Chap. T.] history of geology. . 23 



" In Lower Bengal there is not the least indication of those enor- 

 " mous accumulations of sedimentary matter, formerly known as the 

 " primary fossiliferous strata, to which, however, the more appropriate 

 " names Cambrian and Silurian have of late years been applied ; these 

 f( grand divisions embrace the whole mass of detrital matter, from the 

 " old red sandstone to the inferior stratified rocks. It is also essen- 

 " tially necessary to mention that both the old red sandstone and carbo- 

 " niferous limestone are likewise absent in the districts which have 

 " been examined. (P. 107). 



" But prior to the deposition of the coal series, there can be little 

 " doubt that the area now occupied by them had been elevated above 

 " the surface of the surrounding ocean during those .epochs of time 

 " which have elapsed from the first organization of animal life on the 

 " crust of the globe to the commencement of the coal-formation era." 

 (P. 109). 



He only questioned (page 82), whether the minor sub-divisions were 

 precisely parallel in the two countries. Nothing throughout the Report 

 seems to convey any question as to the general age of the deposit. 



It is evident that Mr. Williams's attention was principally directed to 

 the economic geology of the district. His main object was to examine 

 and ascertain the quantity and quality of coal and iron ore available. 

 On these subjects his Report leaves less to be added, and would leave 

 scarcely anything, but that more extended exploration for commercial 

 purposes has enabled the present survey to add enormously to the previous 

 knowledge of the mineral wealth of the district. But upon the geo- 

 logical structure an amount of light has been thrown by the examin- 

 ation of the various districts of the Narbadda, the Rajmahal Hills, 

 and Talchir (Cuttack), which enables the rocks associated with coal in 

 the Damuda Valley to be placed on a distinct and definite horizon with 

 respect to many of the other rock systems of India. And the examin- 

 ation of the Raniganj field, while it has borrowed from previous 



