1856.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 583 



shew that some few other species have been described as occurring 

 in rocks of the Eocene age in Europe, though new to the nuinmu- 

 litic rocks of India, but allowing for such possible identifications, 

 it is probable that a very large proportion, amounting to not less 

 than one-fourth of the whole collection, are new and undescribed 

 forms. As considerable collections of nummulitic fossils from 

 Scinde and Cutch have been previously described and figured by 

 Messrs. Sowerby and D'Archiac, this is a striking fact, and indi- 

 cates a richness in the fauna of the nummulitic rocks of Scinde, 

 probably not much inferior to that of the Paris Eocenes. 



The general fades of the fossils in the present collection is that 

 of a moderate depth of water, probably not exceeding 40 fathoms 

 or the equivalent of the Coralline Zone as defined by the late Pro- 

 fessor E. Forbes. It would be extremely interesting to institute a 

 comparison between the nummulitic fauna of Scinde and that of 

 the Indian Ocean at the present day, since so far as can be judged 

 from the collections of shells brought from Kurrachee by Col. Baker, 

 a great generic resemblance exists between the two series, but until 

 more detailed investigations of the marine life of the Indian Ocean 

 have been made, and the results of dredgings at different depths 

 placed on record, such a comparison would be premature. 



Mr. Oldham gave a brief sketch of the nature and extent of the 

 nummulitic rocks in India, prefacing his remarks by a notice of the 

 distribution of Nummulites in the geological series of Europe. The 

 group was traced from Persia in the west, through Cutch, Scinde 

 Beloochistan, the Salt Bange, Nainee Tal district, Sikkim, the Khasi 

 Hills, to the Irrawaddee in the East, the peculiar features in each 

 being represented on sections exhibited to the meeting. With con- 

 siderable local variation as might naturally be anticipated, there 

 was a constancy in the general succession, and a remarkable con- 

 stancy in the organic remains. 



Some general conclusions bearing on the geological age of these 

 rocks were referred to ; and the utter impossibility of any sound 

 results being arrived at without a full knowledge of the organic 

 remains of such deposits insisted upon. 



On the motion of the chairman, the thanks of the meeting were 

 voted by acclamation to Mr. Blanford and Mr. Oldham, for their 

 very valuable and interesting communications. 



