834 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 804 



Feet 

 6. Pleistocene — white, red and yellow sands, 



with phosphatie pebbles and vertebrate 



fragments at the base 64 



5. Miocene — compact, yellow, fossiliferous 



marl (Duplin horizon) 6 



4. Miocene — grayish, fossiliferous marl 



(Marks Head marl) 29 



3. Fine-grained, laminated shale with sandy 



partings, a line of rounded pebbles at 



the base 14 



2. Oligocene — fossiliferous marl (Alum Bluff 



formation) i 



1. Laminated, drab shale with arenaceous 



partings 8 



Total lllj 



Recent collections made at Porters Land- 

 ing have rendered possible definite correlation 

 of the two Miocene horizons with those of the 

 areas further north. From bed no. 5 of the 

 section 34 identified species were obtained, 30 

 of which also occur in the Duplin marl of 

 North Carolina. The four species which have 

 not as yet been reported from there occur 

 in other localities in horizons the stratigraphie 

 equivalent of the Duplin, or in deposits of 

 later age. Bed no. 5, therefore, can be defi- 

 nitely correlated with the Duplin marl of 

 North Carolina and the fossiliferous Miocene 

 marls of Darlington and Mayesville, South 

 Carolina. 



The Marks Head marl, which was first named 

 by Sloan, and is represented by bed No. 4 of 

 the section, contains specimens of the genus 

 Carolia which suggests an Oligocene age, but 

 every other identifiable species may be Mio- 

 cene, and only three of them range downward 

 into the Oligocene. Nine of the species are 

 not known below the Miocene, and of these 

 nine, six are confined to the Miocene. The 

 horizon is, therefore, Miocene, while the pres- 

 ence of Turritella aequistriata Conrad, Callio- 

 stoma aphelium Dall, Ostrea mauricensis 

 Gabb, and Pecten marylandicus Wagner, defi- 

 nitely point to a horizon low in the series, ap- 

 proximately equivalent to the Calvert forma- 

 tion of Maryland. 



The recognition of the stratigraphie posi- 

 tion of this horizon is of importance, as it is 



the only low Miocene horizon known south of 

 Virginia. Further south in Florida, along 

 the western extension, on the Ocklockonee and 

 Apalachicola rivers, the Miocene rests upon 

 the eroded surface of the upper Oligocene. 

 The Miocene deposits of these localities repre- 

 sent a horizon high in the series. Therefore, 

 the Marks Head Miocene is the equivalent in 

 part to the erosion interval between the upper 

 Oligocene and the Miocene of western Florida. 

 Bed no. 2 of the section at Porters Landing 

 contains fossils indicative of an upper Oligo- 

 cene age. Bed no. 3 is very likely of Miocene 

 age, and the line of rounded pebbles at the 

 base suggests that the Miocene may rest upon 

 the eroded surface of the upper Oligocene. It 

 seems probable that along the Savannah 

 River an erosion interval occurred between 

 Oligocene and Miocene depositions, but the 

 interval was of shorter duration than in west- 

 ern Florida. 



T. Wayland Vaughan 



TEE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ZOOLOGISTS 

 CENTRAL BRANCH 



The annual meeting of the American Society 

 of Zoologists, Central Branch, was held in the 

 splendid new Natural Science Hall of the Uni- 

 versity of Iowa, Iowa City, on April 7, 8 and 9, 

 1910, Dean Edward A. Birge, of the University 

 of Wisconsin, presiding. Thirty zoologists of the 

 central states registered. 



Resolutions relating to the International Com- 

 mission on Nomenclature similar to those adopted 

 by the Eastern Branch at the December meeting 

 were passed, and the following zoologists were 

 appointed as a committee to cooperate with the 

 International Commission: C. C. Nutting, C. H. 

 Eigenmann, 0. A. Kofoid, H. B. Ward, S. W. 

 Williston. 



Officers for the ensuing year were chosen as 

 follows : 



President — C. E. McClung, University of Kan- 

 sas. 



Vice-president — H. F. Nachtrieb, University of 

 Minnesota. 



Secretary-Treasurer — H. V. Neal, Knox College. 



Executive Committee — R. H. Walcott, Univer- 

 sity of Nebraska, W. C. Curtis, University of 

 Missouri, Oscar Riddle, University of Chicago. 



The following, having received the votes of the 



