200 The American Geologist. April, i89o. 
tant a feature in the mineral structure of the country, it should 
receive a clear geological designation ; and as it looks upon the 
Atlantic coast in its whole course, I shall propose the name of 
the Atlantic Primary Chain." Further sentences make it 
clear that he excludes the Cambrian of Sedgwick from this 
api)ellation. I have gone into this subject in detail in my 
report upon the geology of New Hampshire." While W. B. 
Rogers objected to this proposition in 1836, H. D. Rogers 
accepted it in a measure * in 1858. 
It may be noted that Mr. Desor disclaims the origination of 
the application of the term Lawrencian, referring it to "the 
geological party to which he was attached." " 7% ey had pro- 
posed," etc., this name of Lawrentian. The reference was 
undoubtedly to Foster and Whitne}^, the government geologists 
of the lake Superior district, in whose employ Desor was at 
that time. I can not find the term used in any of the reports 
upon lake Superior, though it is claimed as original by Prof. 
J. D. Whitney in connection with Mr. Desor. ^ 
It appears that the views of Mr. James condemnatory of 
those geologists who neglect to say Laurentian for a part of the 
Quaternary are not shared by his colleagues upon the U. S. 
Geological Survey, since Mr. W. J. McGee has taken the pains 
to devise a new expression — the "Columbian formation" — to 
I'epresent its eciuivalent in our nomenclature. This can not be 
from lack of familiarity with Desor's paper, since he has 
referred to that one Avhich has correlated the Laurentian of the 
north with the Pleistocene of the south. The term Champlain 
has been in use for many years to embrace both the littoral and 
marine dej^osits now referred to the Columbia. 
The attempt to revive the local name of ''Newark, N. J., for 
the Triassic system of the Atlantic coast, seems to be unadvis- 
able for many reasons. First. An essential feature of a name 
derived from a geographical locality is that the terrane should 
be exhibited there in its entirety or maximum development. 
The territory of Newark does not contain one-fourth part of 
the thickness of this sandstone, and that which is visible is 
only a fraction of this fourth. Had Mr. Redfield used the 
' Geology of New Hampshire, vol. i, p. 525. 
■'' Geology of Pennsylvania, vol. ii, p. 747. 
" Amerrjour. Sci., ii, vol. 23, p. 314. 
