Marcou.] 346 [March 2, 



division," almost all the strata containing the second fauna ; very 

 little alteration and correction are wanted to place it in harmony 

 with the other great palaeontologic and stratigraphic systems. He 

 says, that like the divisions adopted in the Reports of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey of New York, he proposes to subdivide the New 

 York system of rocks, by employing geographical names which he 

 had found useful geologically, — certainly an excellent principle 

 used everywhere. 



The name Champlain was used bj r de Verneuil in his celebrated 

 Note sur le parallelisme des roches des depots paleozoiques de VAm- 

 erique septentrionale avec ceux de V Europe, etc. (Bulletin Soc. 

 Geol. de France, tome iv, p. 646, 19 April, 1847, Paris), as a 

 S3 T non3 T m for the Lower Silurian, and ever since, in numerous 

 publications made in the United States, in Canada and in Europe, 

 the name, first given by Dr. Emmons, has often been employed 

 and his meaning is well understood. 



In 1879, Professor C. Lapworth, impressed with the fine palae- 

 ontological classification of the Lower Palaeozoic rocks, by Bar- 

 rande, into Primordial, Second and Third fauna, and desirous of ef- 

 fecting a sort of compromise between Sedgwick's, and Murchison's, 

 classifications, proposed the name Ordovician, from Ordovicia the 

 northern portion of Wales, for the rocks containing the second 

 fauna, instead of Upper Cambrian of Sedgwick, Lower Silurian 

 of Murchison and Cambro-Silurian of Jukes. (On the Tripar- 

 tite Classification of the Lower Palaeozoic Rocks, in Geol. Mag. 

 Januaiy, 1879, Dec. n, Vol. vi, London.) 



In making such a proposition Professor Lapworth ignores all 

 previous classifications made out of Great Britain. He not only 

 puts aside all questions of priority, but does not comply with the law 

 that a system cannot be accepted if it was not, at the time of its 

 discovery, characterized b} r a special fauna. In fact the proposi- 

 tion is made against all laws of priority, of palaeontological evi- 

 dence, and without any regard to the numerous works and important 

 discoveries made in America. That any American geologist should 

 accept such a proposition, and let his right not only be infringed, 

 but even overlooked, is so surprising, that it will suffice to point 

 it out. 



Our strata have not been studied and classified by Englishmen, 

 nor even by Canadians. All our researches stand by themselves 

 without the aid of Murchison, Sedgwick and other British writers. 

 Our geology is as great as our country ; and European geologists 



