J 2 EDITORIAL 



ashes, and lavas. In places it contains many plant remains and is 

 apparently in part a fresh water formation. 



The John Day formation rests directly upon the Clarno at Clarno's 

 Ferry. The basin in which it was deposited is quite different from 

 that of the Clarno. It probably rests unconformably upon that formation. 

 The Lower John Day beds are considerably contorted in some locali- 

 ties. Ordinarily they are colored a deep red. Fossil remains are 

 exceedingly rare in this division. 



The blue-green beds of the Middle John Day are very fossiliferous. 

 They correspond to the Diceratherium beds of Wortman. The Upper 

 or Buff beds of the John Day lap over the middle division and rest 

 in places upon the older formations. The upper division corresponds 

 to the Merycochcerus Beds of Wortman. As Merycochcerus does not 

 occur in the John Day, the upper division will be called the Paracotylops 

 Beds. This name is based on the new generic name proposed by W. 

 D. Matthew for the Upper John Day oreodons, originally supposed to be 

 Merycochcerus. 



The Columbia lava, an extension of the lavas on the Columbia 

 River to the north, rests unconformably upon the crumpled John Day 

 formation. The name Columbia lava should be restricted to this 

 horizon of the lavas in this region, as other beds included in this group 

 belong in some cases to different geological periods. 



The Cottonwood (Loup Fork) formation, near iooo feet in thick- 

 ness, rests upon the Columbia lava. The Van Horn Ranch plants,, 

 which have generally been considered as John Day, are from this 

 horizon. Remains of a true John Day flora, which had not previously 

 been known, were discovered by the University of California expedition 

 in 1900. The discovery of the true stratigraphic position of the Van 

 Horn Ranch flora explains the apparent inverted position of the Neo- 

 cene formations in central Washington. 



Resting on the worn edges of the Cottonwood Beds is the Rattle- 

 snake formation, comprising several hundred feet of gravel, tuff, and 

 lava. 



In canyons cut through the Rattlesnake and Cottonwood are 

 several terraces. Remains of elephants and later horses found in the 

 lower terrace deposits show that they were formed in Quaternary time. 



The paper was illustrated with lantern slides showing the principal 

 formations and their relations to each other. 



