298 EDITORIAL 



Hopkins, in a report of the Arkansas Geological Survey, used 

 the name Eureka shale for a supposed Devonian horizon ; while 

 in 1898 Haworth, in a report of the Kansas Geological Survey, 

 proposes the name Eureka limestone as a subdivision of the Coal 

 Measures. 



In 1879 Peale, in the Eleventh Annual Report of the United 

 States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, 

 employed the term Cache Valley group for a subdivision of the 

 Pleistocene of Utah. Becker described in 1888 the Cache Lake 

 beds of California, in Monograph XIII of the United States 

 Geological Survey, and referred them to the Tertiary. In 1896 

 G. M. Dawson, in a report of the Canada Geological Survey, 

 uses the name Cache Creek formation for a horizon of the 

 Carboniferous to include strata described by Selwyn in 1872 as 

 Upper and Lower Cache Creek beds. 



In 1842— 1846 Emmons, Vanuxem and Mather employed the 

 term Erie division as a subdivision of the New York system. 

 In the Ohio Geological Survey reports the Erie clay was used 

 as a subdivision of the Pleistocene, and Erie shale was referred 

 both to the Carboniferous and Devonian. In 1875 Lesley 

 described, in a report of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 

 the Erie shale, which he referred to the Silurian. In 1898 

 Haworth described the Erie limestone of the Coal Measures of 

 Kansas. The above references are given merely to illustrate 

 the confusion that is likely to arise from the use of new geo- 

 graphic terms if the literature is not carefully examined for 

 previous use. 



For the past eighteen months the writer has been engaged 

 in preparing a card catalogue of geologic formation names, dur- 

 ing such time as could be taken from other office and field work. 

 This catalogue has already assumed considerable proportions, 

 and is now being consulted by those geologists who are aware 

 that such a work is being prosecuted. While preparing the 

 annual bibliography of geological literature for 1898 the writer 

 has found several instances of duplication of names that have 

 become well established in geological nomenclature. It will 



