BUI.LETIN 31 



Many things have delayed the appearance of our work on 

 the higher Eocene stages. First among these has been an almost 

 constant connection with National, State or private surveys de- 

 manding a vast amount of time on subjects generally but distant- 

 ly related to Tertiary- paleontology, yet admitting of occasional 

 studies of out-of-the-w^ay places in middle Eocene areas, hence in- 

 creasing our collections and adding slowl}^ to our knowledge of 

 these interesting stages. Five times in our goings and com- 

 ings to the Gulf region have we touched at the very center of 

 mid- Eocene interest, Claiborne Bluff, collecting always new 

 fossils and facts for future study and illustration. But from the 

 verj^ nature of human affairs there must come a time wdien field 

 work is temporarily suspended and notes and fossils are given un- 

 divided attention if this work, now" so long delaj-ed, is ever to 

 appear. 



It would doubtless be more in accordance with precedent and 

 perhaps more logical to treat here of the mollusca of the St. 

 Maurice stage only, the so-called Lower Claiborne of our various 

 previous contributions. For, the more we study the so-called 

 Claiborne and Lower Claiborne faunas the more distinct do they 

 appear. The Lower Claiborne or St. Maurice represents an age 

 of general depression along the Gulf border with widely distribut- 

 ed molluscan remains ; the Claiborne, a somew^hat uplifted lacus- 

 trine condition with rarely local depressions sufficient to allow of 

 the incursion of the warm seas from the .south with their teeming 

 marine life. One notable example of this kind is to be seen at the 

 famous Claiborne bluff on the Alabama, though in the roadside 



iferous outcrops along its banks. Exception has been taken to the name Sa- 

 bine since Penrose made use of the expression "Sabine River beds" to in- 

 clude certain horizons not incli:ded within the stage as now defined. This 

 use of a descriptive expression can scarcely invalidate the clearly defined 

 name as proposed by Veatch and sanctioned by the proper authorities of the 

 U. S. Geological Survej- . The name Wilcox, since used by that bureau 

 lacks priorit}' and is based on an obscure county name in Alabama, one that 

 in no way carries the historical significance of Sabine, nor would it be found 

 on general maps of the United States. 



