1835.] and Site of Fossil Bones in the Jumna. 269 



would it be possible, where from the presence of strata of the secon- 

 dary series, the complete section of the alluvium must be exposed, that 

 within the limits I have examined, not one instance of fossil remains 

 has occurred imbedded in it ? To what cause then can their absence be 

 attributed, but that they have been decomposed by the force of heat, 

 before they could attain a state necessary for their preservation ? To 

 what then do the present specimens owe their existence ? I must sup- 

 pose either to the interposition of some body (water for instance) 

 between them and the sun's rays, or to their having been petrified in 

 the colder latitudes of the Himalaya, and lodged in the situations from 

 which they were procured by the action of the current. 



The fact of their being found in every stage between freshness, fos- 

 silization and petrifaction entirely excludes the idea of their having 

 been uncovered by the deepening of the river having washed amon" 

 any portion of the secondary strata, by which they would have been ex- 

 humed from the stratum in which they had been petrified : had the 

 petrifaction taken place there, they must have all occupied that posi- 

 tion from the known age of the general alluvium ; a sufficient time to 

 have been all alike or nearly so, which is not the case. 



The following observations made on the conglomerate formation 

 may throw some light on the subject. 



The Conglomerate Rocks, 

 Are composed of nodule kankar and extraneous substances — and 

 consist of two separate formations, both of which are strictly mechani- 

 cal, together composing one-third of the rocks of the Jumna. Their 

 difference consists in one formation being consolidated by means of 

 cement, the other by the intervention of carbonate of lime deposited 

 whilst in solution in all the interstices of any mass, thus connecting 

 the whole together. 



Before proceeding further, it will be necessary to explain how 

 these nodules of kankar and extraneous substances are accumulated, 

 and then show the method of application of the consolidating bodies. 

 In all the high and nearly perpendicular banks of the Jumna, ravines 

 are cut out by heavy runs of water at short and irregular intervals, 

 which serve as drains to the surrounding country. During the heavy 

 periodical rains, considerable bodies of water rush through these ra- 

 vines with great violence, bringing down drift wood, rubbish of every 

 description, nodule kankar, and large portions of clay detached by 

 the water from the sides and beds of the ravines. The latter gene- 

 rally arrives in the river rolled into figures varying between a prolate 

 ellipsoid and spheroid, (spec, z,) of all sizes, and from 20 lbs. to \ of an 

 ounce in weight. The clay being softened in its rolling progress. 



