

WILLIAMS. 



THE NEW YORK CLASSIFICATIONS. 



55 



the fossils characterizing- them, were purely arbitrary, and were ulti- 

 mately discarded. We have already entirely ignored the " New York 

 system," the "Champlain," "Ontario," etc., " divisions," and the only 

 part of the New York classification which is retained, is the nomencla- 

 ture of the individual formations in their stratigraphic sequence. It is 

 evident, therefore, considering how important the work of this New York 

 survey has been for all American geology, that the most important part 

 of the work of the geologist is that of carefully observing the characters 

 of the individual formation, describing its petrographic, stratigraphic, 

 and geologic relations, preserving the fossils accumulated, and describ- 

 ing his observations so that distinct association will be found in the 

 name applied to each formation with the observations actually made in 

 the field. The reference of each particular formation to a place in some 

 standard scale should not be made without careful study. This care- 

 ful study can not be made independently of the fossils, for fossiliferous 

 rocks, and in order that the paleontologist may make his studies with- 

 out prejudice, the names of the formations, their localities, and their 

 petrographic characters should be described and recorded, quite inde- 

 pendently of the fossils which they contain. 



The following tables will exhibit the final results of the four State 

 geologists in their attempts to classify the geological formations of the 

 State of New York. 



They are taken from the final reports of the " Geology of New York," 

 and are arranged in the order given them by the authors. 



CLASSIFICATION BY MATHER. 1843. 



[Final Report, First District, p.2.J 



Alluvial division. 

 1. Quaternary system . <f Quaternary division. 



S Alluvial divisn 

 Quaternary dr 

 Drift division. 



2. Tertiary system. 



3. Trappean system. 



4. Red Sandstone system. 



5. Coal system. 



Catskill division. 

 Eiio division. 



Helderberg division .. < 



6. New York system .. < 



Ontario division. 



Cbamplain division. .. 



7. Taconic system. 



Q u . . , ( Metamorphic rocks. 



8. Primary system)... j Primary [ ocks . 



Corniferous limestone, Onondaga 

 limestone, Schoharie grit, Cauda- 

 Galli grit, Oriskany sandstone, 

 Catskill shaly limestone, Penta- 

 merus limestone, Water lime 

 group, Onondaga salt group. 



Oneida or Shawangunk Conglom- 

 erate. 



Hudson River group, Utica slate, 

 Trenton limestone, Calciferous 

 group, Potsdam sandstone. 



