328 C. R. KEYES 



Europe, were thought by Murchison to constitute a distinct sys- 

 tem, equal in rank to Carboniferous and Silurian. He named 

 it, in 1 84 1, after the ancient kingdom of Perm. Since that time 

 much has been learned regarding this great terrane in the Rus- 

 sian provinces. Numerous comparisons have also been made 

 with supposed equivalents in other parts of the world. 



A notable fact regarding the Russian Paleozoic rocks above 

 the Devonian is that in nearly every respect they are very similar 

 to those forming the same part of the general geological section 

 developed in the Mississippi Valley. The original Permian pre- 

 sents almost the identical features that do the beds so called in 

 Kansas and Texas. And, strangely enough, the identical ques- 

 tions that have arisen in this country are bones of contention 

 among Russian geologists. 



Those who took part in the long excursions in eastern, cen- 

 tral, and southern Russia before and after the sessions of the 

 Seventh International Congress of Geologists, held in St. Peters- 

 burg in August 1897, na d ample opportunity to study the origi- 

 nal Permian under the most favorable circumstances. Under the 

 personal guidance of Messrs. Karpinsky, Tschernyschew, Pavlov, 

 Amalilsky, and Nikitin, especially, the typical and critical sections 

 were examined and the fossils of the various horizons collected. 

 With the aid of the official maps, such literature of the region 

 as was at hand, and the explanations offered by the geologists 

 mentioned, who with others had worked in the district and were 

 well acquainted with the details, an unusually good idea of the 

 Russian Permian was obtained. 



To those from America, who were especially interested in 

 the Carboniferous and Permian, this experience furnished much 

 desired information. The similarity of the deposits, of their 

 faunas, and of the questions concerning them, in the Russia and 

 Mississippi provinces, seems to make some comparison of their 

 features worthy of formulation. The bearing that a direct 

 knowledge of the former has upon the latter will certainly tend 

 to make our own problems easier of solution. 



Distributions of the terranes. — The Carboniferous and Permian 



