C. R. Keyes — Bethany Limestone. 221 



Akt. XXYIII. — The Bethany Limestone of the Wester7i 

 Lnterior Coal Field ; by Chaeles E. Keyes. 



The productive Coal Measures of the Western Interior 

 province, including portions of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkan- 

 sas and, Indian Territory, are sharply limited at the top by a 

 heavy limestone. Above this level prevail beds which have 

 been laid down in open seas and which have been generally 

 known as the " Upper Coal Measures," or Missourian series. 

 Below are coastal deposits which constitute the coal-bearing 

 Des Moines series. 



The limestone which forms the base of the " Upper Coal 

 Measures " was, as an important oncological horizon, first brought 

 into prominence in Missouri. Recently it has been found that, 

 although known by dilfferent names in the several states, there 

 is every reason to believe that the limestone in question is one 

 of the most persistent horizons in the whole province, and that 

 it forms a well-defined and continuous stratum extending 

 entirely across the basin from west-central Iowa to Indian 

 Territory. In calling attention to the fact a short time ago,^ it 

 was incidentally stated that " the appellation Bethany lime- 

 stone for the basal formation of the ' Upper Coal Measures ' 

 may be extended somewhat, so as to include more than ]^o. 

 78 of the Broadhead section in Missouri, and may be made to 

 cover several of the limestone beds above the layer to which 

 the term Bethany Falls was originally applied, for the reason 

 that these layers are separated from the main bed only by thin, 

 unimportant seams of shale. Thus it appears that the Winter- 

 set limestone of Iowa and the Erie limestone of Kansas are but 

 extensions of the Bethany limestone of Missouri as now under- 

 stood ; and as the latter was the first to be recognized and to 

 receive a specific geographical name, it has priority and must, 

 therefore, supplant the other terms proposed." 



In a late publicationf Dr. Erasmus Haworth has taken 

 exception to this statement and has endeavored to show that a 

 name Erie used by him should be applied to the limestone. 

 The question brought up deserves more than passing notice 

 since it raises the query as to what constitutes priority in geo- 

 logical nomenclature, and also since it is of more than local 

 importance. Although the nominal history in this particular 

 instance is not without interest, its consideration has a wide 

 significance as being typical of a large number of cases that 

 have been, and will continue to be, brought up for settlement. 



*This Journal. IIL vol. 1, 243, 1895. 



f Univ. Geo). Sur. Kansas, vol. i, p. 156, 1896. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Fourth Series, Vol. ir, No. 9.— September, 1896 

 16 



