Chap. VI.] relations of various groups. 133 



Even comprising the additional species procured from the Rajmahal 

 series, there is no connection between the true Damtida group and 

 the so-called Upper Damtida or Rajmahal group. The finding, there- 

 fore, of a species in the Panchet series, which is known to occur in 

 the Raniganj series, appears to show a closer connection with the 

 Damtida group, and a smaller lapse of time than exists in the other 

 instances. 



The fossils of the Panchet group have not been compared with those 

 of the Rajmahal and Upper Damtida series of Central India with 

 sufficient detail and care to ascertain satisfactorily if any form be 

 common or not. One Sphenopteris appears to occur, both in the 

 Rajmahal and Panchet groups. There is, however, among the ferns, 

 a considerable generic resemblance, greater than with the Damtida 

 series. But the total absence of Zamias, which are so abundant and 

 so strikingly characteristic in the flora of the Rajmahal series, appears, 

 so far as negative evidence can be of value, to show that the Panchet 

 rocks were formed either under very distinct climatal conditions, or at 

 a different epoch of time from that of the Rajmahal group. The 

 former is improbable, as the formations occur at a distance of little more 

 than 50 miles from each other, and the natural conclusion must be that 

 the Panchet group denotes a distinct epoch of time, and as there 

 is one fossil at least common to them and the Damtida rocks, and none 

 identical in the Damtida and Rajmahal group, that the Panchet series 

 represents a period of time intermediate between that of the other 

 two groups. 



There is one test, judged by which the Panchets would appear to 

 approach much more nearly to the age of the Damtida rocks than to 

 that of the Rajmahals, and that is, the relative amount of disturbance 

 which they have undergone. The Rajmahal group has throughout 

 hardly been disturbed at all, scarcely a single fault has been found 

 in them. The Panchet and Damuda groups have been faulted and 



