Serial yometiclafure of the CarhonifcroKs. — Kei/e.s. 27 
was said regarding the exact superior limit. Subsequent in- 
quiry showed that a definite line of delimitation was yet to be 
decided upon ; but this was soon proposed by Prosser* who 
placed it just above the Cottonwood limestone of central 
Kansas. This author, however, appears to have misinterpre- 
ted the scope of the proposed Missouri formation for he makes 
it a subdivision of the " upper ( 'oal Measures " and of equal 
rank with two other formations which he names the Wabaun- 
see and (Cottonwood (limestone), whereas both of the latter are 
minor divisions of the upper part of the former. 
The name Missourian was adopted for the reason that the 
formation is typically developed in the northwestern part of 
the state of Missouri, and the great Missouri river also winds 
its way for a distance of more than 400 miles through the 
beds of this age. The series is made up of strictly marine 
beds. It is terminated above and below by limestones. The 
basal member, the Bethany limestone, separates it sharply 
from the shore deposits of the Des Moines series which lie 
beneath it. The top of the Cottonwood limestone forms a 
superior limit that is at once distinctive and easily recogniz- 
able in all geological characters. 
In suggesting the name Oklahoman as a serial geological 
term it is intended to appl}^ to all those rocks of Carboniferous 
age which occur north of the Canadian river in Oklahoma 
and which lie between the interval of the top of the Missour- 
ian series and the base of the Cretaceous. It may be regar- 
ded as essentially covering the same succession of strata that 
has long been vaguely known under the title of "Permian." 
The name is derived from the territor}" in which the formation 
has its best development and in which the most complete 
se(juence is represented. The best sections across the belt 
appear to be exhibited along the Cimarron, Arkansas and 
Kansas rivers, and these sections may be considered typical. 
The beds composing the formation constitute the highest ser- 
ies of the Car])oniferous in the Interior basin. Although there 
has been little detailed study in the region regarding the rela- 
tions of the series under consideration and the Cretaceous 
abf)ve, it is well known that the latter rests in marked uncon- 
formit}' upon all four series of the Carboniferous and at thf 
north extends over still older formations, 
* Journal of Geology, vo], iii, p. 800, 1895. 
