-^^ ^>^.^l^i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V A % [/ 1.0 I.I I4£ _ 1^ ill 3.2 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -< 6" — ► p> <^ /2 om, ^;. me as a young geologist, and for the friendly interest Iwhich you have ever manifested in the labours of my riper jyears. I am, With sincere gratitude and respect. Yours faithfully, J. W. DAWSON. :{ k 1 Icerl 1U( TREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In the Preface to the First Edition of this Work, its intention waa stated to be — to place within the reach of the people of the districts to which it reltites, a popular account of the more recent discoveries in the Geology and mineral resources of their country, and at the same time to give to geologists in other countries a connected view of the structure of a veiy interesting portion of the American conti- nent, in its relation to general and theoretical Geology. In the Edition [now issued, it is hoped still more completely to fulfil this design, with reference to the present more advanced condition of knowledge. With regard to the purely local Geology, the author has en- Ideavoured to convey a knowledge of the structure and fossils of the region in such a manner as to be intelligible to ordinary reader and has devoted much attention to all questions relating to the nature nnd present or prospective value of deposits of useful minerals. It is proper to add that, as he has no pecuniary interest in the mines of j the Acadian provinces, and has received no public aid ir furtherance of his explorations, he has had no inducement to write othei-wise than impartially; and where he may appear to give unr* le prominence to [one district in comparison with another, this is merely because hig jdescriptions are necessarily limited by the scope of his opportunities lof observation. When he makes positive statements as to the eco- [nomical value of deposits of useful minerals, these may be relied on ■as the results of his inquiries as to the facts ; and in all cases of un- Icertainty, he has endeavoured to avoid everything likely to lead to luiifounded hopes or baseless speculations. It has been a source of Imuch gratification to him to find that the First Edition of this Work «1 !► I ▼t PREKACE. ban had an important influence on the recent rapid development of the mineral resources of his native country ; and he hopes that the present Edition will prove still more, extensively useful ; and, in any case, that it will be received in the spirit in which it is offered, as a contribution toward the progrcHS of Acadia, from one of her sons. In theoretical Geology, the following may bo mentioned as points of general interest more fully discussed in this Edition, or which have been introduced into it for the first time : — (1.) The Pre-historic Human period in Acadia, in comparison with that of Europe. (2.) The character and origin of the Boulder Clay and Surface Glaciation, in connexion with prevailing theories on those subjects. (3.) The Flora of the Carboniferous period, more especially with reference to the affinities of the several genera of plants, and thoir relative importance in relation to the formation of Coal — a subject which will be found more fully illustrated in this work than in any previous publication. (4.) The still more curious and ancient Devonian Flora as dis- played in New Brunswick. (5.) The Land Animals of the Carboniferous and Devonian periods, of which Acadia has afforded so many examples. (6.) The peculiarities in the nature and age of the Auriferous Deposits of Nova Scotia. (7.) The remarkable Primordial Fn'ina of Southern New IJrunswick, and the peculiar development of the Lower Silui 'an in the eastern elope of North America. (8.) Descriptions and illustrations of Fossils from the various formations. I may add that I shall have occasion to show, in the following pages, that the rocks of Acadia have, among other important addi- tions to geological science, contributed the first known indications of Carboniferous Reptiles,* and the only known Carboniferous Enalio- saurian, the only Carboniferous land Shells known, the first Carbon- iferous Myriapod, the first Devonian Insects, the only well charac- terized Primordial Fauna in America, and the richest known Devo- nian Flora. * 1842, see page 354. ■ ( I PREFACE. ttt ^elopment of )pe8 that the ; and, in any offered, as a ■ her sons, ned as points or which have in comparison y and Surface ese subjects, especially with ;ant8, and their :oal— a subject rk than in any n Flora as dis- evonian periods, . the Auriferous New Brunswick, in the eastern Li the various In the following limportant addi- ^n indications of kiferous Enalio- Bic first Carbon- Lly well charac- known Devo- Twelvo years ago, when the First Edition of this Work was issuod, tlie cultivators of geological science in Acadia were few, and most of these have passed away. Dr Robb, Dr Gesncr, Professor Chipman, Dr Harding of Windsor, and Dr Webster of Kentville rest in the grave ; and Mr Brown of Sydney has left the scone of his labours for an honourable retirement in his native country. But others have arisen in their room, and it 1ms been my good fortune to enjoy the friendship, and to profit by the correspondence, of nearly all these more recent Geologists of the Acadian provinces. I may here mention specially, as among those who have aided me in the preparation of this edition, — L. W. Bailey, M.A., the worthy successor of Professor Robb in the chair of Natural History in the university of New Bruns- wick; Rev. Dr Iloncyman, F.G.S., Provincial Geologist, Nova Scotia; II. IIow, D.C.L., Professor of Chemistry in King's College, Windsor ; G. F. Matthew, Esq., of St John's, New Brunswick ; Pro- fessor C. F. Hartt, M.A., formerly of St John's, now of the Vassar College, New York ; Henry Poole, Esq., of Glace Bay, Cape Breton ; W. Barnes, Esq., Mining Engineer, Halifax ; and J. Campbell, Esq., [of Halifax. The names of other contributors will be found men- tioned in the Explanation of the Map, and in various places in the J body of the Work. It will also be observed in the list of publications in Chapter I., that, in addition to the previous labours of Lyell and Logan, several Geologists from abroad have, in recent years, aided in the work of geological exploration in Nova Scotia and New Ikunswick. Among these are Hind, Lesley, Silliman, Hitchcock, and Marsh. Acadian Geology is also indebted to Hall, Davidson, Billings, Hartt, and Scudder, for labours of great value in the department of Palaeontology, I some of them kindly undertaken at the request of the author. I have endeavoured to acquaint myself with the labours of all these [cultivators of Acadian Geology, and to refer to them in every case where I have availed myself of the results of their researches. If in any respect I have failed duly to appreciate their investigations, or [have misunderstood their conclusions, I shall be glad to make amends I in any way in my power. While the progress made in the Geology of Acadia since the publi- [cation of the First Edition of this Work is most satisfactory, it also ▼m PREFACE. f suggests the fact that the present Edition, probably the last which the author will be permitted to issue, merely marks a stage in that progress ; and that the time will soon arrive when its imperfections will be revealed by the discovery of new facts, when many things now uncertain may have become plain, and when some things now held as certain will be proved to have been errors. When that time shall come, I trust that those who may build on the foundations which I have laid, if they shall find it necessary to remove some misplaced stone or decaying beam, will make due allowance for the difficulties of the work, and the circumstances under which it was executed.* Many portions of the Work are intended only for reference. I would therefore advise the reader, when he finds his progress arrested by a dry catalogue, a sectional list, or descriptions of fossils, to pass on to the ne^ readable portion. Should he meet with terms or allusions which are not intelligible, by referring to the Genei'al Index he will find their explanation in some othr- portion of the Work. The Index will also be found very useful to those who desire to refer to the structure of particular localities, the description of fossils, or the notices of useful minerals. A " Classified List of Illustrations," an " Index to Economic Geology," and an " Ind^x to Subjects in General Geology," have been added to the Table of Contents, in order to facilitate such reference. The lovers of the lighter kind of scientific literature may be disappointed in not finding in this work any incidents of travel or illustrations of the aspects of social life in Acadia. I have been obliged by the pressure of graver and more important matter to resist all temptation to dwell on these ; but may perhaps find some *"uture occasion to introduce the public to the incidents and adventures of my geologic'il excursions. Some explanation may be necessary as to the use of the terms Canada and Acadia in this volume. While the Work was in pre- paration, that political change was inaugurated whereby the name of * In connexion with the latter, T think it only just to myself to stale that my note- books contain a large amount of local geological detail, which, however appropriate in the Reports of a Survey, could not be inserted in a Work of this description ; and that in the following pages a few lines must often represent facts collected in the arduous labour of days or weeks. Much matter will also be found in the papers which I have published, more especially in the .Journal of the Geological Society of London, and which it has been impossible to reproduce here. I'REKACE. IX i last which the , stage in that IS imperfections lany things now hings now held 1 that time shall idations which I some misplaced r the difficulties as executed* for reference. I progress arrested f fossils, to pass ;t with terms or le General Index "the Work. The desire to refer to of fossils, or the of Illustrations," px to Subjects in Contents, in order teraturc may be %nts of travel or I have been 111 matter to resist |find some %ture id adventures of ise of the terms k'^ork was in pre- Ireby the name of Lo stale that my note- Iwever appropriate in lleacription ; and tliat kcted in the arduous Ipapcrs which I have liety of London, and Upper Canada was changed to Ontario, that of Lower Canada to Quebec, and the name Canada was extended by the Imperial Parliament to the whole Dominion, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This change of nomenclature the author has found it impossible fully to adopt, in consequence of the necessity established by stubborn geological facts, of comps, Ing Acadia collectively with the remaining provinces of the Dominion ':f Canada. The reader will therefore kindly understand, that wherever in the following pages the terms Canada and Acadia are used in contradistinction, the foimer includes the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, the latter the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In other words, for the purposes of this volume, I regard the Dominion of Canada, with Prince Edward Island, as divisible into the two natural regions of Canada Proper and Acadia. 1 may add that, though, as a Nova Scotian, I must sympa- thize with the natural indignation of my countrymen, in view 1 of the hasty and, I fear, ill-advised Imperial legislation which has [deprived them, for the present at least, of their cherished provincial Independence and direct connexion with the mother country, and has Ittached them to the new and untried Canadian " Dominion," I shall "rejoice if the confederation shall result in the effectual extension of the labours of the Canadian Geological Survey, under the able miuiagement of my friend Sir William E. Logan, to the whole of Hritish America : a union for scientific purposes, open to none of the objections wl.ich may be urged against the recent political changes, j\ih1 which I strongly advocated in my First Edition. For myself, I confess that at an earlier period of my life it was a ciierished object of ambition with me, that it might be my lot to work I out in a public capacity the completion of some, at least, of the de- partments of geological investigation opened up to me in my native province ; but it has been otherwise decreed ; and however I may [ regret the want of that extraneous aid, which would have enabled me I to devote myself more completely to original researcl',e8, by which my own reputation and the interests of my country might have been j advanced, I am yet thankful that I have been enabled to do so much I by my own unaided resources, and that I have also been able to assist mmm PREFACE. and encourage others, who may now carry on the work more effectually in connexion with an organized Geological Survey. The numerous additional Illustrations in this Edition have been engraved by Mr J. H. Walker of Montreal, principally from my own drawings or from photographs. The post-pliocene fossils are from figures in the Canadian Naturalist; the Carboniferous Brachiopods have been copied from Mr Davidson's figures ; the Devonian Insects are from drawings by Mr Scudder ; and the Primordial Fossils have been drawn by Mr Smith of the Geological Survey of Canada. By reference to the Classified List of Illustrations, it will be seen that more than two hundred and fifty species of fossils have been figured ; and I have added a note referring to the Memoirs which contain illus- trations of those new species of fossils noticed but not figured in this Work. In the Explanation of the Geological Map will be found references to the authorities consulted in its preparation. M'GiLL College, Montreal, 1868. nore effectually ition have been y from my own fossils are from us Brachiopods (evonian Insects ial Fossils have )f Canada. By ill be seen that ve been figured ; ch contain illus- 3t figured in this found references EXPLANATION OF THE GEOLOGICAL MAP. I I The Map in this Edition, though greatly improved, is still to be re- garded as merely a rude approximation to the truth, and the colouring in many places, more especially in the interior, remote from the coast lines, is little more than conjectural. With the pennission of Sir W. E. Logan, I have adopted the scale and geographical lines of his large Geological Map of Canada, in [which he has spared no pains to obtain the most accurate representation possible of the coast and river lines. To Sir William's Map I am Ibo indebted for the geological lines of the part of the province of Quebec included in my Map, as well as for the geology of portions of fche state of Maine and of the province of Newfoundland, in regard to iwhich Sir W^illiam has carefully collated and harmonized the observa- [tions of Professor Hitchcock and Mr Murray with his own work in [Canada. For the geology of New Brunswick I am indebted, in addition to my own observations, principally to the published Maps I of Professor Robb, Professor Bailey, and Mr Matthew, and to MS. Maps and Notes on the limit lines, kindly communicated by Professor j Bailey. I have also consulted Professor Hind's Preliminary Report, as 1 to the limits of formations, more especially in Northern New Bruns- wick, and have availed myself of the reduction of all these observations by Sir William Logan for his Map. In preparing the General Section, I have been guided, in so far as New Brunswick is concerned, by a MS. section constructed by the late Professor Robb, and communi- cated to me by his brother, Mr C. Robb of Montreal. I have coloured tlie little-known island of Grand Manan, from notes kindly given to [me by Professor A. E. Verrill of New Haven, and which I publish in the Appendix. It is, however, doubtful whether the formations ■ • •*»T,-r.'>.».r'*yJ'— - f .»i"w ■!■■*>> ^M wnw'i *«>-« li xvi CONTKNTB. CIIAPrER VIII. Thk Thiah — VontinufiK Prince Edward It — ConUnMii. l^iul AnimalH of the Coal I'oriod — Reptilea — Pulinoiiutos— InHects, . 8fl8 CHAPTER XIX. Tub (.'auiionipekous Period — Voidinued. District of Kichniond and Southom InverneHH — llBeful MiiieralH— DiHtrict of Northern InvemesHand Victoria — Useful Minerals— District of Capo Breton County — Useful Minerals, 390 CHAPTKli XX. The Carbonifeuous Pehiou — Vunlimud. Che Flora of the Coal l''onnation — Tissues in Coal — Descriptive List of ^Plants — Note on Xylohius, 421 OHAFrElt XXI. The Devonian Perioo, Dwer Devonian of Nova Scotia — Devonian of Southern Now Brunswick -Section of " Fern Ledges " — Useful Minerals — Crustaceans and 1 nsects, 497 CHAPTER XXII. The Devonian Peiuod — Continued. he Flora of the Devonian in New Brunswick — List of Plants, . . 681 CIIAn^ER XXIII. The Upper Silurian Period, Ipper Silurian of Nova Scotia — Of New Jirunswick — Useful Minerals — I Fossil Remains — Metainorphism of Sediments — Igneous Rocks, . . 557 CHAPTER XXIV. The Loweb Silurian PKRiofe. t»wer Silurian of Nova Scotia — Gold — Lower Silurian of New Brunswick I — " Acadian Group " — Useful Minerals — Primordial Fossils, . . 613 *ti f ill XViii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. Thk Huhoniam and Laurentian Prrioos. Introductory Remarks — Tlio Iluronian System — The Laurentian System — idummary of the Geological History of Acadia — ConcluBion, Page 658 APPENDIX. (A.) — Mtcmac language and Superstitions, 673 (li.)— Peat as Fuel, 676 (C.) — Cone-in-Cono Concretions 676 (D.) — Tabular View of the Lower Coal Measures, .... 678 (E.)— Grand Manan, 679 (F.) — New Minerals from Nova Scotia, 680 (O.) — Mining Laws and Hogulations, 681 (H.) — Additional Information on Mines, 682 (L) — Structure of Nortliern Cape Breton, 684 (K.) — Fossils of the Palaoozoic Rocks, 686 (L.) — Huronian of Now Brunswick, 686 (M.) — Lower Carboniferous of Southern New Brunswick, . . . 687 ill ill INDEX TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. p>gt AoATB, 114 Albertitk, 231, 247 Alum, 249 Aniiydritk, 249, 268 Ankkritk ASS Antimony, 640 Barvteb, 270, 345, 692 HrniMRN, Earthy, 248, 339 Cemknt, Water, 351 Clay 275, 345, 635 Coal of Cumberland, 218 of Colchester, 876 of Pictou, 889 of Aiitigonish ?t9 of Richmond, 896 of Inverness and Victoria, 404 of Capo Hreton, 411 of New Brunswick, S45 probabilities of, in Prince Edward Island, .... 12S Copper Ores in Triassic Trap 102, 107, 118 in Coal Formation, 345 in Devonian and Silurian Rocks, . . . 527, 592, 640 Freestone, 249, 344, 351, 404 Gold of Nova Scotia, 277, 624 - of New Bninswick, 640 [Granite, 635 I Graphite, 664 [Grindstone, 222,249 Gypsum 222, 249, 271, 345, 399, 403, 419 Iron Ore of Triassic Trap, 113 of Carboniferous, 222, 271, 344, 419 of Silurian and Devonian, 526, 582, 641 Iron Ochres, 345, 351, 583, 584, 590 Jasper, 114 Limestone, 222, 249, 271, 345, 351, 403, 419, 663 Lead, Orels of, 275, 351, 640 Manganese Ore, 250, 272, 345, 641 Marble, 345, 399, 419, 593 NicKEi^ 641 Peat, 35, 675 Petroleum, '• . . . 248 Porphyry, 693 QuARr^, smoky, 69S Salt Springs 248, 276, 349 Silver, 640 Slate, 593 SoiL3 21, 112, 123, 233, 693, 617, 623 Shale, Bituminous, 248 Umber, 851 Zinc, 641 INDEX OF SUBJECTS IN GENERAL GEOLOGY ILLUSTRATED OR DISCUSSED IN THIS VOLUME. AlbortUe, Origin of, 231 AntholitheB, Nature and Affinities of, 460 Calamites, Structure and AfHnitics of, 194,441 Carboniferous Systom, Structure of, 128,147,150 Coal, how Accumulated, 131, 138, 201 Structure of, 4(51 Colour of Sediments 24,623 Concretionary Stnxctures, 676 Cycles in Geological Time, 135 Cf)rdaite8, Nature and Affinities of, 460 Copper, Native, Origin of, 107 Erect Trees, Preservation of, 28, 187, 191 Footprints in Aqueous Deposits, 26 Frost, Action of, 64 Forest Fires, 47 Flora of the Coal Period, 421 of the Devonian Period, 531 Gold, Origin of, and Mode of Occurrence, 624 Glacial Action, 65 Gypsum, Origin of, 2G1, 391 Huronian Period, . . > 659 Ice, Transporting Power of, 64 Insects of the Coal Period, 386 of tiie Devonian Period, 523 Life in the Coal Lagoons and Estuaries, 202 Life in the Carboniferous Sea, 254, 285 Lepidophloios, Nature and Affinities, 456 Lepidodendron, Nature and Affinities, 450 Laurcntian Period, 662 Lower Sihirian, Peculiarities in Eastern America, .... 620, 637 Megaphyton, Nature and Affinities of, 449 Metamorphisn., 610 Modern Alluvia, 21 Pre-historio Man, 41 Permian, Absence of, in Eastern America, 125 Plaster-pits, Origin of, 393 Pulmonates of the Coal Period, 333 Primordial Fauna, 642 Rain-marks, 26 410 Reptiles of the Coal Period, ........ 353 Sand Dunes, 35 Submarine Forests, 28 Sigillaria, Nature and Affinities of, 430 Sternbergia, Nature of, . 424 Stigmaria, Nature of, 179 43(5 Triassic Period, Conditions of, gg Trigonocarpum, Nature and Affinities of, 459 Tracks of Worms and Crustaceans, 256 410 Upper Silurian of Eastern America, 411 572 glO I ILLUSTRATED [E. Page 231 460 194,441 128, 147, 15(5 131, 138, 201 401 24, 623 676 135 466 107 28, 187, 191 26 64 47 421 531 624 65 . 261, 391 669 64 523 202 • 254, 285 466 460 662 . 620,637 449 610 21 41 125 398 383 642 . 26, 410 863 36 28 430 424 179, 436 86 459 • 256, 410 411,572,610 CLASSIFIED LIST OF MUSTBATIONS. '• Jt'"^™' """'"peal Map. 2. Wap of Pictou Coal-field, 3- Map of Cape Breton Coal-field. I. MAPS. '■ndo/ihe Volume. 1, 2. 8. )4, 0. [7. [8. [9. ii. Oeneml Section a™ New h"^?'"''^- Generalized SectJoT ^'™"''"'*«'^ '»'«' Nova Scotia S'ratmlirr'""^' '"^' ^«--"-. ■ . ' ■ • otratified Oravel on Drift ' ' • . ir„:'f ?''°'"'''^'-''"«. Petite" Kiv<;r ' ' ' ""rton to Cape Hlomidon (TriaHr ' * At Hwan Creek (Trias) ^' * ' • • General Section VVeHtern f •„' i ". ' Junctions of FormaTil'L ^""''^''•'""'' (f^^rboniferouH), Denudation and filling „' f ." • • . , ««d« with Erect t:^ "•''•' Y-' • • .' •Base of Erect SigilMria .t ' ' ' BedH over Joggins Main Coal " ' * ' Lower part of Subdivision xxvii "r •. ' ' • Beds with I.:rect Tree C«n« J ,"' ^^«^'"''' • • «o"thJogg.n«,„;;£^^»^^f«'a.ash. . . , • Coal Creek, Kichebucto,' ' ' • • vIo?Zi"'"'"^'^*'"-^''-'-tMi„e" • • • Vun of Albertite, Albert Mine, ' ' ' • ■ tr- «'"• do. • • • . r ■ '^•'- do. ■ • Lower Carboniferous at Walton * ' ' ' • •L^st River, Pictou(CarbStl)- ' " " pSiatercte. ^^^^^ 'Actions), \ ' .'^ " • Plaster Pits, . "•••.. Junction of Granite and Slate ' ' ' " • ' • Devonjan, etc., near St John' ' ' ' ' • Cape Porcupine, '•••.. Barrel Quartz, .***••..' ill- FOSSILS. P- Sigillaria Brownii rn^T^^ ' • bcai^tesvoi;;^oots%::f°-^ . . '. •. Cifitii, leaves (do.) ' ' ' • • 820 413 —on the Map. 20 29 81 89 90 103 160 126 160 190 198 198 200 216 225 233 234 235 236 258 317 325 391 393 500 505 559 629 35 180 194 194 XXtl CLA88IFIEU L18T OF ILLUSTRATIONS 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. IB. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 2C. 27. 28. 29. 30 31. 32. 33. 84. 35. 36. 87. 38. 89. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 62. 58. 64. 55. 56. Calninitua Suckuvi! Sphenoptoris munda latior CaiiadonHis (Carboni^orouH) (do.) . (>'o.) (d.,.) . (do.) (do.) . Alethoptcrifl grnndia Nceggcratliia dispar Lcpidwlondron corrugatum (do.) Cyclopteria Acadicii (do.) Cordaites (do.) Folingo of Coal Formation (do.) Araucnritcs (do.) Dadoxylon, 3 species (do.) Sternbergia (do.) Sigillarin!, 8 species (do.) (Jttlamodendron (do.) CalaniitcH, 3 .'species (do.) Equisetites cnrta (do.) AHtoropliyllitCH frinervis (do.) Annulnria splienopliylloides (do.) Splieiio])liylluin crosuin (do.) I'innularia rfl'ii(iHlsniina (do.) Odontopteris finbcimoata (ilo.) Neuropteris cordata (do.) Alotlioptoris )o ichitica (do.) Dictyoptori?! oldiqua (do.) Neuropteris cydopteroidcs (do.) I'hyllopteris antiqiia (do.) Megapliyton niagnilicuni, (do.) Palaiopteris Hnrttii (do.) Acadica (do.) Lepidodendrou corrugatum (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (Jo.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) 5 species 2 species Lopidophloios, 3 species Acadiaiius Cordaites borassifolia Diplotegium rctusum Antholitlics, 4 species Trigonocarpum, .3 species Cardiocarpuni, 2 species Sporaiigitcs pnpiilata Trigonocarpum Ilookeri Tissues from Coal Stigmaria Dadoxylon Ouangondianum (Devonian) Calamites tninsitionis (do.) Asteropliyllites, 2 species (do.) parvula (do.) Sphonuphyllum antiquum (do.) Lyoopoditos Mattlicwi (do.) Lepidodendron Oaspianum (do.) Piige 195 243 24;; 24:! 24,! 241 25:! 253 25:! 40i) 42;') 42;-) 42t; 43-' 440 44'J 44:t 441 444 411 411 441! 446 446 446 446 446 44S 448 448 451 453 456 455 457 I 458 458 460 460 460 4fi0l 4t;i| 464 i 4061 5351 537 1 5381 540] 540| 54Ul [All CliABSIFIEU LIST OF ILLU8TKATIUNS (I)cvoniiui) (do.) (do.) (do.) . . (do.) . . (do.) . . ANIUAIJ4 — liadiata 1. I'i)lyHtoniolla striatojninctata (I'oHt-pliocenc) 2. Duntalina piiseilla (Carboniferoug) 67. I'Hilophyton elogans .58. Cordftitos Kobbii 59. Cyclopteris .Fackxoni, 60. Foms, various spccion 61. Nuuropteris Dawson! 62. Fruits, etc. 8. Lithostrotimi I'ictoonso 4. Zapliruntis Miiias 5. Cyuthopliyllum Dillingsi 6. Stonopora oxiiis 7. Chactetes ttiniidiis 8. Dictyoneina Wubstoii (Silurian) 9. I'altcaster parviuscuhm (do.) IlO. Eocystitcs (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) A N 1 M A 1.8 — MoUwSCU Mytilus cdulis (I'ost-pliocenu) Tcllina Grirnlandicn (do.) calcarca (do.) Saxicava rugosa (do.) . Mya truncata (do.) Huccinum undatuni (do.) . Natica clauHa (do.) Naiadites carbonnria (Carboniforoua) • olongata (do.) . laevis (do.) arcnacoa (do.) . angulata (do.) Fonestolla Lyclli (do.) . Tercbratula sacculuK (do.) Athyris subtilita (do.) . Spirifora glabra (do.) cristata (do.) . acuticoBtata (do.) Camerophoria globulina (do.) Hhynclionella Dawsoniana (do.) Acaciensia (do,) Stropboincna analoga (do.) . Htreptorbyncluis cronistria (do.) I'rtxluctus siMuircticulatUH (do.) cora (do.) (^entronella Anna (do.) Modiola J'ooli (do.) I'teronitus (iayensis (do.) Macrodon Harding! (do.) BhubcnacadienBia (do.) XXIU Pag« fi43 M4 646 548 666 74 285 286 287 287 287 287 663 595 648 74 74 74 74 74 74 74 204 204 204 204 204 288 289 201 291 292 292 29.3 294 295 296 296 297 297 800 801 801 802 803 " XXVI CLASSIFIED LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. k 4. 6. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. Dendrerpeton Acadianum (CarboniforouB} Ctenoptycliius cristatus Conclicxlus plicatus pHaininodus Gyracantlius duplicatus magnificus KhizoduH lauciior Diplodua, Palajoniscus Albert! Khizodus llardingi Acrolepis Ilortoneusis Ctenacanthua Baphetes planiceps Reptiles restored Footprints Footprints of Sauropua Baphetes planiceps, Dendrerpeton Acadianum Oweni Hylonoraus LycUi aciedentatus Wyniani * Ilylerpeton Dawsoni, Eosaurus Acadianus (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) (do.) IV. MISCELLANEOUS. Impressions of Kain (Modern and Carboniferous), . Do. Shrinkage Cracks (do.) Rill Marks (do.) . Sand Hills, Now London, Micmac Heads, Stone Implements, View of Cape Bloniidon, Basaltic Cliffs, Briar Island, Pago 18t» 201) 20'.i 2oy 210 210 210 211 231 251 251 254 32y 35'.' 35(', 368 3C0 3GI 36'.i 37:i 377 37S 380 381' 27 27 27 3i) 41 43 90 98 View of the Joggins Shore, 179 Erect Bigillaria, S. Joggins, Cliff of Crystalline Gypsum, Fall of Economy Ilivor, ......... Granite Hill and Lake near St Mary's River, .... Waverley Mine, Conc-in-cone Concretion, 192 347 557 613 627 676 Note. — Figures of most of the new species of Fossils, noticed and not illus- trated in this work, may be found in the Author's Memoirs on these subjects, aa follows : — ■ Carboniferous Plants — Journal of Geological Society of London, vol. xxii. Devonian Plants— Ibid., vols, xviii. and xix., and Canadian Naturalist ami j Geologist, Ist Series, vol. vi. Carboniferous Reptiles, etc. — " Air-breathers of the Coal Period," Montreal and London, 1863, and Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, let Series, vol. viii. ■^n Page • 189 . 209 • 209 . 209 • 210 . 210 • 210 . 211 • 231 . 254 254 . 254 328 • 352 35G 368 300 • 304 • 369 373 • 377 378 • 380 382, • 27 1 27 1 • 27 ■ 3y . 41 M 43 1 90 1 98 ■ • 179 ■ 192 ■ • 347 ■ 567 ■ • 613 B 627 B • 67(jB ticed and not Ilus- ^H on these subj ects, ^H Kloii , vol. xxii ian Naturalist and ^| Pago 3, ,. 28, 138, 213, 241, 244, 246, 278, 280, 422, 1, 424, .. 443, .. 413, 444, ERRATA. etc., Maliccet is better snf.llp,) xr ■• for Temna » ,7,, ■ P' "^'' '^•''''seet. I. Jor imrc read Sne. ^oitom, for t]m read h\9. top, /or coast 7-carf cost. " ■^'">' those read tlicse bottom,/,, ten-thousandth read (in . thousandth. ^ f'" *'Wie copies) 4 U 2 9 1 3 3 8 11 thousandth. *op,/o?-orrcarfof. Description of" '^'" *''^''*' ''*"'' *''"^«- iod," Montreal and t .Series, vol. viii. ; ■ Hi t^mmmtmiktiHMii»i»'»l» «!■ ^Mtt*!— IWiM|i>r<»fc«w '■' ^t/ li M ill ACADIAN GEOLOGY. CHAPTER I. WHE NAME " ACADIA "—GEOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. The old and beautiful name Acadia or Acadic, by which Nova Scotia, N«w Brunswick, and the neighbouring islands were known to the early French colonists, though it has a classic look and sound, is undoubtedly of aboriginal origin. Long before I was aware that any doubt or controversy existed as to its derivation, it was explained to mc by an ancient Micmac patriarch named Martin St Pierre, or, iH lie pronounced it, " Maltun Sapeel," who used to visit my father's )usc, asking alms, when I was a boy. According to liim, the name jnifies " Plenty here," and he illustrated this by the word Shuben- idie, which still remains as the name of one of the principal rivers [Nova Scotia. Shuben, he said, or " Sgabun," means ground-nuts, Indian potatoes ; and Shubenacadie, a place where ground-nuts are lundant. On the authority of this venerable Micmac philologist, ■gave, in the first edition of this work, the following explanation Ithe term : — I" The aboriginal Micmacs of Nova Scotia, being of a practical turn mind, were in the habit of bestowing on places the names of the eful things which could be found in them, affixing to such terms word Acadie, denoting the local abundance of the particular |ects to which the names referred. The early French settlers pear to have supposed this common termination to be the proper 16 of the country, and applied it as the general designation of the "■"■*■ •■■MM^MkltafH mm "^Hp— wnpi Ml '' ■;) 81 I a ACADIAN OKOLOUY. rogion now coiiHtitiiting tlio proviiicos of Novft Sci>tift, Now HniiiHwick, and I'rinco lOdwanl iHland, wliic.li still retain Acadia an thuir poetical appellation, and as a convenient general term for the Lower Provinces of Hriti.sh Aineriea as diHtingiiiMliod from ('anada. IFcnce the titlo "Acadian (leology " ia appropriate to this work, not only becanHo that name was first bestowed on Nova Scotia, but because the Btructuro of this province, as exposed in its excellent coast sections, funiishes a key to that of the neighbouring regions, which I have endeavoured to apply to such portions of them as I have explored." 1 tind, however, that the Commissioners on the Sottleniont of the North-eastern Uoundary had previously given a very dilVertMit explana- tion of the name. They say, as quoted by Prof. Hind: — * "The obscurity which has been thrown in past times over the territorial extent of Acadia, that country of which Do MoiitB re- j coived letters patent in 1003, was occasioned by not attending to the Indian origin of the name, and to the repeated transfer of the name to other parts of the country to which the first settlers after- wards removed. Even before the appointment of Do la Kocho, in 1598, as Lieutcnant-Geueral of the country, including those parts adjacent to the Hay of Fundy, the bay into which the St Croix empties itself was known to the Indians of the Moriscot (Maliseot) tribe, which still inliabits New Brunswick, by the name Peska dum quodiah, from Pcskadum, fish, and Quodiah, tbi name of a fi-sii resembing the cod," — which fish is supposed to be that known as the " Pollock." They further state that the French softened this word Quodiah into Quadiac, Cadie, and finally Acadie, while the Knglish have changed it into Quoddi/, as in the well-known name Passamaquoddy,* still applied to the bay above mentioned. Independently of tlifj natural objection of an Acadian to believe in the derivation of thiJ honoured and euphonious name from a word meaning a kind oil cod-fish, I had great doubts as to the correctness of this etymo-| logy in any respect ; and with the view of fortifying myself in th^ belief of the derivation of my old friend St Pierre, I have applieif to the Rev. Mr Rand of Ilantsport, Nova Scotia, whose acquaintl ance with the Micmac and Maliseet languages is second to that o!| no man living, and am happy to say that he confirms my previoiu opinion, and illustrates it in many curious ways, so that we need iitj any longer speak of the meaning and origin of the name Acadia i doubtful. Mr Rand informs me that the word, in its original form, is Kai^ * Report on Geology of New Brunswick. ^t { THE NAMr, "ACAniA." 8 «lo.\v HrunHWK'k, ivH lliMir pooticiil ,owor TrovinccH llcnco th« titlfl >nly l)ocii«»" tliat ISC the Btnicturo actions, furuislHiH avo endeavoured i." ■^ottlcniont of tlu> (Uncrcnt cxplivna- ,n(l:— * .) following may be given as examples of actual Indian names formed in this way :— Sonnn-Kaddy {Sunncadie) — Place of cranberries. i Kata- luiddi/ — i'lel-ground. Tidluk-Kaddi/ (Tracadie) — Probably place of residence ; dwcUing- ilace. tihudnhimoochwa-Knddi/ — (iliost or spirit land — is the somewhat 'jiitlicnlt naiiio of a largo island in the Uras d'Or Lake, onco used as Jl burial-ground. 1. liunn-Kaddy (lUuiacadio or IJcnacadie) — Ts the pla(;e of bringing i^rtli ; a place resorted to by moose at the calving-timo. ><<;lr Codiah, is merely a modification of Kaddy in the language of the Malicccts, and replacing the other Jbrm in certain compounds. Thus : Nuoda-Kwoddy (Nooditiuoddy or Wincliclsea Harbour) — Is place ' seals, or, more litcu-ally, place of scal-lumtiug. A'ooilrjoo-A'u'orfrf^— Giant-land, or land of giants. Boonamoo-Kwoddi/ — Tom-cod ground ; and, lastly, — reslumoo-Kiuoddij — Pollock-ground; wliich brings us back to issamaquoddy, and to the loanied derivation of the Commissioners, ||ho, as unsuccessful in etymology as in the just settlement of the aundary, have merely changed the meaning of the first component the word into a general term for fish, and have taken kwoddy for \g equivalent of polluck, very likely l)ccausc its sound resembled iat of cod, or because some Maliceet Indian had rendered the name to his imperfect English by the words " Pollock fish here." 5o much for the etymology of Cadie or Quoddy ; now as to its applica- to the largo region known as Acadia. Two explanations may be t'cn of this. First, the name may be a mere alteration, as suggested the Commissioners, of that of the bay which lay at the western ACADIAN aGOLoav. extremity of Acadia, and whoso aboriginal pooplo wore called by the EnglJHh the Qwoddy Indians, ])Oii.nim because of tlio frcijucnt occur- renco of tho word in their names of placoa. Thin name remains in Quoddy Head, the last point of the United States next to Acadia. Secondly, tho name, as sugpostcd by mo in the first edition of "Acadian Geology," may have ori{;;inated in tho fre(iuency of nanioH with this termination in the hmguugo of tho natives. Tho early settlers were desirous of information as to tho localities of useful productions, and in giving such information tho aborigines would require so often to U80 the term "Cadie," that it might very naturally como to bo regarded as a general name for tho country. I still think the latter explanation tho more probable. Acadia, therefore, signifies primarily a place or region, and, in combination with other words, a place of plenty or abundance. Thus it is not oidy a beautiful name, which should never have been abandoned for such names as New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, but it is most applicable to a region which is richer in tho "chief things of tho ancient mountains, tho precious things of the lasting hills, and the precious things of the earth and of tho deep that couchcth beneath," than any other portion of America of similar dimensions. Farther, since by those unchanging laws of geological structure and geographical position which tho (^reator himself has established, this region must always, notwithstanding any artificial arrangements that man may make, remain distinct from Canada on tho one hand, and New England on the other, the name Acadia must live ; and I venture to predict that it will yet figure honourably in the history of this western world. Tho resources of tho Acadian provinces must necessarily render them more wealthy and populous than any area of the same extent on tho Atlantic coast, from tho 13ay of Fundy to the Gulf of Mexico, or in tho St Lawrence valley, from tho sea to the head of the great lakes. Their maritime and mineral resources constitute them the Great Britain of Eastern America ; and though merely agricultural capabilities may give some inland ond more southern regions a temporary advantage, Acadia will in the end assert its natural pre-eminence. The above considerations justify me in retaining tho title of "Acadian Geology" for the present edition of this work, notwith- standing that the name has beei: overlooked in tho new political constitution recently bestowed on Acadia and Canada by the Parlia- ment of Great Britain ; and in which the name " Canada " is extended over the whole of British North America. The title is farther appropriate for a work of this nature, from the circumstance that the ;t»^ OEOLOOY OF THE ACADIAN 1'K0VIN(;K8. A Acadian provinces form a woU-markml Roologicnl district, diRtin« giiished from all tlio neighbouring parts of America by the enormous and remarkable dovolupment within it i>f rooks of the Carboniferous and Triassic systems. Nova Scotia, which is in a geological point of view the most important of the Acadian j)rovincc«, lias not enjoyed the full benefit of a public geological survey, thougii some preliminary explorations have been made under the auspices of the (jovernment. Yet, its mineral resources have been very extensively developed by mining enterprise, its structure has been somewhat minutely examined, and it has afforded some very important contributions to our knowledge of the earth's geological history. (Mrcumstancos of a political character, rather than any want of liberality or scientific zeal on the part of the people, have delayed the public and systematic exploration of llio geology and mineral resources of the country; while the pos- session of useful minerals, deficient in all the neighbouring regions, has made it of necessity one of the most important mining districts in North America. Unfortunately, in one sense, for the colony, its abundant mineral wealth attracted attention at a period when the Government of the mother country was not actuated by the liberal spirit that now characterizes its dealings with its dependencies, and when the rights of the colonists were not so jealously or ably guarded as at present. The valuable minerals were reserved by the Crown, and were leased to an association of British capitalists, who opened the principal deposits of coal, and largely exported their produce, and some of whose agents have zealously and successfully aided in explor- ing the geology of the country. The Provincial Legislature, how- ever, evinced a very natural disinclination to expend the public money in the examination of deposits in which its constituents had no direct interest, and which long continued to be a fertile subject of controversy with the mining company and the Imperial (Jovernment. These impediments to public action on the subject of geological exploration have now passed away. Arrangements have been entered into between the province and the mother country, in virtue of which the control of the mines will revert to the former on the expiry of the lease. A recent act of the Legislature has empowered the Pro- vincial Government to grant leases of unopened mines to private speculators. The provincial lines of railway have opened up many of the inland mineral districts. Valuable metallic minerals have been discovered in localities which had escaped the reservation ; and arrangements have been made with the General Mining Association, which have thrown open the coal districts of the province to mining I \ \ I * 6 ACADIAN OKOLOaV. enterprise. In all these facts there is promise that the Provincial Government will soon find itself in a position to institute a thorough scientific investigation of the structure aiul productions of tlic country, and it is to bo hoped that this will be done by competent persons and on a liberal scale ; and not, as has boon the case in some neighbouring colonies, in a manner too imperfect to afford tnistworthy results. The excellent survey of Canada now in progress under Sir W. E. Logan, is a model to the other provinces in this respect ; and it is to be hoped that, under the now political constitution provided for those colonics, its benefits may be extended to the wholu of British North America. In the meantime, Nova Scotia may congratulate herself, that the noble monuments of the earth's geological history exposed in her coast cliffs have induced eminent geologists from abroad to occupy themselves with the more interesting parts of the structure of the province, and have cherished a strong taste for geological inquiry among her own sons; and that much has thus been effected as a labour of love, which in other countries would have cost a largo expenditure of the public wealth. Much, no doubt, still remains to be done, especially in those districts less fertile in facts interesting to the naturalist ; but a glance at the list of publications in the following pages, is sufficient to show w much labour has been voluntarily and gratuitously expended, as well as the importance and interest of the discoveries that have been made. But though a large amount of valuable information has been accumulated, it is scattered through the numbers of scientific journals and other publications, inaccessible to the general reader, and not easily referred to by the geological student; and it is in its nature fragmentary, and incapable of affording a complete view of the structure of the countiy. These considerations, and the possession of a mass of unpublished notes which had been accumulating for fourteen years, induced the author, in 1855, to undertake the present work, and to believe that, in doing so, he would render an acceptable service not only to his own countrymen and to the inhabitants of the other Acadian provinces, but to those geologists in Britain and America who may be acquainted with his published papers, and may desire a more complete acquaintance with Acadian geology. Ten years have now elapsed since the publication of the first edition of " Acadian Geology." In that time a great additional quantity of geological information has accumulated, — the science itself has made much progress, and a remarkable development of the mineral wealtii of the Acadian provinces has occurred. The author has, it is true, oEOLoaicAL nini-ionRApnY op Tne acadian provinces. been removed in the moantimo from the scene of his former labours, and now dwells in the gi-eat Silurian plain of Lower Canada; but he still rutftins a lively interest in the geology of his native province, and Ims endeavoured to carry forward to completion some of the subjects left unfinished in 1855, and to acquaint himself as far as possible with the results of the researches of other observers. In the edition of 1855, Nova Scotia was not only taken as the typical region for the whole of the Acadian provinces ; but the scope of the work was in a groat degree limited to that province. In the present edition it has become necessary to take a wider range, more especially in regard to New Hrunswick, since the researches of I)r Robb, Professor Bailey, Mr Matthews, Mr Ilartt, and Professor Hind, have developed to a remarkable extent the geology of the latter province, and have disclosed there some geological formations of great importance not as yet recognised in Nova Scotia. The earliest account of the geology of Nova Scotia with which I am acquainted, is contained in an elaborate paper in Silliman's American Journal of Science for 1828, by (3. T. .Tick son and F. Alger, Esqs., of Boston, United States. Messrs Jackson and Alger directed their attention principally to the trap and red sandstone formations of the western districts, and the interesting crystallized minerals contained in the former ; but they also gave a tolerably correct view of the distribution of the rock formations throughout the province, and made the earliest attempt to represent them on a geological map. Their detenni nations of the minerals of the trap district are accurate, and their catalogue of these minerals still admits of little extension. This paper was published in a separate form in 1832. An important addition was made to the geology of the province in 1829, in a chapter contributed to Haliburton's History of Nova Scotia, by Messrs Brown and Smith, then exploring the province on behalf of the General Mining Association ; and the former of whom haa subsequently been one of the most successful investigators of the geology of the coal formation. The article in Halibjrton relates principally to the eastern districts, and is chiefly remarkable as containing the most accurate views of the development of the carbo- niferous system in Nova Scotia promulgated previously to the visit of Sir Charles Lyell in 1842. In 1836, a volume, entitled " Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, " by A. Gesner, F.G.S., was published in Halifax, and was the first work on the lo<"al geology extensively circu- lated m the province. This work was in great part a popular resumi of \ '■*"%! 8 ACADIAN GEOLOGY. the previously published discoveries of Jackcson and Alger, but with many additional facts collected by its author in the course of careful examinations of the coasts of the Bay of Fundy, and more hurried journeys in other parts of the province. Gesner's work was of great service in directing popular attention within the province to the subject of geology, and it is still an excellent guide to the localities of in- teresting mineral specimens. "The Industrial Resources of Nova Scotia," a second work by the same author, was published in 1849, In 1841, Sir W. E. Logan, now provincial geologist of Canada, made a short tour in Nova Scotia, and contributed a paper on the subject to the Geological Society of London. In 1843, in passing through Nova Scotia on his way to Canada, he visited the South Joggins, and executed the remarkable section which he published in 1845 in his first Report on the Geology of Canada. This section, which includes detailed descriptions and measurements of more than fourteen thousand feet of beds, and occupies sixty-five octavo pages, is a remarkable monument of his industry and powers of observation, and gives a detailed view of nearly the whole thickness of the coal formation of Nova Scotia. The year 1842 forms an epoch in the history of geology in Nova Scotia. In that year Sir Charles Lyell visited the province, and carefully examined some of the more difficult features of its geological structure, which had bafHed or misled previous inquirers. Sir Charles also pc^oimed the valuable service of placing in communication with each other, and with the geologists of Great Britain, the inquirers already at work on the geology of the province, and of stimulating their activity, and directing it into the most profitable channels. The writer of the present work gratefully acknowledges his obligations in these respects. The results obtained by Sir Charles, which much modified and enlarged the views previously entertained of the stx'ucture of Nova Scotia, were communicated to the Geological Society, and a popular account of them was given in his " Travels in North Amei-ica." Since 1842, a great number of papers on the geology of Nova Scotia and the neighbouring provinces have been published in the scientific journals and otherwise. The following list includes such of these as have been consulted in the preparation of this work, arranged accord- ing to their dates : — On the upright Fossil Trees found at diflferent levels in the Coal Strata of Nova Scotia. Lyell, Geol. Proc. iv. pp. 176-178. On the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, and on the Age of the Gypsum. Lyell, ibid. pp. 184-186. GEOLOGICAL BIBLIOOKAPHY OP THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. By A. Gesner, Geol. Proc, J. W. Dawson, A Geological Map of Nova Scotia. p. 186. 4to map. Geological Excursion in Prince Edward Island. Ilaszard's Gazette, 1842. Geological Survey of New Brunswick. A. Gesner. 1839-1843. On the Geology of Cape Breton. R. Brown, Journal of Geol. Society of London, i. p. 23. 4 woodcuts. On the Lower Carboniferous or Gypsiferous Formation of Nova Scotia. J, W. Dawson, ibid. ^. 26. 6 woodcuts. On the Geology of Cape Breton. R. Brown, ibid. p. 207. 3 wood- cuts. On the Newer Coal Formation of the Eastern part of Nova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. p. 322. 4to map, 4 woodcuts. Report on the Geology of Prince Edward Island. A. Gesner. 1846. Notice of some Fossils found in the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia. Dawson, Geol. Journal, ii. pp. 132-136. 1 woodcut. Notes on the Fossils communicated by Mr Dawson. Bunbury, ibid. pp. 136-139. 1 8vo plate. On a group of erect Fossil Trees in the Sydney Coal Formation, Capo Breton. R. Brown, ibid. pp. 393-396. 3 woodcuts. Report on the Coal Fields of Caribou Cove and River Inhabitants. Dawson, Journals of the Legislature of Nova Scotia, 1846. On the Boulder Fonnation and Superficial Drift of Nova Scotia. Dawson, Abstract, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1847. On the Mode of Occurrence of Gypsum in Nova Scotia. Dawson, Abstract, ibid. 1847. On the Gypsiferous Strata of Cape Dauphin, Cape Breton. R. Brown, Geol. Journ. lii. pp. 257-260. 2 woodcuts. Description of an upright Lepidodendron, with Stigmaria Roots, Sydney, Cape Breton. R. Brown, Geol. Journ. iv. pp. 46-50. 7 woodcuts. I On the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. pp. 50-59. 4to map and section. I On the Colouring Matter of Red Sandstones, and the White Beds associated with them. Dawson, Geol. Journ. v. pp. 25-30. [On the Gypsum of Nova Scotia. Gesner, ibid. pp. 129, 130. I woodcut. jNotice of the Gypsum of Plaster Cove. Dawson, ihid. pp. 335-339. 3 woodcu*s. |Description of erect Sigillarire, Sydney, Cape Breton. R. Brown, ibid. pp. 354-360. 9 woodcuts. m 1 V 5 -! .f ii I 1 ■ I 10 ACADIAN GEOLOGY. m i On the Lower Coal Measures of the Sydney Coal Field, Cape Breton. R. Brown, Geol. Journ. vi. pp. 115-133. 9 woodcuts. On the Metamorphic and Metalliferous Rocks of the East of Nova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. pp. 347-364. 4 woodcuts. Notice of the Occurrences of upright Calamitcs near Pictou, Nova Scotir. Dawson, ibid. vii. pp. 194-196. 3 woodcuts. On a Fossil Fern from Cape Breton. Bunbury, ibid. viii. pp. 31-35. 1 plate. Dr Robb's Notices of the Geology of New Brunswick in Johnston's Report. 1019. Jackson's Report on the Albert Coal Mine (New Brunswick). 1851. Deposition of R. C. Taylor, etc., on the Albert Mine. 1851. Notes on the Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia. Dawson, Geol. Journ. pp. 398-400. 2 woodcuts. On the Remains of a Reptile and a Land-shell in an erect Fossil Tree in the Coal Measures of Nova Scotia. Lyell, Dawson, Wyman, and Owen, Geol. Journ. ix. pp. 58-67. 3 plates, 1 woodcut. On the Albert Mine, New Brunswick. Dawson, ibid. pp. 107-115. 7 woodcuts. On the Coal Measures of the South Joggins. Dawson, ibid. x. pp. 1-42. 25 woodcuts. On the Structure of the Albion Coal Measures. Dawson; with Journals of Exploratory Works, by H. Poole. Ibid. x. pp. 42-47. On a Fossil imbedded in a mass of Pictou Ccal. Professor Owen, ibid. X. pp. 207, 208. Lithographic plate. Notice of the Discovery of the above-mentioned Reptilian Skull. Dawson, ibid. xi. p. 8. On a Modern Submerged Forest at Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. xi. p. 119. Leidy on Bathygnathus Borealia, an extinct Saurian of the New Red Sandstone of Prince Edward Island. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1854. On the Lower Carboniferous Coal Measures of British America. Dawson, Jonm. of Geol. Soc. xv. p. 62. On the Vegetable Structures in Coal. Dawson, lithog. plates, ibid. XV. p. 626. On a Terrestrial MoUusk, a Millepede, and new Reptiles, from the Coal Formation ot iTova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. xvi. p. 268. On an Undescribed Fossil Fern. Dawson, ibid. xvii. p. 5. On Elevations and Depressions of the Earth in North America. Gesner, ibid. xvii. p. 381. 1.'* GEOLOOICAIi BIBLIOGRAPHY OP THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. 11 On a new Starfish of the Genus Palseaster from Nova Scotia. Billings, woodcut, Canad. Naturalist, v. p. 69. On the Silurian and Devonian Rocks of Nova Scotia. Dawson, woodcuts, ibid. v. p. 132. On the Coal Field of Pictou. Poole, Can. Nat. v. p. 285. On new Localities of Fossiliferous Silurian Rocks in Nova Scotia. Hnneyman, ibid. v. p. 293. On Natro-Boro-Calcite, How, Ed. Phil. Journ., and Silliman, 1857. On Faroelite and other Minerals. How, ibid. 1858. On Analysis of three new Minerals from the Trap of the Bay of Fundy. How, ibid. 1859. On the Oil Coal of Nova Scotia. How, Silliman's Journ., 2d ser. XXX, p. 74. Notice of Additional Reptilian Remains from the Coal of Nova Scotia. Dawson, Journ. Geol. Soc. xviii. p. 5. Note on a Carpolite and an erect Sigillaria from Nova Scotia. Daw- son, Journ. Geol. Soc. xvii. p. 522. '■' ' On the Pre-Carboniferous Flora of New Brunswick, Maine, and Eastern Canada. Dawson, Canad. Naturalist, vi. p. 161. On the recent Discoveries of Gold in Nova Scotia. Dawson, ibid. vi. p. 417. Oa Natro-Boro-Calc'.te from Nova Scotia. How, Silliman's Journ., 2d scr. xxxii. p. 9. On Gyrolite. How, ibid, xxxii. p. 13. - ' > On Gold in Nova Scotia. Marsh, ibid, xxxii. p. 395.. Remains of an Enaliosaurian in the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, 1 plate. Marsh, ibid, xxxiv. p. 1, and Journal of Geol. Soc. xix. p. 52. On the Flora of the Devonian Period in N.-E. America. Dawson, Journ. Geol. Soc. xviii. p. 296. On the Geology of the Gold Fields of Nova Scotia. Honeyman, ibid. xviii. p. 342. On the Lower Carboniferous Brachiopoda of Nova Scotia. David- sou, ibid. xix. p. 188. On New Cinistaceans from the Carboniferous and Devonian Rocks of British America. Salter, ibid. xix. p. 75. Further Observations on the Devonian Plantc of Maine, GaspS, and New York. Dawson, ibid. xix. p. 458. On a new Species of Dendrerpeton, and on Deimal Coverings of Fossil Reptiles. Dawson, ibid. xix. p. 469. On a new Species of Phillipsia from Nova Scotia. Billings, Can. Nat. viii. p. 209. . ! ! \ \ 1 \ i ■'.ifiafi 11 12 ACADIAN OE0I.00Y. On the Geology of St John County, New Brunswick. Matthew, Can. Nat. viii. p. 241. On the Mineral Waters of Nova Scotia. How, ibid. viii. p. 370. On the Footprints of a Reptile from the Coal Formation of Cape Breton. Dawson, ibid. viii. p. 430. A Lecture on Sable Island. Gilpin, Halifax, 1858. Synopsis of the Carboniferous Flora of Nova Scotia. Can. Nat. viii. p. 431. On Mineral Localities in Nova Scotia. Marsh, Silliman's Joum., 2d series, xxv. p. 210. On the Coal Measures of Cape Breton ; with section. Lesley, ibid. . 2d series, xxxvi. p. 179 On the Geology of Aripaig, Nova Scotia. Honeyman, Joum. Geol. Soc. XX. p. 33. Notes on the Geology and Botany of New Brunswick. Bailey, Can. . Nat. new series, i. p. 81. On Fossils of the Genus Rusichnites. Dawson, ibid. i. p. 363. The Gold of Nova Scotia of Pre-Carboniferous Age. Hartt, ibid. vol. i. p. 459. Air-Breathers of the Coal Period. Dawson, ibid. 1st series, viii. p. 1, etc. ; and in separate Work. 6 plates, Montreal, 1863. Silliman, Sil. Journal, 2d Perley, Can. Nat. new Matthew, On the Barrel Quartz of Nova Scotia. series, xxxviii. p. 104. Gold Mines and Gold Mining in Nova Scotia. series, ii. 198. On the Azoic and Palaeozoic Rocks of New Brunswick. , Joum. Geol. Soc. xxi. p. 422. On the Albert Coal of New Brunswick. Hitchcock, Silliman's Joum., 2d series, xxxix. p. 267. On the Conditions of Accumulation of Coal, and on the Coal Flora of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 8 plates. Dawson, Joum. Geol. Soc. xxii. p. 95. On Characteristic Fossils of the Coal Seams of Nova Scotia. Poole, Trans. N. S. Inst. i. p. 30. Gold and its Separation from other Metals. Gesner, ibid. p. 54. On a Trilobite from the Lower Carboniferous Formations of Nova Scotia. How, ibid. 87. On the Waters of the Mineral Springs of Wilmot. How, ibid. ii. p. 26. The Rocks in the Vicinity of Halifax. Gossip, ibid. p. 44. Notes on the Economic Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, parts 1, 2, and 3, How, ibid. p. 78. On some Brine Springs of Nova Scotia. How, ibid, p. 75. V - OEOLOaiCAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. 13 Reports of the Chief Commissioner of Mines, Nova Scotia, 1863 to 1866. Contributions to the Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. How, Lend. Ed. and Dub. Phil. Maga. 1866. Reports on Minerals collected in Geol. Surveys by authority of the Provincial Government. How, Journals of Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1862-65-66. Report on Nova Scotia Gold Fields ; and section. Campbell, Halifax, 1863. Observations on the Geology of Southern New Brunswick. Map and section. Bailey, Frederickton, 1865. Preliminary Report on the Geology of New Brunswick. Hind, Frederickton, 1865. Report on the Gold Fields of Nova Scotia. Silliman, 1864. , \ I have endeavoured to introduce into this edition some notice of the more important facts and conclusions contained in the foregoing publications, along with such additional matter as my own observa- tions have supplied. There will, however, be frequent occasion to refer to them in the following pages for details which my space does not permit me to introduce. I ' m 14 CHAPTER II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES — TAHULAR ARRANGEMENT OF FORMATIONS. Let the reader glance at the map, and he will readily perceive some of the principal physical features of the region wc have to describe. Nova Scotia consists of a pcnine-ila and island, situated between north latitude 43° 25' and 47°, and between west longitude 59° 40' and 66° 25'; and bounded on the south-eastern side by the Atlantic, and on the western and northern sides by the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, and the Gulf of St Lawrence. The peninsular part, Nova Scotia proper, is 250 miles in length, and about 100 in its extreme breadth, and is attached to the mainland of North America by a low isthmus sixteen miles in width. Its form is nearly triangular, and its surface is occupied by several rock formations, arranged for the most part in lines corresponding with its longest or Atlantic coast line. The insular part. Cape Breton, barely separated from tlio mainland by the narrow strait of Canseau, is 100 miles in extreme length and eighty in breadth ; and its rock formations ai r similar to those of Nova Scotia proper, though more irregularly distributed. The three sides of the triangle formed by Nova Scotia proper are, as seen on the map, distinguished by marked differences of outline. That fronting the north-west is deeply indented by large arms of the sea, separated by precipitous promontories. The longest side, that facing the Atlantic, is dotted with innumerable islands, and penetrated everywhere by small inlets and indentations. The northern shore, fronting the Gulf of St Lawrence, is comparatively smooth and uniform in its coast lines. This is also the character of the eastern coast of Cape Breton; while its remaining sides are very irregular, and its interior is occupied by a lake-like arm of the sea, which, but for the isthmus of St Peter's, less than a mile in width, would cut it into two parts. It will be observed that the characters of these several coast lines, as well as the different physical districts of the province, are well GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. 15 marked by the arrangement of the tints which distinguish the different geological formations. The boundaries of these often coincide with those of ranges of hills, and the general direction both of the hilU and lines of rock formation is N.E. and S.W., which is the prevailing direction of the structure of the whole eastern part of North Amorica. Tlie whole contour of the country indeed, as well as the directions of its coasts, rivers, and hills, depends on the nature and arrangement of its rocks, and on the elevatory movements to which they liave been subjected. The former determine the minor details of the surface and the coast lines : the latter, the elevation and distribution of the rocky masses on the great scale. For illustrations of this, I may refer the reader to the general section annexed to the map, in connexion with the following explanation of the colours represent- ing the several formations. The carmine and purple portions of the map, representing the oldest rocks in the province — rocks partly ejected in a molten state from the interior of the earth, and partly very ancient sediments metamorphosed or altered by heat and other chemical agencies — extend in an unbroken band along the whole Atlantic coast, wide at its western end, and tapering to a point in the eastern. This belt of country is in some parts low, rugged, and broken, and in others boldly undulating. It is traversed by many rocky ridges, and abounds in lakes, bogs, and streams. Its soils are often sterile and stony, though it has also large tracts of fertile soil, supporting noble forests, and fine agricultural settlements. Its maritime situation and numerous harbours have made it the abode of a large fishing and trading population ; and these advantages have also given to it the capital of the province, and several of the most prosperous towns and villages, while its recently discovered gold veins have added to it in recent years great importance as a mining district. This district is low at the Atlantic coast, and gradually rises to the height of a few hundreds of feet at its northern limit, where it descends someivhat suddenly to the level of the inland valleys, which, in the greater part of its length, separate it from the district next to be mentioned. The very irregular bands and patches, of a blue colour, with carmine lines and spots, also consist of altered rocks, with others of igneous origin, poured through them from beneath ; but the whole of somewhat later age than the rocks of the Atlantic coast. This district consists in great part of elevated ridges. It includes the highest and most continuous hills in the province, none of which, however, exceed 1200 feet in height, and the sources of all the Ijtiii m 16 ACADIAN GEOLOGY. principal rivers. Its hills are covered with fertile soil, and in their natural state support some of the finest forests in the country ; and it includes valuable deposits of metallic minerals. Its deep ravines, cascades, and fine wood-clothed precipices, afford the nearest approach to picturesque mountain scenery that a country so little elevated as Nova Scotia can boast. The portions coloured gray or neutral tint and red represent low and undulating districts, stretching in plains or narrow valleys between and into the higher lands already described. The larger of these, that coloured gray, is the great carboniferous district, including all the valuable deposits of coal, freestone, grindstone, gypsum, and limestone, and having fertile soils over tne greater part of its surface. It is therefore the principal abode of the mining, quarrying, and agricultural population. The red district, which is of comparatively small dimensions, represents the New Red Sandstone, a later formation covered by light and productive soil, and containing some of the oldest and finest agricultural settlements. The long crimson band, extending along the hilly district on the south coast of the Bay of Fundy, and the isolated patches of the same colour on the opposite side of Minas Channel and Basin, are the most recent rocks in Nova Scotia, being masses of volcanic origin which have been poured through the New Red Sandstone formation. They constitute marked and picturesque features in the scenery of the western counties, and along their flanks and on their summits afford fertile soils and support valuable forests. Lastly, the recent alluvium produced by the tides of the Bay of Fundy, and forming marsh soils of almost inexhaustible fertility, is represented by certain limited stripes and patches of a brown colour. While, however, each of the geological formations which appear on the map has its special influence on the contour, coast outlines, scenery, and industrial resources of the country, there is a great variety of minor differences within each ; for a geological formation, though it often includes a group of rocks characterised, merely as rocks, by many features in common, is distinguished from others, not so much on this ground, as by the period when it was formed, and the fossils characteristic of that period which it contains ; con- sequently we shall often find very dissimilar conditions and mineral productions in neighbouring parts of the same geological district. If we turn to New Brunswick, we shall find there, with some differences of detail, a repetition of the features of Nova Scotia on a broader and more uniform scale. Stretching along the southern coast, from the head of the Bay of Fundy to the frontier of Maine, is a '1 p.* t. i GENERAL DESCUIPTION OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES. 17 belt of ancient and partially altered rocks, forming a somewhat broken ind hilly country. At the south-western extremity of the province khis belt is joined by another still more extensive, stretching south-west- vcLvd from the Bay do Chaleur, and forming, with the other, a gigantic letter V, between the arms of which lies the wide triangular area )f the New Urunswick coal field ; while beyond the northern arm jf mctamorphic and igneous rocks a plain of unaltered Silurian beds extends to the highlands, along the south side of the St Lawrence, riic carboniferous plain of New Brunswick corresponds to, and, at Its eastern extremity, is connected with that of Nova Scotia; and its lilly ranges of altered and igneous rocks form, with those of Nova scotia, outlying ridges rudely parallel to the great Appalachian breast- bone of America, and, like it, descending under the level of newer leposits and of the sea at their north-eastern extremities. Where they ^IniH die out and leave the beautifully arched southern bay of the trulf of St Lawrence, bordered, from Gaspe to Cape Breton, with the Boal-bearing rocks, Prince Edward Island bends like a crescent across ^lieir extremities, and displays its bright red shores of later age than fixe carboniferous period, its low but beautifully undulating surface, ind its fertile soil unsurpassed in Eastern America. The whole of this Acadian region is characterized, like other parts t>f the Atlantic slope of North America, as distinguished from its Bitcrior plains, by a varied and uneven surface, and by great variety jf soil and mineral products. In the latter, the Acadian provinces kre especially rich ; and in these and their maritime situation, they pear to the iidand regions of Canada much the same relation with Ihat which the British Islands bear to the plains of Central Europe. Nova Scotia, more particularly, is most richly endowed with coal, iron, pd gold; and these, with its other resources, its admirable har- bours and the hardy and intelligent population, which it possesses in fcommon with the other Acadian provinces, must in time make it the England of North-Eastern America, and must give it an eminence in fealtli and influence altogether disproportioned to its limited area. It is, however, of the nature of mineral wealth such as that of (lie Acadian provinces, to bo more slowly developed than the nlerely luperficial richness of the soil and forests of the great interior plains; id consequently this region has appeared to linger behind Western panada in its improvement. Its progress, however, is now very rapid, aid must proceed at an accelerated rate. Such being the general physical features of Acadia, it belongs us, as geologists, to inquire into the structure of its different rock Drmations, the various materials of which they are composed, the ' B • i |V • i i*rt|: '!| 18 ACADIAN GEOLOGY. < \ 1;,. \ ^ 1 ' manner in which they were formed, the periods of the earth's history in which tliey were produced, and the evidences they afford of the condition of the earth in those periods, tlio fossils which are embedded in them, and the useful minerals which they contain. No farther introduction will be required to enable the non-geological reader to understand the conclusions arrived at on these subjects, as well as in some degree the manner in which geologists reach these con- clusions. Nature, when carefully examined and minutely described, is her own best interpreter ; and I have endeavoured so to arrange i the subjects treated of as to lead gradually from those modern causes and changes with which nearly all are familiar, to the more ancient natural processes and events, which can be understood only by calling the modern conditions of the earth's surface as witnesses to prove the nature and origin of their predecessors. Fortunately, Nova Scotia affords in its modern deposits many remarkable jjarallcls to the I conditions evidenced by its rock formations; and wlien we fail t« discover such analogies within the province, they can generally be I obtained by a reference to other countries with which the greater! number of intelligent persons are familiar. Should any farther aid I be I'equircd, it may be obtained by a reference to any of those ele- mentary geological works which are now so numerous and accessible.! For these reasons, I shall not detain the reader with any geological information of a general character, other than that contained in thej following table, which shows the formations already noticed in con- nexion with the map and sections, in their relation to the complete I geological series, as represented in the rocks of Britain and those j •of the great mainland of North America. Tabular View of the Geological Formations of the Acadian Provinces, 1 compared with those of Great Britain, the United States, and Ca7iada.\ I, Cainozoic, or Modern and Tertiart. Formations recognised in the Acadian Provinces. w ( Peat Bogs, Lake Deposits, I J Intervales, Marshes, Sand ° (_ Dunes, etc. Terraces, Rai.sed Beaches, and Gravel Ridges. Marine Clays of St John, etc. Boulder Clav. CD^iiiiida. Similai deposi ts. Saxicava Sand. Leda Clay. Boulder Clav. Representatives in United States. Similar deposits. River Terraces. Champlain Clay. Boulder Clay. Britain. Similar deposits. Cave Deposits and Kiver Gravels. Marine Clays. Glacial Drift. mm^^ «> 1. TABULAR ABBANQEMENT OF FORMATI, .J8. I. Cainoeoic, or Modern and Tertiart, — Continued. 19 bccluca ^^m - fai-ther ^^M Formatlnnii recogfnised In the RepraientatiTe* In Acadian Provinces. Canada. United SUt«i. BriUln. to ^^B - i ( Newer Tertiaries V Not found. Not found. of Southern Crag, etc. c con- ^^M : H States. tcribud, I^B t Middle Tertiaries irrange ^H 1 i 1 i Not found. Not found. of Southern States and Hempstead Beds, etc. causes ^^B : Nebraska. ancient ^^m • Headon calling ^H ; ove the ^H i ! Older Tertiaries Series, Bag- j i Not found. Not found. of Southern and shot Beds, Middle States. London Scotia ^H Clay, etc. to the^H Fail t'l^H II. Mesozoic, or Secondary. rally be^H i Green sand and greater ^H licr aid^H i 1 Limestone of Chalk, Gault, 1 i Not found. Not found. New Jersey, Greensand, ' Alabama, Texas, Wealden. one ele-^H - i Missouri, etc. :essible, ^H • Upper, ological^H i 1 Limestones, etc., Middle, and 1 \ Not found. Not found. of Black Hills, Lower in tbe^H 1 3 Dakota. Oolite, and con<^H d Lias. ompleto ^H d those ^H Newer Red Sandstone and i Trap of Western Nova I ^ Scotia, Southern New Not found. Sandstones of Connecticut Valley, etc., Coal Measures of Richmond and Deep River, etc. White Lias, Saliferous Marls and Newer Red '/^i^itiffii ^^^^H I Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Sandstones of Cheshire, etc. OVlTlLcs^ ^^^m 'Jmiadii^^m III. Palaeozoic, or Primary. i Not represented unless by 1 ■< the lower part of the Sand- j stones of P. E. Island. Not found. Limestone, Marls, etc., of Kansas. Magnesfan . Limestone, Mari-Slate, and Lower New Red ^^1 ( ; ^^B . Sandstone. 1 ^^m Upper Coal Formation. Not found. Upper Coal Measures. Coal Forma- Deposits ^^M River '^H . 5 Middle Coal Formation. 3 s Millstone Grit. Not found. Not found. Lower Coal Measures. tion. Millstone Grit. I Gypsiferous Series, Lime- Bonaventuro " Sub-Carbon- Carboniferous ^^^B 3 stones, etc. Formation. iferous " or Limestone. Lower Coal Measures. Lower Car- Lower Coal , boniferous. Measures. \ I ii ''I .d 90 ACADIAN QEOLOUY. III. Paukmoio, 01 Pbimabt, — Oontifnud. Formationi reeogntsed In the RopraionUttves in Acadian Province*. Canada. United SUtea. BriUln. Plant-bearing bods of St Portage & Che- Portage and Upper, John, N. Brunswick. mung Series.* Hamilton „ ('hemuiig. Middle, and i namilt lH| ^ g S5 lA ^ rn t< y Q p U H »3 Q ■< 3: 1 S5 o u C4 > \^ ^ '->\'« C 8 •- -a r f-i t- o I f i f h ^ S & Q 3 3 O II 5 E 5 .9 1 2 ^ 3 « fit 3 ^ .^ i. y\ IMARSHES — INFUSORIA IThose parta JBay of FuiK tsoils, which, • [fertile in niii [sweeps to the [entering the I pressed and e [other, until ir [seven miles p [feet or more. laccustonied sf [nature than of [of brown mud [retired from it [of muddy wal [seen to break [and, covering I the higher swe I in the turbid >v [all the channel I and often havi: runs steadily f ebb still trickli land then, as t [steady rapidity [curity cr.-jps o juelnge. In a [slmlt thou com 21 CHAPTER III. THE MODERN PERIOD. \ IMARSHES — SUBMARINE FORESTS INTERVALES LAKE DEPOSITS INFUSORIAL EARTH LAKE MARGINS — PEAT BOGS, DRIFT SAND, ETC. IThose parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick bordering on the I Bay of Fundy present some interesting examples of marine alluvial \soils, which, while of great practical value to the inhabitants, are equally I fertile in material of thought to the geologist. The tide- wave that (sweeps to the north-east, along the Atlantic coast of the United States, [entering the funnel-like mouth of the Bay of Fundy, becomes com- I pressed and elevated, as the sides of the bay gradually approach each 1 other, until in the narrower parts the water runs at the rate of six or I seven miles per hour, and the vertical rise of the tide amounts to sixty [feet or more. In Cobequid and Chicgnecto Bays, these tides, to an un- JRccustomed spectator, have rather the aspect of some rare convulsion of j nature than of an ordinary daily phenomenon. At low tide, wide flats [of brown mud arc seen to extend for miles, as if the sea had altogether [retired from its bed; and the distant channel appears as a mere stripe [of muddy water. At the commencement of flood, a slight ripple is seen to break over the edge of the flats. It rushes swiftly forward, and, covering the lower flats almost instantaneously, gains rapidly on tlie higher swells of mud, which appear as if they were being dissolved in tlie turbid waters. At the same time the torrent of red water enters all the channels, creeks, and estuaries ; surging, whirling, and foaming, and often having in its front a white, breaking wave, or " Ixire," which [runs steadily forward, meeting and swallowing up the remains of the [ebb still trickling down the channels. The mud flats are soon covered ; [and then, as the stranger sees the water gaining with noiseless and [steady rapidity on the steep sides of banks and cliffs, a sense of inse- jcurity cr,<3ps over him, as if no limit coidd be set to the advancing jueluge. In a little time, however, he sees that the fiat, "Hitherto JBhalt thou come, and no farther," has been issued to the great bay 22 THE MODERN PERIOD. tide : its retreat commences, and the waters rush back as rapidly as they entered. The rising tide sweeps away the fine material from every exposed bank and cliff, and becomes loaded with mud and extremely fine sand, which, as it stagnates at liigh water, it deposits in a thin layer on the surface of the flats. This layer, which may vary in thickness from a quarter of an inch to a quarter of a line, is coarser and thicker at the outer edge of the flats than nearer the shore ; and hence these flats, as well as the marshes, arc iisually higher near the channels than at their inner edge. From the same cause, — the more rapid deposition of the coarser sediment, — the lower side of the layer is arenaceous, and sometimes dotted over with films of mica, while the upper side is fine and slimy, and when dry has a shining and polished surface. The falling tide has little effect on these deposits, and hence the gradual growth of the flats, until they reach such a height that they can be overflowed only by the high spring tides. They then become natural or salt marsh, covered with the coarse grasses and Carices which grow in such places. So far the process is carried on by the hand of nature ; and before the colonization of Nova Scotia, there were large tracts of this grassy alluvium to excite the wonder and delight of the first settlers on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Man, however, carries the land-making process farther ; and by diking I and draining, excludes the sea water, and produces a soil capable of yielding for on indefinite period, without manure, the most valuable cultivated gruins and grasses. Already there are In Nova Scotia more than forty thousand acres of diked marsh, or " dike," as it is more shortly called, the average value of which cannot be estimated at less than twenty pounds currency per acre. The undiked flats, bare at low | tide, are of immensely greater extent. The differences in the nature of the deposit in different parts of the I flats, already noticed, produce an important difference in the character] of the marsh soils. In the higher parts of the marshes, near the chan- nels, the soil is red and comparatively friable. In the lower parts,! and especially near the edge of the upland, it passes into a gray or bluish clay called " blue dike," or, from the circumstance of its con- taining many vegetable fragments and fibres, "corky dike." T!iese| two varieties of marsh differ very materially In their agricultural value. It often happens, however, that in the growth of the deposit, portions I of blue marsh become burled under red deposits, so that, on digging, two layers or strata are found markedly different from each other in I colour and other properties ; and this change may be artificially pro- duced by digging channels to admit the turbid red waters to ovei-flow j the low blue marsh. 'I i The re in the re > celebratec i aiialy.sis c ,"1 ' as common salt, Potash, .... Sulphuric Acid, ) Lime, 'I as gypsum, Alumina, Magnesia, Carbonate of Lime, Oxide of Iron, Alumina, Magnesia, Soda and Potash, Phosphoric Acid, Silicious Sand (very fine), •5 1-5 •095 •115 •013 •073 •061 •005 •004 360 2-74 1-20 •11 •8 •09 88-00 So valuable is this soil, though nearly destitute of organic matter, that it is found profitable to cart it upon the upland as a manure. Its best varieties have now been cropped without manure for more than two centuries, without becoming unproductive ; though there can be( no question that under this treatment a gradual diminution of its fertility is perceptible. The weakest point of the marsh land, judging from the above analysis, is its small proportion of phosphates. It is probable, however, that this is in part compen.sated by the presence of fish bones and other matters of organic origin, which do not appear in an analysis. Yet I have no doubt that the cheapest manure for r.iiling marsh will be found to be bone dust or guano, which, by sup- plying phosphates, will restore it nearly to its original condition. Tliere seems no reason to suppose that a soil with the fine mixture of mineral ingredients present in the marsh mud, requires any artificial supply of ammoniacal matters. Draining is well known to be essen- tial to the fertility of the marshes, and many valuable tracts of this land are now in an unproductive condition from its neglect. The fertility of failing marsh may also be restored by admitting the sea to cover it with a new deposit. This remedy, however, involves the los.s of several crops, as some years are require .1 to remove from the new soil its saline matter. It is, however, observed, that in some situations the newly diked marsh produces spontaneously a crop of couch grass \ IMP' 24 THK MODERN PEKIOD. and other upland plants, the seeds of which must have been washed into the sea by streams and deposited with the mud. The low or inner marsh, which I have previously mentioned under its other names of bine marsh and corky dike, is much less valuable than the red. It contains, however, much more vegetable matter, and sometimes approaches to the character of a boggy swamp ; BO that when a quantity of it is taken out and spread over the upland, it forms a useful manure. It emits a fetid smell when recently turned up, and the water oozing from it stains the ground of a rusty colour. It produces in its natural state crops of coarse grass, but when broken up is unproductive, with the sole exception that rank crops of oats can sometimes be obtained from it. The chemical composition of this singular soil, so unlike the red mud from which it is produced, involves some changes which are of interest both in agriculture and geology. The red marsh derives its colour from the peroxide of iron. In the gray or blue marsh, the iron exists in the state of a sulphuret, as may easily be proved by expos- ing a piece of it to a red heat, when a strong sulpliurous odour is ex- haled, and the red colour is restored. The change is produced by the action of the animal and vegetable matters present in the mud. These in their decay have a strong affinity for oxygen, by virtue of which they decompose the sulphuric acid present in sea-water in the forms of sulphate of magnesia and sulphate of lime. The sulphur thus liber- ated enters into combination with hydrogen, obtained from the organic matter or from water, and the product is sulphliretted hydrogen, the gas which gives to the mud its unpleasant smell. Tiiis gas, dissolved in the water which permeates the mud, enters into combination with the oxide of iron, producing a sulphuret of iron, which, with the remains of the organic matter, serves to colour the marsh blue or gray. The sulphuret of iron remains unchanged while submerged or water- Boaked ; but when exposed to the iitmosphere, the oxygen of the air acts upon it, and it passes into sulphate of iron or green vitriol, — a substance poiscmous to most cultivated crops, and which when dried or exposed to the action of alkaline substances, deposits the hydrated brown oxide of iron. Hence the bad effects of disturbing the blue marsh, and hence also tlic rusty colour of the water flowing from it. The remedies for this condition of the soil are draining and liming. Draining admits air and removes the saline water ; lime decomposes the sulphate of iron, and produces .sulphate of lime and oxide of iron, both of which arc useful substances to the farmer.* * Since tf.ie publication of the first edition of tliis work, the blue marsh of Nov* Bcotia has been extensive)/ improved by this process. MARSIIEB. 25 This singular and complicated sei ies of processes, into all the details of which I have not entered, is of especial interest to the geologist, as it explains the causes -which have produced the gray colour and ahundance of sulphuret of iron observed in many ancient rocks, Avhich, like the blue marsh, have been produced from red sediment, changed in colour by the presence of organic matter. It also explains the origin of those singular stains wliich, in rocks coloured by iron, so often accompany organic remains, or testify to the former existence of those which have passed away. It farther shows the reason of the paucity of organic remains in red rocks, for the red oxide of iron, when present in excess, tends to corrode and destroy any organic matter which may be present ; and on the other hand, an excess of organic matter tends to deoxidise the iron and remove it in a state of solution, or change it into a sulphuret, according to circumstances, — the colour of tlic sediment being changed in cither case. Much geological interest attache? to the marine alluvium of the Bay of Fnndy, from the great breadth of it laid bare at low tide, and the facilities which it in consequence affords for the study of sun-cracks, impressions of rain-drops, foot-prints of animals, and other appearances which we find imitated on many ancient rocks. The genuineness of these ancient traces, as well as their mode of preservation, can be illustrated and proved only by the study of modern deposits. I quote a summary of facts of this kind from a paper on rain-prints by Sir Ciiarlcs Lyell, who was the first to direct attention to these phenomena as exhibited in the Bay of Fundy.* " The sediment with which the waters arc charged is extremely fine, being derived from the destruction of cliffs of red sandstone and shale, lielonging chiefly to the coal measures. On the borders of even the smallest estuaries comnnmicating with a bay, in which the tides rise sixty feet and upwards, large areas arc laid dry for nearly a fortnight between the spring and neap tides, and the mud is then baked in summer by a hot sun, so that it becomes solidified and traversed by cracks caused by shrinkage. Portions of the hardened mud may then he taken up and removed without injury. On examining the edges of 1 eaeli slab, wc observe numerous layers, formed by successive tides, usually very thin, sometimes only one-tenth of an inch thick, — of un- '■ equal thickness, however, because, according to Dr Webster, the night- tides rising a foot higher than the day-tides throw down more sediment. j When a shower of rain falls, the iiighest portion of the mud-covered j flat is usually too hard to receive any impressions ; while that recently I uncovered by the tide, near the water's edge, is too soft, between * Journal of London Qeological Society, vol. vii. p. 239. \ 1 ^! ■!V^ i 1* '.ll 2G TUK HOUKllN rEUIOl). these areas a zone occurs almost as smooth and even as a looking-glass, on which every drop forms a cavity of circular or oval form ; and if the shower be transient, those pits retain their shape i)crmanently, being dried by the sun, and being then too firm to be effaced by the action of the succeeding tide, which deposits upon thoni a now layer of mud. Hence we find on splitting open a slab an inch or more thick, on the upper surface of which the marks of recent rain occur, that an inferior layer, deposited perhajjs ten or fourteen tides previously, exhibits on its under surface perfect casts of rain-prints which stand out in relief, the moulds of the same being seen in the layer below." After mentioning that a continued shower of rain obliterates the more I'egular impressions, and produces merely a blistered or uneven surface, and describing minutely the characteristics of true rain-marks in their most perfect state, Sir Charles adds : — " On some of the sj)ecimens the winding tubular tracks of wonns are seen, which have been bored just beneath the surface. Some- times the worms have dived beneath the surface, and then reappeared. Occasionally the same mud is traversed by the foot-prints of birds {Tringa minuta)^ and of musk rats, minks, dogs, sheep, and cats. The leaves also of the elm, maple, and oak trees have been scattered by the winds over the soft mud, and having been buried under tlic deposits of succeeding tides, are found on dividing the layers. Wiien the leaves themselves arc removed, very faithful impressions, not only of their outline, but of their minutest veins, arc left imprinted on the clay." We have here a perfect instance, in a modern deposit, of phenomena which wo shall have to notice in some of the most ancient rocks; and it is only by such minute studies of existing nature that wo can hope to interpret those older ai)pcarances. In some very ancient rocks we have impressions of rain-marks, or their casts, on the under surface of the overlying beds, quite similar to those which occur in the alluvial mml of the Hay of Fundy. In these old rocks, also, and esjiccially in the coal formation, we find surfaces netted with sun-cracks precisely like those on the dried surfaces of the modern mud flats, and faithful casts of these taken by the beds next deposited. A still more curious appearance is presented by the rill-marks produced by the flowing of the receding tide, or of rain, down inclined surfaces of mud. The little streamlets flowing together into larger channels, form singular patterns, which may be compared to graceful foliage or to the ramificatit)ns of roots, and which have often been mistaken for fossils. In the following figures (Fig;- 1, 2, 3) I have endeavoured to represent the surface of a small ill RAIN-MARKS IN MARINE ALLUVIUM. 27 Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. r f^Mm i ) \ m I l"ig. 1.— Imiires«lons of Knlii-Drops. — Modern.— Itay of I'unily. „ 2.— ImpresRlons of Uiilii Drops. — Carboniferous.— Tiitiimgouclio. „ 3.— Impressions of Confiniietl Itiiin.— t'arlxmiferous. „ 4.— Shrinkage Cracks ami Unin Marks.— Carboniferous.— Reduced In nice. „ 6 — Cast uf Kill Marks.— Carboiiiforous. — Reduced iu size. i|» "SI ' 11. , 28 THE MODEIIN PERIOD. Pl rain-marked slab of modern mud, presented to me by Dr Webster, and beside it the casta of rain-drops from the showers which fell in Nova Scotia in the carboniferous period. I have also given specimens of rill-marks and sun-cracks from the coal field of Cape Breton, which are quite similar to those to be seen at low tide in the Bay of Fundy ; and farther on will be found representations of worm-tracks and foot-prints of animals found on rocks of the same age, and the mode of formation and preservation of which is explained by these same modern deposits (Figs. 4, .5). A still more striking geological fact connected with the marshes, 18 the presence beneath them of stumps of trees still rooted in the soil, and other indications which prove that much if not the whole of this marine alluvium rests on what once was upland .soil supporting forest trees ; and that, by some change of level, these ancient forests have been submerged and buried under the tidal deposits. To illustrate this, I may notice one of the best instances of tliesc submarine forests Avith which I am acquainted, and which I described in the Journal of the Geological Society in 1854. It occurs on the edge of the marsh near the mouth of the La Planche river, in Cumberland county, at the extremity of Fort Lawrence ridge, which separates the La Planche from the Missaquash, and may be well seen in the neighbourhood of a pier which has recently been erected there. The upland of Fort Lawrence slopes gently down toward the diked marsh, on c issing which we find, outside the dike, a narrow space of salt marsh thinly covered with coarse grass and samphire (Salicornio), and at the outer edge cut away by the neap tides so as to present a perpendicular step about five feet in height. Below this is seen, at low tide, a sloping expanse of red mud, in places cut into furrows by the tides, and in other places covered with patches of soft recently deposited mud. On this slope I s&vr impressions of rain-drops, sun-cracks, tracks of sandpipers and crows, and abundance of the shells of the little Tellina Balthica* a shell very common in the muddy parts of the Bay of Fundy. There were also a few long straight furrows, still quite distinct in August, but which, I was informed, had been ploughed by the ice in the past spring. At the distance of 326 paces from the abnipt edge of the marsh, and about 25 feet below the level of the highest tides, which here rise in all about 40 feet, I saw the first of the rooted stumps, which appear in a belt of sand, gravel, and stones * This shell is the T. Qrcenlandica of some authors, and is Psammohia fusca of Say, Sanguinolaria futca of Conrad, Macoma/uwa of the Smithsonian check-lists. Bt'i "^H- .A 8UHMAUINE FOUESTS. 29 mixed with mud, which intervenes between the slope of mud already mentioned and the level of low tide. Beyond the stump first seen, and extending to a depth of at least 30 to 35 feet below the level of high tide, other stumps wore irregularly scattered as in an open wood. The lowest stump seen was 135 paces beyond the first; and between it and the water level there was a space of 170 paces without stumps, but with scattered fragments of roots and trunks, which may have belonged to rooted trees broken up and swept away by the ice (Fig. 6). Fig. G.— Submarine Forest.— Fort Lawrence. -o-o-<>— ^dNgaJfc^-**- • itvtt or tow TfPK (a) Marsh. (6) Soil with rooted stumps. (c) Mini and Stones. On digging under and around some of the stumps, they were found to be rooted in a soil having all the characters of forest soil. In one place it was a reddish sandy loam, like the ordinary upland of Fort Lawrence : in another place it was a black vegetable soil resting on a white sandy subsoil. Immediately over the soil were I the remains of a layer of tough bluish clay, with a few vegetable fibres, apparently rootlets of grasses, which seemed to have been tlie first layer of marsh mud deposited over the upland soil. All the I rootlets of the stumps were entire and covered with their bark, land the appearances were perfectly conclusive as to their being |iu the place of their growth (Fig. 7). ^ Fig. 7. — Stump of Beech in the Submarine Forest. (a) Mud. (b) Vegetable soil. (c) Loamj subsoil. Of thirty or forty stumps which I examined, the greater number vere pine [Pinus strobus), but a few were beech [Fagus ferruginea) ; knd it is worthy of note that these are trees characteristic rather of ry upland than of low or swampy ground. The pine stumps were bite sound, though somewhat softened and discoloured at the urface. The beech, on the other hand, though retaining much \ 80 TDE MODERN PERIOD. !l|i of the appearance of sound wood in the interior, was quite charred at the surface, and was throughout so soft and brittle that large trunks and roots could be cut through with a spade or broken with a slight blow. Owing to their softness, the beech stumps were worn down almost to the level of the mud, while some of the pines projected more than a foot : even these last were, however, much cnished by the pressure of the ice, which, with the tides, must eventually remove them. The largest stump observed was a pine two feet six inches in diameter, and showing more than two hundred annual rings of growth. I was informed by respectable and intelligent persons that similar appearances have been observed on the opposite side of thi' La Planche, and in various other places in the Cumberland Basin. It is only, however, in places where the marsh is being cut away by the current that they can be seen, and the stumps, when laid bare, are soon removed by the ice. Similar beds of stumps and vegetable soil are also occasionally disclosed in digging ditciies in the shallower parts of the marshes, and there appears little reason to doubt that the whole of the Cumberland marshes rest on old upland surfaces. A submerged forest is also said to appear at the mouth of the Folly River in Cobequid Bay; and peaty soils and trunks and stumps v.*" trees are of frequent occurrence in digging in the marshes of King's and Annapolis counties. It would seem, therefore, that these appearances are somewhat general throughout the marsh country. With respect to the age of these submerged stumps, there can | be little diflference of opinion. They belong to the modern period I in geology, and, judging from the state of preservation of the wood, after making every allowance for the preservative effect of the salt mud, not to the very oldest part of that period. Yet their antiquity is considerable. The marshes are known to havej existed in their present state for two hundred and fifty years; and since these trees grew and were submerged, all the mud of the | marshes must have accumulated, at least in its present position. Here then we have a modern phenomenon involving great physical I changes in the relations of land and water, and rivalling some of I those geological events of which we have evidence in the older rocks. [ How did this change of the sea level occur? Only two causes I can be assigned. It must have been either the rupture of a barrier [ previously excluding the sea water, or an actual sinking or subsidence! of the whole of the western part of the province. The first of these! suppositions is that which most readily recommends itself to M popular mind, and we hi.ve at no great distance an instance onil *M ^ 4;] SUnMARINE FORESTS. 81 Hninll scale of the effect which might ho prndiipod hy the rupture of a 8ca barrier. At the mouth of the St John River, there is a transverse ridge of rock which obstructs tiio entrance of tiio tide and tlio exit of the river water. At low tide, the river water falls outward over the ridge. At about half tide, the water within and ihat without arc on a level. At high tide, there is a strong fall of ihe tide water inward. Without the barrier, the tide rises from twenty to twenty-five feet ; within, it raises the level of the water only about four feet. Now there can be no question that, if this barrier were removed, the tide would daily raise the river to a height which it now attains oidy in times of flood, while at low tide it would he laid dry to a great depth. If such a change had occurred at some funiicr period, marshes might be found to exist in places whicii had at one time 8ui)ported terrestrial plants. Against the application of this explanation, however, to the submarine forests of tlie Bay of Fundy, wc iiave the groat extent of the barrier required, tlic absence of any existing remains of it, and the great dcptli below high water at which the remains exist; as it is difficult to suppose that the existence of any barrier, even if it wholly excluded tiie tide, could produce dry upland at such a level. The eflfect would rather be the production of a lake, or, at the utmost, of a morass. For these reasons it can scarcely be supposed that any cause of this kind can apply. It only remains to believe that a .subsidence has taken ^^^ar- over a considerable area, and to a depth of about forty feet. We have no distinct evidence to show whether this has been sudden or gradual, but analogy would lead us to suppo.se that it was the latter. « If a gnulual subsidence of this kind has occurred in times geologically modern, the question remain.?, has it ceased, or is the country still subsiding, as Newfoundland and the south of Sweden are supposed to be doing? There are some facts which would seem to indicate that it is. In some localities portions of mar.sh formerly reclaimed have been abandoned, and it is said that it is now more difficult to maintain the dikes than formerly. We may, however, readily account for all this by supposing that the mud has settled, or that the tides have Increased In height or have changed in their direction, in con.sequence of the contraction of the channels by the diking of new portions of marsh land. We are not therefore under the necessity of arriving at the unpleasant conclusion that our fertile marshes are again settling down beneath the level of the sea, or that the waters of the bay ni'o likely to overflow the upland farms. I should add, however, that, since the publication of the above \ ,lw i 82 THE MODERN I'GRtOD. ii; remarks, Professor Cook presented to the mcetinfj ol' the American Asflociatioii in Montroiil, in 1857, an interesting summary of indi- cations of modern subsidence observed on tlio coasts of New Kngland, New York, and New Jersey, and estimated the average rate of sinking at two feet in a centrry, under the impression that it is still in progress, which would coincide with the view above-mentioned as entertained in some parts of the marsh districts of Nova Scotia, th ' the tides now rise higher than formerly. Additional interest is thus given to the Fort Lawrence instance, as indicating the groat vertical amount of this very extensive subsidence. In 18G1 also, Dr Gesner, in his paper on " IClevations and Depressions of the Karth in North America," noticed several additional instances of modern submergence in various parts of the IJritish Provinces and the United States, and inferred that such submergence is still in progress, or, at least, has occurred in very recent times. Within the limits of Acadiij, and in addition to the examples above referred to, ho mentions Grand Manan, Bay Verte, Louisburg in Cape IJreton, and Cas- cumpcc in Prince Kdward Island, as places in which there is evidence of subsidence since the I'2uropean colonization of the country. I would ask the non-geological reader to pause here, to remark that, in the mud-deposits of the Hay of Fuiidy, we have an example of a geological formation enclosing remains and traces of several of the animals and plants now inhabiting the land or its shores; and that if, in consequence of the colonization of the country, or any physical change, these creatures or any of them were to become extinct, wc might find, in digging into the marshes or by exaniiiiiug their borders, evidence of the former existence of such cxtiiut animals or plants, just as the remains of the now extinct European beaver and Irish gigantic stag arc found in the peat bogs and lake deposits of Great Britain. Farther, we have in the submarine forests the evidence of extensive changes of level ; and if we suppose that, by such changes occurring in the future, the marshes were j to be buried under new deposits until they had been consolidated into rock by pressure, by aqueous infiltration of mineral substances, or by internal heat, and then elevated again to the surface, we should discover in their hardened masses a variety of fossils, which, if properly interpreted, would throw much light on the present condition of the country. By bearing in mind these obvious con- clusions, much time and perplexity may be avoided, when we arrive at the consideration of ancient formations to which changes of these | kinds have actually happened. niXKP MARSHES. — FUESII-WATER ALLUVIA. 33 The principal localitica (if diked iiiiirHhos in Nova Scotift nro, Cliiognccto IJiiy and Ciiiuberliuid IJiimii, Cobcquid Hay, Minas Haain, niid Annapolis Husin, nil of which nro parts of tho IJay of Fundy. The (juantity of marsh in these several places appears from tho census of 1851 to bo us follows: — Chicgnccto Hay and Cumberland Basin, IG, 170 acres Cobcquid Hay, .... 7,13S) ... Minas 13asin, . 10,280 ... Annapolis Basin, .... 2,793 ... 36,382 r ( s A considerable breadth of marsh on tho Now Brunswick side of Chiognccto Bay is not included in the above statement. Tho value of tho marshes in an ngriculturul point of view can hardly bo overrated. For tho maintenance of cattle, and the pro- duction of buttor and cheese, tho marsh counties of Nova Scotia and New Hrunswick possess facilities unsurpassed and perhaps unequalled by tliusc of any otiicr part of North America. The i)rincipai Fresh-water Alluvia aro the river intervales, and tho deposits forming in tho beds of lakes. The intervales occur 1 on tlie banks of all the £treams. They usually consist of fine friable soil resting on hard gravel, and they constitute most productive [laud for farming purposes, while their fino elms and ulder copses form most pleasing features in our river valleys. I am not awaro tliat they present any geological features requiring detailed notice. I The rivers of Nova Scotia are of small size, and do not present, jin so far as I am aware, any marked examples of high-level gravels lor river terraces; and the gravel ridges which occur on the sides jof their valleys arc rather to be attributed to the action of the sea jleforc the elevation of the country. On tho larger rivers of Now iLrunswick, and especially the St John llivor, there are alluvial Ideposits on a more extensive scale ; and Professor llind has pointed lout some terraces, of no great elevation, as distinct from those which jlelong to tho sea-margins of tho Post-Pliocene period. The lake Idcposits must be very considerable in amount, as there is an immense InuiKbcr of lakes all receiving sediment from the streams whicli flow into them. On the most detailed maps of Nova Scotia, about four hundred lakes, varying in length from half a mile to fifteen miles, nay be counted, and these are but a part, perhaps not much more I ii '« 84 THE MODERN PERIOD. 1 m 1 1 ■ iii [ I than half, of the whole number. The mud forming in the bottoms of these lakes must contain large quantities of the remains of fresii- water fishes, shell-fish, and other animals, as well as of terrestrial quadrupeds that have been drowned in them or killed on their margins ; and should these lakes be artificially di'ained, such remains may excite much interest. At present, however, I shall refer to only one kind of lake deposit, which is curious as an evidence of the large quantity of matter that may be accumulated by the gro»vth and death of successive generations of creatures too small to be observed individually except by the microscope. This is the substance known to naturalists as Infusorial earth, and which has been found to abound not only in the deposits from modern waters, but in some ancient rocks, of which it appears indeed sometimes to form the mass. It is, as found in Nova Scotia, a | white and, when dry, very light friable earth, having a floury j texture, and showing, when examined in a bright light, an infinity of minute shining specks, A little of it diffused in a drop of water, and viewed through a ])owerful microscope, presents thousands of curiously formed cylindrical, bow-shaped, and rounded transparent f bodies, which consist of pure silica or- flint, and are the coatings which strengthened the cell-walls of certain minute organisms at one time regarded as animals, but now as one-celled plants of the family Dia/umacecc. They grow in the waters of some of our lakes in such numbers that their indestructible silicious coverings,! in the course of time, accumulate in layers several feet in thickness. I The hardness, sharpness, and minute size of these shells render I the mass composed of them useful as a polishing material; tliej best tripoli being, in fact, an earth of this description. The onlyj specimens of this infusorial earth in my possession, and found ioj Nova Scotia, are from lakes in the hills of Earlton and Cornwallis.! That from the last-named locality is the finer of the two. It was I discovered by Dr Webster of Kentville, The late Professor Bailt7j of West Point, the well-known microscopist, to whom I forwarded specimens from one of the above-named localities, states* thalj the species contained in it are common to Nova Scotia and tliej northern parts of the United States, lie mentions the followinjl as occuiTing in specimens from Nova Scotia: — Pinnularia %'irkk\ P. incequalis, Cucconcma cijmheforme, GalUonella distans, Ettnotiil monodon, etc., Ilmantidium arciis, Gomphoncma acuminatum, Sur-l irella splendida, Stauroneis Baylvii ; Spongiolites, etc. Son'.c off these SDocies are represented in Fig, 8. ''^ Sillimaii's Journal, vol. xlviii. m "> 1 <'i^ V ' LAKE MARGINS. — BOOS AND PEATY SWAMPS. 85 I'lg. 8. Coverings of Diatomactne from Jiecent Freah-mater Depoaiia, Nova Scotia,— magnififd. ^^*^^i^^0^ \ Lake Margins in Nova Scotia are of some geological interest, from the effects of ice-pressure wliicli they exhibit. The expansion of the thick icy slicet Avhich forms on the surfiice of our lakes in winter, and its drifting to and fro when loosene^ from the shores by the thaws of spring, heap up very remarkable ridges and embank- ments of stones, gravel, and earth. In low and inuddy shores, these actions of the ice, I believe principally the latter, push up long mounds, which look as if an attempt had been made to raise an artificial dike; and where the shores consist of small stones and gravel, still more regular structures are sometimes produced. Oc- casionally there are two mounds, one within the other, marking different levels of the water ; and I have seen these mounds still remaining, in places where lakes and ponds had been long since filled up and converted into bogs. On rocky shores, large stones I r.re pushed against the bank and packed together until they form i huge sloping Cyclopean walls, which testify not only by their mass, but by the manner in which they have been wedged together, to jtlic force that has been applied to them. This last appearance is as jwell seen in some of the upper lakes of the Shnbenacadie as in any lothers that I have examined. These modern effects of ice-pressure jwill serve to explain some of the phenomena of the drift or boulder [fonnation which overspreads the surface of the province. They are jalso curio js from tlie resemblance which they bear to glacier moraines, |fur which they might, in some cases, be easily mistaken. Bogs and jicaly swamps form another class of modern deposits vhich I may notice here. They are very numerous in Nova Scotia, Especially in the rocky districts of the Atlantic coast. The largest lliat I have observed are the Savaninihs near Clyde River in Shel- burue, and the Carriboo bog of Aylesford. With respect to the geological features of these deposits, I may notice : First, That they bonsist of vcgetiible matter wliich has grown on the spot, and has kccmnulatcd, because in water-soaked soils the decay of dead vege- aUe substances proceeds more slowly than the acquisition of new r\ 1 ,.1 36 THE MODERN PERIOD. matter by growing vegetation from the air and water. Secondly, The vegetable matter in bogs, forming a black carbonaceous mass, has entered on the first stage of the changes by which it may be converted into coal ; and it is not unusual to find in the bottom of such bogs a substance much resembling ordinary bituminous coal. Thirdly, The organic acids produced by the vegetable matter, when long saturated in water, remove from the subsoil of the bogs the oxides of iron and manganese, as well as lime and the other alkaline earths; hence the subsoils of bogs usually consist of bleached whitish sand or clay of a very unproductive character. There are a few exceptions to this in localities where the soil contains a very large proportion of lime. On the other hand, when the underlying rocks contain bi-sulphuict of iron, as is the case in some 2)arts of the slate district^, the sulphuric acid produced from this mineral gives a still greater I degree of acidity to the bog, while the iron is sometimes in too great [ quantity to be removed entirely. Fourthly, The iron and manganese, removed in the manner above mentioned, arc deposited, usually in i rounded kernels, at the outlets of such bogs, or in the soils througli which their waters soak, and become pai'tially exposed to the air, I In this way small quantities of bog iron ore and bog manganese ore! are formed in the vicinity of many swamps. All these facts respecting! bogs have their analogues on a large scale in our ancient rock J formations, and more especially in those of the carboniferous system, Tlie bogs when drained, and their surface dressed with sand, or] sand and lime, to supply the silicious and calcareous matter in wliicll they are deficient, are excellent soils, second only to diked inarsli| in their productiveness in hay and oats. Portions of bog have alrcailj| been reclaimed in tliis way in several of the counties, and there ciuil be no doubt that many tracts of tliis description, more especially ii the less fertile portions of the province, require only the applicationj of skill and industry to render them valuable. In describing the modern deposits, I should not omit those iu blown sand, which occur somewhat extensively within the rcgkil to which this work relates. Sable Island is the highest part of obI of those banks of sand, pebbles, and fragments of shells and c&raljl which form a line extending under the waters of the Atlantic, parallel to the American coast, from Newfoundland to the viciiiitrP of Cape Cod ; and which are sep.iratcd from the coast and from eaiil other by valleys of mud. Sable Island Bank is one of the largesi of these submarine sand-beds. Its area is equal to one-third of tilill of Nova Scotia. The depth of water at its margins varies from 3J I'l SAND ISLANDS. 37 I. 68 fathoms ; and from this depth it shoals gradually toward the shores of the island, which is situated near its eastern extremity. tSable Island itself is about 23 miles in length, and from one mile to one and a half in breadth. It is distant about 85 miles from the nearest part of Nova Scotia. Its surface consists entirely of light gray or whitish sand, rising in places into rounded hills, one of which is stated by persons who have visited the island to be 100 feet in height. The whole of this sandy surface has evidently been washed and blown up by the sea and wind; and I have not been able to learn, from any of the accounts of the island, that any more solid substratum exists. Pools of fresh water, however, appear in places, which would seem to imply that there is an impervious subsoil. This may, however, be caused by the Jbating of rain water on water- soaked sand, an appearance which may sometimes be observed on ordinary sand beaches, where, in consequence of their resting on the surface of the sea-water, these pools or springs sometimes rise and fall with the tide. I am not aware, however, that this occurs at Sable Island. There is also a large salt-water lake or lagoon, which I at one time formed a harbour ; but its entrance was closed by a storm. The surface of the island is covered with coarse grass and cranberry j iiiul whortleberry plants ; and horses, rabbits, and rats have been i naturalized and exist in a wild state. The (jovenimcnt of Nova 1. Scotia, aided by an annual sum from Great Britain, supports an I establishment on the island for the succour of shipwrecked mariners. Captain Darby, late superintendent of the establishment on the I island, states, in a letter contributed to IJlunt's Coast Pilot, that Avithin twenty-eight years the western extremity of the isl aid has decreased in length seven miles. He also states that the island has been jiucieasing in height, especially at the eastern end, and at the same jtinic diminishing in width. He believes that the bank and bar lextending from the western end have been constantly travelling to the Icastward. It would indeed appear from the difference in the longitude [of the island, as given in the old charts and by late surveys, that the Iwliolc island is moving eastward; a very natural effect of tiie prcvail- ling westerly wind, which must continually shift the particles of sand from west to east, and may eventually throw the island over the edge Jof the bank into deep water, and cause it to disappear ; unless indeed the whole bank is moving in the same direction under the influence of marine currents. A singular intermixture of animal remains may Ibe produced by this movement of a sand island, tenanted by land and Ifiesh-water creatures, over the surface of a marine sandbank remote prom land, and which othcrwiso would contain only deep sea shells. \ 38 THE MODERN PERIOD. The following fticts, which have a geological as well as a zoological interest, are collected from an interesting lecture on Sable Island, by Dr Gilpin of Halifax.* The walrus, or seahorse [Trichecus rosmarus\ at one time inhabited the island, but is now extinct, probably in con- sequence of the attacks of man, since as many as three hundred pairs of teeth are mentioned as being collected on the island. This would seem to have been the most southern range of the walrus, and it is an interesting fact that this arctic creature should come as far south as lat. 44°, on an island to which the Gulf Stream wafts many southern marine forms, such as Spirula Peronii and others mentioned by Mr Willis in his list of the shells of Sable Island. The explanation of this curious fact is no doubt to be found in the circumstance that the Sable Island banks form a meeting-place of the ice-laden Arctic Current and the Gulf Stream. The former has brought the walrus and the Greenland seal, which still lives on the island, and many! boreal mollusks; the latter drifts to the shoi'cs of Sable Island many! of the products of more southern latitudes, which may have become! mixed in the same deposits Avith their arctic contemporaries. The) oidy land quadruped mentioned as native to the island is a " black | fox," but of what species is uncertain, as the creature seems to extinct. Horses have been introduced, at what time is uncertain,! and have produced the present wild ponies of the island. Their size I is small, and their colours " Isabella" and gray, while they have thej " large head, tiiick shaggy neck, low withers, and sloping quarters," usual in wild horses. The rabbit is of recent introduction, appears to thrive, and to revert to the colour of the wild gray varietjl of England. The white owl [JVyctea nivea) is said to have made itsj first appearance in 1827, and to have visited the island perlodicaUyj ever since. Sand hills and beaches exist in many parts of Nova Scotia New Brunswick ; but nowhere to so great an extent as on the northeral side of Prince Edward Island, where the sand resulting from thfj waste of the soft red sandstones of the island has been moved upwanll by the waves, and blown by the wind until it forms long ranges iX sand-dunes, extending along the coast and crossing the bays, I believe in no place penetrating far inland ; though, since the forcstl has been cleai'ed, the sand is becoming troublesome on some parts oil the coast farms. Across Cascumpcc and Richmond bays, and alonJ the intervening coast, a nearly continuous range of sand beaclicil and hills extends for more than twenty miles; and at New Lomloil Jlustico, Covehead, Tracadie, and St Peter's Bays, there are similij * Halifax, 1858. M It'll SAND HILLS AND BEACHES. 39 ranges of sand liills, amounting altogether to about twenty miles more (Fig. 9). At New London, the only place where I have had an opportunity of examining these sand hills, they attain the height of forty-feet, and are covered with tufts of coarse beach grass. Their northern sides are frequently cut away into escarpments of loose sand ; but on the whole they do not appear to be rapidly changing their form or position. The sand is of a gray or light brownish colour, though derived from red sandstone; its superficial coating of red oxide of iron being ahnost entirely removed by friction. Fig. 9.— Sand IliUs, New London, P. E. T. \ No part of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick is sufficiently elevated ! to retain any snow later than April or May. There is, however, a ravine in the North mountain of Granville, opposite Annapolis, in [which ice is said to endure throughout the summer. I visited it in April, and so could not have absolute proof of its perfection as an^ ice-house. It is a deep ravine encumbered by blocks of trap, which I have fallen from its sides in landslips ; and it appears that the ice Iwhicli forms between these blocks in winter is sufficiently protected [by the sides of the ravine, the dense vegetation and the blocks them- j selves to be found unchanged even at the end of summer. Slight earthquake shocks have been felt at rare intervals in several Iparts of the Acadian provinces. One occurred on the 8th of iFebvuary 1855, and was observed throughout Nova Scotia and iNew Brunswick, and as far to the south-west as Boston. Its point [of greatest intensity appears to have been at the Bend of the Petit- w 40 THE MODERN PERIOD. codiac, near tho extremity of the New Bnmswick coast-line of raetamorphic hills. At this place there were several shocks, one of them sufficiently severe to damage a brick building, whereas in tho other places only one slight shock was experienced. At Pictou and Halifax, the only shock felt occurred a few minutes before 7 a.m., and it appears to have been simultaneous throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The earthquake of the 17th October 1860, which was felt through- out Canada and the Northern States, was felt also in New Brunswick; but I believe not so severely as in Canada. i I|rf;i \ w m >=^?; MICMAC HEADS. FROM riioToonAnis. These are given as moraoriala of a dpcaylng race, which may soon disappear. The woman is believed to lie of pure Micniac descent. Tiie yonng man, her son, Iins prol)a1iIy a sliglit Interriixture of French blood by the fiitlier's side. Hoth luwe the typical features of the race. l;1 41 CHAPTER IV. THE MODERN FElllOD— Continued. PRE-HISTORIC MAN — RESULTS OF FOREST FIRES. V r In a region whose history extends backward scarce three hundred years, prc-historic times may seem to have little interest, in so far as the human period is concerned. Yet I think that something may be Icamod, at a time when pre-historic human remains are exciting so much attention in the old world, by refei'ring to the more recent " Stone Age " of Acadia. Those who speculate as to the antiquity of man, and the ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron in Europe, and who, looking back on the earlier of these periods through the mists of centuries, attach to it a fabulous antiquity, may derive some lessons from a country in which the stone age existed three hundred years ago, and has yet passed away as completely as though it had never been. The Micmac still pitches his rude wigwam of birch bark within sight of the largest cities of Acadia ; but he has entered into the iron age, and the stone weapons of his ancestors are as much objects of curiosil) to him as to his neighbours of European origin. When first visited by Europeans, the Micmacs inhabited the coast line of Nova Scotia and Nev/ Bmns- wick, the Malicetes the interior of the latter. Both tribes were of the great Algonquin race, speaking cognate dialects of that widely diffused American tongue which extended along the whole northern side of the St Lawrence valley to Lake Superior. Both tribes were hunters and fishermen, making their canoes and wigwams, as they still do, of the balk of the white birch, and using weapons and other implements of stone and bone. The bronze age never existed in North America ; but in Nova Scotia, as in Canada, native copper was used for trinkets, though, from its scarcity, only to a very small extent. The stone implements, as in Canada and the New England states, were both cliipped and polished. In the former way were made knives, spear- heads, and arrow-heads, of quartz and flinty slate. In the latter way, chisels, axes, and gouges were made of greenstone and other crystalline rocks. Both varieties were used at the same period for different jour- \ Ir tt 49 THE MODKllN PKKIOD. o stone ago of tbreo centuries ago in Acadia; and it is instructive to bear in mind that in a country in tiio hvtitudo of France, this was not only tlio stone age, but also the age of the caribou or reindeer, and moose and boavor, — animals now verging toward extinction, and of no more importance to the present inhabi- tants tlian tlic park deer arc to tliosc of the old world. Witli the exception of a few of the forest-clad hilly districts. Nova Scotia is now as unsuitable to the existence of the reindeer and moose as France is, ami yet three centuries ago these animals were the chief food of its inhabitants. No material change of clinmte has occurred, but the iron age has introduced a new race, and the forests have been cleared away. The monuments of the stone age arc few. Piles of shells of oysters and other mollusks, in some parts of the coasts, mark the site of former summer encampments. Numerous stone implements are found on some old battle-grounds or cemeteries, or on the sites of villages ; and occasional specimens arc turned up by the plough. But this is nearly all ; and if the written record of the discovery and coloniza- tion of the country did not prevent, we might, in so far as the monumental history is concerned, believe the close of the stone age to have belonged to a remote antiquity. If the Micmacs had been replaced by a semi-barbarous race, not keeping written records, and destroying the aborigines or inccoorating them with themselves, tbo date of the stone age would already be altogether uncertain. I have in my collection a curious specimen illustrative of the transition from the stone to the iron period. It was found at Meri- gouiish Harbour, an old place of residence of one of the eastern Micmac tribes. It consists of a mass of hard ferruginous sandstone, which was found at some depth in the ground, wrapped carefully in beaver skins, the fur of which is still well preserved. The mass, when broken, was found to be full of blades of iron knives or daggers, mixed with black and white beads and bugles, among which were traces of basket-work or matting and a cylindrical iron awl or bodkin. The iron instruments had been completely oxidised, and had furnished ' !1 I' !li 46 THE MODERN PERIOD. r )!!l ? I the cementing material of the mass ; and their wooden handles had been perfectly petrified or converted into a hard fibrous brown limonite, still retaining the structure of t)ie wood. The deposit was probably a cache or hiding-place of valuable booty in the early French and Indian wars ; and serves, among other things, to show the comparatively perishable character of iron implements as compared with those of stone, and the short space of time which under certain circumstances may give to modern objects the aspect of hoar antiquity. One of the questions in connexion with pre-historie times which has recently been discussed in Europe, has been the disappearance and renewal of forests in connexion with the succession of races of men. Though the subject was not noticed in the first edition of this work, I had some years previously, in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, directed attention to it, and now reproduce portions of the article, as furnishing useful data to those who, on evidence of this kind, are endeavouring to calculate tho antiquity of pre-historic man in Europe. In their natural state. Nova Scotia and the neighbouring provinces were covered with dense woods, extending from the shores to the summits of the hills. These woods did not form detach :• groves, but constituted a nearly continuous sheet of foliage, the individual trees composing which were so closely jilaccd as to prevent them from assuming full and rounded forms, and to oblige them to take tall and slender shapes, that each migiit obtain air and light. The only exceptions to this are certain rich and usually light soils, where the forest is sometimes more open, and hills too rocky to support a covering of trees. When viewed from the summit of a liill, the forest presents a continuous undulating surface of a more or less dark colour and uneven form, in proportion to the prevalence of the deep colours and hard outlines of the evergreen coniferaj, or of the lighter tints and lounded contours of the deciduous trees; and these two classes are usually arranged .'n belts or irregular patches, con- taining mixtures of trees corresponding to the fertility and dryness of the soil. In general, the deciduous or hardwood trees prevail on intervale ground, fertile uplands, and the flanks and summits of slaty and trappean hills ; while swamps, the less fertile and lightest up- land soils, and granitic hills, are chiefly ocupied by coniferous trees. The forest trees spring from a bed of black vegetable mould, whose surface is rendered uneven by the little hillocks of earth and f,t<>nes thrown up by windfalls ; and which, though usually named " Cradle hills," are in roality the graves of dcpartc I members of the forest, whoso trunks have mouldered into the mossy soil. Thetie cradle ' 1 FOREST FIRES. liills arc most numerous in thin soils ; and arc chiefly produced by the coniferous trees, and especially by the hemlock spruce. There is usually little underwood in the original forest ; mosses, lycopodia, ferns, and a few herbaceous flowering plants, however, flourish beneath the shade of the woods. The woods perish by the axe and by fire, either purposely applied for their destruction or accidental. Forest fires have not been con- fined to the period of European occupation. The traditions of tho Indians tell of extensive ancient conflagrations ; and it is believed that some of the aboriginal names of places in Nova Scotia, for example, Cheuucto, Chedabucto, Pictou, origiutated in these events. In later times, however, fires have been more numerous and destruc- tive. In clearing land, the trees when cut down are always burned ; and, that this may be effected as completely as possibk, the driest weather is frequently selected, although the fire is then much more likely to spread into the surrounding woods. It frequently hnj.pens that the woods contain large quantities of dry branches and tops of trees, left by cutters of timber and firewood, who rarely consider any part of the tree except the trunk worthy of their attention. Even without this preparation, however, the woods may in dry weather be easily inflamed ; for although the trunks and foliage of growing trees are not very combustible, the mossy vegetable soil, m"fh resembling peat, burns easily and rapidly. Upon this mossy .s^jil depends, in a great measure, the propagation of fires, the only exception being when the burning of groves of the resinous coniferous trf-es is assisted by winds, causing the flame to stream through then tops more riipiilly than it can pass ahmg the ground. In such cases Bome of the grandest appearanech ever shown by forest fires occur. The fire, spreading for a time along the ground, suddtmly rushes up the tall resinous trees with a loud crashing report, sm\ streams far beyond tlioir summits, in columns and streamers of lurid flame. It frequently happens, however, that in wet or swampy ground, where the fire cannot spread around their roots, even the resinous trees refuse to bum; and thus swampy tracts are comparatively socur(! from fire. In addition to the causes of the progress of fires above referred to, it is probable that at a certain stage of the growth of forests, when the trees have attained to great ages, and are beginning to decay, they arc more readily destroyed by accidental conflagrations. In this condition the trees are often much moss-grown, and have much dead and dry wood ; and it is probable that we should regard fires arising from natural or accidental cauwcs as the ordinary and appro- priate agents for the removal of such worn-out forests. ^ i \ If I i^Uita 48 THE MODERN PERIOD. Iifl Where oircumstanccs are favourable to tlieir progrcsG, forest fires may extend over great areas. The great fire which occurred hi 1825, in the ncighbourliood of the jNIiramichi River, in New Brunswick, devastated a region 100 miles in length and 50 miles in breadth. One hundred and sixty persons, and more than 800 cattle, besides innumerable wild animals, are said to have perished ui this confla- gi'ation. In this case, a remarkably dry summer, a light soil easily affected by drought, and a forest composed of full-grown pine trees, concurred, with other causes, in producing a conflagration of unusual extent. When the fire has passed through a portion of forest, if this consist principally of hardwood trees, they are usually merely scorched,— to such a degree, however, as in most cases to cause their death; some trees, such as the birches, probably from the more inflammable nature of tlieir outer bark, being more easily killed than others. Where the woods consist of softwood or coniferous trees, the fire often leaves nothing but bare trunks and branches, or at most a little foliage, scorched to a rusty-brown colour. In cither case, a vast quantity of wood remains unconsumed, and soon becomes sufliciently dry to furnish food for a new conflagration ; so that the same portion of forest is liable to be repeatedly burned, until it becomes a bare and desolate " barren," with only a few charred and wasted trunks towering above the blackened surface. This has been the fate of large districts in Nova Scotia and the neighbouring colonies ; and as these burned tracts could not be immediately (occupied for agricultural purposes, and are diminished in value by the loss of their timber, they have been left to the unaided efforts of nature to restore their original verdure. Before proceeding to consider more particularly the mode in which this restoration is effected, and the appearances by which it is accompanied, I may quote, from a paper by the late Mr Titus Smith of Halifax, a few statements on this subject, which, as the results of long and careful observation, are entitled to much respect, and may form the groundwork for the remarks which are to follow. " If an acre or two be cut down in the midst of a forest, and then neglected, it will soon be occupied by a growth similar to that which was cut down; but when all the timber on tracts of great size is killed by fires, except certain parts of swamps, a very different growth springs up; at first a great number of herbs and shrubs, which did not grow on the land when covered by living wood. The tuvfy coat, filled with the decaying fibres of the roots of ihe trees and plants of the forest, now all killed by the fire, becomes a kind of hot-bed, and seeds which had lain dormant for ceutuiies, spring up 1 ■I'f RESULTS OF FOREST FIRES. 49 and flourish in the mellow soil. On the most barren portions, the blueberry appears almost everywhere ; great fields of red raspberries and fire-weed or French willow, spring up along the edges of the beech and hemlock land, and abundance of rcdberried elder and wild red cherry appear soon after ; but in a few years, the raspberries and most of the herbage disappear, and are followed by a growth of firs, white and yellow birch, and poplar. When a succession of fires has occurred, small shrubs occupy the barren, the Kalinia, or sheep- poison, being the most abundant ; and, in the course of ten or twelve years, form so much turf, that a thicket of small alder begins to grow, under the shelter of which fir, spruce, hacmctac (larch), .ind white birch spring up. When the ground is thoroughly shaded by a thicket twenty feet high, the species which originally occupied the ground, begins to prevail, and suffocate the wood which sheltered it ; and within sixty years, the land will generally be covered with a young growth of the same kind that it produced of old." Assuming the above statements to be a correct summaiy of the principal modes in wliich forests are reproduced, we may proceed to consider them more in detail. 1st, AVhcre the forest trees are merely cut down and not burned, the same description of wood is immediately reproduced. This may be easily accounted for. The soil contains abundance of tlie seeds of these trees, there are even numerous young plants ready to take the place of those which have been destroyed ; and if the trees have been cut in Avinter, their stumps produce young shoots. Even in cases of this kind, however, a number of shrubs and herbaceous plants, not for- merly growing in the place, spring up ; the cause of this may be more properly noticed Avhen describing cases of another kind. This simplest mode of the destruction of the forest, may assume another aspect. If the original wood have been of kinds requiring a fertile soil, such as maple or beech, and if this wood be removed, for example, for firewood, it may happen that the quantity of inorganic matter thus removed from the soil may incapacitate it, at least for a long time, from pro- ducing the same description of timber. In this case, some species requiring a loss fertile soil ma- occupy the ground. For this reason, forests of beech growing on light soils, when removed for firewood, are sometimes succeeded by spruce and fir. I have observed instances of this kind, both in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. 2%, When the trees are burned, without the destruction of the whole of the vegetable soil, the woods are reproduced by a more complicated process, which may occupy a number of years. In its first stage, the burned ground bears a luxuriant crop of herbs and II I ■ ■ .;< 1 '■ \ IH wuM sim HSIT. 11 50 THE MOOEKN PERIOD. shrubs, which, if it be fertile and not of very great extent, may nearly cover its surface in tlie summer succeeding tlic fire. This first growth may comprise a considerable variety of species, which we may divide into three groups. The first of these coui^ists of herbaceous plants, which have their roots so deeply buried in the soil as to escape the effects of the fire. Of this kind ai'e the various species of Trillium, whoso tubers are deeply embedded in the black mould of the woods, and whose flowers may sometimes be seen thickly sprinkled over the black surface of woodland very recently burned. Some species of ferns also, in this way, occasionally survive forest fires. A second group is composed of plants whose seeds are readily transported by the wind. I'rc-eniinent among these is the species of Epilobinm known in Nova Scotia as the fire-weed or French willo\ir [E. angusli- folium)^ whose feathered seeds are admirably adapted for flying to great distances, and which often covers large tracts of burned ground so completely, that its purple flowers communicate their own colour to the Avhole surface, when viewed from a distance. This plant appears to prefer the less fertile soils, and the name of fire-weed has been given to it in consequence of its occupying these when their wood has been destroyed by fire. Various species of Senecio, Solidago, and Aster, and Equiseta, Ferns, and Mosses, arc also among the first occupants of burned ground ; and theii' presence may be explained in the same way with that of the Epilobinm, their seeds cand spores being easily scattered over the surface of the barren by wind. A third group of species, found abundantly on burned ground, consists of plants bearing edible fruits. The seeds of these are scattered over the barren by birds which feed on the fruits, and, finding a rich and congenial soil, soon bear abundantly and attract more birds, bringing with them the seeds of other species. In this way, it sometimes happens t^hat a patch of burned ground, only a few acres in extent, may, in a few years, contain specimens of nearly all the fruit-bearing shrubs and herbs indigenous in the cour.try. Among the most common plants which overspread the l)Ui'ned ground in this manner, are the raspberry, which, in good soils, is one of the first to make its appearance ; the species of Vaccinice, or whortlc-bcrries and blueberries ; the tea-berry or wintergrcen [OauUheric procumbcns) ; the pigeon-berry [Cornus cana- densis) ; and ihe wild strawberry. It is not denied that some plants may be found in recently burned districts whose presence may not be explicable in the above niodes ; but no person acquainted with the facts can deny that nearly all the plants which appear in any considerable quantity within a few years after the occurrence of a fire, may readily be included in the groups which have been mentioned. By the J*SiWjM/A»>nfi\i. RESULTS OP FOREST FIRES. 51 \icli licli, scies ot tana- Ltbe [facts j'alile uWy I the simple means which have been described, a clothing of vegetation ia •speedily furnished to the burned district ; the nnsightliness of its appearance is thus removed, abundant supplies of food are furnished to a great variety of animals, and the fertility of the soil is preserved, until a new forest has time to overspread it. With the smaller plants which first cover n burned district great numbers of seedling trees spring up, and these, though fur a few years not very conspicuous, eventually overtoj) and, if numerous, suffocate the humbler vegetation. Many of these young trees are of the species which composed the original wood, but the majority arc usually different from the former occupants of the soil. The original forest may have consisted of Avhitc or red i)inc; black, white, or hemlock spruce ; maple, beech, black or yellow birch, or of other trees of large dimensions, and capable of attaining to a great age. The "second growth" which succeeds these usually consists of poplar, white or poplar birch, wild cheiTy, balsam fir, scrub pine, alder, and other trees of small stature, and usually of rapid growth, which, in good soils, prepare tlic Avay for the larger forest trees, and occupy permanently only the less fertile soils. A few examples will show the contrast which thus appears between the primeval forest and that which succeeds it after a fire. Near the town of Pictou, woods chiefly consisting of beech, maple, and hemlock, have been succeeded by Avhitc birch and firs. A clearing in woods of maple and beech in New Annan, at one time iider cultivation, was, after thirty years, observed to be thickly cnvered with jjojdars thirty feet in height, presenting a striking contrast to the surrounding woods. In Prince li^dward Island, fine hardwood forests have been succeeded by fir and spruce. The ])ine woods of ISliramichi, destroyed by the great fire above referred to, have been followed hy a second growth, principally composed of white birch, larch, poplar, and v.ild cherry. When I visited this place, twenty years after the groat fire, the second growth had attained to nearly half the iioight of the dead trunks of the ancient pines, which were still standing in great uambers; and in 18(30 I foimd that the burnt woods were replaced by a dense and luxuriant forest principally of white birch arid larch or hacmetac, and I was informed that some of these trees were already sufficiently large to be used in ship-building. This is an instructive illustration of the fact, that after a great forest fire an extensive region may in less than half a century be re-clotiied with different species from those by which it was originally covered. As already stated, the second growth almost alwuys includes many trees similar to tho.?e which preceded it, and when the smaller trees V m \m '•Vf^- 52 THE MODERN PERIOD. Pli ;! Wn3 have attained their full height, these, and other trees capable of attaining a greater magnitude, overtop them, and finally cause their death. The forest has then attained its last stage, that of perfect renovation. The cause of the last part of the process evidently is, that in an old forest, trees of the largest size and longest life have a tendency to prevail, to the exclusion of others. For reasons which will he afterwards stated, this last stage is rarely attained by the burned forests in countries beginning to be occupied by civilized man, and it is evident that many circumstances may occur which will prevent this restoration of the primeval forest. In accounting for the presence of the seeds necessary for the production of the second growth, we may i-efer to the same causes whicli supply the seeds of the smaller plants appearing immediately after the fire. The seeds of many forest trees, especially the poplar, the birch, and the firs and spruces, are furnished with ample means for their conveyance tlu'ough the air. The cottony pappus of the poplar seems especially to adapt it for this purpose. The seeds of the wild cherry, another species of frequent occurrence in woods of the second growth, are dispersed by birds, which are fond of tlr^ fruit; the same remark applies to some other fvuit-bcaring species <.i less frequent occurrence. When the seeds that are dispersed in these ways fall in the growing woods, they cannot vegetate ; but when they are deposited on the comparatively bare surface of a barren, they readily grow ; and if tlie soil is suited to them, the young plants increase in size with great rapidity. It is possible, however, that the seeds of the trees of the second growth may be already in the soil. It has been already stated, that deeply-buried tubers sometimes escape the effects of fire; and, in the same manner, seeds embedded in the vegetable mould, or buried in cradle hills, may retain their vitality, and, being supplied by the ashes wliich cover the ground with alkaline solutions well-fitted to promote their vegetation, may spring up before a supply of seed could be furnished from any extraneous source. It is even probable that many of the old forests may already have passed through a rotation similar to that above detailed, and that the seeds deposited by former preparatory growths may retain their vitality, and be called into life by the favourable condition? existing after a fire. If, as already suggested, forest fires, in the uncultivated state of the country, be a provision for removing old and decaying forests, then such changes as those above detailed must have an important use in the economy of nature, since by their means different portions of the country would succeed each other in assuming the state of " barrens, the susten and these young and 3dly, Tj sive fires, but may ha are not, ho^ woods, som, remains, yoi as at first, since the mo and the veg ground be n supporting a occupied by '1 exclusive j the burned gn which does m n^ay appear bl a perfect garde 'nosses and lie colonies who cJ gathering flowe already referret t'le.se more porn ^-^^■'^^ty of ot ^ngustifoUa, o P'ant over larg t'le seeds of cu as of many exoi tfie native plant? Lastly^ When P>"-posos, the rei t" this case, ih ''^'•'•ei.s disappen ""d the Canad. !''.<= fields, and ; 'njiirious weeds "»f've plants, but f'le cultivated gra ""dthecrowsfoot ,■ f "'' "■^i'Si'i'ik.S' 'i&SM^ I:S RESULTS OF FOREST FIRES. AS " barrens," producing abundance of herbs and wild fruits suitable for the sustenance of animals which could not subsist in the old woods ; and these gradually becoming wooded, would keep up a succession of young and vigorous forests. Zdly, The process of restoration may be interrupted by succes- sive fires. These are most likely to occur soon after the first burning, but may happen at any subsequent stage. The resources of nature are not, however, easily exhausted. When fires pass through young woods, some trees always escape ; and so long as any vegetable soil remains, young plants continue to spring up, though not so plentifully as at first. Repeated fires, however, greatly impoverish the soil, since the most valuable part of the ashes is readily removed by rains, and the vegetable mould is entirely consumed. In this case, if the ground bo not of great natural fertility, it becomes incapable of supporting a vigorous crop of young trees. It is then permanently occupied by shrubs and herbaceous plants; at least these remain in exclusive possession of the soil for a long period. In this state the burned ground is usually considered a permanent barren, — a name which does not, however, well express its character; for though it may appear bleak and desolate when viewed from a distance, it is a perfect garden of flowering and fruit-bearing plants, and of beautiful mosses and lichens. There are few persons born in the American colonies who cannot recall the memory of happy youthful days spent in gathering flowers and berries in the burnt barrens. Most of the plants already referred to as appearing soon after fires continue to grow in these more permanent barrens. In addition to these, however, a great variety of other plants gradually appear, especially the Kalmia an(/astifolia, or sheep laurel, which often becomes the predominant plant over large tracts. Cattle straying into the barrens deposit the seeds of cultivated plants, as the grasses and clovers, as well as of many exotic weeds, which often grow as luxuriantly as any of the native plants. Lastly, When the ground is permanently occupied for agricultural purposes, the reproduction of the forest is of course entirely prevented. In this case, the greater number of the smaller plants found in the barrens disappear. Some species, as the Solidagos and Asters, and the Canada thistle, as well as a few smaller jdants, remain in the fields, and sometimes become troublesome weeds. The most injurious weeds found in the cultivated ground are not, however, native plants, but foreign species, which have been introduced with the cultivated grains and grasses ; the ox-eyed daisy or white weed, and the crowsfoot or buttercup, are two of the most abundant of these. ki ^ ivtismsmii.. A. -iirmiiit'sstMiSx^a^: 54 THE MODERN PERIOD. When a district has undergone this hist change, — wlien the sombre woods and the shade-loving plants that grow beneath them have given place xo open fields, clothed with cultivated plants, — the meta- morphosis which has taken place extends in its effects to the indige- nous animals; and in this department its effects arc nearly as con- spicuous and important as in relation to vegetation. Some wild animals arc incapable of accommodating themselves to the change of circumstances ; others at once adapt themselves to new modes of life, and increase greatly in riumbcrs. It was before stated that the barrens, when clothed with shrubs, young trees, and herbaceous plants, were in a condition highly favourable to the support of wild animals ; and perhaps there are few species which could not subsist more easily in a country at least partially in this state. For this reason, the transition of a country from the forest state to that of burned barrens is tempo- rarily favourable to many species, which disappear before the progress of cultivation ; and this would bo more evident than it is, if European colonization did not tend to produce a more destructive warfare against such species than could be carried on by the aborigines. The ruffed grouse, a truly woodland bird, becomes, when unmolested, more numerous on the margins of barrens and clearings than in other parts of the woods. The hare multiplies exceedingly in young second growths of birch. The wild pigeon has its favourite resort in the barrens during a great part of the summer. Tlie moose and cariboo, in summer, find better supplies of food in second growth and barrens than in the old forests. Tiie large quantities of decaying wood, left by fires and wood-cutters, afford more abundant means of subsistence to the tribe of woodpeckers. Many of the fly-catchers, warblers, thrushes, and sparrows, greatly prefer the barrens to most other places. Carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are found In such places in nuiidjers proportioned to the supplies of food which they afford. Tlie number of instances of this kind might be increased to a great extent if necessary ; enough has, howevc, been stated to illustrate the fact. Nearly all the animals above noticed, and many others, di3appear when the country becomes cultivated. There are, however, other species which increase in numbers, and at once adapt themselves to the new conditions introduced by man. The robin {Tardus inigra- torius) resorts to and derives its subsistence from the fields, and greatly multiplies, though much persecuted by sportsmen. The Junco hijemaUs, a summer bird in Nova Scotia, becomes very familiar, building in outhouses, and frequenting barns in search of food. The song sparrow and Savannah fincli swami in the cultivated ground. The yellow bird [Sylvia cestiva) becomes very familiar, often building U cultivated ciiff-swallov houses, and avail tliemsc Acadian or J hncoln, the t ^"■d, are amc The larger q about the cul vanica), whicl «'> in tiie fiol consequence , grasshoppei-d ; to grass and gr species are ion vegetation; ar greater abunda ^micd barrens Jt thus appeaj Jai-ge areas of th of tile following second-growth '^i "iltivated fields cations of the a. each would i,„pi c-ecn thrown on "i'rohistoric Mji "lis subject, or j tl'is fertile theui "ho discuss pre analogue in Am close this notice, h remarking, th l""g-headed race tl'c two similar ra historic skulls, su| E"g's, bear a ver Iroquois Indians. rKE-HISTORIC TIMK. 67 On the one hftnJ, nil the changes observed in Denu'ark may have taken place within a niininium time of two thousand yeara. On the other liand, no one can allirm that cither of the three successive forests may not have flourisljcd for that Icnj^th of time. A chronology measured by years, and ba.scd on sudi data, is evidently worthless ; but it is interesting in connexion with our present subject to observe, that the remains preserved in the shell-heaps or " Kjiikkenmodding " of the stono age in Dciunark indicate a wonderful similarity of habits and customs with those of primitive America, except thiit the people seem to have borne a closer resemblanco to the Es(iuimaux than to the ordinary American Indian. On the whole, nothing can be more striking to any one acquainted with the American Indian than the entire similarity of the traces of pre-historic man in luirope to those which remain of the primitive condition of the American aborigines, whether wo consider their food, their implements and weapons, or their modes of sepulture ; and it geems evident that if these pre-historic remains are ever to be con'ectly interpreted by European antiquaries, they must avail themselves of American light for their guidance. Much of this light has already been thrown on this subject by my friend Professor Wilson, in his " Prehistoric Man ; " but one can scarcely open any European book on this subject, or glance at any of the numerous articles and papers on this fertile theme in scientific journals, without wishing that those who discuss pre-historic man in Europe knew a little more of his analogue in America. The subject is a tempting one, but I must close this notice, already too long for the space I should devote to it, by remarking, that the relations in America of the short-headed and long-headed races of men arc by no means dissimilar from those of the two similar races in Europe ; while it is also evident that some pre- historic skulls, supposed to be of vast antiquity, as, for instance, that of Engis, bear a very close resemblance to those of the Algonquin and Iroquois Indians. \ ^'b. .%. m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // // '^ i^"^ £?- .r^ ^. ^ (? e> .> ' ^' ^> ??' //^ Photograpliic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 M <^ 'A V ^9> V ^^■ 4i>^ :\ \ ^ % V c^ i^- I I ill !i i |H CHAPTER V. THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. UNSTRATIFIED DRIFT TRAVELLED BOULDERS STRIATED ROCK SUR- FACES PEAT UNDER BOULDER CLAY — ORIGIN OP DRIFT STRATIFIED GRAVELS — REMAINS OF MASTODON. The deposits last described are found in the bed or on the margin of tie existing waters, and they rest on the ordinary upland soils, which are consequently older than they. These soils and subsoils, which are often of great depth, and which over a great part of the region under consideration completely hide the rocks which lie beneath, belong to the formations which we are now to describe. The soils and subsoils of any country, so far at least as they consist of mineral matter, are derived from the waste of the rocks of which that country is composed. Hence we are in no way surprised to find the soil overlying sandstone rocks to be sandy, that over shales and slates to consist in great part of clay, or that overlying limestone to be calcareous ; and we may attribute such appearances to the mere waste or decay of the under- lying rock, by the action of the air, the water, and the frost. This waste may have been proceeding ever since the country emerged from beneath the deep, and need not necessarily belong to one geological period more than to another. B"t the case becomes very different where we rind the soil to consist of or to contain materials for whose presence we cannot account by any causes now in operation in the locality ; and this we shall find to be the case with the formations of that time which immediately preceded our Modem epoch, and which we name the Post- Pliocene ; but which, from the nature of its deposics, and the conditions which they imjily, has also received such names as the drift, the boulder formation, and the glacial period. If we examine the materials exposed in ordinary excavations, or on the coasts and river banks, and which extend from the surface down to the solid rocks, we find them to consist of clay or sand intermixed with large stones, or occasionally of large stones with their interstices filled with acil, or possibly in a few localities of rolled gravel, like that found on t beyond a materials, i different ki of the sam Others are is farther ol not arrange( The fine ro from large bands of san fine clay con pressed peatj % studyii arrive at the from the new !• Gravel indicating th waves. 2. Stratifiec "vater. 3. Unstratif water. 4. Peaty dej of the boulder ( As the third diffused in Acj of the others to The Unstraiij of a base or pas The base varies i colour generally ing rocks. Thuj laceouL, and ove The greater uuni like the paste cm formations. The, are usually angul^ rocks whose com, illustrations of the a granitic district ^11 ■' ■* ^f \\ UN8TRATIFIED DRIFT. 59 found on the beach or in river beds. If our inquiries proceed a little beyond a mere glance at these at first sight not very interesting materials, we may discover that the large stones in the drift are of very different kinds. Some of them, perhaps the greater number, may be of the same kind with the rocks occurring in situ in the vicinity. Others are of kinds not found in place except at gi'eat distances. It is farther observable that the clay or sand containing large stones, is not arranged in layers, but that its materials are confusedly intermixed. The fine rounded gravel, however, is not only comparatively free from large stones, but it is arranged in beds or layers, often with bands of sand between. We shall also in some localities find beds of fine clay containing marine shells, and sometimes, though rarely, com- pressed peaty matter underlying the drift deposits. By studying the superposition of these materials, we may readily arrive at the following arrangement of them in descending order, or from the newer to the older : — 1. Gravel and sand beds, and ancient gravel ridges and beaches, indicating the action of shallow water and strong currents and waves. 2. Stratified clay with shells, showing quiet deposition in deeper vf&ter. 3. Unstratified boulder clay, indicating the united action of ice and water. 4. Peaty deposits, belonging to a land surface preceding the deposit of the boulder clay. As the third of these formations is the most important and generally diffused in Acadia, we shall attend to it first, and notice the relation of the others to it. The Unstratified Drift or boulder clay may be viewed as consisting of a base or paste including angular and rounded fragments of rocks. The base varies from a stiff clay to loose sand, and its composition and colour generally depend upon those of the underlying and neighbour- ing rocks. Thus, over sandstone it is arenaceous, over shales argil- laceous:., and over conglomerates and hard slates pebbly or shingly. The greater number of the stones contained in the drift are usually, like the paste containing them, derived from the neighbouring rock formations. These untravelled fragments are often of large size, and are usually angular, except when they are of very soft material, or of rocks whose corners readily weather away. It is unnecessary to give illustrations of these facts. Any one can observe, that on passing from a granitic district to one composed of slate, or from slate to sandstone, \ 1 ^; 60 THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. m j p ■1^1 ■IHML^.^. the character of the loose stones changes accordingly. It is also a matter of familiar observation, that in proportion to the hardness or softness of the nro vailing rocks, the quantity of these loose stones increases or diu. shes. In some of the quartzite and granite districts of the Atlantic c ist, the surface seems to be heaped with boulders with only a little soil in their interstices, and every little field, cleared with immense labour, is still half-filled with huge white masses popu- larly known as " elephants." On the other hand, in the districts of soft sandstone and shale, one may travel some distance without seeing a boulder of considerable size. Though I have called these fragments untravelled, it by no means follows that they are undisturbed. They have been lifted from their original beds, heaped upon each other in every vai'icty of position, and intei'uiixed with sand and clay, in a m.anner which shows convincingly that the sorting action of running water had nothing to do with the matter ; and this applies not only to stones of moderate size, but to masses of ten feet or more in diameter. It is as if a gigantic harrow had been dragged over the surface, tearing up the solid rocks, and mingling their fragments in a rude and unsorted mass. Beside the untravelled fragments, the drift always contains boulders derived from distant localities, to which in many cases we can trace them ; and I shall mention a few instances of this to show how ex- tensive has been this transport of detritus. In the low country of Cumberland thcr ■' are few boulders, but of the few that appear, some belong to the hard rocks of the Cobequid Hills to the southward; others may have been derived from the somewhat similar hills of New Brunswick. On the summits of the Cobequid Hills and their northern slopes, we find angular fragments of the sandstones of the plain below, not only drifted from their original sites, but elevated several huridreds of feet above them. To the southward and eastward of the Cobequids, throughout Colchester, Northern Hants, and I'ictou, fragments from these hills, usually much rounded, are the most abundant travelled boulders, showing that there has been great driftage from this elevated tract. In like manner, the long ridge of trap rocks extending from Cape Blomidon to Briar Island has sent off great quantities of boulders across the sandstone valley which bounds it on the south, and up the slopes of the slate and granite hills to the southward of this valley. Well characterized fragments of trap from Blomidon may be seen near the town of Windsor ; and I have seen unmistakable fragments of similar rock from Digby Neck, on the Tusket River, thirty miles from their original position. On the other hand, numerous boulders of granite have been carried to the northward from the hills of Annapolis, and some of on tJie shor( numbers of the granite drifted in th( counties of ; the transport of America, h been exclusiv and more esp( lower ground existence of a and the hilly j As might masses has occ ordinary geolo^ the production the present fcai ridgfs of Cumb the great gorge end of the Nort eminences as tlii Colchester, arc denuding agenci projecting ridges masses of rock greatly diminishc O'le of the m materials is these) wliich prevails vc and Europe, and n It is the rule ratlio IS uncovered by t smoothed and mar uniform direction • f ''eavy and hard 'WOWS are useful superficial detritus •I'rection with succ jmong tlio drift to "'^lon- the directions '" different parts of STRIATED ROCK SURFACES. 61 v^ Annapolis, and deposited on the slopes of the opposite trappean ridge ; and some of them have been carried round its eastern end, and now lie on the shores of Londonderry and Onslow. So also, while imraense numbers of boulders have been scattered over the south coast from the granite and quartz rock ridges immediately inland, many have drifted in the opposite direction, and may be found scattered over the counties of Sydney, Pictou, and Colchester. These facts show that the transport of travelled blocks, though it may here as in other parts of America, have been principally from the northward, has by no means been exclusively so ; boulders having been carried in various directions, and more especially from the more elevated and rocky districts to the lower grounds in their vicinity. Professor Hind has shown the existence of a similar relation between the boulders of New Brunswick and the hilly ranges of that country. As might have been expected, the removal of these travelled masses has occasioned important changes of the surface, or, to use the ordinary geological term, there has been very extensive denudation in the production of the boulder deposits. A very large proportion of the present features of the surface indeed result from this cause ; the ridges of Cumberland, the deep valley of Cornwallis and Annapolis, the great gorges crossing the Cobequid Mountains and the western end of the North Mountains in Annapolis and Digby counties, such eminences as the Greenhill in Pictou county, and Onslow Mountain in Colchester, are due in great part to the removal of soft rocks by denuding agencies of this period, while the harder rocks remained in projecting ridges. On the other hand, it might be shown that many masses of rock which once projected above the surface have been grefitly diminished or entirely removed. One of the most remarkable effects of the transport of surface materials is the scratching and polishing of rock surfaces, a phenomenon which prevails very extensively over the northern parts of America and Europe, and may be frequently observed in Nova Scotia. Indeed it is the nile rather than the exception, that when a fresh rock-surface is uncovered by the removal of the boulder clay, it is found to be smoothed and marked with stria, scratches, and furrows, usually in a uniform direction ; the whole being evidently the result of the passage of heavy and hard substances over the surface. These scratches or furrows are useful as indicating the direction in which the mass of superficial detritus has been moved; and I have even used this direction with success in tracing useful minerals found in fragments among the drift to the sources whence they were derived. I give below the directions of the diluvial scratches in a number of localities in different parts of the province. P m' 62 THE POST-PLIOCENE PEHIOD. Point Pleasant, and otlicr places near Halifax, exposure south, very distinct striae. Head of the Basin, exposure south, but in a valley, La Have River, exposure S.E., Petite River, exposure S. . . . Bei.r River, exposure N., Rawdon, exposure N., . The Gore Mountain, exposure N., two sets of stria3, respectively, .... Windsor Road, exposure not noted. Gay's River, eX|)OsurG N., . . . Musquodoboit Harbour, exposure S., Near Pictou, exposure E., in a valley, Poison's Lake, summit of a ridge, . Near Guysbnro', exposure not noted, Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, exposure S. S. 20° E. to S. 30° E E. & W. nearly. S. 20° W. S. 20° E. S. 30° E. S. 25° E. S. 65° E. & S. 20° E, S.S.E. Nearly S. & N. Nearly S. & N. Nearly E. & W. Nearly N. & S. Nearly S. & N. S. 30° W.* The above instances show a tendency to a southerly and south- easterly direction, which accords with the prevailing course in most parts of North-eastern America. Local cii-cumstanccs have, however, modified this prevailing direction ; and it is interesting to observe that, while S. E. is the prevailing direction in Acadia and New England, it is exceptional in the St Lawrence valley, where the prevailing direction is S.W.-j- Professor Hind has given a tabic of similar striation in New Brunswick, showing that the direction ranges from N. 10° W. to N. 30° E., in all except a very few cases. On Blue Mountains, 1650 feet above the sea, it is stated to be N. and S. As in Nova Scotia, N. W. and S. E. seems to be the prevailing course. The travelled and untravelled boulders are usually intermixed in the drift. In some instances, however, the former appear to be most numerous near the surface of the mass, and their horizontal distribution is also very irregular. In examining coast sections of the drift, wo may find for some distance a great abundance of angular blocks, with few travelled boulders, and then we may observe a portion of the shore or bank in which both varieties are equally intennixed, or in which travelled boulders prevail ; and we may often observe particulrj kinds of these last grouped together, as, for instance, a number oi blocks of granite, greenstone, syenite, etc., all lying together, ai if they had been removed from their original beds and all depositei * The above and other courses in thia volume are magnetic, the average variatioi being about 18° W. ■f Logan, " Report on Geology of Canada." ^ootis ha: evident; tl *'veir rare. districts, thi '^a^e, yvhon i stones benef l^"' the acti tne sand or c] is manifestly , . Moulders or !' "o other dii '; ^''''Sht, neat fl]««rtzite,cle "'« district, but '\^y deep vaJ], ,, ," ^«"«da an, :f;"« are so,neti ;%s overJyi„g i, T.'^ species ar ;'"'^^«t present ;^«frvednothi„„^ f"''«5 the boulder '"^^^^'-^^estarmof' 2"^raycV,-,, "^"••'yashardascn^ ^''.\" good coal. I ::r^-^othebro, • -ft contains n ^"'^-oustreesa ed ^.''^dmusthaJe I'Z"'"' '^ ^h«tTb "«<««' member *'' I Jlr ''^ ^'^at has I r-'e now describing K'^-e, we rai::t i^Wi log ,„„ ""•'"•' o. r,n„. of -pmnzile, derive ,t*'7«.fi--, tl-efc „T, *' ■"»« W fee ^n Canada and fhn ^r , ^ *^^ fragment, observed nothW^of'!'!'^"! ^^^ose countries }„ ^'''"''^'^ ^h«n that ^« '^ J>ardened peatv r j ' . * '""»<^diately beLl . ?^ °^ ""'S^^io Uk "-^h-westarro?f,^J,,:^"^'- "i-n gray clay ^/.J .• o I^f f"'^^^'^^»t.s in Ca^e " f '"'^ '^ ^^e -d by nearly twenty f 'of .""^."^^ ""^«r'^e« peft bf '''"• ^* ^'^ts "^'I'lj as hard as ro«f !u ^ ''^"^^er clay p^ ^""^S' and is over- *^- good coal It tf T' '■* '■« ««-«-hat tou'^ '^^ ^^"^ered t |f«««) of the great t..r^' *° ''"^^ Part rp'^H? «P^^«d over thf 'atest member' ''* ^^'^^"^ ^-"P of .'clcs^» «- of the later' J Ifyye ask what has bepn .. "^"^^ '' the I ^ °t modem ge. 64 THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. I( ology. In reasoning, however, on this subject as regards Nova Scotia, I have the advantage of appealing to causes now in operation within the country, and which are at present admitted by the greater number of modern geological authorities to afford the best explanation of the phenomena. In the first place, it may at once be admitted that no such operations as those which formed the drift are now in progress on the surface of the land, so that the drift is a relic of a past state of things, in so far at least as regards the localities in which it now rests. In the next place, we find, on examining the drift, that it strongly re- sembles, though on a greater scale, the effects now produced by frost and floating ice. Frost breaks up the surface of the most solid rocks, and throws down cliffs and precipices. Floating ice annually takes up and removes immense quantities of loose stones from the shores, and deposits them in the bottom of the sea or on distant parts of the coasts. Very heavy masses are removed in this way. I have seen in the Strait of Canseau large stones, ten feet in diameter, that had been taken from below low-water mark and pushed up upon the beach. Stones so large that they had to be removed by blasting, have been taken from the base of the cliffs at the Joggius and deposited off the coal-loading pier, and I have seen resting on the mud-flats at the mouth of the Petitcodiac River a boulder at least eight feet in length, that had been floated by the ice down the river (Fig. 11). Another Fig. 11.— Travelled Stone, Petitcodiac Rivev. testimony to the same fact is furnished by the rapidity with which huge piles of fallen rock are removed by the floating ice from the base of the trap cliffs of the Bay of Fundy. Let us suppose, then, the surface of the land, while its projecting rocks wei'C still uncovered by surface deposits, exposed for many successive centuries to the action of alternate frosts and thaws, the whole of the untravelled drift might have been accumulated on its surface. Let it then be submerged until its hill-tops should become islands or reefs of rocks in a sea loaded in winter and spring with drift ice, floated along by cun'ents, which, like the present Arctic current, would set from N.E. to S.W. with various modifications produced by local causes. We have in these causcq i includin surfaces, time to catod fac for an e; have sub; large bloi carried tc blocks W( reached tc which the« t'le sea-le\ We may fa could not f explanation water was s] -As the land them higher, that the ice parent anom, the theory of I have ret appeared in n to change my had opportuni parts of Amei been written b a supposed gL Europe and An or rather with enormously lar^ the more imprt teorologicaj, or ^^anc, and the a f BeJleisle, ha, 7^"'g ice and fVd. As the, ^f^ mcorporat., Wi'rofessorDam fe'^ Brunswick, ^'<"n it, as stated OLACTAt PHENOMENA. 65 ■•"•) causes ample means for . 6J surfaces. This .!! ^'^^ ""^^ ^he scratched „n "Pr*"'""''"''' Mched to 11,0. . ""'"■ i"'«n' Place .1,. i ^^''^ "'"'^ which ttlbrr'"""'' """"«»,• baVat ',,'''; ,.~'™ '""■" l'«™ VVo majZ, l'"" ."'»" """W ice lake Zn f "'' '"'" '>''•"' wworwas A„Il„„ „,„ y°''" f/ "«» gra"» of 'he hill, wit, , * "f^ P"*^'' « supposed glacial JJ T ! ^ terrestrial on>i„ of H.;! 7 '^^ Europe and I^! • ^ '^"^ "^'^^^ the whole of £ '^'P*''^*' ^^ of Be leTs?e , '''"^' '' '^' ^^ects produced bt fo T'"' ^'^'^ ^^ ^^^«nt 66 THE P08T-PU0CENE PERIOD. 11 I I '■«^ The facts to be accounted for are the atriation and polishing of rock surfaces, the deposit of a sheet of unstratified clay and stones, the transport of boulders from distant sites lying to the northward, and the deposit on the boulder clay of beds of stratified clay and sand, containing marine shells. The rival theories in discussion arG,—Jir8t, that which supposes a gradual subsidence and re-elevation, with the action of the sea and its currents, bearing ice at certain seasons of the year ; and, secondly, that which supposes the American land to have been covered with a sheet of glacier several thousands of feet thick. The last of these theories, without attempting to undervalue its application to such regions as those of the Alps or of Spitzbergen or Greenland, has appeared to me inapplicable to the drift deposits of eastern America, for the following among otiicr reasons ; — 1. It requires a scries of suppositions unlikely in themselves and not warranted by facts. The most important of these is the coin- cidence of a wide-spread continent and a universal covering of ice in a temperate latitude. In the existing state of the world, it is well known that the ordinary conditions required by glaciers in temperate latitudes are elevated chains and peaks extending above the snow- line ; and that cases in which, in such latitudes, glaciers extend nearly to the sea-level, occur only where the mean temperature is reduced by cold ocean-currents approaching to high land, as for instance in Tierra del Fuego and the southern extremity of South America. But the temperate regions of North Am-irica could not be covered witii a permanent mantle of ice under tli' existing conditions of solar radiation ; for, even if the whole were elevated into a table-land, its breadth would secure a sufficient summer heat to melt away the ice, except from high mountain-peaks. Either, then, there must have been immense mountain-chains which have disappeared, or there must have been some unexampled astronomical cause of refrigeration, as, for ex- ampl , the earth passing into a colder portion of space, or the amount of solar heat being diminished. But the former supposition has no warrant from geology, and astronomy affords no evidence for the latter view, which, besides, would imply a diminution of evaporation mili- tating as much against the glacier theory as would an excess of heat. An attempt has recently been made by Professor Frankland to account for such a state of things by the supposition of a higher temperaturp of the sea, along with a colder temperature of the land; but this | inversion of the usual state of things is unwarranted by the doctrine of the secular cooling of the earth ; it is contradicted by the fossils of the period, which show that the seas were colder than at present; and if it existed, it could not produce the effects required, unless a prefer spread observ nothing of vrluQ by the , Tile, so ably ation in i t'lem as i *«pposed Ciiarles / « differen « great ex 2. It se supposed, ( "ni/brm ov t'ons of th& it must foil, ^^ ice supp, of slope or ; «nd irregula prominent pj J' is to h *''e sliding m that any inte, mass of ice re Jn tJiis way. /• The trar them on h iliese carry d * But th '^omvvluchto, "^wiJes, and ^'''^' On the *6a. are huge h '""stWebeen «'«^ation,ando^ "'.'•'g'it angles yu'te as striking 'f^^^otobeobse. ""■*^"gh the mar * OUOUL PHENOMENA. Pretemntural arrest were «f .i «» spread the temperature of hi ! .7' ''"° ''''^ «" the wind, .v u observed in Norwav «„ V 7 * ''^*"" the Jand TK. , ' "^^'^^ "«thing but the r^u ^ '^""^""^ to support fh?; "^^"^^^ 'acts of-'"-ch fit eold ^'•'''"-'r observed 1 «?""'."" '^^'^^"tly by the sun. "^' "'^-^K aud the othe rC^";' ^i^'«. -« «ide ^--pposed effects of the • "' """"^^ '« ---er «o abJy expounded by Air P n"'^"'^ «^««"trieity of the .„ ... ;t'on in this connexion ; but /a' "^ "^ '^^'^ dLeZl^fT •?"' t'lem as insufficinnf * , ^^''^'^ ^"b Sir Ch«rl„a t ,f consider- «"Pposed brtle tV; ''"^"'' '""y ''ff-t so ^reat ' ^r" '" ^«^«^'^'"g CJmrles truf/ '7''' ""^^ ^'"'^'^ ««. evf ^ v ^-i'T '''^"^^ratiof "^'•^e-tdiItSl7,:„7;V'"Port'antTaulr;l, ^ ^^^ fr « |-at excess of land in ^ C' J'^^' '" ^-h a Jann t'^tr;'^' 2- It seems physicaMv • ^""^.'tudes. as to g.ve «"PPosed, could naovef^ ^"^"'^'^^'^ that a sheet of ,V "niform over va.T '"" ""«^«» surface sTr . ' '"''' «« that t-s of the JCS "■' ^^^^" ^'-^--ft Ct^/ in directions it must follow t}T' ^^^"'^^ «=e may move on J .^''''''t incli„a. o; ice sup re ro^Mle? ^"'^ ^"^^ «"th^ S^' '^^^•^' ^"* p-^nen^t ;:t:b::;c:r^ ^^^ -^-"^'ar ii: ^^--^^^ It IS to be ob ^ more na.« oficrr, '"«'" ™''1«"« from , ! "'"''' '"Aeos, and in this ;:;.'«■"« - --ei »,&!», "o:, t™;= «'si.. -f . t-hio' ^"^'»- On the Mn r , ? P°'"ts as hieh as thn. .! ^'""dreds 7" lave been eJed 50 .t Jr t™ '"« I-™™Se I nt"", ■'.' •' "gkt LlTJl :!''' '" *«h the st,LZt iT""'' «"»-' '..t' ..___.. ...a 68 THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. and whatever views may bo entertained as to other boulders, it cannot bo denied that these have been borne by Heating ice. No-. Is it true, as has been often affirmed, that the boulder clay is destitute of marine fossils. At Isle Vcrto, Uiviere du Louj), Murray Hay, and St Nicholas on the St Lawrence, and also at Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, there are tough stony clays of the nature of true " till," and in the lower part of the drift, which contaui numerous marine shells of the usual Post-pliocene species. 4. The Post-pliocene deposits of Canada, in their fossil remains and general character, indicate a gradual elevation from a state cf depression, whicli on the evidence of fossils must have extended to at least 500 feet, and on that of far-travelled boulders to several times that amount ; while tliero is nothing but the boulder clay to represent the previous subsidence, and nothing whatever to represent the sup- posed previous ice-clad state of the land, except the scratches on tiio rock surfaces, which must have been caused by the same agency which deposited the boulder clay. 5. The peat deposits, with fir-roots, found below the boulder clay in Cape Breton, the remains of plants and land- snails in the marine clays of the Ottawa, and the shells of the St Lawrence clays and sands, show that the sea at the period in question had nearly the tem- perature of the present Arctic currents of our coasts, and that the land was not covered with ice, but supported a vegetation similar to that of Labrador and the north shore of the St Lawrence at present. This evidence refers not to the later period of the Mammoth and Mastodon, when the re-elevation was perhaps nearly complete, l>ut to the earlier period contemporaneous with or immediately following the supposed glacier period. In my former papers on the Post-pliocene of the St Lawrence, I have shown that the change of climate involved is not greater than that which may have been due to the subsidence of l.ind, and to the change of course of the Arctic current, actually proved by the deposits themselves. These objections might be pursued to much greater length ; but enough has been said to show that there are, in the case of north-eastern America, strong reasons against the existence of any such period of extreme glaciation as supposed by many geologists ; and that if we can otherwise explain the rock striation and polishing, and the forma- tion of fiords and lake basins, the strong points with these theorists, we can dispense altogether with the portentous changes in physical geography involved in their views, and which are not necessary to explain any of the other phenomena. On these points, the Report of the Geological Survey of Canada throws no has not CO two local ( hfen know directions o ^<^st, and fn vary from ; attempts hai those direct;. quite easy fo way for (he « •""ny excopti except in the gorges. ^n the Rep, stnations ig o tJ'stributed in their origin. ^t >^ouId see ^awenco, aIo,i, ^'"^ i'ork, is ,; series of scratch^ thencckofJand ^■«%oftheOtt 'lectmg with the , .'"^''0 valleys of' 1.^'^ England >Vhat were the d( "'"y contemnorar ^''"'ed in answeri, ■^""^ed the stria>. "«'" observations d ''''t striation the J'^y the slope of ' "^ '^^ onr isolated ^•^"ed from them, l'"^ north-east to I f-^^.ryforthepreva "o^'ng fron, th, A( « eminently favour, WRrATED ROCK SVBrACm. tbrovra now Uehi • tu , 69 born I,„ ® ^''^"'s to favour ihn . . '"^^"^"s; and m one or -t, and r:frrr;e n:': r ^- --rt™ ,fo :s :r r vary from those to Tth 77 "''' ' '^"^ ^^'^^ ^ocali; j^'i^'^^^'^- femptshave boon Cde\"f ^.?''' «"d ca«t and Lst T-'"''' those direction- f\ •.'''"* ^'f'lout much «„„ ^*'^^- Various wav for ii : . ^ "® prepossessed with ,^ • ^ .^^^^ «»d wliilo it ig J" the Report of n « ^ '"'""'^'" Jt would seem that f).. j • WL . ''"gland, OS well a, j,, n,>v, T '''"'"• ""1 olsowhore I .tr.*?! ^'"^ exceptional cases annp * u ^ subsidence of ! -t^ffied sands. ^^ «PP- to belong mostly to the later period of the ! J h I I s 5 . i . 1^' i -W 1! I ■ J. mmmm mi 70 THE P08T-PLT0CENE PERIOD. % America, such as would at present convert all the plains of Canada and New York and New England into sea, would determine the course of the Arctic current over this submerged land from north-east to south-west; and as the current would move up a slope, the ice which it bore would tend to ground, and to grind the bottom as it passed into shallower water; for it must be observed that the character of slope which enables a glacier to grind the surface may prevent ice borot " y a current from doing so, and vice versa. Now we know that in the Post-pliocene period eastern America was submerged, and consequently the striation at once comes into harmony with other geological facts. We have, of course, to suppose that the striation took place during submergence, and that the process was slow and gradual, beginning near the sea and at the lower levels, and carried upwards to the hi^ er grounds in successive centuries, while the portions previously striated were covered with deposits swept down from the sinking land or dropped from melting ice. It would be easy to show that this view corresponds witi. many of the minor facts. Farther, the theorj' thus stated accounts for the excavation of the deep and land-locked basins of our great American lakes. Ocean currents, if cold, and clinging to the bottom, must cut out pot-holes, just m rivers do, though geologists are too apt to limit their function to the throwing up of banks. The course of the present Arctic current along the American coast has its deep hollows as well as its sand- banks. Our American lake-basins are cut out deeply into the softer strata. Running water on the land would not have done this, for it could have no outlet ; nor could this result be effected by breakers. Glaciers could not have effected it ; for even if the climatal conditions for these were admitted, there is no height of land to give them momentum. But if we suppose the land submerged so that the Arctic current, flowing from the north-east, should pour over the Laurcntian rocks on the north side of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, it would necessarily cut out of the softer Silurian strata just such basins, drifting their matjrials to the south-west. At i.ie same time, the lower strata of the current would be powerfully determined through the strait bct./een the Adirondac and Laurentidc Hills, and, flowing over the ridge of hard rock which connects them at the Thousand Islands, would cut out the long basin of Lake Ontario, heaping up at the same time, in the lee of the Laurentian ridge, the great mass of boulder clay which intervenes between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. Lake Erie may have been cut by the flow of the upper layers of water over the Middle Silurian escarpment; and Lake Michigan, though hss cloi others, ( unequal The pi lakes, dei during d( t'liie whei ^ew York the valJey 'jetwcen Li a»d the C( current, obi «nd act on t f^'iections. north-west a account for t ^ngiand; bi fJepressioi;, tJ thrown so ra^ such summits, ^or would America, thou ^0 them the n condition of th the wate., the that permanent latitudes. TjJ extensive guJ th'nk that mosj «"d that old seJ ^"'^ed to find g'«cier action, i '''"ost to their «"d Nova Scotll '"^'•g'us, I h.ivel ;°rk of glaciers I ^'«n extends, arl 7«t-lines loaded! 7 them convey [ ^ 7'y subsiding, f «"o^ water, an '^''Pth increased. w P,.":» 0I-ACIER8 AND ICEUEROS. less Closely connected with th. ^- • ^^ others, due to the action of t "■'"*''" ""^ *^« «"rrent, is like .h unequal hardness. '' ' ^^^^^ous eroding force'o^' ^tks of iije predominant south-west «*r.V.- An.eric„,°lti'J** ''!!»e«I.er the action „f „,„j„^ . ^^ova bcotia many nU c„ i.^! '^^^ observed in ra«„j niaren^«'«*in beds of 1 .''^"''^^ ^'^""'^J occurred a. n/ ^ j"""f ".e period L re^tC'" ^^'^ ^ ^PPo^ similar eyi,J..n5 , """'"^'^ o^ the land- nS ^'■'''** changes '"»;™ dopos,,. °f '-Manes and .».,d.M/j ™' « »« ^ne chmate of a- • *° *^6 tlie causes of its diff!'' ^''■?''' '"' '"^i^ated by it, ^„ • hen^i^phere/have ;!rr 'T ^''^'' ^'^ch now 1™""' \"''""'^' «" ^ ^i'ich I have r'o wM t'"' '^"^J^^^^ of diseursion, V" '^' "^'^^^'^ i« a -anner leTel :\ "'"^ '' ^'-P^"' I dele ," ^'^"^^'^^^^ics, f«cts of the easet *^ ^«'»PreJ»e„sion oft'' '^'^'■' ^'^ ^^^te, --itimeprovrce a'V" "-^ ^^^^^- to Ca„l' Tn?"^ ^^^er, the' -- toL;r^ l:";;"Portant -fereneM;: ,,:^:,:^'^to ^^« ^-- of this question "'' '' ^"*'^-'^''' -iil very n,u 1^^,^^ Every one knows that thn ^ ^ *""'' t"re differ much on tho '"''""' ""'^ ^^^tremes of « , li"c of 40° for 1 ? ''PP^''''^ si'ics of the ^^l!- """'"' *0'"Pcra- i^^-rence 'sklTrf '' ^^'^^ from the Lufh " '" , ^''^ -othermal Norway ' m^f''''^ ^"^ ^O'-^ches Eutn ' "' '''" ^"'^ ^^ St temperature 'fthtT' 7^'"''' '' *^- re,.."! o^" ''•""*'''^''" ^'n P^^-a, phe:L^^ :/;;-'!-% evidenced y ttl^^^r '" *^'« '"''''^Wting the Gul of S '""' ^ ^""'^^ P^opo^t 1 ^f'^f '^^^f ""'^ "•^cur on both sidlr. ""'"'"'^ «"J the coast I ' '^''""'^^h ^i- marine fa ma of P ''^^ ^"•''"*'«' b»t not ^ th'"'' '' ^'^P^ ^od ^^rms, with t^Tofl P\'^^^ '^ P«ralie], init" ^ T' ^^^'^^d'^^- °f icebergs frol 1/'^' ^'"'^ of Norway. In , ker'"''"''' «^ boreal 'irifting and n '' "'^•"'' '^'^ ti-eezin. oJ '""'•*' *''« 'descent '^« Afneirctt"-'^^^"^^-^ boSsb;^"' ^^'"«"-' ^he '«^i'"des in Europe ;? ^r"'"" "«* PamHded •!" "^'""^'^ '^^ from any sivcuT:-. f ^''"^'^'^ from this that 1 corresponding "v given latitude nn ♦!,„ ' "^at a collectinn «<• l ,. ''ear testimony to tho 7v- " "'''*'*•'' of Europe or A "''^"^ 7 to the existing difference of nV ^ America would f^i:l 78 THE POST- PLIOCENE PERIOD. H. appeals to the same kind of evidence with reference to the climate of the Post-tertiary period, and let us inquire what is its testimony. The first and most general answer usually given is, that the Post- pliocene climate was colder than the Modern. The proof of this in Western Europe is very strong. The marine fossils of this period in Britain are more like the existing fauna of Norway or of Labrador than the present fauna of Britain. Great evidences exist of driftage of boulders by ice, and traces of glaciers on the higher hills. In North America the proofs of a rigorous climate, and especially of the transport of boulders and other materials by ice, are equally good, and the marine fauna all over Canada and New England is of boreal type. In evidence of these facts, I may appeal to the papers and other publications of Sir C. Lyell and Professor Kamsay on the for- mations of the so-called Glacial period in Europe and America,* and to my own previous papers on the Post-tertiary of Canada. Admitting, however, that a rigorous climate prevailed in the Post- pliocene period, it by no means follows that the change has been equally great in different localities. On the contrary, while a great and marked revolution has occurred in Europe, the e vidences of such change are very much more slight in America. In short, the causes of the coldness of the Post-pliocene seas to some extent still remain in America, while they must have disappeared or been modified in Europe. If we inquire as to these causes as at present existing, we find them in the distribution of ocean-currents, and especially in the great warm current of the Gulf Stream thrown across from America to Europe, and in the Arctic currents bathing the coasts of America. In con- nexion with these we have the prevailing westerly winds of the tem- perate zone, and the great extent of land and shallow seas in northern America. Some of these causes are absolutely constant. Of this kind is the distribution of the winds, depending on the earth's temperature and rotation. The courses of the currents are also constant, except in so far as modified by coasts and banks ; and the direction of the drift-scratches and transport of boulders in the Post- pliocene both of Europe and America show that the Arctic currents at least have remained unchanged. But the distribution of land and water is a variable element, since we know that in the period in question nearly all northern Europe, Asia and America, were at one time or another under the waters of the sea ; and it is consequently to * Lyell's Travels in North America ; Ramsay on the Glaciers of Wales, and on the Glacial Phenomena of Canada. See also Forbes on the Fauna and Flora of the British Islands, in Memoirs of Geological Survey. this ea occurre Such Charles iand in Every di the meai tend to di of the SOI ofthegre, temperatu 'night the suffice to n glaciers ex time the k southward, from our c( ^''ange that ^'"•ough to ■'America, wo '^iie bould "8 J have in i C^nndn, and other parts of hemisphere ui depression an. process would pression had i "' the temperat y- This wo t'le south of ej. '^l' Arctic coi 'ndicated by the "°derthebouId phenomena thej ^^Jdnessofthes weam caused '''J s'on into th * T'l's is often ex 79 ''''^^°=« OP CLIMATE. tbia cause that we m»„t ^ • , ''S the mean temper ^ "J ''^ te",peratc regions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ tend to diminish fhl ''''''■>' ^^'ni'nution of U^T ^"^ '^^"^^ ofthegJ::: -^^^^^^^^^ P--nt shoTt 'thed!^""''*'^" te-Pcrature, but t t Te'cr"'^^ ^''« -ter .o , ^ ^T""" '"'gi't then exist in i .•: . ^""''te much less ext.« 7. '"^*" suffice to melt h!! ^""^'« ^^^^re now the « '' ^^«^'«« glaciersext end r" ?""■" ^^ «''o:n L Ts" ^ "^"^'^ time the icell T ^'""'^ ^" ^^titude 46° 50' 7'^ ^'"^"«« southward!"''', '"''^ ""'"' '^o^^Y and be dnYrr/ '' '^'' ''^' f-'" our oast wo Ti^' ■'''' ^^^^^^ to div rt 1 Z"^.'^'^'- *« ^^e through to thn P -J ^ equatorial currpnf + waters. Any "■"Prasion anj ih™ ""^ P»»'-tertiaiT period !„ . ""'"■"'™ process w„„Td bri„" . ">""">■ «'«<'™1 '^k™! on f """' S'»'''"J now. Th.-a « 1, .' ''e northern hpiTiJo^i, -^ ***" ^^ ''ttle land the south f!r ^"^ ^ ^«" --» tempeSeTr " *'" ^^^^^-n »ble Arctic ?'•'''' "''"'^ ^"^P'^^'^Wy if at 1 ? ""^ .^" ^^tension to indicated t ,;"* '"^'"^'"''d «bove the 1^' '""'' ' '°"''"'^^'- ^-a o" t,:: ^J^^^^^ W eon ideTat.ol o^ '''^^ "■^'™"'^^'- «f the ' I I t 80 THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. American and European climates so characteristic of the time. Tlio climate of western Europe, in short, would, under such a state of things, bo greatly reduced in moan temperature : the climate of America would suffer a smaller reduction of its mean temperature, but would be much less extreme than at present ; the general effect being the establishment of a more equable but lower temperature throughout the northern hemisphere. It is perhaps necessary to add, that the existence on the land, during this period of depression, of largo elephantine mammals in northern latitudes, as, for instance, the mammoth and mastodon, does not contradict this conclusion. Wo know that these creatures were clothed in a manner to fit them for a cool climate, and an equable rather than a high temperature was probably most conducive to their welfare, whilo the more extreme climate consequent on the present elevation and distribution oi tho land may have led to their extinction. The establishment of the present distribution of land and water, giving to America its extreme climate, leaving its seas cool, and throwing on tho coasts of Europe the heated water of the tropics, would thus affect but slightly the marine life of the American coast, but very materially that of Europe, producing the result already referred to in the above pages, that the Canadian Post-pliocene fauna differs comparatively little from that now existing in tho Gulf of St Lawrence ; though in so far as any difference subsists, it is in the direction of an Arctic character. The changes that have occurred were perhaps all the less that so soon as the Laurentide Hills to the north of the St Lawrence valley emerged from tho sea, tho coasts to the south of these hills would be effectually protected from the heavy northern ice-drifts and from the Arctic currents, and would have the benefit of the full action of the summer heat, — advantages which must have existed to a less extent in western Europe. It is farther to bo observed, that such subsidence and elevation would necessarily afford great facilities for the migration of Arctic marine animals, and that the difference between the Modem and Post-pliocene faunas must bo greatest in those localities to which the forms of temperate regions could most readily migrate after the change of temperature had occurred. It has been fully shown by many previous writers on this subject, that the causes above referred to are sufficient to account for all the local and minor phenomena of the stratified and unstratified drifts, and for the driftage of boulders and other materials, and the erosion that accompanied its deposition. Into these subjects I do not propose to enter; my object in these remarks being merely to give the reasons for n diffen the let in wes of leve tho ove newer t stratified tho Sax coast sec observed a bank oi (F'g- 22) cJay and ^'"'s rests a b ;^^oarser pebb ^ayer of the «'>"«''ng that »^ay some of ^^ere thrown ( 'jave examinee ^''e "pper part, J» some cas conglomerate r ;" "ther instanc "f deposited t °^d pebble rock ^'^' «f fine lam "«^'on of super '°"»ty of Picto, " ^ery thick bed in western Fn. '''ffercnco rolativolv in th / . .'^" America, and «»««t section, or rLr h. /""""' "='""«" w»y ofto„ r ^ "'" °' this rests a bed of fin ^-^^^^-t-^ coarser pebbles Ti ^''^ ''""" ''ounded irr«vM • . shomnff that tl,« . angular stones thnf « • '^^ '^Z « «>vay some of t «'''"*' ^^'^^ deposited 2 ,. ^^?''" '" '^' ^r^ft, nexion of snnprfi • i ^ ^ery remarJcnhln • ^ gmvel, «°»"ty of Sf ^ r ^T^^^ "'^'^ ancient St '" ll"' '' '""^ «'>«- ^ ^^'^^» owing to its 1 \| \ 1 1 ' :>r I ,» ^ 1 ," if L !' f if .1 1 1 a' i 1 1 .• »! SI . i , ,-. i ■ '•i I ui Sf THE POBT-PUOCENE PERIOD. compamtivo hardness and great mass, forms a high ridge extending from the hill behind Now OhiMgow across the Kast and Middle Kivcrs, and along the south side of the West River, and then, crossing the West River, re-appears in Roger's Hill. The valleys of these three rivers have been cut through this bod, and the material thus removed has been heaped up in hillocks and beds of gravel, along the banks of the streams, on the side toward which the water now flows, which happens to be the north and north-east. Accordingly, along the course of the Albion Mines Railway and the lower parts of the Middle and Wewt Rivers, these gravel beds are everywhere exposed in the road-cuttings, and may in some places bo seen to rest on the boulder clay, showing that the cutting of these valleys was completed after the drift was produced. Similar instances of the connexion of gravel with conglomerate occur near Antigonish, and on the sides of the Cobequid Mountains, where some of the valleys have at their southern entrances immense tongues of gravel extending out into the plain, as if currents of enormous volume had swept through them from north to south. The stratified gravels do not, like the older drift, form a continuous sheet spreading over the surface. They occur in mounds and long ridgos, sometimes extending for miles over the country. One of the mObL remarkable of these ridges is the " Boar's Back," which runs along the west side of the Ilebert River in Cumberland. It is a narrow ridge, perhaps from ten to twenty feet in height, and cut across in several places by the channels of small brooks. The ground on either side appears low and flat. For eight miles it forms a natural road, rough indeed, but practicable, with care, to a carnage, the general direction being nearly north and south. What its extent or course may be beyond the points where the road enters on and leaves it, I do not know ; but it appears to extend from the base of the Cobequid Mountains to a ridge of sandstone that crosses the lower part of the Hebert River. It consists of gravel and sand, whether stratified or not I could not ascertain, with a few large boulder- stones. Another very singular ridge of this kind is that running along the west side of Clyde River in Shclburne county. This ridge is higher than that on Hebert River, but, like it, extends parallel to the river, and forms a natural road, improved by art in such a manner as to be a very tolerable highway. Along a great part of its course it is separated from the river by a low alluvial flat, and on the land side a swamp intervenes between it and the higher ground. These may serve aa illustrations of the " boars' backs " or " horse backs" and gravel ridges which occur lu many other places, and are sometimes accom- panied, and oval JuHt a "lo actioi frozen ae, t'le action above the fjcon form, t'le presc/i of the nat across iho ; "f" t'le aca-l OtJiera niaj f''o manner 'i'liat the act 'lie Jarge boi i» the ifll quadruped, e "ex ion with '■'I'labited our ""ly Iiavc bee I'lobably cxti existence of t ^eiy warm cli f'"'/ iiad fonr 'nicroecojiic c> probably the c probably brow.s >^oodcd region, measured twvnt ^ova Scotia the « thigh-bone, no fax, though app '"^''ea in Je„gt}, "'ere the only re, 'cation of the fi Jeen found in Ca, ^y his kind assist Paphs (Figs. 23 3'ganteus. Si «X«m, OF MMTOOON P«ni«'l, paiticulMly wh,„ „ ■ 8> Mil oval ,„ou,„|, ' „ ? "'°^ «ra crosMj 1„ „„i|i„. t . '"« «c«o,. of „,„ ^:,' /'•™»"°" "f '!.« older or lfo„H„ j,,. , f«=ro £ir ^^^^^^^ '"; *^?"S'> apparently somewhat i. ^^'''^'^'"^^ institute in jinli '"chcs in length. TliI, T ^7^ '^o™» measures three fp^f i mnteus, '^' Th« «Pec,es appears to be the mIIZ *Lyell, "Manual of Geology... u» *J i \l 84 THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD. Fig. 23. — Femur of Mastodon [reduced^. Fig. U,— Molar of Mastodon [reduced). In conclusion of this part of the subject, we may view the Drift period as the close of tlie great Tertiary era of geologists. In that era there was much dry land in the northern hemisphere, and multitudes of large animals now extinct inhabited it, apparently under a climate milder than at present. Great changes, however, took place in the relative positions of land and watei', inducing very important changes of climate, which finally became of an almost Arctic char- acter over all the present temperate regions. The greater part of northern Europe and Asia appear to have subsided beneath tho waters of the boulder-bearing semi-arctic ocean, until raised again by successive stages to be the abode of man and the animals of the modem earth. This final elevation, marked by the superficial gravels, appears to have fixed the present contour of the country, though the extinction of the mastodon and the phenomena of sub- merged forests show that important changes both in inorganic and organic nature have occurred subsequently. We have thus, in tracing back the geological history of Acadia observed first, certain modern formations now in progress, and depending wholly on the present condition of the country. We have seen in connexion with these, evid Mod show inliaiL emer^ reinaii its sui found 1 to tie i its surf than th "1 Chap foroiatio] some oti of the ea] 'Memoir oji ^ickard, J *^e action important i Adopting t «''d the nor 'or that of ^ost-pJiocen fost-plfoccu ^^m, Me,, , ., °^'"''^«^^ HEMARK8. evidences of subsidence of *i, , W emerged from Zi.' ''""' <'"i lia,lat« '^? "■>" ""net '•" «"rf«ce aid '«" ""'' «°« «ro driftl '"'' '' '""^ long fomd thau" la '■"'""« ""I PoIW,;„; ?;/«■"-« »f rock „ve? '(» »mfaco. Tl,:, ' ° , """<'> """l having ;„ ? ' "'' "I'°«'i "■« the cl„,e „ n,:"* !"»'°'7, howev 1. a,f T' ■"■«» ™ i" Chapter 11. ?' !,, ?T^ P«io ^"''ioftvfip y^'^^'o^^, a roc .'^J^'-own colour "nown as the as Q^^NKHAi, mrmnvTios. the bar wo ^ ^' I^awreiicp t .. "^'^' deposit waq ,•„ -^-eiVlL :;:^^^^^^ ^"^ ^e. ,;, t ^^^^'^^^ '.o.ever, i" '•'^'"^'•k here, tln^^ f l^ "" «" «'Je8 from fj.! ''"•^'^' ^"* ''« an ^'^•^"c.-ed ov r t ' , ' ^''"^ ««"d«tone tl olr"'"^"'- ' '"^X extensive Tn / ' ^^""^^ of North 7' ^'' P^^^^'^^s of it am extends a great dL''"^'' ""^'^^ «nother ban^ ^'^'^ ^^'ley of the *o geologists a. T ^"'■'' period are of n I , ^''■^ green or bhd-; ' ^'.^' ^'"^"'. ^^n^ist pX n ^""'^'^"'^^^ «f "«-■«, with iron at S""""''"^'' --Po-se- of'f -^ '^^ ^"^'^^, a •^'^t'ngin-shed .. ««^ounng matenal 1 ' ^""°' «»d mae- • ""!« col„,„„„ '"S ™ *= '«■«« scale a slronr,,' I "'"= "O'stalline "■I"l» in ll,e J^"'"' '" ""= »mygd„|eij ,,"""" °''"""' ''""»■ The " ""own e„,„„ J l"™!- <>' »andy appearance a„7„f ' ' ™'™n/o »"°^-'>e-fv*a„„„,c::;t;r,er's [^ " u 1^1 1 . 5 "■ »■ 1 < ■•r ^l-l -._p«. -*■.._. 88 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. a somewhat tough rock. Modern tufa, quite analogous to that of the trap, is very abundant in volcanic countries, and sometimes sufficiently hard to be quarried as a stone. As the new red sandstone and trap are formations of one period, and differ only in origin, it will be convenient to consider them together. I shall therefore proceed to describe these two rocks as they appear in connexion in different parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, and then notice their fossil remains and useful or interesting minerals. 1. Truro and South Side of Cobequid Bay. - In the valley of the Salmon River, four and a half miles eastward of the village of Truro, the eastern extremity of the New Red Sandstone is seen to rest unconformably on hard reddish brown sandstones and shales, belonging to the lower part of the Carboniferous system, and dipping N. 80° E. at an angle of 40°. At this place the overlying formation Is nearly horizontal, and consists of soft and rather coarse bright red slliclous sandstones. Southward of Truro, at the distance of less than a mile, the horizontal soft red sandstone is seen, in the banks of a brook, to run against hard brownish grits and shales, dipping to the eastward at angles varying from 45° to 50°. Westward of this place, the red sandstones extend in a narrow band, about a mile In width, to the mouth of the Shubenacadle, ten miles distant. This band Is bounded on the north by Cobequid Bay, and on the south by highly Inclined sandstone, shale, and limestone of the Lower Carboniferous series. In the coast-section, between Truro and the Shubenacadie, the red sandstone presents the same characters as at the former place, except that, near the Shubenacadie, some of the beds, which, like most of the red sandstones of Truro, have a calcareous cement, show a tendency to arrangement in large concretionary balls. West of the mouth of the Shubenacadie, the red sandstone ceases to form a continuous belt, but occurs in several patches, especially at Salter's Head, Barncote, and Walton. At the latter place, It is seen to rest on the edges of sandstones and other rocks of the Lower Carboniferous system, affording a very fine example of that unconform- ahk superposition which In geology proves the underlying formation to have been elevated and disturbed before the overlying beds were deposited upon it. This appearance Is represented in Fig. 25, and was thus described by the writer In a note supplementary to his paper on the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia, and communicated to the Geological Society in 1852 : — at TValtc that the rupted Ij mouth 0/ patches oi also I fou superposit good insta ^e&r t appears v-i( Siiubenacac ° •"Perpositio,, of L N„ r. f '-"""o™. *owi,f» H '"""^ f°"''» S"°«i instance of I, "°'' ™ «"> Lo vjt Ca f v ""°™''<'™«ble SImbenacadie r, • ", ""''""'«" oteorved ., vv J ''"" '■"""•"'on 1"»nied for e'xBol;""''"'"' » '"S" body "f ! "*'"' »"<' "" 'he '"« bet s„ J; "r, -'8bb„„,h„od tZiTr"' "f «M« rive,-, however .W ''° ""' "PP'"- SH 1 ne ' ."'° *'''<"• "-och ''""> «a, and ,h T' "°™'- "'e edges of7h„-l [ '° P""' ™ the •"P«ri".po. S „*o„ r' '"?"«" °f 'Ke ?Red a *"' '" '"« '-e y. became ,. g,ve,, dear eoneept,™ I ■!. I ! .1 ^ -i'-ii 90 THE TRIAS OK NEW RED SANDSTONE. w s ^ of the manner in which the New Rcil rests on the older Carboniferous beds, wherever it is in contact with them. 2. Blomidon to Briar Island. Westward of Walton, the estuary of the Avon Rivor and Minas Basin make a very wide gap in the New Red Sandstone. On the western side of Minas Basin, however, this formation attains its greatest width and grandest proportions ; and as this coast affords the finest opportunity in the province for studying all the members of the ^ formation and their mutual relations, I sliall describe it in detail Avith the aid of the section, Fig. 26. Blomidon is the eastern extremity of a long band of trappean rocks, forming an elevated ridge, named in the greater part of its length the " North Moun- tains." This ridge is about 123 miles in length, including two insular portions at its western extrem- ity, and does not exceed five miles in breadth, except near Cape Blomidon, whore a narrow promontory, terminating in Cape Split, extends to the northward. The trap of the North Mountains presents to the Bay of Fundy a range of liigh cliffs, and is bounded on the inland side by soft rod sandstones, which form a long valley separating the trappean rocks from another and more extensive hilly district occu- pied principally by metamorphic slates and granite. The trap has protected tlie softer sandstones from the waves and tides of the bay, and probably also from older denuding agents ; and where it terminates, the shore at once recedes to the southward, forming the western side of Minas Basin, and affording a cross section of the North Mountains and the valley of Cornwallis. At Cape Blomidon, the cliff, which in some parts is 100 feet iu height, is composed of red sandstone surmounted by trap. The sandstone is soft, arranged in beds of various degrees of coarseness, and is variegated by greenish bands and blotches. It contains veins of selenite and fibrous gypsum, the latter usually parallel to the containing beds, but sometimes crossing them obliquely. I found no fossils in it ; it dips to the north-west at an angle of 16°. Resting on the .sandstone, and appearing to dip Avith it to the north-west, is a thick bed of u VI I » '! I ( r ! H 1 > 1: •r i\\ I .^ lg| we^smmssssm amy gene tJicsc differ eapec in Jar some quartz amyg(i having Ti,o vertical of tho j fissured, stone in concoale stone hai offrnguu North V stone and the coJuiH *t'll prese hand, the occupy th Blomidon '" some pi; ^he coa Peroau Uiv ^o"t Islaru °^ about 15 ^'offiidon, e °^ small pe i '•» p"".™ 1 . Whir "T' " ~°'>' «" oxpot; 1,;'; ?°"7''«"™ <" 'rap, shows tliat tLT "' "' "'« M"' dust nnj frftg„,e«t8 "r , ' '"«°« "«"«lly efcct L '"P''«"«- The first f on«3 and a«he« til W ^^"'^ "^'"- '"'« »^otZ ^ n ^'^ '''« ^««° «* ^« "ced not bo '"'■'■'"'« ^^'""''Ji issnor^* ''"' '''««« ejected ^^'e Haters may tv„ "' "* ^^"•^"'J^". 'o i.",'" ^T''' «"7 '"ogula ^v««ting action o thoU " i'"^^" '" *''« i> f.t^ ' "^ ^"''^ '''«* «« occurring i,. t " °^' *''*'"' ^''^^t-sand tides T.'' ""'^ ""der the ^r'"d3 of slli a w t fV"" ^'"'^•- «"'■- or ^ ir""^'^ --^ioned "'"""•"a, limo, etc Ti '^''''"^ i'^''"^'' and tdl '~~f"'* '«' «^'"- 7''-^ percoWi g throu^,:;^ ''"'""^ ^>' ^i.e i;: ^'"^ «««'-, as fnmits them in fi" u?/'' ^'f ^''^J'. dissolves th s ". ? "" '^^«'e''» '■■-♦^^ '' t'n-ck series of .; ""/ '''''''''■ «elmv t ''""'«' "»d re- ^««'ted by wa r / ; ^^^redsandstone^-Z "'"^^^"^«'d, >-e ^^'««'e of the said' ^''"^"''^'^ '" ^reatT . I!'"''^ ^^^'^'tus de- -■•"-vhiehtrrv fr 7^^ ^'-bonEL's; /'^''^"'^ ^-" tTe ^'r^-d that «W P-'^^'-^^'^^^^-dejJtedC:-, ''" ^'^i'^""^ ^^'"■'''' occur in th ' h ! ^'"'^''"^ t'"o"gl. til . ''"'"' ^^'^^ had ,.^^'-hi«tor,ofl^^t;er^".^"'^^-"''^ned ^""* ^^^^--beds J^'-"i«.s.c era, thick beds oV 7"' ^'^ "'^" «bortly as foH Horton, Utst a. fl «^Sa»dstono were Wn ■ , '''"ows. !„ fi.^ > J"«c as the red ninrJ « i "eposited off n ® ^ olcanic phe„o„,ena on ' '""'^ «^ the flats 11 ' '°'*«*« ^f ^^"''^th the wate 2 " ^'"'"^ ^-^'^'^^ however T T ^'^^^^ted. "'•"""d in thick ed; nd " "" ''"^^ >^e- X: ' '^l^^^ ^-'b fron. r^"^'>' tbe whole i::t?'T*^^^" '-«--; Z";^ ^^^^^^ 'he ^«»'der-beanngTer J ," ''"^^'^' *« be agSs. " ^"^««- »1»eo«s agencies f/' ^^^ ^^^ich, and the nit V "'"'"^''^ ""der "'« -ork of 2; r^""-'--dwastedLn T' '"^'"^^P'^^^ and ■""^^es from its bo w^?^ ? ' ^^^ yearly t 11"^"^ ^-•'"- Still ''^ -e and the t des 'a^d "'' ^'"'" ^« the befc t '/""^ ^''"'"^"^e ^«'"s and meltin^sn' ""'^'^^^ttered over the bo^^ ' . ^' ''"'^^^^ by r-« of deiirn^r : r^ '-^^ ^^^^"zx:^- '-'- ^^« ""« "oblest of all on! ^, ' bowever, only add f '°"*- These '^'■^k woods the r '''"''^^- The dark fa jl ' '"^^"■ficence of ^"^ -- -facertt/Seri ^^-^-^'•^^^4^7;^^::^'- f ^'-ofbnghtredsandsto„f;r;n£ ;.' ■■ i# '.» M *l -- ■ t-trt M THE TRIAS OR NKW RED BANDBTUNE. I' and fresh, and contraBting strongly with tho trap above and with the treoH and biiAlicd timt Htnigglo down itri Hides, mid iiod over itM deep ravines,— coiiHtituteacombinntion of forrnHnndculourscqimllyHtriking if seen in the distance from the hills of Ilorton or the Hhore of Parrsboro', or more nearly from the sea or the stony beach at its base, lUoniidon is a scene never to be forgotten by a traveller who has wandered around its shores or clambered on its giddy precipices. From tho shore of Uloniidon, wo may follow the trap formation in a continuous ridge without a break to Annapolis Gut. On the south side, the trap slopes down in rounded and abrupt eminences into the red sandstone valley. On its summit it is somewhat level, though divided into a number of long rolling ridges, probably the effect of denuding agents on the edges of bcda of trap of uncfpial hardness. The bay shore presents to the sea a range of cliffs and precipices often overhanging or vertical, or rolled down into sliapeless heaps of rubbish by the frost and the undermining action of the waves. Hugo land- slips occur every 8j)riiig from these causes, covering acres of the shore with their ruins, and affording a rich harvest for the mineralogist who may visit the shore after one of these falls. The amount of debris annually thrown down and removed in this way is enorn i». The cliffs are usually composed of alternate layers of soft and luird trap and tufa, they are traversed by inni?merable fissures, and the general dip is seaward. In addition to these circumstances, the ice annually removes large quantities of fragments from ihe shore, so that a cliif does not long continue to be protected by the masses that have fallen from it. Hence the whole shore wastes rapidly, with the exception of those places where beds of hard basaltic trap run down to the sea level, and form inclined planes against wliicli the sea rages in vain. A very remarkable deviation from the ordinary regularity of the coast line of the trap occurs at Cape Split, which forms a prolongation of the Blomidon shore to the north-westward. The dip of the Blomidon basalt gradually brings it down to the sea-level, and toward Cape Split it either thickens, or portions which have retired from the cliff at Blomidon come forward into the shore precipices ; for toward the cape a cliff more than 300 feet in height seems to be composed of compact and columnar trap, which extends in a promontory and series of islands and reefs far out into the bay. The appearances at this place render it possible that a trappean dike or dikes, indicating the point or line of ejection of the great basaltic bed of Blomidon, may appear in these cliffs toward Cape Split. I have not, however, been able to study them so closely as to ascertain decisively whether this is the case. There seema no reason to doubt, at least, that the lino from of one of At tho f'om Blon wo find tl, on the red ho no doul the coast, t ridge. Annapoli, tnontory of This channo cmpfyu.g |„ witJi terrible fJ''veIopcd th, '"^'^''it, and , This circumst 1 spur of met currents of th, not been for t """J'J JTobabl ^^■■''"■"> probablj remarkable «„. »'i'"iitone near c^'icrotions of t ''k'i of the trai »''cre the proe ''"saltic trap ext I observed basal ''«'e a dike of ,„ "'e ciiti-ance of , aifl amygdalo.M "■"''c sheets of co "Vnhnjpt cliff 01 J"DigbyNeek J' ^l^ry'. Bay, a, JP northward to- "■ough only from ""e formiug the c 'yd the Bay c ;'""^«t level valley '"''' «J<^"g its bottc BtOMmoN TO D„UR ,a,^^„. I'no from the sijinmlt nf ni • i '° At the extrctnitv of H.n i '^*''^"'"* -« find , ,„ , „, f„, ™ ?l ' r "''° "•■ '^"""l«'li» Cul AmmpoJis Out is n dp i Th.s channel fonn, the only c^uU, '•"'""«"""" '^''^'-e formatL -Ptying into it. U i« of'^r 1; r^^^ , '"""''"/'^ "-i" and the Hve"; ;'th terrible rapidity. The tl t • '"' "'° ^''^^^ ^"«'' ^'"-ough t d-c oped than on the Graviir T. ''''• "■'" '' "^^ l-|ly J-^''t, and contains a larg n;!' ,/*/^''"'''^^- «'-tcr width li J «cn-cumatance,inconneL„Tv"tUlo '"^"''.* ""'^ ^"-'^''^ ^rap. « «Pur of metamorphic rocks on """-owing of the valley iy cnents of the Drift iJo.TjlT^' ''"« ^'-^"^'r cau«ed'the ""' been for these circ,an«t«nce' ? " ^'''''''' '^"'''^t- Had it T'^ Kobabl, have AoJ d ,« r^^'-^f ^''« Annapolis Itrvor f^'^'"; I'^bably the finest «heet of L! ^' ^ "^' ""'^ ^''« ^nnapolis remarkable and picturesque o .tl,L ' T' ^" ^''° Province, and its «-"l^tone near the townlf Cw' ^r'^ "?^ ^'-« existed. The Jeret.ons of trn.«parent cale f,^. " T"'^"'"' ^•^^^'' "^^ -"tai geof the trap, ^.u eannot be e i. t T^ ""^^^ ^'^ ««»thern 'ere the preeip:to., side of he " G :"'^ '" ^^"*- "^^ "'e ridge^ a^lfc trap extendMg downward to H '""'"'^ "^ ^«'"P«ct and ^I'^erved basalt with its p 11 .'Hh f ^^.^^^'''•^^-«'- I" one plae" - '^ dike of n^olten rock ;br„twTr V" -•'^-- thai entrance of the gut on the IZy^^^r ^"""'''- ^--^'^ «"d amygdaloid is seen in low c lift^ i ' " '""'* ^''^«'"e« low ''■'e sheets of compact trap rul d ! J . ^" "" '^^'^^^'^ ^^ ^^e hil' «"/ abjn,pt cliff or bank. ^ ''^ ""''^'•'^ '"^"^ the seu with scarcely J.' ^^^•^■•Kt;dt:::t:td^ - ^'-^ ^-^e fronting 'P "orthward toward tl^ Lv of F ^ f '''i ^"^^ ^•^«' "P^" i^a f -f only fron. two to thrfe L s rlth '''''■^^"^ i^'^-''^-;^ »e formnig the cliffy that fron S Ar ,^' '''"'''^*« «^ t>vo ridges 'J'^a'd the Bay of Pm dy ^hilo , "^ " ^■^^' ^"^-^ «tber sloping ,;-«t level valley, with t'v'er tie fr" !!"™ '« ' — « ' '^« a^ong its bottom. The ^ k^^^lfat tr' ^^^'^ ^^^^'^^^ - * t^'s valley appears to be amyg. I i. it " .J t M- .ill ii f m *1 lit fi 96 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. daloid, and it h probably owing to this circumstance that the valley has been scooped out, while the edges of the beds of more compact trap remain as ridges. This at least is the explanation which appears most probable from the structure of all parts of the ridge that I have visited, except the very singular and romantic spot named Sandy Cove. At this place a deep cove penetrates about one-fourth across the ridge from the south, between precipitous cliffs of trap resting on amygdalc'id, and apparently with a southerly dip ; or, at all events, without that decided dip to the north which prevails over the greater part of this trappean ridge. Opposite the southern cove, there is on the north side of the ridge a shallower cove, and between is a little lake, on either side of which rise lofty beetling cliffi of basaltic trap, which appear to be parts of a thick bed dipping to the northward. I have marked in my notes the query — Can tuis be a volcanic crater ? and I find that the same thought has occurred to otl^ir geologists who have visited the spot. It may have been so; but it is pe, naps more probable that the ridge has here been cracked across by a fissure caused by earthquake distuibances; and tliat the currents of the Boulder formation period have passed through and widened the chasm. Whatever the causes of its present appearance, Sandy Cove is more like something a poet or painter might dream of, than like an actual reality in our usually tame province of Nova Scotia. Though ihe trap ridge is very narrow at Digby Neck, it appears that this rock occupies a considerable breadth beneath the waters of the Bay of Fundy. I have already mentioned that the "Neck" consists of two ridges, with a valley between. Now under water there are three similar ridges, the outer being nine miles distant from the shore. They arc thus described by Mr Perley, in his Report on the Fisheries of Nev/ Brunswick ; and his statements Avcre corrobo- rated by information which I obtained from gentlemen resident on this coast : — " From Black Rock down to Briar Island, along the whole south shore, there are three fishing banks or ledges, lying parallel to the shore, outside each other; their respective distances from the coast have acquired for them the designations of the three-mile ledge — the five-mile ledge — and the nine-mile ledge. Between these ledges there are sixty fathoms of water, but on the c.own of each ledge, thirty fathoms only. The three-mile ledge, and the five-mile ledge, '^xtend quite down to Briar Island; but the nine-mile l'"'ge can only be traced down the bay about fourteen miles below Digby Gut, abreast of Trout Cove, where it ends in deep water. Below Digby Gut, the three-mile ledge and five-mile ledge are composed of hard gravel and red ch bottom is abon them tJi Thei jasper a jasper is also freqi as well a observed ancient ig of niodeni state of va This is pro JittJe crystii ''■om the si ''^■'■e lends ; f^'cus of ign "ot in suffici •At the ex ravine cut t geologically ; •'f'ait, which consist princi '"'ed with bi ''Ostalline zee The water tfirough it wit '^•cf^ds; the fi al'iindant on t abundance ofti supports the m f°'-«k, pollack. } ""'J Airnish a cc '"''«l^'t Long Is Wuckarel, T/,^,, ""^ Sturgeon, A "'"J in St Mary'i On reaching ^'■and Passage | ''''■'>'ng village'o ^<=ot'a in this dii^ !!, - r '*~^»«»«»»»»«.««WW.>M»|tj BLOMIDON TO BHTAR iSMNn. red clay J above th ^^ bottom, on which «„!.i^'' *^^ three-mile led^e ha«, « . u ^■« «bo, t a m Ip T' "''"^ frequently lost F«!k \7^^' "^^'^^ also frequenf T f """'^"" ? "mefhyst, stilbifo o,.^ ■'^'^'^ as wnli . ^'^^e collected all fLj ' ^""^ ^a"monite are ""«-« .Pri„.|p„„y of an^;^ ,„id T' "/'"■ "' I — ed ,h'' I'lied with brirfit ,,,..„„ 'f,"'™' <''" Mvitiea of „|,,VI, I, , ' ine water of PetUo v . "("".'lance 0^2, ^'"« "'"^ "^ ""^y c„„t , '"'' .""' "T «'l f.n,.ish , co,„f„„;w ri '-r '■"""« """ "I-""- L ' Mackarel, ?)ij„„„„ „„, -and. Jl;« great Albccoro or Kn" SO ■' 1 |i i 98 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. <3 fishing communities in the province. Briar Island is tlie extreme western end of the trappean ridge, which is, however, prolonged beyond the land in a submarine ledge. It consists entirely of basaltic trap, very regularly divided into columns, which may be seen both as a pavement on r any parts of the beach, and in lofty precipices which I'ise to their greatest height on the south west side of the island, where they form a perpendicular wall several hundred feet in height, and adorned with buttresses, outlying towers, and pinnacles, such as basaltic cliffs alone can puduce in their full perfection. I was so fortunate as to be detained several days at Briar Island by a south- west gale, and had the pleasure of seeing the Atlantic swell bursting in all its grandeur on these iron-bound shores (Fig. 27). Fig. ^1.— Basaltic Clip, West End of Briar Island. The red sandstone is stje.i to underlie the trap of Digby Neck for several miles below the head of St Mary's Bay, but beyond this I did not again observe it. Gesner states, however, that a small patch of it can be observed at low tide benoatli the trap of Briar Island. This interesting fact I had no opportunity of verifying, owing to tlic stormy state of the weather during my visit. TRURO 3. il Kecommi Sandston interriipti stone mec ^'"'nestone, I'oundary «"fi it occi under its e J^'ver it ex where an rrojeef? tli '"nestone v period, gy^ *»gJe to th( •'^'■^"nd then sfone and g believed to" «fter their ti "limber of s( fJiose of the geological po «ert Riv.r, o «'onestothos( ''ave been gro •It first sight readily lead sections into ai As the sectic i lC.|>f h:\i L .. ' ft- 99 CHAPTER VII. ""^ ^«^AS on KEW UEU SANDSTONE C r ^«^Ro TO CAPE n'oR .. ^0^E-^-'^««.,/. ^ OR— GENERAL REMARKS — M,vn RED SANDSTONE ANn trap! """ ™" '^'^^ «-»„..™„ , C'*'"^ ^"^ -^ ^-™ ^"^.-^ »«. Can,., hve been g™„j ,„„„ .„j ,1,™"' •■> *'= c^umslanee ,h,( ,C(Zt 100 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. 1 notes the following memoranda of the appearances. On the south side of the river, near the bridge, there are gray and brown shales, red sandstone, red grit, and conglomerate, with high dips and dis- turbed. These are evidently Lower Carboniferous, and quite different from the horizontal soft red sandstones which aj)pear lower down on the same bank. On the north side, at the end of the bridge, are dark red grit and conglomerate, grayish conglomerate, marly and shaly beds with gray calcareous concretions, and a vein of calcareous spar. They dip N.E. and N.N.E. 38°. The limestone and gypsum seen a little below the bridge are associated vith these beds, the whole being Lower Carboniferous, as indi. itcd by the fossils of the limestone. In the road-cutting, soft red sandstone and conglomerate overlie these beds, and though they have a steep false bedding, I believe they are New Red and unconformable. In the same road- cuttings, these upper beds are seen to be made up of the debris of the lower, with which they are confusedly intermixed at their confines, the ujiderlying marls in some places rising like veins into the sand- stone above. At Folly River the New Red is soft and fine grained, with greenish stains and layers, and has a very slight northerly dip. In the point opposite the village, sandstones, apparently tho continu- ation of the older formation seen at the bridge, dip to the N.E. at a very high angle. Within this islet of Lower Carboniferous rock, the New Red Sand- stone extends up the Folly River, which rr.ns into the same estuary with the De Bert, for about five miles. Its dip increases until it amounts to 50°, and the lowest beds rest against the disturbed Car- boniferous rocks which occupy the bed of the river between this place and the base of the Cobequid Mountains. Near their junction with the older rocks, the red sandstones become coarse and pebbly. Westward of Folly River, the belt of red sandstone gradually decreases in width, and begins to contain in its lower part thick beds of conglomerate, made up of pebbles derived from the older rocks to the northward. Near Portapique River, and somewhat removed from the coast, there is an eminence that I have not visited, but I was informed by a gentleman, very familiar with this part of the country, that it consists of trap. If so, this is the first appearance of that rock in this direction. The new road along the bank of Great Village River, between that village and the Acadian iron mine, exhibits an interesting section of this formation, consisting of red sandstones and red conglomerates with imperfectly rounded pebbles, and often with oblique or false bedding. They often rise into cliffs of considerable height, and have a IT Vili bon, E lyin^ const In th fts the distani south-i which >vJiich 1 tory CO ^estwai In Ge S'l'idston having h nearly 4(; GenisJi's tous cjfff, ^'■^« -TsJa/i ''>e trap. The isol, °^a con tin I *^'° chain ol opposite sk] 'evel shores ascends the '"■'" at the s ''"'h chain J» the shore *^'nas Basin "■"^'cd and ij «';t'> the Col f "'"''Jon and ^^'. ^«r grand "asin n„d the eastern coast ,, ^' ^^''I be se "''•'^^ great geo "^eryJiujitej 0/ se 'if I-' a ^ ''^"^^ ^o CAPE B'oR ^7Jng off the no.-nf "^'^ " detached ro.f ^onstquence ion -r*^''^'^ «f ^evv fled s'!,, f""'^ '^' ^rick Kiln^ -^•-^ "ear ^h' col JT f ""' ^'^^ -^ "nd.t 'ff ^^ ^« ^^^ south? «« ^''ey approach a S Jr /'^ '^^"^^-^''d at a To. ^^^^^'"^'•"^te . distance from fh„ u ^'''""^ ^^wer Carbon Y '"'^'e' ""dulate T''^--td;; ,:-• .behind the^x^::-^"'^^'-^- '«'-7 connected Tv th th ''"^^''^"^' '"^ ProblbW ^'- "' '''^'^ ^^^^ ^^estward. "'^^ ^^' «^ass of the Carbon V^''"' °' P''«'"°»- ^" Gerri^h's Mounta," • ^^'^«-ferous rocks to the sandstone and . "f*^'"' «'x miles west nr p Gomsh's Jf„ . »■" '*' WiM Point ll,„ , """■""ninence ^ The isolated ti-an on.' ^'^ ""'^^I'^Je ;-"^« the steep^ "0,7 '-^^ 0„s,o., and o ^ /r '^, ^^^^ *'- ^^'» '-^t the summit iWf\? "'''^'' Mountain thp J ''^'" ^^^ay -^^3^ chain of t"^ ^;' f f 7«t grand and It WkJ'T "''^'^ ^'^^^ °" the shore witl,i„ '"^■^' '"^'"i ti.e pret v i ?. ''''^^'^'•- The ^^f'-"- Basin stre , '?' ''^ '^^ ^>- ^eet. 'j t f * ^f -ttlement '^"SSod and picture^^ ' '" *''° ^^^stward ( '" "' "'" ^«ters of ^^'■th the Cobe "d r ''"^^l"^'-*" «''ore extending '"^ ^''-^"^ '« the f-;donand'^Cs^rr'"-.-"^ed b^rit^^^^ ^'^^^'^'^ S''^t for grandeur and 1 !'' '" '^'' ^istanee. J „ ^" *''^ «ther, «««tern coast of W, A "•"' "'" "«^ ^^'Passed' bv ^"'' "^ *^''"^« Jt will be seen on "'"'"' ^ '"^ ^''* "^^ the '^''' g'-eat geological 1'"'"^!'"^ the map, that at fl r- 102 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. I and the older metamorphic rocks may be studied, and specimens of their characteristic minerals obtained. Hence, at various times, this locality has had the rcput■ 3 m a ^ CD QQ o- !? w 3 » - 5, & go -O S o tr ? « I 2. J E o 5" 1^ " 3 R, » \:^>. •9* surface is seen to dip to the W.S.W., and is §■ •^ ^ conformably overlaid by red sandstones similar to those already described. These continue with various dips to a cove where there is a break in the section, westward of which the coast exhibits the interesting and complicated appearances which I have endeavoured to represent in Fig. 28. * These fossil plants will be described in treating of the Coal Measures. m i m w 104 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. PI The lower part of the cliff, on the western side of the cove above mentioned, consists of hard, black, and reddish shales and grits, like some of those seen near Moose liivcr, with a steep dip to the E.N.Pj. Resting on the edges of these are a few beds of red conglomerate and sandstone with greenish bands, dipping to the south-west, and appa- rently a remnant of more extensive beds. An enormous mass of trap conglomerate forms a high cliff towering above this little patch of sandstone, and is seen a little farther on to contain a wedge- shaped bed of red sandstone, and at its western extremity rests on red sandstone mixed with fragments of trap.* Here the trap con- glomerate seems to be cut off by a fault, and abuts against a great trappean mass, composed, in ascending order, of amygdaloidal trap, a wedge of red sandstone extending over part of the surface of the amygdaloid, a great bed of crystalline trap, and a bed of trap con- glomerate. The western side of this mass rests on an apparently denuded surface of soft red sandstones, with S. S.W. dip. These are overlaid by another trappean mass, consisting of beds which appear to dip conformably with the underlying sandstones. At its western side it abuts against greatly disturbed red sandstones succeeded by other red sandstones dipping to the southward, and extending as far as Swan Creek. On the west side of Swan Creek, the soft red and variegated sand- stones are seen to dip to the north at an angle of 30°, and are under- laid by a bed of trap conglomerate, which rests against disturbed strata of a composition different from any previously occurrinf^- in this section. They consist of laminated, compact, and breccia'.ed gray limestone, a bod of white gypsum, hard reddish purple and gray marls and sandstones, some of them with disseminated crystals of specular iron ore. I saw no fossils in these beds, but as they are identical in mineral character with some parts of the gypsifercus member of the Carboniferous group, and have evidently been disturbed and altered before the deposition of the overlying trap conglomerate and red sandstone, I have no doubt that they belong to the Carboniferous system, the sandstones and shales of which, with some trappean rocks, occupy the cliff between this place and Partridge Island, five and a half miles distant. The New Red Sandstone in the vicinity of Swan Creek appears to form a small synclinal trough, occupying an inden- tation in the Carboniferous rocks, and probably extending only a short distance westward of the mouth of the creek. The two islands near * This section was examined in 1846. When I revisited the place in 1850, tiie front of this mass of trap conglomerate had fallen, and formed a huge slope of fragments. Swa: red f and 1 bet\v( banfj, in tJic that s( discon Man section, coated imperfe of the ti the tisai neigh boi rhomboh At CJi Carbonifc ^bJy mucl a bed of turbed ]oi lava strear TJie tiaj section, is fi"aginents, together bj of trap wJii volcanic ori cemented bj Beyond C is occupied disturbed co; a small pate ^orination on The first o of trap restin .'^i^nti, it is CO ''erous sandst a shingle bene «"J slopes do' east, We see a .1 i ■" y- mVHO TO CAPE O'OR. Swan Creek are detachpH 105 that so^e of 1 " '^ '*'^ «*^'ke of t e for^ • ''''."^" ^'^ "^^^J/ Many beautt it';:" /r'"''-^^'"^"- ^^ ^"' '' '^'^ sections described ^p ""'''' minerals occur in the tr«n , ^ted with o, n , ' "'^'*'«'^« near Moose ir ^ "'''''" ^^ ^^i^ ne-f.! ' '^'''^"^. ^^'hite varieties of .„'?' Z^'^*^! ^^^'a'" cavities e in coated with onn 7 "''*^'''^« near Moose It ^ '''"'^ ^^ ^^i 7;■*e.;;^: s:tj"t' " ''^«^- - --sir:;? ■ °f lli» Lap arc li„ej „,•,, ™. '^''?" ""= ^"0 Islands "hofi " C«rto„,Te„„, rocbt™!''"'''*" "'^' "' ««" Creek ,h„ r gypsum, „i,|, '^'' «" •^■"Posed, i„cl„di bed, ofl' ! '^°"'' "tly much „ ,,„ "^ ^'"""' ">*» »f por„l,vrifl , '''^''"■^'"'■eand ..va.rea„:' ^^■^°"-»™ -"■ over ^.Z:t: ^L^ :: 'tea by a paste made up of finp, i ^ *'"^ ^««' and finaJlv Beyond Clarke's Head, the colt e J T'"^ ^""^ ^^ ^«^^«- !.r " l!W i 106 THE TRIAS OK NEW KED SANDSTONE. summit of tlio rock. By scrambling at low tide around the south side, wo find that this, like the basalt of Blomidon, is a thick irregular bed, and that amygdaloid and tufa succeed it in descending order. On the western side these last rocks occupy nearly the whole of the cliff, and may, when examined from a distance, be seen to consist of several beds distinguishable by different shades of colour. In some lights this difference is very perceptible. On this side the basaltic trap still appears, but it forms only a thin bed, capping the amygdaloid and tufa. Under all these beds, and in the north-west corner of the island, the sandstone peeps forth, dipping to the south-cast. The trap of Partridge Island contains a variety of interesting crys- tallized minerals. A honey-yellow variety of .stilbite, crystallized in fine sheaf-like aggregations of crystals, is especially abundant, forming veins running up the face of the cliff. IJeing one of the most acces- sible and easily explored portions of the formation, this place has been much ransacked by mineralogists and amateurs ; still large quantities of fine specimens may generally bo seen going to waste on its beach. Amethyst, agate, chabazite, heuhindite, apophyllite, and calc spar, may also be studied in some of their most beautiful forms at Partridge Island. The whole of these minerals have been introduced by the action of water, trickling through the numerous fissures of the porous amygdaloid and tufa, rocks which perhaps, more than any others, are fitted to yield to water thus permeating them the materials of crys- tallized silicious compounds. Westward of Partridge Island, vertical and contorted Carboniferous rocks occupy the shore as far as Cape Sharp, three miles distant. This promontory, which, like Partridge Island, presents a precipitous front to the bay, and slopes toward the land side, consists of trap resting on red sandstone. Here, however, trap conglomerate takes tiie place of the finer tufaceous matter seen at Partridge Island. It will be observed that though the red sandstone is not at these places seen very distinctly to rest on the Carboniferous rocks, the former underlies the trap at a gentle angle, and dips southwards, or from the latter, while these are contorted and disturbed in the most extreme manner, serving at least to confirm the evidence, noticed at other places, of the later date of the New Red. These contorted Carboniferous sandstones and shales must have formed a coast line, at the time when the red sand was washing in the sea, and the trap and scoriae being belched forth from submarine vents. Beyond Cape Sharjj, with the exception of the isolated mass of Spencer's Island, which I have not visited, we see nothing of the trap or red sandstone till we reach Cape d'Or, the last and noblest mass on TRURO TO CAPE d'oR. 107 tills coast. At Capo d'Or, as at the Five Island?, a great mass of trap rests on slightly inclined red sandstone, and this again on distnrbed Carboniferous rocks, while, behind and from beneath those last, still older slates rise into mountain ridges. Capo d'Or thus forms a great salient mass standing out into the bay, and separated from the old slate hills behind by a valley occupied by the red sandstone and Carboniferous shales. Cape d'Or differs from most of the trappean masses which have been described in the arrangement of its component parts. The upper part of the cliff consists of amygdaloid and tufa, often of a brownish colour, while beneath is a more compact trap, showing a tendency to a coUnnnar structure. The whole forms a toppling cliff, more shattered and unstable in its aspect than usual. Cape d'Or derives its name from the native copper wliich is found in masses, varying from several pounds in weight down to the most minute grains, in the veins and fissures which traverse the trap. It is sometimes wedged into these fissures, along with a hard brown jasper, or occupies the centre of narrow veins of quartz and calc spar. At first sight, these masses and grains of pure copper appear to have been molten into the fissures in which we find them. On more careful consideration of all the circumstances, and those of the associated minerals, it seems more probable that the metal has been deposited from an aqueous solution of some salt of copper, in a manner similar to that of the electrotype process. Why this should have occurred in trap rocks more especially does not appear very obvious; and, indeed, when we take a piece of native copper from Lake Superior or Cape d'Or, with the various calcareous and silicious minerals which accompany it, nothing can be more difficult than to account on chemical principles for these assemblages of substances, either by aqueous or igneous causes. Nature's chemistry is often thus inscrutable in its details, for the behaviour of substances, when brought into contact with each other in the bowels of the earth, is often very different from that which they display in the laboratory ; and, besides, nature's processes are not limited by time, and long continued chemical actions often produce effects which would hardly be inferred from experiments wliich are limited for their performance to hours or days. I have, in a paper on the cupriferous trap rocks of Maimanse in Lake Superior,* shown that the native copper of that locality must also be accounted for by aqueous causes. The copper of Cape d'Or is not likely to become of mining im- portance, as it does not appear in large quantity in any one portion of the mass, and this latter is itself not of very great extent. The * Canadian Naturalist, vol. ii. I , i; "■ Ft 1 1- \ ' I ? ;. . i, ddJi I 1 108 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. valuable dlscovcricfl, however, wliioh have been matlo on the ghorcs of Lake Superior luivc in lato years caiiHcd iiicrcartod iiiiportancc to bo attached to the appearance of copper in trap rocks, and perhaps this and other cupriferous localities in tlio trap of Nova Scotia may deserve a more careful exaniinatiou than tlioy have yet received.* The only remaining portion of tlie New lied Sandstone and Trap formation is the little insulated spot of Islo Haut, lying off Capo Chiegnecto. I have not landed on this island ; but, viewed from the sea, it appears to present nearly on all sides lofty cliffs of trap. 4. South Coast of New Brunswick. The following notices of tlio detached patches of Trias which occur on the south coast of New Urunswick, are taken fronj a contribution of Mr Matthew to Professor Uailey'a Report on Southern New Brunswick. Formerly, large areas of the Lower Carboniferous red sandstones of New Urunswick were regarded as Triassic, but on more careful examination it appears that this f(U'niation is limited to three small patches on the coast of the Bay of Fundy. It is probable, however, that these are but remnants of a more extensive area removed by denudation, or still beneath the waters of the bay, and perhaps continuous with the red sandstone district of tho counties of King's and Annapolis in Nova Scotia. The most important of these Triassic patches is that near Quaco Head, where the beds consist of soft red sandstones with layers of quartzose pebbles, and an overlying coarse conglomerate of a gr.iy colour. They rest unconformably on limestone and conglomerate of Lower Carbon- iferous age. A few fragments of fossil wood were found in them by Mr Matthew, and, though not well preserved, their structure is evi- dently tluit of coniferous or pine trees, and the cell walls show but one row of discs, — a character which belongs to the pines of the genera Pence and Pinites^ found in Mesozoic rocks, and not to tho older pine trees of the Coal formation. This fossil wood I regard as a valuable confirmation of the opinion that these red sandstones arc really Triassic, as such wood is not found in any older formation. At Quaco the beds dip N.N.E., at angles varying from 25° to 45°, and their thickness is estimated by Mr Matthew at 800 feet. They show much oblique lamination, and are probably not far from the original margin of the New Red Sandstone area in this direction. The oxide of manganese * Since the first edition of this work was published, explorations have been under- taken at Cape d'Or, and also on thfl opposite side of the bay, but as yet without profitable results. ornu and Ji in the >Vc patch charac congloi Kast area of beds (ii Quaco. These of the U in showi nssunied tlie Carb, flepositioi remarked, I'luidy an 5. Gen rt will h, t'le New R, ■ ^■'"■«- The Of the Hay of F,,,„,^ ' "^ "*''' ^Sandstone on the Now u «ssu„,e,l „ea,i ' , ''«l"-«««'on occpld bvT " ^"°^'«' ^ CHrbo^srsr;; 'r:"'- ""•' ''-v'^e ::;;{; ;r'V'^"^'^ fJ«Positio„ of thoV . "' ^'"" disturbed nn.I ) '" ^'"^^ '''«* ^^'"«Hced, Stroud. /"'"' ''^^^''' "^-'^^ «« M M t,""'^ '^"'""''^ ^'>e / «'e r, ,a««,c rather than Pennia^, ^«"d«to„08 of the Bay of have doneTo bta "'"'""^ ^''^^ ^^ thoi^^^.^'^" *"'*« relations ^^- of thirvotxr to'""^' ^--••'/ei f^^^^^^^ r '"• . ^ Scotia and New liru ■ , '''"'''^'' ^^riters on th. ° P''^^'«e gyP«u,n.softhe Cad""^;"^ "•^'^^^'-t-' it with th If T ^^ ^«-« ^«'' ; " and w " """"^ P^'-'od. «'kJ dese I !, ^""'J^tones and g-ea bed ri ""' ""*'"' "'« ^^st visi of g r , "^ "^^^-^ "« "New ;:7^ni-d as LoC Srb „Tf """■■^'^'^ «-dston 3 and "aT""^^'«' ^•^''«fJ his results .,, ' ^°"'^*^'-ohs. Even after Si,- r, ,^^^' '^^''e «^«-r, thoug bot T ''"■' ''""^^-^ from boh'^^'T^^dpub- ««'vcs, and ad!nitted h n,' ^''^'^'^'^ ^-i^^^qZuUy\ '■ ^'^^" ""^ ^-iiisweTerc:::: t ''''-' -Znen ;^;^«"--e„ 'heie were r^nii ''^^''''""'ferous. It then h./ ^^'oni'don and •« ^«<»™s. S;„T„;t' °' !"■» ^"-°c;t^:T:„\r''°" "'"*" ••"Mlion of ,hrrd ,' T. ""■'""• ""''"■'Ok, in 84« '"■°'""'='' ""<" " "" """■■=" » «.= ftolTdt^f ;?• "7- .*. 6» oi tue Geological m 1 i ^'^ i I i } ■- ! » 110 THE TRUB OR NEW RED EANDSTONE. Society of London.* In this paper, tlic relations of tlio New Red to the older formations in this province wore for tlie first time accurately defined, by ascertaining its structur<', and its actual superposition on Carboniferous strata, in the cliffs on lue north side of Cobequid Bay and Minas IJasin, and applying the Jrcts thus obtpined to tlio larger area of New Red on the south side of liie Day, in the manner indicated by the following quotation ; — •' It appears from the facts above stated, that the red sandstones of Cornwallis and Horton, though not seen in contact with the Carbon- iferous rocks, extend parallel to their disturbed strata with uniform north-west dips, and passing beyond them with the same dip, rest unconformably on the older slaty scries. This arrangement, I think, satisfactorily proves that these red sandstones and the overlying trap i.re really newer than the Carboniferous shales of Horton, and uncon- formable to them." " Eastward of the estunvy of the Avon, the country as far as the Shubcnacadie River is occupied by a deposit of reddish, gray, and purple sandstones and marls, with large bed*" of gypsum and limestones abounding in marine shells. Tliis gypsiferous series is much fractured and disturbed, and is in many places associated with dark shales con- taining fossil plants, like tlioso of Horton Bluff, and thin seams of coal. This association of the gypsiferous series with dark fossilifcrous shales occurs at Halfway River, where coarse brown and gray sandstones, with imperfect casts of fossil tninks of trees, and a thick bed of anhy- drite and common gypsum, rest conformably on the continuation of the dark beds of Horton Bluff. The carboniferous date of this gyp- siferous series has been fully established by Mr (now Sir Charles) Lyell ; and though it contains red sandstones with veins of gypsum like those of Blomidon, these never extend to so great a thickness as that of the Cornwallis sandstones, Avithout alternating with fossilifcrous shales or limestones, or with beds of gypsum. For this reason, in connexion with the undisturbed condition of the Cornwallis sand- stones, their apparent unconformability to the Carboniferous shales of Horton, and their identity in mineral character and association with trappean rocks, with the red sandstones of Swan Creek and Five Islands, I have no hesitation in separating them from the gypsiferous series and including them in the New Red Sandstone formation." From the same paper, I quote the following general statements as to the age and mode t ' formation of the New Red Sandstone and Trap, as affording in the most condensed form the conclusions at which T had then arrived : — • Journal of Geological Society, iv. p. 50. "I , sandstoi Scotia, occur in of the G ^■fty sai Prince I posed of character in their k »ot unlik( however, Prince Ed *lie JVew J United Sta same ago \ ft'om the w it must be "The re posited In a ^'le southen: wider. Thi Sihirlan stra| derived fi-or iiaccous natii •iPter of thcs( 'Jt^'cn traverse 'j'ly, which M accumulation amount of hm stone was doj somewhat sii "'e materials , '^'^y deficiency "The volca •"•I'-gin of the "tJ'e features Quantities of : nacoous beds . ''as overflowed, f^eatly modlfie "•"pcclally the ^■V*|i 1 T 1 ■,; ' I i \l- ■ V ' GENERAL REMARKS. Ill " T am not ..ware tliat any rocks equivalent in age to the red sandstones wliich have been described occur in any other part of Nova Scotia. Red sandstones, not unlike those of Cornwallis and Truro, occur in some parts of the newer Coal formation, as seen on the shores of the Gulf of St Lawrence ; but they alternate with beds of shale and gray sandstone, containing fossil plants of carboniferous species. Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, is chiefly com- posed of soft red sandstones, little disturbed, and similar in mineral character to the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia ; but they contain in their lower part silicificd wood and other vegetable fossils, which are not unlike some of those found in the newer Coal formation. It is, however, probable that the greater part of these red sandstones of Prince Edward Island are post-carboniferous. It is also probable that the New Red Sandstone of Connecticut, and some other parts of the United States, which is believed to be a Triassic depoiiit, may be of the same age with the formation above described. At present, however, from the want of fossils in the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia, it must be regarded as a post-carboniferous deposit of uncertain age. " The red sandstones noAV described appear to have been de- posited in an arm of the sea, somewhat resembling in its general form the southern part of the jirescnt Bay of Fundy, but rather longer and wider. This ancient bay was bounded by disturbed Carboniferous and Sihu-ian strata ; and the detritus which it received was probably chiefly derived from the softer strata of the Carboniferous system. The are- naceous nature of the New Red Sandstone, as compared with the char- acter of these older deposits, indicates that the ancient bay must have been traversed by currents, probably tidal like those of the modern bay, which washed away the argillaceous matter so as to prevent the accumulation of muddy sediment. When we consider the large amount of land in the vicinity of the waters in which the New Red Sand- stone was deposited, the deficiency of organic remains in its beds is somewhat surprising, tliough this is perhaps to be attributed rather to the materials of the deposit and the mode of its accumidatinn, than to iiny deficiency of vegetable or animal life at the period in question. " The volcanic action which manifested itself in the bed and on the margin of the bay of the New Red Sandstone is one of the most remark- able features of the period. It has brought to the surface great quantities of melted rock, without distu"bing or altering the soft are- naceous beds through which it has been poured, and whose surface it lias overflowed. The masses thus accumulated on the surface have .CTeatly modified the features of the districts in which they occur ; especially the great ridge extending westward from Ca^)e Bloraidon. s *v '11 i 112 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. It is worthy of note, that this ridge, probably marking the site of a lino of vents of the New Red Sandstone period, and occurring in a depression between two ancient hilly districts, so nearly coincides in direction with these older lines of disturbance. The trap rocks asso- ciated with the New Red Sandstone do not precisely coincide in mineral character with any that I have observed in other parts of Nova Scotia, though it is possible that some of the igneous rocks which have pene- trated and disturbed the Carboniferous rocks of various parts of this province may belong to the New Red Sandstone period, or are of a date not long anterior to it." The red sandstone formation affords fine loamy friable soils, especially adapted to the culture of fruit and of the potato. Tiie red sandstone valleys of Annapolis and King's arc celebrated for their apple orchards, which furnish large quantities of excellent fruit for exportation to the other parts of the colonies, and even to the United States and Great Britain. The same districts are well adapted to the growth of Indian corn, large quantities of which are annually pro- duced; and in those years in which the potato has failed over nearly the whole of America, it has remained uninjured in the red sandy loams of Cornwallis, the farmers of which have in consequence realized large sums by supplying the markets of the New England states. The calcareous matter which serves as a cement to the sandstone, and the alkalis derived from the fragments of trap which have been scattered through the soil in the Drift period, add much to the fertility of these districts. The agricultural capabilities of the trap are very different from those of the red sandstone. The soil, formed of decomposed trap, is very rich in the mineral ingredients most necessary to cultivated plants. It produces in its natural state a most luxuriant growth of timber, and yields excellent crops when recently reclaimed from the forest; but, perhaps from its porous and permeable texture, it is said not long to retain its fertility. I fefvr, however, that very bad methods of farming have generally been applied to it. The situation and exposure of the trap are singularly ditferent from those of its con- temporary the red sandstone. The latter usually appears in low and sheltered valleys. The trap, on the other hand, forms steep acclivi- ties and high table-lands, exposed to the full force of the storms and changes of an extreme and variable climate ; while its ranges of rugged cliffs, with their cascades, their terrible landslips, and the wild beating of the winds and waves upon their bare fronts, present nature in an aspect altogether different from that which she wears in the quiet valleys of the red sandstone. These differences are, even in this new CO of the i The r •■epositor foliated a tains thi, Cpr/uval],- "'■e, a mi however, , sandstone ^'iilding-st ^''■G-pJaecs , 'J'^ie trap known to I ci-JstaJJized «"cl the Jo,; '■«i''d waste ^"^'ector in a much interesi ''«s become ; fie speciinens 8P«G'es that J '*''"'ch I have ""ost product! "'■e mentioned ''••»^'e devoted '"^y remark, ] «I".ost all part5 '«nJ-sJip8 have ^%netic Iron ^ JVortJi U Specular Iron ^^tive Copper- I'eter's V ^'•«y Sulphuret Copper, a Cape d'Or ««arte^ccurs i MraGRAW OP Tire. »,„ ™' "^^ «ED SANDSTONE A»n "« C0„„„3,, „„, „,.„_ . "»■> TRAP. „3 ^«"i8 thin banr?« °^'^"'"- J'l some parts of ic; , \:"'^" ^^1113 of ConnvalJi. ii^£ f ,17"- i-ostonef llV ,f :^« ^-"fr it eon- however, of ton 1 , ""'''''^ '»t Quaco r ^ "^ '"a.iganese «andston t ;' ""'^^ ^ ,'--'o».s to bo of 1 ,; '^T^'^l--^^ are, «l.icl. r have 'J' ° '■"'=''■ ""I' '■"'■".•clJt r?'"'""'""'"' "■»»t prod" ,■*„";"' '" "'>- "Wne,, „„J ,^ „■ ° '« ?«"'ies from y remark, l,„„evcr ,1 7 . """"' '"'""'iful prod^w ' "'"' »lniostall„,rt.„r., ' ""torost ni; soecim.„ ''"""""loni. J ^^''9netic Iron Ore~.\nnn, ^ . ™"'».gre«, varies „fb,„„,,^ "'"18, among which i r I ! i / Ik r r» ! 114 THE TKIAS OK NEW KED SANDSTONE. are Ametliyst and Transparent Quartz in six-sided pyramids, Agate, Chalcedony, rarnelian, and Jasper. The best localities for these minerals are Blomidon, Scott's Bay, Digby Neck, and Partridge Island. A fine variety of Moss Agate occurs at the Two Islands, and a sort of Quartz Sinter in imperfect crystals and beautiful coralloidal forms in the neighbouring promontory of M'Kay's Head. Large quantities of fine Agates and Jaspers, applicable to ornamental purposes, may be found at Cape Blomidon and Digby Neck ; and the Amethyst of the same localities is sometimes in sufficiently large crystals to admit of being cut for ring-stones, seals, etc. Opal — occurs at a few localities, in the plain variety of semi-opal ; and very frequently, in the form of white chalky Cacholong, forms the basis of fine crystallizations of amethyst, having lined the cavities of the trap before the latter was deposited. Heulandite — Hydrous Silicate of Alumina and Lime, in fine rhombic prisms, colourless and light flesh colour, at Blomidon, Black Rock, Partridge Island, etc. Minute yellow crystals are found at Two Islands. Stilbite — Hydrous Silicate of Alumina, Lime and Soda, or Potash, in radiated and sheaf-like aggregations of crystals of honey- yellow and brown colours, at Partridge Island, Sandy Cove, Blomidon, Black Rock, etc. Fine groups of white crystals are found at Black Rock in King's County and its vicinity. Mesotype. — The variety or species NatroliU; the Hydrous Silicate of Alumina and Soda, is found in small prismatic crystals and in radiated masses of crystals, at Blomidon, Two Islands, M'Kay's Head, Scott's Bay, etc. The variety Scolecite, or Hydrous Silicate of Alumina and Lime, is found at the same localities, also in radiating and prismatic forms. The variety Mesolite, or lime and soda Mesotype, is also found at various localities. Laumonite — Hydrous Silicate of Alumina and Lime, in whitish and light red prismatic crystals, at Peter's Point, Black Rock, Sandy Cove, etc. This mineral, very beautiful when freshly taken from the rock, loses water and becomes opaque and brittle when exposed to air and light. I have found that tliis change takes place very rapidly when the specimens are exposed to sunlight, and is much retarded by keeping them in darkness. Immersion in gum-water is also a preventive. Chabazlte — Hydrous Silicate of Alumina, Lime, Soda, and Potash. The flesh red, brownish red, purplish red, and yellowish red ■^nal( at Thom. so, J J ^''ehnif.e. bj ^Pophylii nil Wj at and ' coJI and ^"Icareons erys( impe Ishxn . '^0 the abo fJiscovei-od h as occurring" "oticed Gyroi and has desci ''•om the Trap * m\h t Ibid, t Ed. I MiNKKAL8 oi. TUB Nkw „.n « ^^omsonite—lJv^J c.... ^ ^'*'«'^> etc. **' ^iornidon, -','^a' Donate of T im„ • ^ "''*<^ mst tution fo the above list r ,« , , ^'•scoverod by P Jf rf'^ ''^'^ ^'^''oel^te, a mineral a,,' . «s occurring ^at P J '^^ ^'''^ «eorie and .! "^ *^ ^^^^^cfte, Silliman's Journal V vhich drift J"'ce been ind "^ another of ^onipressed to Sliming coal, c( These beds i TRXAa OP P„,,eE .z,w.HD IS.ANO tf'e by-road to OnvelJ or r«n t, "^ -d colour, and asZZ a "7' T"""^' "^'«" *'- -il loses its . • . P««'tion, indicating to tl ^T'^' *'"*' «"^ '"ore a Ji I ! ^"^''* position of thfl r , , geological traveller « .^ '"^'"^«eo»s com. "I ine rocks Lenoafli n "^^"<'' « chanee in fho «„ from beneath tJ os '. T' ""^ ^^er rocks ann? ^ "'""^ ^^'« coarse textnrp '" '•'^^'•' ^'^^d and brown sanrw"^ ""^^ tJ^ose -ter-wo:;? ; ^^'y-' -^ t-'^ ^^^t'-ti; t"; f ;-' P-Jeetin^ containing. e'„ /u ""^^^ *^'^«« «Ppear iJ- 1 ^''^ ^^^'^s in a fossil plant. V, ' ^'''•^ contains a n, ., .^ ^'''' '"^^'^s in «t.-ata i a bed oV" '"^'^'•''^^' ^^'''te of pros rv."' ''/'•'''^'"-t« of *'"ck"css consist f' of '""' ^''"''^^'^ ^ve ti„d S 7'''' '^'"'^^"^ or fossils n f ^''•''^ *^"J brown clnv ^^ considerable v-iou ; J ,^7^'^ ^^-- --c .several l^^^T'^^y -t'-ut coa J''ive been n«,.f m , *'"" ""''Sinixl wood 'n "^ '"'croscope, petriflr„r ^^"^' ^°<^omposed before thew''' ''''' «PP°«r to J "ewest portions of the ihl if '( ! ■r.rUTT* « r - '* »*r U-JLK 118 THE TRIAS OR NEW REb SANDSTONE. Coal Formation, which in some particulars they closely resemble, or to the lower part of the New Red Sandstone ; and in either case the sandstones of the greater part of Prince Edward Island will be New Red. Unfortunately I could not observe whether the latter are superimposed conformably or unconformably on the lower beds, and the fossils are hardly sufficiently well characterized to indicate to which epocli they belong. With the view of obtaining from them all the information they are capable of affording, I have examined the fossil wood of this locality, and some specimens found lying loose on the surface at Des Sables and other places in the island, with the following results : — Thin slices of the specimens from Orwell Point show under the microscope in the transverse direction a dense tissue of quadrangular cells, arranged in rows, with numerous but narrow medullary rays. Longitudinal slices in the direction of the medullary rays show elongated parallel cells, with traces of hexagonal discs on the walls of the cells, there being two or more rows of discs in each cell, though these structures are not very distinct. These characters are those of coniferous wood (that of the pine tribe), and of that particular type of coniferous trees which appears in the northern hemisphere only in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks. The specimens from other parts of Prince Edward Island show similar structures, some of them even more distinctly. In so far as I can make it out, the structure is that of the genus Dadoxylon^ and approaches to that of D. materiarium, the most common fossil pine of the Upper Coal Formation in Nova Scotia. The evidence of this fossil wood thus tends to indicate an older geological period than that of the New Red Sandstone, — assuming the latter to be of Triassic age, — and would give some countenance to the belief t'lat ttiese beds of the south coast of Prince Edward Island at Des Sables and Gallows Point, if not Permian, may represent the upper beds of the Newer Coal Formation, to which, as they appear in Eastern Nova Scotia, these rocks bear considerable resemblance. The beds of the Newer Coal Formation in Eastern Nova Scotia are usually only slightly inclined, and are arranged in flat synclinals and anticlinals. It is quite possible that one of the latter crossing the strait may appear rising from under the New Red Sandstone. This view, if established, would be of importance in answering the question whether coal is likely to be found in Prince Edward Island, a question to which we may return in the sequel. Whatever the age of these beds, they are probably the oldest known in the island, and the red sandstones resting on them may be assumed to be Triassic. REPTILIAN REMAINS. A very interesting fossil ^u- r ^^^ fc ueen known as the peculiar '< „ T' ^'' "' consequence 1 he specnncn was fo„nd bt Vr n f ""^ '"'^I^'''^^-" »a of l.-i/Z „"■'"* "'» f'llownK doscriw' f: "'""" """"^ — " >-ujg o/^aw 0/ R„,j, tt; W Cross .ec«o„ of «eoo„, Tooth, „at..,e. W Fifth Tooth, nat. size. "TU . ^"^ """ ^ooth, nat. size ^he specimen consists nf .1, i I -.. . .m •^m^^^^fmrnmimimm ISO THE TRIAS OR NEW RED BANDSTONE. imbeddod in it.* Tlic fossil has seven kvgo tcetli protruding beyond the nlvcolar margin of the jaw; and it is liard, brittle, and prcam- colourcd, and stands out in beautiful relief from its dark-red matrix. The jaw indicates a lacertian reptile, and, in comparison with that of other known extinct and recent genera, is remarkable for its great depth in relation to its length. "The depth of the dental bone is five inches, whilst its length in the perfect condition apj \r8 not to have exceeded seven and a quarter inches: for in the specimen the middle part of the posterior border is so thin and scale-like, that I am disposed to think it here came in contact with the supra-angular and other neighbouring bones. "The teeth, in their relation to the dental bone, are placed on the inner side, and rest against the alveolar border, which rises in a parapet external to them. Whetiier this parapet is supported by abutments between the teeth, as in Afegalosaiiriis, I cannot clearly as- certain, from the inner side of the jaw being so closely adherent to the matrix. The dental bone, if it be considered complete in its length in the specimen, is capable of containing a series of twelve teeth. "As the teeth were worn awa;' or broken off, they were replaced by others produced at their inner side, as is indicated in the specimen by a,young tooth, which is situated internal to, and is concealed by, the largest mature tooth. Tlie enamelled crowns of the fully pro- truded teeth are exserted at their base for several lines above the alveolar border of the jaw. They are compressed, conoidal, and recurved ; but compared with those of Megalosaurus they are not so broad, compressed, nor recurved, and they are more convex externally, and are less so intei'ually. They resemble much in form those of the recent Monitor omatus, but are less convex internally. The anterior and posterior acute margins of the crowns are minutely crenulated ; and the crenulations commence just below the tip, and descend as far as the enamelled base." Dr Leidy then proceeds to describe the teeth minutely, remarking that the first in the series is narrow, and not crenulated, and that it is separated from the second by a space sufficiently large to have held another tooth. " The second tooth seen in the figure is the largest and longest of the series ; and its enamelled crown, when perfect, was about an inch and three quarters long by seven lines in breadth at the base. Its fang can be seen in the wide fissure of the jaw, descending two inches from the alveolar border; and, being broken, it is observed to be hollow as far as the enamelled crown." The third tooth has not fully protruded, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth, have nearly the * Theae are probably concretions, — J. W. D. 8an insi two toot and an ii thus, side often unifoi Fn lengtl aiiima inferos in the found 1 Joel Y. name oi Tl,e , sea, anc New Lo scatterec 8J>i'ead o which Ji, and habi embeddcf tliey belo it is diffi( teariiig as teeth. T indicate a animals, p Wading bii as the Nei which, like '•ave elon^', pJ'ey; thos( 'lave conipj creature wa on land or t^'e remains "movement tBk, REPTILIAN BErfATNS. some size and f ^^' ;n.stn„„o„,s, witi/ra;;;;;!/;:, 1';'^'''^ t''""* p'^^'^'"^ «"•• cutti,.. ;-n the fourth and fiftl/L 1 S' T' •^'^"- '^''^ «I- *««/., and that between the Lh T "" *" ''""*•'"■" «"° «' Jitional '^"d has in it a yonng toot f, t "' •'"''""^'' '« ^''^-^nt for two an »mj)i-e88ion of an ei,,!... / ? "i'P'^"'-"'ff "bovc the iaw Tl ■ "'"•^^ when pe..fee:;S ^ ' °" ''' '""^'•- '^'^ ^Mo jlw 1" often broken and arc rcn wed s 1 a •' T'/'"^'°'*""' *''« t««th are un.fi.nn or eo,nj,leto. ' " '''"' '" "^^'t animals they are never 'en.;r:!: Cf Z;:r ^^ ^^ <^-a, bone relatively to it. -•'--ti to whieh it belong Z;r'7' ?^ I-i^l/ Las nan.ed t « " the Now lied Sandstone .f C'r^ ''-"''"''y ^' «-''--^ bo„ « f«""cl near IJossac's Creelc , , f!', ^'"«'-'«'^; the first being those ^-J >'• Shelloy, and des b« Vvtv' -"rr' P^""«>"vania,'by r r''P'^''-''^'""I""l^^^^ ^-n '^'•ifted by the New London. JVobably its bono " r. ?"'^ ^''^ ^^^^ sandstone of ^2^^under t^/a '^ ^m ^t^f ^^ ^^'^^ .,.^- T'"^ «'zo of the teeth and fl.„ i ''""'l' and serrated 'n^l'cate an amount of pot; si ! f f "^f '^"^ '''^Pth ofthejW ^"■rnals, perhaps fishes, smi ler fn : ' '''' '^■^*'-"^''«" «f 1 r.^' wa.n birds all of which i:^^ 'tr'^^" ^^"'"-^^ -^ ^■'^-^1 «s the New Red period. Amont li ' '-^'^'^^ "« ^" back -'-!>, like the crocodile, are rXr^r""?""'^ '•^^'*''-' ^^o - have elongated snouts to enable'lem fhi " '^'' '" ^''-■■- -cements, prey; those which, like the serpe ! n ' '''">' *" ««««••« thei; have comparatively ^hort jaws t?" "'"l'''''' "^''•^"'^ '•"P-'dity ^rcatu.-e was furnished wit^r^eans of '"'"^ ""'"" '"^^^- ^^at t hS n land or water. It could sp i" ;'l7 'T' »— nt, either t^^e remams of its extremities, we could d. ""•''' ^"'^' ^^ ^'« ''ad movement were, and whethe; the sea or ^'rV^'^^'^'^ "^^"^^ or the land was its sphere of ^8 |:w ,:itj I ;' •p. '■ -vr- P \ I V l-il'i 123 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. activity. Without thoBO nothing very certain can bo determined on those Bubjccts. The apparent thinness and density of the bone, however, and its widtii of surface, convey the impression tlmt it was intended to combine great strength with great lightness, and therefore that it belonged to a creature of terrestrial habits. Probably con- siderations of this kind, though he does not state his reasons, induced Dr Leidy to hazard the conjecture, " Was this animal probably not one of the bipeds which made the so-called bird-tracks of the New Red Sandstone of the valley of the Connecticut? " This conjecture of an eminent anatomist, itself shows how singular and anomalous among reptiles is this fossil fragment. Had this fossil been specifically Identical with any reptile whose remains have been found in other countries the age of whose rocks has been determined, it might iiave given conclusive evidence as to the true geological age of the red sandstones of New London. It is, however, a new species of a new genus, quite distinct therefore from any species found elsewhere. Still it gives some important testimony. It belongs to a group of large and highly organized carnivorous reptiles now extinct, and which occupied in the Secondary period of geology a place afterwards taken by the carnivorous mammalia. No reptiles of equal grandeur and perfection have existed since the beginning of the Tertiary period ; and so '"ar as we know, none were created before the very close of the Pala;ozoic period. Between these eras, therefore, Ave may i)lace our fossil ; but this gives a very wide range. There is, however, a difference oi fades or general appearance between t' - reptiles of different parts of this long reptilian dynasty, which enables us to distinguish between them, just as an antiquary might distinguish a coat of armour of the time of John of Gaunt from one of the time of Henry the Seventh. Now, as already hinted, the reptile in question appears to have most nearly resembled the Theco- dontosaurus and Palceosauriis^ reptiles of the Triassic system of England, than any other known animals ; hence it confirms the view generally adopted on other grounds, that this is the age of the Prince Edward Island New Red, and its corresponding formation in Nova Scotia. At the time when the first edition of this work was published, it was held by British geologists that the dolomitic conglomerates of Bristol, in which the remains of the two saurians above named are found, belonged to the Permian period; and I stated accordingly that the affinities of Bathygnathus seemed to be with reptiles of that period. More lately, however, the officers of the Geological Survey of Great Britain have satisfied themselves that the beds in question belong to the Trias. Ml T any sevc of CO evor^ Print lower valua the i.s, of a .V occ Ill- spot w accord! rock, age of the Nev The, Island J believe promote h may I Edward the Coal measures »3ao Istone tive coal f probable Jsland are boring ope he very dif side the wj through, pr reaching evi places on th »s above stf «ctually croi chances wou of Pictou, w 'n thickness, upper mem be we have as y The questi :::::!- - - -- ^«^-.... ,^''«-l -..stone of PWneeE, ,"'"'«'-»• 123 -:5Xr ^ v---^^^^^ -::;: t ^-^ - --- «f copper", j\/"'""''^»«' «I'P«rent y o „' T '' '" ''"'" ^'^^^ i" '«-- provliit";/ ?"^"^ tho finest «Je"Lrr ' ," '"'^ ^^"^'^^ v«l.i«b e »„•„. ^^r.'^f "'="«" which well on i '/''''■'•'*« '" ^he Of a survey uml -Tt 1^""'°"' '''=''"" ; but DvC ^ '.•^^"'•«'o»s i,. oecurrei,ee of ?' ^''' ^''« I'rovinc'ial fV^ "'"' '" '''« '•«Port «Pot wh c'h I ll:''""' "•"- - dike oft:! o";;;;''"?;'^' -"ention/tho according,; e::::r/->^' i" HielunonVL t"' t"!' "" '^'^'"'^^ ••ock. This fii; f '"/''° """^^ ^'t'' the Z' '''"'''' r ''"vo age of tl.„ f ' ^'"'"S'' "ot of any i"^ "* «PPropriato to that f«Ja"J has Za/s t '"'f ° ^^^-'-"^e of coal in P • believe that „ '" ""^ '""c'' interest L \ ^"""'^ ^dwanl r-totinUrarlr-^''"^^^^^^^^^^ ""' ' •t 'nay be .f.,L • ""^ "•"'C'"aJ fuel r„ „ ^ ^cg'«lature to ■Sa.Mstone bet^o " ^"'""^- ^n the o't her h "i t' '''' '''^^ t'v« coal fom fonlrr"^'''^^^^ 'Sickness, a„d to ' '^'' ^''' ^'^ «'-J are at a vo:' g elt d^th" T' ^^^^' """ P 7j '' '' boring onernfmnc, ^'^at depth. A^^; -, . mnce Edward places on (he s„„,i, • , T '' "'"""''on. On tl„. .T , •• '"'''<"-° ■» above a(.te I „;'* "'""'' ^"'"'l Planl, „ *° •''.'"■ ''»"■'. «' those "1 thickness, the vain,! l , °°''''' '» estimalej », /i, ' °™»"»n ■Wer memhe s J„U „ ' """'^ -^""W =«" be on. of I ."' ''^'' <■"" -^«ve as ,et t:te """"^ *«" »" "^ -SC^^^ "/ «nppos,ng ,he po,,,^^ -Ql 124 THE TRIAS OR NEW RED SANDSTONE. unconformability of the Now Rod Sandstono and Coal Formation ; but as the di^is of the latter aro very low on tho Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shore, it is probable that the two formations are con- tbrmable, or very nearly so. On the whole, though I would scarcely venture to advise the expenditure of any large sum in boring for coal in Prince Edward Island, I would say that, should it be determined to incur such expenditure, tho most promising ])laces at present known to me ai*e in the vicinity of Orwell Point and of Des Sables. Boring in these places would at least afford the satisfaction of knowing what underlies the red sandstono, and whether any chance exists of tho discovery of coal under it. It is proper to state, however, that I have not explored the south shore of tho island very extensively, and that there seems no good reason whj' equally favourable localities miglit not exist at Bedoque or at Wood Islands, or at other localities west and east of these places. Careful preliminary exploration of every place supposed to be promising (should be made by some com))ctcnt person familiar •witii the structure of the Upper Coal Formation in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, before incurring any expense in boring. In a MS. section of the north coast of New Brunswick by the late Professor Robb, he indicates at the extremity of Cape Tormcntin a small patch of red micaceous sandstone overlaid by red marly rock, and dipping to the east at an angle of 1.5°. This I regard as very jn-o- bably an outlier of the red sandstone of Prince Edwa»d Island ; and, if so, it aff'ords the only known point of contact of this formation with the Carboniferous rocks of the mainland. I have only seen Cape Torment iu from the sea, and therefore cannot speak distinctly of the nature of the junction ; but the red rocks pi-obably rest unconformably on iiie end of an anticlinal undulation of the coal formation. Were I about to make a geological survey of Prince Edward Island, I would make these rocks of Cape Tormentin one of my first studies, and would consider myself fortunate if I could establish their claim to be considered, in a geological point of view, a portion of Prince Edward Island. \ • '^■ i { i ll e e !3 Df :d 19 at of 2d ar 4 i' ite 1 a ko- id, ith pe he Ire ■m ' •! I mm CO O » M o o o Eh W O I ^ I ^ a ■£ 9 W liJ !§ w » •o a I '™»« P-od. In ,bc .insula, mrn "tf Mi ' "'°" "^ "■» «»«- e '" y^^ont, ,ve have cvldccc llZ, ""' P'""'' « Brandon ■"d I».ha,,s tbcrc ,„ay J J t';™' ;; '»™ no fonnations in Acadia f»™ed in ,„,ne lake or osCan. wbll ™° ''°"^'' "f P""'™ ^ck' of "» a, yot unrecorded S:"',?"^ ">r" '<> " .he bi.Jry "^°™'0'- "^ "8° '" ""= S«"l»gical history of „„ i I HS h 'i ; ! w^ 128 CHAPTER X. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEXf. GENERAL REMAUKS SYNOPTICAL TAllLE GEOGRAPHICAL ARRANGE- MENT CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP CUMBERLAND SOUTH J0GGIN8 SECTION. I HAVE had frequent occnsion to state that the lower beds of the Triassic sandstones rest on the edges of the uptnrned strata of tlic great geological series now to be described. In entering, therefore, on the Carboniferous system, we go at least one whole period back in the history of the earth, to a time when the rocks that formed the shore of the red sandstone sea were tlicmselves being deposited in tho fortn of sediment, in waters which washed the sides of the Cobequid Hills and the other old metamorpliic ranges. The Carboniferous system is of inestimable Importance in an eco- nomical point of view, from the number and value of its useful min- erals. It is also of exceeding interest to the geologist, in consequence of the many remarkable monuments which it contains of tlic clianges of the earth's surface, and of the character of its inhabitants, during a long and important period. None of the geological formations sur- passes it in either of these respects; and in Nova Scotia nnd the neighbouring colonies there is none which approaches to ati equality Avith it. It is also a very thick group of beds, and these are very varied in their character. For these reasons, I shall commence my description with a synoptical view of its various members, as thoy have now been ascertained in Nova Scotia. An examination of this condensed suinmary will en.able the reader much more clearly to comprehend the statements hereafter to be made. Physical Characters and Subdivisions of the Carboniferous. The total vertical thickness of the immense mass of sediment consti- tutiivg the Carboniferous system in Nova Scotia may be estimated from the fact that Sir W. E. Logan has ascertaineil, by actual measurement at the Joggins, a thickness of 14,570 feet ; and this does not include the low loca certj distr filenc an e; bonif; in th{ ofSy, of the Wh arraag of will do (2.) (4.) 2 (50 n r« regai and g*3ogrf scribed as f («.) The and conglon ""■fe« Sucko nervosa, Pec parvus, and > fossils. Its If the reac seetioncl list, r "Planation farti ^escriptioasofg "'''eac, where the "e milicated. 11 I.! West member Of. I, • " "« ^^^^^^^ons. Coniferous devosiuJ^- ^'*^« ^^^n <'bJj>od fo 1 • ^ ""^ '"'^»« « that distS a?, ;'"*'"' "" ^'^^ ovidencfof tl ^^ *' *^« ^''^ o^the Lower Pnri, t ^^^^ formation of r«L t> Brown "»«rfs gyp^u,;,, etc, and LT^ '^' "^^^'^'^^^'d sandstones fossils.' It3 tgf "" !^"'^^^«'«, are am^^rrr? '.''^^^■*^^'^-- • . ^^'^J^ness ,s 3000 feet or mor^e a^d 'T ."f ^"^ ""'^^'^^'^ ^'^- '^^^ "* '^hjch they are described *''® 1. > ^ I 130 THE CARB0NIFEK0U8 SYSTEM. stones are frequently reddened by the peroxide of iron, though usually not of so bright a red as tlie New Red Sandstone, and always alternating, at short intervals, with gray beds. It occupies a considerable breadth in the county of Cumberland north of the Cobequid Mountains, in Northern Colchester, and in Pictou. It is well exposed on the Jogging coast, and on the coast of Northumberland Strait west of Pictou Harbour. (b.) 'The Middle Coal Formation, or coal measures proper. — This series includes the productive beds of coal, and is destitute of properly marine limestones. Beds tinged with peroxide of iron are less com- mon in this formation than in any of the others. Dark-coloured shales and gray sandstones prevail, and there are no conglomerates. SigillaricB and Sligmarice of many species are the most conspicuous and abundant fossils ; but ferns, Cordaites, and Catamites are also extremely abundant, and all the genera of Carboniferous plants are repre- sented. Many beds, espi ially those in the vicinity of layers of coal, contain minute Entomostraca, shells of the genus Anthracomya [Naia- dites), Spirorbis carbonarius, and remains of ganoid and placoid fishes. The thickness of this formation may be estimated at 4000 feet. It is largely developed in Cumberland, Pictou, and the eastern and western sides of the island of Cape IJreton, and it occupies a great breadth in New Brunswick. (c.) The ^'^ Millstone-grit" Formation. — This name, though not in all cases lithologically appropriate, has been borrowed from English geology to designate the group of sandstones, shales, and conglome- rates, destitute of coal, or nearly .so, and with few fossil plants, which underlies the coal measures. In its upper and middle part it includes thick beds of coarse gray sandstone holding prostrate trunks of coni- ferous trees [Dadoxylon Acadianum). In its lower part, red and comparatively soft beds prevail. This formation is exposed in the eame localities mentioned above for the Middle Coal foimation, and especially in the south Joggins section, where it attains to the enor- mous thickness of between 5000 and 6000 feet. {d.) The Lower Carboniferous Marine Formation. — The essential features of this formation are thick beds of marine limestone, charac- terized principfdly by numerous brachiopods, especially Productus Cora, P. sem'.reticulatus, Athyris subtilita, and Terebratula sufflata,* with other marine invertebrates. Associated with these limestones are beds of gypsum, and they are enclosed in thick deposits of sand- stone, clay, and marl, of prevailing red colours. * See Davidson " On Lower Carboniferous Brachiopoda from Nova Scotia," Quart. Journ. Qeol. 8oc., vol. xix. p. 158. The tlnckness of .V . ^««^at,ons. ,3, >^hile in he J V /"'^'■^^^^t^d almost entire! 17 '' *"^ '« ^-^ol/de t^ //^rf^ - ''-stone : dti""?r"^«^' beneath the MHIston. '•'"'^ ^'^'^'^'^^ countfes ^H '' r""^ coa r '""^ '^^^^'t'es these resembf ''' '' ^'"'''' ^'"^ Meas- lowpr ? 1 ^"'ca'-eous shales Th thickness of pecuhar OycV.™ ^c»rf4 with « r f^'**""-'. c~l'''~; the.r flora ^ T' ^^"' "'^^^"^•es are t ^ "^'^^^ '" ^hfs '"eir flora from the Middip r^ i ' '^ *''"e, more distm,.f • Upper Coal formation biit sn "'''"^^« '^^^ ^L latter 2",^" ;oformer,andthediffere„ It m"r^^"'" ^^ -mmo/r J^ - W CarWero. and ^^^r^l^^^^^^^^^^^ Daivgon, "OnfhnT ^"6 JJevonian A 132 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. rocks aro also in this region unconformable to the Carboniferous, having been disturbed and altered prior to the deposition of the latter ; while no want of conformity, except of the local character hereafter to be noticed, occurs in the Carboniferous. Geinitz has shown ("Isis," 186G) that my lower, middle, and upper coal formations are equivalent to three of the zones into which ho divides the coal formations of Saxony, Conditions of Deposition of the Beds. It is evident that very various geographical conditions aro implied in the deposit of this vast thickness of sediment. The Acadia of the Carboniferous period must not only have differed much from that which now is, but it must have presented very different appearances in the different portions of the Carboniferous time itself. The conditions of deposit thus implied in the mineral character and fossils of the several fonnations above described, would appear to be of three leading kinds: — (1.) The deposition of coarse sediment in shallow water, with local changes leading to the alternation of clay, sand, and gravel. This predominates at the beginning of the period, recurs after the deposition of the marine limestones in the formation of the " Millstone-grit," and again prevails in the upper coal forma- tion. (2.) The growth of corals and shell-fish in deep clear water, along with the precipitation of crystalline limestone and gypsum. These conditions occurred during the formation of the Lower Carbon- iferous limestone and its associated gypsum. (3.) The deposition of fine sediment, and the accumulation of vegetable matter in beds of coal and carbonaceous and bituminous shale, and of mixed vegetable and animal matters in the beds of bituminous limestone and calcareo- bituminous shale. These conditions were those of the middle coal formation. Within the limits of Nova Scotia, these conditions of deposition applied, not to a wide and uninteiTupted space, but to an area limited and traversed by bands of Silurian and Devonian rocks, already partially metamorphosed and elevated above the sea, and along the margins of which igneous action still continued, as evidenced by the beds of trap intercalated in the Lower Carboniferous ;* while about the close of the Devonian period still more important injections and intrusions of igneous matter had occurred, as shown by the granitic dykes and masses which traverse the Devonian beds, but have not penetrated the Carboniferous.f There is evidence, however, in the * Dawson, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. i. p. 329. f Dawson, Canadian Naturalliit, 1860, p. 142. Jl I: k t Carboniferous rocks Of M .r , '^ "" ^"^ «^-«- 188 when tlio r ® coal-beds was tlia* ^<- '"•' "'e It would also follow tlnfull I 'l^''"^^"»'t«d extent ' msmmm f:7!^*-» «nd Newer C^alLlrl'f^ period of the mfddfeTat »S» took ptce a. ,he cj" ' 1, cX J ''"'""'' «'« *™ ^ "• 'V™. chap, xiii. ij I i i 134 THE CARBONIFF.ROUS 8Y8TF.M. extent as to preclude farther deposition in t)io area in question ; while the red sandstone and trap of Mesozoic age indicate the recurrence at that time of conditions somewhat similar to those of the beginning of the Carboniferous period. The general phenomena of deposition above indicated, ajjply to all the Carboniferous areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and, so far as known, to those of the Magdalen Islands and of Newfoundlai\d. But, as I shall point out in the sequel, numerous local diversities occur, in consequence of the interference of the older elevated ridges with the regularity of deposition. In some places the entire Lower Carboniferous series seems to be represented by conglomerates and coarse sandstones. In others, the Lower Coal measures, or the marine limestones, or both, are extensively developed. These local differ- ences are, on a small scale, of the same character with those which occur on a large scale in the northern and southern Appalachian districts and western districts of the United States, and in the different coal areas of Great Britain and Ireland, as compared with each other and with the Carboniferous districts of America. On the whole, however, it is apparent that certain grand features of similarity can be traced in the distribution of the Carboniferous rocks throughout the northern hemisphere. It is further to be observed, that in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as well as in Eastern Canada, disturbances occurred at the close of the Devonian period which have caused the Carboniferous rocks to lie unconformably on those of the former ; and that in like manner the Carboniferous period was followed by similar disturbances, which have thrown the Carboniferous beds into synclinal and anticlinal bends, often very abrupt, before the deposition of tlie Triassic Red Sand- stones. These disturbances were of a different character from the oscillations of level which occurred within the Carboniferous period. They were accompanied by volcanic action, and were most intense along certain lines, and especially near the junction of the Carbon- iferous with the older formations. I have noticed an apparent ca.se of unconformability between members of the Carboniferous system near Antigonish.* In the county of Pictou, the arrangement of the beds suggests a possible unconformability of the Upper Coal foi'mation and the Coal measures. •{• In New Brunswick, Prof. Bailey J has observed indications of local unconformability of the Coal formation with the Lower Carboniferous. * Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc, vol. i. p. 32. •}• Ibid., vol. X. p. 42. j " Keport on Geology of Southern New Brunswick," p. 118. Bu Beri unc nior grac beds Ti beac and ^ iferoi Coal- acrosi perioc out an Jnstam ofsucl curroni instanc the ide hy rivci when t] mined a and ass remarka with the cliff to 1 we trace to give p limestone they were out towai dated flat/ The fon us two difl we may ta every such diversified tents: and if co^omoN. OK ...«mo. op .„. „,,,. s ■ B-t the .irict »„f„ , .,. °""- '»« 2-nfo™.bi,„^ ,, i:^i:„f J"«'' "■"» that ,he« ;.„. J °"o more espcc all V fJi« ^i i ' . • ^" *' e sect bn at ♦»,« t • gradually fro ^^j ' , ^''^'^ ««"e.s present, .. regular d^n J '^5'°" M. b«c„« ,,„riz„„w.« "'» ""i^^ '." .of .he tough, ,1, j;jf baac'co;";!!:;*",' """ """■°™ ™cina.i, „, of ,„,„, „„,. . n«j 1 ^ " "" "■rec'u ar tio« nf -1 •■ *'* "^"8t, however- jnd phenomena of this kid are abin i''"m"'" '^"'^ ^'^^"^ clenudatio . ' • 'ferous strata of Nova Scotia n""'^'".'''>' '"«"'f««t '» the Carbon' Coal-field which scen.s to be a!/'''' '""'^^^ ^ ^^^^ '" the P Z -"- a ^l:::L;tt^:; f^ Co. t^S J;^ a nujnber J -n-entsonthelrddr t;^^^^^^^ instances the layers ofZ T ? ^"°'" °^ «''a"ow water fn ti-eMeaoftidalXira^st:^^^^^^^^^^ by "ver-inundations. Even the 1 M^ f ''^ ^'^*' •"'^"^r '"med down when traced for consider: ettttfT/ T ^^ — -".tL" n'lned at Pictou and the JoJ^sT" ^'^' ^'"^'' ^'^ve be^ and associations; and small^d, ?' T'''""' ^''^^^•^"^^^ i» qua! y -n,ar able manner, in their thbt ssld^in tf"^' '' ^'-^' ^^ ' mh them, m tracing them a fe^y hundred! If f /r'""'^ ^^^^-^^^^ chff to low-water mark on the bead/ T f ^''""' ''''^ *«P of the we race them over sufficiently J^ ' if' "' ^""'^^ ^^^^ could to g.ve place to sandstones, or to un o T •' *'^'^ ^'^"^'^ «» ^^^ ^^ -estones according to tLe undXi ^ ";\''^""'"^"« shales ad they were deposited, just as then.! ""^ ^^' '"''faces on which 21 toward banks of 'sandTo' pa'st' Tl " "^'^^" -amps dated flats or ponds. ' ^ '"^^ "^^'^ ^^e muck or mud of i„un. . ^'"^^Qical Cycles. ' w may take of any „!„„ ' "'S^.'^fK-'Jeable, general view wS d.v™w condition, oflnra'-dVariithV'* ~"«"""o» h >«".«! .ud «w,„ „e n,« eo„,iderea"t rpS7"'? '■"'■''^'- I ■'*«/., vol. vi. p. 125 e, «^. o^l if' 'S 1 !j; ■' '( K<. Eml" 136 THE CARBONIPKR J^ " OEOLOGtCAL CYCLES. 137 local existence of dissimilar conditions, we not only find, as already stated, that the sequence in Nova Scotia coincides generally with that in other parts of America and in Europe, but that, viewed in this aspect, the Carboniferous period constitutes one of four great physical cycles, which make up the Palaeozoic age in Eastern America, and each of which was characterized by a great subsidence and partial re-elevation, succeeded by a second and very gradual subsidence. Viewed in this way, the Lower Carboniferous conglomerate and Lower Coal measures corresj-ond analogically with the Oriskany sand- stone, the Oneida and Medina sandstones, and the Pott^dam and Calciferous sandst'mes. Th- Carboniferous litpestoiic )rresponds with the Corniferous limestone, the Niagara iimtstone, and the Trenton group of limestones. The coal measures coiTcspond v.itli the Hamil- ton group, the Salina group, and the Uticp, shale. The Upper Coal formation corresponds with the Chemung, the Lower Helderberg, and the Hudson-River groups. The Permian is not represented in Eastern America ; but, as developed in Europe, it elci^rly constitutes a similar cycle. These parallelisms, which deserve more attention from geolo- gists than they liave yet received, may be tabulntod thus: — * Tabular View of Cycles in the PalcBozoic Age in Eastern America, (The several formations are arranged in descending order.) Character of Group. ShaUow, Bub»i(!ing marine 1 area, filling nn witli Hcdi- V ment .'. ) Elevation, foilowcii by slow) Bubsidcnce, laiul-siirfaces, \ etc ) Marine conditions; forma- J tion of limestones, etc ( Subsidence ; disturbances ; ^ deposition of coarse sedi- y ment j Lower Silurian. Upper Silurian. Devonian. Hudson-River. Lower Helder- group. bert; group. Utica shale. Salina groii]). Trenton, Black Niagara and K. and Chii/y Clinton liiiieetiinon. | limestones, Potsdam and Oneida and Calciferous | Medina sandston'3. | sandiitones. Chemung gr. Hamilton gr. Corniferous limestunc. Oriskany sandstone. Carbo- niferous. Upi>cr coal formation. Coal measures. Lower Carbo- niferous limestone. Lower Coal meusuri'sai.d conglomerate. In the Permian of Europe, the Stinkstein, the Rauchwackc, the Zechstein, and the Rotliliegendes might form a fil'tli parallel column. Of course such parallelism might b*? variously expressed, by reckoning a smaller or larger number of groips. Independently of these differ- ent modes of statement, hcwevflr, I believe tliat the basis of such comparisons exists in nature, and that it will prove possible to sub- * Dr Sterry Hunt has directed attention to them in a paper "On Bitr.mens," SiUiman's Journal [2], xxxv. p. Ififi, and in the " Geology of Canada," 1863, p. C27 ; &nd Dana rcferp to them in his " Manual of Geology." Eaton and Hall had previously noticed these (laraHelismB. i I Ij fii ! 138 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. divide geological time into detenoinate natural cycles, the parts of which are analogous to those of similar cycles. A further question to be solved is, whether such cycles corresponded in all parts of the world, or whether, as is more likely, the earth might be divided into aireas in which in each cycle elevation and subsidence were contem- poraneous. So far as the present subject is concerned, I merely desire to show that the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia represent a complete cycle of the earth's history, and correspond in time with the Carboniferous of Europe, and in value with the other great divisions of the Pala30zoic age. Summary of fads relating to the mode of accumulation of Coal. With regard to this important subject, I would rather invite attention to the details to be presented in subsequent pages, than make any preliminary general statements. It is, however, necessary to notice hei'c the several views which have prevailed as to tlie probable accumulation of coal by driftage or growth in situ, in water or on land. I have already, in previous publications,* stated very fully the conclusions at which I have arrived on some portions of this subject, and I would now sum up the more important general truths as follows : — (1.) The occurrence of Stigmaria under nearly every bed of coal, proves beyond question that the material was accimiulated by growth in situ; while the character of the sediments intervening between the beds of coal proves with equal certainty the abundant transport of mud and sand by water. In other words, conditions similar to those of the swampy deltas of great rivers are implied. (2.) The true coal consists principally of the flattened bark of Sigillarioid and other trees, intermixed with leaves of ferns and Cordaites, and other herbaceous dcbriji, and with fragments of decayed wood consti- tuting " mineral charcoal," all these materials having manifestly alike grown and accumulated where we find them. (3.) The microscopical structure and chemical composition of the beds of cannel-coal and earthy bitumen, and of the more highly bituminous and carbonaceous shales, show them to have been of the nature of the fine vegetable mud which accumulates in the ponds and shallow lakes of modern swamps. When such fine vegetable sediment is mixed, as is often the case, with clay, it becomes similar to the bituminous limestone and caleareo-bituminous shales of the coal measures. (4.) A few of the underclays which support beds of coal are of the nature of the vegetable mud above referred to ; but the greater part are argillo- * " On the Structures of Coal," Quart. Journ. Geol. See, vol. xv., also vol. xxii., p. 95, etc. " Air-breathers of the Coal Period," Montreal, 1863, p. 18. ffii,i I*'-* *, MODE OF ACCUMULATION OF COAL. 189 arenaceous in composition, with little vegetable matter, and bleached by the drainage from them of water containing the products of vegetable decay. They are, in short, loamy or clay soils, and must have been sufficiently above water to admit of drainage. The absence of sulphurets, and the occurrence of carbonate of iron in connexion with them, prove that, when they existed as soils, rain-water, and not sea-water, percolated them. (5.) The coal and the fossil forests present many evidences of subaerial conditions. Most of the erect and prostrate trees had become hollow shells of bark before they were finally imbedded, and their wood had broken into cubical pieces of mineral charcoal. Land-snails and galley-worms [Xylohius) crept into them, and they became dens or traps for reptiles. Large quantities of mineral charcoal occur on the surfaces of all the larger beds of coal. None of these appearances could have been produced by subaqueous action. (6.) Though the roots of Sigillaria bear some resemblance to the rhizomes of certain aquatic plants, yet structurally they are absolutely identical with the roots of Cycads, which the stems also resemble. Further, the Sigillarice grew on the same soils which supported Conifers, Leptdcdendra, Cordaites, and ferns — plants which could not have grown in water. Again, with the exception, perhaps, of some Pinnularice and Asterophyllites, there is a remarkable absence from the coal measures of any form of properly aquatic vegetation. (7.) The occurrence of marine or brackish-water animals in the roofs of coal-beds, or even in the coal itself, affords no evidence of sub- aqueous accumulation, since the same thing occurs in the case of modern submarine forests. For these and other reasons, some of which are more fully stated in the papers already referred to, while I admit that the areas of coal accumulation were frequently submerged, I must maintain that the true coal is a subaerial accumulation by vegetable growth on soils wet and swampy, it is true, but not submerged. I would add the further consideration, already urged elsewhere, that, in the case of the fossil forests associated with the coal, the conditions of submergence and silting-up which have preserved the trees as fossils, must have been precisely those which were fatal to their existence as living plants — a fact sufficiently evident to us in the case of modem submarine forests, but often overlooked by the framers of tlieorits of the accumulation of coal. It seems strange that the occasional inequalities of the floors of the coal-beds, the sand or gravel ridges which traverse them, the channels cut through the coal, the occurrence of patches of sand, and the insertion of wedges of such material splitting the beds, have been regarded by some able geologists as evidences of the aquatic origin ,\ !#:j;»^.;c;'siS^ iiB-^'.""' 140 THE CAnnONIPEROUS BY8TEM. of coal. In truth, these appearances nro of constant occurrence in modern swamps and niarshca, more especially near their margins, or where they are exposed to the effects of ocean-storms or river-inun- dations. The lamination of the coal has also been adduced as a proof of aqueous deposition ; but the microscope shows, as I have elsewhere pointed out, that tliis is entirely different from ordinary aqueous lami- nation, and depends on the superposition of successive generations of more or less decayed trunks of trees and beds of leaves. The lami- nation in the truly aqueous cannels and carbonaceous shales is of a very different character. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that in the above summary I have had reference principally to the appearances presented by the coal formation of Nova Scotia; though I believe that in a general way the conclusions stated will hold good in other countries, as has indeed been shown by the admirable researches on this subject of Brongniart, Goeppert, Nowbcrry, Binney, Rogers, Lesqucrcux, and others, whose publications on this subject I have read with interest, and have tested in their application to the phenomena presented to mo in the coal- fields of Nova Scotia. I may add, that, in my oj)inion, the phenomena of the Stigmaria underclays, to which attention was lirst directed by Sir W. E. Logan, furnish the key to the whole question of the origin of coal, and that the comparisons of coal-deposits, by Sir Ciiarlcs Lyell, with the " cyj)ress-8wamps " of the Mississippi, perfectly explain all the more important appearances in the coal fonnation of Nova Scotia. In the above pages I have endeavoured to state some general results of the study of the Carboniferous rocks which may be iiseful as introductory to their more detailed investigation. I now proceed to consider the local distribution of these rocks in Acadia, and their subdivision into areas more or less distinct. The reader must understand that tlie actual superposition and arrangement of all this great thickness of beds, are ascertained by the examination of coast and river sections, in which portions of the series ere seen tilted up, so that they can, by proceeding in the direction toward or from which they incline, be seen to rest on each other. There is one coast section in Nova Scotia so perfect that nearly the whole series is exposed in it. On the other hand, there are largo areas in which the lower portion alone exists, and perhaps never was covered by the upper portions ; and there are other areas in which the upper members have covered up the lower, so that they appear only in a few compa'atively limited spots. The area occupied ly Carbonifciuus rocks in Nova Scotia and Naw Bnins older 1 be con 1. 'J of area 2. T the Cob Carbon! 3. Th and its ing alonf valley o 4. TJ east by berland d 5. The spurs of t 6. Th, Strait of ( 7. The Inverness. i( 8. 9. Th.. The i ^'ew Vicu It may hi of Pln'ladelj aj)pear at vi the Carbonil ranks high on this sub and imi)erfe' in tile Unitei Nova Scotia Professor Lt Professor Da niepsurcs of t'>em an alinc on lithologlca at the Joggin * Procee "«-„*, ;,:-;» -JO.™ „,,,. .„„^^„^ J-Mh„ ■"«al„„g.h„,„„,,,.,, S I '"feUMd of Carbonic valley of .he M„s,„„u„bort Uit""*' ""'' """ --'"-"S along it 7. TI,o Carb„„lfc„„,di„,i'''^\".''™""'yof(;„j,.,b„ro'. Invorao.,. *'■'=' of U'chmon,. county and g„„,|,„n, »• Tbo Carboniferous distriVt „f r appear at variance with t^ ' a ^"'' ^'^ ^^^^-^^^dA^Uch -"ks.l'^gh as an authority intLclalf ^' ""' '^'^^^'^^ ^---diy on th.8 subject, though orLnatint '""''""' ""^ a« '"•« views -d .njperfeet opportLiti^t £;:i27"-"' ^» -sconce.^ m tae United States, and wore LTJl T'- ''""' '"'^'^^>' circulated Nova Scotia, it would be In^l to ," T ^" ^^^'^^^ ^^^P^^t a Professor Lesley says :-,. .rii Ln " o "" '-^ "^'''^"^ -^-. Professor Daw.on, and other geololtTw T"' ^l' ^^"''^'' ^yell, 'ne.sures of Nova Scotia and n'X'T ^"" '^''''"'^"^ ^'"^ ^'oa f'em an ahnost incredible fhickners ,, """^f ' '^''^'^ '^ «««'>ing to onhUiological grounds, the ^C of ^^^ 'Tf' '^ ^^^^ «t the Jogg.„8, ,vith the Lower Oarbonifeo"v' ^"-^'"'^ '^^^^^''°" 1 i jili I ■'■'^ 'iX ' h- m! ■i > j!!^ ■^*lf:w,,;?-*^: 142 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. of Pennsylvania; and consequently would place the Millstone-grit and the Lower Carboniferous limestones and Lower Coal measures on the parallel of the Devonian rocks. Such a sweeping change, merely on the ground of similarity of mineral character, and in oppo- sition to the evidence of fossils, and to the fact of the true Upper Devonian occurring in its proper place in New Brunswick, would, unless advocated by a geologist of the standing of Professor Lesley, scarcely deserve notice. In the circumstances, however, I considered it my duty to send to the Society in whose proceedings Professor Lesley's paper appeared, and of which I have the honour to be a Fellow, the following statement of objections to Professor Lesley's views, which I give in full, with Professor Lesley's rejoinder and my further explanations, because the points involved are of much import- ance and incidentally bring out several very interesting considerations in regard to the Coal formation. Their importance in a i)ractical point of view may be judged from the fact to be noticed in the sequel, that Professor Lesley's conclusions induced him to diminish by one half the thickness of the Coal formation of Cape Breton, as ascer- tained by Mr Brown, and thus to ignore altogether the extension to the eastward of the Sydney coal-beds in rear of those of Glace Bay. I have to thank Professor Lesley for the courtesy with which, as Secretary to the Philosophical Society, he attended to my communi- cations, and the fairness with which he met my objections; and although I know that he must be (I hope I may say, have been) in error in this point, it is scarcely necessary to say that there is no one for whose geological acumen I entertain more respect. Note on Mr Leslei/s Paper on Ike Coal Measures of Cape Breton. The new facts and general considerations on the Nova Scotia coal- field contained in this paper are of the highest interest to all who have worked at the geology of Nova Scotia. I think it my duty, how ever, to take exception to some of the statements, which, 1 think, a larger collection of facts would have induced Mr. Lesley himself to modify. My objections may be stated under the following heads : — (L) It is scarcely safe to institute minute comparisons between the enormously developed coal measures of Nova Scotia and the thinner contemporary deposits of the West, any more than it would be to compare the great marine limestones of the period at the West with the slender representatives of that part of the group to the eastward. (2.) There is the best evidence that the coal measures of Nova Scotia never mantled over the Devonian and Silurian hills of the Province, but were, on the contrary, deposited in more or less separate areas at their sides 'Si:. COMPARISON WITH PENNSYLVANIA, ETC. 143 (3.) Any one who has carefully compared the coal measures of the Joggins with those of "Wallace and Pictou, must be convinced of the hopelessness of comparing individual beds, even at this comparatively small distance. A fortiori detailed comparisons with Pennsylvania and more distant localities must fail. (4.) I do not think that any previous observer has supposed that the coal measures of Eastern Capo Breton represent the whole of the coal formation of Nova Scotia. The " Upper Coal measures" of my papers on Nova Scotia are certainly wanting, and probably tho Sydney Coal-field exhibits no beds higher than No. 4 of Logan's Joggins section. (5.) The whole of the coal-beds in the Joggins section belong to the Upper and Middle coal measures. It is quite incorrect to iden- tify No. 6 of Logan's section with the Lower Coal measures. These do not occur at the Joggins, but are found in Nova Scotia, as in Virginia and Southern Pennsylvania, at the base of the system, under the marine limestones. The Albert beds are the equivalents of these lower measures, and not of the Pictou coal. In my paper on the Lower Carboniferous coal measures (.Journal of Geological Society of London, 1858), will be found a summary of the structure of tho Lower Coal measures, as shown at Horton Bluff, and elsewhere. The tenn " true coal measures," quoted by Mr. Lesley, does not mean iu my description the Middle Coal measures, but merely that part of them holding the workable coal-seams. (6.) Whatever may be the value of M. Lesqu^reux's applications of the fossil flora to the identification of coal-seams in the West, I am prepared to state, as the result of an extensive series of observrttions, still foi tho most part unpublished, that in Nova Scotia the flora is identical throughout the whole enormous thickness of the Middle coal measures, and that the differences observable between different seams are atti'ibutable rather to difference of station and conditions of preservation than to lapse of time. It is indeed true, as I have elsewhere explained, that the assemblages of species in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Coal measures may be distinguished ; but within these groups the differences are purely local, and afford no means for the identification of beds in distant places. (7.) I do not desire to offer any opinion on the questions raised by some American geologists as to the extension of the term Carboniferous to the Chemung gi-oup ; but I know as certain facts, that the flora of the Lower Coal measures, under the marine limestones and gypsums of Nova Scotia, is wholly Carboniferous, and that the flora, on which alone I consider myself competent to decide, of the Chemung of New \ .ssfflSas^AsBrw**! . .-S^^yjl m .^A. A- I I' 144 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. York, as now understood by Professor Hall and others, and also of the groups in Pennsylvania, named by Rogers Vergent and Ponent (? IX. and X. of Mr Lesley), is as decidedly Dcvoniail, and quite distinct from that of the Carboniferous period.* For Mr Lesley's ability as a stratigraphical geologist I have the highest respect ; and with reference to the present subject, would mex'jly desire to point out that he may not have possessed a sufficient number of facts to warrant some of his generalizations, on which in the meantime I would, for the reasons above stated, desire geologists to suspend their judgment. The following is the rejoinder of Professor Lesley, omitting some general discussions not important to the subject in hand : — " Professor Dawson's first objection is a begging of the very ques- tion. Whether the coal measures of Nova Scotia are ' enr-mously developed?' That, in one little spot of the earth's surface like Nova Scotia, and that, too, midway between the great coal areas of America and those of Europe, wherein the thickness of coal measures proper ranges from 2000 to 5000 feet, if they even attain the latter size, there should be an anomalous deposit of 25,000 feet, is incredible. What the great Bohemian paleontologist, by unerring instinct, said to us after our thirty years' war over the Taconic system, there must be a mistake somewhere, I must repeat to those who so 'enormously develop ' the Nova Scotia coal measures. And my intention in the paper on Nova Scotia coal was only to suggest one formula on which the error might be discussed. I distinctly repudiated the safety of instituting * minute comparisons.' My comparison of the Cape Breton coals and the column at Pittsburg was carefully made in the most general manner, and the resemblance called a coincidence. But the value of the comparison remains ; for it aflfords a new argument in favour of the family likeness of those parts of the general coal measures of dif- ferent countries, which have a right to the specific title of ' productive coals.' The argument also remains good, that if 2000 feet of coal measures in Missouri can be recognised in 2000 feet of coal measures in Kentucky, Virginia, and Eastern Pennsylvania, the ^'cry same system of beds, bed for bed, being demonstrated first by stratigraphy, and then by palajontology (and such is the fact), why not in Nova Scotia? " I have no doubt that some of the coal measures of the British Provinces may have been * deposited in more or less separated areas at the sides of the Devonian and Silurian hills,' as Professor Dawson * See Paper on Devonian Flora of Eastern America, Jour. Lond. Qeol. Soc. November, 1862. ^ say whi upo Bre \ I COMPAUISON WITH THE PENNSYLVANIA, ETC. 145 says (2). But I confess to a complete scepticism of the great extent which has been assigned to this unconformability of the coal measures upon the lower rocks; first, because most of the Island of Capo Breton, and much of the surface of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, are confessedly unstudied and almost unknown; secondly, because the incredible thickness assigned to the coal measures throws doubt upon the positions assigned to the unconformable horizons ; thirdly, because the coal-beds themselves stand almost vertical in many places round the shores; fourthly, because the mountains of Nova Scotia, with apparently conformable Carboniferous limestones, have appar- ently an Appalachian structure and aspect, have suffered vast denu- dation, exhibit cliff outcrops and section ravines, and may just as well have carried coal upon their original backs as we can prove that our Tussey, Black Log, Nescopec, Mahoning, Buffalo, Tuscarora, Brush, and other Silurian and Devonian mountains did. There is an immense unconformable chasm in the colunm west of the Hudson River, and the Catskill Mountains over it have no coal upon their backs ; but the coal comes in regularly enough on them at the Lehigh (a less distance than from Sydnoy to St Peters, or from Pictou to Windsor), and the unconformability in the Upper Silurian and Devonian has already disappeared. " Professor Dawson's fourth objection would be good, if I had really * supposed the coal measures of eastern Cape Breton to represent the whole of the coal measures of Nova Scotia.' But I only suggested that they may prove to be the equivalents of the system o{ productive coal measures ; that is all. Between the Monongahela and the Ohio, our column of productive coals is capped by another of barren shales and soft sandstones of unknown height, by one estimate 3000 feet thick ; and part of this column may represent the so-called Permian measures, which, in Kansas, cap conformably the coal measures. Having no knowledge of the fossils, I have no desire to oppose the conclusions of Professor Dawson, as to the part of the column of the Joggins in which the Glace Bay coals apply, but hope that his accu- rate handling of them will secure some certainty about it. It was the grouping of the beds, and not the fossils, which I wished to bring into prominent notice ; because the doctrine of isolated basins, when unfoimded or overapplied, is as injurious to lithologioal truth as the careless identification of surface aspect may at any moment prove to palaeontology. I willingly leave to accomplished palaeon- tologists like Professor Dawson, the discussion of the grand general- ization embodied in his sixth objection ; but I may be permitted to believe that it has had its birth in the doctrine of isolated basins, and s % 146 THE CARBONIFEROUS 8Y8TEM. that the two must stftnd or fall together. It also seems to me to involve radical inconsistencies; for if I comprehend it, it asserts (1.) That the flora of the whole coal measures (25,000 feet?) is identical ; that is, the vertical distribution of each and all the plants is complete from the bottom to the top. (2.) That nevertheless there are differences observable between diflerent coal-beds. (3.) That these are attributable rather to difTerence of station and conditions of preservation than to lapse of time ; that is, if wo could take the beds, each one in its whole extent and its fossils in their original condition, there would bo no differences observable between different seams after all. (4.) That groups or assemblages of species in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Coal measures may nevertheless be distinguished ; that in, while each and every species may be found occasionally in all parts of the column from bottom to top, yet this happens in such a manner as to group some of them more abundantly, or in certain peculiar |)roportion8 in the Lower, others in the Middle, and others in the Upper portions of it. (5.) That, after all, however, these groups are not ^jcrsistent, but differ at different localities, and are as worthless as the specific forms themselves for the identification of a single bed in more than one place. — Is it possible that all this has been made out, or can be made out, except in a country of horizontal coal measures, well opened for study, where the stratification can be established beforehand, and the range of the fossils be undoubted?" With reference to this rejoinder, as Professor Lesley seemed to have misapprehended some of the points briefly stated in my first letter, I thought it necessaiy to make the following additional expla- nations : — " L Dr Dawson is not aware that he has, at any time, maintained that the " coal measures proper" of Nova Scotia arc 25,000 feet in thickness. In speaking of their enormous thickness, he referred to the actual measurements of Sir W. E. Logan at the Joggins, which give for the whole of the Carboniferous rocks seen in that section, a vertical thickness of 15,570 feet, and for the coal measures proper, or Middle Coal formation, a thickness of rather less than 10,000 feet. The objections based by Mr Lesley on this supposed thickness of 25,000 feet, are therefore quite inapplicable to the views of Dr Dawson. " 2. Dr Dawson does not admit the interpretation of his views as to the unity of the coal flora given by Mr Lesley. The * inconsistencies' alleged by the latter depend in part on the imaginary thickness of 25,000 feet attributed to the Middle Coal measures. The identity of the flora throughout the Middle Coal formation, and the distinctions between this and the assemblages of plants in the Lower and Upper J Coal posur my ii twentv been ]. "3. Scotia "(1. "(2. "(3. and gr; and thii "(4.) marls, i palieonti "(5.) fossils c but diffe in New "The differs fi of No. 5 represent^ sylvaiiia. fifth of nij as well ai No. 5, anc Lesquereu strange th parallelism and carefii firmed by It will 1 series in J and that wi coal-bearinj a completei States, whc west at thi expense of : In the Ui ^iry'us^ef: 'l \ V, COMPAniSON WITFl THE PENNSYLVANIA, ETC. 147 Coal formation, admit of being readily ascertained, where good ex- posures exist, as in Nova Scotia ; and it is to be borne in mind that my investigations on this subject liave extended over more than twenty years, though many of the details ascertained have not yet been published* " 3. It should bo understood that the Carboniferous system in Nova Scotia consists of the following members : — ^^ {I. ) TLi Upper Coal Formation. " (2.) The Middle Coal Formation. " (3.) The Millstone-grit Series, represented in Nova Scotia by red and gray sandstone, shale, and conglomerate, with a few fossil plants and thin coal scams, not productive. " (4.) The Carboniferous Limestone, with the associated sandstones, marls, gypsum, etc., and holding marine fossils, recognised by all palsEontologiats who have examined them as Carboniferous. " (5.) The Lower Coal Measures, holding some but not all of the fossils of the Middle Coal formation, and thin coals, not productive ; but differing both in flora and fauna from the Upper Devonian, which, iu New Brunswick, they overlie unconformably. "The principal, though not the only point in which Mr Lesley differs from Logan, Lycll, Brown, and Dawson, is his entire omission of No. 5 of the above scries, and placing No. 3 in its room, as the representative of the Lower Coal measui-es of Virginia and Penn- sylvania. I have, I think, already made this sufficiently plain in the fifth of my objections, already published ; but may add here tlmt fossils as well as stratigraphical position establish the real equivalency of No. 5, and not No. 3, to the Lower Coal foiaiation, as described by Lesquereux in America, and by Gocppert in Europe; and that it seems strange that Mr Lesley, wliile suggesting nuiior and more dubious parallelisms, declines to admit this identification, established by long and careful investigations of several competent observers, and con- firmed by the evidence of fossils." It will be seen f:om the above discussion, that the Carboniferous series in Nova Scotia, thougli limited in area, is of great thickness ; and that within the limits of Acadia the strictly marine as well as the coal-bearing portions of this great group of rocks are represented with a completeness not to be found in any one coal area of the United States, where the marine limestones are enormously developed in the west at the expense of the coal measures, and the latter at the expense of the marine members in the east. , . ■. In the United States, however, the Lower Coal measure flora has * Since published — Journal of Geol. Society, May 1866. . , , S I! IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V A .// <. % w m^ i6 wU-' 1.0 m 1128 I.I 1.25 112 IIIIIM || Z2 12.0 1.4 11.6 V] / *^->- '> ^? y Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. MS80 (716) 872-4S03 ^ V \^ 4v >1X \ \ ;v % ^ &/ r 148 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. been recognised by Lesquereux, who has also marked out a number of interesting parallelisms in the beds of the Middle Coal formation. In Illinois and Iowa, the Lower Carboniferous marine limestones present several important subdivisions, and still farther west there appear to be Upper Carboniferous marine beds graduating upward into Permian. In England the Mountain Limestone, the Millstone-grit, and the Coal Formation, have been the members usually recognised, but recently attention has been attracted to the Lower Coal measures, which are also developed there; and in 1865, I saw in the Museum of the Geological Soirvey a small collection of undetermined plants from these beds, perfectly corresponding to those of the Lower Coal formation of Nova Scotia. The term Lower Coal measures is, how- ever, in England and Scotland, usually applied to beds corresponding to the lower part of the Middle Coal formation of the above classifi- cation. With regard to the Upper Coal formation, its equivalent is recognised in the English and Scottish coal-fields as the overlying barren coal measures, either destitute of coal or with thin and un- workable seams, and which in the Lancashire Coal-field amount to nearly 2000 feet in thickness. In Lancashire these beds are very similar to the corresponding series in Nova Scotia. In the Scottish coal-fields they contain marine limestones, — a circumstance which occurs in one instance in Nova Scotia. Much remains to be done in Great Britain for the proper working out of the distinction in the flora of the members of the Carboniferous system, the study of fossil plants of the coal having been much neglected by geologists. In Germany, where the subject of the coal flora has received greater attention, the subdivisions have been more fully worked out ; and I have much pleasure in quoting the following remarks by Professor Geinitz of Dresden, from a review of my paper on the " Con- ditions of Accumulation of Coal," in the " Isis," 1866 : — " In comparing the distribution of this flora with that in the various zones of the Carboniferous of Europe, it is first of all a surprising fact, that there also the zone of the Lower Coal formation must be de- signated, as in Europe, the Lycopodiaceous zone, since Lepidodendron eorrugatum is the most remarkable and predominant plant in it. But this species approaches so closely the Lycopodites polyphyllus^ Rom. sp. (Geinitz, Flora of the Hainichen, Ebersdorf Basin), that both of them might be considered as identical, whilst Lep. tetragonum St. (Gein., etc.), and Knorria imbricata St. (Gein., etc.), which wo must still continue to regard as an independent plant, are likewise quite characteristic of the oldest Coal formation or culm of Europe. The COMPARISON WITH THE CAKBONIFEROUS OP EUROPE. 149 Cyclopteris Acadica, Daws., of the Lower Coal measures of North America, also is very nearly allied to the Cyclopteris tenuifolia^ Gopp., in the German culm. " The predominance of the Sigillaria and Stigmaria in the Middle Coal formation, proves the identity of this zone with our European zone of Sigillaria ; and the analogy with the flora of the principal beds of coal of England and Ireland is particulary striking, especially through the great extension of the Alethopteris lonchitica, which is never wanting there. " When, finally, Dawson sets forth in a prominent manner, that in the uppermost division of Sir W. Logan's section of the South Joggins, which corresponds with the upper part of the Upper Coal formation, trunks of conifers and Calamites, Cal. Suckorii, etc., and C. approximatus, by the side of Aspidiaria, etc., are the fossils most frequently to be met with, we are enabled to place this zone nearly on a level with the zone oi Calamites, or the third band of vegetation in Germany. " Thus the succession in the flora of the Coal formation, as we have ascertained it for Europe, appears to have been established for America also by Dr Dawson's profound investigations, and they will probably soon be followed by the discovery of the existence of the two upper zones, — the ^Annularia^ and 'Fern' zones." It will be observed that Professor Geinitz anticipates the separation of two additional zones in the Upper Coal formation. Of these I have as yet no distinct evidence, and the paucity of fossils in these Upper rocks may render it difiicult to make such distinctions. Un- doubtedly, however, Annularia galioides, Cordaites simplex, and several ferns, as Pecopteris arboresceiis and Alethopteris nervosa, are characteristic of some of the newest beds known to me in the coal- field of Pictou. .,? h 160 f ! ■r* , ■ : j . f , ! I ■' ' ' i ft..-. ' ' CHAPTER XI. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM— Continued. CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF CUMnEULAND — SECTION AT THE SOUTH JOGGINS. Tiiouaii the great triangular area of Carboniferous rocks in eastern Now Brunswick is the largest in Acadia, it does not present such admirable facilities for the study of these rocks as those afforded by the coast sections in Western Cumberland; we shall therefore first study these with some minuteness, as typical of the whole Acadian Carboniferous districts, and afterwards notice the larger New Bruns- wick area. The rocks of tlie Cumberland Carboniferous area have a general trough-shaped arrangement, which in the western part of the county at least appears to be very regular. (See General Section.) On the south side, all along the base of the Cobequids, we find conglomerates and other Lower Carboniferous rocks dipping to the north, and fonning the southern edge of the trough. Resting on these arc the beds of the Coal formation, still dipping to the northward. Toward the centre of the county, wc find the rocks of the Upper Coal formation slightly inclined and finally dipping to the south, to fonn part of the northern side of tiic trough. Proceeding onward, we find the repetition of the OlderCoal formation and Lower Carboniferous series with southerly dips. The latter extends into New Brunswick, where it turns over and dips to the northward, underlying the great Carboniferous plain of that pro- vince. In crossing the county of Cumberland, this regular arrange- ment of the beds is evidenced by the long parallel ridges that cross the country from east to west, and which are produced by the out- cropping edges of beds of firm sandstone, which bave resisted wasting agencies better thsm the softer beds that occur between them. There is, however, reason to believe, as we shall find in the sequel, that in the central and eastern part of the Cumberland trough there are subordinate undulations which prevent the coal-beds from running continuously across the country, and that in some places the Coal forma- "s> IS !8 p: se^ "^^ts S ,5 S I Is I J* ^ i i' •s ii ii> I 1:1; 1 ! I !*'r CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF CUMBERLAND. 151 tlon seems to abut against the older rocks of tlie Cobcquid Mountains, without the intervention of the Lower Carboniferous. On the western coast of the county, the cliffs fronting Chiegnecto Bay and Cumber- land Basin, and which have been cut and are kept clean and fresh by the same agencies which we have already noticed in treating of the Trap and New Red Sandstone coasts, furnish the best and most com- plete section of the Carboniferous rocks in Nova Scotia, and one of the finest in the world ; and on this account I shall commence with its description, as affording the best guide to the understanding of the more obscure and complicated parts of the formation. This remarkable section, now well known to geologists as the South Joggins scciiv^n, extends across almost the whole north side of the Cumberland trough, and exhibits its beds in a continuous series, dip- ping S. 25° W. at an angle of 19°; so that in proceeding along the coast from north to south, for a distance of about ten miles, we con- stantly find newer and newer beds ; and these may be seen both in a bold cliff and in a clean shore, which at low tide extends to a distance of 200 yards from its base. We thus see a series of beds amounting to more than 14,000 feet in vertical thickness, and extending from the marine limestones of the Lower Carboniferous series to the top of the Coal formation. In the cliff find on the beach, more than seventy seams of coal may be seen, with their roof-shales and underclays, and erect plants appear at as many distinct levels ; while the action of the waves and of the tide, which rises to the height of forty feet, prevents the collection of debris at the foot of the cliff, and continually exposes new and fresh surfaces of rock. In describing this section, I shall take as guides Sir W. E. Logan's elaborate section of the whole coast, including 14,570 feet 1 1 inches of vertical thickness, and a re-examination of 2800 feet of the most interesting part of the section made by Sir Charles Lyell and the writer in 1852 and 1853, and published in the Proceedings of the Geological Society of London for the latter year, with additional facts ascertained by myself in subsequent visits, and many of which have been published in ray more recent papers. I shall proceed in the ascending order, or from the older to the newer beds, and shall inter- pret each new appearance as it occurs. In this way I hope to give to the attentive reader a more accurate idea of the structure and mode of formation of a coal-field than he could obtain in any other way, except by an examination of the actual coast section described. The oldest beds of the Lower Carboniferous series do not appear in the coast section, but may be studied at Napan lliver and other places near Amherst. They consist of sandstones and marly clays, including il n K^- i";^ t ( • i } ' IH I' ■fi 152 THE CARBONIFEROUS BY8TEM. thick beds of limestone and gypsum. The mode of formation of this last rock I shall not now notice, as better opportunities will occur hereafter. Respecting the limestones, I may remark that they arc marine deposits, formed in an open sea tenanted by various kinds of shell-fish, etc., the remains of which still exist in the limestone. They are principally bivalves of a family (the Brachiopoda) once very abun- dant, but in the modem world represented by very few species ; and the most abundant shell of this kind in these limestones is the Pro- ductus Cora, a finely striated species, having one valve very convex externally, and the other very concave. It is found in rocks of the same age in Great Britain. There is also a nautilus, nearly resembling in form the nautilus of recent tropical seas, but smaller in size ; and theij are numerous fragments of Crinoids, a tribe of creatures allied to modern star-fishes, but furnished with a stem by which they were attached to the bottom, while their radiating arms extended on all sides in quest of prey. These limestones mu£<^ I'.avc been fonned in a sea whose waves lashed the slopes of the Cobcquid Mountains and ground up the pebbles of old rocks which now form conglomerates on their flanks, while beds of shells were accumulating in its more quiet depths. Its northern boundary may have been the Silurian and metamorphic rocks of Lower Canada and Labrador. The limestones above described dip to the southward ; and if we proceed across the country in the direction of their strike, we find them again with the same fossils on the Hebert River near Minudie ; and in the opposite or eastern direction, at several places nearly in a line between the Napan and Pugwash Harbour on the shore of Northumber- land Strait, where the limestone with its characteristic marine fossils is largely developed. Leaving in the meantime the rocks that lie to the northward of and under this limestone, we may take that part of it which appears near Minudie as the base of the Joggins section. Fol- lowing its direction across from Hebert River to the Joggins coast, we find there that it is overlaid conformably by a great series of sandstones and shales, which we shall now proceed to describe, just as we should see them if walking along the coast ; and if this process should seem at all tedious to the reader, I beg him to remember that this finely exposed series of beds furnishes the key which will enable us to under- stand the whole structure of the Coal formation of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick ; and further, that this key to facts so important both in geology and in reference to the economical value of the coal-fields, is now for the first time brought in a complete form before the general reader. Commencing at Seaman's Brook in Mill Cove, and taking Logan's CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF CUMBERLAND. 158 carefully detailed section as our guide, we see in the low cliff and in the shore-reefs beds of reddish and gray sandstone, alternating with red- dish shales or beds of hardened and laminated clay. In a few places we find among these beds layers of gypsum and of a coarse sandy limestone. In several of the gray beds there are fragments of trunks and branches of trees, converted into coal, and resembling, what they certainly once were, drift trees embedded in sand-banks. Associ- ated with these remains, we find in four of the beds small quantities of the gray sulphuret and green carbonate of copper, minerals intro- duced into these beds by waters holding sulphate of copper in solution, which the carbonaceous matter of the fossil wood has deoxidized, and thereby caused its deposition. Such appearances are not infrequent in beds containing fossil plants, but they have not hitherto been found to afford sufficient quantities of copper to be of any practical value. I may also remark here, in connexion with the occurrence of fossil plants in gray rather than in red beds, that in the coal formation, as in the modern marshes and peat-bogs already described, the presence of vegetable matter has often destroyed the red colour of beds tinged with . peroxide of iron, and hence the fossils are in some sense the cause of the gray colour of the beds in which they are found. Beds of th% kinds just described occupy the shore to a distance equal to 2308 feet, as ascertained by the careful measurements of each bed made by Sir W. E. Logan. I may remind the reader, that as these beds dip to the south-west, we are constantly proceeding from older to newer beds. In the succeeding 3240 feet of beds we find a similar series, with some additional features indicating our approach to the great masses of fossil vegetables entombed in the true coal measures which overlie them. There arc here nine seams of coal, all veiy thin, their total thickness being cnily ten inches ; and under each seam we observe a bed of clay or crumbling argillaceous sandstone, with remains of roots belonging to plants to be noticed hereafter, and which had much to do with the accumulation of the coal. We find also in this thick series of sandstones and shales several bands of hard black limestone, yielding a bituminous and almost animal smell when rubbed or struck, and containing abundance of little diamond-shaped plates with smooth and polished surfaces, which, if we are acquainted with the animals of the Coal period, we recognise as the scales of a singular tribe of fish, the Ganoids, of which numerous species aboimded in the Carboniferous period, but which are now represented in America only by the bony pikes of the Canadian lakes, and a few other fresh-water fishes. There is also in this part of the section a far greater prevalence of gray sand- ^stones than in the part previously noticed, and in these gray sandstones L i t 1 . i If 154 TUE CABDONIFEBOUS SYSTEM. are immense quantlticii of fossil plants, most of t'lem trunks of trees confusedly intermingled and flattened more or less by pressure ; others long cylindrical reed-like stems {Calamites)^ or immense creeping roots dotted all over with pits from wliich their rootlets sprang [Stigmarias). ]tn most of these fossils the bark is converted into hard shining coal, but the wood has decayed away, and the hollow cavity left within the bark, has been filled with sand now hardened into stone like that without. This is a distinct process from potrifacticm properly so called, in which the minute cells of the wood become so filled with mineral matter that the minutest parts of the stmcture are preserved. Some of the gray sandstones of this part of the section are of great thickness, and in them arc the most Important quarries of the Joggins grindstones, which are exported to all parts of the United States. These grindstones have been formed from beds of sand deposited in Buch a manner that the grains are of nearly unlfonn fineness, and they have been cemented together with just sufficient firmness to give cohesion to the stone, and yet to permit its particles to be gradually rubbed off by the contact of steel. A piece of grindstone may appear to be a very simple matter, but it is very rarely that rocks are 80 constituted as perfectly to fulfil these conditions, and hence the great demand for the Joggins stone. This part of the section suggests many interesting inquiries respect- ing the mode of formation of some of its beds, but I postpone these till we arrive at those portions which show coal measures, properly so called, on a somewhat larger scale. Proceeding along the coast, we find that the strata last described are overlaid by a series amounting to 2082 feet in vertical thickness, and differing from the last group of beds in containing fewer gray sandstones, no coal-seams or bituminous limestones, and comparatively few fossil plants, and these but imperfectly preserved. This series, then, consists in great part of reddish shales and reddish and gray sandstones. These, and indeed the greater part of the rocks com- posing the part of the section we have examined, must originally have consisted of beds of reddish sand and mud, spread over the bed of that ancient Carboniferous sea once tenanted by the shells of the Napan limestone, much in the same manner that layers of mud are now deposited in the Bay of Fundy. We have now, after passing over beds amounting altogether to the enormous thickness of 7636 feet, reached the commencement of the true coal measures, or that part of the section which was examined in detail by Sir Charles Lyell and the writer in 1852 and 1853. Owing to the comparative softness of the rocks of the last group described, mc'i m T CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP CUMBERLAND. 10ft they Imvo in innny places boon worn down nearly to the love! of the beach, so that tlioy cannot be very distinctly observed. Fortunately, however, just where the section becomes most interesting, the beds rise into a high cliff; and every one can be measured, and its mineral character and fossil contents observed, by any person who is content to labour diligently, and who is not too apprehensive that he may bo buried under the falling cliffy, which, especially in the spring and in stormy weather, often send down very threatening showers of stones, and sometimes terrible landslips. This portion of the section, then, I shall give in detail, as one of the best specimens in the world of that wonderful scries of fossiliferous beds constituting the great coal measures of the Carboniferous period ; but before doing so wo may complete this general view of the coast section. Proceeding along the coast from the Joggins Mines, wc find, toward Ragged Reef, coal measures still exposed, but with fewer and thinner beds of coal. At Ragged Reef there are again very important and valuable beds of grindstone. Beyond this all the way to Shoulie River, the coast shows sandstones and shales belonging to the Upper Coal Formation. In this we no longer find beds of coal ; red sandstones and shales become more abundant, and the gray sandstones become coarse and pebbly, holding rounded fragments of quartz and syenite similar to that of the Cobequid Mountains. Fossils are not abundant ; but Catamites, Sligmaria, Lepidodendra, and large petrified ti'unks of the pine tr^es of the coal formation, still appear. The general aspect of thest ds is, to a great extent, similar to that of the Mill- stone grit series, and this upper mass of barren coal measures may perhaps be defined to be the weight laid upon the coals to press thera into the required consistency. The whole coal formation and its accomp .liments may thus be compared to a huge botanical drying press. The millstone-grit is the lower board ; the true coal measures rer fesent the plants laid out between leaves of clay and sand instead of paper, and the Upper Coal Formation is the upper board and weight. Toward Shoulie River the dip of the beds diminishes to 5°, and beyond this little stream, which seems to be in the middle of the synclinal, the dips change to N.E. (North 10° E. was observed on the bank of the river), and the beds are repeated with these north-easterly dips, until at Apple River they finally rest against those old rocks of Cape Chiegnecto, which form the limit of the Cumberland trough in this direction. I have not visited Apple River; but from Mr Donald Fraser, an explorer who visited this place under my direction, I learn that at Mill Brook, south-east of Apple River, there is a bed of coal one inch in thickness, and dipping to the north at a small angle. It 'I ■ 11 ■ - ill - ----i 1 'M 1 P lUm i 166 THE CARBONIFEROUS 8YBTEM. is associated with coarse sandstoncH and conglomerate, and probably belongs to the Lower Coal Measures or Millstone-grit scries, the marine limestones being apparently al)sent. At least this is the interpretation I should bo inclined to put upon the appearances, in connexion with the fact that along the north side of the Cobcquids the marine Lower Carboniferous is either absent or overlapped by the higher members of the series in all the localities which I have explored. In the first edition of this work, I gave in detail the thickness of 2819 feet explored by Sir Charles Lyell and myself in 1852, omitting the rest. I think it better in the present edition to give a condensed view of the whole, dwelling more particularly on the constitution and accompaniments of the beds of coal, and adopting the numbers and divisions both of the general section of Sir W. E. Logan and of that contained in my paper on the South Joggins already referred to, and in a more recent paper on the " Conditions of Accumulation of Coal." In excuse for occupying so much space with such details, I may plead that this list presents perhaps the most minute anatomy of a coal- field ever given to the public ; and that the reader who takes the trouble to examine it with care, will thereby obtain a very accurate conception of the arrangement and accompaniments of beds of coal, and also of their probable mode of accumulation. The fossil plants and animals referred to are described in the chapters devoted to fossils. It will be observed that in this sectional view the order is descending, or the reverse of that followed in the above general sketch. Sectional Vieto of the Carboniferous Rocks exposed in the Coast of the South Joggins, Cumberland (order descending). The ^^ Divisions" and the numbers attached to the several beds of coal or " Coal groups " are those of Sir W. E. Logan's section of 1845. The numbers of " Subdivisions " in Roman numerals ai'e those of the author's section of 1852. Division 1. This extends along the coast from Shoulie River to the vicinity of Ragged Reef, being nearly horizontal at the former place and gradually assuming a decided south-west dip towards the latter. It is 1617 feet in vertical thickness, and constitutes the upper part of the " Upper Coal Formation." It occupies the centre of the great synclinal of the western part of the Cumberland coal area, and represents the newest beds of the Carboniferous system. The rocks are thick-bedded white and gray sandstones, passing in SOIIM! with Fo Ion m stone.' Cistii, Lepid< Fonr abund SKCTION OF Till: 80UTH JoaOINS. 157 some placcH into conglomerates with quartz pebbles, and intcrBtratified with reddish and chocolnto shales. The sandstones predominate. Fossils are not numerous in these beds. Those found are Dadoxy- Ion materiarium, of wliich there are many drifted trunks in the sand- stones, in a blackened and calcified condition, Calamites tSuckovii, C. Cistii, Calamodendron approximatuni, Lepidodendnm undulatum, Lepidophloioa parvus, and Stigmaria ficoides. As in the Upper Coal Formation of Pictou, trunks of Conifers and Calamites are the most abundant fossils. Dim'ion 2. This occurs at Ragged Reef and its vicinity. Its thickness is 650 feet. It constitutes the lower part of the Upper Coal Formation. The rocks arc white and gray sandstones with occasional reddish beds, and red and gray shales. The sandstones and shales are nearly in equal proportions. Undcrclays, or soils supporting erect plants, probably Sigillarice, occur at two levels. Fossils are not numerous. Those collected were Sigillaria scutellata and Stigmaria ficoides, Calamites Suckovii, Sphenopteris hymenophyl- loides, Alethopteris lonchitica, Cgclopteris heteropfiylla{f), Beinertia Ooepperti, and portions of the strobiles of two species of Lepidophloios, namely, LepidophyUian lanceulatum and L. trinerve. Division 3. This extends in descending order from the vicinity of Ragged Reef to M'Cairn's Brook. Its thickness is 2134 feet. It includes the upper part of the " Middle Coal Formation," and is perhaps equivalent, in part at least, to the Upper Coal Measures of Great Britain, and to the Upper Coal Formation of American authors. It includes 1009 feet of sandstone, almost all of which is gray, and 912 feet of gray and reddish wliale and clay. It contains 22 beds of coal, all of small thickness, and most of them of coarse quality. Below, I give each bed of coal in detail, with its roof and floor and its fossils ; and the intervening mechanical beds in brackets. The thickness of the roofs and floors is included in that stated for the intervening beds. (Carbonaceous shale, gray understonc, with Stigmaria Coal-group 1 , and gray shale) "flj argillaceous Hhale. 1 inch argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. ft. in. 7 1 The roof holds abundance of Alethopteris lonchitica. The coal is coarse and earthy, with much epidermal and bast w I'll M I' f-H' 158 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. tissue,* vascular bundles of ferns, and impressions of Sigillaria and Cordaites. It is a compressed vegetable soil or dirt-bed, resting on an argillaceous subsoil with rootlets of Stigmaria. Coal-group 2., (Gray and reddish sandstones and gray and red shales with ironstone nodules) ' Reddish argillaceous shale. Coal, 1 inch Carbonaceous shale, 4 inches Coal, 1 inch Reddish underclay, Stltjmaria. ft. In. les > . 281 6 d The coal is coarse, earthy, and shaly. fern stipes, and bast tissue. It contains Cordaites, (Reddish shale and gray sandstone, the latter seen in the cliff to thin out and give place to reddish shale) 53 idstone. inch reddish sandy understono, StUjmaria. The coal is coarse and shaly. No fossils were observed, except stumps and rootlets of Stigmaria in the underclay. Coa' shale) . . .60 ' Reddish gray shale. Coal and coaly shale, 8 inches. Gray argillaceous undcrclay, nodules of ironstone, and Stigmaria, 2 feet. Coal, stoiiy and compact, 2 inches . . . . 2 10 Gray argiUaccous undcrclay, Stigmaria. The roof-shale has obscure impressions of plants, apparently petioles of ferns. The upper coal is thinly laminated and full of leaves of Cordaites and ferns, among which is Alethopteria lonchitica. The lower coal is compact, resembling cannel, and has many vascular bundles of ferns. It seems to be composed of herbaceous matter macerated in water and mixed with mud. (Gray sandstone and shale with nodules of ironstone) 23 I Gray argillaceous shale. Coal-group 11 -< Coal, shaly, 3 inches .08 (Arenaceous undcrclay, Stigmaria. Coal-group 10.. .» I '■ ■MM ^A til' ! n 160 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. .[- IK s * '* An erect ribbed Sigillaria appears in the roof-shale. The coal contains many flattened SigillaricB, also Trigonocarpa, Cordaites, and vascular bundles of ferns. (Arenaceous nnderstone with ironstone nodules and iStigmaria, and carbonaceous shale) ( Carbonaceous shale. doal-group 12 -! Coal, 1 inch. Carbonaceous shalo, 8 inches. Coal, 2 inches. Gray shale, 1 foot 7 inches. Coal, 8 inches 4 10 Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof contains obscure flattened plants. The coal is hard or shaly, with vascular bundles of ferns and bast tissue. The carbonaceous shales yield Cordaites borassifulia, Alethopteria lonchitica, Calamites, Sigillaria, and Cypcrites. The gray shale I i ( I r I \ I , i * : 'H 1^^; 164 THE CAKBONIFEKOU8 SYSTEM. parting has erect stumps, apparently of iiigillaria. The upper shales and coals are very pyritous, and decompose when exposed to the wenther — an indication that sea- water had access to these beds while the vegetable matter was still recent. XXVI. Coal-group 5 . . ft. in. [(Gray argillaceous sandstone and red and gray shale, with two Stiginarian soils. Footprints, probably of Dendrerpcton, and rain-marks occur in these beds; and it was in one of them that Mr Marsh discovered the vertebrse of Eosaurua Acadianm) 82 XXV. ' Bitummous limestone, 2 feet. Coal, 4 inch. Argiilo-arenaceous clay, Stujmaria, 6 inches. Coaly shale, ^ inch. Gray argiilo-arenaceous shale, ironstone nodules, Sliginaria, 1 foot 6 inches. Coalt/ shale, 1 inch. Gray shale, ironstone nodules, Stlffiuaria, 2 ft. 6 in. Coal, 6 inches 7 2 Argiilo-arenaceous underclay, Stirjmaria. The bituminous limestone of the roof contains Naiadites carbonarius and N. elongatus, fish-scales, and cyprids. The upper layer of coal contains impressions of Sigillaria and Lepi- dodendron, on some of which arc shells of Spirorbis. It has epidermal tissues, vascular bundles of fenis, and reticulated vessels. The coaly shales are of the nature of coarse coals, but with numerous thin layers of shaly matter. The lower coal contains petioles of ferns and Cordaites matted together, and numerous Cardiocarpa. The two thick. clay partings and the underclay are Stigmarian soils. xxiv. (Gray sandstone and chocolate and gray shales, with two Stigmarian soils) 147 XXIII. Coal group 6.. Carbonaceous shale, passing downward into bitu- minous limestone, 1 foot 10 inches. Coal, 4 inches 2 2 Argiilo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof contains Naiadites carbonarius, Cythere, Spirorbis, fish-scales, and coprolites. The coal is hard and laminated, and has on its surfaces leaves of Cordaites and vascular bundles of ferns. It is remarkable for containing scattered remains of a number of species of fishes belonging to the genera Ctenop- laria. t SECTION OF THE SOUTH JOQOINB. 166 (t. in. 30 6 6 tychius, Diplodits, Palceoniscus, and Rhizodus. The underclay has rootlets of Stigmaria, and the bed below this has large roots of the same. (Gray sandstone and shale, the latter with nodules of ironstone. Erect trees at one level) ' Gray shale. Coal, 10 inches. Carbonaceous shale and coal, 7 iuchos. Coal -group 7 ■{ Coal, 2 feet 1 inch. Carbonaceous shale, 1 foot 6 inches.* Coal, 1 foot 6 inches _ Gray argillo-arenaccoua underclay, Stigmaria, This is the bed worked at the Joggins as the " Main Seam ;" and I believe that it improves somewhat in mining it inward from the shore. The roof has afforded Sigillaria catenotdes and other species, Alethopieris lonchitica, Cordaites borassifolia, Lepidodendron elegans, Trigonocarpa, Naiadites, Spirorbis, Cythere, fragments of insects. (?) The mineral charcoal con- tains bast tissue, scalariform, epidermal, and cellular tissues. In the compact part of the coal there is dense cellular and epidermal tissue. The roof is especially rich in Cordaites, sometimes with Spirorbis adherent. (Gray sandstone and shale, with many ironstone noilules in the shale, and erect Sigillaria and un- derclays at five levels. One of the latter has large stumps of Stigmaria and a thin coaly layer resting on it) 08 Gray shale with noilules of ironstone. Coal, 2 inches. Gray shale, 4 inches. Coal, 3 inches. Carbonaceous shale, 1 foot 3 inches. Coal, 1 inch. Argillaceous shale, ironstone nodules, 4 feet. Coal, 1 foot 7 1 Dark argillo-arenaceous underclay, ironstone no- dules, and Stigmaria. The roofs of the first and second beds in this group are among the richest in fossils in the Joggins section. They have afforded Pecopteris lonchitica, Cyclopteris, Cyperites, Cordaites borassifolia,CardiocarpumJluitans, Sigillaria elegans, Lepidophloios Acadianus, Lepidodendron undidatinn, Pinnu- laria, Trigonocarpa, etc. ; also Diplostylus Dawsoni,-\ Euryp- terus, Cythere, Naiadites, and Spirorbis attached to plants. The * Thins in mining to the N. E. The details of this seam have been corrected in this edition from a late report by Mr Rutherford, t Salter, Quart. Journ. Ueol. Soc., vol. xix. p. 77. it J Coal-group 8. ft- ** ^- 4-:i t « IP Wm I I' 166 THE CAnnONIFEROUS SYSTEM. lower coal, called locally the " Queen's Vein," has in its min- eral charcoal bast-cells, uniporous, rariporous, anil multiporous wood-cells, Bcalcarifonn vessels, epidermal tissue, and vascular bundles of ferns, also stipes of ferns and bark of Sigillaria. The mineral charcoal occurs principally in a thick layer near the bottom of the bed. Its roof has trunks of Lcpidophloios^ Lepidodendron, and Sigillaria, fossilized by carbonate of iron. The upper part of the lowest undcrclay is dark and carbon- aceous, with Stigmarian rootlets. XXII. „ , ft. in. (Gray sandstones, gray and chocolate shales with ironstone nodules; three underclavB and erect Calamiles Had Sigillaria in thrcii heas) . . . 110 XXI. C Gray shale and ironstone notlules. Coal-gronp 9 -< Coni and coaly shale, 1 foot 3 inches . . .18 (_ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmai-ia. The roof contams erect Sigillarice, Sligniaria, Calamiles, and Cordaites. The coaly shale has fern-stipes and Cordaites. The coal itself is coarse and shaly, and has a layer of mineral charcoal containing bast and epidermal tissue. There are also in the coal remains of Calamites and Cordaites, and fragments, possibly, of insects. (Gray and reddish shales with nodules of clay-iron- stone, and gray and reddish sandstone. One un- derclay supporting a coaly film, and erect trees at two levels) 28 6 ■ Chocolate shale. Coal and coaly shale, 2 inches. Coal-group 10 ■ Coaly shale, 6 inches. CcKil, 4 inclies 10 Avgillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The upper coal contains flattened Sigillaria; and Stigmaria. The lower bed is hard and unequal, with curved laminae and obscure traces of petioles of ferns. The mineral charcoal has bast and scalariform tissues. XX. (Red and gray shales and gray sandstones. Calamites in one bed. Four undcrclays) XIX. Erect r Chocolate shale. Coal-group 11 -< (7oaZ and coaly shale, 8 inches . . . . (^ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof has Cordaites, Calamites, and rootlets. The coal contains much mineral charcoal with the structure of dense 78 C 8 Coal-e -m I> 'I \ SECTION OF TUE SOUTU J0GGIN8. aporous bast tissue; it also contains Cyperites and many vascular bundles of ferns, with flattened trunks of Sigillaria. (Gray sandstones and argillaceous shale. Erect trees at two levels) TGrav shale. Coal-group 12 -< Coal and coaly shale, 1 foot (_ Argillaceous underclay, ironstone, and Stigmaria. The roof contains erect Sigillaria and Calamites, also Cor- daites with Spirorbis attached, and Lepidodendron. The coal has in one layer much Cordaitcs, m others it includes an immense number of specimens of Bporangites papillata ; it has also bast tissue, epidermal tissue, and discigerous tissue. (Shale and sandstone, penetrated by Stigmarian root- lets, and containing in one of the shales Lepido- 167 ft In. 37 1 13 6 dendroyi, Sigillaria, and Carpolithea) ( Gray shale. Coal-group 13 -< Coat and coaly shale (^ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof has much Cordaites. The shaly portions of the coal contain Sigillaria elegans^ Alcthopteris lonchitica, Cor- daites borassifolia, Lepidodendron, Diplotcgium, Trigonocarpum, Stigmaria, and Sporangitcs glabra, also vascular bundles of ferns and bast tissue. xvin. (Gray and red shales and gray sandstone ; one of the latter with erect Calamites and Sigillarice. One underclay) 60 4 XVII. ( Gray shale. Coal-group 13a.... •< Coa/, 8 inches (^ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof has Cordaites and many decayed stipes. coal has Cordaites and vegetable fragments. XVI. 8 The (A very thick sandstone with shales. Erect Cala- mites, footprints of reptiles, and rain-marks) 67 XV. Coal-group 14 Gray shales with ironstone. Com, 3 inches. Coaly shale, 2 inches. Coal, 3 inches. Underclay, Stipmaria, 6 feet. Coaly iihale, 4 inches. Underclay, Stigmaria, 1 foot. Coaly shale, 8 inches. Coal, 5! inches . . . . . . , 8 10 Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria, and iron- stone. »i^; ni In s ft? It';' I i^'! 168 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. On the roof of the upper coal was a fine ribbed Sigillaria with Stigmarian roots. In the roof and shaly partings are Sigillaria Brownii, S. Schlolheimiana, and other species, Stigmaria, Lepido- dendron, Calamiles, Curdaites, Sporangites glabra, Alcthopteria lonchitica, Sphenopteris lati/olia, Pinnularia, and Cyperites ; also CytherCy Naiadilcs, and fragments of reptilian (?) bones. The coal is pyritous, and exhibits impressions of the bark of Sigillaria ; it contains also bast tissue, scalariform tissue of Sigil- laria and multiporous tissue of Sigillaria and Calamudendron. (Sandstone and shale, erect Calamites and Sigillaria with Stigmaria. The erect trees coiittiin reptilian remains of the genera Dendrerpeton, IJylononius, and Ilylerpelon; also Pupa vetusta, Xylobius Hig- illariie, and remains uf insects) .... f Coaly shale. Coal-group 15 •< Coal, G inches 1^ Arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The erect trees above mentioned are rooted in the roof of this coal. It contains Cyperites, Lcpidophylla, Trigonocarpa of two species, Sphenophyllum, Alethopteris lonchitica, Cordaites, and Asterophyllites. There are shells of Spirorbis on some of the plants. The coal contains layers of bark of Sigillaria and leaves of Cordaites, and much bast tissue, with scalariform, uniporous, and reticulated tissues, probably of Sigillaria. (Sandstones and shales; erect Calamites and Stig- maria) ( Gray shale. Coal-group 15a. ...-< CooZ, 4 inches (^ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof C' utains Calamites, Sigillaria, Alethopteris lonchitica, Pinnularia, Lepidodendron, Cyperites, Sporangites, and Spiror- bis. One Sigillaria extends 30 feet without branching. The roof supports an erect tree. The coal is filled with flattened stems of Sigillaria lying in different directions, also flattened Lepidodendra ; and in its mineral charcoal it has beautiful porous and scalariform tissues. ft. In. 10 6 21 4 Coal-c U ti IP XIV. (Gray sandstone and gray and red shales. Many prostrate trunks of Sigillaria and Lepidodendron, one underclay, and erect trees at one level) ' Shale with the aspect of underclay. Coal and coaly shale 6 inches .... Argillo-arenaceous underclay, ironstone, and Stig- maria, This bed was not well exposed, and afforded no fossils. Coal-group 16. 68 6 SECTION or THE SOUTH JOaOINS. 169 Coal-group 17. ^»«rny miiiiiHi ( (Sray sliiiic. .-< C'oiU mid coi (_ Argillo-iiruii ft. 25 In. 6 Coal-group 19., (Oray RniidHtono and shale with ono uiidcrclay) sliiiio. ;oaly shnlo 3 inches . . . .03 uiiucuouH uiidurcluy, Stiijinaria. Tlio roof lias vegetable fniginciits and Cordaitcs. The coal ia hard and coarse, and contains flattened broad-ribbed Sigil' laria, Cordaitcs, and va.scular bnndles of ferns. (Shalo and flandstuno, erect trees at one level) . .313 xiir. Coal-group 18 ■< Coat 8 inches 8 (_ Argillo-arenaccoiis underclay. The roof has an erect Sigillarin. The coal ia slialy and lami- nated. It contains much Cordaitcs, also Lcpidudendron, Ca- tamites, and Alcthopteris lonchilica. In ono layer there are Naiaditcs, Spirurbis, and scales of fishes. (Gray sandstone and shale in several beds, Stig- mnria) " . 29 Arfjilliiceous slmlo. ('(Hily nhale, 4 ftict. Bituminous liniuHtonc, 2 feet 6 inches. Coal, 1 inch 6 7 The roof has Naiaditcs, scales and teeth of fishes, Cijthere, and Spirorbis. The coal is hard and coarse, with vascular bundles of ferns and prostrate Sigillarice. (Shale and sandstone) 20 6 i Coal// shale, 1 foot. Coal-group 20 ■<. Bituminous limestone, 1 foot 6 inches, { Coal and clay partings, 2 feet 4 inches . . . 4 10 The roof has Naiaditcs, Spirorbis attached to plants, and small rhombic fish-scales. The coal alternates with limestone at the top, and contains remains of Sigillaria, Sporangitcs, and vascular bundles of ferns. (Sandstone, and gray and black shalo with coaly layers) 21 ( Gray shale and calcareo-bituniinous shale. Coal-group 21 4 Coal, 10 inches . , , , . . . 10 |_ Argillaceous underclay, Uliymaria. > The roof has obscure vegetable fragments and Naiaditcs. The coal contains vascular bundles of fems, bast tissue, unipcrous cells, and scalariform and reticulated vessels. (Gray sandstone and shale. Two uuderclays) ( Gray shale. Coal-group 22 ■< Coal and coaly shale, 2 inches { Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. This bed was not well exposed. 20 i \ I i iM f 'i 170 TllK CAKBONIFEKOUti BY8TKM. 1,1 1 \\ (HnndHtono and Hlialc, with ono cruet troo and two rt. in. undorclayn) 12 ' Coaly and gray iihale. Vnal and coaly ftliale, 4 inchofl. Coil-group 23 J. liituininouH limoAtnne, 4 inchori. Coal and coaly Hhalu, 7 iiiclum . . . .13 Argillo-arunacoouR iindordny, Sligmnria. Tho roof has an erect tree, also Cordaites mid Spirorbia. T'.ie shalo and bituniinouH limestone contain Sigillaria and Leptdopfiloion, also many largo furrowed trunks, probably old Sigillarice or Lepidodendra. XII. (Sandstone, slialc, and calcarco-bituminotiii hHaIc, with three undurclays) 26 ( C-alcaren bituininoiiH hIihIo. Coal-group 24 -^ C'wrt/ and coaly Bhalc, I inch 1 (_ Argillo-arenaccous underclay, Sligmaria, This bed was not exposed. (Underclay and shalo) 5 ( Gray Hlmle. Coal-group 25 ■< Coal and coaly t and (lifTeroiit kindrt of Hcalariform and opidormal tin-sueH, In the lower bed is a coaly Htump and an irrugular layer of mineral charcoal, arising apparently from the decay of similar , Htumps. Coal-group 29., (Clray and cnrbonacoons Hhalc and gray Bandntone) ' Unclerclay, Stiijinaria. Coal, nncf colli V nlmlo, 5 feet 'Jndcrclay, <) i\xi. Coal, conly Hliiilt;, and ironstone, 6 foot. Coal, 4 feet . . 21 Argillaceous uudcrclay, Slii/jtiaria. This is a group of unusually thick beds, indicating long quiescence. The roof includes laminaj of coal, some of them composed of the bark of Sigtllaria catenotdes, also an erect Stffillaria rooted in the coal below. The coal and coaly shale exhibit remains of SiffUlan'a, Cordnites, LepiKiopht/Uum, and Cyperitea ; and one layer has many hard pyritizcd fragments of wood. The mineral charcoal has vascular bundles of fems, coarse scalnriform tissue, and porous tissue. The nndeiciny rests on a bed with Naiadites. ft. tn. 29 (Underclay, Sllgmaria, and gray and carbonaceous slialos) ( Shale ami coaly layers. Coal-group 29a.... •< (,'««/, 4 feet . . ( Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof has obscure fragments of plants and stumps in the state of mineral charcoal. The coal shows impressions of flat- tened trunks, probably Sigillarice. This coal contains a great variety of tissues, especially bast and scalariform of different kinds, and epidermal. My measurements in this part of the section differ somewhat from those of Sir W. E. Logan, who, I suppose, had not a good opportunity of examining the two la.st coals. The coal '29a is now mined by an adit from the shore, called the " New Mine." (Sandstone and shale. One sandstone has many large erect Sigillaricc, some of them with rough and furrowed bark) ' Argillaceous shale and ironstone. Coal, 4 inches. Underclay, dark-coloured, 2 feet. Coal and coaly shale, 2 inches. Coal, 3 inches. Coaly shale, 2 inches. Coal, 1 inch Soft argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof has bark of Sigillaria preserved in ironstone. The coal is pyritous, and consists of layers of mineral charcoal Coal-group 30.. 18 4 35 r \ IP \ ^ Uj 172 THE CARDON1FEK0U3 SYSTEM. 1^ alt' ' •'ting with bright coal; it has obscure impressions of plants and bast tibsuu in tho mineral charcoal. X. (Gray shalo and sandstone. One undcrclay, and erect C if the sand had been prevented from drifting away by a tree or stump. (Reddish and gray sandstones and shales, witli th^ee or more underchiys, having their coal_j lajrra holding Siy'dlarkt. Erect SigillarUc at two levels) ' Underclay, with ironstone and Stigmaria. Coal, and coaly shale, 2 inches. Coal-group 34 -i Underclay, with ironstone and Stigmaria, 4 feet. Coal, and coaly shale, 2 inches .... Argillo-arenaceoiis underclay, Stigmaria. Only ob,scurc vegetable fragments were observed. (Gray and reddish sandstono and shale, with Stig- maria) 13 10 { Underclay with Stigmaria. Coal-group 35 -< Coaly ghalr, 3 \:\c\via 3 ( Ued and greenish underclay, a few rootlets. The coaly shale contains many leaves o( Cordaites borassifolia. (Red, gray, and dark shale, sandstone, and bitu- minous limestone. Three underclays and erect trees at one level)* 6'< 9 IX. i Bituminous limestone. Coaly shale and ('oal, 3 inches. Reddish shale and ironstone, 2 feet 6 inches. Cual, 3 inches . . . . . . .30 (^ Argillaceous underclay, Utigmaria. Tlie roof has Stigmaria in situ, and has been a soil or underclay. It also contains Cythere, fish- scales, coprolites, and Spirurbis. In the upper coaly shale are prostrate car- bonized trunks. (Reddish and gray shale, sandstone, and bituminous limestone) 21 G ' Bituminous limestone and shale. Coal, 4 inches. Underclay, 1 foot (> inches. Coal, 6 inches. Coal-group 37 ■< Underclay, 1 foot. Bituminous limestone, 3 inches. Shale, 3 inches. Coal, 1 inch 3 U Underclay with Stigmaria. * The lower 22 feet are inclut'od in Subdivision IX. of my former Sectiun. i \ I' m If- I '1'! 174 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. The roof has Stigmaria, also fish-scales, Natadites, and Cythere. The shales are pyritized. The coal shows only obscure fragments of plants; but Sigillarice in the state of ironstone occur in some of the clays. VIII. (Red and gray sandstone and shale. Two under- f- in- cla^s. Many shells of Fupa vetusta and Conulua priscus occur in one of these, about 42 feet below the last coal) 83 vn. Calcareo-bituminous shale. Coal, 1 inch. Bituminous limestone, 6 inches. Coal, 2 inches. Underclay passing into cliocolate shale, Stigmaria. The bituminous limestone and shale contain Cythere, Naia- dites elongatus and N. carbonarius, coprolites, Sjiirorbis, and Stigmaria. The lower coal has Sigillaria elegans, S. scutel- lata{?), S. Bruwnii, Alethopteris lonchitica, Cordaites borassi- folia, and vascular bundles of ferns. VI. (Red and gray shales and sandstones, and one gray limestone with Cythere. One underclay. Many drift trunks, among which are Sigillaria and Lepidophloios) 123 6 Coal-group 38., f Red and gray shale, with ironstone, pi <\Q J C't'a^ i inch ....... oa -group <, Qj^^y underclay, with Stigmaria, resting on bitu- [ niinous limestone, with Stigmaria and Cytliere. This thin coal consists of a layer of flattened trunks, pro- bably of Sigillaria, with a quantity of mineral charcoal. Coal-group 40 - rv. (Red and gray shales. One bed with erect Catamites, another with erect Sigillaria) .... III. Gray shale and ironstone. Bituminous limestone and shale, with coaly films, 7 inches. Underclay, 1 foot. Coal, 1 inch. Coaly shale, 3 inches. Underclay, 1 foot. Bituminous limestone, 6 inches. Coal and coaly shale, 2 incites .... Argillaceous luiderclay, ironstone, and Stigmaria. Oi 65 4 3 7 ^ '. ! ft. In. 6 8 4 SECTION OP THE POUTH JOOQINS. 176 The bituminous limestone and shale have Naiadites, Cythere, Spirorbis, scales of fishes, and coprolites, and a large spine of Gyracanthus, also roots of Stigmaria. The upper underclay holds carbonized erect trunks. The lower coal has vascular bundles of ferns and Cordaites. The roof supports erect stumps. (Underclay, with ironstone nodules) ( Underclay as above. Coal-g^oup 41 -< Calcareo-Dituminous shale and films of Coal . (_ Argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. Tlie bituminous limestone has Naiadites carbonarius, Cythere, coprulites, and Spirorbis. The roof has prostrate Sigillarice converted into coaly layers. The underclay has distinct stumps of Stigmaria. (Shales with Stigmaria and ironstone, sandstones, bituminous limestone, and carbonaceous shale at bottom) 14 4 Bituminous limestone. Coal, .3 inches. iShale, 1 foot. Coal-group 42 ■{ Coal, 1 foot. Underclay, Stigmaria, 1 foot. Coal, 2 inches 3 5 Dark argillaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The roof contains Naiadites, Cythere, and coprolites. The coal is coarse, pyritous, and shaly, and has bark of Sigillaria, Catamites, and vascular bundles of ferns. It seems to be the edge of a bed, as it thins rapidly in the direction of the bank, or to the east. II. (Reddish shale and sandstone with one underclay) ( Reddish underclay with Stiginaria. Coal-group 43 ■< Coalu shale, I in(A\ { Reddish underclay, Stigmaria. This bed diminishes to a mere film towards the bank. 35 1 i. '• I"; 1 ^ » 1 ' \ f I '' Coal-group 44 - (Reddish, gray, and dark shales and sandstone, Stig- maria in some beds, and erect Sigillarice, Lcpido- (leiulra, (?) and Calamites at one level) . . 63 ' Gray shale with ironstone. Bituminous limestoueaud shale with ironiitone, 10ft. 1 in. Coal, ^ inch. Bitumuious limestone, Stigmaria, J inch. Coal, 5 inches. Bituminous limestone, Stigmaria, 2 inches. Coal, 1 inch. Bituminous limestone, Stigmaria, 2 inches. Coal, ^ inch 11 J Argillo-arenaceous underclay, traces of rootlets. ri ip apw ■— -«Wi 176 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. iii.i K^ W il The bituminous limestone has scales of fishes, Spiroriis, and Cythcre. The coal has Cordaites and vascular bundles of ferns. (Red and gray sandstone and shalo. One underclay, and erect Calamites at one level) .... Reddish shale. Carbonaceous shale, 10 inches. ft. in. 98 6 Coal-gronp 45., Coaly matter, ^ inch. Hard underclay, Sligmaria, 2 feet. Coaly matter, | inch. Underclay, SUgmaria, 7 feet. Coal, 3 inches Arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. In the roof of the lower coal is an erect tree. The coal has vascular bundles of ferns, remains of fern-leaves, and bast tissue. The underclay has many coaly films, apparently flattened bark of trees. Reddish and gray sandstone and shalo . 10 2 5 6 Total thickness of Division 4, according to Logan's measurements 2539 1 Division 5. This consists of reddish shales and red and gray sandstones. It contains no coal, and is poor in fossils, only a few drifted trunks appearing in the section. It corresponds to the upper part of the Millstone-grit series. Its thickness, according to the measurements of Sir W. E. Logan, is 2082 feet. Division 6. This may be regarded as the middle of the Millstone-grit series. It constitutes a sort of false coal formation, scpai'ated from the Middle Coal Formation by the baiTcn beds of Division 5. It contains nine small or rudimentary coal-beds, which, however, are not well seen in the section, and have afforded few facts of interest. It has many thick and coarse sandstones and much red shale, with comparatively few dark-coloured beds. Its total thickness is stated by Sir W. E. Logan at .3240 feet. Though this group contains little coal, it is to be observed that it has many undcrclays, indicating soils which supported forests of Sigillaria, and that erect Sigillarice occur very near the base of the division. The absence of important beds of coal is therefore due to the local physical conditions, and not to the want of the necessaiy vegetation. (Sandstones and shales with many drifted trunks of ft- 'n- Dadoxyhn) 539 7 ' Blackish gray shale. Calcareous shale, 1 foot Coal-group I < Black shale, 3 feet. Coaly shale, 2 inches 4 2 Argillo-arenaceoua underclay, Stigmaria. C( Co sen Coa Coal Coal- Coal- Tl Cyth mucl mine Coal- SECTION OF THE SOUTH JOGQINS. (Red and gray sandstone and shale and concretionary ft. in. liinestonu, trunks of Dadoxylon and other trees. One underclay) 160 1 ( Gray sliale. C!oal-group 2 ■< Coaly sJiale, I inch 1 ( KcduiHh and gray underclay, Stigmaria. (Scries of iinderclays with Stigmaria, The beds arc reddish or gray, and arenaceous) . . . .19 1 Reddish shale. Coaly shale, 1 inch. Greenisli sliale, C inches. Coaly xliide, 1 inch. Coal-group 3 \ Greenish shale, 2 feet 6 inches. Coaly shale, 3 inches. Greenish shale, 1 inch. Coal and coaly shale, 3 inches . . . .39 Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria, Tlie coal contains bast tissue and reticulated, porous, and scalariform tissues of Sigillaria and Calamodendron, (Series of underclay s as before) . . . . 12 ( Underclay, Stigmaria, Coal-group 4 -< Co«i and coaly shale, 3 inches . . . .03 (^ Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria, (Series of underclays as before) . . . , 24 ( Gray shale. Coal-group 5 ■< Coaly matter, ^ inch ^ (^Greenish underclay, Stigmaria, (Underclay and sandstone, the latter with an erect Sigillaria) . . _ 10 ( Sandstone (erect Sigillaria as above). Coal-group 6 -< Coaly shale, finches 3 (^ Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. (Fifteen feet of underclay, under which a thick sand- stone with great quantities of drifted trunks of Da- doxylon and Sigillaria. Helow this alternations of gray and red sandstone and shale) . . . 210 10 ' Gray sandstone. Bituminous limestone, 3 inches. Gray shale, 3 feet. Gray limestone, 2 inches. Coal-group 7 -l Coaly shale, G inches. Uitnniiiious limestone, 3 inches. Coaly shale, 1 foot. Coal, 1 inch 5 3 Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stigmaria. The lower bituminous limestone contains Naiad'des ovalts, Cythere, and scales of Lepidoid fishes. The lower coal has much Cyperites and bark of Sigillaria, also bast tissue in mineral charcoal. (Thick beds of gray sandstone and gray shale, with drifted trunks of Dadoxylon, Sigillaria, and Ca- lamites and leaves of Cordaites) .... 532 { Gray shale. Coal-group 8 < Coal, ^ inch J (^ Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Sligmaria. i I \ I ! 178 THE CAKBON I FERGUS SYSTEM. This coal is laminated, the laminae being bark of Sigillarice. The underclay is very rich in Stigmaria. (Gray sandstone with gray and red Bhalo. Many ft- drifted trunks of Su/illaria and Calamites, and an erect Slgillaria in the lowest bed of sandstone) 1224 f Gray shale. (3i»l-?ronD J ^'""'.V ""*''er and carbonaceous shale '° ^ I Argillo-arenaceous underclay, Stit/niaria, and iron- |_ stone. (Gray and red sandstone and shale and calcareous bands, some of them bituminous. Near the middle a thick band of lauiinated black shale witli Xnia- dites lievis, Cijperites, and Lepidostrohus. Drifted Calamites in the sandstones) .... 496 4 in. 2 3240 9 Total thickness, according to Logan Division 7. This division consists principally of red and chocolate shales with red and gray sandstone, arenaceous conglomerates, and tliin beds of concretionary Umestone. It may be regarded as the base of the Millstone-grit formation. Its thickness is stated by Sir W. E. Logan at 650 feet. No fossilSj other than carbonized fragments of plants, have been found in this division. Division 8. This division consists of reddish shales with greenish and i-ed sand- stone, gray shale, gray compact limestone, and gypsum. It may be regarded as the upper part of the Lower Carboniferous formation ; and almost immediately under its lowest beds there are marine lime- stones witli Productus cora and other characteristic Lower Carbon- iferous fossils. Only fragments of plants, often replaced by sulphurct of copper, have been found in tliis division. Its thickness is stated by Logan at 1658 feet. The number of coals reckoned may vary according to the manner in which the several layers are grouped ; but as arranged in the above sectional list, it amounts to eighty-one in all. Of these, 23 are found in DivLsion 3 of Logan's section, being the upper member of the Middle Coal Formation ; 49 are found in Division 4 of Logan's section, being the lower member of the Middle Coal Formation ; 9 occur in Division 6 of Logan's section, or in the equivalent of the Millstone-grit. n\ )i)er, jogaii ■ the V'- 1 i { \ A I.: ' f H Si! I^Ht . rill f[^' 179 /l^. W- • .f r t' I ' CHAPTER XII. THE CAUDONIFEKOUS HY»TEH- Continued. CUMBERLAND COAL-FIELD, Continued — EXPLANATION OF JOOOINS SECTION ANIMAL REMAINS OF THE COAL MEASURES. Explanatory Remarks on the Joggins Section. In tho section in the preceding chapter the reader will observe the words " Undcrclay, Stigmaria," frequently recurring ; and over nearly every underclay is a seara of coal. An underclay is technically the bed of clay which underlies a coal-seam ; but it has now become a general term for a fossil soil, or a bed which once formed a terrestrial surface, and supported trees and other plants ; because we generally find these coal underclays, like the subsoils of many modern peat-bogs, to contain roots and trunks of trees which aided in the accumulation of the vegetable matter of the coal. The underclays in question are accordingly penetrated by innumerable long rootlets, now in a coaly state, but retaining enough of their form to enable us to recognise them as belonging to a peculiar root, the Stigrtmria, of very fre- quent occurrence in the coal measures, and at one time supposed to have been a swamp plant of anomalous form, but now known to have belonged to an equally singular tree, the Sigillaria, found in the same deposits (Fig. 30). The Stig)naria has derived its name from the regularly arranged pits or spots left by its rootlets, which proceeded from it on all sides. The Sigillaria has been named from the rows of leaf-scars which extend up its trunk, which in some species is curiously ribbed or fluted. One of the most remarkable peculiarities of the stigmaria-rooted trees was the very regular arrangement of their roots, which are four at their departure from the trunk, and divide at equal distances successively into eight, sixteen, and thirty-two branches, each giving off, on all sides, an immense number of rootlets, stretching into the beds around, in a manner which shows that these must have been soft sand and mud at the time when these roots and rootlets spread through them. It is evident that, when we find a bed of clay now hardened into { \ \ 'I i (m^ if 180 THE CARDONIt'EROUS SYSTEM. stone, and containing the roots and rootlets of these plants in their natural position, wc can infer, 1st, that such beds must once have been Fig. 30. — Sum, Leaf -tears, and SH^mnr' liooU of SujUlaria — South, Joggint. (o) (ft) W W (a) Sigitlarin Ilrowvii.— Stem reduced. (6) Portion, natural size, near the top, (e) Do. do., near tlic I)a8e. (d) Portion oCStigmaria root, natural Bizo, with scars of rootlets. in a very soft condition ; 2dli/, that the roots found in them were not drifted, but grew in their present positions ; in short, that these ancient roots are in similar circumstances with those of the recent trees that underlie the Amherst marshes. In corroboration of this, we shall find, in farther examination of this section, that while some 1 ^ if! m HXI'LANATION OF JOOOINS SECTION. 181 of these fossil soiln support coals, others support erect trunks of trees connected with their roots ami still in their natural position. IJelicviiig the undcrclays to have been soils, wo find similar reasons to coiiclutlc tiuit the ciml-Heanis were originally vegetable matter, which accumulated in the manner of peat ; and on examining the coal minutely, wo often find distinct evidences tiiat it is composed in part of woody fragmentu, sometimes retaining their structure in sufficient perfection to enable the kind of wood to which thoy belonged to be ascertained. ThesD appearances are most distinctly seen in the coarser and more impure coals, and in the bands of clay and ironstone which occur within the coal-scams. In the more pure coals, the vegetable matter hast sometimes been reduced by chemical change and pressure into an almost homogeneous mass. It will be observed that in the section I have indicated the kinds of vegetable matter which may be observed in the several coals ; and I shall have occasion to return to this subject in the sequel. The lowest coal-bod in Group 44, Subdivision T, Division 4, of the above section, has an underclay or soil four feet in depth, and sup- porting a layer of vegetable mould which has been compressed into half an inch of coal. Above the coal rcslo a very different description of rock, one of those hard dark-coloured limestones already referred to. It is filled Avith innumerable little shells of minute crustaceous animals of the genus Ci/therc, the modern representatives of which reside in countless numbers in ponds and river estuaries and in the sea, and are most voracious devourers of dead animal substances. Our coal-bog therefore became, from some cause, probably subsidence, a pond or lagoon, in which Ct/therc and other aquatic animals must have existed for some time before their remains could accumulate in sufficient quantity to form these two inches of hard bituminous lime- stone. The C7y//iere-inhabitcd waters, however, were dried up, and on the rich marly soil grew anotlior forest, whose rootlets may be seen finely preserved in the limestone ; and the result was a thicker seam of coal than the first, succeeded by other limestones and coals, and then by a considerable thickness of shales and bituminous limestones, in which we find not otdy the Cythcre, but the scales of small fishes, bivalve shells {Naiadites)* allied to the common mussel, and a small whorled shell {Spirorbis carbonarius) resembling those now found adhering to the seaweeds of the shore (the common Spirorbis spirillum) Fig. 31. The bituminous limestones containing these remains, alternate with shales indicating that irruptions of mud partially filled up, at different times, the waters in which calcareous * Anthracomya and Anthracoptera of ijalter. 1' \ ^ T 1H2 THE CAKnONIFKKOUS BYSTKM. beds were being gradually nccnmulfttcrl by the growth and death of animals. In the highest (»f these beds of mud, which probably restored Fig. 31. — FosnU /mm nituminous Liuutiune— Jogijina. A. #. CypriH, (a) natural alze. SplrorblM, (a; imturul Hizo. «i (^> NaladitPH.' Ganoid Bcaloa. the whole area to the state of a swamp, trees took root and were buried by an irruption of sand, in which they, as well as an under- growth of Calamiles, .still stand in an erect position. I have dwolt at some length on this subdivision, not that there is anything very remarkable in its structure, but that its appearances will help to explain others that succeed. It is evident that when read in the light of modern geology, they tell a very intelligible tale, and show us that the circumstances in which these coal-rocks were formed were similar to tho.se which wo have found to exist on a small scale in the modern marshes of the Bay of Fundy ; and also to those more extensive changes which occur in the deltas of great rivers, such as the Mississippi and the Ganges, in which low alluvial flats have often been alternately covered with water and with a dense swamp-vege- tation. Let the reader also observe, that in this group of the Joggins beds, we have at least five successive ^oil-.surfaccs, four of them suffi- ciently permanent to permit the accumulation on them of peaty vegetable soils; and about four feet nine inches of calcareous beds, mostly made up of animal remains. The lapse of time required for the accumulation of this group alone must thus have been vastly greater than that necessary for the production of the modern marsh formation with its one fossil soil. It will also be observed that these beds carry our thoughts back to a period when the district was covered by a strange and now extinct vegetation, and when its physical condition resembled that of the Great Dismal Swamp, the Everglades of Florida, or the Delta of the Mississippi. One appearance only in this subdivision requires farther explanation before we proceed to the next. One of the sandstones in the upper part exhibits trees standing out from the cliff, as pillars of hard sand- * For other figures and desriptious of these foiisils, gee notice at the end of this chapter. KXI'LANATION UF JOOUINB SECTIUN. 183 atono 8i)rfia(liiig out nt tlio base, and among these arc numcrouH Calamitea, also rpprcHoiitod by siindHtoiio caHtfl, and, like the trees, Htaiiding nt right angles to the beds, which are now inclined at an angle of 19 degrees, but which must hnvc been horizontal when thcBO plants grew and were entombed. The manner in which the pltints were [»resorvcd ii heir present state and position can easily be under- stood. Inmgino i forest of trees ai.l a tall brake of recd-like plants growing ti^gethor on a swiunpy Hat. The Hat is inundaf^d and over- spread wiih 8>ind to the depth of several feet. The plants are thus killed and thou* dead to^is project for Koine time above the sand. At length they ('?■':.»/ and aie broken off, and eventually the wood decays, leaving only a hollow cylinder of bark. Sand is next washed into the perpendicular pipes produced by the decay of the trunks and stems, forming casts of them. The whole is now buried up by suc- ceeding deposits and becomes hardened into stone, and so remains until tilted up, elevated above the water level, and exposed by the action of the tides and waves. One stump observed in the particular bed now under consideration is named in the section a Lepidodendron, with a note of interrogation to show that its surface was not so well preserved as to make it certain tiiat it belonged to that genus. The Lepidudendra were tali and graceful trees, but allied botanically to the humble club-mosses {Li/copndia) of our modern woods. Their trunks were muikcd with diamond-shaped loaf-scars, and their branches and twigs were thickly clothed with long lance-shaped or linear leaves, and bore cones at their extremities. These trees did not send up straight inmks with numerous small branches, like the pines, but branched out by the continuous division of the trunk and limbs into pairs of branches, in the manner in which standard pear-trees are often trained by con- stantly cutting out the main ascending twig and allowing two lateral branches to grow in its place. The Lepidodcndra must have been among the most beautiful trees of the coal period, and their roots would appear to have been constructed on the same regular type with those of the Sigillaria. Mr Brown of Sydney has described some trees believed to be Lepidudendra, and having such roots, in the coal- field of Cape Breton. Mr Carruthers, of the British Museum, has recently made a similar statement in regard to Lepidodendra in the British coal-fields. I have not, however, met with any instance of this in Nova Scotia. Subdivision II. is a barren series of sandstones and shales, repre- senting beds of sand and mud conveyed by water over the last terres- trial surface of the first group. For aught that the section shows to i I I i 184 THE CAKBONIFEHOUS SYSTEM. I !■ the contrary, except in the occurrence of one underclay overlaid by coaly shale, these thirty-five feet of sand and mud may have been rapidly deposited. It is quite possible that the formation of the one inch of coal in the bottom of the group may have occupied a longer time than the deposition of the whole of the other beds. T'le reader will note hero that the absolute thickness of any bed or mass of beds is no measure of the time occupied in their formation. A layer of sand may be spread over a wide ^urface by a single storm or inundation, but it requires time to accumulate even a very inconsiderable amount of organic matter by the slow growth of animals or plants. The next Subdivision, No. III., including Coal-groups 40, 41, and 42, is very similar to No. I. It shows that the locality was again for a very long neriod alternately a swamp and a Lagoon. I say for a very long time, for much of this group consists of bituminous lime- stone, Naiadites shales or " mussel beds," and coal, all beds requiring a very long lapse of time for their growth. There is every reason, for example, to believe that the three-feet bed of bituminoiis lime- stone, nearly in the middle of the group, consists maini) of the remains of Cy there, fish, and other aquatic creatures, accumulated by the slow growth of successive generations ; and if v/e have any idea of tiie growth of modern beds of this kind, we will bo disposed to measure the growth of this limestone by centuries. Subdivision IV. is comparatively barren of organic remains, and consists of coarse mechanical detritus ; and it will be observed that throughout the section groups of beds of this kind alternate witli others composed of fine silt and organic matter. There were, in other words, long-continued swamp and lagoon periods, alternating with periods in which the waters of tlie sea or turbid streams were bearing in sand and mud. We have here, however, two surfaces which had sufficient permanence, as land or swamp soils, to support trees and Calami'tes. In Subdivision V. wo have a recurrence, on a small scale, of the conditions of Subdivision III. Subdivision VI. is another great series of sandstones and chocolate- coloured shales. It has, however, one erect tree, probably a Sigillaria, rooted in an underclay with Stigmaria rootlets ; and in the lowest sanistonc there is a great mass of prostrate trunks of trees, imperfectly preserved, probably the wreck of some land-flood, or the drift-wood from a forest-clad coast. In Subdivision VII. tho beds present an order similar to that in the first group, and Avhich we shall find frequently repeated in tho section. First, we have an underclay, a boU on which grew a small \ ' M M EXPLANATION OF JOGGINS SECTION. 185 bed of vegetable matter rcpre^cntcil by two inches of coal. This toirestrial surface was overflowed by water for a very long time inhabited by Nniadites and Cythere. This, it will be observed, implies subsidence of a terrestrial surfivce and its long submergence ; and I may remark, once for all, that the appearances of the whole section imply continuous subsidence, only occasionally interrupted by elevatory movements. The bituminous limestone which marks this submer- gence is again succeeded by coal, again submerged under water inhabited by mollusks, Cythere, etc. The succeeding group marks the filling of the quiet waters tenanted by Naiadites with thick deposits of clay and sand, and in one little bed, about three inches in thickness, filled with the shells of the little lund-snails known as Pupa vetusta and Conulus prisons, it shows eviilcace of neighbouring woods or swamps, from which some gentle stream must have drifted these little shells over the muddy bottom. Subdivision IX. is a fine series of underelays and coals, alternating with mussel-beds. It contains seven distinct soil-surfaces, the highest* supporting an erect tree, which appears as a ribbed sandstone cast, five feet six inches high, nine inches in diameter at the top, and fifteen at the base, where the roots began to separate. This tree, being harder than the enclosing beds, at the time of one of my visits stood out boldly at the base of the cliff, nearly three-fourths of its diameter and the bases of three of its four main roots being exposed. Five of the underelays support coals, and in three instances bituminous lime- stones have been converted into soils, none of which, however, support coals. The last of these bituminous limestones is a very remarkable bed. First, we have an underclay ; this was submerged, and Spirorbts attached its little shell to the decaying triiuks, which finally fell prostrate, and formed a carbonaceous bottom, over which multitudes of little cnistaceans [Cy'here) swam and crept, and on which fourteen inches of calcareous and carbonaceous matter were gradually collected. Then this bed of organic matter was elevated into a soil, and large trees, with Stigmaria roots, grew on its surface. These were buried under thick beds of clay and sand, and it is in the latter that the erect tree already mentioned occurs ; its roots, however, are about nine feet above the surface of the limestone, and belong to a later and higher terrestrial surface, which cannot bo distinguished from the clay of similar character above and below. The Xth Subdivision contains ■• vast thickness of sandstone and shales, the latter chiefly of chocolate colours. It shows comparatively meagre indications of the swamp-deposits previously in progress. * Included in the lower part of Subdivision X. of t..d section. N \\\ \ I u Bii 186 THE CAUBONIFEKOUS SYSTEM. During the greater part of the time occupied in the formation of these beds, the locality must have been a sandy or muddy sea-bottom, receiving much mechanical detritus, or an expanse of flats of reddish mud and brown or gray sand, covered by the tides. There are, how- ever, some evidences of terrestrial conditions. In the lowest beds is a large erect stump, filled with laminated cl.ay after the complete decay of its wood. In the clay filling it were abundance of fern leaves, Cordaites, Lepidophylla, a few plants with attached Spirorbis, and a shell of Naiadites. This tree was rooted in a thick "nderclay full of rootlets of Stigmaria. Higher up there are several thin coaly bands, with underclays ; many of the shales abound in leaves of Ferns and Cordaites^ probably drifted, and the highest sandstone showed a large erect tree. Subdivision XI. commences with a soil resting immediately on the truncated top of the tree last mentioned. On this soil vv'as formed a deep swamp, now represented by three feet of coal and bituminous shale in alternate bands. Large quantities of clay and sand buried this swamp, but not in such a manner as to preclude the growth of trees, many of which were entombed in the erect position. In these sandstones and shales, no less than six erect trees were observed at different levels, the lowest being rooted in the shale forming the coal- roof; fifteen feet of the trunk of one of these trees still remain ; two others were respectively five and six feet high. Eroct Calamitcs were also observed. The soil which was formed on the surface of these beds supports one of the thickest coal-beds in the section, marking a long and undisturbed accumulation of vegetable matter ; and after the deposition of 18 feet of underclay and shales, there is another equally thick though coarser bed. We have here, as in some previous groups, three distinct conditions of the surface: — first, terrestrial surfaces more or less permanent; secondly, undisturbed marine or brackish water conditions ; thirdly, intervening between these the deposition, probably with considerable rapidity, of sandy and muddy sediment. We may also observe that, admitting the Stigmaria to be roots of trees, there are five distinct forest soils without any remains of the trees, except their roots; and we shall find throughout the section that the forest soils are much more frequently preserved than the forests themselves. In the large series of beds incb'ded in Subdivisions XII. and XIII., there are no less than thirteen distinct forest surfaces marked by underclays or erect trees, and at least five periods of submergence indicated by mussel-beds, and three of them, at least, of very long duration. It will be observed that, in several instances, the order of m» EXPLANATION OF JOGOINS BECTION. 187 succession is underclay — coal — bituminous limestone. This arrange- ment, so common in other narts of the section, seems to show a connexion other than accidental between the long periods of terres- trial repose required for the growth of coal, and those of quiet submergence necessary for the growth of mussel-beds. Probably the peaty areas of coal accumulation were gradually subsiding, and when this process finally caused their submergence, the submerged coal- swamp was the most fitting habitat for Naiadites and its associates ; and these sunken swamp areas may have been so protected by thick margins of jungle as to resist for a long time the influx of turbid waters. In the lower part of No. XIII., and immediately above Coal-group 21, I observed a very curious association of erect plants. An erect tree, converted into coal, springs from the surface of the shale, and passes through fourteen feet of sandstone and shale. Apparently from the same level there rises an erect ribbed tree, probably a Sigillaria, in the state of a stony cast, which, however, extends only to the top of the sandstone. In the sandstone, and rooted about a foot above the base of the erect trees, are a number of erect Calamites. In this case the forest soil has been covered by about a fcot of argillaceous srtuil, on wuich a brake of Calamites sprung up. Further accumu- lations of sand buried them, and covered the trunks of the trees to the depth of eight feet. By this time the Sigillaria was quite decayed, and its bark became a hollow cylinder, reaching only to the surface of the sand, and ultimately filled with it. The other tree still stood above the surface until six feet of mud were deposited, when, its top being broken off, it also completely disappeared beneath the accumulat- ing sediment ; and being softened and crushed by the lateral pressure of the surrounding mass, it was finally converted into an irregular coaly pillar, retaining no distinct traces either of the external form or internal structure of the original plant. The structure of similar trees, to be noticed further on, renders it likely that this coaly tree is the remains of one of the Araucarian Pines, which, it appears, flourished in the coal-swamps in company with the Sigillarice, The surface of the clay which buried this remarkable tree became itself an underclay or soil ; and on the sandstone resting upon it were found casts of two erect trees, one of them five feet in height, and a Sigillaria with distinctly marked leaf-scars. The tops of these trees have been entirely removed, and their hollow stems filled with p md, before the deposition uf a bed of mud resting upon them, and whicli is now the underclay of a bed of coal. This coal was next submerged under the conditions required for bituminous limestone and mussel-beds. The f \ |.» \ i \ 188 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. M- 1 1 quiet waters were then filled up with clay and sand, the latter ripple-marked, and with drifted vegetable fragments. Another soil was formed above these beds, and on it we find an inch of coal, with flattened SigillaricB, which probably once grew on the underclay. This terrestrial surface was succeeded, as usual, by waters swarming with Naiadites and fish, and on these were spread out beds of sand and mud, with ripple-marks, drift trees, and evidences of partial denudation by currents. A terrestrial surface was again restored, and four inches of coal were accumulated ; but the waters again prevailed, and in the coal itself we find Naiadites^ Cythere, and plants covered with Spirorbis, indicating that these creatures took possession while the vegetable matter was still recent, and probably much of it in an erect position. A terrestrial surface was, however, soon restored ; for in the shale which covers the coal there is a fine ribbed stump, two feet in diameter, and displaying on its roots the markings of the true Sti'gmaria Jicoides, as well as the rootlets in situ in the slialc. This is the first instance we have here yet met with of the distinct connexion of an erect ribbed stem with its Stigmaria roots. The causes of the difficulty of observing the roots and stem in connexion will be stated in the sequel. The next Subdivision is in great part the result of somewhat rapid mechanical deposition. It contains thick beds of sandstone, deposited by currents which have undermined wooded banks, or passed through recently submerged forests, for they contain numbers of trunks of diflFerent trees, retaining their bark and surface markings. Its coals are few and insignificant. There are, however, erect trees and Cala- mites at three levels ; and one of the trees springs from a shade loaded with Cordaitcs which may have grown around its base. Here we may pause for a little, to note the appearance of some of the new vegetable remains to which we have been introduced. We have found a Sigillaria with distinct markings, namely, its sides marked with bold ribs, having the effect of the flutings of a Grecian column, and these ribs dotted with vertical rows of leaf-scars. We have also seen a distinct instance of a Sigillaria attached to its Stigmaria roots still spreading through the soil. (See Fig. 30, page 180.) Let us now endeavour to form an idea of the trees of this singular genus. Imagine a tall branchless or sparsely branching trunk, perhaps two feet in diameter, and thirty feet in height. (One has been traced to the length of forty feet in the roof of the Joggins main coal-seam.) The trunk is covered with w thick bark, very smooth, and ribbed regularly, and is clothed to the summit with a dense mass of leaves, probably of lengthened and grass-like forms. Such trees must have EXPLANATION OP JOOQINS SECTION. 189 formed dense groves in the swamps of the Coal period. They have nothing closely analogous to them among living plants. There were a number of species of Sigillaria, differing somewhat in their ribs and leaf-scars, and probably also in their leaves. Lepidophloios or Uloden- droK, a plant whose remains occur with the Siffillaria, was allied to the Lepidodendron, but wanted its slender graceful branches, while it had rows of stiff cones planted on the sides of its trunk : and its general aspect, when clothed with its long leaves, somewhat broader than those of Lepidudendron, must have much resembled that of the Sigillaria. Lepidophylla were the leaves of Ulodendron or Lepido- dendron. We have also met with the Cordaites, long striated leaves resembling those of gigantic plants of Iris or Indian corn, and sometimes five or six inches in breadth, and half as many feet in length. They grew on thick stems under and around the sigillarian woods though some- times probably covering great tracts without any admixture of other plants. We have also observed an erect coniferous tree, and erect Calamites, but shall reserve our notice of these for better instances farther on. Lastly, fronds of Ferns appear in some of the beds ; and I may state here that they arc much less abundant relatively to the other plants at the Joggins than elsewhere in the Coal-fields of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. Subdivision XV. is one of the most interesting in the section, in consequence of the discovery in it, in 1852, by Sir Charles Lyell and the writer, of the bones of a reptile, Dendrerpeton Acadianum (Fig. 32), those of another small reptile, and the shell of a land snail {Pupa Fig. 32. — Jaio of Dendrerpeton Acadianum. (a) Cross section of Tooth (magnified). vetusta) (Fig. 33).* These remains are of great interest, as they were the first reptilian animals found fossil in the Carboniferous rocks of America, and the only land snail whose remains had ever been found in rocks of that age; in fact, the first evidence obtained of the * The figures given here represent two of the original specimens found in 18.52. Better specimens are figured further on. i I \ If % ' ?? 190 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. existence of animals of that tribe at so early a period. These inter- esting remains were all found in the interior of an erect tree, mingled Fig. 33. — Fossil Land Shell — Joggina Coal Measures. Magnified three diameters. with the sand, decaying wood, and fragments of plants which had fallen into it after it became hollow. The bed of argillaceous sand- stone, nine feet in thickness, which enclosed this tree, contains a number of erect plants (Fig. 34). Three erect trees in the form of sandstone casts and erect Calamites were observed in it, with many Stigmaria roots. There was also a tree not in the form of a cast, but of a mass of coaly fragments surrounded by a broken and partly crushed cylinder of bark ; the whole being evidently the remains of a trunk which has been reduced to little more than a pile of decayed Fig. 34. — Section of middle part of Siihdirison X V. in which the Dendrerpeton, ZmhiI Shells, etc., hare been/otirid. i. Underclay, witli rootleta o{ Stigmaria, resting ou gray shulc, witli two tliiu coaly seams. 2. Gray sandstone, witli erect trevs, Calamites, und other stems: I'eet. 3. Coal, witli erect tree on its surface : 6 inches. 4. Undercl ly, with Stigmaria rootlets. (a) Calamites. (c) Stigmaria roots. (6) Stem of plant undetermined. (d) Erect trunk, 9 feet high. pieces of wood before the sand was deposited ; consequently it must have been either an older or more perishable plant than those which stand as pillars of sandstone. The wood of this tree shows, in the cross section, a cellular tissue, precisely similar to that of the Coniferse ; EXPLANATION OF JOQQINS SECTION. 191 ^, the longitudinal section shows only elongated cells, but is very badly preserved. A tree of this description is not likely to have been more perishable than the Sigillarice, which, in the same situation, remained until nine feet of sandy mud had accumulated. I suspect, therefore, that this stump may be the remains of a Coniferous forest, which pre- ceded the Sigillariae in this locality, and of which only decaying stumps remained at the time when the latter were buried by sediment. This is the more likely, as the appearances indicate that this tree was in a complete state of decay at the very commencement of the sandy deposit. It is, however, possible that this older forest, represented by coaly stumps, may have consisted of Sigillaroid trees. Tiie history of this group will thus be as follows: — (1.) The Stig< maria underclay shows the existence of a Sigillaria forest, on the soil of which was collected sufficient vegetable matter to form six inches of coal, which probably represents a peaty bog several feet in thickness. (2.) On this peaty soil grew the trees represented by the stump of mineral charcoal mentioned above. This tree, being about one foot in diameter, may have required about fifty yeai'S for its growth to that size. It was then killed, perhaps by the inundation of the bog. (3.) During the decay of the tree last mentioned, Sigillarios grew around it to the diameter of two feet, when they were overwhelmed by sediment, which buried their roots to the depth of about eighteen inches. At this level Calamites and other SigillaricB began to grow, the former attaining a diameter of four inches, the latter a diameter of about one foot. (4.) These plants were in their turn embedded in somewhat coarser sediment, but so gradually that trees with stigmarian roots grew at two higher levels before the accumulation of mud and sand attained the depth of nine feet, at which depth the original large Sigillarice that had grown immediately over the coal were broken off, and their hollow trunks filled with sand. Before being filled with sand, these trees, while hollow, must for some time have projected from a swamp or terrestrial surface, such as that which immediately succeeds them in ascending order; and it is no doubt to this circum- stance that we owe the occurrence, in some of them, of reptilian remains and land shells, as well as many vegetable fragments, such as Calamites, Curdaites, and a Lepidostrobus, with many of the fossil fruits called Trigonocarpa, evidently introduced before the sedimen- tary matter, and forming just such a mass as might be supposed likely to fall into an open hole in a forest or swamp. (5.) The remaining beds of this group evidence the continuation of swamp conditions for a long time after the trees last noticed were completely buried. They include, in a thickness of twenty-eight feet, three underclays supporting ', I M \ 192 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. coaly beds, and one with erect stumps ; one of them with stigmarian roots and ribbed. One of the coaly beds, which alternates with laminae of shale, is filled with flattened trunks of Sigillaria and Lepidodendron, which probably grew on the surfaces on which they now lie, and indicate how small a thickness of coaly matter may mark the time required for the growth and decay of many successive forests. On the whole, we can scarcely err in affirming that the habitat of the Dendrerpeton Acadianum and its associates was a peaty and muddy swamp, occasionally or periodically inundated, and in which growing trees and Calamite brakes were being gradually buried in sediment, while others were taking root at higher levels, just as now happens in the alluvial flats of large rivers. In subsequent visits to this interesting locality, I found the remains of four other species of reptiles or batrachians, an ancient representative of the gally-worms [Xylobius Sigillarioe), and remains of an insect. These will be de- Fig. 35. — Erect Tree containing Reptilian Remains, at the Joggins. scribed further on. In Figs. 35 and 36 I give a representation of one of the trees, and a section showing the a./angcment of the materials fdling the base. Subdivision XVI. consists of one thick bed of gray sandstone with prostrate carbonized trunks. The sandstone is highly silicious, and 01 the kind used for grindstones. It is the result of the complete iilA *^1 EXPLANATION OP JOGGINS BKCTION. 193 submergence of the swamps of the last group, and their invasion by sand-bearing currents. The next Subdivision commences with the growth of Calamites on the surface of the great sand-bed last noticed, after which there was the formation of an underclay and coal, the latter being afterwards inundated, and the plants at its surface overgrown with Spirorbia. In the shale covering this coal, about fourteen feet above its surface, is a bed with shrinkage cracks, and containing a stool of Stigmaria, one of the roots of which was traced 9^ feet. Its rootlets were attached, so that it can scarcely have been a drift stump ; and if now in situ, it must have grown on a mud-bank alternately inundated and dry, like the present salt-marshes of the Bay of Fundy. Fig. 36.—Sectwn of Base of Erect SigUlaria. (a) Mineral charcoal. (i) Dark-coloured sandstonn, with plants, bonos, cte. (c) Oray sendBtones with Calamilea and Cordaitet, Subdivision XVIII. is a scries of sandstones and shales, less perfectly exposed than most other parts of the section. Chocolate colours prevail among the shales, and there are few fossils. One of the beds, however, has its surface covered with casts of shrinkage cracks, such as are now formed on mud left dry by the neap tides ; and there are also erect Calamites in one bed and a Stigmarian underclay. The next group is of much greater interest, showing seven soil- surfaces, with a variety of sedimentary deposits. Two of the coals in this group contain on their surfaces of deposition well-preserved remains of the plants {SigUlaria, Cordaites, etc.) which must have grown on their undeixlays. A thick mass of sandstone and shale in the centre of the group is also very curious, as it evidently represents the side of a trench or gully cut by water in a series of mud-beds, and then filled up with a confused mass of drift trees and sand. Above this mass is an underclay, on which grew a forest, whose only remains arc a few inches of coaly matter (Gr. 11), made up in part of flattened trunks converted into coal. This forest must have been entirely destroyed by violence or decay, before the next bed, which is a shale seven feet thick, was deposited. On the surface of this shale grew a great brake of Calamites, which were buried under sand, in such a manner that their forms and position were perfectly preserved : they stand in groups in the cliff just as they grew, some of them being five inches in diameter, and eight feet high ; and at that height they ^ sv ■■* ' t t ' i i \ I \: 194 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. have been broken off witbout any doeroase of tbc!r diameter. In one place twelve fitcrns were counted in eigbt feet measured along tlie face of the cliff. From the base of the cliff to low-water mark, they could everywhere be leen abundantly along the continuation of the ledge of sandstone. This bed and others of similar character at the Joggins, have given us much information respecting the nature and mode of gi'owth of these plants, which I may pause here to notice in detail. The Calamitcs wore tall cylindrical stems, with a hard outer bark, and were cither hollow or filled with cellular matter. The stems were regularly marked with longitudinal strias or furrows and cross joints, sometimes showing the marks of tiie attachment of the leaves, which were verticiliate, or in whorls around the stem, and long and needle-like (Figs. 37 and 38). The general habit of growth thus Fig. ^.—Leaves ojf CaUtmitei {V. Cutii) Fig. yt.— Erect Calamiten {C. Voltsdi), with Hoots. One->Ut)i natural size. resembled the Equisetum or Mare's-tail of modern marshes, and pro- bably these plants are also allied to the Calamites in structure. Cala- EXfLANATION Of JOtiOINS BKCTIUN. 195 mitei grew on wot mud and Band-flatn, and also in swamps ; and they appear to havo been cspceially adapted to take root in and clothe and mat together soft sludgy material recently deposited or in process of deposition. When the seed or spore of a Calamite had taken root (and it is not unlikely that, like the very remarkable spores of the Equiseta, their seeds had wings which expanded to waft thejv through the air when dry, and closed instantly when they touched the damp soil), it probably produced a little low whorl of loaves surrounding one small joint, from which another and another, widening in size, arose, producing a cylindrical stem, tapering to a point at the base. To strengthen the unstable base, the lower joints, especially if the mud had been accumulating around the plant, shot out long roots instead of leaves, while secondary stems grew out of the sides at the surface of the soil, and in time there was a stool of Calainites, with tufts of long roots stretching downwards, like an immense brush, into the mud (Fig. 37. See also Fig. 39). When Calamitea thus grew Fig. 39. — Erect Culamitei (C. Suckovii), shou'iug the Mode of Qrowth of New Stems, and Fornia of the Ribs. i'WVn VAAV Natural size. Half natural uizc. (a) Old Btcm. (Jb) Second stem, budding from flrst. (c) Third stum, budding IVom second. on inundated flats, they would, by causing the water to stagnate, promote the elevation of the surface by new deposits, so that their stems gradually became buried ; but this only favoured their growth, for they continually pushed out new stems, while the old buried ones shot out bunches of roots instead of regular whorls of leaves. These peculiarities have caused much dispute among botanists, some of whom have even fancied that the whole stem served as a root. All the i i M I ; 196 THE CARBONIPEROUS SYSTEM. apparent nnomnlios were, however, wIbo contrivances to fit the plant for itH officu in nntin'o. One pjculiarity in these beds well illustrates the fact alrcftdy mentioned, that the thickness of beds is no certain criterion of tho time occupied in tlicir formation. Tiie bed of sandstone, eight feet in thickness, enveloping tho Calamites, must have been deposited in a few years at most. Tho underlying coal is all that marks the growth, submergence, and decay of a forest. Subdivision XXIII. is a great and continuous scries of swamp and estuary deposits, including tho most important bed of coal in tho section, and a largo number of well-marked terrestrial surfaces. It commences with a black bituminous underclay, a soil probably of long continuance, and filled with rootlets. Tliis supports a foot of coal known to the miners as the " Queen's Vein " (('oal-group 8), above which we find three other coals with underclays, and one of them with a shale roof full of prostrate plants. Then we have an underclay capped by shale with fossil leaves, but no coal. Above this wc have an interruption of the previous conditions, by the deposition of sand, on tho surfaces of which drift-plants were scattered, and became tenanted by the little worms whose shells wc have referred to Spirorbis. On these sandstones Stigmaria again took root, and one bed is filled, from tho cliff to low-water mark, with well-preserved stools of theso singular roots, each with four main divisions, branching dichotomously. A single inch of impure coal was the result of this dense growth of trees. Above this accumulated a thick boggy underclay, on which a varied and beautiful forest has grown, wliich was overtunicd or uprooted, and now lies prostrate in a thin band of ironstone and shale. In tho ironstone of this band are four species of Sigillaria,, and great multitudes of Cordaites and other leaves. All these fossils had Spirorbis attached. They no doubt mark the site of a submerged and fallen forest, which but for the abundant deposition of fine mud and carbonate of iron, which followed its submergence after an interval sufficiently long for the growth of Spirorbis, would have appeared as a thin coaly layer. Above this, after an interval occupied by shales and sandstone with one thin coal, we find a thin coaly layer almost entirely composed of Cordaites. No roots appear in the underlying shale, and we may therefore doubt whether these leaves grew in situ, or were scattered over the bottom of water. On this coal is a thick clay supporting, some years ago, two erect stumps. From the clay in whicii they were rooted they passed upward, through a sandstone two feet in thickness, into a shale with ironstone bands above. Tho smaller stump was fluted, but without leaf-scars. Its roots were "i EXPLANATION OF JOOOINS SECTION. 197 concealed under tlio beach. Tt was filled with flandstono to the height of Hcvcn inclicH above the level of the HandHtono without, indicating that this bed must have BuffiTcd from denudation, after having contrU butod materials toward the filling of the stump. It is probable that the sand within the bark was originally lownr than that without. If so, the sandstone may have lost much jnoro than seven inches ; and of this, but for the presence of this stump, there would have been no evidence. The neighbouring tree, though rooted at the same level, was brought by the dip of the beds to a sufficient height to allow its roots to bo seen. It was originally of the same height with the other, but the upper part had been removed. In this stump wo see that while the sandstone within has extended higher than that without, it has also descended lower, though not quite to the bottom, this being filhnl with clay. Wo thus find that after the tree became hollow, and while its top continued to stand at least three feet above the surface, it was partly filled with a deposit from muddy water. The mud within was, however, much lower than that without when the sand began to bo depo8ite\v Salter thinks that this is identical with a species found in the Upper Coal measures of Slancheiiter. V AQUATIC ANIMAL8 OF THE COAL. 205 beaks more central, than No. 1. It occurs in a bed of shale at the base of the Middle Coal series at the Joggins. (4.) Naiadites arenacea (Dn.) — Fig. 45. — Elliptical ; twice as long as wide ; beaks prominent, one-fourth from anterior end, which is compressed and rounded. In the Upper Coal formation at Pictou. (5.) Naiadites ovalis (Dn.) — Similar in general form to No. 4, but much broader in proportion. See paper above cited, Fig. 24. It occurs in bituminous limestone, Avith cyprids, in the lower part of the Joggins Coal measures. (6.) Naiadites angidata (Dn.) — Fig. 46. — Similar in general form and proportions to No. 4, but with more prominent beaks, a straight hinge-line, and an undefined ridge running backward from the umbo, and causing the posterior extremity to present an angular outline. Lower Coal formation at Parrsborough. (7.) N. obtusa (Dn.) — As large as N, carbonaria, but remarkable for the broad and truncated form of its anterior end, giving it an approach to a quadrangular form. It is thin, and much marked by growth lines. Lower Coal measures, M'Lellan's Brook, Pictou. 11. Spirorbis carbonariiis. — Fig. 47. — This little shell, which I de- scribed as a Spirorbis as long ago as 1 845,* is apparently not specifi- cally distinct from Microconchus carbonarius of the British Coal-fields. Fig. 47. — Spirorbis carbonarius ; nat. size attached to Cordaites, and magnified. Its microscopic structure is identical with that of modern Spirorbes, and shows that it is a true wonn-sliell. It is found throughout the Coal formation, attached to plants and to shells of Naiadites, and must have been an inhabitant of enclosed lagoons and estuaries. Its occur- rence on Sigillarice has been used as an argument in favour of the opinion that these trees grew in sea- water; but, unforjjinately for that conclusion, the Spirorbis is often found on the inside of the bark, showing that this had become dead and hollow. Beside this, the same kind of evidence would prove that Lepidodendra, Cordaites, * Quart Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. i. p. 326.—^ i I \ ■:♦.! 1-fir 206 THE CABB0NIPER0U8 SYSTEM. and ferns were marine plants. Spirorhcs multiply fast and grow very rapidly ; and these little sheila no doubt took immediate possession of submerged vegetation, just as their modern allies cover fronds of Laminaria and Fucus. As I have not met with a description of this little shell, I may state that it is dcxtral, with two and a half to three turns. It is attached throughout its length, and, when not compressed, presents a some- what deep umbilicus. It is closely marked with beaded or unequal transverse ridges. It has, when young, a close resemblance to Sp. caperatus, M'Coy, from the Carboniferous limestone of Ireland ; but this species has only two turns, and is sinistral. This shell has been described by Gocppert as a fungus, under the name of Qyromyces ammonis. III. Crustacea. — It appears, in the table above, that as niany as fourteen beds of coal exhibit in their roofs shells of minute Entomos- traca of the genera Cythere and Bairdia (Fig. 48),* and these occur Fig. 48. — Crusts of Entomostraca ; nat, size and magnijied. («) Bairdia; (t) Cytlicrellainflata; (c) Cythere. in such quantities that considerable beds of shale and bituminous limestone are filled Avith their valves. Professor Jones regards the species as marine or brackish-water; and the same remark will, I presume, apply to the crustacean Diploslylus Dawsoni, and a fragment o^Eurypterus described by Mr Salter from Coal-group No. 8 of Division 4 of the Section, as well as to a second and larger species from Port Hood. Of the small Entomostracans there arc several species, which Professor Jones has now in his hands for determination. No Estherians have yet been found in the Coal formation of Nova Scotia ; but I have specimens of Leaia Leidyi from the Lower Carboniferous of Plaister Cove, and an undetermined Estheria from the same horizon at Horton BluflF. These will be described further on. * One at least of these is identical witli a British Carboniferous species. :t ,J Y' AQUATIC ANIMALS OF THE COAL. 207 The following are Mr Salter's descriptions of these interesting crustaceans, taken from his paper, Journal of Geol. Society, vol. xix. : — *' DiPLOSi YLUS, gen. nov. " Carapace unknown. Body segments arched, and with minute pleura. Tail segment large, triangular, spinose, with two pairs of simple ovate appendages. " DiPLOSTYLUS Dawsoni, spcc. uov. (Fig. 49). " The portion preserved consists only of five rings and the broad telson ; and these together are three-fourths of an inch long, and less Fig. 49. — Dijahstylua Dawsoni. h (o) Tail, iiat. size ; (i) terminal joint enlarged. than half an inch broad at the widest part. The telson is somewhat narrower than the body-rings, broad above, and pointed behind, where it is notched into three spines, the centre one very short, the two on each side of it broad, and on their outer sides covering the attachment of two small obovatc palettes. These palettes are a little oblique, narrower than their length, rounded at their posterior margin, and striated distinctly. Outside these, and much higher up on the sides, are a pair of broader notches, which give origin to a pair of small palettes, ovate and not broader at their ends, and striated obliquely ; and above the insertion of these are a pair of broad, flat spines on the surface of the tail-joint. " The body segments are transverse, the axis not much distinguished from the short, pointed, recurved pleura, with a narrow articular furrow, and strongly punctate on the exposed portions. The puncta- tions (in the hinder segments only) are overhung by short plications : such punctations are observable in many Isopod Crustaceans. " Locality. — Coal measures of the Joggins, Nova Scotia, in a plant- bed in the middle of the series. " Having looked in vain for a similar pygidium among the large - tailed Isopods, and consulted Mr Spence Bate with a like result, he , ]■ \.* \ 1" 308 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. referred mo to a group of parasitic Amphipods (the Hypertna), among which there are a few forms* with tail segments coalesced and bearing appendages. These show a sufTicicut resemblance to warrant our referring Diplostylus provisionally to the Amphipod order. I am very much obliged to Mr Bate for this analogy (which would certainly have escaped me in Milne- Edwards's work). Mr Bate's late papers on the Amphipods (Ann. Nat. Hist., 1861) admirably illustrate this peculiar group. " EuHYPTEUUS, a large species allied to E. Scoulen, Ilibbert (Fig. 50). " A mere fragment of a large body-ring, which nevertheless indi- cates ft species nearly as large as the great Scotch Euryptenis [E. Scouleri, Ilibbert). "The large * teardrop -tubercles' along the hinder margin suffi- ciently show the nature of the ornament. These, in all probability, were replaced by spines on the carapace, as in the British Coal measure species. " The carbonaceous film which remains in part on the surface, cracked (by shrinking) into minute areolae, represents evidently a corneous substance, from which the animal matter has been dissolved away. The suggestion of Professor Huxley, that the large Euryp- teridce had a thick crust like that of Limulus, with but little calcareous matter, is most probably true. , " Locality — Coal measures, Port Hood, Cape Breton. Fig. 50.— Fragment of Eurypterus. Fig. 51.— Tail of Euryptervs (?). V " Eurypterus (?), tail of. (Fig. 51). > " This small specimen, found with the Diplostylus in the Joggins plant-bed, has evidently nothing to do with that genus. It is im- perfect, but can hardly be supposed to be other than the caudal joint (broken) of a Eurypterus or allied form. It is, as usual in that genus, contracted at its origin, but swells out afterwards, in the manner of * Anchylomera, Typhis, Brachyacelua, etc. ■ Ir" Y<- AQUATIC ANIMALS OF THE COAL. 209 the tail-joint of Slimonia {Pterygotua) acuminata. There are no Burface markings or marginal serrations." Locality. — Coal measures, Joggins, N.S. IV. Fishes. — Remains of fishes occur in connexion with eighteen of the coal-beds at the Joggins, usually in the roof-shales, though detached scales, teeth, spines, or coprolitcs, arc of occasional though rare occurence in the coal itself, especially where the latter passes into coarse coal or carbonaceous shale. One thin bed, No. G of Division 4 of the Section, is full of remains of small fishes. It is hard and laminated, and roofed with a calcareous bed full of remain."? of aquatic animals. It has a true stigmarian undcrclay. I suppose it to have been a swamp or forest submerged and occupied by fishes while its vegetation was still standing. It contains remains of fishes of the genera Ctenoptychius, Dipludus, liht'zodus, and Palwoniscus. It also contains Cythere, Naiadites, and Spirorbis. In the other beds which contain fish-remains, most of these consist of small Lepidoganoids, but there are occasional teeth and scale.T of large species of Rhizodus, and also teeth of Selachian fishes of considerable size. Among these I have in my collection a tooth of a Ctenoptychius (Fig. 52), diflering from any .species of which I have seen a description. Fig. 52. — Tooth of Ctenopfyclnits cristatus, N.S. ; nat. size and magnified. \ It is two lines in length, with fourteen sharp denticles, much compressed, and with a narrow base. Another very fine tooth found in these beds appears to belong to M'Coy's genus Conchodus (Fig. 53). It has seven Fig. 63.— Tooth of Conchodus plicatus, N.S. Fig. tA.— Tooth of Paammodus. Strong angular ridges, with a slightly granulated and obliquely wrinkled I i li il In !.•; li\ ;) 'k !, li^^'ii 210 THE CARBONIFEROUS BYBTEU. Burfaco, and is an inch and a linlf in length, and about seven lines wide in the middle. Tlio anterior edge is sligiitly and regularly rounded, and the posterior edge forms an obtuse angle rounded at the apex. Other teeth arc rclcrablc to the genus Psammodus (Fig. 54). There arc also spines of the genus Gyracanthua (Fig. 55), though not of the Fig. 55. — Spine — Oyracanthua tluplicatut, N.S, magnificent proportions of a specimen foimd by Mr llarnes in Capo Breton, and measuring 22 inches in length (Fig. 55a). Not being Fig. 55o. — Spine — Oyracanthua magnijicu*, N.S., redruxd. able to identify these fossils with any described species, I have assigned to them provisional names until further specimens shall render them better known. Many scales and other remains of fishes occur in the roof of the main coal at Pictou, and also in the bed included in that coal-seam which afforded the reptile Baphetcs planiccps^ and which is evidently in the manner of its formation of the same general character with the Modiola and Cypris shales of the Joggins. Most of tlicsc belong to the genus Illiizodus, and to a species not distijignishable from E. Fig. h^.—Ithixodtia lancifer (?). (a) Tooth ; (J) scale. lancifer, Newberry (Fig. 56), of the Coal-field of Ohio. There is \ 1 AQUATIC ANIMALS OF THE COAL. 211 nlso a fine species of Diplodus, whicli appears to be now, and which I havo named I), acinaces. Its lateral denticles arc compressed and sharp-edged, but scarcely crenulatcd, and both bent in tliu same direction. Middle cone obsolete ; base largo and broad. One denticle is usually much larger than the other. The greatest diameter of the larger denticle is to its length as one to three. A tooth of ordinary size measures six lines from the lower side of the base to the point of tho longest denticle, and the base is four lines broad (Fig. i>Ji). T regard as probably belonging to this iish certain cylindrical spines found in tho saino bed. They are about half an inch in diameter, Avith nearly central canal two lines in diameter, and aro marked externally with parallel longitudinal 8tria3. Among fossils from Pictou forwarded to mo by Mr Poole, there is a new Dijdodiis [D. penetrans), Fig. 57. This is smaller than D. acinaces of the Main (Joal. Its height is about two and a half lines, and the breadth nearly the Fig. 57. same. Tho lateral points aro half as broad as long, and flattened ; rhombic in cross section at the base ; serrated, especially at the outer and lower margins. They diverge at an angle of 35° to 40°, and tho central denticle is small and conical. The base is broad and strongly lobcd. These teeth occur in the roof of beds of coal near to and above New Glasgow conglomerate, and in the roof of the Main Coal.* In the same collection is a small tooth of Ctenoptyddus with eight denticles ; — the specimen is an imperfect impression. There are also remains of several ganoid fishes. One of these is a conical curved tooth, half an inch long, smooth on the convex side, and marked on tho concave side with five spiral ridges. It probably belongs to the genus Rhizodus. With it arc scales, pos.sibly of the same fish, which have the punctures and striro of the genus Osteoplax of M'Coy. There are also two remarkable flattened sabrc-shaped spines, one inch and a half in length, and resembling in general form the Devonian Machcera- canthus. Several rounded scales have tho characters of those of Rhtzodusj and there aro numerous scales and other remains referable to Palceoniscus and allied genera. These last in the Albion measures, as at the Joggins, abound in the bituminous shales and thin coals. Notwithstanding the abundance of those remains of fishes, their dislocated condition opposes great obstacles to their satisfactory study. They all occur in tho same beds, usually rich in vegetable matter, which contain tho shells of Naiadites and the Cythcre and Spirorbis. *'• Thcso species were described in " Supplementary Chapter," 1860. Teeth of Diplodua. the 'J 'I'-. 212 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Consequently they must have been capable of subsisting in the brack- ish and impure water of the coal creeks and lagoons. The smaller ganoid species would find in these abundance of worms, small crus- taceae, and larvoe of insects on which to feed ; and if, like the modern ganoids of our North American rivers, they were provided with a lung-like air-bladder, they could subsist in stagnant water deprived of its free oxygen by decomposing vegetable matter, conditions under which the ordinary ctenoid and cycloid fishes, had they existed in the Coal formation period, would have perished. The larger ganoids and the shark-like Diplodonts no doubt preyed upon the smaller fishes, as the abundant scales seen in their coprolites prove. The flat-toothed, shark-like Psammodus and Conchodus may have ground up the shells of Naiadites, which probably hung in countless multitudes on the floating and sunken timber of these coal lagoons and creeks. Lastly, when these fish died, the millions of little Cytheres and Bairdias, by removing every particle of flesh and ligament, would scatter the scales and bones over the bottom of the waters, to be embedded in the black ooze. » ;*r \ V lii 213 t 1 I • i i , CHAPTER XIII. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM- Cy»ftn««f/. INLAND EXTENSION OF THE COAL MEASURES OF THE JOGGINS SHORES OF NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT — USEFUL MINERALS OF CUMBERLAND. The beds that appear at the Joggins can be traced eastward for many miles, and reappear with a very similar arrangement in the banks of the inland streams on their line of strike, as, for instance, on the Hebert River and Macean River ; on the latter of which some of the Joggins beds appear ten miles from the coast. They no doubt extend, with some modifications in the details, quite to the coast of North- umberland Strait. On this coast, however, the rocks are not so well exposed as on the shores of Chiegnecto Bay, and they have been dis- turbed by lines of fracture, extending from the great line of elevation of the Cobequid Mountains. In the intervening country the covering of soil prevents the geo- logical traveller fron observing much, except the ridges produced by the outcropping edges of the hai-der sandstones. The only portion of this inland region in which important coal measures have been observed is at Springhill, about twenty miles eastward of the Joggins coast, where it would seem that the great synclinal seen on the coast section runs out to the surface, presenting a narrow trough-shaped arrangement, accompanied by some disturbance of the beds. At Pugwash, we find large beds of limestone and gypsum, the for- mer with Lower Carboniferous shells ; among which are the Productus semireticidatus, and a similar but more finely striated species, the P. cora. There are also joints of Encrinites, a little Aviculopecten or scallop, and a smooth shell, Tcrebratula sacculus, belonging to the same tribe with the ProductJE, but more closely allied in form to the few species of that tribe which inhabit the existing seas. This lime- stone i3 of good quality, and has been extensively quarried. It dips to the S.W. On the shore in the vicinity a series of sandstones and brownisVi shales appear, also with S. W. dips. Associated with i,iiem are some beds of gray and black shale, with leaves of ferns and Cordaites. The limestone is again seen at Canfield's Creek, and there \ I i )ti ' ' ' ii iSiii I hmU 1 214 THE CARBONlFEnOUS SYSTEM. it is associated with gypsum. The dip is S.S.W. These Pugwash beds arc evidently Lower Carboniferous, and if the same regularity that we have observed at the Joggins prevailed, would be associated wich a series of Coal formation rocks regularly succeeding them. A portion of such a series does appear in ascending Pugwash River, but in pro- ceeding to the eastward we find that the centre of the trough is broken up by a dislocation or anticlinal line, extending to Cape Malagash, which causes the coal measure rocks to be ridged up in such a manner that two narrow troughs with an intervening anticlinal appear to occur between Pugwash and the Cobequid Hills. On the cast side of Pug- wash Harbour we find gray sandstones, apparently of the Upper Coal formation, in very thick beds, dipping to the north, and containing prostrate trunks of carbonized trees and Calamites. The shore runs nearly in the direction of the beds, and the gray sandstones in conse- quence form a sort of sea-wall sloping toward the strait, and extending from Pugwash to Oak Island. Under these sandstones arc beds of gray shale, with fossil ferns and a small scam of coal ; and these are again underlaid by dark red, brown, and mottled sandstones and shales. On the shore of Wallace Harbour there are gray sandstones and gray and brown shales, with high dips to the north-east; they are far beneath the beds seen on the Gulf Shore, and probably belong to the Middle Coal measures, possibly to their lower part. They contain at one place a thin seam of sulphurous coal, and chalybeate and sulphur- ous springs rise from them. The Avhole of these beds, as well as others seen farther inland, bear a striking resemblance, as far as can be observed, to those of the Joggins section. Sandstones and sh.ales of the Coal formation prevail ' ng the coast between Wallace and Cape Malagash, and there present some appear- ances worthy of notice, more especially the association of limestone, marine shells, and gypsum, with beds containing tninks of fossil coniferous trees, and the occurrence of coal measure beds in a vertical position, or disturbed as far as possible from their original horizontal ity. At M'Ken/.ie's Mill, not far from the eastern extremity of Wallace Harbour, the following curious succession occurs, in descending order : — I Gray limestone with Productus cora, P. semircticulatus, and Aviculopeden simplex, the cavities of the shells filled with crystalline gypsum White small-grained crystalline gypsum ..... Reddish shale and sandstone with layers of arenaceous and concre- tionary limestone Feet. 2 10 40 \ 7 ^■' i'i -i SHORES OF NOKTUUMBERLAND STRAIT. 215 Feet. Gray sandstone and shales with, some reddi.sli beds. One of the gray sandstones is filled with trunks and branches of fossil trees, fossilized by carbonate of lime, and showing under the microscope a very perfect structure of the Araucarian type ......... about 150 Here we have, on a small scale, some of the princii)al features of the Lower Carboniferous series, associated with vegetable remains similar to those found usually at a much higher level in the Carboniferous system. The beds at this place dip S. S.AV. 20° ; but a little farther to the north there are sandstones and conglomerates, also of the Carboniferous series, dipping to the N.E. Proceeding along the coast to tlie north-east, we find the gray sandstones containing fossil trees and thrown quite on edge. As the strike of the beds corresponds nearly with that of the shore, large surfaces sometimes stand up along the face of the clift" like walls, and on these are distinct ripple-marks and worm-tracks, produced when the sandstones were beds of incoherent sand, but now, in consequence of the hardening and disturbance of the sandstone, forming sculptures on a vertical wall. A little further on, the same beds are seen dipping to the north at an angle of 45°, and containing abundance of fossil wood and some f 'alamites. A portion of tlie shore is then occupied by a salt marsh, and beyond this we have a considerable series of coal measure beds at the extremity of Cape Malagash, dipping south at an angle of 40°. Cape Malagash, as before stated, thus appears to be in the line of a subordinate anticlinal, ridging up the Coal formation rocks, but not, like the more important anticlinal to the northward, bringing up the Lower Carboniferous scries. That the reader may have an opportunity^ of comparing these beds with those of tlie Joggins, at the other extremity of the .same coal-field, and sixty miles distant, I shall give a section of them in descending order. Brownish red sandstones and shales alternating with gray sand stones, one of them containing jjcbbles of white quartz, about Dark gray limestone ....... Gray and reddish sandstones ...... Dark gray limestone ....... Gray sandstone s ........ Reddish sandstones and shales .... not well seen. Gray arenaceous shale, Fern leaves, and Cordaites ... 6 Undcrclay with Stlgmaria, and an erect stump with Stigmaria roots, penetrating bed above ...... 3 Feet. 600 2 50 3 50 ■ i mrmm^imm n :!■■:: ^!;i 216 TJJE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Feet. 3 Dark gruy lirac stone . Alternations of gray and reddish sandstone and shale. In the lower part a bed of coal six inches thick, with Stigmaria undcr- clay ......... about 300 Gray sandstone 20 Alternations of reddish sandstones and shales and gray sandstone, with thin layers of clay ironstone and a layer of coaly shale about 300 " This is evidently very like some of the more barren parts of the Joggins shore, especially near the lower part of the coal measures. I may remark, however, that if the section at Malagash was exposed in a cliff like that of the Joggins, I have no doubt that more beds with erect plants would appear. The erect tree mentioned in the section was described and figured by me in the Proceedings of the Geological Society in January 1846. Mr Binney had described a similar specimen found in Lancashire in June 1845 ; and before the close of 1846, Mr R. Brown of Sydney had described still finer instances of the same kind from the Sydney Coal-field. These were the three first instances in which the Stigmaria was ascertained to be the root of the Sigillarire of the Coal period ; and even these were not altogether sufficient to dispel the doubts of some geologists. As the Malagash tree is thus an historical monument in the progress of geology, I give a sketch of it in Fig. 59. Fig. 59. — £vect Sigillaria at Cape Malagash. 1 mr (a b) Stigmaria roots. (d) Woody surface with indistinct ribs. (e) Bnrk marked with furrows, (e) Internal axis. On the south side of Malagash Cape and head of Tatamagouche Bay, the Coal formation rocks dip to the southward, but are not well exposed ; and at Tatamagouche Harbour we find them dipping to the SHORES OF NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT. 217 north, which they continue to do as far as the base of the Cobequid Hills at New Annan. Cape Malagash thus forms an anticlinal ridge, which extends far to the westward into the interior of Cumberland ; and if we consider the limestone at M'Kenzie's as the equivalent of the Pugwash and Napan limestones, then the trough between it and the New Annan Hills corresponds to the Joggins trough, though narrower, and the northerly dij)ping beds of the Gulf shore correspond to those north of the Joggins in New Brunswick. It is, however, more probable that the great Cumberland trough is here, as already hinted, split into two by the intervention of the Malagash anticlinal. Unless the more important parts are concealed by the imperfection of the sections, the whole Carboniferous series appears here to be less fully developed than on the western coast of the county. The beds seen with northerly dip at Tatamagouche, and thence to New Annan, have the aspect of those of the Upper Coal formation. They constitute a belt extending along the coast and connecting the Cumberland coal area with that of Pictou. Though beyond the limits of the CO I ity of Cumberland, they may be noticed here. At the mouth of the French River are gray sandstones and sliales, containing a few Endogenites, Calamites, and pieces of lignite, impreg- nated with copper ores. Beneatli these appears a series of brownish red sandstones and shales, with a few gray beds, occupying, in a regular descending series, about six miles of the river section. They contain, in a few places, nodules of copper glance (gray sulphuret of copper) ; they are often rippled, and contain branching fucoidal marks. On one of the rippled slabs I found marks consisting of four footprints of an animal. They were three inches and a half apart, and each exhibited three straight marks as if of claws. These were described iti 1843 ; and in the following year I discovered at the same place another series of footsteps of different form. Neither of these were sufficiently well marked to give any definite information respecting the nature of the animal that produced them ; but I am now convinced that they must have been the traces of reptilian animals. In my pajier sent to the Geological Society in 1844, I find the following remarks : — " When examining the red sandst )nes near Tatamagouche last summer, I found in one of the beds a few footmarks of an unknown animal, specimens of which were sent to this society. Tliey were mere scratches made by the points of the toes or claws, and therefore could give few indications of the form of the feet which produced them. Their arrangement, however, appeared to indicate that the animal was a biped, and their form is quite analogous to that of the marks left by our common sandpiper, when running over a firm sandy r t [ \ 218 THE CAUBONIFEROU8 SYSTEM. shore. On a subsequent examination of the same place, I found a aeries of footmarks of another animal, and obtained a slab with castH of eight impressions, which I send with this paper. In this specimen the tracks are somewliat injured by the rain-marks which cover the slab, and the clay in whicli they were made was probably too soft to give good impressions ; it hos, however, preserved a furrow which must have been caused by the body or tail of the animal trailing over it. Many of the beds in the neighbourhood of tliat containing these footmarks arc rippled, rain-marked, or covered with worm-tracks; and as such indications of a littoral origin are not infrequent in other parts of the Newer Coal formation, it may be anticipated that many interesting relics of terrestrial animals will in future be discovered. At present, however, as no quarrying operations are carried on in the red beds, it is difficult to obtain access to the surfaces on which tracks might be expected to occur. The only vegetable remains found in the red sandstones of Tatamagouche are some of those irregular branching stains which have been considered as fucoidal marks; but in a bed of gray sandstone above the strata containing tracks, I found Calamites, Endogenites, Stigmaria Jicoides, and fragments of carbonized wood. In a fragment from a dark calcareous bed near this place, I found a portion of a fossil plant covered with shells of a species of Spirorbts, and a few small scales of ganoid fishes." It will be observed that rain-marks are mentioned as found with these footsteps, and I have now in my collection specimens from this place, I believe the first ever observed in the Carboniferous system ; though much finer specimens were found shortly afterwards by Mr Brown at Sydney, and described by him and by Sir C. Lyell. In the French River section, the northerly dips of the Coal measures increase in approaching the hills, the lowest beds dipping at an angle of 30°. Not far from the base of the hills, there is a small bed of coal, with some gray shales and sandstones and a thin bed of limestone. Useful Minerals of the Cumberland Coal-field. Coal. — The principal deposit of this mineral now worked in Cum- berland is the Joggins main seam, consisting of two beds, three feet six inches and one foot six inches thick, with a clay parting betAveen, varying from one foot to a few inches. It is a free-burning bitumin- ous coal of fair quality. It is extracted by two shafts worked by horse-gins, and the coal is carried to the loading pier by a railway incline. The mine is drained by a level run out to the shore, and consequently is not worked below the level of high tide. The \n MINEKALS OF CUMBERLAND COAL-FIELD. 219 !i' General Mining Association are the lessees of tliis mine. The quantity of coal shipped in 1851 was only 2400 chaldrons. In 1864 it had risen to 6053 tons, and in 186G to 8478. It was exported principally to St John, New Brunswick. Taking into account the comparative thickness of the seams, and the facilities for extraction and shipment, there can be no doubt that the bed at present worked is the best in the section ; which, as wo have already seen, is remarkable for the great number and small thickness of its coal-scams. It seems certain, however, that some of the others, especially the principal beds in Groups XI. and XIII. of the section, might be mined with profit. Since the pub- lication of the former edition of this work one of these. No. 29a of the section, has been opened. The great disadvantage on the Joggins coast is the want of safe anchorage for shipping, Avhich can be protected only by expensive piers and breakwaters. Since the expiry of the exclusive privileges of the General Mining Association, attempts have been made to obviate this disadvantage by opening mines on the banks of the Ilebcrt and Maccan Rivers. Six com- panies have opened works in this part of the district, under the names of the " Victoria," " Maccan," " Chiegnecto," " Lawrence," " St George," and " New York and Acadia" Mines. The beds which they work appear to be of similar character with those of the Joggins, of which they are the direct continuation. It is questionable, however, whether the shafts of these new mines have yet opened the best beds of coal, nor docs it seem certainly known with which of the seams at the Joggins those opened correspond. At the Victoria Mine, according to Mr Rutherford, there are three seams. The upper seam is sixteen feet above the middle, and this fifty-three feet above the lowest. The upper seam is one foot ten inches thick, the middle three feet, and the lower has three feet of coal divided by two partings of fire-clay. These beds arc probably on the horizon of Coal-groups 29 and 30 of the coast section. According to the same authority, the Lawrence Mine, which adjoins the Victoria on the east side of Hebcrt Rivei*, has opened two seams of coal, each two feet six inches thick, and separated by a vertical thickness of twenty feet. In the Maccan Mine, castwai'd of the Lawrence, two seams have been opened, only one of which, two feet four inches thick, is at present worked. The Chiegnecto, St George, and New York and Acadia Mines are all on the same seam, which presents different characters from those in the above-mentioned mines. Its section in the Chiegnecto Colliery is thus given by Mr Rutherford : — i \ \ 220 THE CARIJONIFEKOUS SYSTEM. ;! IJ' Coal (coarse) Shale Coal . Slaty band Coal . „ (coarse) Sliale Coal . Slaty band Coal . Ft. In. 2 2 6 2 1 (» H I •H 4 1 3 1 2 2 3 (i 12 9 This bed contains no less than ten feet eight inches of coal, and is consequently the thickest yet ob.^ervcd in this section. Tt may be com- pared with Coal-group 29 of the coast section. In the adjoining area, the St George, the amount of coal appears to diminish to seven feet eight inches, while the clay partings increase. This fact shows how hopeless it is to attempt to identify coal-scams, even a few miles distant, by their minute structure. It seems, however, not unlikely that all the beds above referred to, as worked on the Hebert and Maccan Rivers, belong to the lower series of workable seams at the Joggins coast, and that the exact equivalent of the main scam has not yet been discovered. Still I would not venture to be at all positive as to this ; but merely throw it out as a suggestion to explorers, who might perhaps discover the outcrop of the main seam to the south- ward of the mines now worked. The quantity of coal extracted in 1866 from the new mines above mentioned was 9374 tons, making, with that from the Joggins mines, 17,852 tons. About twenty miles south-east of the Joggins shore, at a place called Springhill, Coal measures appear with a dip to the north, indicating, with their position not many miles from the base of the Cobequid Hills, that they belong to the southern side of the Cumber- land trough. I have had no opportunity of examining the coal-seams of this place, but one of them is variously stated at eight and twelve feet in thickness, and the coal is of good quality. The Springhill bed is at too great distance from navigable water to permit it to be mined at present for exportation. It forms part of the reserve stores of coal, waiting for their full development till railways extend across the country, or till domestic manufactures demand supplies of mineral fuel within the province. The present inland demand might, however, MINERALS OF THE CUMBEULAND COAL-FIELD. 221 permit it to be mined on a small scale ; and could a railway be con- structed, it might be profitably employed in smelting the rich iron ores of the Londonderry mines. Should railway communication be established between Cumberland and Halifax on the one side, and New Brunswick on the other, this coal area would at once become important. The following assays show the qualities of samples of Joggins and Springhill coal examined by me ; but it must be observed that the specimen from Springhill was from the outcrop of the seam, and therefore probably injured by weatlicring. Assay of Joggins Coal from the. Main Seam. The sjjecimen is bright coal of unifonn texture, with straight joints containing films of iron pyrites and calcareous matter. Moisture 2*5 Volatile combustible matter . . 36'3 Fixed carbon . . . . 56'0 Reddish-gray ashes . . . 52 1000 Assay of Springhill Coal. The specimen is a compact coal, less bright than that of the Joggins, and without films of pyrites, though it contains some sulphur intimately mixed with it. Moisture Volatile combustible matter Fixed carbon Reddish ashes . 1-8 . 28-4 . 56-6 . 13-2 1000 Irom the character given of the Springhill coal by persons who have used it, I should infer either that its quality has been overrated, or that my specimen is inferior to the average quality. The above assays show that the Joggins coal nuich resembles that of Sydney, C.B., while the Springhill coal is more like that of I'ictou. See assays of these coals farther on. The structure of the Cumberland coal-field warrants the expectation that the Springhill seam may be traced toward the coast of Chiegnecto Ray, perhaps to the viv'inity of Apple River, where a very small bed of coal has been discovered, and also in the opposite direction. Attempts ^ i life \ \M '. r^^sssssssssBi M'' a i 222 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. which liave been made by a mining engineer in the service of the General Mining Association to effect the former of these results, have, however, been unsuccessful ; and it would ajjpoar that the beds in the vicinity of Springhill are in a much more disturbed condition than those on the Joggins shore. In like manner, it is a perfectly fair inference that the seams which appear in the coast section of the Joggins, must extend along the northern side of the trough, far into the interior of the country ; though whether they improve or deteriorate in their eastern extension is not at present known. It appears certain, however, that the coal measures are less fully developed on the coast of Northumberland Strait than on the western coast, and the seams which have hitherto been found in them arc very small. It may, therefore, bo inferred, that in the event of the interior of the Cumberland district being opened up by railway communication, the localities offering the greatest prospects uf valuable discoveries are, — Is^, The line of country extending E.S.E. from the Joggins toward the branch of the Kiver Philip called Clack River ; and, 2d, A line extending east and west, and passing through Springhill. Clay Ironstone occurs in the Joggins section and elsewhere, in balls in the shales, and in irregular bands. None of these deposits arc at present of any economical importance ; though, could smelting works be established in connexion with the Londonderry ores, a considerable additional supply of clay ironstone could be procured from the Coal measures, and might be of much value. Grindstone is one of the most important productions of the Cumber- land coal-field. I have already referred to the mechanical qualities on which this rock depends for its value. The principal localities of the quarries are Seaman's Cove and Ragged Reef; the beds at the former being below the productive Coal measures, those at the latter above them. In smaller quantities, grindstones are obtained from a number of other beds and reefs along the coast, and also from the continuation of these beds on the estuary of the Hebert River, and from the geological equivalents of the beds at Seaman's Cove, where they reappear in New Brunswick. Forty-six thousand four hundred and ninety-six grindstones were made in Nova Scotia in 1861, the greater part in Cumberland. Grindstones are also quarried in the sandstones on the eastern coast of Cumberland ; and at Wallace there are valuable beds of freestone which have been quarried for exportation. Limestone and Gypsum abound in the line of country extending from Minudie to Pugwash and Wallace. The fonner especially occurs in very thick beds at Napan River and at Pugwash ; and tliese are MINF.nALS OP THE CUMnRRLAND COAL-FIEI.D. 223 also the principal localities of gypsum, which does not, however, appear to be so abundant in the Lower Carboniferous rocks of this county as in those of Hants and Colchester. A singular variety of limestone occurs in a number of places on the Joggins shore. It is the black bituminous limestone, so often referred to in the section. This substance, though not in sufficiently thick beds to compete with the larger Lower Carboniferous limestones for ordinary purposes, is the most valuable limestone in the county for application as a manure, in consequence of the quantity of phos- phate of lime contained in it, in the form of scales and bones of fish. In consequence of its containing this valuable ingredient, it is worth to the farmer more than three times the price of ordinary limestone, and I have no doubt that it will be extensively worked for agricultural purposes, when the use of mineral manures becomes more general among the farmers of Cumberland. It is possible that even at present the lime from the richest of these beds would be sufficiently appreciated on trial to allow them to be profitably worked. The soils resting on the Carboniferous rocks of Cumberland are very various in their quality, and run in lines across the county in corre- spondence with the strikes of the gi'oups of beds from which the materials of the surface soils have been derived, liich ioamy and calcareous .soils generally accompany the limestones, gypsums, and marly cl.iys and sandstones of the Lower Carboniferous system. The soils of the coal measures vary from light and sometimes stony sands to stiff clays. The Upper Coal formation produces soils approaching somewhat to those of the Lower Carboniferous series. Hence along the north side of the Cobequid Hills we have a broad band of good soil, and a similar one extending across the northern part of the county, while between these are alternate belts of poor and rich soils ; almost the whole, however, being sufficiently deep and friable to be cultivable. The great fertility of the marsh-lands of the western coasts and rivers, and the almost exclusive attention of the population on many parts of the eastern shore to lumbering and shipbuilding, have caused the value of the upland soils of Cumberland to be much underrated ; but they are now constantly rising in the estimation of the people of the county, and will do so more and more as improved methods of cultivation become more generally diffused and appreciated. 224 CHAPTER XIV. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEVf-Continued. I w CARnONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF NEW BRUNSWICK QKNERAI. ORSERVA- T10N8 STRUCTURE OP THE COAL-KIEI,D LOWER CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS — FOSSILS — USEFUL MINERALS. The coal measures of the Joggins, dipping to the south-west, extend in the direction of their strike across Chiegnccto IJay to Cape Meran- guin and the Nurth Joggins, where the gray and red sandstones of the Millstone-grit and lower portion of the Coal measures are well seen on the coast, dipping S. 10° W. at an angle of 45°. On tracing these beds a little to the northward, they become vertical and dip to the north, forming an anticlinal. This anticlinal appears to extend to the north-westward up the bay, for at Fort Cumbex'land the first rocks that we see on entering New Brunswick are coarse gray sandstones dipping to the northward. This dip continues as far as tiic cast side of the Petitcodiac River, where the highca beds are seen at the ferry below Dorchester. They are gray sandstones, with Catamites, Stern- bergia, and trunks of coniferous trees ; and beneath them, extending along the coast to tlie southward, is a great scries consisting ])rincii)ally of reddish beds. I have no doubt that the whole of these beds belong to the older part of the Coal formation. Nothing newer is seen in this neighbourhood ; for at Dorchester and Fort Folly Point, and at Hopewell, on the opposite side of the ferry, the same gray sandstones reappear with southerly dips, and with fossils of the same species. The dip varies from S. S. E. to S.E. If we follow this series in descending order to the northward, up the Memramcook River, we soon come to conglomerate, limestone, and thin-bedded bituminous and calcareous shales, all belonging to the Lower Carboniferous series. On the west side of the Petitcodiac, we find a similar descending series toward the great metamorphic band ending in Shepody Mountain, and which consists of rocks older than the Carboniferous system. The order of succession seen here is as follows, though there may be important omissions in the list, as the sections are not continuous : — CAIinONIFEKOUB ARKA OP NKW BRUNSWICK. 225 Gray snnclstono, often cuarno and pebbly, with shales and conglo- merate, Hopewell Ferry, etc. These bods perhaps correspond to the great sandstone ledges of Seaman's Quarries, Joggina. They may be traced through Albert County to the south-west for n con3idcniblc distance. Reddish sandstones a^id shales. ',\. Limestone and gypsmn. 4. Red sand.-itonc and co'!glomeratc. .'». Gray and dark-coloured conglomerate. G. Calcareo-bituminous shales of the Albert Mine, Hillsborough. These bods apjjcar hero to lie at the very base of the lower Carbon ifi.rous scries, (rice Section, Fig. 60.) Fig. 60. — Qerieral Arrangement of the Strata bettoceii South Jog'jtna and Albert Mint. 2 u •Bt Cl4 '2 S. E.- ■■so I I o N. W. t^ «^ yPTrfni'SX'^rt^ iXy-TT-^^yy-T^T-T^n^TZ^ The Lower Carboniferous and Millstone-grit series of southern New Brunswick thus appear to consist of the same elements as in the part of Nova Scotia just described, with the exception of the occuri'ence of a representative of the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures in the bituminous shales of Hillsborough. In the vicinity of the Albert Mine these seem to be the lowest member of the series ; but Professor Bailey describes a lower conglomerate as underlying shales, similar to those of Hillsborough, farther west at the Pollct River. In 1852, I determined the geological age of the Albert deposits on stratigraphical grounds, and since that time Mr ('. F. Hartt has added the confirmatory evidence of fossils, having found specimens of Cyclopteris Acadica and Lepidodendron corrugatum, the characteristic plants of this portion of the Carboniferous scries, as seen in the clifls at Ilorton Bluff in Nova Scotia, to be described in the sequel. At the Albert Mine, the geologist stands at the extremity of a long range of metamorpbic (Devonian) rocks, stretching along the south coast of New Brunswick, and terminating in Shepody Mountain. The Lower Carboniferous rocks bend around the end of this ridge, and are thrown off from its v.orth-east and north-west sides. On the former they extend in a belt of no great breadth to Salisbury Cove, beyond ■PR 22G THE CARnONIFEROUS SYSTEM. which they appear only in detached patches, the most western of wljich, on the coast eastward of St John, arc those of Quaco and Gardiner's Creek. On the northern side these beds occupy a broad belt of country, extending along the valleys of the Petitcodiac and Kennebeckasis Rivers, and in part limited on the north-west by another raetainorphic ridge, suctching from the great area of such rocks lying on the St John River to the eminence knoAvn as Butternut Ridge. The belt thus limited, and which extends for nearly eighty miles, with a breadth of from sixteen to twenty miles, appears to consist wholly of beds of the three lowest divisions of the Carboniferous period. The Lower Carboniferous Coal measures and their associated conglomerates Bkirt the northern side of the Shcpody range, and are succeeded by the marine limestones and gypsums. These appear to be brought up by an undulation in the middle of the valley at Sussex Vale, and they reappear on the north side of the Kennebeckasis, skirting the exterior of the metamorphic belt of the Kingston series to Butternut Ridge already mentioned. Doubling around the metamorphic promontory near Butteniut Ridge, the Lower Carboniferous outcrop extends in a narrow and somewhat curved band to the west, till it reaches Oromocto Lake and the Maga- guadavic River, near the line of the St Andrew's Railway. It then bends sharply to the nortli-east, and, in so far as known, runs directly, though with many minor curves and detached outliers, to the Bay de Chaleur, skirting the margin of the broad Silurian area of northern New Brunswick. One of tlie most important outliers is that on the Tobiquc River.* In so far as this series has been examined, it has been described by IVofessor ]}ailcy and his associates-]- as composed of red conglomerates, red sandstones, and red shales, with beds of limestone and gypsum, and in places penetrated and overlaid by trappeau rocks, by which some of the beds ippear to have been con- siderably altered. These eruptions of volcanic rock I suppose to be of much older date than those of the Trias, and to be similar to those which occur in the Lower Carboniferous of Nova Scotia, and which will be described in the sequel. From the above description, it appears that the line of outcrop of the Lower Carboniferous is bent upon itself, forming an angle of about 4.5°, each limb of which extends for about 150 miles to the waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence. The great triangular area thus limited, except where connected with the Cumberland area in Nova Scotia by an isthmus a few miles in breadth, includes an area of ne&vly 6000 * Hind's Report, p. 62. f Kupoi't on Geology of SiiiUhcii) New nniuswick, 1805. 8TUUCTUUE OP THE COAL-FIELD OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 227 square miles, and is occupied by rocks of the Coal formation. Under tliese rocks the Lower Carboniferous beds no doubt extend ; and in some localities they are in part exposed at the surface by the slight undulations which affect the widely distributed and nearly horizontal beds of this extensive Coal fonnation area. In the first edition of "Acadian Geology," I did not attempt any general description of the New Brunswick Carboniferous area; but since that time the researches of Professor Bailey and of Messrs Matthew and llartt, and those of Professor Hind,* with the facts previously published L^ Sir W. E. Logan, and those in the MS. notes of the late Dr Robb, kindly placed in my hands by his brother, Mr C. Robb of Montreal, liiue given much additional information. 1 have also had opportunitifss <>f examining the fossil plants collected by Sir W. E. Logan and Hr Ilartt, and of visiting some additional portions of this area. To eiiter into the details of the new matter thus collected would fa" exceed my present space. I shall, under the fol- lowiiig heads, merely endep.vour to present some of the more important facts and concl; .sions : — \ 1. Structure of the Coal-field of New Brunswick. The coal area of New Brunswick is remarkable, as compared with Nova Scoti;^, for the flat and undisturbed condition of its beds, and for the comparative prevalence of sandstones. Indeed, in so far as the appearances present themselves to a cursory observer, the whole of the Coal formation area of New Brunswick may be characterized as a flat expanse of somewhat coarse gray sandstone. Other beds, however, are not wanting, as conglomerate, red sandstone, and shales of various qualities; but, from the flatness of the beds and general small elevation of the surface, they are not very obvious. In attempting to estimate the thickness and relations of the Coal fonnation area of New Brunswick, the facts observed on the northern coast of the province, between Bathurst and Bay Verte, are of the utmost importance. I have not myself explored this region, having seen it only at a few points; but Sir William Logan has given a detailed section of a poi'tion of it in the vicinity of Bathurst, and nmch information is contained in the MS. notes and sections of the late Professor Robb of Frederickton referred to above. Near Bathui st, the Lower Carboniferous or " Bonaventure " For- mation, as it has been named by Logan in its extension into Canada, is represented by thick beds of red and gray conglomerate, including * "ObsL'"- .iDPs on the Geolof:/ of Southern New Brunswick," by Professor Bailey, M.A. ; I'reliminary Report, bj H. Y. Hind, M.A., etc. i^-^ 228 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. red and gray sliales, in one of which occur remains of plants, fossilized by the gray sulphuret of copper, in the manner often observed in the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia. Over these arc reddisli sand- stones of considerable thickness, succeeded by gray sandstones and shales, including underclays, many fossil plants, and two thin beds of coal. The thickness of these, as measured by Sir W. E. Logan, is about 400 feet. These beds appear to be on the north side of an anticlinal which runs out toward Shippogan. South of this, according to Professor Robb's observations, the dip, though slight, is to the south- ward, and the gray and nearly horizontal sandstones of the Miraniiclii River, which contain fossil plants and a thin scam of coal, are in the centre of a great flat synclinal which occupies tlie greater part of the breadth of the coal-field. South of the Miramiclii, the gray sandstones, vrith an opposite dip, extend to Richcbucto, where a small bed of coai occurs at a place called Coal Brook, with the accompaniments represented hi Fig. 61. Fig. 61. — Section on Coal Creek mar liichehicto. — Dr Eol)b. '«Wf;|(»'," "^,S^ ~" Sandstone, Shale. Coal, 15 inches. S Shale or undcrelay. — — Sanilstonc. Under this, and extending to Buctouche, are reddish grits, which Professor Robb regards as a repetition of those at Bathurst, so that we have at Buctouche an anticliual bringing up the lower members of the Carboniferous series. From Buctouche to Sliediac the dips are southerly. Shediao Harbour seems to be near the centre of another flat synclinal, and thence to Cape Tormentin the beds dip to the N.E. at small angles. Cape Tormentin appears to be in the axis of an anticlinal form, extending inland toward the wide Lower Carboniferous area of Albert county, but on the coast not bringing up anything elder than the lov.er part of the Coal formation. The end of this undulation, at the extremity cf Cape Tormentin, is covered by a small STRUCTURE OF THE COAL-FIELD OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 229 patch of mictaceous red sandstone, which appears to be an outlier of the New Red Sandstone of Prince Edward Island. Bay Verte presents anot'.ier slight synclinal undulation, continuous apparently with that which apjjcars at Dorchester Ferry ; and south of this is the anticlinal which brings up the Lower Carboniferous limestones of Nortliern Cumberland, and which limits the coal trough of the Joggins in Nova Scotia. The coast section above described, as given in Professor Robb's manuscripts, is included in the general section attached to the map, to which the reader is referred. It would appear from this section, compared with those farther inland, as, for example, in the vicinity of Frcderickton, that in the northern and western part of the New Brunswick coal area the Lower Carbon- iferous Formation is little developed, except in the form of grits and conglomerates; and that the greatest development of the calcareous members of the Lower Carboniferous and of the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures occurs in the southern part of the area, the principal exception being the occurrence of limestone and gypsum in theTobique outlier. The same deficiency occurs in Nova Scotia on the northern side of the Cobequid Hills, In the next place, in so far as ascertained, the Coal formation proper appears in New Brunswick to have a less thickness than in Nova Scotia, and to include only two principal coal groups — one near the base, and the other near the summit. To the former, I refer the coals of the coast near Bathurst, of Richebucto, and of the vicinity of Frcderickton, unless, indeed, the upper members of the series there overlap and conceal the lower; to the latter, those of Miramichi, and possibly those of Cocagne and Grand Lake. This would accord also with such evidence as fossils afford, since, as I have elsewhere shown,* the plants of the Coal measures near Bathurst have a Lower Coal formation aspect; those of Grand Lake arc more akin to those of the Upper Coal formation. On the one hand, the great uniformity of the New Brunswick area, so far as o\jscrved, would lead to the belief that these exposures represent fairly its avialable resources of coal, which, in that case, are great as to area, but iisignificant as to thickness, and consequently as to productive v.^lne. On the other hand, it is quite possible, judging from the analogy of other countries, that thc'^ may be portions of this area as yet unexplored, in which mineral fu'-l may have been more bountifully produced. Farther, as the Grand Lake beds seem to belong to the Upper series, and borings already made would indicate (hat the Lower series may bo reached there, it would be desirable that * " Synopsis of the Carboniferous Florn." H ■. '. > w^7-T)?C I 'r ' 230 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. effectual measures should be taken to ascertain their actual value, either by boring or by searching for their outcrops, and also that the Grand Lake beds themselves should be proved in their extension both east and west. In Nova Scotia very remarkable changes of thickness occur in the coal-beds in tracing them from one locality to another ; and though this is perhaps less likely in New Brunswick, yet it is quite possible that more valuable beds than any yet known may exist, more especially in tlic central part of the area, where the great flatness of the beds and their general covering with soil and forest have pre- vented any effective '^ xploration. I have not had an opportunity of visiting the coal mines at Grand Lake ; but, from a paper lead by Mr INLitthew before the Natural History Society of New Bn.uswick, it appears that mining is pro- secuted at two places, — Coal Ridge and Coal Creek. At the former place the coal is found in a bed nineteen inches in tliickness. At the latter the thickness is oidy seventeen inches — the distance between the two localities being three and a half miles. Only one bed appears to have been discovered. The dip of the coal is to the southward at a very small angle. Mr Matthew states, in addition to the considerations above mentioned, the very imjiortant fact, that older slates are found cropping out to the surface about ten miles from the mouth of Coal Creek. This would indicate, as he st.ites, that the Coal measures may be very shallow at this place. It gives, however, a probability that the coal-beds may vary in productiveness on different sides of such an island of older rocks, as is observed to be the case in Nova Scotia. In other words, if the New Brunswick coal area is traversed by buried ridges of older rocks, these may divide it into subordinate p.reas of deposit, some of which may be much more valuable than others. In conclusion, I would venture to express the opinion that the question as to the actual value of the 'oal area of New Brunswick can be settled only by the slow progress of accidental discovery, or by boring operations undertaken in those places where the upper series of coal-beds makes its appearance ; and that the analogy of the Nova Scotia coal regions would indicate that the probability of the occur- rence of large beds will be greatest along the southern side of the coal area, and where the Coal measures approach most closely to the older rocks. Of course, it would be useless to bore so near to these last that only the lower part of the Carboniferous series would be penetrated. It is wiiere indisputable indications exist of the presence of the upper portion of the Coal measures that such trials should be made ; and the best scientific advice as to locality should be secui'ed before entering on expensive operations. 1 • LOWER CARBONIFEROUS OF NEW nRUNSWICK. 231 the can by 38 of llova Icur- Icoal llder I that 3per the ■ring 2. The Lower Carboniferous Coal Formation in Neio Brunswick, This remarkable group of rocks, which docs not appear, so far as known, in the coal area of Cumberland, though it is developed in other parts of Nova Scotia, appears in New Brunswick to be of considerable thickness, and can be traced from the neighbourhood of Dorchester for some distance along the north side of the coast range of metamorphic hills. It is characterized by the same species of fossil plants as at llorton Bluff in Nova Scotia, and, like the beds at that place, these are rich in remains of fislics. Tliey differ, however, from the rocks of similar age in Nova Scotia by the remarkable development of highly bituminous shales in connexion with considerable deposits of an asphaltic mineral, to wliich the name " Albertitc" has been given, and which is highly v.alued as a material for the manufacture of coal oil and illuminating gas. I examined these deposits in 1852, in the company of Sir Charles L)ell, and shall first give, without any material alteration, the account of the locality as I then saw it, and as it was described in tlie first edition of tliis work, adding a sum- mary of more recent observations, and the new conclusions to which they lead. Albert Mine, I lillsborongh. — The beds at this place are thin-bedded shales, composed of extremely fine ir.durated clay with much bitu- minous matter. Some of tliem contain much lime, and when this is dissolved away by the weather or by an acid, the bituminous matter remains in tlic form of light porous flakes, resembling half-decayed bark. These shales contain great numbers of fossil fishes in a remark- ably perfect state. They are flattened by pressure ; but their forms are perfectly preserved, and the fins are as perfect as they were in life. They belong to the genus Pakvoniscus, and arc probably identical with some of those in the Coal formation of Nova Scotia (Fig. 62), I''ig. G2. — ralaonisciht Alherti (?)— Jackson. hut they have been buried in such a manner that every scale is in its place, instead of being scattered about, as at the Joggins and in the \ 232 TUB CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. lil w 'r «; Carboniferous rocks generally. The shales containing these fossils have been singularly disturbed and contorted, and tlicy contain a vein of a remarkably pure and beautiful bituminouf. substance, allied to pitch-coal, and of great value as a material for gas-naking. This substance unfortunately became a subject of litigation ; and as one point in dispute was whether it should be called coal or asplialtum, scientific gentlemen were summoned from the United States as witnesses, and the most discordant opinions were given, both as to the name of the mineral and its geological age. This was not wonderful in the circumstances, for tlie substance was really a new material, intermediate between the most bituminous coals and the asphalts, and the geologists examined had enjoyed very few oppor- tunities of studying that very remarkable group of Lower Carboniferous rocks to which tiie deposit belongs. Consequently some, in all sin- cerity, called the mineral coal, others asphalt ; and some maintained tiiat it was in the true Coal formation, while others believed it to be in the Old Hi d Sandstone. Only one of the geologists emjjloyed, Dr I'ercival of New Haven, assigned the deposit to its true geological position, as subsequently ascertained by Sir Charles Lyell and the writer, and stated above. To give an idea of this singular deposit, I quote the following details from a paper contributed by me to the Geological Society of London : — '* The pit for the extraction of the mineral is situated on the south side of Frederick's Brook, a small stream running eastwardly into the Petitcodiac, and near the junction of two branches of the brook. Li approaching the mine from tlie south, the shales are seen in nearly a horizontal position in a road-cutting. This may be a deceptive appearance. Dr Percival, however, considers It the true arrangement at this point. At the pit-mouth the beds dip to the south at angles of 50° and 60°, and consist of gray and dark-coloured thin-bedded bituminous shales ; and these shales appear with similar dips on the south branch of tlie brook. The outcrop of the coal is not now seen, but in a line with it I observed a remarkable crumpling and arching of the beds in tlie bank of tlie brook, at the point where the south- wardly dipping beds above noticed meet a similar or the same series dipping to the north-west; this is represented in Fig 63. The outcrop of the coal in the bed of tl.f, brook was, as I was informed, very narrow, and the appearances now presented are as if the shales had arched over it. On the northern side of the arch above referred to, and in the noith branch of the brook, are seen a thick series of bituminous and calcareous shales, with three beds of sandstone, the whole dipping to the north-west at a high angle. The strike of LOVVEK CAUBONIFKROUS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 233 one of the most regular beds I found to be S. 18° W. magnetic. Many of the shales contain scales of fish, and one of them has a Fig. 03. — Arched fitrafa, tuar Albert Mine, Fig. 64. — lii'tit filriila, near Albert Mine. peculia' oolitic structure, consisting of a laminated basis of impure coaly matter or earthy bitumen, with crystalline calcareous grains, which arc removed by weathering, and leave a light vesicular inflammable residuum of very singular aspect. The shales are in some places remarkably bent and contorted, as if by lateral pressure when in a soft state. A part of one of these flexures is accurately represented in Fig. Gl, and illustrates some appearances in the nine to be subsequently noticed. "The principal shaft has been sunk perpendicularly from the outcrop of the coal, and at its bottom is sixty-seven feet south of it The gallery connecting the bottom of the shaft with the coal shows thin-bedded bituminous shales with calcareous and ironstone bands and concretions, dipping at the end nearest the coal S.S.W., at an angle of C0°, though a dip to the S.E. is more prevalent along this side of the mine. The coal at this place is about ten feet in thickness, and its upper surface dips N.W. about 75°. On the S.E., or under side, it rests against the edges of the somewhat contorted beds already noticed as dipping to the southward, and on the north-west side it is overlaid by similar beds dipping in the same direction with the coal, but so much contorted as to present on the small scale a most complicated and confused appearance. Tlie coal itself, as seen in mass underground, presents a beautiful and singular appearance. It has a splendent resinous lu.strc and perfect conchoidal fracture ; it is perfectly free from mineral charcoal and lines of impure coal or earthy matter. It is, however, divided into prismatic pieces by a great number of smooth divisional planes, proceeding from wall to wall, much in the manner of the cross structure seen in carbonized trees, and in the streaks of pitch-coal in the ordinary coals. At the N.W. side or roof, the coal joins the rock without change. On the H.E. side, on the contrary, there is a portion of coal a few inches thick, Q II I Fiff. Gr^.—Itchition of the " Albert Coal" to the containiiKj beds, as seen near the shift of the mine. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. including angular fragments of the shale, some beds of which on this side arc very tender and cleave readily into rhomboidal pieces. The coal enveloping these fragments must have been softened sufficiently to allow them to penetrate it, but it has more numerous and less regular divisional planes than in the central parts of the mass, and has probably been shifted or crushed somewhat, either when it re- ceived the included fragments or subsequently. IJoth at the roof and floor, the coal shows distinct evidence of a former pasty or fluid condition, in having injected a pure coaly substance into the most minute fissures of the containing rocks. On both roof and floor also, but espe- cially the latter, there arc abundant evidences of shifting and disturbances in the slickenside surfaces witli which they abound. All these appearances I have endeavoured to represent in Fig. 65, which agrees in the essential ])oints with a similar figure given by Professor Taylor, who docs not, however, repre- sent the contorted state of the beds and the crushing of the lower side of the coal. " The levels of the mine extend on both sides of tlic shaft along the course of the coal. On the south-west they extend about 170 feet, when the coal narrows to a thickness of one foot. In this direction, however, I had not time to examine them. In proceeding to the N.E., the coal has a general course of N. 60° E., bending gradually to N. Go" E., and everywhere })rcseuting the ajjpearances already noticed, though attaining, in one place, a width of thirteen feet. At the distance of about 200 feet from the shaft, a remarkable disturbance occurs. The mala body of the coal bends suddenly to the northward, Its course becoming N. 29° E.* for about twenty-five feet, when It returns to a course of N. 50° E. At the bend to the northward, a small part of the vein proceeds in its original course, and is stated by the persons connected with the mine to run out, leaving a large irregular promon- tory of reek between It and the main body of the co>l. This disturbance has been variously rep.-esented as a fault, and as a cutting of the vein across the strata. Though I confess that the: appearances are of a puzzling character, and arc but imperfectly exjjosed in the mine, the impression left on my mind is, that it Is, on a large scale, a flexure * Those measurements were made with a pocket prismatic compass. Thty difTor slightly from tliose of Dr Jackson, eitlicr tVoin accidental circumstauces, or from btiiiig taken in different leveU of the inino. LOWKR CARBONIFEROUS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 235 FiR. M.— Sect ''on of the. beds at the East end of Albert Mine, similar to tlmt represented in Fig. C4, and acconipftnied by a partial tearing asunder of the beds. It seems evident that the beds must have been in a soft state at the time when this d'sturbanec occurred, although there may have been subsequently some vertical shifting, especially on the west side of this ' Jog.' "Beyond this flexure, the deposit contracts in width, and becomes more regular, and cvcntiuilly its containing walls assume a conformable dip to the S. 5° E., at an angle of G9°. The ai)pcarauce presenti-d at the time of my visit in the extreme end of ine most advanced level, is represented in Fig. 66, where it will be observed that the S.E. wall still shows Indications of the prevailing contortions of the beds, and of the maimer In which these cause the ends of strata to abut against the coal. " At this place, a.i exploratory level, driven to the S.E., shows a series of bituminous shales, with bands of ironstone, dipping reguUirly to the south-eastward. I could not, in any part of the mine, find beds corresponding to tlie Stigmarla underclay of ordinary coal-seams, though on the S.E. side some of the beds are of a more compact and purely argillaceous character than those on the N.W. side or roof of the seam. The ironstone bands and fish-bearing shales are, however, not very dissimilar from those in some Coal measures of the ordinary Coal formation. They present no indications of metamorphism or of the passage of heated vapours, and all their appearances show that their bituminous matter has resulted from the presence of organic substances at the time of their deposition. "It is ivident that all the above iihcnomena can be explained on tlic supposition that this coaly mass occupies a fissure running along an anticlinal bend of tlie strata ; and that, apart from the character of the mineral and the containing beds, this would be ili*^ most natural explanation. On the other hand, when we consider the contorted condition of the beds, indicating disturbance when in a .'loft state, and the sllckcnslde joints, pointing to subsequent shifts, we cannot refuse to admit that a conformable bed of true coal, if subjected before and after its consolidation to such movements, might present all the appearances of complication and disturbance observed In this mass, more especially if originally of small extent, and thinning out toward the edges. On this view we should liavu to suppose, — (1.) Disturbance and conto'-tlon of the beds while soft, and, at the point in question, a regular and somewhat abrupt arching of the beds; (2.) A fault throwing ! .'.I ,: i; i 1 -. :. i |l ^ Ii '' ii i ■ U-^ ; i 1 !l"r i .ill 98ft THE CAUnONIFKROUS SYSTKM. Fig. 07. — Idetil represfntation of (lie Cause of the npimirancea at AUkH iliiie. down the Hoiith hIcIo of tlio arch along a line coinciding in part of it« course with the highly inclined nndorsidc of the coal at the north side of the arch; and (3.) Kctnoval of the upper part of the north wide of the arch by denudation. Fig. G7 rci)rescnt8 the appearanccB which would thus bo ]troduccd, and it will be seen that they very closely correspond with the present condition of the deposit, not excepting its thinning toward the surface. If this bo the true explanation, it is probable that the sunken south side of the bed has not yet been reached in the ex- cavations. It might, however, in Hpi)roaching it from above, show a BUccc8.sion of wedge-shaped included majises of rock or "horses," one of which I saw in the (loor of the lowest level. On this view, also, the ' .Tog ' or fault above described may be a lateral bend received by the bed in the original contortion of the strata ; and at this point the straight fracture, producing the supposed downthrow, may have left the bed, and thus caused the appearance of the vein running in the former course of the bed along the line of fault, and also the greater regularity of the bed beyond the 'Jog.' This explanation is represented in Fig. 68." As many readers of this work may be interested in the controvei"- sics respecting this mineral, I may shortly mention its physical and chemical propertie.«, and the results at which 1 have arrived respecting its nature and origin. The substance has externally an appearance not dissimilar from the ordinary asphalt of commerce in its purest forms ; but it is very much less fusible, and differs in chemical composition. Its fracture is conchoidal. Its lustre resinous and splendent or shining. Its colour and the powder and streak on porcelain, black ; and it is perfectly opaque. It is very brittle and disposed to fly into fragments. Its hardness is 3, nearly, of Mohs' scale. Its specific gravity is 1'08 to I'll (according to Jackson and Hayes). It emits a bituminous odour, and when rubbed becomes electric. In the flame of a spirit-lamp it intumesces and emits jets of Fig. 68.— r/ie "Jog" at Albert Mine, and its supposed relation to the line of fault. LOWER CARnoNtPEROUS OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 237 gas, but docs not molt liko asphalt. In a close tube, however, it can bo melted with some iutiimcscpnce. In the above characters, with the cxcei)tion of the colour of the powder, it agrees more nearly with the finer varieties of Jet or I'itch-(hal, than with any other substance. For this reason I made comparative trials of its composition and that of specimens of jet from Whitby, with the following results: — Albert Mineral. Whitby Jet. Water . . . • . "4 I".') Volatile cimibustible matter . ^t7''2 fi7'I Coke 42-4 41-4 1000 U)()-0 Ash in coke . . -27 40 These results indicate a remarkable similarity in the i)roportion of volatile and fixed combu.stible matter; an ultinmto analysis miglit, however, establish iinj)ortant differences of detail. If wo compare the '■'■ Alberlitc," as it has been named by persons desirous of not committing themselves, with the sub.stances most nearly allied to it, we can .scarcely avoid arriving at the following conclu- sions: — In its behaviour in the fire, chemical composition, and electrical properties, the substance is nearly allied to jet, from which, however, it differs in its extreme brittlene.s.s, its greater uniformity of texture, and more perfect lu.stre and fracture, and also in its black streak : a character which also separates it from ordinary bituminous coal and all the varieties of a.sphaltum. Its nearest analogue in this last particular is Lesmahagow cannel. Its lu.stre and fracture remarkaldy assimilate it to the finer varieties of asphalt, but its streak, mode of combustion, and chemical composition, effectually separate it from them. On the whole, the above considerations, in connexion with a number of cxperim .its made by .Jackson, Hayes, and others, and published in the Kcport.s on tlie mineral, place the substance at the head of the Pitch Coals or Jets, as the purest variety of that species of bituminous coal. It has, however, some claims to be viewed as a distinct mineral species, intermediate between coals and asphalts ; and I suspect that its chemical composition may approach to that of Asphaltene, the coaly ingredient of the Asphalts. Under the microscope, I have not been able to detect any organic structure, though I have found in .some slices cells filled with yellow resinous matter, similar to those that occur in cannel-coal. Mr Bacon of Boston, however, states (in Jackson's Report), that he has found traces of cellular tissue ; but Professor Quekett of London, after examli\ing many specimens, considers it destitute of organic .structure. iH IWJgilWWg? IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // V ^^^' "O 4f^ 1, '^t.' '^ '^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 mi^ 4;- 238 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Some specimens of the mineral are laminated, and have brilliant discs about a line in diameter on the surfaces of the laminae. Under the microscope, these discs exhibit very fine concentric and radiating lines, but they are merely concretionary, and in Pictou coal such discs sometimes occur in an oblique position as regards the lamination. The Albertite has been declared to be free from sulphur ; but minute concretions of ironstone and iron pyrites occur in it, and films of iron pyrites line some of the fissures of the containing beds. These appearances are, however, rare. In inquiring Into the origin and mode of fonnation of the deposit, the following alternatives present themselves: — (1.) It may have been a bed or sheet of bituminous matter, thinning out at the edges, like that in Kent, U.C., described in the Report of the Canadian Survey for 1851-2,* and probably produced by the oxidation and hardening of the liquid produce of naphtha- springs. (2.) It may be bituminous matter melted by internal heat or fluid at ordinary temperatures, like petroleum, and poured into an open fissure, and subsequently consoli- dated, as was perhaps the case with the chapapote of Cuba.-j- (3.) It may, like jet and other coals, have resulted from the bituminization of woody matter. With respect to these several hypotheses, I can merely state the probabilities which occur to me from the facts already known, and which may of course be greatly modified by the more perfect exploration of the deposit. On the first of these hypotheses, though there is no great improba- bility in supposing the deposit to have been a conformable bed, it does not seem likely that so large and extremely pure a mass of bituminous matter could be a deposit from springs, or that, without alteration of the containing beds, it could have assumed an aspect and consistence so much akin to those of coal. It also seems difficult on this view to account for the deposition, in waters tenanted by fish, of the accom- panying laminated bituminous shales. The second view requires us to suppose that, after the cnimpling and contortion of the beds, and the production of an open fissure, an underlying portion of the bituminous shales was exposed to heat and pressui'c, which caused its bituminous ingredient to be melted, forced upward, and consolidated in the upper and unaltered portion of the beds, or that the more liquid bituminous matter naturally oozed out of the containing rocks. This would account for the occurrence and most of the appearances of the coaly deposit ; but we must of course still suppose that the bituminous matter was originally produced during the deposition of the shales, probably from organic matter. * Page 90. t Taylor, Statistics of Coal. LOWER CARBONIFEnOUS OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 289 Some countenance is given to this view by the existence of petroleum springs at present in the continuation of the same deposit, and by the presence of minute fissures filled with the mineral, which might, however, be explained on the supposition of pressure exerted on a soft or semifluid bed. The hypothesis of formation from woody matter, after the manner of coal, is also accompanied with serious difficulties. The composition of jet and of recent bituminous coal found in peat-bogs, prove the possibility of this mode of formation ; and this is certainly the most natural way of accounting for the production of the coaly and bitu- minous matter of the containing beds; but large and pure beds of coal arc usually accompanied by evidences of growth in situ, and accumulations of drift-trunks are usually loaded with earthy matter, while none of these conditions exist in the deposit in question. The want of the first is, howevei', perfectly consistent with the long and perfect decomposition implied in this view, as well as in the homo- geneity of the mass, and the abundance of bitumen in the containing shales ; and in a deposit containing so little evidence of strong currents or violent changes, it may not be unreasonable to suppose that drift vegetable matter may have accumulated during long periods in clear water. In connexion with this it is worthy of remark, that the com- parative absence of iron pyrites, in connexion Avitli the presence of large quantities of carbonate of iron in the shales, proves* that these beds were deposited in fresh and very pure water, if it bo admitted that their bitumen resulted from the decomposition of organic matter. Neither is the great purity of the mineral an evidence against its accumulation in the manner of ordinary coal, since varieties of coal almost equally pure have long been known.-J- On this view, then, which is perhaps the most probable of the three, the Albert deposit is a fresh- water formation of a very peculiar character, belonging to the Lower Carboniferous period, and very singularly distorted hj mechanical disturbances. The above was the impression on my mind in 1855 as to the origin of the Albei'tite. Now, in 1867, I confess that it is somewhat modi- fied. The subsequent explorations of the deposit have given to it more unmistakably the aspect of a vein or fissure. The I'cmarkablc veins of altered asphalt which I have seen in the rocks of the Quebec group at Point Leir, have afforded a parallel case more distinct in its character. All the more recent explorers who have visited the * Sec paper by the writer on the " Colouring Matter of Rod Sandstones," in Pro- ceedings of Oeological Society, t See Assays in Taylor's Statistics of Coal. t) I 1 111 if wBaMS 240 TirE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM, locality — Hitchcock, Bailey, and Hind more especially — have adopted the theory of a vein filled with bituminous matter. I regard therefore this mode of occurrence, or the second of those above mentioned, as established, and it only remains to consider whence the supplies of liquid bitumen could have been obtained. I have no hesitation in assigning them to the highly bituminous Lower Carboniferous shales. These beds are manifestly of the same character with the so-called "oil coals" of Nova Scotia, and the earthy bitumens of Scotland. They must have been beds of mud charged with a great quantity of finely comminuted vegetable matter, of the nature of peaty muck, which has become perfectly bituminized, and which probably in an earlier stage of its formation was more prone to ooze into fissures as a liquid petroleum than at present. The deposit of the Albert Mine would thus be a vein or fissure constituting an ancient reservoir of petroleum, which, by the loss of its more volatile parts and partial oxidation, has been hardened into a coaly substance ; and the examples of similar phenomena which I have seen in Canada induce me to believe that the agency of internal heat would not be i-equired to produce the observed result. It is true that one abla observer has supposed that the supplies of petroleum from which the Albertite has been foi-med, have been afforded by the underlying Devonian beds ; but no evidence exists of the occurrence of bituminous matter in these rocks in New Brunswick. The peculiar Corniferous limestone which is the reservoir of petroleum in Canada, does not occur in New Brunswick, and the Lower Carboniferous shales themselves contain abundance of the material requii'ed. In this view, though the Albert shales are Lower Carboniferous, the vein of Albertite must have been formed at a later period, after the beds had begun to experience disturbance. In this as in other respects the deposit of this curious mineral differs remark- ably from ordinary coal, which always constitutes conformable beds contemporaneous with the enclosing strata. With regard to the original formation of the shales, their lamination and their great thickness, as well as the nature of their material, show that their formation was gradual, and probably occupied a long period. I do not regard the state of preservation of the fishes as any objection to this. They may have been killed by occasional eruptions of mud loaded with organic matter rendering the water unwholesome. When once embedded in mud of this character, their parts could not be separated, and even their soft tissues might be preserved, as in modem peat, for a long time. The swarms of cyprids which devoured dead fishes in other parts of the Carboniferous areas do not seem to have been present. Farther, though in some layers the fishes occur in a FOSSILS OF THE COAL-riELD OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 241 pfirfect state of preservation, in the greater part of the deposit they a. found to be represented only by scattered scales. On the sup- po. ion that the shales themselves represent what may be called vegetable mud, this may have accumulated in water at times sufficiently pure to be inhabited by fishes, while at other times streams or inun- dations of muddy water may have caused the destruction of the fish in certain localities. The conditions may in this way be compared to those represented by the calcareo-bituminous shales at the Joggins. The best exposure that I have seen of the Albert shales is on the Memramcook River, where they present a continuous cliff for some distance, exhibiting beds of brownish and black very pure grained shale, all highly bituminous, though of various degrees of richness. The stratification is apparently arched, the crown of the arch being capped with conglomerate, in which are slender asphaltic veins. The thickness of shales observed at this place was estimated at 150 feet. Westward of the Albert Mine, it would seem, according to Profes- sor Bailey, that two or more bands of calcareo-bituminous shale extend along the base of the metamorphic hills, or possibly there may be repetition of the Albert shales by folds along parallel lines. Professor ISailey mentions their occurrence at Baltimore, six miles west of Albert Mine, also at Elgin and PoUet River. At the former place, fish-teeth of the Rhizodont type and Lepidodendron coiTugatian were found by Mr Hartt, giving the character of the fossils here a very strong resemblance to those of Horton Bluff. Still farther westward, the shales occur at Sussex, at Trout Creek, and, lastly, at Norton, fifty miles westward of the Albert Mine, lu these more western localities, however, the Albertite has not been found in workable quantities. Springs yielding petroleum flow from these rocks in various places, and attempts have been made to obtain the substance in profitable quantities, but hitherto, I believe, without any encouraging amount of success. 3. Fossils of the Carboniferous District of New Brunswick, I give here merely a list of the plants determined by myself, prin- cipally from the collections of Mr G. F. Matthews, Mr C. F. llartt, and Sir William E. Logan, with a few animal fossils noticed by Mr Hartt in the Appendix to Bailey's Report on New Brunswick. It will be observed, in connexion with the previous statements, that the plants from Bathurst and Baie de Chaleur are supposed to belong to tiie lower set of coal-beds in the Middle Coal measures ; those from Grand Lake and Miramichi to the upper set of beds. 1 I ti:' ■^^ 242 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. ii * .1 FOSSIL PLANTS. (a) Middle mid Upper Coal Formations. Dadoxylon matcrlarium, Dawson, Miramichi. Dadoxylon Acadianum, Dawson, Dorchester. Calamodendron approximatum, Brongnt, Coal Creek, Grand Lake. Antholites rliabdocarpi, Dawson, „ „ „ „ CalamitesSuckowii, /?ro?2/7?i^,Coa] Creek, GrandLake; Gardner's Creek. C. Cistii, lirongnt. Coal Creek, Grand Lake ; Baie de Chalcur. C. nodosus, Schlot. „ „ „ „ C. cannseformis, Brongnt, Gardner's Creek. Asteropliyllites grandis, Sternberg, Coal Creek, Grand Lake ; Bale de Clialeur. Annularia sphenophylloides, Zenker^ Coal Creek, Grand Lake ; Baie de Chaleur. Sphenophyllum cmarginatum, Brongnt, Coal Creek, Grand Lake ; Baie de Chalcur. S. saxifragifolium, Sternberg, Baie de Chaleur. Cyclopteris (Ncphroptcris) obliqua, Brongnt, Coal Creek, Grand Lake. C. (? Neuropteris) ingens, L. ^ H, Neuropteris rarincrvis, Bunbury, Coal Creek, Grand Lake; Baie de Chaleur. N. gigantea, Sternberg, Coal Creek, Grand Lake. N. Loshii, Brongnt, Gardner's Creek? Baie de Chaleur. N. auriculata, Brt. „ „ Odontoptcris Sehlotheiinii, Brongnt, Baie de Chaleur. Sphcnoptcris munda, Dawson, Coal Creek, Grand Lake (Fig. 69).* S. latior, Dawson, „ „ „ „ (Fig. 70). S. gracilis, Brongnt, „ S. artemisifolia, Brongnt, „ S. Canadensis, Dawson, Baie de Chalcur (Fig. 71). S. obtusiloba? Brongnt, „ „ Alethopteris lonchitica, Sternberg, Coal Creek, Grand Lake. A. nervosa, Brongnt, Baie de Chaleur. A. muricata, Brongnt, Bathurst. A. pteroides, Brongnt, „ A. Scrlii, Brongnt, Baie de Chaleur. A. grandis, Dawson, „ (Fig. 72). Bcincrtia Goepperti, Dawson, Coal Creek, Grand Lake ; Baie de Chaleur. * Fips. 69 to 73 represent some interesting ferns and a Nooggerathia characteristic of or peculiar to the Coal Formation of New Bruiiswicic, V M >1 )> »> » » »> 11 FOSSILS OP THE COAL-FIELD OP NEW BRUNSWICK. Fig. 'JO.—Sphenoptcria latior. 24c Fig. G9. — Sphenopteris muiitla. (a) Pinnule magnified. Fig. 71. — Sphenopteris Canatlensis. (a) Pinnule magnified. (a) Pinnule magnified. Fig. 72. — Alctliopteris grandis. il it ■ : M . 244 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. .li. Pala3opteris Ilarttii, Dawson, Coal Creek, Gran J Lake. Lepidodendron Pictoeiise, Dawson, „ Newcastle lliver, Grand Lake. Lepidostrobus scjuamosus, Dawson, „ „ „ Cordaites boras.sifolia, Corda, C. simplex, Dawson, Cardiocarpum bisectatum, Dawson, „ Bale de Cbaleur. Newcastle Itiver, Fig. 73. — NaggeratUiix diapar. Ual/nat. size. Nceggeratliia dispar (Fig. 73), Dawson, Baie de Chaleur. Halonia? sp. ? Dawson, Coal Creek. {b) Lower Coal Formation — {Horizon of the Albert shales, etc.). Cyclopteris Acadica, Dawson, Norton Creek. Lepidodendron corrugatum, * ,, „ Cordaites borassifulia Corda, Albert shales. (Figured iu Jackson's Report.) FOSSIL ANIMALS. Mr Hartt mentions (Appendix to Bailey's Report) that the only animal fossils he has found in the Coal measures are Spirorbis carbon- arius, attached to plants, and coprolites of fishes. In the Lower Car- boniferous Limestones he has observed fossils of most of the genera to be noticed in subsequent pages as occurring in these beds in Nova Scotia; but they have not been examined as to species, which, however, in so far as my observation extends, are identical with those of Nova Scotia. Dr Jackson has named and figured three species of Palceo- niscus from the Albert shales. One of these is represented in Fig. 62 above ; and I have seen another specimen which appears to belong to a second of this species, but the figures and descriptions are not suf- ficient for their certain determination. * See Figa. 74, 75, and 76 below. MINEKAL8 OF THE COAL-FIKLD OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 245 4. Useful Minerals of the Carboniferous District of New Brunswick. The information under this head has been kindly communicated to me by Professor Bailey, of King's College, Frederickton. Bituminous Coal. — Though covering so largo a surface area, or more than two-tliirds of the entire extent of the province, the Carbon- iferous or coal-bearing rocks of New Brunswick have afl'orded as yet but little promise of large or valuable deposits of this most important product. With the single exception of the beds at Grand Lake in Queen's County, which are but 22 inches in thickness, no stratum of bituminous coal, sufficiently large or pure to be i)rofitably worked, has yet been discovered. Nor can the prospects of future discoveries be regarded as very encouraging. The following are the more important facts from which this conclusion may bo drawn : — Is/, The strata of the New Brunswick Coal-field are nowhere greatly disturbed, the beds being nearly horizontal and continuous over wide areas. Borings or other explorations tl.erelbra at various points afford an approximately accurate idea of the whole district. Such borings, undertaken at Grand Lake in 1837, affirmed the existence, at the depth of about 250 feet, of a second bed of " bituminous shale and coal," eight feet in thickness ; but as prominence is given to the shale, and the relative proportion of each not stated, the observation is of little value. Similar borings have more recently been made on the Cocagne River in Kent County, where the fonnations resemble those of Grand Lake, to a depth of 410 feet. Several small seams of coal were passed through, the largest of which was about 31 inches (or more correctly 19 inches and 12 inches, with 12 inches of freestone intervening),* but the results were not such as to justify farther exploration. 2rf, The whole formation, though of great superficial extent, has sipparently but slight thickness. This is evidenced in two ways: Is/!, By the fossils of the associated beds, which, according to Professor Dawson, indicate the admixture of the floras of several different horizons; and, 2t?/y, \ly the fact that in the Grand Lake district, as shown by Mr C. R. Matthews, the rocks of the Coal measures are penetrated by those of the older metamorphic formations upon which they rest. With strata nearly horizontal in position, and having apparently but slight thickness, the borings already made give little promise of future discoveries of great value. To these general conclusions, h'^wevcr. it is h\ right to add, that * For this information I am in.-'iebted to Mr Edward Allison of St John, by whom these explorations were undertaken. m\ ii 246 THE CAKDONIFEUOUS SYSTEM. but a small proportion of the entire coal-field has been made the subject of accurate examinations, and these, for the most part, have been confined to its central and southern portions. The eastern coast region, and certain detached areas near the Bay of Fundy, may yet prove more [)roductive than tlie regions hitherto examined. It follows, moreover, from the nearly horizontal character of the formation, that such beds as do exist may have a wide lateral extension, and if «t a moderate de[)th, may be removed, as is done at Grand Lake, at a comparatively trifling coast. The coal of Grand Lake, as well as of all the other outcrops yet observed in the true Carboniferous formation, is the ordinary bitumi- nous or caking coal, capable of ready ignition, but requiring frequent •stirring for complete combustion. While not so well adapted for household use as the foreign imported coals, it has, from its com- parative cheapness (5^4 to 3>5 per ton in the market of St John), attained a local consumption of nearly COOO clialdrons annually, and for manufacturing purposes is preferred to any of the imported coals. About 1000 tons of this coal were exported in the year 18G5. It is capable of yielding 8500 cubic feet of gas per ton, but of inferior quality, and is not employed for this purpose. The raising of this coal has heretofore been undertaken by many separate parties, and by a rude system of quarrying. It is now proposed to undertake operations of a more systematic kind, preceded by a preliminary boring, the results of which, it is hoped, will give a more accurate idea of the real value of the coal-field. ! ' Table of all known Out-crops of Bituminous Coal in the Province of New Brumicick equalling or exceeding five inches in thickness.* County. Locality. Thickness. Variety. Quality. Remarks. York Queen's, . . . Do. ... Do. ... Naslnvaak River, Newcastle District, Salmon River, Coal Creek, . . Ft. 1 1 1 In. 5 8 10 8 Caking,. . Do. . . Do. . . Do. . . Fair, . . Do. . Do. . Do. . Fewbusliels remov- ed and burnt. 5000 chaldrons re- moved in 1864. 12,8(i3 since 1828. Do. ... King's, . . . Wasliademoak, . "Dunsinane," . . 1 1 10 Do. . . Bituminous, Do. . . Do. . . Few bushels removed. Opened, not worked. Albort, . . . Cape Enrage, . . 8 Caking, . . Do. . . Not worked. Kent, . . . Cocagne River, . 2 Do. . . ? Rlchibucto River, 1 3 Do. . . Fair, . . Gloucester, New Bandon, . . 8 Do. . . Do. . . * Extracted from 13ailey's Report. MINERALS OF THE COAL-FIELD OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 247 Tulle of all knoum Out-cropt o/tDorkable Dituminoua Shale and Asphallum. County. Locality. Thickneaa. Variety. Quality. Kcmarka. KIng'B, . . . Apohaqul, . . . Irn'Knlar veluH, . . Albertlte, . Superior, Not explored. Do. ... S. nrnnch of the KoiiuiiliuckaHlii K. . ■. Do. Do. Not worked. Do. ... Ward's Creek, . ... Bitumtnoua Shale, . Fair, . . Do. Do. ... Dutch Valley, . .., Do. Do. . . Do. Albert, . . . Albert MIno, . . 1 Inch to 17 feet, . . Albertlte, . Superior, KxtcnaWcly worked. Do. ... East Albert MIno, ... Do. Do. Now being opened. Do. ... Do. ... Baltimore, . . . Turtle Creek, . . 8 feet, . . 10 feet, . . OltiiminouR Shale, . Do. Good,. . Do. . . Works erected but iilmndoMod. Claiiiia taken out Westmorolaud, Mcmraincook, . . Large I)C(la, Do. Do. . . Now being worked. Quantity of Coal rn'sed at Grand Lake siiux 1828. 66 ChaUlrons. 1835, 3,.'J37 Chaldrons 70 1838, 2,143 138 1864, 5,000 „ 687 Total number of Chaldrons, 11,641. 1825, 1830, 1833, 1834, Albertlte. — This most valuable mineral is wholly confined to the rocks of the Lower Carboniferous Formation of King's, Albert, and Westmoreland Counties. It has at different times and by different authors been regarded as an asphalt, an asphaltic coal, a true coal, and a jet ; but most authorities now agree in considering the substance as a variety of asphalt or a solid hydrocarbon, originally fluid, like petroleum, and derived from the decomposition of vegetable or animal products. The mode of occurrence of the mineral, and a discussion of the views concerning its origin, having already been given in a previous section, farther remarks in this connexion are deemed unnecessary. From the original locality near Hillsborough, discovered in 1849, 56,289 tons have been exported in the three years, 1863 to 1865, paying during the same period to the Government a royalty of J!>8,089,29. The principal market for this coal is in the United States, where it is employed in the manufacture of oil and gas. Of the former, it is said to be capable of yielding 100 (crude) gallons per ton, while of the latter the yield is 14,500 cubic feet, of superior illuminating f-V \ I 1; M 1'!^ ,!||, 248 THE CARBONIFEROUS BV8TKM. power. In the hitter case, where other coals arc at the 8ame thno employed, there is left as a residuum a viiUiahlo coke. Numerous attempts have heen made to obtain Alhertite from other localities than that above alluded to ; but though the mineral has been found, and operations have been begun at several points, these latter have not as yet met with any marked success. The peculiar nature and origin of the substance, and the uncertainty attending all subjects relating to mineral carbons, may be one cause of this result. As, however, the accompanying and very characteristic shales have been traced over a wide extent of country, and have been observed to contain Alhertite, though in small quantities, at points more than fifty miles remote from each other, it is reasonably hoped that other workable deposits will yet be found. Bituminous tVialcs. — These, as above stated, occupy a wide extent of country, having been traced, in more or less parallel bands, from Apohaqui Station, near Sussex, to Dorchester, in the county of Westmoreland. The amount of bitumen contained in them is very various, that of the " Black Band " or richest bed at the Caledonia Works, in Albert, yielding 63 gallons of crude oil per ton, while those on the Memramcook, in Westmoreland, yield only 37. Numerous leases have been taken out within the last year for operations on these shales, both in Albert and Westmoreland, a company in the latter being about to erect 100 retorts, with the design of subjecting to distillation 100 tons of shale per diem. This is at present regarded as more profitable than to export the shale for distillation abroad, especially to the United States, where it would necessarily come into competition with the immense production of natural oils in that country. 1230 tons of shale Averc exported in the year 1865, of the value of »3075. The " Black Band" shales of Caledonia will yield 7500 cubic feet of gas per ton (about one-half of the quantity yielded by the Alhertite), but leaves as a residuum a bulky and worthless ash. Petroleum. — Springs containing an admixture of mineral oil or petroleum h.avc been observed at several points in the Carboniferous districts, on the sides of the Petitcodiac River, in Albert and Westmore- land counties, and borings have been undertaken, but the amount of oil so far obtained has not proved sufficient to be remunerative. The latter is sometimes fluid, floating on the surface of the water ; in other cases, hardened by exposure into a sort of mineral pitch termed " maltha." Common Salt. — Saline springs, containing variable proportions of common salt, occur in the rocks of the Lower Carboniferous series, at a variety of points, and especially near Sussex, on the Salt Spring it MINKKAI.H i)V THE COAL-FIELD OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 249 y. or [srous lore- |nt of The Dther med lis of !S, at sring Brook, ill the parish of Uphnm in Wcsttnoreland, mid on the Tobique in Victoria. No beds of rock salt have been observed, nor is it known at what depth the saliferous strata may be found. Salt has long been made by the evaporation of the brines from Upham and Sussex, and is of excellont quality, but the works have hcictoforo been conducted upon a very limited scale. Gypsum (Sulphate of Lime). — This is a very abundant mineral in New iiruiiswick, the deposits being iiuincrous, large, and in general of great purity. They occur in all parts of the Lower Carboniferous district, in King's, Albert, Westmoreland, and Victoria, especially in the vicinity of Sus.scx, in Upham, on the North Iliver in Westmoreland, at Martin Head on tho Bay shore, on the Tobique River in cliffs over 100 feet high, and about the Albert Mines. At the last-named locality the mineral has been extensively (luarried from beds about sixty feet in thickness, and calcined in large works at Hillsborough. 8646 barrels of plaster were exported in 1803, principally to the United States; but the trade has declined since the outbreak of the American war, and during the last year the buildings employed by the company were consumed by fire. Anhydrite (Anhydrous Sulphate of Lime). — This mineral occurs with tiie last at Hillsborough, and the two are employed in connexion. Alum. — This important substance frequently results spontaneously from the weathering of pyritous shales, and has been observed in small quantities at Grand Lake and elsewhere, resulting from these causes. As pyrites is abundant in the province, it may prove a source of the future supply of this substance. Alum was a few years ago manufactured in considerable quantities at Shepody Mountain, but the works have been abandoned, and are now in ruins. Freestones are abundant in the Lower Carboniferous rocks of Albert and Westmoreland, and numerous quarries have been opened. They are of red, yellowish, and olive tints, often so soft as to be readily cut when freshly dug, but hardening on exposure, and are highly prized for building purposes, both in the province and in the United States, Grindstones are found in the same quarries, and are of superior character. In 1864, 6814 tons of stone, including building and grind- stones were exported from the province, while in 1860 the amount was over 13,000 tons. Limestones are abundant in the Lower Carboniferous series, especially in the counties of King's, Queen's, Charlotte, St John, Albert, Victoria, and Westmoreland. The beds of this series are dark and more or less bituminous, yieMing lime inferior to that of the older formations [Laurenlian and Silurian) in St John and Char- K i \ \ tbi fill! ', I 250 THE CAUBONIFEKOUd SYSTEM. lotte counties, .vhich afford the greater part of the lime used in the pr"vince. Manganese. — Deposit-' of the peroxide of this metal, so largely employed in bleaching and glass manufacture, occur in t}ae province at several points, especially at Bathurst, near Shepody Mountain, at Quaco, and Upliam. At the latter locality, near Mie source of Ham- mond River, the deposit is large and of excellent quality, and con- siderable .piantities arc annually removed. 219 tons were exported in 1864 from the localities above mentioned. The ores oc^ur, with the exception of that at Bathurst, in lim .'itone near the base of the Lower Carboniferous system. Wad or black manganese ore is also abundant, but, while richer ores abound, is not of value. CENTKAL 1 m If. 251 K \ CHAPTER XV. THE CARUONIFEUOUS HYHTEM—Contiutied. CENTRAL CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP NOVA SCOTIA AND ITS OUTLIERS- USEFUL MINERALS. Carboniferous District of Colchester and Hants. 4 In this district, which is as extensive as that of Cumberland, from which it is separated by the Cobequid chain of hills, we have a very great development of the limestones and gypsuma corresponding to the Napan and Pugwaah rocks of Cinnberlanil, and the Mountain or Lower Carboniferous limestone of England, and a very small devel- opment of the Coal measures. In other words, in the Carboniferous period marine deposits were formed to a greater extent and perhaps for a longer time cm the south than on the north side of the Cobequid chain, which, we shall presently sec, was then a ridge probably not 80 high, but perhaps i.carly as continuous as at present. On consulting the map, it will be seen that this district is very irregular in its form ; partly because the modern bay, with it , fringes of marsh and New Red Sandstone, [)enetrates into it, and partly because it in like manner penetrates in long inlets, now river valleys, into the ol ler metamorphic hills to the eastward. Viewing this dis- trict, then, as a portion of tlie dried-up bed of the Carboniferous sea, its original shores can be observed both on the nortii and on the south. Thus on the flanks of the Cobequids, the Lowest Carboniferous beds consist of conglomerates ; the stones and pebbles of whicli are identical with the rocks of the hills from whieh they have been derived, just as the materials of shingle beaches on modern coasts arc derived from neighbouring cliffs. In like manner, at the base of the Ilorton and Ardoiso Ilills, the lowest beds consist of white sandstones composed of the debris of granite, and shales made up of the mud pvodueed by the slow wasthig of slate ; both of these materials being furnished by the rocks of the hills. One difference, however, of a marked character occurs on these opposite shores. The material of the lowest rocks on (he south side of the district is fine and almost destitute of pebbles ; \ ' ! \ \ 252 THE CAKBONIFEROUS SY8TKM. ii. m III'.- ■■s that of the corresponding rocks on the north or Cobequid side is very coarse, being made up of large pebbles and even stones of con- siderable size. Similar differences occur in modern seas, and depend on the configuration and elevation of coasts, and their comparative exposure to the sea-swell and prevailing winds. The deposits in the more central part of the district are more uniform and persistent in their character. In noticing this Carboniferous area, I shall describe, in the first place, some of the localities and sections in which the arrangement and character of its rocks are most distinctly exposed ; and these will afford us opportunities of studying the Lower Carboniferous series, almost as perfect as those which we enjoyed at the Joggins in the case of the Coal formation deposits. At Wolfville and Lower Horton, in the south-western part of the district, we find the Lower Carboniferous beds to consist of gray sand- stones and dark shalos, resting on the edges of the slates of the Gas- pereau River. In the road-cuttings in Lower Ilorton, the sandstones may be seen to contain fine specimens of Lepidodendron, a genus of which we have already seen examples at the Joggins. There appear to be two or three species of this genus in the beds of Horton Bluff, and one of them at least is distinct from any of those found in the true Coal measures, and is most characteristic of this Lower Coal formation. It is the species which I have named L. corrugaturn (Fig. 74), and is found on the same geological horizon as far west as Ohio. It is also closely allied to a cliaracteristic species of this age in England and on the continent of Europe. With these Lepidodendra are found at Horton Bluff several other fossil plants, more especially the fine fern (Fig. 75), which I have named Cyclopteris Acadica, Cordait.es (Fig. 76), Stigmaria, and the conifer Dadoxylon antiquius. The Cyclopteris Acadica was a magnificent fern, unsurpassed by any in the Middle Coal fonnation. Its leaf-stalks are often two inches in diameter, and the frond, with its hundreds of wedge-shaped leaflets, must have been several feet in breadth. In some of the .shales at the me locality fish-scales are extremely abunuant, and make up appan ly the greater part of the mass of some thin beds. The whole of these rocks are, however, much better seen at Horton Bluff, a fine range of cliffs extending along the west side of the Avon estuary. At this place the beds do not dip regularly in the same direction, but have been broken into great masses which dip in different ways, and have been fractured and displaced hy faults or slips of one mass or another up or down, so as to break the continuity of the layers. Such disturbances are very frequent in all the sections of this district, and -„„„.„,„„„ „,„,,^^ ^^ ^_^__^_^_^_^_^^ 't W.11 be e„lty „„d„,,„„j """• 253 -k, «.e.e w„„M .ead,V «'-' :V Ll'l™ II'T '"*"" °^ ^ "ng the Jmes of greatest and Pig- ''^-r^epidodendroncorrugatvm —portion ofbarh. F:g. "JQ —Fragment of Leaf of Cordaitea. Fig. 7r,.~Cffcfopter;>, Acadien. («) Pinnule., showing von,,Ho„. « «f.'. Pinn,.,., »,., ,en.Mn. orSeSX"' °'^""«- 'east pressTire, and be tilted in ,liff . ^. "" "" ^°'"«'""' 'picho>u;lla, and two of Productus. These shells belong to a tribe (the firachiopoda) differing in some important particulars from the ordinary bivalve shell- fish, and remarkable as having been very numerous in ancient periods of the earth's history, and comparatively few now. Some of the most abundant species of these genera are figured in subsequent pages. The Terebratula is not unlike some of the modern representatives of the family. The Rhynchonellas are stil' represented in our modern seas by tlie I'arrot-bill Khynclionolla {li. psittacca)^ now found, though rarely, on the coasts of Nova Scotia. The Productus is remarkable for the great convexity and comparative magnitude of one of its valves, which, as has been conjectured by an eminent zoolo- gist, may have been the lower valve, and have formed a sort of cup containing the animal, and closed by the smaller valve. The Spirifrr and Athyris are distinguished by the presence within the shell of two spiral stony threads, twisted like cork-screws, and connected with the support of the long spiral arms with which all these creatures were provided. These screws are often finely preserved in the Windsor limestone. I may mention here, tliat in all the Carboniferous lime- stones of Nova Scotia the shells of this I'amily arc usually found with the valves closed and the interior often hollow. This shows that they were not dashed about by violent waves, nor exposed to be filled with fine mud. Yet it does not prove that the death of the animals was sudden, for the hinge of the modern Uliynchtmi'Ua and Terebratula is so constructed that it does not gape when dead, like other bivalve shells ; but when dead and empty, the hole or notcii in the hinge for the pe- duncle, by which these shells were attached, would admit mud, had this been present, which in many instances seems not to have been the case. The appearances are those which should occur in a bed of shells gradually accumulated in deep and clear water. Descending a little lower in the animal scale, we have fragments of the stems of Crinoids, which Averc complicated stai-fishes, mounted on a stalk. A pretty little branching coral is also very abundant, and with shells, which are entangled in great numbers among its branches. . ' ,'m \ ■ CAKUONIPUmJt'H DIHTKICT OF COLCHE8TKK AND HANTS. 261 nmkcH up wliolo layers of the Umostoiio. There are also sea-mats or Polyzoa, of tl»c gemis FenestdUiy sonic of which spread out into leaves several inches in length. The only shell in this limestone that appears to bo identical with any of the creatures whose renuiiiis arc entombed in the coal measures of the Joggins is the little Sptrorbis, which has attached itself to the inside of tiie outer chamber of some of the larger Nautili, after the death of their owners, and this is evidently a distinct species from the /S'. carbunaritis. The reason of tlic iliffercnce in the fossils of these difTeront members of the same geological system is, that one is of marine or deep-sea origin, while tlic other represents the tenants of the shallow creeks, lagoons, and estuaries of the same period. A similar difference subsists in all modern seas. Whilo, however, distinct species and genera of fossils occur in the littoral and oceanic deposits of the same era, still m»re decided differences distinguish the formations of one period from those of another ; for instance, the Lower Carboniferous limestones from those of the older Devonian and Silurian periods. Hence, if the student once familiarizes himself with the shells of the Windsor limestones, or even with the species represented in the fol- lowing pages, he has the means of recognising the limestones of the same ago in all parts of the country, and of distinguishing them from tliose of every other formation. The sandstones and nu\rls of this Windsor section differ little from the similar beds in the coal measures, except that they are less lami- nated, and less sorted into sand and clay, and ctmtain no vegetable remains — all indications that they were deposited in deep water at a distance from land, and where changes of tides and currents had little influence. The limestone is evidently the result of the growth of shells and corals in the sea-bottom, forming in the course of ages thick and widespread masses, like the coral reefs of the I'acific, with beds of fine calcareous mud and comminuted shells and corals washed from these banks or reefs by the sea. The coral and shell bank itself forms a rich fossiliferous limestone. The material produced around it by the wasting action of the sea becomes a compact earthy limestone, with few fossils, except minute fragments of shells, often only to be detected by the microscope. The only apparent anomaly in the deposit is the gypsum, which must have been formed by chemical action, or deposited from solution in water. Various explanations may be given of the origin of the veins and masses of gypsum which occur in different geological formations, from the Silurian to the Tertiary, and which, so far as I am aware, are peculiar to the Lower Carboniferous series in no country 1 i \ I \ Vtf 362 TilU CAKUONIKKUUt'H HYHTKM. \ oxcept Nova Scotia and Virginia. Different cxplunationa may no doubt apply to different countries and modcH of occurrence. For example, in the Upper Silurian of Nevv^ York, gypsum occurs in such circumstances that it has been supposed to liavc resulted from the action of local sulphuric acid springH on limestone in situ (Dana); while in the case of the gypsum occurring in rocks of similar age in Upper Canada, Dr Hunt supposes that the mineral was deposited from sea-water by its partial evaporation in lagoons, as it is now said to be produced in some of the coral islands of the I'acific, — for instance, Jarvis Island.* Again, there can be no doubt that detached crystals, nodules, veins, and the disseminated gypsum of marls may have been introduced by segregative processes, and by the percolation of gypseous waters. I think it not improbable that there are in- stances of all or most of these modes in the gypsifcrous rocks of Nova Scotia. But for the occurrence of the mineral in so thick and exten- sive beds, interstratified with marl and limestone, there appears to me to be but one satisfactory theory — that of the conversion of sub- marine beds of calcareous matter into sulphate of lime, by free sulphuric acid, poured into the sea by sjjrings or streams issuing from volcanic rocks. Modern volcanoes frequently give forth waters containing sulphurous and sulphuric acids. In the volcanic region of Java, for instance, there is a lake of sulphuric acid from which flows a stream in which no animal can livtj. The water of this stream being probably more dense than sea-water, will naturally flow for some distance along the bottom of the sea, and if it meets with beds of calcareous matter will convert th^m into gypsum. One of the volcanoes of the Andes gives origin to a similar stream ; and the volcanic mountain of IVIaypo, in the same range, is surrounded by great masses of gypsum, probably produced by the action of sul- phurous waters or vapours on the limestone of the region. We know that in the Carboniferous sea of Nova Scotia there were great beds of shells and corals. We also know that the volcanic action which upheaved the metamorphic hills which formed the land of the period, was not quite extinct when these shell-beds were growing. The production of gypsum was a natural consequence of the action of .sulphuric acid, evolved from such volcanic regions, or the calcareous beds and reefs. In accoi'dance with this view, the gypsum is found only in association with the marine limestones, though, as might have been anticipated, these last sometimes occur without any gypsum. In all other respects, except this conversion of part of the limestone into gypsum, and some changes probably of similar origin in the * Hague, quoted by Dana. this, f s! %i. mmi CAKHUNIFICKOU8 UtSTKlCT OF COLCHKHTISK AND I1ANT0. 263 AHHuciatud iniirlH, tho Lowor ('nrboiiircrou.s series of Nova Hcotia and New liruitHwick reMcinblcs tho corrcHponding formation in Great Britain and the United HtatcH, to tlic foHsilH of wliich itH ahells and corals have also n very marked rcHomblanco, and several of tho species are identical. Tho rocka we have examined at Windsor may servo as a bpecimen of those that occnpy nearly the whole low country of Hants, the greater part of tliu Carboniferous area of Colchester, and the long belt extending up the Mu.squodol)()it River. The limestones and gypsums, which form the most important membors of the scries, appear at a griMit number of i)lacc», and arc extensively quarried. Tho principal localities are tho St Croix River, Newport, Kennetcook River, Walton, Noel, White's or liig IMastcr Rock, and other places on tho Sliubenucadic, Rrookfield, Onslow, Stewiacke, and Upper and Middle Musquodoboit. One of the Hnest natural i xposurea of gypsum in the province is on the St Croix River, a few miles from Windsor. Hero tho gypsum forms a long range of cliffs of snowy whiteness. This cliff consists principally of the variety of gypsum named " hard plaster," or " sharkstone," by the quarrymcn ; tho latter namo referring to the rough shagreen-liko texture of its weutheied surfaces. It is Anhydrite, or gypsum destitute of the combined water which gives to tho ordinary variety its softness and its usefulness as a material for motlelling and plastering. Anhydrite occurs in connexion with most of the beds of gypsum, generally forming separate beds, but sometimes mixed in large masses or nodules, or minute transparent crystals, with tho common plaster. It is not at present applied to any useful purpose, being too hard to be profitably ground lor agri- cultural uses. Ft may, however, be used as a substitute for marblo, for the internal decoration of buildings, and some of the varieties in the cliffs of tho St Croix are well adapted to this use, and could be procured in any quantity. Having thus described the Lower Carboniferous rocks ap they occur at Horton and Windsor, I shall now attempt to give a general view of their arrangement in the area now under consideration, as well as their relations to certain limited tracts of coal measures which rest upon them, especially in the northern part of the district. To effect this, I shall take advantage of the sections afforded by the Folly and Do Bert Rivers, and the Shubenacadie ; and shall describe these as tliey would appear to an observer descending the southern slope of the Cobequids, following the course of the Folly River, crossing Cobequid Bay, and ascending tho Shubenacadie to the Grand Lake. On the Folly River, about eight miles from its mouth, wo leave \ ' i \ \ I'l I '!;-Vn|tj| 264 THE (JAUBONIKEKOUS SYSTKM. , v the ancient metamorphic slates > the hills, and enter the Carbon- iferous system, which we find resting on the edges of the slates, and dipping to the south. The first rook seen is conglomerate, in enor- mously thick beds, and made up ol fragments of all the I'ocks of the hills. Passing this ancient beach of the old Carboniferous sea, we find, without the intervention oi' any marine limestones, coal measure rocks, consisting of gray sandstones and dark shales, with a icvf thin seams of coal, and abundance of leaves of Cordaites, and a few Catamites and Stigmaria. Succeeding these beds is a great thickness of red and gray sandstones and shale, with a general dip to the south- ward, though broken by so many faults that it is not easy to form an estimate of their aggregate vertical thickness. Finally, we observe, as we descend the river, these same sandstones and shales dipping at high angles to the northward. They are then overlaid by the new red sandstones, and we see no mo:-e of the Carboniferous rocks till we approach the mouth of the Folly and De Bert, where we find the Lower Carboniferous limestone, gypsum, and conglomerate, mentioned in our description of the New Red, and dipping to the north-east. The fossils of this limestone arc the same species found at Windsor and elsewhere in beds of the same age. We have here a broken and disturbed coal measure trough, constructed in the same manner with that of Cumberland, but on a much smaller scale, and prjbably including o.ily the lower members of the Coal formation. The absence of the Lower Carboniferous limestone near the hills cor- responds with what we observed in Cumberland, and is accounted for by the circumstance that the Cobequids formed the shore of this ancient sea, while the limestones could be formed only in deep water at some distance from the turbid surf and the pebbly beach — an arrangement corresponding exactly with what is observed in the modem coral-reefs of the Pacific. We can trace the Coal measure band, of which the Folly River ■gives us a cross section, all the way from Advocate Harbour, near Cape Chiegnecto, to the upper part of the Salmon River, where it adjoins the Carboniferous district of Pictou. It is everywhere much broken and disturbed ; and though it widens considerably toward its eastern extremity, it nowhere attains a great development, either in horizontal extent, or in the magnitude of its coal-seams. From Advocate Harbour to Partridge Island this belt consists principally of greatly contorted and somewhat altered shales and sandstones, containing a few fossil pla"*:, some scales of fishes, and in places abundance of shells of Naiadites. In a bed near Partridge Island, Dr Harding of Windsor found, several } ears since, a fine series of footprin footprinl found in indicatio chapter, the Low common Moose Ri stones ag Carbon ife; of the Po exposed, ^ Eastward On the Chi with Cypri several sni thickness ; of several section. lying the Cc in greatly i on the sriith iiiver, there associated w and other Ct Applying have obtaine tlie base of tl swamps and ously witli t\ side of the m( of the Lower i separating thi In its present t'le Cobequidf various mover ti:e moimtains, the New Red p at right angles in a remarkabh the CumLerlanc Colchester side .'»] CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP OOLCHESTEH AND HANTS. 265 footprints, probably of a small reptilian animal. More recently other footprints; f>f larger size, and referable to the genus Sauropus, were found in these beds by J. M. Jones, Esq., F.L.S , of Halifax. These indications of vertebrates of the lanr ''1 be noticed in a subsequent chapter. Eastward of Partridge Island, in Clarke's Head, we find the Lower Carboniferous limestones somewhat altered, with beds of common gypsum, and a beautiful purple variety of anhydrite. At Moose River and Harrington River, the black shales and gray sand- stones again appear. In Economy, we have these and the Lower Carboniferous limestone with its characteristic fossils, and on the banks of the Portapique and Great Village Rivers, the whon .^erics is well exposed, with appearances similar to those observed lu the Folly. Eastward of the latter river, the Coal formation band wiaens rapidly. On the Chiganois and North Rivers, it contains bituminous limestones, with Ci/pn'ds and fish-scales ; thick beds of shale, with clay-ironstone ; several small coals, the largest, I believe, about eighteen inches in thickness ; and in the beds associated with these coals are fossil plants of several of the species described in connexion with the Joggins section. On the North River also we find the lower limestone under- lying the Coal measures at the base of the mountains, and re-appearing, in greatly increased thickness and associated with beds of gypsum, on the south side of the trough. Still farther eastward, on the Salmon River, there is a bed of good coal nearly two feet in thickness, and associated with shales, containing fine specimens of Ulodendron^ Ferns, and other Coal formation fossils. Applying to this narrow Coal formation trough the information we have obtained from the Joggins section, we may conclude that along the base of the Cobequid Mountains, on their southern side, a baud of swamps and shallow and land-locked waters existed contemporane- ously with the wider tract of the same description on the northern side of the mountains ; and it is quite possible that the northern edge of the Lower Carboniferous limestones may have formed a barrier-reef, separating this narrow littoral band from the more open sea without. In its present condition, this Coal formation belt of the south side of the Cobequids presents many difficulties to ihc geologist. The various movements which have taken place along the south side of the mountains, and which have probably continued up to the close of the New Red period, have shattered these rocks in lines parallel to and at right angles with the hills, and have also bent and contorted them in a remarkable manner. In this respect, the Carboniferous rocks on the Cumberland side of the hdls differ very much from those of the Colchester side ; the former being very little disturbed in comparison. V '.V ij . "!^ f I li 1* — i _ — .i- __ il I' 1^ [i i\ 266 THE CAHB0NIFER0U8 SYSTEM. Crossing Cobequid Bay from the mouth of the Folly to that of the Shubenacadie, we find the first rock that appears at the mouth of the latter to be a black laminated crystalline limestone without fossils, and supporting a great thickness of marls and gypsum similar to those of Windsor. I spent several days in exploring this section in 1842, 'a company with Sir Charles Lyell, and the late Mr George Duncan of Truro. The limestone and marls resting on it dip to the south-west. It thus appears that the Lower Carboniferous beds on the opposite sides of the bay dip inland, so that the bay forms, in so far as these rocks are concerned, an anticlinal valle^' — a somewhat rare occurrence in this region, whei'e the beds of sedimentary rocks usually dip away from hills rather than from depressions. The rocks in the banks of the Shubenacadie are, however, much broken by faults, though the general dip in the lower part of the river appears to be to the south- ward. The rocks succeeding the " Black Rock " limestone, for about three miles up the estuary of the Shubenacadie, consist principally of soft marly sandstones filled with veins of reddish fibrous gypsum, which run in every direction, and form a network so complicated that it is difficult to understand how the rocks could have been supported in such a manner as to leave open the fissures which the gypsum fills. It is possible, however, that these cracks were not all open at once, but were produced by different movements to which the mass has been subjected; and there is another way of accounting for this appearance, to be stated shortly. There are also a few wide veins filled with the peroxide of iron and sulphate of barytes. The former is in part in the red ochrey state, and in part in the state of red and brown hematite, often in beautiful coralloidal forms with an internal fibrous structure. The barytes is in small tauuiar crystals. These veins also contain oxide of manganese and calc-spar. Their contents were probably introduced by water, rising from rocks beneath which afforded these materials.* The reader will observe that the veins of gypsum contained in these rocks are very distinct from the large beds of the same mineral. The latter were formed as horizontal layers at the same time with the containing beds. The former have filled up cracks opened after the beds were consolidated. The fibrous texture, which the gypsum veins nearly always display, arises from the circumstance that little slender prisms of the mineral have sprouted forth from the sides of the fissures until they filled them. Hence they always stand at right angles to the sides of the vein. Similar appearances are observed in the greater * For the manner in which these minerals may have beon formed, see descriptions of mineral veins at Five Islands and Acadia Mine. CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP COLCHESTER AND HANTS. 267 i.' number of minerals lining or filling veins or fissures. I am inclined to believe, however, that the fibrous gypsum in the gypseous maris has been produced in a different manner from the " combs " of quartz and other minerals found in the fissures of slate, trap, etc. The gypsum veins show no signs of having met in the middle, though they often appear to have been added to at each side ; and we may infer that the prisms of gypsum grew by additions to each end, furnished by water permeating the rock, and pressed the sides of the fissure apart as they grew in length. Veins of fibrous ice are formed in this way in banks of clay, exerting an enormous expansive force, sufiicient to break down the strongest retaining walls;- and when circumstances are favourable, these clusters of icy prisms may be seen to raise objects lying on the surface of water-soaked clays to the height of several inches. Wherever segregation and crystallization are going on in the fissures of rocks, similar effects may be produced ; and it is quite possible that they play an important part in geological dynamics. It is at least not unlikely that some of the remarkable contortions and dislocations observed in the gypsiferous rocks of Nova Scotia may have been produced in this way. These marly rocks contain a bed of anhydrite and common gypsum, in addition to the gypsum veins above mentioned. Proceeding to the southward, along the eastern bank of the river, we reach a high cliff of brownish-red and gray sandstones, dipping S. 30° W., and containing a few fossil plants. These beds probably overlie those previously noticed, and much resemble the sandstones that in the Joggins section intervene between the lower limestones and the Coal measures. To the southward of this cliff, which is called the Eagle's Nest, the shore for some distance shows no section. On the west side, however, where the rocks corresponding to the Eagle's Nest form a high cliff, they are separated by a fault from an immense mass of gypsum named White's or the Big Plaster Rock, and one of the principal localities of the extensive gypsum trade of this river. The Big Rock at one time presented to the river a snowy front of gypsum, nearly 100 feet in height; but it has been greatly reduced by the operations of the quarrymen, who bring down enormous quantities by blasting. It is a massive bed, arranged in thick layers, and the whole bent into an arched or almost cylindrical form. In its lower part there is much anhydrite, and also dark laminated limestone, having on its surfaces of deposition immense numbers of flattened shells of Comdaria. A compact limestone, containing Terebratulce, also appears near the bottom of the mass. Faults, denudation, and disturbance render it quite impossible to discover in the river section i I \ W '1^-- f iifi-i ',uld they prove successful, they will present a curious and perhaps unique instauce of mining for gold in rocks of the Carboniferous system, and will stimulate inquiry as to the possible productiveness of the Lower Carboniferous beds hi other places where they come into contact with the older auriferous slatea, as is the case in many places in the valleys of the Stewiacke, Musquodoboit, and St Mary's Rivers, as well as in the eastern part ot Lonts. I i 'I^ 278 El' '1=1 1^1 i ;l CHAPTER XVI. THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD— Continued. THE MARINE FOSSILS OF THE ORBONIFEROUS I-IME8TONE8. The short list of those published in the first edition of "Acadian Geology " was derived principally from that given by Sir C. Lyell in his " Travels ;,n North America," on the authority of M. De Vemeuil, vrho examined the collections made by Sir Charles. This list was, however, necessarily very imperfect ; and since it was prepared, a large amount of additional material has accumulated, and some important investigations have been made. In 1 862, being aware that Mr T. Davidson was engaged in the examination of British Carboniferous Bra:hiopods for the Palaeontographical Society, I sent to that eminent palfeontologist, the best living authority on Brachiopods, a collection of these shells, representing all the species knov/n to me, and he very kindly undertook their examination along with those in Sir C. Lyell's collection. The results were given to the world in an able memoir in the Proceedings of the Geological Society of London for 1863. This was an important step in advance ; but the other fossils, not Brachio- pods, still remained untouched. In the meantime. Professor How of Windsor, and his pupil, H. Poole, Esq., jun., had made some interesting discoveries at Windsor and Kennetcook, and a new Trilobite from tbe latter place, sent to me by the former gentleman, was described by Mr Billings in the Canadian Naturalist, under the name Phillipsia Howi. About the same time, Mr C. F. Hartt undertook the work of collecting carefully and systematically at Windsor and Stcwiacke ; and not only found several new species, but developed characteristic differences in the fossils of the successive limestones of the Windsor section. Mr Hartt proposed to prepare for publication the results of these researches, and has written a paper on the subject for the Canadian Naturalist ; but a voyage to Brazil and subsequent engagements have prevented him from completing the task of describing and fully cataloguing the species. In these circumstances, I have been obliged to prepare such a list as was possible under the circumstances. It is much in advance of that previously given, and will, I trust, aid materially in subsequent inves mod if aided byPn knowL of tlie studcn; of othe Befo imporfa our atte stones tions. of the fa With possible and lowe their ran into the place, a si In the appear; b tions to ci these can \ be found ii separated fi marl, or gy («.) Lim( Limestone. h'mestone, i (var Nova I chonella Ida have not see portant serie Carboniferou (*•) Lime; Crinoidal Li, of a Dentalim Pleurotomarii markable repo A h'mestone si Shubenacadie '*'»iiltal'l»imilliii,,^^^ MARINE rossas or the cakbonikekous r, investigations, but it i, n, • "mestones. 279 7 ? . '°'' ^^«^ and Mr Poole «n/ik .i. ' ^^ «P«C'niens furnisher^ of the Brachiopoda, and shall . ^^ ^^ ^^^idson's descr £ With regard to the first of th possible division of the Lole^rT ' '"^^ -^-Ifindicated the ;nd lower series, and also the tt "/'"'' ^^™^^^«"^« '"to an upper heir range to the Upper CoTl f """' ^^ *^« «Pecies extenT into the subject mnnif formation. But Mr h1 V. ^.''^^"^'ng place, a suniC^Tftis"::,"^''""^^'^' -^ ^ ^I gfrin'?: T ^ {«■) Limestone of Avon RW^ /* ^^"^e.^o«.. A thick b.nd of ^' ^^''"" Limestone, Harttl ^ • v Park T "^' and apnears *« *^v thick and im- 1 *« A 280 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM, (c.) Gray or bluish earthy limestone, laminated and concretionary (Kennetcook Limestone, Hartt) — Zaphrentis Limestone. Contains Phillipsia Howi, Zaphrentis Alinas, Cyathuphyllum Steviacum, Spirifer striata, Athyris subtilitd (?), Productiis semireticulatus, Strophomena analoga, Edmondia Hartti, Cypricardia insecta, Orthoceras laterale, Stenopora, and Fenestella. This limestone has been recognised by Mr Hartt as the equivalent of the beds containing Zaphrentis and Phillipsia on the Kennetcook River, and it can be identified with one of the limestones of Lower Stewiacke. (d.) Brownish or buff-coloured impure limestone, very rich in shells (Windsor Limestone, Hartt) — Aviculopecten Limestone. This limestone especially abounds in Lanicllibranchiates, particularly species of Aviculopecten, Pteronites, Macrodon, and Modiola. Naticopsis Howi is also very characteristic. It also contains Productus cora (van), Terebratula sacculus, Rhynchonella Evangelini, Hartt, a Leperditia, and a Serpula ; and the little coral Stenopora exilis is very common. Bake- vellia antique also occurs in it, and a Conularia. The Brachiopods in this bed are small and depauperated, indicating probably shallow and turbid water. This limestone appears to correspond to the shell lime- stone of Gay's River, near Wordsworth's, that of " Anthony's Nose," Shubenacadie, and the yellow limestone of De Bert River. (e.) Compact gray slielly limestone (Stewiacke Limestone, Hartt), Productus Limestone. This is the richest of all the beds in fossils, and contains the greater number of those mentioned in the following lists. More especially it abounds in Productus cora, Athyris subtilita, Tere- bratula sacculus, Fenestella Lyclli, Macrodon Hardingi, Conularia planicostata ; and it is the special habitat of Nautilits Avonensis, and Orthoceras dolatum, 0. Vindobonense, 0. laqueatum, and O. perstric- turn. It is the equivalent of the upper or red De Bert limestone, the Admiral's Rock on the Shubenacadie, and the Brookfield shell limestone. Are these subdivisions of the Windsor limestones, as indicated by Mr Hartt, merely local, or have they a more general value? In writing to Mr Davidson, in 1862, 1 was inclined to believe that the lithological differences in the limestones are local, and " may have been caused through the limestones having been deposited in limited basins or narrow straits, and probably at a time of unich volcanic dis- turbance," and that the only general distinctions are these between the Lower limestones and the Upper, the former being "darker in colour, more laminated, and less fossiliferous," and characterized by the preva- lence of certain species of fossils. Mr Ilartt's investigations have so far modified these conclusions, that I am prepared to admit, for the area ^^.,mifmmi^^ THE WKBomrEHODS DIstb.o, d'Mribuied. To .!„ ^W*-- series, »|,u, ; '., ° *°''-- ="- Upper CaA„„S™„r ';"''';! * » '''W X M -"^ ?"°'"'^ Suhdiviaiona. jo ,g , i I fell fC-^^trppor Marine Cohhfater and tlatits. (Cumberland. Mackenzie's I Mill, Wallace. ^ictou and ■AntiijoHiah. <^<>pe Breton. r(e)Productus ^'mestone. rKir«rra'«'n„.ie, n>o<.lcflL.|,i ' Art ^^""estones. '"-■nacadie. r^imestones near r i,„„ • * '«!« Pools, " ^noTp """•■' "'■ !-«"- l.a«t„ ■-'--' 2:^f«-»50 Irish liaatK. Upper I'lmestones, Antigonish. a ■"■ I>« HertKT' - '''"ny'sNose.'st": '""«'•(?) ^^""^die.-Wood- woithsi,„„est Ony's River. '' -•-* •">»«f»e, irisli I ""/ s «iver. WZaphrentisor RI„„T- I B""R.:St.,;i2tl;.''t^"'nber. I Lochabe;. "'"^ [WCrliioldal I^imestone. Crinoidal ump «t"ne,,of;vi,X; 2""^ Adnnrarl' P aistor Quarry, fli'ibenacadio, Upper Musquodo- WSpiriferr.inie- rn„ ,. stone. r°r,\"^^''""«°ne8 I I 01 Windsor • {'"»'«<• Gay's R /^injcstone. Black ^Limestone. •^ ■ '""sorjKennet- cookaiidCockmc- I i„7;-"''"t'Pe limestone, Lot" r m"" L"'" '''«W Ste«riacke(?) nt ? "^ ^ '°"ked est Limes oij?!^" "*: '" "'« ' Bert i{"**'°"«'lJo ""ighbonrinK I I parts of New i "nniswlck. probably exist at jMnbouandonthe /iras d'Or i,„kg ' ;V,'.''''"'f«rant'8 "".''KP.KastR. "'"l^ Forks of I Loirer or tithn r , "',',"" of Sprinif. "'^•■DaupJiin(?; ' ^"le, EastR. ' u* \ -iFilli^ 282 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM, ii i-* ( 1^ 1-1 With regard to the second point above referred to, the age of these limestones and their equivalency with those of otlier countiies, it is necessary to relate the iiistory of the question, and then to state the peculiarities of these beds which have caused so various opinions to be entertained in regard to them. The earliest statement as to their age was that of Mr R. Brown, in Haliburton's " Nova Scotia." He correctly regarded the limestones of northern Cumberland as Lower Carboniferous, on the evidence of their stratigraphical position, as underlying the Cumberland Coal-field. At the same time, in the central part of the province, where the relation to the Coal formation was not clear, and the physical aspect of the rocks was peculiar, these beds were assigned to the New lied Sandstone. Messrs Jackson and Alger and Dr Gesner continued to hold this last view, and the latter extended it to the Cumberlund beds previously placed in their true position by Mr Brown. Sir William Logan, in 1841, visited Horton Bluff and Windsor, and finding that the beds at the former place, which he supposed to be the Coal measures, were lower than the Windsor limcs*^ones, naturally supposed the latter to be of Permian age. Mr Lonsdale, after a hasty examination of the fossils, concur- red in this view. Sir Charles Lyell, in his examination of the province in 1843, saw good reason to doubt this; and, with the aid of the writer, explored with care the sections in the East River of Pictou and the Avon. Ilis results were published in his " Travels" in 1845, and were subsequently fully confirmed by more extended observations made by the writer and by Mr R. Brown. The Carboniferous date of these beds is now established on the surest grounds, both strati- graphical and palajontological. In regard to the former, the fact that in the sections at Cape Dauphin, at the East River of Pictou, and in Cumberland, the marine limestones underlie the productive Coal measures is indisputable, and these limestones contain the fossils of the upper beds of the Windsor series. In regard to the fossils, Davidson, the best authority on the subject, affirms them to be Carboniferous ; and in so far as tlic Brachiopods are concerned, many » -'^" ^n iSfhi- '^'^ ^'"^'^^^ one or two othnr f^ w "^'^"^' funster, a Mor/Zn; . ' ^P'^'ifem «- Pe.mia„ " ,t * ""''■ '- ™„,ifced tt' ! '"'""•""'. ""O to some cxten, ,1. '"''"'"ftTO.s strata A w f""""" '" both Dawso, ,To , 'i°- •',' °' *"='■« i'rtlilwl,'"'""^^ I "ay modify ■ ^o^or4.rv:^^;:':f;:i!i;''««;-tatcC,otmc'(:;;»"^ "' I ventu e to l' T' ''"" ^""'^^t^^e fon„s J '^^ '"'^^ '' ^ell- fnJl. • ^'^^ t^'o explanitmn r ' ^^^^ enumerated '" format on, and P^..„ • ".^e**softhe Lowpr r i .. » e«at ^iSBrtr"''- ^°'" '" E„:;r.„ °'t""^""'- Coal -garded ,. Men'.;:,*" '"^^ "'»^. ■•» » '>~<' vi« otr^Vecrbe -■ " ' if 284 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. (2.) The changes and subdivisions of this fauna arc related not merely to lapse of time, but to vicissitudes of physical conditions. At Windsor, for example, the fauna of the Aviculopecten bed is manifestly that of a shallower and more sandy sea than that of the Productus bed ; and further, the change from the fauna of the Lower series to that of the Upper scries coincides with the deposition of the great gypsums and gypseous marls. It is the same in the Shubenacadie section. (3.) It follows that, if the peculiar Pemiian conditions indicated by the rocks came in earlier in Nova Scotia than in Europe, the character of the fauna might also be changed earlier. In other words, we have both rocks and shells with Permian aspect in the Lower Carboniferous period. (4.) In accordance with this, it is the Upper series of limestones, and those most nearly related to the gypsums and marls, that have the most Pcnnian aspect. The lower Windsor limestones and those of Economy and Pictou have much more the ordinary Lower Carbon- iferous character and fossils. (5.) In the little bed of marin'> limestone at M'Kenzie's Mill, Wallace, we have an example of tiio existence of some members of this fauna in the period of the Upper Coal formation, where wo have also a greater number of the fossil plants that extend upward from the Coal formation into the Permian ; and there is nothing to preclude the supposition, already stated in the preceding chapter, that some of the upper limestones of Colchester and Hants may have been deposited contemporaneously with the Middle Coal formation. At tlie same time, it must be admitted that this last supposition is not proved, and that the appearances in those places where the Coal measures occur arc not in its favour. (6.) It is evident that the marine fauna of the Lower Carboniferous in Nova Scotia more nearly resembles that of Europe than that of the Western States. This is no doubt connected with the faot that the Atlantic was probably an unobstructed sea basin as now, while the Appalachians already, in part, separated the deep sea faunie of the Carboniferous seas cast and west of them. In the Permo-carbonifcrous period the connexion may have been more complete, or perhaps the shallow-water species may have at all times been able to migrate. Perhaps, however, there was no migration in the case, but only the recurrence of similar and representative species under similar conditions of existence. (7.) It must not be overlooked that, as a set-off to the Permian appearance of the fossils of the Lower Carboniferous in Nova Scot'a, we have the occurrence of iuch old forms as Phillipsia^ Centronella, ''•""■"•"^wSwisiwSwj^^S Ti '°™'' ""■"ON'.'^HODS .„33,„. n. . . ^""^'"fi^ t'lcir researches ^^^(^riptive List nf I? ; p "i^eroiis Limestone. DentaUna priscilla ;'*^^'^^«^- ■■'"^li- 'iCttr ,':?'" ^''WclioM- 22 f ''■'"» "««'' oftcr sections. «t J^fme Brook ^.1 '''^''"^teristic of a t hir-t V ?' ^^'* ^'^«'-. iS' H <*f r--} J!; ! I ).' }'■■ 286 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. to be strongly and irregularly annulatecl. The greatest diameter ob- served is seven lines, but it is probable that the average is about six lines. In a transverse polished section, six lines across, the inner area is three lines in diameter, and shows twenty-four septa, Avhich do not penetrate more than half a line. The columella is obscurely indicated in the centre. The external area is one and a half lines in width, with the inner side of the epitheca crcnulated by about forty-eight septa, one half of which can be indistinctly traced across to the inner wall. In the longitudinal section the external area exhibits a tissue of imbri- cating meniscoid cells, inclining upwards and outwards, their upper sides convex, lower sides with one or two concavities, due to the con- vexity of the cells below them. The average size of these cells is one line in length by half that in width ; there are many smaller and larger ones. In the inner area the transverse diaphragms or tabulfB are thin and crowded, apparently four or five, on an average, in one line ; they seem to be much elevated in the centre, and also sometimes turned upwards at their junction with the inner wall. The axis is indistinctly indicated. " The only species with which this need be compared is L. affine (Fleming), of the Carboniferous limestone of England and Ireland. According to the description and figures of Edwards and Ilaime, that species has the corallites about five or six lines in diameter, and grouped together as they are in this ; but they arc not annulatcd exteriorly, except by small wrinkles; the inner wall is not so distinctly defined; the inner area narrower, and the columella more compact and per- fectly developed. It has also thirty or thirty-two principal septa, while in this there are only about twenty-four. " The two specimens on which the above description is founded are imbedded in compact limestone, and although in the polished sections their internal characters are well defined, yet in a large collection individuals might be found to connect it to L, affine. It is a closely allied species, but I think distinct." Zaphrentis Minos., n. sp. (Fig 84, a), collected by Professor How at Kennetcook. — Corallum conical, slightly curved. Calice circular, thin-edged, rather shallow ; septal fossula narrow, extending from the centre to the concave side. Principal septa about Lliirty-two. Tabulae irregular. Epitheca thin, marked externally with longitudinal stria and coarse scaly ridges, especially near the upper part. My longest specimen is two inches in length, and has probably lost an inch of the lower part. It is one inch in diameter. The same species occurs at Cockmegun River and Stewiacke ; and small specimens, possibly ""'^ (*) Cyathophylltm nUlingsL «ross sectfon, short, curved af'f/f '*' ^^-Corallum circular fn F,g. 85._(„^ Stenopora exilU ■ in rr -''^acroM??, of Kinn.'a P„ • ^^ ^^teinal characters fm,>, /-y ,'""'' Which? .° 'P''^'^^ ^f ''«le branchini r I '7 "'^^ ^^ ^^^^ntical ^''ch so much confusion exists J? ^""'""''^^'-^^^ morals about t"«nche8, ramifying irrcffuhrlvni ^'^'""^^ «'cnder cWinrlw! i agonal cells wuh smaU spines or l^l^tT''' '^"*'^"«"« h«- P P'I1» on their separating walls. if i \Wm\ »' . 't 1 1 ^^E J I- -H^ U^'" Vf B 1 .1 i i I 1 1I , 1 1 i HI 288 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. In a longitudinnl soction the cells arc seen to rise vertically, and then suddenly curve to the surface, increasing at the same time in diameter, and having near the aperture a few thin transverse plates. It is perhaps worthy of inquiry whether this may not have been a Polyzoan allied to Ilelopora. It is very abundant at Whidsor and on the Shu- benacadie, subdivision (d). Chaetetes tumidus (Fig. 8/5, i), Edwards and Ilaime. — I refer to this common Carboniferous species, a coral very abundant at Stewiacke, ai.d occurring also at Windsor and in Cape Breton, and which a careless observer might readily confound with the preceding. It is, like it, a slender branching coral, but often more robust, and sometimes pre- senting even rounded or papillose masses; and in the longitudinal section its tubes do not curve suddeidy outwards, but turn from the centre with a gentle sweep toward the surface. Externally also it has no spines on the separating walls. Though I suspect that the synonymy given by Edwards and Ilaime includes several species, I feel certain that the present is one of them, and I have no hesitation more par- ticularly in identifying it with Favosites scabra of Dc Koninck. All these small branching corals of the Palasozoic rocks require a thorough microscopical examination. Crinoidea. — Though some beds of limestone on the Shubenacadie at Windsor, and on the East Iliver of Pictou, are full of crinoidal fragments, more particularly the joints of the stems, no specimens sufEciently complete for description have yet been found. MOLLUSCA. Polyzoa. Fenestella Lyelli, n. sp. (Fig. 86), coll. J. W. D., Windsor; coll. Ilartt, Stewiacke. — This beautiful species is very characteristic of Fig. SG.—FeneskUa. Lyelli. I (a) Natural size. (I) Portion enlarged. (c) Cells and spines in profile. F08BILB OP THE CAUBONIFEROUS LIMEBTONEB. 289 one of the llmestonus of tlio Windsor Bcries, and is, I think, certainly new and undcscribcd. The non-poriferous side has tliick parallel bifurcating ribs, with rounded surfaces finely striated longitudinally, connected by much thinner and rounded cross bars, enclosing oval fencstrules. The poriferous side has the bars angular above, and with a central carina, bearing a row of small tubercles, which in the best specimens are seen to bear delicate spines. The pores are in two rows at the bides of the ribs. Its nearest allies arc F. reteformis, Schlot., and F. carinata, M'Coy, but it differs materially from both, more especially in its characteristic spines. Feneatella, another species, coll. J. W. D., Stcwiacke, with two rows of large contiguous pores. Resembles F. Morrisit, M'Coy, but has the pores closer to each other. Fenestella with larger fenestrules, not determinable. Coll. J. W. D., West lliver, Pictou. Berenicea, Lamx. — Two species of encrusting Polyzoa occur on shells in Mr Ilartt's collections from Windsor. They may, in the meantime, be referred to this genus, but are not determinable. Brachiopoda. Tlie following descriptions of the Brachiopods of the Carboniferous limestones of Nova Scotia are extracted from Mr Davidson's paper above referred to, ami the figures are from his drawings : — " Terehratula sacculus, Martin, sp., 1809, and varieties (Fig. 87). " Terehratula elongaia and T. siifflata, De Vcrneuil, in Sir C. Lyell's 'Travels in North America,' vol. ii., p. 220, 1845; and in Dawson's ' Acadian Geology,' p. 219 (Fig. 27), 1855. Fig. 87. — Terehratula sacculua, Martin ; and interior, shounng loop. \ " All the Terebratulce from the Lower Carboniferous strata of Nova Scotia that have been forwarded to me by Dr Dawson, as well as those brought from that country by Sir C. Lyell, are variable in shape, but are evidently referable to a single species. M. de Verneuil has identified this shell with Schlotheim's T. elongata, and mentions that in. octoplicatus, are referable to a single species. The Novn- Scotian specimens of the shell uudiu- notice are all very smiill, none of those that have come under my notice exceeding four linos in length by live in width ; they exactly resemble some specimens of the same species found in the Carhoniferoua shales of Capel Rig, East Kilbride, Scotland. *' Sir C. Lyell mentions having found this shell at Windsor, lirook- ficld, Shnbcnacadie, and Do Bert River, in Nova Scotia; and I)r Dawson adds East River, b\it that it is nowhoro no plentiful as in tho shell conglomerate of Rrooklicld. Fig. \)0.— Siiiri/er a-intata, Sdilotheiiii. Fig. dl.—Sinn/er acuticostaUh Do Koninck. '■'■ Spirtfer acuticostata, De Koninck (Fig. 91). ^^!Spir'fer acitticostatiis, De Koninck, ' Description dcs Animaux Fos- siles ([ui se trouvent dans lo Terrain Carbouifiire de la lielgiquo,' p. 2Gr), pi. 17, fig. 0. "Shell small and transversely oval ; valves convex, and ornamented with from twelve to fourteen small angular ribs. The mesial fold is comparatively wide, flattened, and longitudinnlly grooved along the middle. The sinus in tiie ventral valve has a small median angular rib, Avhich commences at abo it the middle of the valve and extends to the front. Beak small, incurved ; area triangular and of moderate dimensions. Length four lines, width five lines, depth three lines. " Upon sending a proof of the plate illustrating this paper to Profc.osor De Koninck, he wrote back that two of my figures were referable to iSp. acuticostatiis ; and, except in size, they certainly resemhle those given by the distinguished Belgian Professor. It must, however, be remembered that in some specimens of Sp. cri'status, or of its Carbon- iferous representative, Sp, octoplicatus, the mesial fold is flattened along its middle, and oven possesses in some cases a shallow groove along its centre, as seen in De Koninck's Sp. acuticostatiis. All these modifications in British specimens have been described and illustrated at pages 38 and 226 of my 'Monograph of JJritish Carboniferous Brachiopoda.' FOSSILS OF TIIK CAKUONIFEnOUS LIME8TONK8. 293 "This small shell is very ahniidant in tlio shell liincfltonc of Hrook- fiold, ShuluMincadio, luul in some other localities in Nova Scotia, where it is always associated with Sj>. cristatus, of which it may perhaps after all bo no more than a modification. " Camnrophoria and Rhynchonclla. — The specimens referable to these genera sent mo by Dr Dawson, as well as those brought to Knglund by Sir C. liycll, are generally very small, and not in all cases sniViciently comjdeto to warrant a satisfactory determination. I hav ?, however, carefully represented the principal forms. rig. !)2 (a). — Camerophona yhbuUna, Phillips; nat, size ami vuxtjnificd ; (6) variety of the amitc. '^ Camarophma (?) ginhdinn (?), Phillips (Fig 02, a, 6). " Tercbralvla gloliidiiin, IMiillips, ICncycl. Metr., vol. iv., article 'Geology,' pi. 3, fig. ;J, 1834. '* Tcrehralula r/ioiiilioi'dea, IMiillips, Geol. Yorksh., vol. ii., p. 222, pi. 12, figs. IS, 20, 18.30. " Ilemithyris lonr/a, M'Coy, British Pal. Foss., p. 440, pi. 3, D., fig, 24, 1855. " Of this very small shell I have been able to examine only three specimens ; but it is stated to be abundant in a yellow arenaceous limestone at Do Ben liivcr, where, according to Dr Dawson's expe- rience, it is always small. I have also felt somewhat puzzled in the (Ictennination of this fossil ; but, after having consulted Professor Do Koninck, I concluded to refer the specimens to the same species, not- withstanding the apparent difTerence tliey present. Professor De Koninck referred one of them to T. rhuiitboidca, Phillips, which is a synonyme of Camarophoria glohnlina ; and after minutely comparing tlio Nova-Scotian specimens with the Carboniferous and Permian types, I could perceive no difrcrcncc sufficient to warrant the creation of a new species. The three specimens were exactly of the same size, namely, three lines in length by three in width, and two and a half in depth. The uncertainty which both Professor De Koninck and myself liavc experienced refers to a specimen which much rcsci \ in minia- ture, a form of Rhynchondla acuminata; but when w. remember pr Pi I :'! I I'l 294 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. that Phillips himself figures a specimen of his Terebratula rhomboidea with a simple mesial fold, we need not be surprised to find the same peculiarity in one of those from Nova Scotia. Indeed, after carefully examining the three examples forwarded by Dr Dawson, I cannot bring myself to believe that they should be specifically separated. It is well known that the same peculiarity occurs with Rhynchonella acuminata; and any one who examines plates 20 and 21 of my 'Mono- graph of British Carboniferous Brachioi)oda ' must feel surprised at the immense variability of which some species are susceptible. Fig. 93. — Uhynehonella Datosoniana, Davidson ; nat. size and magnified. " Rhynchonella Dawsoniana, n. sp. (Fig. 93, a, b). "Shell very small, almost circular, a little wider than long; dorsal valve moderately and uniformly convex to about half its length from the umbone, at which point a very slightly elevated and flattened mesial fold begins to rise, and extends to the front ; the surface of the shell is also either almost entirely smooth or ornamented with from eight to twelve .slightly marked ribs. The ventral valve is gently convex, with a wide sinus ; beak small and incurved. Length three and a half lines, width four lines, depth two and a half lines. "This small species does not appear to be rare in a black Lower Carboniferous limestone at Lennox Passage, and is not unlike, except in size, certain examples of M. de Verneuil's Terebratula superstes ; but this last-named Permian shell belongs to the genus Camarophoria, while the one under description belongs to Rhynchonella. I have compared it with a number of equally small young examples of Rhyn- chonella pugnus, from which it appears to differ. ^^Rhynchonella Acadiensis, n. sp. (Fig. 94). " Shell small, obscurely rhomboidal, about as wide as long; dorsal valve rather more convex than the ventral, and presenting, when viewed in profile, a regular curve. The mesial fold commences to- wards the middle of the valve, while the surface is ornamented with twelve or thirteen small radiating ribs, of which four or five occupy the surface of the fold. The sinus in the ventral valve is of moderate depth, and the surface is ornamented as in the dorsal valve. The Fig. 9^.~m!,rccfu>nena Acadiensis, Davidson • „.. • '-; lump Of 'the Brookleirshen' ]•*''" «P«cime„s, which I detached from t e t^ocurved internal 1 Swr""' •'"' ^' ^^^"^^' «- exhibited pleurodon. I„ the last-namph ""l ^^'^''''^'^neUa pugnus and 7? . 1-tions of the dorsal vXe re t?" ""J^'^ ^^"^^ ^^-» th atfj ventral are nearly straight wihr-"""'^ """^^' ^^^»^e those o the fd.tiontowhich^he4s'bS T ?* ""^'" ^^»* "Pward t then- median portion at som! di tl ^^^'^"''"^"^ S^'^^^ed along these characters are obserrble 1 "''''' ""'^"- ""^"^ ^ ^ ^'f -'Ption. '" the small Rhynchondla under ^mestone brought' ftl NoCSt's""r%'' "^""^^ Carboniferous feet, undeterminable valves of ViT, ^ ^^ ^^'" ''^''^ ^^veral imner- r-eedi„g .species by its ^. J^u''''''f^\ ^''-h differs from The ::t:"^ nbs. Of Lse lit' ll e Infe 1 " ""'"'^^ ^' '^« -a' «» forty upon each valve. I„ si.lTt „ "' '"'"^ «« thirty-five «even or eight lines in leng"h Iv , ^^ •''' *•' ^'^"^ '"^''^^"^•^J abou i-P03^. for it a specific dSnlr I Z't ' ^''^^ '^^^ 4, 5, 1809. ^ ^""^ ^- ^' ^^^•^-- BP., Petrif. Derb., tab. 22, figs " Two or three vei-v smoli » • Zfiit '^' •'^^" -'"Pi^^^^^^^ ^^- ^-- «^*er Martms speces; they are derived Z . T" ^«"»g shells of hmcstone of Windsor and East Kiver '^' ^^"^^ Carboniferous "" ° ""™" "^"'" ■■"--'-one ..o„,,. ,„,„,„,; > I < I II li I ,M'I 296 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Scotia by Sir C. Lycll, and now in the Society's Museum, I found a well-characterized example of this species, which in Sir C. LycU's list had been confounded with Productus Martini. Fig. 95. — Strophomena analoga, Phillips. Fig. 96. — Streptorhynchus crentstria, Phillips, and sculpture magnified. '''■Streptorhynchus crenistria, Phillips (Fig. 96). " Several crushed valves, referable to this species, occur on a speci- men of Carboniferous shale from East River, Pictou,* for which I am indebted to Dr Dawson. These valves exactly resemble certain small specimens found in several British Carboniferous shales. Their surfaces arc covered with numerous radiating raised striae, with a smaller rib between the larger ones, the whole being closely intersected by fine concentric lines, thus giving to tlic longitudinal ribs a crenulated appearance. Professor De Koninck coincides in my identification. " Productus. — Although Sir C. Lycll and Dr Dawson mention seven species of this genus as having been found in the Lower Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia, all these, as well as the specimens I have been able to examine, can be referred to two species only, namely, P. scmi- reticulatus and P. cora ; and I may mention that Prof. De Koninck coincides in this view. ^^ Productus semireticidatus, Martin (Fig. 97). "Anomites semireticidatus, Martin, Petrif. Derb., pi. 32, figs. 1, 2, and pi. 33, fig. 4, 1809. "This species is so well known that all I shall require to state is, that the Nova-Scotian specimens are exactly similar to those found in Europe. Producta Martini^ P. concinna, P. antiquata, P. Scotica, mentioned by Sir C. Lycll at p. 220 (vol. ii.) of his ' Travels in America,' as well as by Dr Dawson in various pages of his ' Acadian Geology,' belong to a single species, namely, Productus semireticulatus^ Sow. The * P. spinosa, Sow. (?) var. of P. Martini,' of Sir C. Lyell's * The locality is incorrectly given Shubcnacadie in the paper quoted. / . "W, f>b0lo„,.,ke.,,,,,,,^ — UMKS.O.., ,,, Sow., specimon,s of whid° TT"" "'"''^^ '^^««"P''on ; buf P • 'I'^tinct species. Sir cT! n '"'" "«^ ««en fro,n Novl /" ^'"''''^' tJ'«tthe,sJ.e]I isfo.'nd'f'^'' ^^''^'•' ^^^^ ^^"nrdo '^f ff^'' ^^'^^^^na- ' ^"^'' ^''■^'«"' Horton Bluff, GaysT'' "^•^'- ^'^''erst, f,. ' V s Kivcr, etc. (") Ventral valvo. , "The largest specimen ., '"'^" ^^<'^'--'--ng dorsal valve. ■•^^«"t the same i' Sh 5^"^ '^"^ -«'' and a half f,. ,,„ „ , -«.e locality. ''^''^- '^- variety ,,«,,,, j^ ^^^^ 2J:!f^' ^''■''-^'■0'^-ctu.co,.a.-n'OrUsny, ^"^ ^--^ -"J (i) ventral valve. ^foductus com n'n-i • fountains,' 1845. * '^''^'^^^^'' ^^ Vern., ^ Kussia and the Ural I < , 1 '■ ,i 1 1 'I \ my ,. » 5 f ' 1 1 1 I ]ll . i P,U 298 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. "P. cora, Do Koninck, 'Mon. du Genre Produdtts,' pi. 4, fig. 1, 1847. " P. pileiformis, M'Chesney, ' Descr. of New Species of Fossils from the PaliEOzoic Rocks of the Western States of America,' p. 40, 1849. "P. LyeUt, Dawson, 'Acadian Geology,' p. 219, fig. 9, 1855, " P. Cora, Dav., ' Mon. Carb. Brach.,' pi. 36. fig. 4, pi. 42, fig. 9, 1861. " After a very careful examination of nine or ten specimens of P. LyelU from the Lower Carboniferous limestone of Nova Scotia, I have reluctantly been obliged to place M. de Verneuil's species among the synonymes of P. cora, the latter name (as may be seen by the list of synonymes above given) claiming three years' priority. All the Nova-Scotian specimens I have been able to examine were small, not exceeding about 11 lines in length by some 12 or 13 in width. But it must be remembered that, as a general rule, the Nova-Scotian species and specimens, although adult, are small, and in this respect are exactly similar to those we find in Scotland. The surface is covered with numerous longitudinal, straight, or slightly flexuous, narrow, thread-like, rounded striae, with sulci, or interspaces, of rather less width ; smaller striaj arc also here and there intercalated between the larger ones. The ribs are also regularly and closely crossed by small concentric lines. " P. cora is a widely spread Carboniferous species, having been found in many parts of America, India, Europe, etc. " Sir C. Lyell found this shell at Windsor, Ilorton Bluff, Shubena- cadie. Gay's River, Minudie, and Cape Breton, in Nova Scotia. Dr Dawson states that it occurs almost everywhere — at Pugwash, on the eastern coast of Cumberland, at Lennox Passage, M'Kenzie's Mill, at the eastern extremity of Wallace Harbour, etc." Mr Hartt has kindly furnished the following descriptions and specimens of additional species of Brachiopoda : — Rhynchonella Ida, Ilartt, Bed A, Windsor. Coll. C. P. Hartt. — Shell elliptical, transverse, wider than long, rounded on the sides, truncate in front, angular at the umbo, inequivalve. Dorsal valve large, more inflected than the ventral, moderately arched, slightly depressed in umbonal region, with a wide, slightly elevated mesial fold. Ventral valve less arched than dorsal, highest in the middle, from which point it curves regularly to the umbo and posterior margin. Umbo sharp, angle made by sides of valve at the umbo a right angle. Outline of valve a right angled triangle rounded at the acute angle. Sides of valve depressed. A shallow sinus corresponds to the fold of the dorsal valve. It originates near the middle of the valve. Umbo more or less strongly recurved. Foramen small, triangular. Dcltidium y^r t *'.■ [ Ml u POSSas OP THP n»»« ' «^H«0N,KER0C8 LIMESTONES in two narrow pieces P„7 ,- " ™stones. 399 la " er L "'"'^'"'^' ^"^P^^* tn^n^Tj^ n ""f ' *''° ^'^'^^ others 'cn» pan of „,.„:t'ie "s,:? T -"^r" '"»*- o";:.' tudinal axis of the sl,e]j tk. ' ' "^''^'■^7 so, witli t L ] • tlio summit of the fold n„ .1 .1 ^o^espondiriff to the ^r-nr. ;"'*o™„„eno.,t«g,tt?; »r''''".^''="' -'"''^^^^^^^^^^^^^ •to groove, on the f„|,| Tf "'"P""'""'™. Wlior^T * r *• U"^f^« angular, sharp-poinf od f ^.furcation of a single * I ¥' i'.ii ' ■ ! ii. V 'I 300 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. This is probably the species referred by Mr Davidson, with doubt, to R. pugnus (?) in his paper above referred to. Centronella Anna, Hartt (Fig. 99). — Shell orbicular, lenticular, equilateral, inequivalve, the dorsal (ventral, Hall) valve being con- siderably more arched than thf, ventral (dorsal, Hall). Dorso-ventral diameter about half that of the width of shell — length about a quarter of an inch. Fig. 99. — Centronella Anna, ll&rtt. 0^ ;© (a) Shell r^tural size. (5) Internal loop. Ventral valve with lamellae which take their origin near together. These lamellaj separate slightly from one another until they arc inclined to one another at an angle from 30°-45°, when they curve towards the mesial line, and meeting at a very acute angle, arc prolonged back- wards in a pointed arch to three-quarters — four-fifths the length of tlic shell, the width of the arch being approximately one-half its length. The planes of the lamellaj arc at first parallel, but their dorsal edges soon become moderately inclined outward. The lateral bands are not only bent toward the mesial line, but they are strongly curved, with the convexity towards the ventral valve, the curve being slightly greater than that of the valve. This loop supports on the dorsal side a thin plate, whose plane coincides with the dorso-ventral and antero- posterior diameter of shell, and a thin plate extends from the apex of the arch forwai'd (backward auct.) for about two-thirds its length. This plate seems to be of uniform thickness throughout. At the point of the arch the supporting lamelhe arc exceedingly slender. Tracing them anteriorly, they are seen running along the ventral border of the mesial plate, on each side, like a raised line. Increasing in width, they separate themselves more and more along the dorsal margin from the mesial plate, to whose ventral border they are attached for its wliolc length. The plate has an outline similar to that of a transverse section of a biconvex lens whose diameter is twice its thick- ness, but in both the loops under examination there is on the dorsal edge a notch which appears to be organic, and to correspond to that of the loop of Centronella Julia, Billings. The mode of attDchmen i, of the mesial plate with the lateral bands is very well shown in my specimens. Professor Hall has called atten- tion to the strong resemblance between the loops of Centronella and Rensselaria, but there is a much greater resemblance between the ii'i species of r : "" ' '''' "ot PossoJ. "^ ° "^'"""l elmr- '"'™ "0 good ,?,'"~'« wWeh may T Mew T ""''•'™'" « ■^'■f"-y,t found Aott '" "^ ^'l-'-ornT',"'' """ "" — A valve attapfiPfJ f^ "'Hiing smaJIness colJection of Mr it ,V , ^"^" *<> a specimen of n ^ ^^mellihranchiata. Slmbenacadie W;,"] ^' (^'^- ^^<^). coll. J W n . cylindrical bLf '' ^"'^ ^^^'^ C. B --Tnl'-. /"^ ^^- P^o'e, growth. ^^' '"* "^- ^-id in fro^t; su J^S trf V-ear,; «• ^W.~Modwla Pooli least), „ ^^odiola Avoma, n. ST) mil it ^--— ^ posterior part flattening Zd w ' ''''''''' ^^^'-eniity ve " ' ' broad rounded posterlo, T '''^^''"'S with a regular f ^ ''^'^' ^vrinkles. ^''^"'^'- ^^^r-"^*/- Surface with folded '"'' '' *''« ). i.r ' fVi # ( tt' ^' .' 1^ '■ J yj M •li* m 302 THE CAKUONIFEUOUa SYSTEM. Aviculopecten limestone at Windsor. Tlie elongated form Cerato- phaga is also present. Macrodon llardingi, n. sp. (Fig. 102), coil. J. W. D. and llartt, fiom Windsor, especially in bed (e), where it is very abundant. Hinge- lino nearly straigiit, with the short cardinal teeth and long narrow posterior teeth characteristic of the genus. Length about twice the depth, but variable ; beak one fourth of the length from the front, which is pointed, and descends with a regular curve to the straightish Fig. 102. — Macrodon Ilardingi. rmi (tt)Ca.st. {11) Outer surface. (c) Sculpture magnified. or slightly incurved ventral margin. V^ tcrior extremity truncated, almost vertically, angular above, slightly rounded below. In old specimens very tumid at the beaks, so that the thickness sometimes exceeds the breadth. Tiie shell, which seems to have been thick, is usually represented by casts of the interior, which are smooth, some- times with deep marks of the muscular impressions and a trace of a rib proceeding from the front of the beak ; but when the outer surface is preserved, it is seen to be covered with regular squamous concentric fold.s, fringed at the edges with delicate radiating lines. This beautiful shell, most characteristic of the upper stages of the Lower Carbon- iferous limestones, is allied to Byssoarca reticulata^ M'Coy, of the Irish Carboniferous, and to Area M^Coi/ana and anatina, Dc Koninck, of Belgium, also to Byssoarca tumida of the Permian, — but it is decidedly a new species. The specimens figured are of medium size. The largest are one and a quarter inch long and seven lines thick at the beaks. Macrodon curtus, n. sp., coll. J. W. D., Windsor, etc., with the pre- ceding. — This shell differs from the last in the following particulars : — It is much shorter, broad opposite the beaks, and narrowing posteriorly, and covered with irregular lines of growth. As I have not seen the teeth, it may belong to a different genus. On the other hand, it may be a depauperated variety of the preceding, but I have no connecting forms. Macrodon (?) Shi(benacadtcnsis, n. sp. (Fig. 103), coll. J. W. D., Shubenacadie. — Short and ovate, hinge-line straight, umbo one-third of the distance from front. Posterior extremity broadly and regularly unccrtau,. ' "'«« "> Capo Breton. Its genus is of l^nSoT^ n •"' ^^'"'^^ '^ '^"-^ to - only bv a f -'>-03.-.,^^„,_... ./ ^'^^-^'-^^-faeeisnnknown. P'g- m.^ilacrodon SAuUnacadiensis (cast). ^''S-lOi.~Edmon,lu^I/arttiL Edmondh IlarttH « „. /t^. vo-„ „.,o,„, C:'„ dXnS v"'^' 7"; ""■■"- ^Vi,..U„r.-T™„. (a) Outline of hinge-plate. EdmvncUa anomala, n. sn rP,V ia^n Transversely elongate antetflit^^ coll. Hartt, Windsor.-^ Icscenduig abruptly from a ,; ,7 '^^"S"*« ^^nd pointed; posteriorlv beaks to the lower side off? ^"''^"^ ''''^^kward from the t -^ abruptly rounded posteriorly iL ? ^"'*'""'' *^"^' ^videning anf differs in the hinge". ^^ ^^''"'^^^'^ « ^^^'^^^c.lva in fo^^ ^ut -rransversely oblong. Thrice as wid!^' T ^''■"' ^'"^^^r, bed (a) posterior somewhat keeled Ij'n t """^' '-^"t^^or end very short - the shell, posterior ma gin r Sr TT "^^'"^ ^'^^ '^"^^^ -'-^ -eentnc folds. Length,^ inch :^„e-ttlr """' ^^^'^ ^^^^ ' .' ill 'I' i n .lii ■^^^., 304 THE CAnnONIFEnouS HYBTESC rieurophorus quadricostnlus n. sp. (Fig. 107), coll. Ilartt, Stcwiacko. — Shell elongate, bonks near anterior end. llingc-lino nearly Htraight, central margin with a folil and sinus under the beak, and curving thence to the rounded postorior end ; four obficuro radiating ridges diverging from the beak to the posterior margin, crossed by low con- centric undulations. Length, five lines, lied {«:). Fig. 107 ,— Pleuroiil'trus rjiiadricnstatiis. Fig. 108.— Vardinia auh-umjulaUt. Isocardta. — Like /. transversa, Do Koninck, but nan'owcr. A cast from East River, Pictou. Collected by Mr D. Frascr. Cardlnia nana, Do Konii\(k, coll. J. W. D., Onslow, in an impure, black, fliiggy limestone. — The specimens are larger than the Belgian, but otherwise similar. Cardiiia suh-angidata, n. sp. (Fig. 108), coll. J. "W. D., Pugwash. — Form oval, with an obscure ridge from the beak to the lower part of tho posterior end. Surface covered with irregular lamellar lines of growth. Cardlnia Antignnescnsts, n. sp., coll. J. W. D., Antlgonish. — Regularly oval, but somewhat narrower posteriorly ; beak a little in front of the middle. Breadth rather less than half the length. Sur- face marked with delicate growth lines, but smooth. Area punctifer, n. sp., coll. Ilartt, AVindsor. — Shell broad oval in form, truncate posteriorly, the tumid beaks and middle portion de- scending abruptly behind to the straight hinge-line. Surface wi'V regular flattened concentric ridges, crossed, especially near the posterior margin, by oblique radiating lines, each compose 1 of a thin ridge bearing a row of minute papillae. Bed (a). The .^jiccimcn is only a fragment, but must have been nearly an inch broad and two inches long when entire. Cardiomorpha Vindobonensis, Ilartt (Fig. 109). — This species is known only by casts, one of which is faithfully represented in the figure. Cardiomorpha Archiacana, De Koninck, occurs with tho above in the Windsor limestones. Conocardium Acadianum, Ilartt (Fig. 110), coll. Ilartt, Windsor. — Triangular, with a very prominent central ridge. Prolonged posteri- orly into a very long wing or siphonal tube. Anterior .slope marked riff ino /^. !• ° """ui tliroo lim.a '«• i0^c^„,..,,,„ ,,,^^^^^^^^^.^ inc. Conocardttiin \ f Fi. 1,1 '''""''''^'«« Wide aa long, I W«n^ ""'^^'^ ^ J l^ut both are too imperfect ''"« on .1.0 whorH and alwayHf La?] ^ """'^ ^«'-'° «'ow.l,' Pie-. 1lo_ xr_,. Ilowi. Fig. I2l._ I'tatyschkma dubia. -ed in t^ r -:L::.:;;2^,:^f r^'^ ^"r2 flatter „, general form, and less do. ssed i^ r' ''"" ^' ^''^^^^^^ ^-t ■-'•er to this genus with dolb t fo s f 1 '. ' ' "' ^'^''^^ ^Vindsor.-I --en. to be very rare, as I hav on^i^^^^^^^^^ >» tl-e figure. It <>xtremcly slender species scarcol'v 7^' r' *^'''""' Windsor.-An o;more whorls, n.aAed wit rats Jfo'"" ^"'^' ^^^ -•''" A^e n It corresponds to /.. polun.raWP / ''' ^''^ '■^'^oWn,^ lines --ore slender and dc'licSanelth^;;"'^ ^- '^^'^"^«' ^^"4 but' ■1 m 310 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Murchisonia gypsea, n. sp. (Fig. 123), coll. II. Poole, Windsor. — Like M. nana. Do Koninck, but larger, and with only two revolving ridges on the whorls. Fig. 122. — Loxonema aculula, magnified. Fig 123— Murchisonia gypsea {cast) Murchisonia IricingitJata, n. sp., coll. .J. W. D., Windsor, Pngwash. — Resembles AT. angidafa, Phil., but has a keel above as well as below the central band on the whorls. Pleurotomaria dispersa, n. sp., coll. H. Poole, and Ilartt, Windsor. — There are several small species of this genus. One, which is very- abundant in bed (i), llartt, at Windsor, is that above named. It has four flat whorls, giving it an almost regular conical form, with delicate stria; across the whorls. Pleurotomaria ignobilis, n. sp., coll. Ilartt, Windsor — Almost exactly of the fonn and markings of P. nobilis, De Koninck, with three re- volving carinoe ; but without the delicate sculpture between the carinas. Cephalopoda. Fig. 124. — Nautilus Avonenais. (a) Shell of sinull size. (/') Cross section. FOSSins OP THE CARBONIPERmT« r ^r s-7 "'VIPEROUS LIMESTONES. ot , A^autilus Avonensis n an fv ^'"cli It occurs. "'« Avon R.vcr, on the banks Gyroceras Ifartti!^ n. sp. f F,> lo'il a . l; c»,a,,,l two narrower m,,i; a '^;;' '""> '''-'"J flu.inga at .,„ ig.U5.~ Gyroceras JZaritii, Orthocerm laterale PI,;i „ «° Po™,t „,„ to di.,l„g„it™' " "«""■' "-^ »« K«"i"cK, too cLscl" fe;'"a,sl.ghtly beaded; sL„ ^'-Jargcn- diameter distant ft-on" »»ue. bei^ta one-half Fig. I2fi.-0.rt«,,,,„ 'lolaitim. each other. Fig. i27.--ft.rto(,era* VindoboHense. ^ Pig. 28.-OrM (J5' ►>; S ' 1^ ^ »- ^ ^^ ■-'5. r ■-Coal «t Loading Ground. •••Pictou Harbour. ; •■ 'S to the lower members ' t w is ■ |«:^ ^in 't ftiffl f pi 1 1 ft,: f ifi ^M 318 THE CARHONlPEnoUS BYSTEM. of SirW. Logan's Joggins Hection. These occupy tlic East nrnnoh and Mftin River for some diMtaiicc. Tlioy contain a few fossil plants, in one instance iinpregiintod with carbonate and Hulplinrct of copper; and at least two beds of limestone, not rich in fossils, I affording the characteristic species Tcrcbratula sacculus, iStreptor/ii/ncus creniatr'a, and Prndtictu^ semireticulatus. One of these limestones, seen near the forks of the river, is remarkable for showing, when slices are examined under the microscope, that it is made up of small fragments of shells with entire specimens of very minute species.* The rocks in this jiart of the section are much fractured ; but a conij)aris()n with the continuation of the same beds in M'Lellan's IJrook, shows that the order is ascending, and that the Coal measures rest on the rocks last described. The Coal measures of the Albion Mines consist of the same materials, and contain many of the same fossil remains with those of the .Joggins ; but they differ in the arrangement of these materials and fossils. Instead of a great number of thin beds of coal ana bituminous shale, we have here a few beds of enormous thickness, as if the coal-furming processes, so often interrupted at the Joggins, had hero been allowed to go on for very long periods without interference. It is almost a necessary consequence of this that erect plants are not found in the Albion measures, and that well-preserved vegetable fossils are com- paratively rare, while vast quantities of vegetable matter have been accumulated in the state of coal. The sections at the Albion Mines arc not perfect. They show, however, live or six scams of coal, and an immense thickness, j)crha})s 800 feet, of black shales with Cypris and remains of ferns and other leaves. There arc also underclays and ironstones abounding in Stlgmaria. In attempting to give a general idea of the structure of this coal- field, I shall first notice the order and succession of the beds, then their distribution, and next some remarkable and exceptional features which they present, as compared with the districts previously noticed. The section of the beds, in descending order, as made up from a comparison of the results of borings and excavations by the different coal companies, is as follows : — Ft. in. Gray freestone or sandstone . . . . . 15 3 Black shale and clay, with layers of dark argillaceous sandstone and ironstone f 419 9 Forward, 435 * See Table in last chapter. •f- These beds are given from the observations of Mr Hudson in the Forster Pit, Albion Mines. uif V \i ami US, in .ppcr ; ug the lislr'a, n. ncnr ;cs nve gmcnts rocks an with llu\t the eka last latcrials, loggina; 1 fossils, us shale, i-fonning 1 allowed almost a id in the are com- avc been on Mines coal, and th Cypris clays and Ithis coal- leds, then [\ features noticed. Ip from a different CAHU0NIFEB0U8 DIBTUICT OF PICTOU. 319 Ft. Brought forward, 435 Main Coal seam (greatest thickness) .... Bandstonc, shale, and ironstone .... Deep Coal scam ....... Shales, sandstone, and ironstone, with several thin coals, viz. the Third seam, " Purves seam, and Fleming seam," hi all about twelve feet thick M'Grfjor Coal seam ...... Shale, with many beds of sandstone and layers of iron- stone and underclays 240 Coal and cartliy bitumen, " Frazer coal and Stellar coal" ......... 4 Ft. iu. 435 ay 11 157 7 24 9 280 11 i' 1192 3 The above is to bo regarded as a mere approxinuvtion, and the measurements are taken in a line perpendicular to the surface, tlie beds being inclined at an angle of about 20". In this section it will be observed that the total thickness of beds is less than iu the Middle Coal measures of the Joggins section, but that the quantity of eoal is vastly greater. In other words, the deposit of vegetable matter has been greater and more continuous, and that of earthy matter less. AV'hen the first edition of this work was published, tlie extension of the Pictou Coal seams was known only in the Albion mining area near the East River, where the dip is to the north-cast and the strike north-west. Subsequent explorations by Mr Poole, recorded in a paper published in the "Canadian Naturalist," showed that about a mile and a half westward of the river the beds are bent and faulted, and turn suddenly to the southward. It was afierwa-ds ascertained by Mr J. Campbell, and by the jvgcnts of the " Acadia" and "Nova Scotia" Companies, that the line of outcrop takes an extensive curve of more than a mile to the southward, forming the area of the " Intercolonial" Company, and then, sweeping again to the northward, resumes a north- westerly course, passing toward the Middle River. Here it would seen) to turn round the end of a synclinal, or to be cut off by a fault in its extension with northerly dip, and it is next seen to return on a curved line, skirting a ridge of older rock, probably of Devonian age, and a conglomerate connected with this, toward New Glasgow ; near which, on the Ilaliburton or "Montreal and Pictou" area, the beds appear with high dips to the southward. The East River Coal area between that river and the Middle River w^uld thus appear to con- stitute an irregular trough with a deep bay to the southward, and mn \ \\\ !i '■.f. ^¥M w 'IB 3?0 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. possibly a gap on the north, as represented on the sketch-map (Fig, 135), which I must, however, remark is merel) an attempt to reduce to order complexities not as yet fully intelligible. The relations of this trough to the rocks to the northward we shall leave until we have attempted to trace the synclinal in its extension to the East. Fig. 135.—Skclcn,-map of Pictou Coal District. ^5^^^J^B'B°" L..-i ! I I 1 S . MiLCS. i A, Upper Coal formation. B, Middle Coal formntion. C, New Glasgow conglomerate. D, Lower Ciirbonifi'rons. E, Devonian and Silurim. Coal Areas.— {Vj General Mining Association, or Albion Mines: (2 and 4) Acadia; (3) Nova Scotia or Frencli's; (6) Intercoloni' ' or Bear Creek; ((i) Montreal and I'ic- touor llalib.i ton's; (7) (iernian Company, and others; (8) Sutliorland's River; (9) New Glasgow or Kirby's. At the date of the publication of the first edition of ''Acadian Geology," little was known of the extension of the Albion Coal measures to the eastward of the East River. 1 c(.uld at that time only indicate t!ie occurrence of Coal measures with i\ dip showing a considerable fold or bend of the measures in M'Lellan 3 Uiook, and th.e probable exten- sion of the productive Coal measures :n the direction of Merigomish. Subsequent observations by Mr Poole threw additional light on the bend of the measurrs, and more recently several discoveries of coal have been made, and I have seen, through the kindness of Mr Moore of Montreal, plans prepared by Mr Barnes of Halifax which appear to me approximately to establish the true distribution of the beds. } {'*H CAKB0NIFER0U3 DISTRICT OP PICTOU. J21 It would appear that immediately to the east of the East River, a synclinal fold, apparently with some disturbance in its axis, occurs. This throws the beds round into the north-westerly dips seen in M'Lellan's Brook. Beyond this there is an anticlinal, succeeded by a second synclinal, on the east side of which, in the vicinity of Suther- land's River, the coal beds reappear with north-westerly and northerly dips. The most eastern exposure on this tortuous line of outcrop is a bed stated to be ten feet in thickness, seen near Sutherland's River, about two miles from its mouth. No doubt the coal beds extend still farther to the eastward, along or under Merigomish Harbour, and they will also be found in all the belt of country between Sutherland's River and the East River. The line above indicated refers to the northerly dipping outcrop continuous with that of the Albion Mines ; but fronting this there is, on the east side of the East Liver, as indicated in the general section in the first edition of this work, and reproduced without alteration in Fig. 134, a narrow line of outcrop, in Avhich some at least of the beds re- appear with southerly dips along the line of tlie fracture which skirts the outcrop of the great New Glasgow conglomerate. This exposure is continuous with that already notic. '1. immediately opposite New Glasgow, and includes the beds long known in the vicinity of that place on the east side of the river, with others recently traced farther to the south and cast. Eastward of New Glasgow, according to observations made by Mr Kirby on his coal areas, the line of strike curves somewhat to the northward, forming a broad indentation parallel to the projection on the opposite side of the trough, and then, returning toward the south, passes toward the shores of Merigomish Harbour, where its extension has not yet been observed. The bedt of the Upper Coal formation which arc seen at Little Harbour, appear in Merigomish Island apjiarcntly without any synclinal arrangement between thtm and the Lower Car- boniferous rocks of the adjacent mainland. There is, however, a con- siderable space concealed by Merigomish Harbour, and by the beach bctweea Merigomish Island and the mainland, and it is to be observed that the Upper Coal forraation beds on the island dip to the north, while those on the nearest part of the mainland dip to the IT. W., and seem to belong to the loMcr part of the Coal formation. This indicates either intervening curves or dislocations, or that the upp^il series is unconformable to the lower. In the above general notice mention has been made of a great bed of conglomerate occurring immediately to the northward of the East River Coal trough, and which, as it appears very conspicuouslj' at i I f !l I ^ilffll 322 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. New Glasgow Bridge, we may designate as the "New Glasgow Con- glomerate." At New Glasgow this conglomerate dips at a high angle to the north, but at the Middle River and several other places it is found dipping to the south, and the relations of the Coal measures to it on the northern side of the Albion Mines trough, in the vicinity of New Glasgow, would seem to render it certain that the conglomerate underlies the productive Coal measures, and crops out frnni beneath them on an anticlinal line. This would give it the geological position of the Millstone-grit series, but no such massive conglomerate is known in that series elsewhere, though thero are conglomerate beds of minor dimensions. Again, the beds on the north side of the conglomerate, and evidently overlying it, are not those of the productive Coal measures as developed at the Albion Mines, but Coal measures of minor im- portance, believed to rcpiesent the Upper Coal formation ; and these supposed Upper Coal foiTnation beds exhibit very regular northerly dips, as if they had not participated in the foldings and fractures of the beds of the Middle Coal formation. Lastly, toward the Middle lliver there appears, rising from beneath the conglomerate, a scries of hard and altered grits and coarse shales, with obscure remains of fossil plants, which were pointed out to me in the summer of 1866 by Mr John Campbell, and which I believe to be an island of oldc" rock which must have penetrated the Carboniferous beds, and protruded above them at the time of their deposition, representing on a very small scale the attitude of the Cobequid Hills with reference to the Coal formation of Colchester and Cumberland. These statements being premised, as well as the further fact that the opinions of geologists in regard to this conglomerate have oscillated between the extreme views that it is a bed overlying the Middle Coal measures, and forming the base of the Newer Coal formation, and, on the other hand, that it is the Lower Carboniferous conglomerate thrown up along the line of an anticlinal, — I proceed to quote from the first edition of this work and the supplement thereto, published in 1860, the reasons which I then assigned '' r believing that it is a contemporary beach of shingle, limiting tiie area of dejjosition of the thick coal seams of the Albion Mines area, and giving rise to their exceptional character. Tliis view was first advocated in my paper on the structure of the Albion Coal Measures in the Journal of the London Geological Society, 1853 ; and the reasons for it are thut; given in the first edition of this wi)rk : — " 1. The outcrop of the conglomerate extends from a point opposite the promontory of metamorphic rock east of the East River to the high laniU of Mount Dalhousie, in the eastern extremity of the Cobe- ilHliH CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF PICTOU. 323 that atcd Coal and, ;rate rom (I in is a the heir aper the thiw 3site the lobe- quid range of hills, crossing the mouth of an indentation in the meta- morphic district, which in the older part of the Carboniferous period must have been a bay or arm of the sea, exposed to an open expanse of water lying to the northward. 2. The conglomerate cannot be traced to the margin of the metamorphic country, except at its ex- tremities; so that in all probability it never extended over the low Carboniferous district included within its line of outcrop. This is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the conglomerate has evidently resisted denudation better than any of the associated beds. 3. The conglomerate is full of false stratification and wedge-shaped beds of reddish sand- stone in the manner of ordinary gravel-ridges, and it even presents the appearance of passing into sandstone toward the dip, as if the coarse conglomerate wore limited to the vicinity of the outcrop. 4. In the sandstone overlying the Albion measures, as well as in portions of the Coal formation manifestly overlying the great conglumcrate, there are small seams of coal corresponding in their characters with those of the Joggins and Sydney, where no similar conglomerate occurs. 5. The sujiposition that the Albion coal was formed in a depressed space, se[>arated by a shingle-bar from the more exposed flats without, accounts for the great thickness of the deposits of coal and carbonaceous shale, the comparative absence of sandstones, and the peculiar texture and qualities of the coal, as well as the association with It of remains of fish and Cypris ; since modern analogies .show that suoh an enclosed space might be alternately a swamp and lagoon without any marked change in the nature of the mechanical depo.sits. 6. Movements of depression causing the rupture of the barrier, or enabling the sea to overflow it, and perhaps also admitting currents of oceanic water through the valleys of the metamorphic district to the southward, would sufficiently account for the overlying sandstones, as well as for the denudation of the Coal measures supposed to have preceded the accumulation of these sandstones.* 7. The dislocation extending along the outcrop of the conglomerate is easily explained b/ the sup- position that, in later elcvatory movements, this hard and strong bed determined the direction of fracture of the deposits. *' To these reasons I may add, that if In the Carboniferous as in the modern period, westerly winds prevailed in this latitude, it would be very natural that a beach should be thrown out from the eastern end of the Cobcquid range across the bay to tlic eastward, in which the Albion Coal measures are situated." In the supplementary chapter (I860), after referring to some * These sandstones overlie the Coal measures near the Albion Mines, but with dip to the N. ii ! 824 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. additional observations made by Henry Poole, Esq., I concluded as follows : — "The facts above stated in no respect shake the conclusion that the New Glasgow conglomerate is contemporary with the Albion Coal measures, and the remains of a great accumulation of shingle sepa- rating these from the more open space Avithout. On the contrary, they tend to confirm it : and none of the fossils obtained by Mr Poole indicate any recurrence of Lower Carboniferous rocks in the anticlinal which tlirows up the conglomerate in association with beds of the Middle Coal measures. A very remarkable fact stated by Mr Poole is perhaps a proof of the contemporaneous disturbances and clianges of level connected with the original formation of this conglomerate. He says, — ' There are numerous small faults ruiming across the mea- sures in the Fraser Mine, which are uniformly downthrows to the west ; and I may here mention that I observed, some years ago, in the Deep seam, several faults from four to ten feet each, which could not be found in the main coal workings above (the distance between the two seams is 157^ feet), which shows that tlie disturbances must have taken place previous to the formation of the Main Coal Scam.' " I now hold that the additional fact above stated, of the occurrence of a ridge of older rock penetrating the conglomerate between the East and Middle llivcrs, gives further confirmation of this theory of the relation of the conglomerate. This ridge of older rocks must have been surrounded with a deposit of gravel in the Millstone-grit period, and so often thereafter as the area was submerged, either on one side or the other ; and with its associated gravel-ridge must have formed just such a dam or barrier as is required to account for the very exceptional character of the enormous coal beds of the area included within it. It results that the Neiu Glasgow conglomerate is not that of the Lower Carboniferous, tvhich underlies the marine lime- stones, but is to be regarded as an anomalous and peculiar modification of the Millstone-grit, succeeded in ascending order on the south side by the great Coal measures of the Albion Mines, and on the noi th by a depauperated representative of these beds, graduating upward into the Upper or Newer Coal measures. I may further remark that the relation of these latter beds to the conglomerate and the hard rocks below it, is similar to that whicii I believe obtains on a larger scale along some parts of the northern and eastern slope of the Cobequids. If the view above given is correct, it would follow that the Coal measures on their return dip to the south near New Glasgow should present some marked i)oints of difference, as compared with those of the Albion Mines, and that there may be places where their outcrop hr.s been so far spared by denudation as to •*'-U':-»« ^'•^ii;,^i?^. -^-...^tmmmmm ' ^ • V / CAKB0NIFER0U3 DISTRICT OP PICTOU. 325 the III Ind let, lith Ico, be approximate to the original margin of the thick beds in this direction. Such a place I should expect to find in the bend of the outcrop to the westward of Mr Ilaliburton's mine opposite New Glasgow. I have endeavoured to represent to the eye the above theoretical views in the following ideal sections : — o a a 3 a 'B a •- (A O, 3 B S i a I If these views are correct, we have a right to expect that the tract of Coal formation country to the northward of the great conglomerate, an(1 extending from it to the eastern extremity of the Cumberland district, should present characters similar to those of that district. Accordingly the section on tlie tideway of the East River, and the corresponding sections on the Middle River, and on the coast toward i \ \ I 326 THE CAUB0NIFER0U3 SYSTEM. Mcrigomish, show a scries of Coal formation rocks not very dissimilar from some parts of the Joggins section. Their dips are to the north- ward, and in their lower part there is a bed of concretionary and laminated limestone, the only fossil in which appears to be the little Spirorbis already so frequently mentioned. Almost immediately above this limestone is a small bed of impure coal, probably two feet thick. These beds are accompanied by some black shales, and succeeding them, in ascending order, is a scries of sandstones and shales abounding in leaves of ferns, calamitcs, etc. The highest beds seen on the south side of Pictou Harbour and at Mcrigomish are thick bedded gray sandstones, which afford grindstone and building stone, and abound in petrified coniferous wood ; and with these are associated some shales and undcrclays, with thin seams of coal, one of which in Mcri- gomish Island is eleven inches thick. In the continuation of the same series, coal has been found at the loading ground at South Pictou, and near the mouth of the Middle River. Northward and westward of Pictou Harbour, which occupies a syn- clinal depression, is a seriei^ i' rocks, nearly resembling those just described, and generally dipping to the south-east at angles of 15° to 25°. In Roger's Hill, six miles westward of Pictou, are thick beds of coarse conglomerate, considerably disturbed, associated with green- stone and hard claystone, and showing in one part a vein of crystalline sulphate of barytes. This conglomerate I believe to be geologically identical with that of New Glasgow. It is succeeded by a great series of deposits, chiefly consisting of reddish sandstones and shales ; but including several thick beds of gray sandstone, affording quarries of valuable grindstone and freestone, and accompanied by gray shales, conglomerates, thin beds of coarse limestone, and thin bcils of coal. As there are no very good natural sections in this part of the countiy, it would be difficult to ascertain the aggregate thickness of these deposits ; it must, however, be great, since they occupy, with general south-east dips, the whole country from the hills last named to the entrance of Pictou Harbour. The principal fossils found near Pictou are Calawites, Lepidodendron, Endogenites, coniferous wood, ferns, Sternbergiu* and carbonized fragments of wood impregnated with iron pyrites and with sulphuret and carbonate of copper. In this scries also, and near the toAvn of Pictou, is a bed of sandstone con- taining erect calamites, evidcntlv rooted in situ, and described in a paper by the writer in tba Proceedings of the Geological Society for 1849. The appearances at this place are so similar to those observed at the Joggins, and they need not be noticed here ; but these and the occurrence of Stigrn-iria in situ in some of the shales and sandscones . * Transversely wrinkled stems, believed to be casts of the pith of plants. CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF PICTOU. 327 of the same neighbourhood, serve to indicate the analogy that obtains between the coal-rocks of Ciunbcrland and this part of Pictou. Some of the sliales near the town of Pictou are loaded with ferns and Cor- daites; and shells oi a JVaiadites (iV. arenacea) also occur, though rarely. Small seams of coal are believed to occur in this neighbourhood, but their outcrops cannot at present be seen. The coast section, westward of the entrance of Pictou Harbour, is for some distance very imperfect. Much red sandstone, however, appears ; and a bed of limestone from two to three feet thick, and a small bed of coal, have been discovered. Some gray sandstones also appear ; in one of which there arc numei'ous fragments of carbonized wood, containing sulphuret and carbonate of copper. This deposit, and others of a similar nature found in this series at various places, have given rise to hopes that valuable deposits of copper may be found in this part of the Coal formation. These ores of copper are always associated with remains of fossil plants, and they have no doubt been produced by the deoxidizing cflfects of this vegetable matter on water impregnated with sulphate of copper, and probaMv rising in the form of springs from some of the older subjacent rocks. The rocks in the coast section west of Pictou Harbour dip to the south-eastward as far as the moutli of Carribou River, beyond which the same beds arc repeated, but better exposed, and dipping to the north. One of the cupriferous beds above referred to, a coarse gray sandstone, appears in Carribou River, and was at one time worked for the copper it contains, but is now abandoned. At the mouth of the . 'ver are gray sandstones, red sandstones, and red and gray shales, a id associated with these is a bed of coal five inches in thickness, with the usual underclay with Stigmaria rootlets. Beyond this place, as far as the .second brook beyond Toney River, there is a great series of beds having precisely the aspect of the Upper Coal formation of Ciimberland, and containing one thin bed of non-fossiliferous limestone, and a great thickness of reddish shales, some of them finely ripple- marked and worm-tracked, and with leaves of ferns. The beds then become horizontal, and are repeated with southerly dips (S.S.E.), at first at a small angle, but toward the extremity of Cape John the dip increases, and the rocks at length become vertical. The lowest beds seen at the extremity of the cape are gray coarse sandstones, with Calamites and carbonized tranks of trees. Associated with these are reddish sandstones and shales, and in front of the cape, but under water, is the outcrop of a small bed of gypsum. The northerly dip- ping beds in the above section extend to the westward across River John, and are continuous with those described [vide Cumberland District) as occurring on the French river of Tatamagouche. The \ 'l producer of, r'"?"' «'" *''^«o; «,„, p-., -'y recently ^ „ o I" "''"'^'^'^ "''"«'•« in HH 7 '"*' ^"^"^ ^''^ ;'■« i^ictou coal •; 1-, f"'^, "-•« raised i„ mtt:'' ^"I'° ^^"eton! '"■'"'''•ies and '.t'T'' '" ''" ^"''^'1 States J"^: ^'•^■•'^-- P'-t of -•" tie .stt -" --ked b, ti: s;: ^;-^ ^^^'""- ^'^-o -- ••" 3ucee.itn:"''^'^"- ^ ^^^ «WtI, nod e t ^X "" ,'^'"^ "° Piinci2,al coal ^^-^ (General Mining A ^,^, . . , .^'!« ««al I,ithcrto export' ,'^'''" (^''>- ^^5^1) i"-'"e.pally f,o,„ the'3 ''' "^^ ^'"'^ Company has / "l>J>o.- UvcU^ feet ?, f " ''*'"'" (««« P- SloT „ , . '"' "^'«'"«d '^"d also the < d ' '"^''' '» '-^^^nt yeans the ]' " ''"^^>' ^'-^'^ ''ts ^^'"^•■o an on.in" J'^' ^'?'"^ '"""^diately test f'/'"^ "'■^""'"'"^^ '•!^^^'^ very rnuek in Sitr^'- ''' '' '''' ^-""'l HtTo ''. , '" ^''« ^•"•cumstance in .J ^ "^ '" '^'^ «-^tensio„ to thJ '^'■'' '^<^terio- p^-nt work LHitr 7" r ^'^'""-^ ' -- ^rir'' "^"-^ f ;-- -m\s ;,j;f :,^^'"-- pits lll^t'iie ;:• r''^ ^"« these mines .vifi ''''i'th. An intP.-n.f ,\°^^"^Ss, >uul n'ill '1"»'° '1.0 foll„„'„„.l.°' "'"">■'. '" l.i» Jio,,„,, ,„,. js, r ?"" '■^ '^''■ "The =.«mor.li,™r, , • , "' '""" "'"'-■'. J ''»« Sivon 11.0,,, aS '"""= of "■« W., of 00,, : „ ,r °!-".« »«.™. ".r ;ts =*""■'>■ ■• .1.0 ,::i . :- -'"o,.,., •>"<=^^ fathoms below the ■■'-.fr I T,- 830 TJIK CAKHONIPEUOUS HYSTKM. former, ami being the next in the series in descendinR order. They dip to the north-east at an angh; of 20°, or about 1 in 2J. The thick- ness of the main seam is so well known that it is unnecessary to give a section of it. Its average tiiickness may bo stated to be 38 feet. Several shafts have been sunk to the seam, the workings in connexion with which have received a peculiar classification, which had its origin in the following circumstances : — A hirgc tract of workings to the rise of the shafts, which are distant from tiie crop 2.'>0 yards, extending 800 yards to the west and 200 yards to the east of them, and covering an area of about 40 acnss, forms the earliest worked portion of the scam. In nearly the whole of this district about 12 feet only of flic upper part of tiie scam has been worked, the lower portion being considered inferior in quality. Tiiese workings arc locally known as the " burnt mines," and are so designated in consequence of a fire tiiat occurred some years ago in the stables, and was oidy extin- guished by closing the sliafts to prevent the admission of the air into the mines. Further to the dip other shafts have been sunk, and they, with some situated OfiO yards to the west, and known as the Dalhoiisie pits, are the pn.'scnt working shafts. I'rom the former of these the workings were considera})ly extended both cast and west ; they are in the upper part of the seam only, and their extent is about 90 acres. In some workings to the dip of these an accident occurred in May 18G1, Avhich was attended with still more disastrous results than the j)receding one, it being found necessary to till the mine with water in order to extinguish the fire. An attempt was made to get into these workings in 1802, but their condition was such thcit they were aban- doned, and this district, from this circumstance, has received the name of ' Crushed Mines,' — a designation sufficiently indicative of the state of the workings on re-opening the mine. " The main scam is at present worked on the east side of the 'Crushed Mines,' and in the Dalhousic pits on the west side. In the latter, the seam has been worked the entire thickness, the lower portion being much improved in quality. The extent of workings in this district is now upwards of 100 acres. " The difficulty of working a seam of such a thickness and with such a declination has unfortunately been exemplified during the last two years in this district of the mine. Whilst the modus operandi re- mained the same, a change appears to have been made in the scale of pillarage to meet the requirements of so largely an increased height of seam, which, however, proved inadequate, and a large extent of workings has been and still is under the effect of a crush in consequence. " The system of working pursued from the commencement of the ?-!«!^! -me.,,.,,,/""*"™"'"" — — o„. 7 "- -no VriUlJVlC''' ''' ^"^'•- St n,o '^ ''^'-^« "f « similar sizo Tl ? '""'" «^«"' -' tho b,mJ , '"""' «»/,. , '''• ^'^ (-oa/, lam iiatod • 7,, „ " • . '^ • 2 Cany foi ward, ~2~^ I r Btl .4 < IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1.4 M 2.2 1.6 -^ ^# C'j .°?# / %.» (? / /(^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. US80 (716) 872-4503 4^ ^>> ,i>^ \ \ o^^ i\> O^ %^^r<> \> V I I c mine, was 1'^9^ „ . "'^ Joh,,,,„„. ° ,.^ r'" •'"''"*»'» ■■ suits 1' V""'^ ""= '«'"« to 7-4S ' ' I'"""'! of "lis coal ! , ."""''"S '» Professor "—at., ,. ,,^,^ exle:-;^';:,r™-^J""*ato its ^ ~ r Moisture , ~ 1 p^^'''?^ combustible « ^ixed carbon (. Ashes f r Moisture , I J Volatile combustible ^ ^Jxed carbon (. Ashes a, o I [Moisture . f ] p."'''^5''« combustible I f 'xed carbon « (. Ashes ilalhousie Pits) • 1-750 • 25-875 • 61-950 • 10-425 100000 • 1-500 • 24-800 • 51-428 • 22-272 100-000 2-250 22-375 52475 22-900 100-000 Old workings. 1-550 27-988 60-837 9-625 100-000 1-500 28-613 61-087 8-800 100-000 1-800 27-075 59-950 11175 , VV.slde: i'alliousle Pits. S -3 O 2-2 22-7 62-0 131 100-0 2-5 22-7 58-8 160 100-000 r } t!'^ ^^il^i ui-J 1 1.' ( ill 334 THE CARB' 'tFSROUS SYSTEM. the third are also inferior, while in this part of the mine the upper three feet of fall coal have disappeared, or been reduced to an insig- nificant thickness, by thinning out or being replaced by shaly matter. The following table gives the composition of all the varieties of coal in the whole thickness of the seam, as ascertained by an elaborate series of assays made by the writer in 1854 : — Assays of Samples of Albion Coal, taken at distances of one foot in thickness, in the main seam. No. Vol\tile matter by rapid coking. Volatile mnttcr by slow coking. Carbon fixed. Ashes. 1. Coal 2G-0 19-9 63-8 16-3 2. Do. 27-8 24-1 63-8 121 3. Do. 27-4 25-7 60-0 14-3 4. Do. 27-2 25-0 65-5 9-5 5. Do. 25-8 251 64-8 10-1 6. Do. 25-2 24-9 62-5 126 7. Do. 27-4 220 68-5 9-5 8. Do. 26-8 22-9 66-7 10-4 9. Do. 27-0 23-9 61-3 14-8 10. Carbonaceous shale 16 '4 15-9 26-3 58-8 11. Coal 28-8 25-8 59-7 14-5 12. Do. 27-2 25-4 62-5 121 13. Do. 27-6 24-7 65-5 9-8 14. Do. 26-6 23.9 61-0 15-1 15. Do. 26-8 23-1 65-1 11-8 16. Do. 28-8 24-9 62-3 12-8 17. Do. 30-4 2G-0 65-0 9-0 18. Do. 26-0 26-1 63-0 10-9 19. Do. 26-0 25-0 66-3 8-7 20. Do. 26-8 22-7 63-6 13-7 21. Coarse coal 25-8 23-3 58-3 18-4 22. Do. 27-2 22-5 60.3 17-2 23. Coal 29-4 23-6 64-3 121 24. Coarse coal 25-8 22-4 57-6 200 25. Do. 25-8 23-1 60-2 16-7 26. Do. 27-8 . 21-9 54-8 23-3 27. Coal 270 24-3 65-5 10-2 28. Do. 25-6 22-4 65-0 12-6 29. Do. 25-8 22-7 62-7 14-6 30. Do. 27-2 231 67-4 95 31. Do. 32-6 22-4 G6-5 111 32. Coarse coal 22-2 21-5 50-4 28-1 CARBONIFEROUS DlflTRICT OP PICTOU. 335 These coals being taken from the western part of the workings, do not show the fall coal of the old pits, this part of the seam having there, as already explained, thinned out. All these coals afford a fine vesicular coke, and their ashes are light gray and powdery, with the exception of those of the coals marked "coarse," which are heavy and shaly. The Deep Seam, situated at the vertical depth of 150 feet below the main seam, and consequently cropping out to the surface about 150 yards to the south-west of the outcrop of the latter, contains about twelve feet of good coal, divided by intervening layers of shaly and impure coal into three bands. The best coal of this seam is superior to that of the main seam, but owing to the division above mentioned, it cannot be worked so economically as the main seam, and is there- fore likely to be left until the latter is exhausted, ai least in its more accessible portions. The comparative purity of some portions of this seam, however, would entitle them to demand a higher price in the market than the ordinary produce of the Pictou mines. Its best por- tions contain only from 53 to 11 per cent, of ashes, and aflFord much illuminating gas, and a fine vesicular coke, similar to that of the main seam coal. The ashes of some of the deep seam laycr.s are of a reddish colour, whereas those of the coal from the main seam are invariably white or light-gray. There can be no doubt that nothing but its association with a bed of so much greater magnitude prevents this seam from being more extensively worked. The following sectional view of the Deep Seam as it occurs at the Dalhousie pits, is taken from a series of samples furnished to me by Mr Poole in 1854 :— Ml m i { 1. Gray argillaceous shale — roof. 2. Tender laminated coal, much mineral charcoal. 3. Laminated compact coal, less mineral charcoal. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Laminated compact hard coal. 14. Carbonaceous ironstone, crusts of Cyprids. Laminated compact coal, much mineral charcoal. Laminated coarse coal. Laminated compact coal. Laminated coarse coal. Laminated compact tender coal. Laminated compact coal. Laminated compact coarse coal. thick layer of mineral charcoal. r I (I 336 TnE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 15. Laminated compact coal. 16. 17. n »> much mineral charcoal. 18. Shaly coal, impressions of plants. The results of assays of these several samples arc given in the following table : — Assays of Samples of Coal taken at distances of one foot in the Deep Seam. No. 2 3 4 5 0. Good coal Ironstone and coal • Coarse coal ?:} 8. 9. , / >- Good coal Good coal Coai'sc coal { lie matter >id coking. volatile matter by hIow coking. Carbon fixed. Ashes. 24-8 21-0 67-6 11-4 25-2 25-2 67-3 7-5 28-4 23-9 70-8 5-3 26-8 27-5 18-5 54-0 23-2 20-5 591 204 23-6 20-4 48-0 31-6 26-2 22-4 70-3 7-3 25-2 221 49-3 28-6 24-8 20-4 68-9 10-7 24-8 22-3 64-3 13-4 23-4 20-5 51-2 28-3 230 20-1 55-3 24-6 27-4 23-9 68-1 8-0 290 22-9 71-5 5-6 26-8 21-9 69-6 8-5 24-6 19-9 63-8 16-3 176 211 23-0 55-9 -Coarse coal Good coal Shale and coal The following summary of these two beds and the intervening measures, from the observations of Mr Poole in sinking the first engine pit at the Dalhousie Mine, gives at the same time an idea of the gigantic development of workable coal at this place. Ft. in. Surface clay 8 2 Shale and bands of ironstone alternate . 64 10 Main Seam — Ft. Coarse coal ... Good coal Ironstone Good coal Ironstone Coarse coal Ironstone 5 14 7 m. 2 6 4 4 7 4 Carry forward, 28 3 73 CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF PICTOU. 337 irst Ft. in. Ft. in. Brought forward, 28 3 73 Coarse coal 3 1 Ironstone 4 Coarse coal 2 11 Ironstone 5 Coarse coal 4 11 39 39 11 11 Sliale and bands of ironstone alternate • 157 7 Deep Seam — Bad coal .... 2 Good coal 3 10 Ironstone 1 H Coal .... 3 n Slaty coal n Good coal 4 2 Coarse coal 1 0* Good coal, " worked by Carr " 3 8 Inferior coal 6 3 24 9 Total 295 3 As Pictou coal is now largely used in the manufacture of illumi- nating gas, the following comparative trials of the volume of gas which it affords, made by the writer in the spring of 1854, may be interesting. They were made on a small scale, by means of an iron retort and graduated glass vessels ; but their accuracy was afterwards confirmed by trials of some of the coals on the large scale in the Pictou Gas-work. Cubic feet per Ton. Coal from upper nine feet of the main seam, from the Dal- housie pits, 3902 Coal fi'om middle of main scam, the portion now mined in the lower floor ........ 5080 Coal from upper three feet of best coal of deep seam, . . 6C68 Coal from lower three feet of best coal of deep seam, . . 8504 The average yield of the first of these samples in the Pictou Gas- work is about 4000 cubic feet. As some of the other coals now worked are even more productive of gas, it may be anticipated that l.f i \ 888 TIIR CARU0NIFEK0U8 SYSTEM. the reputation of Pictou coul in tlie gas-works will increase. I may mention here that the value of Pictou coal for tliis purpose, as well as for fftmily and stoam uses, (le[)cn(lH in i)art on the good quality of its coke, and in part on its comparative freedom from sulphur. These excellent qualities, in connexion with its great heating power, more than compensate for its large percentage of ash as compared with some other coals. (2.) Acadia Coal Company (Fig. 135 — 2, 4). The principal area worked by this Company lies immediately to the north of that of the General Mining Association, or toward the rise of the beds. Its chief value therefore depends on the lower seams of coal, and more especially those known as the M'Gregor and oil coals.* The M'Gregor seam is that from which the greater part of the coal of this Company is extracted. It is worked by "slopes" or galleries extending downward from the outcrop, and up which the coal is drawn on rails. The M'Gregor seam is stated by Mr Iloyt,-)- the general agent of the Company, to be 12 feet in thickness, as follows : — Coal (first bench) Shaly band ...... Coal (second bench) ..... Coal (coarse) ...... Shale Coal (good) ....... 12 At present only the two upper benches, or six feet in all, are worked, and the coal obtained from these is of very good quality, containing on the average, according to an analysis obtained from Mr J. D. B. Fraser of Pictou, the former proprietor of the mine, only about 8 per cent, of ashes. The thickness of the coal is stated to increase in working to the westward, and to diminish to the eastward ; and it is somewhat remarkable that its quality improves with its thickness. According to the report above cited, the quality and reputation of this coal will depend much on the care taken to separate the material of the "shaly band" from the good coal, as the presence of this material greatly increases the amount of ash, and deteriorates the coke, though it does not seem materially to affect the yield of gas, which amounts to the large return of 9500 feet from a ton of 2240 lbs. * For position of these coals, sue section ante. f Report, 186G. Ft. in. 2 6 6 3 4 7 1 5 ler lin IS lof lal Lis lie THE CAKB0NIKER0U8 DISTRICT OP PICTOU. 889 About five feet above the M'Gregor Seam there is a smaller seam, three feet three inches tliick, and of good (luality, which may perhaps in future be worked in connexion with the other. The other seams between the M'Gregor and JJeep Seams, known as the " Purves Seam " and " Third Scam," are said to bo each four feot in thickness, but are not worked. Under the M'Gregor bed, as shown on the general section above, lies a very curious bed, known as the " stellar " or " oil " coal. It is five feet in thickness, having, according to Mr Uoyt, the following section : — Ft. In. Bituminous coal 14 Stellar oil coal ..... 1 10 Bituminous shale . . . . . 110 5 The material known as stellar coal is, as I have maintained in previous publications, of the nature of an earthy bitumen ; and geolo- gically is to be regarded as an underclay or fossil soil, extremely rich in bituminous matter, derived from decayed and comminuted vegetable substances. It i.s, in short, a fossil swamp-muck or mud, which, as I have elsewhere pointed out,* is the ciiaractcr of the earthy bitumens and highly bituminous shales of the Coal formation generally. Its value depends on the high percentage of illuminating gas and of mineral oil which it yields on distillation ; and it is likely, on this account, to form an important portion of the produce of this coal area. According to the results of different trials, it is stated to yield from 50 to 126 gallons of oil per ton, the larger amount being apparently the yield of the pure " stellar coal," so named from its scintillatory appearance in burning. According to an analysis by Professor How of Windsor, this gives, — Volatile matter .... 66-33 Fixed carbon .... 25*23 Ash 8-21 Moisture "23 100-00 The sample to which the above analysis refers gave of crude oil 120 gallons per ton. The immense t-jnount of petroleum obtained from wells in Canada * Paper on C»aditions of Accumulation of Coal, " Journ. of Oeol. Soc." ' 1 W> ! 'H 840 THE CARBONIFEROUB SYSTEM. and tho United Stntca lias for the present diininislicd the demand for the earthy bitumens ; but it is certain that they must again come largely into use, as the wells diminish in their yield and additional uses are found for the mineral oils. In addition to the area south of that of the (Jeneral Mining Associa- tion, tho Acadia f'ompany possess a property to the westward, in which tho continuation of tho main and other seams occurs in magni- ficent proportions, and with the same characters as in tlic Campbell or Bear Creek area of the Intercolonial Company, next to be noticed. (3.) Intercolonial and Nova Scotia Companies (Fig. 135 — 5, 4). In addition to tho collieries above described, there are others organ- ized, and which have made more or less itrogress toward extensive mining operations. Tho Bear Creek area, the property of the Inter- colonial Company, and first developed by Mr John Campbell, is probably the most important, and has recently been examined and reported on very favourably by Mr Charles Hobb and Mr Barnes. It includes the continuation of the main and otlier seams beyond the great flexure or downthrow at tho western extremity of the area of the General Mining Association, already referred to. In a pit sunk on the mai'^ seam by Mr Campbell, I found the section of that bed to be as follows : — lioof, black shale. Ft. in. Tender good coal. , . , . Oil Shaly coal 1 Qood coal .53 Shaly parting 4 Good coal .40 Pyritous coal ...... 2 Good coal 7 Coarse coal "20 Total thickness 19 The dip is N. 75° E. at an angle of 20°, and the actual thickness eighteen feet of coal, of which sixteen feet are of excellent quality. It appears from this section, and from trials which I have made of the cual, that the main seam in its extension to the westward, while it diminishes in thickness, improves in quality. Still farther west on the property of tho " Acadia " and " Nova Scotia " Companies, where slopes have been opened in this seam, the section is substantially the same, except that in the latter the shale or clay-parting thickens to eleven inches. ill 1 CAKHONIPEKOUB DI8TK10T OF I'lCTOt. Ml On the Hear Creek area the deep seam «lso has becii recognised in its proper place, and has a thickness at right angles to the measures of eleven feet.* Other beds, supposed to bo the cquivalcuts of the I'urvcH and M'(ircgor Seams, the latter six feet in thickness, have also been found. These discoveries enormously increaao the ascertained extent and value of the Pictou Coal-field, as compared with that at the time of the publication of my first edition ; ami when taken in con- nexion witli the previous observations made by Mr Poole, leave no room whatever for the doubts which I find expressed by some prac- tical men as to the precise equivalency of the beds last mentioned with those so long known at the Albion Mines. (4.) Montreal and Pictou Company (Fig. 135 — 6). The only colliery as yet opened on the northern side of the Coal trough, on this side of the East River, is that of the Montreal and Pictou Company, immediately opposite to New Olasgow. Hero the Coal measures dip, according to Dr lIoneyman,-{- S. 20° E. at an angle of C5°. A shaft has been sunk to a depth of 180 feet ; and, according to a Report by Mr Rutherford, published by the Company, has exposed the following section of Coal measures. The meariurcments are at right angles to the horizon, so that the thickness given does not represent the actual vertical thickness : — Ft. in. Drift clay 15 Shale . 13 Freestone 10 Shale . 10 Coal . 10 6 Fire-clay 10 6 Hard sandstone . 3 6 Fire-clay and ironstone 3 ] )ark shale 3 Coal . 9 Shale and coal 2 Fire- clay 9 Ironstone band 5 Coal 2 6 Fire-clay 10 Coal 15 6 Fire-clay 16 133 9 * Kobb'8 Report. tl' etter t( the Author. ■hi!' ,, \ ? i 342 TIIK CAKB0NIKER0U8 SYBTKM. If, M is probable, these beds rcpreHcnt tlie Albion Mines Coal measures, or a part of them, it is evident that in crosHing the trough they have niatcrinliy i-hangod in the character and thickness of the beds of coal. This was to have boen aiitici[)atcd from the views previously stated, as the shaft which afforded the above section is only about 600 yards from the conglomerate, and consequently the locality cannot be very far from the original margin of the trough in this direction. In the circumHtances, the discovery tliat the coal preserves its value thus near to the conglomenito, and is so accessible, is very gratifying, jmd greatly cidianccs our estimation of the value of this coal-field as a whole. I must add, however, that it is scarcely fair to say, in the words of a recently publishod public Report, that this discovery has given to the coal-field "a conformation which appears to have been entirely unsuspected." The synclinal form of the measures was indicated in the former edition of this work, and is a necessary consequence of the view as to the character of the great conglomerate advocated therein. It was more fully stated in the paper by Mr Poole and myself in the " Canadian Naturalist" for 1860, and in my supplementary chapter in " Acadian Geology ; " and the outcrops of coal near New Glasgow, on this side of the trough, had long been known. Tl. conformation or structure of the area had thus been established by geological investigation before the coal was discovered opposite New Glasgow ; but this in no respect detracts from the credit due to the gentlemen whose energy and enterprise have developed the coal-beds in that locality. It is all the more creditable to tli.in that their operations were not undertaken on chance, but on a consideration of probabilities established by facts previously ascertained. The facilities for shipping the coal in the area above referred to are very great, and there can be little doubt that the outcrops discovered will be traced farther to the westward, and perhaps afford scope for additional collieries in this direction. The high angle at which the beds lie will require different management in the details of mining from that which has been usual in the Pictou Coal-field, and it is not improbable that this high angle will be con- nected with numerous fractures and abrupt flexures of the strata. (5.) Coal Areas on the East Side of the East River (Fig. 135 — 7, 8, 9). Openings have been made by the " German " Company on the continuation of the main seam eastward of the East Kiver. The result is stated to have been, that the quality of the coal was found to be unsatisfactory,* and operations were consequently abandoned. This would appear to show that the inferiority of the main seam coal * liutherford's Report, 1866. U' T The in Itou Ion- |9). The to led. CAKKONIPKUOUS DISTKICT Of l'ICT«)i;. 343 observed in the eastern working of tlie General Mining Association extends beyond their property on the cast side of tiic river. I liavo attributed this to the ctTeetH on the prooeHS of coal formation produced l)y the spur of older nietaniorphic rock which extends forward into this part of the coal area from the southwanl, and iii this case the deterioration may apply to a considerable area near the southern edge of the trough, but the coal may be expected to improve in following it toward the dip. I regret that I have not any details as to the precise aspect and character of the coal as exposed by the German Company, as tins might have enabled more precise conclusions as to its cause anil extent to be arrived at.* The appearance of workable coal farther eastward toward Sutherland's Uiver has been already referred to, and on the opposite side of the trough, eastward of New (ilasgow, two beds of coal, stated at four feet each in thickness, have been found. Much adilitional exploration is required in this part of the area, to ascertain tlic arrangement of the strata, and also the peculiar character and distribution of the beds of coal, which may be expected to differ materially from those on the west side of the river. (6.) Other Parts of the Pictou Coal-field. The small seams of coal .seen at Merigomish Island, Little Harbour, Frascr's Mountain, South Pictou, and Carribou, appear to belong to a second and upper scries of coal seams, as compared with those of the Albion Mines, or more properly, pcrlmps, two distinct groups of coals.-j- They have not been ascertained to be of workable value, and, as already stated, may be considered as the rcjn-esentatives of the Upper Coal formation or the upper part of the Middle Coal formation, as devel- oped at the South Joggius. The facts already stated show that the productive Coal measures on the East River belong to a special and limited coal area, while the beds northward of the New Glasgow conglomerate belong to a larger area, continuous to the north with that of Cumberland. For this reason, we should not be disposed to expect in this wider area, surrounding Pictou Harbour, a repetition of the great beds of the Albion Mines, but there is no reason to suppose that the coal actually present is limited to the thin beds just mentioned. On the contrary, the analogy of the Cumberland Coal-field would lead us to expect that under these beds, and cropping out northward and * A hand specimen from this mine, for which I am indehted to Mr Hamea, in its highly laminated and shaly character, corresponds with wliat miglit be expected on the views above stated. t The coal-beds of Fraser's Mountain, Little Harbour, and Merigomish Island, are very probably members of one group of coal-scams, and those of the loading ground and other places near Pictou Harbour of a second and higher group. ! ifc. :| \ ii' II Ii!'. 344 THE CARIIONIFEKOUS SYSTEM. westward of Pictou Harbour, there should be other and perhaps more valuable bods. At present, however, little is known of the detailed structure of this part of the Pictou Coal-field, and the distance from navigable water of those portions of it in which coal is likely to Ijc found, prevents any expensive explorations from being made. I anticipate that the careful tracing, for practical purposes, of the northern edge of the East River Coal-beds, along and around the New Glasgow con- glomerate, will, in a few years, give data which may be employed to work out the true relations and practical value of such beds as may occur in the area now under consideration. Minerals other than Coal. Clay Ironstone occurs in the Pictou Coal measures, apparently of good quality, and in sufficient abundance to be extracted profitably, if in a country in which smelting-furnaces arc in operation. At present, however, no attention is paid to it. From the abundance of boulders of Brown ilematitc scattered over the surface of the Lower Carboniferous rocks on the East River, I have inferred that veins of that rich ore of iron exist in these rocks, in the same manner as at the Shubenacadie. The outcrop of these veins had not been observed at the time of the publication of my first edition, but I am informed by Dr Iloneyman that veins of this mineral have recently beeu dis- covered in situ, and that there is reason to believe that thoy |ienetrate the Silurian rocks. The presence of these ores, in connexion with a large bed of peroxide of iron in the older slates to be hereafter de- scribed, leaves little doubt that were other circumstances favourable, iron-works might be established on the East River without any defi- ciency in the raw material. The following analysis of the ore is by Professor How of Windsor : — Peroxide of iron, with traces of phosphoric acid Alumina and phosphoric acid . Sesquioxide of manganese ... Mapnesia ...... Siliceous gangue ...... Carbonic acid and loss . . " . 84-54 0-19 0-76 0-43 11-41 2-22 0-45 100-00 Oray Freestone, for architectural purposes, is found in a great number of places in the Pictou Coal formation, and is quarried both for domestic use and for exportation to the United States and neigh- K : CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF PICTOU. 845 bouring colonies. Many buildings have been constructed of Pictou freestone in the large cities of the American Union ; and its cheap- ness, durability, and fine colour, are likely to secure an extended demand. The principal quarries are on Saw Mill Brook, at the head of Pictou Harbour, where stone of excellent quality and colour, and both in blocks and flags, is found in great abundance. These quarries have been very extensively opened, and a railway and loading pier, three-fourths of a mile in length, have been constructed. The greatest quantity shipped in any year has been 3000 tons ; but with the present facilities from 10,000 to 12,000 tons can bo annually shipped from the " Acadia Quarry," Avliich is the principal opening. Gypsum, in workable quantity, occurs only on the East River, and is at too great a distance from a port of shipment to be quarried at present, except for domestic use. Limestone is quarried for use in the country, at the East and "West Rivers, and small quantities are occasionally taken from the beds at Merigomish and Cape John. A curious concretionary limestone, belonging apparently to the Upper Coal formation, and occurring at Fiiiser's Mountain and at Little Harbour, near New Glasgow, has attracted some attention as a marble for decorative purposes. Manganese Ore, Sulphate of Barytes, Umber and Oehres, are found in small quantities. Brick and Pottery clays also occur. The Copper Ores found in the Coal formation have been already mentioned. The principal localities are Caribou River, the West River, a little below Durham, and the East River, a few miles above the Albion Mines. Similar appearances also occur on French and Waugh's Rivers, in the band of Coal formation rocks connecting the Cumberland and Pictou districts. In all these places the principal ore is the gray sulphuret of the metal, with films and coatings of the green carbonate. These ores are associated with fossil plants, to which, as already explained, their accunmlation is to be attributed. The ores are rich and valuable, and the only reason which prevents them from being worked, is the belief that the deposits are too limited to be of economical importance. This has been found to be the case in two instances in which trials have been made by the agents of the Mining Association. The following is the composition of a sample from Caribou, analyzed by the writer : — Copper .... 40-00 Iron .... 11 '06 Cobalt .... 2-10 * I Carry forward 53*16 !! 11 mi 34G THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Brought forward 53*16 Manganese . . . '50 Sulphur .... 25-42 Carbonate of lune . . "92 80-00 Carboniferous District of Antigonish County. The Pictou district is bounded on the south by an irregular tract of slaty and syonitic rocks, forming the hills of Merigomish and those extending toward Cape St George. In the coast section, the last and lowest rocks of the Pictou Carboniferous district are seen near M'Cara's Brook to rest unconformably on slates to be subsequently described, and which are of Silurian age. Passing these, towards Malignant Cove, the lower Carboniferous conglomerates and sandstones are again seen, but very much distur'>ed and altered by heat. It is a very instructive study to compare the soft conglomerates and their inter- stratified trap at M'Cara's Brook, with the continuation of the same beds eastward of Arisaig Pier, where they appear fused into hard quartzose rocks, in some of which the original texture is entirely obli- terated. The conglomerate and sandstone seen at Malignant Cove conduct us through a gap in the metamorphic hills, or round by Cape St George, to the gypsiferous rocks of the neighbourhood of Antigonish. These 1 n along the south side of the metamorphic hills with general southerly dips, from Cape St George to the western extremity of this district, and exhibit a very large development of the gypsums and limestones, the latter containing some of the fossils already noticed in other localities. At Cape St George, the Lower Carboniferous conglomerates appear to be largely developed, and associated with these there are sandstones and shales containing fossil plants, and also a bed of gypsum. I am indebted to Dr lloneyman for specimens of these shales, showing Lepidodendron corrugatum, the most characteristic plant of the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures, and a stipe of Cydoj)teris Acadica. They also hold scales of A.crolepis and PalcEoniscus. The shale and the fossils are preci'-^iy similar to those of llorton Bluff. Similar shales occur farther to the westward, holding the same fossils, and are stated to be so rich in bituminous matters that hopes are entertained of utilizing them as a source of coal oil. The beds noticed below as occurring in Right's River, are probably of the same age. In the vicinity of Morristown there are red sandstones, conglomerate, CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OF ANTIGONISH COUNTY. 347 ppcav itones and gray sandstone, the latter containing Calamites, Sternbergia, and other Coal formation fossils, and no doubt higher in the series than the beds last mentioned. Near Morristown these beds dip to the N.E., and have been disturbed by a spur of trappean or altered rock, containing kernels of epidote, and associated with contorted dark shales, probably Lower Carboniferous. Beyond this interruption, the coast shows soft reddish sandstones and shales, with some beds of gray sandstone and conglomerate, dipping to the S.S.E. at an angle of 50°, and on these rests a bed of limestone nearly 100 feet thick ; in its lower portion laminated, the laminae being occasionally broken up so as to give it a fragmentary or brecciated appearance ; in its upper part compact, and penetrated by small gypsum veins. On this lime- stone rests a rock consisting of alternate layers of limestone and gypsum, above which is a great thickness of pure flesh-coloured crystalline gypsum, and on this again, white laminated fine-grained gypsum, with minute grains of carbonate of lime. The whole thick- ness of the gypsum is about 200 feet, and it forms a beautiful cliff fronting the sea (Fig. 138). Fig. 138. — Cliff of Cryatalline Gyj)»umnear Ogden't Lake, Sydney County. This gypsum and limestone can be traced with scarcely any inter- ruption to the village of Antlgonish, about five miles distant, where the same beds are seen in the banks of Right's River. Near the mouth of this river, at the head of Antigonish Harbour, is a thick bed of white gypsum, dipping to the south-west. Succeeding this, in descending order, after a small interval (which appears to have been occupied by sandstones, now nearly removed by denudation), is a bed of dark-coloured limestone, in which, at different points where it \ M I » I 348 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. appears, I found Produdus semireticulatus, with other shells, also occurring in the East River ; and Produdus cora, a shell not yet met with in the East River limestones, but very characteristic of the gypsiferous formation in other parts of the province. Below this limestone these is another break, also showing traces of sandstones and a bed of gypsum, and then a thick bed of dark limestone, partly laminated and partly brccciatcd, without fossils, and containing in its fissures thiu plates of copper-ore. Beneath this limestone is a great thickness of reddish conglomerate, composed of pebbles of igneous and mctamorphic rocks, and varying in texture from a very coarse conglomerate to a coarse-grained sandstone. In one place it contains a few beds of dark sandstones and shales. These are succeeded by red, gray, and dark sandstone and dark shales, in a disturbed condition, but probably underlying the conglomerate. They contain a few fossil plants, especially a Lepidodendron which appears to be identical with the species already mentioned as found in a similar geological position at Horton and Noel. The limestones, with their characteristic fossils, may be seen still fartlier west on the West River of Antigonish. Dr Honeyman has recently discovered the pygidium of a Phillipsia in these limestones, being the second instance of the occurrence of Trilobitcs in the Lower Carboniferous of Nova Scotia. He has also, in the Transactions of the Nova Scotia Institute, published an interesting paper on the Geology of Antigonish County, in which he more accu- rately than heretofore defines the limits of the formation. I have availed myself of this paper in correcting the geological map in this edition. On the west side of the Ohio River, about fifteen miles from Anti- gonish, this Carboniferous district terminates against the mctamorphic hills, which here occupy a wide surface, and send off a long branch to Cape Porcupine in the Strait of Canscau. This branch consists in great part of slates older than the Carboniferous system, but it also appears to contain altered Carboniferous rocks. It bounds this district on the south. Along its northern side, the Lower Carboniferous limestones and gypsum appear at the north end of Lochabcr Lake, at the South River, and at the northern end of the Strait of Canscau. They are probably continuous, or nearly "so, between these points. In the coast between the place last mentioned and Antigonish, Carboniferous rocks, principally sandstones, appear in several places ; and towards Pomket and Tracadie, in the central part of the district, the Coal for- mation, probably its lower portion, is seen ; and small scams of coal have been found in it. I have had no opportunity of examining thera, but have no doubt that they form the southern edge of the coal-field CARBONIFEROUS DISTRICT OP ANTIGONISH COUNTY. 349 underlying St George's Bay, and the eastern side of which appears at Port Hood in Cape Breton. The Antigonish area thus appears to be of triangular form, with the Lower Carboniferous beds extending along its western and south- eastern sides, and the Coal formation occupying a limited sjmce on the northern side. It is rich in limestone and gypsum, and has that fertile calcareous soil which so generally prevails over the rocks of the gypsifcrous series. Coal and Salt of Antigonish County. Until recently it was supposed that all the Carboniferous rocks in the vicinity of Antigonish Harbour were referable to the Lower Car- boniferous ; but I Icam from a manuscript report of Mr J. Campbell, kindly communicated to me by Mr Chisholm of Antigonish, that a limited, though productive, coal-field has been discovered in the vicinity of South Lake Brook, extending north-easterly from the road to Malignant Cove. On the south side of the area the beds dip to the northward at angles of 30° to 40°, and are underlaid on the south by Lower Carboniferous bituminous limestones and shales. The northern side of the area has not been explored, but the Coal measures must be limited in this direction by the Lower Carboniferous and igneous rocks occupying the coast from Malignant Cove to Cape St George. It would appear from Mr Campbell's report tliat five beds of coal have been discovered as follows, in ascending order : — ( Coal \A Shale (^ Coal Beds, unknown 2. Coal Beds, unknown 3. Coal Beds — thickness not ascertained. 4. Coal . . . 4 ft. to 6 ft. Beds, thickness not ascertained. 5. Coal ... 4 ft. or more. The precise quality of the coal has not been ascertained, but specimens shown to me much resembled that of the Richmond Mine, or of the Lower beds at Pictou. Brine Springs. — Salt springs arise from some parts of the Lower Carboniferous rocks, which have caused boring operations to be undertaken for brine, with good prospects of success In a boring 2 ft. 3,, 6,, 150 „ 9., 5 in. 280,, 3„ 6 in. H y V w \\\ 350 THE CARB0NIFKU0U3 SYSTEM. made, under the superintendence of Mr J, Deacon of Halifax, near tlie harbour landing- place, to the depth of 154 feet, the rock penetrated was gypseous marl with thin bands of limestone. After passing through about 122 feet of this material, and a bed of limestone 1 foot 2 inches thick, a bed of gypsum was reached from which a flow of strong brine entered the bore hole. The gypsum has been penetrated to the depth of eighteen feet, and is probably one of the thick beds above referred to. The brine is said to bo copious and rich in salt. Carboniferous District of Guysborough. This district is separated from that last described by a narrow belt of metamorphic country forming a range of low elevations. Part of these altered rocks may belong to the Lower Carboniferous scries itself, but the greater part of them arc of higher antiquity. On the south side of this ridge, we find a belt of Carboniferous rocks, extending from the Strait of Canscau along the north side of Chedabucto Bay. Westward of the head of this bay, the Carboniferous rocks extend in a narrow band, separating the inland metcamorphic hills from those of the Atlantic coast, almost as far as the sources of the west branch of the St Mary's River, fifty miles west of Chedabucto Bay. North of the town of Guysborough, and 'not very far from the meta- morphic rocks, is a bed of blackish laminated limestone. I could find no fossils in it, but it has the character of the lowest Carboniferous limestones as seen elsewhere. It has some of its fissures filled with micaceous specular iron, and is associated with conglomerate and sandstone somewhat altered. This limestone dips N. 60° W. at a high angle. Limestone re-appears with a high easterly dip on the opposite side of the harbour, and near it are altered shales nearly in a vertical position. Southward of the town of Guysborough, limestone again appears in thick beds, and between it and the town are reddish sandstones and conglomerates dipping S. 60° E. Some of these beds are evidently made up of the debris of the granite-hills to the south- ward, proving that these older hills were land undergoing waste in the Carboniferous period. The whole of the beds near Guysborough Harbour are much disturbed and in part altered ; and, immediately to the westward of the town, a spur of porphyritic and trappean rock extends from the hills to the northward, nearly across the Carboniferous valley : the emption of these igneous rocks has probably occurred in the Carboniferous period, and effected much of the baking and other alteration which the rocks of that period have experienced. Beyond this ridge of igneous rock, the long valley extending to CARBONlFEROUa DFSTKICT OP GUYSBOROUQII. 351 the westward is occupied by gray and reddish sandstones and conglo- merate, with gray slialcs in a few places, the whole forming a narrow trough. On the souOicrn margin of this trough, the conglomerate contains pebbles of gray quartzitc, micaceous flag, and blue slate, precisely similar to the metamorphic rocks immediately to the south- ward, and in these conglomerates and the sandstones resting on them, I found a few fragments of Calamiles and Lcpidodendron. Fossils appear, however, to be rare in this district, and I have not observed in it any coal ; nor do the limestones appear, so far as I am aware, west of Guysborough. With the exception of limestone and freestone for building, I am not aware that this district affords any useful minerals. Galena, or sulphurct of lead, is said to have been found in small quantities near Guysborough, and small veins of Specular Iron traverse many of the altered rocks in that vicinity. The soils of this valley, however, especially on the St Mary's River, arc causing it to rise rapidly in impoi'tancc as an agricultural district, and its scenery is in many places varied and beautiful. Before passing to the coal-fields of Cape Breton, I may shortly notice two limited patches of Carboniferous rocks occun-ing on the margin of the metamorphic rocks on the south coast of Nova Scotia, at Margaret's Bay and Chester Basin. At Margaret's Bay, red and gray sandstones and a bed of limestone appear, though much buried under masses of granitic drift. In lime- stone from this place, I have found the Tercbratula sacculus, a char- acteristic Lower Carboniferous shell. At Chester Basin, the Lower Carboniferous rocks appear still more distinctly, and contain thick beds of limestone of various qualities. One of the beds is said to be a good hydraulic cement, and another, in weathering, leaves an umber of a rich brown colour, which is manufactured and sold under the name of Chester mineral paint. The limestone at this place contains several of the shells already mentioned as characteristic of the Carbon- iferous system. A small seam of coal is also stated to occur near Chester ; but I have not seen it. These isolated patches are interesting, as they are evidently portions of the margin of a Carboniferous district either sunk beneath the Atlantic or removed by the action of its waves. Jr. 'I U m n 1 iurf^-:r-^::^r: REPTILES OF THE COAL PEUIOD. • 1 1 U- - . i I. ■ ■ ■ ' i' 1 '^"m 'm i RESTORATIONS OF DAFUETES, DENDREIirETON, IIYL0N0>1US, AND UYLERI'ETON. 353 ii, lif CHAPTER XVIII. THE CAUDONIFEROUS SYHT I'M- Continued. LAND ANIMALS OP THE COAL PKUIOD. In the Carboniferous period, though hmd phmts abound, air-breathing animals arc few, and most of them have only been recently recognised. We know, however, with certainty that the dark and luxuriant forests of the coal period were not destitute of animal life. Reptiles crept under their shade, land snails and millipedes fed on the rank leaves and decaying vegetable matter, and insects flitted through the air of the sunnier spots. Great interest attaches to these creatures ; perhaps the first-bom species in some of their respective types, and certainly belonging to one of the oldest land faunas, and presenting prototypes of future forms equally interesting to tlic geologist and the zoologist. It has happened to the writer of these pages to have had some sliai'e in the discovery of several of these ancient animals. The Coal for- mation of Nova Scotia, so full in its development, so rich in fossil remains, and so well exposed in coast cliffs, has afforded admirable opportunities for such discoveries, which have been so ftir improved that Jit least nine out of the not very large number of known Carbon- iferous reptiles, have been obtained from it. I propose in this chapter to give a general account of these interesting creatures, referring the reader for more full details to my special publication on the subject, "The Air-breathers of the Coal Period."* Footprints. It has often happened to geologists, as to other explorers of new regions, that footprints on the sand have guided them to the inhabi- tants of unknown lands. The first trace ever observed of reptiles in the Carboniferous system, consisted of a scries of small but well- marked footprints found by Sir W. E. Logan, in 1841, in the Lower Coal measures of llorton Bluff, in Nova Scotia ; and as the authors of all our general works on geology have hitherto, in bo far as I am * Montreal and London, 1863. I! 354 THE CAnBONIFEnoUS SYSTEM. aware, failed to do justice to this discovery, I shall notice it here in detail. In the year above mentioned, Sir William, then Mr Fjogan, examined the coal-fields of Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia, with the view of studying thoir structure, and extending the application of the discoveries as to Sligmaria undcrclays which ho had made in the Welsh coal-fields. On his return to England, he read a paper on those subjects before the Geological Society of London, in wliich he noticed the discovery of reptilian footprints at llorton Bluff. The specimen was exhibited at the meeting of the Society, and was, I believe, admitted on the high authority of Prof. Owen, to be probably reptilian. Unfortunately, Sir William's paper appeared only in abstract in the Transactions ; ami in this abstract, though the foot- prints are mentioned, no opinion is expressed as to their nature. Sir William's own opinion is thus stated in a letter to me, dated June 1843, "Nvlien ho was on his way to Canada, to commence the survey which has since developed so astonishing a mass of geological facts : — "Among the specimens which I carried from llorton Bluff, one is of very high interest. It exhibits the footprints of some reptilian animal. Owen has no doubt of the marks being genuine footprints. The rocks of llorton Bluff are below the gypsum of tliat neighbour- hood ; so that the specimen in question (if Lyell's views are correct*) comes from the very bottom of the coal series, or at any rate very low down in it, and demonstrates the existence of reptiles at an earlier epoch than has hitherto been determined ; none having been previously found below the magnesian limestone, or, to give it Murchison's new name, the ' Permian era.' " This extract is of interest, not merely as an item of evidence in relation to the matter now in hand, but as a mark in the progress of geological investigation. For the reasons above stated, the important discovery thus made in 1841, and published in 1842, was overlooked ; and the discovery of reptilian bones by Von Dcchen, at Saarbruck, in 1844, and that of footjuints by Dr King in the same year, in Pennyslvania, have been uniformly referred to as the first observations of this kind. This error I now desire to correct, not merely in the interest of truth, but also in that of my .'"-iend Sir William Logan, and of my native province of Nova Scotia; and I trust that henceforth the received statement will be, that the first indications of the existence of reptiles in the coal period were obtained by Logan, in the Lower Coal formation of Nova Scotia, in 1841. Insects and arachnidans, it * Sir Charles Lyell had then just read a paper announcing his discovery that the gypsiferous system of Nova Scotia is Lower Carboniferous, in whicli he mentions the footprints referred to as being reptilian. '^ ,^ I LAND ANIMALS OP THE COAL PERIOD. 855 tnay be observed, liail previously been discovered in the Coal forma- tion in Kuropc. The original specimen of those footprints is still in the collection of Sir William Logan. It is a slab of dark-coloured sandstone, glazed with fine clay on the surface ; and having a series of seven footprints in two rows, distant about three inches ; the distanco of the impressions in each row being three or foin* inches, and the individual impressions about one inch in length. They seem to have been made by the points of the toes, which must have been armed with strong and apparently blunt claws, and appear as if either the surface had been somewhat firm, or as if the body of the animal had been partly water-borne. In one place only is there a distinct mark of the whole foot, as if the animal had exerted an unusual pressure in turning or stopping sud- denly. One pair of feet, the fore feet I presume, appear to have had four claws; the other pair may have had three or lour,* and it is to bo observed that the outer toe, as in the larger footprints discovered by l)r King, projects in the manner of a thumb, as in the cheirotherian tracks of the Trias. No mark of the tail or bciUy appears. The impressions are such as may have been made by some of the reptiles to be described in the sequel, as, for instance, by Dendrerpeton Acadianum. Attention having been directed to such marks by these observations of Sir William Logan, several other discoveries of the same kind were subsequently made in various parts of the province, and in different members of the Carboniferous system. The first of these, in order of time, was made in 1844, in beds of red sandstone and shale near Tatamagouche, in the eastern part of Nova Scotia, and belonging to the Upper or newer members of the Coal measures. In examining these beds with the view of determining their precise geological age, I found on the surface of some of them impressions of worm-burrows, rain-drops, and sun-cracks, and with these, two kinds of footprints, probably of reptilian animals. One kind consisted of marks, or rather scratches, as of three toes, and resembling some- what the scratches made by the claws of a tortoise in creeping up a bank of stiff clay ; they were probably of the same nature and origin with those found by Logan at Ilorton. The others were of very different appearance. They consisted of two series of strongly marked elongated impressions, without distinct marks of toes, in series four inches distant from each other, and with an intervening tail mark. They seem to have been produced by an animal wading in soft mud, so that deep holes, rather than regular impressions, marked its foot- steps, and that in the hind foot the heel touched the surface, giving ) i I \ IM It' \-\ .It *t" 356 THE CAnnoNIFKKOUS SYSTEM. a plantigmdu nppcnranco to tho trackri. liaiii-marks had boon im- pressed on tlio Btirfaco after tho animal had passed over it, and those had probably aided in obliterating tho finer parts of tho impressions. These observations were ])ublished in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, vols. 1 and 2. Shortly afterward, I)r Harding of Windsor, when examining a cargo of sandstone which had been landed at that place from I'arrsboro', found on one of tho slabs a very distinct series of footprints, each with four toes, and a trace of tho fifth (Fig. 139). Dr Harding's spocimon Fig. 139. — Footprints of Denilrerpf ton IJ) from ParrHJ>oro\— slab loith footprints reduced, and liiH) iviprcusions, natitrdi nhe. is now in the museum of King's College, Windsor. Its impressions are more distinct, but not very difTci'ont otherwise, from those above described as found at Horton Bluff. The rocks at that place are probably of nearly the same age with those of Parrsboro'. I after- wards examined the place from which tliis slab had been quarried, and satisfied myself that the beds are Carboniferous, and probably Lower Carboniferous. They were ripple-marked and sun-cracked, and I thought I could detect trifid footprints, though more obscure than those in Dr Harding's slab. Similar footprints are also stated to have been found by Dr Gesner, at Parrsboro'. In these Parrsboro' beds Mr Jones, P.L.S., has recently found a series of larger footprints 1 '; v^- LAND ANIMALS OF THE COAT. PERIOD. 857 referable to the p;cnus Sauropus, to be subsequently mentioned in connexion with the diflcovcry of Hiinilftr footprints in Ciipo Urcton. I have since observed several instances of such impressions at the Joggins, at llorton, and near Windsor, showing that they arc by no means rare, and that reptilian animals existed in no ineonsidornblo numbers throughout the coal-field of Nova Scotia, and from the beginning to the end of the Carboniferous period. Two examples are figured in my *' Air-breathers," with those already described. On comparing these with one another, it appears that Logaii't , Harding's, and one of mine aro of similar general character, anu may 'wivo been made by one kind of animal, which must have had the tore and hind feet nearly of equal size. The other belongs to a srtialler animal, which pn)bably travelled on longer limbs, more in the manner of an ordinary quadruped. Its toes cannot be distinguished. On the whole, these footprints, while differing from those found by Dr King in Pennsylvania, do not prove the existence of any kind of animal distinct from those to be desci'ibed in the sequel, and known to us Vy the preservation of portions of their skeletons. The study of these footprints shows that the animals which pro- duced them may, in certain circumstances, have left inq)ression8 of only two or three of their toes, while in other circumstances all may have left marks ; and that, when wading in deep mud, their footprints were altogether different from those made on hard sand or clay. In some instances the impressions may have been made by animals wading or swimming in water, while in others the rain-marks and sun-cracks afford evidence that the surface was a sub-aerial one. They arc chiefly interesting as indicating the wide diffusion and abundance of th^ creatures producing them, and that they haunted tidal flats and muddy shores, perhaps emerging from the water that they might bask in the sun, or possibly searching for food among the rejectamenta of the sea, or of lagoons and estuaries. Mr 13rown of Sydney has added to our knowledge of Carboniferous footprints by the discovery of a fine slab, now in the museum of M'Gill University, which indicates the existence of an animal of con- siderable size, the breadth of the foot being three inches (Fig. 140). The specimen was thus described by the writer in the " Canadian Naturalist : " — "The slab exhibits with some distinctness three footprints r>f the right side, and less distinct traces of the left feet. The feet are short and broad, the fore foot as large as the hind foot, the toes short, broad, and deeply impressed in the sand. Foui toes are distinctly marked in botli fore and hind feet, and there are indications of a fifth in one * I \ I r I of the footprints. The stride isj considerably greater than the breadth of the body. The toes arc somewhat turned inward. The figure is reduced to one-sixth, ,^ that the animal must have been rather larger than Dendrerpeton Acadianum, with shorter toes and broader body." These footprints are quite different in fomi from those previously found by Sir W. E. Logan, Dr Harding, and the writer. They more nearly resemble those figured by Ur King and Mr Lea from the Carboniferous of Pennsylvania ; and may have been produced by an animal generically related to that which has left the traces named Sauropus prlmoEVis by the latter author. For this reason, until we shall obtain some knowledge of the animal from more definite remains, I propose for it the name of Sauropus Si/dnensis. The specimen was found by Mr Brown in the Coal formation at North Sydney. These footprints add a ninth species to the reptilian fauna of the Coal formation of Nova Scotia, and are the first traces of this kind discovered in the Cape Breton Coal-field. The footprint already mentioned as having been found by Mr Jones of Halifax at Parrsboro', is almost precisely of the same size and form with the preceding, and may possibly have belonged to the same species. It has five distinctly marked toes. Ire LAND ANIMALS OP THE COAL PERIOD. 859 Daphetes planiceps^ Owen. In the Slimmer of 1851, 1 had occasion to spend a day at the Albion Mines ; and on arriving at the railway station in the afternoon, found myself somewhat too early for the train. By way of improving the time thus left on my hands, I betook myself to the examination of a large pile of rubbish, consisting of shale and ironstone from one of the pits, and in which I had previously found scales and teeth of fishes. In the blocks of hard Carbonaceous shale and earthy coal, of which the pile chiefly consisted, scales, teeth, and coprolites often appeared on the weathered ends and surfaces as whitish spots. In looking for these, I observed one of much greater size than usual, on the edge of a block, and on splitting it open, found a large flattened skull, the cranial bones of which remained entire on one side of the niass, while the palate and teeth, in a more or less fragmentary state, came away with the other half. Carefully trimming the larger specimen, and gathering all the smaller fragments, I packed them up as safely as possible, and returned from my little excursion much richer than I had hoped. The specimen, on further examination, proved somewhat puzzling. I supposed it to be, most probably, the head of a large ganoid fish ; but it seemed different from anything of this kind with which I could compare it ; and at a distance from comparative anatomists, and without suffcicut means of determination, I dared not refer it to any- thing higher in the animal scale. Hoping for further light, I packed it up with some other specimens, and sent it to the Secretary of the Geological Society of London, with an explanatory note as to its geological position, and requesting that it might be submitted to some competent osteologist for examination. For a year or two, how- ever, it remained as quietly in the Society's collection as if in its original bed in the coal-mine, until attention having been attracted to such remains by the discoveries made by Sir Charles Lyell and myself in 1852, at the South Joggins, and published in 1853,* the Secretary or President of the Society rediscovered the specimen, and handed it to Professor Owen, by whom itwasdescribed in December 1853,-j- under the name of Baphetes planiceps, which may be interpreted the " flat- headed-diving animal," in allusion to the flatness of the creature's skull, and the possibility that it may have been in the habit of diving. The parts preserved in ray specimen are the bones of the anterior and upper part of the skull in one fragment, and the teeth and palatal bones in others (see Fig. 137, ante; also Fig. 141). The teeth are * Journal of Geological Society of London, vol. ix. t Journal of Geological (Society, vol. x. ; and additional notes, vol. xl. If \ \ ■ \ w \\ II 860 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 1 a t-} conical and somewhat curved, the outer series from a line to two lines in diameter, and the inner scries throe lines or more. They are implanted in shallow sockets in the maxillary and prcmaxillary bones, and are anchylosed to the sockets. For the lower third, the outer surface presents shallow vertical grooves, conformably with the plicated char- acter of the internal structure. The upper portion is smooth, and its internal structure presents merely radiating tubes of ivory, and concen- Fig. 141. — Baphetes planiceps, Owen. (a) Fragment of maxillary bone showing sculpture, four outer tooth, and one Inner tooth; nat. size. (b) Section of inner tooth ; magnified. (e) Dermal scale; nat. size. trie layers. The whole of tlico vomer represented in Vl„ 1.0 ? " "mature of teeth an,,e. rs in fl in r -::;!t :,;*r .^rr- '° -- >- -" .ievc,op„, he ad„lt a„i„„|, -JZiZZll ™ ''"°'™- Tl'o fore Ilmbj ,."" '" "'« raw of the ,,),ala„l, , , 'l ''"= '«'"€ton Oiocni, DawHoii. )a) MRxtllarjr bonn and mnndlWo ; DRtiirtil size. (A) I'oition of skull ; natural sizo, (c) One of thu largo Riitorior teeth; magnified. (d) Exterior teeth ; maguilled. (e) Foot; enlarged. (/) Portion of cuticle Hhowing homy acalei; enlargcil. {(j) Cuticle of posterior part of body; nnturni Hizo, showing supposed pouitlon of hind leg at b. the foot, represented in Fig. 143, especially deserve attention. Tliig is the most perfect foot of Dendrcrpeton liithcrto found; and I have enlarged it iu the figure in order more distinctly to show its parts. It presents three long toes, with traces of a smaller one at each side, so that there were probably five iu all. If these toes be compared with the, footprints on the slab discovered by Dr Harding, represented in Fig. 139, it will be seen that they very closely correspond, though 870 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. tho toes f)f tho i)rpscnt species nro iniidi smaller. The footj^rints nro precisely tliosc wliieli wo may suppose an animal of the size of Dmdrerpeton Acadianum would iiavo made, if, as the bones found render in every way probable, tliis larger species had a foot similar to that of D, Oweni. I suppose, for this reason, that these footprints aro really those of De.ndre.rpeton Acadianum; and that this species continued to exist from the time of the Lower Coal measures to the period whun those higher beds of the series in which its bones aro found at the Joggins were depo«ited. The present species must have lived in tho same places witli its larger relative ; l)ut may have differed somewhat in its habits. Its longer and sharper teeth may have been better siiitcd for devouring worms, larvtc, or soft-skinned fishes, wliile those of the Kirgc Den- drcrpeton were better adapted to deal with the mailed ganoid^ if thv.. period, or with those smaller n^ptiles which were more or less proti."^ted with bony or horny scales. In one of my earliest explorations of the reptile-bearing stumps of the .Joggins, I observed on some of the surfaces patches of a shining black substance, which on minute examination proved to bo the remains of cuticle, with horny scales and other appendages. The fragments were pn rved; but I found it impossible to determine with certainty to which of the species whoso bones occur with them they belonged, or even to ascertain the precise relations of tho several fragments to each other. I therefore merely mentioned them in general terms, and stated my belief that they may have belonged to tho species of Ifylonomus. More recently other specimens have been obtained, which enable me to refer these specimens in part to the present species and in part to the next species, Ilylonomus Lyelli. The specimen represented in Fig. 143, I believe, for reasons stated in my memoir already referred to, to be the skin of a portion of the hinder part of an individual of the present species. Ilylonomus Lyclli, Dawson. In the original reptiliferous tree discovered by Sir C, Lycll and tho writer at the Joggins in 1851, there wcu'c, beside tho bones of Den- drerpeton Acadianum, some small elongated vertebra, evidently of a different species. These were first detected by Prof. Wyman in his examination of these specimens, and were figured, but not named, in the notice of the specimens in the Journal of tho Geological Society, vol. ix. In a subsequent visit to the Joggins, I obtained from another erect stump many additional remains of these smaller reptiles, and, on careful comparison of the specimens, was induced to refer I." LAND ANIMAI.8 OF THE COAL PERIOD. 871 them to three spccicB, all nppnrontly gcnciiciiUy allied. T proponed for them the generic niimo /Itjlimomiis, " foreBt-dweller." They were described in the Proceedings of the (ie<>logical Society for 1859, with illustrationfl of the teeth and other characteristic parts.* The smaller species first described I named //. Wi/mani ; the next in size, that to which this article refers, and which was represented by a larger number of specimens, I adopted as the type of the genus, and dedicated to Sir Charles Lycll. The third and largest, represented only by n few fragments of a single skeleton, was named //, aciedentahis. Hylonomiis Lt/ctti was an animal of snudl size. Its skull is about an inch in length, and its whole body, even if, as was likely, furnished with a tail, could not have been more than six or seven inches long. No complete example of its «kull has been found. The bones appear to have been thin and easily separable ; and even when they remain together, are so much crushed as to render the shape of the skull not easily discernible. Thev are smooth on the outer surface to the naked eye, and under a lens mIiow oidy delicate uneven strias and minute dots. They arc more dense and hard than those of Dendrerpeton, and the bone-cells are more elongated in fonn. The bones of the snout would seem to have been somewhat elongated and narrow. A specimen in my possession shows the parietal and occipital bones, or the greater part of them, united, and retaining their form. We learn from them that the brain-ease was rounded, and that there was a parietal foramen. There would seem also to have been two occipital condyles. Several well-preserved specimens of the maxillary and mandibular bones have been obtained. They are smooth, or nearly so, like those of the skull, and are furnished with numerous sharp conical teeth, anchyloscd to the jaw, in a partial groove formed by the outer ridge of the bone. In the anterior part of the lower jaw there is a group of teeth larger than the others. The intermaxillary bone 1..1S not been "observed. The total number of teeth in each ramus of the lower jaw was about forty, and the number in each maxillary bono about thirty. The teeth arc perfectly simple, hollow within, and with very fine radiating tubes of ivory. The vertebrae have the bodies cylindrical or hour-glass shaped, covered with a thin, hard, bony plate, and having within a cavity of the form of two cones, attached by the apices. The ribs are long, curved, and at the proximal end ha^ c a shoulder and neck. They are hollow, with thin hard bony walls. The anterior limb, judging from the fragments procured, seems to have been slender, with long toes, four or possibly five in number. The posterior limb was longer and stronger, and attached to a pelvis * Journal of Geological Society, vol. xvi. • I I rrmp^^fi : 372 THE CAKB0NIFEK0U8 SYSTEM. SO large and broad as to give tlic impression that the creature enlarged considerably in size toward the posterior extremity of the body, and that it may have been in the habit of sitting erect. The thigh bone is well formed, with a distinct head and trochanter, and the lower extremity flattened and moulded into two articulating surfaces for the tibia and fibula, tlie fragments of Avliich show that they were much shorter. The toes of the hind feet have been seen only in detached joints. They seem to have been thicker than those of the fore foot. Detached vertebrtc, which seem to be caudal, have been found, but the length of the tail is unknown. The limb bones are usually some- what crushed and flattened, especially at their articular extremities, and this seems to have led to the error of supposing that this flattened form was their normal condition; there can be no doubt, however, that it is merely an effect of pressure. Tlie limb bones present in cross section a wal' of dense bone with elongated bone-cells, sur- rounding a cavity now fillv J with brown calc-spar, and originally occupied with cartilage or marrow. Nothing is more remarkable in the skeleton of this creature than the contrast between the perfect and beautiful forms of its bones, and their imperfectly ossified condition, — a circumstance which raises the question whether these specimens may not represent the young of some reptile of larger size. The dermal covering of this animal is represented in part by oval bony scales, wiiich are so constantly associated with its bones that I can have no doubt that they belonged to it, being, perhaps, the clothing of its lower or abdominal parts ; while above, it was probably clad in the beautiful scaly covering represented in Fig. 144,* and which shows that the creature, while probably clad with bony scales below, had on its back an array of scaly and si)iny ornaments comparable with those of any modern reptile. The bony scales differ in form from those of Dendrerpeton : they are also much thicker. On the inner side they a>-e concave, with a curved ledge or thickened border ai; one edge. On the outer side they present concentric Hues of growth. The only spccimei-.s which afford much information as to the general form of Hylonomvs LycUi are those represented in Fig. 144. The first is the original specinicu from which .1 described the species in the * Desciiption of Fiy. 144. (a) Skeleton in niKtrix, showing jaws, ribs, vertebra?, pelvis, and bouos of linil>9. (b) Portion of skeleton in matrix, showing vertebra) and limb I,, .les. (c) Portion of niaxilla with teeth ; enlarged. (d) Cross sections of teeth ; enlarged. («) Anlerior end of mandible with t,■! "This specimen consists of the left ramus of a lower jaw, which has been dislocated from the cruslied head, of which the fore end of the left prcmaxillary is preserved, terminating near the middle of the series of the teeth of the more advanced mandible. A fragment of the left maxillary, which has been separated from the prcmaxillary, overlaps the hinder mandibular teeth. The fore part of the mandible is wanting. The teeth in the remaining part are larger and fewer, in proportion to the jawbone, than in Ilylonomus or Dendrerpeton. y I LAND ANIMALS OF THE COAL I'KRIOD. 381 They have thicker and more obtusely tcrmiimtcd crowns ; tliey are close-set where the series is complete at tiio lore j)art of the jaw, and their base appears to have been anchylosed to shallow depressions on the alveolar surface. The shape of what is preserved of the upper jaw affords the only evidence, and not very ilecisively, that the present fossil is not part of a lish. It inclines the balance, however, to the reptilian side ; and, accepting such indication of the class-relations of the fossil, it must be referred to a genus of Itcptilia distinct from those it is associated with in the Nova Scotian coal, and for which genus I would suggest the term Ilijlcrpeton. "A small part of the external surface of the dentary bone shows a longitudinally wrinkled and striate or fibrous character. The outer bony wall, broken away from the hinder half of the dentary, shows a large cavity, now occupied by a fine greyish matrix, with a smooth surface, the bony wall of which cavity has been thin and compact. We have hero the mark of incomplete ossification, like that in the skeleton oi Archegosaurus. The crushed fore [)art of the right dentary bone, with remains of a few teeth, is below the left dentary, and ex- emplifies a similar structure. The teeth slightly diminish, though more in breadth than length, towards the fore part of the series : here there are nine teeth in an alveolar extent of ten millimetres, or nearly five lines. The base of the teeth is longitudinally fissured, but the fissures do not extend upon the exserted crown. In their general characters, the teeth manifest at least as close a resemblance to those of Oanoccphala as of Lacertia or any higher group of Iteptilia ; whilst their mode of implantation, with the structure and sculpturing of the bone, weigh in favour of its relations to the lower aud earlier order of the cold-blooded Vertebrates." I can add to the above description only a few facts obtained from careful examination of other fragments imbedded in the matrix. One of these is a portion of a maxillary bone. It has teeth similar to those of the lower jaw in form, but the last but one is twice the size of the others, and seems to have been implanted in a deep socket. All of the teeth have large pulp cavities, and the iimer surface of the ivory is marked with slight furrows which are represented by ridges on the outer surface of the stony matter filling tlie pulp cavities. The ivory of the teeth, however, which is very much coarser than that of the species of JJylonomus, presents in the cross section a simple structure .of radiating tubes. The surface of the cranial bones, of which some fragments remain, is marked in the same striate manner alluded to above by Professor Owen. The microscopic structure of the bone is much coarser than that of Hylonomus or Dendrerpeton, the cells being ^ i J I ' li !!i 7T [1 M I'l; 889 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. larger and in some portions less elongated. That the creature had Btout ribs Is shown by some fragments of these bones, but the vertebrae are represented only by a few bodies of small rel.itive size and perhaps caudal. On the same surface were found the bones of a foot. It is of small size relatively to the head, and was probably for swimming rather than wallcing. A few ovate bony scales were found with the bones, and probably belonged to this species. On the whole, it seems certain that Hylcrpcton must have been generically distinct from the other reptiles found with it, and it is probable that it was of more aquatic habits, swimming ratlicr than walking, ajid feeding principally on fish. More perfect specimens would, however, be required in order to warrant any decided statement on these subjects. It is possible, as suggested by Prof. Owen, that the affinities of the animal may bo with Archegosawus rather than with any of the other coal reptiles ; but I confess that my present impression is, that it tends rather toward the genus Hylonomns. It may possibly be a link of connexion between the Microsauria and the Archcgosauria. Eosaurus Acadianus, Marsh. Pig. 148. — EoMtirm AcadiaimK. Marsh. Tvo mtehirr. — Natural size. Beside the species above described, Mr O. C. Mar,sli, in 1861,* added a new animal to the Joggins reptilian fauna — the Eosaurus Acadianus. The species is founded on two large biconcave vertebra;, in many respects resembling tho,se of Ichthyosaurus^ and indicating * The remains were discovered in 1855, tliongh not published till 1861. ~ ( 1 t ' f I.ANU ANIMALS OF THE COAL PERIUU. 888 A reptile of greater size tlian any hitherto discovered in the coal, probiii)ly of aquatic habits, and possibly allied to the great Enaliosaura or sea-lizards of the mcsozoic rocks. The specimen was found in a bed of shale belonging to Group XXVI. of my Juggins section, in the upper part of the Middle (!oal measures, and about bOO feet above the bed which has afiorded the remains described in previous sections. The beds belong to one of those intervals of shallow water deposition of sediment which separate the groups of coal beds ; and on one of them I found some years ago the footprints of Dendrcrpeton. The vertebraj of Eosaurus have been fully and ably described by Mr Marsh in Silliman's Journal. Agassiz and Wyman regard their affinities as cnaliosaurian. Huxley suggests the possibility, founded on his recent discovery of Anthracosuurus Jtusselli, that there may have been Labyrinthodont IJatrachians in the Coal period with such vertebra).' However this may be, if the vertebra) were caudal, as sup- posed by Mr Marsh, since thoy are about 2^ inches in diameter, they would indicate a gigantic aquatic re^jtilc, furnished with a powerful swimming tail, and no doubt with apparatus for the captura and destruction of its prey, comparable with that of Ichthyosaurus. Pupa Vctusta, Dawson. This, the first known representative of paliEOZoie land snails, so closely resembles the modern " chrysalis shells " of the genus Pupa, that I have not thought it desirable to refer it to a different genus, though the name Dendropupa has been proposed by Prof. Owen. Mr J. S. Jeffreys, and other eminent conchologists who have seen the shell, concur in the opinion that it is a true Pupa ; so that this genus, and that mentioned in the next section, like Lingula and Nautilus^ extend from the palaeozoic period to modern times. It may be described as a cylindrical shell, tapering to the apex, with a shining surface, marked with longitudinal rounded ridges. The whorls are eight or nine, rounded, and the width of each whorl is about half the diameter of the shell. The aperture is rather longer than broad; but is usually somewhat distorted by pressure. The margin of the lip is somewhat regularly rounded, and is reflected out- ward. There are no teeth, but a slight indication of a ridge or ridges on the pillar lip, which may, however, be accidental. Length 3-10tIi3 of an inch, or a little more. It was first recognised by Dr Gould of Boston, in specimens obtained by Sir C. Lyell and the writer in 1851, in an erect Sigillaria, containing bones of reptiles, at the Joggins. This little shell is remarkable, not merely for its great antiquity, but also because it is separated by so wide an interval of time from If 4 I \ m^ !♦ 384 THE CAnilONIFEROUH 8Y8TKM. Other known species of its race, there being, with the exception of tlio next species, no other Puhnonato known until we reach the Purbcck beds, and no other true hmd unail until we reach the Tertiary. Fig. IW.—lHijia Vetiistii, Dawson. (u) Natural ilce. (b) Enlarged. (e) Apex enlarged. (d) Sculpture; magnified. In the section of the South Joggins I have noticed the occurrence of l\tpa Vetusta in another bed 1217 feet below that above mentioned. It belongs to group 8 of the section, and is between coals 37 and 38 of Logan's sectional list. It is a layer of gray indurated clay, with a slightly nodular structure, and in some places becoming black and carbonaceous, and containing leaflets of ferns, Tric/onocarpa, etc. The shells occur very abundantly in a thickness of about two inches. They have been imbedded entire ; but most of them have been crushed and flattened by pressure. They occur in all stages of growth ; the young being, as is always the case in such shells, very different in general form from the adults. This bed is evidently a layer of mud deposited in a pond or creek, or at the month of a small stream in shallow water. In modern swamps multitudes of shells occur in such places ; and it is remarkable that in this case land shells should alone be found, without any trace of aquatic molluscs. The shells which occur in this bed are filled with the surrounding sediment. Those which occur in the erect Siffillarice, on the other hand, except when they are crushed and flattened, are filled with a deposit of brown calc-spar. I infer from this that the latter, when buried, contained 'he animals, and consequently that these lived or sheltered themselves in the hollow trees, as is the habit of many modem land snails. i LAND AMMAKH OK TIIK COAL PEHIOD. 38fl Zonitea [Conulus) priscus, Carpenter. In the summer of 18G6 I made some cxcHViitioiiH in tlio hod nbovo m«'iitionc(l, ami (liHiiitcrred groat nuinborH of tlio hIicIIs of the Pupa. My object was to find otbcr n-niains if ponsiblc; and I was rewarded with the discovery of anotlier little land sliell, which my friend Dr P. P. ('arpcnter haadcHcribed under the above name (Fig. 150).* It Fig. 150. — Conulus i>ri.icui, Oarpontur. c/ (a) Specimen; onUrKod 1-2 illninuterH. (h) Scii1ptiir«; mnKnlAeil- is quite different from the I'upa, being .snail-like in form, with a wide aperture and a very thin .shell, sculptured on the surface in a different way. The sub-genus Conulus is a subdivision of the old genus Helix, and is a group of modern snailH, soiiuitinies included in the genus Zunites. I nuiy add that in the collections made in 18GG there arc fragments which may indicate the existence of at least one other land snail, but not suiricient for description. Xylobius Sigillarice, Dawson. Fig. 161. — Xylohiua Sigillaritv, Dawson. (a) Natural sine. (b) Anterior portion ; enlarged. (c) Posterior portion ; enlarged. I proposed, in 1859, the above name for an articulated wonn-like animal, of which numerous flattened specimens were found associated . ,.•:..■ • Journal of Geological Society, Nov. 1867. ' r I A »3*H, il M'- 11 i ^ J ( I '1 386 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. with the Pupa vetusta, I was at first disposed to regard it as the larva of a coleopterous insect ; but a cai'eful microscopic examination of the specimens convinced me that it is a chilognauious Myriapod, allied to lulus. It was described as follows (Fig. 151) : — Body cnistaceous, elongate, articulate ; when recent, cylindrical, or nearly so, rolling spirally. Feet small, numerous ; segments 30 or more ; anterior segments smooth, posterior with transverse Avrinkles, giving a furrowed appearance. In some specimens traces of a scries of lateral pores or stigmata. Labrum (?) quadrilateral, divided by notches or joints into three portions. Mandibles two-jointed, last joint ovate and pointed. Eyes, ten or more on each side. This animal, the oldest gally-worai known at the time of its dis- covery, must, like its modern congeners, have haunted the decaying trunks of swamps, and thus became entombed in the hollow Sigillaria in which it was found. Since its discovery, animals of similar type have been recognised in the Coal formations both of Great Britain and of the United States. Haplophlehium Barnesii, Scudder. The existence of insects in the Carboniferous period has long been known. The Coal formations of England and of Westphalia afforded the earliest specimens ; and, more recently, some interesting species have been found in the Western States.* They belong to the order of the Neuroptera (shad-flies, etc.), the Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.), and Colcoptera (beetles, etc.) In the Coal-field of Nova Scotia, notwithstanding its great richness in fossil remains of plants, insects had not occurred up to last year, except in a single instance — the head and some other fragments of a large insect, probably neuropterous, found by me in the coprolite or fossil excrement of a reptile enclosed in the trunk of an erect Sigillaria at the Joggins, along with other animal remains. This specimen was interesting chiefly as proving that the small reptiles of the Coal period were insectivorous, and it was noticed in this connexion in my " Air- breathers of the Coal period." Last year, however, Mr James Barnes, of Halifax, was so fortunate as to find the beautiful wing represented in Fig 152, in a bed of shale at Little Glace Bay, Cape Breton. The engraving is taken from a photograph kindly sent to me by Rev. D. Honeyman, F.G.S. It will be observed that, in consequence probably of the mutual attraction of loose ^iects floating about in water, a fragment of a frond of a fern, Aletu j-is lonchitica, lies partly over the wing, obscuring its outline, but bearing testimony tc its carbon- * See Lycll'g " Elements," and Dana's " Manual" for references. y I LAND ANIMALS OF THE COAL PEUIOU. 387 mess ear, of a to or larid was riod Air- rnes, nted The '. D. ably r, a ver con- iferous date. The wing has been examined by Mr S. H. Scudder, of Boston, who has made such specimens his special study, and wlio refers it to the group of Ephemerina (day-flies, shad -flies) among the Neur- optera, and has named it Haplophlebium Barnesii. It must have been a very large insect — seven inches in expanse of wing — and therefore much exceeding any living species of its group. When we consider that the larvje of such creatures inhabit the water, and delight in muddy bottoms rich in vegetable matter, we can easily jUnderstand that the swamps and creeks of carboniferous Acadia, with its probably mild and equable climate, must have been especially favourable to such creatures, and we can imagine the larvae of these gigantic ephe- meras swarming in the deep black mud of the ponds in these swamps, and furnishing a great part of the food of the fishes inhabiting them, while the perfect insects emerging from the waters to enjoy tlieu" brief span of aerial life, would flit in millions over the quiet wat :r» and through the dense thickets of the coal swamps. Fig. 152. — Haplophlebium Barnesii, Seiidder. (n) Profile of base of wing. Mr Scudder describes the species as follows: — " This Is probably one of the Ephemerina, though it differs very muoli from any with which I am acquainted. The neuratlon is exceedingly simnle, and the intercostal spaces appear to be completely filled with minute reticulations without any cross-veins. The narrowness of the wing is very peculiar for an Ephemeron. The form of the wing and its reticulation remind me of the Odvnata, but the mode of venation is very different ; j'et there is apparently a cross-vein between the first 8nd second veins in the photograph (not rendered in the cut) which, \ - * 388 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. extending down to the third vein, occurs just where the "nodus" is found in Odonata, and if present would unquestionably remove this insect to a new synthetic family between Odonata and Ephemcrina. I cannot judge satisfactorily whether it is an upper or an under wing. The insect measured fully seven inches in expanse of wings — much larger than any living species of Ephemerina. ' Archimulacrcs Acadicus. The new genus and species above named (Fig. 153), have been founded by Mr Scudder on a beautiful little wing discovered by Mr Barnes at the East lliver of Pictou, in shale overlying the main seam Fig. 153. — Archimulacris Acadicus, )i of coal. The specimen is imperfect, being cut off by a leaf of Cordaites lying across it ; but the venation of the part remaining is in very good preservation. Mr Scudder remarks upon it as follows : — " The only fossil cockroach yet described from America is that found by Lesquereux in the Carboniferous beds of Arkansas, and called Blattina venusta. The wing discovered by Mr Barnes at Pictou differs from it in the curve of the costal border (affecting the direction of nearly every vein in the wing), as well as in the extent and direction of the branch'" s of the mediastinal vein, and in the distribution of the veinlets in the anal area. Nor does this wing agree in character with those of other fossil cockroaches ; it is allied to some which Dr Giebel, in his generic division of the fossil Blat(a'ri% referred to the genus Blattina. With two exceptions, he had placed all the Carboniferous cockroaches in the same group. This species, fonning the type of a new genus, may be called Archimulacris Acadicus. The generic term is derived from the Greek name of a cockroach." I i I In the Journal of the Geological Society, 1861, I described as follows some very remarkable impressions found on the surface of a rain-marked sandstone at the .Joggins, containing also reptilian foot- prints : — " They consist of rows of transverse depressions, about an inch in length and one- fourth of an inch in breadth. Each trail con- sists of two of these rows running parallel to each other, and about LAND ANIMALS OF THE COAL PEKIOD. 889 six inches apart. Their direction curves abniptly, and they somotimes cross each other. From their position they were probably produced by a land or fresh-water animal — possibly a large Crustacean or or gigantic Annelide or Myriapod. In size and general appearance they slightly resemble the curious Climactichnites of Sir W. E. Logan, from the Potsdam sandstone of Canada." To this I may add that the space between the rows of marks is slightly depressed and smoothed, as if with a heavy body like that of a serpent trailed along. The recent remarkable discovery in the Coal-field of Kil- kenny, Ireland, of the large serpentiform Batrachian, described by Huxley under the name Ophiderpeton, leads to the supposition that these trails may indicate the existence of a similar creature in Nova Scotia. ; f i I The contents of this chapter may be summed up in the statement, that the Coal formation of Nova Scotia has afforded of ten-estrial Vertebrates no less than eight species of reptiles, some of them probably of higher type than the Batrachians ; of land Mollusks the only two species known in the Palaeozoic rocks ; of land Articulates one millipede and two insects. While the reptiles differ much from existing types, and belong to families which have long ago passed away, the mollusks and articulates are remarkably like the creatures of their rank found in similar places at the present time, belonging in two instances even to the same generic groups. Note. — While this clinpter is passing through the press, I am informed by Mr Scudder, to whom I have submitted the numerous fragments of Myriapods in my collection from the Joggins, that he thinks he can recognise three additional species of Xylobius and a new generic form [Archiulus). I hope to give descriptions of these in the Appendix. afa 1 i 1 1 1 1 r i 390 t CHAPTER XIX. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM— Con. -n 1 •3 o _; J ^ ■s • « § a ^ o A 1 1 -i aj « «i s . -s a to •a C a as" Ill 11 S 1, \ \ \ *' (2.) Between M'Millan's Point and Plalstcr Cove the shore is occupied by black and gray shales and very hard sandstones in fre- quent alternations. The sandstones have been much altered by heat, and are traversed by veins of white carbonate of lime, sometimes mixed with sulphate of barytcs. At the point immediately north of Plaister Cove these beds dip at a high angle to the south-eastward. " (3.) Overlying these beds is a bed of limestone about thirty feet in thickness ; it is of a dark colour, laminated and subcrystallinc ; its laminaj arc in some parts corrugated and slightly attached to each other, and in other places flat and firmly coherent ; it i.s traversed by numerous strings of white calcareous spar, containing a little carbonate of iron and small crystals of blue fluor-spar, a mineral rare in Nova Scotia, and which I have found only in the Lower Carboniferous limestones. The limestone supports a few layers of greenish marl .- !;t "1 mi Wf 392 TUE CAUB0N1FER0U8 SYSTEM. :■ \ and gypsum, which appear in a small depression on the north side of the Cove ; hut beyond this depression the limestone reappears with a northerly dip. It is then bent into several small folds, and ulti- mately resumes its high dip to the south-east. I found no fossils in this limestone, except at its junction with the overlying marl, where there is a thin bed of black compact limestone containing a few indis- tinct specimens of a small species of Terebratula. In appearance and structure this limestone is very similar to the laminated limestones which underlie the gypsiferous deposits of Antigonish and the Shu- benacadie. "(4.) This bed is succeeded by greenish marl, traversed by veins of red foliated and white fibrous gypsum, and containing a few layers of the same mineral in a granular form ; it also contains a few veins of crystalline carbonate of lime. In its lower part it has a brecciated structure, as if the layers had been partially consolidated and afterwards broken up. Near its junction with tlie limestone it contains rounded masses of a peculiar cellular limestone, coloured black by coaly matter ; and higher in the bed there are nodules of yellow ferruginous limestone, with a few fragments of shells. The greenish colour of the marl seems to be caused by the presence of a minute quantity of sulphuret of iron. When a portion of the marl is heated the sulphuret is decomposed, and the colour is changed to a bright red. "(5.) On this marl rests abed of gypsum, whose thickness I esti- mated at fifty yards. Where the marl succeeds to the limestone, the shore at once recedes, and the gypsum occurs at the head of the Cove. The gypsum is well exposed in a cliff about eighty feet in height ; but, like most other large masses of this rock, it is broken by weathering into forms so irregular that its true dip and direction are not at first sight very obvious. On tracing its layers, however, it is found to have the same dip with the subjacent limestone and marl. About two-thirds of the thickness of the bed consist of crystal- line anhydrite, and the remaining third of very fine-grained common gypsum. The anhydrite prevails in the lower part of the bed, and common gypsum in the upper ; but the greater part of the bed consists of an intimate mixture of both substances, the common gypsum forming a base in which minute crystals of anhydrite arc scattered ; and bands in which anhydrite prevails, alternating with others in which common gypsum predominates. It Is traversed by veins of compact gypsum, but I saw no red or fibrous veins like those of the marl. In some parts of the bed small rounded fragments of gray limestone are spar- ingly scattered along layers of the gypsum. " The exposed part of the mass is riddled by those singular funnel- ':ifl: I/- t DISTRICT OF RICHMOND. 898 shaped liolcs named " plaster pits," sections of which arc exposed in the cliff; they penetrate both the anhydrite and common gypsum, though they are contracted where they pass through harder portions of the rock, and especially the veins of compact gypsum, some of which are only slightly inclined, and look at first sight like layers of deposition. The pits of which I saw sections have evidently resulted from the percolation of water through the more open parts of vertical joints, and they were cut off where they wore intersected by another slightly inclined set of open fissures, which afforded a passage to the water. The accompanying sketch (Fig. 155) shows one of these pits and its relations to the joints and stratification of the gypsum. \ Fig. 155.— Platter Pits. (n) Gypsum vein. (*) Open joint. (c) Padding of the gypsum. Insists lomon »sum, ■some Ispar- Innel- "(6.) Above the gypsum are a few layers of limestone, portions of which appear near the base of the cliff: one of them is studded with tarnished crystals of iron pyrites; another is a singular mixture of gray limestone and reddish granular gypsum. The portions of lime- stone contained in this rock do not appear to be fragments or pebbles, and they are penetrated by plates of selenitic gypsum. They may be parts of a bed of limestone broken up and mixed with gypsum when in a soft state, or the limestone and gypsum may have been deposited simultaneously and separated by molecular attraction. A rock of this kind is not rare as an accompaniment of gypsum, and it may be merely a result of the mixture of the soft surface of the gypsum with the mechanical detritus first deposited on it. " (7.) On the opposite side of the creek, which makes a small break in the section, is a thick bed of marl, whose dip appears to be the same with that of the gypsum. In general character it resembles the 2c _i! S94 THE CARB0NIFKR0U8 SYSTEM. marl underlying the gypsum. In some parts it is greenish and homo- geneous in texture ; in other parts it is brecciated, and some layers have a brownish colour and shaly texture. In some parts it is highly gypseous and contains layers of granular gypsum, one of which is black, its colour being duo to a small proportion of coaly or bituminous matter. " (8.) Beyond the marl the shore is occupied for a short space by boulder clay. Ueyond this it shows a great thickness of dark shales with calcareous bands, containing a few small shells belonging to the curious little crustacean, Leaia Leydii^ represented in Fig. 78 e above. They dip to the E.S.E. at a high angle, and overlie the gypsum. They arc succeeded by a thick band of very hard griiy and brownish sandstones and shales, containing a few fragments of plants stjvined with carbonate of copper. These are again overlaid by dark shales, and these by an enormous thickness of gray and brown sandstone and slialc. Some of the shales in this part of the section have assumed a kind of slaty or rather prismatic structure." I beg the reader to observe, in the above section, the contrast between the hardened sandstones and shales and the soft marls and gypsum, a contrast equally niirked in other parts of the Carboniferous districts, and often producing, by the removal of the softer beds, that isolated position of the gypsum masses which is frequently so per- plexing. It is also importan; to observe, that this great mass of gypsum is a regular bed, intcrstratified with the others, and belonging to the series of processes by which the whole were formed. I have already, in noticing the gypsum of Windsor, referred to its probable origin, and may now apply the same method of explanation to that of Plaister Cove. On this view, then, the history of this deposit will be as follows : — First, The accumulation of a vast number of very thin layers of limestone, either so rapidly or at so great a depth that organic remains were not included in any except the latest layers. Secondly, The introduction of sulphuric acid, cither in aqueous solution or in the form of vapour ; the acid being a product of the volcanic action whose evidences remain in the neighbouring hills. At first the quantity of acid was too small, or the breadth of sea through which it was diffused too great, to prevent the deposition of much carbonate of lime along with the gypsum produced ; and its introduction was accompanied by the accumulation on the sea-bottom of a greater quantity of me- chanical detritus than formerly : hence the first consequence of the change was the deposition of gypseous marl. At this stage organic matter was present, either in the sea or the detritus deposited, in ■P ^^mmi ■IF I M DISTRICT OP RICHMOND. 395 sufficient quantity to decompose part of the sulphate of lime, and produce sulphuret of iron ; and also to aflford the colouring matter of the nodules of black limofitono found in the marl. Thirdly, The pre- valence for a considerable period of acid waters, combining with nearly all the calcareous matter presented to them, and without interruption from mechanical detritus. The anhydrite must have been deposited with the common gypsum ; but, under the circumstances, it seems difficult to account for its production, unless it may have been formed by acid vapours, and subsequently scattered over the bed of the sea. Fourthly^ A return to the deposition of marl, under circumstances very similar to those which previously prevailed ; and, lastly, The restoration of the ordinary arenaceous and argillaceous depositions of the Carboniferous seas. Of the gypsum veins found in the marls, those which are white and fibrous may have been nearly contemporaneous in their origin with the marl itself; those which are red and lamellar have been subsequently introduced. The granular gypsum is in all cases a part of the original deposit. The comparatively small quantity of red oxide of iron in these marls and other associated beds is the most important feature of difference between the deposit of Plaister Cove and those of most other parts of this province. There is, however, a large quantity of reddish and brown sandstone in the beds overlying the gypsum, though on the whole these colours arc less prevalent than in the Carboniferous system of Nova Scotia proper. The rocks seen at Plaister Cove and its vicinity appear to be over- laid in ascending order by a great thickness of black shales, which, near Ship Harbour, contain shells of Naiadites. These shales are suc- ceeded by true Coal measures, which, at Little River and at Carribou Cove, contain scams of coal and a variety of characteristic fossil plants. One remarkable peculiarity of these Coal measures is, that they have been folded up by lateral pressure, so that they are often vertical, and that the limestones with marine shells and the gypsum, are often brought into immediate contact with masses of these disturbed Coal measures. Coal measure beds in a less disturbed condition extend up the River Inhabitants nearly to its sources, and occupy the country between that river and the southern part of the Bras d'Or Lake. The Lower Carboniferous limestone appears on the north-west arm of River Inhabitants, at West Bay, at Lennox Passage, on Isle Madame, and at St Peter's. At Lennox Passage it is associated with a great bed of excellent gypsum, and contains an abundance of fossil shells. At St Peter's it is non-fossiliferous, and rests against syenite and metamorphic slates, forming the western margin of a large tract : 4 \\ A ■r-\ ■'i, |i1i ii 396 THE CARBONIFEROUa flYBTEM. of motamorphic country, along the edge of which it extends, with some conglomerate and saiuLstonc, in a very narrow belt, skirting tho whole eastern side of tiic Uras d'Or Lake, and connecting this district with that of the county of Capo Breton. Useful Minerals of the District of Richmond^ etc. Coal appears at various places in this district, and at tho time when ray first edition was printed, it was tho only place in which any explor- ation iiad been made by the Government. In consequence of a petition from tho inhabitants, the Legislature voted a small sum for a recon- naissance of this district. I had tho honour to bo employed in this work, and this was the only geological work for which I ever received any payment from the Government of Nova Scotia, I mention this circumstimcc, because it accounts for the fact that so much space is given to this coal-field in my first edition, while the far more important mines of Capo Breton County, which I had not the same opportunity to examine, are treated of more slightly. Coal. — The bed at Carribou Cove, or Sea Coal Bay, has attracted some attention, owing to its appearance in the coast section in a very accessible situation. It is a seam of mixed coal and bituminous shalo eleven feet eight inches in thickness, in a vertical position, or rather thrown over on its face ; its dip being W. 57° S., at an angle of 80°, and the bed which was originally its undcrclay being its roof. Tho coal from the outcrop of this bed is of a soft and crumbl'ng quality, and filled with layers of shalo. A specimen of the best coal, selected from different parts of tho bed, gave, on analysis, — Volatile matter . 252 Fixed carbon . . 44-7 Ash . 301 100- The shale associated with the coal contains a sufficient quantity of bituminous and coaly matter to render it combustible, but it differs from coal in leaving a stony residue instead of a pulverulent ash. It appears from the above analysis that the best coal of this bed is very impure, its percentage of asli being double that of Pictou coal ; and when this is taken in connexion with its intimate intermixture with shale, it must bo evident that the produce of this seam could scarcely be exported with profit. It might possibly be worked to DISTRICT OP RICHMOND. 397 supply fuel of an inferior description for use in the neighbouring country. In the docpcr parts of the bed, the coal is probably harder and of mucli better appearance than at the outcrop, but in its mixture with shale and high percentage of ash no material improvement can be expected. It will also bo found to contain a large proportion of the bi-sulphurct of iron, much of which has been removed from the outcrop by weathering. The other strata seen in the vicinity of the coal arc gray shales and hard sandstones, with a small scam of bituminous shale. No other bed of coal appears in the vicinity, though, as the coast section for about half a mile on cither side shows little except bouldcr-clay, it cannot be affirmed that others are not present. If other beds occur, they can be found only by expensive works of discovery, unless acci- dentally uncovered by excavations made for otiier purposes. Since the above description was written, these beds have been farther ex- plored, and a bed of coal four feet thick is stated to have been found, but the working of tliis bed has not been prosecuted.* Coal also appears at Little Ilivcr, a small stream emptying a littlo to the eastward of Carribou Cove. At the mouth of this stream there is a bed of gypsum. The coal occurs two and a half miles inland. Here, as at Carribou ('ovc, the measures are vertical, the strike or direction of the beds being N. 40° W. Two beds are seen at this place, one four feet in thickness, the other ten inches thick. They arc sepa- rated by five feet of shale. Above the place where they cross the river I observed in the bed of the stream fragincnts of coal and bituminous shale, which have probsvbly been washed from the outcrop of a third bed. The coal of the principal bed is hard, and very little injured by exposure. Its fracture is uneven and crystalline, with glistening surfaces ; and its texture is very uniform, the lamination or " reed " being rather indistinct, and almost free from dull coal or mineral charcoal. Its specific gravity is 1'38. When burned in a stove or grate, it ignites readily, fuses, swells, and cakes, giving a strong flame and a lasting fire. It leaves a rather large quantity of brownish ash. In a smith's forge it works well, its behaviour being similar to that of Pictou coal. On analysis, it is found to contain, — \ 11, Volatile matter Fixed carbon . Ash 30-25 56-40 13-35 100- * Rutherford's Report. 1 ■ I \{ 898 TlIU CAKUONIFKKOUS 8YBTKM. N; \k:m Comparetl with the couls of Pictou and Hydiicy, the Little River coal i» more hituiniiiouH thuti cither, or contains more volatile matter mud less fixed carbon. It contains about the sanio quantity of earthy matter with Pictou coal ; but in quality and colour the ash resoinblcs Ithat of Sydney. Practiciilly it will bo found to be a serviceable coal for domestic fires, well adapted for smiths' uso, and, from the largo quantity and high illuminating imwer of its gaseous matter, probably H good gas-coal. There should be little waste in its extraction, and it will suflfor little by being "banked" or kept in tlio open air. It contains more sulphur than the Pictou coal. The coal of the snmll bed (No. 2) is somewhat similar to that of No. 1 ; but it is more impure, and contains much bi-sulphurct of iron. The fragments found in the river, and supposed to bo derived from a third bed, are very similar to the coal of No. 2. The point at which the coal appears on Little River is distant In a direct line from the main road to tShip Harbour about one mile and a half, and from Ship Harbour four miles ; from the shore at (Jarribou Cove two miles and a half; and from the navigable part of River Inhabitants two miles and a quarter. Li the direction of the Strait of Canseau, the Coal measures appear to bo cut off at the distance of About half a mile from the river, by one of the fractures which abound in the district. In the oj)positc direction, it is possible that they may <3xtcnd to the estuary of the River Iidiabitants. In the direction of the beds of coal, the ground in the vicinity of the river is low, rising to about thirty feet only above the stream. Only a very small depth of coal could tlicreforo bo drained by a level from the river-bed, or without the aid of machinery. The vertical position of the beds \ifill also require a method of mining different from that employed in the other coal-fields of the province, whore the seams are only slightly inclined. The.se circumstances, in addition to the comj-arntivoly small dimensions of the beds, as they tend to increase the expen je of extracting coal, must o|>erate as objections to the opening of this deposit. On the other hand, the seam No. I is sufficiently large to be conveniently worked, its coal would command a fair price in the market, and it is near harbours from which its pro- duce could be shipped at any season. There is also a probability that the beds might be traced to localities more favourable for the extraction of the coal ; and that, by works of discovery carried on in the adjacent measures, other workable scams might be found. I am glad to learn that, since the above remarks were written in my first edition, this mine has been opened, and is known as the " Richmond Mine." A second bed of coal, 154 feet distant from the first, has been '% flli DISTRICT OP INVERNESS AND VICTORIA. 399 discovered. The mine is workod on the long-wall syHtom, somewhat in the niannor of n niinonil vein. A railway has bcun forinod to tho ■horo; and in 18GG, lOlG tons of coal wore extracted. Coal also appears at tho basin of Inhabitants, and in two places on the river of tho sanio name ; but I am not aware wiiether it is of any practical importance. I would suggest, however, to explorers tho valley of tho lliver Iidiabitants as a proiniHing field of inveutigation. Tho oidy other useful inineral.s found in the district are limorttono and gypsum. Tho most accessible deposit of tho former is tluit of Plaister C'ove, which is large and of fair qualify. Large beds of good limestone also occur at Little Itiver and the north-west arm of Kiver Inhabilanta. Tho bed of gypsum from which Plaister Cove derives its name is of enormous thickness, and contains some good gypsum, though about two-thirds of its thickness consist of anhydrous gypsum or "hard plaster." Tho bed which occurs near Carribou Cove is of good quality ; but where it appears on tlie shore it is deeply covered with boulder-clay. A little fartlier inland, however, it is nearer tho surface. The marls associated with these beds, as they contain largo quantities of carbonate and sulphate of limo in a finely divided state, might bo usefully applied as a dressing to land. Gypsum has been exported from tho bod already mentioned at Little ]{iver, and to a considerable extent from Lennox Passage, where, as well as at Arichat and St Peter's, there is good limestone. Carhonifcrom Disti'ict of Northern Inverness and Victoria, In following the coast sections to tho northward .md westward of Plaister Cove, wo find tho Carboniferous rocks reduced to a narrow belt, by the projection of a mass of igneous ana altered rocks toward the coast. Tiie conglomerate appears in several ))laces, and also tho Lower Carboniferous limestone, which has been altered into a varie- gated marble, capable of being applied to ornamental purposes. At Long Point the metamorphic hills begin to recede from the coast, and from Port Hood the (Carboniferous rocks extend quito across the island to St Ann's Harbour, and northward to Margarie, beyond which place a narrow belt continues to line the coast as far as Cheticamp. At Port Hood, the Coal measures appear with characters very similar to those of tho Joggins section. Tiieir dip is W. 20°, in some places varying to W. by N. 25° ; so that tlieir strike nearly coincides with that of tho shore, and only a small thickness of beds can be seen in the coast section. The beds seen consist of gray sandstones and gray and brown shales, with black and calcareous shales, and thin seams of coal. Calamitet, Sternbergia, Stigmaria, and coniferous wood abound ; i t A ift i i m I? S ^ i! 400 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. m i i^ and, in a bed of sandstone a little to the northward of the village, mag- nificent examples of Sigillaria stumps, with tlicir roots and rootlets at- tached, are seen in situ. The beds dipping seaward at a small angle, and undergoing rapid waste, expose these stumps on a horizontal surface, and not in a vertical cliff as at the Joggins ; and this affords great facilities for studying the arrangement of their singular roots. Some of the stumps are two feet and a half in diameter, and may be seen to give off their pitted Stigmaria roots in four main divisions, exactly at right angles to each other, each main root subdividing regularly into two, four, and so on. They are in the state of casts in hard calcareous sandstone, and they have grown on a soil consisting of loose sand, now sandstone, and stiff clay, now represented by beds of shtvle. Some of the layers of sandstone immediately under the roots are distinctly ripple-marked, and must, when the trees grew on tliem, have been either very recently elevated from the sea-bed, or must have been layers of blown sand. If it were not for the general unifonn bedding of the Coal formation sandstones embedding these plants, an observer would be strongly inclined to refer them to the latter cause ; and I think it by no means impossible that some of them may have had such an origin, and may have been afterwards smoothed and levelled by water, before the overlying beds were deposited on them. More than one generation of these trees have grown on this spot, for I observed one of the stony trees to be penetrated by a cast of a Stigmaria with rootlets attached, which passed quite through it. This had manifestly belonged to a new generation of trees, growing above the remains of others already in the state of casts in sand, but not consolidated into stone. One of the beds of shale in the vicinity of a small coal seam at this place, contains abundance of Naiadites, Cythere, fish-scales and teeth, and Coprolites, or the fossil excrement of fishes. A fragment of a large Eurypterus, previously figured (Fig. 50) was also found here. Four miles to the north-east of Port Hood, the Lower Carboniferous limestone and gypsum appear ; and this part of the system continues to Mabou River, where it is very extensively developed. The lime- stone near this river has shells of Produdus semireticulatus and abun- dance of fragments of Encrinites ; and one of the beds has an Oolitic structure, — that is, it is made up of small round grains, precisely like small shot cemented together, or the roe of a fish. This peculiar structure is supposed to have been produced by the calcareous matter collecting itself around minute grains of sand or other bodies, and thus taking the form of little concretionary balls, which were finally ce- mented into rock. It was at one time supposed to be confined to a '♦1 DISTRICT OP INVERNESS AND VICTORIA. 401 particular part of tlic geological series, still named in England the Oolitic formation, but it has been found in rocks of very diflfcrent ages. Examples of it occur in the limestones of Windsor and Pictou ; but this of Mabou is much .nore perfect. Its little rounded grains are nearly quite uniform in size, smooth and black, and cemented together by gray calcareous matter. Near the mouth of Mabou River there is an enormous bed of gypsum, which was being quarried when I last visited it for the purpose of making road-embankments, this rock being the only available material at hand. Enormous plaster-pits have been excavated in the outcrop of this great gypseous mass. One of them forms a circular grassy amrhitheatre, capable of containing hundreds of persons, and 1 was informed that there is a spring of water in its centre. Immediately to the northward of Mabou River the lower conglo- merates crop out from under the limestones and gypsum, and rise on the flanks of Cape Mabou, a lofty headland, the nucleus of which is syenite, of greater antiquity than the Carboniferous system, and which is connected with an isolated chain of igneous and metanxorphic hills extending for some distance to the northward. At Margarie, the Coal formation again appears, with its character- istic fossil plants ; but it occupies only a very limited area, and the whole of the remainder of this district seems to consist of beds of the Lower Carboniferous series. Mr Poole, of Glace Bay, imorms me that he has received from Margarie specimens of coal somewhat resembling cannel, and affording 41'10 per cent, of volatile combustible matter; but I have no information as to its quantity, or whether it was ob- tained from the Coal fonnation or the Lower Carbonifei'ons series. The Coal fonnation rocks of Port Hood and Margarie are evidently only the margin of a coal-field extending under the sea, and perhaps as far as its appearance above the sea-level is concerned, in great part swept away by the waves. This coast is now rapidly wasting, in con- sequence of its exposure to the prevailing westerly winds blowing across the whole width of the Gulf of St Lawrence ; and its rivers and harbours arc from this cause choked with sliifting sands. Owing to this waste of the coast, a sand-beach which connected Port Hood Island with the mainland has been swept away, and a safe harbour has thus been converted into an open roadstead, exposed to the nor- therly winds and encumbered with shoals. This will prove a serious drawback to any attempt to work the coal-beds of this locality. The Lower Carbonife/ous limestone and gypsum appear at Chcti- camp, in a number of places on Margarie River, and at Ainslio Lnke, which is a fine sheet of water, more than ten miles in length, and the , tl \ ^lifi 402 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. largest lake, properly so called, in Cape Breton. To the eastward of this lake, a spur from the metamorphic country to the northward separates this part of the district from the Lower Carboniferous country of the county of Victoria. At the extremity of this spur, on the border of Whykokomagh Basin, the Lower Carboniferous conglomer- ate with syenitic pebbles forms a hill named the Salt Mountain. On this conglomerate rest thick beds of laminated limestone, from which rise unusually copious springs, some of them of pure water, others said to be salt or brackish. At Middle River, we again find the Lower Carboniferous limestone with several of its characteristic fossil shells ; and from this place, as far as St Ann's Harbour and the Big Bras d'Or, the whole of the low country consists of sandstone, shale, and conglom- erate, with limestone and gypsum appearing in several places. A lofty ridge of syenitic rocks separates St Ann's from the Bras d'Or, and at its extremity, Cape Dauphin, there is a patch of Carboniferous rocks which have been described in detail by Mr Brown in the Pro- ceedings of the Geological Society. Mr Brown gives the following section, which is interesting as illustrating the arrangement of the several members of the series in this part of Cape Breton. The order is descending, and the beds dip S. HO" E. at an angle of 58". Lower Coal measures, seen about half a mile from Cape Dauphin — a few fossil plants — thickness not stated. Fine grained and pebbly sandstones (millstone-grit) — fossil plants ......... 200 ft. Finely laminated gray shales with thin bands of limestone 110 Slaty sandstones with traces of plants . . . . 10 Blue and gray shales with thin beds of nodular limestone 120 Strong sparry limestone ...... 6 Soft crumbling marls ....... 90 Strong limestone . . . . . . . 18 Brown sandstone ....... 12 Red shales 33 Blue shales ........ 8 Strong limestone — lower beds laminated — fossil eliella Produchis cora, Encrintis . . . . . . 17 Mottled red and green marls ..... 24 Intermingled sandstones and limestone . . . 22 ; Blue shale 6 Red shale 8 Carry forward 684 ft. w DISTRICT OF INVERNESS AND VICTORIA. 403 Brought forward, 684 ft. 5 12 Strong limestone . . . Mixed gray and brown shales Concretionary limestone 4 Soft blue clay 3 Slaty limestone in layers, one to two inches thick . 47 Soft blue marl, with gypsum near the bottom . . 32 Gypsum 8 Soft green marl 3 Marl, with layers of limestone 28 Coarse limestone and shales 44 Crumbling porous limestone ..... 50 Calcareous breccia, containing partially wora fragments of red syenite ........ 24 Limestone showing no lines of bedding — Terebratula sac- culus, Productus cora, fragment of Avicula . . GO Compact slaty limestone 6 Soft brown shale ....... 6 Brown and purple marls ...... 40 1056 ft. In this section the Lower Carboniferous rocks are of much less ag- gregate thickness than usual ; yet they display the several dissimilar members of the series pretty fully. The " millstone-grit " con-esponds with the deposit of the same name overlying the Carboniferous lime- stone of England. It also corresponds with tlie thick succession of sandstones between Plaister Cove and Ship Harbour, with those over- lyinu' the gypsiferous rocks in Pictou county, with the sandstones of the Eagle's Nest, on the Shubenacadie, and with the lower groups of Mr Logan's Joggins section. The limestone, marls, and gypsum are well developed, except thai he latter ia of smaller thickness than is usual. The lower conglomerate is wanting ; but this is always an irregular deposit, and it appears in its proper place in most other sec- tions in this part of Cape Breton, as, for instance, at St Ann's Harbour, where the gypsum also is very largely developed. This section, as described by Mr Brown, did good service in confirming the new and more accurate views of the structure of the Carboniferous rocks in tliia province promulgated by Sir C. Lyell in 1842. Useful Minerals of X. Inverness and Victoria. ^ 7" Oypsum and limestone are very abundant in this district. The former may be obtained in any quantity at Mabou, Margarie River, \ m '■i\\ 404 THE CARBONIPEKOUS SYSTEM. St Ann's, Uig Harbour on the Great Bras d'Or, etc. The latter abounds in the same localities, as well as in several others where the gypsum is absent. The altered limestone at Craignish and Long Point would aflford several pretty and unusual varieties of coloured marble. Coal occurs at Port Hood, and since the publication of the first edition of this work, in which 1 directed attention to this coal-field as one of promise, it has been reported upon by Professor C. II. Hitchcock, and opened on a small scale. The principal bed is stated by Rutherford to be about 6 feet in thickness, with 4 feet 2 inches to 4 feet 4^ inches of good coal. Other valuable beds are siiid to have been found at Mabou, Uroad Cove, and Chimney Corner ; but they have not yet been opened. In Victoria county the only mine now worked is that of New Camp- belltown, on the Great JJras d'Or. At this place the Coal measures are stated to rest against the mass of syenitic or gneissosc rock of Cape Dauphin, and to be in part in a nearly vertical position. In the principal workings of the mine two beds of coal have been opened up. They are separated from each other by a tliickncss of 36 yards. The upper is 4 feet thick, the lower G feet. In another part of the area, a bed 4 feet 5 inches thick has been found. Its identity with cither of the above mentioned has not yet been ascertained.* The yield of the Port Hood Mine for 18G6 is stated to be 3824 tons, that of tlie New CompbcUtown Mine 3142 tons. Freestone for building is obtained, of good quality, at Port Hood Island and Margaric, and also at Whykokomagh ; but it is not yet worked on a large scale. The soils of this district being based principally on the calcareous rocks of the Lower Carboniferous scries, are in general of excellent quality. Carboniferous District of Cape Breton County. This, though tlie last, is one of the principal Carboniferous districts of the province, as it includes the important and productive Coal-fields of Sydney, Lingan, Glace 13ay, Cow Bay, and Mire, and exceeds all the others in its export of coal, while, it scarcely yields to the Joggins in its excellent exposures of the Coal formation rocks and fossils. As we owe most that is known of this district to the labours of R. Brown, Esq. of Sydney, I shall avail myself, in the fir.st instance, in describing it, of the information contained in his papers ;-l- adding such other items of information as I have collected in short visits to this interesting * Kutherford. f Seo List in Cliapter I. u I • ^1 DISTRICT OF CAPE BKETON COUNTY. 405 district, and the results of the important explorations tor coal recently carried on, more especially in its eastern part. The island of Boulardaric, the whole of which I include in this dis- trict, though pi)litically a part of it belongs to Victoria county, consists in its western part of the Lower Carboniferous limestone, and overlying hard sandstones, having apjjarcntly an undulating arrangement, as represented by Mr lirowu in his section of the island. The limestone, as I have observed it on the north side of Boulardarie, is hard and compact, and contains the Productus semireticulatus. At the eastern end of the island, the limestone and millstone-grit dip to the N.E. and underlie the Coal measures wliicii appear near Point Aconi. The Coal measures, extending from Point Aconi to the outcrop of the millstonc- grit, are stated by Mr Brown at 5400 feet in vertical thickness. Crossing the Little Bras d'Or, the Coal measures continue with north-easterly dip across the peninsula separating this strait from Sydney Harbour, and thence with various faults and disturbances to Mire Bay. As the general dip is seaward, Mr Brown remarks, " this great area of Coal measures is probably the segment oidy of an immense basin, extending toward the coast of NcwfouudlaTid ; a supposition which is confirmed by the existence of Coal measures at Neil's Harbour, 30 miles north of ('ape Dauphin." Inland of this broad band of Coal measures, the whole country northward of a lino drawn west from Mire Bay to the east arm of the Bras d'Or Lake, is occupied by the older members of the scries, with the exception of a tract of syenitic, porphyrltic, and altered rocks, which appears at and near George's River on the south-east side of Little Bras d'Or. These igneous rocks have altered the Lower Carboniferous limestone, as well as perhaps some underlying beds of the same system, showing that igneous action had not terminated in these ancient mcta- morphic districts at the connncncement of tlic Carboniferous period ; and this appears to have been the case along the boundary of the metamorphic and igneous rocks in many parts of Cape Breton. This extensive Carboniferous district is connected with that of llich- luoud county on the south, by a very narrow stripe of limestone, red conglomerate, and sandstone, skirting the base of the hills of porphyry, syenite, and slate, rising steeply from the side of tiie Bras d'Or Lake, which here is a broad and beautiful inland sea, presenting fine scenery in almost every direction. Tlie limestone and conglomerate may be seen in several places to rest on the edges of the older slates, and in some places, especially at Irish Cove, the former rock is filled with well-preserved fossil shells, including immense quantit'cs of the Cunu- laria, which in most other localities is rather rare ; as well as Produc- 1 t ■■'■ -i. ■il 'i| 'I. -i 406 THE CAKB0NIPER0U8 SYSTEM. tU8 cora, Tercbratula sacculusy Spirifer glaber, and a species of Euom- phalus. The limestone is sufficiently soft to allow fine specimens of these shells to be detached by weathering. The Coal measures are by far the most interesting part of this area, and are well exposed on the north side of Sydney Harbour, and on the south end of Boulardarie. Mr Brown has published an elaborate section and description of them as they occur at the fonner place, from which the following facts arc gleaned : — " The productive Coal measures cover an area of 250 square miles ; but, owing to several extensive dislocations, it is impossible to ascertain their total thickness with any degree of accuracy ; from the best information in my possession, I conclude that it exceeds 10,000 feet. We have one continuous section on the north shore of Boulardarie Island, 5400 feet in thickness, and in the middle portion of the field several detached sections, varying from 1000 to 2000 feet in thickness, whose exact relative positions have not yet been determined ; although it is quite clear that they are higher up in the formation than the highest beds of the Boulardarie section." Mr Brown then proceeds to describe the section on the north-west side of Sydney Harbour, from Stubbard's Point to Cranberry Head, a distance of 5000 yards, and exhibiting a vertical thickness of 1860 feet of beds. The dip is N. 60° E. 7°. Of these beds he gives a de- tailed section, including 34 seams of coal, and 41 underclays with Stigmaria or fossil soils. The whole of the beds composing the section are summed up as follows: — Arenaceous and argillaceous shales Underclays Sandstones . Coal Bituminous shales Carbonaceous shales Limestones . Conglomerate 1127 ft .3 in 99 6 562 37 26 5 3 3 3 11 8 1860 ft .0 in Erect trees and calamites occur at eighteen distinct levels. The greater number are Sigillariag, miiny of them with distinct Stigmaria roots, and a few are Lepidodendra. They occur in circumstances very similar to those of the erect trees at the Joggins already described. Mr Brown's various papers on these fossils gave to the geological i^: >l ERECT SIGILLARI^E AND STIGMARIAN ROOTS. rijj. 1. Sii/il/nrin in nilu, witli Stljjmarin HdotH iiiiil IJoi'tli'ts— Sydiiov. „ 2. Hoots of the saint', fts sni'ii in ii liorizontnl Hrclion— Sydiiuy. ,, 3. i^tninp nf SigiUariii Si/dnensi.i, sliowin}? tln> stt'in compressed into n ilonie— l-12tli nat. Hizu— Sydney. „ 4. Stnnip of Siijillana, with very rejjiilnr Stlt,'niniinn Roots sprondlnR In SandBtoi.t. —Port Hood. l'i>,'s. 1, 'J, .1, ai¥ from papers l)y Mr linnvn, qimt. .1 in tlic text. Sue also pp. 180, 482. lil ■ ^:: -■ 1 ' '.p- ■; i m i4L ■p ^fj-ilf^ DISTRICT OK CAPE BRETON COUNTY. 407 world the first really satisfactory information* respecting the true nature and mode of growth of Stigmaria ; and to these I may refer the reader, more especially to that in volume fifth of the " Geological Journal," page 355, from which I quote the following account of a fine specimen of Sigillaria alternans with Stigmaria roots, regularly rami- fying, and having attached to them conical tap roots, which penetrated directly downwards into a thin bed of shale overlying the main coal. This seam, like the main seam at the Joggins, has, when it was a bed of soft peat, supported a forest of Sigillaria3 and Lcpidodcndra, many of which still remain erect in the overlying shale, with all their roots and long spreading rootlets attached. " Immediately over the coal there is a bed of hard shale, six inches in depth, in which no fossils are found ; this is overlaid by a softer shale abounding in coal-plants; all the upright trees that I have ex- amined are rooted in the six-inch shale ; the crown of the base of that which I am now describing is just four inches above the coal ; its roots dip gradually downwards until they come in contact with the coal, at about eighteen inches from the centre of the tree, and then spread out over its surface. When this fossil was brought out of the mine the under side was covered up with hard shale, to which about one inch of coal adhered ; in cutting away this layer of coal, I met with the termination of a perpendicular root immediately in contact with the coal, which I carefully developed ; proceeding in this manner, my patience was amply rewarded by the discovery of a complete set of conical tfin roots. The horizontal roots branch off in a remarkably regular manner, the base being first divided into four equal parts by deep channels running from near the centre ; an inch or two farther on, each of these quarters is divided into two roots, which, as they recede from the centre, bifurcate twice within a distance of eighteen inches from the centre of the stump. " TiiC'-c are four large tap roots in each quarter of the stump, and, about five inches beyond these, a set of smaller tap roots, striking perpendicularly downwards from the horizontal roots, making forty- eight in all : namely, sixteen in the inner, and thirty-two in the outer set; and what is a still more remarkable feature in this singular fossil, there are exactly thirty-two double rows of leaf-scars on the circumference of the trunk. I'his curious correspondence in the numbers of the roots and vertical rows of leaf-scars, surely cannot be accidental. I am not aware that any similar correspondence has * Mr Binney can claim priority in date of publication ; but his specimens were much less perfect in details of structure, and therefore less satisfactory than those described by Mr Browu. 408 THE OAKUONIFKRUUS SYSTEM. ! ■ I'd ever been observed either in recent or foHsil plants. The inner set of taj) roots vary from two to two and a half inchcH in length ; the dia- meter at their junction with the base of the trunk being about two inches. The outer set are much smaller, being about one inch in dia- meter at their junction with the horizontal roots, and from one to one and a half inch in length. Very few of cither set are strictly conical, although they probably were originally of that shape ; some arc squeezed into an elliptical, others into a triangular form ; all have been wrinkled horizontally by the shrinkage duo to vertical compression. A thick tuft of broad flattened rootlets radiates from the terminations of the tap roots, and a few indistinct areolre are visible on their sides ; the length of these rootlets does not appear to exceed three or four inches, their width being one-fourth of an inch ; a raised black line runs down the middle of each, similar to that observed in the rootlets of Stigmariaj. These short thick tap roots were evidently adapted only to a soft wet soil, such as we may easily conceive was the nature of the first layer of mud deposited upon a bed of peat, which had settled down slightly below the level of the water. " We may infer also, from the existence of a layer of shale without fossil plants, immediately over the coal, that the prostrate stems and leaves which occur in such large quantities in the next superincumbent bed, fell from trees growing upon the spot, and were entombed in layers of mud held in suspension in water, which at short intervals inundated the low marshy ground on which they grew ; for had the plants been drifted from a distance, wc should find them in the first layer of shale as well as in those higher up. " Although the main coal is gcaovally overlaid by shale, yet occa- sionally the shale thins out, and the thick sandstone, which is the next stratum in the ascending order, forms the roof of the coal. In such cases the surface of the peat-bog could not have been level when the shale was deposited upon it, some small patches having been still above water ; and as no upright trees are found in the sandstone roof, it may reasonably be inferred that plants would not vegetate upon the bog itself, a layer of soft mud bring necessary in the first instance for germinating the seeds ; but when a plant had once taken root in this mud, its rootlets penetrated downwards into the peat, and furnished an abundant supply of nutriment for the rapid growth of the tree, from the rich mass of decaying vegetable matter beneath." The Sydney Coal measures contain not only erect trees, but also nu- merous beds with Naiadites, Cythere, Spirorb'ts, Fish-scales, etc.; though these do not so frequently overlie coal-seams as at the Joggins. The shales at Sydney are also much more rich than those at the Joggins in WV' DISTRICT OP CAPE nUKTON COUNTY. 409 the Ipon lince it in Ihed fom |nu- igh Pho the leaves and other more dolicnto parts of plants ; and on this account I give Ijcrc sketches of a few examplcH of tlic foliage of the Coal forma- tion period, as displayed in the rocks of Nova Scotia and Cape Ureton (Fig. 156). On the mode of occurrenco of such leaves, Mr Urown remarks : — " The shales arc the most prolific in plants, especially those which form the roofs of the coal-scams. It is singular that not even a trace Fig. Ibd.— Foliage from the (Joal fomiaHmi. a b c d e f g. (a) AlPthoptPris hotcropliylla (fern)— Moose River, (h) Sphenopliynnm ScMotheimli— Plrtoti (c) Lepidiulcmlroii blncrve— Sydney, (d) Asfcropliyllltes follosn— Hydiiey. (f) Cordiiites bornssifoliii— Joj;(ji"s. (/) NeiiropterlH rarlnervis (fern)— Sydney, (g) Odontopteris Hiib- ciiiioata (fern) — Sydney. of a fossil plant nor any organic substance has been found in any of the red shales, although they have been carefully examined for that purpcsc.* Wherever erect trees occur, ferns, Astcrophyllltcs, Splicno- phylla, and other delicate leaves, arc found in the greatest abundance ; from which I infer that they fell from growing trees and shrubs, having been covered up by successive layers of fine mud, deposited at frequent intervals over a low marshy district. In these localities single fronds of ferns are sometimes found covering a slab of .shale two feet square, as sharp and distinct in their outline as if tliey had been gathered only yesterday from a recent fern, and spread out with the greatest possible care, not a single leaflet being wanting or even * Tliis does not apply to the Coal formation of Picton, where ferns, Cordaites, and Sphenophyllum are found in red slialu.s, tiiough rarely. ^ 2d \ i! 410 THE CAIlDONIFEnOUa SYSTEM. 4)1 i' doubled up. Some bods also seem to contnin one species of plant only, all others being excluded ; of this wo have a striking example in the argillaceous hIuiIc (No. GO) : in the top of this bed, through a thickness of three inches, wo find Asterophyllitos foliosa, piled up layer above layer, from the base of the cliff to tlie crop of the bed— a distance of 200 feet— clearly proving that these plants grew on the spot." This description may give the reader some idea of the abun- dance and perfection of the fossil vcgetatimi i)rcserved in the Sydney Coal measures. As already stated also, a bed of shale in the Sydney section has afforded the finest example yet known of carboniferous rain- marks. These occur in a bed at the top of one of those bands in which the sandstones arc rippled and fossils rare. At some distance below it there are mussel shales, and ten feet above a stigmaria underclay and coal. These marks then were preserved in beds formed during the transition from aquatic to terrestrial conditions, by the silting up of a lagoon or creek, and most probably on a bed daily left dry at low tide. In a previous chapter mention was made of the curious footprints called Itusichnltes, as occurring in the Lower Carboniferous. In the Cape Hrcton Coal-field an interesting species occurs in the ('oal meas- ures (Fig. 157). The specimen from which the figure was taken was kindly presented to me by II. Brown, Esq. Fig. 157. — Itusichnilca Acculicua — Dawson Each impression consists of the easts of contiguous rounded furrows, each about one-eighth of an inch in breadth, and crossed by curved ; ', -rfr DIBTRICT OF CAPE BRETON COUNTY. 411 undulations and stria?, in such a manner as to give tlio appearance of a pinnate leaf carved in high relief. At each side of these impressions, and about a tentii of an inch distant from them, arc interrui)tcd lines, in relief in the casts, and running paralUd witli tlic casts of liio furrows. The whole has exactly thu appearance of the track of the swimming feet and cydney Coal-field, where their remains will probably hereafter be fou." 1. 1 have proposed for these imprcHsions the name It. Aca- dicus, in a paper on footprints of this class in the "Canadian Naturalist." \ W/i m furrows, by curved Useful Minerals of the Carboniferous District of Cape Breton County. Coal ranks at the head of these, about 421,000 tons being raised annually from the coal beds of this district. The oldest colliery in the district is that of North Sydney, which is worked by the (Jlencral Mining Association, on the north side of Sydney Harbour. The coal is shij)pcd at the bar at Nortli Sydney, to wliieh place a railway has been laid. The coal from this mine is used princiitally for domestic fires, and for the production of steam, for which it is admirably suited. Of the thirty-four .scams included in Mr IJrown's Sydney section, only four are of workable thickness ; they arc, — 1. The Indian Cove scam, about 450 feet of vertical thickness below the main scam . . . . . . 4 ft. 8 in. 2. Tho main seam . . . . . . .69 3. The Lloyd's Cove scam, about 730 feet of vortical thickness above the main seam . . . . < 4. The Cranberry Head top scam, about 280 feet above Lloyd's Cove seam . . . . . . • Of these only the main scam is worked at present, at the North Sydney mines. It yields a bright, free-burning coal, giving out its heat very rapidly, and leaving a very small quantity of heavy reddish ashes. According to Professor Johnston, it yields, — Volatile matter . . . 26-9.3 Fixed carbon . . • 67*57 Ashes 5'50 8 100000 1 ! 1 i Hi J 412 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. I ' Its steam-producing power is rather less than that of Pictou coal, being, according to the same authority, 7'01 to 1 lb,, or from the temperature of 212°, 7'99 to 1 lb. It also yields less illuminating gas ; and, from the presence of a little bisulphuret of iron, is more destructive to furnace bars than Pictou coal, For domestic use, however, its comparative freedom from dusty ashes more than com- pensates for these defects. North-westward of Sydney, the Coal measures extend to the Little Bras d'Or, and across the cast end of Boulardarie Island ; but this part of the district does not ajipear to be productive at present, though without doubt rich in coal. To the south-east of Sydney the Coal measures extend in a series of anticlinal and synclinal bends to Mire Bay and Catalogue, and arc extensively worked, though, from facts to be noted in the sequel, it will appear that their maximum produc- tiveness is still very far from being reached. The sketch map (Fig. 158) will show tlie general arrangement of the measures, as far as ascertained, and the localities of the principal mines. When the fir.st edition of this work was published, little was known of the extension oi ';hc Coal measures along the coast of Cape Breton from Sydney to Mire, except the mere fact of the extension of the Coal fonuation rocks, and the occurrence in them of some workable beds, to which, however, little attention had been given ; partly in consequence of the monopoly of the General Mining Association, and pai'tly in consequence of the absence of facilities for the shipment of coal. Within the last few year,s, however, the whole coast hao been explored by mining surveyors, and fourteen important mines have been opened or are in progress. As in nany other parts of the Carboniferous area of Acadia, the Coal formatioii beds are undulated along a series of anticlinal and synclinal lines, the .synclinals running out at the surface as they approach the older rocks, an arrangement which has been well worked out in detail by Profes.sor Lesley, in his reports on the district. In this way the coal rocks of Eastern Cape lireton aj)pear as the ends of three troughs. The most eastern and narrowest is that of Cow Bay. It is sepjiratcd from the second, that of Gilace Bay, by an cast and we.st anticlinal running out to the shore at North Head or Cape Granby, The Glace Bay trough is wider and fial,*er, and is separated from the still broader trough of Sydney by a second anticlinal running out at Lingan. In consequence of this arrangement and the inequalities of the coast line, the beds arc repeated a number of times, and only a limited portion of the whole tiiickness of the Carboniferous system is DISTRICT OF CAPE BRETON COUNTY. 418 Fig. \.()9>.— Map of Cape Breton Coal-field. A, Upper Coal beds, n, Middle Coal beds. C, liOweBt Coiil bods. U, Millstiiiii' (,'<■'(• K, Lower CMhoiiiferjus. F, Me^morphlc ijilurian. 1. New Campbellton Mine. 2. Little Bras d'Or „ 3. Sydney „ 4. LinKaii 5. lutoniiitinnal 6. Cftli'doiiia 7. Little lilacu Bay 8. Clyde 9. Schnncr Point 10. Itliick House U. (ionrio 12. South Head 13. Mir(! Mine. .Vote.— It Hhould t)c observed that there are probably several bed* of coal between sciles A and scries B, and that the Hues of outcrop of aurius B, C, D, and E, are not known in detail. 414 THE CABBONIFEKOUS SYSTEM. i , - exposed in the coast sections, but great facilities arc afforded for ex- ploring and working the beds of coal. Professor Lesley has published (Proc. Am, Acad., Phila. 18G2), a detailed section of that part of the series exposed in the vicinity of Little Glace IJay, amounting to a thickness of 907 feet. Unfortunately he gives no information as to the fossils, and appears to have been under the impression that his section includes nearly the whole of the productive Coal measures of Cape Breton, so that it is not possible to form any definite idea of the place in the series to which these beds belong. From specimens and information obtained from Mr Poole, Mr Barnes, Mr Mosely, and others, I am inclined to regard them as being in the upper part of the Middle Coal formation, the Upper Coal formation being apparently wanting or concealed under the ocean, and the Millstone-grit series appearing farther inland. Professor Lesley's section may be condensed as foUoAvs. It com- mences at the headland between Burnt Head and Little Glace Bay, where the newest rocks seen on this part of the coast appear. ft. in. Shales red and gray, the latter with nodules of iron ore 85 6 Sandstone and arenaceous shale . . . . 14 f Coal, good 10 J Underclay and sandstone 6 ■ 1 Carbonaceous shale 2 [ Underclay 8 Coal-group 1. jf . .Tf ! Shale 41 6 fCoal, soft 16 Coal-group 2 -^ CoaZ, solid— "Hub Vein" 4 ( Coal, hard 10 Coal-group 3. C/oal-group 4. Coal-group 6. Sandstone with fonsil plants 20 (Cannel Coal, l Underclay 6 Cannel Coal (^Underclay 2 Sandstones and shales ( Cannel Coal ' \ Underclay . Coal-group 5.... 25 1 3 Shale, arenaceous shale and sandstone . . . 133 Coal , , ; Shale 6 Coal and carbonaceous shale .... Underclay 5 11 Oi 6 Shale and sandstone 69 6 (Clay 3 .-< Cannel Coal, 1 (Underclay 70 ■MMHh 1- DISTRICT OF CAPE BRETON COUNTY. 415 Shales and arenaceous Hhalcs f Dark shale .... n„-i ~.«.,^ -J i ^oal slate " Canncl " . f^"'-^«"P ' 1 Hard sandy shale . . L Coaly matter Hard sandy shales and fire-clay (A slight break in the section occurs hero in Little Glace Bay). Soft measures ( Cbaly shale " 11 10 Coal-group 8. Coal-group 9. ■ I Coal Sandstones and shales . f Black bituminous shale J Cannel Coal . I Black bituminous shale [ Unde relay 93 1 19 5 Coal-group 10., Coal-group 11. Coal-group 12., Sandstone and fire-clay [ Coal, " Harbour Vein." . J Shales foliated 8 14 2 112 ' I Iron oru .... [Coal f Shale and sandstone 'tCoal Sandstones, shales, and fire-clay f Coal Coal-group 13.. ill. 8i 6 6 8 Oi 4 3 6 5 1 3 8 6 Oi 6 •) Black shale Sandstones, shales, and fire-clay with nodules of Ironstone 104 f Coal " Brutether's Vein " * 2 ■ \ Underclay 2 Shales, sandstones, and fire-clays, the latter with nodules of ironstone 49 6 In all, 907 feet. The above section is thus continued in descending order by the following, kindly furnished by II. Poole, Esq., from the Engine Pit at the Caledonia Mine : — Gray sandstone underlaid by seven inches of gray ft- shale with fossil plants 9 Coal-group 14., (Coal ' \ Black shale with fossils . in. 4 2 7 Gray sandstones with Sligmaria, underlaid by dark gray shale ten inches 19 ( Coal with partings of shale and fire-clay " Back Pit Coal-group 15 -< Seam." 4 9 { Hard gray sandstone 10 Gray sandstone with beds of fire-clay — Stigmaria 64 7 f Coal two to nine inches 5 ■ \ Dark gray sandstone — Sligmarui . . .16 Sandstone and shale — Stigmaria, Neuropteris, Cor- daites 27 8 * According to Mr Poole, the perpendicular distance between Coal-groups 12 and 13 18 135 feet, and there mo two coals, each one foot thick, in the interval. Coal-group 16., \ I' t i ^1 \m ' i 416 THE CAK150NIFEK0US SYSTEM. . ft. In. Coal 2 Black slialo, fossils 10 Coal 12 Cottl-gioup 17 ^ Ulack shah— Sigillaria 9 Coal, pyritous 1 Black shale, fossils 10 [ Soft shale — Stiymaria 4 Sandstone, shale and calcareo-bituininous shale, with Lepidodendra, Corduites, tSigillarin, and Stigmaria — also shells of Naiadites, Sjurorbia, and Ci/prida 14 7 Coal ffrouD 18 J Coa^ " I'lielan Seam " 8 3 ° P \ Dark gray sandstone — Stigmaria . . . .41 In all, 178 feet. The Phelan bed is, on the best evidence, identified with the Bridg- port or Lingan bed on the west, and the M'Aulay bed at Cow Bay on the east. Assuming this to be correct, the following table gives the continuation of the section, as shown in a MS. report of Mr Mosely of Halifax, kindly communicated to me by Mr Joseph B. Moore : — Sandstones and shales C!oal-group 19 Coal Measures not described Coal-group 20 Cval Measures not described Coal-group 21 Coal Sandstones, shales, and ironstone Coal-group 22 Coal "M'l'hail or M'ltury Seam" * Sandstone and shale Coal-group23 Coal Shales »,nd fire-clay Coal-group 24 C d . , . Measures undescribed Coal-group 25 Coal * In Mr Lyman's Heport, the latter part of this section is given somewhat differ- ently, as follows : — M'Rury coal 4 ft. 4 in. Measures undescribed Coal (two feet bed) 1 ft. 9 in. Measures undescribed, about Coal (eighteen-iiich bed) Measures undescribed, about 100 Coal (" Long Beach Bed") . Measures undescribed CouZ ("Tracey Bed") Tlie bed tlirce feet thick about 100 feet bulow the M'Rury Scim appears to have been discovered after the publication of Lyman's Report; and Mr Poole mentions a bed one foot thick as occurring between the former and the "M'Rury." ft. in. 100 7 42 7 63 1 4 58 5 6 100 3 92 2 8 50 4 4 to 5 ft. 4 in 150 to 2 3 100 1 6 100 2 10 2400 4 12 am ft. in. 2 10 12 9 1 10 4 14 7 8 3 4 1 ft. in. 100 7 42 7 63 1 4 58 5 6 100 3 92 2 8 50 4 4 It diflfer- 4 in 3 6 2 to have intiomi a DISTRICT OF CAPE URETON COUNTY. 4A7 ft. 111. 100 3 8 Sandstone and slialo Coal-group 26 Ooai " Long Ueach Seam " .... Measures not described 50 Coal-group 27 Cual 2 3 Sandstone and shale 105 Coal-group 28 Coal 16 "'' ' • Measures not described (?) 103 Coal-group 29 Coal 6 Below this last bed, the Coal measures conthiuc to occupy the country for some distance, and a bed 4 feet thick, the "Gardener (j'oal," occurs 330 feet lower. At a distance estimated by Mr Lyman at 2400 feet below the Long Beach Seam, or about 2130 feet below coal No. 29, mentioned above, occurs a bed of good coal, three feet ciglit inches and a quarter in thickness, or, hicluding a clay part- ing, which appears in some portions, but not in others, four feet one inch and a half. It is called the " Tracey Seam." Another seam is indicated in Mr Poole's and Mr Mosely's plans, between the " Tracey " and seam 29 above, and 435 to 460 feet above the former ; but I have no information in respect to it. The Tracey bed is now worked on the peninsula between Cow and Mire Bays, and is the most eastern coal worked in this coal-field. To the southward of it, however, and at a distance representing at least a thousand feet of beds, there is said to be till another coal known as the " Spencer Seam," before we reach the beginning of the Millstone-grit scries, which would thus seem to be at least 4500 feet below the newest beds seen near Glace Bay. An important question arises here as to the equivalency of any of these beds with the Coal measures of North Sydney. Mr It. Brown, in the remarks prefixed to his section of the Sydney Coal-field in 1849, states his belief that the beds at Glace Bay are newer than those of North Sydney. Mr Lesley, on the other hand, regards them as equi- valent. After a careful comparison of the several sections, I confess that I think the view of Mr Brown the more probable ; more espe- cially as it places these beds more intelligibly in relation with the members of the Lower Carboniferous seen farther inland, and with the other coal-fields of Nova Scotia. From Mr Brown's section, it would appear that the Sydney main coal is only about 800 feet above the beginning of the Millstone-grit fi)rm";ion; and one considerable bed, the Indian Cove seam, of 4 feet 8 inches m thickness, occurs in this interval with a thickness of 350 feet between it and the Millstone-grit. Now, as the latter formation is not brought to the surface by either of the anticHnals between Sydney and Mire, and does not appear for some distance up Mire Bay, it seems plain that the only beds in our sections i ■ >♦ ,- • *- 1 \ ■ i 1 i I \ "m^ 418 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. which can represent the Sydney main coal and the Indian Cove scam, must be the Tracey and Spencer beds, or beds associated with them, and not yet well known.* In this case the whole of the upper beds at Cow Bay and Glace IJay beds must actually overlie the Cranberry Head seam at Sydney^ which may be about the horizon of the Phelan bed. The only supposition which would enable us to arrive at any other conclusion is, that the 2000 feet of thickness between the six- feet bed and Tracey bed represent the Millstone-grit of Mr Brown ; but as that careful observer mentions no beds of coal under the Mill- stone-grit, and states that a continuous section of 5400 feet of Coal measures exists on the north side of Boulardarie Island, this is scarcely possible. In this view of the case, then, the total thickness of Coal measures from the Millstone-grit to the newest beds between Glace Bay and Lingan cannot be less tlian 4500 to 5000 feet, and may be more ; and it is probable that several important coals not yet known exist in the lower part of these measures. In comparison with the .Joggins section, it would appear that we have in these Coal measures of Cape Breton a complete equivalent of Divisions 3 and 4 of the former section, with a greater aggregate thickness of coal ; and if we make allowance for the probability that many of the smaller beds in Cape Breton have not been noticed by explorers, probably quite as many beds of coal. It is a matter of some practical importance that the question raised by the discrepancy of the views of Mr Brown and Mr Lesley above stated should be definitely settled by the actual tracing of some of the beds above refen-ed to into connexion with the Sydney area. If Mr Brown's view should prove correct, the available coal of the district will be double that represented by Lesley, and other and very valuable discoveries may be anticipated in the country between Mire Bay and Sydney Harbour. From the Report of the Commissioner of Mines for 1866, it appears that there are fourteen distinct mining establishments now operating in the Coal-field of Eastern Cape Breton, and producing an aggregate of more than 400,000 tons of coal annually, or neaily two-thirds of ths whole quantity raised in the province of Nova Scotia, so that this is now the most important coal-rnining district in the Acadian provinces. Some of the coala of this district are of remarkable purity, in so far * Mr Mosely, in a letter to the author, mentions some strong reasons for believing that the Tracey bed is the equivalent of Mr Brown's third seam, or Indian Cove seam at 8ydney, and that a bed seen at Black Brook, head of Cow Bay, is the Sydney main seam, being at the same vertical distance above the Tracey that the Sydney main is above the Indian Cove seam. >h^i lA DISTRICT OF CAPE BRETON COUNTY. 419 as freedom from ash is concerned ; and that of Lingan is remarkable for its largo yield of illuminating gas. I am indebted to Mr Poole for the following table of results of assays of the coal of the Cale- donia Mine : — Wayland Seam, Caledonia Coal Mine, Glace Bay, Cape Breton, November 1866. Number of Sample. Depth in Seam. Speclfic G ravity. Vol. Matter. Coke. Carbon. Ash. Colour of Ash. Ft. In. 1 X 6 1-365 33-412 66-588 60-880 5-708 Palo brown. 2 1 6 1-433 30-408 69-592 51-771 17-821 Palo brown. 3 2 6 1-287 27-098 72-902 57-358 15-544 CSray. 4 3 6 1321 30-792 69-208 55-625 13-583 Hrown. 5 4 6 1-298 33-826 66-174 61 174 5-0(i0 White. i iii.parting,6 5 3 1-452 ;i0 709 69-291 45-705 23-586 White, 7 5 6 1-2{I() 36-728 63-272 58-494 4-778 Light brown. 8 6 6 1-324 37-567 62-433 55-868 6-565 Keddish brown. 9 7 6 1-311 .34-225 65-775 57-772 8-003 Brown. Total... Less parting, 8 12-087 : 1-452 294-765 30-709 605-235 69-291 ! 504-647 45-705 100-588 23-586 f Parting (led. ; ( not shipped. No. 6 8 -7- 10-635 ' 1 264-056 535-944 458 '942 77-002 Average... 1 -329 33-007 66-993 57-368 9-625 1 1 Clay Ironstone, in nodules, occurs in several of the sh.ales of the Sydney section, and is also present in large quantity in the Coal mea- sures of Glace Bay, but I have no inform"tion respecting its probable industrial value. lAmcstone and Gypsum, as already mentioned, abound in a number of places, but are not extensively worked. An altered limestone, which extends from the neighbourhood of Long Island, on the Little Bras d'Or, toward the East Arm, affords a gray and white Marble. Freestone and Grindstone are also quarried, though in small quantity. Plants from Glace Bay. Since writing the chapter on the Cape Breton Coal-field, I ';ave received from Hy. Pooie, Esq., a collection of plants from the Coal measures of Glace Bay ; among which I recognise the following forms : — Cyperites. Alethopteris Serlii. Trigonocarpum. Alethopteris allied to Grandini. Alethopteris nervosa. Alethopteris lonchitica. T'J \ i 420 THE CAKB0N1FKR0U8 8Y8TKM. ' ^i iw ! Pccoptcris orcoptcroidcs (?) Pecoptcris Dournaisii, or allied. Ncuropteris flexuosa. Ncuroptcris rarincrvis. Ncuropteris auriculata. Sphenoptcris decipiens (V) Cyclopteria fimbriata. Astcrophyllites cquisetiformiH. Spheuophyllum — a species with seven or eight long narrow leaflets, each with about eight nerves. I have fragments of the same from Sydney. It is probably new, and is certainly different from the other species referred to in the text. It may be named S. Pooli. Cordaites borassifolia. Lcpidodendron like leAragonum. Lepidodendron elegans. Lepidophyllum lanccolatum. Associated with these plants arc abundant valves of Naiaditea elongatus, and also scales of small ganoid fi.shcs and cyprids. The flora represented by this collection is very like that of Sydney, more especially in the number of ferns and the species of those present ; and it is probable that this resemblance will bo found to extend throughout the Coal-field of Eastern Cape Ureton. It is a strictly Middle Coal formation assemblage, though having the facies of the upper part of that series, to which the Glace Bay beds would, on stratigraphical grounds, be referred. 491 CHAPTER XX. THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM- Ccmhnwrf. THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. I HAVE already endeavoured to introduce the reader into the jungles and forests of Carboniferous Aeadia; but in order tliat lie may fully appreciate the nature of the wondrouH vegetation of that ancient time, the producer of all our stores of mineral fuel, it will be necessary that we shall pass in review the several genera of Coal formation plants, and endeavour so to restore them that, in imagination, we may see thcni growing before us, and fancy ourselves walking beneath their shade. While thus endeavouring to introduce the ordinary reader and the student of Geology and Palaeontology to an acquaintance with the Coal Flora, I shall take advantage of the abundant material within my reach to restore some of the species more completely than has hitherto been possible, and thus to present to geologists what I trust may prove a more full and accurate synopsis of the leading features of the Carboniferous Flora than any at present accessible. The modern flora of the eartli admits of a grand twofold division into the Phcenogamous, or flowering and seed-bearing plants, and the Cryptogamous, or flowerless and spore-bearing plants. In the former scries, we have, first, those higher plants which start in life with two seed-leaves, and have stems with distinct bark, wood, and pith — the Exogcns ; secondly, those simpler plants which begin life with one seed- leaf only, and hiive no distinction of bark, wood, and pith, in the stem — the Endugens ; and, thirdly, a peculiar group starting with two or several seed-leaves, and having a stem with bark, wood, and pith, but with very imperfect flowers, and wood of much simpler structure than cither of the others — the Oymnospcrms. To the first of these groups or clar-bas belong most of the ordinary trees of temperate climates. To the second belong the Palms and other trees found in tropical climates. To the third belong the Pines and Cycads. In the second or Crypto- gamous series we have also three classes, — (1.) The Acrcgens, or ferns and club-mosses, with stems having true vessels marked on the sides \ PI I !l 422 THE CARUOMFEnOUS SYSTEM. with cross bars — tlio scalariforni vessels. (2.) The Anophytes, or mosses and their allies, with stems and leaves, but no vessels. (3.) The Thallophi/tes, or lichens, fungi, sea-weeds, etc., without true stems and leaves. In the existing climates of the earth we find these classes of plants variously distributed as to relative numbers. In some, pines predo- minate. In others, palms and tree-ferns form a considerable part of the forest vegetation. In others, the ordinary exogenous trees predo- minate, almost to the exclusion of others. In some Arctic and Alpine regions mosses and lichens prevail. In the Coal period we have found none of the higher Exogen.s, and only a few obscure indications of the presence of Endogcns ; but Gymnospcrnis abound, and are highly char- acteristic. On the other hand, we have no mosses or lichens, and very few algae, but a great number of ferns and Lycopodiaccro or club-mosses. Thus the Coal formation period is botanically a meet- ing place of the lower Pha;nogams and the higher Cryptogams, and presents many forms which, when imperfectly known, have puzzled botanists in regard to their position in one or other scries. In the present world, the flora most akin to that of the Coal period is that of moist and warm islands in the southern hemisphere. It is not pro- perly a tropical flora, nor is it the flora of a cold region, but rather indicative of a moist and equable climate. Still we must bear in mind that we may often be mistaken in reasoning as to the temperature required by extinct species of plants differing from those now in exist- ence. Farther, we must not assume that the cliniatal conditions of the northern hemisi)here were in the Coal period at all similar to those which now prevail. As Sir Charles Lycll has shown, a less amount of land in the higher latitudes would greatly modify climates, and there is every reason to believe that in the Coal period there was less land than now. Farther, it has been shown by Tyndall that a very small additional amount of carbonic acid in the atino.spherc would, by obstructing the radiation of heat from the earth, produce almost the effect of a glass roof or conservatory, extending over the whole world. Again, there is much In the structure of the leaves of the Coal plants?, as well as in the vast amount of carbon which they accumulated in the form of coal, and the characteristics of the animal life of the period, to indicate, on independent grounds, that the carboniferous atmosphere differed from that of the present world in this way, or in the presence of more carbonic acid, — a substance now existing in the very minute proportion of less than one-thousandth of the whole, a quantity adapted to the present requirements of vegetable and animal life, but probably not to those of the Coal period. ' r- THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 423 TTe shall commence our survey of the Coal flora with the higher fonns of plant-life, which are also those most akin to the plants of the present world. Class OF Gymnosperms. 1. Conifer ce or Pines. Four species of pines have been recognised in the Coal formation of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They arc known principally as drift trunks imbedded in the sandstones, and these are so abundant as to indicate that extensive pine forests existed, perhaps principally in the uplands, higher than the Coal swamps. The trunks are also fre- quently so well preserved, owing to the infiltration of carbonate of lime or silica into their cells, that their most minute structures can be observed as readily as in the case of recent wood. They may all be included in the genua Dadoxylon, a name whicii means simply pine- wood. The wood of these trees, however, more resembles that of the Araucarian pines of the southern hemisphere than that of our ordinary pines. One of the species, D. antiquius, is closely allied to D. Withami of Great Britain, and, like that species, belongs to the Lower Carbon- iferous Coal measures. Its structure is of that character for which Brongniart proposed the generic name " Palaoxylun."* Another species, D. Acadianum, is found abundantly at the Joggins and else- where in the condition of drifted trunks imbedded in the sandstone of the lower part of the Coal formation and the upper part of the Mill- stone-grit series. The third species, D. matcriariuin, is very near to D. Brandlingii of Great Britain, and may possibly be only a variety. It is especially abundant in the sandstone of the Upper Coal formation, in which vast numbers of drifted trunks of this species occur in some places. The fourth species, D. annidalum, presents a very peculiar structure, probably of generic value. It has alternate concentric i-ings of discigerous woody tissue, of the character of that of Daduxylon, and of compact structureless coal, which either represents layers of very dense wood or, more likely, of corky cellular tissue. In the latter case, the structure would have affinities with that of certain Gnetacece or jointed pines, and of Cycads. Though coniferous trees usually occur as decorticated and pi'ostrate trunks, I have recorded the occurrence of one erect specimen, in a sand- stone a little above the " Main Coal," at the Joggins. It probably belonged to the species last named. Tissues of coniferous trees are very rare in the coal itself. Most of the tissues marked with discs on the cells like those of pines, found in the coal, belong to Sigillaria and * Ancient wood. i I \ ■' 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // {./ /M, MJ. Q- :/. 1.0 I.I 1.25 ;riM lllllM " m mil 2.2 V 116 :!• El 2.0 1.8 U III 1.6 ■♦■ ^^ /. •% C? / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 1 .^. ^ i. L

, Do. do. (tangential), 90 diams. D^, Do. do. cell showing areolation, 250 diams. 2 E ^ }] If . \ \ \ - s- ' — 11! 426 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. (Fig. It . It is cylindrical, but somewhat flattened, being one inch and two ^nths in its least diameter, and one inch and seven-tenths in its greatest. Tlie diaphragms, or transverse partitions, appear to have been continuous, though now somewhat broken. They arc rather less than one-tenth of an inch apart, and are more regular than is usual in these fossils. The outer surface of the pith, except where covered by the remains of the wood, is marked by strong wrinkles, correspond- ing to the diaphragms. The little transverse ridges are in part coated with a smooth tissue similar to that of the diaphragms, and of nearly the same thickness. Fig. 160. — Stemhergia Pith of Dadoxyhn. A B C B lliil il i J W ll|ll!"||ii ,1 liiiiiil ;|i:!llil|ili| A, Specimen ; nat. size, showing remftins of wood at (a) {a). B, Junction of wood and pith ; magnified. C, CeUs of the wood of do. (na); (6) Me- dullary 'ay ; (c) Areolation. D, Longitudinal section of anotlicr speei- men with thicic cosily envelope repre- senting the wood. E, Flattened trunk, with SUrnheryia pith at (a) ; reduced. F, Cellular tissue of pith. When traced around the circumference or toward the centre, the partitions sometimes coalesce and become double, and there is a ten- dency to the alternation of wider and narrower wrinkles on the surface. In these characters and in its general external aspect, the specimen perfectly resembles many of the ordinary naked ISternbergia;. On microscopic examination, the partitions are found to consist of condensed pith, which, from the compression of the cells, must have been of a firm bark-like texture in the recent plant (Fig. 160," F). The wood attached to the surface, which consists of merely a few small splinters, is distinctly coniferous, with two and three rows of discs on THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 427 the cell walls (C, c). It is not distinguishable from that of Pinites [Dadoocylon) Brandlingii of Witham, or from that of the specimens figured by Professor Williamson. The wood and transverse partitions are perfectly silicified, and of a dark-brown colour. The partitions are coated with small colourless crystals of quartz and a little iron pyrites, and the remaining spaces are filled with crystalline laminse of sulphate of barytes. Unfortunately this fine specimen does not possess enough of its woody tissue to show the dimensions or age of the trunk or branch which contained this enormous pith. It proves, however, that the pith itself has not been merely dried and cracked transversely by the elon- gation of the stem, as appears to be the case in the Butternut [Juglans cinerea), and some other modern trees, but that it has been condensed into a firm epidermis-liks coating and partitions, apparently less de- structible than the woody tissue which invested them. In this speci- men the process of condensation has been carried much farther than in that described by Professor Williamson, in which a portion of the un- altered pith remained between the Sternbergia cast and the wood. It thus more fully explains the possibility of the preservation of such hollow-chambered piths after the disappearance of the wood. It also shows that the coaly coating investing such detached pith-casts is not the medullary sheath, properly so called, but the outer part of the con- densed pith itself. The examination of this specimen having convinced me that the structure of Sternbergiaj implies something more than the transverse cracking observed in Juglandaceae, I proceeded to compare it with other piths, and especially with that of Cecropia peltata, a West Indian tree, of the natural family Artocarpacea;, a specimen of which was kindly presented to me by Professor Balfour of Edinburgh, and which I believe has been noticed by Dr Fleming, in a paper to wiiich I have not had access. This recent stem is two inches in diameter. Its medullary cylinder is three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and is lined throughout with a coating of dense whitish pith tissue, one-twentieth of an inch in thickness. This condensed pith is of a firm corky texture, and forms a sort of internal bark lining the medullary cavity. Within this the stem is hollow, but is crossed by arched partitions, convex upward, and distant from each other fi'om three-quarters to one and a quarter inch. These partitions are of the same white corky tissue with the pith lining the cavity ; and on their surfaces, as well as on that of the latter, are small patches of brownish large-celled pith, being the remains of that which has disappeared from the intervening spaces. Each partition corresponds with the upper margin of one of the large \ W 1 y Ill i t 1 p4--' fB-'-i->-4l|- EL_ * h'^^^m V I ■' 1 *■ ! I^' i' * 428 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. triangular leaf-scars, arranged in quincuncial order on the surface of the stem. Inferring from these appearances that this plant contains two distinct kinds of pith tissue, differing in duration and probably in function, I obtained, for comparison, specimens of living plants of this and allied families. In some of these, and especially in a species labelled " Ficus imperialis," from Jamaica, I found the same structure; and in the young branches, before the central part of the pith was broken up, it was evident that the tissue was of two distinct kinds : one forming the outer coating and transverse partitions opposite the insertions of the leaves, and retaining its vitality for several years at least ; the other, occupying the intervening spaces or interaodes, of looser texture, speedily drying up, and ultimately disappf iM'ing. The trunks above noticed are of rapid growth, and have large leaves ; and it is probable that the more permanent pith lissue of the medullary lining and partitions serves to equalize the distribution of the juices of the stem, which might otherwise be endangered by the tearing of the ordinary pith in the rapid elongation of the intemodes. A similar structure has evidently existed in the Coal formation conifers of the genus Dadoxylon, and possibly they also were of rapid growth and furnished with very large or abundant leaves. Applying the facts above stated to the different varieties or species of Sternbergia, we must, in the first place, connect with these fossils such plants as the Pinites medullaris of Witham. I have not seen a longitudinal section of this fossil, but should expect it to present a transverse structure of the Sternbtrgia type. The first specimen de- scribed by Professor Williamson represents a second variety, in which the transverse structure, is developed in the central part of the pith, but not at the sides. In my Pictou specimen the pith has wholly dis- appeared, with the exception of the denser outer coating and transverse plates. All these are distinctly coniferous, and the differences that appear may be due merely to age, or more or less rapid growth. Other specimens of Sternbergia want the internal partitions, which may, however, have been removed by decay ; and these often retain very imperfect traces, or none, of the investing wood. In the case uf those which retain any portion of the wood sufficient to render prob- able their coniferous character, the surface markings are similar in character to those of my Pictou specimen, but often vary greatly in their dimensions, some having fine transverse wrinkles, others having these wide and coarse. Of those specimens which retain no wood, but only a thin coaly investment representing the outer pith, many cannot be distinguished by their superficial markings from those that THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 429 arc known to be coniferous, and they occasionally afford evidence that we must not attach too much importance to the character of their markings. A very instructive specimen of this kind from Ohio, with which I have been favoured by Professor Newberry, has in a portion of its thicker end very fine transverse wrinkles, u.id in the remainder of the specimen much coarser wrinkles. This difference marks, perhaps, the various rates of growth in successive seasons, or the change of the character of the pith in older portions of the stem. The state of preservation of the Stembergia casts, in reference to the woody matter which surrounded them, presents, in a geological point of view, many interesting features. Professor WTilliamson's specimen I suppose to be unique, in its showing all the tissues of the branch or trunk in a good state of preservation. More frequently, only fragments of the wood remain, in such a condition as to evidence an advanced state of decay, while the bark-like medullary lining remains. In other specimens, the coaly coating investing the cast sends forth flat expansions on either side, as if the Sternbergia had been the midrib of a long thick leaf. This appearance, at one time very perplexing to me, I suppose to result from the entire removal of the wood by decay, and the flattening of the bark, so that a perfectly flattened specimen may be all that remains of a coniferous branch nearly two inches in diameter. A still greater amount of decay of woody tissue is evidenced by those Stembergia casts which are thinly coated with structureless coal. These must, in many casec, represent trunks and branches which have lost- their bark and wood by decay ; Avhile the tough cork-like ch.ambered pith drifted away to be imbedded in a separate state. This might readily happen with the pith of Cecropia ; and perhaps that of these coniferous trees may have been more durable ; while the wood, like the sap-wood of many modem pines, may have been susceptible of rapid decay, and liable, M'hen exposed to alternate moisture and dryness, to break up into those rectangular blocks which are seen in the decaying trunks of modem conifers, and are so abundantly scattered over the surfaces of coal and its associated beds in the fonn of mineral charcoal. Some specimens of Stembergia appear to show that they have existed in the interior of trunks of considerable size. I have observed one at the Couth Joggins, which appears to show the remains of a tree a foot in diameter, now flattened and converted into coal, but retain- ing a distinct cast of a wrinkled Sternbi rgia pith. (Fig. 160, E.) Are we to infer from these facts that the wood of the trees of the genus Dadoxylon was necessarily of a lax and perishable texture ? Its structure, and the occurrence of the heart-wood of huge trunks of klff I- J f' '■ I 430 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM, similar character in a perfectly mineralized condition, would lead to a different conclusion ; and I suspect that we should rather regard the mode of occuri-ence of Sternbergia as a caution against the too general inference, from the state of preservation of trees of the Coal formation, that their tissues were very destructible, and that the beds of coal must consist of such perishable materials. The coniferous character of the Stembergiaj, in connexion with their state of preservation, seems to strengthen a conclusion at which I have been arriving from micros- copic and field examinations of the coal and carbonaceous shales, that the thickest beds of coal, at least in Eastern America, consist in great part of the flattened bark of coniferous, sigillarioid, and Icpidodendroid trees, the wood of which has perished by slow decay, or appears only in the state of fragments and films of mineral charcoal. This subject, however, will be introduced in the next section of this chapter. In my researches in microscopic coal structures, I have also ascertained that some SternbergijB are pith cylinders of Sigillarias. (Fig. 161, M). The most abundant locality of Sternbergia with which I am acquainted occurs in the neighbourhood of the town of Pictou, im- mediately below the bed of erect calamites described in the Journal of the Geological Society (vol. vii., p. 194). The fossils are found in interrupted beds of very coarse sandstone, with calcareous concretions, imbedded in a thick reddish brown sandstone. These gray patches are full of well-preserved Calamites, which have either grown upon them, or have been drifted in clumps with their roots entire. The appearances suggest the idea of patches of gray sand rising from a bottom of red mud, with clumps of growing Calamites which arrested quantities of drift plants, consisting principally of Sternbergia and fragments of much decayed wood and bark, now in the state of coaly matter, too much penetrated by iron pyrites to show its structure dis- tinctly. We thus probably have the fresh growing Calamites entombed along with the debris of the old decaying conifers of some neighbour- ing shore ; funiishing an illustration of the truth, that the most ephemeral and perishable forms may be fossilized and preserved con- temporaneously with the decay of the most durable tissues. The rush of a single summer may be preserved with its minutest striae unharmed, when the giant pine of centuries has crumbled into dust or disappeared. 2. Sigillariacece or Sigillarioid Trees. 1. Oenus Sigillaria. — The Sigillarise, so named from the seal-like scars of fallen leaves stamped on their bark, were the most important of all the trees of the coal-swamps, and those which contributed most leal-like Iportant id most THE FMSA OF THK COAL FORMATION. 4S1 largely to the production of coal. Let us take as an example of them a species very common at the Joggins, and which I have named S. Brownii, in honour of my friend, Mr II. Brown of Sydney. Imagine a tall cylindrical trunk spreading at the base, and marked by perpen- dicular rounded ribs giving it the appearance of a clustered or fluted column. These ribs are marked by rows of spots or pits left by fallen leaves, and toward the base they disappear, and the bark becomes rough and uneven, but still retains obscure indications of the leaf-scars, widened transversely by the expansion of the stem. At the base the trunk spreads into roots, but with a regular bifurcation quite un- exampled in modern trees, and the thick cylindrical roots are marked with round sunken pits or areoles, from which spread long cylindrical rootlets. These roots are the so-called Stigmarice, at one time regarded as independent plants, and, as the reader may have already observed, remarkable for their constant presence in the underclays of the coal- beds. Casting our eyes upward, wc find the pillar-like trunk, either quite simple or spreading by regular bifurcation into a few thick branches, covered with long narrow leaves looking like grass, or, more exactly, like pine leaves greatly increased in size, or, more exactly still, like single leaflets of the leaves of Cycads. Near the top, if the plant were in fruit, we might observe long catkins of obscure flowers or strings of large nut-like seeds, borne in rings or whorls encircling the stem. If we could apply the woodman's axe to a Sigillaria, we should find it very different in structure from that of our ordinary trees, but not unlike that of the Cycads, or false sago-plants of the tropics. A lumber-man would probably regard it as a tree nearly all bark, with only a slender core of wood In the middle ; and, botanically, he would be very near the truth. The outer rind or bark of the tree was very hard. Within this was a very thick inner bark, partly composed of a soft corky cellular tissue, and partly of long lough fibrous cells like those of the bark of the cedar. This occupied the greater part of the stem even in old trees four or five feet in diameter. Within this we would find a comparatively small cylinder of wood, not unlike pine in appearance, and even in its microscopic structure ; and in the centre a large pith, often divided, by the tension caused in the growth of the stem, into a series of horizontal tables or partitions. Su^h a stem would have been of little use for timber, and of comparatively small strength. Still the central axis of wood gave it rigidity, the surround- ing fibres, like cordage, gave the axis support, and the outer shell of hard bark must have contributed very materially to the strength of the whole. Growing as these trees did in swampy flats close together, and the bark of which thoy were chiefly composed being less L i •^T' m 1 * ' , i * ]» ■ m ■■ - ' ' J mM I I :i i ! /' ij 432 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Fig. 161.— SigillaricB. A, l^ii/illarin Drnwnii. restored. Fnr other illustrations of tliis species, see Fig. 30. U, S. elegam, restored. 6>, Leaf of S. elegans, B', Portion of decorticated stem, sliowing one of the transverse bands of fruit-scars. 11', Portion of stem and branch reduced, and scars nat. size. C, Cross section of Sigillaria Brownii (V), reduced, and portion at (M) natural size, (a) Stcm- bergla pith, (M) Inner cylinder of scalariform vessels. (6^) Outer cylinder of discigerous cells, with niedulliiry rays and bundles of scalariform vessels going to the leaves at (tA). (c) Inner bark, (d) Outer bark. D, Scalariform vessel magnified. H, S.eminens, reduced. (H') arcole, half n. size. E, Discigerous woody fibre, magnified. I, S. catenoidet, half nat. size. F, Sigillaria BretonenBU, H. (/>) Areole, n.size. K, iS. |)2antcos(a, half nat. size. O, S. itriata, nat. size. , I,, Portion of leaf of 3. icuttUata. * u' THE FLORA OF TnE COAL FORMATION. 488 susceptible of rRpid decay than most kinds of wood, and too impervious to fluids to bo readily penetrated by mineral matter, they were admir- ably fitted for the production of the raw material of coal. I have endeavoured to represent the structures above referred to in Fig. 161. The species to which I have referred was only one of many more or less resembling it, but differing in details; and according to these special differences, they may be arranged in the following genera, which may, however, bo much modified by the progress of discovery. Op- posite each genus I have given the species representing it in Nova tScotia. (1.) Favularia, Sternberg (2.) RiiYTiDoLEPis, Sternberg (3.) SiGiLLARiA, Brongn. (4.) Clathraria, Brongn. . . (5.) Leioderma, Guldenb. . . (Asolanus, Wood). (6.) Sykingodendron, Sternb. Sigillaria elegans, Brongn. tessollata, Brongn. Bretonensis, Dawson. . scutcllata, Brongn. Schlotheimiana, Brongn. Saullii, Brongn. Doumaisii, Brongn. Knorrii, Brongn. pachyderma, Brongn. flexuosa, L. if H. f elongata, Brongn. reniformis, Brongn. Broivnii, Dawson. laevigata, Brongn. planicosta, Dawson, catenoides, Dawson. striata, Dawson. eminens, Dawson. . Menardi, Brongn. . Sydncnsis, Dawson. organum, L. ^ H. Of these, seven are probably now species, and the remainder can be identified with reasonable certainty with European species. The differences in the markings in different parts of the same tree are, however, so great, that I regard the greater part of the recognised species of Sigillarice as merely provisional. Even the generic limits may be overpassed when species are dctennined from hand specimens. A fragment of the base of an old tnnik of Sigillaria proper would necessarily be placed in the genus Leioderma, and a young branch of i"; \ T^ 484 THS CARBONIFEROUS 8Y8TKM. Favularia has all the charncters of the genua Clathraria. It is, however, absolutely necessary to make some attempt at generic dis- tinction among the diverse forms included in the genus Sigillaria ; otherwise it will be impossible to reconcile the conflicting statements of authors as to the dimensions, habit of growth, foliage, roots, and fructification of these singular plants; — such statements usually ap- plying to one or more of the subordinate generic types. I shall therefore notice separately, and with especial reference to their function in the production of coal, the several generic or subgeneric forms, beginning with that which I regard as the most important — namely, Sigillaria j)ropcr, of which, in Nova Scotia, I regard the species which I have named S. Bruwnii as the type. Other species arc represented in Figs. 161, B to K. In the restricted genus Sigillaria the ribs are strongly developed, except at the base of the stem ; they are usually much broader than the oval or elliptical tripuiictate arcoles, and arc striated longitudinally. The woody axis has both diacigerous and scalariform tissu-^s, arranged in wedges, with medullary rays as in exogens;* the pith is trans- versely partitioned in the manner of Sternhergia ; and the inner bark contains great quantities of long and apparently very durable fibres, which I have, in my descriptions of the structures in the coal, named " bast tissue." The outer bark was usually thick, of dense and almost indestructible cellular tissue. The tnink when old lost its regular ribs and scars, owing to expansion, and became furrowed like that of an old exogenous tree. The roots were Stigmarice of the type of S.Jicoides. (Fig. 30, d, p. 180.) I have not seen the leaves or fruits attached ; but, from the association observed, I believe that the former were long, narrow, rigid, and two-or-three-nerved {Cyperites\ and that the latter were Trigonocarpa, borne in racemes on the upper part of the stem. These trees attained to a great size. I have seen one trunk four feet in diameter, and specimens of two feet or more in diameter are com- mon : some of these trunks have been traced for thirty or forty feet without branching. The greater number of the erect stumps preserved at the Joggins appear to belong to this genus, which also seems to have contributed very largely to the formation of coal. Judging from the paucity of thfir foliage, the density of their tissues, and the strong structural resembl<»nce of their stems and roots to those of Cycads, I believe that their rate of growth must have been very slow. The genus Rhytidolepis, in which the areoles are large, hexagonal, and tripunctate, and the ribs narrow and often transversely striate, ranks as a coal-producer jiext to Sigillaria proper, and is equally * Quart, v-ourn. Geol. Soc., paper on Structures of Coal. . ,ii a^> THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 485 abundant in the Coal measures. These trees seem to have been of BUiallcr Hize and feebler structure than the last mentioned, and are less frequently found in the erect position ; but they are very abun- dant on the roofs of the coal beds. Judging from such specimens as I have seen, their roots were less distinctly stigmarioid than in the last genus, though this appearance may arise from difference of pre- servation. Their leaves were of the same type as in the last genus ; and their stems bear rings of irregular scars, which may mark stages of growth, or the production of slender racemes of fmit in a verticillate ninnner. The woody axis of the stems of this genus was composed of scalariform and coarsely porous tissues, much like those of modem Cycads. I figure, as an illustration of the genus, a fragment of S. Brelonensis (Fig. 161, F). The genus Favularia is represented in Nova Scotia principally by tlie typical species 5. elegans of Brongniart. The admirable investi- gations of the structure of the stem of this species by 13rongniart, with the further illustrations given by Corda, Hooker, and Goldenberg, still afford the best general views of the structure of Sigillarice which we possess. It is to be observed, however, that Brongniart's speci- men was a young stem or a branch, and that it affords a very imper- fect idea of the development of discigerous and bast tissues in the full-grown stems of Sigillaria proper. The trees of this geims appear to have been of small growth ; and they branched in the manner of Lepidodendron^ the smaller branches being quite destitute of ribs, and with the areoles elliptical and spirally disposed. The stems show joints or rings of peculiar scars at intervals, as in the last genus. The leaves differ from those of the other genera, being broad and with numerous slender parallel veins, almost in the manner of Cordaites (Fig. 161, Bi). The genus Clathraria is evidently closely allied to the above, and is possibly founded on branches of trees of the genus Favularia. It is a rare form in Nova Scotia. Of the genus Leioderma or Asolanus I know but one species, inde- pendently of those specimens of old trunks of the ordinary Sigillaria in which the ribs have disappeared. My species, S. SydenensiSy is founded on specimens collected by Mr Brown at Sydney, Cape Bretor, which are especially remarkable for the curious modification which they present of the Stigmarian root. The specimens described by Mr Brown under the name of /S. alternans* and which have been copied by Geinitz and Goldenberg, belong, I believe, to this species. * Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc, vol. v. p. 354. et seq. See also my paper on " Conditions of Accumulation of Coal," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxii. p. 147, and PI. vii, Figs. 28, a, h^c '*M^ I' \ 1 ! m ii m Is* m I ij 486 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Oti the genus Syringodendron of Sternberg I have no observations to make. I have seen only fragments of stems ; and these seem to be very rare. I include under Sigillarice the remarkable fossils known as Sttg- maria, being fully convinced that all the varieties of tliese plants known to me are uiei'ely roots of Sigillaria ; I have verified this fact in a great many instances, in addition to those so well described by Mr Blnney and Mr Brown. The different varieties or species of Stigmaria arc no doubt characteristic of different species of Sigillaria, though in very few cases has it proved possible to ascertain the va- rieties proper to the particular species of stem. The old view, that the Stigmarice were independent aquatic plants, still apparently main- tained by Goldenb ~g and some other palteobotanists, evidently proceeds from imperfect information. Independently of their ascertained con- nexion with Sigillaria, the organs attached to the branches are not leaves, but rootlets. This was mude evident long ago by the micro- scopic sections published by Goeppert, and I have ascertained that the structure is quite similar to that of the thick fleshy rootlets of Cycas. The lumps or tubercles on these roots have been mistaken for fructification ; and the rounded tops of stumps, truncated by the falling in of the bark or the compression of the empty shell left by the decay of the wood, have been mistaken for the natural tennination of the stem.* The only question remaining in regard to these organs is that of their precise morphological place. Their large pith and regular areoles render them unlike true roots ; and hence Lcsquereux has proposed to regard them as rhizomes. But they certainly radiate from a central stem, and are not known to produce any true buds or secondary stems. In short, while their function is that of roots, t icy may be regarded, in a morphological point of view, as a peculiar sort of underground branches. They all ramify very regularly in a dichotomous manner, and, as Mr Brown has shown, in some species at least, give off conical tap-roots from their underside. In all the Stigmarice exhibiti.ig structure which I have examined, the axis shows only scalariform vessels. Corda, however, figures a species with wood-cells, or vessels with numerous pores, quite like those found in the stems of Sigillaria proper; and, as Hooker has pointed out, the arrangement of the tissues in Stigmaria is similar to that in Sigillaria. After making duo allowance for differences of preservation, I have been able to recognise eleven species or forms * For examples of the manner in which a natural tennination may be simulated by the collapse of bark or by constriction owing to lateral prefisure, see wy papers, Quart. Journ. Qeol. See, vol. x. p. 35, and vol. vii. p. 194. THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 437 of Stigmaria in Nova Scotia, corresponding, as I believe, to as many species of Sigillaria* At the Jogglns^ Stigmario! are more abundant than any other fossil plants. This arises from their preservation in the numerous fossil soils or Stigniuria underclays. Tiieir bark, and mineral charcoal derived from their axes, also abound throughout the thickness of the coal beds, indicating the continued growth of Sigil- laria in the accumulation of the coal. Our knowledge of the fructification of Sigillaria is as yet of a very uncertain character. I am aware that Goldenberg has assigned to these plants leafy strobiles containing spore-capsules : but I do not think the evidence which he adduces conclusive as to their connexion with Sigillaria; and the organs themselves are so precisely similar to the strobiles of Lqpidophloios, that I suspect they must belong to that or some allied genus. The leaves, also, with wliich they are associated in one of Goldenberg's figures seem more like those of Lepidophloios than those of Sigillaria. If, however, these are really the organs of fructification of any species of Sigillaria, I think it will be found that we have in 'luded in this genus, as in the old genus Calamites, two distinct groups of plants, one cryptogamous, and the other phaenogamous, or else that male strobiles bearing pollen have been mistaken for spore-bearing organs. I cannot pretend that I have found the fruit of Sigillaria attached to the parent stem ; but I think that a reasonable probability can be established that some at least of the fruits included, somewhat vaguely, by authors under the names of Trigonocarpum and Ithabdocarpus, were really fruits of Sigillaria. These fruits are excessively abundant and ot many species, and they occur not only in the sandstones, but in the fine shales and coals and in the interior of erect trees, showing that they were produced in the coal-swamps. The structures of these fruits show that they are phronogamous and probably gymnospermous. Now the only plants known to us in the Coal fonnation, whose struc- tures entitle them to this rank, are the Conifers, Sigillarice, and Cala- modendra. All the others were in structure allied to cryptogams, and the fructification of most of them is known. But the Conifers were too infrequent in the Carboniferous swamps to have afforded numerous species of Caipolites ; and,, as I shall presently show, the Calainodendra were very closely allicid to Sigillaria', if not members of that family. Unless, therefore, these fruits belonged to Sigillaria, they must have been produced by some other trees of the coal-swamps, which, though very abundant and of numerous species, are as yet quita unknown to us. Some of the Trigonocarpa have been claimed * See Paper on Accumulation of Cc*!, Jouni. Qeol. Hoc, vol. xxii. i i 1 \ \ r, \\ :'l \{ 438 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. for Conifers, and their resemblance to the fruits of Salisburi/a gives countenance to this claim ; but the Conifers of the Coal period are much too few to afford more than a fraction of the species. One species of Rhabdocarpus has been attributed by Gcinitz to the genus Noeggerathia ; but the leaves which he assigns to it are very like those of Sigillaria elegans, and may belong to some allied species. With regard to the mode of attachment of these fruits, I have shown that one species, Trigonocarpum racemosum of the Devonian strata,* was borne on a rhachis in the manner of a loose spike, and I am convinced that some of the groups of inflorescence named Antholithes are simply young Rhabdocarpi or Trigonocarpa borne in a pinnate manner on a broad rhachis and subtended by a few scales. Such spikes may be regarded as corresponding to a leaf with fruits borne on the edges, in the manner of the female flower of Cyras ; and I believe with Golden- berg that these were borne in verticils at intervals c."i the stem. In this case it is possible that the strobiles described by that author may be male organs of fructification containing, not spores, but pollen. In conclusion, I would observe that I would not doubt the possibility that some of the fruits knoAvn as Cardiocarpa may have belonged to sigillarioid trees. I am aware that some so-called Cardiocarpa are spore-cases of Lepidodendron ; but there are others which are mani- festly winged nutlets allied to Trigonocarpum, and which must have belonged to phjenogams. It would perhaps be unwise to insist very strongly on deductions T m what may be called circumstantial evi- dence as to the nature ot the fiiiit of Sigillaria ; but the indications pointing to the conclusions above stated are so numerous that I have much confidence that they will be vindicated by complete specimens, should these be obtained. All of the Joggins coals, except a few shaly beds, afford unequivo- cal evidence of Stigmaria in their underclays ; and it was obviously the normal mode of growth of a coal-bed, that, a more or less damp soil being provided, a forest of Sigillaria should overspread this, and that the Stigmarian roots, the trunks of fallen Sigillarice, their leaves and fruits, and the smaller plants which grew in their shade, should accumulate in a bed of vegetable matter to be subsequently converted into coal — the bark of Sigillaria and allied plante affording *' bright coal," the wood and bast tissues mineral charcoal, and the herbaceous matter and mould dull coal. The evidence of this afforded by micro- scopic structure I have endeavoured to illustrate in a former paper. -J- The process did not commence, as some have supposed, by the * " Flora of the Devonian Period," Quart. Journ. Geol. 8oc., vol. viii. p. 324. t " On the Structures in Coal," Quart. Journ. Geol. 800. 1859. SBm THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION 439 growth of Stigmaria in ponds or lakes. It was indeed precisely the reverse of this, the Sigillaria growing in a soil more or less swampy but not submerged, and the formation of coal being at last aiTCsted by submergence. I infer this from the circumstance that remains of Cyprids, Fishes, and other aquatic animals, are rarely found in the underclays and lower parts of the coal-beds, but very frequently in the roofs, while it is not unusual to find mineral charcoal more abundant in the lower layers of the coal. For the formation of a bed of coal, the sinking and subsequent burial of an area previously dry seems to have been required. There are a few cases at the Joggins where Calamites and even Sigillarice seem to have grown on areas liable to frequent inundation j but in these cases coal did not accumulate. The non-laminated, slickcn-sided and bleached condition of most of the underclays indicates soils of considerable permanence. In regard to beds destitute of Stigmarian underclays, the very few cases of this kind apply only to shaly coals filled with drifted leaves, or to accumulations of vegetable mud capable of conversion into impure coal. The origin of these beds is the same with that of the carbonaceous shales and bituminous limestones already referred to. It will be observed in the section that in a few cases such beds have become sufficiently dry to constitute underclays, and that con- ditions of this kind have sometimes alternated with those favourable to the f "'-mation of true coal. There are some beds at the Joggins, holding erect trees in situ, which show that Sigillarice sometimes grew singly or in scattered clumps, either alone or amidst brakes of Catamites, In other in- stances they must have grown close together, and with a dense un- dergrowth of ferns and Cordaites, forming an almost impenetrable mass of vegetation. From the structure of Sigillarice I infer that, like Cycads, they accumulated large quantities of starch, to be expended at intervals in more rapid growth, or in the production of abundant fructification. I adhere to the belief expressed in previous papers that Brongniart is correct in regarding the Sigillarice as botanically allied to the Cycadacece, and I have recently more fully satisfied myself on this point by comparisons of their tissues with those of Ci/cas revoluta. It is probable, however, that when better known they will b') found to have a wider range of structure and affinities than we now suppose. Tliere are some reasons for believing that the trees described by Corda under the names of Diploxylon, Myelopithys, and Ileterangium, and also the Anabathra of Witham, are Sigillarice. Much of the tissue ll '' . V m 'W^ n i. li ir I v.rh\ ' t -4-j IHil 440 THE CARB0NIFEU0D3 SYSTEM. described by Goeppert as Araucaritea carbonarius is probably also Sigillarian. 2. Calamodf,ndron or Calamttea. — These plants are much less known than the proper Sigillarias, and it is perhaps doubtful if they should not form a separate family. In the meantime I place them here, simply because they seem to approach more nearly to Sigillarice than any other plants in their structure. They were of less massive growth than Sigillarice, being rarely more than a few inches in diameter ; they had stems fluted lengthwise like Sigillaria, but more distinctly divided into nodes or joints by the scars of branches which were borne in whorls, and carried their narrow, slender leaves. In their habit of Fig. 162. — Calaviodendron. (a, b) Casts of axis in bandstor?, with woody envelope, reduced, (e, d) Woody tissue, liighly mngnilied. growth they thus resembled the pine tribe, and they seem to have had a larger amount of true wood in their stems than was the case with Sigillaria, This cylinder of wood contained a thick pith, which was constricted at intervals into joints, and had also a longitudinal striation on the outside ; and as this pith from its ready decay admitted sand into the interior of the stem, while the wood was entire or in process of conversion into coal, we often have a stem of Calamodendron repre- sented merely by a cast of the pith in stone. In this case the pith cylinder may be easily mistaken for a plant of the genus Calatnifes, which, as we shall immediately find, was quite a different thing. I THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 441 believe that the statements often found in geological books to the effect that the Calamites were smooth externally, and that the sup- posed jointed stems are only casts of the pith, are true o( Calamodendron only, and proceed from confounding that genus with Calamites. A Calamoderdron as usually seen is a striated cast with frequent cross lines or joints ; but when the whole stem is preserved, it is seen that this cast represents merely an internal pith-cylinder, surrounded by a woody cylinder composed in part of scalariform or reticulated vessels, and in part of wood-cells with one row of large pores on each aide. External to the wood was a cellular bark, and the outer surface seems to have been simply ribbed in the manner of Sigillaria. It so happens that the internal cast of the pith of Calamodendron^ which is really of the nature of a Sternbergia, so closely resembles the external appearance of the true Calamites as to be constantly mistaken for them. Most of these pith-cylinders of Calamodendron have been grouped in the species Calamites approximatus ; but that species, as understood by some authors, apj)ears also to include true Calamites* which, how- ever, when well preserved, can always be distinguished by the scars of the leaves or branchlets which were attached to the nodes. Calamodendron would seem, from its structure, to have been closely allied to Sigillaria, though, according to Unger, the tissues were differently arranged, and the woody cylinder must have been much thicker in proportion. The tissues of Calamodendron are by no means infrequent in the coal, and casts of the pith are common in the sandstones; but its foliage and fruit are unknown. They probably resembled those of Sigillaria. Class of Cryptogams. 1. EquisetacecB. 1. Calamites. — These curious plants are by no means to be confounded with those last noticed. Their stems were slender, ribbed and jointed externally, and from the joints there proceeded, in some of the species, long, narrow, simple branchlets ; and, in others, branches bearing whorls of small branchlets or rudimentary leaves. The stem was hollow, with thin transverse floors or diaphragms at the joints, and it had no true wood and bark, but only a thin external shell of fibres and scalariform vessels. The Calamites grew in dense brakes on the sandy and muddy flats, subject to inundation, or i>erhaps even in the water, and they had the power of budding out from the base of the stem, so as to form clumps of plants, and also of securing their foot- * See Qeinitz, " Steinkohlen formatiun in Sachsen." 2f \ il 1 1 i Ti' I 442 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Fig. VH.—Calamiten. A, Calamttes Suckovii, restored. A', Foliage. A', Klbs and scars. A», Roots. A*, Base of stem. B, Calamttes Cittii, restored. B', Leaves. B', Leaf enlarged. C, Leaves of C. nodosiis. C, Whorl enlarged. D, Structure of stem. £, Vessels magnified. ^'3 THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 448 ■}. hold by numerous cord-Hkc roots, proceeding from various heights on the lower part of the stem.* The fruit was a long cone or spike, bearing spore cases under scales. The Calamites were evidently close relations of the modern horse-tails or scouring-rushes, differing principally in their great size, the want of sheaths at the joints, and the details of the fructification (Fig. 163). Most of the points above stated, as well as the conical form of the lower end of these Calamites, which budded out from others, were ex- plained by me in the "Journal of the Geological Society" as far back as 1849, yet the most ridiculous errors are still current in elementary books. Nine species of true Calamites have been recognised in Nova Scotia, of which seven occur at the Joggins, the most abundant being C. Suckovii and C. Cistii. As just observed, the Calamites grew in dense brakes on sandy and muddy flats, in the manner of modern Eqtiisetacece, and produced at their nodes either verticillate simple linear leaves, as in C. Cistii, or verticillate branchlets with pinnate or verticillate leaflets, as in C. Suckovii and C. nodosus. The Calamites do not seem to have contributed much to the growth of coal, though their remains are not i.'frequent in it. The soils in which they most frequently grew were apparently too wet and liable to inunda* tion and silting up to be favourable to coal-accuraulation. Fig. I6i.—Equiaetiles Curta. I ' \ (a, h) Portions of stem. (e) Sheaths. 2. Equisetites. — This genus includes a few plants which, like the modem horse-tails, had sheaths at the joints. One species only has been found in Nova Scotia, and little is known of this except the form of the lower part of the stem (Fig. 164). 3. Aster ophyllites. — These beautiful plants do not appear to have been of large size, and, like the other members of this family, probably • Quart. Journ. of Qeol. Soc, vol. x. p. 34. i i- I 1 ) i ■t] i,i^.; 1 1 a- t Hd iii 1 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. grew in wet or inundated ground. They had ribbed and jointed stems like the Calamites, but with a stout internal woody cylinder, in which respect they resembled miniature Calamodendra. From the joints pro- ceeded whorls of leaves, or of branchlets, bearing leaves which differed from those of Calamites in their having a distinct middle rib or vein. The fructification consisted of long slender cones or spikes, having whorls of scales among the spore cases. Some authors speak of Asterophyllites as only branches and leaves of Calamites ; but though at first sight the resemblance is great, a close inspection shows that the leaves of Asterophyllites have a true midrib, which is wanting in Calamites. Five species of Asterophyllites have been found in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Fig. 165, A). 4. Annularia. — It is questionable whether these plants should be separated from Asterophyllites. The distinction is that they produce branches in pairs, and that their whorls of leaves ai'e one-sided, and usually broader than those of Asterophyllites, and united into a ring at their insertion on the stem. One little species is very common in Nova Scotia, and a larger one hitherto included in Asterophyllites is also abundant (Fig. 165, B). Fig. 165. — AslerophyllitM, ete. A, ABterophyllites trlneme. (A>) Leaf enlarged. B, Annularia sphenophylloides. (B') Leaf enlarged. C, Sphenophyllum crosum. (C) Leaflet enlarged. (C) Scalarlform vessel. D, Pinnularia ramosissima, 5. Sphenophyllum. — This is one of the prettiest plants of the coal ; its little whorls of wedge-shaped leaves, often scattered thickly over THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 445 the surfaces of the shales, resembling flowers. Its stems were very slender, but branching copiously, and bearing wedge-shaped leaves often toothed at the edges, and veined in the manner of fern leaves. The spores were borne on small spikes like those of Asterophyllitea. Five species have been recognised in the Acadian Coal-fields. I am not aware that this and the two preceding genera contributed to any great extent to the accumulation of coal ; but as their tissues were scalariform, similar to those of ferns, it would not be easy to recognise them. A beautiful specimen of Sphenophyllum emarginatum from New Brunswick, in the collection of Sir W. E. Logan, has enabled me to ascertain that its stem had a simple axis of one bundle of reticulato-scalariform vessels, like those of Tmesipteris as figured by Brongniart. These curious plants were no doubt cryptogamous, having a habit of growth like that of Equisetacets, leaves like those of ferns or Marsiliacece, and fructification and structure like those of Lycopodiacece (Fig. 165, C). 6. Pinnularia. — These are slender roots, or stems branching in a pin- nate manner, and somewhat irregularly. They are very abundant in the coal shales, and were probably not independent plants, but aquatic roots belonging to some of the plants last mentioned. The probability of this is farther increased by their resemblance in miniature to the roots of Calamites. They are always flattened, but seem originally to have been round, with a slender thread-like axis of scalariform vessels, enclosed in a soft smooth cellular bark (Fig. 165, D). \ 2. Filices or Ferns. The ferns or brackens are still very abundant in the forests of Acadia, but do not constitute nearly so prominent a part of the flora as in the days of the Coal formation, when the species were vastly more numerous in proportion to other plants, and when there were tree ferns similar to those of the present tropics and southern hemi- sphere, as well as the smaller herbaceous species. The fronds of fossil ferns are often well preserved, but we usually obtain them only in fragments and destitute of the fructification, which is the most distinc- tive character in living ferns. Hence we are obliged to arrange the fossil ferns in an arbitrary manner ; the stems, when found, by them- selves and the fronds by themselves, and the latter in groups based on venation and other comparatively unimportant characters, rather than on fructification. The classification thus formed is altogether provisional, and when our knowledge of the subject shall become more complete, must give way to one of a more natural character. In the I i- i if 446 THE CAKnOMFFROUS SYSTEM. Fig 169.— Ferns of the Middle Coal Formation. ) 'III \m ■ * ; A, Odontopteris subcuneata (after Bunbuiy). B, Neuropteria cordata do. C, Alethopteris lonchitlca. D, DIctyopteris obliqua (after Bunbury). E, Phyllopterls antiqua, mag. (E>) Nat. size. F, Neuropteris cyclopteroides. (For other species sec Figs. 69 to 72.) THE rtORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 447 meAntlmo the principal gcnora, of which representatives have been found in Acadia, are the following (Figs. 166, 167, and Figs. 69 to 72):— 1. Cyclopterisy Rrongn. — Leaflets more or less rounded, or wedge- shaped, without midrib, the nerves spreading from the point of at- tachment. This group includes a great variety of fronds evidently of different genera, were their fructification known ; and some of them probably portions of fronds, the other parts of which may be in the next genus. 2. Neitropteris, Brongn. — Fronds pinnated, and with the leaflets narrowed at the base ; midrib often not distinct, and disappearing toward the apex. Nervures equal, and rising at an acute angle. Ferns of this type arc among the most abundant in the Coal formation. 3. Odontopteris, Brongn. — In these the frond is pinnate, and the leaflets are attached by their whole base, with the nerves cither pro- ceeding wholly from the base, or in part from an indistinct midrib, which soon divides into nervures. 4. Z)/c/^qp/cr 15, Gutbier. — This is a beautiful style of fern, withleaflets resembling those of JVeuropteris, but the veins arranged in a network of oval spaces. Only one species is known in our Coal formation. 5. Lonchopteris, Brongn. — Ferns with netted veins like the above, but with a distinct midrib, and the leaflets attached by the whole base. Of this also wc can boast but a single species. 6. Sphennpteris, Brongn. — These are elegant ferns, very numerous in species, and most difficult to discriminate. Their most distinctive characters are leaflets narrowed at the base, often lobed, and with nervures dividing in a pinnate manner from the base. 7. Phyllopteris, Brongn. — These are pinnate, with long lanceolate pinnules, having a strong and well defined midrib, and nerves pro- ceeding from it very obliquely, and dividing as they proceed toward the margin. The ferns of this genus are for the most part found in formations more recent than the Carboniferous ; but I have refeiTcd to it, with some doubt, one of our species. 8. Alethopteris, Brongn. — This genus includes many of the most common Coal formation ferns, especially the ubiquitous A. lonchitica, which seems to have been the common brake of the Coal formation, corresponding to Pleris aquilina in modern Europe and America. These are brake-like ferns, pinnate, with leaflets often long and narrow, decurrent on the petiole, adherent by their whole base, and united at base to each other. The midrib is continuous to the point, and the nervures run off" from it nearly at right angles. In some of these ferns the fructification is known to have been marginal, as in Pteris. I ! ' I \^: i'\i V 448 THE CARBONIFF.RODS SYBTEH. Pig. 1B7.— TVm Femt. A, Mtgnphyton mngnificum, restored. B', Row of Lcaf-scnrs, reduced. B, Lcaf-8car of the same, 'i nat. Rtze. C, Paleeopteris Harttli, scars half nat. size. D, FalaiopterU Aoadica, scarH half nat. size. THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 449 9. Pecopteria, IJrongn.— This genus is intormedinto between the iMt and Neuropteria. The leaflets are attached by the whole base, but not usually attached to each other ; the midrib, though slender, attains to the summit; the ncrvures are given off less obliciuely than in Neu- ropteris. This genus includes a largo number of our most common fossil ferns. 10. Beinertia, Goejipert. — A genus established by Cioeppcrt for a curious Pecopteris-like fern, with flcxuous branching oblique ncrvures becoming parallel tu the edge of the frond. I have placed in it, with some uncertainty, one of our species. 11. HymenophyllUes, Goeppert. — These are ferns similar to Spheri' opteria, but divided at the margin into one-nerved lobes, in the manner of the modern genus llymenophyllum. 12. Palcraptrris, Ucinitz. — This is a genus formed to include certain trunks of tree ferns with oval transverse scars of leaves. 13. Caulopteria, Lindley and Ilutton, — is another genua of fossil trunks of tree ferns, but with elongate scars of leaves. 14. Fsaroniua, Cotta. — Includes other trunks of tree ferns with alternate scars or thick scales, and ordinarily with many aiirial roots grouped round them, as in some modern tree ferns. 15. MegaphyUm, Artis. — Includes trunks of tree ferns which bore their fronds, which were of great size, in two rows, one on each side of the stem. These were very peculiar trees, less like modern ferns than any of the others (Fig. 167). My reasons for regarding them as ferns are stated in the following extract from a recent paper : — " Their thick stems, marked with linear scars and having two rows of large depressed areolcs on the sides, suggest no affinities to any known plants. They are usually ranked with Lepidodendron and Ulodendron, but sometimes, and probably with greater reason, are regarded as allied to tree ferns. At the Joggins a very fine species {M. magnificum) has been found, and at Sydney a smaller species [M. humile) ; but both arc rare and not well preserved. If the large scars bore cones and the smaller bore leaves, then, as Brongniart remarks, the plant would much resemble Lepidophloios, in which the cone-scars are thus somel'mes distichous. But the scars are not round and marked with rad'afing scales as in Lepidophloios ; they are reniform or oval, and resemble those of tree ferns, tor which reason they may be regarded as more probably loaf-scars ; and in that case the smaller linear scara would indicate ramenta, or small aerial roots. Further, the plant described by Corda as Zippea distickcr is evidently a Megaphyton, and the structure of that species is plainly that of a tree fern of somewhat peculiar type. On these grounds I incline to the opinion of Goinitz, lil' i I ' ! I i 450 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. ! ' I.'! that these curious trees were allied to ferns, ' bore two rows of large fronds, the trunks being covered with coarse hairs or small aerial roots. At one time I was disposed to suspect that they may have crept along the ground ; but a specimen from Sydney shows the leaf-stalks pro- ceeding from the stem at an angle so acute that the stem must, I think, have been erect. From the appearance of the scars it is probable that only a pair of fronds were borne at one time at the top of the stem ; and if these were broad and spreading, it would be a very graceful plant. To what extent plants of this type contributed to the accu- mulation of coal I have no means of ascertaining, their tissues in the state of coal not being distinguishable from those of ferns and Lyco- podiaceoB." 3. LycopodiacecB, 1. Lepidodendro7i, Sternberg. — This genus is one of the most common in the Coal formation, and especially in its lower part. Any one who has seen the common Ground-pine or Club-moss of our woods, and who can imagiue such a plant enlarged to the dimensions of a great forest tree, presenting a bark marked with I'hombic or oval scars of fallen leaves, having its branches bifurcating regularly, and covered with slender pointed leaves, and the extremities of the branches laden wita cones or spikes of fructification, has before him this characteristic tree of the coal forests, — a tree remarkable as presenting a gigantic fonn of a tribe of plants existing in the present world only in low and humble species. Had we seen it growing, we might have at first mistaken it for a pine, but the spores contained in its cones, instead of seeds, and its dichotomous ramification, would undeceive us ; and if we cut into its trunk, we should find structures quite unlike those of pines. As in Sigillaria, we should perceive a large central pith, and surrounding this a ring of woody matter ; but instead of finding this partly of disc- bearing wood cells, as in Sigillaria, and divided into regular wedges by medullary rays, we should find it a continuous cylinder of coarser and finer scalariform vessels. Outside of this, as in Sigillaria, we should have a thick bark, including many tough elongated bast fibres, and protected externally by a hard and durable outer rind. The Lepidodendra were large and graceful trees, and contributed not a little to the accumulation of coal. Several attempts have been made to divide this genus. My own views on the subject are given below. Of this genus nineteen species have been recorded as occurring in the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia. Of these, six occur at the Joggins, where specimens of this genus are very much less abundant than those of SigiUcria, In the newer Coal formation, Lepidodendra ^',1 arge oota. ilong , pro- ,hink, ethat stem ; aceful I accu- in the Lyco- jomtnon )ne "who and who at forest of fallen red -with den wita fistic tree ic foitn of d hutnljle listaken it feeds, and |ut into its is. As in |nding this of disc- .ir wedges of coarser \llaria, we ,ast fibres, Ind. The ited not a )een made ren below, pcurring in jcur at the abundant ndodendra THE FLORA OF TUE COAL FORMATION. Fig. 168. — Lepidodendron corrugatum. 451 A, RcBtoratinn. B, Leaf. imf. Bize. C, Cone and branch. D, Branch and leaven. E, Various forms of leaf sreoles. F, Sproangium. G, Scalariform vessel, mnpniflod. II, I, K, L, M, nark with leaf-scara. N, Do. of old stem. 0, Decorticated stem (Knorria)^ ' ' '"111 V i I'f ■ \ \\\ ill 1, F I • lit m 452 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. are particukrly rare, and L. undulatum is the most common species. In the Middle Coal formation, L. rimosum, L. dichotomum, L. elegaru, and L. Pictoense arc probably the most common species ; and L. cor- rugatum is the characteristic Lepidodendron of the Lower Carbonifer- ous, in which plants of this species seem to be more abundant than any other vegetable remains whatever. To the natural history of this well-known genus I have little to add, except in relation to the changes which take place in its trunk in the process of growth, and the study of which is important in order to prevent the undue multiplication of species. These are of three kinds. In some species the areolcs, at first close together, become, in the pro- cess of the expansion of the stem, separated by intervening spaces of bark in a perfectly regular manner ; so that in old stems, while widely separated, they still retain their arrangement, while in young stems they are quite close to one another. This is the case in L. currugatum. In other species the leaf-scars or areolcs increase in size in the old stems, still retaining their forms and their contiguity to each other. This is the case in L. undulatum, and generally in those Lepidodendra which have very large areoles. In these species the continued vitality of the bark is shown by the occasional production of lateral strobiles on large branches, in the manner of the modern Red Pine of America. In other species the areoles neither increase in size nor become regu- larly separated by growth of the intervening bark ; but in old stems the bark splits into deep furrows, between which may be seen portions of bark still retaining the areoles in their original dimensions and arratigement. This is the case with L. Pictoense. This cracking of the bark no doubt occurs in very old trunks of the first two types, but not at all to the same extent. I figure three examples of these pecu- liarities in mode of growth : — Lepidodendron corrugatum, Dawson. — I give below a description of this species, and may refer to the figures in Fig. 168 for further illustration. I do not know any other species in Nova Scotia which has precisely the same habit of growth; but L. plicatum and L. rimosum show a tendency to it. The present species is exclusively Lower Carboniferous, and occurs on that horizon in New Brunswick, in Pennsylvania, and, I believe, also in Ohio ; though the beds holding it in the latter State have been by some regarded as Devonian. L. undulatum, Sternberg. — I think it not improbable that several closely allied species are included under this name. On the other hand, all the large areoled Lepidodendra figured in the books must havo branches with small scars, which in the present state of know- Ml' THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. Fig. 169. — Lepidodendra of Middle Coal Formation. 408 ]. A, Branch nnd leaves of L. Pletoence, f nat. size. A^, Li>af. A', Twig and leaTCR, |. A*, Portion of bark, J. A', Leaf-gear. A", Rark of old stem ftirrowcd by growth, f. A', Cone, J. B, L. pcruonatum, leafy branch, |. B', Portion of bark, f. B', Areole enlarged. B', Leaf. C, L. plicatam, bark of old stem. D, L. rimoisuni, old stem with furrows, If. £, L. Unduiaturo, showing furrows and scars of conei, |, ,fi M. V ■ 1 454 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. ledge, it is impossible to identify with this species. I suppose that L. elegans resembles the present species in its mode of growth, at least if the large-scarred specimens attributed to it are really of the same species. L. dichotomuin { =. L. Sternbergii) also resembles it to some extent (Fig. 169, E). L. Pictoense, Dawson. — This species I described as follows, from young stems, in my " Synopsis of the Coal-plants of Nova Scotia : " — " Areoles contiguous, prominent, separated in young stems by a nar- row line, long-oval, acuminate ; breadth to length as 1 to 3, or less ; lower half obliquely wrinkled, especially at one side. Middle line indistinct. Leaf- scar pt upper end of areole, small, triangular, with traces of three vascular points, nearly confluent. Length of areole about 0-5 inch." Additional specimens from Sydney show that in old trunks of this species the areoles do not enlarge, but the bark becomes split into strips. I have reason to think that a new species from Nova Scotia, which I shall describe in the sequel, L. personatum^ agrees with it in this respect (Fig. 169, A, B). The Lepidodendra resemble each other too closely to admit of good sub-generic distinction. The grounds on which the distinction of Sagenaria and Aspidiaria is founded are quite worthless, the apparent position of the vascular scars in the areoles depending on accidents of preservation much more than on original differences. The genus Knor- ria includes many peculiar conditions of decorticated Lepidodendra. In regard to the accumulation of coal, Lepidodendra, when present, appear under the same conditions with Sigillaria;, the outer bark being converted into shining coal, and the scalariform axis appearing as mineral charcoal of a more loose and powdery quality than that derived from Sigillaria. On the planes of lamination of the coal the furrowed bark of old trunks can scarcely be distinguished from that of old Sigillarice (Fig. 170, B, C). 2. Lepidophloios. — Under this generic name, established by Stem- berg, I propose to include those Lycopodiaceous trees of the Coal measures which have thick branches, transversely elongated leaf- scars, each with three vascular points and placed on elevated or scale-like protuberances, long one-nerved leaves, and large lateral strobiles in vertical rows or spirally disposed. Their structure resembles that of Lepidodendron, consisting of a Sternbergia pith, a slender axis of large scalariform vessels, giving off from its surface bundles of smaller vessels to the leaves, a very thick cellular bark, and a thin dense outer bark, having some elongated cells or bast tissue on its inner side. m THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 455 Fig. no.— Lepiilodetidron and LepidophloioB. A, Lepldodendron decurtatum ; A>, areole enlarged. B, Lepldodendron, old bark. C, Lepldodendron, old bark, of another species. D, Lepidophlolos tetragonus, §. D', Areole. E, Lepidophlolos platystignia, §. E*, Arcule. F, Lepidophlolos platystlgma, §, differently preserved. F', Areole. O, Lepidophlolos parvus, §. 0>, Leaves, H. Q2, Part of leaf. G>, Areole, natural size. ■t-» - :»? - r- -d in ^ 1 m 456 THF, CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. Regarding L. larictnum of Sternberg as the type of the genus, and taking in connexion with this the species described by Goldenberg, and my own observations on numerous specimens found in Nova Scotia, I have no doubt that Lomaiophloios crassicaulis of Corda, and other species of that genus described by Goldenberg, Ulodendron and Bothrodendron of Lindley, Lepidodendron ornatissimum of IJrong- niart, and Halonia punctata of Gcinitz, all belong to this genus, and differ from each other only in conditions of growth and preservation. Several of the species of Lepidostrobus and Lepiduphyllum also belong to Lepidophloios. The species of Lepidophloios are readily distinguished from Lepi- dodendron by the form of the areoles, and by the round scars on the stem, which usually mark the insertion of the strobiles, though in barren stems they may also have produced branches ; still the fact of my finding the strobiles in situ in one instance, the accurate resem- blance which the scars bear to those left by the cones of the Red Pine •when borne on thick branches, and the actual impressions of the radiating scales in some specimens, leave no doubt in my mind that they are usually the marks of cones ; and the great size of the cones of Lepidophloios accords with this conclusion. The species of Lepidophloios are numerous, and individuals are quite abundant in the Coal formation, especially toward its upper part. Their flattened bark is frequent in the coal-beds and their roofs, affording a thin layer of pure coal, which sometimes shows the peculiar laminated or scaly character of the bark when other charac- ters are almost entirely obliterated. The leaves also are nearly as abundant as those of Sigillaria in the coal-shales. They can readily be distinguished by their strong angular midrib. I figure, in illustration of the genus, all the parts known to me of L. Acadianus, and characteristic specimens of other species. One of these, L. parvus, is characteristic of the Upper Coal formation. ( Vide Figs. 170, 171.) 3. Cordaites or Pychnophyllum. — Tliis plant is represented in the Coal fonnation chiefly by its broad striated leaves, which are extremely abundant in the coal and its associated shales. Some thin coals are indeed almost entirely composed of them. The most com- mon species is C. borassifolia, a plant which Corda has shown to have a simple stem with a slender axis of scalariform vessels resem- bling that of Lepidophloios; for this reason, notwithstanding the broad and parallel-veined leaves, I regard this genus as belonging to Lycopodiacea; or some allied family. It must have been extren.oly abundant in the Carboniferous .swamps ; and, from the frequency of h '€\ THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. Fig. 171. — Lepiiloj)Mows Acadianus. ill// -/ ' F 457 A, RcBtortition. II, Portion of bark, ? nntiirni bIzo. C, Ligneous aurfaoc "f the same. D, Lower side of a l)runcli, with scars of cones. K, Upper side of the same. K, Cone, J. 0, I^af, natural size. H, Cross section of stem, reduced. I, Portion of the same, nat. size, showing (a) pith, (b) cylinder of Bcalariform vessels, (e) Inner bark. K, Portion of woojiy cylinder, showing outer and Inner series of vessels msKuified. L, Scalarlform vessels, highly mapillied. M, Various forms of leaf scars, natural size. U iHM-l ■ i^ 4)i V, i] IH « -■^-. ---J- I 458 THE CARUUNIKEKOUS iJYSTKM. Fig. 172. — Cordaitea and Diplotegtum. A, Cordaites borassifolia restored. A'. Portion of stem. A*, Portion of leaf, enlarged. A', Base of leaf. A*, Point of leaf. A', Transverse section of stem, showing axis. B, Fragment of stem of Dipiotegium rctusum. B', Scarof do. enlarged. THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 459 its being covered with Spirorbis, I think it must either have been of more aquatic liabit than most of the other plants of the Coal forma- tion, or that its leaves must have been very durable. While the leaves are abundant, the stems are very rare. I infer that they were usually low and succulent. Much of the tissue found in the coal, which I have called "epidermal," probably belongs to leaves of Cordaites (Fig. 172), In the Upper Coal formation there is a second species, distinguished by its simple and uniform venation. This I have named C. simplex. 4. Sporangites. — To avoid the confusion which envelopes the clas- sification of Carpolites, I have used the above name for rounded spore- cases of Lepidodcndron and allied plants, which are very frequent in the coal. A smooth round species like a mustard-seed is exces- sively abundant in the Lower Carboniferous at Horton, and probably belongs to Lepidodendron corriigatum, with which it is associated. A species covered with papilla?, *Si. papillala, constitutes nearly the whole of some layers in coal 12, group xix. of the Joggins section. I have no indication as to the plant to which it may belong, except that it is associated with Cordaites (Fig. 173, L). Fruits, Flowers, etc. 1 . Antholithes, Brongn. — Spikes of fruits protected by bracts, and which I believe to have been produced by Sigillarioid trees (Fig. 173, A, B, C). 2. Trigonocarpiim, Brongn. — Nut-like fruits, often three or six angled ; with a structure akin to those of Pines and Cycads. I believe most of them to have belonged to Sigillaria, some possibly to conifers (Fig. 173, D, E, F, and Fig. 174). 3. Rhabdocarpits, Gocppert and Brongn. — Oval fruits with striated sides, often of large size, but of uncertain affinities (Fig. 173, G). 4. Cardiocarpum, Brongn. — Fringed or margined fmits resembling Samaras of elms. Their precise origin is unknown. They may have belonged to upland trees, of which we have no other evidence in the coal swamps. It is to be observed, however, that in books of fossil botany, many organisms, which are probably spore-cases of Lrpidodendra or allied plants, are confounded with true Cardiocarpa (Fig. 173, I, K). With the exception of a few other genera based on parts of plants, like Cyperites and Stigmaria, and two specimens referred to Naeg- gcrathia (Fig. 73), and Diplotegium (Fig. 172, B), genera of uncer- tain affinities, the above will include all the plants that have as yet been found in our Coal formation ; and they are the characteristic genera of the Carboniferous period throughout the world. \ ■ I 460 THE CARBONIFEROUS 8Y8TESI, Fig. na.—Floioeri and Fruits— iioal Fornmtioii. A, AnthoUthcs squamosun, §. B, A. rhabdocarpl, J. B', Carpel restored. C, A. Bpinosus, natural size. D, Trigonocarpum intermedium. E, T. Nooggerathil. F, T. avellanum. 0, KhabdocarpuB insignls, reduced. H, Antholitliea pygmnus. 1, Cardlocarpum fluitans. K, Cardlocarpum bisectum. L, Sporangltcs papillata, nat. bIzo and mag. THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 461 Fig. 174. — Trigonocarpum Uookeri, Dawson ; from tho Co«l mewurcs of Capo Breton. d A, Broken specimen mapnlfled twica natural size. U, Section niHt^MifuMl : n, the testu ; h, tlio teamen ; c, the nncIeuB ; and d, the embryo. C, Portion of tho surface of the inner coat more liiglily magnified. Tissues of Plants preserved in the Coal. This subject has occupied much of my leisure time for some years, and I have publislicd the results of an extensive series of experiments and observations on the Coals of Pictou and Sydney, in a paper on the "Vegetable Structures in Coal," in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, February 1860; and a still more extended series on the numerous coals of the South Joggins, in my memoir on the " Conditions of Deposition of Coal," December 1865. I give here a summary of results of these inquiries. The direct investigation of the tissues preserved in coal has been pursued to some extent by Witham, Ilutton, Gocppert, Broiigniart, Bailey, Hooker, Quckett, Ilarkncss, and others. Two difficulties, however, have impeded this investigation, and have in some degree prevented the attainment of reliable result.s. One of these is the intractable character of the material as a microscopic object; tho i i ! I'M I ■ 1 ^ f"' 1| 462 THE CARnoNIFEROUS SYSTEM. Other, the want of sufficient iiifonnfttion in regard to the structures of the plants known by imprcssiuns of their external forms in the bods of the Cniil fonnntion. Perplexed by the uncortain and contradictory statements aiising from thcso difficultios, and improHScd with the conviction tliut the coal itself might be made more fully to reveal its own origin, I have for a long time been engaged in experiments and observations with this object, and believe that I can offer definite and certain results in ho far as relates to the particular coals examined, and, I have no doubt, Avith some slight modifications, to all the ordinary coals of the true Coal measures. In ordinary bituminous coal, we recognise by the unassisted eye laminae of a compact and more or less lustrous appearance, separated by uneven films and layers of fibrous anthracite or of mineral charcoal, and these two kinds of coal demand a separate consideration. The substance known by the very appropriate name of " mineral charcoal," consists of fragments of prosenchymatous and vasiform tissues in a carbonized state, somewhat flattened by pressure, and more or less impregnated with bituminous and mineral matters derived from the surrounding mass. We fannot suppose that this substance has escaped complete bitumini/aion on account of its original constitution ; fur we have abundant evidence that this change has passed upon similar material in various geological periods. A substance so intimately intermixed with the ordinary coal cannot be accounted for by the supposition of forest conflagrations or the action of subterranean heat. The only satisfactory explanation of its occur- rence is that afforded by the chemical changes experienced by woody matter decaying in the presence of air, in the manner so well illus- trated by Liebig. In such circumstances, wood parts with its hydro- gen and oxygen and a portion of its carbon, in the forms of water and carbonic acid ; and, as the ultimate result, a skeleton of nearly pure charcoal, retaining the form and structure of the wood, remains. In the putrefaction of wood under water, or imbedded in aqueous deposits, a very different change occurs, in which the principal lo.ss consists of carbon and oxygen ; and the resulting coaly product con- tains proportionally more hydrogen than the original wood. This is the condition of the compact bituminous coal. This last may, by the action of heat, or by long exposure to air and water, lose its hydrogen in the form of hydro-carbons, and Li converted into anthracite. In all the ordinary coals we have the products, more or less, of all these processes. The mineral charcoal results from subaerial decay, the compact coal from subaqueous putrefaction, more or less modified by heat and exposure to air. As Dr Newberry has very well shown, in TDK FLORA or THE COAL FORMATION. 4«8 coals like cannoI-coalH, which have been furtnud wholly under sub- aqueouB conditions, the mineral charcoal is deficient.* A consideration of tlio decay of vegetable matter in modern swampn and forests shows tiiat all kinds of tissues are not, under ordinary cir- cumstances, susceptible of the sort of carbonization whicli wo find in the mineral charcoal. Hucculont and lax parcncliymatous tissues decay too rapidly and completely. The bark of trees very long resists decay, and, where any deposition is proceeding, is likely to be im- bedded unchanged. It is the woody structure, and especially the hardo- ami more durable wood, that, becoming carbonized and split- ting along the mcdullury rays and lines of growth, affords such frag- V :.;;ts as those which we find scattered over the surfaces of the coal. -J- These facts would lead us to infer that mineral charcoal represents the woody debris of trees subjected to subaerial decay, and that the bark of these trees should appear as compact coal along with such woody or herbaceous matters as might be imbodd( 1 or submerged before decay had time to take place. My method of preparing the mineral charcoal for examination was an improvement on the "nitric-acid" process of previous observers, and the results gave very perfect examples of the disc-bearing tissue restricted in the modern world to conifers and cycads, but which existed also in the Sigillarice of the C\>al period. With this were scalariform vessels, like those of ferns and club mosses, and several other kinds of woody tissue. On careful comparison, it was found that all these tissues might be referred to the following genera of plants common in the Coal measures : ISigillaria, including Stigmaria, Calam'teSf Dadoxylon, and other conifers, Lepldodendron, Uloden- dron, ferns, and possibly some other leas known plants. Another form of tissue observed was a large spiral vessel, possibly belonging to some endogenous plant. The perfect state of preservation of these tissues may be inferred from the following figures, selected from those prepared for my paper (Fig. 175). I shall first notice in detail the structures preserved in the layers of shining compact coal, and afterwards those found in the mineral charcoal. I. The compact coal, constituting a far larger proportion of the mass than the "mineral charcoal," consists either of lustrous con- choidal cherry or pitch coal, — of less lustrous slate coal, with flat * American Journal of Science. See also Qoeppert, " Abhandlung nber Stein- Ic^hlen; " also a paper by tlie author, " Un Fossils £rom Nova iScotia," (juart. Journ. Oeol. Soc. 1846. t See paper of 1846, previously cited. 464 THE CARBONIFEROUa SYSTEM. fracture, — or of coarse coal, containing much earthy matter. All of these are arranged in thin interrupted laminag. They consist of Fig. 175.— Tissues from Coal. (a) Tissues of ,xis of Sigillarin. (6) Tissues of C'alamites? (c) Tissues of Ferns. (d) Scalariform vessel of I.epiilodendron. vegetable matter which has not been altered by subaJirial decay, but which has undergone the bituminous putrefaction, and has thereby been \-esolved into a nearly homofjjoncous mass, which still, however, retains traces of structure and of the fonns of the individual flattened plants composing it. As these last are sometimes more distinct than the minute structures, and are necessary for their comprehension, I shall, under the following heads, notice both as I have observed them in the coals in question : — 1. The laminaj of pitch or cherry coal, when carefully traced over the surfaces of accumulation, are found to present the outlines of flattened trunks. This is also true, to a certain extent, of the finer varieties of slate coal ; but the coarse coal appears to consist of exten- sive lamiiue of disintegrated vegetable matter mixed with mud. 2. When the coal (especially the more shaly varieties) is held obliquely under a strong light, in the manner recommended by Goeppert, the surfaces of the laminai present the forms of many well-known coal-plants, as Siffillai'ia, Stif/maria, Cordaitcs, Lepido- dendron, Lepidophloios, and i ough bark, perhaps of conifers. 3. When the coal is traced upward into the i oof-shales, we often find the larainaj of compact coal reprcsuatcd by flattened coaly trunks and leaves, now rendered distinct by being scpanited by clay. 4. In these flattened tiimks it is the outer cortical layer that alone constitutes the coal. This is very manifest when the upper and under THE FLORA OK THE COAL FORMATION. 465 bark are separated by a film of clay or of mineral charcoal, occupying the place of the wood. In this condition the bark of a large Sigillaria gives only one or two lines in thickness of coal ; Stigmaria, Lepido- dendron, and Ulodendron give still less. In the shales these flattened trunks are often so crushed together that it is difficult to separate them. In the coal they are, so to speak, fused into a homogeneous mass. 5. The phenomena of erect forests explain to some extent the manner in which layers of compact coal and mineral charcoal may result from the accumulation of trunks of trees in situ. In the sections at the South Joggins, the usual state of preservation of erect Sigillarice is that of casts in sandstone, enclosed by a thin layer of bark converted into compact, caking, bituminous coal, while the remains of the woody matter may be found in the bottom of the cast in me state of mineral charcoal. In other cases the bark lias fallen in, and all that remains to indicate the place of r. tree is a little pile of mineral charcoal, with strips of bark converted into compact coal. Lastly, a series of such remains of stumps, with flattened bark of prostrate trunks, may constitute a rudimentary bed of coal, many of which exist in the Joggins section. In short, a single trunk of Sigillaria in an erect forest presents an epitome of a coal-seam. Its roots represent the Stigmaria underclay ; its bark the compact coal ; its woody axis the mineral charcoal ; its fallen leaves, with remains of herbaceous plants growing in its shade, mixed with a little earthy matter, the layers of coarse coal. The condition of the durable outer bark of erect trees concurs with the chemical theory of coal, in show- ing the especial suitableness of this kind of tissue for the production of the purer compact coals. It is also piobable that the comparative impermeability of bark to mineral infiltration is of importance in this respect, enabling this material to remain unaffected by causes which have filled those layers consisting of herbaceous materials and decayed wood, with earthy matter, pyrites, etc. 6. The microscopic structure of the purer varieties of compact coal accords with that of the bark of Sigillaria. The compact coals are capable of affording very little true structure. Their cell-walls have been pressed close together ; and pseudo-cellular structures have arisen from molecular action and the segregation of bituminous matter. Most of the structures which have been figured by micro- Bcopists are of this last character, or at the utmost arc cell-structures masked by concretionary action, pressure, and decay. Hutton, how- ever, appears to have ascertained a truly cellular tissue in this kind of coal. Goeppcrt also has figured parenchymatous and perhaps bast- tissues obtained from its incineration. liy acting on it with nitric I t \ 111 I ';! wm 466 THE CARB0N1FEU0U3 SYSTEM. acid, I have found that the structures remaining both in the lustrous compact coals and in the bark of Sigillarim are parenchymatous cells and fibrous cells, probably bast-fibres. 7. I by no means desire to maintain that all portions of the coal- seams not in the state of mineral charcoal consist of cortical tissues. Quantities of herbaceous plants, leaves, etc., are also present, especially in the coarser coals ; and some small seams appear to consist entirely of such material, — for instance, of the leaves of Cordaites or Poacites. I would also observe that, though in tiie roof-shales and other associated beds it is usually only the cortical layer of trees that appears as compact bituminous coal, yet I 1 ave found specimens which show that in the coal-seams themselves true woody tissues have sometimes been im- bedded unchanged, and converted into structureless coal, forming, like the coniferous trees converted into jet in more modern for- mations, thin bands of very pure bitumliious material. The pro- portion of woody matter in this state differs in different coals, and is probably greatest in those which show the least mineral char- coal ; but the alteration which it has undergone renders it almost impossible to distinguish it from the flattened bark, which in all ordinary cases is much more abundant. II. In the mineral charcoal, which affords the greater part of the material showing distinct vegetable structures, the following kinds of tissue are those ordinarily observed : — a. Bast tissue, or elongated cells from the liber or inner bark of Sigillariffi and Lepidodendron, but especially of the former. — This kind of tissue is abundant in a calcified state in the shales associated with the coals, and also as mineral charcoal in the coals themselves, and in the interior of erect Sigillarice. It is the kind of tissue figured by Brongniart as the inner layer of bark in Sigillaria elegans, and very well described by Binney (Quart. Jouni. Geol. Soc. vol. xviii.) as " elongated tissue or utricles." Under the microscope many specimens of it closely resemble the imperfect bast tissue of the inner bark of Finns strobus and Thuja occidcntalis ; and like this it seems to have been at once tough and durable, remaining in fibrous strips after the woody tissues had decayed. It is extremely abundant at the Joggins in L!'e mineral charcoal of the smaller coal-seams. It is often associated with films of structureless coal, which represent the dense cellular outer bark which, in the trunk of Sigillaria, not only surrounded this tissue, but was intermixed with it. b. Vascular bundles of Ferns. — These may be noticed by all close observer? of the surfaces of coal, as slender hair- like fibres, sometimes ^■9 THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 467 lying separately, in other cases grouped in bands half an inch or more in diameter, and embedded in a loose sort of mineral charcoal. Wlien treated with nitric acid, each bundle resolves itself into a few scalari- form vessels surrounded with a sheath of woody fibres, often minutely porous. This structure is precisely that of macerated fern-stipes ; but, as already stated, there may have been some other coal-plants whose leaves presented similar bundles. As stated in my former paper " On the Vegetable Structures in Coal," this kind of tissue is especially abundant in the coarse and laminated portions of the coal, which we know on other evidence to have been made up, not of trunks of trees, but of mixed herbaceous matters (Fig. 175, C). c. Scalariform vessels, — These are very abundant in the mineral charcoal, though the coarser kinds have been crushed and broken in such a .nanner that they usually appear as mere debris. The sca- lariform vessels of Lepidodendron, Lepidophloios, and Stigmaria are very coarse, and much resemble each other. Those of ferns are finer, and sometimes have a reticulated structure. Those of SigiUaria are much finer, and often have the aspect of wood-cells with trans- versely elongated pores like those of Cycas. Good examples of thee arc figured in the paper already referred to (see also Fig. 175, A and D). d. Discigerous icood-cells. — These are the true bordered pores characteristic of SigiUaria, Calamodendron, and Dadoxylon, In the two former genera the discs or pores are large and irregularly ar- ranged, either in one row or several rows ; but in the latter case they are sometimes regularly alternate and contiguous. In the genus Dadoxylon they are of smaller size, and always regularly contiguous in two or more rows, so as to present an hexagonal arcolation. Dis- cigerous structures of SigiUaria and Calamodendron arc very abun- dant in the coal, and numerous examples were figured in my paper above cited. I have indicated by the name Reticulated Tissue certain cells or vessels which may either be reticulated scalariform vessels, or an imperfect form of discigerous tissue. I believe them to belong to Stigmaria or Calamodendron (Figs. 162 and 175, A.) e. Epidermal tissue. — This is a dense cellular tissue representing the outer integuments of various leaves, herbaceous stems, and fruits. I have ascertamed that the structures in question occur in the leaves and stipes of Cordaitcs and ferns, and in the outer coat of Carpolites and Sporangites. With this I may include the obscure and thick- walled cellular tissue of the outer bark of SigiUaria and Lepidoden- dron and other trees, which, though usually consolidated into com- pact coal, sometimes exhibits its structure. i« 468 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. I would here emphatically state that all my ohservations at the Joggins confirm the conclusion, which I arrived at many years ago from the study of the coals of Pictou and Sydney, that the layers of clear shining coal (pitch or cherry coal) are composed of flattened trunks of trees, and that of these usually the bark alone remains; further, that the lamination of the coal is due to the superposition of layers of such flattened trunks altcniating with the accumulations of vegetable matter of successive years, and occasionally with fine vege- table muck or mud spread over tlie surface by rains or by inundations. In connexion with this, it is to be observed that the density and im- permeability of cortical ssues not only enable them to endure after wood has perished or been resolved into bits of charcoal, but render them less liable than the wood to mineral infiltration. Rate of Growth of Carboniferous Plants. — Very vague statements are often made as to the supposed rapid rate of growth of plants in the Carboniferous period. Perhaps the most trustworthy facts in relation to this subject are those which may be obtained from the coniferous trees. In some of these (for instance, Dadoxylon materi- arium, D. annulatiim, and D. antiquius) the rings of growth, wliicli were no doubt annual, are distinctly markc»!. On measuring these in a number of specimens, and comparing them with modern species, I find that they are about equal in dimensions to those of the Balsam Fir or the Yellow Pine of America. Assuming, therefore, similarity in habit of growth and extent of foliage to these species, we may infer that, in regard to coniferous trees, the ordinary conditions of growth were not dissimilar from those of Eastern America in its temperate regions at present. When, however, we compare the ferns and Lycopocliaceai of the Coal formation with those now growing in Eastern America, we see, in the much greater dimensions and luxuriance of the former, evidence of a much more moist and equable climate than that which now subsists ; so that we may suppose the growth of such plants to have been more rapid than it is at present. These plants would thus lead us to infer a warm and insular climate, perhaps influenced by that supposed excess of carbonic acid in tiic atmosphere which, as Tyndall and Hunt inform us, would promote warmth and moisture by impeding terrestrial radiation. With this would also agree the fact that the conifers have woody tissues resembling those of the pine trees of the milder climates of the southern hemisphere at present. If we apply these considerations to Siyillaria, we may infer that the conditions of moisture and unifonuity of temperature favourable to ferns and Lycopodiacece were also favourable to these curious )> 'If THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 469 i • plants. They must have been perennial ; and the resemblance of their trunks to those of Cycads, together with their hard and narrow leaves, would lead us to infer that their growth must have been very slow. A similar inference may be drawn from the evidences of very slow and regular expansion presented by the lower parts of their stems. On the other hand, the distance, of a foot or more, which often intervenes between the transverse rows of scars, marking pos- sibly annual fructification, would indicate a more rapid rate of growth. Further, it may be inferred, from the structure of their roots and of their thick inner bark, that these, as in Cycads, were receptacles for great quantities of starch, and that the lives of these plants presented alternations of starch-accumulation and of expen- diture of this in the production of leaves, wood, and abundant inflo- rescence. They would thus, perhaps for several years, grow very slowly, and then put forth a great mass of fructification, after which perhaps many of the individuals would die, or again remain for a long time in an inactive state. This view would, I think, very well harmonize with the structure of these plants, and also with the mode of tlieir entombment in the coal. From the manner of the association of Calamitcs with erect Sigil- larice, I infer that the former were, of all the plants of the Coal for- mation, those of most rapid dissemination and growth. They appear to have first taken possession of emerging banks of sand and mud, to have promoted the accumulation of sediment on inundated areas, and to have protected the exposed margins of the forests of Sigillarice. In applying any conclusions as to the rate of growth of Carbon- iferous plants to the accumulation of coal, we must take into account the probable rate of decay of vegetable matter. When we consider the probable wetness of the soils on which the plants which produced the coal grew, the density of the forests, and the possible excess of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of these swamps, we must be prepared to admit that, notwithstanding the wamith and humidity, the condi- tions must have been favourable to the preservation of vegetable matter. Still the hollow cylinders of bark, the little fragments of decayed wood in the form of mineral charcoal, and the detached vascular bundles of ferns, testify to an enormous amount of decay, and show that, however great the accumulation of coal, it represents only a fraction of the vegetable matter which was actually produced. It has been estimated that it would require eight feet of compact vegetable matter to produce one foot of coal ; but if we reckon the whole vegetable matter actually produced in the process, I should suppose that five times that amount would be far below the truth, } V i ■^ ; I 470 THE CAUB0NIFEB0U8 SYSTEM. even in the most favourable cases ; while there is evidence that in the Carboniferous period many forests may have flourished for centuries without producing an inch of coaly matter. Summary of Conclusions. — In illustration of the bearing of these facts on the questions relating to the materials of the coal, I give the following table, representing in a condensed form the results of my observations on the coals of the South Joggins : — Table showing the Relative Frequency of Occurrence of Genera of Plants and Animals in the Coals of the South Joggins, Name or Fossils. Plants. Sigillaria ov^curs in Cordaites .. „ Filices (mostly Alethoptcria lonchitica) „ Lepidodendron and Lepido- phloios „ Calamites „ Carpolites, etc „ Asterophyllites „ Calamodendron „ Structures. Vascular bundles of ferns ... „ Bast tissue (Sigillaria) „ Epidermal tissue {Cordaitts^ etc.) „ Scalariform [Sigil., Stig., Le- 2)idod., etc.) „ Discigerous {Sigillana and Dadoxylon, etc.) „ Reticulated {Calamites, Ferns, etc.) „ Anl.iials. Fishes (Palceoniscus, Rhizo- dua, etc.) „ Naiadites (Anthracomya, etc.) „ Spirorbis carbonarius „ Cythere „ Insects (?) „ Reptiles (Dendrerpeton, etc.) „ Pupa velusta and Xylobiua sigillaruB „ Division 3. 23 coals. 13 15 4 2 8 2 6 1 1 } } Division 4. 49 coais. 34 26 17 15 12 9 2 1 22 16 6 9 8 2 16 16 16 13 3 1 Division 6. 9 coals. 2 2 Total. 81 coals. 49 41 23 16 16 11 3 1 30 20 12 11 10 3 18 17 16 14 3 1 m>^,^ •■ I If THE FLORA OP THE COAL FOUMATION. 471 49 41 The number of coals reckoned in this coal-field may vary according to the manner in which the several layers are groui^ed ; but as arranged in the sectional list given in a previous chapter it amounts to eighty- one in all. Of these, 23 are found in Division 3 of Logan's section, being the upper member of the Middle Coal fonnation ; 49 are found in Division 4 of Logan's section, being the lower member of the Middle Coal formation ; 9 occur in Division 6 of Logan's section, or in the equivalent of the Millstone-grit. In the latter group few of the coals were sufficiently well exposed to enable a satisfactory examination to be made. I have grouped the remains under three heads — External Forms of Plants, Microscopic Stnicture of Plants, and Animal Re- mains — and have arranged the forms under each in the order of their relative frequency of occurrence. No mention is made of Stigmaria, which occurs in nearly every coal or its underclay. The following are the conclusions, based on the above table and on examinations of the Coal of Pictou and Sydney : — " 1. With respect to the plants which have contributed the vegetable matter of the coal, these are principally the Sigillarice, with Cor- daifes, Ferns and Calamites. With these, however, are intermixed remains of most of the other plants of the period, contributing, though in an inferior degree, to the accumulation of the mass. This conclusion is confirmed by facts derived from the associated beds, — as, for instance, the prevalence of Stigmaria in the underclays, and of Sigillarice and Calamites in the roof-shales and erect forests. " 2. The woody matter of the axes of Sigillarice and Calarnitece and of coniferous trunks, as well as the scalariform tissues of the axes of the LepidodendrecB and Ulodendrece, and the woody and vascular bundles of ferns, appear principally in the state of mineral charcoal. The outer cortical envelope of these plants, together with 8>ich portions of their wood and of herbaceous plants and foliage as were submerged without subaerial decay, occur as compact coal of various degrees of purity ; the cortical matter, owing to its greater resistance to aqueous infiltration, affording the purest coal. The relative amounts of all these substances found in the states of mineral charcoal and compact coal depend principally upon the greater or less prevalence of subaerial decay, occasioned by greater or less dryness of the swampy flats on which the coal accumulated. " 3. The structure of the coal accords with the view that its ma- terials were accumulated by growth, without any driftage of materials. The Sigillarice and Calarnitece, tall and branchless, and clothed only with rigid linear leaves, formed dense groves and jungles, in which the stumps and fallen trunks of dead trees became resolved by decay ii^ 1, •f ^ ( ' \ m n lit Jl 1^ •J 472 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM, into sliells of bi. C, Sydney (R. Brown). SpiinNOPTEKis, Brongn. 1. Sphenopteris mundo, spec. nov. (Fig. 69). Like S. Dubiiis- sonii, Brongn., or S. irregidat'is, Sternberg, in habit ; but the pinnules are obovate, decurrent, and few-veined. M. C, Grand Lake and Springhill (C. F. Ilartt). 2. S. hymenophyllnides, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; U. C, Joggins (J. W. \}.). 3. »S. latior, spec. nov. (Fig. 70). Petiole forking at an obtuse angle, slender, tortuous ; divisions bipinnate ; pinna; with broad, rounded, confluent pinnules ; veins twice forked, with sori in the forks of tlie veins. In habit like aS. latifolia, Brongn., S. Newberryi, and S. squamosa, Lesq. M. C, Grand Lake and Springhill (C. F. Hartt) ; U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 4. 8. decipiens, Lcsquereux. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 5. S. gracilis, Brongn. M. C, Joggins. (J. W. D.) ; Grand Lake (C. F. Hartt). 6. S. artemisiarfolia, Brongn. M. C. Grand Lake, Springhill (C. F. Hartt) ; Sydney (R. Brown). 7. S. Canadensis, spec. nov. (Fig. 71). General aspect like S. Hoeuinghausi, but secondary pinnules with a margined petiole, and oblong pinnules divided into three to five obtuse points. It is not unlike S. marginata, from the Devonian of St. John. Bay de Chaleur (Logan); Sydney? (R. Brown). 8. (S. Lesquereuxii, Newberry. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 9. S. microloba, Guttbier. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 10. S. obtusiloba {?), Brongn. M. C, Bay de Chaleur (Logan). 1' \ f 484 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. J PlIYLLOPTERIS, BfOngTl. Phyllcypteris antiqua, spec. nov. (Fig. 166, E). Pinnate; petiole thick, woody ; pinnules oblong, pointed, attached by the middle of the base ; midrib strong, extending to the point, giving off very oblique nerves, which have obliquely pinnate nervulcs not anastomosing. A remarkable frond, which, if not the type of a new genus, must belong to that above named. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). Aletiiopteris, Sternberg. 1. Alethopteris lonchitica, Sternberg. (Fig. 166, C). M. and U. C, Joggins (J. W. D.) ; M. C, Sydney (li. Brown) ; Grand Lake (C. F. llartt). Very abundant throughout the Middle and Upper Coal formations, and so variable that several species might easily be founded on detached specimens. 2. A. heterophylla, L. and II. (Fig. 156, A). L. C, Parrsborough (A. Gesner). 3. A. Grmidi'ni, Brongn. IM. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 4. A. nervosa, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; Bay dc Chaleur (Logan) ; U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 5. A. miiricata, Brongn. M. C, Joggins, Bathurst (Lyell) ; U. C, Pictou (J. W. 1).). 6. A. pteroides, Brongn. (.^4. Brongnartii, Goeppert). L. or M. C, Bathurst (Lyell's list). 7. A. Serlii, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; Bay de Chaleur (Logan) ; Springhill (C. F. Hartt). 8. A. grandis, spec. nov. (Fig. 72). Bipinnate; pinnre broad, contiguous, united at the base ; veins numerous, once forked, not quite at right angles to the midrib. Upper pinna; having the pinnules confluent so as to give crenate edges. Still higher the apex of the frond shows distant decurrent long pinnules Avith waved margins. A very large and fine species of the type of A. Serlii and A. Orandini, but much larger and different in details. Its texture seems to have been membranaceous; and fragments from that part of the frond where the long simple pinnules are passing into the compound ones might be mistaken for an Odontopteris. Bay do Chaleur (Logan). Pecopteris, Brongn. 1. Pecopteris arhoresccns, Schloth. Seems to have been an her- baceous species with a very strong petiole. It occurs in an erect position in a sandstone on Wallace River. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown); U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.); Wallace River (Dr Creed). 1«V) r i m \ - THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 485 petiole c of the oblique ing. A t belong and U. id Lake 1 Upper lit easily sboroxigli Bay de I); U.C, or M. C, c Chaleur 2. P. abbreviata, Broiign. M. C, Sydney (It. Brown); Salmon River, U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). Very common both in the Upper and Middle Coal formations. 3. P. rigida, spec. nov. Similar to P. arborescens, but much smaller, and with finer nerves. U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 4. P. unita, Broagn. Certain pinnules of a frond are sometimes swollen as if covered with fructification below ; and in this state they resemble P. arr/uta, Brongn. The sori are seen in other specimens, and are large, round, and covered with an indusium as in Aspidium. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 5. P. plumosa, Brongn, M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 6. P. polymorpha, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 7. P. acuta, Brongn. M. C, Pictou (J. "W. D.). 8. P, longifolia, Brongn. In Banbury's list, from Sydney. 9. P. t^nioptcrotdes, Bunbury. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 10. P. ct/athea, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R, Brown). 11. P. CBqualis, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 12. P. Silliman/, Brongn. In Lyell's list, from Sydney. 13. P. villosa, Brongn. M. C, Pictou (LycU's list). 14. P. Bucklandi, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (Brown's list). 15. P. oreopteroides, Brongn. M. C, Sydney (Brown's list). 16. P. Decurrens, Lesq. lias pinnules more crowded, decreasing towards the apex, but may be a variety. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 17. P. Pluckenetii, Stcrnb. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). Beinertia, Goeppert Beinertia Goepperti, spec. nov. Bipinnate ; pinna; broad, contiguous, obtuse, with thick pinnules. Pinnules rounded above, obovate below. Midrib thick, oblique, dividing above into a tuft of irregular hair-like veins. M. C., Grand Lake (C. F. Ilartt) ; Bay de Chaleur (Logan) ; U. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). IlyMENOPiiYLLiTES, Goeppcrt. Hymenophyllites pentadactyla, spec. nov. In general habit like Sphenopteris microloba, Goepp., but with pinnules divided into from four to seven obtuse cuneate lobes, each with one vein. M. C, Sydney (R. Bro:v:,>). pALAiOPTEKis, Gcinitz. 1. Palmopteris Ilarttii, spec. nov. (Fig. 1 67, C). Stem or leaf-bases transversely wrinkled with delicate lines; scars transversely oval, 486 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. slightly appondaged below; vascular scars confluent. Breadth 1-4 in.; length 06 in. M. C, Grand Lake, Springhill (C. F. llartt), 2. P. Acadica, spec, no v. (Fig. 1G7, D). Stem or leaf- bases longitudinally striated; scars transverse, flat above, rounded and bluntly appendaged below ; vascular scars in a transverse row. Hreadth of sears 0-7 inch ; length 0-5 inch. U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). Caulopteris, L. and II. Several small erect stems at the Joggins seem to be trunks of ferns, but are too obscure for description. PsAKONius, Cotta. Trunks of this kind must be rare in the Nova Scotian Coal-fields. A few obscure stems surrounded by cord- like aerial roots have been found, and probably are remains of plants of this genus. Megai'Hyton, Artis. 1. Megaphyton magnijicum, spec. nov. (Fig. 167, A). Stems large, roughly striated longitudinally; scars contiguous, orbicular, deeply sunk, nearly 3 inches in diameter, and each with a bilobate vascular im- pression 2 inches broad and an inch high. M. C, Joggins (J. W. 1).). 2. M. humile, spec. nov. Stem 2-5 inches in diameter; leaf- scars prominent, flattened, and broken at the ends, 1 inch wide. Surface of the stem marked with irregular furrows, and invested with ft carbonaceous coating. An internal axis, nearly 2 inches in diameter, with a coaly coating, sends off" obliquely thick branches to the leaf- scars. This is a very remarkable specimen, and throws much light on the structure of Megaphyton. Unfortunately the minute structures are not preserved. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). Genus Lei'idodendron, Sternberg. 1. Lepidodendron coryiigatum, Dawson, Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc, vol. XV. (Fig. 168). Areoles elongate ovate, acute at both ends, with a ridge along the middle, terminating in a single elevated vascular scar at the upper end. In certain states the vascular mark appears in the middle of the areolc. In young branches the areoles arc contiguou.s and resemble those of L. clegans. In old stems they become separated by spaces of longitudinally wrinkled bark; in very old stems these spaces are much wider than the areoles. Leaves linear, 1 inch or more in length, usually reflected, one-nerved. Cones [Lep'ulustrobi) terminal, short, cylindric, with ntunerous short, acute-triangular scales. Struc- ture of stem : — a central pith wi a Blender cylinder of scalariforin n Y THE FLORA OF THE COAL FOKMATION. 487 vessels, exterior to which is a thick cylinder of cellular tissue and bast fibres, and a dense outer bark. Var. verticUlatum has the areolos arranged in reguhir decussate whorls instead of spirally. This dif- ference, which might at first sight seem to warrant even a generic distinction, is proved by sjfcciinens in my possession to be merely a variety of phyllotaxls. This species is eminently characteristic of the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures, and has not yet been found in the Middle Coal formation. Fragments of bark, resembling that of this species, occur in the Coal fornuition of Hay de Chaleur, along witii leafy branches of Lcpidodendron, which resemble those of this species, though, I believe, distinct. L. C, Ilorton, etc. (C. F. Ilartt ; .1. \V. D.) ; Norton Creek, etc.. New Brunswick (G. F. Matthew). 2. L. Pictoemc, spec. nov. (Fig. 169, A). Areolcs contiguous, pro- minent, long oval, acuminate, separated in young stems by a narrow line; breadth to length as 1 to 3, or less; lower half obliquely wrinkled, especially at one side. Middle line indistinct. Leaf-scar at ui)per cud of arcolc, small, triangular, with traces of three vascular points, nearly confluent. Length of areole about Of) incli. Leaves contracted at the base, widening slightly, and gradually contracting to a point; ribs three, central distinct, lateral obscure; length 1 inch. Cones bo!nc at the extremities of the smaller branches, oblong, obscurely scaly. In habit of growth this species resembles L. cle- gans, for which imperfect specimens might be mistaken. It is also near to L. binerve and L. patulum, Bunbury.* It abounds in the Middle Coal measures. M. C, Sydney (H. Brown) ; Pictou (11. Poole and J. W. D.) ; Grand Lake ((\ F. Ilartt). 3. L. riinosuni, Sternberg (Fig. 169, D). M. C, Sydney (li. Brown) ; Joggins (J. W. D.). 4. L. dichotomum, Sternberg (L. Stembergli, L. and IL). M. C. Sydney (U. Brown) ; Joggins (J. W. D.) ; L. C, Ilorton (J. W. D.). 5. Z/. rfec«r/a/M»i, spec. nov. (Fig. 170, A). Areoles approximate or separated by a shallow furrow, rhombic ovate, obliquely acuminate below, nearly as broad as long, wrinkled transversely, especially on the middle line, which appears tuberculatcd ; vascular scar rhombic, twice as broad as long, witli three approximate vascular points. In some flattened specimens the line separating the areoles is indistinct, and the scars appear on a transversely wrinkled surface without dis- tinct areoles. M. C, Pictou (J. W. 1).). 6. L. undidatum, Sternberg. (Fig. 169, E). Possibly several species * In cortain states of preservation, the lateral ribs uf the leaves become obsolete ; auil ill others the central disappears, in which stato the reseuiblaiico to L, binerve is very close. \ % \ .± r^ifi IL: 488 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. are included under this name ; but they cannot be separated at present. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; Joggins and Pictou (J. W. D.) ; U. C , Joggins (J. W. D.). 7. L. dilatatum, Lindley and Ilutton. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D,). 8. L., sp. like tciragonuin, Goepp. Obscurely marked, but a dis- tinct species, unless an imperfectly preserved variety of L. tetragontim. The areoles arc square, Avith a rhombic scar at the upper corner of each. L. C, Hortc (J. W, D.). 9. L. binerve, Bunbury. M. C, Sydney (li. Brown). 10. L. tumidum, Bunbury. I think it probable that this species bek (gs to the genus Lepiduphloios ; but I have not seen a specimen. M. C, Sydney (li. Brown). 11. L. gracile, Brongn. In Brown's list in "Acadian Geology." Probably a variety of the next. M. C, Sydney (11. Brown). 12. L. elcgans, Ikongn. In Bunbury and Brown's lists. M. C. Sydney (li. Brown). 13. L. plumartum, L. and II. M. C, Sydney (in Brown's list). 14. L. selaginoides, Stenib. M. C, Sydney (in Brown's list). 15. L. Harcourtu (Witham). M. C, Sydney (in Brown's list). 16. L. chjpeatuvi (?), Lesqx. M. C, Sydney (li. Brown) ; U. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 17. L. aadeatum, Sternberg. M. C, Sydney (li. Brown). 18. L. plicatum, spec. nov. (Fig- 169, C). Leaf-areoles much elon- gated ; breadth to length as 1 to 5 or 6, tranversely rugose ; central line indistinct. Leaf-scar rhombic, with three vascular points ; scars in old stems separated by rugose bark, and somewhat elongate. M. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 19. L. personatum, spec. nov. (Fig. 169, B). Areoles ovate acu- minate ; breadth to length as 1 to 3 or 4, contiguous in young stems ; central line distinct ; lower part of areole with transverse lines. Leaf- scars ovate, with two marks above and two below ; leaves slender, 1 inch long, one-nerved. M. C, Sydney (li. Brown). Halonia, L. and H. Halonia, sp. A specimen probably referable to this genus from Grand Lake, in the collection of C. F. Ilartt. Lepidostrohus, Brongn. 1. Lepidostrobus voriabilis^ L. and II. The most common species. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown) ; Pictou and Joggins (J. W. D.). «*i THE FLORA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 489 resent. U.C, V. D.). t a dis- igonum. of each. species jecimen. oology." M. C. 8 list), list), s list). 0; U.C, )• lucli clon- central its; scars M.C., vato acu- ng steins; es. Leaf- slender, 1 enus bn species. )• 2. L. sqnamosus, spec. nov. (Fig. 171, E.) 2 to 3 inches long, 1 inch thick ; scales large, broadly trigonal, acntc. Allied to L. tri- ffonolepis, but larger. Probably a cone of Lepidophluios. M. C, Grand Lake (C. F. Hartt). 3. L. longifolius, spec. nov. Long-leaved, like Lepidodendron longi- folium, L. and II. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 4. Lepldostrobus, sp. Acute trigonal leaves, small. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 5. Lepidostrohus, sp. Round, with obscure scales and remains of long leaves. L. C, Horton (J. W. D.). 6. L. Trigonolepis, Bunbury. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). Lepidophyllum, Brongn. 1. Lepidophyllum lanceolatum, L. and H. M. C, Joggins; U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). 2. L. Trinerve (?), L. and II. Two-nerved or three-nerved, like L. trinerve, L. and II., but narrower. Both the above are parts of Lepidostrobi. U. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 3. L. Majus (? ), Brongn. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). 4. Lepidophyllum, sp. Broad ovate, short, pointed, one-nerved, half an inch Ion". U. C, Pictou. 5. L. intermedium, L. and H. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown's list). Ilalonia, Lepidostrohus and Lepidophyllum, including only parts of Lepidodendron and Lepidophloios, are to be regarded as merely pro- visional genera. Lepidophloios, Sternberg. 1. Lepidophloios Acadianus, spec. nov. (Fig. 171). Leaf-bases broadly rhombic, or in old stems regularly rhombic, prominent, ascending, terminated by very broad rhombic scars having a central point and two lateral obscure points. Outer bark laminated or scaly. Surface of inner bark with single points or depressions. Leaves long, linear, with a strong keel on one side, five inches or more in length. Cone-scars sparsely scattered on tliick branches, either in two rows or spirally, both modes being sometimes seen on the same branch. Scalariform axis scarcely an inch in diameter in a stem five inches thick. Fruit, an ovate strobile with numerous acute scales covering small globular spore-cases. This species is closely allied to Uloden- dron majus and Lepidophloios laricinus, and presents numerous varie- ties of marking. M. C, Joggins, Salmon River, Pictou (J. W. D.); Sydney (R. Brown). 2. L. prominulus, spec. nov. Leaf-bases rhombic, pyramidal, 2 I \ ':| : 490 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. somewhat wrinkled at the sides, truncated uy regularly rhombic scars, each with three approximate vascuh.r points. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 3. L. parvus, spec. nov. (Fig. 170, G). Leaf-bases rhombic, small, with rhombic scars broader than long; vascular points obscure; leaves linear, acute, three inches or more in length, with a keel and two faint lateral ribs. Cones large, sessile. U. C, Pictou ; M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.) ; M. C, Sydney (R. Jirown). 4. L. platystigma, spec. nov. (Fig. 170, E). Leaf-bases rhombic, broader than long, little prominent ; scars rhombic, oval, acuminate, slightly emarginato above ; vascular points two, approximate or confluent. M. C, Sydney (11. Brown) ; Joggins (J. W. D.). 5. L. tetragonus, spec. nov. (Fig. 170, D). Leaf-bases square, fur- rowed on the sides ; leaf-scar central, with apparently a single central vascular point. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). DiPLOTEGiUM, Corda. Dip^-^tegium retusum, spec. nov. (Fig. 172, B). Tlio fragments reterable to plants of this genus are imperfect and obscure. The most dist'".ct show leaf-bases ascending obliquely, and terminating by a retuse end with a papilla in the notch. Some less distinct fragments may possibly be impevfectly preserved specimens of Lepidodendron or Lepidophloios. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). Knorria. Nearly all the plants referred to this genus in the Carboniferous rocks are, as Goeppert has shown, imperfectly preserved stems of Lepidodendron. In the Lower Coal formation many such Knorria forms are afforded by L. corrugatum. Knorria Sellonii, Sternberg. This appears different from the ordinary Knorria ; its supposed leaves may be aerial roots. It has a large pith- cylinder with very distant tabular floors, like Sternbergia. M. C, Sydney (R. Brown). CoRDAiTES, linger. (Pyciinophyllum, Brongn.). 1. Cordaites borassifolia, Corda (Fig. 172, A). M. C, Pictou (H. Poole); Grand Lake and Springhill (C. F. Hartt) ; Sydney (R. Brown) ; Joggins, Onslow (J. W. D.) ; Bay de Chaleur (Logan). Very abundant in the Middle Coai formation. 2. C. simplex, spec. nov. Leaves similar to the last in size and form, but with simple, equal, parallel nerves. It may be a variety, but is characteristic of the Upper Coal formation. M. C, Grand River (C. F. Hartt) ; U. C, Pictou (J. W. D.). p 4. THE FLORA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 491 lombic oggins small, oscure ; jel and M. C, hombic, iminatc, mate or are, fur- central ragments The most ling by a fragments lodendron )oniferous sterna of Knorria Ifrom the It has irnhergia. jictou (H. iney (R- (Logan). size and variety, md River CAuniocAKPUM, Brongn. 1. Cardiocarpum Jluitans, npcc. nov. (Fig. 173, I). Oval; apex entire or notched; surface slightly rugose; nucleus round ovate, acuminate, pitted on the surface, with a raised mesial line. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 2. C. bisectum, spec. nov. (Fig. 173, K). Nucleus as in the last species, but striate ; margin widely notched at apex, and more nar- rowly notched below. M. C, Grand Lake, Springhill (C. F. Hartt}. 3. Cardiocarpum, sp. like C. marginatum. M. C, Joggins ( J. W.D.). 4. Cardiocarpum, sp. allied to C latum, Newberry. M. C, Pictou (H. Poole). These Cardiocarpa are excessively abundant in the roofs of some coal seams ; and the typical ones must have been samaras or winged nutlets. They must have belonged to phajnogamous plants, and certainly are not the fruits of Lepidodendron, though some of the spore-cases of this genus have been described as Cardiocarpa. These I propose to place under the provisional genus Sporangites. Sporanqites, Dawson. 1. Sporangites papillata, spec. nov. (Fig. 173, L). I propose the provisional generic name of Sporangites for spores or spore-cases of Lepidodendron, Catamites, and similar plants, not referred to the species to which they belong. The present species is round, about one inch in diameter, and covered with minute raised papillae or spines. It abounds in the roof of several of the shaly coals in the Joggins section, and especially in one in group 19 of that section. M. C, Joggins (J. W. D.). 2. (S. glabra, spec. nov. (Fig. 168, F). About the size of a mustard- seed, round and smooth. Exceedingly abundant in the Lower Car- boniferous Coal measures of Horton Bluff, with Lepidodendron corru- gatum, to which it probably belongs. A similar spore-case, possibly of another species of Lepidodendron, occurs rai'ely in the Middle Coal formation at the Joggins. Sternbergia, Artis. This provisional genus includes the piths of Dadoxylon, Sigillaria, and other plants, usually preserved as casts in sandstone, retaining more or less perfectly the transverse partitions into which the pith- cylinders of many coal fonnation trees became divided in the process of growth. These fossils are most abundant in the Upper Coal for- mation, but occur also in the Middle Coal formation. The following varieties may be distinguished : — (a.) Var. approximata, with fine uniform transverse wrinkles. This is usually invested with a thin coating of structureless coal. !' \ ■4' r 492 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. (b.) Var. angularis (Fig. IGO), with coarser and more angular transverse wrinkles. This is the character of the pith of Dadoxylon. (c.) Var. dlstans, usually of small size, and with distant and irregu- lar wrinkles. This is sometimes invested with wood having the structure of Calumodendron, and perhaps is not generically distinct from C. approximatum. (d.) Var. obscura, with distinct and distant transverse wrinkles, but not strongly marked on the surface. This is the character of the pith-cylinders of Sigillaria and Lepidophloios. Endogenites, L. and II. Many sandstone-casts, answering to the character of the plants described under this name by Lindley, occur in the Upper Coal for- mation. Thoy are sometimes three inchess in diameter, and several feet in length, irregularly striated longitudinally, and invested with coaly matter. Sometimes they .show transverse striation in parts of their length. I believe they are casts of pith-cylinders of the nature of Sternbergia, and probably of Sigillarioid trees. SoLENiTEs, L. and II. Plants of this kind are found in the sandstones of the Upper Coal formation of the Joggins. For all the specimens noticed in the above list as collected by Sir W. E. Logan, Richard Brown, Esq., of Sydney, Cape Breton, llunry Poole, Esq., of Glace Bay, C.B., and G. F. and C. B. Matthew and C. F. ITartt, Esqs., St John, New Brunswick, I am indebted to the kindness of these gentlemen. To Mr Brown especially I am under great obligations for his liberality in placing at my disposal his large and valuable collection of the plants of the Cape Breton Coal-field. Summary. 1. Of 196 nominal species in the list, probably 44 may be rejected as founded merely on parts of plants, leaving about 152 true species. 2. Of these, on comparison with the lists of Unger, Morris, and Lesqucreux, 92 seem to be common to Nova Scotia and to Europe, and 59 to Nova Scotia and the United States. Most of these last are common to Europe and the United States. There are about 54 species peculiar, in so far as known, to Nova Scotia, th' >ugh there can be little doubt that several of these will be found elsewhere. It would thus appear that the coal flora of Nova Scotia is more closely related to that of Europe than to that of the United States, a curious circum- stance in connexion with the siniilar relationship of tiie marine fauna of the period ; brt additional information may modify this view. THE FLOKA OF THE COAL FORMATION. 493 rejected species. n-is, and Europe, Hiesc last kbout 54 bieie can lit would related circum- tne fauua 5W. 3. The greater part of the species have their head-quarters in the Middle Coal formation, and scarcely any species appear in the Upper Coal formation that are not also found in the former. The Lower Coal formation, on the other hand, seems to have a few peculiar species not found at higher levels. 4. The characteristic species of the Lower Coal formation are Lepi- dodendron comigatum and Cyclopteris Acadtca, both of which seem to be widely distributed at or near this horizon in Eastern America, while neither has yet been recognised in the true or Middle Coal measures. In the Upper Coal formation Calamites Suckovii, AnnU' laria sphenophylloides, i^heniphyllum emarginatum, Cordaites simplex, Alethopterts nervosa, muricata, etc., Pecopteris arborescens, P. ab- breviata, P. rigida, Neuropterh cordata, Dadoxylon materiariim, Lepidophloius parvus, Sigillaria scutellala, &xq characteristic plants, though not confined to this group. 5. In the Middle Coal formation and in the central part of it, near the greater coal scams, occur the large majority of the species of HigiUaria, Calamites, Lepidodendron, and Ferns , some of the species ranging from the Millstone-grit into the Upper Coal formation, while others seem to be more narrowly limited. It is to be observed, how- ever, that, as wc leave the central part of the system, the total number of species diminishes both above and below, and that it is only in those beds which hold large immbers of plants in situ or nearly so, that we can expect to find a great variety o\ species, and especially the more delicate and perishable organisms. It is also quite observable in the Joggins section, that while some beds, in the same part of the system, supported SigillaricB, others carried Calamites, others mixtures of these with other plants ; so that differences of soil, moisture, etc., frequently cause neighbouring beds to bo more dissimilar "n their fossil contents than otiiers much more widely separated. These local and temporary differences must always have occurred in the deposition of the coal measures, and should not be confounded with those general changes which are connected with lapse of time. Additional Note on Vegetable Structures in Coal. In the foregoing pages reference has frequently been made to the existence of distinct vegetable structures in coal ; and any ordinary observer may satisfy himself of this by closely inspecting the surfaces of a lump of the mineral with the aid of a bright light and a magni- fying glass. But the microscope reveals a world of wonderful tissues in coal, as perfect as if they had only yesterday formed parts of living plants ; and as I have devoted many hours of patient labour to the A li ?t: !|r \'^J iii 494 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. U] (• U investigation of these stractures, I may here notice very sho-tly the methods by which my results liave been obtained, more particularly in the case of the mineral charcoal. In examining the mineral charcoal, I have, after many trials, adopted the following process of preparation : — Specimens were selected con- taining the tissues of only a single plant. Fragments or portions of stems of this character can be obtained by careful manipulation from most coals. They were placed in marked test-tubes, and treated with strong nitric acid, in which they were heated to the boiling-point, and kept In that condition so long as dense fumes of nitrous acid were disengaged, or until, on looking through the tube, the material could be seen to have a brown colour and a certain degree of transparency. In many cases, boiling in this manner for a short time Is sufficient to render the fibres flexible, and as transparent as slices of recent wood when slightly charred. When ready for examination, the charcoal was allowed to settle, and repeatedly washed with pure water before removing It from the tube. It was tlicn examined in water, with powers of from 50 to 300 diameters, drawings of the structures ob- served being made with a camera ; and when It appeared desirable, specimens were put up in balsam for further examination. Some refractory speciniciis were found to require alternate washing and boiling in hydrochloric and nitric acids before their structures could be made out ; but in the preparation of more than four hundred speci- mens from various kinds of coal I have scarcely met with any that resisted all these processes.* I may observe here that the object is not to decarbonize the coal and obtain what has been termed a siliceous skeleton. The change effected consists in the removal of bituminous matter, which is oxi- dized and dissolved by the acid, and of mineral matters, especially of the sulphurct of iron, which Is one of the principal causes of tlic brittleness and opacity of the crude mineral charcoal. The prepared material Is nearly pure carbon, burning without flame and leaving scarcely any ashes. It represents the cell-wall and Its ligneous lining, or perhaps in some cases only the latter. In a state of perfect integrity, appearing under the highest powers quite smooth and continuous, and with all its minute markings in excellent pi'eservat' .i. The methods of incineration of the charcoal and of polishing Its firmer portions I have found to be, in comparison with the nitric acid process, of little value. The first gives no adequate idea of the real character of the tissues. The second gives merely a rude outline of the more minute markings, and is chiefly valuable as affording cross-sections * This nitric acid process is, I boliove, nearly the same with that reoominended by Gooppcrt and Morris. THE FLOUA OP THE COAL FORMATION. 495 coal change is oxi- illy of of the fcparcd caving lining, tegrity, tinuous, The firmer :)rocess, laracter le more sections ended by and a better view of the general arrangement of the tissues than can be obtained from the shreds of woody matter resulting from the process above described. It is further necessary to state that, to compare specimens of coal with the stmcturcs of mineralized plants from the accompanying beds, it is not sufficient to have slices of the latter. It is necessary also to have specimens prepared by removing the mineral matter by an acid. Most of the coal fossils showing structure arc mineralized by the car- bonates of lime and iron ; and on removing these, the cell-walls will be found intact and sometimes apparently not even carbonized. Diluted hydrochloric acid suffices for this ; and structures by no means to be found in the comparatively rude slices prepared by the lapidary can be distinguished in these isolated cells. Pyritous fossils, so intractable as slices, can usually be resolved by the treatment with nitric acid, though in some cases they require a preliminary roasting, or, what is better, exposui'e to the weather until the pyrites begins to crumble. The observer using the above method will find many vegetable fibres showing no markings. These are usually bast fibres. lie will sec others with one row of round pores (uniporous), or with distant round pores scattered irregularly (rariporous), or with several rows of alternate simple or bordered pores (multiporous). These are tissues of Sigillaria and Calamodendron, except some large v -hcIs of the last mentioned type, which belong to Catamites. With the porous tissues he will often find slender scalariform vessels, or rather cells with transverse pores, which also belong to Sigillaria and Calamodendron, and arc very different fror\ the large coarse scalariform vessels of Lepidodcndron and its allies, and of Stigmaria. The ducts of fenis have been already referred to. Some of these varieties of mineral charcoal afford very beautiful microscopic objects. Note on the Myriapods of the Coal Formation. The following has been communicated to me by Mr Scudder, since the printing of the notice of these creatures at page 385, supra : — "The specimens of Myriapods discovered by Dr Dawson in the Sigillarian stumps of the Coal formation of Nova Scotia, belong to two genera ; in one, Xylohius, Daw., cross sutures divide the seg- ments into numerous fragments, in a manner wholly uii known among living Myriapoda ; in the other, which wc may call Archiulus, the segments are simple. Of the former genus, I have discovered no less than four species among the fragments which Dr Dawson has permitted me to examine. For one the name of X. sigillarice, Daw., may be retained; the illustrations (Fig. 151, a, c, p. 385) probably \ TS* V^\' m it (• < I ii K ' 496 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTESf. belong to this species. It is distinguished from tlio others in having all the fragments of which each segment is composed more than twice as broad as long, and tlie upper edges of the fragments somewhat raised. The segments themselves are about l-20th of an inch long, slightly convex, with the anterior and posterior edges slightly and equally raised at the suture. Another species, closely allied to this, may be called X. similis. On different parts of the body, and even in adjoining segments, the fragments composing the segments vary in form from an oblong half as long [i.e., down the segment) as broad to a square ; some are even a little longer than broad. The segments vary in length from l-25th to l-30th of an inch, are sliglitly convex, and apparently have their front and hind edges turned up as in X. aigillarioi. To a tliird species I have applied the name of X.fractus : here the fragments are square, the segments are not more tlian l-40th of an inch in length, although the insect is as large as X. sigillarice; there seems to be another characteristic in a distinct dorsal furrow. The last species, which we may well name X. Dawsuni, is again a larger one : the segments measure from l-20lh to l-30th of an inch in length ; one of them is depicted in Fig. 59, in the Air-breathers. These segments, which are broken up into squarish or transversely oblong fragments, ai'e very differently shaped from those of the other species, the posterior third being elevated into a prominent rounded ridge, upon the falling slope of which the suture of the succeeding segment occurs; the anterior two-thirds of the segment is concave, with a more gradual curve. " The second genus, Archhdus, has but a single bpecies, which, from its resemblance to the other genus, and especially to the last mentioned species, may be named A. xylobioidcs. The segments are shaped almost exactly as in X. Dawsoni, but are never broken up into frag- ments; the segments are about l-25th of an inch in length. Fig. 151, i, p. 385, probably refers to this species." Should these interesting conclusions be confirmed by Mr Scudder's subsequent investigations, which he proposes to embody in a separate paper, they will show that the group of Myriapods must have been represented by numerous vegetable-feeding species in the Coal period — a result not surprising, when we consider the vast amount of food for such creatures which must have existed in the Carboniferous Bwamps. 497 .1. having m twice mewhat ch long, litly and to this, md even 3 vary in broad to segments I convex, as in X. \fractus: 1.40th of rim; there row. The XV a larger in length ; rs. These iely oblong licr species, ided ridge, Ing segment ive, with a which, from mentioned arc shaped p into frag- ngth. Fig. CHAPTER XXI. THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. LOWER DEVONIAN OF NOVA SCOTIA. — DEVONIAN OP SOUTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK. SECTION OF " FERN LEDGES." USEFUL MINERALS. CRUSTACEANS AND INSECTS. The growth of geological knowledge in Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick is in nothing more marked than in the fact that, in 1855, two chapters of Acadian Geology, and those somewhat meagre, sufficed for all the rocks older than the Carboniferous, while now the quantity of matter on these rocks will be more than doubled, and it will be necessary to subdivide them into several series. In the present chapter I propose to describe the group of rocks imme- diately under the Carboniferous system, that to which the name Devo- nian has been given by the English geologists, and which is represented in the United States by the formations from the Catskill or Old Red Sand- stone to the Oriskany Sandstone inclusive. I may remark that the con- troversy which has been raised by Mr Jukes, as to the use of the term Devonian in England, in no respect affects the questions we have to discuss, since whatever views may be entertained respecting the rocks known as Devonian in Devonshire and in Ireland, in America the existence of a great mass of sediment, characterized by a distinct fauna and flora, between the Carboniferous and Upper Silurian, is a fact which cannot be set aside. It is also to be observed that in the Acadian Provinces, in passing downward from the Carboniferous to the Devonian we constantly find unconformability, and that there is ample evidence that the great masses and dikes of intrusive granite wliich in Nova Scotia penetrate all the rocks older than the Carbon- iferous belong to the close of the Devonian period. I had to remark in regard to the Carboniferous period that a well- marked diflference in the deposits could be observed in the regions east and west of the Alleghany mountains. A similar difiference exists in the Devonian. Beds of oceanic character are much less developed in the Acadian region than they are in New York and 2 K \ ; 498 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. farther west. More especially the thick limestones of the latter dis- tricts are not represented, and there is a greater prevalence of sandy and argillaceous deposits, often with fossil plants. Minor differences exist in the Acadian Provinces themselves. In Nova Scotia only the lower members of the system have been distinctly recognised, though there are indications of the upper members. In New Brunswick the newer portion of the Devonian seems most largely developed, and is remarkably rich in fossil plants. I shall first notice the Lower Devonian rocks of Nictaux and its vicinity in Western Nova Scotia, and then, crossing the Bay of Fundy, describe the rich plant-bearing beds in the vicinity of St John, New Brunswick. Devonian of Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia the rocks older than the Carboniferous system have all undergone more or less alteration and disturbance. This, with the imperfect preservation of their fossils and their inland position, renders the working up of their details of structure very difficult. Large tracts of country thus remain in a state of uncertainty, their rocks being manifestly older than the Carboniferous, but yet otherwise of uncertain age. In the case of the Devonian, the only place in which it has been clearly made out as distinct from the Silurian, is the belt of hilly country extending along the south side of the Annapolis valley. Here, in the section of the Nictaux River, the first old rocks that arc seen to emerge from beneath the New Red Sandstone of the low countiy, arc fine-grained slates, which I shivll describe in the sequel as Upper Silurian. Their strike is N. 30° to 60° E., and their dip to the S. E. at an angle of 72°. Intcrstratlfied with these are hard and coarse beds, some of them having a trappean aspect. In following these rocks to the S. E., or in ascending order, they assume the aspect of the New Canaan beds ; but I could find no fossils except in loose pieces of coarse limestone, and these have the aspect of the Upper Arisaig scries, or newest Silurian of the eastern part of Nova Scotia. In these, and in some specimens recently obtained by Mr Ilartt, I observe Orthoceras cleganhdum, Bucania (rilobita, CornuUtes ^osus, Spirifer riiga:costa ? and apparently Chonetes Nova-Scotica, vith a large Orthoceras, and several other shells not as yet seen elsewhere, — all Upper Silurian. These fossils appear to indicate that there is in this region a continuance of beds of the upper Arisaig series nearly to the base of the Devonian rocks next to be noticed. After a space of nearly a mile, which may represent a great thickness of unseen beds, we reach a band of highly fossiliferous peroxide of ai DEVONIAN OP NOVA SCOTIA. 499 >r dls- sandy rences ily the though ick tho and is f..nd its Fundy, in, New Bin have ■with the , renders , Large cir rocks erwise of in which 3 the holt ilis valley. Is that arc the low he sequel leir dip to hard and [following ;he aspect It in loose lie Upper a Scotia, r Ilartt, 'ornulites i-Scotica, lyet seen catc that [• Arisaig jioticed. thickness ■oxide of iron, with dark coloured coarse slates, dipping S. 30° E. at a very high angle. The iron ore is from 3 to A^ feet in thickness. Tho fossils of the irun-tone and the accompanying beds, as far as they can be identified, are Spirifer arenosus, Strophodonta magnijica, Atrypa unguiformis, Strophomena depressa, and species oiAiucula, liellerophon, Favosites, and Zaphrentis, etc. These Professor Hall compares with the fauna of the Oriskany sandstone ; and they seem to give indubitable testimony that the Nictaux iron ore is of Lower Devonian age. The most abundant fossil is a Spirifer as yet not identified with any de- scribed species, but eminently characteristic of tho Nictaux deposits. It is usually seen only in the state of casts, and often also strangely distorted by the slaty structure of the beds. The specimens least distorted may be described as follows : — General form, semi-circular tending to semi-oval, convexity moderate ; hinge-lino about equal to width of shell ; a rounded mesial sinus and elevation with about ton sub-angular plications on each side ; a few sharp growth ridges at tho margin of the larger valves. Average diameter about one inch ; mesial sinus equal in width to about three plications. I shall call this species, in the meantime, S. Nictavensis. I figure two distorted specimens (Fig. 17G), to show the remarkable difierences of form produced in this way. The original form is inter- mediate. Fig. 176. — Spiri/er Nictavensis. (a) S'.iortened, and (b) lengthened, by distortion, in the direction of tlie arrow. To the southward of the ore, the country exhibits a succession of ridges of slate holding similar fossils, and probably representing a thick series of Devonian beds, though it is quite possible that some of them may be repeated by Hiults or folds. Farther to the south these slates are associated with bands of crystalline greenstone and quartz rock, and are then interrupted by a great mass of white granite, which extends far into the interior and separates these beds from the similar, but nonfossilifcrous, rocks on the inner side of the metamorphic band of the Atlantic coast. The Devonian beds appear to dip into tho granite, which is intrusive, and alters the slates near the junction into gneissoid rock holding garnets. The granite sends veins into tho slates, and near the junction contains numerous angular fragments of altered slate. i \ \ iH 11. I I! II 500 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. This junction is of great interest, as showing the gradual alteration of slaty beds holding fossils into gncissose rock with garnets, within the distance in some places of a few hundred feet. It is observable also, that while the gneiss graduates into the slate it does not pass imperceptibly into the granite, but presents a distinct line of separation, marking the limit of the Plutonic and Metamorphic rocks, and indi- cating that the granite was truly a heated mass intruded among the aqueous deposits (Fig. 177). Farther, as the granite is itself of Fig. 177.— /unction of Qranite wid Devonian Slate, Nictaux. fc * ■ • . • h , -■ (a) Granite. (b) Slate with gncissose cliaracter, in fragments imbedded iu tlie granite. Devonian age, we learn that no great interval of geological time elapsed between the deposition and the metamorphism of the beds. Again, as the granite cannot be a superficial or surface rock, there must have been a mass of upper Devonian rocks swept away by denudation to expose the beds as at present. Lastly, though the beds are inclined at high angles, they run against the granite in their line of strike in such a manner as to show that it cuts quietly through them, without any great evidence of mechanical disturbance in con- nexion with its eruption, and it would appear that the general direction of dip is toward the granitic mass, as if the Devonian and Upper Silurian beds had sunk into a caldron of molten granite. Further exploration of the country southward of NIctaux will be necessary before we understand in detail the relation of the Devonian rocks to the great masses of granite which appear in this direction. Westward of the Nictaux River, the granite abruptly crosses the line of strike of the slates, and extends quite to their northern border, cutting them oflf iu the manner of a huge dike from their continua- tion about ten miles further westward. The beds of slate in running against this great dike of granite, change iu strike from south-west to DEVONIAN OP NOVA SCOTFA. 501 leration within icrvable lot pass laration, id indi- ong the itself of the granite. rical time the beds, ock, there away by 1 the beds their line through Ice in con- direction |nd Upper Further [necessary . rocks to rosses the border, 1 contiiiua- ii running [h-west to west, near the junction, and become slightly contorted and altered into gneiss, and filled with granite veins; but in some places they retain traces of their fossils to witliin 200 yards of the granite. The intrusion of this great mass of granite without material disturbance of the strike of the slates conveys the impression that it has melted quietly through the stratified deposits, or that these have been locally crystallized into granite in situ. At Moose River the iron ore and its associated beds recur on the western side of the granite before mentioned, but in a state of greater metamorphism than at Nictaux. The iron is here in the state of mag- netic ore, but still holds fossil shells of the same species with those of Nictaux. Still farther westward, at Bear River, near the bridge by which the main road crosses this stream, beds equivalent to those of Nictaux occur with a profusion of fossils. The iron ore is not seen, but there are highly fossiliferous slates and coarse arenaceous limestone, and a bed of gray sandstone witli numerous indistinct impressions apparently of plants. In addition to several of the fossils found at Nictaux, these beds afford Tentacidites, an Atrypa, apparently identical with an un- described species very characteristic of the Devonian sandstones of Gaspe, and a coral which Mr Billings identifies with the Pleuro- dictyum problematicum, Goldfuss, a form which occurs in the lower Devonian in England, and on the cohunent of Europe. Westward of Bear River, rocks resembling in mineral character those previously described, and probably of Devonian and Upper Silurian age, extend with similar strike, but in an altered condition, and in so far as I have been able to ascertain, destitute of fossils, quite to the western extremity of the peninsula, where they turn more to the southward, and are as I suppose, repeated by a sharp synclinal fold, after which they are succeeded by the Atlantic coast series, of lower Silurian date, and consisting of quartzite and clay slate, with chlorite and hornblende slates at Yarmouth and its vicinity, and further to the S. E. of mica slate and gneiss. I cannot certainly indicate the Devonian system in other parts of Nova Scotia. There are, however, in various places, at the margin of the Carboniferous areas, or projecting through these beds, rocks which may be Devonian, though, not having afforded characteristic fossils, their age must remain doubtful, as they might possibly prove to be altered members of the Lower Carboniferous or rocks of Silurian date. They are usually hard gray or purplish sandstone or quartzites, associated with gray or purplish slates or shales. Such rocks occur in the flanks of the Cobequid Hills, in the vicinity of Salmon River, and I f \ I ! t i !' ! I i \ 1 : ! te^i ^y| I 502 THE DEVONIAN PEUIOD. in the hills of Mount Thorn and Mount Dalhousio. They arc also found in the hilly country of Pictou and Antigonish ; and the remark- able mass which seems to project through the Coal formation between the East and Middle Rivers of Pictou is of this character. Its rocks do not resemble those of the Silurian series, and they abound in obscure remains, evidently of land plants, which, though not certainly determinable, resemble those of the Devonian rather than those of the Carboniferous. Mr J. Campbell of Halifax seems to have been the first to observe these rocks ; and I had the pleasure of examining them in his company in 1866. The fossils which I obtained are stipes of ferns, apparently of two species : a Piimularia, and branching stems much resembling those of Psilophyton, a characteristic Devonian genus. There were also fragments of carbonized and pyritized wood, but not sufficiently perfect to show structure. These plants were contained in a hard gray altered sandstone or quartzite, underlying unconformably a Carboniferous conglomerate in liear Brook, near the Middle River. I have received a specimen of laminated limestone, not fossiliferous, from this vicinity, and which probably belongs to the present series. These somewhat unpromising rocks would afford a rich field to any geological observer who could enjoy the work of unravelling strati- graphical intricacies ; and there is no reason to despair of their afford- ing fossil remains were they explored with sufficient tiioroughness. More especially the rich Devonian flora of St John, New Brunswick, encourages us to hope for similar discoveries of fossil plants in Novii Scotia. Collectors should keep this in view, more especially as, with- out attention, such plants might be confounded with those of the Carboniferous rocks. Devonian of New Brunswick. The belt of partially metamorphosed rocks rising from beneath the Carboniferous on the southern coast of New Brunswick, was mapped in my first edition as Upper Silurian or Devonian, but without any certain evidence as to its age, other than its manifestly underlying the Carboniferous, and resembling somewhat in mineral character the rocks of Upper Silurian and Devonian age in Nova Scotia. The first fossil from these rocks ever seen by me was a specimen of Catamites, brought by the late Professor Robb of the University of New Brunswick to Montreal when on a visit to Canada in 1857. Professor Robb, impressed with the importance of the occunence of vegetable fossils in these beds, proposed to devote some time to their study; but his lamented decease prevented this intention from being i 10 I DEVONIAN OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 503 of the carried into effect. The subject was, however, followed out by several gcntlcincn of St John engaged in geological studies, and more particularly by Mr G. F. Matthew and Mr C. F. Ilartt, from whom I received the specimens described in my paper on the Pre-Carbon- ifcrous Flora of Eastern America in 1861, and with whom I had subsequently an opportunity of exploring the localities of the fossils. From these gentlemen I also obtained the further material published in my Flora of the Devonian Period, in 18G2.* Mr Matthew subse- quently published a detailed account of the stratigraphical relations of the beds, -J- and Mr Ilartt has since collected largely from the most productive localities for the Natural History Society of St John, which has liberally placed its collections in my hands. Many addi- tional facts in relation to these beds have also been published in the Report of Professor Bailey on the Geology of Southern New Bruns- wick. With the aid of these materials, I shall endeavour to give an account of this interesting formation, and shall then notice in some detail its fossils. The Devonian series of the vicinity of St John is well exposed in the shore of Courtnay Bay, and also in the vicinity of Carlton. The red conglomerates, which hero form the base of the Carboniferous, rest on it un conformably, and it is itself underlaid by the St John slates, a group of Lower Silurian age. The succession of beds seen in the Courtnay Bay and St John sections is thus given in my paper of 1862. The thicknesses stated are to be regarded as merely rough estimates, made up partly from Mr Matthew's observations, and partly from my own. The names are those given by Mr Matthew and Professor Bailey : — Carboniferous System. Coarse red conglomerate, with pebbles of underlying rocks, and Feet, constituting in this vicinity the base of the Carboniferous System. Devonian System. 1. Mispeck Group. — Dark-red and greenish shales ; flaggy sand- stones and grits ; coarse angular conglomerate . . 1850 2. Little River Group (Upper part and passage beds). — Reddish conglomerate, with quartz pebbles; reddish, purple, and gray sandstones and grits ; deep-red, gray, and pale-green shales. A few fossil plants .... 2350 3. Little River Group (Middle and Lower part). — Blackish and * Journal of Geological Society, Nov. 1862. f -^^m^i 1865. ■■x \ ll Hili :1 r 604 THE DEVONIAN PFRIOD. il! gray hard shale and arenacoouB shale [Cordaite shales in part) ; buff and gray sandHtone [Dadoxylon sandstone) and flags. Many foHsil ])lnnts ; Crustaceans and Hpirorbis Dloomsbury Group. — licddish conglomerate, with slaty paste and rounded pebbles; trappean or tufaceous rocks; red, purplish, and green sandstones and shales. Thickness variable ...... Feet. 2800 2500 Lower Silurian System. 6. Black papyraceous shale, with layers of cone-in-cono concre- tions ....... 400 6. Hard, generally coarse and micaceous, gray shales and flags, of various shades of colour, and with some reddish shale and tufaceous or trappean matter at the bottom. LingulcB^ burrows, and trails of animals. Also in certain beds, ParadoxideSf Conocephalites, and other primordial Trilo- bites ..... 3000 feet or more The following details as to the several members of the Devonian are abridged from Professor Bailey's and Mr Matthew's excclleuL memoirs already referred to. Before giving these, I may explain that the several members of the Devonian system form, on the east side of St John Harbour, a trough or synclinal form, and that from the eastern extremity of this some of the members of the series are believed to extend for a great distance to the eastward, in a more or less meta- morphosed state. The general arrangement is shown in the section, Fig. I'ifS. Mispeck Group. " The deposits of this group, constituting the newest member of the Upper Devonian series, occupy, in comparison with the groups to be described, a very limited area. So far as certainly known, they may be said to be confined within the narrow district intervening between the Little and Mispeck Rivers, and consequently occupying the centre of the trough already pointed out, as formed by the folding of the Upper Devonian groups. " They rest immediately upon the beds of the Cordaite shales, and so nearly resemble the latter as to be not easily distinguished. It is therefore not unlikely that the group may yet be found to have a widor distribution, especially westward of the St John River, in the peninsula of Pisarinco. The following descriptive remarks taken from the paper of Mr Matthew well represent its general character. k ilir DEVONIAN OF NEW BRUNSWICK. fi05 " West and north of Mount Prospoct, where the Cordaito shales disappear beneath the stratified gravel wiiich covers tlm top of that hill, the dip of the bcdrt at the base of this group rapidly diminishes :1 ) { i f Btjr ofFuiidy.. WcitlleAch. MiBpeck Rtrer.. Benvcr Lnko . Mount Prospect...*! ii'l I o > .= <«• <•• Sea ■= .3-3 * § a u i- V 01 3 5 gal ij I i 5 I a. I " S £ a S3 Ui U b ■4 » u fi w h cT n a ■£om a — 2-5. 3 e $ ►J H o O Coldbrook . from 30° to 15°, and the strike at the same horizon varies 10°. The lowest member is a coarse reddish conglomerate, having a red slaty paste filled with large subangular fragments of a gray altered rock, like the lower slate of the Coldbrook group. It also contains frag- ments of reddish sandstone, and a few pieces of impure slaty lime- stone. The conglomerate is overlaid by thick beds of purple clay !i»i ^memm 506 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. elate, which, by accession of coarser materials, becomes a slaty sand- atone and grit filled with white particles. The strata of this group are much thicker on the north than on the south side of the basin. An isolated deposit of red slates, resembling the finer beds of this group, rests against a mass of altered rock, which seems to be a con- tinuation of the Bloomsbury volcanic beds, at Taylor's Island, west of the Harbour of St John, *' If the beds last alluded to be properly referred, it is very probable that those of Pisarinco, already mentioned, may in part at least apper- tain to the same group. They have been described, however, as forming a portion of the Cordaite shale?. The same is true in part of the dis- trict between Musquash and Chance Harbour." Little River Group. " The Little River group consists of two member.s, one of coarse and the other of comparatively fine ingi-cdients, termed, from the characteristic fossils which they hold, the Dadoxylon sandstone and the Cordaite shales. Though intimately connected, they do not in- variably occur together, and for this reason as well as others, will be separately considered." " ( A.) Cordaite Shales. — In the consideration of this, the upper mem- ber of the Little River group, we have presented for our study by far the most useful and interesting deposit which occurs in this portion of New Brunswick, if not indeed in the whole province. Recognising its economical importance as a rich metalliferous series, it has been one of the special objects of the present survey to ascertain minutely the distribution, age, and characters of the rocks composing it, and to mark its limits accurately as the groat copper-bearing group of Lower New Bnmswick. Although the greater portion of the country occupied by this scries is still uncleared, and among the wildest and most rugged in the province, we have so far succeeded in tracing out its rock formations, that the limits of the latter may now be looked upon as approximately fixed, at the same time that its age and productive metalliferous character arc satisfactorily established. As the details of this examination are of groat importance, I shall here describe the observations made more minutely than in the case of tho other groups has been deemed necessary. . " It will naturally be supposed that, forming as they do two members of a single group, the Dadoxylon sandstone and Cordaite shales should be intimately associated and occur together, and that the distribution of the fonnf .■ should be a general indication of the position of the latter. Whde, however, this is true as regards that portion of the \ DEVONIAN OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 507 Incnibers Is should [.ribution |i of the of the group occurring in the neighbourhood of St John, it has been ascer- tained that the Dadoxylon sandstones constitute a comparatively local deposit, while the shales which succeed spread much more widely over extensive districts, both to the east and west. " On the eastern side of the Harbour of St John, the ehales referred to are first met along the coast near the mouth of the Little River, where they form a narrow band lying between the embouchure of that stream and the promontory of lied Head. The band ot rocks thus appearing, though narrow at the coast, widens as it is traced into the interior of the peninsuln. nid follows approximately the curve already pointed out as marking the distribution of the subjacent sandstone. The line of its outcrop may be readily traced on the geological map, forming a sharp and somewhat irregular curve, ex- tending from Red Head to the mouth of the Mispcck. In the latter portion of the curve, owing principally to a fold iu the strata, the rocks occupy a somewhat wider space than is covered in the former. " Terminating on the coast at the locality last mentioned, the Cor- daite shales, now trendin^ south-westerly, seem for the moment to be lost in the waters of the bay. Like the sandstones which underlie them, however, they follow the curve of the volcanic beds of the Bloomsbury group, and di Ming the promontory which marks the south-western termination of the latter, reappear along its eastern flank, still resting upon the Dadoxylon sandstone, and extend in this direction to the mouth of Emerson's Creek. Along this portion of their distribution, however, between the Mispcck and Black Rivers, there is a great difference in the character of the group observable, so great a difference, indeed, as to have caused some hesitation in assigning these beds to their true jjosition. They occupy the coast from the point south-west of the Milliccnt Lake, including Beveridgo and Thomson'.s Coves, as far as the mouth of the Black River. On the eastern side of the latter they extend along the shore to Emerson's Creek, and in the interior to a somewhat greater distance, but from this point are rapidly covered with the Carboniferous deposits which extend to Quaco. They reapposir, however, north-west of tlie last named place, and eastward of Tynemouth or Ten-Mile Creek, where they rise into a low ridge, consisting chiefly of the conglomerates at the base of the series, and are crossed by all the principal roads leading in this direction. '* The same series has also been observed on Vaughari's and Macomber's Brooks, north-east of Quaco, covered as before by Carboniferous deposits on its southern slope, and to a less dt ree ■•ft I ; S \ 508 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. on its northern also, vherc, however, it is succeeded, at a very- short distance, by beds of the Lower Coldbrook. Owing to the disturbances and foldings alluded to in the description of the latter, the whole vast mass of the Lower and Upper Bloomsbury, St John slates, and Dadoxylon sandstones, have mostly disappeared, and we here find beds even below the base of the Silurian almost side by side with the shales of the Upper Devonian, " From Vaughan's Brook, in the neighbourhood of Quaco, the upper member of the group now under consideration begins rapidly to widen, and to the eastward soon attains an enormous development. Higher members than those last described appear at Melvin's Beach ; and thence, with the exception of a few isolated Carboniferous deposits at Salmon River, Goose Creek, and Martin's Head, extend with a bold and unbroken front along the coast to Point Wolf, at the western limit of Albert County. They thence no longer keep the shore, but, pursuing their normal course, may be traced in a series of bold high ridges as far as Shepody Mountain. " While the southern limit of the group is thus uniform and regu- lar, the line which marks its northern boundary is moi-e difficult of recognition. Owing to one or more immense synclinal folds, the area covered by these rocks is enormously increased, and from the limited space occupied near the sea coast, behind Quaco, now widens until it embraces the whole extent of country south of the Shepody Road. On the latter thoroughfare the rocks of the group were first observed near Wallace's Post Office, in the parish of Hammond, King's, and near the source of the Great and Little Salmon Rivers. On the last named stream they were found to occupy the whole country southward to the coast. Whether they similarly occupy the entire val'.ey of the former has not been ascertained : the difficulties of descending these rapid and mountainous water-courses, through a country without a settlement, being of too serious a character to admit of exploring both of the above named streams. The limits of the group in this direction, however, cannot vary far from the outlines as laid down on the Map. " Following the line of the Shepody Road from the point above mentioned, the i-ocks of the present group, or ' coast series ' as it may conveniently be termed, have been distinctly traced to the eastward as far as the high lands back of Hopewell, while deposits, probably referable to the sam.e series, have been observed at a great variety of places both in the county of King's and eastward in that of Albert." These will be found severally referred to in the remarks on the characters of the group in Professor Bailey's Report. m were mond, Livers. whole npy the culties irough laracter limits ■om the point series ' to the eposits, a great in that gmarks DEVONIAN OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 509 " In general, it may be stated that the upper limit of the series is a line extending nearly northerly from the vicinity of Quaco, crossing the Shepody Road near the sources of the Salmon River, thence extending in the same line so as to include a large area in the parish of Hammond, to near the sources of the PoUet River. It follows the line of the Shepody Road eastward into Albert, and certainly includes all that portion of the latter county which lies southward of that road, between it and the sea ; while the character of the metamorphic series which appear to the northward would seem to indicate even a wider distribution. Like all the older formations in this portion of the province, the Little River group is progressively covered to the eastward with Carboniferous deposits, which at Shepody Mountain finally cap the subjacent metamorphic beds, and form their well-marked eastern termination. " Before the commencement of the present season's work, our knowledge of the extent of this most important group was limited to the area immediately about St John, and eastward to Black River and Gardner's Creek. We have now succeeded in fixing its time limits in this direction, and in giving to it a distribution which, to say the least, is as gratifying as it was unexpected. " But not only have these metalliferous rocks been thus found to occupy such an extensive area to the east ; they have also been found to spread widely to the west, and to give promise of valuable discoveries in a region to which, as yet, but little attention has been paid. I refer to portions of the peninsula of Pisarinco, west of St John, and to a large district south of the Musquash River, between the Lancaster Mills and Chance Harbour." Their distri- bution in this direction is discussed at length in the Report above referred to. " (B.) Dadoxylon Sandstone. — The lower member of the Little River group, to which the preceding name has been applied, imme- diately succeeds and rests upon the upper member of the Blooms- bury. Folded with the latter into a depression or trough, it has been traced by Mr Matthew in a double curve extending from Mana- wagonish, west of the Harbour of St John, around, and along the southern flank of the Bloomsbury axis, maintaining throughout this district a nearly uniform width. " On the eastern side of Courtnay Bay, it first appears near the mouth of Little River, and thence following the line of the Blooms- bury beds below it, extends northerly and easterly towards the head of the Mispeck, being very well exposed at Mount Prospect, about four rniles cast of the city. Near the sources of the Mispeck the band > 1 . 1 . ! ( i ^10 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. of these rocks bends slowly around, assumes a southerly direction, and follows the last named stream to within a few miles of its mouth. Again changing its direction, it now flanks the end of the Bloomsbury ridge, and extends in a narrow belt eastwardly as far as the east branch of the Black lliver. Beyond the latter, as far as known, it rapidly disappears. " To the west of St John, besides the locality of Manawagonish, the Dadoxylon sandstones have been observed on the west branch of the Musquash River, in the village of Ivanhoe, resting upon a deposit of the Upper Bloomsbury and overlaid by Cordaite shales. " It will be remarked, when describing the characters of the Blooms- buiy group, that the red deposits, which form its upper member, constitute beds of transition between that group and the one now under consideration. " As indicated by the name it bears, the Dadoxylon sandstone is chiefly composed of coarse materials, though less so than in the group which immediately preceded it. While the upper beds of the latter consisted chiefly of reddish conglomerates, the present series is com- posed of a hard gray sandstone, associated, however, with occasional beds of grit and layers of dark gray shale. The transition above alluded to consists, therefore, in a gradually increasing fineness in the sedimentary beds, indicating changes in the physical conditions under which they were deposited. " In lithological characters, the Dadoxylon sandstone, as described by Mr Matthew, is remarkably uniform and constant, and has been of great service in the study of the geology ot the section now under consideration. But the chief interest which attaches to this deposit, is derived from the abundance and wonderful perfection of the organic relics which it holds, the oldest undoubted relics of a land vegetation in this long series of formations." Bloomsbury Group. The Bloomsbury group, like the Coldbrook, which it closely resembles, comprises two very different series of sediments, the lower and older being volcanic, while the upper and newer is of aqueous origin. These must be separately considered. " (A.) Sedimentary Beds. — The deposits of the Upper Bloomsbury, of purely aqueous origin, are generally found in bands of varying width, lying parallel to, and immediately above the volcanic deposits of the lo er member. They may thus be traced, following the different distribution of the latter, almost throughout its entire extent. The greatest development of this member is along the space between ■' ■■■■ii.! DEVONIAN OP NEW BRUNSWICK. 511 I 1 ■• 'ctation closely ts, the ■r is of isbury, 'arying cposits ig the extent, etwecn the Black and Mispeck Rivers, and towards the foot of Loch Lomond. On the southern shore of the latter red sediments also occur, which have been doubtfully referred to the Coldbrook Group, but may possibly be a continuation of the beds last described. On the south- eastern side of the Bloomsbury axis, the upper member of the group again appears, but it is here a comparatively thin deposit, and occupies but a very limited area. *' Turning to the westward, this member is also but poorly re- presented, and at Courtnay Bay does not exceed a thickness of 150 feet. In St John and Carleton, as well as at Sheldon's Point, it is wanting altogether. On the west bank of the Musquash, however, in the village of Ivanhoe, reddish sediments occur resting upon the Portland series and overlaid by the Dadoxylon sandstone, and therefore belonging to the Upper Bloomsbury, but whether they liave any direct connexion with the deposits to the east, or arc the result of local and independent deposition, it is at present impossible to say. " In lithological characters the upper member of the Bloomsbury group is very constant, consisting of fine-grained red clay slate and reddish-gray congloi rate. Its thickness has been stated at 500 feet. The rocks of this member, according to M"- Mattliew, constitute a passage from the volcanic beds to the sandstone of the (Little River) group above. As fiir as known they contain no fossils." "(B.) Volcanic Beds. — The most extensive and typical exposure of the volcanic beds of the present group is furnished by the locality from which their name has been derived, the high hill called Blooms- bury Mountain, near the centre of the parish of Simonds. This moimtain, as described by Mr Matthew, constitutes the western termination of a ridge of land extending north-easterly in the centre of the county, and appears to represent one of the ancient fissures or volcanic vents, from which, during the Devonian period, were poured forth the lava, ashes, and scoria, which now constitute the lower member of the Bloomsbury group. The streams of eruptive matter thus discharged flowed from the central opening in three directions, north-easterly, westerly, and south-westerly, as indicated by the positions which they now occupy. " The upper limit of the Bloomsbury lava streams, trending to the west, may be traced in a long, though nan'ow, line of hills, from the head of Black River, below Loch Lomond, to Courtnay Bay. Removed by denudation from the latter, the beds of the group re- appear in the southern part of the city of St John, and again on the oppo- < I A \^(i i III l! 512 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. site side of the harbour in the town of Carleton. They are some- what increased in bulk in the latter place, but soon disappear to the westward under extensive accumulations of post-pliocene gravels. At Sheldon's Point, however, and Manawagonish, rocks probably referable to the present group occur, and beyond in the peninsula of Pisarinco, aa well as on the Musquash River, and westward towards Lepreau. " The second great belt of Bloom sbury lavas, trending south- westerly, though in much thicker beds than those last described, is comparatively limited in distribution, reaching only from the central vent of Bloomsbury Mountain to the Millicent Lake, in the rear of Mispeck. The valley of Black River cuts directly across, and is largely included in the series referred to, and in its upper part forms the line of division between its two members. The thickness of the lower member, as mcasurei' by Mr Matthew, has been approximately stated at 2000 feet. " Of the eastward flow of the Bloomsbury lavas, little is known. Notwithstanding the great thickness of the group near the sources of Black River, it can be traced but a short distance in this direction, being rapidly covered and concealed by the Carboniferous deposits in the rear of Quaco. " At Bloomsbury Mountain, where the best exposure has been stated to occur, the following peculiarities have been noticed by Mr Matthew : — " ' The elevation consists of basaltic trap, and is flanked on each side by beds of amygdaloid, trap-ash, and other products of volcanic origin, which also cover the crest of tlie anticlinal fold for two or three miles west of the hill. The succession of strata is best dis- played on the south side of the hill, where they succeed each other in the following order : — Basaltic trap, unstratified, of great thickness; bedded basalt, amygdaloidal porphyry, bedded basalt, hornblendic trap-ash, micaceous quartzite, vesicular trap-ash slate ; thickness of the stratified deposits about .3000 feet. There is also on this slope a volcanic conglomerate, viz., fragments of trap rocks imbedded in trap-ash slate. The quartzite resembles some of the finer beds at West Beach and Black River, and the porphyry is that alluded to in Gesner's Third Report, p. i5. The trap-ash slate is in many places full of irregular vesicles, the sides of which are coated with minute crystals of quartz, calcite, and specular iron.' " The remaining portions of the lower Bloomsbury beds do not differ from those above described, except in the comparative in- f'-equency of unstratified basalt." mmm. I I do not tive in- BECTION AT THE FEUN LEDGES. 513 The Devonian rocks appear at several places along the coast of New Brunswick, between St John and St Andrews, at which place they are connected with the Devonian sandstones of Perry, Maine. According to Pi'ofcssor Hind, an area of about twenty-five square miles near Campbellton on the Kestigouche, consists of Devonian rocks, an extension or outlier of the Devonian of Gaspe. It is possible that some of the belts of Devonian rocks known to exist in the interior of Maine may extend into Northern New Brunswick; but this has not, I believe, been as yet certainly as- certained. I must refer to Professor Bailey's Report for more full details on the Devonian of New Brunswick, and shall now turn to the more particular consideration of the higlily fossilifcrous members of the group as developed near St John, reserving for a subsequent chapter the consideration of the fossil plants. Section at the " Fern Ledges" near St John. Much interest attaches to that part of the St John section described above as the Little lliver group, on account of its fossil plants and insects; and for this reason I give below an abridgment of the detailed section prepared by Mr Hartt for Professor Bailey's Report, and which will serve to show the resemblance as to mineral character between these beds and those of the Coal formation. Mr Hartt 're- marks in introducing his section v— " Of the several localities for fossil plants in the vicinity of St John, the richest and most interesting is that of the * Fern Ledges.' These are a series of ledges exposed on the sea-shore, between high and low-water mark, at the foot of the properties of Messrs N. S. Demill and Zebedee Ring, Duck Cove, Lancaster, about a mile west of the town of Carleton. The ledges are formed by the outcropping edges of beds of sandstone and shale belonging to the Little River group of Mr Matthew. These have a strike of about W. 10° N., and a southerly or seaward dip of aoout 45°. This strike corresponds very nearly to the trend of the shore, along which, rounded and much worn by wave action and buried in sea-weed, their edges run in long ridges. The shale-beds, in which the plants occur, are, on account of their softness, everywhere so worn away by the waves from between the enclosing sandstones, as to be in only a few places accessible. " Only near high- water mark are the ledges of any height, and from these the plant-bearing shale-beds are almost entirely removed. The ledges extend along the shore for some 325 paces, with a width of 300 feet, more or less, exposing a thickness of strata of about 150 2l i \ 1 ! i 1 i 1 HI \ m;\ . i n III 514 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. feet. Numerous faults occur at the locality, the principal of which, on the easternmost side of the most prominent projecting ledge, and •whose direction is S. 30° W., is a downthrow of about 50 feet. "Directly in front of the ledges, and about half a mile from the shore, is a series of skerries laid bare at low water, called the ' Shag Rocks.' I have not visited them, but the beds of which they are composed have an apparent east-and-wcst strike, and a high dip to the southward. They are probably the upper members of the Cordaite Shales. " Beds of sandstone and shale, similar to those at the Fern Ledges, show themselves on the shore about three-quarters of a mile to the westward. They contain the remains of a few species of plants identical with those occurring at the ' Ledges,' but the beds are higher up in the scries. This locality, called tlie ' Calamitc Ledges,' has not been so carefully examined as that to the eastward. I have collected there the following species, nearly all of which are common to the two localities : — " Cordaites liobbii, Daw s. Extremely abundant in certain layers of black shale, and very finely preserved. — Sphenopteris Ilitrh- cockiana, Daws. Abundant in det.ached pinnules. — Pecopteris dtscrepans, Daws. Apparently rare : have found but a single pinnule. — Cardiocarpum cornututn, Daws. Not infrequent, associated witli cordaites, ealamites, etc. — Calami'tes i7'ansitiutiis, Goeppert. Abun- dant. — C. canncpformis, lirongn. — Anmdaria acuminata, Daws. Pinnularia dispalans, Daws. Common. — FsilnpJii/.'on ? glahrum, Daws. — Stiffmaria ficoidcs {I'ar.), Rrongn. — A single specimen with rootlets attached was found by my father, J. W. Ilartt, in a bed of sandstone, about half-way up in the section here exposed. — Lepidodcndron Gaspianum f Daws. Two or three ill-prcscrved specimens of a Lepidodcndron, which Dawson has referred with doubt to this species, were collected at this locality by Mr Matthew and myself. " The sandstone at the Fern Ledges is very compact and hard, and of a gray colour. It contains many plant remains, but usually in a badly preserved state. Thin beds of arenaceous shale, of a fine texture and dark-gray colour, becoming black sometimes, or passing into light greenish-gray, are interstratified with the sandstones, and these beds are highly charged with plants, whicli occur preserved is graphite, every nerve and nervule of a fern leaf being as distinct as in a pencil drawing. " It had been ascertained several years ago by Gesnor, Ilobb, Dawson, and others, that the beds of the Little River group were v./' SECTION AT TUB FEUN LEDGES. 515 fossiliferous, and ill-prcscrvcd plant remains had been ohscrvcd in the saiuistones of tlio ' Ledges.' Mr Matthew, who had previDUsly dis- covered in the shales at the foot of the city of St ,[ohn, near the barracks, the plants which J)aw8on described in his paper on the 'Flora of the Precarboniferous, etc.,' collected in 18G(), at the 'Ledges,' from one of the exposures of Plant-bed No: 1, of the fol- lowing section, some obscure min-kings which were probably leaves of Aster ophylUtes longi/olia, Ilrongn. ; but it was not until May 1861 that I found that these rocks were richly fossiliferous, and discovered in Heds Nos, 1, 2, i5, and 8 (?), a large i.'.imber of fossil plants, prin- cipally ferns, a remarkable Crustacean, A mphipeltis paradoxus, Salter, and a Spiro7-bis. Messrs Matthew, W. R. Payne, James Ilegan, and Lunn, took part in the explorations which were carried on during the summer, Mr ^Matthew discovering, .-vmong other things, a new species of Euri/pteriis, E. pnlicaris, Salter ; while Mr Payne secured a single specimen of a trilobite, still undetermined, the only one the locality has afforded. " These discoveries proved so interesting that Principal Dawson, to whom I communicated them, paid a visit to St .John, and examined the locality in person. The collections made were put into his hands, and the plants were described in detail in his paper pub- lished in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, entitled, 'On the Flora of the Devonian Period in North-Eastcm America.' The number of plants obtained thus far from the Lancaster localities was 36, which, with the three species of Crustacea, the Spirorbis, and the three species of plants previously collected in St .lohn by Mr Matthew, made the number of species of animals and plants ascer- tained to occur in the Little River group, 43, " The following summer I spent thirty days at this locality, being rewarded by the discovery of gome ten or more new species of plants, principally ferns, and by securing larger and more perfect specimens of many of the species described by Dawson from mere fragments. But the most valuable and entirely unexpected discovery, was that of remains of insects, of which five species have been obtained. These specimens are in the hands of my friend Mr Scudder of Boston, the well-known entomologist, for description. During the summer, I began the task of examining every bed in the section at this locality, a task not easy to perform, where the tough rocks lyiiig below high- water laark and buried in a luxuriant growth of sea-weed, are worn away in such a manner as to make it difficult to work them. " In the summer of 1863, I spent eight days at the locality, during which time I finished my section. Several new plants were discovered, \ ^w wr 516 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. I, It ) together with many quite perfect Bpeciincns of several Ijithcrto known only as fragments. Of the hitter was a largo frond of Neuropteria poli/morpha, I )aw8on. " In the following section, the measurements were taken along a lino crossing the hods at right angles to their strike, from high-water mark near the bathing-house stairs, to low-water mark. The rich fossiliferous shale-beds, or 2>lant-be(ls, as I shall term them, are numbered from below upwards, for convenience of reference. The thickness and lithological character of these beds vary somewhat in their different exposures. The position of one or two plant-beds appearing elsewhere at this locality, but not observed on the lino of section, is indicated. I have given lists of nil the plants, etc., described, which I have collected from each plant-bed, with some remarks on their mode of occurrence, and I have noticed some of tho undescribcd species. " The following section begins at the base of the Dadoxylon sand- stone beds, at their junction with the trappcan beds of the llloomsbury group, which fonn the high land skirting the shore to the northward, and takes up the overlying beds in ascending order : — • ■ ** Section of the Little River Oroup at the ^Fern Ledges^* Lancaster^ N.B. By Mr C. F. Ilartt. Heavy beds of gray sandstone and flags (Dadoxylon sandstone). Dadoxylon Ouangondianum, Daws., Calamites, etc. Thickness, by estimation, 300 feet. Under this head I have classed all the beds underlying the Plant- bed No. 1, which I am disposed to regard as the lowest of the rich plant-bearing layers, and the base of the Cordaitc shales. These beds occupy the low ground lying between the ridge of the Bloomsbury group and the shore. They are covered by drift, and show themselves only in limited outcrops, and in the ledges on the shore. In the western part of the ledges they are thrown forward on the beach by a faidt, forming a prominent mass of rock, in the summit of which a fine tmnk of Dadoxylon is seen embedded in the sandstone. Recent excavations made in these beds in quarrying stone for building pur- poses, in the eastern part of the locality, where the rocks are very much broken up by dislocations, have exposed numerous badly pre- served impressions of large trunks of this tree. Plant-bed No. 1 Thickness, 1 foot. Black arenaceous shale, varying from a fissile sandstone to a semi- papyraceous shale, very fine-grained and very fissile, charged most BMKMi«aM|jkMK SECTION \T THE FERN I.KDQEB. 617 riclily with beautifully preserved rcmaiiiS of plants, among which arc the following species : — Calamitea transitionisy Gocppcrt. Occasional, in largo, erect specimens. — AstcrophylUtes lalifolia, Daws. Extremely abun- dant, often showing ten or twelve whorls of leaves, sometimes with many branches. — A, acicularis, Daws. Also very abun- dant. — (?) A. longifolia, Brongn. — A. aculigera, Daws. The curious stems of tiiis species, with their scale-armed nodes, occur abundantly in this bed, — Hphenophyllum antiquum^ Daws. — Pecopteris obscura, Lesqx. — Sphrmtpteris sp. ? — Cardiocarpum corniUum, Daws. Itarc. — I'ailophi/ion degana, Daws. Occasional. I have never detected any trace of Cordaiks liobbii, Daws., in this bed. It is extremely common in the overlying strata. Gray sandstones and flags, with occasional ill-preserved plants, Cala- miles transitio7us, Goeppt., Curdaites liobbii, Daws. — Asterop/ii/llites and Stcrnbcrgice . . , . .2 feet 6 inches. Black arenaceous shales of the same character as those of No. 1, but without fossils, so far as I have examined 11 inches. Compact flaggy, gray sandstone, with badly preserved plant remains, Calamites, etc. .... 2 feet. Very soft, dark, lead-coloured shales, much slicken-sldcd and charged with fragments of plants. This bed is so soft that the action of the Aveathcr and the sea have everywhere denuded it to the level of the beach . . 4 feet. I'lant-beu No. 2 ...... 1 foot. At the point where the section crosses the bed, and where I first discovered it, it consists of very compact and hard, light lead-coloured, slate-like, arenaceous shale ; but the character of the shale varies much in its different exposures, being sometimes very soft and fissile, and of a very black colour. The following is the list of species which it affords : — Calamites transitiouis, Goeppt. Occasionally; never in good specimens. — O. cannaifonnis, Brongn. Occasionally; never in good specimens. — AsterophylUtes acicularis, Daws. Rather rare. — A.latifolia, Daws. Rather rare. — A, longifuliayJirongn. Rather rare. — A. parvula, Daws. AVhorls of a minute AsterophylUtes, which may belong to this species, arc not infrequent in this bed. — Annularia acuminata, Daws. — Pinnularia dispalans, Daws. Abundant. — Psilophyton elegans, Daws. Quite common, always in fragments, never in good specimens. — P. glabrum, Daws. Flattened stems, with a wavy ci \ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / // {/ / ■.9 ^< ./'^. § L-^- i/s f/. 1.0 I.I 1.25 *"ilM IIIIM !ff 1^ III 2 2 ill 1.8 Mi 1-4 ill 1.6 V] (^ /a 'e). e. c). % c? /. % /^^ ///. 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 i i^. S18 THE DEVONIAN PKRIOD. woody axis traced in a brighter line of graphite, occur in this bed, but always in fragments. — Cordaites Jtobbit, Daws. Ex- tremely abundant, and very fine specimens may be obtained, especially from the upper part of the bed, and rarely specimens showing the base or the apex of the leaf. — Cyclopteris obtusa, Lesqx. Occurs very abundantly in detached pinnules. — Cyclop. rar/,K, Daws. Rare. — N. polymvrpha, Da.ws. Extremely abun- dant, never in large fronds. — Sphenopteris Hosninghausii^ Brongn. Quite abundant, often in fine fronds. — S, marginata, Daws. Abundant, in fine fronds. — S. Ilarttii, Daws. Very rare. — The original specimen came from this bed. — S. Hitchcockiana, Daws. — Uymenophyllites Oersdorffii, Goeppt. Rather rare. — //. obtusilobns, Goeppt. Rare. — H. curtilobus, Daws. — Pecop- tens {Alethopteris) discrepans, Daws. Amongst all the abun- dance of plants afforded by Bed No. 2, I have detected only one or two pinnules of this fern, which appears first in abun- dance in Bed No. 3- It is afterwards one of the most common species. — Pecopterts ingens, Daws. Very rare, only two or three fragments of pinnules having been found. — Trichomanites (?) — only a single specimen, probably, as Dawson has suggested, only the skeleton of a fern. — Cardiocarpum comulum, Dnws. Abundant, and very finely preserved, never attached. — G. obliquum, Daws. Quite abundant, also never attached. — Trigonocarpum racemosum^ Daws. Rare. — Eurypterus puli- caris, Salter. The occurrence in Bed No 2 of this minute Crustacean was first detected by my friend Mr George Matthew. It is very rare, not more than four or five specimens having been found by Messrs Matthew, Payne, and myself, at the time of the description of the species by Salter. I have since that time succeeded in collecting nearly twice as many more, some of which appear to belong to a new specico. — Amphipeltis paradoxus, Salter. The specimen figured in Salter's paper was found by Professor Dawson and myself, in breaking a piece of shale in my cabinet, that came from this bed. Only one other specimen has since been obtained. It consists of two or mure of the thoracid segments, and was collected by Mr Lunn. It is in the collection of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. In addition to the above species, this bed has afforded the following : — Cyclopteris, sp. nov, — Neuropteris, sp. nov. A single specimen collected by Mr Lunn. — Sphenopteris, sp. nov. — Spirorbis^ sp. (?) The leaves of Cordaites in the upper part of the bed are as 'ttli SECTION AT THE FERN LEDGES. M9 many cic3. — d in ■If, in this d. It was atural above is, sp. lected (?) are as thickly covered with a little Spirorbis as are the fronds of the recent fucoids of the Ledges. The specimens are too poorly preserved for idcn'ification.— TnYofti/es. Mr Payne collected a minute trilobitc from this bed. The specimen was sent by Professor Dawson to Mr Salter, but that gentleman has made no mention of it in his paper. — Insect Remains! In the sum- mer of 1862, I discovered an organism in Bed No 2, which at the time I could make nothing of; but which I have since proved to be the s^ng of an insect. Several weeks after, I found in Bed No. 8 an unequivocal insect's wing. This discovery was followed by that of others, my father, J. W. Hartt, finding another in this bed. Compact flaggy sandstone, quite barren 5 feet 10 inches. Plant-bed No. 3 . . . . . 10 „ Black and lead-coloured shales, quite compact in upper part, but in lo.ver very crumbling, splitting irregularly, slicken-sided, often with polished surfaces, and traversed by thin quartz-veins. These shales are so soft that the sea and weather have everywhere denuded them to the level of the beach. There are now no exposures of the bed . workable. The following arc the fossils which occur in it : — Calamiics transilionis, Goeppt. Occasionally. — C. cannceformis, Brongn. — Asteroplit/llites latifolia, Daws. Very beautiful whorls of this plant are very common here, the whorls, though usually detached, being sometimes found united three c;r four together. Anmdaria acuminata, Daws. Common. — Pinnu- laria dispalans, Daws. Common. — Psilophyton elegans, Daws. Occasionally. — P. (?) glabrum, Daws. Occasionally. — Cordaites Robbii, Daws. Extremely abundant, but not so well preserved as in Bed No. 2. Leaves apt to be preserved as polished bands of graphite, with venation obliterated. — Cyclopteris obtusa, Lesqx. Not very abundant. — Neuropleris polymorpha, Daws. In beautiful specimens, common. — Sphenopteris marginata^ Daws. Not common. — S. Haeninghausii, Brongn. Not com- mon. — Pecopteris (Alethopteris) discrepans, Daws. It was here that I first discovered this species. It occurs quite abundantly, but always in fragments. — Cardiocarpum comutuvij Daws. Quite common. — C. obliquum, Daws. Quite common. Coarse sandstone, full of obscure casts of Stcrn- bergice and Catamites . . . . .6 feet 6 inches. Soft shale and fissile sandstone, with Calamites . „ 3^ „ 4 Wb> fltj m 520 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. Sandstones Shale, V > obscure remains of plants Sandstom , barren, so far as examined Sandstone and shale, with a few Calamitcs and Cordaites Sandstone and coarse shale, with obscure mark- ings . . . . . . . . 5 „ Light greenish, coarse shale, with fern-stems, Cordaites, and obscure markings, Carpolites (?) „ Sandstones and coarse shales, with badly pre- served vegetable remains . . . . 18 „ 2 feet 3 inches. n 10 9 10 7 9 Plant-bed No. 4 1 „ „ Coarse shales, affording at the point where the line of section crosses it— Cordaites Rohhii, Daws. — Calamites transitionis, Goeppt. — Neu- ropteris poli/morpha, Daws. — Psilophyton glabrum. Daws. — Pinntdaria dispalans, Daws. I have examined at two different points, in the eastern part of this locality, a bed which appears to correspond to this. It is characterized there by a very beautiful Neuropteris (N. Dawsoni, Hartt) with long linear lanceolate pinnules decurrent on the rachis, to which they form a broad wing. The pinnules arc often four inches in length. This is one of the most beautiful ferns occurring at the locality. Several other new forms are associated with it. Among these is a magnificent Cardiocarpum, nearly two inches in diameter (C. Baileyi, Daw.). Sandstone with obscure markings . . .9 feet 6 inches. Plant-bed No. 5 6 „ Soft, fine-grained light-greenish shale. Cordaites Eobbii, Daws. Extremely abundant. — Calamites canm- formis, Brongn, Found occ&%\o\\v\\y.— Psilophyton (?) glabrum, Daws. — (?) Asterophyllites acicularis, Daws. — Pccopteris [Ale- thopteris) discrepans, Daws. Quite abundant. — Sphenopteris marginata, Daws. Quito abundant. — Sphenopteris tnargi- nata. — Pecopteris, sp. nov. (?) — Hymenophyllites, sp. {?)— Neu- ropteris polymorpha, Daws. Very abundant. — Spirorbis occurs in the bed, attached to the leaves of Cordaites. I have never detected it in any of the beds higher up. Compact flaggy sandstones and coarse shales, with a few plants, 8 feet. .*i*i:Ut- SECTION AT TUB FERN LEDGES. 521 Plant-bed No. 6 2 feet. Fine-grained and light-coloured shale, with great abundance of Cordaites Robbii, and Calamitea transitionis ; above that a layer of coarse shale, with Cordaites, and stems of plants badly preserved, then a layer of soft, very friable shale, with few fossils ; and, lastly, a layer of coarse shale of a greenish-gray colour, with — Pecopteris discrepans, Daws. Abundant. — Cordaites Robbii, Daws. Abundant. — Calamites canncB/ormis, Brongn. iVieu- roptcrispolymorpha, Daws. — Cardiocarpum cormdum, Daws. — Cardiocarpiim obliquum, Daws. — Pecopteris, sp. nov. Occurs abundantly in some of the overlying beds. Sandstones and coarse shales, with abundaice of plant- remains, principally Cordaites and Calamites 5 feet. Plant-bed No. 7 2 „ This is one of the richest plant-beds of the section. The shales composing it vary much in character in different exposures. They arc for the most part of a gray colour, and compact, like a fine-grained sandstone, though they pass into a light-brownish, very fissilcj soft shale, and there are some layers of a very black colour. Cordaites Robbii, Daws. Very abtmdant, and in a beautiful state of preservation. — Calamites transitionis, Goeppt. Not abun- dant as good specimens. — C. cannaiformis, Brongn. Rare. — (?) Asterophyllites acicularis, Daws. In very beautiful specimens, very common in certain thin layers. There arc two or three other species, occurring also in the overlying beds, which appear to be new. — Annularia acuminata, Daws. Extremely plentiful. — Pinnularia dispalans, Daws. Extremely plentiful. — (?) Psilophyton elegans, Daws. I have obtained several specimens of a Psilophyton, growing in tufts, and closely resembling this species. — Neuropteris polymorpha. Daws. Occasional. — Pe- copteris {Alethopieris) discrepans. Daws. Abundant, and obtainable in good 8i)ecimens. — Cyclopteris obtusa, Lesqx. Occasional. — Sphenopteris marginata, Daws. — Ilymcnophyllites subfurcatus. Daws. — Cardiocarpum cornutum. Daws. Quito abundant. — C. obliquum. Daws. Quite abundant. — C. Crampii, Ilartt. — Alethopteris Perleyi, Ilartt. — Sphenopteris pilosa, Daws. Several other plants not yet determined. — Insects. A single insect's wing was obtamed from this bed by my father and myself. Compact sandstone and coarse shales (barren of fossils) . 3 feet. 1, 522 TUB nEVONIAN PERIOD. Plant-bed No. 8 1 foot 10 inches. Fine-grained, tough, but fissile sandstones, rather coarse shales, often of a greenish cast, and at the top a thin hiyer of very black shale very rich in plants. The middle portion does not contain so many plant remains, but the lower is as well stocked as the leaves of a her- barium. The following are the fossils I have collected from it : — Cordaites Rabbit, Daws. As usual in great profusion, and in very fine specimens, — C, transilionis^ Goeppt. Occasional. — C cannceformis, Brongn. — (?) AsterophylUtes acicularis, Daws. Quite common, together with one or two other species apparently new, which occur also in Bed 7. — Annularia acuminata, Daws. Extremely common, especially in certain layers. — Pinnularia dispalans, Daws. Abundant. — (?) Lyco- podites Matthewi, Daws. Rare. — Cyclopteris obtusa, Lesqx. — Cyclopteris, sp. nov. — Neuropteris polymorpha, Daws. Quite frequent in detached pinnules. — Hymenophyllites subfurcatus, Daws. Very common. — Pccopteris (Alethop.) discrepans, Daws. This is the most abundant fern in this bed. It occurs usually in detached pinnules, though not unfrequently in considerable fronds. — Pecopteris [Alethop.). Besides the above, there are three or four other species, some of which occur also in Beds 6 and 7. — Cardiocarpum cornutum, Daws. Not very common. — C. obliquum, Daws. Also not very common. — C. Crampii, Hartt. Quite common. — Several other species of plants not yet determined. — Insects. Two species, two specimens. One was obtained by my friend, Mr James Hegan. Sandstones and coarse shales, with badly preserved Cordaites Mobbii, Daws., C. transitionis, Goeppt., and Pecopteris (A.) dis- crepans ......... 26 feet. Fine-grained, light-greenish shale, with obscure remains . 1 foot. Sandstone and shales, with Calamites and obscure markings . 23 feet. This brings up the section to those beds which are exposed within a few feet of low-water mark. Owing to the short time during which the rocks are laid bare by the fall of the tide, to their hardness, and to the way in which they are rounded down by the surf, the work of exploring this part of the section is very difficult, and I have not been able to give them a very close examination. A very rich plant-bed crops out within a short distance of low- water mark on the very east- em margin of the Ledges. Its place in the section is somewhere near Bed 8. It is characterized by Cyclopteris valida, Daws., which ^^kM aV i: > SECTION AT THE FERN LEDQES. 523 appears to bo limited to it. The unique specimen figured in Dawson's Paper ' On the Flora of the Devonian Period, etc.' (plate xvii. fig. 52), came from this bed. I obtained here a magnificent frond of Neurop- teris polymorpha, Daws., showing its structure finely, and tiie different forms of the pinnules in different situations on the frond. Many of the species common in the underlying beds are also to be found in this ; but I am unable to give a complete list. Total thickness of the beds embraced in this section . 444 ft. 1 1 in." Fauna of the Devonian Plant-beds of St John, It will bo necessary to devote a separate chapter to the interesting plant-remains of St John, which present to us a picture of the vegetation of the world at a period anterior to that of the grea* coal-deposits, more perfect, perhaps, than that to be obtained in any other known locality. I shall notice hero some small crustaceans and worms which lived in the waters into which these plants were drifted and four species of Insects, the very oldest known to geo- logists, and which flitted through the old Devonian woods. Fig. 179 (a, 6). — Eurypterm pulkwris. Fig. 180. — AmphipeltU paradoieus. Attached to some of the fossil plants in the Cordaite shales, wo have, just as in the Coal formation, shells of Spirorbis. I have not been able to satisfy myself as to whether these are the familiar S. carbonarius of the coal or a distinct species. The crustaceans found with them are of two species, one, a little shrimp-like creature, belongs to the genus Eurypterus. It was found by Mr Matthews, and has been described by Mr Salter as E. pulicaris (Fig. 179). The other is of higher type, perhaps allied to the modem Stomapods, and has been named by Mr Salter, to whom I sent the specimen, I, If \ T i 1 :ti :i iii pi 034 TUE DEVONIAN PERIOD. which was from Mr Ilartt's collection, Amphipeltia paradoxut* (Fig. 180). The insects found in these beds are of the very greatest geological interest, as being the oldest known representatives of that type. They occur in the same shales with the plants, and are thus proved, both by stratigraphical and palaiontological evidence, to be older than the Carboniferous period. I have, therefore, figured the remains found, which are all from the collection of Mr Hartt, and which have been kindly described by Mr Scuddcr of Boston, one of our best authorities on questions of this kind. They were all Neuropterous insects, and allied to the Ephemeras. It is interesting, however, to observe that, like many other ancient animals, they show a remarkable union of characters now found in distinct orders of insects, or constitute synthetic types, as they have been named. Nothing of this kind is more curious than the apparent existence of a stridulating or musical apparatus like that of the cricket, in an insect otherwise allied to the Neuroptcra. Tliis structure also, if rightly interpreted by Mr Scuddcr, introduces us to the sounds of the Devonian woods, bringing before our imagination the trill and hum of insect life that enlivened the solitudes of those strange old forests. Mr Scudder has kindly furnished descriptions of these insects as follows : — Fig. 181, — Platephemera antiqua, Scuddcr. " The direction of the principal ncrvures in this insect convinces me that it belongs to the Ephemerina, though I have never seen in living Ephemerina so much reticulation in the anal area as exists here — so, too, the mode in which the intercalary nervules arise is somewhat peculiar. It is a gigantic species, for it must have measured five inches in expanse of wings — the fragment is a portion of an upper wing." " At first sight the neuration of the wings seems to agree suffi- ciently with the Sialina to warrant our placing it in that family * Journal of Geological Society, February 1863. ulIJ FTTf" T FAUNA OF THE DEVONIAN PLANT-BEDS OP BT JOHN. 525 but it is very interesting to find, in addition to minor peculiarities, that near the base of the wing, between the two middle veins, there is a heavy cross-vein from which new prominent veins take their Fig. 182. — Ilovwthetus fosailin, 8cudder. rise; this is characteristic of the Odonata, and of that family only. Wo have, therefore, a new family representing a synthetic type which combines the features of structure now found in the Odonata and Sialina, very distant members of the Neuroptera. The fragment is sufficiently preserved to show the direction, extent, and mode of branching of nearly every principal nervurc. It is evidently a portion of an upper wing ; the insect measured not far from 3^ inches in expanse of wings." Fig. 183. — Lithentomum Harttii, Scuddcr. " This was the first specimen discovered by Mr C. F. Ilartt, and I have, therefore, named it after him : — apparently, it docs not belong to any family of Neuroptera represented among living forms. It agrees more closely witli the family Ilemeristina, which I founded upon a fossil insect discovered in Illinois, than it does with any other; but Is quite distinct from that, both in the mode of division of the nervures and in the peculiar cross-veining. The fragment ••vhlch Mr Ilartt discovered is very in),>orfect; but, fortunately, p'-csc-vis the most important parts of the wing. I am . inclined to think lat it was a lower wing. The in>ect probably measured 3^ inches in expanse of wing." Fig. 184. — Xenoneura antiquorum, Scudder. " Although in this fragment we see only the basal half or third of a wing, the peculiar mode of venation shows that the insect cannot belong to any known family of Neuroptera, living or fossil ; yet it is evidently a Neuropterous insect. In addition to its other peculiarities. J" I \ I ' 1 ,1 i ,: '' 1 . '1 I t. I I' ) j ■H-i^: S2G THE DEVONIAN PEKIOl). there is ono of striking iinporianco, viz. : — the development of veinlcts at the base of tlie wing, forming portions of concentric rings. I liftvo cmloiivourcd in vain to explain thoHo away as some- thing foreign to tlio wings, accidentally introduced upon the stone, and I know of nothing to which it can bo compared but to the Btridulating organ of some male Orthoptera / It is diftlcult to tell whether the fragment bch)ngs to an upper or an under wing. Its expanse of wings was probably from 2 to 2}^ inches." Useful Minerals of the Devonian. In Nova Scotia the only important mineral deposit known to be contained in the rocks of this system is the iron ore of Nictaux and Moose River. This is a conformable bed, at Nictaux about six feet in thickness, and quite accessible, as it crops out at the surface without any cover. The outcrop of the bed appears at several places in Nic- taux, and also at Moose Hiver, where the thickncsi' appears to be less than at the former place. At Nictaux the ore is a peroxide of iron, laminated in structure, and full of fossil shells. At Moose River it is in the state of magnetic iron, bi'*^^ retains its characters in other respects. A specimen in my collection from Nictaux contains 55'3 per cent, of iron. This ore is thus of great value, but is not at present worked. Its distance from the coal-fields, and the consequent necessity of smelting with charcoal, arc obstacles in the way of its commercial application. In New Urunswick several important mineral deposits have been recognised in the Devonian of the south coast. The following account of them is from Railcy's Report. More full details as to one of tliese deposits, the Vernon Copper Mine, arc contained in Professor Hind's rreliminaiy Report. "./iron Ores. — The principal locality for this metal is the dis- trict in th' vicinity of West Beach and Black River, where several large beds of hematite occur. As they are well known, and were described in a previous Report, it is not necessary to make further allusion to their character, than to say that one portion of the ore occurs in a coarse reddish-gray conglomerate, the other, two or three miles to the eastward, in beds of trappcan and micaceous slates. These rocks have been shown by Mr Matthew clearly to form a portion of the Cordaite shales in the Devonian series. " Besides the ore-beds alluded to, iron is abundant in seams and veins through most of the rocks occurring in this district, and it is not improbable that further search would reveal the latter in available quantities. '"—"'"-'••' «^- UBEFUI. MINKKAL8 OF TUE DEVONIAN. 537 **Tlio only remaining district Hltoly to bo profluctlvo of this metal is the pcniiiHula of I'iHHrinco. I linvc already alluded to the rcHcm- blance between the latter and the beds of lleveridgo Cove, and stated tlnit specular iron is not uncommon in its southern portion. Were the metal in g'-eater demand, its presence in thin region might bo looked for with very good prospect of success. The same is tnio of the district lying to the west of Musquash Harbour, and thcnco towards the Uasin of Lepreau. •' Copper Orfs. — The most important and well-known localities of copjMir, aj)pcrtaining to this series, are the mines occuning in tho eastern portion of St John, and western portion of Albert, counties. In the district alluded to, between Martin's Head and the settlement of (ircat Salmon River, no less than four distinct attempts have been made to carry on operations, with varying success. These constitute respectively tho Vernon, Alma, Gordon, and Williams Mines. Tho three latter were visited by myself in the summer of 1863, and de- scribed in my Report of that year ; the former, though also alluded to in the .same Report, was not visited until the past season. It may therefore not bo out of place to add a few observations, made by Mr Matthew and myself, upon its present condition. " The Vernon Copper Mines are situated upon the Hay Shove, about three miles eastward of Martin's Head, and about two from the mouth of Goose Creek. The rocks in which operations have been begun are metamorphic beds of the Bay Shore belt, which hero rise ' "uptly from the level of the sea to a height vary!"ig from six to eight hun- dred feet. Their character has already been described. They consist of dull purple and gray micaceous slates, conglomerates, and grits, much injected with igneous nuittcr, and holding veins of quartz, calc- spar and chlorite. They are in every way identical Avith the rocks of Martin's Head and the region to the westwari', belonging, with tho latter, to the Cordaite division of the Little Ri , er group, a fonnation referable to the Upper Devonian age. " Since the date of my last Report, operations of a vigorous char- acter have been begun, and a force of about forty men is now constantly employed. At the time of my visit, three adits had been driven near tlie base of the hill, and preparations were in progress fo>- systematic labour. Owing, however, to the abrupt character of the shore, tho want of a suitable harbour, and the difficulty of procuring supplies through the unsettled district above, active operations had been greatly retarded. A road is now being opened to connect the mines with the Shepody Road, and I believe it is the intention of the Company to erect a breakwater, whereby the obstacles at present existing may be greatly diminished. s n: t 528 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. " The rocks of the Alma, Williams, and Gordon Mines, are in over}' way similar to tliose of the Vernon, and, for this reason, do not require further notice. All mining operations at these localities have been for the present discontinued. *' In addition to the places above described, the following arc locali- ties appertaining to the Cordaite shales, in which the presence of ores of copper has been ascertained : — "(a.) The shores of the Great Salmon River, Albert County, probably a continuation of the lodes at the Alma and Gordon Mines. Ore — Copper glance. " (i.) On the Farm of Andrew M'Farlano, three miles back of Salmon River, Albert, and on the road to New Ireland. Ore — Peacock copper and yellow sulphurct, in dark slaty grits. No explorations have been made. "(c.) Near entrance of Little Salmon River, St John County.* A small quantity of copper associated with much iron pyrites, occur- ring in slate. " {d.) M'Lachland's Farm.* Indications somewhat more promising than at the last named locality. " (e.) Near Martin's Head, at foot of the hills, on the north side of the marsh connecting the headland with the shore. Ore — Erubescitc (or Peacock ore). The specimens seen were of a very rich character. No attempt had been made, at the time of our visit, to ascertain the extent of the deposit, but the locality is a promising one, and deserves further exploration. The facilities for the successful carrying on of mining operations are very superior to those of the Vernon Mine, the land being lower, and the shore protected by the promontory of Martin's Head. Indications of copper have also been observed upon the Head itself. *' (/.) Shcpody Mountain. Near the Manganese Mine of Mr Steadman, a shaft has been sunk in greenish chloritic slate, to a depth of 50 feet in search of copper, which is said to occur in veins of quartz. The locality was examined by Mr Hartt, but no indications of that metal were observed. It has also been stated that native copper occurs in quartz veins in the conglomerates of the Manganese Mine. " {g.} Black River Settlement, on the mountain road from Loch Lomond. Ore — Copper pyrites and the green carbonate, in hard clay slate.* " (h.) Pisarinco. Yellow sulphuret of copper has been found in the altered slates and grits of this peninsula, but not in profitable quantities. * Observed by Mr Matthew. a^ nmrn ^^yW i I wi ili C'J " ,^ ' -^jg FAUNA OP THE DEVONIAN PLANT-BEDS OF 8T JOHN. 520 " At all tho above named localities, the rocks arc certainly members of tlio nppcr division of the Little Ilivci group. In those which follow, tho beds arc probably portions of tho same scries, but, as expressed in tho remarks on the characterH of this group, their position has not bcon ascertained with absolute fortainty. " (i.) IMackwood IJlock, Albert County. I am informed by Mr Matthew, that in this district, and near the lake which fonns the source of one of the branches of the Salmon River, cojjper has recently been found by Mr (i. V. Keans of St J'hn. " The latter gentleman observed some veins, and numerous boulders of quartz on the hillsides about the lake, as wull as felspar, mica (silvery gray and black), hornblende, actiiiolite, and chlorite. The copper was observed in a ledge of hard gray metam(>rphic slate, on the north side of the lake, filling scams in the rock, and is a green carbonate, not the original ore. The accompanying rocks aro described as paler and coarser slates, some of the latter having an ash-like aspect (vol- canic ?), and reddish felsite. All of these rocks are similar to those occurring in the Cordaitc shales, or cupriferous band of the coast. Both of the above named gentlemen, to whom I am indebted for the facts of its occurrence, regard the locality as a promising one, and deserving of further examination. " This locality is not very distant from the point at which particles of drift gold were observed by myself and others in the summer of 1863. The occurrence of the latter is curious, and difficult of ex- planation. It can scarcely be supposed that this metal should have come from beds of Devonian age, such as those of the neighbourhood appear to be. Neither are there any rocks of a greater age in this portion of the province, unless we suppose the re-appearance of the St John slates, or some portion of the (,'oldbrook and Portland groups. As to tho former, as far as observed to the eastward, no approaching alteration, such as is usually found in gold-bearing series, was ob- served, and eastward of King's County the group itself appears to be entirely wanting. The same is true of the Portland group, but it is not at all unlikely that beds of the Coldbrook may be represented in this district, and to them we must provisionally look for the origin of this metal. It should, however, be borne in mind, that Dr Hayes of Boston has, by analysis, ascertained the presence of gold in the rocks of the Vernon Mine, also a part of the series of which the locality at Blackwood is supposed to form a member. " (A'.) Beech Hill, Westmoreland. On the south-eastern side of the Memramcook River, in the parish of Dorchester, and about three miles from Charters' Inn, occurs a very singular metalliferous locality, but 2 M ' 1 ii m Mil . 580 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. W . mw m recently discovered, and v/hich opens a new field of investigation in a district heretofore supposed to be destitute of metal-bearing rocks. " The precise locality where this discovery was made, is on the land of Joseph Landry, constitutii^g a portion of the settlement known in the vicinity as Beech Hill. ?'.'e land has been leased from its owners by Mr Alex. Wright of Salisbury, with whom I paid a visit to the spot during the past season. " In examining the district where the ore occurs, I found that the land immediately surrounding the lode is everywhere covered with rocks of Carboniferous age, over the surface of which are scattered innumerable boulderc of highly crystalline quartz. The beds from which the latter have been deilved are not directly visible, but near the point where they are most abundant, a pit has been sunk to a depth of about i. e feet, exposing a distinct quartz lode of from four to five feet in thickness. This lode has a course about N. 22° W., a nearly perpendicular dip, and is bounded by regular walls. Only one of the latter was distinctly visible, and consisted of buff-coloured and reddish altered grit or breccia. Covering the latter, as well as a portion of the lode, are an ochreous clayey conglomerate, then a reddish slaty clay, and, finally, over all some two or three feet of soil. These uppoiinost deposits have a decidedly Carboniferous look, and are destitute of metallic indications. '* The ore, which is co.ifined to the quartz lode, is the gray sulphuret, and is scattered through the rock in veins and spots, while, by altera- tion, it has given a green tinge to much of the associated gangue. A portion of the quartz is distinctly, and at times finely, amethystine (indicating the presence of manganese). Barytes is also found in the lode, and specimens from the neighbourhood contain a green variety of fluor. There seemed to be an entire absence of calcareous ma.,ter. " Hoping that some exposures might be found in the neighbourhood, by which the age of the deposit could be ascertained, I made a careful search, but found no beds /?i situ, with the exception of Carboniferous BP.ndstones, shales, and conglou'erates, the former holding characteristic plants. Boulders, however, were common, and evidently derived from a metamorphic eeries, such as gneiss, syenite, mica schist, green and ashy slates. " This locality is certainly an interesting one, and worthy of further exploration. It would seem to imply an easterly prolongation of the metalliferous coast belt, as well as a great thinning out of the Carbon- iferous beds by denudation. It is not unlikely that similar exposures, from which the boulders have been derived, may be discovered in the neighbourhood." 531 CHAPTER XXII. THE DEVONIAN PERIOD— 6VnM. ( ) ingens, Dn. ( ) obscura (?), Lesquereux. preciosa, Hartt. Perleyi, Hartt. serrulata, Hartt. Trichomanites, sp. Cardiocarpum comutum, Dn. obliquum, Dn. Crampii, Hartt. Baileyi, sp. nov. Trigonocarpum racemosura, Dn, Antholithes Devonicus, sp. nov. (Contferce.) Dadoxylon Ouangondianum,* — Dn. Trunks of this fine coniferous tree are frequent in the St John sandstones. They retain their structure in great perfection, especially in silicified specimens. Some of the trunks have been a foot or more in diameter. They show traces of growth- rings on their weathered ends, and when perfect, are traversed by the transversely wrinkled pith-cylinders, formerly known as Sternbergice. Under the microscope the wood-cells are seen to be of remarkable * I have named this species after the ancient Indian designation of the St John River, Ouangonda. I use the generic term Dadoxylon as probably beat known to English geologists; but I sympathiie with Goeppert in his preference of the generic term Araucarites for such trees. ^^m •^11 FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. 535 size, being fully one-third larger in thoir diameter than those of Ptnua sirobua or Araucaria Cunninghami, and also much larger than those of Fig. 183. — Dadoxylon OtMngoruUanum. A B 5*5;::!-' A, Fragment showing Stembergia pith and wood; (a) Medullary sheath; (b) Pith; (e) Wood; (d) Section of pith. B, Wood cell (a), ond Hexagonal areole and pore (b). C, Longitudinal section of wood, showing (n) Areolation, and (i) Medullary rays. D, Transverse section showing (a) Wood-cells, and (6) Limit of layer of growth. the ordinary coniferous trees of the Coal measures. They are beauti- fully marked with contiguous hexagonal areoles, in which are inscribed oval slits 01 pores, placed diagonally. The medullary rays are large and frequent, but their cells, unlike the wood-cells {prosenchyma), are more small and delicate than those of the trees just mentioned. The pith when perfectly preserved presents a continuous cylinder of cellular tissue, wrinkled longitudinally without, and transversely within, and giving forth internally delicate transverse partitions, which coalesce toward the centre, leaving there a series of lenticular spaces, a peculiarity which I have not heretofore observed in these Stem- bergia pith cylinders. It is interesting to find in a Devonian conifer the same structure of pith characteristic of some of its allies in the Coal formation, where, however, as I have elsewhere shown,* such structures occur in Sigillaria as well ; and since Corda has ascertained a similar structure in Lomatofloyos, a plant allied to Ulodendron, it would appear that the Stembergiae may have belonged to plants of very dissimilar organization. * Paper on Coal Structures. Journal of Oeol. 800. i ii: 586 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. In my specimen the pith is only half an inch in diameter, and only a small portion of the wood is attached to it ; but Mr Matthew has a specimen of a trunk ten inches in diameter, with the pith one inch in thickness, and another 11^ inches in diameter, with the pith 2^ inches. Both had the appearance of decayed trunks, so that their original siza may have been considerably greater. Mr Matthew states in reference to the mode of occurrence of this intt.'ssting species, that the wood is always in the state of anthracite or graphite, or mineralized by iron pyrites, calc spar or silica. The pith is usually calcified, but in pyritizcd trunks it often appears as a sandstone cast with the extcnial wrinkles of Stembergia. The pith is often eccentric, and specimens occur with two or three centres ; but these either consist of several trunks in juxtaposition, or are branching stems. The annual layers vary from one-eighth to one-thirtieth of an inch in thickness, and adjoining layers sometimes vary from one-tenth to one-twentieth of an inch. The trunks of this species appear to have had a strong tendency to split in decay along the medullary rays, and in consequence the cross section often presents a radiating structure of alternating black lines representing the wedges of wood, and white rays of calc spar. The heart wood seems to have had its cell walls much thickened, and in consequence to have been more durable than that nearer the surface. They appear to have been drift trees, and to have been much worn and abraded before they were embedded in sediment. [SigillaricB.) Sigillaria palpebra, Dn. Ribs narrow, about a quarter of an inch in width. Leaf-scars transversely acuminate, small. My only speci- men is a small fragment, showing three or four ribs, and with only a few of the scars preserved. The most perfect leaf-scars are shaped much like a half-closed eye ; but the specimen is only a cast, and very imperfect. Locality, St John. Stigmaria ficoides (variety), Brongniart. Large roots oi Stigmaria, in some instances with rootlets attached, occur, though rarely, in the sandstone or arenaceous shale near St John — only two or three speci- mens having been found. They are not distinguishable from some varieties of the Stigmaria ficoides of the Coal measures. {Calamites.) Cdlamiles transitionis, Goeppert. *' Canad. Nat.," vol. vi. p. 168 (Fig. 186). This species, so characteristic, according to Goeppert, of the Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous series 'n Europe, is abun- - '""' ' '"'^'' I i FLORA OP THE DEVONIAN. 637 dant at St John, both in the snndstone containing coniferous trees, and the shales which afford Ferns, Cordaites, etc. Some of the beds of the latter are filled with flattened stems. Tiiis was one of the first fossils recognised in tlie St .John rocks, specimens having been shown to me in 1857 by the late Professor Robb.* Fig. 18C. — Calamitcs transitions. Calamites cannceformis, Brongniart. This species, presenting the characters which it exhibits in the Coal measures, occurs in the ledges west of Carlton, associated with the last species, but in much less abundance. It is a widely distributed species, but has not, I believe, been found previously in rocks older than the Lower Carboniferous. [Aster ophyllites, etc.) Asterophyllites acicularis^ Dn. (Fig. 194, II and IP), Stems slender, striated, thickened at the nodes, leafy. Leaves one-nerved, linear, * Dr Gesner mentions (Second Eeport, 1840, p. 12) a Calatnite (probably this ipecies) as occurring near Little River. /( U;fl Mi.! 538 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. slightly arcuate, ten to fifteen in a whorl, longer than the intemodes. Length of leaves one-half to three-fourths of an inch. This plant is abundant in some layers of shale near St John. It resembles A.foliosa, L. and H., but the leaves arc longer, loss curved, and more numerous in a whorl. Some of the specimens show that the stem was leafy, as well as the branches ; and I have a specimen, apparently the termination of a main stem, showing the whorls of leaves diminishing in size toward the apex. My specimen of this and the following species of Asterophyllitea are from the collections of Messrs Matthew and Ilartt, and were obtained from the ledges and cliffs west of Carlton. I believe the small strobiles, one of which is seen at 11'' to be the fruit of this species. Fig. \%1 .—AsterophylliUa. A, AsterophylUtes liitlfolla. D, A. latlfoUa, larger whorl of leaves. B, Do. apex of Btcm (?) fruit. D', Leaf. C and C', AsterophylUtes scutigera. AsterophylUtes latifolia, Dn. (Fig. 187, A, B, D). Stem somewhat slender, with enlarged nodes. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, about thirteen in a whorl, one-nerved, longer than the intemodes. Length of leaves varying from one-fourth of an inch, near the ends of branchas, to an " FLORA OF THE DKVONIAN. 539 inch or more. This species nbonnds in the same locality with the preceding, and is often very perfectly preserved. It has some re- semblance to A. galioides, L. and H., and to A. fertilise Sternberg ; but it differs from the former in the number and form of the leaves, and from the latter in the acutencss of their points. The fruit or growing extremity of the stem is represented at (B). Asterophyllites {?) acutigera, Dn. (Fig. 187, C.) Stems simple, elongated, attaining a diameter of half an inch, obscurely striated ; bearing on the nodes whorls of round or oval scales, or flattened nut- lets, which at the ends of the stems are crowded into a sort of spike, while on other parts of the stems the nodes are sometimes an inch apart. This is a plant of uncertain nature, which I place oidy con- jecturally in this genus. The stems, which are very long, may have been horizontal or immersed, and the apparent scales may either have constituted a sort of sheath, as in A. coronata, Unger, or may have been seeds or nutlets flattened like the rest of the plant. Near some of the specimens are fragments of linear leaves, which may have belonged to this plant, though I have not found them attached. When flattened obliquely, the stems appear as rows of circular marks, which represent the harder tissue of the nodes, and have a very singular appearance. This plant, though found with the preceding, does not occur in the layers which contain the other plants ; and this may possibly mark a difference of habitat. Asterophyllites longifolia, Brongniart. In the shales containing the preceding species are some fragments of an Asterophyllites with slender stems, internodes about an inch in length, and linear leaves two or three inches in length, and about six to eight in a whorl. It may belonp to the species here named ; but the remains are not sufficiently distin^ L to render this certain. Asterophyllites parmla, Dn. (Fig. 188, A). " Canad. Nat.," vol. vi. p. 168, figs. 6 a, 6, c. Branchlets slender. Leaves five or six in a whorl, subulate, curving upwards, half a line to a line long. Internodes equal to the length of the leaves or less. Stems ribbed, with scars of verticillate branchlets at the nodes. This diminutive species was originally found by Mr Mattlmw in the graphitic shale, associated with the Dadoxylon sandstone, at the southern part of the city of St John. Small fragments of it have subsequently been obtained from the shales of Carlton. Asterophyllites laxa, sp. nov. Stems very slender and flexuous. Internodes about an inch long. Nodes with about ten long linear one-nerved obtuse leaves an inch or more in length. This form was included in A. longifolia in my foi-mer paper, but additional specimens !■■' \ * \ i '! ■'.1 1 i 1 1 I, I , ^ hi ni.'^'T; I K 540 THK DEVONIAN PKKIOD. show it to bo quite distinct. The Dcvoiiiftn plant-beds of St Jobn are relatively richer in species and individuals belonging to the genus Fig. 188. — AaterophylUtes, Sj>henophtjUum, and Lycopodita. r\ ih A, AstprophyllltcB pnrvulii; (n) Branches; (*) Leaves enlarged ; (c) Stem. B, Bphenophyllum antiquum ; (a) Magnified ; (i) Natural size. C, hycopoditcs Matthew! ; (o) Jrunch and leaves ; (6, c, d) Different forma of leaves. Asterophyllites than any zone of the Coal formation with which I am acquainted. The genus is represented in the Devonian of Europe, and more especially by the fine species A. coronata from Thuringia. Annularta acuminata, Dn. (Fig. 194, G). Leaves oblong, acu- minate, one-nerved, six to nine in a whorl, erect or slightly spreading. Whorls usually found disconnected. Detached whorls of this species occur, though rarely, on the surfaces of the shales of Carlton. It seems to be a plant of the same type with A. sp''nophyllo{des, Ungcr, which, according to Lesquereux, occurs in the Coal formation of Pennsylvania. Some specimens show a few whorls attached to each other by a very slender stem. Sphenophyllum antiquum, Dn. (Fig. 188, B). "Canad. Nat.," vol. vi. p. 170, fig. 7. Leaflets cuneate, one-eighth of an inch wide at the apex, and less than one-fourth of an inch long. Nerves three, bifurcating equally near the base, the divisions terminating at the apices of six obtuse, acuminate teeth. About eight leaves in a whorl. This plant was described from a few detached leaflets from the graphitic shale of St John, which preserved their form and venation in the most wonderful perfection, though they were completely FLOKA OF THE DEVONIAN. 541 chanpfed into films of Hhining grRphito. I Imvo Bince obtained from Mr Ilnrtt a specimen found iit Cnrlton, which, though the individunl leaflets are more indistinct, shows their general nrrungement in whorls of eight or nine on a slender Hteni. It is a beautiful symmetrical little plant, quite distinct from any of the specioH in the ('oal measures. Pinnularia dispalans, Dn. (Fig. 194, L). Smooth slender stems, producing nearly at right angles long branchlets, some of which produce secondary branchlets in a pinnate ntanncr. Stem and branches having a slender vascular axis. This plant was not very dissimilar from some common forms of Carboniferous Pinnularia:. Its main stem must once have been cylindrical, and had a delicate central axis, now marked by a darker line of graphite in the flattened speci- mens. The branches were not given off in one plane, and also show traces of an axis. There are indications that the stems grew in bundles or groups. It was probably, as has usually been supposed in the case of the species in the Coal fonnation, an aquatic root or sub- merged stem of an Asterophyllites or some similar plant. ( Lycopodiacece. ) Lepidodendron Oaspianuvi, Dn. (Fig. 189, A). Dawson, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xv. p. 483, figs. 3 a-3 d. This species, originally discovered in Gaspe, and described in my paper on the plants of that locality, was afterwards recognised among the fossils from Peny, and more recently at St John ; and numerous and beautiful specimens arc contained in Professor Hall's collections from New York State, where the species occur in the base of the Catskill group and in the upper part of the Hamilton group. The vai-icd aspects of the sjjccies presented in the numerous specimens thus submitted to me, would, with a less perfect suite of examples, afi'ord grounds for specific or even generic distinctions. Flattened specimens, covered with bark, present contiguous, elliptical, slightly elevated areoles, with an indis- tinct vertical lino and a small central vascular scar (Fig. 189). De- corticated specimens, slightly compressed, show elliptical depressed areoles, not contiguous, and with only traces of the vascular scars In more slender branches the areoles are often elevated at one end in the manner of a Knorria (Fig. 189); and in some specimens the areoles are indistinct, and the vascular scars appear as circular spots, giving the appearance presented by the plants named Cydostigma by Haughton. All these forms are, however, merely different states of preservation of the same species. This j^lant is closely allied to L. nothurn, linger, but differs in its habit of growth and in the size of the areoles relatively to that of the branches. The branches were I M m I j 542 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. long ond slender, bifurcating rarely, and, unless they were very woody, must have been j)endent or decumbent. No largo trunks have been Been. It was a widely distributed and abundant species in the Upper and Middle Devonian periods. Tiie plant figured by Professor Rogers in the " Report on Pennsylvania," p. 829, fig. 677, can scarcely belong to any other than this species ; and it is also figured in Vanuxom's " Report on New York," p. 191, fig. 55, and p. 157, fig. 38. Fig. 189. — Ijepidodtndron and l^ilophyUm. A, Lepidodendron GaBpiannm. B, C, Psilopliyton elegang. Lycopoditea Matthewi, Dn. (Fig. 188, C). "Canad. Nat.," vol. vi. p. 171, fig. 8. Leaflets one- veined, narrowly ovate-acu- minate, one-tenth to one-fourth of an inch in length, somewhat loosely placed on a very slender stem, apparently in a pentasti- chous manner. This species was described from specimens found FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. fi43 by Mr Matthew in tlio graphitic ahalo in the city of St John. Some- what larger specimens iiavo since been obtained from the same bed ; but I have not seen the phmt elsewhere. Psilnphyton princepa, l)n. Quart. .lourn. Geol. Soc., vol. xv. p. 479, figs. 1 a to 1 t. This remarkable plant, so charac- teristic of the whulo Devonian system at Gaspo, filling many beds with its rliizomcs, in the manner of the Stigmaria of the Coal measures, and prcHcrved in such abundance and perfection that it is much better know to us in its form, structure, and habit of growth than any other plant of the period, proves, as might have been anticipated, to have had a wide distribution in space as well as in time. Fragments of its stems are distinguishable in the sand- stones of Perry, and numerous fine specimens occur among the plants from New York State committed to me by Professor Hall. It occurs in the Hamilton group at Scl'.oharie, New York, and at Akron, Ohio, in the Chemung group at Cascade Falls, and in the Catskill group at Jefferson. Most of the sjjecimens are stems, which show the habit of growth very perfectly. They confirm my inference from the structure of the Gasp 544 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. of doubtful nature. They must have been stems or roots, bifur- cating in the manner of P«iloj)hyton, but having a very ?1ender woody axis. They may have been ei ' '>r roots of some plant, or stems of a smooth and comparatively succulent species of Psilophyton. Fig. I'dQ.— Cordaites Robbii. (a) Group of young leaves. (6) Point of leaf. (c) Base of leaf. ((/) Venation; magnified. Cordaites Ilobbii, Dn. (Fig. 190). Leaves elongated, lanceolate, sometimes three inches wide and a foot in length. Veins equal and parallel. Base broad, clasping the stem, point acuminate. When this species was described in my paper in the " Canadian Naturalist,"* only ver} imperfect specimens were in my possession ; but numerous and fine specimens recently found now enable me more perfectly to characterize the species. The leaves vary much in form ; and ♦ May 1861, p. 168. ■-,»,^, ni FLORA OP THE DBVONIAN. MA in their young state, as represented in Fig. 190 a, were often of a regularly oblong form. They have numerous equal parallel nc.-vures, which were probably fibro-vascular, like those of Ferns, as they present precisely the same appearance as the nervures of the plants of this family preserved with them, and which, in these beautiful graphitized specimens, are traced in deeper lines of graphite than the film of the same material which represents the intervening parenchyma. In the best preserved specimens, the leaf is quite smooth ; but in some the space between the nervures rises into little ridges, so as to give a striated appearance. These different aspects, however, often occur on different portions of the same leaf. The present species so closely resembles C. borassifolia of the Coal formation that it might readily be riistaken for it; but it differs somewhat in the form of the leaf, and still more in the venation, the nervures in the present species being perfectly equal* In the paper already referred to, I have stated at length my reasons for preferring, in the case of this plant and C. borassifolia, the generic name Cordaites, to Poacites, Flabellaria, and Nceggerathia, all of which have been applied to such plants, together with others having no affinity to them. To the name Pychnophyllum, proposed by Brongniart, this objection does not apply ; but Cordaites, I believe, has priority, and is due to the describer of the typical species. I associate the genus Cordaites with Lycopodiaceous plants with- out hesitation, notwithstanding the peculiar character of its foliage, because Corda has shown that its stem is strictly acrogenous in structure, and of the same type with those of Lomatofloyos and Ulodendron — a fact which excludes it alike from association with Monocotyledonous plants and with Ferns. (See Chap. XX., supra.) It is worthy of notice that, while the leaves of Cordaites, unlike those of Sigillaria and Lcpidodendron, were not attached by narrow bases, but clasping, they were still, like those of nearly all other Devonian and Carboniferous plants, deciduous and capable of disarticulation, as is proved by the immense abundance of fallen leaves, while the Sicms, probably remaining attached to the soil, are rare. It is further to be observed that these leaves were rigid, and long resisted decomposition ; on which account, no doubt, they formed a favourite base of attachment for the little Spirorbes which swarmed both in the Devonian and Carboniferous Periods. At St John, many of tliese leaves are covered with these little shells. * The nervures in C. borassifolia are alternately thick and thin ; but there is another species in the Upper Coal measures of Nova Scotia which has equal nervures. 9m i^ It! /Jie THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. The leaves of the present species are very abundant in the shales of the vicinity of St John, and indeed are eminently character- istic of them ; and on this account I regard the dedication of it to my late lamented friend, Dr Robb, as specially appropriate. I have Fig. 191. — Cycloptcris JacksonL (a and b). Pinnules showing vpnation. not recognised this plant in the specimens from Gaspe or Perry ; and the only indication of it in the New York collection is a frag- ment of a leaf from the Hamilton group of Cazenovia, New York, not sufficiently perfect to render its identification certain. Cordaites angustifoUa, Dawson. Leaves linear, much elongated, one-tenth to one-fourth of an inch broad, with delicate, equal, parallel mmm FLORA OP THE DEVONIAN. 547 nervures. This species, originally described from specimens collected at Gaspe where it abounds in the roof of the little Devonian coal- seam, occurs also at St John, and in the Marcellus Shale of New York; and it has also been found by Sir W. E. Logan in the Upper Silurian of Cape Gaspe, together with fragments of the rhizomes of Psilophyton. It usually occurs as long riband-like detached leaves, not always easily distinguishable from the flattened stems and roots of other plants found in the same beds. I have not seen the apex nor the base of the leaf, but among Professor Hall's specimens from the Marcellus Shale is one which appears to consist of the remains of several leaves, attached to a short stem, of which the structure and markings have perished. Plants closely resembling this are described by Unger and Goep- pert, from the Devonian of Europe ; but the characters given do not enable me to identify any of them with the present species. Such plants are placed by those writers in the genus Noeggerathia, which I reject for the reasons above stated. [Filices ) Cyclopteris Jacksoni, Dawson (Fig. 191). *' Canad. Nat." vol. vi. p. 173, fig. 9. " Frond bipinnate ; rachis stout and longitudinally furrowed; pinnas alternate; pinules obliquely obovate, imbricate, narrowed at the base, and apparently dccun'cnt on the petiole ; nerves nearly parallel, dichotomous ; temiiual leaflet large, broadly obovate or lobed." This species, first described, in my paper in the " Canadian Naturalist," from a specimen found at Perry, occurs also in small fragments at St John, and large specimens occur in the col- lection of Professor Hall from the Old Red Sandstone of Montrose, New York. It is closely allied to C. Ilibernica, and is its American representative. It would be placed by many botanists in the genus Adiantites of Brongn., but this name is objectionable in the case of Ferns evidently not related to Adiantum. Cyclopteris obtusa, Lesquereux (Fig. 192, A). To this species, described by Lesquereux, from the Old Red Sandstone of Penn- sylvania, I refer a beautiful Fern not unfrequent in the shales near St John. Lesquereux places it in the genus Xceggerathia, a name applied by other botanists to a very different group of plants. Cyclopteris valida, Dawson (Fig. 192, M). Tripinnate; primary divisions of the rachis stout and wrinkled. Pinnje regularly alternate. Lower pinnules nearly as broad as long, deeply and obtusely lobed, narrowed and decurrcnt at the base; regularly diminishing in size and breadth toward the point, and the last pinnules narrowly obovate and confluent with the terminal pinnule. Nerves delicate, several T ill i i i .1:' 'I A ?i 548 THE DEVONIAN PEKIOD. Fig. 192. — Devonian Ferns. 1;l-i:t H A, Cyclopteris obtnfta. B, Cyclopteris valida, and pinnulo oo- larged. C, Neuropteris polymorpha, terminal pin- nules. D, Sphcnopteris marginata, and portion enlarged. E, Bpbenopterii Harttli. N, Itymenopbyllitea siibftircatus. F, SphenopterlB pllosa. G, Hymenophyllites ciirtilobus. II, Hymenophyllites GerBdorffli, and por- tion enlarged. I, Aicthoptoris discrcpans. K, I'ecoptcriB scrnilata. L, Pecoptcris preclosa. M, Aletbopteris PerleyL and por- FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. 649 times dichotomous. This is one of the most perfect and beautiful of the St John Ferns. It resembles at first sight Sphenopteria macilenta, L. and H. ; but on examination it differs materially in details. It is an elaborate and ornate example of the peculiar type of Cyclopteris already referred to as characteristic of the Upper Devonian Period. Cyclopteris varia, Dawson. Pinnate (or bipinnate). Pinnae with a thick petiole. Pinnules decreasing in size to the terminal one, which is ovate and lobed. Pinnules oblique, decurrent on one side. Nerves frequently dichotomous. This Fern has been found only in fragments. It seems to have been a thick fleshy frond, but the specimens are insufficient to show its habit of growth. Its nearest allies seem to be C. Villicrsi, Sternberg [Neuropteris Villiersi\ Brongn.), and Cyclopteris heterophylla^ Goeppert ; but it differs from both. Cyclopteris, s. n. (?) Many fragments occur in Mr Hartt's col- lections of a very large Cyclopteris which may possibly have re- sembled C. Brownii of Perry in Maine, but the specimens are not sufficient for its full description. Cyclopteris Bockshiana, Goeppert. Fragments referable to this species (if it is really a distinct species from C. obtusa), are found rarely in the St John shales. I retain the generic name Cyclopteris for all these ferns, so eminently characteristic of the Devonian as distinguished from the Carboniferous ; not that I have any certainty that they belong to one natural genus, but because they resemble each other in venation, and the attempts to arrange them in such genera as Adiantites and Noeggerathia are evidently injudicious. Neuropteris poly morpha, D&vf son (Fig. 192, C). Pinnate or bipin- nate. Rachis or secondary rachis irregularly striate. Pinnules vary- ing from round to oblong, unequally cordate at base, varying from obtuse to acute. Terminal leaflet ovate, acute, angulated or lobed. Midrib delicate, evanescent. Nervurcs slightly arcuate, at acute angles with the midrib. This fern is very abundant in the shales near Carlton, at St John. At first sight it appears to constitute several species, but careful comparison of numerous specimens shows that all the various forms may occur on the same frond. In its variety of forms it resembles N. heterophylla, Brongn., or 7V^. hirsuta, Lesquereux ; but it differs from the former in its delicate midrib and acutely angled nervures, and from the latter in its smooth surface. In the more recent collections of Mr Ilartt there are very fine and perfect examples which I hope at some future time to figure. The fragment here figured is a part of a terminal pinna. ««|.::i' m MNl ^:irWi!Hii i 650 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. Fig. 193. — Neuropleris Dawsoni.* (a) Fitigment of pinna. (fc) Point of ptnnulo. (c) V nation. * The Midrib is not accurately given in this figure. ■•f,. FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. Ul Neuropterts Dawsoni, Hartt (Fig. 193). This remarkable fern, discovered by Mr Hartt, and to which he has done me the honour to attach my name, presents curious points of affinity to Cyclopterids and Neuropterids, and perliaps may, when more fully known, be placed in a distinct genus. Mr Hartt describes it as follows : — " Frond, pinnate or bipinnate (most probably the latter) ; rachis thick, sometimes when compressed half an inch wide, coarsely striated, always winged; pinnae (pinnules?) alternate, very oblique, linear lanceolate, moderately acute at apex, slightly notched above its base, decurrent on the rachis, often about an inch in width, and sometimes six inches long ; margin strong, a few large undulations ; midrib thick, tapering gradually, disappearing before reaching the apex, straight, entering a pinna (pinnules ?) obliquely from the upper side, giving oflF very numerous nerves, which spring very obliquely from it, ' ning about parallel with it, forking once near the midrib, and once more half-way to the margin, sometimes again close to the margin, the whole series being strongly arched. " The pinnae, particularly when the midribs are thick, show a strong tendency to split up in a direction to the rachis. I have sometimes noticed them folded in a conduplicated manner." Neuropteris crassa, sp. nov. Single pinnules, broad, oval, oblique at base, thick, smooth above with very numerous arched veins. A pinna with somewhat larger piimules similarly veined may belong to the same species. There are fragments which possibly indicate two other species of Neuropteris. Sphenopteris Ilceninghausi, Brongniart. One of the ferns from the shales near St John appears to be identical with the above species, which belongs to the Lower Carboniferous of Europe. Sphenopteris marginata, Dawson (Fig. 192, D). This resembles the last species in general form, but is larger, with the pinnules round or round-ovate, divided into three or five rounded lobes, and united by a broad base to the broadly winged petiole. Found with the preceding. One specimen, given to me by Mr Hartt, shows a frond six inches in length. Sphenopteris Harttii, Dawson (Fig. 192, E). Bipinnate or tripin- nate. Divisions of the rachis margined. Pinnules oblique, and con- fluent with the margins of the petiole ; bluntly and unequally lobed. Nerves small, oblique, twice-forked. This beautiful forn very closely resembles S. alata from the Coal-field of Port Jackson, but differs in several of its details. I name it in honour of Mr Hartt, the discoverer of several of the St John ferns. Found with the preceding. ' 'jl HrTfl III; I 5 ^ 1 \ ■f i:-l If! ,■! 1 m i 552 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. Sphenopteris Ilitchcockiana^ Dawson. Doubtful fragments only occur. Sphenopteris pilosa^ sp, nov. (Fig. 192 F). Bipinnato or tripinnatc, pinnae oblong, with crowded, obovate, dccurrciit, pinnules, with a few forking veins. Terminal leaflet, broad, obtuse, surface thickly covered with minute hairs, which generally mask the venation. I refer this curious fern to Sphenopteris with much hesitation, but I tiiink its venation places it there in the present state of our classification, though in general aspect it rather resembles a Neuropteris or Cyclop- teris. It has some points of resemblance to the Carboniferous fern Sphenopteris decipiens. Hymenophyllites curtilobus, Dawson (Fig. 192, G). Bipinnate. Kachis slender, dichotomous, with divisions margined. Leaflets deeply cut into subequal obtuse lobes, each one-nerved, and about one-twentieth of an inch wide in ordinary specimens. According to Lesquereux, the genus Hymenophyllites is characteristic in America of the Upper Devonian. In Europe it is represented also in the Lower Coal. I have seen only one or two species in the Carboni- ferous rocks of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. The present species resembles a gigantic variety of //. obtusilobus, Goeppert {Sphenopteris trichomanoides, Brongn.). Hymenophyllites obtusilobus, Goeppert. P^ound with the preceding. Hymenophyllites Gersdorjffii, Goe[)pert (Fig. 192, H). Found with the preceding. Hymenophyllites subfurcatus, sp. nov (Fig. 192, N). This species is among Mr Hartt's recent collections. It is of the type of H. furcatus, whicli, according to Lesquereux, is found in the Devonian of Pennsylvania, but it differs in its broader and acute divisions. Alethopteris discrepans, Dawson (Fig. 192, I). Bipinnate. Pinnules rather loosely placed on the secondary rachis, but con- nected by their decurrent lower sides, which form a sort of margin to the rachis. Midrib of each pinnule springing from its upper margin and proceeding obliquely to the middle. Nerves very fine and once-forked. Terminal leaflet broad. This fern so closely resembles Pecopteris Serlii and P. lonchitica that I should have been disposed to refer it to one or other of these species but for the char- acters above stated, which appear to bo constant. P. Serlii is abundant in the Lower Carboniferous of Northern New Brunswick, and P. lon- chitica is the most common feni throughout the whole thickness of the Joggius Coal measures; but in neither locality does the form found at St John occur. On this account I think it probable that the latter is really distinct. In Murchison's " Siluria," 2d edition, p. 1%-' FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. 553 321, a fern from Colebrook Dale is figured as P. lonchitica, which, so far as I can judge from the engraving, may bo identical with the present species. Locality, St John. Aletkopteris ingens, Dawson. Pinnules more than an inch wide, and three inches or more in length, with nervures at right angles to the midrib and forking twice. Only a few fragments of pin- nules of this species have been found in the shales near Ht John. They arc usually doubled along the midrib, as if it had been their habit to be folded in a conduplicate manner. Their general aspect suggests a resemblance to the Mesozoic TjBniopterids rather than to the Pccopterids of the Coal formation. Pecopteris [Alethopteria] obscura (?), Lesq. Mr Ilartt has recently sent to me, from St John, a pinna of a Pecojyteris having oblong, ob- tuse pinnules attached by the whole base, with a slender midrib, and slightly repand edges. The nervures are not preserved. It closely resembles A. obscura, Lesquereux, from the Coal of Pennsylvania. Pecopteris {Aletkopteris) serrulata, Ilartt (Fig. 192, K). This species is, I believe, the same with Neuropteris serrulata of a former paper, the imperfect specimens in my pd.ssession causing me to refer it to that genus. Mr Hartt, however, has found specimens which enable him to correct this error. I retain the specific name to prevent con- fusion of terms, though there are already species of Pecopteris known as serrula and serrata. The present species approaches closely to P. plumosa of Brongn., but differs in its more distant pinnules, not connate at the base, with the veins not forking at the margin, and the midrib more oblique and decurrcnt on the rachis. It resembles rather less closely P. serra, L. and II., and P. delicatula and dentata of Brongn., and may be regarded as the Devonian representative of this group of small-leaved Pccopterids. It is thus described by Mr Hartt :— " Tripinnate, pinnae short, alternate, close or open, lanceolate, very oblique, situated on a rather slender rounded subflcxuose rachis; pinnules small, linear lanceolate, crenulate, revolute, moderately acute, oblique, sessile decurrent, widest at the base, open, separated from one another by a space equal to the width of a pinnide, slightly arched towards the point of pinna ; longest at base of pinna, decreasing thence gradually to the apex ; terminal pinnule elongated. Median nerve entering the pinnule very obliquely, flexuous, running to the apex. Nervules very few, oblique, simple, and somewhat rarely forking at the margin." y'ecopteris (Aletkopteris) preciosa, Hartt (Fig. 192, L). Pinnae a littlo larger than those of the last species, not serrated ; placed nearly 1" r1 i i A I-! (J\ hi 554 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. at right angles to the rachis, obtuse, narrow toward the extremity, suddenly widened or almost auriculate at the lower side ; midrib ex- tending to the apex ; nerves few, at a somewhat acute angle, Alethopteris Perlet/i, Ilartt (Fig. 102, M). " This species resembles Alethopteris sernila of Lcsqx. It differs from it in the followinr' points: — The pinno) arc wider and closer, and not so long; the piiuiu) are usually tridentate. The teeth acuminate, the middle one some- times emarginate. The vein is three-forked, sending a veinlct into each lacinia. The middle veinlct branches in the middle lacinia. In A. serrula the pinnules, or, as Lesqx. terms them, the lobes, are united more than half the way up. A. Pcrleyi has the piimules united only one-third of the way ; and whereas in the former they are divided by a sharp gash, in the latter they are divided by a deep rounded sinus. " Dedicated to the late M. II. Perlcy, Esq., II. M. Commissioner of Fisheries and Vice-President of the Natural History of St John." [Incertce sedis.) Cardiocarpum cormdum, Dawson (Fig. 194, A). Broadly ovate, emarginate at base, dividing into two inHexed processes at top. A mesial line proceeds from the sinus between the cusps, downward. Nucleus more obtuse than the envelope, and acuminate at the top. Surface of the flattened envelope striate, that of the nucleus more or less rugose. Length about seven lines. Numerous in shale near St John. The specimens are all perfectly flattened, and many of them are also distorted, being elongated or shortened according to the direction in which they lie in the shale. The nucleus constitutes a strongly shaded spot of graphite. The flattened envelope appears as a less distinct wing or border. Cardiocarpum obliqtnim, Dawson (Fig. 194, B). Unequally cor- date, acuminate, smooth, with a strong rib passing down th« middle ; length about three lines. Found with the preceding. It somewhat resembles some of the forms of C. acuttim, L. and H, Cardiocarpum Crampit, Ilartt (Fig. 194, C). Elongate, slightly expanding at the middle, obtuse at base, obtuse or emarginate at apex, length one inch, greatest breadth "25 inch ; nucleus small, central, oval, connected by a median line with the extremities; surface of margin slightly rugose. This fruit may at once be recognised by its resemblance to the samara of an ash. It is dedicated to Mr Cramp of St John, a zealous collector of the Devonian plants. Cardiocarpum Baileyi, sp. nov. (Fig. 194, D). This species, discovered by Mr Ilartt, is the largest and most beautiful of these winged fruits as yet afforded by the Devonian. It is broadly cordate •^**H||.^- FLORA OF THE DEVONIAN. S56 and cmarglnato at the apex, 1'5 inch broad, and one Inch long, with a large broadly oval acuiniiiatc nuclouR, and the usual mesial lino. We have thus four distinct species of these mysterious winged seeds from the Devonian. They must have been fruits of trees, but whether of phajuogams, or enormous winged spore cases of some cryptogamous plant, is uncertain. Tiieir marginal wings show no venation what- ever, though preserved in shales which show very well the venation of ferns. The margin must have been membranous, and the nucleus thick and dense, that part appearing as a comparatively strong graphitic film, while the wing or margin is excessively tenuous. Fig. 194. — Devonian Fruits, etc. A, Cardlocarpnm cornntnm. li, Cardiocarpura actitum. C, Cardiocarpura Orampil, D, Cardlocarpnm Bailcyi. E, Trigonocarpmn rnccinosum. (E>,.E'0 Fruits enlarged. F, Anthollthcs Devontcus. G, Aiinularia acuminata. II, Asteropliyllites acicularis, (H'), Leaf. 112, Fr„it of tlio same. K, Cardiocarpura (? young of A). L, Plnnularia diapalans. Trigonocarpuni racemosum, Dawson (Fig. 194, E). Ovate, ob- tusely acuminate, in some specimens triangular at apex. In flattened specimens the envelope appears as a wing. Attached in an alternate manner to a thick, flexuous, furrowed rachis. This is evidently a fruit or seed, borne in a racemose manner on a stout rachis. In some specimens the seeds are close to each other, in others more ■r 4 1 i » V M 556 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. remote. Attached to some are apparently traces of calyx-loavea or bracts. .Shales of St John. AnthoUthea Devonicua, Hp. nov. (Fig. 194, K). Stipe thick, rugose; flowers distichous, somewhat distant, each with a strong, straight spine or bract, and several broader scales. In some specimens a number of slender threads (filaments or styles) are seen to project from between the scales. This fossil is evidently of the same general character with the AnthoUthra of the Coal formation. I have to add to the above descriptions the remark, that I have been unable to figure the larger and finer ferns and other fossils of St John in a manner worthy of them. I have given merely such fragments as will aid in their identification. I trust that now, when so extensive collections have been made, the means will be found to figure the finer specimens. In the meantime, after examining with care twelve largo cases of these fossils, the property of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, I have arrived at the conclusion that we have nearly all the material necessary for a full illustration of most of the species, — a labour which I hope yet to complete. In examining this largo collection, while I see much that t'irows new light on the species, it is a source of satisfaction to me thiu I have to retract so little of what I published on the evidence of comparatively imperfect material. Note. — Illustrations of several of the above species not figured in this work, will be found in the Author's papers on the Devonian plants of Eastern America in the Journal of the Geological Society, vols, xviii. and xix. * % c-lcftves or k, rugose; light flpino number of n between racter with have been )f St John fragments I extensive re the finer 'clve large Society of ave nearly lie species, tliis largo species, it le of what erial. figured in Devonian il Society, \'f itf s'"' !■: fi 1.1 i 1 , i il'. kUj |i ■:;-j; 557 r CHAPTER XXIII. THE UPPER SILURIAN. ^i K"^- «?: ■rWr-\. UPPEH 8ILUKIAN OF NOVA SCOTIA OF NEW BRUNSWICK USEFDL MIN- EUALS FOSSIL REMAINS — METAMORl'IIISM OF SEDIMENTS — IGNEOUS ROCKS. That enormous mass of sediments constituting the Silurian system of Sir Roderick Murchison, is by some geologists divided into three portions — the Uj)per, Middle, and Lower. As will be seen, however, by reference to the table of geological cycles on p. 137, in North America this great system of formations represents two entire geological cycles, and no more. One of these has been named the Upper and the other the Lower Silurian ; though, in accordance with ordinary geological nomenclature, each of these great groups, co- ordinate in importance with the Devonian and Carboniferous, might have a distinct name. The illustrious author of " Siluria " has not, in his latest edition (1867), claimed for the Silurian rocks this dis- tinction of constituting two systems ; but he has recognised the term Primordial, pi-oposed by Bairande, in so far as to designate the lowest members of the system as " Primordial Silurian." While, however, the term Silurian as thus held includes two great cycles of the earth's history, the term Primordial is to be understood in a 1 mited sense, since the only tnily Priir.ordial rocks are the Laurc aan, or those still older sediments from which the materials of the Lmrentian have been in part derived. Acadia cannot, however, claim to bo a typical region for any of these series of rocks, presenting them but in limited areas, and bo much altered and disturbed, liiat their arrangement and subdivisions are by no means so dear as in the great inland plains of North America. We may therefore in this work rest content with the present nomen- clature, and proceed to consider the Upper Silurian us developed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I il. Mil >h'."' 558 THE DPPER SILURIAN. 1 . Upper Silurian of Nova Scotia. On consulting the map, it will be observed that I have coloured as Upper Silurian certain areas in Cape Breton, more particularly in the eastern and northern parts ; a veiy irregular hilly tract in Eastern Nova Scotia, commencing at Capo Porcupine and Cape St George, and extending toward the Stewiacke River ; the long narrow band of the Cobequid Mountains ; and a belt of variable width skirting the northern side of the older or Lower Silurian metamorphic district in the western count'cs. The area occupied by these rocks includes the highest land and ihe principal watersheds of Nova Scotia. Owing to the alteration and disturbance to which its rocks have been subjected, the structure of this district is much more complicated than that of those which have been described above, and its interior position causes it to present fewer good sections to the geologist. For these reasons less attention has been devoted to it than to the Car- boniferous districts, and the details of its structure are comparatively little known. In describing it, however, I shall endeavour to follow the method previously pursued, by attending somewhat minutely to some of the best and most instructive exposures in coast and river sections, and applying the information obtained from these to the elucidation of the true relations and structure of the remaining portions. I shall then describe the important deposits of useful minerals which occur in this group of rocks, and their fossil remains. In this order of proceeding, it will be convenient to study first the development of the formation in Eastern Nova Scotia, and to proceed westward, rt turning afterward to the Island of Cape Breton. At Cape Porcupine the igneous and metamorphic rocks come boldly out upon the Strait of Canseau, in a precipice 500 feet in height, and afford a good opportunity of studying these rocks and their relations to the Carboniferous system. The central part of Cape Porcupine is a mass of reddish syenite, consisting principally of red felspar and hornblende. This once molten mass passes by gradual changes into hard flinty slates, which, in shattered and contorted layers, lean against its sides, and on these again rest beds of conglomerate, forming the base of the Carboniferous scries, and made up of pebbles of syenite and flin'fcj slate, like those of the cape itself. Here we can plainly read the following history : — First, Beds of mud deposited in the sea, probably in the Upper Silurian period. Secondly, These beds upheaved and metamorphosed by the injection of the molten syenite. Thirdly, Large portions of the altered and igneous rock ground up into pebbles by water, and scattered over the sea-bottom to form the lowest layer NOVA SCOTIA 559 of a new geological formation, the same that we have studied in pre- ceding chapters. The structure of Cape Porcupine is represented iu Fig. 195. Fig. 195. — Arrangement of Syettite, Slate, and Conglomerate at Cape Porcupine. c b a, e (a) Syenite. (6) Slate. (c) Conglomerate and Sandstone. At Cape Porcupine the altered rocks of the group now under con- sideration occupy less than three miles of the coast section, and are separated by Carboniferous rocks and by Chcdabucto Bay from the eastern extremity of the older metamorphic district of the Atlantic cou. t, distant about twenty-four miles. As Cape Porcupine affords no fossils, and can thcrefort tell nothing of the condition of the earth and its inhabitants at the time when those slates were deposited, wo may proceed to trace the continuation of its rocks into the interior. From Cape Porcupine, the southern margin of the metamorphic rocks extends along the northern side of the Carboniferous district of Guys- borough for about sixty miles, when it meets the Lower Silurian rocks of the coast. In several places along this line, igneous action appears to have continued or to have recurred as late at least as the Coal formation period. This is testified by the condition of the Lower Carboniferous rocks in many places near Guysborough, westward of which place a considerable promontory of altered and igneous rockd extends to the southward, nearly across the Carboniferous district. The northern margin of the band, commencing at Cape Porcupine, may be traced to the westward about forty miles, when it unites with a broader but very irregular promontory of similar rocks extending toward Cape St George. Between these two bands is included the Carboniferous district of Sydney County. The tract formed by their union is the widest extension of these rocks in the province. The metamorphic promontory extending to Cape St George, and including the Antigonisii and Merigomish Hills, attains a greater elevation than the band connected with Cape Porcupine. At its ex- tremity, however, it becomes divided into a number of detached hills and ridges, separated by Lower Carboniferous beds, to which in some cases the metamorphic action has extended itself. Tiie Antigonisii and Merigomish Hills contain large masses of syenite, porphyry, compact felspar, and greenstone, associated with slates and quartzite.* On their western side, near Arisaig, there is a patch of sliale, slate, * Quartzite is a flinty rock produced by the liardening and alteration of sandstone. i \ I' . \v ) J 060 THE UPFEK SILUKIAN. and thin-bedded limestone, with fossil shells, and but very little altered, to which wc must return in the sequel in a more particular manner. The northern boundary of the broad band of mctamorphic and hypogene rocks, formed by the imion of the two promontories already noticed, extends in a westerly direction along the south side of the Pictou Carboniferous district, until it reaches the cast side of the East River of Pictou, when it suddenly bends to the south, allowing the Carboniferous strata to extend far up the valley of that river. Here, as at Arisaig, its margin includes fossiliferous slates, among which is a thick bed of iron-ore including fossil shells. With respect to these fossils, I may remark that they are all marine, that they belong to numerous gener nd species, and that they are all of distinct species from those of tlio formations before mentioned, there being a decided break between the fauna of the Upper Silurian and that of the Devonian period, and of course the Cai'bouifcrous fauna is still more remote in its characters. Both at Arisaig and the East River excellent opportunities are afforded for studying the contrast between the Upper yilurian and the Carboniferous. The collector may, in the shales of Arisaig or the slates of the East River Hills, collect a great number of marine species, some of them in a fine state of preservi.iion, others distorted and partly defaced by the partial alteration of the containing rocks. At both places he can observe that the rocks containing these fossils have been tilted up and hardened before the lowest beds of the Carboniferous system were deposited. At both places ho can find in these overlying Carboniferous rocks abundance of fossils, also marine, but entireli/ dis- tinct from those of the older group. He thus finds that, in passing from one of these formations to tlic other, he has passed from one great period of the earth's history to a subsequent one, in which no trace remained of the animal iK)pulation of the former. He has entered, in short, on a new stage of the creative work. Immediately on tlie east of the East River, the metamorphic band is about fifteen miles in breadth, and includes masses and dikes of syenite and greenstone, and beds of quartzite and slate, the latter of very various colour and texture. Beyond the East River, the meta- morphic band again widens ; and between the upper part of the Middle River of Pictou and that of the west branch of the St Mary's River (the point to which we have already traced its southern boundary) it forms a broad and irregular tract of metamorphic country. West- ward of this tract it becomes narrower, and, after extending betw 'cn the Stewiacke and Salmon Rivers, sinks beneath the Carboniferous beds, while a group of detached masses of igneous and altered rock, iv ; T 1 band les of fitter of meta- Middle River iidary) West- t\\ en ferous rock, NOVA SCOTIA. 561 extending throngh Mount Thom, imperfectly connects it with the eastern extremity of the Cobcquid range of hills. In the hilly country connected with Mount Thom, and in the vicinity of the upper parts of the Salmon, West, and Middle Rivers, considerable breadths of Lower Carboniferous strata have been partially metamorphosed, and invaded by greenstone and other igneous rocks. It is also quite pos- sible that portions of the rocks here cropping out from beneath the Carboniferous may bo Devonian. A mass of granite, containing dark gray felspar, abundance of black mica, and very little quartz, occurs on the east side of Mount Thom. This is the only instance, so far as I am aware, of the occurrence of tnie granite in this group of rocks in this part of Nova Scotia. The Cobequid Hills, extending nearly in an east and west direction for about ninety miles, in that part of Nova Scotia lying north of the southern arm of tlie Bay of Fundy, must be referred to the metanior- phic group now under consideration. Both their stratified and igneous rocks are similar to those of the parts of this group already described. Fossils are absent or very rare in those parts of them which I have ex- plored, with the exception of Earlton, in the eastern extremity of the range, where there are slates containing fossils similar to those already noticed. I shall make no attempt to describe the numerous and singular varieties of altered and igneous rocks found in the Cobequid range, but shall content myself with a description of its structure in its central portion, which is illustrated by the general section attached to the map. On the northern side of the hills, near the post road from Truro to Amherst, and also on Wallace River, the lowest rocks of the Carbon- iferous system, consisting of reddish-brown conglomerates, are seen at the base of the hills. Their dip is to the northward at a high angle. On ascending the hills, masses of red, flesh-coloured, and gray syenite are seen, and rise rapidly to the height of several hundred feet ; the northern side of the range being steeper and more lofty than the southern. The syenite of this part of the hills has often been described as a granite ; but wherever I have observed it, it is a true syenite, containing reddish or white felspar, black hornblende, and nearly colourless quartz. Some of the red varieties are large grained and very beautiful. The gray varieties are often fine grained, and appear to pass into greenstone. It is remarkable that the syenite and greenstone of this part of the mountain are traversed by numerous small veins of true granite. Whether these have been produced by segregation, or are parts of a later outburst of granitic rock, I cannot determine with certainty, but 2o i A ,A' I, m h 'il'' 1 1 BtS"" — ' '"'* 'J ij ::t| '-'W^ i Wt H 562 THE UPPER SILURIAN. think the latter more probable. I am not aware that any masses of true granite occur here. It is, however, quite possible that after or during the cooling of the syenite, veins may have been injected into it from granitic masses below, which have not reached the surface. Penetrating further into the range, we find thick beds of dioritic rock associated with slate and quartzite, of a great variety of colours and textures. There appear to be also dikes of greenstone at some points, penetrated by a network of syenitic or felspatliic veins. The general course of the greenstone dikes coincides with that of the range of hills. Toward the southern side of the hills, gray quartzite, and gray, olive, and black slate prevail, almost to the exclusion of igneous rocks. The strike of these beds is nearly S.W. and N. E., with high dips to the southward. On the south they are bounded and overlaid unconformably by Cdrboniferous conglomerate and sandstone. The structure obsf-ved in this part of the chain appears to prevail throughout ; the syenitic rocks forming a broad band on the northern side, and slate and quartz rock with dikes of igneous rock, probably of later date than those on the north side, occurring on the southern ridges. The only exception to this that I am aware of is at the ex- treme eastern end, where the igneous rocks are less massive and the syenite disappears. The Cobequid range presents a succession of finely wooded and usually fertile ridges ; and the chain is very continuous, though broken by some narrow transverse ravines. Many of the streams flowing from these hills plunge downward in fine cascades at the junction of the hard rocks with the softer Carboniferous beds. The most remarkable of these waterfalls on the south side is that of tlie Economy River, on the north side that of the principal branch of Waugh's River. Passing from the Cobequid Mountains to the Slate hills of the south side of the Bay^ in King's County, we find slates not very dissimilar from those of the Cobequids, in the promontory northward of the Gaspereaux River. Here the direction both of the bedding and of the slaty stmcture is N. E. and S.W. ; but the planes of cleavage dip to the S.E., while the bedding, as indicated by lines of different colour, dips to the N.W. These slates, with beds of quartzite and coarse limestone, are continued in the hills of New Canaan, where they contain crinoidal joints, fossil shells, corals, and in some beds of fawn-coloured slate beautiful fan-like expansions of the pretty Dic- tyonema represented in Fig. 196. Very fine specimens of this fos- sil were found by the late Dr Webster of Kentville. It was the habitation of thousands of minute polypes, similar apparently to those of the modem Sertularia. The general strike of the rocks in New NOVA BCOTIA. 563 Canaan is N.E. nnd S.W., and they extend from that place westward to the Niclaux Kiver. Westward of Nietaux River, as already men- tioned in describing the Devonian, the beds of the Upper Silurian, as Fig. IdG.—Dktyonema Websteri, (a) Portion eDlargcd. well as those of the last mentioned formation, are interrupted by great masses of granite, which form the hills along the south side of the Annapolis River, from a place called Paradise to Bridgetown, and Avith some interruptions nearly as far as the town of Annapolis. This granite is hardly distinguishable in its character from that of the south coast of the province, except that it is perhaps more felspathic, and less largely and perfectly crystalline. Its age, as already stated, must be that of the newer Devonian or older Carboniferous. Near Paradise it is traversed by veins of reddish compact felspar, with crystals of schorl and transparent smoky quartz. The latter mineral is found in very large and beautiful crystals scattered in the surface rubbish, and is collected and sold by the inhabitants. Westward of Paradise, I have not traced the equivalents of the Upper Silurian ; the Devonian beds, as already stated, appearing at Moose and Bear Rivers. At the Joggin near Digby, the slates, probably of this series, are broken up and much altered by masses or dikes of porphyritic rock. At one place here I found the strike of the bedding to be N. 15° E., while that of the slaty structure is N. 45° E. Westward of this place the slates in a highly metamorphic condition continue with general N. E. and S.W. strike to the coast of Clare, where a considerable breadth of country is occupied with olive and gray slates, quartz rock, and occasional dikes of greenstone. At Montengan these beds include veins of iron pyrites, one of them a foot in thickness. I have not been able to observe the junction of the group now under consideration with the metamorphic district of the Atlantic coast; but I think it probable that the limit of the altered Upper i ■ ilurian rocks in this direction is near Beaver River. With respect to the age of these rocks, it is certain that the fossil- :• .f h il h 1 Ilk J h yi'\ 'li'- >;i } ;?! 564 THE UPPER SILURIAN. I fl ifcrons parts arc Upper Silurian. Some portions of the altered rock« may, however, be either Devonian or Lower Silurian. The first up- heaval and alteration of the beds must have occurred long befoic the beginning of the Carboniferous period, but Igneous action continued, especially in the eastern part of the province, during and perhaps after that period. In their original state these slates and quartz rock, and their iron ore, must have been shales, sandstone, and iron sand, abounding in fossil remains, and with layers of calcareous matter mostly made up of shells and corals. Over large tracts the fossils have been obliterated by metamorphlsm, and a perfect slaty structure has been induced. In Cape Breton, rocks similar to those above described constitute the several Irregular tracts of metamorphic and igneous country to which the colour of this group has been assigned. Syenite and por- phyry are extensively developed in a line extending from St Peter's along the east side of the Bras d'Or, in the country between little Bras d'Or and the East Arm, in the high ridge extending to Cape Dauphin, in the hills near the Bedeque, Middle, and Margarie Rivers, in those near Mabou, and in the irregular tract at the sources of the Inhabitants River, and River Denys. Slates are associated with them in these places, but I am not aware that they contain any fossils. I am informed by Mr Brown that the elevated region occupying the extreme northern part of Cape Breton, and of which I have seen only the southern borders, consists, at least in the vicinity of the coast, principally of red syenite and mica slate. Its interior is entirely unknown to geologists; but from its appearance as viewed from a distance, I infer that it consists of a number of elevated ridges similar to those of the Cobequld Mountains, and probably attaining an equal elevation. The patches of Lower Carboniferous rocks which appear at intervals along its margin, indicate that, like the Cobequids, it formed a rocky island in the seas of the Carboniferous period.* We may now return to those portions of the rocks whose distri- bution has been sketched above, in which fossil remains indicative of their geological age have been found. The most important and in- structive of these is Arisaig, in the county of Antigonlsh, a locality to which the writer first directed the attention of geologists in a paper published in the Journal of the Geological Society in 1848, and more fully in a paper published in the " Canadian Naturalist," vol. v. ; and which has subsequently been more minutely described by Dr Honey- man.f For a knowledge of its fossils we are indebted principally to Professor Hall, who described forty new species from this place in con- * See Appendix. f Journal of the Geological Society, 1864. V NOVA BCOTIA. 565 ncxion with the paper above referred to in the " Canadian Naturalist," having examined all the specimens in my collection, with a consider- able number of additional species kindly given to me by Dr Iloney- man. Next to this is the locality on the east branch of the East River, referred to in the first edition of this work, and from which I have lately obtained additional collections made by Mr D. Fraser of Springhill. Another locality, to which attention was first directed by Dr Gesner, and Dr Webster of Kentville, is that of New Canaan, in King's County. I shall notice these in detail, and with them a few other places whore similar fossils have been detected. Arisaig. — Near this place, at the extreme northern limit of the Silurian system on the eastern coast of Nova Scotia, is one of the most instructive sections of these rocks in the province. At tlie eastern end of the section, where they are unconformably overlaid by Lower Carboniferous conglomerate and interstratified trap,* the Silurian rocks consist of gray and reddish sandy shales and coarse limestone bands dipping south at an angle of 44°. The direction of the coast is nearly east and west, and in proceeding to the eastward, the dip of the beds turns to south 30° west, dipping 45°, so that the Beries, though with some faults and flexures, is on the whole descend- ing, and exhibits, in succession to the rocks just mentioned, gray and dark shales, with bands and lenticular patches of coai'se limestone, some of which appear to consist principally of brachiopodous shells in situ, while others present a confused uass of drifted fossils. Below these the beds become more argillaceous, and in places have assumed a slaty structure, and occasionally a red colour. The thickness of the whole series to this point was estimated at 500 feet. The dip then returns to the south, and the beds run nearly in the strike of the shore for some distance, when they become discoloured and ochraceous, and then red and hardened ; and finally, at Arisaig Pier, are changed into a coarse reddish banded jasper, where they come into contact with a great dike of augitic trap of Carboniferous date. Beyond this place they are much disturbed, and, so far as I could ascertain, desti- tute of fossils ; but Dr Iloneyman has detected fossils in their con- tinuation at Doctor's Brook. The alteration of the beds extends to a distance of 300 yards from the traji, and beyond this in some places slaty cleavage and reddish colours have been produced ; the latter change appearing to be connected with vertical fissures traversing the beds. In the lower or shaly portion of the Arisaig series, the characteristic fossils are Qraptolithus not distinguishable from Q. Clintonensis, Leptu- * See my paper on Eastern Nova Scotia, J. Geol. See, 1844. Section ante. 1 ■ I. if k 1 1 1 1 1 1 I ., It ■iil 866 THE UPPER SILUBIAN. H ■^".^ ccelia {Atrypa) intermedia (Hall), a new species closely allied to L. hemispherica of the Clinton group of New York, Alri/pa emacerala, Orthis testudinaria, Strophumena profunda, S. rugosa, llhynchonella equiradiaUij Avicula emacerata, Tentaculites, alWcd to or identical with T. distans, Hclopora allied to //, fragilis. There are also abundant joints and stems of crinoids, and a Palceaater, the only one as yet found in Nova Scotia, which was presented to me by Dr Iloneyman, and has been described by Mr 3illing3 in the "Canadian Naturalist" under the name of P. parvitisculus. These and other fossils associ- ated with them, in the opinion of Professor Hall, fix the Geological position of these rocks as that of the Clinton group, the Upper Llan- dovery of Murchison, in the central part of the Upper Silurian. In the upper and more calcareous part of the series, fossils are very abundant, and include species of Calymene, Dalmania, Ilomalonotus, OrthoceraSy Murchisonia, Clidophorus, Tellinomya, and several bra- chiopods, among which are Discina tennuilamellata, Lingula oblonga, Rhynchonella quadricosta, R. Saffordi (Hall), allied to R. Wilsuni, R. neglecta, Atrypa reticularis, all found in the Upper Silurian elsewhere in America. Most of the other forms are new species descriptions of which have been given in Professor Hall's paper. The general assemblage is on the whole not unlike that of the Clinton, but is of such a character as to warrant the belief that we may have in these beds a series somewhat higher in position, and proba )ly equivalent to the Lower Helderberg, the Ludlow of the English geologists. The new species Chonetes Nova-Scotica is very characteristic of the upper member. On the whole, we must regard the Arisaig series as representing the middle and upper parts of the Upper Silurian, a position some- what lower than that assigned to it in the first edition of " Acadian Geology." In explanation of this, I may further state that, in papers published previously to 1855, I had regarded these rocks as Silurian; and that it was only in deference to the opinions of able palroontologists, both in Britain and America, who compared the fossils with those of the Hamilton group, that I abandoned this view, refuming to it in 1859, when enabled to do so by Professor Hall's examination of the fossils, the results of which were published in 1860. It is only just to Dr Honeyman to state, that he had independently stated similar conclusions in Nova Scotia in 1859. Unfortunately the Arisaig series stands alone, wedged between Carboniferous and Plutonic rocks, so that little opportunity occurs on the coast of verifying the con- clusions derived from fossils, by the evidence of stratigraphical con- nexion with newer or older Silurian deposits, and I have been unable MOVA SOOTIA. 067 to devote aufficient time to this object to attempt to trace the beds in their succession or continuation inland. Dr Honeyman has addressed himself with some success to the work of tracing the relations and continuation of the bedo exposed in the Arisaig section, and has published an interesting papr** on the subject in the Journal of the Geological Society (1864). In this paper ho divides the whole scries seen at Arisaig into five sub-sections, noted respectively in ascending order as A, B, B', C, D. He distinguishes the groups A and B from my Lower Arisaig series, wiiich he regards as equivalent to his groups B' and C, while D is the equivalent of my Upper Arisaig series. Group A, of Dr Honeyman's paper, includes the altered jaspideous shales seen near Arisaig Pier, and the gray argillaceous and arenaceous shales of Doctor's Brook. Dr Honeyman mentions, as occurring in them, species of Orthoceras, Murchisonia, Strophomena, Orthisj Rhyn- ehonella, Calymene, Comulites, Tentaculites, and Petrala (?), and, on the authority of Mr Salter, regards them as equivalents of the English Mayhill sandstone, a member of the Upper Llandovery series. Their thickness is estimated at 200 feet. Groups B and B' include principally dark and ferruginous shales. One of the most characteristic fossils of which is GraptoUthus Clinto- nensis. They contain also Tentaculites^ joints of crinoids, Strophomena depressa, and other fossils ; and Dr Honeyman has added in his paper two species of Grammysia, G. triangulata, and G. cinffulata, and several other fossils not determined as to species. This group is regarded by Dr Honeyman and Mr Salter as equivalent to the Lower Ludlow of England, which is above the horizon of the American Clinton and Niagara. Group C, which is also characterized by fossils in the main Clinton in character, is regarded by Dr Honeyman and Mr Salter as the equivalent of the subordinate group known in England as the Ay- mestry limestone. The beds of this group are harder than those of the last and more calcareous ; and in addition to the fossils mentioned above as characteristic of the Lower Arisaig scries, Dr Honeyman mentions Rhynchonella Saffurdi, Spirifer rugaecosta, and some other fossils previously regarded by me as characteristic of the upper scries, and which indicate that this group includes the transition from the lower to the upper member. Group D, of Dr Honeyman's paper, is equivalent to my Upper Arisaig series, and contains a great number of fossils, some of which are of Lower Helderberg or Upper Ludlow types, and so strikingly resemble those figured by Sir R. Murchison in his " Siluria," as char- f I I ' i \ I i h fl68 THE UPPER SILURIAN. acteristic of that group, that the most cursory glance would assure a geologist of tlieir probable identity. Yet, as ob8«;rvcd by Professor Hall, there is also a mixture of forms lookin;^ toward a much lower part of the Upper Silurian scries; and it is worthy of notice that Hall, comparing the fossils with those of New York, gives to the uppqr members of the series a rather lower or older place than that assigned by Suiter in comparison with English fossils, taking as our standard tlie equivalency of formations in England and America as usually recognised. As the species are in great part different from those of England and America, this slight difference of result may depend merely on defective data, and may be explained when larger materials have been collected, and when we shall be in a position to make allowance for the geographical as well as geological relations of the formations. On either view the equivalent of the Niagara or Wenlock series does not appear, and we may suppose it absent, or that an upward extension of Clinton forms occupies the Niagara period. Merigomish. — Dr Iloneyman has traced the fossiliferous Upper Silurian along the hilly country crossing the upper waters of the rivers of Merigomish, connecting the Arisaig rocks with those next to be noticed on the East River of Pictou. What may be the arrange- ment of the beds in this thick band of slaty rocks is not certainly known, but they appear to contain equivalents of the Upper Arisaig series and also beds with GraptoUthua Clintonensis, and others con- taining nodules charged with Lingulce. Below these are beds with Petraia (?) and Cornulitea, which may be equivalents of the lowest group at Arisaig. On the north, these rocks are overlaid by the Carboniferous rocks of the coast. On the south, they are continuous, with a broad belt of metamorphic and igneous rocks, the former of similar mineral character, extending across the country to the valley of the St Mary's River. The only locality in which fossils have as yet been discovered in this broad belt is at Lochaber Lake, where Dr Honeyman has found some of the Arisaig fossils and also a species of Zaphrentis, a form which, with some other obscure fossils found at this place, would seem to indicate the presence of beds possibly newer than those of Arisaig. The occurrence of these fossils at Lochaber, as well as the mineral character of the beds, shows that a belt of country about fifteen miles in breadth is here occupied principally by Upper Silurian rocks, probably thrown into a scries of synclinal and anticlinal folds, and penetrated by considerable masses and dikes of Syenitic and Dioritic rock. East River of Pictou. — We next find the fossiliferous Upper Silurian rocks on the east branch of the East River of Pictou, V!H i i NOVA 8C0TU. Ml and its vicinity, where thcao deposits rise from beneath the Lower Carboniferous series, forming the higli ground on the eastern sido of the river. The beds are hero much filtered, and penetrated by igneous dilces, and arc vertical, or with very high southerly dips and N.E. and S.W. strike. They consist of coarse slates and calcareous bands resembling those of the Upper Arisaig series in mineral character, and holding many of the same species, especially Chonetea Aova-Scotica ; but we have here in addition a great bed of fossilifcrouH peroxide of iron, in some parts forty feet in thickness, and with oolitic structure; but passing into a ferruginous sandstone, and associated with shite and quartz rock. The precise ago of these ferruginous rocks relatively to the Arisaig series, it is not easy to determine, but they arc evidently Upper Silurian. The stratigraphical evidence, though obscure, would place them in the upper part of the series. The fossils are in a bad state of pre- servation ; but, in so far as they give any information, it coincides with the apparent relation of the beds. Similar ferruginous beds occur in the Clinton scries (the Surgent of Rogers) in Now York and Canada; and as we have already seen in the Lower Devonian in the western part of Nova Scotia. On the whole, I regard the beds seen at the Ea.st River of Pictou as belonging to the same line of outcrop with the Arisaig series, but as probably containing, in addition to the upper member of that series, beds somewhat higher in position. I am indebted to Mr D. Fraser of Springville, East River, for a largo addition to my collection from this place ; by the aid of which I am now enabled to present the following list^ which has been kindly revised by Mr Billings. Unfortunately, many of the Bpecimens were in a condition too imperfect to permit of satisfactory specific determination, and Mr Billings, with proper caution, declined to give them specific names for the present, in the hope that better materials might be found. The species common to the East River and Arisaig are indicated by an asterisk. * Chonetes Nova-Scotica, Hall, very characteristic of certain hard calcareous bands. C- tenuistriata, llixW. « Utrophomena., flat striated species. Spirifera, resembling S. cycloptera, but with regular ribs. * Spirifera rugaecosta, Hall. * Spirifera subsulcala, HalL Rhynchonella (?) n. s., like R. transversa, Hall. This and another species very abundant in hard impure limestone. A 570 TUE UPPER SILURIAN. i'^i h 1 ra * (■■' * Atrypa reticularis. * Crania (?) Acadlensis. Alhyris [Meristella] didyma, a characteristic European Uppei Silurian shell. Lingula. * Megamhonia striata. Megambonia (?) n. s. Clidophorus (?) n. s. F.irinea or Megambonia. Orthonata or Nuculites (?) u. s. * Bucania trilobita, Hall. Murchisonia, two species. Platyceras. * Orthoceras pimdnstriatum, Hall. Some specimens found at East River, with the external markings of this species, are as much as two inches in diameter. Orthoceras (?) n. s. Cyrtoceras (?) n. s. * Cornulites flexuosa, and probably another species. Beyrichia, two or more species. * Calymene Blumenbachii. Serpulites. * Stenopora allied to S.Jibrosa. Cobequid Mountains. — At the eastern end of this chain, in Earlton and New Annan, though the rocks are generally in a highly meta- morphosed condition, fossils are found in a few places ; and in so far as I have been able to determine from very small suites of speci- mens, are those of the Arisaig series. From the apparent continuity of strike along this long salient line of outcrop, it seems piobable that these fossils indicate the true age of the greater part of the sedi- mentary rocks of the Cobequid Hills; a conclusion confirmed by their similarity in mineral character to the altered equivalents of the Arisaig and East River series as seen elsewhere. There are, however, some indications of beds of Devonian age, along the flanks of these hills, especially at their eastern end. The arrangement of the beds and their mineral contents, in the central part of the chain, will be found noticed in my paper of 1849, already referred to. They are not known to contain beds of iron ore; but have enormous vein-like deposits of spathic and t 'ular iron associated with the carbonates of lime and magnesia, and ru liiig with the strike of the beds. These will be described in the section relating to useful minerals. NOVA SCOTIA. ATI New Canaan. — Between the East River of PIctou and New Canaan, in King's County, 100 miles distant, I know no Silurian beds with fossils south of the Cobequid Hills ; and in the central part of the province these rocks disappear under the Carboniferous deposits. In the hills of Ilorton and New Canaan they reappear, and constitute the northern margin of a broad belt of metamorphic and plutonic country, occupying here nearly the whole breadth of the peninsula. The oldest fossiliferous beds seen are the fine fawn-coloured and gray clay slates of Beech Hill, in which Dr Webster, many years since, found the beautiful Didyonema, men- tioned in a previous page. It is a new species, closely allied to D. retiformh and D. gracilis of Hall, and has received the name of D. Websieri, in honour of its discoverer. It is most readily characterized by the form of the cellules, which are very distinctly marked in the manner of Qraptolithus. A portion of a frond is represented in Fig. 196. The Dictyonema slates of Beech Hill are of great thickness, but have in their upper part some hard and cor.rse beds. They are succeeded to the south by a great series of dark coloured coarse slates, often micaceous, and in some places constituting a slate conglomerate, containing small fragments of older slates, and occasionally pebbles of a gray vesicular rock, apparently a trachyte. In some parts of this series there are bands of a coarse laminated magnesian and ferruginous limestone, containing fossils which, though much distorted, are in parts still distinguishable. They consist of joints of crinoids, casts of brachiopodous shells, trilobitefs and corals. Among the latter are two species of Astrocerium, not distinguishable from A. pyriforme ixiA venustum of the Nia- gara group, and a Heliolites allied to H. elegans, if not a variety of this species. On the evidence of these fossils, and the more obscure remains associated with them. Professor Hall regards these beds as equivalents of the Niagara formation of the New York geologists, the Wenlock of Murchison. Their general strike is N.E. and S.W. ; and to the southward, or in the probable direction of the dip, they are succeeded, about six miles from Beech Hill, by granite. They have i^ general a slaty structure coinciding with the strike but not wi "!i the dip of the beds, and this condition is very prevalent throughout this inland metamor- phic district, where also the principal mineral veins usually run with the strike. The beds just described run with S.W. strike for a considerable distance, and are succeeded in ascending order by beds holding the fossils of the Upper Arisaig series, which are 1 1 1 BH !\ 'i\ 1 ■ ; i ' M !i: It; Sf! !'. 1 Mi i' I' 572 THE UPPER SILURIAN. eitber but sllgbtly developed or obscured by imperfect exposures, and on these rest the Lower Devonian slates and iron ore of Nictaux, already described. Regarding the above as the most typical and most thoroughly explored portions of the Upper Silurian of Nova Scotia, it is important to attain to as correct notions as possible as to their equivalency with the beds of that system elsewhere. In estimating this, we must bear in mind the fact that they belong to the Eastern or Atlantic tiiope of America, in which the Upper Silurian rocks are not only more altered by heat and chemical agents than in the great central plain west of the AUeghaiiies, but appear to have differed in the original character of the deposits. These would seem to have been more affected by local differences of depof,ition, so as to produce great diversities of mineral character within limited distances. They seem also on the whole to have been more ai'gil- laceous and less calcareous. These considerations may serve to account for the apparant absence of the great Niagara formation, the equivalent of the English Wenlock, from the Arisaig section, while the Clinton is greatly developed ; and the Niagara fonnation, under a peculiar modification, occurs in considerable thickness at New Canaan and Kentville. Beyond the limits of Nova Scotia, the Upper Silurian of Southern New Bi'unswick and of the State of Maine presents much resemblance both in its mineral character and fossils to the Arisaig group in Nova Scotia. On the other hand, in Northern New Brunswick and Gaspe, beyond the great Lower Silurian belt of Northern New Brunswick, the Upper Silurian becomes more calcareous, and differs much in its fossils from the Upper Silurian of Nova Scotia. The Island of Anticosti presents another development of the lower part of the Upper Silurian not hitherto recognised in Nova Scotia. In the presence of so great local diversity, it seems chimerical to compare our Upper Silurian either with the fine and regular series of New York and Upper Canada (Ontario) or with the English series. It must be admitted, however, that, in a general way, the Nova Scotia Upper Silurian presents in its fossils characters in some respects inter- mediate between the American and European series, and therefore comparable with either or both. As the general result of the facts already stated, in their bearing on these questions, I may state the following conclusions: — (1.) The Upper Arisaig and Nictaux series may be regarded as on the horizon of the Lower Helderberg of New York and the Ludlow of England, though with some older forms among their fossils. (2.) The New Canaan beds are probably NOVA SCOTIA. 573 equivalent to the Niagara of New York and the Wenlock of England. (3.) The Lower Arisaig series represents the Clinton of New York, and the Upper Llandovery series of England, with perhaps a portion of the time elsewhere represented by the Wenlock or Niagara. (4.) It is not improbable that the fossiliferous rocks re- cognised by Dr Honeyman at Doctor's Brook may represent a some- what lower member of the Upper Silurian, but still probably not so low as the Medina and Oneida of New York, or the Lower Llan- dovery of England. I entertain no doubt that farther and more minute investigation will make the details of our Nova Scotian and New Brunswick Upper Silurian more complete. I think, however, that the above general comparison will continue in the main to hold good. In my own limited researches, I have found much difficulty to arise from the want of identity of the fauna with that of typical Silurian localities, from the imperfect preservation and frequent dis- tortion of the fossils, and from the difficulty of tracing the succession of the contorted and faulted beds. These difficulties can only be finally overcome by detailed surveys and extensive collection of specimens. In the meantime, much caution is necessary in writing on the subject. 2. Upper Silurian of New Brunswick. I have coloured certain limited areas in Southern New Brunswick as Upper Silurian, on evidence which I think indisputable, collected principally by Mr Matthew and Professor Bailey, and detailed in a paper by the former in the Journal of the Geological Society, and in the Report of the latter on the Geology of Southern New Brunswick. From these sources the following statements are taken. These rocks constitute the " Kingston Group" of the last mentioned Report, from which I quote the following description : — " The peninsula of Kingston, constituting the neck of land lying between the Long Reach and the Kennebeckasis in the county of King's, has heretofore been described as a region composed solely of eruptive rocks, such as trap, syenite, and greenstone, and in previous geological maps has been undistinguished from the widely different volcanic beds which occur in other portions of the province. la reality this group of rocks is quite distinct, and is of very uniform as well as remarkable characters. " To describe the district as wholly a volcanic one is essentially erroneous. Although beds of such an origin are abundant, and taken collectively occupy much space, they are seldom purely eruptive, being invariably associated with aqueous deposits, and being themselves for P^ i J 1 ui t ykij i 57i THE UPPER SILURIAN. - - Tf^ the most part of a stratified metamorphic character. The whole peninsula is of sedimentary origin, and in some portions, aqueous deposits have alone been concerned in its formation. Although occupying an extensive area, little variety is apparent, the group consisting principally of compact felspathic rocks, with some chloritic slates and numerous beds of interstratified greenstone or diorite. " Three parallel bands, differing slightly in character, and running the entire length of the peninsula, may be distinguished. " The first, forming the southern side of the peninsula, and skirting the north shore of the Kennebeckasis in a series of very bold and remarkably picturesque cliffs, is largely schistose, and extends with an almost unbroken front from the Milkish to Hampton Ferry. Near the latter place and opposite Darling's Island, the group is represented by the following rocks : — " Gray gneiss (?) or altered micaceous sandstone, with small crystals of red felspar.— Str. N. 60° E. " Greenstone or diorite. ** Porphyritic felspathic schist of a pink colour, weathering white. " Gray felspathic quartzite, injected with quartz veins. " Grayish white altered slate. " The whole series is nearly vertical, and no satisfactory dip could be ascertained. My impression is that the tendency is to the north. " In the neighbourhood of Clifton, rocks of the same band contain large masses of chlorite and epidote, with veins of specular iron. " The second band of rocks alluded to, although passing insensibly into the last, differs from it chiefly in the much greater abundance of altered sandstones and bedded greenstones, with a comparative in- frequency of slaty beds. The greenstones or diorites are interstratified with compact felspathic rocks, varying from white to pale pink, the latter at times associated with and passing into fine-grained syenite and syenitic gneiss. Slates are comparatively rare, and when oc- curring, are sometimes chloritic and sometimes micaceous, being also, as a rule, much twisted. Like the members of the first division, these rocks also contain chlorite and epidote. The group may be readily seen in the village of Kingston, or along the Land's End at the south- west extremity of the peninsula. " The third band, into which the last Insensibly passes by the absence of its bedded diorites, occupies principally the northern side of the peninsula, where it is represented by a comparatively uniform series of clay and chloritic slates. Though not so numerous as in the centre and south of the district, trap beds are present, and at times NEW BRUNSWICK. 575 rise into boiJ ridges. This is especially the case near the middle of the Reach, where they produce some interesting scenery. " The rocks of the Kingston group, besides occupying the peninsula which properly bears that name, extend to the eastward within the limits represented on the map. Like most of the older formations in this part of the province, they are progressively covered to the eastward by Carboniferous rocks. They extend, howev' , on the south as far as Dickie Mountain, near Norton Station, and upon the north within a few miles of Belleisle Point, forming two bands, separated by a valley now occupied by Carboniferous sandstones and limestones. " On the northern shore of the Long Reach, lying between the main river and the granites of the Nerepis, is a band of rocks which I have, with some doubt, refeiTed to the group now under consideration. I have not been able to examine this rtisf r'ci in sufficient detail to fully establish its relative age, but have connected it with the Kingston rocks, for the following reasons : — " 1st. At the extremity of Oak Point, towards the head of the Reach, and in the rocky islands occurring in this neighbourhood, the beds are undoubtedly connected with those of Kingston. At Oak Point two varieties occur, interstratified with each other. " (a.) Very hard, black and green bedded diorite, with calc spar, chlorite, and epidote. " (b.) Light-coloured fine-grained felspathic rocks, graduating into coarser beds of syenite and syenitic gneiss. (General strike, N. 50° E, Dip N ?). These latter are undoubtedly altered sandstones and con- glomerates. " 2d. Rocks similar to the above seem to form a well defined band extending westward as far as the Nerepis. At Jones' Creek they are well exposed in thick beds, and apparently rest on a still thicker series of blue and gray altered slates. These latter are little dis- turbed, having a strike about east and west, and a southerly dip of 62°. " Along the line of the Nerepis, and in the neighbourhood of the Douglas Arms, altered rocks similar to the above in their granitoid aspect occur, and are probably a continuation of the same series. " Between these and the great granite range of the Nerepis valley, altered sandstones and slates, diorite, felsite, and cherty quartzite, occur. " It will thus be seen that the band of rocks now under consideration resembles those of Kingston, in the presence of felspathic and green- stone beds, while it differs principally in the abundance of coarse i «j ?i 576 THE UPPER SILURIAN. syenite, and syenitic gneiss. The rocks of Oak Point seem to be a connecting link between the two. " To the southwestward of the series last described, and directly opposite the termination of the Kingston peninsula, the nature and relations of the rocks are no longer doubtful. The abundance of pale pink felsites and felspathic quartzites, with beds of interstratified greenstone, at once recalls the rocks of Kingston, and indicates an extension of this series to the westward. Excc{)t along the line of the main river, however, their development in this direction is little known, the district being as yet w^holly unsettled. Rocks probably fonning a part of the same series appear far to the south-west, along the New River, in the County of Charlotte. (See the Geological Map.) " While the rocks of Kingston have thus been shown to occupy an extensive district, west and north of the St John River, along both shores of the Reach, observations in other localities would seem to indicate a corresponding easterly extension. " It has already been stated that, while occupying the entire peninsula from which their name has been derived, these rocks may be traced to the eastward in two diverging ridges, the one terminating at Dickie Mountain, near Norton Station, the other at a short distance below the head of Rellcislc Bay. Stretching along the northern side of the latter, and formiiig the watershed between the tributaries of the Belleisle and Washademoak Rivers, is a ridge of rocks, somewhat variable in com- position and of moderate elevation, which, though exhibiting some peculiaritlos, can with difficulty be distinguished from the deposits of Kingston and the Reach." In Professor Bailey's Report these rocks are described in detail, as they occur at Bull Moose Hill, Belleisle Comer, and Kars. The following remarks may be made with reference to their age and strati- graphical relations : — (1.) A series of specimens were submitted by Professor Bailey to the author and Dr Hunt, with the results stated in the following words : — " In regard to the probable age of these rocks, Dr Hunt does not regard them as veiy like anything he knows in Canada. They are not like the Quebec group or the Laurentian, our two principal series of metamorphic rocks in Lower Canada. " In comparing them with Nova Scotia, I have no hesitation in saying that tiiey are unlike our Atlantic coast series, which I believe to be Lower Silurian, but that they are very like the rocks of the Cobequid Mountains and of the inland hills of Eastern Nova Scotia, which I believe to be Middle and Upper Silurian. This is the age to irir IIIH I ' NEW BRUNSWICK. 577 lation in believe of the Scotia, le ago to which T would therefore be inclined to refer your rocks, though I would not affirm that they may not include Lower Devonian, which in Nova Scotia are altered with the Upper Silurian. " I regard your specimens as altered sediments, though some of the felspathic and hornblendic ones may be true Plutonic rot-ks." (2.) Mr Matthew has found, in loose fragments, near Si John, pro- bably derived from these rocks, the following fossils : — Chonetes, Pterinea or Avicula., Clidophorus, Orthis, Rhynchonella (?), Leptodo- mus (?), etc. ; and still more recently specimens have been obtained from undoubted members of the Kingston group, in which the follow- ing characteristic Upper Silurian assemblage of genera occurs, though in a state too imperfect for specific determination. The genera are Dalmania^ Phacops, Orthoceras (2 species), Murchi- sonia (2 species), Loxonema, Ilolopea (?), Lucina (?) or Anatina (?), Avicula (?), Leptodomus (?), Spirlfer, Chonetes (?), Atrypa, Rhyn- chonella (?), Retzia (?), Strophomena, Orthis, Discina, Favosites, Zaphrenlis (2 species), Syringopora (?), and other corals. From Frye's Island also, in the south-western extension of these rocks, Upper Silurian fossils have been obtained. (3.) A comparison of these rocks with those in Maine, in their line of strike, and ascertained by Hitchcock to be Upper Silurian, confirms the above evidence from mineral character and fossils. One source of perplexity in the determination of these rocks arises from the fact that, in the vicinity of St John, the Devonian rests on the Lower Silurian without the intervention of Upper Silurian beds. This, as Mr Matthew suggests, may be accounted for by denudation, or by the elevation of the Lower series before the deposition of the Upper. In Maine, however, it would seem that these rocks appear in their regular sequence below the Devonian. It will be observed that, as in Nova Scotia, the Upper Silurian sediments are more argillaceous and less calcareous than the beds of this age in the more inland parts of the continent, and that they are also much more metamorphosed. In both of these particulars we shall find a decided difference in the Upper Silurian of Northern New Brunswick, next to be noticed. A glance at the map will enable the reader to perceive, extending south-west from Bathurst, in the Bay de Chaleur, that broad and rugged belt of altered Lower Silurian and Plutonic rocks, the terror of railway engineers, which forms the natural limit of Acadia on the north-west, and separates the Coal-field of New Brunswick from the Upper Silurian valley of the Restigouche and Upper St John, the debate- able land, in point of physical geography, between the high lands of 2 p r I lilt Bir' !•■ i;i 578 TUS UPPER SILURIAN. the Nepifllguit which belong to Nev,' Brunswick, and the high lands of Rimouski and Gaspe which belong to the Province of Quebec. This belt of very ancient rocks was probably a physical barrier even as early as the Upper Silurian period ; for on passing it we find in the valleys of the Restigouche and the neighbouring streams beds of highly calcareous and fossiliferons Upper Silurian rock identical in character with those of Gaspe, and differing both in mineral character and the assemblage of fossils from those which we have just been studying. The southern limit of this Upper Silurian area, in so far as it is known, may be seen on the map ; and its structure may bo learned from the following description by Professor Hind of the sec- tion at Cape Bon Ami, near Dalhousie. The section is in ascending order, and the dips are to the north^/ard at an angle of 45°. 1. Trap. 2. Calcareous shales. 3. Trap or trappean ash, more or less stratified, and with veins of carbonate of lime and quartz. 4. Calcareous shales and honestones, weathering bufi" or pale yellow. 5. Trap, vesicular, hard and black, weathering red. 6. Calcareous shale and limestone, with honcstone. Many layers are fissile and shaly, weathering buff, others arc hard and silicious. The limestones contain Favosites Gothlandica, Strophomena rhom- boidalis, etc. In the upper part of this series there appears to be a conglomerate 14 feet thick, capped by honestone 36 feet thick. 7. Massive trap. 8. Limestone highly fossiliferous. Among its fossils arc Favosites Oothlandica, F. polymorpha, F. basaltica, Strophomena rhomboidalis, S. punctulifera, Calymene Blumenbachii^ Atrypa reticularis. 9. Trap, highly ferruginous.* It is instructive to observe the large amount of bedded trap or volcanic ash in the above section. This accords with the presence of large quantities of apparently interstratified igneous rock in the Kingston group and in the Cobequid Mountains, as already noticed. Such interstratified volcanic matters are abundant in some parts of the Silurian of Great Britain. They are comparatively rare in other parts of Nova Scotia, though beds of this kind occur in New Canaan. Similar traps occur in Gaspe, but they are absent from the typical Upper Silurian of New York and Western Canada. Their presence indicates the recurrence of volcanic eruptions at frequent intervals during the Upper Silurian period. A collection of fossils from the beds at Dalhousie and its vicinity * The total thickness of the sbove series is not stated by Professor Hind. NEW BRUNSWICK. 570 trap or aresence in the I noticed. ts of the ler parts I Canaan. typical jresence intervals vicinity has been kindly communicated to me by Professor Bailey, and has been submitted to Mr Billings, who regards the species as equivalent to those of the Port Daniel limestones of the northern side of the Bay de Chaleur, which may be regarded as intermediate in ago between the Niagara and Lower Helderberg groups, and therefore probably not far from the horizon of the Upper Arisaig series, or perhaps between this and the Lower Arisaig group. The following fossils from Dalhousie and Restigouche, now in the Museum of the University of New Brunswick, have been determined by Mr Billings. The assemblage is in the main that of the Lower Helderberg. Favosites basaltica. Favosites Gothlandica. Zaphrentis, n. s., same as one in the Gaspe limestone. Stenopora. Halysites catenulatus. Syringopora. Diphyphyllum. Orthis tubulistriata, Hall, or allied. Orthis oblata, Hall. Strophomena rhomboidalis. Strophomena punctifera, Conrad. Strophomena varistriata. Spirifera cycloptera. Atrypa reticularis. Cyrtia Dalmani. Rhynchonella vellicata, Hall. Athyris princeps, or allied. Leptocoelia, allied to L. hemispherica. Fenestella. Megambonia, allied to M. ovoides, Hall. Conocardium. Pleurotomara, allied to P. labrosa, Hall. Fiuomphalus sinuatus (?) Dalmanites. General Remarks. The group of partially metamorphic Upper Silurian rocks above de- scribed includes the most elevated land of Nova Scotia and Southern New Brunswick. The Cobequid range, attaining at several points a height of 1200 feet, is the highest chain of hills in Nova Scotia ; and forms, in its whole length, the wctershed dividing the streams flowing 1^: 080 THE UPPER SILURIAN. into Northumberland Strait and Chiegnecto Bay from those flowing into Cobcquid Bay and Minos Basin and Channel. In like manner, the complicated group of hills extending westward from Cape Porcupine and Cape St George, though less elevated than the Cobcquid hills, contains the sources of all the principal rivers of the counties through which it extends. The largest of these is the St Mary's river. Its western branch, originating in the same elevated ground that gives rise to the Musquodoboit, the Stewiacke, and the Middle River of Pi'-'ou, flows for about thirty miles nearly due east along the valley which here separates the Lower and Upper Silurian districts. Its east branch flowing from the hills in the rear of Merigomish, and passing near the lakes from which the principal branch of the East River of Pictou flows, receives tributary streams from the meta- morphic promontory stretching towards Cape Porcupine, and unites with the west branch at the northern margin of the Lower Silurian metamorphic band. The united stream then flows through a nan-ow valley, cutting the Lower Silurian belt transversely, to the Atlantic. Judging from the direction of the principal streams, as for instance the Liverpool River, it would appear that in the western counties, as well a" in the eastern, this group of metamorphic rocks, with its associated igneous masses, forms the most elevated ridges. In the southern part of New Brunswick also, and in Cape Breton, we every- where find these rocks forming rocky ridges separating the river valleys. The character of the surface over these rocks is very similar to that which prevails in those parts of Lower Canada (Quebec) and New England, in which similarly altered Upper Silurian rocks occur. The soil, where not too rocky for cultivation, is fertile ; and in their natural state the hills are clothed with a rich growth of hard-wood trees. M. Jules Marcou, in the summary of American geology which accompanies his geological map, endeavours to apply to these ele- vations De Beaumont's theory of the parallelism of mountain ranges of like age. According to this view, the Cobcquid Mountains, and the hills on the east side of the Bras d'Or Lake, belong to a system of elevations older than the Lower Silurian rocks ; and the Meri- gomish and Antigonish Mountains, with the hills of Western Cape Breton, to a later dislocation, dating at the close of the Silurian period. It appears to me that both these dates are by much too ancient. I have already stated that the rocks of the Cobcquid Mountains have been altered and elevated before the Carboniferous period ; but, on the other hand, these altered rocks themselves are in GENERAL REMARKS. 581 part Devonian, and thoro is no reason to believe any of them to be older than Upper Silurian. I would therefore refer the great line of dislocation of the Cobcquids, which runs nearly W. 10° S., as well as the nearly parallel lines of the south mountains of King's County, the range ending in Cape Porcupine, and most of the hills of Cape Breton, to the close of the Devonian period. These ranges have, however, been broken and deranged in places, as at the eastern end of the Cobcquids, the Antigonish Mountains, the hills near Guysboro', and in the south-west of Cape Breton, by disturbances probably coeval with the great Alleghany range, that is, at or toward the end of the Carboniferous system, and there is evidence that between this time and the end of the Devonian period, igneous action was constantly more or less felt, and was also accompanied by clevatory movements. Hence these later movements in part, as along the Cobequid range, have conformed to the course of the older movement, and in part have broken out into irregular projecting ridges, having a tendency to a north-east and south-west direction. In short, the study of these elevations in Nova Scotia tends to show, that though there may be a certain parallelism between clevatory movements of the same period, when they take place in districts previously undisturbed, yet that in regions broken up by previous dislocations, they may either conform in direction to these, or break forth irregularly from them along lines of least resistance produced by previous transverse fractures. It is to be observed, however, that those very marked and important physical changes which closed the Devonian period wore preluded by volcanio outbursts extending through the Upper Silurian and Devonian eras. In New Brunswick, the area occupied by the Kingston group is broken and elevated, and separates what may be termed the southern bay of the Carboniferous area from the remainder. As an ancient geographical feature, it is also connected with the large development of Lower Carboniferous rocks in this bay or arm. Still, it is not sufficiently extensive or continuous to give it any great importance in the present drainage of the country. The great Upper Silurian area in Northern New Brunswick is of much more importance in this respect, and contains the principal sources of the St John and the Restigouche ; the lormer of which, the largest river of Acadia, gathering the waters of many tributaries from a great area chiefly oi Upper Silurian rocks, finds a devious path through transverse valleys of the great Lower Silurian belt, crosses the south-west angle of the Carboniferous area, and entering the Silurian band of the coast, follows its strike for some distance in the " Long Reach " before it finds its way to the sea. I t« It r; n 582 THIS UPPER SILURIAN. f' II Before leaving thc80 rocks, I must state that their boundaries, as marked on the map, ar« often very rudo iij)proxiinution8 to the truth. It is impoHslblo in the present state of our knowledge to distinguish accurately between these older rocks and the Carboniferous beds which have in many parts of their borders been metamorphosed with them, or to indicate accurately the position and limits of the irregular masses and dikes of igneous rocks. An immense amount of labour will bo required before these disturbed and altered rocks can bo accurately mapped, or their intricacies fully unravelled. Ustful Minerals of the Upper Silurian in Noca Scotia. Iron^ in veins traversing the altered rocks, abounds in this district ; and it also occurs in thick beds coeval with the neighbouring slates, and filled, like them, with fossil-shells. I shall first notice those de- posits which are veins properly so called. These, though occurring in many places, have been worked only along the southern slope of the Cobequid Hills in Londonderry, in the vicinity of the Great Village and Folly Rivers. This deposit appears to have been noticed as eai'ly as the time when the land on which it occurs was granted by the Crown; and it received some attention from Mr Duncan and other gentlemen in Truro nearly twenty years ago. No steps were, however, taken toward its scientific exploration until 1845. In the summer of that year I received a specimen of the ore for examination, and in October of the same year I visited and reported on the deposit. In the same autumn it was examined by Dr Gesncr. In 1846 I again visited it, and reported on it to C. D. Archibald, Esq., of London, and other gentlemen associated with him ; and in the summer of 1849 I had the pleasure of again going over the ground and examining the vein at some new points, in company with J. L. Hayes, Esq., of Portsmouth, U. S. Since 1849 the extent and economical capabilities of the deposit have been discussed by several -writers, both in this province and in Great Britain ; and it has been opened, and smelting furnaces erected by an association of capitalists. I shall begin by describing the vein as it occurs on the west branch of the Great Village River, at the site chosen by C. D. Archibald, Esq., for the furnace and buildings of the " Acadia Mine," and as seen in 1849. In the western bank of this stream, at the junction of the Carboniferous and Metamorphic series, a thick series of gray and brown sandstones and shales of the former system, dipping to the south at angles of 65° and 70°, meet black and olive slates, having a nearly vertical position, and with a strike N. 55° E. The dip of these slates, where apparent, is to the southward, and the strike of the slaty UBErUL MINERALS. 583 cleavage and of the bedding appears to coincide. Near the falls of the rivor, a short distance northward of the junction just noticed, the slates give place to gray quartzito, which, with some beds of olivo slate, occupies the rivor-soction to, and for some distance beyond, the iron vein. The vein is well seen in the bed of the stream, and also in exca- vations in the western bank, which rises abruptly to the height of 327 feet above the river-bed. In the bottom of the stream it presents the appearance of a complicated network of fissures, penetrating the quartzite and slate, and filled with a crystalline compound of the car- bonates of lime, iron, and magnesia, which, from its composition and external characters, I refer to the species Ankerite. With this mineral there is a smaller quantity of rod ochrey iron ore, and of micaceous specular iron ore. In ascending the western bank of the stream, the vein appears to increase in width and in the quantity of the ores of iron. In one place, where a trench was cut across it, its breadth was 120 feet. Though its walls are very irregular, it has a distinct underlie to the south, apparently coinciding with the dip of the containing rocks. As might have been anticipated from its appearance in the river-bed, it presents the aspect of a wide and very irregular vein, including large angular fragments of quartzite, and of an olivaceous slate with glis- tening surfaces. These fragments are especially large and abundant in the central part of the vein, where they form a largo irregular and interrupted rocky partition. That the reader may be enabled to understand the description of this singular deposit, I give the composition of the various substances contained in it, as ascertained by my own analyses and examinations. 1. Specular Iron Ore, or nearly pure peroxide of iron, in black crystalline scales and masses. 2. Magnetic Iron Ore, a compound of the peroxide and protoxide of iron. This and the first-mentioned ore, as they occur intermixed in this vein, are capable of affording from 60 to 70 per cent, of pure iron. Both of these ores have been introduced into the vein by igneous fusion or sublimation. 3. Ochrey Red Iron Ore. This is the most abundant ore in the vein, and is of great value on account of its richness and easy fusibility. It is also the material of which the mineral-paint produced by this region is manufactured. It varies somewhat in quality, but the purest specimens are peroxide of iron, with scarcely any foreign matter. 4. Ankerite, or carbonate of iron, lime and magnesia. This is the most abundant material in the vein, and is usually of a grayish-white colour, though sometimes tinged red by the peroxide of iron. A I.: la^wm. 584 THE UPPER SILURIAN. specimen of the reddish variety, containing small scattered crystals of specular iron, gave on analysis — Peroxide of iron . . . 33"0 Carbonate of lime . . . 46-0 Carbonate of iron . 19-5 Carbonate of magnesia •8 Silicious sand . •4 99-7 The white variety consists of — Carbonate of lime . 54- Carbonate of iron . 23-2 Carbonate of magnesia . 22- Silicious sand . •5 . I iJ s lilj ^ : -j:im,T«. ., i 99-7 With this mineral is found a variety of Spathose Iron, or sparry carbonate of iron, containing about 20 per cent, of carbonate of mag- nesia. It is of a light yellow colour, and runs in little veins through the Ankerite. I have no doubt that all these substances have been molten by heat, and injected from beneath into the irregular fissure in which they are now found. The ochrey red ore, previously mentioned, appears to be a result of the subsequent action of heat on the spathose iron. The ankerite and spp those iron may become valuable for mixing with the other ores, affording lime for a flux and much iron. 5. Yellow Ochrey Iron Ore. This is found in great quantity on the surface of the vein, and has resulted from the rusting of the ankerite, which soon becomes covered with a yellow rusty coat when exposed. The yellow ochre is a peroxide of iron combined with water, and when calcined it affords a good red pigment. On analysis, it gave — Peroxide of iron . » Alumina .... Carbonate of Hme and magnesia Silica and silicates Water, mostly combined 10000 6. Brown Hematite occurs in large balls along the outcrop of tlie vein. It has been produced by the solvjnt action of acid water on the carbonate of iron, and the subsequent precipitation of iron from these solutions. It is a valuable ore, but is probably most abundant near the surface of the vein. 74-52 4-48 •40 6-20 14-40 USEFUL MINERALS. 585 7. Sulphate of Barytes occurs in small crystals lining fissures, and in compact veins in the ankerite. Though quite insoluble, this sub- stance can be decomposed by heated solutions of alkaline carbonates ; and when these are cooled it is re-formed and deposited.* It has probably been introduced in ihis way into this vein. I shall endeavour in the following remarks to state the manner in which these minerals occur in the complicated mixture which fills this vein, and thcii- probable origin. Let the reader then imagine that he is standing on the side of the deep ravine of the Great Village River, looking into a rocky excavation in which the minerals above mentioned appear to be m" xcd together in the most inextricable confusion, in great irregular cracks of the slaty rocks, and he will be able, perhaps, to wade through the following description. The ankerite should evidently be considered the veinstone, as it surrounds and includes all the other contents of the vein, and greatly exceeds them in quantity. Where not exposed, it is white and coarsely crystalline. On exposure it becomes yellowish ; and near the surface, as well as on the sides of fissures, it is decomposed, leaving a residue of yellow ochrey hydrous peroxide >f iron. In some parts of the vein, the ankerite is intimately mixed with crystals and veinlets of yellowish spathose iron. The red ochrey iron ore occurs in minor veins and irregular masses dispersed in the ankerite. Some of these veins ave two yards in thickness ; and the shapeless masses are often of much larger dimensions. Specular iron ore also occurs in small irregular veins, and in dis.seminated crystals and nests. At one part of the bank there appears to be a considerable mass of magnetic iron ore, mixed with specular ore ; this mass was not, however, uncovered till after I had left the ground. The whole aspect of the vein, as it appears in the excavations in the river-bank, is extremely irregular and complicated. This arises not only from the broken character of the walls, the included rocky fragments, and the confused intermixture of the materials of the vein ; but also from the occurrence of numerous transverse fissures, which appear to have slightly shifted the vein, and whose surfaces usually display the appearance named " slickenside," and are often coated with comminuted slate or iron ore. In some places these are so numerous as to give an appearance of transverse stratification. One of them was observed to be filled with flesh-coloured sulphate of barytes, forming a little subordinate vein about an inch in thickness. The general course of the vein, deduced from observations made by Mr Hayes and myself at the Acadia Mine and further to the eastward, * Bischoff, quoted bj De la Bcche. QeoL Obn. p. 669. 1 ' - 1- i ' P ; i 686 THE UPPER SILURIAN. is S. 98° W. magnetic, the variation being 21° west. At the Acadia Mine this course deviates about 33° from that of the containing rocks. In other localities, however, the deviation is much smaller; and in general there is an approach to parallelism between the course of the vein and that of the rock formation of the hills, as well as that of the junction of the Carboniferous and Metamorphic systems. The vein, for a space of seven miles along the hills, is always found at distances of from 300 yards to one-third of a mile northward of the last Car- boniferous beds, and always in the same band of slate and quartzite. Westward of the Acadia Mine the course of the vein over the high ground is marked by the colour of the soil, as far as Cook's Brook, about a mile distant. The outcrop of the ore was not exposed in this brook, but large fragments of specular ore have been found in its bed, and a shaft, sunk on the course of the vein, has penetrated more than forty feet through yellow ochre containing a few rounded masses and irregular layers of ankerite. At this point the decomposition of the ankerite and spathic iron has extended to a much greater depth than usual, and is so perfect that a specimen of the yellow ochre was found to contain only -4 per cent, of the carbonates of lime and magnesia ; the remainder being hydrous peroxide of iron, alumina, and silicious matter. Still furt'.er west, in Martin Brook, I observed indications of the continuation of the vein. Beyond this place I have not traced it ; but I have received specimens of specular iron ore and ankerite from the continuation of the same metamorphic district, as far west as the Five Islands, twenty miles distant from Acadia Mine. On the east side of the west branch of the Great Village River, the ground does not rise so rapidly as on the western bank, and the vein is not so well exposed. On this side, however, a small quantity of copper pyrites has been found in or near the vein, but it does not seem to be of any importance. Indications of the vein can be seen on the surface as far as the east branch of the river. In the east branch, red and gray conglomerates, dipping to the south, and forming the base of the Carboniferous system, are seen to rest unconformably on olive, black, and brown slates, whose strike is S. 75° W. The continuation of the iron vein was not observed in the bed of this stream. Further eastward, on the high ground between tb' Great Village and Folly Rivers, indications of the ores of iron have been observed ; especially near the latter river, where in two places small excavations have exposed specular and red ores, and where numerous fragments of brown hematite are found scattered on the surface. The ravine of the Folly River affords a good natural section of the ' '17 i I USEFUL MINERALS. 587 ; Village quartzite and slate of the hills, as well as of the Carboniferous beds of the lower ground. This section, as far as the base of the hills, is described in Chapter XV. Tiie lowest Carboniferous bed is a thick, coarse, gray and brownish conglomerate, dipping S. 20° W. It rests unconfbrmably on a bed of slate very similar to that seen in a like position at the Great Village River, and which differs considerably in appearance from most of the slates of these hills. The strike of the slate is S. 70° W. ; and that of the bedding and slaty structure appear to correspond. In a layer of gra) wacke included in this slate I ob- served small and well-rounded pebbles of light-coloured quartz. This slate is succeeded by thick beds of gray quartzite and hard olivaceous slates. These occupy the river section for about 700 yards, or as far as the " Falls," where the river is thrown over a ridge of quartzite fifty-five feet in height; a small rill pouring in on the eastern side from a much greater elevation. Between the conglomerate and the waterfall the quartzite contains a few narrow strings of ankerite, and at the fall there is a group of reticulating veins, some of them six inches in thickness. They contain a little iron pyrites. These are the only indications of the iron vein observed in this section ; and as the group of beds in which it should occur is well exposed, it is probable that it is represented here only by these small veinlets distributed over a great breadth of rock. Above the fall the quartzite and slate continue to alternate for a considerable distance, the dip being generally to the southward, in one place at as low an angle as 55°. About a quarter of a mile above the fall they are traversed by a dike or mass of fine-grained hornblendic igneous rock. On the elevatcil ground east of the Folly River the vein is again largely developed, and two excavations exposed a part of its thickness on the property of the Londonderry Mining Company. The excava- tion nearest to the river showed a thick: ess of 190 feet of rock on the south side of the vein. This consists <. ." gray quartzite, olive slate, and about three feet of black slate. These beds are traversed by a few small strings of ankerite, which increase in dimensions on ap- proaching the broken and irregular wall of the vein. About seventeen feet of the south side of the vein consist principally of ankerite. Adjoining this on the north is red iron ore, with nests of specular ore, veins and blocks of ankerite decomposed in part to yellow ochre, and fragments of rock. Ten feet in thickness of this red ore were seen without exposing the north wall of the vein. On the surface in this vicinity are large fragments of brown hema- tite, which mark the course of the vein. In the eastern excavation, this mineral was seen in place near the surface and occupying fissures if \ ) 588 THE UPPER 8ILUKIAN. 1 1 !<->, i\ < m ,1. , n > I i 'iP^ i\ :^*V in a fragment of quartzite. In this second excavation the red ore wag more largely mixed with the micaceous specular variety, and also included large rounded blocks of ankerite and angular fragments of rock. The width exposed here was thirteen feet, and neither wall was The ankerite is decomposed to the depth of eight feet. The seen. same appearance of transverse vertical layers seen at the Acadia Mine is observed here, and is probably due to the same cause. Still further east, on the property of C. D. Archibald, Esq., and on ground equally elevated, three excavations have shown a still greater development of the vein. A trench fifty-three feet in length, and nearly at right angles to the course of the vein, showed in its whole length a mixture of red and specular ores with ankerite. Another excavation, ninety-five feet to the northward of the first, exhibited ankerite tinged of a deep red colour by peroxide of iron, and traversed by reticulating veins of red iron ore. A third opening, 365 feet south- eastward of the first, showed white and gray ankerite, having some of its fissures coated with tabular crystals of white sulphate of barytes. The walls of the vein were not seen at this place ; but 150 paces south of the first trench a thick dike of greenish igneous rock, apparently a very fine-grained greenstone, appears, with a course of S. 102° W. This dike was not seen westward of this place, but it can be traced for a considerable distance to the eastward. In the Mill Brook, two miles east of Folly River, it appears in connexion with a bed of black slate near the margin of the metamorphic system, and probably a continuation of that seen in a similar position in the Folly and Great Village Rivers. At the Mill Brook the dike is about 100 feet in thickness. In the bed of the Mill Brook, the vein is seen in the form of a network of fissures chiefly filled with ankerite ; and in its eastern bank it attains a great thickness. In the bank of another brook still further to the eastward, and in the same line of bearing, it appears to be of large dimensions, and contains abundance of red iron ore and red ankerite. I have not traced it further to the east, but I have no doubt of its continuance to a great distance in that direction. The geological history of this deposit embraces the following occurrences :—lst, The formation of a \fide irregular fissure, along a great part of the length of the Cobequid Mountains. 2df/y, The filling of this fissure with a molten or softened, and partially even sublimed, mass of ferruginous and calcareous matter, presenting, as I think, an evident illustration of the igneous formation of a vein of calcareous, magnesian, and ferruginous carbonates. 3rf/y, The breaking up of the vein thus formed by cross-fractures and faults, ithlt/, The partial roasting of its contents by heat, so as to produce the red ores, which Hm and on USEFUL MINERALS. 5S9 are obviously the result of the heating and oxidation of a part of the carbonate of iron, and this process may be seen, on minutely examining the vein, to have extended itself from the walls of the smallest fissures. 5thli/, The action of heated waters passing through its crevices, and depositing sulphate of barytes and brown hematite. Qthly, The influ- ence of the air and surface waters in changing large portions of the superficial contents of the vein into ochrey hydrous peroxide of iron. It is, however, to be observed that this deposit might be accounted for on the supposition that a bed of iron ore and carbonate of lime and magnesia, similar to those occurring elsewhere in the U{)per Silurian, had been so softened and altered by heat as to penetrate in vein-like forms the surrounding rocks. Sir W. E. Logan has shown that phenomena of this kind occur in the Laurentian regions of Canada. This deposit is evidently wedge-shaped, being largest and richest on the surface of the highest ridges. It contains, however, an immense quantity of valuable ores of iron, though its irregular character opposes many difficulties to the miner. Difficulties have also been found in smelting the ore to advantage ; but these are often incident to the first trials of new deposits, to which the methods applicable to others, of which the workmen have had previous experience, do not apply. It is believed, however, that these preliminary hindrances have been overcome, and that the mine has now become highly profitable to its proprietors. I quote the following estimate of the value of the deposit from the elaborate Report of J. L. Hayes in 1849. It has been fully confirmed by experience : — " From the descriptions which I have above given, it is evident, that although the unlimited extent of the ore at any particular point can only be determined by working the deposits, yet an immense field is open for explorations and working. " Although it is quite probable that an abundant supply of ore will be found upon the west bank of the river, at a price which will not exceed two dollars to the ton of iron ; if this should not be the case, an ample supply can be furnished from the other localities at an expense which, including raising and hauling, could not exceed four dollars to the ton of iron. I would advise the opening of the veins at diffierent points upon the line, to detennine the cheapest point for mining, and the ores which can be used most advantageously. If this is done, the price of the ore cannot be fairly set down at the sum for which it can be obtained from the nearest locality, but at an average of the prices of the ores from difierent localities, delivered at the point selected for the furnace. This may be estimated at three dollars to the ton of iron. \ 1 ■ k ff90 THE UPPER SILURIAN. " The value of this locality with respect to ore may be judged of by comparing it with establishments in the United States. In Berk- shire County, Massachusetts, at some establishments which have been successfully conducted, the price of the ore is between five and six dollars to the ton of iron. In Orange County, New York, ore yielding between 40 and 50 per cent, costs between four and five dollars to the ton of iron. At one locality in New York the ore costs ten dollars to the ton of iron. At some establishments on Lake Champlain, ore costing one dollar per ton at the mine, is carried twelve miles to the furnace. The ore at the Baltimore furnaces costs over seven dollars to the ton of iron. This is about the average cost of the ore at the furnaces in Pennsylvania. Estimating the cost of the ore even at four dollars to the ton of iron, there will be advantage over the average American localities. "The cost of ores at some of the Swedish and Russian furnaces is still greater. In certain parts of the Ural Mountains the minerals are carried by land to the forests a distance of from 40 to 80 miles. Some of the forges of Sweden are supplied with minerals from Presburg and Dannemora, which are transported by land-carriago, the lakes, and the sea, to distances exceeding 370 miles. " There is no trace of sulphur, arsenic, or any foreign matter which can deteriorate the quality of the iron, or of titanium or chrome, which would render the ores refractory. The red ochrey ore, the most abundant variety, being sufficiently porous to present large surfaces to the reducing gases in the blast furnace, and yet sufficiently compact not to choke the furnace, but to allow the free passage of the blast, can be used with peculiar advantage. The daily make of iron from these ores will be large, and the consumption of combustible com- paratively small. " I have no doubt that iron of the first quality for purity and strength, and which will demand the highest prices in the market, can be made from these ores. If Mr Mushet's opinion, based upon his own ex- periments, that these ores will furnish steel-iron equal to the best Swedish marks, should prove correct, these ores possess a rare value ; for, of the many charcoal iron establishments in the United States, I know but one which furnishes iron suitable for making the first quality of steel." In addition to the use of the ores of iron in these deposits as sources of the metal, mineral paints and artificial slate of excellent quality are manufactured from the iron ochres of the Folly Mountain, and are extensively used for protecting wooden buildings, etc. Since the publication of the first edition of this work, extensive USEFUL MINERALS. 591 mining and smelting operations have been carried on at the London- derry mines, and in 1865 I saw a thriving mining village where, in 1849, there had been but a wild wooded ravine. I had not time to visit the excavations ; but Dr Honcyman informs me that the original vein at Great Village still holds out, or rather appears as two veins, about twenty feet apart, and each with from four to five feet of ore, though occasionally widening to about twenty feet or dimin- ishing to mere strings. One of them consists chiefly of brown hematite. Extensive openings have been made at Martin's Brook, where the ore is also hematite. The ore is now smelted with charcoal, large quantities of which are made in the neighbouring hills ; but a great extension of the operations is anticipated, so soon as the railway shall connect the mines with the coal district of Springhill. The reputation of the iron made from this ore is very high, owing to its excellent quality, and suitableness to the manu- facture of steel. Within the last few years veins of hematite are stated to have been discovered in rocks of Upper Silurian age on the East River of Pictou, near Springville, and I have received from a locality near the French River of Merigomish a fine specimen of compact carbonate of iron, which is said to occur there in large quantity, though whether as a vein or bed I am not informed. Veins of iron ores, similar in character to those above described, occur in nearly every part of this metamorphic district; they are, however, of small magnitude, and I am not aware that they are in any place of workable dimensions. In many places extensive masses of shattered quartzite and slate are penetrated in every direction by slender veins of micaceous specular iron ore. In addition to these 7}eins of iron ore, conformable beds, as already mentioned, exist in the Upper Silurian slates, more especially on the East River of Pictou, at the locality indicated on the map. At this place, one bed appears to bo forty feet thick, and much resembles that in the Devonian at Nictaux, but the ore is more silicious, and contains only about forty per cent, of metal. It is not at present worked. This bed of ore could no doubt be traced extensively, and must eventually become of great economical im- portance. Though the ores are less rich than those of the Cobequid Mountains, the deposits are likely to be more continuous and persistent. This great bed of ore on the East River of Pictou is especially worthy of the attention of capitalists engaged or about to engage in smelting operations, as it is only ten miles distant from the Albion coal-mines, and is in the vicinity of abundance of limestone and i f -i \ " 593 THE UPPER SILURIAN. U I :; I: building-stone. The hematite and clay ironstone of the same region might also be profitably used with the specular ore of the great bed. Copper ores occur in peveral parts of this district. In the country eastward of the Lochaber Iiake, in the county of Sydney, large fragments of copper and iron pyrites are found in the surface gravel, and have no doubt been derived from a vein containing this ore, along with ores of iron similar to those of the Cobequid Hills, and which are found attached to the loose fragments. These indications were examined by the author in 1848, and made known to the Mining Association. A Cornish miner was afterwards employed by the Association to explore the locality, but his labours were un- successful ; and as yet nothing has been found except the loose masses already referred to, some of which are from two to three feet in diameter. The strike of the rocks at this place is S. 70° W. to S. 20° W., and the district in which the ores occur consists of olive, gray, and black slates, with beds of quartzite and dikes of green- stone and compact felspar. In some places the slates are filled with small veinlcts of specular iron ore and ankerite. The pyrites con- tains from four to seventeen per cent, of copper, the average of several specimens being 10*8 per cent. This would be a valuable ore if found in sufficient quantity and of easy access ; there appear, however, to be serious difficulties in the way of opening the deposit, more especially its low situation and the depth of the surface cover. Copper pyrites, yielding 31*6 per cent, of copper, and therefore of very rich quality, has been found on the south branch of Salmon River ; but I am not aware that it occurs in sufficient quantity for mining pui'poses. This ore has also been found in small quantity near the Acadia iron-mine, and in the barytes veins at the Five Islands. Sulphate of Barytes. — This mineral occurs in considerable quantity, in numerous iiTegular veins traversing the slates in the banks of the East River of the Five Islands. I have little doubt that these veins are strictly a continuation of the great iron veins already described ; but here barytes predominates, and only a small quantity of specular iron is present and a very little copper pyrites. The barytes at this place is pure white, and often in very beautiful crystalline masses. Its cavities are coated with fine crystals of carbonate of lime of the variety known as dog-tooth spar. Large quantities of barytes have been extracted at this place, by levels and open excavations in the steep sides of the ravine, and have been exported to the United States ; but I believe the demand has not been found sufficient to warrant a : ! USEFUL MINERALS. 598 quantity, ^s of the 3se veins iscribcd ; specular Is at this masses. lie of the Ites have i in the States ; l^arrant a continuance of the works on a largo scale. The presence of copper ores at this place, associated with such a veinstone as sulphate of barytes, affords some promise that if the excavations were continued, valuable quantities of such ores would be discovered. White marble occurs in the metamorphic slates at Five Islands, as well as a coloured marble of a purplish hue, with green spots tinged by serpentine. These beds at Five Islands have not been sufficiently opened fairly to test their quality. The white marble affords small specimens of great purity and of very fine grain. The coloured variety has been objected to on the ground of unequal hardness. Slate, apparently of good quality, is found in New Canaan, and on the Middle River of Pictou. It is not at present quarried, but the first-mentioned locality would appear to present great facilities for profitable working. Syenite and Porphyry, suitable for building and ornamental pur- poses, occur in various parts of the Cobequid Mountains, and on the east side of the Uras d'Or, and other places in Cape Ureton. Owing to their inland position, and the want of any internal demand, these rocks are not at present quarried. Smoky Quartz, in large and beautiful crystals, is found in the surface debris at Paradise in Annapolis County ; and its native matrix is a reddish compact felspar, which occurs in veins in the granite of that distr' t. Useful Minerals of the Upper Silurian in New Brunswick. The Upper Silurian rocks of Charlotte County afford promising indications of lead and copper, and are a continuation of the metal- liferous rocks of Washington County, Maine ; but little has yet been done to ascertain their actual value. To this age are referred the copper ores of Le Tete and the sulphate of barytes of Frye's Island, said to be in large quantity and accessible. Copper and iron have been stated to occur at Dickie Mountain and IJuU Moose Hill, in the Kingston group ; but are not very favourably reported on by Professor Bailey. As I have not personally examined any of the localities, I may refer the reader for such information as is at present to be obtained to the Reports of Professor Bailey and Professor Hind. It may be anticipated that the igneous and metamorphic hills of this district in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, so varied in their composition, and at present so little open to detailed investigation, will be found to contain many useful minerals in addition to those 2q i ,' » 594 THE UPPER SILURIAN. above mentioned; and tliat aa population and enterprise increase, they will become important mining and manufacturing districts. The soils of this district are in general good. They produce in their natural state a fine growth of hardwood timber, sufficient for a long time to supply the demands of the shipyards and iron furnaces, and when cultivated thoy are remarkably favourable to the growth of hay and grain crops. They are well supplied with lime and phosphates ; and when deep are less easily exhausted than most other kinds of upland. Hence in the more fertile parts of these hills, as in Southern I lorton, Earlton, New Annan, the IMctou Hills, Lochabcr, and Northern Cape Breton, there are fine and flourishing agi'iculturni settlements, which, in spite of a climate a little more rigorous, arc advancing more rapidly in wcaltii than most of the lower districts. Fossils of the Upper Silurian. Under this head I give the descriptions of new species published by Professor Hall in 1860, and notices of additional species since obtained, including the Palceastcr described by Mr Billings, and species mentioned by Mr Salter as occurring among Dr Honeyman's specimens submitted to him, also the specimens communicated to me by Professor Bailey in 1867. 1. Radiata. Stenopora, allied to S. fibrosa. East River, Arisaig. Favosites Oothlandica, Lin. Dalhousie, Professor Bailey. Favosites poli/morpha, Goldfuss. Dalhousie, Professor Bailey. Favosites basaltica, Goldfuss. Dalhousie, Professor Bailey. Ilelopora fragilis, Hall, var. Acadiensis. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Zaphrentis, n. s., identical, according to Mr Billings, with a species from Port Daniel. Dalhousie, Professor Bailey. Astrocerium pyriforme, Hall. New Canaan, coll. .J. W. D. Astrocericum venustum, Hall. New Canaan, coll. J. W. D. Heliolites, allied to H. elegans. New Canaan, coll. J. W. D. Petraia Forresteri, Honeyman, Arisaig. I have seen no descrip- tion or figure of this species. Dictyonema Websteri, Dawson. Beech Hill (for description and figure see p. 163, supra). Palceaster parvitisculus, Billings (Fig. 197). The specimen is about six lines in diameter. The rays are two lines in length and one line and a half in width at the base, tapering at an angle of a little less than 45°. The five oral plates are sub-pentagonal, about half a lino in width. The first adambulacral plates of each pair of incrcftsc, ;t8. oduce in cient for furnaces, growth limo and lOBt other i hills, as Loclmbcr, ^•iculturnl orous, arc stricts. publisliod jcics since mkI species oneyman's micatcd to {ailcy- lley. W. D. ;h a species D. D. D. no descrip- hption and Ipecimen is llength and angle of a jjnal, about jich pair of 1 ■▼^ FOSSILS. 690 l\tlrraiUr parviutculut. adjacent rays arc in contact with oacli other outside of the oral plates, and not completely separated as they are in P. Niagaremis. There are six or seven adambulacral plates on each side of the ambulacral groove in each ray, and they gradually decrease in size from tho oral plate outwards to tho point of tho ray. The width of tho ambulacral groove is equal to one-third tho width of fir. iot. the ray, and consequently the adambulacral rows of plntca are also each equal to one-third the whole width of the ray. In each groove there are two rows of small and apparently nearly square ambulacral plates, twelve or fourteen in each row, and they seem to bo contiimcd round on the inner margin of tho oral plates ; tho mouth is about one line wide. This species differs from P. Niagarensisy Hall (Pal. N. Y., Vol. 2, page 247, IM. 51, Figs. 21, 22, 23), in being smaller, the rays not so slender, and more importantly in the junction of the adambulacral plates outside of tho oral plates. The specimen was collected at Arisaig by Rev. Dr Iloneyman. 2. Mollusca, Crania Acadtensis, Hall (Fig. 198). Circular or broadly sub- oval, moderately convex, the greatest convexity near the apex ; apex obtuse. Several casts show a central elevated area, with strong muscular impressions ; the more elevated portion being surrounded by a flat- tened border, which is radiatingly striate. These specimens are casts which appear to be of the ventral valve ; and the form of the muscular impressions is so characteristic of tho genus that I can have little hesitation in thus referring them. Arisaig, East River, coll. J. W. D.* Discina tenuilamellata, var. subplana. Shell broadly elliptical, or suborbicular, externally depressed, apex subcentral ; surface marked by thin sharply elevated lamellae. This closely resembles the Niagara species of New York, but may bo distinct. Should further examination prove it a distinct species, the name D. subplana may be adopted. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Three other species of Discina are mentioned by Dr Honeyman as in his Arisaig collections. Choneles Nova Scotica, Hall (Fig. 199). Shell semi-elliptical, width varyin^; from onct and a half to neirly twice the length. The * Of the species from /.iisaig thus marked, some specimens were collected by Dr Honeyman, and were placed with my own collections in the hands of Professor Hall.' \ / ' * --I \ ■ \ ■J 096 THE UPPER SILUltUN. ventral valve variably convex, and often showing a flattened or alightly concave space down the middle of the shell ; cardinal margin ornamented by four or five minute spines on each side of the beak ; cardino-lateral margins often a little wrinkled ; surface finely striated, BtrisB flexuouH, dichotomising and increasing by interstitial addition, BO that tiiere are more tlian 100 on the margin of the shell ; striw increasing in size below the umbo; concentric strito fine, close, rounded and slightly undulating. Fig. 198. Crania Acaiiiensit. Fig. 199. ChoneUt Nova Scotica, and portions magnijied. Fig. 200. C'honttea tenuiatruila. Pig. 20'.. Trematospirn Acadia. ^ Fig. 202. Leplocotlia intermedia. Dorsal valve moderately concave ; strite much stronger below the middle of the shell and sometimes bifurcating toward tlio margin. This species resembles in form the Chonetes cornuta of the Clinton group of New York, but is a much larger and more ventricose shell ; the striae are proportionally less numerous and more closely arranged, the interstices being less than the striae, while in the C. cornuta the interstices are wider than the striaj, and the latter increase only by interstitial additions below the middle of the shell. A stronger and more elevated stria often marks the median line from beak to base of the ventral valve. Arisaig, East River, Nictaux, coll. J. W. D. Phonetes tenuistriata, Hall (Fig. 200). Shell semi-oval, twice as wide as long ; ventral valve moderately convex, hinge-line equalling the width of the shell ; surface marked by fine, even, closely arranged striae, which apparently increase only by interstitial additions, and arc not flexuous. The number of striae on the margin of the shell is nearly 100. This species is more finely striated than the preceding, the strite not flexuous, more even, and in shells of equal size much more numerous. This species is sowewhat larger and more closely striated than the C. cornuta of the Clinton group of New York. Arisaig, East River, coll. J. W. D. Spirifer rugcecosta, Hall. Shell somewhi t semi-elliptical; dorsal valve very convex, with the mesial fold depressed along the centre ; ventral valve with a wide deep mesial sinus ; plications six or seven FOSSILS. 597 ened or margin beak ; striated, iddition, 11; Btriw e, close, 00. tHuittriuta. 102. 'nlermedia. below the ugin. le Clinton oso shell ; arranged, >niuta the |o only by nger and base of D. , twice as equalling arranged ,, and arc le shell is I the stria; ich more ly striated ^aig, East ll; dorsal le centre ; lor seven on each side of the mesial fold and sinus, strong, and much elevated, Bubangular, crossed by numerous strongly elevated, lamollose, imbri* eating concentric striie. The specimens examined arc almost all imperfect casts, some of wliich preserve the impression of the strong concentric strioe, and in one or two specimens an impression of the shell reveals the strength of the surface markings. In many respects tliis species resembles the S. perUxmellosa of the Lower Ilelderbcrg group in Now York, but tlie mesial elevation of this species is flattened or depressed, a character never observed in New York specimens. Arisaig, East Hiver, coll. J. W. D. Spiri/er subsulcatus, Hall. Shell semi-elliptical, hingc-linc equalling or greater than the length of the shell below ; plications five or six on each side of the mesial fold ; mesial fold somewhat flattened or veiy slightly rounded on the summit ; plications rounded ; surface concentrically lamcllose. The specimens are all casts, or impressions of the shells. They bear some resemblance to S. sulcatiis of the Niagara group, and are intermediate between that species and the S. cycloptera of the Lower Helderberg group. Arisaig, East River, coll. J. W. D. Spirt/era, resembling A cycloptera., but with regular ribs. East River, coll. J. W. D. Strophomena profunda, Hall. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Dalhousie, I'rofessor Bailey. S. rugosa. Arisaig. )S. flat striated species. East River, coll. J. W. D. S. corrugata, Conrad. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Tremastospira Acadice, Hall (Fig. 201). Shell wider than long; beak of the ventral valve produced and incurved ; mesial depression marked by a small fold on each side, which originates about one-third of the length below the beak and continues to the margin ; sinus bounded on each side by a more strongly elevated plication, beyond wliich are six other plications on each side. Surface marked by fine concentric striie. This shell is referred to the genus Trematospira from external characters alone, which are unlike Rhynchonella proper, and the shell is not a Spirifer. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Rhynchospira sinuata, n. sp. Shell ovoid, ventricose beak of the ventral valve incurved ; a mesial sinus beginning a little below the beak; surface marked by about eight or nine simple scarcely sub- angular plications on each side of the mesial sinus. Surface marked by concentric lines of growth. < n 598 TUE UPPER SILURIAN. This species differs from the B. formosa of the Lower llelderborg rocks of New York in the plications being more slender, in the more defined sinus of the ventral valve, and the continuation of the two small folds in the sinus nearly to the beak. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Rhynchonella Saffordi. Shell varying in form from ovoid to globose. Full grown specimens usually wider than long, and sometimes becom- ing extremely vcntricose, so that the diameter across the two valves much exceeds the length. Ventral valve depressed convex, with the beak minute, closely incurved ; dorsal valve very vcntricose, most prominent toward the front. Cardinal slope a little depressed, sides rounded, and the front in direct line flattened but not depressed. Surface finely plicated, plications little elevated, rounded or scarcely subangular, about five or six depressed in the flattened sinus of the ventral valve, and a corresponding number raised on the flattened mesial elevation, which rises abruptly, though usually but slightly above the lateral portions of the shell. From ten to fourteen plications mark the surface en each side of th' mesial fold and sinus. Plications in front marked by a sharp groove along the centre, and those of each valve deeply interlocking. This species resembles the R. nucleolata of the Lower Ilelderberg rocks of New York, and in some specimens it approaches to R. ventricosa, but is always much more finely plicated than either. It closely resembles the R. Wikoni of Europe in its general form, but the plications are more rounded and somewhat coarser, and while in that species the sinus causes no depression in the ventral vaive below the general surface of the shell, in ours there is an abrupt depression as well as a slightly abrupt elevation on the dorsal valve, while there it» no similar feature in the R. Wilsoni* The Nova Scotia specimens are in all respects identical with those from Tennessee. Arisaig, Earlton, coll. .T. W. D. The geological position of the specimen from Tennessee is in rocks of the age of the Lower Ilelderberg group, Rssociated with Pentamerus galeatus, P. Verneuili, Spirifer macrupleura, Sjnrifer perlamellosa, Spirifer cj/cloptera, and others. Rhynchonella equiradiala, Hall. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Rhynchonella neglrrta, Hall. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Rhynchonella, n. s. (?) allied to R. transversa. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Leptiicelio inten edia, Hall (Fig. 202). Shell concavo-convex; outline semi-elliptical, cardinal extremities rounded, and the hinge- line a little shorter than the greatest width of the sboll; ventral * Sowerty, M. C, vol. ii., page 38, says: The "sinus at the front, although (1..ji>, does nut alter the evenness of the surfaco." way- ilderberg tho more ' tho tv/o , W. D. 3 globose. 38 becom- wo valves , with the osc, most ised, sides lepressed. r scarcely iius of tho 1 flattened it slightly plications Plications )se of each lelderberg lies to R, lan cither. icral form, arser, and \G ventral icro is an tho dorsal with those ssce is in iated with Sjnrifrr J.W.D. |o-convex ; Ithe hinge- ll; ventral Ihough d,.ii>, FOSSILS. 599 valvo moderately convex, carinato in the middle by a strong plication with six or seven smaller ones on each side, the lateral ones slightly curved towards the outer extremity. Dorsal valve concave, with a broad shallow mesial sinus, the margins on either side being bent a little upward, giving a sinuous outline to tho margin of the shell ; surface marked by fine concentric striaj. This species resembles the L. hemispherica of tho Clinton group in New York in general form, but the hingo-1'no is shorter, and tho extremities rounded ; the mesial elevation consists of a single strong plication, while in L. hemispherica t!ie surface is regularly plicated, with tin entral one sometimes a little stronger than tho others. Arisaig, coll. .J. W. D. Atrypa reticulari", Dalman, Arisaig. Eajt River, coll. -J. W. D. Atrypa emacerata, Hall. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Athyris [Merisia) didi/ma, Dalman. East River, coll. J. W. D. Orthis testudinaria, Dalman. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D, Lingida oblonga, Hall. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Lingula, (?) n. s. Merigomish, Dr Honeyman. Modiolopsis (?) rhomboidca, Hall (Fig. 203). Shell sub-rhomboid, rounded in ■ >nt, wider and obliquely truncate behind, hinge-line slightly ascending from the anterior end ; beaks subterminal, posterior umbonial slopo obtusely subangular below, anterior to which the shell is flattenol; basal margin nearly straight, the shell gradually widening behind, and the posterior basal extremity abruptly rounded. Surface eveidy striated concenti'ically. Anterior muscular impression very strong, posterior muscular im- pression less strongly defined, but still very conspicuous and sub- duplicate ; palh'iil line simple, nearly parallel to the basal margin, strongly and almost equally defined in all parts of its length between the two muscular imprints. This shell bears some resemblance to M. primigcnius, but is less vcntricose in the iuiduio, and the sub-angular umbonial slopo is not so )yell defined in that species. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Modiolopsis sub-nasutus, Hall. ^Uell elongate eub-spatulate, the length being more tiian twice the greatest width at the hinge-line ; slightly ascending posteriorly; beaks sub-anterior, the apterior end very narrow, gibbous on the umbones, with a sub-angular ridge on the umbonial slope which extends to the postero-basal angle ; basal margin nearly straight, the posterior end somewhat flattened and obliquely sub-truncate at tho extr mity ; surface marked by con- centric lines of growth. This shell bears a close general resemblance to M. ncuuttts of i " i 600 THE UPPER SILURIAN. I the Trenton limestone, but a careful comparison shows it to be wider and more abrupt at its posterior termination, while the direction of the striae of growth is very distinctive, these marks being regularly curving toward the posterior end in M. nasutus, while in this species they are abruptly bent at the postero-basal angle, and again on the cardinal side, corresponding with the tiTincate posterior extremity of the shell, Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Modiolopsis allied to M. suhcarinatus. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Clidophorus cuneatus, Hall. Shell ovoid, gibbous in the middle and on the umbones, gradually declining behind; beaks anterior, sub-terminal ; anterior end broadly rounded, the posterior end narrower and sub-acute, posterior umbonial slope marked by an obtuse rounded ridge, which extends to the posterior extremity, and below this an undefined sinus which, expanding, extends to the postero-basal extremity, while a less defined ridge bounds this sinuosity on its anterior side ; surface marked by fine irregular con- centric striae. In the casts of this shell there is a strong linear straight clavicle, extending from a point just anterior to the beak two-thirds across the valve. Arisaig. Fig. 203. Modiolopsis rhomhoidea. Fig. 204. Fig. 205. Clidoplwnm concentricut. Clidophorus erectus. Clidophorus concentricus, n. s. (Fig. 204). Shell sub-equilateral, very broadly oval-ovate, the anterior end the broader ; height nearly four-fifths the greatest length ; anterior side a little shorter and more broadly rounded at the extremity ; a slight depressed sinus on the posterior umbonial slope, which is more anterior than in the preceding species. Surface marked by even band-like concentric striae ; shell thin ; a linear curving clavicle extends from the cardinal line just anterior to the beak more than half way to the base. The prominent points of distinction between this and the preceding shell are the nearly central beaks, the band-like strife, and the curving clavicle wich the broad and nearly equal extremities of the valve. Arisaig. Chdophonm erectus, n. s. (Fig. 205). Shell somewhat rhomboid- ovate, the height and length about equal ; umbones prominent, beaks nearer the anterior end, somewhat curved and elevated ; posterior w. FOSSILS. 601 Fig. 206. C. elonffatui. cardinal line curving, with a scarcely defined ridge along the um- bonial slope ; basal margin strongly rounded, sinuate on the postero- basal margin and regularly rounded, with a scarcely defined ridge extending down the slope just anterior to the clavicle. Surface finely striated concentrically, a sfightly curving clavicle extending from the cardinal line nearly two-thirds the distance to the anterior basal margin. This species differs from the preceding in the equal length and breadth, and consequent greater proportional height, in the sinuosity of the postero-basal margin, and more abruptly-rounded basal outline, and the curving forward of the beaks. Arisaig. Clidophorus elongatus, Hall (Fig. 206). Shell sub-elliptical, length rbout twice the height, beaks much nearer to the anterior end, wl. ich is narrowly rounded ; umbones rounded, prominent ; a defined gradually widening depression extends from the umbo to the posterior basal margin, causing a straighten- ing or slight sinuosity in the edge of the shell ; a defined ridge along the posterior slope between the sinus and the cardinal margin. Surface very finely striated. A slender clavicle extends from the anterior cardinal margin a little more than half-way to the base, and curving slightly forward. This species differs externally from all the others in the greater proportional length and in the rounded umbones. The C. cuneatus of the same size is a stronger and proportionally higher shell, having a less defined sinus on the posterior slope, and a much stronger clavicle. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Clidophorus semi-radiatus, Hall. Shell somewhat ( .al-ovate, length about one-third greater than the height. Surface marked by fine concentric band -like stria;, and the posterior slope by flattened dichotomized radiating stria?, the two sets of striae gradually dying out at their junction. A faint line anterior to the beak marks the place of the clavicle. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Clidophorus nitculiformis, Hall. Shell nearly equilateral, sub- ventricose, height and length as seven to nine. Anterior end rounded, basal margin regularly curved; posterior end sub-acute, a slight flattening or depression along the posterior umbonial slope, and be- tween this and the cardinal line a naiTow ridge. On the anterior slope there is a depressed line almost parallel to the cardinal line, marking apparently the course of the clavicle. Surface marked by fine concentric stria;. This species resembles in form the C. concentricus in its equilateral form, but the fine unequal concentric stria3 and the difference in direc- tion of the clavicle are sufficient to distinguish it. Arisaig, coli. J, W. D. \ /! H mm !ii 603 THE UPPER SILURIAN. Clidophorus subovatus, Hall. Shell, broadly oval or ovate, moder- ately and evenly convex ; bcaka near the anterior end ; umbones moderately elevated ; a scarcely defined depression extending from the umbo towards the postero-basal extremity ; anterior extremity rounded, posterior extremity unknown (? regularly rounded) ; clavicle extending half way from the anterior cardinal margin to the base of the shell. Surface marked by fine unequal sub-lamellose stria}. This shell is larger and more regularly convex than any of the others here described, and more inequilateral than any except the C. cuneatus. Arisaig, coll. J. W. I). Nuculiles {Orthonota) carinata, Hall (Fig. 207). Shell extremely elongate, nearly three times as long as wide ; sides sub-parallel ; hinge-line straight, beaks appressed, sub-anterior, the .interior ex- treniity rounded; posterior extremity obliquely truncate, longer on the hinge-line than on the basal margin. Surface marked by a sharp carina which extends from the umbo o^.iquely to the postero- basal angle ; the space anterior to this carina marked by distinct elevated lamelloso stria;, and intermediate finer ones. The space between this and the cardinal line smooth and slightly depressed. Cai'dinal line anterior to the beak showing six or seven crenulations. A strong clavicle extends from the anterior cardinal line with a gentle curve nearly to the base of the shell. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Fig. 207. NMidites carinata. Fig. 208. TdUnomya attenuata. Fig. 209. Megamhonia canccllata. This shell presents characters not before observed combined in one species. It has the general form of Orthonta, while the crenu- lated cardinal line and the anterior clavicle are characters of JVnculitcs. The shell is readily distinguished from species of either genus hereto- fore described. The Orthouotae, yet known, have the surface marking much less sharply defined. TeMinovxya attenuata, Hall (Fig. 208). Shell elongate, narrow, more than twice as long as high, anterior end short and rounded ; beak elevated, situated a little in advance of anterior third, posterior end narrow and abruptly rounded; basal margin slightly curved, and impressed posterior to the centre ; posterior cardinal line straight but gradually declining; contour evenly convex. Surface concen- trically striated, shell thick. narrow, ounded ; posterior curved, straight concen- FOSSILS. 608 Tliis shell resembles the T. machceriformis^ but tlio anterior end is proportionally longer and more regularly round, the posterior narrower and more attenuated, and the convexity of the shell much greater. It is much smaller and proportionally more elongated than the T. nasula of the "JVcnton limestone. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Tellinomya angustata, Hall. Shell elongate, narrow elliptical, more than twice as long as wide, beaks fully one-third from the anterior end. The anterior and posterior ends similar and equally rounded ; basal margin regularly curved without indentation or sinuosity. Sur- face evenly convex and very finely concentrically striated. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Leptodomus (Sanguinolites) aratus, Hall. Shell rhomboid-ovate, ventricose, beaks at the anterior third of the valve, incurved and pointed forward, umbones gibbous, a slight depression from the umbo directly to the base of the shell, leaving a slight impression in the central margin; posterior slope sub-angular, the angle not defined ; anterior slope with a defined angular ridge which borders a large cordiform lunette ; anterior 8haii)]y rounded ; basal margin nearly parallel with the hinge-line, curving upwards at the posterior extremity, and somewhat obliquely truncated from the cardinal line. Cardinal line straight posteriorly, with a wide and deep ligamcntal area. Surface marked by strong unequal ridges and furrows parallel to the bi. d margin, which become obsolescent on the posterior car- dinal slope. It is scarcely possible to refer any fossil with satisfaction to the genera Sanguinolites or Leptodomus of M'Coy, since the grouping of .species under these names appears to us to comprise a heterogeneous assemblage in either case. Our shell corresponds in its external features with Leptodomus costellatus of M'Coy, so far as the general form, surface markings, ligamcntal area, etc., and is doubtless gcneri- cally identical with that shell. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Megambonia (?) cancellala, Hall (Fig. 209). Shell sub-ovate, widening posteriorly; beak anterior, incurved, umbo gibbous, with a gibbous umbonial slope on the posterior side, which is scarcely diverging from the cardinal line ; posterior extremity rounded, the basal margin arcuate, with a slight impression anterior to the middle, the anterior end a little gibbous. Surface cancellated by concentric and radiating elevated striie. It is not possible from the .specimen before me to refer the species satisfactorily to any known genus. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Megambonia striata^ Hall. Shell somewhat oval, the basal and cardinal lines nearly parallel ; beak sub-anterior, small ; umbones mggmmatt Ml i m- ] 604 THE UPPER SILURIAN. convex, scarcely gibbous; umbonlal slope regularly convex, below which is a slight depression reaching to tiie postero-basal margin; posterior end rounded, the longer part of the curve on the basal side. Anterior end short and narrow, somewhat abruptly rounded. Surface marked by regularly radiating rounded striae with faint concentric lines of growth. This differs from the preceding species in being less gibbous, in the more nearly parallel cardinal and basal lines in the direction of the umbonial ridge, and in the stronger radiating striae. Arisaig, East River, coll. J. W. D. Avicula Honeymani, Hall (Fig. 210). Left valve : body of the shell obliquely ovate, convex and somewhat gibbous towards the umbo, anterior wing small rounded, posterior wing large triangular, obtuse at the extremity, extending two-thirds the length of the shell. The line between the wing and body of the shell well defined by a Fig. 210. — At^icula Honeymani. slight abrupt depression along the junction. Surface marked by rounded radiating striae which are interrupted by fainter concentric undulations or lines of growth ; the wing is marked only by con- centric striae. This species bears some resemblance to A. emacerata of the Niagara and Clinton groups of New York ; but its form is slightly more oblique, and the wing is marked only by concentric striae, while in the New York species the radiating lines on this part are stronger than the concentric ones. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Chrammysia triangulata, Salter. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. Grammysia cingulata, Hisinger. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. Pterinea retroflexa. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. Goniophora cymbaeforinis, Sow. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. This and the three last shells I give on the authority of Dr Honeyman and Mr Salter. Theca Forbesit, Sharpe. Collected by Dr Honeyman at Arisaig. Miirchisonia Arisaigensis, Hall. Shell teretely conical, volutions about five, gradually increasing from the ape:{, rounded with a slight angulation or carina in the middle. The surface is unknown, and the T FOSSILS. 605 angular band on tbe volution is the only means of determining its generic relations. This differs from any of the described species of Murchisonia from American localities. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Murchisonia aciculata, Hall. Shell slender, very gradually tapering, volutions about six or seven, the last ones moderately ventricoso, aperture elongate-oval or ovate, rounded at the anterior margin, columella plain ; volutions marked by a distinct band along the centre, and a sub-sutural carina marking the upper side of the volu- tions ; surface striated. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Pleurotomaria. A flat species with four turns, Arisaig, Dr Honey- man. Nictaux, J. W. D. Holopea reversa, Hall (Fig. 211). Shell small, sinistral; spire depressed, volutions about three ; the two first small and gradually expanding, the last one rapidly expanding and ventri- „. ^.. cose ; aperture wide expanded ; suture impressed. Sur- face unknown. This shell has the general fonn of Holo- ®1 pea, but I have seen only a single specimen, which is a cast. It is remarkable and readily recognised from the sinistral spire. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Bucania trilobita, Hall. Arisaig, East River, Nictaux, coll. J. W. D. Bellerophon expansus (?), Sow. Arisaig, Dr Honeyraan. Bellerophon carinatus^ Sow. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. Platyschisina helicites, Sow. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. Acroculia heliciles, Sow. Arisaig, Dr Honeyman. This and the three last species are from the lists of Dr Honeyman and Mr Salter. Orthoceras punctostriatum, Hall (Fig. 212). Shell slender, very gradually tapering, almost cylindrical. Septa distant about one-third the diameter. Siphuncle central ; section circular. Surface very finely striated with unequal undulating strise, the interstices between which are punctse, which are oblong indentations often becoming confluent. Fig. 212. Orthoceras punctostriatum. Fig. 213. 0. elegantulum, and portion viagni/ied. is^m- This species is remarkable for its extremely gently tapering form ; the fragment of more than an inch long, showing scarcely a per- ceptible diminution in diameter. There are twelve and a half cham- ',i I iPTT 606 THE Uri'EU SILURIAN. bors in the space of one inch. The snrfaco markings arc peculiar, and among the species of the genus known to us constitute a distinctivo character. Large specimens nearly two inches in diameter from East River have the characters of this species. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Orthoceras elegantulum, Dawson (Fig. 213). This is a very beautiful species, apparently new, but closely resembling 0. perelegans, Salter, of the Lower Ludlow formation. It is cylindrical, but slightly flattened ; septa very convex and onc-twcntinth of an inch apart in a specimen half an inch in diameter; siphnnclo central. Surface with slight rounded annulations from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch apart, and covered with delicate transverse striuj, .scarcely visible to the naked eye, and about sixteen in a line. Under the microscope the striiB appear as thin sharp parallel cur\'cd ridges, the spaces between being finely granulated and wider than the ridges. Arisaig, coll. J. W. 1). Orthoceras (?), n. s. East River, coll. .F. W. D. Orthoceras (?), n. s. Nictaux, coll. J. W. D. Cyrtoceras, n. s. East River, coll. J. W. D. Orthoceras exomatum, Dawson. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. This species, collected by Dr lloneyman at Arisaig, is circular in the cross section, moderately tapering, and straight ; witli the siphuncle slightly excentric, and sei^la half a line to a line apart, in a specimen two to four lines in diameter. The surface is slightly annulatcd, and orna- mented with about twenty-four flat longitudinal flutings in the manner of a Doric column. The whole surface is also delicately striated transversely. Orthoceras numnmlare, Sow. Arisaig, Dr lloneyman. . Orthoceras Ibex, Sow. Arisaig, Dr lloneyman. Orthoceras, like O. buUatum, Sow. Arisaig, Dr lloneyman. This and the two last are given on the authority of Dr Honey man and Mr Salter, who also mention species of Lituites and Phragmoceras. Articulata et Incertoe sedt's. CormiUtes jiexuosm, var. gracilis. This fossil resembles the opo. in the Clinton group of New York, but is somewhat more slender, and the annulations a little more closely aiTanged. The specimens from the rocks of New York present some variation in form, and the com- parative distance of the annulations. None of them, however, arc so slender as the Nova Scotia specimens. Arisaig, East River, coll. J. W. D. Cornulites (?), n. s. East River, coll. J. W. D. Homalonotus Dawsoni, Hall (Fig. 214). Caudal shield somcwhtit parabolic, obtuse at the extremity, very convex, width at the anterior uliar, and I'lHtinctivo rom East W. D. 9 a very erelegans, it slifihtly ipart in ii rfaco witli f an incli visible ti) licroscope ho spaces Arisaig, D. This I the cross Ic slightly len two to land oma- manner striated an. This and Mr was. 10 opo m ndcr, and icns from tlic com- er, are so ver, coll. omcwhat anterior '♦I F0BSIL8. 607 side greater than the length of the axis. Axis wider than the lateral lobes, distinguishable (in casts) from the lobes by a bending of the ribs and a scarcely perceptible depression along that line ; anmilations abruptly prominent ; seven on the lateral lobes and nine on the axis, the anterior ones bending slightly backward at the lino of division between the axis and tlio lateral lube ; each successive one bending more and more abruptly till tlio last one approaches a rectangular turn; the whole curving gently forward at their extremities, and all terminating abruptly before reaching the margin. Behind the seventh annulation the axis is marked by two more annulations, leaving nearly one-fourth of its length smooth. This species is described from the casts and impressions of the caudal shield, so that the crustaceous covering is unknown. It ia readily distinguished by the broad not prominent axis, the rectangular direction of the annulations on the axis, and tl.eir abrupt bending at the lateral furrow. An impression of a few imperfect annulations of the body shows that they arc strongly elevated, much more so than in any known American species. Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Fig. 1\i.—IIomalonotua Dawsoni, Head and Pygidium. Fig. 215.— DaZnwnia Logani, Head and rygidium. When Professor Ilall described this species, the caudal shield only was known, with some of the segments of the body. I)r Uoneyman subsequently found specimens of the head. It has the posterior border nearly straight, the glabella moderately prominent and slightly wider behind than before. It descends abruptly in front, and the frontal margin appears to have risen with equal abruptness in front of the glabella and eyes. The eyes are large and prominent, and advance into a line with the front of the glabella. Some specimens have the bead nearly three inches broad. Calymene Blumcnbachii, var. Caudal shield somewhat semicircular, axis very prominent, marked by about seven annulations, lateral lobes marked by five ribs, the four anterior ones bifurcating. Surface granu- 1 I ;il d Ji 1 J I 608 THE UPPEa SILURIAN. I i' '-v lose. The specimens are not sufficient to make any satisfactory determinations regarding specific differences. Arisaig, East Kiver. Daltnania Logani, Hall (Fig. 215). The specimens are two or three imperfect cephalic shields, one preserving the palpebral lobes, and others consisting principally of the glabella, with two or three parts of caudal shields. There is a fragment of a cheek which may be of this species. Cephalic shield somewhat semicircular. Glabella ovate, wider in front and truncate behind, depressed convex ; occipital ring narrow, prominent ; occipital furrow bending a little forward in the middle, and curving gently backward in the middle of each side, and again turning forward; posterior furrows narrow and sharply impressed, each one extending about one-third across the glabella and curving forward at their outer extremities; central furrow linear, obscure, having a direction transverse to the axis; anterior furrow obscure ; oblique to the axis, linear extending to the margin of the glabella a little forward of the eye ; frontal lobe regularly rounded anteriorly. A fragment of a cheek in the same association is broad, produced posteriorly in a short strong spine, and marked by a broad sub-marginal groove. Caudal shield somewhat semi-elliptical, convex, acute behind, axis very prominent, rounded and marked by about eight annulations, which are gently curved backward at the extremi- ties ; lateral lobes with six simple flattened ribs which terminate in a thickened border, and separated from the axis by a strongly defined furrow ; extremity abruptly pointed. The glabella of this species more nearly resembles Phacops in the general form and faintly impressed furrows, of which the posterior one is conspicuous. The form of the palpebral lobe, and the absence of tubercles at the base of the glabella, together with the form of the caudal shield, ally it with Dalmania, and it may be compared with D. Phillipsi of Barrande, but has a more pointed caudal shield, and the cheek, if correctly referred, is prolonged in a posterior spine.* Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Proetus Stokesii ('?), Edwards, Arisaig, coll. J. W. D. Homalonotus Knightii, Konig. Arisaig, Dr Iloneyman. Phacops Downingii, Salter. Arisaig, Dr Iloneyman. The two last species are given on the authority of Dr Honeyman's and Mr Salter's lists. Beyrichia pustulosa, Hall (Fig. 216). Valves unequally semi- oval, a little more than once and a half as long as wide ; surface marked by three prominent ridges ; central, anterior, and posterior. The central one is a single oblong oval tubercle, which is directly * Attached to a fragment of one of these trilobites is a small Spirorhia. It is dextral, Mfith two to three turns, and rounded concentric wrinkles on the last whorl.— J. W. D. \ 1 I '1 FOSSILS. 609 sp ine. ly semi- surface josterior. directly ; is dextral, -J.VV.U. tran8verEr Silurian 3 alteration ;ed among Ints : — deposits, )undance these, with been in- The pro- fissile in is termed ion, and is ,) In con- ir propor- istinctions. ine Btruc- in rocks s schists, those now dened and instead of originally art?!, mica, METAMORPHIC AND IGNEOUS ROCKS. 61t felspar, hornblende, chlorite, and other minerals, which must have been produced by re- arrangement of the substances contained in the sediments, under the influence of chemical agencies. Such fossils as may have existed in thcso rocks have entirely disappeared, or may in some instances be seen to be replaced by mere nests of calcareous crystals or even by crystals of game' In the district now under consideration, these metamorphic rocks may be grouped under the following heads, each of which, however, includes many varieties graduating into each other: — (1.) Quarlzite, or a hard silicious rock produced from the alteration ot' sandstone or arenaceous shale; (2.) Cfneiss, a stratified rock composed of quartz, felspar, and hornblende, or quartz, felspar, and mica, and a product of the inetamorphism of conglomerates and other mixed sediments; (3.) Micaceous and chloritic slates, consisting of quartz and mica, or quartz and chlorite, and apparently a result of the further alteration of clay slates, into which the micaceous schists graduate; (4.) Diorite or Honiblendic greenstone, a crystalline mixture of the mineral hornblende with felspar, often laminated cr rudely stratified. These rocks may be merely altered mud*rocks or shales, but in many cases they may have been originally volcanic tufas or ash-rocks. (6.) Compact Felspar and Felspar porphyry, containing small isolated felspar crystals in a paste of more compact material of similar composition. Many rocks of this character appear to be stratified, and are probably metamorphosed clays. (7.) Crystalline Limestone or Marble, usually white and some- times with crystals of treraolite and patches of serpentine. Owing to the small amount of calcareous matter in the original sediments, this kind of rock is not largely developed in the Upper Silurian districts. All of the above are stratified and metamorphic. With these are other rocks in masses or veins either intrusive, and of the nature of vol- canic rocks, or "indigenous' products of the fusion of sedimentary rocks in situ. These igneous rocks, as they may be called, though probably of similar origin with the trap of the Triassic and Carbon- iferous systems, diSer somewhat in composition and appearance. They are mostly coarser grained or more crystalline, indicating that they are less supei-ficial, and hence have cooled more slowly. Hornblende u.'sually replaces the Augite of the trap. Felspar, which is the pure white, or flesh-coloured part of ordinary granite, exists in greater abundance than in trap. Quartz or uucombined silica is also often present in considerable quantity. Rocks of this class are very variable in their composition and appearance, hence it is difficult to give them accurately distinctive names, and geologists entertain different opinions as to the amount of internal heat, or igneous action proper, involved s s SI ■ ■ \ ! ! :i IS II 612 THE UPPEP SILURIAN. r;-!!' li in their production, and also as to the question whether they are derived from deep-sea' 1 sources under the stratified rocks, or have been produced from the ion or semi-fusion, with aid of heated water, of portions of the sedimei.s thenrsolves. That in some cases they are at least partially of the latter character is, I think, evident from the manner in which they appear to replace stratified rocks in their line of strike, or to occur in bedded masses among them, and also from their apparent relation in mineral character to the associated igneous rocks. On the other hand, in their frequent intrusion into the fissures of the aqueous rocks, they are certainly in many cases to be regarded as eruptive rocks of unknown and deep-seated origin. Dr Hunt has very fully considered these points in reference to similar rocks in the Reports of the Geological Survey of Canada. In the district now under consideration, the following terms may sei-ve for the designation of the more important rocks of this class : — Unstratified Diorite or Hornblendic Greenstone consists of horn- blende and felspar, sometimes in large distinct crystals of black or green hornblende and white felspar, and in every gradation of crystal- line texture between this and a gray or greenish rock in which the separate crystals are scarcely distinguishable. When there are large dist'nct felspar crystals imbedded in the mass, it is named Porphyritie greenstone. Unstratified Compact Felspar or Felsite is a rock consisting of the materials of felspar with some quartz, but not distinctly crystalline. It is sometimes fine-grained and flinty in aspect, and in other cases dull and rough in its fracture, approaching to the rocks called Trachyte and Claystone. Its colours are usually dull-gray, reddish-brown, and greenish. It often contains scattered distinct crystals of lighter coloured felspar, and is then Felspar Porphyry, Oranite, composed of distinct crystals of quartz, felspar, and mica. Granite is less abundant in this district than in the Lower Silurian area, next to be noticed, and the varieties which occur are often less perfectly crystalline, or have a less resisting felspar, causing them to decompose readily. Syenite consists of distinct crystals of reddish, gray, or white felspar, with a smaller quantity of dark-coloured hornblende and some quartz — the whole forming a material somewhat similar to granite, with which it is often confounded. We may associate with this rock, or with greenstone and compact felspar, a number of nameless rocks in which crystalline felspar forms the chief ingredient, with or without quartz and hornblende. kr 1 whether they are tied rocks, or have aid of heated water, 3ome cases they are k, evident from the rocks in their line lem, and also from associated igneous ion into the fissures ises to be regarded ;in. Dr Hunt has imilar rocks in the 1 the district now for the designation consists of hom- •ystals of black or adation of crystal- rock in which the 3a there are large lamed Porphyritic consisting of the tinctly crystalline, md in other cases cs called Trachyte ddish-brown, and ystals of lighter 'elspar, and mica. 3 Lower Silurian !ur are often less causing them to , or white felspar, and some quartz to granite, with ith this rock, or ameless rocks in with or without ■■'I ! r:\ \ , -< ^ b » : n 613 ■jt- f ■ CHAPTER XXIV. THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. LOWER SILURIAN OF NOVA 8C0TIA- BKUN8WICK- FOS8IL8. u ACADIAN GROUP -GOLD LOWER SILURIAN OF NEW -USEFUL MINERALS — PRIMORDIAL To this geological age I have referred, principally on evidence of an inferential character, the extensive belt of metamorphic sediments extending along the coast of Nova Scotia from Cape Canseau to Cape Sable. On similar grounds certain extensive areas of metamorphic rocks in New Brunswick have been regarded as belonging to this period ; and very recently the discovery of a rich primordial fauna in some of these beds near St John has confirmed this view in regard to a portion of these areas; while in Northern New Brunswick the resenblance of the beds to those of the "Quebec group," and their relation to the Upper Silurian beds, tend to give similar con- firmation. In describing these districts, we shall first sketch the character and distribution of the Atlantic coast series of Nova Scotia, with the important discoveries of gold which have given to it so great economic importance, and shall then proceed to notice the rocks of similar age in New Brunswick, with the very remarkable fossils — the oldest known in Acadia — which have recently been discovered in them. 1. Lower Silurian of the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia. This series extends continuously, with prevailing east and west strike, from Cape Canseau to the middle of the peninsula at Halifax Harbour ; thence it continues with prevailing north-east and south- west strike to the western extremity of the province. Its most abundant rocks are coarse clay slate and quartzite in thick beds. In some districts the slated are represented by mica schist and gneiss, and interrupted by considerable masses and transverse bands of intrusive granite. It has afforded no fossils; but it appears to be the t-ontinuation of the older slate series of Mr Jukes in Newfoundland, which haa F^ I ' 614 THE LOWEK aiLUKIAN I'EKIUD. afforded trilobltes of the genus Paradoxldes. These fossils would indicate a position in the lower part of the Lower Silurian series, possibly on the horizon of the Potsdam sandstone or Lingula flags. If 80, the Lower Silurian limestones arc either absent or buried by the unconformable superposition of the next scries, or of the carbon- iferous beds which in some places immediately adjoin these older rocks. It is to be observed, however, that the mineral character of the rocks themselves very closely resembles that of some portions of the " Quebec group " of Sir William Logan. If coeval with this, they would be somewhat higher in the Lower Silurian scale ; but I think it may bo safely affirmed that no newer group than the Quebec series can claim thom with any show of reason. We may therefore in the meantime regard these rocks as probably representative of some portion of the lower part of the Lower Silurian, but without venturing to assign them to any definite horizon, and admitting the possibility that future researches may establish differences sufficient to divide them into distinct formations. More especially in the western part of Nova Scotia, where this band attains to great breadth, I entertain the hope that a continuous sequence may be one day ascertained from the Devonian to the base of the Lower Silurian. Large though this district is, there is by no means so great a variety in its rocks as in those of the district last described ; and most of them are nearly related to each other, being composed of the same materials variously arranged. I shall notice them specially with reference to their diflPerences from those of the Upper Silurian series. 1. Granite, as it occurs in this district, is a crystalline mixture of white, or more rarely flesh-coloured, felspar,* with smoky or white quartz and gray or black mica. It varies in its texture, and is some- times porphyritic ; that is, it consists of a base of fine-grained granite, with large crystals of felspar forming distinct spots. It often contains altered fragments of the neighbouring slates, and penetrates in veins into the adjoining rocks, which in its vicinity are always more highly metamorphosed than usual. 2. Gneiss is a fine-grained granitic rock, arranged in laminae or layers. It is unquestionably here, as in the Upper Silurian district, a product of the metamorphism or "baking" of sedimentary rocks by heat and ^'ater, and in this series it almost invariably holds mica and not hornblende. 3. Mica slate consists of quartz and plates of mica, forming a highly fissile rock with shining surfaces, and usually of a gray or silvery * Orthoclase, but with soda aa well as potash. The granite of Annapolin, mentioned in last chapter, has in some places reddish quartz. ^■[ ATLANTIC COAST or NOVA BCOTIA. 615 colour. In the coast metamorphic district of Nova Scotia, it appears in many and beautiful varieties. Talcose, chloritic, and hornblendic slates are comparatively rare in this district. 4. Quartz rock, or Quartztte, consisting of grains of flinty sand fused together, and with occasionally a little mica, occurs in this series in very massive beds. 5. Clay slate, or argillaceous slate, abounds, and is usually in this district of gray and black colours, and varying very much in texture and hardness. It often presents indications of the original bedding in different planes from those of the lamination, the latter being an effect of causes acting at a time posterior to the original deposition, and, as already stated, pressure was probably the most efficient of these causes. Between these rocks there are many intermediate forms. Granite often passes by imperceptible gradations into gneiss — this into mica slate — this into quartzite — and this into coarse or flinty clay slates. There appears every reason to believe that all these rocks, except the granite, are merely variously metamorphosed forms of common sand- stones and clays. The Lower Silurian rocks form a continuous belt along the Atlantic coast of the province, narrow at its north-eastern extremity, and at- taining its greatest development in the western counties. Its southern or coast side has a general direction of S. 68° W. ; its inland side, though presenting some broad undulations, has a general direction of about S. 80° W. Its extreme breadth at Cape Canseau, its north- eastern extremity, where it is bounded on one side by the ocean, and on the other by Chedabucto Bay, is only about eight miles. In its extension westward, it gradually increases in width, until at the head of the west branch of the St Mary's River, eighty miles distant from Cape Canseau, it is about thirty miles in breadth. In the western counties it again increases in widtn, and though its northci boundary' is not well ascertained, its breadth can scarcely be less than fifty miles. Its total length is 250 miles. The general character of the geology of this district may be very shortly stated. It consists of thick bands of slate and quartzite, having a general N.E. and S.W. strike, and highly inclined. In several places large masses of granite project through these rocks, and in their vicinity the quartz rock and clay slate are usually replaced by gneiss and mica slate, or other rocks more highly metamorphosed than usual. Bearing in mind this general character, we may proceed along this district from west to east, noting the more interesting points of its structure as they occur. f : I ! I ■ \ , ■. i - ' ■ 1 - t 616 THE LOWEK 8ILUKIAN PKItlOI). The county of Yarmouth presents a succession of low ridges of slate and quartz rock, separated on the coast by narrow inlets, and inland by valleys, often containing lakes and bogs. The prevailing strike appears to api)roach more nearly to north and south than in other parts of this district. Near the town of Yannouth it was observed to be N. 20° E., and at Pubnico nearly N. and S. Near the town of Yannouth there are hornblende and chlorite slates, and inland, in the direction of Carlcton, clay slates appear to prevail. Veins of white quartz abound in these rocks. On the east side of the Tusket River quartz rock prevails, and forms a stony country. Toward Pubnico, mica slate and micaceous quartz rock appear, and am traversed by granitic veins, leading us to the massive granitn of Shi Iburne county. Granite is also said to occur inland at Kempt ; but I have not visited this place. On entering Shelburne, we find granite at Wood's and Shag Har- bours, and extending inland for some distance. At Barrington there is still abundance of granite and mica slate, with strike N, 23° E. At Port La Tour, the mica slate and gneiss abound in large prismatic crystals of a greenish magnesian mineral, allied to steatite. These crystals, which are perhaps pseudomorphous, project from he weathered surface of the rock. At the town of Shelburne there is abundance of a fine-grained granite of excellent quality, and toward the mouth of the harbour gneiss occurs, with small crystals of garnet ; its strike is S.W. Veins of coarse-grained granite penetrate these rocks, and in some places these veins present the singular variety to which the name graphic granite has been applied, from its resemblance to written characters. In this variety of granite, quartz and felspar alone are present, and the quartz in hardening has arranged itself in plates between the felspar crystals, so that when the mass is polished, the sections of these quartzose plates present the appearance of ancient Samaritan on modem phonographic writing. In the graphic granite of Shelburne, the characters are in gray quartz, and the ground is whit". Or flesh-coloured felspar. In surface griivcl, near the town of Shelbun.e, I found pebbles of the beautiful mineral rose-quartz, but did no<: r/jserve it in place. At Jordan and Sable Rivers, in the eastern part of this county, gntisB and mica slate appear in many fine varieties, and contain abui..dance of crystals of Staurotide ; and Schiller spar and talc some- times enter into the composition of these rocks as well as mica. On entering QueerCs County we find granite at Port Joli and Port Mouton, and toward the town of Liverpool these give place to quartz rock, which, with some beds of micaceous slate, here occupies a great ATLANTIC C0A8T OK NOVA SCOTIA. 617 breadth, and produces a very stony and barren country, encumbered with largo boulders. This rocky surface, at the distance of about ten miles from the coast, gives place to a fine undulating wooded country, supporting populous agricultural districts, and traversed by the Liver- pool and Port Medway, two of the largest rivers in the province, with numerous and large lakes at their sources. The source of tho Liver- pool River is in the high lands near Annapolis, not more than ten miles from the shores of Annapolis Basin ; and the distance in a direct line from its source to its outlet is more than fifty miles. Lake Ros- ignol, one of the many fine lakes that stud its course, is twelve miles in length, and five in its greatest breadth. The prevailing rock in this northern district of Queen's County is clay slato, having a general south-west strike, and almost everywhere polished and marked with diluvial striie. This inland slate district appears to be continuous with that of Lunenburgh on the east, and that of Yarmouth on the west ; so that in this part of the province the granitic rocks appear to be confined to the vicinity of the Atlantic coast, and to the inland hills near the Annapolis Valley, while a fine undulating slate country, diversified with numerous lakes, occupies the interior. In such a situation, more modern rocks than those of the Atlantic coast may be expected to occur. I searched in vain, however, for fossils in the northern district of Queen's, but obtained from a gentleman resident there a fragment of hard quartzose rock, which he believed to have been found in situ, and which contains some fragments of fossil shells, not certainly determinable, out apparently resembling Upper rather than Lower Silurian forms.* On the eastern side of Queen's County, the quartzite and mica slate are associated with granite, and beyond this they give place to clay slate, which occupies the county of Lunenburgh as far as Cape Asr \- togoen, and inland as far as I have any acquaintance with its structure. The country here has much of the aspect as well as t!ie agri ultural value of that of Northern Queen's, and presents in thesa respects a favourable contrast to most other parts of the Atlantic coast. The slates of this county are usually blue or black, and often charged with iron pyrites, which, when weathered, gives them an intense msty yellow colour. This appearance is especially prevalfcnt in some places in the western part of the county. Their strike is S.W. and N.E. It is on the margin of this slate district of Lunenburgh, and at the bottom of a deep bay penetrating into it, that the limited tract of Lower Carboniferous rocks, already noticed as occurring at Chester Basin, appears. These Carboniferous beds dip at a moderate angle * Poole, Report on Gold-fields, 1862, mentions similar fossils, and g^ves manj additional facts as to geological structure. I.)' \*^ "}. ■f -'■ - H' * ii 618 THE LOWKR BILUUIAN 1>EKI()U. S.S.E., aud give no evidence that this inotamorphic diBtrict has auf- fered any considerable disturbance since their deposition. At Mahone Bay, however, I observed a largo quantity of fragments of reddish amygdaloidal trap, which cannot be far from their original site, and probably belong to some trappcan eruption of the Carboniferous period. Aspatogoen, which is a rocky promontory, about 500 feet in height, separating Mahone from Margaret's Bay, consists, according to Mr Poole, principally of quartzite and slate with granite, and is apparently at the extremity of a thick dike or ridge of the latter rock, extending to the northward across the stratification of the country. It is the highest land on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Margaret's Bay is another deep indentation, between Aspatogoen and a broader but lower tract of granitic rock, extending to the north- west arm of Halifax Harbour. Around Margaret's Bay, as at Chester, there are small patches of Lower Carboniferous rocks ; but these are for the most part concealed under granitic debris drifted from the neighbouring districts. The granitic district east of Margaret's Bay, and terminating at Cape Sambro, has a north and south direction. It contains several varieties of common aud porphyritic granite, with veins of coarse- grained, and more rarely of graphic granitu. Near the north-west arm there are good opportunities of observing its junction with the slates which succeed it to the eastward. The slate is not here con- verted into mica-slate ; but, in the vicinity of the granite, it is hardened and rendered crystalline, and in some places passes into a rock re- sembling hornblende slate. In other places ii; appears as a hard flinty slate, filled with slender prismatic crystals apparently of stauro- tide. In close contact with the granite the slates assume the appear- ance of gneiss, and are traversed by granite veins, which often contain crystals of schorl and garnet, indicating that these veins received additions of foreign substances, as boracic acid, iron, etc., in passing through the stratified rocks. The granite itself is here porphyritic, and occasionally contains fragments of the rocks through which it has passed, fused into gneiss and mica slate. All these appearances indicate that the intensely heated and molten granite was the cause of the alteration of the slates. Eastward of Halifax, the whole countiy as far as Musquodoboit River, and northward to the northern limits of this district, consists principally of alternate thick beds of coarse clay slate, often highly pyritous, and quartzite, granite bosses projecting through it in a few places. The strike of the beds in this part of the province approaches ATLANTIC COAST OF NOVA BCOTIA. 619 more nearly to E. and W. than at tlie placeu proviourily described. At many lucalities, however, it retains its usual 8.W. and N. E. direction. Tims, at the tower at Point Pleasant, the strike of the bedding is N. 30° E., and that of the slaty Htnicturo N. 75° E. On the shore near the same place, the strike is N. G0° E., and the dip is to the north-west. Nearer the city, the dip of the true bedding in in some places to the suntii, the strike being nearly E. and W. The cleavage is, however, hero much bettor defined than the bedding, which is indicated principally by lines of diifureiit colour, and appears to undulate very much. On the road from Ilalifa.K to Windsor, at Dartmouth, and at Musquodoboit River and Harbour, the strike both of the bedding and slaty cleavage approach to E. and W. magnetic. On the Musquodoboit liiver, granite reappears, and extends to the eastward as far as the Clreat Ship Harbour Lake. IJeyond this place, as far as the extreme eastern end of the district, quart/ite and mica- slate, with masses and bands of granite and gneiss, prevail ; but I have scarcely any knowledge of their distribution, except in the vicinity of the St Mary's River, and in the peninsula of Cape Canseau. The valley of the lower St Mary's River is a rugged and rocky gorge, excavated at right angles to the structure of the country, and affording an outlet for the waters of several streams that, seeking a passage across the hilly barrier of the metamorphic district, form a small lake at the entrance of this common channel. At the mouth of the river, a considerable breadth is occupied by micaceous slates, with bands of quartzite. The strike of these rocks is N.E. and S.W., and in the places where I observed their dip, it is to the S.E. at high angles. Behind the village of Sherbrooke, and two miles eastward of the river, a mass of granite projects through these rocks, but does not occui' in the river section. This granite is well seen in the lakes emptying into Indian Harbour. On the river itself, the slates and quartz rock continue with considerable regularity of strike ; the latter becoming quite predominant, and rising into considerable eminences as it approaches the "Forks," where it suddenly descends into the Carboniferous valley of the St Mary's. Eastward of the St Mary's River, this district gradually narrows toward its extremity at Cape Canseau, but still presents on its northern margin a range of abrupt eminences, and on the south a low, rugged, and indented coast. Indeed, the steep rounded swell with which its northern side descends at the head of Chedabucto Bay, and tho pre- cipitous headlands beyond Crow Harbour, are the finest appearances in point of scenery which it presents in its whole extent. A large part of the peninsula terminating at Cape Canseau, is 1' «90 THE LO'.,"ER SILURIAN PERIOD. occupied by white fine-grained gneiss, with veins and masses of granite, sometimes of a reddish colour. There is also much micR slate, and dark-coloured clay slate, filled with crystals of the singular mineral chiastolite or cross-stone. Near the extremity of Cape Canseau specimens of this mineral -^ccur, of a reddish or fawn colour, three or four lines wide, and exhibiting the characteristic black cross in considerable perfection. I have not found this mineral in any other part of N 'a Scotia. Having thus shortly surveyed this Inrge though little explored district, I may notice the probable arrangement of its beds, and the causes of their present condition, the waste it has undergone, and the materials it has contributed to newer formations, its useful minerals, and the peculiarities of its surface and soilrf. The beds of the Lower Silurian dis let present a considerable uni- formity of strike, in the direction already mentioned, along the whole coast : a fact which, in addition to the statements above made, is curiously indicated by a table of compass dips and strikes oi the rocks :n this coast now before me, and for which I am indebted to H. Poole, Erfq. In this table, out of eighty-three observations at various places between Halifax and Yarmouth, the strike is between W. and S. in seventy-three instances, and in a great many of these not far from S. 45° W. The dips are, however, very variable, and it is, in many cases, not easy to distingrish them from the slaty structure, which often gives planes much more distinct than those of the bedding. On carefully examining a section, such as, for example, that already referred to at Halifax Harbour and its vicinity, it will be found that the beds undulate in synclinal and anticlinal curves, often of no great magnitude, so that they are frequeritly repeated within a few miles. This structure has been worked out in some detail by Mr Campbell* in the country between Halifax and Windsor. In other sections, however, as, for example, in that of the St Mary's River, there appears to be an enomious thickness of beds with a uniform dip. Reasoning on these facts, we arrive at the conclusion that the alternations of quartz rock and clay siate constitute one very thick formation having probably a predominance of quartzite below and of jlate above ; but whether the mica schist and gneiss which occur on the peninsula of Cape Canseau, and also in Queen's County and Shelburne, and the chloritic beds of Yarmouth, are to be regarded as continuations of this series, differently changed by meta- morphism, or as portions of other members of the Lower Silurian or of still older deposits, remains uncertain. To settle this question, * Report on Gold Mines of Nova Scotia. Journals of ^Assembly. ATLANTIC COAST OF NOVA SCOTIA. 621 detailed lines of section should be run across the district at several places, aim some of the more decided outcrops of quartz rock should be carefully traced. It is interesting to note the points of difference between these rocks and the more higlily altered portions of the Upper Silurian series, as described in a previous chapter. Quartz rock occurs in both ; but it exists in greater abundance and in more massive beds in that last described. Clay-slate also occurs in both, but in the first described it presents much greater variety of colour and texture ; it is associated with many coarse beds, which have been usually named graywack6, and graywacke slates, and in many places it approaches to the char- acter of a steatitic slate. These inland slates are also highly metal- liferous, abounding in veins of iron ore, and containing at least one great conformable bed of that mineral, while copper ores also appear in a variety of places. They also contain numerous calcareous bands and layers of limestone. In all these respects the slates of the Atlantic metamorphic district are strikingly different. They are thick-bedded and uniform in their appearance, destitute of calcareous matter, and with few metallic minerals, except disseminated crystals of iron pyrites, and the veins ot auriferous quartz, which are nearly if not altogether peculiar to this formation as compared with the other. They also pass into micaceous slate, which is rarely seen in the other district. These and other differences of detail must prevent any observer acquainted with both districts from supposing their rocks to be geologically equivalent. The mctamorphism of these rocks must have occurred prior to the Carboniferous period, and there can be no doubt that the granitic rocks have been the agents in affecting it, if they are not themselves portions of the stratified beds completely molten and forced by pressure against and into the fissures of the neighbouring unmelted rocks. It will be observed that many of these granitic masses have a north and south direction, whereas the general strike of the beds is N.E. and S.W. This would indicate either that the lines of greatest igneous intensity and intrusion of molten matter had no direct connexion with the elevating and disturbing forces, or that these granitic masses are merely outliers from a groat N. E. and S.W. granitic axis, at one time tlic summit of a line of hills of which only the margin remains visible, the axis itself having sunk again into the bowels of the earth, before the commencement of the Carboniferous period. The general direction of the strike of this district coincides with that of the Lower Silurian bands of New Brunswick and of the Lower ll ^ i i S rhi: ■ii a i ft ti ilk 'I! Si Ik ff L-Sk. l.l.i 629 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. St Lawrence, and the movements of its beds may have begun in con- nexion with the disturbances which Logan and others have shown to have occurred at the close of the Lower Silurian period; but the intrusive granite appears to be continuous with that of Devonian age described in a previous chapter. Whatever view may be taken of the age of the granitic rocks of this group, it is certain that they are strictly hypogene rocks, that is, that they belong to the deep-seated foci of subterranean heat, and are not superficial products of volcanic action. They are sub- stances such as we might expect to find, could we penetrate miles below the surface, beneath modern volcanoes. They were therefore probably at one time buried deeply, and have been brought up by movements of dislocation, and by the removal of their superficial portions by aqueous agents. They have without doubt furnished much of the material that has been employed in building up the more recent formations of the country. This leads to the question. Can we discover in the subsequent rock formations evidences of such an origin, and can the changes which these derived materials have undergone be satisfactorily ex- plained ? This subject, the genealogy of rocks as it may be termed, is of some interest, and I may glance at it in its bearing on the geology of Nova Scotia. The granite of Nova Scotia and its associated gneiss and mica- slates are among the oldest rocks found in the province, and we may therefore take them and their derivi rocks for illustrations. The products of tlie decomposition of granite are quartz sand, scales of mica, and fine clay which results from the decomposition of felspar. Such materials, when washed down and deposited in water, will form coarse and fine sandstones, micaceous Fandstones and flags, arenaceous and argillaceous shales ; and these may, by heat and pressure, be converted into quartzite, mica slate, and clay slate. From pure white granite the derived detritus would be colourless or nearly so. But the mica and felspar of many granites contain iron, and the sulphuret of iron is also present in some granites. In these cases the derived sediment will have a yellow or buff colour, from the presence of the yellow oxide of iron ; or in some cases the clay may have a red colour, from the peroxide of iron present in red felspar. Of course, when the granites contain hornblende or are syenitic, much more iron may be present in the derived sediment. In nature nearly all soils of granitic origin are more or less coloured in these ways. In this manner, buff, brown, and red clays, and buff and brown sandstones may be produced. »it ATLANTIC COAbT OF NOVA SCOTIA. 623 Igneous action may produce still farther changes. The yellow sand which results from the decay of granite is merely stained on the surface by the ferruginous colouring matter, and a very slight degree of heat is sufficient, by expelling the water of the iron rust, to convert this yellow stain into a bright red. This change is super- ficially produced by forest fires, and might readily occur when decomposing granitic rocks have been subjected to the influence of intensely heated or molten masses, with access of air or water. Red sands and clays produced in this way, and washed into the sea, become red sandstones and shales. Such red deposits arc, however, liable to still farther change. If long washed about in the sea, the red coat is worn from the sands and added to the fine clays, so that whitish sandstones may alternate with red shales. If vegetable or animal matter is present, the changes of colour referred to in treating of the marsh mud may take place, and dark-coloured or gray beds may result, or greenish stripes and bands may appear in the mass of red deposits. Clays and sands thus deposited may be hardened into rock by pressure, by heat, or by cementing matter introduced by the per- colation of mineral waters. It will thus be perceived, that from the gi-anitic rocks it is possible to deduce a variety of yellow, brown, and gray sandstones and shales, quartzites, and slates. Many other rocks, however, beside granite have been decomposed, especially to form the more modern deposits ; hence more complicated results than those above stated have been produced. Enough has, however, been said to show how much derived deposits may differ in appearance from those which have furnished their materials ; and also the modv, in which the waste of the older rocks has been disposed of. These facts also serve to show the enormous waste or denudation which the older rocks must have suffered in order to furnish the materials of the derived formations, for example, of the Carboniferous beds. They farther illustrate the connexion of red sandstones with periods of igneous activity, and the prevalence of gray and dark-coloured sediments at times when deposition has been slow and organic matter abundant.* With respect to surface and industrial capabilities, the different rocks occurring in this district present very various aspects. The clay slate often has a regular undulating surface, and a considerable depth of shingly or clay soil of fair quality, though usually deficient * See on this subject the anthor's Paper on " The Colouring Matter of Red Sand- stones," Jour, of Ueol. 800., and page 24 tupra. '': ii '• 11 i V i ) -f - 4 ' g « i- 1 1 - ^^B «34 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. * in lime. These slate districts, however, often contain beds of quartz rock which form rocky ridges, from which boulders have been scattered abroad, and which, by damming up the surface waters, produce lakes and bi ga, — an effect also often produced by the ridged structure of the slate itself, and the impervious subsoil which it affords. Wherever, as for instance in Northern Queen's and Lunen- burgh, the slate is nifficiently elevated for drainage, and not encum- bered with surface stones, it supports fine forests and valuable farms. Where quartz rock prevails, the soil is almost invariably extremely stony and barren. Instances of this occur in Southern Queen's, near Halifax, and in the hills near the St Mary's River. The mica slate is little better, for though it does not furnish fragments to cumber the surface, it scarcely affords any soil. The granite and gneiss in some places appear in precipitous hills of considerable elevation, and in others form low and uneven tracts. Their decomposed surface affords a sandy quartzose soil, often strewn with large lounded blocks of granite, which in some instances cover the whole surface, so that a granitic hill appears to be merely a huge mound of boulders. This appearance results in most cases from the nodular character of the granite, or from its consisting of great balls of hard resisting rock, united by a material of more perishable character. Where the granite or gneiss is wholly of a resisting character, its surface is sometimes almost entirely bare, or coated only with a layer of peaty vegetable soil. This occurs to a great extent in the peninsula of Cape Canseau. The granitic soils in their natural state often support fine groves of oak and other deciduous trees ; but the bare summits, destitute of soil, are clothed only with stunted spruces and various shrubs and mosses. Where the original vegetation has been destroyed by fire, the granite hills often become perfect gardens of flowering and fruit-bearing shrubs. I have col- lected in a day in August, on a single granitic eminence, sixteen species of edible wild fruits. The alkaline matter afforded by the waste of the granite is especially favourable to the growth of these plants as well as of ferns ; fields of which (chiefly the common brake, Pteris aquilina) may be seen in the valleys among the granitic hills to attain the height of four feet. Useful Minerals of the Lower Silurian of Nova Scotia. Gold. — At the date of the publication of " Acadian Geology " in 1855, no actual discovery of gold in Nova Scotia was known to have been made. At that time I could only indicate the possibility that such discoveries might be made, and the most probable localities; ■•■9 I 1.:. USEFUL MINERALS. QOLD. 625 quartz re been waters, 3 ridged rhich it Lunen- encum- valuable variably Southern s River, i-agments ;ous hills ;n tracts, jn strewn ces cover ly a huge from the reat balls perishable , resisting or coated a great Is in their Ideciduous [Only with le original n become have col- ;, sixteen id by the of these ion brake, Initio hills Llogy" in fn to have Ibility that llocalities ; and even in this I had not the advantage which would have been afforded by the discoveries subsequently made by Sir W. E. Logan as to the true age of the gold-bearing rocks of the ChaudiSre district in the province of Quebec. At that time I ventured to hint at these piobabilities in the following terms: — " Since the gold discoveries in California and Australia, reports of similar discoveries have locally arisen at different times in Nova Scotia; but, so fiir as I am aware, hav6 alwayp, proved deceptive. Iron pyrites, or the bright golden scales which occur among the debris of granite containing black ferruginous mica, have usually been mistaken for the precious metal. Quartz veins, however, occur abundantly in some parts of this district, and it would not be wonder- ful if some of them should be found to be auriferous. It is, however, much more probable that such discoveries may be made in the inland metamorphic district described in last chapter than in that now under consideration, as its rocks bear a much closer resemblance to those of the auriferous districts in other parts of America. Most parts of Nova Scotia have been too well explored to leave mucli probability that any extensive surface deposits of the precious metal exist, but that it does not occur in small quantities cannot with safety be asserted, until careful trials of the sands and gravels of the streams flowing from the metamorphic districts shall have been made. The gold deposits of the River ChaudiSre in Lower Canada afford an instance in which, while individual search has proved quite unprofitable, washing opera- tions on a large scale with the aid of machinery have repaid the labour and capital employed. Unless some accidental discovery should indicate a promising local iiy, it would be unwise for individuals to engage in such trials ; but if a public survey should be undertaken, they would form a part of its duties." At that time, as some absurd articles had appeared in '-^e public prints predicting the discovery of gold in very unlikely localities, and some excitement had been caused thereby, I feared even to Bay this much. Public attention was first attracted to the existence of gold in Nova Scotia in 1860. Previously to that time, though Mr J. Campbell had found indications at Laurencetown, and accidental discoveries had been made by others, nothing practical resulted. The circumstances and place of the first discovery are thus stated in a Report of the Hon. Joseph Howe : — •' In March this year, a man, stooping to drink at a brook, found a piece of gold shining among the pebbles over which the stream flowed. He picked it up, and searching found more. This was about half a mile to the eastward of the debouchment of Tangier 2s f I ■ t i iii t f ! iwiii ii > m n I I 3 • 626 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. River, a stream of no great magnitude, taking its rise not very far from the sources of the Musquodoboit, flowing through a chain of lakes which drain, for many miles on either side, a rugged and wilderness country, and falling into the Atlantic about forty miles to the eastward of Halifax. These discoveries were soon followed by others at Musquodoboit, Laurencetown, and the vicinity of Halifax, Lunenburgh and Wine Harbour; and arrangements were made by the Government for the allotment of mining areas, and for surveys of the district by Mr Campbell and Mr Poole." The principal gold region of Nova Scotia is the long belt of partially metamorphosed rocks extending along the south coast from Yarmouth to Cape Canseau, and, on the grounds which I have stated above, believed to be of Lower Silurian age. The sedimentary rocks of this region, as already stated, are slates and quartzites,* usually in thick bands, and thrown into a great number of abrupt anticlinal and synclinal folds ranging in direction from N.E. and S.W. to nearly east and west ; though, where the band becomes narrow eastward of the St Mary's River, it would seem that the whole of these beds are thrown off from one predominant anticlinal line. The gold occurs in veins of milky and translucent quartz, contained in the beds of quartzite and slate, and almost invariably running with the strike of the beds. It is associated with several other metallic minerals, to be mentioned in the sequel. The veins range in thickness from a few inches to eight feet or more, and are not constant in thickness. This is a usual character of such deposits, and arises from their occupying irregular and often shifted or faulted spaces or openings in the beds. The dip of the larger veins usually coincides with that of the bedding, but not unfrequently crosses the slaty structure where this differs from the bedding. It results from this arrangement, that the actual relation of the veins to mining operations is rather that of beds than of veins, and that they dip away from the anticlinals in the same manner with the beds ; one case being known where an auriferous quartz vein folds round the crown of an anticlinal arch. These peculiar characteristics of the auriferous veins will be illustrated in the sequel. It is not easy from mere inspection of the vein-stone to predicate, as to its value, since the gold is usually invisible to the eye. It is found, however, that the milky white and colourless varieties of quartz are the least rich, while that which has a gray or leaden colour, and is associated with metallic sulphurets, which in their decomposition cause it to become stained, is the most productive. * The quartzite or bedded quartz rock is locally known under the name of " whin." )t very far a chain of iigged and forty miles oUowed by of Halifax, e made by surveys of ng belt of coast from have stated ntary rocks 3S,* usually jt anticlinal d S.W. to )w eastward le of these line. The ;ontained in inning with ler metallic ight feet or character 'ular and The dip of g, but not rs from the ,ual relation ds than of the same auriferous ch. These illustrated vein- stone sible to the colourless has a gray s, which in productive. ne of " whin." USEFUL MINERALS. — GOLD. 627 I had an opportunity, in 1866, of examining one of the most extensively worked deposits in Nova Scotia, that of Waverley, near Halifax, in company with my friend, James Thomson, Esq., of Halifax, and shall describe it as a characteristic example of the whole. This district is situated in the vicinity of Lake Thomas, about ten miles distant from Halifax. The ore is extracted from a number of openings along the strike of the vein, worked by horse gins. The deepest pit was 225 feet, on the slope of the vein. On descending this pit, I found the vein to consist of compact grayish-white quartz, varying in thickness from four feet to six inches, but having an ordinary width of about two feet. Its strike is S. 50° W. magnetic, and its dip at an angle of 65° to 70° to the north-west. The lower wall, where I saw it, consist.* of coarse gray slate, with small cross veins of quartz. The upper wall is hard gray quartzite presenting a waved and crumpled surface, which I htove no doubt is an original strata plane, and shows that the vein is strictly in the plane of the bedding (Fig. 218). The quartz Fig. 216.— Bottom of a Shaft in the Waverley Chid Mine. of the vein itself has a laminated or banded appearance, and the gold seems to be most abundant near the walls ; though visible gold is rare in this vein at present, the greater part being in a minutely disseminated and invisible state. The superintendent of one of the mines informed me that the thicker portions of the vein afforded scarcely more gold than the thinner portions, and that the gold is most abundant near the hanging wall. This vein is known as the Tudor vein, and two smaller veins occur in its vicinity. One \ ■ . '} • ' 1 ( : I f til 1. ! •i • 628 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. is ten feet to the north of the Tudor " lode " or *' lead," the other is 1100 feet to the south. Their course appears to be similar to that of the principal lode. The quartz from the workings of the " German Mine " at "Waverley is crushed in an admirable stamping mill, worked by steam, and at present having sixteen stamps, though capable of being increased to more than double that number. The apparatus for the subsequent amalgamation and distillation necessary to obtain the gold appears to be of a very complete character, though improvements are still being made, more especially in the processes for obtaining gold from the metallic sulphurets. There are three other mining properties in the vicinity, and in the line of the same veins, but in these the mining operations are less considerable. The yield of the Waverley mines in 1865 was 13,102 ounces. The number of men employed was 270. Five mills were in operation ; four worked by steam and one by water. The yield of gold was rather more than an ounce for each ton of quartz crushed, and the rate of return per man was $895 per annum. In 1866 the yield per man was only #584. This Waverley district was until lately the most important gold-pro- ducing area in Nova Scotia. On one of the claims on the Waverley area a remarkable undulation of the containing beds has affected one of the gold-bearing veins in such a way as to produce the appearance known as "barrel quartz," and which has been described by Professor Silliman, Dr Honeyman, and others. When first uncovered, the quartz vein at this place presented the appearance of a series of arches parallel to each other, and resem- bling trunks of trees placed horizontally side by side. At the time of my visit these barrels had been removed, but a more simple con- tinuation of the structure could be seen in a shallow adit which was being worked in the course of the vein (Fig. 219), and also in some open excavations. The appearances showed that the barrel arrange- ment had constituted the crumpled crown of an anticlinal bend or arch — an explanation already given by Professor Silliman, and on one side the vein could be seen following the beds downward on the side of this arch. The arrangement indicates great lateral pressure ; and, which is of more importance, proves conclusively that the quartz veins are contemporaneous with the folding of the rock, since they have perfectly followed its folds without fracture. That the auriferous quartz veins are not beds, is evident from the manner in which they send off branches into the neighbouring rock, aS well as from their own crystalline structure and the character of the imbedded minerals. They are undoubtedly true veins, but not veins formed by fracture of 'I USEFUL MINERALR. — GOLD. 629 the other liar to that , Waverley steam, and g increased subsequent )ld appears ts are still ; gold from properties I these the J Waverley n employed 1 by steam re than an im per man only »584. it gold-pro- ', undulation ng veins in •el quartz," Honeyman, :e presented and resem- ^t the time simple con- which was ,lso in some rel arrange- id or arch — one side the side of this and, which tz veins are they have 5 auriferous which they from their ed minerals. r fracture of the containing rocks when in a hard and metamorphosed state. They have been formed and filled in the very act of the contortion and altering of the strata, and are thus of the nature of segregation veins, gradually formed as the spaces containing them were opened out, by a process so slow and gentle that the containing beds were bent without fracture and with but little crushing. The barrel quartz ia most instructive as an illustration of this peculiar mode of formation, which must have often occurred in the disturbance and metamorjjhism of sediments ; though geologists, from the habit of looking exclusively at fissure veins on the one hand, and beds on the other, have often been puzzled by these apparent anomalies which occur in the case of what may bo termed contemporaneous veins following the strike of the enclosing beds, and which, while simulating beds, and obviously not filling mere rents or fractures opened in hard rocks, must have been produced by forces acting long after the original deposition of the containing strata. Fig. 219.— Section of Vein of Barrel Quartg," Waverley. {a, a) Quartz vein, with contorted slate below and quartzite above. The minerals associated with the gold at the Waverley Mines are mispeckel (sulph-arsenide of iron), galena (sulphide of lead), blende (sulphide of zinc), and, more rarely, iron pyrites, copper pyrites, and calcareous spar. The visible gold appears in irregular grains and nuggets, included in and attached to the mispeckel, galena, blende and quartz, in such a manner as to show that it is in all cases either of contemporaneous or later introduction, and it has probably been segregated from the mass of the quartz when the latter was in a soft or pasty condition, or while it was in process of deposition. This view is confirmed by the fact, that those veins and parts of veins, which contain many " sights " or visible portions of gold, are less rich in 'ft ! 'Tii 8* ■'■■.! 1 680 THE LOWEK alLURIAN PEKIOU. diaseminated gold than those which are deficient in visible gold. Some of the richest veins indeed rarely show visible gold, while others which contain nuggets are in other respects very poor. A specimen of calcareous spar from the Wavorloy vein, given to me by the superintendent, seemed to bo of later formation than the quartz, and to have filled a " vug " or cavity ; but in a specimen from the Britannia Mine, presented to mo by Mr R. G. Fraser of Halifax, a magnesian and ferruginous calc-spar holding gold occurs near the wall of the vein, and is interlaced with thin veinlets of quartz which are highly auriferous. Gold also occurs occasionally in the slate forming the wall of the vein, occupying minute crevices in the rock, and I observed at the Montagu Mine, near the Waverley, that gold occurs in thin veins of quartz and mispeckel, ponetrating the slate to some distance from the main vein. At the Alontagu Mine the vein worked is from four to eight inches thick, and is enclosed in gray slate nearly vertical, and with strike W. 5° S. to W. 10° S. Another smaller vein occurs at a distance of fifteen feet ; and about five feet from this last the slate gives place to quartzite, which in this vicinity appears to alternate frequently with the slate. No geologist who examines these veins can, I think, doubt their aqueous origin ; but different opinions may be entertained as to the pre- cise mode of introduction of the metallic minerals. The facts already stated, in reference to the structure and mode of occurrence of the veins, and the manner in which the gold is associated with the other min- erals present, appear to me to prove conclusively that the veins were formed at the time of the disturbance and alteration of the containing beds, and in consequence of the mechanical and chemical changeg then in progress. In this case the gold and other metallic minerals were probably contained in a state of solution in alkaline sulphurets, in the silica-bearing heated waters which penetrated the whole of the beds, and from which, as from a sponge, these silicious and metallic mat- ters have been pressed out in the folding and contortion of the beds. In Nova Scotia it appears that those changes by which the older aedi- ments have been brought into their present state occurred in the latter part of the Devonian period, as I have pointed out in my paper on these rocks in the " Canadian Naturalist and Geologist " already referred to, and in a previous chapter of this work. Accordingly, in one of the gold districts of Nova Scotia, as already explained,* nuggets and grains of gold are found in the Lower Carboniferous conglomerate associated with debris of the qnartzose and slaty matrix. This inter- esting example, first noticed by Mr Hartt, proves that the gold veins * See above, under " Carboniferous," p. 277, ante. USEFUL, MINKKALB. — GOLD. 6S1 were in their present state at the time when this old gravel of the Lower Carboniferous period was being formed. To sum up our conclusions on this subject : — The rocks containing the auriferous veins of Nova Scotia are of Lower Silurian age. The veins themselves wore opened out and filled with the minerals which they now hold at the time when these Lower Silurian rocks were contorted and altered, and this probably occurred in the Devonian period, contemporaneously with the production of intrusive granites, and in connexion witii the changes of mctamorphism then pro- ceeding. It was ceitainly completed before the beginning of the Carboniferous period, since which time little change seems to have occurred in the veins. The " Gold Districts " at present recognised by the Government of Nova Scotia are, — la/, The Ovens and Gold River, in Lunenburgh County ; 2rf, Renfrew and Mount Uniacke, Hants County ; 3d^ Oldham, Waverley, Montagu, Laurencetown, and Tangier in Halifax County ; Ath, Wine Harbour, Sherbrooke, and Stormont, in Guys- borough County ; and, 5th, Middle River or Wagamatcook, Victoria County. All of these, except possibly the last mentioned, and the opening in the Lower Carboniferous conglomerate at Gay's River already mentioned, are in Lower Silurian rocks. In all parts of this district, the conditions under which the precious metal occurs in the rocks are similar to those above described ; but at the " Ovens " in Londonderry County we have the remarkable, and, in so far as I am aware, unique spectacle of a modem gold alluvium now actually in process of formation under the denuding action of the waves. The slaty rocks of this coast holding auriferous quartz veins are daily being cut away by the waves of the Atlantic, and the gold is accumulating in the bottom of the shingle produced, and in the crevices of the subjacent rock. The portion of this deposit available at present is only that on the beach ; but there can be no doubt that if the bed of the sea were elevated into land, the alluvia exposed would be precisely similar to those of California or Australia. We have thus in Nova Scotia marine gold alluvia of Lower Carbon- iferous and of modern date, and there are no doubt others of inter- mediate ages ; but their amount, in so far as yet ascertained, does not seem to be great, and the chief supply of gold is likely to be derived, as at present, from the original repositories in the quartz veins. The annual yield of gold from the Nova Scotia Mines is stated in the Report for 1865 to be 24,867 ounces; that for 1866 is 24,162, that for 1867, 27,583 ounces. These amounts cannot, however, be considered as approaching to the possible productiveness of these 1 t \ I t \i '. I 1 -? m l^i 632 THE LOWER SILURIAN TERIOP. mines in the future. The total area of the gold region may bo eutiinatod at about 7000 square miles, and the proclaimed districts do not yet reach a twentieth part of this area. Discoveries are being continually made ; but in a country covered with wood and with boulder clay these must bo slow and gradual in their progress. The quartz veins, which run in the strike of the beds, seem everywhere to contain gold, and the rocks througiiout the whole area, are interlaced with such veins, few of which have been exposed, and of these few have yet been tested. It may therefore be anticipated that the productive gold districts will for some time continue to enlarge and increase in value, and that occasionally a strong stimulus will be given to enter- prise by great and unexpected discoveries. It is also to be observed that the veins at present opened are not yet worked up to their highest point of profit. Even in the larger mines, like those of Waverlcy, no vertical shafts have been sunk on the vein, nor have the excavations been extended beyond a very moderate depth. The desire to make the work remunerative as it proceeds has induced all the Companies to sink on the slope of the veins, and to conduct the works on the cheapest possible plan. I am convinced, however, from a consideration of the regularity and extent of the veins, that were vertical shafts sunk to a great depth, and regular mining in the Cornish plan pursued, the preliminary outlay would be more than repaid by the increased production. At the depths to which excavations have been carried some of the veins have improved ; others appear to have diminished in productiveness ; but there is no reason, except the analogy of certain other gold regions, and this is often a very fallacious guide, to doubt that the principal veins opened continue productive to great depths, and that by opening them exten- sively richer portions might be found to compensate for the poor ground sometimes reached in the present workings. It would, I think, repay the provincial Government to give special privileges to Com- panies which would expend sufficient capital to open mines on a large scale. In 1855, I supposed that the probabilities of the occurrence of gold in the inland hills of Upper Silurian age were even greater than those in the older rocks of the coast. This view was based on the then received age of the Canadian auriferous deposits, and on the apparently more metalliferous character of the inland rocks. Experience, however, has hitherto been in favour of the coast series. Gold has, it is true, been found in the inland district, and possibly in the Upper Silurian series. The Middle River district in Cape Breton may be of this age. Gold has been found in the vicinity of Cape Porcupine, Hl^ ^Wi USEFUL MINERALS.— GOLD. 633 ) eHtimated do not yet :ontinually lulilor clay lartz veins, ntain gold, with such V have yet productive increase in ri to enter- iro not yet ger mines, n the vein, moderate t proceeds veins, and convinced, ' the veins, ar mining 1 be more to which improved ; here is no nd this is ;ns opened em exten- the poor d, I think, to Com- on a large ce of gold han those the then .pparently sperience, Gold has, he Upper 3ton may 'orcupine, and in a recent paper by Mr P. S. Hamilton, I 6nd the statement that it has been found near the heed waters of the Musquodoboit and Stewiacke Rivers, and also near Five Islands. The same authority also states that gold has been found in quartz occur- ring in the Triasaic Trap of Partridge Island and Cape D'Or. In this last case the metal has possibly been brought up by means of the Trap from Us original repositories in the Silurian rocks below. These facts indicate that though the coast series is at present much more productive, important discoveries may yet be made in those rockti of Uppoi Silurian age which constitute the inland mctamorphic hills extending from Annapolis County to the North of Cape Breton, and also constituting the Cobcquid range. On the view of the origin of the veins given above, there is no reason why the Upper Silurian series should not be auriferous as well as the Lower ; and it is known that gold occurs in both scries in the gold district of the province of Quebec, and perhaps more abundantly in the Lower Silurian. The large areas of altered Lower and Upper Silurian rocks, indi- cated in the map as occurring in New Brunswick, are also likely to afford gold, more especially as a portion of this area in Northern New Brunswick may be regarded as a continuation of the gold district of Lower Canada. Nor are the metamorphic rocks of the southern part of New Brunswick unlikely to afford the precious metal, more especially those of Lower Silurian age ; and recent discoveries in Canada show that this probability may extend even to the still older Laurentian series. It has been remarked, that it is wonderful that in a district so thickly settled, and so much subjected to the operatic ^s of the surveyor, road-maker, and agriculturist, as the south coast of Nova Scotia, so numerous deposits of gold should so long have escaped observation. Geologists also and mineral explorers have repeatedly visited and passed through the district. Still, when it is considered that the country is netted with quartz veins, and that perhaps not more than one in a million of these is appreciably auriferous, the wonder ceases. Ordinary observers do not notice such things. A geologist, not specially looking for useful minerals, soon becomes wearied of break- ing up and examining barren veins of white quartz, and certainly cannot spend two years in " prospecting," as the discoverer of the Wine Harbour deposit is said to have done. My own field notes contain the record of many days of hard work among these unpromising rocks, and countless quartz veins have suffered from my hammer without yielding a speck of gold. I believe I have visited 1 1 i - i i B ij 1 n I ! J 1 f ■-' 1' 1' ■ ||| If} l;j 634 THE LOWEB SILURIAN PERIOD. all the localities '>f thv; discoveries except Tangier, and in some of them, as at the St IVl'^.ry's River, Indian Harbour, and Wine Harbour,, I have spent days in examining the rocks, not certainly with a sp^ ">al view to the discovery of gold, but often with the assistance of intel- ligent friends who were good observers. The truth is, that in cases of this kind it is difficult to make the initial discovery ; but this ouce made, it is comparatively easy to trace the productive rocks over considerable districts, if the requisite knowledge of the geological character of these has been obtained. The conditions under which gold occurs in Nova Scotia are quite similar io those of other auriferous regions. The principal point of diflfer'iiice is the amount of gold found in rock \'eins, as compared with alluvial washings derived from their waste — a mere accident of the deposits or of the mode of expl ration. It is probable that the Nova Scotia deposits are strictly a continuation of those which run along the eastern Appalachian slope as far as Alabama, and which may throughout, as in Canada and the Ural Mountains, occur in altered members of the Silurian series. It is to be anticipated that the connex!,on with the auriferous deposits of the United States may soon be ofttcted by the discovery of gold in the metamorphio districts of New Brunswick. The quartz veina of Nova Scotif. are remarkably rich in gold ; and, as already stated, there is no reason that they will be found to diminish in productiveness in following them downward. There is litUe room to doubt that gold will be found throughout the cuast methmorphic district of Nova Scotia : more especially the slaty rocks of southern Guysborough, Halifax, Lunenburgh, and the northern parts of Queen's, Shelbume, and Yannouth, may bo expected to be auriferous. Careful examination may show that the gold occurs chiefly or entirely in the veins traversing certain bands of the thick beds of slate and quartz rock in these distiicts ; and these may be recognised by their mineral character, especially if defined in their relation to the other beds by a detailed survey of the productive localities. Still the indications in one locality may not be unfailing when applied to another ; and in the meantime it would be the best course for explorers to look at all quartz veins, and especially at those occurring in soft dark slaty beds, particularly near the junction of these beds with other rocks. Further, it would seem that the narrower veins, those following the strikj of the rocks, and those stained with iron rust, are most likely to be productive. Minute examination should be made, as gold often occurs in a very fine state of division, though sufficiently abundant to pay for extraction. Nor should the USEFUL MINERALS. — ^GOLD. 635 washing of the sands and gravels in the beds of rivers, and of the alluvial deposits on their banks be neglected, for it may happen in many cases that gold may occur in these when the veins originally containing it have had their outcrops worn away or concealed. Exploring for gold in new localities cannot be expected to be remu- nerative, except in rare cases; but it would be well at least that persons residing in the district above referred to, would embrace such opportunities as may occur of examining the quartz veins in their vicinity. It is to be hoped that in a short time a geological survey will place within their reach greater facilities than those which now exist, for making discoveries, and improving those already made. The table on the next page, from the Reports of the Commissioner of Mines for 1866 and 1867, will give more precise information as to the nrosent state of gold production in Nova Scotia, and the following remarks relate to districts not mentioned in the table : — The Ovens in Lunenburgh County yielded, in 1862, 361 oz. of gold from surface washings. The mine at Laurencetown yielded in 1862 75 oz., and that at County Harbour 40 oz., but operations have been suspended at these places. Mount Uniacke is a new locality recently opened, and yielded in 1867, 947 ounces of gold. Localities in Upper Stewiacke, Musquodoboit, and Sheet Harbour,are also attracting attuntion. The " Chester Mining Company " have opened shafts on some of their gold veins on Gold River, which are said to be very promising ; one sample tested having given 77 dwt. gold, and 12 oz. silver per ton. Alluvial sand from the banks of Gold River is said to have afforded to Professor How gold at the rate of 14 dwt. 10 grains to the ton. This last fact is of some interest as indicating the possible occurrence of auriferous alluvia which seem to be rare in Nova Scotia ; but perhaps might reward more careful search, more especially in the lower part of the boulder clay, and in the bottom of the beds of more recent alluvial sand and gravel. Even poor deposits of this kind might be made to pay by the methods of hydraulic washing on a large scale now in use in California. — The mining of gold for the present eclipses all the other resources of this district of Nova Scotia. It is not known to contain any other metallic minerals of value. Its granite, however, affords an excellent building stone, now used to some extent, more especially in Halifax. Some of the bands of slate have been opened for roofing slates, but I believe not as yet on a large scale ; and clays of excellent quality for bricks and coarse pottery occur at Chazzetcook and other places on the Atlantic coast, and are manufaoturcd to some extent. If: ( ' 1 ! J f t t ■ I i 1 1 T j \ f L4l' i * * If ' iafafci" ■ " 636 a.'S'S Sj-e -S s -« -^ L « §8 e <» •?. ^ 2 •«3 IS "N eo O -f! THE LOWER SILUKIAN PERIOD. -aOi £ 6 gS s 00 00 §8 eo 00 CO © s s 5! 8 o> tn CO CO & eo w •«< O eo 00 (N ^ £» < i «= Maximum yield per ton. § s 1^ § S s 04 s 8 8 g o i § 00 r-t s § 00 8 8 2 eo »- ■o •«1< eo eo CO a> e^ t- CO 00 1-H 1^ 00 N «M « «-( t>. eo t-H T-( t t» 00 eo o> o <-< o ^H O o c« rH © « © 2 i>. eo •^ O ^4 o c^ eo i-H •*< CO •S2 o 1-1 o © o r-t © »-. © © >*o r >o ■* t~ o t- CO CO CO 00 (y> eo >f5 w lO (N © t- t^ lO CO 00 O C4 ■* t- «3i t- »— ( r-i *— » *o r-t i-^ U5 ^5 •<»< •<1< t^ •^ o o r-t •-^ »M hM • • t- • • • • t- •^ ..H * J t 1-^ • * I r— 1 ^ © |5« r-l •^ CO o» f^ (N eo Tt< u 00 ■^ s o» s r-4 (N eo lO Tj< CO %. . 1^ o <^ o © N f^ -H (M s| o w^ 04 00 CD c<» CO 04 r» >c «^ ^H r^ e« © © ri •^ »-4 f-H »-< !h © o iH © —I o © o © © © ,Sand, ravel bed. o s o g § s s s © r-t § 8 «o N s to eo CO -^ 1-H o» CO eo CO r- ijw 3 Iff OS vO CO 00 CO 00 t- 5 c V OS ^^ CO o> m N o> r-t Ol CO 1-^ (M e^ t- 5 o © 5.S 1-^ eo eo O" 1^ f-< ^^ : eo : »-^ ^ ff4 eo ■o • t^ t» • e^ M u; S, S i "j'S ,^ eo ■* ■* •* ^^ t» t^ t- ^H 00 IC 2— o S.* eo 00 li-'g'^ Sag" S o> 00 ^ IN CO •* t- CO eo CO C4 c» CO eo o> rH CO r- > v3 eo CO CD - g '-'*—> 2 * * S ' * 1 • • 1 * • ?o i s • i: • 00 .2 ^ § 1 1 .a o .a hi 1 u s o 1 11 a t3 II 5 s S 52 87 00 00 26 13 08 24162 04 13 27583 06 09 36 14 15 49 01 15 15 14 17 23 30963 02 30673 00 r-l 00 i-H 00 »o CO CO «£> «0 Totals .... Totals for 1867 . NEW BRUNSWICK ACADIAN GROUP. 2. Lower Stlurtan of the south shore of New Brunswick. — The Acadian group. The city of St John stands on the outcropping edges of a thick band of hard slaty rocks underlying the Devonian beds, which appear at the southern end of the city. These St John rocks were until recently of uncertain age. Believing them to underlie conformably the last-mentioned series, I had supposed them to be Lower Devonian or Upper Silurian, but Mr Matthew has ascertained that they are really unconformable to the overlying formation ; and more recently the discovery of fossils by that gentleman and Mr Hartt in the lower part of the series has set the question at rest. The general character of the formation it* thus given by Mr Matthew : — " It consists of a gray clay slate often sandy, the layers of which present glistening surfaces, owing to the abundance of minute spangles of mica. This rock very frequently becomes very fine in lamination and texture, and dark in colour. Four thick bands of this kind occur, the uppermost of which is a black papyraceous shale. The three bands of coarser shale which alternate with them include nu- merous layers of a fine compact gray sandstone, from a few inches to ten feet or more in thickness ; a few are so highly calcareous as to become almost limestones. The surfaces of the layers in the coarser beds are frequently covered with worm- burrows, ripple marks, shrinkage cracks or scratches — apparently made by creatures gliding through the shallow waters in which they were deposited, and other evidences indicating that the slates are in great part of littoral origin." The following section of the series at St John is given by the same observer : — a. b. feet. feet. C. Gray sandstone or quartziie .... Coarse gray arenaceous shale. [This and the preceding are passage-beds from the Coldbrook or Huronian group.] Gray argillaceous shale, rich in fossils: Paradoxides, Orikis, Conocephalites, Obohlla. Black carbonaceous shale, full of fossils: Para- doxides, Conocephalites, Orthis, Dincina, Ortho- eeras, and a thm subtriangular shell resembling Theca, all mucli distorted .... Dark-gray shales, with thin seams of gray sandstone Coarser gray shales, with gray flagstones . Gray sandstone and coarse shales : Lingula, etc., Dark-gray shales, finely laminated .... 'ilack carbonaceous and dark-gray argillaceous shales more compact than the last 300 4. Bhales and flags resembling 2 a and h . . , , 2. 150 220) 200 >• 130) 450 } 200 550 750 Carry forward 800 (?) 2300 ■1 ■ H 638 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. i' ,! Brought forward 2300 5. Black carbonaceous shales, resembling 3 6, but finer and softer 450 6. a. Shales and flags like 2 a and b : Lingula, a Conchifer, Coprolites, Worm-burrows, and Crustacean markings 700 (?) "| b. Gray and ferruginous sandstones and beds of coarse VllOO (?) shale: LingtUa ...... 400 } 7. Black carbonaceous shales, finely laminated . . . CoO 4500" Westward of the St John River, the rocks of this series extend through Carlton, but soon diminisa in thickness and disappear. To the eastward they are prolonged in a band skirting the older (sup- posed Huronian rocks) to Loch Lomond, where they disappear along the line of outcrop proceeding from St John, but reappear on the other side of a synclinal, and extend with opposite dips nine miles farther to the eastward. Their whole extension in this district is about thirty miles, with a breadth of about four miles. Farther details will be found in Professor Bailey's Report. Though thus limited in their distribution, these beds are in the highest degree important in a geological point of view, as their fossils establish for the first time on the American Continent a series of fossiliferous beds older than the Potsdam sandstone, hitherto sup- posed by American geologists to be our oldest Palaeozoic group ; and corresponding with the older Lingula flags of Wales, and with Bar- rande's " Etage C." in Bohemia. These fossils also contribute to affix the same age to the Paradoxides slates of Newfoundland, and of Braintree, Massachussets. In other words, they add a new forma- tion to the Paleozoic period in America. This formation has as yet been known as the St John group ; but I think this name unsuitable, both on account of the number of places known as St John, and on account of the variety of formations occurring near St John in New Brunswick, and would therefore propose for the group now under consideration, characterized by Paradoxides, Conocephalites, etc., and the oldest known member of the Palaeozoic of America, the name Acadian Group, by wliich I hope it will be known to geologists in whatever part of America it may be recognised. In the northern part of New Brunswick a broad belt of metamor- phic rocks with granite bands extends from the south shore of the Bay de Chaleur westward of Bathurst in a south-west direction to the sea-coast of Maine. These rocks were denominated " Cambrian " by Dr Gesner and Dr Robb, but by more recent observers are regarded as Lower Silurian, principally on the ground of difference in mineral character from the Huronian rocks and similarity to those of the HEW BRUNSWICK. — ACADIAN GROUP. 639 sup- ; and Lower Silurian as developed at St John and in Nova Scotia. The following remarks on their age [are from a paper by Mr Matthew, already quoted : — •' A provincial collection in the University Museum of the rocks in this quarter closely resembles those of the Lower Silurian slates of St John, and differs essentially from the Upper Silurian and Devonian deposits which have been recognised in this region. ** In the alternations of arenaceous and dark-coloured clay slate with intercalated quartzite, this formation, which is also auriferous, resembles the gold-bearing series of the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, long ago recognised as Lower Silurian by Dr Dawson. If both prove to be on the same horizon geologically as the St John series, namely, the iower part of the Lower Silurian, our knowledge of the age and relations of the older metamorphic rocks of Acadia will be placed on a firmer basis than heretofore. " So far as our knowledge goes, they differ from contemporaneous deposits to the westward in being conformable to the Huronian series ; and also in the rarity of calcareous and magnesian sediments, there seeming to be little else than shales of various degrees of fine- ness, flagstones, and quartzites." Professor Hind, in his Preliminary Report, regards these rocks as equivalent to the Quebec group, which is now recognised by the Canadian Survey as between the Calciferous and CI 'zy ; but whether this is their real age, or that somewhat lower horizon which is marked by the fossils of the St John group, we have at present no certain means of determining. The rocks above referred to constitute two broad bands flanking a ridge or series of interrupted parallel ridges of granite, believed to be of Devonian age. In the maps of the Province these belts have usually been marked as uniform and regular, with an aggregate width of 35 to 50 miles, but Professor Bailey informs me that many facts known to him render it probable that their limits are more irregular and not well ascertained. I have marked them in the map as nearly as possible in accordance with the views of Professor Bailey and Professor Hind, A shorter belt of mica schist and other metamorphic rocks associ- ated with granite, which runs parallel to the south-eastern side of the New Brunswick Coal-field, and near the St John River, comes into contact with the supposed Upper Silurian belt of Kara and Havelock, is believed by Professor Bailey, on the evidence of mineral character, to be probably of Lower Silurian age. This belt, extending to the south-west, unites with the others above mentioned in the south-western corner of the province, the greater part of which ia 'f: 1 <: ; ' I i II 'h Ir n-w THE LOWER 8ILJRIAN PERIOD, believed to be occupied with altered Lower Silurian rocks; but the precise distribution of these, and the limits between them and the older and newer rocks in their vicinity, are very imperfectly known. Useful Minerals of the Lower Silurian of New Brunswick. Oold. — The probability that these rocks in New Brunswick may be geologically equivalent to the auriferous rocks of Nova Scotia and of the province of Quebec, would of itself excite hope that the precious metal might occur in them. In addition to this, drift gold has, according to Professor Bailey, been found on the head waters of the Tobique and Miramichi, and at the Grand Falls of the St John, and it has also been found in situ by the oflScers of the Geological Survey of Maine at St Stephens. At this place it occurs in quartz veins in micaceous schist. Professor Hind also states that gold has been found in a " black plumbaginous slate " at St Stephen. These indications are sufficient to warrant the hope that important discoveries would reward a careful exploration of this district. Antimony. — This metal was discovered to exist in the parish of Prince William, York County, about twenty-five miles from Freder- ickton in 1863, and subsequent exploration has led to the belief of the existence of very important deposits. The ore is a pure sulphuret, capable of yielding about 70 per cent, of metallic antimony, and is contained in numerous large and well-defined veins of quartz, filling lines of dislocation in highly tilted argillaceous slates and quartzites. " These veins are true veins of segregation, showing a distinctly banded character, and an alternation of materials, the antimony ore itself frequently forming distinct layers, though often penetrating irregu- larly the surrounding rocks. Excavations have been made by diflferent Companies at several points, two of them distant more than three- fourths of a mile from each other, and have in each case proved productive. No very persistent or vigorous operations have, however, as yet been carried on. 533 cwt. of ore was exported in 1864."* Small quantities of silver occur in the antimony ores of this place. Lead. — Indications of galena or sulphuret of lead are reported as having been found on the Tobique and elsewhere; but, as yet, nothing remunerative. Copper. — In Professor Hind's Report, a number of localities of copper ores are mentioned ; but as in all of them the metal appears • Professor Bailey, MS. USEFUL MINERALS. 641 to be, so far as at present known, in \ery small quantity, I merely refer to i Report. Iron. — The most important deposit at present urorked in this district is that at Woodstock. At this place the ores, according to Professor Hind, are in " sedimentary deposits many feet in thickness, interstratified with red and green argillites or with calcareo-magnesian slates of a red and green, or mottled red and green colour. The ores vary in composition, being both red anl black. The black is some- times feebly magnetic, but it derives its colour more from the presence of manganese than from the black magnetic oxide." One or more furnaces are in constant operation at Woodstock, and others are in process of erection. The iron is of a superior quality. The ore yields 32 per cent. The quantity produced in 1864 was 2750 tons. Manganese occurs in the Tattagouche River, and has been worked to a small extent. Nickel,, in the form of green silicate, is found in small quantities associated with the antimony ore of Prince William. Zinc, in the state of blende or sulphuret of zinc, also occurs in small quantity in Prince William.* 1 ' " : >l \ 1 1 r * i I ll! Fossils of the Primordial or Acadian Group at St John. These are the oldest organic remains which I can present to the reader from the rocks of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, and they represent the oldest forms of life known to geologists, with the excep- tion of the far more ancient Eozoon Canadense, and the few other organisms found with it in the Laurentian rocks of Canada. These fossils were originally discovered at Coldbrook by Mr Matthew, and they were subsequently collected by Professor Bailey, Mr Matthew, and Mr Hartt, at Ratcliffe's Millstream and also near the city of St John. The first publication in reference to them was the following notice by Mr Hartt in Professor Bailey's " Observations on the Geo- logy of New Brunswick," 1865. " My examination of the fossils collected last August, from the St John group, at Ratcliffe's Millstream, by Professor Bailey, Mr George Matthew, and myself, and of a collection made from the same group at Coldbrook, in 1863, by Messrs George and C. R. Matthew, is not yet suflSciently complete to enable me to give an extended description of them here. I shall therefore limit myself at present to a notice * For the information under the above heading, I am indebted to Professor Hind's Report and the MS. notes communicated bj Professor Bailey. 2t 1 i .1 At \'\ Vt 642 THE LOWEU SlIiUKIAN PERIOD. of the genera, and of the aid they afford in the determination of the geological position of the St John group, leaving the descriptions and figures of the species to be given in a future paper. " The fossils as yet known to occur in the rocks of the St John group, are principally Trilobites, which are represented by quite a large number of species, and Brachiopoda, which last are of more rare occur- rence. All these fossils are preserved as casts or impressions, the tests of the Crustacea and the shells of the Brachiopoda being usually transformed into oxide of iron. "All the specimens have suffered more or less from distortion through pressure and the metamorphosis to which the rocks enclosing them have been subjected. The Trilobites occur also as detached fragments, so that their accurate determination is not easy, and more material is required in order satisfactorily to figure and describe all the species. *' Representatives of four genera of Trilobites have been obtained thus far from the St John rocks, viz. : — Paraduxides, Conocephalites Agnostus, and a new genus (?) allied to Conocephalites. " The number of species in each genus has not yet been satisfactorily made out ; but of Paradoxides there are at least five, of Conocephalites seven, and of Agnostus and the new genus each one. " All the species appear to be new. One of the Paradoxides bears a close resemblance to P. rugulosus, Corda, from the Etage C. of Banandc, in Bohemia, and one of the Conocephalites is allied to C. coronatus, Barrande, from the same fauna and horizon, though neither is identical with the European species. " There are six species of Brachiojioda, belonging to the genera Orthis, Discina, Obolella, and Lingula. I have not been able to identify any of the forms with described species. " Though all the species from the St John group are apparently new, yet the occurrence of Paradoxides and Conocephalites, genera confined entirely to the so-called Primordial fauna of Barrande, and every- where characteristic of it, together with the strong likeness borne by the St John species, in their facies, to those of the same genera of the faunae of the "Primordial" in Europe and America, enable us unhesi- tatingly to assign to the St John group, or at least to that lower part of it which has afforded Trilobites, a geological position equivalent to Barrande's Etage C. or to the Lower Potsdam of America. " Barrande uses tlie word fauna, in his term primordial fauna, in a sense equivalent to epoch or horizon. A fauna is strictly a collection of animals confined witiiin a limited geographical area. The terms "primordial fauna," "second fauna," are used with propriety when applied to the groups of fossils characterizing the FOSSILS OF THE ACADIAN GROUP. MS ! genera able to every- aorne by ra of the unhesi- fer part /alent to fauna, krictly a |al area. ed with ling the Etages C. and D. in Uohemia ; but these terms, unless limited, should not be extended to equivalent groups of the same age, but forming distinct faunse, in other parts of the world, for such a dotdfle emploi is incompatible with that precision which should mark the use of scientific terms. Primordial zone is objectionable. If the term Primordial is used, and it is very appropriate, it would be much better to say Primordial period, — period, as used by Agassiz, being equivalent to 13arrande's itage. " The lower part of the St John group, at Coldbrook, has been divided by Mr Matthew, on lithological grounds, into three bands, viz. : — " No. 1. The lower or arenaceous band, with no determinable fossils, and constituting passage beds from the Coldbrook group. " No. 2. Argillaceous shales, rich in fossils, Paradoxides, Orthis, Conocephalites, Obolella. "No. 3. Carbonaceous shales, full of fossils, Paradoxides, Conocepha- lites, Orthis, Discina, etc., all much distorted. " I have not observed No. 2, at Ratcliffe's Millstream. No. 3, at Coldbrook, corresponds exactly, in its fossil remains, to the bed at the Millstream, from which the Trilobites, etc., were obtained. Nearly, if not all the fossils I have seen from No. 2, at Coldbrook, are entirely distinct from those of No. 3 of the same locality and the Mill- stream ; but more material is required to establish the claim of these two beds to be considered as being characterized by distinct succes- sive faunae. At all events, all the species from both beds are different from those elsewhere occurring, and for at least bed No. 3, we have in the vicinity of St John a distinct fauna of the Primordial period." Other engagements have prevented Mr Hartt from fulfilling his intention of publishing detailed descriptions of the species. Iri com- pliance, however, with my desire to place these interesting forms before geologists in this work, he has kindly communicated to me his MS. notes ; and I have extracted from these the following descriptions of several of the more common species, with notices of the others : * — Eocystites primaevus, Billings, Coll. Hartt (Fig. 220). The little plate with radiating sculpture, represented somewhat enlarged in the figure, is regarded by Mr Billings, to whom the specimens have been submitted, as indicating a new genus of Cystideans. Eocystites. * Mr Hartt desires ine to state his obligations to Professor Agaasis for the oppor- tunity of comparing these fossils with specimens in the Mnseam of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, U.S. Fig. 22a ^H^l 644 THE LOWER 8ILUBIAN PEKIOD. Fig. 221. Linffuia Matthewi, Lingula Matthewi, Hartt, MS. ( Fig. 221). Dorsal valve, ^-circular in outline or very slightly wider than long, extremely flat, the convexity being scarcely noticeable ; shell very thin ; on each side a segment such as would be cut off by a chord running from the umbo to the extremity of the transverse diameter, is slightly turned up on the margin. Inside, a strong mesial ridge, rounded and of moderate width, runs from the umbo to a point a little beyond the middle of the shell ; at the umbo this ridge bears a small nail-head-like process or swelling, and there are two minute and extremely short secondary ridges, originating from the head of the primary, and extending obliquely backwards. Inner surface marked with numerous indistinct and irregular concentric striae ; outer surface not visible. I have found one perfect dorsal valve in a piece of slate sent me by Mr G. F. Matthew from Coldbrook. Lingula, n. s., Hartt, MS. Differs from the above in being almost straight in front, broadly rounded at the sides and narrowed towards and pointed at the umbo. It was also larger, thicker, and more convex. Ratcliffe's Millstream, Hartt. Oholella transversa, Hartt, MS. A very small, transversely oval species, from Coldbrook, St John. Discina Acadica, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 222). Shell elliptical in out- line ; sides more or less straight. Conical, but very depressed. Apex Fig. 222. apparently central. Surface marked with a number of deep concentric irregular sharp furrows, not always con- tinuous, and often breaking up into smaller grooves ; and all these seem at times to be impressed with lighter lines running nearly parallel with them. Of the large furrows, from nine to ten can usually be counted. The whole surface of the shell is marked with a great number of delicate raised lines radiating from the summit to the circumference, and just visible to the naked eye. Rather rare in the Trilobite shale at Ratcliffe's Mill. The .shell appears to have been thin, and is probably much compressed vertically. Collected by N. B. Survey and J. W. Hartt. Orihis Billingsi, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 223). Shell subquadrate to semi- circular, broader than long; greatestwidth at the hinge-line; moderately convex ; greatest thickness at about the middle, de- pressed in front. Hinge-line straight. Dorsal valve semi-circular or subquadrate, depressed, with a shallow sinus running from the umbo to the front. OrtAw BUlingti. Umbo not elevated above the hinge-area, which is Diacina Acadica. Fig. 223. /..SOBiasisr.- FOSSILS OF THE ACADIAN OnOUP. 645 i 1 ( v 1 very narrow, and marked by fine parallel longitudinal Btriae. Hinge- plate bearing two slight incurved internal processes. Ventral valve more arched than the dorsal, with a narrow flat margin produced in the plane of the valve. Hinge-area triangular, concave, and marked with fine parallel lines. Umbo elevated above hinge-line about one-fourth of length of shell. Foramen triangular and of moderate size. Surface ornamented by about thirty prominent rounded radiating plicae, increasing in width towards the margin, becoming less elevated and slightly curved toward the ears, crossed by a number of distinctly marked, concentric, squamose lines of growth, and numerous fine concentric striae. The radiating plicae increase by bifurcation, which takes place at about one-third the dis- tance from the umbo to the margin. Rather common in the Trilobite shales, Ratcliffe's Millstream, and St John. Collected by N. B. Survey and J. W. Hartt. The figure does not show the fine con» centric lines. Orthis, n. s. There appears to be a second species in the St John slates ; but the material at hand does not at present warrant its description. Conocephalites Bailer/t, Hartt. MS. Head transversely semi- elliptical, half as long as wide ; anterior margin in front more or less straight, posterior margin quite straight ; posterior angles of cheeks slightly rounded and unfurnished with spines. Facial suture never visible ; anterior margin of shield with a narrow very elevated border, which is widest and most elevated in front, and grows narrower and lower posteriorly, becoming obsolete, or nearly so, at the posterior angle of the shield. This border is separated from the other part of the shield by a deep, rather wide furrow, which is deepest in front but grows shallower as the anterior border loses in height going posteriorly. General form of shield convex, but much depressed. Glabella more depressed than the cheek, sub-triangular, depressed convex, broadly rounded in front, and separated from the cheeks and front by a deep well-marked fuiTow ; width at base equal to length, which last is about 7-lOths that of shield ; very much narrowed in front. Lateral bounding furrows inclined to one another at such an angle as would cause them to meet if produced to the middle of the front margin of head. Occipital furrow deep and well marked, slightly arched forward in middle, and curving downwards and forwards, growing narrower at the extremities, and less deeply cut than the bound- ing furrow of the Glabella, No lateral glabellar furrows, or very slightly marked, never seen on casts. Occipital ring more elevated, and rather wider in the centre ; bent forward at the sides ; narrow, with a very low spine-like tubercle in the centre. Posterior furrow moderately M, ' 1 I- fl 64B THE LOWER SILURIAN PKRIOD. I ! deep and wide. Sides of shield bent nliglitly downwards. Posterior angles flattened. Cheeks sub-trinngular, bounded by the straight dorsal furrow, the straight groove which separates them from the glabella, and the curved marginal furrow. They arc more convex or gibbous than the glabella, sloping gently towards the marginal furrow, but steeply to the other bounding grooves. In the cast they are marked on the edge of the bounding groove of the glabella at the points where the straight sides of the latter begin to curve around the front by two small, low, but well-marked ocular pro- minences, from each of which extends a slight ocular ridge, with n more or less outward curve towards the posterior angle of the shield, but usually losing itself at about half the distance in u system of delicate ramifications, which may often be traced to the posterior angles of the cheek lobes. Like ramifications are thrown oflF for the whole length of the ridge from its anterior side, and these occupy the surface of the cheek-lobes in front of the line. The surface of the cast sometimes appears granular, but the mould is always smooth, and the outer surface of the shield was unfumiuhed with tubercular or granular ornamentation. The posterior border on each side of glabella is very elevated in the middle, and !< <'S height thence each way. Cephalic shield sometimes an inch and u half in width. Heads only of this species have been found. They occur in moderate abundance in the primordial shales of the St John group at Ratcliffe's Millstream. Collectors, Professor L. W. Bailey, G. F. Matthew, J. W. Hartt, and C. Fred. Hartt. Fig. 224. — Conocephalites Mattheioi, head.* #1^. ii.'i . Conocephalites Matthetoi, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 224). Head, semi- eircular to semi-elliptical, more than twice as wide as long; front and lateral margins forming a regular curve ; posterior margin nearly straight; posterior angles of shield flattened and rounded without spines; margin with a strong, round, rather narrow fold, which becomes naiTower and lower towards the posterior angle of shield, where it disappears. This is separated from the cheek-lobes by a very deep, moderately broad groove. This groove is arched forward in front by a large semi-globose swelling, situated just in advance of * Owing to the difficulty of drawing from imperfect and distorted specimens, this and the following figures do not adequately represent all the characters of the species as described by Mr Hartt. FOSSILS OF THE ACADIAN OKOUP. R47 the glabella, encroaching upon the marginal fold, causing it to be thickest on each side of this prominence. The posterior margin is also folded, but the plait is more or less inclined backwards. The fold is narrow near the occipital ring, but grows more prominent, and gains in width towards the posterior angle, but, like the anterior fold, it disappears at that point. Its course is not straight ; at about half the distance of ^ho outer angle it bends slightly backwards and downwards, and then forwards slightly, to disappear on the flattened or rounded angle of the shield. This fold is separated from the cheek-lobes by a groove shallower and broader than the mar- ginal one, which it resembles, by expanding gradually into the flat- tened space of the outer angle. This groove follows a course parallel to the fold which it accompanies. Length from occipital furrow about half that of head. Glabella sub-conical, longer than wide, strongly rounded in front, and about half as wide anteriorly as posteriorly ; length about half that of whole shield, strongly convex, but less elevated than the ch' ok-lobes, bounded laterally and anteriorly by leep grooves, the anterior being not so deep as the posterior. The sides of the glabella are impressed and divided into lobes by three pairs of deep lateral glabellar furrows. Those of the posterior pair are the longer and more deeply impressed. These furrows begin abruptly at a point somewhat in advance of the middle of the longer diameter of the glabella, and directed back- wards at an angle of about 45° to the antero-posterior diameter of the shield, disappear abruptly without gaining the medial line, usually extending a little more than the third of the distance across the gla- bella. Those of the median pair begin also on the bounding groove very abruptly, only a little in advance of the posterior pair, but they are usually not so oblique, and extend on each side not more than a quarter of the distance across the glabella. The distance between the outer extremity of the median and anterior furrows is somewhat less than between those of the median and posterior, and these but slightly impress the sides of the glabella, and occasionally are scarcely visible. The anterior lobe is about as wide as the one which follows it. The occipital furrow is deeply cut in the outer third of its length, and strongly directed forwards. In the middle third it is not so deep, and is quite strongly arched forwards. The occipitsl r'ng is narrow, strongly convex, and vertically arched, the sides being more or less narrowed, turned downwards and forwards, being projected obliquely more or less across the posterior marginal check- groove towards the inner posterior angleof cheek-lobe. The ring projects backwards beyond the margin, but not beyond the posterior lateral angle of shield. The 2 I i 1- ' ^ > i i «4d THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. 1 m ' li i m middle part is produced into a ver)' short conical tubercle-like spine, directed slightly backwards. The cheek-lobes are strongly gibbous, and very regularly arched, the convexity being stronger anteriorly. A nar- row distinct wavy ocular ridge begins on the cheek-lobe, just opposite the anterior part of glabella, and, thinning gradually out and arching, at first slightly forwards, curves round and is directed towards the outer angle of cheek-lobe, but it usually vanishes before reaching that point. From its anterior outer side it throws off a very numerous set of fine bifurcating raised lines or ridges. These lines are directed outward from the primary line at a rather acute angle, and appear to bifurcate several times. This ocular ridge is thickened at its commencement, but is not so strongly marked at that point as in C. Bnileyi. It is i»,l80 more arched forward than in the latter species. The whole outer surface of shield is covered by innumerable, close-set, raised points cr granulations just visible to the naked eye, but ver " distinct under the lens, appearing in the impression of the shield as minute pi .ictures. These appear to be more distinct on the convex portions cf the shield. The raised margins, cheek-lobes, glabella, occipital ring, as well as the lobe just in advance of the glabella, bear sparsely sown, minute, short spines, which give to the surface a distinct granular appearance. These are always wanting in the furrows and on the cheek-lobes, are more crowded on the outer halves of the cheek-lobes. They are true spines, but 'ipfially appear as granulations on the casts. In very young specimens, a line in diameter, the shield is semi-circular, the cheek-lobes are extremely gibbous, and very much more convex than the glabella, and the pro-glabollar lobe is very conspicuous. I take great pleasure in dedicating this the most abundant and prettiest of these Trilobites to its discoverer and my intimate friend and geological companion, Mr G. F. Matthew. Common at Rat- cliffe's and St John's. Specimens from Coldbrook show slight differ- ences, probably only varietal. Conocephalites Robbii, Hartt, MS. Head without movable cheeks, of moderate size, depressed convex, slightly arched in front, where the width is considerably less than behind. Length about equal to breadth in front. Glabella, ovate-conical, sides straight, and dorsal furrows so inclined as to meet if produced in middle part of anterior margin ; very convex ; more elevated in the middle ; posterior furrows reaching about one- third of the way across the glabella, directed strongly backwards, and reaching nearly to the base of glabella ; middle furrows less distinctly marked, short, not so oblique as first ; anterior very short, appearing only aa little pits or depressions ou the sides of the glabella. ■•r:''':"'l!:jr ^' * w\ i« ftrig i itt « fiiiff - <'^ ^ rcle-like spine, \y gibbous, and iriorly. A nar- i8t opposite the md arching, at '^ards the outer ing that point, ous set of fine ected outward ar to bifurcate immencement, Bnileyi. It is le whole uuter lised points cr iistinct under ute pi -iCtures. I cf the shield, as well as the minute, short • appearance, cheek-lobes, »s. They are its. >emi-circular, more convex picuous. bundant and iraate friend non at Rat- slight differ- able cheeks, t, where the il to breadth s so inclined ery convex ; about one- :wards, and 18 distinctly , appearing FOSSILS OF THt! ACADIAN GROUP. Occipital ring narrow, convex, widest in the middle, narrowing towards sides, which are turned forward, giving to it a crescent shape. Occipital furrow deep and well developed, widest in the middle, where it slightly impresses the base of the glabella; narrow and slightly bent forward at the ends. The ring bears a little short conical tubercle-like spine in the middle, directed slightly backwards. Fixed cheeks, frontal limb one-third to one-fourth of whole length of head, with a narrow, high, convex border, inside of which is a moderately deep furrow ; :heek-lobes depressed, convex, meeting in front, rising abruptly from the deep dorsal furrow, on the borders of which they reach their greatest elevation, which, however, is not equal to that of glabella, and sloping thence roundly towards the sides and front. The posterior limb bears a deep, wide, furrow, which widens somewhat near extremity. The marginal fold is very narrow and of little prominence ; and widens a little in the outer half. The posterior margin bends slightly backwards at extremity of limb, which is rounded. RatclifTe's Millstream.— N. B. Survey and J. W. Hartt. Conocephalites Orestes, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 225). The head-shield of this species without movable cheeks is of medium size, length about equal to breadth in front, or to two-thirds width behind ; margin arched moderately in front, with a rather wide, low border fold, widest in front, narrowing toward the sides, separated from the rest of the head by a shallow groove. Glabella long, ovate, conical, or cylindrico- conical, extremely convex, wider behind than in front, where it is rounded. The sides are straight, and so inclined to one another as to meet, if produced, at a distance in advance of margin in front about equal to the distance of that line from glabella. The glabella is flattened on the sides, and never regularly convex. There are three pairs of furrows, which lightly impress the sides of ih" glabella, and of which traces are not always distinctly preserved ; and they are apt to be seen best in slightly distorted specimens. Dorsal furrow narrow, deep, and sharply cut ; occipital ring widest in the middle, narrowed from behind at the sides, separated from glabella by a distinct furrow. Bears in the middle a minute tubercular spine pointing upwards. Fixed cheeks strongly convex, but much less so than the glabella, meeting in front with ab.;.pt slopes toward dorsal and posterior marginal furrows, but with gentle rounded slopes toward sides and anterior groove. Ocular ridges, marked as lightly raised lines, originating at the dors&l furrow some distance behind Fig. 22.'i. Conocephalites Orestes, head. \^; I f ' ♦ m ■-. t •■ • ) f ' ' ' r' t it. 650 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. l«) 'I 4- M the front of the glabella, and rising obliquely upwards and backwards to ocular lobes, which are small and semi-lunar, folded considerably upwards, and are situated just opposite middle of head ; width between ocular lobes about equal to width in front. Behind the eye the suture describes a long open sigmoid curve, which is continued inward somewhat so as to give the limb a rounded outline, and make the cheek here about one-third wider than at the eye. Posterior margin of cheeks with a slight fold, more prominent in the middle ; outer half of this margin is archci backwards. Whole head arched slightly for- ward vertically. This species resembles C. Hallii, Hartt, but differs from it in the shape of the anterior marginal furrow. This same feature and the long and narrow glabella distinguish it from C. Robbii. Rather common in shales at Ratcliffe's Millstream. — N. B. Survey, 1864, and J. W. Hartt. Conocephalites elegans, Hartt, MS., Ratcliffe's Millstream. Head or cephalic shield semi-circular or semi-elliptical, more than twice as broad as long, nearly straight behind ; anterior border with a very strong fold, separated from the rest of the head by a deep groove. This fold is widest and most elevated just in front of the glabella, where it is sometimes the tenth of an inch in width. At this point the groove bends abruptly and angulai'ly, and arches forward on each side so as to encroach on the marginal fold and cause it to disappear at about half the distance between the middle point in front and the posterior angles of shield. The posterior marginal folds are very thin, most elevated in the middle, and sloping each way towards the occi- pital ring and posterior angles of shield. The axis of the outward half is more and more inclined backward from the perpendicular towards the posterior angles, which are rounded, more or less flattened, and without backward projecting spines. The grooves separating the posterior fold from the cheeks are very deep, and arc slightly directed forward. Length of glabella about six-tenths of .intero-posterior diameter of shield, a little wider at base than long, and less than half as wide anteriorly; triangular, with anterior part rather broadly rounded, highly inflated, and bounded by deep grooves, which in front join in with the anterior marginal groove. There are three pairs of glabella furrows. Those of the posterior pair impress deeply the sides of the glabella, are strongly curved backwards, and scarcely reach a third of the distance across each side. The second and tliird pairs only just impress in like manner the sides of the glabella. Those of the second pair are curved backward, and extend about a quarter of the distance across the glabella. Those of the third pair are very FOSSILS OF THE ACADIAN GROUP, 651 short, and appear to be parallel with the transverse diameter, but they are not always distinct. Occipital furrow deep, slightly arched forward in the middle, and with the enf* J tuined in the same direction ; occipital ring of moderate width, tho middle is produced into a spine often more than a quarter 01 an inch in length. This spine is more or less strongly directed backwards. The cheek-lobes are very gibbous, more so than the glabella. Their posterior border is so strongly impressed by the posterior furrow that it arches slightly over it. The surface of the convex part of the shield is ornamented by very fine, close-set granu- lations, distinctly visible to the naked eye, and by a set of delicate little tubercles more sparsely sown. Rather uncommon at KatcliflFe's Millstream. — J. W. Ilartt, Prof. Bailey, Mr Matthew, C. F. Hartt, and N. B. Survey, 1864. This bears in its gi'auulated surface a strong likeness to C. Matthewi, but is distinguished from that species by the thickened, triangular, anterior border, the wider glabella less deeply lobed, and by the long occipital spine. The fine granulations are more distinct, while the coarser are tubercles and not spines. It is larger than C. Matthewi. Specimens without anterior border, and with badly preserved surface markings, are apt to be taken at first sight for C. Baileyi. The glabellse of these two species are very alike in outline, but G. Baileyi wants the gla- bella furrows, or has them only indistinctly marked. Conocephalites Ouangondianus, Hartt, MS. Head, without mov- able cheeks, strongly convex in outline, somewhat sub-angular in front ; much narrower in front than behind, where width is greater than the length ; width in front very nearly equal to length ; anterior margin wide, with a strong fold, whose axis is strongly inclined forwards, so that it presents a short, steep, convex slope forward, and a long concave slope in the inner side, being much less elevated than glabella or fixed cheeks. Glabella long, ovate-conical, nearly twice as wide posteriorly as in front, very convex, slightly sub-angular at the middle ; sides straight, inclined to one another so as to meet in the middle of front margin if produced ; rounded in front. Casts sometimes showing three pairs of short, raised, transverse lines on the sides of glabella, occupying the position of the ordinary glabella furrows ; of these the two posterior are directed obliquely backwards. In some specimens there seems to be a fourth pair in advance of the other, represented by little tubercle-like processes, situated on the side of the glabella in front, just where the sides curve to the front. Glabella very much more convex than fixed cheek. Fig. 226. Conocephalites Owangondianut. .1 1 1 , ■ i 1 f : I ! i I I t M ! 1 k 652 niA LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. Occipital ring strongly arched upward, and separated from glabella by a well-marked groove; middle of posterior margin produced backwards in a short conical spine. Fixed cheeks highest along dorsal furrow, towards which they pressed abrupt round slopes, while their general surface slopes gently and quite evenly towards front or sutures. The dorsal furrows are confluent in front with the flat margin, so that the cheek lobes do not meet in front. They are highest along the straight dorsal furrows, but where they bend to go round the anterior extremity of glabella, the cheek-lobes narrowing and curving towards each other, c^radually sink away and disappear in the front flattened space. The ocular lobes are very well developed, forming sub-semicircular lappet-like lobes, curved strongly upwards, and situated about opposite to the centre of the head. An ocular ridge, low and rounded, but very prominent, runs from anterior margin of ocular lobes, with a curve almost parallel with front margin of shield, but slightly divergent from it to the dorsal furrow, which it gains at a point considerably back of front of glabella, and where the straight part of the dorsal furrow bends to go round the front. Posterior limb short and broadly rounded. Post-marginal furrows less deep than dorsal, wider; marginal fold narrow and moderately prominent; shield strongly arched transversely ; surface smooth. Cephalic shields without fixed cheeks, only part preserved. Rather uncommon in the Trilobite shales of Ratcliffe's Millstream. — N. B. Survey, 1864, and J. W. Hartt. Conocephalites tener, Hartt, MS. Minute, glabella ovate- conical, truncate at base, roimded in front, where it is about half as wide as at occipital furrow ; slightly contracted behind ; length about equal to width at occipital furrow ; strongly depressed convex, more elevated at base than at front, and higher also than fixed cheeks ; aspect varies with state of preservation of specimens; arcuate, rounded, convex, or concave; the middle seems to be inclined to project back slightly over the occipital furrow ; slopes abruptly to occipital furrow, which is moderately deep, wide, and narrowed, and slightly inclined forward at the ends, where it terminates abruptly ; bounding groove deeper than other grooves in head ; occipital ring projecting backward bodily beyond higher margin, with the axis of its fold inclined more or less backward, and produced in the middle into a short conical backward inclined spine; anterior limb regularly arched as if t!je outlines of the complete head were semi-circular. Fixed cheeks anterior border broad, flat-concave, rising more or less abruptly to a sharp, thin, marginal fold ; width between anterior ^lif sd from glabella argin produced 3 highest along ; round slopes, evenly towards 1 front with the ■ont. They are they bend to go obes narrowing ■ and disappear ub-semicircular I about opposite inded, but very !, with a curve jhtly divergent it considerably t of the dorsal mb short and ) than dorsal, linent ; shield rved. Rather itream. — N. B. ovate-conical, as wide as at bout equal to more elevated aspect varies d, convex, or back slightly rrow, which ined forward roove deeper g backward iclined more hort conical ed as if the ing more or een anterior FOSSILS OF THE ACADIAN GROUP. 668 extremities of cheek sutures equal to or about twice width of glabella at base. Cheek-lobes but slightly convex, and much more depressed than the glabella. Ocular ridges very distinct, thin, sharp, elevated ridges, that begin about inner edge of cheek-lobes, just behind rounded front of glabella, run outward and backward at an angle of 60° — 65° to the antero-posterior diameter. They are at first straight, but soon begin to bend backward more and more abruptly, forming a fragment of a spiral, their extremities being slightly directed inwards. The width between the ocular lobes is about equal to twice the length of the glabella. The ocular ridges are inclined outwards and forwards. Another ridge of the same appearance begins a very short distance behind the origin of the former, and on the very margin of the cheek- lobes, and, diverging from the margin nearly opposite to the base of the glabella, bends off abruptly along the posterior margin of the cheek- lobe, describing a curve, whose convexity is directed backwards. This ridge terminates considerably outside of the ocular lobe at a point distant from the glabella about equal to half the width of the latter at its base. This ridge is usually found inclined in the opposite direction to the former, viz., inward and backward. Posterior mar- gin of fixed cheeks moderately and regularly S-curved, the inner halves curving forwards, the outer halves backwards, with a marginal fold most elevated in the middle, but much less so than the ridges of the cheek-lobe or the anterior fold. This fold becomes double at about the middle, by the appearance of a groove running along its summit, and it appears to run out before reaching the lateral suture. The width between the posterior extremities of cheek-sutures is con- siderably greater than between the anterior extremities or between the ocular lobes. Glabella without furrows. This beautiful species I have found only in breaking up some fragments of fine dark shale sent me from Coldbrook by my friend 6. F. Matthew. It is associated with Microdiscus Dawsoni, and Paradoxides lamellatus. Conocephalites Aurora, Ilartt, MS. Resembles C. Ouango7tdia7ium, but diflers in wider head, more depressed, anterior margin more broadly rounded, and border more strongly reflexed and elevated, etc. Rare at Ratcliffe's Mill.— N. B. Survey and C. F. Hartt. Conocephalites Thersites, Hartt, MS. DiflFers from the last and also from C. Ouangondianum in the front margin being broad and flat, and bordered by a low narrow flattened fold or ridge, etc. Glabella in the cast has three pairs of very short raised lines on the sides. Very rare at Ratclifie's Mill. — J. W. Hartt. Conocephalites ffemini-spinotus, Hartt, MS. Resembles C. Mat- \-^ i ) ■ t • I tt^ S '. * C J 664 THE LOWER SILUBFAN PERIOD. \ ;i;i ) >ki them, but with wider and leas elevated marginal folds, cbeek-lobea much more gibbous and semi-ovoid, etc. Sparsely sown with minute spines, grouped two and two. Rare at St John. — C. F. and J. W. Hartt. Fig. 227. Conocephalites Hallii, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 227). Well ^^^ separated from all the others by its very convex, nar- ^^j^^ J row, and long glabella, ovate, or cylindro-conical ; \'~ as well as by its strongly rounded sub-angular out- Conocephalites ijne in front, and by its peculiar anterior marginal HaUiii?). f^jj^j ^^^ common at RatcliflFe's Mill— N. B. Survey and J. W. Hartt. Conocephaliles quadratus, Hartt, MS. Head minute, transversely oblong, twice as long, slightly curved in front, straight behind, very flat; a narrow elevated fold, con-", a. in front, concave behind, and somewhat inclined backward, goes round the margin. Very rare at Coldbrook. — Mr Matthew's cabinet. Conocephaliles negleclus, Hartt, MS. Glabella regularly semi- elliptical; length, exclusive of occipital ring, about two-thirds of width at base, moderately convex. Highest at middle of base and sloping with a regular curve toward the front. Traces of two pairs of glabella furrows on the .sides. Occipital furrow deep and concave. Occipital ring with straight parallel margins, narrow with a short conical spine directed upward, etc. Very rare at Coldbrook. — Mr Matthew's cabinet. Conocephaliles formosus, Hartt, MS. Head trapezoidal in cutline, the anterior and posterior margins approximately parallel, and the former of less extension than the latter. Glabella as wide at occipital fun'ow as long, narrowed in fror.;t, and broadly rounded, with straight sides, — three transverse furrows dividing it into almost equal parts, etc. Not very common, Ratclifi'e's Mill. Conocephaliles, n. s. (?), Hartt, MS. Resembles C. tener, but has much shorter head and glabella, and very high anterior marginal fold. Very rare at Ratcliflfe's V 'iL Microdiscus Dawsoni, Hartt, MS. (Fig. 228). Cephalic shield semi-lunar, wi-h thickened borde. crossed by numerous grooves run- Pig 228 "'"& perpendicularly to the circumference. Glabella convex, jff»^ narrow, rounded in front, conical and pointed behind, pro- dJu\ jecting beyond posterior border, without furrows or occipital UierodiMui groove. Checks convex, no eyes, and no traces of sutures. Dawtoni, head, ^ . /.i.ii.iii mag. Posterior angles of shield with backward projecting spines. Pygidium sub-triangular, with curved outlines, rounded in front and behind. Middle lobe distinctly marked, and divided k^. ^' m FOSSILS OP THE ACADIAN GROUP. 655 >lds, cheek-lobes own with minute C. F. and J. W. ^'ig. 227). Well 'ery convex, nar- cylindro-conical ; lub-angular out- iterior marginal — N. B. Survey ate, transversely ght behind, very ave behind, and ti. Very rare at regularly semi- it two-thirds of die of base and i of two pairs of ip and concave. •w with a short t Coldbrook. — oidal in > utline, irallel, and the vide at occipital d, with straight )st equal parts, tener, but has erior marginal eplialic shield s grooves run- abella convex, d behind, pro- ws or occipital ces of sutures, jecting spines, rounded in and divided into six segments. Lateral lobe also divided, furnished with a narrow border. This pretty little species I have never detected in the shales from Ratcliflfe's Millatream, but it occurs quite abundantly in tho shales of Coldbrook. All the specimens I have seen were collected while breaking up some fragments of slate sent me from that locality by Mr Matthew. I am not aware that it is found in St John ; I have never collected it at that locality. It always occurs broken, the cephalic shields and pygidia being separated. Note. — Mr Hartt had originally described this species under the new generic name of Dawsonia ; but Mr Billings regards it as a species of Microdiscus of Salter. The surface has a very fine granu- lation not shown in the figure, and the grooves of the border are also more distinct. Agnostus Acadicus, sp. nov. (Fig. 229). Head minute, transversely- elliptical or sub-circular, breadth and length about equal, convex but very depressed, outlines in front and on the sides slightly straight- ened. A narrow flattened and but very slightly elevated border goes round the front and lateral margins. This is separated from rest of shield by a nan-ow, shallow, flat space, or pig. 229. groove, which, on going posteriorly along the lateral margins, loses gradually in width toward the posterior angles of shield, which are rounded. Glabella a little less than two-thirds the length of shield, long elliptical, depressed convex, but more elevated than other parts of the shield, about twice as lone as broad, bounded ante- Agnostus Ac- riorly and laterally by a sharp rather deep groove concentric and p'ygidi to the outer one above describe.l. A well-marked trans- *""' "'*^' verse furrow arching backwards separates the anterior third of the glabella as a sub-circular lobe Posterior part of glabella rounded, but impressed on each side by a littie lobe situated in the angle between the cheek-lobe and the glabella. These little lobes are about one quarter the size of the anterior glabellar lobe. Cheeks of the same width throughout, and uniting in front of the glabella, being bounded by the two concentric grooves above mentioned. Posteriorly they are rounded ; in width they are rather greater than the glabella. They are convex, more elevated along their inner margin, but sloping outward, roundly, and evenly. Glabella with its lobes project considerably beyond posterior margin. Surface smooth. Pygidium of this species (?) of about the same outline as cephalic shield. The posterior and lateral margins have a slight raised border, separated from lateral lobes by a shallow but well-marked groove running 1 ^ I i 1 if ^iii 656 THE LOWER SILURIAN PERIOD. I \ • il < vi parallel to the margin. This groove widens at the point where it bends to go forward along the sides, in such a way as to encroach on and thin out the marginal fold, and, just before reaching the anterior margin, it narrows itself from the inner side so as to cause the lateral lobes to widen somewhat anteriorly. These are narrow, flattened, about half as wide as the middle lobe, narrowing to a point just behind the middle lobe where they do not unite. The medial lobe is about fivc'sixths of length of pygidium, shield-shaped, flattened, convex, more elevated than the lateral lobe. Its anterior border is slightly concave in the middle. The lateral angles are rounded, and the lobe is contracted a little anteriorly. It is bounded by two deep and well-marked furrows, which join one another in the middle of the marginal furrow, forming a pointed arch.* Medial lobe projecting farther forwards than the lateral ones. A little spine is situated on its mesial line about one-fourth its length from front. Surface smooth. The pygidium and cephalic shield, from which the above descriptions were drawn up, were collected by my father and myself at St John, near the residence of W. R. Burtis, Esq., from shales of the lower part of the Acadian group. They were associated with Conoce- phalites Baileyi and C. Mattheivi, Orthis Billingsi, etc. The two parts are separate, and each is represented by but a single specimen. I have little hesitancy in referring the one to the other. The glabella seems to be marked by a broad but faint transverse depres- sion just behind the anterior glabella furrow. There are indistinct traces of an anterior articulating border to the pygidium. Both the specimens figured are casts. Actnostus similis, Hartt, MS. Differs from the last species in its straight sides, wider marginal groove, and more distinct marginal fold. Cheek-folds narrower in front of glabella. The pygidium shows similar diff'erence of proportion. Ratcliffe's Millstream, somewhat rare. Paradoxides lamellatus, Hartt, MS. This is a small species dis- tinguished from several others found with it by the presence of a num- ber of sharp perpendicular laminse on the anterior lobe of the glabella. Fig. 230.— Portions of Heads of Paradoxides. * More 80 than in the figure. i:^- r FOSSILS OF THR ACADIAN GROUP. 657 ie point where it 15 to encroach on hing the anterior cause the lateral larrow, flattened, to a point just lie medial lobe is flattened, convex, jorder is slightly led, and the lobe Y two deep and le middle of the lobe projecting ne is situated on Surface smooth. )ove descriptions self at St John, les of the lower i with Conoce- etc. The two single specimen. 16 other. The insverse depres- e are indistinct ium. Both the Mr Hartt recognises several other species of Paradoxides, but has not found time to work out their characters in detail ; and this is rendered particularly difficult by the circumstance that the thin crusts of these creatures appear to have suffered even more from distortion than the other fossils imbedded with them. The descriptions above given, with the fact that some of the layers are perfectly loaded with fragments of Trilobites, will serve to show the exceeding richness of this ancient fauna, and to indicate its relations to Primordial life in other parts of the world. These remarkable fossils deserve, however, much more full and detailed illustration than that which I have been able to give them ; and many additional species will no doubt be found. Fig. m.—Paradoxidea. Restored by Mr Matthew from ImKitients found at St John, and probably belonging to a specie* indicated in Mr Hartt's MS. by the name P. Micmac. 2 V f-i I mmm 668 "'" lil I . i I; V r» '. I :-;-i'U' l«1 ..I mm H\,\[^'^'- iti-a ■tr^xil CHAPTER XXV. THE HUKONIAN AND LAUIIENTIAN PERIODS. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS — THE UURONIAN SYSTEM — THE LAURENTIAN SYSTEM SUMMARY OF THE QEOLOQICAL HISTORY OF ACADIA CONCLUSION. The formations last described can-y us far back tlirough the long ages of the earth's geological history to the boginning of the Palajozoic period ; but still older rocks, indicating still earlier periods, are known to geologists. These, until lately, were regarded as azoic, or destitute of remains of life ; but the discovery of Eozoon Canadenae now entitles them to the name Eozoic, or those that indicate the morning of that great creative day in which the lower forms of animal life were introduced upon our planet. Formations of this age occupy great breadths in the northern part of the North American continent. All that rocky and hilly region on the north side of the St Lawrence Gulf and River, constituting the Laurentide Hills, reaching from Labrador to Lake Superior, and the extension of it to the south in the Adirondac Mountains of New York, consists of Laurentian rocks, and these are skirted on the south, more particularly on the shores of Lake Huron, by the newer Huronian series, which, however, like the first, underlies all the Silurian formations. The rocks of both these great groups, as might have been anticipated from their vast antiquity, and the vicissitudes which the earth has undergone since their for- mation, are in a highly metamorphic state. Still there is good evi- dence that, like the altered Silurian rocks above described, they were originally sedimentary deposits, formed in the sea, and subsequently brought into their present state. Until a few years ago, wo had no evidence of the existence of these old formations in Acadia, or indeed elsewhere on the Atlantic coast south of the Gulf of St Lawrence, other than the vague suspicion that some of the metamorphic rocks of unknown age might possibly bo referred to these periods. _The discovery of the Primordial fossils M THE IIURONIAN SYSTEM. 659 noticed in the last chapter has however, among other important results, enabled Professor Bailey and his able coadjutors to introduce into his " Observations on the Geology of New Brunswick" the two groat groups of rocks which stand at the head of this chapter, while Mr Murray has recognised the Laurentian in Newfoundland, and a con- siderable area on the banks of the Lower Hudson has also been referred to the same period. These discoveries indicate a second long line of outcrop of Laurentian rocks parallel to that previously known^, and separated from it by broad areas of Silurian, Devonian, and Carbon- iferous rocks. They also show that immediately after the Laurentian period, not only the breadth of the American continent in the north was marked out by these rocks, but also the direction of its eastern coosc Hurontan Series {Coldbrook Group). Under the St John or Acadian series, in the vicinity of St John, and more especially at Coldbrook, there occurs a group of unevenly bedded rocks, evidently marking a period of much disturbance, and consisting, in large part, of conglomerate and of beds which seem to be of the character of volcanic tufa or indurated volcanic ash. In mineral character these beds closely resemble the lluronian of Georgian Bay, and as they underlie the Primordial slates of St John, I think we are fully justified in assigning them to this age. Should this view prove correct, the occurrence of these peculiar bods in New Brunswick, and also in the basin of the great Canadian lakes, will constitute an interesting illustration of the existence of similar physical conditions at the same time in widely separated areas, and will increase our appreciation of the geological importance of that period of physical disturbance which seems to have separated the quiet seas of the Laurentian with their reefs of Eozoon from the equally quiet conditions of the Lower Silurian ocean. Though visible only along a line of outcrop about thirty miles in length, and a few miles wide, these Huronian beds attain in one locality, according to Mr Matthew, a vertical thickness of not less than 7000 feet. In other places, however, their thickness is stated to be only 150 feet. On this difference of thickness, and the composi- tion of the group, Mr Matthew bases the following remarks : — " These figures indicate that the ancient continent, previously ele- vated above the sea, sank under the accumulated weight of Huronian sediment to the extent of one mile and a half or more in that shoirt distance, and that a coast-lino near the position now occupied by the city of St John limited the Huronian sea to the eastward during a great part of this period. i < !' ilii 660 THE ItURONIAN AND LAUKENTIAN PEKIODB. P I " Its opening, if wo may judge by the lowest member known, was marked by the accumulation of littoral sediment. To this succeeded an epoch when igneous eruptions commingled molten matter, scoria, and fragments of rock with the fine mud resulting from the wearing of the Azoic continent. After an interval of time, during which the arenaceous shales of No. 3 wore formed, these conditions wore again repeated in a still greater accumulation of volcanic ashes, tufa, etc., which, as the pre-existing land sank beneath the waters, spread as a thin deposit further west. " The whole was eventually covered by the red and purple sedi- ments of the Upper Division, which are more uniformly distributed, and are conformably surmounted by the lowermost strata of the Lower Silurian formation, thus becoming, like the Cambrian of Britain, the * basement segments of the Silurian system.' And although Professor J. D. Dana classes these fundamental rocks of the Palaeozoic series as Azoic, he remarks, that ' should the Iluronian rocks be hereafter found to contain any fossils, they will form the first member of the Silurian.' " In general characters there is a remarkably close resemblance between this formation and the Huronian of Canada, notwithstanding the wide extent of country which intervenes. Both are largely com- posed of erupted materials, diorites, tufas, and volcanic mud : hard- ness, and obscurity in the lamination of the slates is a feature in common ; and here, as in Canada, slate conglomerates may be seen of a texture so compact and uniform that the inclosed masses are dis- tinguishable only by a diflference of colour." The structure and composition of the series are th us given by Mr Matthew, in ascending order : — " Lower Division. " 1. Coarse red conglomerate (with an abundance of quartz pebbles) and red sandy shale. " 2. Dark porphyritic slates and trap, with slate conglomerate, trap- ash, and tufa. " 3. Gray and ferruginous arenaceous shale and sandstone, becoming, v/ben altered, a laminated compact felspar or felspathic quartzite. " 4. Pale-green (weathering gray) slate, stratification very obscure [apparently an indurated volcanic ash], with slate conglomerate, ash- beds, and tufa. " Upper Division, ** 5. Red and gray conglomerate and red shale. Red and purple grit and sandstone. . - ■/ )0S. iibcr known, was « this succeeded 1 matter, scoria, rom the wearing uring which the ions were again ashes, tufa, etc., 3r8, spread as a id purple sedi- ■nly distributed, ta of the Lower of Britain, the lough Professor eozoic series as :8 bo hereafter member of the e resemblance Jtwithstanding B largely com- c mud: hard- a feature in lay be seen of isses are dis- given by Mr artz pebbles) merate, trap- e, becoming, artzite. '^ery obscure merate, ash- r-" -■ ■ and purple THE HURONIAN SYSTEM. 661 •• Of these beds, Nob. 1, 2, and 3 do not extend so far west as St John, and No. 4 diminishes very much in bulk in the rear of the city, where it fills inequalities in the uppermost bods of the Portland (Lnurontian) series." I'rofessor Bailey makes the following remarks on the ago of these rocks : — " The facts upon which depend the determination of this question have already been given in the remarks on the age of the Portland series, where also a parallelism is suggested between the Coldbrook rocks and those of the Huronian series of Canada. The parallelism is apparent, partly in the fact that the former, like the latter, underlie the rocks of the Potsdam group (of which the St John slates arc here the representatives), and partly in their mineral characters and the absence of fossils. " It is impossible to read the description given of the Huronian series in the reports of the Canadian Survey, without being struck by the close resemblance which exists between the members of that series, and what has been termed in New Brunswick the Lower Cold- brook group. In both the prevailing rock is a hard compact slate, almost universally of a dull grayish-green colour, with which are associated pink and white, or greenish>white felspathic quartzites, and at the base of the series, dark gray sandstones and conglomerates. In both, also, dioritic or greenstone dykes are common, as well as stratified amygdaloidal traps, the igneous outflows penetrating the rocks as well as lying in regular beds among the strata, in which they have produced excessive alteration. It will thus be seen that the two formations are alike in their general character, as well as in the conditions under which they were produced. Indeed, the resem- blance is much stronger than would naturally be expected in series so widely separated. " In passing to the upper member of the Coldbrook group, the task of establishing a parallelism with either of the Canadian series is much more difficult. Unless we regard the red quartzites and jasper conglomerates of the Huronian rocks (Nos. 7 and 8 of the section given in the Canadian Reports, near the Thessalon River), as the equivalents of the red conglomerates and sandstones of the New Brunswick group, no rocks approaching the latter in character are found, with the exception of the red sediments associated with the copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior. As these, however, have been shown to be the probable equivalents of the Chazy group, which occupies a higher horizon than the Potsdam beds, which here overlie the rocks of Coldbrook, we must, for the present, be content to con- t m ; % 66S THE HUBONIAN AND LAURENTIAN PERIODS. yA u ;v 1' ilU 1 u eider their precise position as uncertain, only remembering that they constitute a series lower than the Primordial rocks, at the base of the Silurian." The rooks of the lower part of the Coldbrook group being much harder than those of the upper member, and than those of the St John group, present a marked feature in the topography of the country, projecting in a bold and rugged ridge, well marked for some distance to the eastward of St John. The Huronian of Western Canada is rich in metallic minerals, more especially in copper; but that of New Brunswick has not as yet afiforded useful minerals. Indications of copper and lead, however, occur in rocks referred to this age on the Hammond River, near Quaco, and in other localities specular iron has been observed. It is to be observed that while on Lakes Huron and Superior the lower Silurian rocks of about Chazy age rest unconformably on the Huronian ; at St John, the Primordial shales of the Acadian group, which are, however, much older than the Chazy, appear to repose conformably on the Coldbrook serie? Laurentian Series {Portland Group), Regarding the group of rocks last described as Huronian, there seems no alternative but to assign the great mass of calcareous and gneissose rocks underlying the Coldbrook group to the Laurentian. These rocks form an anticlinal northward of the Coldbrook group, and occupy an area about forty miles in length and from two to eight miles wide. In the immediate vicinity of St John, they are overlaid, apparently conformably, by the Coldbrook group. They may be ob- served elsewhere to be covered unconformably by rocks of Devonian and Carboniferous age. When examining these rocks several years ago, I was struck with their resemblance to the Laurentian of Canada ; but as nothing was then known with certainty as to the age of the St John rocks, I could not venture to assign them to so ancient a period. Their mineral character, as it then presented itself to me, is described as follows :* — ** The oldest rocks seen in the vicinity of St John are the so-called syenitee and altered slates in the ridges between the city and the Kennebeckasis River. These rocks are in great part gneissose, and are no doubt altered sediments. They are usually of greenish colours; and in places they contain bands of dark slate and reddish felsite, well as of gray quartzite. In their upper part they alteniate with white and graphitic crystalline limestone, which overlies them in • Journal oT Qeologic&l Society, vol. xviii. I! i ■ Tl U BIODS. Jmboring that they 5ks, at the base of group being much n those of the St phy of the country, • for Bome distance Ilic minerals, more k has not as yet id lead, however, mond Kiver, near observed, and Superior the iformably on the B Acadian group, appear to repose Huronian, there calcareous and the Laurentian. )ldbrook group, om two to eight ey are overlaid, »ey may be ob- ts of Devonian as struck with IS nothing was rocks, I could Their mineral is follows :* the so-called city and the jneissose, and anish colours; ish felsite, Itei-nate with ies them in TUE LAUUENTIAN SYSTEM. 668 thick beds at M'CIoskeney's and Drury's Coves on the Kcnnebeckasis, and again, on the St John side of an anticlinal fonned by the syenitic or gneissose rocks, at the suburb of Portland. These limestones are also well seen in a railway-cutting five miles to the eastward of St John, and at Lily Lake. Near the Kcnnebeckasis they are unconformably overlain by the Lower Carboniferous conglomerate, which is coarse and of a red colour, and contains numerous fragments of the limestone. " At Portland the crystalline limestone appears in a very thick bed, and constitutes the ridge known as Fort Howe Hill. Its colours are white and gray, with dark graphitic laminae ; and it contains occasional bands of olive-coloured shale. It dips at a very high angle to the south-east. ITirec beds of impure graphite appear in its upper portion. The highest is about a foot in thickness, and rests on a sort of underclay. The middle bed is thinner and less perfectly exposed. The lower bed, in which a shaft has been sunk, seems to be three or four feet in thickness. It is very earthy and pyritous. The great bed of limestone is seen to rest on flinty slate and syenitic gneiss, beneath which, however, there appears a minor bed of limestone." Their structure is more fully represented in the following section by Mr Matthew. The order is ascending : — " \. Gray limestones and dolomites (?) of great thickness, with beds of clay slate, occupying the middle of the peninsula which separates Kennebejkasis Bay from the Bay of Fundy. *' 2. A mass of syenite and protogene, probably metamorphosed sediment. " 3. Gray and white limestones and beds of syenitic gneiss. " 4. Gray and reddish gneiss, conglomerate, and arenaceous shale, altered, resembling syenite and granulite. Arenaceous shale and gray quartzite. Dark flinty slate, with oval grains (black). " 5. Graphitic shale and pyritous slate, frequently alternating with gray and white limestones and dolomites (?). The beds thinner, and alternations more frequent, towards the top." I have searched in vain, in the specimens in my possession, for indications of the characteristic fossil of the Laurentian; but there are traces of vegetable tissues, probably fucoidal, in the graphite and graphitic shale ; and in rocks at Sand Point, referred by Mr Matthew to this group, there are worm-burrows and other markings, probably of organic origin. No rep»-esentative8 of the great deposits of iron ore found in the Laurentian of Canada and New York, have yet been re- cognised in New Brunswick. Nor do we know of anything correspond- ing to the interesting auriferous veins of Madoc, in Upper Canada (Ontario). The limestone of Portland, however, and other places, J m 664 SUMMARY OP THE HISTORY. & ; ' . i-s has long been applied to economic uses ; and, in some places, its tex- ture is such that it would afford an excellent marble, the beauty of which is in some cases increased by the intermixture of green ser- pentine, exactly as in the Laurentian limestones of the Ottawa. Graphite also occurs in large quantity, as already mentioned, and though its quality is coarse and impure, it is possible that by subject- ing it to the processes of mechanical purification now in use in other countries, a valuable product might be obtained from it. Its nearness to the city of St John, and to the great water power afforded by the river, constitute inducements for further attempts to render it useful. Summary of the Geological History of Acadia. Descending from the Modern period, we have now reached those rocks which constitute the lowest and oldest known foundations of our continents, — rocks which, in the Acadian provinces, have been almost wholly swept away or buried up in the formation of later sediments. That there were rocks older even than these, we know, from the circumstance that some of the beds above described are of a fragmental character. That some forms of animal and vegetable life already existed upon our earth — some of the creeping things of the waters — we also know ; but of the old rocks which furnished the material of the Laurentian beds, or the land which may have been composed of them, we know nothing, — perhaps wo never shall know anything, — at least from the records of the rocks. Here, then, we may turn from our descent into the bowels of the earth, and, retracing our step;?, emerge once more into the light of day. In doing so we may lightly glance, in the historic or ascending order, at the several formations which we have described in detail iu the opposite or descending method. Beginning with Laurentian Acadia, we have before us an ocean of whose shores we know nothing ; but in whose depths sandy and argillaceous sediments are being deposited, and animals and plants of the simplest stnicture are building up coral-like reefs, and accumu- lating masses of fetid muddy vegetable matter, — the whole to be, in process of time, converted by the magical alchemy of mother earth into crystalline gneiss, marble, and graphite. As ages roll on, and carry us into the Huronian period, the bed of this quiet sea is broken up, rocky ridges are exposed to the destructive action of the waves, vol- canoes belch forth their lavas, and discharge their showers of ashes and scoriae. Another geologic age rolls by, and we see stretched out before us the northern nucleus of the American continent extending westward SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY. 66ft 5h )me places, its tex- ble, tho beauty of ture of green ser- '3 of the Ottawa. y mentioned, and le that by subjcet- •w in use in other 1 it. Its nearness ir afforded by the render it useful. caclta. »w reached those n foundations of inces, have been •rination of later these, we know, [escribed are of a nd vegetable life ig things of the h furnished the may have been ever shall know Here, then, we I, and, retracing In doing so we at the several le opposite or us an ocean of IS sandy and and plants of and accumu- hole to be, in mother earth on, and carry is broken up, ic waves, vol- vers of ashes out before us "g westward from Labrador, a rocky, lifeless continent, in so far as we know. Along its shoreF are spread out muddy bottoms swarming with strange forms of crustaceans and shcU-fish ; and, in its more profound depths, are being slowly produced the great coral reefs which are to form the Lower Silurian limestones. In the area representing the Acadian provinces, shallow waters, invaded by muddy and sandy detritus, appear to have prevailed, with gradual subsidence of the bottom of the sea. The Upper Silurian period would seem to have been introduced by new and extensive physical changes, which ha'd the effect of producing greater inequalities of the sea-bottom, and ultimately a deeper sea, though perhaps more limited in area. At this time, also, extensive processes of elevation and disturbance were in pro- gress along the Appalachian chain, and must have tended to sepa- rate more completely the Acadian area from that of the central part of North America. These movements were further connected with an entire change of the animal life of the region — a change, however, not sudden but gradual — and in the course of which, it would appear that many species which had long previously existed in other parts of North America, extended themselves over the Acadian area. As the Upper Silurian period approached its close, and the sea- bottom had been loaded with many hundreds of feet of arenaceous, argillaceous, calcareous, and ferruginous sediment, another series of physical changes supervened. New lands were thrown up, and — still more wonderful change — these lands were clothed with a rich vegetation ; and the oldest known land animals, delicate and beautiful insects — water-born but air-dwellers — flitted through its shades. With these changes came another and even more thorough revolution among the living things of the seas. But while the Devonian rocks were being built up, the older sediments, buried under these newer beds, had been subjected to the intense action of the earth's pent-up igneous agencies; and, at the close of the period, it would seem as if the solid crust had given way, slowly and gradually, to the superincumbent weight, along certain lines ; while in others the edges of the beds were tilted up, and the whole surface of Acadia was thrown into a series of abrupt folds, — great masses of plastic granitic matter invading every opening in the shattered masses. This period surpasses every other, in the geological history of the eastern slope of the American conti- nent, in its evidences of fracture of the earth's crust. To this period we must refer the greater part of the intrusive granites of Eastern America, and to it also is referable the greater part of the metamor- 1ft: r ii; S ' w I 666 SUMMARY OP THE HISTORY. phism of the Silurian rocks, and the origin of the numerous metallic veins by which these are traversed. This great earth-storm of the later Devonian left the surface of Acadia with its grand features marked out as they are at present ; and the wide wooded swamps of the Carboniferous, and the sea areas in which its beds of shells and corals were depicted, occu- pied the present valleys of the country, and were limited by the same ridges of folded Silurian and Devonian rocks, which form the highest hills at present. So close is this correspondence, that the limits of the older formations on the map must very nearly mark the coast-lines of Carboniferous Acadia at the epoch of the Carboniferous limestone. For the present interests of Acadia, the great Devonian disturbances which charged the older formations with metallic minerals, and tilted up to the surface the great beds of iron ore, and the succeeding growth of the coal accumulations of the Carboniferous period, were the most important of all its geological changes, as being the sources of its great mineral wealth. Yet these momentous eras are not to be taken by themselves, hut as links in a great chain of processes, with all the parts of which they are more or less closely connected. Here we may pause for a moment to glance at the map, and to observe the three broad bands of Lower Silurian rock, portions of which appear on it, ail of them running in a north-east and south- west direction. The most northern of these is seen only on a comer of the map, skirting the south side of the St Lawrence; but it is the most important of the whole, extending far to the south-west through Canada and the United States, constituting, with the excep- tion of the Laurentian already mentioned, the oldest portion of the great Appalachian breast-bone of North America. The second is that extending across New Brunswick into Maine, and thence south- ward along the coast-line of the United States. The third is the coast series of Nova Scotia, extending to the north-east into New- foundland, but disappearing to the south-west under the Atlantic. All these are auriferous and otherwise metalliferous, and they consti- tute three great lines of upheaval or ridging up of the earth's crust, in the troughs between which lie the Upper Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous areas of Acadia. Of no geological period is the history better recorded in the Acadian provinces than the Carboniferous, in regard to which they may even be considered as a typical region, presenting the formations of that period in the greatest possible thickness and variety, and exhibiting in a very perfect manner, ^nd with features not as yet paralleled in mmmm ■ 1/ SUMMARY v^F THE HISTORY. 667 numerous metallic left the surface of ey are at present ; ous, and the sea re depicted, occu- re limited by the )cks, which form Tespondence, that nust very nearly the epoch of the 8 of Acadia, the older formations he great beds of imulations of the ill its geological ialth. Yet these lut as links in a they are more or the map, and to rock, portions •east and south- nly on a corner ence; but it is the south-west ivith the excep- portion of the The second is thence south- le third is the ast into Ncw- the Atlantic, d they consti- earth's crust, Devonian, and n the Acadian »ey may even •tions of that »d exhibiting paralleled in other regions, the terrestrial life of that very intereating era. The wonderful history of the Carboniferous period has, however, been so fully detailed above, and is in itself so ample, that I shrink from any attempt to sum it up here. We now reach a blank in the geological history of Acadia — a blank represented only by certain elevations and disturbances of the Carboniferous beds, which occurred during the period occupied in some other regions in the deposition of the Permian rocks. This was succeeded by the local but important volcanic outbursts which accom- panied the probably rapid deposition of the Triassic red sandstone, an association of volcanic phenomena with the hasty deposit cf coarse sediment stained with oxide of iron, which had occurred before in the Lower Carboniferous, in the Lower Devonian, and in the far earlier Huronian. The Trias of Prince Edward Island alone gives us, in the bones of Bathygnathus, a single glimpse of the reptilian life of the Mesozoic "age of reptiles," so richly exhibited in some other countries. A blank in this monumental history of enormous length succeeds the Triassic period, and Acadia with the neighbouring parts of North America was probably, during these long Mesozoic and Tertiary ages, a part of an extensive continental area, in which animals and plants, characteristic of those periods, no doubt flourished, but have, so far as we know, left no traces of their existence. The next vicissitude of which we have any record is that mysterious glacial period, which I am inclined to regard as one of subsidence under an ice-laden sea, in so far at least as Acadia is concerned. Certain it is that no deposit similar to the boulder clay had occurred previously in Acadia, unless indeed we may regard some of the coarser conglomerates of the Carboniferous period, as evidence that ice was grounding on the coasts on which the vegetation of the coal formation was flourishing. Probably at this period Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were in circumstances very nearly the same with that of the great Newfoundland banks at present. Under any view, nothing is more remarkable in the geological history of the earth than the almost universal subsidence and glaciation which seem to have affected the Northern Hemisphere at this period, geologically so recent. Little by little, terrace after terrace, the land rose from the glacial submergence ; and, as it rose, it began to be peopled with a gigantic race of quadrupeds which gradually gave place to those now existing ; the extinction of the Mammoth and Mastodon having pro- bably had relation to the gradual increase of the surface of the land, and its wanner and drier summers. Had these creatures i f I ! u. I! 668 SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY. 11^ f'v finally disappeared before the advent of the Micmac and Mali- seet ? We know not ; but in so far as negative evidence is entitled to weight, we may suppose that they had ; and that the human occu- pation of Acadia may not be of older date than the origin of the his- toric nations of the old world. The Red man still survives, with the remnant of the wild animals which fed his forefathers, and of the forests which sheltered them ; but now the towns and cities of civilized man grow up on the borders of our rivers and bays, his fields spread over the land, his sails dot the surface of the waters, his mines penetrate the deeply hidden stores of subterranean wealth, while his ever active mind studies with penetrating insight the monuments of that strange series of creative processes by which in the counsels of Almighty wisdom its present destiny was worked out. What next? Geology cannot answer the question ; and the geologist, as he lays down his hammer and his pen, can only utter the prayer that in the future history of this old world, in whatever of new development and higher glory its Maker may have in store for it, Acadia and its sons and daughters may bear a worthy and a happy part. Conclusion, In the preceding pages, I have neither sought nor avoided the discussion of those questions on which geologists are at present divided in opinion, in so far as these questions are raised by the history of the formations developed in the Acadian Provinces. I have, however, made such discussions subordinate to the statement of the facts immediately under consideration ; and, for this reason, they will be found scattered in various places throughout the work. I may now shortly sum up my conclusions with reference to a few of the more important of these disputed points. The hard-fought field of glacial denudation, striation, and boulder drift, I have traversed in the Chapter on the Post-pliocene, and have endeavoured to show that the phenomena of the boulder clay and drift in Eastern America are to be accounted for not by a universal glacier ; but by local glaciers, drift ice, and the agency of cold northern cur- rents, in transporting materials and eroding the surface of a partially submerged continent. On the modern notion of " homotaxis," as distinguished from actual contemporaneity of formations on the same geological horizons, I have fully stated my views in introducing the history of the Carboniferous period, and have shown reason for believing that the formations of this great period in America are exactly, and even in their sub- divisions, synchronous with those known by the same names in Europe. L CONCLUSION. 669 Micmac and Mali- evidence is entitled lat the human occu- lie origin of the his- 11 survives, with the ifathers, and of the 'wns and cities of and bays, his fields le waters, his mines n wealth, while his the monuments of in the counsels of out. What next? ilogist, as he lays prayer that in the f development and cadia and its sons nor avoided the 3 are at present ire raised by the m Provinces. I to the statement for this reason, ghout the work, erence to a few 5n, and boulder )cene, and have r clay and drift iversal glacier; ' northern cur- of a partially ed from actual Jrizons, I have Carboniferous formations of in their sub- les in Europe. I would also invite the attention of geologists to the doctrine of equivalent geological cycles, as stated in that chapter ; believing that, in spite of all local diversities, such general cycles of geological change will at length be fully established. For the present, I am awarw that there is a tendency among some of the younger geologists to extend to the whole world, and to al? time, the exceptional coast-conditions of small areas, and very limited faunas ; but this attempt to raise the exceptions to the rank of the rule cannot deceive those whose studies have made them familiar with the enormous areas of deposition and life-distribution in the modem ocean, and with the still more uniform conditions of the Palaiozoic land and sea. With respect to theories of metamorphism and the production of what have been termed " Indigenous " crystalline rocks, the pheno- mena observable in Acadia point out that the heat of the great igneous masses of the interior of the earth's crust has been mainly instru- mental in effecting such changes, though much must be allowed for the original chemical differences of the beds. There is also very striking evidence of the power of huge Plutonic masses to melt their way, if we may so speak, through the aqueous beds, with very little mechanical disturbance, and only a limited amount of metamorphism in the immediate vicinity of such masses. Nor can there be any question that the igneous masses themselves have been much modified in their chemical constitution by beds through which they have passed, so that there is a certain correspondence between the character of igneous rocks and that of the beds which they penetrate. In addition to all this, we have bedded traps and tufaceous beds composed of the debris of igneous rock.s, readily assuming under metamorphism the aspect of Plutonic dykes. It is clear that a want of careful analysis of facts so complicated may readily lead to the confused and contradictory doctrines on the relations of the metamorpliic sedi- ments and the " exotic " Plutonic rocks now too prevalent. I have not been able to find, in the remarkably complete series of fossils afforded by the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia, any evidence of the gradual transmutation of species by natural selection or any other cause. On the contrary, species appear without any manifest cause, and remain unchanged, or with very limited varietal modifications during very long periods. I admit, however, that in the case of cer- tain species of wide range and long continuance, as Producius cora and Alethopteris lonchitica, for example, varietal forms can be observed to be characteristic of certain places and beds ; and that if we were to regard the varieties as species, and the latter as sub-genera, then such supposed species might be regarded as transmutable into each other, 670 CONCLUSION. inasmuch as thoy pass into each other by indefinite gradations ; but I cannot regard such varietal forms as true species. The relations of the Carboniferous to the Devonian flora appear to militate in a positive manner against the theory of transmutation. The Devonian flora of Eastern America, of which there are now known nearly one hundred species, affords all the principal generic forms of the Carboniferous. A few of its species are identical, but the greater part are distinct ; and this distinctness is even more marked in the Lower Carboniferous than in the Coal formation. While, therefore, a few species continued unchanged through all the vast time of the Devonian and Carboniferous, others disappeared at the close of the Devonian and were replaced by distinct species in the Carboniferous, and all this without any material improvement or elevation of type. It may be added, that in New York and Ohio, where no physical break separates the Devonian and Carboniferous, the change of flora takes place in the same manner, and that the floras of the Devonian and Carboniferous are now too well known, and that over too large an area to allow us to explain this by " imperfection of the record." Again, if we turn to the Primordial fauna of St John, we find there, as in similar horizons in Europe, several distinct types of animal exist- ence already well defined, and none of them pointing by any character to the primitive Eozoon of the Laurentian rocks, which stands out as distinctly by itself as the two little land-shells of the Coal measures. On the great question at issue between the " Uniformitarians" and " Catastrophists," I desire to occupy that middle ground to which I am glad to see that Lyell and Murchison, the two great leaders of geological opinion in Great Britain, tend in their later works. While the doctrine of the absolute uniformity of natural laws cannot be too strongly held, we must admit that periods of more and less energetic action of the great causes of geological change have alternated with each other over regions so extensive as practically to affect the whole world, and that the period of human observation has been probably too limited to enable us fully to appreciate the extremes of these oscillations. In other words, the long-continued operation of uniform causes, whether geological or astronomical, may lead to an accumula- tion of effects in certain directions, terminating in a change, cataclysmal in its character, and initiating a new train of causes perhaps under very different conditions. It is true that such a cataclysm may, in a broader view, be regarded as a part of the unifonn order, just as a thunderstorm or an earthquake may be regarded as an effect of regular natural laws, as much as-a tide or a curreri Still we should beware I ■w I' 1( / CONCLUSION. 671 lito gradations ; but I of limiting the intensity or extent of such phenomena by our own short experience. Nor must wo fail to consider that all successions have implied progress, that every oscillation of the piston-rod, every turn of the wheels, urges the machine forward. Nothing can be more evident than tlie continued progress and development of both unor- ganized and organized nature on the surface of our planet, from the earliest periods of geological time to the present day. But our experience of existing causes has been too short to enable us fully to realize this, or to harmonize it with our notions of uniformity or cata- clysms or creative intervention. We are but infants in knowledge, and wc have been passengers in the ship of nature for so short a time that the oscillations of the piston-rod may appear to us cataclysms irreconcilable with the steady motion of the wheels, and that we may yet be unable clearly to discriminate between the action of the lifeless machinery and that of the unseen hand and mind which regulate and guide ; and while we may readily discover motion and progress, the port of departure and that of destination are alike invisible in the distance. Patient observation and thought may enable us in time better to comprehend these mysteries ; and I think we may be much aided in this by cultivating an acquaintance with the Maker and Ruler of the machine as well as with His work. \ f \ i ( ■ ■ '1 1 i'l s ; f ^M 1 i.if . ■n 1 ijuieh ti \ ' lia 1 f '^ 'B'll 1 ■illB f 1 , i 1^ 674 APPENDIX. T&bagHn, a vehicle. Cf. wagon. Taboo, two. Seest, tlirce. WiffSlUtk, to bark. Cf. i/Xaxriw. Queeliim, I acuk. Cf. quaero, qiuie»tu8. Mat-tuk, to beat. AfilUole, 1 beat thee. MStSnagH, I figlit. C'cJme, a harbour, ('f. KUfit). Epsit, wanned. ICpeum, 1 heat it. Cf. i-^u. CxibUukum, a craclle-l)()ard. Cf. cubile. Nekokul, a spear. ( 'f. dxcuXfj. Ankedasi, I tliink earnestly. Cf. angro, ay;^w. £/'l'ut, I come. Cf. rjxu. CheeHum, a man. Cf. yiKOf. Oo-dun, a town. Cf. (/u» anil dune. Ait, he says. Cf. uit. Mitle, many. Meg, great. Mai, bad. Cf. mickle, fityaf, malua. Well-ake, ho ia well. Tiiis root well occurij in many compounds. ^M-digin, a thumb. Cf. digitus, 'M-jKik, the back. The prefix 'm appears to be a remnant of au in- definite article. Oolk, a ship. Cf. hulk, hXxa(. Keloos, good. Cf. xaXo;. Keloos-oodee, goodncBs. Oodee in Micmac has the force with the English postfix hood, in cliildhood, etc. Ooniika, a wing. Cf. 6vu^. Wigwam {oikom), house. Cf. o/xof (Fo/xof), nciu. Weeka, his home. Cf. o/x/a. Tem-sum, I cut it. Cf. r%[i\iu. Miiiak-dch, milk. A word which is one of the most primitive, and con- tained in most languages. Moo, no. Cf. /ir). Kwis, a son. Cf. v'lOf. Nephk, he is dead. Cf. nxgoj. Kwa, hail. Cf. ^a'f- Kakayak, it fails. Cf. xaxiw. Tokoo, then. rort. Kewkw, an earthquake. Cf. quake, quatio. Alea, to go. Cf. ire, aller, etc. Ejikuladoo, I cast away. Cf. ejicio. Wy, prefix signifying with. Tan, when. Cf. irav. To these examples I may add an illustration from Mr Rand's Micmac version of St John, xix. 24, where the leading words in one of the clauses are very similar in Greek and Micmac. Moo skwiska lakade-nech. We shall not rend, but cast lots for it. The superstitions, traditions, and astronomical notioiia of the primitive Micmacs also present poiots of suoilarity with those of other nations, and / APPENDIX. 8T6 '^«, I fi^lit. ' My at, malua. ly Lompounila. * remnant of an in- orce with the English t primitive, and oon- Mr Rand's knowledge of their language haa enabled hini to collect many of these. They believe in fairies, whom they call " Wlggtil-laddlim moochklk," very little people. They are Huppoited to be superhuman, immortal, living in caves and underground, and, like the fairies uf other lani ( ' r Rand's Micmac >"e of the clauses of the primitive ther nations, and (B.)— Peat as Fuel. It is not to be expected that, in the vicinity of the coal-fields, peat can be profitably manufactured for fuel ; but in those parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick remote from the coal districts, there exist important deposits of this substance which may become economically useful. The principal dis- advantage of peat as compared with coal is the large quantity of water which it contains, amounting to about 90 per cent, of the whole in the crude material, and even in the dried peat to from 20 to 35 per cent. This difficulty is partially obviated by thorough drying in the air, and more completely by pulverizing and compressing the peat, or by charring it, as is done in France. The only locality in Canada where peat is at present extensively worked is on the property of Mr Hodges, in Bulstrode, P. Q. The process employed is that of excavating the peat, reducing it to pulp, cutting it into 8quar« portions like bricks, and thoroughly drying it. The machinery employed f( 676 APPENDIX. is placed in a barge, which excavates a canal, in which it floats as the work proceeds. Pressure is r ot employed. Peat prepared in this way is sold at 4 dols. per ton in Montreal, and has been used advantageously for the pro- duction of steam and in domestic fires. In Ireland and in Scotland attempts have been made on a large scale to use peat as a source of tar, coal-oil, and other products. In some cases the results have been profitable, in others the reverse. This appears to have depended partly on the processes em- ployed, and partly on the quality of the material. Persons desirous of making further inquiry on this subject will find additional details in Sir W. E. Logan's Report on the Geology of Canada, 18G3, and in a paper by Dr Hunt in the Canadian Naturalist for December 1864. (C.)— CONE-IN-CoNE CONCKETIONS. Every field-geologist is familiar with various forms of concretions, as of clay-ironstone, flint or chert and carbonate of lime, which occur in clays and similar beds, or in limestones. They are in general attributed to the mutual attraction of particles diffused through masses of sediment, and Cone-in- Cone, aggregating themselves arou.)d solid bodies as nuclei, or flowing Into cavities of fossils and other places of least resistance. Such nodular arrangements are especially abundant in the underclays and other clay beds of the Coal measures, where the carbonate of iron formed by the action of decaying vegetable substances on the oxide of '"on present in the sediment, has shown a lingular aptitude for as8unu)ig such structures, and the nodules and nodular sheets of ironstone often contain fossils of much interest. In these nodular layers also, as well as in certain layers of hard argillaceous matter, we often find the remarkable structure to which this note relates. It consists of series of conical forms often running together into rows and ridges, and consisting of a series of concentric coats, whence the name " Cone-in-cone," given by the miners. The surfaces of the coats are also curiously marked with transverse ridges, giving a wrinkled appearance, so much resembling some organic' structures as to deceive some persons into /: APPENDIX. mt the belief that these curious forms may be fossilo. The figure represents a somewliat perfect example, selected from p, series of specimens kindly sent to me by H. Poole, Esq., from the beds overlying one of the Coal-seams at Glace Bay, Cape Breton. Previously to the receipt of these specimens, I had thought little as to the origin of these forms, but a caieful study of Mr Poole's specimens led me at the time, in exhibiting them to the Natural History Society of Montreal, to state my belief that they are produced by " concretionary action proceeding from the surface of a bed or layer, and modified by the gradual compression of the material." Subsequently, at the Meeting of the American Association at Burlington, Professor Marsh of Yale College, in the course of an able dissertation on the origin of the so-called " Lignilites or Ej^somites." incidentall referred to the " Cone-in- cone," and attributed it to the same cause, though unaware at the time that this explanation iiad occurred to any other person. Taking this view of the origin, these concretions serve as an interesting illustration of the curious imitative forms sometimes assumed by concretions, and also of the twofold movement of particles of matter in sediments under- going consolidation under the double influence of mutual attraction and of mechanical compression. Farther examples of the effects of these forces may be found in the formation of ordinary nodules, the infiltration of the cavities of fossils, the slickensiding of imderclays and other bee" full of vegetable matter, by the giving way of the latter under pressure, and the curious crushing of erect jointed stems of Calaraites into rows of disc-like bodies, representing the firm nodes, while the intermediate portions have collapsed (see figs, at pp. 150 and 406). The remarkable distortion of fossils by pressure already referred to (p. 499), the nodular changes, and curious minute crumplings which have taken place in the production of slaty struc- tures, are also illustrations of that mobility of particles in consolidating rocks, which must be invoked to explain the Cone-in-cone. Cone-in-cone is found in the Coal-formation rocks of other countries than Nova Scotia, being not infrequent in the clay ironstones of England. It is noticed by Professor Rogers and Professor Hall as occurring in the Devonian of Pennsylvania and New York, and I have observed it in one of the layers of fine laminated shale in the primordial strata of St John, New Brunswick. S ■j 1 ^ ' 1 , 1 J II ' II 1 m Ill 678 APPENDIX. en a es < u o o o: a X H O Q (S H 65 !5 13 00 a t: 5 S-o 5 i s c ?, a .- " c «£ I « s t. <9 e 1 -s'" I (ft — ftj — St." B > i'i it S ^ 12 = 1 W X. " V S fc< e2| o « ^ U tt la « ^ 3 ,.= "&■> S 3 ^ • V. c.aa c 1. « j: a ' o w S it £ « S S-S ® S >tf 5 C J- « « « -J » > ^ ;S S GJ .— ■-■ ^3 C -3 :a - o oi: .• « o j: c £ S ^ 5 5 ' •« C 3 ■SSd 3 c « — a. 4,g of® si e .2 sBi I I i a g 3 £ i P . to B o I :?; •OS: 1=1 _-E.S S3.>; w >- i = a S CO so P.i ti tcti ■ S tig WE go c . 2 2"5g c c o* i.fc «" ■ — e — c a = 3 «: « = 2 OS ^ •" ■ M . ? >, X .C III 11 1* ^ ^ C a) o -2» * A X ^ "O o a: = g §; « u ^ mi CD <4 II! "a * I 5 = I •oi ' B a » E£S I. . 2 £: s a; — -- — .S •- s r.- b a!a£"£j imi as 5" duo i s •i B •s H Si 8 III Hi ■S r U3 •& o s £ / " APPENDIX. 679 H.i :S I u s ..: *-> 4 ^5 f2 1 e; nr «> SJS »:3 ^.^ y c » j^ >J c so s «» •5 . ■§1 5 (E.)— Grand Manan. This isolated portion of New Bninswick has hitherto been a blank in the geological map, and for this reason I insert here a note kindly communi- cated to me by Professor A. E. Verrill of New Haven, who, though he visited the island for zoological rather than geological objects, has given some attention to its structure. " Tlie stratified rocks of the island appear to represent at least two formations which are unconformable. " The one, which is apparently the oldest, occupies the belt of low land and the shore cliffs from Whale Cove and Northern Head, along the whole eastern side of the island, to Grand Harbour, about the middle of the island, beyond which I have also seen outcrops of it in several places, but have not examined the whole extent. The same rocks compose Long Island, Duck Islands, Rosse's Island, Whitehead Island (in part at least), and nearly all the other small islands off the cast side of Grand Manan. Inner Wood Island is, however, partly composed of conglomerate and fine- grained dark-red sandstone, with an easterly dip, which may belong to s higher formation ; and Gannet Rock, upon which there is a lighthouse, was described to me as composed of conglomerates. The Three Islands, which are the most eastern, are in the main composed of rocks similar to the eastern shore of the main island, but upon the outer one I found also a bed of white crystalline limestone. " The series of rocks alluded to are highly altered, much distorted and broken, and cut through by numerous immense dykes and masses of trap, and consist of talcose and clay slates, mostly grayish, but sometimes black, calcareous grits, altered gray sandstones, in one case with vegetable traces, but sometimes so indurated as to become quartzites, or, when impure, ap- proaching a syenitic character. Included in those gray sandstones and slates near Pettee's Cove, there is a bed of black c abonacious shale, very fissile, as if it ought to yield plant-remains, but I could find none. Included in similar rocks near the same place are several true veins of heavy-spar, mostly massive and pure, but in one case carrying some galena, c 'nper, pyrites, etc. On Posse's Island, inclosed in black slates, probably c the same age, there are enormous masses of white quartz, conspicuous above the general surface, some of them 100 feet or more across, and from iO to 40 high. The dip of these rocks is so variable and irregular that no general statement can be made. Where least altered, it was often to the N.N.E. 45°, but at other times they were nearly vertical or even inclined to the S.W., varying in short distances. " The second series of rocks occupy the northern end of the island to the west of Whale Cove. Commencing at this Cove and going west, we find first regularly columnar trap for a short distance, and then, apparently resting upon it, thick-bedded, regularly stratified massive rocks of various composition, but mostly amygdaloidal, trap-ash, and compact quartzoze rocks in beds 10 feet or more thick. These occupy the shore for about two miles, forming cliffs from 100 to 200 feet high. They are at times nearly horizontal, in other places dipping to the W'. or S.W. about 10° to 20°. The amygdaloidal cavities contain calcites, stilbitcs, apophyllites, ! ( ■■' MO APPENDIX. etc., but seldom affording good specimens. Beyond these rocks, at the N.W. extremity of the island, the cliffs are very high, consisting of trap, often columnar, which continues for several miles ; but I have been told that a Btratitied sandstone again appears for a sliort distance on the western side, north of Duck Harbour, where I have not been ; but, from Duck Harbour to the southern end of the island, I found the cliffs to consist of trap, from 200 to 400 feet high (by estimate). " Concerning the age of these massive stratified rocks, I can only offer the conjecture that they are Devonian from their a/ipcarance alone. " Whether the red-sandstone of Inner Wood Island and conglomerate of Gannet Rock are of the same age is very uncertain." . On careful consideration of tlie above observations of Mr Verrill, in connexion with the structure of the neighbouring coast, I think it probable that the outer and older series above mentioned is either the equivalent of the Acadian or St John series or of the Kingston series, and that the traps with the associated sandstones may be Devonian or Upper Silurian. The colouring on the map represents one of these conjectures, (P.)— New Minerals from Nova Scotia. " Professor How announced in Silliman's Journal, Sept. 1857, the dis- ci' vy, in the great bed of gypsum quarried at Windsor, of the rare boraric-acid mineral, Natro-boro-calcite, hitherto foimd only at Iquique in Peru. Its formula, according to Professor How, is — Na 2 BO3 + 2 Ca 0, 3 BOg + 15 HO. With respect to the geological conditions of its occurrence, Professor How quotes from Professor Anderson of Glasgow the statement that, in Peru, the mineral is found in a district supposed to be volcanic, ard embedded in the nitrate of soda deposits. He then remarks tliat, with a very few exceptions, boracic acid is found " either in directly volcanic regions, most abundantly as such, or as borax ; and a well-marked case of actual sublimation of the acid from a volcano in the island of Vulcano, near Sicily, has been studied by Warrington ; or in smaller amount, in minerals the products of recent or extinct volcanoes, as Humboldtite from ejected blocks of Vesuvius, and zeolites and datholite from trap of Salisbury Crags, New Jersey, and other places ; or in minerals of purely plutonic or metamorphic rocks, as tourmaline, the rhodozite of Roze, and axinite — the species which contain it at all being few in number. It may be noticed also, that traces of this acid have lately been met with in the Kochbrunnen of Wiesbaden and in the waters of Aachen." " If wc may reason from the character of the majority of its situations, we may almost consider the volcanic or at least igneous origin of boracic acid 80 well established as to lead us, by its occurrence in the gypsiferous strata, to seek for some volcanic agency as the cause of their production. Such an origin has, I find, already been assigned to the gypsum of Nova Scotia by Dr Dawson. This formation has been shown to be a member of the Lower Carboniferous series, and is assumed to have arisen from the action of rivers of sulphuric acid more or less dilute, such as are known / APPENDIX. 681 these rocks, at the consisting of trap, It I have been told ance on the western i; but, from Duck ! cliffs to consist of b, I can only offer ance alone, and conglomerate of Mr Verrill, in I think it probable lier the equivalent 3ries, and that the )r Upper Silurian, ures, fA. pt. 1857, the dis- dsor, of the rare only at Iquique irrence. Professor statement that, he volcanic, and narks that, with lirectly volcanic 'ell-marked case and of Vulcano, Her amount, in umboldtite from rap of Salisbury purely plutonic \ and axinite — may be noticed Kochbrunnen its situations, 'gin of boracic he gypsiferous sir production. psum of Nova bo a member 3 arisen from as are known to exist in various parts of the world, issuing from then active volcanoes and flowing over the calcareous reefs and bed of the sea." The same able chemist, in 1861 (Silliman's Journal and Edin. New Phil. .Toumal), described a second boracic acid mineral, which he has named Cryplomorphite. It is, like the former, a borate of lime and soda, and its probable formula is stated to be : — Na 0, 3 Ca 0, 9 BOs + 12 HO. Still more recently Professor How has kindly communicated to me a notice, shortly to be published, of a third mineral, found under similar con- ditions at Brookville and Newport, near Windsor, and which he proposes to name Silico-horo-calcite. It contains a large proportion of silica, and its formula is given as — 2 Ca Si 0, + 2 (Ca 2 BO3, 110) + B0„ 3 HO. These minerals occur in small nodular masses in the gypsum and anhydrite, and are associated with glauber salt, and they have now been found by Professor How in several localities, and in some of those in considerable abundance. The natro-boro-calcite is said to occur in the ordinary gypsum only, while the silico-boro-calcite is found in anhydrite as well. Professor How has also detected both the carbonate and sulphate of magnesia in the gypsum and associated rocks, though apparently not in large quantity. Professor How hasalso recognised the mineral Pickeringite or magnesia-alum occurring as an efflorescence on the surface of slate at Newport. It is curious that this mineral, like natro-boro-calcite, had previously been found only at Iquique in Peru. It is also curious that it was found to be associated with small quantities of nickel and cobalt. The former metal had not previously been found in Nova Scotia, though not infrequent in the Lower Silurian, Huronian, and Laurentian, of Canada. Professor 0. C. Marsh, of Yale College, has commimicated to Silliman's Journal (Nov. 1867) a notice of the mineral Letlererite, found by Jackson and Alger at Cape Blomidon. Professor Marsh regards this mineral as identical with Gmelinite, and attributes its peculiarities to the accidental presence of phosphoric acid and of minute crystals of quartz embedded in the specimens. (G.) Mining Laws and Regulations. In Nova Scotia the mines and minerals are under the general supervision of the Commissioner of Mines, from whom all necessary information and guidance can be obtained ; and the laws relating to mines and minerals are of Fuch a character as to afford all the encouragement that can be desired to legitimate enterprise. In the case of Gold, " prospecting licences " are issued for periods of three months, and for areas not to exceed 100 acres. The fee is 50 cents per acre up to 10 acres, and beyond this 25 cents. Such licences may l)e renewed at half the above rates. On discoveries being made, the discoverer I ( 682 APPENDIX. ig entitled to a Icane for 21 years, under a royalty of three per cent, on the gross amount of gold obtained. I^icences are also given for crushing mills. All the details as to rights of proprietors of land, and conditions of licences and leases, are carefully provided for by the law. In the case of Coal and Other Minerals, licences to explore on tracts of five pciuare miles in extent are granted for 20 dollars. These, however, are for twelve months, and may be renewed on application thirty days before they expire, and on payment of 20 dollars. The holder of an exploratory licence may select an area of one square mile, and set are the right of mining thereon on application and payment of 50 dollars to the Commissioner of Mines. Licences to work are for a term of two years, within which term the holder must commence effective mining operations, and continue the same in good faith. On expiry of the licence, the holder may obtain a lease, in the case of coal, until 25th August 1886; in the case of other minerals, for 21 years, subject to a royalty of five per cent, in the case of all minerals, except gold, coal, and iron. The royalty on coal is ten cents per ton of 2240 lbs. and on iron eight cents per ton. Larger areas than one mile may be granted by the Governor in Council in special cases. A variety of pro- visions as to details will be found in the law. (H.) — Additional Information kelating to Mines in Nova Scotia. Coal. — According to the Report of the Chief Commissioner of Mines for 1867, the total yield of coal in Nova Scotia has fallen off from 601,302 tons in 1866, to 482,078 tons in 1867. This diminution is attributed solely to the derangement of trade relations with the United States, consequent on the abrogation of the reciprocity treaty. Unless these relations shall be re-established, other markets must be found, or manufactures must be established capable of consuming the coal within the colony. It is much to be desired that the attention of British capitalists should be directed to the openings for profitable investment in mining and manufacturing industry in Nova Scotia. Under any probable contingency as to the future political relations of the colony, such investments would be safe, and would probably increase in value. 1. The " Drummond Mine'''' of the Inter-colonial Company, East Rir'er of Pictou. — The explorations recently made by Mr Barnes, for the tracing of the outcrop of the main seam, have proved the undisturbed extension of the outcrop for more than half a mile to the south-west of the original opening, with every prospect of its still further continuation. According to Mr Barnes, there i-^^ iw immediately availai)Ie on this property an area of 480 acres of this {: seam, having a vertical thickness of sixteen feet of the best quality of coal, and of course a similar or larger area of the underlying seams. The Company are now vigorously pushing forward the construction of a railway and the opening of the mine by two slopes driven from the outcrop, with the view of shipping on a large scale. 2. General Mining Association, East River of Pictou. — One of the two new shafts sunk by this company to the dip of the eastern part of their workings, is stated to have reached the main coal at a depth of 840 feet. / APPENDIX. 683 NEs IN Nova Tliis is the deepest shaft in Nova Scotia. The coal penetrated by it is stated to be of good quality, so that in a short time it may be anticipated that the already extensive workings and large produce of this mine will be greatly increased. 3. Mabou Coal-field. — Professor Hind has recently reported on the area* of Coal formation rocks between Mabou Harbour and Cape Mabou, referred to at p, 404, 8upra. I am informed by the proprietors of the mine that the Report shows the existence of the ends of two troughs or basins of coal-rocks, exhibiting four groups of beds, in two of which the thickest beds are three feet in thickness respectively. In the third there is a bed thirteen feet in thickness, and in the fourth a bed eight feet in thickness. There is also a layer of cannel coal supposed to be valuable. These, with the Coal measures of Port Hood on the south, and Chimney Corner on the north, show the extension of productive Coal measures at interv.ds along the western coast of Cape Breton, while it still remains to be ascertained whether other valuable areas do not exist further inland between the shore and the south-west branch of the Margarie lliver. One peculiarity of the Mabou Coal beds appears to be that their outcrops are unusually near to those of the Lower Carboniferous gypsum. 4. Merigomish Coal Company, Pictou. — Reports made by f.lr Rutherford, Mr Barnes, and Mr Robb, upon the property of this company to the east- ward of the Ea.'-.t River of Pictou, show that several workable seams of coal overlie the main seam in this locality : a fact not apparent on the west side of the river. Mr Robb mentions as occurring at a distance of about one- third of a mile horizontally from what is regarded as the outcrop of the main seam, two beds of the thickness of five feet six inches and four feet respectively, and about fifty feet apart vertically. Two other outcrops of the thickness of four feet two inches and three feet six inches, occurring on these areas, are supposed to be a still higher level, though they may possibly be the same. They are associated with a bed of oil-coal or earthy bitumen. The exact thickness of measures thus overlying the main seam is not certainly known, but the facts ascertained would seem to imply an important upward extension of the productive Coal measures, which may greatly add to the value of the areas east of the East River, and, as will appear under the fol- lowing head, may have a bearing on the probable value of the coal beds lying to the north of the gi'eat conglomerate. 6. Prospects north of New Glasgon). — The facts above stated for the first time enable me to suggest the probability that valuable discoveries of coal may be made in the extensive district lyins; bct'-rjcn the New Glasgow conglomerate and the harbour of Pictou. If the upper beds above mentioned can be identified with any of those north of New Glasgow, then it is possible that these upper measures may there overlap the lower and more valuable beds, or that the outcrops of these latter may be concealed by faulting and denudation along the line of the conglomerate. The facts at present in my possession are not sufllicient to warrant any confident statements on this point ; and while it is possible that very limited explorations might suffice to settle the question, it is also possible that great difficulties may be opposed to its satisfactory solution, by the nature of the ground and the relations of the beds. The eubject is, however, one deserving of attention, in view of f ( If^.^ 684 APPENDIX. l.ii the new light cast upon it by recent discoveries. I may add, that on tho supposition of such northern extension of the productive Coal measures, it may be anticipated that, in accordance with the ideal sections on p. 326, the beds north of the conglomerate will be less massive than those in the southern trough. It must also be observed in connexion with this, that the dips in the northern part of the section (Fig. 136) are somewhat exaggerated. 6. Victoria Mine, Low Pmnt, Cape Breton.^This mine, on the south side of Sydney Harbour, presents the first instance in Nova Scotia of coal-mining in areas below the sea ; though in the North Sydney Colliery, the main seam has been pursued for some distance below the Harbour. The suc- cessful working of this new mine on a large scale will bean interesting feature in our coal-mining, and may lead to other adventures of similar character. 7. Gold. — Tlie Report of the Commissioner of Mines shows a total yield for the year ending September 1867 of 27,583 ounces. This amount gives an average of not less than $2, 44c., or about Os. 9d. sterling per day, for each man employed. It is to be observed in connexion with this, that tho methods of extracting the gold, especially when associated with compounds of sulphur and arsenic, are by no means perfect, and that the economy of labour is not so great as it might be in workings on a larger scale. These facts, witii the numerous new discoveries reported, confirm the opinion expressed in the text, that the gold-mining of Nova Scotia is capable of profitable extension far beyond its present limits. In the past year, the Renfrew and Sherbrooke districts hare been the first in point of production ; and among new localities likely to be of importance, are mentioned, Musquodoboit, the Middle and East Rivers of Sheet Harbour, Mosher's River, Scraggy Lake, Ship Harbour, Upper Stewiacke, and Gold River. (I.) Structure of Northern Cape Breton. I inadvertently omitted in the text to give a summary of the facts in regard to this district ascertained by Mr Campbell in his exploration in 1862, and now quote his general description of the region, which presents several points of interest not previously known. " To the Gulf of St Lawrence, on its north-west side, it presents a bold front of rounded or conical mountains, united at their base, and appearing like buttresses supporting the table lands of the interior on their flanks. They attain, at some points, an elevation of fifteen hundred feet above the sea level ; and their general outline is softened and the landscape rendered beautiful by a dense covering of hardwood forest, by which they are clothed from their base to their summits. "The greater part of the district is encircled by a rampart of similar mountains, more or less rounded in their contour ; and where they hap- pemjd to be stripped of their covering of forest, by the ravages of fire, they appear as naked cones of crumbly red feldspar rock, which is the prevailing igneous rock of the district, and that from which the principal part of the Boil is derived. Hence, no doubt, its extraordinary fertility. i, / APPENDIX. 685 "Viewed from the interior, these mountains appear but little elevated above the general level of the country, whicli in its main aspects appears comparatively level, altliough cut by deep valleys and narrow defiles along all its water-courses. " Wherever bottom-lands or intervale occurs in the valleys, the soil is remarkably rich. This is evident from the heavy growth of healthy -looking timber they produce, consisting principally of maple, birch, beech, and elm, with occasional oak-trees of large size, and well adapted for staves or ship^ timber. " I observed some elm trees as much as four feet diameter, and as straight and tall as any I ever saw in the forests of Canada or the South-western States. " Most of the steep slopes are also heavily timbered ; but on the table- lands the forest is much lighter, and chiefly composed of spruce, Hr, and hardwood mixed. The soil generally appears to be good, and comparatively free from stones. " Considerable tracts of the higher or table-lands are occupied by peat bogs, which will, no doubt, some time hereafter, prove of great viUue, as they are capable of yielding an unlimited supply of tiiat description of fuel, of the finest quality. " The surface of these peat-bogs presents the appearance of gently-sloping planes of elliptic form, having deep circular basins at tiieir highest points, full to their brim of clear, icy cold water. These basins are no doubt fed by springs from below, and they appear indispensable to the accumulation of any great depth of peat free from earthy matter. " The geology of this district bears a very close resemblance to that of the Cobequid Mountains; but the brown feldspar rock, or syenite, which ia here the predominant intrusive rock, differs from the syenite in the Cobequid Mountains, in having much less quartz and hornblenic in its composition, and it is of a more crumbly and perishable nature. On this account the soil of the district is chiefly composed of it. " The other intrusive rocks are occasional dikes of porphyry and trap ; true granite being very scarce if at all present. The prevailing stratified rocks are the newer clay-slate, or Upper Silurian rocks, and Devonian, or Lower Carboniferous rocks — all metamorphosed to a higher degree, and much more disturbed by igneous masses and dikes, than is observed in any other section of the Province. " To make out the geological structure of the district on the large scale is not, however, a very difficidt task, because extensive sections of the rocks are exposed along the seashore, and in the channels of some of the rivers. The same general arrangement of the strata in parallel folds appears to be the most important feature of its structure ; but the strike of the rock inclines more to the northward and southward than I observed anywhere else — being N. 20° E., S. 20° W. ; as a general rule the greatest amount of inclination I observed was, N. 15° E., S. 15° W. This brings the strata obliquely to the Gulf Coast line, which has a general course of about N. 40° E., S. 40° W., affording an excellent opportunity for observ ing the phenomena presented by the diiferent groups along their lines of contact." APPENDIX. (K.) — F088IL8 OF THE I'ALiKOZOIC R0CK8. Clauification 0/ Fossil Ferns. — In the text I have not departed from tlie ordinary arrangement, based on form and venatiun, though I have utudied with nmch interetit tlie arrangement of Goeppert and of other German Palieobotanists, l)aBed on the fructitication au far aa known. Since I could not, however, apply this system tliruughout, I have thought it better not to attempt to do so in part ; and liave merely referred to any traces of fructitication observed. 1 had hoped, before publishing the lists contahied in this work, to have had the benefit of Schimper's revision of the species in his forthcoming "Traitd de Palseontologie V(5g^tale;" but this work has not reached mc up to the time of writing these lines. Carboniferous Shells. — Sujce writing the paragraphs on these, I have seen Geinitz's " Memoir on the Carboniferous and Permian of Nebraska " (Nov., Acta, 1867). Among several identical species and closely allied forms in that distant region, I observed a shell referred to Area slriula, Schlot, which closely resembles the young of my Alacrodon Hardingi, though probably distinct. Mr Meek, however, in a recent criticism of Professor Geinitz's paper, identities this and others of his species with forms described by American authors. Silurian Land Plants. — The oldest land plants as yet found in British North America are the llhizomes of Psilophytun, referred to in the text as occurring iii the Upper Silurian (Lower Helderberg) of Gasp^. I observe, however, that Professor Geiuitz announces the discovery in Germany of a LepidodindroH and a Slernbergia, or plants resembling these, in rocks believed to be Lower Silurian ; and mentions that Harrande has made a similar discovery in Hohemia. The specimens would appear not to be of a very decided character ; but the discovery, if confirmed, is very impor- tant, and would modify the statements in the text as to the oldest land Flora. Fossils from Northern Queen's County, At page 617, I have mentioned the occurrence of fossils in this district, and the probability that rocks newer than the Lower Silurian occur in it. I have recently been enabled, by the kindness of Mr Poole and of Mr Kelly of the Department of Mines, Halifax, to examine a small collection of fossils procured by the former gentleman in Brooktield from loose masses. Both in mineral character and in the contained fossils, which are, however, very obscure, these specimens resemble the Lower Devonian rocks of Nictaux ; and unless they have been drifted from the northward, would tend to confirm my conjecture of 1855, tiiat " more modern rocks than those of the Atlantic coast may be expected to occur" in this district, and, consequently, that the distribution of the formations in this little known region in the western part of Nova Scotia, may be considerably different from that indicated on the map. (L.) HuRONiAN OF New Brunswick, Mr G. F. Matthew has communicated to me some observations on these 11 / APPENDIX. 687 rocks near Quaco, showing tliat the lower part of this scries in that region consists of red syenite, feisite, and granulite, not lieretofore recognised aa sedimentary rocks, and that the full series will be as follows, in descending order : — lied sediments of comparatively small thickness (No. 5 of Mr Matthew's paper on these rocks). Dark-coloured trap-slate rocks of great thickness, parted about midway by a rusty-coloured calcareo-arenaceous bund charged with iron and manganese (No». 2, 3, 4, of paper cited). Red felspathic rocks of great thickness resting on the Laurcntian series. Mr Matthew suggests the possibility that the red felspathic rocks in the great Lower Silurian band of Northern New Brunswick, marked on the map as eruptive rocks, may bo really representatives of these Iluronian beds rising from below the Silurian. Mr Matthew has also recognised in the Iluronian of New Brunswick concretions similar to the bodies from the " Lower Taconic " of North Carolina, described by Emmons under the name of Palteotrochui. (M.) Lower Carboniferous of Southern New Brunswick. Mr G. F. Matthew has communicated to me the following sectional list of the lower Carboniferous beds in Eastern King's County, New Brunswick, HI descending order : — 8. Ileddish-brown arenaceous shales and red sandstone. 7. Upper conglomerate (Kennebeckasis conglomerate), hard and massive beds. 6. Bright red sandstone and brownish-red shales and sandstones (brine springs rise from these beds). 5. Gray sandstones, flags, and dark gray shales (bituminous), Cyclopteris Acadica and Lepidodendron corrugatum. 4. Conglomerate, limestone, gypsum, and dark gray shales (bituminous), Terebralula mfflala, etc., Cyclopteria Acadica, I^ epidodeudrun cur- i-ugatum. 3. Lower conglomerate, hard and massive beds. 2. Break in section (probably shales). 1. Basal conglomerate. These beds vary considerably in tracing their line of outcrop. Mon especially the lower members tliin out toward the west, where the Lower Carboniferous bay terminates between the spurs of older rocks, while in the same part of the area the upper members become increased in thick- ness. Toward the wider Carboniferous area on the east, some of these upper members are reduced or change in character. itions on these ^ \Ma ^\ysi |S1 / GENERAL INDEX. AcAUiA, <>riK>>i uf tliu iiiiiiie, !• AoadU ('oul ('(impaiiy, 338. Iron Mine, .'J82. Quarry, 345. Acrolepiii, 'i.H. ActinoccraM, 314. Agato, 114. AgnostUH, 655. Albert Minn, 231. Albortitu, 231, 247. Albion MincH, 318. Alluvial SoilH, Marine, 21. FroHhwater, 33. Alum. 249. Amotnygt, 114. Auiphiuultis, .523. Ainy^aaloid, 87. Anaicinio, 11.5. AnalysiH of Marsh Hoil, 23. Anhydrite, 24l», 263. Anki^rito, 583. AnnaiMilis, U.5, ,563. Annuiaria, 444, 540. AntigoniHh, 346. Mountains, 550. Antimony, 640. AntholitlieH, 459, 460, 477. Anthracomya, 203. Anthracoptera, 203. AntiiracoHia, 314. Apojihyllite, 115. Apple Kiver, 15.5. Araucaritos, 474. Area, 304. Archibald, C. D., 582. Archimulacris, 388. AriHaig, .573. AHpatogoen, 618. ABsays of Coal, 221, S33, 339, 396, 411, 419. Afiterophyllitcs, 443, 537. Atliyris, 290. Avicula, 604. Aviculopccten, 306. BAiLEy, Professor L. W., 7, 108, 227, 245, 503, 523, 573, 602, 638, 640. Hairdia, 206. Hakuvullia, 301. ilaphutuH I'lanicouM, 328, 3.59. HarntiH, Mr J., 210, 314, 320, 340. Harrul Quartz, 629. liarrens, .50. IJarytcs, 270, 345, 592, .594. Hasalt, 94, 98. KaHS (;reek, 90. HathygnathuH llornalis, 119. lieinertia, 449, 485. Uellerophon, 308. Hevrichia, 2.56, 312, 608. liibliograpliy, (leological, 7. Billings, Mr, F.O.H., 11, 278, 666, 669, .581, .594. liitumcn, Karthy, 248, 339. Hituminous Hhale, 248. Hlomidon, 90. Hoar'H Hack, 82. Hogs, 35. Houlder Formation, 61. Hout Island, 91. Hrachiopoda, 278, 280, 289, 642. Hriar iNland, 90. Hrine Springs, 248, 276, 349. Brown, Mr K., 7, 357, 402, 406. Calamiteb, 194, 441, .536. Calamodendron, 440, 476. Calcareous Hpar, 115. Calymene, 607. Cambro|)horia, 293. Campbell, Mr J., 319, 322, 340, 625. ('anseau. Cape, 619. Cape Breton, General description of, 14. Metamorphic Uocks of, 572. County, Coal formation of, 404. Cape d'Or, 107. ... John, 327. ... Dauphin, 402. ... Porcupine, 559 ... Split, 94. Carboniferous District of Cumberland, 150. New Brunswick, 227, 687; Colchester, etc., 251. Pictou, 315. 2v i .» /■ ^1 690 GENERAL INDEX. Carboniferous District ut' Antigoni.sh, 346. Guysborough, 351. ...... Margaret's Bay,etc., 351. ,,,... Richmond, etc., 396. ...,., N. Inverness and Vic- toria, 399. ...... Cape Breton County, 404. Carboniferous Limestones, Subdivisions of, 147, 281. Carboniferous Sy.-tem, General descrip- tion, 128, 156. Oardiocarpum, 469, 491. Cardinia, 304. Cardiomorpha, 304. Carpenter, Dr P. P., 385. Carribou, 327. Carribou Cove, 396. Caulopteris, 449, 486. Cement Water, 351. Centronella, 300. Chabazite, 114. Chaetetes, 288. Cheater Basin, 351. Chiastolite, 620. Chiegnecto Mine, 219. Chonetes, 595. Clare, 563. Clarke's Head, 105, 265, Clays, 275, 345, 635. Cledophorus, 600. Climate of Post-pliocene, 77. Clyde River, 82. Coal Formation, Upper, 129. ...... Middle, 129, 201. Lower, 131. Coal, Structure and Origin of, 138, 459, 493. ... Brown, 63. ,.. of Joggins, 218. ... of Springhill, 221. ... of New Brunswick, 245. .., of Onslow, etc., 275. ... of Stewiacke and Hants Co., 276. ... of Pictou, 329. ... of Pomket, 348. .,, of Antigonish, 349. ... of Carribou Cove, 396. . , , of Little River (Richmond) . 396, 397. ... of Inverness and Victoria, 404. ... of Port Hood, 404. ... of Sydney, 406, 410. ... of C^pe Breton, 411. ... of Lingan or Bridgport, 412. ... of Glace Bay, 414. ... ofMird, 417, ... of Cow Bay, 417. ... of Hillsborough, 231. ... Prospects of, in Prince Edward Island, 123. Ditto, Coldbrook, 659. Ditto, Conulus, 385. Cobequid Mountains, 578, 592. Colchester, ;!51. Colours of Rocks, 24, 29, 153, 623. Concretionary Structures, "76. Conchodus, 209. Coniferous Wood, 423, 534. Conocardiuni, 304. Conocephalitps, 646, 649, 651, 6.53. Conularia, 307. Copper, Native, 107, 113, 592, 640. ... Grav Sulphuret, 113, 34;). Carbonate, 113. ... Oxide, 102, 113. ... Veins of, .527, 640. Cordaites, 188, 4.56, 490, 544. Comulites, 606. Cornwallis, 91. Crania, 595. Crinoids, 152. Cross-stone, 620. Ctenacanthus, 254. Ctenoptychius, 209. Cumberland, ('oal formation of, 1.50. Useful Minerals of, 218. Cyathophy'l jm, 287. Cycles. Geological, 135. Cyclopteris, 252, 448, 481, 547. Cyperites, 477. Cypricardia, 303. Cythere, 206, 256. Cytherella, 206. Daijoxylon, 423, 473, SS-'. Dalmania, 607. Dapa, Professor J. D., 20, 137, 262. Davidson. Mr T., 11, 278. De Bert River, 99. Dendrerpeton, 189, 363, 368. Dentalina, 28.5. Dentalium, 309. Denudation, 61, 72. Devonian System, 497. in Nova Scotia, 498. ...... in New Brunswick, 502. Diatomacese, 34. Dictyonema, 563. Dictyopteris, 447, 483. Digby, 95. Digby Neck, 95. Diluvium, 57. Diorite, 612. Diplodus, 211. Diplostvlus, 207. Diplotegium, 490. Discina, 644. Drift, 3,5. ... Origin of, 61. Drifted Sand, 35. Dunes, 38. EARTKCiUAKEB, 39. East River of Pictou, 316. EeonoiRV, 101. Edmond'ia, 30.3. Endogenites, 492. ' Eocystitet,, 643. Eosaurus Acadianus, 382. E(|uisetites, 443. Ert-jt Fossil-tress, Joggins, 28, 181, 182, 186, 187, 190, 191, 192, 197. at Malagash, 216. GENERAL INDEX. 691 46, 649, 651, 653. 07, 113,592, 640. phuret, 113, 34,"). e, 113. )2, 113. 527, 640. 6, 490, 544. formation of, 150. nl Minerals of, 218. ?7. , 135. 48, 481, 547. 473, 53- D- 20, 137, 262. 1, 278. 363, 368. 197. Scotia, 498. irunswick, 502. 83. 316. 382. 'gg'iw, 28, 181. 182, 192, 197. 216. Erect Fossil-trees al. Port Hood, 400. at Sydney, 406. Estheria, 256. Eaomphalus, 308. Eurypierus, 208, 523. Faroelite, 11.5. Fauna, 642. Felspar compact, 612. Fenestella, 288. Fern Ledges, Section at, 513. Five Islands, 102. Fires in Forests, 47. Fishes of the Coal formation, 209. Flora of the Coal formation, 421. ... of the Devonian, 531. Folly River, 100, 263. Footprints, Receat, 23. in Coal Measures, 353, 356, 358. Forest Fires, 47. Forests, Submarine, 36. Formations, Tabular Viaw ot, 18. Fort Lawrence, 28. Fossils of Lotver Carboniferous, 286. Post-pliocene, 74. Trias, 119. Devonian, 499. Upper Silurian, 594. Lower Silurian, 641. Fossil Plants of Coal Formation, 241, 421, 473. Lower Coal Fo; ination, 253. Devonian, 534. Reptiles of Carboniferous, 3.53. Fraser, Mr D., 155, 569. Fraser, Mr -T. D. B., 33& Freestone, 222, 249, 344, 3:i, 404. Frost, Action of 64. Fundy, Tides ui Hay of, 21. Marshes of, 22. Galena, 275. Gallows Point. 117. Ganoid Fishes, 209, 281, 284. Geinitz, Professor, 148. General Mining Association, 329. Gerrish Mountain, 101. Gesner, Mr, 7, 32. Gilpin, Dr, on Sable Island, 38. Glacial Period, 64, 65. Striae, 62. Ghciers, 63, 66, 70. Gneiss, 614 Gold in Lower Carboniferous, 277. ... in Lower Silurian, 624. ... Mining, 627, and Appendix. ... Produce of, 636. ... Alluvial, 631, 635. ... of New Brunswick, 640, Grand Passage, 97. Granite, 499, 612, 614, 636. Graphic, 616. Graphite, 664. Granville, 95. Gravel, Superficial, 81. Great Village River, 100. Greenstone, 612. Grindstone, 154, 222, 249. Guysborough, 350. Gypsum of Pugwajth, 222. Wallace, 222. Windsor, 259. Hants, etc., 271. New Brunswick, 249. Shubenacadie, 267, 271. East River. 345. Antigonish, 347. Pictou, 316, 345. Plaister Cove. 391. Richmond, 399. Mabou, 4U1. Cape Breton, 419. Inverness and Victoria, 403. Gypsum, Orij,'i' f Beds of, 261, 391. Veins of, 266. Gyracanthus, 210. Gyroceras, 311, Gyrolite, 115. Halifax, 618. Hall, Professor, 602, 60l Hamilton, Mr P. 8., 633. Hants County, 251. Haplophlebium, 386. Harding, Dr E. P., 264, 366. Harrington River, 102. Hartt, M' ('. P., 7,227,241,278,513,528, 532, i; . 641. Haut Island, 108. Hayes, Mr J. L., 589. Hebert River, 82. Heulandit 106. Hillsboruh, i, 231. Hind, Professor, 639, 641. Hiichcock, Professor C. H., 67t. Holopea, 605. Homalonotus, 607. Houiothetus, 525. Honeyman, Dr, F.G.S.i 11, 341, 346, 565, (i02. Ilorton, 92, 252. Blutr, 252. How, Professor, D.C.L., 11, 278, 635. Howe, Hon. J., 62.5. Hoyt, Mr, 338. Ultdson, Mr. 318. Hunt, Dr F. Sicr.y, F.R.8., 137, 262, 576. Huronian Series, 659, and Appendix. Hylerpeton, 380. Hymenophyllites, 449. 548. Hylonomus, 370, 376, 378. Ice, Ravine at Aiina|)olis, 39. ... Transporting Power o^ 64. Indian Point, 101. Insects, Fossil, 386, 523. Intercolonial Coal Company, 340. Intervales, 33. Inverness, 390, 399. Iron Ochres, 345, 351, 583, 584, ^M. Iron Ure. Magnetic, 113. i^Sf' .X^.£«^^/lM.- «'w rms.iaim.&Mm»m.-^ 692 GENERAL INDEX. Iron Ore, Specular, 113. Hematitic, 272, 584, 591. of Joggina, 222. of Shubenacadie, 271. of Pictou, 344, 5;)l. of Cobequid Mountains, 582. of Cape Breton, 419. of Nictaux, 526. of West Beach, N.B., 526. of Woodstock, 641. Ironstone, 222. Jackson, Dr, 7. Jasper, 114. Joggina, Coal Measures at, 143. Detailed Section at, 156. Coal Mine, 219. Jones, Mr, P.L.S., 356. Jukes, Mr, P.R.S., 497. Kentville, 92. Knorria, 490. Lakes, Deposits in, 34. Margins of, 35. Land Shells in the Coal Measures, 182. Laumonite, 114. Laurentian System. 662. Lawrence Mine, 219. Leaia, 256. Lead, 275, 351, 640. Leidj, Dr, 119. Leperditia, 256, 609. Lepidodendron, 185, 253, 450, 486, .541. Lepidophloios, 189, 456. 489. Lepidophyllum, 181, 489. Leptocoelia, 598. Lesley, Professor, 141, 414. Leptodonius, 603. Life in Coal Lagoons and Estuaries, 202. ... in Carboniferous Sea, 254, 285. Limestone, Bituininousof J oggins,181,222. of Minudie and Napan, etc., 151, 152. of Pugwash, 213. of Windsor, 268, 271. of New Brun.swick, 249. of Shubenacadie, 266. of West Kiver, Pictou, 315. of East River, Pictou, 345. of Antigonish, 347. of (iuysborough, 351. of Plaister Cove, 391. ofMabou, 403. of Long Island, 419. of St John, 663. Lingula, 599, 644. Lithentomum, 525. Logan, Sir W. E., F.E.8., 128, 143, 147, 227, 353, 589. Lower Carboniferous Series, 130. Lower Silurian of Nova Scotia, 613. New Brunswick, 637. Lunenburgh, 617. Lyell, Sir Charl-^s, F.R.S., 8, 25, 67, 154, 156, 232, 278, 362. Madou, 400. M'Caim's Cove, 157. Maccan Mine, 219. Macrodon, 302. Malagash, 216. Maliseeta, 3, 41, 44. Manganese Ore, 113, 250, 272, 34.5, 641. Man, Pre-historic, 41. Map, Explanation of, xi. Marble, 345, 399, 419, 593. Marcou, M. J., .580. Margaret's Bay, 351. Marshes, Deposition of, 21. Marshes, Composition of Mud of, 23. Blue or Low, 22. Colours of Mud of, 24. Extent of, 33. Mastodon, 84. Matthew, Mr G. P., 7, 108, 227, 503, 523, 536, 573, 637. Megambonia, 603. Megaphyton, 449, 486. Merigomish, 321. Mesotype, 114. Metamorphic Rocks, 610. Mica Slate, 614. Micmacs, 41, 44, 673. Microdiscus, 654. Millstone Grit, 130. Minerals of New Red Sandstone and Trap, 113. of Carboniferous of Cumberland, 218. of New Brunswick, 245. of Colchester and Hants, 271. of Pictou, 329. of Antigonish, 349. of Guysborough, 351. of Richmond, etc., 396. of Invernefis and Victoria, 403. ..... of Cape Breton, 411. Mines, Tenure of, in Nova Scoti&, 6. Laws relating to, Appendix. Klinudie, 152. Modiola, 301. Modiolopsis,599. Montagu Mine, 630. Montreal and Pictou Coal Company, 441. Moore, Mr, 320. Moose River, 103, 501. Mosely, Mr, 416. Murchisonia, 310, 605. Murchison, Sir R. 1., F.R.S., 20, 557. Naiadites, 182, 195. Napan River, 151. Naticopsis, 309. Natrolite, 114. Nautilus, 311. Neuropteris, 449, 481, 551. New Brunswick, General Description of, 16. Post-pliocene of, 73. Trias of, 108. Carbonif* lous of, 229. Devonian of, 502. Upper Silurian of, 573 ■naHHW mmmmmmmm GENERAL INDEX. 693 157. 9. 44. 113, 250, 272, 345, 641. 3, 41. 1 of, xi. 419, 593. 30. J51. ion of, 21. ition of Mud of, 23. Low, 22. of Mud of, 24. )f, 33. '•, 7, 108, 227, 503, 523, 486. a, 610. 73. Bd Sandstone and Trap, iferous of Cumberland, 'un.swick, 245. terand Hants, 271. 329. ish, 349. rough, 351. id, etc., 396. is and Victoria, 403. eton, 411. 1 Nova Scotia, 5. g to, Appendix. Goal Company, 441. 1. F.R.8., 20, 557. 551. ral Description of, 16. iliocene of, 73. of, 108. nif< I'oug of, 229. lian of; 502. Silurian of, 573. New Brunswick, Lower Silurian of, 637. Huronian of, 659. Laurentian of, 662. New Canaan, 578. New Glasgow, 321. New Red Sandstone, 87. New York and Acadia Mine, 219. New York and Nova Scotia Coal Com- pany, 340. Nickel, 641. Nictau, 498. North Mountain, 90. North River, 265, 275. Nova Scotia, General Description of, 14. Nova Scotia, Post-pliocene of, 60. Trias of, 87. Carboniferous of, 141. Devonian of, 497. Upper Silurian of, 557. Lower Silurian of, 61.3. Nuculites, 602. Oak Island, 91. Obolella, 644. Odontopteris, 447, 482. Onslow Mountain, 27."). Oolitic Limestone, 400. Opal, 114. Orthis, 599, 644. Orthoceras, 311, 605. Orwell Point, 117. Ovens, The, 631, 635. Owen, Professor, F.R.S., 354. Packard, Mr, 85. Palaeaster, 594. Palseoniscus, 231. Palseopteris, 449, 48r). Paradise, 563. Paradoxides, 656, 657. Partridge Island, 106. Peat, 35, and Appendix. Peat under Boulder Clay, 60. Pecopteris, 449, 484, 534. Pereau River, 91. Permian Period, 125. Petite PiU'sage, 97. .. River, 89. Petroleum, 248. Phillipsia, 313. Pictou, Carboniferous District of, 31,5. Upuer Silurian of, 568. Pine, Fossil, of Prince Edward Island, 117. of Joggin.s, 157, 179, 423. of Malanash, 214. of St John, 534. Pinnularia, 445, 541. Plaister Cove, 391. Plaster Pits, Origin of, 269, 393. Platephemera, 524. Platyschisma, 309. Pleurotomaria, 310. Poole, Mr H., 11, 320, 324, 416, 620, 625. Poole, Mr H., jun., 278. Pomket, 348. Porphvry, 593, 612. Portapique River, 100. Portland, 662. Post-pliocene, 56. Fossils of, 74. Pre-historic Man, 41. Time, 41. Prehnite, 115. Primordial of St John, 641. Prince Edward Island, 1 16. Fossil Reptile in, 119. Soils of, 119. Possible occurrence of Coal in, 123. Productus, 296. Psammodus, 209. Psaronius, 449, 486. Psilophyton, 543. Pugwash, 203. Pulmonates, 383. Puim vetusta, 384. QUAUTZ, 113. ... Smoky, 593. ... Rose, 616. Auriferous, 627. Quartzite, 615. Queen's County, 616. Raik-harks, Recent, 26. Carboniferous, 27, 164, 410. Ragged Reef, 155. Rand, Rev. Mr, 2, 42, 44, and Appendix. Reptiles of Coal Formation, 189, 353. Trias, 119. Retzius, 42. Rhabdocarpus, 459, 478. Rhizodus, 210, 254. Rhynchonella, 294, 298, 598. Rhyncospira, 597. Richmond, 390. Rill-marks, 26. Robb. Mr C, 227, 340. Robb, Professor, 7, 124, 227, 502. Rusichnites, 257, 410. Rutherford, Mr, 219, 329, 341. Sable Island, 36. Salmon River, 88. Salt Springs, 248, 276, 349. Salter's Head, 88. Sand Hills or Dunes, 36, .39. Sandstone, Colours of, 1.53, 623. Sandstone, New Red, 86. Sandy Cove, 95. Sauropus, 358. Savannahs, 35. Scolecite, 1 14. Scudder, Mr, 387. Second-Growth Woods, 49. Sediments, 24, 623. Serpulites, 312. Shale, 248. Sharp Cape, 106. Shelburne, 616. Shoulie River, 155. Shrinkage-Crack.s, 26. Shubenacadie, 88, 266. 1^ ' h SI mi i 694 GENERAL INDEX. Sigillaria, 180, 188, 430, 474, 536. Silver, 640. Slate, 593, 615. ... Artificial, 590. Smith, Mr T., 48. Soils, Alluvial, 21, 33, 112, 123. ... Peaty, 35. Soils of the Carboniferous, 223. Metaniorphic Districts, 593, 613. Trias, 112, 123. Solenites, 492. Split, Cape, 92. Sphenopteris, 243, 447, 483. Sphenophylluin, 444, 480, 540, Spirifera, 251, 298, 499, 596. Spirorbis, 205, 310. Sporangites, 459, 491. 8t Croix River, 263. St John, N.B., 503, 637, e.')9. St John River, Falls of, 31. St Mary's River, 619. Staurotide, 616. Steenstrup, Dr, 55. Steno[)ora, 287. Sternbergia, 424, 491. Stigmaria, 155, 179, 436, 475, !>36. Stilbite, U4. Stone Age, 42. Striae, Glacial, 59, 69. ... of Drift- w^ood, 199. Strophoraena, 295, 499. " Sub-Carboniferous," 131. Submarine Forests, 28. Subsidence, Modern, 31. Swan Creek, 104. Sydney, Cape Breton, 406. Syenit.;, 612. Syringodeudron, 475. Tangier, 631. Tatamagouche, 217. >. Tellinomya, 602. Terebratula, 289. Thomsonite, 115. Tides of the Bay of Fundy, 21. Tormentm, Cape, 124. Trap, Mode of Formation, 87. ... Varieties of, 87. ... Blomidon, etc., 90. Trap of Digby Neck, 97. Briar Islai i, 98. Five Islands, 101. Swan Creek, 103. Partridge Island, 105. Cape Sharp, 106. (!ape D'Or, 106. Hog Island, 123. M'Cara's Brook, 316. Trees, Erect, 191, 198, 200. Trematospira, 597. Trias, 86. Trigonocarpum, 459, 477, 461. Truro, 88. Tufa, 87. Turbo, 309. Ulodendron, 189. Umber, 351. Unconformability, 88. Underclays, 179. Upper Silurian, 411, 557, 572. of Nova Scotia, 558. of New Brunswick, 573. Vekrill, Professor, Appendix. Victoria County, 403. Mine, 219. Wallace, 214. Walton, 89, 258. Waverley Mine, 627. Webster, Dr, 25, 34, 571. Westport, 97. West River of Pictou, 315. Williamson, Professor, 424. Wilson, Professor, 57. Windsor, 258, 279. Wolfville, 92. Worm-burrows, 256, 410. Xenoneuka, 525. Xylobius, 385, 49.5. Yarmouth, 616. Zaphrentis, 286, 499. Zinc, 641. Zonites, 385. THE ENU. PRINTED BV OMVEH AMD BOYD, KDIKBUROH. ^ftt^-i ri*'i»>*&.ii,f'^ wmm ■ii" 'feck, 97. ilai i, 98. lands, 101. reek, 103. re Island, 105. arp, 106. Or, 106. «nd, 123. I Brook, 316. , 198, 200. 7. 159, 477, 461. '/ ■'! ■ A 88. 1, 557, 572. Nova Scotia, 558. Sew Brunswick, 673. p, Appeudis. 93. i J ;r M 7. t, 571. )U, 315. lor, 424. )7. 410. i V 1 ; 1' ^ / fv i-nf^,m'^^' JUKCTION OP INTRUSIVE ORANITE AND QUARTZITF. IN CLIFF NEAK INDIAN HARBOUR LAKE. (P. 84.) / ■■.I -LiS^WS" SUPPLEMENT TO THE SECOXI) EDITION OF ACADIAN GEOLOGY, FOmw KliMAINS, AN,, illNEIUL KESOUI.CB, S OF NOVA SCOTIA. NEW BRUNSWICK. AND PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. By JOHN WILLIAM DAWSON, M.A., LL.D., JMt.s., K.G.S. Etc N-CIPAL AND VICE-CIIA.NCKLLOI! OF M'OILL U.SIVEli8ITy, MONTREAL. MACMILLAN AND CO. EDIMnURGII : OLIVER & HOYD. TVVKKDn.U.K COl'HT HALIFAX: A. & W. MACKINLAV. MONTREAL: nAW.ONl.ROTI.F.RS. NEW VORK: VAN NOSTRANU. 1878. in 1 T^fiiSB n ^iv HI j Bilh I liibl ■ jHj^^^BI 1 ■■ ■ -IS.' ¥^^^V^M| H "^^^^^^^H 1 linl 1 4 m KDINUUllOIl : I'RINl i;i) liY OLIVER AND BOYD. C N T E X T S, A P I). PAOP. Intkoductorv, 7 Cmurkction's of ftKOLOotcAi, Mai* 9 TiiK A[tn)i;KN I'KiiioD— Changos of Lovcl — Tho AciuUun Hay — Oystei'- Beds— Sand Dunes — Shore Iiidgos— Micniac Romiiins, ... 13 The Post-Pijouenk — Cliniiite — UduMit Clay and Glacial Krosiuu — Pan Ico — DeiKJsits in Prince Edward Island — New Fossils and New Localities, ........... 10 TiiK Trias — New Facts as to Prince Edward Island — Fossils of tho Trias 28 The Pkumo-Cahbonifeuous — Development and Fossils in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, ........ 30 The CAunoNiFKliuus— Recent Discoveries in Dill'ercnt t'oal-fu'lds — Lower Members of the Carboniferous— Their Arrangement and Equiva- lents— Manganiferous Limestone — New Carboniferous Fossils — Origin of Coal 39 The DEVONrAN — Its Development in Acadia and North America gem rally— Its Flora 09 The Ui'I'EK Sii.ruiAN — Volcanic Hocks in — The Masearcno Series — Tho Wentworth Series — Now Fossils — Uestriction of Upiier Silurian Areas 72 The Lower Siluuian — Largely Represented by Volcanic Beds — Tho Cobciiuid Scries and its Equivalents — Lower Silurian of Capo Breton, 78 The Cambrian — The Acadian Series — The Quartzite and Slato Series of the Atlantic Coast— Intrusive Granite and Metamorphism — Fossils — Ago of Gold Veins 81 The Huronian — In New Brunswick — Supposed Eipiivalents in Nova Scotia, 87 The Lauhextiax— New Facts as to New Brunswick- Supposed Lau- rcntian of Nova Scotia, . 88 Comparisons of Palaiozoie Rocks with those of other Countries, . . 90 Mineral Resources — Coal — Iron — Copper — Antimony— Gold — Man- ganese — Lead — Building and Ornamental Stones — Grindstones- - Gypsum, &c 92 Notes and Addenda 99 Classified Index to the Pala-ontology of the Third Edition of Acadian Geology, 103 J i I'j ■1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O ^ 'W y. t/j ^^^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 1.4 1.6 V2 ^ " X V 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145oO (716) 872-4503 'd /////■\ Q- i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Juiiotion of Granite and Quartzite {Frontisp Mieniac Harpoon, Sections of Prince Edward Island Sigillaria Lorwayana, . Blattina Bretonensi.s, B. Hceri, . 15. sepulta, . Libcllula c:irbonaria, . Markings on Kocks, Anthracopalainion Hillianum, Carboniferons Myriapoda, Psilophyton princeps, Section on East River, Pictou, Homalonotus Dawsoni, Section of ("oluquid hange, . Eozoon Canadense, Canal system of do., Palaioniscus modnlus, iece) 19 81 62 63 63 63 63 64 66 66 71 76 77 80 89 90 100 I SUPPLEMENT TO ACADIAN GEOLOGY. 'iW PAOB 19 31 52 63 53 63 63 64 66 66 71 76 77 80 89 90 100 1. INTRODUCTORY. When in 1868 it became necessary to prepare a second edition of my Acadian Geology, I was surprised to find that the new material on the subject had increased to such an extent as to swell the woik to thrice its original bulk, in spite of all my attempts at condensation, and of the omission of many details accumulated in my notes. iS'ow, after the lapse of nine years, in writing a supplementary section to bring tlie book up to the present state of knowledge, I find myself troubled \irith a similar superabundance of matter. It is so far gratifying to me that I have little to retract in the department of theoretical geology. That position of moderate luiifor- mitarianism, with due allowance for intermittent actions which may well be termed cataclysmic, which I have attempted to define in the concluding paragraphs of my book, and which pervades its general tone and the treatment of the varied subjects discussed, may now be considered as the attitude of the great majority of geologists. The battle of the glacialists is perhaps hardly as yet decided, but victory evidently leans to the side of that eclectic doc- trine of marine submergence and ice-drift with local land glaciation, which I maintained in 1868, as I had previously done in 185o. The questions relating to the origin of coal and the land conditions of the Carboniferous age, presented in 1868, were answered by tlio collection of facts shown perhaps more clearly in Nova Scotia tl'.au in any other part of the world, and the force of which is now felt everywhere, and supported by evidence abundantly obtained in other countries. The reality and extent of the Devonian flora, though belief in them is still resisted with a pertinacity almost personal by some European botanists, are now generally accepted by geologists. The extension downward of the i^iiieozoic launa in America, as tar as the Lower Cambrian, and the distinctness of this older fauna from 1 ; ! fi i 4, . r.i I O INTUODUCTOItY. those wliicli arc properly Silurian, due mainly to the labours of Matthew and Hartt, but first brought [ niucntly forward in the second edition of this work, has been grc y extended iu its geo- graj)hical range ; and American text-books no longer terminate Palteo- zoic life on the horizon of the Potsdam. The still greater fact of the extension of animal life backward into the Eozoic age, though still denied by some, is steadily advancing in acceptance. My own work in the geology of the Acadian Provinces, since 1868, has necessarily been limited by distance and by other occupations. It includes — (1.) A geological reconnaissance of Prince Edward Island,* in which I was assisted by Dr li. J. Harrington, and by which the subdivisions of the Trias in that island and the existence and distribution in it of rocks of the Ui)per Coal formation were first ascertained; (2.) A detailed Report on the Flora of the Upper Silurian and Devonian Rocks, published by tho Geological Survey of Canada in 1871, in which the fossil plants of the New Brunswick Devonian were first adequately figured and described, and their geological relations discussed ; (3.) A similar Report on the Fossil Plants of the Lower Carboniferous and Millstone-grit, in which these plants and the beds containing them were correlated with those in other parts of America and in Europe ; (4.) A Revision of the Post- pliocene Geology, in my " Notes on the Post-pliocene of Canada ;"-{- (5.) Memoirs on the Relation of the Upper Coal Measures of Nova Scotia to the Permian ; ^ On the Impressions and Footprints of Animals in the Carboniferous Rocks ; § On Sitjillaria, Calainitcs, and Lepidodendron ; \\ On New Carboniferous Batrachians;^ and on the Geological Relations of the Iron Ore Deposits.** I have besides given assistance in the determination of fossils and in other ways to most of the other workers who have been in the field, so that my connection with Acadian geology has been continuously maintained. I may add that, in connection with the preparation of this supple- ment, I have twice visited Nova Scotia, and re-examined districts of special interest, and that I have in many instances been delighted to find how much, previously inaccessible or obscure, had been dis- closed by new lines of railway, mining operations, and other changes. The extension of the Geological Survey of the Dominion to the Acadian Provinces has brought into the field a host of workers, armed with those advantages of ample time and public funds which • Ueport on (Jeology of P. E. I., 1871. t Journal, Geo!of;icsl Soeiei^', Aug. i»T4. II Journal, Geo!. Socy., May 1873. ** Proceedings Am. Association, 1871. t Montreal, 1872. g Am. Jl. Science, January 1873. *il Am. JI. Science, Dec. 1876. INTKODUCTORY. '■] he labours of brward in the k1 ill its geo- ininatc Palteo- tcr fact of the I, though still !S, since 1868, • occupations, ince Edward gton, and by the existence nnation were of the Upper cal Survey of V Bninswick id, and their )n the Fossil wliich these vith those in of the Post- Canada ;"f ires of Nova ootprints of ilainites, and and on the iive besides icr ways to so that my maintained, this supple- districts of elighted to been dis- er changes, lion to the )f workers, mds which anuary 1873. )ec. 187G, fue not accorded to those who labour for the mere love of science, and thus an immense amount ,of details not previously accesoible have been accumulated. In this Supplement I shall have to summarise or refer to Repo'-ts by Sir W. E. Logan, Mr Selwyn, Dr Hunt, Pro- fessor Bailey, Mr Matthew, Mr Robb, Mr M'Owat, Mr Hartley, Mr Scott Barlow, Mr Fletcher, and Mr Ells, embracing in all a volume of matter much greater than that of my book. In addition to this, local g^^plogists and collectors have not been idle, and more especially a number of important papers and reports have been published by Mr Poole, Professor Hind, Dr Iloneyman, Mr Matthew, Mr Gilpin, Pro- fessor How, Professor Chapman, Mr Paisley, and others. In dealing with this great mass of matter, I shall first notice the modifications required in the Geological Map, and shall then refer to the several formations in succession, limiting myself under each to those points which seem most important either in local or general geology. Finding by experience that the general arrangement of my book, whereby the notices of fossils and of useful mineralg were distributed under the heads of the districts in which they principally occur, has caused some difficulty in reference, and has perhai)s led to the over- looking of important facts by readers, I shall add a classified table of contents which may remove this inconvenience. 2. THE GEOLOGICAL MAP. In the second edition of this work it was stated that the map, though greatly improved, " is to be regarded as merely a rude approximation to the truth ; " and though more detailed and accurate maps of certain districts have since been published, so much remains to be done, and so much uncertainty exists, that I have thought it best not to alter the colouring in this edition, but merely to note the changes which up to the present time would seem to be indicated by new facts. In the map, the limits of the Triassic and Carboniferous forma- tions, as they could be broadly indicated by tracing these formations on a number of lines of section up to tlieir borders, were taken as the dominant boundaries, and litt'e attempt was made to indicate the subdivisions of the older Metamorphic scries. Even this much in- volved a large amount of labour, in time snatched from the intervals of other employments, and was necessarily very imperfectly done, yet those general llinils, as fixed by me in 1868, may be said still to remain, the principal exceptions being the extension of the Upper Coal formation along the N.-W. coast of Prince Edward Island, fl M iJUl ril ' in 10 THE GEOLOGICAL MAP, t«>ia and to Governor's Island and Gallas Point in Hillsborough Bay ; an error of the colourist, whereby the tint of the Lower Silurian was extended over a part of the Caiboniferous near Bathurst, in New Brunswick, and some local coirec*;ions in Antigonish County and Cape Breton. The older formations of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have all along been liable to the same difficulties wiiich have made the simihvr rocks of New England the stumbling-block of geologists. Originally very different from the sediments of equivalent age in that " New York Series " which lias been usually regarded as typical, intermixed with anomalous and irregular volcanic beds, much dis- turbed and profoundly changed by metamorphic action, and for the most part covered with soil or buried in forests, they presented diffi- culties altogether insuperable in 18(58, and which even yet have been very partially removed. I was, however, able, with the aid of the New Brunswick geologists, roughly to arrange them under six dis- tinct colours. These were, with their respective numbers, (4.) Devonian; (5.) Upper Silurian; (6.) Lower Silurian, including Cambrian; (7.) Huronian; (8.) Laurentian; (10.) Granite, Syenite, etc. In Nova Scotia, the only district coloured as Devonian is that on the south side of the Annapolis V^ alley, or the Nictaux find Bear River formation. The fossils of this are of Oriskany age, and would now, by some geologists, be regarded as Upper Silurian rather than as Lower Devonian. The only other area which I could indicate in that province is a small patch of quartzose rock, holding obscure fossil plants, which projects through the Carboniferous between the East and Middle Rivers of Pictou, and which is delineated on Sir William Logan's detailed map of that district, but is too small to appear in my map. In New Brunswick the Devonian area requires to be diminished by the removal of the large patch between Quaco and Shepody Bay, which consists of altered rocks of much older date ; a remark Avhich also applies to the smaller areas indicated on the map immediately west of St John. On the other hand, considerable portions of the hard, slaty, and arenaceous rocks rising from beneath the Carboniferous on its south-western border, and mapped as Lower Silurian, have been ascertained by Messrs Bailey and Matthew to bo Devonian. Mr R. Chalmers, who is engaged in preparing a geological map of Rcstigouche County, reminds me that a limited exposure of sandstone and conglomerate near Dalhousie, holding obscure fossil plants, and referred by the CJcological Survey to the Gaspe sandstones,* has * Kei)ort of I'rogress, 1863. TIIK GEOLOGICAL MAP. 11 rough IJay; im 'or yiliiriiui was tliurst, ill Now 'omit/ and Cape nswick have all ave made tlic of geologists, ivalent age in •ded as typical, eds, niiich dis- n, and for the jrosented diffi- yet have been the aid of the under six dis- lumbers, (4.) ^n, including !, Syenite, etc. an is that on id Bear River 1 Would now, vtlier than as dicate in tliat jbscure fossil een tlie East 1 Sir William to appear in quires to be 1 Quaco and older date; :ated on the considerable ■om beneath cd as Lower ;tthew to bo ?ical map of >f sandstone >ssil plants, stones,* has boon oimtted on my map. I have also found that these Devonian rocks, represented by red and gray sandstones with characteristic fossils, come in, in great force, near Casaupscal, on the cast side of the Mctapedia, and just on the northern limit of the map. Rocks characterized by fossils of Upper Silurian age skirt the Bouthcrn side of tiic great crystalline belt extending south-westward from IJatliurst in New Brunswick, and doubling round the south- west end of tlie Carboniferous area of that province. They arc coloured in the map as Lower Silurian, and by an error of the colourist are extended over a part of the Carboniferous area near Bathurst. On the other band, a portion of the Upper Silurian area near the lower part of the St John River, and constituting the Kingston group, is regarded as in part at least occupied with older rocks. Li Nova Scotia, rocks of Upper Silurian age skirt the Cobc- quid Hills from Wentworth to New Annan and Earlton, and reappear on the East River of I'ictou, extending thence to Arisaig and Loch- aber Lake. To the westward they reappear and cover considerable areas at Now Canaan and elsewhere in King's County, and also in Northbru Queen's County. All these districts are indicated in my map by the proper colour, but I have included with thcni large areas occupied by non-fossiliferous rocks of various mineral characters, and which subsequent observers have been disposed to assign to a much older date. The reasons of this will be discussed farther on.* In the meantime, I may state that there are some grounds for the belief that considerable areas marked as Upper Silurian in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton may prove to be Lower Silurian, or even older, and that if we confine the colour to those areas in which fossils of Upper Silurian age have been actually recognised, its breadth will be restricted, both in the east and west, to certain narrow bands in the districts so coloured on the present maps. Unfortunately, with one possible exception in Cape Breton, no dis- tinct fauna of the typical Lower Silurian age has yet been recognised in the Acadian Provinces. A few Graptolitcs found by Mr. Robb in the great belt north of the crystalline area already referred to in New Brunswick, would seem to indicate equivalents of the Quebec group. In Nova Scotia there arc stratigraphical reasons to suppose that portions, at least, of the remarkable semi-volcanic or ash rocks, which underlie the beds with Upper Silurian fossils, may be of this age. With reference to the great belt of Lower Silurian constituting the Gold series on the coast of Nova Scotia, its age was held by me in * Under headings " Lower Silurian " and " Cambrian." ( • UK "111. 12 TIIK GEDUJOICAI. MAP. 1868 to be properly Cftmbrian, though in deference to the chisaitica- tion of Miirchison — then almost universally adopted — it was mapped as Silurian. Such fossils as have since been found in it by Selwyn, Hind, and myself, and those of its extensions in Newfoundlai\d and New England, would seem to confirm this conclusion. Mr Selwyn has, however, found that in the west the granite and gneissose areas should be much extended, and Prof, llind proposes to separate por- tions of the gneissose rocks as Laurentian and Iluronian. These points also will bo discussed in the sequel. The above corrections in the Upper and Lower Silurian districts of the map may be summarised as follows: — If the reader will consider the blue tint indicating Upper Silurian to cuvcr Lower Silurian as well, iind the purple tint repi'esenting Lower Silurian to indicate (Jam- brian, the map will be approximately correct, with the exceptions already referred to in New Brunswick, and some areas in Northern Cape lireton and the western part of Nova Scotia, to be subsequently referred to. The Iluronian rocks of New Brunswick, as marked on the map, are stjll recognised as such ; but it has been proposed to join to them several other groups, on the ground of mineral character principally. As this conclusion is still under discussion, I defer its consideration till farther on. Messrs Bailey and Matthew have introduced several new areas of Laurentian rocks in their recent maps of Southern New Brunswick ; and large areas in Southern and Eastern Nova Scotia and Cape lireton have been referred to this age by local geologists and officers of the Survey, whose views on this subject, however, I do not regard as established by my own observations. They will be referred to on subsequent pages. The little island of Grand ISIanan, at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, has fared very badly in my map. I have not myself visited it, and it seems that the information accessible to me in 18G8, and given in the appendix to my book, had led to very incorrect inferences on my part. From i-ecent reports by Prof. Bailey and Mr Matthew, and by Prof. Chapman, it seems that the western iialf of the island con- sists of Triassic trap resting on tufa and red smdstone, the eastern ha'f of old crystalline rocks, possibly Laurentian. The Magdalen Islands, though politically connected with the Province of Quebec, fall within the map of Acadia. They are represented as Carboniferous; and I can now confirm this from the inspection of an interesting series of specimens collected by the Hon. Judge M'Cord. These show that the rocks of these islands belong ' /} THE aEOLOOlCAL MAP. 13 to the Lower Carboniferous or Gypsiferous series, and they no doubt form a portion of a rim of these rocks, limiting the Carboniferous area of tlie Acadian Jiay, and extending from Northern Cape Breton toward tlie IJaie des Chalcurs. The soutli-western corner of Newfoundland, extending into the map, inchidcs part of the Coal-field of St George's Bay, and of a Laurcntian area which bounds it on the east. These ft)rmation8 have recently been described by Murray in his Reports on the CJeology of Newfoundland, and have been represented on liis beautiful map of tlio island. Specimens in my possession show that the Carboniferous limestone of Newfoundland includes abundance of the characteristic fossils of that formation, and that its fossil plants arc principally such as in Nova Scotia occur in the Millstonc-grit.* 3. THE MODERN PERIOD. Changes of Level. — In the surveys for the Bale Vcrtc Canal, made by Mr Page under authority of the Dominion Government, I find it stated in the Report of Mr Baillargc, that between the Missaquash River and Cumberland Creek, to the north of the point where I observed the submarine forest of Fort Lawrence,-}- stumps of trees were seen rooted in earth for more than half a mile along the shore, and extending from low- water mark to the bank. They are stated to be from 32'8 feet to 22-3 feet below the level of the highest tides. The surveyors recognised spruce, beech, pine, and tamarac, all in a fair state of preservation, and rooted in a vegetable mould underlaid by a sandy subsoil. In my Report on Prince Edward Island I have noticed evidence of similar modern subsidence, though to a less amount. These facts place themselves in connection with the probability that in America, as in Europe, a period of continental elevation succeeded the great Post-pliocene subsidence, and has been followed by a depression in more modern times. This consideration seems to account for some otherwise anomalous facts in connexion with the distribution of modern marine animals. I referred to these l)oints in my annual address to the Natural History Society of Montreal in 1874, and may here repeat the substance of what was then said. The Acadian Bay in relation to Modern ISubsidence.—U we draw a straight line from the northern end of Cape Breton through the Magdalen Islands to the mouth of the Bay des Chaleurs, we have * Report on Fossil Plants of L. Carboniferous and Millstone-grit, 1873. t Ac. Geol., p. 29. H k t t m %,h li THE MODEHN rERIOH. to the soiuliwiinl ail extensive scinicirciilrtr hay, 200 miles in diameter, whieh \vc may eall the yrcat Acatlinn liny, and on the nortii the hvrger and deci)er trianguhir area of the Clulf of St Law- rence. Tiiis Acadian Day is a sort of gigantic warm-water aciuarium, sheltered, except in a few isohitod hanlts whieli iiavc heen pointed ont hy Mr Whileaves, from the coM waters of tiic gulf, and which tiie batiier feels quite warm in comparison with the frigid and often not very limpid liquid witli which we are fain to bo content in tlic Lower St Lawrence. It alHo affords to the more delicate marine animals a more congenial habitat than they can find in the Bay of Fnndy, or even on the coast of Maine, unless in a few sheltered spots, some of which have been ex|)lored by Professor Vcrrill. It is true tiiat in winter the whole Acadian IJay is encumbered with floating ice, partly produced on its own shores and partly drifted from the north ; but in summer the action of the sun upon its surface, the warm air iu.wing over it from the neighbouring land, and the ocean water broui^ht in by the Strait of Canseau, rapidly raise its tem- perature, and it retains this elevated temperature till late in autumn. Hence the character of its fauna, which is indicated by the fact, that many species of molluscs whose headquarters are south of Cape Cod flourish and abound in its waters. Among these are the common oyster, which is especially abundant on the coasts of Prince Edward Island and Northern New Brunswick, the Quahog or Wampum shell, the Pclricola p/ioladifurmis, which, along with Zirfan crispafa, burrows everywhere in the soft sandstones and shales ; the beautiful Modiola pUcatula forming dense mussel-banks in the sheltered coves and estuaries ; Cytherca {Callista) convexa ; Cochlodesma leana and Camming'ia teUinoidcs ; Crrpidida fornicata, the slipper-linq)ct, and its variety wujuiformis, swarming especially in the oyster-beds ; Nassa obsoleta and Buccinum cinerewn, with many others of similar southern distribution. Nor is the fauna so very meagre as might be supposed. My own collections from Northumberland Strait in- clude about fifty species of molluscs, and some not possessed by nic have been found by Mr Whiteavcs. Some of these, it is true, are northern forms, but the majority are of New England species. The causes of this exceptional condition of things in the Acadian Bay carry us far back in geological time. The area now consti- tuting the Gulf of St Lawrence seems to have been exempt from the great movement^ of plication and elevation which produced the hilly and metamorphic ndges of the east coast of America. These all die out and disaj)pcar as they approach its southern shore. The tran- quil and gradual passage from the Lower to the Upper Silurian **t,,4. THE MODEUN PEUIoD. 15 '■ly. 200 miles in " li'tjl, and on tho <«»lt' of St Law- iiii-wiiteracinarium, 'I'lvo boon pointed '"■ giilt; and whicli i« frigid and oCteii be content in the !■•' delicate marine "1 i'l the JJay of " a few sheltered feasor Vcrrill. It Piiciimbered with I'aitly drifted from )'i its surface, the "I'l, and the ocean '}' I'aiso its te!n- 11 late in autumn. I by the fact, that )utli of Ca|)c Cod arc tlic common 1' I'lincc Kdward !■ ^\'anipum sliell, ^ii'fm crispata, cs ; tlic beautiful sheltered coves ^esma leana and pper-limpet, and lie oyster-beds; others of similar neagre as might ^rland Strait in- assessed by me '^i it is true, arc species. in the Acadian ca now consti- xemjit from the diiced the hilly These all die ro- The traii- '^Pper Silurian ascertained by Billings in the rocks of Anticosti, and unique in North America, furnishea an excellent illustration of this. In tho Carboniferous period the (lulf of St Lawrence was a fica area as now, but with wider linuts, and at that time its southern part was much filled up with sandy and muddy detritus, and its margins were invaded by beds and dykes of trappcan rocks. In the Triassic ago the red sandstones of that period were extensively deposited in the Acadian Bay, and in part have been raised out of the water in Prince Edward Island, while the whole bay was shallowed and partially separated from the remaimler of the gulf by the elevation of ridges of Lower (."arboniferous rocks across its mouth. In the l*08t- pliocene period, that which immedijvtely precedes our own modern, age, as I have elsewhere shown,* there was great subsidence of this region, accompanied by a cold climate, and boulders of Laurcntian rocks were drifted from Labrador and deposited on Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, while the southern currents flowing up what is now the Bay of Fundy, drifted stones from the hills of New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. At this time the Acadian Bay enjoyed no exemption from the general cold, for at Campbell- ton, in Prince Edward Island, and near Bathurst, in New Brunswick, we find in the clays and gravels the northern shells generally charac- teristic of the Post-pliocene, — though perhaps the lists given by Mi- Matthew for St John, and by Mr Paisley for the vicinity of Bathurst, may be held to show some slight mitigation of the Arctic conditions as compared with the typical deposits in the St Lawrence valley. Since that time the land has gradually been raised out of the waters, and with this elevation the southern or Acadian fauna has crept north- ward and established itself around Prince Edward Island, as the Acadian Bay attained its present form and conditions. But how is it that this fauna is now isolated, and that intervening colder Vt'atars separate it from that of Southern New England? Vorrill regards this colony of the Acadian Bay as indicating a warmer climate intervening between the cold Post-pliocene period and the present, and he seems to think that this may either have been coincident with a lower level of the land suflicicnt to establish a shallow-water channel con- necting the Bay of Fundy with the Gulf, or with a higher level raising many of the banks on the coast of Nova Scotia out of water. Geo- logical facts, which I have illustrated in Acadian Geology, indicate the latter as the probable cause. We know that the eastern coast of America has in modern times been gradually subsiding. Further, the remari-able submarine forests in the Bay of Fundy show that * Notes on Post-pliocene of Canada, Canadian Naturalist, 1872. I ,' ' ^i\\ m: 16 Tim MODicnN PKnioi). within a time imt Hiiiricient to pioiluco the decay of pine wood, tliis deprcHsion iia^ taken place to tlio extent of at leaist 40 foet, and probably to 60 foet or more. We have thus direct geological evid(!ncc of a former higher condition of the land, whicdi nwiy, when at itH maximum, have greatly exceeded that above indicated, Hince we canni)t trace the snbmarine forests as far below the sea-level an they actually extend. The effect of such an elevation of the land would be not only a general shallowing of the water in the IJay of Fundy and the Acadian Uay, and an elevation of it.s temperature both by this and by the greater amount of neighbouring land, but, as Professor Vorrill well states, it would also raise the banks of the Nova Scotia coast, and extending south from Newfoundland, so as to throw the Arctic current further from the shore and warm the water along the coasts of Nova Scotia and Northern New England. In these circumstances the marine animals of Southern New England miglit readily extend themselves all around the coasts of Nova Scotia and Cape 13relr would work sions. Verrill rviving on the )ecies in mud- states that the t even within istcd in places some of these ;oast of Nova on the Sable ittoral species ; when these y subsidence, Acadian Bay it that it has 3 of the coast probably still n the north, wliieli, slioultl this subsidence go on, will creep slowly back to rcoccupy the ground which it once held in the Post-plioconc time. Such peculiarities of distribution serve to show the cflfects of oven comparatively small changes of level upon climate, and upon tho distribution of life, and to confirm the same lesson of caution in our interpretation of local diversities of fossils, which geologists have been lately learning from the distribution of cold and warm currents in tho Atlai.tic. Another lesson which they teach is the wonderful fixity of si)ccics. Continents rise and sink, climates change, islands nre devoured by the sea or restored again froni its depths, nnirinc animals are locally exterminated, and are enabled in the course of long ages to regain their lost abodes, yet they remain ever the same, and even in their varietal forms perfectly resemble those remote ancestors which arc separated from tiiem by a vast lapse of ages and by many physical revolutions. This trith, which I have already deduced from the Post-pliocene fauna of the St Lawrence Valley, is c(pially taught by the molluscs of the Acadian Hay, and by their Arctic relatives returning after long absence to claim their old homes. Oyster-hcih or Mussel-beds. — In the bays and estuaries of Prince ICdward Island, and of the northern coast of Nova Scotia, vast ac- cumulations of the .shells of the American oyster, Ostrea Virghiiana^ and those of the mussel, Myiihis i dulls, have taken place, and must bo deposits of the modern period succeeding the Post-plioeenc. I have been informed by Mr W. II. Pope, who has given much attention to this subject, that some of these beds are fifteen feet or more in thick- ness. They consist of dead shells, and in many places no living shells occur even at the surface, the animals having been killed by the gradual approach of the beds to tho surface of the water, exposing them to the action of the frost and ice and to invasion of sandy sedi- ment. These beds of dead oyster and mussel shells, with the mud filling the interstices, constitute one of the most valuable deposits on the island. Under the name of " Mussel Mud " this material is taken up in great quantity by ingenious dredging machines, worked from rafts in summer or from the ice in winter, and is applied as a manure to the soil with the most excellent effects. It supplies lime and organic matter, besides small quantities of phosphates and alkalies. The shells in these old beds are all of the long narrow form [0. Virginiana), and Mr Pope informs me that the round form [0. bore- alts) occurs at the surface in many places where the long narrow form is found only a few inches below. It also appears that the modern oysters procured in the upper parts of the rivers and on ] I il 1 i:i 18 THE MODERN PERIOD. muddy bottom tend to the long form, while those hi more salt water and on hard bottom are round. Sand-Hills or Dunes of Prince Edward Island. — These mounds of drifted sand are extensively developed along the outer or north-west shore, where they stretch in long lines across the bays and parallel to the coast. In all they extend in length about 45 miles, and are some- times more than 40 feet high. Though usually held together by the roots of coarse grasses, l y are liable to frequent changes, which arc much promoted by the cropping of the grass by the cattle, or by any artificial or accidenial breaking of the surface. At St Peter's I saw an old entrance, used in the early French times, quite filled up with the blown sand ; and I was told that a hill, 40 feet high, had been removed within a few yeans, and had disclosed the rcniii-ns of an old black- smith's foige under its base. The sand in these hills is derived from the waste of the red sandstones ; and, when left dry by the tide, is blown up by the wind. The attrition to which it has been subjected has removed the coating of red oxide of iron from the siliceous grains of sand, so that, though derived from red rocks, these sands are nearly white. Where the sand-hills run along the coast, a long narrow channel often occurs between them and the shore, and they often block up streams, forming lagoons, in Avhich deposits very different from those of the open gulf are produced. Shore Ridges in Prince Edward Island. — Mr Pope kindly pointed out to me, on a creek near Grand River and on Ives Creek, the .nounds known locally sis " shooting dykes," in allusion to their use by sportsmen as a shelter in duck-shooting. These are somewhat regidar banks or dykes of soil fringing the creeks, and liaving almost the appearance of artificial earthworks, which they have indeed been supposed to be. Some of them arc 6 feet in height and 10 feet wide at base. I believe them to be of the same nature with the Lake Ilidges of Nova Scotia described in Chapter III., p. 35, and that they have been produced by the expansion or driftage of the ice which forms in the creeks in winter. They constitute a sort of "moraine" deposit, which, on a larger scale and in a more hilly country, might readily be mistaken for the work of glaciers. Those that we saw were en- tirely composed of soil intermixed with vegetable matter. Some of them showed evidence of formation by successive increments of material. Their steepest sides were next the land, and they were highest opposite the most exposed and widest portions of the creeks. Micmac Remains. — Since the publication of Acadian (Jeology, some attention has been given by Dr Gilpin, Mr Gossip, Dr Patter- son, and others to the prehistoric antiquities of Nova Scotia, and 'M THE MODERN PERIOD. more salt water 19 several interesting papers have appeared in the Transactions of tho Nova Scotia Institute. The numerous " Kjokkctimodding" or piles of culinary debris occurring on the coast have been in pig. i. part explored, and have been found to contain si. :11s of most of the edible molluscs of the coast and bones of t'le ordinary modern mammals, birds, and fishes, with stone implements and fragments of rude pottery. All these re- mains arc probably referable to the Micmacs ; and nothing definite seems to have been discovered as to any previous race, thou ghMicmac tradition, according to Mr Hand, points to a previous people, probably of the Tinne or Chippewyan stock, and allied to the lied Indians of Newfoundland. Chips of stone found at old arrow-making places in Lunjnburg, I'ictou, and Prince Edward Island, show tliat the Micmacs had ransacked all sorts of repositories of useful stones, and were in tlie habit of availing them- selves of a great variety of agates, jaspers, quartzitcs, and hard slates in the manufacture of cliippcd weapons, while diorite and hard quartzose slate were fiivotnite materials for polished tools. A bone fish-spear or har- poon, found by Dr Patterson at Merigomish, is the only implement of this kind I have .seen (Fig. 1). It is ingeniously barbed, much after the manner of the modern Esquimaux harpoons, or some of those belonging to preliistoric Europe. AH the earthenware that I have seen is of rude manufacture, and the patterns less tasteful than in tho.se of the inland agricultural nations. The few tobacco-! ipes found arc similar to thoi5e of the other Algonquin tribes. Tobacco, according to l.escarbot, was used by the Micma'.'.s, but they did not cultivate it, obtaining their .supplies from tribes further to the south, and in default of such supplies, using, like other northern tribes, native narcotic herbs. The modern Micmacs sometimes extempoii.se a tobacco-pipe in the form of an ingeniously twisted cone of birch bark. If this habit existed among their ancestors, it would account for the comparative paucity of stone pipes. w 4. THE POST-PLIOCENE. Climate. — At p. 78, Chap. V., I have remarked on the fact that while the climate of Western Europe in the Pleistocene period, as B ill liM.a. ^ly H :. m i ,^ ' i. '^ . ^ fii lu ' '< lit t\ .i^M rocks of Labrador mid Canada, distant 250 miles or more to the northward. These Laiircntian rocks arc chiefly found on the north si(Kiof tiic island, as if at tlie time of their arrival the island formed a slioal, at the north side of which the ice carrying the bonlders grounded and melted away. With reference to these boulders, it is to be observed that a depression of four or five hundred feet would open a clear passage for tiie Arctic current entering the Straits of JJellc Isle to the liny of Fundy; and that heavy ice carried by this current would then ground on Prince Edward Island, or bo carried across it to the southward. If tlie Laurentian boulders came in this way, their source is probably 400 miles distant in the Strait of Ik'lle Isle. On tiic north shore of Prince Edward Island, except where occupied by sand dunes, the beach shows great numbers of pebbles and small boulders of Tjaurcntian rocks. These arc said by the inhabitants to be cast up by the sea or pushed up by the ice in spring. Whether they are now being drifted by ice direct from the Labrador coast, or are old drift being washed up from the bottom of the gulf, which north of the island is very shallow, docs not appear. They are all much rounded by the waves, differing in this respect from the majority of the boulders found inland. I may add here that Laurentian boulders liave been observed on the north shore of Nova Scotia.* Dr Iloncymcan records their appearance even on the Atlantic coast., The older boulder clay of Prince Edward Island, with native boulders, must have been produced under circumstances of 2)owerful ice action, in which comparatively little transport of material from a distance occurred. If we attribute this to a glacier, then as Prince Edward Island is merely a slightly raised portion of the bottom of the Gulf of St Lawrence, this can have been no other than a gigantic mass of ice filling the whole basin of the gulf, and without any slope to give it movement except toward the centre of this great though shallow depression. On the other hand, if we attribute the boulder clay to floating ice, it must have been produced at a time when numerous heavy bergs were disengaged from what of Labrador was above water, and when this was too thoroughly enveloped In snow and ice to afford many travelled stones. Further, that this boulder-clay is a submarine and not a subaerial deposit, seems to be rendered probable by the cir- cumstance, that many of the bouldei-s of the native sandstone are so soft that they crumble immediately when exposed to the weather and frost. The travelled boulders lying on the surface of the boulder clay evidently belong to a later period, when the hills of Labrador and Nova Scotia were above water, though lower than at present, and were sufficiently bare to furnish large supplies of stones to coast ice carried • Notes on Post-plioceiie, 1872, ]>, 112. -V- ~'^m^iv^<~~ -w»w-w». ■:< . » *■ THE lOST-l'LIOCENE. 27 i or more to tlio iiiil on the north c island formed a iig the bonldcrs 80 boulders, it is ridred feet would 3 Straits of iJellc I by this eurrent carried across it lie in this way, t of Belle Isle, where occupied jblcs and small e inhabitants to iiig. Whether )nidor coast, or lie gulf, which They are all )in the majority lat Livurentian Nova Scotia.* lantic coast., 1, with native !3 of i)owerful iterial from a hen as Prince he bottom of lan a gigantic out any slojjc great though i boulder clay len numerous above water, I ice to afford a submarine c by the cir- ne are so soft ler and frost, boulder clay abrador and nt, and were t ice carried by the tidal currents sweeping up the coast, or by the Arctic current from the north, and dci)o.sitcd on the surface of Prince Ivlward Island, then a shallow sand-bank. The sands with soa-shclls probably be- longed to this period, or perhaps to the later part of it, when the land was gradually rising. Prince Edward Island thus appears to have received boulders from both sides of the Gulf of St Lawrence during the later Post-pliocene period; but the greater number from the south side, perhaps because nearer to it. It thus furnishes a remarkable illustration of the transport of travelled stones at this period in different directions; and in the comparative absence of travelled stones in the lower boulder clay ; it furnishes a similar illustration of the homogeneous and untravelled character of that deposit, in circum- stances where the theory of floating ice serves to account for it at least as well as that of land ice, and, in my judgment, greatly better. Subdivisions of the Pleistocene. Deposits. — In Chapter V., and in my Memoirs on the Pleistocene of the St Lawrence Valley, I have proposed a threefold division of these beds into Boulder cla?/, Leda clay, and Saxicava sa;u/ and gravel, to which may be added the old peaty deposit observed under the boulder clay in Cape Breton. Mr Matthew has since recognised in New Brunswick certain beds only locally developed in the St Lawrence Valley, and which I have been hitherto disposed to regard as depending on the action of streams from the land or littoral agencies, but which he regards as marine deposits. They are gravels and sands underlying the boulder clay, and as yet destitute of fossils. lie suggests for these the name " Syrtcnsian" beds, proposed by Packard for the Aiuna of the Great Iknk deposits of the Newfoundland and New England coasts, but the application of which to the beds in question depends on a theory of their origin not yet certainly established. He also recognises, as I have done in the St Lawrence Val' "y, a lower and upper member of the Leda clay — the latter being equivalent in its fossils to the Uddevalla beds of Sweden. The complete series of Pleistocene beds in Acadia and Canada would thus stand as follows, in ascending order, though it is to be observed that the whole series is not to be found developed at any one place : — {a.) Peaty terrestrial surface anterior to boulder clay. (6.) Lower stratiflcd gravels — (Syrtcnsian deposits of jVIatthew). (c.) lioulder clay and unstratified sands with boulders. Fauna, when present, extremely Arctic. [d.) Lower Leda clay, with a limited number of highly Arctic shells, such as are now found only in permanently ice-laden seas, (e.) Upper Leda clay and sand, or Uddevalla beds, holding many I ,iH m W' i\\ .1 Mifj.i4i If -r-trr*^ ;v I: l1 98 THK r08T-PUnCENK. sub- Arctic or boreal shells shiular to tlioso of the Labrador coast at present. (/) Sftxicava sand and gravel, cither non-fossilifcroiis, or with a few littoral .shells of boreal or Acadian types. This table may be regarded as giving a complete statement of the Bories of deposits in the Post-plioecne, not only in the Acadian Pro- vinces, but throughout North-eastern America. Fossils f formations as « -> w 03 O '" o I cc >! a o eg V M 'a a I 2 H H i a o u :ii 11 « ! I, H 32 THR PEUMO-CARnONIFEnOUS. !<\ <1 ■iJ (levoli)pcd clsewliore. Tlio iufjnnatiou obtained in the survey of I'rince Edward Island in 1871, and followed up by re-cxaniination of the upper members of the Carboniferous in Nova Hcotia, lias enabled me to give in a paper, presented to the Geological Socioty of Lon- don in 1874, a more definite reply to this question, and to affirm that wc have at least a Permo-carboniferous formation closing the Carboniferous period, and whose fossils indicate that it represents beds of transition between the Carboniferous and Permian. This passing of the Coal formation ujjwards into the Permian is not without parallel elsewhere. It is observed both in England and Western America, and has led many to regard the Permian rather as an upward ext;nsio\ of the Carboniferous than as a distinct group. Whore best developed, however, as in England and Germany, the Permian or Dyas is certainly to be regarded as a distinct formation ; and even where its beds are absent, the lapse of longtime is indicated by the disturbances of the Carboniferous and the entire change of life on entering the Trias. For the details of the facts bearing on the Permo-carboniferous of Prince Edward Island and Eastern Nova Scotia I must refer to the paper above mentioned,* but may give here some of the more salient points. The Upper Coal formation was first distinguished as a separate member of the Carboniferous system in Eastern Nova Scotia by the writer, in a paper published in the first volume of the Journal of the Geological Society, in 1845 — and was defined to be an upper or overlying series siipcrimposed on the productive Coal-measures, and distinguished by the absence of thick coal-seams, by the prevalence of red and gray sandstones and red shales, and by a peculi.ir group of vegetable fossils. Subsequently, in my paper on the South .Toggins-j- and in Aca- dian G-3ology, this formation was identified with the upper series of the Joggins section. Divisions 1 and 2 of Sir William Logan's sectional list, and with the Upper Barren Measures of the English Coal-fields, and the third or upper zone of Geinitz in the Coal for- mation of Saxony.f Still more recently, m the " Report on the Geology of Prince Edward Island," 1871, I have referred to the upper part of the same forma- tion, the lower serius of sandstones in Prince Edward Island not pre- viously separated from the overlying Trias.§ In Prince Echvard Island, however, where the highest beds of this * tlournal Geological Society, August 1874. t Journ. Ocol. Soc, vol. x. J Ao. (Icol., p. 149. g Kuport Ml the Geological Structure of Prince Eilwaid Island. ^Wi»^^ TlIK I'EnMO-CAKBONIFKnOUS. 33 ;Iic survey of xiiinination of , lias enabled cioty of Lon- aiid to affirm 11 closing the it represents ■iiiian. This is not without intl Western rather as an itinct group, rcrniany, the t formation ; i is indicated iiange of life iaring on the istern Nova ut may give IS a separate otia by the iirnal of the I" up])er or isurcs, and prevalence uli.ir group id in Aca- >per series nil Logan's ic English e Coal for- ce Edward nie fornia- d not pro- ds of til is p. 149. series occur, they become nearly horizontal, and are overlain appa- rently in a conformable manner by the red sandstones of the Trias, which differ very little froi;i them in mineral character. It thus happens that, but for the occurrence of some of the characteristic Carboniferous plants in the lower series, and of a few equally charac- teristic Triassic forms m the upper, it would be difficult lo affirm that we have to deal with two formations so different in age. In connexion with this, the presumed absence of the Permian, not only here but throughout Eastern America, raises the question which I have already suggested in Acadian Geology, whether the conditions of the Upper Coal formation may not have continued longer here than in Europe, so that rocks in the former region con- stituting an upward extension of the Carboniferous may synchronize with part at least of the I'erminn. On the one hand, there seems to be no stratigraphical break to separate these rocks from the ]\liddle Coal formation of Nova Scotia ; and their fossils are in the main identical. On the other hand, where the beds are so slightly in- clined that the Trias seems conformable to the Carbonilerous, no very marked break h to be expected ; and some of the fossils, as the coni- fers of tlic gonus Walchia and Calamites ffi^as, have a decided Permian tendency. On the whole, in the Report above referred to, I declined to separate the red beds of the lower series in Prince Edward Island from the Newer Coal formation. Prof. Geinitz, however, in noticing my Report,* and also in a private letter, expresses the opinion that the fossils have, as an as.semblage, so much of a Permian (or Dyadic) aspect that they may fairly be referred to that formation, more par- ticularly to its lower part, the Lower Rotbliegendc. Attaching, as everyone must, great weight to the judgment of Prof. Geinit/. on such a point, I determined to re-examine the more instructive sections of tiie Newer Coal formation on the eastern coast of Nova Scotia, with the view of ascertaining whether any stratigraphical or palajontological line can be '.bund to divide the Upper Coal formation scries of my former papers into two members, or to separate it from the Middle Coal formation. The results of this re-examination and their bearing on general ge(dogical questions may be stated as follows : — Tiie Carboniferous district of Pictou county, extending for about 45 miles along the shores of Northumberland Strait, exposes in that distance, in coast and river sections, the whole thickness of the Carbo- niferous system, arranged in three synclinal forms. The First or eastern synclinal, extending from the older metamor- * Nuues Jahi'buch, 1872. N .» p !lU 34 TIIR PERMO-CARnONIFEROUS. phic rocks on the eastward and southward to a line ruuning nearly east and ,/est through the town of New Glasgow, consists entirely of the Lower Carboniferous, Millstone-grit, and Middle Coal formation, and contains all the known workable Coal-measures of the county. Its northern boundary, the New Glasgow anticlinal, brings up a bed not recognised in the other Nova Scotia Coal-fields — the New Glasgow Conglomerate, an immense mass, believed in some parts to be IGOO feet in thickness,* and containing boulders 3 feet in diameter, with pebbles of all sizes, many of its largest stones being composed of the hard brown or purplish sandstones of the Lower Carboniferous. Its strati graphical position is that of the upper part of the ^lillstone-grit or lower part of the Middle Coal formation; and it is evidently an excep- tional bed, representing an immense bar or beach of gravel and stones, stretching from the eastern end of the metamorphic chain of the Cobe- quid Mountains across the Pictou Coal-field, and protecting those deep swamps in which the Pictou main coal, 3G feet thick, and its black .«liale roof, more tlian 1000 feet thick, were deposited. The theory of this remarkable deposit, one of the most singular connected Avith any coal- field, is fully discussed in the second edition of my "Acadian Geology." I may merely rennrk that, facing, as this bed does, the open sea stretching to the northward in the Coal formation period, it is not unreasonable to suppose that it indicates the action of heavy ice gronihling on the shores behind which grew the S'lgillaria forests of the Coal-swamps. The arrangement of the beds in the first syn- clinal, which is that of the great I'ictou Coal-beds, has recently been worked out in much detail by Sir W. E. Logan and the late Mr E. Hartley. The Second or middle synclinal extends from New Glasgow to Carribou Harbour, and centres in the deep indentation of Pictou Harbour. On its southern side it contains, north of New Glasgow, the depauperated equivalent of the Middle Coal formation ; and the remainder of it is occupied by the Newer Coal formation, whose newest beds, howe\ t, arc not rejiresented in this trough. The low anticlinal which separates it from the third trough brings up nothing older than the lower part of the Newer Coal formation. The Third synclinal extends from Carribou Harbour to Cape John, and, stretching westward through the Cumberland Coal-field, shows in its centre the newest beds of the Upper Coal formation, here more especially referred to. It is to be observed that in these synclinals the north-west sides * This is Sir W. Logan's estimate, iind is warranted by the breadtli which the bed occupies in the section ; but tlierc are indications tiiat it thins rapidly toward tlie dip. THE PERMO-CARBONIFEROLS. 86 nation : and the lorth-west sides have steeper dips tlian the south-cast sides, and consequently occupy a less breadth on the map. The south-east sides also show the best and most continuous sections ; and for this reason I shall select tiie section from New Glasgow to Pictou Harbour, and that from Carribou Harbour towards Cape John, as typical of the lower and upper parts of the Upper Coal format;on. Section on the East River of Pictou. 1. In the river section, below New Glasgow bridge, the conglo- merate is succeeded in ascending order by a gray concretionary lime- stone 20 feet thick, associated with sandstone and shale, and containing in some layers great numbers of the Spirorbis, which I have described as 1 if 88 THE PEKMO-CARDONIl'KKOUS. the Upper Coal formation beds seen at Gallas Point, and amounting to about 800 feet in vertical thickness, must belong to the U2)per part of the Pictou scries, or may even reach some way above its summit. Accordingly, wc find the pr^nortions of the several rocks to be, gray sandstone 2, red and brown sanlstone 4, shales 2, or a still greater proportion of red sandstone as compared with Pictou, All this accords with the idea of a gradual increase of red beds in approaching the summit of the formation, so that the Upper Coal formation passes in its upper part into beds having more the aspect of some parts of the Lower Dyas or Permian. No true dolomite is present in those beds ; but Dr Harrington's analyses show that some of the thin beds of concretionary limestone are highly magncsian, and the sandstones contain concretions of sulphate of copper, while the fossil trees which abound in them are often mineralized with sulphides of copper and iron, and sulphate of baryta. In the paper referred to, lists are given of the characteristic fossil plants in the upper beds, and it is shown that the species found, though mostly common to these beds and the Middle Coal formation, consti- tute a peculiar group, having strong points of resemblance with the flora of tlip Lowei Permian in Europe. In Prince Edward Island the Upper Carboniferous and the Trias are apparently conformable, and may almost be said to pass into each other, though in Nova Scotia the Trias rests unconformably on the Carboniferous. I believe, however, that this apparent conformity in Prince Edward Island, and the resemblance of the two series in mineral characters, arises from the almost horizontal position of the Carboni- ferous beds, and from the circumstance that the Trias has been in part formed from their waste. The Triassic fossils, though few, are of species quite distinct from those of the Carboniferous. Further details as to the relations of these formations in Prince Edward Island will be found in my Report on that island. To sum up, it may be said that the beds which overlie the Coal- field of Pictou and extend into Prince Edward Island, and which constitute the upper part of the Upper Coal formation, have such strong points of resemblance to the lower part of the European Per- mian, both in their mineral character and organic remains, that they may fairly bo named Pcrmo-carboniferous, a name already applied to certain marine limestones in the West, in which the Carboniferous graduates upward into the Permian. They may also be held to some extent to bridge over the gap which in Eastern America generally separates the Carboniferous from the Trias. I may add that in Nova Scotia the Lower Carboniferous beds arc TIIK rEUMO-CARDONIFEUOUS. 39 amounting upper part its summit. to be. gray till greater ;liis accords aching tlio I passes in arts of tlie lio.se beds; in beds of sandstones rees which copper and usually more hardened and altered than those of the Middle Coal formation, and the 1; r more than those of tlie Upper Coal foruuition. Moreover, there are instances in Nova Seotia of local unconformability of the Lower Carboniferous beds ; and the New Glasgow conglomerate affords evidence of extensive denudation of the Lower Carboniferous before tiie deposition of the productive Coal-measures. These facts indicate tiie long duration of the Carboniferous period and the extent of the hysical changes which it included; and it is evident that, had unco.ifonnability or extensive local denudation occurred some- wliat higher in the system, it might have been regarded as forming the base of an overlying rermian series. Detailed descriptions and sections of the Permo-carboniferous beds as they occur at Gallas Point, Governor's Island, and Campbellton, in Prince Edward Island, are given in the lieport above referred to. istic fossil id, though 5n, consti- i with the the Trias into each y on the armity in 1 mineral Carboiii- been in few, are Furtiicr d Island le Coal- i which ve such an Pcr- lat they 3lied to niferons to some snerally eds are 7. TIIE CARBONIFEROUS. With reference to the structure and stratigraphy of the Carboni- ferous, a large amount of work has been done by the officers of the Geological Survey, principally in the Cape Breton, Pictou, and Cum- berland areas, and more especially in the productive Coal-measurt-s. Much has also been done by private explorations, and the results are so voluminous that I can scarcely do more than refer to the Retorts in which the principal of them are contained. Discoveries in different Coal-Ficlds. In the Report of the Geological Survey for 1872-3, Messrs Bailey and Matthew have given details of the Coal-field of New Brunswick, derived both from surveys and from borings made by Mr Ells. The most remarkable general result is the small thickness of this widely- extended Coal formation area. The estimate given is as follows, in ascending order : — Gray sandstones and shales, equivalent of Mill- ) ooo f > f stone-grit ...... j Coal-measures containing no known bed thicker } ^^^^ than 26 inches ]"-""» Upper Coal formation 200 „ GOO „ Perhaps there should be added to this a small additional thickness for the Permo-carboniferous of the shore of Northumberland Strait. But in any case it presents a great contrast to the vast thickness of U ii m: mm •51 40 THE CAUnONIFEROfS. the Carboniferous system in the I'ictou or Cumberland areaH, amounting to many tiiousands of feot, and sliows liow very unequal subaidenee and deposition must have been even in neighbouring areas not separated by any physical barrier. Tiie facts thus ascer- tained do not increase the jjrobability of the discovery of valuable coals in this great area. Some of the widely-extended thin beds may perhaps admit, at some time, of being worked on a large scale, and possibly large beds may exist in the central part of the area remote from the older rocks, or on the north-eastern coast. The coast between Bathurst and Miraniichi River, and that between tiie latter and Buctouche, afford perhaps some of the most promising localities. The Cumberland Coal-field has attracted much attention, and more especially that part of it in the Springhill district which is traversed by the Intercolonial Kaihvay, affording so great facilities for the transmission of its produce. Mr Barlow reports* that in the Spring- hill areas eight or nine scams of coal have been discovered, the prin- cipal one being 11 feet in thickness, and affording coal of very good quality. There is an overlying scam 13 feet thick, but with two clay partings. Mr Hartley gives as the analysis of the Springhill coal : — Volatile matter .... 3.0'39 Fixed carbon .... G0-4G Ash 4-15 10000 So that this appears to be an excellent coal, altogether superior to that of which I have given an analysis (Ac. Geol., p. 221), and which was an outcrop sample, the oidy one that I could at that time obtain. The Reports of Sir W. E. Logan and Mr Hartley (Geol. Survey Reports, 1869) have added greatly to our knowledge of the struc- ture of the Pictou Coal-field, and more especially of the faults traversing it, and the distribution of the measures on the east side of the East River, and the actual productive limits of the Coal-field. A detailed map accompanies the Report, and Mr Hartley has given tables of analyses and practical trials of the coals. On the east side of the East River, the trough-shaped arrangement already referred to appears to continue as far as the left bank of Sutherland's River. A subordinate anticlinal appears, however, to occur in the middle of the trough, or rather nearer the East River, and there are a number of faults, both parallel and transverse to the axis of the trough. In the * Report Geol. Survey, 1866-C9. TIIK C'AUIlON'irKUOL'S. 41 rliuid arcaH, ^cry unequal leighboiuing tluis nscer- of valuable i thin beds largo scale, of the area The coast II the latter ; localities. i, and more s traversed ies for the tlic .S|)ring- 1, the prin- .1 of very thick, but • sis of tijo iipcnor to lud which le obtain. . Survey le struc- le faults t side of field. A M given iiist side erred to |ver. A e of the nber of In the western end of this part of the trough, tiiat nearest the East River, no important extension of tiic great scams of the Albion mines appears yet to have been distinctly recognised, tliough these seams, or their equivalents, must exist botii on tiio south side towards M'Lollan'a brook, and on the nortli side near New Glasgow (sec the map, Ac. (ieol., 1). 320). The beds of coal wiiich have been worked near the east side of the Mast Kiver, the Foster and Lawson seams, are believed to overlie the great main scam by a tiiickness of about 1500 feet. In the eastern half of the trough these upper beds are appa- rently represented by the Marsh JJrook seam, the George M'Kay seam, and associated beds ; and the correspondence t)f tiie beds and their containing measures, as well as in the quality and structure of the coal, seem to establish this ofiuivalency. liut here, at a distance of 480 yards to the rise, occurs the M'Bean seam, now worked in the Vale Colliery, and associated with other seams, nuiking in all so great an aggregate of coal, that they nuiy not unreasonably bo regarded as the equivalents of the main seam. In this case, how- ever, the thickness of the overlying measures must have diminished or been concealed by faults, and on that account it is still possible that the real equivalents of the main seam may occur lower down. The M'Lcan beds, not yet worked, lying to the westward of the explored part of the M'JJean seams, may in the one case be the con- tinuation of the M'Uean scries, or in the other may be much lower. Tiiere can be little doubt that these M'Lean beds represent the main scam. The great inequality of the original deposits in this Coal- field, and the di.-tnrbances to which they have been subjected, with the absence of good natural sections, oppose great obstacles as yet to the decisive settlement of these questions — the answers to which are, however, being gradually worked out by mining explorations. In 18G8, immediately after the publication of my second edition, I had an opportunity to examine some parts of the coast of Capo Breton, and more carefully to correlate the Coal-beds of that region, as well as to nudcc some important observations on fossil plants. These observations have not been published in full, but in the same year I sent a note relating to them to the Nova Scotia Institute, which was printed in their Transactions, and gives my views on these subjects as formed at that time. The following section of the Coal formation, as exposed on the south side of Sydney Harbour, on the property of the Victoria Mining Company, is condensed from observations made with the aid of Mr Ross, of the Victoria Mine, and Mr Mosely of Sydney. The order is descending. Hi 'ii'l 42 THE CAUnONlFKU(»l8. i 1 i'jl i.lJ ■ 1 Ft. 111. 1. " Chit" Scixm .... 4 Saiiilstoiie, yiiiilcs, etc., about . 421) 2. "IVnit" Scam . . . . la 4 SaiulstoiicH, ISIialcs, etc., about . 21ti 3. "Cnviidall" Scam ... 44 Saiidstoucrf, Shales, etc., about . 400 4. " Ross" Scam .... 67 Sandstones, Slialo8, etc., about . 325 5. " William Frascr" Scam . . 2 Sandstones, Shales, etc., about . 112 6. "Number Three" Seam . . 4 Sandstones, Shales, etc., about . 138 7. " 11. M'Gillivray" Seam . . 5 Sandstones, Shales, etc. . . 122 8. "D. M'Gillivray" Seam . . 2 Sandstones, Shales, etc., about . 1000 9. " Fraser" Scam .... 6 Sandstones (Millstone-grit scries). This scries of Coal-beds I believe to represent the whole of the workable beds known at North Sydney as well as those of (j lace Bay and Cow Bay. The high angle of dip brings their outcrops nearer to one another than is usual in this district, and a good coa.st cliff and beach section enables them to be well studied. This section is the best guide I have seen to the vexed question as to the equivalents of the several Coal-beds in the different mining areas of Cape Breton, but its application is by no means easy. On the south side of Sydney harbour the Coal-beds above-mentioned dip about N. 5" E. at angles of 30° to 45°. On the opposite side of the harbour the corresponding beds dip to the north-ea.st at an angle of 10 degrees or less. Con.sc- qucntly the beds, crowded together on the south side, spread out like a fan on the north side. In addition to this, when we measure the thickness of the beds intervening between the several seams of coal, it is evident that they must vary greatly both in character and thick- ness Avithin very short distances. Making due allowance for these differences, it would .seem that the Paint scam of the above list must be the Lloyd's Cove seam of the North Sydney series. In this case the main seam at North Sydney is equivalent to the Ross seam. The equivalency of these beds with those of Glace Bay and Cow Bay is more uncertain. I was inclined to correlate the Paint seam with that known as the Phelan at Glace Bay, and to suppose that the lower seams were still to be found there ; but different views ii( THE CARHONIFF.R()r». 48 have been stntcd by Mr Kobb, wbicli wouUl tend to diminish sonic- whnt the pmbablc iinportniicc of the lower bods of coal uiidei lying those Worked at (ilaee Hay and Cow IJay. These, however, include the equivalents of the (iardiner seam and the M'dillivray scams. To these points I may add the statement that in my sketch map, page 413, the sdike the beds at the east side of Sydney Harbour should turn a little muic to the south, and that the outcrops should be closer to each other ; and that, by an error in the engraving, the town of Sydney is removed from its true position on the southern arm of the harbour to the south-west bar. I am indebted to Mr Moscly of Sydney for information bearing on some of these point >. In the lieports of the CJcological Survey for 1872-3, 1873-4, and 1874-.'), Mr liobb has gone with great elaborateness into these ques- tions, and correlates the Sydney main seam not only with the Koss or Victoria, but with the David's Head seam of IJridgport, the Har- bour seam of (i lace IJay, and the Block-House seam of Cow Bay. Mr H. Brown has stated a similar view of the equivalency of these beds in his work on the Coal-iields of Capo Breton.* Leaving these local details, 1 may now refer to sumo curious fossil plants met with in the Coal furin.ation of Cape Breton, and deserving of record as additions to our knowledge of its flora. Among the rarest of fossil plants in the Coal rocks of Nova Scotia have hitherto been the trunks of tree-ferns. The scattered fronds are sufliciently abundant, but trunks of arborescent species arc seldom found. Mr I'oolc's collections at Glace Bay enable me to add another line species to the Coal flora of Nova Scotia. It is a large flattened stem, a foot or more in diameter, nuirked with nniny wrinkles over the whole surface, and with large distant oval leaf-sears 1^ inch in diameter and 3 inches in length, to which large fronds must have been attached. It is a near ally of Cauloptcris vmcrodisciis, Stern- berg, but has larger and more distant scars, more obtuse above. I would name it Cauloptci't's glacemis. It belongs to the genus riychopteris of Corda. Another remarkable trunk, which I found obscurely preserved in coarse sandstone at North Sydney, appears different from anything hitherto described. It seems to have had four vertical rows of scars, the form of which could not be made out ; but I have little doubt that it belonged to an arborescent fern with a stem 4 inches in diameter and several feet at least in height. Near an abandoned coal-mine at Bridgeport I also found a fragment of one of those tree-ferns surrounded with aerial roots, to which the name Fsaronius has been given, but not admitting of specific description. » l.ondon, 1871. ill: W i. ^.! I 44 THE CARllONirKltOl'fl. As I litivc l)ccii (iblo liitliertu only to dcHcribc I'uiir Hpccies of trunks of ti'oc-l'oriiH, thcHc iii'o uoiiHulurablu lulditioiis. Among other intoru.sting Miicciinous in tlio collection of Mr i'oolu, I hIho miw the curious .sigilliintitl tree t^yrimjodtmlrun ci/cl()sli(j)nlt', I alrto miw tlic nioiigiiiiiit, iiiiJ a 1 to iS, ruyma of for lU'scriptioii. « is a fattened VH of iJUiietifonii curved braiicla's, a the Ktij)c of a oy was ail croet int of the base work, but whicli II Scotia usually 'f ordinary trees. feature of tlio ' S. rcnijhriuis. tlie JSydncy col- ic cliff, and for feet in liciglit, ision northward e ridge of St gs coninienced been traced on Cove. These ndarics of the ■lity of Sydney etcher of the ous scries ; in »wer Carboui- deavoured to fli formations among Euro- iv Brunswick, rder : — mda, 1873. Ist. The llorton Seriia or Lower Carboniferous Cual-vieasitres, con- uisting of hard sandHtones and sliales often calcareous, associated with conglomerate and grit, and in some places with highly bituminous shales. They contain nnderclays and thin coaly Beams, remains of plants, fishes, and entoinostracaiis, and foot- prints of batrachians, but no strictly marine remains. 'J'hia group was first established as n distinct subdivision of the Car- bonifcrons in Nova Scotia, by Sir (', l,yell and the writer in IHU and 1HI7. (See -Note 2, p. ifD.) 2d. The Windsor Scries or Lower Carboniferous Limestone and Oijpsiferous lieds, — This is a marine formation holding charac- teristic shells and corals of the liower Carhonifcroiis period, and containing in addition to the limestone thick beds of sand- stone, marl, and clay, nsually red, and of gypsum. First defined by Sir C. Lyell in 1843. ;^d. The Milhtone-arlt S-'ies, consisting of randstoncs and shales, often red, and conglomerate, associated with dark-coloured beds holding fossil jdaiits and Naiaditea, and with a few nnderclays and thin seams of coal. The name Millstonc-grit was first a])plied to these as a distinct groujt by Mr 1{. Fhdwn in 1844. The group was distinctly indicated in Sir W. E. liHgan's section of the South Joggins in 1pear to me l-Measures or raiiia. s. 1. rwecdiau GrouiJ its of Jukes in the Vosges, as IS described by i this, but he has name cannot be !se beds at Bear by the preva- im, L. Vclthei- tetroffonum of b-genns Pitus f'onis of the all the regions t Carboniferous III iiiul Scotland jtosud, as that of (1 Tat-, sliould, I thesu rocks, lie Ui' latu years by .some Euro- Silesia, as Kich- closely with thti e Heport above ralia, but seems 2. Equivalents of the, Mills(une-Grit Series. 1. The Serai Conglomerate of Rogers in Pennsylvania, etc. 2. The Lower Coal Formation Conglomerate and Chester Groups of Illinois (Worthen). 3. The Lower Carboniferous Sandston; of Kentucky, Alabama, and Virginia. 4. The Millstone-grit and Yoredale Rocks of Northern England, aufi. the Culmiferous of Devonshire. 5. The Moor rock and Lower Coal ]\Ieasures of Scotland. 6. Flagstones aud Lower Shales of the South of Ireland and Mill- stone-grit of the North of Ireland. 7. The Jungste Graywacke of the Uartz, Saxo.iy, and Silesia. The vegetable fossils of this group differ from those of the beds below the marine limestones, and contain forms resembling or iden- tical with those of the Middle Coal formation, into which, indeed, both lithologically and as to fossils, the Millstone-grit passes by imper- ceptible gradations. The distribution of these scries in the Acadian Provinces may be stated thus ; — In Gaspe and the Bay de Chaleur and along the northern margin of the New Brunswick Carboniferous district, the Lower Carboni- fcroiis formation presents the characters of the Bonaventure forma- tion of Sir William T.ogan, the marine limestones being absent or little developed, and the prevailing rocks being conglomerates and sandstones with few fossils. (Logan, Report of 1863 ; Robb, Report of 1869 ; Acadian Geology, p. 227.) In Southern New Brunswick the Lower Carboniferous (!'oal- measurcs are remarkable for the great thickness of bituminous and bitumino-calcarcous shales which they contain. These rocks hold the remarkable vein of Albertitc worked in this district. They con- tain numerous remains of fishes, and also of the characteristic Lower Carboniferous plants. (Bailey and Matthew, Report of 1871; Acadian Geology, p. 231 ; sec also Note 2.) In Southern New Brunswick and North-western Nova Scotia, tho Millstone-grit is also largely developed. At the South Joggins, Avherc this formation and the Middle Coal formation probably attain their maximum thickness, the equivalent of the Millstone-grit occu- pies in Sir Willi.am Logan's section a vertical thickness of no less than .'>972 feet, and consists of red and gray sandstones, red and chocolate shales and conglomerates, with some dark shales, undcrelays, bitu- minous limestones, and thin unproductive coals. It contains species tf Sigillaria, Lepidodcndron, Calamitcs Dadoxi/Inn, p.nd Cordaites. ( I ! ' II I III 48 THE CAKB0NIFER0U3. '.* 1 (Logan, Gcol. Survey of Canada, 1815; Acadian Geology, p. 176.) On the south side of the Cumberland Coal- field, the Lower Carboni- ferous beds appear to return to the type of the Bonaventurc formation, and to consist principally of conglomerate .and sandstone not rich in fossil plants, and these principally of the Millstone-grit horizon. Crossing tlie ancient metamorphic ridge of the Cobequids, we find on their southern flanks conglomerates representing the lowest Carboniferous rocks. Above these there is a slender development of the marine limestones and a great thickness of hard sandstones and sliales, representing the Millstone-grit and perhaps the lower part of the Middle Coal formation. These rocks form a long belt extending from Cape Chiegnecto till it unites witli the Pictou Coal-field on the eastward. Their general arrangement appears to be that of a narrow t.rougli much broken by faults. They afford a good representation of the flora of the Millstone-grit. (Acadian Geology, p. 263 et seq.) On the south side of Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay a very wide area is occupied by Lower Carboniferous rocks ; and at the cliff of Horton Bluff, and other places in its vicinity, these beds, which, from their large development in this locality, may be named the Horton series, are very well exposed, and contain abundance of their charac- teristic fossils. For their detailed description I may refer to my paper of 1858, Journal of Geol. Society, vol. xv., p. 63. (See also Acadian Geology, p. 252.) Similar rocks are seen and have been described by the aullior near Windsor, at Walton and Noel, and at Five Mile River on the Shube- nacadie, in all these places rising up from under the Lower Carboni- ferous limestones. (.Journal of Geol. Society, vol. iv. p. 59, vol. vii. p. 335 ; Acadian Geology.) Further east, on the Salmon River, and or the West, Middle, and East Rivers of Pictou, there is a great development of rocks of the Millstone- grit series, consisting largely of chocolate sandstones and shales, often very hard, and with bands of gray and dark-coloured beds holding plants. In this region the marine limestones extend upward into the Millstone-grit, so that it is difficult to establish any distinct line of separation, and the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures seem to be absent. (Journal of Geol. Society, vol. i. p. 26, 1843; Logan and Hartley, Reports on Pictou Coal-field, 1869 ; Acadian Geology, p. 316 d seq) In ihe Pictou Coal-field there are certain hard sandstones holding obscure fossil plants, which come up from beneath the Millstone-grit on the Middle River, and which I have regarded as Devonian. It is, i Tl»i. r^ARBONIFEROUS. 49 Acadian Geology, jj. XV., p. 63. (Sec liowevcr, barely ^iossible that tlioy may represent the Lower Carboni- ferous Coal measures, otherwise wanting in this district. The great and exceptional conglomerate of the Pictou Coal-district, known as the New Glasgow Conglomerate, appears to be a shingle bed of the Upper Millstone-grit or Middle Coal fonnation epoch. It stretches with some interruptions from Merigomish to Roger's Ilill and Mt. Dalhousie, near the eastern end of the Cobequid Ridge, or about twenty miles, and is undoubtedly connected with the different developments of the beds of the Coal formation on the south and north of this line ; and it implies very great and violent denudation of the Lower Carboniferous sandstones during the Coal formation period, as the fragments contained in it are largel}' composed of these sandstones, and arc often of great size. (Acadian Geology, p. 321, et seq. ; Logan, Report on Pictou, 1869.) At the extreme eastern end of the Pictou Coal-field, where it is in contact with the L^pper Silurian at M'Cara's Brook, the Lowest Carboniferous beds arc conglomerates with intcrstratified trap, above which is marine limestone overlaid by the Millstone-grit series. (Journal of Geol. Society, vol. i. p. 329 ; Acadian Geology, section opposite page 125.) In the Carboniferous area of Antigonish County wc again meet with the dark shales and sandstones of the Ilorton group, holding their characteristic jflauts, and underlying the marine limestones and gypsums. I noticed these beds as occurring at Right's River in 1843;* and Dr Iloneyman, who sub'.equently traced them further to the eastward, has kindly placed in my hands a small but interesting collection of their fossil plants. The long belt of Carboniferous rocks extending along the west branch of the St Mary's River, has the mineral character and fossils of the Millstone-grit series in those places where 1 have examined it, except near Guysboro, where there are Lower Carboniferous limestones, and in the Strait of Canso, near Cape Porcupine, where the basal conglomerates appear. (Acadian Geology, p. o50.) In Cape Breton a well-characterized representation of the Lower Carboniferous Coal measures or Ilorton series is seen in the sand- stones, gray and black shales, and conglomerates which underlie the limestone and gypsum of Plaister Cove, while the Millstone-grit seems to bo represented by the thick sandstones underlying the (!oal-field of Richmond County. (Journal of Geological Society, vol. v. ; Acadian Geology, p. 390 et seq.) In Northern Cape Breton, from the Capo Dauphin section, as * Journal Ueol. Society, .ol. i. p. 321*. I' 50 rilK CAUUONIFEliOUS. described by Mr R. Brown, it would appear that the Lower Carboni- ferous Coal measures are slenderly represented or concealed by fivulting. Mr Brown has, however, recognised the Millstone-grit as underlying the Sydney and Glace Bay Coal-fields, and attaining to a thickness of 1800 feet. It consists largely of gray sandstone, and holds Sigillarice, Calainites, and Lepidudcndra. (Brown. Journal Gcol. Society, vol, iii. p. 258 ; Ibid., vol. vi. p. IIG.) From a collection of fossils made by Mr R Bell in Western Newfoundland, and presented to the Museum of 'Ve M'Gill University by Donald Ross, Esq., it appears that the Low> Carboniferous lime- stone of that island holds the same fossils with that of Nova Scotia, and that it is overlaid by a scries of beds corresponding to the Mill- stone-grit. This formation, however, contains beds of coal of Avork- able size, abounding in remains of Lepidodendra, so that it would seem that in Newfoundland, as in Scotland, the workable coals extend farther down in the .series than is the civse to the southward. For the flora of those interesting formations which form the lower portion of the Carboniferous, I must refer to the Report already mentioned. I may remark here in general terms, that in the area of the Acadian Provinces, the close of the Devonian was accompanied by great physical changes which removed the Devonian flora. In the Lower Carboniferous period, a meagre flora, different from that of the Devonian, took pos.session of the land. This was again partially removed by the subsidence leading to the depo.sition of the Lower Carboniferous limestones, and the Millstone-grit lying on these, forms, as to its flora, the dawn of the great Middle Coal formation. While the local elevation, subsidences, and denudations within tlie Carboniferous period were sufticient to cause some limited cases of unconformability, these are not comparable with those between the Devonian and the Carboniferous ; and the Devonian fauna .and flora arc as a whole quite distinct from those of the Car- boniferous, thougli there arc some species of plants common. In Eastern America, as in Great Britain, the conditions of coal accumulation seem to have set in earlier to the northward. The Coal-beds of Newfoundland belong to the Millstone-grit scries. Tho.se of Pictou are exclusively in the Middle Coal .series, and apparently in its lower part. Tho.sc of tlie Joggins seem to be rather higher in the scries than those of Pictou, and in the United States there are workable beds of coal in the Upper Coal measures which are barren in Nova Scotia. Tliis connects itself with the fact illustrated in my Report on the Devonian Flora (1870), that tiiis flora in North America seems to have extended itself from the north-east, — a view which t TIIK CARBONIFEROrs. fil the Lower Carboni- l or concealed by lie Mlllstoiic-grit a.s Is, and attaining to of gray sandstone, a. (Brown. Journal IG.) I Bell in Western M'Gill University Carboniferous llmc- liat of Nova Scotia, 3nding to the Mill- Is of coal of work- a, 80 that it would he workable coals to the southward. lis which form the fer to the Report il terms, that in the the Devonian was lOved the Devonian agre flora, different le land. This was to the deposition ill.stone-grit lying •eat Middle Coal and denudations cause some limited •able with those d the Devonian those of the Car- ouimon. onditions of coal northward. The grit scries. Those , and apparently nither higher in States there are which are barren illustrated in my u North America , — a view which w Ileer and Professor Asa Gray also entertain with respect to the Tertiary floras. Facts now accumulating from the observations of recent Arctic explorers, nuike it more and mure evident that the peculiar Lower Carboniferous flora was very widely distributed in circumpolar lands at the beginning of the Carboniferous period.* Mr L. Gilpin, in a paper in the Transactions of the Nova Scotia Institute (vol. iv.), has directed attention to the peculiar man- gauesian limestone lying at the base of the Carboniferous on the East River of I'ictou, and very distinct in character from the great bed of light -coloured limestone {Lit/iustrulion Limestone of Acadian Geology), lying above, and the still higher gray limestones. Li my tabular arrangement of the Lower Carboniferous limestones (Ac. GeoL, p. 281), I have not separated this lower bed, as it has no distinctness with regard to fossils ; but its wide distribution and metalliferous character would now induce me to follow Mr Gilpin's arrangement, and recognise it as a separate subdivision. It reappears in Pictou County in New Lairg, and is represented elsewhere by the black limestone of Plaistcr Cove, Cape Breton, the " Black Rock " at the mouth of the Shubcnacadic and the manganiferous limcstoiui of AValtou and Teny Cape. It is not improbable that the manganese in these limestones may be derived from the decomposition of volcanic debris proceeding from the contemporaneous igneous vents which produced the Lower Carboniferous traps. Its origin may thus be similar to that to which the nuinganesian nodules found so abun- dantly in the deep-sea dredgings of the " Challenger " have been attributed. New Carboniferous Fossils. In addition to the Report on the Lower Carboniferous and Mill- stone-grit plants already referred to, which gives a nearly com- plete view of this interesting flora as far as known up to 1873, I may refer to a paper on the Relations of Sigillaria, Calamites, and Calamodcndroriy in the Journal of the Geological Society for 1870; a paper on a remarkable tiigillaria discovered at the Joggius by Mr Hill (Proceedings of the same Society, 1877), Mr Scudder's descrip- tions of the five species of myriapods found by me in the Coal forma- tion (Journal of Boston Society, 1873); Descriptions of Fossil Insects from Nova Scoti.i, by the same author (Caiuulian Naturalist, vol. viii.), and my own recent pajjcrs on a new crustacean (Geolo- gical Magazine, 1877), and on u recent discovery of Carboniferous * See a summary of the latest of these facts in Geological Magazine, July 1877; also Heer, " Flora Fossilis Arctica," vol. iv. M 4 ' li i ^! 1, 1 '!i I V !iii T' I I N 52 llllv t'AUllONIFKKOlS. l{ci)tile.s (SilliniiVti's .roiiiiiiil, vol. xii., December 1S76). I may lulJ u paper on Impiessious ami Footprints ol Animals and Imitative Markings on Carboniferous Rocks (Silliman's Journal, vol, v., January 1873), and the description of the rennirkable footprints of iSaiwapus luKjuifer found in a quarry in Cumberland County.'* It would be impossible to give here even the substance of these several Fig. 4. — i^urtiiiii of Bill k i>f Siijilliiria /.oncdi/aua, On., sJuncimj jutit nj' one o/' the Bunds oj' Fruit-acani, xohich nrciir at iiiterviilf ofafiir inchen vii the trunk. Zones of FruU-sciirs at (a, n, a). (6) Leaf-scar enlarged. (c) Fruit-scar enlarge d. contributions to pala?ontology, but I may notice u few points likely to be of interest to the general reader, or specially new in geological science. In tho Report on Fossil Plants above referred to, the species characteristic of the Lowest Carboniferous beds are defined and separated from those of the Devonian below and the Millstone-grit * Geological Aragazine, vol. ix. I %'•■'■■' THE CAUUONIl'EUOCS. 53 above. Special attention is given to tlie protean varieties of fepido- (lendron corrugatiun, and to its Sligmaria root.s, this being the characteristic Lower Carboniferous Lcpidudendnm in America, and our representative of the widely distributed L. Vcltheitinanum and its allies in Europe,* and also to the conifers of the Lower Car- l)oniferous and Millstone-grit. A list is also given, for comparison, of the plants of the Middle and Upper Coal fornnvtion, and some inte- Fig. .'i. — Wiitij (if llhilthiii Itirlimeiisiii. — iSciidiler. Fig. 0.— H'iiiy nj'lllotliiiu J/cigilli(ri(V ; but when a large numl)er of fragments had accumulated in my collection, suggesting diversity of species, I placed the whole in the hands of Mr S. H. Scudder, our best ' Silliinairs Journal, January 1873. t Fobruary 1877. ■r. slmuIntiiiK n ivtloulntolc lifonius, Noviv Scutlii. fi6 TlltC CAKIIONIKKROL'H. autlioiity oil fossil insects, (iml lie was able to (liscrimiimto two genera and five species. This was stated in a note at page 4(ti'> of Acadian Geology, and I now give a series of diagrammatic illustrations prepared by Mr Scudder, showing the characteristic forms of the segments in the several species (Fig. 1 1.) Fig. 11. — AfyiiajHxls/rom the Coal Formation qfNova Scotia,— Ader Scudilor. a b c d e (, Joints of „ „ The remarkable discovery of OarbonlfcroUs batrachians made at the South .foggin.s in 187(5, in one of tho.se erect trees which have, since 1851, afforded .so many similar remains, is of .so much interest in connexion with the species described in Acadian Geology, that I make considerable extracts from the account of it published at the time. The tree of 187G was found by me in "the reef," or extension of the sandstone seaward, and near the low-water mark. Tiie upper part of tlic Jitump, probably filled with sandstone, had been removed by the waves, but about 2 feet of the lower part remained. It was extracted with as much care as possible by two miners with picks and crowbar, and the di,sk-likc fragments, into which it naturally split, were carried up to the foot of the cliff, and subsequently numbered and dissected at lei.stirc. In the hurry of working against time to escape the tide, the men, it seems, left in the hole a portion of the lowest layer, and a fragment of an upper one. The former was after- wards removed by Mr J. C. liusscl, of Columbia College, New York, and the latter was found by Mr Hill. Both have been kindly placed in my hands by these gentlemen, so that the whole of the material •H^^; /. Imiimtelwo goiicm gc 40o of Acadian iiiatic illustrations istic furniH of the iff.— Aficr SciiddcT. e racliians made at trees vvliicli have, 30 much interest CJcology, that I lislicd at the time. " or extension of irk. Tiic upper 1 been removed maincd. It was s with picks and t naturally split, uently numbered against time to a portion of the briner was after- ege, New York, n kindly placed of the material Tin: cAKnoNii'KKors. bi has been collected and carefully labelled, in hueh a manner as to keep together the parts belonging to each skek'ton. This troo was about 18 inches in diameter, and in tho lower part was partially flattened by lateral pressure, ho that its dianu-ter in one direction was only a little over a foot. Tiic material fdling tho somewhat thick coaly bark may bo de8cril)ed as a more or less arenaceous silt or soil, blackened with vegetable nnitter, and replete with fragments of carbonized liark, mineral ciiareoal, and line vegetable debris. There are also numerous leaves of Cordaitcn, and abundance of the fruits wliich, from their frequent occurrence in such hollow trees, 1 have elsewhere named Trigomicnrpum Siijillnruv. In some places the sediment was (iuely laminated, the lamina; bcin;^' often much con- torted. In other places the earthy nnitter exl.sted in patches or interrupted layers, nearly free from vegetable matter, and especially abundant toward the sides of the trimk. The "emcnting substance is in general carbonate of lime, nnmy portions of the mass effervescing freely with an .acid, but in some spots there are hard concretions of pyritc. The material has evidently been introduced gradually, in small quantities at a time, and the earthy matter seems to have run down the siiles, spreading more or less towards the centre, but in general accumnlatmg around the circnmfercnce. The number of skeletons recovered in a more or less complete state was no less than thirteen in all, belonging probably to six speeies, besides other bones contained in coprolites, and several millipedes, and shells of Pupa Velusla, the latter almost entirely in the hnvest layers. The first animal introduced was a specimen of Ilylerpcton Dnw- soni, Owen, whose bones and scutes, after decay of the connecting parts, had slid down the slope of silt from one side toward the centre of the space. Next, after a few inches of filling, came a specimen of Dendrerpeton Acadianuin, Owen, who.se bones lie along the centre of the layer and nearly in one plane. Al)Ovc this a large flake of bark had fallen in, forming an imperfect floor over the remains. Then, after an inch or two of carbonaceous matter had been deposited, came a somewhat flat surface, wliich seems to have remained uncovered for some time, and on this lie the disjecta membra of three skeletons be- longing to Dendrerpeton Acddianiim, I). Oweni, and a new species of Ilylerpeton. Above this was a confused mass of considerable thick- ness, in which were found another specimen of the new Ifijlerpcton, and remains representing a third animal of the same or an allied genus, also four specimens of Ilylonomus Lijelli, and portions aj)pa- rently of an immature Dendrerpeton. Still higher in position was a layer with large portions of the cuticle of a Dendrerpeton^ probably Ml \ 68 TUE CAUIUINirEKOUH. h ('. the species D. Aradianum; luitl iibovc this, nt the Hiiifucc of tlio «tuini). wcro floiiio reiimiiis i\ii(l iiiiprcHHionH of boncH iirolmlily iiidiciitiiig another rtpccimcn of Dnidirrprton. TukiiiK thcMC siu-cimeiiH in tlio onlur ivbovc f^ivcn, wo iiuiy notice the new facts which they huvo dis- closed on a preliniiniiry cxiuniniition. 2. Remains of llylcrpfUm. The solo species of tliis genus heretofore known, //. Dmnaoni, was discovered by mc in IH(U), i\nd was desciibed by TrofeHf^or Owen from remains so scanty that he expressed eonsidcnvblo doubt as to its aHinities. I afterwards worked out, from a few fragments of the matrix, the evidence that its teeth were simple, without plicated den- tine, that it had a largo canine or tusk in the anterior part of the upper jaw, and that it possessed a walking foot. The present speci- men tinows much additional light on its structure. It had at least twelve teeth in each ramus of the mandible, and they arc large in proportion to the size of the aniuuxl, bluntly conical and somewhat acuminate, and faintly striate at flic apex. The vomerine bones arc beset wifli numerous small blunt tectli. Tlio skull is long, and its bones thin and marked merely with delicate incised lines rather than wrinkles. The forms of the stout ribs and scattered vertebne would indicate that the body was broad and sijuat. The skull must have been about 2 inches in length, the body probably 4 or 5, and there are some small vcrtebnx; which nuvy indicate a short tail. The limbs were large and strong, the femur being an inch and a (pmrler long, and its shaft a lifth of an inch in diameter, and with thick bony walls. The vertebne are slioit and biconcave, and with large dorsal spines, the belly was protected by numerous imbricated bony scales of two kinds, one oblong and narrow, the other broad and obliquely shield-shaped. There arc indications of thoracic plates of larger size than the scales. On the whole, this species was probably a somewhat clumsy creature, of toad-like form and slow gait, and with a dentary apparatus suited to pierce and crush crusts and shells. It is perhaps significant of its habits, in these respects, that the layers of this tree in which its bones occur are alone those in which shells of Pupa veftista are found. The second species of Ilijlerpelon, which I may provisionally name II. lougidentalum, was of somewhat smaller size, with the bones of the skull thinner and more slender, and the teeth very long and sharply pointed, with the apex finely striate, but with no corrugation of l!.e dentine. The vomer is covered with minute teeth, and there are long and slender anterior teeth, resembling canines. The best . s ■ t •• '.• ^ t\ n /. TUB CAUnoNIKKItlH'!). 69 imfacc of tlio stump, trobably iiidinitiiig ^n Hpfi-iiiicriH in tlio liich tliey Imvo dis- I, //. Dawsuni, was lofesBorOwcn from i doubt n.s to its frngmcnts of tlic liout plicated dcn- iftM-iur part of tlic Tlic present speci- c. it had at least tlicy are large in •ill and somcwiiat )nierinc bones aro II is long, and its lilies rather than d vertebne would skull must have d)Iy 4 or 5, and short tail. The li and a (|iiar)er with thick bony itii large dorsal atcd bony scales 1 and oblicpiely s of larger size ably a somewhat with a dcntary It is perhaps crs of this tree shells of Pupa visionally name 111' bones of the •cry long and no corrugation eeth, and there les. The best preserved mandible bIiows eighteen teeth, which arc strongly Inclined backward. The scales are very narrow, and there is a large thoracic plate. The general form of body may have been as in the last BpccicH, but the skull was probably narrower and the feet longer. Another species of this genus, or belonging to a genus intermediatu between it and Hi/ltinointis, is represented by a confused nnisa of bones showing long and narrow jaws, armed with short and blunt teeth, of which at least thirty occur on each side of the lower jaws. The sculpture of the bones is as in the previous species, but the pulp- cavities of the teeth are smaller and their walls stronger, and they show no senlpturo on the apex; in which lesjiects they resemble those of J /ylonotniis. The vcrtebnu also are more elongated, and the femur is a largo bone indicating a powerful hind limb. The abdominal scutes arc very long and narrow, resembling slender semicylindrical rods, a point in wiiieli this species differs from all the otliers found with it, altliough ii resembles some of those found in In land and Ohio. This species I would name provisionally, in allusion to the form of its teeth, I/j/lerpcton citvtUleutatuin. h\ all these species of Ifijlcrpcton the teeth are simple, and arc aiichyloscd to the bone and placed in linear scries in a shallow groove. , 3. Remains of DcndrerpeUm. The remains of this genus will afford additional facts as to the dinerenccs in individuals of various ages, and as to the details of the skeleton in tlie species D. Ou'cni, previously known by only one im- perfect example. The specimen now found would seem to show that it resembled very much the larger species, except in the form of the teeth and scales. But the most interesting facts presented by a cur- sory examination of the specimens relate to the skin and its aj)j)endages. It is now evident that in addition to the abdominal and gular scales, Demlrerpeton possessed thoracic plates of considerable size, resem- bling those of other labyrinthodonts. The large mass of skin found in the tree of 1876, taken in connec'ion with the smaller portions found on previous occasions, and described in detail in my " Air- breathers of the Coal-period," ciuibles us to form a very good general idea of the appearance and clothing of the animals of this genus. To the naked eye the skin presents a shining and strongly rugose surface, reminding one of that of modern newts when contracted by immension in alcohol, though on a coarser scale. Under the lens, the surface appears granular, and with a higher power the granulation is .seen to result from minute scales embedded in the cuticle, and much sundler i i * i I 60 TlIK CARnONIFEROUS. tli.m those, in previous finds, wliich I have rcfened to D. Oweni and to Hyl()no))nis. On some portiona of it tliei'e are delicate transverse lines about a quarter of an inch ajjart, and apparently corresponding to those which on the newts and Menobranchus mark the bands of subcutaneous muscles. The bony scales of the abdomen have dis- appeared, except a few scattered in the matrix. But the most remarkable dermal appendages are those triangular lappets or frills of which I have in previous papers described detached examples, and have compared them with the gular and cervical lappets and frills of iguanas, geckos, and Draco ; and which also suggest analogies with the processes that support the gills in perennibranchiate batrachians, and with the lateral folds of the skin in Menopoma. These append- ages are flat and of appreciable thickness, about half an inch in length, and an eighth of an inch in breadth, terminating in an edge or obtuse flat point, which seems to have been horny, while the appendage itself must have been flexible. Tl'.cy are marked with small scaly oval areoles or projections, placed somewhat in rows, and each with a minute puncture in its centre. The markings o'^ both sides are similar. These appendages are arranged in series along what appears to be the skin of a fore leg, and also in groups apparently on the an- terior part of the body, perhaps the neck or shoulder. They appear to be closely connected with a series of much smaller angular points which extend along the edge of the skin near the supposed leg, and probably fringe the sides of the abdomen. The evidence that this integument belongs to Dendrerpclon Acadicmnn is derived from the presence in its anterior part of skull-bones having the markings of that of this species, and from the occurrence of a jaw and other bones in the neighbouring matrix. The specimen to which the skin be- longed may have been about a foot in length. Taking it in connec- tion with what is known of the skeleton, we can reproduce the external appearance of the animal. It was Hzard-likc in form, with a some- what flat and broad head, and strong teeth with folded dentine. Its back was covered with a shining skin filled with microscopic horny scales. Its sides were marked with vertical bands separated by delicate indented lines. Anteriorly it was ornamented with numerous cutane- ous lappets or pendants. The sides were bordered with a row of sharp horny points, r,nd the throat, thorax, and abdomen were protected by bony scales and plates, the scales of the throat being narrow and small, and arranged in a chevron ;>attcrn. Dendi'crpeton Owe '" probably had the scales of the back and the horny appendages larger in proportion, that is, if I have rightly referred to that species some similar remains to those above men- TilE CAKBONIFEKOUS. 61 )cing narrow and tioneil, found in 1859. ^{ylonomns Lyelli had a far more ornate set of cutaneous appendages, as evidenced by remains of skin found associated wit!', its bones, also in 1859.* The tree of 1876 contains no cuticular remains referable to this species. 4. Remains of ITyhinomus. Tlie bones of this gciius are all, I think, referable to //. Lyelli, and to specimens about the size of those previously found. Tlicy throw little additional light on its character, except to indicate tiiat it was probably very abundant, and to render it probable that the specimens formerly described were adult. Two of the skulls in the tree of I87tj arc better preserved than those previously known, and confirm the statement already made as to the sinoothncss of the bones and the greater cranial elevation as compared with other batraehians of the Carboniferous period. This is indicated, among other things, by the skulls lying upon one side, which is not found to be the case with the other species. In the admirable Report by Cope on the Batraehians of the Coal formation of Ohio,-}- he places Jlijlonomits in llie same family, Tudi- tanidcB, with Dendrerpcton. This I think does not exj)rcss its true affinities. The more elongate and narrow skull, with smooth bones, the differently formed vertebra*, the teeth with non-plicated dentine, tliC different microscopic structure of the bone, the more ornate dermal appendages, all separate these animals from the hibyrinthodonts, and entitle them, as I have formerly hold, to a distinct position as an order or sub-order, for which I proposed in 1 863 the name Micro- saiii'ia. I observe that in the Kcport on the Labyrintliodonts, pre- pared by iMr Miall for the British Association in 1873, and in the Tabular View apjiended to it in 1874, while the group Microsauria is retained, Dendrerpeton is placed in it, as well as Hylerpeton and llylonnnnis. This 1 think is an error, in so far as the first gi'iuis is concerned. I may add my continued conviction that Hylonomus and its allies present many points of approach to the laccrtian reptiles, which I hope in future to be able to work out more in detail. Several masses of coprolite, filled with small broken bones, were obtained in breaking up the material surrounding the skeletons. I presume these bones belong to one or other of the s.nnllcr species of Ilijtonoinits ; but 1 have not yet found any of them to be sufficiently * Journal Geol. Snc, vol. xvi., also " Air-breathers," 18G3. M 63 Tin; CAUIIOMKEKOIR. clmraotorihtic to warnint any i-onruU'iit. Hliilomoiit on tlio .sulijuf. Tlii'so oo|irolito» miiHl Imvo hocii pioilui-fil by Dendtwrpclon or J/i/lrriiiliiii, most prolnilily I lie loinicr. Ill till) siimmtM- oi" IS77 Mr ilill kiiully ("xtniiMi'tl for iiu>. tlm-i) othor tivos wliii'h Inul iippourotl in tlio rt'ittilircroiiH botl, liut tlu'y provod ImniMi of ivptiliaii icinaiiis, tlioiigli alVonliiig hoiuo ciirioiiH I'owHil pli'.ntH. A lourtli, >vliich jnosciiltMl gri'at tlinicnltioH in its cxtrai'tioii, Wiiij^ i.*^ trot in iliaiiu'tor, and oiiilnHldcd in sand- Btoiio to tlio lu'iglit of H loot, was taUon out lor mo in tlio Haiiio Hiimiuor. It alVoiilod cnly oiio sktdotoii of Dnidrrrprtou and do- taoliod Itonos of H_i/!i>noiiittt\ Init \va« intorostiiij^ as show in;;; on oiio layer tlio trails and traoks loft by a loptilo dragging; itsoif around tlio sidos of tlio liollow troo in its olVorts to osoapo. Tlio dotails of all II108O tlisoovorios 1 liopo to givo to tho publio «o soon as 1 oaii take tinio to study fully tlio bouos and tooth id>fainod. 1 think it (juilo pi>ssil)lo that furtlu'r oxainination may onlargo the niimbor of spooios abovo montionod. I havo boon gnidod mainly in tho roforonoo of tb.c spooiinons to spooios by tho struoturo of tlio tooth and tho oraiiial btnios ; but somo of tlioso may yiold now points of ditVoronoc on turtlior stinly. As all tho spooiinons aro piosorvod iindor tho »«mo oonditions, tlioro is leas liability horo than in most otisos to Uiultiply spooii's unduly, in oonsoquonoo of dilVorotit slatos oi' jirosorvation. Tho faot that t\>po has boon ablo to oatalogno, in his rooont Koport,* 39 goiicni of Carbonil'orous batraohians, inolnding about 100 spooios, and that those present so wido i\ range of siKO, struoturo, and gonoral eonfonuation, alVords a very remarkable illustr.itiou of that simul- tanoous ooourrouoe oi' many forms of one typo, wliioh appears in so innny other groups of fossil iiuimals; and is partioularly striking in this tirst known group of air-breathing vertebrates, whioh sinoe 1813 have swarmed up»n> us from the (\>al-liolds of both oontinonts, and of whioh wo probably know as yet but a small tVaotion of tho spooios. It remains to bo soon whether tho Devonian, so rioh in its land flora, and whioh has already atVorded remains of inseots, may not disoloso some pivoursors of the ("arboniferous batraohians. iSinoo the publioation of the soeoud edition, somo very intorOvSting discoveries of footprints of (.jubouiforoiis reptiles have occurred. Tho most important of those is that originally made by Mr .\lbert ,1. Ilill, IM'., at FilHmore's quarry, near Kiver Philip. At this place certain bods oi' brownish rod ."^andstoue hold numerous footprints of a largo batrachiau, now in tho eolleotion of the Geological Survey of * Palicoiitology of Oliio, vul. ii. /. •'HE CAItI10TSll"r.K0lI8. 63 III "11 till! Huliject. />i'ii(frfrj)ctun or icd'd for Jiio (Iiroo loiiH bod, l)ul. (Iii'y iii^ sumo ciirioiiH (lillictillii's ill its iilx'ddcd ill sMud- 1' 1110 ill (lio HIUllO Irn-jxion niid do- ts showing (111 ono K itsoir around tlio 'I'lio dotnils (if all stiiiii as I oiiii take II may oiiljii\i;o tlio 1 f;iiidod iimiidy in uotiiro of flio toofli iold now points of IV piosorvod iiiid(>r liiii ill most caso.s iiiVoront stales of is ivooiit lu'port,* ilioiit 100 s|io(.-i(s, oturo, and gonoral '!> of that sinml- ioli ap|)oais in so ulaily strikiiii^ in wliioh since 1813 I'ciitinonts, and of '11 »f tlu> spooios. I in its land llora, may not disoloso ' very intoiosting s lirtvo ocoiinod. Ic by Mr Albort p. At this plaoo lis footprints of a ogical Survey of CaniKbi, and wliioli lias lioon dosorilnul by Mr Sclwyn and myself.^ The dinionsioiiH of the footinints are — Hind foot, broadth .» n length r«)ro foot, breadth M ). length Length of stride Average distanee between the rows of foot- prints inado by right and left feet 2-71 inches. ■\-2i )) ii G3 >> '2-77 i» lir).} )) 5-48 'J'hosc nieasmeinents correspond very nearly with those of my if^aiirdpii.i Si/diifiisis,-]^ The hind fool, it will be (disorved, is eoiiHidorably longer than the fore foot, and has a sort of plantigrade appearaneo ; and there arc some indicHtions which show that the legs must have been strong ami tliiok. The hind foot shows four well-developed toes, the three outer stronger than the roinaining one. There was also a litili toe, which must have been placed nt n higher level than the others, on the out- side of the foot. It bore a long claw, which was plunged into tlio mud at each stop, and when the foot was raised nmdo a curved trace on the snrfiu'o. It probalily coriospondod to the tliuinb-like (iftli too of labyrinthodon, and to the detached outer toe of the f(iot-i)rint8 ligured by Sir C. Lyell. The fore foot is as broad as the hind foot, but much shorter, and shows four strongly-marked toes, with more obscnro iniiirossioiis of a tilth. All the toes of both feet arc broad in front, and seem to have had claws, but not of great length, except in the case of the detached too of the hind foot above referred to. There is no indication of a mem- brane connecting the toes. The prints of the hind and fore foot of each side are in a line, and the distance between the right and left lines, say TlV inches, indicates a body broad in comparisini witli the length of the legs. The impression ot the liinil loot is eitlior a little way behind that of the fore foot, or the impressions are eciuidistant, indicating a walking gait varying .'somewhat in the length of the stride. There are no indications of a tail, and in general the body was carried clear of the ground ; but in one place it has been dragged along the surface, leaving longitudinal furrows, probably indicating that the abdomen was clothed with bony scales, as was generally tlie case * Ocol. Slngnziiiu, vdl. ix. ■\ Acndinii Oculdfity, p. 3riH. ^i \\ I* i' M 04 THE CAUDONIFEROUS. in the labyrlnthudonts of the Carboaifeious. On aiiotlier slab there seems to have been a soft place where the legs of the anunal have sunk deeply into the mud; and it would appear to have been mired, extricating itself with some ditliculty, and leaving deep marks of the body and legs. These footprints must have been made on a subacrial surface, prob- ably left dry by the recession of the tide, and rain must have fallen shortly before the animal passed over it, as indicated by the pitted appearance of the slabs. The trunk of the creature may have been 3 feet in length. Its tail, if it had such an appendage, must have been short, or carried in the air without touching the ground. Its legs were strong, and bore the body well above the surface when walking. The only known Carboniferous batracbian of Nova Scotia which could have made these impressions is Baphetes planiceps^ Owen, discovered by the author in the Coal-field of I'ictou. Eosaurus Acadlensis of Marsh, from the Joggins, was a creature of sufficient size, but probably of different structure, and more exclusively aquatic habits. The principal distinctive character of the present specimens is the peculiar ai)pendage on the hind foot, and from this we may give the provisional name Sauropus unguifer to these footprints, until the animal which produced them slniU be known to us by its bones. It is interesting that in three localities in Nova Scotia, and two in Pennsylvania, footprints of this general type and of the same size have been found, indicating the wiile diffusion and abundance of these large batrachians in the Carboniferous period in North America, and also that they were animals comparable in size and developnient of limb with some of tlieir successors in the Mesozoic period. One of the slabs in the rooms of the Survey shows a number of less distinct footprints of an animal which may have been two-thirds of the size of that above described, though possibly of the same species. In the Provincial Museum of Halifax there is a slab with a .series of footprints similar to these. Dr Iloncyman has also placed in the same Museum a series of footprints, of the iJendrerpeton type, from Great Village River. On another slab, and associated with the larger footprints, are .some small trifid impressions which seem to indicate the presence of a still smaller animal, with feet of different form from those of the others. These snu\ll trifid footprints are not dissimilar from those found by Sir W. E. Logan, at llorton, in 1841, and which were the first indications of reptilian life discovered in the Carboniferous. They are also allied to those subsequently discovered by Dr Harding at THE CAIilKlNIFEROVa. 05 II another slab there of tlic animal have to have been mired, deep marks of the aerial .snrface, prob- iu must iiave fallen ieated by the pitted ture may have been [lendago, must have g the ground. Its 8 the surface when ian of Nova Scotia BaphetfS ijlaniceps, f I'ictou. Eosaurus •eature of sufficient exclusively aquatic it specimens is the is we may give the )otprints, until the i by its bones. . Scotia, and two in 1 of the same size abundance of these ortli America, and d dcveloi)mont of period. s a number of less jccn two-thirds of the same species, b with a scries of so j)laced in the crpetun type, from )utprints, are some irescnce of a still >se of the others. in those found by !i were the first )oniferous. They )• Dr Harding at I Parsboro', and by myself at the Joggin.s, and referred to in Acadian (jreology. These smaller footprints, showing manes of three toes, and in mure distinct impressions of four or five, I have con- jectured may have been produced by Labyrinthodonts of the type of Deml'erpeton. Origin of Coal. The readers of recent English popular works on geology will have observed the statement reiterated, that a large proportion of the material of the great beds of bituminous coal is composed of the spore-cases of lycopodiaceous plants — a statement quite contrary to that resulting from my microscopical examinations of the coal of more than eighty Coal-beds in Nova Scotia and Cape IJrcton, as stated in Acadian Geology (page 463), and more fully in my memoir of 1858 on the Structures in Coal,* and that of 18G6 on the Conditions of Accumulation of Coal.f Tiie reason of this mistake is that an eminent English naturalist, happening to find in certain specimens of English coal a great quantity of remains of spores and spore-cases, though even in his specimens they constitute only a small portion of the mass, and being apparently unacquainted with what others had done in this Held, wrote a popular article fur the Cuntemporary Iveview, in which he extended an isolated and exceptional fact to all coals, and placed this supposed origin of coal in a light so brilliant and attractive that he has been followed by many recent writers. The fact i.s, as stated in Acadian Geulugy, that trunks of *S'/V////fl?-/(E and similar trees constitute a great part of the denser portion of the coal, and that the cortical tissues of these rather than the wood remain as coal. But cortical or epidermal tissues in general, whether those of spore-eases or other parts of plants, are those which from their resistance to water-soakage and to decay, and from their highly carbonaceous character, are best suited to the production of coal. In point of fact, spore-cases, though often abundantly present, constitute only an infinitesimal part of the matter of the great Coal-beds. In an article in Silliman's Journal, which appeared shortly after that above referred to, I endeavoured to correct this error, though apparently without effect in so far as the majority of British geological writers are concerned. From this article I may quote the following passages, as it is of importance in theoretical geology that such mistakes, involving as they do the whole theory of coal accumulation, should not continue to pass current. The early part of the paper is occupied * Journal Oeol. Society, vol. xv. •f- Ilitd., vdl. xxii 'i lil I n ll, 66 THE CARBONIFEROUS. with facts aa to the occurrence of spores and spore-cases as parting ingredients in coal. Its conclusions are as follows : — " It is not improbable that sporangites, or bodies resembling them,| may bo found in most coals ; but the facts above stated indicate that! their occurrence is accidental rather than essential to coal accumula- tion, and that they are more likely to have been abundmit in shalcsl and Civnnel coals, deposited in ponds or in shallow waters in the I vicinity of lycopodiaceous forests, than in the swampy or peaty deposits which constitute the ordinary coals. It is to be observed, however, that the conspicuous appearance which these bodies and also the strips and fragments of epidermal tissue, which resemble tliem in texture, present in slices of coal, may incline an observer, not having large experience in the examination of coals, to overrate their importance ; and this I think has been done by most microscopists, especially tiiose who have confined their attention to slices prepared by tin lapidary. One must also bear in mind the danger arising from mistaking concretionary accumulations of bituminous matter for sporangia. In sections of the bituminous shales accompanying the Devonian coal above mentioned, there are many rounded yellow spots, which on examination prove to be the spaces in the epidermis of Psilophyton through which the vessels passing to the leaves were emitted. To these considerations I would add the following, con- densed from my paper above referred to, in which the whole question of the origin of coal is fully discussed :* — "(1.) The mineral charcoal or ' mother coal ' is obviously woody tissue and fibres of bark, the structure of the varieties of which, and the plants to which it probably belongs, I have discussed in the paper above mentioned. " (2.) The coarser layers of coal show under the microscope a confused mass of fragments of vegetable matter belonging to various descriptions of plants, a;id including, but not usually largely, sporangites. " (3.) The more brilliant layei-s of the coal are seen, when separated by thin lamina; of clay, to have on their surfaces the markings of Sigillarioi and other trees, of which they evidently represent flattened specimens, or rather the bark of such specimens. Under the micro- scope, when their structures are preserved, these layers show cortical tissues more abundantly than any others. "(4.) Some thin layers of coal consist mainly of flattened layers of leaves of Cordaites or Pi/chnophylhan. "(5.) The Sligmaria underclays and the stvimi)S of Sigillaria in the * See also Aciulian Geology, 2(1 edit., pp. 138, 401, 4y3. ■ Ifc* i i. \ *■ THE CAnBONIFEUOUS. 67 lly of flattened layers coal roofs equally testify to the acciiinulatiou of coal by the growth of successive forestf", more especially oi' Sigillarice. There is, on the other hand, no necessary connection of sporangitc beds with Stigmarian soils. Such beds are more likely to be accumulfvted in water, and consequently to constitute bituminous shales and cannels. " (G.) Lepidodendron and its allies, to which the sporc-cascs in question ajjpear to belong, are evidently much less Important to coal accumulation than Sigillaria, which cannot be affirmed to have pro- duced spore-cases similar to those in question, even though the obser- vation of Goldenberg as to their fruit can be relied on ; the accuracy of which, however, I am inclined to doubt. " On the whole, then, while giving due credit to Prof. Iluxley and those who have preceded him in this matter, for directing attention to this curious and no doubt important constituent of mineral fuel, and admitting that I may possibly have given too little attention to it, I must maintain that Sporangitc beds are exceptional among coals, and that cortical and woody matters are the most abundant ingredients in all the ordinary kinds ; and to this I cannot think that tlio coals of England constitute an exception. "It is to be observed, in conclusion, that the spore-cases of plants, in their indestructibility and richly carbonaceous character, only par- take of qualities common to most suberous and epidermal matters, as I have explained in the publications already referred to. Such epidermal and cortical substances are extremely rich in carbon and hydrogen, in this resembling bituminous coal. They are also very little liable to decay, and they resist more tiian other vegetable matters aqueous infiltration, — properties which have caused them to remain unchanged, and to resist the penetration of mineral substances more than other vegetable tissue?. These qualities are well seen in the bark of our American white birch. It is no wonder that materials of this kind should constitute considerable portions of such vegetable accumulations as the beds of coal, and that when present in largo proportion they should afford richly bituminous beds. All this agrees with the fact, apparent on examination of the common coal, that the greater number of its purest layers consist of the flattened bark of tSigiUarim and similar trees, just as any single flattened trunk cm- bedded in shale becomes a layer of pure coal. It also agrees with the fact that other layers of coal, and also the cannels and earthy bitumens appear, under the microscope, to consist of finely comminuted particles, principally of epidermal tissues, not only from the fruits and spore- cases of plants, but also from their leaves and stems. These con- siderations impress us, just as much as the abundance of spore-cases. 1 1 ft r. I 'I < f)S TIIK CAUnONIFKUOUB. willi \]w iinmoiiHo amount of tlio vegetable matter wliieli has peiiHluul (luring the aeeiimulation of coal, in comparison with that which haa been piericrved. "I am indebtcil to I)r T. Steny limit for the following very vain- able information, which at once places in a clear and precise light the (•lieniical relations of (epidermal tissue and sp ^ai's .n ultimate coniposi- uitc than to woody 'ss loss of carbon ami L'h closer in coniposi- over, like those suh- asily moistened, and ,lin, Hftiidbook, xv. U5. thus arc able to resist those atmospheric influences which effect the decay of woody tissue.' " I would add to this only one further consideration. The nitrogen present in tlio Li/cnjxxliuni spores, no doubt, belongs to the protoplasm contained in them, a substance which would soon perish by decay ; and subtracting this, tlio cell-walls of the spores and the walls of the spore cases would be most suitable material fur the production ol' bituminous coal, lint this suitableness tiiey share with the epidermal tissue of the scales of strobiles, and of the stems and leaves of ferns and lycopods, and above all, with the thick corky envelope of the stems of ISiffillarice and similar trees, which, as 1 have elsewhere shown,* from its condition in the prostrate and erect trunks contained in the beds associated with coal, must have been highly carbonaceous and extremely enduring and iiupenneablc to water. In short, if instead of 'spore-cases,' we read 'epidermal tissues in general, including spore-cases,' all that lluxley has airiinied will be strictly and literally true, and in accordance with the chemical composition, micioscopical characters, and mode of occurrence of coal. It will also be in accordance with the following statement, from my paper on the Structures in Coal, published in 18.09 : — " ' A single trunk of ISiyillaria in an erect forest presents an epitome of a coal-seam. Its roots represent the Sliymarta underclay ; its bark the comi)aet coal ; its woody axis the mineral charcoal ; its fallen leaves (and fruits), with remains of herbaceous plants growing in its shade, mixed with a little earthy matter, the layers of coarse coal. Tlie condition of the durable outer bark of erect trees eoneurs with the ciiemical theory of coal, in showing the especial suitableness of this kind of tissue for the production of the purer compact coals. It is also probable that the comparative impermeability of the bark to mineral inliltration is of importance in this respect, enabling this material to remain uuaft'ectcd by causes which have filled those layers, consisting of herbaceous in.iterials and decayed wood, with pyrites and other mineral substances.' " 8. THH DEVONIAN. On the distribution and arrangement of the rocks of this period I have nothing material to add to what I have already st.ated in refer- ring to the Geological Map. Though the Devonian does not occupy a very wide area in the Acadian I'l-ovinces, yet, in connection with the neighbouring areas in the province of Quebec, it is of great in- * Vegetable Structures in Coal, .lour. Qcol. Soc, xv. 626. Conditions of Accumu lation of Coal, i6., xxii. 95. Acadian Geology, 197, 464. I f ml «i J p' 1 1 1 • 1--. ■» 70 THE DEVONIAN. torest, as Hhowing pcrlmiix more of tlic land life of tlio period, and more espcciall}' of its flora, tlum tlio Ucvoiiiun of any otlier part of tho world, in connexion with tliirt, it is to be observed that tho vast development of this formation in tlie great Lake Eric district shows mainly its marine conditions. Yet it is satisfactory to know that Professor Hall finds erect trunks of tree-ferns and abundance of remains of fern fronds and Psilop/iylmi in the ("hcniung sandstones of New York, and that in the marine limestones of Ohio Dr Newberry has discovered trunks of conifers and beautifully preserved stems of tree- ferns. The vague notions which many European geologists still enter- tain as to the importance and extent o*" the Devonian period would bo at once corrected could they study the American developments of it. Tho following table will p'^ow the nature and distribution of tho formations referred to : — Devonian, or Erian of America. SiibdiviBioiiH. New Yolk and Western CaiiikIh. (Uapi. 1 Southern New HrunHwick »nd Nova Scotia. Upper Devonian or Eriau. Midillt! Devonian or Erian. Lower Devonian or Erian. Chemung Group. Hamilton Group. ( 'oruilerous and Oriskany groups.* Upper Sandstones. Long Cove, etc. Middle Sandstones. l$oi.s Brule, Cape Oiscau, etc, Lower Sandstones. Gaspe Ba.sin, Little Gaspe, etc. Mispec Group. Shale, Sandstone, and Conglomerate. Sandstones near Middle R., Pictou ? Little R. Group (in- cluding Cordaite shales and Da- doxylon Sandstone). Lower Conglo- merates, etc. Nictaux and Boar River Series (Oriskany). These rocks in the Acadian Provinces overHe the fossiliferous beds of the Lower Helderberg or Ludlow group, and underlie the Lower Carboniferou.s, to the peculiar flora of which I have already referred. From these beds, thus limited, I have described or catalogued 125 species of fossil plants,f of which the greater part are specifically, and some generically, distinct iVom those of the Lower Carboniferous. A very considerable proj)ortion of these plants have been derived * On the evidence of fossils, Hall now rej,'ar(l8 the Oriskany as Silurian. It is really a group of transition, and in Canada its physical relations are with the Devonian, and it introdnces the fauna and flora of that age. t Report on Fossil I'laiUs of Devonian, etc., Geological Survey of Canada, 1871. THE DEVONIAN. 71 ' the period, ftiul other part of the cd that tho vaKt lie district sIiowh iry to know that nd abundance of ling sandstones of liio Dr Newberry irved sterna of tree- ologists still enter- in period would bo jvclopmcnts of it. listribution of tho uuthern New llnmswick and NovaScotiB. Lower Conglo- merates, etc. Nictaux and Boar River Series (Oiiskaiiy). I e fossiliferous beds nderlie the Lower c already referred. )r catalogued 125 i-c specifically, and ver Carboniferous, lave been derived ny as Silurian. It is are with the Devonian, vey of Canada, 1871. from the rich plant-bearing beds near St John, New Brunswick, so admirably explored by Messrs llartt and Matthew, It is proper, however, to explain that, in Acadian Geology, I have restricted myself to these species, not noticing, except incidentally, those from tho Devonian of Gaspe, New York, etc. It is also to bo observed that several of the species mentioned in that work are much more fully Fig. 12, — Pailophyton priiicfpn. — Restored. a, I'rult, natural size; b, Stem, natural size ; r, Sciilarifonn tissue of the axis, liiK'iIy magnified In the restoration, one side is reprebented in vernation, and the other in fruit. illustrated and described in the Report above referred to. More especi- ally is this the case Avith the remarkable genus PsUophyton, the fructifi- cation of which was not distinctly known when my last edition was published, but will bo found fully described and figured in the 1: ft n- r i Nf I * " 1, -a.i. P 72 TIIK riKVONIAN. Ilepitrt. Till' rostoration Riven in Fig. 12 will lutlor show tlio piociso clmractor of tlii« curiouH iiliuit, wliicli, wliilo allioil to the club-n>osH08 in Ktructuro nnd Imbit, luia rcniiirknblo |it>ciiliariticH in its frnctification. In tli« CHHO of /'. e/i'i/ana, in which* t\w rnictifu-atiitn in said to consiHt of " oval sciilos," these Hlimild he nnderstood as tlattencd Hpore-easos, not scales. Cj/clnpU'ris Jdckixini wonld also now bo placed in my now genus ArchivopUris ; and, as previously stated nuiler the head of Carboniferous, n higher place in the vegetable kingiloin might now ho assigned to the genus Cuniaitcs on the evi- dence furnished by M. (Jrand 'Kury. The dispo.sition which prevails among European palwobotanists to refer our Devonian flora to the Lower Carboniferous, proceeds, as already pointed out, in part from their imi)erfect acquaintance with the development of tiiis system of fornnitions in America, and also from the superior richness, so far, of our flora. liut there is not improb- ably another reason. Just as the modern genera of plants seem to have appeared in full force in America in the Cretaceous, while in Europe tliey scarcely attain a similar development till the Miocene Tertiary, we may have had an earlier introduction of the I'ahcozoie flora. This is, I think, now rendered probable by the later jjublica- tions of Stur and lleer. In any case, however, our Devonian flora is markedly distinct from that of the Lower Carboniferous, as may bo seen by reference to the Reports on those floras already referred to. 9. THE UPPER SILURIAN. In the .Vcadian Provinces, as in some other parts of Eastern America, the great igneous outbursts, evidenced by the masses and dykes of granite which cut the Lower Devonian rocks, nuike a strong lino of distinction between the later and older Palicozoic. While the Carboniferous scries is unaltered, except very locally, and compara- tively little disturbed, and confined to the lower levels, the Upper Silurian, and all older scries, have been folded and disturbed and profoundly altered, and constitute the hilly and broken parts of the country. Further, in the Upper Silurian and the older periods, there seems to have been a constant mi.xture with the aqueous sediments in process of deposition of both acidic and basic volcanic matter, in the form of ashes and fragments, as well as probably outflows of trachyte and dioritic rock, so that all these older formations are characterized by the presence of felsite, and porphyry, and pctro- siliceous breccia, and of diorite. Further, since these volcanic and * Ac. Qeol., 543. - t9:l.r" 11 \^ THR Uri'En SILURIAN. 7S lor show the prociso I to tlic chil)-inoK8C8 I in its friK'tificntion. tilioation in siiitl to n-stoo(l iiH tlattciicd voiihl also now bo 18 previously stated CO in the vcgctiiblo 'ordaites on the evi- »n palaiobotftnists to ifcroufl, proceeds, as •(luaintiuicc with the orioa, and also from there is not iniprob- •vft of plants seem to Cretaceous, while in icnt till the Miocene ion of the PftUvozoie by the later itubliea- uiir Devonian llora is onifcrous, as may bo already referred to. .N. sr parts of Eastern by the masses and Intcks, make a strong n'ozoic. While the fiilly, and compara- |r levels, the Upper and disturbed and iruken parts of the older periods, there aqueous sediments volcanic matter, in robably outflows of Ider formations are rphyry, and petro- thcse volcanic and tufrtcoous rocks, owing to their composition, are much more liable to bo rendered crystalline by nictamorphism than the ordinary acpieous sediments from which the bases have been leached out by water, and since they arc usually not fossiliferous, the ap|)earani'e is presented of crystal- line non-fossilil'erous rocks alternating with others Imlding abundant organic remains, and comparatively unaltered. The volcanic n\einberH of these series are also often very irregular in distribution, and there is little to distinguish lliem from each other, even when their ages may be very different. These circumslances oppose many dillieulties to tho classification of all the pre-Devonian rocks of Nova Scotia and New Hrunswick, dilheulties as yet very imperfectly overcome. My own attempts (o unravel these intricacies have as yet been only partially satisfactory to myself, and I have seen (juite as little reason to be satisfied with many of the arrangements which have been suggested by others. We shall, however, endeavour to ascertain what new facts are available, and to what extent they contradict or modify the views given in the text of Acadian (ieology. Messrs IJailey and Matthew have devoted much tinie and labour to the rocks which crop out from under tho Upper Devonian beds at Perry in Maine, and extend thence eastward into New l?riinswiek, where they have been named the " Mascarene series." I studied these beds in 1HG2, as they occur at Pigeon Hill and elsewhere near Kastport, and referred them to the Ui)per Silnrian period,* but the tracing of their extension in New Brimswick, and the full establish- ment of their age, belongs to the gentlemen above named. -j- These rocks are extensively developed in the south-western part of New Hrunswiek, and their thickness has been estimated at 2000 feet. The following section, in ascending order, taken from the Iteport of the Geological Survey for 1 87. "3-6, shows the general structure of the formation in Queen's County. Division 1. Gray clay slates, mostly of pale colour and generally somewhat calcareous. Darker- gray clay slates, some of wliieh are carbo- naceous, about 400 feet. Division 2. Black and dark-gray argillaceous or silicious clay slates, with very regular sedimentary bands, about GOO „ Division 3. Dark-gray and greenish-gray earthy sand- stones, the lower part compact, the upper • Paper on ProcarbonifiTous Flora, f Kcports, Geol. iSurvoy, 1875 0. I II m 74 THE urri'.u sii.uitiAN. jiiirt more sliity, grccnisli-gray, calcareous, or black and fisHilc, . . . about GOO feet Diviaion 4. Ash-gray and grccui.sli-gray schistose beds, generally chloritic and calcareous, soiuctinies aniygdaloldal and dioritic, . . I'.bout 300 ,, Division 5, Alternations of gray and dark-gniy i'elsites (often porphyritic), with com- pact dark-gray feld.spatliic rock, clouded with green and purple, and with beds .of dark and pale-green chloritic schist. Ther.j is a mass of felsite about 150 feet thick near the base, and a breccia conglomerate at the summit, . about 800 feet or more. These rocks, with the same general structure, arc widely distii- buted in Southern New Hrnnswick, but, as might be expected, they vary in detail, more especially in the upper mend)ers. 'J'hey also present a general resemblance to the belt of lliiper Silurian rocks already referred to as extending towards Uathurst, and rocks of this type are known to occur in the I'ljper Silurinn districts of Nova Scotia. The fossils found in the lower members of this series near East- port arc a Lingidn allied to L. ceulrilincata of the Lower llelder- bcrg, and also very near to some Hamilton species, and to that found in the T,ower Devonian of (Jaspe, though probably difl'ereut from that occurring in the Upper Silurian of Wcntworth, I'ictou, and Arisaig. There are also species of ModioDiorp/ia, and a species of Lo.voncina, with a small Beijrichin of lJ])pcr Siiurian type. Elsewhere in New IJrunswick these beds have all'orded sj)ecies of S(i\)p/iume)ia, Ort/iis, Rhynchonella, Pterinea. and corals of Upper Silurian genera. There can thus be m'" doubt us to their general age, though we have not sutlicient evidei\ce to assign them to any particular horizim in the scries of Upper Silurian beds known in Nova Scc^tia. The Kingston group, referred in Acadian (jeology to the Upper Silurian, is now regarded as in great part of older date, though fossils nii[)arently Upper Silurian have been fourid in some of its beds. From the sections given by IJailey and Matthew, and the specimens I have seen, it is apparent that its rocks somewhat resemble in mineral character those of the Mascarenc series. They, however, also closely resend)le the series of beds which, in the Cobeqnid Mountains and East River of Pictou,is seen to emerge from beneath the Upper Silurian series, and which is probably P THE UrPKR SILUIUAN. Tfi jarcoiis, or about GOO feet tosc beds, sometimes nbout 300 „ •:iy li- ed ids St. 50 ;;i!i It 800 feet or iiioro. ', arc widoly distri- t be exjiec'ted, tliey -Miibors. 'J'liey also [iper yibirian rocks , and roi'ks of tbis 1 distriets of Nova is sorioR near East- lie Lower llelder- aiid to tliut foiiiul ineroiit from tliat ton, and Arisaig. ies of Lo.voiifii'a, scwliero in New )p/iuiui')ia, Ort/u's, an genera. Tliere igli we liave not u- bori/.un in the fj;y lo the Upper er date, though in stmic of its atthew, and the rocks somewhat ascarenc scries. beds whicii, in i seen to emerge ieli is probably ic Lower Silurian, and to whicli I shall in the sequel give the name of the Cobequid series, already applied to it in the Table of Forma- tions in Acadian (leology.* The cuttings of the Intercolonial llailway have enabled Dr Honcy- nian to recognise at Wentworth, on the north side of the Cobecjuids, the extension westward of the Upper Silurian rocks mentioned in Acadian (Ecology, and also in an earlier memoir on the Mctamorphic rocks of Eastern Nova Scotia,t as flanking the crystalline rocks of these liills in New Annan and Earltoii. Dr lloiicynian was dis- l)Osed to regard these beds at Wentvvorth as possibly as old as the Cincinnati group of the Lower Silurian ; but the fossils which 1 have collected in them seem to me to indicate that they are probably of the age of the Lower Arisaig scries,^; or about that of the Clinton of New York. They also much resemble in mineral character th'^- Lower Arisaig beds, as well as those of similar age near Cape Caspo, and on the Matapcdia. The more characteristic fossils in my collections arc : — firaptolithus Clintonensis, liall. (Miinacograpsus and Kctiograj)Sus (?) sp, Atry[)a reticularis, Dahnan. Strophomena ihomboidalis, Wahl. Lingula oblonga, Hall. Oitliis tciiniradi . .;, Hall, or alli.-d. Ortliis elegantu .1, Dalman, or allied. iihyiiclioiR'lla m |. Iccta, Hall, „ Lcptocudia iiitcmedia, Hall, „ Teiitacnlites distaii.s, Hall, ,, As usual in the shales of this series, the finer markings of the shells arc not well preserved, so that it is not easy to assign them to their species. I think, however, that I cannot be wrong in referring them to the lower part of the Upper Silurian. At Weiitworth the dark shales holding these fossils arc traversed by diabase dykcs,§ in the vicinity of which the shales have assumed a gray colour, and have been hardened so as in places to resemble fclsitcs. It is probable that the fossilifcrous beds may be uncon- I'orniable to the hard slates, fclsitcs, and porphyries underlying thorn, but the .shales must have participated to some extent in the niove- nieuts to which the older rocks have been cxpo.sed. * Tunc '20. t Jdiirrml (Jonlopicnl Society, vol. vi. t I list! the term " Lower Arisitip;" in the seii.'^e attaelietl to it in Acailiaii (ieolopy, iiiinicly, for tlie lower fossiliferous series lit tliat jiliiee, in tiie innin equiviiknt to tiie I'liiiton and Medina groups of New Voik— IJaiidovery of Kngland. § See Note IV. in Aiipeiidix. ij Ml I M 7() THE UPPER SII.URIAS. Farther eastward, at French River and Waugh's River, the repre- sentatives of the Wentworth series contain coarse limestone and hard sandstone as well as shale, but hold some of the same fossils, and at Earlton loose pieces contain fossils of a somewhat higher horizon equivalent to the Upper Arisaig series. Passing from the eastern end of the Cobequids across a bay of the Pictou Carboniferous area, we find well-characterized Uppir Silurian rocks with fossils of the Upper Arisaig (Lower lleldcrberg) age. These rocks have recently been somewhat carefully examined in connexion with explorations of the great deposits of iron ore asso- ciated with them. It would seem that the upper half of the Upper Silurian is here quite as well developed as at Arisaig, and includes the great bed of fossiliferous hematite which is so characteristic of this region (Fig. 13). From below these beds arise thick beds of ferru- Fig. 13. — Ideal Section, showing the general relations of the Iron Ores oj'the East River of Pictou. ' ilimilli ' a. Jb 1. Great bed of Red Hematite. 2. Vein of Specular Iron. .1. Vein of Limonite. (o) Older Slate and Quartzite series, with Fclsite and Ash Roclcs, etc. (6) liOwer Helderberg formation and other Upper Silurian Kocks. {<■) Lower Carboniferous of the East Branch of Eas' River. ginous quartzite, and of imperfectly crystalline diorite and slaty and fel- sitic breccias, which would seem to be lower members of the Upper Silurian, and which are less indurated than the rocks of .similar composi- tion referred to the Lower Silurian .?nd older scries in the sequel. These latter rocks, which also appear in the vicinity of the llast River, are breccia, felsite, quartzite, slates, and hydro-mica scliists, which bear a close resemblance to the Cobequid series, and pass to the southward and westward of the newer rocks, no doubt forming in this reo'ion the continuation of that formation. In tlie central parts of the hills at the head-waters of the East River, tlie.se beds are seen, as in the Cobequids, to be invaded by great masses of an intrusive red syenite. Eastward of the East River the continuation of the Upper Silurian rocks has been traced by I)r lloneyman all the way to Arisaig, where their characteristics ai-e fully described in Acadian Geology ; and beyond this as far as Lochaber Lake, where at least the lower members occur. TllK UPPEK SILURIAN. 77 igh's River, the repic- coarsc limestone and e of the same fossils, f a somewhat higher Is across a bay of the erizcd Upi^ r Silurian wer Ilelderberg) age. carefully examined in )sits of iron ore asso- ler half of the Upper Arisaig, and includes 50 characteristic of this 36 thick beds of ferru- the Iron Ores of the East 1(1 Ash Rocks, ptc. iliirian Rocks. Kiver. orite and slaty and fel- embers of the Upper cs of similar composi- iu the sequel. These the llast River, are .schists, which bear a ss to the southward niing in this region parts of the hills, ds are seen, as in the ntrusive red syenite. f the Upper Silurian the way to Arisaig, n Acadian Geology; ere at least the lower I'a One of the most interesting fossils recently found in the Upper Silurian of Eastern Nova Scotia, is the complete specimen of Ilomalonotus Dawsoni, Hall, figured here (Fig. 14), and which was Pig H.—Homalonotiu Dawsoni.—Ua.\\. Half natural size. (a) Mnrgin of Segment. found on the East River of Pictou by Mr D. Eraser, who has col- lected many of the characteristic fossils of this district while exploring its iron deposits. We have to inquire under the next head as to those regions coloured in the map as Upper Silurian, but w liich subsequent inves- tigations have relegated with some probability to older periods. I have said nothing above of the areas of Niagara, Lower Ilelder- berg, and Oriskany in the western counties, because 1 have not re- visited them since the publication of my edition of 1868, and have no further fiicts to present. Farther study of the fossils formerly col- lected has not materially modified the conclusions stated in Acadian (Jeology, pp. 4U8, 4'Jt*, and 571; but much remains to be done in this district. IK r I I f^B m'f'^^ I h 11' 'I 1 i j ( 'i lit ' i ,::M ; ' I ' '■ '. - Vi ' ^ 1' ^ i- ! it 78 TIIK l.(i\Vi;i{ .SII.ll|tIA>f. 10. TIIK l-OWKIi SILIIIUAN. Ill tlio socoMtl ctlitioii III" Acmliaii C^coldgy, riilli>\viii;jj, tlum^li under protest, tlu< MinTirisoiiiiiu iKiiiiiMii'liitiii'i;, tlioa I'liirciil ImiIIi in Kii^liuxl 1111(1 Anu'iicii, iiiul iidoptinl liy (lie Cuiiiuliiiii (Jeoliigieiil Survey, 1 iiieliidiHl iiitdoi' this head nil tlut t'dssilifcroiis loeUs older tliaii the llpper Siliiiiim. If, however, wc restriet the term Lower Sihiiiaii to tliat };eologii'al f^roiip ol'whieli the groat Trenton i'ornnition in America iiud the Itala in lOngland are tint main end typical niendiers, and which contains wh.it Harrande has called thu " Hocond tauna," then we have lis yet no ccrtaiidy delennined Inssiliiei-nns group of this age in Acadia; and there seems little, doubt that tlie great Lower Silurian fossilileroiis limcstcmes an^ absont, as tiiey appear also to be in N(!w foundland.* Il', iherel'ore, there arc any ropresontalives of th« Lower Silurian, we have (o look I'oi' llieui in those rocks underlying the Upper Silurian series, and which are largely of the miturc ol volcanic or trap-ash deposits. In New nruuswick the band of old rocks lying on the north of the crystalline belt extending sonth-wi'st rroin iJathurst, and composed of greenish i'elsites, cpiartzites, and slates of various kinds, is nsiudly referred to the Lower Silurian. The evidence of this is, first, its ftppearanee from under the Upper Silurian beds in (he sanu'. manner with the rocks of the (Juebee group on (he north; and, secondly, tht> occurrence of a few graptolilcs, found by Mr Kobb, but as yet tudy ill I00.SO Htones. liithologieally theso rocks maybe regarded as cor- responding somewhat closely with portions of the (Quebec group, and also with the contemporaneous Skiddaw and itorrowdale scrii^s in I'lngland. According to Messrs IJailey and Mattliew, similar rocks occur also in several places in (he south-west of New Hruuswick, and underlie the Upper Silurian of that region, if this view of their age is correct, then it woidd follow (hat the mixed aipieous and volcanic d(\posits so characteristic of the lluronian recurred in the Lower Silurian, and again in the deposition of the Upper Silurian Masearcne series. On the evidence of mineral character, as well as of rehition to the UpjK'r Silurian series, there seems sonu' reason to suppose that the Kingston gronp of Messrs Hailey and Matthew, occupying the peiiin- Hiila between Kciincbceasis Ihiy luid the St Joliii River, and extending Bouth-westward to the coast, may also, as stated above, be of this age. (Crossing over to Nova Scotia, wo have in the t'obctpiid Mountains a great scries of alatcs, ([iiart/ites, and volcanic rocks, evidently undcr- * Miuray's UfoloKicnl Miiii, 1877. Till', I.OWKtl Hll.i:i!IAN. n IAN. ullow iiij;, tluiii;^li iiiuliT iilTi'iit Ixitli in Kii^'liiiid Uooliigioiil (Siirvoy, 1 locUs older tliaii tlio I'l'iii Lower Siluiiiiii to II t'oniiatioii ill Aiiu rica III iiii'inbmH, iiml wliieli I raiiiia," tlii'ii \v(( liavo group of tiiis age in great Lower Silurian iiir iilso to 1)0 in N(!W- iMitalives of llu* liower roeks uiiileiiying (he tile imtiire ol' volcaiiie iig on the north ol' the iirst, and iMinpohed of ous kinds, is usually t! of this is, first, its I ill the same inaiiiier h ; and, seeoiidly, the luilili, lint as yet only \' he regarded as eor- le Qindiee group, and liorrovvdale series in at I hew, similar roeks New Hrniiswiek, and is view of their age jiieons and voleaiiie irred in the Lowor • Silurian Masearono well as ol'rehition to II to suppose that the x'l'iipying the pciiiii- iivor, and extending hove, be of (his age. Cdietinid Mountains ks, evidently under- lying tlio Wontwortli sorioH, but destituto of foHHil roinaiiis. Tlioao, with their eontiiinatioii in tho diHtrict extoiuling eastward from the Cobeqnids to the Strait of Canso and into Cape nreton, wero eharaeter- Ized by me in IHSO* a.4 consisting of " various slates and ((iiartzitOH, with syimito, greenstono, coinpaet felspar, claystoiic, and porphyry," and wore named in .\eadiaii (Joology tiio "(!obe(piid group," and their agi( (b^lineil as intermediate between that of tin! lower Aiisaig fossili- feroiirt series and the (Jcdil series (Cambrian) of tlit! Atlantic coawt. Ah tlioy liad alTorded no fo.ssil.s, and as there Heoined to bo a litho- logieal and stratigraphieal connection between them and tho lower part of tliti Upper Silnrian, they were plaeeil with that .series as a down- ward extension, or, in part, iiK^tamorphosed members of it. The arrangoineut of these roeks in the central part of tlio Cobc(|uidH, and also between the Kast liivor of Pictou and tho east branch of the St Mary's River, may lie stated thus. 'I'here is a central imiss of red intrusive syenite or .syeiiitic granite, usually having a large pre- dominanco of rod orthodaso, with a m idorate (pianlity of hornblende and (piartz. This .sends veins into tho overlying beds, and is itself ponetrat(ul by dykes of diabase. On this central mass rests a great thicknosH of felsittss, p(M'|ihyries, felsitie agglomerates, and diorites, evidently of V(dcani(r origin. Upon these are gray, black, and red- dish slates and ([uart/.ites, wi(li a bed of limestone, and penetrated by metallic veins. 'The lower V(dcanie portiinis and tlu! upper more strictly a(|U(H)US parts might latrhaps be se|iarated as a l.uwtu' and llpper Cobetpiid series; but the dilVercneo appears to depend rather on mode of deposition than on any great dilTereiiee of age. Along the lunthcrn side of the Ctduupiids, and between I'ietoii and Arisaig, these biids are .seen iminediately to underlie the Upper Silurian roeks, which have been disturbed with them, and are penetrated by the same igneous dykes. I)r lloiieynian appears to have ob.served (he same rela(ion on (he l.oehabcr Lake and in other parts of Antigonish County. 'I'hissoniewhat constant assoeiatlon would seem to indicate that the rocks in question iinmediattdy underlie tho Upper Silurian, and arc therefon^ them.selvcs of Lowtir Silurian age. On the other hand, their simihuity in mineral characti^' with tlii; lluronian series of New llrunswick, with rocks observeil in Cape Hreton to rise from under Cambrian deposits, and with the lluronian rocks of Murray in .Newl'onndland, might induce us to a.ssign them to an earlier date, 'rinuf are, however, some dilVeri^nces in iniinual character; as, for example, tho greater prevaleuco of olive, black, and micaceous slates, and of highly fclspathic rocks in the ('(dieqiiid .series, * Juiiriial of Ooologiciil Society, vol. vi. ¥ ;!!ii • ■■«5i"*'' ^ ';■ 80 TIIK LOWEK SILUKIAN. which, while they ally tliis series with that of Nortiierii New Brunswick and of the Kingston peninsula, separate it from the typical Iluronian. I am therefore inclined to believe that it will ultimately be found that there are three barren series of mixed volcanic and aqueous deposits in the Acadian Provinces, separated by fossiliferous deposits, viz., (1) Tiie Iluronian, over which lie the fossiliferous Cambrian (Acadian) beds; (2) The Cobequid series, over which lie the fossiliferous Middle and Upper Silurian ; (3) The Mascarcne scries, belonging to the Upper Silurian. In some districts, as in Southern New Brunswick and Cape Breton, where these scries, or some of them, approach closely to each other, and arc much disturbed, it may be difficult to disentangle these deposits ; but I believe the distinction will be found to hold good, and will no doubt be facilitated by the discovery of additional fossiliferous beds. Fig. 15. — General Structure of the Cohequid Range. s .=;^^^:;^ mm MsB i} (a) Massive Sycnltic (irniiitc. (6) Lower Cobequid Scries, Felsito, Porphyry, Agglomerato, Ac. (c) Upper Cobequid Series. I'errilerous Slates and yuartzito. (d) Wentworth Fossiliferous lieds.— Upper Silurian. (e) Carboniferous. (/) Triassic. (x) Veins of Syenite and Diabase. In the meantime, I have no doubt of the identity of the greater part of the altered and volcanic beds of the hilly country extending through Pictou and Antigonish counties, and underlying the Upper Silurian, with the Cobequid series. Furthei', large suites of .specimens placed in my hands by Albert J. Hill, Esq., leave no room to doubt the similarity of the greater part of the rocks in the di.strict extending from St Peter's to Scatari in Cape Breton to the Cobequid deposits ; though, as will appear in the sequel, there is reason to believe that older rocks occur both in this district and in Northern Cape Breton. Mr Selwyn, who has studied these rocks in Southern Cape Breton and in Eastern Nova Scotia, but has not yet published his results, takes, I believe, similar views of their probable age, and compares their lithological character witli that of the contemporaneous trap-asli beds and similar volcanic d. sits in South Wales. Their resem- blance to the Borrowdale and tekiddaw series in England, as described by Ward in his Report on these formations, is also rem" -kablc. THE LOWER SILURIAN. 81 hern New Hrunswick he typical Huronian. imately be found that nd aqucons deposits 'erous deposits, viz., Cambrian (Acadian) e fossilifcrous Middle s, belonging to the em New Brunswick of them, approach it may be difficult to inction will be found by the discovery of '■ Range. lomerato, Ac. I yuartzlto. tity of the greater country extending erlying the Upper suites of specimens no room to doubt district extending bequid deposits ; ison to believe that ern Cape Breton, lern Cape Breton ished his results, ige, and compares loraneous trap-asii >. Their reseni- and, as described en!" -kablc. If the above views are correct, it will follow that in the Lower Silurian period the area of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was the theatre of cxten.sive and long-continued volcanic ejections, producing a series of rocks entirely dissimilar from those deposited at the same period in the interior continental region, though in some respects resembling those of Great Britain and those of iIki regions in Quebec and the United States lying east of the great Appalachian line of disturbance. 11. THE CAMBRIAN. Under this head I would now place the interesting "Acadian series" of St John, so well characterized by its fauna, that it nniy be considered as the typical representative in Eastern America of that Middle or Lower Cambrian formation known in England as the Menevian, and of Barrande's etage C of the Primordial in Bohemia. The true horizon of these beds was, of course, perfectly recognised at the time of the publication of my last edition, but they were then, in accordance with prevailing classificition, placed as Trimordial Silurian. Nothing new can as yet be added to the almost exhaustive examination of their fossils at that time made by Professor IJartt, nor has tlie area of beds holding these fossils in the Acadian Pro- vinces been considerably extended.* In Ncwfuundland-{- and New England, however, buds of this age seem to have a large extension ; and in certain conglomerates of the Quebec group on the Lower St Lawrence there are fragments holding the remains of a fauna which has been termed by Billings Lower Potsdam, and must be near to the age of the Acadian group. The great Atlantic coast series of Nova Scotia, which is the auriferous formation of that province, and includes in ascending order the so-called Quartzite and Clay-slate formations, in whicii these rocks respectively predominate, I believe to be likewise Cam- brian or Primordial, a view which Mr Selwyn and Professor Hind have also advocated. It is, however, noteworthy that in mineral character this very widely extended formation does not jjrecisely resemble the Acadian scries of New Brunswick, and it is therefore to be presumed that it represents some other part of that great system of formations. The evidence of fossils in determining the precise age of these rocks is unfortunately as yet somewhat imperfect. Mr Selwyn has recognised in the Slate formation at Lunenburg linear markings of * Note VI. t Murray's Reports and Map. 83 TIIK CAMHUIAN. the nature of those which in Sweden have been named Eophyton and have been described as land plants. They are, however, of ver doubtful origin, and in my judgment more aliin to those trails < aquatic animals which I have named Rhabdiclinitcs. Tliis conclusic I arrived at after a careful examination of a very complete suite ( Swedish specimens in London in 1870. Still, these markings ai very characteristic of certain Cambrian beds. They are, for cxampl abundant on the surfaces of the slates of the Acadian group at !; John. Professor Hind has also discovered in the quartzites of th group certain nodular bodies and markings which Mr Billinj; referred with doubt to the genus Eospangia and to casts of Ortlii The latter I have not seen, but Professor Hind has very kindl guided me to a bed near the Waverlcy Gold Mine, on the surftxce ( which there are great numbers of the former fossils. As appcarin on the weathered surface of the rock, they consist of little ov; depressions surrounded by a raised ridge from which radiate number of raised lines sometimes bifurcating. These lines appear 1 represent radiating plates or lamellas rather than rods. They are < various sizes, from an inch to six or seven inches in diameter, onl the larger ones having the rays well developed. They j)rescnt ii structure or evidence of organic matter, except that the centi has a brownish colour, as if from the oxidation of iron, and that i some specimens, differently preserved from the others, the rays alf show a rusty colour. The most natural interpretation of these forn would seem to be that they consist of a central axis or central cavif surrounded with vertical radiating plates, sometimes splitting in two toward the circumference. The central axis seems to have be( the original structure to which the radiating plates were afterwar added. Some specimens seem to indicate that the larger specimc were ultimately broken down into irregular groups of plates ai separ .te plates. The material would seem to have been orgain'c, ai probably very perishable. These objects are no doubt those w Billings referred with doubt to his genus Eospangia ; but they ha no structures warranting such a reference, though they might w be compared with the problematical object from the Eophyton sai stone of Sweden described by Linnarson under the name Astylospong radiata. To me they appear to be fucoids with radiating fronds, allicii form at least to Hall's Phytopsis from the Bird's-eye Limestone, or Liniiarson's Scotulithus from the Eophyton sandstone. Similar obje( are abundant on the surfaces of the sandstones of the Quebec group Metis, and they are there associated with a spiral Arenicolites alii * Report of Geological Survey, 1870. IK rilR CAMHHIAN. 83 eon named Eophylon, r arc, however, of very vkin to those trails of ,„•„,. This conclusion very complete suite ot ill, these markings are They are, for example, 5 Acadian group at St n the quartzites of this 28 which Mr Billings and to casts of OrtJus. . lliiul has very kindly Mine, on the surface ot ,,• fossils. As appearing cy consist of little oval /from which radiate a 'r These lines appear to :: than rods. They are of a inches in diameter, only ,eloped. They present no . except that the centre ,lation of iron, and that in the others, the rays also terprctation of these forms ktral axis or central cavity ' sometimes splitting mto A axis seems to have been ,i„,. plates were afterwards that the larger specimens ,Uar groups of plates and ' to have been organic, and ,,e no doubt those which Eospongia ; but they have , though they might we U from the Eophyton sand- uXiiviho num^Ashjlospongia ith radiating fronds, allied in Bird's-eye Limestone, or to Ludstone. Similar objects ',ncs of the Quebec group a a spiral Arenicolites allied ■vey, 1870. to .t. spiralis of Torell, but distinct s[)0('ifically, mid with forms allied to I'](tp!ii/t(in. In any case tliey may be regarded as forms of Cambrian and Lower Silurian type. In tlie meantime, that we may have some name where with to designate tlicm, I would j)ropose to call them Aslrnpolilhon* and the Waverlcy species, in honour of its discoverer, A. Ilindii. The only other fossils known to me arc specimens resembling tlic tubes or perforations known as Scolit/nis, and very characteristic of the Potsdam sandstone in Canada. These I found near the mouth of St Mary's River in loose blocks, whicli must have been derived from a neighbouring ledge of qnartzite. In so far as tlie above fossils give any indication of age, tlioy serve to confirm tlic supposition that the (J old series of the Atlantic coast is to be referred to the Cambrian period. Witliin that period its fossils have strong points of alliance witli those of the beds known as Fueoidal sand- stone and Eophyton sandstone in Sweden, and which underlie the equivalents of our Acadian series. They may, therefore, be regarded as probable equivalents of the Lower Cambrian or Longmynd series of Europe. Professor Hind has given a good description of the characters and structure of the more important parts of the Gold series in his Reports to the Department of Mines in Nova Scotia.f He .states the entire thickness of the series at l'i,000 feet. Of this the Lower or Quartzitc and Slate division, which includes in its middle and upper part the productive gold veins, comprises about 'JOOO feet, and the Upper or Ferruginous Slate division 3000 feet. The whole is thrown into a .series of .somewhat sharp anticlinals, which, as might be expected, are much faulted. The .steepest sides of the anticlinals arc usually to the north, though in some cases, as at Shcrhruoke, to the south. The courses of these anticlinals are approximately east and west. The gold has been found to be most accessible in the sides and near the summits of the anticlinals, while in the synclinals the upper unproductive .slates usually appear. It is also to be observed that the productive gold veins arc best developed in the I vicinity of the great masses of eruptive granite which traverse this formation, and in connection with, which it has locally been much metamorphosed. The gold veins, as stated in Acadian Geology, run for the most [part parallel to the bedding, but cross courses and branches traversing * Star-like stone. t Report on Waverlcy District, 1869; Sherbrooke, 1870; Mount Uniacke, Oldham fiiul Ueiifrcw, 1872. F 81 TItIO CAMIIIIIAN. the beds nro very frequent,* ftiid there is in) proof tliiit these arc less aiiciont thiiu tlie confoniml)le vcin« or "lomls." Tliou^h occurring in tlie Quiirtzitc division, th(! auriferous veins usually follow Imnds of Hlaty rock iiieludcd in the (imirtzite, u circunistiinco which much fiivours tlicir prolitahlc working. In my Acadian (ie(dot(y, I associated with the Atlantic coast Kcries the extensive dojjosits of mica slate and micaceous gneiss foimd in the peninsula ending in Cape (!au-'), and also very exten- sively in the west, more especially in Shelhurno County. I also regarded all the true granite of this district as intrusive, and on the evidence of the fossiliferous rocks cuthy it on the Nictaux Uivcr, as of later date than the Oriskany period. It has, however, lately been customary to regard much of the granite as gneiss, and to speak of this and the associated schistose rocks as Laurcutiau and Ilurouiau. Aware that uuiiiy new exposures had been made in recent years by nnning and roadmaking, and being desirous to satisfy myself as to whether any change was required, I revisited the district around Shcrbrooke and the St Mary's River, and was so fortunate as to fiiul what seems to me couclutiive evidence of the correctness of my former views. Eastward of Shcrbrooke, the beds of the Gold series run endwise against the great mass of granite rock extending from near the St ]\Iary's Kivcr beyond Indian Harbour, and given in my Acadian Geology as a typical illustration of intrusive granitc-J- At a place near the Upper Indian Ilarbo\ir Lake I found the granite and quartzite in contact, the line of junction running about south-cast, and the quartzite dipping north-cast at an angle of 70°. At the junction the quartzite is slightly changed in character, having apparently minute hornblende and mica crystals developed in it ; but the granite sends numerous veins into the quartzite, and in these becomes coarser in texture, and presents beautiful aggregations of plumose mica. This is, I believe, the character of the junction everywhere, except that where the slaty bands approach the granite, they are more altered than the quartzite. (Sec Frontispiece.) At Cochrane's Ilill, near the forks of the St Mary's River, a new g(dd mine has been opened on quartz veins said to bo richer in visible gold than usual, and included in beils which must belong to the upper part of the Onartzite scries. These beds lie, however, in the line of the great intrusive granite belt extending from Cape Canso along the south side of Chedabucto Ray, and they arc penc- * I have observed and sketched examples of this at Uiuacke and Shcrbrooke. t Page 619, and phite, p. (il;5. that tlicso arc less Tliougli occurriiiR iilly follow Imiidrt of .stiinco which much the Atlantic coast I micaceoun gneisH ml also very cxtcii- ne County. I also ^3 intruaivc, ami on II the Nictanx Uivcr, hart, however, lately i as gneiss, and to rt as Laurcntian ami liad been made in 1 being desirous to required, I revisited iry's River, and was ifeive evidence of the d scries run endwise ling from near the tit iven in my Acadian ;ranitc.f At a place |ii(l the granite and iig about south-cast, ;lc of 70". At the n character, having lcvclo[)cd in it; but utzite, and in these iful aggregations of tcr of the junction japproach the granite, •'rontispiece.) Mary's River, a new suid to be richer in ihicli must belong to ids lie, however, in Ixtcnding from Capo land they are pcnc- Ite and Sherbrookc. THE CAMItltlAN. H'i tratcd by numerous granite veins, which in the vicinity of the mine were scon to vary from six feet to less than an inch in thick- ness. In these circumstances, the gold-bearing slates an.* I am imlcltti'd to Henry S. Poole, 1]hi\., Insiicctor ol' Mines im Nova Scotia, for houk; nutcH (mi tiiu distribntiou of granito ImndM in tliu (iold Hoi'ioH of the castoni coast, lie informs me that )^ranil> crosses tlie I'ost road fiom iMns(|ii(idolioif, live miles from llie junetion of I'letou, Halifax ami (Inysbcn'o' counties. It also occurs at liisconib Lakes, sontli of tlic west hraudi of St Mary's Hivcr, and in tlio liills west of Mooscland, iic^twccn Mooscland and tlic Hliorc. It ai>pears to extend from Mooscland to the north-eastern corner of Siii|) lluritiiur, and also occurs at Sheet Harbour. Mr I'oolc aj,'rei's with me in n^gardiug tiio granites as intnisive, and mentions tin' tongues or veins cxttiuding into the gneiss, tho fragnuMits of slate and (luiirfzitc caught ny in (he granite, and the dcv(doi)ment of chiastolite in tlii^ \ ieinity of the gninite masses, as corroboration of this. It may il(^ well to explain here that in designating the granite as igiu'ons and intrusive, I by lu) means wish to declare myself against those theories of its origin which would regard it as consisting of indigenous rock fused by a(|ueo-igneiins agency in place, or nearly HO. I have referred to this qmvstiou in Acatliau (ieidogy, pp. 500, .OOl, and my views regarding it still remain the same. 1 may further remark that, independently of the stratified character of gneiss, Plutonic granite has always, in .so far a.s my experience extends, a dilVercnt texture, (inite manifest to an experienced eye, and dependent, I believe, cliielly on the more regular forms and inferior density of the crystals of felspar in granite as compared with gneiss. Mr Fletcher, of the (Jeological Survey, has discovered, in certain beds near St Andrew's Cimniiel, (ape IJreton, fossils whiih probably belong to the Cambrian series, and are api)arciitly newer than the Acadian or Meneviaii groiiji. They consist, according to Mr IJillings, of ail Ubolclla, Ort/iisiua, and Dich/ounna, and a trilobite of Primordial ty|)e ; and the beds holding the Lhigula ov Oboiclla are vi'iy like the Lingiila shales of St John. The .scries is charac- terized as consisting of a purple, red, and green slate, baiulstoncs and limestones, with beds of felsite.^- It thus difTcrs in character from the Acadian group, as developed at St John, and also from the Cambrian of the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. It rests on the crystalline rocks of the Hoisdale Hills, referred to under next head, which must thus be Lower Cambrian or Iluronian. * Report of 1870, f Keport, Geological Survey, 1875-70. TUB CAMnitUN. H7 i'nuioiiH iiilaiKl witli uiitcr nroa tluui tlmt pcctnr ol' Miiii'H I'm- ..f f^nmilc bimdH in „is iiui tlmt Kiiwiitii live »nil»'rt i'miu tlio itit'H. It h1hi> oci'iiiH >>t Mivry'H Hivcr, ftinl liuid ami tlio kIioii'. rth-i'iistorii conu'r of r. Mr IV'olc iijj;riH-» •f, 1X11(1 luciitious tlio iii^montH «)!' xlivto iviitl l.)l)iiu'iit (if cliiiistolito iiticu of llii«. ^luUiiig Uk- gmiiitc as cdaro luyseH' against ril it art consisting of y in plac'i', or uoarly ^catliun (ieology, 1>1). 11 tlic same, lit' stratiliod oliaracfor [tiir as uiy cxiH-rioncc o\l)Ciicnccil eye, and lliu- forms and inferior iiipiued with gneiss, liseoveivd, in eertain issils wliieli probaldy )arently newer than ist, aeein-ding to Mr iniin, and u tiilobite Lingula or Ooolctla 'lie series is diarac- en slate, sandstones dilTcrs in character 11, and also from the a. It rests on the to niidcr next head, 111. hti. l^Ir Fletelicr hiiH still more recently (IH77) inoenred foHsils, imt yet described, from llio vicinity of Miiv K'iver, wiiere beds similar to those of St Andrew's ('liaiiiud are extensively h Ipjier Lingnla (lags. 'i'liese fossils 1 regard as indieatiiig a pusitii'ii prtibably ('iimbriaii, but later than that of tho Acadian lieds of St .Injni. 'I'lic beds cniitaiiiiiig these fossils are assoeiatiid with the V(deanic ash Hories of Southern (4i[)e Hreton, Init 1 have no iiilurmatioii as yet with reference to their precise gt'ological relations. Il is illten^stillg and instritelivu thus to liiid the I'pper Cambrian series appearing in (,'ape Hreton, With the Acadian or jMenevian, and the probuble Longmyiid series of the coast of Nova Scotia, it serves to i!oni[)iite the re[)rcse'itation of that system of fcrmations in Acadia. 1 may add that Professor IJailey informs me that in the belt of old rock.s, north of the c((ntral ('oal-liidd in New IbniiswicU, there are [loitioiis, ajipar- eiitly older than the Silurian rocks of that region, and resembling the Nova Scotia coast .scries, like which they are auriferous. IJ. THH IIUliONlAN. 'I'he Coldbrook series of Messrs Bailey ami Matthew, lising from beneath the (!ambrian fossiliferons slates, was referred to this age in iny second edition ; and this view has been still further confirmed and (^xtemled by recent observations of I'rofessor Ihiiley. I'^roiii these it appears that the Coldbrook or llnroniaii series rest-i uncoiiforniably on the Laurentian, and that pebbles of the latter are inelinled in its conglomerates. On the other hand, the Acadian or Menevian beds li(! iineonformably on the Coldbrook series. Further, the I'pper llnroniaii is now identiiied with the "coastal series" of former reports, and thus greatly extended, more especially to the eastward of .">t .John. Tlicre would also ap|)ear to be indications of uiiconi'oiiiiity lictween the upper and lower members of the lluroniaii itself, it thus ajipears as a distinct formation, or group of foriiiatioiis, between the Laurentian and Acadian groups, and connected with neither. The study of a series of tyjiical speeimeiis, kindly furnished by Mr Matflicw of St .lolin and Mr Murray, director of the (ieological Survey of Newfound- land, enables me to affirm a remarkable similarity in mineral charai^tcr between the rocks described as Hnronian in these two regions, while tluir relations to the Laurentian below and Menevian ixbovc are the i;^ 88 THE IIURONIAN. same. The peculiur fossils, however, Aspidella and Arcniculiles, allied to A. spiralis, discovered by Murray in tlie Upper Iluroiiian of New- foundland and deserilied Uy IJillings, have not yet been recognised in New Brunswick. The Coidbrook series is remarkable for the abundance in it of fclsites, fclsitic breccias, porphyry, diorite, and other crystalline or cryptocrystalline rocks, which, though stratified, are evidently of volcanic origin, and if such rocks are to be considered as everywhere of this age, the classification of the older rocks of Acadia would be greatly simpliried. It is evident, however, that we must separate the Mascarene scries, and other rocks of this character, with Upper Silurian fossils; and tin re is no good evidence that the Cobcquid series and its equivalents in I'ictou and elsewhere are older than the Lower Silurian. There seems, however, good rcasor to class as lluronian, or at least as Lower Cambrian, the rocks of the Boisdalc Hills in Cape Breton, which Mr IMttcher finds to underlie the fossili- ferous Cambrian of that region, and which are more quartzose and micaceous than the rocks of the Cobequid series. It is not impossible that rocks of this age may also occur in the vicinity of the Cambrian beds found at Mire. We may also eonjecturally class as Ihiroviian the chloritic rocks of I'armouth. I may repeat here my conviction, founded on tlic comparison of large suites of si)ccimens from Newfoundland, and from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as well as from the typical localities in Lake Huron, that volcanic and trap-ash rocks of various composition were in process of deposition from the lluronian to the Upper Silurian inclusive, and that they cannot be distinguished in hand .specimens. It is only by considerations based on .stratigraphy and fos.sils that these rocks can be ultimately classified with certainty. Unfortunately, in many cases, decisive evidence of these kinds is not easily obtained, and in tiic meantime our classification has to remain to a great extent conjectural. i:}. Tin: LAURENTIAN. These rocks, as ihcy occur near St John, New Brunswick, have been arranged by Messrs Bailey and Matthew, in their recent Reports, in a Lower and Upper series.* The former consists, in ascending order, of gray gneiss, red and gray gneiss, and dark-gray gneiss, with chloritic gneiss and diorite. The laitcr consists (<( limestone, with graphite and serpentine, gray quartzites and diorite, gray .slates and limesioncs with diorite. In one of the Upper Lime- * Geol. Ucports, 1871, otc. Seenlso NotJ VI; mtc uul Arenicullles, allied )cr Iluroiiiawn on Earth." 7 Fig. IG.— Euxoon Canadeni'c. (1) Woiitlici'i'd spodmiMi, natural size. (2) Casts i)f Acprv.iUiie chambers. (3) Surface of a Hat cliaitilii'r. (4) Sfictloii slinwiii^ casts nf ilat cliarahcrs. Dr ITunt seems, in recent publications, inclined to doubt the Lauren- tian age of the upper part of tlie.«c rocks, and to refer them, with the Hastings group of ',)iitario, to a somewliat later though ])rc-Cambrian age. Dr ITonovinan and Professor Hind have suggested the Laurentian age of certain rocks at Arisaig, in the Cobequids, and as.sociated with the coa.st Metamorpliic series, but I do not regard the evidence of thisi, either from fossils, mineral character, or .superposition, as conclnsivc, aiidinust refer for it to the memoirs of these gentlenien in tiie Trans * Proceedings, American Assuciatioii, 187C. f London, ISTS. 1-1 „ir" i i; ai li I M 90 Tin; LAUHKNTIAN. actions of the Neva Scotia Institute, and tlic Journal of the Geological Society of London. I must, in like manner, decline to receive as of Laurentian age the felsitie and otlier rocks of Cape Breton, referred to tliis system hy Mr Fletcher in tlic latest Report of tiie Geological Survey. I would except those of St Anne's Mountain, the iitho- logical resemblance of which to the Lower Laurentian of Canada is indisjuitable, and the evidence that they may be of this age has certainly been much strengthened by the recent observations of Mr Fletcher.* Specimens, and the observations of Mr Brown and Mr Campbell and others, induce me also to believe that in the little island of St Paul's, e ins peridd." Ilie only tlie suniewliat nltcrcd kwer Carboniferous. I (lor. geological history of the region now included in the maritime pro- vinces. They establish what I could then only indicate as probable, that the great igneous outbursts of the Devonian age, accompanied witii profound alteration of the older sediments, with nuich disturb- ance of these beds, and the introduction into them of mineral veins, were preceded by a long series of emissions of trachytic lavas and volcanic ashes and breccias, now represented by the felsites, porphyries, and agglomerates of the Huronian, Cobcquid, and Mascareue series. Beginning with the Huronian age, these eruptive actions were inter- rupted in the Cambrian, but recurred with great intensity in the Lower Silurian, and extended into the Upper Silurian age. For this reason, the rocks of these periods in the Acfidian area present a marked lithologieal contrast to thdse which were accumulating at the same time in the great quiet sea areas of the interior of the continent, and it becomes extremely difficult to correlate these deposits in detail. The peculiar characters of the Quebec group of Eastern Canada, and of the rocks called Taconic by Emmons further south, are no doubt connected with the great igneous actions of the Lower Silurian age. We may ultimately find that in the Silurian period the Atlantic coast of America Avas the theatre of igneous activity comparable with that which has prevailed in later periods on the Pacific coast, and that the relations of the coastal and interior rocks are similar to those between the Mesozoic porphyritcs and trachytes of British Columbia, and the contemporaneous shales, marls, and sandstones of the interior plains.* It is to be observed here that the character of the older deposits in the Acadian area has been modified not only by contemporaneous igneous action, but by the action of the Arctic currents in drifting along the Atlantic border earthy matter set free by frost and aqueous denudation in the north ; as well as by the metamorphic influence connected with the subsequent igneous ejections of the l)evi)nian. It is further to be observed, that the peculiar features above re- ferred to ally the rock formations of the Silurian age in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Avith those of Groat Britain, ijiwhieh also theie are great series of bedded volcanic roeks and a.-tolitiu or Levis Series of (Juebcc and North New Brnnswick, part of Cape Breton Series { Cambrian. Mire and St Andrew'.s Channel Series in Cape Breton. Aeadiau Series of St John, New Brnnswiek. Qnartzitc and Slate of Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia. Huroninn. Pebidian and Dimetian Series (Ilieks), lluronian Felsites, Chloritie and Epi- eontaining Fel.iite, Chlorite Schist, dotic Bocks of St John, Yarmouth, and Serpenthie. and of Cape Breton in part. Laurcntiiin. Older Gneisses of Scotland and >jf Gneiss, Quartzite, and Limestone of Scandinavia. St John, Portland Group, Gneiss of St Anne's Mountain ? Thi.-5 tabic in ly at lea^t serve to suggest conipari.sons, even tliough some of its correlatioiiw should be showu, by further cxaiuination, to require correction. In any case, the facts exliibited illustrate the general truth, now well established, that throughout geological time, the forniatior.s on the borders of the great oceans have been different in character from those of the continental plateaus and from those of the abysses of the sea. 15. MINERAL RESOURCES. Coal., ij"c. — The Report of the In.specto*' of Mines for Nova Scotia for 187G, shows 21 collieries in operation. Their total produce was 709,6 IG tons, but this is far below their present capacity, the trade MINERAL ItESOVRCKS. 93 VNi) Ni;\v IjurN.swicK. being in a very depressed condition. All these mines are in the Cum- berland, Pictoii, and Cape Breton Coal areas. In New Brunswick, according to the report on the exhibits at the Centennial K.xhibition, the only coal-mine in opertition was that at (Jrand Lake, (jneen's Co., the annual production being only 8000 chaldrons. Beside this, there is the remarkable Albcrtitc of the Albert Mines, Albert County, a vein of altered bitumen in the Lower Carboniferous rather than a Coal deposit. Tills yielded in 1874, the latest report I have seen, 7000 Ions. A new mining enterprise (the Bcliveau mine) has recently been com- menced near the Petitcodiae liiver, in search of this valuable mineral. There are, in the Carboniferous of New Brunswick and also of Nova Scotia, immense deposits of pyroschist or bituminous shale, capable of yielding as much as G3 gallons of oil, oi 7500 feet of illuminating gas, per ton. Owing to the great cheapness of petroleum, little atten- tion has been paid to these shales for some years, but it is likely that they will before long again be in demand. The Coal areas now worked in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are undoubtedly those most accessible and promising, and the question of working those beds of less thickness, or less accessible, or those con- cealed under the beds of the newer Coal formation, is not likely to be raised for some time. That large available areas of these kinds exist there can be no doubt ; but should present commercial relations with the United States continue, the first great sti .ulus to the coal industry must arise from the devulojmient of the imu ores, so abundant in the vicinity of the principal Coal-fields. Devonian Anthracite. — At Point Lepreau in New Brunswick, a remarkable discovery has been made of anthracite in a horizon referred by Mi Matthew to the upper part of the Dadoxylon sand- stone. I am informed by Mr Matthew that it occurs in a vertical bed from G to 10 feet in thickness, in olive-coloured sandy shales. It is of a granular texture, and may be regarded as an anthracite, as it con- tains only about f) ['ur cent, of volatile matter. A specimen analysed by l)r Harrington gave 358 per cent, of ashes; but possibly this may not represent the general quality of the deposit. Whether of eco- nomical value or not, it is of interest as the only example of Devonian coal in North America, except the little bed, 2 inches thick, occurring in the Gaspe sandstone.* Iron. — The only extensive works at present in operation in Nova Scotia are those of the Steel Company of Canada at Londonderry — formerly the Acadia Company. These works depend on the great veins of iron ore on the south side of the Cobequid Mountains (Ac. * Iteport on Fossil Plants of Devonian, [ip. 7, H. % \ ( 1 V . ■ i 94 MINEUAI. RliSOUKCK.S. Gcol., p. 582). The aupplics of ore arc at present almost entirely derived from extensive veins of limonitc, constituting part of the great vein of specular and spathic ore which was first worked at tliis place, but is now neglected, owing to the greater cheapness and more ready reduc- tion of the limonitc; 15,274 tons of ore were mined in 1S76. In a recent visit to this mine, I was pleased to see an admirable smelting establishment with two blast furnaces of the most improved construction, and a beautiful village, where, in my former visits, had been a wild forest ravine. I found that the extensive adits now worked at Martin's iU-ook are in the same veins which I originally described, and that the change in the chemical quality of the ore depends on the fact that the mine has penetrated into portions of the vein where the ankerite and carbonate of iron have been decomposed and oxidized by water, owing to the more open and permeable char- acter of the containing rock. The iron deposits in the Silurian rocks on the East River of l*ictou, and their associated deposits, have recently attracted some attention ; but no smelting operations have yet been undertaken. The ores here consist of — (1 .) A bed of red hematite in the lower lleldcrberg slates. It has a percentage of 43 to o4 of iron, and varies in thickness from 10 to 30 feet. Its outcrop has been traced for several miles over ground where it is very accessible, and not more than 12 miles distant from the great I'ictou collieries. (2.) A vein of crystalline specular ore, whose geological relations are similar to those of the Londonderry vein. It lias been traced for a mile or more, and in some places has a thickness of 20 feet of pure ore. Masses of magnetite occur in parts of the vein, and also quantities of si)athie iron and ankerite. (3.) ^'eins of limonitc, which occur in many places on the l]a>t Iviver of IMctdu; some of them arc of large dimensions, and associated with subordinate veins and concretions of pyrolusitc or manganese ore. (4.) In the Lower Carboniferous, on Sutherlanil's Uiver, there is a remftrkable vein of crystalline s|)athie iron ore or carbonate of iron, wliich will no doubt eventually be worked in connection with the other deposits. In Cape Breton, extensive discoveries of hematite are reported on the East Bay of the Bras d'Or, and in otlier localities not distant from the collieries of the cast part of that island. Valuable deposits of limonitc are reported at Brookfield and Old ]5arns, in Colchester County, and further discoveries of magnetic ore have been made in the bed of iron ores associated with the Onskany formation at Nictaux and Moose River. Beds of clay ironstone, which occur in the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia, have naturally attracted little attention in the presence of those most entirely derived I't of tlie great vein of 1 at this place, but is lid more ready rcdiic- iied in 1.S76. to sec an admirable f the most improved ny former visits, had extensive adits now IS which 1 originally il quality of the ore I into 2)ortions of the ve been decomposed uid permeable char- Kast River of Pictoii, ctcd some attention ; iken. The ores here er llclderberg slates. in thickness from 10 id miles over ground i miles distant from tallinc specular ore, of tiie Londonderry in some places has nctite occur in parts inkcritc. (3.) "N'eiiis i>t liiver of I'ictou; ed with subordinate f.) In the Lower rem.trkable vein of lich will no doubt deposits. ite are reported on alities not distant Valuable deposits |irii.s, in Colchester have been made any formation at [nifcrous of Nova presence of those MINERAL KESOURCES. 95 great deposits of rich crystalline ores lying unused in the immediate vicinity of the Coal-iiclds. The latest discovery of this kind is on the French llivcr, Pictou County, where beds of nodular clay ironstone from G inches to 4 feet thick are reported, the ore containing 35 per cent, of iron. In New IJrunswick the beds of red hematite occurring at Jackson- town, near Woodstock, in beds believed to be of Upper Silurian age, are not now worked, though formerly successfully mined and smelted. These bods are numerous, and from 6 inches to 8 feet thick. Their geological characters seem to resemble those of the great I'ictou hematite already referred to. Hog iron ores, believed to be of com- mercial value, are found at Burton, Sunbury County, and at Maryland, York County. Iron ochres, used as "mineral paints," abound in connexion with the deposits of iron ore as stated in Acadian Geology, and have been worked on a limited scale at various points, as has also the umber of Chester. Capper. — Though many itidications of copper have been observed, it is only recently that veins of workable dimensions have been found in Nova Scotia. A locality at Poison's Lake (Ac. Geol., p. 692), which has attracted some attention for many years, has at length revealed an apparently continuous vein of spathic iron holding rich copper pyrites. A neighbouring area near the Lochaber Lake exhibits several apparently rich veins, said to be 2 to G feet in width. There cau be little doubt tliiit the former place will soon become the seat of an important mining industry. The ores occur in a slate fcrniation associated with quartzite, aiul which I believe to be equivalent to the Cobctjuid series. Attcmi)ts have recently been made to work the native copper in the Triassic trap of Cape D'Or, and the nodules of gray copper in the Carboniferous sandstones of New Annan, but with little success. In New Brunswick, ores of copper in veins, and disseminated through slaty rocks, have been found in several j)laces of the south coast, in rocks of very similar character with those holding the Nova Scotian ores above mentioned. The attempts to open them profitably have hitherto been unsuccessful. Vitreous copper ore is also found in connexion witti the Triassic trap of Grand Manan, but I have no definite information as to its economic importance. Maiif/anesr. — The peroxide of manganese, or I'yrolusite, occurring in veins and "pockets" in the Lower Carboniferous limestone is worked profitably at Markliamvilie, New Brunswick, and at Teny Cape in Nova Scotia, where it occurs under similar conditions. This H. '■■ \i' ' % : \ 9G MINEUAL KKSOUUCKH. mineral has also been found in profitiiblc quantity on Onslow Moun- tain, in Colchester County. It is associated with linionito on tlic ' East River of I'icton, and its oi-ciirrencc has been reported in several other places, thougii in uncertain ([uantity. Lead. — A vein of galena has been worked on in Caledonia, Guysboro', thougli as yet the results arc uncertain. A vein of argentiferous galena, yielding i;{') lbs. lead and 2"1).5 ounces of silver to the ton, is also reported on the North Kiver of St Ami's liay. Cape Breton. This vein is stated to be five inches in thickness. The deposit of galena in Lower Carboniferous limestone at Gay's River (Ac. Geol., iJTo) has also attracted some attention, but I believe has not been worked on a large scale as yet. Antimony. — Stibnite, or antimony glance, occurs in veins in a gangue of qiiartz, in rocks believed to be of Upper Silurian age, at Prince William, York County, New lirunswick. The ore is mined and smelted with profit, and is also made into the alloy named "Babbit iMctal." Gold. — In Nova Scotia thirteen gold districts are reported as being worked in 1876. Tiie total yield was 12,0.38 ounces, nearly half of this being from the Sherbrooke district, and the next most important being tliose of Oldham, Waverlcy, and Wine Harbour. All the gold mines at present worked are in the Cambrian Quartzite formation of the Atlantic coast, with one remarkable exception. Tliis is the Carboniferous conglomerate of Gay's River, referred to in Acadian Geology (p. 277) as an instance of a gold alluvium of Lower Carboniferous age, and as a proof that the gold veins arc of older date than the Carboniferous. It is stated in the rei)ort of the insijcctor that in one area the conglomerate was worked along a run or depression of the slates for 500 feet. The gold is obtained by breaking up the conglomerate and panning the debris; and, as in mo.st modern gold gravels, the richest part of the deposit seems to be near the bed rock. 240 ounces were obtained from this deposit in 187G. Professor Hind states* that a similar in.stance of the occurrence of gold in a Car- boniferous conglomerate occurs in the peninsula opposite Paddock in Cape Breton. Hero, however, it is near the summit of a thick con- glomerate, implying peculiar circumstances in its deposition. The gold-mining industry is believed at present to be in a healthy state, thougli reduced in amount from the times of early excitement ; and it is likely gradually to extend. Silver. — The sulphide of this metal, and alsr argentiferous galena, * Papur on Gold-Mining, Society of Arts, May 1870. tity oil Oii.sldw Motin- with liinoiiito on tlio sen rcjforted iit scvuml 0(1 on ill Caledonia, nccrtain. A vein of 2*95 ounces of silver :)f St Ann's Hay, ("ape !.s in tliickncss. 1'lic istonc at Gay's River :ion, but I believe lias occurs in veins in a Jpper Silurian age, at k. The ore is mined nto the alloy named •icts are reported as 12,038 ounces, nearly !t, and the next most and Wine Harbour. e Cambrian Quartzite iblc exception. This iiver. referred to in a gold alluvium of ic gold veins arc of in tlic report of the -vorked along a run conglomerate and |i gold gravels, the the bed rock. 24 G |G. Professor Hind c of gold in a Car- Ipposite Haddock in jiit of a thick con- [icposition. to be in a healthy early excitement; jentif'erous galena, 1870. MINEUAl, KE8()UKCK8. 97 occur ill a vein in Melamorphic rocks at Watchabuckt in Northern Cape IJreton, and the oceurrence of drift fragments of these ores in the streams in that district indicate that there must be other deposits in this, as yet, little explored region. Freestone and Grindstone. — The export of these materials from Nova Scotia and New IJruiiswick still continues to be large. The celebrated Lower Cove quarries at the Joggins, alone, exported in 187G grindstones and whetstones to the value of 3o,H47 dollars. Large and prosperous quarries of a stone, quite equal to ti'at of the Joggins, exist at New Bandon, or Clifton, Gloucester C'.., New Brunswick. Considerable quarries of building-stonn arc also u operation at Wallace and Pictou, Nova Scotia; at Dorchester and Hopewell, New Brunswick, and many other places. Other Building and Ornamental Stones. — The cutting and polishing of red syenite and granite arc carried on at St George, Charlotte County, New Brunswick. The stone produced is equally beautiful with the red granite of Scotland. Marble of varied hues, and favour- ably situated for quarrying, has been discovered at Marble Moun- tain, on the Bras D'Or Lake, Cape Breton. Gijpsum. — This mineral is still extensively exported from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The exports from Nova Scotia in 1876 arc stated at 80,920 tons, and no less than 129,000 tons arc .stated to have been quarried at Ilillsboro', New Brunswick, in 1875. A large portion of this was ground and calcined at the quarries. According to J)r How, anhydrite or anhydrous gypsum is ■worked at Cheverie, Hants County, and exported for agricultural purposes. It is, of com-se, harder to grind than common gypsum, and cannot be used for moulding or plastering, but for land it may be regarded as more valuable than the hydrous variety, as wanting the water, which amounts to about 20 per cent, of the weight of the latter. Banjtes. — The sulphate of barium or heavy .spar is mined in small quantity at Five Islands (Ac. Geol., 592), and is known to occur at many other places. Dr How, in his Report on the Mineralogy of Nova Scotia,* also directs attention to the numerous Brine Springs issuing from the Lower Carboniferous rocks, and the working of which has been attempted on a large scale at Antigonisli. He also notices important discoveries of Iron I'ljrite or sulphur ore ; and mentions Titanifcroits Iron Ore as occurring at Sable River, Shelburne County, and in sand at Digby Cove. This Uejiort, as well as that of the Geo- « Halifax, 18G8. Stii-i f t 98 MINKRAL RKHOURCKH. logical Survey of Canada, tliose of llio Inspector of Minos of Nova Scotia, tliosc of Professor Hind on the CJold Fields, and tlioso made on behalf of private mining corporations, contain a large amount of detail respecting the resources and mining industries of the Acadian Provinces, which it is impossible to summarize here. The above notes arc intended merely to supplement tlic more extended notices given in Acadian Cieology. The great coal and iron inuustricH of the Acadian Provinces, and with these indirectly all other mineral industries, are at present much depressed, not only by the general depression of trade in these minerals, but also by those artificial restrictions and arrangements which shut out their produce from the largest American market, while they give no preference or protection at home. It is creditable to the intelligence and industry of these Provinces, and at tlic same time an indication of tlieir great mineral wealth, that under these circumstances they have been able to do so much as appears from the Report of the Inspector of Mines for 1S7G. of Mines of Nova , and tViOBC made on ft largo amount of ics of the Acadian J. The nbovo notes ndcd notices given dian Provinces, and ries, arc at present on of trade in these 1 and arrangements t American market, Tie. It is creditable s, and at the same ;h, that under these icli as appears from NOTES AND ADDENDA. 1. LlynUcfrom the Tridn of Ncir Ilninsmith, Jackson and Algcr, in tlieir incmoiron Nova Scotia Geology, mentioned tlic occurrence of lignite at Cape Hiomidon in the Triassic saudstoncH, but I Imve not succeeded in discovering it. Last sununer Mr Klls, of the Geological Survey, ol)tained a specimen in the sandstones of the opposite Hide of the IJay of Fuudy at Martin's Head. This specimen proves to bo a coniferous wood with one row of large disks in tiie cells, and of the same ty[)e with silicilied wood t'ouiul at (juaco, and referred to in Acadian Geology, p. 108. It is also of the same type with Dudojnjhn EdmriUanum, referred to above as characteristic of the Trias of Prince Edward Islaiul, and is similar to fossil wood which I have received from the Mesozoic of Virginia. 2. Loxoer Carhnniferons Flsliea of New Bninswick. The recent sinkuig of a shaft on the property of the IJeliveau All)ertite and Oil Company on the Petitcodiac River, has exposed a new and interest- ing deposit of fossil fishes in the rich bitiuninous shales of that district, which contain the remarkable deposits of Albertite, flescribed in Acadian Geology, p. 'i.'Jl d scq. The bed affording these fossils is a dark-brown bituminous shale, and, I am informed by Mr E. P. Ciiandler, to whom I am indebted for an interesting collection of the tlsh remains, is from four to five feet thick. Tiie specimens thus presented, with those previously in my collection and one kindly given to me by Mr F. Adams of this Univei'sity, ami the valuable memoirs recently published by Dr Newberry in the Ohio Report and by Dr Tratpiair in the Journal of the Geological Society, enal)Ie me ncjw to give a revision of the fishes of this locality, as described by Dr .lackson in his Report of 1851 on the Albert mine, which I was imable to do in my second edition, owing to the small number of specimens at my disposal. In the collections in my possession I recognise, in all, five species — three of them very small, and two of larger size. Of these, one, which is un- usually well i)reserved, and is the smallest of the whole, appears to be new, and I shall begin by describing it. Palccoimcus {RluuUnichthys) vwdulm, s.N. — Length, five to six centi- metres ; greatest breadth, 15 to 17 millimetres — the proportion of length to breadth being about five to one and a half. Ileail, oval and obtuse ; details not preserved, except that the bones are sculi)tiu'ed with fine waving lines. Pody gracefully curved, and ujjper lobe of tail long and slender. Pectoral fins small, with stout, unjointed rays. Ventral not distinctly preserved, but apparently small and nearer to pectorals than to anal. Dorsal and anal of moderate size and opposite each other. Caudal very heterocercal, with the lower lobe sharply pointed. Fins with well- developed fulcral spines especially large at the base of the caudal. Scales IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^ IIIIIM 12.5 IM 112.2 ^ IIIIM 1^ IA2. Iiil2.0 1.8 1-4 IIIIII.6 V. '>/ o 7 /, Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4^ \ ^S:^ "9) V \ 5g ^ '^^ my "^."k ' ^ >. .^^. ■^'^•':*<^ m ^ 100 NOTES AND ADDENDA. of the sides rhombic, coarsely toothed on the posterior edges, and elabor- ately sculptured with flat, scaly ridges, corresponding to the teeth of the edge. The ridges are arranged in an upper and lower series, the latter oblique to the former, so that each scale has the appearance of being com- posed of two distinct portions. Lower surface of scales smooth, with a few furrows corresponding to the ridges above, and the posterior edges apparently serrate. Caudal scales narrowly rhombic, pointed, and with a few central lines. Tiie back is protected witli about ten large oval scales between the head and the dorsal. They are sculptured with waving lines, curving with the edges, and are apparently truncate and serrate behind. Tlie fish figured by Jackson, PI. II., Fig. 5, but not named, probably belongs to the above species. Fi};. IS.— Palaoniscus modvhm, p.n. , (n) Outline, natural size. (6) Scvies of Sciiles enlarged, seen from inside. The lower rcw are tliose on mesial line. ((•) Surface of exposed part of scale from side and from upper lobe of tail, showing sculpture, enlarged. ((/) One of the dorsal scales, enlarged. This beautiful and elaborately ornamented little fish is a perfect model in miniature of that type of lower Carboniferous Palseoniscids to which it belongs, and whicli has recently been separated by Dr Traquair in the genus or subgenus Rhadinichthys. For this reason I have given it the specific name modulus. To the same genus belong the two next species, described by Jackson, of which I shall give merely distinctive marks. P. Alberti, Jackson, is larger than the preceding. The scales have more numerous striaj. The dorsal scales are rounded posteriorly. The posterior edge of the anal fin a])proaches nearly to the caudal, and extends consider- ably beiiiiid tiie posterior edge of tiie dorsah A specimen collected by Mr Ells, of the Geological Survey, indicates a fish of the same general form with P. Alberti, but about G inches long. Tlie details are not sufficiantly preserved to show if it differs in these from the above-named species. P. Cuirnsil, Jackson. — About the same size witli tiie last, but more slender, and the head less obtuse in front. Scales thick and with few NOTES AND ADDENDA. 101 • edges, and elabor- to tho teeth of the cr series, the latter Mice of being com- files smootli, with a the posterior edges pointed, and with a en hvrge oval scales d with waving lines, and serrate behind, ed, probably belongs row are those on lippoi- lobe of tail, Ih is a perfect model eoniscids to which it iDr Traquair in the ll have given it the [the two next species, Itinctive marks. The scales have more lorly. The posterior |nd extends consider- Survey, indicates a Ibont G inches long. 1 differs in these from the last, but more Ithick and with few striae, and less numerous serrations. Dorsal scales pointed posteriorly. Anal fin somewhat remote from caudal and opposite dorsal. The next species, and perhaps the last, may belong to tlie genus Elonkldhys of Giebcl. Tliey are mucli larger than the preceding. P. {ElunicJithys) Drownii, Jackson, is deep in form, witli large dorsal and anal, the latter reaching almost to base of caudal. Scales of body broad and with numerous fine horizontal striato-punctate furrows, which turn abruptly upwards at the anterior side of each scale. A nearly perfect specimen, collected by Mr Ells, is 10 inches long and 3J inches wide, the breadtli at the dorsal fin being about etjual to tliat at the ."shoulder, andsuddenly dimi- nishing to the tail. The crystalline lens of the eye is preserved in this specimen in calcite, and shows its structure, which is on tlie same plan with that of our modern ganoid Amia ocelUcauda. It is the firstinstance known to me of the preservation of the structure of the eye of a Paheozoic fisii. P. Jac/csonii, s. N. — A species figured, but not described, by .Jackson, is represented by several fragments in my collection, and by a cast obtained from Mr Matthews of St John. It is tiie largest of these fishes, reaching a length of If) inches. It may be distinguished from the last by its more slender form, its small anal fin, more remote from tiic caudal, and by tiie character of the scales, wliicii are marked witii numerous horizontal striic, and have in the broader ones a few deep and strong serrations posteriorly. Tiie whole of these fislies iiave been preserved entire ; their bodies being perfectly flattened, and thrown into attitudes which imply that they were embedded when living or immediately after deatli. The material in wiiich they are contained is shown, by its microscopical and ciiemical characters, to have been a vegetable muck or mud, and the fish were either over- whelmed by it in the manner of a bursting bog, or were stifled by the non- oxygeiiated water mixed with this mud, and suddenly killed and embedded in the accumulating sediment. That they occur in this perfect state, and in a limited thickness of the deposit, may imply that at certain times they were overwlielmed by the irruption of the fetid organic mud into the water in which tliey lived. The bed is low down in the Lower Carboniferous series, being the equivalent of the Ilorton series of Nova Scotia; so that these fishes are among the oldest tliat we know in the Carboniferous system ; but we know, from the Ilorton beds, that many far larger and pre- daceous ganoids were their contemporaries. No remains of these have, however, as yet been found in tlie Albert or IJeliveau beds, which were probably deposited in limited fresh-water basins, perhaps not ordinarily accessible to the larger fisiies. Sir Philip Egerton* and Dr Traquairf have both remarked on the similarity of these fishes to those found in the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland, and Dr Newberry has described very similar species from the Carboniferous of Illinois and Ohio. J 3. New Spirarhis. Spirorhh anetina, referred to at page 35 above, is figured in the Report of the Canada Geological Survey for 18GG-G9, p. 14. It is spiral, sinistral ; * Journal of Geological Society, 18r)3. f IJeport on Illinois, vol. ii. ; I'alicontology of Ohio, vol. i. _ _ \ Journal of Geological Society, 1877. 102 NOTES AND ADDENDA. whorls four, tlie lirst three regularly spiral and not flattened for attachment, except at the apex; tiie last whorl diverging from the others irregulaily in the manner of a Vcriuettui. Length ahout 3 millimetres. The surface un- even, witli obscure wrinkles on tiie last whorl, and microscopic lines of growth on the others. Shell thin, with delicate tubular structure, much finer than that of S. carbonanm. I have not recognised this shell elsewhere than in the limestone of Fraser's Mountain, near New (ilasgow, except in a few rare and doubtful examples at the Joggins. It was probably attached by a narrow space at the apex to submerged plants, in the manner of the modern Spiwrhin porrcda ; and, being broken from its attaciiment, or the vegetable matter being removed by decay, remained loose and unattached, as it appears in this limestone, some portions of which are crowded with specimens. 4. Conein- Cone. Mr II. Poole informs me that the figure of this curious concretion, at page 670 of Acadian Geology, should be inverted ; as, in the beds from which the wpecimens were obtained, the conical ends of the concretions were below and the Hat sides above. 5. Diabase. The dark- coloured dykes of igneous rock occurring in the Cobequids have usually been regarded as diorites; but two specimens, one from a dyke traversing the Upper Silurian beds at AVcntworth, another from a dyke in the older Felsite series, which were kindly examined by Dr Plarrington, proved to contain pyroxene instead of hornblende ; and as they contain hydrous silicates as well, probably products of decomposition, would be included in the group now usually named Diabase. It is not improbable that other so-called diorites oi the Cobequid series, in the county of Pictou and elsewhere, may be really of the nature of dial)ase. Some of the more coarsely crystalline igneous rocks occurring in this formation undoubtedly contain hornblende, and are true diorites and syenites. The tcnn Felsite is used ill this supplement for rocks composed chiefly of compact Orthoclase Feldspar, usually with excess of Silica and sometimes porphyritic. These rocks are usually termed " Compact Felspar " in Acadian Geology. G. New Bvunswich Geology. Professor IJailey informs me that rocks similar in character to the Laurentian have been recognised in York County, in the interior of New Ikunswick. He also mentions an additional outcrop of the Acadian group, flanking the Iluronian rocks on tlieir northern side, and constituting the fifth parallel belt of this formation now known in Southern New IJrunswick. lie also states that the Lower Carboniferous Albert shales are found to luiderlie unconformably the remainder of the Lower Carboniferous forma- tion, — an elfeet, probably, of local crumpling and partial denudation in con- nexion with the changes which introduced the deposition of the coarse rocks which succeed these shales. The details of these discoveries will be found in Professor Hailey's and Mr Ells's forthcoming Reports to the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. REFERENCE TO PALAEONTOLOGY In th. Third Edition of '^Acadian Geology." n i PAOI 27 86 40 43 74 84 119 421 2.')3 353 366 Modern— Rain-marks, etc., Diatoniacca-, . . _ • Micniac Heads, , , ' „ ■ I'nplomcnts, etc., UElSTOCENE-ShellsofMollusca.otc, . * Mastodon, . TMA8-FoMillk.l,tilo(B.th,g,„thM), Land Animals of Coal Formation, . " ' " ' (Sec also pj). 256, 410.) ' ' " ' " " Aquatic Animals of Coal Formation, . ^^^ Do. of Carboniferous Limestone, ' . ' , ' 289 DEVONIAN-Plants, . "■ . "^ ^"'''"' <^''-''^'°"'f«-o"s Coal Measures, . 254 Crustaceans and Insects, .""''' ^^^ Marine Aniuials, ^23 Upper SarniAN-Monusca. et..;, o.' Arisai^, ^ron. ' ' ' • f] Do. of East River of IMctou, " . " " ^ Zl Do. of Western Counties, . " ' -jrq 7, Do. of New P,niiiciwi,.t ■ ■ ' ''■ Lower SiLrRiAN-(See Supplen^ent ) '^'""^^'^^' " • • 577, 579 CAMBRiAN-Fossils of Acadian Group, (See also Supnlcment.) ^^^ LArRENTiAN-(See Supplement.) (See al.so Index to figures of Fossils at page xxi.) m Hi n i.l !<0i III ¥n ACADIAN GEOLOGY. THE GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, ETC., OF NOVA SCOTfA, mVf BEUNSWrCK. AND PKJKCE EDWARD ISLAND. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION, 1891. H \in i CONTENTS OF THE SUPPLEMENTS OF 1878 AND 1891. (The Geiwal Index to the body of the Work will be found at page 689.) I I Corrections of Map, and Introduction, The Modern Period, The Pleistocene, The Trias, The Permian, The Cardonifekods, The Brian, The Silurian, The Cambro-Silurian, . . . . The Camiuuan, The IIuronian, The Laurentian, Comparisons with other Countries, Mineral Resources, Notes on Fishes, Spirorbes, etc., . Sup. I. Sop. 11 page 9 3 „ 13 „ 19 6 „ 28 8 „ 30 9 „ 39 12 „ 69 18 „ 72 22 » 78 24 „ 81 25 „ 87 28 „ 88 32 „ 90 „ 92 „ 99 II ■^^^^^^ AND 18111. SUPrLEMENTARY NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION, 1891. at page 689.) UP. I. Sop. U age 9 3 , 13 „ 19 6 „ 28 8 „ 30 9 „ 39 12 „ 69 18 . 72 22 „ 78 24 „ 81 25 „ 87 28 „ 88 32 „ 90 ,, 92 99 Twelve years constitute a long period in the history of a science whose "goal to-day is its starting-point to-morrow," even with reference to any one linuted field. Since the appearance of the Supplement to Acadian Geology, appended to the third edition (1878), much has been done in the geology of the Eastern Maritime Provinces of Canada by the addition of new species of fossils, by the working out of the geological details of formation."?, and by the develop- ment of useful minerals. In the present note I shall endeavour to mention the more important of these contributions, and to sum up their contents in so far as they add to or correct the observations and conclusions of the early and unaided researches embodied in a work which was a labour of love, as a ccmtribution to the material interests and scientific reputation of my native country and its sister provinces by the nea. Under the auspices of tlie Geological Survey of Canada, several able labourers have been in the field, and have contributed to the reports of the Survey from 1878 to 1888. Dr R. W. Ells has examined and reported on the Pre- Silurian rocks of Southern New Brunswick (1877-78), on the geology of Northern New IJrunswick (1879-80), on Prince Edward Island, in- cluding the I'ermian and Triassic (1882-4), on parts of New Binins- wick and Nova Scotia, 188''>. Mr Hugh Fletcher, in recent years, with the aid of Mr Faribault, has laboured on the geology of Cape Breton and Eastern Nova Scotia, and has minutely described and mapped these regions on a large scale (Reports, 1879 to 1888). The late Mr James Richardson visited and reported on the i. )'iMiii'i 4 8UPPLEMENTAHY NOTE. Magdalen Islands, describing their Lower Carboniferous Liineatone, Sandstone, and Gypsuin, and finding some of the marine fossils characteristic of the Lower Carboniferous. lie also supposes that the islands contain some overlying red sandstones of Triassic ago (1879-80). Prof. Jiailcy, F.R.S.C, has continued his work in unravelling the complexities of the older formations in Southern and Northern New Brunswick, and lias done good service in this matter, and also in correlating these rocks with those of Quebec (Reports, 1877 to 1888). Mr G. F. Matthew, F.R.S.C, has contributed a report on the Pleistocene Fossils of New Brunswick, of which he has catalogued 57 species, finding some also in Nova Scotia, where they had not previously been recognised (1877-78). The most important work of Mr Matthew, however, has been that on Cambrian fossils, the results of which lie has contributed in successive communications to the Royal Society of Canada (Trans., vols. i. to vii.) Mr R. Chalmers has been appointed to the important work of studying the Pleistocene and superficial formations. In this he has done good service, more especially in ascertaining the local character of the drift, and tracing it from its centres of distribution (1885 to 1888). Mr Chalmers has also published valuable papers in the Trans. R. S. C. and in the Canadian Record of Science. Mr 11, M. Ami, F.G.S., has published lists of New Brunswick Fossils in the Report of 1889. In economic matters the reports of Mr Costc of the Dominion Survey, and of the Provincial Inspector of Mines for Nova Scotia, Mr Edwin Gilpin, F.G.S., have kept up to date our information as to the discoveries and developments, more especially in gold, iron, and coal (Annual Reports; Records of Mining Institute of Great Britain ; Society of Mining Engineers, UcS. ; Can. So. Engineers). In addition to the ofiicial reports, I may mention the papers on " Acadian Scorpions and Insects," by Dr Scudder, Trans. Nat. Hist. Society of Boston ; and on " Entomostraca," by Prof. T. Rupert Jones, London Gcol. Magazine, 1884. Mr Francis Bain has worked with much success in the Permian fossils of Prince Edward Island. Mr Masters of Ithaca has recently studied the lithological character of some Trias.sic and other traps (American Geologist, March 1890). The Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada have, since its institution in 1882, contained several important contributions to the Geology of the Maritime Provinces. In addition to those of Mr Matthew already referred to, which extend from vols. i. to vii., I may mention here an important paper by the late Mr Murray, Director ol wy^!j;R^::^a g, !i ;atetf^B ^ 8UPPLEMKNTARY NOTE. 'orou8 Limestone, do marine fossils Iso supposes that 8 of Tiiassic age in unravelling the md Northern New atter, and also in •ts, 1877 to 1888). 1 a report on tlie lie has catalogued here they had not important work of fossils, the results ations to the Royal important work of IS. In this he has the local character stribution (1885 to ible papers in the :icnce. of New Brunswick of the Dominion !S for Nova Scotia, our information as ially in gold, iron. Institute of Great So. Engineers), tion the papers on r. Trans. Nat. Hist. Prof. T. Rupert is Rain has worked ce Edward Island, hulogical character gist, March 1890). ada have, since its ontributions to the u to those of Mr )ls. i. to vii., I may ilurray, Director uf the Geological Survey of Newfoundland, on the Glaciation of that Island, vol. i. ; and two by Mr Gilpin, Superintendent of Mines, on the Gold Deposits of Nova Scotia, and on the Limestones of the I'ast River of Pictou. Tlic Fossil Fishes from the ICrian of New Bruns- wick have also been described and figured by Mr Whitcaves, F.G.S. Valuable papers by (iilpin, Honeynian, Matthow.s, Bailey, and others have also appeared in the Transactions of the Institute of Natural Science of Nova Scotia, and in the Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. The principal contributions of the author to the Geology of the Acadian Provinces since 1878 have been the following: — " Remarks on Recent Papers on the Geology of Nova Scotia," Canadian Naturalist, vol. viii., 1879, " Geological Relations and Fossils of the Silurian Iron Ores of Nova Scotia," Canadian Naturalist, vol. ix., 1880. " Revision of the Land Snails of the Palaeozoic Era," American Journal of Science, 3rd series, vol. xx., Nov. 1880. "New Erian Plants, including some from New Brunswick," Journal of Geological Society of London, May 1881. "Results of Recent Exploi .tions of Erect Trees containing Reptilian Remains in the Coal- Formation of Nova Scotia," Trans. Royal Society of London, part ii., 1882. " Fossil Plants of tlie Erian and Upper Silurian of Canada," Geol. Survey of Canada, 1882. " New Fossils from the Lower Carboniferous of Nova Scotia," Report Peter Redpath Museum, 1883. " Fossils collected by Mr Bain in Prince Edward Island," Canadian Record of Science, 1885. " Eozoic and Pala:ozoie Rocks of the Atlantic Coast of Canada in comparison with those of Western Europe and of the Interior of America," Journal of Geol. Society of London, Nov. 1888. " On New Plants from the Erian and Carboniferous, including Remarks on Tylodendron, and Description of T. Baini from Prince Edward Lsland," Memoirs, Peter Redpath Mu.scum, 1890. " Jiurrows and Tracks of Invertebrate Aniuuds in Palaeozoic Rocks," Journal of Geol. Society, vol. xlvi., 1890. In what follows I shall throw the new facts which seem most important into the form of a sketch of the general rcsult.s, ami a compari.son of the.sc with the geological features of the other similar districts on the East and West of the Atlantic. rn ! ■!'(' I H'! • I ! 1'' ' )'< THE PLKISTOCENE. I. THE PLEISTOCENE. Since the publicfttion of the hiHt edition of tliis work ii viiHt niftss of material has been added to the diseusHion of the ao-callcd Ghvcial I'criod. Ill so far as the Maritime I'roviiiccs are concerned, I aeo little reason to modify the general conclusions stated ia the Su[)ple- mcnt of 1H78. 'I'hcse conclusions have, indeed, in my judgment boon confirmed and their bearing extended, more especially by the rescarchos of Mr Chalmers, who has shown in the most convincing way that glaciers proceeding frcjm local centres along with sea-borne ice may have been the agtmts in glaciating surfaces and transporting boulders in Nova Scotia and Now J5run.swick. Taken in connexion with the observations of Dr Dawson and Mr M'Ccmnell in the Cordil- lera region of the West, and those of Dr Hell, Dr Ells, Mr Low, and others in the Laurentian country north of the St Lawrence and in the Province of Quebec, wo may now be said to know that there was not, even at the height of the glacial refrigeration of America, a continental ice-sheot, but nitlicr several distinct centres of icc-aetion, — one in the Cordillera of the West, one on the Tiaurentian V-shapcd axis, and one on the Appalachians, with subordinate centres on isolated masses like the Adirondacks, and at certain periods even on minor hills like those of Nova Scotia. It would also seem that, in the West at least, elevation of the mountain ridges coincided with depression of the plains. In Newfoundland also, it would appear from the observations of Captain Kerr, with which those of Mr Murray are in harmony,* though they have been differently interpreted, that the gathering- ground of ice was in the interior of the island, and that glaciers moved thence to the coasts, but principally to the East coast, as was natural from the conformation of the land and tho greater supply of moisture from the Atlantic. The labours of Murriay in Newfoundland, of Matthew, Chalmers, Bailey, and others in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, have consider- ably enlarged our knowledge of Pleistocene fossils, showing, however, that the marine fauna is the same with that of the beds of like age in the St Tiawrence valley, and with the existing fauna of the Labrador coast and colder portions of the Gulf and River St Lawrence, as ascer- tained by Prickard, Whiteaves, and the writer. It would seem that throughout this region, the 60 feet and the 600 feet terraces were the most important with reference to these marine remains, and that their chief repository is in the Upper Leda clay, intermediate between the * Trans. Royal Society of Canada, vol. i. TIIK I'LEIhTOCKNK. rk a vrtMt mass i>r 80-callcd (llac'ial concerned, I see 1 i.i the Supple- in my judgment especially by the most convincing ig with sea-borne and transporting ten in connexion \cll in the Cordil- llls, Mr Low, and rvrcncc and in the Invt there was not, rica, a continental ction, — one in the Lpcd axis, and one olatcd masses like minor hills like the West at least, depression of the 1 the observations ivc in harmony,* the gatheriiig- nd that glaciers i\st coast, as was greater supply of ttlicw, Chalmers, , have considcr- iwing, however, Is of like age in of the Labrador iwrcnce, as ascer- rvould seem that terraces were the IS, and that their iate between the flower and Upper boulder drift, and corresponding to the intcr-glacial beds of the interior of America. Tiie general conditions of the poriud are thus suinnuuizod in n recent paper : — * " In this district and the eastern part of North America generally, it is, 1 think, universally admitted timt the later I'liocciio pi'riod was one of continental elevation, and probably of temperate clinnite. The evidence of this is too well known to require rc-statement hero. It is also evident, from the raised beaches holding marine shells, extending to elevations of (JOO feet, and from boulder drift reaching to a far greater height, that extensive submergence occurred in the middle and later Pleistocene. This was the ago of the marine Leda clays and Saxicava sands found at heights of (UK) feet above the sea in the St Lawrence valley nearly as far west as Lake Ontario. " It is reasonable to conclude that the till or boulder clay under the Leda clay belongs to the intervening period of probably gradual sub- sidence, accompanied with a severe climate au'l with snow and glaciers on all the higher grounds, sending glaciated stones into the sea. This deduction agrees with the nnirine shells, bryozoa, and cirripcdes found in tlio boulder deposits on the lower St Lawrence, with the unoxidizcd character of the nuiss, which proves subaqwatic deposition, witii the fact that it contains soft boulders, which wouM have crumbled if ex- posed to the air, with its limitation to the lower levels and absence on the hill-sides, and with the prevalent direction of striation and boulder drift from the norlh-east.-j- " All these indications coincide with the coiiditions of the modern boulder drift on the lower St Lawrence and in the Arctic regions, where the great belts and ridges of boulders accumulated by the coast ice would, if the coast were sinking, clind) upward and be fdled in with mud, forming a continuous sheet of boulder deposit similar to that which has accumulated and is accumulating on the shores of Smith's Sound and elsewhere in the Arctic, and wliich, like the older boulder clay, is known to contain both marine shells and drift- wood.J " The conditions of the deposit of till diminished in inten.sity as the subsidence continued. The gathering ground of local glaciers was lessened, the ice was no longer limited to narrow sounds, but had a wider scope as well as a freer drift to the southward, and the climate * The Pleistocene Flora of Canada, lUillotin of Oeol. Society of America, 1889. f Notes on the I'ost- Pliocene : Canadian Niituralist, op. cil. ; also Pjiper by the autlior on ISoulder Drift at Metis, Canadian Kecord of Science, vol. ii., 1880, p. 30, et seq. t For references gee Uoyal Society's Arctic Manual, London, 1876, op. cit. _ 1*1 i 8 THE PLEISTOCENE. Ul. m\ iii ki seems to have been improved. The clays deposited had few boulders and iiiany marine shells, and to the west and north there was land producing plants akin to those of the temperate regions ; and in places slightly elevated above the water, peaty deposits accumu- lated. " The shells of the Leda clay indicate depths of less tlian 100 fathoms. The numerous foraminifera, so fivr as lia/e been obser\ed, belong to this range, and I have never seen in the Leda clay the assemblage of foramiuiferal forms now dredged from 200 to 300 fatl'.oms in the Gulf of St Lawrence. " I infer that the subsidence of the Leda clay period and of the inter- glacial beds 01 Ontario belongs to the time of the sea beaches from 450 to 600 feet in height, which are so marked and extensive as to indicate a period of repose. In this period there were marine con- ditions in the lower and middle St Law. once and in the Ottawa valley, and swamps and lakes on 'lie upper Ottawa and the western end of Lake Ontario. i> is quite probable, nay certain, that during this intcrglaciai period re elevation had set in, since the upper Leda clay and the Saxicava sand indicate shallowing water, and during this re-elevation the plant-covered surface wonld extend to lower levels. " T!iis, however, must have been followed by a second subsidence, since the water-worn gravels and loose, fiir-travc'led boulders of the later drift rose to heights never reached by the till or the Leda clay, and attained to the tops of the highest hills of the St Lawrence valley, 1200 feet in height, and elsewhere to still greater elevations. This second boulder drift must iiave been wholly marine, and probably not of long duration. It shows no evidence of colder climate than that now prevalent, nor of extensive ghioiers on the mountains ; and it was followed by a paroxysmal elovatiori in successive stages till tiie land attained even more than itS tncsent height, as subsidence is known to have been proceeding in modern times." I am quite riware that the above sequence and the causes assumed are somewhat different from those held by many geologists with re- ference to rogio;is south of Canada ; but must hold that they are the only rational conclusions which can be propounded with reference to the facts observed from the parallel of 45° to the Arctic Ocean. II. THE TRIAS. The Triassic Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and the associated Traps closely resemble the same formations ted had few boulders d north there was pcrate regions; and ty deposits accumu- jssthan 100 fathoms. observed, belong to y the assemblage of I fatb.oms in the Gulf riod and of the inter- le sea beaches from and extensive as to e were marine con- and in the Ottawa wa and the western certain, that during lice the upper Leda I water, and during lid extend to lower I second subsidence, led boulders of the II or the Leda clay, St Lawrence valley, r elevations. This e, and probably not Icr climate than that mountains ; and it ^sivc stages till the iubsidcnce is known the causes assumed ;eologi.sts with re- Id that they are the Id with reference to Irctic Ocean. Id Prince Edwaid le .same formations THE TRIAS. 9 in England. The latter were described by me, as early as 1 847,* as being interstratificd beds, though this seemed at the time not in ac- cordance with the views expressed by many American geologists, -{• who regarded the corresponding rocks of the Connecticut valley as dykes. I am glad to see, however, that Russel, Davis, and other recent observers now regard the Connecticut and New Jersey igneous rocks as, in part at least, bedded overflows, f Like the Trias of England, ours contains no important marine lime- stones, and ;ts fossils are limited thus far to a .single Dinosaurian reptile and a few fossil plants. In these it is far inferior to deposits of the same ar" further to the south on the Atlantic coast of the United States, fn America, as in Europe, the Triassic flora and land- and frc^hwater-faunas seem to have been of southern origin. The maritime region of Eastern Canada is rema.kable for its de ficiency of Mcsozoic rocks newer than the Trias. If there are such deposits, they must be, like the Cretaceous rocks believed to cxi.st furtlier south on George's 15ank.s, .still under the sea. It is only on Greenland and the Arctic Islands that we find beds ranging from the Lias to the Eocene, and these belong rather to the Arctic basin than to that of the Atlantic.§ In this respect the maritime region of Canada differs materially from that of Europe, though it is noteworthy that the extreme co.iotal region of Great Britain to the west is also some- what deficient in such rocks. THE PERMIAN. In the previous Supplement I have used the tern: Permo-car- boniferous to designate those bed.s, principally red .sandsione.s, which in Prince Edward Island and Northern Nova Scotia ovorlio the coc ! formation and underlie the Trias. It would seem, however, that we are now in a position to claim a portion of these beds, at least, as a true equivalent of the Permian. As early as 1842 || the writer was able to announce the existence of Carboniferous fossils in these beds, and in 184.'), in two papers published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, to refer the whole of the Hed Sand.stone of the south side of Northumberland Strait and a portion of that of Prince LJward I.sland to the " Newer * Joiinml Geol. >Socy. of LoiKioii, vol. iv. pp. ."iO-S'J. f The late Ur Ilitclicock liad in 1833 regarded them as overflows. X Seventh Annual Keport, U.S.G.S., p. 463. § For references see Notes on Geological Map of Northern Canada, by Dr G. M. Dawson. II Notes oil Geology of Prince Edward Island, Harzard's Gazette. '\h H ii J^M- '^-4 10 Tin: I'Ek.MCAN. Coal-formation," a name afterwards changed by liim, in so far as tiic upper beds were concerned, to " Permo-carbonifcrous." In 1871, in conjunction witli Dr Harrington, the writer insti- tuted a geological examination of the wliolo Island, at the instance of the local tlovcrnnicnt, and published a report of fifty pages, with a mat), sections, and figures of fossils. In this repi,rt were described and catalogued twenty species of fossil plants, of which sixteen were referred to the I'crmo-carboniferous and four to tlie Triassic. In the report referred to, it was proposed to arrange the strata of the Island in two groups, I'enno-carboniferons and Triassic, and to divide the latter into a lower and upper scries, and in our map we limited the distribution of the former group to those regions in which it was distinctly characterized by infra-position and by fossils, thus leaving the greater part of the surface to appear as Triassic. Since 1871, Mr Francis Bain has been able to discover fo.ssil plants of IVMiuo-carbouifcrous types in several places in which they were not found by us, thus extending the range of that forma- tion, and he also suggests a threefold division of the beds, but would refer to I'ermian that part of the series wiiicli we designated Lower Trias. Mr Ells of the (icological Survey of Canada, who has recently re-examined the rocks of Prince Edward Island (lleport of Survey, 1S83-4), not only extends the limits of the lower series, but regards the Trias as very limited, and not clearly distinguishable from the Permo-carbonifcrous; but in this last respect 1 cannot but think I:o exaggerates the difficulty occasioned by the low dips of all the beds, and the strong mineral resemblance of the Trias to the underlying Permo-carbonifcrous, from whose disintegration it has undoubtedly been derived. Mr Bain's subdivision is stated by him as follows : * — " First. — The lower series of gray, brown, and red sandstones and shales, termed by Sir William Dawson Permo-carbonifcrous, pre- senting a thickness of about 800 feet. This series contains all the more decidedly Carboniferous plants found on the Island, as Calamites suclnvii, C. cistii, C. canna'funnis, Dadoxt/lon materiariumy and Ti mocarpum, associated, however, with plants of a Permian character. " Secondli/. — A middle scries, reposing conformably, or nearly so, on the last, and consisting of 2000 feet of red sandstones and shales, — the shales, and also calcareous sandstones, predominating in the lower part. This series is distributed over the greater part of the Island. It is of greatly reduced thickness in the western parts. It contains • Canadian Kccoid of Science, July 1885. THE PEUMIAN. 11 in so far as the l)Iaiit.s of a dccidcflly Pcriniaii character, as Walchia, Catamites gigas, Pecopteris arborescens, groat numbers of stems of Araucarites, evidently allied to Watcfiia, and the impressions of hirgc thick leaves that look like Noeggerathia, with Dadoxyton edvardianum of Triassic affinity. The beds are disturbed slightly by three lines of anticlinal, running parallel with the Cobequid range of mountains. The dis- integration of the great shale beds of the lower part of this series has caufsed the sej)aration of Prince Edward Island from the mainland. At what appears to be the summit of the series is a bed of quartzose conglomerate, which is pretty extensively di.stributcd, being found in the synclinal on the Murray Harbour Road, about the head waters of North River, and other loealities: in the centre of the Lsland. " Thirdly. — A horizontal scries of red sandstones and shales, not distinguisliable lithologically from the last, except it be by more regul.ir bedding, and appearing to repose unconformably on the denuded strata of the most northern anticlinal of the Permian. Greatest thickness observed, 150 feet. So far as yet a.scertaincd, the plants found in this .series are mo.stly specifically distinct from tho.so t)f the lower rocks. Hut there is a generic relation.ship, especially with those of the middle series. This is seen in the few better pre- served specimen.s, and also in the numerous fragments and ob.scure markings. Adding to the general specific distinctness of its plants tlie fact, that this I'rics yielded the remains of Jiat/iygiiathiis l)oreotis, we are inclined to consider it the representative of the Tria.ssic. Its beds are best seen on the north shores of the Island, about New London and eastward ; but their exact distribution is very dirticult to determine, owing to their general conformability to the underlying Permian. A good and typical exposure of this series occurs at Cape Turner, on the north shore of the Lsland." The general result, in .so far as the subdivision of the beds is con- cerned, would seem to be that the lower series is di.stinctly Permo- carbonifcrous, that its extent is considerably greater tiian we supposed in 1871, that there is a well-characterized overlying Trias, and that the intermediate series, whether Permian or Lower Triassic, is of somewhat difficult local definition ; but that its fossils, so far as they go, lean to the I'crmian side. In 1889 Mr IJain placed in my hands a number of interesting specimens of the genus Tylodendron of Wcis.s, illustrating not oidy the structure of the stem, but al.-*f«MM I I 1 16 THE CARBONIFEROUS. London to aid in tho exploration of erect trees containing reptilian remains at the South Joggins, a very full examination was made of these singular repositories under the superintendence of the author, and the results were published in a memoir of thirty-eight pages in the Transactions of the Royal Society, with nine plates. Tiio facts stated may be summarised as follows, and will be understood on reference to tho account of previou explorations in chapter xviii. of this work. Tho explorations referred to were carried on chiefly in the beds at Coal Mine Point, South Joggins, Nova Scotia ; and their object was to make an exhaustive examination of the contents of erect trees found at that place and containing remains of Batrachians and other land animals. A detailed section was prepared of the beds containing tho erect trees in question, with lists of their fossil remains. The most important part of the section is the following ; — Sandstone with erect Catamite and Stigmaria roots C ft. G in. Argillaceous sandstone, Calamites, Stigmaria, Alethopteris hnichidca . 1 „ 6 „ Gray shale, with numerous fossil plants, and also Naiadites, Carbonia, and fish scales 2 „ 4 ,, Black coaly shale, with .similar fossils 1 ,, 1 ,, Coal, with impressions of Sigillaria bark „ 6 „ On the surface of the coal stand many erect Sigillarim, penetrating the beds above, and some of them nearly three feet in diameter at the base and nine feet in height. In the lower part of many of these erect trees there is a deposit of earthy matter, blackened with carbon and vegetable remains, and richly stored with bones of small reptiles, land snails, and Millipedes. Detailed descriptions of the contents of these trees are given in the memoir, and it is shown that on decay of the woody axis and inner bark they must have constituted open cylindrical cavities, in wliich small animals sheltered themselves, or into which they fell and remained imprisoned. These natural traps must have remained open for some time on a subaerial surface. In all twenty-five of these erect trees were discovered and extracted, and the productive portions of them preserved and care- fully examined. Of these, fifteen proved more or less produc- tive of animal remains. From one no less than twelve reptilian skeletons were obtained. In a few instances, not only the bones, but iniiig reptilian 1 was made ot of the author, eight pages in 38. The facts uiulcrstood on liaptcr xviii. of in the beds at uir ohjcct was I of erect trees ans and other ling the erect IS. The most 6 ft. 6 in. I )i 6 „ ^ )) * )) 1 » 1 ,. lO „ 6 „ 're, penetrating tliametcr at the nany of these 1 with carbon snuill reptiles, lie contents of [that on decay instituted open themselves, or natural traps surface, scovcrcd and ed and care- ess produc- elve reptilian ic bones, but TriB CAItnONIFEROUK. 17 portions of cuticle, ornamented with horny scales and spines, had been preserved. The liatrachians obtained were referred to twelve species in all. Of these, two were represented so imperfectly that they could not be definitely characterized. The remaining ten were referable to the two family groups of Micrusaiiria and Labyrinthodontia. The Mtcrusauria are characterized by somewhat narrow crania, smooth cranial bones, simple or non-plaitcd teeth, well-developed limbs and ribs, elongated biconcave vertebra;, bony scales and plates on the abdomen, and horny scales, often ornate, on the back and sides. They show no traces of gills. The .species belonging to this group arc referred to the genera Ifylonomus, Smilerpeton, Jlylerpetou, and Fritschia. The characters of these genera and of the several .species are given in the memoir, and illustrated by drawings and photo- graphs, including microscopic delineations of the teeth of all the species, with their internal structure and the microscoiiic structure of their bones, as well as representations of their cuticular ornamentation and armour. The Labyrinthodonts are represented by only two species of Den- drerpeton, which are also described and delineated. About half of the reptilian species described were new, and those previously described from fragmentary remains were more fully characterized, and their parts more minutely examined. The invertebrate animals found arc three species of land snails and five of myriapods, besides specimens supposed to represent new species of niyriapods and insect larva', not fully examined, and which were afterwards reported on by l)r iScudder, of Cambridge, U.S. The memoir closes with the following general statement: — "The negative result that, under the exceptionally favourable conditions pre- sented by these erect trees, no remains of any animals of higher rank than the Microsauria and Labyrinthodontia have been found deserves notice here. It seems to indicate that no small animals of higher grade inhabited the forests of Nova Scotia at the period in question ; but this would not exclude the possibility of the existence of higher aninuvls of a larger size than the hollow trees were capable of receiving. Nor does it exclude the pos.sibility of higher animals having lived con temporaneously in upland situations remote from the low flats to which our knowledge of the coal-lbrmation is for the most part confined. It is to be observed also that as some of the reptilian animals are represented only by single specimens, there may have been still rarer forms, which may be disclosed should other productive trees be exposed by the gradual wasting of the clitF and reef." D ;>;• !i ' ft? 18 THE CAUIIONirKUOUS. Prof. T. Kiiport .Jones Ims kindly examined nnd described a number of Kntonio.strtica found in coimexion with tbo oxplonition of the erect trees.* Tbey occur, not in the trees thcniHelves, but in the roof «lmlo of the coiil on which tiic trees stand, in tine shale wiiich repre- sents the first deposit of silt over the peaty soil on which the Sit/i/laritK grow. In the same paper he has ably snmnied up our knowledgo of Kntomostraca in the Carboniferous of Nova Seotia generally. I'ruf Jones determines the most common crustacean in the shale — and, indeed, in the .Toggins shales generally— as Carbonia fabuUiui, J. and K. Tijis is the species figured at page 200 as Cytkere.Ua injlalu. I may add that Dr ycudder has given nmch attention to the Myriapoda, Insects, and Arachnidans of these deposits, but must refer for his results to his papers in the Memoirs of the Natural History Society of lloston. One correction which has resulted from his recent labours is, that the species figured at page ^.S of the Supplement as lAbdlala carbonnria, and supposed to l)e the larva of a dragon-fly, is now found to belong to tho Araehnida, and to that curious grou|> between the mites and the scorpions represented in modern times by the well-known Chelifer or scorpion-crab. Its name must now be changed to Anthrocomarlus carbotmrius\ and it may be restored by prefixing a squarish cephalo-thorax, furnished with eight spider-like legs, and probably a pair of claws in front. I entertain the hope that I may bo able fully to revi.se and to publish in a connected form the fo.ssil plants which I have described at various times, and the specimens of wiiich are now in the Peter Hedpath IMu.seum ; but this is a work re(iuiring years, and unfor- tunately interrupted by iniiny engagements. One fact of general application which is admirably illustrated in the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia is the extreme sensitiveness of the earth's crust to unequal pressure. The coal-formation of the Cumberland district, rtOOO feet in thickncs.s, and consisting wholly of beds which must have been deposited almost exactly at the sea-level, shows that for every inch of sediment or of vegetable matter there nmst have been a corresponding depression of the crust. This accurate corre- spondence of sedimentation with subsidence has long appeared to me one of the most striking facts in geological dynamics. IV. TIIK ERTAN, OR DEVONIAN. This formation, most largely and completely represented in the great " Erie Division " of the (ieological Survey of New Y'ork, which occupies an immense area in the district around the lake from whii-li * Loiuloii Ueol. MflgHzinc, August 1881. TIIK ERIAN, OH DKVONIAN. 11) ,nd described ii exploration of slves, but ill tlio liiile which reprc- ch tlic Si(/illaria} our knowledge !;eiierully. I'rof. the hIiivIo — and, fabulinn, J. and relld iiijlaUt. attention to the ;8, but must refer Natural History hI from his recent 3 Supplement as ■ a dra;^on-ily, is lat curious group nodern times by 10 must now be r be restored by eight spider-like to revise and to 1 have described w in the I'etcr ears, and unfor- illustrated in the iicss of the earth's the Cumberland of beds which evel, allows that jiierc must have accurate cone- appeared to mc Ircsciited in the lew York, which like from whidi it is named, and attains therein its maximum thickness and develop- mont, appears on the eastern coast entirely in the form of sandstones and shales, which may be compared with those of the Old Ued Sand- stone of Scotland and Kngland. They '>9its, but rather cstuarine and littoral. They have been tully described in the papers referred to below.* In the IJaic do (yhaleur, for example, the lowest scries is charac- terized by /'siliipki/ton and Ncmulophytou, and by fishes of the genera Cephnlaspis, Coccosteus, Clenacanthtts, and I/omacant/tus.-\' The upper division is characterized by ferns of the genera Archccopteria and Plati/phi/lUtm^ and by fishes of the genera /'lericht/ij/s, Diplacanf/iiui, P/ianeropkiiron, Glyptolcpis, Chctrolrpix, and a new genus named by Wiiiteaves Eustheiiopteron.\ The only true marine portion of the system in the Maritime Pnivinccs is the lower part, corresponding to the Oriskany of the interior, and this may perhaps bo regarded as an equivalent of the Uownton Sandstones of England. Additional facts as to its fossils are given in the first of my papers above referred to. The greatest granitic intrusions of Nova Scotia belong to the close of the Devonian, as do many granitic masses in New nrunswick and Quebec. These are the equivalents of the Devonian and Cornish granites, though perhaps a little earlier in date, and are also repre- sented by the felsites of the Scottish Devonian. The remarkably rich flora of the iMian of the cast of Canada still holds its position as probably the most copious known in this age, and since 1878 1 have been able to add a few species and some new facts. § Professor Penhallow has also, in the Transactions of the Royal Society, illustrated more fully the nature of the remarkable tree-like * Qimrt. Jouni. ticol. Soc, vols. xv. anil xviii. f Dawson's Heport on Erian Plants. Wluteaves, Trang. Roy. 8oc. Can., vol. iv. "On Devonian Fishes." X Ihid. 3 |{ei)ort on Elian Fossil Plant.s Part ii. I Will •i:> ' !i^ it 90 TiiK i:rian, ok devonian. plantH of tlio gcnuB Nematophyton from tliu Baio do Chalour and Gaspt. Ill Mr Fletcher's Kcports on Southern Cape Breton and Eastern Nova Scotia some beds referred by mo on the evidence of fossil plants to the Lower Carboniferous arc classed as Devonian. I am not in a position to contest this on strntigrapiiieal grounds, but I know that some of the beds contain the characteristic flora of the Ilorton series or lowest division of the Carboniferous. I may add here that this series is sometimes locally unconformable to the coal- formation. As doubts have been expressed, since the date of the last edition, respecting the Lower Erian (Orisknny) age assigned in the body of the work to the beds holding the iron ore of Nictaux, ai.d Hear Uiver in Nova Scotia, I give here an abridgment of part of my paper of 1879 above referred to, and in which further details will be found. In 1868 I recogiiisfil, on tlio cviilpiice of strutigniphy and fossils, in tho ilis- trict extending from Now Canaan to Bear Kiver, tho following groups of rocks : — 1. Tho Niagma series, equivalent to tho Wenlock of Knglisli geologists, represfiitdd by the Dictyononia shales and tho oonil-bi'ining nxks of New Canaan. 2. Tho Upper Arisaig .series (of my papers on Kastern Nova Scotia). Thi.s •■ tho equivalent of trie Lower lleldorberg soricH of America, tho Ludlow of Eng- land, and is tho upper mombor of tho Silurian as held at that time. Beds of this age occur at Nictaux near to those of tho next series. 3. The Oriskany series, represented by iron ores, sandstones, and slates. At that time the Oriskany was regarded by all as Lower Devonian. More recently some American geologists have proposed to place it in tho upper part of the Silurian, above the Lower Holderberg, with which its fossils have some aflinity. A careful re-examination of the fossils which I have collected at Nictaux and Bear River affords the following species characteristic of the third of the above groups : — 1. Zaphnntis, a large species with deep calyx. 2. Fuvosiles. General form and size of cells similar to those of F. ccrd- cnrnii, Ed. and Haimc ; tabula; continuous and very close. 3. PlcMrodktyum problematlcum, Goldfuss. Cast of a large specimen. 4. Stenopora. A branching species with very fine cells. 6. Utroplwdonta magnifca, Hall. A large Strophodonta, resembling, as f-r as tho specimens admit comparison, the above si)ecies, characteristic of the Oriskany. 6. atrophomena rhomhoidalis. 7. Spirifcr arcnosns, Hall. This characteristically Oriskany sjiecics is so abundant at Nictaux, that though tho specimens are imperfect, I think its recognition certain. It is found also at Bear River. 8. Spirifer arnctim, Hall, or allied, also an Oriskany species. Clmluur and n and Enstcrn ideneo of fossil svonian. I am grounds, but I ;ic flora of the 18. I may add )lo to the colli - the last edition, 1 the body of the d Hear Uiver in y paper of 1879 I found. fossils, in the ptirio>i!/.r, Hiill, A characteristic Oiiskany shell. 11. LrptociUa JhibiUitiH, Hall. 'I'liis little shell is abumhint at tho Imse of tho Devonian in flasp^, and tho same or a very similar species is found at Nictftux and Hear l{iver. 12. Itiutillifrin oroiili.t, Eaton. A very clmractcristic Lowor Devonian species at (iospe and elstnvhere. 13. Mei/dmhonia, vi^ry near to the Oiiskany species M. /(iiw/tomt, Hall. 14. Avicula, a largo sp(U'ies of the type of the Oriskany species A. tixtilis, hut too imperfect for determination. 1.5. Tiiilnculites, not distinguishaLdo from 1\ elongatua, Hall, of the Lower Helderliorg. 1(5. I group together a Plntyceraa very near to an Oriskany species, a Dellero- l>hon and an OHlMcctuus, found at Nictaux. Fragments in my collection indicate several other .species ; but the above I hold to be amply sufticicnt to prove that the beds in which they occur are appro.ximiitcly of the age of the Ori.skany .sandstone, and cannot possibly be .so old as the Clinton or Medina formation, to which they have been, as I believe incorrectly, as.signed. It is also to be observed that, independently of the determination of species, the whole aspect of the fauna of the Nietaux iron bed, in its abundance of large ribbed spirifers, of large stroiihumenoid shells, and of great lamcliibranchiatc species, is different from that of tho (Hinton or Medina, and on the eontrary reminds an ob.server forcibly of the Oriskany sandstone of Gaspe and of Western Canada. It is almo.st equally distinct from that of the (Ilelderberg) Silurian red hematite of I'ictou. It should, however, be distinctly understood, that, in so far as I have held Erian rocks to exist at Nictaux and IJcar liivcr, the upward extension of such rocks is limited to the Oriskany sandstone, and should any one hold that this formation may be included in the Silurian, I have no objection; though I think that on physical grounds and by virtue of its close relationship with the overlying formations, it has quite as good claims to be correlated with the Lower Erian. Questions which have been raised respecting the age of the granite of Nictaux and its vicinity can only be discussed profitably on the ground. My notes of many years ago assure me, however, that I have traced the Lower Devonian beds into contact with the granite 22 THE EKIAN, OK DEVONIAN. in such circiiinstauces as prove the later date of the latter, and there are now in my collections specimens sliowing the gradations from the fossilifcrous to the altered strata, including some which holu Oriskany fossils, but liave assumed an incipient gneissic structure;, and wcie penetrated by granite veins. It is furtlier to be observed that the age assigned by me to these granites accords with the fact th.;t in Nova Scotia the formations older than the Carboniferous arc more or less in an altered and disturbed condition, and that granite debris does not occur as a prominent ingredient in our formations till the Ijowcr Carboniferous age. In the district in question, the thick beds of granitic sandstone in the Lower Carboniferous near Wolfville and Lower Ilorton afford a good illustration. Besides this, we have to consider the evidence given in the body of this work of the age of similar granites in other parts of Nova Scotia, and referred to above. I should add here that the age above claimed for a portion of the Nictaux series in no respect conflicts with that assigned in 1860* by Prof. Hall and myself to the Silurian iron ores of the East River of Pictou, and illustrated at page r)94, and First Supplement, page 7G, and in my paper of 1880. -J- These are somewhat older than the ferruginous beds of Nictaux, being of Lower llelderbcrg age, and apiiarently associated with strata still lower iri th« Silurian series, and some of which are probably synchronous wit'.i the Lovver Arisaig (Clinton) series. In Pennsylvania bedded iron-ore deposits occur in the Clinton, Lower llelderbcrg, Oriskany, Corniferous, and Marcellus, so that they range, as I believe they do in Nova Scotia, from the Middle of the Upper Silurian to the Lov,'er Devonian inclusive. | The principal deposits in Pennsylvania are in the Clinton, Oriskany, and Marcellus. In Nova Scotia only small layors are known to mc, nt Arisaig and East River, so low as the Clinton, and the principal deposits seem to bo Lower llelderbcrg and Oriskany. The analogy is thus sufficiently close, beds of the age of the Marcellus not having been recognised in Nova Scotia. i:i.pi. i I-- V. THE SILURIAN. In the inland plateau of North America this period begins witii shallow-water conditions passing into the great and long-continued depression marked by the Niagara Limestone. There is then a second elevation, that of the Salina, succeeded by the very widely distributed * Cnnadian Naturalist, vol. v. t Ibid., vol. ix. - t Second iSurvoy of Pennsylvania, vol. F. "■ — '•nnnnnHMHi attcr, and there gradations from ine which liolt'i uissic structure;, to be observed [Is witli the fact iirbonifcrous arc md that granite r formations till isiion, the thick s near Wolfvillo es this, we have irk of the age of 'erred to above. a portion of the ligned in 1860* the East River lenient, page 76, older than the erberg age, and ! Silurian series, e Lower Arisaig in the Clinton, us, fco that they Middle of the The principal and Marcollus. t Arisaig and posits seem to lus sufficiently jcen recognised . begins with ong-continucd is then a second ly distributed THE SILURIAN. 23 le Ileldcrberg Limestones. There are thus two depressions separated by an intervening elevation. In Newfoundland the Silurian rocks occur in a narrow trough extending through the centre of the island, and, so far as can be ascer- tained from the Reports of the i^'ui'vey of Newfoundland, are not dissimilar from the exposures in Nova Scotia. In the latter province the great limestones are, as stated in the earlier editions, absent or represented by comparatively insignificant and uTipure bands. Shales with some sandy beds (Lower Arisaig beds of previous papers) represent the Clintoii, and contain Qraptolithus cVmtonensis ; coarse impure limestone and shale (New Canaan beds of prev'ons papers) correspond to the Niagara, holding charactcris<^^'.! corals of this age, and shaly beds with thin layers of limestone (Upper Arisaig of previous papers) represent the Ileldcrberg. In Nova Scotia these occur in the New Canaan, Arisaig, and Pictou districts, and their characters correspond to those seen in Newfoundland, New Rrunswick, and Maine. In the Cobequid Mountains of Nova Scotia, however, and in New IJrunswick, these beds, especially in their upper p.rt, show great contemporaneous emissions of igneous rock. These are partly felsitie and partly dolcritic and amygdaloidal. They correspond in age with those isolated igneous masses of the plain of the St Lawrence to which the Montreal and IJeloeil Mountains belong. In proceeding to the west and north, the Ileldcrberg Limestones appear in great force at Cape Bon Ami in Northern New Lrunswick, where they are rich in fossils and associated with beds of trap. Both limestones are largely developed in Bonaventure and Gaspe, and the lower member in the Island of Anticosti, so that here, as in previous periods, the area of the Gulf of St Lawrence corresponds with the interior plateau rather than with the coastal region. In some respects, indeed, this area presents an exaggeration of the interior conditions, since in Ar.ticr.sti there is apparovitly a gradual passage from the limestones of the Hudson River group to those of the Clinton, with- out the intervention of sandstones similar to the Oneida and Medina of New York and Ontario. In so far as I am aware there is also an absence of beds representing that condition of deserts and salt lagoons represented by the Salina or Onondago salt-group. In this last respect, as in so many others, the conditions of the eastern districts of America conform to those of Lurope, and not to those of the interior plateau of America. In America as in England the Silurian of the ni.aritime districts is unconformable to the Cambro-Silurian, though this does not hold in Anticosti or in the inland region. 24 THE CAMliKO-SII.UHUN, OK OKDOVICIAN. i m M if i ; ! i-l »!i If)* 'm m J. Hlf ^j 'f ■ * :i f; 1 : •'' i i ;' K. Much now informfttiou as to the suhdivisioii and charactor of tlio Sihiriu i in Now Hrunswick and Nova Scotia appears in tlic Kcports of liailey and Fletcher above referred to ; and in my paper on tlie iron-ore deposits I liave given further facts as to the fossils. VI. THE CAMBUO-SILUIUAN, OR OKDOVICIAN. With the incoming of this age a more marked distinction occurs in America between the marginal and platoau-dcposits. This had previously ajipcarcd in tlie Cambrian, and becomes more distinct in the Brian and Carboniferous, but it is somewhat peculiar as between the marginal .and submarginal areas and those inland in the period on which we now enter. In Newfoundland, IMurray and Ilowley have described large areas of Quebec group rocks in the west and north of the island, which seem to be continuations of the submarginal area of tlie Lower St Ijawrence. There is also one limited exposure of Trenton Limestone on the west coast, which may be regarded as belonging to the area of the Gulf of St Lawrence. So far as our present subject is concerned, it is sufficient to observe that the Quebec group is not strictly an outer inari;iii:d formation, but rather submarginal, and belongs to a period when the princii)al area of coastal deposition of sediment from the north was inland of the Acadian provinces, or between them and the main American plateau, and separated from the outer ocean by a belt of active volcanos. Its conditions of deposit and characteristic fossils may fairly be compared with those of the Skiddaw and Arenig of England.* The Ordovician series of Shrop.shire extending upward from the Stiper Stones to the Caradoc is also a counterpart of the Quebec group. -J- Of Ordovician rocks other than the Quebec group and nearer to the Atlantic margin, perhaps the best example is that of the irea in Central and "".Vestcrn New Hrunswick described by Prof. Ikiiley.j: This consists, in ascending order, of (I) gneiss and mica-schist with chloritic and hornblendic schists, (2) gray and purplish micaceous sandstones and slates with limestone and conglomerate and felspathic slates, (3) black graphitic and pyritous .slates, (4) schistose felspathic rocks and conglomerates, (.0) amygdaloid and felsite with sandstone and slate, (6) felsitcs capped with sandstones and slates, often chloritic. These remarkable rocks, which are of great thickness and * tlicks, C'liissification of Lower Pala-ozoic Rocks, 1881. t l.apwortli, Geol. Magazine, 1887. t Keimrt Ouological Siirvoy of Camida, 1884-5. mmm8 and 1878. Ijicnt, p. 82. Tllli: CAMintlAN. 27 In Western I'^urope, as Ilieks has shown, great movements of depression must have occurred in this period, and we have evidence of a similar chi.racter in America. If we roughly divide the Cambrian system into three great series, characterized respectively by the pre- valence of the large Trilobites of the genera Olcnellus, J'arudoxides, and Dikellocephalus, we shall fiml that the former, the true Lower Cambrian, extends somewhat widely over the great continental plateau of America, being found in the St Lawrence valley, in Vermont, and even in Nevada and Utah,* and the Kocky Moun- tains of Canada. The second or Taradoxides gmuj) is more properly a marginal dep/osit formed at a time when there was probably a great continent west of the then infant Appalachians. On the other hand, the upper members of the Cambrian, the DikcUo- cepha lus- f^voui) or Potsdam Sandstone, is apiiarently altogether absent in the Acadian provinces, which at that time must have been under ocean-depths in which deposits of a very dilVerent kind would be produced, or elevated into land, perhaps the border of an Atlantic island now mostly submerged. It seems doubtful if any good equiva- lent of the Potsdam exists in England or Wales. It is otlierwi.se, however, with the next succeeding form.ation, that passage-series between the Cambrian and Ordovician known in Wales as the Tremadoc. This, in America, takes a more inland position, and becomes an interior or submarginal formation connected with the Quebec group. It has not yet been recognised in Acadia, but at Matane and Cape Rosier, as noted by mc in 188.'5,-j- and as Lap- worth has more fully proved in 1 88G, | we have a true Tremadoc filled with Dictynncma soc/'alc, and containing also I'ragmcnts of characteristie Trilobites. Further inland, on the main American plateau, these beds arc not found, but are represented by the peculiar " Calciferous " formation, a dolomite formed apparently in an inland sea and having a characteristic fauna of its own. Before leaving the Cambrian, it may bo well to state that Mr Matthew informs me that he hopes to make out in the St John series the equivalents of all the subdivisions of the I'aradoxides /mug estab- lished by Linnarson in Sweden, so that there would .seem to be a correspondence even in the minor details of the deposits on the opposite sides of the Atlantic. This, as wc shall sec, also appears to Prof. Lajiwortli to hold in the case of the Ciraptolitie fauna of the Upper Cambrian and Ordovician on the two Atlantic margins. • Waleott, BullctiiKS, 11.8. Geol. Survey; M'Coiinell, Report of 1886. f Hi'port IVtur Kedpiitli Musciini, No. ii., Uiclmrdson's Observations at Matane. t 'I'ransuctiona lioyal 8ucioty of Canada. 2S THE CAMFIUIAN. * I i ij ' ( I ' If, t In Mr Matthew's latest paper* lie states that while in certain parts of the Cambrian basin of St John the Acadian scries (Para- doxidcs group) rests directly on the Laurentian, in tracing the beds to the eastward they are found to be separated from the Laurentian by a band of conglomerate, shales, sandstones, and flags of purplish, reddish, and greenish colours. Sonic [jarts of these beds I have had the pleasure of seeing in company with Mr Matthew. They consti- tute what he has termed the Basal (Jambrian series, and attain to a thickness of 1200 feet. They arc regarded as the equivalents of the Caerfai group of Hicks and of the so-called Sparagmite formation of Norway, and the u))pcr part is supposed to correspond with the lower portion of the Manuel's brook beds of Newfoundland. These lower beds, holding what has been called the Olenellus fauna, from the occurrence of large Trilobites of that genus, are now regarded as Lower Cambrian,-}- and the Georgia slates of the Province of Quebec arc included in its upper part. We should thus have in ascending order: — 1. Basal series of Matthew, Lower Cai ibrian or Olenellus series. 2. Acadian or St John scries. Middle Cambrian or Paradoxides scries. 3. Potsdam or Upper Cambrian. ^: Peltura beds of Mire, Capo Breton, Kelly and Little Bell Lsland beds, Newfoundland, and possibly portions of Upper INfember of St John group in New Brunswick. The descriptions given in pages 637 et scq.., it will be observed, refer mainly to the second of the above divisions, and many additions to the fossils, as well as revision of the nomenchaturc, will be found in the papers of Mr Matthew above referred to, and in a inenioir by Mr Walcott ill the publications of the U.S. Gcol. Survey. § VIIL THE IIUIIONLVN. Ill the typical area of Lake Huron, as originally described by Logan and Murray, II this system rests unconformably on the Lower and Middle Laurentian, and presents a great contrast in point of mineral character to these formations. It is comparatively little disturbed, and is elastic rather tlian crystalline in character. This point has been avcII insisted upon by Ur Bonney and by Mr Irving in recent • Trans. Royal Socy. of Canada, vol. vii., sec. 4, page 135. t Walcott, Am. Jl. ISri., May 1889. i Matthew inefers with Hicks toconsider the I'aradoxides beds as Lower Cambrian ; dividing the whole system into two main divisions (American Geologist, Sept. 1889, p. 13il). g Bulletin, No. 10, 1884. 1| Geology of Canada, 1863. i' fl m. 111 THE IIURONIAN. 29 pftpcrs.* Further, its conglomerates contain pebbles of Laurentian rock in the same crystalline state in which these rocks are found at present. It consists chiefly of quartzites, conglomerates of different kinds, limestone, and slates, sometimes chloritic, with intcrbedded dioritc. Without discussing those more or less crystalline rocks west of Lake Superior and in the Appalachian region, whicii have been by Logan himself and later authors identified with the Iluronian, and which may, in part, belong to the interval between the Iluronian and Laurentian or to the upper bedi of the latter, or may oven bo later sediments in an altered state, we may attead at once to the beds which on the Atlantic coast succeed the Laurentian. We may remark, however, that, associated with the Iluronian at the west of Lake Superior, and extending thence northwards to Hudson's Hay and the Arctic Sea, are the dark slates, sandstones, etc., constituting the Ainiinike series of Hunt. Whether these constitute an upper member of the Iluronian or a distinct formation docs not certainly appear. It is, however, certain that this formation is very widely distributed, especially in the north. -J- It is also to be observed that many of the bedded rocks of the Iluronian are really of volcanic origin, being bedded volcanic ashes or muds in an altered state.J In Newfoundland the older slate-series of Jukes,§ which Murray originally called the intermediate series, but afterwards mapped as Iluronian, consists, in ascending order, of quartzites with diorites and jaspery bands, slate-conglomerate, green, purple, and red slates, and dark brown or blackish slates. In the upper part of this or the lower part of the next group are the worm-biu'rows known as Areniculites spiralis and the uncertain fossils described by Hillings as AspideUa. The lithological correspondence here between Newfound- land and Lake Huron is very close, and is increased by the fact that a series of red sandstones find conglomerates, the Kewenian of the West and the Upper Iluronian or Signal-Hill beds of Jukes and Murray, overlie the typical Iluronian in both districts. || Passing from Newfoundland to the coast of southern New Bruns- wick, wo find in the " Coldbrook " and "Coastal " series of Hailey a group corrcsj)onding essentially to that in Newfoundland, except, perhaps, in the fact that felsitic rocks occur to a larger extent in the * Anniversary Address, 1886. Anier. Journ. of Hcience, 1887. f O. M. Dawson, " Notes on Northern Part of Dominion of Cinnila," Geol. Survey, 1887, p. 8; Dr ]{. Hall, " Keport on Hudson Bay, 1877 to 18j5," Geol. Survey of Canada. t Dawson, Canadian Naturalist, 1857; Nicholson, Quart. Journ, tie(d. Soc, 1873; O. M. Dawson, (Jeol. Mag., 1875, g Heport on Newfoundland. 1843. || Geology of Newfom illand, 1881. 30 TUB IlUUONrAN. 1 ( ll ♦1: 'r' lower part, and that tlio upper part presentH not only coiifj;Ii)iiicratcs, ash-rocks, and ainyf^ilah)iils, hut also eldoritie and liyiho-iiiica Kchists. This ni)per part, diHtiiif-Miishcd as tlie "Ooastal Series," is rcj^ardcd by I'rof. lladey as distiiK't from the lliironiaii proper, and as either an upper member of tliat system or perliaps of hiter a,i;e, tliouf^li pro-Canibrian.* As ill Newfoundland, the typical Huronian of Now llrnnswiclc is overlain hy ro(hlisii and pnrpKi conf;h)merates, sandstones, and shales, which are, however, here rej^arded as the base of the Cambrian, f Matthew having found in thoiB, as already stated, worm-burrows and fucoids, with a Liiiguloid shell, 'i'hey appear to underlie unconformably the lowest division of tlio I'aradoxides- beds. With these rocks, whether of Lake Huron, Newfoundland, or New llrnnswiek, l have no hesitation in comparing the I'ebidian of Wales, as well as certain portions of the older Malvern rocks and those of Charnwood Forest. Sonic of these groups 1 have seen on the ground, others are well known to me by suites of specimens. Similar rocks also succeed the Laurentian in Scandinavia and in other parts of Europe as well as in Africa and |)ortions of Asia. Thus the JIuronian typo is very widely distributed, even if we take it in the restricted sense as originally used by Logan, and, later, by Irving, J: and by the writer in lHr)7,§ and leave out doubtful deposits which liave been connected with it. 'l"he Huronian nnirks a period of igneous disturbance and coarse mechanical deposition succeeding to the Laurentian foldings. It is essentially a coastal or marginal deposit, and indicates that at the close of the Laurentian considerable areas of land bad been elevated in the northern luMuisphere. It was along the nnugins of this old Laurentian land that the Huronian was deposited, and its outcrops mark these margins, which in America before the ri.se of the Appa- lachians exteniled westward from the Atlantic coast along the southern .shores of the Lainentian laud. The eoiulitions of deposit in Wales at the same period were evidently in general similar, though with local peculiarities. Two important qtu'-stions arise from the above statements. The first relates to possible deep-sea deposits of this age, differing from the coarse nnirginal detritus and volcanic accumulations. These • Bailey, " flcology of Now lirmiswick," Oeol. Survey Uoport, 1877-78; Kiln, History of Now Hniiiswick (ieolopy, 1887. t (ieoldgical Survuy Uo|iorU, 1878. j AiiuT. Jour, of Si'iuiicd, 1887. § ('nimiliiin Naturalist, 1857. -«i.: oiifj;l()incrntcs, (-inicii HC'Iiists. " is rof^iirtlod iiiul as uitlicr !• iif^o, tliou^h w nninswlck iidHtuiius, and baHO of tlio ready stated, 'I'lioy apjHMir I'liradoxides- Hand, or Now liaii of Wales, a;id tlioso of >ii the ground, Hiinilar rocks itlior parts of I. 'riiu.s tlio ve take it in iiid, later, by btful deposits and coarse ings. It is that at the been elevated of this old its outcrops if the Appa- aloiig the IS of deposit lilar, though inents. The itVeriiig from ijus. These 1S77-78; Klls, 1857. Till". IIUIlONtAN. 81 must liave existed ; but to what an extent arc they known to usV The limestones associated with the lliironiaii probably belong to their margins ; but these have so far alVorded no fossils except ob- scure indications of sponge-spiciiles in the ehert-nodules which they contain.* 'I'hose, which seoin to bo simple spicules, would indicate at least spoiigt^s as iidiabitants of the lluronian si;a. It is just pos- sible that some fortunate discovery of deep-water deposits of tliis age may yet be made ; but if so, they will certainly be diflferent in mineral character from the typical lluronian, and so may for a time fail to be identilicd with it. I confess, however, that I am inclined to suspect that souui of tlio beds known as Ainimike and Taconian may prove to be of this char- acter, as well as some of the dis[)uted lluronian of the Ap|iala(rhiaii region. -{- The second ([ucsfion relates to the e.\teiit to which conditions similar to those of the lluronian may have been repeated in subse- quent periods; and hero it is evident that wherever on continental margins coarse a(|ueous rocks were being accumulated, in the vicinity of igneous focci and mixed with their detritus, rocks litholngically resembling the lluronian may have been deposited. This considera- tion imposes much caution as to the possible correlation of such deposits with the true lluronian on the ground of mineral character alone. In Nova Scotia and Ninv Hruuswick, as well as in (Jreat Britain, there are rocks having in uuiiiy respects the aspect of the lluronian which belong to I'aheozoic times, and there is reason to believe that on the l*acilic coast there are certain rocks (»f this kind of ninch later date. These, as has been shown by l)r Selwyn and l)r (J. M. l)aw.son, are in great part bedded volcanic ash rocks in an altered condition.]: An important new light has, as already stated, bc(!n thrown on the supposed Upper lluronian of Newfoundland by Mr J\Iattli»!W, who has found that in New Hrunswick the conglomerate and red .sandstone underlying the /'nrndoxidrsAw.dti arc, as before stated, unconformablo to these, and thiif, like the Uasal or Cacrfai bett()M(!,s on (leorKiaii Hay. TUv.y ari) aiipaitiilly .simiilt! ai'i'ratii Hiliccoii.s .spioiilcs, rt!.si;mbliiiK tJKj.su of .siiniu Canilirian si)oiif;(;s. .loiiinal (icol. Socicly, Nov. IHHS. t Seu, however, l)r Sti'.rry lliint, " Kluniunts of I'riuiary Geolofjy," ticol. Mag., Nov. 1887, for liis chi.-r (irtlioeliise- .■lii>ts, iiudloeiilly iplies with c(|Uid Western Kiirope. st latum is repre- iiterior i)f Ni)rth ino roek, in most I eiui sciireely be for doubting tlie eominvring them north of the St tlie more limited iiiry 18(!r» will be of this formation, IrutiiUi into two npi>.sed of ortho- (• mieaecous and i|H)Scd of similiir anorthosite and labradorite and liaiiy of them, no the attention of as a labradorite TIIK I.AUUKNTIAN. 88 serieH, wliuruaH tlio true hciuoouh rouks of this aoriua would allord hotter terms of com|MU-isoit with other distriets tlian merely ignotuis mnsHeH or beds. A similar objeetion, I think, ap|)lies in some dogreo to the name Norian, as more reeently given by limit; and 1 have no diiubt, from my own observationH in the typieal diutrietH, that liO^'mi'rt division must stand, tlinn^h p(!rha|)s it would be well to sepanii. iho lower gneiss from the remainder of his liower Lauienlian, and to rc- eognise a Lower, Middle, and Upper groiil», all of wliieh are distinetly erystall'iie roeks.* The upjier member, aa developed in the west, should, I think, ineliide some of the erystalline roeks wliieh have been elassed as lluronian, and wliieh seem to (ill part of the gap between the latter and the Lower Laureiitian in the regions further east.f This view will in any ease attord better means of eomparison with the Laureiitian of other distriefs, and the oenirrenee of masses of binary granite and syenite in the J^ower grouj) and of labradorite in the Upper need not interfere with sueh eomparisons, though it is to bu observed that in the Upper member plagioelase felspars arc much more abundant than in the Lower. Prof, llonney has some, very jiidieioiis remarks on this in his Anniversary Address before ihe (jeologieal Society in l8H(i. Whatever views may be entertained as to the origin of these old rocks, no one who has studied Ihe typieal distrirts of th(! Ottawa iiiver can doubt for a moment that tlit'y are regularly beilded deposits, and that in the Middle Laureiitian those conditions which in later periods have produced beds of limestone, sandstone, iron-oro, and even of coal, were already in operation on a gigantic scale. \ At the same time it may be admitted that some areas of the lower gneiss may bo cooled portions of an original igneous mass, and that many of tho schistoHO rocks may bo really bedded igneous materials. Turning now to the Atlantic coast, the greatest area of Laureiitian rocks is that forming the nucleus of the Lsland of Newfoundland. Jn tho northern part of that island the absence of tho great erystallino * Tlid two principal nimiibcrM liftvn bi^on named rospoctively tho Ottawa and (Iruii- villo.surii'.s. Tlu! IliinI, di- iipiicr iiu'iiilicr, in l-dKim'H typical ciistrict has hciui separated a» tho Norian .sericH by ihiiil; and liy Si'lwyn (Reports Ueol. Survey of Canada, 187U-80) is re^ardtul as mainly composed of ipieoiis rocks. In tliu Maritime Provinces, as we shall see, only two nieniliers have, been recognised. t Dr nifrsby, "On Lake ol' the Wood.s.'Monnial of tiool. Society, 1851-2; Dr(J.M. Dawson, Report on lltth Parallel, Is7.^ ; Mr Lawson, Re|)orts (iool. Snrvey of ('anaiir|divi'it(is, Mf^^fliinicrali'H, and ina«- nivi> Hvi'iiito (if ('rl((M|iiidH, I'ii'toii, and Caiio hniiiin Y Middle (ii'a|it(dili(^ or ]a\\\h SorioH (if (.^iiidHi' and Ninth New MniiiHwiok,, part, of ('u(ui Itrotiin ScricH? Cauihriaii. 'rroiiuuloo HliktuH niul Lingulii fliigH. Mciiovtan and LouRinynil RerioH, llarlccli );rits, and liltiiilu'iis slatos. Ciuirfn! Oroui. of liickM. Matano or Capo Itimioi' (iraiitolitic IkmIh, Mirt' and St Andrcw'H Clinniiul iSoiioN ill (^ipii llri'tiiii V AcaiiiMii Sriii'K of St .loliil, Now llniiiNwick (, /'iir.iiilrn-\u't\H). Quart - y.ito and Hlato of Atlaitliu couhI of Novii Scotia. <)li'iirlliis Iii'iIk and llasal Caiuhriiili of Soulliorii Now Hi'Uimwick. Ilio'onian. I'ubidiun Scrion (Ilickn), oontaining folHiti', ohlorito-sidiist, and St-rponlini'. Iliiriiniiin folHifi^x, chliiritic ami (•|iidiific rockH of Southern Now Itriinsvviek, Yannoiilh, and of Capo I nrotoii in part. l.dut'initian. Oldor pnoinsos of Sootlniul and of (ineiss, i|uart/.ite and liineMtoiu) id Scaiuliiinvin, Diniotinii? St .lohii, rortlaiul (iroiip, giieiMH of Ht Aiiiic'h Mountain. m Tlio qiiostioii of I'liliuozoic climatos in tlio iioitlieni lioi.iisiilioio lias .soiiio lioiiriiig.s on llio siilijiH-ts tliscusstMl iiliovo, and is woll illiiatnvtinl by a iiia|) of tiio Arctic districts of Canada rcconlly issimtl by tlic (Jcological Survey.* Kroiii this it appears tiiat tiicro aio no indications of a warm climate in tlio Arctic basin ti|) to the ch)SO of tlie Camlirian. 'I'lic later Ordovician and the Sibirian were, liowover, sigindizcd by the deposition in the Arctic seas of thick and extensive organic limestones, holc'iiig fossils comparable with those of the temperate regions at the same time. The Lower Mrian nniy perhaps indicate a short relapse to cold ; but in the Upper Mrian and Lower Carboniferous we have warm seas tenanted by mnriuo animals and A rich land-vogetation appearing both in the Arctic islands of Cainida and in Spit/.bergen. The Upper I'oal-formation and the rcnnian and Trias indicate a return of cold, and tlie temperature seems to increase in the .lurassic, attaining its maximum in the later • " Uiiolofjy of Northern Caiinda, " Dr («. M. DnwHoii, 1SS7. ^\ A." U ,B i ■Mam lid ScrioH, HliitrH, M, mill HIIM'MSltlUl'K. ^OHtiini Mini (Vtilriil liil Smii'n, l'(ilnitoH, limionitcM, Mini miiH- idioiiuidH, I'ictou, Miid lilic, or Levin SurioH irlli Ninv UnuiMwick,, [III Soi'luH? ]w l?oHi(ir fJrMiitolitic St AikIivw'h (JliMimol Ctltll ? H 1)1" St .loi.ii, Ntnv i/,m/.s Mriiui and Lower ariiie animals and \ictic islands ol lonnatioii and tlio 1 the temiioratuio inuuii in tlio hiter TUK r.VUKI'.NTIAN. 87 Crotaceotis and Kocono, and gradually diiniiuHhing to the glacial Rg(^, htitween wiiich and thu nioddrn thcio siicins to liavd heen a warm pciod of HJiort duration, evidciiited in the deposition of niain- iiioth lioiieH, «&<*., on tin! Arclii; coasts, 'i'he cych!H of cold and warm cliniute tliiifl indicated in tlie Arctic region liave, I think, an important bearing on the Hiiccessioii of lif(, further south, at least in iCastern Ameriea, and their oorrehitioii with the cliiiiatal cllallg(^s in Kiirupe would he a Hidiject of mueli interest, on which, however, I do not feel in a positiiin to speak positively; but I imagine that the warm and cold periods will be found to coirespond with thoBt^ of tlio Arctic basin and of America. A leading clement iu the importance of the (Jeology of the Acadian ProvinccH consists in that diversity from the deposits of the internal plateau of Ceiiiral ( "anada and tlu! interior ol the United States, wliicli is appaivnt in so many oi their formations, and to wliitdi 1 have alluded above. Wo are taught in this connexion the necessity in liny system of geological classilication of diHtinguishing tiio con- tinental ])lateaiis, the lines of gn^it foldings and of igneous airlion, and the ancient ocean- imirgiiis from each other, and of adapting our arrangements and nomcnelatiire to their actual diversity. In order to do this, while adopting common designations for the great ages of geological time, and for those systems of formations which mark the successive submcrgeiuHis and c;iiergenees oi the (lontinental plateaus, separate classificatiouH must exist for the dilferent kinds of areas, in their details. It is also, I think, necessary that we shoidd not tie ourselves down to hard-and-fast lines either as to the limits of systems or as to the relative values of their divisions in widely separated localities, as these ditTer in nature, and nothing is to be gained by conventional arrangements overlooking these difTercnccs. Jiuiiiury 18i)l. vsiill, Iss7. w r^^ ^^ 66 65 Buv if . \xrnffiJitt A - 't' MHl^lll'Iflll ■>(« '«-. •^» < .^■v»'-^'" 'gtr r^i^#' P'RHcnuiinai.' ■Hapin P* A'ail tonil Nonli !•• ('. Kililaiv Paj ^g*Maty8' '> M ^ JL C t t) B. ^ T "^ - ,4 1^, x*- i&.^« 11-0 .^ -«' m «, F O F S '' L A W R E Bird It >e/c» £rg^Biyon I. Gro»90 MlAGDALE IStLANDS Uotpi tal^ i\ Ci-indstiTU' C.S*X« C.Baaqnp FHnrK Head- Limbo Cove \/j Murrtfy ffar. C. Mahoi, /, C. LinBee SinUhl: sJtrA^ c nrifcJ.JP ^ a«»iry/;o \1^ 5*B^M»* r /? 4 t^^nV^. 5k .-^S ><> S^M>yvfi^#^:k?^X'?^/iixi R Bird a tola E N C E t". Basque ar'n Eead- ( r^jtcrte,^ M Covtt j«wTeiu>e GLedCope LimhoCovi (kid lOn /.' P^JCnrMfee Great codJwy LU.Co^ i B".^ rrrjC^Scatarl I. 4-7 46 Sva/Jaw,? Tail ^(?/yi»v»vi r. "' : C i'tTutrhaid, I. u o /fid ~ -^ tJl!i'it^ 63 62 61 V ?i^ ■^"v,^ >7:3./!. I'anuo ^^ EXPFiANAIIOy 0¥ THE COLOURS S^ THE MAP & SECTIOIf 1 Allavium. ^ Blijwn. Sami 2 Trias, tir S«>w Red SaiuisUirifi 3 Carbouit'erons 4" Do\roniaii 5 Upper S ilni'iau , 6 Lowrer Silurian. 7 Uiu'onian 8 LaureRtiaji 9 Ti'lassi-c Tiap iO GranitP, S,\neuite, &fc PriacipaL Bed^ of.' Coal Limcstonjes of I, Carbonifproiis Iron. Ores of Siliinaii A Devonian Gold. Mines ■J -*fc»' MAP ;.. F, G.S.c^-c. 1'. HailoT &-rrof.R<1bb. Quebec, Maine and ^e Map of Canada. i/nn (ico/oQY-2S6S. 61 60 by J. BstrrlioLoTnew. Ediiit