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Las diagrammes suivants iilustrant Ie mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i'%- v^s JllSTOHML & SgIEHTIFIC SOCIETY ASSINIBOINE VALLEYS. A Paper read belbre tue society Hot. 26tli, 1891, BY GEORGE BRYCE, LL.D., A LIFE MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY. TRANSACTION 42. SEASON 1891-92. WINNIPEG: MANITOBA PRBB PRBSS PRINT. 1891. orTT ■c ■yvO. 4^2. r ■^9 ^/. OUR STONY RECORD, if '^^V /- -♦•-1 OLDER GEOLOGY OF RED RIVER AND ASSINIBOINE VALLEYS. Dr. Bryce'H Lecture Before the Historical Society.— Explanatory Ulairraniit.— Occur- ence of Salt, Petroleum and Coal.— City IVater Supply. \ ^ \ The Hiatorioal and Soieotifio Society of M»Diloba met on Thursday evening, Novem- ber 26iih, 1891, in the city oounoil ohamber, to listen to a lecture on "The Older Geology of the Rnd River and Assioiboine Vall*)yB " The Ittcttirer of the evening was Rev. Dr. Bryce, who said : Last year the writer had the honor of lay- ing before the Jliisorical Society many tacts connected with the "Snifaon Geo logy " of these valleys. To night it may serve a good purpise to bring before the H3cie ty, with as few technical details as possible, baa nob been a stranger. Milton hits ofiF this tendency with keen saroatm in his deacription of Mammon :— "Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell ' Prom Heaven ; (or e'en In Heaven bis looli and thoughts Were always downward lient, admiring more The riches of Heaven's pavtmeLt, troJden gold. Than aught divine, or holy elii enjoyed In visions beatiflo ; by him first Men aU , and by hia BUKgeation taught, Raiigaoked the centre, and, with impious hands. Rifled the bowel* of their mother earth Cor treaaures " Pin. I.— North America: The Original Laurentian Ixlaml. the characters of the underlying rocks. Our object is to dp'crioe, not bo much the mineral or palaeontoloftical features of there rocks, as to give their general relation to the contour rf our prairies, the nature of the soil, and to the economic products of the precious metals, building stone, salt, peliroleum, coal, na- tural gts, and water. There is a craze in some quarters for (diverting capital into mad speculations, and for organising companies to ransack the rooks for hidden treasure. To this even Winnipeg in the past There is of course another standpoint than that of Milton. We need to know the powers and resiurces of the good, nnw country in our porsesgion, and we are bouudas Western Oan- adians to make the most of our opportunities. At the same time we ought to examine and develop our land intelligently ; and the geolo' gist may often prevent uaeless expenditure and prick the bubble of wild speculation. THK LAURKNTUN IStAND. Below the drift or soil, with] which our former lecture dealt, there are lime- ( ^ ■lone Mid B»Ddftone bedi ; buk below theae ftf(*i>> there ii the h«rd LkarentiMi formaliun tbM we muat aetoribe. All of u« know that wh> n we no e^Bfe of Winnipeg on the OkDftdiao Paoiflo Railway, »!• disMooe of forty or fifty milea from the oity the prairie ia Itrfg hebibd, and » rocky regloa ii entertd upon. Thia rooky reRtun, wbioh we oall Laurfntian, or in loinn plaoea Hnrjnian, ap- pe»ra as the aurfaoe rock Brat in R. 7. Tp. 0, ■ome thiny milea eaat of Winnipetr. This la the Inrthfat extent of the original laland atretohing from Labrador, north of the great lakev, tor more than l.UOO milea, and reaching ita western limit at tb« point named. Thia foru^ation runa northward along tbe eaat abore of Lake Winnipeg and then to the Aratio Sea See (Fig. 1 ) The VMt wilderneaa reprettnted by thedark portion of tbe diagram ia the oldeat |}art of the North American continent, and conriata ot beda of grauite, greensliuue, Labradnrite, trap, and cryatalline lim atone. Theee afoer being deposited were hardened by a mebamorpbic pr( ceaa through intenae hean ; by great prea- aure they i ave be«n bent and twiated. Out of such rock a, bard as they may be, the aoil aa alao tbe limeatonea and »ndatonea of our prairien have been made by the wearing down by streams <»nd by atmoa- pberio and otherafiencita. From tbi« island the hard rooka a'oin d away in all direotiona, and for u^ hundreda of feet below the spot where we are atandin^ to-nigbt became she rocky ocean bed, on which were depoaited the oua, and probably Potadam aer;M,now claMcd aa Oambnan rooka lying npon the Lanrentian. RID RIVIR BXPOBURKB. Along the banka of tbe Red river in the outtinga made by atreami and in quarriea, beda of limestone are expoaed. One of the meat notable of tbeae expoaurea ia the quarry at Eaat Selkirk. Near Lower Fort Oarry there are aUo exteniive limeatone depoaita, and the limestone baa been burnt here, and ■hipped aa lime to Winnipeg. Toward the upper end of St. Andrew's parish another rook locality may be noted. f he limestonea along the river are often bu9 colored, and aa they contain a good deal of maeneaia belong to tne Diilomitio series. They are of the aajne age aa the Trenton rocka of Ontario, and probably inoluie terie^ corresponding to tbe Utica abate aa well. These rucka have been examined with some cue by Meatra. J. H. Panton and A. MoObarh 8, membera of thia fuoiety, and by other local geologistf. STONY MOUNTAIN AND STONKWALL. Stony Mountain is the most interesting aeo logical monument in the Red Rivtr Valley. It is some twelve mileb northweat of Winni- peg, and ia an outlier of limeatone beds, aixty or seventy feet high, on its west kide showing a steep escarpment. Its stone has been ex* tensively quarried for buildicg stone and for making lime. The rock in view is of two kinds — the upper forty feet or so on being tested is found to be a dolomitn, while the iimestoms and standstonrs which we are more i lower is a red limestone, colored by iron. Tbe '' 'T to describe. The ab^ve diagram repre- . , as we have aaid, tbe Lanrentian island, dotted outline b< ing that of the preaent .Aiaticen^ of North America. If priority of f> rmation givea any claim to the continent, Oanada baa the advantage of her American oousina to the south, in owning the whole of the original Laurentian island. LAKB WINNIPEG BASIN. Of exposed rocks, lying upon the Lanren- tian foundation tbe lowest are those of the basin of Lake Winnipt-g. Many parts of the west shore of the lake are solid rock, uncov ered by drift. This west coast has been well observed. An early oba* rver. Dr. Richard- son (1851)examined it on hiaway to the Arctic »ea. By this geologiat tbe rock waa fixed aa Bird'a-eye limestone. Sir Henry Lefroy, for the Royal Society, also visited thia shore. The best description of it yet given is that by Professor H. Y. Hind, in his report of 1857 to tbe Oanbdian government; and, by the way, this report, though made so early, is one of the most reliable sources of information we have of the Northwest. Prof. Hind describes tbe sandstone layers at Grind- stone Point, and also the limestone, which he declares to belong to tbe Ghazv division of rooks. Recently Mr. J. 6 Tyrell, of the Canadian Geological Survey, baa explored the lake and published notes on its geology Lake Winnipeg is now definitely known to be a broad trough| hollowed out by glacial action, on the east shore consisting of the hard gran ite and conglomerate of the Laurentian, and on the west in its lower rocka of the Oaloif er- red layer abounds in fossils, containing coral remains and a great nuuiber of ancient i bivalves (Braohiopods). One exceedingly I hard and quite thin, flinty layer is seen run- ning abng the escarpment. This will not I burn into lime. The accepted explanation as i to the history of Stony Mountain is that it is the Hurvival of the vast beds of rook worn ; away by the glaciers ; and when the two lines i of glasiers, one from tbe northwest, the other I from the northeast, met, they left Stony { Mountain beuind aa tbe island remains i at the junction of two rivers. About five miles northwest of Stony Mountain is the , village of S'onewall, where there are quarries. \ This spot is considerably higher than Stony I Mountain, so that between the twoiathe I trough ploughed cut by the old N W. g'aaier At Stonewall ia perhaps the finest example of glaciated rock with wbioh we are acquainted. The glacial striae are aeen on the rook surface, wherever the drift, here only eight or ten feet deep, is removed. Mr. J. H. Panton, of this society, has worked out the Stony Mountain and Stonewall geology, and while with all others he makes the lower Stony Mountain beda to be o( Hudaon River horizon, he ia inclined to regard the higher atrata here, as well as the upper Stonewall beds, as Niagara limestone. Odrtainly the lithological characters of these deposits incline one to this opinion It ia somewhat interest- ing to notice that the rooks underlying our fertile prairies along the Red River are much the same as those below the aoil in the part ot Ontario stretching down to Ottawa from the Laurentian axis which orosaea the St. Law- 1' •t t 8 reoM At KtDHton, and thone weal of the ume tkx\» to H«mutoa. THK ROBIMrKLD BORINO. Perhaps the moab nuful operation we have had for obtainioff an accurate knowledge of our Red River valley rooka wan the borioR oduduoted by the Canadian Paoiiia railway in 1886 at Roeenfeld Station, IK) miles Bouthwest of Winnipeg. By the u«e of a pfioustion dri*l, aftfr boring a little mote than a thouaand feet, the Laurf ntian foandatinn wai rrached. Thn logbook kept by the drilling partv has enabled the geologiite to make out aoomplete Motion of the Iin.eiitone and aanditone rooks, tuch as we have from no other sourne. It is true that these rooks at this pjint are thicker than had been supposed, and there are grounds for the higher rocks extended over ths whole val ley ana basin, and that some mighty agency holhwed nut this vast Silurian and Oamnrian trough. Undoubtedly this powerful agent was the great glacier or ice sheet of Lakn Agassiz. The whole valley shows signs cf this denuding and orunbing power in the striae which are observfd The fine drift de' posit or roil which civers the roclcs on our Red River prairies, if examined with the microscope will beseen to belargelyof lime stone rocks ground down to powder, as wellaa oruohed rocks from the Laurentian area. The erratics or boulders found in this drift are ■im- ply larcrer frsgmfnts of these same rooks. Much nf the material which was dug up and burrifd along, nodoubt, went down the glacial lake, and was carried away by the Mississippi, Drift Niagara. KosenfeUI Measurements 1 4,1 feet. ^^\_^ Stonuwall. Hudson Uivcr. \ Stony Mountain. 3S» feft. liticaand Trenton \ St. Andrews. \ Selkirk. 3S0 feet. Calciferoiis. I'robable sea level. --^— Lake Wiiuiipcn ifiofeel. Total 103s. LAURENTIAN Kiu. 2.— Silurian and Cambrian Rocks of Reii River. I thinking that as we come northward to Win nipeg they will not be so thick. The revela tions made by the drill quite fit in with the trnological nbrervations made of the Stony M'iuntain, Red River, and Lake Winnipeg expoourFS. It is now possible to make out a Senfral view (f (he rook formatiotf* from the oundary line to the basin of L%ke Win- nipeg. Figure 2 is an attempt at this, showing the rooks of the various ages, and thtir localities as observed in thin valley and basin. It is based chif-fly on Dr. G. M. D»w son's article (Transactions Royal society, 1886). OHB IMFEBItNOB. From the facta indicated in the abovo dia- gram, it may be inferred, that at one time into which the Red River then flawed What the surface of the Laurentian, on which the later rooks rest, may be, is unknown to us. Probably it is not fl»t like our prairiep, but is diversified by what were once great uranite ridges which had lakec lying between them. CHARAOIBB or THE BOOKB. We ought all to be familiar with the char- acter of the rooks from the several exposures mentioned, for the limestones are largely used as building stones in oar better building'. The stone is rather prt-tty with its roottUd varieties of yellow and white, and is at places very hard, being rather Dolomitic in composi tion. No doubt its greatest defect is the pre- sence in it of fossils which prevent it chiselling well. The foMili are largely of ooralline formaMon and lugg^it to ua that io Silurian dayi Ibeae rooka were a vast oral reef, and thai a tropioal olimate thtn prevailed in our northern latituiea. Our limeatone io former day* was uied for headatonra, aa may be aceo in S( John and Kitdcnan ofme^eriea, but it IB ill auiled for that purio'e, being neither ■utfioiently bard nor bomogemona The aame thing appliea to our volun- teer monumrnt erected by the peopi*- o' the oil^, and to the S^ven O^iks memorial ptaoei in piaition laat summer by the Uiatori- oal Society. It will no d jiibt be thought un- patriotic to aay that for auch purpoaea our Red River atone ia not auilable. THK ABBINIBOINI ROOKH. When it ia remembered that the word A«- ainiboine meana in Oree the "Stone river of the Sioux," it might be »U()poird it would be a favorite hunting ground for geologifta. And yet thia ia not the caae. While here and there tbe/e are gravel heda and bouldera at the rapida, the rocka are generally heavily O'lvered with drift. At Burnaide, s imci aeven*>y milea weat of Win- nipeg, on the Canadian FaoiBo Railway, on the bankaof what ia atill known aaR«t Greek, a diamond-driJl waa let agoing in 1874, (aee Geoloftioal Survey reporta, 1874 5,) and the boring revealed rooka of a higher horizon than any we have yet aeen. Theae have been made out to be Devoniau, but there ia at thia paint a very thin layer, and this, strange to aay, haa no Silurian btlow it, but liea immadi ately on the Lanrentian. To the northwest of thia point, on the lake*, Devoniau rocka have been dercribed by Mr. Tyrell and other geo- logiata. To the weat of thia we reach the foot of the eaearpmont marked by the S. E. to N. W. trend of the Pembina, Riding and Duck Mountain*. Thia eecarpment marka the eaat- em edge of the aecond great prairie ateppe, which liea one, two or more huodredacf feet above our Red River prairie level. Thia upper level haa uodeilying rocka of a a'itl higher horizon, and rocka with which aa Oanadiana we had no acquaintance till we came to the Northw*at. Figure 3 may ahow the Requence of rooka and their looaliiiea. ITS HSANIKG. In Fig. 3 it will be notio-td, that at twe different atagea a gap is marked Thia ia the case in the lower inatance at BurDside. Here the borera found, after penetrating 103 feet of drift'. beHa of Devooinn rook 42 ft^et thick, lying diieo ly on the hard Laurentian (or Hur jnian) It due* not of oourae follow thftt everywhere in thia reuiou the Silurian rock ahould be mie»iog aa ia the case before ua The Laurentian ruck atruck in boiing at fiurnai Je ia nearly aa high above the aea aa the top of the drift at Winnipeg, ao that there waa evidently a great ridge of Lauieatian rnck, at thia point, atand ing up aa an iaiaud ur cliff in the old Silurian ocean. Another gip will be noticed between the Devonian and Oretaceotu. Here ahould have been the Oarbonifercu»en enab'ed to make on the 6rat prairie level, may be embodied in a diagram (Fig 4) ahoaing the relati'io of theljakeof the Woode, the trough of the Red River, and theBuroaide rock*. This figure indioatea, taking a aection uf the countiy running in direction E. S. E. from Burnaide, through the Roaenfeld rocka, and then to the aoutb end of the Lake of the Woiida, an enormous Laurentian trough. It ahowa slau that while the Lauren* ian at Lake of the Woods ia 1,060 feet above the level of fhe sea, thia fundamental bed deacends in the courae of 116 miles to a depth of 266 feet below the aea level at Rjaenfeld. or in all 1,826 feet, and riaea again at Burnaide, 70 milea away, to to 700 feet above the aea. The probabilities, aa haa been aaid, are, that at Winnipeg the trough ia not ao dee,p It aeema highly prolMkb?e that between the city and Lake Winnipeg there runa from eaat to weat below the Silurian and Cambrian a ridge of Lauren- tian (or Huronian) rook connecting Burnaide and the old Laurentian ialan J, lying to the northeast of ua. It may be explained that in the northern half uf ihe Lake of the Wooda there occur the metalliferuua rocks now oalled Huronian. We have preferred to nae the well known term Laurentian rather than Archaean, which some are now employing to include both Laurentian and Hnronian. PRECIOUS AND CSBFUL METALS. It may be well now to discuia the economic ¥rodu3ts of the region under consideration. t is evident that if we are to seek for gold and silver thi* must be done by going east- waid toward Lake of the Woods, or on the eaat of Lake Winnipeg Man)' claima have been taken up on the Lake of the Wooda, oompaniea formed, and reducing works at Rat Portage begun. From ais aya made by Mr. Hoffman, the Government anal^at at O tawa, ana by othera, it is quite certain that there are gold and silvrr in that region. A number of aesaya have been made of rock from that district for nickel, but ao far as known to the writer without result. Aa to iron, the deporita nn Lake Winniprg in the rocka lie near the base of the Cambriap, and are very large. Many apecimens of Hematite, aeemingly of excellent quality, have been ex- hibited. A good deal of trouble haa arisen in the development of our minea from the dispute between the Dominion and Ontario QovernmentB aa to the title of the land. Our great lack, however, ia that of capital to de- velop these mineral resouroea. Probably the rrquieite means muat come from Britain or the united States, for it unnwiae to divert o a' O! I en W( aoi aa tb in foi Iji aa na W St tia aa 65 Ihe limiled mcMM ak the disp< si oi oui people from leffilim»t« buiineie to thie preMrioai indaatty. BUILniNO HTUM la the poieettion of the HUtorioal Society Me three oollectione of the building itone of the Rod River valley. TheM Almoit aU be- long to the liineatone rooki we have been deaoribiog, which are of Trenton end Hudi n Rivor ege. While thii atone is perh»pn uur only prfii>nt renouroe, it is pUinly rather un- sniMble for finer kinds of work Stodrtme •Ito is fouad »t Grindstone Point on Lske Winnipeg, but it is rather brittle. Some naibles occur on Lake Manitoba, and it is altogether likt-ly that ai our northern lakee and water couriei are explored bnildirg swne of superior quality will be obtained. uoour, and in the Roeenfelil boring a great Kow of brine was struck. From these indioa tions we can infer ibal, though the rook* are not visible on aooount i f the drift, sain hear* log strata run scrnsi: the ouuiitry from L»ke Manttobi, easttf Poplar Point, east of Utk- ville, snd near the town of Morris. OP course the lower rockp, may have brine filtered throurtb thrm from abivi*. where the upper rooks are salt bearing. This was actutlly the case at RosenfAld, where the strong' st flow of brine was met b ^low the Trenton. The force uf the brine at Roseofeld wa^f so Kr^at that it rose in a pipe eightenn feet ab ive the surfsoe of the prairie. Tttis K wenfeld salt was ex* amined by Mr. HoHmao, of Ottawa, and was declared to contain payiog quantities of excellent salt. Indeed the old Fort Qarry I nrifl. -— ^ I'nivtTsal. KiirHiiiiu. \ Tiirlli.' Moiiiitiiin Stmris C'oiil KifUls. C'retiiiidiis, \ Lclliliriiluu COiil Hills. Devonian. \ Iliirnsjilr, iVr. A »iii|). LAURENTIAN Kio. 3.— Uooks on Auinibolue aiul TributarleM. SALT. Judging by the ooourrenoe of salt in West- ern Ontario and looking at our S'lurian rooks we should not expect it to ooour until we pass some dittatfice west of Snonewsl', where as we have teen what appears to be the Niagara limestone is found. Salt in Ontario and New Yotk state is found in the Oooniaga or Salina formation 1) icg above the Niagara. Seventy years ago as we learn, there were salt springs known nsar Pembina. The nearest salt springs to Winnipeg city are in the valley of Riviere Ssie, a few miles this side of the railway sta- tion of O A ville on the Northern Pacific Port ase branch. Oiher springs are found on Lake Blanitoba, while near the Marais river, some 65 miles south of the city well known springe sail, which was sold tventy yeaia ago, chough black with impurities, wai of good qanlity. In old R^d Rtvur day*, a manufactory i f salt wat carried on from 25 salt wells on Lake Winnipegoisis by James Mookman for thn Hudson Bay oompanf . The old price was 12 shillings sterling a bushel Nj dou^t salt making will b'>oome one of our industries, but to compete with eastern salt it will probably have t3 be worked with saw-mills on Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegooats, as is done in the Saginaw district tf Michigan, where the refute from the mills is utilized for provid- ing a fuel without cost. FETBOLBUM. The great value of petroleum to the coun- try, and the fact that on the Mackenzie river ItMffl M« pelrolfum tpringi, »nd UrR« atom of in»Uh« ur minwAl tar, hu led lo Ibe •pnou- UticiQ, MVf n Among freolofiUl*, tnal ooaI oil inif(hl b« f >uad in uur proviaott. lo lh« eMi, pelroleuin ia found in the Middle U<4VoniAD,or EiiM, M it ia Doiv bi^iiioning to be a*lled. Aoo)rdio(ily it ia impoi-ible (bat petroleum ahould bi fouud fait of L^ke Manitoba A^ however, Devonian rooka occur, aa we hare have aeen, at Buroaide and at a nninber of plaoea on Lakra Manitoba and Winnipegooaia, It would teHm wortli while to aearoh for petro- leum in that weitfra rrgion. OompanieM have been formed, one rapeoialljr, of whioh the wiiter remembera.to bore for oil iu the Like DAupbir. diatriot. Thnoretioally iti* right enough to rxamine thia region thorough ly, but anrfaoe iDdio%tioDH and the opinion of practical minera ahould be taken aa well. OOAL. The 6rat determined effort to lepk coal in Mani- toba waa made nearly twenty yeara ago, when a party of the Geological survey aptnt a iuiii mer in the Swau Lake HiHtrict on the alope of Riding Mountaina. Here geology held out hope in th3 gap between the Devonian and the Cretaceona where the Carboniferoua rocka of Eaatern Canada and the Uoiocd Statr n are found. Tbe anarch proved vain. But in 1872 Dr. O. M. DawaoD, the geologiat accompany- ing the boundary expedition, came upon coal beda upon the Souris river. Tbe writer re- membera well a company of Winnipf g gentle- men ahortly after taking coal olatmH at the Souria. The coal waa unfortunately olaaaed aa poor Lignite, and waa rather deapiaed. Aa the weat km opened up it began to dawn up- on ex|ilorera that Northwest coal had aome value in it. le waa found that the ' Gait mine" at Lethbridge waa of Cretaoeoua age, ahd indeed of tbe aame horizon aa the famoua Nanaimo coal on Vancouver laland. The beda of the Pembina Mountaina eaoarpment eeem of the atme age, but are ot deep aea origin. It waa noticed that the Laramie Deda lying in the neighborhood of Blackfoot Oroia- ing contained good coal, and the B )uri8 beda proved to be of ^he aame age. Tbe beda on Turtle Moontain, which ia another depcait of Laramie ag«*, alao contain a fair coal Some yeara ago Mr. Hush Suthfiland brought a acow load of o)al down the Souris from the coal rfgi in, and in another aeaaon the railway will carry thia coal all over Manitoba. The exposure on the Souris river ia one if remarkable thickneia, and ia very ac ceaaiblr*. No doubt aa the aeam la pene trated the coal will improve in quality. NATURAL OAS. A visit ( f the writer last year t(J Indiana gave him an excellent opporluaiiy of aeeing the importance and usee if natural gaa an a fuel and I'ght-producer. Great uae ia btiog made of it in aome partn of Ohio, and it baa been found in large quautitiea in Oatario r.ear tbe Niagara river. It ia raid t3 arise from the Trenton beda, and ia aoojunted for by the vaat number of foasila found in that formation. Ita origin la aa myaterious aa that of petroUum. At Langevin Station on the C.P.B , 35 milea weal of Medicine Hat, the writer aaw a atreain of natural gaa, riaiog from a boring, which had be^n uaed for aeviral yeara in the aeoticn houau f.ir fuel. In thia caae the gaa haa ita origin in the Oretsceoua So far as finding natural gaa be- low Winnipeg is Cdticerned, our underlying ro3k ia Trenton, and it ia a prrfeot maaa of animal remain*, but there have ai yet been no surface indie ttiona of there oeing natural gaa in tbe Red River valley, unleaa it be the alream atruok at Dominion City laat aummrr, and thia haa not yet be«n loicntiBcally invra tigatcd. WATKH. A veiy important queation for ua ia that of water supply. Not only comfort and oonveni et 09, but health alao, demand that we f Ace thia quealiun. Our city water worka aupply ia from the Asainiboine, which containa a large proportion of chemical lalta, and ia somewhat trying for new oomera who use it freely. Wells in a cttv after a few yeara be- come un6t for use. Many well authenticated inatanoea are found of typhoid fever and other diseases coming from tbe use of water tainted by drainage. A number of our wella, eapeo- ially tboae weat of Colony creek, are arleaian. Tb<9y are all in the drift and probably gain th»ir water supply from the area expoaed by Little Stony Mountain. These can hardly be be relied in for supplying ua with a plenty of water. Figure 4 la a auggeative one in thia connection. Winnipeg ia 704 feet above tbe level of the aea ; Lake of the Woods ia 1,000 feet. There is conarqeently a difference in our favor of some 800 feet, and ahould there be beda of a poroua nature in the Laurentian, there would be a auffieient amount of prearare to give ua a ^ood head of water. There ia no way of asauring ouiaelvea of the preaence of water or of natural gaa except by boring. It ia by no meana certain that we ahould get either, but, jud^^ing from the experience, ea peoially (>f aome pointa in Dakota, it would be worth while trying. Aa to the other ob jects Bp:>ken of, vis., aalt, petroleum, coal, and preciouB or useful metala, the probabilitiee are entirely againat ua. The absence of aalt, however, ia more favorable to our getting an artesian well of good water. BDBBIQUBNT DIBCDBBION. When the applause whic^ greeted Dr. Bryca on resuming hia aeat had aubaided, Preaident MaoBeth invited an informal dia- ousaion whioh followed in the reapunaea of the lectuier to enquiriea and suggeationa b^ Prof. Hart, of Manitoba C ill^ge. Prof. Laiid, of Wealey College, and Conrul Taylor. It waa Brat explained that all the formationa of the Red River valley, reating on the L%ur> entian development, oorrenpondtd with the upper and lower Silurian of the Eog> liab geologiata. Then, looking weatward, C)naul Taylor expreaaed bia great un- willingness to believe, that the car- boniferoua Devonian formation— the aeat of bituminoua coal in the United States — would be found wanting, or "a fault," between tbe Red River val- ley and the oretaceoua formation clearly recognizable beyond Brandon. He would rMh«r •xpitel lh»t by iurlh«r explorallos, khe tniA ooal mcMurei m dcvnl opM Ml PitubnrRh And by dcrp liakiajt in loiTft And Miaiouri wonid yel b« iraoed from thn r«inbin» to ihe Riding Mnunlaint of Manitiobft. A further point tt interest, which Dr. Uryee full/ »dmitted, wm IhM th« ffient LfturratiM lalMd wm vAlokblfl inlner»l« in the far NjrtheMt of 0*n* Ml*. Prof. L%ird, in expreMiog hie hiRh eppre oietion of the learning enii expoaition ol the lecturer, dwelt bririly upon the great aooti- •ioni to the materials ol geological loiecce bjr the elaborate curveyi ol the world ; and joined heartily in the recognition ut Dr. •; •I \ W.N.W* • \ ■ P Ll RMS I D E. 11 C A M B R I Ml ^ -. Q.'Ji-C — ■ — . — Fto. 4,— Vt>rtloitl .SiM'tlon from nuriiitidc to I., of WnoflN. ■ucoeeded northward, aa he had illustrated southward through the Red River valley, by the developmnut in ev»n fuller extent uf the Silurian and Huccestive gtc logical strata, with the bigliest probability— unless all genlugical analosy eUewhere shall fail of applioation to the districts in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay — uf the existence of bituminous coal fields and Bryoe's zeal and intellig» noe in viving a pop ular form to a disouasion of great public in- terpst. ()a motion of Oacsul Taylor, seconded by Prof. Hart, a vote of thanks was heartily tendered by the audience, and appropriately acknowledged by the lecturer. ' Sib,— In your i«iu( •ppeMf d ft letter fro Oe >l»Riaal Snrvey cr tbe "Oldut Gnolo^y Asstniboine Vftlleya. preseDt time hsd iiq Ik With your pttrnii varioun oritioisms one be omitted. 1. Mr. Tyrrell Arobaetn oontinentift the fLftorentiftu InUi into IvtinaeBotft, Wi Near York, ftnd there he Mid to own the wt Island, but ritther th« use of tbe term Arobsem. to include I Hurontan, is not ecrr* would be oorreot to srr aa hones. Lturentia names applied by i separate geological gn they have not been ah one named cannot be both without oanring The ose of Laurenti was simply to prevent disouMion of the subje follows: "We have well known term L Archaean which some include both Laurentii terms. "Lturennian isl lakeb" have now beooo iB^ as every one knowi rlistinoiion between Huronian is not < Chapman (p«Re itratigraph'cftl relatiot tian and Uurnoisn ha^ in kde ou". The mme especially the presence ing gneifsoij and othi doubtedly to the conoli lan b(ds are of latei L^ureotian, but aa Sulwyn, the Huronian to pass under the lattc that menibsrs of tbe gc opinion tbat the Lsu metamorphic tediin-n relation to «he Huronii How absurd it is then more that it hits be invent the ool irless w elude the Laurentian e theexentof the "L portion of tbe Laurent tt> >zoic which i« oatsid- trifling c )mparf d with cur border*. 2. Mr. Tyrrell says Lake Winni^jeg does brian" rocks, bu», as t the writer several (im° schists of the Hurouiai known natural outcro in Manitoba, and the c tem in the province is i oD the boring at Roh i ■«■ SiB,~In your ioBue of OhvUtmai moroiog •ppe»nd » lettpr from Mr. Tyrrell of the Oe iliiRioal SnrToy critioiziog my lecture on tbe "Oldwt Qpoloiiry of the R:)d River and Auiniboine V»lle;a." I bave not until the present time had an opportur>ity of notioing it. With your p«rmiiition I ahall quote the variouR orioioisms one by oue, tbat none may be omitted. I.Mr. Tyrrell says: "The original Arobiew continental nucleus, apoken of aa the *L»nrentiau laUnd,' extenda southward into Kftinoeaota, WitconRin, filichiKan and Neir Yoik, and therefore Caaada ahould not he aaid to own the whole ot tbia Laurnntian laland, but rather the greater part of it. The uae of the term Lturentian, instead of Arobse in. to include booh the Laurentian and Huronian, is not ccrreot, any more than it would be corf not i j group both men and horaea aa bortea. Laurentian and Huronian were namea applied ty Sir William Logan to aeparate geological groups or ayntems, and aa they have not been shown to be the tame the one named cannot be used to include them both without eauring tbe utmost confusion." The uae of Laurentian instead of Arobtetn waa simply to prevent coof uainn in a popular diaousaioD of tbe subject. I aaid diasinctly as follows : "We have preferred to use tbe well known term Laurentian rather than Arobaean which some are now employinir to include both Laurentian and Huronian. " The terms. "Laurennian ialand" and "Laurdntian lakea" have now become well known, includ ing aa every one knowa the Huronian. The distinction between Laurentian and Huronian is not easily drawn. Prof. APPENDIX. Utea the lowest lnt^rfl((b«| the Lower tdsgneanilti^r* ferous, adding a (?) to amount of diubt in the Obapman (page 298) aays The stratigraph'oat relations of twos'riea, Lauien tian and Huronian have not yet been clearly in Mle ou". The mmeral characteristics and especially the presence of conglomerates hold* ing gneifsoij and other fragments lead uu. doubtedly to tbe conclusion that the Huron- ian bids are of later formation than the Laurentian, but aa pointed out by Dr. Salwyn, the Huronian appear in many places to paaa under the latter." It ia well known that menibsra of the geological ataS form tbe opinion tbat the Laureniian series are not meiamorphic sejim-ntary rooks, and their relation to "he Huronian ia very uncertain. How absurd it is then to be dogm»tic, the more that it has been Sour d necessary to invent the col irlesa word "Arcbeea" to in- clude the Laurentian and Huronian. Aa to tbeexentcf the "Laurenti.n island" the portion of the Laurentian uncovered by Pal X izoic which i« oatsid-> of Oaoad » is trifling c >mparf d with the vast area our borders. 2. Mr. Tyrrell says : "The ii n Lake Winni^jeg does not occur in brian" rooks, bu», as hss been pointed out by tbe writer several iim°s, in the highly altered sohislis of the Huronian eystenn. There is no known natural outornp of "Oambriao" recks in Manitoba, and the only record of this sys- tem in the province is in Ur. Dawson's paper on the boring at RoMOfeld where he oorel- utterly within ore on 'Cam Wltertain oorrectof ai of the ) deteroiination. Here Oambnan ia u»d to mian the lowest of what were foimerW called Silurian, and must uow be admittf d to bs at least Oampro- Silurian. Dr. Dawson ia correct in identify- ing the rocka immediatelv above the Lsuran< tian at RoaenfeM as G<*lciferoua. which ia Cambrian. Aa in the sase of the Quebec rocks of Eastern Oanada, it is ditficuit to separate chalkv and Calciferous, and especially in ' Manitoba ia it diffi., cult to get a horizon correaponding exactly with that of Ontario. As to the iron beating ratea my atatement was that they "lie near the base of the Oambriao," lie on the Laurentian ialand of which I had been speak- ing, very near the point of union of the Palce- ozoio and underlying rocka. 3. Mr. Tyrrell aaya : "PoMib^ the mnat unfortunate sentence in the while paper is the following : "Like Winiiipeg is now definitely known to be • broad trougn hollowed out by iilaoial action, on the eaat abore oonsiating of' the hard granite and conglomerate of the Laur- entian, and on the weat of ita lower rocka of the Oaioiferous, and probably Potadam aeries, now olaued aa Oanadian rocka lying upon the Laurentian. Lake Winnipeg is nit definitely known to have been boUowed out by glacial action. It is much more probable that it is an old pre- glacial river valley, ot the general character of that of the Misaisippi o' the present day, with its northern end blocked by drift and alluvial deposits, or a depression has been formed in the bottom of this old valley by movements of the earth's crust ; evidence of these crusted warpings beiog seen in the high Cteaches along tbe font of the &fanitoha escarpment. On the ease shore of Lake Winnipeg there is no "con- glomerate" known in the Laurentian, and in fact it i« more or less doubtful whether there is oooglomer^te acywhere in tbe Laurentian. On the west shore no "Oalciferous" or "Pots- dam" ia known, and there is no reason tosuo- pose tbat there are any palse t/oic rocks in that vicinity below the So. Peter's sandstone (chazy) which ia there found reating directly un the arcbaian." The last tirst. After tbe explanation in re' gard to Laurentian it seems mere trifling to deny the presence of conglomerates. Prof. Chapman (page 297) aaya: ''The Huronian representativea although di«ticct enough in hbeir entirety, oloaely resemble in many caa« s the Laurentian rooks of the districN and can- not always be readily seperate fn m them. As a rule, however, tbe texture ia less rry»'t»lline or less granitoioal; and slaty or aemi-orystal line cooglomeratea appear among them." Mr. Tyrrell seems tn especially object to Lake Winnipeg b?iog so decidedly pus down as hollowed out by~ glacial action. In my lec- ture of last year I had occasion to point out the distinguished service * in ireologizing Manitoba, performed by Prof. Upham, of Boston. So completely did Prof. Upham'a ■ theory MtUfy the oondilioni that impMti»l obMTTen immedifttely Mt it down m • proved bypotheeie. The fMt of ita beinv eo is Bhown in the uannuJ coane of the Oanedfam Gov- emnwnt geoloffioal ttarrey in poblithincMr. Uphun's report of 1S6 peffes, thoQRh the •othot baloDged to • foreign eeririee. Thie ooone Meine to hkTe diifrieMed rionememben of oar. geriiogioal eieff. To »ny one who ex»minee tM two pMee (US Mid 114) of obimvMioM u to glMial itrier, Mid fiodi nieh mi entry m "Between the Hodton bay Mid L»ke Winnipeg, dhmg the Severn, Fawn, Poplar Mid Beren'a riverr, on almoat •11 ezpoied rook nirfMiee (A. P. Low) the fflacialetriMmaS.W."; and alio (page 116) "On the eaet ehore of Lake Winniprgbetween the Narrows and the month ot Winoiprg river at nnmerous looalitiet the c^laoial striae are 8 W.," it most be evident that in its ooarse the tremendoos ioe sheet conid not have done other than sooop ont LakeWimi peg. We may, however, admit the possibility of there having been in Mie preglaeial age a river valley to begin with. 4. Mr. Tyrrell says : "Finally, it wonld be interesting to know if the leetnrer has any , ev' lenoe of the "Trenton" age of the rocks beneath the oity ot Winnipeg, as a speoimen reoeive4 from a well bored at the water works at Armsttong's point oonsists of soft and argiUite, the same as that at Stony mooatain, and clearly indicates, in default of evidenoe to the contrary, the Hudson river age of the roek immediately underlying the drift and allaviom on which Winnipeg is boilk" The diaonssion at this point was as to the occurrences of the "Trenton" rook from which natoralgaa is supposed to aomp. J>r. Da—en shows that there is "Tnaton" atRosenleld aonthof WinnipM);it is shown by Prof. Pantos and others that sEeTreatnaiafoond atSkAnd- .raws (ttorth of Winnipeg). ICr. Tyrrell says probably Hudson river bed imasediatsly underlying the drift at Winnipeg ; and since Trenton underlies Hudson river it is almost a certainty that the Trenton lies below Winni- peg and can be reached by boring. 6. Mr. Tyrrell says : "It is also etated that 'some marbles occur on Lake Blaoitbha/ whereas it is quite orriain that nc such rock is found anywoere around that lake, and, in tact, there is no crystalline limeetone or 'marble' known anywhere in Manitoba up to the present time." Prof. Hind states that he found on St. Martin's lake, which is coanroted with Lake Manit3ba by the short Partridge Orop river, and which is also connected with Lake Win- nipeg, "partially metamorphoatd sandstone rocks," at one point the "rock approaohee the chwacterof gneiss," "an inland consisted gneiss with large quMtz veins meaadering through it^" while further on were found "fragments of silioious limestone. " It is looally believed that there is crystalline lime- stone in that region, and certainly the oondi* tions dMcribed by Prof. Hind favor this view. These are all the matters raised in Mr. Tyrrell's criticism, and it will be seen that they are almost au debatable points. OaoBoi Bbtob. Manitoba college, Winnipeg, Dec. SI. ! ■ 9fthe 'bioh ifeld DIM ind. liUM imi- >«ed rook ».iB ) or pto St. iftk« vw, ITia* tone tbe • of and I M me- adi- lIlM lin leen