QE 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
 B M 173 Eflfi 
 
 A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY 
 
 BY 
 
 R. W. ELLS, M. A., 
 
 Of the Geological Survey of Canada. 
 
 MONTREAL: 
 G A Z K T T E PRINTING CO M P A N V 
 
 1887. 
 
BERKELEY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 "*^ rf 
 
 EARTH 
 
 SCIENCES 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ' 
 
A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. W. ELLS, M.A., 
 
 vv 
 
 Of the Geological Survey of Canada. 
 
 MONTEEAL: 
 GAZETTE FEINTING COMPANY. 
 
 1887. 
 
EARTHS 
 
 SCIENCES 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
A HISTORY 
 
 OP 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY, 
 
 BY 
 
 R. W. ELLS, M.A., 
 
 Of lh Geological Survey of Canada. 
 
 The literature pertaining to the Geology of New Brunswick, 
 embracing a period of nearly half a century, and expressing the 
 views of nearly a score of observers, has become at length so volum- 
 inous as to be in a manner somewhat unintelligible to one not fami- 
 liar with the Province and the peculiar geological problems there 
 presented. For this reason it has been deemed advisable to pro- 
 duce, in concise form, an epitome of the work done and the opinions 
 held, from time to time, by those who have labored in this field ; 
 especially when we consider that, no matter how interesting the sub- 
 ject, but few persons have the time necessary for the careful perusal 
 of all the reports bearing on this special field, many of which also 
 are now not to be obtained, having been long out of print. 
 
 The writer can only plead, in excuse for this attempt, a somewhat 
 intimate acquaintance with the topographical and geological features 
 of the Province, extending over a period of some ten years devoted 
 to the study of its geology. 
 
 The systematic study of the geological structure of New Brims- Dr. A. Gesner, 
 wick may be said to have begun with the appointment, by the Local 
 Government, to the position of Provincial Geologist in 1838, of Dr. 
 A. Gesner, a man of undoubted ability. The results of his labors 
 were presented in a series of reports, which may be said to consti- 
 , tute the basis of our knowledge in this direction. The first of these, 
 appearing in that year, embraced the results of his examination of 
 the country bordering on the Bay of Fundy, west of the St. John 
 River, and along that stream as far up as Fredericton. This was 
 followed, in 1839, by a report on the coast district east of St. John, 
 extending to the head of Shepody Bay, with a brief description of 
 
 O 
 
/, r ; : /: '": i ' : 
 
 :-.,' 4' :/: ::..:.' J . iwrw BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 the Tormentine peninsula and the country along the Hammond 
 River. His third season's work embraced generally the counties of 
 St. John and Kings, with a very complete description of the Grand 
 Lake coal-field. The fourth described the western portion of the 
 province as far north as Woodstock, on the River St. John, with the 
 country contiguous to that river, as well as the character of the coal- 
 fields lying along the Main South- West Miramichi River, while the 
 fifth included generally the area lying north of a line extending from 
 Woodstock to Bathurst, on the Bay of Chaleurs. 
 
 Considering the state of geological science in that early day, the 
 reports of Dr. Gesner contained a large amount of valuable informa- 
 tion. It must be borne in mind that the nomenclature of the science 
 was very limited. The grand formation which now comprises the 
 fundamental rocks of our record, the Laurentian, had not then 
 received its now world-wide designation, nor had the term Huronian 
 been even thought of. The divisions into Primary and Secondary, 
 Old and New Red Sandstone, Coal measures and granitic rocks, 
 composed the bulk of the geological scale. 
 
 There could, therefore, have been no attempt to separate the rocks 
 of the older systems into such an arrangement as now exists. But 
 Gesner evidently did a large amount of good work in the delineation 
 of his areas of Coal measures and New Red Sandstones, his Transition 
 or slate and limestone group, and his volcanic rocks, though many 
 of his boundaries were, of necessity, from the sparsely settled and, in 
 consequence, comparatively inaccessible character of the country, far 
 from correctly laid down, and the stratigraphical order, as given in 
 his reports, is, in some cases, the reverse of what is now known to 
 be the true position. 
 
 He pointed out also the presence of the two great areas of granitic 
 rocks which traverse the province, one along its southern portion, 
 the other diagonally across the northern half, extending south- 
 westerly into the State of Maine, where these two areas evidently 
 unite. They were considered by him as of Primary age, and 
 included a large proportion of the felsitic rocks, with which, in some 
 places, the granites are intimately connected. He held that these 
 so-called Primary ridges were flanked by beds of Cambrian age, con- 
 sisting of slates and hard-grained sandstone, styled by him greywacke, 
 while to the north of the northerly belt the great Silurian fossiliferous 
 area of slates and limestones was clearly indicated. Then, as now, 
 the geology of the southern part of the province was found to be, 
 
BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 5 
 
 much more complicated than that of the northern portion. The 
 igneous rocks were arranged into two belts, the one composed of 
 true granite and syenite, with mica or hornblende, the representa- 
 tives of the red granitic areas now recognized in Charlotte county 
 and western Kings ; the other comprised a large portion of the old 
 pre-Cambrian syenites and felsites of the present day, and were 
 regarded as intrusive and as overflowing the schistose strata with 
 which they are associated. 
 
 Resting upon the flanks of these intrusive ridges were two great 
 series, one containing the limestones now regarded as of Laurentian 
 age, together with certain slates about St. John, and classed as the 
 lower series ; another portion, consisting of sandstones and slates 
 and holding fossil plants and tree stems, was recognized as an upper 
 or newer division. These two groups, the lower of which was sup- 
 posed to belong to the Silurian system, were held to pertain to the 
 greywacke or transition series and to overlie another area of schists, 
 sandstones, conglomerates, etc., unconformably, which, from an 
 apparent absence of organic remains, was styled Primary. 
 
 Concerning the rocks which underlie directly the great central 
 Carboniferous area, the limestones were correctly placed in the 
 lower portion of that system, but the associated red sandstone, con- 
 glomerates and marls, together with similar rocks in the Valley of the 
 Kennebacasis and Petitcodiac Rivers, were regarded as of more recent 
 age and referred to the horizon of the New Red Sandstone ; while 
 other red sediments on the St. John River, near Hampstead, were 
 regarded as older and of the age of the Old Red Sandstone. The 
 areas of soft red sandstones and shales along the Bay of Fundy, at 
 Quaco and at other points east of St. John, were also regarded as 
 of New Red Sandstone age. 
 
 Reviewing the reports of Dr. Gesner, one can hardly fail to be 
 impressed with his evident desire to convince the Government, and 
 through it the people, that the mineral resources of the Province 
 were practically limitless. This is more particularly the case in 
 regard to the central coal basin and the iron ore deposits of Kings 
 and Queens counties ; and this feature has been ably criticized by 
 the late Dr. Robb in his subsequent report on the coal fields of the 
 Province, published in the report of Prof. Johnson on the agricultu- 
 ral resources of New Brunswick, in which he clearly points out the 
 unwarrantable exaggerations of Dr. Gesner as to the boundless stores 
 of mineral wealth. 
 
tf KEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGV. 
 
 Doubtless many false hopes were raised by this unwise policy, and 
 ground was given for much unprofitable controversy, before the true 
 geological relations of the Carboniferous rocks were finally estab- 
 lished. To his researches, however, we must ascribe the discovery 
 of that wonderfully rich mineral deposit called generally " Albert 
 coal," and concerning the true character and composition of which 
 he appears to have had a just judgment, regarding it as an altered 
 asphalt in the face of the combined opposition of the majority of the 
 leading scientists of the day . 
 
 It is unfortunate that, although Dr. Gesner spent the greater 
 part of five years in his preliminary surveys of this Province, his 
 labors ended without the publication of any geological map which 
 might embody the result of the very large amount of exploratory 
 work he evidently accomplished ; and this is the more to be regret- 
 ted, since many of the points so graphically described by him, lose, in 
 consequence, very much of their actual value to the general reader. 
 Dr. J. Robb, Following Dr. Gesner, the next writer on the subject was the late 
 Dr. Robb, of Kings College, Fredericton (now the University of 
 New Brunswick), who, in 1849-50, published a geological map 
 which is embodied in the report of Prof. Johnson, already referred to, 
 and contributed a chapter to that work. Comparing this map with 
 the reports just described, it will be seen that a considerable advance 
 has been made both as regards stratigraphy and nomenclature. The 
 Primary and Transition groups are now arranged under the head of 
 Cambrian arid Lower and Upper Silurian, but no distinction was 
 made in the red-colored sediments, the whole being massed under 
 one heading, though comprising areas which range from the Devo- 
 nian to the top of the Upper Carboniferous. He, however, clearly 
 understood the true position of the Lower Carboniferous sandstones 
 and conglomerates as underlying the Coal measures to which 
 arrangement Dr. Gesner dissented. 
 
 The belts of granite, both of the northern and southern areas, were 
 indicated roughly, but much of what is now called pre-Cambrian, 
 embracing a great thickness of volcanic rocks, was included under 
 the head of traps, syenites, felspar-porphyries, etc. ; while the Cam- 
 * brian rocks were supposed to include, not so much the recognized 
 Cambrian of the present day, as what are undoubtedly the oldest of 
 the pre-Cambrian rocks, viz., the Laurentian limestones, syenites 
 and gneisses, with associated slates. The limits of the central 
 Carboniferous basin were outlined with considerable correctness, 
 and the various coal crops clearly defined. 
 

 NF\V BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 7 
 
 Dr. Robb also seems to have perfectly understood the general 
 unproductivevess of this area, and to have vigorously confuted the 
 exaggerated statements previously made concerning its economic 
 importance. 
 
 In the northern portion of the Province, the boundaries of the 
 great Silurian area north of the Tobique River, in so far as acces- 
 sible, were quite correctly delineated, though, as communication was 
 necessarily difficult, the various geological features were otherwise, 
 for a great part of the area, largely conjectural. Jackson and 
 
 Following the publications of Dr. Robb, the next papers on the a 
 subject are brief articles by Messrs. Jackson and Taylor, bearing 
 principally upon the disputed mineral of the Albert Mine. These 
 appeared in 1851, and were succeeded in 1852 by another, published 
 in the Geological Journal, London, on the structure and geological 
 relations of this famous deposit, by Mr. J. W., now Sir William 
 Dawson. 
 
 Pet-ley's Handbook for Emigrants, while containing some informa- 
 tion concerning the geological structure of the Province, can scarcely 
 be said to have advanced our knowledge greatly ; since the remarks 
 there contained* were taken largely from the works of previous pawsoni am 
 writers. But in 18^, the first edition of the Acadian Geology con- Acadian 
 
 J . Ueology, 1st 
 
 tamed two chapters relating to this Province, the former of which, edition, 1855. 
 pertaining to the Carboniferous system, is a valuable contribution, and 
 the conclusions there expressed as to the horizon of the central area, 
 as well as the divisions of the south-eastern portion in Albert county, 
 have been very fully confirmed by the most recent investigations. 
 
 Concerning the older series of rocks developed about St. John, suf- 
 ficient work had not at that time been done to determine their true 
 age. The richly fossiliferous Primordial or Cambrian slates of that 
 city and of the Hammond River valley to the eastward had not then 
 been studied j and only a few imperfect remains had been found, 
 whose age could not be ascertained. As a consequence, the pre- 
 Cambrian age of the rocks which unconformably underlie these at 
 many points could not be established, while opportunities for com- 
 parison between the crystalline portion and the recognized Lauren- 
 tian and Huronian of Ontario and Quebec, which, through the labors 
 of Logan, Murray and Hunt, had now come into great prominence, 
 were not sufficient to establish their true position on lithological 
 grounds. The conclusions on this area then stated, in default of 
 extended personal observations, were therefore of necessity largely 
 
8 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 [athew, 1860. 
 
 those of Dr. Robb, who, at that time, and, in fact, for some years 
 later, was regarded as the standard authority on New Brunswick 
 geology. 
 
 During the succeeding years to 1860, but little geological work 
 appears to have been done, except in a desultory way ; but about 
 that date, several young gentlemen of St. John, notably Messrs. 
 Messrs. Hartt, Hartt and the brothers G. F. and C. R. Matthew, began the careful 
 G? 1 R y ami d c. R, systematic study of the rock formations about that city. They were 
 ably assisted by Prof. L. W. Bailey, who had lately been appointed 
 to the chair of Natural History in the University of New Brunswick, 
 which had become vacant through the death of Dr. Robb. These 
 gentlemen were fortunate in discovering a rich fauna and flora in 
 many of the beds, both in the city itself as well as at various points 
 to the east and west. The collected fossils were submitted to Sir 
 J. W. Dawson, the principal of McGill College, and the recognized 
 authority on fossil botany, who speedily determined the horizon of a 
 portion of the strata as Devonian, while the fauna of another portion 
 clearly appertained to a much older period. The results of these 
 examinations were first made public in a paper read before the 
 Natural History Society of Montreal, in 1861, and the Devonian 
 character of the flora fully stated. In the same paper, however, the 
 author stated that the associated slates and limestones, regarded by 
 Robb as Cambrian, but whose relations had not been clearly made 
 out, might possibly belong, on stratigraphical grounds, to the Devo- 
 nian or Silurian. These results were also communicated, in a much 
 more extended form, in a paper to the Geological Society of London, 
 published in 1862 ; in which also it was stated that the Devonian 
 might possibly include what is now known to be Primordial, as well 
 as the Laurentian gneisses, limestones and associated rocks. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the geology of this section was an exceed- 
 ingly difficult problem to decipher and one requiring great strati- 
 graphical skill, as well as extensive knowledge of the obscure fossil 
 forms that were being discovered from time to time, the horizon 
 of which had not yet been accurately determined ; and it was not 
 until several years later that light began to break in upon this intri- 
 cate question ; for in the next publication on this subject, which was 
 a communication from Mr. G. F. Matthew, to the Canadian Natur- 
 ;hew, 1863. alist in lg6 ^ while re _ cast i ng the g roupSj as stated by Principal 
 
 Dawson, in the previous year, and giving them local names, he failed 
 to see any real ground for the separation of the metamorphic 
 
 Sir William 
 Dawson, 1861 
 
 Sir William 
 Dawson, 1862. 
 
 Mr. G. F. 
 
SRtfNSWlCH GEdLOGY. 
 
 f)ortion, comprising the limestones, gneisses, &c., from the fossil 
 iferous Devonian. He, however, gave the name 'of " Portland," to Portland group, 
 the lowest members of the group, from the fact of their being exten- 
 sively developed in that suburb of St. John, and assigned them to 
 the horizon of the lower Devonian, or possibly the upper part of the 
 Silurian system. 
 
 To an apparently overlying series, embracing a considerable 
 thickness of greenish grey slates, red, slaty conglomerates and shales, 
 with red conglomerates, grits and hard grey sandstone, the name 
 " Coldbrook " was given, while a third division, styled the "St. John Coidbrook 
 group," comprised a series of dark grey slates and sandstones, to a 
 great extent the Primordial of the present day, in which were found 
 a lingula and several other obscure fossils. 
 
 His succeeding group, the " Bloomsbury," while largely of volcanic Bloomsbury 
 origin, included in its upper part some five hundred feet of slates gr ' 
 and conglomerates, apparently devoid of fossils ; overlying which 
 came the Little River and Mispec groups, largely composed of sand- Little River 
 
 . ... and Mispec 
 
 stones, slates and conglomerates of various colors, but distinguished group, 
 throughout by a great abundance of fossils, principally plants, 
 though comprising also crustaceans and the remains of insects. 
 
 The apparent difficulty of separating the metamorphic portion from 
 the fossiliferous and recognized Devonian, arose in great measure 
 from the seeming interstratification of the various groups, and 
 the complicated structure arising from the infolding of newer strata 
 with those of great antiquity, due to a series of anticlinals which are 
 often completely overturned, in conjunction with profound faults ; 
 and it was not till the researches of another year by those indefatig- 
 able workers, Messrs. G. F. and C. R. Matthew, that the beds which pi rs t discovery 
 the former gentleman had designated the St. John group, and which ?ossi"sTi862-63, 
 had for a long time been known to hold certain obscure traces of Har&SS' 
 organic life, disclosed a new and entirely unexpected suite of fossils ; Matthew - 
 these included brachiopods and trilobites, the latter in considerable 
 variety, but generally of small sizes, which, on comparison with the 
 published memoirs of Barrande on the Primordial of Europe, resulted 
 in the establishment of a similar Primordial zone in New Brunswick, 
 a discovery, the importance of which in relation to the elucidation of 
 the geology of this section, can scarcely be overrated. 
 
 The credit of solving this difficult problem is largely due to the C. F. Hartt on 
 late Mr. C. F. Hartt, one of the earliest and most zealous workers in fossils, 1864. 
 this field, who at that time was engaged in the Museum of Compara- 
 
iu 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK: GEOLOGY. 
 
 Sir William 
 Dawson, 1861. 
 
 Prof L. w 
 
 Brunswick. 
 
 tive Zoology in Harvard College. The results of his investigations 
 on the fossils collected by the Messrs. Matthew in 1862, and by 
 himself in the following year, were communicated in a preliminary 
 paper to Prof. Bailey in 1864, and published in the " Observations 
 on the Geology of Southern New Brunswick "by that author in 
 1865. 
 
 The discovery of the Primordial or Cambrian zone in the vicinity 
 of St. John worked an entire revolution in the stratigraphy of that 
 portion of the province. The puzzling admixture of the most highly 
 metamorphic rocks with those entirely unaltered and abounding in 
 fossils was again investigated, and by the aid of the new light, a toler- 
 ably clear knowledge of the structure was obtained. The map 
 accompanying the report just referred to, as compared with the 
 hitherto recognized standard of Dr. Robb, shows many important 
 changes in the various geological formations One of the first 
 corrections made was the transposition of the crystalline limestones 
 gneisses, &c., from their former doubtful position to their proper 
 place below the Cambrian, which was found to overlie them uncon- 
 formably at various points ; while their resemblance to recognized 
 Laurentian rocks of Ontario and Quebec, which had already been 
 pointed out b> Sir William Dawson, rendered it exceedingly 
 probable that they might occupy a similar position in the geological 
 record. They were, therefore, so arranged and have since been 
 regarded by most geologists as among the fundamental rocks of the 
 province. 
 
 The lithological characters of the various rocks which compose 
 these Azoic or Eozoic strata have been given in different papers on 
 the subject. Their high degree of metamorphism was commented 
 on by Sir William Dawson as early as 1861, and the descriptions of 
 the several divisions of slates, limestones, quartzites, syenites, and 
 gneiss were subsequently stated in Prof. Bailey's report in i865, 
 under the heading of the " Portland group, " and will be considered 
 later. 
 
 Following the paper of Mr. Matthew in 1863, on the rocks in the 
 vicinity of St. John, appeared one by Prof. L. W. Bailey in the Cana- 
 dian Naturalist, detailing observations made in 1863 during a canoe 
 voyage across the northern part of the Province, by way of the 
 Tobique and Nipisiguit rivers. This paper is of special interest as 
 giving us the first scientific account of the geology and botany of the 
 country along these streams, since on the map of Dr. Robb, while 
 
BRUNSWICK CKOLOC-V. H 
 
 the areas of Upper Silurian and Lower Carboniferous on the Tobique 
 were laid down with tolerable accuracy, the boundaries of the forma- 
 tions on the other streams flowing east to the Bay of Chaleurs were 
 largely imaginary. The great areas of felsites and other crystalline 1 
 rocks about the head waters of the Nipisiguit were rioted by Prof. 
 Bailey, though their age was not determined, and the Lower Silurian 
 aspect of the strata on the lower portion of this stream was pointed 
 out. This was followed in the- same year, 1864, by his " Notes on L. w. Bailey, 
 the mineral resources of New Brunswick," which, while giving noth- resources of 
 ing specially new in reference to the geology, contained much inter- igfil, ' 
 esting matter concerning the mining industries, then in their infancy. 
 It was in turn followed the next year, 1865, by two reports on the L. w. Bailey, 
 Geology of the Province, the first by Prof. Bailey on the southern southernNew 
 portion already alluded to, and the second by Prof. H. Y. Hind, also FsB 5 1 *' 
 on its general geology, but more especially of interest in reference t o Geoi.' * 
 the northern portion, and containing much information on the mine. 
 rals of economic value. In both of these a marked increase in the 
 nomenclature of the science is manifest. The researches of Prof. 
 Hartt on the Primordial already noted, led, not only to the separa- 
 tion of a portion of the crystalline rocks as Laurentian, but made a still 
 further stride by the removal of a second portion, lying stratigraphi- 
 cally between the Laurentian and the Cambrian, which was erected 
 into a distinct group with the title of Coldbrook, and assigned to the 
 Huronian system. This division was in time subdivided into an 
 upper and lower, the former of which, consisting largely of reddish 
 strata, was regarded as of purely sedimentary character, while the 
 latter, composed largely of hard, greenish rocks, was held to be 
 chiefly of volcanic origin, the thickness of the whole being estimated 
 at 5,000 feet. 
 
 The recognized areas of Huronian rocks were, however, as yet very 
 limited. The intricate stratigraphy of the south coast still prevented 
 the separation of much of what is now known to be of that age from 
 the position it had so long held as presumably Devonian or Silurian. 
 From their apparently interstratified position among the plant 
 bearing beds of the former, at several points east of St. John, it was 
 inferred that a great thickness of strata, highly metamorphic in 
 character, and now known to be among the oldest in the Province, 
 constituted an integral portion of that series. 
 
 This belt which has an extensive development in eastern St. John, 
 Kings and Albert counties and which has since been found to un- 
 
12 NEW MtJtfSWiCK. GEOLOCY. 
 
 conformably underlie rocks of Primordial age, had been brought. into 
 its apparent abnormal superposition upon the fossiliferous Devonian 
 by a complicated system of faults and overturns, which at that time 
 had not been investigated. 
 
 Kingston Another great group of rocks, also for the most part highly meta- 
 
 morphic, and designated by the term " Kingston," was brought pro- 
 minently into notice in the same report. More difficult, apparently, 
 of location than even the Coldbrook, its exact position could not, 
 at that time, be determined by the New Brunswick geologists, and 
 a suite of specimens was accordingly submitted to the inspection of 
 Sir W. Dawson and Dr. Hunt of Montreal. 
 
 The lithological characters of the group were stated to be very 
 like those found in the rocks of the Cobequid series of Nova Scotia, 
 which were then regarded as of Upper and Middle Silurian age, but 
 it was also stated that possibly portions of the group might pertain 
 to the Devonian system, from their resemblance to the supposed 
 Devonian of south eastern New Brunswick, while the similarity of 
 many of the rocks to older or true Plutonic masses was also pointed 
 out. The true position of this group of rocks, which has a consi- 
 derable development in the southern part of the province, will be 
 considered later. 
 
 The Devonian of this area, as described in the report in question, 
 has, since its publication, been greatly modified. It became very 
 evident, as the relations of the Huronian and Primordial were more 
 
 Division of the fully understood, that a considerable thickness of what was styled the 
 
 Bloomsbury _.. . , . , 
 
 group. Bloomsbury group, which represented the lower portion of the Devo- 
 
 nian, possessed lithological characters very similar to much of what 
 was now called Coldbrook, and that it was clearly separable into two 
 parts, the upper of which only, embracing some 500 feet of sand- 
 stones, shales and conglomerates, was referable to the Devonian ; 
 the lower portion, which was largely volcanic, being transferred to 
 
 Division of the pre-Cambrian. 
 
 Little River ,,, T . . _",.-.. 
 
 group into inc JLittie River group, the second division, was also clearly 
 
 sandstone and separable into two, the Dadoxylon sandstone and the Cordaite 
 
 e ' shales ; the former of which, consisting for the most part of hard 
 
 grey sandstones, shales and grits, and representing a total thickness 
 
 of about 2,800 feet, was characterized throughout by a wonderfully 
 
 rich and important flora, of which large collections were made and 
 
 carefully determined by Sir W. Dawson. 
 
 The second subdivision of the Little River group was, in 1865, 
 held to embrace rocks of very dissimilar character. In addition to 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY.' 13 
 
 fine shales and sandstones, holding the remains of Cordaites from 
 which the formation received its name, it was thought that a great 
 thickness of metamorphic rocks, chloritic and talcose schists, fel- 
 sites, etc., presenting a marked resemblance to strata, which at a 
 later period were recognized as Huronian, constituted, from their 
 position upon the Dadoxylon sandstone, an upper part of the same 
 series. 
 
 This view was entertained for some years, or till the subsequent 
 study of the many faults seen on the east side of the St. John harbor, 
 and which affected this area very seriously, disclosed the fact that 
 the apparent position of the metamorphic upon the unaltered por- 
 tion was due to an overturn, or possibly to a sliding fault. The 
 error thus stated in 1865 and repeated by Prof. Hind in his report 
 in the same year, was again reproduced in the geological map which 
 accompanied the second edition of the Acadian Geology in 1868; 
 but it was soon afterwards discovered by the local geologists, and the 
 metamorphic portion was separated, and established as a division of Separation of 
 the Huronian, under the title of the " Coastal group." group. 
 
 The highest beds of Devonian age were arranged under the head 
 of the Mispec group. They consisted principally of reddish con- Mispee group, 
 glomerates and slates, the former holding fragments of felsitic rocks, 
 red sandstones and slaty limestones in a reddish slaty paste. These 
 were not found to contain fossils. 
 
 Passing to the consideration of the next system, we find the gene- Carboniferous 
 ral outlines of the Carboniferous indicated with tolerable accuracy. syft em< 
 The observations appear, however, to be largely directed to the struc- 
 ture of the lower division ; which, more especially in its eastern 
 extension, included considerable areas of the middle Carboniferous ; 
 sufficient opportunities for study not having been afforded in this 
 direction to admit of their complete separation. The various subdi- 
 visions of the Lower Carboniferous, as there laid down for the east- 
 ern part of Albert county, were verified on subsequent detailed 
 examination, though certain sections elsewhere appeared at first view 
 to present a somewhat different arrangement ; more especially in 
 regard to the true position of the bituminous or " Albert shales." 
 
 In its distribution, the Lower Carboniferous formation was found 
 to constitute a well defined belt, underlying, throughout its whole 
 extent, the Middle Carboniferous basin of the interior. It also com- 
 prised certain areas in eastern Albert and Kings counties which 
 rested upon the flanks pf what was then regarded a the metamor-- 
 
14 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 phic Devonian of the Caledonia Mountain range. West of St. John, 
 however, its presence was not definitely noted, certain rocks in the 
 vicinity of Lepreau village and harbour, which had been regarded by 
 Dr, Gesner as of New Red Sandstone and Carboniferous age, 
 being found to pertain to a much lower horizon, representing the 
 upper part of the Devonian system. 
 
 Concerning the structure of the central or Middle Carboniferous 
 basin, but few additional details were added to the views already 
 expressed by the late Dr. Robb. Fossil plants were obtained 
 at points about Grand Lake, as well as in the vicinity of the Mira- 
 michi River and the Bay of Chaleurs, which appeared to present 
 what was at that time regarded as a mingling of forms, including 
 some portions even of the Upper Carboniferous, while fossils from 
 other outliers of the formation, distributed along the North side of 
 the Bay of Fundy, indicated a Millstone-grit age. The discovery 
 however by Mr. C. R. Matthew, of the presence of a considerable 
 area of micaceous slates, which are probably Devonian, in the very 
 heart of the Grand Lake coal field, was very important, since it 
 confirmed the view as to the apparent thinness of the measures at 
 .this point ; while the fossils in the overlying rocks were of the 
 horizon of the Millstone-grit. 
 
 Hind ?865 ' The re P rt of Prof - H - Y - Hind to tne New Brunswick govern- 
 ment, (1865) contains a large amount of very valuable and interesting 
 matter, relating, not only to the geology, but to the mineral and agri- 
 cultural resources of the province. A marked advance in geological 
 knowledge is evident in connection with the work, more especially in 
 regard to the northern portion, cencerning which area, our informa- 
 tion up to that time, owing to its largely inaccessible character, was 
 very limited. A number of sections were made by Prof. Hind 
 along the various streams of the interior. The southern outline of 
 the Upper Silurian was more clearly defined, both along the coast of 
 the Bay of Chaleurs and on the Upsalquitch and Tobique rivers, as 
 well as on the St. John, to the west. The great belt of metamor- 
 phic rocks of the interior, crossed by Prof. Bailey on the Nipisiguit, 
 were examined and classed by Prof. Hind, principally on lithological 
 grounds, as the equivalents of the Quebec Group of Canada, as laid 
 down by the late Sir William Logan. The great areas of granite and 
 syenite, both of the southern and northern portions of the province] 
 were held to be intrusive and of Devonian age. No specially new 
 facts bearing on the geology of the southern part of the province 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 15 
 
 were advanced ; the views of Bailey and Matthew, in regard to the 
 Devonian age of the metamorphic rocks of Albert and Kings, being 
 assented to. In the western area, however, the partly metamorphic 
 belt underlying the Carboniferous basin on its northwest side, and 
 containing the Antimony ores of Prince William, rocks which had 
 been regarded by Drs. Robb and Gesner as Cambrian, and by 
 Matthew (see Appendix D, Report 1865,) as Lower Silurian was 
 also classed by Hind in his Quebec Group, and paralleled with the 
 upper and slaty members seen on the Nipisiguit and other rivers in 
 the northern part of the province. 
 
 On the lower Restigouche, between Campbellton and Dalhousie, 
 Devonian rocks were recognized, skirting the shores, and associated 
 with traps which present conspicuous hill features in this locality. 
 Small outliers of Carboniferous conglomerate, near Dalhousie station, 
 were also indicated, and their true horizon was stated, in contradis- 
 tinction to the early views of Dr. Gesner, who had regarded them as 
 of the age of the Carboniferous and New Red Sandstone. 
 
 Following the report of Prof. Hind, the next contribution ofsirWiiiam 
 note to the geology of the province was contained in the second Acadian 
 editon of the Acadian Geology, 1868. The observations there given 68! gy> 
 were based largely on the work of Dr. Robb, Prof. Bailey, and Mr. 
 Matthew. A large amount of additional information, relating princi- 
 pally to palaeontological details, was also given, embracing the various 
 formations from the St. John or "Acadian Group," to the Carbon- Name 
 iferous, both inclusive. The general distribution of the Laurentian 
 and Huronian, the latter of which was still confined to the Coldbrook D y 
 group, remained the same as in Prof. Bailey's report, 1865. In the 
 metamorphic rocks which surrounded the central Carboniferous basin, 
 regarded as Lower Silurian, was included a large area in northern 
 Charlotte county, and in the southern part of Sunbury and Queens, 
 which was afterwards found to be of much more recent age. Following 
 the determinations of Mr. Matthew, the belt extending diagonally 
 through the province, from its south-west angle to the vicinity of 
 Bathurst, was also regarded as Lower Silurian, and not far removed 
 in age from the St. John group. New and valuable matter relating to 
 the Upper Silurian of Dalhousie and vicinity, with lists of character- 
 istic fossils, was given, while to the same horizon was referred the 
 Kingston group of the southern part of the province, which was also 
 again paralleled with the Cobequid series of Nova Scotia. The 
 accompanying map contained much new information, indicating a 
 
16 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 marked increase in our general knowledge of the structure of this 
 interesting field. 
 
 In consequence of the passage of the Confederation Act in 
 1867, New Brunswick, at that date, came, to a certain extent, under 
 the control of the Federal Government ; and, in the ensuing year, the 
 operations of the Geological Survey of Canada, which had been carried 
 on continuously in Ontario and Quebec since 1843, were now extended 
 
 wofk n by D 6r f C to t ^ ie Maritime Provinces. In pursuance of this arrangement, Mr. C. 
 
 Robb in Robb was sent to New Brunswick, to study more closely the structure 
 
 northern and * 
 
 western New o f the country to the west and north of Fredericton, and along the 
 
 Brusnwick, 
 
 1868. upper St. John River, while Professor Bailey and Mr. Matthew were 
 
 assigned work in the southern part of the province. The results of 
 these explorations appeared in two reports by Mr. Robb, in 1869 
 and 1870, and in a voluminous and exhaustive report by the latter 
 gentlemen in 1871., reviewing the geological history of southern New 
 Brunswick up to that date. This report, which evinces a great 
 amount of painstaking research, has ever since been regarded as a 
 standard work on the geology of this section, although modified in 
 some respects as regards details of structure by later and more 
 systematic explorations. 
 
 Mr. C. Robb, The first report by Mr. Robb made no attempt, in so far as related 
 186?'. e r to the formations underlying the Carboniferous system, to decide the 
 actual horizons of the rocks described, with the exception of the 
 more northerly area, already regarded as Upper Silurian. The great 
 metamorphic belt, regarded first as Cambrian and later as Lower 
 Silurian, was divided into two parts, separated by the central granitic 
 area. Their mineralogical and lithological characters were carefully 
 given, and the discovery at one point on a branch of the Nashwaak 
 River, of a band of ochreous slates, holding fossils of Devonian age, 
 apparently intercalated with the metamorphic rocks, led to the suppo- 
 sition that this great formation might be newer than had hitherto been 
 supposed. That the two bands to the north as well as to the south 
 of the granite belt were of the same age, was considered probable. 
 The characters of the great central axis of granite were well described, 
 and the highly altered condition of the various strata in contact with 
 it was pointed out, the rocks in places having assumed a gneissoid 
 structure and containing numerous crystals of staurolite, mica, etc. 
 The extension of the metamorphic belt to the north-east, beyond the 
 Little South- West Miramichi was established, though fossils which, 
 might determine their actuaj age could not at that time be found. 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 17 
 
 Though no new facts tending to determine more precisely the posi- 
 tion of these various groups in the geological* scale were adduced in 
 these reports, the large amount of topographical work done enabled 
 Mr. Robb to construct a map of the three counties of York, Carleton 
 and Victoria, upon which his observations of the two seasons were 
 laid down. This resulted in a very great advance over the knowledge 
 already possessed of that region, though the entirely unsettled char- 
 acter of the country east of the upper St. John prevented the accu- 
 rate delineation of the several outliers of newer rocks, found to exist 
 at various points unconformably overlying the metamorphic series. 
 
 In the report by Prof. Bailey and Mr. Matthew, which embraced a Prof. Bailey 
 detailed account of the structure of the southern part of the province, Matthew on 
 
 ...... . ^1-1 southern New 
 
 the Laurentian was divided into two portions, the lower 01 which Brunswick, 
 
 consisted largely of gneiss and syenite of greenish, grey and reddish i870-7i. e 
 colors with associated masses of diorite. The total thickness of this 
 division was not definitely known. The upper was largely a calca- 
 reous series, resting upon the lower at many points, and was made 
 up of crystalline limestone, quartzite and slate, and with limited beds 
 of gneiss. The actual thickness of this division was also somewhat 
 conjectural, but a section on the St. John River, near Indiantown, 
 one of the suburbs of St. John city, gave 1,385 feet, while the 
 lower portion, omitting a considerable thickness of granitoid gneiss, 
 recognized in the western part of the county of St. John, but not 
 seen in the river section, was estimated at 2,850 feet. This would 
 give, for the whole of the Laurentian rocks in this area, a probable 
 thickness of over 5,000 feet. In a series of rocks, however, so exten- 
 sively faulted and displaced as many of those in the vicinity of St. 
 John, the actual measurement of their thickness is almost an impos- 
 sibility. 
 
 Assisted by the extensive experience of Dr. T. S. Hunt, at that 
 time an officer of the Geological Survey of Canada, the New Bruns- 
 wick geologists then proceeded to attack the intricate problem of the 
 metamorphic rocks, which, owing to their complex stratigraphy, had 
 never been satisfactorily arranged. 
 
 Upon a more detailed examination, it was conclusively established 
 that rocks of Primordial age were, at several points east of St. John, 
 unconformably placed upon what had so far been regarded as an 
 integral position of the Devonian system while the lithological 
 characters of the latter presented many points of resemblance tonuronian 
 those now recognized as of Huronian age, These discoveries, geveraUjr 
 
 2 
 
18 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 together with the fact that these supposed Devonian rocks were the 
 undoubted continuation of the Coldbrook or Huronian belt of St. 
 John and vicinity, led to their entire removal from the position they 
 had so long held, on grounds both of stratigraphy and lithology, and 
 to their being placed in the Huronian system, under the title of the 
 Coastal group. 
 
 The importance of lithological characters being now clearly recog- 
 nized in the determination of certain horizons, especially when applied 
 to areas of limited extent, attention was next directed to the other 
 great belt of metamorphic rocks which, under the title of the King- 
 ston group, had, up to this time, been regarded as presumably of 
 Upper Silurian age. This position had been 'assigned it on very 
 much the same grounds that had affected the earlier position of the 
 Coastal, viz. : the supposed interstratification of its equivalents with 
 fossiliferous Upper Silurian sediments which had been observed in 
 eastern Maine. Subsequent examinations, however, proved the stra- 
 graphical relations of the true Kingston grcup to be entirely different. 
 It was found at several points to underlie areas of Primordial slates 
 and, therefore, of necessity, to belong to a much lower position than 
 had been supposed. At the same time, the marked resemblance of 
 the various rocks which composed the group to those of the Coastal 
 and Coldbrook divisions was such that it was deemed most in accord- 
 ance with the evidence at hand to include it also in the Huronian 
 system. Thus, three great areas of metamorphic rocks, all presum- 
 ably newer than Laurentian, had been established, though their 
 relative positions to each other had not as yet been clearly denned. 
 The Coldbrook group had, however, been divided into two portions, 
 a lower, including diorites with felsitic and chloritic rock, largely a 
 volcanic series, and an upper, consisting of argillites, sandstones and 
 conglomerates, generally of reddish colors, which was considered to 
 constitute the lowest members of the St. John group. 
 
 Since the arrangement of the formations, as given in the report 
 
 now under discussion (1870-71), has been made, to a large extent, 
 
 the groundwork of the subsequent publications on the geology of 
 
 southern New Brunswick, the consideration of the groups newer than 
 
 the Huronian may here be profitably taken up. Of these, the first 
 
 Primordial, or in ascending order is the Primordial Silurian, Acadian, or St. John 
 
 lp * group, which latter name it received when regarded as an integral 
 
 portion of the Devonian system, from the fact of its being largely 
 
 developed and first studied in and near the city pf St. John. By 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 19 
 
 the fortunate recognition of its contained fossils in 1863-64, Prof. 
 Hartt, as already stated, first established the position of the hitherto 
 doubtful metamorphic rocks as pre-Cambrian, and thus afforded a 
 satisfactory basis for future geological work. Six areas were now 
 recognized as probably belonging to the Primordial horizon ; con- 
 cerning the majority of which no doubt could be entertained, viz. : 
 
 1. St. John and vicinity, with its extension eastward for nearly 
 thirty miles along the valley of the Loch Lomond lakes, continuously, 
 till it reaches the Hammond River. 
 
 2. Limited outcrops about the lower part of Kennebecasis Bay, 
 seen on Long and Kennebecasis islands, and on Milkish Head, as 
 well as on the south shore of the bay itself. 
 
 3. The valley of the Long Reach of the St. John River. In 
 these three areas, typical fossils are abundant. 
 
 4. An area of dark grey and black shales in Wickham, Queens 
 county, resembling in lithological characters the rocks of the previous 
 divisions, but in which no fossils could be detected. 
 
 5. A similar series of beds in the valley of the Nerepis River, 
 likewise apparently devoid of organic remains. 
 
 6. An area in Charlotte county, near the head of Oak Bay. 
 Other areas of undoubted Primordial age have, however, since been 
 found. 
 
 In all these the lithological characters are exceedingly similar, but 
 later explorations on the areas in question led, in subsequent reports, 
 to the separation of divisions 4, 5 and 6, on the grounds of lack of 
 fossil evidence, and they were placed in a newly erected group of 
 doubtful beds, under the name Cambro-Silurian. The true relations 
 of these beds to underlying rocks of pre-Silurian aspect will be 
 considered further on, when the general structure, as at present 
 understood, is discussed. 
 
 Next in order, among the many puzzling and doubtful formations 
 discussed in this report, we may briefly glance at the Mascarene series 
 series. 
 
 This group of rocks, so called from its recognized development 
 ilong the shores of the Mascarene peninsula, on the east side of 
 Passamaquoddy Bay, comprises strata of very different character ; 
 >ome of which resemble very closely typical Huronian rocks, such 
 is diorites, fine-grained felsites, petrosilex, etc., which are intimately 
 associated with, and, in fact, apparently overlie a series of slates and 
 sandstones, containing fossil shells and remains of plants. Here 
 
20 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGV. 
 
 then is presented a second problem, somewhat similar to that which 
 so long remained unsolved near St. John. The intimate admixture 
 of beds of such great diversity of character rendered the expression 
 of any definite opinion as to the real age of this group exceedingly 
 difficult, and it was accordingly decribed as an isolated series, with- 
 out being assigned to any definite horizon. A re-examination was 
 made in 1874, and in the report for that year it was stated to be of 
 Upper Silurian age. 
 
 The parallelism of structure displayed in this group of rocks is so 
 marked, when contrasted with the earlier apparent superposition of 
 metamorphic Huronian strata on the Devonian east of St. John, that 
 the merits of the question may be here briefly stated. 
 
 Bailey and The various strata exposed along this portion of the shore are 
 
 Rep. th (feoi. arranged in five divisions ; of which the lowest consists of hard, grey 
 " 7 ' felspathic slates and olive grey argillites, apparently non-fossiliferous, 
 and having a thickness of about 400 feet. 
 
 Div. 2, in ascending order, comprises black and dark grey banded 
 siliceous slates, with obscure plant remains, and with thin bands of 
 conglomerate ; thickness rather more than 600 feet. 
 
 Division 3 consists of grey sandy flags and slates with slate con- 
 glomerates, in all about 400 feet, the greater part of which contains 
 fossil shells. 
 
 Div. 4, principally bright red and green slates, sometimes with a 
 purple tinge, apparently without fossils ; thickness 300 feet. 
 
 Div. 5, principally hard, red felsites, often porphyritic and of 
 Huronian aspect ; thickness unknown, probably over 300 feet. 
 and^ : ^ Uey ^ e g e lgi cal position assigned this series in report 1874-75, as 
 R e att (feoi Sur a P ort i n f tne Upper Silurian, seems, from the characters of its 
 187475. ' various divisions, to be somewhat unsatisfactory. Thus, on page 88, 
 
 it is stated that division 2. or its equivalent on Beaver Harbor, con- 
 tains plant stems, among which a cydopteris, a cordaite, a sphen- 
 opteris, and the remains of ferns were clearly recognized. The pre- 
 sence of these certainly impart a Devonian aspect to this portion ; 
 while the Upper Silurian fauna in the overlying beds would indicate 
 an overturn or a line of fault at this point. Confirmatory evidence 
 in this direction is afforded by the overlying bands of Huronian 
 looking rocks, which had for a long time been paralleled with the 
 Coldbrook and Kingston groups, and it is very probable that, taking 
 into consideration the crumpled character of the Huronian sediments 
 of Beaver Harbor ? witrj {he infolding there of narrow belts of rocks 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 21 
 
 holding Silurian fossils, we may have a similar condition of things in 
 the Mascarene peninsula. Since the date of the report in question, 
 however, no further attempt has been made to work out this problem 
 in a more satisfactory manner. 
 
 Ascending in the geological scale, we find the outlines of the Upper Silurian. 
 Upper Silurian considerably changed as compared with all previous 
 reports. The separation of the Kingston group made a great reduc- 
 tion in its aggregate thickness. In Charlotte county, the formation 
 comprised several localities where characteristic fossils were found, 
 such as the vicinity of Oak Bay and the group of islands and pro- 
 montories lying between Beaver Harbor and the Western Isles. Col- 
 lections of these were made at various points, notably at Back Bay 
 on Frye's Island and at Oak Bay. 
 
 Further east in Kings and Queens counties, the fossilifefous areas 
 east of the granite, and extending to the St. John River, were well 
 denned. These were found to embrace slates, sandstones and con- 
 glomerates, with a considerable thickness of hard, quartzose beds and 
 occasionally felsites and diorites, the total thickness being about 
 5,700 feet. 
 
 Along the line between Kings and Queens counties, these rocks 
 were found to overlie unconformably a series of hard felsites and 
 other rocks of Huronian aspect, which form prominent hill features 
 in this area, the debris of which enters into the composition of the 
 basal beds of the Silurian. The age of these strata in the vicinity 
 of Beaver Harbor, as determined by the fossils there obtained, is about 
 that of the Niagara formation. 
 
 The Devonian system has, as contrasted with the report of 1865, Devonian, 
 been also largely remodelled. The four divisions of Bloomsbury 
 conglomerate, Dadoxylon sandstone, Cordaite shale and Mispec 
 conglomerate were retained, but the first was reduced by about 2,000 
 feet of trappean and other volcanic rocks which, from their character, 
 were now referred to the Huronian system, while the Cordaite shales 
 were reduced by the separation of the apparently upper and meta- 
 morphic portion, which was erected into the Coastal group as already 
 described. 
 
 The total thickness of the four divisions of the Devonian as now 
 existing, was estimated at 7,500 feet, but as the area is profoundly 
 affected by faults, this estimate may not be actually correct, owing to 
 possible repetitions of certain strata. It does not include also the 
 beds of the Perry sandstone group which, upon the authority of Sir 
 
22 ttW fcRtfNswicK GEOLOGY. 
 
 William Dawson, from the evidence of contained plants, had been 
 assigned to this system, as its upper member, several years before, 
 and had also, in the report of 1865, been so described by Prof. 
 Bailey, but subsequently separated on the grounds of want of con- 
 formity to the underlying Devonian of Point Lepreau, and from 
 a supposed resemblance to certain recognized Lower Carbon- 
 iferous sediments in the vicinity of the St. John River. Various 
 publications have appeared concerning the fossils of this group, 
 Dawson, 1861- among which may be mentioned those by Sir William Dawson 
 on fosSi plants in Can. Nat., 1861, on Pre-Carb. flora of Maine, &c. ; Flora of Dev. 
 of Devonian periodj in N> E America, Geol. Soc., 1862 ; Observations on Dev. 
 Carboniferous plants of Mame> GaspS, &c., Geol. Soc., 1863; Fossil plants of Dev. 
 and Up. Sil. of Canada, Geol. Sur., 1871. From the evidence, therefore, 
 of its contained plants, and from its marked resemblance to much of 
 the Upper Devonian conglomerate of the Gaspe district, it seems 
 highly probable that this group should also be assigned to the 
 Devonian rather than to the Carboniferous system. Its distribution 
 is limited. It occupies the greater part of the peninsula between the 
 St. Croix River and Passamaquoddy Bay, underlying the town of St. 
 Andrews, with several adjacent islands, and occurs in patches at the 
 mouth of the Magaguadavic River and as a considerable area about 
 the village of Lepreau and on the peninsula which terminates in the 
 point of that name. 
 
 Carboniferous The Carboniferous system was divided into three divisions, the 
 divisions. 118 Lower, Middle and Upper, of which the first, having a thickness of 
 i87-7i? lr " some thousands of feet, contained the limestones, gypsum, ores of 
 manganese, and the peculiar mineral albertite, while the Middle and 
 Upper were briefly described under the general term Coal-measures, 
 since the examination of this formation had not been carried on 
 sufficient!) to warrant a separation of its various members. The 
 subdivisions of the Lower Carboniferous were, as stated in previous 
 pages, accurately given in the first edition of Acadian Geology, when 
 the bituminous shales and associated conglomerates of the Albert 
 mine were rightly regarded as the lowest portion. This order of suc- 
 See observa- cession was, however, somewhat modified by Mr. Matthew from sub- 
 ofSouThern 01 * sequent observations made along the line of railway near Norton, 
 where the bituminous beds had an apparently higher position. More 
 detailed examination proved that both observers were right, for while 
 in the sections on the Petitcodiac River, the lowest beds in the forma- 
 tion are, without doubt, the basal conglomerates and Albert shales, at 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGV. 23 
 
 several points in Kings county the presence of bituminous shales 
 was distinctly observed near the middle of the series. The distri- 
 bution of the series was, however, given with considerable accuracy, 
 and the presence of a volcanic, intercalated portion in a section along 
 the St. John River in the parish of Hampstead was noted, trappean 
 and felspathic rocks occurring both near its summit and base. This 
 volcanic feature is also well observed at other points, not only along 
 the soufri-western margin of the formation in Queens, Sunbury and 
 York counties, but in outcrops at intervals in the very centre of the 
 Middle Carboniferous basin about the upper end of Grand Lake. 
 As these rocks, however, had at this time not been particularly 
 studied, many additional facts regarding them were brought to light 
 on later investigations, and have been described in more recent 
 publications. 
 
 The opinions stated in this report, 1870-71, regarding the Middle 
 Carboniferous confirmed those expressed by Dr. Robb in 1850, viz : 
 that this formation was of no great thickness and probably repre- 
 sented only by its lower member, as indicated by the presence of 
 the outcrops of metamorphic slate, pointed out by C. K. Matthew, 
 in what was supposed to be the thickest portion of the coal field. 
 The fossils collected were, for the most part, characteristic of the 
 lower horizon, but in several cases appeared to indicate a higher 
 range, embracing Upper Carboniferous forms, which might be derived 
 from unconformably overlying patches of newer rocks or a mingling 
 of the flora of different horizons. 
 
 The deposits along the Bay of Fundy, described as of Triassic age, 
 have, as in the case of so many other formations, been long a subject 
 of dispute. Dr. Gesner, in his early reports, included not only the 
 areas mentioned in the report under consideration^ probably of this 
 age, but included also other deposits, some of which, like those of 
 Lepreau and Passamaquoddy Bay, have been seen to be. presumably 
 Devonian, while others, farther east, are now known to belong to the 
 Lower and Upper Carboniferous formations. Dr. Robb, on the 
 other hand, held that no rocks newer than Carboniferous existed in 
 New Brunswick. 
 
 In many respects, the limited areas referred to in this report do 
 resemble and are undoubtedly the equivalents of the so-called Triassic 
 of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but as later investigations 
 in these localities render it exceedingly probable that a considerable 
 portion of these rocks, especially along the nor f h side of Minas 
 
24 Nfe\V BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Basin, as well as on the island of Prince Edward, really belong to the 
 Permo-Carboniferous, the same conclusions may probably be stated 
 in reference to the supposed similar rocks of New Brunswick. The 
 presence of plant remains in the sandstones at Quaco and Martin's 
 Head, similar in character to those found in Prince Edward Island in 
 what was formerly there regarded as Lower Trias, but now held to be- 
 long rather to the Permian, makes it very probable that more detailed 
 study of these rocks will* show that they also may be classed as the 
 upper member of the Palaeozoic series. In their stratigraphical rela- 
 tions, there is nothing to indicate their higher position, since they rest 
 generally on Lower Carboniferous or Millstone-grit sediments, while 
 the occurrence of undoubted Upper Carboniferous beds in West- 
 moreland county, similarly placed, and closely resembling these in 
 character, tends to support the present view. 
 
 As in Nova Scotia, and to a very limited extent in Prince Edward 
 Island, the stratified portions are penetrated by trappean rocks, 
 which, along the contact have altered the sediments to a certain 
 extent, but never for more than a few feet. The peculiar metamor- 
 phosing influence of the Triassic traps can be seen at many points, 
 the sandstones being baked and hardened, sometimes losing their red 
 color and becoming grey, while in places, the beds are thrown into 
 local anticlinals, by the apparent upward thrust of the volcanic matter. 
 The greatest development of these trappean rocks is seen on the Island 
 of Grand Manan, the western half of which is composed largely of 
 basalts, amygdaloids, and trap ashes, with limited exposures of 
 red sandstone, which, near the contact, are impregnated, to some 
 extent, with copper glance, supposed at one time to constitute a deposit 
 of economic value. 
 
 There yet remain to be considered two groups mentioned in this 
 report, which, owing to their great diversity of lithological character, 
 have ever been difficult of adjustment in the geological record. These 
 were described under the head of various pre -Carboniferous rocks, 
 and were divided into two portions, styled, from their prevailing 
 Pale and dark colors, the " dark and the pale argillites." The lower members which 
 ' St were generally dark-grey and often flinty in texture, were highly 
 felspathic, and so far as could be ascertained, were devoid of fossils ; 
 the upper while generally of a lighter hue, had a greater preponderance 
 of grey sandstones and shales and in places showed indistinct traces 
 of plant remains. The lower series was found often in direct contact 
 with the great granitic mass of Charlotte and Kings counties, the meta- 
 

 NE'W BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY, 26 
 
 morphic action of which was evidenced by the alteration of the clay 
 slates into schists, and by the production of crystals of staurolite, acti- 
 nolite, mica, &c., in the adjacent beds. No definite fossil evidence 
 could be found to locate this group in the scale of formations, though 
 from the resemblance of its lowest members to the lower portions of 
 the Mascerene series, it was supposed to be not far removed from the 
 horizon of the Upper Silurian. The similarity of much of the upper 
 group to the portion of the Devonian characterized as the Cordaite, 
 together with the presence of plant remains, and its stratigraphical 
 position between the dark argillites and the Lower Carboniferous, 
 caused this portion to be regarded as probably belonging to the 
 Devonian system. Both these series were in the map accompanying 
 the second edition of Acadian Geology, colored as of Lower 
 Silurian age. 
 
 Subsequently, in 1875, these pre-Carboniferous rocks, were arranged j{j^ F - 
 
 by Mr. G. F. Matthew, under three heads, viz: Huronian, Upper pale and dark 
 
 argillites, Rep. 
 Silurian and Devonian, with the proviso, however, that some portions, Geoi. Sur. 1875. 
 
 notably of the dark argilites, or lower group, presented strong resem 
 blanccs to the Lower Silurian of the western part of the province. 
 But later, in the general report accompanying the map of southern 
 New Brunswick, (1878-79,) they were re-arranged, the pale argillites 
 being placed permanently in the Devonian, the doubtful or dark 
 argillites classed as a new group, under the title of Cambro-Silurian, 
 while a large area to the east of and between the granite ridge and 
 the St. John River, in which typical fossils were found at various 
 points, was called Silurian, certain areas of felsites which protruded 
 through these fossiliferous sediments, and formed prominent hills and 
 ridges, being, from their lithological aspect, regarded as true Huronian 
 rocks. 
 
 Resuming the regular history of New Brunswick geology, the next Pf. L. W. 
 paper on the subject was by Prof. L. W. Bailey, 1871-72. This dealt aSSur 1 ?' 
 principally with the extension eastward of the Huronian system, into 18 ' 
 Albert and Kings counties, more particularly with reference to the 
 Coastal group, which was found to occupy the greater part of the 
 country bordering on the Bay of Fundy in this direction, and was 
 regarded as constituting the mineral bearing, or copper-belt of this 
 area. Attention was also directed to the presence of a small deposit 
 of supposed true coal measure rocks at Dunsinane, on the railway 
 qetween Sussex and Petitcodiac, (see also Report 1865, p. 157,) 
 
2 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 and which was thought might be similar in character to the coal 
 area of Spring Hill, in Nova Scotia, a supposition, however, not 
 verified by later examination of the district. The occurrence of 
 intrusive traps in eastern Albert, of supposed Triassic age, was also 
 noted, and this was considered important, as tending to strengthen 
 the view expressed the previous year, as to the Mesozoic age of 
 certain patches of red sandstone found at points along the coast in 
 the vicinity. The intrusive character of the red granites, both of 
 the great southern area, in Charlotte county, as well as certain masses 
 in Albert and Kings, not only in Silurian sediments, but clearly 
 intruded into older and possibly Laurentian rocks in the south- 
 western portion of the province, was well indicated. 
 
 The season of 1872, was devoted to an examination of the central 
 or Grand Lake coal field, with a view to determine more conclu- 
 sively its economic value by a series of borings, and thus to settle 
 definitely the much vexed question as to the occurrence of workable 
 seams underlying that, which, as a surface seam, had been worked 
 Bailey and to some extent for many years. No detailed study of this coal field 
 GeoL^ur! Rep * had been attempted since the time of Dr. Robb, whose views on the 
 1872-73. subject have already been stated. In the report on this area, 1872- 
 
 73, the entire thickness of the formation above the Lower Carboni- 
 ferous was estimated to be only 600 feet, which was divided into three 
 portions, of 200 feet each, assigned to the Millstone grit, the Produc- 
 tive Coal measures, and the Upper Carboniferous, respectively. The 
 general thinness of the formation was again conclusively pointed 
 out by the presence of areas of older rocks at various places at the 
 R w Ells surface, and subsequently by means of the diamond drill, which 
 Boring penetrated the entire thickness of the Middle Carboniferous at the 
 
 operations at 
 
 Grand Lake, head of Grand Lake, at a depth of not more than 200 feet. Borings 
 Rep. Geol. Sur. 
 
 1872-73. carried on during the next three years, at different points, effectually 
 
 proved the barrenness .of the measures and disproved beyond a 
 doubt the erroneous ideas entertained by many concerning the great 
 economic importance of this area. 
 
 Later examinations of the Carboniferous basin over its entire 
 extent, embracing an area of 10,000 to 12,000 square miles, have led 
 to a modification of the views then expressed, and it has been satis- 
 factorily established that with the exception of certain small outly- 
 ing patches of Upper Carboniferous rocks, occurring for the most 
 part along the shore of Northumberland Strait and in the eastern 
 part of Westmoreland county, the rocks of the entire area belonged 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 27 
 
 to the horizon of the Millstone-grit, and were below the true pro- 
 ductive measures of Nova Scotia. 
 
 The season of 1873 was devoted to the completion of the geolo- 
 gical and topographical map of Queens and Sunbury counties, em- 
 bracing not only the coal field just described, but the various forma- 
 tions bordering this area on the south, including the hitherto doubtful 
 groups of the argillite series and the associated Huronian strata. 
 The conclusions then arrived at, together with the map, were 
 withheld for several years-, pending further investigations, or until 
 the appearance of the general geological map of southern New 
 Brunswick in 1878-79, in which, however, the views expressed were 
 very considerably modified as compared with those held in 1873. 
 
 In 1874-75, several papers on the geology of the province were Bailey and 
 published. In Charlotte county, these related more particularly to the Charlotte* 
 Mascarene series as developed about Passamaquoddy Bay, and Geoi. s'ur. 
 in the adjacent part of the State of Maine. From the facts then 
 observed, the age of the series was inferred to be Upper Silurian, but 
 as this question has already been fully discussed in previous pages, 
 nothing further need here be said. The age of the pale argillites 
 was, from the observations of the preceding season, proved to be, 
 for the most part, at least, Devonian, while, concerning the lower or 
 dark argillite group, satisfactory conclusions could not be arrived at. 
 
 Other papers also appeared relative to the age, and distribution iron ore of 
 of the iron ore deposits of Carleton county, and sundry facts were CountyJEfcp. 
 also given concerning the structure of the Grand Lake coal field, 1874-75. 
 derived from boring operations, by which the statements already R. w. Ells, 
 made respecting the general barrenness of the measures were fully operations 
 confirmed. ' 
 
 In this year also, (1874,) appeared a paper by Dr. Honeyman of Dr. Honeyman, 
 Halifax, Nova Scotia, upon the various formations of the southern Nat-Sci. 'inst. 
 
 1874 
 
 and eastern portions of New Brunswick, in which he paralleled the 
 Laurentian and Huronian systems about St. John, with the rocks of 
 the Cobequid series in the adjoining province, and with his lower 
 Arisaig group of Antigonish . In the northern part of the province, 
 he regarded the fossiliferous limestones of Dalhousie as probably of 
 Niagara age, the equivalents of his group, C. Arisaig, and recognized 
 also the Lower Silurian, now Cambro-Silurian, aspect of the rocks 
 on the lower Nipisiguit River and Tete a Gauche, in which grap- 
 tolites were afterwards found of presumably the horizon of the Utica 
 or Trenton, (see Rep. 1879-80, p. 231,) while the later age of the 
 
28 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 intrusive traps in the Dalhousie section, first pointed out by the late 
 Sir Wm. Logan, (Rep. Geol. Sur., 1884,) was proved by the alteration 
 of the contiguous beds and by the presence of Upper Silurian fossils 
 contained in the trappean mass itself. 
 
 Bailey, In 1 875-7 6, a report on the pre-Carboniferous formations of South- 
 
 Matthew. Eells jo, 
 
 Thepre- ern Queens and Sunbury counties, with various rocks in northern 
 
 ofsou"he e rn US Kings x was presented, illustrative largely of the work done in 1873. 
 
 Brunswick. These were now divided into three groups, the crystalline or older 
 
 !875-7cJ eo1 ' Sur ' felsitic series, Coldbrook or Huronian, the dark argillites which were 
 
 now considered to be Upper Silurian, though possibly containing 
 
 areas of Lower Silurian, and the pale argillites, which were again 
 
 asserted to be Devonian, from the evidence of the contained plant 
 
 remains. The Upper Silurian, however, was now made to contain a 
 
 considerable area of what was in 1870-71, regarded, on lithological 
 
 grounds, as pre-Silurian or Huronian. 
 
 Mr G F In 1876-77, an interesting report by Mr. G. F. Matthew, on the 
 
 SirkSte' g e lgy f Charlotte county, was published. In this, the aspect of 
 Metamor hie certam supposed pre-Silurian rocks in the south-western portion, was 
 gcks. ^ discussed, more especially in their development west of the lower 
 1876-77. part of the Digdequash River. These, for the most part, highly crys- 
 
 talline rocks, consisted of diorites, fine and coarse, hard schists, por- 
 phyritic and slaty felsites and gneissoid sandstone, which often present 
 the appearance of true fine-grained gneiss. They form an area of 
 considerable extent, and are intersected by intrusive granites which 
 may be spurs from the main granitic mass of that district. They 
 cross Oak Bay and extend into Maine, and also form a conspi- 
 cuous band on the St. Croix River, in the vicinity of, and for some 
 distance above, St. Stephen and Calais. From the fact that these 
 older volcanic rocks do not penetrate recognized Silurian strata in 
 that vicinity, as well as from their marked lithological resemblance 
 to the pre-Cambrian of St. John county, they were at that time re- 
 garded as also of Huronian or Laurentian age. 
 
 In this report, also, the dark argillites which have a considerable 
 development in this county, forming an extensive belt which stretches 
 diagonally across from the St. Croix River to its north-east corner, 
 were considered as of Upper Silurian age , the rocks of which system 
 were arranged in five divisions, the three lowest being paralleled 
 with the divisions of that system, as stated in the report for the pre- 
 ceding year, whilst Nos. 4 and 5 of that series were supposed to 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 29 
 
 represent Nos. 3 and 4 of the Kingston group. The latter was, by 
 this arrangement, removed from the position assigned it in 1870-71, 
 as a portion of the Huronian to the upper part of the Upper Silurian, 
 chiefly from its supposed superposition on the St. John group, as 
 inferred from the presence of pebbles of black slate in the conglo- 
 merates near its base, which were held to be derived from beds of 
 Primordial age. 
 
 The crystalline and Huronian aspect of the Kingston group, as a 
 whole, can be well seen by reference to the sections given on the 
 New River ; the character of the several divisions there seen being 
 as follows : 
 * Green chloritic and granitoid rocks. 
 
 Dark, porphyritic, slaty felsite, with grains of clear quartz. 
 
 Grey clay-slates and diorites. 
 
 Chloritic and felspathic slates and grits, with slate conglomerate 
 overlaid by about 11,000 feet, principally schists both micaceous and 
 hornblendic, the latter predominating, crystalline felsites, and capped 
 by chloritic and felspathic gneiss. 
 
 No fossils were found in any of the strata, but it was distinctly 
 stated that this group in Charlotte county constituted the mineral 
 belt in the same way as the Coastal group to the eastward, and 
 which was also formerly considered to occupy nearly the same 
 relative position as now assigned to the rocks under discussion. As, 
 however, uncertainty still existed as to the true position of the 
 Kingston group, the publication of the map and section accompany- 
 ing this report was, for the time, deferred. 
 
 In the report for 1876-77, the relations of the great mass of red 
 syenite and granite, which form so important a feature in the geology 
 of this county, to the associated rocks, were also carefully given. 
 That they were clearly newer than the overlying Upper Silurian was 
 evidenced by , the metamorphism of the slates in contact, shown by 
 the production of various crystals, as also by the presence of 
 numerous faults and dislocations, and by the penetration of con- 
 tiguous strata by numerous dykes and veins of granite, which, pro- 
 ceeding from the main mass, cut the adjoining beds with sharply 
 defined lines of contact. 
 
 The same volume contained also a report on the Lower Carbonifer- Bailey and Ells, 
 ous of Albert and part of Westmoreland counties, by Prof. L. W. Bailey Carbonfferous 
 and the author of this paper. This had particular reference to the comity? r Rep. 
 distribution and economic value of the portion known as the Albert S^TT* 111 " 
 
30 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 or bituminous shales, of special interest, from their containing the 
 remarkable mineral, Albertite. In this paper, also, the pre-Cambrian 
 aspect of the rocks of the Caledonia Mountain range was pointed 
 out. The divisions of the Lower Carboniferous there given were 
 five in number, representing an exposed thickness of 4,150 feet, 
 separable into two unconformable series by a break between the 
 bituminous shales and associated conglomerates of the Albert Mines, 
 and the sandstones and conglomerates of division 3, while the great 
 masses of gypsum and limestone were found to lie near the upper 
 part of the formation. 
 
 The season of 1877-78 was devoted to further detailedjwork, prin- 
 cipally bearing on the relative positions of the various divisions oY 
 pre Silurian rocks in Kings, St. John, and Albert counties, the results 
 of which were stated in three papers by the writer, Prof. Bailey and 
 Mr. G. F. M atthew respectively, with a supplementary report by the 
 latter on the superficial geology of the southern part of the province. 
 R. vv. Ells. In the first of these, the structure of the pre-Cambrian ridges was 
 
 Pre-Cambrian 
 
 of southern given as follows : three main anticlinals, situated to the south of 
 
 Brunswick, of Keiuiebecasis Bay, extend from the vicinity of St. John north- 
 
 1877-78. ' easterly, and roughly parallel to the north shore of the Bay of 
 
 Fundy. In Albert county, and for some distance to the west, the 
 
 Anticlinal . .. 
 
 structures two more southerly anticlinals are apparently overturned ; the con- 
 tained synclinal occupying the area along the Shepody road, and for 
 some distance on either side. The most southerly anticlinal forms 
 the crest of the mountain ridge in rear of Hopewell, whence, 
 extending westerly, it crosses the Upper Salmon River, some three 
 miles below the Shepody road, and comes to the coast a short distance 
 west of Martin's Head. On the Albert county line, it has a breadth of 
 three to four miles, and is distinguished by the presence of syenite and 
 gneiss, often greenish or protogine, with schists, felsites and dolomites. 
 The second anticlinal extends from the eastern part of the Cale- 
 donia Mountain range in the vicinity of the Albert mines, southerly 
 through the southern part of the Mechanic Settlement and reaches 
 the Shepody road a short distance west of the Kings county line, 
 on which road it can be traced for nearly eight miles. Further west, 
 it can be seen on the Big Salmon River, about four miles from its 
 mouth, beyond which it is apparently concealed by overlying sedi- 
 ments. This anticlinal, in Albert county, is flanked at one point by 
 crystalline limestones, of Laurentian aspect, similar in character to 
 those in the vicinity of St. John. 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 31 
 
 The third anticlinal comprises the syenite, gneiss and limestone of St. 
 John and vicinity. Westward, it can be readily traced to its termination 
 on the coast at Lepreau Harbour, although in places, concealed by 
 Lower Carboniferous and Devonian strata, while eastward it extends 
 along the south side of Kennebecasis Bay, appearing also in the 
 islands and headlands of the southern extremity of the Kingston 
 Peninsula, uninterruptedly to a point south of Hampton station, from 
 which point it is about four miles distant. It re-appears from beneath 
 Lower Carboniferous beds, four miles further east, and forms a narrow 
 ridge, eight miles in length, when it again becomes overlapped by the 
 Carboniferous formation, and does not again re-appear, but on the 
 Kings county line an anticlinal, in the continuation of the one just 
 described, brings up the Lower Carboniferous beds from beneath 
 the Millstone grit, and probably indicates the extension of this third 
 axis, which, in this case is parallel with the second anticlinal of the 
 Caledonia Mountain. 
 
 A series of chloritic, talcose and felspathic schists, ash rocks, 
 purple grits, and conglomerates occupy the first synclinal in Albert 
 county. These are apparently unconformable to the rocks of the 
 underlying anticlinals just described as well as to their supposed 
 equivalents in Kings and St. John counties. They occupy a con- 
 siderable area along the Shepody road, and the greater part of the 
 coast of the Bay of Fundy, between Point Wolf and Melvin's Beach, 
 about five miles east of Quaco. 
 
 Along the northern side of the second anticlinal in Kings county, 
 these rocks, which constitute the Coastal portion of the Huronian, 
 are to a great extent apparently replaced by a considerable thickness 
 of brecciated, siliceous and felspathic, ash rocks and diorites, which, 
 according to Prof. Bailey (see his report on this group, 1877), com- Prof. L. w. 
 
 . . ' . Bailey on pre- 
 
 pose the greater part. of the pre-Cambnan series to the south of the Cambrian of 
 
 main Laurentian axis or anticlinal No. 3. These are regarded by 
 
 him as older than the Coastal rocks which occupy the synclinal i87?-78. e ' 
 
 just mentioned and which form the shore series, and are described Coastal rocks. 
 
 in ascending order unoler two heads, the first or felsite petrosilex 
 
 group consisting largely of the following rocks : 
 
 Red and grey felsites, blue, grey, reddish and black petrosilex and 
 breccias, diorites, and amygdaloidal ash rocks and ashy conglo- 
 merates. 
 
 Grey felspathic sandstones and conglomerates, the whole repre- 
 senting the Coldbrook of former reports and now regarded as the 
 oldest member of the Huronian, 
 
32 
 
 NEV BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Mr. G. F. 
 Matthew. Pre 
 Cambrian of 
 southern New 
 Brunswick, 
 Rep. Geol. Sur 
 1877-78. 
 
 Kingston 
 group. 
 
 Dr. T. Sterry 
 Hunt, 1878. 
 
 Bailey, 
 Matthew and 
 Ells. Final 
 Report on 
 southern New 
 Brunswick, 
 1878-79. 
 
 The second or upper division consists of the following rocks : 
 
 Chloritic schists, greenish, grey and purple ash rocks and amygda- 
 loids, with purple conglomerates. 
 
 Pale grey pyritous and rusty-weathering felsites and felspathic 
 quartzites.i 
 
 Hydromica schists, chloritic and felspathic schists, grey clay-slates 
 and purple conglomerates, with beds of haematite, styled Coastal in 
 former reports, and now regarded by him as the upper member of the 
 Huronian. 
 
 The third report, by Mr. G. F. Matthew is confined to the King- 
 ston group and principally to its development in the Kingston penin- 
 sula, where from tlie discovery of fossiliferous ashy rocks and slates of 
 Upper Silurian age along the south side of the Long Reach of the St. 
 John River which, at several points on the shore, have a dip inland, it 
 was inferred that a large portion of the rocks of this group were 
 stratigraphically above the fossiliferous beds and consequently newer. 
 He, however, at the same time, in tabular form, paralleled the King- 
 ston of this locality and its extension westward into Charlotte county, 
 under the heading Upper Silurian, with the recognized Huronian of 
 St. John, in which the lithological resemblance of the two groups is 
 such as to strike the most casual observer. 
 
 The Huronian character of the crystalline and metamorphic rocks of 
 southern New Brunswick, was next pointed out by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, 
 in his report to the Geojogical Survey of Pennsylvania, published in 
 1878, and subsequently in a paper read before the American Associa- 
 tion for the Advancement of Science, (1879;, in which their uncon- 
 formity to the Laurentian of the St. John area was indicated as well as 
 their lack of conformity to the overlying primordial slates. In the 
 "supplement to Acadian Geology, Sir Wm. Dawson, 1878, several 
 allusions to this province also were.made, the principal points of which 
 have been already considered." In this year also, the final report on 
 the geology of southern New Brunswick appeared, accompanying 
 the map of that area, which had been so long deferred. From a 
 careful consideration of all the data in the possession of its several 
 authors, which had been accumulating for years, the various geolo- 
 gical lines were there laid down, and the most recent and probable 
 views concerning the horizons of the different formations stated. 
 As no subsequent publication on this portion of the province has 
 appeared, we will briefly state the position and arrangement of the 
 geological systems as there expressed, with some probable changes. 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 33 
 
 which may hereafter be made in certain groups, about which suffi- 
 cient was not at that time known to pronounce definitely as to their 
 exact age and relations. 
 
 It must be premised that in speaking of the geology of southern 
 New Brunswick, we include that portion only which lies to the south 
 of the great central Carboniferous area, in so far as relates to the 
 pre-Carboniferous rocks, and in regard to the central area, that lying 
 to the south of the parallel of 46, which passes a short distance 
 north of Fredericton. The study of the northern and south-eastern 
 portions having been taken up at a date subsequent to 1878, these 
 areas will be considered further on. 
 
 The geological systems at present recognized in that portion of the 
 province now under consideration, are as follows : 
 
 Laurentian Lower. 
 
 Upper. 
 
 Huronian Formerly divided into Coldbrook, Coastal 
 
 and Kingston. 
 
 Cambrian Primordial Silurian Acadian,or St. John group. 
 
 Cambro-Silurian Formerly Middle Silurian. 
 
 Silurian. 
 Devonian. 
 
 Carboniferous Lower. 
 
 Middle or Millstone-grit. 
 Upper of eastern Westmorland county. 
 Triassic. 
 
 Intrusive rocks Granites, syenites, dio rites, diabases. Trappean 
 
 rocks of Carboniferous and Triassic age. 
 Post Pliocene. 
 
 In the general geological map of the southern part of the province, 
 the area colored as Laurentian embraces principally that portion 
 which, in 1860, was separated from the Devonian, under the title of 
 the Portland group. It has, however, since then, been considerably 
 extended ; and west of St. John City, it embraces the greater part of 
 the county of St. John, extending across into Charlotte county, and 
 terminates westward, at Ragged Head, which forms the south-western 
 point of Lepreau Harbor. Though apparently divisible into two 
 unconformable series, it was not deemed advisable to color these se- 
 parately, but the limestones were designated, wherever known to 
 occur, by a distinct tint, and thus the upper member was, tq a certain^ 
 3 
 
34 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 extent, made conspicuous. The anticlinal structure of the lower mem- 
 ber is well marked, and its probable extension north-easterly has 
 already been given. The limestones in the vicinity of the St. John 
 River flank the axis on either side. These are well developed along 
 the south side of Kennebecasis Bay, and from South Bay they extend 
 about four miles west of the river, where they apparently form a 
 basin. Eastward they appear as outliers on the syenitic rocks beyond 
 Rothesay, and at several points as far east as Norton. West of St. 
 John, they extend entirely across the peninsula which divides Pisarinco 
 from Musquash Harbor on the south flank of the main anticlinal and 
 on Point Lepreau are also exposed in synclinal form, resting upon 
 greenish gneiss and granitic rocks. The width of the Laurentian 
 area, comprising both divisions, is from six to seven miles. 
 
 In report 1870-71, it was stated that a belt of gneissic rocks, bear- 
 ing much resemblance to those just described, extended from the 
 head of the Long Reach of the St. John River, along the north side 
 of that sheet of water, to L'Etang Harbor, forming an anticlinal ridge 
 flanked by Huronian sediments. On Frye's Island, near the south- 
 western extremity of this axis, the syenitic portion is overlaid by crys- 
 talline limestone, in character precisely similar to those which occur 
 with Laurentian rocks elsewhere, and the whole belt was considered 
 as probably a parallel ridge, contemporaneous with the belt just de- 
 scribed. While, however, this view was held concerning the age of 
 these rocks, the difficulty of separating them precisely from the over- 
 lying Kingston group, owing in large part to the wooded character 
 of the country which they traverse, was such that it was thought best 
 to include this series in the general pre-Cambrian color without defi- 
 nitely specifying its exact position. Lying off the coast in this direc- 
 tion, the group of islands called The Wolves, were found to be the 
 extension of the main Laurentian anticlinal, and to be composed of 
 the greenish syenites and other rocks of the lower series in which, 
 however, no limestones appeared. 
 
 Further west in the parishes of St. Patrick, St. Croix and St. Ste- 
 phen, syenitic, dioritic and gneissic rocks are common. These in 
 the vicinity of the St. Croix River, present characters very similar 
 to those of the fundamental rocks of the St. John area, and were at 
 one time described as of the same horizon. They are intersected by 
 large dykes and masses, of intrusive syenite, some of which are of 
 much later age than the rocks with which they are associated. In 
 this locality a 1 so. the authors found much difficulty in separating the 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 35 
 
 the newer intrusive rocks from the older portions, and all these areas 
 of syenites, &c., of whatever age, were therefore included in the 
 same color, though the outlines of the newer are indicated on the 
 map in a general way. 
 
 It must therefore be fully understood that in the area indicated as 
 granite west of the Digdeguash River, and for a mile or so to the 
 east, a considerable portion may possibly be of pre-Cambrian age. 
 
 In Albert county, also, attention was called in 1870-71, to the 
 presence of rocks similar to those of the typical Laurentian of St. 
 John, and the supposition was then advanced that these occurred as 
 ridges surrounded by Huronian strata. This view, in so far as the supposed Lau- 
 stratigraphical relations of the several groups were concerned, was Alberfcounty. 
 confirmed in 1878, and the probable Laurentian age was indicated 
 by the presence of crystalline limestones and dolomites. The older 
 portions of these ridges, as we proceed westward into Kings county, 
 speedily become concealed by the unconformable overlap of the 
 Coldbrook and Coastal groups, from which,- in lithological character, 
 they are markedly different. They contain also a considerable area 
 of coarsely crystalline diorites, holding magnetite, which in places be 
 comes, almost a pure hornblende rock. 
 
 A similar area of magnetic diorites is found in northern Kings 
 county near the Scotch settlement. This was referred to 
 1870-71, and supposed to be of Laurentian age, as well as several 
 areas west of the St. John River, in the valley of the Nerepis stream. 
 Dioritic rocks occur in Charlotte county, near St. Stephen, which are 
 also probably of this age. They contain serpentine and chrome iron 
 in small quantity and underlie, unconformably, hard micaceous quart- 
 zites. East of St. John also, near Dolin's Lake, bands of hard 
 crystalline felspathic, sometimes dioritic rock occur, associated with 
 hypersthene and magnetic iron which have been considered by Dr. 
 T. S. Hunt, as identical with some varieties of Norite rock of the 
 Upper Laurentian or Labradorian series. They are associated with 
 gneisses, also presumably of the upper division. 
 
 The limestones near St. John, are in places highly serpentinous 
 and have furnished indications of the presence of Eozoon. At Pisa - limestone of" 
 
 , ,. . . , St. John with 
 
 rmco, however, serpentine is seen to cut talcose and chlontic rocks Boston. 
 associated with limestones, as a true dyke six feet wide. At the falls 
 or the St. John River, also, deposits of plumbago of large extent are 
 found in the slates and limestones. It is worthy of remark that in 
 
36 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Huronian. 
 
 Discussion of 
 the several 
 groups of 
 Coldbrook, 
 Coastal and 
 Kingston. 
 
 all the supposed Laurentian areas of Charlotte county, no traces of 
 limestone have as yet been found, except at Frye's Island and 
 Lepreau. 
 
 The history of the Huronian system, with the many changes which 
 have taken place in relation to its various groups, has already been 
 somewhat fully stated and we will, therefore, here present only the 
 views now held regarding its distribution and mineral character. 
 
 The term Huronian does not appear on the general map, for the 
 reason that, owing on the uncertainty as to the age of the several 
 groups, some of which have just been described, it was thought best, 
 until their true relations to the Laurentian or Huronian systems 
 proper could be accurately worked out, to include these under a 
 general term, pre-Cambrian, since, in position, they were found to 
 unconformably underlie the fossiliferous Cambrian, at several points. 
 
 The former division of the Huronian into Coldbrook, Coastal 
 and Kingston was exceedingly unsatisfactory, inasmuch as, while 
 they were all regarded as portions of the same system, their respec- 
 tive horizons could not with certainty be determined. Thus in 
 1870-71 the Coldbrook is the first described after the Laurentian, 
 leading to the inference that this group comprised the lowest mem- 
 bers of the Huronian system, while at the same time its upper part 
 was held to represent the basal beds of the St. John group, to the 
 exclusion of the Coastal and Kingston. In the last report by Prof. 
 Bailey, the Huronian south of the Kennebecasis is divided into two 
 groups only, the Coldbrook and Coastal, of which the latter is held 
 to be the newer. The older is distinguished by the term " felsite 
 petrosilex group," from the prevailing character of the rocks which 
 compose it, while the newer is termed the " micaceous and chloritic 
 or " schistose group," for the same reason. It is evident, from a con- 
 sideration of the rocks of the Coldbrook, that they are for the most 
 part of volcanic origin, the prevalence of breccias and brecciated 
 agglomerates, diorites and ashy rocks, which make up the bulk of the 
 group, presenting a marked contrast to the more slaty and schistose 
 rocks of the Coastal, though the latter has abundant evidence also of 
 volcanic action in the presence of ashy and agglomerate rocks ; it 
 has also a considerable thickness of clay-slates, with purple grits and 
 conglomerates. It is exceedingly doubtful, however, whether a 
 separation such as has just been proposed, into an upper and a lower 
 division, can be successfully made on stratigraphical grounds, owing 
 Jo the Difficulty of determining which group rests primarily on the, 
 
BRUNSWICK CEOtOQV. &f 
 
 Laurentian, since in some places this position is held by the Cold- 
 brook, while at others the Coastal is in direct contact. This diffi- 
 culty becomes more apparent, when we consider that the original 
 Coldbrook of the earlier reports, so named from the place where 
 first studied, is now regarded as Coastal. It is possible, that both 
 divisions may be contemporaneous, or that the Coldbrook or volcanic 
 portion may be the more recent, and this latter view receives a 
 certain amount of support from the stratigraphical evidence seen in 
 the overturned synclinal of Albert county, the rocks of which rest 
 upon the basal ridges and are undoubtedly of the Coastal or Schistose 
 type, (see Rep. 1877-78). These occupy the southern portions 
 of eastern Kings and St. Johns counties, and, while in their western 
 extension they overlap the ridges just mentioned, they are in turn 
 apparently overlaid by the volcanic rocks of the Coldbrook group, 
 the Coastal not appearing at all in the northern portion of the main 
 pre-Cambrian area south of the Kennebecasis, unless we except 
 certain doubtful and limited areas lying to the north and east of the 
 Loch Lomond lakes. 
 
 There yet remains to be considered the third division of Huroriian 
 rocks, viz : the Kingston group, which, also receiving its name from Kingston, 
 the place where first studied, the peninsula lying between the Long 
 Reach and Kennebecasis Bay, has also a considerable development 
 westward in Charlotte county. The various changes of opinion 
 respecting the position of this group have already been stated, and 
 we will, therefore, give the reasons, lithological as well as stratigra- 
 phical, which seem to us conclusively to prove that these rocks 
 should be considered an integral portion of the Huronian system, 
 rather than to belong to a later horizon. The character of the rocks 
 which compose this group are well given in the report of Mr. 
 Matthew, already referred to, for the Kingston area and for its exten- 
 sion westward, and are here presented for the sake of comparison : 
 
 Compact, dark-grey, diorite and fine-grained, flesh-red felsite. 
 
 Hornblende and mica-schists, schistose diorite, and dark felspathic 
 slates, with grey argillites. 
 
 Fine-grained mica-schist, silico-felspathic gneiss and schistose 
 felsite. Chloritic gneiss and syenite, with thin beds of limestone, 
 argillites, &c. 
 
 In addition, beds of slate conglomerate occur, and chlorite and 
 epidote are found in veins of considerable size. 
 
 That the Kingston group is entirely distinct from and older than 
 
38 frW fcRUNSWtCK 
 
 the Silurian was pointed out in 1870-71; but the pre-Cambriati 
 aspect is more clearly indicated, if we glance at its structure, as seen 
 along the St. John River. By reference to the general report, 1878- 
 79, it will be seen that the pre-Cambrian rocks of southern New 
 Brunswick, are arranged in a series of approximately parallel anti- 
 clinals, the synclinals being occupied by fossiliferous Cambrian strata. 
 These anticlinals were arranged in fine divisions, of which Nos. i 
 and 2 were considered of Laurentian age. No. 3 Coldbrook, No. 4, 
 Coastal, and No. 5, Kingston. 
 
 This arrangement does not, however, necessarily indicate the true 
 stratigraphical position of the various groups ; for, while we have seen 
 that the Coastal has not yet been definitely proved to be the upper 
 portion of the Coldbrook, it is evident that the Kingston includes, in 
 part, at least, rocks common to both divisions 3 and 4, and possibly 
 even lower. 
 
 The extension of the anticlinals i, 2 and 3, has already been given. 
 Of the latter two, which pertain to the Kingston Peninsula, No. 4, 
 beginning at Clifton, on the south side, extends north-east, past the 
 head of Kingston Creek, towards Dickie Mountain, while No. 5, com- 
 mencing near the western extremity, and well seen atMilkish Creek, 
 keeps along the north side of the peninsula, and crossing the entrance 
 of Belleisle Bay, is probably continued along the north side of that 
 sheet of water into the Scotch settlements. 
 
 A sixth ridge bounds the north side of the Long Reach and forms 
 the eastern extremity of that which, in Charlotte county, was stated 
 to underlie Huronian sediments, and to be possibly of Laurentian 
 age. 
 
 That all these ridges are, at least, pre-Cambrian, is plainly indicated 
 by the presence of unconformably overlying areas of Cambrian slates, 
 which occur in the form of basins of greater or less extent, the 
 limits of which have been largely affected by denudation. 
 
 The most northerly of these, definitely recognized by fossils, (though 
 rocks. it must be remembered that in the Report of 1870-7 1, other areas still 
 
 further inland of Primordial age, but in which no fossils have yet been 
 observed, were supposed to exist,) is found on the west flank of the 
 sixth ridge ; but along its south side, a much more important belt 
 occurs, which occupies the greater part of the north shore of the Long 
 Reach from the mouth of the Nerepis to Jones Creek, beyond which, 
 it is largely concealed by Silurian beds. It also appears in 
 several small islands in the river and on the point at the mouth of 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY.' 
 
 Belleisle Bay, where it overlies the more northerly of the two King- 
 ston anticlinals. That this basin of Cambrian rocks occupies the 
 entire valley of the St. John River at this place is highly probable ; 
 although its contact with the Kingston group along the south side of 
 the Reach is partially concealed by fossiliferous strata, which are 
 possibly the prolongation southward of the Silurian area of Jones 
 Creek, since the overlap of the Primordial on the Kingston rocks is 
 well seen at both extremities of the basin. It is probable also that 
 the horizons of the two ridges of metamorphic rocks which extend 
 on either side of the Long Reach, is not very different ; although 
 westward of the St. John River, the Kingston group proper appears 
 to occupy a synclinal between the true Laurentian of the Lepreau 
 axis and the older ridge north of L'Etang. This position would also 
 correspond, on stratigraphical grounds, with that assigned to it from 
 lithological characters as largely representing Divisions" 3 and 4 of 
 the pre- Cambrian scale, but in this part of Charlotte county, the Pri- 
 mordial has not yet been definitely recognized. 
 
 The presence of slaty conglomerates in the rocks of the Kingston 
 group, the pebbles of which were, at one time, regarded as derived 
 from Cambrian slates, cannot be held as conclusive evidence of the 
 later age of these crystalline rocks ; since the fragments may, with 
 equal reason, be supposed to be derived from the bands of black and 
 graphitic slates, which, at many points, form an integral portion of 
 the Laurentian area, as already stated, and unconformably underlie 
 the Huronian. 
 
 In the areas now colored Cambro-Silurian, extending along the 
 county line of Kings and Queens, belts of rock which very closely 
 resemble those just described, are found. They consist of hard fel- 
 sites, often porphyritic, with felsitic, chloritic and talcose schist, and 
 fine and coarse diorites. After many ineffectual attempts to separate 
 these satisfactorily from other slaty beds, with which they are intim- 
 ately associated, but which are, without doubt, of much later age, the 
 greater part of these areas was included, provisionally, in the meta- 
 morphic Cambro-Silurian system. These areas of Huronian-looking 
 rock are in no place of great extent, but appear as crests of ridges 
 exposed by denudation and protruding through the overlying strata. 
 In fact, the greater part of the formations of southern New Bruns- 
 wick have been so intricately folded, that the problem of deciphering 
 their exact age has been a very difficult one ; and it is to be presumed 
 that with the accession of new light, derived from the study of similar 
 rocks elsewhere, other important changes will be found necessary. 
 
40 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Islands in Pas- The views concerning the geology of the islands in Passama- 
 Bayf QU * y quoddy Bay, called the Western Isles, have undergone the same 
 changes as already described in connection with the pre-Cambrian 
 rocks farther east. The group of The Wolves, consisting almost 
 entirely of syenitic and gneissoid rocks of Laurentian aspect, are, as 
 intimated, the western prolongation of the Lower Laurentian axis 
 from the mainland at Lepreau. while Campobello and Deer Islands, 
 together with the greater number of the smaller islands lying between 
 these and the shore, represent, probably, the extension of the Kings- 
 ton group. Ores of copper and iron are common, in which respect 
 the rocks resemble those of the metamorphic Coastal belt east of St. 
 John, as well as in their general lithological character, while the 
 eastern portion of the great island of Grand Manan, probably 
 marks the westward extension of the Huronian area lying to the 
 south of the Laurentian axis, which extends through The Wolves. 
 Similar rocks The resemblance of the pre-Cambrian rocks just described, to those 
 Wales 8 . an a of certain areas in England and Wales, regarding the age of which 
 much controversary has lately arisen, is very marked. These, by Dr. 
 Hicks, Prof. Bonney and others, are held to be of pre-Cambrian age. 
 They are also divided into three groups, the Dimetian, Arvonian and 
 Pebidian ; of which the lower or Dimetian corresponds in lithological 
 characters with the Coastal of Kings and Albert counties, the middle 
 is very similar to the lower Coldbrook, while the tuffs and slates of 
 the Pebidian, much resemble the upper part of that group. By Prof. 
 Geikie, however, none of these rocks are regarded as older than 
 Cambrian ; the Pebidian being held by him to form the lowest mem- 
 ber of that system, while the other two comprise sundry masses of 
 granite and kindred rocks intruded among the Cambrian strata. 
 
 The rocks of the St. John group, or Cambrian, were, until 1865, 
 as already stated, regarded as an integral part of the Devonian sys- 
 Primordial tem - The early researches of Messrs. Hartt and Matthew on these 
 rocks have "been alluded to in former pages, but of late years their 
 fauna has been particularly studied by the latter gentleman, whose 
 investigations have brought to light many interesting facts relative to 
 the palaeontology of the group, the results of which have appeared, 
 from time to time, in several papers contributed to the Royal Society 
 ot Canada and elsewhere. In character, the rocks may be said to 
 consist of purple sandstones and conglomerates, with shales, the 
 former apparently derived from the underlying Coastal and Cold- 
 brook groups, and which constitute the basal portion of the forma- 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 4l 
 
 tion. These are succeeded by red and greenish-grey argillites, often 
 micaceous, whitish and grey sandstones, with grey and dark grey 
 sandstones and shales, the latter of "which are often fossiliferous, and 
 contain a variety of trilobites, such as Conocephalites, Microdiscus, 
 Agnostus and Paradoxides, all of Primordial type, together with 
 Lingula, Obolella, Discina and Orthis. They lie in well denned basins 
 upon the Huronian and Laurentian rocks, of which six, at least, are 
 known. Among the most important are the areas on the St. John 
 River, already described, and the great development which extends 
 from the city of St. John, northeasterly, past the Loch Lomond lakes, 
 towards \he upper part of the Hammond River ; the other areas 
 consisting^ outlying patches, which have apparently escaped denu- 
 dation, ani which serve to illustrate the great dislocations by which, 
 in many c&ses, these rocks have been affected. The smaller areas 
 about the Mennebecasis Bay are overlapped by Lower Carboniferous 
 sediments. \ 
 
 Other areis, which were supposed to be of this age, have been 
 already noticed in preceding pages, but, though no fossils have been 
 found in thes^ to indicate their exact horizon, their position upon 
 beds which ale identical in character with recognized Huronian 
 elsewhere, renders it highly probable that they may belong to the 
 Primordial zone. Until, however, such fossil evidence has been 
 obtained, or then true position otherwise established, these detached 
 areas are, for the present, included in the Cambro-Silurian system. 
 
 This system, as it present understood, comprises all the formations Cambro- 
 between the ChazAand the Hudson River or Lorraine shales, both 
 inclusive. In New Brunswick, the subdivision into intermediate 
 groups has not yet leen attempted. The system comprises certain 
 rocks known, for the most part at least, to underlie the fossiliferous 
 Silurian, and to overlie the Cambrian. The characters of these have 
 already been given. 
 
 , In their distribution, "he rocks of this system may be said to form 
 a belt, principally of metamorphosed sediments, extending from 
 the western boundary of th^ province, diagonally across the county 
 of Charlotte, to its north-east corner, flanking on its north side the 
 great granitic area for the grater part of the distance. Thence it 
 extends to the River St. John, in the vicinity of Hampstead, and, 
 reappearing on the eastern bank continues along the county line of 
 Kings and Queens for a further distance of twenty miles. The 
 northern limit is fixed, for the npst part, by the unconformably 
 
'42 NEW BRUNSXVICK GEOLOGY*. 
 
 overlying interior basin of Devonian sediments ; but to the West, at 
 the head of Oak Bay, and to the east of the granite area in south- 
 western Queens, it is overlapped by strata of Silurian age. Much of 
 the country occupied by these rocks is exceedingly difficult of access, 
 and it is presumed that a more detailed examination, when practicable, 
 will change somewhat the outlines of the area as at present defined. 
 Silurian. The rocks of the Silurian system are not extensively distri- 
 
 buted in the southern part of the province. Along the coast of 
 Charlotte they are found for the most part in small lenticular basins, 
 which have been infolded with are"as of pre Cambrian or other rocks 
 along the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay ; the association being 
 intricate and often obscure, as in the case of the Mas-arene series. 
 Certain beds are, however, well defined by the presence of charac- 
 teristic fossils, which are probably of the horizon of the Niagara 
 formation. The fossiliferous beds are also well seen around the 
 upper part of Oak Bay, where they rest upon the Cambro-Silurian 
 just described, and from this place they extend in a continuous belt 
 along the south side of the granite area as far east as the New River, 
 a distance of thirty miles. In the southeastern par: of the province, 
 they have not been definitely recognized, but abng the St. John 
 River, in the vicinity of the Kings and Queens county line, they form 
 a considerable area, abounding in fossils at many points, and resting 
 unconformably upon rocks of the Huronian, Canbrian and Cambro- 
 Silurian systems. An interesting band occu/s along the Long 
 Reach, resting upon Cambrian grits and congomerates, and on the 
 east side forming a narrow strip of ashy roc^s, which resemble, in 
 some respects, beds of Coastal or Coldbrool age. They are, how- 
 ever, clearly distinguished by characteristic fossils, both corals and 
 shells. They dip inland at a moderate angle, as if underlying the 
 crystalline rocks of the peninsula, but this position is only an appar- 
 ent one, since, a short distance from th? sKore, the contact between 
 the two sets of beds is well seen, ^ie old Kingston felsites and 
 gneissic schists dipping towards the /riWr at a high angle ; against 
 
 these the Silurian rests unconformity^. The somewhat obscure 
 
 / / 
 
 stratigraphy at this point has, in the /past, led to much misunder- 
 standing as to the proper position of the Kingston rocks, but the 
 true structure in this section is mdoubtedly a synclinal in the pre- 
 Cambrian overlaid by Cambriar fossiliferous rocks, which, in turn, 
 are partially overlapped by Silutan strata. 
 Devonian The formations which conrose the Devonian are of particular 
 
 
BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 interest, from their intricate entanglement with others of much 
 greater age ; which, while really underlying them at a great distance 
 in the geological scale, are apparently superimposed upon the fossil- 
 iferous rocks of the system ; an order of things which, in the early 
 history of its geology, as already shown, naturally led to much con- 
 fusion as to the true relations of the various groups. This system is 
 also interesting from its wonderfully rich flora and fauna in the vici- 
 nity of St. John and Lepreau ; more especially from its yielding the 
 earliest remains of insect life yet known, at least in America. The 
 flora of the system both from New Brunswick and Gaspe has been 
 carefully studied by Sir William Dawson, whose labors "in this direc- 
 tion have appeared in a series of papers ranging in date from 1859 
 to 1882, and have been readily accepted as standards for the deter- 
 mination of its various formations. 
 
 The areas of Devonian along the coast are somewhat limited ; the 
 principal, occurring to the east of St. John Harbor, where the rocks 
 form a double synclinal which extends inland for about eight miles, 
 and occupies the shore from the mouth of Little River, nearly to Cape 
 Spencer. West of the harbor, these rocks occupy a narrow strip 
 along the beach, near Carleton, and constitute the " Fern Ledges " 
 in this vicinity. 
 
 A second area extends between Musquash and Lepreau harbors, 
 resting upon Laurentian rocks in a series of folds, of which at least 
 three can be clearly recognized. 
 
 These areas, at Lepreau Point, are in turn unconformably over- 
 lapped by sandstones and conglomerates, the probable equiva- 
 lents of the Perry Sandstone group of Maine, the aspect of whose 
 contained plants led to their being regarded by Sir William Dawson 
 as constituting the upper member of the Devonian, but which were 
 afterwards believed by Prof. Bailey to belong rather to the Lower 
 Carboniferous, principally on lithological grounds, but also from a 
 lack of conformity to the underlying Devonian sandstones and shales 
 of this place. We may also include in this system sundry strata 
 found at Wright's Head, on Beaver Harbor, in which are found 
 remains of ferns and other plants, described in the section on the 
 Mascarene series. 
 
 But by far the largest area is found underlying the central Carboni- 
 ferous basin. This, beginning at the boundary of Maine, extends 
 almost to the St. John River, having in Charlotte county a breadth 
 of about twelve miles and bounded on either side by rocks of Cam- 
 
x 44 NEW BkUN'SWtCK GEOLOGY 1 . 
 
 bro-Siluriari age'. It doubtless underlies a very considerable portioii 
 of the Carboniferous area of central New Brunswick, since at several! 
 places as at Coal Creek, near the head of Grand Lake, and on the! 
 Canaan River and its branches, strata of Devonian aspect come to the] 
 surface in the beds of the streams and in low cliffs with cappings of! 
 Millstone-grit. These Devonian strata have apparently participated j 
 in the series of disturbances which have affected all the formations of ! 
 the southern part of the province older than the Carboniferous. 
 Cirboniferous The general characters of the Carboniferous formations, as givenj 
 formations. f rQm ^ t j me o f j) r Qesner, down to the publication of the general] 
 map in 1878-79, have been given in considerable detail in the pre- 
 ceding pages. 
 
 Since that date, however, a large amount of work has been done* 
 on the rocks of this system in the northern, eastern and central por- 
 tions of the province, the results of which, more particularly in refer-! 
 ence to the Middle and Upper formations, will be briefly stated. 
 
 The total area of Middle Carboniferous rocks is about 12,000 
 square miles, throughout which great uniformity of character is ap- 
 parent. A thin seam of coal extends over the greater portion, which 
 crops out, not only at the places where worked for many years at] 
 Grand Lake and on the Richibucto River, but at various other 
 points along its entire border. This seam, while varying slightly in 
 thickness, in no place, however, amounting to more than 20 or 23 
 inches, is very uniform in general character ; and it is probable that 
 all the outcrops noted pertain to the same seam, brought to the 
 surface at intervals by a series of low anticlinals which affect the] 
 measures throughout their entire extent, following generally a course 
 parallel to the pre Cambrian ridges which surround the basin on the 
 south and north-west. Throughout the counties of Kent, Northum- , 
 berland and Gloucester, which comprise the area bordering on the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence, the character of the sediments is similar to 
 that of the recognized Millstone-grit areas of the Bay of Fundy coast, 
 though the horizontality of the beds is such that but little informa- 
 tion can be obtained from surface examination as to the entire thick- 
 ness of the formation. In eastern Westmorland, the investigations 
 of 1884 resulted in the discovery of many interesting facts in regard 
 to the structure and thickness of the several formations comprised in 
 this system. The Lower Carboniferous beds in the vicinity of the 
 Petitcodiac River have a thickness of 4,100 feet ; but further east, 
 along the coast of Cape Maringouin, near the head of the Bay o 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 45 
 
 Fundy, where fine sections of these rocks are exposed, an additional 
 thickness of not far from 2,000 feet of red marls and sandstones is 
 seen to overlie the gypsiferous portion which constitutes the upper 
 member of the formation. This gives a total thickness of over 6,000 
 feet or very nearly that found in northern Cumberland' county, Nova 
 Scotia. 
 
 The thickness of the Middle Carboniferous in the central basin, as 
 given in the report for 1872-73, has also been considerably changed 
 by the study of the rocks further east. Thus the three divisions above 
 the Lower Carboniferous were at that time regarded as follows : 
 
 Barren measures probably Millstone-grit 200 feet. 
 
 Productive 200 " 
 
 Upper Carboniferous .. e ... 200 " 
 
 This view was modified in 1878, and the whole interior area 
 was referred to the horizon of the Millstone-grit. The sections 
 of this formation in the vicinity of Dorchester, have shewn that it 
 has a thickness of at least 1,000 feet, and that it is directly over- 
 Japped by the Upper Carboniferous formation which extends thence 
 over almost the entire eastern part of Westmorland county, occa- 
 ionally broken by the presence of ridges of Millstone-grit rocks. 
 Where the contact is not with the Millstone-grit, the Upper forma- 
 tion rests directly on the Lower Carboniferous, which arrangement is 
 also seen in the adjoining province < in the area lying south of North- 
 umberland Strait. 
 
 The rocks above the Lower Carboniferous area are as a rule com- 
 paratively undisturbed, but at points along the coast of Albert 
 county they are affected by faults which have in places brought 
 up the Lower Carboniferous upon the middle portion and tilted the 
 measures at a high angle. 
 
 The westward extension of the magnificent Joggins section touches 
 the coast of New Brunswick only in its lower part ; the Productive 
 measures, in which the Joggins coal seams are found, trending out 
 into the bay, and being exposed on no part of the shore of the 
 province. The general horizontality of the measures shows that the 
 tremendous disturbances, which so profoundly affected the coal fields 
 of Spring Hill and Pictou, did not extend in this direction, while the 
 apparent absence of the coal measures over any portion of New 
 Brunswick, in so far at least as can be at present determined, leads 
 
46 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Volcanic rocks, 
 
 Northern and 
 western New 
 Brunswick. 
 
 R. W. Ells- 
 L. W. Bailey. 
 Work done in 
 that area. 
 Rep. Geol. 
 Surv. 1879 to 
 1885. 
 
 to the assumption that this area was already permanently raised 
 above the sea. 
 
 Several outlying patches of the Middle Carboniferous are seen at 
 points outside the central area. In character of sediments, they do 
 not differ from those already described, and contain also a thin seam 
 of coal. Among these may be mentioned that of Prince William, 
 about twenty miles west of Fredericton and at Dunsinane, on the 
 railway between Sussex and Petitcodiac. 
 
 Extensive traces of volcanic activity are manifest at many points, 
 especially in the Lower Carboniferous formation. Thick beds of 
 ash rocks, conglomerates and breccias, together with various traps 
 are found, not only around its border, but in isolated hills which, by 
 the agency of denudation, now appear prominently through the grey 
 sandstones of the Millstone-grit in the very centre of the coal district. 
 In places, these trappean masses are apparently overflows from 
 great dykes which have cut the lower beds of the Middle Carbon- 
 iferous, and have altered these along the contact in the same 
 manner as the sandstones of the Bay of Fundy have been affected 
 by the trap outflows of the Triassic time. As, however, other 'areas 
 of volcanic rocks undoubtedly belong to the basal beds of the system, 
 it would appear that at least two periods of volcanic action occurred, 
 unless we refer the later to the time of the outburst which affected 
 the Bay of Fundy area. 
 
 Leaving for the present the consideration of the igneous rocks, 
 which constitute an important element in the geology of this part of 
 the province, we will now examine the structure of its northern and 
 western portions. 
 
 The earlier investigations of Dr. Gesner and others have already 
 been reviewed down to the year 1874. Upon the completion of the 
 map of southern New Brunswick, the examination of these sections 
 was at once commenced, the northern part by the author of this 
 paper ; the western by Prof. Bailey and Mr. W. Broad ; while the 
 superficial geology of the district was entrusted to Mr. R. Chalmers. 
 Reports on the former area appeared in 1879-80, 1 880-81, by the 
 writer, and on the latter by Prof. Bailey, 1882-83-84, and ' 1885. 
 Investigations were also carried on for a short time in 1879, by Mr. 
 G. F. Matthew, in Carleton county, the results of which were not 
 published separately, but subsequently embodied in the report by 
 Prof. Bailey on the area in question. 
 
 The difficulties encountered in tracing out the various formations. 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 47 
 
 were far greater in this section than in that already described, owing 
 to the fact that, with the exception of narrow belts of settled lands in 
 the vicinity of the St. John River on the west, and along the shores of 
 the Bay of Chaleurs on the east, and for a short distance inland along 
 the course of the principal streams, the country is an entire wilder- 
 ness ; the only means of access to its interior being by canoes along the 
 various rivers which rise in close proximity to each other in the series 
 of mountains which constitute the watershed. Of these streams the 
 principal to the east, are the Restigouche, Nipisiguit and the branches 
 of the Miramichi ; on the west, the Southwest Miramichi, the Tobique, 
 and several other large branches of the St. John. From the explora- 
 tions that have been thus carried on, the following systems have been 
 clearly recognized : 
 
 Pre-Cambrian Comprising gneisses, syenites, schists of va- 
 rious kinds and felsites. 
 
 Cambro Silurian Which, as in southern New Brunswick, may 
 
 also comprise limited areas of pre-Cam- 
 brian, and even Cambrian rocks, at present 
 not separable. 
 
 Siluriah Limestones, slates, and sandstones, often 
 
 highly fossiliferous. 
 
 Devonian Principally developed about the Bay of Cha- 
 leurs, and in Gaspe peninsula, but also as 
 patches overlying the Silurian rocks inland. 
 
 Carboniferous. Lower or Bonaventure formation. 
 
 Middle or Millstone-grit. 
 Upper along the shore of the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence Gulf Shores. 
 Volcanic or Igneous Rocks. 
 
 In the study of the pre-Cambrian areas of northern New Bruns-p re _c a mbrian 
 wick, no attempt has yet been made to separate the Huronian from N e orthern 
 the Laurentian; since, in the present largely inaccessible condition 
 ther country, such separation must, of necessity, be very imperfect. 
 Various rocks occur which approach very closely in character those 
 of the typical Laurentian of St. John county, and which, apparently, 
 form the lowest members of the preCambrian series, being clearly dis- 
 tinguisherl from the upper or schistose portion. Of the former are 
 the gneisses and syenites, with certain felsites, which are extensively 
 developed about the head waters of the Nipisiguit River, whence they 
 extend southwesterly, crossing the upper part of the south branches 
 
48 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 of the Tobique, but it is worthy of remark,- that in all the areas of 
 these rocks yet examined in this portion of the province, no traces of 
 the crystalline limestones which make up so large a part of the upper 
 division of the Laurentian of southern New Brunswick, has yet been 
 found. On the Tete-a-gauche River, beds of graphitic, and to some 
 extent, crystalline limestone occur, which resemble somewhat those 
 of St. John, but their intimate association with blackish slates which 
 belong to the Cambro-Silurian graptolitic series near the mouth of 
 that stream, renders it probable that these belong to that horizon, 
 and that their alteration is due largely to local intrusions of dioritic 
 masses, in tne same way as is seen in the alteration of the fossiliferous 
 Silurian limestones into marble near the Bay of Chaleurs. 
 
 Generally, the pre-Cambrian rocks of this section present much 
 resemblance to those of the recognized divisions already described. 
 There is, however, probably, a greater preponderance of true felsites, 
 and a smaller ' development of the ashy or volcanic portions of the 
 Coldbrook and Coastal groups, but felsitic, chloritic and talcose 
 schists, epidotic rocks, gneisses, &c., are common at many places 
 throughout the area in question. They occupy an extensive tract of 
 country extending diagonally across the northern portion Of the pro- 
 vince, from a short distance above the Forks of the Main Soutn-West 
 Miramichi, on the west, nearly to the mouth of the Jacquet River, on 
 the Bay of Chaleurs. The greatest breadth of this area, on a line drawn 
 across to the head of the Tobique River, is about forty-five miles, in 
 which is included a breadth of twelve miles of intrusive granites. The 
 principal pre-Cambrian area is Overlapped by the Silurian on the 
 east, a short distance after crossing the Tete-a-gauche River, on which 
 stream its southern boundary is seen about sixteen miles from its 
 mouth. The Silurian rocks here occupy an elongated basin, 
 extending inland for some distance beyond the upper waters of the 
 Upsalquitch River, bounded cm the north by the prolongation of the 
 felsite area, which can be traced continuously from the Tobique Lake 
 across the latter stream, and along the north side of the Jacquet 
 River, nearly to its mouth. On the upper part of the Upsalquitch, 
 gabbros are associated with the gneisses that constitute the high hills 
 in this vicinity ; but along the watershed which divides the streams 
 flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, viz., the various branches of 
 the Miramichi and those into the Tobique, the pre-Cambrian rocks 
 have been broken through by a great mass of granitic and syenitic 
 rocks, precisely similar in character to those of Charlotte county. 
 The southern margin is also for some distance bounded by similar 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 49 
 
 granites, which are extensively exposed on the upper part of the 
 Main SoutlWVVest Miramichi and its tributaries. 
 
 On all the streams which flow east between the Nipisiguit and the 
 Main South-West Miramichi, the pre-Cambrian rocks are easily 
 recognized. Their intense degree of metamorphism, regional rather 
 than local, distinguishes them from those of the overlying formations, 
 while in many places there is a marked unconformity between them. 
 The western boundary of the series is seen on the Nictor Lake, 
 which is at the head of the Tobique River, in several islands and in 
 the great peak, known as the Bald Mountain, whence a high chain of 
 hills extends to the Right Hand Branch of the Tobique, crossing it a 
 short distance below the Forks of the Campbell and Serpentine 
 Rivers, and continues with a more south-westerly trend to the 
 Forks of the Miramichi. On the Nipisiguit, its eastern boundary is 
 seen a short distance below Indian Falls, not far from the 47-mile 
 post on this stream. The north-eastern area is divided into three 
 parts by basin-like overlaps of Cambro-Silurian and Silurian strata, 
 presently to be described. 
 
 To the south, the pre-Cambrian is overlaid principally by rocks of 
 the Cambro-Silurian system, and on the west by sediments of various 
 age, up to the Lower Carboniferous. 
 
 The rocks of the Cambro-Silurian resemble those of the areas Cambro- 
 already described under this head in previous pages. They consist 
 of slates, grey, red, and black, with quartzose sandstones, some- 
 times schistose, and where in contact with the granites, containing 
 abundance of crystals, of staurolite, mica, &c. Certain bands of the 
 red and green slates are persistent for long distances, and can 
 readily be traced from their northerly terminus on the Bay of Cha- 
 leurs, southwesterly, into the county of York. In character, these 
 slates of various colors, with their associated sandstones, resemble 
 very closely the beds of the Levis and Sillery divisions of the Quebec 
 ^group,and this resemblance is strengthened by the occurrence of 
 graptolites, in some of the graphitic layers, similar to those found in 
 that group. As in the southern portion of the province, certain 
 areas of highly metamorphic rocks also occur which lithologically 
 closely resemble pre-Cambrian, but as in the case of the more south- 
 ern area, these are so intimately associated with other sediments, as 
 to render their separation impossible for the present. 
 
 The rocks now considered of Cambro-Silurian age are in great part Formerly 
 those described by Drs. Gesner and Ro*bb as Cambrian, while in t 
 4 
 
50 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Drs. Bobb and niap accompanying the Acadian Geology, they were comprised tin- 
 Gesner. ^ er ^ term Lower Silurian. To the south-west, they occupy a large 
 
 portion of the county of York, whence they extend into the adjoin- 
 ing state of Maine. In this direction, they are directly overlaid by 
 Carboniferous sediments of the central basin, the Devonian and 
 Silurian being entirely concealed, or, at best, represented only by 
 detached outliers of very limited extent. Their north-west outline 
 crosses the province boundary into Maine, about two miles south of 
 what is known as the Monument, at the source of the St. Croix 
 River, whence, trending north-easterly, it crosses the St. John River, 
 a little to the north of Woodstock, and extends nearly to the head 
 waters of the Tobique. 
 
 L. W. Bailey, Areas of limestone which are often highly crystalline and mica- 
 l882-83- e 84.' ur ' ceous are found as an integral portion of the system in the western 
 area, near Canterbury. These resemble in some respects the crys- 
 talline limestones of the Laurentian, and are associated with quart- 
 zites and schistose rocks. The occurrence also of somewhat similar 
 limestones in the eastern area as a part of the same formation has 
 already been referred to in the remarks on the pre-Cambrian. 
 
 While then the Cambro-Silurian rocks have a somewhat extensive 
 development in this section of the province, their bulk is much 
 reduced by the presence of large masses of syenite and granite of 
 undoubtedly much later date. These have penetrated the surround- 
 ing beds into which large dykes and veins are intruded in all direct- 
 ions, while often large pieces have the appearance of being torn from 
 their original position, and now held in the igneous mass. Their 
 action on the slates and sandstones is marked, not only by the gene- 
 ration of crystals of various kinds, but by a general alteration of the 
 contiguous beds into schists and gneisses containing mica. 
 
 Two principal areas of these rocks are seen, the more southern 
 flanking the south side of the pre-Cambrian axis of the interior, and 
 continuing to the shore of the Bay of Chaleurs, north of Bathurst, 
 the other on the north-west side of the axis, terminating, as described, 
 near the head waters of the Tobique. These areas are distinctly uncon- 
 formable to the underlying series. They are not, as a rule, rich in fos- 
 sils, but at several points in the southern belt, notably on the Tete-a- 
 
 T? W Flls 
 
 Rep. Geoi. 'Sur. gauche and Miramichi rivers, different forms are found, including 
 brachiopods as well as graptolites. These, while in many cases too 
 indistinct for perfect determination, present features more nearly allied 
 to Cambro-Silurian forms than to those of any other horizon, but in 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 51 
 
 the western belt, more especially on the North Branch of the Becca- p ro f. ^ w. 
 - quimec River, in Carleton, a wonderfully mixed fauna is found in 
 a somewhat limited space. At one point, near Shaw's mill, on 
 this stream, strata-holding fossils which appear to belong to this 1885< 
 system are apparently interstratified with others containing Silurian 
 forms, while in close proximity are beds filled with remains of Psilo- 
 phyton. There would, therefore, in this locality, appear to be three 
 systems represented, of which the Silurian forms seem to be near the 
 base or junction with the Cambro Silurian. This peculiar admixture of 
 so many different horizons can probably best be explained on the hypo- 
 thesis of intimate infolding and subsequent denudation by which 
 narrow crests of older ridges are exposed. In addition to the fossils 
 recently found at this place, several small outlying patches were noted, 
 and first referred to by Mr. C. Robb (Rep. Geol. Sur. 1869), and 
 others subsequently discovered by Mr. Mclnnes, in northern York ; 
 but these appear to be more closely allied to Lower Helderberg forms, 
 and consequently quite distinct from the rocks of the principal Cambro- 
 Silurian area upon which they rest as limited outlying patches , 
 
 The view taken of this portion of the rocks in northern New Similarity of 
 Brunswick, by Professor Hind, as representing the Quebec group of portions of the 
 Canada (see his Rep. 1865), has thus been fairly sustained by later Kted^y^' 
 investigation, both on grounds of lithology and palaeontology. The Hind. Report 
 similarity also of the fossils of the Beccaquimec area to those of the N * B> Gov<> 1865 ' 
 Trenton group, to which horizon, a portion, at least, of the fossilifer- 
 ous Quebec group belongs, is also evident, and leads to the conclu- 
 sion, that a repetition of these rocks, both in their fossiliferous and 
 metamorphic stages, is found in this section of the province. 
 
 But by far the most extensive of the older geological systems in Silur j an 
 
 is area is the Silurian. This occupies the entire country along 
 e St. John River, above Woodstock, extending far into the adjoin- 
 ing province of Quebec, together with the greater part of the valley of 
 the Tobique, where it is, however, to some extent overlapped by 
 Lower Carboniferous sediments. Thence it extends to the Bay of 
 Chaleurs ; occupying, with the exception of the pre-Cambrian belt of 
 Jacquet River, and sundry areas of diorite and trappean rocks the 
 remaining portion of the province to the north, and including the 
 valley of the Restigouche and its tributaries, as well as a large por- 
 tion of the Gaspe Peninsula, where it rests upon the southern flank 
 of the Quebec group. 
 
 The strata of this system are thrown into a series of anticlinals, the 
 
52 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 axes of which are well exposed on the various streams, and the beds are 
 in places highly fossiliferous, the different formations from the Niagara 
 to the Lower Helderberg, both inclusive, being already recognized. 
 They are frequently penetrated by dykes and masses of trap, often 
 of large extent, some of which, as at Dalhousie, are intercalated 
 sheets between the fossiliferous limestone and shales, which have 
 been altered along the contact. The Silurian here contains traces of 
 plant stems, which are probably the oldest found in the province, 
 and are associated with distinctly Silurian forms. The same associa- 
 tion of plants in Silurian strata is found in the Gaspe limes- 
 tone series near Gaspe Basin, and alluded to by Sir Win. Dawson in 
 (t The Fossil Plants of the Silurian and Dev., 1871." It is also 
 possible that the plant stems noted on the Beccaguimec may be in the 
 upper beds of the Silurian, though their aspect is at this place, more 
 markedly Devonian. 
 
 Devonian. The rocks of the Devonian system occupy but limited areas in this 
 
 section, and are, for the most part, confined to the vicinity of the upper 
 
 L.w. Bailey on portion of the Bay of Chaleurs. Several small outliers, have, how- 
 
 Carieton and 
 
 Victoria ever been recognized in Carleton and Victoria counties, the fossils of 
 
 Geoi. Sur. 1&85. which would place them near the base of the series. Of these, the 
 former is found near the junction of the Beccaguimec, with the St, 
 John, where certain black shales are exposed in a narrow band contain- 
 ing abundant remains of Psilophyton princeps, a characteristic Devo- 
 nian form (see Rep. Geol. Sur., C, Robb, 1870-71). This area is lar- 
 gely concealed by Lower Carboniferous conglomerate and sandstone, 
 which occupy a basin formed by the branches of the first-named 
 stream. 
 
 These rocks were in 1874 (see Rep. Geol. Sur. 1874-75, R. W. 
 Ells,) on the evidence of the contained plants, regarded as belonging 
 to the same horizon, but later detailed examinations about the upper 
 part of the stream, by Messrs. Bailey, Matthew and Mclnnis, tend to 
 establish a later age for the conglomerate and associated beds. (See 
 Rep. Geol. Sur. 1883-84, L. W. Bailey.) Devonian rocks, however, 
 underlie these, since along the northern boundary, on the North 
 branch, certain fossils are recognized which appear to represent the 
 upper part of the Gaspe limestone series. 
 
 ft. w. Ells, In the section along the Upsalquitch River, a branch of the 
 
 Brunswick. Restigouche from the south, a basin of Devonian sandstone and 
 
 jS7-8ol eo1 ' Sur ' shales with characteristic plants was observed to rest unconformably 
 
 upon Silurian rocks. Its extent inland could not be traced, as the. 
 
NEW BRtTNSWiCK GEOLOGY. 53 
 
 sttfrdunding country is generally low and densely wooded. As at 
 other points the sediments were intersected by trappean masses, 
 whose metamorphic action was quite evident and proved their more 
 recent age. 
 
 On the Lower Restigouche areas of Devonian rocks are found on 
 both sides of the stream which forms the dividing line between the 
 provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec. These, on the south 
 side, extent from a point three miles above Campbellton, at intervals 
 to within a couple of miles of Dalhousie. The shales and sandstones 
 contain plant stems, descriptions of which are given in the report o 
 1879. In the vicinity of Campbellton, also, beds of brecciated 
 limestone or calcareous breccia^ have yielded a comparatively 
 fauna of Devonian fishes such as Cephalaspis Coaosteus, etc., repre- 
 senting the lower part of the system, while on the side of the 
 river, opposite Dalhousie, other beds contain an abundance of fossil 
 fishes, which have been described by Mr. Whiteaves, and appear to 
 indicate its middle or upper portion. It is of interest to note that as p osgil fishes 
 early as 1842 these remains were recognized by Dr. Gesner, who, S^Sed by 816 
 however, regarded them as reptilian in their character. He supposed Gesner in 1842 - 
 the containing beds, from their lithological aspect were portions 
 of the New Red Sandstone or Carboniferous formations, and it was 
 not till 1879, that these interesting fossils were rediscovered by the 
 writer and the true position of the beds established. The Devonian: 
 of this locality occupies a shallow synclinal. The strata are pene- 
 trated by trap dykes, two periods of eruption being evident from the 
 fact that the lower beds at Campbellton, in which the fishes were 
 found are composed largely of trappean debris, as also from the pre- 
 seflfice of pebbles of trap in the conglomerates elsewhere, and the 
 occurrence of fossiliferous strata overlying trappean ridges. Later 
 intrusions of volcanic matter through the newer members of the sys- 
 tem, both here and at various points in the Gaspe Peninsula, are also 
 common. 
 
 The Carboniferous system is represented in northern and eastern Carboniferous 
 New Brunswick, principally by the upper portion of the Lower forma- and eastern 
 tion, styled the Bonaventure and the lower or Millstone-grit portions Brunswick, 
 of the middle division. The development of the latter over the 
 great inland basin has already been referred to and but little more 
 need be said concerning it. Along the south side of the Bay of 
 Chaleurs a thin seam of coal occurs at several points, which has 
 the same general character as in the interior. On the island of 
 
54 fcEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 Shippigan, and on the mainland north of Tracadie, soft, red mica* 
 ceous sandstone is seen which probably represents a part of the 
 Upper Carboniferous, but these areas are confined to a narrow fringe 
 along the shore. A similar thin seam of coal is found on several of 
 the branches of the Miramichi, and gives strong evidence that the 
 formation has no great thickness at any point. The area is traversed 
 by several low anticlinals, of which four principal ones are recog- 
 nized and described in Rep. Geol. Sur. 1882-83. 
 
 R. w. Ells, The more northerly of these extends between Bathurst and the 
 
 Kep. Geol. Sur. J 
 
 1882-83. Miramichi River, where it forms a ridge running north-easterly with 
 
 an elevation of between 500 and 600 feet. The second extends from 
 the head of Grand Lake to the vicinity of Richibucto Head on 
 Northumberland Strait. This brings up the Devonian rocks of 
 Coal Creek. 
 
 The third passes to the north of Moncton, indicated by the 
 supposed pre-Cambrian ridges of Indian Mountain, and reaches the 
 shore a few miles north of Shediac ; while the fourth, which affects 
 the south-eastern area only, is well seen in the Aulac ridge which 
 extends to Bay Verte, and thence in a low rise runs through the Tor- 
 mentine Peninsula to its extremity. The basin of Middle Carbonife- 
 rous rocks is underlaid along nearly its entire boundary on the north, 
 west and south by the Lower Carboniferous. At one or two points 
 however, notably on the Dungarvon and Renous Rivers and on 
 either side of the St. John River, west of Fredericton, the lower 
 members are concealed by the overlap of the Millstone-grit, directly 
 upon the Cambro-Silurian. The volcanic portion of the Lower Car- 
 boniferous though considerably developed in the counties of York 
 and Victoria, is apparently absent from the northern area where the 
 rocks are sandstones and shales with conglomerates, which in the 
 southern part of the province, constitute the upper members of the 
 gypsiferous division. They are well displayed along the south coast 
 of Gaspe, at intervals to the extremity of that peninsula, where they 
 received the name of the Bonaventure formation, as well as at several 
 points on the shore north of Bathurst^ In Carleton county also, 
 considerable outliers of Carboniferous rocks, representing the lower 
 and possibly some portion of the middle division, are found north of 
 Woodstock and on the branches of the Beccaguimec River. 
 
 These overlie Devonian and Silurian sediments already described, 
 which in turn rest upon rocks of both Cambro-Silurian and pre-Cam- 
 brian age, and conceal the contacts of the several systems for a con- 
 
SEW BRUNSWICK GEOtOCV. 65 
 
 siderable distance. A considerable area principally of the gypsi- 
 ferous portion is found on the Tobique, and recognized as long ago, 
 as the time of Dr. Gesner. Certain not clearly defined grits and 
 sandstones, grey in their upper part, may indicate the existence of 
 a patch of Millstone-grit in this locality. 
 
 On Heron Island which is in the Bay of Chaleurs, about nine 
 miles southeast of Dalhousie, the rocks of the Bonaventure formation 
 are well developed. The shales here contain remains of plants which 
 have never yet been described, while the sandstones shew impres- 
 sions of reptilian footmarks which are the only ones yet found in 
 New Brunswick of this age, though somewhat > similar tracks have 
 been recognized at several points in Nova Scotia in strata of not 
 much higher horizon. 
 
 IGNEOUS ROCKS, 
 
 The principal igneous rocks, which have not already been suffi- 
 ciently described in connection with the various formations, are 
 the intrusive granites and syenites and those of the newer trappean 
 areas. 
 
 Of these the former are much the more important, not only from 
 their very considerable extent but from their economic value. They 
 have been roughly outlined from the time of the earliest report on 
 the geology of the province, but it Js only within the last few years, 
 that The details, more especially of the northern area, which is much 
 the larger, have been studied. 
 
 Generally speaking, these two great areas enter the province near 
 its south-west corner from the adjoining state of Maine. Along the 
 border in Charlotte and York counties, they are separated by a 
 considerable extent of slates already described. The southern belt 
 extends entirely across the former county, and occupies a large part 
 of western Kings and Queens, reaching, with some interruptions, to 
 the St. John River. Further east, in the latter county and in West- 
 morland, isolated outcrops protrude through Carboniferous sedi- 
 ments revealed by the denudation of the latter. That these are of 
 earlier age than the overlying beds is proved by the debris of the 
 granites being found in the lowest member of the Lower Carboni- 
 ferous formation. Similar areas of granite are also associated with 
 the pre- Cambrian of the southern part of the province, but these are 
 comparatively limited as compared with the principal granitic mass. 
 
56 &EW BRtJNSWlCK GEOLOGY: 
 
 In character these rocks are very similar, being generally reddish 
 and moderately coarse grained, often with large crystals of felspar. 
 In places, however, the texture is fine and the color grey. 
 
 The northern area, while of greater extent, presents a similar 
 aspect. Crossing from Maine through the chain of the St. Croix 
 lakes, which form the boundary for some distance, it enters the 
 province in a belt more than twenty miles in width, and extending 
 north-easterly, crosses the St. John River, midway between Frederic- 
 ton and Woodstock. Fine sections are afforded by the river, which 
 cuts directly through the belt, shewing well the intrusive character of 
 the rock by the number and nature of the dykes, which are sent off in 
 all directions into the adjoining slates, as well as by the distinct local 
 metamorphism, due directly to the presence of the granitic mass. 
 Crossing the River St. John, the granite subdivides into two portions, 
 the more southerly of which terminates near the New Brunswick rail- 
 way, white the northern band crosses that line and continues to a total 
 distance of thirty miles from the river. North of this, to the Bay of 
 Chaleurs, the granites occur in three distinct areas, of which the 
 two central are of large extent, and are, for the most part, associated 
 with pre-Cambrian rocks, though also penetrating strata of Cambro- 
 Silurian age, on the Miramichi River. On this stream, the altera- 
 tion along the contact, both of the slates and granite, is well 
 seen, the latter, for several feet, becoming fine-grained and whitish in 
 color, while the former are in places shattered and contain crystals of 
 various kinds. The second area occupies a great breadth of country 
 about the head waters of the South Branch of the Nipisiguit, and on 
 the North-west Miramichi ; forming an exceedingly hilly and broken 
 surface, containing the highest peaks of the province. The third area 
 occurs on the lower part of the Nipisiguit near Bathurst, extending 
 for some twelve miles up from its mouth, but concealed on the lower 
 portion for three miles by Lower Carboniferons beds, the base of 
 which is made up of granitic debris. 
 
 From a consideration of the various points of contact, the intrusive 
 character of these granites is very clearly established ; since, in no 
 other way, can the peculiar phenomena seen be accounted for. 
 There is, however, a marked difference in the character of the 
 metamorphism resulting from the granite, as compared with that 
 produced by the intrusion of the dioritic or trappean masses. In the 
 former, the alteration is more gradual, and extends over a much wider 
 area, as though continuing for a considerable period, and probably 
 
ttfe'W BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 5f 
 
 Under 1 great pressure. In the latter case, the rocks, in contact 
 have frequently a baked or porcelainized aspect, as though exposed 
 to a quicker but not so prolonged a heat. This may, perhaps, be 
 more clearly expressed by regarding the granites as intrusive rocks 
 proper, which have not reached the surface at the time of their intru- 
 sion, but cooled beneath the surface, and subsequently exposed by 
 denudation, while the latter may be held as rather extrusive, coming 
 to the surface along direct fractures or lines of bedding, and cooling 
 rapidly. 
 
 Of the other kinds of intrusive rocks, many of the diorites and 
 fe! sites doubtless are, as heretofore described, integral parts of the 
 older formations ; for while the metamorphosing action of the 
 granite is seen in beds of Silurian age, it is evident that its intrusion 
 must have been subsequent to that period ; while, as no pebbles or 
 debris are found in any formation older than the Devonian, the age of 
 these great masses must not be far from the beginning of that era. 
 Many of the older volcanic rocks of the pre-Cambrian areas have an 
 earlier date than the overlying Cambrian strata, since their debris 
 enters largely into the composition of the basal beds of that system. 
 
 The areas of serpentine in the province are too limited to form 
 any particularly distinctive feature. Sufficient evidence, however, 
 exists to indicate its connection with the igneous rocks, probably as 
 a product of alteration, as seen in the serpentinous diorites of western 
 Charlotte county and in the pure serpentine dyke near Pisarinco. 
 
 The trappean rocks, which are largely developed along the lower 
 Restigouche, and along the upper part of the Bay of Chaleurs, are, like 
 the granites, for the most part of Devonian age. In places, dykes of 
 considerable size, cut directly through sandstones and shales of this 
 age, or throw them upwards into low anticlinals, in the same way as 
 the traps of the Bay of Fundy have affected the Triassic sandstone of 
 that locality. In places, also, the conglomerates of the period, are 
 largely made up of trappean debris. It would thus appear that at 
 least two periods volcanic eruption occurred in this region, of which 
 the earlier was probably the more extensive ; since by it the huge 
 mountains of Dalhousie, Campbellton, and the range along the north 
 shore of the Restigouche to Tracadigash, were brought into their 
 present position, upon the flanks of which nearly horizontal beds of 
 Devonian age have been deposited at various points. 
 
 There yet remains to be considered the great masses of felsitic 
 rock of various ages, both of the southern portion of the province 
 
58 NEW BRUNSWICK GECJLOGY. 
 
 and of the great areas of the northern division. That the great bulk 
 of these are true volcanic products is evident from their nature. 
 Their character as amygdaloids, agglomerates and ashbeds, together 
 with the existence of highly crystalline felspar porphyries, trachytes, 
 rhyolites and similar rocks, clearly establishes their eruptive origin. 
 That they are, however, of different ages, is plain, since while some 
 of these are undoubtedly of pre-Cambrian age, and form what is 
 known as the volcanic portion of the Huronian system, others are 
 intimately associated with Lower Carboniferous strata, either as 
 great masses or as interbedded sheets. These latter are, however, 
 as a rule more earthy than the older series, and their mode of occur- 
 rence clearly indicates their later age. 
 
 A large area of felsite occurs on the Tobique River, the age of 
 which is somewhat doubtful. Much of it is highly crystalline and 
 porphyritic, ancl resembles the old pre-Cambrian felsite of the inte- 
 rior ; other portions are ashy. It is separated from the main area 
 by a band of Cambro : Silurian slates, which may only occupy a basin 
 shaped valley in the older rocks, but the impenetrable character of 
 much of the country renders it at present almost impracticable to 
 determine its true horizon, and it is possible that it may pertain to 
 the Lower Carboniferous outlier of this locality, with the rocks of 
 which it appears to be intimately connected. Other areas of epidotic 
 and dioritic rocks of uncertain position occur in the vicinity of the 
 St. John River, near Woodstock, which are associated with Cambro- 
 Silurian strata. 
 
 SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY. 
 
 The superficial geology of the province has, since the report of 
 Prof. Hind (1865), been more particularly studied by Messrs. Mat- 
 thew and Chalmers, whose reports embody not only their own ob- 
 servations on the subject, but many of the notes collected by the other 
 explorers in this field. 
 
 Prof. H. Y. That by Prof. Hind furnishes much valuable information concern- 
 GeoioWof New m g the origin of terraces, raised beaches and lake basins ; with a list 
 iS65 svvlck ' of glacial striae and ice grooves from which he infers that the ice 
 might have had a thickness of 2,000 feet, as indicated by the mark- 
 ings found on the tops of some of the mountains. The varying 
 courses of the striae are accounted for on the grounds that the direc- 
 tion of the ice sheet was influenced, to some extent, by the direction 
 of the valleys and other leading topographical features. This pecu- 
 
gRUNSWick GEOLOGY. 
 
 liarity of local glaciers has been discussed at greater length in recent 
 reports by Mr. Chalmers. The various lake basins were held to be 
 due to the ploughing out of the softer portions of the underlying rocks 
 through the agency of these glaciers. 
 
 The reports of Mr. Matthew go much more extensively into detail. Mr. G.F. 
 In these the superficial deposits are arranged under three heads, viz. : superficial 
 
 i st. Boulder clay or till, unmodified glacial drift, constituting the southern New 
 
 Brunswick. 
 
 lowest member. Rep.jGteoi. Sur. 
 
 2nd. Stratified sand and gravel, Syrtensian deposits, formed by 
 marine action, and representing the remains of old shoals and banks. 
 
 Leda clay, estuarine deposits. 
 
 Saxicava sand and raised beaches, littoral deposits. 
 
 3rd. Modern alluvium, shell marls, peat, etc. 
 
 The peculiarity of the boulder clay is its unstratified arrangement 
 and its intermingling of sand, clay and stones which are often striated. 
 As a general rule, it was observed that the boulders were, for the most 
 part, local, and only at rare intervals were stones found that had come 
 from any considerable distance. Where observed, in the southern part 
 of the province, their course was generally from north to south or south- 
 east, more especially in the south-western and central portions, and 
 good instances of upward transport were seen by their presence on 
 the sides or tops of mountains, 500 feet or more above their starting 
 point. 
 
 The color of the boulder clay was found to be affected in great 
 measure by the color of the rocks whence it was derived, as might 
 naturally be supposed, more especially where these rocks are soft 
 sandstones or calcareous shales, since the hard rocks resisted more 
 effectually the degrading effects of the ice sheet. Wherever this clay 
 is removed, the strata beneath are, as a rule, found to be rounded 
 and scored, shewing that the deposit of the clay was subsequent to 
 the smoothing of the rock. Two principal directions are visible in 
 the striae. Thus to the west of St. John the prevailing course is to 
 the south of east, while to the east of that city, it is south-westerly, 
 following to a great extent the principal hill features. 
 
 The beds of the second or Syrtensian group differ from the pre- 
 ceding in their stratified character, though there are, at certain points 
 on the coast, indications of a gradual passage from the upper mem- 
 bers of the boulder formation, into the lower part of the stratified 
 group. The various beds of the latter are arranged by Mr. Matthew 
 in four principal forms, viz. : 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGV. 
 
 The weather shoal, forming under the north side of the hill, or at 
 the entrance to a valley. 
 
 The lee shoal, forming behind a hill, or at the outlet of a valley. 
 
 Centre shoals, formed in open spaces or enlargements of valleys, 
 or on the higher lands. 
 
 Horsebacks and escars, formed of gravel and sand along valleys 
 or ridges as connecting neighbouring hills, or opposing slopes of 
 valleys. 
 
 The Leda clay may be regarded as an upper portion of the prece- 
 ding group, since,. in the southern part of the province, the beds of the 
 former graduate upward into the latter. It may, however, be properly 
 restricted to deposits of clay, which generally rest upon the gravels 
 of the Syrtensian group, and are generally distinguished by the pre- 
 sence of organic remains, in which, in addition to shells of various 
 kinds, the remains of a Phoca and a Beluga have been found nea 
 the coast of the Bay of Fundy. This deposit is well recognized, not 
 only in the southern part of the province, but in the Bay of Chaleurs 
 area, both in New Brunswick and along the Gaspe shore, from which 
 a very considerable collection of fossil remains have been obtained. 
 The deposit, however, changes its character in different places, from 
 the admixture of sandy beds, and at times it is very difficult to dis- 
 tinguish between the Syrtensian, the Leda and the Saxicava, owing 
 to their occasional similarity. 
 
 To the latter or Saxicava sand are attributed the upper members 
 of the modified drift only. It is generally devoid of organic remains, 
 having in southern New Brunswick, produced only two species, a 
 Mya and a Macoma. It was deposited in gradually shoaling water, 
 as the land slowly rose from the sea, and, in this way, terraces of 
 different heights were formed along the coast and river valleys. These 
 Mr. R, terraces, more especially as seen along the St. John and other rivers 
 
 SuHeSal in northern New Brunswick, have been recently described in detail 
 Rep!(ieoi. Sur. by Mr. Chalmers, whose papers on the surface geology of these por- 
 tions of the province, are among the most important yet published 
 on the subject. In many of these terraces, the three sub-divisions of 
 the modified drift are seen, viz. : the Syrtensian gravel and sand at 
 the bottom, the Leda clay in the central part, and the Saxicava sand 
 at the top. 
 
 On the St. John River, a number of sections were made, particu- 
 larly of the part between Woodstock and the St. Francis River, as 
 well as along its tributaries, in some of which no less than seven dis- 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 61 
 
 tinct terraces were observed, with a total elevation for the upper of 
 not far from 200 feet above the present level of the stream. The 
 highest terraces are composed of stratified gravel and sand, with 
 water-worn pebbles ; the lower contains the same materials as the 
 upper, but are generally more water-worn, and have local beds of 
 clay and silt. The materials of the kames or escars and terraces are 
 the same, and undoubtedly, derived from the same source. Since 
 it has been conclusively established that the valley of the St. John 
 River is of pre-glacial age, the mode of occurrence of these deposits 
 is an exceedingly interesting question, and as Mr. Chalmers has 
 evidently given the subject much study, and his views seem to satisfy 
 most of the requirements of the case, more fully than any previously 
 advanced, with the proviso that they apply equally well to other 
 river valleys, they are here presented. 
 
 " The river valleys, at the close of the glacial period, became very 
 generally choked with drift, which, forming dams, would hold back 
 the water, and constitute a series of lake basins along the river course. 
 These dams, in some places, were from 150 to 200 feet above the 
 present level, and the rivers would, therefore, begin to flow at that 
 height above their present beds. The gradual re-excavation of the 
 drift would, therefore, as it went on, by the transportation to lower 
 levels, result in the formation of the terraces which would thus mark 
 different levels of the river by the deposition of the materials from 
 higher levels along the border of the lake-like expansions, and along 
 the sides and bottoms of the current, which flowed in and through 
 them ; thus, by successive accumulation, forcing the channel from 
 side to side as erosion and deposition went on. 
 
 " The kames are composed of similar sand and gravel as the ter- 
 races, and may be the remains of these left by denudation of beds 
 once surrounding them, and of which they formed a part. Their bases 
 are often composed of till or boulder clay." 
 
 The action of the glaciers, in following already defined depressions, 
 is well seen at many points over the entire area of the province. 
 Occasionally, two or more sets of striae occur, which often have 
 courses at marked angles to each other. 
 
 Of these, the newer will almost invariably be noticed to run in the 
 direction of a valley or, when near the coast, the course of some 
 fiord or estuary. Excellent examples of this are seen in the vicinity 
 of Sackville and Amherst, where the ice grooves and striae follow 
 directly the depression between Bay Verte and the head of the Bay 
 
62 NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 of Fundy, as also at Memramcook and Dorchester, where they are 
 observed to follow the principal flexures of the Memramcook River. 
 This peculiarity of direction is also noticed in both the adjoining 
 provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia. The older set of markings 
 are however observed to keep a quite uniform direction, regardless 
 of opposing hills, as if in many cases, the propelling power of the 
 glacier drove it resistlessly forward. If then we admit the existence 
 of a universal ice sheet, which, in some parts of eastern Canada 
 appears to be quite clearly established, we must also admit a second 
 and possibly a third ice era, during which local glaciers were shed 
 from the height of land in whichever direction the most favorable 
 outlet was presented, the course of which was largely affected by 
 local conditions of configuration. In the northern area, such evidences 
 of local glaciers are visible in the striae which follow the outlines 
 of the lower Restigouche and its tributaries. In Gaspe, also, local 
 glaciers were undoubtedly shed in either direction from the tops of 
 the Shickshock mountains, modified by the lower hill ranges which 
 lie nearer the coast. In Nova Scotia, striae on the north side of the 
 Cobequids point towards the shore of Northumberland Strait, while 
 on the south side, they have a westward course in the line of the 
 Minas Basin and Channel. 
 
 The divergence of river beds is conclusively proved at several 
 points, though whether these changes were all due to causes subse- 
 quent to the glacial period, may be questioned. Thus, at the Grand 
 Falls of the St. John River, 225 miles from the mouth, the present 
 channel below the pitch forms a wonderful gorge, cut through the 
 Silurian rocks for nearly a mile to a depth of over one hundred feet ; 
 the old channel being blocked, at what is now the town of Grand 
 Falls, by a great accumulation of clay and other drift material. So 
 also, near its junction with the St. John, the old valley of the 
 Tobique has been dammed and a new channel excavated through 
 Silurian beds for nearly the same distance. The time necessary 
 to produce a gorge of such a length in the comparatively hard 
 rocks of these localities must have been considerable. Whether 
 such was the cause of the present outlet of the St. John River has 
 not been conclusively proved, but appears highly probable, since 
 huge dams of drift block up what appears to be an old outlet of the 
 river in the direction of Manawagonish Beach, a short distance west 
 of its present mouth. 
 
 The views of Prof. Hind fsee Report of 1865), as to the glacial 
 
NEW BRUNSWICK GEOLOGrV. ** : ' *\ $$ 
 
 origin of many of the lake basins, do not, in all cases, seem to be 
 fully sustained by the later investigations of Mr. Chalmers. The 
 latter gentleman finds the depressions of some of the larger lakes in 
 the southwestern part of the province to be pre-glacial in the same 
 way as the valley of the St. John River. The subsequent action of 
 glaciers and glacial drift has, by heaping up moraines, modified 
 existing conditions very greatly, either by forming entirely new 
 basins, or changing very considerably those existing prior to the ice 
 age. This peculiarity of morainic lake basins is well illustrated in 
 many of the lakes of the St. Croix chain, along the boundary 
 between New Brunswick and Maine. 
 
 Changes of level of the land are well shown by the presence of 
 beds of marine or Leda clay at considerable elevations, reaching, in 
 some places, several hundred feet above the present sea level. It is 
 also proved by the presence of old sea beaches at intervals along the 
 coast of the Bay of Fundy, and now removed several miles from the 
 existing shore line. That such changes of level have taken place in 
 comparatively recent times is evidenced by the presence of tree 
 stumps in the marshes about the upper part of this bay, now some 
 twenty or thirty feet below high tide mark, which are found not 
 only on the flats between Amherst and Sackville, along the shore, 
 but in the several canals which have been cut for the purpose of 
 improving the inner marsh. The partially submerged shell 
 heaps on the coast of Charlotte county, which mark the sites of 
 old Indian encampments, and presumably at one time removed 
 beyond the action of the sea, also proves the gradual encroachment 
 of the water, as well as the fact that these shell heaps are at a con- 
 siderably lower level than when they were formed. On the other 
 hand, it is supposed by Prof. Hind and others that the shores of the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence are now gradually rising, as is evidenced by 
 the shoaling of the waters in the harbors and estuaries of the eastern 
 coast, at the entrance to the great Miramichi Harbor and the 
 basin at Bathurst, since a marked difference in the depth of the 
 water is now noted when compared with the observations recorded 
 within the last eighty or one hundred years. Some of these appar^ 
 ent changes of level may, to a certain extent, be due to the filling up 
 of channels by sediment brought down by the rivers and redistributed 
 by the action of the tides. 
 
 It might be supposed, by some persons, that the varied opinions 
 expressed at different times concerning the true interpretation of the 
 
BRUNSWICK GEOLOGY. 
 
 geological structure of the province would have a tendency to reflect 
 somewhat unfavorably upon the character of the work done by the 
 several observers in this field. A moment's consideration of the 
 subject will, however, serve to correct this impression ; since it must 
 be remembered that, in the elucidation of the structure of any coun- 
 try, the discovery of new facts, from time to time, must ever lead to 
 changes in the interpretation of the various problems presented. 
 
 The earliest workers had the misfortune also to labor at a time 
 when the science of geology was, comparatively speaking, in its 
 infancy. With the increase of our scientific knowledge, enlarged 
 views will be unfolded, while the peculiar bias pertaining to each 
 individual must, of itself, ever give abundant cause for difference of 
 opinion. In the study of any subject the object primarily to be 
 attained should be the truth, sinking personal feeling for the general 
 good. , 
 
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