| University Geological Survey of Kansas. 
a way largely by criticism of Kansas rather than by giving 
details of conditions in their own states which might have 
been used for comparison, with the result that there is now in 
print, widely scattered through magazines, state and govern- 
mental reports, a comparatively extensive literature on the 
stratigraphy of the Kansas Coal Measures which is partly 
correct and partly incorrect. This condition has been aggra- 
vated, although wholly unintentionally, through the labors of 
the United States Geological Survey, which organization has 
surveyed the Iola quadrangle and Independence quadrangle. 
An error in stratigraphy was made and published regarding 
the southwest corner of the Iola quadrangle. Field-work on 
the Independence quadrangle was conducted and a prelimi- 
nary report published before this error in the Iola quadrangle 
was detected, and, as a result, its influence caused errors to 
creep into the Independence sheets reports as well. 
In the present volume the stratigraphy of eastern Kansas 
is given in great detail after years of continued work, and it 
is confidently believed we have finally succeeded in getting all 
matters straightened out so that the presentation here offered 
is a tolerably complete and accurate exposition of position 
and relations of all alternating beds of limestones and shales, 
with included sandstones, from the bottom of the Lower Coal 
Measures up to the Burlingame limestone. Every individual 
limestone has been traced with greatest detail by a personal 
examination, not only of every mile square, but by a geologist 
following it across every forty-acre tract of land from the 
north side of the state to the south. In some instances, where 
difficulties were greatest, two or more geologists have spent 
weeks and months in tracing such formations a distance of 
only a few miles. ; 
While this vast amount of field-work has been done under 
the direction of the state geologist, it is but fair to say that a 
large part of it, and all of the most difficult parts, has been 
performed by or under the immediate supervision of John 
Bennett. He has traveled in greatest detail all along the out- 
cropping lines of practically every limestone in the area men- 
tioned. Ever since the summer of 1894, covering a period of 
twelve years, he has had this as his one constant theme, and 
it is no exaggeration to state that there is scarcely a quarter- 
section of land along the outcropping of any one of these lime- 
stones which he has not gone over one or more times. I wish 
