Proceedings of the A. A. A. S. 511 



Eleven years ago the Association met at Buffalo. It was 

 the year of the Centennial Exhibition, and we were honor- 

 ed by the presence of a number of European geologists. 

 This naturally opened the subject of the international rela- 

 tions of geology ; and the proposition to institute a congress 

 of geogolists of the world took form in the appointment by 

 the Association of an International Committee. The pro- 

 ject thus initiated found favor elsewhere, and there resulted 

 an international organization which up to the present time 

 has held three meetings. It convened first at Paris in 1878, 

 then at Bologna in 1881, and at Berlin in 1885. Its next 

 meeting will be held in London next year, and an endeavor 

 will be made to secure for the Uuited States the honor of 

 the fifth meeting. The original committee of the associa- 

 tion has been continued with some change of membership, 

 and has sent representatives to each session of the congress. 



The work of the congress, as originally conceived and as 

 subsequently undertaken, has for its scope geologic nomen- 

 clature and classification, and the conventions of geologic 

 maps. The particular classifications attempted are the 

 establishment of the major divisions used in historic and 

 stratigraphic geology and the subdivision of volcanic rocks. 

 In nomenclature three things are undertaken; first, the 

 determination of the names of historic and stratigraphic 

 divisions; secondly, the formulation of rules for nomen- 

 clature in palaeontology and mineralogy ; and thirdly, the 

 establishment and definition of the taxonomic terms of 

 chronology (period, epoch, etc.,) and of stratigraphy (sys- 

 tem, series, etc.) The map conventions most discussed are 

 colors, but all signs for the graphic indications of geologic 

 data are considered. The congress has also undertaken the 

 preparation of a large map of Europe, to be printed in fovty- 

 nine sheets. The work accomplished is as follows : Agree- 

 ment has been reached as to the rank and equivalence of 

 the taxonomic terms employed in chronology and strati- 

 graphy ; a set of rules for palseontologic nomenclature has 

 been adopted and many sheets of the map of Europe have 

 been prepared for the engraver. A partial classification 

 of stratified rocks has been agreed to and also a partial 



