May, 1845.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, xlv 



will kindly refer to it, that " I merely sent the MS. at Colonel Stacy's desire, to be 

 lodged in the museum of the Asiatic Society." 



Bally gunge, April \Qth, 1845. Robert Wroughton. 



The Secretary stated that a note had been duly appended to the 

 MSS. for which a tin case had been made, so as to preserve it as much 

 as possible from all chance of injury. 



Read a letter with Prospectus of his work forwarded by Dr. Fal- 

 coner :* — 



Prospectus preparing for publication, under the auspices of Her Majesty's Government, and 

 of the Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company : 



A work to be entitled, 

 Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, 



Being- the Fossil Zoology oftheSewalik Hills, in the north of India, by Hugh Falconer, 

 M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., Member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and of the 

 Royal Asiatic Society ; of the Bengal Medical Service, and late superintendent of the 

 H. E. I. C. Botanic Garden at Saharunpoor, and Proby T. Cautley, F.G.S., Captain 

 in the Bengal Artillery, Member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, &c. 



The object of this publication is to make known, in a connected and complete series, 

 the numerous fossil animals which have been discovered in the North of India, by the 

 Authors and other inquirers, during the last twelve years ; and to develope the bearings 

 of these discoveries on the physical and geological history of India during- a great part of 

 the tertiary period. 



The fossil Fauna of the Sewalik range of hills, skirting- the southern base of the Hima- 

 layahs, has proved more abundant in g-enera and species than that of any other region 

 yet explored. As a general expression of the leading features, it may be stated, that it y 

 appears to have been composed of representative forms of all ages, from the oldest of the 

 tertiary period down to the modern, and of all the geographical divisions of the Old 

 Continent, grouped together into one comprehensive Fauna in India. Of the forms con- 

 tained in it may be enumerated, in the Pachydermata, several species of Mastodon and 

 Elephant, the Hexaprotodon Hippopotami, Merycopotamus, Rhinoceros, Anoplotheri- 

 um, Sus, and three species of Equus ; in the Ruminantia, the colossal genus Sivatherium, 

 peculiar to India, with species of Camelus, Camelopardalis, Bos, Cervus, and Antilope ; 

 in the Carnivora, species of most of the great types, together with several remarkable un- 

 described genera ; in the Rodentia, several species ; in the Quadrumana, several species ; 

 in the Reptilia, the Gigantic Tortoise (Colossochelys) with species of Emys and Trionyx, 

 and several forms of Crocodile. To these may be added the fossil remains of Bird6, 

 Fishes, Crustacea, and Mollusca. 



The materials in the possession of, or accessible to, the Authors, are singularly rich and 

 abundant. They consist of vast collections made by themselves during the last twelve 



* We re-print here the prospectus which will also re-appear for some time in an 

 abridged form on the cover of the Journal as an advertisement, and we trust that the 

 work will find in India the support it so richly merits.— Ens. 



