Correspondence — Prof. J. W. Judcl. 383 



as he regards it, of introducing the term Neocomian into English 

 geological literature. 



Now what are the real facts of the case ? For the last forty or 

 fifty years the term Neocomian has been quite commonly applied, by 

 many eminent English geologists, to a part or to the whole of 

 the Lower Greensancl, and even those who are prepared to credit 

 me with the most phenomenal precocity, could scarcely charge 

 me with leading astray my fathers in science so long ago as that. 

 The author who had the chief honour, as I esteem it, of introducing 

 the term to English science was the late Mr. E. A. C. Godwin- 

 Austen, and his practice dates at least as far back as the year 1843. 

 If my friend Mr. Jukes-Browne will refer to several memoirs by 

 that author — such as those " On the Geology of the South-East 

 of Surrey" (Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. (1843), pp. 167-173, 

 196-198) ; " On the Age and Position of the Eossiliferous Sands 

 and Gravels of Farringdon" (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. vi. 

 (1851), pp. 454-478); and "On the Possible Extension of 

 the Coal-measures beneath the South-Eastern part of England " 

 (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xii. (1856), pp. 38-73) — he will find 

 that Mr. Austen not only uniformly employs the term Neocomian 

 for a part at least of the Lower Greensand, but that he defends 

 his practice by some very judicious and cogent arguments. If 

 the writer of the article will look through the contemporary 

 geological literature in this country, he will also find that the 

 example of Mr. Godwin-Austen was followed by other geologists of 

 high reputation. 



Of course Mr. Godwin- Austen — who happened to have a remark- 

 ably extensive acquaintance with continental geology — was well aware 

 of the fact referred to by Mr. Jukes-Browne, that at Neuchatel there is 

 no exact representative of our Lower Greensancl ; but Mr. Godwin- 

 Austen's arguments, based on the fact that the fossils of our English 

 formation (or at least of the lower part of it) are very similar to 

 those of the Neocomian, while they are on the whole very different 

 from those of the Upper Cretaceous, have always seemed to me to 

 be worthy of the most careful consideration ; and many other geolo- 

 gists, I find, have acknowledged their weight by following his 

 example. 



My own part in connection with this question was very different 

 from what my friend supposes ; it consisted in describing a series 

 of strata, in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, which are for the most part 

 older than the Lower Greensand, and correspond in age with strata 

 on the Continent which all geologists, including Mr. Jukes-Browne, 

 agree in calling Neocomian. At the same time, as I have already 

 stated in a paper in this Journal (Geol. Mag. Vol. VII. 1870, p. 220), 

 I have always regarded Mr. Godwin-Austen's proposal to extend 

 the use of the term as originally defined, so as to include the English 

 Lower Greensand, to be much more logical and defensible than that 

 of M. D'Orbigny — which was to restrict the name to one part of 

 the series. 



Considering, as I do, the Neocomian to be a great continuous 



