124 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X 



GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



Extract from proceedings ; Xov. 16, 1881. 

 UNIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 



Prof. Hughes .«aid that he proposed to issue to the Committee 

 of organization for Great Britain a full Keport of the proceedings 

 of the Bologna Congress; but in anticipation of that, he begged 

 to offer to the Geological Society a brief statement of the results. 



It would be within the recollection of the Fellows of the So- 

 ciety that, at the Geological Congress of Pai'is in 1878, two 

 principal subjects were proposed for discussion at the Bologna 

 Couoress, and each was referred to an International Commission 

 named by the Congress : — 



1. The Unification of Geological Nomenclature. 



2. Geological Cartography. 



On the 2nd of April, 1880, the International Commission for 

 the Unification of Geolos-ical Nomenclature was convened at 

 Paris by the President of the Paris Congress and the President 

 elect of the Bologna Congress, and the Commissioners present at 

 that meeting, having regard to the impos.^ibility of drawing up any 

 thing like a complete report upon so vast a subject before the 

 meeting of the Congress, and feeling that there would be much 

 advantage gained by settling the meaning of the terms commonly 

 used to designate the laru;er and smaller divisions of the materials 

 which make up the crust of the earth, and the portions of time 

 to which they are assigned, recommended that, first of all, these 

 questions of a general character should be considered, such as the 

 definition of epoch, period, formation, rock, &c., &c. A resume 

 of the reports of the different nationalities was drawn up by the 

 General Secretary, M. Dewalque, and presented to the Congress, 

 and the discussion was taken upon it. America and England 

 were considered as one from the very first, a happy result of the 

 friendly feeling that exists on all points between the two nations, 

 and at Bologna cordially upheld by their distinguished guest of 

 that evening Dr. Sterry Hunt. 



The conclusions arrived at were briefly — that the term Group 

 should be applied to the largest geological division of rocks, Sys- 

 tem to the next. Series to the third in order of magnitude, Stage 

 to the fourth, and the French word Assise was placed in the fifth 

 place, it being left to other nationalities to use whatever word in 



