LOWER PALEOZOIC. 223 
Further, this reasoning would deprive Columbus of the credit 
of discovering America. He " blundered " upon it. He ex- 
pected to strike India, A great many important discoveries 
would be accredited to persons now unknown, or v/ould have no 
authors, if the real discoverers were to be held responsible for 
the minor mistakes through which they passed. 
Fourth Proposition. This statement could have been made 
before ]Sroveral)er, 1887, as appropriately as since. Nothing new 
bearing on the position Dr. Emmons assigned the various mem- 
bers of the Taconic, has come to light since November, 
That Dr. Emmons made some mistakes in assigning the vari- 
ous parts of the Taconic to their places, is abundantly proved ; 
but that he only made mistakes, and that every assignment he 
adopted was only the result of "fortunate happening," when 
found correct, we caunot believe. Even Mr. Walcott would not 
deny that Emmons put the Granular Quartz correctly on the 
gneiss, and unconformable with it, on correct observation ; and Mr. 
Walcott's own work has proved that the most of the Upper Taconic 
was correctly placed by Emmons below the Potsdam of the New 
York system. 
Fifth Proposition. These principles \vere just as forcible prior 
to November, 1887, as since. 
The rule on which Mr. Walcott seems to rely to exclude the 
term Taconic, will be found at the commencement of his synopsis. 
With the exception of minor mistakes which Dr. Emmons 
made, there is nothing in the results attained by Mr. Walcott 
which fails to l)e identifiable with those attained by the founder 
of the Taconic system. The main result, in each case, that upon 
which the central and essential element of the Taconic depends, 
is fully established by Mr. Walcott, viz., icithin the typical la- 
conic area there are sub -Potsdam fossils at over one hundred local- 
ities. No scientific fact could be more accurately verified by 
" subsequent observers." 
Sixth Proposition. This statement is based on history, and 
must have been equally correct prior to November, 1887, as at 
any time since. 
But in order to antedate the Taconic as a faunal definition Mr. 
Walcott must deny Mr. Emmons the credit of his announcement 
of primordial fossils in 1844. Mr. Walcott regards the publica- 
tion in 1844 as not establishing a valid claim, because the fossils 
