INTRODUCTION. 5 



Orhitoidea holds a similar position, this view of the correlation of the Baluchistan 

 Hemipneustes heds hecomes almost a certainty. 



We may therefore take it for granted that the Henaipneustes beds are of upper- 

 most cretaceous age, and that they are most probably homotaxial to the etage 

 Maestrichtien of the French authors. 



Having thus ascertained the age of the Hemipnevistes beds, we may turn back 

 to India and examine the stratigraphical position of the seven species known to 

 occur in cretaceous beds in other localities in India, and see how far the view gained 

 above tallies with the result obtained from the examination of these seven species. 

 Of course the view thus gained must be considered to be preliminary only, as 

 seven species can hardly be taken as sufficient evidence for an exact determination. 



It may perhaps be better to exclude Cardifa beaumonti, var. baluchistanensis, 

 because, as I have pointed out on page 46, the Baluchistan variety is not quite iden- 

 tical with the typical Cardita beaumonti, d'Arch. and Haime, from Sind. From 

 the remaining species the following have been found in the Cardita beaumonti 

 beds : — 



Cardita suhcomplanata, d'Arch. and Haime. 

 Corhula harpa, d'Arch. and Haime. 

 Ovula eccpansa, d'Arch. and Haime. 

 Nautilus sulfieuriausianus, d'Arch, and Haime. 



To which we may add Nautilus sublcevigatus, d'Orbigny, described as Nautilus 

 labechi by Messrs. d'Arch. and Haime, so that the total number of species in 

 common with the Cardita beaumonti beds amounts to five. 



This is certainly no large number, and indicates only a distant connection ; 

 in fact the connection between the beds of the same age in the far distant 

 Pyrenees and the Hemipneustes beds of Baluchistan seems to be much greater, as 

 will presently be seen, than that between the latter and the comparatively near 

 country of Sind. It must not, however, be overlooked that the fauna of the 

 Cardita beaumonti beds is very imperfectly known, inasmuch as only the corals 

 and echinoids have been determined. But from these investigations the undeniable 

 fact appears that no single species of both classes is common to the Hemipneustes 

 and the Cardita beaumonti beds. This seems to me significant, and if we 

 further take into consideration that the Cardita beaumonti beds have hitherto 

 yielded no ammonites, the natural conclusion that the Cardita beaumonti and 

 the Hemipneustes beds hold different positions in the sequence of the strata suggests 

 itself. With every reserve I wish to express my opinion that the Cardita beaumonti 

 beds are decidedly younger than the Hemipneustes beds and hold a higher position 

 than the latter in the sequence of the cretaceous beds of Sind and Baluchistan. 



With regard to the remaining two species, vis., Badiolites subdilatata, 

 Muschketoff, aM VolutiWhes latisepta, Stoliczka, the former occurs in strata of 

 Benonian age in Turkestan and the latter in the AriyaMr stage of Southern 



Jndia. 



We see, therefore, that the outcome of the critical examination of this species is 



