BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 

 Vol. 1, pp. 335-356 April 14, 1890 



THE VALUE OF THE TERM "HUDSON RIVER GROUP" IN 



GEOLOGIC NOMENCLATURE. 



BY CHARLES D. WALCOTT. 

 (Read before the Society December 27, 1889.) 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

 Introduction 335 



Historical and Descriptive Notes 335 



Chronologic Arrangement of Names 344 



Discoveries of Recent Years 344 



Value of the Term 351 



Discussion 354 



Introduction. 



From the windows of the building in which we are assembled we can look 

 out over the broad expanse of the river * upon which Henry Hudson sailed 

 two hundred and eighty years ago (1609). It was afterward christened 

 "Hudson" by the English, and it has retained this name with the unani- 

 mous consent of the geographers of the centuries since. It seems well to-day 

 to consider the place of the same name in the geologic nomenclature of 

 America, as its retention has been threatened by the conclusions of various 

 geologists, some of whom have, while others have not, studied the rocks of 

 the Hudson valley. 



The question before us is, What is the value of the term "Hudson River," 

 in the light of the latest geologic research ? 



Historical and Descriptive Notes. 



The rocks of the valley of the Hudson were described in a general way 

 by Amos Eaton, in a series of publications extending from 1817 t<> L832.1 



* Discovered by Verrazzani in l r >_'i. Named " River of the Mountains" bv Hudson in L609, and 

 called " Mauritius" in honor of Prince M auric sau by Englishmen a short time after, about 



1692 it became generally known as the North River. 



+ Index to the r;eoio K v of the Northern States, (818, 2d ed., i ■■■ I. and Agrlo, Surrey 



Rensselaer county, 1822: Geol. Text Book, 1830, 2d ed., I 



XLIV-Bir.r.. Geoh.Soo. A.m., Vol. l, 1889. 



