2 HOLLAND AND TIPPER: INDIAN GEOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY. 



A. Fleming (1848-54), H. J. Carter (1848-61), A. Hunter 



(1850-71), and S. Hislop (1855-64). 1 

 The majority of these authors described mineral occurrences and 

 features of physical geology without introducing or discussing ques- 

 tions of terminology of a land dealt with in this paper. Attempts 

 were made, however, to classify the Indian formations, and to 

 form some idea regarding their position in the European stratigra- 

 phical scale. The earliest general account of the country was due 

 to J. Calder, 2 who in 1829 published his summary as a preface to a 

 series of papers by Franklin, Voysey, Hardie, Jones and Coulthard. 

 Calder's summary touched very lightly on the sedimentary 

 formations, about which there was at the time very little infor- 

 mation available. He gave an account of the nature and general 

 distribution of the fundamental crystalline rocks, of the overlying 

 sheets of basaltic lava (now generally known as the Deccan Trap), 

 and of the coal-measures (now Gondwanas) in the Damuda valley. 

 No special questions of nomenclature were introduced other than 

 those that require translation in accordance with the general changes 

 which have taken place in the use of geological terms, although 

 Calder accepted Franklin's erroneous conclusion that the Vindhyan 

 sandstones and limestones represented the English New Red Sand- 

 stone and Lias. 



Between 1833 and 1850 Captain T. J. Newbold published various 

 papers, his numerous observations being summarised in a series of 

 papers published by the Royal Asiatic Society. 3 As a contribution 

 to detailed local knowledge of the rocks and of the economic 

 mineral products, Newbold's summary was a remarkable piece of 

 work. He naturally used terms that were then current in geological 

 literature and was evidently familiar with the most recent develop- 

 ments of geological science in Europe at the time. He gives the 

 following table of formations in Southern India : — 



Supra-cretaceous or Tertiary Strata. 



1. Sandstone of Coromandel, imbedding existing shells. 



2. Coromandel black clay and Regur (Pliocene). 



1 The figures in parentheses refer to the years in which the authors mentioned pub- 

 lished papers on Indian geological subjects. This list includes the more important con- 

 tributors. A much fuller one will be found in R. D. Oldham's Bibliography of Indian 

 Geology, Calcutta, 1888. 



2 General Observations on the Geology of India. Asiatick Researches, XVIII, 

 part 1, pp. 1—22, 1829. 



? Vol. VIII, pp. 138, 213, 316 ; 1844. Vol. IX, pp. 1, 20. Vol. XII, p. 78. 



