History of the Names Cambrian and Silurian in Geology*

Abstract

IT is proposed in the following pages to give a concise account of the progress of investigation of the lower palæozoic rocks during the last forty years. The subject may naturally be divided into three parts: (1) the history of Silurian and Upper Cambrian in Great Britain from 1831 to 1854; (2) that of the still more ancient palæozoic rocks in Scandinavia, Bohemia, and Great Britain up to the present time, including the recognition by Barrande of the so-called primordial palœozoic fauna; (3) the history of the lower palæozoic rocks of North America.