cxlviii Report of the Mineralogical Survey [No. 126*. 



succeeded on each side by an extensive band of schistose rocks, en- 

 closing a variety of subordinate beds, the whole being of the clearest 

 primary character. Organic remains are, it is true, stated to have been 

 found at a great elevation northward of this chain, but nothing of the 

 kind occurs within the zone of greatest elevation, nor within the moun- 

 tain tract south of it. It is, however, believed, that with regard to the 

 great elevation of the transition and secondary formations, parallel ex- 

 amples to those of the Andes may be found in the prolongation of the 

 mountain barrier to the north. The subject has not yet been fully 

 investigated, but there are presumptions in favor of this opinion dedu- 

 cible from the arrangement of the strata. The following particulars 

 may be stated as the sum of what is actually known on the subject : — 



318. No organic remains have even been found within the tract 

 which I have asserted to consist of primary formations. But they have 

 been brought from a place north of the zone of gneiss, and though there 

 are doubts as to the localities of some of these specimens, it is quite 

 certain that in one instance, ammonites have been observed in great 

 numbers, at an elevation exceeding 16,000 feet.* What makes this 

 occurrence particularly interesting is, the fact of the limestone in which 

 these ammonities are found occurring at no great distance from the 

 boundary of a gneiss, which if it be not actually connected with, is not 

 distinguishable in mineralogical character from that of the Himmalaya. 



319. Ammonites, mineralised by clay slate, have been brought by 

 natives, and as they aver, from no great distance from our frontier on 

 the Neetee Pass. I have also seen specimens of belemnites mineralised 

 by calcareous spar.f But neither these, or the preceding more authen- 



* I have never had an opportunity of examining these fossils, but the identification 

 of the species would throw no light on the question which is here being considered, 

 as it is generally agreed by geologists, that however uniform the mineralogical 

 character of rocks may be in the most distant localities, yet with regard to organic 

 remains, no assistance can be derived from the characters of species in identifying 

 formations, unless in a country of very limited extent. Even the hitherto generally 

 received opinion of the universality of formations begins to be questioned, and a 

 doubt entertained whether the granite of Cornwall, for instance, and of these moun- 

 tains were formed or even assumed their present places at the same time. 



f It has been made a question by a geologist of deservedly high reputation, whether 

 the occurrence of organic remains (speaking generally) should be considered ipso 

 facto, a decisive argument against the primary character of a rock, and though authority 

 be against him, yet it is the authority of those who admit of a transition class into 

 which they transfer these anomalous occurrences, Now, as no distinctive characters have 



