tNTRODttCTiON. 



§ 



as the upper portion of the Fayette beds as described by Penrose. In the 

 Second Annual Report the deposits were described more in detail and re- 

 ferred to the Tertiary. The third year's field work of the party under 

 Prof. Cummins was around the Llano Estacado, and much more exten- 

 sive collections were made, some of which were sent to Prof. Cope for 

 determination, and he, recognizing their great importance, kindly offered 

 to visit the localities in person for the purpose of securing more com- 

 plete collections from the various beds. Arrangements were accordingly 

 perfected by which he made the trip, in company with Prof. Cummins, in 

 order that the best possible returns might be obtained. 



The results brought out by the report of Prof. Cope, which follow, are 

 the determination of the occurrence of both Tertiary and Quaternary de- 

 posits, and that the forms of the Blanco and Goodnight beds not only 

 present new species, but are strictly intermediate between the Loup Fork 

 and Equus beds, and, as he says, more strictly Pliocene in character than 

 any of the interior lake deposits heretofore described. 



The paper here presented is therefore of importance, not only as defi- 

 nitely determining the ages of certain portions of the Plains deposits, 

 but as a valuable addition to our knowledge of these most interesting 

 forms of life which were the precursors of those of the present. 



For the details of the stratigraphy, location of beds, and other infor- 

 mation regarding the deposits themselves, reference is made to Prof. 

 Cummins' paper on this area, which also forms a part of this Fourth An- 

 nual Report. 



E. T. DUMBLE, 



State Geologist 



