b PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANAPOLIS MEETING. 



beds of sands " — the upper member of the foregoing paragraphs), and referred the de- 

 posits doubtfully to the later Tertiary, though " strongly inclined to believe * * * 

 that they are the lowest of the Quaternary stratified drift ; "* while Safford, in a quite 

 recent publication, apparently still further modifies the definition of the La Grange 

 and refers it to the highest part of the Tennessee Tertiary, and moreover applies the 

 term " Orange Sand " to a superficial formation assigned to the Quaternary, f probably 

 the " BluflP Gravel" of the 1869 report.^ Under the law of priority it would seem just 

 to restore one of the early designations. But there are certain adverse considerations of 

 sufficient weight to merit statement : (1) The definition of the " Orange Sand " has 

 never been clear; it was originally applied by Safford to a certain series of deposits, 

 was subsequently applied by Hilgard to a series diflferent as a whole though identical 

 as to one member, was still later reapplied by Safi'ord to a distinct deposit, and has 

 been used in a lax and irregular manner by other geologists. (2) In no case does the 

 definition of the " Orange Sand" by geologists who have used the term correspond 

 with thatof the Appomattox formation ; for Safford 's original " Orange Sand "included 

 one of the older formations, while his later " Orange Sand " is a wholly post- Appo- 

 mattox deposit ; Hilgard included under the term not only the deposits now set 

 apart, but also the newer gravels intercalated between the loess (or loam) and Port 

 Hudson — the Bluff Gravel of Safford — as well as various older gravels of which a part 

 are now assigned to the Potomac (Tuscaloosa) formation; and other users of the terra 

 have employed it in equalh^ discrepant ways. (3) The name " Orange Sand " ap- 

 pears to have been originally applied, and certainly has been commonly used, rather 

 as a descriptive term than a specific appellation; and, moreover, it is by many geolo- 

 gists considered desirable to employ only connotative formation names in which the 

 principal element is geographic and indicative of the locality of typical development. 

 (4) While the definition of the " La Grange " as given by Safford in 1869 agrees 

 with that of the Appomattox, the deposits were adjudged Eocene instead of late 

 Pliocene, as indicated by stratigraphic position. (5) Although the locality from 

 which the La Grange was originally named was at that time a flourishing city, it has 

 since, in consequence of war, the building of railroads and other vicissitudes, shrunk 

 to a small village, with an uncertain tenure of life beyond the present decade. 



This question of nomenclature would appear to be one upon which the Geological 

 Society of America might well pass, and it is raised in the hope that it may be freely 

 discussed and, if practicable, definitivel}^ settled by this representative body of Ameri- 

 can geologists. 



The paper was discussed by J. M. Safford, C. H. Hitchcock, E. AY. Clay- 

 pole and W J McGee. 



This paper was followed by a brief communication on — 



THE REDONDA PHOSPHATE. 

 BY C. H. HITCHCOCK. 



Kedonda, a volcanic island situated between Nevis and Montserrat, lat. 16° 55^ 

 N., long. 62° 13^ W., is one of the Leeward islands of the Caribbean sea. It is one 



* Geological Survey of Kentucky : Report on Jackson Purchase Region, 1888, pp. 7, 52. 

 t Agricultural and Geological Map of Tennessee issued by the Commissioner of Agriculture, etc. 

 (J. M. Satford, State geologist), 1888. 

 J Geology of Tennessee, 1869, p. 432. 



