6 The American Geologist. January, 1842 
THE CHEMUNG AND CATSKILL (UPPER DEVON- 
IAN) ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE 
APPALACHIAN BASIN. 
By Joun J. STEVENSON, New York. 
| Vice-Presidential address delivered before Section E, American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, at Washington, August, 1891. | 
I have chosen as a topic, the Chemung and Catskill on the 
eastern side of the Appalachian basin, indicating by this term the 
area between the Blue Ridge region at the east and the line of 
the Cincinnati uplift at the west. It embraced as a water-area 
during the later Devonian much of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. There is 
reason for the belief that the southern outlet through eastern 
Tennessee was closed during this time, so that communication 
with the ocean was at the west. 
The Upper Devonian on the eastern side of this area has al- 
ways attracted its full share of attention. Paleontogically, it 
has intimate relations with the Lower Devonian and in some re- 
spects close relations with the Carboniferous, so that its place in 
the column remains even now, for some, an open question. The 
equivalence of Upper Devonian within the Appalachian basin to 
that beyond the line of the Cincinnati uplift is still a sufficiently 
perplexing matter; while the origin and grouping of the beds 
within the basin itself are far from being finally settled. 
The earliest positive reference to the Old Red sandstone is that 
by Amos Katon,* who in 1821 regarded the red sandstone of the 
Satskill mountains as typically the same with the Old Red sand- 
stone of Werner and as distinctly different from the Red sandstone 
of the Connecticut Valley; at the same time recognizing its rela- 
tions with the Carboniferous and placing it in the Transition series. 
Marcou statest that Richard C. Taylor published a paper in 
1831, discussing the relations of the Old Red sandstone to the 
Carboniferous; the same author} ina later paper exhibits clearly 
the place of the Red sandstone in central Pennsylvania and its 
relations to the overlying Carboniferous. He appears to include 
*Memoirs of the Board of Agriculture of the State of N. Y., vol. 1, 
Albany, 1823, p. 6. The letter to Mr. Van Rensselaer is dated Dec. 17th, 
1821. A similar reference was made ina Geological and Agricultural 
Survey of the District adjoining the Erie Canal, Albany, 1824, p. 92. 
+Geology of North America. Zurich, 1858, p. 114. This paper by 
Taylor I have not seen. 
tTaylor. Transactions of the Geological society of Pennsylvania. 
Phila. 1835, vol. 1, p. 177. 
