81 
[Marcou.. 
of New York ; but he was unfortunate in choosing for his adviser 
the palaeontologist of the geological survey of New York. After 
Barrande and Marcou’s interference in 1860, he did not accept his 
defeat, and instead of using Dr. Emmons’ observations he preferred 
to create another classification and a new nomenclature without 
any regard to priority. 
Billings tried hard in his subordinate position to sustain the 
right of Dr. Emmons, showing as well as he could, the great value 
of his discoveries of the system of rocks containing the oldest fos- 
sils and the primordial fauna on this continent. But he was over- 
ruled by his chief in the survey, who not only did not allow him tO' 
use the name Taconic, but also obliged him to use at all times the 
names, Lower Silurian, and Quebec group. 
Logan was almost as much of an adversary of Professor Sedg- 
wick and the Cambrian, as he was of Dr. Emmons and the Taconic ; 
and the award of the Wollaston medal of the Geological Societ}^ 
of London, at a time when Murchison was all powerful, was due 
mainly to his extension of the name Silurian to all the fossilif- 
erous rocks of the Lower Palaeozoic of Canada, as it will be seen 
from the following extract of a letter of Murchison, to me, dated 
London, March 3, 1856 : “At our last anniversary I received the 
Wollaston medal for my friend Sir W. Logan of Canada, and I took 
special care when Mr. Henry D. Rogers was sitting opposite tome 
to express publicly (and it will be printed), that I had peculiar: 
pleasure in receiving the distinction offered to so eminent a geolo- 
gist who had laid down over such very large areas of North America 
the Lower Silurian as well as the Upper Silurian rocks and had 
shown that they were underlain by enormous masses (the Lauren- 
tine rocks) to which he restricted the term Cambrian. I added 
that he (Logan) did so as well as all American and other geolo- 
gists up to this day ; thus leaving Mr. Henry Rogers stans pede 
in uno.” In the same letter, Murchison adds : “I do complain 
that Mr. Rogers is the first American who has ventured to restrict 
the term Silurian (in his geological map of the United States and 
British North America, and explanation, published in 1855, in 
Keith Johnston’s “Physical Atlas,” Edinburgh), to the upper group 
and not even to insert the words or Lower Silurian, so that the 
unlearned might understand. Still more was I offended with his 
writing Cambrian above my own formation of Llandeilo. I believe 
he is going to try to take out some of these misnomers. He has, 
PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. XXIV. 6 FEBRUARY, 1889. 
