Vorrespoiulence. 131 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
l^OTE ON A RECENT REVIEW ON TABULATE CORALS. The "review" of 
tnij' recent work on the Alcyonarian (Tabulate) corals, that appears in 
ithe July number of the American Geologist (p. 37), contains some 
suggestions that might be worthy of further discussion were they not 
accompanied by others which indicate that they are not scientifically 
intended. A reviewer may be pardoned for his inability, but this one 
.pays disrespects to the veracity, not only of the author but also of those 
who approved his thesis. For example compare the following quota- 
tions: "The aim of my work consists, first of all, in establishing the 
•significance of the characters that one observes in the Tabulata: to this 
end it has been necessary to study numerous species to the smallest de- 
tail, even by aid of thin sections prepared by myself; * * * * g^ 
far as possible I have investigated all facts anew from the specimens. '^ 
The above quotation is from the article reviewed; the following is the 
reviewer's statement: '-Not only not performing investigations himself, 
but not even taking advantage of investigations already made, whether 
in the field of zoology or paleontology, he pursues a theoretic course in- 
dependent of facts of supreme importance ready to his handf." The 
review contains several such inaccuracies. It is of course not necessary 
to take further cognizance of them. 
Mr. Girty is the author of some apparently very accurate investiga- 
tionson the genus F«ro.svYe'.s-."J His publication was issued several weeks 
before my thesis on the corals was sent to press, but a copy of it came 
to hand too late for recognition. The facts therein presented would 
else have been eagerly added to my own results, since they supple- 
mented mine perfectly. His theories, on the other hand, are directly 
opposed to mine on the subject of the relation of Aulopora to Favosites. 
It is, however, unkind in him to assert that my theories were formula- 
ted from other sources than from original investigation. 
Minneapolis, July 22, 1896. P. W. Sardeson. 
The Plains Permian. In his "Classification of the Upper Palseozoic 
Rocks of Central Kansas" (Journal of Geology, vol. iii, nos. 6 and 7), 
Prof. Prosser applied the name Marion (first) to the "Marion flint and 
concretionary limestone," a member of the Chase formation, and (sec- 
ond) to the "Marion formation," a body of limestones, gypsums and 
shales outcropping above the Chase. 
In my recent article, "The Permian System in Kansas" (Colorado 
College Studies, vi), I have pointed out the unity of the Marion forma- 
tion with the lower or greater salt measures of Kansas and have applied 
to the formation, in this wider purview, the name Geuda. Under the 
*"Der Zweck moiner Arlicit hcstdit in cistcr Linic dariii die Hcdcntnntr dcr Merk- 
male, die man bei dem Taliul.ilcn lipobaclitct, t'cstzusti'llcii ; liiiTzii war cs iiiUhig, 
zahlreiclie Artori bis ins t;liin.<tc Drtail liinciii, audi mit Hulfc sclbstanjjrofertifrtei' 
Daiinschlitti- zii stiidircii ; * * * * soweit als mfiKlicli liabe icii alio Augabon an 
Exaniplari'ii nacliuiitcrsucht. und dies war durcliaus nrttliiK." Noues Jahrb. Beila- 
ffeband X, p. 'J.i'), line 15. 
IAmeeican Geologist, vol. 18, p. 38, lino 40. 
tAMERiCAN Geologist, vol. xv, p. 131. 
