INTRODUCTION 813 



The reasons for my opinion concerning the relations of the Cypress 

 sandstone to the Okaw limestone were discussed at considerable length 

 in my 1917 publication on the formations of the Chester series, but the 

 facts in this case are not sufficiently convincing in either direction to 

 warrant a quarrel with Professor Weller in seeking a solution of the 

 problem. Our respective views on the subject may stand as they are 

 until more definite evidence is discovered. 



Regarding the first, second, and third disagreements, I devoted about 

 150 pages of the book on the Mississippian series in western Kentucky 

 to the description and mention of the facts as I saw them in the several 

 cases. Then, after adding 60 pages of argument, it seemed to me I had 

 covered the ground so thoroughly and answered the many questions so 

 well that a successful refutation of my views, or even reasonable doubt 

 regarding the validity of my position, would be impossible. That this 

 confidence was not warranted in the case of a determined opponent like 

 Professor Weller is clearly shown by his unyielding attitude in subse- 

 quent publications. 



THE REPORT ON HARDIN COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



Weller's most important publication on the Chester appeared toward 

 the close of 1920. 8 It is included in an excellent presentation of the 

 stratigraphy of Hardin Count} 7 , Illinois, partly in collaboration with 

 Charles Butts, but fails to command the respect and appreciation that I 

 would like to give it because of the numerous instances of unfair and 

 often unnecessary criticism that he accords to my observations and opin- 

 ions. Mere contradiction, whether by definite words or implication, can 

 avail but little toward arriving at the truth. Nothing less than indis- 

 putable logic and facts serve the purpose. 



In the Hardin County report Professor Weller attacks not only many 

 of my conclusions and opinions, but also the methods and principles em- 

 ployed in reaching them. Particularly among the latter is the principle 

 of determining geologic contemporaneity by precise matching of struc- 

 tural or character combinations involving not only the generic and 

 broader specific characters of the fossils, but more particularly the bio- 

 logically less important features by which we distinguish varieties and 

 minor mutations. I hold, namely, that any combination of twenty or 

 more characters — and it would be a very simple thing indeed that has 



8 Since this paper was written and read at the Amherst meeting another report deal- 

 ing with Chester formations in western Kentucky, part of the Golconda quadrangle, has 

 heen published for Professor Weller by the Kentucky Geological Survey. Many of the 

 criticisms of Ulrich's work previously discussed by him in the Hardin County report 

 are repeated and in instances amplified in this later work. 



