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 \ 
 
 
 IX. 
 
 Remarks on the Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 BY CHARLES T. JACKSON AND FRANCIS ALGER.* 
 
 Communicated to the Academy, August, 1831, by Thomas Nuttall, A. A. 8. 
 
 The peninsula of Nova Scotia is included between the 43d 
 and 46lh degrees of north latitude, and between the 6 1 stand 67th 
 
 degrees of longitude west of the meridian of Greenwich. 
 
 It is 
 
 • In justice to our readers, it becomes us perhaps to state, that the paper now 
 offered to the public through the American Academy's Memoirs, is, in part, a 
 republication of an essay which originally appeared in Professor Sillinian's American 
 Journal oi Science in 1828-9. It is ihat essay corrected and enlarged to a con- 
 siderablo extent, by ;lic additional facts collected during a more recent, and, from 
 the method adopted, we believe a more general and accurate examiiiiition of the 
 Peninsula of Nova Scotia in the summer of 1829; undertaken with the view of 
 determining the charRctur of some few spots which had not been visited during 
 our former excursion, or on which, from causes beyond our control, we were then 
 unable to bestow that minute attention, to which their structure and interesting 
 geological rul.ilions have since shown them so fully entitled. Some paragraphs in 
 the former paper have been omitted in this, in a few places, where it became ne- 
 cessary from a more particular examination of the subjects to which they related ; 
 others have also been substituted in a few places, where the description of a sub- 
 Btance would be madynore brief, or where a still more interesting form of a sub- 
 stance could be brought in with advantage. This paper is intended to comprise, 
 with as much order as the blending of old observations with new would admit, such 
 
 60 
 
218 
 
 Messrs. Jackson a7id Alger on the 
 
 connected with the continent by a narrow isthmus, and is bound- 
 ed on the north by the Strait of Northumberland, on the north- 
 east by the Gut of Canseau, by which it is separated from Cape 
 Breton, on the south and southeast by the Atlantic ocean, and 
 on the west by the Bay of Fundy. The whole Province is 
 nearly three hundred miles in length, by one hundred and fifty 
 in breadth, and embraces not less than fifteen thousand square 
 miles of surface. 
 
 The face of the country presents, with some irregularity, 
 
 three distinct ranges of high land, two of which have some claim 
 
 to the title they bear, of mountains, although they rarely attain an 
 
 elevation of more than five hundred feet above the sea. The 
 
 other range consists of rounded hills of inconsiderable elevation, 
 
 extending through the county of Cumberland, and the districts of 
 
 Colchester and Pictou. The first two ranges are called the South 
 
 and North mountains ; the former extending through the Province 
 
 in the direction east-northeast, and crossing the counties of 
 
 Annapolis, Kings, Hants, Colchester, and Pictou. This range is 
 
 bounded, on the north and west, by the valley through which the 
 
 facts relating to the geological structure and mineral productions of Nova Scotia, 
 as have come within the scope of our ])ersonal examination. We are aware 
 that a large blank remains to he filled up on the subjects of wliich it treats, before 
 these interesting branches of the natural history of that region can be fully eluci- 
 dated or its real mineral resources made known ; and we can only repeat, what we 
 have said on a former occasion, that we hope soon to sec it filled up by the exami- 
 nations of our own countrymen, as well as of the inhabitants of Nova Scotia, to 
 whom, more properly, the labor seems to belong. But we trust that enough will be 
 said, to show that the country, in her mineral constitution, has treasures laid 
 up, which will afford ample materials for the exercise of the native skill and 
 industry of her citizens, and will always secure to her the advantages of an export- 
 ing trade. 
 
m 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of JVbva Scotia. 
 
 219 
 
 Annapolis river winds its course for more than eighty miles, car- 
 rying with it the rich loam brought by the rivulets and torrents 
 which contribute their waters to swell this beautiful river, depos- 
 iting it along its course, and thereby forming a part of the fertile 
 alluvium of this valley. The North mountains, however, contribute 
 much more generously to the fertility of the lantl, from the pecu- 
 liar rocks of which they consist, producing by their decay the 
 most luxuriant soil. The North mountains form the southwestern 
 coast of the Province, skirting the Bay of Fundy, and having the 
 Annapolis river at their southern base. They extend, with but a 
 single interruption in their continuity, nearly one hundred and 
 thirty miles, and present to the sea an insuperable barrier against 
 its encroachments. The direction of this range is northeast and 
 southwest, with a gentle curve towards the Bay of Fundy, to 
 which it presents a series of lofty mural precipices, well adapted 
 to resist the encroachments of its overwhelming tides and tumul- 
 tuous waves. This range formed by far the most fruitful field of 
 our researches, and rewarded our labors by presenting the most 
 interesting appearances, and many rate and beautiful specimens. 
 We shall describe it nearly in the order in which its different parts 
 were examined by us, beginning with Digby Neck, which affords 
 peculiar facilities to the researches of inquirers into its geological 
 structure and mineral productions. 
 
 This narrow strip of land is a continuation of the North 
 mountiiins from Annapolis Gut, and, extending thirty miles to the 
 westward, is bounded on the north by the Bay of Fundy, and 
 on the south by St. Mary's Bay, which separates it from the main 
 territory. At its western extremity are situated Long Island and 
 Brier's Island ; the former separated from the latter by Grand Pas- 
 sage, and from the main peninsula by Petit Passage ; but geologi- 
 
 PP^^ 
 
 / 
 
220 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 cally considered, they are a continuation of the neck of land, with 
 which, though separated from it by these narrow channels, they 
 are identical in structure and composition. They are composed 
 of trap, under its different modifications, to the entire exclusion 
 of every other rock ; and Hke most islands of a similar nature when 
 freely exposed to the ocean, they present scenery of unrivalled 
 grandeur and magnificence. On the south side of Brier's Island 
 near the entrance of the channel, the cliffs present a very striking 
 assemblage of neat and regular columnar masses, which some- 
 times descend in lofty and continuous ranges of steps for many 
 hundred yards into the sea; their serrated ridges rising up here 
 and there from beneath its surface, and appearing, at first sight, 
 like so much pier-work reared in defence of the island ; which 
 purpose, indeed, they may be said to answer in an admirable man- 
 ner, since many of the masses scarcely break the surface of the 
 water, and others are so concealed at shallow depths below it, as, 
 in connexion with the currents that set in among them, to render 
 an approach to the harbour dangerous even on ordinary occasions, 
 and when directed by the most experienced mariners. We met 
 with the wreck of a ship that had been driven in upon them a 
 year or two since, and we were informed by the inhabitants, 
 that the cargo and part of the unfortunate crew were lost. 
 Situated as this island is, nearly in the direct route of ves- 
 sels bound to St. John's, or up the Bay of Fundy, the dan- 
 ger of such accidents is not a little increased by the fogs and 
 storms that suddenly close in upon this region, and which are 
 sometimes known to endure for the continued space of three 
 and four weeks. From the prevalence of these fogs, the island is 
 comparatively barren of vegetation, and presents a dreary sur- 
 face, affording only scanty support to the miserable sheep that 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 221 
 
 are kept upon it. Thus driven from the soil, the hardy inhabi- 
 tants of the island resort to fishing as their chief employment. 
 But this remark cannot be applied, as it unjustly has been, to 
 many other parts of the Province, which, as respects s,)il and 
 climate, are not surpassed, we believe, by any section of New 
 
 England. 
 
 The columnar or basaltiform structure of the trap is exhibited 
 in greater perfection and to a much greater extent, on this island 
 than upon the opposite ; but this is owing in a great degree to 
 its being more exposed to the ravages of the ocean, which 
 have developed the columns to a greater extent, and probably 
 not so much to any intrinsic deficiency of the rock itself m 
 exhibiting, externally, all its characteristic marks. They usu- 
 ally present five or seven sides, very smooth and perfect, and are 
 very variable in their length and proportions, no less than in their 
 internal characters ; but as far as we traced them, they did not 
 exhibit in their superposition, the depressions and corresponding 
 convexities, so common to the trap of some regions. It is merely 
 for the want of these characters, and a greater compactness in 
 the mechanical arrangement of its particles, that this trap comes 
 short of the genuine basalt of the most noted European localities. 
 Indeed, the difference in respect to internal characters, on com- 
 parison with masses of basalt from the Hebrides, is found too 
 slight to be made a point of distinction between them. No min- 
 erals were observed on this island, excepting a few narrow veins 
 of red jasper occasionally encircling the columns ; the amygdaloid, 
 their usual gangue, not appearing along the coast so far as we 
 followed it. We regret that foggy weather prevented us from 
 passing round to the opposite shore of the island, where, as we 
 were informed by the inhabitants, the cliffs rise to a more remark- 
 51 
 
 / 
 
9s* 
 
 222 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 able height ; but its character was clearly indicated by the long 
 causeway, known as the " Bar," that runs out into the sea lor more 
 than a mile, and over which the billows were heard to roll in with 
 great violence. From the information we obtained, we are led to 
 beUeve that the substrata of sandstone are there seen to crop out 
 from beneath the trap, thus making the western terminus of 
 the North mountains similar to the Eastern. 
 
 At the northeast point of Long Island, the amygdaloid, on 
 which the irregular columnar rock rests, is accessible, and its 
 cavities are found tilled with nodules of chlorite, to the exclu- 
 sion of the zeolites, which, as we shall have occasion to show, 
 more generally occur in other places. These nodules, when 
 broken, present lamina, of a beautiful leek-green color, radiating 
 from the centre, and rarely crystallized in low tabular crystals, 
 often intersecting each other. The chlorite has often been 
 removed by external causes, thus imparting to the rock a vesicu- 
 lar appearance ; but in some few cases, the cavities were natu- 
 rally left void, constituting real vesicular amygdaloid. 
 
 The veins of jasper, as they traverse the amygdaloid, become 
 singularly altered in their character, being converted into a sub- 
 stance, resembling in appearance imperfectly burned bricks of 
 potters' clay. The specimens from the interior of the vein, 
 where it had not been acted upon by exposure, presented the 
 same appearance ; some parts were in fact perfect clay-stone. 
 As the veins entered the superincumbent trap, they became 
 altered in appearance, and in the course of a few yards, were 
 converted into a very perfect red jasper. Three or four veins 
 were observed, presenting similar appearances. 
 
 In crossing Petit Passage, a deep and precipitous channel, 
 through which the flood tides rush with great violence into the 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVbva Scotia. 223 
 
 BayofFundy, and form a dangerous "race-way," requiring, as 
 we found, a very strong wind to counteract it, the first spot 
 deserving of notice on account of remarkable geological features, 
 is an indentation on the south side of Digby Neck, known as 
 Little River Valley. Here the trap displays, with wonderful 
 symmetry, its basaltiform structure, and presents a lofty precipice 
 to the sea, where the river empties into St. Mary's Bay, com- 
 posed of prismatic columns of three, live, and nine sides, fre- 
 quently broken horizontally, and in some places imperfectly 
 articulated, apparently by their motion on each other, occasioned 
 by the sea ; thus resembling in a striking manner, the basaltic 
 rocks of the Giant's Causeway on the coast of Ireland. These 
 prismatic blocks are usually two or three feet in diameter, and 
 sometimes as many yards in length unbroken. Not unfrcquently 
 they have been dashed from their pedestals, and tumbled in con- 
 fusion against each other, forming irregular Gothic arches, which, 
 by their rude forms, give additional wildness to the scene. The 
 exposed surfaces of the trap, from the additional oxidizement of 
 the iron it contains, exhibit a brownish red color, but on recent 
 fracture, its internal structure is fine-grained, and of homogeneous 
 aspect, the hornblende being alone visible to the naked eye. It is 
 heavy, tenacious, and sometimes sonorous. That it is magnetic, 
 like the trap of some other countries, we think is clearly proved 
 by the fact, that surveyors find their compasses very sensibly in- 
 fluenced in running lines in different parts of Digby Neck. But 
 this influence they have hitherto erroneously attributed to large 
 deposits of magnetic iron, of the existence of which there is but 
 little evidence. 
 
 We have already observed that the local peculiarities and 
 external forms of the trap rocks in this region, give it unquestion- 
 
i 
 
 224 Messrs. Jackson and Jlgir m the 
 
 able claims to the title of basalt ; but as we have no particular 
 partiali.v for this term, and as the rock may differ in its internal 
 characters from most of the basalt from Ireland, we have con- 
 cluded to make use of the term columnar trap, leavmg the 
 question of its identity with the basalt of Ireland, to be deeded 
 by those better able to do it than ourselves ; though we are 
 aware, that some of the best writers on geology, do not admit 
 any distinction between them. The experiments of Sir James 
 Hall show very plainly, that the mechanical structure ot trap may 
 be coarse or fme, in proportion to the rapidity with which it 
 passed, from its igneous or liquid state, into its columnar form ; 
 and therefore, as might well be expected, we meet with masses 
 that differ widely in these respects at the same locality. 
 
 The next place of interest we shall mention, is Mink Cove, 
 which is about five miles east of Little River. It is a harbour 
 of inconsiderable depth, and presents nothing very pecuhar m 
 its geological features. A few interesting minerals, however, 
 occur in the columnar trap and amygdaloid. They are red, yel- 
 low, and ribbon jasper, which traverse the precipice in veins irom 
 eight inches to a foot wide, and run for a considerable distance 
 through the rock ; the yellow jasper occupying the amygdaloid on 
 which the columnar trap rests, passes, as it enters the more dense 
 superincumbent rock, into red jasper of fine texture, often ren- 
 dered more beautiful by zones of various colors winding in con- 
 centric circles through the mass. They are fit subjects for the 
 lapidary's wheel, and when polished, constitute ornamental speci- 
 mens A curious mineral also occurs in the amygdaloid of this 
 place, consisting of broad lamella of quartz, disposed in parallel 
 and intersecting plates, having the interstices filled with calcare- 
 ous spar, giving the specimens the appearance of alternations of 
 
.Mineralogy un<l (icology of ^\ova Scotia. 226 
 
 siliceous and calcareous sinter. The veins of jasper present 
 geodes ol' (juartz and anietliyst, enclosing crystals of transparent 
 white chahasio measuring nearly an inch across the rhombic 
 planes ; they are usually indented by the quartz crystals, over 
 which they are scattered. 
 
 The next place worthy of notice is Sandy Cove, about five 
 
 miles from the last described locality. This cove is the largest 
 
 indentation on the coast of St. Mary's Bay, and from its favorable 
 
 situation, it is considered the fmest harbour. Its surrounding 
 
 walls consist of trap, rising from the strand in huge sheets, nearly 
 
 in a vertical position, and sometimes divided transversely into 
 
 separate blocks or tables, that lie one above another with their 
 
 connecting surfaces perfectly flat. They do not exhibit in their 
 
 structure, the beautiful symmetry observed in the columns of Little 
 
 River and Brier's Island ; from which also, they differ in being 
 
 of coarser texture, and in containing a large portion of green 
 
 earth, by which they assume a distinct greenish hue. This 
 
 difference in mineralogical composition and external figure, which 
 
 we have also noticed at other places, seems owing to certain 
 
 local causes, of which we shall speak in another place. It is a 
 
 difference which is observed no less distinctly in other countries. 
 
 Nearer the head of the cove, the precipice gradually falls 
 
 away, and a bank of brecciated and amygdaloidal trap takes its 
 
 place, and abounds with nodules and geodes of many beautifully 
 
 crystallized minerals. Their inner surfaces are sometimes lined 
 
 with a delicate white filamentous substance, resembling (ibres of 
 
 cotton ; apparently fibrous mesotype, similar to that found by Dr. 
 
 jVrCulloch on the Isle of Skye. We also met with interesting 
 
 specimens of quartz, exhibiting the form of the primary obtuse 
 
 rhomboid, in a few instances perfect, and measuring more than 
 
 62 
 
/I ^ ' 
 
 226 Messrs. Jacksm and Alger on the 
 
 three eighths of an inch in diameter. But usually the crystals are 
 mochtied by the absence of solid angles and replacement goi 
 single planes, which, by their extension, tend to produce common 
 six-sided pyramids. The amygdaloid is traversed by narrow and 
 indistinct veins of specular iron ore, sometimes hollow, and en- 
 closing^ whke transparent chabasie. Not un frequently, insulated 
 cryst Js of the specular ore are imbedded ir. limpid chalcedony, 
 thus forming a singular variety of agate. 
 
 But a substance more likely to ir.terest the mineralogist at 
 thi. place, is laumonite. This curious mineral presents itseli, trav- 
 ertin.^ the amygdaloid in veins sometiu.es a foot wide, running in 
 vertical, inclined, and zigzag directions. The substances ot these 
 veins, especially the crystals, are more or less decayed, m situa- 
 tion, most excluded from moisture ; and the best specimens were 
 found only in those places which were regularly covered by the 
 tide Into the cavities of these veins, the laumonite pi.^jects m 
 beautiful groups of crystals, .vhich exhibit the form of the prima- 
 ry oblique rhombic prism, firmly implanted at one extremity, and 
 at the other terminated by a single rl.oml>ic plane, inclining from 
 one acute angle to the other. The crystals are colorless and 
 transparent, and frequently an inch =. length. The calcareous 
 spar which forms the walls of the veins, is often scattered over 
 these -roups in insulated rhoml)oids, considerably more obtuse 
 than the primary crystals, and exhibi.s examples of hemitropic 
 combination. Interspersed also with these, are brilliant span- 
 gles of specular iron ore, which give much additional beauty to 
 the specimens, and serve at the same time to support the crystals 
 of this fragile mineral It is not a little sin^^ular that we have been 
 unable to discover, in the form of the crystals of laumonite, the least 
 modification by the absence of either edges or solid angles ; while m 
 
 h 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJWwa Scotia. 
 
 227 
 
 specimens from another locality, to be mentioned hereafter, it is 
 as dilficult to discover a single crystal which has not the addition 
 of secondary planes. 
 
 The accompanying calcareous spar, like that similarly associ- 
 ated from Brittany, is exceedingly phosphorescent, emitting a 
 beautiful gold-yellow light when thrown upon a heated plate of 
 iron. But this property is by no means peculiar to this substance 
 thus associated ; for we have exami:. I specimens from other parts 
 of Nova Scotia, as well as from various localities in P]urope and 
 the United States, and find that all, without a single exception, 
 possess this property, when placed on heated bodies. The 
 Count de Bournon observed that from Brittany to be more phos- 
 phorescent than any he had seen from other localities ; and we 
 are unable to say whether this from Nova Scotia is equal to that, 
 not having a specimen from Brittany in our possession. 
 
 About one mile east of Sandy Cove, the specular iron ore 
 referred to, appears in more important veins, and affords speci- 
 mens not inferior in beauty to those from Elba. When not 
 massive, it occurs in flat, tabular crystals, often with curviUnear 
 and striated faces, resembling many of the specimens of this 
 substance from volcanic districts. Crystals, exhibiting some 
 portion of the planes of the primary acute rhomboid, are some- 
 times met with attached to the gangue ; but they are usually very 
 much modilied by replacements on their edges ai\d angles. 
 Magnetic iron ore also occurs at this locality, forming narrow 
 veins in the amygdaloid ; but neither of these ores occurs in 
 quantities worth exploring. The best crystallized specimens of 
 the latter, are found along the water-courses, in the soil that has 
 been produced by the degradation o." the amygdaloid that once 
 ;,urrounded them. Indeed, the soil is abundantly mixed with 
 
 if 
 

 I 
 
 228 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 large and very perlect crystals, in the form of the primary octa- 
 hedron, exhibiting the passage of this form into rhombic dodeca- 
 hedrons, which they sometimes complete, and thus become 
 isomorphous with the FrankUnite, which generally presents tins 
 decrement. They are also sometimes imbedded in earthy oxide 
 of mai ganese, which occurs very sparingly. 
 
 Crossing from Sandy Cove to the Bay of Fundy, about tne 
 distance of one mile, we came to an indentation called Outer 
 Sandy Cove, between which and the inner cove, is a small but 
 extremely beautiful lake of fresh water, with a sandy bottom, 
 and having a very diminutive outlet into the Bay of Fundy. 
 These two coves are nearly connected by this little lake. The 
 rocks at this cove present no remarkable pecuUarities of structure. 
 The shore is composed of immense sheets of trap of the amor- 
 phous variety, which shelve or dip towards the Bay of Fundy, 
 at an angle of 10 or 15 degrees and finally disappear beneath its 
 ^vaters. The most interesting features of this place are the large 
 veins of red jasper which appear in parallel ridges, resembling, in 
 a striking manner, the brick battlements upon the inclined roofs 
 of houses, and extending from the highest part of the shore to 
 low-water mark. These ridges stand as monumenis to show the 
 continual eflect of a turbulent sea, which has worn away the 
 rock they traverse with comparative facility, and left them entire, 
 or slightly polished, as ob>tacles to its further encroachments. 
 They'contain, in some places, geodes of (luartz, amethyst, and 
 rich specimens of agate, formed l.v narrow threads ol' red jasper 
 traversing white transparent chalcedony, in a zigzag manner, and 
 when polished, constitute beautiful specimens. 
 
 Following the shore of St. Mary's Bay, eastwardly as we 
 leave Sandy Cove, and examining at low water the fri.gmeuts 
 
 

 Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 229 
 
 which have been detached from the precipices above, and pro- 
 fusely scattered along their base at the water's edge, we found 
 in abundance agates of various kinds, and possessing great beStity. 
 Some were of the variety called fortification agate, from a resem- 
 blance to military works, on the polished surface of the specimens. 
 This variety is often found well characterized on the shore; 
 sometimes in small nodules, which have been polished by attri- 
 tion, and resemble the Scotch pebble in every respect : at other 
 times it is found in large tabular masses, which are evidently the 
 ruins of veins from the overhanging trap rocks. The specimens 
 of this vicinity frequently contain the outlines of many fortifica- 
 tions in the compass of a few inches. The base of this agate is 
 an opaque white chalcedony, alternating with rows of trans- 
 parent quartz and yellow jasper, the last generally constituting 
 the external layer. Fine brecciated agates were also met with, 
 composed of angular masses of red and yellow jasper cemented 
 by transparent and amethystine quartz, often enclosing, in geodes, 
 beautiful crystals of purple amethyst, which, covering the whole 
 interior of the cavity with protruding crystals, vie in beauty with 
 any specimens brought from the banks of the Rhine. A large 
 geode was found on the shore of St. Mary's Bay, which, weighing 
 more than forty pounds, was composed almost entirely of the 
 richest purple amethyst, the mass having but a thin coat of forti- 
 fication agate externally. On an examination of the crystals of this 
 geode, we found a substance of a reddish brown color, traversing 
 the amethyst, in fibres or acicular crystals, which, beginning at the 
 implanted extremity of the crystal, shoot out into diverging, sco- 
 piform, and fasciculated groups, to the opposite extremity. On 
 exposure to a full red heat, this amethyst loses its color, becomes 
 transparent, and has a vitreous lustre ; the included fibres, at the 
 63 
 
 
11 
 
 230 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 same time, are changed in color to a dark brownish black. On 
 fracturing one of the crystals of amethyst, we obtained a 
 portion of the fibres, which, on examination with the microscope, 
 showed a reddish brown substance, with specks of a brass yellow, 
 which we recognised as sulphuret of iron, the color being very 
 speedily changed to brownish black by exposure before the blow- 
 pipe, when it became magnetic, as did the surrounding brown 
 substance. We are then led to conclude that the yellow is iron 
 pyrites, and the brown fibres red oxide of iron, which doubtless 
 had its origin from the decomposition of the former. The ame- 
 thyst, traversed by this substance, is of a much deeper color than 
 that in which it is not present, and the color appears deepest in 
 the immediate vicinity of the fibres ; hence we should be led to 
 think that a portion of its color was derived from this mineral. 
 The fibres are so minute, that we are unable to ascertain if man- 
 ganese be present in them. 
 
 Large masses of red jasper, weighing more than a ton each, 
 lie scattered along the base of Titus' Hill, which rises abruptly 
 from the shore of St. Mary's Bay. This jasper is frequently of 
 a fine texture, and is banded by stripes of various colors. Some- 
 times it appears to have been made up of rounded fragments of 
 red jasper, cemented by chalcedony, thus being converted into 
 brecciated agate ; but this is not uniformly the case, for the frag- 
 ments are more frequently encrusted with druses of quartz, 
 which unite them to each other. Cavities of considerable size 
 are found in these masses of jasper, having their interior surfaces 
 lined with a covering of crystallized quartz, which projecting in 
 stalactites from the superior part of the geode, to Avhich they are 
 attached by a slender neck, hang down into the centre, having 
 the dependent extremity enlarged by a radiation of crystals. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 231 
 
 Small portions of jasper are frequently included in the crystals, 
 and give a beautiful appearance to the specimens. 
 
 On the coast of the Bay of Fundy, about six miles east of 
 Sandy Cove, is an inconsiderable indentation, known by the 
 name of Trout Cove. It presents but few interesting minerals. 
 The situation of the rocks, however, is picturesque. The colum- 
 nar trap is recumbent on amygdaloid, which here exists in a very 
 narrow and almost inaccessible bed at the base of the precipice ; 
 the rocks have been tumbled in great confusion against each 
 other, forming rude irregular passages under their walls. The 
 only minerals to reward the collector for visiting this place, are 
 some varieties of agate, which do not occur elsewhere on Digby 
 Neck. They have a ground of highly translucent chalcedony 
 of a blue color, with angular fragments of red jasper included, 
 and are of a very fine texture ; they improve much on the lapi- 
 dary's wheel, and constitute beautiful specimens of this curious 
 variety. The chalcedony has sometimes, imbedded in it, slender 
 threads of blood-red jasper, which alternating with several differ- 
 ent shades of color, twisted in zigzag directirns, and preserving 
 its parallelism with the others, constitutes a smgular combination 
 of fortification agate, and bloodstone in the same specimen, — the 
 outworks of the fort being delineated by this blood-red zone. 
 The agates occur, constituting veins in the columnar trap, which 
 are seldom more than three inches wide. Chalcedony, of a very 
 fine texture and smooth surface, and, oi) recent fracture, of a 
 perfectly pure white, also occurs at this pla.oe. It occurs, like the 
 agates above mentioned, in veins rarely more than an inch wide, 
 in the columnar trap. This variety, on account of its fine tex- 
 ture and good color, appears well adapted to be worked into 
 cameos and other ornaments. 
 
£32 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger onihe 
 
 The next place which we visited on the coast of the Bay of 
 Fundy, is a cove, which has received the singular appellation of 
 Gulliver's Hole. This cove is the largest indentation which the 
 sea has been able to effect, on the iron-bound coast of the Bay 
 of Fundy. It penetrates about three fourths of a mile into the 
 land ; and being narrower at its entrance, which is protected by 
 massy columns of trap rocks, it affords a secure retreat to the 
 small fishing-vessels which frequent these waters, when the wind 
 is too violent for them to ride on the unsheltered coast. This 
 locality will prove of interest to the mineralogist, on account of a 
 curious variety of stilbite, which here occurs incrusting the walls 
 of narrow, but deep and perpendicular fissures in the trap. On 
 either side of these chasms, the stilbite occurs in compressed 
 laminfB, projecting horizontally, or at right angles with the rock to 
 which they are attached, for the distance of about an inch. 
 They are crystalized, at their free extremities, in the form of the 
 right rectangular prism, terminated by pyramids, and with nume- 
 rous other modifications. The crystals are arranged in a very 
 irrp-ular manner, crossing and intersecting each other at right 
 angles, so as to produce between them cellular interstices of 
 various forms. The color of this stilbite is white, with a slight 
 tinge of grey ; it is glistening and somewhat peariy on cleavage ; 
 before the blowpipe it melts easily into a porous glass, without 
 color and transparent. Large sheets of it are easily detached 
 from the rock, by means of the hammer and chisel, and they 
 form fine specimens of a singular variety of this mineral. 
 
 Magnetic iron ore in veins about a foot wide, associated with 
 jaspery red iron ore, occurs in the trap rock at this place ; but as 
 the veins are exceedingly irregular in their course, and often 
 terminate abruptly, little dependence can be placed upon them 
 
 
 

 Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 233 
 
 for mining. This remark will apply to all the veins of iron ore 
 which we discovered on Digby Neck ; for although the ore is 
 very rich, yielding as much as sixty per cent, of iron, it is so scat- 
 tered in narrow, unprofitable veins, that it can never do more than 
 supply the mineralogist with specimens of the objects of his 
 
 science. 
 
 Proceeding in our researches eastwardly along the opposite 
 shore, nothing of peculiar interest presents itself, until we reach 
 nearly the extremity of St. Mary's Bay. This bay is separated 
 from Annapolis Basin, by a narrow isthmus on which the town of 
 Digby is situated, and which connects Digby Neck with a moder- 
 ately elevated range of hills, to be mentioned more particularly 
 when we treat of that formation. This isthmus, which no where 
 attains an elevation of more than one hundred feet, is composed 
 almost entirely of sandstone without presenting, so far as our 
 examination has gone, any traces of marine or other organic 
 relics. It undoubtedly underlies the neighbouring trap rocks of 
 the North mountains, and supports them through their whole 
 extent ; but its junction with the trap was not observed at this 
 place, though in a distant section of the North mountains it is 
 seen rising up from beneath it, and forming the coast for a consid- 
 erable distance. On the shore of St. INIary's Bay, a vertical sec- 
 tion of this sandstone is presented, of about one hundred and 
 fifty feet in height ; spreading its broad face to the sea, and being 
 the natural barrier against its violence, it has received the 
 appropriate nppellation of " the sea-wall." It consists of the red 
 and grey varieties, alternating with each other in long parallel 
 strata, running nearly north and south, and gradually inclining 
 away at an angle of about ten degrees, till it disappears beneath 
 the surface. The strata vary much in thickness, but from four 
 54 
 
It 
 
 234 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 inches to four feet will include the limits of their variation. The 
 first ten or twelve feet of the precipice include uniiorm alterna- 
 tions of the grey variety alone ; above this succeeds a beautifully 
 variegated kind, made up with white, grey, and variously shaded 
 red-colored stripes, which, rising in continually widening strata, 
 become gradually of a deeper red, and finally pass, d.stmctly, 
 into the red sandstone, retaining this character through the 
 remaining superposition of the strata. This red sandstone con- 
 sists of minute grains of siliceous and calcareous matter, mter- 
 spersed with spangles of mica. Attached to it are small beds of 
 reddle, or red chalk, usually occupying the spaces between 
 approximate strata, and preventing their actual contact. This 
 variety is comparatively soft, and more readily acted upon by 
 external causes than the grey, which has a much coarser, and by 
 no means so uniform a texture. Both effervesce briskly in nitric 
 acid, but the grey contains a greater portion of the calcareous 
 ingredient. This sandstone does not contain veins of gypsum or 
 limestone. In fact, the reddle was the only simple mineral which 
 we observed in it. The entire precipice, from the feeble cohe- 
 sion of its parts, is rapidly acted upon by the ordinary causes of 
 decay; large masses are almost continually .losing their hold 
 above, and adding new matter to the slope of debris, which 
 inclines from its base into the sea. ^^ 
 
 On the road to Digby, about three miles from " the sea-wall, 
 we met with an interesting deposit of magnetic iron ore, although 
 it did not prove to be a very extensive one. A collection of 
 masses, in all about twenty tons, were found lying in the soil, and 
 confined to a very narrow space on the south side of Nichols' 
 mountain. The rock, in which they originally occurred, and 
 whirh, by its decay, had left them disconnected, is amygdaloid of 
 
 
 ]> 
 
 »i 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVova Scotia. 235 
 
 a fragile character, presenting few or no mineral ingredients. 
 On breaking these masses, they were found to possess a coarse 
 granular structure, and sometimes to present, in their cavities, octa- 
 hedral and dodecahedral crystals of great briUiancyand perfection. 
 They were highly magnetic, and some of the masses possessed po- 
 larity. They presented beautiful druses of amethyst in violet crys- 
 tals,'projecting from grounds of chalcedony containing small glob- 
 ular masses of mesotype and calcareous spar. They also contain 
 brilliant druses of quartz, presented in botryoidal and stalactitic 
 forms. Occasionally, the amethyst, quartz, and chalcedony are 
 united in one specimen, enclosing imperfect crystals of magnetic 
 iron, and constituting, when polished, a singular variety of brecci- 
 ated agate, showing the metaUic concretions deeply imbedded m 
 the transparent mass. 
 
 Near this place, a small stream takes its rise from the moun- 
 tains, called William's Brook, which, running some distance south- 
 eastwardlv, empties its waters into St. Mary's Bay. On the 
 banks of' this stream, near its source, we discovered veins of a 
 radiated 'milk quartz in the amygdaloidal trap, coated externally 
 with a thin incrustation of green earth, and having vacancies 
 internally crystallized, and enclosing, in some of the geodes, a 
 beautiful pearly white fohated heulandite, with stilbite often radi- 
 ated, and sometimes intersected by the laminae of heulandite. 
 The two minerals being thus exhibited tegether in the same speci- 
 men, their distinguishing peculiarities are rendered much more 
 obvious. Indeed the most unpractised eye readily distinguishes 
 the bright pearly lustre of the heulandite, from the dull greyish 
 white rellection of the stilbite. In the same geode with the 
 heulandite. occurs a greenish mineral, crystallized in the form of 
 the obtuse rhomboid, and possessing all the characters of chaba- 
 
 
236 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 I 
 
 sie, excepting color. It is probably that mineral, colored by 
 green earth. These masses often occupy the whole interior of 
 the geodes, and are deeply indented by the pyramids of the 
 surrounding quartz crystals ; whence we suppose it to have been 
 of more recent formation, or at least of more recent induration, 
 than the quartz enveloping it. Botryoidal cacholong also occurs, 
 encrusting the interior of the vacant cavities of the quartz. This 
 locality will repay the mineralogical traveller for the trouble of 
 a visit ; and the course of the stream is a correct guide to the 
 spot where specimens may be procured. 
 
 The only place which we have not already described, worthy 
 of a visit from the geologist, is that part of Digby Neck where 
 the North mountain range is interrupted by the Gut of Annapolis. 
 This is two miles from the town of Digby. At this place, is situ- 
 ated the Light-house, which serves to guide navigators to the 
 entrance of Annapolis Basin, the most capacious and secure 
 harbour for large vessels in Nova Scotia, and one in which, as is 
 observed by an historian of the country, a thousand ships may 
 ride, secure from every wind. 
 
 The site of the Light-house is on a projecting rock of colum- 
 nar trap of the most compact variety ; ami the numerous irregular 
 crevices have been filled with chalcedony, jasper, and agate, 
 which, adhering firmly to the contiguous rock, give it additional 
 firmness, enabling it to resist successfully the fury of the waves, 
 which, in boisterous weather, dash completely over the precipice, 
 and wash from its surface every trace of soil or vegetation. The 
 centres of the columns of trap appear to be more readily acted 
 upon by the sea, than the parts contiguous to the chalcedonic 
 veins, and thus concavities are produced, in which the spray from 
 the sea, slowly evaporating, leaves crystals of its saline contents, 
 as in natural salt-pans. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JV&va Scotia. 
 
 237 
 
 The rocks at this place are columnar trap, incumbent on 
 amygdaloid, and present a surface exactly corresponding to that 
 on the opposite side of the Gut, which is but half a mile wide, 
 and appears as if it had been separated by violence, and not worn 
 away by the action of the sea, which, however, at other places, 
 has been a wonderful agent in undermining the lofty superstruc- 
 ture of columnar rock that skirts this coast. To the most re- 
 markable of these we shall have occasion to refer hereafter. 
 Des Barres, in his " Atlantic Neptune," has given several beauti- 
 fully drawn views of the scenery of Nova Scotia, exhibiting the 
 bold and magnificent features of the Bay of Fundy (equalled only 
 by northern Ireland and the Hebrides), as well as of the tamer 
 and more varied scenery of other parts, taken during the survey 
 of this coast in the year 1779, by order of the British govern- 
 ment. Among these, we have a picturesque view of the cliffs at 
 the entrance of Annapolis Gut, just referred to, which, with 
 some alterations making it more conformable to the present appear- 
 ance of the spot, conveys so well the true character of this 
 scene, that we gladly avail ourselves of this opportunity of bring- 
 ing it again before the public eye, especially as the work of 
 Des Barres has now become very rare ; one perfect copy being 
 all we met with in Nova Scotia. [See Plate I. at the end 
 of this volume.] 
 
 Leaving Annapolis Gut, our attention will next be directed to 
 Chute's Cove, which is about twenty miles from it. The interme- 
 diate coast we did not examine particularly, but sailed by so near 
 it as to observe its more prominent features. It presents lofty 
 precipices of trap rocks, and affords the mariner no harbour of 
 sufficient security from the sudden gales that spring up on this 
 coast. Even Chute's Cove, although it is considered the best, 
 56 
 
 II 
 
S38 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 and has a small settlement, will afford him a safe retreat only dur- 
 ing certain winds, as it stands nearly open to the sea. The trap, 
 composing the bottom of this cove, is in distinct columnar 
 masses, the surfaces of which present, from the action of the sea, 
 assisted by the motion of sand and pebbles, shallow, basin-like 
 cavities, regularly curving from the centre up to the edge, which 
 is harder, and formed of quartz and jasper, and in some places 
 has become highly polished. The quartz and jasper are inter- 
 posed between the columns like a cement, and very firmly at- 
 tached to them. We observed several columns beyond the reach 
 of the sea, which exhibited to a less extent the same appearances, 
 proving, however, that ordinary causes have a direct tendency to 
 produce these depressions on their surfaces. The minerals we 
 obtained in our visit to this spot, were found about one mile west 
 from the cove, where we met with an immense waste of water- 
 worn and nearly globular masses of trap, running down like 
 a pavement into the sea. Many of these masses are highly pol- 
 ished by attrition, and they frequently exhibit, on their surfaces, 
 small globular concretions of heliotrope, or bloodstone, imbedded 
 in a chalcedony of a very deep green color. This interesting 
 mineral also occurs not far ofl' in veins traversing amygdaloid, and 
 exhibits, in the green chalcedony, which seems to owe its color 
 to the green earth that frequently invests it, minute, thread-like, 
 and diverging branches of a high crimson color. The chalcedon- 
 ic part has a milky hue, and passes into carnelian. 
 
 At Chute's Cove, six miles east of the locality just mentioned, 
 the rocks resume their abrupt character, and present lofty preci- 
 pices of columnar trap resting on amygdaloid, abounding with 
 zeolites. The shape of the cavities presented by this amygda- 
 loid, is very singular j for instead of the spheroidal shape, in 
 
 '4; 
 
Mineralogy and Otology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 which they usually occur, we are here presented with cylindrical 
 cavities, from half an inch to two inches in diatneter, and often 
 more than a foot in length. They are mostly vertical or but 
 slightly inclined, and sometimes branch in a curious manner. 
 The interior of these cylinders is usually coated with a thin 
 layer of green earth, over which an incrustation of beautiful 
 crystals of heulandite is deposited. A considerable space 
 is usually left void in the centre, and the projecting crystals 
 are k mark ably perfect, exhibiting many curious modifica- 
 tions on the primary form. The most common is the re* 
 phcement of the solid obtuse angles, and the lateral acute 
 edges by single planes, thus producing a hexahedral prism with 
 dihedral summits. The heulandite is not always crystallized, but 
 often entirely tills the tube with laminte, intersecting each other 
 in an irregular manner, as if it had attempted crystallization in a 
 space too limited to allow room for the crystals to become per- 
 fect. They are evidently the product of one crystallization, for 
 there are never concentric layers of this mineral in the tubes. 
 These cylinders, studded with brilliant crystals of heulandite, 
 constitute specimens highly interesting to the mineralogist ; but 
 the form and position of the cavities may be considered valuable 
 evidence in accounting for the origin of the trap rocks. Our limits 
 will not permit us to dwell on this subject sufficiently to weigh 
 the evidence against any theory, but we may venture to hint at 
 the evidence which may be derived from their form and position. 
 If the cavities were produced by the expansion cf an elastic fluid, 
 the pressure being equal in all directions, a spherical cavity 
 V ould necessarily be produced; and this might be converted into 
 a cylindrical cavity or tube, by the hardening of that portion 
 of the rock to which the upper hemisphere was attached, 
 
r ■ 
 
 240 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 and by a subsidence of the tenacious mass below, containing 
 the other hemisphere. The tubes are often bent at right 
 angles, as if the rock had been subjected to an alternate ir- 
 regular elevation and depression. The occurrence of native 
 copper in a similar cavity, a few miles to the east of this 
 place, might probably be adduced as evidence that the pro- 
 duction of this rock was attended with heat. In the instance 
 referred to, there was a crystal of green analcime attached to a 
 filament of native copper, which, projecting from the rock, prob- 
 ably served it as a nucleus on which to crystallize. The crystals 
 of heulandite &<c. were doubtless deposited subsequently to the 
 formation of the cavities, as the incrustation always received its 
 impressions from the irregularities of the tube, and never left any, 
 although it received an indentation from the slightest prominence 
 in the rock. The only way in which we can account for these 
 cavities, on the supposition that the rocks were of aqueous origin, 
 would be, to suppose the upright tubes to have been produced 
 by the ascent of some elastic gas ; but as the cavities are soon 
 arrested by a dense superincumbent rock, and have no outlet, 
 and at the same time diminish in size as they ascend, there is 
 reason to suppose the cavities to have been produced by some 
 condensible elastic fluid, as steam. Their position shows the force 
 which produced them to have acted in a direction up and down, 
 and their irregularities perhaps indicate the rising and falling of 
 
 the Uquid mass. 
 
 The inadequacy of any hypothesis to explain these appear- 
 ances, if founded on the aqueous origin of the trap, is clearly 
 shown, we think, by the evidence we have in favor of the oppo- 
 site theory; a theory which satisfactorily explains the peculiari- 
 ties referred to, and which derives no little support from, if it is 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVbva Scotia. 241 
 
 not confirmed by the precisely analogous phenomena presented 
 by rocks of known igneous origin ; such, for example, as the vol- 
 canic lavas and obsidians of Iceland and the Lipari Isles, cited 
 by Mr. Scrope, in his able work on Volcanos.* 
 
 The occurrence, too, of similar cavities in the secondary trap 
 of other regions, has been mentioned by several writers on geol- 
 ogy, and in this country especially by Professor Hitchcock, who, 
 in his valuable notices of the trap bordering on the Connecticut 
 River, aptly remarks, that the rocks in which they there occur, 
 " appear as if bored through repeatedly by an auger." f And 
 in a paper which we have recently noticed in the "Trans- 
 actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," J written by Mr. 
 Trevelyan, we find them mentioned as occurring in the trap of 
 one of the Ferroo Islands. This careful ol server ascribes 
 their origin to the escape of an elastic fluid through the mass of 
 this rock while soft. 
 
 We shall take occasion hereafter to show the relations of shale, 
 red sandstone, and trap, in the production of trap tuff and amygda- 
 loid ; which will lead us to infer, that the vicinity of the trap is 
 necessary to the formation of amygdaloid, and that the produc- 
 tion of that rock was attended by heat. But before leaving this 
 cove, we would mention, that foUated heulandite occurs in vems 
 two or three inches wide in the amygdaloid, and that mesotype 
 is found abundantly in the soil formed by the disintegration of 
 
 this rock. 
 
 From St. Croix Cove, pursuing the coast easterly, the aiiiyg- 
 daloid, crowned with columnar trap, continues and forms an ab- 
 rupt precipice for about five miles, where it is again interrupted 
 
 Page 113. 
 
 t Silliman's Journal, Vol, VI. p. 53. 
 56 
 
 t Vol. IX. 
 
242 Messrs. Jackson and Alger m the 
 
 by Martial's Cove. The rocks at this place, and the veins pre- 
 sented by the neighbouring coast, cannot fail to reward the labor 
 of those who may visit this spot, as scarcely a week passes, 
 without the downfall of some impending cliff, that scatters its 
 treasures along the shore, before shaded by its brink. Here 
 the heulandite is not confined to spheroidal masses as a mere 
 constituent of the amygdaloid, but exists in veins sometimes six 
 inches wide, extending vertically from the base of the precipice 
 to its very summit. Some of them, that have fallen with the 
 masses of trap, exhibit broad folia of a pearly white appearance. 
 This heulandite, usually colorless and transparent, is sometimes 
 of a red color, like that from Scotland and Germany. 
 
 But in speaking of the interesting productions of this place, we 
 should not pass over a very curious, and, in fact, hitherto unknown 
 association of analcime with native copper. The analcime occurs 
 in the form of the primary crystal, and by the replacement of 
 these planes on all its solid angles, presents the passage of that 
 form into the trapezohedron. It is of a verdigris green color 
 externally, but, towards the centre of many crystals, this color 
 diminishes in intensity, and in some it entirely disappears, leaving 
 them transparent. They also approach the emerald green. The 
 copper is partially imbedded in these crystals, sometimes in glob- 
 ular concretions of about the size of a common pin's head, and at 
 other times in minute filaments, having one extremity attached to 
 the amygdaloid, hi the cavities of which they both occur. These 
 globules are soft and malleable, and, when scraped, possess the 
 brilliant lustre of pure copper. The crystals presenting them- 
 selves under an aspect so new and beautiful, induced us to exam- 
 ine them more particularly in order to ascertain the nature of 
 their coloring matter. As the amygdaloid contained u portion of 
 
Minercdogy and Geology of Mova Scotia. 
 
 243 
 
 
 green earth, we at first ascribed the color to this substance, as it 
 is well known to penetrate other minerals and impart to them a 
 green tinge. But as a few of these crystals were covered by a 
 thin film of a green carbonate of copper, it seemed probable that 
 this substance might be the occasion of the green stain which 
 more uniformly pervaded them. In order to ascertain it, we 
 digested the powder of a crystal which contained no copper 
 mechanically united with it, in nitric acid, and detected this metal 
 in the solution by appropriate tests. It is probable that thivS 
 metal may yet be discovered at this locaUty in crystals occupying 
 the cavities of the amygdaloid, as has been observed by Mr. Allan 
 in a similar formation in one of the Ferroe Isles. 
 
 The places which next demand our attention, are two emi- 
 nences known as Hadley's and Gates's Mountains. They are situ- 
 ated near each other, and each attains the height of about three 
 hundred feet above the level of the Bay of Fundy. The former 
 consists mostly of amygdaloid, in which, in many places, nodules 
 of chlorophEeite take the place of the zeolites that usually occu- 
 py the cavities of this rock. These nodules are frequently half 
 an inch in diameter, and are sometimes hollow, enclosing crystals 
 of dog-tooth spar. Specimens of the chlorophajite, when re- 
 cently broken, are of a greenish tinge, sometimes approaching 
 leek green. It is translucent on the edges, and soft, yielding to the 
 nail with about the same readiness as horn silver. Its fracture 
 is distinctly conchoidal. On exposure to the air, the color 
 changes, and the substance becomes black and opaque. This 
 peculiar change is also observed in specimens, before being re- 
 moved from the rock, even to the depth of six inches from the 
 surface. We would observe, that this substance, from its decep- 
 tive appearance, has occasioned much speculation among the in- 
 
 U if 
 
 ■81 
 
 i 1:' 
 
MM'MiiMMiaMiM'*!*" 
 
 244 Messrs, Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 HabUanU. and .ha. a company was fo^ed "-^^^ 
 purpose of working i. a, an ore of oopper. Th s m„.ake 
 fo lave originated from .he use of the mmeral rod, wh.ch .n 
 NoI;:;c"ia, a, wen as i„ New England, has led »a„y an hones, 
 farmer into ruinous speculations. i^onlnnfl- 
 
 Z .his .ocaU.y. we were kindly shown spec^ens of he ad 
 r„™ we believe, rarely presen.ed by Ibis mineral. 
 Ue under => f»J^™. wj ^ ./ ,„,^„, i„„„e, ,o„g and 
 
 One was a mass ne ly ^^^^ ^^__^.^,^^ „( 
 
 ^ i:t:: o::raf srcrco've, a„d obvious,y o„ee aUed 
 r:L.ire space of a eavi.y in ^^-^t.ZZ:T^ 
 
 :rr:::;rs::re:::iro*:rsa:.ha.piace. 
 
 Ga Js moumain is very similar in i.s s.rae.ure .0 .he one ,a» 
 „entoed-, b„. .he minerals included in .he amyg aloul are t 
 rren' 'characer, and are so numerous as .o rer,d. unneces 
 .aryeven .he ordinary labor ^'^^^^l^:^^ 
 
 „«, by i.s ^-^- »;^;:;;f ~ ee. Mos.„f .hem 
 ex.en. sufficient to give it a wn.ie pf 
 are in small masses, no. larger than a PePP"-"™' ""' ™°"^ 
 Z were found globular masses of thomsoni.e and mesotype 
 ofThe sze f .wen.y-fo»r pound balls. When broken through 
 1 centre, the masses of thomsonite present long and slender 
 r stXtdU.i.g from opposite points of .he surface to he cen 
 Jwh re they meet and form small cells, m which may be ob- 
 
Mineralogy and Geology oj JVova Scotia. 246 
 
 served distinct, colorless, and transparent crystals in the primary 
 form, and measuring more than an inch in length. These crys- 
 tals are occasionally replaced on their solid angles and terminal 
 edges, so as to produce low pyramidal terminations. This 
 thomsonite agrees with that from Dumbarton in Scotland, in its 
 chemical and physical characters. 
 
 The mesotype is in masses of a finely radiated or plumose 
 structure, and when broken, presents, in the less compact parts, 
 small intersecting fibres of a beautiful silky white appearance. 
 Its texture, near the surface, is unusually compact, breaking with 
 a spUntery fracture ; and some specimens in this respect, as well 
 as in point of color, resemble the bones of animals, for which they 
 are sometimes mistaken by the inhabitants, who plough them up 
 from the soil of their fields. We did not observe in any of these 
 specimens, well marked appearances of crystallization. Attached 
 to the mesotype and thomsonite, are small masses of foliated 
 stilbite and crystals of analcime. Several veins of magnetic iron 
 ore occur on this mountain, but they are worthless, in a practical 
 view, from their narrowness and inconsiderable extent. 
 
 The next place, which will prove interesting to the mineralo- 
 gist, is Peter's Point. This name is given to a promontory, which, 
 projecting into the Bay of Fundy, forms a shelter on the west to 
 a small creek, into which a stream, sufficiently large to carry a 
 saw-mill, called Stronoch's Brook, discharges its waters. The 
 geological features of this place are similar to those at St. Croix 
 Cove, excepting that the cylindrical cavities are here wanting, 
 and the amygdaloid has been washed away from under the super- 
 incumbent columnar rock, which presents an overhanging preci- 
 pice, threatening to crush the traveller who may venture beneath 
 67 
 
 f H 
 
 f 
 
 \\ 
 
246 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 its frowning summit, from which large masses of rock, de- 
 tached by the frosts, are almost continually falling. 
 
 Near this point, under the protection of an arch of columnar 
 trap a deep cavity was discovered in the amygdaloid, which, 
 having a narrow aperture, expanded internally to the diameter of 
 six feet, in every direction. The mouth of this cavern bemg 
 enlarged, so as to admit of examination, its walls were found to 
 be tWckly encrusted with laumonite in a remarkably fine state of 
 preservation. Specimens were easily detached by the hand, and 
 were found to consist of successive layers of radiating crystals, 
 which, in the centre of the mass, were of a fine flesh-red color. 
 The external surface of this crust, and the interior of cavities 
 which frequently occur, were richly studded with transparent and 
 colorless crystals, of great perfection and beauty. They are in 
 the form of the oblique rhombic prism, terminated by a rhombic 
 plane passing from one of the acute solid angles to the other, and 
 almost constantly replaced on the acute solid angles by a single 
 triangular plane resting on the acute lateral edges ; these sec- 
 ondary planes are always small, and never obscure the primary 
 form of the crystal. The cavities, in the laumonite, are often 
 filled with water, which serves to prevent the efflorescence of the 
 crystals, which are thus preserved in an unaltered state. The 
 surface of this mineral is frequently enriched with crystals of 
 calcareous spar, exhibiting the forms of the rhomboid more 
 obtuse than the primary, and the scalene triangular planed dode- 
 cahedron. Large and perfect crystals of apophyllite, in the form 
 of the square prism, generally replaced on the solid angles by 
 single triangular planes, which are in various degrees of advance- 
 ment, sometimes almost concealing the primary form, are found 
 at this place. This mineral agrees perfectly with specimens in 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVbva Scotia. 
 
 247 
 
 I 
 
 our possession, which are from standard localities in Europe. 
 The crystals are eminently axotomous, and this cleavage is so 
 easily obtained, that it is with great difliculty the crystals can be 
 preserved entire. The cleavages parallel to the sides of the 
 right square prism are easily obtained, but the natural joints are 
 not so open as in the direction of the terminal plane. It agrees 
 likewise in chemical characters with the apophyllite from the 
 Bannat ; hence there can be no doubt of its identity with that 
 species. 
 
 In visiting this interesting locality the second time in 1828, we 
 were unable to gain access to this remarkable cavity, as the 
 frightful cliif, that before hung over it, had fallen during the winter, 
 and buried it among the ruins. But we met with other localities 
 scarcely less interesting in this vicinity, in the numerous cavities 
 and arches that have been hollowed out by the surges from the 
 softer amygdaloid that is traversed by veins of a yielding nature ; 
 such as carbonate of lime and sandstone, the last rising probably 
 from the immediate substrata of this rock, on which the trap 
 reposes. These veins, at the inner extremities of the caverns, 
 are frequently hollow and lined with stilbite, heulandite, and 
 more rarely with apophyllite, in greenish white square prisms, an 
 inch in length. Masses of laumonite, with surfaces more than a 
 foot square, were obtained from them, and were found complete- 
 ly studded over with projecting crystals of great richness. One 
 of these, we succeeded in preserving entire, and its crystals now 
 possess all their native beauty and transparency. They show no 
 tendency to effloresce when immersed in sjririts of wine ; a fluid 
 which has great advantage over water in the winter season in 
 not endangering the vessels in which the specimens are preserved. 
 Between Peter's Point and French Cross Cove, the precipices 
 
 || .? 
 
 W: i1 
 
248 
 
 Mesm's. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 
 '«•< 
 
 6-i. 
 
 which rise in many places perpendicularly to the height of three 
 hundred feet, exhibit very distinctly, as we pass them, the parallel 
 disposition of the different beds of which they are made up. 
 The precipice at French Cross, from its being accessible at low 
 water, is perhaps as instructive as any. Here the lowest bed, 
 which is about twenty feet thick, is a reddish amygdaloid, largely 
 impregnated with spheroidal zeolites ; the next is an amygdaloid 
 of common appearance, and contains but few minerals in its 
 composition, although it presents many cavities unoccupied. The 
 third is rarely vesicular, and seems in fact to pass into amorphous 
 trap. The fourth and last is composed of tabular and columnar 
 trap rising in irregular columns to the lop of the precipice. They 
 all incline away at an angle of from five to ten degrees with the 
 horizon, and are distinctly separated from each other throughout 
 their whole course. 
 
 The stratified arrangement of these rocks is, we believe, an 
 uncommon occurrence ; at least, we do not remember to have 
 seen it noticed but in a very few instances. Dr. M'Culloch has 
 recorded an instance of it in his interesting paper on the Island 
 of Staffa,* but there the precipice consisted entirely of the colum- 
 nar rock, and the three beds composing it did not exhibit that 
 peculiar relation of contact which distinguishes the one we have 
 mentioned ; nor did the precipice, compared with this, attain 
 any thing like an equal altitude ; and it would be much less diffi- 
 cult to assign the origin of three beds, which exhibit such similar- 
 ity in structure, to one and the same epoch, than four which pre- 
 sent great diversity in structure and mineral contents. They all 
 appear to have been deposited at successive periods, and so long 
 
 
 Transactions of the Geological Society of London, Vol. II. p. 504. 
 

 .Mineralogy and Geology ofJVbva Scotia. 249 
 
 after one another, as to have affected no intimate union. The 
 sandstone, although it does not appear as a part of the section 
 exhibited, is immediately subjacent to it, and may be observed at 
 several places along the coast cropping out from beneath the trap ; 
 the amygdaloid, where it comes in contact with it, being of a 
 reddish color, evidently the effect of a partial admixture of the 
 two rocks. The sandstone, in some places, to which we shall 
 have occasion to allude, enters largely into the composition of the 
 trap breccia, as well as the amygdaloid, and shows evident traces 
 of igneous action. 
 
 The amygdaloid near this precipice furnishes good specimens 
 of laumonite and mesotype ; but the most abundant mineral it 
 contains is heulandite, which, from the beauty of its crystals, we 
 shall here describe. It occupies the interior of veins of jasper, 
 and is sometimes found lining the surfaces of botryoidal chalce- 
 dony and geodiferous quartz. The crystals are in the form of 
 right oblique-angled prisms with their obtuse solid angles replaced 
 by triangular planes, and their acute edges replaced by one 
 plane ; they thus pass into hexahedral prisms. They are color- 
 less and transparent. On cleavage parallel to the terminal 
 plane of the prism, the laminae present the brilliant pearly white 
 appearance characteristic of this species, while the lateral planes 
 often present a remarkable vitreous aspect. None of the heu- 
 landite however, from this locality, possesses the red color pecu- 
 har to that brought from the Tyrol. Specimens of it are fre- 
 quently interspersed with stilbite in projecting bundles of crystals, 
 which well show the characteristic difference between the two 
 minerals. Analcime of a reddish color is also associated with it, 
 and is probably that variety called sarcolite. 
 58 
 
 -- 
 
 :^i .; 
 
 I S 
 
260 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 No further examination was made of this coast until we 
 arrived at Cape Split. This bold promontory terminating the 
 eastward limit of the North mountain range, projects into the 
 Bay of Fundy, and the extremity of the cape, being broken into 
 detached masses, has given rise to the appropriate name by which 
 it is now known. In our former remarks on this cape, we stated, 
 in accordance with the common opinion, that the detached masses 
 referred to, had been suddenly separated, or split oil', from the 
 main cape by the undermining of the amygdaloid by the sea ; 
 but this opinion is evidently incorrect, as is shown by the present 
 vertical or conformable position of their columnar masses to those 
 of the main cape, in advance of which they are stationed ; prov- 
 ing them to have been separated by the gradual degradation of 
 the rock in situa. [See Plate II. of this volume.] * This cape 
 forms the southern boundary of the strait called by the inhabi- 
 tants the "Gut," which connects the waters of the Bay of Fundy 
 with the Basin of Mines. It presents, on either side, a mural 
 precipice of about three hundred feet, and is fifteen miles from 
 Cape Blomidon. The intervening coast consists of columnar 
 trap resting on, and alternating with amygdaloid. These rocks 
 occasionally rise to a great height, especially about half the dis- 
 
 • This plate, from Des Barres' Chart, does not give so accurate u view of the 
 present features of this singular spot as we could have wished, and the same may 
 he said also of Plate I. taken from the same work. Bui we were unwilling to 
 alter either of them very materially from mere recollection, ami have therefore had 
 them copied on stone very nearly as we found them. Notwithstanding the 
 changes wiiicli tiie two places have undergone in the elapse of more than a half 
 century, they yet convey a striking semblance of the peculiar physiognomy of 
 either, and will inMatitly recall to the mind, the impressions that were previously 
 fixed in it, wliiic lielioUling, for the first time, the scenery which they are intended 
 to portray. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of .JVova Scotia. 
 
 261 
 
 tance tovvaixls Cape Hlomidon, where they considerably ex- 
 ceed that of any other part of tliis coast, attaining an elevation, 
 in one place, of four hundred and fifty feet, as was ascertained by 
 the ingenious rellecting circle of Sir Howard Douglas, the late 
 accomplished Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. At thia 
 place the amygdaloid is marked by numerous small and narrow 
 veins of magnetic iron ore, coated over with grey oxide of manga- 
 nese. The one is finely displayed in large and brilliant crystals that 
 show the passage of the primary form into rhombic dodecahe- 
 drons. They are sometimes imbedded in red jasper and quartz, 
 from which they may be taken out entire, so as to leave accurate 
 moulds or impressions of their forms. Grounds of quartz crystals 
 are often found sprinkled over with limpid crystals of analcimc 
 and calc-spar ; the latter in acute rhomboids, some of which are 
 hemitropes, and present deep striae parallel to the natural joints 
 of the i)nmary crystal. Also apophyllite in massy specimens, 
 that present on fracture, broad transparent folia of a high vitre- 
 ous lustre, anil in regular sqi.are prisms replaced on their solid 
 angles, more than an inch in length. These crystals, colorless 
 and transparent in their external laminie, are occasionally found to 
 enclose a smaller prism of uniform apple green color, which 
 seems to have served as a nucleus, over which the colorless par- 
 ticles were subseipiently deposited in parallel order ; thus imitat- 
 ing the process by which a small crystal, some time after its 
 formation, is converted into a larger one of the same figure. The 
 distinct line of separation between the surfaces of the two, 
 proves them not to have been formed at the same time ; or points 
 out at least a suspension in the process of crystallization. This 
 is an interesting fact, which we do not remember to hove seen 
 noticed before. 
 
 
 
 in 
 
 i 
 
252 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Jlgcr on the 
 
 We also met with interesting specimens of chalcedony, curi- 
 ously marked by those regular stripes, or alternations of different 
 shades of color, that are exhibited in the onyx a-j;ates of the 
 lapidaries. They are sometimes arranged in little zones, which, 
 if cut and polished, would resemble the stones sold under the 
 name of " onyx eyes." The chalcedony is sometimes converted, 
 apparently, by decomposition, into an adhesive cacholong, and is 
 earthy and opaque. These minerals, like most of the others we 
 shall mention, are obtained most conveniently among the loose 
 masses of rock that skirt the shore ; and it is fortunate for the 
 collector of these objects, that he has thus at his ready command, 
 treasures which would otherwise cost him great labor in obtain- 
 ing, and for which, in clambering up the lofty precipices, he 
 would besides expose himself to the no litde danger of falling 
 with the loose masses to which he may cling for support. 
 
 About one mile east of this locality, the amygdaloid abounds 
 with analcime, in dodecahedral crystals transparent and colorless ; 
 but sometimes of an apple green color internally, and invested 
 with on opaque white crust on their surfaces. But no separating 
 line is seen between them as in the case of the apophyllite. 
 Accompanying the analcime, we found a mineral resembling that 
 variety of mesotype called needlestone. It occurs in letrahedral 
 prisms terminated by low pyramids, formed by four triangular 
 planes resting on the terminal edges. One of the terminal planes 
 is often extended at the expense of the others, which it some- 
 times nearly obliterates. It occurs in radiating and interwoven 
 groups of crystals that proceed from a centre, which is sufficiently 
 compact to yield a splintery fracture, and is white like ivory ; 
 they are transparent and colorless, have a remarkable vitreous 
 lustre, and are sufficiently hard to scratch glass. They are often 
 
i 
 
 Mineralof^y and Geology of JVova Scotia, 253 
 
 beautifully interspersed with, and studded (^ver the crystals of 
 analrimc, which thoy are never known to penetrate, but from 
 which they receive impressions as if deposited at a later period. 
 Accompanyini; the analcitne and necdlestone of this place, a min- 
 eral was met with in hexahedral prisms, which, a^^reeiii^ in chem- 
 ical and physical characters with no mineral described in the 
 systems, will undoubtedly prove to be some new substance. It is 
 identical with no species of the genus kouphone-spar of Profes- 
 sor Mobs, and the only minerals with which, from crystallographic 
 characters, it can be supposed to be identical, are the colorless 
 crystals of phosphate of lime from St. (jothard, and the sommite 
 from Italy ; from both of which, however, it is proved, beyond 
 a doubt, to be distinct, by its very ready fusibility, its inferior hard- 
 ness, and its unsusccptibiiity of dissolving or undergoing altera- 
 tion when its smaller fragments arc thrown into nitric acid. On 
 comparing it widi the Davync, a mineral more recently discovered 
 by Messrs. Monticelli and Covelli of Naples, and described in 
 their Prodroino dcWi Mineralos^ria Vcsuinana,* it appears to pos- 
 sess many characters in common with that substance, having the 
 same fundamental form, of which it presents the same modifica- 
 tions, and observes nearb the same proportions between the 
 height and brea'.th of the crystals, but especially reseml)les it 
 in its color, transparency, specific gravity, and pyrognostic charac- 
 ters. In its hardness, however, it is inferior to the crystals of that 
 mineral, as it leaves no trace on glass, being softer than phosphate 
 of lime, as we have before observed ; a character of some impor- 
 tance, opposing as it does the identity of the two substances. It 
 yields to cleavage very indistinctly, and only in a direction par- 
 
 
 I'age 405. 
 
 59 
 
254 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 allel to the lateral primary planes of the crystals, though ihey 
 present deep transverse striaa which seem to indicate an opposite 
 cleavage, and which are not stated to have been observed in the 
 crystals of that mineral; from which also it differs, in not being ta- 
 ken up in the smallest degree by nitric acid. The secondary 
 planes of the crystals of this mineral, are usually more smooth 
 and vitreous than the primary, which are roughened by strije ; 
 and they disclose a perfectly transparent and homogeneous inte- 
 rior. These crystals are rarely three eighths of an inch in length. 
 But we shall suspend any further remarks on this substance, until 
 an accurate and car:)ful analysis of it, now making by our friend, 
 Mr. A. A. Hayes, is completed ; as we may then be better able to 
 show its identity with any partially known species, or set forth 
 its claims to the tide of one wholly unknown to the present cata- 
 logue of mineral substances. We were unwilling to pass on, 
 without recording some notice of it, although we have not given 
 a complete description of its characters, and have attempted only 
 to identify it with some described species. 
 
 Hornstone, masses of agate, &.c., occur scattered among the 
 ruins of the trap rocks, which become entirely inaccessible as 
 we approach Cape Blomidon. This cape forms an abrupt termi- 
 nation of the North mountains, or, as they are called in this dis- 
 trict, the Cornwallis mountains, on the east. It presents us with 
 a view of the outcropping of the sandstone, which here gives sup- 
 port to the trap rocks, and constitutes the chief part of the 
 precipice, being more than three hundred feet high, and having 
 the columnar trap resting upon, and scarcely attaining the eleva- 
 tion of an hundred feet above it. The sandstone forms a pro- 
 jection beyond the trap, which is called by the inhabitants of the 
 country " the offset." This rock is regularly stratified, and dip- 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JYova Scotia. 
 
 255 
 
 ping at an angle of ten or fifteen degrees, passes beneath the trap, 
 which it supports throughout the whole extent of the North 
 mountains. 
 
 In our first short visit to this cape in 1827, we discovered in 
 the sandstone no foreign remains, or veins of gypsum ; but since, 
 by taking advantage of another landing-place where it gradually 
 slopes down to the water's edge, we have met with numerous veins 
 of the gypsum, some of which, the fibrous and granular varieties, 
 were more than a foot thick, and had been severed away and 
 broken into smaller masses, by the falling of the trap rocks from 
 above. Many of these masses presented the delicate whiteness 
 of pure snow, and were in striking contrast with the huge 
 masses of trap that were lying among them ; others consisted of 
 broad folia of transparent selenite. The only vegetable organic 
 remains we observ-ed, were a few indistinct casts of culmiferous 
 plants highly carbonized ; they indicated to us the probable exis- 
 tence of bituminous coal in the vicinity, and afford very positive 
 evidence of the igneous origin of the overlying trap rocks, in 
 converting them into their present charred or coal-like state. 
 We were not, however, so fortunate as to meet with any regular 
 beds of coal in this sandstone, so near its junction with the trap ; 
 a discovery, which would be of great practical value to the 
 inhabitants, and which may yet be made. JSor were we enabled 
 to remark in the two rocks any very decisive marks, evincing the 
 former action of one upon the other, excepting that the distinct 
 line of their junction was occasionally obscured by the passage 
 of one into the other; and angular masses of them both were 
 united into a sort of breccia, which assumed, in its finer varieties, 
 the character of genuine reddish amygdaloid, of a semi-vitrified 
 appearance, and having its cavities filled, as usual, with zeolites. 
 
266 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 
 This appearance is observed at almost every place where the 
 two rocks come in contact. "We find the sandstone and the shale 
 that occurs with it, gradually putting on the appearance of amyg- 
 daloid by admixture with masses of the superinduced trap, effect- 
 ed by some disturbing force ; and the amygdaloid, thus produced, 
 exhibits the small scales of mica that previously to the union exist- 
 ed in the sandstone ; but they are deprived of their lustre. Al- 
 most every locality furnishes those illustrative specimens, in which 
 we detect these fragmentary ingredients, forming first a coarse, 
 then a finer, and lastly a true vesicular amygdaloid, the color of 
 which, as we have said, depends on the relative portions of its 
 materials. These, with other no less interesting and instructive 
 phenomena, to which we shall presently allude, give great support 
 to the theory of the igneous origin of the trap; and if taken 
 together, we believe they cannot be explained without having 
 recourse to it. 
 
 Before describing the canes and islands of trap rocks which 
 project into the Basin of Mines, or are scattered along its north- 
 ern coast, forming the outskirts of the North mountain range, and 
 the limits of this interesting formation, it will be necessary to give 
 a brief account of the situation and extent of this sheet of water. 
 The Basin of Mines is of a scalene triangular shape, and, having its 
 longest side formed by the township of Parsborough and the 
 district of Colchester on the north, is sixty miles in length. The 
 next side, which is forty-five miles long, is formed by the county 
 of Hants ; and its shortest by the county of Kings, for the dis- 
 tance of twenty-five miles. The greatest breadth of this basin 
 is from Windsor to Parsborough, thirty miles. It communicates 
 with the Bay of Fundy by a narrow, but deep strait, called 
 " the Gut," which passes between the majestic walls of Cape Split 
 and Cape D'Or. 
 
 
 i 
 
Minfralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 257 
 
 This basin will prove interesting to the traveller, not only on 
 account of the delightful villages seated on the banks of some of 
 the many rivers which empty their waters into it, the picturesque 
 and imposing scenery of its borders, and the enormous tides 
 which here rise to the height of sixty feet with fearful rapidity, 
 but also for the remarkably hue illustrations of the geology of the 
 country and the interesliiig relations of the diHerent formations, 
 which are here presented in an unusually distinct manner. The 
 geologist will (Irliglit to circumnavigate the whole extent of its 
 coast, and explore the connexions of the ditl'eient series of rock 
 formations, the highly curious and important junctions of the trap 
 with the sandstone, shale, 6cc. The collector of specimens in 
 natural history, will also he richly rewarded foi- the perils to which 
 he may be ex{)osed, by the acquisition of many of the rare and 
 beautiiiil productions oi' the mineral kingdom. 
 
 The most eliii;il)le, anil only elhcient mode of exjiloring this 
 coast, altiiough not free from danger, is by means of a boat, not 
 so large as to be inrapal)le of Ixiing rowed in case of I'ailui'e of 
 wind ; for, besides the dilliculty of transporting si)ecimens, the 
 traveller is constandy in danger of being caught, beneath the 
 insurmountable precipices, by the rapid inilux oH the tides. An 
 accident of this kind having nearly happened to ourselves in 
 examining the geology of Cape D'Or, where we were under the 
 necessity of making our escape by clambering up a mural preci- 
 pice three hundred feet high, which was etfected with great risk 
 of falling with the detached columns on which we depended for 
 support, we think it our duty to warn our successors of such 
 hazards, and to recommend a boat as the means of safety in such 
 emergencies. 
 
 60 
 
 ^ 
 
258 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 The trap rocks compose most of the islands that are scattered 
 along the coast of the Basin of Mines, and most of the capes that 
 make into it. We shall describe them, for convenience, nearly in 
 the order in which they were examined; beginning with the 
 Island situated about five miles off the coast of Cape D'Or, and 
 proceeding thence to the eastward. This island from the great 
 height of its rocky cliffs, which, as we are told by Des Barres, 
 seem to overhang on its northwest side, has been appropriately 
 designated by the French, Isle Haute. It presents phenomena 
 of the most interesting character, and, in some respects, is une- 
 qualled by any other spot in Nova Scotia. In ascending the bay, 
 it was the first object that opened upon our view ; but it was seen 
 only by the looming or refraction of its dark surface by the fog, in 
 which it seemed suspended, and which compKHely obscured the 
 real substance of the island, until we very nearly approached it. 
 This beautiful appearance was also no less strikingly presented by 
 the elevated parts of the neighbouring coast, and fornieJ, by the 
 illusion, one of the most curious spectacles we ever witnessed. 
 We reached the island nearly at low water, a circumstance, we 
 should observe, of great importance to all who may visit it, as 
 from the great rapidity of the tides and conlliciing currents, 
 which here i-ise to the height of sixty feet, it is difficult and even 
 dangerous to land at any other time. Like the neighbouring 
 coast, it is comjiosed entirely of amygdaloid and columnar trap, 
 varying greatly in its features and altitude. On its western front, 
 it rears itself boldly to the surges, in a cliff about three hundred 
 feet high, and is considerably undermined at its base ; while, 
 towards the opposite shore, the surface of the Island inclines 
 away in a regular escarpment, and terminates in a comparatively 
 low cliff. Its features are also much less bold on its northern 
 
 
Mineralogy and Geclogy of JVova Scotia. 259 
 
 shore ; but here the deficiency is fully supplied by the beautiful 
 and conspicuous manner in which the shattered ridges and irreg- 
 ular colonnadesof columnar trap are seen to rise from the water's 
 edge, in shafts from fifty to an hundred feet high, and divided hor- 
 izontally into blocks of variable height and proportions. These 
 blocks are never more, and usually much less, than a foot 
 in diameter. Their length is gei.erally about three times 
 their diameter, but they rest upon each other with perfectly flat 
 surfixces. Some of them are curved or bent over in groups that 
 strike the eye with singular interest ; a])pearing to have been 
 pressed over into this posture, by some power that had acted 
 upon t'.icm before they had completely consolidated, or while 
 their particles were yet in a state of mobility. And it appeared 
 to us, on viewing; them, as if this happened while the mass of 
 trap was passing into its solid form. Appearances analogous to 
 them, we arc aw-are, have been observed, doubtless iti a more 
 remarkable manner, if we are to jiulge from pictured representa- 
 tions of them, in other trappean districts ; but, even here, they 
 form an interesting scene, and one, which, if taken in connexion 
 with otiier facts, ailbrds us some clue, at least, into th.'ii' origin, 
 and the nature of th(.> agent by which it was attended. We are 
 aware that a distinguished writer. Dr. M'CuUorh, in some one of 
 his papers, has said that it is useless to attempt the explanation 
 of such columns, until we have something more rational to olTer 
 in regai d to straight ones ; an observation certainly not to t)e over- 
 looked, but one, perhaps, which could be made with much greater 
 confidence ten years ago, than at the present time ; for it can 
 hardly be supposed that the able investigations of Mr. Scrope, 
 Professor Daubeny, and other writers on the continent, have not 
 since thrown some new light on the origin of trap rocks, and the 
 
 'f[ 
 
260 Messrs. Jackson and JIgcr on the 
 
 anomalous and grotesque forms occasionally assumed by them. 
 They refer U3 to the striking analogies subsisting between sec 
 ondary trap rocks, and the more recent volcanic lavas, as exhib- 
 ited in their columnar contiguralion and arrangement, their 
 celh.la.i.vandteMure; and, by these analogies, clearly deduce 
 their origin from similar, though, it may be, very remote; causes. 
 It is obvious therefore, that the occasional iiu invated appearance 
 of the trap referred to, is explained as easily as the same diing 
 Avhen >luAvn in the columns of lava, aiul is, in both cases, probably 
 the mere effect of some lateral motion given to the mass at the 
 time it was beginning to develop.' its cohimnai- stru.^lure iVom its 
 previous state of igneous lluidiiy. In inineralo-v too, we meet 
 with similar appearances, thou-h on a smaller scale, as, (nv exam- 
 pie, i',1 .he curved or bent up crystals of scapol.te, siHimaiiite, 
 sappar.< and sonu; oU.ers, which are not only curved, but are 
 bent nearlv double, and are sometimes even broken olf at their 
 centres, as if, in hardening, they ha.l become loo brittle too yield 
 any further without separating at those jiomts. 
 
 It is among the hexagonal masses of the trap composing this 
 island, that we meet with those possessing the greatest symmetry 
 of form. Some of them, indeed, have almost the symmetry of 
 crystals; but they are not so smooth as the regular l)locks of 
 trap brought from Ireland, and, internally, they are of a coarser 
 texture, resembling more nearly some of the masses brought 
 from the Western Islands of Scotland. In their simple mechan- 
 ical texture, they vary considerably, as might well be expected 
 in reasoning from their origin; but this is a character which has 
 little or no weight, from the very circumstance of its being so 
 variable. The island presents many crystallized mineral sub- 
 stances that cannot fail to interest and enrich the traveller. But 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVova Scotia. 261 
 
 as they agree with those we have already described, with some 
 minuteness, and as the island, in respect to its minerals and struc- 
 ture, is marked by an identity of character with the neighbouring 
 coast, with which it is doubtless coeval, we shall not enumerate 
 them, or enter more at laige upon the peculiar characteristics of 
 its scenery, but take leave of it by remarking that it deserves the 
 careful attention of naturalists, as well as lovers of the picturesque. 
 Cape Chignecto we did not visit, but approached it so nearly as 
 to ascertain its composition to be of trap, like the adjacent cape 
 next to be described. It was personally examined by our friend 
 Dr. Benjamin Lincoln, who has kindly communicated to us 
 many interesting facts relating to the geology of the county of 
 Cumberland.* 
 
 The trap forming the extremity of Cape Chignecto extends 
 back in the county of Cumberland nearly to Apple River, where 
 it meets the sandstone hereafter to be described and terminates 
 abruptly ; the sandstone coming boldly in contact with the trap, 
 and not dipping beneath it as usually happens. The strata of 
 this rock are nearly horizontal, and Dr. Lincoln suggests the 
 probability of a fault existing in the strata at this junction. This 
 cape deserves a more attentive examination to determine if this 
 be true, as it must have an important bearing on the theory of 
 the origin of trap rocks, and would lead to the opinion that the 
 weight of the superincumbent rock had caused the fragile sand- 
 stone to yield to its pressure, and thus accomplished the dislo- 
 cation of the strata. 
 
 • We are happy to have it in our power to state that Dr. Lincoln iias obtained 
 a large collection of the adigenous plants of Nova Scotia, of which it is to be 
 hoped he will offer the public some account, as this interesting branch of the 
 natural history of that country has hitherto been greatly overlooked. 
 61 
 

 262 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 Cape D'Or, situated at the moutli of the Basin of Mines, pre- 
 sents a mural precipice, attaining, in some places, an elevation of 
 four hundred feet above the level of the sea ; and is composed of 
 amorphous and irregularly columnar trap, resting on amygdaloid 
 and trap-tufT or breccia. From the yielding nature of the two last 
 mentioned rocks, which form the base of the precipice, deep 
 caverns and irregular arches have been formed beneath the su- 
 perincumbent rock by the beating of the angry surges against its 
 walls, while a shelving platform of trap-tuif remains below the 
 surface of the water, and is left exposed only by remarkably 
 low tides. This trap-tulF is a breccia composed of angu- 
 lar and irregularly rounded masses of compact trap, amyg- 
 daloid, and red sandstone, united by a softer cement of the 
 same substances. The sandstone at this place makes up but 
 a small proportion of the breccia. The crevices in this rock 
 are frecjuently occupied by irregular masses of native cop- 
 per, which generally are indented by the surrounding matrix. 
 They are rarely arborescent, and never distinctly crystallized. 
 Where exposed to the action of the waves, the copper is always 
 bright, and may be seen for some distance beneath the water ; 
 but, where it is beyond their reach, it is usually coated with an 
 incrustation of the carbonate or oxide of copper. The individ- 
 ual pieces seldom weigh more than one or two ounces, but masses 
 are said to have been found lying detached among the fragments 
 of rock, one of which weighed fifteen pounds. The name of this 
 cape doubtless originated in the supposition that this metal was 
 gold, and was bestowed by the French emigrants, who were the 
 first Europeans that peopled Nova Scotia. The brilliancy and 
 unusually yellow color of this copper might easily have caused 
 this error, as it led us to suspect it might be an alloy of that or 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of .^ova Scotia. 
 
 263 
 
 some other metal ; )ut on chemical examination, it was found 
 to dissolve entirely in diluted nitric acid, and gave no precipitate 
 when tested with muriate of soda, or when largely diluted with 
 water, or when treated to excess of saturation with aqua ammo- 
 nite. It does not contain, therefore, any gold, silver, antimony, 
 or iron, the only metals suspected to be present. The copper is 
 confined, exclusively, to the brecciated and amygdaloidal trap 
 and never occurs in the superincumbent columnar rock. As it is 
 never collected in any regular veins or beds, but is only scattered 
 in small masses through the rock, it is probable that this metal 
 will never be advantageously explored at this place ; and as it 
 occurs chielly below the level of high water, the shafts would be 
 liable to be filled at the periodical inHux of the tide, if indeed the 
 works were not entirely demolished by the violence of the cur- 
 rents. The sanguine expectations excited by the appearance of 
 this metal, in a state of purity, must then be disappointed. 
 
 Masses of calcareous spar, and crystals of analcime, tinged 
 green by the carbonate of copper, and having slender filaments 
 of copper enclosed in them, occur in the cavities of the amygda- 
 loid which rests on the trap-tuff. 
 
 On the eastern side of Cape D'Or, the precipice assumes a 
 concave form, and has received the characteristic appellation of 
 Horse-shoe Cove. Here the cavities in the amygdaloid are of 
 greater dimensions, and are frequently occupied by crystals of 
 transparent analcime, which are grouped together in congeries of 
 large and small crystals. 
 
 Calcareous spar here occurs in long slender hexahedral prisms, 
 projecting into and intersecting the cavities. They are curi- 
 ously interwoven with each other, and are richly encrusted on 
 their surfaces with small but perfect crystals of stilbite. The 
 
 ■ a: 
 
264 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 specimens are very prepossessing in appearance, and would, from 
 their resemblance, be mistaken for the crystallizations of sugar, 
 which adorn the shops of confectioners. 
 
 The stilbite occurs, also, in radiating groups of crystals, 
 forming beautiful Stellas, which are distributed through the en- 
 veloping masses of calcareous spar. 
 
 Many other minerals occur at Cape D'Or ; but, since they 
 are such as we have already mentioned as occurring at other 
 places, we shall not here repeat the notice of them. 
 
 Leaving Cape D'Or, we pass Spencer's Island, which is situ- 
 ated about a mile from this cape. It is composed of columnar 
 trap, and adds much to the picturesque appearance of this region, 
 although it presents no objects of natural history worthy of 
 description. The altitude of this island is nearly equal to the 
 diameter of its base, and standing alone, like a tower in the 
 midst of the waters, it breaks, in some degree, the violence of 
 the surge, which rolls into the Basin of Mines from the Bay of 
 
 Fundy. 
 
 Proceeding along the coast towards the east, up the basin, we 
 pass the more tame scenery of the sandstone and shale districts 
 to be described hereafter, and do not meet with the trap, until we 
 arrive at Cape Sharp, which is fifteen miles from Cape D'Or, 
 and about four from Cape Split on the opposite shore, with 
 which it is shown in Plate II.* The promontory of this 
 cape is composed of the amorphous trap, which scarcely 
 exhibits any traces of columnar arrangement. The trap forms 
 
 * A nearer view of this cape, as it appears from the east and shows itself 
 recuirbent on red sandstone and shale, may be seen in Vol. XV. of Professor 
 Silliman's " Journal of Science." 
 
Mineraloiry and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 866 
 
 a precipice or "biiift"" which exhi})its a remarkable contrast 
 to (he low sandstone hills with which it is connected; and stand- 
 ing between them and the sea, serves to protect them from 
 its ravages. 
 
 This cape will not furnish the collector with any mineral 
 specimens of interest ; but as this was the first place where the 
 junction of the sandstone, shale, and trap was observed, it de- 
 serves to be mentioned on account of its geological interest. 
 The sandstone and shale, which will be particularly described 
 hereafter, are seen at this place to dip beneath the trap, at an an- 
 gle of twenty or thirty degrees, and, in their passage, are observed 
 to become singularly altered in appearance. The strata of these 
 substances, before regular and distinctly parallel, are found al- 
 together broken up and lying confusedly in various directions ; 
 the sandstone has changed to a dark red color, is more compact, 
 and has become intimately blended with the shale, so that the 
 eye with difficulty distinguishes the substance peculiar to each. 
 The shai-p angular fragments of the trap are next observed, and 
 the whole becomes a distinct breccia, growing more compact as 
 it dips beneath the superincumbent rock. The portion of the 
 breccia in contact with the trap exhibited the small cavities of 
 vesicular amygdaloid, as it passed into its dominion, and led us to 
 believe that the shale and sandstone combined with the trap, and 
 produced amygdaloid by their union. The numerous instances, 
 in which this occurred, as it did in fact at every junction of these 
 rocks in Nova Scotia, and the absence of trap-tuff and amygda- 
 loid in places where this did not happen, or where, although the 
 sandstone, &,c. were not visible, it could fairly be inferred to 
 exist beneath, led us irresistibly to this conclusion. That this 
 process was attended by heat is inferred from numerous circum- 
 62 
 
fT 
 
 
 g^ Messrs. Jacksan and Jlger on the 
 
 stances, a few of which may be mentioned here, and others in 
 treating of the two great divisions of the country which remain to 
 be described. The occurrence of native copper in the trup-tuff 
 and amygdaloid, and the unreduced ore of this metal in the sand- 
 stone beyond the inllucnce of trap, may be regarded as evidence in 
 favor of this; while the conversion ofclaystone into fine redjasper, 
 as it entered the superincumbent trap, the cylindrical cavities in the 
 amygdaloid at St.Croix Cove, and even the existence of vacant sphe- 
 roidal cavities maybe considered as internal evidence in support of 
 the same theory. The change of color in the sandstone from grey to 
 red, the compactness of the strata as they approach the trap, and the 
 charred state of the vegetable remains in the contiguous strata, 
 atlbrd sutlicient proof, that, during the formation of the secon- 
 dary trap in iVova Scotia, there was considerable heat. The 
 sharp fragments of the breccia, and the breaking up of the strata, 
 also show, that the production of this rock, or rather its non-con- 
 formable position on the sandstone strata, was effected suddenly. 
 Whether it was ejected from the inaccessible depths of the Ba- 
 sin of Mines, or was thrown directly up through the strata of 
 sandstone, we cannot determine ; but the occurrence of the trap 
 only on the borders of the basin would lead us to the belief 
 that this cavity was the crater, if it may be so called, from 
 which, in former times, the trap rocks issued ; while the North 
 mountain range, with but little breadth compared with its length, 
 and but once broken in its continuity, seems to have been thrown 
 up by one sudden and violent eruption from the unfathomable 
 depths of the bay of Fundy, which is now skirted by its ancient 
 
 lava. 
 
 If we were biased in favor of any theory of the earth, when 
 exploring these formations, it was for that of Werner ; and be- 
 
 
I 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of J\'ova Sculia. 
 
 267 
 
 coming satisfitHl of the insufficiency of the Neptunian method to 
 account for the phenomena observed in the North mountains, 
 and the appearances assumed by the neighbouring strata, we were 
 induced to allow tlie superioiity of the igneous theory, as taught 
 by Hutton, Playfair, and Daubeny. 
 
 In treating of the South mountains we shall perceive the ne- 
 cessity of an amalgamation of both theories, to explain the relations 
 of that range to the North mountains. 
 
 Partridge Island, situated near the village of Parsborough, and 
 six miles from Cape Sharp, is the next place to be described. 
 In crossing the Basin of Mines, after passing the majestic Blomi- 
 don, this island is the first elevated object that meets the eye. It 
 consists of amygdaloid and columnar trap, which, on its south- 
 west side, presents a precipitous and overhanging front about two 
 hundred and fifty feet high, rendering precarious the situation of 
 those who may pass beneath its brow. Stationed near the verge 
 of this precipice, the visitor beholds beneath him rugged, insulated 
 towers rising abruptly from the sea almost to a level with his own 
 standing, which, having withstood the frequent commotions of 
 the sea that during the stormy winter months is thrown among 
 them in the most frightful billows, yet remain as firm and immov- 
 able barriers to resist the force of these repeated attacks, and 
 prevent the more rapid decay of the island. Their summits are 
 crowned with a thin but luxuriant soil, from which spring up a 
 few scattered hemlocks and a low underbrush, that nearly ob- 
 scure the face of the rock, but at the same time furnish the sea 
 bird a safe retreat beyond the reach of any invader. But at low 
 water the visitor, in addition to the wildness and picturesque 
 beauty of the scene, will find before him a field so richly stocked 
 with interesting minerals, that he will delight to linger on the 
 spot and gather these objects of science. (See Plate III.) 
 
 .'ill 
 
r 
 
 i^' Hi: 
 
 268 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 su, 
 
 Before alluding to these minerals, we would observe that the 
 coiiipact trap forming the highest parts of this island is rarely in 
 masses which may strictly be called columnar, although they have 
 a tendency to that form, and, in a few instances, affect the pen- 
 tagonal shape of basalt. We were unable, however, to discover 
 among them any appearance of articulation in their columnar 
 arrangement. It contains but a small proportion of iron; and 
 consequently the exposed surfaces of the rock are very slightly 
 altered by the oxydation of this metal, which in other places is 
 more sensibly observed. 
 
 Of the many interesting minerals to be found at this place, 
 stilbite associated with calcareous spar is the most abundant. 
 This mineral, forming numerous veins in the amygdaloid near 
 the base of the precipice, presents, in the open interstices 
 of the rock, beautiful projecting masses composed of long 
 fasciculated crystals of a flesh-red, and sometimes straw-yellow 
 color. When crystallized, it is in elongated, rectangular, four- 
 sided prisms, terminated by tetrahedral pyramids. 
 
 The calcareous spar is curiously scattered over the surfaces 
 of stilbite in acute rhomboids, which are often hemitropic, deeply 
 striated upon the faces of cleavage, parallel to their horizontal 
 diagonals, and of uncommon magnitude and beauty. These crys- 
 tals, usually colorless and transparent, are in a few instances of a 
 rich honey-yellow appearance. In breaking the various masses 
 which are scattered along the shore, it is not unusual to meet with 
 one, which, composed of yellow stilbite externally, contains within 
 numerous crystals of calcareous spar lining its walls in rhomboids, 
 which, having their faces deeply indented by the projecting pyr- 
 amids of the stilbite on which they are implanted, were obviously 
 deposited subsequently to the formation of that mineral. 
 
Mneralogy and Geology of JSTova Scotia. 269 
 
 Chabasie in rhombic crystals, transparent and colorless, also 
 of a beautiful orange-yellow color, occurs at this place in the 
 fissures of the amygdaloid. The crystals present brilliant glassy 
 faces, and are very large, frequently measuring an inch across 
 each rhombic plane. 
 
 Agates of various kinds, jasper and chalcedony, also botryoi- 
 dal cacholong, exist in the columnar rock above the accessible 
 base of the precipice : they may be picked up in imperfectly 
 polished masses among the loose rocks on the shore. A vein 
 of magnetic iron ore, about a foot wide, was also noticed entering 
 the superincumbent rock. 
 
 On our return to this island and the neighbouring coast in 1829, 
 the edects of the past winter were strikingly manifest; for 
 many of the lofty mural precipices, which before constituted the 
 most extraordinary and imposing features of this coast, were 
 brought low, and reduced by their downfall to mere masses of 
 debris heaped up on the sea shore. This was peculiarly the case 
 on the west side of Partridge Island, from which the immense 
 mass of rock had fallen, that before bulged out in the most ter- 
 rific manner, and to a great height. But these catastrophes are 
 common in this quarter, and are owing to the violence of the 
 tides and currents in the Bay of Fundy, driven fiercely by 
 the winter blasts. 
 
 The fallen masses on Partridge Island, besides presenting us 
 with a rich variety of the minerals we have already described, 
 disclosed one or two substances hitherto unobserved in Nova 
 Scotia. They are phosphate of hme, semi-opal, and the variety 
 of apophyllite, known as albin. The first is met with in very 
 brilliant, transparent, hexahedral prisms, with their lateral and 
 terminal edges, and sometimes solid angles, replaced ; or in regu- 
 63 
 
 I' 
 
270 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 lar six-sided prisms, whose pyramidal terminations correspond 
 very nearly with the lateral planes of the crystal. Though usual- 
 ly much smaller, they resemble in color the beautiful crystals of 
 the asparagus stone from Spain; and as the want of phosphores- 
 cence is said to characterize thtt variety, they lay claim to the 
 same title. But we find on trial, that phosphorescence is not con- 
 fined to the common varieties of the calcareous phosphate, but 
 is even possessed by some of the asparagus stone from Spain. 
 The crystals at this locality, are imbedded in thin folia of siliceous 
 sinter, that occasionally forms irregular shaped masses adhering 
 to the veins of calcareous spar with which they have come down 
 from the clifF. They are often interspersed with small shining 
 scales, or tabular crystals, of specular iron. 
 
 The opal presents itself in specimens that are well character- 
 ized, of a wax-yellow color with a resinous lustre approaching 
 that of pitchstone ; it is translucent at some distance from its splin- 
 tery edges ; and in these respects it principally appears to differ 
 from the jasper with which it is associated, and into which it 
 evidently passes. Like the former, and the next substance to be 
 mentioned, it is rare on this island, and has not been met 
 with elsewhere in Nova Scotia. The albin, accompanying 
 large and beautiful sheafs of yellow stilbite, is in opake, 
 nearly milk-white crystals, some of them rejembling, in their mod- 
 ifications, the crystals of this mineral from Bohemia. The termi- 
 nal edges of the primary right-squarp prisms are replaced by 
 single planes, which, extending over the lateral planes of the 
 crystals, produce two four-sided pyramids, and thus result in octa- 
 hedrons with square bases. But usually these replacements do 
 not greatly obscure the primary figure of the crystals. They 
 present striae parallel to their base, in which direction they readily 
 
!Bk. 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 271 
 
 cleave. Some of them have gone through a spontaneous change, 
 and separated into a powder, similar to that resulting from the 
 disintegration of laumonite. But we should not omit to mention 
 in this place, that the substance for which this island more than 
 any other spot in the country has been celebrated, and in search 
 of which it is visited by almost every traveller, is amethyst, in 
 crystals of great beauty and brilliancy. They seem first to have 
 drawn the attention of De Monts, one of the earhest French emi- 
 grants to this country, during the reign of Henry IV. It is said 
 he was so struck with their appearance, that he took several 
 specimens with him to Paris, where he had them appropriately 
 set as jewels, and presented them to the King and Queen as 
 tokens of his loyal attachment. They often form geodes in the 
 amygdaloid, and are externally encrusted with chalcedony and 
 cacholong that alternate with each other. 
 
 Pursuing the northern shore of the Basin of Mines east- 
 wardly, the next place deserving of notice is the vicinity of the 
 Two Islands, about six miles from Partridge Island. The inter- 
 mediate coast, being composed of rocks of a different character 
 from those which it is our object at present to describe, we shall 
 leave, to notice it more particularly when we treat of that forma- 
 tion. 
 
 The Two Islands consist of amygdaloid and columnar trap 
 rising on all sides abruptly from the sea ; but, being accessible 
 only at low water, they will not afford the visitor many interesting 
 specimens. On the main land near Swan's Creek and opposite 
 to these islands, he will be favored with a locality of uncommon 
 interest. At this place we have also another example of the 
 conversion of shale, red sandstone, and compact trap, first 
 into a coarse breccia, consisting of loosely united masses of these 
 
 
 
'■^ 
 
 272 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 I 
 
 rocks, then into a more compact breccia, consisting of similar 
 masses more closely united, though distinguishable from each 
 other, and finally, by consecutive gradations, into a genuine, well 
 characterized amygdaloid, in which the most critical eye would 
 fail to distinguish its component ingredients. We have m 
 our possession specimens from this place, which illustrate per- 
 fectly the changes of which we speak, and present these three 
 rocks tending to the production of amygdaloid. 
 
 Having thus adverted to the character of this rock in particular, 
 we shall notice more generally the appearance of the rocks at this 
 place, and then describe the minerals before alluded to as occur- 
 ring in them. The shore is fronted by a steep bank about one 
 hundred feet high, from the base of which a slope of debris, de- 
 tached by the frost, inchnes down into the sea. One half of this 
 bank consists of trap, and the other of red sandstone intermixed 
 with red shale. Upon it rests a low ridge of columnar trap. 
 These two rocks come boldly into contact with each other, and 
 the sandstone with the shale, dipping beneath the trap at an angle 
 of forty degrees, has the breccia and amygdaloid recumbent on, 
 or more properly, inchning against it; thus presenting, when 
 viewed from the sea, a section of the two rocks crowned with the 
 columnar trap. The amygdaloid is vesicular, and furnishes most 
 of the minerals which we are now to describe. They are cha- 
 basie, analcime, heulandite, calcareous spar, and siliceous sinter, 
 all of which occur abundantly, and are often seen richly congregated 
 in the same specimen, or included in the same cavity of the rock. 
 The chabasie, grouped with its a&sociated minerals, is usually 
 of a wine-yellow or flesh-red color; but in a few instances it is 
 nearly colorless and transparent. The crystals, which are fre- 
 quently three fourths of an inch in diameter, exhibit the form of 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 278 
 
 the primary obtuse rhomboid, sometimes so modified, as to as- 
 sume the lenticular hemitropic form represented in Phillips's 
 Mineralogy, p. 138. At other times, from the almost innumerable 
 faces of composition, they become indescribably complex, or at 
 least would require, for a precise crystallographic description, the 
 consummate skill of a Haiiy, a Mohs, or a Brooke. They are 
 slightly striated, of a glistening vitreous lustre, and often hemi- 
 tropically united. This chabasie agrees in all characters, excep- 
 ting color and complexity of modification, with that from the 
 Scotish Islands. 
 
 The analcime is in white, opake crystals, exhibiting the pas- 
 sage of the primary cube into the trapezohedron, which it fre- 
 quently completes, and thus forms crystals having twenty- 
 four equal and similar trapeziums which entirely obscure the 
 primary planes. 
 
 Over the analcime, the heulandite is thickly implanted in 
 small, but extremely brilliant, pearly-white crystals, which are 
 transparent or translucent, and usually in the primary form, some- 
 times slightly modified. 
 
 The calcareous spar is crystallized in very acute rhomboids, 
 of which scarcely two can be found possessing similar angles. 
 The crystals are likewise so modified, as to assume the form of the 
 dodecahedron composed of two scalene six-sided pyramids, ap- 
 plied base to base. They are greatly elongated, and grouped in 
 delicate slelhe, occupying the cavities of the amygdaloid. 
 
 Delicate prismatic crystals, but not of sufficient size to enable 
 us to determine their form, resembling the Brewsterite from Scot- 
 land, occur scattered through the cavities of the trap-tuff and 
 associated with perfect and distinct crystals of analcime, constitu- 
 ting interesting specimens. 
 64 
 
fT 
 
 '1 
 
 » 
 
 
 J* 
 
 11 
 
 274 JV/cssrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 The last of the minerals which we shall mention as occurring 
 at this locality is siliceous sinter. This mineral is usually embra- 
 ced in the amygdaloid, forming, in its spheroidal cavU.es, a flaky 
 or lamellar crust, which, enveloping their entire mner surfaces, 
 sometimes depends in stalactitic projections, on wh.ch may be 
 observed small crystals of common limpid quartz. Its color, 
 which is usually snowy-white, or greyish-white, is in a few Mastan- 
 ces of a beautiful amethystine tint. One or two geodes of th.s 
 substance found in the breccia, on being broken, presented 
 internally a bright coating of amethystine sinter wUh nume- 
 rous crystals of wine-yellow chabasie implanted in and beau- 
 tifully contrasted with it. Many of the specimens of th.s sinter 
 resemble those of volcanic origin, brought to this country from 
 the Azores by Dr. Webster. 
 
 The next place to be noticed along the northern shore of the 
 Basin of Mines, is the Five Islands, and an eminence known as 
 Tower Hill. Our description of these places will include all that 
 remains to be said relative to the trap rocks, of Nova Scot.a. 
 These islands, grouped together in a narrow compass, are about 
 ten miles from the locality last described ; they rise very abrupt- 
 ly from the sea, and present, for the most part, lofty fronts of a 
 picturesque character. Three of them consist almost entirely ot 
 trap and cannot well be examined except at low water. The 
 other two are composed of red sandstone, with red and black 
 shale, exhibiting the passage of these rocks into a vesicular and 
 zeolitic amygdaloid, the color of which depends on the propor- 
 tions in which the ingredients form a part of it; it is sometimes 
 made quite black by the shale. The breccia, or trap-tuff, which 
 is a constant attendant of this amygdaloid, and wh.ch seems as an 
 intermediate form necessary to the constitution of the latter, is 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVova Scotia. 
 
 275 
 
 here observed, as in other places of similar character, superin- 
 cumbent on the amygdaloid. To plate IV. the reader is referred 
 for a view of a part of these Islands taken at some distance ; of 
 which two are shown to consist of columnar trap, besides the 
 steep sugar-loaf masses, provincially termed the "Pinnacles," 
 that rise up in the rear, the highest of which is about one hun- 
 dred feet, and is wholly inaccessible. The third, formed in part 
 of sandstone (colored red on the plate), has been worn away on 
 its west side, so as to exhibit a very fair sectional view of the 
 junction of this rock with the trap ; the two, at the very point of 
 contact, becoming blended as usual into trap-tuff and amygdaloid. 
 The trap is not strictly recumbent on the sandstone, at this place, 
 but more properly rests inclined against it. The island most 
 noticed of the five, is that which stands out considerably in ad- 
 vance of the others, and of which a few words only will convey 
 as accurate an idea as a full drawn picture. It is composed of 
 am'^ rphous or indistinctly columnar trap, resting on a softer basis 
 of amygdaloid, which has been so undermined as to leave the co- 
 lumnar rock hanging over from above, like a vast leaning tower, 
 and seeming at every moment as if ready to fall into the sea. 
 These islands, with the exception of Tower Hill, of which 
 the trap forms the summit only, are the last places along the 
 shore of the Basin of Mines, at which this rock is known to occur. 
 Still farther east, the sandstone, interstratified with the shale, pre- 
 va"s to the exclusion of every other rock. They may be regarded 
 therefore, as the most distant outskirts of the trap formation 
 of Nova Scotia, which, stretching east and west to the distance 
 of not less than one hundred and thirty miles, forms, as a deposit 
 of trap-rock, one of the most extensive and fruitful fields for mine- 
 ralogical and geological research that the known world presents. 
 
 n 
 
i 
 
 'I 
 
 276 Messrs. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 Unlike most other extensive formations of this rock, its breadth 
 is altogether disproportionate to its length, not exceeding in any 
 place "three miles, and in some places, where it has been 
 worn away into deep ravines on the sea coast, scarcely exceeding 
 a hundredth part of its extent in the opposite direction. If 
 averaged, probably the breadth of the whole mass of the North 
 mountains, including Digby neck, will not be found to exceed, 
 at most one thirtieth part of its whole length. From this 
 circumstance, we may regard it rather in the light of an immense 
 dyke, thrown up from beneath the sandstone through some vast 
 and continuous rent, produced by the sudden eruptive upncaving 
 of its strata, which allowed it to spread out laterally only to a very 
 limited extent ; and if theory is to be admitted at all, we know 
 not how thrj origin of such a singularly disproportioned mass can 
 be accounted for in any other way. Its regularity of outline, its 
 continuity, and especially its almost exact linear direction, are 
 against the notion of its being the ejected matter of successive 
 eruptions, and warrant the opinion we have above expressed as to 
 its origin. It oflfers a very striking exception to the remark made 
 by Professor Daubeny, though his ingenious reasoning is strictly 
 applicable to it in other respects, that " the more ancient volcanic 
 rocks seem to form continuous strata, spreading more uniform- 
 ly on every side over a large extent of country;" which he 
 says is the case with the basalt of the Giant's Causeway, the 
 toadstones of Derbyshire, the porphyries of Edinburgh, and the 
 trachytes of Mont d'Or. * And we have reason to believe that, m 
 the progress of discovery, this remark, although once apparently 
 true, will meet with similar exceptions in other countries. 
 
 • See Professor Daubeny's Description of Active and Extinct Volcanoes, 
 page 407. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 277 
 
 Having finished our account of the trap rocks of the country, 
 comprising a complete description of that formation, with the more 
 important and curious mineral productions which it includes, 
 and having suggested what appears to us the most obvious 
 theory of their origin, which, derived from remarkable peculiarities 
 of color, structure, and other appearances of contiguous strata, 
 appears to account for those phenomena in a more satisfactory 
 manner than any other, we shall now pass to the neighbouring 
 strata of sandstone and shale, forming the moderately elevated 
 and rounded hills of the county of Cumberland, and part of the 
 county of Hants, and part of the districts of Colchester and Pic- 
 tou. 
 
 It becomes necessary to describe this formation before speak- 
 ing of the South mountains on account of its intimate connexions 
 with the trap, which we have previously alluded to in describing 
 the capes which project into the Basin of Mines. 
 
 The sandstone, constituting so large a portion of the Province 
 of Nova Scotia, is of various appearance, differing greatly at dif- 
 ferent places. In the immediate vicinity of the trap, as at Cape 
 Chignecto, Cape Sharp, and Swan's Creek it is of a dark brick- 
 red color, and consists of irregularly rounded grains of quartz, 
 usually very small, rarely exceeding the size of a pepper-corn, ac- 
 companied by minute spangles of mica, and united by an argilla- 
 ceous cement, containing a large proportion of peroxide of iron. 
 When in connexion with the trap, as before observed, the sand- 
 stone passes insensibly into the shale, or rather, the two form a 
 compound in which the eye can distinguish no line of division, so 
 completely are they blended. The shale varies greatly in color, 
 and generally, like the sandstone, becomes red in the presence of 
 the trap rocks, where it assumes a bright tile-red color, and when 
 65 
 
 li 
 
r 
 
 278 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 exposed to the action of the waves, it becomes polishrd on the 
 surface. This rock consists of tliin folia of argillaceous slate, 
 sometimes including a little mica, and is generally colored by ox- 
 ide of iron. Comparatively remote from the trap, the shale 
 assumes a grey, brown, or bluish-black color : more rarely it is 
 spotted with green. 
 
 Near Diligenct River, the shale is almost black, and appears 
 to be colored by carburet of iron. It here includes a large bed 
 of compact limestone, a section of which has been formed by the 
 encroachments of the waters of the Basin of Mines. A little be- 
 yond Fox River, towards Cape D'Or, the sandstone, of a grey 
 color, is seen to alternate with the strata of greyish-black shale, 
 both of which are tilled with relics of the vegetable kingdom of a 
 former world. They are carbonized remains of various culmif- 
 erous plants, which are converted into a compact bituminous 
 lignite. Portions of ensiform leaves resembling those of the Iris, or 
 blue-flag, were here observed, lying be*^^ween, and included within, 
 the strata of sandstone. 
 
 The whole northern coast of the Basin of Mines, with the excep- 
 tion of the capes and islands of trap, before described, is composed 
 of strata of sandstone and shale, alternating with each other, and 
 presenting to the sea the edges of their strata, which are finely 
 exhibited by this natural section. They do not attain a great 
 elevation, rarely exceeding one hundred feet ; and where exposed 
 to the waves, the strata have suffered much from their violence, 
 and the shale is always worn away, exhibiting the bold ridges of 
 sandstone strata, contrasted with the deep furrows occasioned by 
 its decay. The strata of these rocks i're from a foot to four feet 
 in thickness, and are alternately stratified with each other in great 
 regularity ; no limit being found to this alternation, we are unable 
 
Mineralogy nnd Geotogij of JYovn Scotia. 279 
 
 to say which rock is finally subordinate to the other. Near (he 
 village of Parsboroiigh, the red shale appears to predominate, 
 and constitutes a bed more than one hundred yards thick, which 
 is beautifully spotted with green, and contains occasionally scat- 
 tered crystals of yellow iron pyrites. East of this bed the sand- 
 stone •ai)i)eais in more powerful strata, and more than compen- 
 sates for the thickness of the shale just mentioned. It forms a 
 junction with the trap of Swan's Creek, where it includes beds of 
 the carbonate, and sulphate of lime, and where these two salts, so 
 opposite in their nature, are seen actually in contact. The lime- 
 stone is fragile and slaty, and contains scattered portions of coal ; 
 it is also sometimes bituminous. The gypsum is of the laminated 
 and fibrous kind, the laminae being sometimes more than a foot 
 in length, and oi a delicate flesh-color. But the laminated and 
 crystallized gypsum is not so much sought for exportation as the 
 amorphous varieties. At Tower Hill, twelve miles east of Pars- 
 borough, the sandstone again meets the trap, which forms but a 
 small part of the precipitous summit, and has no amygdaloid in 
 connexion with it. The united sandstone and shale, however, 
 exhibit a most singular appearance, and, becoming vesicular, affect 
 a curious imitation of amygdaloid, the place of which it occupies 
 in relation to the trap. These rocks, forming the base of the pre- 
 cipice, are of a fine texture, and contain a large proportion of 
 argillaceous matter, colored with peroxide of iron. 
 
 Passing beneath the trap in its immediate vicinity, it abounds 
 with compressed and flattened spheroidal cavities, which, instead 
 of the zeolites, are, when occupied, filled with rounded masses of 
 gypsum, the mineral which usually occurs in this rock. These 
 facts obviously tend to establish our theory of the origiri of trap- 
 tuff and amygdaloid, and render probable the explanation of these 
 
290 Messrs. Jackson nnd Alger on the 
 
 phenomena, -that the quantity of trap present was inadequate to 
 
 complete the process at this locality. 
 
 Beds of gypsum, of practical value, occur near the head of 
 the Hasin of Mines, in the vicinity of the Subenacadie Kiv-jr, 
 where also occur large beds of Umestone. containing the relics 
 and impressions of marine shells. It is of an ash-grey color, and 
 not very compact. In one specimen, a few crystals of galena 
 were observed, scattered through a mass of petrified shells, which 
 resemble the Utuites described in Parkinson's Outlines of Oryc- 
 tologv, p. 165, and portrayed in plate vi, fig. 7, of the same work. 
 Much larger and more valuable beds of gypsum occur in the 
 county of Hants, and were first explored in the vicinity of Wind- 
 sor about thirty years ago. It there forms a precipitous wall 
 rising from the River St. Croix, and extending along its course 
 as shown on the map. It still continues to furnish immense 
 quantities, the greater part of which is sent to the United States.* 
 This gypsum is of a bluish color, and is highly valued in the 
 United States as a manure, althoughin its native country it does 
 not appear to contribute in the least to the fertility of the soil ; 
 in fact, the hills entirely composed of gypsum, were not clothed 
 with so luxuriant vegetation as those where this mineral was 
 altogether wanting in the soil. The trap rocks by their 
 decay furnish a far more productive soil, as is exhibited in the 
 township of Cornwallis, justly entitled, the " Garden of Acadia," 
 aud along the whole extent of the base of the North mountains. 
 
 Gypsum also occurs abundantly in the county of Cumber- 
 land at the head of Chignecto Bay, and at several places along 
 
 3 
 
 • It is stated in Mr. Halliburton's History that for the last few years nearly one 
 hundred thousand tons of this valuable mineral have been annually shipped to dif- 
 ferent parts of the United States. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 281 
 
 the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One of the most exten- 
 sive beds is on the banks of the Maran River, where the gypsum 
 is of a bluish color and equal to any in the province. 
 
 The gypsum in the vicinity of Windsor, abounds in those con- 
 ical or invertL'd funnel-shaped cavities, supposed to have origina- 
 ted in the solution of rock-salt (chloride of sodium), which has 
 been imagined once to have occupied those spaces, though it 
 is hard to learn on what evidence such a notion can be found- 
 ed, as no rock-salt, or even traces of its existence have been dis- 
 covered in this part of the province, or nearer to it than the 
 county of Cuml)orland. The absence indeed, of anhydrous gyp- 
 sum, which, according to Mr. Bakewcll, usually accompanies the 
 deposits of rock-salt, would rather show that this mineral never 
 did exist here. In one of these caverns, about ten or fifteen years 
 since, the skeleton of a human being, supposed from the relics of 
 arrows found with it to have been one of the aboriginal inhabitants, 
 was discovered in opening a gypsum quarry. It is presumed 
 that this unfortunate individual, while pursuing his occupa- 
 tion of the cliase, was precipitod to the bottom of this frightful 
 dungeon, and being confmed by its inchned walls, was unable 
 to escape. Thus incarcerated, he perished by hunger. His 
 bones are still preserved at the College in Windsor, where 
 they were politely shown to us by the Vice-President, the 
 Rev. Mv. King, who gave the above account of them. No 
 other remains, but those of this single human being, have 
 been seen in these caverns, which, in truth, have excited 
 little or no attention, and have never been examined with 
 a view to determine whether, in some of them, the remains 
 of animals both of living and extinct species, may not also have 
 been entombed ; if the former, by faUing into them and perishing 
 66 
 
 II 
 
 i 
 
n 
 
 ■I •■ 
 
 '{i 
 
 m 
 
 282 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 from hunger, if the latter, perhaps by a more sudden extermina- 
 tion, like those mentioned by Professor Buckland. Had the bones 
 referred to been found without the arrows, which afforded 
 too true a history of their origin and the character of the lost 
 individual to lead to further inquiry on the subject, it is probable 
 that the discovery would have led to the thorough examination of 
 the cave? in search of other remains ; and thus perhaps new facts 
 mi"-hthav8 been contributed to science, instead of which the caves, 
 as we were told, are now covered with rubbish. It is a fact that the 
 remains of animals whose living types are now unknown, have 
 been found on Cape Breton, near the Wagamatcook River, where, 
 we are told by Mr. Halliburton,* an enormous skull has been 
 found, with molar teeth measuring eight inches by four across 
 the crown or grinding surface, which is furrowed or divided into 
 two rows of processes ten in number ; a peculiarity in their struc- 
 ture which proves them not to have belonged to a carnivorous 
 animal, and tends obviously to identify them with the grinders of 
 the mammoth or fossil elephant discovered by our naturalists in 
 South Carolina and Kentucky. The spot however we have, as yet, 
 been unable to visit ; but it certainly merits attention, in order, 
 to discover, if possible, the remaining parts of the skeleton ; a rel- 
 ic too valuable to science to remain only partially exhumed, 
 since it may disclose to us the huge proportions of an animal 
 whose remains, common perhaps in some of the Middle and South- 
 ern States, have never yet been seen in any of the Northern, or in 
 either of the Canadas, to our knowledge. 
 
 On the banks of a small but romantic stream which empties 
 itself into the St. Croix, called Montague River, a remarkably 
 
 * History of Nova Scotia, Vol. II, p. 243. 
 
- *-«W*^.^lf^ itl^.t';^!,^,,. 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of JVbva Scotia. 283 
 
 beautiful precipice of siliceous breccia passing into graywacke, 
 presents itself to the traveller. It consists of angular fragments 
 of quartz and felspar, rarely containing a few spangles of mica 
 united without any apparent cement. The felspar, being of a 
 flesh-red color, and forming a principal ingredient in the rock, 
 gives it an appearance at a distance resembling red sandstone. 
 The precipice is about sixty feet high, and rises from a base of 
 the same rock making the bed of the stream, which has excava- 
 ted numerous deep holes into the bottom, forming beautiful reser- 
 voirs of limpid water. The direction of the strata is N. E. and 
 S. W. and the dip 10° to the northwest, forming a declivity down 
 which the water rushes, and, falling from the broken strata, pro- 
 duces an agreeable effect. This place, adorned with overshad- 
 owing trees, is a favorite resort of the visitors of the Montague 
 House, in its immediate vicinity. 
 
 We shall now advert to the sandstone of Cumberland, and 
 describe the quarries of grindstones and the coal dsitrict of this 
 region. The sandstone, where it emerges from beneath the trap 
 at Cape D'Or, and where it comes in contact with it at Cape 
 Chignecto, exhibits the red color noticed at other places in the 
 vicinity of this rock, is more compact, and is destitute of organic 
 remains. Leaving its Plutonic neighbour further up Cumber- 
 land Bay, it assumes a grey color. It alternates with, and passes 
 into, a coarse conglomerate. At Apple River and the South Joggin 
 it is quarried for grindstones and as a building material. This 
 sandstone passes into the neighbouring Province of New Bruns- 
 wick, forming the extensive grindstone quarries of Meringuin and 
 Grindstone Islands, and is undoubtedly connected with the for- 
 mation of this rock that includes the coal measures recently dis- 
 covered on the Grand Lake in the interior parts of that province, 
 
 i 
 
2g4 Mesm. Jadtrnn and Jlger o» the 
 
 and ha, even been traced west of the River St. Jota. But no 
 description of its characters, either fossil or mmeral, has yet ap. 
 peared, and as those places are beyond he limits of our observa- 
 Lns, Je must content ourselves with abriefnoticeot thequarne, 
 :.h; south Joggin and Apple River on the Nova Scot.a shor. 
 At the former place the best grindstones are obtatned and 
 wrought on the shore of Cumberland Bay. They are preferred 
 when obtained at a considerable depth from the superfica. strata 
 and are always taken at low water as deep as possible from the 
 "rface. Two or three layers are f.rst removed wh.ch make 
 interior grindstones, and then the best ones are procured. la 
 cutting the stones, the workmen frequently meet «,.h hard round- 
 ed nodules which they call"buli.s eyes," and wh.ch always 
 condemn the stones as useless. They differ from *e -rrou g 
 matrix only in being more compact and havmg less of .^ .^ 
 ceous basis, and breaking with a concho.dal fractur 1 e 
 ..bull's eyes" vary from one to ten inches m d.amete,, and 
 sometimes they include a smaller spheroid as a nucleus w.thm 
 
 the larger. . , 
 
 Near 'he mouth of Apple River, grindstones are also qua.i.ed 
 in <ho same manner as those of the South .loggin ; they are not 
 of so good a quality, but in other respects they are hke those 
 already described. The rock of which the grindstones are made 
 consists of irregularly rounded grains of quartz, which are tra,.s- 
 parent and colorless or sUghtly tinged red, green, or btae, w,th a 
 L spangles of mica and grains of felspar i.uerpersed through 
 the mass. The grains are usually minute, not olten exceed- 
 ing the size of a mustard seed. They are united by au argtl la- 
 ceous cement, which exists in a small proportion to the whole 
 This rock contains numerous remains of cnlmiferous plants, whtch 
 
 I 
 
.'*t».i*i^**iit».~tttke>^i*aik*i.,*^».mi*-.'j<iu 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 285 
 
 lie between the strata and are much compressed. They do not 
 injure the grindstones unless many occur in the mass, which 
 seldom happens, as they are mostly scattered diffusely through 
 the strata. The fossils which occur in this sandstone, stamp it 
 as a secondary rock, although it is evidently older than the trap 
 rocks recumbent on it along the margin of the Basin of Mines. 
 
 A few miles southwest from the grindstone quarries at the 
 South Joggin, a bed of bituminous coal exists in the sandstone, 
 accompanied by shale. The bed is about five or six feet thick, 
 and has been wrought to a small extent, but is now abandoned, 
 and the shaft is filled with earth and rubbish. The coal contains 
 an abundance of pyrites, which injures its (juality as fuel. In 
 the vicinity of this bed occur several smaller beds, one of 
 which is covered by a stratum of bluish compact limestone, 
 in the upper surface of which Dr. Lincoln observed fragments of 
 shells resembling those of the common muscle {Mijtilns ediilis ?) . 
 Many of the vegetable fossils so common in the rocks of the coal 
 series in other countries are found in great abundance here, im- 
 bedded in the sandstone, which dips at an angle of thirty degrees 
 from the horizon, and includes the coal. Specimens of the phy- 
 tolithtis verrucosus were found by Dr. Lincoln, which exactly re- 
 semble those represented in the drawings accompanying Mr. 
 Steinhauer's article on these fossils in the " American Philosophi- 
 cal Transactions."* Very good specimens of the fossil represented 
 in Parkinson's " Organic Remains," (Vol. L PI. iX. fig. 1.) were 
 also found. Substitutes of reeds and of plants resembUng bamboos 
 and rushes are likewise abundant. Some of the reeds are three 
 or four inches in diameter and as many feet in length. They are 
 
 • New SericK, Vol. I. Plate IV. fig. 1,2, and 4. 
 67 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
m. 
 
 ■'$ 
 
 li 
 
 286 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 invariably found traversing one or more of the strata at right an- 
 des with its layers. Some, especially the larger, are cylmdncal ; 
 others are flattened and are generally coated externally wjth a 
 layer of coal; some are smooth, others striated longitudinally as 
 represented in Parkinson's "Organic Remains," (PL IH- hg. 3) 
 Near the principal coal bed. Dr. Lincoln saw one segment of a trunk 
 two feet long and twenty-five inches in diameter, and another about 
 one foot long and eighteen or twenty inches in diameter. The 
 external appearance of this petrifaction had led the grindstone-cut- 
 ters to believe it to have been a hemlock tree (Pinus canadensts. 
 They say that a few years ago a large part of the trunk was stand- 
 ing erect in the cliif, with some of its branches attached to it 
 
 Lignites are very abundant. Some specimens appear to have 
 been trunks of trees, or succulent plants, of an enormous size, 
 and they are found, not traversing the strata of the rocks hke the 
 stony casts of the reeds, but lying between them. 
 
 The Isthmus connecting Nova Scotia with New Brunswick, 
 situated between Cumberland Basin and Bay Verte, is but twelve 
 or fourteen miles wide, and, being composed of a friable de- 
 composed sandstone, opposes a feeble resistance to the rush- 
 ing waves of Cumberland Bay, where the tides rise to the 
 hdght of sixty feet ; while on the shores of Bay Verte they 
 scarcely attain the elevation of eight or ten feet. One would 
 suppose such frail barriers would give way before the pres- 
 sure and violence of the conflicting tides. It is, however, a 
 remarkable fact, that the same waves which cause so much de- 
 vastation along the rock-bound coast of the Bay of Fundy. un- 
 dermining and tumbling in confusion the lofty trap rocks, roll 
 harmless against these shores, protected by the bold promontories 
 of Cape Chignecto and Meringuin, depositing their spoils, taken 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of Mwa Scotia. 287 
 
 from the opposing rocks, quietly on the shores of Cumberland 
 Basin, and thus fortifying the isthmus in its weakest point. The 
 inhabitants assist the process, securing by dykes the soil deposit- 
 ed on their lands, and profitably use the bounties heaped at their 
 doors by the tumultuous sea. 
 
 From the shores of Chignecto Bay the sandstone and slate, 
 forming the county of Cumberland, extend to the waters of the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence on the north, and, stretching eastwardly 
 towards the county of Sidney, constitute a part of the districts of 
 Colchester and Pictou, and include all the coal measures of these 
 districts. The interior of Cumberland county was not examined 
 by ourselves, but we were credibly informed by intelligent persons 
 residing there, of the extent of the sandstone district as represent- 
 ed on the geological map accompanying this paper.* 
 
 Salt springs have been found in various places near the shores 
 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One of the most important exists 
 near the river Philip. The brine of this spring contains a much 
 larger proportion of salt than the water of the ocean, and it has 
 been economically obtained by evaporation of the water. In the 
 year 1811 large quantities were manufactured at this spring. A 
 spring also occurs at Pictou, which was advantageously worked 
 
 • For the more extended eastern boundaries of this rock, as exhibited on this 
 improved map of the country, we acknowledge ourselves indebted to the observa- 
 tions of Messrs. Smith and Brown of Pictou. The structure of the eastern parts of 
 the Province having also been examined by these gentlemen, we gladly avail our- 
 selves of tiiis op|)ortunity of referring the reader to their remarks contained in 
 Volume U.cif Mr. Halliburton's History of " Nova Scotia." Our observations, in the 
 few instances in which they relate to the same localities, will be found to agree, if to 
 this remark we make a single exceptiotj, to be considered in a subsequent part of 
 this paper. 
 
 s 
 
:i 
 
 ii^ 
 
 2gg Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 for salt on an extensive scale for several years, but is now aban- 
 doned, from what cause we are not informed ; another is said to 
 have been found on the River Souiac. No rock-salt has ever 
 been found in the vicinity of these springs, where, if in any place, 
 some more palpable traces of it might be expected ; nor has the 
 rock any perceptible salt taste. We must therefore refer the ongm 
 and the occurrence of these salt springs to such unexplained phe- 
 nomena as are assigned to those in the western part of the state of 
 New York, so ably discussed by Professor Eaton in his "Geo- 
 logical and Agricultural Survey of the District adjoining the Erie 
 Canal." * The existence of salt springs in this formation indi- 
 cates it to be identical with the Red Marie, or new red sand- 
 stone of Phillips and Conybeare, which includes the vast rock- 
 salt mines of England and Poland ; and also allies it to the sa- 
 liferous rock of New York, described by Professor Eaton m the 
 abovementioned "Geological Survey," and in the "American 
 Journal of Science,"! as existing on the banks of the Connec- 
 ticut, and as supporting the Palisadoeson the Hudson nver. 
 
 Pursuing this formation eastwardly in the direction of Us 
 strata, we meet with occasional beds of coal, not oi any practical 
 value, and offering no remarkable geological peculiarities. On 
 the north bank of the West river, where the Kempt bridge cross- 
 es this stream, a bed of bituminous coal with lignites, about four 
 or five inches wide, occurs in the cliff of sandstone, a section ol 
 which is formed by the bed of the river. At this place, which 
 we mention on account of its vicinity to the road from Truro to 
 Pictou, rendering it accessible to travellers, occur many ot the 
 relics of culraiferous plants before noticed at Cumberland mine. 
 
 • Part I. p. 109 et seq. 
 
 tVol. XIV. p. 14H. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology o/JVova Scotia. 
 
 289 
 
 Carriboo river, in the township of New Philadelphia, seven 
 miles north of the flourishing town of Pictou, presents a field of 
 great interest both to the mineralogist and the miner. On the 
 banks of this stream, two miles from where it empties into the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence, occurs a bed of copper ore, included be- 
 tween the strata of sandstone passing into coarse conglomerate. 
 It is associated with lignites of enormous size, which generally 
 lie over the copper ore. The conglomerate consists of smooth 
 rounded masses of quartz of various colors, siliceous slate, clay 
 slate, and felspar, varying in size from that of a filbert to three 
 or four inches in diameter ; they are united by an argillaceous 
 cement. The sandstone differs only in the size of the com- 
 ponent ingredients, which diminish until they are scarcely dis- 
 tinguishable by the naked eye. These rocks rise from the 
 river to the height of fifteen or twenty feet above its level, and 
 form precipitous banks. The direction of the strata is nearly 
 east and west, and the dip is about ten degrees to the north. 
 The lignites are black, and some of them resemble com- 
 mon charcoal so much as to be easily mistaken for that sub- 
 stance. Some are fibrous, and exhibit evident traces of the 
 organized structure of plants ; others have lost every trace of 
 organization, are compact without any fibrous structure, break 
 with a conchoidal fracture, have a pitchy black color, and thus 
 form the true jet of commerce, or the lignite piciforme jayet of M^ 
 Brongniart. This last variety take a good polish, and would ad- 
 mit of being wrought into jet ornaments inferior in no respect 
 to those brought to this country from France. The lignite forms 
 thin layers over masses of the copper ore, which sometimes 
 presents very perfect substitutions or casts of culmiferous plants 
 resembling the stalks of Indian corn (zea mays.) 
 
 The lignite sometimes contains minute, flattened crystals of 
 68 
 
 ! ' 
 
 111 
 
Hi 
 
 
 290 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 red oxide of copper, which are translucent and of a crimson 
 
 red color. 
 
 Green and blue carbonates of copper occur, investing some of 
 the lignites ; and, filling interstices in the sandstone, they assume 
 a botryoidal appearance. They also occur in delicate fibres, 
 investing the masses of vitreous copper ore now to be described. 
 
 This valuable ore occurs in beds from two to four inches 
 thick, which, covered with lignites, alternate with each other, the 
 lowest bed being the thickest and most compact. It is of an iron- 
 black color, with a slight tinge of lead-grey. It possesses a 
 metallic lustre, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. Some 
 specimens are of a crystalline or granular structure, breaking so 
 as to exhibit brilliant metalloidal surfaces ; others are very com- 
 pact, and break with a smooth surface. The specific gravity of 
 the most compact variety is 5.7 ; but the granular varieties, 
 more open in their texture, seldom exceed 4.8 or 6. It is sec- 
 tile, and readily impressed by a smooth, blunt steel instrument; 
 it therefore possesses a low degree of malleability, being extend- 
 ed under pressure without breaking. It receives a high polish, 
 resembling in lustre and color the most highly poHshed steel, 
 and retains this lustre unaltered by the action of the atmo- 
 sphere. It is mixed occasionally with yellowish and a lighter 
 grey pyrites, which is much harder and not sectile, and con- 
 tains a smaller proportion of copper than of iron ; but no 
 specimen of this ore gives any traces of arsenic or antimony, 
 when examined before the blowpipe, or when dissolved in nitro- 
 muriatic acid and largely diluted with water. Nor does a solu- 
 tion in nitric acid give any precipitate when muriate of soda is 
 added ; and sulphuric acid throws down no precipitate ; hence 
 it does not contain any silver or lead. The nitric solution, tested 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JV&oa Scotia. 
 
 291 
 
 by aqua ammonia', became of a fine blue color, and, treated to 
 excess of saturation, gave a brown precipitate of oxide of iron. 
 
 To determine the composition of the vitreous copper, similar 
 trials were made, which discovered nothuig but copper, sulphur, 
 and iron. This ore was called by the miners from Cornwall, 
 who were exploring the mine, grey-copper, (fahlerz of the Ger- 
 mans.) iiut according to an accurate analysis which we have 
 made of this ore, it is to be considered as the vitreous copper 
 (kupfcrglanzerz), which is more valuable than the grey-copper 
 ore. We have taken for our model the analysis of the vitreous 
 copper ore from Siberia, detailed in the celebrated Essays of 
 Klaproth, As our results differ somewhat from those of this ex- 
 cellent analyst, and no source of fallacy can be discovered on 
 repetition of the process, we shall give below an account of the 
 method pursued, although it possesses no claim to originality, but 
 was purposely conducted after the manner of this chemist. We 
 are the more disposed to do this, as some of our readers may not 
 have access to the work of Klaproth, which has become scarce, 
 and may still wish to see the modus operandi exemplified.* 
 
 1^ 
 
 in 
 
 * Analysis. — A specimen of the copper ore was selected, having the specific 
 gravity 5.7. It was scctilc, possessing on the cut surface a brilliant metallic lustre, 
 resembling polished steel, but more of a lead-grey appearance. It was carefully 
 freed from the surrounding matrix and envelope of lignite, and reduced to powder. 
 
 A. Two hundred grains of this powder were introduced into a matrass, and 
 pure muriatic acid affused upon it, which dissolved nothing, even when heated to 
 boiling ; showing that the metals do not exist in the state of oxides, but in a metallic 
 state. 
 
 B. To the contents of the matrass while boiling, hot concentrated nitric acid 
 was added l)y drops, which at each addition occasioned a violent effervescence, 
 with the extrication of red fumes. The acid was added until it ceased to produce 
 action) A flocculent greyish-white precipitate had formed on the surface of the fluid, 
 
 \'' 
 
■If 
 
 292 Messrs. Jackson and Jllger on the 
 
 The sandstone, continuing its eastward course through the 
 district of Pictou, approximates to the slate of the South moun- 
 
 which was the sulphur extricated from the ore. When cool, tlio contents of the 
 matrass, beina diluted with pure water, and carefully wushcd from it. surface, were 
 thrown on a filter of known weight. The precipitate collected on its surface, wash- 
 ed with dilute nitric acid, and afterwards with water, being dried, was found to weigh 
 thirty eight grains. This was ignited in a crucible of platinum over an alchohol 
 lamp, and burned away, leaving two grains of a dark grey powder, which was a 
 portion of the ore that had escaped decomposition. This was treated with nitro- 
 muriatic acid, and being disBolved by it, was added to the filtered solution. The 
 sulphur then in two bundrea grains amounts lo thirty-six grains, or eighteen per 
 
 cent. 
 
 C. The liquid which had passed the filter was of a l.luish-groon culor, and 
 
 transparent. It was divided into two equal quantities. In one portion a polished 
 cylinder of iron was immersed, and in forty-eight hours the copper i.ad precipitat- 
 ed upon it in a dendritic form. That it had entirely separated the copper was 
 known by the solution ceasing to give a tarnish of copper to a polished steel m- 
 itrument. The copper removed from the cylinder of iron, washed and dried rapidly 
 to prevent oxidation, was found to weigh 70.5 grains. 
 
 D. The other half of the solution was treated with aqua ammoniiP to excess of 
 saturation, when a muddy brown precipitate took place, which, when collected on a 
 double filter of known weight, washed, dried, and ignited with a little wax in a 
 platinum crucible, was reduced to the protoxide of iron attractable by the magnet, 
 and weighed 3.4 grains, indicating 2.5 grains of metallic iron. 
 
 E. To determine whether the solution was cqunlly divided, and to prove the 
 correctness of the process C, the ammoniated solution was saturated and acidulat- 
 ed with sulphuric acid, and a plate of polished iron was immersed in it. The copper 
 precipitated in a brilliant metallic coating, and when separated, washed, and dried, 
 weighed with the loss of a trifling fraction, like the result of the former process, 
 
 79.5 grains. 
 
 This ore conUins, then, in a hundred parts, 
 
 Copper, (C) 79-5 
 
 Sulphur, (B) '«0 
 
 Iron, (») __^ 
 
 100.0 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JYova Scotia. 
 
 298 
 
 tain range, which if meets in the township of Egerton, near the 
 sources of Middle and East rivers. In the village of New Glas- 
 gow, there occur important beds of bituminous coal near East 
 river, included between the strata of sandstone, and overlaid by 
 a decayed, blackish shale. It contains remarkably perfect stony 
 casts of culmiferous plants, which were shown to us by Mr. 
 Blanchard of Truro. The coal is of a jet-black color, has a glossy 
 appearance, and is highly charged with bitumen. It burns with 
 a bright flame, and smokes much when first kindled. It appears 
 to melt and cake like the Newcastle coal, and when completely 
 on fire, after the bitum' lous matter is dissipated, it burns like 
 coke. 
 
 There have been five or six shafts sunk into the coal strata, 
 in diflerent places, under the direction of Mr. Carr, who resides 
 at this place ; but at the time we visited them, tiiese openings 
 were partially filled with water, which prevented us from making 
 any accurate examination of the beds of coal, and the associated 
 rocky strata. The coal that had been thrown out was of a soft, 
 friable nature, and would be soon ground to dust by friction in 
 transporting it to any considerable distance. I?ut preparations 
 were then making, under the direction of two very intelligent 
 and practical gentlemen of Pictou, Messrs. Smith and Brown, 
 to explore this coal on a larger scale. We are now informed 
 that the mining operations are carried on very extensively, and 
 that coal of the first quality is obtained. It is shipped to the 
 United States, where it is found well adapted for all the purposes 
 for which other bituminous coal is employed in the various manu- 
 factories of the country. 
 
 About twelve miles lortheast from the coal mines of New 
 Glasgow, and eighteen miles from the town of Pictou, the sand- 
 69 
 
 y 
 
 ii 
 
1 
 
 29.1 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 stone and shale meet the transition clay slate of the South moun- 
 tain range. But the immediate junction of these rocks was not 
 discovered on account of the deep, unbroken soil which overlaid 
 and concealed from view their respective strata. It is evident 
 that the strata unite near this place, from the fact that their lines 
 of bearing here intersect each other at an acute angle ; the bear- 
 ing of the clay slate being north, sixty degrees east, while that of 
 the sandstone is directly east. The clay slate dipping at an angle 
 of fifty or sixty degrees to the northwest, while the sandstone 
 dips at angles of only ten or fifteen degrees to the north, clearly 
 indicates the former rock to bo of greater anticiuily than the latter, 
 which was before proved to be secondary from the fossils it con- 
 tains. It evidently lies over the clay slate, and we regret that 
 we were unable to discover a single spot from which the soil and 
 gravel had been removed, so as to exhibit the connexion of the 
 two rocks. Future explorers by traversing the forest, may per- 
 haps find an outcropping somewhere along the line of their union, 
 which will repay the labor of research, by illustrating their rela- 
 tions and comparative age. 
 
 Near this place, on the estate of Mr. Grant, a bed of brown 
 and red hematite was discovered about twenty feet in width. It 
 exhibits all the varieties of imitative form usually observed in this 
 ore, and resembles many of the specimens of the hematite brought 
 from the Salisbury mines in Connecticut. It is associated with 
 grey oxide of manganese ; which forms a considerable proportion 
 of the bed, and is usually disseminated through the geodes of the 
 hematite, in sheafs of radiating acicular fibres, or in distinct con- 
 cretions, of which however none of the individuals possess 
 determinable crystaUine faces. It is also in more compact glob- 
 ular masses, which are granular, but without any tendency to a 
 
.Minemlop;!/ and Geology of JVbva Scotia. 
 
 295 
 
 crystalline structure. Its color is hetween lead and steel-grey, 
 and it possesses a high metallic brilliancy emulating that of anti- 
 mony-glan/, and is not tarnished by exposure to air and moisture ; 
 while the hematite, with which it is blended, or sometimes alter- 
 nates in successive botryoidal coatings, has often become very 
 rusty on its surface. Its color is the same, whether exhibited by 
 its streak or ground to powder.* 
 
 The geodes in this hematite are also frequently occupied by 
 crystals of arragonitc, in six-sided prisms, and also sulphate of ba- 
 rytes in compressed or tabular crystals, usually of a pure white 
 color, and but very loosely attached to the matrix ; or they are 
 sometimes completely isolated. Several masses of a foliated 
 structure, composed entirely of this substance, were also found 
 in the soil near " the brook." Whether the manganese, intermixed 
 with this ore, will prove injurious to the iron in the operation of 
 smelting it, is a (luestion of importance to those who may be en- 
 gaged in working it. It is certain that it must exert some injurious 
 
 • Tlin common grey oxide of mansrancse 1ms recently been divided by Mr. 
 Ilaidinger into two now species. (Kdinburgh Royal Society Transactions, Vol. 
 XI.) The mineral above referred to by us, is evidently his pyrolusite, with which 
 it agrees in its characters of hardness, color, streak, Ate. and, what must not be 
 overlooked, in it.s being associated with precisely the same ore of iron ; an ore to 
 wliich it is (ilniosi cxchisively attaclied in other countries. The other species, call- 
 ed by him manganite, which is much harder, is often in distinct prismatic crystals, 
 that exhibit a brownish-red streak, and is said by him to have been found in No- 
 va Scotia, has not yet come under our notice there. We have it from the neigh- 
 bouring Province of New Brunswick, in elongated rhombic prisms deeply striated, 
 and in druses of acicular crystals, answering well to the characters wiiich, accord- 
 ing to this acute observer, give it undoubted claims to be considered a new species. 
 Is it not iK)ssible that his specimen may have come from that Province, since he does 
 not cite its precise locality ? 
 
296 .Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 influence in the smelting furnace, whether it combines chemical- 
 \y with the iron or not; for in consequence of its existing in the 
 state of a peroxide of the metal, a large portion of heat and carbon 
 must be taken up in the formation of carbonic acid, or carbonic 
 oxide, by the union of the carbon and oxygen, and the iron, by 
 losing any portion of the carbon it had previously taken up from 
 the cliarcoal, is rendered of an inferior quality. The preparatory 
 process of barning the ore might perhaps be resorted to with 
 advantage. A bed of buff-colored limestone occurs in the sand- 
 stone, n'ear the hematite locality, and will prove a valuable flux- 
 ing material to the ore, should it be worked in this part of the 
 co°untry. The limestone also forms beds in the sandstone at sev- 
 eral other places, among which may be cited the Shubenacadie 
 River, Gay River, and Pictou Island, as shown on the map. Ai 
 the two last named places, it contains small but well character- 
 ized remains of the cornu ammonis, with crystals of argentiferous 
 galena, arscniate of lead in minute crystals, and carbonate of iron, 
 the latter Idling the cavities of the fossil ammonites. It is cav- 
 erucms in some places; and, according to Mr. Halliburton, a kind 
 of grotto has been discovered in it near the East river of Pictou, 
 abo'iit one hundred feet in length, and beautifully decorated by 
 numerous stalactites depending from its roof. 
 
 Four miles southeast of this place a very important and exten- 
 sive bed of iron ore exists, in the clay slate of the South mountains, 
 which we shall describe after noticing generally the whole tran- 
 sition clay-slate formation of Nova Scotia, commencing at the 
 eastern extremity of the district of Pictou, and extending west 
 southwest to the opposite shore of the Province. This rock 
 presents a larger extent of surface, than any other in the Province, 
 forming nearlv one half of the whole face of the country. It pre- 
 
 *'i.^^ , 
 
 .! 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of J\ ova Scotia. 
 
 297 
 
 seats every where a uniform geological character; and conto'ning 
 fossil organic remains, belongii.g to tlie marine world alone, ..nd 
 some of tl)em of the oldest kind, it must obviously, according to 
 the common geological division, be regarded as transition rock,* 
 and as having existed long before t).e neighbouring Plutonic rocks 
 had emerged from the central regions of the earth. That this 
 rock is older than the trap rocks we have additional evidence, 
 derived from another source, which we shall state by and by, 
 when our observations are directed more particularly to the iron- 
 ore bed, which v»c have no hesitation in saying extends throuhg 
 the whole clay slate formation. That it is newer than the granite 
 will appear evident from reasons to be assigned. 
 
 The direction of the strata composing this formation is uni- 
 formly north, 60'^ east, dipping at an angle of 50° or (HV from 
 the horizon. The color of the rock, on fracture, is black, greyish, 
 or bluish-black. Its structure is slaty or foliated, frequently sepa- 
 rating by a gende blow into broad sheets, which are su/Iiciently 
 smooth and compact to bo employed for \viiting-slat(!. This is 
 the case at Rawdon, where it is obtained for this purpose, and also 
 extensively (piarried for roofing-slate. In oUier places being less 
 distinctly foliated, its tendency is to break into huge rhomboidal 
 fragments, as it has natural seams both in the direction of, and at 
 right angles wiih its stratification. This renders it a valuable 
 building inaterial as it forms convenient shapes for rearing walls 
 of houses, for whic:h purpose it is employed in many places. 
 
 The soil resulting from, and lying over this formation, is much 
 inferior to that produced by the disintegration of the trap rocks 
 
 Tlie torm trrinsition, altlinngli objectionable in some respects, we have adopted 
 lor tlio want of a better : it ccrlainly conveys what is very apparent, tlie intcrmc' 
 (Hate character of the rock, to wliicii it is applied in this paper. 
 
 70 
 
298 Messrs. Jacksm and Jlger on the 
 
 of the North mountains, and the neighbouring sandstone ; its 
 vegetation being less luxuriant, and requiring for its culture great- 
 er labor from the husbandman. This is a fact which the travel- 
 Icr, in passing through the country, can scarcely fail to observe. 
 The soil has been much improved of late years ; and the present 
 state of agriculture in Nova Scotia is much indebted to Mr. John 
 Young, the author of a series of interesting and practical let- 
 ters published in Halifax under the signature of "Agncola," to 
 whose labors, we beUeve, the country is indebted also for many 
 of its agricultural societies. 
 
 The continuity of the strata of this rock is interrupted in two 
 places by dykes of trap porphyry, which, entering the rock nearly 
 at right angles with its stratification, completely cutoff or inter- 
 cept'the bed of iron ore, which is continuous and parallel with the 
 strata. We shall notice these dykes more particularly in another 
 place, as also the granite represented on the map in Annapolis 
 county, which is undoubtedly subordinate to the cluy slaie, and 
 all the other rocks in Nova Scotia. 
 
 The bed of iron ore alluded to, is apparently about sixteen 
 feet wide, though, as it had not been explored at t!ie lime we 
 visited it, we are unable to speak positively on this point. Its 
 direction, like that of the strata in which it is includeil, is north 
 60^ east ; and it may be traced for some distance into the forest, 
 until obscured by soil and under-brush. The ore on the surface, 
 from which it may readily be detached, is usually of a compact 
 structure, sometimes inclining to slaty. Its external color is brown 
 and reddish-brown, but its streak and powder are deep red ; con- 
 sequently, it is in the state of peroxide of iron. It is destitute of 
 magnetism and metallic brilliancy, and in these respects differs 
 greatly from the ore in other parts of this bed, in another coun- 
 
JMineralogy and Geology of JYova Scotia. 
 
 299 
 
 ty. Its specific gravity being 4.00 it contains by calculation 
 according to Rinman's method, fifty per cent, of metal ; a very 
 near approximation to the truth, as proved on assaying the ore in 
 a crucible, and duly allowing for the carbon combining with it in 
 the process. It abounds with fossil remains ; and some specimens, 
 in which they are the most numerous, contain lime in the state 
 of carbonate, readily efiervescing with acids. It contains besides 
 a portion ofalumine and silex, which in smelting perform the func- 
 tion of a flux. 
 
 Among the fossils discovered in this ore, the most numerous 
 are the tellenite, pectinite, and terebratulite. Those observed 
 less frequently are small lenticular shells, resembling the nummu- 
 Hte, as figured in Parkinson's " Outlines of Oryctology," (Plate VI. 
 fig. 5 ;) and also very distinct impressions of encrinites, which, 
 instead of occurring in crylindrical columns as is ordinarily the 
 case, are formed of a series of circular joints or vertebne, that are 
 smaller at one extremity than the other, so that the fossils as- 
 sume a conical form. (See Parkinson's "Organic Remains," 
 Vol. II. p. 164.) The old name of "Screw Stone" we 
 found had been applied to these fossils by the people in the 
 neighl)ourhood, who, struck with the singular appearance of 
 these relics and those accompanying them, evincing, as they 
 thought, a former life, had carefully preserved some of them, in 
 the hope of perhaps learning something of their history. These 
 fossils are not confined to the ore alone, but may be seen in al- 
 most every slate stone scattered through the adjoining fields ; and 
 should the ore at this place be explored to any extent, doubtless 
 a far greater variety of these entombed relics will be brought to 
 light, and furnish the collector with many rare productions of the 
 ancient world. 
 
300 
 
 Messi-s. Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 Following the slate formation westerly, this ore-bed does not 
 again shuw Itself until it is seen on Nictau Mountain, in Annap- 
 polis coui -v, as shown on the map; it being obscured between 
 the X A'o pUuos by the unbroken forest, except that in a few spots 
 fragments ol it have been picked up, barely sufficient to prove its 
 continuity from one locality to the other. At Nictau the width 
 of the ore, at the surface, is but six feet and a few inches ; but, in- 
 creasing apparently as it deepens, it gives the promise of an 
 immense supply of this valuable mineral. It is covered by a 
 stratum of ferruginous soil about two feet thick, on removing 
 which the surface of the ore-bed, being in some places quite 
 smooth as if worn down by attrition, is seen curiously intersected 
 by seams, some of which cross it transversely or nearly at right 
 angles, and, when not open fissures, are filled up with a substance 
 not uulike red ochre. They give the ore a tendency to separate 
 into rhomboidal fragments, similar to those into which the slate 
 itself often divides, and besides greatly facilitate the labor of 
 raising it. The bed has been opened to the depth of eight or 
 ten feet, and some hundred tons of the ore have been removed 
 to the smelting furnace situated on the southern shore of An- 
 napolis Basin. 
 
 The character of the ore at this place differs in some respects 
 from that of the Pictou ore. From its very uniform slaty structure, 
 it is more easily broken up ; and it abounds to a much greater ex- 
 tent with the casts of marine shells, the calcareous parts of which, 
 are sometimes still preserved. It also contains a larger propor- 
 tion of iron, has a slight metallic lustre, and exerts magnetic in- 
 fluence upon the needle. But it is not a little singular that this 
 ore-bed, although the grave of millions of once living shell-fish, 
 the remains of which it exhibits in every part, should afford traces 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 301 
 
 of no other than bivalves, and of those belonging exclusively to 
 the genus anomia. This however is the fact so far as we have 
 examined it. Like many substitutions of this character, they 
 exhibit with great precision and beauty the original external fig- 
 ure of the living shells. The slate also, when in immediate 
 contact with the ore, exhibits the same remains, and it is not un- 
 usual to find one half of a shell moulded in it, while the other is 
 firmly attached to the ore, which is thus proved to have been 
 of nearly contemporaneous origin with that rock; or. at least, 
 by Its union with it, it is proved to have been deposited before 
 the latter had entirely consolidated, or while it was yet in a plas- 
 tic state. In no other way can this unio:. be satisfactorily ex- 
 plained ; for it disproves at once any hypothesis founded on the 
 supposed greater antiquity of the slate, according to which the 
 two bodies should lie only in contact, without showing any marks 
 of intimate union. That they are nearly contemporaneous, we 
 have besides the further evidence derived from the fact, that the 
 fossil shells are precisely the same in both. Their more intimate 
 union, in some parts, we doubt not, may have been assisted by 
 the heat attending the production of the neighbouring trap rocks, 
 the effects of which, we think, are very apparent in another part 
 of this ore-bed, where it very nearly apprciiches the trap. But 
 of this sul))ect, involving again the igneous origin of the trap, we 
 shall presently speak more at large. 
 
 On ascending the highlands south of the falls on Nictau River, 
 a rock was observed of a granular structure, of a greenish-grey 
 color, and containing imbedded concretions of white felspar. It 
 is evidently a part of a dyke o; porphyry, as we have repres<>nted 
 it on the map, intercepting the strata of slate and the ore-bed 
 accompanying it, both of which it must cross nearly at right an- 
 71 
 
w 
 
 , -j-^.-J..^^-:^^.- 
 
 '4 , 
 
 if 
 It 
 
 -it! • 
 
 302 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 gles, if it continues to any extent. But we were unable to dis- 
 cover the precise spot where the ore is crossed by it ; a discovery, 
 which, considering the nature of this dyke, might have disclosed 
 so;ne important facts. This spot, however, must be met with ere 
 long by the miners, in the progress of opening the bed, as it is 
 found most advautageous to remove the ore to the depth of but 
 a tew feet from the surface. 
 
 In the vicinity of this dyke, we observed several irregularly 
 shaped masses of metailoidal diallage, which, when struck with 
 the hammer, were sonorous, ringing with a sound not un'.ika 
 that produced on striking a solid mass of metal It is of a 
 grey 'color, has vm interwoven, laminated texture, and breaks 
 with great difficulty into rough, splintery fragments, whicli ro- 
 hect from the surfaces of their laminae the metallic lustre peculiar 
 to this sub-species. Wc also noticed several scattered masses 
 of that variety of amygdaloid called toadstone, possessing the 
 characteristic appearance of this rock from Derbyshire, and 
 resembling that found at Brighton in Massachusetts by Codon, 
 an accomplished French naturalist.* 
 
 From whence came these boulders and those of common trap 
 that are now extensively spread over the southern parts of this 
 Province, so distant from any rock to which they bear the least 
 resemblance 1 We may venture to infer, without being charge- 
 able with a disposition to support a mere visionary hypothesis, (for 
 we believe it founded on data which must carry conviction 
 to most minds,) that those of common trap and vesicular amyg- 
 daloid were derived from the trap-rock ledges of the No-th 
 mountains, and transported hither by that great and sudden 
 
 • See his paper on the structure of Boston and vicinity, in Vol. III. oC the 
 Academy's Memoirs, page 127. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 
 
 303 
 
 catastrophe which has left similar, but often far more striking, 
 traces of its violence in other countries. And they not only 
 afford us proof of the dilnvial flood ; they lead us, fuvtiier, to be- 
 lieve that the overwhelming torrent swept across this peiiinsula 
 nearly in a north and south direction ; such being always the 
 direction of these detached and drilled debris from ihe distant 
 and parent ledges with wh'ch they claim a common origin. 
 The boulders of granite also atlbrd additional evidence of the 
 same fact ; for tiiey are never met with on the JVorlli mountains, 
 which (.irpsent nothing extraneous of any cliaracter, but are abun- 
 dandy scattered about in the opposite direction. If natives of 
 the couatry, as they appear to be, they also must have originated 
 from some part of the South mountain range, where the granite 
 is now in place and forms beds to a very considerable extent, as 
 may be seei> on the map. 
 
 In the " KeHquiai Diluviana^," of Professor Buckland, we find 
 the granite boulder^ oi Nova Scotia cited among the many other 
 proofs he has ably and ingeniously brought forward in support of 
 the diluvial current. If to these boulders of granite, we now add 
 those of tile trap unknown to this author, or not mentioned by 
 his informant (Sir Aiexandei' Croke),\ve may safely conclude, in 
 his own language, " that the present position of these fragments 
 can he accounted tor only by supposing them to have been drift- 
 ed from the nearest granite [and trap] districts, by the same 
 rush of waters that transported those mentioned by Dr. Bigsby, 
 in the districts of Lake Huron and Lake Erie."* Of the other evi- 
 dences mentioned by him, such as valleys of denudation, the fur- 
 rows or parallel scratches upon the surfaces of rocks, and vast 
 
 • Sen tli<! work of Professor Bucklan-l, page 217. Also Dr. Bigsby's article in 
 the Geological Transactions, New Series, Vol. I. 
 
'• i' 
 
 ^11 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 804 Messrs. Jackson ami Jlger on the 
 
 accunmla.ions of sand and gravel, Nova Sco.ia, as far as we 
 know, atrords none ; though such may reasonai)ly be expected m 
 a country like this, where the boulders so fully attest tie occur- 
 rence of that event, which the enlightened labors of Prol.ssor 
 Buckland, Cuvier, and others have taught us to regard as no other 
 than that so briefly narrated in the Mosaic history. Ihere are 
 those, however, who, with the greatest reverence for the bcr.p- 
 tures, confidently assert, .hat the phenomena, usually relerred to 
 the Deluge of Noah, h-.wi in reality nothing to do w.lh it, and 
 must be accounted for on entirely dirterent grounds. Among these 
 Dr. McCuiloch holds a l.gh rank. He refers these phenomena 
 to causes which ha., .perated before, as well as since, the Del- 
 uge, and which arc r on now in operation; such as the bursting 
 of lakes, the action oi rivers, and wearing away of mountains. 
 In the currents produced by the sudden elevation of strata, he re- 
 marks, we shall probably find the true causes of such alluvia 
 (boulders &.C.) as cannot be attributed to rivers and other existing 
 causes, and have so often been attributed to the Deluge, which, 
 he believes, was inadequate to produce any one of the effects 
 
 ascribed to it.* 
 
 In the alluvium which forms the greater part ol Aylesford 
 township, and the valley between the two ranges of moun- 
 
 » SCO Dr Mcculloch's recently published system ofGeolopy, Vol. 11. The opin- 
 ions or an observer so cautious and experienced are deserving of high consideration ; 
 but whKher, in the present instance, they will lessen the high authority o( the 
 .. Reliquiae Diluviana=," which contains .he observations and concurring t.stnnonies 
 of so many different writers, is a question, which we leave to be .iefriniiied by those 
 who are thoroughly conversant with the phenomena on which it has arisen. It is for 
 geologists on this continent to examine the supposed cases of diluv.an action, and 
 to see whether they can be explained consistently with the principles laid down by 
 Dr. McCuiloch. 
 
Mhtemlogij and Geology of JVova Scotia. 305 
 
 tains extending tVom Minas Basin to the Basin of Annapolis, there 
 occur very extensive beds of argillaceous iron ore. These are 
 about two feet thick, consisting of concretions known usual- 
 ly as " shot ore." It is of a spongy, or vesicular appearance, and 
 presents, to a great extent, the resinous lustre exhibited by the 
 best varieties of bog ore. But, in some places, il is intermixed 
 with the earthy phosphate of iron, or the substance to which 
 Bergman attributed the cokl short quality of tlie metal in its mal- 
 leal)le state, it is however proved inadequate to explain the cold 
 short (juality of iron, not only from the impossibility of the acid 
 escaping decomposition in the smelting-furnace and refmery, 
 but al,,o from the fact that ores containing no phosphorus are as 
 liable as any to yield a metal of this quality. 
 
 Leaving Mctau and the dyke of porphyry, ilio great bed of 
 ore of the South mountain does not appciu- again, so far as the 
 forest has been examined, until we reach th(! vicinity of Clement's, 
 a distance of thirty miles. But the evidence of its intermediate 
 continuity is such as to leave but little doubi on this point; for, in 
 the bed ot almost every brook or rivulet descending Irom the 
 mountains, are to be found, to a greater or less extent, fragments 
 ofthiisore, which contain llu; usual marine impressions, and which, 
 at some time or other, must have been detached from tiie main 
 body. Should the spirit of competition among iron manufactur- 
 ers in \ova Scotia ever ecpial that which characterizes some 
 quarters of the Tnited States, it is believed that no part of this 
 range will long remain unexplored, or lail to produce abundantly 
 that article, on which depend so many other arts and manufac- 
 tures. 
 
 Before alluding, particularly, to the iron mine at Clement's, 
 we will offer some renuxrks on the granite formation of this country, 
 72 
 
t >1. 
 
 -4 ■ ■ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 Iff 
 
 iJi 
 
 306 Measi's. Jackson midJlger on the 
 
 having already spoken of the boulders of this rock This is 
 the only rock in Nova Scotia having any claim to the t.tle ol 
 nrimitivo. It fust appears along the South mountains, a few 
 miles east from Bridgetown, generally in large detached masses, 
 which are piled in confused heaps on their sides, ..r have been 
 precipitated into the valley beneath. Between Bridgetown 
 and the villnge of Annapolis, it occurs in place, and lorms. 
 for nearly the ^yhole extent, the abrupt and barren n.ountams, 
 which, haying a rude outline, are contrasted ui.h those com- 
 posed entirely of >late, which present rounde.l and gently slopmg 
 sides It also appears on the road from Annapolis to Clement's, 
 in immense cubical blocks, which contain disseminated n>asses 
 of chlorite and manganesian garnet. The hufr is not d.simclb' 
 crystallized, and being of a fragile nature, lew in.eresting speci- 
 mens were obtained. These are the only in.Iu.dded nnnerals 
 known to exist in it, as it does not contain nnMallderous com- 
 
 pounds of any kind. 
 
 The component ingredients of this rock are not united ... very 
 
 ,• . il... n.ifi of a brilliant ict black, enters 
 uniform pi-oport!on> ; the mica, o. a i . , , 
 
 lar-^cly i.Uo its composition. The felspar is son..tinn.s ot a llesh- 
 coU>r;andtbe quartzy concretions are t,.u..hn..... and v,.,.«o,.s 
 The roc'k has a brecciated appearance, and i.uludes massc>s ot 
 .,anitc of a ditrc-ent natu.'e f^'om it^elt; The^o masses appear 
 frequently in patcd.es of a finer grain a..d darker colo,-, than the 
 surrounding granite. Iron, which they diOer o..ly in tins respec:t 
 The felspar of this g.-anite is exceedingly pro.ie to decay, and 
 decomposes rapidly, on the exposed surface of the rock, inso- 
 ,^uch that large quantities of angular fragments of the ()uartz are 
 profusely scattered around, a..d constitute, hy th.s ,1/hns, the 
 first rudiment, of the soil. The protrudh.g angular fragments ol 
 
! 
 
 jMineralogy and Geology o/.Yova Scotia. 
 
 307 
 
 (juartz f^ivt! this rock a rough, forbicUling aspect ; and becom- 
 ing loose in a lew weeks, they dislodge any lichens which may 
 have clung tn them for supiiort, and thus preserve a barren sur- 
 face, defying all vegetation. The internal structure of this granite 
 is lirni and compact. Ft has a dark appearance, deriveil from the 
 color of the mica, which is imiformly distributed through the 
 mass. This rock would form an cxccdlent ituilding material, if 
 the felspar was less prone to decomposition. This prevenl^ its 
 use ill buildings, which ;u intended to last for a long time. We 
 have Ih lore suggested, that this granite was subordinate or in- 
 ferior to the clay-slate of the South mountains, and to all other 
 rocks discovered in the Province. It here exhibits itseli, jirotriid- 
 ing thioui;h the clay-slate. 'J'he line of junction was not how- 
 ever observed, as the covering of :^oil and uiuleiwood concealed 
 their union. That there does c^xist a point of contact near this 
 place, we cannot chnilit ; for a person may, in a few stejis, pass 
 from oni; formation to the other. The granite exhi!)its no ap- 
 pearance of stratihcalion, from \\lii<'h we could estimate its direc- 
 tion ; init there can be no doubt of its age being greater than that 
 of the clay-slate, which it evidently supjiorts, throughout its whole 
 extent. That tlie granite is older than the clay-slate, appears 
 from its containing no relics of organized beings, which oci ir in 
 the laHer, and prove it to belong to the transition forination. 
 We do not however consider this granite as belonging to the 
 oldest primitive, from the alisence of all those metalliferous com- 
 pounds and minerals which characteri/e more ancient formations ; 
 from its brecciated structure, and from its being in contact with 
 transition rock. It probably belongs to what Werner calls the 
 newest granite formation ; a formation which is supposed to have 
 been derived in part from the spoils of one still more ancient. 
 
,v^.. 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 UiKS §15 
 £; us 112.0 
 
 11.25 I 
 
 1.8 
 
 U 11^ 
 
 6" 
 
 Photograpnic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Ck)rporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 ^•U^ ^f^ 
 
 # 
 
308 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 I' 
 
 Speculative geologists may perhaps consider the relations of 
 the bed of iron ore to this granite, as of some value in account- 
 ing for the origin of veins and beds in transition rocks. They 
 would doubtless regard the protrusion of the granite from the 
 central regions of our globe, as the cause of the disruption of the 
 Strata of clay-slate, which was thus raised from the bottom of the 
 sea, bearing with it the spoils of the ocean. The layers would 
 thus be broken, and their edges thrown up at an angle ; and by the 
 contraction of the subordinate rocks, the superior strata being 
 fixed, or the protrusion having carried the rocks so far as to 
 poise the strata in a perpendicular position, a chasm would be 
 formed, into which the ore of iron was afterwards poured from 
 above by a second submersion. But however this may have been, 
 it is evident, from the facts already stated, tliat the origin of the 
 ore and slate n -st have been very nearly contemporaneous. 
 
 The granite might have been, nevertheless, much older than 
 the clay-slate, and constituted the base upon which it was de- 
 posited in a horizontal manner. The formation of rocks beneath 
 the granite, by oxidation of the metallic bases of the earths 
 discovered by the illustrious Da"y, according to the views of 
 that excellent geologist, Professor Daubeny, (if we do not mis- 
 conceive them,j may have caused this protrusion of the granite 
 against and through the overlying transition slate, which was thus 
 raised from its horizontal position. The Wernerian and Hut- 
 tonian theories thus united and modified, appear to account for 
 so many facts in geology, that we could not refrain from adverting 
 to them on the present occasion, and suggesting their application 
 to American geology. 
 
 The granite, as we have said, is the only primitive rock known 
 to exist in Nova Scoda. Besides being found on the South moun- 
 
Mineralogy and Geology o/Mva Scotia. 309 
 
 tains, we are credibly informed of its occurrence in the southern 
 parts of the province, which we did not visit, and have therefore 
 left colorless on the geological map accompanying this paper. On 
 the authority of Messrs. Smith and Brown, we also add, as anoth- 
 er locahty of this rock, Cobequid mountain in Cumberland county 
 where, it is apparent, it must hold nearly the same relation to the' 
 sandstone, as it does to the slate in Annapolis county. But we 
 must beg leave to differ very widely from these gentlemen in 
 regard to the character of the rock, which, in different parts of 
 the country, occurs with the clay-slate, and to which we find 
 they have applied the term prhnitive trap* We think that we 
 shall be able to show that this rock cannot be considered as trap 
 in any form, and that its mineral characters clearly identify it with 
 the quartz rock of McCulloch. Future investigations must 
 determme whether the ore bed of the South mountains is any 
 where cut off by the granite, or whether it continues uninterrupt- 
 edly m the more elevated parts of the range which pass to the 
 southward of the patch shown on the map. as we are in fact 
 authorized to conclude from the direction of the ore bed at Clem- 
 ent's. 
 
 In thevicinity of Paradise river, a few miles from Bridgetown, 
 gigantic crystals of smoky quartz (Cairngorm or Scottish topaz) 
 are found among the granite boulders imbedded in the alluvium 
 which forms the banks of the Annapolis river. One of these 
 found on the estate of ]\Ir. Longley, weighed, we were told, more' 
 than one hundred pounds, and was remarkable for its symmetry of 
 external figure, as well as the beauty and varied tints of its inter- 
 nal substance. The mass, we are sorry to say, was soon broken 
 
 History of Nova Scotia, Vol. II. p. 417. 
 73 
 
310 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 Mi 
 
 m 
 
 v. 
 II 
 
 
 i 
 3' 
 
 .*!, 
 
 into fragments and disposed of, with the exception of a few of the 
 smallest, which we had the good fortune to obtain. Some of 
 these are nearly colorless and transparent, some are of a straw- 
 yellow color, while others are of a smoky shade, passing into 
 clove-brown. We were also fortunate enough to obtain from this 
 place a perfect crystal, singular for its size and beauty, though 
 smaller than the one just mentioned. Its weight is ninety pounds ; 
 it measures nineteen inches from the point of its pyramidal termi- 
 nation to its base, which is twelve inches in diameter, and has ad- 
 hering to it grains of quartz and felspar, which indicate its for- 
 mer connexion with the granite, in a cavity of which it was prob- 
 ably formed. Its six lateral planes are nine inches in length to its 
 acuminating planes, one of which, being unduly extended, nearly 
 obliterates the two adjoining ones, and is twelve inches in length. 
 This crystal presents, within, the richest shades of color, from 
 light topaz and straw-yellow, through clove-brown, into a dark and 
 almost opake smoky color. It is covered externally by a thin 
 incrustation of common quartz, which, on being cleaved off, lays 
 open numerous dark and brilliant prisms of schorl, some of which 
 do not exceed in diameter the thickness of a hair, and arc nearly 
 transparent, while others are the sixteenth of an inch in thickness 
 and three inches long. These slender prisms lie upon the sur- 
 face of the crystal, or penetrate deeply into its substance, and 
 render it an object of still greater interest. This remarkable 
 crystal, though ordinarily opake, yet, under the influence of strong 
 transmitted light, has its whole interior lit up into a beautifully 
 transparent mass, reflecting the colors we have mentioned, and is 
 altogether the noblest production which the country has afforded 
 us ; it is equalled only by the rarest of the rock-crystals found in 
 the Alps and in Siberia. 
 
mmmmm 
 
 tint ni III 1 1 iiMiiiM 
 
 -4- -r-..,-p. ,f.^. „ . ...\ -.!i ^ !2 *; » ' ; j >;'i"* y y' '< 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 311 
 
 Having thus far described the appearances and productions 
 of the South mountains, we shall now advert to the ore-bed at 
 Clement's, the last place along this range where it is known to 
 appear. This bed is three miles from the mouth of Moose river ; 
 and, several extensive openings having been made into it, during 
 the past season, from which many hundred tons of the ore have 
 been removed, peculiar facilities are afforded for its examination. 
 Its width considerably exceeds that of the Nictau bed, and per- 
 haps ten feet may be assigned as its average ; but from the inti- 
 mate union of tiie ore with the contiguous slate, it is very difficult 
 to discover the line of separation between the one and the other. 
 In this respect it differs very materially from the ore of Nictau, 
 where, to a much greater extent, the walls of the bed are distinctly 
 presented. By the assistance of a compass, this ore may be trac 
 ed for the distance of two miles, towards Bear river, so power- 
 ful is its magnetic influence on the needle. Indeed, land survey- 
 ors are more or less perplexed by its influence, while traversing 
 the forests in different parts of this range, s'.d these evidences 
 are in support of the continuity of this bed from New Glasgow 
 to Clement's. 
 
 This ore is compact or fine granular, of a bluish-grey or steel- 
 grey color, and possesses a glistening metallic lustre. When 
 reduced to powder, its color is similar. It is highly magnetic, 
 strongly affecting the needle, as we have before observed, and 
 is in fact the magnetic oxide of iron, or exists in the state 
 of the protoxide of the metal, combined with lime, alumina, and 
 silex. Its specific gravity is 4-5; exceeding that of the Pictou 
 or Nictau ore, and it yields by fusion in the assay-furnace, 
 sixty-five per cent, of soft cast-iron. But when reduced in 
 the smelting-furnace, it has hitherto yielded less, owing to its ad- 
 
 1: 
 
 I'i 
 
■p 
 
 u 
 
 r^ 
 
 ill 
 
 312 
 
 Messrs. Jackson mid Mger on the 
 
 mixture with the slate, from which it has been difficult to separate it. 
 The cast iron obtained from this ore, is of good quality for strength 
 and softness, while that of a harder nature, containing less carbon, 
 is readily converted into malleable iron, which, to give it the 
 praise it deserves, is equal to the best of this description made in 
 the United States. The pure iron has also been converted into 
 bUstered steel, which, on trial, was found equally useful for the 
 purposes to which the foreign article had been applied.* 
 
 The fossil remains contained in this ore are not so numerous 
 as at either of the localities before cited. But, besides their im- 
 pressions, we have here presented more interesting traces of 
 them, which strongly indicate the effects of heat both upon their 
 fleshy and crustaceous parts, in decomposing and converting them 
 into the substances which are now presented in the ore. But 
 we shall allude to this more particularly, after stating the fossils 
 which were recognised. They are terebratulites, ammonites, tel- 
 lenites, encrinites, and trilobites. Of the last curious and, in 
 Nova Scotia, hitherto unobserved fossil, supposed to have been 
 originally a crustaceous insect, we obtained the remains of one, two 
 and a half inches in length. It presents a series of transverse 
 joints, divided vertically into three lobes, the central one of 
 which is more prominent than either of the other two, and has near- 
 ly the width of them both. They terminate at the lower part of 
 the fossil, without showing the caudal projection observed in some 
 species. The matrix, to which this fossil is attached, is a very 
 compact mass of slate, passing on one side into magnetic iron 
 
 • It is to be regretted that the Iron establis'.iment erected in the vicinity of the 
 iron mine at Clement's in 1826, has since ceased its opBratioas, as the country is 
 now obhged to look to other quarters for the supply of an articlo which her own hills 
 would yield her in an abundance almost unknown to any other. 
 
mmm 
 
 mmm 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology of J\'ova Scot in. 313 
 
 ore. It is probable that remains of this fossil, much larger than 
 this, will yet be met with in the slate, or in its included beds of 
 transition limestone ; as rocks similar to these have hitherto fur- 
 nished the most remarkable that have occurred in Europe, some 
 of which, found in the slate rocki. of France, are, according to Pro- 
 fessor Bakewell, seven inches in length.* They are found also of 
 of equal size and in great perfection at Trenton Falls ; and it is 
 remarked by Professor Silliman that "some of them seem almost 
 looking out of the black limestone rock, as if still animated." f 
 Those found in Ihe Dudley limestone, according to Parkinson, 
 larely exceed three inches in length. 
 
 In breaking masses of this ore, the fracture frequently crosses 
 the fossils, and lays open their inner surfaces, which are often 
 covered by a very thin and brilliant, bluish-green, botryoidal 
 crust of the phosphate of iron. They also present this substance 
 crystallized, in beautiful divergent plates, or lamin«, which 
 are translucent and of a bluish-green color ; also lamellar sul- 
 phate of lime shooting through the cavities from one side to 
 the other. In some cases, the cavities, left in the ore by the 
 decomposition of the internal part of the fossil, are entirely filled 
 up with a yellow friable carbonate of iron, having, intermixed with 
 it, a few bluish spots of the phosphate ; at other times the crusta- 
 ceous parts of the fossil are converted into carbonate of iron, which 
 shows, distinctly, the original appearance of the shelly covering. 
 In fact, in almost every fossil met with in this ore, we have one 
 or both of these metallic salts, produced by the combination of its 
 constituent principles, carbonic and phosphoric acids, with the 
 
 • Introduction to Geology, p. 27. 
 
 t See note on page 48 of his "OuUine," appended to his edition of Bake- 
 well's Introduction. 
 
 74 
 
mh 
 
 I < 
 
 314 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 surrounding iron, assisted, as we have before ventured to say, 
 by heat. 
 
 The existence of the sulphate of lime in the ore, although it 
 is no direct proof of the action of heat upon it, yet has a bearing 
 on the case. For it can hardly be overlooked, that the sulphur, 
 which was at first united with pyrites of which there are yet tra- 
 ces in the ore, has, by its decomposition and passage into sulphu- 
 ric acid, united with the lime of the shells, and thus given rise to 
 the sulphate under the form we have described ; leaving the iron 
 of the pyrites behind, as we find it, in a yellow oxide. This pro- 
 cess, we are aware, might have taken place, as it does take place, 
 without much heat ; but all the attending phenomena are such, 
 in the present case, as to leave but little doubt in our minds, that 
 heat was the agent employed. But, in addition to these, we have 
 other arguments in support of these views, which, to some, may 
 appear of a more positive character than those already adduced. 
 It is well known that iron is deposited from an aqueous solution only 
 in the state of the peroxide, and that its ores, in such cases, are 
 never of a great specific gravity, and always void of magnetism. 
 Now the aqueous origin of the ore in question, is evinced by the 
 presence of marine exuviae in every part of it ; yet, in some pla- 
 ces, even where the fossil remains are the most numerous, this 
 ore has acquired the character of the magnetic oxide, and is no 
 longer a peroxide. How then is this to be explained? how is it 
 that the ore assumes such totally different characters in different 
 parts of the same bed ? that of Pictou being in the state of perox- 
 ide, as it was originally deposited from an aqueous solution, and 
 that of Clement's in the state of the magnetic or protoxide. We con- 
 ceive it undeniable, that this great change is to be ascribed to the 
 heat attending the production of the trap rocks of the North moun- 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of JVova Scotia. 810 
 
 tains, rendering the ore at Clement's, in their immediate vicinity, 
 strongly magnetic by driving off a portion of its oxygen ; while that 
 at Pictou, more remotely situated, was not sensibly affected by 
 its influence, but retains its full quantity of oxygen, is compara- 
 lively light, and is without magnetism. Besides, by this theo- 
 ry we are enabled to account for the existence of so large a 
 quantity of carbonate of lime in the latter ore, the heat not having 
 been sufficient to drive off the carbonic acid from the fossil shells 
 contained in it. The superior compactness of the former, its great- 
 er specific gravity, and more intimate union with the adjoining 
 slate, from which, in many places, it is difficult to discover any 
 line of separation, are in confirmation of the theory which we 
 venture to offer, thus supported, to the consideration of our read- 
 ers ; assured as we are, that should any of them be induced to pass 
 over the same ground, and examine for themselves the evidences 
 on which it is founded, they would not be disposed to differ much 
 from us, if indeed they were not fully brought over to the same 
 views. It affords new proof of the igneous origin of the trap 
 rocks on which it wholly depends ; and it is thus, we think, by 
 amalgamating the rival theories of Werner anjl Hutton, that just 
 conclusions can be formed, of the geological nature of this coun- 
 try, and the relation which the rocks of aqueous deposition bear 
 to those of igneous origin. 
 
 The clay-slate forming the banks of Bear river, near its 
 mouth, contains beds of iron pyrites, of a compact, amorphous 
 character, well suited for the manufacture of copperas. In fact, 
 where this mineral is freely exposed to air and moisture, the sul- 
 phate of iron forms spontaneously, and covers this rock with an 
 efflorescent incrustation. The hepatic variety also occurs with 
 it, and, extending through the rock to some distance from the 
 
m 
 
 % 
 
 W 
 
 It 
 
 
 316 Mesitrs. Jacknon and Jllgcr on the 
 
 river, exhales in sultry weather, an odor, vhici, cannot fail to 
 
 apprize the inhabitants of its existence. 
 
 About four miles from Bear river, in the vicinity of a place 
 known as "The Joggins," the clay-slate of the South mounta.ns 
 is intersected by another dyke of porphyry, which .s here pre- 
 sented, forming the sides of a deep recess or valley, but a lew 
 yards from the main road to Digby. It enters the strata nearly at 
 the same angle with the dyke, before mentioned, on N.ctau moun- 
 tain • and, like that, its actual connexion with the neighbounng 
 slate' being entirely hidden from observation, we were unable to 
 determine its extent, or its more approximate relations to that 
 rock The base of this porphyry is a greyish-black trap, ot a 
 tine-grained texture, and compact. The imbedded granular con- 
 cetions of felspar, of a pure white color, are very numerous. 
 Though, for the most part, no regularity of form is discern.ble m 
 them, sometimes distinct parallelograms of white felspar may be 
 observed. The rock is thus rendered more distinctly porphy- 
 
 ritic than that of Nictau. 
 
 We shall not attempt to discuss the origin of the dykes which 
 thus intersect the strata of clay-slate ; for the theory applied to all 
 other dykes of similar character, is equally applicable to these. 
 They are doubtless of an origin posterior to the clay-slate, and now 
 occupy the immense fissures left by the contraction or sohd.hca- 
 tion of the adjoining transition rock, including the great ore-bed ; 
 and have proceeded from, or are coeval with, the trap rocks o the 
 neighbouring North mountains. Should the dyke at this p ace 
 extend for any considerable distance into the high land, .t will be 
 found most probably to intersect the great ore-bed, which, from 
 the direction of the latter near Bear river, must take place nearly 
 two miles south of the valley. Whether the intersection does 
 
Mincrahgij and Geology o/Moa Scolia. 3,7 
 
 very „p„fe ,,,„,„^,,^_^ ,^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ _^^_^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 nver, ,he ore has „„. yet been observed i„ place ; b„, fr„„ ,,,, 
 n.a8ne„c needle bein, alTeced in .hi, .,„aj a., sensibly t e 
 '-een Clen,enf., and Nicau. .hi, ,.,pp„.i,i„„ ,-, l^^^^l^ 
 e».re„ely probable, if, indeed, i. i, „„. e„„„,.med by ,he dilv- 
 ery „,a.«es of ,|,i, „,e i„ diiTerent pan, of the l.i.h land, .ha. 
 2-01. .0"ard, lake S.. Ma,,,, „,,,h f„™, ,He wes.ern ,e™l 
 na. on „f ,„e day sla.e and .he in.er,.ra.i(ied q„ar.z rock. 
 (See .he map). „f ,he na.ure of .he rock composing ,hi, cape 
 e were ,„do„b., no. having been able .ovisi. iUa iW To 
 *.s reason, i, was left uneoiored on .he mat accompanvin. ourro- 
 marks ,n Professor .Silli„,an., Mmerican Joornauf Scie" e - 
 ough we were correc.ly informed of the extent of the slate as f„ 
 was e., med by .he coloring on .ha. map. From a view given 
 01. .n ,os Ilarres' •• A.lan.ie Nep.nne," .0 which we have already 
 referred .he reatlcr for several ,ke.ehe, of .he scenery of Novl 
 Sco„a „e were led .0 expec. .he occnrrenee of columnar trap 
 upon 1.; and .he opportunity which it might thu, afford us of 
 w,.nessmg .he ac.ual juxtaposition of this rock with ,he transition 
 sla.e, a phenomenon for which we had hi.herto looked in v,i„ 
 was one which we could no. well pass over unimproved. But' on 
 approadnng the cape, which is fronted by a cli.r of only abou. 
 e.gh.y lee., we soon found ourselves deceived by De, ' Barrcs' 
 ske.ch, wh,ch, indeed, bore ,0 rude a resemblance .0 the acto.l 
 appearance of this spot, that we were led to believe it had been 
 m ended .0 represent some other of far greater height and ma.. 
 ...tnde For .nstead of the oblique and irregular lines, .hat wourd 
 alone have given the dip or inclined s.ra.ification of the .late 
 roraposmg the clilf, we have vertical and horizon.al lines, .hat in 
 
 
^» 
 
 m 
 
 If 
 
 m 
 
 1^1 
 
 '1 
 
 318 
 
 Messi's. Jackson and JJlger on the 
 
 trutli, represent nothing but a vast facade of columnar trap. It 
 is possible that the cape, at ihe time this sketch of it was taken, 
 was much higher than it is at present ; a change, which, if we 
 consider the lapse of sixty years, and take into account also the 
 destructive action of the sea, which in other places effects changes 
 as great in one twentieth part of that time, cannot certainly be 
 thought very remarkable. iJut the exact features of the spot 
 must then have been strangely overlooked by the artist ; for if he 
 had correctly copied them, his picture could have never led to 
 the error of supposing its composition to be of trap instead of 
 slate. 
 
 No trap rock, in any form, occurs on the southern shore of St. 
 Mary's Hay ; even the dykes that occasionally penetrate the slate 
 of the South mountains, and the drifted masses strewed over their 
 surface, are here entirely wanting; and, if we except these, no 
 indications of it occur in any part of Nova Scotia beyond the con- 
 fines of the North mountain range. Its occurrence on the Island 
 of Cape Breton has been barely mentioned by Messrs. Smith 
 and Brown ; and we regret that these gentlemen have not been 
 able to give us some details respecting it. It may indeed be 
 looked for wherever the sandstone prevails, as these two rocks 
 are commonly associated. 
 
 The coast, of which we are now speaking, consists of slate, 
 occasionally presenting, among its water-worn cliffs, interesting 
 sections of quartz rock and beds of transition limestone. But 
 the quartz rock of this place has not the usual compact, homoge- 
 neous character of that (soon to be mentioned) around Halifax, 
 where it appears in more powerful strata, and, from its power of 
 more effectually resisting the elements, stands up above the slate 
 in prominent ridges, suggesting to the observer the appearance of 
 
Mincralogii and Geology of jYom Scotia. 3 1 9 
 
 basaltic walls. It seems here more properly a fine Iragtnentary 
 rock, consisting of granular quartz and lelspar, united with grains 
 
 of serpentine of a dirty irreen color nn<l Vm;.,,, o 
 
 ' J b'^t-" coior, ana Jia\inga sajionaceous 
 
 feel. It is traversed by narrow seams of fibrous asbestus, u min- 
 eral hitherto ur.ol.scrved in this Province. JJut in a few places, be- 
 coming finer grained and compact, it passes into the slate as at 
 other localities. Although, in containing the serpentine, it dillbrs 
 from the ,,uartz rock near Halifax (the ertect of certain local 
 and accidental causes), it possesses, in common with this, the 
 general structure and composition of the quartz rock of Scotland, 
 so ably illustrated by Dr. A[cCulloch, according to whom it' 
 is sometimes met with in the Highlands of Scotland in a frag- 
 mentary form similar to this. It is not however, in this countrj, 
 geologically associated with those rocks of the primary series, with 
 which, according to that writer, it traverses different parts of 
 Scotland ; but, as it is mmcraloiricaW, the same rock as the Scot- 
 tish aggregate, it is obvious that the same title should be applied 
 to it, although, contrary to the systems, it |may place this rock 
 among the formations of a later epoch, to which, in fact, the re- 
 cent discoveries of distinguished geologists have shown it to 
 belong; as, according to M. De la Beche, it occurs with argilla- 
 ceous slate, containing fossils, in France; and it is even" de- 
 scribed, bv Humboldt, as a secondary rock in the Andes of 
 Peru, where it is extensively interposed in a formation of alpine 
 limestone with fossil shells.* Its occurrence, in Nova Scotia, in 
 intimate connexion with slate, containing the remains of the 
 trilobite, a crustaceous insect, hitherto found only in the oldest 
 transition rocks, proves it a more recent formation, but allows us 
 
 • Baron Humboldt's Essay on the Superposition of Rocks in both Hemispheres 
 p. 296. 
 
VJ 
 
 ! 
 
 ife 
 
 
 320 Messrs, Jackson and Jlger on the 
 
 to class it posterior only to the granite, on which it in fact immedi- 
 ately raposes, but with which it is never known to alternate. The 
 slate and quartz rock were observed to extend round Cape St. 
 Mary's for several miles towards Yarmouth ; they probably form 
 most of the coast from thence towards Cape Sable. We are, howev- 
 er, unable to speak positively on this point, from not having extend- 
 ed our examinations so far ; but, from the information we have 
 received, we are led to believe that it forms the whole wx tern 
 coast of the Province, interrupted only by the granite, which 
 occasionally rises through it in the interior. The white banks, 
 alluded to in Des Barres' work, are doubtkss the quartz rock ; 
 and the white sand, also spoken of in the same work, is probably 
 its disintegrated debris, formed and thrown up by the sea.* But 
 we choose to leave, for the present, this part of the geologi- 
 cal map un-jolored, in the hope of seeing it filled up by the ob- 
 servations of otheri, or our own, which may hereafter be renew- 
 ed in this region and extended perhaps to some remoter parts 
 
 of it. 
 
 With the exception of the limestone referred to, veins of 
 quartz sometimes crystallized, and occasional disseminations of 
 
 • Sable Island, which has proved so often a scene of shipwreck and desolation 
 to m;riners, is said to be formed wholly of this frail material, which is so light as 
 to be carried about and drifted into new shoals by the wind and sea of almcit every 
 tempest. The island is very low ; and, although but a little more than a mile wide, 
 it is said to extend thirty miles in length. It is remarked by Mr. Hiilliburton, that 
 " those who have not personally witnessed the effect of a storm upon this place, can 
 form no adequate idea of its horrors. Tlie rev^'berated thunder of the sea, when it 
 strikes this attenuated line of sand, on a front of thirty miles, is tru . appalling; 
 and the vibrution of the island under its mighty pressure, seems to indicate that it 
 will separate and be borne away into the ocean." History of Nova Scotia, Vol. ii. 
 page 22(5. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVova Scotia. 321 
 
 iron pyrites, this coast, so far as we have traced it, presents noth- 
 ing of mineralogical interest ; yet the lover of the picturesque will 
 ce delighted with its scenery, which, although wanting, it is true, 
 the majestic outhne of the opposite coast, is more agreeably di- 
 versilledby the alternations of different rocks, the variable manner 
 in which the strata of slate are seen to run, and the deep glens 
 that have been formed by the sea between their protruding edges. 
 Of one of these spots, we find a view in the "Atuntic Neptune," 
 showing the limestone caverned out by the sea. 
 
 The (juartz rock before alluded to, is the only rock in Nova 
 Scotia, of which we have omitted lo mention the mineralof^ical 
 characters. It is represented on the map as alternating with the 
 clay-slate, and constituting strata of great dimensions. This is 
 not strictly true to nature, for it alternates so freijuently, as to 
 render it impossible to give an exacf view of its arrangement ; 
 but the proportion of this rock io the slate is correctly shown, 
 by thus collecting the numerous narrow beds of it into a 
 few large divisions. It occupies but a small part of the country. 
 It is composed, as its name indicates, of siliceous matter, or 
 quartz, which is fine granular, but more frequently compact, and 
 breaks, not unusually, with a conchoidal fracture. It is some- 
 times white, and its grains are transparent ; but it generally has a 
 greyish or bluish tint, arising, apparently, from admixture with the 
 contiguous slate, with which it is doubdess coeval. It frequently 
 passes into tlinty or siliceous slate, and is sometimes so intimate- 
 ly blended with the argillite into which it passes, that the eye 
 cannot distinguish where the one begins or the other terminates. 
 The layers of siliceous slate are often separated by thin folia of 
 argillaceous slate, while the true quartz rock possesses no strati- 
 fied appearance, and never separates into layers like the slate. 
 76 
 
322 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Mger on the 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 n 
 
 ■ v.. 
 
 But, in a few instances, it loses entirely its compact and homoge- 
 neous appearance, and becomes a fragmentary compound similar 
 to that already mentioned on the shore of St. Mary's Bay, except- 
 ing that it wants the greenish serpentine observed only at that 
 place. One of the beds of quartz rock runs fifteen miles north 
 of Halifax ; two cross Bedford Basin ; and the fourth forms a part 
 of the Peninsula included between Margaret's Bay and Hahfax 
 harbour, where it presents itself to the ocean, and opposes an 
 unyielding barrier against its mighty waves. It is not known 
 how far these beds extend into the interior ; but it is probable 
 that they are continuous with the strata of slate, and are connected 
 with the quartz rock on the shore of St. Mary's Bay. 
 
 It will appear evident we think, even setting aside its mineral 
 composition, which alone is sufficient to determine its true char- 
 acter, that this rock can have no claims to the title of trap, whether 
 considered as secondary or primitive ; for, by its stratification with 
 and passage into the transition clay-slate, it is proved to be con- 
 temporaneous with that rock, the strata of which it is never known 
 to cross in dykes, as is ordinarily the case with trap rocks. Cer- 
 tainly the term primitive, which we find applied to it in the work 
 we have alluded to, is peculiarly unfortunate. We mention this, 
 in the present instance, in order to set forth more plainly our 
 reasons for having applied the term quartz rock to the aggregate 
 in question, and, if possible, to avoid the charge of having mistaken 
 its true character. These reasons, we trust, will be sufficient to ex- 
 cuse us, in the minds of the genUemen who drew up those re- 
 marks, from any wish of calling in question, unnecessarily, the 
 accuracy of their observations, as we assure them that truth on 
 the subject is our only aim, even if it come from a source that should 
 expose the fallacy of our own views. The quartz rock, as we 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJVova Scotia. 323 
 
 have said, occupies but a small part of the country, being met with 
 principally in the township of Halifax, where it constitutes the 
 dreary and barren hills which surround that city, and which have 
 falsely been considered fair specimens of the soil of Nova Scotia. 
 From the nature of this rock, that part of the country, in which it 
 predominates, must for ages remain sterile ; as this flinty aggre- 
 gate obdurately resists the action of the elements, and will re- 
 quire a long period for a decomposition of sufficient soil to re- 
 ward the labors of the agriculturist ; and this soil, from its nature, 
 will never advantageously compare with the rich loam of the 
 valley of Annapolis, or the garden of Acadia, Cornwallis, which 
 are more favored by nature in this respect. Halifax, fortunate- 
 ly, is not dependent upon her soil to " yield her bread " ; but, 
 situated at the head of one of the most beautiful harbours in the 
 world, with the romantic Bedford Basin in the rear, she possesses 
 commercial advantages, to which those of no other place in the 
 country can be compared, and is fully compensated for the imper- 
 fection of her soil, which, collected in the valleys, suflices to 
 produce the garden vegetables for the city. 
 
 The traveller proceeding from the United States to Halifax, 
 who is desirous of studying the principal rock formations de- 
 scribed in this paper, can easily arrange his route so as to exam- 
 ine the structure of the country. If he goes by the way of St. 
 Johns, (N. B.) and takes the steam-boat to Annapolis, he may 
 examine to advantage the trap rocks of the North mountains, and 
 the clay-slate of the South mountains, in his journey along the 
 valley of the Annapohs river, in which he will travel between these 
 two ranges to Windsor ; and then cross the South mountains, the 
 border of the sandstone and the quartz rock formation, to Halifax. 
 From Halifax, he may shape his course eastwardly to Pictou, and 
 
324 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 ■5*' 
 
 iii 
 
 comprise in his observations the coal, iron, and copper mines, 
 with the other interesting locahties of that district.* Returning 
 through Windsor, he may then take passage in one of the packets 
 which statedly ply between that place and St. Johns, in which he 
 will pass beneath the lofty portals of Cape Blomidon and Cape 
 D'Or,and within near view of the high and picturesque Island sit- 
 uated off that coast. The readiness evinced by the masters 
 of these packets, to aid the objects of travellers, will enable 
 thm, on suitable occasions, to pass a short time in gathering up 
 some of the many rare and beautiful productions that are scat- 
 tered along this coast. But in order to bestow upon it the atten- 
 tion which it deserves, no method will be found so convenient 
 and efllcient, as that of chartering a vessel properly furnished for 
 the tour, and large enough to admit of storing away the ex- 
 tensive collections of objects that may be obtained. This method 
 was pursued by ourselves with great advantage in our last excur- 
 sion to the Peninsula, and is one which our experience enables 
 us to recommend to others as decidedly the easiest and most 
 likely to be successful. A small boat, without sails, will also be 
 found a useful auxiliary, by which access may be had to many 
 places along the coast, where the water would be too shallow 
 to allow a larger craft to ride in safety, or where such a vessel 
 
 * At the Provincial Academy of Pictou, there has been collected, and scientifi- 
 cally arranged under the direction of Dr. McCulloch, the principal of the institu- 
 tion, a very fine museum of natural history, particularly of native birds and insects, 
 in which department this country appears quite similar to the United States, if we 
 except, perhaps, the greater number of aquatic birds. The collection was politely 
 shown us by Dr. McKinlay, one of the trustees and lecturers of the institution, 
 and a clergyman of the place, to whom, for this and other acts of kindness, we 
 would here express our obligations. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology of Mm Scotia. 325 
 
 would be in the greatest danger of being driven upon the shore 
 by the sudden and violent gales that spring up in this region, or 
 of being hurled among the broken ledges by the tides and cur- 
 rents that rush impetuously along the coast, and leave only here 
 and there a spot of real security, sheltered by some bold pro- 
 jecting ridge of rock. 
 
 In treating of the Geology of this province we have perhaps 
 exceeded the limits within which, it may be said, we should have 
 confined ourselves. But as our object has been to describe facts 
 as they exist in nature, and also to point out, in some instances, 
 the rationale of the more remarkable phenomena observed, it was 
 found impossible to shorten the paper materially, without omitting 
 parts which either had a necessary connexion with the whole, 
 or which, in themselves, seemed too important not to have some 
 brief consideration. Our object, too, has been to describe the 
 structure and productions of the country in such a manner as 
 would be most useful to those who may succeed us in exploring 
 it; and in doing this, we have often cited several localities of the 
 same substance, as it presented itself under some new form or 
 variety, and have thus been led occasionally into a minuteness of 
 detail which, though it has lengthened out our remarks, has given 
 greater completeness to the whole. Among the numerous 
 localities of mineral substances particularized in this paper, 
 probably few will be found to have lost much of their interest 
 since they were examined by us, while many of them will doubt- 
 less be found to have acquired much new interest by the 
 changes they may have suffered in the mean time, and by the sub- 
 stances which these changes may have brought to light.* 
 
 • It may be well to state as a curious fact in this place, that no traces of the 
 mineral known as pre'.mite have appeared in our examinations of i.,. 'up rocks of 
 77 
 
1p 
 
 in 
 
 l< 
 
 326 Messrs. Jackson a7i(l Alger on the 
 
 Theories which are generally known and adopted, we have 
 merely alluded to en passant; but when appearances justified it, 
 we have advanced opinions, some of which are perhaps novel, 
 although they are the legitimate inferences from the facts discov- 
 ered in our investigations, which were carefully made, and the 
 results recorded on the spot where they were observed. Some 
 errors will probably be found in our statements, such as must 
 unavoidably occur in an account of the geology of an unexplored 
 country, where there are but few of those conveniences, which 
 abound in. our own, to facilitate researches into its physical 
 structure. In the main, however, we trust that they will be found 
 correct, although some omissions will doubtless be discovered, and 
 the boundaries of the rock formations may not always have 
 been exactly portrayed. This was a necessary consequence 
 of the obscurity occasioned by the uniform covering of soil which 
 exists in the interior, and which, although it enriches the country 
 in an agricultural point of view, greatly embarrasses researches 
 into its geology. The sea-coast, denuded by the action of the 
 waves, exhibits the most satisfactory views of its rock formations ; 
 and when defeated in our search for the outcroppings of strata 
 in the interior, we scarcely ever failed in obtaining a view of them 
 somewhere along the extensive coast of the Province. The sim- 
 plicity and remarkable regularity in geological structure exhibit- 
 ed in Nova Scotia, cannot fail to excite the admiration of every 
 
 Nova Scotia ; although this mineral, accompanied by nearly the same substances 
 that have been described in this paper, is abundant in the trap rocks of most other 
 regions, and is never, we believe, wholly absent from any of them, when they occur 
 to any considerable extent. And we are far from believing that it will not yet be 
 met with when the rocks of Nova Scotia shall have been more minutely explored 
 in search of it, and add another species to the interesting suite of substances which 
 this country has already afforded. 
 
Mineralogy and Geology ofJ^ova Scotia. 887 
 
 geologist, who may examine that region, how much so ever he 
 may disagree with us in our theoretical deductions. 
 
 We have purposely omitted, as being entirely foreign to the 
 object of this paper, any references to the history and geography 
 of the country, excepting in a few cases, where they could hard- 
 ly be avoided in designating particular localities, and in assisting 
 the traveller in finding such as were the objects of our examina- 
 tion. For much valuable information in relation to these sub- 
 jects, as well as to the general statistics and topography of the 
 country, we take great pleasure in referring our readers to Mr. 
 Halliburton's « History of Nova Scotia," published at Halifax in 
 1829. 
 
 List of theMmerah of Nova Scotia, comprinng such as are described in 
 the preceding Paper, principally arranged, as to Species, Subspecies, and 
 Varieties, according to the •' Tabular View" in the System of Mimralosu 
 by rrofessor Cleaveland. <> j bV 
 
 Species. 
 
 Sulphate of Barytes. 
 
 SUBSPECIES. 
 
 Carbo ate of Lime. 
 
 
 
 Calcareous Spar 
 
 
 granular 
 
 
 magnesian 
 
 
 Brown Spar, 
 bituminous 
 
 Arragonite. 
 
 
 Phosphate of Lime. 
 
 
 Sulphate of Lime. 
 
 Selenite. 
 
 
 Gypsum. 
 
 VARIETIEII. 
 
 lamellar and granular, 
 compact and crystallized. 
 
 crystallized and lamellar. 
 Dog-tooth spar. 
 Stalactite, 
 heini tropic. 
 
 crystallized. Rhomb-spar. 
 
 Calcareous Sinter, 
 crystallized. 
 Asparagus stone. 
 
 massive, 
 lamellar. 
 
 fibrous, granular, 
 compact, snowy, 
 and stellated. 
 
328 
 
 Messrs. Jackson and Alger on the 
 
 Species. 
 Quartz. 
 
 m;^ 
 
 Siliceous Slate. 
 
 Mica. 
 
 Schorl. 
 
 Felspar. 
 
 Garnet. 
 
 Stilbite. 
 
 Laumonite 
 Analcime 
 
 Chabasie. 
 Apophyllite. 
 
 Heulandite. 
 
 Thomsonite 
 Mcsotype. 
 
 Asbestus. 
 Horoblende. 
 
 SUBSPECIES. 
 
 common crystallized 
 
 Amethyst. 
 
 ferruginous 
 
 fetid 
 
 Chalcedony. 
 
 Siliceous Sinter. 
 
 TAKIEYIES. 
 
 Heliotrope. 
 Opal. 
 
 Hornstone. 
 Jasper. 
 
 manganesian 
 
 limpid, cmoliy (Cairngorm)- 
 yellow, iriseil, radiated. 
 
 red and purple 
 
 brown and |;reen. 
 
 Cacliolont;. 
 
 Caimdian, Onyx. 
 
 Ai;al(.', — ribbon, hrocciatcd, 
 
 fortification, and moss. 
 
 amethystine, and 
 snow white. 
 
 Semi-opal. 
 
 common striped 
 
 Agate-jasper. 
 
 Ruin-jasper. 
 
 Basanite. 
 
 laminated. 
 
 common black prismatic 
 acicular, in quartz. 
 
 yellow and white. 
 
 common, and red, or 
 
 Sarcolite. 
 
 cupreous green, a new variety. 
 
 wine yellow, 
 colorless. 
 
 green and white. 
 Albin. 
 
 red and white. 
 
 Mesolite or Needlestone. 
 
 Skolezite. 
 
 plumous and lilamentoiu. 
 
 6brous. 
 
jnimra 
 
 logy and Geolog 
 
 Tf of J\i ova Scotia. 
 
 Species. 
 
 Hornblende. 
 
 SUBSPECIES. 
 
 common 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 Diallage. 
 Serpentine. 
 
 metalloidal 
 
 mauWe, 
 
 Chlorite. 
 
 
 comtnan. 
 
 Argillaceous Slate. 
 
 Green Earth. 
 
 common, crystallized. 
 
 Graphite. 
 
 
 Argillite. 
 Roof Slato. 
 
 Coal. 
 
 
 granular. 
 
 Lignite. 
 
 
 common bituminous. 
 
 Copper. 
 
 
 Jet. Pitcliy lignite. 
 Bituminous wood. 
 Brown, cartliy, and brittle 
 
 Suli)lniret of Copper, 
 
 or Vitreous Cojiper. 
 Pyritous Copper. 
 
 } 
 
 native metallic, 
 arborescent. 
 
 compact massive. 
 
 Red Oxide of Copper. 
 
 
 common yellow. 
 
 Carbonate of Copper. 
 
 blue 
 
 crystallized. 
 
 Sulphuret of Iron. 
 
 green 
 
 fibrous. 
 
 tibrous, (Malachite.) 
 
 Magnetic Oxide of Iron 
 
 arsenical 
 
 common amorphous. 
 
 hepatic. 
 
 cubic. 
 
 Specular Oxide of Iron. 
 
 
 compact, granular, and 
 
 crystallized. 
 
 earthy. 
 
 Red Oxide of Iron 
 
 micaceous. 
 
 crystallized. 
 
 Brown Oxide of Iron. 
 (Hydrous oxide.) 
 
 
 compact. 
 
 )seu<lornorphou9. 
 
 leddie. 
 
 fascicular, in quartz and 
 amethyst crystals. 
 Brown Hematite, 
 botryoidal and staalctitic. 
 
 78 
 
m 
 
 1} 1 
 
 m 
 
 330 
 
 Mineralogy and Geology ofJ^ova Scotia. 
 
 Species. subspecies. 
 
 Argillaceus Oxide of Iron. 
 
 Carbonate of Iron. 
 Phosphate of Iron. 
 
 Sulphate of Iron. 
 Suiphurct of Lead. 
 
 Arsenidte of Lead. 
 
 Oxide of Manfianpse, 
 (Pyrolusite of lluidinger) 
 
 argentiferous 
 
 grey 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 rcxlnou!! granular. 
 Shot oro. Dog ore. 
 
 massivo and crystallized. 
 
 bottyoldal and crystallized, 
 earthy and pulverulent. 
 
 efllorescent. 
 
 crystaMizcd, 
 
 radiated, compact, and 
 acicular. 
 
 Chlorophfeite.' 
 
 i 
 
 * This rare mid curious mincrnl is not yet estabiislicd as a distinct spocica. Jt lins 
 been supjiosod by ii Into distinj,'tiishcd raincraiojjist, W. I'hUlips, to lie allifd to the 
 Sideroolfpto of Suussuru ; but neither of UiCbO luiucruls has beua analyzed. 
 
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