34 FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS. 



wliicli show, by their elliptical form, effects of vertical pres- 

 sure. The lignite, in these eases, constitutes merely the 

 outer covering ; the interior of the trunk being composed of 

 the sandstone matrix. The bed is enveloped in strata of the 

 marl, abounding in the remains of animals ; and both the 

 lignite bed and the marl appear at this point most distinctly 

 to have been deposited in a hollow ; the beds at their lateral 

 extremities gradually attenuating, until they meet the sand- 

 stone rock ; and the lower surface being concave. Although 

 the marl is evidently limited at this spot, it seems to exist so 

 generally in extended strata, that, supposing it to have 

 formed tracts of marsh land, those tracts must have been 

 very extensive. I have before remarked, that I have seen 

 the marl only on the sovithern limits of these hills, between 

 the Jumna and Ganges. In crossing the former river, how- 

 ever, the same stratum, with the same organic remains, is 

 met with on the north of the mountain ridge, on which the 

 town of Nahun stands. Here the upheavement has been 

 more violent than elsewhere ; and the point of junction of 

 this tract with the higher Himalayahs is consequently much 

 dislocated. It is necessary to state, that there are appear- 

 ances of trap ' in the neighbourhood of these disturbances ; 

 a fact which may lead hereafter to an interesting geological 

 disquisition on the point of junction. Fossil wood, appa- 

 rently dicotyledonous, abounds in the sandstone. The woody 

 fibre is generally perfect, but impregnated with the sandstone, 

 and frequently mixed with carbonaceous matter ; in which 

 case the fossil is black, and on fracture has the appearance of 

 an intimate mixture of coal and sand, or of an imperfect 

 coal. The only remains of animals yet found are fragments 

 of tortoises. 



Marl, tvith Organic Remains. — As the marl is in greatest 

 abundance in this section, I will now give an account of its 

 organic remains, confining myself to classes and genera. 

 These fossils are in appearance perfect, and the deep black 

 colour which they have derived from hydrate of iron renders 

 them ornamental. The medullary cavities are, in many cases, 

 filled with pyrites, and in others with pure white crystallised 

 carbonate of lime. The greater part of the fossils already 

 procured is from the deposit in the Kalowala Pass ; and as 

 my collection is not only large, but abundant in different 

 genera, the number already found in such a limited space 

 indicates the great variety of animal remains which a dili- 

 gent and extensive search may produce. Teeth, and the 

 more solid part of the bones, are found in the greatest 



' Dr. Falconer has made the same 

 observation, Journ. Asiatic See. Bengal, 



vol. iv. p. 50 ; date of communication 

 January 3, 1835. 



