ALCYONAEIA OF SIND. 15 



contained in their ' Histoire Naturelle des Coralliaires.' Some modifications have been 

 used, which have been the result of the experience of zoophytologists since that book 

 was published ; but the attempt has been made to restrict, rather than multiply, genera. 

 The other works which have been constantly used in the preparation of this Monograph 

 are : — those volumes of the Palseontographical Society which relate to Mesozoic and 

 Tertiary British Corals; the works of Fromentel on French Zoophytology, and the 

 descriptions of Catullo; and D'Achiardi's works on the fossil Corals of the 

 Nummulitic strata of the Venetian' Alps (' Studio comparativo fra i Coralli dei Terreni 

 Terziari del Piemonte e dell' Alpi venete,' Pisa, 1868). 



Especial thanks are due to the late A. E. Eeuss, whose clear descriptions and 

 beautiful engravings facilitate the labour of every student of fossil corals. His works 

 which relate to the present subject are : — ' Die fossilen Foraminifefen, Bryozoen, und 

 Anthozoen von Oberburg in Steiermark,' from the ' Denkschriften der kaiserlichen 

 Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien,' 1864 ; also, from the same source, " Palaon- 

 tologische Studien iiber die alteren Tertiarschichten der Alpen : — 1. Die fossilen Antho- 

 zoen der Schichten von Castelgomberto, 1868 ; 2. Die fossilen Anthozoen und Bryozoen 

 der Schichtengruppe von Crosara, 1869; 3. Die fossilen Anthozoen von S. Giovanni 

 Ilarione und von Eonca, 1874." My paper on the fossil Corals of the older Tertiaries 

 of the West Indies, contained in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society ' 

 (1873, vol. xxix.), and, finally, DAchiardi's admirable work ' Coralli eocenici del 

 Friuli' (Pisa, 1875) have been of much service. 



V. The Characteristic Growth of the Sind Corals and their Bange in Time. 



The condition of the specimens collected by the Geological Survey of India from 

 the strata in Sind is good, and, as a rule, the external characters of the species were 

 readily investigated ; but a few sections were required ; and all doubtful specimens, or 

 those which did not fairly indicate structure, were neglected. 



The predominance of pedunculated forms with a well-developed epitheca is very 

 remarkable in the whole of the series. The younger forms were very constantly pre- 

 served fixed to a nummulite, and the older were crammed with these Foraminifera in 

 the Eanikot and Khirthar specimens. 



The Corals grew ia a shallow sea, crowded with Nummulites, in the ages during the 

 accumulation of the sediments of these two series. In the Cretaceous age, when the 

 olive sandstones beneath the Trap accumulated, there were no Nummulites, but a 

 shallow sea prevailed. The Cretaceous Corals appear to have lived under circum- 

 stances preventing the formation of a continuous coral limestone. 



There are many Corals which may have belonged to the top of the Khirthar or to 

 the bottom of the Nari series; and in the Nari beds the Oligocene coral-fauna prevailed. 



But in the Gaj series, although pedunculate Corals prevail, others occur which 

 were massive during life, and the assemblage was more reef-like than the others in its 

 generic peculiarities. 



The Corals form five very natural faunas, and that of each geological series is 

 separable from the others, community of species being exceptional : the Cretaceous, 

 Nummulitic, Upper Nummulitic, Oligocene, and Miocene series are represented. 



