42 The Middle Devoxiax Deposits of Makylaxd 



by X. H. Darton, was published in ISD-t. A preliminary account of the 

 stratigraphy of this region was piil)lislicd in 1892 in which is a list of the 

 formation names, with one exception, together with descriptions of the 

 formations which appeared in the Staunton folio. In discussing the cor- 

 relation of these formations with those of New York, Darton said, " Al- 

 though the greater number of groups of the Lower Paleozoic of 'New York 

 extend through Pennsylvania, and are more or less distinctly represented 

 in Virginia, many of their component formations lose their distinctive 

 characters, and their stratigraphic range is not apparent in the Virginia 

 sections. Owing to this lack of evidence as to the precise stratigraphic 

 equivalency and range of the Virginia formations in terms of the Xew 

 York series, the use of Xcw Y''ork terms is misleading." ' In some of 

 the formations at least there does not appear to be as great a difference 

 between the exposvires in Xew Y'ork and Virginia as one might expect 

 from the foregoing statement and it appears that the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey in its earlier areal work was inclined to overestimate the 

 differences existing between the Paleozoic formations of the Virginias and 

 Maryland and the standard ones of Xew York and Pennsylvania. In 

 the two folios of southwestern Pennsylvania by Campbell the standard 

 names of the Pennsylvania and Xew York classifications are used for the 

 formations." Darton stated that " The Devonian formations in Central 

 Appalachian Virginia comprise from 5000 to 6000 feet of arenaceous and 

 argillaceous deposits, separable into three series. The basal members are 

 fissile shales, in greater part black or dark brown in color, containing 

 occasional thin beds of sandstone and limestone. Tlieir average thick- 

 ness is about GOO feet." To this formation was given the name Eomney 

 shales, from the exposures in the vicinity of Eomney, Hampshire County, 

 in northeastern West Virginia. Eegarding the fauna and correlation of 

 the formation there is the statement that " In the Eomney shales the 

 following species are Corniferous [misprint for conspicuous] : Discina 

 lodensis, D. minuia, Ortliis Iciicosia, Siroplieodunia demissa, Cyrtina 



' Am. Geol., Vol. X, 1892, p. 11. 



- Masontown-Uniontown Folio, No. 82, 1902; and Brownsville-Connellsville 

 Folio, No. 94, 1903. 



