Yd.  49.]  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY.  3 
The  volcanoes  of  the  Jaulan,  Hauran,  and  Arabian  Desert  are 
considered  to  have  been  in  active  operation  during  the  Miocene, 
Pliocene,  and  Pluvial  periods ;  but  the  date  of  their  final  extinction 
has  not  been  satisfactorily  determined. 
Discussion. 
The  President  remarked  on  the  interest  of  the  geology  of  an  area 
which  was  that  of  the  Bible.  Many  authors  had  recorded  their 
observations  on  this  district,  one  of  the  latest  being  the  Author 
of  this  paper.  Some  years  ago  Mr.  Holland  had  read  a  paper  before 
the  Society,  and  he  (the  speaker)  believed  that  that  writer  was 
actually  the  first  to  prove  the  existence  of  Carboniferous  fossils  in 
the  Sinai  tic  peninsula.  He  remarked  that  Lepidodendron  mosciicum , 
described  by  Salter,  was  somewhere  preserved  in  the  Society’s 
museum,  so  that  the  Society  had  long  ago  had  evidence  of  Carboni¬ 
ferous  rocks.  Mr.  Bauerman’s -paper,  which  was  a  reconnaissance 
in  a  comparatively  unknown  district,  created  great  interest ;  and 
when  that  paper  was  read,  doubt  was  expressed  as  to  whether  the 
fossils  then  exhibited  were  Carboniferous  or  Triassic.  After  the 
researches  of  Prof.  Hull,  there  was  no  doubt  that  Carboniferous  rocks 
do  occur  in  the  region.  As  regards  the  granitic  rocks  (extending  far 
up  the  Nile  Valley,  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  and  elsewhere),  they 
were  all  of  much  the  same  character,  and,  according  to  Sir  William 
Dawson,  occurred  at  two  horizons — the  lower  rocks  being  granitoid 
and  gneissic,  the  upper  more  or  less  volcanic,  but  still  pre-Carboni- 
ferous.  He  asked  the  Author  whether  the  ‘  Poudingues  de  Jebel 
Haroun  ’  of  Lartet  were  or  were  not  ancient  volcanic  rocks. 
The  Nubian  Sandstone  of  older  writers  included  many  things,  but 
the  age  of  the  various  sandstones  was  now  satisfactorily  determined 
by  the  Author.  Some  were  Carboniferous,  others  (in  the  speaker’s 
opinion)  Cenomanian.  The  calcareous  formations  of  Judaea  were 
well  known  from  the  writings  of  Lartet,  Fraas,  and  others ;  but  the 
exact  line  of  demarcation  between  the  Nummulitic  Limestone  and 
the  true  Cretaceous  had  never  been  determined.  It  was  a  curious 
fact,  as  stated  by  Zittel,  that  not  one  fossil  was  common  to  the  two 
deposits,  which  were  nevertheless  quite  conformable. 
Miocene  beds  appeared  to  be  absent,  for,  as  noted  by  Lartet  and 
confirmed  by  the  Author,  this  was  a  period  of  movement,  when  the 
great  valley  and  the  great  fault  were  initiated.  He  (the  speaker) 
felt  that  there  were  many  difficulties  connected  with  the  depression 
which  had  not  yet  been  cleared  up.  Lartet,  Hitchcock,  and  others 
had  traced  the  general  direction  of  the  fault ;  but  the  Author  had 
determined  its  exact  site  at  more  than  one  point. 
The  most  interesting  point  in  this  connexion  was  the  question  of 
the  age  of  the  700-foot  saddle  separating  the  Akabah  watershed 
from  the  Jordan- Arabah  depression.  This  saddle,  in  fact,  separates 
the  Jordan- Arabah  depression  from  the  Bed  Sea  basin.  Was  it 
probable  that  this  saddle  was  contemporaneous  with  the  longi¬ 
tudinal  fracture  ?  Much  depended  on  the  determination  of  this 
