658 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 
relation, the constitution and the condition of the gravel are duly 
considered, there is no escape from the conclusion that it is 
preglacial. 
This preglacial gravel at this elevation and in these surround- 
ings, is surely a striking fact, although it may not now be pos- 
sible to define its exact significance. It might be thought to be 
either, first, a remnant of gravel deposited along the course ofa 
former stream, and therefore very local, or, second, a remnant of 
a formation which was once widespread. Between these two 
hypotheses it should be possible to decide, if sufficient data are 
available. While relevant data are less complete-than could be 
desired, they are sufficient to constitute a strong presumption in 
favor of the latter hypothesis, although the pot-holes, considered 
by themselves, might seem to point to the opposite conclusion. 
It is well known that high-level gravels have a wide distri- 
bution in the Mississippi basin south of the limit reached by the 
ice of the Pleistocene period. Such gravels are well known at 
various points in the southern part of [llinois, Indiana and Mis- 
souri, in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and in the states further 
south. Comparable gravels are widespread in the West. In the 
South these gravels have sometimes passed under the omnibus 
name Orange Sand. They have sometimes been regarded as of 
recent (Pleistocene) age,’ though in late years they have been 
regarded more commonly as pre-Pleistocene.? It is not to be 
understood that all the gravels within the general area here 
referred to are of the same age. Reference is here made especi- 
ally to the high-level gravels, as distinct from those which 
occupy the lower lands and the valleys. According to, our 
present interpretation, the gravels which are found capping the 
hill tops and the high-level plains within the general area spec- 
cified, represent an older (pre-Pleistocene) formation, while 
*DaNna, Manual of Geology, Fourth Edition, p. 964, and UPHAM, American Natur- 
alist 1894, pp. 979-988. 
CHAMBERLIN and the writer; Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XLI., pp. 359-377; 1891. Mc- 
GEE; The Lafayette formation, Eleventh Annual Report U.S. G.S. Cat; Arkansas 
Geological Survey, Annual Report for 1889, Vol. II. SmitH; Report on the Geology 
of the Coastal Plain of Alabama, 1894. 
