122 The American Geologist. August. i89i 
westt'rn [i. o. iiorllicrii central] Texas, which liave l)eeii by some geolo- 
gists referred \o the Trias, and by others to the Permian. 
It also contains an announcement of the discovery in those strata of 
certain types of invertebrate fossils which usually are regarded as in- 
dicative of their Mesozoic age, commingled with a considerable number 
of Carboniferous types. This discovery is the lirst of the kind that lias, 
been published concerning North American strata, but it is similar in 
character to those made by Waagen in India, Gemmellaro in Sicily, and 
Karpinsky in Russia. A large proportion of the forms are well known 
Coal-Measure species. All these species are illustrated on accompanying^ 
plates, and some of them are described as new. 
The paleontological balance which is indicated by this commingling 
of earlier and later types in the Texan strata is treated as an item of 
evidence in favor of the Permian age. 
The closing portion of the bulletin is devoted to a general discussion 
of the subject of the existence of the Permian in North America. 
Paieontologically this is amost important contribution to knowledge of 
North American geology and will be of inestimable value to the future 
student. The historical and stratigraphic discussions together with the 
generalizations in the concluding chapter do not, however, coincide with 
numerous observations of more extensive workers in the field. While 
Hitchcock's and McGee maps — which have never claimed to be any- 
thing but compilations — may have represented the area of the Red Bed 
formation in which the fossils occur as Triassic, numerous geologists of 
ability, Marcou, Newberry, Hall, and others, have always spoken of the 
lower division in which they occur as of probable Permian age. Prof. 
Kail, to whom credit is due for the scientific announcement and deter- 
lyinatiou of the particular localities discussed, first called attention to 
its vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. (See American Naturalist, 
June, 1879, Sept. 1880). This naturalist, whom Dr. White seemed ta 
have overlooked, died in the field while exploring the region and pub- 
lished only brief mentions which attracted Prof. Cope's attention to this 
unique field. The plants, which promise to be of as great interest as 
tlie vertebrates and invertebrates, although announced twenty years 
ago, have not yet attracted the attention of our paleo botanists. 
The especial interest of this paper is the fact that it determines 
paieontologically that of the great American terrane, known as the 
Red Beds, only the basal portion are of Premian age. These Red Beds, 
although occupying an area in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mex- 
ico, Indian Territory, Utah and Arizona, equivalent to at least a, 
twentieth of the area of the United States, have never been systemati- 
cally studied or published. Numerous writers, Newberry, Marcou. 
Powell, Shumard, Cragin, Kay and others, have contributed local data, 
but no one has studied the terrane as a whole. Newberry, Marcou, 
Walcott, Hill iiave pointed out the different aspects of the upper and 
lower beds and expressed opinions as to their diverse ages. Dr. G. G. 
Shumard, who studied the upper.most Red Beds, argues from their paleon- 
tologic evidences th at they are Cretaceous,* exactly as Dr. White argues 
*See a F.utial Rei»c)rt of tlie Geology of Western Texas, by Prof. G. G. Shumard, 
Austin, 1880. 
