i66 JJ. H. Winchell on ike 'laconic 
stratigraphy (so complex that to this chiy it has not been entirely 
unraveled,) has no bearing on the merits of this controversy. 
This was the view that was at once adopted by nearly all the 
geologists of America and Enrope, It was unfortunate that in 
this country, at that time ( 1S59-60), geological literature and 
the wa\s and means of expressing geological opinion were not 
in the control of his friends. Dr. Emmons went to North Car- 
olina and died there during the war of the Rebellion. 
Objection No. ^. 
It includes strata that lie both above and bcloiv the Potsdam. 
and Giving to the itnccrtainty., Jiotv much of each., the term bet- 
ter be abandoned. In answer to this it should be sufficient to 
say that if Dr. Emmons be granted the privilege of the first 
rule of nomenclature above-mentioned, there can be no uncer- 
tainty as to whether the Taconic embraces post -Potsdam 
strata. He exjDressly exempts all post-Potsdam strata. He 
calls attention to the existence of post-Potsdam fossils in the 
general area described as Taconic. The stratigraphic uncer- 
tainty which is here alleged is that whicli has been created by 
his opponents, and principally by those who insist that his origi- 
nal delinition of the Taconic is the only valid one. Further- 
more the geographic uncertainty is rapidly disappearing. It 
began to decline when Logan admitted that "there must be a 
break," and finally disclosed the "great Appalachian fault." 
It has rapidly diminished, and has now almost disappeared, undei" 
the enlightening researches of Dana, Ford, Dwight, Walcott 
and others. 
Objection JVo. j. 
It is the equivalent of the '•'•Lovjer Potsdam!^'' recognized 
by IBillings., which is the older designation. Admitted; but 
the term Lower Potsdam had no right to exist. It was a go- 
between, intended to avoid taking sides, and was abandoned by 
Billings. The great Georgia formation or the "Lower Potsdam," 
according to Mr. Walcott contains the fauna of the upper Ta- 
conic of Emmons and this fauna includes in America no less 
than forty-three genera .and one hundred and seven species of 
primordial fossils.* 
Bulletin No. 30, U. S. Geol. .*^urvfy 
