In this communication it is proposed to briefly note the divisions which have been proposed for the Lower Carboniferous Rocks of Great Britain and Belgium; to discuss their validity in the light of the important additions that have been made to our knowledge during the last few years; and to suggest a new classification which, while expressing the physical and faunal changes which characterized that particular time interval, shall be generally applicable and at the same time do justice to the workers who have contributed most largely to our knowledge.