130 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



sea were in Coleman times [Upper PennsylvanianJ indicated 

 bj the gathering in of shore-lines and the partial enclosure 

 of a mediterranean sea. ... In summary it may be said 

 that the object of this paper is to show that the Permian of 

 Texas is, like other areas of the Permian, such as those of 

 Europe, a deposit in large measure made in an inland sea, 

 at certain times in its history a dead sea. . . ." 



To a large extent I agree with these statements, though it 

 will have to be understood that this inland sea was open 

 somewhere occasionally to admit the foreign elements of the 

 fauna which appear in the lower part, as well as that of the 

 Whitehorse sandstone and the Quartermaster beds, at two 

 distinct periods in its late history. Similar opinions have 

 been expressed by others in accounting for these beds. 



This brings the discussion of the Texas beds down to the 

 last few years. I have not cited all the papers written on 

 this subject in the preceding pages. However, I have en- 

 deavored to discuss much of the more important material 

 bearing on the Texas Permian, confining myself largely to 

 the work of those who have made the most careful and ex- 

 tended observations in the field and who have contributed the 

 most evidence bearing on the age of these beds. Some of 

 the statements quoted will be discussed in the light of later 

 knowledge, in the proper place. 



While the explorations were being carried on in Texas the 

 Kansas geologists were endeavoring to solve the same prob- 

 lems in Kansas. This work has been so thoroughly summar- 

 ized by Prosser-*' that it will be unnecessary to give it here. 

 On account of differences in lithologic characters between 

 the Red Beds of Texas and Kansas and the unexplored region 

 of great extent lying between them, it was impossible to 

 determine the age of the Kansas beds without fossils, which 

 have been, so far, lacking. This region had been hurriedly 

 crossed by Cope, who was inclined to the opinion that the 

 Kansas beds and those of Indian Territory [now Oklahoma] 

 were Permian, yet he was not certain enough of it to make 

 the declaration without reservation. 



Within the last decade much light has been thrown on this 



26. Univ. Geol. Surv. Kan., II, pp. 55-95 1897. 



