33 



of if iat rand scries, of phi ionic rocks, which f like the Yolr-anir , h.ive nndrrfjone the action 

 of heat j. and whkh cornel of allrrnalc layer* of ojuarti, fetsparj mica and other minc- 

 r*W p (I)* The orijjin oi thl* Aeries of rifikl is one of the nreot debaleablc questions of geo- 

 I oq y . At id so many other instances , both of physical and metaphyseal questions, where 

 an array of probabilities can be advanced on each side, both parties may be in the riffht 

 ruid both in the wronj } or rather, nature , capacious and multiplex while harmonious, 

 can embrace and annulate the ideas of both, if we limit our rie-ws lo India t we can 

 hardly deny an identity of origin to granite and gneiss. Upon the question generally I sbiil 

 net euler, bur it may help u* Lu a Letter undemanding of Pn!o I' bin . if f&mn facts, 

 gathered from the papers of Indian geolojjirts t be here placed side by side wiLh those local 

 Facts Willi whie.h l bey appear to be connected by soma general law. Dr. Yotsbt r one of the 

 earliest and ablest labourers in the field., remarked, in )&2% t — i up to the present lime I 

 am inclined lo think that both the granite Olid fjncJftS- of India are catileittpuraru-out p as 

 ihcy arc perpetually pasting Into each other and have I he same subordinate rocks, 1 think 

 it probahtr lh<-j owe llir-ir difFercm-i' of slrueture to a different mode of consolidation (2)." 

 uV rrvi:uvm llftqiMOsff tn-.-uiH published rrpnrl cn the r*a*)crxi Dislrkl* /iVmy-W iv-nitrms 

 Dr, Yotmij view, and suggests still more important considerations henTing on the fleoloyy 

 of the Vttfrttf PrnituulQ and its Arc In pel ji goes. In reading it 1 was frlruck with fiercea! 

 features of I he hill ranges of Bengal nhick strongly reminded me of those or Singapore. 

 I have been M To [funk llat the wine relation submis between ifiesc flilts and the f;rejil 

 mountain ranges behind them, — between the lower hill ranges on both sides of the Po- 

 nii\/tula of Southmn Inditi and the central mountains } — between the hills en, the flank* 

 of the Sumatra chain and the chain itself., — between the hills along the coasts oT the 

 J/afay Ptnifltuki and J In: Jimiirilniit groups of I he interiour; ■ — mid between the Kill 

 riogcf and the mountains of Australia, Some remarkable characteristics are com- 

 mon lo nil lhe.se lull mii^r* mid groups , rL r j ■ I every ad'hritUi to our kmiwledrjc hcttCS to 

 confirm my impression that they must be referred to one geological era and one peculiar 

 phitdnic or volcanic net ion operating over a region oT "teal extent . in which Southern Africa^ 

 Imiifi r the Malay Pcnimula , a large portion of ihe Eastern Archipelago and Auetralia, 

 IK Included. It Would require a .-rpj nt tr p.iper lu brilijj together I lie fart* thai hate induced 

 and eoufirmcd \hU impression. 1 will here only nolice some circums lances mentioned by 

 Dr. Buejsifu* corroborative of Dr. Vot jet's view, and hearing on the d truer, ore of I he Pah 

 Ubin rocks. The minerals of what Dr. Bcghatu* terms the southern central division of 

 Bhatjulporc eon si tit , jii [jctierat , of ag^re^ale rocks composed of felspar or schorl intermix- 

 ed with quart* and sometimca wish mira, and disposed in vertical strata running caster 1} 

 naul wr-turty, The qotTll t* not only found as a portion of the ayrjTC^ate, hut in paraUeJ 

 layers alternating with it, and even in whole strata, s* In pome of Ibc strata the compo- 

 nent parts were pretty uniformly scattered, thus forming 1 granite*, according as fhef contain- 



O) B law ii *n vtUamic ItUndt p. ?1. 



I'l: llr.Lii. ii£ja 'i Edinburgh J«urail *f Seitnci fcl. X p r 375- 



