GEOLOGICAL AND NATUEAL HISTORY SURV'^YS. 263 



During the latter part of the season of 1856 Hilgard extended the 

 detailed survey of the Cretaceous area as far south as Columbus; 

 and thence, as the beginning of the rainy season rendered further 

 field work unprofitable, drove across the country to Tuscaloosa, Ala- 

 bama, in order to compare notes and consult with Tuomey, then State 

 geologist of Alabama, and to gain an insight into the works of refer- 

 ence for Cretaceous and Tcrtiarj^ paleontology. He was thus enabled 

 to ascertain the relations of the "Tombigby (sic) sands" fossils to the 

 " Rotten limestone," which he had thus far designated as Upper, but 

 agreed henceforth to consider as Middle Cretaceous. Hilgard there 

 also learned for the first time that Tuomey had found fossils — well 

 preserved ammonites and several gasteropods — silicified in the 

 "Lower Cretaceous" clays near Eutaw (or, rather, Finchs Ferry), 

 Alabama, and it was agreed to designate this lower clayey stage, 

 which in Mississippi had been found entirely barren of fossils, as 

 the " Eutaw " group. Subsequently, prior publication gave prece- 

 dence to SafTord's name of " Coffee group " for the lower clays, and 

 similarly Hilgard's " Tippah group " received from Conrad the 

 prior name of " Ripley " for the uppermost Cretaceous. 



Tuomey had at that time a portion of his second report in manu- 

 script, and as, unfortunately, he died six months after the conference 

 fibove noted, that report, which was posthumously edited by J. W. 

 Mallet, does not show the latest phase of Tuomey 's knowledge of the 

 Cretaceous stages. As his collections were mostly destroyed during 

 the war it is of interest to record here that almost all the Cretaceous 

 fossils marked "Miss." in list "A," page 257 of that report, were 

 from the " Tombigby sand " and the immediately overlying portion 

 of the "Rotten limestone," in Lowndes County, Mississippi; the 

 ^^Ammonifes Bi-Nodosus " recorded in the same list, from Eutaw, 

 Alabama, was considered by him as a " leading fossil " of the Lower 

 Cretaceous clays. The specimens Avere all silicified and in excellent 

 preservation. 



Hilgard returned to Oxford in November across a country ren- 

 dered almost impassable by copious rains, and found matters rapidly 

 coming to a crisis at the university. Harper had been provided 

 with a separate ambulance outfit, and had taken the field for a few 

 weeks during the season of 1850 in the northwestern counties, but 

 he seemed to be unable to keep away from Oxford for any length 

 of time. Finally, the dissatisfaction of the board of trustees with 

 his personal acts, in relation both to the survey and to the university, 

 came to a head in November, 1856, when he was forced to resign. 

 Hilgard was continued as assistant, with compensation increased to 

 $1,500 a year, and was for the time being placed in charge of the 

 eurv^ev, the office work of which he continued durino; the winter. 



