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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 f? d/" Chiefl, tC ' :w LOCALITIES or CANADIAN MINERALS, WITH NOTES AND EXTRACTS, Chiefly collected from the Writings of John Bigsby, M. D. P. L. S. M. G.S. w tc AND PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec,''^ siooc QUEBEC: Printed by T. Cary & Co. Free-Masons'-Hall, 1827 \ i THEc followir readers, ranginij flily obt might 1 tention interest and Hi A mo most a frequei always aflfords The in the work, anonyi same i derstai Londo extrac our fi satisfit contri munic that it ficien( raise i unassi We occur) class < as the undis I ■I PREFACE ■J^, THE cause which led to the presentation and publication of the following pamphlet, will be sufficiently obvious to most of our readers. It was thought, that the collecting together and ar- ranging, under one form, all the information that could be rea- dily obtained, from the few sources which exist on the subject, might have the effect, in a slight degree, of awakening the at- tention of the public to those subjects of general and scientific interest, which it is more peculiarly the province of the " Literary and Historical Society, of Quebec," to investigate. Among the sources alluded to, Dr, Bigsby's writings stand fore- most and almost alone ; his name will, in conse(iuencc, appear frequently in the following pages, for which, as wc have not always the authority that an acknowledged authorship in print affords, m c beg he will excuse us. , . r The Canadian Review has been one of our books ot rctorence, in the fourth number of which extracts appear from Dr. ^^igsby s work, " On the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron. An I anonymous article, from the second number, wc suspect by the same individual, has been also introduced. Since these, we un- derstand he has presented a paper to the Geological Society of London, '' on the Geology of the valley of the St. Lawrence, extracts from which we hope, on a future occasion, to lay before our friends. In the meantime they are reciucstcd to remain satisfied with the present attempt, and resolve, by their own contributions to make the original portion oi our next com- munication of far more importance ; for they must be aware that it is impossible for an individual, without [)rett nsion to pro- ficiency, in the subjects he writes upon, to do any thing more than raise a feeble pen, although it be in a strong cause. Indeed the unassisted hand of one ever so capable cannot effect much. We have extracted largely from Gourlay, particularly on the ' occurrence of L. Stone in the Upper Province, an interesting class of rocks every where, but peculiarly so in these ^1 ^^«^'y^^^*j as they are, in many places, found to contam, m horizoRta. anc undisturbed strata, the organic remains of marine animals, some m iv PREFACE. of the genera of which, are unknown in our present seas, and wuose race IS supposed to be extinct; proving beyond a doubt the extensive dmninion of the sea, at a remote period, over these Provinces. To Keating we are also indebted for some interestinir observations on the Geology of that part of the Upper Province, forming the route from Red River to L. Superior He passed oyer part of the same ground that Dr. Bigsby had previously visited, of whom he makes honourable mention. D Jn-^ f T^^^"'^"* ""^ '^^ minerals, in the Catalogue, is after Phillips from wnom the analytical heading is also taken, although not always accurately. The corrections, where neces- sary, will be found at the end of the work. Different analyses of minerals, bearing the same name, are found not only not to give the same proportional results, but, frequently, not exactly the the same ingredients. It is, therefore, not always possible to say which are essential, and which are not. Among the earthv minerals, the presence of iron and mangenese is neglected, be- cause they so generally enter into the composition of minerals without altering their essential physical characters. 1 hose extracts from the Canadian Review and Medicaljour- u'v u ^"^J^^^' not distinguished by inverted commas, are re- published efforts of our own.— Editor. July, 1827. I nt seas^ and ond a doubt I, over these ! interesting jr Province, He passed I previously ue, is after also taken, here neces- ; analyses of not to give exactly the possible lo the earthy lected, be- >f mineral^ lical Jour- is, are re- LOCALITIES OF CANADIAN MINERALS. EARTHY MINERALS. SILEX (PURE.) Q JUARTZ, in large elongated and transparent crystals, is found on Ju'dge Taschereau's Seigniory of St. Mary's. Their form is that of a six-sided prism terminated by a&ix-sided pyramid. (Note 1.) In the " Black Rock" of Cape Diamond (a carbonaceous Clay-slate,) the following varities of quartz occur : (Note 2.) Ist. Acirular, or needle shaped crystals— a new form of quartz ac^ cording to Dr. Bigsby. 2nd. Very pellucid crystals of the dodecahedral form, or six-suled py- ramids joined base to base— These are rare. 3rd. Also very pellucid crystals, the form of which is a short six-sided prism, terminated by six-sided pyramids. 4th. The same as the last, wanting one of the pyramids. The end of the prism deficient is generally only semi-transparent. fith. Crystals as large as the thumb, full of cavities, seldom presenting any well defined faces, but in which the same form of a six-sided prism terminated by a six-sided pyramid, may be traced. These are common, and whenever any of the faces of the crystals are sufficiently transparent, wMch is sometimes the case in a remarkable degree, a fibrous acicular or striated structure, may often be seen in the interior, which, und'ir some incidences of light, has a silver white lustre, this together witli coloured impurities, renders the greater part of the crystal only translucent.— Crystals containing air and bitumen have been found. As might be ex- pected they are much irised.— They appear in the progress of formation, and it is remarkable that the exterior of the crystal is more pe. ~t and further advanced in its crystallization than the interior. . . , . 6lh. Very irregular, discoloured and semi-transparent six-sided prisms, without pyramids, are also common ; these are generally found in the most smutty and carbonized part of the rock. Amethystine Quartz. — Lakes Superior and Huron. — Dr. B. Black Quartz. St. Joseph's L. Huron. do. Granular Quartz. Forming an aggregate with black crystaUized Hornblende— Montreal mountain, —Dr. B. (Note 3.) Transition Quartz. N. W. L. Huron.— Dr. B. Avanturine. L. Huron. — Dr. B. Micaceous Quartz. "®' . , r j u Opalescent Quartz. A bowlder, several tons weight, was found by W. Green, Esq. at Riviere du Loup, L. C. the greater part resembles r\ t „-i-_i-i- u.-i. — „o^<-,.:.,lr r, crj .rr nf ^,8. it caQQOt belODg tO Upec,«f..D „,tm. Do. m imperfect crystals, Township of Yonge, U. C._Dr B FEunMciNous Quartz, do b > • ^- "'■ a. PoRODS Qr*RTz. Its pores occasioned by the dccomMsltion »f SILEX AND WATER. ^^^ — '" ^""^'1 rounded pieces, the si/e nf a nnf :« ,. k 1 1 .^T„^iTrir?:'7N^od"" ^"'- ^^^ ^^^^^X^^ Semi-Opai.— Hawksbury, Ottawa.— Dr. B. SILEX, ALUMINE. (Notes ) " -mpositloaof the Agates ffooi the Tame ^lac'e; Do. Bay of Chaleur. Carnelians— forming alluvium at Gaspe. iJo. L. Superior. — Dr. B. • Tht''/''-f ~''^t Chalcedonies and Carnelians, forming alluvium at Gaso^ The foss.l vertebrae, which crowd the strata of Drummond's Island of^n andSupeHirlDr.'B?' ^^^^'^^^ --« ^~- the upper jiakes, ulon Do. At Gaspe, forming alluvium. HoRNSTONE. The organic remains of Drummond's Island often exhibit fo^l7^1Z7H" 'r' P''/r '' ^"*" ^'^•■"^tone. The barbs of ladiao A Garnet, (precious) R. Moira, L. Ontario.~Dr. B. JJo. (Manganesian) do. j- Do. Fox islands, j^* Common'do^'^"'*''^' ^P""^*^'**"'^ ^^' ^^y» »« Mica state. Fel:;rr7b<;Hfc?r^^ '" "^'^^ ^^ ^''^'^^ p"-^p^"^ -^p-^d or white Do. Hawksbury, Ottawa in Granite Dr. B So"; up:vaXZ'e,T:t "''«•s»s--^ r- c.-do. Staurotide. L. Huron, jy^^ g SILEX, ALU MINE, LIME, Prehnite. L. Superior, j^ Zeomtes. L. Superior, in Amygdaloid, do! ZoisiTE. Fort Wellington, U. C- Jo lipiDOTE. Marmora, in a slightly porRhyritic Syenite, do.' ■Uo. Montreal, j_ Do. Lake Huron, in Greenstone, do! 1^0. Do. and Superior in Amygdaloid, with Steatite. I Epidoi AXINII Clay. brick, wi (valley ol Clay is When WI Do, A plastic ct canals. Shale port, L. I terrebrat found in Do. A thin Btrai exhibit t Auaii Do. Cocco Plumba^ Brow I D Horn Blaci an aegre Hornl Do. i Do. i Do. ] Do. ] Do. ] ASBE! Trew AcTT U. C. ss AnTI! ACTTi Oliv Do. Serf fille, ( Nob Com 6t. Ma Ber Do. (3 ) ) often resem- 3r. B. i\o. mpositfon of >n of its form. >owlder com- Hornbleade im at Gasp^. same place. im at Gasp6. sland, oftea Vote 6.) ikes, Huron ften exhibit r Indian Ar- ed of white Epidote (rolled) Falls of Niagara.— Dr. B. AxiNiTE. Ilawksbury. The only place in America. — Dr. B. Clay. Which will take the form and acquire the hardness of Bath brick, without baking or burning, is found iu the valley of Quebec, (?alley of the St. Charles?) Clay is found at Sillcry, near Quebec, of a pink colour throughout. When washed and baked it forms an excellent chalk or pigment. Do, At Isle aux Noix, L. Champlain, a blue clay is found of the most plastic character. It is well calculated for lining the sides and bottoms of canals. Shale — is found alternating with conchlferous fetid L. Stone at Beau- port, L. C. It is sometimes conchlferous itself, and bears impressions of terrebratulae, 8cc. It is said that the fossil remains of fish have been found in it. Do. A species of Shale, often with a very glossy surface is found in thin strata interstratified with the " Black Rock." Its planes sometimes exhibit the appearance of Te^etable organic remains. (Note 7») 8JLEX, jiLUMlNE, LIME, MAGNESIA. AuoiTE. Montreal Mountain. — Dr. B« Do. N. W. Lake Huron, do. CoccoLiTE. Hull, Ottawa, associated with Magnetic Oxide of Iron and Plumbago. — Dr. B. Brown do. St. Paul's Bay, L. C. — do. Do. La Petite Riviere, L. C. — do. Hornblende (Basaltic,) Montreal Mountain. — do. Black Crystallized Hornblende — forming, with granular quartz, an aggregate, of which the Montreal Mountain Is chiefly composed. Hornblende in Porphyry, Pays Plat, U. C— Dr. B. Do. in Greenstone, La Cloche, L. Huron, Do. in Syenite, L. Huron. — Dr. B. Do. Lower St. Annes, L. C. do, do. do. do. . ^ . U. C— do. AcxyNOLiTE ? (Green) forms a laree portion of the bowlder at York, U. C. said to contain Lithia. (Not; . I.) ANTUOPHYLLiTE—Fort Wellington, U. C. (very rare)— Dr. B. AcTYNOLiTE— in a bowlder from Ange Gardien. Do. Hawksbury, Ottawa, Do. La Petite Riviere, L. C. AsBESTUS — N. W. L. Huron, Tremolitb (White) Kingston, atite. 3 MAGNESIA, SILEX, Olivine — Montreal Mountain. — Dr. B. Do. N. W. L. Huron, do. Serpentine — disseminated in spots through granular L. Stone, Gren- tille, Ottawa, forming primary Marble. Noble Serpentine — Falls of Calumet. — Dr. B. Common do. associated with Talc, on Judge Taschereau's Seigniory of Bt. Mary's, Quebec. GLUCINE, Beryl — in Granite, L. of the Woods.-^Dr. B. Do»withTalc,N.W.L. Huron, do. ( 4 ) ALKALINO EARTHY MINERALS. SILEX, JLVIUINE, POTJSIt. Itf olT^rcrclntorteT ''^^ ^'^^^^ ^" ^•^"'^^^ at Cape Tounnent l>o. (silver) with Steatite, St. Joachim. (Note 8.) ^lALc Mter) ,s found on Judge Taschereaus Seigniory of St. Mary's, Do. N. W. L. Huron, associated with Beryl.— Dr. B. S/Z.£jr, ALUMINB, LIME, POTASH. whl nm)hSJ hi n ''''?*^^' ^'i''',"'^"' ^'■°" »"^ » »'**»« Mica, the wnoic porphyrued by occasional rounded pieces of Opal. (Note 9 ) JJO. Dans le voisina^e d'un district connu sous le nom de Milles fslea S^nTrnirr'^'r'^r.^""'*^^- '^-*<^-«-lessemblenT'tr.c^^r^^^^^^^ ^S::^^^'^:^:^ ^-^ ^^ ^«^^P-»» -* ''^-^^edi^ent le OtfawV^ilira ^^''"^ *" '"'■^' rhomboidal crystals, Hawksbury, Fkispar (red) 1000 islands, part of the Tourmaline bed.-Dr. B. iJo. hi. Joseph's, L. Huron, j^, at oZilf^'u""'^ ,^' * !Y«^ ''°'''^^''' *'" *''« ^^'"••e «f *he St. Charles hLh a tv r '.Jl' "^r.^«'^/« ''*^« been found under a similar form at as >^ A J."*^ ^^'^ ^'*'"^ <*^ Abraham. (Note 10.) iJo. At Gaspe, in small rounded pieces. Do. Mai Bay, do. ^ Do. Tadousac do. oth^rwi^'e. ""'''"' ^^ording to Dr. B. but he does not mention if in situ or Green Earth, in Amygdaloid, L. Huron, Dr. B. SILEX, ALUMINE, MAGNESIA, POTASH. ^fEATiTE-with Mica, St. Joachim, L. C. (Note 11.) Ijo. On voit a Kadanoqui (Gananoqui) entre Kingston et MHIes Isles quelques especes <1. stealite done on assure qu'il ya de large Veine dans le voismage."— M. Gulllemard. ^ ^ °*"* " Near the Gananoqui Lake there is found a soft stone of a smooth Do. Isle la Crosse, L. Huron Dr B. th^RTn ('^^^'^^)r-Al'"^'^f "tly i" large gr'ained Granite on the summit of the Belceil mountain, near Charably.-M. Gulllemard. SI LEX, ALU MINE, LIME, POTASH, SODA. TouRMALiNE-1000 islands, near Kiugston.~Dr. B. i^nABAsiE. Montreal momitaiu, jo. ( 5 ) pe Tourment 8ILBX, ALUMISK, LtMK, FOTASU, SODJ, LITBU, I PetAlite. The mineral containing Lithia in the bowliler at York, U. ^ C. is said to be the Petalite, it aj^rees more neitily liowevir with Spodu- mcne. [t is usMociated with Actynolite and carbonate of liue or inag< nesia. (Note 12.) f St. Mary's, r, assuciuted le Mica, the Note 9.) Milles Isles e composees ngredient le [lawksbury, .—Dr. B. do. St. Charles ' form at as if in situ or inies Isles eines dans a smooth 3 and Yari- luartz tra. sammit of ACIDIFEROIJS EARTHY MINERALS. htME, CAnnONIC ACID. Calcareous Spar. The following varitifs of Calx Spar, are found ia the " Black Rock' of Quebec : Ist. Coloured extirnally with a shade of colour approflching lilac, structure distinctly lamina, easily dividing into rhombs. This variety traverses the rock In all directions in veins which vary from the sixe of a hair to an inch in thickness, these are sometimes so frequent as to give the rock the aspect of a conglomerate. 2nd. Large rhomboidal crystals of a yellowish colour and nearly of the primitive form — gemi-transpaient—sometimes iridescent in bands, resem- bling a plan of a ravelin or bastion in fortification — rare. 3rd. Radiating from a white translucent and calcareous base, transpa- rent acicular crystals, finer than spun glass, are found occupying small fissures and crevices in the rock. These are always associated with quartz, crystals and sometimes with smut, by which their colour is chang'- ed from white to brown and even black. The calcareous base is some- times wanting. CALCAttEous Spar— in elongated rhombs, occars at Nouvellc Beaoce, L. C. XT . rr Do. in polyhedral crystals in compact L. Stone, near No. 4, Tower. Do. (red) Gargantea, L. Superior.— Dr. B. Do. (red and white) occurring as veins in transition L. Stone at Point Levi, opposite Quebec. Do. in lenticular crystals, Montreal. Do. (Hyaline) in light brown L. Stone, Marmora.— Dr. B. Stalactitic Carbonate of Lime, Mai Bay, in calcareous S. Stone ? PRIMARY L. STONE. Granular L. Stone of a decidedly primary character, with Mica dis- seminated throughout, is found at Cape Tourment, associated with Granite. Do. spotted with Serpentine (on which account also primary,) Gren- Tille, Ottawa. (Note 13.) Do. Fine grained. Crow Lake, L. Ontario. — Dr. B. This resembles Carrara marble. Laminar L. Stone. At Tadousac, mouth of the Saguenay, a white and highly translucent marble is found, which (if the description given of it be correct, as associated with Granite) must be priarary. It h la considerable abundance. (Note 14.) Granular L. Sxone ? " The rocks in the Township of Yooge are ( 6 ) GoTriay!" "' * "■'" """' *'"' " ""■""" •' 'l»"'""g particle,."- :,„aI'Ja 'k/IV"" •"" <5ananiioqui, there is what is called marblp rock and no doubtthere .s a great bed of thi, ralaable material. No „,e haJ GourlTy " '""'" '" """""« '""'"^^' '"^ »'*" W"'"? "ticre"- " SECONDARY L. STONES OF M'CVLLOCH. O.Sr*" °'r' more calcarcoos character than the « Black Rock" of Quebec, are f««„d alternating with i, in .„bordln.te, but contoribfe Compact L. Stone is found occupyinir a situation nn t\^^ ^ e and between the « Black Rock," and conelomeratP Jl' ^^^^''^^n^^ "^ i^htr^i^eJa-t^tn^^tiir-^^^^^^^^^^^ s.t:;7t oS ::l.;x;.".f rf:u''d"ciri„';r '^ ^--'^^ ■»^«'' Louis and John's Gate. ""« ^'^^ ^'*'"^? «"tside St. Compact Ijidurated L. Stone of a crev rn1/»ir ;- r j . . men,, in the L. Stone conglomerate to^the^orth'^f'orber ''"'*' '"«■ i. L^rarS/;«''°"'' '"""""■ "^ •"""= ""<■ -- """«'Calx spar Fetid L. Stone in horizontal strata and verv cnn^h'of^ Beauport. From this formation thelime used in Quebec ifSLTr. '' the 0.4,^ considerable bed nithin the same dSe^ Tife 'rl-^''"« mains are much the same as those at Montreal but triini V ^*""' ^^^ to abound. (Note 16.) Montreal, Out tnlobites appear most Do. " At Montmorenci a brown often crystalline fetid I c. latTe? co':? •' "" ' ""T"^ cong: o„,erate, botif in h "Lon^l st^a The latter contains prmc.pally retepores, corallines and encrinites A Tif v L. Stone dull and compact succeeds in conformahlp 1^ f ^}^''^ conulari* trilobites ammonites and scphitef' the ryt^f.^" *'""•"« and accKlental minerals, are the same as at MoVtreah-lL B ' "'**"'" IJo. Ckystalline L. Stone, in horizontal strata, is found* a? P • * Trembles, which bears a striking resemblance to hat found at M */"'' renci and Montreal. louna at Montmo. Do. Crystalline L. Stone, Montreal lies at f Hp f««* ^r trap, composed of granular Quartz, a. ^i ack cm^^^^^^^^^^^ It contains the following organic remains *^ "Pnn ' • "^'•"bjende. pear and staghorn encrinit'e, oJthoceS t;:;fobifes rnr"'''^°''"J^ sulcata, trochi, encrinital columns, tu bos turbinoTiL. n^ ^"*^" rebratula. producta., madrepores, r'etepores', &^-D; B " '""' *"" Ihe following extracts, on the occurrence of L Sfn,^. • .u Townships of the Upper Province are takL f, n ^*" *^e several account of Upper-CaSada ' ^'''™ Gourlay's stotisUcai Western District. Malden— Limestone in abundance, which sells af i9« «^ the quarry. Lime is burnt and sold at'irSd per bushel ^"' *'"' »* particles,"— marble rock, No use has g articles/' — ck Rock" of conformable 2 confines of characterizes ed as part of able to the s Gate, otted aspect, ', outside St. inlargefrag- of Calx Spar us occurs at ained being organic re- appear most tj- Stone is strata— The » A black containing the organics L Point aux t Montmo- lountain of ornblende. Jnillformis, riae quadri nines, ter- the several statistical er toise at ( 7 ) Londo7i District. Delaware, Westminster amu Dorchester. Farmers burn Liroe in log-heaps. Oxford. Abundance. ToWNSEND. do. Walpole and Rainham. Do. at 10s per toise at the quarry. WooDHOusE. Do. at 25s do. Charlotteville. Some L. Stone. No Lime has been burnt for sale. Norwich. Some indications of plenty of L. Stone in the bottoms of small brooks, but not much opened. Water sometimes impregnated with Lime. Lime has been burnt in log-heaps, sells for about 8d per bushel. Bayham. Abundance. No Lime burnt for sale. Malahide. No Lime has been burnt for sale, but there are some quarries of L. Stone. Yarmouth. L. Stone in many places. No Lime burned. SOUTHWOLD. Do. do. DuNwicH. Some quarries, but very little Lime burnt. Aldborough. Some L. Stone about the creeks and shore of the Lake. No Lime has been burnt. Gore Dit ct. Nelson. There is L. Stone for 5s the toise at the quarry. Wellington Square. L. Stone in great plenty, made use of for building. East Flamboro'. Do. Lime burnt only in small quantities. West Flamboro' and Beverly. L. Stone abounds. Nichol. The whole of the course of the River (Ouse ?) through this Township is on a L. Stone rock. Waterloo. L. Stone in great quantities. Dumfries do. Haldimand. do. Ancaster. do. Barton. What is called the mountain composed of L. Stone with very little free-stone. Runs lengthways through the Township, the breadth of the L. Stone is 1^ mile. Saltfleet. L. Stone in large quantities. Niagara District, HuMBERSTON. Abundance of L, Stone ; it is used for building, and is got on the L. Shore for the picking up. Bertie. L. Stone is the only building stone— it can be obtained for 1 5s per toise at the quarry. Stamford. L. Stone in abundance, it being the general strata of the Township, all the banks of the Niagara river being of this, as also the rock over which the Niagara waters precipitate themselves. viRANTHAni. i here is A ijuge OF uiountiiiu running along tuc- soutnern boundary of this Township, which is composed of an inexhaustible body of Lime, free and building stone, which can be obtained at 5s per toise at the quarry. iill ( 8 ) Louth. Building sfonp, of an excellent quality, can be obtained, at 5s per toise at the quarry, from a ledge of building and L. Stone running •long the south side of the Township. running Grimsby. On the summit of the ridge numerous specimens of marne fossils and petrifactions are to be found, all of which indicate that the country, has at some remote period, been covered with water. Pelham. In the northern part of the Township there are immense quarries of L Stone. The ndge, as it is called, in this Township, being 500 feet higher than L. Ontario* ; it commences about I a mile east of the eastern limit of the Township, and extends westeriy nearly 4 miles, the ascent on the northern side is abrupt, but on the southern it is much more gentle and easy. Wainfleet. a great quantity of L. Stone of the very best quality. Canboro' and Caistor. a little L. Stone. No reports were furnished from the Home District, and only one L Stdr" ^^^ Newcastle, which contained nothing respecting Midland District. KiNGSTOX. The whole of the Township of Kingston lays on a stratum of L. ^.tone, at the depth of from 1 to ft feet. The blue L. Stone of this lownship makes very handsome and durable building stone. (Note 17 ) Earnestown including Amherst Isi.anii. L. Stone universal. ^opHIASBURGH. No building stone except L. Stone. Hallowell. There are various ridges which abound with L. Stone. iHURLow. L. Stone is found in abundance and can be quarried for 50s. Johnstown District. WoLFORD. Large quantities of L. Stone at two dollars a toise. 1.LIZABETI1TOWN. L. Stouc every where abounds excepting on the ^1 charge ^"'^""' "'"' ^'^ '^'' '' '""^ ^°""*^^ -^-Soes aUs£ Brockville. Price of Lime at the kiln 6d per bushel. I ONGE. L. Stone in great abundaoce, KiTLEY. do. Bastard. L. Stone is found in this Township. Eastern District. 9d^"r bushir"'^^"*'''* '" ^*°'"' '" ^'^*' abundance ; lime from 6d to This was the hst report received. Those Townships omitted were either onrepored or contain no L. Stone yet discovered. They pro- low ^ ZT- t »',"?T "il"'"^ ^^^ °f '^' P'-'^^'"^^' ^"d are as fol- Ovf =7^,f *^^'f',«^'e.'gN ,pover, East and West Chatham, Camden, Oxford Howard JJurwich, Blenheim, 1st Concession of Burford, Tra- falgar. W.lloughby, Thorold, Crowland. ' Promiscuous Observations on the L. Stones of Upper- Canada. J^^bluish^J^ Stone forms the upper bed at the Falls of Niagara. Gourlay. • About 800 feet above tide water ? obtained, at 5s Stone ruiiniDg Tiens of marn« Hcate that the Iter. e are immense [>\i^nship, being [ a mile east of nearly 4 miles, ern it is much best quality. and only one iug respecting s on a stratum . Stone of this (Note 17.) iversal. h L. Stone, arried for 50s. 1 toise. opting on the >es a conside* from 6d to •mitled were They pro- id are as fol- m, Camden, jrford, Tra- r- Canada, a. Gonrlajr. ( 9 ) A L. Stone is found at L. Erie, full of madrepores.— Dr. B. The country between the Falls of Niagara and Queenstown, is • plateau elevated some hundred feet above the plain which joins L. Ontario. This plateau appears every where composed of L. Stone and Sandstone, containing marine organic »• -^ains.— M. Guillemard. " A Kingston ou Catw; xoi, 4 Textreraite sud-est du Lac Ontario, on retrouveencorela piefi.^4 chauxde I'esp^ce argilleuse, Ji grain fin, et d'un gris fonce." — M. Guillemard. The L. Stone of the Niagara District differs from the rest, both in colour and quality, being grey and not so easily calcined into lime. — Gourlav. Chalk. The occurrence of Chalk in Canada, or indeed on the conti- nent of North America, does not appear to be well established. Dr. Bigsby states, however, that Dr. Wright has a specimen of Chalk from the neighbourhood of L. Superior. In the United States several localities of chalk have been mentioned, but professor Cleavelaod seems to think that Agaric mineral has been mistaken for it. Agaric Mineral ? In the Township of Rodney (Romney ?) there is a bed of that fine calcareous earth which is known in commerce by the ■ame of whiting, or Spanish white, and which is used in painting and for putty, and in the manufacture of fine wares. — Goui lay. Arbaoonite. La Chine. — Dr. B. LJME, PHOSPHORIC ACID. Apatite (Phosphate of Lime) occurs in light blue six-sided prisms, sometimes truncated on the terminal edges, in white L. Stone, at Prescot, U. C— Morton & M'Euen. Do. Fort Wellington.— Dr. B. Pearl Spar ? U. Canada (particular locality unknown) in a geode of Magnesian L. Stone. LIME, FLUORIC ACID Fluor Spar (Fluate of Lime)— Of a deep purple colour, is found as- sociated with Calx Spar, in a stratum of fetid L. Stone, running confor- mable to the Black Rock, and interstratified with it. St. John's Gate ditch, Quebec. Do. (purple) — At Montreal, near the mountain, in L. Stone. — 'Dr, B. Do. (white) — In small cubic crystals, occupying cavities formed in fetid L. Stone by the absence of Organic remains, formerly filling the vacuity. — Beauport and Montmorenci, near Quebec. LIME, SULPHURIC ACID. Gypsum (Sulphate of Lime)— North Shore, L. Erie, principally at Dumfries. — Dr. B. Do. Grand River, L. Erie. Do. (Se'ienite) of a red colour, Michiliroachinac.r-Dr. B. Do. Falls of Niagara. (Note 30.) Do= In abundance and of good quality in the Township of Haldimand. Gourlay. Do. In West Flamboro* and Beverly. — Gourlay. Do. "PlasterofParifthaakteiy been found ia the Township of Ew- B ( 10 ) BARYTES, SULPHURIC ACID. Barytes. L. Superior.— Dr. B. (Sulphate ?) Do. SuLPHATK. Grosse Isle, at the mouth of the Rirer Detroit—Do. STRONTIAN, SULPHURIC ACID. RiL?D?troit°-Do.''*"^''' ^^'*""° > Grosse Isle at the mouth Of th. Do. Au Islaod near Put in Bay, in Lake Erie* Bowen. METALLIC MINERALS. IRON, SULPHUR. t\Jno?lTr ,.^.?"'P»'"f ' of !'«"•) This is so common that the men- ^on of all Its localities would be both useless and endless ; a few of tho most deserving notice are introduced. Behind Mr. Cairnes* house, in Mountain street, Quebec, round ballet shaped masses of Iron Pyrites are found in the decompoLd C Z^te sur. rounding blocks of L. Stone. They are of the cubic variety The faces «? the cubes forming the circumference of the spheres. ^' ^"^ .la!i°* J • !P^^**''.*u'' ''*^'**^^ ''"'^*'" ^'•e *'*'»"" decomposed Clay, slate associated with compact L. Stone near Nb. 4, Tower; the former fhe roc'k ITTuV"" '""'^I' "^ *^^ general decompos'ition of 'the part of the rock in which they are found, (and of which they have been probabrv one cause,) as lo have lost their metallic lustre and so. gr. ^ ^ JZ\lr''^^'l /u'" ^'y'^""^' °f ^"^i« 1^0" Pyrites have been ob- terved disseminated through some of the Clay-slate in the district of Quebec; one in our possession is singularly well defined, and resemble, the appearance that would result from trying that seemingly Darado^irlf experiment of putting one cube through anot'her of e,a" ly^ LSa d?m^^^^^^ sions, cut in a particular manner to receive it. ^ ^ Do Fnrh*'/f T ^'"u?"' ^^*'' ^^^ ^^^^ °f 1000 islands. (Note Ifl.) Do. Elizabeth fownship.— Gourlay. (Note 20.) ^ IRON, OXYGEN. Magnetic Oxide of Iron. Marmora, U. C.-Dr. B. (Note 21 ) Dr B. (N;tr22 ; ''"'"'' """*^^** "'*' plumbago and iocc^Utei Do. In Granite, near Tadousac, L. C. Do. St. Paul's Bay, L. C. (Note 23.) Micaceous Oxide of Iron. Rocky Mountains. (Pahafre."'' '''' ^'''''^ °^ ^^°^ ^^^""^ ^^^'«-) St. Augustin, L. rTlrlu'r.!''Jiy;ul'^f '"r ««''."• here intrcJuced. is not stricM y OAnniJinn n§ it la in •uch mineral's rs iV^neaV fhe frin Jl!ti'*'*'n^ for obvious reasons, desirabre"io"iDtroduci more completely bvm!kn»;?»rlr.:fr?r? '"^V^ ""asion we propose to do this with lim«:'-^ Detroit Do. mouth of tbe that the men- a few of tho round bollet ^lay-slate sur- ^) the faces of m posed Clay- y, the former ' the part of een probably ave been ob- le district of nd resembles 7 paradoxical 'qual dimeo- (Note Ifl.) (Note 21.) coccolite.— ugustin, L. iisn &s it is is to introduc* le to do this II (hoM miot- ( 11 ) OcHRET Brown Oxide of Iron (Yellow Ochre) is dog op in Oaoaa- noqui and in the Township of Earnest.— Gourlay* Boa Iron Ore. St. Maurice, Three^Rivers, L. C. The following notices of the occurrence of Bog Ore, are from Gourlay : Do. At Charlotteville, about 8 miles from L. Erie, an Ore of Iron If found which is of that description denominated Sho^ Ore, a medium be- tween what is called Mountain Ore and Bog Ore ; the Iron made of it is of a superior quality. (Note 24.) BoG Iron Ore — In considerable quantity in the Township of Trafalgar. Do. There is said to be plenty in the Township of Bertie. Do. In the Township of Stamford. Do. In great plenty in the Township of Granthan;. It is found in low wet lands and is raised in large lumps, the size of common stone, and Is made use of for the backs of fire-places instead of stone. Do. In the southern part of the Township of Pelham, in small quantities. Do. In small quantities in the Township of Crowland, frequently In marshy places. Bog Ore. Some in the Township of Canboro* and Caistor. Black Hematite. Encampment Douce, L. H. — Dr. B, Scaly Iron Ore. Do. do. Carbonate of Iron (pseudo volcanic) Township of Yooge, U. C. do. PROMISCUOUS IRON ORES. Iron Ores in the Township of Westminster and Dorchester. Gourlay. Do. An indication on a branch of the Grand River, in the Township of Barford. — Gourlay. Do. In the Township of Woodford. — Gourlay. Do. Strong indication in the Township of Ancaster. — Gourlay. Do. On the River Ganannoqui are the iron works which belonged to Che late Ephriam Jones, Esquire, they are in a state of ruin, and no great use was ever made of them. The height of the fall, the constant tupply of water, abundance of Ore, and other advantages render it a matter of regret, that so valuable a property is not put to use. — Gourlay. Do. In great abundance, in Leeds Township, U. C. do. Do. Strongly indicated in the Township of Wolford, U. C. do. Do. (rich.) The base of Long Point. — Dr. B. MANGANESE, OXYGEN. Manganese (Earthy Oxide.) Sillery, near Quebec. (Note 35.) COPPER. Copper (native) in large bowlders on the shores of L. Superior.-— (Note 26.) Do. The Muriate, Sulphate and green Carbonate have also been found, but no particular locality known. COPPER, SULPHUR. Copper Pyrites— N. W. L. Huron. — Dr. B. who says copper is fre- quently met with. ANTIMONY. Antimony — frequently met with. — Dr. B. ( 12 ) LEAD. Lead (native.) AuGlaize River at a considerable distance from Fort Wayne, (htickney, Sitliman's Journal, toI. 1.) LEAD, SULPUVR, Lead (Sulphuret,) One mile up the eastern branch of the R. Nico- it. Mr AdiTms"'*''^ ^"^ ^^^'^"' ^* ^' ^'°°* ^^^'^ ^^"'«'' *^***** *'""®'' Do. In L. Stone. Bay St. Paul.— Dr. B. (Note 27 ) Lead Ore. Township of Patton, L. a~Wilcox. (Note 28.) Galena. N. W. L. Huron.— Dr. B. v * .; Do. Hawksbury, Ottawa. do. n,.?"'*?'^ WeIlington.-Dr. B. who says Ores of Lead arc frequently met with in the Provinces. •»=«iuciiwjr ZINC, SULPHUR. Blende (Sulph. of Zinc) in L. Stone. Montreal,— Dr B Massive Blende (yellow.) Falls of Niagara. do. Crystallized., do, do. dol ZINC, OmrGEN. Zmc (red oxide.) Particular locality not stated Dr. B. (Note 22.) MERCURY, SULPHUR. pe^ 'Not7(f9?r"'*'^ ^" '^" '^°''' "^^' ^"" *"** ^•^^'^S*"- Sti<^k- m COMBUSTIBLE MINERALS. SULPHUR, (PURE.) Sulphur. In the neighbourhood of Fort Niagara, Bitumen and «?«l tu "fcri'^''''"/f,.*° ^t ^"°^' ^"^^ «* "^"*^ accompanied by the me- tals. (Stickney, Silliman's Journal, vol. 1.) ^ Do. Falls of Niagara, Hall. (Note 30.) Do. Township of Sallfleet.— Gourlay. Do. At the bead of L. Ontario, in solid lumps in sulphur springs.-Da, CARBON, IRON. PxuMBAGO (Graphite) (Carburet Of Iron) Occurs in nests in MacneHc Oxide of Iron, at Hull, on the Ottawa, ^"Rgneiic Do. On the shores of the Ganannoqui Lake, and in some other places chjefly in the eastern section of the upper ProW.^Gourlay. ^ ' Do. La Petite Riviere, L. C, Dr. B. Do. Hawksbury, Ottawa, ' j^. Do. In a Creek, near Kingston, do.' -^HAPHiTE Slate ? On Judge Taschereau»s Se'igniory of St. Marv'fl. Rn»r i^^'l^T'V} '" Greywacke, at Dr, Mills' quarry a7capa liouge, about a bushel was collected, ^ ^ 1 nee from Fort the R. Nico- s Road crosses rote 28.) are frequently ( 13 ) CARBON, HYDMOGEK. Coal, in grains ? forming a thin vein, traversing L. Stone con^JloineTate behind Mr. Caimes' hou8e,"in Mountain Street, Qaebec. Do. (smut ?) Common to the " Black Rock" of Cape Diamond. Jet ? occupying the crevices and natural joints in compact L. Stone, Bear No. 4, Tower, Quebec. . «,, «• Petholeum, is found in considerable quantities on the Thames Hiver, U. C. from whence it is taken by dipping blankets into the water. It is used for the cure of rheumatic complaints. — Mr. Hay. Do. Near the Moravian villages, on the River Thames, there are springs of petroleum. — Gourlay. Do. A bituminous substance (fluid ?) appears on several of the waters of the north western country.— Gourlay. B. . (Note 22.) chigan. Stick" nen and SnU ' by the me- prings.— Do, in Magnetic other places, jy. . Mary'«. rry at Cape MINERAL SPRINGS, &c. Sulphur SpRiKG. St. John's Suburbs, Quebec. (Note 31.) Do. At the level of high-water, at the base of the clift, about 200 yards west of the falls of Moutmorenci, near Quebec— W. Green, Esqr. Do. At the head of L. Ontario, there are several fountains strongly im- pregnated with Sulphur. — Gourlay. Do. A Sulphur Spring occurs near and above the Falls of Niagara.—- Howison, Do. Near Long Point, U. C— Howison. Thefolhwing are extracts from Gourlay : Sulphur Spring, in the Township of Oxford Do. (3) Do. Do. (I) Do. Do. (springs) Do. Do. (springs) Do. Do. (2) Do. of Walpolc and Rainham. of Woodhouse. of Norwich, of Saltfleet. of Humberston. Do. (2) in the interior Do. of Willoughby. Sulphur Sprikgs (small) in the Township of Pelham. Sulphur strong- ly indicated in the Township of Earoestown and Amherst Island— (by springs ?) 2 Medicinal Springs in the Township of Scarborough. (Note 32.) 1 do do. Townsend, of considerable note. Sulphur Spring.— Big Creek, Charlotteville, resembling in taste the Harruwgate waters. Chalybeate Spring — Township of Ancaster. Many Mineral Springs in the Township of Yarmouth, the qualities of which have not been ascertained. Saline Springs abound on the northern and western shores of L. On- tario, in the Township of Oxford and Camden. Saltlicks. Do. of Norwich. Salt Springs— A few of an inferior kind in the Township of Trafalgar. Do. in the Township of Flamboro* and Beverly. Do. equal to those of Onondago in the Township of Haldimand. Do. in the Township of Ancaster. ( H ) Salt Sprino (trifling) in the Township of Barton. 2 do. Springs, Township of Saitfleet. pawl""'"' '" '^' '^°''°'*'*P of Stamford, on the bank, of the Chip- Do. (several) Township of Louth. Do. (frequent) do. of Crowland. Do. (1) do. of Canboro'. Saltlicks (many) Township of Canboro' andCaistor. JALT SpniNGS. Do, of Earnestown. Do. (Sulphate of Soda?) Lyon's Creek, Township of Crowland Do. Near the centre of the Township of Brockville. ^~''""''- ph,?s°buSh. ^*°°^"«"'* «^ P"°^« fid'^ard, in the Township of So- Do, Springs— on the River Trent It appears from Capt, Phillpotfs report of work performed at York in the Engmeer Department, th.t a Salt Spring had been met with in boring The upper Districts of the Province are still supplied with Salt from lltZ"'''^ "' Onondago,in the state of New-Yofk.-Giurlay " nSZ r" r'''^^'' ^P""«' ""^'^^^ °°^« o"tof thebank of the U m'n s down' tT *^' T"*' "^ ^*''PP^"^ ^'^^^^ «"<^ ««t«°d about li miles down. The air from some of these, when confined in a tube will burn constantly. — GouHay. » ..,teHo;7.'ri °''''7'"'» ""' «>"»«l« 'he Tarentaise and SaTOT, a d.. ^1f I 3 s of the Chip, eriaes, in the 'rowland. rnship of So* J at York ia vith in boring th Salt from uriay. bank of the stend about I in a tube, avoy, a de- alt from the .1 NOTES ON THE LOCALITIES OF CANADIAN MINERALS. liil ii! Note l.~From this part of the country most of the crystals ari. nrn Rock' 'ofraL n-» ^'T ""'"T';'"' ^^""'^ *'bt'''"«d f^«'" the " Black Uock of Cape Diamond are only large enough for pins, &c. Notes— By some this rock has been considered a L Stone M n.niin mard writes that the rork of Cape Diamond is colos;! pHndualiv « !; as i^. stones, are very subord mate tofhp nfh«r= c . • '""*^'*^" i.. the .n..h'od generally adopted of Lcerea^M.firh-"^"'"'."'^''"' these last mentioned rocks alLt Qu b/c • "d jf eff^'rt.t '^^'^^^^.^f^f considered a decisive character, we ru^the H«k ^f , r'' Ik ' '^^ founded wi.h real L. Stone.. As respects the HlLuiV"? "k'™ '°"' Professor Siiliman appears to have dedded he aJJil .'^' ^7"'^' bo.,^^!. Ms tour i;!i inhissystenT^l^i,^;;:^--;-^^^^^^ anJMi^Xical r" ^"^""^^ ^^ ''''"'''' '^^ ^^--*-«> ^o^^ G-Iog-l Geological and Mineralogical Characters of the " Black Rock" of Cape Diamond. The rock of Cape Diamond, commonly called the « Black Rock " ha, been son.et.mes d.nomina.ed a Limestone. Wi.h the view to exoU ^! da.ms to that distinction, „e shall give, to the be of ou abr/,' Geological and M.ieralogical characters. The Strata, as they lie natu rally and a, t.fic ally exposed on the northern shore o th Stlawrence" between Cape Kouge and Sillery Cove, are of that variety of^a XeouJ sch.st, called Grey Wacke, associated, in conformable order wih that finer variety denomnated Clay-slate cr' Argillite. The dip o th St ata S W :;thf . J.""f'"""^''/'''' ''' <=on-*equent bearing N. E a, d warltheN P ' /? "17,°^''^ "PP^^ edge below the horizon, to! W.V^ ' . ; K f ! P'''^/''''^ ^^^'''^ *« ^^''' inclination, that the Grey Wacke IS lost before ,t reaches Quebec, by descending below the level o^f th. St. Lawrence : indeed the last of it is seen at Sillery Cove, very tar that ^evel, and 3 miles from Oneher Ile.» *».. A. -^-i ? ' v I ! beo runn. in parallel strataltthVbaJk of t^li: G^;; wTckeT t alo" Tis.ule. It forms a low ridge, but coatinues to rise toLrds Quebec with t ( »7 ) CANADIAN crystals are pro- laces, broorhes, •om the " Black ifc. >ne. M. Guille- rincipally « des Jd certainty exists are L. Stones er to which too lates effervesce es, Shales and he character of jnce in acid, be 'ins; theni con- ock," however, he speaks of it Clay-slate or loth Geological Blac/c Rock" ck Rock," has to expose its >ur ability, its they lie nutu- St. l^awrence, )f argillaceous ler, with that of the Strata ng N. E. and : horizon, to- hat the Grey w the level of )ve, very near e, which has icke, is alone Quebec with the interruption of a valley or (wo, until at Cape Diamond it forms a pre- cipice about 320 feet above the level of the river. All (his tlis(ance, it {•reserves much the same dip and bearing as the Grey \Va(;kc, with which, n some places on the opposite shore, it may be seen altcrnaling. Al- though no geoloi^ical «lilTercncp, thus far, a[)pears between the Clay-slate at Sillery ('ove and the " Black Rock" at Cape Diamond, a very evident chemical one exist?. At the latter place (he rock has become often of a •ooty blackness — exhaling a bituminous odour when struck or scratched, •nd somedmes soiling the lingers. The cause of this is the presence of carbon, which has been found in the rock in the proportion of 20 per cent. Tljc-re appears also to be a dill'erence in the effect of weather, or other destructive agents. On the Clay-slate, between Sillery Cove and Cope Diamond, they exert their influence by covering the base of (he rock with a crumbling deposit of small wedged shaped fragments, some- times highly ferru^iinou'. At Cape Diamond tliey act by displaying a continuous schistose structure of little tenuity or tenacity, parallel with the plane of stratification. The general bearing of the " Black Rock," is to the N. E.* Howe- »er, in some places the strata may be seen running North, the dip being reversed to the N. W. In some cases the strata are vertical, or nearly lo. All (his may be occasioned by the bending or waving of the strata. The tiiickness of f he strata varies from three feet to three inches. The former are often, to all appearance, of a very compact structure, breaking with conchoidal surfaces and sharp edges. In most of these, however, weather ellects what the hammer fails of doing, and displays its really schistose structure. It is on account of this, and its absorbent character, that the " Black Rock" is not a good building stone. The thin strata are generally very schistose, apparent to the eye. They are sometimes compact and break into long prismatic pieces, which yield a ringing, me- tallic, sound when struck : these separate the thicker strata at certain intervals and often determine the planes of stratification when they might otherwise be doubtful, from the resemblance which the whitened and even surfaces of the natural joints sometimes bear to them. The latter are never continuous — another useful test. Among the peculiar appearances common to the " Black Rock," and displayed by fracture, is a ribbed aspect ; another is a glossy convexity, of surface resembling polished shoe leather. The elfect of weather is also sometimes remarkable. — In most cases it exhibits the schistose nature of the rock ; in others more compact, it shows a rounded and whitened sur- face forming a striking contrast with its sooty interior. While again in others, by the rounding of successive laminse, a series of concentric ir- regular ovals are formed, much resembling the grain of fir ; and when the surface is browned or reddened, a singular imitation of wood is produced. In excavating, strata are met with, the colour of which is a lively green : these have, for the most part, undergone a considerable degree of induration and resemble flint in fracture, translucency, hardness and effect of the blowpipe (hornstone ?) ; spheroidal concretionary lumps of the same, and of a dark grey variety, are common. Some of the strata are decidedly more calcareous than others ; and two !f!$ianccsoi sn unQucstionaOic xjimestone have nict our observation, lue firs t is fet id and somewhat crystalline : the other compact. Both are * The gentiial bearing uf all ihuac rocks whose strata are iiclined, ia Caoada, ia to uie N. E. ( IH ) M.tu.i[clvesi.i ar-d almost totally, with violent efiervescence, and burns to a toav»l.,f,. „.u. 1 nie, UnfortnnUely for the the inhabitant, of Quebec %vho pron he, lime at 15* luport, u distance of five miles, on the other '''r ". , ' ^ "''''' '* *^'"''* ""^ preserve these characters for any con- »i(1p«dble d..tunct , l»ut becoming sudder-Iy impure, it is lost by abruntiv dippittg dudcr the '. iJlack Kock" in (Im- direction of its bearing Tho ime of one solitary bivalve vvus observed in It. (Note 7 uiid 15 ) The miperals found in the " iJluck llock" are M. Iron as an oxide and . a sulphuret : the former, in a state of solu- tl0D,o.ffn} b.'stows a red or yellow staii on the surface of the rock. TIm- latter is, not to vommon and is generally Kund with a soft i-reenlsh variety ol the rock. ° ^ 2nd. Quartz sometimes hi fine aclcular crystals of considerable trans- parency, as are also others approaching the form of the double pyramid, applied base to base ; more frequently iu ill formed semi-transparent prisms They vary in size from drusy, to crystals as large as the thumb. Ihe latter are never transparent throughout, and often appear hi the proirress of formation. 3rd. Calcareous Spar, in white and brown acicular crystals, finer than spun glass, radiating from a white calcareous base, often enclosinc ill formed crystals of quartz ; also in perfect rhombs. But its most common appearance is in veins of a laminar structure, traversing the rock in all directions ; these in some places become so numerous as to give the rock the aspect of a conglomerate ; they often traverse each other, and in that case, one vein appears to have dislodged that portion of the other it met with in its progress.* 4th. Petroleum, in soft translucent pieces of a green and yellow colour sometimes surrounding the root, more rarely insinuating itself into the inteiior, of a crystal of quartz. 5th. Coal-dust or soot, often investing the surface of quartz crystals, iu drusy cavities. ■' ' Gth. Flour Spar. As far as we can learn, this is by no means com- mon. Une .specimen of an imperfect crystal we have met with. Its co- Jour ,s a deep purple, so intense as to render the crystal scarcely translu- cent. Its form is that of half a cube divided diagonally. It was found associated -vith calx spar in a crevice of the " Black Rock," on which it IS sometimes found in thin crusts or plates, slightly shaded with purple. J ho earthly minerals above named, occur for the most part, m. (revfces anrl small fissures in the rock. Of tvvo specimens of rock, one procured from Wolfs Cove, between SiUery Cove and Cape Diamond— the other from Cape Diamond, the fol- lowing IS a comparative minerolosical description. fVolJ^s Covc.~Co]our, dark ash grey-opaque— structure compact— iracture uneve. sonriewhat conchoidal with sharp edges— easily scratched by the laute- rtv -.. a tri'e from copper— colour of powder, reddish- streak dull light ., S;., Gr, 2. 57. moderate elfervescence in acid >vUh_or without M. p .derecl, %'.u.h^soon .u Usides, leaving conside ra- 11(1 fonform.iblo . and N. VV. of lality, and dis- and burns to a lilts of QuebtT, !s, oti (he other rs for any con- M by abruptly beariutj. The 7 and 15.) 1 state of solu- he rock. TUn reenish varii (y dorable trans- 'uble pyramid, ni-transparent as the thumb, ippear iu the als, finer thao enclosing ill most common le rock in all give the rock r, and in that > other it met I'ellow colour, itself into the tz crystals, iu means com- 'ith. Its co- cely translu- [t was found ' on which it with purple. t, hi crevices ve, between judj the fol- ! compact- ly scratched r, reddish — :nce in acid g considera- former is ow- into fracture" ably admit of ( J^> ) tilc sediment, before the blow pipe it forms a ytllowish or brownish jCfiamel ; the part furthest from the tlamc t^ whitened. Cape Diamond. — Colour brownish black — opacjuc — structure compact — fracture uneven, somewhat coiuhoidal, with sharp edges, — scratched by the knife, but not quite so easily as the f((s ingoing— colour of powder, red- dish ash grey — streak reddish grey — exhales the bituminous odor when •truck -ellect in acid the same as the last, with tlf ndiliiion of the solution being discoloured. J5p.gr. 2. 54. — ettcduflhe blowpipe precisely the same as in the last instance. Such is a very im|)erfect sketch of the "[eological associations and mi- ncrological characters of the "Black Rock" of Cape Diamond ; from «ilii( h it appears to be an argellite and not a L. .^fone. The only cii.irac- tcrsit possesses in common with any of the varieties of (he latter, are a •light etl'ervescence in acid, and its bituminous odor. But as the Clay- llates, Sand-stonee, and Shales, in this neighbourhood, possess one or both of these clianicters, as they do often elsewhorp) they are liable to be confoundid with L. Stones, if the " Black Rock" be considered one. — Canaoian Review, No. 5* SUPPLEMENTARY. This attempt to shew that the " Black Rock'* of Cape Dinmond is geologically the same as the Cluy-slate at Sillery Cove, is founder! rather upon the siniilarity of physical character between the two, than upon a Strict geological base. That two rocks may be precisely the same, phy 1- cally and even chemically, and at the same time diametrically opposed as to age, is well known ; witness the resemLlance which some of the ** overlying rocks" of Macculloch, bear to (he primary granites, &c. h is only, as in the present instance, when they are found in close associa- tion, or adm't of being shewn to be so by strict geological deductions, that geological identity, follows from an approximate identity in compo- sition and physical character. It is somewhat singular that in the exten- sive torniation of Clay-slate which characterizes the south shore of the St. Lawrence, a1)ove and below Quebec, none has been found bearing the peculiar characters of the " Black Rock." The extent of this formation is not known, it forms the whole of Caldwell's Seigniory, and is found under the form of a good roofing slate at Tategouche, N. B. It is asso- ciated, as before said, with L. Stone conglomerate at Quebec, and with transition L. Stone at Point Levi. Green Island is composed of it, where it appears associated witli Siliceous Schist. All the islands above and some distance below this Island, are probably of Clay-slate. It is be- li ;ved that it does not in any /^l^^^place J(^( ^ Quebec, cross to the ]»'oith Shore of the St. Lawrence, which appears to be, with few excep- tions,* from Cape Tourment downwards, of a decidedly primary character. At Riviere du Loup it forms a natural banquette, or raised platform, running parallel with the shore, sometimes appearing on one side of the road, some- times on the other, sometimes on both. The rusty colour of the road often betrays the presence of this rock when its concealment might render it doubtful, as it is characteristic of the Clay-slate about Quebec to be highly ferruginous, its iron passing through all the stages of oxidizeraent, from * One exception is raciiiioncd by Dr. Hij;-'»y. no says : '•' at Ma! Bay, 90 rniies be- low Quebec, gneiss and mica slate dip from an '• abut against a horizontal calcareous conglotnerate full of organic remains and among others, uf three species of ortho- ceratite." /fe ow 1fl? -.iA ■■ i ( 20 ) white the l(.ast so, to red the most. In some places on this road the Clav. sla e, at a distance, resemblesa L. Stone formation, owin^ to the whitened and powdery aspect of its exposed surface, this is pVobably the 1st stage of ,ts ox.d.zement ? In the 2nd, as a green oxide, it often enters in- to the composition of strata of a very friable character, of which it is no doubt the cause ? The 3rd stage is the black, and may be seen, in as- soc.ation with carbon imparting a glossy, often semi metallic blackness, to some parts of the rock ; .t sometimes bears a remarkable resemblance to pohshed shoe leather ? Ihe 4th or red oxide has been mentioned, like the green, it also, often, gives a friable character to the rock, and sometimes a glimmering scmi-metallic lustre ? A yellow stain is often observable on the planes of stratification, but as Chenevix himself only allows of four stages, It is not presumed here to hint at another. Indeed, that celebrat- ed chem.s IS not supported in his opinion by the majority. As in gene- ral chemists are disposed to allow of only two states of oxidizemenT, the black and the red, considering the other colours to be the results of the va- clTi "'""^ioVr'rl,"^'' which the two oxides enter, (see Parke's Cheml. Chatm p.321.) The grounds upon which this opinion is founded, it Mould be interesting to see illustrated, as it does not appear easy to con- ccive how the combination, to produce such remarkable changes, takes Jnrn^' • T'^^\f. ^ ^^''"'^'' ""*"'"^' ^"^' ^'-^ter probably the channel of luE^.T.7-" r"'", • .^' ;' *° ^' """^r""^ '^''^ ^'' li'gsby, has not yet pub- lished his Geological notes on Lower Canada, or if published that they are not circulated in the Province. " They no doubt contain much Valuable ...formation on this part of the Province, the publication of which wJw hnve rendered such an imperfect, perhaps erroneous sketch, as this not only unnecessary but absurd. cn,i , as mis noi needle' ^mni''!, '""""*^'" ^''' ^"^^^^^^'^ ^<^^ion upon the magnetic Htion of~Io '" '" .'"^'"8 °" '^' «"'"™'t last summer, we observed a rari- ation of 4° n a distance of 172 feet.-At first some error was suspect- ed in our method of operation, but by frequent trials and with dXe. t .MS uments, the existence of this phenomenon was placed beyond all doub in. »7e act'^M"^^ '^.' 'Tu ^'^"'^•^-•- that while employed ascertain, ing the fact, Mr. hhand, the overseer of Works in the Enffiueer De- partment, who had been occupied running a straight line brcomTass o„ another part of the mountain, joined us to makeasimilar report. We were yards ; probably the effect of the same cause though weakened by d stance It IS the character of many of the Trap Rod's likp th/M« 7 i 1.0 Om„ s Gmsaway," doe. ,o i„ u remarkable desree. Th r„h'e.,ome o„ ,s not owing (o these rocks containing beds of ftla-uetic Iran hnTL e ,ron enle,i„8 i"to the composition „Ahe rock, b^ing LgSic • anS as these rocks m n-.o,t cases are decidedly secondary, their STOBose'd^ n^'lToTis fo'^^r- '° "'"" »'i'I"iona/s„pp„rt t/oL the f.'ctTa M^l" netiL lion is found in assnnmt on wWh o .i.oo ,,<• — -i.- ... . . . . ^ lisfoad the Clay. J to the whitened robably the 1st t often enters in< , of which it is y be seen, in as- llic blackness, to i resemblance to utioned, like the , and sometimes n observable on iy allows of four 1 ( 21 ) I Note 4. — As this is considered a remarkable rock its characters arc here introduced : Description of a Bowlder found at Riviere du Loup, GENERAL CHARACTERS. Quartzose — Translucent, often semi-transparent, sometimes with a jchalcedonic cloudiness — Hydrophanous and opalescent in a high degree, jpardness equal to quartz — Brittle, but strikes fire under the hammer- Fracture in the large, iumulated, in the small, flat conchoidal or even — liustre, vitreo-resinous often greasy. It is traversed by cracks or seams la. all directrons, which are sometimes coated with the red or yellow oxida of iron, at others, with a green substance resembling chlorite. Ixideed I, that celebrat- ■ ^C'^'X variety of what is supposed to be chlorite, with silver talc, is y. As in gene- xidizement, the esults of the va- Parke's Cheml. 1 is founded, it >ar easy to con- changes, takes y the channel of J not yet pub- ished that they much valuable >f which would h, as this not the magnetic bserved a vari- >r was suspect- with different yond all doubt, •yed ascertain- Bngineer De. y compass on >ort. We were }ass, which is 5 ice opposite I about 2500 d by distance, the Montreal reland, called 'his phenome- Iron, but to lagnetic ; and supposed ig. act that Mag. n which it is purifying na- condary class 80 thickly disseminated through the mass that it is almost impossible to break off a piece the size of a nut, which does not contain a blackish looking speck of one of these minerals. It is a rock sometimes resembling quartz, at others opal in a remarka- ble degree. The general structure of the mass is foliated. PARTICULAR CHARACTERS. Small fragments are either rounded, sharp-edged or scaly — Colour either yellowish white or bluish white, the yellowish white fragments, are generally not so translucent as the other, the first is often semi-transpa- rent. — By transmitted light, the bluish variety is yellow — An iridescence appears on the surface of some fragments, but it is not general. It ad- heres to the tongue slightly — A mean of 4 trials gave 2. 7, sp. qr.. A Specimen very free from any admixture, and of a buoyant form, gave 2. 5, which was the lowest to be obtained. A fragment weighing 30 dwt. was not fonnd to be any heavier after immersion in water 48 hours, although its translucency and opalescence Were much increased. Before the blowpipe it loses colour but does not fuse. ». Note 5. — ^The chalcedonies, carnelians, jaspers and agates, so thickly distributed over the beach at Gaspe, are particularly worthy of notice for the beautiful varieties they afford. Among the most remarkable of the lat- ter, are those whose shades present, after passing through the hands of the Lapidary, strong resemblances to well known characters. Mr. Smilie has an agate exhibiting, it is said, a striking likeness to the Duke of Welling- ton. In the British museum there is a similar resemblance to Chaucer. Note 6. — Some observations on the organic remains of Drummond's Island, read before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. Four main deposits have been mentioned by Dr. Bigsby, where speci- mens in this branch of Natural History are to be found, viz : — Drummond's Island, Montreal, Beauport, and Montmorenci. It is by no means meant that they are to be found only in these places, but from natural or artifi- cial causes, that they are there easily observed. Of these four, Drummond's Island presents the most interesting suite, and the importance attached to them at home, has occasioned such a rage among collectors that (indul- ging ill a liltie hyperbole) the topographical outline of the Island, may be almost said to have been affected by it. They are now, in conse- quence, proportionably scarce, but fame lingers long round departed worth, and the unskilful amateur never fails, oq visiting the Island, to iii y;iii ( 22 } bear thence a quantity, more than he can conveniently carry, of a rerv impure L.Stone. When first they were noticed the possession of the Island would have been a little fortune to a private individual, who chose to make a profit by the sale of its singular contents. These organic remains consist principally of teeth, vertebr* bivalves univalves (particulady of that singular genus the orthoceratite, a multi! locuar univalve.) Of the class alcyonium, madrepores, miUepor'es, chain coral, favoisites and other polypifer bearing substances ; also sponaes, at least such appear to be the prevailing species or genera upon an inspection of hose now presented, which if not all from Drummond's Island, are probably ,n part from some other of the Manitouline chain or neigh- bourhood of L. Huron. » Many of these fossil remains have undergone a complete change of mineral substance, particularly the shells, having parted with their lime in favour of silex, whereby they have been converted into a chert or hornstone. The abundance of vertibraeis astonishiog-of all sizes-these also exhibit the influence of silex-the interior of the vertebral column often passing into agate or chalcedony. In order to form some idea of the period it would take to produce a change of this description, it will be interesting to menticu what Dr. Kirwaii says in his Geological Essays. " About the vear 1760, the Em- peror of Germany being desirous to know the length' of time necessary to complete a petrifaction, obtained leaye from the Sultan to take un and examine one of the timbers that supported Trajan's Bridge over the Danube, some miles below Belgrade. The outer part of this timber to the depth of half an inch, was found to have been converted to an agate the inner parts were slightly petrified, and the central were still wood."' In the instance before us the agatizing principle is advancing from the cen- tre to the circumference, which is accounted for by the cavernous nature of the bone in its original state, admitting freely water holding silex and alumme in solution. ° The organic remains of Drummond's Island, are remarkable also for exhibiting genera unknown in a recent state and among others that ex- traordinary shell the orthoceratite, a many chambered univake. The only one of this class, not microscopic, which is kno^vn to exist in our seas, is .he nautilus. As the structure of this class illustrates the rise or tall of bodies in a fluid by a change in their Sp. Gr. and at the same time affords one splendid proof, among the many Natural History unfolds, of the wonderful provision of Providence. We beg leave to read what I arkinson says on the subject in his " Introduction to the study of lossil Organic Remains." ^ "The larger tribe of Multilocular Univalves has been separated into twenty.two genera, all of which have been found in a fossil state • whilst one genus only, Nautilus, is known to exist in a recent state. Two opi- nZr'''/r'"'M''"''^ respecting this great disproportion between the number of fossil and of recent shells of this tribe. Some suppose that those genera, of which only fossil shells are found, have become extinct ; wh.lt others believe that these shells are still existing in a recent state but are pelag.an^shells, their inhabitants constantly residing at the bottom wrill'r/".^:- V"f T"!v? '' ^V*""*^""^^*^ ^y '°™« °^ the" latest French writers, particularly by Mons. de Montfort. i3ut an examination of these shells proves, that, so far from their iuha- 'f^ carrj', of a very ion of the Island 10 chose to make rtebrae bivalves, ;eratite, a multi- aillspores, chain also sponges, at on an inspection id's Island, are chain or ueigh- plete change of with their lime into a chert or all sizes— these srtebral column to produce a ticu what Dr. 1760, the Em- time necessary in to take up idge over tho this timber to 3d to an agate, re still wood." ; from the cen- vernous nature ding silex and :able also for thers that ex- ve. The only in our seas, is I the rise or . and at the ttural History leave to read a the study of eparated into state : whilst e. Two opi- between the suppose that ome extinct ; ecent state ; at the bottom latest French n their itiha- ( 23 ) |ltants having been destined to a constant residence at the bottom of the fcean, they possessed, beyond all other testaceous animals, the power of i^sirii; up to, and remaining at, the surface of the sea. Supposing them *till to live, they would occasionally, as the Nautilus is, be seen at the gurfuce ; but not a single instance being known of a shell of these genera having been thus seen, their existence may be reasonably doubted. ; " The apparatus enabling the animal to raise or sink himself at pleasure h plainly discoverable in the fossil of the Nautilus : but the most impor- tont part of this organ, the continuous siphuncle, is not discoverable in the dried specimens of the recent shell. The shell in the Nautilus (PI. VI. Jig. 1.) is formed of a number, more or less, of chambers, divided by pierced septa. 'I'he animal resides in the largest and last formed chamber • an elastic tube, proceeding from the animal, passes through the pierced septa and the several chambers, and terminates in the first. Now, as- suming that the office of this tube is analogous with that of the swimming bladder of fishes, it is by no means difficult to conceive how the re- quired chanijf s of situation may be produced. The weight of the shell is so counterbalanced by the empty chambers, that the siphuncle passing through these chambers, accordingly as it is dilated with gaseous or with aqueous fluids, will alter the specific gravity of the who^.e mass, and cause it either to swim or to sink. Supposing the animal to be lying at the bottom of the sea, saturated with food, and the siphuncle filled with ». fluid ; as the food is digested and decomposed, detached gas may pass k»io the siphuncle, and gradually take the place of the water ; when in proportion as the specific gravity of the whole mass is thus diminished' it will rise, probably into that region of the waters in which the food of the animal most abounds. Here, on obtaining sufficient food, or on alarm from an enemy, the animal admits water into the siphuncle, and imme- diately sinks. " In all the other genera of this tribe, an apparatus, formed of vacant chambers and a membranous siphuncle, exists, capable of producing simi- lar eflects with those produced by that of the Nautilus ; but necessarily difiering in some respects, from variety of modification of the form and Structure peculiar to each genus. The siphuncle is often very well dis- played in sections of the Orihoceratiie, and in these this tube will be found to have been capable of being dilated to a very considerable extent." Although a hacknied illustration, Wc; cannot close this subject better perhaps than by comparing this Society in its present state to the first drop of water which fell on this semi-perforated stone. It fell unheeded and ineflectual, drop after drop splashed on— yeilding to that persevering touch, the stone has become a chalice incased with bright crystals !" Note 7. — The appearance mentioned is, as nearly as can be described,ns follows ; rounded ridges in low relief, highly glazed and carbonized, crossed by similar smaller ones : the whole somewhat resembling trellis work — no traces of leaves. The occurrence of any decided organic remains, either vegetable or animal, in the " Black Rock" of Quebec, has not come to our know- ledge, although, considering the carbonaceous character of the rock, and that the organic remains of shells have b^^n fnimrl in a nr,o',t:^.. f~ »_ pearance at least, inferior to it, viz. : in the L. Stone conglomerate to the noithofthe town, their actual occurrence would not surprise. We say to appearance, because in all probability it is not in its original position "i*i>. ( 24 ) ?n fhlT! '."Tffy" u'"\^)' ^^''y ^'"^" ^^'^'' •'^" '^^ conformable strata in the district of Quebec,) has undergone a reversal, and has describ- ed an ang e with the hori.on of nearly 145- since it^asdeposUed, by which revolution that has become undermost which originally was above If we suppose that the strata have moved only 35 ? Jabout theii average inclination) out of their original horizontal position, then a J^ Stone containing shells is found inferior to Clay slate and Grey Wacke V. uch, although we believe not unprecedented is of rery^ mmsuai occurrence. Note 15. ^ M»usudi Tot 1h 1 ^' T -rT' ."'""''• ^^" ^°'""''^'- ^' distinguished from gold and silver, by its elasticity, specific gravity and want of the true metallic lustre. Talc is distinguished by the two last mentioned charlc! The following notice, extracted from one of the papers, of Jhe occur- rence of Gold in a part of the Territory of the United Slates, borde in« on Canada, must prove interesting to our Canadian readers. ^ "rer«io«f Gold.~We some months since noticed the discovery in Ver- mont of several specimens of the precious metal, and now learn from the Boston Traveller that it has been analyzed by Gen. Field whohaTfor warded a specimen for the cabinet of Harvar.l Universi y ' The Trave' ler states that " the gold was found i„ the highway, depos ted whh a examination it appeared to have been brought down and deposi ed bv^ smal rivu et, from a high hill. The specimen of gold, when fo/nd weighed 81 ounces ; was of a conical form, and when fou'nd, there were firmly adhering to its base a number of small, transparent, rock crysHis Ihe gold IS soft, ductile, flexible, and malleable. Specific gravity s' L «'^'!?•'''^^°^'•^S•" g^'^- '^he soil of the region iUl' *ra7;f\r;-ii?i:fe.l!>^^ are^Tn' :'"' ''' ^"'^ ^"'^ °^ ^'''^' ^^^°''"^' *'»« <"«"-wi"g extracts Z11flnnt~^ letter from an intelligent citizen of North Carolina to another m Baltimore under date of Salisbury. Oct fi s'iv* gold b^tTa^te f nat IS scarce. Gold has been found in the neighbourhood of Charlotte • ho e jn.nes are rich, but their extent are not yet\nown The gold fou.ul ''t^:^^'''V'''' r'/'''' •" ^^""g'-- clay, r'unni ; amalt„,;/l7 Ph u T ' ""^^ ' ^'""' ^'^^^ ''^'^'^ down, and the gold ow ^of ?io Y.HL ''"" ' ^°n ""'"' '' ^'^"^^^^ t^^ tniles 'above the Nar- mou h !< iT!f^;rr""' ""' ^'^'''-^^^ Creek, almost one mile from its mouth. It .son this mine we are erecting our steam mainrs. U o.. hulhlo^^ ThoTol^r^ T"'' 'n' r"n>osc,'we cannot fail to doa gn'o'd t>umc,s. Ihc Gold IS thcrc-uU that wc v^ant in order to obtain it. is .*> )nformabIe strata and has describ- *as deposited, by inally was above. 5 ? (about their position, then a nd Grey Wacke, •f Tery unusual , external lustre Jtinguished from ant of the true entioned charat- rs, of (he occur- tates, bordering ■rs. scovery in Ver- V learn from the Id, who has for- . The Travel- jposited with a ial, and upon deposited by a , when found, nd, there were f, rock crystals, fie gravity 16, region is argil- he rocks in situ owing extracts rth Carolina to i :— "Theex- inore apparent. Chisholm'shas 1, and on each to 100 acres > two grains of ;oid but water of Charlotte ; ^he gold fouiul y, running in and the gold bove the Nar- i mile from its ffinrs. If the 1 to do a Rood obtain it, is ( 25 ) tbor-savlng machinery. I wish you could rise a company in Baltimore to ork one of our best mines-I am confident you might realize great frofits."— JV. York Com. Advertiser. J b b ^ai V'l» the United States; \u North CaroUna, in Cabarras County, on Meadow Creek, &c. the Gold occurs in grains or small massS i., Jluvial earths, and chiefly in the gravelly beds of brooks in the dry |ason.-(Gii,BS.) According to Mr. Ayros, one mass, weighing 28 founds, has been discovered.-The Gold of Cabarras is alloyed with rtlver and a 1, tie copper. When purest, it is 23 carats fine, and is *iper.or,n quality to the Gold coins of England and the United States. Ill 1810 upwards of V3U ounces of this Gold, equal in value to 24,689 pilars had been received at the mint of the United States.~(Iiruce'3 Mm. Journ. vol. I.) It is said also to have been found on the upper branches of James River ; and on the Catabaw in South Carolina. n appears that most of the Gold of commerce is obtained from auri- ferous sands. When thus found, it is extracted by the simple process of was «ng the sand When enveloped in other minerals, it is extracted by amalgamation with inercury."-67ca«e/«n(i'4- Mineralogi/, Vol. If. Note 9.— Examination or description of a compound rock. ^ J.OCALITY. A bowlder found buried in the sand on the shore of the River St. Charles. . ^ General Characters." Aspect green and crystalline— hydrophanous, ^opalescent, and exhibiting a play of colours— difficultly frangible. _ Particular Characters. Upon the first inspection of a fragment of fe rock, three minerals appear very distinct : one black, another green, •nd the third light blue. Upon a closer examination, the black minera ZtT ir'^ruT \ >t "^'^'^ ^^'"^ '' '"^-"^^'^ ^^f^'-^ »»»« application Of heat. — 2d. That which is not. I. The former appears distributed through the rock in aeereeated masses, of a confusedly laminar structure, having generally an iron £ey lustre : but sometimes exhibiting on the shining faces the black Wvet lustre ; these are two in number and opposite. It is crystallized rinder the form of a prism. It yields to the knife, but scratches gass ; and when of most metallic aspect, is most brittle; the rock ftough in the mass difficultly frangible, breaking sometimes with great facility where this mineral is most abundant. Before the blowplDe ife wesents to view small black globular points, fusing with slight iutumes- m^\ ^'f Tl'i"'^* ?'^" ^''°'" ^^° ^^'^""^ •" *^>^ following particulars; it » distributed through the mass in a more regular manner, the struciiro « perfectly laminar, and the prismatic form of the lamini more perfect ind dis inct. It has not the metallic aspect and is not magnetic before the application of heat, nur is it brittle. Before the blowpipe it fuses more readily and with greater intumescence into a dark globule, which is BiJ^netic. Ihe powder of both is green or greenish. ^Ifl. The green mineral h of a dark green, sometimes yellowish green- feminar structure. In the mass it is translucent on the edges ; in thin plates or laminaj (not easily obtnincd) it is scmi-trausnaront U hrrak- inioMiuinboidai prisms with a threefold cleavage— crJss fracture uneven, ipproachmg conchoidal : before the blowpipe it forms a glassy enamel ^r scmi.transparent glass ; specific gravity 2, 5. When reduced to i'K ( 26 ) thin lamina;, the lines of cleavage appear deeply shaded with green TWs mTneral is by far the most abundant, and may be considered the case in which the other minerals are enrlosed, a . ^«„ iV The bluish mineral is translucent and compact ; has a flat con choid;i vitreous fracture-greasy lustre, like fat the ne^gh^onr- K of Quebec : although without doubt, we should fail to find many there he probably overwhelming cause which has scattered them over this countrvras well as over other parts of the world, having been of ar too general a nature to allow of their bearing any ve^^ stnking local characters. However, some may be found, and the partial sweep oftheSty ;^^^^^ thereby inferred, if they be in most cases, as is generaU~^ (^^^^ '^'h ^'.^"'/J a'.rea't iiven thi subject as much attention as any man, and has devoted a great dealof time to the almost exclusive investigation of these phenomena, by personally visiting their localities in Europe, appears cpmp etely pLzled, and is obliged to have recourse to a s"^t«"*««J" «"?'J. ^^ many of them. There are two characters common to mo^t of them ; their water-worn appearance, and the unequal pitch they exhibit on the sum- mit; that is, one face'of the pitch »« f ^^^^^^ ^"^^ "^«'^f ;\;P* ^*^^^^ other. Now the same thing may be observed in torrents, thelilaclcs m which have precisely this appearance-the abrupt J'/^J^^^f *^^ *7„^"* ; and it is natural that this should be the case. It h^^, ^f «" /»PP°^f therefore, that by examining the general position of thes^e^ masses, the direction taken by the propeiiiug torrent may "*=-.,f f '7-3' "r} however, is far from being the fact as these faces w»ll be found to po in indiscriminately to all the points of the compass. Where this unequal with green, asidered the a flat con- atches glass with tran3- les of a gol- I. lie following w better in- ted and in< •ilting a char- from a sort of vorld. They , shewing the ni verse itself. izes us. We came there ? With small having made Lable of those be neighbour- to find many ■ed them over having been very striking partial sweep It cases, as is Luc, who has jvoted a great e phenomena, irs completely ean origin fqr of them; their it on the sum- brupt than the , the blocks in ng the torrent : been supposed these masses, If,U8KIVruv 7 ! found to point e this unequal ( 27 ) •* 1. la oT...irVpd it is owing probably to the maf5S having been at some pitch IS o^s^^ed. It »8 «wmg p y ^^ ^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ 'T•^Eata^^^^^^^ which it owes its present locality, 'lie lalst*^^^^^^^ seen in the neighbourhood, are situated on .^. i ISmmitW the hiah around at Beauport, forming a part of Go- the very summit of t^ nign grou '^u^er, measure, the smal- from 25 to 30 feet in circum ,' ^^^ ^^gg contains 268 cubic ?. ?!i y^A However mas.e» much larger are to be found ui Europe, "^'lr«t a; lareert Tpon the'ommit of the Jura, «ith the great .alley, L whTchL'ISuSthe'lake of Gene,., between it and the parent rook in the hands of ««*«««*«, were forced to ^n^^^^^^^^ cumulated are totally "^''''l^'^ '? '' ° '?™Ta„t natu« ; and he whS are, among them "V^nlhe^SLofthe Scriptures of the occur- desires any other proof, «''»" '""f f ''" °" °' ,i„„ed in ho y writ, need ^CXl^^o^^^P Ctrandtwo^eanpcihly make four.*— Canadian Review, No. 4. TNT . iA Tt has been coniectured, that this mass might owe its pornloVeVncV^fcau^ ?iz. to floating ice ^^^^^ «?«"'"§;/ ^'^^^^^^^^^^ islands of this That the numerous ^^^^^^^^^/^^^l^^^^i' ^he ^e^^ of which has river owe their presence to the same [^^"^.^^^^^^ ^^ny places not escaped the observation «f/^^ ."i^^.^''J"^ Jen.y and who have owe the little L. stone they yet require « *;"^. ^^^n^^^^^^^ noticed, thatwhat they remove one year .^mth-ay^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It has been observed, that although the bowlUer i q / ^^^ bably owe its position to the same <^^^^\^';' J°"^^^^^^^^ well known routi of the St. Lawrence at ^^^ P^^^^^ '^^^ec^a^^^^^^^ ««>°« ^n:p:srt:^efr»^^^ *I„ this article, as in sorne-^^i^;^^ £ i!K^r*«nf makinff alterations, or correcting tnet^nuin^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ unruly son, of ( 28 ) the St. CliailcS; ami also tlie St. Lawrencp, were more elerated, per- haps, when thry formed one wat(M-, and the present peninsula, from Cap tlouge to Quclxx was an island. — But to indulge iu these speculations is endless, and we feel already transgressing. While justly ascribing many of the bowlders, we find distributed over these Provinces, to the agency of floating ice, particularly those found on or near the shores of rivers, we must not lose sight of the fact that the phenompnon of thrir occurrence is not confined to countries like Ca- nada, but extends toothers whose rivers are never frozen-— travellers to the equatorial parts of Africa speak of them. It appears that no one cause will account for the position of these masses in all cases, and to fix upon a set of causes, which will do so, without involving any thing contradictory, is one among the questions the most diflicolt with which Geology has to perplex her followers. Note 11.—" The Arabs, according to Shaw, use steatite in their baths, instead of soap, to soften the skin, and it is confidently asserted, that the inhabitants of New Caledonia, either eat it alone, or mingle it with their food. — Humboldt says, that the Ottomaque, a savage race inhabit- ing the banks of the Oronoko, are almost entirely supported during three months in the year, by eating a species of steatite, which they first slightly bake, and then moisten with water." — {Phillips' Mineralogy, p. U 9) Note 12. — The notoriety, which the bowlder lying near York, U. C.has obtained, on account of its containing a 4th Alkali, is well known, also that the peculiar mineral yielding it is considered to be the petalite. Of the presence of the former, little doubt can be entertained, repeated ana- lysis having most probably proved the fact. That it i» the Petalite, does not Appear equally probable. The reasons for entertaining this opinion, are embraced in the following description, the faults of which, it is hoped, will be excused by those, who, however desirous to encourage precise information on similar subjects, will not always expect proficiency. General Characters. A Bowlder — Colour, externally, reddish or yellowish, with light green patches— internally, on a fresh fracture, sugar white, with the same green patches, but of a lighter colour — translucent on the edges — struc- ture of three kinds, granular, fibrous and laminar — fracture uneven hardness variable, but always yielding to the knife — tough in the mass (becoming indented under the hammer) brittle in small fragments- specific gravity «/:o«j/5 aOove 3. 0-its powder phosphoresces on charcoal heated to redness— eiFervesces in acid, but soon subsides, leaving con- siderable sediment — fusible before the blow pipe, with inturaesceoce. Particulau Characters. The white granular mineral, (the base through which the others are distributed,) may be divided into two— one which is soft and earthy, almost chalky, the other harder, translucent and crystalline ; in fact the former appears only externally and may probably arise from the decom- position of the other minerals— the hardness in one case is above that of Granular L. stone and below it in the other— lustre dull or only glimmer- ing. The gntfir.pss of itr; powder to the taste, indicates the presence of a Urge portion of silex. It effervesces in acid, but immediately subsides, 'IcTatetl, j)pr« I la, from Cap I speculations tributed over ' those found the fact that tries like Ca. -travellers to 3 that no one cases, and to ing any thine; t with which in their baths, inserted, that single it with race inhabit- portcd during lich they first -alogy, p. 11 9) ork, I J. C. has own, also that lite. Of the repeated ana- Petalite, docs : this opinion, which, it is to encourage :t proficiency. ;h light green ith the same edges — struc- jre uneven — h in the mass I fragments — son charcoal leaving con- roesceoce. 'le others are and earthy, ; in fact the 1 the decom- bove that of )nly glimmer- presence of a tcly subsides, ( 29 ) iren when In powder, leaving considerable sediment. It phosphoreicei \u charcoal as above stated. The effect of the blowpipe is to extricate luhblos and form a dull yellowish enamel. .... The greon mineral in patches, is light apple green-translucent, semi- ransparent in fibres-structure promiscuously fibrous, fibres sometimes ,te.lacing, at others radiating -fracture disclosing a tendfency to break mlo long slender brittle prisms. It is scratched by the knife, but scratch- Is Kluss-lustre shining and silky. The sp. gr. of a fragment tolerably tec from admixture gave 3. 1.-3. X Effect in acid much the ,ame aj fhe last, but in a slighter degree-The same may be sa.d of the effect of he blowpipe with the adition that the part furthest from the fiame, loses fts transparency and becomes white. . , 1 1 i T The laminar mineral is white, with a slight tinge of greeri or blue-trans- \cent-the laminie cleave in two directions, with polished surfaces paral- ll to each other. On the cross fracture this mineral has a compact aspect. . yields to the knife, though not easily, and scratches glass with facility -.phosphoresces like the foregoing-sp. gr. always above 3. O-^ut varia- le -effervesces in acid as above, but in a still slighter degree. When Sged under the greatest heat of the blowpipe it fuses, with the extrica- ion of bubbles, into a white glassy enamel. , . ^ ,, The phosphorescence common to the mass is owing to the presence Jcaibouateof lime or magnesia, as appears probable from the circum- ilance, that after effervescence no such phenomenon is seen. ^ The green fibrous mineral most resembles those two varieties of Horn- Wend, Tremolite and Actynolite, one of which it Probably is. , Now, according to Cleaveland and Phillips, the Petahte has asp. L of only 2. 4-2. 6. ; which no part of this bowlder, however carefully ielected, can be made, even nearly, to agree with. Indeed he differ- ence is so considerable as (together with other characters) to lead to the 8»si>.cion that the laminar mineral most resembling the Petalite .s bpo- aumcMie, the sp. gr. of which, according to the same authorities, is 3. 1-3.2 and which also contains the same alkali. Furtl^/'', Jt ^ippears UrobaLlc, from its great specific gravity and intumescing fusibility, that i%e greater part of the white mineral may be Spodumene, under different forms. This conjecture, however, is left to the chymist and experienc ed mineralogist to verify or refute, our inquiry being limited to the more obvious physical characters, with the exception of the two chymical ones, of the effect of acids and the blowpipe. _ ^ ,,„«,., .i.^ One object of this paper is to court friendly criticism, whereby the crude notions and experiments of a novice, may be corrected through the matured studies of the proficient.— ^Me6ec Medical Journal. Note 1 3.— According to Macculloch, '' Serpentine occurs almost ex- clusively among the primary rocks," he also says, that " rocks composed of serpentine and carbonate of lime, are found of considerable extent, of which the verde antico is a striking variety." Note 14. — It is a very curious circumstance that this mineral was boufjht as gypsum. The purchaser, as we are informed, ground it^ up for tement and found it to answer very well. If so, he must first have expelled its carbonic acia, uy means vt a i;u;tcmuI »v.a. , - no doubt whatever that the mineral in question is a very pure carbonate ( 30 ) of lime. Its association \^ith granite and gneiss, places it afnong the prhnary marbles. That gypsum has even been found among primary rooks is doubted by some geologists. , ,. i.- Th'e eports respiting this marble, ^» ^Vt^ "^""fr'-'^'lrif* II are favourably. Its translucency is remarkable, Mrhich, joined to its colour, a dazllng white, sometimes slightly shaded with pink, renders k to all external appearance, well calculated for economical purposes, mrticularly f^^^ the manufactu're of vases, lamps, &c. The value of an Se of L description, is increased, by the facts, that none of our quar- rie at home afford a white marble, and that those of Italy, have been said to be nearly exhausted. We believe that it has not yet experienced, under the chisel of the artist, that trial to which its y^'^l'^J'^^^^^y' J^;^^. respects entitles it ; although far from being sanguine, that »«ch a tn* woSld prove successful ; on the contrary, we suspect that its laminar structuri, and the distribution of parts of unequal hardness throughout, w^ud cause a failure in that respect. It bearsaslronp 'esenjblance to alabaster, and probably on that account was mistaken fo gypsum. On ?he subject of this mistake, the following extract from a letter addressed to the Editor of the Quebec Mercury, is given : Two kinds of alabaster only are known : that formed on the floors of caverns by calcareous depositions from the roof, called stalagm tes, and sorva'rieLs of gypsum' or sulphate of lime T»ie f^mer »t canno be, and one of the latter it is not, for the following rea . ^s : all the varieties of gypsum, except the anhydrous, may be scratched by he na which this cannot be-none of them eflFervesce in acid, which this not only does, but forms a clear solution in. The gypsums fall to powder with heat. The mineral in question burns to lime. By which cha- racters, it is clearly proved to be a carbonate, and not a sulphate of lime. The following extract from some notes taken in 1826 anrf first pub- Hshed in Neilson's Gazette, of the 11th December, wi I be >^:^f «nter- esting ; they are evidently from the pen of an individual acquainted with ^^^c'^doussac, September 14<* 1826.-We walked this morning along the beach to moulin a baude, about four miles below this port, to see the bed of marble there. Pointe rouge, forming the south-east promon- tary of the harbour of Tadoussac, is chiefly of a very hard close grained red granite. The granite alternates for a few paces with, and is then fol- lowed, as far as Pointe aux vachcs, by several varieties of primitive rocks, principally gneiss &c. ; until they are there met by a bed of clay, ap- parently 150 feet thick above the level of the river, and cut down nearly perpendicularly by the beating of the waves, for * distance of about 200 yards, which is the whole breadth of the bed. This clay is of the same character as that at Pointe aux bouleaux, and will prove as valua- ble when introduced in the arts,* The primitive rocks of the same des- cription, which were found lying against the clay, almost immediately succeed it, and the action of the water discloses to the passenger that fantastic and beautiful intermixture of layers of different colours, so covnmon between Malbaie and the Saguenay. The shore is then indent- ed, aud a bed of gneiss stretching out into the Saint Lawrence has been ' — ., r jf - i:**i« Joian/I . nnnnait<» fn it IS a liav. cut ou bv ine waier, auu iuiuo a. iim^ .as....^. . -ii - - ^ - and in the dry sand t hrown up, the wild oat grows so profusely, that it « Can this be Kaolin or decom posed Felspar? tho ualuro of the rocK, a fclspathic granite, readers it not unlikely.— Ed. I almost ap on, is, w deep — at rising wit and abou direction sure vari diminuti( but it l! bank ha have be( been mi ceedingl; trifling < it is, gei of a few a few pa dry at 1 vessels t deed toi Lawren< bee witl 20 feet these w marble i for chin ground i fjo the I «Th at Poin «T1 levoix ^ Ship, 1 probab see, th marbre North Mr. it agrf torical has a 1 countr justice compo and ii structi visit Q Canad the pi may t< of Cai : atmong the DDg primary ind solidity, )ined to its ik, renders al purposes, value of an of our quar- , have been ixperienced, ce, in some such a trial its laminar thronghout, lemblance to ^psum. On sr addressed the floors of igmites, and ler it cannot . s : all the ched by the acid, which isums fall to Y which cha- hate of lime. If? first pub- i^und inter- uainted with lorning along I port, to see east promon- ;lose grained ] is then fol- mitive rocks, 1 of clay, ap- down nearly ince of about clay is of the ore as valua- :he same des« ; immediately assenger that t colours, so then indent- nce has been n it. i ''■«^\r« ""'.ted at i ceedingly well. Supplie, of many thousand ton, m.ght be .M»u^d a^. of a ffrinohM from tte adjacent .trata it is of Un tinged green and m ; few p«t "^f the ma", there i, a red tinge. Thi. muddy bay, «h,eh .8 dr» at ?ow water, afford, a protected harbour, and admit, at h'«.h ">|" vZsel. drwTnTe o! 10 feet, a «6sel of the former draught m.ght in- deed t„nr«^' bed it,elf 'with it. iceel. Jhe entrance from the S. I^wrenoe i. not difficult. It is not more than 48 hou Mil from Uue- bee with a light fair wind. Large sound block. »/ £ J"""*JtV * ". SO feet in length by 4 or 5 feet square, ""'S''^/ "'"^1, j^j" ° .""'t he rbVd'^^no^Vke^-^rd-plM^no^^^^^^^^^^ -utr„rSW*Mr.'LtXrcrn\-XJ »- ^Th?p'o:ft-ro "Sbed, or more properly rent and that of the ciay at Pcinieaux mchet, h not without iute!,« JT' J^»"; levoix who anchored here in 1720, in the Chameau, a Stench Kngs ghip,Mdedat the small stream at t\« ^°«'''" » ."•^.''SJ' 'J^u^d to prob'abiy in allusion to this very bed which he "u'd not b«Te faded ^o h^ "^i^^^'^^^'o., l:^ kno7„' r: ?he Ute North West Company." . v v • «„» »f Mr. Chasseur ha. also seen this marble in «»". ™"'« ^^^^P^'^Si: l^Z^ '^^^t to^lVKol?; f yTbi^flH and intelligence truly la»d»l'le, he h^ coUected '"^f ^^^Vl^^ia struction, as well as amusement of the P"""^-. f " ""'8 ofeverv visit Quebec, without seeing this collection, and it i. *= /"'J «' "'j^ (!ladianan'd resident in the country, *■>/"""?«? J;;.St auspice, the prosecution pfhis. 'ab.-,, which under^^chjavo^^^^^^ may terminate IQ A caoinet, ui u«uu luv !..«., of Canada. ortuiii(y of correcting. I In qaality has not been cxaggcnted, but, owing tu its regular stratiticniinn and apparent continuation, He have been too sanguine (h fuult, all men fresh in the field are liable to commit) as to the qii.intity in which it is found. Upon opening a quarry, tibout the length of GU feet, it wiis found at the further extremity, to be impure; an«i to dip, considerably in the direction of its bearing, under the ** Black Rook," aivd although found in small quantity in other I ^rts of the field, it appears etery whcra to be so mixed up with the latter rock, (or a species of shale much re- sembling it,) and a rery impure h. stone of a somewhat oolitic structure, at to aflford no hope of an abundant supply. The eusternmost end run»i into the neighbouring property, but probably not far. Its depth is un- known, but as it lies conformable to the ^* Black Rock," having thu latter both abore and below if, the pursuit of it in this direction would not pay. We are aware of the occurrence of largo masses of 1^. stone in the conglomerate, forming the precipice to the north of the to>vn of Quebec, but their appearance is far from having that promising aspect in regard to abundance, which the L. stone in questioii ( xiiibited before it was explored ; neither would their position allow of tlicir being re- moved, if these masses were sufficiently large to render it desirable, on account of the danger of bringing down the superincumbent strata on the houses below. It is worthy of romark, that niells in a highly com- minuted state, may be observed in the L. stone, at No. 4 Tower, a fragment of which, in our possession, bearH the traces of a bivalve » a species of cockle has also been found, in the L. stone at the. back of Mr. Cairnes* house in Mountain sireet. — Considering the whole formation to the north, and north-west of the town, to be a local conglonierate- (which appears probable, from the angular untravellcd appearance of the enclosed masses or pieces) a reversal of the strata in the District of Quebec, seems to be inferred from the occurrence of these organic re- mains, an inference we have attempted to explain in Note 7, thougl^ without flattering ourselves that we have done so Huccessfully : the subject is a very difficult one, and it well becomes us to be diffident on a point where a Cuvier, a Uuckland or a MaccuUocli, would .probably hcsijU^tQ. ?aif Note 16.— Vegetable organic remains are also found : we have a speci- men of the strata, on which is a plant or flower in blossom : the blossoms are round, and resemble, in miniature, the sun flower. The stem is slight, darkish green with a glimmering metallic lustre, which it owes to iron pyrites. The flower has the same colour and lustre, all but a slight halo round it, of a reddish colour, apparently the petals. On the same fragment, there are the impressions of long lanceolated leaves, to all ap- pearance unconnected with the flower. : M Note 17.—" A Kingston, alnsi que sor la pifipart des cot^s du Lac Ontario, les cailloux sont des difl"erentes especes dcs schistes durs, des chouches de quartz et de granite. Ou voit nr^s du rivaije de gros%es pierres noires roulees, ressemblant k des basal tes, et beaucoup de pierres sablonneuscs, contenant des impressions d'animaux dc mer : en dcscen- dant Ic FIcuTc St. Laurent, Ic pays est 5c\ihicu\." —Guillemard, lort rcspcft- 'ectiii|G(. Iih itrutilic:ilinn ult, all mf'n I winch it is I'tM, It WU8 Hulorably in ud although tery whoru le mach re- ic structure, ost Piul ruiifi leptli is un- haviiig thu ction would of L. Rtoite the town of sing anpect bitcd bt'foro r being rc- esirable, on nt strata on lighly coni- [ Tower, a bivalve » a he. back of !c formution onglomerate ranee of the District of organic re- e 7, though ; the subject on a point I* 'V>Tvhr laveasped- he blossoms rhe stem is h it owes to but a slight !)ti the same f to all ap- ot6s du Lac js (lurs, des ! dc ffros^Gs p de pierres en dcscen- ( 33 ) r^ote 18. Its natural state is uncalcined, and as a sulphate of lime it iimsit always he " strongly impregnated with lime,"— perhaps, much mixed with carbonate of lime, is what is meant. Note 19.— In this township, some years ago, an explosion took place in a vein of iron pyrites, of which the tollowing is an account given to the Geological Society of London, by Dr. Bigsby. <'This explosion took place sixteen years ago (1809) in the towt.ship of Yon"e, near the Lake of the 1000 islands, in the St. Lawrence. M the time'a man was seeking his cow in the woods, within a short distai.ce of the spot— on a sudden he was start ed by a tremendous exploslLMi, attend- ed by volumes of smoke and sulphureous odors. Three years since, on beiiij? informed of these particulars. Dr. Bigsby, visited the place. It is halfamile within the woods north of the road from BrockyiUe to King- ston, near the easternmost of two creeks, and about ten miles from Brockville. He found, on the summit of a quartzose mound from 30 to 40 feet high, a round cavity 12 feet deep, 12 long, and 9 broad. Its sides consisted of very shattered quartz, spotted brown by oxide of iron, and covered profusely with acicular yellow and white crystals of sul- phur. The lower parts of the cavity were studded with masses of iron pyrites of which there is a vein at the bottom of the cayity. It is a foot and a half thick, and disseminates itself into the surrounding quartz. This vein may be seen rum.iiig east with a very high dip to the distance of a yard and a half. . . ,r * / • i "Similar phenomena have been noticed m a mountain in Vermont, (vide American Journal of Science lor February, 1821) aUo in the country towards the head of the Missouri, (vide travels of Captains Lewis and Clarke,)' Geological Trans. It is remarkable that pseudo volcanic substances, such as pseudo volca- nic carbonate of iron, pseudo volcanic quartz, formerly having cubic py- rites disseminated throughout, the impressions of which still remain, are said to occur in the townt^hip of Yonge. Note 20 — Althou"h iron pyrites is not mentioned in the report of this township, it is witiriiUle doubt indicated in the following description. "The substan.c referred to has the appearance of gold, or rather like some pieces of coal of u glossy yellow, but much heavier. Some of it has undergone chemical process, but it evaporated with a sulphureous, smell, from what, however, the writer of this article has learned the ex- periment was hardly salislaclory. It is also reported that several boat loads of it have been taken away by some Americans. As lar as it extends, iliis description is perfectly satisfactory. If to these characters had been added its comparative hardness, no doubt would have remained as to the name of the mineral ; forinstance, when not too brittle to allow of the experiment, if it resist the impression of a sharp knite, or it too brittle, its fragments scratch glass with facility, it can be no other than iron pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, if, on the contrary, it yields to the knife, the mineral is most probably copper. Native Gold, which bears some resemblance to these two minerals, is always malleable, and tnso^ 1 A»r . I .,„* <.,).>» loniTtK intn this Kiibiect. because fut/tc lu nunc aciu. tto juvc cnici5,«»T. .•.-&' — _• ^ . , , iron pyrites has often been, as it was in the present instance, mistaken for ores of the more valuable metals. Formerly ship loads, mstead of E ( 34 ) P Iff i I ** boat loads" of this very dazliag but almost worthless miDeral, were sent home under the presumption that it was gold. It is a general rule that no ore which contains a profitable quantity of the more valuable metals will resist the knife. A few exceptions occur, but among the most rare of the metallic minerals, viz. the Argentiferous Arsenical Iron of the Harz, and the ores of Platina Irridium and Palladium. Note 21. — If the townships and allotments of land in these Provinces have been laid down by compass, they cannot possibly be correct ; for •with all the care an experienced surveyor could bestow, he would not have been able to make the proper allowance for the degree of local magnetic attraction, the comparative intensity of which, at different places, is so various and uncertain. — We shall be told, that the sur> veyor, in laying down an allotment or township, first commenced his operations from some plain or bank of a river, far removed from hills or mountains (the more frequent depository of magnetic iron) and out of the reach of local magnetic influence ; and that having there laid down a magnetic meridian, he no longer used the compass, bu^; produced that line, by covering vertical pickets. This method is perhaps the best that can be adopted in the absence of all instruments, except the compass, but after all it is very liable to error, for, (not to mention the impossibility of always finding a spot free from mountain or hill) if a plain so situated be found, who can be sure that local magnetic attraction does not extend to it — who can be sure that it is not itself the seat of that attraction. Where primary rocks occur, the presence of magnetic iron may be suspected ; some of the secondary trap division arc also magnetic (Note 3.) But sometimes its presence is so little indicated by (he topographical outline of the ground as to deceive the most experienced. Mr. Watts, of Cape Diamond, and Mr. Saxe, of the Surveyor General's Department, agree in stating that the neighbourhood ot L'Acadie is remarkable for the local magnetic attrac- tion to be observed there. We believe no geologist would suspect its operation upon passing his eye over the country. As far as we are acquainted with it, the soil is alluvial, with a topping of vegetable earth, and no rocks or mountains within such a distance of the spot that they could effect the compass in so extraordinary a manner. The following quotation from Guillemard is descriptive of the soil in this portion of the Province ; — " La riviere Sorel, apres avoir quit(e le bassin de Cham- bly, mouille le pied d'une large et haute montagne, appellee Belceil. Entre cette riviere et le Fleuve St. Laurent, est une plaine immense, Bur cette plaine entierement uni, il ne se trouve point de roc, et pres- qu'aucune pierre. En creusant, on trouve jusqu'a une profondeur con- siderable, des solsdedifferentes especes; du sable, de rar^ille,de la terre vegetale, et dans beaucoup d'endroits, une autre matiere vegetale noir, ressemblant beaucoup k une espece de tourbe appellee peat :" he adds. The summit of the Belceil mountain is a deep grey and large grained granite. It contains little mica, but a considerable quantity of black SchnrI ? Ihp RinPO n( fVl*> Giimmil' am rtrin/^Srtoltir f\nnn-r\r\eaA i\f n ^^^„'.^U 7 "- — *"— w«.- « «.- *- ^,. ,,,..vj..,, ,j vvtii p\rjt„vt in a ^ixzyi:sis black schistus very compact, some parts of which resemble basalt, in form and grain (texture ?) In descending the Sorel, rocks are no where feeo. At Sorel the banks are of a fine clay, full of mica. lineral, were I general rule lore valuable riong the most ;al Iron of the ese Provinces correct ; for he would not jgree of local , at different that the sur> mmenced his from hills or ) and out of re laid down roduced that he absence of ^ery liable to ng a spot free can be sure [1 be sure that rocks occur, he secondary i its presence ground as to )nd, and Mr. iting that the gnetic attrac- d suspect its ir as we are !;etable earth, spot that they Hie following bis portion of sin de Cbam- jellee Belceil. ine immense, roc, et pres- )fondeur con- ic, de la terra vegetale noir, U :*' he adds, large grained tity of black t VI tX £1» C Y 1312 ble basalt, ia are no where I I ( 36 ) Is it possible that M. Guillemard may have mistaken that for granite^ which is a trap rock of the same age and character as the Montreal mountain ? Black crystallized hornblende, much resembles black schorl ; basaltic hornblende, is associated with the former in the Mon* treal mountain, — We have hazarded this conjecture without having seen either specimen of the mountain of Beloeil, or any other account of it than M. Guillemard's, because, if correct, it appears easy to ex- plain the local magnetic attraction near L'Acadie, by supposing that the same trap formation comes to the surface in that place, part of which, in the case of the Montreal mountain, is known to be highly magnetic. (Note 30 In Gourlay's report of the Townships of U. C. Mr. Markland (by the bye a singularly applicable name as authority on such a subject) in a general report on Kingston, writes, '' no mines have as yet been disco- vered but from the ditBculties which surveyors have met with, in running parallel lines, owing to the variations of the needle, there can be no doubt of the existence of iron mines." Lieut. Wulff, R. E. found also in the neighbourhood of Kingston, a variation of 10® in a distance of about 600 feet. We do not think it probable that mines of magnetic iion will be found in that immediate neighbourhood, because that part of the country appears to be decidedly secondary : the cause of magnetic influence is probably to be sought for in the granitic formation of the Milles Isles where beds of ma^iietic iron may occur. Trap rocks might account for it, but we are not aware of the occurrence of any near Kingston. To these authorities might be added others, as the fact is well established, and should be as well remembered by those who use the compass, either for surveying or for the more general purpose of security in the woods. It shews that too much coniidence may be placed in this instrument, and that an implicit reliance upon it for security while traversing the forests might prove the destruction of the traveller. There is good reason to suppose that the granitic range to the North of Quebec is well supplied with magnetic iron, rounded masses of it brought down by the torrents have been sometimes met with in the neighbourhood of Quebec. The rocks form- ing the coast on the north shore, often contain so much as to affect, it is said, the Ship's compass in passing up and down the river. Besides a natural local attraction, or a local attraction resulting from natural causes, instruments are sometimes subject to a similar influence, from artificial ones as appears from Mr. Amos Eaton's observations in Silliman's Journal for March 1827, p. 14 : with the aid of a microscope he detected very minute steel scales attached to the limb of the instru- ment, left there in the manufacture of it. 'Ihe Theodolite is the only instrument which should be used by sur- veyors in this country, without any reference to its compass, but starting from a true meridian. *Note 22. — One of the Montreal papers lately communicated the intel- ligence that this ore was about to be worked by a Company. It is of the best description, and the circumstance of its having plumbago (carbu- " ■ ' — — — — — — ^.^— ^ ■ — ■ ' ■ ■ . t fic r^it oxtu?5 Oi Zinc nss d66!x rct^rr^u tG (ni9 iioig iEnpropcrij-'j s uc *'niy remark we have to make on it, is under the form, of a quotation from the 2d No. of ths Canadian Keview, p. 380, *'■ It is singular that only one new substance, the re4 oxide of zinc, has been found in the United States and the Canadas, while they are numerous in the southern division of America." E 2 fl m k ■ti ( 36 ) ret of iron) disseminated thronghoat, may improTe the cast metal, and cause a saving in fuel. The following extract from the Canadian Retiew. No. ?, article "Geology," (believed to be from the pen of Dr. Bigsby)', contrasts this ore with that from Marmora, of which an ample geoioglcal account is given, particularly interesting at the present moment, as the Marmora iron works, &c. are advertized for sale. "The Iron works, for which Upper Canada is indebted to the enterprise of Mr. Hayes, are placed on the river Marmora, around a small cascade, rather more than a mile from Crow Lake.— This extensive establishment, has been erected, for the purpose of working some beds of magnetic iron ore.— The geological relations of the ore will include that of the district, so that both can be explained at the same time. — ^The cascade before re- ferred to, flows over a pale and slightly porphyritic sienite, one of the youngest of the elder class of rocks, and here scarcely shewing any strat- ification. — On the one side of the fiver, this rock, coloured pale green by epidote, and much traversed by that mineral in veins, passes nnder the hill on the right, and on the other, floors the lower flat, and is lost in the adjacent shattered clifi; which it should be mentioned has a corresponding one on the the rii^ht bank of the river. In the lower parts of these cliflfs, for a few feet, alternating layers of red, grey and green argillaceous sandstone rest horizontally on the sienite. It is of a very fine grain and smooth to the touch. It supports a very compact light brown limestone, of conchoidal fracture with a dim lustre, and often studded with small masses of hyaline calcspar like the limestone of the narrows of Lake Simcop, which it greatly resembles.— The whole body of limestone may be 200 feet high ; but it becomes in the upper parts of the hills, of coarser texture, darker in colour, and hid under soil and rolled fragments of rock.— It is without organic remains ; as are the in- numerable angular blocks scattered over the face of the country, and the naked terraces, about a mile from the works, on the road to the mouth of the river Trent ; but a mile or so southwestward from the ter- races, we again perceive in the bowlders of limestone, the usual orthoce- ratites, producta^, madrepores, and coralines.— The calcareous strata of the bed of the Trent abound in them and in the other shells characteristic of the older limestones.— A little above the cascade, on the left side of the River, sienite occasionally emerges from beneath the soil and herbage ; and in one place meets with a large unstratified weather-worn fixed mass of white crystalline marble, which likewise attains no great height. In their irregular line of union, an oblong bed of this iron ore has been lodged, considerable in quantity, but now all removed except somp insig- nificant strings and veins wandering in the sienite. Very few square feet of the marble is seen here, but it reappears as a rugged steep hill on the near side of Crow Lake ; and again in Birch Island in that Lake, a mile and a half on the north west. This marble is of the purest white and pos- sesses several varieties of texture, from the compact, to the fine grain of loaf sugar and the largely crystalized form frequently seen in the grave- stones of Vermont.— It is unfortunate that these conditions are too mi- nutely blended, and are not in large distinct masses; but as it is the mar- Die will make very handsome chimney pieces, sideboards, tablets for ha!!«. gravestones, &c. : perhaps on sinking deep into the rock it will improve'. — Ihe principal bed of ore is at the Upper end of Crow Lake, at the water s edge, and so conveniently placed that the ore boat goes there in (( ( 37 ) ast metal, and ladian Review, TDr. Bigsby)', nple geological loment, as the the enterprise small cascade, establishment, magnetic iron jf the district, ade before re- te, one of the 'ing any strat- pale green by ses nnder the nd is lost in itioned has a ver. In the ; of red, grey nite. It is of very compact tre, and often lestone of the e whole body ipper parts of nder soil and as are the in- country, and road to the from the ter- isual orthoce- eous strata of characteristic e left side of ind herbage ; r-worn fixed great height, ore has been it some insig- w square feet ) hill on the Lake, a mile liite and pos- fine grain of n the gravc- 5 are too mi- t is the mar« ets for hallSs 7 vill improve, jake, at the ;oe3 there in the morning, with two or three men and returns in the evening with 15 tons of it, — procured with a pickaxe, shovel ind sledge hammer. — It is in the face of an acclivity about 50 feet high, lul covered with bowlders fo quartz and greenstone, charged with iron ; the whole eminence proba- bly a mass of ore, but at present, the exposed portions are only 20 yards broad and in places 10 feet high. It is traversed by confused fissures and is massive, and without shupe, except that it juts out in very large angu- lar wedges. No rock appears in connexion with it ; but the large un* rolled masses of granular quartz, white and coloured by epidote abound- ing on the surface bespeak the close contiguity of that rock in situ,— The ore is the granular magnetic iron ore, one of the richest and best for general purposes. Its containing a good deal of sulphur however adds to the expense of working it ; a disadvantage from which the iron beds of Hull on the Ottawa are free. — These latter occur also in a district chiefly of marble white and crystalline, mixed with some pale sienite, containing dis- seminated much dark coccolite, and some plumbago. — There are several other beds at Marmora, — One called "Fosters" is in the woods 4j miles directly esst of the works, and a few hundred yards east of a branch of the Moira River, which enters Lake Ontario at Belleville. It is of the granular form of ore ; sometimes exhibiting large octohedral crystals, and is imbedded in sienite, dark and pale in spots according to the pre- dominance of one or other of its component minerals, feldspar and horn- blende. The manganesian garnet, a rare mineral, likewise present in the Franklin iron mines at Sparta in New Jersey, is found in the sienite of this ore bed, mingled with white rhomboidal calcspar. — The ore is so con- cealed by rubbish and earth that it is difficult to state its quantity. Another bed is situated about a mile beyond Foster's ; — a fourth, a quarter of a mile into woods, from the left side of the Crow Lake, a little above the head of the Marmora River. A fifth and large one is in the vi- cinity of Belmont Lake, about seven miles northerly from the establish^ mei of Mr. Hayes. There are several varieties of ore which are not mentioned in this very cursory sketch, from not yet having received a due examination' — It was important to learn that these beds exhibit the same geological relations as the older and better known mines of the (States of New-York, New Jersey, and Vermont. As has been before observed, the useful minerals exist in quantity only in certain situations, — a solitary deposit, or a few trifling ones, may be met with out of them, but never are so copious as to warrant the permanent investment of capital,*' Note 23. — This is probably alluded to in the following extract from Charlevoix which we give more on account of the curious uncertainty which existed at the time respecting ores, thau for any value it pos- sesses. *' M. Talon avoit, sur tout, fort k coeur les mines de fer, qu'on assuroit 6tre tr^s-abondantes, et en revcnant de France, il s'etoit fait debarquer k Gaspe, oii il croyoit, sur le temoignage de quelques voyageurs, trouver de I'argent^ mais il fut bientot detrompe. Il fut plus heureux pour le fer. 11 avoit envoye le sieur de la Tesserie dans la Bale St. Paul, ou ce mineur decouvrit une mine aui lui oarut tres-abondante. il esoeram^me d'y trouver du cuivre et peut-etre de I'argent, il remarqua partout ou il travailla que la terre etoit encore renversee p%r le Tremblement de Terrede 1663." ( 38 ) Note 24. — The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. Mason to Mr. Gourlay, on the subject of the iron works at Charlotteville : — "In favor of iron works, is the high price of iron, and plenty of timber for coal. Every thing but these is against the first beginner. The bog ore is scattered over the whole country, but 1 do not know any one bed of ore that will exceed 120 Ions. I spent three months in examining the country for ore, and I calculate that it will take all the ore I found within 20 miles of this place, to supply a small furnace for seven years, but I believe considerable quantities, within that space, are not yet found. No rock ore has yet been found in this part of the Province, and if there is any it must be at a considerable depth from the surface of the ground, and will be difficult to find, as the strata lie horizontal." Note 25.— This mineral is turned up by the plough and is found in the water courses of a field, composed of a stiff clay near Dr. Mills', at Sillery, near Quebec. It occurs under one of the the following forms: botryoidal, reniform or mamillatec, and varies from the size of a nut to that of a large potatoe. These are encrusted on the outside by a yellowish white coating. Inter- nally it is bluish black, though not uniformly so, exhibiting, when broken, red and yellow parts. Its structure is earthy, and it is extremely friable, very adhesive to the tongue, and gives out a strong argillaceous odor. lisSp.-Gr. islow, butit absorbs waterso rapidly and adundantlyas to hiss bubble and have its weight considerably increased after a short immersion; it does not, however fall to pieces in water. It yields to the nail and re- ceives ii polish from it. It is not magnetic until exposed to a red heat with grease, and then only slightly. Before the blowpipe it becomes glazed, and rounded. With borax it forms a glass globule of the colour of amethysf, but the greater part remains suspended in the glass. If too much heat be applied, or if continued long, the colour of the globule is yellow ; afterwards it becomes colourless. The c^ay in which this mineral is found, was in some places coloured throughout of a light pink ; in other places it is only superficial. The former forms, when washed and baked, an excellent chalk or pigment. Note 26.— In Keatlng's "Narrative of an expedition to the source of the St. Peter's River," are the following observations on the native copper of Lake Superior : — " The great interest which generally prevails on the subject of the " copper mines of Lake Superior, as they are called, will perhaps justify " us in offering, on this subject, a few observations, which we hazard " with some diffidence. We have seen native copper strewed in many " directions, over the great valley drained by the Mississippi and its trib- " utaries, i id we know from the reports of all travellers that it exists in " many plates. It has also been found on several spots on Lake Supe- rior, where it was long since looked to as an object of great promise. The largest mass of it, that is known, exists on the Ontonagon River, and for a correct account of the characters of this interesting block we are indebted to Mr. Schoolcraft. Onr journey having been conducted „.. ?.,,^ .i„,t„ =ii..scOi liiciuKc, wcoi course naa no opportunity ot see« ing this interesting mass ; but all that we know of the native copper of that couDtry leads us to the belief that it has not yet been found in u (4 « Mr. Mason to ^ille:— enty of timber iier. The bog w any one bed in examining le ore 1 found r seven years, not yet found. !, and if there of the ground, s found in the lis', at Sillery, I, reniform or large potatoe. ting. Inter» when broken, jmely friable, llaceous odor, itly as to hiss, rt immersion; i nail and re« ) a red heat, e it becomes the colour of ;lass. If too he globule is ices coloured rficiai. The • pigment. the source of lative copper bject of the rhaps justify h we hazard ed in many and its trib- t it exists in Lake Supe- !at promise, lagon lliver, r\g block we n conducted luify of see- re copper of en found in I ( 39 ) <« situ, and that therefore these loose masses ought not to be looked tn as indicative of mines in their immediate vicinity. The great weight bdieTe'th J': r" °?k'' ^"^""^°" •"•^*»^' •'■' *"»«' induce u^fo believe that it has not been transported from a great distance if th** much greater size and weight of the boulders which are disper ed along the vallies of the Mississippi did not attest, that, whatever may have been the cause which produced these revolutions, the force with which It operated must have been immense. It is not, therefore to these masses of native copper, but to the ores of this metal found n rocks mstiu that our attention ought principally to be directed with a view o discover copper mines. We have ourselves seen a number of localities of copper pyrites throughout the primitive rocks of the north coast of Lake Superior, but these were always in small specks. A more minute examination might probably lead to more successful re- u lT\ .^' '''"''" 1'!''! '^^'.' '' * «''*^ °^ ^^PP'' ">i"«s somewhere near ^^ this lake, and we think it m no manner improbable that the masses ot native copper which occur, from the south shore of Lake Superior down the valley of the Mississippi, have been scattered by the same ^^ cause which dispersed the boulders of sienite rock. Whether the na- tive copper found to the north-west on Copper Mine River comes from the same place, is a subject upon which we have no data, and therefore can form no opinion. Perhaps, as Mr. Schoolcraft suggests, the Por- cupine Mountains, if well explored, would be found to contain copper ores. We do not at present recollect any places where the pyrites or any other ore of copper has been found in any quantity on Lake Supe- rior. Mr. Schoolcraft, it is true, handed to one of our party some fragments of ores of copper, brought to him in 1823 by an Indian who said he had found them on Keweena or Kewewenon point, on the' south shore of the lake. Upon the vague reports of an Indian we shall Duild no theory ; the question which appears to us of far greater im- « Portance is not where the copper lies, but what should we do with it It It should be found. We are very doubtful whether any other ad- ^^ vantage would result from it, at least for a century to come, than the mere addition in books of science of a new locality of this metal It does not appear to us, that in the present state of that section of onr country, and with the unpromising prospects which it now offers these mines could be worked for at a great length of time Copper' ^^ we know, exists in many other parts of our extensive country, and ^^ much nearer to the centres of civilization and population. Instead, ^^ therefore, of wasting our endeavours and resources, in a futile attempt to discover mines in so remote and dreary a country, let us applv them to the investigation of those sections, where m^nes could if tounci, be turned to immediate advantage. Had the French, wlio first overran our country, considered this point, and instead of wasting ^^ their resources in idle searches, instead of fitting out an expedition to ^^ ascend the Mississippi two thousand miles, for the sole purpose of col- lecting green earth on the St. Peter, had they spent the same amount in France, in working the mines that have since been opened there they would have rendered an essential service to their country and oeueiitted their fortunes. Whereas, by the course which theyVere led to pursue, they added but little to science, at the same time that they ruined themselves. u (( n it ii n (( ii of Potton, ad- lii early times, • lead, (sulphu- mountain plain- ouiitain, which Is in diameter, scent, from the seen to issue, between thirty i morning from I sand iu great This is a suU easy to be ob- ust become an irnal, Vol. I.) tie cleft irame- 'ound gypsum ?ft." (Hall.) '■ the geologic- impact Lime- ot by erosion waters, after into loam, in ' rock whence on the lower nd states the nor sulphur very evaues- F York, there bubbles out ned into the rable stream \ by the ad- I ( 41 ) ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS ON THE GEOLOGY OF CANADA. Geological Extracts from Keating's <' Narrative of an Expedition to the source of the St. Peter's River r " At twenty-ei-ht miles below Fort Douc^la«, on the Rnrl \\\.c. Innestone no organic remains, although it probabi; conLi" s'some Tl i^ IS the only p are where limestone has been fouu(( b^th se Z'' at a urface ; .t ,s therefore resorted to lor the lime u'sed^ n bu "j n e colo'ny'&r'^ " '" ''' ^"'"^"^'' ^"' '^^ ''' °^^- -nts of ' Ihe Je^^t^TlfT "'f^T "'^''^ "" ^''^'' Winnepeek, we landed on a ^nU pebbles r^d boulders of sienilttnilcarJlt ^' Xh^Z^ " On reaching the outlet of Winnepeek liiver, we observed a .reat change n. the aspect of the water, which was dear and transparent -^hU was soon accounted for by meeting with sieni.ic rocks .ce a ,d e were .nformed, by our gunles, that similar rocks extend all the way up the nver About a mile beyond this we reached Fort Alexander^Th« junction of the primitive and secondary rocks is therefore* about 50 => 45 of north latitude and about 96 °. ao of west lonuitudp U .1 ' bable, from all the information which :TtJ::Z';.^\C^^Z 01 the eastern shore of Lake Winnepeek, is occupied by a primitie formation while the western is composted of seconda'ry, and^hes^e probl biy hmestone, rocks. This accounts for the fact that the pr' iries are l.m.ted to the east by that lake, while they extend as far nor h as the Saska tchawan, and to a considerable distance up that stream. It appears to us by no means improbable that the excavation of this lal e wasTca sjoned by the easier decomposition of the strata at the junction oet'wo" form.t.ons. No where perhaps, upon the surface of the earth, isa dTf! f ence ,n the geological characters of the country attended ly a more e e tl.:;"?'*^ " 'It ^"^"-"'"^ ^^ topographicalnspecr. We obre'^ here, that wherever the primitive rocks prevail, the country abounds la lakes swamps, short streams filled with tails and rapids, as is the cise with the whole country which extends from Lake Wini^peek to like Superior, and w Inch reaches nearly to the Falls of St. Antony on the Mis- orai'deJ' ^ ,f /^\«^7."«J'-y f--^ti"" i^ covered with fine high and dry priir.es 1 he track winch our party followed mu.t have been very near to th^ astern hm.t of the secondary or prairie country , as all the^ ea "em • The words (iu thia place) appear here wanting to reuder the\ense coraplet^:^^^ t 1: n ( 42 ) tribuiaries of lied River or thik «♦ t>„* those small lakes and IL„. I, ,au' "'■ "P'"'"''"! «' 'i>i«f in the small g o„p of lakTa HM n "• f ^v "T" •" ""'"''" "''^"'e, two CoteaS. des P fr es may n^, hi ^^"'- *'i ,"'"""' """"" "•« primi,i,e forma.ions a, that plL" '"°°"' "^ ' ''■"PP"™"" T primiTi';:;b'ut'astr';h"al'"cL'''r '^'■""='''''' """ P"'" "« ''"'■'''"r •chis., &c. ; ,he CO e Xe If ZTJ'TIC TtT' """"/' " '"'"'■ Se?h;"a^™;^;if~^^ 11 'ha.'«nhe"st„e" k r in"":,; o-pt ZlZtr' T"^^^' observed that the differeiic^ «..» s "^"^^ «' »f ""7- But we soon grained grani.e ;rs:m;X'';Vseet rh'.fi""" "^ "'" "'f"""' ments of olher rocks imbedded \a Ihl T^ "/"' W'-«"J' f«g- ' are always composed of one or „„" e 'f t'h/f ° /"8n>ents, however, , conslitule the whole mass %i/ T.? . • '"""""Ple minerals which J Auhoogh the/p'strtS me^Te\rui':izr\nf """"•""•"• reason to doubt their hcino- nf .„„. '™gmenls, still we see no 5 examined wiin the mic' scon. '^°""?'P°""/<»" origin ; indeed, when passage of the felspT " f The 'vjn fnTo" .^TTX "■''"' " 8™l«al ment: it was not » mL. • . "'" """ "' *■"> mbedded fraa. often 'obserTable in the cnirrm": U- ''"■""^ "^ "•« ''''P". »»i» reoei.ed a portion of'the So .rj^'b:^"''"',;^ "•=" '"" interrupted union in fhp rr^^^t^u- V c '. ^^^ *^°"'d ''"^ce an un- of the imbedded ma s Jn orn'r '^ l^' ^"'^P'"" ^^ *'^« ^«'" ^'^'^ ^^at to the mas. of theTock were dlTtln.T' t"' "T' ^''''"'' '" ^^'^'^'^on seen inters^cting o 3er o^' in a 1 '^ observed They were frequently tifuiand diseJM LZlcl^^ very beau- intersection by the mrrece,'t one '' '^'^' "^ *'*' "''^^^ ^^^" " *t' «nerouVLL^"a^le?^^^^^^^^^ bed of the Winnepeek, that its nu- «a«, which far^td.!:^?'/!.!" 1^''\ ^^ ^'^^^ «^en ; the cataract of Nia- --. . „„ ,,,^ ,„ ^^jy^g^ ,^ ^^.^^^^ ^^^ monotonous in comp as fai sienit of the "( which tose s recurr filled Itripei well-( " V I a mini a small I I from a f site. I "A I black I little b I white ( I observ( peared much i better I might I porcela of thes( tance f howeve The ro lake. "Or and soo the roc] eddies, with th( sienite and giv( the com of the ri occasior portages of the i general grunite, shooting of conte « Aft( the appe differenc placed I presentit ited as rising in certain whether ed between the e-appearance of is are decidedly ly be permitted ' the primitive ccourit for the formed under IS disturbed by tnall compass a different rocks f feet of each nite, or mica- entres, we ob- mediate space into the other. were inclined gigantic scale, But we soon s exhibits an ' in position ; and grosmas- ' 10 such homo- the contrary, ' one into the vith an excess imellar struc- ins of coarse* mrenilj/ frag- ts, however, iiierals which I amphibole. we see no ideed, when d a gradual edded frag- felspar, as is le rock has [race an un- in with that n formation ! frequently very beau< r vein at its 1 that its nu- act of Nia- iotoaous in ( 43 ) comparison ; the horizontal ledges of secondary rocks of the latter are as far inferior .n picturesque effect to the dark water-worn granite anS 9.en,te of the former, as the height of the bluffs at Niagara eLeeds that of the rocky banks of the Winnepeek. ^ exceeas that « On the Winnepeek we have constantly in view changes in the rocks wh.ch contribute to those of ^ .e surface ; they present at^times he schis.* tose appearance o a gnei.s and mica-slate, which disappears at the recurrence of the dark-coloured granite or reddish sienite? these be ng filed w.th veins of felspar, display, on a gigantic scale, the beautifu! striped appearance, which has given to some of the marble of Itafy their well-deserved celebrity. ' ' I " We found near the lower falls of the Winnepeek River, a fragment of a mineral resemblmg the phonolite or klingsteii. shieffer/ It contained small cubic crystals of iron pyrites. It was angular, and probably broken from a neighbouring rock, but we conid not discover it in its original "At one of the portages of the Winnepeek River, we observed small black crystals probably of tourmaline, shooting thr'ough the ma s A 1. tie beyond this, at the upper « Portage du Rocher du Bonnet," a fint ' ^hTJt^ 7u' '"'"' '". 7'"''^ ''""'' fragments of lamellar felspar were ; Observed This was evidently a kaolin, or decomposed felspar : it ap- peared to be very abundant; at the surface where we saw it, it was much intermixed vvith the soil which appeared somewhat deeper and b tter han usual but we doubt not, that with a little exertion the clay might be obtained perfectly pure, and well suited to the manufacture of porcelain. A number of blocks of blue limestone, which we saw at some of these portages, led us to believe that we were then at no great dis- tance from the secondary formations. Our evening encampment was, however, upon a very fine mass of granite, projecting into Bonnet Lake! lake "'^'^^'^e appeared in insulated masses in the middle of the Ja ^" *^^ ^^'^J T P''°^^«,'^«d ^'^'-ough t^ie upper part of Bonnet Lake. and soon reached the rapids. The corroding effect of the stream upoa the rock has produced many basins or coves in which the water forms eddies, and not unfrequently presents a smooth expanse, contrasting with the rough billows of the adjoining torrent. The red colour of the sieiiite IS relieved by streaks of black mica, which intersect its surface, and give it the appearance of designs executed on a gigantic scale. In the course of this day we observed signs of an igneous action upon some of the rocks ; we had already remarked the phenomenon on one or more occasion, but the characters were indistinct ; whereas, at one of the portages passed on the 22d of August, the semi-vitrification at the surface ot the fragment of a rock found there, appeared more distinct. The general character of the country was still, however, a gneiss and granite, which offered many instructive views of veins of the latter rock shooting through the gneiss ; they were judged to be, for the most part, of contemporaneous formation. ' « After passing Jack's falls, on the Winnepeek River, a great change in the appearance of the river was observed, and was distinctly traced to a ditterence in the nature of the rock. The granite and sienlte were rg. placed by a slate, which appeared to vary from a mica to a clay-slaie, presentiDi; chiefly the characters of the latter. It is very distincUy Btrj^^ ( 44 ) ''0 I ■,J tified. The strata are nearly terlicle. Its junction with the granite was observed in many places ; the slate was suporposrd. The liills which we had observed above Bonnpt Lalcc, did not continuf; after the slate had made its appearance. A correspoiidinij clian£;e in the features of tlie stream is observed. Tl»e river expands considerably, boins; in some places several miles wide ; it includes a great number of islands, all of •which have a solid, rocky foundation. The colour of the rock is of deep blue or black, imparting the same hue to the water. In some parts the rock appears covered with a ferruginous incrustation, produced probably by the deconi[)osition of iron pyrites which abouiuls in it. The dilffrence in the rocks did not continue long, for, after having travelled about fif- teen miles on the 24th of August, the slate ceased and was replaced by granite, which soon passed into a decided sienite, producinc; a wilder and more uninhabitable country than any we had as yet seen ; the sienite rises, apparently in gr» ;it confusion, in steep masses which are rounded at their summit; they are covered with moss, and support but a very thin growth of scrubby pines on their surface. We have made no mention of the tributaries which VVinnepeek ilivcr receives, because we consider them as the mere outlets of small lakes situated near our route ; from the information which we have received from those experienced in the cha- racter of this region, ai^d which our own observation fully confirms, as fur as we have had an opportunity of judging, the whole of the country may be considered as an immense lake. Interspersed with inntnnerable barren and rocky islands, which were, probably, at some epocha of com- paratively recent date, covered with water. Tliis, which was kept up to a level far superior to that to which it now attains, by barriers which we shall not attempt to trace, has broken its bounds, and the country has been very extensively drained. Whether this operation is still continued can be but a matter of conjecture ; we see, however, nothing (hat makes it either impossible or even improbable. That Jft one time the Missis- sippi was one of the great outlets, appears to us equally probable ; and that the innumerable boulders which cover its valley, and whit h are ana- logous in character to the rocks which we have observed in silo, on the "Winnepeek and elsewhere, have been derived from the great convulsions to which we allude, appears to us equally apparent. We are not pre- pared to enter into any discussion as to the manner in which these bould- ders have been dispersed ; we profess ourselves as little satisfied as any cenlogists can be, with the various theories which have been suggested in Europe to account for the boulders of the Jnra, or for those which cover the north of Germany, and which are probably analogous to the rocks observed, in place, in tlie Scandinavian peninsula. We are not prepared to admit that the boulders of the state of Ohio have been projected by a subterraneous explosion, or have been v ashed by the mere force of the stream, or floated down upon masses of ice, &c. kc. ; but we cannot resist the conclusion of our senses, that they have not always lain where ■we now find them, that they have been removed from their original site, that every thing makes it probable that they were formerly cor.nected "with the primitive formations of the St. Peter, the Winnepeek, the Lake of the Woods, &c. Thus far we think ourselves warranted to proceed from observations. The rest must be a mutter of spetuiation, and we are not disposed to indulge in it. We shall therefore lestrict ourselves to the following conclusions. 1, That the whole of the country between ( 45 ) i£» in some 1 Lake Superior and Lake Wlnnepeek was formerly covered with water to a much ereater height than it is at present. 2. That this inland sea was bounded by barriers which were broken, at a lime probably posterior to the df'position of the secondary limestone of Ohio; wherefore the frag- ments, which result from this ;;rrat convulsion of nature, are found rest- ing upon those secondiiry formations. 3. That tiiis piocess of drainini{ was carried on at first, partly at b'ast, throui^h the vull.y of the Missis- sippi. 4. That it is not improbable that this draining is still continued. 5. That if tiiis be the case, it is partially through the valley of the Mis- 8issipi)i, but chiefly through Nelson's llivcr. " It appears that Uat |)ortiige is about nine or ten miles from the nor- thernmost extremity of the Lake of the Woods. The Lake is elevated about ten or twelve feet above Winncpeek iliver, at the point where we left it. Its latitude, according to M'Kenzie, is 49 *• 37 and its longi- tude 94i °. west. Dr, Uigsby set it in latitude 49 = 44 °. 22 «J probably from an observation of Mr. Thompson's. Previous to our arrival at Rat portage, we observed that the rocks had again changed to a slate, of which the stratification was very distinctly directed from east-north-east to west-south-west. The inclination was nearly a vertical one ; the colour of slate is a dark §reen ; it is very decidedly a micaceous slate, at leiist on Rat portage. ,,r i e j r " Although most of the islands in the Lake of the Woods are formed of slate rock, yet some, as for instance, the Red-rock Island, on which observations were mad' on the 27th of August, are composed of granite ; in this case the felspar is of a reddish appearance, and imports to the granite the colour from which the name of the island was derived. We have frequently observd, in the islands which we visited, that the north- eastern extremity was bounded with boulder*, the average diameter of which might be about two feet. Though these sometimes extend all round the island, still it is more usual to observe them only at the north- eastern point, seeming to indicate that they were carried down from that quarter. The direction of the strata of mica-slate appears to vary from north 60®. to north 80 o. east. The angle with the horizon varies from G5 °. or 70 °. to the perpendicular. The rock is penetrated in some places with iron pyrites ; veins of quartz also appear occasionally through the mass. We saw no limestone, but Dr. Bigsby informed us that he had observed some on the shore of the lake. " At the mouth of the Rainy-Lake River, the banks are low and marshy; beyond this they rise somewhat, but present few hills ; the river runs in many places over a pebbly bed. The country assumes a more smiling apptarance, which led us to anticipate the meeting with limestone rocks ; we saw none along the river, but some precipic s, seen at a distance, were supposed from their horizontal stratification to be composed ot limestone. On the river the rocks seldom appear in place ; where we saw them they were principally mica-slate, sometimes, however, sieuite. Dr. Bigsby found staurotide in the slate of this river. " At Rainy.Lake Fort, there is a very fine water-fall, surpassed by two or three only of those on VV innepeek River. The rock is chiefly sienite, in which we thought we could distinguish a tendency to a stratihcatioa dntcted about uortn-eaHi, anu nicmnng aDuuc u^ t.,.c,.wr., a local feature. ke. for a distance of about fifty miles, k'ever, We proceeded through Rainy- ( 46 ) :; '1 I 'J fj « • u on a general easterly course. We found it to resemble in its character! the Lake of the Woods ; it coiilainH many itilands, all resting upon a roclc, which, for the most part, is a mica-slate, whose strata are directed north 70 degrees east, and nearly vertical ; we have in a few places seen granite, sienite, &c. The islands betray a rapid and constant decumpo- lilion by the crumbling of the vertical strata, so that we donl)t not that , and de la became more r height, and A journey of ," one end of ky while the minerals pre- Avhich is a nd probably have caused :her GrenuiU Hned, that it rystals which the Island of about an inch detached ex- is to exe( ute. i most of the our journey, duikI granite, id colourless, ' the dividing vas in a small ly one hu> '. \ery apj j- 1 that of the uing from the irds from the its tempera- is lower than eof the lake the observa- but entertain li of Septera- ieote. For bit It ( 47 ) ber, and commenced our journey down the streams which fall into Lake ISuperior, near Fort William, which place we reached on the 13th. Our course from the height of land to Lake Superior was through Cold Water Muddy, and White^iish Lakes, Cats-tail River, Dog River and Lakey and the Kamanatekwoya River. <' CatS'tail River has a very circuitous course, through a T&lley about three miles wide, which is embanked by hills rising to at least one h jn« dred and fifty feet. The valley partakes of an alluvial character, and consists principally of sand. The stream runs through it, being incased but a small depth below its level. The hills which bound the valley are chiefly granitic ; at one place where we passed near their bnse, we saw a beautiful pink granite, which extended for about half a mile. It wai divided into large masses, showing no signs of stratiticatinn. " On descending Dog portage, towards Lake Superior, we found mica* slate in situ on the east side of the hill, and this we observed still more distinctly at the next portage, where the sharp lamina of the slate, resem* bling the blades of cutting instruments, have caused it to receive the name of Knife or Devil portage. Although it was late when our party reached this place, yet we hud occasion to observe a junction of the slaty and greenstone rocks. The greenstone is under the slate, whose strata am directed north fifty degrees west, and incline to the north-east about seventy degrees. There does not appear to be a passage from the one in- to the other ; but a tendency to the formation of both rocks probably ex* isted at oue time, whence the mica-slate was deposited immediately after the greenstone, no interval of time occurring between the formation of the two, as appears from the fact that we find patches of the latter en- closed in the inferior strata of the former, and also some portions of mica'Slute in the superior part of the greenstone mass ; as the latter is not stratified, we could not determine whether the state lay in parallel superposition, though we have reason to believe that it does. We ob- served that the masses of greenstone enclosed in the mica^slate lay in a direction parallel to the stratification. " We observed, on the 12th, a very important change in the geological features of the country. In the morning, the rock was a rery decided mica-slite, which gradually passed into a clay-slate, v hose primitive characters were inferred from a veitical stratification observed in several places, and especially at a porta^ called the " Portage du Raccourci," or of the short cut ; in one plate the rock abounds in iron pyrites. At the Mountain Poitage, or t' at made at the Falls of Kakabikka, (he rock was found to be in very distinct horizontal stratification. The connexion of this with the former rocks could not be observed, L it we are iiuiuced to believe that there is a distinct passage of the one into the other. At the descent of this portage we could study the characters of the rock. We observed that the whole mountain is composed of an alternation of strata ; some are formed of a clay'Slate, and others of a grauwacke or sandstone, formed by the union of grains of quartz and felspar united together by an argillo-calcareous cement. There are a number of small specks of calcareous spar. The rock contains nodules of silex of a co- lour which varies from an ash-gray to a light black ; it is pellucid. In sOiiic <re a number lerals of the evening en- )n of our ap- we had pre- fact. The le amydaloi(] th geodes of lesotype and imlnated ; it ly not more L'BS. xr. IS ul ke Superior. I t •i« a fine red colour. In the geodes we observed all those varieties of quartz, which have given so much celebrity to the rocks of Oberstein on the Rhine. It is impossible on beholding this spot, on Lake Superior, not to admit it to be a secondary trap formation, similar to those of Germany, Scotland, &c. We find here also, probably, the original site from which have been derived all the specimens of jasper, cornelian, &c. previously mentioned as existing on the banks of the Mississippi, and for which Lake Pepin has long been celebrated. When we consider the easy de- composition of the wacke in which these geodes arc imbedded, we can- not be surprised that the latter are always found loose and separated from the imbedding rock. The amygdaloid was not observed to be stratified, but in some places, it presented a columnar division. We are therefore induced to attribute the columnar appearance, which we thought we had seen in the Pate island, to the presence of trap rocks at its surface ; it appears to us probable that all the islands which we saw are more or less covered with this interesting formation, which was probably depo- sited at a period subsequent to that at which the horizontal slate was formed. The examination of the geological structure of the north coast of Lake Superior will probably renew the discussion of the aqueons or igneous formation of the trap rocks. Upon this point we will not dwell, because we have no new facts to offer. Our visit to this coast was of too transient and hasty a nature to permit us to extend our observations. We, however, confess ourselves unable to discover in secondary trap rocks in general any signs of a Neptunian origin. If we were disposed to launch into theory, we might connect the existence of these trap rocks with the evident signs of the action of heat observed upon some of the rocks which we met in Win.iepeek River. We might perhaps also attempt to refer to volcanic phenomena on a great scale, the changes to which we have already hinted as having taken place in that country. The rupture of the great barrier which confined the waters of the im- mense lake might be shown to have been probably produced by such causes. This opinion is not quite original, for Mackenzie has stated that he thought he could discover along the north coast of Lake Superior evidences of volcanic action. " The physical revolutions, of which this part of our continent was the theatre, were too great to attempt to assign to them any but an immense cause. By those, who object to the igneous or volcanic theory of the formation of trap rocks, it will perhaps be argued, ^ that the pro^o^/n. of Jurine does: lor in It, the mica IS replaced by amphibole, while in the protr.gine its place IS supplied by talc. In some spots the' protogine is also found, a a^ at bLf t r ''""° ^'.?"^^ to constitute important features; the; Tlour of f 1 L°"- f^^^^lP^t^ to the general sienitic mass. The colour ot the rock IS infiuRiipoH hv tha^ ^e tu^ r^i v u- . exrPSB an,i :„ c a l ~, ^ •""'^ »■ "'c iciapar wiuch is in great sometimL I . ^'t '°^'r.' **'" a»"Phibole is green. The quartz sometimes penetrates the rock in the manaer of feiSs, but this accident i lineral in the out the niass, rmiae. This crumbles into rood beaches to break in ver, soon de* place where ame appear- a considera- ar structure ; formed small 17lh, there erous water- lents of an cecded from break. with a high the country jarance than 1 height, the >od harbours ce which the f the waves, ded at their ' J we ques- places it as- ice ; for, on in all places I a distance, , as divided re found to gher, and it exceed, in mass which differs ma- z, which in the term of name ought titutes such id of green- the propor- amphibuie, irine does; 'otr.gine i(s found, as am^.iiibole, tures; they nass. i'he is in great rhe quartz lis accident i ( 51 ) Is considered of contemporaneous origin with the formation of the mass itself, because, in detached fragments of the same, the quart25 of the vein, *" u w' 1.° i ^°^^ ""^ *^® '■°^*^ '^^^^^' ''^••^ ^o""'^ to '"" one into the other! We had on the west coast of Michipicotton-bay observed a slaty rock, or a dark colour, sometimes almost black; it was well stratified; the direction of the strata was north 40« west, their inclination was vertical. It is found m some parts to contain much quartz and iron pyrites. This rock rises higher than the coast usually does ; it forms a vertical cliff, which appears to be unuergolng a very rapid destruction ; but the fraal ments, instead of collecting at the base and forming an inclined plane, are washed away, so that the waters of the lake come op to this vertical bank, which rises like a wall, enclosing the lake. It is probable that, at the junction of this rock with the sienlte, the river has forced its w»T into the lake, and that the wide bay of Michipicotton has been opencdL tor on the east side we again saw the sienitic rocks predominating. At the bay in which we stopped, five miles east of the trading house, we Observed the sienite to be intermixed with other rocks, one of which contains a greater abundance of hornblende, and forms a real green- stone ; another portion is mixed with talc, and a third portion rontaing hard nodules of quartz, which would at first convey the idea of a cooglo- inerate, but which, being examined more closely, appear to present no characters but such as are entirely compatible with a primitive and high, ly crystalline formation ; these nodules of quartz are connected by a tal- cose cement. All these varieties are found together, and belong to the same general mass, of which the . rn but local or partial features. They are all penetrated by iron pyr: mi great abundance, which in some points were evidently mixed with copper pyrites; all these were examined with care, in hopes of meeting with the native copper, and with other ores of the same metal besides tlie pyrites; our search was, however, unf^uccew- tul. — For continuation see note 26. Geological Extracts from the Canadian Review, No. IV. " The northern shore of Lake Huron, with its nearest isles, consists principally of the older rocks ; the secondary occupy the rest of the lake. 1 he primitive rocks are part of a vast chain, of which the southern por* tion, extending probably uninterruptedly from the north and east of Lake Winnipeg*, passes thence along the northern shores of Lakei Superior, Huron and Simcoe, and after forming the granitic barrier o€ the Thousand Isles at the outlet of Lake Ontario, spreads itself largely throughout the State of New-York, and then joins with the Alleghanie« and their southern continuations. « The geology of that part of this primitive chain which borders on Lako Huron is but imperfectly known. I shall give such detached information concerning it as I am possessed of. " The French River flows over a granular gneiss at its source mid mouth ; and over red and feldspathic gneiss about the falls of the RecoU let. Its shivered and dislocated state, its mossy coaling, and the as.. tonishiniE auantitv of nativn riphrio nr»vt>nk»A mv ou»j>r«o:»:..> 4U^ .i: «*:.... or the strata, although I landed more thau once during my passase dow» the river. ( 52 ) >'l .•* M " The low and sandy beaches of the south shore of Lake Nipissing are crowded with mounds of gneiss unmixed with any other rock. The di- rection, from its great irregularity, I was unable to determine. " The rocks of the north coast, and its contiguous islands east from the French River, consist of gneiss, with occasional mixture of hornblende.* " From the French River westward to the islands of La Cloche, about 50 miles distant, the lake near the shore is studded with innumerable islets. In the first 20 miles they commonly consist of gneiss, are barren, and surrounded by shoals, and are often, in fact, a heap of ruins. Thia is particularly the case very .lear the main ; but further out in the lake they are loftier, and sometime; girded with a belt of flat ground, richly wooded. This belt was in many instances visibly supported on an hori- zontal dark slaty rock, which afterwards proved to be shell limestone. The primitive rocks of these Islands retained their wonted sterility. Both the Islands themselves, and most of the ridges of which they are composed, have a south-west direction ; and individual masses of gneiss were observed to dip either vertically or more or less to the south-east; — R coincidence in position with the gneiss of the whole iralley of the St. Lawrence, worthy of being remarked. " The Isles of La Cloche form a charming contrast to the bleak hills of the main, in their forests and grassy vales, diversified, like an English park, by clumps of fine irees. Some of them are composed, as I am informed (for I did not see it,) of a dark rock, which when struck sounds like a bell. " From La Cloche to the river Missassaga, a distance of 60 miles, is another assemblage of Isles ; but principally, I believe, within 6 miles of the shore. In the first five leagues from La Cloche, they are woody, except those near the shore, which are barren, and composed of gneiss. Landing here on the main, I found issuing from a morass a round smooth mass (probably a vein), 50 yards broad, a crystalline quartz rock, run- ning south.west, and containing nests of silvery mica and galena. The former in some parts combining with the rock, rendered it fibrous. " Twenty miles from La Cloche, and four from the main, is a chain of five or more short islets, parallel to each other, and having their long diameter to the north. They are composed of genuine granite ; and are bare, low and smooth. " Further to the west, soon after this, a multitude of small sterile islets, loaded with debris, occurs for 20 miles along the shore, composed chiefly of hornblende rock. They are of a deep black colour, and in one in- stance had the glazed lustre occasional in this mineral. The rock varies in its constituents. On the east it is moderately pure, but seldom very crys- taline. Further west, it takes a green tinge, and in certain spots feld- spar or quartz is visible in grains. It is often traversed by beautiful and strong veins of quartz, clouded green and red. The compact black spe- cies contains much olivine, and some elongated crystals of hornblende. « ** From hence to the riverMissassaga, another appearance is noticed. The islets of granite return, intermingling with the trap, both rocks being in the form of low oblong smooth mounds ; the granite taking a northerly direction, and the trap running south-west. Some of the islets possessed the calcareous girdle before mentioned. " Being delayed at a point 10 or 12 miles west of the Missassaga, for th irty-six hours, I examined the beach of the mainland for one or two miles . * Cumtnunicated to me by Lieut. Grant. ( 53 ) npissing are k. ThedU e. ast from the lomblende.* loche, about innumerable are barren, ruins. Thii t in the lake jund, richly on an hori- II limestone. :ed sterility. Ich they are ies of gneiss )uth-east; — ,ey of the St. bleak hills of z an English ed, as I am truck sounds 60 miles, Is ithin 6 miles r are woody, ;ed of gneiss, ound smooth z rock, run- ;alena. The brous. is a chain of g their long ite ; and are sterile islets, posed chiefly d in one in- ock varies in m very crys- ti spots feld- jeautiful and :t black spe- ornblende. « noticed. The )cks being in a northerly 3ts possessed issassaga, for or two milrs. (C I here met, protruding from the woods into the lake, a rock, which is an intermixture, on a large scale, of a light-coloured greenstone, and a compound of white quartz and red feldspar minutely blended, but the latter predominating. These two aggregates mutually penetrate and tra- verse each other in the most capricious forms (as in marbled paper.) They are in equal quantities ; each being indicated by strongly contrast- ing configuration, knotty, straight, waved, or stellular. Ramond com- pares the contortions and confused appearances of certain rocks in the Pyrenees, to the effect produced by a mixture of differently coloured glutinous liquors, issuing from separate vessels at the same time, or to convolutions of smoke. These comparisons apply well to the masses under consideration*. " These mounds exhibit no tendency to stratification ; but their long diameter appeared to be always directed to the north-west. They are found westward for some miles near the shore, accompanied by a few granitic mounds, holding a northern course. " The limits of this rock are not known. It is succeeded on the west by the morasses about Thessalon river. It has given the name of Le Serpent to that part of the north shore in which it occurs. Greenstone slatet ly- ing beneath a granular quartz to be noticed hereafter, is found in one of the islands forming the insular groups north of False Detour. The gra- nular quartz of Green Island is succeeded on the west, after a small in- terval of marsh, by various greenstones, extending along the north side of the channel and narrows of Pelleteau. " At the lower end of the broad promontory constituting the east side of Portlock Harbour, and in the small isles on its east, the greenstono is dark and compact, but here and there rendered slaty by weathering." It contains, in patches, numerous masses of the red ingredient of the rock of Le Serpent, from one to eighteen inches in diameter ; all bearing po- sitive marks of attrition to a moderate degree, and sometimes becoming so plentiful as to make the rock a decided conglomerate. Proceeding still westwards, by degrees the red ingredient disappears altogether, and the greenstone resembles a splintery slate, commonly of a dark leaden hue, which runs however either rapidly or gradually into cream-colour, red blue, or light green. Its course is distinctly north-west, and it dips at a high angle to the north-east, when not absolutely vertical. " The greenstone of the large island close to Portlock Harbour varies much. In one part is nearly pure hornblende, splitting into cubic blocks ; in another it gradually resumes its conglomerated statej the no- dules being small and rare. At the south-west end it is very slaty for a square mile. " At the place where the hornblende abounds, thin waving veins of lig- niform asbetus are common. The centre only of the vein is pure, the sides passing into greenstone. Vertical seams of quartz, with drusy ca- vities of quartz crystals, are often met with ; and thready veins of galena also. I found a mass of this ore loose, on the opposite side of this chan- nel, weighing one pound and a half. *• The precl; ices and steeps of the main in the Narrows of Pelletau are also greenstone ; but, as usual, of different aspects. The bluff at the • A somewhat similar rock appears to have been found by Dr. MacCulIoch in the Isle of Arrun, not far from Glenelg. Vide Western Isles of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 399. t The ereengtone slate of the northern shore breaks, often, with a very sharp edge and couchoidal fracture. j tr a Ill H hi' ( 54 ) lower end is only slightly slaty. It contains a confused mass of qaartz veins, with a small quantity of copper pyrites, and the carbonate of that metal. The middle portion of these cllfl's is extremely splintery, and ap- pears to be ferruginous. At the head of the Narrows the greenstone is much less disintegrated, and dips into the clear and deep waters in com- pact black walls. I have passed a league into the interior from the Nar- rows and Channel of Pelletau, without finding any remarkable difference in geological structure between the interior and the shores. The conti- guous islets are of a similar formation, and are composed of aggregated ridges rising to a great height. " These greenstones dip from the secondary strata on the south, in the same manner as at Malbay, 90 miles below Quebec, gneiss and mica-slate dip from, and abut against, a horizontal calcareous conglomerate full of organic remains, and, among others, of three species of orthoceratite," " The connexion of the secondary with primary rocks of Lake Hu- ron has been very imperfectly examined ; and, in fact, is almost wholly concealed by the thick vegetation of those islets where the contact of the two formations does occur ; or, in other cases, by the wide intervening tracts of water. ** I shall first notice those rocks, which, though not primary, possess less decidedly a secondary character. " About the river Thessalon, on the large island opposite to, but seven miles distant from its mouth, and in the insular groups of the lake, north of False Detour, my friend Major Delafield (American Agent under the 6th and 7th articles of the treaty of Ghent) observed a granular quartz, forming the north points of the islands, and dipping north, at an angle of 45 degrees. On one isle it was remarked to run imperceptibly into the greenstone slate that lay beneath it. In High-cliff Island the granular quartz forms a precipice 100 feet high. On this island limestone con- taining orthoceratites is met with, which appeared to Major Delafield to alternate with the quartz. This quartz rock is frequently seamed with white quartz, of which blocks, containing much chlorite earth, lie loose on the shores. It is always hard, minutely granular, and now and then very crystalline. It contains no petrifactions. " This rock extends westward as far as Green Island, and is then suc- ceeded by the greenstones on the north of the Channel of Pelletau. " Immediately on passing into the Lower Basin discharging into the Nar- rows of Pelletau, a quartz rock shows itself obscurely among the marshes about St. Joseph ; but from the insular barrier to Lake George, it is a'jundant, and has a north-west course, and a dip which is either vertical or not discernibly otherwise. At the barrier it consists of minute grains of vitreous quartz, cemented by (he same substance, rather powdery, opaque, and white. It is somewhat easily frangible. Its fissures are sometimes lined with brilliant red quartz crystals. " The islands on the north of the Upper 15asin, about the Narrows of Pelletau are of the same rock, with the same direction, but possessing more compactness. At the foot of Lake George it is often crystalline, dense, slightly translucent at the edges, conchoidal in fracture, but fre- quently also foliated ; the fragments then becoming schistose, with a shining lustre. It is here very commonlv a confflnmpratft rnrk. nf ereat beauty, studded with nodules of red and brown jasper, averaging an inch in diameter, and usually arranging themselves in the form of belts 01 BtripeSj cur spa CCJ, the Ion it is mo "Th pears b self, to «Th rests (I rious pa most of remarka «' Th. the violi from the abraded of the B ed masse the cont ly primii rocks in to the sc this flooc " The phyry, s, ties of t bourbooc the east j tawa. "Of 1 among tl Island, o " The crystals seen boul to the eas •* The almond-sl dules of J layers of " It ca where on and Pelle these bou meiitionec conglomer every par The congl northern s * Agates «boui tbe ^ iss of quart z inate of that tery, and ap- ;reenstone U ters in com- om the Nar- )le difference The conti- f aggregated south, in the Qd mica-slate erate full of thoceratite," ! Lake Uu- most wholly >ntactof the intervening ', possess less 0, but seven lake, north nt under the lular quartz, t an angle of biy into the the granular lestone con> Delafield to earned with th, lie loose ow and then is then sue- illetau. nto the Nar- ; the marshes ieorge, it is ther vertical linute grains ;r powdery, fissures are Narrows of t possessing crystalline, re, but fre- ose, with a nt erpat veraging an n of belts oi ( 55 ) Btripes, from one to live feet In bretdtb. Black and brown hnnatite oc cur sparingly at this place. ", Two broad strata of greenstone occur in this rock, three miles apart ; the lowest five miles from the Narrows, whose rock it resembles, though It ismore syentic. ' * " The character of the sandstone, which I am now about to describe an. pears both in the position of the strata and in the texture of the rock U selt, to be decidedly ditferent from the preceding. !' Tt*'! ^r^*? P^'* ""! ^^^^ ^'^'S^* "' ^'^" a« of ^^^ Straits of St. Marv. rests (I believe) on a horizontal red sandstone. I have observed in yj! nouspartsof this lake, large slabs of this rock, with sharp fresh edees mostofi soft, and of dull lustre, but frequently quite crystalline, and remarkably hard and white with large ferruginous red spots '• ' The shores and bed of Lake Huron appear to have been subjected to he violent action of a flood of waters .nd floating substancesrushin* from the north That such a flood did happen is proved, noton y bV h5 abraded state of the surface of the northern mainland and scattered isle« of the Manitoulme range, but by the immense deposits of sand and roll! ed masses of rocks which are found in heap, at every level, both upon the continent and islands : and since these fragments are almost exclusive- ly primitive, and can in some instances be identified with the primitive rocks m Situ upon the northern shore j and since, moreover, the countrr to the south and west is secondary to a great distance, the direction ot this flood from the north seems to be well established. " The boulders of granite, gneiss, mica-slate (rare,) greenstone por- phyry syenite, and various amygdaloids, are principally of such varie ties of these rocks as I have not met with in situ, either in the neigh- bourhood of Lake Huron, or in a journey of 600 miles which I made to he east and north-east of the lake, through the forests of the riVer Ot! tawa. " Of mica slate I met with only two fragments, of a brown coloor een boulders of the porphyry with red felspar, on the Ottawa, 500 S to^t^e east of Lake Huron. The syenites are the same as those'of Europe! almnnHK"""^^! "^^ ^'5 ''^'1' ''^^^"'■''^ ^'^^^ ^y '^o"' ^"^ then contain dZ ;^ ^Pf i ""^'r' °f .^P'^^t^ °"'y- The green varieties contain no! laver?nf '^ r '"^. ''^ .J.^'P""' ""^'^^ amethyst, epidote radiating upon layers of quartz and small garnets. ^ ^ « It can scarcely be doubted that these rocks will be found in situ sorae- thl K , , ' ^^'""''- ^' '' ^^''^ ^"'^ °" ^h« I^'e of St. Joseph that these bonders most abound. Together with the fragments of the above- conTmeL'r •'■' "'' ^'r^ ""'^'"''^ *?P' §'-^^"-«tone slate, greenstone- conglomerate, jasper.conglomerate, and quartz rock. These occur in every part of the lake, but most abundantly near their parent rocks. Ihe conglomerates closely resemble those which have been found on *h^ "^ ^rn shore In situ. The base of the conglomerates is either quartz about fh^^'JiiiSp"'!.*'- "' ^"""^ abundantly as pebbles, oa 1.^^^^^:^;^;::;;^ ( 66 ) n 1 ii' i( - i !| 1 !! or greenstone. Of the quarlzose conglomerate the nodules consist rare- ly of white translucent quartz, sometimes of greenstone; and more com- monly of red, green, brown, black, or parti-coloured jasper. In some instances pieces of quartz — rarely of green-stone — are mixed with those of jasper. The greenstone conglomerates contain nodules, either of quartz, of greenstone, or of the red ingredient found in the rock of Le Serpent, this latter conglomerate has been noticed as occurring in situ in the channel of Pelletau. " It is only about the Narrows of Pelletau that the rock of Le Serpent has been seen in a rolled state. Breccias similar to the conglomerates are not uncommon ; but I have never found them in situ. " Pebbles of red sandstone, and quartzose or slaty limestone, have a Tery limited range ; they only now and then wander as far as the Mani- toulines, the southern shore, or Michilimackinac. *' I have already noticed the quantity of primitive boulders found on the Isle of St. Joseph. The beach of the rivers Thessalon and Missassaga is covered by boulders of black trap, granite, gneiss, and jasper-con- glomerate. "The Georgian orPenetanguishine arm of the lake is loaded to excess with sand and rolled pebbles. Penetanguishine^ and much of the south- east coast of this arm of the lake, is a collection of sand-hills, enveloping quartzose, granitic and amphibolic blocks of all sizes, and in vast quan- tity. " Passing into the southern division of the lake, 64 miles south of Cabot's Head, the limestone cliffs of the Manitouline range are succeeded by cliffs of clay. From this point beds of clay, covered towards the upper part of the river St. Clair by thick beds of sand, extend for 150 miles to Lake Erie, and thence along the northern shore, which presents a series of clay cliffs and sand-hills, to the north-eastern extremity of the lake. The whole of the intervening shores and woods are strown with rolled blocks of gneiss, porphry, conglomerate, and greenstone, such as prevail on the northern shore of Lake Huron. In a south-westerly direction, the clay-beds prevail over the Michigan territory, and the states of In- diana and Illinois, to an unknown distance. In the two last-mentioned states (which I have not visited) rolled blocks abound. *' The argillaceous and sandy banks of the southern shore of Lake Huron are conspicuous near Point aux Barques, in the Gulf of Saguinn, and about Presqu'isle. The debris of the rocks of the noriliern shore are here rare, and much rolled. Staurotide was picked up on the southern shore by Mr. Schoolcraft. " Besides the sand and boulders before spoken of, which are ancient, and have travelled from a distance, there are fragments of another cha- racter, which may be called native ^ reposing on the parent rock, or not far removed from it. This debris is comparatively recent, having been detached by various natural causes, such as torrents, change of tempera- ture, &c. The latter agent operates either by the expansion and con- traction of the rock itself, or of the water contained within its fissures* In the spring the nocturnal frosts and diurnal thaws are very violent. In the winter the thermometer is frequently 50 degrees below the freezing point, and in summer it ranges from 60 degrees to 90 degrees of Fahren- heit. I once saw it at noon, on the 20th of June, 1820, at lOlf de- grees in the shade. consist rare- 1 more com* r. In some I with those either of rock of Le rring in situ ■ Le Serpent ingiomerates :one, have a Ls the Mani- found on the I Missassaga jasper-con- ed to excess >f the south- , enveloping i vast quan- th of Cabot's cceeded by Is the upper 150 miles to nts a series of the lake. 1 with rolled ;h as prevail \y direction, tates of In- t-mentioned re of Lake of Saguiuii, thern shore the southern ire ancient, mother cha- [)ck, or not laving been of tenipera- on and coH" its fissures* violent. In the freezing I of Fahren- at lOlf de- C 57 ) ** These recent fragments, whether of the older or newer rocks, are an- gular and mostly small, and cover their parent rock^, as well in the high as in the low grounds, often to the deph of several feet. Examples of this are seen in (he slaty greenstone of the Narrows, in the quiirtzose limestone of Drummond, and in the quartz rock at the foot of Lake George.— All the countries to the north of Lnke Huron are loaded with similar debris. The French river in one wild spot, the scene of an In- dian massacre, is almost choked with it. In Luke Nipissing, near its southern shore, there is a large heap of square clean masses of gneiss piled together promiscuously. " An instructive fact is presented by many parts of Lake Huron, and very strikingly in the channels of Pelleteau. ' It shows that the recent debris is nearly stationary. The opposite shores of this channel consist of different rocks, the one being limestone, the other greenstone. Each shore is lined with its own debris, without any admixture, except that of rolled pebbles of granite, pudding-stone, or greenstone, left by the de- bacle on the calcareous beach. *• In the spring the ice occasionally removes fragments of great size : the inhabitants of Quebec annually see them transported in this manner down the St. Lawrence. During the winter the ice surrounds the blocks that are upon the shallows ; and on being broken up in May, it carries them by a rise of water to some other shore. Remarkable instances of this are found on the islets near the south end of St. Joseph; where, a few yards from the water, and above its level, rolled stones, many feet in diameter, are found deposited, with a furrow extending from the wa- ter to their present place of rest. " That changes in the level of Lake Huron have occurred, and that its surface once stood much higher than at present, is proved by the traces of ancient beaches and zones of rolled stones and sand that are found in the neighbourhood of the lake. Such an occurrence has been noticed in Collier's harbour, at Blockhouse Hill, which has the appearance of a beach, and of having formed the west end of the Isle of Drummond, when the lake stood higher than at present. Similar alluvial ridges are found surrounding the other lakes and rivers in Canada. These may be accounted for partially by the effects of the wind ; which, blowing strong- ly from certain quarters for a few days, accumulates the water on the leeward coast, the waves there washing up the shingle in scalar ridges to the height of 6, 8, or 10 feet." — Notes on the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron, by Dr. Bigsby. H ( 58 ) Geological Extracts from the Canadian Rexiew, J\o. IT. i' * On the utiliti/ and design of the Science of Geology, and the best method of avqidnng a knowledge of it ; with Geological Sketches of Canada. " The study of Geology has of late yrars attracted the enthusiastic services of the first inteHccts of the age, by its novelty and usefulness ; and by the jjrand and curious mechanism of the structure it attempts to explain. Wo know the Canadas lo abound in valuable mineral products ; and also in geological phenomena as interesting and instructive as they are neglected : we are, therefore, induced to cMitrent the attention of our readers to the results of such researches in extending national resources ; and in advancing abstract science,— objects, in our estimation, equally honorable. " With this view, we shall briefly point out the importance and desii^n of this branch of Natural History, and the best method of acquiring MMiie knowledge of it ;— concluding with a few sketches of remarkable loca- lities in the Canadas. " It is only in appearance that Geology has been slow in engaging no- tice ; for the philosophers of antiquity by no means withheld its fur proportion of their usual scholastic dreamings. It was natural, however, that its progress in modern times should be more tardy than that of Che- mistry, Mechanics, or Pneumatics, &c. for they are based on the disco- veries of the closet or the city, while the materials of the science now under consideration are gathered by the enterprising only, in distant and widely se()arated countries. " So great is the gratification of successful enquiry, that each depart- ment of nature will ever have its train of investigators ; but geology, is not merely a recreation for the inquisitive ; it exercises a prodigious and immediate influence on the civilization and prosperity of a people. It is gradually conferring on the operations of mining, (the tiue source of nianufiicturing greatness,) the same enlightened rules that chemistry has punished to the economical Arts. It is banishing blind empiricism. Every day the ancient denomination of " Gentlemen Adventurers," as- sumed by the proprietors of Cornish mines, is becoming less applicable. It has collected, arranged, and examined, a great assemblage of facts, or rather of laws, and successfully applied them to the purposes of life. Cer- tain invaluable substances, as magnetic iron ore, anthracite, coal, salt and gypsum, &c. have been shewn by it to exist in quantity, only in particu- lar depositories— so that it is a vain waste of time and means to seek them elsewhere. The coal field of the north of Kng.and, has even been measured ; and with the triumphant conclusion, that it will only be ex- hausted in 1500 years, at the present enormous rate of consumption. A few years ago, the miners of Derbyshire, in England, threw all their white lead ere on the public roads, in ignorance of its nature. Very lately the Americans, in building at Saguina, in Lake Huron, were accustomed to fetch their limestone from Detroit, 130 miles distant, when it was plen- tiful in the bay adjacent. The officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, stationed at Fort William in Lake Superior, also have brou^ht their iime- Btone from lake Huron, although it was to be procured 17 miles of}', at • An ai oiTiuoui article, but we taniiot be niiatakea in attrlbuilng it to Dr. Bigsby. v, Ah. II. Y, and the Geological enthusiastic i usefulness ; attempts io i\ products ; :tive as they eutiod of our il resources ; ion, equally e and dcsiirn quiring lome rkable ioca- 'ngaging no- leld its fair al, however, that of Che- n tile disco- science now i distant and ?ach dcpart- : geology, is )digious and 'opie. It is le source of lemistry has empiricism, turers," as- applicable. of facts, or 3flife. Cer- }al, salt and ' in particu- ans to seek s even been only be ex^ imption. A their white y lately the i:ustomeil to it was plen- y Company, ; their iime- niles off, at igsby. ( 59 ) the water's edge, near the base of Thunder Mountain. The early decay of the granit.', of which Waterloo Bridge at London is built, is to be expected from t!.. fact, which wc have learnt from high authoiity, that the large crystals of feldspar, constituting so great a portion of the rock is of the kind containing soda and therefore easily acted on by iho weather. In an undertaking of so much moment, it is a matter of regret that the materials were not submitted to the judgment of a skilful geolo- gist previous to their being used. "Satisfied of the extreme utility of this science, many countries have established schools and colleges for the instruition of the peisons in- tended to conduct the working of their mines, in mechanics, chemistry metallurjjy, practical mining and geology. The most celebrated of these* at present, are the Ecole des Mines of France, and the mineraloiricai College of Fre>berg in Saxony: but Mexico, Hungary and Idria^'aUo possess them; all sulFiciently endowed with funds for the salaries of eminent teachers, the expences incurred in essays and chemical experi- ments ; and for the support and increase of their cabinets of minerals. The English government is fully justified in leaving the direction of the industry of the nation to its capital and men f science. It has found it necessary to appoint a geologist to accompany the Knginecrs employed on the great Trigonometrical survey of Britain, as the contiguity of certain rocks l;as been observed to affect both the pendulum and the magnetic needle. Dr. Macculluch, the distinguishsd author of the " Description of the western Islands of Scotlands" has been selected. It is hoped that some general laws will be discovered for the correction of these aberrations. *' Geology is the foundation of Physical Geography. On the nature of the rocks of any region depend its great features ol mountains, valiies and plains, whose courses, dimensions and shape are derived from the position of the strata, and the peculiar outline, which each mineral mass speaking generally, appropriates to itself. The same may be added of rivers, which are atfected, also by the power ot absorption possessed by their beds. Lin.estone being frequently cavernous, sometimes engulphs, partially or wholly, the streams Mowing over it. Thus, part of the water of the Ottawa, immediately after making the descent of the very pic- turesque Falls of the Chaudiere, enters a concealed chasm, and reappears in two places, the one in the middle of the river three-fourths of a mile below, and the other, as we are informed, about a couple of miles fur- ther down. Canada furnishes many examples of the rharacteristic fea- tures above alluded to. The shapeless, rounded massiveness of a granitic mountain is finely expressed by Cape Tourment, thirty miles below Que- bec, which passes into the interior in huge flanks, now and then inter- sected by deep ravines of singular ruggedness and gra-ideur. Thunder mountain, in Lake Superior, presents a basaltic preci|)ice 1400 feet high, of uncommon magnificence, faced by the usual rude colonades. To these constantly re? urring laws, often in beautiful groupings, we are indebted for the mouldering and fretted cliffs of sandiiitone on the St. Lawrence, a few miles above Brockville, and for those of limestones, at the Falls of Niagara, broken into stair-like ledges, cvcrhung with large pointed tables of rock, and having their bases strewn with gigantic ruins. The pretty viiiage of the " The Forty," iu Grimsby, on Lake Ontajip. \^ close to a ( fio ) i [:! 4 fine cliff of tititt kiitd. The Muiiitoultiie Inlands of Lake Huron are full of them. ** Ihe botany of a distiicf, aH is well known to the student, and the agriculturist is iiiiluonccd fsiientiully by its geology. Besidiis the npnra- tion of (he latter oil climatt*, the soil yielded by the disintegration of of certain rocks In favorable to the growth of a particular order of plants, indilfercnl to another, and is often almost iiu-apable of sustainini; any kind of vetrotation. It is thus that the Uagsjiot-sand has created Inrge tracts of unimproved and uniin|)roveable wastes, which are allowed to remain even in the immediate neiirhbourhond of Ijoiidnn. — Sherwood Fo- rest in the midland counties of Kn^lanil, from the nature of its beds of sandstone will never produce uiiy (hin£; further than a lean hungry grass, except by the sides of rivers or where artifu i.il means have been en. ploy- ed in its improvement. The extreme sterility of the countries immedi- ately north of iiuke Huron and Superior is owing to their granitic and other siliceous rocks ; but much of the south shore of the latter Lake is held in irremediable barrenness by the vast quantities of sand and bowl- ders deposited there by the same great flood which poured abundance on the north coasts of Lakes Erie and Ontario, in the fine calcareous clayv which there prevail. We need scarcely add that the infinitely varied forms of animal life, their presence or absence in certain seas or coun- tries, their number and perfection, are mainly produced by vegetation. Under these considerations, an acquaintance with (he principles of geo- logy a|;pears tu be indispensible to the general welfare. Ilovir extensive is the spiiere of its controul ! *' It is the business of the practical geoloi^lst to ascertain the nature, dis- position and contents of the matters fixed or loose, which constitute the crust of the earth. He ought (o be the annalist of nature only. — A scru- pulous and unwearied collector of facts. — Her commentator is the specu- lative geol(»gist who classes, and reasons on the phenomena noted " in the solitude of the pine forest, and silent shore*" The description of the rock masses involves much detail on their chemical composition, ex- ternal mineral characters, as colour, transparency, hardness, natural dir visions by the laws of crsstalli/ation, &c, ; their appearances on wea- thering, and at the point of contact of two dissimilar rocks. The rocks originally defined by Werner, with tlie aduiiiou of a few discovered by MaccuUoch* and Brongniarf, occur in every part of the earth, as far as has yet been examined ; but not with perfect identity, for those of every large district have some distinguishing mark, although often trivial. But still, some varieties of the porphyries of Lake Superior resemble veiy closely that of Arran in Scotland. The granite of le Serpent, in Lake Huron, is the same as that of some paits of the Alps. The gneiss, sienite and basalt-like greenstone of the above Lake are quite like those of Swe- den and Norway. The sienite of Kingston is that of Markiietd Knoll in England. The limestone of I^ake Eiie full of various madrepores, is scarcely to be discerned from that of the shores of the Red Sea, and not to multiply instances further, the black augitic trap of Montreal Hill occurs also in the Sabine country near Rome. " Amid the seeming confusion which strikes the hasty observer, an ad- mirable order is found to exist in the disposition of rocks. This part n{ rope. ron are full lit, and (he the oppra- egration of r of plants, tainini; any M\tci\ Inrge allowed (o LTWood Fo- ils beds of liigry grass, en enploy- 69 immedi- ranitic and latter Lake J itnd bowl- undance on reous clayii itely varied 8 or coun- vegetation, lies of geo- V extensive nature, dis* stitute (iie \ — A scru- the specu- noted " in cription of jsition, ex- natural di- es on wea- The rocks covered by h, as far as )8e of every rivial. But emble veiy it, in Lake leiss, sienite lose of Swp- Id Knoll in irepores, is a, and not ontreal Hill 'ver, an ad- rhis part o{ )0 p. London, ( 61 ) the .object is peculiarly Intricate, but Includes a great number of very inten 9t(n« facts. These intricacies arise principally from the very small portion of strata exposed, and from the displacements, contortions, and abrasions, caused by r»-prated catastrophes, orisinatins? in the interior of tne earth, a.id by the present continued action of ruuninj; water. Thes« multiplied etfects create false estimates of the situation, ^dimensions and direction of strata, as has been excellently exemplified in a set of models made of slips of wood, differently coloured, after an idea of Professor l-arey I he geological associations of these rocks are nearly the samo throughout the world. They are usually found in the same groupe?, and are characterised by the same contents. The porphyry of both Lake >»"peiiorand Kngland is In contaet with, and passes into, red sand-stont and amygdaloid, the hist filled with carnelian, zeolte, amethyst, &c. The mountai limestone of Canadaand En-land is in continuity with (he samo older rocks ; but that of the former country differs in being placed m ho- rizontal strata, and in containing many additional and rery beautiful or. gan«c remains, now of gr.jt pric in Europe. The same parallelism may be continued throui^h the othc rocks of the two continents. The contents of the various denominations of rocks are every where much the same. This fact often throws !i;zht on the nature of the con- taming rock, when it happens to be obs. . The older limestones are the principal seat of the elegant mine A calie Tremolite, mica slate that of cyanitp. In Siberia, Connectic it snd ; j Lake of the Woods, (north of Lake Superior) Ueryl ouursln fJrinit , and Staurotide in the mica slate of the two last places. Diamo ^ j,ave only been found in a quarizose conglomerate, in Brazil and the Ea^t Indies.- It is singular that only one new substance, the rod ozide of zinc, has been found in the United States and the Canadas, while they are numerous in the southern division of America. " It may be well to recapitulate here that the prolosical outlines of north and south America have been traced by Uiciiardson (land expedi- tion to the arctic circle) Maclure, Humboldt, and others. Those of Eu- rope, and especially of England, have been detailed with greater mi- nuteness, by a multitude of learned men, among whom, Saussure De Xi/c, Von Buch, Cuvier, Buckland and MaccuUoch, are the most'con- epicuous for the magnitude and importance of their labors. The imm' nse region in Europe and Asia under Russian Jurisdiction has been descri- bed by Patrin, Pallas and Strangeways, (lately attached to the British Embassy at St. Peter?burgh.) Heyne, Eraser and Leschenault have piven some excellent memoirs on the structure of India, the Malay Archipelago, and the countries bordering on the Red Sea. The Coral Islands of Anstralasid and the south seas have been examined by Otto Kotzebue, Hail, Foster and the ilUrequited Flinders.— Exceptin.' some sketches of Egypt and the Cape of Good Hope, Africa is as yet^'unex- plored. We have seen some specimens of granite and iron ore from Merra Leone. The volcanic Islands of Mauritius, Bourbon and the Ca- naries have been ably investigated by Boiy St. Vincent. *' There are two views in which the prosecution of this science may be regarded ; according as the student takes it up as an occasional amuse- ment, or as the serious occupation of his life ; designing, for iustano*.. lo liiubtrate the geology of his own country. Little' labour will suffuse to accomplish the first object : and truly fortunate is he whp can o^q^. ( 62 ) f [i '1 It I ni flionally escape from the collision!) of commerce, or the strife of th(? pas- sions, into the romantic scenery that surrounds our Canadian Cities : — to trace at every turn of the forest, in the curiously associated strata, their brilliant spars, and orjjanic relics, the goodnejs and wisdom of the great Architect ; — and his power in the convulsions and consequent devastation which the elements have at intervals caused. It is necessary that the stu- dent should be acquainted with about an hundred rock masses and minerals, as granite, mica-slate, basalt, quartz, serpentine, calcspar, &c. These he Cdu never know from Books. Treatises on mineralogy are only useful to the advanced scholar ; — to refresh his memory generally, — or to assist in the examination of unknown substances by their specific gravity, appear- ances under the blow-pipe, hardness, and cleavage, &c. &c. It seems almost impossible for the mind to embody and realise to itself a numl)er of abstract qualities exhibited singly in books, and unaided, (as is the case,) by the approximation of the most important. A mineral held in the hand, presents to the senses a numerous group of leading characters. It is probable that a sufficiently comprehensive cabinet exists in most of the principal towns of Upper and Lower Canada ; to which, we feel assured, free access would be granted with particular pleasure. In case no such cabinet exists, from the fluctuation of society, common in colo- nies, Mr. Bakewell* of London, (the author of many excellent works connected with these subjects,) is accustomed to furnish small ones at the moderate charge of £3 3s. Mr. Mawe, in the Strand, next door to So- merset house, sells collections, strictly mineralogical, (while those of Mr. Bakewell are geological,) for from 5 (o 50 guineas. Both these gen- tlemen are in the habit of exporting to all parts of the world j so that a person resident in Canada, or in the East Indies, has only to send an order by letter, referring the party to an agent in town for payment, and he will find the package at his I'oor in a few months. The specimens are numbered and are accompanied by an explanatory book of reference. — In mineralogy, the best book for those who confine themselves to one, is professor Cleaveland's" Elements of Mineralogy," (2 vols. Boston, 1822.) Its preliminary chapters on the terms and principles of the science are of moderate length, accurate, plain, and satisfactory. His arrangement allows of easy reference. The descriptions of the minerals are well mark- ed, but are free of the puzzling and cumbrous prolixity of the German School. The concluding papers on the outlines of Geology, are remarka- ble for the great quantity of important information they contain, com- pressed into so small a space. *' In geology we would recommenr? Bakewell's " Introduction," in one volume. In fact, tlp^.j is no other respectable work in the English language, excepting the small CoiHisendium of Geology, by Phillips, a name of the highest rank in this and Chemical science. We recomirend Mr. B's work, for its \n\ ' sufficient and agreeable manner and matter, the clearness of the ais-. ,>tions and the felicitous illustrations. It has become, in England, quite a drawing room companion. To these trea- ties may be added, Playfairs' eloquent *' Illustrations of the Iluttonian Theory ; more especi;''ly for its able discussions oh the nature and origin of alluvia ; and Parkinson's " Introduction to the study * Wt; iiiid that r\ir. iJ. has changed his abode since we had the pleasure of studying under him. — He Hrs lu'.ely published an instructive and entertuiiung account of (he Tareiitai8e,&c.~The Directory nil! furnish his addrew. of orgai and pie: ticularlj singular is a stud subjects closes — groupes, dimensi( and fac classes. societies catastrof these pf epoch m given a few year Webster ted mem " Reliqu 3rd Engl same tim lately cr( although of wild a in the ca reuth, in History c of debris occupies Saussure, part of th by far th( impressed searches, more con h'arned ai of his pre supported « A CO] complicati this side o ties incid( known an rocks, un( ravines an Europe, il mines, roa traveller, every step, i'cience re travels thn 8 of th(? pas- ^ Cities : — to strata, their of the great it devastation that the stu- and minerals, c. These he nly useful to ' to assist in ity, appear- c. It seems elf a number , (as is the leral held in g characters. ts in most of lich, we feel ire. In case ion in colo- ellent works I ones at the t door to So- ile those of th these gen- ] ; so that a end an order lent, and he ecimens are reference. — ;s to one, is •ston, 1822.) ;ience are of arrangement ! well mark- the German ire remarka- intain, com- 3uction," in the English r Phillips, a recomnrend and matter, 9ns. It has ) these trca- e iluttonian iiittuie and the study ire of studyins; iccuunt of the ( 63 ) of organic remains," (I Tolume 8vo. London 1822,) for a very concise and pleasing sketch of this important department— a department par- ticularly interesting to the Canadian from the great number of new and singular species of fossilized animals, lately discovered in his country. It is a study important from the variety, magnitude and complex forms of its subjects, and from the extraordinary fact, among others, which it dis- closes—that organic life has existed on the surface of this globe in groupes, each occupying an aera of tranquility, and endowed, not with dimensions and powers incompatible with mutual safety, but with habits and faculties so harmonised as to ensure a certain permanence of all classes. It may be considered as proved, that a succession of these societies has taken place ; and that eich has been destroyed by a great catastrophe. It is observed that the race immediately following one of. these periods of devastation has a few individuals of the preceding epoch mingled among them. Cuvier, in his "Theory of the Earth," has given a most masterly relation of these events; but, within the last tew years, much has been added by Brongniart, Brocchi, Delabeche Webster and others. Their labors however are as yet burijd in insula- ted memoirs in the transactions of the learned societies of Europe. The *' Roliquia> Antideluvianae," of Professor Buckland, (I vol. large octavo, 3rd English Edition in 2 years,) presents a very entertaining, and at the same time elaborate, narrative of the effects of the last deluge. It is abso- lutely crowded with facts of an enchaining interest; but die most novel, although not the most curious,) are in the accounts of the numerous bones of wild animals, as bears, wolves, lions, jackals, &c. &c. lately discovered in the caves of several parts of England and Germany. That of Galyen- reuth, in the latter country, has been long known.— His work is a detailed History of what he terms diluvian and alluvion :— the great accumulation of debris which sometimes invests the highest hills, bnt more frequently occupies the valleys, and which as clay, lime and sand we call soil. Hutton «aussure, Playfair, and lastly Hayden, have employed themselves on this part of the science previously to Buckland ; but the latter, besides being by far the most experienced practical Geologist, has been more deeply impressed with the importance of tiie investigation. New personal re- searches, and a very extended course of readinsj, were occasioned by this more comprehensive view of the subject. Guided thus by an ingenious learned and patient spirit, he has arrived at many conclusions in advance of his predecessors, and has confirmed others, which had been but un- supported surmises. " A correct and minute description of the geology of an extensive and complicated region is a task of no ordinary character; and, especially on this side of the Atlantic. There are to be surmounted here, the difficul- ties incident to a new country, the greater portion of which is an un- known and unnamed wilderness, rendered impenetrable by displaced rocks, underwood and morasses, and, therefore, only to be examined in ravines and watercourses ; in place of the cultivated hills and plains of l^urope, illustrated by accurate maps, full of artificial sections by canals, mines, roads, wells, and quarries,— abounding in accommodations for the traveller, and what is still more essential, in fellow labourers, creating at eyery step, new light and new faclities. What a pleasing homage did Hience receive in the person of De Luc, who, during his geological travels through England, Flanders and Germany, on his arrival at any fi' H ?! h ( 64 ) town or ♦illage was immedlalely claimed as tlip guest of the resident Prince or NoblemaB,and was furnished likewise with the best local infor- mation, carriagps, workmen, and intelligent guides. " In Ginada, these researches, on a large scale, become very expen- sive in hiring conveyances, by water and land, to remote places ; and the more distant these are from a dense population, the worse are the services and the more inordinate the demand. A government, or an associate body only, can afford to maintain a geologist in a distant and savage district like our upper Lakes from the great cost of the outfit. The necessary habits of extreme personal exertion from day dawn to dusk contentment with coarse and often scanty fare, and the frequent ex- posure to cold and rains requires a powerful constitution; and the best is apt to fail under a continuation of these fatigues and privations. " To prepare the student for these labors an intimate acquaintance with the greater number of minerals contained in the rocks, or compo- sing them, is absolutely requisite; with the whole in fact, if possible, and they amount to seventeen hundred. He will make discovf ii,^s in the field in proportion to his familiarity with these substances in all their dis- gnisHs ; minerals do not occur in the woods, unsoiled, fresh and bright like flowers, but disintegrated by the weather, covered with earth and moss, rolled and frequently in a stony mass, a small fragment only being vKible. For a thorough knowledge of minpialogy the learner must re- pair to Europe, or to one of the cities of the ^United States, as New- JJaven, Boston, New-Yoik, or Philadelphia; where he will have liberal access to excellently arranged and very complete cabinets— more nseful to him than any in the first mentioned quarter of the globe, for the latter contain few specimens of American minerals ; and it is with them that he should principally interest himself. The chief part of the most splendid collection in the United States, that of Col. Gibbs, and now placed for public use in Yale College, was purchased at Paris during the tumults of the French Revolution. The British Museum, at London, is utterly use- less. A few gems, ores and brilliant spars only are exhibited and without any designations. But an admirable method of instruction is afforded by the private^ lessons, of the very highly respectable and learned Mrs. Lowry of Great Tichfield street, London. Tlieje, which need not be described, and an occasional visit to other cabinets, as those of the geo- logical society, Messrs, Ileuland, Bakewell and Mawe, will be all that is necessary. Mrs. Lowry's cabinet also includes a fine suite of rock spe- cimens in the greater variety of their forms, from granite to the alterna- ting fresh water and marine depositions above chalk. We were asto- nished at the superb collection of geological specimens amounting io 60,000, in the possession of Mr. Greenhough, and arranged after a new and useful method. " The United States are rery deficient in opportunities of studying organic remains. There are now however some tolerable collections in New-York, Peale's Museum at Philadelphia, possesses some fine spe- cimens accurately labelled, and what is much valued in Europe, a pretty complete set of the fresh water shells of North America. Mr. De J^uc at Geneva gives lessons on fossil remains aided by a good cabinet. Mr. G. B.Sowerby of King Street, Covent Garden, London, does the same, and disposes of well arranged collections. He is perhaps the most scientific conchologist in Britain. >f the resident test local infer- tie very expen- laces ; and the ire the services ;>«• an associate nt and savage e outfit. The jwn to dusk, frequent ex- and the best nations. ! acquaintance cs, or compo- t, if possible, jovfries in the I all their dis- h and bright ith earth and nt only being ner muse re- tes, as New- II have liberal —more nseful for the latter them that he lost splendid )w placed for he tumults of s utterly use- I and without s afforded by learned Mrs. leed not be ! of the gco- 1 be all that of rock spe- the alterna- were asto- mounting to after a new of studying Sections in Tie fine spe- pe, a pretty De J^uc at it. Mr. G. } same, and it scientific ( 65 ) « Persevering application to books is now to be continued for two or hrce years ; and alter this period also, the progress of the science must be kept pace with. Excursions should be made :-if with a teacher, the advancement .s very rapid. A few walks in each of the great geolo! gical subdivisions will accustom the student to careful observation. They mil shew him the deceptions arising from the laws of perspective, in es- timating the direction of mountain chains, or the courses of rivers,lteaoli him to name no rock until he has at least struck it with the hammer-to be satisfied with no supposed line of stratification until he has examined a considerable extent of country-and, what is very difficult, to distinguish the fissures deuot.ng stratification from those which are accidental or se.. oomlary-above all, be will soon be taught that a line written on the spot is worth a volume of after recollections. The Canadian has the ad- vantage of exploring unbroken ground, where he can cross no man's path— a virgin territory as large as Europe. '1 he geology of distant and Vareiy Tisited places, it is to be remembered although noted very imperfectly, but truly, 18 very acceptable information. It is in the description of a near and well known district that we peremptorily demand detail and pre- cision. 1 he only implements required in the field are, a hammer about li pounds weight, and having a handle 14 inches long, if the rocks be granitic; but only 1| pound in weight, if the region be calcareous or aj-enaceous ; a compass with a moveable dial-card, (allowing always for the local variation,) and a small bottle of well diluted sulphuric acid, to test the presence of lime. The blow-pipe, weighing scales, goniome- ter, A:c. are to be employed at J.ome. "Withrespectto books on Mineralogy; to Cleaveland's Elements, we have only to add Philips' Introduction, very recently published, and particularly valuable, on the crystalline form of minerals, . haracter gJ^at moment. The roiueralogical traveller should always uum in his pocket Aikin's small volume on minerals. " In Geology, the first books to be perused are Bakewell and PhilliDS. already noticed. To those should succeed the systems or lectures of I) Aubisson des Voisms, Delametherie, Faujas St. Fond, and the Abbe Breislac. De Luc has published " Elements of Geology," but the use- fulness of the work is aJmost altogether destroyed by its frequent obscu- rities m language, for which it is perhaps indebted to the translator, and by an ample indulgence in visionary discussion. D'Aubuisson, a cele- brated French Engineer, is the author of an elegant essay, in which ha attempts to prove the aqueous origin of the Basalts of Saxony. His ar- guments there appear conclusive, but since the date of its publication, us sentiments have altogether changed ; and without being supported in the able manner of his first treatise ; although some late evidence seems to prove them correct.—JIis "Systeme," in two closely printed octavo volumes, is by far the most methodical, practical and accurate work in any language. It was published in 1821, and therefore contains most 01 the recent discoveries. It is simple and concise in its language and arrangement, and like Dr. Thompson's system of Chemistry is valued lor the number of its well authenticated facts. He dwells but briefly upon the purely speculative part of the subject— a part better left alone J. — _.j — « i-.-ir«-_--.u:: Ki uijLu w inc- fciiuion oi existing ap- pearances. Delametherie, (Lemons sur la G^ologk, Tom 3,) on the contrary detains hii reader with much astronomical learning, applying it ( 66 ) i. '> M I; • ! ▼ery imperfectly and obscurely, in our opinion, to the explanation of cer- tain catastrophes, the formation of the atmosphere, changes of climate, &c. The remainder of the work, will well repay a perusal. The amiable and enthusiastic Faujas St. Fond, wrote his elements of geology by command of the Emperor Napoleon, greatly against his inclination. — He was, in consequence, dissatisfied with his performance, and only struck off fifty copies. Much of it is slovenly and crude, but his dis- quisitions on the animal remains found in the younger series of rocks, (Maestricht, Paris, &o.) and in clay and gravel are very valuable. The chapters on granite and volcanic productions are written with considera- ble care. The Roman or Neapolitan Abbe Breislac has produced a work of sterling merit, translated into French, and comprised in three volumes. As might have been expected from an Italian, he has devoted a great part of his attention to the examination of volcanoes, their mine- rals, and their cunnexion with basaltic and trachitic rocks. His plates are excellent. " These are the principal " systems" to be studied. The essays in particular departments, as conglomerates, coal formation, basalt, alluvia, &c. of Kidd, Kirwan and Greenhough may be consulted with j^reat ad- vantage, in addition to the works named in a previous page. 'J'he trans- actions of the Ecole des Mines, and the Annales des Musee of Paris, of the Geological Society of London, Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, are to be frequently examined, together with the scientific Journals of Silliman, Brewster and Jamieson : they are treasuries of geological knowledge. The travirls of Saussure (Alps,) Spallanzani (Sicily and Lipari,) Von Buch (Norway and TeneriflFe,J Ramond and Charpentier, (Pyrenees,) Beudant, (Hungary.) De Luc, (England, &c.) MaccuUoch and Faujas St. Fond, (Scotland,) are models of description and reasoning. The work entitled " Geological outlines of England," lately published by Coneybeare and Phillips, is conspicuous for its clear, though minute, de- tails, and i"* enlightened views. The labors of Humboldt have been coDcentr?t in his recent digest of universal geology — a performance full of origin tatter, and acute observations which ought to be in the hands of every adent. Brongniart, a Parisian Professor, puts forth every few months very valuable, and sometimes voluminous, tracts on various classes of rocks, as ophiolites, on the trachitic rucks, nearly allied to the pro- ductions of volcanoes^ — on salt and fresh water formations, describing at the same time their numerous organic contents. " For an intimate acquaintance with organic remains^ reading is less re- quired than a personal familiarity with the things themselves, but it pre- supposes a knowledge of conchology, and botany. — The three most ne- cessary books are Parkinson's Treatise on organic remains," in three quarto volumes, and amply illustrated by engravings (it is in the Montreal Library.) Sowerby's Mineral Conchology, in several octavo vol- umes; and Lamoureux " Sur les Polypes Flexibles" &c. in one quarto volume. The first of these works contains all that was known at the time, (1804—8), and is written by a man enthusiastically attached to the sci. coce, and of sound learning. Sowerby embraces nearly the whole sub- ject as known in the present day, in a series of plates accompanied by ahnrt descrintions. Lamoureux. (^Paris') is an elesant recast of Ellis and — - - - — . J . . . - . ^ , ^ ^ , — Solander on Corals, with the additional informatiou obtained within the last 60 years. Lamoureux is one of the most distinguished naturalists of ion of cer- of climate, usal. The of geology ;lination. — , and only but his dis- s of rocks, able. The 1 considera- )roduced a ed in three [8 devoted a their mine- Mis plates e essays in alt, alluvia, h <{reat ad« 'J'he trans- if Paris, of iburgh, are of Silliman, knowledge, ipari,) Von Pyrenees,) and Faujas ning. The Lblished by ninute, de- have been trmance full n the hands h every few 'ious classes to the pro- iscribing at g is less re- but it pre- ;e most ne- ," in three is in the 1 octavo vol- I one quarto at the time, j to the sci- whole sub* mpanied by of Eilis and I withia the Eituralists of ( 67 ) France. Mr. Mantell, of Lewes, (England) has lately published a full and accurate account of the FosslU of the South Downs, accompanied by very numerous plates, of new shells and Crustacea, designed and engraved by his wife. The only general work on Trilobites and the Crustacea is the excellent one produced by the united labours of Bronguiart and Des- marest. This department should engage much of the attention of the Canadian geologist, as his country abounds in nsw and splendid forms of this singular fossil animal ; and such as these authors never saw.— The figures* of Knorr, Luidius, Plott, Martyn and Lister, and those of the Ba- ron Schlottheim are copious and valuable sources of reference. A very scientific work on organic remains in general may be daily expected from Mr. Miller of Bristol, the able illustrator of the Eucriuital Family. " The mineralogy of the Canadas has hitherto been almost altogether ne- glected : but the imperfect researches which have been made, prove it to be rich in the scarcer kinds of minerals and not deficient in those appli- cable to economical purposes.! " The Canadas possess peculiar interest as including the great chain of fresh water seas of the Saint Lawrence,— monumeuts of the last deluge among a thousand others, illustrative of the history of countries whose more early civilization has destroyed these remarkable vestiges. Lake Superior itself, as well as all the other lower Lakes, has been vastly larger than at present, as is indicated by ancient beaches rising abovo each other on successive high plateaux, which nearer or more distant sur- round that body of water. They are formed of sand, clay and rolled ma- terials, and in Lake Huron contain layers of the fresh water shells which now inhabit its rushy shallow bays. The valley of St. Etienne, six miles long, at Malbay, affords, on a small scale, an excellent example of these appearences. It has been the bed of a narrow lake, with a depth at first of 400 or 500 feet, but which has thrice suddenly lowered in level on the destruction of its barrier being as often repeated. These events, and their magnitude, are marked by three embankments, which, together with the middle of the valley, rough with the oblong mounds deposited by conflicting currents, now constitute the farms of a contented peasantry. " ft becomes desirable to investigate the geology of Canada from its in- cluding the vast spur or offset (for want of a better terra) from the primitive mountains of Labrador and Hudsou's Bay, which, extending to the head of the Mississippi, divides the waters flowing into the Hudson's Bay, from those of the St. Lawrence, and penetrates from east to west. for nearly 2,000 miles into the greatest secondary basin in the world. This basin consists of alternating beds of sand>stones and lime-stones, placed horizontally. Its boundary skirting the west side of the A.llegha- nies, passes fiom the Canadas to the gulf of Mexico, then directs its course westward to the rocky mountains and northwards along their base at least as high as the Peace river or the Slave Lake ; properly named " The Lake of Outcasts." From thence it extends irregularly eiistvvurd, and oc- cupies all or most of the Lukes on the route to Hudson's Bay, great part of whose shores are composed of calcareous rocks. *'To convey an intelligible account of the geology of so vast a region as Canada requires volumes. We shall proceed to sketch a few of its more instructive localities : commencing with one in our own immediate neigh- • The works?— Kn. f Here follows a list of Canattian Minerals, which, having been already introduced into ths catalogue at the beginning of thii work, is now left out.— Ln. If:. ■J ( 68 ) bourhoojl. We shall hot stop to describe wpnery with which we are all familiar ; but at once obM rve that the beantlful groupe of rountfed woody eminences in the rear of Montreal with roogh sloping sicies, and heie and there an interrupted clilf, partly in ruins, consists chiefly of crystalline hornblende, massive, shapeless and without a trace of stratificatbn, ex- cept the feeble intimations afforded by a few perpendicular fissures. This rock is one of the Ti "» iamily, which we believe is correctly supposed to be a lava of a very distant date, an idea much strengthened by appear- ances now to be described. It underlays th? greater portron, if not tho whole of the triangular 8'|-ace, included by Montreal, St. Johii^ und Chambly, covered now and then by a conglomerate, and on 3 of H:t elder limestones. It appears above the soil in the Common of LKt>r£«rie, at Longueil, and in many placf 3 along the River Richelieu. Its frat;- ments are frequent throughout the above district, and cjitend twenty miles above the foot of Lake Champlain, to the Genesee Country, In a Bouth-west direction and nearly to Prescoit on the St. Lawrencr*, in Up- per Canada,, — The lime-stone of the plain i^ivests the Trap Rock of Mon- treal Hill, tc within a variable distance from the summit of one or two hundred feot. It is in horizontal layers, and usually r>!ntt undisturbed, as if it had rt niitined in tranquility from the hour of its deposifion. But it is a most lingular cin nnuuauce that from the Hill, as from a centrn, there srtrike into the Hni s*^one »n aU directions, and with tolerably straight courses, a great number oi pf r^ endicuutr walls, dykes or veins of the Trap, which have been tr;u -dior .i l^ mile easterly, and to f^achine a distance of five or six miles, 'ihey frequently divide and again unite in- closing masses of the IJnf'toue. Somelimes they seem to meet with ob- stacles in their progress, when they collect into a large knot, and again orojcct a number of tortuouy ramifications. They are from one io three Let in breadth, and do not taper rapidly ; still however now and then enlarging and contracting in size for short spaces. Fourteen have been cou>if:d in the race-course only. — Sometimes the fluid mass, escaping from the. perpendicular dykes, has insinuated itself in thin sheets be- tween the layers of limestone, which it is to be particularly remarked, preserves a nearly perfect horizontality — a fact only io be explained, (and not in ?, very satisfactory manner,) by the supposition that at the time of the eruption, the limestone had not yet consolidated, and of courKe had not then received the lamellar structure : It is generally al- lowed that all strata have remained sometime in this condition ; to which indeed are ascribed the fantastic contortions observed in gneiss and mica slate, and ot which the north shores of Lake Huron furnish extreme cases, while the limestonfof the River Jacques Cartier, contemporary with that of Montreal, and the grey wacke of La Riviere St. Anne la Grande, afford excellent examples of strata disposed in regular arches. These ap- pearances are still rare,, and are regarded with curiosity in Europe. To return to the Dykes, they are of compact or fine granular trap, of a dull brown or black colour, and contain more or fewer cv, •• ,\ls of hornblende and augite ; — both well defined. The limestone Iheres firmly to them ; and near the \lnn of junction, imparts tr> ther- some of its calcareous matter. It is fuU '>' shells, when in close coPt'^d; with thft dyke; — ana in one case a clusici of terebratulae is imb I'Ued in the dyke itself. The occurrence of shells in trap sca^ttly meeti vi';*'s credit even at the pre>ieul day. h wi» are all m^id woody mdheie and f crystalline fication, ex- istires. This supposed to by appear- , if not ihii , Johns and on,^ of ^!x- F Lapr&Jrte, . ItK frat;- :end twenfy )antry, \n a ncr, in Up- ck of Mon- one or two unrljsturbed, siiion., But m a centff^, tibl/ straight veins of the ) Lachine a iin unite in- eet vt'\i\\ ob- , and again •ne (o three w and then 1 have been ss, escaping sheets be- ' remarked, ; explained, that at the ted, and of generally al- 1 ; to which ss and mica treme cases, iry with that la Grande, These ap- rope. alar trap, of c»y'Mls of )ne ; Jjeres ie^'- some of id with thft "(led in the With credit ( 09 ) "The fork of the hill varies in its mineralogical characters. It is usually highly crystalline, and is almost altogether hornblende: but augite is also often present in great quantity, and is distinguished by the dihedral terminations of its crystals. In some places it becomes slaty, and then li largely intermixed with white granular quartz. Much of it resembles the dykes of the plain. The minerals characteristic of a tranpose or volcanic origin are imbedded plentifully. They are olivine augite, zeolite, chabasite, basaltic hornblende, rhombic tables of feldspar. The limestone of the hill is bluish black, of dull : istre, compact, and of a touchoidal fracture. That of the race-course is similar ; but in the qufirnes adjacent, it is rendered crystalline and hair brown by vast quantifies of organic remains. It is there covered by four or five feet of caica eous shale. All these limestones, and those also about Lachine art or the same age, from being in juxta position, and containing the same tossil and mineral substances. The fossils are highly interesting. One superb specimen of the encrinis moniliformis has been found in tire quarry nearest the race-course.— It is of the same size as that represent- ed for its beauty in the frontispiece to Parkinson's large work Two other species occur there, the pear and staghorn. The remarkable many chambered shell, named orthocera, is frequent there as large as the cele- brated ones of Lake Huron. There are also numerous and rare forms of the trilobite, named by Linnaeus " Entomolithus paradoxicus"— the very scarce conularise quadrisuicatK. Trochi, eiicrinital columns, turbos turhinoliae, corallines, terebratula;, products, madrepores, retepores Sec. are innumerable. The principal mineral substances are blende, an ore of antimony, iron and copper pyrites, purple ftour spar, and some ex- quisite crystals of the carbonate of lime. Even in so slight a sketch as the present it must not be omitted, that the Montreal hill, at some remote period has been an island in a vast collection of fresh water whose limits we cannot now describe. This is indicated by the great embank- ment surrounding its base, but in much the best preservation on its southern and western sides. It is composed of fine clay, flinty and cal- careous sand, primitive bowlders and rounded masses of the black lime- stone of the district, which it is worthy of -mark, scale off in concen- tric layers, like the coats of an onion ; no such natural divisions being apparent in the sound rock. Among these material? of a deserted beach fresh water shells belonging to the genus saxicava have been found. The canal, also, in the flat below (often covered to a great depth by rolled stones,) has penetrated a white flaky mari, which is full of fresh water shells identical with those of the Canadian lakes of the present date. They are anadonta, uniones, Physae heterastrophae, Planorbes, Helices* Cyclades, Malanite, Virginica, &c. &c. The horns and bones of wild animals have been found there. — Similar deposites occur on the north side of the hill. *' The streams which enter the St. Lawrence, on its north shore, near Quebec, are highly instructive ; and afl'ord a rich harvest to the collector of organic remains. We refer to the rivers Montmorenci, Beauport St. Charies and Jacques Cartier. Their geological History may be under- stood from a sUght sketch of the first named river. The Montmorenci falls into the St. Lawrr-n'"^ nvpr a. hpd nf c!»n/l« r^eX n-np:^^ z^. „i„i„ i-!_ » o\ granite abounding about Quebec,) whose strata run south-west and ( 70 ) li 1 \* ' dip at a high but varying angle to the south-east. On this rock, where forming the river banks, with numerous fragments of its o«vn substance interposed, rests a conglomerate of very small white grains of quartz, cemented by a calcareous matter, powdery, and white, red, and green in parts. It is from one to four feet thick, and about 350 yards above the bridge disappears by a thin edge, resting upon the gneiss :— a fact only to be witnessed at seasons of drought, but it is of use, by shewing the existence of partial formations, in fields or districts. It is stratified horizontally. This proves it to have been deposited at a time of tran- quility, to be of a posterior date to the rock on which it reposes, and to have remained at rest. In its turn, the fine grained conglomerate, (so nearly resembling grey wacke, as to require a chemical test in its distinc- tion,) supports a brown, often crystalline fetid limestone, crowded with organic remains, principally corallines, retepores and encrinites : — and above this, for thirty or forty feet rises a dull compact, black limestone in horizontal strata from six to eighteen inches thick, parts of each being occasionally brown and crystalline. The most remarkable organic re- mains are very fine casts of conulariae, the best in Canada. None have yet been found in the United States, but several at Montreal, the Bay of Quinte, and in lake Simcoe. A particular kind of trilobite may next be mentioned, of which Brongniart has only seen two fragments from Llandilo in Wales. These also are finest at Montmorenci, but occur at Lorette, Beauport, Montreal, Lake Champlain, and the Bay of Quinte. All the shells found at Montreal, with the addition of ammonites and scaphites are plentiful here. The accidental mineral substances are the same : petroleum is occasionally met with occupying small cavities lined with calcspar. " It will be remarked with surprise, that on the sides of the semi-oval chasm in front of the fall of Montmorenci, the limestone gradually de- clines from the horizontal position, and finally dips into the earth at an high angle. This is best seen on the right side. Much of it must be considered as displacement from natural causes, which are of great power in Canada;— -but not the whole; — for the inclination continues below the bed of the St. Lawrence and affects very extensive districts in the souh east. The chemical composition of the rock undergoes a slow change by the admission of clay and quartz, and by the disappearance of ihe organic remuius. Here and there however we find a solitary trilobite. '' The opposite Island of Orleans is partly based on the new rock which often becomes a brown, green, or red, clayslate ; and overspreads the south shore of the St. Lawrence, frequently alternating with con- formable, (a geological te^ra expressive of parallelism,) strata of quartz rock, grey wacke, brown crystalline limestone, and a pale calcareous conglomerate wholly composed of re-cemented fragments of limestone, both rounded and angular : — and some containing the organic remains which as far as we are aware belong exclusively to Beauport, and the Falls of the St. Charles and Indian Lorette. It is necessary to remark that each of their numerous alternations have been effected successively in some extended period of quiescence, but at intervals sufficient to allow of the hardening of the last layer. — The conglomerate with shells assists in proving the whole to be of more recent formation than the conchifer- oua timcsiuiic ui ^Muiinjjuiciici, «f.~ — uunaiuan neview^ JSo, 2. ♦ In ihit article »e Ua\e takfo (lie Ilberlj of making a few aUerationi, but only we believe with oot or (wo »liglit eicepi(»n», wUf re ao error In tiie former press leDdeied it necei«ar).->Eo. ' "Le Gaspe, montant chauz. C^te dai pierre u qui, par A Perce en parti New-Ca lac, il y perieure. n*y ait i Douglass Saint Jei ioflamma de Teau, charbon bitume. sant un p informe | des morci dans la E caillouK m*a dit i rieures 4 blables a While Mr. Chas the name ing is the racter of are acqua The sp Colour ture distit which stn is not elas very — ^yie into a whi It is suf tic ; from ** Acco tainB lithii 9 rock, whero tvn substance ins of quartz, , and green in rds above the — a fact only ' shewing the t is stratified time of tran- poses, and to iomerate, (so in its distinc- crowded with rinites : — and ick limestone of each being e organic re- None have I, the Bay of may next be from Llandilo ir at Lorette, ite. All the nd scaphites, the same : — s lined with the semi-oval gradually de- e earth at an if it must be great power les below the > in the souh slow change ranee of ihe ary trilobtte. e new rock, i overspreads ig with con- ita of quartz e calcareous }f limestone, uitc remains ort, and the •y to remark iccessively in ient to allow shells assists le conchifer- [>. 2. ( 71 ) ^ " Le District dc Gaspe abonde en pierre a chaux, surtout la Bale de Gaspe, dont le rivage nord dcpuis son entree ycompris le Cap Gaspe eii montant, est une suite de caps et de precipices de la meilleure pierre ^ chaux. Dans la Baie des Chaleurs elle n'est pas aussi abondante; la C6te dans cette partie du District n'est qu'une chaine de caps bas de pierre rouge et sablonneuse, semblable k I'espece appelee poudingue, qui, par Taction de la mer et de Pair, tombe en gravier fin et en sable! A Perce et aux environs, dans certains endroits les caps paroissent 6tre en partie de marbre veine compost de petrifications marines. Dan» New-Carlisle, k la distance de trois ou quatre miles de la mer, i un petit lac, il y a un lit de marne calcaire, que Ton dit 6tre d'une espfece su- p6rieure, et dontj'ai vu des echantillons. II n'y a point de doute qu'il n'y ait des mines de charbon dans differentes parties de ce District ; k Douglass-Town, dans la Baie de Gaspe sur la rive sud de la riviere Saint Jean, j'ai recueilli une petite quantite de matiere goudronneuse et inflammable qui sort de la terre en grande quantite vers la haute marque de I'eau, et qui ressemble en couleur et en odeur au goudron fait de charbon de terre et que je crois 6tre de I'asphalte ou d'autre esp^ce de bitume. Je I'ai depose au Musee du Seminaire de Quebec, En creu- sant un peu la terre j'ai trouve une terre couleur de charbon et j'ai 6t6 informe par quelques-uns des habitans que Ton avoit frequemment trouve m*a dit que c'etoient des plus belles cornalines, agates et jaspes, supe- rieures k aucune pierre dc ces especes que Ton trouve en Europe et sem- blables a celles des Indes. — R, Christie, Esq. While this work was at press we received a specimen of granite fromi Mr. Chasseur coupled with the request to aflFord him information as to the name and peculiarities of a particular mineral it contained. The follow- ing is the result of our examination, which agrees precisely with the cha- racter of the " lepidolite," a mineral not hitherto mentioned, as far as we are acquainted, by mineralogists as having been found on this continent. The specimen is part of a bowlder found at St. Augustin near Quebec. Descriptive Characters. Colour reddish or yellowish white—transparent in thin laminae-— struc- ture distinctly laminar, separating with great facility into plates or scales which strongly resemble mica or talc in form, lustre and flexibility.— It is not elastic — somewhat unctuous to the touch — lustre pearly and sil- very—yields to the knife with ease. Before the blow pipe it fuses readily into a white shining globule of enamel. It is sufliciently distinguished from mica by not being in the least elas- tic ; from talc by being fusible. " According to Gmelin, the lepidolite from Sweden and Moravia con- tain* lithia." (Cleaveland's mineralogy.) helleve, with od« Bo. ( 72 ) b ji If s :r ! Additional Remarks and Corrections. The Bhalo described at pages 3, 17, 20 and 23, differs from the rest of the " Blacit Rock" of Cape Diamond in it' chemical as well as physical characters. Before the blowpipe it is inlusible (or at most re- ceives a slight black glazing,) while the part furthest from the blue flaoie turns to a bright red. In acid it refuses to effervesct . A character fre- quent in this shale, tlwit has been omitted, is its beautifully irised ap- pearance in some places, which is probably the tllect of u struggle for predominancy between the iron and i \/Ij!U' it contains. There appears to[be little dispr v.; t in .ierwesce, also in those thin strata which display a tendency :> »>rcAk iuto cubical or prismatic frag- ments. These likewise redden jnder the blowpipe aud with a sort of spitting intumescenre, form .i black scoria. This character of reddening with the heat seems to form one distinctioo between the alternating shales in this formation and the clay blate or other more calcareous strata. A character the foit,iei <)«^e to the p««- sence of iron, which is soraetimes sufficient to move the magnetic needle, after expooure to heat on charcoal or with grease. As the non-eiferv-scwig quality of the shale of Cape Diamond, appears to contradict what h^i been said page 16, that this description of rock about Quebec effervefcen violently for a shor^ time, it is necessary to ex- plain that the writer had in view the series of couchiferous shale, which is found alternatiiig with fetid limestone at Beauport. At Notes 7 and 15 we have indulged ourselves in what may be deemed wild conjecture. In touching upon these subjects it is difficult to refrain always from doing so : where there are few data there is always an ample field for surmise, and generally a propensity to iudulge it ; particularly when the former are of a nature to be understood only by the most t* pwieuced. The bending or waving of the strata, however, will account tor the fact we bnve noticed in a more simple way as well as for the va- rieties of dip in ditlerent places In supposing that i he Clay slate &c. in the district of Quebec had undergone a r€«eisal, the fact was lost sight of that the dip of the strata is not always to the S. E. but fic^uf-uily to the N. W. in that district. Allowing the-cfoie that such a revexsal had occurred at Quebec, it would not follow that it I id taken place else- where. The waving of the strarr m sonw sltuat' s amounts to contcr- tioa. It is easy to conceive theretca; that the upper surface of such strata may sometimes have the appearance of being the lower. Phillips has well explained this by a diagram in his '^eology of England rvd Wales. It is not meant that the waving or bending of the strata will account for their removal from the horizontal, or nearly horizontal, position, in which they were originally deposited. On the c^ vtrary the former is probably the consequence of the latter, which wheth'r it ibc attributed to the subsidence of strata, or to any other effo of iture—wbeth, , the phenomenon was sudden or progressive, it was tk..^a to have hap eued without causing undulations in the strata. Note 21. We have said that where primary rocks occur the preseiuc of magnetic iron may be suspected— this is too general. The sentence should stand thus, where primary rocks occur, in this country, the pre- sence oi magnetic iron may be suspected. The Talc alluded to at page 4 contains no potash but magnesia. It is from the rest I as welt as at nioit re- le blue flame haracter fru- ly irised ap> struggle for II those thin imatic frag- ith d sort of le distinctioQ :lay slate or to the prem letic needle, tnd, appears ^ioii of rock '.asary to ex- shale, which r be deemed t to refrain lys an ample particularly lie most ex- will account for Ux' va- ay slate &c. as lost sight rct^ueutly to eversal had place else* 8 to COntCT' f such strata ips has well fu?d Wales. vill accoont J; posiiion, e former is attributed wbeth. / the e hap ened le presence le sentence •^, the pre- csia. It is 7;i ) the scaly talc or nacrite, whose constituents are silex, alumiuc and pot- ash* Green Earth, page 4, would be better under the head which follows as it is always found to contain a little magnesi- Alumine and lime are not constant ingredients in this mineral. Steatite (same page) contains no potash ; i hich it principally dif- fers from soap-stone, a mineral it so much rr>sent)les. Whether it con- tains alumine or not appears to be a disputed point. Potash is not always presput in chlorite. Tourmaline, a variety of schorl, contains magnesia and |not lime. At Pag<^ 9, Pearl spar is out of its place. — It does not contain phos- phoric acid — Its constituents are lime, magnesia and carbonic acid. The mineral described, note 20, may be pynlic coal— iron' pyrites alone yield i sulphureous odor when exposed to the blowpipe (which we pre- sume is the " chemical process" alluded to) but it does not evaporate. There is great probability that coal mines exist in the neighbourhood of the springs of petroleum on the Thames Hiver U. C. It is equally probable that rock salt abounds in the Upper Province, associated as usual with gypsum, althou^-h at too great a depth to allow of its being obtained in a solid state for at least a century to come. FINIS »■■■■ ERUATA. Fagr 1 For varities rend varieties. 2 For Feurnginous read Ferni^inoits. Do. For raictt-st;ite tfiid mica-slate, '.i For tericbn ilu> n-ad tcrebrutitlie. 5 For varities rc,»d varieties. Do. For lilac read lilach. Do. For lamina read laminar. (3 For conchieft-'foiis read cotirhi/erous. Do. For terrebratula; read terebratula. 8 For they probably form pai t read the latter prolnbly form part. 9 Pearl spar is out of its place, see corrociious ut the end of the Book. 13 For Township 7 mrf Township. 16 For calcaiues read calcoires. Do. For its consequent l» iring rend //le/r ronseqiient bearing. Do. For Its upper edge read their upper edgea. 17 ForN. W. rc.Hd W. 18 For earthly nainerals read tfar<% minerals. 25 For three-fold elcavago read three-fold cleavage. 2'J For hornbleod read hornblende. V I c -mpart. d of the Bouk. iring.