190 THE DEVONIAN AND CARBONIFEROUS. [bull. 80. 



In 1861, Messrs. Meek and Wortliea replied, and gave their inter- 

 pretation of the correlation. This paper, like that of M. de Verneuil, 

 was based upon the evidence of fossils, and it augmented the argu- 

 ments of the learned French paleontologist. The following is an 

 abstract of the paper. 



Messrs. Meek and Worthen, 1 after carefully comparing fossils in the 

 Illinois State geological collection with specimens from the Goniatite 

 bed of Kockford, Indiana, came to the conclusion that this bed was also 

 represented in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, and that its stratigraphic 

 position is much higher than that given it by Hall. They found that 

 the black slate always occurs beneath the limestone, and that the 

 latter is of the same age with the Chouteau limestone of Swallow, 

 which had been placed on a parallel with the Chemung group, because 

 it contained many fossils found in other beds in the West referred by 

 Ball to the Chemung group. 



A section is given showiug the position of the Chouteau limestone 

 with regard to the other Western formations, beginning with the Bur- 

 lington limestone, which is acknowledged to be Carboniferous, and 

 extending down to the Hamilton group, thus : 



Feet. 



1. Burliugton limestone attaining a thickness of 200 



2. Chouteau limestone 100 



3. Vermicular sandstone and shale 65 to 100 



4. Lithographic limestone (rather local) 60 



5. Black slate 30 to 40 



6. Hamilton group 120 



Numbers 2, 3, 4, are included by Swallow in the " Chemung." The 

 Black slate is shown to come in everywhere above all the well-de- 

 fined Hamilton group beds, and the authors assert that as the Chou- 

 teau limestone comes directly beneath the Burlington limestone and 

 considerably above the horizon of the Hamilton group beds of the West 

 as well as above the Black slate, therefore its representative in Indiana, 

 the Goniatite bed at Kockford, can not be referred to any part of the 

 Marcellus shale at the base of the Hamilton group. Neither can the 

 Black slate be said to represent the Marcellus shale, as that lies at the 

 base of the Hamilton group, and the Black slate is always found above 

 the Hamilton. The position of the Black slate, they maintain, is more 

 nearly that of the Genesee slate as suggested by M. de Verneuil. 



The fossils of the Kockford limestone, including the Goniatites, were 

 considered by the authors as more nearly allied to the Carboniferous 

 forms than to those of the New York rocks ; examples are given to 

 prove this statement, and a section to illustrate the close relations 

 between the Chouteau limestone (equivalent to the Rockford limestone) 

 and the Burlington beds in Illinois. Reference is made to a paper of 



'Meek, P. B., and A. H. "Worthen. Remarks on the age of the Goniatite limestone at Kockford, 

 Indiana, and its relations to the " Black slate " of the Western States and to some of the succeeding 

 rooks above the latter. Am. Jour. Sot., vol. 32, 1861, pp. 167-177, 288. 



