194 



Notes on Geological Specimens from 



[July 



Notes explanatory of a Collection of Geological Specimens from the 

 Country between Hyderabad and Nagpur. By J. G. Malcolmson, 

 A$sista?it Surgeon, Madras Establishment. 



( From the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 50,). 



1 had the pleasure of forwarding from Madras, a selection of geolo- 

 gical specimens, collected in May, 1833, hetween the cities of Hydera- 

 bad and Nagpur. I regret, that circumstances prevented my doing this 

 sooner, and that the notes in explanation of the localities whence they 

 were obtained, must now be short and imperfect ; I hope, however, 

 that the specimens themselves will be of use in illustrating the geology 

 of a tract of country hitherto undescribed, and which connects the 

 formations of the south-east of the Deccan, with those in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the valley of the Narbada. 



From my inability to indentify, describe, and figure the numerous 

 fossils, discovered in the tract of country between the Godavery and 

 the town of Hinganghat, 47 miles south of Nagpur, and the im- 

 portance of these, in reference to the questions as to the relative 

 age of the great trap formation of the Deccan, and of the west of 

 India, and the clayslate formation of Voysey, with its associated sand- 

 stone*, and the periods of elevation of the granitic rocks, on which 

 they appear universally to rest; l am induced, contrary to my former 

 intention, to take to England with me, those specimens of which 

 there are no duplicates. The separation of the collection would greatly 

 lessen its value, by depriving me of the opportunity of comparing, 

 with each other, and with arranged collections, the fragments of those 

 of which duplicates were not preserved, and of thus restoring the 

 fossils of which no perfect specimen was found. A selection of the 

 most perfect were, also, sent to Mr. Lyell, but as he considers it 

 requisite that numerous species should be ascertained previous to 

 arriving at any conclusion as to the age of the fossiliferous rocks, it 

 may be for the advantage of Indian geology, to submit the rest of the 

 specimens to him ; and on the characters being determined, to return 

 a portion of them to India. There are, however, a sufficient number 

 of duplicates to illustrate the outlines of the geology of the interesting 

 tract of country referred to, and to connect the singular phenomena 

 observed, with others, to the west and east of the route, and in the 

 countries of the peninsula to the south, and the Bengal provinces to 

 the north. The outline map includes several places, inserted in the 

 plans published along with Dr. Voysey' s papers and Captain Jenkin's 

 Account of the Mineralogy of Nagpur, p. 199, of the 18th volume of 

 the Asiatic Researches ; the interval between which, it will assist in 



* See his account of the diamond mines of Banganapil/y.— As. Rea. xviii. 



