1866.] Geology of the Western Himalaya, &c. 89 



The communication made by Admiral Boutakof, who has long 

 distinguished himself by many years of labour in this region, was 

 listened to with great attention, and received with great enthusiasm. 

 We could not give here more than the mere outlines of the paper, 

 which he is now preparing for the press, and which will appear with 

 a map of the Syr-Daria. There is no doubt that Admiral Boutakof's 

 work will be an agreeable acquisition for modern geographers. 



Kashmir, the Western Himalaya and tlie Afghan Mountains, a geological 

 paper by Albert M. Verciiere, Esq., Bengal Medical Service ; with 

 a note on the fossils by M. Edouard de Vernueil, Membre de 

 V Academie des Sciences, Paris. 



[Received 11th March, 18G5.] 



Introduction. 



Of all the great chains of mountains on our Planet, the most 

 stupendous is, singularly enough, the least known to the geologist. 

 Many fossils have indeed been collected by travellers in the Himalaya, 

 and a few have been determined ; but satisfactory sections and careful 

 descriptions are very scarce, and it has not yet been found practicable 

 to attempt any general grouping and arrangement of the rocks and 

 beds of these mountains. Jacquemont's researches in Kashmir have 

 not, I believe, much advanced our knowledge of the geology of the 

 country. Mr. Vigne was no geologist, and his observations were not 

 sufficiently accurate for scientific purposes ; the same remarks apply, 

 more or less, to most visitors who have published what they saw 

 amongst the higher ranges. Captain B. Strachey, B. E. in his papers 

 on the geology of the Himalaya, between the Sutlej and the Kali 

 rivers, gives a map and two sections which are of great interest ; they 

 do not, however, refer to the portion of the Himalaya which I have 

 studied, and they leave yet a vast field for more precise investigations. 

 I regret not having been able to consult Capt. H. Strachey's paper 



