48 Dr. Vercnere on the Geology of Kashmir, [No. 1> 



The spheeronites of the Mash ab room are probably a new species ; 

 they were found in considerable variety, from the size of a small 

 walnut to that of a large orange ; the largest were perfectly round and 

 polished like a cricket ball, without warts, spines or facettes, pierced 

 by numerous pores. Some of the smaller have the stems scarcely visible 

 (fig. 6, PL VIII), and are covered either with large tracts set well 

 apart or with smaller ones set closer ; some spines are depressed 

 or lenticular ; all are pierced by innumerable pores, none shows traces 

 of polygonal plates ; mouth not to be seen in any of the specimens I 

 have examined. (See figs. 5, and 6, pi. VIII and plate IX fig. 1.) The 

 discoverer, not being a geologist, did not look for other fossils : the 

 cystideae were so numerous and so curious in appearance, that they 

 gave quite a peculiar aspect to the ground. 



The Mashabroom is stratified to its very summit, the beds being 

 limestone and shales, dipping towards the S., at a moderate angle. 

 This stratification is so well marked, that it can be distinctly noticed 

 from a long way off. These sedimentary beds repose on metamor- 

 phic layers of mica-schist and gneiss. The limestone is extremely 

 rich in magnesia, principally towards the base of the bed, where it 

 passes into Steatite in patches (Austen). Some of the Serpentine 

 and Jade (compact Tremolite) brought to Srinuggur and there 

 worked into ornamental articles by the stone-cutters of that city, 

 come, I believe, from the neighbourhood of the Mustak Range and 

 of Mashabroom, though the greater quantity is supposed to be derived 

 from the Yarkandkass valley and the Kuen-Luen Chain in Khotan. | 

 There can be little doubt that the limestone of the Mashabroom is , 

 the parent bed of the cystidese found in the valley between two of ; 

 the spurs of that mountain ; and at least a portion of the limestone I 

 of Mashabroom is Silurian, 



The following sketch-section embodies the information kindly 

 given me by Mr. Kyall and Captain G. Austen. 



i 



