n several cases distinct from those of India. We know
as yet too little of the geology of the eastern peninsula to say from
what epoch dates its connexion with Indo-Oceanic land. Mr. Theobald
has ascertained the existence of Triassic, Cretaceous, and Nummulitic
rocks in the Arabian coast range; and Carboniferous limestone is known
to occur from Moulmein southward, while the range east of the Irrawadi
is formed of younger Tertiary rocks. From this it would appear that a
considerable part of the Malay peninsula must have been occupied by
the sea during the greater part of the Mesozoic and Eocene periods.
Plant-bearing rocks of Raniganj age have been identified as forming
the outer spurs of the Sikkim Himalaya; the ancient land must
therefore have extended some distance to the north of the present
Gangetic delta. Coal both of Cretaceous and Tertiary age occurs in the
Khasi hills, and also in Upper Assam, but in both cases associated
with marine beds; so that it would appear that in this region the
boundaries of land and sea oscillated somewhat during Cretaceous and
Eocene times. To the north-west of India the existence of great
formations of Cretaceous and Nummulitic age, stretching far through
Baluchistan and Persia, and entering into the structure of the
north-west Himalaya, prove that in the later Mesozoic and Eocene ages
India had no direct communication with western Asia; while the
Jurassic rocks of Cutch, the Salt range, and the northern Himalaya,
show that in the preceding period the sea covered a large part of the
present Indus basin; and the Triassic, Carboniferous, and still more
recent marine formations of the Himalaya, indicate that from very
early times till the upheaval of that great chain, much of its present
site was for ages covered by the sea.

"To sum up the views advanced in this paper.

"1st. The plant-bearing series of India ranges from early Permian to
the latest Jurassic times, indicating (except in a few cases and
locally) the uninterrupted continuity of land and fresh water
conditions. These may have prevailed from much earlier times.

"2nd. In the early Permian, as in the Postpliocene age, a cold climate
prevailed down to low latitudes, and I am inclined to believe in both
hemispheres simultaneously. With the decrease of cold the flora and
reptilian fauna of Permian times were diffused to Africa, India, and
possibly Australia; or the flora may have existed in Australia
somewhat earlier, and ha