86 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



in the Marmaton formation.* Unfortunately, Marmaton, in 

 this connection is almost exactly equivalent to the Appanoose 

 of Bain. Besides, the term Marmaton had already been used 

 for the median shale member of the Henrietta, f 



Eliminating Swallow's correlations as not essential, matters 

 seem vastly simplified by retaining his title of Marais des 

 Cygnes for the upper number of the Des Moines series, or 

 that part lying between the Pawnee and Bethany limestones, 

 especially in Missouri and Kansas. 



Bethany Limestone. — The most important limestone of the 

 coal measures is the basal member of the Missourian series, 

 now generally called the Bethany formation. While no special 

 designation was applied to it before 'Broadhead's, in 1862, this 

 limestone was clearly recognized by a number of scientific 

 travelers. As early as 1840, KingJ called particular atten- 

 tion to these limestones near the Osage river at the western 

 boundary of Missouri. He recognized their three-fold charac- 

 ter and pointed out their importance as a stratigraphic hori- 

 zon. 



Owen, § in 1852, gave a vertical section of the limestone beds 

 under consideration, and their associated strata, as they occur 

 on the Missouri river a few miles below the mouth of the Kaw 

 (Kansas City), near Wayne City. He makes the observation 

 that the beds which are at the water level at the first men- 

 tioned place, gradually rise to the eastward. Hawn]] observed 

 the Bethany limestone in making his section along the line of 

 Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, but he afterwards confounded 

 with it the lola, latan and Stanton limestones. Swallow^ also 

 noted these beds at Kansas City and Liberty landing on the 

 Missouri river, but he also correlated with them the Stanton 

 (Plattsburg) beds as shown at Leavenworth. 



According to the canons of nomenclature and appropriate- 

 ness of application, the term Bethany appears best suited to 

 the basal member of the Missourian series. Various other 

 titles for these limestones have been proposed. The subject 

 has been recently reviewed.** The great Winterset limestones 



* University Geol. Sur. Kansas, Vol. Ill, p. 94, 1898. 

 + Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci., Vol. IV. p. 24, 1897. 



$Geol. Sur. Osage River, Eleventh Gen. Assem. Missouri, 1st Sess., Sen. Jour., App 

 p. 518, 1840. 



§Geol. Sur. Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnegota, p. 137, 1853. 

 II Geol. Sur. Missouri, 1st and 3d. Ann. Repts., p. 125, 1855. 

 T Geol. Sur. Missouri, 1st and 2d Ann. Repts , p. 81, 1855. 

 »* American Jour. Scl., (4), Vol. II, p. 222, 1896. 



