1837.] 



Geology of the Deccan, 



371 



having met with it in Rajmahl trap hills, in Bengal, and in Mysore. 

 A writer in the t Gleanings of Science'* states that it occurred in re- 

 peated borings for water in Calcutta, at from 50 to 112 feet below the 

 surface. Another writerf says, it is " very extensively distributed 

 throughout Hindoostan," and further asserts that it is a 11 most dis- 

 tinguished feature of Indian geology." The Rev. Mr. Everest and 

 Mr. Royle remarked it in their journey before adverted to. The few 

 organic remains hitherto found imbedded, belong to living species. 

 The following is the analysis of " Kankar"J (nodular limestone) by 



Mr. Prinsep.§ 



Water of absorption 1.4 



Carbonate of lime , 72.0 



Carbonate of magnesia 0.4 



Silex 15.2 



Alumine and oxide of iron 11.0 



100.0 



Kunkur, or nodular limestone, has been likened to the cornbrash of 

 the English strata; but its geological position (principally superficial), 

 and the absence of characteristic fossils, present insuperable objections 

 to their identity. || 



Granite. — The late Dr. Voysey states, that he " had reason to be- 

 " lieve, partly from personal observation and partly from specimens 

 te obtained from other sources, that the basis of the whole peninsula 

 " of India is granite; he had traced it along the coast of Coromandel, 

 " lying under iron clay (laterite) ; also in the bed of the Godavery 

 " river, from Rajamahendri to Nandair ; and he had specimens from 

 " the base of the Sitabaldi hills of Nagpoor, from Travankur, Tinne- 

 " velli, Salem, and Bellari." Mr. Stirling in his memoir on Cuttack 

 says, " The granite where my specimens were principally collected 

 " appears to burst through an immense bed of laterite (iron clay) 

 " rising abruptly at a considerable angle". ^[ Major Franklin adds to the 

 above quotation, " the plains of Bundelkhund attest that granite is 



* Gleanings of Science, vol. i. p. 169. + Ibid. vol. i. p. 365. t Properly Kunkur. 

 ? Gleanings of Sicence, vol. i. p. 278. 



|| Kankur seems to be a sedimentary rock, resembling the travertine of Italy; some is 

 ancient, and some modern and still forming. For Dr. Benza's opinion of tins substance, 

 see Madras Journal No. 12, pp. 15, 27.— Editor Madras Journal. 



IT Phys. Class, Asiatic Researches, p. 37. 



