268 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 10. 



ical locality is that the terrane should be 

 exhibited there in its entirety or maximum 

 development ; ' and that the teriitory about 

 Newark, IST. J., does not meet these require- 

 ments for the Newark system. 



Without dissenting from the wisdom of 

 the rule proposed, although a large number 

 of exceptions could be found to it in the 

 best geological memou-s, I wish to state 

 from my own knowledge that the region 

 about Newark may be taken as tj^ical of the 

 terrane named after that city. The character- 

 istic reddish-brown standstones and shales 

 are there well exposed, and in the neighbor- 

 ing Newark mountains the associated trap 

 rock occurs in sheets of great thickness. 

 This statement is sustained by Prof. Hitch- 

 cock's own words, a Uttle farther on in the 

 paper cited, where he says, " the New Jersey 

 terrane possesses the distinguishing features 

 of the Trias quite as well as the one in New 

 England." 



That Passaic would have been a better 

 name, as Prof. Hitchcock suggests, is per- 

 haps true, but the one before us was 

 definitely selected and has priority. 



Second. It is stated by Prof. Hitchcock 

 that the name ' Connecticut or Connecticut 

 River sandstone has priority over Newark,' 

 and was used by several geologists before 

 Eedfield's proposal in 1856, ' though none 

 of them had proposed it as a geological 

 term.' The admitted fact that no one had 

 used the name referred to as a geological 

 term, relieves me of the necessity of show- 

 ing that Redfield's name has priority. 



In the writings of the older geologists 

 among whom Prof Edward Hitchcock will 

 always take the first rank as an investiga- 

 tor of the sandstones of the Connecticut val- 

 ley, the terms ' Connecticut sandstone,' or 

 'Connecticut Eiver sandstone,' were used in 

 the same sense as the coordinate term I have 

 just employed, i. e., as a geographical desig- 

 nation ; just as they might have referred to 

 the granite of Massachusetts without any 



intention of proposing a group name. The 

 fact that the older geologists, and among 

 them Prof Edward Hitchcock, spoke of the 

 Newark rocks of New England under defi-" 

 nite group names, implj'ing correlation, is 

 sufficient evidence that thej^ did not recog- 

 nize the value of an independent name. 



Third. It is stated that Prof J. D. Dana 

 adopted the name proposed by Redfield, in 

 his lectures, but did not use it in his subse- 

 quent writings. Prof Dana's reasons for 

 this course have never been published, and 

 so far as it is a precedent — hapj)ily prece- 

 dents have less Aveight in geology than in 

 some other professions — it indicates that we 

 should first use the name Newark and then 

 abandon it for other names implj'ing indefi- 

 nite correlation with distant terranes. 



Fourth and Fifth. While it is admitted 

 that the terrane under discussion is quite as 

 well represented in New Jersey as in the 

 Connecticut valley, it is claimed that the 

 latter having been studied first, should have 

 furnished the group name. I fuUj'^ agree 

 with Prof. Hitchcock in this, and could add 

 several other group names which to my 

 taste might be improved, but the author of 

 a geological name, like the paleeontologist 

 who describes a new fossil, is entitled to 

 priority. To attempt to introduce a new 

 name for a gi'oup of rocks already sufiicient- 

 ly well designated, would only bring con- 

 fusion, similar to that produced by the 

 great variety of names implying correla- 

 tion that have already been used for the 

 Newark system." Israel C. Eussell. 



University of Michigan. 



DEATH OF QEOBGE N. LAWRENCE. 

 The veteran ornithologist, George N. 

 Lawrence, died at his home in New York 

 City, Jan. 17, 1895, at the age of 89 years. 

 He was born in New York, Oct. 20, 1806. 

 His wife, to whom he had been married 

 more than sixty years, died only five days 

 earlier. 



