r'^y:r -^ r ^1^' .:.■-. it I- \ .4^^# ^% ^ IKS^HV im^ii^ (*<• |9( > '•'V- **-, :^.*^^.->^ .^:t% m^ '*? •^/* «^'^^' ■ .■■'•'■i '■'rf'}i!\i%.ii.>--'. .,'»>. -»'..J f^ '0/ .%m\-* '» r* C/Vr4 if' WHITNEY LIBRARY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. THE GIFT OF J. D. WHITNEY, Stuvfjis Hooper Professor IX THE MUSEUM OF OOMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY v.- ^ 1 •• ^"T'^~-v •' r-~ WX.! \.\Vl 7¥ sm ■•t-^jth •'^ m^^-ji, •^v*. ••*•-' \» .-, *?-)■:emh\\ng Ammonites (^Prionocyclus) Woolgari, but according to Mr. Whiteaves specifically distinct. No beds so low as the Dakota horizon have yet been discovered here, though they may exist. The lithological resemblance of the shales of the upper and lower sub-divisions to those of the Pierre and Benton groups is exceedingly close. It is conjectured that these mark periods of general submergence, when sediment-bearing currents passed freely through the interior continental valley. In the Dunvegan sandstones we may see an indication of the elevation of land sur- faces to the north and west, which interrupted these currents and allowed the contemporaneous deposition of the Calcareous i^iobTara beds of the South, 22 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X The fossils of the Lower or Dunvegan sandstones are of special interest, giving us a number of fresh-water mollutcs and land plants of a stage of the Cretaceous previously almost un- represented in these respects. The fresh-water molluscs clearly resemble those of the Laramie group, and the plants, while showing a close analogy with those of the Dakota group, help to fill a gap in time between these and those of the Vancouver (Chico) Cretaceous and the Laramie and Fort Union. In 1872, Prof. Meek described a series of beds at Coalville, Utah,* which appear to have been formed at the edge of the Cretaceous sea at the mouth of a small river, and hold fresh- water molluscs. The fossils from these beds represent a stage somewhat higher in the Cretaceous than those of the Dunvegan rocks, but closely resemble them as well as those of the La- ramie series. Meek writes : — " The group of fossils found in the dark indurated clay Gr is, in several respects, a very interest- ing one, not only because every species is new to science, and all of them entirely different from any yet found in any other loca- lity, or eren in any other beds of this locality (with possibly one or two exceptions), but on account of their modern afiinities. Here we have, from beds certainly overlaid by 1000 feet of strata containing Cretaceous types of fossils, a little group of forms presenting such modern affinities that, if placed before any palaeontologists unacquainted with the facts, they would be at once referred to the Tertiary." In the Peace River district we have, instead of a merely- local intercalation of this character, a widely extended series of' Cretaceous beds persistently holding fresh-water and estuarine.; types of molluscs and land plants. The chief evidence of the Tertiary age of the Laramie and" Fort Union beds, after that afforded by the plants, has been; found in the Tertiary aspects of the molluscs, most of which are fresh- or brackish-water forms. Hitherto little has been. known of the fresh-water fauna of the undoubted Cretaceous; Dut if this should prove to have, as now appears probable, a " Tertiary " aspect throughout, it will tend to break down the- molluscan evidence of the Tertiary age of the Laramie, and' unite this formation still more closely with the underlying beds.. March 1, 1881. * U. S. Geol. Survey of Territories, 1872, p. 435. No. 1.] ^ATIITEAVES — NEW SPECIES OF PTERICHTHYS. 23 ON A NEW SPECIES OF PTERICHTHYS, ALLIED TO BOTHRLOLEFIS ORNATA EICHWALD, FROM THE DEVONIAN ROCKS OF THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BAIE DES CHALEURS.^^ By J. F. Whiteaves. The nomeuclature of some of the Devonian Placoderms of the sub-order Ostracostei of Huxley is still iu a state of great confusioQ. Thus, FtericJitlujs Agassiz aud Botliriolepis Eichwald, are both quoted by Pander as synonymous in part with Asterole- pis Eichwald, while the Asterolepis of Agassiz aud Hugh Miller is regarded by the same authority as synonymous in part with Homostiiis Asmuss, and in part with Heterostlus. On the other hand, Prof. R. Owen claims fthat Pterlchtlujs should be retained in preference to Asterolepis and Botliriolepis Eichwald, on the ground that " no recoiz-nizable o-eneric characters were associated" with the latter names ; and, as this view has been very generally accepted by paleontologists, it will be adopted provisionally in these notes. The only remains of fossil fishes yet recorded as occurring in the Paleozoic rocks of North America which may prove to be re- ferable to the genus Fterichthi/s, are some isolated scales from the Catskill group of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, described by Prof, Hall in 1843 as Sauripteris Taylori, but which Dr. Newberry thinks have the characteristic sculpture of Botliriolepis. The name Fterichthys Nbrwoodeiisis, although inadvertently cited by Mr. S. A. Miller, on page 238 of his " American Paleozoic Fossils, " should have been rejected long ago, for in the first vo- lume of the Second Series of this Journal, dated 18-16, Drs. Nor- wood and Owen showed that the specimen for which it was suggested is the type of their genus Macroj)etaliclitliys, and of a species which they described as M. raphe idolab is. In the summer of 1879, Mr. R. W. Ells, M. A., of the Geolo- gical Survey of Canada, had the good fortune to find, in a con- cretionary nodule of argillite from the north side of the Baie des Chaleurs immediately opposite Dalhousie, a mould of the plastron ♦ Reprinted from the American Journal of Science for August 1880. t Paleontology, Second Edition, page 141. 24 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. or ventral surface of a true Ptericlithys (as defined by Prof. Owen) with one of the pectoral spines in situ. At the earliest practic- able opportunity, Mr. Ells revisited the locality, and in the first week of June last obtained three exquisitely preserved specimens of the buckler of the same species and several fragments, also some isolated scales of a GlyptoJepis. The finest example of the Canadian Pterichthys collected by Mr. Ells had a large piece bro- ken off the left margin when it was found, but with this exception the whole of the upper surface of the helmet and buckler is finely exposed (the plastron being partly covered by the matrix), and the outline of the orbital opening is clearly defined. A few weeks later, Mr. T. C. Weston, also of the Canadian Survey, collected an additional number of fine specimens of the Pterlchthys from this locality, some of which illustrate admirably the shape, sculp- ture and mode of articulation of the pectoral spines. Associated •with these there are, in Mr. Weston's collection, a nearly perfect but badly distorted specimen of a GlyptoJepis fully seven inches in length, some fragments of Psilop>hyton, and a spore case of a L ep ido den dro n . Taken collectively, the specimens thus far obtained of the Ca- nadian Ptericlithys show nearly all the characters of the helmet, buckler, plastron and pectoral spines, in the most satisfactory manner, but no vestiges of the tail have yet been detected, nor of any of the fins other than the two pectoral spines. The nature of tlie mouth and of its dentition, if it had any teeth, are un- known, and the small isolated plate in the orbital cavity (the '-'os dubium," of Pander, the " median" plate of Owen) has not yet been observed. In the number, outlines and disposition of the plates on the upper and lower surface of the head and body, and in the shape and mode of articulation of the pectoral spines, the Canadian fish agrees, in every essential point, with Pander's well known figures of a typical Ptericlithys, but the sculpture of the entire surface of the former is precisely like that of Both- riolepis ornata Eichwald, which is thus described by Agassiz :* " lies ornements de cette espece consistent en petits enfoncemens circulaires places les uns a cote des autres et s^pares par des carenes qui, par leur juxta-position, paraissent hexagonales a-peu- pr^s comme les vitraux ronds des ancieunes fenetres, avec I'entou- rage en plomb qui les reunit. Les creux ont a-peu-pres la gran- * Monographie des Poissons Fossiles du Vieux Gres Rouge, &c., p. 99. No. 1.] WHITEAVES — NEW SPECIES OF PTERICHTHYS. 25 deur d'une bonne tete d'epingle, et ils sont places en series line- aires plus ou moins regulieres, formant des lignes ondulees sur la surface de I'^caille. Pour la plupart, ces creux sont isoles lesuns des autres, quelquefois aussi plusieurs se confondent en formant Tin sillon plus ou moins long. Las carenes iutermediaires sont tranchantes et minces, maisellcsse maintiennent au meme niveau; Ton ne pourrait donner une meilleure image de cette sculpture des plaques, qu'en enfon§ant des epingles, la tete la premiere, sur le gyps encore frais, car il en resulterait le meme dessin. En exa- minant ces pla^jues a la loupe, on voit au fond de cliaque cellule osseuse un petit trou central, qui mene dans un canal meduUaire de I'int^rieur de I'ecaille. Evidemment ces trous etaient destines a donner passage aux fins vaisseaux sauguinsqui montaient a tra- vers I'ecaille pour se ramifier dans I'epiderme qui couvrait la pla- que." All the markings so carefully described in the above passage, even to the minute perforations through the plate in the centre of each pit, can be made out with perfect ease in most of the specimens collected by Messrs. Ells and Weston. The Canadian Pterichthys is so closely allied to the Bothrio- lepis ornata that it is by no means certain whether the two are specifically distinct or not. Apart from its peculiar sculpture, the specific characters of of B. ornata are very imperfectly ascer- tained, the species having been founded exclusively on a fewlarge isolated plates of a placoderm, from the Devonian rocks of Russia and Scotland. Until more perfect examples of j8. ornata shall have been described and figured, it will be impossible to institute an accurate comparison between it and the nearly related Cana- dian form. There are, however, good reasons for supposing that the European species attained a much larger si^e than the Canadian, for Agassiz says that the plates of jS. ornata are from three to six inches in length, and judging b}^ this, the approx- mate length of its helmet and buckler together may be roughly estimated at from six to twelve inches at least. The largest isolated plate of the Pterichthys from the Baie des Chaleurs yet obtained (one of the ventro-laterals) is only two inches and a half long, while the smallest of two perfect specimens of the united helmet and buckler from the same locality is a little over two inches in length, and the largest (the fine specimen collected by Mr. Ells) is just six inches. Under the circumstances, the writer thinks it most prudent to give to the Canadian Pterichthys a local and provisional name, 26 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. with a brief diagnosis of its most salient characters, as follows : premising that a more detailed description of the species, accom- panied with figures, will appear at an early date in one of the publications of the Canadian Geological Survey. Pterichthys (Bothriolepis) Canadensis, nov. sp. — Plas- tron nearly flat. Helmet moderately arched above, most promi- nent immediately behind the orbital cavity where it rises into a ridge or blunt keel, which is continued, at intervals, with greater or less distinctness, along the median line of the buckler. Buck- ler slightly arched, median keel strongest in the centre of the dor- somedian plate, and in the posterior half of the post-dorsomedian. General outline of the helmet and buckler combined elliptic-ovate, their united length being nearly, but not quite, twice the maxi- mum breadth of the buckler. Dorsomedian plate large, hexago- nal, apparently rather wider than long ; its upper margin slightly concave on both sides and somewhat pointed in the middle, its lower margin being concave. Orbital cavity situated nearly in the centre of the helmet, transversly reniform or bean-shaped in outline, much wider than high. Upper margin of the orbital cavity broadly, regularly and very shallowly concave, the lower being correspondingly convex, while the two lateral extremities are symmetrically and rather narrowly rounded. Pectoral spines extending nearly to the posterior end of the buckler, thin and compressed vertically; moderately broad later- ally where they are articulated to the ventro-lateral plate, and widening to about their mid-length, where they exceed the breadth at their articulation by about one line. From the widest point the breadth of the spines is again gradually reduced up to the joint separating the two segments of which they are composed, from whence they taper gradually to an acute point. The two segments are divided, nearly transversely, by a ball and socket joint, the ball being in the anterior and the socket in the posterior or terminal segment. The anterior end of each spine seems also to be furnished with a ball and socket joint, as there is a strongly inflected cavity in the ventro-lateral plate to receive the anterior end of the spine which latter terminates in a rounded protuberance. On the inner and outer lateral margin of the pectorals there is a row of crowded, nearly erect, conical, tooth-like, hollow spines. These are directed towards the articulation of the spine with the ventro-lateral plate up to about the mid-length of the anterior No. 1.] WHIT EAVES — DEVONIAN FISHES. 2T segment, and from thence they begin to point towards the posterior termination of the spine. Sculpture of the hehuet, buckler, plastron and pectoral spines very closely resembling that of the plates of Bothriolepis ornata but much finer and more delicate. ON SOME REMARKABLE FOSSIL FISHES FROM THE DEVONIAN ROCKS OF SCAUxMENAC BAY, P. Q., WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF A NEW GENUS AND THREE NEW SPECIES. By J. F. Whiteaves. Immediately after the preceding paper was written, Mr. A. H. Foord, of the Geological Survey of Canada, went down to the Baie des Chaleurs and spent two months and a half of the sum- mer of 1880 in a careful and systematic examination of the fish- beariog beds of the Devonian rocks of the north bank of the mouth of the Restigouche river. The exact locality at which the Ptericlithys and other fossil fishes were found by Messrs. Ells and Weston is not the Baie des Chaleurs proper but Scaumenac Bay, Bonaventure County, Province of Quebec. On the shores of this bay a series of shales, sandstones and conglomerates, now known to be of Devonian age, are overlaid, apparently un- conformably, by the red sandstones and conglomerates of the '' Bonaventure Formation." The geological structure of both banks of the Restigouche river was examined by Dr. Abraham Gesner in 1842, who also was the first to notice the existence of fossil fishes and plants in the shales and sandstones of Scau- menac Bay. Referring to the latter. Dr. Gesner says, ^ " In these sandstones and shales I found the remains of fish and a small species of tortoise, with fossil foot prints" : the sculp- tured plates of Pterichtlii/s being evidently regarded by the Doctor as portions of the carapace or plastron of a small tortoise. From these deposits Mr. Foord succeeded in obtaining an ex- tensive and interesting collection of fossil fishes. Of the entire number of specimens collected, fully four-fifths are referable to * Report on the Geological Survey of New Brunswick, 1843, p. 64. 28 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. the genus Ptericlithys, which, at this locality, seems to be repre- sented by only one species, the P. Canadensis. Some of these are nearly perfect and want only the fins proper and the tail, while others are mere isolated plates or detached portions of the pectoral spines. The new material obtained by Mr. Foord shows that the cranial plates of P. Canadensis were furnished with curious appendages, which will be described more in detail a little farther on. In addition to these specimens of Pterichthi/s, there are examples of eight or nine species of fossil fishes in the collection, belonaino; to at least seven genera. The followino- is a brief description of the cranial appsndnges of the Canadian Pter- ichthys and of the characters by which most of the other species may be distinguished, including the definition of a supposed new genus. Pterichthys Canadensis. One specimen of P. Canadensis shews that the species had two labial appendages, or barbels, attached to the front margin of the head, though, unfortunately, the terminal plates of the anterior extremity of this specimen are so much distorted that it is scarcely possible to ascertain to which of them the barbels were attached. These barbels are almost exactly similar in shape to those represented by dotted lines in the ideal repre- sentation of the genus Pterichthys on Plate 6, fig. 1, of the " Monographic des Poissons Fossiles du Vieux Gres Rouge," which Agassiz claims to have seen in his P. latus, — but in P. Canadensis the barbels are very close together at their bases. In two specimens of a Pterichthys from the red beds at the summit of the series, both of which are probably referable to P. Canadensis^ two remarkable, flattened-conical dermal pro- cesses are clearly visible on the helmet, one on each side of the orbital cavity. One of these specimens measures four inches in length, exclusive of the tail, of which, as usual, not a vestige remains ; and in this individual the dermal processes on the helmet are half an inch Ions; and two lines and a half broad near their base. Posteriorly, each process appears to fit into the angle formed by the junction of the " prelateral " with the " nuchal " and '' post lateral " plates of Prof. Owen. Anteriorly, they are each directed obliquely outwards and forwards across the " prelaterals," which they partly cover. They taper gradu- ally Irom their base to an obtuse point, are ornamented with a sculpture precisely similar to that of all the other plates and are pressed close to the surface of the helmet. No. 1.] WHITEAVES DEVONIAN FISHES. 29 DiPLACANTHUS. Two specimens, one shewing scales and longitudinally grooved fin spines and the other a large portion of the body, of a small, smooth-scaled Diplacanthus, very like the D. striatus of Agassiz and possibly identical with that species. Phaneropleuron curtum, Sp. Nov. General outline, inclusive of the fins, varying in different spe- cimens from subovate to fusiform- : length also varying from a little more than twice to rather more than three times the height. Head small, between one-fourth and one-fifth the entire length, and apparently obtuse in front. Cranial plates minutely pitted or irregularly corrugated. Scales thin, cycloid, imbricating, sculp- tured on their exposed surfaces with exceedingly fine radiating lines, which are visible only under a lens. Dorsal fin single, very long and large, commencing at a point considerably in advance of the middle, at first not much elevated above the dorsal margin, but increasing rapidly in height towards the tail, with whose upper lobe it ultimately becomes confluent. Maximum height of the dorsal nearly equal to the length of the head. Caudal fin heterocercal : anal and caudal fins both extending as far out- wards from the body as the posterior end of the dorsal does, and separated at their bases by a very narrow interval. Anal fin nar- row and elongated, ventrals also long and narrow, and separated from the anal by a space considerably wider than that which intervenes between the anal and caudal. Pectorals unknown. Ribs very slender and well ossified : interspinous bones con- tracted in the middle and gradually expanding at each end. Of this species four crushed and distorted but otherwise nearly perfect specimens were collected, which want only the ventral and pectoral fins. Many fragments of this fish also were ob- tained, one of which shews the shape and position of one of the ventrals. The variation in the outline of different individuals and in the proportions which their length bears to their height, is evidently largely due to the distortion to which they have been subiected. The smallest specimens are the least distorted, and in these the length is much greater in proportion than it is in the larger ones. Thus, the smallest individual collected by Mr. Foord is about thirty-four lines long and ten lines high, while the largest is a little more than six inches long and three inches and a quarter high. 30 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. As compared with the Plianeropleuron Andersoni of Huiley, from the Old Pted Sandstone of Dura Den, the only previously known species of the genus, the P. curtain appears to differ in its smaller size, and more especially in its much greater height or depth as compared with its length. Judging by the figures in the tenth Decade of the " Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom," the length of F. Andersoni is equal to about five and a half times its height, whereas in adult or pre- sumably adult specimens of P. curtinn, the length does not much exceed twice the height. On a cursory examination the dorsal, caudal and anal fins of the present species appear to be con- tinuous, but a closer scrutiny shews that the bases of the caudal and anal fins are separated by a short space. EnsTHENOPTERON,-'^ Gen. Nov. Generic Characters. Dermal plates of the head densely and irregularly corrugated externally, the corrugations varying in size in different parts of the same plate, but rarely or never coalescing with each other so as to form a complete network. The larger corrugations have a tendency to become tubercular. Teeth, at least the smaller ones, compressed-conical, with a sharp cutting edge on each side. Scales of the body, cycloid, imbri- cating ; their exposed surfaces marked either with minute, close- set, irregular, radiating, tubercular ridges, — or more rarely with a semi-circular area of concentric rows of small, distant, isolated tubercles, upon a surface ornamented with exceedingly fine, wavy, radiating lines. Dorsal fins two, separated by an interval about equal in length to the height of the body between them. Pec- toral fins unknown. Ventrals small, short, broad and placed a little behind the first dorsal. Anal fin large and broad, placed opposite to the second dorsal. Caudal fin also large and broad, heterocercal, with an unusually well developed upper lobe. Vertebral centres not ossified: neural and haemal spines and inter-spinous bones well developed and completely ossified. Neural and hagnial spines anterior to the second dorsal and anal and for a short distance behind them, blade-like and flattened, with more or less acute margins. Neural spines of the upper lobe of the tail simple, much elongated, subcyliudrical and * From tv-odtvrjq^ stout, and Trrepov, a fin, in reference to the strongly developed anal and second dorsal. No. 1.] WHITEAVES — DEVON CAN FISHES. 31 slightly curved. Fin rays of the lower lobe of the tail supported by nine or ten osselets, each of which is articulated bj a trans- verse joint to one of the modified haemal spines. On the anterior or lower side of this lobe and nearest to the anal fin, the osselets are very stout and greatly elongated, but they rapidly decrease both in length and size as they approach the posterior termina- tion of the vertebral column. The haemal spines of the tail, like .the osselets, are contracted at or about the middle, and expanded -at each end, but the haemal spines are invariably much shorter than the osselets. All the fin rays, including those of the tail, are composed of a great number of rectangularly divided, short •.articulations. Fin rays of the second dorsal and anal fin each proceeding from three osselets of unequal size, which are articu- Jated to short prominences, separated by corresponding concave emarginations, in the posterior half of the greatly expanded outer extremity of a broad interspinous apophysis, in the manner shewn in the accompanying wood-cut.* Outline of interspinous apophysis and osselets of the second dorsal fin of Eusthenopteron Foordi. Natural size. EUSTHENOPTERON FOORDI. Sp. Nov. Specific Characters. Fish large, attaining a length of two feet or more ; first dorsal fin very long, narrow and tapering to an acute point behind. In the sculpture of its cranial plates, in the shape and orna- * In a paper read before the Natural History Society, of which an abstract is given on page 440 of the last volume of this journal, these bones, which were then nearly covered by the matrix, were supposed to be the supports of the ventral fins, in consequence of their general resemblance to the so-called ischium and metatarsals of Asterolepia, as figured and described in Hugh Miller's <= Footprints of the Creator." Their true nature, however, became at once apparent after a subse- quent removal of part of the matrix. 32 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. mentation of its scales, and in the fact that the fin rays of its second dorsal and anal fins are both supported by three osselets articulated to a broad interspinous apophysis, this genus some- what cloBcly resembles the Tristichopterus of Sir Philip Egerton. But the vertebral centres of Tristichopterus are said to be ossified and the osselets of the lower lobe of the tail are described as " springing from eight or nine interspinous bones," whereas in Eusthenopteron the vertebral centres are not ossified and the caudal osselets are articulated to the haemal spines. Moreover the bony supports of the anal and second dorsal fins are much larger and more fully developed in Eusthenopteron than they are in Tristi- chopterus. Thus, in Eusthenopteron the length of the osselets of the anal fin is equal to four-fifths of that of the apophysis to which they are attached, and the breadth of the much dilated outer end of the same apophysis is equal to rather more than one-half its length. In Tristichopterus, on the other hand, the osselets of the corresponding fin are less than half the length of the apophysis from which they spring, and the slightly expanded outer extremity of the apophysis is not much more than a third of its entire length. The generic and specific characters of E. Foordi have been drawn up from a number of more or less imperfect specimens. The posterior half of the exoskeleton of the species is well seen in a specimen about one foot long, in which, however, the caudal, anal and second dorsal fins are imperfect. The bony supports of these fins and about five inches of the vertebral column are beau- tifully preserved and well exposed in another specimen. The only parts of the head found so far are fragments of the jaw, with teeth, and some isolated crauial plates, one of which is evidently the operculum. In associating this species with the name of its discoverer, the writer desires to acknowledge his obligation to Mr. A. H. Foord for valuable assistance in the study of the various speci- mens described in this paper. Glyptolepis microlepidotus, Agassiz. 1844. One specimen of a small-scaled Glyptolepis, which cannot at present be distinguished from the above-mentioned species. The fins of the side of the body exposed to view are well preserved and one of the slender, acutely elongated and lobate pectorals is clearly defined. The shape and sculpture of the cranial plates No. 1.] WHITEAVES — DEVONIAN FISHES. 33 are not well shewn and the teeth are not visible. The scales of the body, most of which are either split or broken at the edges, average less than two lines in diameter. Besides the specimen collected by Mr. Foord, another nearly perfect example of the same species was obtained by Mr. Weston in Scaumenac Bay, and both of these have been compared with specimens of G, microlepidotus from the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland. The characters of the Canadian and Scotch species certainly appear to be very similar, but the few Scotch specimens accessible to the writer shew only the general shape of the body of the fish and the size and sculpture of its scales, the fins and tail being entirely wanting. Glyptolepis. Two split nodules of shale which exhibit on their inner surfaces a number of large detached scales, slender rib bones, an operculum and a fragment of a jaw, with teeth, of a second species of Glyptolepis, probably nearly related to the G. lepto- pterus of Agassiz. The scales, which are nearly an inch long, are sculptured with the wavy costae and semi-lunar or crescentic area of backwardly directed points characteristic of the genus, and the ribs are hollow in the centre. The teeth are short, conical, somewhat compressed and perfectly smooth. Cheirolepis Canadensis. Sp. Nov. Maximum length eighteen inches: greatest height less than one-fourth of the length : general outline elongate-fusiform. Head equal to about one-fourth the entire length : cranial plates exquisitely sculptured with delicate, irregular corrugations which are crossed obliquely by minute ribs quite invisible to the naked eye. In some of the cranial plates the corrugations consist of wavy ridges of varying length, separated by corresponding but much wider grooves. Occasionally the ridges appear to be made up of a series of confluent tubercles. In other plates the corru- gations or ridges anastomose so as to form a dense but irregular network. Margin of orbital cavity circular. Teeth conical, slender, of unequal size. Scales of the body minute, ganoid, rhomboidal, about one-third of a line long, and sculptured with acute ribs which radiate longitudinally from the posterior angle Vol. X. c No. 1. 34 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. of each scale. Scales of the fins and tail rectangular and acutely ribbed at their edges. In the central portions of the fins and tail the scales are twice as long as broad, but near the outer margins of the fins they become much narrower and more elonga- ted. Dorsal fin single, triangular and placed very far backwards: the base of its posterior ray nearly but not quite extending to the commencement of the upper lobe of the tail. Tail hetero- cereal, its upper lobe fringed by a row of backwardly directed, flattened spines or "fulcral scales," which diminish in length towards the posterior termination of the lobe. Ventral fins sit- uated considerably in advance of the mid-length and separated from the pectorals by a short interval. Anal fin placed much farther forwards than the dorsal and separated from the ventrals by a space slightly exceeding in length the height of the body at the commencement of the anal. The above name is suggested provisionally for a species of Cheirolepis, which resembles the C. macrocephalus of McCoy and the G. Gummingice of Agassiz in the shape and sculpture of the scales of its body and fins. The ventral fins of G. macro- cephalus, however, are described by McCoy as " nearly central, of moderate size, half their length distant from the anal," whereas the ventrals of G. Ganadensis are placed much farther forwards and are separated from the anal by a much longer space. The ventrals of G. macrocephalus, too, are represented by McCoy as being rather nearer to the anal than they are to the pectorals, but those of G. Ganadensis are very much nearer to the pectorals than they are to the anal. In G. Gummingice, according to Hugh Miller, ''the large pectorals almost encroach on the ventrals, and the ventrals on the anal fin" but this, as already stated, is by no means the case with G. Ganadensis. The dorsal fin of G. Gan- adensis, also, is placed much farther backwards than is that of G. Gummingice, and the anal farther forwards. Of this species four fine and well preserved specimens were col- lected by Mr. Foord, two of which are nearly perfect. Besides those already described, there are two or three species of fossil fishes in Mr. Foord's collection, belonging to diff"erent genera, also some isolated teeth and detached bones, whose affini- ties have not yet been satisfactorily ascertained. The analogies between the fossil fauna of the fish-bearing beds of Scaumenac Bay and that of the Old Red Sandstone of Scot- land and Russia are very striking. The Ftcrichthys Ganadensis No. 1.] WHITEAVES — DEVONIAN FISHES. 35 is still doubtfully distinct from the Botliriolepis ornata of Eu- rope : the fragments of a Diplacanthus obtained by Mr. Foord have apparently much the same characters as the D. striatus of Agassiz, and the genus Plianeropleuron can now be shown to occur in the Devonian rocks of Canada as well as in those of Scotland. Eusthenopteron has at least some features in common with Tristicliopterus : one species of Glyptolepis from Scaumenac Bay seems to be identical with the G. microlepidotus of Agassiz, from Lethen Bar, while the other bears a general resemblance to the G. leptopterus of the same author ; and, lastly, the Cheiro- lepis Canadensis here described is certainly closely allied to two Scotch wspecies. The existence of fossil plants, as well as of fish remains, in the Devonian shales and sandstones of Scaumenac Bay was no- ticed by Dr. Gesner in 1842, and from these rocks Mr. Foord also obtained a series of specimens of four species of ferns, which will be found described on pages 8-11 of the present number of this journal. These deposii:s may have been of fresh water or estuarine origin, for no traces of any marine invertebrata have yet been detected in them, and the fossil fishes which they contain are in- variably found associated with land plants. Montreal, March 14th.. 1881. 7 V 36 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF PSAMMODUS FROM THE CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS OF THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. By J. F. Whiteaves. PsAMMODUs Bretonensis, Sp. Nov. Palatal teeth extremely thin, subrhomboidal, a little longer than broad, the two longest sides nearly parallel and almost straight. Of the two shortest sides one is obliquely and shal- lowly concave at the margin, with one of the angles rounded off and the other produced into a short beak : while the opposite side is obliquely convex at the margin, with both of its angles rounded. The upper surface of the beaked angle of each tooth is somewhat elevated, and this elevation extends nearly to the centre, the remaining portion being quite flat. To the naked eye this surface appears glossy and polished, but, when examined under a lens, with a good light, it is seen to be faintly and rather distantly punctured. The teeth appear to have been placed in linear rows, in such a way that the convex margin of the short side of one tooth fits into the concave and beaked opposite margin of the next one. Measuring from the centre of the sides, the length of one of the teeth is three lines, and the breadth two lines and a half. The average thickness of the teeth is about a quarter of a line. Locality : East bank of Scott Brook, nine or ten miles north of St. Peters, Cape Breton Island. Collector : Mr. Hugh Fletcher, B. A., of the Geological Survey of Canada. The only remains of this species yet obtained are a number of palatal teeth and impressions of palatal teeth, on the surface of a small flat slab of impure limestone. Most of these teeth are detached and isolated, though in one part of the slab there are impressions of four in an unbroken row. P. Bretonensis appears to be most nearly allied to a Psammodus from the Joggins, of which a single tooth is represented by figure 54 (on page 109) of the second edition of the " Acadian Geology," unaccompanied by any description or specific name, — but this figure represents a much larger, thicker and more equi- lateral tooth than any of those of the present species. Montreal, March 31st., 1881. No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 37 ON THE GLACIAL PHENOMENA OF THE BAY CHALEUR REGION. By Robert Chalmers. [Read before the Natural History Society of New Brunswick, March 1st, 188L] The following notes contain a brief summary of the results of observations made by me at intervals during the last seven years on the glaciation and older drift deposits of a portion of the northern section of the Province of New Brunswick. The area specially examined and to which my observations have been for the most part confined, lies along the southern side of the Bay Chaleur and estuary of the Restigouche, extend- ing from the Nepisiguit river at Bathurst, westward, to the junction of the Metapedia and Restigouche rivers, and is about eighty miles in length following the Intercolonial railway, and from five to ten miles in width southward from the coast line. To elucidate my remarks on the glacial phenomena of this region ^I propose, before entering into details, to give a short description of the most prominent physical features of the Bay Chaleur and the country surrounding it, the peculiar conforma- tion of which, assuming it were the same during the glacial epoch as at present, seems to have influenced the ice-sheet which once moved over it, in a marked degree, in producing the excep- tional courses of striae which I am about to describe. The Bay Chaleur forms part of the northern boundary of the Province, and is about ninety miles in length and fifteen to twenty-five miles in width, stretching longitudinally east and west, and appearing as a broad irregular belt of water, with its sides roughly parallel to each other. Its general trend from the western extremity to its widest part opposite Nepisiguit Bay is about south 60 degrees east ; thence to its mouth, which opens into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, its course is nearly north 60 degrees east.* In its physical aspect it may be considered merely an enlarged estuary of the Restigouche, Nepisiguit and other rivers * All the bearings and courses of stri^ given in this paper are referred to the magnetic meridian, the variation of the compass being about 24 degrees west. 38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. flowing into it, and is really nothing more than a shallow valley of erosion, the softer Lower Carboniferous rocks which once prob- ably occupied nearly the entire area of the depression having been, to a large extent, removed by denudation. Its waters are comparatively shallow, the deepest parts being rather nearer the northern coast throuo-hout its whole leno'th. Commencinsr at the O o C* western end, we find the soundings in six different places between that and Point Miscou to be as follows : — At the mouth of the Restigouche, ten fathoms ; north of Heron Island, twelve to fourteen fathoms ; between Belledune and Black Cape, sixteen to nineteen fathoms ; across from Nepisiguit Bay to Bonavcn- ture Point, twenty-six to thirty fathoms ; between Grand Anse and Paspebiac, forty to forty-six fathoms ; and between Point Miscou and Point Maquereau, which is really the mouth of the Bay, forty-five to fifty fathoms ; while beyond its mouth, just south of Bonaventure Island, the depth is about sixty fathoms. It thus appears that there is a gradual descent in the contour lines of its bottom from the mouth of the Restigouche eastward and northeastward into the Gulf, for beyond the Orphan Bank (a small shallow area lying opposite its mouth) the lead goes down, according to the charts, to a depth of seventy-five fathoms or more. It will be seen in the sequel how the slope and configuration of this depression have controlled the course of the ice-sheet whose markings are found on the rocks along its southern shores. This beautiful expanse of water is without rock or shoal, and has only one solitary isle — Heron Island — lying off the coast of Restigouche County. The estuary of the Restigouche is a sheltered lake-like sheet of water lying nearly east and west, about twenty one miles in length, reaching from Dalhousie to Tide Head, six miles above Campbellton, and having an average width of two to three miles. It is enclosed by hills varying in height from 500 to 1000 feet. The general appearance of the country on either side of the Bay Chaleur is quite different. In the Gasp^ peninsula the Shickshock mountains and some minor ridges give to that region an elevated and rugged character, although to the south of these mountains a great portion of the surface resembles a plateau in- tersected by numerous deep river gorges and ravines. This is especially the case with the district lying between the Metapedia and Cascapedia rivers which is elevated to a height of nearly 1000 No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 39 feet above sea level, and presents a bold escarpment or mountain flank towards the estuary of the Restigouche and the Bay Chaleur. Lower margins, however, fringe the coast at intervals. At Nou- velle and Tracadiegash this plateau juts into the Bay and rises into lofty peaks (Nouvelle Mountain, 1058 feet, Tracadiegash Mountain, 1865 feet high). East of the indendation known as Cascapedia Bay the coast region, although not so high as that just described, nevertheless maintains to a certain extent the aspect of an undulating elevated district, exhibiting steep banks and cliiFs in many places, with an ascending surface behind which merges into the hill ranges that form the axis of the peninsula. A portion of this mountainous region crosses to the south side of the Restigouche at Dalhousie, rising into a series of narrow parallel hill ranges, composed chiefly of trap, which occupy a width of three or four miles on the south side of the estuary, and run nearly east and west or parallel to the river, varying in height from 500 to 1000 feet, with intervening longitudinal valleys. All these valleys, including that of the Restigouche, are evidently of pre-glacial origin. These hill ranges extend, with some interruptions, south-west, increasing in breadth and height to the Upsalquitch (a tributary of the Restigouche on the south side, thirty-five miles distant from Dalhousie), where they merge into the highland area in the north-west of the Province. Near the junction of these two rivers the twin peaks, Squaw's Cap and Slate Mountain may be seen, reaching elevations of more than 2000 feet above the sea. Along the Upsalquitch, which descends to the Restigouche in nearly a north-west course, and is about forty-five miles long, the general level is elevated from 500 to 700 feet, while several portions of the district rise much higher. Prof. Hind, in his "Preliminary Report on the Geology of New Brunswick " (1864), gives the altitudes of several peaks to the east of that river, among them the Blue Mountains, a ridge near the source of Jacquet river, all of which are from 1000 to 1400 feet above the sea. Not far from the head waters of the Upsalquitch are the central highlands of the Province, where several mountains loom up to heights of 2200 feet, and within the limits of which some of our principal rivers have their sources. Between this Upsalquitch district and the Bay Chaleur lies an area extending from the Dalhousie hills, on the west, to the 40 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Nepisiguit river or great Carboniferous plain, on the east, which exhibits, in general, a uniform or gently undulating 'aspect, and is without any eminences, except the Blue Mountains already spoken of and one or two lesser ridges. This area has a gradual descent from the sources of the rivers debouching into the Bay (which vary in length from fifteen to forty-five miles) towards the low shores of that sheet of water. The rocks underlying it have evidently undergone great denudation, especially near the coast ; for, although much disturbed — the strata in many places being upturned vertically — they nevertheless exhibit a compara- tively even surface. To the south-east of the Bay Chaleur stretches the great Carbo- niferous area of the Province. It is a flat district, whose surface as far south as the Bay of Fundy does not attain a greater height than 250 to 275 feet and slopes very gently down beneath the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bearing in mind the topographical features of this region, we can now mark their influence on the course of the glacier which once occupied the depression of the Bay Chaleur and overspread the district to the south of it. GLACIAL STRI^. Three sets of striae occur in the region embraced in my obser- vations. I will note some of the most accessible localities where they are to be seen. No two of these sets have been noticed in any one area. The first set of striae was observed in the Restigouche valley and on the hills to the south of it, as well as eastward along the Bay shore as far as Jacquet river, extending over a district about forty miles in length. The particular localities where expo- sures occur are as follows : (1) At Campbellton, on the west side of a trap hill or roche moutonnee at the Intercolonial railway snow-shed. This hill stands about fifty feet above the level of the river, and is rounded and polished on the west side, having a crag-and-tail form. (2) At the school-house in the village a similar mass of rock is striated and polished on the west side, and broken off" on the east. (3) On the road to Parker's lake, three miles south-west of Campbellton, near the summit of one of the parallel ranges of No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 41 hills already referred to, scratches were seen on the north side of the crest of the ridge, about 500 feet above sea level, by aneroid. The exposure shows that the abrading mass ground oflF the corners of the rocks on the west side. (4) On Lily lake road, about three miles south of Campbellton, on the third range of hills from the Restigouche river, striae were observed in several places, about 650 feet above the sea. The rock-masses here also exhibit stossing on the west side. (5) Near the Intercolonial railway at Charlo river the surface of a trap dyke was seen to be eroded and polished on the west side, but no distinct scratches appeared. Its height was about twenty-five feet above the Bay. In all these localities the course of the striae is nearly east and west by the compass. At New Mills, Benjamin river and Black Point, I noticed roches moutonnees in the fields and ledges of crystalline rocks along the shore with their surfaces smoothed and rounded, and the west sides stossed, while the east were broken off and abrupt. Grooves, not very distinct, were observed having a course nearly east and west, or between that and south 70*^ east at various heights from sea level to fifty feet or more above it. On the east side of Jacquet river I saw very distinct striae on the site of the Intercolonial railway, in 1873, in the bottom of a clay cutting, on red conglomerate rock, which is now covered by the track. The course was about east and west, and the height of the ledge above sea level twenty-five feet. The second set of striae is met with in the tract lying between Belledune river and Petite Roche, the grooves and scratches being well exposed along the Intercolonial railway. Owing to the harder nature of the rocks in this locality, which are chiefly limestones, traps and diorites. they have resisted disintegrating agencies more effectually than elsewhere within this region, and a large extent of rock-surface is laid bare or but very thinly covered with soil; nevertheless the striae have been preserved with remarkable distinctness. They are to be seen at distances of every two or three hundred yards in the fifteen miles which intervene between the two places above named. The course is almost invariably south 60^ east. These striated rocks are all stosaed on the west side. The scratches occur at heights of from 75 to 200 and 250 feet above tide level. Crossing them at a small angle, fainter striae were occasionally noticed, as if caused 42 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X» by ice- sheets sliding more directly down the slope into the Bay depression at a later date. The third set of striae occurs in the district intervening be- tween Petite Roche and Bathurst, which is about ten miles in length. (1) A mile east of Petite Roche station along the Inter- colonial railway, scratches appear on slate rocks, with a course of about north 65^ east. The ledge is probably sixty feet above sea level, and is rounded on the south-west slope. (2) At Mill Stream (north side), six miles from Bathurst, grits and shales on the site of the railway are distinctly grooved, the direction of the striae being north 65^^ east. The grooves occur on a nearly level surface of rock, but afford evidence that the ice-mass moved north-eastward. (3) On Knight's farm, three miles north of Bathurst, an interesting group of striated surfaces was discovered about a hundred yards east of where the railway crosses it. The rocks are trap, felsite and conglomerate, and stand up a few feet above the general level in the form of bosses or low rounded hills. Their south-western sides are all ground off and polished. No fine striae appeared, but I noticed a number of wide parallel grooves or furrows which had nearly a north-east and south- west course. Eight or ten of these rock-masses may be seen here planed and grooved in the manner described, the stossing invariably on the south-western slopes, while their north-eastern faces are rough and have a broken-off appearance. It was from an examination of these furrowed rock-surfaces that I was first led to the conclusion that the direction of the ice-flow in the district where the third set of strias occurs must have been from south-west to north-east. On rocks a few hundred yards to the north of these, however, I saw what might be taken as indications of glacial erosion on the north-western slopes of one or two exposures. No striae or grooves were observed, but merely a rounding of the faces ; and it was difficult to say whether this was the effect of atmospheric agencies or of ice. If these markings are due to the latter cause, they would indicate that a glacier must have moved over this region in a south-easterly direction at an earlier date than the one whose striae I have noted. The elevation of the surface in this vicinity is about 100 feet above the sea. No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 43 (4) At Peter's river, on the road to Mill Settlement, striae appear on slates with a north-east and south-west trend. (5) Fine clear-cut striae are seen on granite ledges at Bathurst, in two or more places on the west side of the harbor or basin, the direction being nearly north-east and south-west. The ledges lie below high-water mark, and their glaciation indicates that the movement of the eroding agent was north-eastward. Whether any one of these three sets of striae was of an earlier date than the others is a question which it was difficult to de- termine, as they are closely similar in most respects. But the north-east and south-west scratches in two localities, namely, at Bathurst and Mill Stream, seem to be somewhat finer and lighter than those observed elsewhere. " TILL " or BOULDER-CLAY AND ERRATICS. The " till " or boulder-clay is exposed only in a few localities in the district under examination. Either it is very thinly dis- tributed and lies concealed beneath the later deposits, or it is entirely wanting in a great portion of the region to which my remarks relate, in consequence probably of the extensive denuda- tion which it has undergone. It is met with in the Restigouche valley, however; also on the coast of the Bay at Nash's Creek, and along the Nepisiguit river, near Bathurst. An interesting group of surface deposits, one member of which may, perhaps, be till, was disclosed by a series of borings, six in number, made for foundations to the Intercolonial railway bridge which crosses the Restigouche near the mouth of the Metapedia. Through the kindness of Mr. L. Gr. Bell, C. E., I obtained a diagrammatic section of these borings just after the work had been finished in 18T3, which shows, in descending order, the following formations as described by him : Sandy soil (at one boring on left bank) 8 feet. Strong coarse gravel (probably fluviatile). . . 12 to 15 " Stiff sandy blue clay (" till " ?) 60 « Sand in some places, black clay in others, resting on the rock 5 " Total thickness 88 These deposits occupy a valley 400 to 600 yards wide, on either side of which hills rise to the height of 500 feet or more above the river. The depth of the water in the Restigouche when the borings were made, was ten feet, and the height of its 44 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. surface above the level of high tide in the Bay Chaleur, eighteen feet. Hence fully seventy-five feet in thickness of this mass of drift, including the whole depth of the "stiff sandy blue clay " and its underlying sands and clays lies below the level of the sea. Stratified clays holding marine fossils appear to overlie the series just described on the north side behind the " Club House," attaining a height of fifty-five feet above the river, and these, in turn, are overlain by fine sand and gravel to a thickness of fifteen to twenty feet ; but nothing like true till appears here. I am without information as to whether boulders or fossil shells were found in the '' stiff sandy blue clay " of this group of deposits when the borings were made, and its origin and relation to the later beds are therefore uncertain. If we suppose it to be stratified clay (Leda clay) then we would have to admit that a marine deposit upwards of 100 feet in thickness was formed here, thirty miles above the river's mouth, where the Restigouche is not more than 500 to 600 yards wide. This would occur too at a time when the hills on both sides would be some hundreds of feet above the sea ; for even at the period of greatest sub- sidence in the Post-Pliocene epoch they must have reared their summits high above the waters which occupied the valley. I can therefore hardly imagine a bed of this kind, of such a depth, being deposited here under these conditions, more especially as the stratified marine clays of other localities in the Bay Chaleur region, so far as observed, are comparatively thin. Further, this *' blue clay " and underlying deposits evidently occupy a rock- basin or trough in this part of the Restigouche valley ; for borings made across the river's bed at Campbellton, thirteen miles further down, revealed the fact that the rock-surface there is not more than twenty-five to thirty feet below tide level. From these and other considerations, I lean to the opinion that the deposit referred to, or at least a portion of it (for, per- haps its characteristics and exact position were not noted very accurately) may be "till," and that it is probably the ground- moraine of the ice-sheet filling a hollow at the junction of the Metapedia and Restigouche rivers, and resting on the pre-glacial river sands and mud. Additional details regarding these beds will be given, however, when I come to treat of the later surface deposits of the district. The " till " is found in the river's bank, east of Campbellton village, having a thickness of thirty feet above tide level, and No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 45 is overlain by stratified fossiliferous clay. At Nash's Creek it likewise appears in a bank on the Bay shore, attaining a height of sixty feet or more where the Intercolonial railway intersects it. In both of these localities it consists of a stifi" clay containing a good many boulders, a few of which are scratched. The largest proportion of them have evidently been transported from the west. For example, at Campbellton, considerable quantities of boulders of a peculiar sort of felsite were distributed in the " till," which had been brought from rocks from half a mile to one and a half miles distant to the west. At Nash's Creek boulders of a certain kind of red conglomerate and of trap were met with, which seemed to have been carried distances of from three to six miles in the same direction. The till at the Nepisiguit river occurs on its left bank and is best seen in a cutting of the Intercolonial railway which is about seventy-five feet above the sea. Dr. Honeyman, who visited this spot, refers to it in one of his papers, entitled : " A month among the geological formations of New Brunswick." Here its color and composition are much different from those of the Restigouche clays, being of a reddish tint, which is derived from the sub- jacent Lower Carboniferous sandstones, and it is more arenaceous and not so compact. The " till," as observed at Campbellton and Nash's Creek, seems to have been thrown down in the lee of low hills, occurring at the former place to the east of the elevation immediately behind the village. At Nash's Creek it lies on the coast behind a low swell of limestone and other rocks to the west. Evidences of the general eastward movement of the ice-sheet are also abundant, from the transport of loose boulders or erratics strewn on the surface in many places within this region. In the majority of cases these appear to be derived from rocks in situ a few miles to the west of where they are found. At Petite Roche and Ni^radoo river I saw numerous laro;e blocks of lime- stone and greenstone (diorite) which had their parent beds at Elm Tree river, three or four miles distant. The drift, including boulders, at Little Belledune also appears to have been carried in a similar direction from a patch of Lower Carboniferous sandstones, the red-colored debris overlying the limestones and other rocks to the east of these. Between Nigadoo and Bathurst, however, the district is strewn with the fragments of rocks, the largest proportion of which occur in situ in the vicinity. 46 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. Erratics are met with occasionally here and there in this region whose presence I am unable to account for without bringing in the agency of floating ice. One of these may be seen in a gorge four miles south-east of Campbellton, through which flows a stream following the Tobique road. It is a grey conglomerate about eight feet in diameter, closely similar to rocks which oc- cupy the valley of the Restigouche to the east. It lies sixty or seventy feet above sea level, and must have been transported thither by floating ice which moved up stream. At Knight's farm, near Bathurst, already mentioned, a few erratics are met with also resembling rocks in Restigouche County ; and like in- stances of the transport of large blocks occur at other localities, indicating that other carrying agents were in operation besides the glacier whose striae have been observed. It is probable that these latter have been borne to their present sites by icebergs after the iee-sheet had disappeared ; and their deposition may have been contemporaneous with that of the stratified marine clay (Leda clay) of the region. The subsequent denudation which the Post-Pliocene deposits underwent has left them exposed on the surface. From a study of all the facts obtained up to the present date in reference to the drift striae and till of this region I have come to the conclusion that the mass or masses of ice which moved over it and scored the rocks in the manner described must have been of considerable magnitude. The first set of striae, if pro- duced by one body of ice, as seems probable, shows that the sheet has been at least six or seven miles wide near Campbellton, filling the valley of the Restigouche to a depth of several hun- dred feet and mantling the hills to the south of it. East of the Dalhousie hills its width would increase, and must have been very much greater. It probably stretched over the greater part of the Eel river and Charlo river district, which lies immediately south of these hills. At Heron Island it could not have been less than fifteen to twenty miles in width, occupying the whole depression of the Bay here and covering a portion of the district to the south, increasing in extent laterally and probably lessening in thickness towards the east. The second set, that is, the striae occurring between Belle- dune and Petite Roche, afibrd indubitable evidence, from their regularity of direction, the close parallelism of the scratches and their position on an even sloping surface, that the portion of the No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 47 ice-sheet which produced them was one solid mass, and could not have been less than seven or eight miles wide, coveting the area in question. The main body of ice of which it formed a part must have exceeded twenty-five miles in width here, and was probably not less than 300 to 350 feet deep in the middle of the Bay Chaleur depression. The glacier in this part of its course has evidently followed the general trend of that depression, mov- ing about south 60 degrees east. The portion of the ice-sheet which covered the Belledune and Petite Roche districts, therefore, has probably been only the lateral part near the southern border of the general mass, and may not have been more than fifty to one hundred feet thick, perhaps less, thinning out on the ascend- insr surface of land. The strige of the third set, although varying in direction from north 45 degrees east to north 65 degrees east have most proba- bly been produced also by the southernmost portion of the main ice- sheet overspreading the district in which they occur. This part of the glacier would likewise be controlled in its movement by the general mass, which from Nepisiguit Bay would trend away nearly in a north-easterly course towards the mouth of the Bay Chaleur. The close parallelism existing between the courses of the striae in this set with the general direction of that portion of the Bay to the north-east of Bathurst, which is about north 60 degrees east, together with the fact that the glaciated rock- masses are all stossed on their south-western faces, point to this conclusion. Smaller local glaciers may have occupied the slopes of land, as well as the valleys of the larger rivers near Bath- urst, however, after the main sheet had taken its departure. Summing up the data regarding the giaciation of the whole area under review, and noting the correspondence of the striae in all three sets with the general direction of the Bay Chaleur, and especially with the trends of its northern coast, near which its waters are deepest, I think it may reasonably be inferred that the phenomena of striation and deposition of the till and other drift material are due to one and the same ice-sheet occupying the valley of the Bestigouche and the Bay Chaleur depression and extending some distance laterally over the region to the south. This sheet, moving eastward from the highlands of the Bestigouche and Metapedia, would follow the sinuosities of these depressions and influence or control those portions of its mass which overlay the sloping land along its southern margin, thus 48 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. causing the somewhat anomalous courses of strise which I have described. Admitting, then, that the contour of the Bay Chaleur and con- tiguous country was the same or nearly so in the Post-Pliocene epoch as at the present day, and that the region was covered with a glacier sufficiently large to produce the effects I have in- dicated, we might next enquire what the approximate extent and thickness of such an ice-sheet were. A glacial mass such as I have supposed covered the area in question must have had its source in the elevated region in the north-west of New Bruns- wick, and probably also in the Shickshock Mountains near the head waters of the Metapedia. In its eastward descent it would follow the courses of that river and of the Restigouche, which unite thirty miles above the mouth of the latter. From their junction eastward to the Bay its movements would be controlled by the Restigouche valley. Its leogth, therefore, would not be less than 125 to 150 miles, and may have been much greater ; its width after leaving the Restigouche hills would be twenty-five to fifty miles or more ; and its thickness in the Restigouche valley not less than 1000 feet ; between the Dalhousie hills and Heron Island 500 to 600 feet, and Between Bathurst and Bon- aventure probably 300 to 350 feet. In these statements I have given what I consider the lowest estimate of its dimensions, but it is almost certain that they exceeded this very considerably. This extensive iner de glace was evidently an independent body, guided in its flow by the configuration of the surface of the region ; and as it advanced eastward its different parts converged or were deflected towards the lowest area, namely, that which now forms the mouth of the Bay Chaleur. Further, I infer that the glacier was a local one, and not part of a continental ice-sheet, for the following reasons : 1. From its easterly and north-easterly course, as shown by the strise in the Restigouche valley and at Bathurst, thus diverging from the normal movements of glaciers as evidenced by their markinsjs on the eastern coast of America. 2. From the close parallelism between the courses of the striae and the trends and sinuosities of the Restigouche estuary and Bay Chaleur, showing that the ice-sheet must have been one of no very great thickness and with an independent movement, to be thus controlled by the contour of the region ; and No. 1.] CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 49 3. From the fact that such portions of it as overlay the dis- trict to the south of the Bay moved down the sloping surface into the depressed area towards the uorth-east, and near Bathurst followed the courses of the larger rivers debouching into the Bay, instead of pursuing a course to the south-east over the low lying Carboniferous plain. If the Bay Chaleur glacier had formed part of a continental ice-mass, the difference in level between these two areas was not so great as to prevent it from continuing on in a south-easterly course. Sand and Gravel Bidges or Kames, (Syrtensian deposits of Matthew.) I shall now attempt a brief description of a group of sand and gravel beds which occurs near the coast of the Bay Chaleur in Restigouche County, and which, according to the latest theo- ries regarding their formation, seem properly to come under the head of glacial phenomena. The origin and distribution of similar deposits in other places have been ascribed to the agency of marine currents, but in the locality to which I refer it does not seem possible, for various reasons, thus to acc(junt for them. This will become apparent as their position and structure come to be examined. In some of their features these Bestifjouchfe sands and gravels bear a resemblance to the " till " of the neigh- borhood, but in other respects, especially in the nature of their materials and mode of occurrence, they afford evidence of being the result of the action of strong, irregular, intermittent cur- rents, which have flowed from the highland area to the wesfe.. It also appears probable that they were deposited at the tim* the ice-sheet which covered the reiiion was meltinii' and breakinif up, and owe their formation to the vast floods which swept largo, quantities of debris from the Restigouche hills to the plain be- low during that period. In the district referred to only one of these ridges or kamcfr has yet been traced out and studied to any extent. It lies be* tween Charlo river and Nash's Creek, being about eleven milet. in length, and exhibiting the appearance of a winding, irregular ridge or series of mounds whose general direction is nearly par* allel to the coast-line and not very far different from that of thft glacial striaa in the same locality. It has a width of from two hundred yards to a quarter of a mile or upwards, and does not Vol. X. ' D No. f.. 50 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. rise to a crreater heio;ht above the level of the district than twenty-five feet, nor more than eighty feet above sea-level, sloping away on both sides, the one facing the Bay being generally the steepest. Where it is widest it encloses hollows; one of these hollows or pits near New Mills is about fifty yards in diameter, and twenty feet or more in depth, although partially filled with later deposits. This kame is intersected by streams and rivers in several places and by the coast-line at Dickie's Cove near Black Point, forming bluffs on each side of that small in- dentation. Cuttings along the Intercolonial railway have like- wise been made through it at various points, showing that the materials of which it is composed are usually sand, gravel and pebbles, more or less stratified, in which are distributed a few boulders from six inches to two and three feet in diameter, nearly all water-worn and well-rounded. These boulders are scattered irregularly through the mass, and many of them resemble, in mineral character, rocks in the hilly district bordering on the Restigouche, consisting chiefly of trap, diorite, felsite, limestone and slate. Several, of a red silicious felsite, were observed closely similar to rocks of that kind occurring in the hills near the railway tunnel at Flatlands, about thirty-five miles distant. Near the bottom portion of the kame at Black Point, however, I saw boulders which seemed to have their parent bed within a distance of three miles to the west. Occasionally erratics of four and five feet dimensions are met with in its upper parts, but they are not common. Irregular strata of fine sand, and some- times clay, alternate with others of coarser material or are inter- calated in them. Instances likewise occur of curved bedding and cross sections generally exhibit a sort of arched stratification. The coarser portions reveal scarcely any traces of stratification, and, as already stated, resemble in some measure th« " till," except that the stones are more water-worn and without striae. The dimensions of this kame must have been much greater immediately after itg formation than now. The streams wl icli intersect it have carried away large quantities of its mass ; and its seaward face has been modified to a considerable extent by the action of the waves when it formed a beach, or was in the tideway at the close of the deposition of the stratified marine sands (Saxicava sands). This last deposit, together with the fossillferous clays next underlying it, both of which are seen resting on the slopes of the kame, especially on its southward No. 1.] CHALMERS GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 51 side and along the banks of the rivers where they intersect it, have also chan":ed its outw.ird form in no small decree. The best section of these beds is exposed at Blick Point near Dickie's lun. In the railway cutting at this place the three members of the modified drift occur in superposition. Here and at the shore their thickness in descending order is seen to be as follows : — Stratified sand (Saxicava) passing into sur- face gravel 10 feet '•' Stratified marine clay holding fossils (Leda) 5 to 10 " Sand and gravel beds or kame 50 feet or more. These kame deposits have not been obi-erved in conact with the ''till " ; but between New Mills and Black Point tiey rest on glaciated rock-surfaces. I have already referred to the theory of the origin of kames, which supposes them to be due to the efibct of oceanic currents, S)rting out and redistributing the "till" and morainic debris thrown down by glaciers, and liave stated that this theory will not suflBce to explain the formation of the kame deposits in question. In straits and along the Atlantic border where the coast is exposed to the sweep of the arctic and other currents these agencies have no doubt had powerful influence in modifying the older drift deposits when the land stood at a lower level. But the position of the Bay Ch ileur region, with a highland area to the west and south-west, forbids the supposition that currents from the riorth-east traversed it. Althouirh we have no data to show what the hei$:;ht of the land was duriiiii; tlie formation of these sand and gravel beds; yet in the period subsecjuent, namely, that of the deposition of the stratified marine clays (Leda clay), which in this district h.ive not been observed ..t a greater height than 100 to 15') feet above the sea. we find that a subsidence of 400 to 450 feet below the present level would bo sufiicicnt to account for the presence of its marine fauna, that ig, allowing the bathymetrical r mge of the species found fossil here was the same as that of similar species existing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the present day. Hence, it is quite probable this region was not further submer tiie Kesti- gouche valley, nor .over the area in the nort i-uest of the Province ; nor does it seem possible that local marine currents 'which might have circulated within the Bay during Pose Pliocene 52 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol X. times could have sufficieot strength or velocity to produce these rids-es. For these reasons, as also from the fact that uo fossil remains have yet been ibuud in these beds, the theory of marine currents does not appear to be applicable to the solution of the problems presented by the kame deposits in this region. But, apart from these considerations, no evidence has beei> obtained in the course of my investigations to show that currents having any power or velocity traversed any part of the area un- der examination in a south-westerly direction, if we except the transport of a few of the larger erratics which may have been carried about by floating ice. On the contrary, all the data hitherto collected point to the fact of currents moving in an op- site course. The stossing of the hills and exposed rock-masses on their western sides ; the direction in which the boulders met with in the sand and gravel series seem to have been transported; the position of the ^' till" in the lee of elevations; the denuded condition of the region generally as regards surface deposits; the crag and-tail phenomena exhibited in the case of isolated ridges and peaks, notably at Sugar Loaf Mountain near Camp- bellton, which has its west end worn bare and steep down to th& level of the valley, while at its eastern end a ^' tail " stretches away several hundred yards, the crest of which stands 300 or 400 feet above tide level — all go to demonstrate that the great denuding and transporting agents proceeded from the west. On an examination, therefore, of all the facts at hand relating to the position, the materials and the mode of occurrence of the kame described, it appaars to me that the theory which explains the origin of similar groups of deposits from the action of glaci.il rivers or floods during the dissolution of the ice-sheet will ac- count for the phenomena in question more readily than any other. It is a mooted question yet, however, whether these- glacial rivers flowed in channels under the ice, or on its surface^ although several geologists of note have quite recently adoptec^r the hypothesis of their being super-glaciil. They are supposed by these geologists to have formed channels on th3 surface of" the ice- sheet, carrying detritus from higher levels and depositing; it at their mouths in a partially stratified condition as the glacier melted and withdrew. Kivers analogous to these are said to have been observed on existinj; glaciers iu the arctic regions during the summer montlis. No. l.j CHALMERS — GLACIAL PHENOMENA. 53 But whatever explanation be finally accepted, it is at least probable, with regard to the Restigouche sands and gravels, that their deposition took placa when the ice-sheet which occupied the Bay Chaleur depression was breaking up and retreating to the hills. The river torrents which would then pour down the Restigouche valley and from the adjacent snow-and-ice-clad summits must have been enormous. Moreover, the physical con- formation of this valley and adjacent district favors the supposi- tion that a portion of the flood which emerged from it would find an opening to the level country below by the Eel river pass, a gap or break in the Dalhousie hills, through which the Inter- colonial railway now runs. A glacial river or flood following: such a course would be very likely to deposit its burden of sand, gravel and stones where we now find the kame referred to. The winding, irregular formation of this kame is proof that the mater- ials of which it is composed were not moved and arranged by regular, steady currents, but rather were brought to their present position by rapidly-flowing waters, such as we might suppose would sweep down from the hills among the dissolving remnants of the ice- sheet. The enclosed hollows favor the same view. The large boulders in its upper portions have probably been carried thither by icebergs at a subsequent period, when the whole kame was beneath the waters of the Bay. If we admit that this kame is the result of the transport of detrital material by a super-glacial river, then at the time of this flood the Restiofouche valley and estuarv must have been occu- pied by a dissolving ice-sheet probably 200 or 300 feet thick. From the configuration of the estuary, which resembles a lake- basin with an outlet opening towards the south-east, this body of ice would, when its surface fell below the level of the enclos- ing hills, be unable to move out of this depression, and would, consequently, thin down and melt almost wholly in the situation in which it lay, or with but very little eastward motion. Eel river pass, now only forty to fifty feet above sea level and filled with stratified marine deposits, would then likewise be o#;upied with a portion of the same mass of ice extending eastward prob- ably as far as Heron Island. On the surface of this ice-sheet would be thrown the debris brought down from the hills, as well as the earth and stones exposed in the thawing of the glacier itself This detrital material must have accumulated in large quantities. The strong currents supposed to flow over the ice 54 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X, surf:ice from higher levels every summer would be sufficient to transport this cfeirifus, which included coarse gravel pebbles and small boulders, to the terminal ice-front. There are certain masses of clay, sand and gravel incorporated in this kame, however, without stratification. These have prob- ably been dropped down en masse from the melting ice-sheet without undergoing the sorting action of the currents. What the height of the land was at this period I have had, as already intimated, no means of ascertaining. At the time the Bay Chaleur glacier had attained its maximum thickness and extent the region probably stood somewhat above the present level. For, it it is difficult to imagine the moving ice-sheet clinging so closely to its bed and following the different courses of the Bay Chaleur valley, if the sea then stood at its present height, or was above it relative to the land. As the melting of the glacier is supposed to have taken place during the period of subsidence, the region was therefore slowly sinking beneath the waters of the Bay when the deposition of the sand and gravel beds occurred, and probably was not very far from the level at which it now is. Some facts obtained in the course of my examination of this district would lead me to infer that the oscillations of level which the Bay Chaleur region underwent in the Post-Pliocene epoch have not been so great as appear to have taken place in the St. Lawrence valley. Among them, I may mention the position of the stratified marine clays and sands (Leda clay and Saxicava sand), which, as already stated, have not been observed at greater heights than 100 to 150 feet ; and the preservation of the ice- markings on exposed rocks and ledges above that level in places where we might expect them to have been obliterated, had the sea covered them and subjected the rocky slopes to the action of the waves and coast ice. But further observation on this point is required. No. l.J HOFFMANN — RECENT ANALYSES. 55 RECENT ANALYSES OP CANADIAN MINERALS AND RIVER WATERS. From a recent Report by Mr. Chistian Hoffmann, F. Inst. Clicm. to the Director of the Geological Survey. CYANITE. From the North Thompson River, British Columbia — Col- lected by Alfred R. C. Selwyn, Esq. The mineral was imbedded in a granular quartz which, in addition, contained a few scales of a silvery-white mica. It, for the most part, occurred in in the form of radiated columnar aggregates, the colour of which was in parts pure blue, passing into greenish-grey ; occasionally, but rarely, almost colourless — the other portions were of a uniform light bluish-grey colour. Lustre vitreous. Subtraosparent. Specific gravity, 3.6005. The material selected for analysis was found, after drying at 100^ C, to have the following composition: Silica 36.288 Alumina 62.254 Ferric oxide 0.552 Lime 1.064 Magnesia 0.355 100.513 Previous to the finding of this specimen, cyanite was not known to occur in Canada. LAZULITE. Found three-quarters of a mile east of the mouth of the Churchill River, — District of Keewatin. Collected by Dr. R. Bell. Occurs massive in veins, having a maximum width of seven millimetres, traversing a greyish-white, in parts milk-white, sub- translucent quartz. Colour fine deep azure-blue. Lustre vitreous^ Fracture uneven. Brittle. Streak white. Subtranslucent.. Hardness very nearly but not quite 5.5. Specific gravity — 3.0445. Before the blow- pipe colours the flame pale bluish-green,; swells up, whitens and falls to pieces, but does not fuse. The material upon which the analysis was conducted, although eelected with greit care, and apparently pure, was nevertheless 56 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. found to contain 3. 808 per cent, silica ; in calculating the results this has been excluded ; the composition of the mineral dried at 100® C, then being as follows: Phosphoric acid 4G.388 xVlumina 20.140 Ferrous oxide 2.091 Magnesia 13.838 Lime 2.829 Water 6.4G8 100.754 This is the first tinio that this intercstincr mineral has been met with in Canada. a WATERS OF THE ASSINIBOIXE ANE RED RIVERS. Geological character of the areas drained by these rivers. — The following information in connection with the subject has, at my lequest, been kindly furnished me by Dr. G. M. Dawson. '• The Red River, flowing from south to north, runs probably Tor its whole length over deposits of late date. These are, either the fine silty materials laid dowo in the bed of the southward extension of Lake Winnipeg, which previously occupied the valley ; or clays and sand}^ clays due to the glacial period. Long and important streams, however, join the Red River, both from the east and west, and the character of the river water is doubtless due to the nature of the country occupied by the springs and sources of these, rather than to the composition of the bed of the main stream, with which the waters, passing rapidly and in large volume, cannot come very often or intimately in contact. Prob- ably more than half of the water of this river is derived from the Rat, Roseau and Red Luke Rivers and other streams flowing from the wooded and marshy country in the east, and this it may be supposed does not difi'er much from that found in the rivers flow- ing from the woodland country in eastern Canada. This country is also covered with drift deposits of glacial and post-glacial age, and the streams seldom or never flow over solid rock. The tribu- taries from the west including the Shayenne, the Pembina and liumerous smaller rivers, are from a region which may be regarded as almost altogether open prairie, and is subject to a rainfall con- ?:iderably less in amount than that in the east. These streams flow in part over glacial and post-glacial deposits, but in part also over the underlying Cretaceous rocks, of which the shales and No. 1.] HOFFMANN — RECENT ANALYSES. 57 •t'lays of the Fort Pierre group cover the luost extensive area. Springs, the water of which come in contact with the Cretaceous rocks also, doubtless feed the tributaries. The Cretaceous shales tjontain a considerable proportion of disseminated pyrites, which latter when exposed to atmospheric influences undergoes decomposition, ultimately giving rise, in the presence of the calcium carbonate contained in the rocks, to the formation of gypsum, with which mineral — generally in the crystalline form of sclenite — many of the beds are in consequence charged. There are also on this side of the Eed River, several springs impregnated with common salt; these resemble those of the Manitoba Lake district, and are probably like them derived from the underlying- Devonian rocks. Springs of this character are known on the Salt River, south of the Pembina, and it was previously attempted to utilize these as a source of supply of salt. Similar springs are said also to occur on the Scratching River. The country drained by the Assiniboine resembles in most points that described as giving rise to the other western tributaries of Red River. By some of the eastern branches of the upper part the Assiniboine, from Riding and Duck Mountains, a certain amount of woodland drainage is derived; but by far the greater part of its tributaries bring to it the drainage of prairie lands with a compartively small rainfall, and in which the saline matter, would therefore be supposed to exist in a more concentrated form. Though a compartively small portion of the total length of the streams can flow in actual contact with^the underlying Cretaceous rocks, there is a reason to believe that in the praire region west of the valley of the Red River, a great part of the drainage of the country passes below the drift deposits along the surface of the underlying rocks, and this being brought very intimately in contact with these rocks would be likely to be influenced by their composition. These samples of the waters were collected by Mr. A. S. Cochrane, — at the instance of Dr. R. Bell — on the 2t)th of Oct- ober, 1876: that of the Assiniboine was taken from the centre of the river, about a quarter of a mile above its junction with the Red River ; whilst the water of the latter was taken from the centre of the stream, about a quarter of a mile above where the former flows into it. The water of the xVssiniboine, after filtration, had a faint yellowish tinge. The suspended matter, which had a brownish- 58 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. * [Vol. X. grey colour, left on ignition a light reddish-brown coloured residue, this on examination was found to consist of argillaceous matter. The water of the Red River, after filtration, had a pale yellowish tinge. The suspended matter was of a light brownish- yellow colour, on ignition it left a residue, which, as in the pre- vious case, consisted of argillaceous matter. The nature and amount of the organic matter contained in these waters was not ascertained, — the quantity of the water at disposal being altogether inadequate for the purpose, — apart from which, it is highly probable, that, during the interval of collection and analysis, the organic matter had, to some extent at least, undergone decomposition, the amount of carbonic acid therefore, although estimated, has not been given. The. analyses of these waters luere conducted hj Mr. Frank D. Adams, and the following are the results obtained by him, ex- pressed in grains per imperial gallon : ASSINIBOIXE. RED RIVER. Potassa 0.499 0.549 Soda 5.324 5.028 Lime 6.Y8.3 6.912 Magnesia 4.588 5.142 Alumina and ferric oxide(l)0.084 0.092 Silica 1.571 2.208 Sulphuric acid 4.906 7.093 Carbonic acid ? ? Chlorine 1.988 3.390 Organic matter ? ? Oxygen equivalent to the chlorine 0.448 0.765 Total dissolved solid matter, dried at 100^ C 41.09 44.63 Suspended matter — assiniboine. red river: Organic 0.692 0.342 Mineral . 4.508 3.509 Total ; 5.200 3.851 Hardness (2) — Temporary 13.90 16.0.3 Permanent 6.70 7.87 Total 20.60 23.90 Specific gravity 1000.64 1000.52 No. 1.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 59 The foregoing acids and bases are most probably combined in the water as follows : (Carbonates calculated as mono-carbonates and all the salts estima- ted as anhydrous.) Chloride of sodium 3.277 5.589 .Sulphate of potassa 0.923 1.015 *' of soda 8.216 4.727 " of lime — 6.739 Carbonate of lime 1 2. 11 2 7.388 " magnesia 9.635 10.798 "o' 1. — Although here given as ferric oxide, the iron was doubtless present in the water as a ferrous salt. — 2. Direct method, "VVanklyn and Chapman. In the case of the Assiniboine water there was an excess of soda, above that required for the sulphuric acid, amounting to 0.114 grain (equals 0.084 sodium) — this might be present as carbon- ate: it would require 0.129 chlorine or 0.147 sulphuric acid in excess of the amounts found of these respective constituents. It has been calculated as, and added to the, sulphate of soda. PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. The fifth regular meeting of the session 1880-1881, was held on the evening of Monday, March 28th. Principal Dawson occupied the chair. The Sommerville Lecture Committee presented their report, which stated that the lectures had been a great success and more largely attended than in the past years. The Chairman read the following iuterim report of the com- mittee of council on the proposed meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Montreal in 1882 :— The Committee having met on Monday, March the 14th, re- quested Dr. T. Sterry Hunt to prepare a circular to be printed and eent to scientific men abroad, inviting them to attend the meeting : copies of this circular to be furnished to members of the Society and others willing to send them to their scientific friends. It was further aejreed to recommend that the President of the Society, Dr. Hunt, Mr. Selwyn and Dr. Osier, with any other €0 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. members of the Society who may attend the Cincinnati meeting of the Association, be requested to act as a delegation to promote the acceptance of the invitation tendered hist August to the Association to meet in this city, and] that the delegates be in- structed to request that the meeting be held in the last week of August, 1882. It was also agreed that so soon as the acceptance of an invit- ation is secured, lists shall be prepared of names of gentlemen to be invited, and that in the meantime the committee would make suggestions of names, and also of those who should be CO / solicited to subscribe to a guarantee fund towards the expenses of the meeting, and to become members of the local committee. It was understood that in the event of the acceptance of the invitation, the McGill University -should be requested to allow the use of its hall and class rooms for the meetin2;s and the lectures. Dr. J. Baker Edwards read a paper entitled ''Notes on dangerous Well-waters." Preferring to the water supply of Lennoxville College, he said that a well being wholesome at one season was no reason for it always being so ; it would make a material difiFerence in the quality whether the well was two or eighteen feet deep ; that the condition of a well which was regu- larly being filled by ample water rushes was totally different from that which would obtain during a winter frost. Therefore the sample of water he obtained from the well in August last might be totally different from that obtained from the same well by Prof. Croft of Toronto, in the depth of winter, and their difference was a difference of opinion only, not a difference of fact. His verdict was that the water w^as perfectly wholesome, that of Prof. Croft, that it was critical if not dangerous. Had the circumstances been the same it was possible no difference of opinion would have appeared. He than gave a detailed account of his analysis in August, 1880, and a description of the process employed, justi- fying his analysis of that date, and his opinion that the water was free from organic impurities, and especially sewage contamin- ation. Speaking of disease arising from bad water, he said that the malaria affecting country districts seldom arose from the filtered water of wells, but rather from open meadows, marshes and inconstant streams. To a large extent the safety of a water supply depended on its recent filtration rather than on its source. He gave an account of the different kinds of well water and of the condition necessary to make the water wholesome. No. 1.] METEOROLOGICAL RESULTS. 61 MISCELLANEOUS. Meteorological Results for the Year 1880. McGill College Observatory, Montreal, Canada. C. H. McLeod, Superinteihieut. Height above sea level, 187 feet. Month. Thermomf.ter. January February ... March April May June July Au^npt September. October November . . December . . Means for 1880. Mean 22. T9. 22. 3">. 58. 60. !6'.». 66. 60. 45. 29. 15. 445 888 0861 5'.t9; 603 1 5()8' 2821 949 312! 745 099 700 Max. Min. 43.8 - 9.5 i 61.2 -17 5 49 6 -11 2 63.4 10 2 85.2 22 9 86.1 48 8 86.2 52 7 86.2 41 8 85.0 40 3 77.1 24 3 59. ^ 2 40.6 - 8 6 Range. * Barometer. Mean. 53 3 68.7 60.8 53.2 62. 3 37 3 33.5 41.4 44.7 52.8 56 8 49.2 Mean.« for 6 years ending with '80. 43.018 42.471 67.78 16.62 51.17 §Max 30. 11781 30. 30.00822 30. ;^.o. 30. 30.05803 29.8:6S8 29. 94195; 30 29.921471.30 29 88246 30. 29.98902,30 29.95100 30 30.035ii2!30 30.15725 30 864 540 695 298 360 086 36i» 265 400 664 i9. 98282 30 579 29. 99354 29.96253 mm. Range 29.487 29.340 29.22« 29.285 29.537 29.487 29.482 29.55fi 29.561 29 374 29.353 29.488 1.377 1.200 1.467 1.013 0.823 0.748 0.604 0.813 0.704 1.026 1.311 1.091 1.015 Cot S = c ^ 00 •-" 1048 0974 0896 1720 3349 4363 4787 4459 4017 2490 1442 0809 2529 2562 ® — 77. « 73. tf 69. S 69.0 63. a 67.1 67.4 68.2 74.8- 78. la 79.5 82.^ 72. Si 74. 8t Month. Wind. ■73 Mean direction. Mean v(>lnoity in mil( s I* hour ■m January S. s. w. N. w. s. w. W.S. w. S. W. by W. S. W. by W. W.S. W. W.S. w. S. W. by W. S. w. W.S. w. 13. 61 15.00 11.70 14.78 12.4-5 8.73 8. 69 9.11 9.t>5 11.00 12.05 11.26 63.6 61.5 48.0 6-5.2 60.8 54.6 53.5 47.0 67 8 66 5 68.0 75.2 3.03 Februaiy 3.74 March '.. 2.55 April 4.03 May '>.97 June, .i 3 '^7 July 5 ;i5 Aiifiu«t 1.44 September 2 83 October 4.75 November 4.82 2. 11 December. Means for 188U S. W. by W. 11.502 60 31 3.407 Means for 6 years, ending with 1880 W. by S. 11.077 62.02 3.301 * Barometer reduced to 32' Fah. and to pea level. t In inches of mercury. J Relative saturation 100. The monthly means are derived from observations taken every fourth hour.,. beginning with 3.13 a.m. The greatest heat was 86.2, on July 10th and August 2-4th. Greatest cold was 17.5 below zero on February 2nd. Extreme range of temperature for the year 103°. 7. Greatest range of 62 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. thermometer in one day was 46.6 degrees the 30th January. The warmest day was the 4th of September, the mean temperature being 76.85. The coldest day was tlie 2nd of February, the mean temperature being 4.85 below zero. Highest barometer reading was 30.864 on January 29tli. Lowest barometer reading was 29.228 on March 5th, giving a range for the year of 1.636 inches. The lowest relative humidity was 26, on March 26th. Greatest mileage of wind recorded in one hour was 47 on January 10th, when the greatest velociety was at the rate of 68 miles per hour. Notes: — Wheel traffic commenced on the 1st of April and closed on the 18th of November. The heaviest rainfalls were on June 11th, 20th and on July 20th. The rainfall on July 20th measured 3.45 inches, which is the greatest amount recorded here for one day during the past six years. Of this rainfall 0.47 inches fell in 7 minutes and 1.58 inches in 46 minutes. The first appreciable snow for autumn fell on the 26th October. The earthquake noticed at Quebec on the 4th April was not felt here. The ice in the river moved April 5th. First arrival in port was on the 2 1st of April. The first arrival in the St. Lawrence from sea was on April 30th. Rain and Snow Fall during 1880. Month. January February MiiTch April May J me July August September October.. November December T..t;.l3 M .ans for six years ending with 1880.. .G .c o o J3 r^, ^ ^ c s c a c *..' i. . ts es s; TS s U-i c c 7i c u ^ 3.03 3.74 2.55 4 03 2.97 3.27 5. 35 144 2.83 4.75 4.82 211 40.89 39.61 2 2 5 3 3 1 16 16.3 'I C t^ a 20 18 23 19 16 17 13 17 19 20 19 222 206.3 No. 1.] 3IISCELLANE0US. 63 The Color of Flowers — At a recent meeting of the Vau- dois Society of Natural Sciences, Professor Schnetzler read an interesting paper on the color of flowers. It has been generally supposed that the various colors observed in plants were due to so many different matters, each color being a different chemical combination without relation to the others. Now Professor Schnetzler shows by experiments that when the coloring matter of a flower has been isolated, by means of spirits of wine, one may, by adding an acid or alkaline substance, obtain all the colors which plants present. Flowers of peony, give, when placed in alcohol, a red-violet liquid. If some salt of sorrel be added, the liquid becomes pure red ; while soda changes it, according to the quantity, into violet, blue, or green. In this latter case the green liquid appears red by transmitted light, just as does chlorophyll (the green coloring matter of of leaves). The sepals of peony, which are green with red border, become wholly red when put in salt of sorrel. These changes of color, wiiich can be had at will, may quite well be produced in the plant by the same causes, for in all plants there are always acid or alkaline substances. Further, it is certain that the transformation from green into red, observed in the leaves of many plants in autumn, is due to the action of tannin, which they contain, with chlorophyll. Thus without wishing to affiirm it absolutely, Professor Schnetzler supposes a priori that there is in plants only one coloring matter — chlorophyll — which being modified by certain agents, furnishes all the tints which flowers and leaves present. Niagara Falls Dry for a Day. — The Lord Bishop of Niagara recently lectured in Hamilton, Ont. on '• Upper Canada as it was fifty years ago, and Ontario as it now is," and in the course of his remarks said : " The falls of Niagara were dry for a -whole day. That day was the 31st of March 1848. I did not witness it myself; but I was told of it the next day by my late brother-in-law Thomas C. Street, Esq. Mr. Street's theory was this : That the winds had been tlowirig down Lake Erie, which is only about 30 feet deep, and rushing a gre tt deal of water from it over the Falls, and suddenly changed and blew this little water (comparatively speaking) up to the western portion of the lake and that at this juncture the ice on Lake Erie, which had been broken up by the high winds, got jammed in the river bet- 64 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. ween Buffalo and the Canada side, and formed a dam which kept back the waters of Lake Erie a whole day.'' One of the local papers noticing his lordship's lecture spoke of the statement concerning the Falls as " rather fishy." The lecturer then sent to the sceptical editor declarations from several gentleman all corroborating hi? statement. The Hon. L. F. Allen of Buffalo declared : " I well recollect it, although I have no precise date as to the month or year in which it occurred. It was so remarkable as to be noticed in Buffalo newspapers. Nor do I recollect whether the subsidence of the river waters was caused by a dam of ice at the outlet of Lake Erie or by a strong east wind, which sometimes, by blowing the water up the lake, makes very low water in the river for many 4iours. Two other witnesses made the following statutory declarations y (the laws of Ont£>rio forbid taking oath in such cases). County of Welland, to wit : I, Henry Bond, of the Village of Chippewa, in the Coimty of Welland, blacksmith, do solemnly declare that I well remember the occurrence of there having been a day during which so little water was running in the Niagara Eiver that but a small stream was flowing over the Falls of Niagara during that day. It happened on or about the 31st day of March, A. D. 1848. Henry Bond. Declared before me, at Chippewa, in the County of Welland, this; ] 7th day of May, A.D. 1880. J. F. Macklan, Notary Public, County of Welland, to u-it: I, James Francis Macklan, of the Village of Chippewa, in the County of Welland, Province of Ontario, notary public and Justice of the Peace, do solemly declare that about the :31st day of March, A. D. 1848, the waters of the Niagara River were so low that comparatively little was flowing over the Falls for a whole day. '' The phenomenon of the Falls of Niagara running dry,'^ as was the term used in speaking of the occurrence, caused great ex- citement in the neighbourhood at the time. J. F. Macklan, Notary Public and Ju.sticc Peace for County of Welland.^ Chippewa. May 17, 1880. Publislicd 30th April, 1881. THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND ^uavtciljj f 0uvuat of ^mixtt DISCOVERY OF THE PREGLACIAL OUTLET OF THE BASIN OF LAKE ERIE INTO THAT OF LAKE ONTARIO ; WITH NOTES ON THE ORIGIN OF OUR LOWER GREAT LAKES. The above is the title of a lengthy paper by Prof. J. W. Spencer, of King's College, Windsor, N. S., read before the American Philosophical Society in March last. We present our readers with the more important parts of the paper concerning the Preglacial Outlet of Lake Erie and a sum- mary of the whole. Basin of Lake Oiitar'iG. As is well known. Lake Ontario consists of a broad, shallow (considering its size) basin, excavated on the southern margin out of the Medina shales, and having its southern shores from one to several miles from the foot of the Niagara escarpment. The Medina shales form the western margin (where not covered with drift) to a point near Oakville. From this town to a point some distance eastward of Toronto, the hard rocks are made up of the different beds of Hudson River Epoch; while the soft Utica shales occupy the middle portion, and the Trenton limestones the portion of the Province towards the eastern end of the lake. The country at the western end of the lake consists of slopes gently rising to the foot of the Niagara escarpment. Sometimes this elevation is by terraces, and again by gentle inclines, as between the foot of the encarpment at Limehouse (on the G. T. Railway) and the lake, where the difference of altitude above the water is more than 700 feet, without any very conspicuous features. Vol. X. E No. 2. 6Q THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Basin of Lake Erie. The exceedingly shallow basin of Lake Erie has its bottom as near a level plane as any terrestrial tract could be. Its mean depth, or even maxima and minima depths from its western end for more than 150 miles, scarcely varies from 12 or 13 fathoms for the greater portion of its width. The eastern 20 miles has also a bed no deeper than the western por- tion. Between these two portions of the lake, the hydrography shows an area with twice this depth (the deepest sounding being 35 fathoms). This deepest portion skirts Long Point (the ex- tremity, a modern peninsula of lacustrine origin), and has a somewhat transverse course. An area of less than 40 miles Ions; has a depth of more than 20 fathoms. The deeper channel seems to turn around Long Point, and take a course towards Haldimand county, in our Canadian Province, somewhere west of Maitland. The outlet of the lake, in the direction of the Niagara river, has a rocky bottom (Corniferous limestone). The study of this lake at first appears less practicable than that of Ontario, but, when its former outlet and its tributary rivers are described, the writer trusts that he will have made some observations, that may help to clear the darkness that hangs about the history of our interesting lake region, before the advent of the Ice Age. The Dimdas Valley and adjacent Canons. We may consider that the Dundas valley begins at the "bluff" east of the Hamil- ton reservoir, and extends westward, including the location of the city of Hamilton and the Burlington Bay, at least its western portion. With this definition, the width at the Burlington heights (an old lake terrace 108 feet above present level of the water) would be less than five miles. At a mile and half westward of the heights, the valley suddenly becomes narrowed (equally on both sides of its axis of direction, by the Niagara escarpment making two equal concave bends, on each side of the valley, whence the straight upper portion extends, the whole resembling the outline of a thistle and its stem), from which place it extends six miles westward to Copetown, on the northern side ; and three and a half to Ancaster, on its southern side. The breadth be- tween the limestone walls of this valley varies somewhat from two to two and a half miles. The summit angles of the lime- stone walls on both sides are decidedly sharp. Dundas town is situated in this valley, its centre having a height about 70 feet above Lake Ontario, but its sides rise in No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OP L. ERIE. 6T terraces or abrupt hills ; and on ascending the valley, we find that between the escarpments are great ranges of parallel hills separated by deep gorges or glens, excavated in the drift by modern streams. This rugged character continues until the sum- mit of the Post Pliocene ridges have a height equal to that of the escarpment. As the gorges ascend towards the westward they become smaller, until at some distance south-w^est of Copetown and Ancuster, the divide of the present system of drainage is reached. Some of these streams have cut through the drift, so that they have only an altitude above the lake (which is seven miles distant) of 240 feet, while the tops of the ridges immedi- ately in the neighborhood are not much less than 400 feet high though they themselves have been removed to a depth of about another hundred feet, for the drift has filled the upper portion of the valley to the height of 500 feet above Lake Ontario. Even to the very sources of the streams, the country resembles the rivers of our great North Western Territories (or those of the Western States), cutting their way through a deep drift at high altitudes, w^hich is not underlaid by harder rocks, showing deep valleys rapidly increasing in size and depth, as they are cleaning out the soft material, and hurrying down to lower levels — a strong contrast to the features in most other portions of our Province. On the south side of the Dundas valley, a few unimportant streams, mostly dry in summer, have worn back the limestone escarpment, over which they flow, to distances varying from a few yards to a few hundred, making glens at whose head in spring- time some picturesque cascades can be seen. At Mount Albion, six miles east of Hamilton, there are two of these larger gorges, whose waters, after passing over picturesque falls, 70 feet high, and through glens several hundred yards in length, empty into the triangular valley noticed before. On the north side of the Dundas valley, besides small gorges with their streams compar- able to those on the south side, there are several of much larger dimensions ; for example, that at Waterdown, six miles north of Hamilton. Still larger is Glen Spencer which has a canon half a mile long, 300 feet deep, and between 200 and 300 yards wide at its mouth. At the head of this is Spencer Falls, 135 feet high, and joining it laterally there is another canon, with a considerable stream flowing from Webster's Falls, which how- ever, is of less height than the other. The waters feeding these 68 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. « streams come from northward of the escarpment, and belong to a system of drainage different from those streams which flow down through the drift of the Duudas valley and are of much greater length. At the foot of* Spencer Falls, the waters strike the upper portion of the Clinton shaly beds. The Falls now are two feet deeper than twenty years ago. Yet the stream is small, and makes a pond below in the soft shales. But this difference in height does not represent the rute of wearing or recession of the precipice. That the stream is much smaller than formerly is plainly to be seen, for at present it has cut a narrow channel, from ten to fifteen yards in width, above the falls, and from four to six feet deep on one side of the more ancient valley, which is about 50 yards wide and 30 feet deep, excavated in the Niagara dolomites. The surfaces of the escarpment in both sides of Glens Spencer and Webster present a peculiar aspect. That on the north-eastern side has a maximum heio-ht of 520 feet above the lake. On the same side, a section made longitudinally shows several broad shallow glens nearly a hundred feet deep crossing it and entering Olen Spencer. The surface of the rocks is glaciated, but not parallel with the direction of the channels. On the south-western side of the same canon, we find that a portion of the thin beds of Upper Niagara limestone have been removed. This absence is not general, for it soon regains its average height of about 500 feet. The Grand River Valley. The Grand River of Ontario rises in the County of Grey, not more than twenty-five miles from Georgian Bay. Thence it flows southward, and at Flora the river assumes a conspicuous feature. Here it cuts through the Guelph dolomites to a depth of about 80 feet and forms a canon about 100 feet in width with vertical walls. At this place it is joined by a rivulet from the west, which has formed a tributary canon similar to that of the Grand River itself The country in this region is so flat that it appears as a level plane. Farther southward the river winds over a broader bed, and at Gait the present river valley occupies a portion of abroad depression in a country indicating a former and much more ex- tensive valley. In fact the old river valley existed inPreglacial times, for the present stream has re-excavated only a part of its old bed at Gait, leaving on the flanks of one of its banks (both of which are composed of Guelph dolomites), a deposit of Post No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OF L. ERIE. 69 Tertiary drift, in the form of a bed of large rounded^boulders mostly of Laurentian gneisses. The country for four miles south of Gait is of similar character, forming a broad valley, in \\hich the present river flows. At this distance from Gait the river takes a turn to the south-westward ; but at the same place, the old valley appears to pass in a nearly direct line with the course -of the present bed (before the modern turn is made to the west- ward). As this portion of the valley now entered, has not to any extent been cleaned out by modern streams, it forms a broad shallow depression in the country extending for a few miles in width. Yet it is often occupied with hills composed of stratified coarse gravel belonging to that belt, which extends from Owen Sound to the County of Brant, and called by the Canadian Geo- logical Survey "Artemesia Gravel." It is through a portion of this valley that the Fairchild's Creek flows. Many streams derive their supplies of water from the Beverly swamps, which also feed the Lindsay Creek, that empties over Webster Falls and flows down Glen Spencer through the Dundas valley to Lake Ontario. The G. W. Railway, at four miles south of Gait, enters this valley and continues in it or its branches as far as Harrisburg, though the deeper depression is near St. George (a short distance west of Harrisburg). After leaving what I consider its more ancient bed, south of Gait (unless the country between the present bed and Fairchild's Creek was an island), the Grand River flows southward to Paris and Brantford, having a deep, broad valley. At the latter place the valley may fairly be placed at a few miles in width, while further to the eastward the river winds in an old course which had formerly a width of four miles. In the region of Brantford the valley is bounded by a somewhat elevated plateau. At Paris, Neith's Creek enters the Grand River from the west, and has a valley almost comparable in size with that of the latter at this town. At Paris, the Grand River cuts through the plaster-bearing Onondaga formation. Similar rocks appear at various places along the river, at places where the river has cleaned out a portion of one side of its ancient valley. x\t the Great Western Railway crossing, east of Paris, the bed of the river has an altitude of -195 feet above Lake Ontario, while at Brantford it is 410 feet (this elevation may not be perfectly accurate) above the same datum. From Brantford the river winds through a broad valley, with a general easterly direction, 70 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. to Seneca, where the immediate bed is about quarter of a mile wide, flowing at the southern side of a valley, more than two miles wide, and 75 feet below its boundaries, which are 440 feet above Lake Ontario. At Seneca the bed of the present river- course is 365 feet above Lake Ontario or only 37 feet above Lake Erie. (The H. & N. W. Railway levels give Lake Erie as 328 feet above Lake Ontario, whilst the Report of the Chief Engineer of the Welland Canal states that the difference of level is 326f feet. As these two levels agree so nearly, and as the other figures refer to the railway levels, I have followed them here.) Eastward from Seneca the river continues to have its broad valley as far as Cayuga. To near this town the waters of the Welland canal feeder reach, at a height of about 9 (?) feet above Lake Erie. From Seneca to Cayuga the direction of the valley is nearly south, but at the latter place it abruptly turns nearly to the east- ward, and in a short distance it passes to a flatter country and flows over Cornifcrous limestone. After a sluir2;ish flow, it enters Lake Erie, (passing through a marshy country) at Port Maitland more than fifteen miles in a direct line from Cayuga. It must be remembered that, from Seneca to Cayuga, the valley is broad and conspicuous. At only a short distance south of the river, at Seneca, the summit of the country is occupied by a gravel ridge. Returning to the valley of Fairchild's Creek, we find the stream principally flowing in the former bed of the Grand River, aban- doned a few miles below Gait since the Ice Age. This creek crosses the Great Western Railway at a level of fifteen feet below the crossino- of the Grand River, at a few miles to the westward. Again, the Fairchild's Creek crosses the Brantford and Harrisburg railway at an altitude of 407 feet above Lake Ontario, or a little below that of the Grand River at Brantford, although it empties into it a few miles east of the city just named. Fairchild's Creek is now of moderate size meandering through the drift for a width of two miles. This drift is in part strati- fied clay. The Grand River from Brantford eastward, is generally excavated from the drift deposits, although occasionally one side of the valley shows rocks of Onondaga formation, exposed by the removal of the drift in modern times. It is also desirable to call attention to the fact that in the region of Brantford, much of the Onondaga Formation is shaly and forms the surfiice country-rock, covering a broad belt, whilst from Seneca eastward No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OP L. ERIE. 71 the surface of the country is more generally covered with Coruife- rous limestone. Country between the Grand River and Dundas Valleys. The watershed between these two present drainage systems is at only a short distance southwest of Copetown, and the distance in a direction from the Fairchild's to the Dundas side of this divide is less than seven miles, with an average altitude of less than 480 feet (the same as that of the Fairchild's Creek, as it crosses the Great Western Railway). The highest point that I have levelled is 492 feet above Lake Ontario. On receding westward from the divide, the country gradually descends to the Fairchild's Creek, which as it crosses the Brantford and Harrisburg Railway is 407 above the Lake. It is considerably lower where it enters the Grand River. The region between the divide and the Grand River is traversed from north-west to south-east by a considerable number of streams, all with relatively large valleys, cut in the drift, since the present system of drainage was inaugurated in Post Glacial times. The country from Jerseyville (about 465 feet above lake) slopes gradually to the Grand River, from six to eight miles distant to the southward. On examination, it may be seen that the country is too high to permit the Fairchild's Creek or Grand River, as they are at present situated, to flow over the height of land into the upper portion of the Dundas valley. As referred to before, the Niagara limestone forming the summit of the escarpment at Ancaster and eastward has a height of about 500 feet. These beds dip at only about 25 feet in a mile (to about 20 degrees west of south) and are not generally covered by a great thickness of drift, but in many places are exposed on or near the surface. Westwa.rd of Ancaster these limestones are nowhere to be found, but the country is covered only with drift. At a short distance west of this village, we find streams flowing north-easterly and easterly with very deep valleys in the drift, indicating the absence of the floor of limestone to a depth of over 250 feet below the surface of the escarpment. But on going westward we find that the streams have not cut to an equal depth, but are still running deeply through drift. Eventually we reach the divide, after which we find that other systems of streams also cut deeply in the drift running in a south-easterly direction to join the Grand River ; but the Niagara limestone is absent from a considerable extent of country. 72 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. On the northern side of the Dundas valley the escarpment after reaching Copetown is buried by the drift. Although the line of buried cliffs recedes somewhat to the northward of the Great Western Railway, yet there are occasional exposures, as at Troy and other places in Beverly and Flamboro, where the underlying limestones come to the surface. At Harrisburg the limestones are known to be absent for a depth of more than 72 feet, as shown in a deep well in the drift. In the town of Paris one well came upon hard rock at 10 feet below the surface, whilst another at 100 feet in depth reached no further than boulder clay. This last well must have been in a buried channel of Neith's Creek, as outcrops of gypsum-bearing beds of the Onondaga formation frequently occur near the summit of the hills. From what has just been written, it is easily seen that the Niagara limestones are absent from a more or less horiz- ontal floor (which is over 500 feet above the lake, on both the northern and southern sides of the Dundas valley) which continues from Dundas westward to near Harrisburg, where it meets a portion of the Grand River valley. But almost immediately west of Ancaster we find streams running northward at right angles to the escarpment, and cutting through drift to the depth of almost hundreds of feet. In fact, if we draw a line from Dundas to northward of Harrisburg (a mile or two), and another from Ancaster southward to the Grand River, we have two limits of a reo-iou where the limestone floor has been cut awav from an other- wise generally level region. The southern side of the area is the southern margin of the Grand River valley, between Seneca and Brantford ; and the western boundary is composed of Onondaga rocks east of Paris (which perhaps forms an island of rocks buried more or less in drift). The Buried River Charmel in the Dundas TaJley and its Ex- tensions. That the Dundas valley is that of an ancient river valley now buried to a great depth with the dehris produced in the Ice Age, becomes apparent on a careful study of the region. However, until a key was discovered the mystery of its origin was found to be very obscure. My own labors at studying this region may fairly be stated as the first systematic attempts at the solution of the present configuration of the western end of Lake Ontario and the adjacent valley. Assertions have been made that it was scooped out by a glacier, but this wild hypothesis was only a statement made without any regard to facts. No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OP L. ERIE. 73 From the topography, it is be seen that the apparent length of the rock-bound valley is six miles, with a width of over two miles ; then it widens suddenly to four miles (with concave curves on both sides), after which it gradually increases in width as it opens into Lake Ontario. The direction of the axis of the valley is about N. 70*^ E. The summit edges of the rock walls are sharply angular and not rounded or truncated. This angularity is not due to frost action since the Ice Age, to any extent, as is shown by the character of the talus. Tlie rocks of the summit are fre- quently covered with ice markings, but I am not aware of any locality where they have been observed as being parallel with the true direction of the valley, but on all sides one can observe them (sometimes at only small angles of less than 30 degrees) making conspicuous ungles with its axis. One exception may be made to this statement. On a projecting ledge of Clinton limestone, at Russefs quarry, near Hamilton, at a height of 254 feet above the lake, and 134 feet below the summit of the "mountain," after the removal of &ome talus, I observed that the surface was polished but with scratches so faint that they could scarcely be compared with those of fine sand-paper on wood ; and the direction if determinable, was parallel with the overhanging escarpment. There are many tributary canons, which are evidently of greater antiquity than the Ice Age, which could not have been excavated by the present streams, and are at all sorts of direction compared with the striated surface of the country. The topography of the lower lake regions precludes the idea of a glacier flowing down the valley to the north-eastward. Again, us the direction of the ice was towards the south-west, the waters from the melting glaciers could scarcely flow up an escarpment many hundreds of feet in height. Even if the Niagara escarp- ment did not exist elsewhere, the non-parallelism of the stria?, and edges of the escarpment with their angular summits, is sufficient to prove the non-glacial origin of the valley in the hard limestone rocks. Moreover, ut the eastern end of the narrower portion oi' the valley, there are two concave curves facing the lake, which of necessity would have been removed if such a gigantic grinding agent had been moving up the valley. The glacier-origin of the valley being an absolutely untenable hypothesis, I sought for some fluviatile agent capable of efi'ecting the present configuration of the region. At the time, no idea occurred that even the great valley of the present is only a miser- VoL. X. e2 No. 2. 7-1 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. able remnant of one of gigantic proportions obscured by hundreds of feet of drift. The question arose, could Lake Erie have ever emptied by this valley? This suggestion did not hold its ground for any length of time, because the present levels are all too high. Near Gait, the traces of the true origin first presented themselves. A branch of the Great Western Railway extends from Gait south- ward for about four miles in the valley of the Grand River, after which, without making any important ascent, it passes into the broad older valley, described above as that in which Fairchild's Creek now flows. After a careful examination of the rei2;ion and of the railway levels, I came to the conclusion that it was an old buried valley. It then became apparent that if the Grand River had occupied the site of the Fairchild's Creek, that the latter probably flowed down the Dundas valley, and that the Grand River, being one of the largest of the rivers of Ontario, might have been a sufficient cause for the s-reat excavation at the western end of Lake Ontario. Having procured all the levels that bore on the subject which were available, it became necessary to connect several places myself by instrumental measurements, which work was accomplished last July, with the aid of Prof. Wilkins. As the whole floor of Niagara limestones is absent, as has previously been shown, the proof that the ancient Grand River flowed down the Dundas valley was completed, and of this discovery there was published a local notice last August. Significant and interesting as this fact was, relative to the change of systems in our Canadian drainage, a still more important issue was involved. When taking the levels between the Dundas valley (modern) and the Grand River, it was found that the whole calcareous floor was removed from a basin several miles in width, and that all the wells were sunk to a considerable depth in the drift before water could be obtained. On glancing at the map it will be seen that the Grand River from Brantford to Seneca meanders through a broad course, which in its ancient basin is several miles in width, but that from Seneca the valley is narrower, and the course of the stream more direct, as far as Cayuga. At Seneca the valley is two miles wide and seventy-five feet deep. Also the bed of the Grand River at Seneca is in drift which is only 37 feet above the lake into which it now empties. This broad valley continues to Cayuga within a few miles of the lake, whence its former probable course was by nearly direct line to Lake Erie, now filled with drift, near the present bend in the river towards the eastward. At Cayuga No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OF L. ERIE. 75 the rock beneath the drift-bed of the river is below the lake level, on the margin of the ancient valley. Having observed the connection between the Dundas valley, Grand River and Lake Erie, it dawned on me that I had estab- lished the knowledge of a channel having a very important bearing on the surface geology of the lake region. It now became apparent that Lake Erie had flowed by the Grand River (reversed) to a point west or north-west of Seneca, and thence by the Dun- das valley, into Lake Ontario ; also that the upper vvaters of the Grand River, previously discovered as passing down the Dundas valley, were really tributary to the outlet of Lake Erie, and joined it somewhere south of Harrisburg; and that the basin between Brantford (and the Grand River of to-day) and the Great Western Railway, at Copetown, formed an expanded lakelet along the course of the ancient outlet of Lake Erie, scooped out of the softer rocks of the Onondaga Formation before noticed. As the waters excavated a bed in a deeper channel, of course this lakelet would become an expanded and depressed valley, such as we often see amongst the hills of drift, at a short distance westward of Dundas. Possibly the Grand River divided and flowed around an island, the western side of which is occupied now by the town of Paris. At any rate, Neith's Creek, at that town formed a large tributary to the river then flowing down to Lake Ontario. Aloug the course from Cayuga to Lake Ontario all obstacles to the outlet of Lake Erie appear to be removed. But along the present course of the Grand River, eastward of Cayuga, the waters flow over Corniferous limestone. But this difiiculty is removed on observing that the river, filled with drift, approaches Lake Erie to within a direct distance of about six miles, but at this place it leaves its southward course and also its conspicuous valley and flows eastward, in the same manner as the Niagara River, above the Whirlpool, left its old choked-up outlet by the valley of St. David, and cleaned out a new channel for itself through several miles, in hard rock, from Queenstown southward. We have seen that the Grand River bed is near the eastern margin of its ancient valley at Cayuga. From northward of this town at about half a mile to the westward of the river, a deep depression in the drift indicates the deeper portion of the ancient river as it left the modern channel direct for the Lake Erie basin. Also along this route the hard rock is known to be absent to a depth below the surface of Lake Erie. 76 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. In Ohio, the Geological Survey considers that Maumee River emptied into the Wabash. If the waters of Lake Erie ever passed by this route into the Mississippi river when they were at no higher level than at present, then there must be a channel buried to a depth reaching at least 170 feet above the lake, as that is the elevation of the divide between the upper waters of these two rivers. The outlet of Lake Erie, indicated in this paper, is known at many places along its route to have no rock-bed for a distance below the surface of the higher lake, and to a probable depth sufficiently great to empty Lake Huron. Again Mr. Carll has shown that the Alleghany drainage passed near Dunkirk into the Erie basin at a place just opposite to its outlet, as indicated by the present writer. Much of the Dundas valley is underlaid by stratified Erie clay> which is known to extend to a depth of 60 feet below the sur- face of Lake Ontario, according to Dr. Robert Bell. In the upper part of the valley, streams have exposed some deposits of unstratified clay filled with angular shingle, derived from the thin beds of limestone forming the upper portion of the Niagara Formation. In the eastern portion of the valley, the Erie clay is overlaid un conform ably by brown Saugeen clay or loam (stratified). In the upper portions of the valley the hills are capped by brown clays or sands. But along some of the hillsides excavated so deeply in the drift, we find old beaches resting unconformably on boulder clay. Near the centre of the city of Hamilton, in the wider portion of the Dundas valley, a well was sunk to the depth of over 1000 feet. This well revealed a most interestino; fact. Thoush known to me several years ago, I did not apply it until recently to its true bearing, since discovering the origin of the Dundas valley. Mr. J. M. Williams sunk this well, at the Royal Hotel, in Hamilton. He told me several years ago that he had to sink through 290 feet of boulders, before coming to hard rock, thus causing the outlay of a large sum of money in excess of his calculations. Unfortunately, this well-record has been lost by fire. At that time, the fact was so fresh in his memory (improved by the ex- traordianary cost of the well) that his statement could be relied on, he being experienced in well-borings. The mouth of this well is 63 feet above Lake Ontario, and therefore the hard rocks are absent for a depth of 227 feet below the lake surface. No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OF L. ERIE. 77 As the valley is five miles wide at this place, and as the well is only about one mile distant from its southern side, it becoTiies apparent that the valley in the centre must have been much deeper. Moreover if we produce the southern side of that portion of the valley, which is over two miles wide, we find that the well is less than a quarter of a mile away from it. Now if we con- nect the top of the Medina shales (240 feet above Lake Ontario) with the base of the drift in the well, and produce it to the centre of the valley, it would indicate a central depth of over 500 feet. At the base of the drift there are nearly fifty feet of Medina shales, below which are the Hudson River rocks (more or less calcareous and arenaceous, mixed with the shales). This harder formation along the bed of the river would be less extensively removed by aqueous action than the overlying Medina shales, especially as the pitch of the waters would be much lessened. This graphic method of calculation seems as perfectly admissible here as it does in determinins: other constants of nature. How- ever, I have placed the estimated depth in the section at about 70 fathoms below the lake surface, which depth is perfectly com- patible with the soundings of the lake at no very great distance to the eastward. Even this depth gives only very gentle slopes from the sides of the river valley. It should be remarked that Burliogton Bay is excavated from stratified clays in places to a depth of 78 feet. But this water is silting up comparatively quickly. Now we have seen that the deep excavation in the Dundas valley and westward is cut through more than 250 feet of Niagara and Clinton rocks, mostly of limestone, and to a depth in the Medina shales, so that the total known depth of the canon is 743 feet, but with a calculated depth in the middle of the channel of about 1000 feet. This depth for a canon is not extraordinary for Eastern America. In Tennessee there are river valleys ex- cavated to a depth of 1600 feet, and in Pennsylvania Mr, Carll reports others to be equally deep. Again, this Preglacial river explains the cause of the present topography of the western end of Lake Ontario. The drainage by this river swept past the foot of the submerged escarpment of Lake Ontario, until it passed the meridian of Oswego. With such an outlet, and with the ancient Grand River valley buried to an equal depth, we have an easy solution to the prob- lem of the drainasie of Lake Erie. 78 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. The following is Dr. Spencer's summary of the whole paper : 1. The Niagara escarpment, after skirting the southern shores of Lake Ontario, bends at nearly right angles in the neighborhood of Hamilton, at the western end of the lake ; thence the trend is northward to Lake Huron. At the extreme western end of the lake this escarpment (at a height of about 500 feet) encloses a valley gradually narrowing to four miles, at the meridian of the western part of the city of Hamilton, where it suddenly closes to a width of a little more than two miles, to form the eastern end of the Dundas valley (proper). This valley has its two sides nearly parallel, and is bounded by vertical escarpments, which are capped with a great thickness of Niagara limestone, but having the lower beds of the slopes composed of Medina shales. On its northern side the escarpment extends for six miles to Copetown ; westward of this village it is covered with drift, but it is not absent. On its southern side the steep slopes extend for less than four miles to Ancaster, where they abruptly end in a great deposit of drift, which there fills the valley to near its summit, but which is partly re-excavated by the modern streams, forming gorges from two to three hundred feet deep. To the north-eastward of Ancaster these gorges are cut down through the drift to nearly the present lake level. Westward of Ancaster, a basin occupying a hundred square miles, where the drift is found to a great depth, forms the western extension of the Dundas valley. With the north-western and western portions of this drift-filled area the upper portion of the Grand River and Neith's Creek were formerly connected. The Grand River, from Brantford to Seneca, runs near the southern boundary of this basin, then it enters its old valley, which extends from Seneca to Cayuga, with a breadth of two miles, and a depth, in modern times, of seventy-five feet, having its bed but a few feet above the surface of Lake Erie. Near Cayuga, the deepest portion of the river-bed is below the level of Lake Erie. 2. The Dundas valley and the country westward form a por- tion of a great river valley^ filled with drift. Along and near its present southern margin this drift has been penetrated to 227 feet below the surface of Lake Ontario, thus producing a canon with a lateral depth of 7'13 feet, but with a computed depth, in the middle of its course, of about 1000 feet. 3. The Grand River, at four miles south of Gait, has since the Ice Age^ left its ancient bed, which formerly connected with that of the Dundas valley, as did also Neith's Creek, at Paris. No. 2.] SPENCER — PREGLACIAL OUTLET OF L. ERIE. 79 4. Lake Erie emptied by a buried channel a few miles west- ward of the present mouth of the Grand River, and flowed for half a dozen miles to near Cayuga, where it entered the present valley, and continued this channel (reversed) to a place at a short distance westward of Seneca, whence it turned into the basin referred to above, receiving the upper waters of the Grand River and Neith's Creek as tributaries, and then emptied into Lake Ontario, by the Dundas valley. This channel was also deep enough to drain Lake Huron. ■« 5. Throucrhout nearly the whole lensTth of Lake Ontario, and at no great distance from its southern shore, there is a submerged escarpment (of the Hudson River Formation) which, in magni- tude, is comparable with the Niagara escarpment itself, now skirting the lake shore. It was along the foot of this escarpment that the river from the Dundas valley flowed (giving it the present form) to eastward of, or near to, Oswego, receiving many streams along its course. 5. The western portion of the Lake Erie basin, the south- western counties of Ontario, and the southern portion of the basin of Lake Huron formed one Preglacial plane, which is now covered with drift or water (or with both) to a depth varying from fifty to one hundred feet, excepting in channels where the filling by drift is very great. A deep channel draining Lake Huron extended through this region, leaving the present lake near the Au Sable River, and entering the Erie basin between Port Stanley and Vienna, at a depth near its known margin of 200 feet, but at a probable depth in the centre sufficiently great to drain Lake Huron. 6. The Preglacial valleys (now buried) of Ohio and Pennsyl- vania — for example ; the Cuyahoga, Mahoning (reversed), and Alleghany (deflected), formed tributaries to the great river flowing through the Erie basin and the Dundas valley. 7. The bays and inlets north of Lake Huron arertrue fiords in character, and are of aqueous origin. 8. The Great Lakes owe their existence to sub-aerial and fluviatile agencies, being old valleys of erosion of great age, but with their outlets closed by drift. Glaciers did not excavate the lakes and had no important action in bringing about the present topography of the basins. 9. The old outlet of the Niagara river, by the valley of St. David's, was probably an interglacial channel. 80 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. A BLASTOID FOUND IN THE DEVONIAN ROCKS OF ONTARIO. By Henry Montgomery, M.A., Science Master in the Collegiate Institute, Toronto. In the month of July 1879, while examining the Hamilton G-roup of the Devonian Series of rocks in the south-western part of the Province of Ontario, I had the good fortune to discover an apparently rare fossil Echinoderm imbedded therein. It was taken by me from a limestone quarry near Thedford or Widder village in the township of Bosanquet, county of Lambton. Soon afterwards I learnt that Dr. George Jennings Hinde had, a short time previously, obtained a specimen of the same species from the rocks of the same region, but it was not in so good a state of pre- servation as the one which I had found. It is regretted that, notwithstanding repeated and careful searches since that time, I have been unable to procure more than a single specimen of this form, which seems also to be exceedingly rare (if indeed it occurs) in the United States. Although it appears to be a variety of the Nucleocriuus lucina, a new species collected by Mr. C. A. White from the Hamilton shales, Livingstone Co., New York State, and described by Professor James Hall in 1862, yet it does not seem to have been described or even mentioned as occurring in Canadian rocks. Nor am I aware that any represen- tative of the genus Nucleocrinus, and indeed it may be said, of the entire order Blastoidea (unless the Codaster or Codonaster Canadensis of Billings be referred to this order), has ever been described from the rocks of Can-^da. Therefore I have thought it advisable to publish figures and a description of the specimen alluded to, at the same time contrasting it with Pentremites Godoni, several excellent specimens of which, as well as of P. piriformis, of the Sub-Carboniferous rocks of Illinois, are in my cabinet. For assistance kindly extended to me in the study of this ex- tinct form and its relations I am deeply indebted to my friend and instructor Dr. E.J. Chapman of University College, Toronto. Several very valuable hints were likewise furnished me by Dr. Hinde, F.G.S., New South Kensington Museum, London, England, and Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S., Canadian G-eological Survey. No. 2.J MONTGOMERY — A DEVONIAN BLASTOID. 81 Mr. Conrad named the genus Nucleocrinus (L. nucleus kernel of a nut, and Gr. krinon a lily) in 1842 ; Troost gave it the ge- neric name Olivanites in 18-49 ; and in 1852 Dr. Ferd. Roemer called it Elseacriuus. In 1862 Dr. Hall gave the name luciiia to a species gathered from the rocks of the State of New York. To this species, in the absence of specimens of lucina with which to compare it, I provisionally refer what may possibly be a new species of Nucleocrinus. The echinoderm in question, found as already stated, in the Hamilton formation, Lambton Co., was associated with numerous corals, chiefly of the genera Cystiphyllum, Diphyphyllum, Erido- phyllum, Heliophyllum, Stenopora, Favosites, Alveolites and Aulopora, with various Brachiopods (Spirifera, Spirigera, Stro- phomena, Strophodonta, Cyrtina, Chonetes, etc.), Gasteropods, and Bryozoa. It must be placed in that division of the Blastoidea possessed of a calcareous, jointed stem and a lateral interambu- lacral aperture. In general appearance it is somewhat barrel- shaped, being thicker a little above the middle than at either ex- tremity, and considerably flattened at the summit and base. Its greatest length is about 4J- lines ; and its greatest transverse diameter about 3f lines. Fig. 1. Fig. 1. Nucleocrinus lucina (?). From the Hamilton shales, Ontario^ Canada, a. View of base, twice the natural size, shewing point of attachment of stem, and the five radials hearing each a long, central elevation terminating in a concave projection orer the end of the pseudambiilacrum. h. Lateral view, one and three- fourths the natural size, shewing the anal orifice, and anal plate with its two adjacent inter-radial s. c View of upper surface, twice the natural size, shewing plates in the oral region, the lateral anal orifice, and the pore-plates of pseudambulacral areas. Fig. a. b. c. Fig. 2. Pentremites Godoni. From Lower Carboniferous rocks of Illinois, U. S. Natural size. a. View of base, shewing three large basals, and attachment of stem. b. Lateral view, shewing broad, petaloid, pseudambulacral areas, with large transverse striae, very visible to naked eye. c. View of superior surface. Vol. X. No. 2. 82 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. The plates or pieces of which the calyx is composed are : three basals, five radials, six inter-radials, one anal, several anteambu- lacrals and numerous pseudambulacrals. In Pentremites, in which the lateral opening is completely wanting, there is, of course, no anal plate, and there are only five inter-radial or deltoid plates present. The three basal plates of N. lucina (?) pass outwards from the centre of the topmost joint of the slender pedicle, are very small, irregular in shape, and almost altogether hidden by the stem. Above these are the five dorsally-ridged radial plates slightly forked upon their upper margins for the reception of the lower extremities of the five pseudambulacral areas. These five pseudambulacral fields with the five alternating interambulacral areas form the sides of the calyx. Each pseudambulacral area is much less " petaloid " in outline than the corresponding area of Pentremites, being greatly lengthened and comparatively nar- row throughout, and terminate below in a deep pit or depression where the forked radial is raised into an arched eminence. The centre of the area is occupied by a longitudinal furrow, which with its two raised borders forms a long -And extremely narrow lancet-plate. Outside the elevated ridges that bound this central furrow on each side is a row of plates or tables numbering about forty, perforated by minute but very visible apertures and known as pore-plates. The remainder or outer portion of the pseudam- bulacral area is believed to be made up of numerous transverse plates because of its surface shewing very many small yet distinct transverse grooves and elevations. These transversely-striated lateral portions constitute the greater part of the area, and, in- stead of gradually rising from the pore-plates and central lancet- plate, gradually slope towards the outer edges, so that the whole pseudambulacrum is strongly elevated towards and about the middle line and depressed at its outer margins, as seen in Figure 1, a condition exactly the reverse of that which exists in Pen- tremites (Fig. 2). Four of the interambulacral areas consist each of a single, long, narrow, triangular or deltoid plate termed the "inter-radial," its apex reaching the top of the calyx, and its base resting upon two radials beneath. The fifth interambulacral area, however, differs greatly from the others in being much broader (nearly twice as broad), in the possession of a distinct and comparatively large, circular opening near its summit, two deltoid or inter- radial plates separated by a long, triangular and externally con No. 2.] MONTGOMERY — A DEVONIAN BLASTOID. 83 cave plate (Fip^. 1 h.'). The lateral and superior opening has been regarded as the anal aperture ; and the long, concave plate, that tapers upwards and is quite prominent at its upper extremity where it forms the inferior boundary of the anus, has been styled the anal plate. The inter-radials of this area also differ in posi- tion from those of the other four interambulacral areas, their apices being directed downwards and reaching the radials at the base of the calyx. On the superior surface of the specimen are to be seen five pairs of little apertures placed in a circle, and usually considered to have been genital in function ; whilst in the centre of this circle and also of the summit of the calyx, is an aperture regarded as the mouth, and provided with small protecting plates. Hence, besides the foramina of the poral plates there are twelve openings, viz : the mouth, ten genital openings and the anus. In comparison with Pentremites it is to be noticed that the radials of Nucleocrinus are much shorter and the inter-radials and pseudambulacra much longer than those of the former; that in Nucleocrinus an anal opening is present in one of the interambu- lacral regions ; an anal plate is also present ; and in consequence of the situation of the anal orifice and the anal plate there is an extra inter-radial or deltoid plate in the same area ; that the two deltoid plates of this modified area are inverted in position ; that the pseudambulacral fields are convex, and not concave, possess wel 1 marked pore-plates, and rather finely marked transverse grooves. As the modified interambulacral area is not exhibited in the only figure given of lucina, i.e. Fig. 16, Plate 1, of the Fifteenth Report of the Regents of New York State University, it is im- possible for me to institute anything like a complete comparison between lucina of New York and the Blastoid under consideration. Still, on comparing the latter with the figure of lucina one cannot fail to observe certain differences between them, in the lancet- plates, the prominently arched radials at the lower ends of the pseudambulacra, and the general shape of the calyx. The bring- ing to light of other specimens may, in the future, prove, what I strongly suspect, that this is a species quite distinct from lucina, and hitherto undescribed. In such event, this being the first species of Nucleocrinus discovered in this country, I would here propose for it the specific name Canadensis. It is worthy of note that the genus Nucleocrinus in rocks other than American has thus far been altogether unknown to science. 84 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. The following are the species heretofore recognized : 1. Nucleocrinus Verneidli, Corniferous Formation, Troost, 1841. 2. " angularis, Corniferous Formation, Lyon, 1857. 3. " Conradi, Upper Helderberg Formation, Hall, 1862. 4. " elegans, Hamilton Formation (also said to have been found as low as the Upper Silurian), Conrad, 1842. 5. " lucina, Hamilton Formation, Hall, 1862. 6. " ■Kirkwoodensis, Sub-Carboniferous Formation, Shumard, 1863. NOTE ON THE COMPOSITION OF DAWSONITE. By B J. Harrington, B.A., Ph.D. McGill College, Montreal. In connection with the discoveries of Dawsonite which have been made at Pian Castagnaio in Tuscany,^ a few remarks on the composition of this curious mineral may be deemed of interest. It will be remembered that the specimens originally described in 1874 were from joints in a white feldspathic dyke cutting the Trenton limestone near McGill College. f Since 1874 small quan- tities of the mineral have been observed in the joints of several other dykes in the same neighbourhood, and beautiful specimens have been obtained at the Montreal reservoir, in what is probably a continuation of the dyke near the college. In the latter in- stance the Dawsonite is associated with calcite, dolomite, pyrite, minute quantities of galena and occasionally of a black substance rich in manganese. In all cases the mineral occurs in more or less fibrous blades, which are often arranged in a radiated manner. * Two papers on the subject have appeared within the last few months in the Bulletin of the Mineralogical Society of France (IV., 28 and 155), the first, entitled " Sur iin nouveau gisement de Daw- sonite (hydrocarbonate d'aluminum et de sodium) et sur la formule de ce mineral," by C. Friedel ; the second, " Sur le gisement de la Dawsonite de Toscanne," by Maurice diaper. t Can. Nat. II. vn. 305. " Notes on Dawsonite, a new Carbonate." No. 2.] HARRINGTON NOTE OX DAWSONITE. 85 It reminds one of tremolite, and in the collection of minerals acquired by McGill Colleo-e j'rom the late Dr. Holmes of Mont- real, there are several specimens of it which he had so marked. The first specimens of Dawsonite analysed were found to con- tain between five and six per cent, of lime, and there was no evidence to prove that this was not one of the proper constituents of the mineral. Subsequently, however, it was found that the proportion of lime differed widely in different cases, while the ratio between the other constituents was constant. From this it was inferred that the lime really belonged to intermixed calcite which could not be completely separated. This view is fully confirmed by Friedel's examination of the Dawsonite discovered by M. Maurice Chaper in Tuscany, and the right of the mineral to rank as a good species may now be considered as fully estab- lished. Its special interest of course depends upon tlie fact that it is the only well defined carbonate containing aluminium which has yet been met with in nature. The Tuscany Dawsonite is stated to occur in minute crevices, both in marl and sandstone, the latter being impregnated with dolomite. Among the minerals associated with it are calcite, dolomite, pyrite, fiorite and cinnabar; and it is said that the miners of the region look upon Dawsonite as a favourable indica- tion in their search for cinnabar. The Tuscany mineral is evidently obtained in a purer condition than ours, and from his analyses Friedel concludes that the composition of the species is represented by AI2O3, Na20, 2 CO2, 2 H2O or, as lie also puts it, AI2 (C02Na)2 (OH)^. The following- table gives under I. the results of Fridel's an- alyses ; under II and III the original analyses of the mineral frum McGill Colleire ; and under IV a recent one of that i'ound at the Montreal reservoir. The last it will be seen indicates the presence of a large proportion of calcite : — I II III IV Carbon dioxide 29.59 29.88 30.72 32 23 Alumina 35.89 32.84 32.68 24.71 Soda 19.13 20.20 20.17 15.64 Water 12.00 11.91 (10.33) 9.06 Lime 0.42 5.95 5.65 16.85 Magnesia 1.39 tr. 0.45 tr. Potash 0.38 Manganese dioxide .... .... 0.23 Silica 0.40 0.84 98.42 101.56 100.00 99.56 86 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. If from the above analyses we deduct the substances which may justly be regarded as impurities, including lime and mag- nesia in the form of carbonates, and then calculate the normal constituents for one hundred parts, it will be seen that the re- sults agree well with the formula Na2 [AI2] CgOg + 2H2O: I II III IV Formula. Carbon dioxide* 29.27 27.96 29.06 27.78 30.49 Alumina 37.88 36.42 36.70 36.12 35.55 Soda • 20.19 22.41 22.65 22.86 21.48 Water 12.66 13.21 11.59 13.24 12.47 It has also been suggested that the formula may be written SCN.^COa) + (AI2C3O9) + 2(He[Al2jOe).t According to Friedel, the Tuscany Dawsonite when heated to 180° C. loses nothing but a little hygrometric water. Like the Canadian mineral it gives up both its " carbonic acid " and water at a red heat. The calcined residue also dissolves easily in hydrochloric acid. Neither the hardness nor the specific gravity of the European variety has been ascertained. For the Canadian mineral the original determinations were, H = 3, G = 2.40. * The atomic ratios for I and II are as follows : C 665 .636 2 [AI2] 369 .355 1 Na 651 .723 2 2.764 2.696 8 Q 2 I 703 .734 2 f Am. Jour. Sci. III. xxii. 157. No. 2.] EDWARDS — WATER ANALYSIS. 87 RESUME ON WATER ANALYSIS: NEW METHODS AND RECENT RESULTS. By J. Baker Edwards, Ph.D., F. C. S. Public Analyst, Montreal. Considering the many discrepancies of water analysis, the ■Society of Public Analysts of Great Britain have done good ser- vice to social science by co-operating with Mr. G. W. Wigner, one of its Secretaries ;tnd one of the editors of its organ " The Analyst," in discussing during the present year : 1. The Methods of Water Analysis. 2. Mode of Statement of Results. 3. Their Comparative Valuation. Moreover, by the publication of monthly analyses of the " Public Water Supplies of Great Britain," they have conferred a benefit on the public, Mr. Wigner has long been a laborious " Water Analyst," and from his great experience on " Sea Side Waters," his opinion is entitled to considerable weight. As a result of his labours a Committee has been appointed by the Society of Public Analysts, which has drawn up and published a code of " Instructions fo.r Water Analysis," in order to enable Analysts generally to co-operate, by adopting an uniform method of an- alysis and of the mode in which results shall be stated. It has still under consideration the mode of valuation of the relative impurities in potable waters submitted to the Society by Mr. Wigner in June last, which has subsequently been very generally approved. Comparative results having been thus rendered j^os- sible, a large number of English chemists have accepted the task of monthly water analysis in various districts, and these have been grouped together by Mr. Wigner .in the recent September and October Nos. of " The Analyst," showing the average values of the impurities from January to June of the present year, and the valuations for July, August and September, severally, of G5 different water supplies in Great Britain, representing an enor- mous amount of exaet and laborious work, whicli is much en- hanced in value by this mode of bringing into comparative 88 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. review differences which, without uniformity of method, of state- ment, and of valuation^ V!OM\d. have no scientific interest what- ever. Although the methods of research are numerous and critical, the Analysts of the Continent will, I feel sure, welcome anything like agreement on so vexed a question as water analysis, and will welcome these tabulated results, even if subsequent ex- perience should lead to slight modifications of either the methods or the valuations. Having lately had occasion to analyse for the Department of Public Works several samples of Ottawa water, T have carefully followed these methods and valuations, and I find much satisfac- tion in being thus enabled to classify them with British results so recently published, and from my own experience recommend to brother analysts in Canada and the United States the adoption of this general method, so that future tabulations of compara- tive values may include the whole of the waters of. this Continent. The followinii' statement of results in the case of the Ottawa water supply will indicate the general method of analysis and mode of statement. For details tlie reader is referred to the elaborate " Code of Instructions " published in the June, July, and August numbers of " The Analyst," and also subsequently published in pamphlet form by the Society of Public Analysts. Eesult of analysis of Ottawa water supply, taken Sept. 7th, 1881, by Messrs. Keefer, Lesage and Arnoldi. 1. Color iu 2 feet column light yellow. 2. Odor at 100 F.o slightly peaty. * 3 Chlorine as Chlorides -4 4. Phosphoric acid none. 5. Nitrates and nitrites none. 6. Ammonia free -0050 7. Albumenoid Ammonia -0010 8. Oxygen absorbed at 80 F. in 15 minutes. -0040 9. Hardness by Clarke's test 3-5° t 10. Solids in solution 4.8 J 11. Solids in suspension 4-2 § 12. Microcosms chiefly vegetable. The fir>t mode of calculating the valuation of results is by fixing values to each of these impurities. Pure distilled water * Quantities expressed in grains for Imperial gallon of 70,000 grs. t Containing Alkaline Silicates. X Chiefly Siliceous fragments. § Chiefly Diatoms anci Sponge spicules and Algse. No. 2.] EDWARDS WATER ANALYSIS. 89* is taken as the standard of absolute purity — not taken for granted but ascertained by experiment. Variations from purity are assessed accordina- to the following plan : 1. Appearance, blue clear ; pale brown 1 ; pale yellow and green 2 ; dark yellow and dark green 4 2. Suspended matters, traces 1 ; heavy traces 2 ; turbidity 4 3. For odor, vegetable 1 — 2 ; animal 4 4. Chlorine -5 gr. per gallon 1 5. Phosphoric acid, traces 2 ; heavy traces 4 to 8 6. Nitrogen as Nitrates, &c., -100 gr. per gal. := 7. Ammonia -005 " = 8. Albumenoid -001 " = 9. Oxygen absorbed in 15 minutes. -002 " = 10. Do. " in 4 hours -010 " = 11. Hardness before and after boiling 5® = 1 12. Total solid matter 5 grs. per gal. = 1 1 3. Heavy metals, traces := 6 Do. heavy traces = 12 14. Vegetable debris ^ 4 to 8 15. Diatoms and Bacteria z= 6 to 12 16. Hairs and animal debris = 10 to 20 This scale of valuation allows a considerable latitude for the exercise of judgment on the part of the Analyst and of allowance for exceptional cases. On this scale 10 is assumed to be the maximum for any one of these impurities, and if any single im- purity exceeds 10 the excess is doubled and included in the addition. The classification of waters as more or less pure, after such valuation, is more difficult to agree upon, and will not be accepted without considerable discussion and probably some difierences of opinion. Still the valuation of the results already obtained are of the utmost value, and will be increased by the continued publication of monthly returns to the year's end. At present Mr. Wigner recommends the following grouping of waters : Waters showing 15 or under are of exceptional purity. " above 15 and under 40 1st class. " " 40 '- 65 2nd class. " '' G5 •' 90 3rd class. " " 100. .. . condemned as unfit for use. Taking now the results obtained from the analysis of the Ottawa water, I value as follows : Vol. X. F 2 No. 2. 90 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 1. Color 1 2. Odor -5 3. Chlorine 1-0 4. Phosphates none. 5. Nitrates none. 6. Ammonia -5 7. Albumenoid 1-0 8. Oxygen absorbed 2-0 9. Hardness 1-0 10. Solids in solution 1-0 1 1 . Solids in suspension 1-0 12. Microcosms 1-0 10-0 This water, therefore, stands very high on the British scale of purity. Some other examples of Ottawa water ranged as high as 12 for impurity but 11 may be taken as the mean value. Now by the publication of these monthly returns based upon the same methods, I am enabled to give a comparative view of a series of English water supplies examined in the same month of September last. Thus — all exceptionally pure : Rochdale valuation := 9 Warwick = 10 Canterbury ::= 12 Swansea and Wolverhampton := 15 First class : Bolton = 17 Shrew^sbury := 19 Brighton and Salford = 21 Exeter and Leicester := 23 Bury and Edinbro' = 24 Poi'tsmouth = 27 Plymouth = 28 Birmingham = 29 Bristol and Whitehaven =: 30 London supplies 21 to 39 Second class : Rugby = 46 Liverpool = 47 Darlington = 50 Newcastle-on-Tyne = 68 Kings and Lynn = 110 (condemned.) Ottawa supply 10 to 12 No. 2.] EDWARDS — WATER ANALYSIS. 91 It would thus appear that Ottawa water ranks very high in purity as compared with the average water suppHes of Great Britain even after filtration, and that, while this mode of addi- tional precaution is open to the private consumer and is of the most serious importance in the prevention of disease, it is an open question as to how this can be best conducted in this country so as to be of general advantage, and it appears to me that (considering the exigencies in c:ise of fire, the variability of climate, the severity of winter, and other considerations incidental to this country.) for the water impurities, present filtration is the only remedy, and household filtration the only practical remedy. I have tiierefore to recommend a plan of general house- hold filtration which should be generally adopted and made com- pulsory on all water companies, in which water should be filtered from the main supply into houses or tenements or streets, and that taxes should be imposed for the use of filters as for the use of gas meters, added to the consumer's account on a pro rata basis. This project, I think, would prove effectual, and I hope may be found practical, and thus remove one of the many public grievances from the municipal shoulders of the corporate bodies of Canada. On referring to the water analyses whicli I reported on the Montreal supply in 1879, and applying to these results the table of valuation, I find that notwithstanding the including of matters in suspension, Montreal water stands high by comparison. Thus, March 1st, standard of impurity 11 -5 April 21st, » " '•• lG-5 July 30th, " " 15-5 Montreal water would therefore be exceptionally pure under such a system of filtration as I have suggested. That this is not Utopian is, I tliink, proved by the fact that several modes of filtration have been patented which have considerable merit and one or other of which might be adapted to larger or small rates of filtration with satisfactory results. That a simple flannel bag or felt filter is capable of removing a large quantity of the most objectionable kind of floating animal and vegetable matter is shown by the quantity removed in the flannel bag now exhibited, which has been in use for two days only over the supply pipe of the Parliament buildings at Ottawa, and which has removed upwards of four ounces of debris, river mud and vegetable matter, more than a score of snails, besides 9 2 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. water beetles, worms and other not very minute animals. This is of course but a very partial filtration, but it is simple and within the reach of all. The models of filters on a large scale capable of efiectually filtering very large supplies, I now exhibit to the Society. No. 1. Howell's Patent — filters by capillary attraction through hempen cloths ; it is built in sections, so that it can easily be taken asunder and cleansed. As a water-filter animal charcoal is placed between the sections, and such a filter would only require cleansing once a year or so. No. 2. Foley's Patent, is manufactured by Robert Mitchell & Co. of this city. It contains sand and animal charcoal and is exceedingly effective. Under the ordinary pressure it filters the whole water supply of a house or public building, and is easily cleansed by reversing the currents of water, without disturbing the packing. No. 3. Crocket's Patent, is designed for large quantities, such as district supplies, or "Station Filters." It is also cleansed by reversing the supply, and is an efi"ective filter, applicable to public purposes and large volumes of water. These designs show that there exist no insuperable difficulties in the filtration of water on the large scale in Canada ; and such filtration would remove one-half of the solid matter, and there- fore would render the water supply twice as pure as it is at present. No. 2.] WFIITEAVES — NEW DEVONIAxN FOSSILS. 93 ON SOME FOSSIL FISHES, CRUSTxS.CEA & MOLLUSCS FROM THE DEVONIAN ROCKS AT CAMPBELL- TON, N.B., WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF FIVE NEW SPECIES. By J. F. Whiteaves. During the past summer Mr. R. W. Ells has been engaged in a continuation of his explorations in New Brunswick and on the north shore of the Baie des Chaleurs, on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada, while 3Ir. A. H. Foord was occupied in making; additional collections of the fossil fishes of Scaumenac Bay for the museum of the same institution. Towards the latter end of June Mr. Ells discovered remains of fishes, which he cor- rectly supposed to belong to the genus Ceplialaspis, in argillaceous and brecciated limestones * on the south bank of the Restigouche river, about half a mile above Campbellton. At the first oppor- tunity this discovery was communicated to Mr. Foord, who at once visited the locality and devoted a week to a thorough ex- amination of the fish-bearing beds. From these deposits he obtained a large number of specimens of Cephalaspis, a fine series of cranial shields and detached plates of a species of Coc- costeus, fin spines of Ctenacanthus and Ilomacanthus, fish teeth, entomostraca, fragments of a large Fteri/gotus, a Spirorbis, and two small species of gasteropoda. From the same rocks Principal Dawson has since collected a number of fossil fishes, &c., which he has kindly allowed the writer to examine and study. This collection, however, has not afi"orded any additional species to those already found by Mr. Foord, although some of the specimens in it, and especially two €r three of the shells of gasteropods, are in an unusually fine state of preservation. Before these discoveries were made, the only fossils that had been found in the Devonian rocks at Campbellton were plants, and on the evidence afforded by them Principal Dawson has con- cluded, first, that these deposits are probably of the same age as * The rock is for the most part a dolomitic agglomerate, passing upwards into coarse shales, and associated with felsitic and trappean beds. 94 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. the Lower Gaspe sandstones, nnd secondly, that the former as well as the latter belonij to a lower liorizon in the Devonian system than the fish-bearing beds of Scaumenac Bay. The cor- rectness of both of these conclusions seems to be corroborated by what is now known of the fauna of the Campbellton limestones and breccias, which are found to hold entomostraca, together with representatives of the genera Coccosteus, Ceplialaspis, Ctenaconthus, Pterygotus and Spirorhh in common with the Gaspe SJindstones. In Gaspe Bay these sandstones are known to rest directly ;ind conformably upon limestones, the two lower divisions of which are stated by Mr. Billings to be representatives of the Lower Helderberg group, while the two upper have been regarded, by the same authority, as "nearly of the age of the Oriskany sandstone."' From this statement and from the sections published in the Geology of Canada, it would appear that the greater part of the Gaspe sandstones occupy a very low position in the Devonian, but that they are separated from the extreme base of that formation by a thickness of at least 800 feet of lime- stone. At Scaumenac Bay, on the other hand, the fish-bearing beds are immediately overlaid by the sandstones and conglomer- ates of the Bonaventure formation of the Lower Carboniferous, and of the seven genera of fishes now known to occur in the Devo- nian rocks at this locality, not a sitjgle one of them has yet been found in the Gasp^ sandstones or at Campbellton. The following descriptions embrace the whole of the species collected at Campbellton by Mr. Foord, with the exception of the Spirorhis, entomostraca and some fin spines and fish teeth which have yet to be studied. Fishes. Coccosteus Acadicus. Sp. Nov. Crani(d shield. Flattened or depressed centrally and a little in advance of the cenrre, but always rising into a broad, low pro- minence on the median line at a short distance from the posterior margin : sides somewhat sloping. General outline that of an ovoid truncated at its broadest extremity, the truncation being- posterior, the length and breadth nearly equal, and the greatest breadth behind the mid-length. Postero-lateral angles {a.a.y somewhat produced : lateral margins most convex posteriorly, slightly concave anteriorly, and with a small but distinct notch (h) a little behind the middle. When the rostral plate (c) is No. 2.] WHITEAVES — NEW DEVONIAN FOSSILS. 95 Outline of a specimen of the cranial shield of C. Acadicus, shewing the rostral plate (c) in situ. Some of the super- ficial grooves restored from other specimens. Natural size. absent, which is almost invariably the case, the anterior margin is concavely emarginate in the centre, the emargination being broad, transverse and bounded on each side by an obtusely angular projection (cZ). On the outer side of each of these projections there is an obliquely and shallowly concave, lateral emargination. In one specimen only (that from which the accompanying draw- ing was made) the rostral plate (c) fits into and completely fills up the central emargination of the front margin of the shield. This plate, which is nearly twice as broad as long, projects beyond the front margin of the shield, its two sides are narrowly rounded but its anterior margin is broken. Test very thin. Sculpture consisting of numerous small, conical tubercles; which are smooth at their summits and marked with fine radiating grooves below. On some of the bony plates of the shield the tubercles are isolated and scattered, but in others they are arranged very distinctly in concentric lines separated by continuous furrows. Besides the 96 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. tubercles, the surface is marked by certain superficial grooves, which are represented in the wood-cut by unbroken lines. The general direction of most of these grooves is longitudinal, and the most strongly murked are those which run from the antero- lateral (e. €.) to the postero-lateral angles (f^ a.) and which are nearly parallel to the sides of the shield. Sutures scarcely per- ceptible : their apparent outlines being indicated in the figure by dotted lines. Fost-dorsomedian j^i'fte. Convex along the median line but highest in the centre, from which point there is a downward slope in every direction, the lateral slopes being most abrupt. Outline oblong but narrowing posteriorly so as to form a short beak. Anterior end somewhat rounded, sides parallel for more than two- thirds of their length, then attenuating rapidly into a point with obliquely concave sides. Maximum breadth equal to about one- third the entire length ; apex of the beaked extremity curved slightly upwards. Tubercles arranged concentrically but not in distinct rows, those in the centre being the smallest, and those near the circumference being both distant and of comparatively larae size. Veiitromcdian platQ. Flat; subrhomboidal, but with all the sides unequal and the margins of two of them (the right ante- riorly and the left posteriorly) shallowly concave. Posterior ex- tremity rather more produced than the anterior ; length about one-third greater than the breadth. Tubercles arrano;ed in dis- tinct rows on three sides, but not on the left side of the posterior half, where they are nearly all isolated, those towards the centre being comparatively large and those near the centre very minute and densely crowded. Pre-vejitrolateral plates. Flat ; longitudinally subreniform, a little longer than bro:id ; outer margin concavely emarginate and inflected. Tubercles isolated, crowded and arranged obscurely in concentric, subparallel lines. More than twenty well preserved and tolerably perfect speci- mens of the central shield have been collected, besides numerous fragments, but the suborbital plate is invariably absent, and the rostral plate is only preserved in place in one or two instances. The whole of these shields, too, appear to have been flattened by pressure, and if so, they may once have been longer in proportion to their breadth than they now are, and the anterior sinus into which the rostral plate fits, may have been narrower and deeper. No. 2.] WHITEAVES — NEW DEVONIAN FOSSILS. 9T The few detached plates yet found are rarely perfect, though the sculpture of their outer surface is always beautifully shewu. In some respects the Campbellton Coccosteus very closely resembles the C. cusjndatus of Agassiz, but in others there are such marked differences between the two forms that it is thought most prudent, for the present, to distinguish the Canadian species by a local name. No detailed description of C. cusjjidatus has ever been published, and the illustrations that give the best idea of its characters are the figures on plat^ 3 of the " Old Red Sand- stone." Assuming that these figures are essentially correct, the shape of the post-dorsomedian plate of the Campbellton Coccosteus (which Agassiz, who calls it the dorsal plate, regards as offering one of the best specific characters) and that of the diamond shaped ventro-median are almost exactly similar to those of C'. cuspldatns. But on tlie other hand, in many of the plates of C. Acddicus, and especially in some which have not been separately described on account of the uncertainty of their homologies, but which are supposed to be isolated dorso-median plates of exceptionally large individuals, the tubercles are arranged in very distinct concentric lines, with continuous and comparatively broad grooves or spaces between them ; an arrangement not indicated at all, or at most very obscurely, in the figures of C. cuspidafus. Again, the super- ficial grooves on the cranial shield of C. Acadicus are much more like those of C. decipiens as represented in a wood-cut in the '' Foot Prints of the Creator," (third edition, figure 11) than they are like those in the figure of C. ciisjndatus in the " Old Red Sandstone." In the C. Acadicus the most con«^picuous of these grooves are constantly those which run from a to e on the accompanying diagram, and from the centre of each of these lines to the lateral notches at b. b. Making- allowances for dis- tortion, precisely similar grooves are to be seen in Miller's wood- cut of the '• cranial buckler " of C. decipiens, but they are en- tirely absent in his figure of the cranial shield of C. cuspidatus. Further, in the Campbellton Coccosteus other superficial grooves run from e. e. and d. d. to /. /. in sueh a way as to inclose a triangular space on either side, with a wide space between their inverted apices at /. /. This again, is just the arrangement in the ''cranial buckler " of C. decipiens, whereas in C. cuspidatus the apices of the two triangles are not separated by a space bu t connected by a curved, transverse groove. It would seem, there- fore, that the G. Acadicus may be distinguished from C. decipien s Vol. X. G No. 2 *)8 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. by the different sliape of its post-dorsomedian plate, from 0, cuspidatus by the different arrangement of the grooves on the outer surface of its cranial shield, and from both by the peculiar sculpture of its bony plates, Cephdlaspis Cainphelltonensis. Sp. Nov. Head shield (the only part known) large, somewhat pointed in front, obliquely rounded at the sides anteriorly, and produced behind into moderately elongated, slightly incurved cornua. Maximum breadth about seven inches. Orbits varying in outline from nearly circular to longitudinally broad ovate, sub-central, approximated, placed at distances from each other varying in different specimens from once to thrice the diameter of the orbit itself. Antorbital prominences rounded-conical ; interorbital prominence also conical but somewhat elongated longitudinally ; postorbital valley bounded by two narrow raised ridges, each of which starts from a prominence immediately behind the orbit : about halfway between the orbits and the posterior margin these ridges coalesce so as to form a single, broad and prominent but somewhat obscurely defined, posterior ridge. Outer surface, which is very rarely preserved, polished and almost smooth to the naked eye. When examined under a lens it is seen to be minutely and densely pitted, the pits being very irregular in their shape, size and method of arrangement. Where the enamel is removed the surface is divided into numerous well marked polygonal areas. Large fragments of the head-shield of this species are abund- ant in the Campbellton breccia, but the most perfect specimens yet obtained do not shew the outline of the posterior margin of the shield at all clearly. The orbits and the prominences and depressions in the central portion of the shield are often well de- fined, but the specimens are always crushed and nearly always exfoliated. Portions of the true outer layer of the test have been seen only on the central portion of the outer margin of the sides of one large fragment, and on the extremities of the cornua in two or three other specimens. The genus Cephalasp)is has been divided by E. Ray Lankester into three subgenera, viz., Eiiceplialaspis^ Htmicyclaspis and Zenaspis, but as Hemic 1/ clasp is is stated to be devoid of cornua it is clear that the C. CainpheUtonensis cannot belong to this subgenus. Of the two which remain, Eucephalaspis and Zenas- No. 2,] WHITEAVES — NEW DEVONIAN FOSSILS. 99 pis have precisely similar head shields, but the body of Zenaspis has a dorsal scute placed immediately behind the posterior spine. In the absence of any knowledge of the body of the Campbellton species, therefore, it is uncertain to which of these two subgenera it should be referred. Including the C. Dawsoni of L:inkester, from Gaspe, all the specimens of Cephalaspis hitherto described are said to be characterized by a surface ornamented by raised tubercles, sa that the C. CampheUtonensis may be readily distinguished by its minutely pitted sculpture. In general outline the head shield of the present species appears to be very much like that of the Euceplialdspis Fowriei from the Old Red Sandstone of Forfar- shire. Ctenacanthus latispinosus. Sp. Nov. Compare C. ornatus, Agassiz. Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles, Vol. 3, page 12, Table 2, figure 1. Fin spines small (as compared with those of most of the other species of the genus) compressed laterally : either elongated, slightly curved and tapering rapidly from a rather broad base to an obtuse point, — or comparatively short, straight and triangular. Posterior margin somewhat concave, and bearing on its upper portion certainly one row and presumably two rows of shorty conical booklets, which curve obliquely downwards. Anterior margin thin, straight or gently convex, and unarmed. Surface marked on each side by from 15 to 20 longitudinal ribs, which swell out at regular intervals, of about one-third of a line apart, into suDangular, equidistant nodes. Length of the largest spine collected, about two inches and a half: maximum breadth of the same at the base, about three quarters of an inch. The few spines of this species collected by Mr. Foord are all partly imbedded in the matrix, so that the grooving of the poste" rior margin is hidden from view, and only one row of booklets is exposed. Homacaufhus. Sp. Undt. Compare H. arcuatas, Agassiz. Poissons fossiles du Yieux Gr^s Rouge, page 113, Table 33, figures 1-3. Fin spine rather large (for a Homacanthus') compressed later- ally, distinctly curved, slender, elongated and tapering very gra- dually from a narrow base to an apparently obtuse point. Upper 100 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. portion of the posterior margin armed with one or more rows of conical hooklets, which curve obliquely downwards. Surface ornamented by longitudinal ribs, with fine oblique striations. Length about 17 lines, breadth at base about 3 lines. Only one imperfect and badly preserved specimen was obtained, one side of which is buried in the matrix. It differs from the spines of Ctenacanthus latisjnnosiis in its more slender propor- tions, more arcuate form, and apparently also in its surface orna- mentation. As far as can be ascertained at present this spine appears to be very similar to the II. arcuatus of Agassiz, in almost every respect but that of size, the Campbellton species being much the laroer of the twu. Crustacea. Pterygotus. Sp. Undet. The occurrence of this genus at Campbellton is indicated by a fragment shewing the characteristic sculpture of semi-circular plicae, — and by a single ramus of the chela oF an antenna, which must have belonged to a very large species. This ramus, which is npt quite perfect at cither extremity, is about two inches and a quarter in length, and nearly half an inch in breadth at its largest end. It bears on its inner margin four or five unequal- sized, but comparatively large teeth, one of which is of much greater dimensions than the rest, — with a number of smaller ones between them. All the teeth are compressed and longitudinally striated : most of them are ovate-lanceolate in outline, the basal portion being slightly constricted, — but some of the small ones are simply conical. Mollusc A. Cyclora valvatlformis. Sp. Nov. Shell very small, depressed turbinate, broader than high, spire much depressed : whorls three and a half, ventricose, rounded, increasing very rapidly in size, so that the greater part of the shell is formed by the last one, sutures deep ; umbilicus between one-tliird and one-fourth of the diameter of the body whorl, deep in the centre and rounded at the margin. Mouth nearly circular but slightly angular posteriorly, next to the suture ; lip thin and somewhat spreading. Surface nearly smooth, marked only by a few faint striae of growth. No. 2.] WHITEAVES — NEW DEVONIAN FOSSILS. 101 This species was found in great abundance both by Mr. Foord and Principal Dawson, the most perfect specimens beinti; those which were obtained from weathered surfaces. The resemblance of this little shell to the Cydora minufa of Hall, from the Hud- son River Group of Cincinnati, is certainly very close. The only differences that can be noticed between them at present, judging by Meek's detailed descriptions of Hall's species, are that the aperture of C. valvatifonnis is slightly subangular behind and the lip somewhat expanded, whereas the phrases used to describe the corresponding parts of the shell of C. mimita are simply — "aperture circular, lip thin." It is scarcely likely, however, that a shell which occurs associated with remains of Coccostens and Ce2:>halaspis^ on the same small hand specimens of rock, is identical with a species from such a different geological horizon as the Hudson River Group. Cyclora turhinata. Sp. Nov. Shell very small, turbinate or turbinate conical, about one- third higher than broad, spire elevated: whorls four or four and a half, ventricose, rounded, increasing rather slowly in size, sutures rather deep : body whorl also rounded, base imperforate, aperture sub-circular, slightly angular behind : lijD thin and somewhat spreading. Length three lines, maximum breadth two lines. Not more than about half a dozen specimens of this little shell have been collected. The species is invariably found asso- ciated with the C. valvatifonnis^ from which it differs in its much more elevated spire and closed umbilicus. Like C. vaha- ti/ormis, the present species is 6on)ewhat similar to one of the diminutive gasteropoda of the Hudson River Group of Ohio, the Cyclora parvida. of Hall, but the body whorl of the latter shell is described as subangular, and its umbilicus as not quite closed. 102 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. NOTE ON A FP]RN ASSOCIATED WITH PLATE- PHEMERA ANTIQUA, Scudder. By J. W. Dawsok, LL.D.. F.K.S. The oldest remains of insects known to o'eolooists. those of the Erian (Devonian) shales of St. John, New Brunswick, occur in beds rich in plant remains. It was indeed solely by means of the extensive quarrying operations carried on by Messrs. Hartt and Matthew in these beds in seai'ch of fossil plants, that the insect remains were discovered. In less thoroughly explored beds, fossils so rare and so obscure could not have been found. It is natural therefore that fossil plants should occur on the same slabs with the insects. On one of these, holding a frag- ment of the wing of Platejyhemera antiqua, there appears a con- siderable portion of a frond of Peaqyfcris (^Asptdites) serrnlatu^ Hartt, a common species in these beds, and also a small frag- ment of a leaf of the still more common Cordaites Rohbii. It appears that Dr. Geinitz of Dresden saw this specimen in 1866, and not being at that time familiar with the ferns of the De- vonian of New Brunswick, very naturally supposed that the frond was that of the closely allied P. plumosa of Brongniart, and on this ground he was induced to hint a suspicion that the specimen was of Carboniferous age. Dr. Scudder referred to this opinion of Geinitz in his paper on Devonian insects in the Geological Magazine, Vol. Y. ; and gave reasons sustaining the Devonian age of both fern and insect. I did not think it neces- sary to refer publicly to the matter, but took occasion to explain the true state of the case in a private letter to Geinitz ; and in my report on the Devonian plants of Canada I quoted Hartt's description in full, and noticed the distinctness of his species from P. plumosa. I find, however, that this doubt has been revived by Dr. Hagen in a paper on Devonian insects in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparativ^e Zoology for the present year (Vol. viii. No. 14). Dr. Hagen does not profess to be an authority in fossil plants, but fortifies his statements by a letter from Mr. Lesquereux, which does not however touch the question at issue, as he does not appear to have compared the specimen or Hartt's species with No. 2.] DAWSON — FERN WITH PLATEPHEMERA. 103 P. phnnosa ; and though he insinuates a doubt as to the validity of some of my Devonian species, even this does not apply, since the species in question was carefully described by the late Prof. Hartt, and accepted by me after study of his material, which included several very considerable portions of well preserved fronds. Though doubts and suspicions thus cast on work carefully and exhaustively done, in so far as material exists, should not seri- ously affect the minds of naturalists, I have thought it desirable to set the matter at rest, as far as possible ; and have therefore, through the kindness of Dr. Scudder and the Curator of the Boston Society of Natural History, obtained access to the origi- nal specimen, and would now state the actual facts. The fern on the specimen in question (No. 849G of the Boston Society's collection) is undoubtedly Pecopteris serrulata of Hartt, and exhibits in a tolerable state of preservation six secondary pinnae of one side of a primary pinna of the species. To a hasty observer, supposing the specimen to be a piece of Carboniferous shale, it would be natural to refer the fern to P. plumosa of Brongniart or to Aspidites silesiacus of Goeppert, which it per- haps more closely resembles; and since its fructification is still unknown, it may quite as likely belong to the group or sub-genus Aspidites in which Goeppert and Schimper place P. silesiaca, as to that of Ci/(fthites in which Schimper places P. plumosn. The distinctive characters indicated by Hartt are principally the form and insertion of the pinnge, the slender crenuiate revo- lute, lanceolate pinnules, and the simple veinlets. Perhaps the most obvious characteristic is the peculiarly elongated acuminate points of the primary and secondary pinnae, in which this species seems to differ from all its near allies. In the specimen in ques- tion, though only a portion of one side of a primary pinna is seen, and its characteristic elongate termination is absent, yet one of the secondary pinnae shows this character very well, and the simple veins and crenate revolute margins may be made out with a lens in a good light. I do not think that any palaeobo- tanist, in view of these characters, would decide to identify this fern with P. plumosa, unless indeed he were of opinion that the whole group to which that species belongs should constitute one broad specific type extending from the Devonian to the Permian, a view to which I should have no objection, provided sufiicient connectina- links can be found. 104 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. It is farther to be observed that this fern occurs with a group of species which I have shown to be distinct not only from those of the Coal Formation but from those of the Millstone Grit and those of the Lower Carboniferous Coal-measures or Horton series (sub-Carboniferous of some American geologists), which sub- floras are well developed in the Acadian provinces, and overlie stratigraphically the beds holding the fern which is the subject of this note and its associated fossils, I may add here Hartt's description of the plant and my note on it, from my Report of 1870 : — '^Pecopteris (Aspidites ?; serrulata, Hartt. — (PI. XVIII, Figs. 207 to 209.)— Acad. Geol. p. 553, Fig. 92.— M.D., St. John, New Brunswiek." '• Tripinnate ; pinna short, alternate, close or open, lanceolate, very oblique, situated on a rather slender, rounded, sub- flexuose rachis ; pinnules small, linear lanceolate, crenulate, revolute, moderately acute, oblique, sessile, decurrent, widest at the base, open, separated from one another by a space equal to the width of a pinnule, slightly arched towards the point of pinna ; longest at base of pinn:i, decreasing thence gradually to the apex ; terminal pinnule elongated. Median nerve entering the pinnule very obliquely, flexuous, running to the apex, Nervule's very few, oblique, simple, and some- what rarely forking at the margin." "Numerous additional specimens of this species confirm Prof. Hartt's determination of its distinctness from P.j^Iumosa, Brongt. It perhaps more strongly resembles Goeppert's P. Silesiaca ; but this last has broader nnd more closely arranged pinnules decur- rent on the petiole. It may be taken as a Devonian representa- tive of the delicate Pecopterids of which the species above named are Carboniferous types. Mr, Hartt's specimens enable me to represent its habit of growth. Schimper quotes under this name a Carboniferous species of Lesquereux. But Lesquereux's species is AIetho2:)feris serrula.^' (This was subsequently corrected by Schimper in the Supplement to his Palaeontologie Vegetale.) No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 105 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY PROCEEDINGS. Session 1880-81. The last regular monthly meeting for the session 1880-81 was held on Monday evening, April 25th. Principal Dawson occupied the chair. The minutes of last meeting were read and sustained. The Council presented a report recommending the transfer to Mr. Wolferstan Thomas of the mitoyenne wall on the north side of the Society's building and the narrow strip of land adjoining, so as to enable Mr. Thomas to connect his buildings in course of erection with the Museum. A motion was made by Mr. G. L. Marler, seconded by Mr* W. Muir, and carried unanimously, approving of the report, and authorizing Mr. Marler to sign the agreement with Mr. Thomas. Mr. Muir, the cabinet-keeper, stated and exhibited what addi- tions had been made to the museum, namly, a prairie wolf and a remarkable specimen of the hare by donation ; a Canadian lynx and a number of birds by purchase. The thanks of the Society were voted to the donors. The Secretary read extracts from a lengthy paper by Mr. R. Chalmers, of New Brunswick, on the Glacial Phenomena of Baie des Chaleurs. Dr. Dawson said the facts stated in the paper were a large contribution to our knowledge of that region, but he intimated that he did not quite agree with some of the author's theories. Mr. W. Muir gave a detailed explanation of a new and im- proved method he had discovered of obtaining oblique light for the microscope. He said : Not having an instrument with a swinging substage, my sub- stage having only rack and rotary movement, and not satisfied with the working of the spot lens (as usually furnished) and Wenham's paraboloid, I was led to experiment with various means of oblique illumination ; among others placing the Amici Vol. X. G 2 No. 2. 106 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol X. prism underneath, and to one side of the stage. I was surprised at the brilliancy of the effect produced, and concluded that if so brilliant an effect were produced by oblique rays from one point only, much more brilliant would be the effect if I could procure a condenser that would throw a complete circle of oblique rays on the object. I took my small bull's eye condenser of If in. diame- ter and 1 in. focus, placed on it a disk ^ in. diameter, capable of being raised or lowered, and by means of an adapter placed it in my substage, using the flat mirror and either the 1 inch or 2 inch objective. I obtained an effect (pirticalarly with the inch ob- jective) which surpassed my most sanguine expectations. In trans- parent tissues such as the maple leaf insect, there were clearly revealed lines and structure that could not be seen otherwise, and in insects partially transparent, a perfect Jiood of oblique light with a dark ground was thrown on the structure, producing mar- vellous effect and giving wonderful clearness of definition to the finest lines. With my 1 inch objective I could see, on the two minute lancets of the mosquito (having the saws at their ends) running from root to the saw a beautiful fringe of exceed- dinuly minute, long hairs, hooked at the ends, sharp and well defined, having a dia. -g-Q-J-g-Q in. or .846(359^6. and set 11,000 to the inch, which owing to their transparency I had never seen before. The markings and rounded structure of Fleuraslgma augulatum are seen with the inch objective and binocular. By raising the disk the field is darkened, and by different focussing of the condenser, various effects are produced. With this mode of illumination, it is necessary to see that the flat mirror is in the axis of the instrument. I placed on the centre of the disk a projecting pin which enabled me to put and retain on it different plates or diaphragms shutting out whatever portions of the circle of light desired. As a condenser for high powers the apparatus described is un- surpassed. I intend trying a condenser 1;^ in. dia., -J in. focus with I" in. spot, in the hope that with still more oblique rays, even a more brilliant effect will be attained. After some remarks irom Dr. Baker Edwards, those present adjourned to the library, where a number of microscopes were exhibited by members of the Microscopical Club, and by Mr. Muir who showed the excellent results that could be obt lined by his method of illuuiiuation. No. 2.1 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 107 _i ANNUAL MEETING. The Ammal Meeting: for the Session 1880-81 was lield oa Wednesday evening, May 18th, 1881. The President, Principal Dawson, occupied the chair. The minutes of the hist annual meetino- were read and sustained. Having presented Major Latour v/ith the Society's Bronze Medal for his many important services to the Society, the Presi- dent delivered his ANNUAL ADDRESS, in the course of which he said that the year just closed had been distinguished more for the improvements made in the Museum of the Society and in its financial position than for extent of scientific work, though the latter had not been inconsiderable. The Society had sustained a great loss by the removal to Ottawa of several very efficient members connected with the Geological Survey and it was the more important on this account that it should endeavour to increase its membership and more particu- larly to attach to itself young men who take an interest in science. He referred to the discoveries resulting from the labors of Mr. Ells, Mr. Whiteaves, Mr. Foord and Mr. Weston in the upper part of Bale des Chaleurs. The remarkable association in that locality, within a very limited space, of Upper Silurian, Devonian and Lower Carboniferous rocks, was in itself of much interest, and the remarkable group of Upper Devonian fishes worked out by Mr. Whiteaves, and described by him at one of their meetings, coinpleted a link of connection between the fossils of this country and of Great Britain. The plant remains of this locality also, connecting as they did the Gasp^ sandstones with the Perry beds and with the Cattskill series of New York, were of the highest interest. A communication received latter in the session, from Mr. R. Chalmers, on the Postpliocene of the same region, has further added to our knowledge of this interesting region, on the confines of New Brunswick and Quebec. In connection w^ith more Western regions, Dr. Selwyn, of the Geological Survey, has presented a paper on discoveries of fossil plants in the Lignite tertiary of Roches Percees, in the Western Territories. An- other interesting geological subject was that of the structure of the Peace River District, as explained by Dr. G. M. Dawson, 108 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. and more especially the recognition in that region of the Creta- ceous series represented farther south, holding not only valuable beds of coal, but also fossil plants, seeming to connect some of the distinct floras recognised by x\merican palaeontologists to the southward. Having referred to the papers of Dr. Osier on Fresh Water Polyzoa, Mr. Donald on Baking Powders and Dr. Edwards on the qualities of certain Well-water, he said that much interest had been added to the meetings by the specimens sub- mitted by their zealous curator, Mr. Muir, to whom they were also indebted for an illustration of a new illumating lens for the microscope, which he himself had invented. A Committee had been working; throuohout the Session in arranging for the visit of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882, and it was hoped that their efforts would be successful in bringing about a scientific meeting even more successful than that^of 1857. In the absence of Mr. Whiteaves, who has removed to Ottawa, Mr. G. L. Marler read the following REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL. Your Council has to regret the loss; since last annual meeting, of several of your most active members by the removal to Ottawa of the Geological Survey. Your Society has, by such removal, been deprived of a number of very active members, and your Council takes this^ opportunity of tendering to these gentlemen its sincere thanks for the valuable services thev have rendered the Society, and hopes that although removed from this city they will not cease to interest themselves in the Society's proceedings, but will continue their connection with it as corresponding mem- bers. To attain this end your Council recommends that these gentlemen be regularly elected corresponding members. During the Session now about to close your museum has re- ceived large additions both by purchase and donation. The specimens in the museum have been cleaned and remounted. This has added very materially to their appearance and value. Improvements have also been made in the building, and though much has been done, much yet remains to be done to carry out the proposed alterations and to make the building and its con- tents more worthy the objects for which they exist. No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 109 The land adjoinino- the building on the north side having passed out of the hands of the Royal Institution, and buildiag thereon having been commenced, certain necessary expenses will in consequence fall on your Society. Arrangements have been made between your Society and the proprietor of the land ad- joining your building to the north, to cede to him the few inches of land lying between your property and his, and for the sale of that portion of the north wall which he intends using and the land on which it rests. This will oblige your Society to alter the slope of the roof, to close three of the windows and to make other alterations; this arrangement has been made under your resolution approved of by your Council. The usual free course of Somerville lectures was duly given to the number of six. Your Council recommends that the thanks of your Society be tendered and conveyed to the gentlemen who so kindly and ably gave their valuable time and labour in the preparation and delivery of these lectures, which, as proved by the large attendance, were well received and much appreciated. The lectures were as follows : 1881. Feby. 3rd. On Mind in Nature. By Principal Dawson. Feby. 10th. On Magnetism and Electricity as aids to Intelli- gence. By Dr. Barnes, Point St. Charles. Feby. 2^th. On Sugar and its Varieties. By Dr. J. Baker Edwards. March 3rd. On the Brain as a thinking organ. By Dr. Osier. March 10th. On Tobacco and its effects on the Brain, the Ner- vous System and organs of Vision. By Dr. BuUer. March 13th. On the Whence and Whither of a Sunbeam. By H. Sugden Evans, Esq., F.C.S. Your Council thinks that the chan^ H W I— I O o o H CO 00 00 <1 < CO Iz; 00 o ? c3 I-:) O 5^ n o -^ O i^ ^ o o o o i^ o ^-^ o o in Oi -<*' ^ o C5 c c~^ o o -— o in 00 o 6 o OJ Oi CO ^ o o 0^ i:^ r^ — , ^ o o cq 05 lO o o in co CO 1— ^ o -* o 0-i ^H ^H C^l CO CO CO in in 1-— 1^ — 1 J r-" Cw pliKQ^^i^MMfiS o 2 w ^ f— 1 o o o o CO o o C5 •n 00 o 00 o o o in o CD o f— 1 _^ t- o ■M t- in -* ¥^ 73 00 o X tr ^ X X * -1^ O « o =^ ~ ;^ Ph J X °° o 00 r- -5 00 - r ^ o a m o . — I ¥3- to 3^ Ci3 o o o o s cS s bo ^ :-i o r^ § t3 o o -u ^ ,3 D pH Q :3 bD .s W s ^ -i-3 O 1) O o T3 o CI 112 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Mr Muir then presented the REPORT OF THE CABINET KEEPER AND OF THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE. This report may be arranged under three divisions, 1. — Work on the Building. 2. — Work in the Museum. 3. — Report of Library Committee. 1st. Work on the Building. — On the left hand side of the entrance hall, a convenient store-room has been added, the ceil- ins of which oives a floor suitable for the accommodation of several specimens formerly in the Museum. The side entrance has been enclosed by a ceiling and partition, forming an inside porch, adding greatly to the comfort of the place in winter ; and the head of the rear stairway leading up to the gallery has been floored over, increasing the accommodation ofl"ered by the gallery. Eleven windows have been put in on three sides of the gallery, givinir increased cheerfulness and light ; curtains have also been Co o ' placed on the sky-lights. The large wall cases, twenty-seven in number, have been cleaned and painted, the shelves made nar- rower and better adapted to show the specimens thereon. The north and south sides of the gallery fronts have been raised, levelled and supported. The benches in the Lecture Hall have been repaired and strengthened by bolts. 2nd. Work in the Museum. — The whole of the birds, (1194 in all), the mammals, reptiles and fishes have been thoroughly dusted and cleaned ; the birds have been re-mounted on hand- some black walnut stands and painted blocks and the old soiled labels replaced by new ones; the fishes have been removed to the aquarium room, and the mammals re-arranged and put in the space thus left vacant. The whale, two of the alligators, and the hirge seal have been removed to the floor covering the store- room to the left of the main entrance hall, and the floor cases, formerly in the aquarium room, have been brought into the main room. Mr. John S. Brown having ofl"ered to stock and take charge of the aquaria for the Society, two aquaria loaned by Messrs. Wm. Muir and Jas. Ferrier, jr.. together with those belonging to the Society, have been placed in position, and it is hoped that before the season is over a good representation in this department will be one of the attractions of the Museum. Mr. No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 113 Brown has alj-o generously offered to pay the cost ($6) of tables upon which to place the aquaria. The following is the list of birds found to be so much injured that they were destroyed : Grass Finch Poecetes gramineus. Purple Martin, Progne purpurea. Eed-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus. * Lesser Ked Poll, jEgiothus linaria. Common Crow, Corvus Americanus. Yellow-throated Fly Catcher, Vireo fiavifrons. Cat Bird, Galeoscopteff Carolinensis. Brown Thrush, Harporhynchus rufiis. Eed-eyed Fly Catcher, Vireo olivaceus. * Sparrow Hawk, Tinnunculus sparverius. * Shore Lark, Eremophila cornuta. Satin Grakle (female). Kitta holosericea. Great Northern Shrike (old male), CoUyrio Borealis. " " '• (female) " " Dip)yUodes magnificci. New Guinea. J. F. "\V. * These three have been repbiced — and it is to be hoped that if any of our members can aid us in replacing the (others they will do so. The following are the additions to the Museum since June, 1880: DONATIONS WITH NAMES OF DONORS. Apatite crystal, from Boh"s Lake, Bedford, Ont. W. J. Morris, Esq. Moss, coated with mineral matter, from Colorado. Dr. Kennedy. Collection of English Plants. Col. G. E. Bulger, F.L.S., F.Z.S. A line Limulus polyphemus. Miss E. Mathewson. Grey Squirrel, Sciurus Carolinensis. N. P. Leach, Esq. Albino Kobin, Turdus migratorius. " Barred Owl, Syrnium nehulosum. J. A. Ogilvy, Esq. '• " " " Jno. Nichols, Esq. Horned Grebe, Podiceps cornutus. " Great Blue 'B.exon, Ardea herodias. Geo. Edwards, Esq., Thurso. Blue Jay (2), Cyanura cristata. G. L. Marler, Esq. A Kemora or Sucking Fish. Geo. F. Phelps, Esq. A Bull-head Fish. '< Head of a male Salmon. Robt. J. Fowler, Esq. A box made out of a plank from the Royal George, and a lock of Grace Darling's hair. Capt. Dutton, S. S. Sardinian. Wild Goose (2), Bernicla leiicopareia. G. L. Marler, Esq. Brant Goose, Bernicla Brenta. ■' American White-footed Goose, Anser albatus. " Hare (mongrel). P. Keutzing. Prairie Wolf. Chas. Selwyn, Esq. 44 Specimens of LepidopAera. P. Keutzing. YoL. X. H No. 3. 114 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X PURCHASES. BIRDS. Belted Kingfisher, Ceryle Alcyon. Coot, Fulica Americana. Baltimore Oriole, Icterus Baltimore. Sparrow Hawk, Tinnunculus sparverius. Shore Lark, Eremophila cornuta. Loggerhead Shrike (male and female) Collyris Ludovicianus. Bonaparte Gull (Young), Larus Bonapartii. Black-bellied Plover (2), Sqiitarola helvetica. Loon, Colymbus ylacialis. Spruce Partridge, Tetrao Canadensis.. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus. Goshawk, Astur atricapillus. Goshawk (old) " Horned Grebe, Podiceps cornutus. Royal Tern, Sterna Regia- Brewers Duck, Anas Breweri. American Avoset, Recurvirostra Americana. Great Marbled Godwit, Scolopax fedoa. Red-necked Grebe (2), male and female, Podiceps rubricollis. u li young, *• Ruddy Duck (2), male and female, Fuligula rubida. Greater Blackhead Duck (2), male and female, Fidigula marila. Snowy Owl (2), Stryz Nyctea. Herring Gull, Lams argentatus. Killdeer (young), JEgialitis vociferus. Harris Woodpecker (2) male and female, Picus Harrisi. Vancourer'* Island. Yellow Rail, Rallies noveboracejisis, Labrador. Arctic Towhee (male), Pipilo arctica. Fork-tailed Fly Catcher, Muscicapa savanna. Horned Grebe (winter plumage), Podiceps cornutus. Great Northern Diver, Colymbus glacialis. Black-throated Diver, Colymbus arcticus. Snow Bunting (2), Plectrophanes nivalis. Black-throated Blue Warbler, Dendroica Canadensis. " " Green " " virens. Black and Yellow, " " maculosa. Green Black Cap Fly Catcher (male, winter plumage), Muscicapa pusilla. Mealy Red Poll (summer plumage) jEgiothus exilipes. Little Minaret, Pericocotus peregrinus. Wild Pigeon, Eetopistes migratoria. No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 115 MAMMALS. Canadian Lynx. Lynx Canadensis. St. Jerome. Eacoon (old female), Procyon Lotor. " (young), " Mink, Putorius vison. Weasel (2), Putiorus vulgaris. Prairie Dog, Spromophilus ludovicianus. Skins presented on a former occasion by the Smithsonian la- stitute and now mounted : California Grey Squirrel, Sciurusfossor. Thirteen Striped Squirrel (2), Sjjermophilus tridecemlineatus. Mice (7) — various species. Skins re-mounted : Ked-shafted Woodpeckers (2), Picus querulus?. Swift Parakeet, Melopittacus undulatus. Australia. Hardwicke Shrike, Collyrio. Yellow Bird (female), Chrysomitris tristis. 3rd, Report of Library Committee. — List of books, pamphlets and periodicals received into the library during the year ending May 1st, 1881 : American Journal of Science. Vol. 19, Nos. 110, 113; Vol. 20, Nos. 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 122, 123. Boston Society of Natural History. Vol. 20, Part 3. American Philosophical Society. Vol. 18, No. 105. Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal. Vol. 8, Nos. 3, 4; Vol. 9, No. 3. Canada Medical and Surgical Journal, for the year. Canadian Entomologist, " Le Naturaliste Canadien, " Statutes of Canada. Vols. 1 & 2. 1880. Geological Kecord for 1877, by Wm. Whitaker. London, 1880. United States Fish Commission Report : from Smithsonian Institute. Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, from Nov. 1877 to July, 1880. Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, from Nov. 1877 to June, 1880. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Parts 1st and 2di Jany. 1880 to Sept. 1880. Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1879-1880 and 1880-1881. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1, Part 2, 1867 to 1871. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History. Vol. 11, No. 13. 116 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Annals of New York Academy of Science, late Lyceum of Nat. His. Vol. 1, Nos. 11 to 13. Contributions to Archaeology of Missouri ; from St. Louis Academy of Science. Part 1. Pottery. 1880. Proceedings of the American PhilosoiDhical Society, 100th Anniver- sary, at Philadelphia. March, 1880. Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 8th An. Re- port, 1879. The American Antiquarian. The American Naturalist. Vol. 14, Nos. 8 to 12 ; Vol. 15, Nos. 3 to 5. Annals of the Museo Nacionalde. Mexico, 1880. Journal of the Linnasan Society of London. Vol. 14, No. 80 ; Vol. 15, Nos. 81 to 83; Vol. 17, Nos. 103 to 107. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Vol. 29, No. 197 to 205. June 1879 to June 1880. Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society. Vol. 3, Part 2. 1879. The Glasgow University Calendar, 1880-1881. Science Gossip ; for the year. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, for the year. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, for the year. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Vol. 12. 1878. Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide, South Aus- tralia. Vol. 1, 1878 ; Vol. 2, 1879; Vol. 3, 1880. Geological Survey of Canada. Report of Progress. 1878-1879. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario for 1880. Bulletin of the Essex Institute. Vol. 12, No. 769. Ninth Annual Report of the Curators of the Wesleyan University, Middleton, Conn., U. S., 1880. Nature. London. A Weekly Journal ; for the year. Archives Neerlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles — Societe Hollandaise des Sciences, Haarlem. Archives Musee Teyler. Nederlandsch Meteorologisch luarbackvoor, 1879. Sitzungs-Beritche der Naturwissen schaftlichen Gesselschaft Isis in Dresden, 1879 and 1880. Zeitschrift der Deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft^ — Berlin, 1879. 2 Vol. One No. April to June 1880. Leopoldina. Dresden. Jany. 1878, Jany. 1879. Nova Acta Academfe Cfeserae Leopoldina-Carolinae, Germanical Natura3 curiosorum. Dresden and Halle, 1878. Brachiopodes Etudes Locales. Extraits du Silurien du centre de la Boheme. Vol. 5. Par Joachim Barrande. Paris. Memoires de L'Academie des Sciences, Arts et Belle-Lettres des Dijon. 1878-1879. Beritche uber die Verhandlungen der Koniglick sachsischen Ges- selschaft der Wissenchaften Zur Liepzig. 1879. No. 1.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 117 Abhaudlungen der Mathematish-physisclien classe der Konigl, clas 12, Nos. 2 to 4. Leipzig, 1879-1880. Also, No. 2, 1879. Annals of the Museo Nacionalde. Mexico. Part 2. 1880. Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Natuvalistes de Moscow. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1879. Acta Horti Petropolitani. Tomus VI, Fasciculu 2. St. Petersburg. Bulletin et IMemoires de Universite Imperiale de Kazun (en Kusse) 1879. No. 1 to 6. Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society. Vol. 3, Part 3. 1880. Proceedings and transactions of the Nova Scotian Institute of Nat- ural Science. Vol. 5, Part 2. 1879-1880. Report of the Wisconsin Naturalist Society, G-erman. 1880-1881. Annual Report of the Department of Mines, New South Wales. 1880. Do. do. do. for 1880. With maps. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 15, New Series, Part 3. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London. Vol. 3. No. 4. In concluding my report allow me respectfully to suggest to the Council the following necessary and desirable repairs, im- provements and additions in the Museum and building, besides those rendered necessary by the construction of the building on the northern side : 1st. The drains will require to be lowered, to enable them to drain the water from the under part of the furnaces. 2nd. In the heating department a new furnace or furnaces will be required (the old ones are worn out), which, in addition to the present heating arrangements, shall convey a shaft for hot air to the floor of the Museum. .3rd, The excessively crowded condition of the Hall on the occasions of the Somerville lectures revealed the necessity of pro- viding for the more rapid influx of fresh air and egress of heated air. Increased accommodation can also be partially provided by arran^jing; the folding; doors on the north-east corner of the Hall so that they can be thrown open if desired. 4th. The addition to our stock of birds and mammals during the past year and the likelihood of equal addition during the coming year necessitates the acquirement of more wall cases in the Museum. 118 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. The Secretary then read the REPORT OF EDITORS OF THE "CANADIAN NATURALIST." The Editors of the " A^aturalist " would report that this Journal has been issued as usual during the past year, four numbers having appeared since last annual meeting. They re- gret to state that but scanty material has during the past year been placed at their disposal by members of the Society. They would again urge upon members the necessity of doing all in their power to contribute and procure articles suitable for the Society's publication. Tt was agreed on motion of Dr. DeSola that the reports now read be received and adopted and printed in the Naturalist and that a Membership Committee be jippointed to enlarge the sub- scription roll and increase the interest in the Society. Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn was proposed as an honorary life member; Dr. Ross was proposed as on ordinary member, and Dr. Robert Bell, Dr. G M. Dawson, Messrs. Foord, Ells, Richardson and Whiteaves, as corresponding members. The election of officers was then proceeded with, resulting as follows : President — Principal J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents — The Rev. Dr. DeSola, Mr. J. H. Josephs Prof. P. J. Darey, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, Mnjor H. Latour, Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn, Dr. Kingston, Prof. B. J. Harrington and Mr. D. A. P. VVatt. Recording Secretary — Prof. F. W. Hicks, M.A. Corresponding Secretary — Dr. J. Baker Edwards. Treasurer — Mr. G. L. Marler. Cabinet- Keeper and Librarian — Mr. Wm. Muir. Council — Messrs. Thomas Craig, J. T. Donald, J. Bemrose, H. M. Sanborn, Dr. Osier, the Rev. Mr. Empsou, xM. H. Brisette, John S. Brown and S. Bagg. Library Committee — Messrs W. Muir, J. Bemrose, J. S. Brown and J. T. Donald. Editors of Canadian Naturalist — Professor B. J. Harrington and Mr. J. T. Donald. Mr. Wm. Muir gave notice of motion to alter the by-law con- cerning annual membership fee. The meeting then adjourned until June 16th. No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 119 The adjourned annual meeting was held on June 16th. Prin- cipal Dawson in the chair. The minutes of the meeting of May 18th having been read and sustained, it was moved by My. J. H. Joseph, seconded by Prof. F. W. Hicks, and resolved : that in accordance with notice given at the meeting on the 18th ult., "the annual subscription to the Society be reduced to four dollars including the subscrip- tion to the Naturalist and to three dollars without the Natu- ra list. The chairman of Council and the Recording Secretary were requested to issue a circular announcing the change in the sub- scription and urging members to endeavor to increase the mem- bership list." Messrs. Geo. Craig and P. Keutzing were proposed as ordinary members, after which the meeting adjourned. Session 1881-82. The first meeting of the Society, for this session, was held on the evening of November 7th — Principal Dawson occupied the chair. Minutes of last meetino; beins; read and sustained, it was resolved, on motion of J. S. Brown, Esq., seconded by J. H. Joseph, Esq., " To sell to Mrs, F. W. Thomas the portion of the Society's lot intervening between its building and the line of Mrs. Thomas' property, to the depth of the buildings on Mrs. Thomas' lots, and the mitoyennete of so much of the wall of the Society's building as is used by Mrs. Thomas. This, in consideration of Mrs. Thomas paying the Society one-half the value of the portion of the wall and of the "round on which it is erected — the valua- tion of the wall to be made by Mr. Hutchinson — and the ground to be valued at $1.20 per square foot, English; and in further consideration of the Society's being sufiered to retain the use of such of the windows as now overlook Mrs. Thomas' land, so long as the Society's building is used for the present purposes of a Museum, curator's residence and Lecture Room. But should it be converted to private uses, the Society will be bound to close its openings [overlooking said Mrs. Thomas' land ; the Society to bar their windows so that access to Mrs. Thomas' land may be prevented, and that the President and Treasurer be author- ised to carry this resolution into effect, and to sign all necessary deeds, and to receive the price and grant discharge therefor." 120 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. It was also resolved, " That use of Lecture Room be granted free of expense, except for gas and heating, to the ladies of the Industrial Rooms, for holding a bazaar sometime in December, the details to be arranged by the Treasurer." Messrs. G. W. Craig and P. Keutzing were elected mem- bers of the Society, and Mr. M. C. Baker was proposed for ordinary membership. Major Latour proposed as honorary member His Excellency Dr. Renard, Conseiller d'etat actuel de Moscou. A collection of Resins, presented to the Museum by J. Lome McDougall, Esq., was exhibited, and it was announced that Dr. Edwards and Mr. Donald would report on the same at a future meetins;. Dr. Dawson congratulated the Society on the result of the in- vitation to the American Association, and stated that in due time a meeting of influential citizens would be called to make suitable arrano-ements for entertaining the Association. Dr. J. Baker Edwards presented a paper entitled " Resume on Water analysis : new methods and recent results," which will be found in full at page 87. Dr. W. Osier then read a series of "Microscopic Notes," which will be published in a future number. The second meeting was held on Nov. 29th. The President occupied the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Mr. Muir called the attention of members to several important additions recently made to the Library and to the Museum, the latter consisting of specimens purchased by the Society and mounted. Mr. Muir then moved, seconded by the Rec. Secy., " That the President and Secretary be requested to draw up and for- ward, in the name of the Society, a resolution of condolence, expressing the sorrow of the members of the N. H. Society at the death of the late Lieut. -Col. Bulger, to whom the Society ia very largely indebted for additions to the Museum." No. 2.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 121 Moved by Dr. Edwards, seconded by Prof. Darey, " That the use of the Museum and Library be permitted to the Auxiliary Association of Clirist Church Cathedral, on the evening of Dec. 1st, on condition that they pay the expense of lighting, &c., as arranged by the Treasurer." His Excellency Dr. Renard, Couseiller d'etat actuel de Mos- cou, was elected an honorary member, and Malcolm C. Baker, Esq., Montreal, an ordinary member. Dr. Edwards presented the report prepared by himself and Mr. Donald, on the Resins presented to the Museum by J. Lome McDougall, Esq. The collection consists of sptcimens of the following " gums " : Zanzibar, Manilla, Kowrie, Damar, Benguela, Angola, Sierra Leone Copal, Asphaltum, Orange Shellac and Bleached Shellac. Dr. Edwards described the sources of these "gums," and Mr. Donald furnished information obtained from Messrs. McDougall, LoS'. Packard, jr. — (^From the American Journal of Science.^ 124 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. Extract from proceedings ; Xov. 16, 1881. UNIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. Prof. Hughes .«aid that he proposed to issue to the Committee of organization for Great Britain a full Keport of the proceedings of the Bologna Congress; but in anticipation of that, he begged to offer to the Geological Society a brief statement of the results. It would be within the recollection of the Fellows of the So- ciety that, at the Geological Congress of Pai'is in 1878, two principal subjects were proposed for discussion at the Bologna Couoress, and each was referred to an International Commission named by the Congress : — 1. The Unification of Geological Nomenclature. 2. Geological Cartography. On the 2nd of April, 1880, the International Commission for the Unification of Geolos-ical Nomenclature was convened at Paris by the President of the Paris Congress and the President elect of the Bologna Congress, and the Commissioners present at that meeting, having regard to the impos.^ibility of drawing up any thing like a complete report upon so vast a subject before the meeting of the Congress, and feeling that there would be much advantage gained by settling the meaning of the terms commonly used to designate the laru;er and smaller divisions of the materials which make up the crust of the earth, and the portions of time to which they are assigned, recommended that, first of all, these questions of a general character should be considered, such as the definition of epoch, period, formation, rock, &c., &c. A resume of the reports of the different nationalities was drawn up by the General Secretary, M. Dewalque, and presented to the Congress, and the discussion was taken upon it. America and England were considered as one from the very first, a happy result of the friendly feeling that exists on all points between the two nations, and at Bologna cordially upheld by their distinguished guest of that evening Dr. Sterry Hunt. The conclusions arrived at were briefly — that the term Group should be applied to the largest geological division of rocks, Sys- tem to the next. Series to the third in order of magnitude, Stage to the fourth, and the French word Assise was placed in the fifth place, it being left to other nationalities to use whatever word in No. 2.] MISCELLANEOUS. 125 their own tongue seemed most couveiiientiy to lepreseut this smallest defined term. The Time-words were, in descending order of magnitude — Era, Period, Epoch, Age — Era correspon- ding to Group, Period to System, Epoch to Series, Age to St;igc. It was pointed out tiiat the German and English use of the word formation lor a set of deposits whicli it was desired to group together under one head, e.g. Caiboniferous formation, could not be adupted by the French, with whom this word always had referen.e to the origin of the mass, and was considered an ab- breviation of the mode of for mat ion. This had been already fully recognized by the English Committee, in the minutes of one of the meetings of which the following resolution appears: — " The term Formation having been used by Continental geolo- gists to denote the action by which a tiling is formed, and its mode of formation, and its use in the sense accepted in England being given up in America, the Committee recommend that the term be employed as rarely as possible in the English sense, and that such words as group, rock, bed, &c., be substituted for it." It was pointed out by the German geologists that there were many nations who could not adopt ''terrain," and therefore this word was also excluded from the more strictly defined terms. MiM. Beyricli and Von Moeller explained that tlie word series could not be conveniently introduced into German or Russian, and it was therefore agreed that the words section and Abfhtilang should be admitted as synonyms of series. It will be observed that there is a consistency in the group of words adopted in English, they are all wiiat may be called synthetic; the analytic words such as division, subdivision, .section, &c. remain unde- Uned. He regretted that they were not able to transpose the words Group and Series, as it certainly would be more convenient to to use series for the large)-, and group lor the snidller division ; but it was not a matter of great importance. In the course of the discussion, various speakers pointed out, by way of illustration, what they would include under these heads, and it was clear that there was very much to be done before any equivalent value could be attached to the subdivisions of diflFerent ages, or of the same general age, in widely separated areas. The English Committee had commenced work upon this question, and he had laid before the Congress the Reports of tlie Sub-committees which had furnished him w^ith the results of 126 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol X. their icquiries, .-is well as some special reports forwarded to him by individuals. The Congress did not, however, pass on to the discussion of these matters; but the manner in which the Eno-Hsh Committee were organizing their work met with the approval o^ the Congress, and a vote was passed that the other countries should adopt a similar plan, and form sub-committees for the in- vestigation of the several groups. He was further unofficially recjuested to get the reports printed as soon as possible, in order to facilitate discussion, and with a view to arrivino- at an under- standing upon the simpler questions before the next meeting of the Congress. This was appointed to be held at Berlin in 1884. The following Congress will be held in England. PRE-CAMBRIAN ROCKS. Dr. T. Sterry Hunt gave some account of the pre-Cambrian or Eozoic rocks of Euroj-e as compared with those of North America. He liad on several occasions studied them, both on the continent and in the British Isles, especially with Dr. Hicks in Wales in 1878. In North America the recognised base is a highly granitoid gneiss, without observed limestones, which he has called the Ottawa gneiss, overlain, probably uuconformably, by the Grenville series of Logan, consisting chiefly of granitoid gneisses, with crystalline limestones and quartzites. These two divisions make up the J^aurentian of Canada, and correspond respectively to the Lewisian and the Dimetian of Hicks. Rest- ing in discordance on the Laurentian, we find areas of the Norian or Labrador series (Upper Laurentian of Logan), chiefly made up of anortholite rooks, granitoid orgueissoid in texture, with some true gneisses. The Huronian is seen to rest unconformably on the Laurentian, fragments of which abound in the Huronian conglome- rates. To the lower portion of the Huronian the speaker had formerly referred a great series of petrosilex or hiilleflinta rocks, described as inchoate gneisses, passing into petrosilex-porphy- ries, occasionally interstratified with quartzites. This series, in many places wanting both in Europe and America, he is now satisfied forms an underlying unconformable group — the Arvo- nian of Hicks, Above the Huronian is the 2;reat iMontalbau series, consisting of grey tender gneisses and quartzose-schists, both abounding in muscovite, occasionally with hornblendic rocks. The Pebidian of Hicks includes both the Huronian and the Montalban, to which latter belong, according to the speaker, certain gneisses and mica-schists both in Scotland and in Ireland, No. 2.] MISCELLANEOUS. 127 PS he hud many years since pointed out. Id some parts of North America he found the Montalban restiuir uucoutbrm:ibly on Lau- reutian. Above tho Montalban comes the Taonian (Lower Taconic of Emmons), a series of quartzites and solt micaceous schists, with dolomites and marbles. All these various series are older than the Lower Cambrian (Meneviau) strata of North America; and it maybe added that the Keweenian or great copper-bearing series of Lake Superior there occupies a position between the Montalban and the Cambi'ian. In the Alps the speaker recognizes the Laurentian, Huronian ■and Montalban, all of which he has lately seen in the Biellese, at the foot of Mont Viso, in Piedmont. The Huronian is the great plttre uerdi group of the Italians, and much of what has been called altered Trias in this region is, in his opinion, probably Taconiau. The Montalban forms the southern slope of Mont St. Gothard, and is the muscovite gneiss and mica-schist of the Saxon Erziiebirsie. Here Dr. Credner and his assistants of the Geological Survey have described abundant conglomerates hold- ing pebbles of Laurentian rocks imbedded in the Upper or Mont- alban gneiss. The pre-Cambrian age of this has been shown by Credner, who has proved by careful survey that the so-called younger or Palaeozoic gneisses of Naumann are really but a con- tinuous part of the older series. Late surveys also show that the crystalline rocks of the Taunus are re;illy Eozoic and not, us formerly maintained, Devonian in age. The speaker insisted upon the fact that where newer strata ai'C in unconformable contact with older ones, the effect of lateral movements of compression, involving the two series, is generally to cause the newer and more yielding strata to dip towards and even beneath the edges of the older rock, a result due to folds, often with inversion, sometimes passing into faults. This pheno- menon throws much light on the supposed recency of many ciystalliue schists. The followiiJii" communications were read: — 1. '• x\dditional Evidence on the Land Plants from the Pen y-aloii' Slate quarry, near Corwen." By Henry Hicks, Esq., M^D^, F.G.S. The author stated that since the date of his former paper (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, August, 1881) he had a>certaiiied that plant-remains occurred in the slaty beds down to the base of the quarry, though much obscured by cleavage. The iaiger specimens are in the form of anthracite. Mr. Carruthers states that there is sufficient evidence to show that they are the remains 128 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol, X. of vascular plants, with some resemblance to the Lycopodiaceoe. Some of the fraoments are from 4 to 5 inches wide, and the author had traced trunks some feet in leniith. He thou2:ht they had drifted to the position where they were now found. Leaf- markings licnerally are not preserved; but from the wrinklings still remaining on some specimens, he thought it probable they had been covered with leaves spirally arranged. Some fragments show scars arranged irreixularly on the surface ; probably these are fraiiraents of roots. The plant seems to some extent to com- bine the ahiirdcters o{ Stigm'irid , Sigilhirla, and Lepidodendron. Further details of tlie appearance of the specimens were given. For one which appears to differ from all hitherto descibed he proposes the name of BeDcijnii Cdrruthersii. 2. '• Notes on Protot^xlfex and Pachi/thec i from the Denbigh- shire Grits of Corwen, North Wales."' By Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. The author stated that he had obtained specimens of the Plant-remains from near Corwen, and that among them there were two kinds, one dark, the other light-coloured. In the former, the long cells and woody fibres are filled with rods of transparent siliceous matter, and the walls represented by a thick layer of carbon. The liii;hter kind consists of the siliceous rods ulone, which are thus in the same state as the asbestos-like silici- fied Coniferous wood of the Californian gold-gravels. In both the siliceous rods show traces of the irregularly spiral ligneous- linino- of the cell-walls. From these and other characters the author refers the specimens to his genus Profotaxites, which, he says, is not an Alga, but a woody terrestrial plant. The author did not state that Prototaxites actually belonged to the Taxineae, but that its fossilized wood showed a resemblance to that of some fossil Taxineae. The remains discovered by Dr. Hicks differ, as already reco.nized by Mr. Etheridge, from Prototfixites Loguni,. Daws.; and the species may be named P. Hicksii. 0^ pachytheca the author stated that he had specimens from the Upper Silurian of New Brunswick, and these and the Welsh specimens seem to belong to the genus JEtheotesta, Brongn., and to be nearly allied to jE. devonica, Daws., from the Devonian of Scotland. These fossils occur associated with Prototaxites, not only at Corwen, but in the Upper Ludlow of England, in the Upper Silurian of Cape Bon Ami, and in the Lower Devonian of Bordeaux quarry opposite Campbellton in New Brunswick, and as the author maintains ^"Etheotesta to be a seed, and Brong- niart compared it with the seeds of the Taxineae, this may be taken as additional evidence in favour of the Taxine or, at any rate, Gymnospermatous nature of Protottrxltes. Published Dec. 30, 1881. THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND Quarterly f outual of ^dtiut. PAL^iOZOIC GEOLOGY OF THE REGION ABOUT THE WESTERN END OF LAKE ONTARIO. By Prof. J. W. Spencer, B.A.Sc, Ph.D., F.G.S., Vice-President of King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. Preface. — In 187-i, I published, in this Journal, a short paper on the "Geology of the Neighbourhood of Hamilton." Subsequently (1877-80), I made an additional study of the region, and found an immense nmount of geological information obtainable. This paper on the Palaeozoic Geology was ready for print in the autumn of 1879, but its publication was delayed in order to complete the work; but as the completion seems some distance off, I present this paper on the first portion of the subject of the Geology about the Region of the Western End of Lake Ontario. A very large amount of new material in Palaeon- tology has been collected and is now ready for press. Although the principal facts of the Surface Geology have been collected, yet the study is not yet completed, it being very large, as more than local phenomena are involved. I. — INTRODUCTION. Skirting the Western End of Lake Ontario, in our Canadian Province of the same name, there are excellent exposures of the various portions of the Silurian formations (or Upper Silurian of the New York Geologists) overlying, to a depth of several hundred feet, the upper members of the Cambro-Silurian Age (of the Hudson River epoch) about the city of Hamilton, Vol. X. I No. 3. 130 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. whilst between Oakville and Toronto, the rocks of the latter age appear at the surface of the country. Those members of the Silurian foriiiMtion which are exposed in the region under consideration belong to the Medina, Clinton, and Niagara epochs. The best localities for making geological examinations are at Thorold, Grimsby, Hamilton, Dundas. Limehouse Station (G.T.R.) and Rockwood. Nowhere in East- ern America are there better exposures of the various rocks of this age, though in some localities, especially in the Western States, the fossils are in a better state of preservation. How- ever, in the above localities there is a very great difference in the preservation of the fossils found, and nearly 200 species of organisms can be procured from a limited number of localities. A considerable variation of texture is observed in the rocks in the different places, and although the number of species of animal remains is considerable, yet owing to the crystalline texture of the limestones, one is rewarded with meagre returns for his day's labor. As we will see further on, the rocks under consideration are intermediate in character between those of the State of New York to the eastward, and those of Ohio to the westward, being more calcareous than their equivalents in the former State, and more argillaceous than those in the latter. In the study of the various rocks of the Niagara group, I have examined the microscopical structure, and have made a number of chemical analyses. At the end of the present paper there will be found a catalogue of all the species of fossils in my own col- lection, with some few that have been obtained by others, but of which I have not been fortunate enough to obtain specimens. This will be found to be the fullest catalogue of Canadian fossils from the Niagara group yet published. Again, a few minerals are procurable at various localities from cavities in the Niagara limestones, as well as mineral waters from several natural springs and artificial openings, all of which will be noticed in their proper places. As no part of the Province affords a greater variety of interest to the student of geology than the region about the western end of Lake Ontario, I will endeavour to a'ive a full but concise account of those features and objects of attraction that will assist the geological observer and student in the pursuit of this most attractive and useful study of Nature. No. 3.] SPENCER PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 131 II. — TOPOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION. Extending along the southern shores of Lake Ontario, at dis- tances varying from one to a few miles from its waters, there is a ridge of hills, or more pruperly an escarpment, known to geolo- gists as the " Niagara Escarpment," extending from the State of New York into Canada, and entering our country near Queenston, whence the canon of the Niagara Falls has worked backward for several miles. From the Niagara River this rido-e extends westward to the town of Dundas, and thence the trend is a little west of north to Lake Huron and Manitoulin Islands. This ranoe everywhere forms a bold feature. Alons; the southern shore of Lake Ontario, the brow is 400 feet above the lake, while near the " Peak," north of Dundas, the height is 520 feet, from which place the ascent is gradual as it extends north- ward, until just west of Limehouse, the cliffs have a height of 847 feet, whence the plateau gradually rises to 936 feet at Rockwood (on the G. T. Railway), and northward, in Amaranth township, it has an elevation of 1400 feet above Lake Ontario. In its course, south of Lake Ontario, the slope is generally more abrupt than after the range assumes a northerly trend, — the upper portion often forming almost perpendicular cliffs from 100 to 250 feet above the rising slope at its base. The brow where the H. & N. W. Railway ascends the mountain (four miles east of Hamilton) is 395 feet, and at the head of James street, Hamilton, it is 388 feet above the lake, while the plateau above gradually rises to 493 feet, five and a half miles south of the former place, and to 485 feet, two miles south of the latter. This height of land forms the watershed between Lakes Ontario and Erie, and from it the country gradually slopes to the latter lake. The rocks of this range belong to the various subdivisions of the Niagara Group of the Silurian Age. The Canadian Geolo- gical Survey, many years ago, separated the Niagara and Guelph groups from the overlying Lower Helderberg group, and called these Middle Silurian, whilst the New York geologists placed them all together, and called them Upper Silurian. We will adopt that nomenclature which recognises the rocks of the various groups from the Niagara to the Lower Helderberg (inclusive), as being members, not of the middle or upper, but of the one great Silurian Age, and consider the Lower Silurian formations (Tren- 132 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. ton aud Hudson River groups of America) of the New York Geological Survey, under the name Cambro-Silurian — a name given by one of the fathers of Pjnglish Geology (Professor Sedg- wick) before Sir R. Murchison included their Welsh equiva- lents as the lower portion of his ''Silurian System," as the character of the organic remains is intermediate between Sedg- wick^s Camhrian and Murchison' s Original Silurian Systems. In the State of New York the Niagara group is divided in ascending order into the Oneida, Medina, Clinton and Nia- gara EPOCHS, and overlies the Hudson River formation. The Oneida of New York consists of a conglomerate, and is wanting in Canada, but all the other members of the series are present in the Province. At the head of Lake Ontario, the Medina is underlaid by the rocks of the Hudson River epoch ; and the rocks of the Niagara period form the surface deposits adjacent to the lake region, while twenty miles to the westward, they are overlaid in the neighbourhood of the towns of Gait and Guelph by the deposits of the Guelph formation. In the Niagara Peninsula, south of Hamilton, the Niagara formation is succeeded by some of the members of the Helder- berg group, unless there be some thin concealed deposits of the Guelph group not exposed. The general dip of the whole series is 25.5 feet in the mile in a direction of about twenty degrees west of south. III. — GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS. During the summer of 1879, the writer, with the assistance of the late George Beasley, Esq., C. E., made instrumental measurements of four Geological Sections — the most complete that could be obtained. Two of these sections were at Dundas, one at Hamilton, and one south-east of the city, from the water- shed between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, along the exposures of the Niagara Limestones in the bed of the Rosseaux Creek, to its falls at Mount Albion. These measurements required several days' levelling over many miles of ground. In addition to the principal sections, several smaller exposures were measured in order to compare the continuity of various strata. The thickness and character of the lowest portions of the Medina formation were ascertained from the log of an Artesian well, sunk to a depth of 1600 feet, in the western part of Dundas. No. 3.] SPENCER — PALEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 133 Mr. Beasley and myself connected the thickness between the adja- cent summit of the Medina group, which is 264 feet above the lake, by levelling (and allowing for dip) with the mouth of the well of which we had the record, and were thus enabled to calcu- late accurately the thickness of the formation. Before advancing further we will give u tabular view of the four sections measured. The first section is at the western end of Dundas, (nenr the place where the Artesian well was sunk.) The height of the mouth of the well was found to be 139 feet above Desjardin's Canal. Afterwards we levelled to the summit of the cliffs along the south-western side of the ravine, which is formed by the union of the two streams from Spencer's and Webster's Falls — the highest point of the exposed rocks being at the junction of the two glens, where the top beds are composed of the cherty bands of the same horizon as those which form the capping strata south of Hamilton. By means of this section and the Artesian well, we were able to ascertain the whole thickness of the Medina formation, the whole thickness of the Clinton formation, and the lower portion of the Niagara proper. But the western side of the ravine is more than one hundred feet lower than the eastern side, although the rocks are nearly horizontal. This has been owin"- to the local denudation in the spur of rocks between two great valleys, which will be noticed in a future paper on the surface sjeology. The ravine or canon just referred to is more than 300 feet deep, if we calculate from its eastern (or rather north-eastern) side. Owing to the absence of the higher beds of the series, we levelled up the escarpment on the opposite side of the great glen, at the Limekilns, just east of the " Peak," where the highest rocks are 516 feet above the lake, although the soil rises a few feet higher a short distance to the northward. By these measurements, and the necessary calculations in cor- relating the adjacent measurements, it was found that the whole thickness of the Niagara group is 800 feet at Dundas, of which the lowest 545 feet belong to the Medina series. The second section is along the Sydenham road at Dundas. The third section is at Hamilton, between the head of James street and the Jolly Cut road. The fourth section, as we have seen, was taken aloniz; the Rosseaux Creek to Albion Falls. 134 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Section I. (at Dundas). In descending order : Beds 20-14 Avere measured above Limekiln. Beds 13-2, measured at the south-western side of Glen Spencer, are correlated with those above. Series of beds numbered 1 is at Artesian Well. Beds. Niagara Formation. Thickness. No. Feet. 20 Fine grained gray arenaceous dolomite. Top bed glaciated. (Height above Lake Ontario 517 ft.) .. 10.6 19 Dark dolomites (somewhat bituminous) containing concretionar}' masses of a brecciated appearance . . 9.7 18 Measures concealed 10.2 17 Gray and drab dolomites in thin beds — the upper portion forming brow of escarpment just east of " Peak." .". 28.3 16 Earthy dolomites with conchoidal fracture 3.2 15 Dolomitic shales covered with incrustations of ep- somite 3.5 14 Gray and variegated dolomites in thin beds with earthy partings 38 . 4 103.9 13 Cherty dolomites (?) concealed, by measurement 3.1 feet, but allowing for dip, 3.0 feet must be added, and this connects the section at the Limekiln with that measured at western side of Kavine from Webster's to Spencers Falls 6.1 12 Gray dolomites with numerous cherty nodules, this forms the brow of cliff at junction of Eavines from Spencers and Webster's Falls 12.0 1] Shal}^ dolomites, Avith shaly partings 2.0 10 Compact dark gray dolomites, more or less argillo- arenaceous, in beds from two to two and a half feet thick 16.9 9 Dolomitic blue shales, with shaly dolomites 13.1 8 Compact light gray dolomite in one bed. This bed is constant for many miles, and it was from this that the dip was calculated, and checked in by other beds 5.3 7 Niagara dolomites, covered here, but exposed else- where 10.0 65.4 Clinton Formation. Clinton bluish shales, with numerous thin beds of argillaceous dolomites, some of which are also very ferruginous, others are more arenaceous. Many contain fossils. Portions of the series are covered, but, being exposed in numerous places, show the character of the whole formation just described ... 77.5 Argillo-arenaceous dolomites, which may be con- sidered as beds of passage to the Medina beneath . 8.2 85.7 o No. 3.] SPENCER — PALEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 135 Beds. Medina Formation. Thickness. No. Feet. 4 Bluish sandstones in two beds, splitting in slabs 2.7 3 Coarse sandstone — the Gray Band — varying much in thickness. This is separated from the beds above by shaly parting 7.3 2 Medina shales — green, red, or variegated — partly covered here, but various portions exposed in many places 141 . 1 Ked, green, and variegated shales (measured in Arte- sian Well) 394.0 545.0 Total thickness 800 . Section II. (at Dundas). This section was measured partly along the Sydenham road, and partly in the glen just west of it. The measurements are in descending order, and the numbers of the beds refer to the equi- valent beds in Section I. Niagara Formation. Cherty dolomites, forming brow of escarpment along 13 Sydenham road. The upper portion in the section 6 represented at the "Peak," by more than 100 feet, 12 being removed by denudation for some distance back of the brow 19.0 1 1 Dolomitic shales 0.8 10 Compact gray dolomite, more or less argillo-arenace- ous, in beds from 2 to 2.5 feet thick 14.0 9 h Shaly dolomites 4.5 9 a Dolomitic shales 6.0 8 Compact gray dolomite in one bed, highly crystal- line, with cavities filled with minerals 5.5 7 Gray dolomite, more or less argillaceous 10.0 59.8 Clinton Formation. 6 Clinton shales, with thin beds of areno-argillaceous A dolomites, sometimes ferruginous, some of the beds 5 are fossiliferous. About 20 feet from the top there is a bed of red ferruginous, calcareo-arenaoeous sandstone, rich in casts of fossils 85.7 85.7 Medina Formation. 4 Bluish sandstone splitting into thin slabs 2.1 Shaly parting 0.8 3 Coarse gray sandstone — the " Gray Band " — varying in thickness from 6.7 to 9 feet 8.1 See below, 2&1 Medina variegated shales (as calculated) 535 . 546.0 Total thickness 691 . 5 136 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. X. Section III. (at Hamilton). This section was measured along the brow of the escarpment at the city of Hamilton, between the ravine at the head of James street and the "Jolly Cut" road, about half a mile to the eastward. The section is in descending order. The numbering of the beds connects the section with the corresponding beds at Dundas. (See note in Appendix.) Beds. Niagara Formation. Thickness. No. Feet. 12 Thin gray dolomites, with an abundance of cherty nodules. This bed is known as the " Chert Bed," and forms the brow of the escarpment at Hamilton and eastward, being 388 feet above lake at head of James street. At head of Queen street this series is 19 feet thick 12.0 11 Argillaceous dolomites, with shaly partings — upper k portion known as the "Blue Building Beds." Beds 10 0.5-1 foot thick. (See analysis and fossils.) 15.5 9 Dark hard dolomitic shales and dolomites weathering to gray — and lower beds most shaly. (See analysis.) 10 . 5 8 Thick bed gray crystalline dolomite (nearly pure).. , 4.5 7 Argillo-arenaceous dolomite in beds from 1-1.5 feet thick. (See analysis) 8.8 51.3 Clinton Formation. Qh Earthy dolomite, with shaly partings 8.0 6a Chinton shales, all dolomitic, with thin beds of harder rock, some of which are arenaceous, and others to a thickness of about 7 feet, are areno-ferruginous. The upper 9 feet may be considered as passage beds 76 . 9 5 Passage beds of argillaceous dolomites. (Top project- ing portion is glaciated, and is 254 feet above lake) 8.8 Medina Formation. 4& 3 Coarse gray sandstone — " Gray Band." This bed varies in thickness 6.5 2& 1 Medina variegated red and green shales. Thickness from calculation of Dundas Artesian Well 538 . 5 93.7 545.0 Total thickness 690 . No. 3.] SPENCER — PALEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 137 Section IV. (along Rosseaux Creek). This section along Rosseaux Creek, extends from Albion Falls (in Barton Township) to Carpenter's Limekilns, on the Hamilton and Caledonia road. This line follows nearly the strike of the formation. The section is in descending order. The numbering of the beds refers to the corresponding strata at Hamilton and Dundas. Only the Niagara Formation is represented. Beds. Thickness. No. Feet. Dark gray bituminous dolomites at Carpenter's Lime- kiln, R. VI, lot 15, Barton. The top bed is two feet thick, with glaciated surface. This bed contains abundance of Stromatopora 11.5 Beds concealed 42 . 7 Grey bituminous dolomites (Range VII, lot 7, Barton) beds 0.25-1.0 foot thick, containing cavities filled with barite, calcite, selenite, fluorite, galenite, spha- lerite, and other minerals in beautiful crystals, besides bituminuous matter - ... 15.1 Covered beds 5.7 Earthy compact dolomite (Range VII, lot 5) 6,2 (The following is down the creek, R. VII, lots 4-1.) Fine grained dark dolomite, in one bed, with glaciated surface 2.2 Areno-argillaceous dolomites, in thin beds with shaly partings, 0.2-0.4 foot thick 12.3 Dark brown flags, areno-argillaceous, with films of dolomite 1.3 Shaly dolomite (with abundance of StrepteLasma) ... 2.5 Blue arenaceous shales, hardened with crystalline particles of dolomite 2.9 Argillaceous dolomites 3.2 Blue and red shaly rock 3.0 Dolomitic flags ( Avicula bed), dark brown arenaceous 5 . 4 Covered beds 3.0 Earthy dolomites, forming bed of creek 7.5 Covered beds 3.7 Thin gray dolomites (areno-argillaceous), forming brow of escarpment, just west of Falls 4.0 132.2 11 12 . ' Cherty dolomites, at Albion Falls 18.4 10 Argillaceous dolomites, in thin beds, with shaly part- ings 22.6 9 Blue hard dolomitic shales, with beds of shaly do- lomites 12.0 8 Gray crystalline dolomite, in one bed 4.9 7 Argillo-arenaceous dolomites, in thin beds 7.7 65.6 Total thickness of Niagara beds 197.8 Vol. X. I 2 No. 3. 138 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. IV. THE MEDINA FORMATION. In referring- to the Geological Reports of tlie St;ite of New York, we learn that the Medina formation rests on what is known as " Oneida Conglomerate," which in Oneida County has •only a thickness of 25 feet, though elsewhere it is as much as 100 feet thick, while in the State of Pennsylvania it is developed to the extent of 700 feet. There appears to have been a gradual passage from the band of gray sandstone, terminating the Hud- son River formation in Oneida and Oswego counties, to the overlying conglomerate, both of which deposits, however, are wanting in the western part of the State, and are entirely absent from the series in Canada, as indicated at a short distance east of Oakville, on the north-western side of Lake Ontario, where the upper beds belonging to the close of the Cambro-Silurian Age are seen to rest beneath those at the commencement of Medina epoch. In tracing the Medina formation from Oswego County, N.Y., it is found to increase in thickness until it attains a development of several hundred feet in the western part of the State, and at Dundas. at the head of Lake Ontario, it is 545 feet thick. Again the group gradually dies out to the westward, and is only represented in the State of Ohio by ten or twenty feet of red and blue mottled shales. Almost the whole series is made up of more or less calcareous shales, some of which are also arenaceous (and almost resemble thin flags of unpure sandstone). In color the shales are red, green, or variegated. The series is cappf^d by a coarse sandstone, which is irregularly deposited and has a thickness in the region of Dundas and Hamilton, varying from seven to ten feet. It is known by the name of the "Gray Band," and is a characteristic stratum from the Niagara River to the Georgian Bay. Some- times, however, it thins out to mere wedges, bnt the hollows occasioned by the sudden thinning process is filled up with earthy calcareous sandstones. This structure is well illustrated by a section in the glen just west of the Sydenham road, Dundas — the following section would not be represented longitudinally by more than thirty feet: No. 3.] SPENCER — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 139 2 1 feet Bluish sandstone 2 1 fpftt 8 " Shalv DartinefS ^ n a " 3.7 " Thin shaly sandstones [ I — 6.7 " 4.0 " Sandstone : The " Gray Band." 1.3 " Sandstone. 0.9 " By this menus it will be seen that the whole series does not materially alter in thickness, but that the undulations of the surface of the -'Gray Band" resulted from unequal deposits of sand along- the sea mnrgins, and afterwards the inequalities were filled up by sediments of sliirhtly different character. Sometimss the ''Gray B.ind " shows ripple marks on its upper surface, while the more shaly partings have their surface characterised by wave action. At Grimbsy, the lower portion of this band is of the usual gray color, but it passes into bright red sandstones irregularly deposited, and conspicuously mottled by large spots of a gray tint. At this] locality the Artliropliycus harlani is very abun- dant, and though found in both the gray :ind red sandstones, it is more common in the former. At Duiidas the capping portion of the '' Gray Band " consists of a bluish sandstone resembling quartzite, though this subdivision in the character of the beds is not noticeable at Hamilton. All the thicker beds of Medina sandstone form excellent build- ing material, though difficult to work on account of its compact- ness and toughness. Along the canon of the Niagara River more than 200 feet of the shales are exposed. So, also, there are excellent exposures in many of the gorges about the head of Lake Ontario. Perhaps the best section of the shales is to be obtained by following up the stream which flows into Burlington Bay after passing by the village of Waterdown. In the deep gorge of this stream the upper 250 feet of Medina shale is more or less exposed, though in some places covered by land-slides. The base of the Medina is exposed at a short distance east of Oakville. At Dundas, an Artesian well was sunk a few years ago, and the following is the log of the boring, as published in the Dundas Banner : 140 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Boulder Till 26 feet. Blue Clay 48 " Clay and Black Sand 5 " Ked Shales 341 " Limestone and Grits 550 " Total Depth 1600 « The record of the charncter of the lower portions of the boring was not 2:iven. The "limestone and grits" represent rocks of the Hudson River formation. The record nlso stated that at 290 feet from the surface there was a thin bed of sandstone with a flow of gas and water; at 300 feet there was a flow of water rising eight feet above the surface ; at 970 feet there was a heavy flow of gas. This imperfect record is unfortunately all that remains of much money that was expended in seeking for a supply of water for the town. The secretary of the Well Company has since died, and the complete record is lost. However, it serves a purpose, and by connecting the levels of the mouth of the well {which is 139 feet ;ibove Lake Ontario) with the adjacent Medina beds, we are enabled to calculate the thickness of the whole formation. Other wells have been sunk to a considerable depth, years ago, but unfortunatelv their lo&s are not in existence. One, at an oil refinery, east of Hamilton, was sunk into the Medina shales, or perhaps just through them, when a sufficient supply of water was obtained, but which was strongly alkaline (see analysis below). At 40 feet from the surface (about 275 from top of the Medina series) a thin bed of sandstone was found. Another thin bed of sandstone comes to an out-crop at Burlington, on the northern side of the bay of the same name. The beds found at these two places are probably of the same horizon although their con- tinuity is broken by the cause which originated Burlington Bay. There was another important well sunk to a depth of 1009 feet, at the Royal Hotel, Hamilton, but though some water was procured by me and then analysed, the record of the boring was lost in a burning building. The eastern part of Hamilton is situated almost directly on Medina clays; but the surface of these is covered to a considerable thickness in the western part of the city by drift, which partly fills a Pliocene valley. (See a future paper on Surface Geology.) The character of the Medina shales is shown by the following chemical analysis. The specimen chosen was typical of the f No. 3.] SPENCER — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 141 green indurated shales which on weathering become red. It was obtained from a freshly broken surf'^ce at an artilicai ditch in Ainsley's Hollow, west of Hamilton. Silica 50-2 Alumina 12-0 Iron Protoxide 1-5 Lime 17-7 Magnesia 5-8 Carbon Dioxide 11-6 98-8 A portion of the lime and magnesia was present as silicates, some of which was decomposed by acids. In various analysis of the Medina shale, made by Dr. Sterry Hunt, less than one per cent, of fixed alkalis was found to be present. Under the micro- scope, these rocks exhibit small crystalline dolomitic particles scattered through the mass, sometimes uniformly, and sometimes in thin layers. From the geological evidence adduced by the Ohio Geological Survey (as will be noticed under the Clinton formation), the Hudson River formation was raised up into a shore line be- fore the deposition of the members of the Niagara group. In the State of New York the Medina seas laved the shores of the Shawangunk Mountains, whence the pebbles for the conglome- rate of the lower portion of the series were derived. The western margin of the sea was bounded by the " Cincinnati Arch," which has been an upland since the close of the Carabro-Silurian Age. The arenaceous material of the Medina series was obtained largely from the adjacent highlands to the eastward, although a portion of the sediments that form the " Gray band " was pro- bably derived from the denudation of the more siliceous portions of the Hudson River formation of the Canadian shores. The shaly beds of the Hudson River series, and particularly those of the Utica formation of the Canadian highlands, formed an abundant source whence denudations could derive an ample supply of clay to produce the wide-spread off-shore deposit of Medina shales in the northern portion of the sea. The period was generally one of subsidence until its close, when the "Gray band " was deposited, to be followed by the Clinton shallow seas, which were to be filled up with impure limestones, alternat- ing with muddy sediments brought down from the adjacent shores. 142 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Organic Remains. — One or two fr;i<»;ments of obscure sea- weeds have been noticed by Col. Grant in the shales, otherwise they appear to be devoid of organisms. The " Ghjy Band," however, contains a few poorly preserved casts of shells, besides several species of sea-weeds. The fossils are usually found crowded together on some portions of the sur- face of the sandstones, overlaid by more or less earthy partings, particularly at the junction with the overlying Clinton, or those beds that might perhaps be considered beds of passage. The sea-weeds are the most common. Arthrophycus harlani is abundant at Grimsby. The branches of this organism is sometimes connected with lobed nodules, having the appearance of fruit pods; however, some palaeontologists consider J.r^Aro- phycus as worm tracks, and, if this be the case, these lobed ex- pansions are simply worm burrows at the end of the tracks. A considerable number of undoubted worm tracks or Ichnites is also found. All tlie fossils consist of nothing more than casts in the sandstone. The followin"; meajire list of fossils has been obtained. CATALOGUE OF MEDINA FOSSILS. Genera and species. Reference. Arthrophycus harlani Hall, 1852, Pal. N. Y., Vol. II. Locality — Grimsby, Ont. " " Fruit (?) Locality — Grimsby. Palseophycus sp Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. Zaphrentis bilateralis Hall, 1852, Pal. N. Y., Vol. II Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. Atrypa ohlata ... Hall, 1852, Pal. N. Y., Vol. II. Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. Modiolopsis orthonota Conrad, 1839, Ann. Rep. N. Y. Locality — Hamilton. " sp Locality — Dundas, Hamilton, and Grimsby. Miirchisonia subulata Conrad, 1842, Jour Acad. Nat. So. Locality — Hamilton. " conoidea Hall, 1852, Pal. N. Y., Vol. II. Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. Pleurotomaria litorea Hall, 1852, Pal. N. Y., Vol. II. , Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. " pervetusta Conrad, 1838, Ann. Rep. N. Y. Locailty — Hamilton and Grimsby. Lchmtes (several speeies) Locality — Hamilton and Grimsby. No. 3.] SPENCER — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 143 V. — CLINTON FORMATION. In .«;outhern Herkimer County, N. Y., the Medina formution i.s wanting, and the Clinton rests ou thin deposits of Oneida congflonjerate, which itself dies out farther to the east. Id the more eastern portions of the State of New York, where the Clinton series succeeds the Medina, it partakes of its lithological characteristics. However, as the Clinton extends westward its shales become intercalated with calcareous deposits that form a conspicuous feature. The calcareous beds increase in importance as the formation! extends westward in the Province of Ontario, and at Hamilton they so nearly resemble those of the overlying Niagara, that the line of separation becomes almost arbitrary. The New York Geologists placed a hard layer of dolomite, con- taining remains of Pentamerus, and known as the '' Pentamerus Band," as the upper bed of the Clinton of New York, while the Canadian Geological Survey considered it as the lowest bed of the Niagara series, which in our Province, it most nearly re- st^mbles. The hitter division, between the Clinton and Niagara, 1 have adopted in this paper, if indeed, a division, except for convenience, should be made. In fact, the upper nine ieet of the Clinton deposits at Hamilton might well be placed with the Niagara above. Nor are there any palgeontological grounds of separation. The Clinton group may be described as dolomitic shales, with numerous thin beds of argillo-arenaceous dolomites, some of which almost resemble impure sandstone. The indurated shales are generally of blue or dark gray, but in weathering they assume a red, brown or buff color. Many of the more calcareous bands are highly fossiliferous. About twenty feet trom the top of the serie- there is a red or brown ferruginous calcareo-arenaceous rock, about eight feet thick, holding an abundance of casts of fos.^ils, vvhich are mostly of the genera Modiolopsis and Llngula. It may be here remarked that none of the LameUi branchiate shells retain any part of their original tests, while the Lingulce have their shells well preserved, and often of a blue color. This bed of red ferruginous rock is the representative of that peculi.ir bed of oolitic iron ore, called "Fossil Ore," forming a characteristic element of the Clinton group, extending from Wisconsin to New York, and thence along the Appalachian Chain to Tennessee and Alabama. In some places the " fossil 144 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. ore " is only represented by ferruginous stains on tlie rock. This iron niJitter came probably from the denudation of the exten- sive iron ore deposits, Huronian Age, just north of the Clinton sea, in what is now Michigan. The lower nine feet of the Clinton beds are composed of argil- l.iceous dolomites with shaly partings, which are sometimes bituminous. Some of these layers are so granular and arenace- ous as almost to resemble sandstones. From the few fossils obtained here, these rocks may be considered as beds of passage from the Medina. Including the beds that I have placed as beds of passage at the base and those at the summit of the Clin- ton formation, the whole thickness at Hamilton is 94 feet, and at Dundas 88 feet. In New York, on the Genesee River, the Clinton group has a thickness of 80 feet, consisting of calcareous shales with thin beds of shaly dolomite, together with the characteristic Oolitic iron ore bed. In Ohio this formation is ropresetited by salmon-colored dolo- mitic limestones which vary in thickness from 15 to 40 feet. As has been noticed, the Clinton deposits lithologically re- semble those of the Medina, in eastern New York, while in the western part of the State, they approximate to the overlying Niagara. This resemblance is still greater in Canada, where much of the shaly matter is replaced by calcareous rocks, and in Ohio, according to the Geological Survey of that State, the argillaceous beds are wholly replaced by limestones. Again those differences in the fossils which characterise the respective Clinton and Niagara formations in eastern New York largely dis.ippear in the more western deposits. In Canada the palseon- tological differences seem to be due to the state of preservation of oijiauic remains in the shales and limestones respectively ; for the forms which occur in the Clinton limestones are generally found in the calcareous rocks of the overlying Niagara, whilst the prin- cipal differences are in tiiose fossils preserved in the Clinton shales, which are not represented above by similar rocks. In fact there is no more variation in the fossils i'ound in the Clinton and Niagara formations at H'milton than there is between those of the Niagara *' Chert Bed " at Hamilton and of the upper layers at Barton, five miles distant. Professor Orton found that the Clinton of Ohio contains pebbles of the " Cincinnati (Hudson River) limestones." In No. 3.] SPENCER — PAL.^OZOIC GEOLOGY. 145 the south-western p;n-t of th;it State tlie deposits under consider- ation rest either on rocks of the Cincinnati group, or on the thin development of Medina shales (wliicli are from ten to twenty feet thick). The conglomerates show that the underlying form- ations of the Cambro-Siluriau Age had been hardened and up- lifted into cliifs and shore lines before the comniencement and deposition of the sediments in the seas of the Clinton epoch. At this time the Can.idian Sea was one of shallow waiter. At Dun- das, Hamilton and elsewhere, various thin hard beds from the biise to the summit of the formation have their surfaces covered vrith ripple marks. As the muddy sediments, which filled up- the northern and noith-eastern portion of the Medina Sea, were })rincipally derived from the debris of the Utica and Hudson Kiver uroups of the Canadian highlands, so also the (>linton shales appear to have been derived irom the same source; but these muds iriadu.illv u-avi". pl.iee to the or<2anic limestone in the western portion of the Clinton seas. Organic Remdins in tlir Clinton Forntntion. — Recently an interesting group of small fossils was discovered by George J. Hiude, Esq., F.G.S.. in Glen Spencer, Dundas. These organ- isms appear as black sliiniug chitinous objects on the surface of the stone, usuiilly about the twelfth of an inch in length or less, and w^ere recognized by Mr. Hinde as the jaws of aujielids or worms. They will be Ibund described and fii^ured in the August number of the ••Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of J^ondon," for 1879. Kxeepting the jaws, no portions of the heads of the animals were found. The following is a catalogue of Mr. Hinde's species: FROM THE CLINTON BEDS. Eunicites clinto7iensis. Eunicites coronatus. Eunicites chiromorphus. (Enonites amplus. (Enonites frayilis. AraheUitea elegans. Lumhriconereites basil is. Lumbriconereites triangularis. Lumbriconereites armatus. Glycerites calceolus. Besides these, he describes three species from the Niagara formation ; and as I have not the specimens in my collection, I will include them here with the Clinton species : (Enonites ? infrequens. Arabellites similis. Sta urocephalites niagarensis. Vol. X. K No. 3- 146 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. The followiiiii; is a catalo2:ue of the Clinton fossils obtained at Hamilton and Dundas. This catalogue does not contain all the species that are included with the Niagara group proper, which Col. Grant and myself have found in the so-called Clinton beds, but only the more conspicuous species, or those not found higher up at H;imilton. CATALOGUE OP CLINTON FOSSILS OCCURRING AT HAMILTON. GENERA AND SPECIES. REFERENCE. Buthofrephis gracilis Hall, Palfeont, N.Y., 1852. " " var. crassa . . " '• " " palmata " " '■'• Roots of various Algx " " " Stromatopora sp Conophyllum niagarense Hall, Pala?ont, N.Y., 1852. Monticulipora lycopterdon Say, " 1847. Zaphrentis hilateralis Hall, Pa]a>ont. N.Y.. 1852. GraptoUtlais clintonensis " •' " Retiolites venosus , " " " Palscaster granti Spencer, Niag. Foss. 1882. Eucalyptocrimis decorus. ... .... Phillips, Murcli., Sij. Syst., 1839. Ilelopora fragilis Hall, Pal;i3ont, N.Y., 1852. Clathropora frondona •' '• •' Fenestella prisca Londsdale, Murch., Sil. Syst., 1839. " parvulipora Hall, 2(>th Kept, of Regents, jST.Y., 1875. " tenuis Hall, Palasont, N.Y., 1852. " biconiis Spencer, u. s. Niagara Fossils, 1882. Polypora incepta Hall, Palreont, N.Y., 1852. Rhinopora venosa Spencer, n. s. Niagara Fossils, 1882. Retepora angidata Hall, Paheont, N.Y., 1852. Trematopora tuberculosa " •' " Merista cylindrica (?) " '' " Athyris (Jferisfella) navi/ormis. . . " " " Strophomena rhomboidalis WahlenLerg, Act. Soc. Sci. Upsal, 1821 Orthis elegantula Dolman, 1837. Lingula oblonga. Conrad, Ann. Rep., N.Y., 1839. " oblala Hall, Paheont, N.Y.. 1852. Posodonia (?) alata " " " Posodonotnya (?) rhomboidea . -, . . " •' " Orthonota .sp. (?) Modiolopsis, sev'l undetm'd spc's . Platyostoma niagarense Hall, PalcBont, N.Y., 1852. " sp Ortkoceras clavatum Hall, Paheont, N.Y., 1852. Oncoceras subrectum " " " Coiiularia niagarensis " " " Tentacuiites distans " " " Rusichnites bilobatus Ichnites, four undeterm'd spec's . No. 3.] SPENCER — PAL^OZOIO GEOLOGY. 147 YI. — NIAGARA FORMATION. l^opograpJii/ and Distribution. — Overlyinu- the Clinton form- ation, the most important member of the series — the NiaErara (proper) — is much more widely developed than tlie lower por- tions of the trroup which are hirirely made up of mechanical deposits. Owin^' to the hard limestones of the Niagara epoch surmountinix several hundred feet of soft Medina and Clinton shaly rocks, it forms a conspicuous feature in the country — the summit of the Niairara escarpment — as along its northern and north-eastern margins, the softer material forming the base of ridge has been removed by erosion, leaving abrupt cliffs. The most eastern exposures of this formation in New York are near the town of Catskill, on the Hudson River. From this place it extends westward through the central and western parts of the State, forming the bold slopes, u few miles south of, and parallel to, Lake Ontario. Entering Canada at the Niagara River, its direction is westward, nearly parallel with its strike, as far as Dutidas, at the extreme western end of Lake Ontario. Here the range of hills changes its course and extends to Cape Hurd, and thence through Manitoulin and Cockbuni L«lands. The range of hills south of the lake, as we have noticed, is about 400 feet hii:h and getierally has an abrupt face. However, from Dundas to Georgian Bay. although the country is of a higher alti- tude, the features are less broken on their eastern side, as they recede from Lake Ontario. The southern portion of the basin of Lake Ontario is excavated in Medina shales, while its northern side is scooped out of the various rocks of the Hudson River, and the shales of the Utica formation, which once formed the margin of the old sea in the Niagara period. From the northern end of Lake Huron the Niagara forma- tion extends into Drumujond Island, and thence along the whole northern and western shores of Lake Michiuan, Again, the margin of the seas in this period abutted against the Appalachian chain as far south as Tennessee, as is shown by the remains of their old deposits. The large island of the "Cincinnati Arch" formed part of the barrier at the southern margin of the Medi- terranean Sea, which extended over a region of thirteen degrees of longitude and eight of latitude, in the Niagara period, or, we may say, in the Silurian age. 14S THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. In Canada many streams cut throimh the locks of the region •under consideration, and give fine exposures of their geological structure. The streams invariably excavate picturesque glens, nt the head of which are usually cascades in magnitude from the Falls of Niagara to others forming a mere series of rapids. Develojwient — The best exposures of the Niagara formation in the State of New York are at Lockport, Rochester and Nia- gara River. It attains a thickness of 264 feet in that State. In Canada the upper portion of the scries is so denuded in the neighbourhood of Lake Ontario, that it is impossible to get a •complete section ; and even many miles away where it passes into the overlying Guelph formation, as near Rockwood tht line of junction is generally obscured by drift. At Hamilton, by level measurements, a section of the lower 52 feet (being beds from 7 to 12 of Section III) was made by Mr. S. D. Mills and myself, between the exposure at the head of James street and the "Jolly Cut'' road, a half mile to the cast. Here the escarpment averages i-iOO feet in height above tiie lake. The cherty dolomites (No. 12 of Sections) form tiie capping stratum of the "Mountain." Along the Sydenham road (section II), the section, composed of the same beds, measured 60 feet (seven feet more of the •• Chert bed " is ex- posed here than at Hamilton). Again, at the junction of Glen Spencer with Glen Webster, the same •• Chert beds " ibrui the capping stratum of the cliffs, and here the Niagj'ra beds are a little thicker than elsewhere. However, on the eastern side of these ravines there is an additionrd exposure of 104 feet near the *' Peak," which has not been removod by denudation, thus giv- ing a maximum thickness of 169 feet at Dundas. However, by measuring the section at Albion Falls, and then levelling up Kosseaux Creek and alons: the strike of the formation to Car- penter's Limekilns, on Lot 15, and Ranoe VI, Barton, two miles south of the brow of the " Mountain," at Hamilton, I succeeded in measuring a section of 198 feet from the base of the Niagara (proper). The height of the last station is 480 feet above the lake, and in addition the rocks are covered with five feet of soil, at the Church, on the same lot. Here the rocks have their surfaces grooved with ice action. It may be remarked that the capping bed in this place is almost wholly made up of the remains of Stromatopora. No. 3.] SPENCER — PALEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 149 This last section carries us to a higher horizon th;iij any other mensurnble, yet the highest members of the series is still beyond our reach, being covered by the drift over the gently sloping country. However, if we follow the line of strike westward, and take the levels here, and at the nearest exposures of the Guelph formation, at Gait (which is a few miles north of the line of strike of the Barton Beds) and make allowance for dip, it would approximately be found that the unexposed upper beds of the Niagara formation reach to an additional 80 or 100 feet in thickness. According to the reports of the Geological Survey of Ohio, the formation has a thickness of 275 feet in Highland county, and probably 350 feet in the northern part of the State. The Cana- dian Geological Survey estimated the whole thickness at 450 feet in the neighbourhood of Cape Hurd, if the dip were uniform. Thus we see that from the western part of New York to Ohio there is no great variation in the thickness of the Niagara depo- sits, where the surface is not removed by erosion, and we may fairly place the accumulations in the Canadian portion of the Niagara sea at 280 feet. Not only is the deposition of the whole series literally uniform, but there are certain strata which are recognizable as constant over tlie region under consideration. Of these, the most con- spicuous are the " Chert bed'' (No. 12 of sections), and a thick compact bed of light gray dolomite (varying from four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half feet thick, and numbered 8 in the sections). It was from takinu: the levels of this last bed at xVlbion Falls, Hamilton and Dundas, that I estimated the dip at 25-5 feet in the mile, in direction, about twenty degrees west of south. Loc- ally, however. I found the dip sometimes amounting to 37 feet. The distances of the sides of the triangle formed by the three stations above named, were taken from the large county map. The calculation agreed closely with that made from the approxi- mate height of tlie base of the formation at Limehouse, and that known at Dundas, and taking the direction of the dip to be that found by the above mentioned triangle. At Limehouse the surfaces of some of the strata are almost as irregular as those of the Medina at Dundas. On the north side of the Dundas Valley the rocks in some places are almost hori- zontal, but again they are found dipping a few feet in the mile to the northward. This being the case, generally, would make 150 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. the Dundas Valley an anticlinal valley, with the slope in each side less than one degree. Character of the Rocks. — In New York the lower part of the Niagara formation is represented by 80 feet of dark Ibssilifer- ous calcareo-argillaceous shales ; at Thorold, Ontario, these are much thinner, and at Hamilton and Dundas they are not repre- sented by more than from six to ten feet of muddy sediments (No. 9 of sections), whose upper portions graduate into more calcareous beds. The iieneral character of the series at the western end of Lake Ontario may be repn^sented by the follow- ing section in descending order : (a) Thin beds of dark (often limestone and earthy) dok)- mites, with shaly partings. Some layers are fossiliferous. . 132 feet. (h) Thin beds of light-colored dolomitic rocks, containing an abundance of cherty nodules ; fossiliferous 19 feet. (c) Dark blue or gray shaly dolomites; fossiliferous 16 feet. (c^) Dolomitic compact shales 10 feet. (e) Light drab crystalline compact dolomite, in one bed. 5 feet. (/) Dark gray compact dolomite, in moderately thick beds, the lowest of which contains Pentamerus. 10 feet. At Limehouse, only the lower beds are exposed near their junc- tion with the underlying Clinton rocks. Here the deposits con- sist of liglit colored dolomites, of uniform texture in thick compact beds, holding only casts of fossils. The representatives of this formation irj Ohio consist of the Dayton limestone of five feet in thickness, succeeded by 60 feet of shales, over wiiich there are 180 feet of limestones, and in Highland County the series is surmounted by 30 feet of sand- stone. In referrinir to these western beds, we find included the Cedarville limestones, beds which are considered of the same horizon as the Guelph dolomites. The color of the limestones becomes liuhter on i:;oing' westward, especially after turning a point at Dundas, w^hich formed a right-angled prominent cape in the sea of the Niagara period. Even within a few miles, near Dundas, one can notice the lighter color of the purer calcareous deposits, and at Lime- house, to the north-west of the old cape, coloring matter and shale are almost wanting. Composition and Chemical Analysis of the Limestones. — The Niagara limestones, in Canada, consist almost entirely of the double carbonates of lime and magnesia, with a varying per- No. 3.] SPENCER PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 151 centa2;e of clay, free sand and silicates of the nlkaline earths. Sometimes, however, there is an excess of carbonate of lime over what is required for the producrion of the double carbonate. Under the microscope this excess of calcite is seen occupying the small spaces between tlie more uniibrmly crystalline particles of dolomite. The quantity of iron is generally small, and present in the state of protoxide, though in some of the beds it occurs as pyrites. Bituminous coloring matter is present in many of the strata, and in a number of beds it occasionally fills small cavities. There are but few beds east of Dundas which have not a con- siderable quantity of earthy matter present. The shales in this region differ from limestones only in the larger quantity of clay and other silicates present in place of the calca- reous matter, for they all contain a large percentage of carbonate. In fact many of the beds are of an intermediate character, that it is difficult to decide whether to call them earthy limestones or calcareous shales. Of several beds at Hamilton. I made the chemical analyses, together with a microscopic examination. A few of the results are here iriven. Anali/sis J. — The sample was taken from near the base of the series (No. 7 of section) at the -'Jolly Cut," Hamilton. Under the microscope only a mass of transparent particles of dolomite, separated by dark amorphous earthy matter, was visible. Calcium carhonate 4G-6 Magnesium carhonate 36-5 Ferrous carbonate ] -7 Calcium silicate -^ Magnesium silicate / ' ^ Alumina 4-4 Silica 6-7 Moisture (i-H 99-8 c Anali/.sis II. — This analysis represents the composition of the thick bed of light gray dolomite (No. 8 of section) at the "Jolly Cut," Hamilton. The rock is liighly crystalline, and shows crystalline plates of criuoids and shells, but seldom contains complete casts of fossils. Under the microscope it shows a mass of crystalline semi-transparent particles of dolomite, full of small cavities, which are often lined or filled with pure calcite, conse- quently the carbonate of lime is in excess. This bed contains 152 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. many large cavities of several inches extent filled with foreign minerals, which will be noticed further on. Calcium carbonate 59-7 Magnesium carbonate 38 2 Alumina and oxide of iron 1-5 Silica 0-4 99-8 Analysis III. — The bed from which this sample was taken is about five feet nbove No. 8 of section, and is one of the harder and more compact layers (No. 9 of section) of that por- tion of the geological horizon which I have identified as the Niagara shales at the ''Jolly Cut," Hamilton. It is said to produce hydraulic cement, but if so it would be of inferior quality. Calcium carbonate 33-8 Magnesium carbonate 25-2 Calcium silicate 6-6 Magnesium silicate 2-7 Alumina 5-1 Ferrous carbonate 1-8 Ferric oxide 1-6 Ferrous disulphide (Pyrites) 1-9 Silica 20-0 98-7 Andlysis IV. — The sample for this analysis was obtained from the ' Cheit bed " (No. 12 of sections). The portion taken was free from cherty concretions, as these portions would be nearly made up of pure silica. Under the microscope there was only the usual crystalline structure of the dolomitic particles peparated by dark earthy matter. Calcium carbonate 46-6 Magnesium carbonate 38-9 Calcium silicate Magnesium silicate Ferrous oxide 0-8 Alumina 2-4 Silica 93 I 2-8 100-8 A large number of other specimens were examined under the microscope, but they were all of essentially the same structure, No. 3.] SPENCER — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 153 and more or less homogeneous, except some of the more flaggy beds wlieie the crystalline calcareous matter was deposited in alternating layers with the more eartliy matter. As many of the dark beds are colored with bituminous matter some of the calcareous rocks burn to a white lime. By way of comp;ning the Niagara rocks in Canada, with those in Ohio, I here quote several analyses of the limestones of this formation in that State, as made by Profesisor Wormley. I. Calcium carbonate 85.50 Magnesium carbonate 11.16 Calcic & magnesic silicates. Alumina and iron 2.00 Siliceous matter 2.20 II. III. IV. V. 54.45 50.90 55.50 54.20 42.23 39.77 7.07 1.19 43.28 44.80 0.40 0.30 0.10 2.00 .70 0.60 0.80 100.86 99.08 99.63 99.68 99.90 Anahjsts of the Shdles. — As noticed before, the Niagara shales are analoirous to the limestones where the calcareous matter is partly replaced by argillaceous material. Awiljjais V. — The sample here examined was from one of the most shaly layers (No 9 of the sections) of the shaly portion of the formation at the "Jolly Cut," Flamilton. Under the microscope the earthy matter seemed to be held together by the crystalline particles of dolomite. Calcium carbonate 29-4 Magnesium carbonate 23-9 Calcium silicate -w Magnesium silicate / Ferrous oxide O-Q. Ferric oxide 1-6 Alumina 150 Silica 24-4 99-7 The following analysis of the Niagara shale of Ohio was made by Professor Wormley : Calcium carbonate 3400 Magnesium carbonate 30 87 Calcium silicate 8-48 Alumina and iron 8-40 Silica 12.21 Water (combined) 5.40 99-36 Vol. X. k2 No. 3. 154 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Source of the Mechanical Deposits. — From the character of the rocks and their distribution in the Niagara period, as seen by glancing at a map of the Palaeozoic Geography of America, we see that the mechanical sediments (shaly matter), of the northern and north eastern margin of the old inland sea came principally from the Canadian highlands. The Hudson River group formed the shore line of most places, from the beginning of the Medina epoch, both in New York and Canada as well as along the " Cincinnati Arch." The eastern portion of the Pro- vince of Ontario was covered by the limestones of the Trenton group ; the central portion, b^' the great accumulation of dark Utica shales^ and these last by shales with intercalated limestones and sandstones of the Hudson epoch, extending nlong their western margin, and forming the north-eastern shores of the sea, as de- veloped at the beginning of the Silurian Age (proper), in the region from what is now the western end of Lake Ontario to Oeorgian Bay. It may be noticed that the limit of the Utica shales is not west of the meridian of the Niagara River. At the close of the Cambro-Silurian Age the deposits belonging to that period extended much farther southward than at presejit, probably to a latitude not far north of the southern shores of Lake Ontario — at least, in its eastern extension, [t was in this soft material that the lake basin was subsequently excavated, the erosion having extended but a few miles into the Niagara limestones, and their underlying shales, and left the escarpment in bold relief. Now, on examining the sediments south of the Canadian shores of those days, we find only thin beds of shale in the more eastern deposits, but these gradually thicken in extending westward, until, in the neighbourhood of Rochester, they amount to 80 feet (the place being south of the shores composed of Utica shale) ^ Again, the shales begin to thin out at Thorold, Ontario, where they amount to fifty feet, while thirty miles westward, as at Dundas, they are only a few feet thick, and almost entirely dis- appear after turning the ancient Cape and passing west of the line from this town to Lake Huron, as the waters, there, were protected from the muddy eastern currents. The northern end of the sea was not subjected to the influx of mud to any extent, us in that direction the shores were adjacent to the old crystal- line tlurouian and other mountains. However, more shales make their appearance in the western area, having been derived No. :i.] SPENCER — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 155 from the somewhat sh.ily Hudson ojroup of the 'Cincinnati Arch," or, perhaps, from the margins of Medina shales that may have existed on the south-western island coast. Of course in the eastern portion of the old sea much shale came from the disin- tegrations of tlie other Appalachian highlands. During the Medina epoch, in this region, five hundred feet of shales were carried down into the eastern or north-eastern portion of the sea, while only twenty feet of sediments were deposited to the south- westward. Again, the turbid waters in tlie Clinton epoch interrupted periodically the growth of impure organic calcareous beds, while the western portion of the old sea was nearly free from the influx of mud. Character of the Marine T^ideration nearly 200 species of fossils have been obtained from the beds of the Niagara group, yet the collector may spend days and obtain a mere handful of specimens to re- ward him for his trouble. It may be noticed here that there is a bed near the top of the series at Dundas, several feet thick, that appears to be made up of breccia, the fragments being derived from older portions of the adjacent rocks. During the long period required for the deposition of the lime- stones, the character of the organisms which inhabited the sea was subject to some important changes. One of these conspicu- ous periods has le^t its stamp in the " Chert beds," which are classed as No. 12 of the sections. The average thickness of this series of thin beds of limestone, filled with numerous concretions of cherty material, is eighteen or nineteen feet. The limestones are dolomites, as is shown by the previous an- al3'sis. By far the greater proportion of concretions show no organic structure, but yet, such large numbers when broken, show the internal sections of sponges, which mostly belong to the genera of AstijJospnngia and Aulocopiua^ that the origin of the siliceous nodules is at once apparent. On some portions of the brow of the escarpment, both at Hamilton and Dundas, these beds form the summit, and as the surface soil of the rocks weather, just beneath what is only a few inches of soil, the com- plete forms of the sponges become exposed by the action of the frost and of the plough. The sponge life was very considerable, that it could have ajBForded a sufficient source for so much soluble silica as to have produced the enormous amount of chert found in these beds. We know also that the variety of species was considerable. Nor was the sponge-life all that adorned the sea at that time. These beds are by far the richest in variety of species, from the lowest radiates to the higher types of life that are found in the Niagara series. It is also worthy ol' notice that it is in this small series that the greater portion of the rich GrapfoUfe Jauvdj to be described in a succeeding paper, is found. Just beneath these beds (No. 11 and 10 j which are more shaly in character (of which the upper strata are known as ''blue building beds"), we find our greatest number of T^riV^o- lites together with the high-type Crustacean, Pterogotas cana- densis (Dawson), recently discovered by Col. Grrant. No, 3.] SPENCER — PALiEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 157 Another conspicuous epoch in the history of the ancient sea is ni;irked by tlie great bed of dolomite (No. 8 of section). At no time was the sea so free from the influx of mechanical sedi- ments. This bed with a thickness of about five feet forms an enduring monument for the myriads of crinoids whose remains most largely led to its formation, although subsequently it has absorbed magnesia, which in the re-crystallization of its mole- cules has obliterated all but the fragments of the oriiiinal sesification of the mineral com- position of the different orders of shells: (a) Crustacea. — The mineral matter of crustaceans consists of calcite hardened on the surface with phosphate of lime. (i) Cephalopoda — These shells are made up of aragonite together with a small amount of phosphate of lime. (c) Gasleropoda. — In most of these genera the shell is wholly made up of aragonite, but in some the outer layer consists of calcite. (c?) Lamellihranchiata. — In many species of this group the tests are composed wholly of aragonite, in some entirely of calcite, whilst other shells have their inner layer of one material and the outer of the other. {e) Brachiopodaj are composed wholly of calcite. (y) Echinodermata. — Here the mineral matter is calcite. (y) Polyzoa are composed of various mixtures of both minerals. (A) Hydroida and true corals are made up of aragonite — the former class having a small quantity of phosphate of lime. {€) Foramini/era are probably composed of calcite. The removal of the organic matter holding the particles of the shell together disturbs the stability of the structure, and not only causes it to crumble by the disintegration along the lines between the different minute crystals, but also hastens a. subsequent re-arrangement of the molecules into larger and less constrained crystals. Especiiliy is this the case with fragments- of aragonite which soon take the form of calcite, as is shown by the experiment of Mr. Sorby, where powdered coral (aragonite) kept for only a few weeks in water began to change into tlie con- dition of calcite. Moreover, this is not only an experimental test under favorable circumstances, but it is found that the modern limestones now forming about some of the West Indian Islands, have in places entirely lost or are losing the natural forms of the organic fragments of which they are composed. Again, the No. 3.] SPENCRR — PALAEOZOIC GEOLOGY. 159 •disintegrated fragments, which are assuming the more crystal- line condition have their interspaces filled with carbonate of lime dissolved in the water, which was probably derived from the orijj:inal material of the shells. If the organic remains be included in a matrix of the same color, not only the form but also the certainty of its former pres- ence in any position is apt to be lost. P]specially is this the case with the corals and shells which are composed of aragonite. However, if the surfaces of the organisnis were covered by thin layers of some foreign matter, as pyrites or mud, the former may still be preserved, but the place occupied by the structure will be found to have a more highly crystalline structure than the matrix itself, as the carbonate of lime of the shells, not having a great surface exposed by being broken into fragments, has more time for gradual re-arrangement of molecules, and, consequently, larger and more perfect crystalline forms are produced. This is found to be particularly the case with Lamellibrauchiate shells (aragonite) in the rocks of the Niagara group at Hamilton, where only the remains of casts, procured in the manner just described are to be found, although some beds indicate that they were originally made up of a mass of these shells. The best pre- served frairments of organic structure in our rocks are stems of erinoids, but these are generally re-crystallized, although they were even at first in the forms of small crystals of calcite. The corals generally have become silicified but the forms are so far changed as to show that the original calcareous matter was re-crystallized before its replacement with silica was accom- plished. Some of the Graptolites are well preserved owing to the large amount of corn(;ous matter that may have arrested molecular change. From obscure casts some of the beds of limestones appear to have been derived from Orthocerata. Brachiopods are the commonest fossils retaining any of their original appear- ance. Polyzoa are fairly preserved, especially in the " Chert bed," where also a few Gasteropoda retain their calcareous structure. In fact nearly all the fossils arc better preserved in the " Chert bed" than elsewhere. This fact may in some way be accounted for owing to the presence of soluble silica derived from the sponges having cemented the calcareous plates together at the time when the animal matter of the structures was being gradually removed, for many of the fossils seem to be saturated with siliceous material. 160 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vo]. X. The obliteration of the ori^innl cnlcareous oriranisms was com- pleted by the physical chanues which resulted in the combination of the c.ilcareous matter, with the ma," whilst in the Bar- ton well the red shales are underlaid by " bluish and grayish shales," which probably belong to the Hudson Biver group. It must be remarked that the Dundas well is not far beyond the turn in the bend of the Niagara escarpment, which I have designated by the name of ancient Cape Dundas. In the pre- vious Beport attention has been frequently called to the fact that all the shaly deposits decrease, and those which are calcareous increase the moment that we pass around the provisionally called Cape Dundas. In proceeding northward the Medina shales thin out and are last seen at Cabot's Head, and, according to Dr. Bell, are entirely ab^-ent from the series in the Manitoulin Island. Therefore this diiference of about 60 feet is one of thickness and not of error. It was also noticed that in proceeding south-west- ward towards Ohio, that the Medina shales almost entirely dis- appear. Had I known of the existence of the well in Barton at the time that I took the levels over the adjicent localities, it would havo given an additional point for correcting the estimate of the dip. The altitude of the place, about a quarter of a mile north- east of the well, is 435 feet above Lake Ontario, while at a quarter of a mile to the eastward, it is 421 feet, on a surface of rocks. Calculating from these data, the dip would be between 22 and 27 feet in a mile, but as the well is between the.se two points, we can retain our old estimate of 25.4 feet in a mile, having a direction of 20 degrees west of south. 172 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. THE GEOLOGY OF ST. IGNACE ISLAND, LAKE SUPERIOR. By Charles Robb, Mining Geologist, Montreal. (^Read before the Natural History Society ^ Feb. 27, 1882.) The region bordering on the North or Canadian Shore of Lake Superior is dail)- rising into iujpoitance both in a scientific and practical and, I may add, in an gestlietic point of view ; afiFord- ing, as it does, ample scope for the investigations of the geologist and naturalist, the explorations and operations of the miner, and the delectation of the tourij^t and artist in search of health and of the picturesque in nature. Not very many years ago this region was reg-ardcd as remote and almost inaccessible; but the modern facilities for travel, and the ever active and expansive growth of commerce and civilization, are rapidly bringing it within the reach of all; and a new interest has very recently been added to it, by the I'act that the Canada Pacific Railway will, it is hoped, within a few years be constructed along, or near its shores. Already the South Shore of this great lake, for a considerable part of its extent, is occupied by a numerous, thriv- ing and rapidly increasing population. It is to be feared that our side, in consequence of numerous and insurmountable natural obstacles, can never compete with the American in that respect; but, notwithstanding the extremely rugged and sterile nature of the country, enough remains in its mines and fisheries, and in its grand and beautiful natural features, to make it a place of great interest and importance. During the cour.se of last summer I had occasion to visit pro- fessionally and spend about three months on the Island of St. Ignace, one of the largest of the out-lying islands on the North Shore, where I was engaged with a small party in mining explor- ations, or rather in searchinu' for mineral veins which miu,ht serve as a basis for mining operations, on a ten square mile location, lying at the south-ea.^tern extremity of the island, and belonging to the Quebec and Lake Superior Mining Association of this The paper was illustrated by maps and numerous specimens. No. 3.] ROBB — GEOLOGY OF ST. IGNACE ISLAND. IT.j city. Partly to aid in the object of my visit and partly with the idea thnt it might be interesting in a scientific point of view, I took occasion to make a somewhat minute and careful o-eolo- gical and topographical examination of the coasts «»f the location, which are, in fact, almost the only parts available or accessible for such a purpose; and I have thought the results mi^ht be of Fufficient interest to lay before this Society, having been invited ;!nd encouraged by our worthy president. Dr. Dawson, to do so. So I'ar as I am aware, no minute or detailed examination has hitherto been made of this island, or indeed of any part of the North Shore of Lake Superior. Many important points in regard to its structure are involved in considerable obscurity from the want of such details; and I hop?d that my humble efforts might .serve as a contribution, however slight, to such knowledge, and as an addition to the general stock of information on the subject. The Island of St. Ignace is, as already stated, one of the three largest on Lake Superior; the largest, Isle Koyale, is on the American side, or at least claimed by and conceded to the State of Micliigan, and the other two, Michipicoten and St. Ignace, are very nearly the same size, or about 16 miles long b}' 8 miles in width, or 128 square miles area. The Island of St. Ignace fronts the mouth of the Nipigon River, being separated therefrom by a wide bay or channel ; and is distant about 230 miles from Sault St. Marie, at the eastern end of the Lake, which is here nearly 100 miles wide. In approaching St. Ignace from the east, one is at once struck, at the distant view, with the change from the some- what tame and monotonous contour of the Laurentian and Huronian hilis, to the extremely rugged and picturesque outlines of the Volcanic Mountains; and a closer inspection suffices to show these features in all their wild grandeur. Being still, for the most part, unexplored and very rarely visited, and being entirely devoid of human occupants, it is almost in a wilderness condition, and is exceedingly rough, rocky and mountainou.- , and being, moreover, densely covered with timber, undeibrusa, mat- ted roots, moss, etc., it is very dilficuit to penetrate into the interior. The coast is also much exposed to the storms from the lake, and is generally fringed with steep rocky cliffs, rising abruptly from the deep waters of the lake, but varied frequently by bays and beaches ; and the numerous small islands and pro- jecting promontories existing along its southern shores afford occasionally deep and sheltered harbors, althougii, by roson of 174 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. the sunken rocks, much caution and vigilance have to be exer- cised in approaching them by bouts. The camping ground whicli was selected by me, towards the south-eastern end of the location, is a good example of one of these harbors, and is ia fact the only safe one on the place. The geological structure of this part of the island (and I bwilcve it is nearly the same throughout) is extremely simple, and will be readily understood. A deep bay running north and south, (8t. Ignace Bay) and forming the eastern boundary of the loca- tion, cuts the rocks transversely and affords an excellent natural Fection. The rocks belong to what is designated by Sir William Logan the upper group of the Upper Copper-bearing Rocks of Lake Superior, corresponding to the Keeweenian Formation of Dr. Hunt; and are regarded by Sir William as the equivalents of the metalliferous rocks of the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, which he has denominated the Quebec Group of the Lower Silurian system. They form part of the same series in which the great native copper mines of the South Shore of the Lake have been opened up; and there seems no reason to doubt that they are of volcanic origin. The rocks of the location under notice are probably at the extreme upper part of the formation. The prevailing rock of the country is a granular amygdaloid trap or melaphyre,* consisting of a small-grained mixture of dark brown feldspar, with angular grains of dark-green chloritic mineral, probably delcssite. It varies frequently in its structure, and the upper part, to which this notice refers, contains amyg- dules, or small spherical masses or nndules of calcspar and deles- site. To this it may be added that quartz, chiefly in the form of agate, jaspar and amethyst, is of frequent occurrence in the amygdules, as also epidote, prehnite and laumontite, with vari- ous zeolite minerals. It is to this rock also that the metals would seem chiefly to belong; such as copper and silver, both native and sulphuretted, also magnetic and specular iron ; although workable deposits of these metals are only to be looked for in veins traversing the rocks, or at the planes of junction between them and another description of rock; and it is to be remarked that the vein stones are always composed of the same minerals as are found in the amygdules. * According to the description given ])y Mr. Thomas Macfarlane, of corresponding rocks occurring at Mamainse. See this Joornal, Vol. VII No. 3.] ROBE — GEOLOGY OF ST. IGNACE ISLAND. 175 The amygdaloid trap, although uot of seJimeutary origin, in the ordimry acceptation of the term, is regularly bedded, hav- ing a very distinct dip to the south, at an angle of ab »ut 13" ; and is overlaid, at numerous points, by a compact, very hard and heavy, finuly-erystalline trap or greenstone, or it may be diabase or basalt. Which of these is the more correct term, I confess I am not sufficient of a mineralogist to determine, nor could it be accurately determined without an ;in ;lysis. It is probablv com- posed of the same mineral ingredients as the body of the amyg- daloid trap, but with a very difierent texture and appearance; and is entirely devoid of the characteristic amygdules or small rounded masses of foreign minerals which occur so copiously iu tbe other rock. This overlying rock is, I believe, tliat which, by tiie South Shore miners, is always designated as Greenstone, and it is there well understood that it is generally at or near its junction with the underlying amygdaloid trap that the produc- tive metalliferous veins or deposits are to be found. In the present case it overlies the amygdaloid in numerous isolated knobs, patches and ribs, distributed along the eastern shore of the location, and some of the small outlying islands, standing out in bold precipitous bluffs and precipices, sometimes about 100 feet high, plunging into the deep waters of the lake; the intervening spaces being excavated by the waves into deep bays terminated by gravel beaches. In some instances the masses of crystalline trap or greenstone are abruptly termin;.ted downwards, at or very near the level of .the lake; and their planes of junction with the amygdaloid are distinctly visible at that point, maintaining the regular dip of the amygdaloid beds, although the greenstone itself shows no tendency 10 a bedded structure. In other instances there appears to be a sort of passage between the two — I mean only in so far as their distinctive mineral characteis are coiicerned. In two places the greenstone assumes a b.isaltic columnar structure ijoth vertical and horizontal; and the surfaces of the rock^ are there sometimes found to be coated with pitchstone, or p'^rhaps the rare mineral tachylyte, as suggested to me by Dr. Harrington. By reason of the hardness and extremely refractory nature of the crystalline trap, the masses exposed on the shores of St. Ignace Bay stand up conspicuously above the general level of the amygdaloid, with steep mural faces to the north; forming ridges running inland in a due. westerly direction, conformably 17l3 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. with the strike of the amygdaloid beds. I had no opportunity of observing, in most instances, how far they extend inland ; but in two cases they are distinctly terminated at a very short dis- tance from the shore — the serrated and indented aspect of which is doubtless due to the resisting qualities of the harder rock acting like the enamel on a tooth, ^Yith perhaps two exceptions which I shall proceed to notice, the crystalline trap masses cannot bt; regarded as intrusive, as supposed by Sir William Lo^an, at least not at this place. The impression conveyed to my mind by the whole phenomenon — if I may be allowed to theorize — wa.> that the materials of the amygdaloid had been first ejected in the form of volcanic mud or allies, and thereafter overflowed by a fluid current of molten matter of nearly the same chemical constitution, but very diff"erent mechanical properties, filling up cracks, fissures and depressions in the original surface, and there- after denuded, leaving only such portions as we now find in the form I have attempted to describe. One very notable exception (or perhaps two) to this arrange- ment has to be remarked. I refer to the existence of a iireat dyke of the same hard crystalline trap, undoubtedly penetrating the amygdaloid in a nearly vertical direction to an indefinite depth, and also extending indefinitely inland to the west, parallel to the strike, in a perfectly straight line, and preserving a uniform thickness of about sixty teet. It is of a transversely horizontal columnar or rather sub-columnar structure, the columns lying truly at right angles to the direction of the dyke, and dipping south at an angle of 7*^', or exactly at right angles to its down- ward direction, which deviates to this extent from the perpen- dicular. The dyke juts out boldly into the deep waters of St. Tgnace Bay about the ceatre of the location ; and, no doubt, together with the hardness of the adjacent masses of crystalline trap, has been the cause of the existence of the great pro- jecting cape of am3'gdaloid to the north, by protecting it from the wasting action of the waves. It is flanked on either side by veins of a remarkably promising character for silver and copper ; the vein-stone, which is entirely diff"Lrent from the inclosing rocks, although containing fragments of them, being composed of quartz, calcareous spar, baryta, laumontite, prehnite and much chloritic matter, together with garnets, native silver in very fine loose particles, and vitreous copper ore. It was to these veins, after discovering them, that I chiefly directed my attention in No. 3.] ROBB — GEOLOGY OF ST. IGNACE ISLAND. 177 connection with the nvnn object of my visit to the islancl, but the details of these operations I do not propose to describe on the present occasion. This dyke may have been filled, like the other crystalline trap masses, from above ; but I am more inclined to the opinion that it was injected or intruded from below, and may, in fact, have been the vent from which the others were supplied ; for wliicli latter opinion I have some special reasons which I shall submit further on. There is another somewhat similar, but evidently much less important dyke, occurring near our camping ground, and running in an entirely different direction, but it is unnecessary now to do more than merely mention its existence. Towards the southern end of the loc itim, and also in one of the small outlying islands, red sandstone^, breccias and conglo- merates appear to overly the amygd.iloid in sniill detached patches ; but I have no doubt that these mark only the basset edge or northern extremity of a great mass or stratum of the same character, forming the bed of the 1 ike and extending inde- finitely southwards under it. Associated with these at the locality under notice occur enormous masses of purphyi itic ti'ap, to which, as being a rather remarkable rock both for its scientific or geognosic interest and for its beautiful appearance, especially when polished, I desire to direct your speci il attention. Although not apparently a bedded or i ven a jointed rock, it occurs inter- laminated with the red sandstones, or at least distinctly overlying them in regular planes of junction, cotiforming with the dip of the sandstone, which is 30*^ to 40*^ to the south. It is also seen at one ph>ce conspicuously to overlie the amygdaloid (which here dips at the same higher angle) conformably at or near the water level, at the base of a high beetling clilf of the porphyrj^, the signi- ficance of which facts I shall presently j^roeeed to explain. The same rock occupies uninterruptedly, for about two miles, almost the etitire southern limits of the location, forming a succession of bold headlands fronting on Lake Superior; and is succeeded ia going west by the underlying red breccias. From these facts, I think it will undoubtedly be obvious that the porphyry bt longs to, and is newer than the sandstones and auiygdaloids lying to the north of it. Tiiese rocks I take to be the same as those described by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, in his able "Report on the Trap Dykes and Azoic Kocks of South-Kastern Pennyslvauiaj 1878," which are Vol. X. M No. 3. 178 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. by him stited to be highly charncteristic of the Huronian series, and his description seems to me to be so exactly applic.ible to the present c.ise, that I shall take the liberty of quoting it, together with a summary of his inferences and conclusions; al- though my own deductions may be somewhat at variance with his as to their relations with tlie surrounding rocks. In the above-mentioned Keport, page 192, Dr. Hunt says: " Felsites and felsite-porphyries are well-known in eastern Massa- chusetts, and may be traced from Macchias and Eastport in Maine along the southern coast of New Brunswick to the head of the Bay of Fundy, with great uniformity of type, although in every place sub- ject to considerable variations, from a compact jasper-like rock to more or less coarsely granular varieties, all of which are often porphy- ritic from feldspar crystals, and sometimes include grains and crystals of quartz. The colors of these rocks are generally some shade of red varying from flesh-red to purple ; pale-yellow, gray, greenish and even black varieties are, however, occasionally met with. These rocks are throughout this region distinctly stratified, and are closely associated with dioritic, chloritic and epidotic strata. They apparently belong, like these, to the great Huronian series." Again, speaking of the same rocks, at page 198, he says: " These were compared with the similar strata along the Atlantic coast, from Rhode Island to New Brunswick, interstratified with rocks having the characters of the Huronian series, to which great division I have provisionally referred these bedded petro-silex rocks, with the suggestion that they probably occupy a position near the base of the series. These rocks were declared to be identical in lithological characters with the Halleflinta, or stratified flint-rock of the Swedish geologists, which is by them assigned to a horizon just above the more ancient or Primitive Gneiss ; and are important, as including in Norway, the most considerable deposits of crystalline iron ores. These same rocks are met with in various localities in the Huronian series, on the Upper Lakes, and are well displayed, as observed by the writer, in a small island lying a little to the south of St. Ignace Island, and for some distance along the shore to the adjacent mainland to the southwest. E])idote, chlorite and a steatitic mineral are occasionally met with in these petro-silex rocks, and magnetic and specular oxyds of iron occur disseminated, in interstratified masses and in veins inter- secting the strata." Again, at pages 229 and 232, he says: " The reader is now prepared to understand the significance of the question raised by the writer in 1871, as to the existence of the felsite or petro-silex porphyries in place in the Lake Superior region ; since these rocks, which had then been found by him to belong to the No. 3.] ROBB — GEOLOGY OP ST. IGNACE ISLAND. 179 Huronian series, occur in pebbles in the conglomerates of the Upper Copper-Bearing series. Besides the locality already mentioned," (the Albany and Boston Mines) "the great cupriferous bed of the Calumet and Hecla Mine is a remarkable example of a rock made up almost wholly of the ruins of these peculiar petro-silexes. In 1872, as already described, he found these rocks in situ on the north shore of Lake Superior." Referring to the small island, Ijinu* a little to the south of St. Ignace, lie further states at page 232 : " These rocks, from the lithological descriptions given, including the microscopic characters, and the results of chemical analysis, are evidently identical with the orthofelsites or petro-silex poryphyries previously described by the writer as characteristic of the Huronian series along the Atlantic coast, etc. They are the same with those discovered by him on the north shore of Lake Superior, and which enter so largely into the cupriferous conglomerates of the Keeweenian series, on the south shore of the lake." My inference from Dr. Hunt's remarks is, that he undoubtedly regarded these poipliyries, even where they occur "on a small island Ivinii; a little to the south of St. lunace," as beloii2;in-trong corroborative proof of the more recent age of the porphyry. If these rocks are Huronian, there must be an interval, according to Dr. Hunt's own figures, of at least 50,000 or 60,000 feet of strata between them and the rocks with which they are so intimately associated. This could hardly be accounted for by a fault, even if the rela- tive Conditions of the rucks could lend any countenance to such 180 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. a theory, wliich they do not. May not this, I would respectfully ask, be nn instance of the danger of yieldini^ undue prominence to lithological characteristics in determining the comparative age of rocks, in the absence of stratigraphical or palaeontological evidence ? Some of the high lands in the interior of the location are composed of a different and probably much more recent descrip- tion of eruptive or volcanic rocks than any of those described. Thus at a point about two miles from the southern and one mile from the eastern boundary (or lake shore), a mountain of tra- chyte or phonolite rises to an altitude oP from 800 to 1000 feet, in which tlure occurs a remarkable rift or cavity, evidently con- nected with the dykes or veins which traverse the subjacent rocks, thus proving that the origin of these latter is of a more recent date than that of all the rocks through which they have penetrated. I should add here, en parentlihe, that besides the great dyke and associated mineral veins which I have noticed as occurrinir here, there are distinct traces of the former existence of a great parallel vein, or set of veins immediately to the south, which, by breaking up the continuity of the rocks and thereby weakening them, have given rise to the remarkable deep bay lying immediately to tlie south. I have referred to a line of weakness and probable rupturing of the rocks eastwards from the areat rift, fissure or crater in the trachyte mountain, giving origin to the deep peculiar shaped bay, which I have called Mines Bay. If we trace the same line still further eastwards to the other side of the bay, we find a deep narrow channel between the south end of Harrison's Loca- tion and Bead's Island to the Chenal Ecart^, running up from Lake Superior to Nipigon Bay. This narrow channel probably owes its origin to the same cause, namely, the weakness of the rocks forming its bed ; and we may also observe that tlie same metalliferous veins which have been discovered and partially explored on Harrison's Jjocation, correspond in position and direction with those which I have recently discovered, without beinir aware of this relation, on the main land of St. It, to the coasts of New Jersey, would thus become the mark of the southern limit of the subsidence, or of the line along which the cold currents bearing ice were abruptly cut off by warm surface waters. Whatever difficulties may attend such a supposition, they are small compared with those attendant on the belief oi'a continental No. 3.] THE PETER REDPATH MUSEUM. 185 REPORT ON THE PETER REDPATH MUSEUM OF McGILL UNIVERSITY. Prepared hy Principal Dawson for the first meeting of the Museum Committee, March Wth, 1882. [In the terms of the gift of the Peter Redpath Museum to the University, it is provided that the immediate management of the Museum shall be entrusted to a " Standing Committee of the Corporation, to be called the Museum Committee, to consist of the Principal as Chairman, and three other members of the ^rpor- ation, with whom shall be associated the Logan Profifessor of Geology and the Professors of Mineralogy, Zoology and Botany, and of other departments of Natural History in the Faculties of Arts or Applied Science of McGill College, should there be such Professors. The Committee shall have power to appoint any of its members Honorary Curator or Curators of the Collections or of any part thereof, and to arrange the times at which different Professors and their classes may teach or study in the Museum." A Museum Committee was accordingly appointed by the Corporation of the University, at its meeting in January, 1882, and consists of the following members : The Principal (^ex officio') , Peter Redpath, Esq., Hon. Mr. Justice McKay, Dr. G. W. Campbell, Dr. B, J. Harrington (ex officio). The following report was presented by the Principal to the first meeting, with the object of placing on record the steps taken by him up to that time in his capacity of Curator of the Museum, under the regulations of the University.] The noble Museum, erected for the University by the muni- ficence of Mr. Redpath, has now so far advanced toward comple- tion, that it will probably be ready for the reception of specimens in May next, and it is extremely desirable that the collections to be contained in it shall be in as perfect a condition as possible at the time of the formal opening, which is intended to take place on the 24th of August, on occasion of the meeting of the American Association in Montreal. In view of these dates, it Vol. X. M 2 No. 3. 186 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. has been necessary to devote special time and attention for some months past to the arrangement and preparation of the specimens in the present Museum, and in the collections recently added to it by donation or purchase. The present report is intended to record the steps which have been taken or are in progress toward this end. ARRANGEMENT, LABELLING, ETC. In June. 1881, Mr. Thomas Curry was engaged to mount, label and otherwise prepare specimens, and has been steadily engaged in this work since that time. The expense of mounting materials has been charged to the Museum fund. Mr. Curry's salary has been paid by the liberality of a lady of this city, who has also placed at the credit of the Museum a sum sufficient to secure his valuable services for some time lomrer. Mr. P. Kuetzing has been employed, for a part of his time, to remount and renovate the specimens of vertebrate animals and to prepare some new specimens which have been purchased. He has up to this time been occupied more especially with the col- lection presented by the heirs of the late Dr. McCulloch. It is hoped that by the end of May he will have gone over the whole of the material of this kind possessed by the University and will have brought it up to a creditable condition. Dr. Harrington and myself have been giving as much attention as possible to the proper naming of the minerals, rocks and fos- sils, and to their orderly and systematic arrangement, preparatory to removnl to the cases of the new building. DONATIONS AND EXCHANGES. Under this head reference will be made to the principal con- tributions recently made to the collections, and more especially to those particularly intended for the Peter Red path Museum. Principal Dawson's collections in the Geology and Natural History of Canada are in process of being arranged and mounted, along with the other specimens. The conditions of this donation, approved by the Board of Governors, are, that the specimens, while not kept separate from the general arrangement, will be labelled with the name of the donor, and that he and Dr. G. M. Dawson shall have access to them for purposes of study, and with reference to their safe keeping. The total number of speci- No. 3.] THE PETER REDPATH MUSEUM. 187 mens in the collection cannot as yet be definitely stated, but is estimated at from six thousand to ten thousand specimens, besides much material available for exchanges. It may be stated here that for the p?ist twenty years the duplicates of this collection, and more especially of the new species described by Dr. Dawson, have been used in exchanges for the benefit of the Museum, and that a large part of the specimens now in the cases and drawers have been obtained in this way. The folio tving are among the more important of the other donations recently received : From the Director of the Geological Survey, about 500 speci- mens of fossils and minerals, :md twenty-three casts of large and unique fossils. From Dr. T. Sterry Hunt a collection of thirty-two species of Can;idian fishes, prepared by xMr. \V. Couper, of Montreal. From the heirs of the late Dr. McCulloch, the whole of his valuable collectionsof birds and mammals, including 170 species — a collection hiving an historical value, in connection with the labours of Dr. McCulloch and the revision of the nomenclature of the specimens by the late Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte. From George Barnston, Esq., a valuable collection of fossil fishes from the Devonian of Scotland. From Lieutenant-Colonel Grant, of Hamilton, Ontario, a large number of fossils from the Niagara formation, some of them of great rarity and interest. From the American Census Commissioners, a valuable collec- tion of American woods. From the New York Museum of Natural History, through Professor Whitfield, a collection of 700 specimens of fossils, named by Professor James Hall. In exchange for this a com- plete collection of the Devonian plants of Canada, from the collec- tions of the Principal and of Professor Hartt, has been given to the New York Museum. From Peter Redpath, Esq., the skull of a Greenland whale, with the baleen perfectly preserved. From Dr. G. M. Dawson, specimens of mammals from the N. W. Territories. From Dr. Spencer, of Kings' College, Windsor, specimens of fossils from the Niagara and Corniferous formations. In addition to these, valuable contributions have been received from the Smithsonian Institution, Prof. Marsh of Yale College, 188 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Charles Gibb, Esq., of Abbottsford, Professor Hilgard of Wash- ington, Captain J. A. Vibert, E. De Cew, Esq., of Cayuga, Mr. Damon of Weymouth, Mr. Chatfeld of Syracuse, Mr. F. Starr of Auburn, A. J. Hill, Esq., C.E., Charles Robb, Esq., J. G. Miller. Esq., Mr. H. M. Ami, J. F. Torrance, Esq., B.A., T. Bland, Esq.. of New York, J. F. VVhiteaves, Esq., Professor Cope of Philadelphia, W. S. Davidson, Esq., of Edinburgh, and others. Details of these gifts have from time to time appeared in the public prints and in the College Calendar. PURCHASES AND EXPENDITURES. In order to complete the collections in a manner worthy of the new building, and to make up for the loss sustained by the removal of the collections of the Geological Survey from Mont- real, it has been necessary to make some purchases and to engage the services of collectors to supply certain deficiencies. The collection of Devonian plants in the possession of the late Professor Hartt of Cornell University, at the time of his death, was purchased for $250. It has afforded .-i few new species which have been described, several good musv'^um specimens and materials for exchanges. Casts of fossils, models of animals and specimens, have been purchased from the collections of Messrs. Ward and Howell of Rochester, for $451. A few valuable and rare birds, not in our other collections, have been purchased of Mr. Passmore of this city for $55. The sum of $25 was expended in procuring a collection of the interesting silicified fossils of Paquette's Rapids, on the Ottawa. A collection of fossil fishes from the Cretaceous of Mt. Lebanon, has been pui'chased for $34. From E, De Cew, Esq., of Cayuga, an important collection of Corniferous corals, including some specimen^ of unusual size and perfection, was purchased for $50. Mr. De Cew also pre- sented some other fossils of interest from his own collections. The valuable services of James Richardson, Esq., late of the Geological Survey of the Dominion, were secured during the past summer, with the view of procuring specimens of some of the more rare and characteristic fossils of the Cambrian and Lower Silurian rocks. Mr. Richardson has engaged in this work without remuneration, and he was enabled to obtain a large number of valuable specimens at a very moderate expense. No. 3.] THE PETER REDPATH MUSEUM. 189 One of Professor Ward'n excellent copies of the great skeleton of the Megatherium in the British Museum, and a number of other larore casts have been contracted for and are to be de- livered in the course of next month. The net cost of these casts is $568, and with the frei^iiht and fittiuii; up it will amount to about $800. A number of smaller collections and single specimens have been purchased from time to time as opportunity offered. The expense of some of the above purchases has been borne by the Museum fund. The sums paid for the others have been advanced by the Principal. I have much pleasure in adding that several of the larger and more important specimens and collections referred to under this head are intended to form a memorial in the Museum to the late Sir W. Vj. Logan, and when the mounting of them has been com- pleted will be paid for by a donation from his heirs. Certain expenditures have been required on the grounds in the vicinity of the Museum. A portion of these have been de- frayed by the University ; but the greater part by private con- tributions, among which may be mentioned the donation of new and rare shrubs and trees by Cliarles Gibb, Esq. The arrange- ment of the grounds will be continued in the spring, but without any considerable expenditure. CONCLUDING REMARKS. The work of arranging, re-labelling and mounting specimens is so fai- advanced that we shall be able to occupy the Museum so soon as its cases can be fitted up. The cases have been contracted for by Mr. Roberts, and will, it is believed, be as nearly as possible perfect in tlieir arrange- ments for the protection and display of the specimens. Mr. Redpath has added to his other liberal gifts the provision of these cases at an expense of $10,000. The plan of the arrangement of the collections has been fully decided beforehand, with reference to the dimensions of the hall and the character and position of the cases. It is hoped that it will provide in the most effectual manner for the display of the specimens, along with the greatest possible facilities for their scientific study. The Museum will thus afford advantages for the study of Geology and Natural History not previously enjoyed in this country. 190 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Provision has been made on the ground floor for a large and well-arranged lecture theatre and two class-rooms, which will also afford space for reference collections for the use of lecturers and students, and for the herbarium. In the basement there is a large laboratory for the preparation ol' specimens, and ample space for the storage of material. It is proper to add that while Mr. Kedpath has kindly under- taken to bear the current expenses of the New Museum for a few years, no special provision exists for the work of teaching within its walls, except the very inadequate amount afforded by the endowment of the Logan chair of Geology. Endowments are urgently required for Mineralogy, Botnny and Geology, and it is hoped that the example of Mr. Redpath may stimulate other benefactors to supply these deficiencies. Aids of this kind would also relieve the general funds of the University. It should further be borne in mind that the erection and en- dowment of the Peter Redpath Museum affords an illustration of what may be done by other benefactors for the departments of Physical and Chemical Science, and for our Faculty of Applied Science. Each of these requires for its full development build- ings and endowments. In conueetiou with this I have pleasure in statins: that A. C. Hutchison, Esq., one of the architects of the Peter Redpath Museum, proposes to prepare a plan and elevation showing how the buildings required in the future for the above and other University purposes may be erected in due rela- tion to the present buildings, and in harmony with the plan of the new Museum. It is proposed that Reports on the Museum shall be printed from time to time, recording its progress ; and that in future these shall include lists and short descriptions of new species, and statements of new scientific facts which may be discovered. Some unpublished material already exists in the collections, and has been laid aside for description, and it is hoped that future reports may shew that the museum, in addition to its educational work, will be a means of advancing the knowledge of Canadian geology and natural history. No. 3.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 191 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY PROCEEDINGS. The third uieeting of the session 1881-82 was held od Mon- day eveuing, December 15th — Principal Dawson in the chair. The following gentlemen were proposed as ordinary members of the Society : Rev. Dr. Sullivan. D. J. Gieenshields. M. H. Gault, M.P. J. Hodgson. R. L. Gault. E. R. Greenshields. Geo. Sumner. G. A. Greene. Jacques Grenier. H. A. jSTeLson. R. Reford. H. Shorey. A. M. Cassils. Jas. Wilson. J. E. Moss. T. L. Harrison. Richard White. R. Wolff. Alfred Wright. Dr. Geo. Ross. Jno. McDougall. Jas. Ewan. Wm. Angus. W. Roacii. D. Morrice. Geo. Boulter. A. M. Foster. Benj. Tooke. J. W. Mills. Anthony Force. Thos. Trumble. Jno. Stirling. Alex. McPherson. A. F. Gault. E. W. Gnaedinger. A. S. Ewing. Jno. Beattie. Jno. Hope. J. C. Holdeu. W. T. Costigan. W. J. Ingram. Jas. Corristine. W. Tees. Hugh Graham. Fred. Boas. Jno. Fulton. A. Ramsav. J. W. Tester. Hugh Watson. Jas. Gardner. Jno. Lewis. Wm. McLaren Jas. Stewart. W. Wilson. J. R. Wilson. Geo. Hague. D. Yuile. Jos. Barsalou. Thos. Montgomery. M. McOready. Jno. Ogilvy. D. Torrance Eraser. J. B. Picken. R. C. Jamieson. S. H. Ewing. J. A. Harte. T. J. Dawson. Wm. Eward. Adam Darling. C. Cassils. S. C. Stevenson. J. H. Semple. C. McArthur. H. Birks. H. Saunders. Jno. Blyth. C. R. Black. Wm. Minto. Jno Fair. H. D. Moss. The members then adjourned to the museum, where the Cabinet-keeper pointed out changes and improvements that had been made, and called attention to specimens recently added. 192 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. The fourth meeting was held on 30th January. The Presi- dent occupied the chair. The gentlemen proposed at last meeting were elected, and the following proposed for election : Hon. J. R. Thibaudeau. Jas. Hutton. F. W. Hughes. Col. E. A. Whitehead. J. iS McLachlan. W. Simpson. 8. Greenshields. Robt. Linton. W. J. Patterson. Jas. Donnelly. E. N. Heney. P. J. Martin. A. Racine. J. A. Robertson. J. H. Starns. Jno. McLean. A. L. Lockerby. Jacob Wilson. R. W. McDougall. J. M. Kirk. Wm. Darling, jr. J. B. Sutherland. Geo. Lightbound. Geo. Bourgoin. Louis A. Brais. Arch. Carapbell. Reid Taylor. J. H. Mooney. G. R. Prowsc. a. W. Atwater. Geo. Barry. W McLea Walbank. A. N. De la Motte. Mr. Henry M. Ami, student-in-arts at McGill then read a very interesting paper on the " Utica Slate Formation in Canada," with special reference to the deposits occurring in the vicinity of Ottawa city, where the writer of the paper has been making investigations and collecting specimens for the past three years. In the course of the paper, the origin, the mode of deposition, the mineral and the lithologioul characters, ns well as the fossils of that formation, were considered. Some new and interesting notes on Triarfhus spinosus (Billings) were given. Several species were added to the Canadian list of fossils from the Utica slate. In the list of fossils appended to the paper, sixty-six (QQ) species were given as occurring in different localities throughout Canada of which only thirty-two have been previously recorded. It was also mentioned that in the United States the total number of species belonging to that formation, as recorded by Mr. C. D. Walcott was exactly one hundred, and that consequently the diligent searcher of Canada should be amply rewarded, as there remain still some thirty-four (34) species to fill up our list and make it as complete as that of the United States. Dr. Dawson then made some remarks concerning the whale at that time on exhibition in the city, showing the dilB&culty of classifying the whales on account of our meagre knowledge of specific characteristics. Total length of specimen is 48 feet. circumference 20 feet. Its head is 11 feet in length, with lower jaw wider and deeper than upper. [The balance of Proceedings to date is left over to next number through want of space.] Published 25th April, 1882. THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AM' ^uavterfy §0uvttal of Science. ON THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE BAIE DE CHALEUR REGION. By Rokert Chalmers. (Read before the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. Feby. 7th. 1882.) In a paper which I had the honor to read before this Society in March, 1881, on " The Glacial Phenomena of the Baie de ChaK'ur Region," * I described the glaciation of that district, so far as it came under my notice, and also treated of the distribu- tion of the till or glacial drift and the kame deposits within the same area. I now purpose bringing before you some fjicts relat- ing to the stratified marine clays and sands which form a series of deposits skirting that body of water and the estuaries con- nected with it, and shall also refer briefly to the recent forma- tions and the evidences of a subsidence of the land in the northern part of the Province. But first I shall advert to some additional observatiorjs made during the past summer on drift phenomena, chiefly in the di.strict referred to, as tending t© confirnj the conclusions arrived at in my previous paper, and shall note the localities where striae, till, etc., were met with for the first time. GLACIAL STRi^. On McPherson's farm, Charlo River, ledges of trap rock were seen, finely striated and rounded on the west side; direction of striae east and west, referring them to the true meridian to which all the bearings given in this paper are reduced. * Canadian Naturalist, Montreal, Vol. X.; No. ] . Vol. X. N No. *. 194 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. A mile fjirther east along the post road, scratches' were detected on similar rocks, having a course of east and west to north 70° east. All the scratches correspond with those previously observed in this vicinity. Between Belledune and Elm Tree Rivers the rocks are exten- sively glaciated along the line of the Intercolonial Railway, as stated in my former paper. A more detailed examination shows that scratches occur everywhere within this area down to the present shore of the Bay, the course being about south 80^ east. To a height of 75 or 100 feet above tide level, the more exposed rock masses have the striae obliterated, probably from the action of the sea when it stood higher relatively to the land, and these rocks were eroded by the waves and coast ice, and it is only od the low-lying ledges which have been protected by a covering of earth that the finer ice markings can be detected. Above the level stated the exposed rocks still bear traces of ice action in the moutonne form they present although they have been subjected to atmospheric wear for long ages. In Robertville, which lies in rear of Petite Roche, and also in the vicinity of the so-called Nigadoo silver mines, striae were found with nearly an east and west course. In the St. Louise settlement adjoining Robertville on the east striae were noticed trending north 85^ east to north 80*^ east. It would seem as if the ice sheet in its passage over this part of the district had been swerv- ing round from a course having a southerly bearing to one north of east. Southeast of the above-mentioned settlements in the area extending towards Bathurst and Nepisiguit River striae were observed in a jrreat many places, both on the front lots and also in the Dunlop, Dumfries and Tattagouche settlements, as far back from the coast as ten or twelve miles, with an average course of north 25^ east. In the immediate vicinity of Bathurst however, the striae have more northing and trend about north 20° east to north 22° east. All these striae aflford conclusive evidence, in the rounded form of the ledges on the southwest sides, and in other respects that they were produced by ice moving towards the northeast. They likewise show a convergence towards the depression known as Nepisiguit Bay. No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 195 TILL, OR BOULDER CLAY. In addition to the places mentioned in my former paper till was observed at Jacquet River, on the right bank near its mouth. Here it consists of a coarse, reddish clay and gravel derived from subjacent Lower Carboniferous rocks, and contains glaciated transported boulders. It is also met with on the west side of the mouth of Nigadoo River, forming the basal portion of a bluff on the shore. Also on the banks of the Tattagouche River, near Brown's mill, where it is coui posed principally of the dibris of the granite rocks occurring in the vicinity. The river has apparently worn a passage for itself through the till at some points, as it is seen on opposite sides of the stream. On the banks of the Nepisiguit there is evidently a consider- able bed of till. This was referred to in my former paper, but a further examination during the past summer showed that my remarks are applicable only to the upper portion of the deposit, and that the lower portion is a coarse, gray, granitic dihris packed with boulders, chiefly of granite, derived from the rocks of the neighbourhood. The foregoing data showing the occurrence of the till along the banks of the principal rivers would indicate that it must origin- ally have been deposited in these river valleys to a considerable depth, probably fillitjg some of them entirely, and that it has subsequently been denuded by the action of the streams, the deposits met with on their banks now being only remnants of the original mass. ERRATICS, OR LOOSE BOULDERS. Great quantities of loose boulders are strewn over the surface or embedded at a slight depth in the soil, within the region em~ braced in my observations. In general they appear to have been shifted eastwardly or northeastwardly from the original rock. It is often very difficult to trace them to their parent beds, but in the case of the granite blocks we know of only one source whence they could be derived, namely the granite belt running southwest- ward from B itliurst. Now in regard to these, it may be stated that they are strewn about on both sides of the granite axis, having been met with on the northwest side at Nigadoo River and even at Elm Tree, ten miles or more from their source, becoming scarcer however, the farther we recede from the granite 196 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. in situ. On the southeast side we find them along the Inter- colonial Railway and the old post road, scattered over the Carbon- iferous sandstones as far as the Miramichi River. Among these granite boulders we also find others of felsite, diorite^ etc, which appear to be derived from the ^ub-crystalline belt flanking the ;Q:ranite on the west. KAMES, OR SAND AND GRAVEL RIDGES. The kame in Restigouche, described in the paper already cited, was examined more closely during the past season, and it was found that its summit, at the western extremity, was 1 25 to 1 50 feet above sea level ; thence it decreased in height gradually towards the east till it ran out into a bluff on the Bay shore near Nash's Creek. Its general direction is nearly east and west, corresponding with the glacial strias in the vicinity, but it has several lateral branches, and in a few places is spread out into level areas or terraces. These branches are often concealed from view bv a coverin<»; of later deposits. Hollows, or kettle holes as they are called, were observed in this kame, especially where it flattens out, as at Black Lands and New Mills. The i;reat road from Nash's Creek to River Charlo, 11 to 12 miles, runs along its summit nearly all that distance. At the mouth of the Great Cascapedia River, in the Gasp6 peninsula, there is a scries of gravel hills, some of them assuming the appearance of ridges, which must originally have formed one continuous, well- developed kame. These hills were traced a distance of two to three miles along the left bank of the river, where they form blufi's which stand up "like a row of artificial ramparts," and increase in height as we ascend the stream. When I visited the locality last summer I had not time to follow this kame to its highest or northern extremity, but it probably extends up river a number of miles. Its average direction is about south southeast, corresponding with the course of the lower part of the river. Currents which ran transversely to its main direction have eroded it greatly in places previous to the deposition of the later stratified formations which cover it up on the eastern side to a considerable depth. The southern extremity of this kame projects into the Bay in a blufi" and exhibits a very interesting section of the deposits. The ridge is here 150 yards wide and about 40 feet in height above the beach. Like the Restigouche kame it is composed of loose No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 197 sand and gravel containin<^ water-worn pebbles, none of them exceeding a foot in diameter. At first sight I was much puz- zled with the discovery of marine fossils in the upper part of what was apparently the true kame deposits; but a closer exam- ination soon showed me that the fossils were embedded only to the depth of from 5 to 10 feet on both flanks, and that the cen- tra] portion, comprising the principal mass of the ridge, was unfos- siliferous. It was seen too that while this unfossiliferous portion consisted of loose materials without clay, the fossiliferous strata held the pebbles and shells in a compact gray paste. Saxlcava rugosa, et var. arctica, Mija fruncafa, var. UddevaUensis and Macoma Gronnlandica were the principal species observed, the first-named being the most abundant. The occurrence of fossils in this peculiar situation suggests the question whether these shells were entombed h»'re while the upper part of the kame was being deposited, or were they mingled with portions of it which were worked over by the sea subse- quently, during the Leda clay period, when the kame became submerged. The latter seems the probable view, but the sub- ject in my opinion, requires further investigation. To the east of the kame occur heavy deposits of fine stratified marine sands, underlaid still farther eastward by stratified clay, reddish above and blue or dark colored below, containing marine fossils of the above-montioned genera, and others. Thc-je marine deposits extend to the mouth of the Little Cascapedia River, three miles distant, forming terraces and concealing from view all the older formations. A small ajlacier confluent with the Buie de Chaleur ice sheet, probably occupied the valley of the Cascrpedia during the glacial epoch, and to its melting may be due the floods which produced the sand and gravel ridge just described. But, while attributing the formation of kames to rivers flowing over dissolving glaciers and transporting material which had accumulated on their sur- faces to lower levels, the relation of such deposits to the drainage systems indicates that, in this section of the country at least, such glacial rivers have not been independent of the present water courses. The Restigouche kame is just such a deposit as the Restigouche itself would have formed were it to debouch from the hills through the Eel River gap, at a level of 125 to 150 feet above its present channel, currying detritus to the flat country below ; and in a similar manner the Cascapedia kame might 198 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. bave originated from the action of that river. We can hardly conceive of these river valleys being filled with floods of water 125 to 150 feet above their present courses however, hence it is supposed that ice to that depth occupied them, and that the rivers flowed over its surface, laden with debris in sufl&cient quantity to form these ridges. Some of the physical conditions necessary to the formation of these deposits, therefore, apart from the theory of their glacial origin, seem to be : (1), a considerable drainage area, aff'ording probably a large flow of water independent of that supplied by the melting of the ice sheet; (2), a region sufficiently elevated to cause the waters to descend with great velocity; and (3), level, or comparatively level areas near the base of the hills, c lusing a slackening of speed in their flow and a deposition of transported material. At a greater distance than 12 to 15 miles from the elevated tract the kames disappear, and no traces of them have been observed in the flat district to the south. This cannot have arisen from lack of material to form these ridges, judg- ing from the quantity of debris of a similar character found along the rivers and in terraces ; but the physical conditions necessary for their development do not seem to have been favorable on the low level tracts. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE GLACIATION OP THE BAIE DE CHALEUR DISTRICT. From facts adduced in my paper on the glacial phenomena of this region, I endeavored to show that a local glacier of consider- able magnitude had once occupied the depression of the B de de Chaleur and estuary of the Restigouche, spreading to some extent over the district borderinsr these waters on the south, and that the different courses of the scratches found there, proved that it had been controlled in its passage eastward by the contour of that depression. The additional data obtained during the past summer, both in regard to glacial striae and transported material all tend to support the conclusions then reached. The average course of the Restigouche estuary is east northeast; the course of the western half of the Baie de Chaleur is east southeast or west northwest, and of its eastern half nearly east northeast or west southwest. With these bearinus the glacial striae indicate a tolerably close correspondence. The glacier seems to have moved eastwardly Irom the highland area in the northwebt of No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 199 New Brunswick, and from the Notre Dame Mountains. It was probably niade up of several smaller confluent glaciers, one flow- ing down the Restigouche valley from the highland regions on that river, another down the Metapedia valley from the Notre Dame Mountains, and a third down the Cascapedia valley from the Shickshock Mountains, besides others of lesser note, all coal- escing in the Baie de Chaleur basin. In the list of striae given in the Geology of Canada (1863), pages 890-92, scratches are noted as occurring on Kempt road, near Metaptdia Lake, with a course of south 80^^ east. Metapedia Lake is about 50 miles from the junction of the Metapedia river with the Restigouche. The particular exposure of these striae is not stated, but it is probable they have been produced by the glacier which occupied the Metapedia valley. No striae were detected by me in any part uf the Gaspe peninsula that I have visited, but the kame at tlie mouth of the Cascapedia, already described, may be con- sidered evidence of a local glacier once having occupied the valley of that river. The Baie de Chaleur ice-sheet must have overspread a portion of the Carboniferous area to the east and southeast of Bathurst, passing over it probably in a northeasterly direction. Although I did not detect any striae on the sandstones between the Nepi- siguit and Miramichi, so far as I examined them, yet the pres- ence of numerous boulders of granite and other rocks scattered over the surface, which have been derived from the metamorphic belt to the west, may be taken as evidence of their transport by ice moving in the direction indicated. At Weldford Station, on the Intercolonial Railway, which is about 75 miles south southeast from Bathurst, scratches occur on the Carboniferous sandstones having a course of nearly north by east or south by west. A considerable surface of rock was laid bare in this vicinity during the construction of the railway, exposing well defined striae. They are noteworthy as showing probably the general course of the ice-sheet which passed over the flat expanse of the coal measures of the Province — Weldlbrd being near the centre of this extensive triangular shaped area. These striae occur on a low water shed between the valley of the St. John and the Straits of Northumberland ; the Richibucto, running northeasterly from this point into the Straits, and the Salmon River southwesterly into Grand Lake. The height of the water shed is stated to be about 275 feet above sea level. 200 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. These striae, if produced by a continental glacier, would show its normal course in this part of New Brunswick unaffected by in- equalities of surface, as there are no elevations within many miles on either side by which it might be swerved. From their posi tion on the flat lediies, it was impossible to tell from a hurried examination, in which direction the ice moved, whether north- ward or southward. It is probable, however, that these strise have been made by a local glacier, and that its motion from this point at least, was southward or southwestward, perhaps along the Salmon River valley towards Grand Lake. But I would not be surprised if indications of ice having moved in a con- trary direction are found in the northeastern part of the Pro- vince as at Bathurst. One thing appears certain, at all events, viz., that the striae at Weldford have been produced by a different body of ice from that which occupied the Bale de Chaleur valley. In concluding this part of my subject it may be stated that so far as my ob.servations have extended in the northern part of the Province I find no evidence of the passage of a continental sheet of ice over that rr^ion from north to south. There is evidence that the l^^nd was covered down to the present sea level by a glacial mantle of considerable thickness, exceeding in narrow valleys 1000 feet, but, in general, much less on level surfaces. This covering probably existed as snow and ice and not as one solid masssive ice-sheet, the ice, when formed, becoming local glaciers. These glaciers de~cended the nearest slopes, seeking the lowest levels, till they debouched into the sea, or formed one large local glacier in the Bay of Chaleur basin. The courses followed by these loc il ice sheets conformed almost invariably in detail to the present surf ice features of the district, not varying far from those of the river valleys. Glacier action of this kind seems to be sufficient to account for all the ob.served glacial phenomena, if we except the transportition of some foreign boulders which may have been earried about by floating ice. During the occupation of this region by an ice covering it probably stood somewhat above its present level, STRATIFIED MARINE CLAYS {Leda Ctays). Stratified clays holding marine fossils in abundance are met with all around the Bale de Chaleur, forming a considerable por- tion of the soil of the area skirting its waters, especially near the mouths of rivers, and they have also been traced along the No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 201 banks of streams some distance from the coast. In the Resti- gouche valley they are found as far up as the mouth of the Upsalquitch containing shells of Mya and Macoma, but have not been detected on the higher lands of the interior. These clays, which, so far as I can judge, are equivalent to the Leda clays of the St. Lawrence valley occur usually as thin fragmentary sheets in the greater part of the district under examination, but at the mouths of the Nepisiguit, Tattagouche and Jacquet rivers, and some other places, they form local beds of considerable extent and depth. In cuttings along the Intercolonial Railway', sections of these clays were exposed during its construction, and excellent facilities afforded for studying them and collecting the fossils embedded therein. In some of the thicker beds, as at Tatta- gouche and Benjamin rivers, there are evidently upper and lower clays, such as have been recognised by Mr. Matthew in the south of the Province, and by Dr. Dawson in the St. Lawrence valley. The lower division is sometimes a finely laminated blue clay, the laminae not distinctly visible, and it is usually without pebbles. In other places it is a stiff, dark gray, or brown clay, more or less pebbly and unfossiliferous. The upper division is generally a gray or brown clay, with the higher strata occasionally bluish or black, and prolific in fossils. It likewise contains pebbles and a few scattered boulders, and there are numerous proofs of its upper surface having been eroded by currents, and in some parts perhaps by tidal waters previous to the deposition of the over- lying stratified sands. In many places, however, no well marked division between upper and lower beds has been detected, and the differently constituted clays graduate into each other and appear to have been closely consecutive in formation, their color and composition depending largely upon the nature of the rock- formation or drift beds whence they were derived. For example, at the mouths of rivers running through a limestone district blue calcareous clays prevail, while reddish clays are invariably met with in districts in which red Lower Carboniferous sandstones occur. In localities where the clays overlie kame deposits they are so thickly packed with boulders and material derived from the latter as to be scarcely distinguishable were it not for the contained fossils. The entire thickness of the Leda clays, upper and lower, where they have their greatest development, as in the neighborhood of Bathurst, is about 75 feet, and on the banks of the Tattagouche ToL. X. K 2 No. 4. 202 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. River they attain a greater elevation than elsewhere in the dis- trict, rising to a height of nearly 100 feet above sea level. Their vertical distribution, however, must exceed this considerably, for in many places they are seen sloping down beneath the waters of the Bay, as for instance, at Charlo and Jacquet Rivers, and the mouth of the Great Cascapedia, where a tough blue or blackish clay is exposed at ebb-tides, enclosing fossils in abundance. The marine fauna embedded in the Leda clays of the Baie de Chaleur is largely of an arctic type. Some years ago I made a collection of shells from these beds, which was submitted to my friend Mr. Geo. F. Matthew, of St. John, who published a list of them in one or two papers relating to the Post-Pliocene of the Bay of Fundy region.^ I here reproduce the list: Sazicava riigosa, Linn. " var. arctica ; abundant. Mya truncata, Linn ; scarce. " var. UddevaUensis ; common. M. arenarioj Linn. " var. acuta, Say ; abundant. Macoma calcarea, Chemnitz. M. Gr(enla7idica, Beck ; common. Serripes Grocnlandicus, Chemnitz. Kellia suborhicularis, Montagu ; rare. Mytilus edulis, Linn ; scarce. " var. elegans ; common at Benjamin River and Black Point. Nucula ezpansa, Reeve ; very rare. N. tenuis, Montagu ; common. Leda pernula, MuUer, var. baccata : very plentifuL " var. tenuisulcata. L. minuta. Fabricius, var. caudata. Portlandia glacialis, Gray. =zLeda truncata, Brown ; not common except at Jacquet River. Yoldia sapotilla, Gould. Bela harpularia, Couthuoy. B. turricula, Montagu ; common. Natica affinis, Ginelin,:=A^. clausa ; abundant. Lunatia heros, Say. " var. Chalmersi, Matthew ; rare. Buccinum Groenlandicum, Chemnitz ? B. tenue, Gray. * Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VIII, No. 2 ; also in an article on the Superficial Geology of Southern New Brunswick, Report of Progress, Geological Survey of Canada, 1877-78. No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 203 B. glaciale, Linn. B. undatunij Linn ; frequent. Tritonofusus Kroyeri., Muller. Fusus tornatus, Gould. Balanus crenatus, Brug ; very abundant. B. Ilameri Ascan ; rare. In the Jacquet River beds the remains of a small cetacean were discovered about 25 feet above sea level in a clay cutting of the Intercolonial Railway. Nearly the whole skeleton was obtained which was sent to Halifax and identified by Drs. Gilpin and Honeyman as that of Beluga Vermontana, Thompson. In the Tattagouche clays, Rev. C. H. Paisley found Eurychinus Dro- bachiejisis, Muller (^Echimis granulatus) ^ two species of *S/>iVo?'- his and remains of the eel grass, Zostera marina L. and of Equiseta in addition to the above. And during the past sum- mer I discovered a portion of the claw of a lobster (^Homarus Americanus Edw.) at Black Point, Restigouche County, in a situation which made me almost certain it was in the fossil state, as it was embedded in a heap of clay washed out of the side of a railway cut and associated with fossil shells of Saxicava rugosa, Mya arenaria, M. truncata var. Uddevallensis, etc. The specimen has a battered, worn appearance too, and looks as if it might be as old tis the shells, neverthelcvss until others shall have been found, I would not care to make any positive asser- tions about it. The fossils in the Leda clays of this district are all remark- ably well preserved, and many of them occur apparently in their natural situation, especially in the lower clays ; but, from the man- ner in which they are distributed, deep water and littoral species often appearing intermingled in the same beds, their value, as indicative of the depth of water in which they lived, is not to be greatly relied on. Nevertheless some deductions may be drawn from them regarding the climate and temperature of the seas at that period. At Charlo River the shells occur in blue clay, below high-water mark, and a majority of the species are arctic. They probably lived in waters of moderate depth. Balanus crenatus and Saxlcava rugosa are the most abundant forms, but Leda pernula, Trltonofusus Kroyeri, Nucula tenuis are also fre- quent, especially the last, while Portlandia glacialis is rare. The two first mentioned species (^Balanus crenatus and Saxi- cava rugosa) must have found a congenial habitat in these seas 204 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. iu the Leda clay period, as they abouod throughout the deposits of the Baie de Chaleur basin. In the Benjamin River beds the littoral species Mytilus edulis var. elegans, Mya arenarla and others predominate, particularly in the upper strata, and appear to range upwards into the stratified sands overlying them. Serripes Groenlandicus and one or two species of Natlca are also common, and the deposits are evidently of shallow water origin. At Black Point the prevailing forms are also such as inhabited comparatively shallow seas, ^iy^^ frimcata var. Uddevallensis is common, and a variety of Mytilus edulis and Mya arenaria likewise occur here in strata s-raduatins: into the sands. Balanus crenatus is especially abundant, the upper part of the clay being literally packed with fragments of it; and the lobster (^Homarus) which probably inhabited the Baie de Chaleur in later Post- Pliocene times is apparently to be met with in these deposits. But the presence of several Arctic Buccina (i?. teiiue, B. gla- ciale) and Tritonofusus Kroyeri^ besides Fortlandia glacialis, Leda minuta, Maconia calcarea and others indicate colder and deeper waters and climatic conditions, similar to those of high latitudes, in the Leda clay period previous to the existence of these littoral species. It may be stated that the clay contain- ing these fossils at Black Point rests on the flanks of a kame, has a sloping attitude, and is packed with sand, gravel and pebbles derived from it, as is also the formation overlying the clay corresponding to the Saxicava sands. Were it not for the presence of the fossils which can be traced along certain strata the whole might readily be taken as constituting the kame, as is the case at the mouth of the Cascapedia already referred to. The fossils embedded in the clays of Jacquet River imply deposition in deeper or colder waters than those found elsewhere on the coast, if we are to judge from the occurrence of such species as Fortlandia glacialis, Leda pernula and L. minuta of Dawson's lists in considerable abundance and in a good state of preservation. In the upper strata however, Mya arenaria and Saxicava rugosa come in, in full force. The skeleton of Beluga Vermontana, already spoken of, was found here near the surface of the clay. The deposits at Tattagouche and Bathurst afi'ord typical ex- amples of Leda clays and Saxicava sands, the latter, however, unfossiliferous. Rev. C. H. Paisley published a description of these beds in the Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VII. No. 5. No. 4.] CHAL3IERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 206 In reojard to the conditions of the formation of the Baie de Chaleur Leda clays, it may be stated that at whatever depth of the sea the lower clay was deposited (and it appears probable that it was laid down in waters not deeper than the Baie de Chaleur is at the present day, namely 20 to 30 fathoms), the hie:her strata bear evidence of havina; been formed in shallow waters. For, not only has the upper surface of the clay been eroded and channelled by currents previous to the deposition of the marine sands, but the fossil shell themselves in many casei indicate that they were washed about by the sea and thrown together in masses, occurring often compacted two or three inches deep with the valves mostly separated and broken. Occa- sionally, too, they seem to occupy pockets or holes in the upper part of the clay, and are heaped up sometimes on one side or the other of the larger boulders. The frequent conmingling of deep water and littoral species may thus be accounted for, the sea having washed those from shallower waters into greater depths, and vice versa. But although the assemblage of shells embraced in the fore- going list does not afford conclusive testimony as to the depth of the sea in the Post-Pliocene period, yet it is of value as showing that the climate and the waters of the Baie de Chaleur reiiion were O much colder then than now. The shells imply, indeed, a tempera- ture boreal or subarctic in charater, similar to that of Labrador or the south of Greenland at the present day ; nearly all the species mentioned being now found in the seas adjoining these countries at moderate depths. Their occurrence at the Baie de Chaleur may be explained by supposing that the land stood 100 to 150 feet below its present level, thus allowing the cold waters of the arctic current to circulate freely in the southern part of the Gulf and tenant it with such species as are now found only in extreme northern latitudes. But the fact that the fossils are met with chiefly in the beds which have accumulated at or near the mouths of rivers would lead us to infer that the cold fresh waters which must have poured into the bay in great quantities during the time of their existence have had a greater or less effect upon them ; and their irregular forms, the strength and thickness of the shells, as well as their abundance are probably due to that and other local causes. The purely arctic fauna of the lower Leda clay may have lived in the Baie de Chaleur before the final retreat of the glaciers. 206 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Since the deposition of the Leda clays the great change which has taken place in the climate of the district has driven these arctic marine animals northwards into the cold seas above mentioned, and their place has been taken up by a more southern assemblage. The only marine shells of these clay beds living in the Bale de Chaleur now, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are Mya arenaria, L, Mytilus eduUs, L, Macoma fitsea, Gould, vvhich is perhaps identical with M. Groenhindica^ Beck, of Post-Pliocene date, Lunatla heros^ Stimp. and Biiccinum U7idatum, L ; while the following species, the largest proportion of which are of a New England type and do not occur in the Leda clays, so far as known, are now found there: Cardium pinmilatuyn, Conrad. Pecten tenuicostatus, Mighels and Adams. JIactra solidisaima, Chemnitz : abundant. Modiola modiolus, Turton ; common. M. plieatula. Lam. Solen ensis, Lam ; common. Machsera costata, Gould ; rare. Callista convexa, Say ; frequent. Venus mercenaria, Lam ; abundant. Crepidula formicata, Lam : common. Ostrea borealis, Lam ; plentiful. Aporrhais occidentalism Sowerby. Littorinn palliata, Gould. Tectura testudinalis^ Stimp., etc. A comparison of this list, meagre as it is, with that of the shells belonging to the Leda clays, given on a previous page, shows at a glance the difference between the faunae of the Post- Pliocene and the Recent periods in the Bale de Chaleur. The amelioration of climate which brought about this change took place along with a rising of the land and a shallowing of the seas around the shores of Acadia. Dr. J. W. Dawson infers, with much probability, that the invasion of Acadian waters by these New England species occurred in the modern epoch. It is a singular fact, ascertained by dredgings made in different parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that that part of it lying to the south of a straight line drawn from Cape Breton to Gaspe, and to which Dr. Dawson has given the name of the Acadian Bay, is inhabited by a colony of marine forms of a southern type (examples of which are found in the Bale de Chaleur) cut off from their relatives on the New England coast by intervening cold waters. To explain No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE C4E0L0GY. 207 this phenomenon, this distinguished geologist concludes that when the land was at its highest level in the modern period — and stood considerably above the height at wliich it now is — the waters all around the coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton were warmer owine: to the arctic current beinu- thrown farther from the shore, perhaps outside of the banks, and these marine animals would then emigrate thither from the south and spread themselves into the Acadian Bay. The subsidence which has since set in has caused the arctic current to run more closely to the shores of Nova Scotia and Maine, this southern fauna has be<2:un to retreat, ' 7 and those species inhabiting the waters surrounding Prince Edward Island and in the Baie de Chaleur have thus become isolated. STRATIFKD MARINE SANDS, SEA-BORDER TERRACES, ELEVATED BEACHES, l^TC. Stratified sands occur almost everywhere within this region and overlie the Leda clays in most places to a greater or less depth. The lower portion of these deposits is probably equivalent to the Saxicava sand of Dr. Dawson, but no fossils have been detected in them, except it is Mytilus eduUs, var. elegaus, which, at Ben- jamin River and Black Point seems to extend upwards from the Leda clay into their lowest strata. These sands attain their greatest development near the mouths of the larger rivers, form- ing in some places extensive stratified beaches, or with the under- lying stratified clays have been sometimes shaped into a series of terraces, the higher, altogether of sand and perhaps gravel, the lower, Leda clay with a sheet of sand occasionally covering them. At Bathurst there is a large area between the harbor and the Tatta2;ouche River, extendino- westward to the St. Ann settlement covered with these sands, making a terrace 125 to 150 feet above sea level. This terrace or sand flat is the highest in the region and appears to have derived tlie material composing it largely from the rivers which here empty into the Bay, in a similar manner to extensive sand flats or shoals now in process of forma- tion outside of the harbor. One or two lower terraces are seen in this vicinity, but their upper surface is very uneven and seems to correspond with that of the Leda clay beds, the sands which once covered them having been denuded to that level. Near Jacquet and Charlo Rivers and Nash's Creek are smaller areas of elevated beaches at a less height above the sea, and around the 208 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. I. estuar}- of the Restigouche there are similar formations, especially at the mouths of tributary streams. The material of the higher terraces is often a fine stratified gray or bluisli gray sand, in some places changing to a brown or reddish sand, and near its upper sujface containing water-worn pebbles occasionally arranged in layers. In parts of the country where these sands are not arranged in terraces they are stony, and vary in character from a fine quartzose sand to coarse gravel and boulders. Where they are found overlying or flanking the kame deposit.-? they are composed largely of material derived from them, rendering it often difficult to distinguish one forma- tion from the other. These marine sands have not been observed at a greater height than 125 to 150 feet above the sea, and their extreme thickness does not exceed 50 to 60 feet. They graduate almost imperceptibly into the recent marine sands composing the present beaches and .sand dunes. The terraces in the marine beds of this district are usually three in number, the highest 125 to 150 feet above tide level as already stated, and the two lower at about 70 to 75 feet and 25 to 30 feet respectively. The last two have been formed by erosion of the stratified clays and sands as the land rose. And it would really seem as if their had been a pause at intervals in the upward movement, allowing greater denudation and terrace making along sea borders at certain levels, although these pheno- mena can, in several places, be accounted for by the looseness or weakness of the strata at these levels, and their compactness or power of resisting erosion at others. A 14 to 15 feet terrace was observed in some of the estuaries, and also others at less heights. The 125 to 150 feet terrace is the most extensive, and seems to be the upper limit of the marine formations on the southern side of the Bale de Chakiir during the Post-Pliocene epoch. FRESH WATER FORMATIONS, RIVER TERRACES, ETC. Besides the deposits just described consisting of stratified marine clays and sands, other beds are met with on the higher lauds and more especially in river valleys in the interior, which have evidently been formed by the action of water, but bear no traces of marine life. The great bulk of these deposits is sand and gravel, with layers of clay or loam sometimes interstratified, No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 209 or occasionally in beds of a few feet in thickness sufficiently pure for brickmaking. Along the banks of rivers they form terraces. These terraces are u conspicuous feature of the scenery on the Upsalquitch River and upper Restigouche, but nowhere in our Province are they exhibited on such a grand scale as along the upper St. John between Fredericton and Grand Falls. The material of the highest of these terraces having a flat summit seems to be chiefly sand and gravel, and has a close resem- blance to that of the kames. This upper terrace marks the highest continuous flood plain of the river at the close or imme- diately subsequent to the melting of the ice-sheet of the glacial epoch. The lower terraces (there are generally three or more) have been formed by erosion of the upper or all other terraces of a higher level through the action of the river. And owing to the diminished volume of water as well as to other causes the materials composing these lower terraces are usually finer, with greater quantities of sand varying to loam or clay in places where the river valleys are wide and the current slow enough to permit quiet deposition of sediment. An elevatory movement of the land is not necessary to the formation of river terraces which are beyond the reach of the sea, although by increasing the speed of the cur- rents it may give the rivers greater erosive power. Terrace-making is still going on along our river valleys though apparently at a greatly reduced rate. This portion of the stratified deposits, that is to say, the upper terraces, or remnants of the highest flood plains of our rivers, has, as already stated, a marked lithological resemblance to the kame deposits and is obviously related to them in origin. The larger boulders often found in the kames do not, however, occur in the terraces. Besides the latter contain clayey strata sometimes near the bottom, not met with in the Kames. But the character of the earth, gravel and stones composing them, their structural arrangement, as well as their height above the present water courses are striking points of similarity, and indi- cate deposition also from great floods which swept down these river valleys immediately after the retreat of the ice-sheet, — floods so immense as to be out of all proportion to the present streams. What the exact relations are between these river gravels and the kames, however, is a question demanding closer investigation than I have been able to give to it ; but evidently the two forma- tions will have to be studied together. Vol. X. o No. 4. 210 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. RECENT DEPOSITS, INCLUDING SAND DUNES, MARL AND PEAT BEDS, ETC. Recent deposits of marine or estuarine origin occur at Bathurst, at the mouth of the Restigouche and elsewhere, and sand dunes or '' points," as they are called, of considerable area have been thrown up at Belledune and Heron Island, and appear to be increasing in extent by the addition of fresh material at intervals. These dunes are composed chiefly of loose sand washed up by the waves; and high spring tides often roll over them leaving drift wood on their surfaces. Belledune Point is one of these formations — the largest probably in the region — and juts out into the Bay three-fourths of a mile or more. At its outer extremity it is made up largely of pebbles half an inch to one inch in diameter, while near the bank or shore the material is chiefly fine sand. A submarine rocky ledge runs out here into the Bay a few fathoms under the surface of the water, and this dune is evidently a sand flat thrown up on it as high as the sea is capable of forming sand beaches. Its shape is triangular, and the material composing it appears to have been forced up from the sea bottom at successive intervals on the northeast side of the dune into parallel ridges, their general direction being about northeast and southwest. These ridges are of various widths and elevations, but the oldest or first found are 4 or 5 feet lower than those of more recent date, yet preserve their original shape, although in spots they are covered with a scrubby growth of wood. They are protected from erosion on the northeast by a sandbank thrown up along the run of the dune, which is several feet higher than the earliest formed ridges. A comparison of the heights of all these ridges would seem to indicate a gradual subsidence of the land during the period of their formation. Little Belledune Point affords proofs of having been similarly formed, except that the ridges extend northwest and southeast. Neither of these sand dunes is near the mouth of any river and hence, as already indicated, the materials of which they are com- posed must have been washed up by the force of the sea during storms from the shallow bottom surrounding them. On the oppo- site side of the Baie de Chaleur dunes are in process of formation at Carleton, Paspebiac and other places which are evidently re- ferable to the same cause. No. 4.] CHALMERS — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 211 The harbor of Bathurst and the estuary of the Kestigouche appear to be rapidly silting up, and great stretches of flats com- posed of sand, clay and mud are exposed at ebb tides covered with a growth of seaweeds, chiefly Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima. The old settlers report these basins as getting shal- lower within the last fifty years, and this fact has given rise to the opinion by some geologists that the land was rising in the Baie de Chaleur district ; but the filling up of these estuaries seems to be entirely due to the detritus carried down by the rivers. Near Belledune Point, on the farm of Mr. Hugh Galbraith, there is a peat bog skirting the shore, the seaward border of which is now being covered over with sands washed up by the waves. The peat is 4 to 5 feet in depth and is underlaid by marl containing fresh water shells i.e. Limncea, Planorhis and others. Dr. Gesner refers to this deposit in one of his Reports, and says it must have once formed the bed of a fresh water lake. Portions of it are now being converted into salt marsh. Along the shore to the south of River Charlo and elsewhere within this region are similar beds of peat, which are apparently being encroached on by the sea. High tides seem also to encroach fjirther on the land of late years than formerly, eroding the banks and throwing up sand higher than has been known since the settlement of the country. One of these high tides accompanying an easterly storm occurred in October, 1861. and washed away from 10 to 15 feet of the banks on exposed parts of the coast, spreading so much sand and debris over the fields along the shore as to render some of them unfit for cultivation since. These phenomena together with the apparent sinking of the sand dunes referred to would indicate that the region is slowly subsiding since the formation of the peat and marl beds. I shall conclude this paper with a section of the surface de- posits of the Baie de Chaleur district, embracing a synoptical statement of their geological history, so far as known to me, in descending order, (1) Recent Deposits. — On the coast — sand dunes, estuarine silts, submarine sand flats. In the interior — river intervales and alluvia, peat and marl beds, etc. Life during period of these formations — fresh water shells. Land reaching a height above present level, followed by a gradual subsidence. 212 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. (2) Stratified Marine Sands. — Saxicava sands. Marine formations were — sea-border terraces, raised beaches. In the interior — river terracing. No fossils of the period in this region. Land rising : marginal marine areas emerging from beneath the sea. (3) Leda Clays. — Upper red or brown clay, formed in com- paratively shallow waters. Contains pebbles and remains of an abundant marine life. Lower Leda clay — blue or dark colored, fewer pebbles and fossils : chiefly arctic species. Waters of moderate depth, probably 20 to 30 fathoms. In the interior — terrace-making along rivers. Land rising. Climate subarctic. (4) Kame Deposits, and material of river terraces, the latter now seen in the upper terraces. No organic remains. Land probably subsiding, though not far from its present level. (5) Till or Boulder Clay. — Irregularly distributed, occurring on borders of river valleys and under lee of elevations. Evidently of glacial origin. Boulders or erratics strewn about which have been transported by ice. No fossils. Greater portion of till, apparently upper till of other regions. Land evidently above the present level. No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 213 SURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE REGION ABOUT THE WESTERN END OF LAKE ONTARIO. By J. W. Spencer, B.A.Sc, M.A., Ph.D., F.G.S., Vice-President of the University of King's College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. (This Paper is Part II. of the <' Geology of the Region About the Western End of Lake Ontario." For Part I., see this .lournal, Vol. X., No. 3.) I. — INTRODUCTION. We have seen in Part I. of the " Geology of the Region about the Western End of Lake Ontario" that a lars^e and varied study may be made out of the exposures of the old rock-forma- tions. In the present portion of the study, it will be found that the Surface Geology is not only of local interest, for, from it we are taught many things concerning the vexed subject of glacial geology ; — about the origin of the Lower Great Lakes, the terraces and the transportation power of pan or floe ice, besides the physiography of the region before the advent of the Ice Age and especially the causes which combined to form this very picturesque region of Canada. In Part I, on the Palaeozoic Geology, a portion of the surface features were described with reference to the exposures of Palae- ozoic formations. The present descriptions of topography have reference only to the Surface Geology. In order to more fully explain the causes which conspired to bring about the present features, it is necessary to wander some- what beyond the Region about the Western End of Lake Ontario. The descriptions of the topography and a portion of the study of the origin of the Lower Great Lakes have already been published ^ * " Discovery of the Preglacial Outlet of the Basin of Lake Erie into that of Lake Ontario ; with Notes on the Origin of our Lower Great Lakes." By J. W. Spencer, B.A.Sc, Ph.D., F.G.S., King's College, Windsor, N. S. Ptead before the American Philosophical Society, March 18, 1881, and published in the Proceedings of the Society. The same paper was re-published in Report Q., of the Pennsylvania Geo- logical Survey, with Notes by Prof. J. P. Lesley, the Director. A portion of the paper on the Origin of the Lakes is copied from mj'^ Paper on the subject, read before A.A.A.S., Cincinnati, Aug., 1881. 214 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. but will here be reprinted with some alterations without quota- tion marks. II. — TOPOGRAPHY OF THE REGION ABOUT THE WESTERN END OP LAKE ONTARIO.^ The Niagara Escarpment. — This range of hills commences its course in Central New York, and extends westward, at no great distance south of Lake Ontario. It enters Canada at Queenston Heights, and thence its trend is to the western end of the lake, where, near Hamilton, it turns northward and extends to Cabot's head and Manitoulin island. Everywhere in Canada, south of Lake Ontario, it has an abrupt fall looking towards the north- ward ; but at Thorold and other places to the eastward its brow is more broken than at Grimsby, and westward. At Hamilton the brow of the escarpment varies from 388 to 396 feet above Lake Ontario. About five miles east of Hamilton the escarpment makes an abrupt bend enclosing a triangular valley, down which Rosseaux creek and other streams flow. This valley is about two miles wide at its mouth, and has a length of about the same distance. About five miles westward of Hamilton the Niagara escarp- ment becomes covered with the drift deposits of a broken country, or rather ends abruptly in the drift of the region. Above the range, the country gradually rises to the divide between Lake Ontario and the Grand river, or Lake Erie, without any con- spicuous features. South-eastward of Hamilton, at a point about five miles from the brow of the escarpment, where the Hamilton and North-Western Railway reaches the summit, the altitude above Lake Ontario is 493 feet. At Carpenter's quarry, two miles southward of the " mountain " brow, at the head of James street, the altitude reaches 485 feet; and near Ancaster the sum- mit is 510 feet above Lake Ontario. From eastward of Grimsby (for twenty miles) to near Ancaster, the escarpment presents an abrupt face from 150 to 250 feet below the summit (having a moderate amount of talus at the base), thence it extends by a more or less steep series of slopes to the plane, which gradually * The topography is partly represented on map accompanying PalcGozoic Geology. Burlington Heights is the spur of land between the Marsh and Burlington Bay. No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 215 inclines (sometimes by a succession of terraces), to the lake margin. On the northern side of the town of Dundas, the abrupt face of the escarpment looks southward, and extends four or five miles westward, until the exposure becomes covered by the drift deposits near Copetown station, similar to the termination at Ancaster on the south side of the Dundas valley, but not by an abrupt ending as at the latter locality. About two miles east of the Gr. W. Railway station, at Dundas, the trend of the range bends more to the northward, and from this point there is a marked differeuce in the configuration of the country below the summit. The range, after extendiag beyond Waterdown, turns still more to the northward and passes near Milton and Lime- house station (on the G. T. Railway), and thence extends to Georgian bay. The height of Copetown above the lake is 502 feet. On the west side of Glen Spencer it is 409 feet, and east- ward of the same gorge, the highest point is 520 feet (Niagara limestone coming to within four feet of the surface). At Water- down the altitude is over 500 feet (?) and at Limehouse the brow of the range (though only the lower beds of the Niagara limestones occur) is 810 feet. Farther to the northward the country rises until it reaches ao altitude of 1462 feet above Lake Ontario, or 1709 feet above the sea, near Dundalk station, on the W. G. & B. Railway. The features of the surface of the country above the highlands north of Dundas are much more varied than south of Dundas valley. As the trend of the escarp- ment turns northward around the end of the lake, the f:)ce of the slope looks towards the eastward. Basin of Lake Ontario.''^ — As is well known, Lnke Ontario consists of a broad shallow (considering its size) basin, excavated * The various Canadian railways and canals, whose elevations are referred to sea level, take Lake St. Peter as the datum. This repre- sents high tide in the St. Lawrence River. The elevation assigned to Lake Ontario is 235 feet (by the Grand Trunk Railway) and 232 feet, according to different Canadian authorities, (above Lake St. Peter). The U. S. Lake Survey places Lake Ontario at 246-91 feet, and Lake Erie at 573-60 feet above mean tide. The Wei land Canal places Lake Ontario at 326-75 feet below Lake Erie (which is now generally acknowledged to be 573 feet above mean ocean level). Therefore in all future references to elevation above mean tide, I have taken Lake Ontario at 247 feet. 216 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. on the southern margin out of the Medina shales, and having its southern shores from one to several miles from the foot of the Niagara escarpment. The Medina shales form the western mar- gin (where not covered with drift) to a point near Oakville. From this town to a point some distance eastward of Toronto, the hard rocks are made up of the different beds of Hudson River epoch ; while the soft Utica shales occupy the middle portion, and the Trenton limestone the portion of the Province towards the eastern end of the lake. The country at the western end of the lake consists of slopes gently rising to the foot of the Niagara escarpment, noticed before. Sometimes this elevation is by terraces, and again by inclines so gentle, as between Lake Ontario and the foot of the escarpment at Limehouse (on the Gr. T. Railway) where the difference of altitude above the water is more than 700 feet, without any very conspicuous features. At the western end of the lake, the two shores converge at an acute angle. At about five miles from the apex of this angle is the low Burlington beach, thrown across the waters in a slightly curved line, which forms the western end of the open lake. Burlington bay, thus formed, is connected with the open lake by a canal of the same name. This beach is made up of sand and pebbles (mostly of Hudson River age), and is more than four miles long, but nowhere is it half a mile wide. No mean depth of Lake Ontario can be fairly stated. For geological purposes it has no mean depth, because it is simply a long channel with the adjacent low lands covered by back- water. West of the meridian of the Niagara river the lake is evidently filled with more silt than eastward, as we find that the bottom slopes more gradually towards the centre, where the mean depth (increasing from the westward) of the channel may be fairly placed at 400 feet below the present surface of the waters. In this section of the lake, the average slope from both shores may be stated at 30 feet in a mile. At a short distance east of the 78th meridian, the character of the lake bottom changes in a most conspicuous manner. Here we find a deeper channel which ex- tends for more than ninety miles, having an average depth of about 90 fathoms or 540 feet, with, in some places, a trough about 600 feet deep, generally near the southern margin of the No. 4.] SPEiNCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 217 90-fathom chaonel. Here and there is a deeper sounding — the deepest being 123 fathoms or 738 feet. The long channel, sur- rounded by the 90-fathom contour line, is situated at a mean distance of not less than twenty miles from the Canadian shore, whilst its southern side approaches in some places to within six miles of the American shore, with which it is parallel. This 90- fathom channel varies from three to twelve miles in width. It.s broadest and deepest portion is south of the Canadian peninsula of Prince Edward's County. The mean slope of the lake bottom, from the Canadian shore to this deep channel just pointed out, may be placed at less than twenty-five feet in a mile, with variations from twenty to thirty feet in that distance. The mean slope from the New York shore line to the 90-fathom channel may be placed at sixty feet in a mile, but varying generally from fifty to ninety feet. On examin- ation we find that the greater portion of this slope belongs to a belt which descends much more rapidly than the ofi-shore depression. That the southern side of Lake Ontario has a submerged series of escarpments or one moderately steep and of great dimen- sions, is manifest when we come to study the soundings. In fact, if the bed of Lake Ontario were lifted out of the water, this sub- merged escarpment would be more conspicuous than the greater portion of the present one, known by the name of the Niagara. In many places the descent from the table-land above the Niagara escarpment is no more precipitous than the slopes of the sub- merged Cambro-Silurian (Hudson River, in part, if not through- out the entire length) rocks, with its sloping summit, in part crowned by a gently sloping surface of Medina shales. Nearly north of the mouth of the Genesee river, we find that within a single mile the soundings var}' from forty-three to seventy- eight fathoms (between contour lines). This gives a sudden descent in one mile of 210 feet. As the soundings are not taken continuously to show to the contrary, most of the change of levels may be within a few hundred yards. In the region of these soundings the deepest water outside of the 78-fathom line is 84 fathoms, whilst from the shore to the 43-fathom sounding the least distance is four and a half miles, thus giving the greatest mean slope of the lake bottom at sixty feet in a mile, before the escarpment is reached. YoL. X. 2 No. 4. 218 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. x\u excellent series of souudings can be studied in a line nearly northward from Putneyville, N. Y. : Distanc e from Putney- ville. Depth of Sounding. Slope from previous Sounding. 0.5 miles. 42 feet. 1.0 72 60 feet per mile. 1.75 126 72 u a 4.125 246 50 a a 5.0 " ) Face of the " J esc'pment. ( .372 t 582 } 144 6.0 210 7.0 624 42 10.0 " 642 '< 6 12.0 '. 738 ii 48 Ficfl, Section of Lake Ontario from Foint PeterLic/ht, Ontario, toIhitneyvil[^,KFi JE^ Peter. Distanre r^n tiles. J*utntrp^lA From this table it will be seen that in a distance of less than two miles the slope of the escarpment is the difference between 582 and 24:6 feet, or .336 feet as actually recorded. At Hamilton, the Niagara escarpment is only .388 feet above the lake, which is two miles distant, whilst the present slope at Thorold is spread over nearly twice that distance. That this escarpment is not local is easily seen. For a distance of over forty miles, from near Oswego westward, it plunges down 300 feet or more in a breadth varying from less than two to three miles. Eastward and westward of this portion of the lake this submerged escarp- ment can be traced for nearly one hundred miles, but with the portion deeper than the 70-iathom contour having more gradual soundings, as the base of the hills either originally had a more gradual slope, or the hike in its western extension has subse- quently been filled with more silt. Althoutrh we have not soundinirs made verv close together, yet the admirable work of the United States Lake Survey is more than sufficient to prove the existence of a continuous escarpment -which has an important bearing on the Preglacial geography of the No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 219 region, and on the explanation of the origin of the. Great Lakes themselves. The soundings do not show a conspicuous escarpment after passing westward of the meridian of Niagara river, partly on account of the sediments filling this portion of the lake, and partly because the lake in all probability never had its channel excavated to so great a depth as farther eastward. Attention must be called to the fact that the depth of the Niagara river is 1.2 fathoms near its mouth, but that the lake around the outlet of the river has a depth not exceeding four fathoms with a rocky bottom. Another escarpment at the level of Lake Ontario, now buried, was discovered by the engineers of the enlargement of the Wel- land canal, according to Prof. Claypole (Can. Nat. Vol. ix. No. 4). When constructing No. 1 lock, at Port Dalhousie. it was found that at its northern end, there was an absence of hard rock which formed the foundation of its southern end. Rods more than 40 feet long were pushed into the slimy earth without meeting any hard rock bottom. This discovery will be noticed in the sequel.^ Basin of Lake Erie. — The exceedingly shallow basin of Lake Erie has its bottom as near a level plane as any terrestrial tract can be. Its mean depth, or even maxima and minima depths from its western end for more than 150 miles, scarcely varies from 12 or 13 fathoms for the greater portion of its width. The eastern 20 miles has also a bed no deeper than the western por- tion. Between these two portions of the lake the hydrography shows an area with twice this depth (the deepest sounding being 35 fathoms). This deepest portion skirts Long Point (the ex- tremity, a modern peninsula of lacustrine origin), and has a somewhat transverse course. An area of less than 40 miles lonsr has a depth of more than 20 fathoms. The deeper channel seems to turn around Long Point, and take a course towards Haldimand county, in our Canadian Province, somewhere west of Maitland. The outlet of the lake, in the direction of the Niagara river, has a rocky bottom (Corniferous limestone.) The Dundas Valley and adjacent Canons. — We may con- sider that the Dundas valley begins at the " bluff" east of the Hamilton reservoir, and extends westward, including the loca- See Keport of Chief Engineer of Canadian Canals, 1880. 220 " THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. tioD of the city of Hamilton and the Burlington bay, at least its western portion. With this definition, the width at the "Bur- lington heights" (an old lake terrace 108 feet above present level of the water) would be less than five miles. At a mile and half westward of the heights, the valley suddenly becomes narrowed (equally on both sides of its axis of direction, by the Niagara escarpment making two equal concave bends, on each side of the valley, whence the straight upper portion extends, the whole resembling the outline of a thistle and its stem), from which place it extends six miles westward to Copetown, on the northern side; and three and a half to Ancaster, on its southern side. The breadth between the limestone walls of this valley varies somewhat from two to two and a half miles. The summit angles of the limestone walls on both sides are decidedly sharp. Duudas town is situated in this valley, its centre having a height of about 70 feet above Lake Ontario, but its sides rise in terraces or abrupt hills — many rounded and resembling roches montounees. On ascending the valley we find that between the escarpments are great ranges of parallel hills separated by deep gorges or glens, excavated in the drift by interglacial and modern streams. This rugged character continues until the summit of the Post Pliocene ridges have a height equal to that of the escarpment. As the gorges ascend towards the westward, they become smaller, until at some distance south-west of Copetown and Ancaster, the divide of the present system of drainage is reached. Some of these streams have cut through the drift, so that they have only an altitude above the lake (which is seven miles distant) of 240 feet, while the tops of the ridges imme- diately in the neighborhood are not much less than 400 feet high, though they themselves have been removed to a depth of about another hundred feet, for the drift has filled the upper portion of the valley to the height of 500 feet above Lake On- tario. Even to the very sources of the streams, the country resembles the rivers of our great North Western Territories (or those of the Western States), cutting their way through a deep drift at high altitudes, which is not underlaid by harder rocks, showing deep valleys rapidly increasing in size and depth, as they are cleaning out the soft material, and hurrying down to lower levels — a strong contrast to the features in most other por- tions of our Province. On the southern side of the Dundas valley, a few unimportant No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 221 streams, mostly dry in summer, have worn back the limestone escarpment, over which they flow, to distances varying from a few yards to a few hundred, making glens at whose head in spring time some picturesque cascades can be seen. iVt Mount Albion, six miles east of Hamilton, there are two of these larger gorges, whose waters, after passing over picturesque falls, 70 feet high, and through glens several hundred yards in length, empty into the triangular valley noticed before. On the northern side of the Dun das valley, besides small gorges with their streams com- parable to those on the south side, there are several of much larger dimensions; for example that at Waterdown, six miles north of Hamilton. Still larger is Glen Spencer which has & canon half a mile long, 300 feet deep and between 200 and 300 yards wide at its mouth. At the head of this is Spencer falls, 135 feet high, and joining it laterally there is another carton, with a considerable stream flowing from Webster's falls, which, how- ever, is of less height than the other. The waters feeding these streams come from northward of the escarpment, and belong to a system of drainage different from those streams which flow down through the drift of the Dundas valley, and are of much greater length. At the foot of Spencer falls, the waters strike the upper portion of the Clinton shaly beds. The Falls are two feet deeper than twenty years ago. Yet the stream is small, and makes a pond below in the soft shales. But this diflPerence in height does not represent the rate of wearing or recession of the precipice, but only the removal of a little dehrls at the base. That the stream is much smaller than formerly is plainly to be seen, for at present it has cut a narrow channel, from ten to fifteen yards in width, above the falls, and from four to six feet deep on one side of the more ancient valley, which is about 50 ynrds wide and 30 feet deep, excavated in the Niagara dolomites. The surface of the escarpment on both sides of Glens Spencer and Webster presents a peculiar aspect. That on the north- eastern side has a maximum height of 520 feet above the lake. On the same side, a section, made longitudinally, shows several broad shallow glens nearly a hundred feet deep crossing it and entering Glen Spencer. The surface of the rocks is glaciated, but not parallel with the direction of the channels. On the south-western side of the same canon, we find that a portion of the thin beds of Upper Niagara limestone have been removed. This absence is not general, for it soon regains its average heioht of about 500 feet. 222 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. Dundas Marsh. — The eastern end of the Dundas valley con- tains a large swamp, nearly three miles long, with a breadth of about three-fourths of a mile, known in the early settlement of the country by the name of Coote's Paradise. This marsh was formerly connected by a small rivulet with Burlington bay, but this was subsequently closed by the G. W. Kailway, when the cutting of Desjardin's canal through Burling- ton heights was completed. Into this marsh all the drainage of the Dundas valley is deposited, causing it to fill up at the rate of one-tenth of a foot per annum. Burlington Heights. — Across the eastern end of the Dundas swamp and some of its branches, are the Burlington heights, varying from a few hundred yards to nearly a quarter of a mile in width, and over 100 feet in height, which have been an old beach, at a time when the lake level was at the same elevation, for we find that a lake beach extends alono" the flanks of the escarpment, both eastward and northward for a considerable dist- ance at the same level. This is mentioned here as forming a most conspicuous terrace, and as changing the physical character of the western extremity of Burlington bay, and the outlet of the Dundas valley. Various terraces and beaches are found, both at lower levels, and also fragments at higher altitudes along the side of the '- mountain," until some attain a height of 500 feet above Lake Ontario. The Grand River Valley. — The Grand river of Ontario rises in the County of Grey, not more than twenty-five miles from Georgian bay. Thence it flows southward, and at Elora the river assumes a conspicuous feature. Here it cuts through the Guelph dolomites to a depth of about 80 feet and forms a canon about 100 feet in width with vertical walls. At tliis place it is joined by a rivulet from the west, which has formed a tributary canon similar to that of the Grand river itself. The country in this region is so flat that it appears as a level plain. Farther southward the river winds over a broader bed, and at Gait the present river valley occupies a portion of a broad depression in a country indicating a former and much more exten- sive valley. In fact, the old river valley existed in Preglacial times, for the present stream has re-excavated only a part of its old bed at Gait, leaving on the flanks of one of its banks (both of which are) composed of Guelph dolomites, a deposit of Post Tertiary drift, in the form of a bed of large rounded boulders No. 4.] SPENCER — SURFACE GEOLOGY. 223 mostly of Laurentian gneisses. The country for four miles south of Gait is of similar character, formins; a broad valley, in which the present river flows. At this distance from Gait the river takes a turn to the south-westwnrd ; but at the same place, the old valley appears to pass in a nearly direct line with the course of the present bed (before the modern turn is made to the west- ward). As this portion of the valley now entered has not to any extent been cleaned out by modern streams, it forms a broad shallow depression in the country extending for a few miles in width. Yet, it is often occupied with hills composed of