400 GEOLOGY OF NORTHWESTERN TEXAS. 



Prof. C. G. Broadhead, who visited Colorado City, refers the beds in the 

 vicinity of that place to the Permian. 



Prof. E. D. Cope has described in the American Naturalist and other 

 publications quite a number of vertebrate fossils as Permian, and while he 

 has not entered into the discussion of the question of the position of the beds, 

 he does not hesitate to call them Permian. 



Dr. C. A. White visited the formation in Baylor, Wichita, and Archer 

 counties, making a collection of the invertebrate fossils, a report of which 

 was published in the American Naturalist, Vol. XXIII, pp. 109, 128, Febru- 

 ary, 1889. In that paper he says, after having stated several reasons for so 

 thinking: " For these and other reasons yet to be stated, I have little or no 

 hesitancy in designating this Texan formation as Permian." 



Prof. Edward Hitchcock, in a report on the geology of this country, made 

 upon the notes of Capt. Marcy's exploration of Red River in 1852, says, 

 on page 156: "Upon the whole, I rather lean to the opinion that these 

 strata may belong to the Cretaceous formation;" but without definitely de- 

 termining the question, gives a provisional name to the beds of " Red Clay 

 Formation and Gypsum Formation." No fossils were collected from these 

 beds during that expedition, and the determination was made on lithological 

 grounds alone. 



Mr. Robert Hay, in Bulletin No. 37, United States Geological Survey, 

 1890, has attempted to synchronize the formation in Southern Kansas with 

 that of the section on Red River made by Dr. Shumard and published in 

 Marcy's report. He says: " Neither gypsum nor any other of the red rocks 

 or shales or clays have hitherto yielded any fossils. The constant evidence 

 of the litoral formation, however, suggests the expectation that some time 

 reptilian or other tracks may be found in this formation that will serve to 

 synchronize it with undoubted Mesozoic formations." He further says, after 

 stating his reasons for so believing: "And although the evidence is not suffi- 

 cient finally to demonstrate the age of the rocks, it is sufficient to warrant the 

 provisional application to them of the name Triassic." 



DIVISIONS. 



I have separated the strata of the Permian into three divisions, under the 

 names of Wichita Beds, Clear Fork Beds, and Double Mountain Beds. 



These divisions have been made more for the sake of convenience than for 

 any other reason, especially the last two. 



WICHITA BEDS. 



The Wichita Beds, which are the lowest in the series, are easily distinguished 

 from the others by their peculiar characteristics. These beds are composed 

 of sandstones, clay beds, and a peculiar conglomerate. There are no lime- 



