26 



SCIENCE. 



LX. S. Vol. XVIK. Xo. 444. 



classed as Miocene, and this determination of 

 the age has been very generally accepted 

 by the geologists. Professor Dall's critical 

 studies of the fossils and stratigraphy of this 

 region have since enabled him to give greater 

 exactness and precision to Langdon's first 

 outline by establishing several substages of 

 the original Chattahoochee; by assigning the 

 lower part of the original Miocene to the 

 Oligocene, and the upper to the Chesapeake 

 Miocene, etc. 



Now, while the facts given by us certainly 

 confirm the existence of Langdon's Chatta- 

 hoochee beds, by whatever name now known, 

 telow the Grand Gulf in western Florida, and 

 in Alabama and Mississippi, we do not see 

 how they either confirm or contradict the 

 conclusions of Professor Dall as to the true 

 age of the different parts of the Chattahoochee 

 series. 



To summarize: 



1. The Grand Gulf of ' Messrs. Smith and 

 Aldrich ' is the same fossiliferous formation 

 which Hilgard has described by that name, 

 and not merely ' the upper non-fossiliferous 

 portion at the other end of Hilgard's section.' 

 It is the same formation which Professor Dall 

 calls the 'typical Grand Gulf in his recent 

 communication, and which he considers Oli- 

 gocene, and a remnant of the heterogeneous 

 Grand Gulf of Hilgard. We are compelled 

 ty the facts to believe that this typical Grand 

 Gulf is not Oligocene at all, but that it be- 

 longs about a quarter of a mile vertically 

 above the place in the geological scale to 

 which it is assigned by Professor Dall. 



2. There is also no Miocene Grand Gulf, 

 as Langdon's discovery has proved and as has 

 been confirmed by other geologists who have 

 studied the Chattahoochee-Appalaehicola sec- 

 tion. We might perhaps more correctly say 

 there is no Miocene Grand Gulf below the 

 horizon of the Pascagoula, if that be cer- 

 tainly proved to be Miocene. 



3. We think our facts prove that the Grand 

 Gulf, all and singular, occupies a place in 

 the geological column helow the Lafayette and 

 alove the Pascagoula (which is the upper- 

 most of the Tertiary formations as yet de- 



termined along the Gulf coast). This is all 

 we have endeavored to show, and it was the 

 raison d'etre of our first note. We do not 

 see wherein what we have there said in any 

 way confirms Professor Dall's ' earlier de- 

 terminations,' and, furthermore, we think that 

 our view of the age of the Grand Gulf is new, 

 and not a mere equivalent of the views of 

 any other geologist. Euges^e A. Smith, 

 Trumax H. Aldrich. 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 



THE REMAINS OF BEAR AND DEER ON THE SHORES 

 OF ONONDAGA LAKE. 



Through the courtesy of the firm of Will & 

 Bauer, of Syracuse, the university received in 

 March parts of the skulls of sis bears (Ursits 

 americanus) ; the leg bones of at least three 

 bears (JJrsus Americanus) ; and parts of the 

 leg bones of three deer, the Virginia deer. The 

 bones were identified through the kindness of 

 Dr. Ablen, of- the Natural History Museum 

 of New York. 



The find was made north of Syracuse, 

 about one eighth of a mile east of Onondaga 

 Lake, while the company was excavating for 

 a trench. The land at this place is level, the 

 surface soil is of a mucky character, varying 

 in thickness from three to nine feet. Be- 

 neath the muck there is a bed of marl with 

 here and there some quicksand. 



The workmen noticed bones when they first 

 began digging, but failed to bring the fact 

 to the attention of the foreman until the 

 work was nearly completed. A careful watch 

 was maintained during the remainder of the 

 excavations, with the above gratifying results. 

 The bones were not taken from one place, but 

 were found scattered over an area of several 

 square rods, a skull being found at one place 

 and the jaws at another. 



A brief description of the bones may be 

 of some general interest. The larger skull 

 measured twelve inches from the occipital 

 ridge to the premaxilla; nine and one half 

 inches from the anterior side of the foramen 

 magnum to the premaxilla; three and one 

 half inches from the right zygomatic arch to 

 the sagittal plane of the skull; the left 



