OF CENTRAL INDIA AND BENGAL. 307 



Talcheer Group. — During the season of 1852-53 Mr. Jos. G. 

 Medlicott, while engaged in the examination of the southern portion of 

 the Rajmahal hills, pointed out to me the occurrence of a small patch of 

 rocks of very peculiar mineral character. Mr. Medlicott described them 

 as being " in materials and general constitution unlike anything seen by 

 him before" in the district. All round the bottom of the series was 

 found a coarse conglomerate bed, while with it occurred thin-bedded 

 sandstones and shales. These fine grained sandstones were charac- 

 terized by the minute state of division to which the ingredients had been 

 reduced, these being felspar and quartz, (chiefly pinkish felspar) while 

 at the same time, these grains remained perfectly undecomposed. The 

 prevalence "of this latter mineral gave a pinkish hue to the mass. Asso- 

 ciated with these pinkish beds were also blueish shales. The sandstone, 

 which occurred in thin flaky beds, was also noticed as being greatly 

 jointed, and broken up into small angular fragments or polygonal masses. 



The character of these beds was very distinctly pointed out, but as it 

 appeared, on further examination, that the area over which they were 

 visible was very small, and their relations to the other overlying beds 

 were confused by the occurrence of trap-dykes, while no fossil could be 

 traced in them to form a guide to their age, no attempt was made to 

 separate them. They were merely noted as peculiar. 



During the following year Mr. St. George, at that time attached to 

 the Geological Survey of India, mapped carefully another area of si- 

 milar rocks, which occur close to Kurmataur, on the next side of the 

 Rajmahal hills. The relations of these rocks were not known to him 

 nor was the district favorable for working them out. They were, however, 

 carefully separated from the other beds, and so mapped. 



Towards the close of 1854, while passing across from Monghyr to 

 the great trunk road, on his way to Central India, Mr. Jos. G. Medlicott 

 paid a cursory visit to some small outlying areas of sandstone, which 

 occur in detached localities among the gneiss rocks of the northern ana 



