316 The American Geologist. May, isoo 
b)' Meek and Hay den, rests in Texas unconformably upon another 
great series (The first announcement of this series was published by 
me in the American Journal of Science, Jan. 1887, p. 75.) of rocks of even 
greater thickness, to which I have given, out of deference to the town 
of Comanche where I first studied them, the name of the Comanche 
series ; hence, we now have in the United States two great series, the 
Lower or Comanche and the Upper or Meek and Hayden series." ^ 
From this statement, it seems that professor Hill is the discoverer of 
the Lower Cretaceous series, east of the Rocky mountains ; and that 
before his announcement of 1887, the whole Cretaceous system of the 
United States was limited to what he calls "Meek and Hayden series" 
I am sorry to say, that the whole statement is against plain facts and 
numerous publications on the Lower Cretaceous or Neocomian of the 
United States, east of the Rocky mountains. 
In order to attribute to professor Hill his justly due share in the 
work, it is necessary to recall that in 1853-54-55 and 58, the Lower 
series of the Cretaceous system or Neocomian was discovered and de- 
scribed with plates of fossils for the northern area of Texas and the In- 
dian Territory at Comet creek, fort Washita and near Preston. In 
J 858 I saw at Comet creek an affluent of the False Washita river, the 
Caprotina bed, as the basal strata of the Neocomian or Lower Cretaceous, 
and above it a whitish, chalky limestone containing an immense quan. 
tity of Gryphxa pitcheri, having the closest analogy with the Gryphsea 
couloni of the Neocomian of Neuchatel (Switzerland). Besides I have 
referred and described beds of the Lower Cretaceous in Texas, near 
Preston and Elm fork an affluent of the Trinity river. 
As far back as 1855, the whole "Cretaceous group" of the United 
States east of the Rocky mountains was well known with its three di- 
visions corresponding to and representative of the Lower Creta- 
ceous or Neocomian, the Middle Cretaceous or Green Sand and Marly 
chalk, and the Upper Cretaceous or true white chalk of Europe. In 
1861 and 1863, I completed the series of the Cretaceous system in the 
United States, first by correcting the extraordinary, confused "Section 
of the Cretaceous strata in Texas, "by Dr.B.F. Shumard, the State Geo- 
logist of Texas, and second by referring the Dakota group or "Lower 
Cretaceous" of Meek and Hayden to the Uj^per Cretaceous or true 
Chalk of Europe. 
'No series of beds was ever named for persons, except the isolated 
proposition of Alcide d'Orbigny to call the strata containing the third 
fauna of Barrande, "Murchisonian ;" a name which was not adopted, 
even by Murchison. As to "Comanche series" to designate in Texas 
the Neocomian, if al)Solutely necessary — which is far from proved— it 
may be used as a synonym, but only as such ; for professor Hill has al- 
ready used the name "Comanche division" for a part of that series, 
which he calls now "Fredericksburg division" ; and he has used the 
name"Texas series" for his two divisions of the Comanche and Washita ; 
duplicatinii his own nomenclature not only for the Lower Cretaceous, 
but also for the Upper Cretaceous, called, first "Gulf series" and now 
"Black Prairie series" ; a confusion to be regretted. 
