REVIEWS 655 
which appears to have been, in starting out, the main object of the 
memoir, is the very phase that all would have desired to have discussed 
more fully. This, however, should not be expected, perhaps, since it 
pertains more particularly to the purely geological side of the ques- 
tion, and the paper lays most stress on the biologic aspects. 
The account of the fossils is a welcome addition to our knowledge 
of the distribution of the Carboniferous organisms in the Mississippi 
province. While the list may appear meager, it must be remembered 
that heretofore only an occasional orstraggling form was known from the 
region. ‘Twenty-one localities yielded fossils. [here are represented 
forty-eight genera and ninety species, some of which are not specif- 
ically identified. The “ fauna is a poor one, such as one would expect 
to wander in from deeper waters whenever a slight subsidence made 
shallow waters a little more habitable. The faunas could not become 
well established, because the conditions soon reverted to their old 
state, and the inhabitants of the seas were forced to migrate or be 
exterminated.” 
In comparing the fauna with its nearest ally, in Kansas and 
Nebraska, the conclusion is reached that “‘ there is not sufficient reason 
for classing the Poteau Mountain beds with the Permian, but their 
fauna, as well as stratigraphic position, place them very high in the 
Coal Measures, since they are like the fauna and position of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley Upper Coal Measures.” 
The “‘ Batesville Sandstone of Arkansas,” by Mr. Weller, treats of 
the Lower Carboniferous of the northern part of the state. While the 
greater part of the paper is devoted to the description of fossils, the 
brief account of the stratigraphy and correlation features is the most 
important that has yet appeared on the subject. The comparison of 
the general section of the Lower Carboniferous in Arkansas with that 
of the typical localities along the Mississippi River shows that the two 
are essentially identical. 
The “ Batesville sandstone has the same stratigraphic position in 
the Batesville section which the Aux Vases sandstone occupies in the 
typical section, and the lithological characters of the two formations 
are similar. No fossils have as yet been found in the Aux Vases sand- 
stone, but if a fauna were found a mingling of St. Louis and Kaskas- 
kia species, such as are present in the Batesville sandstone fauna, would 
be looked for.” 
The parallelism of the Arkansas section of the Lower Carbonifer- 
