EDITORIAL 271 



of Lawrence county" and under the geological division of the 

 St. Louis limestone, which was composed of beds No. 24-17 

 inclusive, he stated that "bed No. 22, is the quarry bed which 

 furnishes in unlimited supply the famous ' Bedford stone' so 



favorably known This stone is composed almost wholly 



of minute fossils cemented with shell and coal dust. It varies 

 in color from gray to a creamy white, and may be quarried in 

 blocks or columns the entire thickness (12 feet) of the stratum." 1 

 Under the geological section of the county bed No. 22 is described 

 as "White quarry limestone" from 4 to 12 feet in thickness. 2 

 It is evident on reading the report that Professor Collett did not 

 use the term "Bedford stone" as the name of a geologic unit. 

 Furthermore, this report and the following citations by Mr. 

 Siebenthal have no bearing upon the question of the priority of 

 Bedford as a formation name because they are all antedated by 

 Dr. Newberry's precise delimination and description of the 

 Bedford Shales of northern Ohio. 



Mr. Siebenthal's second point that " to the trade, Bedford 

 stone it will be to the end of the chapter" does not appear to the 

 writer to have any particular bearing upon the question. He 

 does not believe when a scientific classification and one used in 

 trade fail to agree that it is necessary for the former to withdraw 

 in favor of the commercial one. A still more striking example 

 of the difference between the trade and geological name is that 

 of the "North or Hudson River bluestone," the trade name used 

 for the sandstone so largely employed for flagging and house 

 trimmings in New York and other eastern cities. The trade 

 name was in use before the rocks of eastern New York were 

 classified ; but the geologists did not use it for the name of a 

 geological division, although the name Hudson River group was 

 used for an older formation than the one in which the quarries 

 were located. The belt of country containing this "bluestone"" 

 extends for nearly one hundred miles north and south on the 

 western side of the Hudson River and the early quarries were in 



'Fifth Ann. Rept. Geol. Surv. Indiana made during the year 1873-4, P- 2 76. 

 2 Loc. cit., p. 265. 



