100 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Further collections of this material will be necessary before it will 
be possible to draw any conclusions as to the botanical affinities indi- 
cated; but the fact that such palms flourished in the Lower Claiborne 
stage is one Which affords evidence of the very greatest interest and 
importance. From the evidence derived from other sources, it seems 
possible that the one or more species of palms represented in the Yegua 
clays, may be regarded as belonging to the genus Sabal. 
GEOLOGICAL. 
Our knowledge of the geological position of the Yegua clays rests 
upon the work of Hilgard in Louisiana and Mississippi, and of Dumble, 
Kennedy and Harris in Texas. All of this work was completed prior 
to 1895, since which time no new facts have been brought forward. 
The literature is, in consequence, somewhat scanty, but a review of 
the leading results obtained will enable us to determine what may be 
regarded as the accepted opinion. 
A reference to the Geological Survey of Texas, now discontinued, 
brought a very kind response from Prof. Alexander Deussen of the 
University of Texas, to the effect that “the formation occurring at 
Somerville, Burleson County, Texas, is the Yegua clays of the Eocene 
which has been correlated with the Lower Claiborne Group of Hilgard’s 
Mississippi section (6). These clays are characterized by the presence 
of silicified wood.” | 
In his report on the Brown Coals and Lignites of Texas for 1892, 
Mr. Dumble (2) refers to the Yegua division as belonging to “the 
lower portions of the deposits heretofore known as the Fayette beds,” 
and points to the occurrence in the Burleson County area of many 
calcareous concretions, one and one-half feet in diameter as well as 
masses of clay and sand, and “a tremendous amount of silicified wood 
in loose blocks.” This wood was not seen in place, but occurred in 
the gravel drift overlying this formation. Many leaf impressions and 
‘considerable iron pyrite are found in the clay. This record, with 
respect to the occurrence of wood and its great abundance, is in accord 
with the observations of other investigators (8) including Dr. von 
Schrenk, from whom the present material was obtained. 
In a further discussion of the Texas Eocene (9), Mr. Dumble 
speaks of the Yegua clays as a subdivision in which it is “ proposed to. 
include the gypseous and saliferous clays, lignites and sands lying 
between the marine beds and the sandstones of the Fayette with which 
they were united in the first use of the name. The area ooccupied by 
them is, for the most part, only gently rolling, except toward the south-. 
