aspect, used to be termed the Poikilitic 

 rocks or New Red Sandstone. Later they were divided into two systems, Trias and 

 Permian. As time went on more of the lower part of the ' Permian ' (supposed to 

 correspond to the Rothliegende) was absorbed into the Upper Coal Measures — so 

 much so that in the Midlands very little of what was once designated Permian is left. 

 On the eastern flank of the Pennines the higher parts of our representatives of 

 the Permian (correlated with Zechstein and part of the Rothliegende) are considered 

 by my colleague, Dr. Sherlock, to be homotaxial with part of the Bunter, and he — 

 considering not only this country — would abolish the Permian altogether, classifying 

 all rocks above the Hercynian diastrophism in this country up to the Rhaetic as an 

 ' Epeiric ' System at the base of the Mesozoic. There are indeed greater signs of 

 unconformity in places within the Trias itself in this country than between Permian 

 and Trias. 



For my own part I may state that in W. Cumberland and part of the Vale of Eden 

 the Permian deposits appear to pass up conformably into those classed as Trias. So 

 gradual is the change and so interrelated do the deposits seem to be that the beds 

 as a whole were formerly termed the New Red Series (which, however, included 

 some Upper Coal Measures). Later they were separated into Permian and Trias, 

 then the St. Bees Sandstone (supposed Bunter) was put back into the Permian, and 

 finally everything above the Magnesian Limestone was classed as Trias. 



Now it is considered that the St. Bees Shales overlying the Magnesian Limestone 



