ABSTRACTS AND DISCUSSIONS OP PAPERS 155 



the members concluded the day's exercises by attending the reception at 

 the National Museum given by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution to all the visiting: societies. 



Session of Thursday, December 30 



The Society met at 9.30 a. in., with Vice-President Knowlton in the 

 chair. 



REPORT OE THE AUDITING COMMITTEE 



The report of the Auditing Committee was the only matter of business 

 on hand. The committee attested to the correctness of the Treasurer's 

 account; whereupon it was A'oted that their report be accepted. 



The first papers in order were three forming a symposium on Missis- 

 sippian rocks of Illinois and Kentucky. The first of these was illustrated 

 by charts; 20 minutes. 



MISSISSIPPIAN SECTION IN WEST-CENTRAL KENTUCKY 

 BY CHARLES BUTTS 



(Abstract) 



The Mississippian section of west-central Kentucky from the bottom upward 

 includes the following formations : New Providence shale, 150 feet thick, over- 

 lying the New Albany (black) shale; the Kenwood sandstone (new), gener- 

 ally shale, with thin sandstone layers, 40 feet thick ; the Rosewood shale 

 (new), 190 feet thick, and the Holtsclaw sandstone (new), 20 to 30 feet thick. 

 These four formations are subdivisions of the Osage group, which corresponds 

 to the Knobs'tone group. The new Providence shale yields the crinoid forms 

 of Buttonmould knob, of Burlington age, and the Holtsclaw sandstone carries 

 the Orthotetes keokuk and Syringothyris typa, of Keokuk age. As shown in 

 a well in Stephensport, the whole Osage group changes to limestone in the dis- 

 tance of about 20 miles from its eastern outcrop. The Osage group is suc- 

 ceeded by the Warsaw limestone. 80 feet thick, made up of shale, argillaceous 

 or siliceous limestone and shale and highly geodiferous. The Warsaw is the 

 same as the Harrodsburg limestone of Indiana. Above the Warsaw is the 

 Spergen (Salem, Bedford )' limestone, coarsely crystalline gray limestone. 20 

 feet thick. The Spergen is followed by the Saint Louis limestone, bluish gray 

 and drab, clearly geodiferous to the east, 500 feet thick. 



Above the Saint Louis is the Sainte Genevieve limestone, mainly thick 

 bedded, light gray, largely highly oolitic, 160 feet thick. This limestone is of 

 high purity and the quarry rock of the region. 



At the top of the Sainte Genevieve is a hiatus of considerable magnitude, in 

 which the Aux Vases sandstone of the Mississippi Valley is absent. Above the 

 hiatus is about 30 to 40 feet of limestone, with Talarocrinus common. This 

 limestone is .succeeded by a sandstone 30 to 40 feet thick; this in turn by 40 



