Kashmir, the Western Himalaya and the Afghan Mountains, a

Geological paper, by

Albert M. Verchere, Esq. M. D.

Bengal Medical Service, with a note on the fossils by

M. Edouard de Verneuil,

Membre de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris.

(Continued from page 115, of No. II. 1867.)

In April 1864, I sent a box of fossils, mostly from Kashmir, to Professor Faire, of Geneva. M. Faire kindly forwarded these to M. E. J. de Vernueil, who was good enough to examine them carefully, and to write a most interesting note, of which a translation is now given.

Some of the fossils represented in the Plates were not sent to Professor Faire, and some which were sent, are not figured here; the numbers at the head of some of the paragraphs of M. de Vernueil's note refer to the fossils represented in the Plates.

Note on the fossils forwarded by Mr. VERCHERE, by M. EDOUARD DE VERNUEIL, Member of the Academie des Sciences, &c. &c.

The largest of the two specimens sent, of which the matrix is a dark brown limestone, belongs to the Productus Semireticulatus, (Martin), one of the most characteristic species of the carboniferous limestone, in Europe, in Russia and in America. This species has been brought from the south of the Oural, and Mr. Tchihatcheff has found it in Siberia in the Altai mountains.

A specimen of Productus costatus (Sowerby). This is a species scarcer than the preceding. The specimen from India shows well the characters of the species such as they are figured by Sowerby, whilst those from Missouri, figured by M. de Konnick, do not possess the large and thick ribs which characterise the original species. The Productus costatus, first found in England, does not exist in Continental Europe, except in Russia where I found it in the government of Toula. Some Russian authors mention it from the government of Tiver and of Kalonga.

Productus Humboldti (D'Orbigny). This species is very like P. Granulosus (Phillips) and P. Heberti (Vernueil, Bull. Soc. Geolog. de

France, Vol. XII. p. 1180). It is distinguished from this by its well marked sinus, and its fine and numerous spines strewed without order on the surface and not forming concentric series. The P. Humboldti is mentioned by Keyserling as having been found by him in the carboniferous limestone of the Soiwa, an affluent of the river Petchora on the western slope of the north of the Oural. Mr. Davidson has thought proper to make a new species which he calls P. Purdoni (on some Carboniferous Brachiopoda collected in India by A. Fleming and W. Purdon in 1848 and 1852, Quarterly Journal of the Geol. Soc. of London, Pl. 2 fig. 5, 1862) based on specimens similar to those under examination, and which came from Chederoo and Moosakhel (Salt Range, A. M. V.). He gives a drawing, under the name of P. Humboldti, of a species on which the spines are fewer and confusedly arranged in quincunces, and of which the sinus is very slight and only visible near the front of the shell. I would regard this rather as the P. pustulosus.

Productus Cora, (D'Orbigny). Two good specimens possessing well the characters of the species.-Discovered first in the Bolivian plateau by D'Orbigny. This species is one of the most characteristic of the carboniferous limestone in England, in Belgium, in Spain and in Russia.

At the time I found it in the last named country D'Orbigny had but just described it; I did not know his work, and, as this shell varies much, I had made two species of it under the names of P. Tenuistriatus and P. Neflediwi. It is found on both slopes of the Oural, and also in the white carboniferous limestone of the plains of Russia at Sterbitamak on the river Oka, and in the carboniferous region of Douety. Finally it is also mentioned in North America. It has therefore a great geological range.

Four specimens of Productus. That in the black limestone and brought from Kashmir is the P. Flemingii or Longispinus or Lobatus (three names of the same animal). It is one of these Producti largely distributed on the globe. It has been found on the Mississipi in the state of Ohio and in Kentucky. It exists in EngJand, in Spain, and in Belgium. Messrs. Keyserling and Murchison and I have found it in the governments of Tiver, Kalonga, on the Dcuetz as well as on the river Belaja near the glacial sea. The specimens from the white limestone of the Kafir-Kote are a distinct

variety, remarkable for a pretty considerable number of tubular spines, and by the large size of its longitudinal striæ, which are often well marked.

Four specimens of a small species which differs from the P. Longispinus or lobatus by the want of lobes and of a sinus on the middle of the greater valve. It is perhaps the P. Aculeatus, (Martin), but the specimens are not good enough to be determined rigorously.

Very small specimens of Productus which are perhaps the young of the P. longispinus or of P. Boliviensis, (D'Orbigny), of which Keyserling found a valve in the carboniferous limestone of the basin of the Petchora (government of Archangel). It is characterised by well detached ears.

Two specimens of Athyris, without the test and too imperfect to allow of their being determined (Terebratula Subtilita, Halls?)

Four specimens of a species of Athyris which is perhaps new. It belongs to the class of Terebratulae with concentric striæ and internal spires, called by D'Orbigny Spirigera and by M'Coy Athyris (a name, let us remark, which means the reverse of what exists, since, instead of being imperforate, these species have a round hole on the beak). This species from Kashmir approaches the A. Ambigua, (Sowerby), and the A. Globulosa, (Phoill.), but it is more transverse and the beak is more detached and sharper. It may be called A. Buddhista, as proposed by Mr. Verchere. The 4. Ambigua is found in Russia in the carboniferous limestone, but is rare there, whilst it is common in England.

Two specimens, of which one is perhaps a variety of the T. Subtilita, (Hall*) or the T. Subtilita itself. The other appears to me to be an Athyris Royssii, (Vernueil), discovered by myself in the carboniferous limestone of Belgium. When this species is well preserved, the shell is seen to be covered by a pilose investment or coating, consisting of very fine spines continuing the lines of growth. The specimen I possess presents traces of this structure in the shape of a pubescence of very fine hairs.

Three specimens in a bad state of preservation, which are probably merely varieties of the A. Roysii.

* The Terebratula Subtilita is a species of Hall, found in the carboniferous of the Great Salt Lake in America. Mr. Davidson mentions it from India.

One more specimen of the same species.

Two specimens of a Terebratula which is probably new, but the specimens are not good enough to be determined.

Six specimens of a Spirifer which appears to me to be new. At first sight one would take it for the S. Trigonalis, (Martin), but it differs from it by the narrowness of the sinus, and by the want of folds in that part which most commonly shows some of them, more or less well marked, in the Sp. Trigonalis. The narrowness of the sinus reminds one of the S. Mosquensis, of Russia.

Spiriferina nearly allied to the S. Octoplicata, (Sow.), and still more to the Sp. Cristata of the Zechstein, two species which Mr. Davidson unites into one. This author figures the S. Octoplicata among the fossils of India. The specimen, which is marked No. 16, has narrower ribs and broader furrows than the specimens figured by Davidson. On another are admirably well seen the granulations peculiar to the genus Spiriferina of the lias, and to the Permian and Carboniferous species under notice. Pl. I. fig. 2, a, b, c, d.

Great Cardinia, perhaps new. Pl. VI. fig. 2.

Two specimens of Cardinia bearing a distant likeness to the C. Ovalis (Martin,) C. Uniformis of the Carboniferous of England and also to the C. Listeri Unio (Sowerby,) of the Lias.

M. de Koninck has figured a shell very similar to this under the name of Solenopsis imbricata, (Descrip. of new fossils from India, discovered by A. Fleming, by de Koninck, Quart. Journal of the Geol. Soc. vol. 19 Pl. IV fig. 3.) obtained from the carboniferous limestone of Varcho, (Vurcha, Salt Range, Punjab. A. M. V.)

Aviculo-Pecten dissimilis (Pecten id., Fleming), This specimen reminds one of the Pectea Ellipticus, (Phillips), which is found in the Carboniferous of Russia.

Axinus, sp. nova. This shells resembles much the Axinus obscurus, (Sow. Schizodus, King,) of the magnesian limestone or Permian of England. It has also some distant likeness to the A. Carbonarius (vernus) Sow. Geol. Transac. vol. V. pl. 38.

Fenestella Sykesi, Koninck, Quart. Journ. vol. 19, pl. 1. fig.,
Fenestella megastoma, Koninck, Quart. Journ vol. 19, pl. I.
Fenestella. Undetermined. Pl. V. fig. 1.

A very pretty species which I do not know. Perhaps the Vincu

laria multangularis (Postlock). It is to be regretted that the surface is not seen and that the branches are split in two.

Lithostrotion floriforme, Flem, a common enough species in Russia in the carboniferous; found also in England.

Michelinia or Beaumontia. Il preserved specimen.

Phyllopora cribellum, Konnick, Quart. Journ. vol. 19. pl. I fig. 2.

List of species which have been identified from the specimens sent by Mr. Verchere.

1. Productus Semireticulatus, Martin.

Costatus, Sow.

Humboldtii, D'Orbig.

Cora, D'Orbig.

Flemingii, Sow. = P. Longispinus and P. Lobatus,

Vernueil.

Aculeatus, Sow.

Boliviensis, D'Orbign.

8. Athyris ambigua? Sow. (perhaps Sp. hova).

11. Spirifer Vercheri, Verneuil (new species, nearly allied to the S. Trigonalis, Martin, but distinct).

14. Solenopsis imbricata, Konn.

15. Aviculo-pecten dissimilis, Flem.

16. Axinus, Sp. nova (nearly allied to A. Obscurus of the Gechstein) 17. Fenestella Sykesii, Konn.

Several notes on fossils collected in India have been published lately ; the fossils were forwarded by Messrs. Fleming and W. Purdon and more recently by Captain Godwin-Austen. These publications are 1st, Davidson's Memoir "On some Carboniferous Brachiopoda collected in