395 



the Arigna coal-field^ in the county of Leitiim. The bed of sand- 

 stone containing the plants is well exhibited, resting upon gneiss, with 

 which it is stated to dip conformably, and is covered by the mountain 

 limestone. The state of the plants prevented the author from ascer- 

 taining their generic characters, but the specimens consist principally 

 of flattened stems covered occasionally with a thin coating of carbo- 

 naceous matter. The lowest beds of limestone in this part of Ireland 

 abound with corals, and contain nodules of chert ; while the upper 

 contain many shells, and are purer and better adapted for forming 

 quicklime. The author then remarks on the great interval which 

 must have taken place between the growth of the plants contained 

 in the sandstone, which underlies the limestone, and of those which 

 occur in the coal-measures resting upon it. 



March 9th. — The Rev. George Brett, A.M., of Jesus College, Cam- 

 bridge, and of Ranelagh House, Chelsea ; and John Brown, Esq., 

 of Stanway, near Colchester, were elected Fellows of this Society. 



A paper was read, " On the Remains of Mammalia found in the 

 Sewalik Mountains, at the southern foot of the Himalayas between 

 the Sutluj and the Ganges," by Capt. Cautley, F.G.S., and commu- 

 nicated by J. F. Royle, Esq., F.G.S. 



The range of mountains from which the remains described in this 

 paper were obtained, extends from the Sutlej to the Burhampooter 

 and the district of Cooch Behar. Its general direction near the Sutluj 

 is N.W. and S.E., but on approaching the Burhampooter it is many 

 points nearer direct E. and W. It is either connected with the Hima- 

 layas by a succession of low mountains, or is separated from them by 

 valleys varying in breadth from three to ten miles, the principal being 

 the Deyra valley, between the Ganges and the Jumna, and theKearda 

 and the Pinjore, between the Jumna and the Sutluj. The breadth of 

 the range is from six to eight miles ; and the loftiest peaks do not 

 exceed 3000 feet, the average height being from 2000 to 2.500 

 above the level of the sea, or from 500 to 1000 above that of ^e 

 adjacent plains. The only roads by which the range can be passed 

 follow the line of the rivers which flow through gorges flanked by pre- 

 cipitous clifis, sometimes crowned by inaccessible pinnacles, on the 

 top of which is usually a solitary fir-tree. As ihe range is not 

 known to the present inhabitants or to geographers by a distinct name, 

 Capt. Cautley has been induced to call it the Sewalik, a term by 

 which the portion between the Jumna and the Ganges was formerly 

 known*; and he states that he is anxious to give to it a distinct ap- 

 pellation to avoid the use of the indefinite terms Lower Hills and Sub- 

 Himalayas. 



The formation of which the range is composed between the Sutluj 

 and the Ganges, the portion personally examined by the author, con- 



* Smith's Exotic Botany, vol. i. p. 9. Dow's History of India. The 

 name is als;o used in some writings in the possession of the high priest re- 

 siding at Deyra. The word is a corruption of Shibwalla, from the district 

 between the Ganges and the Jumna havina; been the residence of Shib. 



