152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1881. 



The measurements and descriptions of Conrad (" Fossil Shells 

 of the Tertiary- Formations," 1833, p 32 ; Proceedings of the 

 National Institution, 1841. p. It4), Hale ("Geology of South 

 Alabama," American Journal of Science, new ser., YI, p. 354), 

 and Lyell (Journal of the Geological Society, lY, p. 10, et seq.) 

 do not differ very essentially from the data given by Tuomey. 

 The arenaceous bed " rf," about 80 feet above water level, has 

 ^aelded the vast majority of the fossils for which the locality is 

 famous, and is that which has been identified as the equivalent of 

 the " Calcaire Grossier " (Upper Eocene) of France (et conseq., 

 Bruxellian of Belgium, and Bartonian of England). To what 

 extent the deposits either below or above this bed can be cor- 

 related with the remaining deposits of the Paris or London series 

 has not yet been determined ; nor has it yet been conclusively 

 shown what exact portion of the American Eocene formation is 

 represented in this Claiborne exposure. Although formerly con- 

 sidered to be near the base of the system, there are now verj^ 

 strong grounds for concluding that these beds are underlaid bj' 

 older Eocene strata having a thickness of at least 200 feet, and 

 possibly even much more. The age of the limestone bed " e," 

 although perhaps the character of its contained fossils does not 

 permit absolute determination, is in all probabilit^y Jacksonian — 

 at least in part — and will doubtless be found to correspond with a 

 portion of tlie bluff exposed at St. Stephen's on the Tombigbee 

 River, about thirty miles almost due west of Claiborne. At any 

 rate, a portion of the white, or so-called "rotten" limestone im- 

 mediately west of Claiborne has been found to contain several of 

 the characteristic fossils of the Jackson group, and these asso- 

 ciated with the remains of Zeuglodon ; there is, therefore, no 

 doubt as to the age of at least this portion of the white limestone, 

 nor can there be any reasonable doubt as to the continuity existing 

 between these deposits and the similar ones exposed on Claiborne 

 bluff. 



Section on Bashia Creek, Clarke Co., Ala. — Probably the section 

 representing the oldest Eocene deposits of the State of Alabama 

 is that exposed on Bashia Creek, Clarke Co., and detailed by 

 Toumey in his report on the geology of the State (First Biennial 

 report, p. 145) : 



