16 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[voi,. III. 
which here includes, or rather is deposited around and among, sundry large masses ot’ syeni- 
toid and gneissic rock. These sandstones with micaceous shales and sundry conglomerate 
beds of the usual unconsolidated type extend hence throughout the Pyanoor area, as proved 
by the numerous well sections, which everywhere pierce the superincumbent lateritic conglo¬ 
merate. 
The connection between the beds occurring in the Pyanoor area and those lying within 
the Sripermatoor area, 12 miles to the south-east, is not clear owing to the difference in 
petrological characters and to the insufficient evidence afforded by the organic remains. As 
far as the relative topographical position of the two areas affords any clue it is in favor of 
the beds of the Sripermatoor area, being simply an extension of those in the Pyanoor area, 
the difference in mineral character of the respective beds being probably due to the more 
littoral character of the Pyanoor beds as compared to the Sripermatoor beds, which though 
not to he considered as deep-sea deposits, yet appear to have been formed at considerable 
distance from the land of the period. This view is favored by the lithological character of 
a small series of Rajmahal beds exposed in a section lying about half way between the 
Pyanoor and Sripermatoor areas. 
The most important member of the series in the Sripermatoor area is a white shale, 
the plant bed par eminence, resting on whitish friable gritty sandstone, which is in all 
probability the basement bed over a great part of the area. In the southern part of the 
area there is another series of grey clays, reddish sandstones, and buff sandy shales, whose 
position with reference to the plant-shale could not bo ascertained in the absence of any 
section showing the two series. 
The area occupied by the plant-shales is, roughly speaking, a rectangular basin about eight 
miles long from north to south by four from east to west, formed by the junction of several 
shallow valleys sloping very gently eastward. Several low hills rise out of the basin and are 
capped with 'laterite. The town of Sripermatoor stands in the north-west corner of the. 
basin, which is surrounded by rising ground, the edge of which is here and there slightly 
scarped. To the south-east, however, a mere roll of the ground occurs much obscured by 
surface soil, and beyond this the grey clays appear. The plant-shales are apparently con¬ 
tinuous all over the basin-like area, and appear to form only one bed which rolls about very 
slightly at low angles, or is horizontal. The shale is white, pale-grey, or buffy-drab in 
color, with in one or two places a little reddish or purplish mottling. The plant remains 
occur scattered through the mass in a fragmentary condition, as if they had been torn off 
by stormy winds and then drifted out to sea. In many places they are mixed up with 
remains of marine animals, e. g., at Amarambode and Yalerie. 
The richest collections of fossils were made in the north-east corner of the basin where 
the two sections above named yielded specimens of nearly every species in the Rajmahal 
beds of the Madras area. In the western part of the basin animal remains wore rarely found, 
indeed plants were everywhere more frequent than animal remains. Of the plants several 
species have been recognized as identical with species from the Rajmahal beds of Bengal 
and Cutch. These are Palceozamia Cutctiensw and aeutifulium and a Dictyopteris. The 
following genera of plants appear also to be represented among the specimens collected by 
mvself :°Tax<tdites (?), Pterophyllum, Taniopterix. Stangerites, Pecopteris , Lycopodium (?), 
Poaeites, and parts of exogenous stems perfectly silieified. 
The animal remains which I discovered and collected included a considerable number of 
bivalve shells which, according to Dr. Stoliczka, belong to the genera “ Leda, Y>ldia, Tellina, 
Psammobia, Lima , Peetrn, 4"c„ all forms with a remarkably thin shell, and the allies of 
which are usually found living on sandy ground in from eight to ten fathoms ot water. 
Several exhibit a resemblance to species from the cretaceous rocks of Trichinopoly, but none 
appear to be specifically identical”.* 
Besides the above were several small Ammonites referred by Dr. Stoliczka to the 
« Dentati" group (but unfortunately not sufficiently well preserved for specific identification); 
one a singular conical chambered shell, (? a phragmoeone) of apparently cephalopodous origin, 
and some fish scales. 
* See * General results from an examination of the Gastropodons fauna of the South Indian Cretaceous deposits, 
hy Ferd. Stoliczka, Ph D., F. G. S., Palaeontologist, Geological Survey of India, page 59, in Voi. I of Records, 
Geological Survey of India. 
