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he 


HAs 


THE 


CANADIAN 


Aaturalist and Geologist, 


AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
OF MONTREAL. 


CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOOIETY. 
VOLUME VIII. 


aMontrent : 
PUBLISHED BY DAWSON BROTHERS, 23 GREAT ST, JAMES STREET, 


CANADIAN “sNATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a Com- 
mittee of the Natural History Society of: Montreal. 


EDITORS. 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of Mc Gill College. 

T. Srerry Hunt, A.M., F.R.S., Chemist to Geological Survey of Canada, 
E. Biturnes, F.G.S., Paleontologist. oe ue Be er 
Pror. 8. P. Ropsins. Rey. A. F. Kemp. 


4 
General Editor.—Davip A. Por Wart. 


EX OFFICIO. 


The Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Nat. Hist. 
Society. o 


Entered, according to the Act of the Provincial Parliament, in the year 
One Thousand Hight Hundred and Sixty-three, by Dawson Brotugrs, 
In the Office of the Registrar of the Province of Canada. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
Arricte I.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period of Nova Scotia; 
by J..W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S.; Part L..+..escece 1 
II.—On the Gold Mines of Canada, and the manner of 
~ working them; by T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S......... 13 
I1I.—On the Parallelism of the Quebec Group with the 
‘ Llandeilo of England and Australia, and with the 
Chazy and Calciferous formations; by HE. Billings, 
IH Gr Sicpatsrsycheyeteneraisne sigiaveieiere colors emrsishoreerentetsteloiatle 19 
TV.—On a new method of preparing Chlorine, Carbonate of 
Soda, Sulphuric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid; by 
Thomas Marctarlanelie crtesictsleleictey shelcha) ioieaseleleielel tetete 39 
V.—Onthe Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower Can- 
ada; by J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S., Part I... sreharstey 50 
VI.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period i in Nova Scotia ; 
by J. W. Dawson, LL.D. F.R.S. Part I......... 81, 159 
VII.—Notes on Diatomacee from St. John River; by Prof. 
- L. W. Bailey, of the University of New Brunswick. 92 
VIlI.—Description of a new Trilobite from the Quebec group ; 
by DsDevine; HR Gass selsa wot are oe alee caters sonal 95 
TX.—On the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower 
Canada; by J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S. Part II....... 98 
X.—On the Antiquity of Man; a Review of ‘Lyell’ and 
HAVES Oe OGiiddinid oonbdotnin oddmlouteDbaobuudbr 113 
XI.—On the remains of the Fossil Elephant found in Canada ; 
bys He Billings! TG Si wees cece cos eerie se 135 
XII.—Remarks on the genus Lutra, and on the Species in- 
habiting North America ; by Geo. Barnston, Esq... 147 
XIII.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia - ; 
by J..W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Part IIl..0....... 161 
XIV.—On the Superficial Geology of the Gaspé Peninsula; 
by: Robert Bell; -@:Be otiivs os. SAMAR S ee, 175 
XV—On the Rocks of the Quebec Group at Point Lévis ; by 
Sir William Logan, F.R.S.; Director of the Geo- 
logical Survey of Canada; in a letter addressed to 
M. "Barrande cLepeusdearhsuensorilonues la7ees Ureheke ect sk otetel aoe eg tfatre 183 
XVI.—On the Chemical and Mineralogical Relations of 
Metamorphic Rocks; by T. Sterry Hunt, M.A., 
F.R.S.; of the Geological Survey of Canada.. 195 
XVI.—Description of a new species of Phillipsia, from ‘the 
lower Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia; by E. 
Billings) W.GSs sepsis vais ile O ots eeaPaeets sioteraeeeiate 209 
XV III.—Description of a new Trilobite from the Quebec Group ; 
by T. Devine, F.R.G.S, C. L. Department, Quebec.. 210 
XIX.—Observations on the Geology of St. John County, New 
Brunswick by) G. EF. Masthew, Msq.-. 2.2 soce se. 241 
XX.—On Ailanthine. The silk yielded by the Saturnia or 
Bombyx Cynthia, with Remarks on the Ailanthus 
glandulosa ov False Varn‘sh Tree of China; by 
Robert Paters omy MaDe sti scee aie 5 sre saista) bets etavel st stale 260 
XXI.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia ; 
by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Part IV......... 268 


CONTENTS. IV 


PAGE 
XXII, —On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks; by 
Thomas Macfarlane, Part I.....-scneccccscsrcees 295 
XXIII.—On the Earth’s Climate in Paleozoic Times; by T. 
. Sterry Hunt, M.A., PR.S....eccceecceeccccees -- 323 
XXIV.—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary “Rocks : by 
Thomas Macfarlane, Part Il.......+sseeeeees weeee Bao 


XXV.—Roofing Slate as a Source of Wealth to Canada A 
visit to the Walton Slate Quarry; by Robert Bell, 


(Cribdannoonooogconenuaandocadoudd0 [0 omee oeveccs, ODS 
~XXVI. —On. the genus Stricklandia: ; proposed alteration of 
the name; by EH. Billings...... «ss... Soc ononds ail) 


XXVII.—On some Mineral Waters of Nova Scotia; by Prof. 
eM D.C.L., University of King’s College, Wind- 

Os INGSooobioGagoo sod sons coud ueb099000000000 -. 370 
XXVIIL—A ist of Animals dredged near Caribou Island, South- 
ern Labrador ,during July and August, 1860 ; : by A.S. 

Packard, Ta MeN UN es Mee soeee, 401 
XXIX—Note on the F Foot-prints of a Reptile from ‘the Coal 

Formation of Cape Breton; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., 

HERES OG hit wn orc nae ce eae ee ae aga a0 
XXX.—Synopsis of the Flora of the Carboniferous Period of 

Nova Scotia; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., 431 
XXXI.—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks ; by 


Thomas Macfarlane, Part III...0....sseeessesnee 457 
Naturat History Socisry. 

Hirst Annual (Conversazione seniaitelictecigeecetie Shee Sooon (an 
Principal Dawson’s Addregs........ AdoosaoGoduuccecascocoo 6s} 
Rey. A. F. Kemp’s GO Sd dveooaadauud sfsfaleteistckste poou00ds ~OS 
Dr. DeSola’s Op states e[nlsieys\(oie/iatefefe, oka (ere latep slatavoneneieremmmelL 
Ordinary Meetings.............. sieeve slelsjewisleldp sie epierendemecilio 
Annual Meeting..........: aiahe) slofeln} elejeforsials{avers aiein\s]e ieee ateteteremee LO) 
IPRESICENTS AG OLESS sic cleicieyole elevate cvalciticrete [oie lalelelete ete ele 
Report of the Council........ 6 16)8)0{sjsi0/ols » e[eleisie s[eleisialeie. seis eieie ALG 
do Curators. eos. cccenescecsccerecerecerss 229, 393 
OfficersHfoEd S6BH4 xj croceisd 0/6 sho ud Sai wore oes ee ee 
Canadian Naturalist J.) sels ctetwlecomactiiecke te ooo ees 


Donations to Museum........ccescoses 
Treasurer’s accounts........ 


eeeresceosee eeceeorveaeone®@ 236 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Ties Gentabed: Monohammuss.ic.2 Joe selec uel, oe neeenoam 
New Species. of. Dendrerpetoie. siererwiete-socic unico Hace soe ucnene Bas 
Death of Prof. Emmons..... wiblel sla letelslalaleteteveleaaeinaneite slelewee SOD 

do Mitgeherlichyst .s nateliis kc fiaivae RUN | eS OES 
The American Tea Plant......... nisiesniele: alle ei) felatels setesule ie tereoereeo Ole 
Ottawa Nat. Hist:Soeciety ii... tee e cee veostdecusceecens 397 
Prof. Winchell or Elephantine Molsrs:.-. 02). ee ofercretniepare 398 


Botanical Society of Kingston.....csccsccecceccecccces 76, 211 
Entomological Society of Canada.......cccecececccecccccee 212 
Meeting of British Association..........2.. 0.0. c eee e ele, 375 


Index. 3038 wiolatels Wi ovsiel ofe/aisjole! afafelv’e/vidiv/ dive eral a Sica caiantcre ne AO 


ERRATA, 


For “about half,” read “two fifths,” line 23.......ccecccscceecce 153 
For “ two- fifths,” read “ one-half,” line 26......... seeeereeseeee 153 
For “ base,” read “ case,” line 26. Siena 


olelaje saints skersigiis sible overs tierkele LG 


hy) 45h) 


/ 
1 Lf, ae ey 
M, yy ¥ <i, 

ry & 


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Nhe BAPHETES PLANICEPS, Owe. 


THE 


CANADIAN 


NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Vou. VIII. FEBRUARY, 1863. No. 1. 


Art. I—The Atr-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia 
by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., &e. 


I. Inrropuctory. 


The animal population of the earth during the older or palzo- 
zoic period of its geological history, is known to us chiefly through 
the medium of remains preserved in rocks deposited in the bed of 
the ocean. In such rocks we have little reason to expect an 
abundant representation of the animals of the land, even if these 
existed at the time plentifully on the neighbouring shores. Per- 
haps for this reason,—perhaps because there were then no land 
animals, the organic remains of the Cambrian, Silurian, and Lower 
Devonian rocks consist, in so far as animal life is concerned, 
solely of marine species. In the Upper Silurian and Lower De- 
vonian, however, land plants begin to appear; and in the Upper 
Devonian these are so numerous and varied as to afford a proba- 
bility that animals also tenanted the land. Indeed, Mr. Hartt, of 
St. John, has just announced the discovery ofremains, which he be- 
lieves to be attributable to insects, in the rich plant-bearing Upper 
Devonian beds of that locality.* It is true also that reptiles of 
high organization have been found in beds referred to the Upper- 
Devonian, at Elgin, in Scotland; but so much doubt rests on the. 
age of these beds, that it is unsafe at present to regard them as 
affording evidence of reptilian life at so early a period. 


pe Eee eee eee 
* In a letter to the author. It is to be hoped that descriptions of these: 
interesting remains may soon be published. 


Can. Nat. Beles Vou. VIII. 


2 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


That there was dry land, even in the Lower Silurian period, we 
know, and can even trace its former shores. In Canada our old 
Laurentian coast extends for more than a thousand miles, from 
Labrador to Lake Superior, marking the southern border of the 
nucleus of the American continent in the Lower Silurian period, 
Along a great part of this ancient coast we have the sand-flats of 
the Potsdam Sandstone, affording very favorable conditions for 
the imbedding of land animals, did these exist ; still, notwithstand- 
ing the zealous explorations of the Geological Survey, and of 
many amateurs, no trace of an air-breather has been found. I 
have myself followed the Lower Silurian beds up to their ancient 
limits in some localities, and collected the shells which the waves 
had dashed or the beach, and have seen under the Silurian, 
beds, the Laurentian rocks pitted and indented with weather 
marks, showing that this old shore was then gradually subsiding ; 
yet the record of the rocks was totally silent as to the animals 
that may have trod the shore, or the trees that may have waved 
over it. All that can be said is that the sun shone, the rain fell, 
and the wind blew as it does now, and that the sea abounded in 
living creatures. The eyes of trilobites, the weathered Lauren- 
tian rocks, the wind-ripples in the Potsdam sandstone, the rich 
fossils of the limestones, testify to these things. The existence 
of such conditions would lead us to hope that land animals may 
yet be found in these older formations, On the other hand, the 
gradual failure of one form of life after another, as we descend in 
the geological series, and the absence of fishes and land plants in 
the older Silurian rocks, might induce us to believe that we have 
here reached the beginning of animal life, and have left far behind 
us those forms that inhabit the land. 

Even in the Carboniferous period, though land plants abound, 
air-breathers are few, and most of them have only been recently 
recognized. We know, however, with certainty that the dark 
and luxuriant forests of the coal period were not destitute of ani- 
mal life. Reptiles crept under their shade, land-snails and milli- 
pedes fed on the rank leaves and decaying vegetable matter, and 
insects flitted through the air of the sunnier spots. Great interest 
attaches to these creatures; perhaps the first-born species in some 
of their respective types, and certainly belonging to one of the. 
oldest land faunas, and preserting prototypes of future forms 
equally interesting to the geologist and the zoologist. 

It has happened to the writer of these pages to haye had some.. 


ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 3 


share in the discovery of several of these ancient animals. The 
coal formation of Nova Scotia, so full in its development, so rich in 
fossil remains, and so well exposed in coast cliffs, has afforded ad- 
mirable opportunities for such discoveries, which have been so far 
improved that at least eight out of the not very large number of 
known Carboniferous land animals, have been obtained from it.* 
The descriptions of these creatures, found at various times and at 
various places, are scattered through papers fanging in date from 
1844 to 1862,} and are too fragmentary to give complete informa- 
tion respecting the structures of the animals, and their conditions 
of existence. I have, for some time, designed to prepare a 
resumé of the published facts, with the addition of such new points 
as may arise from the further study of the specimens, but have 
been deterred by the incomplete state of my knowledge, and the 
prospect of further discoveries. So much has, however, now been 
done, and so many difficulties have been removed by the labcurs 
of several eminent naturalists who have examined the specimens, 
that I think the time has arrived when such a work may be under- ~ 
taken with advantage to science. 

In now endeavouring more fully to introduce the tenants of the 
coal forests of Nova Scotia to the notice of geologists and of the 
general reader, I shall take them nearly in the order in which 
they have become known to me, and shall not scruple to indulge 
in some gossip as to the circumstances of their discovery, and in 
some speculations as to their modes of life. I shall however endeay- 
or carefully to sum up the facts ascertained as to their structure, 
and their relation to other creatures, whether their contemporaries 
or successors. 

II. Foorprints. 
Plate It 

Tt has often happened to geologists, as to other explorers of 
new regions, that footprints on the sand have guided them to the 
inhabitants of unknown lands. The first trace ever observed of 
reptiles in the carboniferous system, consisted of a series of small 


*It appears that five species of Carboniferous reptiles have been re- 
cognised on the continent of Europe, three in Great Britain, and four in 
the United States. More full references will be made to these in the 
sequel. 

+ Papers by Lyell, Owen, and the iat: in the Journal of the Geolo-- 
gical Society of London, vols. i, ii, ix, x, xi, xvi, xvii, xviii. 

$ This plate will be given in the next number. ~ 


4 : ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


but well-marked footprints found by Sir W. E. Logan, in 1841, 
in the lower coal measures of Horton Bluff, in Nova Scotia; and 
as the authors of all our general works on geology have hitherto, 
in so far as I am aware, failed to do justice to this discovery, I 
shall notice it herein detail. Inthe year above mentioned, Sir 
William, then Mr. Logan, examined the coal fields of Pennsylvania 
and Nova Scotia, with the view of studying their structure, and ex” 
tending the application of the discoveries as to Stigmaria under- 
clays which he had made in the Welsh coal fields. On his return 
to England, he read a paper on these subjects before the Geologi- 
cal Society of London, in which he noticed the discovery of rep- 
tilian footprints at Horton Bluff. The specimen was exhibited 
at the meeting of the Society, and was, I believe, admitted on the 
high authority of Prof. Owen, to be probably reptilian. Unfortun- 
ately, Sir William’s paper appeared only in abstract in the Trans- 
actions; and in this abstract, though the footprints are mentioned, 
no opinion is expressed as to their nature. Sir William’s own 
opinion is thus stated i a letter to me, dated June, 1843, when 
he was on his way to Canada to commence the survey which has 
since developed so astonishing a mass of geological facts. 

“¢ Among the specimens which I carried from Horton Bluff, one 
is of very high interest. It exhibits the footprints of some reptilian 
animal. Owen has no doubt of the marks being genuine footprints: 
The rocks of Horton Bluff are below the gypsum of that neigh- 
bourhood ; so that the specimen in question (if Lyell’s views are 
correct**) comes from the very bottom of the coal series, or at any 
rate very low down in it, and demonstrates the existence of reptiles 
at an earlier epoch than has hitherto been determined ; none having 
been previously found below the magnesian limestone, or to give it 
Murchison’s new name, the ‘Permian era.’ ” 

This extract is of interest, not merely as an item of evidence in 
relation to the matter now in hand, but as a mark in the progress 
of geological investigation. For the reasons above stated, the im- 
portant discovery thus made in 1841, and published in 1842, was 
overlooked ; and the discovery of reptilian bones by Von Dechen, 
at Saarbruck, in 1844, and that of footprints by Dr. King in the 


* Sir Charles Lyell had then just read a paper announcing his discovery 
that the gypsiferous system of Nova Scotia is Lower Carboniferous, in 
which he mentions the footprints referred to, as being reptilian. 


im, 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 5 


same year, in Pennsylvania, have been uniformly referred to as the 
first observations of this kind. This error I now desire to correct, 
not merely in the interest of truth, but also in that of my friend Sir 
William Logan, and of my native province of Nova Scotia; and 
I trust that henceforth the received statement will be that the first 
indications of the existence of reptiles in the coal period, were ob- 
tained by Logan, in the lower coal formation of Nova Scotia, in 
1841. Insects and arachnidans, it may be observed, had pre- 
viously been discovered in the coal formation in Europe. 

The original specimen of these footprints is still in the collec- 
tion of Sir William Logan. It is a slab of dark colored sand- 
stone, glazed with fine clay on the surface ; and having a series of 
seven footprints in two rows, distant about 3 inches; the distance 
of the impression in each row being 3 or 4 inches, and the individual 
impressions about.1 inchin length. They seem to have been made 
by the points of the toes, which must have been armed with strong 
and apparently blunt claws, and appear asif either the surface had 
been somewhat firm, or as if ‘the body of the animal had been 
partly water-borne. In one place only is there a distinct mark of 
the whole foot, as if the animal had exerted an unusual pressure 
in turning or stopping suddenly. One pair of feet, the fore feet I 
presume, appear to have had four claws; the other pair may have 
had three or four, and it is to be observed that the outer toe, as in 
the larger footprints discovered by Dr. King, projects in the man- 
ner of a thumb, as in the chierotherian tracks of the Trias. No mark 
of the tail or belly appears. The impressions are such as may have 
been made by some of the reptiles to be described in the sequel, 
as, for instance, by Dendrerpeton Acadianum. 

Attention having been directed to such marks by these obser- 
vations of Sir William Logan, several other discoveries of the 
same kind were subsequently made, in various parts of the pro- 
vince, and in different members of the carboniferous system. 
The first of these, in order of time, was made in 1844, in 
beds of red sandstone and shale near Tatamagouche, in the eastern 
part of Nova Scotia, and belonging to the upper or newer mem- 
bers of the coal measures. In examining these beds with the view 
of determining their precise geological age, I found on the surface 
of some of them impressions of worm-burrows, rain drops, and sun- 
cracks, and with these, two kinds of footprints, probably of rep- 
tilian animals. One kind consisted of marks, or rather scratches, 
as of three toes, and resembling somewhat the scratches made by 


6 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PHRIOD. 


the claws of a tortoise in creeping up a bank of stiff clay; they 
were probably of the same nature and origin with those found by 
Logan at Horton. The others were of very different appearance. 
They consisted of two series of strongly marked elongated impres- 
sions, without distinct marks of toes, in series four inches distant 
from each other, and with an intervening tail mark. They seem 
to have been produced by an animal wading in soft mud, so that 
deep holes, rather than regular impressions, marked its footsteps, 
and that in the hind foot, the heel touched the surface, giving a 
plantigrade appearance to the tracks. Rain marks had been - 
impressed on the surface after the animal had passed over it, and 
these had probably aided in obliterating the finer parts of the im- 
pressions. These observations were published in the Journal of 
the Geological Society of London, vols. 1st and 2nd. 

Shortly afterward, Dr. Harding, of Windsor, when examining 
a cargo of sandstone which had been landed at that place from 
Parrsboro’, found on one of the slabs a very distinct series of foot- 
prints nearly of the size of those previously observed. Dr. Hard- 
ing’s specimen is row in the museum of King’s College, Windsor. 
Its impressions are distinct, and not very different in size and form 
from those above described as found at Horton Bluff. The rocks 
at that place are probably of nearly the same age with those of 
Parrsboro’. Jafterward examined the place from which this slab 
had been quarried, and satisfied myself that the beds are Carboni- 
ferous, and probably Lower Carboniferous. They were ripple- 
marked and sun-cracked, and I thought I could detect trifid foot- 
prints, though more obscure than those in Dr. Harding’s slab. 
Similar footprints are also stated to have been found by Dr. Gesner, 
at Parrsboro’. 

I have since observed several instances of such impressions at 
the Joggins, at Horton, and near Windsor, showing that they are 
by no means rare, and that reptilian animals existed in no incon- 
siderable numbers throughout the coal-field of Nova Scotia, and 
from the begining to the end of the carboniferous period. ‘T'wo of 
the more interesting examples are figured with those already des- 
cribed. On comparing these with one another, it will be observed 
that Logan’s, Harding’s, and one of mine are of similar dimensions 
and character, and may have been made by one kind of animal, 
possibly Dendrerpeton, which must have crept on short limbs over 
the sand. The other belongs to a smaller animal, which probably 
travelled on longer limbs, more in the manner of an ordinary quad- 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 1 


ruped. It may have been some species of Hylonomus. On the 
whole, these footprints differ from those found by Dr. King in 
Pennsylvania ; but they do not prove the existence of any kind of 
animal distinct from those to be described in the sequel, and known 
to us by the preservation of portions of their skeletons, 

The study of these impressions shows that the animals which 
produced them may, in certain circumstances, have left impres- 
sions of only two or three of their toes, while in other cir- 
cumstances all may have left marks; and that, when wading in 
deep mud, their footprints were altogether different from those 
made on hard sand or clay. In some instances the impressions 
may have been made by animals wading or swimming in water, 
while in others the rain-marks and sun-cracks afford evidence that 
the surface was a sub-aerial one. They are chiefly inter- 
esting as indicating the wide diffusion and abundance of the 
creatures producing them, and that they haunted tidal flats and 
muddy shores, perhaps emerging from the water that they might 
bask in the sun, or possibly searching for food among the rejecta- 
menta of the sea, or of lagunes and estuaries. 


Iil. BaArHETES PLANICEPS. 


Plate U1. 


« 


In the summer of 1851, I had occasion to spend a day at the 
Albion mines; and on arriving at the railway station in the after- 
noon, found myself somewhat too early for the train. By way of 
improving the time thus left on my hands, I betook myself to the 
examination of a large pile of rubbish, consisting of shale and iron- 
stone from one of the pits, and in which I had previously found 
scales and teeth of fishes. In the blocks of hard carbonaceous 
shale and earthy coal, of which the pile chiefly consisted, 
scales, teeth and coprolites often appeared on the weathered ends 
and surfaces as whitish spots. In looking for these, I observed one 
of much greater size than usual, on the edge of a block, and on 
splitting it open, found a large flattened skull, the cranial bones of 
which remained entire on one side of the mass, while the palate 
and teeth, in a more or less fragmentary state, came away with 
the other half. Carefully trimming the larger specimen, and 
gathering all the smaller fragments, 1. packed them up as sately 
as possible, and returned from my little excursion much richer 
than I had hoped. 


8 ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


The specimen, on further examination, proved somewhat puz- 
zling. » I supposed it to be, most probably, the head of a large 
ganoid fish; but it seemed different from any thing of this kind 
with which I could compare it; and at a distance from compara- 
tive anatomists, and without sufficient means of determination, I 
dared not refer it to anything higher in the animal scale. Hop- 
ing for further light, I packed it up with some other specimens, 
and sent it to the Secretary of the Geological Society of London, 
with an explanatory note as to its geological position, and request- 
ing that it might be submitted to some competent osteologist for 
examination. For a year or two however, it remained as quietly 
in the Society’s collection as if in its original bed in the coal mine, 
until attention having been attracted to such remains by the dis- 
coveries made by Sir Charles Lyell and myself in 1852, at the South 
Joggins, and published in 1853,* the Secretary or President of the 
Society re-discovered the specimen, and handed it to Prof. Owen, 
by whom it was described in Dec., 1858,7 under the name of 
Baphetes planiceps, wuich may be interpreted the “ flat-headed- 
diving animal,” in allusion to the flatness of the creature’s skull, 
and the possibility that it may have been in the habit of diving. 

The parts preserved in my specimen are the bones of the an- 
terior and upper part of the skull in one fragment, and the teeth 
and palatal bones in others. With respect to the former, Prof 
Owen recognizes in it the premaxillary (p.) (Fig. 1) and maxillary 
bones, (m.) both presenting traces of the sockets of teeth, which 
appear to be in a single series; but other fragments show that in 
part at least, they were in double series. The central portion of the 
skull and part of the orbits are made up of the nasals, (n.) the 
frontal (fr.) and the prefrontal (pf) in a manner characteristic 
of the Labyrinthodont reptiles, and not of fishes. The upper sur- 
face of the bone, seen in some detached fragments, as in Fig. 4, has 
a pitted surface, like that of the stone of a peach, as is the case 
also in the Labyrinthodonts. In sections under the microscope, 
the bone shows vascular canals and small rounded bone-cells, a 
structure observed, in Labyrinthodon, and in some of the larger 
Saurians (Figs. 2 and 8). The teeth are conical, and somewhat 
curved, the outer series from a line to two lines in diameter, and 
the inner series three lines or more (Figs. 3 and 5). They are 


* Journal of Geological Society of London, vol. ix. 
} Journal of Geological Society; vol. x; and additional notes, vol. xi. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 9 


implanted in shallow sockets in the maxillary and premaxillary 
bones, and are anchylosed to the sockets. For the lower third, the 
outer surface presents shallow vertical grooves, conformably with 
the plicated character of the internal structure (Figs. 3, 7, and 10). 
The upper portion is smooth, and its internal structure presents 
merely radiating tubes of ivory, and concentric layers, (Figs. 3, 
6, and 9). The whole of these characters are regarded as allying 
the animal with the great crocodilian frogs of the Trias of Europe, 
first known as Cheirotherians, owing to the remarkable hand-like 
impressions of their feet, and afterwards as Labyrinthodonts, from 
the beautifully complicated convolutions of the ivory of their teeth. 

The only additional remains attributable to this creature, found 
since the publication of Professor Owen’s description, are the 
bone represented in Fig. 12, and the scute or scale represented 
in Fig. 11. The former may be a scapular or sternal bone, and, 
if so, would warrant the belief that the creature possessed anterior 
limbs of considerable size; the proportion relatively to the skull 
being much the same as in the American bullfrog. The latter is 
marked in the same way as the bones of the head, and would 
indicate that Baphetes was protected by bony dermal scales, re- 
sembling those of the crocodile. 

There is one point illustrated by the bone represented in Fig. 
12, to which I would earnestly invite the attention of comparative 
anatomists. It is the distortion to which bones are subjected 
when imbedded in soft deposits, especially those containing 
vegetable matter. In modern peat bogs, skulls have been found 
nearly as pliable as leather, owing to the partial removal of their 
phosphate of lime; and in clay beds they are often found softer 
than chalk, from to the removal of their animal matter. Human 
skulls, buried under no great weight of earth, have often been 
strangely distorted from this posthumous softening. Even teeth 
are affected in this way. In the remains of the old Indian 
village of Hochelaga, at Montreal, while the teeth of bears are 
found in the drier and more sandy soil quite perfect and unal- 
tered, in damp places, and where they are imbedded in organic 
matter thrown out from the cabins, they are softened, so that a 
large canine may be easily compressed between the finger and 
thumb. Changes of this kind have no doubt been experienced 
by all the bones imbedded in coal, carbonaceous shale, and similar 
deposits ; and in the great compression which the mass has ex- 
perienced, the bones, yielding with it, have been flattened and dis- 


10 ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


torted in the most remaikable manner. In the bones, in short, as 
in the plants of the coal, the flattened specimen must not be ac- 
cepted as representing the original form. ‘The bone represented 
in Fig. 12, for example, must have been strong, and nearly cylin- 
drical in its middle portion, and much curved, but it has given 
way to pressure, and has as it were been faulied along certain 
lines, so as to lose almost entirely its original relief. The sec- 
tional view in Fig. 13, represents some of these faults, with the 
present profile of the bone, its original outline beg represented 
by the dotted line. The title of the present species to the speci- 
fic name planiceps, is also in part dependent on this cause. No 
doubt its head, like that of other batrachians, was somewhat flat, 
but this has been much increased by pressure; in so much that 
the fragments of the specimen show that the palate is almost 
brought into contact with the roof of the skull, and that scarcely a 
quarter of an inch is left in some places for the depth of the great 
orbits. The interior of the skull must have been filled with soft 
slime, and this has been compressed into a hard stone. In like 
manner, I shall have oécasion to show, in reference to other rep- 
tiles of the coal, that their bones have been much altered in form, 
so that limb bones, which, when buried in a nearly erect position, 
show broad and flat articulating surfaces, have these compressed 
into mere edges, when the specimens lie horizontally, and that hol- 
low bones have been fractured longitudinally, and pressed almost 
perfectly flat. Anatomists may be very easily misled by such ap- 
pearances, and should carefully enquire as to the possibility 
of their occurrence, before deducing inferences from the forms of 
bones. 

Of the general form and dimensions of Baphetes, the facts at 
present known, do not enable us to say much. Its formidable 
teeth and strong maxillary bones show that it must have devoured 
animals of considerable size, probably the fishes whose remains 
are found with it, or the smaller reptiles of the coal. It must in 
short have been crocodilian, rather than frog-like, in its mode of 
life; but whether, like the labyrinthodonts, it had strong limbs and 
a short body, or like the crocodiles, an elongated form and a power- 
ful natatory tail, the remains do not decide. One ‘of the limbs, or 
a vertebra of the tail would settle this question, but neither have 
as yet been found. That there were large animals of the laby- 
rinthodontal form in the coal period, is proved by the footprints 
discovered by Dr. King in Pennsylvania, which may have been 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 11 


produced by an animal of the type of Baphetes. On the other 
hand that there were large swimming reptiles, seems established by 
the recent discovery of the vertebra of Hosawrus Acadianus, at 
the Joggins, by Mr. Marsh.* The locomotion of Baphetes must 
have been vigorous and rapid, but it may have been effected both 
on land and in water, and either by feet or tail, or both. 

With the nature of its habitat we are better acquainted. The 
area of the Albion Mines coal field was somewhat exceptional in 
its character. It seems to have been a bay of indentation in the 
Silurian land, separated from the remainder of the coal-field by a 
high shingle beach, now a bed of conglomerate. Owing to this 
circumstance, while in the other portions of the Nova Scotia coal 
field, the beds of coal are thin, and alternate with sandstones and 
shales, at the Albion Mines a vast thickness of almost unmixed 
vegetable matter has been deposited, constituting the ‘main seam’ 
of thirty-eight feet thick.and the ‘deep seam’ twenty-four feet thick, 
as well as still thicker beds of highly carbonaceous, shale. But, 
though the area of. the Albion coal measures was thus separated, 
and preserved from marine incursions, it must have been often sub- 
merged, and probably had connection with the sea, through rivers 
or channels cutting the enclosing beach. Hence beds of earthy 
matter occur in it, containing remains of large fishes. Oue of the 
most important of these is that known as the “ Holing stone,” a 
band of black highly carbonaceous shale, coaly matter, and clay 
ironstone, occurring in the main seam, about five feet below its 
roof, and varying in thickness from two inches to nearly two feet. 
It was from this band, that the rubbish-heap, in which I found the 
skull of Baphetes planiceps, was derived. It is a laminated bed, 
sometimes hard and containing much ironstone, in other places 
soft and shaly : but always black and carbonaceous, and often with 
layers of coarse coal, though with few fossil plants retaining their 
forms. It contains large round flat scales and flattened curved 
teeth, which I attribute to a fish of the genus Rhizodus, resem- 
bling, if not identical with, A. lancifer, Newberry. With these are 
double pointed shark-like teeth, and long cylindrical spines of a 
species of Diplodus, which I have named D. acinaces.t There 
are also shells of the minute Spirorbis, so common in the coal 
measures of other parts of Nova Scotia, and abundance of frag- 


* Silliman’s Journal, 1859. 
} Supplement to Acadian Geology, pp. 43 and 50. 


12 ATR-BREATHERS OF ‘THE COAL PERIOD. 


ments of coprolitie matter. I have also observed in it a few scales 
having the peculiar one-sided form of those of Archegosaurus and 
Dendrerpeton ; and which I may possibly describe and figure, 
among miscellaneous indications of unknown creatures, in the end 
of this memoir. 

It is evident that the “Holing stone” indicates one of those 
periods in which the Albion coal area, or a large part of it, was 
under water, probably fresh or brackish, as there are no properly 
marine shells in this, or any of the other beds of this coal series. 
We may then imagine a large lake or lagune, loaded with trunks 
of trees and decaying vegetable matter, having in its shallow parts, 
and along its sides, dense brakes of Calamites, and forests of Szgil- 
laria, Lepidodendron, and other trees of the period, extending far 
on every side as damp pestilential swamps. In such a habitat, 
uninviting to us, but no doubt suited to Baphetes, that creature 
crawled through swamps and thickets, wallowed in flats of black 
mud, or swam and dived in search of its finny prey. It was, in so 
far as we know, the monarch of these swamps, though there is 
evidence of the existence of similar creatures of this type quite as 
large in other parts of the Nova Scotia coal field ; but my notice 
of these I defer for the present, in hope that additional facts may 
be discovered in respect to them. If this should not be the case 
they will be noticed among miscellaneous remains in the sequel. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. 
«Baphetes planiceps. 


Fig. 1.—Skull seen from below, half natural size. 

¢ 2.—Portion of bone of skull magnified, to show vascular canals and 
bone-cells, - 

/& 3.—One of the largest teeth, natural size. 

 4,—Sculpturing of skull, and margin of orbit, natural size. 

“ 5.—Fragment of maxillary bone, with four teeth of the outer series, 
and one of the inner large teeth,—the points of the teeth re- 
stored from fragments in other specimens. 

* 6 and 7.—Sections of a tooth magnified : 6, upper part; 7, lower 
part, with convoluted dentine. 

 8.—Section of bone in Fig. 2, more highly magnified. 

“« 9 and 10.—Sections of tooth represented in Figs. 6 and 7, natural 
size. 

** 11.—Dermal scale found with remains of Baphetes. 

O31 Scapular or sternal bone found with remains of Baphetes. 

“ 13.—Longitudinal section of the middle of the same, showing the 
manner in which it has been crushed. 


(To be continued.) 


ON THE GOLD MINES OF CANADA. 13 


Art. I.—On the Gold Mines of Canada, and the manner of 
working them. 


The existence of gold in the sands of the Chaudiére valley, to 
the south of Quebec, was, so far as we are aware, first announced to 
the world by General Baddeley (then Lieutenant) of the Royal 
Engineers, in the year 1835, and by him communicated to Prof. 
Silliman. (see American Journal of Science for that year, vol. 
xxviii. p. 112.) In 1847, and the three or four years following, 
eareful examinations were made in that region by the Geological 
Survey, and it was found that the precious metal is not confined 
to the valley of the Chaudiere, but exists in the superficial deposits 
of a wide area. 

The source of the gold throughout this extent appears to have 
been the breaking up of the crystalline schists of the region, in 
which the metal has occasionally been met with. One example 
of this is in a vein of quartz in clay state, in the parish of St, 
Francis, on the Chaudiére, where it occurs with argentiferous gale- 
na, arsenical pyrites, cubic iron pyrites and sulphuret of zine,— 
the latter two ores containing a notable proportion of gold. The 
results, of assays of all these materials will be found in the re- 
ports of the Geological Survey for 1853, page 370. During the 
past year, another vein of quartz, about one hundred yards from 
this last has yielded very rich and beautiful specimens of native 
gold, also accompanied by arsenical pyrites. The precious metal 
occurs again not far from the Harvey Hill copper mine, in Leeds, 
at a locality known as Nutbrown’s shaft, which is sunk on a vein 
of bitter-spar, holding specular iron, vitreous copper ore, and native 
gold, generally in small grains or scales. Some specimens from 
this locality, however, have weighed as much as a pennyweight. 
The only attempts as yet made at goid-mining in Canada have been 
in the diluvial deposits. We extract from the General Report of 
the Geological Survey of Canada, now in press, and soon to appear, 
the following details with regard to these deposits, together with 
the results of some of the trials hitherto made to work them, and 
suggestions as to the best mode of obtaining the gold. 

“These rocks of eastern Canada may be traced south-west- 
wardly through New England, along the Appalachian chain, to 
the state of Georgia, and furnish gold in greater or less quantity in 
nearly every part of their extension. They constitute the great 
gold-bearing formation of eastern North America, which in its 


14 ON THE GOLD MINES OF CANADA, 


mineralogical and lithological characters is similar to that of the 

western coast, and to those of Russia aud Australia. These auri- 

ferous rocks in Canada, belong for the greater part to the 
Quebec group, of Lower Silurian age ; but the quartz veins contain- 
ing gold, mentioned above, are found cutting strata, which are sup- 
posed to belong to the Upper Silurian period. The auriferous 
drift covers a wide area on the south side of the St. Lawrence, 
including the hill country belonging to the Notre Dame range, and 
extending thence south and east to the boundary of the province. 

These wide limits are assigned, inasmuch as although gold has not 
been everywhere found in this region, the same mineralogical cha- 
racters are met with throughout. Inits continuation southward 
in Plymouth, and elsewhere in Vermont, considerable quantities 
of gold have been obtained from the diluvial deposits. In Canada, 
gold has been found on the St. Francis River, from the vicinity of 
Melbourne to Sherbrooke ; in the townships of Westbury, Weedon, 
and Dudswell, and on Lake St. Francis. It has also been found 
on the Etchemin, and on the Chaudiére, and nearly all its tributa- 
ries, from the seigniory of St. Mary to the frontier of the state of 
Maine; including the Bras, the Guillaume, the Riviere des Plantes, 
the Famine, the Du Loup, and the Metgermet. Several attempts 
haye been made to work these alluvial deposits for gold, in the 
seigniories of Vaudreuil, Aubert-Gallion, and Aubert de I’Isle, but 
they have been successively abandoned ; and it is difficult to obtain 
authentic accounts of the result of the various workings, although, 
it is known that very considerable quantities of gold were extract- 
ed. The country people still, from time to time, attempt the 
washing of the gravel, generally with the aid of a pan, and are 
occasionally rewarded by the discovery. of a nugget of considera- 
ble value. In the years 1851 and 1852, an experiment of this 
kind, on a considerable scale, was tried by the Canada Gold Min- 
ing Company, in the last named seigniory, on the Riviére du 
Loup, near its junction with the Chaudiére. The-system adopt- 
ed for the separation of the gold from the gravel was similar to 
that used in Cornwall in washing for alluvial tin, and the water 
for the purpose was obtained from a small stream adjoining. 

Great difficulties were however met with, from a deficient supply 

of water during the summer months. The. gravel from about 
three-eighths of an acre, with an average thickness of two feet, was 
washed during the summer. of 1851, and yielded 2,107 penny- 
weights of gold; of which 160 were in the form of fine dust, 


AND THE MANNER OF WORKING THEM. 15 


mingled with about a ton of black iron sand, the heavy residue of 
the washings. There were several pieces of gold weighing over 
an ounce. The value of this gold was $1,826, and the whole ex- 
penditure connected with the working $1,643, leaving a profit of 

$182. In this account is, however, included $500 lost by a flood, 
~ which swept away an unfinished dam ; so that the real difference 
between the amount of the wages and the value of the gold ob- 
tained should be stated at $682. The average price of the labor 
employed was sixty cents a day.” 

'“ Tn 1852, about five-eighths of an acre of gravel were washed 
at, this place, and the total amount of gold obtained was 2,880 
pennyweights, valued at $2,496. Of this, 307 pennyweights were 
in the form of fine dust mixed with the iron sand. A portion was 
also found in nuggets or rounded masses of considerable size, 
Nine of these weighed together 468 pennyweights, the largest. 
being about 127, and the smallest about 11 pennyweights. Small. 
portions of native platinum, and of iridosmine, were obtained) in 
these washings, but their quantity was too small to be of any im- 
portance. The washing season lasted from the twenty-fourth of 
May to the thirtieth of October, and the sum expended for labor 
was $1,888, leaving a profit of $608. A part of this expenditure 
was, however, for the construction of wooden conductors for bring- 
ging the water a distance of about 900 feet from the small stream. 
As this work would be available for several years to come, a pro- 
per allowance made for it would leave a profit in the year’s labor 
of about $680. It thus appears that from an acre of the gravel, 
with an average thickness of two feet, there were taken $4,323 of 
gold; while the expenses of labor, after deducting, as above, all 
which was not directly employed in extracting gold, were $2,957, . 
leaving a profit of $1,366. ‘The fineness of the gold dust of this 
region was 871 thousandths ; another sample in thin scales gave 
892, and masses 864. A small nugget of gold from St. Francis 
gave 867 thousandths, the remainder in all cases being silver.” 

“ Although the greater part of this gold was extracted from the 
gravel on the flats by the river side, a portion was obtained by 
washing the material taken from the banks above. As has been 
before remarked, the distribution of the gold-bearing, gravel over. 
the surface of the country took place betore the formation of the 
present water courses, and the reason why the gravel from the 
beds of these are richer in gold than that which forms. their 
banks, is that these rapid streams have subjected the earth to a. 


16 ON THE GOLD MINES OF CANADA, 


partial washing, carrying away the lighter materials, and leaving 
the-gold behind with the heavier matters. According to Mr. 
Blake, it is found in California, that the gold in the diluvial depo- 
sits, which have not been subsequently disturbed by the streams, 
is not uniformly distributed, but is accumulated here and there in 
quantities greater than in other places. It would seem that 
during the first deposition of the earth and gravel, the precious 
metal became in some parts accumulated in depressions of the 
surface rock, constituting what are called pockets by the miners. 
It would appear from the facts here given that the quantity 
of gold in the valley of the Chaudiére is such as would be remu- 
nerative to skilled labour, and should encourage the outlay of 
capital. There is no reason for supposing that the proportion of 
the precious metal to be found along the St. Francis, the Etche- 
min, and their various tributaries, is less considerable than that of 
the Chaudieére.” 

“What is called the hydraulic method of washing deposits of 
auriferous gravel isadopted on a great scale in California, and to 
some extent in the states of Georgia and North Carolina. In 
this method, the force of a jet of water, with great pressure, is 
made available, both for excavating and washing the auriferous 
earth. The water, issuing in a continuous stream, with great force, 
from a large hose-pipe, like that of a fire-engine, is directed against 
the base of a bank of earth and gravel, and tears it away. The 
bank is rapidly undermined, the gravel is loosened, violently rolled 
together, and cleansed from any adhering particles of gold ; 
while the fine sand and clay are carried off by the water. In this 
manner hundreds of tons of earth and gravel may be removed, 
and all the gold which they contain liberated and secured, with 
greater ease and expedition than ten tons could be excavated and 
washed in the old way. All the earth and gravel of a deposit is 
moved, washed, and carried off through long sluices, by the water, 
leaving the gold behind. Square acres of earth on the hill sides 
may thus be swept away into the hollows, without the aid of a 
pick or a shovel in excavation. Water performs all the labor, 
moving and washing the earth, in one operation ;. while in ex- 
cavating by hand, the two processes are of necessity entirely dis- 
tinct. ‘The value of this method, and the yield of gold by it, as 
compared with the older one, can hardly be estimated. The water 
acts constantly, with uniform effect, and can be brought to bear 
upon almost any point, where it would be difficult for men to 


AND THE MANNER OF WORKING THEM. 17 


work. It is especially effective in a region covered by trees, where 
the tangled roots would greatly retard the labor of workmen. In 
such places, the stream of water washes out the earth from below, 
and tree after tree falls before the current, any gold which may 
have adhered to the roots being washed away. With a pressure 
of sixty feet, and a pipe of from one anda half to two inches 
aperture, over a thousand bushels of earth can be washed out 
from a bank ina day. Earth which contains only one twenty- 
fifth part of a grain of gold, equal to one-fifth of a cent in value 
to the bushel, may be profitably washed by this method ; and 
any earth or gravel which will pay the expense of washing in the 
old way, gives enormous profits by the new process. To wash 
successfully in this way requires a plentiful supply of water, at an 
elevation of from fifty to ninety feet above the bed-rock, and a 
rapid slope or descent from the base of the bank of earth to be 
washed, so that the waste water will run off through the sluices, 
bearing with it gravel, sand, and the suspended clay.” 

“ The above description, and the added details are copied from 
a report on the gold mines of Georgia, by Mr. William P. Blake, 
who has carefully studied this method of mining in California, and 
by whose recommendation it has been introduced into the southern 
states. He states that in the case of a deposit in North Carolina, 
where ten men where required, for thirty-five days, to dig the 
earth with pick and shovel, and wash it in sluices, two men, with 
a single jet of water, would accomplish the same work in a week. 
The great economy of this method is manifest from the fact that 
many old deposits in the river beds, the gravel of which had been 
already washed by hand, have been again washed with profit by 
the hydraulic process. He tells us that in California the whole 
art of working the diluvial gold deposits was revolutionized by 
this new method. The auriferous earth, lying on hills, and at 
some distance above the level of the water-courses, would, in the 
ordinary methods, be excavated by hand, and brought to the 
water; but by the present system, the water is brought by aque- 
ducts to the gold deposits, and whole square miles, which were 
before inaccessible, have yielded up their precious metal. It 
sometimes happens, from the irregular distribution of the gold in 
the diluvium in California, that the upper portions of a deposit do 
not contain gold enough to be washed by the ordinary methods ; 
and wonld thus have to be removed, at a considerable expense, in 
order to reach the richer portions below. By the hydraulic 

Can. Nat. 2 Vou. VIII 


18 ON THE GOLD MINES OF CANADA, 


_ method, however, the cost of cutting away and excavating is so 
trifling, that there is scarcely any bank of earth which will not 
pay the expense of washing down, in order to reach the richer 
deposits of gold beneath. 

“ The acqueducts or canals for the mining districts of California 
are seldom constructed by the gold workers themselves, but by 
capitalists, who rent the water to the miners. The cost of one 
of these canals, carrying the waters of a branch of the Yuba 
River to Nevada County, was estimated at a million of dol- 
lars ; and another one, thirty miles in length, running to the same 
district, cost $500,000. The assessed value of these various canals 
in 1857 was stated to be over four millions of dollars, of which 
value one-half was in the single county of Eldorado. The Bear 
River and Auburn Canal is sixty miles in length, three feet deep 
and four feet wide at the top, and cost in all $1,600,000 ; not 
withstanding which, the water-rents were so great that it is stated 
to have paid a yearly dividend of twenty per cent, while other 
similar canals paid from three, to five and six per cent., and even 
more, monthly. The price of the water was fixed atso much the 
inch, for each day of eight or ten hours. This price was at first 
about three dollars, but by competition has now been greatly 
reduced. 

‘From these statements, it wil: be seen that the great riches 
which have of late years been drawn from the gold mines of Cal- 
ifornia, have not been obtained without the expenditure of large 
amounts of money and engineering skill. This last is especially 
exhibited in the construction of these great canals, and the appli- 
cation of the hydraulic method to the washing of auriferous de- 
posits, which were unavailable by the ordinary modes of work- 
ing, on account of their distance from the water-courses, or by 
reason of the small quantity of gold which they contain. 

“In order to judge of the applicability of this method of wash- 
ing to our own auriferous deposits, a simple calculation based 
upon the experiments at the Rividre du Loup will be of use. 
It has been shown that the washing of the ground over an area of 
one acre, and with an average depth of two feet, equal to 87,120 
cubic feet, gave, in round numbers, about 5000 pennyweights of 
gold, or one and thirty-eight hundredths grains to the cubic foot; 
which is equal to one and three-quarters grains of gold to the 
bushel. Now, according to Mr. Blake, earth containing one forty 
fourth part of this amount, or one twenty-fifth of a grain of gold, 


¢ 


AND THE MANNER OF WORKING THEM. 19 


ean be profitably washed by the hydraulic method, while the 
labor of two men, with a proper jet of water, suffices to wash one 
thousand bushels in a day, which in a deposit like that of Riviére 
du Loup would contain about seventy-three pennyweights of gold, 
It is probable however that a certain portion of the finer gold 
dust, which is collected in the ordinary process, would be lost in 
working on the larger scale, It has already been shown that the 
gold is not confined to the gravel of the river channels, and the 
alluvial flats. The beds of interstratified clay, sand, and gravel, 
which occur on the banks of the Metgermet, were found to contain 
gold throughout their whole thickness of fifty feet, and even 
though its proportion were to be many times less than in the 
gravel of the Riviere du Loup, these thick deposits, which extend 
over great areas, might be profitably worked by the hydraulic 
method. The fallin most of the tributaries of the Chaudiére and of 
the St. Francis throughout the auriferous region, is such that. it 
will not be difficult to secure a supply of water with a sufficient 
head, without a very great expenditure in the construction of 
canals ; and it may reasonably be expected that before long the 
deposits of gold-bearing earth, which are so widely spread over 
southeastern Canada, will be made economically available.” 

DEO LEL. 


Arr. I1l.—0Ox the Parallelism of the Quebec Group with the 
Llandeilo of England and Australia, and with the Chazy 
and Calciferous fermations; by HE. Bituines, F.G.S. 


(Read before the Nat. Hist. Societyof Montreal, 3rd Feb. 1863.) 


In the following paper, it is proposed to review some of the 
more prominent facts and opinions relating to the age of the Que- 
bee group, as compared with certain other formations in Europe, 
Australia, and America, whose true position is well established. 
During the last four years, great progress has been made towards 
the solution of this problem, and a general conclusion has been 
arrived at, which I believe will stand the test of time. 
But the subject is far from being exhausted. There yet 
remain numerous secondary and collateral questions of more or 
less difficulty, which can be only decided by much further inves- 
tigation in the field. In the meantime, the tract of country where- 
in these rocks are most extensively developed, has become of 


20 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


great importance, on account of its stores of mineral wealth; and 
everything therefore relating to its geological structure, is of 
interest, not only in a scientific, but also in an economical point 
of view. | 

In 1860, Sir W. E. Logan, after having re-examined the whole 
subject, came to the conclusion that the position, to which these 
rocks had been previously referred, was too high up in the serivs, 
and that they lie near the base, rather than in the upper half of 
the Lower Silurian. This opinion was published in the Canadian 
Naturalist and Geologist of December, in the same year.* Since 
that time a vast deal of new evidence has been collected, all tend- 
ing to prove that this view is the correct one. Endeavours are 
being made, however, by means of pamphlets, published by Mr. 
Marcou, of Boston, and circulated in Canada, the United States, 
and Europe, to show that the Quebec group does not belong to 
the Lower Silurian at all, and that it hes below the Potsdam 
sandstone, in the primordial zone. But unfortunately for this 
theory, the papers containing the physical and palontological 
evidence, published by the Canadian Survey, are in the hands of 
all the great European geologists, and have furnished them with 
the means of forming their own opinions upon the subject. ‘The 
views of these men, are to us of the highest value, coming as 
they do from those who by their world-wide experience and oft 
tested ability, are acknowledged on all hands, to be the highest 
authorities on all that relates to the lower palzeozoic formations. 

Sir R. I. Murcutson, in his address to the Geological Section 
of the British Association, m 1861, publicly announced his en- 
tire concurrence with us in the important change that had been 
made. 
M. J. Barranve has, in several papers published in the Bulletin 
of the Geological Society of France, and in Bronn’s Neues- 


* The fossils upon which the age of the Quebec group was determined 
were collected in May and June, 1860. On the 12th of July I wrote to 
Barrande, informing him of the discovery, and that they (the fossils) 
proved that the Point Levis rocks belonged to a horizon near the base 
of the second fauna. In August, I published the descriptions of the 
trilobites in the Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, and on that occa- 
sion the use of the designation ‘‘ Hudson River Group,” as the name of 
the formation was first discontinued. Barrande communicated (in a 
letter dated Paris, 14th August, 1860,) the substance of my letter to Mr. 
Marcou, and it was by him published in the proceedings of the Boston 
Natural History Society in November following. 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 24 


Jahrbuch, pronounced the greater number of the fossils, described 
and figured by us from the Quebec group, to be Lower Silurian, 
while in his opinion the others present a primordial aspect. 

Pror. F. McCoy, Director of the National Museum of Victo- 
ria, in Australia, in a paper published in the Annals of Natural 
History in February, 1862, announced the discovery of the com- 
pound graptolites of the Quebec group “in the slates of North Mel- 
bourne containing the auriferous quartz-veins of the gold-fields.”* 
He identified the Australian slates with the Llandeilo rocks of 
Wales, Scotland and Ireland on the one hand, and with the Que- 
bec group on the other. The compound graptolites were first dis- 
covered and brought into notice by the Canadian Survey; and it 
is to us a source of great satisfaction, that they have now become, 
in the hands of skilful paleontologists the means, by which rocks, 
separated from each other by a distance nearly equal to half the 
circumference of the globe, can be proved to be of the same geo- 
logical age. The gold fields of the Chaudiére, near Quebec, ap- 
pear thus to lie in the same horizon with those of Australia. It 
would also seem, that the compound, differ from the simple grap- 
tolites, in being more persistently confined to a particular period 
near the base of the Lower Silurian. 

Pror. R. Harxness and J. W. Satrer, on the 17th of De- 
cember last, read a paper before the Geological Society, which 
bears so importantly upon our discoveries in the Quebec group 
that I shall quote the abstract of it entire as published in the 
Geologist of January, 1863. It is as follows :— 


' December 17th.—“ On the Skiddaw Slate Series.” By Prof. R. Hark- 
ness; with a note on the Graptolites, by Mr. J. W. Salter. Some gen- 
eral sections through the Skiddaw Slates were described in detail, and - 
the localities in which fossils had been previously found by Professor 
Sedgwick were especially noticed. The author stated that he had dis- 
covered several species of Graptolites, new to the Skiddaw Slates, in cer- 
tain flaggy beds almost devoid of cleavage, which occur at intervals ix 
the lower portion of the series, in several localities. Professor Harkness 
showed that these rocks were much more fossiliferous than had hitherto 
been supposed ; and that the evidence of the fossils, as interpreted by 
Mr. Salter, clearly proved them to be of the same age as the Lower 
Llandeilo rocks of Wales, and the Quebee group of Canada. The thick- 
ness of the Skiddaw Slates was estimated at 7000 feet, and the total 
thickness from the base of the Skiddaw Slates to the Coniston limestone 


* It does not seem to be clearly proved that the gold actually belongs 
to the graptolitic slates. 


22 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


at 13,000 feet. Besides several species of well-known Graptolites that 
are also found in the Lower Llandeilo rocks and in the Quebec group 
(Taconic System),* Mr. Salter has been enabled to identify Phyllograpsus 
angustifolium, Hall, Tetragrapsus bryonoides, Hall, and another species of 
that genus, Dichograpsus Sedgwicki, n. sp., Didymograpsus caduceus, and 
some others. He has given the name of Caryocaris Wrightti to a Crus- 
tacean discovered in these rocks by Mr. Wright. Mr. Salter considers 
the Skiddaw Slates to be of the same age as the Quebee Group, the 
graptolitiferous rocks of Melbourne, and the Tremadoc Slates of Wales. 


All the above proves, clearly enough, that in the opinion of 
the best European geologists, the age of the Quebec group has 
been correctly determined by the Canadian Survey. In Sir W. 
E. Logan’s first paper it is stated that ‘2? appears to be a great 
development of strata about the age of the Chazy and Calciferous,” 
and it is well Known that for several years past these two forma- 
tions have been classified in the Provincial Geological Museum 
as representing the Llandeilo. The cards placed in the cases to 
indicate this parallelism, refer the Calciferous to the Lower, and 
the Chazy to the Upper Llandeilo. This must be understood in 
a general sense, because, as in England it is impossible to point 
out the identical line of demarcation between the Llandeilo and 
the Lingula flags below, or between the Llandeilo and the Bala 
group above, so it is (with more reason) not possible to parallel, 
bed for bed, the American with the European sub-divisions of 
these ancient formations. The great point decided by the Cana- 
dian Survey in 1860 is this,—that the Quebec group is not the 
upper part of the Lower Silurian to which it had always been re- 
ferred by some geologists; neither does it lie in the primordial 
zone, as was then and is still maintained by others, but it occupies 
a position betsveen these two levels. 

The fossils of the Quebec group, are mostly all new species, 
those which are not new being specifically identical with those 
which occur in the Chazy and Calciferous, in the typical localities 
of the north-western division of the Silurian of Canada and New 
York, where the strata are undisturbed. But not one species has 
been found which occurs in the Hudson River formation. There are 
some species of Orthoceras Murchisonia and Pleurotemaria that 
might be at first sight taken for well known Trenton or Black 


* The Quebee group is only in part Taconic, as it includes rocks which 
Emmons expressly excluded.. I do not think he will claim any of the 
Quebec group when he becomes satisfied that it all lies above the Pats- 
dam.—H. B. 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 23 


River forms; but fortunately several of them are silicified; and 
when perfect specimens are worked out of the limestone-matrix, 
by the application of acid, they are found to differ, not a great 
deal, it is true, but, to such an extent that many naturalists would 
pronounce them to be distinct from those of the two formations 
mentioned. All the genera of trilobites that have been found in 
the Trenton, except Acidaspis, Bronteus, Calymene, and Encrinu- 
rus, occur in the Quebec group. On the other hand we find all 
the Potsdam and Taconic genera, except Atops, Bathynotus, and 
Aglaspis. Along with these there are several new genera of tri- 
lobites and some European types, such as Ampyx, Nileus, Holo- 
metopus and Afglina, not yet known as occurring in the north- 
western portion of the- palzeozoic basin of America. 

We have thus in the Quebec group, that intermingling of the 
types, of the first and second faunz, that must be expected in a 
formation whose true position is low down in the Silurian 
series and near the primordial zone. And as the species properly 
belonging to the second fauna, are vastly in the majority, we have 
assigned to the formation a position a little above the Potsdam 
group. 

Such being, in substance, the general conclusion that has been 
arrived at, 2. e. that the Quebec group is situated in the lower half 
of the lower Silurian, it is next to be shewn, to which of the Ame- 
rican sub-groups it can be paralleled. And here we must, per- 
haps, make some allowance for the existence of zoological pro- 
vinces in the Silurian seas, similar to those of the present day. 
Ifa line be drawn following the St. Lawrence from its mouth to 
the neighbourhood of Quebec, thence to ‘the northern extremity 
of Lake Champlain and then along the lake to Whitehall; thence 
to Albany and along the Appalachians to Tennessee, I think it 
will be found, that the palzozoic rocks lying south-east of that 
line contain some groups of fossils, to a great extent specifically 
distinct from those imbedded in rocks of the same age lying north- 
west of it. In this way we may in part, but not altogether, 
account for the extraordinary fact of the Quebec group yielding 
such a large number of species distinct from those occurring in 
New York and Canada west. 

Or, it might be explained, by supposing that in the south-eastern 
region, there are deposits which do not exist in the north-west. 
The thickness of the Calciferous and Chazy in Canada west of the 
line, cannot be much over 600 feet, while the Quebec group is at 


24 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


least 6000. In Pennsylvania, Prof. Rogers says, his Auroral series, 
—supposed by him (and correctly too I believe) to represent the 
cealciferous Chazy and Black River,—is from 2500 to 5500 feet 
thick. It is thus very clear that, either the same strata must be 
greatly thicker in the south-eastern region than they are in the 
north-western, or else that the whole formation is swollen by ad- 
ditional deposits. Perhaps both of these reasons should be taken 
into account. 

In 1859 I made an examination of all the Calciferous and 
Chazy fossils, in the Provincial Museum, and found that there were 
41 species in the former and 129 in the latter, but not one species 
was clearly identified as common to the two formations. I believe 
that between the Calciferous and Chazy, as developed west of the 
line, in Canada, there is an almost total break in the succession of 
life. There are few geologists who believe in periodic extinctions 
of all animal life extending over the whole earth. It is almost 
certain, that gaps of this kind are mere local phenomena. 

And ifso,then somewhere eise strata will sooner or later be found, 
holding a fauna composed partly of species occurring in the beds 
below and partly of those found in beds above the gap, thus 
connecting the two formations. I think it probable that a large 
portion of the Quebec group is of an age between the Calciferous 
and Chazy. But I do not believe that this would be sufficient to 
account for so great a number of species distinct from those of 
these two formations. The existence of zoological provinces in 
the Silurian seas, although not yet clearly proved, is something that 
should always be kept in mind, while endeavouring to work out 
a problem such as that presented by the fauna of the Quebec 
group. 

Of the 129 species of the Chazy limestone, twenty-one pass up- 
wards into the overlying formations. In the Black River limestone, 
lying just on the top of the Chazy, we find a sudden and great in- 
crease in the number of species. Nearly all of these pass upwards 
into the Trenton and many of them into the Hudson River. 
There is here another break (between the Chazy and Black River) 
but not so decided as that between the Calciferous and Chazy. 
When we find (as in the instance of the Black River and Trenton 
Fauna) a sudden appearance of a vast number of new species, 
we must suppose either that all these new species were suddenly 
created at the time the beds, in which we first find them, were 
deposited ; or, that previous to the deposition of these beds, they 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 95 


lived in some other tract of the ocean. I am inclined to believe 
in the latter view. In the Quebec group, in Newfoundland, we 
find in beds lying below those holding Bathyurus Saffordi and 
the compound graptolites, several species which can scarcely be 
distinguished from well known Black River and Trenton forms, 
They are all a little different, but still so closely allied that I am 
greatly at a loss to decide whether or not they should receive new 
names. This can only be settled by first deciding the question of 
the difference between varieties and true species. The fossils in ques- 
tion are either identical with, or are varieties of the following 
species: Murchisonia gracilis, M. bellicincta, M. bicincta, Or 
thoceras Allumettense, and O. Bigsbyi,(the latter Ormoceras tenuifi- 
lum of Hall). The first three of these species are, asis well known, 
common in the Black River and Trenton ; O. Allwmettense occurs 
both in the Chazy and Black River, but has not yet been found in 
the Trenton, while 0. Bigsbyi seems to be confined to the Black 
River. I think these species lived in the south-eastern region 
during the period of the deposition of the Quebec group, and 
(either they or their modified descendants) migrated north-west- 
erly during the Chazy and Black River periods. 

If we compare the whole fauna of the Quebec group with that 
of the Black River and Trenton, we shall find that the two can- 
not be identified at all upon any known principle of zoology. 
The difference cannot be explained away by the theory of distinct 
zoological provinces, because there are places (such as at Mont- 
morency) where the Trenton limestone, crowded with its own 
species can be seen lying in horizontal strata, while just across 
the channel which separates that locality from the Island of Or- 
leans, (almost within gunshot) the enormous mass of the Que- 
bec group with its compound graptolites and mixed fauna of pri- 
mordial and silurian trilobites is grandly displayed. It is impos- 
sible that two faunee, totally different could live for ages within a 
mile of each other in the ocean, without any barrier between them, 
and retain their distinctive characters. 

There is none of the true Chazy and Calciferous in the neighbour- 
hood of Quebec. But at Highgate Springs, near Phillipsburgh, at 
the northern extremity of lake Champlain, there is an exposure of 
the Chazy, Black River and Trenton limestones. The two latter 
formations can be easly identified by their fossils and lithologi- 
eal characters, but the beds supposed to represent the Chazy con- 
sist of sandstone shales and nodular limestones, and differ some- 


26 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


what from the formations elsewhere, and besides are almost desti- 
tute of fossils. They certainly underlie the Black River. 
The only species identified in these beds are Ptilodictya 
fenestrata, Orthis platys and Ampyx Hall. The first two of 
these are good Chazy species, in the typical localities, but the 
last is not; and I may mention here that no species of Ampyz 
has yet been found in the north-western region of our paleozoic 
basin, but I know of four or five in the south-eastern; all, either 
in the Chazy, or in the Quebec group, except one at Gaspé, which 
occurs in slates the age of which is not determined. One of the 
Species occurs in Tennessee in the upper strata of Safford’s for- 
mation 3 (most probably Chazy), and the others at various places 
in Vermont, Canada East and Newfoundland. The distance from 
Highgate Springs, in a straight line, to the village of Chazy the 
typical locality of the formation, is about seventeen miles in a 
westerly direction. Chazy limestone is said to occur on Isle 
La Motte, in Lake Champlain about twelve miles south-west of 
Highgate Springs. It would require a great deal of further examina- 
tion of the locality at Highgate Springs in order to determine pos- 
itively whether the true Chazy exists there, and if it do, what is 
the difference, in the grouping of the fossils between that and 
the typical locality, that might be due to geographical distribution. 

Within two miles east of the exposure of Trenton and Black Ri- 
ver limestone at Highgate Springs, we come to a large tract of 
limestone, of the Quebec group, which extends north to Bedford, 
a distance of about ten miles with a width of two miles at Phil- 
lipsburgh. A great many fossils occur in this tract of limestone, 
but not one of them has yet been identified as a Black River or 
Trenton form, and yet these two formations with a considerable 
number of their peculiar and characteristic species are exposed 
within two miles. Here then, as at Quebee, the theory of distinet 
zoological provinces will not explain the difference between the 
fauna of the Quebee group, and that of the Trenton and Black 
River. : 

The above is intended to show, that the Quebec group is not of 
the age of the Trenton, and that its upper limit cannot be higher 
than the base of the Black River. It is useless to compare it 
with the Hudson River, or any other higher formation. I think, 
however, that it must come very near the Black River, and, in 
describing the new species from Phillipsburgh, I have (in giving 
the locality and formation at the end of each description) referred 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. ON 


them either to the “wpper part of the Calciferous formation,” or 
to “beds holding fossils approaching in aspect to those of the 
Chazy or Black River formations.” 

The upper limits of the Quebec group, having been determined 
as above, it remains next to show how far it extends downwards, 
On this point I have only to say, that in Newfoundland, Mr. Rich- 
ardson has discovered aseries of rocks, which I have not the least 
hesitation whatever, in pronouncing to be positively identical in 
age with both the Loint Lévis and Phillipsburgh limestones. He 
has also ascertained, by a good coast section, that they clearly 
overlie all that part of the Calciferous which holds the remark- 
able- and characteristic cephalopods of Mr. Salter’s new genus 
Piloceras. These beds in their turn overlie conformably the sand- 
stones holding Lingula acuminata, which characterizes the upper 
strata of the Potsdam, in Canada West, New York, and Wiscon- 
sin. We thus have two horizons well determined, between which 
the Quebec group (or at least that portion of it to which the 
Point Lévis and Phillipsburgh limestones belong) must be situ- 
ated. The lower horizon is about the middle of the Calciferous, 
and the upper near the base of the Black River limestone.* 

It follows from what has been above stated, that the Chazy 
limestone occupies a position between the same two horizons 
which limit the Quebec group above and below. Are these two 
formations i.e., the Chazy and the Quebec group, of the same 
age? On this point all that can be said is that the Quebec group 
holds about 300 species of fossils (including the graptolites), and 
I cannot identify a dozen of them with true Chazy species. My 
Own view is, that in a portion of the Quebec group, we have a set 
of strata representing those which are absent in Canada, west 
of the line where the break occurs between the Calciferous 
and Chazy formations. The remainder may possibly be of 
the age of the Chazy, the difference in the species being due to 
geographical distribution. I only offer this however as a possible 
solution of one of the difficulties that have been met with, in en- 
deayouring to arrive at the truth, in this complicated question. 


* It is possible that the lower part of the true Calciferous may be 
represented by some of the slates in the south-eastern region in which 
no fossils have yet been found, 


28 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


~ Diagram SHEWING THE SUPPOSED PARALLELISM OF THE ENGLISH 
AnD CanapIAN LoweER SILURIAN FORMATIONS. 


ENGLISH. CANADIAN. 


LOowER 


Base or AnTIOOSTI GROUP. 
LANDOVERY. 


i: 


Hupson River. 


BALA OR 
CARADOC. Rie Utica Sats, 
ges oe ; 
4 
Se 
fa TRENTON. 
UPPER Buack RIveEr. 


LianpeiLo. |t 11, 


occupy this position very 


LowER 
nearly. 


LLANDEILO. 
TREMADOC 
SLATE. 


CALCIFEROUS. 


Cuazy. tec QurErc Group must 


LINGULA 
FLaGs. 


eae Porspam SANDSTONE is supposed to 
= be situated about here, but we have no 
facts to determine its parallelism posi- 


tively. Itis most probably of the age 
= of the Lower Quartz Rock of Scotland. 


Below the Linevta Fiaes in England are situated the Cam- 
BRIAN (Sedgwick), beneath which the Laurent1an (Logan) occurs 
in the North of Scotland. 

In Canada, we have below the Porspam, the Hurontan (Logan), 
and beneath that, the LaurEnrTIAN. 

In England the Potsdam formation has not I believe been clear- 
ly identified ; but in Scotland, Sir R. I. Murchison has shewn in 
several papers, published in the Journal of the Geological Society, 
that it is represented by the Lower Quartz Rock of Sutherlandshire. 
It is there overlaid by the Durness limestone, which has been iden- 
tified by him and by Mr. Salter as of the age of the Calciferous 
formation. I have seen the fossils collected by them, and think 
that their opinion is undoubtedly correct. In Canada, the Que- 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 29 


bee group with its compound graptolites, overlies all those rocks 
which represent the Durness limestone. 

The Black River and Trenton limestones, the Utica slate and 
Hudson River of Canada, represent the upper half of the Lower 
Silurian of England, but the sub-divisions recognized in the two 
countries cannot be exactly paralleled. It is almost certain that 
the Hudson River represents a portion of the Bala or Caradoc. 
I think that the Trenton limestone might well be paralleled with 
the base of the same group. The Black River may be nearly 
parallel with a part of the Bala and the highest strata of the 
Upper Llandeilo. 

I shall now notice briefly Mr. Marcov’s last publication,* in 
which the following section is given in descending order ; 


1. PotspamM SANDSTONE.....cecscceee 300 feet. 
2. Quesec GRouP....... dees aeetele Pes) AGO) 
3. Point LEVIS GROUP.....c.eeeceee TOO Ores 
An (GTM OUR t Gr OUP) «|eieveca lalallavel otetcicelereie 400 $¢ 
5. CHAUDIERE GROUP..cceseeccecocs 3,000  % 


No facts either physical or palzeontological are given by Mr. 
Marcou in support of the above classification. It is purely con- 
jectural. He places the limestones and slates of Point Lévis and 
Phillipsburgh, which have yielded nearly all the fossils of the Que- 
bec group yet discovered, in what he calls the Point Lévis and 
Gilmour groups, the highest beds of which are according to his 
section 2400 feet below the base of the Potsdam sandstone. 
From these rocks we have in the Provincial Geological Museum 
at Montreal the followiny genera of organic remains : 


GENERA OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


Hospongia, Stenopora, Tetradium, Petraia, Rhodocrinus, Glyp- 
ocrinus, Palcocystites, Dictyonema, Graptolithus,| Obolus, Obo- 
lella, Lingula, Acrotreta, Leptena, Strophomena, Camerella, 
Ehynchonella, Cyrtodonta, Holopea, Subulites, Murchisonia, 
Eunema, Pleurotomaria, Helicotoma, Ophileta, Maclurea, Eccu- 
liomphalus, Metoptoma, Bellerophon, Orthoceras, Cyrtoceras, Li- 
tuites, Nautilus, Aiglina, Agnostus, Amphion, Ampyx, Arionel- 


* Letter to Mr. Joachim Barrande, on the Taconic Rocks of Vermont 
and Canada; by Jules Marcou, Cambridge, Massachusetts, August, 1862. 

t There are several sub-genera of Graptolithus, but as the Decade in 
which they are to be described is not yet published, I am unable to name 
them with certainty. 


30 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


lus ? Acsaphus, Bathyurus, Cheirurus, Conocephalites ? Dikeloce- 
phalus, Endymion, Harpides, Holometopus, Ilcenus, Leperditia, 
Lichas, Menocephalus, Nileus, Olenellus, and Shumardia. 

Any one who has studied the paleontology of the older rocks 
will perceive that the above is a Silurian fauna. Out of fifty-three 
genera there are only seven which have a primordial aspect. 
They are the following : 


Agnostus, Arionellus, 

Bathyurus, Conocephalites, 

Dikelocephalus, Menocephalus, 
Olenellus. 


These seven genera are just sufficient to give to so large a fauna 
a perceptible primordial tinge, so to speak, indicating a proximity 
to the base of the Lower Silurian. Of the species there are ten 
or twelve considered to be identical with well known Calciferous 
and Chazy forms; and about as many more which are closely 
allied to some of those occurring in these and some of the over- 
lying formations. J have marked the genera Arionellus and 
Conocephalites doubtful, as it is not quite certain that A. cylindri- 
eus, A. Sedgwicki, and C. Zenkeri* are sufficiently determined. 
It makes little difference however, as the species have a primordial 
aspect. 

There is no paleeontologist in America who will ever believe that 
we have in Canada a formation lying 2400 feet below the base 
of the Potsdam, holding a fauna composed of the genera given in 
the above list. No English palzontologist will believe that such 
a fauna is to be found in rocks older than the Lingula flags. Bar- 
rande will certainly not admit such a fauna into his Primordial 
Zone. Dr. Emmons will not take the Point Lévis and Phillips- 
burgh limestones into his Taconic system. In several letters 
which I received from him in 1860 after the first publication of 
the Quebec fossils, he says that he considers the Point Lévis lime- 
stone to be the Lower Silurian and of the same age nearly as the 
limestone of Troy, Bald Mountain, Mount Toby and other places 
in New York. But he seems to claim the slates which hold the 
graptolites. Barrande, however, both in his published papers and 
in his letters to me, steadily refuses to admit the graptolites into 
the primordial zone. » Sir R. I. Murchison also maintains with 
Barrande that all graptolitic rocks are Silurian. 


* This species may belong to the genus Harpides, 


ld 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. OL 


As the Point Lévis and Phillipsburgh limestones are thus turned 
out of the Taconic system by Emmons, and the graptolitic rocks 
of the same localities refused admission into the primordial zone 
by Barrande, Mr. Marcou will experience much difficulty in main- 
taining his classification. 

Apparently in anticipation of this difficulty, he says, that the 
limestones in question, are centres of creation, and that tie fossils 
are groups of Lower Silurian types which made their appearance 
in the ocean during the primordial period. They are thus Silu- 
rian colonies in the primordial zone. But he does not give any 
facts in proof of this theory. He seems to ignore the inflexible 
rule to. which every investigator must submit, that he who ad- 
vances a new proposition in science, must furnish the public with 
the proof. He has the affirmative side of the question, and the 
onus probandi lies upon him. Thus, in endeavouring to point out 
the geological age of the Quebec group, we laid our proofs before 
the scientific world ; we published our facts. Every fossil species 
described and figured, is a natural fact, upon which a scientific man 
may reason, and from which he can draw conclusions. ‘The first 
step Mr. Marcou must take, in order to establish his classification, 
is to prove that the slates, in which the lenticular masses of lime- 
stones holding his colonies are imbedded, belong to the primor- 
dial zone. He can only do this, by paleontology, or, by phy- 
sical geology. A vast proportion of these slates hold no fossils 
at all, or at least, none have been found in them; and therefore 
their age cannot be determined by paleontology. The remaining 
portion do, it is true, hold. fossils, but they are not primordial ;- 
they are all either Lower Silurian types, or such as are common 
to the first and second faunz. Jn addition to the graptolites we — 
have Obolella desiderata, Lingula Irene, L. Quebecensis, Orthas, 
(two species one of which seems to be OQ. electra, and the other 
O. gemmicula, Strophomena, (1 species) Shumardia granulosa, 
and a new species of Asaphus with a ribbed pygidium like that of 
A, Canadensis. There are as I am informed between forty and 
fifty species of graptolites belonging to several genera. I have 
also a specimen of an obscure fossil which may be a Zetradium. 
According to paleontology this group of fossils belongs to the 
second fauna, and is not primordial. It furnishes therefore a point- 
blank contradiction to Mr. Marcou’s classification. It must be 
borne in mind, that these slates, are not of the same age as those 
of Georgia in Vermont, which are characterised by the presence 


32 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


of the trilobites Olenellus Vermontana, O. Thompsoni, &c. These 
latter are primordial and belong to the Potsdam group. They 
may very properly be placed in the Taconic system, but they lie 
far below the Quebec group. 

As Mr. Marcou can derive no aid from paleontology in support 
of his classification, he must establish it by physical geology. He 
must point out some place where the Potsdam can be seen overlying 
the Quebec group, as represented in his section. The locality 
must exhibit the rocks in their natural position. There must be 
no disturbances, such as faults and overturns. Now, at Quebec, 
not only are the strata wonderfully contorted and faulted, but fur- 
ther, Mr. Marcou says he could not find any Potsdam there at all. 
He says on page 13 of his published letter to Barrande : 

“The Potsdam Sandstone does not exist in the district of Quebec, and 
I did not see a single trace of it north of the Grand Trunk Railroad from 
Richmond to Montreal. Probably if these rocks were ever deposited in 
that region, not finding any point of resistance close by, as in the Adi- 
rondack country, they slipped under all the other strata in the overturn of 
the Taconic, and have been entirely concealed from view by the succeed- 
ing groups.” ; 

If the Potsdam be concealed from view at Quebec, how does he 
know that it overlies the Quebec group? In the above quotation 
I have italicised a few words, because at p.10 he informs Bar- 
rande that the strata at Point Lévis are not much disturbed, “ and 
that the few foldings in the strata of the Ferry Cliff, are mere ac- 
cidents, confined to a distance of a few feet, and are without any 
effect upon the whole mass of strata, but are, what we call in 
French, structure ployée (contorted beds). This does not agree 
very well with the asserted overturn. According to my view, when 
a huge formation of rock, more than a mile in thickness, and occu- 
_pying many thousand square miles in geographical extent, has been 
turned completely upside down (as Mr. Marcou says hisnew Ta- 
conic system has been) by some tremendous convulsion of nature, the 
structure must indivate a very considerable amount of disturbance. 

Passing now from Quebec to Phillipsburgh and Swanton, Mr. 
Marcou, has given us another section to indicate the succession at 
these two latter localities. It is as follows in descending order : 


. POTSDAM SANDSTONE,..-.e+ecceessse 300 feet. 
« SWANTON SLATES). ccceccenecseccss 2000 $8 
. PHILLIPSBURGH GROUP,.«+.eseceseeess 1300 § 
oH GHORGIAIBIAMUS etotetelsieialele eleleleloieleicia sini OO Mes 
. St, ALBAN’S GROUP, .secseceresacee S000 


Or © DSH 


e 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 33 


No. 4 of this group is primordial, but No. 5, the St. Albans’ 
group, is very obscurely, or not sufficiently defined, to enable us to 
recognize it. No. 3 consists of a large tract of stratified limestone 
ten miles in length, and (opposite Phillipsburgh) two miles wide. 
The strata, in general, dip easterly at an angle of from 12° to 25°, 
but in many places the dip is much steeper and in a different di- 
rection. It is not an accumulation of lenticular masses, as Mr. 
Marcou calls it, but a large tract of regularly stratified limestone. 
Its thickness, measured across the outcropping edges of the strata, 
is about 1500 feet. It holds numerous fossils, mostly identical 
with those ofthe Point Lévis limestones. The slates called by Mr. 
Marcou Swanton slates., and placed, in his section, above the lime- 
stones and below the Potsdam, are, in great part, destitute 
of fossils. A few graptolites have been found in them by the Rev. 
Mr. Perry, Dr. Hall (both of Swanton), and myself. They are 
thus, according to paleontology, not primordial slates. Here 
then, as at Quebec, paleontology affords Mr. Marcou no assistance, 
but strong opposition instead. Physical geology does not aid him 
in placing the Potsdam above the slates because neither at Phillips- 
burgh nor at Swanton is there any of the Potsdam within a mile 
of them. How then does he know which of the two formations 
is uppermost? The only place where these slates can be seen in 
this neighbourhood, in contact with any other formation, is at the 
village of Phillipsburgh, and here they underlie the limestones. 
They form the lower thirty feet of the cliff along the water’s edge, 
commencing at Strite’s Hotel. Yet Mr. Marcou places them above 
the limestones. If he is right, then there must bea great disloca- 
tion here. 

' Mr. Marcou says, that last year, he remained only a few hours at 
Phillipsburgh and that he adopted, without examination, the opi- 
nions expressed by me in my paper on the age of the Phillipsburgh 
limestones, referring them to the Calciferous and Chazy. ‘‘ but, 
he says, ‘“‘a careful survey this year has convinced me that at 
Philipsburgh, as well as at point Lévis, Mr. Billings has been mis- 
led in giving explanations, and arriving at conclusions, in his pal- 
zeontological researches, which are entirely at variance with what 
exists in nature.” In answer to this I shall only say that I studied 
the natural facts that were laid before me, 2. e., the fossils, accord- 
ing to the principles established by the great masters of palzon- 
tology, such as Cuvier, Barrande, Agassiz, and others; and I do 
not fear for the result. If he had done the same he never would 
Can. Nat. 3 Vox. VIII. 


34 PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


have placed the Quebec group below the Potsdam. As he has: 
published and circulated a letter addressed to Barrande, contain- 
ing the above remarks, he is bound, in honor, to publish Barrande’s 
answer, and circulate that also. If he do not, then we must believe 
that Barrande does not coincide with him. 

From Pillipsburgh, a range of exposures of limestone, runs. 
southerly to St Albans Bayin Vermont, a distance of about twenty 
miles. Some of these small tracts of limestone are Trenton, while. 
others may belong to the Quebec group. At St. Albans Bay 
there is a cliff or ridge, of reddish magnesian limestone and sand- 
stone, running north and south, nearly parallel to, and a short 
distance from the shore. This I believe to be tne Potsdam. <A. 
road, from the town of St. Albans down to the Bay, crosses this 
ridge at a right angle, passing through a wide irregular ravine. 
North of the road there is an exposure of greyish or whitish 
limestone at the foot of the cliff, which may belong to the 
Quebec group. It seems to plunge under the sandstone, as it is. 
exposed within ten feet of it and dips towards it. In this 
limestone I found a Pleurotomaria very like one that occurs in the 
Quebec group. This place, might be appealed to as affording 
proof, that the Potsdam overlies the Quebec group physically. 
But I think there is a dislocation here. The Potsdam dips east- 
erly at a gentle angle, but the limestone is greatly disturbed, and 
is in some places vertical. Again, following the base of the cliff 
southerly across the road we soon come to another exposure of 
limestone of a different age. It is dark grey, blue and black 
and often traversed by seams of white calc-spar. The strati- 
fication is much confused, thus indicating the promixity of a fault. 
Some of the beds hold Stenopora fibrosa, Sitrophomena alternata 
and Asaphus platycephalus. These are either Trenton or Black 
River. In one place the weathered surfaces exhibit sections of 
Pleurotomuria and Maclurea and may be Chazy. It seems to be 
underlaid by a black slate. The rocks of this exposure also seem 
to plunge under the Potsdam, as do those north of the road. 

The Potsdam at St. Albans Bay thus comes in contact with 
two different formations, within a distance of half a mile. Ac- 
cording to Mr. Marcou’s section there ought to be here 2000 feet of 

‘slate between the limestone and Potsdam. I think that all the 

facts, both paleontological and physical, that can be observed here, 
indicate the existence of a great fault, with an upthrow on the 
eastern side. 


=» “se 


PARALLELISM OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 35 


About twenty-five miles further south, at the small promontory 
called Sharp-shins, or Lone-rock Point, at Burlington, a formation of 
limestone, which appears to belong to the Potsdam, is seen resting 
on black slate, the contact being visible. In the debris of bro- 
ken slate, at the foot of this cliff, the Rey. Mr. Perry found some 
imperfect fossils. Among these I recognized a fragment of Con- 
ularia, and the punctured border of the head of a Trinucleus, 
As the fossils were found loose, the age of the slates is not deter- 
mined palzontologically. But I have shown (Am. Jour. Sci., 2d 
Sep., Vol. 33, p. 102) that the underside.of the limestone, or the 
surface of it which is in contact with the slate, is smoothed, and 
presents very much the appearance of slickensides. There are 
thus at this place also indications of a dislocation. 

At Buck mountain, still further south in Vermont, I have also: 
shown (Soe. Cit., p. 103) that the Potsdam is brought up by a 
fault (with an upthrow on the east side) against the Chazy and 
Black River. I think the limestone at the north end of this 
mountain belongs to the Quebec group. | 

At Snake mountain, about a mile further south, the Potsdam has 
about 700 feet of black slate below it. But as the undoubted 
Chazy limestone is seen at the foot of the hill, apparently plung- 
ing under the slate which supports the Potsdam, there must in- 
evitably be here (as Dr, Emmons has long held) one or more 
great faults. No fossils have been found in the slates at this 
locality, z.e., in those that have the Potsdam above them. 

All the evidence, both physica! and palzontological, thus far 
collected, seems to show that (in the disturbed region of the south- 


eastern portion of the paleeozoic basin of North America) when- 


ever the Potsdam, with its primordial fauna, appears to overlie 
rocks holding the types of the second fauna, there will be found 
some evidence of a great fault, often with an overlap, by which 
the older rocks are not only brought up to a level with the newer, 
but even shoved over them. This solution of the great problem, 
which for twenty years has been so much discussed by American geo- 
logists was first brought out by Sir W. E. Logan, in Dec., 1860, and 
all the new facts ascertained since then, along the line of the 
fault, prove that it is the only true one that has yet been ad- 
vanced, 


36 NEW SPECIES OF FOSSILS. 


Description of a new species of Harpes from the Trenton Lime- 
stone, Ottawa. 


Harrss Denton. (N. sp.) 
(The glabella is distorted in the posterior half.) 


Description :—The head of this species, exclusive of the poste- 
rior prolongation of the border, is nearly semi-cireular. The 
border itself is not wholly preserved in the specimen, so that its 
width cannot be ascertained. The length of the head without 
the border is six lines, and its width on a line running across the 
neck segment-one inch. The margin is prolonged backwards 
thirteen lines from the neck furrow. The head is rather strongly 
convex, its elevation at about mid-length of the glabella being 
about four lines in the specimen, although a little depressed by 
distortion. The glabella is strongly convex being elevated nearly 
one line above the level of the cheeks; it is obtusely rounded in 
front, and appears to be nearly as broad where a line drawn 
through the eyes crosses it as it is at the neck furrow, but on 
this point there is some doubt as the posterior portion is crushed. 
The neck furrow is well defined across the glabella, and curves 
a little forward on the median line. The neck segment is well 
developed. On each side of the base of the glabella, there is an 
irregularly semi-oval space, the outer margin of which, is abruptly 
sunk about half a line below the general surface of the cheeks. 
This space is bordered on its posterior margin by the neck fur- 
row ;—on the outer and anterior side, by a nearly vertical eleva- 
tion of the crust of the cheek, the outline of the space making 
an obtusely rounded curve on the outside and then turning inward 
and forwards to the glabella, which it reaches at an acute angle 


NEW SPECIES OF FOSSILS. 37 


on aline crossing the eyes. There appears to be slightly im- 
pressed glabellar furrow on each side, which commences at about 
one line from the neck furrow, at about one third the width of 
the glabella from the side of the same, and runs obliquely for- 
wards and outwards, reaching the side at about one line behind 
the eye. In front of this, there appear to be, two small depress. 
ions in the side of the glabella close to the surface of the cheek 
and opposite the eye. A line drawn across the head through 
the eyes would cross the glabella at about one third its length 
from the front. The eyes aresmall tubercles, scarcely half a line 
in diameter, and situated about two lines from the side of the 
glabella. A small thread like ocular ridge runs from the eye 
forward, nearly to the front of the glabella, but does not appear 
to cross the smal] dorsal furrow which runs round the sides and 
front. The neck segment forms a vertical elevation along the 
the posterior margin of the head, half a line in height and cury- 
ing backwards gradually passes into the posterior prolongations 
of the head. These as far as they can be seen are nearly ver- 
tical, but sloping a little inwards and upwards. 

The surface of the whole head is covered with small irregularly 
polygonal pits separated from each other by sharp edged walls, 
On tke cheeks these pits are on an average about one fourth of a 
line across, but they vary in size, some of them being much smal- 
ler than the others. They seem to be in general a little smaller 
on the glabella than on the cheeks. Where a portion of the 
crust is broken away, from the front of the head, a cast of the in- 
ner surface can be observed. It is covered with small round tu- 
bercles, about three in one line. 

This species differs from Harpes antiquatus, the only species . 
hitherto described from the Lower Silurian Rocks of Canada, in 
haying the glabella more obtusely rounded in front, and in the 
remarkable characters of the surface which is reticulated, all over 
the head, by the sharp lines separating the angular puncture, 
while in H. antiquatus the glabella is smooth or only minutely 
punctured. 

Dedicated to Mr. William Denton, of Painesville, Ohio, who 
discovered it. 

Locality and Formation —Ottawa, Trenton limestone. 


On the Internal Spiral Coils of the Genus Cyrtina. 


Mr. Dayidson, in his monograph on the British Carboniferous 


38 NEW SPECIES OF FOSSILS. 


7 Brachiopoda, p. 68, points out, that no spiral coils had been no- 
ticed in the genus Cyrtina by any author. By working at some 
silicified specimens with acid, I have been so fortunate as to dis- 
cover these organs in two species. Their position is the same as 
in Spirifera, but the first two coils are (at least in one of the spe- 
cies, C. Dalmani, Hall) connected a little in front of the mid- 
lengih by an apparatus somewhat like that of Spirigera, but not 
so complicated. A very slender process springs upwards to- 
wards the ventral valve, from each coil, and at the height of 
about one line, curves forwards. The two then unite, and form 
a single band, which extends forwards to about the front of the 
coil, and there ends in an obtuse point. This connecting process 
I have only seen in one specimen of C. Dalmani. The other 
species appears to be new, and I shall describe it under the name of 


CrrtinA EvpHemra. (N. sp.) 


Cyrtina EHuphemia, (N. sp.) -A, ventral view, B, dorsal view, 
shewing the area and spiral coils. 


Description.—Shell rather large; ventral valve moderately con- 
vex, irregularly depressed pyramidal, sub-semi-circular, the margin 
undulated in its outline by the large radiating folds; mesial sinus 
commencing in a point at the beak, and gradually enlarging so 
that its width at the front margin is equal to nearly one third the 
whole width of the shell at the hinge line. On each side of the 
mesial sinus, a single large rounded rib or fold, nearly equal to 
the width of the sinus, becoming angular near the beak. Near 
the cardinal edges there are two other obscure depressed convex 
folds, one on each side. Area concave, at right angles to the 
plane of the margin in the lower third, but incurved in the upper 
two thirds. Beak minute, pointed and incurved a little over the 
cardinal edge. Foramen narrow, its width at the hinge line equal 
to half the height of the area, closed by a thin convex deltidium 
in the lower half; in the upper half, open and shewing, within, the 


» My 


ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 39 


thin plate which partially divides the triangular chamber of the 
ventral valve. In the only specimen collected, the beak and area 
are distorted being turned to the left. This is not the result of 
pressure, but owing to an irregularity in the growth of the shell. 

Dorsal valve moderately convex with a large rounded mesial 
fold, and two others obscurely developed, one on each side. 

Surface not well preserved in the specimen, but apparently 
smooth with some lamellose lines of growth. In one specimen 
the shell appears to have an inner coarsely punctate layer. 

The spires at their bases, or where the two cones abut against 
each other, base to base, extend from the hinge line to the front 
margin, but they rapidly diminish in diameter outwards and be- 
come sub-cylindrical near the cardinal angles. 

The specimen when perfect must have been at least 18 lines 
wide on the hinge line; length of dorsal valve 8 lines; length of 
' ventral valve from the beak to the front margin 12 lines; height 
of area about 6 lines, width of foramen on the hinge line 3 lines, 

Along the edge of the open part of the foramen, there are 
some indications that the deltidium, when perfect, extended nearly 
to the beak. 

Locality and Formation.—Township of Walpole, Canada 
West; Corniferous limestone, Collected by J. De Cew. 


Arr. IV.—On a new method of preparing Chlorine, . Car- 
bonate of Soda, Sulphuric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid ; 
by THomas MAcFARLANE. 


In a former paper * I had occasion to describe the nature of 
the reactions which take place.on calcining iron pyrites with a 
small proportion of common salt. These reactions I supposed to be 
as follows :—First, the greater part of the sulphur of the pyrites 
is oxidized by the air, and disengaged as sulphurous acid, the 
iron also combining with oxygen and forming peroxide of iron. 
At a later stage of the operation, part of the sulphurous acid 
formed comes in contact with the peroxide of iron, and is through 
its agency further oxidized into sulphuric acid, which combines 
with the iron oxide, forming finally a comparatively small quan- 
tity of sulphate of peroxide of iron. This salt reacts 
on the chloride of sodium, producing sulphate of soda and 


* Canadian Naturalist for 1862, p. 194. 


40 ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 


-perchloride of iron. Air having still access, the perchloride of 
iron is resolved into peroxide of iron and chlorine gas, which 
latter escapes, and may be recognized by its odor as soon as the 
evolution of sulphurous acid has ceased. Assuming this expla- 
nation to be. correct, it occurred to, me that chlorine might be 
produced on a large scale by taking advantage of the reactions 
which occur towards the end of the process above described, and 
by substituting common green vitriol (calcined) for the sulphate 
of peroxide of iron formed by the reactions just, mentioned. 

I found however on calcining a,mixture of four parts of calcined 
- green vitriol (the formula of which may be regarded as Fe, O,, 
2 SO3) and three parts of common salt, in a muffle furnace, at a 
moderate red heat, that these substances fused together, and evolved, 
instead of pure chlorine, a mixture of this gas with yapors 
of perchloride of iron. I then prepared perchloride of iron by 
heating together calcined green vitriol and chloride of calcium 
over a spirit-lamp. In this reaction the materials did not fuse 
together, and the perchloride of iron sublimed from the mixture 
was decomposed at a gentle heat in the muffle into chlorine and 
peroxide of iron. It was also decomposed when heated with per- 
oxide of manganese oyer aspirit-lamp, pure chlorine being evolved. 
On heating a mixture of calcined green vitriol and common salt 
in the same way, it fused, but gave no sublimate, nor was there 
any chlorine evolved on heating the same mixture with peroxide 
of manganese. On the other hand, a mixture of calcined green 
vitriol, chloride of calcium, and peroxide of manganese heated 
over a spirit-lamp did not fuse nor agglutinate, and gave off 
chlorine abundantly. From these experiments it seemed essenti- 
al in. order to the production of chlorine from calcined green 
vitriol and common salt, that these materials should be keptin aloose 
and porous condition, in which state the oxygen of the atmosphere 
might more readily permeate the mass. I accordingly added to 
the mixture of four parts of calcined green vitriol and three parts 
of common salt, an equal weight of peroxide of iron, and heated 
the mixture in the muffle. The fusion of the materials was thus 
prevented, and an abundant evolution of pure chlorine took place. 
On continuing the calcination until chlorine was no longer evolv- 
ed, I found that the residue consisted almost exclusively of sul- 
phate of soda and peroxide of iron. The solution obtained by 
treating it with hot water contained no iron. I then took 474 
grains (3 equivalents) of calcined green vitriol, 351 grains (6.eq.) 


ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 41 


of, common salt, and 702 grains (9 eq.) of peroxide of iron (a 
lesser proportion than in the former experiment), mixed them in- 
timately and introduced them into a glass flask, heated by a 
spirit-lamp. By means of an aspirator of caoutchouc, I drew a 
current of air, not previously dried, over the heated mixture, and 
then successively through water, dry hydrate of lime, and a solu- 
tion of caustic potash. The latter at the close of the experiment 
gave, with hydrochloric acid no odor of chlorine, but the hy- 
drate.of lime similarly treated evolved abundance of it, and in- 
deed possessed all the properties of bleaching powder. The pro- 
duction. of chlorine and bleaching powder was therefore in this 
case accomplished, but the large quantity of peroxide of iron re- 
maining in the. residue rendered this unfit for the further treat- 
ment required for the manufacture of carbonate of soda. I ac- 
cordingly sought to reduce toa minimum, the quantity of peroxide 
of iron to be added to the other ingredients, and found that a 
mixture of 316 grains (2 eq.) of calcined green vitriol, 234 grains 
(4 eq.) of common salt, and 312 grains (4 eq.) of peroxide of 
iron. was capable of being calcined under the mufile, at a low red 
heat without melting, and yielded pure chlorine. On continuing 
the calcination until no more of this gas was evolved, the residue 
contained in 100 parts :— 


Peroxide of iron.......... - -65.9 

Sulphate of soda............ 31.1 

Chloride of sodium.......... 3.0, by difference. 
100.0 


Encouraged by this result, I diminished still further the quan- 
tity of peroxide of iron used, and the temperature employed 
during the calcination. 816 grains (2 eq.) of calcined green 
vitriol, 234 grains (4 eq.) of common, salt, and 156 grains 
(= 2 eq.) of ferric oxide yielded chlorine ; on calcination in the 
mufile, and left a residue weighing 573 grains, and containing in 
100 parts :— 


Peroxide of iron..... $ ole ete «fe 440 
Sulphate of soda...... eleie chet 42.1 
Chloride of sodium...........3.9, by difference, 


100.0 


42 ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 


After this I performed two additional experiments ein the 
following proportions of materials :— 


I. II. 
Calcined green vitriol. ..316...450 
Common salt....... P24 oo 
Peroxide of iron....... IS eels 


The muffle was kept at a faint red heat, and in both cases 
chlorine was abundantly evolved. Finally I found that it was 
even possible to calcine 316 parts of calcined green vitriol and 
234 parts of common salt, without any admixture of peroxide of 
iron, and to obtain an abundant disengagement of chlorine. In 
this case however the muffle was not allowed to attain even the 
faintest redness. Even at this low temperature the materials 
sintered together slightly. I had thus by this series of experi- 
ments ascertained the exact conditions most favorable to the 
disengagement of chlorine from a mixture of calcined green vit- 
riol and common salt, and proved that the explanation given above 
of the production of chlorine in calcining iron pyrites with com- 
mon salt was the correct one. Inthe course of these experiments 
I was also led to expose chloride of manganese to a moderate 
red heat in the muffle, in presence of acurrent of air, asin the 
above trials. I found that that substance in an impure state, 
(prepared by evaporating to dryness the residue from the pre- 
paration of chlorine from peroxide of manganese and hydrochlo- 
ric acid,) was in this way converted into an oxide of manganese 
of a higher degree of oxidation than the protoxide, with abun- 
dant disengagement of chlorine. The decomposition was easily 
effected, still it seemed as if peroxide of iron, or manganese, when 
mixed with the impure chloride of manganese, accelerated the 
evolution of the chlorine. The residue from the decomposition 
of the impure chloride of manganese, if exposed in the muffle 
until the evolution of chlorine was no longer observable, yielded 
chlorine when heated with hydrochloric acid, but none when heated 
with sulphuric acid. This last reaction proved that no un- 
decomposed chloride of manganese was left in the calcined residue. 

The residue from the production of chlorine from calcined 
green vitriol and common salt, consisting of a mixture of sul- 
phate of soda and peroxide of iron, on being mixed with pow- 
dered coal or charcoal, and ignited, fuses readily, and the resulting 
product, when treated with water, affords an alkaline solution, 


- 


ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 43 


colored green, by dissolved sulphuret of iron, and an insoluble 
residue, of finely divided sulphuret of iron, This alkaline solution 
when exposed to the influence of carbonic acid and oxygen, be- 
comes decolorised, and yields on evaporation carbonate of soda. 
This method of producing soda was proposed as early as the year 
1778, by Maleherbe, a Benedictine monk, who however used me- 
tallic iron instead of the peroxide; and is the same in principle 
as that patented in Great Britain, by Blythe and Kopp, in 1856. 
These patentees prevented the partial solution of the sulphuret 
of iron by the alkaline liquid, by exposing the melted material to 
the action of carbonic acid and atmospheric air previous to treat- 
ing it with water. I have however found that in the simple evap- 
oration of the solution the decolorisation is effected by a separ- 
ation of the dissolved sulphuret. In carrying out the method on 
the large scale, the action of the readily fused alkaline mass on the 
usual furnace materials is found to be very severe. In the course 
of my experience in refining impure arseniurets of nickel and co- 
balt, on the large scale, by fusing these with sulphate of soda and 
charcoal, I ascertained that a furnace bottom consisting principally 
of ground quicklime, resists the action of the alkaline sulphurets, 
and I found on smelting the mixture of sulphate of soda, coal and 
iron oxide above mentioned, in contact with a hearth of the same 
material, that the latter was not acted on, and thus succeeded in 
removing one of the greatest practical difficulties which beset 
this new method of manufacturing soda. 

The residual sulphuret of iron from the soda process, was ac- 
cording to Blythe and Kopp’s patent, utilised by calcining it, and 
conducting the sulphurous acid thus produced into the leaden 
chamber, for conversion into sulphuric acid, in the usual manner. 
This moist sulphuret of iron, however, on being exposed to air 
and moisture, passes through various intermediate stages of oxi- 
dation, and finally becomes very rich in sulphate of iron. As 
this salt finds a ready and suitable application in the new method 
of producing chlorine, it seemed to me the preferable mode of re- 
covering the sulphur, to remove the sulphate of iron from the 
oxidized mass by lixiviation, and to evaporate the solution obtained 
to crystallization. 

Having thus stated the manner in which this new method of 
making chlorine and carbonate of soda suggested itself to me, 
I may be permitted to state, more conciscly my manner of put- 
ting the method into practice, which is as follows :—828 parts 


44 ON. THE. PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 


of common crystallized green vitriol, (obtained either by the 
ordinary methods, or in the manner yet to be described,) ara 
heated until they part with their water of crystallization, and 
become more or less oxidized, without however losing any sulphuric 
acid. The calcined green vitriol thus obtained is then mixed with 
352 parts of common salt, (previously heated until it no longer 
decrepitates,) and also with 78 parts of peroxide of iron, (which 
may readily be obtained by calcining pure iron pyrites with five per 
cent. of common salt) and lixiviating the result. These ingredients, 
in fine powder, being intimately mixed, are introduced into a 
muffle calcining furnace, nearly of the same construction as that 
used. in Europe for calcining arsenical pyrites. The mixture is 
spread over the hearth of the furnace, which is heated to faint 
redness by a fire placed underneath it. That part of the furnace 
over the hearth, which may be called the muffle, and to which the 
flames, or products of the combustion of the fuel have no access, 
is connected with an exhausting machine, which draws a current 
of air, (previously dried, by passing through quicklime), over the 
mixture which is spread out on the hearth of the furnace. A de- 
composition takes place at a very low temperature, between the 
sulphate of iron and the chloride of sodium, sulphate of soda re- 
sulting on the one hand, and protochloride and perchloride of iron 
on the other. The temperature in the furnace is so low that nei- 
ther of the chlorides of iron is sublimed; but on the other hand the 
oxygen contained in the dry air passing over the mixture, converts 
both into peroxide of iron, which remains behind, and chlorine 
gas, which is drawn off by the exhausting machine. It is of 
the utmost importance in this operation, that the temperature 
be kept as low as possible, because anhydrous sulphate of iron 
and chloride of sodium heated together, to a higher temper- 
ature, fuse and emit fumes of perchloride of iron. In order 
therefore to obtain pure chlorine, the mixture must not be per- 
mitted to fuse, or even to sinter. The peroxide of iron in the 
mixture has some influence in preventing fusion, and in elimin- 
ating the chlorine. The greater the quantity of peroxide of iron 
used, the more easy it is to calcine the mixture without its caking 
together. J have not found it necessary however to use more 
than the proportion above stated, when the calcination is performed 
with proper care. During the operation, the materials are gently 
but frequently stirred with an iron rake; this also prevents sin- 
tering. I have found that in this operation thus conducted, 


ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 45 


the whole of the chlorine contained in the common salt is liber- 
ated in the gaseous state. By means of the exhausting apparatus, 
the chlorine, together with the nitrogen of the atmosphere, which 
is not absorbed by the mixture, is drawn, first through a 
layer of coke kept moist by water trickling over it, and then 
through lime slaked to a dry powder, somewhat in the same man- 
ner as common illuminating gas is passed through the dry lime 
purifier. The gases are freed by the water from any muriatic 
acid they may contain, and the chlorine is then quickly absorbed 
by the lime, and bleaching powder, or chloride of lime obtained. 
In the furnace there remains a residue consisting of about 427 
parts of sulphate of soda and 312 parts peroxide of iron, which is 
withdrawn and treated in the manner about to be described. This 
production of chlorine and bleaching powder, and of a residue of 
sulphate of soda and peroxide of iron, may be called the first 
part of the new process. 

This mixture of sulphate of soda and peroxide of iron is next 
mixed with 144 parts of powdered coal or charcoal, and is then 
introduced into a reverberatory furnace, the hearth of which has 
been previously prepared in the following manner: 100 parts of 
ground quicklime are mixed with 16 parts of basic slag, such as 
commonly produced in copper-smelting works, or of any other 
slag or glass not too difficult of fusion. This mixture is beaten 
into the bottom of the furnace, when in a dry state, the depression 
is then scooped out in it, and the tap-hole formed through it at 
the bottom, as is customary in preparing the hearths of furnaces 
intended for smelting. The furnace is now gradually heated up, 
and a strong heat continued, until the materials of the hearth have 
slightly caked together. As soon as this takes place a mixture of 
109 parts of sulphate of soda and 25 parts of powdered coal or 
charcoal is introduced. This soon fuses and is totally absorbed 
by the hearth. More of the same mixture is then introduced, and 
this continued until no more of the resulting sulphuret of sodium 
is absorbed by the hearth. The furnace is then kept at a red heat, 
and is ready to receive the mixture of sulphate of soda, peroxide 
of iron and charcoal or coal already referred to. As soon as this 
mixture has entered into quiet fusion it is drawn off by the tap- 
hole into iron moulds or wheel-barrows, in which it solidifies, 
in large blocks. It is totall y without corrosive action on the 
hearth ; and an almost unlimited number of charges may be smelt- 
ed down, without the hearth being at all affected. This on the 


46 ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 


v 


contrary becomes and remains hard and compact, and can only 
with. difficulty, be taken out of the furnace. These blocks of 
smelted material, which contain sulphur, sodium and iron, are im- 
mediately broken up, and introduced in a boiler exactly similar to: 
that used for evaporating alkaline solutions in the ordinary me- 
thod of manufacturing soda, in which the furnace is placed at one 
end, and the flame and products of combustion pass over the sur- 
face of the solution. On the introduction of the smelted material 
into the water, it is partially dissolved, and the solution assumes a 
deep greenish color, from dissolved sulphuret of iron. When 
however heat is applied, and the carbonic acid from the furnace 
produced in the combustion of the fuel, is passed over the 
surface of the solution, it is gradually decolorized, carbonic acid 
and oxygen being absorbed, and becomes a solution of carbonate 
of soda with caustic soda. In the event of the solution being too 
much evaporated before the decolorization is effected, water is ad- 
ded, and the heating and exposure to the carbonic acid and air 
continued. During the whole of this operation the insoluble sul- 
phuret of iron remains at the bottom of the boiler. When the 
supernatant solution has become colorless, the heat is discontinu- 
ed, and the contents of the boiler allowed to settle. The clear 
liquid is then drawn off by means of a syphon or stop-cock, and 
water is added to residue. If this solution also becomes green, 
it is decolorized in the same manner as the first. This second so- 
lution is then drawn off in the same manner, and the oper- 
ation repeated with fresh water, until the latter dissolves no more 
soda from the residue. The first and more concentrated solutions 
thus obtained are evaporated to dryness, the product is heated in. 
a carbonating furnace, and crystallized carbonate of soda and soda-. 
ash obtained from it in the usual manner. The weaker solutions 
are used for treating fresh quantities of smelted material from the 
furnace. The sulphuret of iron which remains after having been 
thus repeatedy washed with fresh water-is run off from the bottom 
of the boiler into a large wooden box, having a perforated false 
bottom over which a linen cloth is spread. The greater part of 
the water here drains off and the sulphuret of iron is then fit to 
be treated in the manner next to be described. This production 
of carbonate of soda and of soda, ash may be termed the second 
part of the process. 
The insoluble sulphuret of iron obtained as above described, . 
while still in a moist state, is exposed, with as much surface as. 


ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE, af 


possible, to the action of the air and of moisture, It is placed on 
a perforated wooden floor covered with cloth, and supported over 
an impervious bottom of clay or other material, so incliaed and 
arranged that the solution obtained in lixiviating the mass may 
be conveniently collected for further treatment. The moist sul- 
phuret rapidly oxidizes, and passing through various intermediate 
stages of oxidation, it ultimately becomes very rich in sulphate of 
iron. It must never be allowed to oxidize so rapidly as to enter 
into combustion, because in that case sulphurous acid is produced, 
which would escape as gas, and be lost. This tendency to oxidize 
too rapidly may be counteracted by keeping the material moist. 
When a sufficient quantity of sulphate of iron has been formed in 
the mass, hot water is poured over the whole surface. This per- 
colating through dissolves the sulphate, and falling on the im- 
pervious floor beneath, flows into channels prepared for it, and is 
finally collected in a large reservoir. The solution thus obtained 
is concentrated in boilers of the same description as those used in 
copperas works, and crystals of green vitriol are obtained in the 
manner usually adopted in thesame establishments. The exposure 
and lixiviation of the sulphuret is continued and repeated until a 
residue is left consisting exclusively of peroxide of iron, and con- 
taining no sulphur. The green vitriol obtained as above described, 
is used in the first part of the soda process and the residue of per- 
oxide of iron, if sufficiently pure, may also be used in that operation. 
This production of sulphate of iron, and of the residue of peroxide 
of iron, may be called the third and last part of the process. 
Having thus to some extent described the new method of pre- 
paring chlorine and carbonate of soda, I proceed to advert to the 
advantages which it possesses over the ordinary process. The manu-. 
facture of bleaching powder and soda, as at present pursued, com- 
prises the following operations; 1st. The manufacture of sulphur- 
ic acid from iron pyrites or sulphur, by the action of nitrous acid 
on the sulphurous acid and atmospheric air admitted into the lead- 
en chamber, which nitrous acid is produced by the action of 
sulphuric acid on nitrate of soda; 2nd. The production of sulph- 
ate of soda and muriatic acid by the action of sulphuric acid on 
common salt; 3rd. The production of chlorine (and of bleaching 
powder,) by the action of muriatic acid upon the peroxide of 
manganese, in which process however only one half of the chlorine 
contained in the muriatic acid is evolved in the form of gas, 
the other half combining with manganese and forming with 


48 ON THE PREPARATION OF SODA AND CHLORINE. 


it a waste product of chloride of manganese ; 4th. The decom- 
position of sulphate of soda by igniting it with limestone and 
charcoal, in which operation the sulphur combines with lime, for- 
ming with it a waste product of sulphuret of calcium; 5th. The 
extraction of carbonate of soda and soda-ash from the product of 
this ignition. With regard to these, the ordinary processes, the 
following facts are to be observed.—I. The whole of the sulphur 
contained in the sulphuric acid, and one half of the chlorine 
contained in- the common salt originally used are lost. 
II. They comprise five distinct purposes, some of which, such as 
the manufacture of sulphuric acid, require very expensive appara- 
tus. III. Nitrous acid, peroxide of manganese, and limestone are 
used in these process, in such a manner as not to be economically 
recovered, or only with great difficulty. In comparing these pro- 
cesses with the new method it will be observed: I. That by means 
of the latter the suiphur combined in the sulphuric acid of the 
green vitirol used in the first part of the process is recovered, and 
may be used an indefinite number of times; and that the whole of 
the chlorine contained in the common salt is evolved as gas, and 
rendered available for the manufacture of bleaching powder. ILI. 
that the new method comprises only four processes, one less than 
by the ordinary mode, and that these do not require any extraor- 
dinarily expensive apparatus. III. That nitrous acid, peroxide of 
manganese, and limestone are altogether dispensed with ; only one 
material, peroxide of iron, being used in place of the limestone, but 
always in such a manner as to be recovered and used again. It 
will of course be evident that the advantages here enumerated re- 
sult to some extent from the combination of what has above been 
termed the three different parts of the process. They form to- 
gether an independent method for making bleaching powder and 
soda without the intervention or auxiliary manufacture of sulphu- 
ric and muriatic acids, or the necessity of using more than the one 
principal raw material, viz., common salt. 

With regard to the new method of manufacturing sulphuric and 
muriatic acids, itis based upon the following chemical reaction— 
when sulphuric acid and chlorine gases in the proportion of their 
equivalents are brought in contact with water or steam, the oxygen 
of the latter unites with the sulphurous acid, forming sulphuric acid, 
while the hydrogen forms with the chlorine, muriaticacid. The ma- 
nufacture of these acids on this principle was, in 1854, embodied in 


ON THE PREPARATION SODA AND OF CHLORINE. 49 


a patent for Great Britain, by William Hahner.* He however pro- 
posed to prepare the chlorine in the usual manner, from peroxide of 
maganese and muriatic acid, and mix it with sulphurous acid and 
steam in the leaden chamber. The mixture of sulphuric and mu- 
riatic acids here condensed, he proposed to treat by distillation, in 
order to separate the two. When it is considered that double the 
amount of muriatic acid produced in the process must be consumed 
in producing the necessary chlorine, the economy of the method 
seems exceedingly doubtful. 

The mode I propose differs from that referred to above only in 
the method of preparing the chlorine, which is that already des- 
cribed in the beginning of this paper. By placing the usual fur- 
naces for burning pyrites or sulphur, near the furnace for pro- 
ducing chlorine, as described in the first part of this paper, and con- 
necting the exit pipes from these furnaces, with each other, and 
with a pipe from a steam-boiler, and drawing the gases thus 
mixed, either by means of an artificial draught, or an exhauster, 
through a condenser containing coke moistened with water, a 
mixture of sulphuric and muriatic acids would result. This mix- 
ture concentrated in leaden vessels, would yield sulphuric acid, 
while from the condensation of the vapors given off in this opera- 
tion, muriatic acid would result. 

Another method of preparing these acids is by calcining to- 
gether 59 parts iron pyrites, 584 parts of common salt, and 324 
parts peroxide of iron. t Sulphurous acid is evolved at the com- 
mencement and chlorine towards the end of the calcination, in 
almost the proportions necessary for forming with water, sul- 
phuric and muriatic acids, The residue consists of 336 parts of 
a mixture containing in 100 parts— 


Peroxide ‘of irons. 0208 am e115 
Sulphate of soda............19.2==4.31 sulphur 
Chloride of sodium.......... 1.3..by difference 


100. 


This process should be carried on in two calcining furnaces, of 
the construction already mentioned in this paper. The second 
furnace should not be charged with the mixture of peroxide of 
iron, salt, and pyrites, until the charge in the first furnace begins 


* Repertory of Patent Inventions, December, 1854. 
{ Vide Canadian Naturalist, p. 196. 


Can. Nat. 4 Vou. VIII. 


50 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


- to evolve chlorine, and by the time this has ceased the second 
furnace will have commenced to yield that gas, and the first 
furnace might be charged with new materials, Thus a continu- 
ous stream of chlorine and sulphurous acid would be kept up, and 
on mixing these with steam, and condensing them as above des- 
cribed, a mixture of sulphuric and muriatic acids would result, 
which is to be treated as above indicated. 

Actonvale, Canada East. 16 February, 1863. 


Arr. V.—On the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower 
Canada; by J. F. Wuirzaves, F.G.S8., &. 


(Read before the Natural History Society.) 
Part I.—GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 


Various papers of interest have appeared in the Canadian 
Naturalist, on the distribution of the land and fresh-water mol- 
lusca in Lower Canada. We are indebted to Messrs. Billings, Bell, 
and D’Urban, for nearly all the information we possess on this 
subject. Within the last two years new labourers have entered 
the field, and the result has been some addition to our knowledge 
of the geographical range of these creatures in Lower Canada. 

My triend, Mr. R. J. Fowler has collected assiduously and suc- 
cessfully in the vicinity of Montreal, and in the Eastern Townships, 
In the summer of 1861 I paid special attention to the inland *mol- 
lusca of the neighbourhood of Quebec, and collected in several 
places in the St. Lawrence valley, from Riviere du Loup to Mont- 
real. Last winter I endeavoured to call the attention of the mem- 
bers of the Natural History Society to a short consideration of 
this subject. On looking over this brief sketch (vide Canadian 
Naturalist, vol. 6, page 452) I find two or three errors have crept 
in, caused by my want of access to the proper authorities on the 
subject in Quebec. In the present paper I hope to be able to rec- 
tify these mistakes. I propose, partly from original enquiry, and 
partly availing myself of the labours of others, to collect together 
in one paper, all that we know of the geographical distribution of 
the inland mollusca of Lower Canada, up to the present date. I 
shall also indulge in some general speculations which the subject 
‘naturally suggests to my own mind, 

Let us first consider the most obvious geographical affinities of 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 51 


the land and fresh-water shells of the district in question. Eleven 


of our Lower Canadian species occur also west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. These are, 


Margaritana margaritifera, Linn. Limnea stagnalis, Linn. 


Valvata sincera, Say. os palustris, Mull. 
Physa heterostropha, Say. ch catascopium, Say. 
“ hypnorum, Linn. fs solida, Lea. 
Planorbis corpulentus, Say. (= L. apicina, Lea.) . 
& trivolvis, Say. ce pallida, Adams. 


According to Mr. Binney, the Planorbis glabratus of Say also 
inhabits both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of these mountains, 
but as yet this species has not been detected in Lower Canada, 
Again, in this Province we have several species, partly land and 
partly fresh-water, which also inhabit the continent of Europe. 
Some of these shells, however, present slight differences, and have 
been considered distinct species. Thus the following unquestion- 
ably inhabit both sides of the Atlantic, 


Helix hortensis, Muller. Physa hypnorum, Linn. 
““ rufescens, Pennant. (= P. elongata, Say.) 
“ pulchella, Muller. Limnea stagnalis, Linn. 
Bulimus lubricus, Mull. (= L. jugularis, Say.) 


Margaritana margaritifera, Linn. as palustris, Linn. 
=L. ‘lodes, Say.) 


The following European and Canadian species may prove 
identical : 


Lower Canada. Hurope. 
Limax campestris, Gould. 
Vitrina limpida, Gould. 
Succinea obliqua, Say. 

st ovalis, Say. 
Helix chersina, Say. 
Physa heterostropha, Say. 
Pisidium Virginicum, Brongn. 
Anodonta cataracta, Say. 


Limax agrestis, Muller. 
Vitrina pellucida, Muller. 
Succinea amphibia, Linn. 
st Pfeifferi, Rossmass. 
Helix fulva, Muller. 
Physa fontinalis, Linn. 
Pisidium amnicum, Muller, 
Anodonta cygnea, Linn. 

It may be observed that a much larger percentage of the ma- 
vine shells of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence also inhabit Great Bri- 
tain and Northern Europe. Dead shells of the European Helix 
cellaria have been found by Mr. Fowler near gardens in Craig 
Street, Montreal. Helix rufescens, probably has also been intro- 
duced from Europe, and possibly Helix hortensis. The remainder 
would appear to be of exclusively North American origin, and 
confined to the region east of the Rocky Mountains. 


Wo We Ww at a 


52 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Unio Canadensis of Lea is supposed, as yet, to be peculiar to 
Lower Canada. It is, however, a species but little understood 
and may be detected in the northern New England states. A 
Valvata found by Mr Bell at Matanne, and Little Lake Matape- 
dia, and perhaps new to science, I have never found in the New 
England states. It resembles so closely.a depressed variety of 
Valvata piscinalis of Europe, that I hesitate to separate it from 
that species. The whole of the land and fresh-water shells of Lower 
Canada, with these two exceptions, are also found in New England. 

But in endeavouring to generalize on the geographical distribu- 
tion of the mollusca in Canada, we cannot afford to ignore the 
additional evidence afforded by our knowledge respecting other 
groups of animals, and of the sister science of botany. It will be 
more philosophical to consider the geographical distribution of 
plants and animals generally, than to take any one isolated group of 
animals for special consideration and study. 

Mr. Woodward, in his excellent “* Manual of the Mollusca,” has. 
considered that the peculiarities of the molluscan fauna of Canada, 
are so well marked that we are justified in considering the 
Canadian as a distinct Natural-history province. This view I 
have endeavoured to show, in a previous paper, is not borne out 
by an increased knowledge of facts. The naturalist, looking on 
the map of Canada, observes an irregular peninsula stretching 
down to the southwest, and at its furthest extremity running par- 
allel to the state of Ohio. From that state it is divided by Lake 
Erie, which at this point varies from thirty to sixty miles in width. 
Cutting off this peninsula (say from Georgian Bay in Lake 
Huron on the west, to Toronto on the east,) we have then !eft 
the greater part of Upper and the whole of Lower Canada. The 
animals and plants of this peninsula appear to have decided aflini- 
ties with the westerv Natural-history province. Thus, in the 
museum of the Natural History Society, the few fresh-water shells 
from this region are well known western forms. As examples «I 
may cite: 


Unio fragilis, Raf. Unio flavus, Raf. 
(=U. gracilis, Barnes.) - (=U. rubiginosus, Lea.) 
«. subrotundus, Raf. ‘¢ quadrulus, Raf. 
(= U. circulus, Lea.) (= U. lacrymosus, Lea.) 
‘© costatus, Raf. Physa gyrina, Say. 


(= U. undulatus, Barnes.) 


Judging from what we know of the zoology and botany of 


- 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 53 


the Canadian area, exclusive of this peninsula, its fauna and 
flora would seem to be of amixed character. In Dr. Hooker's 
essay on Arctic Plants, published in the Transactions of the 
Linnean Society, he includes a large part of Canada in his 
sub-arctic botanical province. Long before I had seen this 
paper, I had come to the same conclusion from the little I knew 
ef the zoology and botany of Lower Canada. The marine 
shells of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence correspond remark- 
ably with the shells of comparatively high northern latitudes in 
Europe: their boreal character is obvious. As indicating a 
sub-arctic flora, we may point out with Prof. Schouw, “the total 
absence of tropical families, and a noticeable decrease of forms 
peculiar to the temperate zone; the prevalence of forests of firs 
and birches ; the abundance of Saxifrages, Gentians, species of Are- 
naria, Silene, Dianthus, and Lycopodium, the qnantity of mosses, 
and the number of willows and sedges.” Such marine shells again 
as — 


Pecten Islandicus, Chemn. Cemoria Noachina, Linn. 
' Leda caudata, Donovan. Margarita undulata, Sow. 
(= L. minuta, Fabr. & Mul.) ci helicina, O. Fabr. 
Crenella nigra, Gray. Trochus alabastrum, Beck. 
Crenella decussata, Montagne. (= T. occidentalis, Migh.) 
(= C. glandula, Totten.) Scalaria Greenlandica, Chemn. 
 Berripes Grenlandicus, Ohemn. Natica clausa, Brod. & Sow. 
Astarte elliptica, Brown. 3: pusila, Say. 
> compressa, Linn. (= N. Grenlandica, Chemn.) 
Tellina proxima, Brown. Admete viridula, Fabr. 
Tellina Greenlandica, Beck. Trichotropis borealis, Brod. & Sow. 


- T. fusca, Say, T. Balthica, Lov.) 


Tectura testudinalis, Mull. 
Lepeta ceca, Mull. 


from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, are not only typical boreal 
forms, but have been dredged by Messrs. McAndrew and 
Barrett on the coasts of Norway and Finmark. The proximity’ 
of one of the cold currents of the gulf stream, and the extremely 
low southern limit of floating ice on this side of the Atlantic, 
might indeed lead us to suspect the sub-arctic nature of the 
marine invertebrata of the estuary of the St. Lawrence. It 
appears to me that the boreal or sub-arctic character of the fauna 
and flora of part of Canada is tolerably well established. 

The animals and plants of Canada, geographically speaking, 
ave yet other affinities, What has been termed by Mr. 


54 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Woodward, the Atlantic region, includes the New England 
states, and all of the more southern states east of the Allegha- 
nies. These mountains appear to divide two well marked 
groups of land and fresh water-shells. Corresponding perhaps 
with this zoological province, is the region of Asters and Solidagos, 
of Prof.Schouw. The difficulty is to separate the flora of the 
region east of the Alleghanies from that to the westward of those 
mountains. For although the fresh-water shells, of Pennsyl- 
vania, for instance, have a distinct general aspect from those 
of the state of Ohio, yet the plants of the two states are puzz- 
lingly alike. That is to say, if we try to instance any group 
of plants, (neither mountainous and probably sub-arctic species, 
on the one hand, or species naturalized from Europe on the 
other,) we shall find it very difficult to give a list of species 
that do not inhabit both sides of the Alleghanies. Yet such 
plants as Magnolia glauca, Spirzea tomentosa, Tilloea simplex, 
Gnaphalium decurrens, Kalmia latifolia, Azalea viscosa, with sev- 
eral species of Aster, Solidago, Nabalus (?), and Vaccinium, may 
be considered perhaps as constituting a fair example of the Atlan- 
tic flora. Prof. Schouw’s region is described as being character- 
ized by the paucity of Cruciferze, and Umbelliferee, by an almost 
total absence of true heaths, which are represented by Vaccinium, 
and Gaylussacia ; and by the abundance of Asters and Solidagos. 
This province has not. been well defined froma geographical point 
of view. On the supposition that the Atlantic region, as defined 
geographically by Mr. Woodward, corresponds with Prof. Schouw’s 
botanical province, I think we may see that in its fauna and flora, 
part of the Canadian area has affinities with this general natural- 
history region. 

Almost all our Lower Canadian land and fresh-water shells are 
found in the Atlantic states, north of Cape Hatteras. The same is 
the case in Upper Canada, so far as we know, with the exception of 
the southwestern peninsula of that province, as previously defined. 
It is true, that some smali fresh-water bivalves, of the family Cycla- 
didze, have been described from the neighborhood of Lake Superior, 
which have not yet been found anywhere else; but these most likely 
came from the south shore of the lake, in the state of Michigan, 
and probably belong to the western natural-history region. In 
Lower Canada, again, many species of Solidago and Aster abound 5 
the genus Erica appears to be wholly absent, severai species of 
Vaccinium and a Gaylussacia (G. resinosa) appearing instead, 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 55 


while the paucity of species of the large families of Umbelliferze 
and Cruciferz is quite noticeable in Lower Canada. 

The line of demarcation between the Canadian part of Dr. 
Hooker’s sub-arctic region, and the outlier, so to speak, of the 
Atlantic region, in Canada, cannot be accurately defined, No 
isothermal line will suffice, for the simple reason that since the 
creation of the still existing fauna and flora, such physical changes 
have been effected, that the isothermals during the newer tertiary 
period must have been constantly varying. Tosum up this part of 
our subject,—we have, as it seems to me, in this vast province, 
fragments, so to speak, of three natural-history regions. Canada, 
on tbe whole, as defined on the map, has not a race of 
animals, or a group of plants which are so special and peculiar 
to it as to constitute a good natural-history province. As I have 
endeavoured to shew, the southwest peninsula of Upper Canada is 
an outlier of the western region; and tlie remainder of Canada is 
partly of a sub-arctic type, and partly, so far as its zoology and botany 
are concerned, has affinities with the northern Atlantic states. 
With one remark I shall close this part of our subject. 
Prof, Asa Gray has shown us that the plants of eastern North 
America bear a greater resemblance to those of Japan, than 
those inhabiting the tract of land between the Rocky Mountains 
and the Pacific. Ata meeting of the Natural History Society of 
Boston, Dr. Gould exhibited a marine bivalve shell (a species of 
Leda) also from Japan, which he considered identical with a living 
Massachusetts species. It would be interesting to the naturalist 
to know ifthe same similarity obtains between the mollusca, &c., 
of the two countries, as the relations of their flora would seem to 
warrant. 

But in order to be enabled to speculate with any degree of ac- 
curacy on the rationale of the present geographical distribution of 
animais and plants, we must also carefully glean what little evid- 
ence we may from the geologic record. Since the creation of at least 
some of the animals and plants which still people Europe and North 
America, mighty physical changes on the earth’s surface have been 
apparently effected, to the consideration of which, as bearing direct- 
ly on my subject, I would call some attention. Dr. Dawson has 
carefully catalogued the drift fossils from Beauport, the neigh- 
borhood of Montreal, Green’s Creek on the Ottawa, and part of 
Maine. To match these we want complete and accurate lists of the 
marine invertebrata of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, and carefully 


56 ON inn LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


prepared catalogues illustrative of the zoology and botany of the 
interior of Canada. From Mr. Bell, and from other observers we 
learn that many of our common fresh-water shells occur in post- 
pliocene beds of much higher antiquity than our lacustrine marls, 
while one, if not two, of our Lower Canadian land snails, is of as 
high an antiquity as the Upper Eocene formation. The Helix 
labyrinthica of Say, a little snail not uncommon in a living 
state in Canada, has been found fossil in the Upper Eocene lime- 
stones of Headon Hill in the Isle of Wight, and also in the Paris 
basin. It has been suggested too, that the Helix omphalos, of 
Searles Wood, another of the Headon Hill fossils, is identical 
_with a living Canadian snail, the Helix striatella of Anthony. 
The late lamented Edward Forbes bas shown us the importance 
of studying the fossils of the newer tertiaries in connection with the 
distribution of living animals and plants. It appears to me to be 
well, in order clearly to understand our subject, briefly to epito- 
mize, as on a former occasion, his brilliant and most profoundly 
philosophical generalizations. On the tops of the mountains near 
the lakes of Killarney, in Ireland, occur a few plants, entirely 
different from those of the mountains of North Wales and Scotland, 
but nearly agreeing with those of the Asturian mountains in the 
north of Spain. According to Forbes, the southern character of 
these few plants, and their extreme isolation, (together with col- 
lateral facts respecting the peculiar distribution of the marine in- 
vertebrata of that region) point to a period when a great moun- 
tain barrier extended across part of the Atlantic, uniting Ireland 
with Spain. Soon after this, arguing from similar data, he infers 
that another barrier of high land connected the west of France 
with the southwest of England, and thence with Ireland: while a 
little later England and France were connected by dry land towards 
the eastern end of the English Channel. As tending to prove this 
latter view, we may cite the fact, well known to European geolo- 
gists, that one fresh-water and one land snail, (Bithinia marginata, 
and Helix incarnata) abundant as post-pliocene fossils in the valley 
of the Thames, are still living in France, though extinct in Great 
Britain. At the time of the glacial drift, what are now the 
summits of the Scotch and Welsh mountains, were then, Forbes 
argues, low islands, or members of chains of islands, extending 
to the area of Norway, through a glacial sea, and clothed with an 
Arctic vegetation, which in the gradual upheaval of those moun- 
tains, and consequent change of climate, became limited to the 


7 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 5T 


summits of the new formed and still existing mountains. Few 
botanists who have climbed the Scotch Highlands, will fail to recol- 
lect the little isolated patches of Arctic plants onthe highest 
mountain summits, which never occur ata less altitude than from 
3000 to 3500 feet above the sea level. Well do I remember 
standing one fine August morning on the apex of Ben Luwers, 
the clouds at my feet obscuring everything below, the warm sun 
shining in the deep blue sky above, and admiring the glorious hue 
of the Alpine forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris) the two rare 
mountain Saxifrages, (S. nivalis and 8. cernua,) and a whole array 
of characteristic ferns, mosses, &c. But I am digressing. After the 
gradual re-upheavals subsequent to this state of things, it is be- 
lieved that Ireland was connected with England, and England 
with Germany, by vast plains, fragments of which still exist as 
submarine elevations of the land on the west coast of Iveland, 
charged with the familiar fossils of the period. Upon these lived 
numerous animals, some of which, as the musk ox, red deer, and 
horse, yet live. Others, again, as the Arctic elephaut (Euelephas 
primigenius), the two-horned Rhinoceri (Rhinoceros tichorinus, 
and R. leptorhinus), cave bear (Ursa speleea), hyena, etc., 
though now extinct in Great Britain, have left behind their bones, 
teeth etc., as post-pliocene fossils in the gravels and clays of our 
English drifts. According to D’Archiag, the separation of the British 
Islands from France took place after the deposition of the gravels of 
the valley of the Somme, in which flint implements have been found. 
And hence it has been inferred “That the primitive people, to 
whom we attribute the hatchets and other worked fiints of Amiens 
and Abbeville, might have communicated with the existing country 
of Evgland by dry land, inasmuch as the separation did not take 
place until after the deposit of the rolled diluvial pebbles, from 
among which the hatchets and other objects, have been collected.” 
* The discovery of the fossil remains of an elephantin Sicily, near 
Syracuse, and at Palermo, identical with the living African species 
(vide Dr. Falconer,) renders it also probable that man lived in 
Europe at a time when what is now the Mediterranean was a 
mighty fresh water river. But to come nearer home. It has 
been held by many of the most eminent geologists that the great 
depression and subsequent gradual re-upheaval of the land during 
the post-pliocene age, in Northern Europe and Asia, also took 
place in temperate north America. Sir Charles Lyell, after care- 
ful study of the drift fossils of the United States and Canada, 


58 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


first propounded this theory, which has since been so ably advo- 
cated by Dr. Dawson. Throughout all Canada, at any rate east 
of the Niagara escarpment, we find, often at considerable heights 
above the level of the sea, stratified deposits of sand and clay, full 
of marine shells etc, generally of species which still inhabit the 
Gulf of the St. Lawrence. These have beenso carefully and ably 
described by Dr. Dawson, that I need here do little more than 
refer to his papers on this subject. It seems pretty clearly 
proved that, at the time when these deposits were formed, the 
whole of Lower Canada was submerged beneath the ocean, with 
only the very highest points of the land left high and dry. 

To explain the great cold which is supposed to have obtained over 
temperate Europe during the post-pliocene period, it has been ably 
and ingeniously suggested that at the time of the general depres- 
sion of the land, the isthmus of Darien, or part of it at least, was 
submerged and the direction of one of the great currents of the 
gulf stream consequently changed.~ Thus the warm current which 
now washes the Western shores of Great Britain, then, it is urged, 
ran up the west coast of north America; while the cold current now 
washing the mainland of Labrador, then flowed around the small 
area of Kurope left unmerged. When the re-upheaval of the land 
took place, the isthmus of Darien would form an impassable bar- 
rier against ocean currents, and would tend to produce the pre- 
sent state of things. Of later years we have obtained a few more 
facts bearing directly on this theory. Mr. Woodward, quoting 
the views of Prof. C.B. Adams, states in his Manual, in 1856, that 
only one marine shell (Purpura patula) is common to both sides of 
the isthmus. But on referring to Mr. Carpenter’s able report on the 
mollusea of the west coast of North America, (Reports of the Brit- 
ish Association for the Advancement of Sience, 1857,) we find very 
different views entertained. Thus he gives a list of thirty-five species 
which unquestionably live both on the Atlantic and Pacific shores- 
To these he adds twenty-four species which are probably common to 
both sides, and forty-one species inhabiting the same area, which he 
considers “ really separated but by slight differences.” It is to be 
remarked that our knowledge on these points is so limited, that 
when large series have been procured, many species now separated, 
may be corsidered identical. And from later sources, we learn that 
some species, not included in this Report yet inhabit both oceans, 
(A series of marine shells collected at Mazatlan by Mr. Moores of 
Columbus, Ohio, was exhibited to support this view.) Further 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 59 


to the north it is noticeable that several shells, mostly littoral 
species, occur on both the Pacific and Atlantic shores. Modiola 
modiolus, Crenella discrepans, Trichotropis borealis, and Bela tnr- 
ricula, inhabit Oregon, north-eastern America, and northern 
Europe. Referring again to Mr. Carpenter’s Report we see that 
sixteen species of Arctic mollusca inhabit both the Atlantic and 
Pacific. These are :— 


Rhynchonella psittacea, Gmel. Trichotropis borealis, Brod. & Sow. 


Mya arenaria, Linn. Admete viridula, Fabr. 
Macheera costata, Say. Scalaria Groeenlandica, Chemn. 
Tellina solidula. (T. fusca, mele Natica clausa, Brod. & Sow. 
Mactra ovalis, Gould. Purpura lapillus, Linn. 
Mytilus edulis, Linn. Fusus Islandicus, Linn. 
Anomia patellifornis, Linn. ‘¢ antiquus, Linn. 
Margarita arctica, Leach. Trophon clathratus, Linn. 

te helicina, Mole. 


The majority of these are species of considerable geographical 
distribution ; all but two (Machcera costata and Mactra ovalis) also 
inhabit northern Europe. The Tellina nasuta of Conrad, from Ore- 
gon, may be a geographical variety of the Tellina proxima of the 
‘eastern coast. In lke manner Turritella Eschrichtii may be 
Scalaria borealis, and Littorina Sitchana of Philippi (also from 
Oregon) may be only a variety of Littorina patula. We have seen 
that eleven of the Lower Canadian fresh-water shells also inhabit 
the west coast of North America, Yet the grand chain of the 
Rocky Mountains intervenes, presenting, according to the views 
of most naturalists, an impassable barrier to migration. How 
then can we account for this apparent anomaly? Admitting 
that during the post-pliocene period, a great, but gradual depress- 
ion of the land took place on this continent, do we not begin to see 
our way a little more clearly? When the mountain tops alone 
were left uncovered by the ocean, these snails, for instance, 
could only remain on, or near, the dry land, and when the land 
re-assumed its present shape and general physical condition, 
the whole area would be peopled, in part, from these sources. 
For supposing these creatures confined by the above mentioned 
causes to what are now the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, it is 
not difficult to conceive, that on the gradual re-elevation of 
the land, these molluscs could extend in both an easterly and 
westerly direction, Whether the theory I have advanced be true, 
or whether it is more likely that such sluggish creatures as fresh- 


60 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


water snails should have travelled the entire breadth of this great 
continent, and have surmounted such obstacles as a mountain 
ehain, the highest peaks of which are from 15,000 to 18,000 feet 
above the level of the sea, and clothed with Bidet: ice and 
suow, I leave for naturalists te determine. 

The large proportion of marine invertebrata common to: 
the coasts of eastera North America and northern Europe has 
been thought to imply the existence of a pathway across the 
Atlantic since the creation of the existing flora and fauna. We 
have seen that eight at least (and probably double that number) of 
the inland mollusca of Canada also inhabit northern Europe. Some 
such theory as the one I have alluded to, would seem neces- 
sary to explain this rather+ peculiar geographical distribution. 
Dr. Hooker’s theory of the south westward migration of the 
Scandinavian flora, and of its subsequent. return under altered 
physical circumstances, would seem to be doubtful on geological 
grounds, also from the Darwinian reasoning called in to support 
the latter half oft his hypothesis. Dr. Dawson has cited the case 
of two species of Solidago living on Mount Washington, one of 
which (S. thyrsoidea,) has a limited range in northeastern Americas 
while the other (S. virgaurea,) has a widely extended distribution, * 
living as far north in Arctic America as from 55° to 65°, occur- 
ring also in the Rocky Mountains, in Great Britain, Norway, and 
many places in temperate Europe. He suggests that the plants: 
which extend over so large an area, may belong to the older Are- 
tic flora, and that the other species, of very local distribution, may 
belong to a newer flora. (The two species cited are not perhaps 
the best examples that might have been chosen to support this 
view, as they have been considered identical by some botanists. 
I would suggest the two cranberries, Vaccinium oxycoccus, and 
V. macrocarpon, as unquestionably distinct species, illustrating the 
same point.) If this theory be correct, it may be that those Lower 
Canadian shells which have a wide geographical distribution may 
be members of an older fauna than that which is more especially 
characteristic of a limited area in northeastern America. Judging 
from our present knowledge of the older post-pliocene deposits of 
Canaia, it is quite remarkable that the species found in the marine 
beds are almost universally of very wide distribution. 

The science of archzo-geology, or in other words, the connection 
between geology on the one hand and archeology on the other, 
may receive benefit from a much more rigorous comparison be- 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 61 


tween tertiary fossils and their living analogues. -Archologists 
tell us there are three epochs in man’s history; the first, and 
oldest, of stone, the second of bronze, the third of iron. The 
discovery of flint implements in European drifts, together with 
the evidences afforded by the Pfahlbauten (pile-works) or lake 
habitations, in Switzerland, have taught us that man was contem- 
porary with many extinct mammals, that were once thought to 
date back beyond the historic period. 

As yet we have no definite proof that man existed prior to 
the deposition of the older marine deposits of the post-pliocene 
period, represented in this country by the Leda clay and the 
Saxicava sand. In the stone period we have evidence of two 
races of mankind, which in all probability were separated from 
each other by a considerable space of time. Of the primitive 
race who made the so-called flint hatchets, spear heads, ete., 
which have been collected in such numbers in the valley of the 
Somme, we know but little positively. Contemporary with them 
were Huelephas primigenius, Bison priscus, Hippopotamus major, 
Rhinoceros leptorhinus, and R. tichorinus (?), the cave bear—a spe- 
cies said by Owen to exceed in size the grizzly bear of the Rocky 
Mountains—and the fossil hyzena. The fresh-water shells asso- 
ciated with these, with one exception, are of species still living in 
France. The solitary exception is the well known Corbicula flu- 
minalis, which now inhabits the Alexandrian canal. 

Whether the implements of this race were made for warlike or 
for agricultural purposes is not positively known. But respecting 
the men of the second period in the stone age, the Celts, we have 
much fuller knowledge. So many of their settlements have been 
discovered in Switzerland that it would be tedious to particularize 
all of them. For instance, on the lake of Geneva, twenty-four 
such colonies have been found; on lake Neufchatel twenty-six, 
and on lake Bienne eleven. The dwellers in these lake habitations 
belonged however to the bronze epoch, as well as to the later of 
the two stone periods. Some of these colonies must have been large, 
judging from the size of the piles and the numbers of the huts. 
Thus in one of the settlements on lake Neufchatel, remains of 
311 cabins of large size have been found, and allowing four inha- 
bitants to each hut, we should have an aggregate of 1244 indivi- 
duals. From similar data it has been calculated that in Switzer- 
land alone, sixty-eight villages of the bronze period contained nearly 
43,000 persons; and in the older or stone period the settlements 
discovered would accommodate nearly 32,000. 


62 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Their dwellings appear to have been circular or square huts, 
grouped on wooden platforms elevated a few feet above the level of 
and the water, supported above it by huge piles. Each cabin had 
a trap-door opening on to the lake, and the whole settlement 
communicated with dry land by means of a bridge. The huts of 
the pileworks were built of wood, lined with mud, and on the ex- 
terior, boughs of wood interlacing each other. We have been 
enabled to trace the way they felled the trees for their piles, 
They would burn a circle round the bottom of a tree, chop the 
charred part away with their stone hatchets, then alternately 
burn and chop until the tree fell. We see in the stumps the mark 
of the fire, and the rude cuts of their stone axes. The piles 
of the habitations of the men of the bronze period were much 
more elaborate, being made with metal axes. The lake dwellings 
were apparently first made by the men of the later stone period, 
to defend themselves against formidable wild beasts; afterwards, 
in the bronze age, they were found to be useful in protecting the 
inhabitants from the incursions of hostile tribes. It has been 
suggested that bronze was introduced into Europe by the Pheeni- 
cians about the time of the founding of Carthage, somewhere 
about the year 800 before Christ The animals most formidable 
to the men of the stone period in Switzerland (according to Mr, 
Lubbock) were the brown bear, (Ursus arctos); the wolf, (Canis 
lupus); the marsh boar, (Scrofa palustris); the common wild 
boar, (Scrofa ferus) ; the Urus or wild bull, (Bos primigenius) ; 
and the European bison, (Bos bison).’ The abundance of bones of 
of the elk and red deer in these settlements would seem to shew 
how densely wooded was the surrounding country at this times 
Twenty-eight species of quadrupeds, seventeen kinds of birds) 
three of reptiles, and ten of fishes have been found, in fragmentary 
condition in the pile works. At the village of Concise, on lake 
Neufchatel, as many as 20,000 objects have been discovered 
The stone implements seem to be principally axes, knives, saws, 
lance and arrow-heads, corn-crushers, d&c. These have been ela- 
borately deseribed by Mr. Lubbock in the number of the Natural 
History Review for January, 1862,—this article is copied entire 
in Silliman’s American Journal for September, 1862. Their 
arrow-heads the Celts often made out of the bones of animals 
which they had slain in the chase. Specimens of their food 
have even been obtained in the shape of unleavened cakes, and as 
carbonized apples and pears. It is stated that our “rude fore 


* 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 63 


fathers” were sometimes so reduced by hurger that they condes. 
cended to eat foxes. Their pottery seems to have been ornamented 
in the rudest way with their finger-ends and their nails. The men of 
the bronze age in Switzerland appear to have lived as late as the ear- 
ly Roman period. Remains indicative of a battle-field have been 
found in one of the Swiss Pfahlbauten of the bronze period, in the 
shape of swords, pieces of chariots, and Gauliot coins. In Ireland, 
lake habitations have been observed, but these are probably of 
more recent origin, and are mentioned in early Irish history. 
They were mere artificial islands on lakes ; but sometimes the Irish 
like the Swiss, built their settlements on piles running pier-like 
into the water. Both of these customs appear tobe common to 
savage nations in the historic period. Thus Venezuela obtained its 
name, in early times, from its supposed resemblance to Venice. 
From Herodotus we learn that in Poeonian villages the first plat- 
form was made at the public expense, but afterwards, at every 
marriage (polygamy being allowed) the bridegroom was expected 
to add a certain number of piles to the common support. 

Thus it seems that at any rate during the earlier part of the post- 
pliocene period, two races of mankind have appeared and disappear- 
ed from the face of the earth, and with them have disappeared some 
of the larger and more powerful mammals of the period. Yet the 
general aspect of the animal and vegetable kingdoms seems to 
have changed but little from that time. 

Some of the leaders in comparative ethnography have indulged 
in speculations concerning the geological date of the creation of 
man, in which they assign to the human race a far higher antiqui- 
ty than the post-pliocene period. Speaking of the flint-imple- | 
ment-making men, Mr. Lubbock observes: ‘“ Whether the drift 
race of men were realiy the aboriginal inhabitants of Europe, 
still remained to be ascertained. M. Rutimeyer hints that our 
geographical distribution indicates a still greater antiquity for the 
human race.” One of our ablest British naturalists goes much 
further and thus sums up this question. “There was a lapse of 
prodigious ages since man had appeared on the earth, and through 
which the savage habits had continued without change. And, 
immeasurably far back as is the age of the flint implement- 
making men, as far, or farther back still from them must we go 
to trace the primitive abode of the human species. The 
great battle to prove the existence of man among the mam- 
moths, like many other first battles, has turned out in the 


64 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


_end, a mere affair of outposts; and for the real origin of man we 
must.¢o immeasurably farther back from that remarkable time, into 
the great pliocene or miocene age. To this period succeeded 
another, of which we are as ignorant as of that which preceded it. 
For as the mammoth, Irish elk and cave bear have disappeared 
from the face of the earth, so did this early race vanish away, 
leaving their weapons, their bones and their dwellings as the only 
traces of their existence. Afterwards, at an enormous interval, 
came another race, the Celts, in many points resembling their pre- 
decessors, living in similar habitations, and unacquainted with the 
use of metals, but more highly civilized and possessed of more 
highly finished weapons, and, as the Pfahlbauten of the Swiss 
lakes shew, cultivating cereals, and to a certain degree, a pastoral 
people.” Pointing in the same direction, are Prof. Muller’s the- 
ories on the origin of language, and the well known speculations 
of the Chevalier Bunsen. With the philological argument however 
the naturalist has nothing to do. 

In an enquiry of,so much interest and consequence, it be 
hoves us to be very cautions. Those naturalists who have 
read Dr. Falconer’s able papers on tertiary mammals will see 
that, according to that careful observer, each subdivision of the 
tertiary period is characterized by a group of mammals special 
and peculiar to it. And, as a whole, we find that the higher 
animals have a much more limited range in time than the lower 
forms of life. It would seem that the higher the organism, the 
less likely would it be to hold its own under trying physical vicis- 
situdes, and altered conditions of whatever kind. Thus foramini- 
ferze, identical with living species, occur in mesozoic strata; and, 
as we have seen, one at least of our Canadian land snails lived 
through nearly the whole of the great tertiary period. The 
gravels which furnished the worked flints of Amiens and Abbeville 
are fresh-water deposits, not older, if as old, as the post-pliocene 
deposits in Canada, known locally as the Leda clay and the 
Saxicava sand. It is much to be wished that in the accounts 
both of the flint-implement-making men of the valley of the Somme, 
and of the inhabitants of the Swiss Phfahlbauten, we had more 
careful lists of the larger mammals of the two periods. As to the 
geological date of man’s appearance on the earth, as far as I can 
see, we have no positive evidence which would date man farther 
back, at any rate, than the older part of the post-pliocene. 

Thus I have endeavoured to jot down, in rather a cursory manner, 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER GANADA. 65 


some general thoughts which a very short study of Canadian land 
and fresh-water shells, etc., has suggested tomy own mind. It has 
appeared to me that in order to speculate rationally on the geo- 
graphical range of the mollusca in Lower Canada, we must take 
into consideration all the physical changes which have occurred 
‘since these creatures were first created. In other words, we should 
study the post-pliocene fossils of the district in question, and insti- 
tute a carefu! comparison between them and the recent shells of 
the country. Knowing the difficulty of access to scientifi¢ works 
in Canada, I have made a short summary of Edward Forbes’s 
famous essay, and have shortly epitomized Mr. Lubbock’s paper 
on the Swiss Pfahlbauten, hoping that attention drawn to the 
subject, may possibly result in the discovery of works of human 
art in our Canadian tertiary or post-tertiary deposits, 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


First ANNUAL CONVERSAZIONE. 

The society having determined to hold an annual conversazione, 
as a literary, scientific and social reunion of its friends, a com: 
mittee, consisting of Mr. Stanley Bagg, Mr. Becket, Mr. Robb, 
and Mr. Rose, with Mr. Leeming, the recording secretary, was 
appointed to make arrangements, and the meeting was accord- 
ingly held in the Society’s Rooms on the evening of Tuesday, 
February 3rd. The following addresses were delivered on the 
occasion, after which the company enjoyed themselves in examining 
the Museum and a large collection of works of art, microscopes, 
etc., furnished for the occasion by friends of the Society, 

Principal Dawson, in opening the proceedings of the evening, 
said:—I have much pleasure this evening in inaugurating 
a new feature in the progress of this Society—our Annual 
Conversazione—an occasion on which the members of this As- 
sociation, with all its beasts, birds and creeping things, an- 
nounce themselves “at home,” and invite their friends to a scien- 
tific and intellectual feast, which we hope will continue to grow 
in interest in each succeeding year, and will remain as one of the 
permanent institutions of the society and of the city. The last 
occasion on which we thus entertained our friends was that of 
the opening of this building, an event of the utmost importance 
in the history of the society, and which has more than realized 
the most sanguine anticipations of those who promoted the remo- 

Can. Nar. 5 . Vou.. VIII. 


66 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


val of the Society’s collections, and the erection of our new and 
commodious apartments. Since that time, our collections have 
been largely augmented ; many new members have been added 
to our list; and our monthly meetings have been amply supplied 
with interesting communications, many of them marking impor- 
tant steps of progress in the natural history of Canada. We 
have now connected with this Society, as members and corres- 
“pondents, nearly all the working naturalists and geologists of Bri- 
_ tish America; and our proceedings, published in the Canadian 
Naturalist, have extended the reputation of the Society through- 
out the world, and added an immense mass of valuable facts to 
the natural history of this country. The seven large volumes of 
our Waturalist, and the numbers constantly appearing, now form 
an indispensable part of the library of every one who studies the 
natural history of North America. Our labours have also been 
appreciated at home. The circulation of the Waturalist in Ca- 
nada, and the fact that it is self-supporting, the large attendance 
- at our monthly meetings and public lectures, and the recognition 
of the Society by the government of the country, as a recipient 
of a portion of the sums which Canada, in emulation of the wise 
liberality of older countries, annually grants for scientific and liter- 
ary purposes, all testify to this. We ali wish, however, that the 
advantages which we offer were still more largely used., Our 
> philosophy is not:of that) kind which shuts. itself up in pedantic 
exclusiveness. We regard the study of nature as the common 
heritage of all, and desire to open up to-every, one, from, the little 
child upward, its beauties and its uses. Placed as I am.at the 
head of an educational institution in which all branches of, learn- 
jpg’ are represented, it|doés not become me, on ordinary occasions, 
‘toemagnify my ownospecial office as a teacher of natural, science, 
or to insist:onthe reasons which have induced me to prefer in 
my own case the study of nature to other. means of improving 
my mental powers and:rendering myself useful to my fellow, men. 
But here, as anoofficer of this Society, I may be permitted, with- 
out disparagement. to. other, kinds) of useful, knowledge, to. state 


9 some special claims of the study.of nature. And, first I would 


say on this subject, that:the study of nature is eminently fitted to 
» develop ‘all our higher: powers.., Reasoning, on first. principles, 
othis is absolutely undeniable, and might be stated. still, more 
strongly. _ Man is the only creature on our globe fitted to com- 
prehend nature, and in his primitive state of innocence it was his 


“o 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 67 


only book; and as among lower creatures, every one is specially 
adapted to its condition of life, so there is a special adaptation of 


‘the powers of man, created in the image of his Maker, to that 


system of things proceeding in all its parts from the same Al- 
mighty mind. Practical experience confirms this inference. 
What more fitted than natural objects to call forth the exercise 
of the powers of observation, what to develope a more nice power 
of discrimination, what to train to all the intricacies of contingent 
reasoning. The man who has disciplined his mind by the thor- 
ough study of any department of nature, who has gathered to- 
gether and scrutinized its minute facts, who has by careful induc- 
tion learned from them general truths, who has mastered, as far as 
our limited intellects may, the plans of the Creator in any portion 
of his works, has thereby aquired a mental training more godlike 


-in its character than any that. can be gained from art or human 


literature, because he has been following in the footsteps, not of 
man, but of God. Farther, natural science grasps within itself 
the essence of many other departments of culture. All the higher 
literature and more especially the literature of the sacred books 
and of the more ancient nations, is imbued with nature. All true 
art has its foundation in the higher art of creation. The princi- 
ples of mathematical and physical science have some of their 
highest. applications in the mineral, the plant and the ani- 
mal; and geology presses into its service the results of almost 


‘every kind of inquiry as to material things. For this reason, 


while nothing can be more simple than the mere elements 


- of the knowledge of nature, nothing can be more intricate or 


abstruse than its higher questions ; nothing is more suited to. 
convince a man of his own ignorance, or to prevent him from 
resting in a limited range of acquirement, or from remaining sat- 


' isfied with the rude attempts of man to imitate the perfect beauty 


and adaptation of natural things. Again, the modes of investiga- 
tion in natural history bear a cirect relation to those modes of 
thought which are most necessary in the ordinary work of life. 
Observation, comparison, reasoning from cause to effect,—and these 


'. am relation to the means by which the Author of nature carries 


on his vast operations,—are the leading pursuits of the naturalist ; 
and their effect in producing an acute, yet comprehensive style of 


thought, is conspicuous in the lives and works of all eminent stu- 


dents of nature. Noriis there anything in natural history calcu- 
lated to engender pedantry or conceit. The naturalist works in 


68 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


the presence of mysteries of life and structure which he cannot . 
fathom, and which, therefore, teach him humility. He is only 
the interpreter of that which he cannot imitate; and he is willing, 
in collecting his facts, to sit at the feet of any one who can inform 
him in respect to the thousands of ordinary phenomena open to 
the investigation of every person who observes. Lastly, the reve- 
lation of God in nature, like that in his word, is thrown around 
us in such a way that while a little child may learn much of it, 
the powers of the highest intellect are tasked in reaching its higher 
truths, and in correcting the errors in which carelessness. and igno- 
rance envelop it. These two great revelations are twin products 
of the Divine mind: the one the study of man in innocence; the 
other the safety of man fallen :—and it is true that he who loves 
God most, will appreciate nature most ; he who knows nature best, 
must best understand its Author. To disparage the study of nature 
as inferior to any other means of culture, is to evince the littleness 
of a mind dwarfec’by the study of man’s doings and blind to those 
of God, or the impiety of a sou! that has no wish to magnify the 
works which men behold, as the external manifestation of the spi- 
ritual Creator. 

But I must not follow such thoughts further, and now close 
by earnestly inviting all who are present this evening, to unite 
with us in exploring the wonders that are spread everywhere 
around us in nature, and assuring them that in this matter 
a little knowledge is not a dangerous, but on the contrary, a plea- 
sant and profitable thing ; and that while in Canada, there is scope 
for many more workers than we now haye, there is still more 
ample scope for all who may desire to understand and enjoy the 
results of their labors. f 

Rey. A. F. Kemp next addressed the audience. He said it af- 
forded him great pleasure to be there. Yet he had come there un- 
expectedly to himself, after rather severe labours during the pre- 
ceding week ; but being a great lover of natural science, he could 
not shrink from the invitation, and from saying such words as he 
might be enabled to offer on a subject so deeply interesting to 
him. Natural science was a most interesting part of human learn- 
tng: most people liked it: it had a greater charm than most 
other departments. Amongst children there was a great taste 
for natural objects. They liked to touch things, and were curious 
in their inquiries about them. Curiosity was the faculty which 
in natural science was brought to bear upon nature. Some people, 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 9F MONTREAL. 69 


as they grew old, seemed to lose this; and their inquiry as to 
anything new, was merely as to its utility, and whether it would 
pay. But those who retain the freshness and vigour of their 
youth have highér conceptions of the wonderful things with which 
they are surrounded. I have a great admiration too for what I 
may call the scientific method of thinking and reasoning. This 
method could not be satisfied without seeing, knowing, and _thor- 
oughly understanding, if possible, all about the objects of nature 
that lay within the compass of human apprehension. It was 
close and searching. It can be satisfied only with facts carefully 
observed and defined as the basis of its conclusions. If anything 
. were omitted in the inquiry, the conclusions would be all wrong: 
the induction would fall to the ground, like a house of cards. 
But when it had got all the facts and their relations to one an- 
other it could then by the inductive process reach conclusions 
which might be regarded as reliable and certain. There was an 
infinite variety in the departments of natural science. Every taste 
could thus be gratified. Some. loved entomology ; but, for him- 
self, he did not like to stick pins into butterflies and other insects. 
The study of animal life was certainly full of interest, but to him 
there always appeared to be something rather painful, if not cruel, 
about it. He preferred that department of natural science which 
had to do with what they might term, insentient life, or that 
of the vegetable. It was very easy to undertake, and exceedingly 
delightful. To its student the mighty forests were open, whose 
trees lifted their heads to heaven, and if he choose he could turn 
to the more lowly flowers of the field. Wooing them upon the 
river’s banks, hé would be repaid with unalloyed healthy pleasure. 
I profess to have turned my attention a little in this direction. 
Dr. Dawson had said, the study of natural science made men ~ 
humble. Then he (Mr. Kemp) must be so, for his part was to 
study the humblest forms of nature, namely, marine and fresh- 
water plants, many of which could only be observed by means of 
the microscope ; and he would say, that he had felt true exhilara- 
tion of mind, and pure pleasure, when he had been in the field 
engaged in such pursuits. In that employment, he had roamed 
amongst the cliffs of Bermuda, and been charmed with the sight 
of that climate’s most brilliant marine flora. “I have some- 
times had amusing adventures there. One day I remember, 
when looking round in the hope of discovering some new species, 
T saw as I conceived oneof the more brilliant red plants gleaming 


70 -- NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


bright, at a considerable depth in the water; it moved grace- 
fully. with every motion of the waves. I feasted my eyes’on its 
beauty, and thought if only I could secure it without injury how 
glad I would be. To dive so deep and bring it up was not pos- 
sible for me, so I got a long branch of a neighbouring tree, and 
up to the knees in water, on a rock near by, I worked till at last 
{ caught it, and with joy pulled up my prize, But what do you 
think it was? Why, nothing but a bit of a soldier’s red coat! 
(Laughter.) I was very much disgusted you may be sure. But 
yet it was so amusing that I enjoyed “the sell” amazingly. 

“IT do not need to go far for the objects of my study. They are 
everywhere—on the damp soil, the water spout, the pool, the 
high-way,—in the streamlet, the river, and the ocean. Pools of 
stagnant water, covered with a green mantle, were no contempt- 
ible fields for investigation. They were not unhealthful, and they 
were filled with objects, than which few were of greater interest: 
When upon a large scale, they emitted carbonic acid gas, or 
miasma the little things which covered them fed upon that gas, 
and absorbed it, leaving globules of pure and healthy oxygen. Some 
of these plants were exceedingly complicated and curious, and, to 
his mind, the most beautiful in the vegetable kingdom. Mr. 
Kemp here exhibited drawings of Spyrogyre and Rivularie, and 
explained the structure and growth of these minute plants, which 
were constantly to be found growing in stagnant pools or on the 
banks of streams, and were objects of great interest to naturalists. 
They were exceedingly prolific, and he considered their peculiar 
manner of propagation as a proof of the permanency of species, 
in opposition to the Darwinian theory. Little and lowly they 
were, yet on examining their structure, and studying their econ- 
omy, we were led into regions of life most wonderful and myste- 
rious exhibiting the wisdom, goodness, and power of the Creator. 
Whence life came we could not tell; what it was the microscope 
could not discover. God concealed himself amidst his works, 
even while he revealed his power and skill in the outward aspects 
which they presented. In observing even these minute forms of 
life one could not but feel the truth of the saying: “ Canst thou 
by searching find out God, canst thou find out the Almighty unto 
perfection?” For the speaker’s part, though his special study 
was, from choice and profession the Bible, yet he felt bound, at 
the same time, to unfold and read the wondrous pages of creation. 
He did not believe it possible for a man to be an infidel, whilst 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ‘OF MONTREAL. 71 


he paid scientific attention to nature. He was glad to see his 
audience there. The society had left its former humble rooms; 
and with the occupation of better ones, seemed to have improved 
in spirit. Let those who were not already members, become so, 
and begin and prosecute the ‘study of the works of their beneficent 
Creator. : . 


The Cuarrman then rose and thanked Mr. Kemp for his excel- 
lent address, saying, that the poet had said, there were “ tongues 
in trees; books in the running brooks, and sermons in stones,” 
but Mr. Kemp had found sermons, in stagnant pools. ae 


Selections of music, from Verdi and Donizetti, were then per- 
formed by the Band.’ When these were over, the Chairman in- 
troduced the Rev. Dr. De Sola, who said :— 


I believe that no member of the Natural History Society will 
regret that it was decided to hold this pleasant social meeting 
here, when he looks around and sees how readily and numerous- 
ly the friends of the Society have come forward this evening, to 
show their interest in us. And I am sanguine enough to believe 
that all who have come to-night are friends of the Society, and 
wish us God-speed in our efforts to promote its objects. And I 
am also sanguine enough to believe as a consequence, that those 
days in which the Natural History Society only vegetated, and in 
which even this vegetative existence was scarcely known to the 
public, are past, for ever past, without recall. At the same time, 
I do not forget that though the claims of natural science are be. 
coming better understood, still much misconception as to its ends 
still exists, and some branches which this institution favors, are 
even now regarded with suspicion, if not with positive dislike, by 
many worthy persons whounaccountably fancy that the cause of 
revealed truth may be injured by them. This is no occasion fully 
to examine such an objection. We can only say to such timid 
persons, “ Become members of this Society, and judge for your- 
selves, what powerful support science has given revelation.” 
With reference to this misconception, I may go further and say 
that had carpers at holy writ been better naturalists, and possess- 
ed greater knewledge of physical science, they had not advanced 
half the fallacies they have. Thus, if the writer of a recent most 
crude and unfortunate publication, entitled “ A critical examin- 
ation of the Pentateuch and Book of Joshua,’—called critical, 


12 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


perhaps, because there is no evidence of fair criticismin it, on the 
same principle that a worthy son of Erin called himself rich, be- 
cause his money could not be counted,—if this writer, I say, had 
only been a working member of the Natural History Society of 
Montreal, I am sure that at least some of his objections would 
not have been started, but he would have recoiled at their absurdity. 
As an example, when he puzzles himself with one of his favorite 
arithmetical propositions,—“ If 600,000 men in London require 
so much fuel, how much did 600,000 Israelites require in the 
desert, where trees are few,’ a member might remind him that 
the genus homo amidst the fogs, damp and cold of London, requires 
-a little more caloric than the genus homo travelling under the 
burning sun of Arabia—that to cook the bread and beef of old 
England requires a little more fuel than did the manna, the food 
of the Israelites, which was melted by the mere heat of the 
sun. We could also whisper to him a few secrets about animal 
fuel, such as the Arab even now prepares in the desert, and the 
prophet Hzekiel refers to. We might say something too 
of the changes taking place on the face of the physical world,— 
of Lebanon, now barren and once covered with trees—of the 
present sterility of parts of Palestine, formerly most productive 
and prosperous, and show that even the wood-fuel they had was 
not absolutely required; nay, we might give him a rule-of-three 
sum in return, and say, if 600,000 persons required so much fuel 
in Arabia, and so much in London, how is it that the same num- 
ber of persons in these northern regions of Canada, can find 
cord-wood enough for their supply, when so vast a proportion 
of these are needy persons, and have not wherewith to supply 
their wants from day to day? We will volunteer the reply also. 
The reply is one which all the researches of this Society into 
the Eternal’s works of the natural order, as well as the holy book 
gives us, and it is that the hand of God never waxeth short, but 
every thing, and every one, bears incontrovertible testimony to 
the infinite power, wisdom and benevolence of the Creator of 
nature. I trust my reference may be excused. But I desired 
to employ this opportunity to state my humble opinion that if 
biblical students and religionists will not avail themselves of the 
advantages conferred by the study of natural science, there is 
a certain personage who well knows how to use them, as he has 
ever used them, for the attainment of his own ends. And I 
desired to illustrate the needlessness of the alarm of some timid 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 15 


ones, and to demonstrate the truth that science is the true 
friend and supporter of religion, and that therefore, this and 
kindred institutions should enjoy the unbounded confidence of 
the community. 

In inviting an accession of numbers to our ranks, we think that 
this Society, as pioneer in the development of natural history in 
this country, as originator of the present Geological Survey of Ca- 
nada—for this Natural History Society was certainly first to move 
here—we believe it has some claims on every Canadian. A cer- 
_ tain amount of progress has followed on its efforts, an accession of 
scientific talent has been made; and when I mention the name of 
a Dawson, a Logan, a Hunt, and a Billings, I think you will con- 
clude with me that we number among us those of whom any 
Society even in Europe might be proud. We know that ina 
young community like ours, where nearly all are engaged in those 
pursuits which leave little time for scientific researches, we need 
not hope for a very large number able to take an active part in 
the primary objects of this Society. But this will not always be 
the state of things, and we should therefore do something for pos- 
terity.. We can atleast lay up materials for instruction, ready for 
use when they shall be wanted; and if we only do this, we shall be 
doing an important work, for which coming generations will thank 
us. But we are in-fact doing more than this. The efforts of the 
members as they are becoming progressively greater, are also 
becoming better appreciated. The Society is becoming so favor- 
ably known that we may hope to see it yet bearing the same 
relation to all the British American Provinces as the British Mu- 
seum bears to the mother country. We therefore ask all who 
can, to come and aid us in realizing our aspirations, which are 
chiefly those of the original founders of the Society—that of extend- 
ing the knowledge of Natural History in particular, and of the 
physical sciences in general around us, so that our labors may 
redound to the credit not only of this growing city, but of this 
colony ; and above all, that these labors may be additional testi- 
mony to the truth that “the hand that made us is Divine,” even 
the hand of Him whose power, wisdom and benevolence are clearly 
revealed to us in all that is around. 


74 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 


Orpinary Meretine, Oct. 24, 1862. 


ier routine busiuess the following SCENE Ts were eee 
read and discussed :— 

1. A letter from Prof. Hall on the limits of the Catskill aioe of 
New York, showing that a large proportion of the area, more 
especially in Delaware county, hitherto supposed to be occupied 
bythe Catskill Group, really consists of rocks of the Portage and 
Chemung Groups. 

2. A letter from Dr. Van Courtlandt, on the occurrence of Gas- 
terosteous gymnetes, and of a supposed New Leuciscus in a lake 
tributary to the Ottawa. 

3. A paper by C. Robb, Esq., C.E., on the distribution of the 
Superficial Deposits in C.W., and on some phenomena connected 
with the Mineral Springs of that region; more especially on the 
fresh-water drift of Upper Canada, and on the local subsidences 
and peculiar deposits on organic matters produced by some of the 
Springs. . 

4, Rey. A. F. Kemp’made some remarks on the proposed use of 
the Zostera marina as a substitute for cotton, and on the occur- 
rence of this plant in Eastern America. 

Several papers we announced for next and subsequent meet- 
ings; and recommendations of the Council in relation to the bet- 
ter, arrangement and labelling of certain departments of the col- 
lection, were reported by the Secretary, Mr. Leeming, and ad- 
opted. 

A number of new members were proposed, and the meeting 
adjourned. 


Orpinary Mretine, Noy, 24, 1862. 


Principal Dawson, vice-President in the chair. 

L. H. Parkes, Esq., of Birmingham, England, Microscopist, 
was unanimously elected a corresponding member ; and Col. Dun- 
lop, R.A., Messrs. J. E. Pell, J. S. Millar, Alex. Cowan, and H. 
G. Vennor were elected ordinary members. 

After the general business, the following papers were read ; 

1. Onthe habits of the pine-boring Beetles of the genus 
Monohammus; by E. Billings, Esq.. F.G.S.—After some general 
remarks on the commercial value of our timber trees, and on the 
numerous insects which attack them, the author noticed the spe- 
cies of Monohammus known in North America, and gave a patr- 
ticular account of the habits of Mf. Confusor, with especial refe- 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. 75: 


rence to its ravages on the timber of the white and yellow pine ; 
and mentioned some very remarkable illustrations of the number 
of the insects, and the rapidity with which timber is destroyed by 
them. 

2. On a New Crustacean from the Potsdam Sandstone; in a 
letter from Prof. Hall to Dr. Dawson—Prof. Hall referred to 
the paper on the footprints of Limulus recently read before the 
Society, and stated his belief that a new crustacean recently des- 
cribed by him before the Albany institute, but not yet published, 
answered to the conditions implied in the formation of Protich- 
nites as illustrated by the modern Limulus. 

8. On the Acton Copper Mines; by T. McFarlane, Esq.—In 
the absence of the author this paper was read by Mr. Robb. It 
contained an elaborate account of the mine and of the bed con- 
taining the ore, with its various disturbances; and entered into 
the probable origin of the deposit, and the modes of extracting 
and dressing the ores; being altogether the most complete and 
detailed account of this remarkable deposit which has yet appea- 
red. The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. McFariane. 

The following donations were presented to the Society :— 

From P. McFarlane, Esq.—Specimens of minerals from the 
Giants’ Causeway. 

From James Ferrier, Junr. Esq.—A pair of Fuligula albida ; 
and fishes for the aquarium. 

From Mr. Gavin.—Two specimens of Coluber s¢rtalis (alive). 

From Mr. Miller.—Specimens of Copper Ore from the Bruce 
Mine. 

The Dublin Nat. Hist. Review, 6 Nos,; Proceedings of the 
Dublin University Zoological Association, 2 Nos; Journal of the 
Franklin Institute ; Proceedings of the Entomological Society of 
Philadelphia, 6 Nos.; and several other periodicals and pamphlets 
were presented by the editors and publishers. 


Orpinary Mezrine, Feb. 2, 1868. 


Principal Dawson, the vice-President in the Chair. The fol- 
lowing papers were read : 

1. On the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower Canada, 
with thoughts on their connections with the Post-pliocene fossils 
of the St. Lawrence Valley, and on the general geograpical dis- 
tribution of Animals and Plants in Canada; by J. F. Whiteaves 
Esq. F.G.S. 


76 KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 


-2. On the parellelism of the Quebec group with the Lower 
Llatideilo of England and Australia; and on some new or little 
known species of Paleozoic Fossils. By EH. Billings, Esq. F.G.S. 

3. On the gold deposits of Canada and the manner of work- 
ing them. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S. 

The following donations were received : 

From L. Thomson, Esq.—Specimen of the Trumpeter Swan. 

From G. Barnston, Esq.—Specimens of Fishes and Reptiles. 

From Mr. E. C. David—Specimen of Wild Rice from the Prai- 
ries. 

From Bb. Gibb, Esq—Horn of African Rhinoceros. 

From Mr. J. O’Brien—Specimen of the great horned Owl. 

From Mr. Hunter—Thirty-two specimens of the sternum or 
breast-bone of Canadian birds. 

From 8. Bagg, Esq.—Bye-laws of the Numismatic Society of 
Montreal, and a paper read before the Society. 

From T. Roy, Hsq.—Pictorial description of the Victoria re- 
gina. / 3 

From J. Ferrier jun., Esq.— Japanese work on fishes, with col- 
oured drawings. . 

From Various Societies, &c.—Proceedings and publications. 


BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 


The first meeting of the third session was held in tie Univer- 
sity Hall, Kingston, on Monday evening, 26th January, Prof. J. 
R. Dickson, M.D., Vice-President, in the chair. 

The Society then proceeded to the election of office-bearers for 
the ensuing year, when the following were elected :— 
Patron—His Excellency Viscount Monck, Governor General. 
Presipent—Very Rev. Principal Leitch, D.D. 
Vice-Presipents—Prof. Litchfield, M.D.; Thos. Briggs, Jr., Esq. ; 

Prof. Dickson, M.D.; Rev. Prof. Williamson, LL.D. 


Councit—John Carruthers, Esq.; Rev. W. Bleasdell, A.M., 
Rector of Trenton; Professor Kennedy, M.D.; B. Billings, Jr.” 
Esq., Prescott; Prof. Fowler, M.D.; M. Flanagan, Esq., City 
Clerk; Mr. J. Macoun, Belleville; Prof. Hincks, F.L.S., Toronto ; 
Prof. . Yates, M.D.; Hon. W. Sheppard, D.C.L., Drummond- 
ville, L.C.; W. Ferguson, Esq.; J. Duff, Esq.; M. Sullivan, M.D.; 
Rev. H. Mulkins ; Professor Octavius Yates, M.D.; Prof. Lavell, 
M.D.; Judge Logie, Hamilton; Augustus Thibodo, Esq.; Rev. 


KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. Neh 


Prof. Weir, A.M.; John Watkins, Esq. ; J. Creighton, Esq., Mayor ; 
Rev. Prof. Mowat, M.A. 


Sroretary—Professor Lawson, LL.D. 
Avpitor—Andrew Drummond, Esq. 
TreasunER—Professor Murray. 
Laprarran—Mr. R. V. Rogers, B.A. 


Hersarium Commitrer—Mr. A. T. Drummond, B.A.; Mr. W. 
B. Ferguson, Jr. B.A.; Mr. John Bell, B.A.; Mr. Robt. Jardine, 
B.A.; Mr. John McMorine; Mr. James B. Ferguson, B.A.; Mr. 
Josiah Jones Bell. 

Professor Lawson stated that through the kindness of Professor 
Caruel, formerly of Florence, now at Pisa, an ample supply had 
been obtained of living cocoons of the new Chinese silk moth, Sa- 
turnia Cynthia, which yields the Ailanthine silk, now so success- 
fully raised in France and Italy. The eggs, which may be obtained 
from the moths in May next, it is proposed to distribute to such 
members of the Botanical Society as may desire to aid in the ex- 
- periment of rearing them in Canada. This silk worm teeds on 
the Ailanthus glandulosa, a tree that is quite hardy in Canada. 
Members desirous of obtaining eggs were invited to send in their 
names to Professor Lawson, who stated that although there had 
hitherto been experienced great trouble in unwinding the cocoons, 
the process of soaking in caustic potash which Mrs. Lawson had 
found to answer so well with the Canadian Cecropia cocoons, 
was no doubt equally applicable to the new Ailanthine silk. Pro- 
fessor Lawson likewise exhibited samples of cloth made in the 
Indian prisons from the floss of the Indian silk weed or mudar 
plant, a material precisely similar to the floss contained in the 
pods of Canadian silkweeds. 

Mr. Rogers, the Librarian, presented the following donations 
to the Society’s Library :— 

1, From the Montreal Natural History Society —The Canadian 
Naturalist and Geologist, from February 1862, to January, 1863. 

2. From the American Philosophical Society—Nos. 66 and 67 
of their proceedings. 

3. From the Boston Society of Natural. History—Their pro- 
ceedings, Vol. 8, pages 1 to 128. 

4, Proceeding of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
Boston, Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5,—from the Academy. 

5. Annals ot the Lyceum and Natural History of New York, 
Vol. 8. Nos. 10 and 12,—from the Society. 


78 KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 


6. Treasures of the Deep or Scottish Sea-weeds,—from Mr. Hub- 
bert, Knox’s College, Toronto. 

7. Observations on North American and other Lichens, ae ma 
Tuckerman,—from the author. 

8. Physical features of central part of British North ae, 
by James Hector, M. D.,—from the author. — 

9. Alpine and Arctic plants, by Principal PENTO el the 
author. 

10. John E. LeConte, a necrology, by Wn. Sharswood ioe 
the author. 

11. From Robert J. Drummond,—Botanical sketches of 
the 24 orders of Linneus; Sir J. Banks and the Royal 
Society ; : Linnzus and Jussieu, or the Rise and Progress of Syste- 
_ matic Botany ; annual Report of the Natural History Society of 
Montreal, for 1862 ; Constitution and By-Laws of Natural His- 
tory. Society of Montreal. 

_ 12. From the Geological Survey—Descriptive Outaleene of 
Economic Minerals, &e., of Canada, sent to che Toner Tater- 

national Exhibition, 1862. 0 

. Donations of dried specimens were announced from Mr. John 

Bell, B. A., Mr. Josiah J. Bell, Mr. C. I. Cameron, Mr. John Ma- 

| coun, Mr. fo McMorine, Mr. Donald Ross, M. A. f 

The following communications were read: 

1. On plants collected in Canada, by Philip W. Maclagay, M. 
D; Berwick upon Tweed. 

Relerne to the recent establishment of the Botanical Society, 
Dr. Maclagan observed :—Entertaining, as I always must do, a 
warm affection for Canada, and my fang kind friends: there, I 
was delighted to see that Botany was taking its right place among 
them. I wish that there had been any movement in this direct- 
ion during my residence, for I often had to regret the want of 
some companion to share the pleasure of botanical researches. 
__ Pondering in what way I could best show my sense of the compli- 
ment, paid to me by your Society, I resolved to send you'a com- 
plete list of the plants I had myself collected, and of which I 
have specimens, during a residence in Canada extending over 
twelve years, in the course of which I had been stationed in va- 
rious parts, of the country. 

Dr. Maclagan’ 3 detailed observations, which were contained in 
_ two M.S, volumes, and embraced original information respecting 

nearly 900 species of Canadian plants will be ee in the 


KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 79 


Society’s annals. A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the 
author. ) 

' 2. On the Physical Character of the East Riding of Northum- 
berland, with a list of the plants of Mr. John Macoun, Belleville. 
Read by the Rev. Prof. Mowat, M. A. 

This was likewise a very valuable paper and will appear in the 
Annals. Mr. Macoun’s list embraced about 800 species. The ac- 
count of the physical character of the country, and the indica- 
tions of its former condition, shown by ancient lake-terraces, &c., 
_ excited much interest, and the Society’s thanks were voted to Mr. 
Macoun. 

3. Account of an Exploration of Gaspé during the past sum- 
mer, by John Bell, B.A. 

Mr. Bell, as one of a party of the Geological Survey, spent 
the summer in exploring the wild spruce woods of Gaspé, and 
gave a vary interesting account of the vegetation. Mr. 
Bell has added greatly to our knowledge of Gaspé plants, and ob- 
tained some species that had not previously been observed. The 
Society accorded him warm thanks. Mr. Bell is preparing a 
complete list of his collections, which were very extensive, and 
- the list will be printed in the Society’s Annals. 

4, On Ailanthine, the silk yielded by the Saturnia, or Bombyx 
Cynthia, with remarks on the Ailanthus glandulosa, or false Var- 
nish Tree, of China, upon which the Worm feeds, by Robt. Pat- 

-terson, M.D., | Read by the Rev. Prof. Murray. 

In illustration of this elaborate and valuable paper which will 
be published, the author sent a very interesting series of speci- 
mens, which were exhibited to the meeting, showing the eggs, 
the larvae in various stages, the cocoon, and the perfect moths, 
male and female. The Society’s best thanks were voted to Dr. 
Paterson for his communication. 

5. List of plants collected in Ramsay and adjoining localities, 

during 1861-62, by John K. McMorine. 

6. List’ of plants collected chiefly at Fort Garry, Red River 
Settlement, by John C. Schultze, M.D. 

7. List of Plants of Beckwith and Ramsay, C.W., by Josiah 
Jones Bell. 

8. List of Plants collected at Wellington, during the summer 

of 1862, by John A. Kemp, M.D. 
The above lists were laid on the table and authorized to be 


80 KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 


printed. The reading of several papers was delayed till next 
mecting, to be held on the evening of Friday, 13th of February. 

The second meeting of the third session, was held on Friday 
evening, 13th Feby., the Very Rev. Principal Leitch, D.D., Pres- 
ident, in the chair, There was a full attendance of members. 

Professor Lawson, the secretary, called attention to the propo- 
sal of the Home Government, to publish under the direction of 
Sir William Hooker, the Queen’s Botanist, Floras of the colonies 
of the British Empire, and a communication was read from Judge 
Logie of Hamilton, on the subject. Application having been 
made by the Colonial Secretary for the approval and concurrence 
of the Canadian Government, with a view tothe early publication 
of the Canadian Flora, several of the members expressed strongly 
their opinion of the importance of the scheme, both in a scientific 
and commercial point of view, and as affording a most. effectual 
means of making known to Canadians, as well as to the inhab- 
itants of European countries, the nature of the products of our 
rich Canadian forests, which would stimulate to new branches of 
industry, and to the development of commercial enterprise. 

Dr. Dickson, V. P., moved the appointment of a committee to 
bring before the Legislature, by petition and otherwise, the impor- 
tance of Sir William Hooker’s proposed publication, and expressed 
a belief that, if the Government declined to grant the small sum 
required, persons would be found in Canada ready to raise the 
‘amount, in a very short time, by private subscription. Committee : 
Principal Leitch, Prof. Dickson, Rev. Mr. Mulkins, A. Drum- 
mond, Esq., Judge Logie, and Professor Lawson. 

The following papers were read :— 

1. On the Selandria Hthiops and its destructive effects on 
Pear Trees. By the Very Rev. Principal Leitch, D.D., President. 

2. Additional remarks on Dr. Patterson’s paper on Ailanthine, 
by the Very Rev. Principal Leitch, who gave a very interesting 
detail of the rearing of the Ailanthine Silk Worm in Dr. Pater- 
son’s garden at Leith. 

3. Poem.—The Pines. By Charles Mair, Lanark,C. W. Read 
by Joshua Fraser, B. A. 

4. A chapter on Fungi. By James Hubbert, Knox’s College, 
Toronto. 

The Society then adjourned until Friday, March 13. 


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DENDRERPETON ACADIANUM. Owen. 


THE 


CANADIAN 


NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Vou. VIII. APRIL, 18638. No. 2. 


Art. VI.— The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia ; 
by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.B.S., &e. 
(Continued from page 12.) 
IV.—DenprerPeton ACADIANUM. 
Plate III. 

The geology of Nova Scotia is largely indebted to Sir Charles 
Lyell. Though much had previously been done by others, 
his personal explorations in 1842, and his paper on the gypsife- 
rous formation, published in the following year, first gave 
form and shape to some of the more difficult features of the geo- 
logy of the country, and brought it into relation with that of other 
parts of the world. In geological investigation, as in many other 
things, patient plodding may accumulate large stores of fact, but 
the magic wand of genius is required to bring out the true value 
and significance of these stores of knowledge. It is scarcely too 
much to say that the explorations of a few weeks, and subsequent 
study of the subject by Sir Charles, with the impulse and guidance 
given to the labors of others, did as much for Nova Scotia, as 
might have been effected by years of laborious work under 
less competent heads. 

Sir Charles naturally continued to take an interest in the geolo- 
gy of Nova Scotia, and to entertain a desire to explore more fully 
some of those magnificent coast sectiens which he had but hastily 
examined; and when, in 1851, he had occasion to revisit the United 
States, he made an appointment with the writer of these pages to 

Cay. Nar. 6 Vou. VIII. 


82 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


‘spend a few days in renewed explorations of the cliffs of the South 
Joggins. The object specially in view was the thorough examina- 
tion of the beds of the true coal measures, with reference to their 
contained fossils, and the conditions of accumulation of the coal ; and 
the results were given to the world in a joint paper on “ The re- 
mains of a reptile and a land-shell discovered in the interior of an 
erect tree in the coal measures of Nova Scotia,” and in the writer’s 
paper on the ‘‘ Coal Measures of the South Joggins ;”* while other 
important investigations grew out of the following up of these 
researches, and much matter in relation to the vegetable fossils still 
remains to be worked up. It is with the more striking fact of 
the discovery of the remains of a reptile in the coal measures that. 
we have now to do. 

The South Joggins Section is, among other things, remarkable 
for the number of beds which contain remains of erect trees 
imbedded in situ: these trees are for the most part Sigillariz, 
varying in diameter from six inches to five feet. They have grown - 
in underclays and wei soils, similar to those in which the coal was 
accumulated ; and these having been submerged or buried by 
mud carried down by inundations, the trees, killed by the accu- 
mulations around their stems, have decayed, and their tops being 
broken off at the level of the mud or sand, the cylindrical cavi- 
ties, left open by the disappearance of the wood, and preserved in 
their form by the greater durability of the bark, have been filled 
with sand and clay. This, now hardened into stone, constitutes. 
pillar-like casts of the trees, which may often be seen exposed in 
the cliffs, and which, as these waste away, fall upon the beach. 
The sandstones enveloping these pillared trunks of the ancient 
Sigillarize of the coal, are laminated or bedded, and the laminz, 
when exposed, split apart with the weather, so that the trees 
themselves become split across; this being often aided by the 
arrangement of the matter within the trunks, in layers more or 
less corresponding to those without. Thus one of these fossil trees 
usually falls to the beach in a series of discs, somewhat resembling 
the grindstones which are extensively manufactured on the coast. 
The surfaces of these fragments often exhibit remains of plants 
which have been washed into the hollow trunks and have been 
imbedded there; and in our explorations of the shore, we always 
carefully scrutinized such specimens, both with the view of obsery- 


* Journal of the Geological Society of London; Vols. ix and x; and 
Acadian Geology. 


pg Sy 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 83 


ing whether they retained the superficial markings of Sigillarize, 
and with reference to the fossils contained in them. It was while 
examining a pile of these “ fossil grindstones,” that we were sur- 
prised by finding on one of them what seemed to be fragments of 
bone. On careful search other bones appeared, and they had the 
aspect, not of remains of fishes, of which many species are found 
fossil in these coal measures, but rather of limb-bones of a quadru- 
ped. The fallen pieces of the tree were carefully taken up, and 
other bones disengaged, and at length a jaw with teeth made its 
appearance. We felt quite confident, from the first, that these 
bones were reptilian ; and the whole, being carefully packed and 
labelled, were taken by Sir Charles to the United States, and sub- 
mitted to Prof. J. Wyman of Cambridge ; who recognized their rep- 
tilian character, and prepared descriptive notes of the principal 
bones, which appeared to have belonged to two species. He also 
observed among the fragments an object of different character, 
apparently a shell ; which was recognized by Dr. Gould of Boston, 
and subsequently by Mr. Deshayes, as probably a land-snail, and 
has since been named Pupa vetusta. 

The specimens were subsequently taken to London and re-exa- 
mined by Prof. Owen, who confirmed Wyman’s inferences, added 
other characters to the description, and named the larger and 
better preserved species Dendrerpeton Acadianum, in allusion to- 
its discovery in the interior of a tree, and to its native country of 
Acadia or Nova Scotia. With the aid of Plate III, I shall now 
endeavour to describe this species as fully as the materials at my 
command will allow, and shall then make some remarks on its. 
affinities, habitat, and mode of life. It is necessary to state in 
explanation of the fragmentary character of the remains repre- 
sented in the plate, that in the decay of the animals imbedded ir 
the erect trees at the Joggins, their skeletons have become disar- 
ticulated, and the portions scattered, either by falling into the in- 
terstices of the vegetable fragments in the bottom of the hollow 
trunks, or by the water, with which these may have sometimes been 
partly filled. We thus can obtain only separate bones; and though all 
of these are no doubt present in each case, it is impossible in break- 
ing up the hard matrix to recover more than a small proportion of 
them. Forthis reason Ihave been obliged tohave recourse, not merely 
to the original specimen whose discovery is noticed above, but to 
three others subsequently obtained by me; all however belone- 
ing, on the evidence of the teeth and more important bones, to one 


84 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


species, and all being nearly, though not absolutely, of the same 
size. It is also proper to state that in the case of the original 
specimen, and another still more perfect one, both of which are now 
in Londun, I have been able to refer only to the published plates, and 
to add to these from parts of two additional individuals still in 
my own collection. 5 

In form, Dendrerpeton Acadianum was probably lizard-like ; 
with a broad flat head, short stout limbs and an elongated tail ; 
and having its skin, and more particularly that of the belly, pro- 
tected by small bony plates closely overlapping each other. It 
may have attained the length of two feet. The form of the head 
is not unlike that of Baphetes, but longer in proportion ; and much 
resembles that of the labyrinthodont reptiles of the Trias (Fig. 1). 
The bones of the skull are sculptured as in Baphetes, but in a 
smaller pattern (Figs. 8, 9). The nostrils are small, and near the 
muzzle: the orbits are circular, and separated by a space of more 
than their own diameter. In the upper jaw there is a series of con- 
ical teeth on the maxillary and intermaxillary bones (Figs. 5, 15). 
Those on the intermaxillaries are much larger than the others, 
and have the aspect of tusks or canines (Figs. 3, 13). Within this 
outer series of teeth, and implanted apparently in palatal bones, 
as in Archegosaurus Decheni, there is a second series of teeth, 
closely placed, or with intervals equal to the diameter of one 
tooth. These inner teeth are longer than the others, implanted 
in shallow sockets, to which they are anchylosed, and have the 
dentine plicated, except toward the point (Figs. 2, 4, 6, 7,17). A 
third group of teeth, blunt at the points, largely hollow in the in- 
terior, and with the dentine quite simple, appears in detached bones, 
which may represent the vomer (Fig. 12). Only a part of this 
formidable armature of teeth appears in the skull represented in 
Fig. 1, as the bones of the roof of the mouth have been removed, 
adhering to the opposite side of the matrix; but the fact of the 
occurrence of two sets of teeth was ascertained by Prof Wyman, 
from the original specimens, and is manifest in the fragment 
represented in Fig. 17; while the other teeth, supposed to be 
vomerine, appear in fragments which must, from their size and 
collocation, have belonged to Dendrerpeton. It will be observed 
that all these teeth are anchylosed to the bone ; and while those of 
the vomer are thinly walled and simple, those on the maxillaries and 
intermaxillaries are plicated toward the base only, while the inner 
series of palatal teeth are plicated more than half way up. In 


“s 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 85 


the lower jaw there was a uniform series of conical teeth, not per- 
ceptibly enlarged toward the front; at least this is the case in the 
only specimen at present in my collection (Fig. 16); which is 
however merely an imperfect cast in hard sandstone. 

The scapular and sternal bones seem to have been well devel- 
oped and strong, but only portions of them are known (Fig. 25.) 
The fore limb of the adult animal, including the toes, must have 
been four or five inches in length, and is of massive proportions. 
The bones were hollow, and in the case of the phalanges the bony 
walls were thin, so that they are often found crushed flat. The 
humerus however was a strong bone, with thick walls and a can- 
cellated structure toward its extremities; still even these have 
sometimes yielded to the great pressure to which they have been 
subjected. Fig. 26 shows the humerus of the original specimen 
of the species, and Fig. 10 exhibits a series of sections of a similar 
bone, probably the humerus of a smaller individual. The cavity 
of the interior of the limb-bones is usually filled with cale-spar 
stained with organic matter, but showing no structure; and the 
inner side of the bony wall is smooth, without any indication of 
cartilaginous matter lining it. 

The vertebree, in the external aspect of their bodies, remind one 
of those of fishes, expanding toward the extremities, and being 
deeply hollowed by conical cavities, which appear even to meet in 
the centre. There is however a large and flattened neural spine. 
The vertebrze are usually much crushed, and it is almost impos- 
sible to disengage them from the stone. Fig. 21 exhibits the usual 
form, and Fig. 22 another; which, in its long neural and hemal 
spines, reminds us of the caudal vertebre of those batrachians and 
reptiles which have tails flattened for swimming, and probably in- 
dicates that this was the case with Dendrerpeton. Fig. 23 isa 
transverse section of a somewhat crushed vertebra, showing its os- 
sified centrum and neural spine, and also the microscopic struc- 
ture of the bone. The ribs are long and curved, with an expanded 
head, near to which they are solid, but become hollow towards the 
middle; and the distal extremities are flattened and thin walled. 
The posterior limb seems to have been not larger than the ante- 
rior, perhaps smaller. The bones represented in Fig. 27, which I 
refer to this member, probably belonged to a somewhat smaller 
individual than that to which the humerus in Fig. 26 belonged. 
The tibia is much flattenea at the extremity, as in some labyrin- 
thodonts, and the foot must have been broad, and probably suited for 


86 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


swimming or walking on soft mud, or both. That the hind limb 
was adapted for walking is shown, not merely by the form of the 
bones, but also by that of the pelvis, the best preserved specimen 
of which is represented in Fig. 28 ; but an iliac limb of still larger 
size is figured in the Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. IX. 

The external scales are thin, oblique-rhomboidal or elongated- 
oval, marked with slight concentric lines, but otherwise smooth, 
and haying a thickened ridge or margin; in which they resemble 
those of Archegosaurus, and also those of Pholidogaster pisciformis, 
recently described by Huxley from the Edinburgh coal-field,—an 
animal which indeed appears in most respects to havea close afli- 
nity with Dendrerpeton. The microscopic structure of the scales 
is quite similar to that of the other bones, and different from that 
of the scales of ganoid fishes, the shape of the cells being batra- 
chian as in Fig. 11. Figs. 18 and 19 exhibit different forms of 
the scales. 

With respect to the affinities of the creature, I think it is ob- 
vious that it presents some points of resemblance, on the one 
hand to Archegosaurus, and on the other, to Labyrinthodon ; and 
that it has the same singular mixture of ichthyic, batrachian, and 
reptilian characters which distinguish these ancient animals, and 
which give them the appearance of prototypes of the reptilian 
class. Professor Owen regards Archegosaurus as the type of the 
order Ganocephala, which he characterizes as having the head 
protected by sculptured and polished ganoid plates, no occipital con- 
dyles, teeth with converging folds of cement at their basal half, the 
notochord persistent, the ribs short and straight, the limbs natato- 
ry and small; and holds that Dendrerpeton approaches more nearly 
to this order than to the Labyrinthodonts. But at the time when 
this opinion was expressed, he was not fully aware of the develop- 
ment of the limbs and ribs, and of the ossified condition of the 
vertebre ; characters which, with the form of the skull, the ar- 
rangement of the teeth, and the probable possession of occipital 
condyles, appear to determine the scale in favour of the Labyrin- 
thodonts. At the same time it must be admitted that Dendrerpe- 
ton is far removed from the typical genus Labyrinthodon, and 
that in the characters in which it differs, it leans toward Arche- 
gosaurus; closely resembling in thisits contemporary Pholedogaster 
pisciformis already referred to. 

This ancient inhabitant of the coal swamps of Nova Scotia, 
was, in short, as we often find to be the case with the earliest 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 87 


forms of life, the possessor of powers and structures not usually, 
in the modern world, combined in a single species. It was cer- 
tainly not a fish, yet its bony scales, and the form of its vertebrz, 
and of its teeth, might, in the absence of other evidence, cause it to 
be mistaken for one. We call it a batrachian, yet its dentition, the 
sculpturing of the bones of its skull, which were certainly no more 
external plates than the similar bones of a crocodile, its ribs, and 
the structure of its limbs, remind us of the higher reptiles; and 
we do not know that it ever possessed gills, or passed through a 
Jarval or fish-like condition. Still, in a great many important char- 
acters, its structures are undoubtedly batrachian. It stands, in 
short, in the same position with the Lepidodendra and Sigillarie 
under whose shade it crept, which though placed by palzo-bota- 
nists In alliance with certain modern groups of plants, manifestly 
differed from these in many of their characters, and occupied a dif- 
ferent position in nature. In the coal period, the distinctions of 
physical and vital conditions were not well defined—dry land 
and water, terrestrial and aquatic plants and animals, and lower 
and higher forms of animal and vegetable life, are consequently 
not easily separated from each other. This is no doubt a state of 
things characteristic of the earlier stages of the earth’s history, 
yet not necessarily so; for there are some reasons, derived from fos- 
sil plants, for believing that in the preceding Devonian period 
there was less of this, and consequently that there may then have 
been a higher and more varied animal life than in the coal period.* 
Even in the modern world also, we still find local cases of this 
early union of dissimilar conditions. It is in the swamps of 
Africa, at one time dry, at another inundated, that such interme- 
diate forms as Lepidosiren occur, to baffle the classificatory pow- 
ers of naturalists ; and it is in the stagnant unaerated waiers, half 
swamp, half lake or river, and unfit for ordinary fishes, that the 
semi-reptilian Amia and Lepidosteus still keep up the characters 
of their paleeozoic predecessors. 

The dentition of Dendrerpeton shows it to have been carnivo- 
rous ina high degree. It may have captured fishes and smaller 
reptiles, either on land or in water, and very probably fed on 
dead carcases as well. If, as seems likely, the footprints referred 
to in a previous section belong to Dendrerpeton, it must have fre- 
quented the shores, either in search of garbage, or on its way to 


* See the author's paper on Devonian plants, Journal ofthe Geological 
Society, Vol. xviii, p. 328. 


88 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


and from the waters. The occurrence of its remains in the 
stumps of Sigillaria, with land-snails and millipedes, shows also 
that it crept in the shade of the woods in search of food; and 
under the head of coprolitic matter, in a subsequent section, I 
shall show that remains of excrementitious substances, probably 
of this species, contain fragments, attributable to smaller reptiles, 
and other animals of the land. 

All the bones of Dendrerpeton hitherto found, as well as those 
of the smaller reptilian species hereafter described, have been ob- 
tained from the interior of erect Sigillarize, and all of these in one 
of the many beds, which, at the Joggins, contain such remains. 
The thick cellular inner bark of Sigillaria was very perishable ; 
the slender woody axis was somewhat more durable; but near 
the surface of the stem, in large trunks, there was a layer of elon- 
gated cells, or bast tissue, of considerable durability, and the outer 
bark was exceedingly dense and indestructible. ** Hence an erect 
tree, partly imbedded in sediment, and subjected to the in- 
fluence of the weather, became a hollow shell of bark ; in the bot- 
tom of which lay the decaying remains of the woody axis, and 
shreds of the fibrous bark. In ordinary circumstances such hol-~ 
low stems would be almost immediately filled with silt and sand, 
deposited in the numerous inundations and subsidences of the 
coal swamps. Where however they remained open for a consi- 
derable time, they would constitute a series of pitfalls, into which 
animals walking on the surface might be precipitated ; and being 
probably often partly covered by remains of prostrate trunks, or 
by vegetation growing around their mouths, they would be places 
of retreat and abode for land-snails and such creatures. When 
the surface was again inundated or submerged, all such animals, 
with the remains of those which had fallen into the deeper pits, 
would be imbedded in the sediment which would then fill up the 
holes. These seem to have been the precise conditions of the 
bed which has afforded all these remains. I may add that I be- 
lieve all the trees, four or five in number, which have become 
exposed in this bed since its discovery, have been ransacked for 
such remains; and that while all have afforde| some reward for 
the labour, some have been far more rich than others in their 
contents. It is also to be observed that owing to the mode of 
accumulation of the mass filling the trees, the bones are usually 


* See a paper by the author, on the structures of coal; Journal of 
the Geological Society, Vol. xv ; also supplement to Acadian Geology. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 89 


found scattered in every position, and those of different species 
intermingled ; and that being often much more friable than the 
matrix, much labour is required for their development; while 
after all has been done, the result isa congeries of fragments like 
that presented by Plate III. The two specimens which displayed the 
largest number of bones in juxtaposition, are one of Dendrerpeton 
Acadianum, and one of Hylonomus Lyelli, both presented by me to 
the geological Society of London, and now in its collection ; but of 
which I shall endeavour to obtain accurate representations for 
this memoir. 

In order more fully to illustrate the mode of occurence of these 
remains, I quote the following notice of my last explorations in 
the bed containing them, from the Journal of the Geological So- 
ciety of London, for 1861: 

** In the bed which has hitherto alone afforded reptilian re- 
mains in its erect trees, two additional examples of these were 
exposed. One was on the beach, and in part removed by the sea. 
The other was in the cliff, but so far disengaged that a miner 
succeeded in bringing it down for me. In the first, comparatively 
little was found. It afforded only a few shells of Pupa vetusia, 
and scattered bones of a full-grown individual of Dendrerpeton 
Acadianum. 

“The second tree was more richly stored ; and, being in svtu, 
was very instructive as to the mode of occurence of the remains. 
Like all the other trees in which reptilian bones have been found, 
it sprang immediately from the surface of the six-inch coal in 
Group XV. of my section* ; which is also Coal No. 15 of Sir W. 
E. Logan’s section. Its diameter at the base was two feet, and its 
height six feet, above which, however, an appearance of additional 
height was given by the usual funnel-shaped sinking of the over- 
lying beds toward the cavity of the trunk. The bark is well pre- 
served in the state of bituminous coal, and presents externally a 
longitudinally wrinkled surface, without ribs or leaf-scars; but 
within, on the ‘ ligneous’ surface, or that of the inner bark, there 
are broad flat ribs, and transversely elongated scars. The ap- 
pearances are precisely those which might be expected on an old 
trunk of my Sigillaria Brownii ; to which species this tree may 
have very well belonged.{ 

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Vol. ix. p: 58, and Vol. x. p. 20. 


{ Reports of Geol. Survey of Canada, 1845. 
ft Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Vol. xvii. p. 523. 


90 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


“ The contents of the trunk correspond with those of others pre- 
viously found. At the bottom is the usual layer of mineral char- 
coal, consisting of the fallen wood and bark of the tree itself. Above 
this, about two feet of its height are filled with a confused mass of ve- 
getable fragments, consisting of Cordaztes, Lepidodendron, Uloden- 
dron, Lepidostrobus, Calamites, Trigonocarpum, stipes and fronds 
of ferns, and mineral charcoal; the whole imbedded in a sandy 
paste blackened by coaly matter. In, and at the top of this mass 
occur the animal remains. The remainder of the trunk is oc- 
cupied with grey and buff sandstone, containing a few fragments 
of plants, but no remains of animals. 

“ Portions of six reptilian skeletons were obtained from this trunk. 
The most important of these is a large and nearly complete skele- 
ton of Dendrerpeton Acadianum.< Another specimen found in 
this trunk is a jaw of an animal about the size of Dendrerpeton 
Acadianum, but with fewer and larger teeth. The remaining 
skeletons were imperfect, and belonged to a small individual of 
Dendrerpeton Acadianum, two of Hulonomus Lyelli, and one of 
Hylonomus Wymani. The dislocated condition of these and 
other skeletons is probably due to the circumstance that, when 
they were introduced, the matter filling the trunk was a loose mass 
of fragments, into the crevices of which the bones dropped, on 
decay of the soft parts. Most of the skeletons lie at the sides of 
the trunk, as if the animals had before death crept close to the 
walls of their prison, At the time when the reptiles were intro- 
duced, the hollow trunk must have been a pit four feet in depth. 
A number of specimens of Pupavetusta and Xylobius Sigillarre 
were found, but nothing throwing further light on these species. 

‘‘ The beds on a level with the top of this erect tree are arena- 
ceous sandstones, with numerous erect Calamites. I searched the 
surfaces of these beds in vain for bones or footprints of the rep- 
tiles which must have traversed them, and which, but for the hol- 
low erect trees, would apparently have left no trace of their exis- 
tence. On asurface of similar character, sixty feet higher, and 
separated by three coals, with their accompaniments, and a very 
thick compact sandstone, I observed a series of footprints, which 
may be those of Dendrerpeton or Hylonomus.” 


* Now in the collection of the Geological Society of London. Fig. 1, 
represents the skull of this specimen. 


+ Since named and described by Prof. Owen as Hylerpeton Dawsoni. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 91 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 
Footprints of Reptiles, &c. 


Fig. 1.—Footprints discovered by Sir W. E. Logan, in the Lower Car- 
boniferous beds of Horton Bluff, in 1841 ; reduced to one- 
fourth of the natural size. (la) one of the impressions, natu- 
ral size. 

‘¢ 2,—Footprints discovered by Dr. Harding, in the Lower Carbonife- 

rous beds of Parrsboro’; one-fourth of the naturalsize. (2a) 
Prints of fore and hind foot, natural size. This figure is 
from a rubbing kindly taken for me by Prof. How, of Wind- 
sor. 

‘¢ 3.—Footprints from the Coal Measures of the South Joggins ; 
one-fourth natural size. (3a) One of the impressions, natu- 
ral size. 

4,—Smaller footprints from the South Joggins; one-fourth of natu- 

ral size. 

5,—Skin of a reptile, found with remains of a small Dendrerpeton, 

in an erect tree at the Joggins. (a) Scaly portions; (b) 
Traces of hind leg? and small scales. (c) (d) Portions 
magnified, showing scales. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE III. 


Dendrerpeton Acadianum. 
Fig. 1.—Skull seen from below. 
2.—Inner tooth, magnified; from the jaw, Fig. 17. 
3.—Tooth of intermaxillary, magnified ; from the bone in Fig. 13. 
4.—Series of inner teeth, less ey 
5.—Series of outer teeth of maxillary bone, Fig. 15, magnified. 
6, 7.—Sections of inner teeth. 
8.—Portion of bone of skull, outer surface, twice the natural size. 
9.—Super-temporal bone, twice the natural size. 
10.—Cross section of humerus; (a) natural size; (b) magnified ; (c) 
portion more highly magnified, showing canals and bone 
cells. 
11.—Bone cells, highly magnified. 
' 12.—Vomer ? with teeth; (a) tooth magnified. 
13.—Intermaxillary with teeth. 
14.—Section of teeth of intermaxillary; (b) magnified ; (a) portion 
highly magnified. 
‘¢ 15,—Maxillary bone with teeth. 
 16.—Mandible with teeth. 
“ 17.—Fragment of skull, with (a) outer teeth of maxillary ; (b) in- 
ner palatal teeth. 
18.—Cross section of a scale, magnified. 


em 
~ 


92 NOTES ON DIATOMACEA, 


Fig. 19.—Outlines of scales, natural size. 

“ 20.—Scale, twice natural size. 

“ 21.—Vertebra. 

‘¢ 22.—Caudal vertebra. 

‘¢ 23.—Vertebra broken across, showing neural and central cavities ; 
(a) natural size; (b) section of a portion magnified, showing 
canals and bone cells. j 

“ 24,—Fragments of ribs. 

“ 25.—Scapular bone. 

‘¢ 26.—Humerus, crushed at the proximal end, with fragments of the 
radius. 

“ 27.—Fragments of femur, tibia, and fibula. 

6 28.—Remains of pelvis. 

‘¢ 29.—Bones of the foot. 

“ 30.—Group of bones of the foot, in situ. 

All the above are of the natural size, unless otherwise stated. 


Art, VII.—Wotes on Diatomaceee from the St. John River; by 
Pror. L. W. Batzey, of the University of New Brunswick. 


(Communicated by the Natural History Society of New Brunswick.) 


For the benefit of those especially interested in such pursuits, I 
have prepared the following lists of the species which I have, so far, 
observed as occurring in the waters of this Province. Further 
study will no doubt add greatly to the number of species. 

The first list which I have to present is that of a number of 

forms obtained from a very interesting gathering, kindly sent me 
by Mr. G. F. Matthew, a member of the Society, with the request, 
that I would report any results which might occur tome. The 
examination has been to me one of much pleasure, and has 
developed facts of importance in regard to the distribution of 
the species it contains. Although I give the list so far as now 
completed, I hope to be able, at some future period, to dwell at 
more length upon the subject, and at the same time to present a 
variety of other interesting matter from various parts of the pro- 
vince. 


List of Diatomacee from Harris’ Cove, Kennebeckasis R., N. B. 


Doryphora Boeckii. Navicula pusilla ? 

cc amphiceros. uB permagna, 
Navicula maculata, Bail. firma. 

cc ovalis, Pinularia major. 

a viridis. cc Coupert ? 


af rhynchocephala, UW mesolepta, 


NOTES ON DIATOMACES. 93 


Pleurosigma strigilis. 


Coscinodiscus eccentricus. 


at intermedium. ee _—- 

gs Spencerit Eupodiscus radiatus ? 
Nitzschia scalaris. Biddulphia turgida. 

“dubia. Cocconema lanceolata. 

“¢  sigmoidea. Gomphonema geminatum. 
Tryblionella gracilis. ae acuminatum. 

ee scutell, Striatella unipunctata. 

ae punctata. Orthosira orichalcea, 
Epithemia turgida, Melosira Borrerit. 

fe musculus. Podosira hormoides. 

Ee granulata, Achnanthes. 

ue gibba. Synedra undulata. 
Campylodiscus Argus. “radians. 


Surirella biseriata. 


Cymbella cuspidata. 


‘¢  circumsuta. Mastogloia. 

sc splendida. Podosphenia. 

“¢ dinearis, Stauroneis gracilis. 
“ovata. uf salina, 
“  limosa. Triciratium. 


Amphiprora alata. 
Coscinodiscus minor. 
WG cingulatus ? 
26 radiatus. 


Amphora ovalis. 
Eunotia Arcus. 
Cyclotella Kitzingiana, 
Himantidium. 


From this one locality therefore may be procured as many as 
thirty distinct genera, and not less than sixty species. Long be- 
fore receiving the above gathering, I had considered it probable 
that an examination of the aquatic flora in the lower portion of 
the St. John River would yield interesting results, from the very 
unusual connexion between that stream and the ocean. As 
will be seen by an examination of the above list, this conjecture 
has been verified, the gathering containing a curious mixture of 
fresh-water, marine, and brackish-water species. It will be an in- 
teresting point to determine how far up this influence of the salt 
water, may extend ; marine species being in many crses found 
many miles above the faintest suspicion of salt-water. 

If, as is generally supposed, the three great parallel sheets of 
water, which cross the southern central portion of the Province, 
viz, the Kennebecasis, Long Reach, and Grand Lake, are really 
the remains of three or more great central lakes left by the rising 
of the land above the ocean, and connected with each other and 
the sea by the breaking away of the rocky barriers at their south- 
west extremities, we would expect to find some remains of marine 
vegetation among the marls and alluvial clays which line their 


94 NOTES ON DIATOMACEA. 


banks. The subject is one of much interest, and one to which I 
shall continue to devote myself as opportunities offer. 

As far as I am aware the above list is the only one yet publish- 
ed concerning the microscopic organisms of this Province: in- 
deed I think it doubtful whether any one has hitherto even 
examined our microscopic flora. The list is at present an imper- 
fect one, and will be undoubtedly increased by farther observation. 

It may, however be taken as a very fair list of the characteris- 
tic diatomaceous forms from the lower St. John. I have not yet 
had the opportunity to make examinations of gatherings from other 
portions of the stream. A few forms however, collected, from the 
surface of stranded ice during the opening of the river last 
Spring, may be interesting, and are given below. The number of 
all of these were very great ; comparatively few different species 
were detected. They were as follows : 


Organisms observed in melting ice of St. John River. 


Fragilaria capucina, ~ Cocconema lanceolatum. 
Tabellaria flocculosa. Nilzschia Amphioxys. 
Cymbella Helvetica. Surirella 
Odontidium mesodon. Gomphonema geminatum. 
ub accuminatum. 
Eunotia monodon. Synedra Ulna. 
COAT EUS. Pinnularia mesolepta. 


The following forms, including Desmids, Diatoms, and Infusoria, 
were found in a small we upon the summit of the hill back of 
the University buildings, at Fredericton. 


Euastrum, Didymocladon. 
Micrasterias crenata, Closterium. 
“ denticulata. Meridion circulare. 
= Rota. Volvox globater. 


I had hoped in the present article to bring before the Society 
the economic importance of these microscopic organisms, and 
more especially the assistance they will eventually afford in the 
determination of the age of many geological deposits from which 
all traces of organic life have disappeared. This is a particularly 
interesting subject, and one on which I hope to bring forward 
some new facts. As the discussion however is necessarily a length- 
ened one, and as the time at my disposal is now too limited to do 
the subject full justice, 1 must beg leave to postpone the remain- 
der to some future period. I shall then attempt to discuss this 


DESCRIPTION OF A NEW TRILOBITE. 95 


important question, and at the same time to report the examina- 
mination of other localities from various parts of the Province. 
In conclusion, I will only say, that specimens of  algze, 
especially of lighter kinds from the shores of the Bay 
of Fundy, or Gulf of St. Lawrence, would be highly prized by 
me, if any members have the means of obtaining them, and could 
not fail to furnish much that would be new and interesting in the 
study of our Microscopic Flora. 


Note.—Harris’ Cove is about thirteen miles from the outlet of Ken- 
nebeckasis Bay, and three miles from its head. As the streams which 
enter this arm of the lake at the mouth of the Saint John River, are all 
of small size, the salt water which flows inward at flood-tide over the 
Falls, or rapids connecting it with the harbour, has free aecess to 
the locality where those organisms were obtained. 

The water is not so brackish however, as to prevent the growth of 
Potamogeton perfoliatus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Nuphar lutea, con- 
fervee and other aquatic plants; which by their luxuriant growth choke 
the shallow waters of this and other coves in Kennebeckasis Bay, and 
are frequently uncovered during the low stage of the river, at midsum- 
mer. During the freshets of early spring the salt water is for a 
time completely excluded by the floods poured into this lake-like expan- 
sion of the river, by the main St. John. 


Arr. VIIl—Description of a new Trilobite from the Quebec 
group ; by T. Devins, F.R.G.S., C. L. Dept. Quebec.** 


Oxenus ? Loeant. (N. sp.) 


Fig. I—0O. Logani. The anterior point of glabella in this figure 
is slightly too narrow. 

Fig. Il—An imperfect specimen shewing the hypostoma in 
place. 


The general form is oval. 


* Notr.—By EH. Billings. Mr. Devine having lately discovered seve- 
ral nearly perfect trilobites in the limestone at Point Lévis, has kindly 


96 DESCRIPTION OF A NEW TRILOBITE. 


Hrav—exclusive of spines, semi-circular, more than twice as 
wide aslong; truncate in front, and prominently convex in the 
middle, with a narrow equal border one half a line in width, 
extended at the posterior angles with the free cheeks into mode- 
rate diverging spines ; posterior margin marked by a sha!low 
furrow, reaching from the glabella outward to the free cheeks ; 
eyes not large, smooth, and equi-distant from the front and pos- 
terior margins, and about one line from the glabella; the ocular 
ridge prominent, extending from the eye obliquely forward to the 
glabella, meeting the latter at about one line from the front thereof; 
facial ‘suture running obliquely from the eye, and cutting the 
front and posterior margins far outward. The free cheeks are 
not quite so smooth as the central lobe of head, but no radiation 
or other marking is visible. 

GLABELLA—bell-shaped ; width less than one third of the 
entire head ; broadly rounded in front, reaching nearly to the 


consented to allow me 40 publish a note on them in this place. The spe- 
cies is unquestionably congeneric with those which I have called Dike- 
locephalus Belli and D.Owent from the same locality. My references 
were founded on fragments of the head, consisting of detached glabellz, 
but the aspect presented by these new specimens, (which exhibit all the 
parts) is that of the genus Olenus. As the structure of the underside of 
the head is unknown, it cannot yet be positively decided that this spe- 
cies truly belongs to that genus, but it is the best reference that can at 
present be made, and was Mr. Devine’s first conclusion. There are two 
points of difference that are worthy of notice. In Olenus (at least in all 
the 21 species figured by Angelin), the facial sutures run from the eyes 
either nearly straightforwards, or turn a little inwards. In this spe- 
cies they curve outwards. This is their course in Dikelocephalus. The 
eyes also in Olenus are, in general much more distant from the sides of 
the glabella than they are in this species. Should the underside of the 
head of the Swedish species of Olenus and of O. Logani turn out to be 
the same in structure, then no one would hesitate to place them all in 
the same genus. In Dikelocephalus Oweni the head is composed of three 
pieces only : 1.—The glabella with the fixed cheeks. 2.—The hypostoma. 
3.—The two movable cheeks which are united together by a band ex- 
tending aeross the front margin on the underside of the head. I think 
it will turn out that O. Logani is of the same structure. 

Angelin has described the Swedish species of Olenus under eight sub- 
genera and Mr. Devine’s species might form the type of a ninth, differ- 
ing as much from them, as they do from each other. His discovery is an 
important addition to our knowledge, as we now know (from entire spe- 
cimens) that the genus Dikelocephalus, so characteristic of the base of 
the paleozoic rocks of America, is closely allied to the genus Olenus. 


) 


DESCRIPTION OF A NEW TRILOBITE. 97 


front margin ; straight sides converging a little anteriorly, convex 
towards the front ; depressed convex at the neck lobe ; neck fur- 
row well defined, extending across, and directed obliquely for- 
ward at each side—two oblique glabellar furrows at each side in 
front of the latter, making an angle anteriorly of about 45° with 
the axis ; the furrows are well marked interiorly but very obscure 
at the sides, and are separated by about one half the width of 
the glabella, forming three lateral lobes of nearly equal size, each 
larger than the neck lobe. In some specimens there are three 
glabellar furrows on each side, the front one making a greater 
angle anteriorly with the axis than either of the others. 

Pieur&—twelve ; moderately convex outward from the axal 
furrow, each marked by an equal deep groove to the tips, which 
are of a horny aspect, recurved and extended into long spines ; 
sides parallel as far back as the eighth segment, then gradually 
converging to the pygidium. 

Axis—convex, gradually tapering to the extremity of the 
tail, about two thirds of the width of the pleure anteriorly—less 
at the pygidium ; twelve body rings, and five or six caudal joints; 
the body rings notched above posteriorly and slightly swelled at 
the axal furrows. : 

Pyeiprum—entire ; semi-circular ; truncate behind ; lateral 
lobes depressed convex, on a level with the pleura ; four broad 
ribs on each side of the middle lobe recurved towards the extremi- 
ties; margin smooth, and entire anterior angles moderately 
rounded. 


Dimensions of largest specimen. 


Hntire length...... Botretelotcharciorelcrsieferskelelcisieyehcvoters 16 lines. 
Wenothvotwheadanrccie’ clots cies civis elaters Hoods, wo 
HM OLS CHOLEXs sleeisietelere sllelatatetetereacietarats Boiss 
ISG OE ve esos sousodoucdoo aoa; obs ya 
WWhidthiatibase of head: «(2 sjclsc/ecics'e ele cc sl eleccise or alii 66 
at eighth segment..... eislelalsielolershslel clef’: TOME 
at front of pygidium....... So dozodooodds Smee 
pon POL AXIS ati SAME PLACE selec) <c 1. elsie) nial e) sloaiate 1g 
Mens thor clabelilaretterercrclcin clelecicistereie) cleieleletelolarere 4 « 
AWirdithvaty Meck: lolelicrcrtereeitovele ctevarercterclers SoDao Gy os 
“ atfront of glabella..... BODESSnIn eiaielsistete DE abe 
t¢ ‘between the Cyes....sccerece ereccrvece 4 
“« of margin in front of glabella........... 02 
cet WOLMDOLGET cterersteretere Blovatclaleeleeeieln’alcislersiefe\e 1 Nh Ot) ur 


Can. Nat. 7 Vou. VIIL. 


98 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Locatity, Point Levis.—Band of limestone, A8, referred to 
in Sir W. E. Logan’s ‘‘ Remarks on the Fauna of the Quebec group 
of Rocks and the Primordial Zone of Canada, ” addressed to Mr.. 
J. Barrande, dated Montreal, 31st Dec. 1860, and printed in the 
Canadian Naturalist and Geologist of that year. 

I have in the mean time referred this species to Olenus, although 
at one time inclined to refer it to Conocephalites, (Sub-genus)- 
Should it be found necessary to institute an intermediate generic 
form, whatever place Naturalists may assign itin the animal king- 
dom, I propose that it be named Loganellus Quebecensis. 


Dedicated to Sir W. E. Logan, F. R. 8. &c., &., 
Director of the Canadian Geological Survey. 


Art. [X.—On the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower 
Canada ; by J. F. Wurrzavess, F.G.S., &e. 


(Read before the Natural History Society of Montreal.) 
Parr I1.—List oF Species INHABITING LowER CANADA. 


The writer of this list wishes to acknowledge his obligations te 
many of the most eminent United States conehologists for practical 
suggestions and assistance. Mr. ‘Temple Prime has kindly inden- 
tified the Cycladide ; The writer is also indebted to Messrs. Bland, 
Binney, J. G. Anthony, I. Lea, A. D. Brown, Tryon, and others, for 
critical advice and sympathy. 

In the nomenclature of the Unionide, the names given by 
Rafinesque have been retained; these having priority. The writer 
has been unable to see why Tenens s short, insufficient diagnoses 
of species in this difficult family, should be preferred to the exclu- 
sion of the earlier descriptions of the author of “ the Bivalve Shells 
of the Ohio River.” 

As the Lower Canadian Cycladide seem very little understood, 
Mr. Prime’s careful descriptions of these somewhat intricate shells 
have, with his consent, been added; together with wood-cuts, 
taken from original drawings. 


Norz.—The following abbreviations have been made use of in citing 
the authority for each species in Lower Canada : —R. B. (R. Bell): 
Ww. D.(W. D’Urban): E. B. (&. Billings): R. J. F.(R. J. Fowler): 
J. F. W. (J. F. Whiteaves):W. ©. (W. Couper) M. de V. (M. de 
Villeneuve). 


“es 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 99 


LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 
UNIONIDA. 


Unio radiatus, Lamarck. Abundant in the rivers and lakes 
of Canada East. The U. siliquoideus is often taken for this shell. 

Unio siliquoideus, Barnes. Equally common with the above. 
For details of difference between the former species and this, see 
Conrad’s Monograph of the genus Unio. As many able concho- 
logists deny that this is the Unio luteolus of Lamarck, I have 
preferred keeping the name given to the species by Barnes, 

Unio Canadensis, Lea. St. Helen’s Island, Montreal; appar- 
ently very rare. Some rayed specimens of a Unio which I took at 
Quebec may be a dwarf form of this species. A single dead 
typical specimen on the beach of the Island of Orleans: J. F. W.. 

Unio cardiwm, Rafinesque. (U. ventricosus, Barnes.) St. 
Lawrence ; very fine near Quebec. Unio subovatus, Lea, appears: 
to be the male of this species; and U. occidens, Lea, a variety of 
the female. 

Unio complanatus, Solander. By far the commonest Unio in 
the district ; living (according to Mr. Bell) as far down the St, 
Lawrence as Berthier below Quebec. 

Unio dilatatus, Rafinesque. (U. gibbosus, Barnes.) Widely 
distributed in the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, but scarce. 
Some varieties closely resemble the last species. 

Unio rectus, Lamarck. St. Lawrence at Quebec and Montreal, 
but somewhat rare. 

Unio alasmodontinus, Barnes, (U. pressus, Lea.) Rare: 
L’Assomption river: M.de V. River St. Pierre, and Lachine canal 
near Montreal: R. J. F. Rideau canal near Ottawa city: E. B. 

Unio alatus, Say. Ottawa river, near Ottawa: mouth of 
River Rouge: R. B. 

Unio olivarius, Rafinesque. (U. ellipsis, Lea, fide J.G. Anthony.) 
St. Lawrence at Quebec and Montreal ; fine and not infrequent at 
Quebec. 

Margaritana margaritifera,Linn. (Alasmodon arcuatus,Barnes.) 
Very large and fine in the St. Charles river near Quebec : J. FLW, 
Green and Rimouski rivers; both of the Matapedia lakes ; 
Lake St. John: R. B. 

Margaritana costata, Rafinesque. (Alasmodon rugosa, Barnes.) 


Sparingly in the St. Lawrence about Montreal. Yamaska river 
near St. Hyacinthe: J. F. W. 


100 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Margaritana marginata, Say. With the foregoing, but not 
very-common. 

Margaritana undulata, Say. Common in the St. Lawrence down 
to Quebec; at which latter place it is very abundant, and often 
beautifully coloured. : 

Anodonta cataracta, Say. (A. fluviatilis, Lea.) Lake Calvaire, 
near Quebec: abundant in small creeks near the St. Charles river 
at Quebec: J. F. W. Large and plentiful at Brome Lake in 
the Eastern Townships: R. J. F. Probably common in suitable 
places throughout the district. 

Anodonta Lewisii, Lea. Lachine vanal near Montreal. R. J. F. 

Anodonta Benedictensis, Lea. Mississquoi bay, Lake Champlain. 

Anodonta implicata, Say. Fine in the St. Lawrence near 
Quebec: J. F. W. Berthier: R. B. 

Anodonta Ferussaciana, Lea. Creek at L’Orignal: R. B. 
Fine in old stone quarries near the Mile-end toll-gate, Montreal. 

Anodonta undulata, Say.. St. Charles river about three miles 
from Quebec. ; 

Anodonta edentula, Say. Lake Matapedia: R. B. Brome 
Lake in the Eastern Townships: R. J. F. I consider this species, 
and perhaps even the next, as identical with A; undulata, 
Say. 

Anodonta subcylindracea, Lea. Lachine Canal: R. J. F. St. 
- Lawrence at Quebec. J. F. W. 

Anodonta Footiana, Lea. Sixteen Island, Eagle Nest, and 
Bevan’s lakes. W. D. 

Anodonta modesta ? Lea. A few specimens which appear to me 
to agree with Mr. Lea’s figures and description of this species, 
were taken by Mr. Bell from Lake St. John. 


CYCLADID A. 


The genus Cyclas was proposed by Bruguiére in the year 
1792; but Scopoli’s genus Spherium bears date 1777; and conse- 
quently has priority, as has been shown by Dr. Gray. See Mr. 
Temple Prime’s elaborate monograph of the North and South 
American species in this genus, published in the * Proceedings of 
the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia” for December, 
1861. 

Spherium sulcatum, Lamarck. (Cyclas similis, Say.) Metis 
lakes, and a small lake six miles 8. W. of Metis: R. B. Common 


» % 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 101 


in the St. Lawrence at Montreal; and probably widely diffused 
throughout the province. 

Spherium solidulum, Prime, Creek at L’Orignal: R. B, 
It will probably be detected in Canada East, as it has been taken 
so near the border. 

Spherium striatinum, Lamarck. (Cyclas edentula, Say.) Lachine 
Canal, near Montreal: R. J. F. St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers 
near Quebec, abundant: J. F. W. 

Spherium rhomboideum, Say, (sp.). Gregarious, but very local. 
Old quarries near the Mile-end toll-gate, Montreal, but appa- 
rently confined toa very limited space there. R.J.F., andJ.F. W. 

Spherium . occidentale, Prime. Swamps on an island near 
Lachine: R. J. F. 

Spherium transversum, Say, (sp.). Lachine Canal near_ 
Montreal: R. J. F. St Lawrence near Quebec: J. F. W. 

Spherium securis, Prime. Old stone quarries filled with water, 
near the Mile-end toll-gate, Montreal: R. J. F. and J. F. W. 
Lachine: R. J. F. 

Pisidium Virginicum, Brongniart. (Cyclas dubia, Say.) St. 
Lawrence and St. Charles rivers at Quebec: J. F. W. Montreal, 
in the St. Lawrence, and the Lachine canal. Probably common 
in all the large tributaries of the St. Lawrence. 

Pisidium altile, Anthony. Fine in the ponds near the Mile- 
end, Montreal: R. J. F., and J. F. W. A smaller, more compressed 
variety abounds in the St. Charles River near Quebec; J. F. W. 
It isthe P. compressum of Prime; but Mr Anthony’s name seems 
to have priority. 

Pisidium abditum, Haldeman. A very common species in — 
Lower Canada. I cite four localities where I have taken it, as exam. 
ples. Swamps in woods near the St. Charles river, Quebec: 
trenches in fields near the Beauport road: marshy ground on the 
Plains of Abraham,—both near Quebec. Brook near river St. 
Pierre, Montreal. 


GASTEROPODA,—PECTINIBRANCHIATA. 


VIVIPARIDA. 


Paludina decisa, Say. Common throughout the district. Rever- 
sed varieties occasionally occur in the St. Lawrence, about 
Montreal. 


102 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Valvata tricarinata, Say. Also abundant. At Quebec the 
species generally occurs large, with the carinze sometimes almost 
obsolete. 

Valvata sincera, Say. Marl lake, Anticosti: R. B. 

Valvata humeralis, Say. This species, so closely allied to the 
depressed form of the V. piscinalis of Europe, has been taken by 
Mr. Bell at the following localities: Matanne; small lake at the 
head of Awaganasees brook, and Little Lake Matapedia. 

Amnicola porata, Say. Lake Calvaire, near Quebec: J. F. W. 
Little Lake Matapedia: R. B. Near Montreal: R. J. F. 

Amnicola tenuipes, Haldeman. St. Lawrence, near Quebec: 
burrowing in the sand between tide-marks: J. F. W. 


* MELANIADA. 


Melania subularis, Lea. (M. acuta, Lea.) St. Lawrence at 
Montreal. 

Melania Niagarensis, Lea. St. Lawrence, from Quebec to 
Montreal. At Quebec I obtained only the pale yellowish, unband- 
ed variety. 


GASTEROPODA,—PULMONIBRANCHIATA. 


LIMN/EID AG. 


LTimnea stagnalis, Linneeus. (L. jugularis, Say.) Common at 
Montreal in the St. Lawrence, but rare at Quebec. Metis lakes, 
and lakes on the Rimouski river: R. B. Probably of wide dis- 
tribution in Canada East. 

Limnea megasoma, Say. Very-fineat Nuns’ Island,near Montreal: 
M. de V., and R. J. F. Hawkesbury village: R. B. 

Limnea ampla, Mighels. This fine species was first detected 
in Lower Canada by R. J. F. at Brome Lake. 

Limneea decollata, Mighels. Great Lake Matapedia, and Rimous- 
ki village: R. B. 

Limneea columella, Say. St. Lawrence at Quebec, adhering to 
stones at low water-mark: J. F. W. The var. macrostoma occurs 
with the type. 

Limnea refleca, Say. Upper Metis Lake: R. B. Near Gren- 
ville village: W. D. 

Limnea umbrosa, Say. Point Levis: J. F. W. Montreal 


- 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 103 


Mountain: St. Anne: creek about two miles below Chat river : 
Metis and Restigouche rivers: R. B. 

Limnea elodes, Say. (L. palustris? Linn.) Common every- 
where throughout the district. Haldeman in his monograph con- 
elders it the L. fragilis of Linnzeus. In Europe L. fragilis is consider- 
ed a variety of L. stagnalis, Linn. and the L, elodes of Say as 
probably identical with the L. palustris. 

Limnoea catascopium, Say. A common species. As unpublished 
localities, I may cite the St. Charles river near Quebec, and Cap 
‘Rouge inthe same neighborhood. Dr. Lewis of Mohawk (N.Y.) 
considers it a variety of the preceding shell. 

Limnoa solida, Lea. (L. apicina, Lea: fide Haldeman.) Pro- 
fussly abundant everywhere about the St. Lawrence at Quebec. 
Metis, Rimouski, and White rivers: R. B. 

Limnea caperata, Say. Widely distributed. Abundant with 
Succinea ovalis, Say, on the banks of the St. Charles river, near 
Quebec. Limnea umbilicata, Adams: is Benen considered a 
variety of this species. 

Limnea humilis, Say. (L. modicellus, Say) Green Island 
village : Rimouski: St. Anne: R.B. Lake Calvaire near Quebec : 
and ponds near the Mile-end toll-gate, Montreal: J. F. W. 
L. parva, Lea, is supposed by Haldeman to be the young of this 
species. 

Limnea desidiosa, Say, (L. acuta and L. Philadelphica, Lea : 
Jide Haldeman.) Upper Lake Metis : Mar! lake, Anticosti: (the var. 
acuta): R. B. 

Limnea pallida, Adams. Great Lake Matapedia: Cape Chat : 
R. B. 

Limnea alternata (or anew species). Point Levis: R. B. 
A species which I am unacquainted with. 

Limnea exigua, Lea: (young). Ina small lake near Hamilton’s 
farm: W. D. 


Limnea galbanus, Say. Abundantin shell-marlfrom the bottom 
of Eagle’s Nest lake: W. D. 


Physa heterostropha, Say. Common everywhere throughout the 
district. 
Physa ancillaria, Say. St. Charles river near Quebec: J. F. W. 


near Montreal: R. J. F. Rimouski village: R. B. Doubtful if 
distinct from the preceding. 


104 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Physa marginata, Lea. (not of Say.) Near Rimouski village.. 
Probably a variety of P. heterostropha. 

Physa hypnorum, Linn. (P. elongata, Say.) Abundant about 
Quebec and Montreal. Green Island: Metis: St. Anne: R. By 

Physa aurea, Lea. Several localitiesin the county of Rimouski: 
R. B. Near Quebec: J. F. W. 

Physa elliptica, Lea. Small lake one mile west of the Indian 
village in Arundel: W. D. 

Planorbis macrostomus, nobis. (see description, and Figure 12.) 
Ponds near the Mile-end toll-gate, Montreal: R.J. F., and J. F. W. 

Planorbis trivolvis, Say. Common throughout the district. 
Planorbis corpulentus of Say appears to be a variety of this. 
species. 

Planorbis lentus, Say. Less frequent than the above. St.. 
Lawrence at Montreal. An almost hyaline variety occurs with 
the normal form. 

Planorbis bicarinadus, Say. Abundant apparently all through 
the province. Extremely large at Brome Lake, R. J. F. At Quebec 
a variety with transverse wrinkles, and the upper carina almost 
obsolete (P. megastoma ? De. Kay.) is more abundant than the 
type. 

Planorbis campanulatus, Say. Near Quebec: J. F. W.: Fine- 
at Brome Lake: common in the Richelieu River at St. Johns: 
St. Helen’s Island, Montreal: R. J. F. Near Grenville, and in 
numerous lakes throughout that district. W. D. 

Planorbis exacutus,Say . Scarce : swamps near the City mills, 
Montreal: R. J. F. 

Planorbis deflectus, Say. Near Quebec: J. F. W. Great Lake 
Matapedia: R. B. Sixteen-Island and Sugar-bush lakes: W. D. 

Planorbis parvus, Say. Widely distributed, and plentifu 
throughout the district. 

Planorbulina armigera, Say. (sp.) Trenches in fields near the 
Beauport road, Quebec: J. F. W., and W. Couper: Nuns’ Island, 
Montreal: R. J. F. Ponds on the top of Montreal Mountain: R. B. 

Ancylus fuscus ? Adams. Ponds near the Mile-end toll-gate, Mon- 
treal’: R. J. F., and J. FY We 

Ancylus rivularis ? Say. St. Lawrence, at Quebec and Montreal = 
St. Charles river near Quebec. Not having access to Haldeman’s. 
monograph of this genus, I am uncertain about these two species. 
The last may be A. parallelus, Haldeman. 


2» 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 105 


GASTEROPODA,—PULMONIBRANCHIATA. 


HELICIDA. 


Tebennephorus Carolinensis, Bosc. Point Levis, large and fine: 
probably common in wocded districts. 

Limax campestris? Gould. Abundant under stones in fields : 
also in woods. 

Vitrina impida, Gouid, (=V. Bateceed 3) Montreal Mountain, 
abundant: R. J. F.,and J. F. W. Riviere du Loup: R. B. and 
J. Wi. Trois Pisinlocy St. Anne: Restigouche river, ten miles 
above its junction with the Matapedia: R. B. 

Succinea obliqua, Say. Abundant everywhere, but generally in 
dryer situations than most North American Succineas, 

Succinea ovalis, Gould. Banks of the St. Charles river near 
Quebec: J. F. W. Metis, Matanne, and St. Anne: R. B. 

Succinea avara, Say. Island of Orleans; J. F. W. 

Succinea vermeta, Say. Mouth of the Magdalen and Restigouche 
rivers: R. B. As many conchologists consider this a distinct 
species from the preceding, in deference to their opinion I keep 
them separate. 

Helix albolabris, Say. Fine and frequent throughout the 
district : Mr. Bell appears, however, not to have met with it in the 
county of Gaspé. 

Helix dentifera, Binney. St. Lambert, Montreal: near Brome 
Lake: R.J. F. Apparently very rare in Lower Canada. 

Helix exoleta, Binney. About the Montmorenci river, near the 
falls: W.C., and J. F. W. Wentworth, Montcalm and Harring- 
ton: W. D. - 

Helix Sayti, Binney. Widely diffused, but scarce: Island of 
Orleans, near Quebec: W.C., and J. F.W. Montreal Mountain: 
near Brome lake: R J. F. Restigouche river, about five miles 
above the mouth of the Matapedia: R. B.. Near Doran’s lake, 
Grenville: W. D. 

Heliz hortensis, Muller. Brandy Pots and Hare Island: ex- 
tending from Metis to Gaspé bay. R. B. 

Helix tridentata, Say. Montreal Mountain, but very rare. 

Helix monodon, Racket. Abundant throughout the district, in 
suitable situations. In Lower Canada the typical form is abundant 
but the varieties (?) H. fraterna, Say; and H. Leaii, Ward; have 
not occurred to me in Lower Canada . 


106 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


Heliz multidentata, Binney. In 1861 I found one living 
specimen of this species on the Island of Orleans, and not noticing 
the teeth, took it for H. capsella of Gould. JI am indebted to Mr. 
Bland for the correction of this error. 

Helix lineata, Say. A species widely distributed throughout 
the district, but not abundant. 

Heliz labyrinthica, Say. The same remarks will apply to this 
species as to the above. Island of Orleans, Montmorenci falls, ete. 

Helix alternata, Say. Very abundant everywhere in Lower 
Canada. 

Helix striatella, Anthony. In different situations to the above» 
but equally common. 

Helix rufescens, Muller. Living in abundance at Quebec on 
that part of the Plains of Abraham known as the Cove fields. 
J. F. W. 

Helix (Zonites) cellaria, Muller. Dead shells of this species 
have been taken by Mr. Fowler near gardens in Craig Street, 
Montreal. , 4 

Feliz pulchella, Mull. Abundant throughout the province. 

Helix concava, Say. Not very common, but apparently with a 
wide range. 

Helix electrina, Gould. Near Brome Lake in the Eastern Town- 
ships: R. J. F. 

Helix arborea, Say. One of the commonest of the Canadian 
iand-snails. 

Helix indentata, Say. Montreal Mountain R. J. F. 

Helix asterisca, Morse. Valley of the Marsouin river ; R.B. 

Helix chersina, Say. (=H. fulva? Mull.) Common in damp 
situations. 

Bulimus lubricus, Mull. Riviére du Loup; Trois Pistoles : 
Metis lakes, and along the Restigouche: R. B. Montreal Moun- 
tain: R. J. F., anise F. W. 

Bulimus are Say. Montreal Mountain: R.J.F., and J. F. W. 
Riviére du Loup: J. F. W. Metis: mouth of Mnedeler river, 
and very abundant in the Marsouin valley: R. B. 

Bulimus marginatus, Say. (Pupa fallax, Say.) Sugar Bush 
Lake, and near Gate Lake: W. D. 

Pupa armifera, Say. Plains of Abraham, Quebec : W. C. and 
Bye lho WN, 

Pupa contracta, Say. Island of Orleans: J.F. W. 


"s 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. j 107 


Vertigo simplex, Gould. Riviére du Loup: J. F. W. Valley 
of the Marsouin: along the Restigouche and at Metis: R. B. 

Vertigo Gouldii, Binney. Island of Orleans, and Riviére du 
Loup: J. F. W. Sixteen-Island lake. W. D. Montreal Moun- 
tain: R. J. F. 

Vertigo ovata ? Say. Montreal mountain: R. J. F., and J. F. W. 
The only specimen taken was not quite adult, but appeared to 
belong to this species. 


Carychium exiguum, Say. Sixteen-Island lake, one specimen : 
W.D. 


DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW, OR IMPERFECTLY KNOWN SPECIES. 


SPHGRIUM. 


(Section A. Specigs wiTtH RouNDED BUT NOT PROTUBERANT BEAKS.) 


Figure 1. 


Spherium sulcatum, Lamarck. 


Animal white; tubes, a light orange color. 

Shell enerereally oval, nearly equilateral, light in texture for 
its size; posterior margin somewhat more pointed: anterior 
rounded ; base slightly curved; valves convex; beaks full raised 
above the outline of the shell; posterior portion a little longer; 
sulcations coarse, regular ; epidermis dark chestnut brown ; interio! 
light blue ; hinge margin narrow, nearly a straight line; cardinal 
teeth small, indistinct, situated somewhat towards the anterior 
side, double in both valves, and so placed as to assume the shape of 
the letter V reversed; lateral teeth on a line with the primary 
teeth, large, strong and prominent. 

Long. 11-16; lat. 71-61; diam. 5-16 inches. 

The young is more equilateral than the adult, and more com- 
pressed ; it presents the shape of a quadrilateral, and is ofa light 
jemon colour: the striations are as heavy as those of the mature 
shell. The hinge-margin is generally straight, but,in specimens from 
Alabama, Pennsylvania. and Rhode Island it is slightly curved. 


LOS4 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER. 


Figure 2. 


Spherium solidulum, Prime. 


Animal not observed. 

Shell transversely inequilateral, elongated, slightly convex; beaks 
full, not very prominent; anterior margin rounded; posterior 
drawn out to an angle; base slightly curved: epidermis variable, 
dark chestnut or brownish yellow, with sometimes a yellow zone on 
the basal margin ; sulcations coarse, irregular ; interior dark blue ; 
hinge margin considerably curved; cardinal teeth double, in the 
shape of the letter V reversed; lateral teeth large; the anterior 
placed at an angle with the margin; the posterior more on a con- 
tinuation of the curve. 

Long. 9-16; lat. 7-16; diam. 5-16 inches. 

Differs from the preceding species in being less elongated, more 
inequilateral, less convex ; the hinge margin is more curved, and 
the shell is more solid than in the S. suleatum. Having unfortu- 
nately mislaid my only specimen from L’Orignal, the figure is 
taken from a fine large specimen from the Little Miamiriver, at 
Waynesville, Ohio. Canadian specimens will probably be smaller, 
and with their distinctive characters less strongly marked. 


Figure 3. 
Spherium striatinum, Lamarck. 


Animal white ; tubes light reddish yellow. 

Shell slight, transversely elongated, somewhat compressed, ine- 
guilateral ; anterior margin rounded, posterior distended, inferior 
rounded; beaks full, not much raised ; sulcations irregular, at times 
so light as hardly to be seen with the naked eye, thus giving the 
shell a lustrous appearance ; colour varying from a light greenish- 
yellow to a darker shade ; valves slight ; interior blue ; hinge margin 


“s 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 109 


slightly curved: cardinal teeth double, very small, of the same 
size ; lateral teeth larger, not very prominent. 

Long. 7-16; lat. 5-16 ; diameter 4-46 inches. 

Compared to the Sphcerium solidulum, this species is smaller, 
more inequilateral, less tumid, more compressed, less solid, less 
heavily sulcated, and its posterior extremity is more distended. 

A very common species in the rivers of Lower Canada; but 
appears to have been generally overlooked. 


Spherium rhomboideum, Say. (sp.) 


Animal; white? syphons reddish-yellow. 

Shell sub-globular, rhombic, orbicular, equilateral ; anterior margin 
éruncated ; posterior slightly angular; basal nearly straight ; beaks 
full, but not prominent; valves slight, convex towards the beaks, 
gradually decreasing in fullness towards the margins; interior 
blue ; sulcations very delicate ; epidermis olive-green, often with a 
straw coloured zone on the margins; young shell more compres- 
sed than the adult ; hinge margin nearly straight; cardinal teeth 
rudimentary ; lateral teeth distinct, somewhat acute, not elonga- 
ted. 
Long. 8-16 ; lat. 6-16; diam. 5-16 inches. 

A very local, but gregarious species. 


Figure 5. 


Spherium occidentale, Prime. 


Animal not observed. 

Shell oval, small, pellucid, fragile, equilateral, margins rounded ; 
valves slight, rather convex; beaks full, rounded, not much raised ; 
suleations very fine, hardly visible; epidermis horn coloured ; 
cardinal teeth very diminutive, lateral teeth more distinct. 

Long. 5-16; lat. 4-16; diam. 3-16 inches. 


110 ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


This species is remarkable for its completely oval shape, which 
renders it quite distinct from all others, Apparently rather rare 
in Lower Canada. 


__— 


(Section B.—Spxcies with Proruggranr, orn CALYOULATE BEAKS. } 


Figure 6. 
Spherium transversum, Say. sp. 


Animal white, syphonal tubes pink, foot white. 

Shell transversely oblong, elongated, sub-inequilateral, transla- 
cent; anterior side narrow; anterior margin rounded, posterior 
margin sub-truncate, basal very much curved; beaks placed somewhat 
on the anterior side, large, calyculate, very much raised above the 
outline of the shell; strice very delicate ; epidermis greenish-yellow 
(generally whitish in Canadian specimens), of a darker shade at 
times in the region of the beaks; valves slight; interior bluish z 
hinge-margin very nearly straight, narrow ; cardinal teeth com- 
pressed, in the shape of the letter V reversed, and very much 
expanded ; lateral teeth slightly elongated. , 

Long. 10-16; lat. 7-16 ; diam. 4-16 inches. 

This large and delicate species is remarkable for its very trans- 
verse shape and for the narrowness of the anterior extremity as 


compared to the posterior. 


Figure 7. 
Spherium securis, Prime. 


Animal pinkish; syphons of the same colour. 

Shell rhombic-orbicular, ventricose, sub-equilateral, both sides 
nearly of the same length ; anterior margin a little curved ; poste- 
rior margin abrupt, forming an obtuse angle with the hinge margin ; 
basal margin much longer than the superior margin, rounded ; 


"* 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. alals( 


beaks large, calyculate, slightly inclined towards the anterior, very 
approximate at apex: valves slight, very convex, especially in the 
region of the umbones; striz delicate, regular, hardly perceptible ; 
epidermis glossy in some cases, very variable in colour, but gener- 
ally of agreenish-horn tint ; at times of a brilliant yellow or straw 
colour (in Canadian specimens often translucent glossy white) : 
hinge-margin curved, narrow; cardinal teeth very small, united 
at base; lateral teeth slight elongated ; very narrow. 
Long. 6-16; lat. 5-16; diam. 4-16. inches. 
Unlike any other Canadian species. 


° 


The descriptions of the Lower Canadian species of Sphcerium 
have been taken from Mr. Prime’s able monograph. The ensuing 
descriptions are original, except in the case of Limnzea ampla, 


PISIDIUM. 


Figure 8. 
Pisidium Virginicum, Brongniart. 


Shell ovate, elliptical, oblique; strongly concentrically sulcate ; 
‘beaks placed much nearer one end;”’ slightly elevated, rounded, 
with a decided inclination to the anterior portion of the shell 
Posterior end elongated, rounded; anterior portion truncate; 
ventral margin convex. Kasily distinguished from all the Lower 
Canadian Pisidia by its large size, strong concentric sulcations, 
and general outline. 


Pisidium altile, Anthony. 


Shell sub-triangular, very tumid (except in the variety compres- 
sum, which may prove a distinct species), especially in the region 


OS ON THE LAND AND FRESH-WATER 


of the beaks: generally much broader from the umbo to the 
ventral margin, than in the opposite direction: beaks elongated 
into an obtuse point: anterior portion shortly rounded, but not 
truncate ; posterior end forming a rounded, slightly pointed angle 
with the very convex ventral margin. Surface very finely striated. 


ns 


<S 
Figure 10. 


Pisidium abditum, Haldeman. 


Shell ovate, orbicular, not very inequilateral ; ventricose ; beaks 
prominent, rounded : general outline very variable, sometimes very 
oblique ; in others the umbones almost central, the general form 
being nearly circular,,but elongated and very bluntly pointed 
posteriorly : surface striated, the striz stronger than in the prece- 
ding species. 


eee 


LIMN AIDA. 


Figure 11. 


Limneea ampla, Mighels. 


“T,, testa ampla, subovata; anfractibus quinque, convexis, 
superné geniculatis}; sutura valde impressa ; spira brevi ; apertura 
lata ; umbilico profundo (?) ; columella valde plicata.” 

I have copied the original diagnosis of this very characteristic 
species from the proceedings, of the Boston Society of Natural 
History for June 21st, 1843. ; 

Dr. Mighel’s description agrees with our Lower Canadian 
specimens in nearly every respect ; but the Brome Lake specimens 


MOLLUSCA OF LOWER CANADA. 113 


are imperforate, or very nearly so. The species is easily known 

* by its large and wide body-whorl, which is decidedly angulated 
towards the sutures. The spire varies in length, but is seldom 
more than half as high as the last volution. 


oN 


rcsgett f 
CUNY 


\ Yj py 
AA 


ZZ 


Figure 12. 


Planorbis macrostomus, nobis. 


Shell in many points closely resembling Planorbis lentus, Say : 
of which it may perhaps be only a variety. It is much larger, 
higher, and has deeper coste ; its lines of growth are very promi- 
nently marked : the upper angle of the whorls as shown in the 
mouth, is more prominent. Lip widely expanded, and refected,. 
covered with a white enamel. In this latter character it differs 
from all the North American species of Planorbis. It is a species - 
nearly allied to Planorbis lentus and P. trivolvis; but apparently 
distinct from both. 


Arr. X.—On the Antiquity of Man; a Review of ‘ Lyell’ and 
‘Wilson.’ * 


Questions of human origins have always been popular, and have- 
been agitated in all sorts of forms. Next to the dread question 
of the unknown future, the long buried past is one of the most 
attractive subjects of inquiry ; and while the faith of the Christian 
rests for both on the statements of Holy Scripture, the imagination 
of the poetical or the superstitious, and the reason of the philosopher 
or the sceptic have found ample scope for exercise. In our day, 
geological investigation on the one hand, and antiquarian and 


* «<The Geological Evidences ot the Antiquity of Man with remarks on theories of 
the origin ofspecies by variation,” by Sir CHARLES LYELE, F.R.S., 8yo. pp. 520, 
illustrated. London, John Murray, Montreal, Dawsen, Bros. 

«Pre-historic Man.—Researches into the origin of Civilization in the Old and New 
World,’ by DANIEL WiLson, LL.D., Prof. of History in University College, 
Toronto, 2 vols. 8vyo. pp. 488-499, illustrated. London, MacMillan & Co. Montreal, 
Dawson, Bros. 


Can. Nat. 8 Vou. VIII. 


114 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


philological research on the other, have given an exact and scien- 
tific character to such researches, which, without detracting from 7 
their interest, has fitted them to attract a more sustained and sys- 
tematic attention ; hence the appearance of such works as those 
above named. One of these works is the summing up of the geo- 
logical evidence in relation to the origin of man, by one of our 
greatest masters of inductive reasoning. The other is the effort 
of a skilful antiquarian and ethnologist to apply to the explana- 
tion of the primitive conditions of the old world, the facts derived 
from the study of the more recent primitive state of the western 
hemisphere. Both books are very valuable. Their methods are 
quite different, and their results as well; and it may be truly said 
that the geologist might have profited by the labours of the west- 
ern antiquarian, had he known of them in time ; and that the anti- 
guarian night have found some new problems to solve, and diffi- 
culties to remove, had he read the work of the geologist. For 
this, among other reasons, it may be well to consider them together. 
It will be necessary “for us in doing this to summarize the nu- 
merous and varied facts adduced, and the reasonings therefrom, 
and we shall follow the order employed by Sir C. Lyell, bring- 
ing in Dr. Wilson’s antiquarian lore to our aid as we proceed. 

The great question to be noticed in this review is that of the 
connection of human with geological history. How far back in 
that almost boundless antiquity disclosed by the geologist has 
man extended? At what precise point of the geological scale 
was he introduced on the mundane stage, and what his surround- 
ings and condition in his earlier stages? In answer to these ques- 
tions, negative geological evidence, and some positive considera- 
tions testify, without a dissenting voice, that man is very mo- 
dern. All the evidences of his existence have until the last few 
years belonged exclusively to the Recent or latest period of the 
geological chronology. Certain late observations would, however, 
indicate that man may have existed in the latter part of the 
Post-pliocene period, and may have been contemporary with 
some animals now extinct. Still the evidences of this, as well as 
its true signifiance, are involved in much doubt; partly because 
many of the facts relied on are open to objection, partly because 
of the constant accession of new items of information, and partly 
because the age of the animals, whose remains are found with those 
of man, and the time required by the physical changes involved, 
are not certain. 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. ula Us 


To these questions Sir Charles addresses himself, with all his vast 
knowledge of facts relating to tertiary geology, and his great power 
of generalisation ; and he has, for the first time, enabled those not in 
the centre of the discussions which have for a few years been 
carried on upon this subject, to form a definite judgment on the 
geological evidence of the antiquity of our species. 

As a necessary preliminary, Sir Charles inquires as to the recent 
remains of man, including those which are pre-historic in the 
sense of antedating secular history, but which do not go back to 
the period of the extinct mammalia. He refers in the first place 
to the detailed researches of the Danish antiquaries, respecting 
certain remains in heaps of oyster-shells, found on the Danish 
coast, (which appear to be precisely similar to those heaps accumu- 
lated by the American Indians on our coasts from Prince Edward 
Island to Georgia) ; and respecting similar remains found in peat 
bogs in that country. These remains show three distinct stages 
of unrecorded human history in Denmark :—1st. A stone period, 
when the inhabitants were small sized men, brachykephalous or 
short headed men, like the modern Lapps, using stone implements, 
and subsisting by hunting. Then the country, or a consider- 
able part of it was covered by forests of Scotch fir (Pinus Syl- 
vestris). 2nd. A bronze period, in which implements of bronze as 
well as of stone were used, and the skulls of the people were larger 
and longer than in the previous period; while the country seems to 
haye been covered with forests of oak (Quercus robur). 3rd. An 
tron period, which lasted to the historic times, and in which beech 
forests replaced those of oak. All of these remains are geological- 
ly recent; and except the changes in the forests, and of some in- 
digenous animals in consequence, and probably a slight elevation 
of some parts of Denmark, no material changes in organic or in- 
organic nature have occurred. 

The Danish antiquaries have attempted to calculate the age 
of the oldest of these deposits, by considerations based on the 
growth of peat, and the succession of trees ; but these calculations 
are obviously unreliable. The first forest of pines would, when 
it attained maturity, naturally be destroyed, as usually happens 
in America, by forest conflagrations. It might perish in this way 
in a single summer, The second growth which succeeded, would 
in America be birch, poplar, and similar trees, which would form 
a new and tall forest in half a century ; and in two or three cen- 
turies would probably be succeeded by a second permanent forest, 


116 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


* 


which in the present case seems to have been of oak.* This would 
be of longer continuance, and would, independently of human 
agency, only be replaced by beech, if, in the course of ages, the 
latter tree proved itself more suitable to the soil, climate, and other 
conditions. Both oak and beech are of slow extension, their 
seeds not being carried by the winds, and only to a limited degree 
by birds. On the other hand the rechanges of forests cannot have 
been absolute or universal. There must have been oak and beech 
groves even in the pine woods; and the growing and increasing 
beech woods would be contemporary with the older and de- 
caying oak forest, as this last would probably perish not by fire, 
but by decay, and by the competition of the beeches. In like 
manner the growth of peat is very variable even in the same loca- 
lity. It goes on very rapidly when moisture and other conditions 
are favourable, and especially when it is aided by wind-falls, drift- 
wood, or beaver-dams, impeding drainage and contributing to the 
accumulation of vegetable matter. It is retarded and finally ter- 
minated by the rise of the surface above the drainage level, 
by the clearing of the country, or by the establishment of natural 
or artificial drainage. On the one hand all the changes observ- 
ed in Denmark may have taken place within a minimum time of 
two thousand years. On the other hand no one can affirm that 
either of the three successive forests may not have flourished 
for that length of time. A chronology measured by years, and 
based on such data, is evidently worthless. 

Possibly a more accurate measurement of time might be de- 
duced from the introduction of bronze and iron. If the former 
was, aS many antiquarians suppose, a local discovery, and not in- 
troduced from abroad, it can give no measurement of time 
whatever ; since, as the facts so clearly detailed by Dr. Wilson 
show, while a bronze age existed in Peru, it was the copper age 
in the Mississippi valley, and the stone age elsewhere; these 
conditions might have co-existed for any length of time, and conld 
give no indication of relative dates. On the other hand the 
iron introduced by European commerce spread at once over the 
continent, and came into use in the most remote tribes, and its in- 
troduction into America clearly marks an historical epoch- 


* The details of this process, as it occurs in America, will be found 
noticed in a paper by the writer in the Edin. Phil. Journal for 1847: 
Such changes are constantly in progress in the American forests. 


, 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. ° LL7 


With regard to bronze in Europe, we must bear in mind that 
tin was to be procured only in England and Spain, and in the 
latter in very small quantity : the mines of Saxony do not seem to 
have been known till the middle ages, We must further consider 
that tin ore is a substance not metallic in appearance, and little 
likely to attract the attention of savages; and that, as we gather 
from ahint of Pliny, it was probably first observed, in the west at 
least, as stream tin, in the Spanish gold washings, Lastly, when 
we place in connection with these considerations, the fact that in 
the earliest times of which we have certain knowledge, the tin 
trade of Spain and England was monopolized by the Phenicians, 
there seems to be a strong probability that the extension of the 
trade of this nation to the western Mediteranean,really inaugurated 
the bronze period. The only valid argument against this, is the 
fact that moulds and other indications of native bronze casting 
have been found in Switzerland, Denmark, and elsewhere; but 
these show nothing more than that the natives could re-cast 
bronze articles, just as the American Indians can forge fish-hooks 
and knives out of nails and iron hoops. Other considerations might 
be adduced in proof of this view, but the limits of our article will not 
permit us to refer to them. The important questions still remain : 
when was this trade commenced, and how rapidly did it extend 
itself from the sea-coast across Europe. The British tin trade 
must have been in existence in the time of Herodotus, though his 
notion of the locality was not more definite than that it was in 
the extremity. of the earth. The Pheenician settlements in the 
western Mediterranean must have existed as early as the time of 
Solomon, when “Ships of Tarshish ” was the general designation _ 
_ of sea-going ships for long voyages. How long previously these 
colonies existed we do not know; but considering the great scar- 
city and value of tin in those very ancient times, we may infer 
that perhaps only the Spanish, and not the British deposits were 
known thus early ; or that the Phcenicians had only indirect ac- 
cess to the latter. Perhaps we may fix the time when these traders 
were able to supply the nations of Europe with abundance of 
bronze in exchange for their products, at, say 1000 to 1200 B.C., 
as the earliest probable period; and probably from one to two 
centuries would be a sufficient allowance for the complete pene- 
tration of the trade throughout Europe; but of course wars or mi- 
grations might retard or accelerate the process; and there may 
have been isolated spots in which a partial stone period extended 


118 "THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


- up to those comparatively modern times, when first the Greek 
tradé, and afterward the entire overthrow of the Carthaginian 
power by the Romans, terminated forever the age of bronze, and 
substituted the age of iron. This would leave, according to our 
ordinary chronologies, at least ten or fifteen centuries for the post- 
diluvian stone period; a time quite sufficient, in our view, for all 
that part of it represented by such remains as those of the Danish 
coast, and the still more remarkable platform habitations, whose 
remains have been found in the Swiss lakes, and which belong pro- 
perly to the recent period of geology. In connection with this 
we would advise the reader to study the many converging lines of 
evidence derived from history, from monuments, and from lan- 
guage, which Dr, Wilson shows, in his concluding chapter, to point 
to the comparatively recent origin of at least post-diluvian man. 
Let it be observed, also, that the attempts of Bunsen and others to 
deduce an extraordinarily long chronology from Egyptian monu- 
ments, and from the diversity of languages, have signally failed; and 
that the observations made by Mr. Horner in the Nile alluvious 
are admitted to be open to too many doubts to be relied on.* 

Before leaving the recent period, it is deserving of note that Sir 
C. Lyell shows on the best evidence, that in Scotland, since the 
building of the Wall of Antoninus, an elevation of from twenty-five 
to twenty-seven feet has occurred both on the eastern and western 
coast, and consequently that the raised sea bottoms containing 
canoes, &c., in the valley of the Clyde, supposed by some to be of 
extremely ancient date, were actually under water in the time of 
the Romans; a fact of which, but for their occupation of the country, 
we should have been ignorant. 

From the Recent period we pass, under the guidance of Sir 
Charles, to the Post-pliocene, geologicaly distinguished from the 
Recent by the fact that its deposits contain the bones of many 
great extinct quadrupeds; as for instance the mammoth, Zlephas 
primigenius, the wooly rhinoceros, &. tichorhinus, and others, here- 
tofore, (but it would seem on insufficient evidence,) supposed to 
have disappeared before the advent of man. The evidence now 


* The chronology deduced from the Delta of the Tiniére, which 
would give to the stone period an antiquity of 5000 to 7000 years, ap- 
pears to us to be similarly defective ; and the data assigned to human 
remains in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio, and the old reefs of 
Florida still more so. 


"* 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 119 


adduced that primeval man was really contemporary with these 
creatures is manifold, and apparently conclusive, and in the work 
before us is carefully sifted and weighed in all its bearings, much 
being rejeeted as inapplicable or uncertain. The evidences relied 
on are chiefly the following : 

1. Human remains found with those of extinct animals in caves 
in Belgium, in England, and elsewhere, in circumstances which 
preclude the probability of their mixture by interments or other 
modern causes. 

2. The finding of flint implements associated with bones of 
extinct animals in the valley of the Somme, and elsewhere. 

3. A supposed sepulchral cave of this period discovered in the 
south of France. In addition to these there are many minor facts 
tending to the same conclusion, but with less distinctness. 

It is impossible to give extracts which will convey any adequate 
idea of the facts adduced from the above sources, but the follow- 
ing paragraphs may serve as examples of some of them. They 
relate to evidence that man was contemporary with extinct ani- 
mals, afforded by caverns near Liege, explored by Dr.Schmerling, 
and to the similar evidence obtained in the cave of Brixham in 
England. 

“ The rock in which the Liége caverns occur belongs generally 
to the Carboniferous or Mountain limestone, in some few cases 
only, to the older Devonian formation. Whenever the work of 
destruction has not gone too far, magnificent sections, sometimes 
200 and 300 feet in height, are exposed to view. They confirm 
Schmerling’s doctrine, that most of the materials, organic and in- 
organic, now filling the caverns, have been washed into them 
through narrow vertical or oblique fissures, the upper extremities. 
of which are choked up with soil and gravel, and would scarcely 
ever be discoverable at the surface, especially in so wooded a 
country. Among the sections obtained by quarrying, one of the 
finest which I saw was in the beautiful valley of Fond du Forét, 
above Chaudefontaine, not far from the village of Magnée; where 
one of the rents communicating with the surface has been filled up 
to the brim with rounded and half-rounded stones, angular pieces 
of limestone and shale, besides sand and mud, together with 
bones, chiefly of the cave-bear. Connected with this main duct, 
which is from one to two feet in width, are several minor ones, 
each from one to three inches wide, also extending to the upper 
country or table-land, and choked up with similar materials. 


120 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


- They are inclined at angles of 30° and 40°, their walls being 
generally coated with stalactite, pieces of which have here and 
there been broken off and mingled with the contents of the rents, 
thus helping to explain why we so often meet with detached 
pieces of that substance in the mud and breccia of the Belgian 
eaves. It is not easy to conceive that a solid horizontal floor of 
‘hard stalagmite should, after its formation, be broken up by run- 
ning water; but when the walls of steep and tortuous rents, serv- 
ing as feeders to the principal fissures, and to inferior vaults and 
galleries, are encrusted with stalagmite, some of the incrustation 
may readily be torn up when heavy fragments of rock are hurried 
by a flood through passages inclined at angles of 30° or 40°. 

“ The decay and decomposition of the fossil bones seem to have 
been arrested in most of the caves by a constant supply of water 
charged with carbonate of lime, which dripped from the roofs 
while the caves were becoming gradually filled up. By similar 
agency the mud, sand, and pebbles were usually consolidated. 

“The following explanation of this phenomenon has been sug- 
gested by the eminent, chemist Liebig. On the surface of Fran- 
conia, where the limestone abounds in caverns, is a fertile soil in 
which vegetable matter is continually decaying. This mould or 
humus, being acted on by moisture and air, evolves carbonic acid, 
which is dissolved by rain.” The rain-water, thus impregnated, 
permeates the porous limestone, dissolves a portion of it ; and 
afterwards, when the excess of carbonic acid evaporates in the 
caverns, parts with the calcareous matter and forms stalactite. 
So long as water flows, even occasionally, through a suite of caverns 
no layer of pure stalagmite can be produced; hence the forma- 
tion of such a layer, is generally an event posterior in date to the 
cessation of the old system of drainage; an event which might 
be brought about by an earthquake causing new fissures, or by 
the river wearing its way down to a lower level, and thenceforth 
running in a new channel. 

“ Tn all the subterranean cavities; more than forty in number, 
explored by Schmerling, he only observed one cave, namely that 
of Chokier, where there were two regular layers of stalaymite, 
divided by fossiliferous cave-mud. In this instance, we may sup- 
pose that the stream, after flowing for a long period at-one level, 
eut its way down to an inferior suite of caverns, and, flowing 
through them for centuries, choked them up with debris; after 
which it rose once more to its original higher level: just as in 


"* 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 121 


the Mountain limestone district of Yorkshire some rivers, hab- 
itually absorbed by a “swallow hole,” are occasionally unable to 
discharge all their water through it; in which case they rise and 
rush through a higher subterranean passage, which was at some 
former period in the regular line of drainage, as is often attested 
by the fluviatile gravel still contained in it. 

“There are now in the basin of the Meuse, not far from Liége, 
several examples of engulfed brooks and rivers: some of them, 
like that of St. Hadelin, east of Chaudefontaine, which reappears 
after an underground course of a mile or two; others, like the 
Vesdre, which is lost near Goffontaine, and after a time re- 
emerges; some, again, like the torrent near Magnée, which, 
after entering a cave, never again comes to the day. In the 
season of floods such streams are turbid at their entrance, but 
clear as a mountain-spring where they issue again; so that they 
must be slowly filling up cavities in the interior with mud, sand, 
pebbles, snail-shells, and the bones of animals which may be 
earried away during floods. 

“The manner in which some of the large thigh and shank 
bones of the rhinoceros and other pachyderms are rounded, 
while some of the smaller bones of the same creatures, and of 
the hyena, bear, and horse, are reduced to pebbles, shows that 
they were often transported for some distance in the channels of 
torrents, before they found a resting-place. 

‘When we desire to reason or speculate on the probable anti- 
quity of human bones found fossil in such situations as the 
caverns near Liége, there are two classes of evidence to which 
we may appeal for our guidance. First, considerations of the 
time required to allow of many species of carnivorous and herb- 
ivorous animals, which flourished in the cave period, becoming 
first scarce, and then so entirely extinct as we have seen that 
they had become before the era of the Danish peat and Swiss 
lake dwellings: secondly, the great number of centuries necessary 
for the conversion of the physical geography of the Liége 
district from its ancient to its present configuration; so many 
old underground channels, through which brooks and _ rivers 
flowed in the cave period, being now iaid dry and choked up. 

“ The great alterations which have taken place in the shape of 
the valley of the Meuse and some of its tributaries, are often 
demonstrated by the abrupt manner in which the mouths of 
fossiliferous caverns open in the face of perpendicular precipices, 


22 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


200 feet or more in height above the present streams. There 
appears also, in many cases, to be such a correspondence in the 
openings of caverns on opposite sides of some of the valleys, 
both large and small, as to incline one to suspect that they 
originally belonged to a series of tunnels and galleries, which 
were continuous before the present system of drainage came into 
play, or before the existing valleys were scooped out. Other 
signs of subsequent fluctuations are afforded by gravel containing 
elephants’ bones at slight elevations above the Meuse and several 
of its tributaries. The loess also, in the suburbs and neighbour- 
hood of Liége, occurring at various heights in patches lying at 
between 20 and 200 feet above the river, cannot be explained 
without supposing the filling up and re-exeavation of the valleys 
at a period posterior to the washing in of the animal remains 
into most of the old caverns. It may be objected that according 
to the present rate of change, no lapse of ages would suffice to 
bring about such revolutions in physical geography as we are 
here contemplating. This may be true. It is more than pro- 
bable that the rate of change was once far more active than it 
is now. Some of the nearest volcanoes, namely, those of the 
Lower Eifel about sixty miles to the eastward, seem to have been 
in eruption in post-pliocene times, and may perhaps have been 
connected and coeval with repeated risings or sinkings of the 
land in the basin of the Meuse. It might be said, with equal 
truth, that according to the present course of events, no series 
of ages would suffice to reproduce such an assemblage of cones 
and craters as those of the Hifel (near Andernach for example) ; 
and yet some of them may be of sufficiently modern date to. 
belong to the era when man was contemporary with the mammoth 
and rhinoceros in the basin of the Meuse. 

“But although we may be unable to estimate the minimum of 
time required for the changes in physical geography above 
alluded to, we cannot fail to perceive that the duration of the 
period must have been very protracted, and that other ages of 
comparative inaction may have followed, separating the post- 
pliocene from the historical periods, and constituting an interval 
no less indefinite in its duration.” 

*k *K * * * * * * *k * 

“ As the osseous and other contents of Kent’s Hole had, by 
repeated diggings, been thrown into much confusion, it was 
thought desirable in 1858, when the entrance of a new and intact 


"* 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 123 


bone-cave was discovered at Brixham, three or four miles west of 
Torquay, to have a thorough and systematic examination made of 
it. The Royal Society made two grants towards defraying the 
expenses,* and a committee of geologists was charged with the 
investigations, among whom Mr, Prestwich and Dr. Falconer took 
an active part, visiting Torquay while the excavations were in 
progress under the superintendence of Mr. Pengelly. The last- 
mentioned geologist had the kindness to conduct me through the 
subterranean galleries after they had been cleared out in 1859 ; 
and I saw, in company with Dr. Falconer, the numerous fossils: 
which had been taken from the subterranean fissures and tunnels, 
all labelled and numbered, with references to a journal kept during 
the progress of the work, and in which the geological position of 
every specimen was recorded with scrupulous care. 

“The discovery of the existence of this suite of caverns near the- 
sea at Brixham was made accidentally, by. theroof of one of them 
falling in. None of the five external openings now exposed to 
view in steep cliffs or the sloping side of a valley, were visible 
before the breccia and earthy matter which blocked them up were 
removed during the late exploration. According to a ground-plan 
drawn up by Professor Ramsay, it appears that some of the pas- 
sages which run nearly north and south are fissures connected 
with the vertical dislocation of the rocks, while another set, 
running nearly east and west, are tunnels, which have the appear- 
ance of having been to a great extent hollowed out by the action 
of running water. The central or main entrance, leading to what 
is called the reindeer gallery, because a perfect antler of that 
_ animal was found sticking in the stalagmitic floor, is ninety-five feet 
above the levelvof the sea, being also about sixty above the bottom 
of the adjoining valley. The united length of the five galleries 
which were cleared out amounted to several hundred feet. Their 
width never exceeded eight feet. They were sometimes filled up 
to the roof with gravel, bones, and mud; but occasionally there 
was a considerable space between the roof and floor. The latter, 
in the case of the fissure-caves, was covered with stalagmite, but 
in the tunnels it was usually free from any such incrustation. The 
following was the general succession of the deposits forming the 
contents of the underground passages and channels :— 


* When these grants failed, Miss Burdett-Coutts, then residing at Tor- 
quay, liberally supplied the funds for completing the work. 


124 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


“Ist. At the top, alayer ofstalagmite, varying in thickness from 
one to fifteen inches, which sometimes contained bones, such as 
the reindeer’s horn, already mentioned, and an entire humerus of 
the cave-bear. 

“Ondly. Next below, loam or bone-earth, of an ochreous-red 
colour, from one foot to fifteen feet in thickness. < 

“3rdly. At the bottom of all, gravel with many rounded pebbles 
in it, probed in some places to the depth of twenty feet without 
being pierced through, and as it was barren of fossils, left for 
the most part unremoved. 

“The mammalia obtained from the bone-earth consisted of 
Flephas primigenius, or mammoth; Rhinoceros tichorhinus ; 
Ursus speleeus ; Hycena spelea; Felis spelcea, or the cave-lion; 
Cervus tarandus, or the reindeer; a species of horse, ox, and 
several rodents, and others not yet determined. 

“No human bones were obtained anywhere during these excava- 
tions, but many flint knives, chiefly from the lowest part of the 
bone-eaith; and one of the most perfect lay at the depth of thir- 
teen feet from the surface, and was covered with bone-earth of 
that thickness. From a similar position was taken one of those 
siliceous nuclei, or cores, from which flint flakes had been struck 
off on every side. Neglecting the less perfect specimens, some of 
which were met with even in the lowest gravel, about fifteen 
knives, recognized by the most experienced antiquaries as arti- 
ficially formed, were taken from the bone-earth, and usually from 
near the bottom. Such knives, considered apart from the asso- 
ciated mammalia, afford in themselves no safe criterion of anti- 
quity, as they might belong to any part of the age of stone, similar 
tools being sometimes met with in tumuli posterior in date to the 
era of the introduction of bronze. But the anteriority of those at 
Brixham to the extinct animals is demonstrated not only by the 
occurrence at one point in overlying stalagmite, of the bone of a 
eave-bear, but also by the discovery at the same level in the bone- 
earth, and in close proximity to a very perfect flint tool, of the 
entire left hind-lee of a cave-bear. This specimen, which was 
shown me by Dr. Falconer and Mr. Pengelly, was exhumed from 
the earthy deposit in the reinder gallery, near its junction with 
the flint-knife gallery, at the distance of about sixty-five feet from 
the main entrance. The mass of earth containing it was removed 
entire, and the matrix cleared away carefully by Dr. Falconer, in 
the presence of Mr. Pengelly. Every bone was in its natural 


"* 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 125 


place, the femur, tibia, fibula, ankle-bone, or astragalus, all in 
juxta position. Even the patella or detached bone of the knee- 
pan was searched for, and not in vain. Here, therefore, we have 
evidence of an entire limb not having been washed in a fossil state 
out of an older alluvium, and then swept afterwards into a cave, 
so as to be mingled with flint implements, but having been in- 
troduced when clothed with its flesh, or at least when it had the 
separate bones bound together by their natural ligaments, and in 
that state buried in mud. 

“Tf they were not all of contemporary date, it is clear from this 
case, and from the humerus of the Ursus spelceus, before cited as 
found in a floor of stalagmite, that the bear lived after the flint 
tools were manufactured, or in other words, that man in this 
district preceded the cave-bear.” 

Multitudes of questions arise out of these observations, and 
many of them will probably long remain unanswered; but we 
may in the remainder of this article, profitably restrict ourselves 
to three of them : 

1, What style of men were these contemporaries of the mam- 
moth, as compared with those who now walk the earth ? 

2. How great is their antiquity ? 

3. What bearing have the conclusions which we must form on 
these points, on the facts known to us on other evidence than that 
of geology, as to the origin and early history of man ? 

The writer of these pages, on a former occasion, ventured to 
predict that if any osseous remains of antediluvian man should be 
discovered, they would probably present characters so different 
from those of modern races that they might be regarded as be-- 
longing to a distinct species.* With perhaps one exception, this 
anticipation has not yet been realized. The skull from the cave 
of Engis, in Belgium, supposed to be the oldest known, is in the 
judgment of Prof. Huxley, not by any means abnormal, but on 
the contrary, not unlike some European skulls. Another skull, 
that of Neanderthal, not found with remains of extinct animals, 
and therefore of uncertain geological antiquity, has however ex- 
cited more attention than the Engis skull. Its pre-historic anti- 
quity has been assumed by many writers, and its low forehead, pro- 
minent superciliary ridges, and general flatness, giving a more ape- 
like air than those of the heads of any modern tribes, together 


* Archaia p, 237. 


126 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


with the great stoutness and strong muscular impressions of the 
bones found with it, have been regarded as confirmatory evidence 
of this supposition. It is quite certain however that the charac- 
ters for which this skeleton is eminent, are found, though perhaps 
in a less degree, in the rude tribes of America and Australia. It 
is also doubtful whether this skeleton really indicates a race at all. 
It may have belonged to one of those wild men, half crazed, half 
idiotic, cruel and strong, who are always more or less to be found 
living on the outskirts of barbarous tribes, and who now and then 
appear in civilized communities, to be consigned perhaps to the 
penitentiary or to the gallows, when their murderous propensities 
manifest themselves. Still, as we shall show under our third 
head, this Neanderthal man is nearer in some respects to our 
historical idea of antediluvian man than any other of these very 
ancient examples; though, as Lyell properly suggests, there 
is no absolutely valid reason for assuming that he may not even 
have belonged to the same nation with the Engis man ; since near- 
ly as great differences are found in the skulls of individual mem- 
bers of some unmixed savage races. 

One remarkable conclusion however deducible from the an- 
swer to this our first question, must not be omitted. Of all the 
criteria for the distinction of races of men, the skull is probably the 
most certain, and as any one may perceive, who reads Dr. Wilson’s 
book, it affords in really reliable hands, the best possible evidence 
of distinctness or of unity, except where great mixtures have 
occurred. Now man is one of the most variable animals; and yet 
it would seem that, since the post-pliocene period, he has changed 
so little that the skulls of these post-pliocene men fall within the 
limits of modern varieties; and this, while so great changes have 
occurred that multitudes of mammals once his contemporaries 
have utterly perished. Now if these men are so ancient as many 
geologists would assume, nay if they are even 6000 years old, 
surely the human race is very permanent, and Prof. Huxley may 
well say that ‘‘the comparatively large cranial capacity of the 
Neanderthal skull, overlaid though it may be with pithecoid bony 
walls, and the completely human proportions of the accompanying 
limb-bones, together with the very fair development of the Engis 
skull, clearly indicate that the first traces of the primordial stock 
whence man proceeded, need no longer be sought by those who 
entertain any form of the doctrine of development, in the newest 
tertiaries ; but that they may be looked for in an epoch more dis- 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. LOT 


tant from the age of the Hlephas primigenius than that is from 
us.” They may, in short, spare themselves the trouble of looking 
for any such transition from apes to men in any period; for this 
great lapse of time renders the species practically permanent ; more 
especially when we bear in mind that of the numerous species 
whose remains are found with those of these ancient men, some 
have continued unchanged up to our time, and the rest have be- 
come extinct, while not one can be proved to have been transmuted 
into another species. 

Sir Charles devotes no less than five concluding chapters to this 
doctrine of transmutation, as held by Darwin and others. He 
does not commit himself to it, but wishes to give it due conside- 
ration, as a possible hypothesis, which may at least lead to great 
truths. We are not disposed to give it quite so high a position. 
Mr. Darwin’s book impressed us with the conviction that his hy- 
pothesis really explains nothing not otherwise explicable, and re- 
quires many assumptions difficult of belief; while the whole argu- 
ment in its favour is essentially of the nature of reasoning in a 
circle. The'point to be proved is, that variations arising from ex- 
ternal influences and “natural selection” may produce specific 
diversity. | Now in order to begin our proof of this, we require at 
least one species, with all its powers and properties, to commence 
with. This being granted, we proceed to show that it may vary 
into several races, and that these races, if isolated, may be kept 
distinct and perpetuated. We further proceed to show that these 
races differso much, that if wild, and not tampered with, we might 
Suppose them originally distinct. So far all goes well with our 
demonstration ; but we find that many of the differences of these 
races are of the nature of mere monstrosities, like the six fingers 
of some men, which, as far as they go, would exclude the indivi- 
duals having them, not only from their species, but from their order 
or class. Further, we find that the’differences which do resemble 
those of species, have not, when tried by the severe test of cross- 
ing, that fixity which appertains to true ,specific differences ; so 
that with due care all our races can be proved to belong to but 
one species. Thus our whole argument falls to the ground; un- 
less we are content quietly to assume the thing to be proved, and 
to say, that after showing that some species are very variable, we 
have established a certain probability that they may overpass 
the specific limits; though the fact that with all this variability, 
no species has been known practically to overpass these limits; 


128 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


should logically bring us to the opposite conclusion ; viz., that the 
laborious investigations of Mr. Darwin have more than ever es- 
tablished the fixity of species, though they have shown reason 
to believe that many so-called species are mere varieties. 

Applying this to man, and even admitting, what Sir Charles 
Lyell very properly declines to admit, that the differences between 
men and apes are in all respects, only differences of degree, and 
further admitting with Prof. Huxley, that the difference between 
the size of the brain in the highest and lowest races of men is 
greater than the differences between the latter and the highest 
apes, nothing would be proved towards the doctrine of transmuta- 
tion ; for all these variations might occur without the ape ever 
overleaping the dividing line between it and the man ; and the 
one fact to be proved is that this overleap is possible. 

Perhaps this question as to man and apes, which some recent 
transmutationists have started, is one of the most damaging as- 
pects of the doctrine, since it! show sbetter than other cases the 
essential absurdity of supposing the higher nature to be evolved 
out of the lower; and thus startles the common sense of ordinary 
readers, who might detect little that is unreasonable in the trans- 
mutation of an oyster into a cockle, or even of a pigeon into a 
partridge; more especially if the reader or auditor is enabled 
to perceive the resemblance of type between these crea- 
tures, without receiving the further culture necessary to appreciate 
specific and generic difference, and thus is made ready to believe 
that similarity of type means something more than similar plan 
of construction. It is very curious too to observe ,that while 
these theorists seize on occasional instances of degraded indivi- 
duals in man as evidence of atavism reverting to a simian ancestry, 
they are blind to the similar explanation which those who hold 
an opposite view may give to the cases of superior minds appear- 
ing in low races, in which the transmutationists can see nothing 
but spontaneous elevation. It is also deserving of a passing re- 
mark that while, as Dr. Gray shows, the doctrine of transmuta- 
tion is not subversive of all natural theology, that is, so long as 
transmutationists admit the presiding agency of a_ spiritual 
Supreme Being, the application of such views to the human spe- 
cies, attacks leading doctrines of that biblical Christianity which 
is practically of so much higher importance to man than mere 
natural theology. : 

Still some of our modern naturalists follow with as much per- 


% 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 129 


tinacity these transmutation hypotheses, as did the old alchemists 
their attempts to transmute chemical species into each other. 
Perhaps the comparison is hardly fair to the older school of spe- 
culators, for chemical species or elements tend by their combina- 
tion to form new substances, which animal and vegetable species 
do not; and by so much the balance of antecedent probability 
was on the side of the alchemists, as compared with the transmuta- 
tionists, though their methods and doctrines were very similar. 
We may, however, at least hope that, like the researches of the 
alchemists, those of their successors may develop new and impor- 
tant truths. Leaving then this much vexed topic, let us proceed 
to our second inquiry, as to the actual antiquity of these primi- 
tive men. 

This antiquity is of course to be measured by the geological 
scale of time, whose periods are marked not by years or centuries, 
but by the extinction of successive faunas and floras, and the pro- 
gress of physical changes. With respect to the first of these marks 
of time, we confess that we have not regarded the observations of 
Boucher de Perthes and others, as free from the suspicion that ac- 
cidental mixtures of human and fossil bones, or other causes not 
taken into the account, may have vitiated their conclusions ; and 
this suspicion still applies to some of the cases cited by Sir C. 
Lyell, as more or less certain proofs. After reading the state- 
ments of the present volume, we think the Belgian and Brixham 
eaves may be taken as good evidence of the probable contempo- 
raneousness of man with the Hlephas primigenius, Rhinoceros ti- 
chorhinus, Ursus speleus, and their contemporaries ; or rather 
as evidence that man was beginning to appear in Western Europe 
before those animals had finally disappeared. In consequence 
of some flaws in the evidence, as it appears to a reader at a dis- 
tance, we cannot as yet so implicitly receive the evidence of the 
Somme flint weapons. The cave of Aurignac described by M. 
Lartet, and in which seventeen human skeletons were found 
buried, apparently in a sitting posture, cannot be relied on, owing 
to the late period at which it was explored. We are sorry to 
doubt this unique instance of antediluvian sepulchral rites, but 
all the appearances actually seen* by M. Lartet are better expli- 
cable on the supposition that a cave, once tenanted by the cave 


* We refer to Mr. Lartet’s account of his discovery in the Natural 
History Review, as well as the more concise statement given in the book 
before us. 

Gan. Nat. 9 Vou. VIIL. 


130 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


bear and hyena, had been partially emptied of its contents by 
some primitive tribe, who had broken up the bones of the extinct 
animals, not for their marrow, but to make tools and ornaments 
of them, and had subsequently used the cave as a place of burial, 
and the ground in front of it for “ feasts for the dead.” Ifthe 
bones are still so perfect as M. Lartet asserts, they must have been 
quite sound when first disturbed at the early historical time in 
which the cave may have been ransacked. Further, the skeleton 
of Ursus speleus found in the interior, was below the place of de- 
posit of the human skeletons ; and we can suppose it to have been 
contemporaneous, only by the unlikely theory that the earth con- 
taining this skeleton was placed in the cave by the aboriginal 
people. 

We give the above leading cases as examples of the rest which 
are cited, and all of which may in like manner be divided into 
those which afford probable, though not absolutely certain evi- 
dence of post-pliocene man, and those which are liable to too 
grave suspicion to be accepted as evidence. It may be said that 
we should be more ready to believe, and less critical, but it is not 
the wont of geologists to be so, when new facts and conclusions 
are promulgated ; and the present case involves too important con- 
sequences, both in relation to history, and to the credibility of 
geological proof in general, to escape the most searching criticism. 
Geologists must beware lest their science, at the point where 
it comes into contact with other lines of investigation, and 
where its own peculiar methods are most liable to err, should 
be found wanting, and its reliability fall into discredit. 

But when did the fossil mammals named above, really become 
extinct. As a preliminary to our answer to this question, we may 
state that in Western Europe, in the post-pliocene period of geolo- 
gists, these animals were contemporary with many still extant, 
some of them in Europe, others elsewhere. Pictet even main- 
tains that all, or nearly all of our modern European mammals ¢o-ex- 
isted with these animals in the post-pliocene period, and that con- 
sequently there has since that time been a progressive diminution 
of species down tothe present day. Themammoth, Hlephas pri- 
migenius, existed, or perhaps began to exist at a still more ancient 


* It is certainly very curious that the objects and arrangements of 
these caves and other ancient European depositories, are so thoroughly 
American, even to the round stone hammers, whose use is so oddly mis- 
interpreted by the Danish antiquaries. 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 131 


period,—the newer pliocene; when it was contemporary with Z/e- 
phas meridionalis and other animals of an older fauna. It con- 
tinued to survive until the introduction of the modern mammals, 
and then became extinct along with Lhinoceros tichorhinus and 
several other species, which, however, may have been of younger 
date than itself. With these species lived the Megaceros Hiberni- 
cus, or great Irish stag, which lasted longer, but perished before 
the dawn of history. With them also lived the Bos primigenius, 
or gigantic wild ox, the aurochs, the musk-ox, and the rein-deer. 
The first of these existed wild until the time of Cesar; the second 
is still preserved in a forest in Lithuania; the third exists now in 
Arctic America, and the fourth still remains in Lapland. With 
them also co-existed the wolf, the fox, the hare, the stag, and 
other creatures still living in western Europe. 

That these creatures have been disappearing at different times 
seems certain; some may have been exterminated by man, but 
the greater part must have perished from other’ causes. They 
may have gone serzatim, or in considerable numbers at or near the 
same time; and there seems some reason to believe in a consider- 
able and rapid decadence at the end of the post-pliocene and be- 
ginning of the recent period. One cause which may be assigned 
is change of climate. The climate of Europe in the time of the 
mammoth was very cold, as indicated by the evidence of glaciers, 
and other forms of ice action, and by the presence of the musk 
ox. No doubt the extinction of this creature, and of the mam- 
moth and tichorhine rhinoceros as well, would follow from the 
amelioration in this respect as the recent period approached. This 
change of climate depended on geographical changes, modi- 
fying the distribution of land and water, and the direction of 
ocean currents. A subsidence in central America or in Florida, 
might restore the climate of the mammoth by altering the course 
of the gulf stream ; and an elevation of land in these regions may 
have introduced the climate of the recent period. There is abun- 
dant evidence that much subsidence and elevation did occur while 
these changes in organic life were in progress; and these may, 
more directly, by the submergence or elevation of large areas in 
Europe itself, have tended to extinguish species, or introduce them 
from other regions. All these points being granted, and abundant 
evidence of them will be found given by Sir C. Lyell, it remains 
to ask, can we convert the period required for these changes into 
solar years? There is but one way of doing this in consistency 
with the principles of modern geology, and this is to ascertain 


132 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


how long a time would be occupied by agencies now in operation 
in effecting the changes of elevation, subsidence, erosion and de- 
posit, observed. Reasoning on this principle, it is plain that a 
vast lapse of time will be required, and that we may place the 
earliest men and the latest mammoths at an almost incredible dis- 
tance before the oldest historical monuments of the human race. 

But can we assume any given rate for such changes? Not cer- 
tainly till all the causes which may have influenced them can be 
ascertained and weighed. We have only recently learned that 
Scotland has risen twenty-five feet in 1700 years; but we do 
not know that this elevation has been uniform and continuous. 
There is another older sea-level at forty-four feet above the 
present coast ; and there is a still higher sea-level 524 feet above 
the sea, which certainly goes back to the time of the mammoth. 
Now we may calculate that if an elevation of twenty-five feet re- 
quires 1700 years, an elevation of 500 feet will require twenty 
times that length of time; but if we should find on further investi- 
gation that ten of the twenty-five feet were raised in the first century 
of the seventeen, and that the rate had gradually decreased, 
our calculation must be quite different, and even then might 
be altogether incorrect, since there may have been periods of 
rest or of subsidence; so that “such estimates must be consi- 
dered in the present state of science as tentative and conjectural.” 

Again, at the rate in which the Somme, the St. Lawrence and 
the Mississippi now cut their channels and deposit alluvium, 
we can calculate that several tens of thousands of years must have 
elapsed since the mammoth roamed on their banks; and we have 
been accustomed to rest on these calculations as close approxima- 
tions to the truth : but Sir Charles Lyell has, in his present work, 
introduced a new and disturbing element, in the strong probabi- 
lity which he establishes that the cold of the glacial period ex- 
tended to a later time than we have hitherto supposed. If, when 
the gravels of the Somme were deposited, the climate was of 
a sub-arctic character, we have to add to modern erading causes 
the influence of frost, greater volume of water, spring freshets, and 
ice-jams, and the whole calculation of time must be revised. So, 
if it can be proved that when the St. Lawrence began to cut the 
ravine of Niagara, in the post-pliocene or newer pliocene period, 
there were great glaciers in the basin of Lake Superior, all our cal- 
culations of time would be completely set at nought. 

Such are the difficulties which beset the attempt to turn the 
monumental chronology of geology into years of solar time. The 


THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 133 


monuments are of undeniable authenticity, and their teachings are 
most valuable, but they are inscribed with no record of human 
years, and we think geologists may wisely leave this matter where 
the Duke of Argyle, in his address to the Royal Society, lately 
placed it, as a doubtful point, in so far as geological evidence is 
concerned, whether the mammoth lived later than we have hither- 
to supposed, or man lived earlier. Still, as we have already stated, 
those geologists who hold that we must reason inflexibly on 
rates of change indicated by modern causes, will necessarily, on 
the evidence as it now stands, maintain that the human race, 
though recent geologically, is of very great antiquity historically. 

We must now shortly consider our third question, as to the 
bearing of these facts and doctrines on our received views of 
human chronology, derived from the Holy Scriptures and the con- 
current testimony of ancient monumental and traditional history. 
It is certain that many good and well-meaning people will, in this 
respect, view these late revelations of geology with alarm; while 
those self-complacent neophytes in biblical learning who array 
themselves in the cast-off garments of defeated sceptics, and 
when treated with the contempt which they deserve, bemoan 
themselves as the persecuted representatives of free thought, 
will rejoice over the powerful allies theyhave acquired. Both parties 
may however find themselves mistaken. The truth will in the 
end, vindicate itself; and it will be found that the results of such 
careful scrutiny of nature as that to which naturalists now devote 
themselves, are not destined to rob our race either of its high and 
noble descent, or its glorious prospects. In the mean time those 
who are the true friends of revealed truth will rejoice to give free 
scope to legitimate scientific investigation, trusting that every new 
difficulty will disappear with increasing light. 

The Biblical chronology, though it allows an unlimited time for 
the pre-human periods of the earth’s history, fixes the human 
period within narrow limits,though it does this not by absolute state- 
ment of figures,but rather by inference from chronological lists, with 
respect to the computation of which there may be and has been 
some difference, especially in the antediluvian period. Allowing 
large latitude for these differences, we have say 2000 to 3000 
years for the human antediluvian period, corresponding, it is to 
be supposed, to the later post-pliocene of geologists. In this period 
men may have extended themselves over most of the old conti- 
nent ; and it has been calculated that they may have been nearly 
as numerous as at present, but this is probably an exaggeration. 


134 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 


They had, locally at least, domesticated animals; they had dis- 
covered the use of the metals, and invented many useful arts, 
though there must have been a vast, scattered, barbarous, popula- 
tion. They had split into two distinct races; some portions of 
which at least, had sunk to a state presumably lower than that of 
any modern tribe, since these latter are all amenable to the influ- 
ences of civilization and Christianity, while the former seem to have 
been hopelessly depraved and degenerate. At the same time they 
had much energy for aggression and violence ; and it would seem 
that these giants of the olden time were in process of extinguish- 
ing all of the civilization of the period when they were over- 
whelmed with the deluge. This is described in terms which may 
indicate a great subsidence, of which the Noachian deluge was the 
culminating point, in so far as western Asia was concerned. The 
subsidence, unless wholly miraculous, may have commenced at 
least at the beginning of the 120 years of Noah’s public life, and 
possibly much earlier, and the re-elevation may have occupied 
many centuries, and may not have left the distribution of land 
and water, and consequently climate, in the same state as before. 
At a very early period of this subsidence, if there were men in 
Europe, they would be perfectly isolated from the original seats 
of population in Asia, and so would the land animals, their con- 
temporaries. There is farther, nothing in the Mosaic account to 
prevent us from supposing that the existence of many species was 
terminated by this great catastrophe.* These are some of the con- 
ditions of the biblical deluge, which we might much further illus- 
trate, were this a proper place for doing so, but those stated will 
suffice to show precisely in what points the new doctrines of geo- 
logists in regard to the antiquity of man, appear to conflict with 
this old narrative. 

When we carefully consider the geological facts, in so far 
as they have been ascertained, it seems to us that the discrepancy 
may be stated thus. Reasoning on the geologicai doctrine that 
all things are to be explained by modern causes, and insisting 
on a rigid application of that doctrine, we must infer that the date 
of the introduction of man was “many ten thousands of years” 
ago. Adopting the biblical theory, so to speak, that a great sub- 
sidence, of which modern history affords no example, has occurred 
within the human period, we might adopt a very much shorter 


* See Archaia, pp. 216 et seq. and pp. 238 et seq. King’s Geology 
and Religion, ‘' Deluge.” 


ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 135 


chronology. It would seem at present that the facts can be ex- 
plained on either view; and that the possibility of reconciling these 
views must depend on the greater or less evidence which geolo- 
gists may find of more rapid changes than they have heretofore 
supposed within the human period. Our own impression, derived 
from a careful stully of all the facts so well stated by Sir C. 
Lyell, is that the tendency will be in this direction, that the ap- 
parent antiquity of the comparatively insignificant deposits con- 
taining remains of man and his works will be reduced, and that 
amore complete harmony than heretofore between the earliest 
literary monuments of the human race and geological chronology 
will result. At present the whole inquiry is making rapid pro- 
gress, and the time may perhaps be not far distant when its 
difficulties will receive some such solution. In the meantime both 
of the writers whose works are noticed in this article, deservec areful 
study, and will be found to contribute much toward the solution 
of these great questions. J. W. D. 


Arr. XI1—On the remains of the Fossil Elephant found in 
Canada ; by E. Brutines, F.G.S. 


(Read before the Natural History Society of Montreal, 23rd Feb., 1863.) 


The remains of the Elephant, now in the Provincial Geologi- 
cal Museum, were found in 1852, at Burlington Heights, near 
Hamilton, at the western extremity of Lake Ontario, about forty 
feet beneath the surface, and sixty feet above the level of the lake. 
The workmen engaged in making an excavation on the line of 
the Great Western Railway, first cut through thirty feet of stratified 
gravel, composed of small pebbles of limestone, and so strong- 
ly cemented that it could only be removed by blasting. Below 
this gravel, there was met with a deposit of coarse sand; and in 
this the bones were discovered. The geological age of this de 
posit is not yet determined with certainty ; but is supposed to be 
that of the well-known lake-ridges and terraces, which were ap- 
parently formed just after the close of the upper drift period ; 
and cither while the waters of the lake stood at a higher level 
than they do at present, or perhaps while the basin of the lake 
formed an arm of the sea. 

The foliowing are descriptions of the more important bones 
found at this locality. 


136 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 


EvetepHas Jacxsoni. (Briggs & Foster.) 


The most perfect specimen consists of the right ramus and the 
symphysis of a lower jaw, holding a molar tooth in a good state 


of preservation. The condyle is broken off at the neck, and the 
angle and wall of the alveolus on the inner face of the jaw are 


removed, so that on the outside, the lower posterior edge, and on 
the inside, three fourths of the whole surface of the molar are ex- 
posed. The notch between the neck of the condyle and the co- 
ronoid is deepened by a fracture. 


Fig. 1.—HvgLEPHAS JAcKson!, (Briggs & Foster,) Right ramus and sym~ 
physis with a molar in place. 


As nearly as can be ascertained, the length of the jaw, when 
both rami were in connectiov, measured along the median line 
through the symphysis, from the extreme point of the mandible 
to a plane erected perpendicularly behind the ascending rami, 
was twenty-three inches. The greatest width across the two 
rami, from outside to outside, at about four inches in advance of 


ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 137 


the posterior edges, is twenty-two inches. Length in a straight 
line, from the posterior side of the neck of the condyle obliquely 
downwards and forwards to the point of the mandible, twenty- 
eight inches ; from the same point in the neck of the condyle to 
the anterior margin of the alveolus, twenty inches; from the 
anterior edge of the coronoid to the anterior margin of the al- 
veolus, eight and three-fourths inches. Height of the ascending ra- 
mus, seventeen inches; of the coronoid, twelve inches; of the 
jaw atthe anterior margin of the alveolus, eight and three-fourths 


ee " i i 
we Ay 


Wy Mp hy i 
y yy) Y 


Upiatty 
MM Ve 


Fig. 2.—Side view of Fig. 1. This figure having been engraved from & 
photograph does not give the true proportions. Owing to the ereat 


convexity of the object the front d 6 is diminished by the strong 
perspective. 


inches. There are three pairs of mental foramina. The first 
or anterior foramen on the right side is three and a half 
inches; the second, four and a-half; and the third, five and 
a quarter inches, above the base of the jaw. On the left side 


138 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 


the height of the first is three and a-half, of the second five, and 
of the third five and a-half inches. The distance through the 
symphysis, in’a straight line between the two foramina of the first 
pair is five inches; of the second pair, six and a quarter; and of 
the’ third pair, nine and a quarter inches. The thickness of the 
jaw (including the molar) at the anterior edge of the coronoid is 
eight inches. 

The form*of the symphysis differs from that of Z. primigenius 
as figured by Cuvier, Owen and others. On the underside the 


Fig. 3.—Qutlines of Fig. 2, giving the proportions more nearly. ~ 


length along the median line (c. to d., fig. 1) is five and a-half 
inches, including the mandible, which latter is one and a-hal 

inch in length. The most elevated point of the symphysis, is at 
two and_a-half inches in advance of a line erected perpendicularly 
from%the posterior margin, or nearly half way between c and d- 
The height of this point is three and three-fourths inches above th 


ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 139 


lower surface of the jaw. The bottom of the symphysial gutter 
inclines forwards and downwards with a straight slope at an 
angle of about 40° with the plane of the under-surface; but 
backwards the descent is depressed convex and at an angle of 
60°. with the same plane. There is a strong rounded elevated 
margin on each side, which is about three-fourths of an inch in 
height and width at three inches from the point of the mandible. 
but becomes narrower and less prominent both above and below. 
It (the gutter) is rounded in the bottom; and its width at oneinch 
above the most elevated point of the symphysis is two and one- 
eighth inches. In front of this point it narrows to three-fourths of 
an inch at the point of the mandible, where it is also very shal- 
low. Owing to the great height of the jaw, the gutter, on a front 


Fig. 4.—Upper side of a symphysis with the elevated margins of the 
gutter broken away, g, g, the anterior foramina. 


view, makes a deep notch between the upper halves of the two 
rami, having a nearly vertical wall on each side. The depth of 
this notch is five inches, and its width at the top is two and three- 
fourths inches. Behind the notch, the inner surfaces of the two 
rami appear to form two nearly vertical parallel planes, for a dis- 
tance of about nine inches, separated from each other by a space 
of between two and three-fourths and three inches. They then 
diverge from each other with an obtusely rounded curve. 

The molar tooth is in a fine state of preservation, and well ex- 
posed to view. Its length along the crown is eleven inches; but 
owing to the manner in which the plates diverge from each other; 
towards the lower side or base, the extreme length, at about two 


140 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 


‘inches below the plane of the crown, is thirteen and one half inches. 
The greatest width of the crownis at the third plate, where it is 
three and one fourth inches. It becomes slightly narrower back- 
wards. At two inches below the plane of the crown the width is 
three inches and seven-eights. There are twenty-six plates, including 
two incomplete ones at the posterior extremity. The nine anterior 
_ plates have been brought into view,and the next two are partially 
exposed. The nine worn plates occupy a length of four inches, - 
giving an average of a little less than half an inch for each. From 
the manner in which the plates diverge below the crown, the 
average width at half the depth of the tooth, as exhibited by the 
ridges on the side is a little more than half an inch. The 


Fig. 5.—View of the left side of Fig. 4. 


enamel plates are thin and not crimped, and both the dentine and 
the cement are worn out to the depth of one or two lines below 
them. The height of the tooth at the mid-length is about seven 
one half inches. In front of it there is an empty fang-pit, four 
inches in depth, separated from the main body of the alveolus by 
a thick transverse wall. The tooth is gently curved sideways, 
having the concave curve outside. The last or posterior plate 
consists of only three digitations. The next in front of it, of six 
and the third of seven. 

The next specimen to be described is a symphysis (Fig. 4 &5), 
evidently belonging to a much larger animal. The length along 
the median line on the uader surface is six one-fourth inches 
including the mandible, which is two and one-fourth inches in 


ELEPHANT: REMAINS IN CANADA. 141 


length and is still not complete; the point having been broken 
away. The height from the under surface, to the most elevated 
point in the bottom of the gutter, is four and three-fourths inches. 
The slope of the bottom of the gutter forwards and downwards 
forms an angle of 40°, with the plane of the under surface pre- 
cisely as in the other specimen. But the slope backwards differs 
in being about 80° instead of 60°. The greatest width of the 
gutter is one and three-fourths inches. It is bordered on each side 
by the remains of what was evidently an elevated margin similar to 
that of the other specimen. The twoanterior foramina remain ; their 
height above the plane of the under side of the jaw is five inches 
distance between them three and three-fourths inches. The 
greatest width across the broken larger end of this bone is about 
mine and a-half inches. 

Calling the first specimen described No. 1, and the latter No. 
2, the difference in their proportions may be thus tabulated in 
decimal parts of an inch. 


No. 1 No. 2 

Length of underside of symphysis along the me- Inch. Inch. 
dian line including mandible,..............+. 5.50 6.25 
Were thvofimandiblers yates tarecforeraretesovarsls\ ciel ofsiielet ele 1.50 2.25 
Length exclusive of mandible,.........0.+eee0- 4.00 4.00 
Most elevated point of the bottom of the gutter,, 3.75 4.15 
Greatest width of the gutter,.........0. Boose « Holly akan 
Height of anterior mental foramina,............ 3.50 5.00 
Distance between them,.......s..scccecess oes 5.00 3.75 


The most important differences between the two specimens, so 
far as they can be compared, are, that in No. 2, the symphysis is 
nearly one third higher, or thicker, in the vertical direction, and 
has a more abrupt slope posteriorly ; the gutter is one fourth nar- 
rower ; and the mental foramina more elevated above the base and 
not so far apart. 

These two specimens, at first sight, appeared to me to belong 
to two distinct species, and as such I described them at the time, 
the abstract of this paper was read before the Natural History 
Society. But on further study I found that if the whole of the 
elevated margin of the symphysial gutter of No. 1 were broken 
away (as it isin No. 2,) the slope of the front part of the sym- 
physis, forwards, would be precisely the same in both, (i. e. 40°) 
when seen on a side view, as in fig. 5. This would greatly dimin- 
ish the difference in the aspect of the two specimens. There 
would yet remain, the greater vertical height of the symphysis 


142 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. . 


_ of No. 2, and the more nearly perpendicular descent backwards 
I donot feel myself competent to say whether or not these last 
mentioned characters are of specific importance in the mammalia. 


OrueR Bonss. 
. 


Along with the above were found :— 

1. A fragment of a very large tusk, evidently a portion near 
the base. It is four and a-half feet in length, seven and a-half 
inches in diameter at the larger, and five and a-half inches at the 
smaller extremity. It is curved to a radius of about four feet. 

2. Part of another tusk a little over five feet in lenoth. It is 
rather more strongly curved than the other. Its diameter at the 
larger extremity is four and a-half inches, and at the smaller three 
and a-half inches. A portion of it appears to be that part which 
was inserted into the alveolus as it is hollow to the depth of about 


three inches. It shews the double curvature characteristic of the 


tusks of the European Mammoth. 

3. Portions of two scepule and several fragments of other bones, 
all, from their size, apparently belonging to the same species. 

The jaw No. 1, and the smaller tusk were described by T. Cot- 
tle, of Woodstock, Canada West, in the Annals of Natural His- 
tory [2] vol. 10, p. 395, 1852. See also Am. Jour. Sci. [2] vol. 
15, p. 282. He was the first to announce the discovery of mam- 
moth remains in Canada. All the bones now inthe Provincial mu- 
seum were presented by the late R. Benedict, Esq., who was, at 
the time of their discovery, the Chief Engineer of the Great West- 


ern Railway. 


REMARKS ON THE SPECIES. 


The remains, upon which the species Huelephas Jacksoni was 
proposed, were collected in Jackson County. Ohio, in 1838, by ©. 
Briggs and J. W. Foster; then engaged along with Mr. Mather, 
in the geological survey of that State. The following is Mr. Briggs, 


account of the discovery : 


‘‘ About two years ago, some bones, so large as to attract the atten- 
tion of the inhabitants, became exposed in the bank of one of the 
branches of Salt Creek, in the northwest part of Jackson County. They 
were dug out by individuals in the vicinity ; from whom we obtained a 
tooth, a part of the lower jaw, and some ribs. 

“In the examinations at this place, during the past season, it was con- 
cluded to make further explorations, not only with the hope of finding 
other bones, but with a view of ascertaining the situation and the nature 


ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 143 


of the materials in which they were found. The explorations were guc- 
cessful. There were found some mutilated and decaying fragments of 
the skull, two grinders, two patellx, seven or eight ribs, as many verte- 
bre, anda tusk. Most of these are nearly perfect except the bones of 
the head. The tusk, though it retained its natural shape as it lay in 
the ground, yet, being very frail, it was necessary to saw it into four 
pieces, in order to remove it. 

6 The following are the dimensions of the tusks, taken before it was 
removed from the place in which it was found : 


Length on the outer curve 10 feet 9 inches, 
ee ce inner curve Sia G 
Circumference at base DS Ae RN a 
ce 2 feet from base 1 ‘ 10 ae 
ce 4 feetfrombase 1 “" 11 38 
oe i feet from base 1 ‘ J % 


“ This tusk weighed, when taken from the earth, 180 lbs. The weight 
of the largest tooth is 8} lbs. These bones were dug from the bank of 
a creek, near the water, where they were found under a superincumbent 
mass of stratified material fifteen to eighteen feet in thickness.” (See 
the 1st Ann. Rep. Geol. Soc. Ohio, p. 97, 1€38.) 


In November, 1838, there was published in the Am. Jour. of 
Sci., vol. 34, p. 362-3, a letter, apparently written by one of the 
discoverers of the remains in question, in which the difference be- 
tween the form of the jaw and that of #. pramzgenius was pointed 
out and illustrated by two figures. His remarks are, in substance, 
that the jaw of #. Jacksonz “converges more,” or is not so 
broadly rounded in front, and that the symphysial canal is much 
narrower than in 4. primigenius. The figures, it is evident, were 
only intended for a mere diagramatic illustration, and are 
therefore not very neatly executed. But taken together with the . 
letter, they constitute a very important contribution to science, as 
they afford the first proof ever published, that there isin America 


a fossil elephant different from the European and Siberian Z. pri- 
MAGeENiUS. 


In the original figure of the jaw of #. Jacksoni, above alluded 
to, the form of the symphysis and gutter agrees so nearly with 
that of the corresponding parts of our specimens that no specific 
differences can be perceived. The molar teeth, represented in 
their place in the jaw, do not appear to be correctly drawn, as 
they differ from each other in their proportions and in the number 
of plates. On the same page, however, there is a figure of the 
crown of one of the molars, and in the 36th volume of the Journal, 
p. 190, Mr. Foster gives another and a better one, of the same 


144 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 


tooth; but he does not state on what scale it is drawn. The 
length of this latter figure is three and a half inches and one and 
a half in width. Assuming this to be half the natural size, the 
length would be seven inches and the width three. There 
appear to be fifteen plates, including four at one end which are 
represented by irregular rows of digitations, more or less worn. 
This would give an average of a little less than half an inch to each 
plate, thus agreeing exactly with the Canadian molar. 

The tusk described by Mr. Briggs differs from our specimens in 
being less curved; but this is a character upon which a great 
deal of reliance cannot be placed. The tusks of all the species of 
elephants vary to a considerable extent, not only in the amount of 
their curvature but in their size. Three tusks have been lately 
procured from the Youcon river, in Arctic America, by B. R. 
Ross, Esq. Two of these are curved, but the third is nearly 
straight, ‘The characters of the molars seem to be more perma- 
nent. 

At Zanesville, in Ohio, there was found, in 1852, the skeleton 
of an enormous elephant, having the tusks and the four molar 
preserved. 

These were described by Prof. J. Wyman, in the Proceedings 
of the American Association, published in 1857. 


tt The following are the dimensions of the right and left upper molars 
in inches :—= 
Right. Left. 


Greatest length........ceceeeceerseceecs 144 134 
Greatest height when resting on the ground. 103 ll 
Length of grinding surface........- nodO 000 83 9 
Breadth of at GH agoge De o0d06 000 4i 41 
Whole number of plates......e.ceseeeeees 29 30 
Plates of grinding surface ....coe-+--- Soo.ct, alts} 18 


The dimensions of the molars of the lower jaw are as follows: 


Right. Left. 
Whole length... ........ee sec e cere necceens 143 15 
Length of grinding surface.......+sseeeees 9 83 
Breadth es S500 ND 00000 0DE 33 3h 
Whole number of plates....sescesesseeeeee 24 25 
Plates of grinding surface.........sseeeeee 17 17 


Comparing the average width of the plates of the grinding or 
worn surfaces of the above four molars with that of the Canadian 
specimen, and also with that of H. Jacksont, as figured by Foster 


ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 145 


(assuming that his figure is half the natural size), the following 
are the results in decimal parts of an inch: 


Average 
Width. 
Right upper (Wyman)..se.seceseseres nOGdOUG seoe °49 
Left upper CUT clelc\eisieVelelelelolsiclalelelevels\eleyclelats “50 
Right lower COMMU atclal st clavatat olelevevelcleterctetetar ereleveye "53 
Left lower OG apsddooo0s0dandono0dKDCKL 52 
Right upper (Foster)...... clolaleletels{cleveloreterejeloratcharstels “46 
Right lower (Billings).....essseevses Soncuve eee 44 
The first thirteen plates of the same at two 
inches below worn surface....c.ceccessecesees “bill 


In the Zanesville molars, there were eighteen plates in the upper, 
and seventeen in the lower, brought into view. Consequently the 
average width of the plates, on the worn surface, is greater than it 
would be if only nine plates had been brought out to view by 
wear, as in our specimen, 

According to the views of Mr. Foster, as given in the Proce. 
Am. Assoc. above cited, the remains of the Ohio elephants were 
found in a deposit accumulated just after the close of the northern 
drift period, and while the river terraces were in process of forma- 
tion. The individual, to which the four molars described by Prof. 
Wyman belonged, was discovered in an ancient shore of the 
Muskingum River, in what he, Mr. Foster, calls valley drift, being 
composed of loam sand and gravel filling up the original valley of 
the stream that had been excavated out of the palzeozoic rocks. 
This valley drift holds large blocks of rock ; evidently transported, 
but derived from the neighboring carboniferous and Devonian 
formations, over which the river flows. These blocks were most 
probably floated, not by icebergs, but by river ice, at a time when 
a somewhat colder climate prevailed in the Western States. Some 
of these blocks were found, immediately above the stratum of 
sand holding the elephant’s bones. I believe this valley drift to be 
of the same geological age as the formation of sand gravel at Ham- 
ilton in which our specimens were found. On comparing all 
the evidence—namely, the figures and descriptions published 
by Briggs and Foster, the measurements of the teeth given by 
Prof. Wyman, the proximity of the localities and the probable 
identity in geological age of the valley drift and lake terraces,— 
I think it almost certain that the four elephants above noticed are 
all of the same species, H. Jacksoni. 

I have no means, except the figures published by different 

Can. Nar. 10 Vou. VII. 


146 ELEPHANT REMAINS IN CANADA. 


authors of comparing /. Jacksoni with EL. primigenius. Dr. H. 
- Falconer in an article, (extraordinary for the amount of valuable 
instruction it contains) published in the Natural History Review 
for January, 1863, points out that the American molars, referred 
to HL. primigencus, differ from those of the European form of that 
species, in having the plates more numerous in proportion to the 
length of the teeth. He also says (p. 67 Op. cit.) that the figure 
of the lower jaw of . Jacksoni, above mentioned, indicates a dif- 
ferent species. But he was evidently not aware that the molars 
in guestion and the jaw belong to the same. Our specimens set 
that question at rest. The figures 4 and 5 Pl. 11, Cuvier’s Ossi- 
mens Fossiles represent two lower jaws of #. primigenius. Fig. 
4 is one-eighth of the natural size, and shews a symphysial canal 
8 lines wide, giving 54 inches for the width of it in the ori- 
ginal. That of Fig. 5 had a canal 4 inches wide. The width of 
the same organ in our two specimens of #. Jacksont is 24 and 12 
inches respectively. This difference is so great that, could we 
compare entire animals or skeletons of both species we would, in. 
all probability, find corresponding differences throughout their 
whole frame. The difference in the molar teeth is not so great, 
but still it is such that it gives, as Dr. Falconer says, “a certain 
amount of distinctive physiognomy.” By itself it would not, per- 
haps, amount to much; but when taken in connection with the 
difference in the form of the symphysis it becomes important. 

It seems quite certain that there are several species of Ameri-- 
can fossil elephants, but the question, how many? remains yet. to 
be decided. 

The following have been indicated, but much yet remains to be 
done before the Synonymy can be clearly settled. 

1 E. primigenius, (Blumenbach). 

2 EH. Jacksont, (Briggs & Foster) 1838. 

8 EH. Rupertianus, (Sir J. Richardson) 1852. 

4 EH. Americanus, (Leidy) 1853. 

5 EH. Columbi, (Falconer) 1857. 

6 EH. Imperator, (Leidy) 1858. 

4" E. Texanus, (Blake? or Owen) 1858. 

The last three are clearly distinct. from #. Jacksonz, but are 
they distinct from each other? I have seen no description of Z. 
Americanus. Dr. Falconer says that Sir J. Richardson has with- 
drawn HE. Rupertianus from the list, having become aware by his 
own researches. that it is not separable from 2. primigenius. 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 147 


Should it be admitted that #. Jacksoni is distinct from LZ. pri- 
migenius, then, we have no proof whatever that this latter species 
ever lived so far south in America as the United states and Ca- 
nada. A large proportion of the remains, found in these two 
countries, which have been heretofore referred to H. primigenius, 
most probably belong to H. Jacksoné. 


No Remains or Man Fovunp. 


No remains of man, or of his works, have been found in the 
formation which holds the bones of the Elephant in Canada. In 
allusion to the absence of human bones in the ancient river drift 
of Europe, I may mention, that for the last fifteen years, I have 
been in the habit of examining the bottom of the Ottawa and 
other Canadian rivers every season, at the time of the lowest 
water, in search of fossils; and that, although I have seen the 
bones of almost all the species of land animals now living in the 
country, associated with innumerable works of man, I never yet 
found a human skull in any of these streams. I speak of the 
skull, because it is possible that some of the small bones may have 
been those of the human frame, and not recognized as such by 
me. But, as man is the only animal who removes the dead of 
his own species from the water, and buries them on shore, thou- 
sands of years may elapse without a single skeleton being imbed- 
ded in a fluviatile formation; and yet the same formation may 
be full of the traces of his existence, associated with abundant re- 
mains of contemporary animals. 


Art. Xll.—Remarks on the Genus Lutra, and on the Species 
inhabiting North America; by GzorcEe Barnston, Esa. 


(Presented to the Natural History Society.) 


The purpose of this paper is to introduce to the notice of 
naturalists a rare variety, in all probability, I may say, a distinct 
species of otter, yet undescribed by zoologists, and smaller than the 
common otter of Canada. Experienced Indian hunters know it 
asa different animal, applying to it the name of the pulling-down 
otter. In the Ojibiway tongue this term is Pinaikiwawkeek, 
or Pinahatkiwawkeek, which I have followed in adopting for it 
the specific name of Destructor. 

A few prefatory remarks on the number of the species of the 


148 ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 


genus Lutra generally may not be uninteresting.* The mate- 
rials within my reach do not allow me to enter into many parti- 
culars; but I can touch upon the names of six or seven species 
mentioned by traveilers as occurring in different quarters of the 
globe. Following such information we find otters of different 
kinds on the four great continents. . 

First, we have the Lutra vulgaris of Great Britain and Europe; 
with what is considered a dark or black variety of the same on 
the sea coasts. This is called Z. Roensis by Ogilby, who deemed it 
distinct, and who had it from the shores of Antrim in the north of 
Ireland. 

India has its otter in the Lutra Nair, the Nir Nayie, 
which in some parts of that country is domesticated, and rendered 
very serviceable by being taught to drive fish, and even take 
them in the water and bring them on shore for the fishermen. No 
doubt the Nir Nayie brings the fish ashore for his own use; but 
the fisherman interferes, the rights of the biped coming before 
those of the quadruped.. The Juhl Margur of the Mahrattas is 
perhaps only a variety of the Nir Nayie. It is a little larger, 
and differs in wanting the white spot over the eyes, and in having 
a white upper lip. It may be found however, upon a full anato- 
mical comparison, that these two otters are of distinct species. 

The Javanese Simung is a species of otter to which Horsfield, 
so well known as an ornithologist, gave the name of Luira 
leptonyz, or fine-clawed otter. Opinions vary as to whether 
this may not be similar to, or a variety of the otter to which I 
have next to advert; but the wide separation of the two countries 
by ocean, and the almost total if not entire difference of their 
mammals in other genera, would favor the opinion that their 
otters are distinct also. 

The Lutra Capensis was constituted a genus by Lesson, under 
the name Aonyx, as wanting claws, a peculiarity pertaining to 
some specimens had from the Cape, but which has not been deter- 
mined as in all instances constant. It would appear that such 


* Audubon gives a list of 11 species enumerated by authors, viz :— 
‘¢Kurope, 1; Island of Trinidad, 1 ; Guyana, 1; Brazil, 1; Kamschatka, 
1; Para, 1; Malay, 1; Pondichiery, 1; The Cape of Good Hope, 1; and 
North America, 2.’ Pennant seems to have considered the North Amer- 
ican and Kamschatka Otter as the same, and the names Guyana, Trini- 
dan, Brazil, appear merely local, not distinctive, in the absence of 
specific characters, whieh I regret I cannot here obtain. 


"* 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 149 


a character would require a number of specimens in proof, ere 
naturalists could admit it as always existing and permanent, so as 
to entitle it to generic pre-eminence. It is possible there may 
result a solution of these difficulties in the determination of two 
distinct species of otter on the southern portion of the African 
continent. 


The Lutra Brasiliensis of Ray is the lobo du rio of the 
Portuguese and Brasilian colonists. This appellation of River 
Wolf is given to it, we may conclude, from the barking noise it 
makes, and from its gregarious habits. These otters keep together in 
bands, but have no resemblance to the wolf. Azara’s name is 
Nutria, and it is a well marked species, smaller than our Canadian 
otter, of a yellow colour, and destitute of the glandular apparatus 
_ round the nostrils; which is the only portion of the nose wanting 
hair. In our North American otters a large space on the nose 
is bare. As might be implied from its gregarious habits, the Brasi- 
lian otter has a social disposition. They fish in company in the 
rivers of Paraguay and Brazil, and many females rear their young 
together in one locality. 


Lutra Californica is a species established by Mr. J. E. Gray of 
the British Museum, on the strength of its differing from the 
Canadian Otter, in having but little hair on the feet between the 
pads of the toes, and less on the palms and soles generally. 
Besides this, the length of the naked portion of the nose is shorter 
than its breadth, and shews not anteriorly or posteriorly the acute 
points encroaching upon the upper lip and forehead. These 
marks, especially the latter, are quite observable in the case of the 
Canadensis, and probably are the consequences of a difference in 
the nasal bones. Zoologists therefore have been induced to follow 
Gray, and adopt the species. Indeed the separation of California 
from the rest of our continent by the high lands of Mexico, with 
their characteristic Fauna and Flora, on the east, the sandy de- 
serts and the Elk and Humboldt mountains, on the north east, 
and the gigantic southern limbs of the Cascade range, on the 
north, renders it probable that this otter, is distinct. When 
a number of the skulls and skeletons of each shall have been 
collected, a close comparison will decide the matter. 

Eastern North America, which is so highly favored in the posses- 
sion of magnificent rivers and lakes, filled at times to overflow by 
a thousand tributary streams and mountain torrents, might well 


150 ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 


_ be supposed to abound in otters, and such is really the case, where 
civilization with its attendant population has not thinned their 
numbers, or entirely rooted them out. In flat level districts, 
where streams are numerous, and well provided with boulders and 
rolled rocks, localities to which otters appear partial, as affording 
secluded and safe retreats, an able Indian hunter has been known 
to kill forty or fifty in the course of a winter and spring. The 
Lutra Canadensis, which affords this sport, is found across the 
whole of the continent, and the animal differs little on the west- 
ern slope from what he is found to be on the eastern side. From 
recollection I am disposed to think that on the waters of the south 
branch of the Columbia, and the rivers lying between that and 
the Pacific, its fur, like the coat of the beaver, is lighter colored 
than in the colder regions. 

In winter, otters, like seals, are fond of coming upon the ice, 
but alwaysin the vicinity of open water, into which they can easily 
plunge on the slightest alarm. In the spring they extend their 
walks, and disport themselves on the ice, especially after a light 
fall of snow. On these occasions they frequently fall by the hun- 
ter’s gun. When greater excursions are made, as in crossing 
through woods from one stream to another, or traversing large 
lakes to reach open currents, otters seem to glide along, as it were, 
in their course, and this is done by repeated jerks forward. In 
deep snow scarcely any traces are left of the feet, the weight of 
the body following erasing the impression. The appearance 
afterwards is exactly as if a heavy cylinder, the size of a stove-pipe 
had been moved along by some invisible power. These long 
journeys are made principally in the earliest warm days, when 
otters begin to change their winter haunts, and seek for mates. 
At this period hunting is followed up with the greatest success. 
The Indian is constantly on the look-out for these animals, when 
they leave their holes to pass through points of woods and over 
frozen lakes, in search of their companions, and of other quarters 
where fish begin to collect. In deep snow the difficulty of over- 
taking them is lessened by using the snow-shoe, and when afrozen 
lake occurs, where the crust is hard or the ice bare, the snow-shoe 
is dispensed with, and the animal soon overtaken, if there be no 
open water at hand. The mode of progression of the otter by 
jerks, or a repeated succession of forward impulses, is occasioned 
by the shortness of its legs, and the compact firmness of its hind 
joints, best adapted for swimming. In fact they do swim on the 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 151 


surface of soft snow, their smooth fur opposing no obstacle to their 
advance, but rather aiding them on declivities, where their pace 
becomes accelerated. A hunter needs to be quick when an otter 
is shot iv or near to the water. The moment it is dead it sinks like 
a seal; and if not badly wounded it escapes without difficulty unless 
seized immediately. 

The female otters are smaller than the males. March and 
April is the season of gestation, and in August the young are active 
and able to provide for themselves. In northern latitudes the 
season of pairing may be a little later. Their principal food is fish, 
but they eat also mollusks and crustacea; unios and crawfish 
abound in some streams, and afford them much sustenance. At 
fishing stations they are particularly troublesome, and very expert 
in eluding the snares devised to catch or entrap them. They 
destroy many more fish than they eat, preferring always the head, 
and often leaving the rest untouched. When the nets are watched, 
during the day, they make their visits in the darkness of the night 
and retire unperceived to holes in the bank, under the roots of trees 
and similar places, where they remain in comparative safety. When 
there is a scarcity of fish and otters are numerous, their depreda- 
tions are very damaging. 

If trouble be taken with the otter to tame it, it becomes a very 
interesting pet. There is something mischievously amiable about 
a pup otter. Restless and wary he gets into every hole and corner, 
his tone of voice is agreeable, and the soft glossiness of his black 
coat would induce any one to pat or caress him. I kept one for 
some time, and it afforded great amusement. When taken to the 
borders of the river, it would seek a pool or eddy of considerable 
depth, where it would commence diving, bringing generally from 
the bottom some species of small mollusk. Shells of the cyclas 
genus were very abundant there. These it would crunch and 
eat, one at a time, holding the nose and mouth out of the water 
the body being apparently almost in an upright position. As soon 
as one was finished, it would dive again without delay to the 
bottom, returning to the surface as soon as another cyclas had 
been got, never seeming to tire of the amusement. This hard 
exercise appeared to occasion no fatigue ; and as a hearty break- 
fast of fish had been had before hand on shore, the entertaiment 
no doubt was equivalent to a dessert and a bath. 

With harder shells an otter has greater difficulty ; with an ano- 
donta or unio he seeks some rock shelving into the stream, or a flat- 


152 ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 


tish stone or rolled boulder just appearing above water, or but 
slightly covered; here he makes his repast, breaking the shell and, 
eating its contents. In navigating rivers with boats or canoes, 
rocks and flat stones, on or near the surface, may be frequently 
observed with collections of open and shattered shells upon them; 
indicating the spot to which an otter had resorted for the purpose 
of dining, a board where he could best get over the troublesome 
process of getting into the dish. These dinner-tables of the otter 
are worthy of the conchologist’s regard, as likely to furnish occa- 
sionally a rare bivalve. 

The remarks just made, although drawn from observation of 
the habits of Dutra Canadensis, are applicable, I daresay, in 
a great measure, to the other otters; and we now arrive at the 
more particular consideration of the Lutra destructor. I pur- 
pose to show that there exists throughout a great portion of the 
British territory in North America, if not farther south, a smaller 
species of otter, well known to the aboriginal Ojibways and the 
Crees, as the Pinaikiwawkeek, the breaker of beaver-houses and 
dams. He closely resembles the larger otter in dentition, color, 
and shape, but is of more slender structure, and possesses marked 
differences in the proportions of the cranial bones. He has 
besides distinct habits, and modes of life, especially in his search 
for sustenance, which I think altogether entitle us to consider him 
as specifically separated from the Lutra Canadensis. 

Through the kindness of Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian 
Institution, I have been favored with drawings of the skulls of the 
English otter, Lutra vulgaris, and of Lutra destructor, the latter 
taken froma specimen sent by me to the Institution about eighteen 
months ago. A comparison of these shows differences so striking, 
that we cannot entertain an idea of their belonging to the same 
species, and we are thus left to the investigation of the points of 
variance between the JZ. destructor and our own otter, LZ. Cana- 
densis. 

The Pinaikiwawkeek or pulling-down otter, attains the length of 
from thirty-six to forty inches, about the size of the smallest females 
of the Lutra Canadensis, but nearly a foot shorter than the largest 
males. From many measurements of two specimens of the two 
species, of nearly equal size, it will be perceived how closely in some 
respects they resemble each other, yet in other particulars how 
they unaccountably disagree. This disagreement in the measure- 
ments before skinning, as shown in the accompanying table, is per- 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 153 


haps more strikingly illustrated by an examination of the skulls; and 
accords with remarks I have heard made by Indians of the appear- 
ances by which they distinguish the one otter from the other. In 
the LZ. destructor the bones of the skeleton and the cranium are 
less massive. The length of the skulls being nearly alike (as in 
the two specimens taken for exemplification), there is found in the 
L.. destructor a less breadth in the post-orbital process of the frontal ; 
and the whole of the nasal bones are narrower and weaker. The 
outer measurement of the cavity of the brain approaches the oval, 
being convex in all aspects, and it exceeds the half of the total 
length of the skull from occiput toincisors, by nearly one-fourth of an 
inch ; whereas the enclosing shell or covering of the brain inthe Z. 
Canadensis is almost exactly half the length of the whole skull. It 
is also nearly flat on the top, presenting no rounded surface 
except close to the occiput : this feature also prevails, although to 
a less extent, laterally, and there is a more sudden and decided 
narrowing of the cavity anteriorly, so that the general outline 
approximates less to ovaliform, and more to the shape of a trunc- 
ated cone. 

On the lateral view, with the lower jaws taken off, the skull 
of the L. destructor exhibits somewhat of an arched appearance ; 
the molar and facial bones are narrower, and the zygomatic arch 
rises to about half the height of the skull. In the L. Canadensis, 
on the same lateral aspect, the planes of the head are straighter, the 
facial bone deeper and broader, and the zygomatic arch rises 
only to a paralled line of two-fifths of the depth of the skull. Here 
I may observe that the smallness of the bones of the face in the L. 
destructor, coincides with the remark I have heard made by a 
hunter, that the eyes of the Pinaikiwawkeek were closer to the 
end of the snout than in the common otter. 

These differences, drawn from measurement and osteological 
characters, would not have determined me to have reckoned these 
two otters different species, (although deviations of less note have 
often served for specific separations,) but the account given by 
Indians of their Pinaikiwawkeek, not only to myself, but to 
others, tend to impress upon me the conviction that in it we have 
a different animal from the common otter of America. That the 
beaver, in spite of his size and strength, at times falls a prey to the 
otter is certain. In 1823,1 accompanied a few Churchill Crees, 
in order to be present at the taking of a beaver-lodge. After 
breaking through about three to four feet of frozen mud with their 


154 ON THE GENUS LUTRA 


ice chisels, they found the lodge empty. The lodge being large, 
I was able to descend into it, and crawl about on all-fours. At 
the door, situated opposite the middle of the little shoal-lake in 
which the beavers had built, I found vestiges of old cut willows 


: Figure 1. 


L. destructor ; top view of skull three-fourths natural size. 


scarcely thicker than the fingers. The door had been under water, 
but the floor rose towards the centre of the house, so that 
it must have been partially dry in summer. The ice was at its 
upper surface higher than the opening or door towards the lake, 


Figure 2. 


L. destructor; side view of skull three-fourths natural size. 


but the water having either retired or been drawn off, it was hollow 
beneath ; and although the situation was shoal, a beaver never- 
theless could have crept under. I was much interested about the 
structure of the lodge, and especially with one or two niches in 
the wall, a little above the level of the floor, which I looked 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 155 


upon as seats, or places of retirement, if at any time the rising of 
the water should overflow the basement. Some such provision 
for accidents was without doubt had in view in the construction 
of these lowly arched niches, which certainly afforded more room 


Figure 4. 
L. Canadensis ; top view of skull three-fourths natural size. 


to the family. Being scarcely acquainted with the Cree language 
at that period, I could not interrogate the hunters closely ; but after 
they had surveyed the surrounding locality, and examined the 


Figure 5. 


L. Canadensis ; side view of skull three-fourths natural size. 


lodge, they gave it as their opinion that an otter had been there 
to spoil their sport and destroy the beaver. 

In 1835 I first began to make particular enquiry regarding the 
destruction of beaver by otters. This was on the Albany river, and 
the Indian interrogated was an elderly man, not one of the best 
of characters, but he had always been most friendly to me, ané 


156 ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 


was most shrewd and intelligent. He was deemed a conjuror 
by. his tribe, and bore that name at our establishment amongst the 


Figure 3. 
L. destructor ; lower jaw three-fourths natural size. 


servants. I was told by him that it was the small otter, which he 
styled Pinaikiwawkeek, that killed the beavers, by breaking down 
their dams and getting into their houses; or so disturbing them as 


Figure 6. 


L. Canadensis ; lower jaw three-fourths natural size. 


to take them at disadvantage abroad, devouring the young, and all 
he could succeed in mastering. Jad this animal been the young 
of the Canadian otter, it would have been named Neekeekous, 
z. e. the diminutive affix would have been used with Neekeek. 


ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 157 


From that period I have always thought we had two species of otter. 
Iwas informed at the same time that the Pinaikiwawkeek did 
not consort with the Neekeek but that the two were at enmity 
with each other, and fought when they met. It can scarcely be 
imagined that this very unamiable disposition, and the destructive 
habit of destroying the beaver, with the fatigue necessarily atten- 
dant upon such a pursuit, could be possessed by a mere variety 
of the Neekeek or common otter, while the same inclinations 
were not ascribed to every individual of the species. Neither can 
it be supposed that the young and smaller individuals of a species 
would follow an occupation requiring apparently agreater amount of 
intelligence and skill, if not of strength, while the older and 
stronger members of the same family left it off, or generally 
declined it. This would be contrary to nature, as displayed in 
the order of carnivorous animals. It may be also observed that 
had the two animals been the same, the remark could never be 
made by Indians that they were obnoxious to cach other, and did 
not commingle or associate together. 

Judging from the skull of the L. destructor, its greater compara- 
tive fulness or roundness of outline, indicating a greater amount of 
brain anteriorly, and a development of higher instincts,—any one 
might infer it to be a creature endowed with more sagacity than 
the common otter; and we find accordingly that, besides the usual 
fishing occupations, it resorts to war upon the industrious and 
harmless beaver, and brings into the field a degree of design, 
contrivance, and perseverance, not belonging apparently to either 
the Lutra Canadensis, or any other of the genus. Not to be 
tedious, I shall only add, that the information of the Albany and 
Weenusk Conjuror has been confirmed by many hunters on the 
shore of Lake Superior, who never saw the Albany river, and who 
never moved to any great distance from the great lake ; and also 
by communications from a gentleman, who had similar statements 
from Indians on the shores of Hudson’s Bay. 

Agassiz says in his very useful work on classification “ that 
“Species in a natural genus should not present any structural 
“ differences, but only such as present the most special relations 
“of their representatives tothe surrounding world, and to each 
“other. Genera, in one word, are natural groups of a peculiar 
“kind, and their special distinction rests upon the ultimate details 
“ of their structure.” I believe there is exhibited in the skull of the 


158 ON THE GENUS LUTRA. 


L. destructor a special distinction resting on the ultimate details 
of its structure; a speciality is also displayed in relation to the 
outward world, by the breaking of beaver-works, and preying 
upon that animal. Another speciality is its non-association with, 
or enmity towards the other otter. Its isolated mode of life may 
be deemed a third; and its allowed inferior sizea fourth speciality, 
apart from structural details. 

A sufficient amount of data and information has been adduced, 
I think, to authorize the introduction of the Z. destructor as an- 
other and distinct species of otter, inhabiting in small numbers the 
region of North-eastern America. Ifthe grounds appear too slight 
for the substantiating specific impress, I hope that, in course of time, 
further inquiry and better examination by practical zoologists will 
decide the point, as well as add to our stock of zoological know- 


ledge. 


Differences in Measurement of Two Otters. 


Lutra Canadensis 
January, 1862 


Lutra destructor 
28th Dec., 1861. 


Total length from point of nose to end of tail..........| 36.20] 38.25 
Length from Oe «to root iC iMalefelotate|sieretsl| OZ Oa a4 OOF 
Height of hairy portion of upper lip.........eeeoeee fers 62 65 
Breadth from angle to angle of mouth beneath, across 

the lower lip from jaw to jaw...ssesececsssscceests 2.00) 2.20 
Tes Es pepe eet ie eT Ue 2.60] 2.75 


Breadth of hind sole at callosities.....ccesscecccccecs 1.75] 2.00 
Breadth of expanded hind foot, from point of the first toe 

to point of the fifth........ etoileheloletels|clletafolaiel halos wtarelefelof| Wrote. oll Manoa O 
Breadth of muzzle behind the nose...see.sceeseee seeee| 1.75) 1.90 


us from point of one eye to point of the other......] 1.60} 2.00 
o of head at opening of the ear.......se.eeeeeees| 3.25] 3.75 


Circumference of head at the ear........ceeeeceees eee() Sol2], 9.25 
ut “sc at the eyes..... Jagd beaoodo0000 6.12] 6.50. 
0 “neck at three inches from the ear.....] 9.50] 10.50 
ce “ body atshoulder....... veececceveeee| 13.00] 14.00: 
Length of head from occiput to ee Of NOSe..seseeeee| 4.75] 4.75 
«from eye to the nostril.......0....20. ceeseeee| 1.00} 1.10 
ce &  « +o point of anoint rtiete nt ket. Gadeussmy lotsa) |) asa. 

ce “ to entering angle of bare portion of nose 
Onwroreheadreneriverricleriieeietisrreleictreiceieisterenietere Scaally Wola) ips 
Circumference from point of snout to auditory opening..| 3.60! 3.90 


_Norsz.—The wood-cuts illustrating this article were drawn on the blocks by Mr. 
H.S. Smith and engraved by Mr. J. H. Walker. 


ADDENDUM. ~* 159 


Addendum to Dr. Dawson’s article on Air-Breathers of the 
Coal Period. 


Through the kindness of the Council of the Geological Society 
of London, the fine skeleton of Dendrerpeton Acadianum, sent by 
me to the Society in 1861, has been returned for my inspection 
in the preparation of this article. 

I am now able to state, in addition to the facts already publish- 
ed, that the large furrowed teeth of the inner series were not 
placed in the palatal bones, but on the maxillaries and intermax- 
illaries, the outer series of smaller and simple teeth being borne 
on the outer margin of these bones. The arrangement was thus 
somewhat similar to that in Lepidosteus. Immediately within 
the large teeth were the vomerine series, which were very numer- 
ous and irregularly placed, but small, with the exception of a few 
in front. They extended backward in two lines along both sides 
of the palate, in this also resembling some ganoid fishes. 

In this specimen, the lower jaw, remaining in place under the 
skull, is seen to contain, especially toward the front, long fur- 
rowed teeth like those of the upper jaw, implanted in round soc- 
kets on the broad upper surface of the mandible, with others more 
simple and of smaller size. 

By carefully removing the stone, I have uncovered the occipital 
condyles, which are double and square in outline, much like those 
of Labyrinthodon, and not dissimilar from those of Sieboldia and 
Menobranchus. 

Near the skull, the scales of the throat remain in their natural 
position, and are seen to be densely imbricated, and arranged in 
curved rows, diverging from the mesial line. The scales of the 
abdomen are of larger size, and are scattered over the stone. 
Those of the throat are of a narrow ovate form, those of the abdo- 
men wider, and some of them tending to rhomboidal in outline. 

Twenty-four vertebre, in all, are seen in the specimen. Of these 
thirteen occur in continuous series, and appear to be lumbar. 
They are of small size, relatively to the dimensions of the head 
and limbs, and indicate a weak and flexible back. Other verte- 
br, not in regular series, are dorsal, and have strong transverse 
processes with oblique articulating surfaces. A few are perhaps 
cervical and caudal. The bodies of the vertebrae have continuous 
bony walls, but thinner than in specimens of larger size. 

One half of the pelvis is well preserved, and shows a broad 


160 ADDENDUM. 


ileum, and strong ischiac and pubic bones. There are also broad 
scapular, and probably sternal bones, but crushed and imperfect. 
Few of the ribs remain, and these apparently only the smaller 
ones, as compared with other skeletons of which I have portions. 
Several of the bones of the limbs remain in sufficiently good 
preservation to allow of measurement of their size. Iam thus 
enabled to give the following dimensions of parts of the animal. 


Total length of skull,.........se0- weccecccsece 275 inches. 
breadth ‘ at the orbits,*.....+ee.... 2 ch 
Length of humerus)... 2 cc ccc cc cccwccencecs 14; $ 
a US THIbE NS Gogd000 0000000 wcesees veccesee L sf 
Ws femur, sees eves ccccncsnescocseses I se 
a COMET yacketerele Hdcddbabodoboo 660 00000060 mp eee 
ct “ eleven vertebra in series,..... so0c00D thee 


It would seem from these dimensions that the head was broad, 
and the trunk slender; the anterior limb, including the foot 
half as long again as the head, and the posterior limb rather 
smaller or shorter than the anterior. It would thus appear that 
while the general form of the body was not unlike that of Meno- 
branchus, the limbs were much larger, and must have carried the 
trunk without allowing any part of it to touch the ground, as 
would also seem to have been the case from the footprints found 
in the coal-formation beds, and the size and form of the toes of 
which make it likely that they belonged to this animal. 

The limb-bones, though thin-walled and often crushed, evi- 
dently had broad articulating surfaces; and in the base of the fore- 
limbs particularly, were large and strong in proportion to the di- 
mensions of the head and vertebral column. 

The large size of the fore-limb I suppose to have been related 
to a habit of walking or standing in shallow water, with the snout 
in the air, in the manner of newts, and the more rapid movements 
of the creature were probably performed by the tail. It is inter- 
esting to observe that in Hylonomus the proportions of the limbs 
were reversed—the hind limbs being much larger than the fore 
limbs. 

From the relative dimensions of the bones, as compared with 
those of other specimens in my possession, I presume that this in- 
dividual was three-fourths grown, and I doubt if its total length 
much exceeded one foot. 


* Perhaps increased by flattening. 


RAIN, 
tN 
Amount 


_ of, in 
|| Inches, 


MONTHLY METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER, ST. MARTINS, ISLE JESUS, CANADA EAST, 


ws. 
(NINE MI 


i 
LES WEST OF MONTREAL,) FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1862. 


Latitude, 45 degrees 32 minutes North. Longitude, 73 degrees 36 minutes West. Height above the level of the Sea 118 feet. 


BY CHARLES SMALLWOOD, M.D., LL.D. 
a = ‘ é se 24 |ozonz.|| rain. SNOW. WEATHER, CLOUDS, REMARKS, &o, &c, 
5 SB ALOU ELS reap r eee Temperature of the Tension of Aqueous Humidity of the Direction of Wind. z E 2 pees j 
a 32° FB, Air—F, Vapour. Atmosphere. S84 || Mean [A cloudy sky is represented by 10, acloudless one by 0.] 
S (English itiches.) x Sac erin Poe Bonny 
5 z = = as Sch || of,in of, in of, in — — 
z Grom 2 p.m.(10 p.m,|| 6a,m,/2p.m. (10 p.m 2p. 1. . (10 p.m, 6 a.m. 2p. m. Ree tenths, || inches. |] inches. 6a, m. 2p.m, 10 p.m, 
7 5 2, 115 .78 || N.U. by E.|N. B. by DB. |S. Hazy. Cum. Str. 2. C. Cirr, Str. 4. 
2 65.1 92.0 73.3 17 by BE. iS. S. W. Ss. Fog. b 4. Str. bh 
3 pal ate 486 84 . by W. |S. by BD. Ss. Cirr, 2. Hazy, Aur. Bor. 
¢ 70.1 | 89.0 | 70.1 Wy by W. s 5. W, Rp Cir. Str. 2) 4. iClear. 
J i Pe : .N.E. -N.E, 5 lear. 2. ‘u. Str. 4, 
H a8 | at | 6ae 12 ||EibyN. |8.8:B. |S. « a Rai 
8 iv | 7918 | 7211 :81 W. S.S.W. |S Cu, Str 10. 4, Clear, Aur. Bor. 
8 || 82 I ase a issn” iw. hy: Ginn Str, 10 é : 
10 "9 | 85.6 | 69.3 : . B . We A irr, Str, . « 
9 2, Ob W. h Ss. i lear. Cu. Str. 8. 
Ha || ae | dae ‘78 || S.-W. W. 10 Clear. Dist- thu.inni,|0, Cum. 4, (Clear, 
13 “4 | 733 | 60.2 73 A Ss. 1.0 te lear, Str. 4, Aur. Bor. 
a Salil! veiv | teva 188 W. S. 20 .0.8tr. 10. Cu. Str. 10. Rain. 
15 1 | 73.2 | 59.0 188 W. W. 2.5 Cirr. Str. 10, w 4, Cir. Str. 10. 
16 22 | 711 | 542 74 b W. 1.0 Clear, O.C. Str. 4, Clear. 
7 3.1 | 74.2 | 61.6 74 s. 1.5 Light frost. Clear. Gi 
18 4 | 79.2 | 65.0 +83 iS 1.5 0.0. Str. 4, QC. Str. 8. Cu. Str 4, Aur. Bor, 
19 8 | 78.2 | 64.0 7 Ss. 1.0 Clear. Clear, Clear. Aur, Bor. 
20) 4 | 82.2 | 65.1 78 N. 1.5 G 0. C. Str. 8. Cu. Str, 10. 
21 ‘4 | 71.6 64.1 77 .\8. 2.0 C.0. Str. 10. Cu, Str. 4. Clear Solar Halo, 
22 .1 | 692 | 70:1 77 |S. 3.0 Rain. Rain, “Comet visible, 
23 2 | 74.6 | 53.3 of MA a Gaia, Str. 4, eae Str. 10, Clear, 
4, al = 5 Frost. lear. Wd 
2 ry | ama | tot +70 Ss. 10 Frost. wy Cu. Str, 10. 
26 -9 | 77.2 || 67.8 84 S. 1.5 ©. C. Str. 10. Rain, C.C. Str. 4. 
27 2.1 | 76.2 | 54,2 74 2 |S. 1.5 Cu. Str. 4, Clear, Clear, 
28 2 721 62.2 85 Ss. 1.0 C.C. Str. 10. Cirr. Str. 10, Cu. Str, 4. 
29 “1 | 603 | 53.0 80, W. 1.0 lear. ss a 4. Aur, Bor. 
80 1 | 70.0 | 56.2 ci Ss. 15 Erost Clear, Clear. 
81 52.0 | 80.6 | 62.2 : . : lear. iv 
REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, 1862. 
rs : 
3 || Barometer—corrected asc Y 224 || ozonz.|| natn. |] snow. WEATHER, CLOUDS, REMARKS, &C., &c. 
g aud reduced to Temperature of the Tension of Aqueous Humidity of the Direction of Wind. E 8 ae ; : ; 
a $20 F. Air.—F, Vapour. Atmosphere, S Ete Fe} [A cloudy sky is represented by 10, a cloudless one by 0.] 
] (English inches.) ‘BES q || Mean |/Amount || Amount, 
Ss = —- —: a nS gt |jamouut}) of, in of, in —<——$ —_——_______ — 
A 6a,m.|2p.m,|10p,m,|| 6a.m.{2p.m.|10p,m.|} 6 a.m.) 2p.m.]10p.m.|) 6 a.m. | 2p.m.|10 p.m. 6a,m 2p.m 10 p.m. tata of inches. || inches, 10 p.m. 
7 60.1 64.2 63.2 487 529 543, .o4 89 te ep we Be W. Re No N Boece s70 Rai F a St Bete: Ken 6 
49.1 55.2 45.2 297, 263 206 +85 64 o = We . -by N. 25. Io » Str 5 irr, Str, 5 lear. Aur, Bor. at 2.a.m. 
5 40.1 66.1 54,0 203, 438 885 82 . 68 80 W.byN. |W.by N. |W, 63. 20 1.5° Frost. lear, . se Aw: Bor. 
4 50.0 83.4 70.4 «290, 597 586 82, 53 80 S. W. S. iS. W. 109. 40 1.0 C.0.Str. 9. Cu, Str. . a 
5 70.2 | 77.2 | 70.1 602 | 1841 | 621 183 +91 85 || S. W. S. W. v. 116.60 2.0 C.Cum, 4. in, a 
6 57.1 57.7 54.0 436, 459 896 94 97 96 N. BE. by E.|N. B. by E. IN. E. by E. 237. 20 3.0 Rain, Rain, Rain. 
7 47.4 66, 2 61.1 811 509 49 93 81 85 N. B. by E. |N. E, by E. |S. by B. 92,20 2.0 Cu, Str, 10. iC. C. Str. 10. Cu. Str. 9. 
8 69,2 81.0 63.2 671 751 478 95 12 83 S.B. iS. W. W.. 202. 90. 2.5 Rain. ‘Cu. Str. 4, lear, 
9 58.1 | 72.4 | 56.0 400 | 1631 | .363 184 | .8L 81 |] W. IW. S. W. 203.10 1.0 Clear. Clear, “Aur, Bor, 
10 50.2 79.7 63.2 290 -606 577 82 60 85 S.W. iS. W. S.W. 18,60 1.0 s ee se 
lL 50.1 84.7 67.2 809 577 As y ES a e O eli ih Wee Rp Ne wh Ki pra ohh eo qi B 6 Gh aaa ae if « a A 
65.1 74,1 62.1 549 436 Ad. 5 «6 . . by W. . by W. ~N.E i 5 .Cirr Str, 4, in, tum. Str. h 
Be 60.4 638.4 50.0 898 856 283 .78 53 78 N. B. by B. |N. th by E.|N. E. by £. 249.40 1.0 Clear. *|Clear. Clear. 
14 45.2 69.1 54.2 251 543 335 «$4 .79 80 N.E. by E, |S. E. S.E. 68.50 1.0 10. Str. 2. a 
15 54.1 64.0 53.0 835 497 321 80 oe 80 RP Mh is Ve Re ue os ao fae 4, ew ee 
45.0 66.1 53.0 251 400 828 84 61 83 . W. }» W. . We I ak, lear. i 
18 42.0, 63. 4 56.3 «244 443 BOL + OL 65 87 Ss. W. iS. W. IN. B. by BE, 102.80 1.5 Ke = 
18 66.7 | 71.3 | 69.1 7898 | 1537 | .71 90 71 82 || S. W. IS. W. S..W. 139,20 1.0 4, Cu.Str. 10. ee I 
19 64.0 | 70.9 | 69.2 -490 | .571 | .410 81 84 -82 || S. W. iS. W. iS. W. 66, 10 1.5 8 ic. Cum. 4, “ Faint Aur. Bor. 
20 39.1 79.4 63.0 195 886 491 82 87 88 S. W. iS, W. iS. W. 19, 20 1.5 Clear, sf 
21 48.1 te 0 50,2 ra 496 +290, fe fe of Fe ui ig Ss tile Re us 24, 18 av +S i 
22 42.1 8.2, 62,1 223 671 466 a 5 85 . by BH. . We |. W. 11.1 . oe Hl 
23 44.4 86.2 68. 4 202, 557 543 Th 54 79 8. S. W. IS. by W. iS. We. 36.90 1.5 a i 
24 B42 ) 65.6 } 45.0 -84r | .542 | 258 83 87 -83 || N. W. W. W. 116, 20 2.5 Cu. Str. 4, “ Faint Aur, Bor. 
25 44.2 67.9 56.0 224 431 891 79 66 87 W. S. W.. iS, W. 80.30 1.0 10. Clear. ieee DG us 
i mo Rola ae |e) Be) Bey Ba Re ae | a “ PAG 
2 a h 4, 0 0 3 0 i 0 Ss. W. » W. . W. 148. 1 x “Aur. Bor, 
28 54.1 78.6 64.2 862, 619 A907 87 64 83 Ss. W. S. W. iS. W. 10,70 1.5 7 4, Cirr. Str. 4. “" Faint Aur, Bor. 
29 66.6 54.1 3898 463 862 90 mee 87 S.W. N. E. by E. |N. E. by E. 89.30 1.5 4, 0. C, Str. 10. Cu. Str, 8. 
30 44.2 34.0 261 157 162 OL 55 87 N.E. by E.|N. EB. by E. |S. by B. 105.90 2.5 Cirr. Cum, 4. ws 4, (Clear, 
REMARKS FOR AUGUST, 1862. REMARKS FOR SEPTEMBER, 1862. ' 
Highest, the 24th day, 30°140 inches, 15 hours and 40 minutes. Highest, the 21st day, 30.106 inches, 64 hours, 
Barometer Lowest, tho 28th day, 29.446 * Most prevalent wind, S. W- eens the Ist ae .: re fees Most prevalent wind, S. W. 
a Monthly Mean, 29.792 Least prevalent wind, the N. by B. - Barometer. ...... Monthly Mean, 29.833 “ Teast prevalent wind, S. 
Monthly Range, 0.694 Gs Most windy day the 29th day, mean miles per hour, 12.92/ Monthly Range, 6.902 G Most windy day, the 2nd day; mean miles per hour, 13,59. 
Highest, the sth day, 9396, Least windy day the 13th day, mean miles per hour, 0.04, Highest, the 14th day, 84°9. Least windy day, the 15th day. Inapp. 
Thermomet Lowest, the 24th day, 8450. Aurora Borealis visible on 6 nights, Lowest, the 8rd day, 32° 2. Aurora Borealis visible on 9 nights, 
meter.) Monthly Mean, 65°01. Comet visible. ! Thermometer. +xFonthly Mean, 59°48. ‘ Temperature of the ground at 18 inches, 63 °.2. 
G. .,~Monthily Range, 59°06, The Electrical state of the Atmosphere has been marked by Monthly Range, 52°7. The Electrical state of the Atmosphere has indicated feeble 
Lovtest naval, of the Sun’s rays, 105 °3. Moderate Intensity. ; Greatest intensity of the Sun’s rays, 98°0. intensity. 
Mean point of ! errestrial radiation, 3102, ‘Temperature of Thermometer in ground, 65°.0, Lowest point of Terrestrial radiation, 30°1. 
Amoun Humidity, 727, Solar Halo on the 21st day. Mean of humidity, °791. 


Rain fell” Evaporation, 2.07 inches, 


9 


Frost on 4 mornings. 


S amounting to 1.425 inches; it was raining 


Amount of Evaporation, 1.86 inches. 
Rain fellon 9 days, amounting to 3.532 inches; it was raining 


aah 


aKa: 


tnd 


i 


Mb-det 


DENDRERPETON OWENI Dawson [Pigs Zo 21) 
Skin & Horny Scales (Figs.22.éc)  ~ 


HYLONOMUS LYBLUI. Daavson. 


THE 


CANADIAN 
NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Vox. VIII. ~ JUNE, 1863. No. 3. 


% 


Art. XT1—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova 
Scotia ; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., &e. 


(Continued from page 92.) 


VY. DENDRERPETON OWENI. 
Plate IY. 

Among the reptilian remains found in erect trees at the South 
Joggins, there have occurred several portions of skeletons, which 
from their sculptured cranial bones, plicated teeth, and the forms 
of their scales and limb-bones, I have referred to the genus Den- 
drerpeton, but to individuals of much smaller size than the full- 
grown specimens of D. Acadianum. It did not occur to me to 
suppose that these were specifically distinct from the larger indi- 
viduals, until I observed that bones of this kind, contained in the 
collections sent by me to the Geological Society, or represented 
in the figures drawn to illustrate one of my papers, were referred 
by Professor Owen, in his notes on these specimens and figures, 
in the Journal of the Geological Society, to the genus Hylonomus ; 
which is quite distinct from Dendrerpeton, as will be explained in 
the sequel. | 

I was thus induced to re-examine all the specimens in my col- 
lection, and the result has been to establish a strong probability 
that there is in reality a second species of Dendrerpeton, smaller 
than D. Acadianum, and differing from it in several points. This 
species I propose to name D. Oweni. | It differs from D, Acadia- 
num in the following particulars:—(1) Its much smaller size: 
(2) Its long and hooked teeth; Pl. IV, Figs. 2 to 8; (it will be 

Can, Nar, 11 Vou. VIII 


162 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


seen that these teeth differ very markedly in their proportions 
and form from those of the larger species represented in Pl. III): 
(3) ‘The greater plication of the ivory in the intermaxillary teeth } 
Figs. 8, 9; (in D. Acadianum these teeth are, on the outside 
simple almost to the base, and plicated on the inner side, while 
in this species they are plicated all around like the inner maxillary 
teeth): (4) The form of the skull, which has the orbits larger in 
proportion, and is also shorter and broader. On the other hand, 
when we have described the species of Hylonomus, it will be seen 
that this animal, except in size, differs from them quite as widely 
as does D. Acadianum. 

The distinctness of D. Oweni is further confirmed by the fact 
that I possess small jaw bones of Dendrerpeton, about the size of 
those of this species, but having the teeth similar in form to those 
_ of the larger species ; these I suppose to have belonged to young 
individuals. 

On examining the figures, it will be seen that the bones of the 
skull were corrugated as in the large Dendrerpeton, but with a 
‘smaller pattern. The fornis of the jaw-bones also, and of the ver- 
tebree, ribs, scapular bone, bones of the limbs, and bony scales, 
are very similar, and indicate that in general form this creature 
was not far removed from its larger relative. The bones of the 
foot, represented in Fig. 14, especially deserve attention. This is 
the most perfect foot of Dendrerpeton hitherto found; and I have 
enlarged it in the figure, in order more distinctly to show its parts. 
It presents three long toes, with traces of a smaller one at each 
side, so that there were probably five in all. If these toes be 
compared with the footprints on the slab discovered by Dr. Hard- 
ing, represented in Pl. I, Fig. 2, it will be seen that they very 
closely correspond, though the toes of the present species are 
much smaller. The footprints are precisely those which we may 
suppose an animal of the size of Dendrerpeton Acadianum would 
have made, if, as the bones found render in every way probable, 
this larger species had a foot similar to that of D. Owent. I sup- 
pose, for this reason, that these footprints are really those of Den- 
drerpeton Acadianwm; and that this species continued to exist 
from the time of the lower coal measures, to the period when 
those higher beds of the series, in which its bones are found at 
the Joggins, were deposited. 

The present species must have lived in the same places with 
its larger relative; but may have differed somewhat in its habits. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE GOAL PERIOD. 163 


Its longer and sharper teeth may have been better suited for de- 
vouring worms, larve or soft-skinned fishes, while those of the 
larger Dendrerpeton were better adapted to deal with the mailed 
ganoids of the period, or with those smaller reptiles which were 
more or less protected with bony or horny scales. 


_VI. Remains oF Sxin anp [Horny ScALzEs. 
Plate I, Fig. 5; Plate IV, Figs. 22 to 34, and Plate V, Figs. 22 to 29. 


In one of my earliest explorations of the reptile-bearing stumps 
of the Joggins, I observed on some of the surfaces, patches of a 
shining black substance, which on minute examination proved to 
be the remains of cuticle, with horny scales and other appendages. 
‘The fragments were preserved ; but I found it impossible to deter- 
mine with certainty to which of the species whose bones occur 
with them they belonged, or even to ascertain the precise rela- 
tions of the several fragments to each other. I therefore merely 
mentioned them in general terms, and stated my belief that they 
ay have belonged to the species of Hylonomus.* More recently 
other specimens have been obtained, and I have undertaken the 
detailed examination of the whole. I shall now endeavour to 
describe the principal or most continuous fragments, and after- 
ward to consider the probabilities of their having belonged to cer- 
tain of the reptiles entombed with them. I do this here, rather 
than under the titles of these several animals, on account of the 
uncertainty which still rests on the assignment of certain portions 
of this cuticle to the species in question, and which renders it 
more convenient to consider these peculiar remains in one place, 
and to compare the different portions with each other. 

(1) One of my specimens is a flattened portion of cuticle 2} 
‘inches in length. The greater part of the surface is smooth and 
shining to the naked eye, and under the microscope shows only 
a minute granulation. A limited portion of the upper, and I sup- 
pose, anterior part is covered with imbricated scales, which must 
have been membranous or horny, and generally have a small spot 
or pore near the outer margin, some having in addition smaller 
scales or points on their surfaces, (Pl. IV, Figs. 22 and 25). In 
contact with the upper part of this specimen there were many 
fragments of the skull of Dendrerpeton Oweni. 


Journal of Geological Society, Vol. XVi. 


164 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


_ (2) Another portion of cuticle, similarly marked, appears to 

preserve the form of the posterior part of the body and tail of the 
animal, and also a mark representing the point of attachment of 
the hind leg; near to which, and along the dorsal ridge, is a por- 
tion of the skin covered with much smaller scales. It is repre- 
sented in Pl. I, fiz. 5. This was found in close proximity to a 
mass of bones of Dendrerpeton Owenz, mingled with some of Hy- 
lonomus Lyelli. 

(3) A third and still larger surface of integument with similar: 
markings, has upon it a number of vertebree and detached bones 
of the small reptile Hylonomus Wymani, to be described in the 
sequel ; for which species however it would be much too large a 
covering. 

(4) Another well preserved fragment, less than two inches in 
length, exhibits very different markings. It is nearly covered 
with very small imbricated scales, thicker than those on the spe- 
cimens previously described. On either side of what seems to 
have been the middle line of the back, there is a series of pointed 
flat horny processes, which probably formed a double spinous crest. 
Without these there are tufts of strong bristles, and exteriorly to 
these last are rows of flat, thick, horny plates, transversely wrink- 
led. Near to these was a row of conical truncated tubercles. 
Sections of these appendages show them to have been horny and 
attached to the cuticle. None of them have bony structure. 
Figs. 28, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, Pl. IV, represent this portion of cu- 
ticle, with magnified views of its markings, and of the structure of 
one of the thicker scales. Fig. 26 shows a portion of the ordi- 
nary scaly skin magnified and viewed by transmitted light. Fig. 
27 exhibits a few of the bristle-like appendages from the point 
marked a in fig. 23. Fig. 28 shows four of the bluntly-conical 
points seen in a portion of skin a little beyond the margin of the 
fragment in fig. 23, but evidently belonging toit. Fig. 24 is an 
enlarged representation of one of the flat horny scales from the 
point 6 in fig. 23; and fig. 29 is a magnified section of a por- 
tion of the same scale, showing a compact translucent brown 
substance with round canals, and near the margin, a portion much 
more abundantly supplied with these apparently vascular canals, 
while without this part there is a thin layer of more dense mate- 
rial. Fig. 80 shows a portion of the surface of fig. 23, more 
highly magnified, and displaying at a ordinary scales, at 6 
horny pointed organs, atc bristly appendages, and at d large 


"» 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 165 


plates. The whole of these parts, though displaced by the flat- 
tening and wrinkling of the skin, are in good preservation, and 
show their characters in great perfection under the microscope, 
They are all black and shining as if carved in jet. 

(5) Near this last portion of cuticle, and possibly belonging to 
it, are pointed and probably membranous appendages, marked on 
each side with rows of scales not overlapping, and each with a 
pore in its centre. The manner in which these appendages are 
bent and wrinkled, shows that they must have been soft, except at 
the tips, which seem to have been hard and horny, and they are 
arranged in series, as if originally placed along the sides of the 
neck or abdomen, or both. These appendages are represented — 
in Pl. 1V, figs. 31 and 32. A magnified representation of the 
point of one of them is given in fig. 33, and a small portion, still 
more higkly magnified, in fig. 34. The use of these appendages 
it is not easy to conjecture. They remind us of the gular pouches 
of iguana, and of the lateral expansions of some geckos and of the 
Draco volans. Possibly they formed lateral parachutes, aiding 
the animal in moving over soft mud, or perhaps in leaping or 
swimming. 

(6) Some other fragments appear to have belonged to a diffe- 
rent species from either of the foregoing, and are represented in 
Pl. V. The best preserved specimen (Fig. 22), which is about 
one inch in length and half an inch in breadth, is covered with 
very small imbricated scales. It is crossed by six or seven obscure 
ridges, which both at the bottom and along a mesial line, pro- 
jected into points covered with larger scales. A row of large 
scales with round pores, connects these along the lower side (Figs. _ 
23 and 24.) If, asseems probable, this fragment belonged to the 
side of the trunk or tail, it would perhaps indicate a division of 
the sub-cutaneous muscles into an upper and lower band, as in the 
newts. A separate fragment, with transverse horny ridges (Figs. 
26 and 27), and another with a longer lobe similar in structure to 
those above mentioned (Figs. 28 and 29), may perhaps be re- 
ferred to the same animal. A larger patch of skin presents simi- 
lar imbricated scales, but without a mesial line, and with an edg- 
ing of larger scales (Fig. 25). 

Six species of reptiles have left their bones in the repositories 
containing these remnants of cuticle. Of these, Dendrerpeton Aca- 
dianum was an animal of too great size to have been clothed 
with integument of this character and of such dimensions. Hylo- 


166 ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


-nomus aciedentatus, described in Section VIII, and Aylerpetow 
Dawsoni, Section X, are each represented by only a single speci- 
men, and these did not occur in proximity to any of the portions 
of cuticle, except that the appendages in Pl. IV, fig. 32, were 
found near a specimen of the former. Of the three remaining 
species, Dendrerpeton Oweni, from its size, the number of speci- 
mens found, and the juxtaposition of their bones to the fragments 
of cuticle, appears to have the best claim to the integument in- 
cluded under Nos. 1, 2, and 8; and in this case, while the crea- 
ture had its throat,and perhaps its abdomen, armed with bony 
scales, its upper parts and tail, as well as its limbs, had a uniform 
covering of small thin imbricated horny scales, in the manner of 
many modern reptiles. 

If the remaining portions of mtegument, Nos. 4 and 5,as would 
seem likely, belonged to two species, both of smaller dimensions, 
there would seem little reason to doubt that these were Hylono- 
mus Lyelli (Section VII) and H. Wymani (Section IX). In 
this case, both of these species must have possessed a highly or- 
nate covering of horny scales and appendages, comparable with 
that of any of the modern lizards, while there seems good reason 
to believe, as stated in a previous paper, that they were in part 
protected by bony scales somewhat like those of Dendrerpeton. 
These points, however, we shall consider more in detail under 
the sections which refer to the species of Hylonomus. 

Before leaving these curious specimens of ancient skin, the most 
ancient I suppose known to exist, it is of interest to observe that 
the thicker portions, when broken across, have the aspect of jet, 
or of pure shining coal, and that thin slices, under the microscope, 
have the same rich brown colour with that material, though rather 
more translucent. When burned, fragments of the substance 
give a strong flame, and a bituminous and ammoniacal odour. We 
have thus an example of the production of coal from animal mem- 
brane, no doubt gelatinous and horny in the first instance, but 
which has proved itself capable of the same chemical changes. 
that have been experienced by the vegetable matter buried with 
it. In order that this substance sho ild be preserved in this way, 
it would be necessary that it should either be kept dry and hard, 
or that it should be immediately buried in matter impervious to 
air, and kept moist. The latter conditions are the more probable. 
The preservative qualities of the peaty vegetable matter imbedded 
with it must also be considered; and it is possible that these hol-- 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 167 


low stumps partly filled with fragments of Sigillaria bark, may 
have formed natural tan-pits, in which animal membranes would 
be preserved in a manner impossible in ordinary sediments. If 
this were the case, we may yet find an entire reptile, preserved 
as a flattened mummy, in one of these strange repositories, 


EXPLANATION OF Pate LY, 
Dendrerpeton Oweni, and Dermal Appendages. 


Fig. 1.—Skull. 
“« 2.—Portion of mandible. 
«¢  3.—Maxillary bone, with outer teeth. 
“  4.—Teeth of game enlarged. 
5.—Maxillary bone, with inner teeth. 
* 6.—Tooth of same enlarged. 
“  7,.—Intermaxillary. 
‘“«  8.—Tooth of same enlarged. 
“  9.—Section of same enlarged. 
“10 and 11.—Vertebree. 
“ 12.—i'-rtion of pelvis. 
13.—t'ragments of ribs. 
14. —Bones of foot enlarged, (a) natural size. 
« 15.—Scapular bone. 
“ 16.—Humerus. 
‘¢ 17.—Bones of hind leg. 
18 and 19.—Sculpturing of cranial bones, enlarged. 
“« 20.—Bony scale. 
‘‘ 21.—Socket of inner tooth enlarged. 
22 and 25.—Integument of Dendrerpeton Oweni, with imbricated 
scales. 
“ 23.—Integument of Hylonomus Lyelli. 
“24, 26, 27, 28, 30.—Scales and appendages of the same enlarged. 
‘ 29.—Section of scale represented in Fig. 24. 
‘“  31.—Angular pendants or processes of H, Lyelli. 
 32.—The same of H. aciedentatus. 
‘ 33 and 34.—Portions of the same enlarged. 


VU. Hyztonomus Lye. 
Plate V. 
In the original reptiliferous tree discovered by Sir C. Lyell and the 
writer, at the Joggins, in 1851, there were, beside the bones of Den- 


drerpeton Acadianum,some small elongated vertebre, evidently of a 
different species. These were first detected by Prof. Wyman, ia 


168 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


his examination of these specimens, and were figured, but not named, 
in the notice of the specimens in the Journal of the Geological 
Society, Vol. IX. Ina subsequent visit to the Joggins, I obtained 
from another erect stump many additional remains of these smaller 
reptiles, and, on careful comparison of the specimens, was induced 
to refer them to three species, all apparently generically allied. 
T proposed for them the generic name Hylonomus, “ forest-dweller.” 
They were described in the proceedings of the Geological Society 
for 1859, with illustrations of the teeth and other characteristic 
parts.* The smaller species first described I named H. Wymanz; 
the next in size, that to which this article refers, and which was 
represented by a larger number of specimens, I adopted as the 
type of the genus, and dedicated to Sir Charles Lyell. The 
third and largest, represented only by a few fragments of a single 
skeleton, was named 4. aciedentatus. 

Hylonomus Lyelli was an animal of small size. Its skull is about 
an inch in length, and its whole body, even if, as was likely, fur- 
nished with a tail, could not have been more than six or seven 
inches long. No complete example of its skull has been found. 
The bones appear to have been thin and easily separable; and 
even when they remain together, are so much crushed as to render 
the shape of the skull not easily discernible. They are smooth on 
the outer surface to the naked eye; and under a lens show only 
delicate uneven striz and minute dots. They are more dense and 
hard than those of Dendrerpeton, and the bone-cells are more 
elongated inform. The bones of the snout would seem to have been 
somewhat elongated and narrow. A specimen in my possession 
shows the parietal and occipital bones, or the greater part 
of them, united and retaining their form. We learn from them 
that the brain-case was rounded, and that there was a parietal 
foramen. There would seem also to have been two occipital 
condyles; (see plate V, fig. 8.). Several well preserved specimens 
of the maxillary and mandibular bones have been obtained. They 
are smooth, or nearly so, like those of the skull, and are furnished 
with numerous sharp, conical, teeth, anchylosed to the jaw, in a 
partial groove formed by the outer ridge of the bone. In the an- 
terior part of the lower jaw there is a group of teeth larger than 
the others. The intermaxillary bone has not been observed. 
(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,5,6.) The total number of teeth in each ramus 


* Journal of Geological Society, Vol. XVI. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 169 


of the lower jaw was about forty, and the number in each max- 
illary bone about thirty. The teeth are perfectly simple, hollow 
within, and with very fine radiating tubes of ivory. (Fig. 7,@ and 
b.) The vertebree have the bodies cylindrical or hour-glass 
shaped, covered with a thin, hard, bony plate, and haying within 
a cavity of the form of two cones, attached by the apices. This 
cavity was completely surrounded by bone, as it is filled with 
stained calc-spar in the same manner as the cavities of the limb 
bones. It was probably occupied by cartilage. The vertebre were 
apparently bi-concave. The neural spinesare short and broad, with 
zygapophyses, and are not separable from the bodies, the 
neural arches being perfectly anchylosed to the bodies of the ver- 
tebrae. There are, on the dorsal vertebre, strong diapophyses or lateral 
spines, to which the ribs were articulated. (Figs. 15, 16, 17.) The 
ribs are long, curved, and at the proximal end have a shoulder and 
neck. (Figs. 1, 10, 18.) They are hollow, with thin hard 
bony walls. The anterior limb, judging from the fragments pro- 
cured, seems to have been slender, with long toes, four or possibly 
five in number. A- humerus is seen in fig. 1, and bones of the 
toes magnified in fig. 11. The posterior limb was longer and 
stronger, and attached to a pelvis so large and broad as to give the 
impression that the creature enlarged considerably in size toward 
the posterior extremity of the body, and that it may have been in the 
habit of sitting erect. The thigh bone is well formed, with a dis- 
tinct head and trochanter, and the lower extremity flattened and 
moulded into two articulating surfaces for the tibia and fibula, the 
fragments of which show that they were much shorter. The toes 
of the hind feet have been seen only in detached joints. They 
seem to have been thicker than those of the fore foot. Detached 
vertebree, which seem to be caudal, have been found, but the 
length of the tailis unknown. The limb bones are usually some- 
what crushed and flattened, especially at their articular extremities, 
and this seems to have led to the error of supposing that this 
flattened form was their normal condition ; there can be no doubt, 
however, that it is merely an effect of pressure. The limb bones 
present in cross section a wall of dense bone with elongated bone- 
cells, surrounding a cavity now filled with brown cale-spar, and 
originally occupied with cartilage or marrow. (Figs. 12, 13, 14.) 
Nothing is more remarkable in the skeleton of this creature than 
the contrast between the perfect and beautiful forms of its bones, 
and their imperfectly ossified condition, a circumstance which 


170 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


raises the question whether these specimens may not represent the 
young of some reptile of larger size. 

The dermal covering of this animal is represented in part by ovat 
bony scales, which are so constantly associated with its bones that 
Ican have no doubt that they belonged to it, being, perhaps, the 
clothing ofits lower or abdominal parts ; while above, it was probably 
clad in the beautiful scaly covering described in the last sec- 
tion. The bony scales are represented magnified in Plate V. figs. 
19. 20, and 21. It will be seen that they differin form from those 
of Dendrerpeton ; they are also much thicker. On the inner side 
they are concave, with a curved ledge or thickened border at one 
edge. On the outer side they present concentric lines of growth, 

The only specimens which afford much information as to the 
general form of Hylonomus Lyelli are those represented in Plate 
V, figs. 1 and 9. ‘The first is the original specimen, from which 
I described the species in the paper already referred to. The 
bones, being small and of dark colour, are not very conspicuous, 
and many of them are broken, but many are beautifully perfect ; 
and even those which are removed have left very distinct moulds 
of their form in the fine-grained matrix. In the figure I have 
carefully traced their outlines in their natural position, with the ex- 
ception of the maxillary bone and mandible, which are removed 
from their place in the matrix, to bring the whole into a more com- 
pact form. The specimen also shows, in addition to the bones. 
delineated, many fragments of the skull and scapular bones, crushed 
in such a manner that their forms cannot be distinguished. The 
specimen shows remains of thirty vertebre, of which four appear 
to belong to the neck, and the rest are probably nearly all dorsal 
and lumbar. Three of the most perfect are represented enlarged, 
in figs. 15and 16. Of about twenty ribs, more or less complete 
fragments remain. The fore limb is represented only by the im- 
pression of a humerus, (e), but other bones which may have 
belonged to it are scattered elsewhere on the stone. The pelvis, (2) 
is nearly entire,"though crushed and flattened. One thigh bone 
remains tolerably perfect, and beside it lie the tibia and a part of 
the fibula, with several bones of the foot. The dimensions of these 
parts are as follows :— 


Length of maxillary......ccececesceercceers S06 b00 0.7 inch. 
cs Mandible......cccccceccssccccssseveces ON 
sf longest rib, ee voce e cece ccareresccns OG ate 


& humerus... ceeovreesecesceestooaeseseesoe 0.5 6 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 171 


EMP ULV OT TeMUL werelererelereleiatelclorete’ visi et olare of doaddsixc - 0.7 inch, 
a TIDIBisiclel wie sisielolaleierelalel eicVe[alulelsi slain ele eidtslejel ole 0.45 * 
ff principal bone of pelvig...........0000. Osrrieeet 


The other specimen above referred to, (Fig. 9.) shows the bones 
of the trunk, and part of those of the hind and fore limb of asmall 
individual, nearly in their natural position. This specimen I have 
very recently obtained, in breaking open a mass of matrix in which 
I did not suspect its existence. It shows the humerus and radius 
and ulna in a tolerable state of preservation, with a fragment of 
the scapula. About thirteen dorsal and lumbar vertebre can be 
made out, nearly in their natural position ; and there are remains 
of five of the ribs. The hind limb is represented by fragments of 
the femur, tibia, and fibula. I believe that the maxillary repre- 
sented in fig. 3, though now in a detached piece of stone, belonged 
to this skeleton. 

While referring to these, my most perfect specimens, I think it 
proper to quote my original description of the species, based on 
the first of them, and published in 1859; as the subject has since 
been unfortunately obscured by inaccurate descriptions, consequent 
on the mixture of sp: cimens and drawings, sent by me to London 
for farther examinatio:. 1 quote from the journal of the Geolo- 
gical Society, Vol. XVI. 


‘“ HyLONOMUS, gen. nov.” 


“ The other reptilian remains represent three species belonging 
to a generic form, which, so far as I am aware, has not been pre- 
viously observed, and for which, in allusion to its forest habitat, I 
propose the above name. As its typical species I shall describe 
that which I would name Hylonomus Lyelli. Its cranial bones 
are thin and smooth ; the condyle I have not been able to observe, 
but there is a parietal foramen, and the parietal bones are arched 
in such a manner as to indicate a rounded rather than flattened 
skull, and a somewhat capacious brain-case. Its teeth are nume- 
rous (about twenty-six in each maxillary bone), elongated, conical, 
closely’set in a single series, in a furrow, protected externally by 
an elevated alveolar ridge. In the intermaxillaries and extremities 
of the mandibles the teeth are larger than elsewhere. Fig. 14, 
(Fig. 5, Plate V. of this paper) represents a portion of the teeth of 
the maxillary bone as exposed by the fracture of the outer ridge. 
The vertebree are imperfectly preserved, but appear to have been 


a2 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


ossified, bi-concave, and with well-developed spinous processes. The 
ribs are long and curved; and there are traces of numerous acces- 
sory pieces which have been attached to their extremities. The 
pelvis is of large size and remarkable form; the ilium long and 
expanded below ; the ischium greatly expanded; the pubis ex- 
panded and triangular where it joins the ischium, and round and 
arched toward the symphysis. The femur is thick and nearly 
straight, the tibia short and stout, the fibula slender, the phalan- 
ges broad. The hind limb thus largely developed must have been 
capable of supporting the whole weight of the body in standing or 
leaping. The anterior extremities appear to have been compara- 
tively slender, with thin and long fingers. A few scattered verte- 
bree lying posteriorly to the pelvis, may perhaps be remains of a 
tail. There was a dermal covering of small ovate bony scales, of 
which, however, only a few scattered specimens remain. This 
species is evidently quite remote from the ganocephalous and laby- 
rinthodont types of batrachians, and in many respects approaches 
to lacertians. It may perhaps be allied to the Telerpeton of Elgin, 
but does not appear to resemble any reptile hitherto found in the 
coal-formation.” 

It is evident, from the remains thus described, that we have in 
Aylonomus Lyelli an animal of lacertian form, with large and 
stout hind limbs, and somewhat smaller fore limbs, capable of walk- 
ing and running on land; and though its vertebre were imperfectly 
ossified externally, yet the outer walls were sufficiently strong, and 
their articulation sufficiently firm, to have enabled the creature to 
erect itself on its hind limbs, or to leap. They were certainly pro- 
portionally larger and much more firmly knit than those of Den- 
drerpeton. Further, the ribs were long and much curved, and im- 
ply a respiration of a higher character than that of modern 
batrachians, and consequently a more highly vitalized muscular 
system. If to these structural points we add the somewhat rounded 
skull, indicating a large brain, we have before us a creature which, 
however puzzling in its affinities when anatomically considered, is 
clearly not to be ranked as low in the scale of creation as modern 
tailed batrachians, or even as the frogs and toads. We must add 
to these also, as important points of difference, the bony scales 
with which it was armed below, and the ornate apparatus of horny 
appendages, with which it was clad above. These last, as described 
in, the last section, and illustrated in Plate IV., shew that this little 
animal was nota squalid, slimy dweller in mud, like Menobranchus 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 173 


and its allies, but rather a beautiful and sprightly tenant of the 
coal-formation thickets, vying in brilliancy, and perhaps in colour- 
ing, with the insects which it pursued and devoured. Remains of 
as many as eight or ten individuals have been obtained from three 
erect sigillariz, indicating that these creatures were quite abun- 
dant, as well as active and terrestrial in their mode of life. 

With respect to the affinities of this species, I think it is abun- 
dantly manifest that it presents no close relationship with any rep- 
tile hitherto discovered in the Carboniferous system. The only in- 
dications of which I am aware of animals of this age, likely to be 
of similar type, are certain vertebrae discovered by Mr. Wheatley 
and Dr Newberry, in the coal formation of Ohio, and described, 
but not named, by Prof. Wyman, in Silliman’s Journal, Vol. XXV, 
in connection with the singular bratrachian named by him Rani- 
ceps Lyelli ; which, in its broad frog-like head and want of 
ribs, differs materially from the creature now under examination. 
It is scarcely necessary to say that the characters above described, 
and illustrated by the figures in Plate V, entirely remove this ani- 
mal from Archegosaurus and Labyrinthodon, as well as from all 
the other creatures associated with them in the orders Gano- 
cephala and Labyrinthodontia of Owen. Equal difficulties attend 
the attempt to place it in any other group of recent or ex- 
tinct batrachians or proper reptiles. The structures of the skull, and 
of some pointsin the vertebra, certainly resemble those of batra- 
chians; but on the other hand, the well-developed ribs, evidently 
adapted to enlarge the chest inrespiration, the broad pelvis, and 
the cutaneous covering, are unexampled in modern batrachians,. 
and assimilate the creature to the true lizards. I have already, in 
my original description above quoted, expressed my belief that 
Hylonomus may have had lacertian affinities, but I do not desire 
to speak positively in this matter; and shall content myself with 
stating the following alternatives as to the probable relations of 
these animals. (1)They may have been true reptiles of low type, 
and with batrachian tendencies. (2) They may have been repre- 
sentatives of a new family of batrachians, exhibiting in some points 
lacertian affinities. (3) They may have been the young of 
some larger reptile, too large and vigorous to be entrapped in the 
pit-falls presented by the hollow Sigillaria stumps, and in its 
adult state losing the batrachian peculiarities apparent in the young. 
Whichever of these views we may adopt, the fact remains, that in 
the structure of this curious little creature we have peculiarities 


174 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


both batrachian and lacertian, in so far as our experience of modern 
animals is concerned. It would however accord with observed 
facts in relation to other groups of extinct animals, that the primi- 
tive batrachians of the coal period should embrace in their struc- 
tures, points in after times restricted to the true reptiles. On the 
other hand, it would equally accord with such facts that the first- 
born of lacertians should lean toward a lower type, by which they 
may have been preceded. My present impression is, that they 
may constitute a separate family or order, to which I would give 
the name of MrcrosauriA, and which may be regarded as allied, on 
the one hand, to certain of the humbler lizards, as the GEcxo or 
Acama, and, on the other, to the tailed batrachians. 

It is likely that Hylonomus Lyelli was less aquatic in its habits 
than Dendrerpeton. Its food consisted, apparently, of insects and 
similar creatures. The teeth would indicate this, and near its bones 
there are portions of coprolite, containing remains of insects and 
myriapods. It probably occasionally fell a prey to Dendrerpeton, 
as bones, which may have belonged either to young individuals of 
this species or toits smaller congener H. Wyman, are found in lar- 
ger coprolites, which may be referred with probability to Dendrer- 
peton Acadianum. 


EXPLANATION OF Puate V. 


Hylonomus Lyelli, and Dermal appendages. 


Fig. 1.—Remains ofa skeleton of a large individual of Hylonomus Lyelli; 

(a) Maxillary; (6) Mandible; (c) Ribs; (d) Vertebre; 
(e) Humerus; (f) Femur; (g) Tibia; (h) Fibula, (() 
Pelvis; (k) Foot. 

“ 2.—Right Mandible. 

“ 3.—Maxillary. 

“4, 5.—Portions of Maxillary, magnified. 

“ 6.—-Extremity of Mandible, magnified. 

“¢ %,—Sections of teeth; (a) magnified, (b) highly magnified. 

“ §8.—Portion of cranium, magnified ; (a) natural size, (6) transverse 
section. 

4“ 9.—Skeleton of the trunk of a small individual of H. Lyelli; (a) 
Fore limb, (6) Hind limb, (c) Ribs. 

‘¢ 10.—Ribs from the slab, Fig. 1, magnified. 

“¢ 11.—Fore foot, magnified; (a) natural size. 

“¢ 12.—Cross section of flattened femur, magnified. 

“( 13, 14.—-Portions of the bone of the same, more highly magnified. 


BELL ON THE GEOLOGY OF GASPE. U5 


Wig. 15.—Pair of Vertebre (dorsal), magnified. 
“ 16.—Vertebra magnifled. 

17.-—Vertebra broken across and magnified, showing (a) neural arch, 
(6) diapophysis, and (c) central cavity. 

‘ 18,.—Head of a rib, magnified. 

19, 20,21.—Bony scales, magnified, (a) natural size. 

22.—Portion of cuticle, probably of Hylonomus Wymanzi. 

23, 24.—Parts of the same magnified. 

25.—Lower margin of another portion of cuticle, magnified. 

26, 27.—Ridged horny scale, natural size and magnified. 

28, 29.—Cutaneous lobe, natural size and magnified. 


(To be continued.) 


Art. XIV.—On the Superficial Geology of the Gaspé Peninsula ; 
by Rozert Bett, C. E.; of the Geol. Survey of Canada. 


(Read before the Natural History Society.) 


The Gaspé peninsula embraces the region lying to the eastward 
of a line drawn across the country from the head of the Bay of 
Chaleur to about Matan on the St. Lawrence, and measures 140 
miles in length by 70 in breadth. 

The superficial accumulations of this district differ in their gener- 
al character from those of the country to the west. One of the 
most remarkable points of difference is the absence of foreign 
boulders in Gaspé. On arriving in Gaspé Bay last spring, my 
attention was at once arrested by the contrast presented to many 
other parts of the country by the general scarcity of boulders of any 
kind in the fields, notwithstanding the hilly nature of the ground. 
On examination it was found that the loose masses were chiefly con- 
fined to thesummits and more abrupt slopes of the hills, and farther, 
that they always belonged to rocks which existed én situ close by. 
Daring the wholesummer, which was spent mostly in the interior of 
the County of Gaspé, my attention was directed to the in- 
quiry; but I failed to discover a single stone which had not been 
derived from the rocks of the country, until I visited Cape Gaspé 
and Point Peter, where boulders of Laurentian gneiss were found 
in abundance on the sea beach. While the erratic masses of the 
interior are probably due to ancient glacial action, the presence of 
the Laurentian boulders on the beach, on the northern sides of 
Cape Gaspé and Point. Peter, is no doubt owing to recent icebergs. 
The proof of this lies in the fact of their occurrence only on the 
beach, and that at points projecting into the open sea frequented 
by drifting ice, while they appear to be altogether absent from 


176 BELL ON THE GEOLOGY OF GASPE. 


the shores of the bay between these points. Gaspé Bay remains 
covered with fixed ice till late in the spring, and thus icebergs 
from the north are prevented from entering it. This want of 
far-transported boulders over such a large area, is a fact of great. 
importance; for when we find loose fragments of useful minerals. 
in this region we may be sure their source is not far off. 

In the Gaspé country the geologist is not aided by artificial 
excavations ; but the superficial strata may be studied in the natural 
sections afforded by land slides, and by the wearing away of the 
banks along the rivers and coast. Excepting the patches close to 
the shore, there is an entire absence of the flat-lying clay and re- 
gularly bedded sand so widely spread in the St. Lawrence valley 
to the westward. Along the river vaileys, great accumulations of 
loose gravel are spread over the unmodified drift, or boulder forma- 
tion, andon the lower levels the gravel is covered with loam or silt. 
In passing through the intervals, the streams in many places eat 
away their banks, first on one side and then at the next bend below, 
on the opposite side, depositing the material on the banks alternately 
opposite, and in this way the minor courses of a river are changed 
in a few years. At one time a small portion of the York River, 
at high water, flowed through a narrow channel, north of the 
main one, for a distance of about two miles, just before reaching 
the head of tide water. About twenty years ago, some obstric- 
tions were removed from this channel to allow timber to pass 
down it; and since that time it-has become gradually enlarged, 
until now the whole river passes through it, except during freshets,, 
when a part is forced through the old channel. 

A yast amount of material must be transported every year from 
the land into the sea by the action of these streams. The greater- 
portion of it is carried out from the shore by the currents and 
deposited on the bottom of the sea. Alluvial islands and mud: 
flats are formed at the mouths of some of the rivers which enter 
the sea in sheltered situations. The most conspicuous of these: 
are found in Gaspé Bay, at the mouths of the Dartmouth and 
York Rivers, where the meadow islands, comprising hundreds of 
acres, furnish pasture and hay for the horses and cattle of the 
settlers in the neighbourhood. Natural dykes are thrown up 
along the borders of these islands, and upon them long rows of 
trees and bushes venture out beyond the outline of the woods upon 


the upper islands. 
Along the rivers, the silt is from one Lo six feet and even more 


OF THE PENINSULA OF GASPE. 177 


in thickness, and is frequently found to consist of very thin 
layers, separated by films of vegetable matter, probably 
marking the annual increase. Near the sea level, the silt is gen- 
erally more than six feet in depth, and is much mixed with pros- 
trate timber, often in such quantities as to suggest the idea that 
they are jammed accumulations of drift-wood which have been 
gradually buried beneath ihe soil. 

Besides underlying the river intervals, the unmodified drift 
frequently occupies the smaller valleys and ravines, to a con- 
siderable depth. It consists generally of a stiff and sticky 
mixture of coarse sandy clay with gravel and boulders. The 
Majority of the boulders are small, and many of them are 
longitudinally grooved and striated. It is impossible to say 
what thickness this boulder formation may atiain, but it was 
seen exposed In many places to a depth of at least 100 
feet. So far as the evidence afforded by the materials them- 
selves is concerned, it would thus appear io be of local glacial ori- 
gin. Some of the banks occur in such situations as to suggest the 
idea of their haying been terminal moraines of the glaciers which 
once ran down the valleys. No ice grooves have hitherio been 
observed upon the solid rocks, probably because these are seldom 
or never uncovered in situations where their occurence might be 
looked for. Grooves were found on the rocks at the head of the 
fall on the Dartmouth, and a fal] at the mouth of iis first large 
tribuiary from the north. These were no doubt produced -by 
stones borne by the ice and drift timber which are swept rapidly 
down with the ireshets in spring. These current scratches 
are quite shori, and made upon an uneven surface; while irue 
glacial furrows are continuous, and always occur on a smoothed 
or planed base. Some years ago, the tributary just refrred to, cu; 
off a narrow neck of land which separated it from the river for 
several hundred yards, so that it now enters it in a direct course, 
at right angles io that of the river. At every spring freshet, 
since this change took place, it has precipitated a large quantity 
of shingle over the ledge at its mouth, into the bed of the river, 
and m this way a bank has been formed opposite to the fall 
which is already as wide as the former channel of the river, and 
is every year increasing in extent, and turning the main stream 
farther out of its original course. 

The small amount of debris usually found about the cliffs 
would seem io indicate that the country had existed in its present 
condition for a comparatively short period; but on the other 

Can. Nar. 12 Vou. VILL. 


178 BELL ON THE SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY 


hand, there are facts which shew that the present state of things: 
has continued for a very great length of time. The principal of 
these are the accumulation of sand bars and points along the 
coast, and the wearing of the solid rocks in the channels of the 
rivers, About ten miles from its mouth, the Darmouth river 
crosses the Gaspé limestone in a gorge varying from 100 to 200 
feet deep, cut through the whole formation, which is more than 
2,000 feet thick, and tilted up at an angle of 45 degrees. At the 
Mountain Portage, on the Magdalen, the river flows in a deep and 
narrow ravine cut in the shale for a distance of a mile below the 
high fall. It is not asserted that these ravines have been excaya- 
ted altogether by the rivers themselves, but they appear to have 
deepened them considerably. The second stretch of the York 
River cuts the Gaspé limestones and sandstones almost at right 
angles to their strike, and often flows for a considerable distance. 
between perpendicular walls of sandstone, from twenty to eighty 
feet in height. The river itself appeared to have been the principal 
agent in wearing these channels. In some places large masses of 
the sandstone, which are-known to have fallen from the cliffs 
within a recent period, are diminishing rapidly every year by the 
action of the ice and water, while the accumulations of the frag- 
ments, which are seen at every bend, when the water is low, afford 
striking evidence of the great wearing and transporting power of this 
rapid stream. Where the sandstone beds lie almost horizontally the 
river has in some cases cut for itself a very deep and narrow channel 
in the bottom of the main gorge. Two of these narrows, as they 
are termed, are only about one foot wide, and yet the whole volume 
of the river, at its ordinary height, passes through these confined 
spaces. It was necessary of course, to carry our canoes at these 
places, and although the extremely narrow portions were only a 
few yards in length, the channels leading into them were in both 
cases so crooked as scarcely to allow the canoes to turn between 
the walls. The sandstone beds in this part of the river are 
almost everywhere riddled with pot-holes. Many of them are 
very deep, and by their constant enlargement they sometimes meet, 
and merge into one another. In this way one of the narrow 
places just described has been partly formed. One of the pot-holes 
measured thirteen feet in depth and eleven feet in diameter, and 
many others close by were nearly as large. The surface of the rock 
at the top of one of the cliffs, about twenty feet above the present 


OF THE PENINSULA OF GASPRE. 179 


river bed, was observed to be worn smooth by the action of water, 
and covered by several feet of grayel. 

Behind St. John’s Bay on the west coast of Newfoundland Mr, 
James Richardson observed a set of ancient sea margins, seven in 
number, rising above one another at intervals varying from 50 to 
150 feet. The lowest is 500, and the highest 1225 feet, above the 
sea, and each is marked by a horizontal belt of boulders and pebbles 
of Potsdam sandstone, arranged by the waves of the sea when it 
stood at these levels. At Blanc-Sablon Bay, on the Labrador side 
of the Straits of Belleisle, as many as fourteen distinct terraces 
with beach gravel on each, occur between 47 and 357 feet above 
high-water mark, There is thus sufficient evidence of a great de- 
pression and subsequent elevation of the land in this region, 
while in Gaspé a bank of stratified sand and gravel, eighty feet high, 
which occurs on the Magdalen River at an elevation estimated at 
1600 feet above the sea, and similar deposits at many intermediate 
levels, indicate that a gradual rise of equal amount has taken place 
in the peninsula, but possibly at a different period. I am not aware 
that far transported boulders have been noticed anywhere on the 
high lands between Gaspé and the meridian of Quebec, but 

-must leave this uncertainty, and also the reason of their appar- 
ent absence in Gaspé, to be solved by future research, and proceed 
to describe the modified drift of the district. 

The narrow border of clay land extending almost continuously 
from Quebec along the south side of the St. Lawrence, terminates 
a few miles below Matan; and to the east of this locality only a 
few small patches of clay occur on the north coast. The largest 
of these is at the mouth of the Magdalen River, and comprises 
about 1000 acres on the west side of Magdalen Bay. It is pro- 
bably fit for the manufacture of bricks, and holds marine shells. 
No stratified clay whatever appears to exist on the eastern coast, 
but in the southern part, it occurs along the Bay of Chaleur for 
some distance on each side of the mouth of the Great Cascapedia 
River. In this clay, Sir William Logan found shells of Mya and 
Saxicava in a great number of beds lying above one another, to 
the height of seventeen feet over high-water mark, in the position 
which they occupied whenin life. Each bedis separated from the 
one below it by a thin layer of sand, which also fills the tubular 
openings through which the inhabitants of the shells once com- 
municated with the surface. At L’Anse au Gascon, near Port 
Daniel, Myaarenaria, M, truncata, Cardium Grenlandicum, and 


180 BELL ON THE SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY 


 Tellina proxima were found in sand at about fifteen feet above 

high-water mark. The gravel beds which have been already men- 
tioned as existing along the river valleys, are sometimes arranged 
in terraces. One of the most striking examples of this, is met with 
six miles up the York River. Herea regular terrace about thirty-five 
feet high comes to the north side, and runs almost straight for 
about three miles, cutting off the bends of the river. About twenty- 
five miles up the same stream, and more than 400 feet above the 
sea, the gravel is almost destitute of vegetation, and is worn into a 
number of terraces and mounds. ‘Terraces were observed not far 
from the shore at Grand Pabos and on the west side of Mal Bay. 
Three of the most conspicuous at the last mentioned locality were 
estimated at eight, fifteen and fifty feet above the sea. On the south 
side, of the northwest arm of Gaspé Bay, an ancient beach, 154 
feet above the water, is marked by a sudden step along a hill- 
side, and traces of other beaches are found at lower levels. On the 
north side of the peninsula a terrace is met with in many localities 
at an average height of fifty feet. At the mouth of the Matan 
River, the upper six feet of this terrace is of fine sand resting upon 
bluish clay; at their junction are found Watica clausa, Mya are- 
naria, Tellina Grenlandica, Mytilus edulis, and Mesodesma Jau- 
resii, together with Balanus crenatus. West of Matan a well 
marked terrace of the same height occurs one mile below the 
Metis River. Eight miles up this river, Balanus Hameri, Natica 
clausa and Saaicava rugosa are found at the height of 245 feet 
above the sea; and two miles west of the mouth of the same river, 
Savicava rugosa and Mya arenaria occur in sand at the height 
of 180 feet. 

An upheaval of the land appears to be going on, along the 
south side of the lower St. Lawrence. At Riviere du Loup, 
Tellina Grenlandica, and a large variety of Mya arenaria 
are imbedded in great numbers, in the sand and disintegrated 
shale of raised beaches along both sides of a rocky ridge 
running eastward from the Government Quay, and varying 
from about five to about fifteen feet above the highest tides. 
‘To the east of Riviére du Loup, narrow terraces or raised beaches 
are met with in many localities, favorable to their preservation, 
along the coast as far as Cape Gaspé. They are found at nume- 
rous heights from the present sea level to fifteen feet above it. A ter- 
race about five feet above the high-tide mark, and averaging 100 
yards in breadth, extends from Rimouski to Whale Cape,with the 


OF THE PENINSULA OF GASPE. 181 


exception of some interruptions caused by steep and rocky por- 
tions of the coast. It is composed of fragments of shells, and. 
the ruins of the rocks which rise in the banks behind it, an@ 
forms an excellent road-bed, as well as a productive soil. 
The shells of these terraces belong to the same species as those 
now living on the shore, and among them the Mesodesma, which 
is not found in the post-pliocene deposits about Quebec or Mon- 
treal, is particularly abundant, immense numbers of these shells 
sometimes occurring in groups without any intermixture of 
sand or gravel. Large bones of whales were observed in several 
places between Metis and Matan, partially imbedded in the five-feet 
terrace. At Ste. Anne des Monts five or six distinct terraces of 
sand and gravel rise one above another to a height of about twenty- 
five feet over the sea. They all abound in shells, generally much bro- 
ken and worn, belonging to the common littoral species. The form- 
ation of sand points, and of long sand beaches, closing up bays, 
and forming lagoons in numerous places on the east and south 
coasts, would also indicate that a gradual elevation of the land is. 
now going on. The principal of these are, Peninsula Point and 
Sandy Beach, which, stretching from the opposite sides of Gaspé 
Bay, leave but a narrow channel between their extremities; the 
beach running across from Cape Haldimand to Douglastown, 
forming Douglastown Lagoon; the narrow beach nearly five 
miles long separating Mal Bay from the Barachois; the beaches 
of Grand Pabos and Port Daniel Lagoons; Pespebiac Point ; 
and the beach forming the lagoon at the mouth of the Wagamet, or 
Bonaventure River. These beaches are above the influence of the 
tides, and, in places, support a growth of spruce trees. Peninsula 
Point is nearly covered by aspruce grove. In the northwest arm of 
Gaspé Bay several small partially wooded sand points have been 
formed at the foot of the high rocky banks; and these, like the two 
large points, are found by the settlers who live on the top of the cliffs, 
to be very convenient for landing places, and by the whalers for their 
sheds. Some cf the points were observed to be thrown up into a series 
of small parallel ridges. Barriers of sand and gravel are thrown 
across several small coves or recesses between rocky points 
near Grand Pabos ; and in this way a number of ponds are pro- 
duced which being above the influence of the tide, are quite 
fresh, and to them, the sea-birds resort every day to drink. 
These facts appear to prove that the elevation of the coun- 
try along the south side of the lower St. Lawrence, is still 


182 BELL ON THE SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY 


in progress. I might however add that I was informed by an 
old resident, that on some of the flats between Riviére du Loup 
and Riviére Ouelle large drifted logs lie rotting in places now 
rarely reached by the highest tides, and even then they are cover- 
ed by only a few inches of water—quite insufficient to float such 
large timber. On the north coast of Gaspé I observed the 
remains of a very old wreck lying among spruce bushes above 
high-water mark, and at the time supposed it to be an evidence 
of elevation. I am inclined to regard it as doubtful, however 
since reading the accounts in the newspapers of the effects of 
the great gale and unprecedentedly high tide which recently visit- 
ed these shores, sweeping away storehouses and boats supposed 
to be altogether beyond the influence of the sea. 

The gradual subsidence of the Atlantic coast of the United 
States, appears to be proved beyond a doubt. In the Geological 
Journal for 1861, Dr. Gesner states that between New England 
and Newfoundland, the coast of the British provinces is rising 
‘in some places, while it is bemg submerged in others. Perhaps 
the most remarkable proof of subsidence is the sunken forests in 
Minas Bay, fully described by Dr. Dawson in his Acadian Geology. 
The elevation of Gaspé, now going on, is probably a continuation 
of the same movement which caused the whole peninsula to rise 
above the sea, and which appears to be connected with the other 
undulatory movements extending along the coast of the whole 
continent. It is worthy of remark, in connection with this subject 
that in Ohio and Upper Canada, a very gentle inclination appears 
to have been detected in some of the ancient water margins. 
On the Labrador coast, besides the evidence of recent upheaval 
afforded by the raised sand and limestone-gravel plains, and the 
worn pillars of Mingan, Sir Charles Lyell states that some of 
the rocks above the sea level at this locality are perforated by the 
burrows of the Sasicava in such a good state of preservation as 
to show that they have not been exposed to the weather for a very 
great length of time. In addition to these facts, the occurrence of 
whales’ bones, covered by moss and lying among the bushes above 
the influence of the tide, in both Labrador and Newfoundland, 
affords geological evidence of elevation, while a gradual rise of 
that island above the sea appears to have been observed by the 
inhabitants, as is shewn by the following extract from the Mew- 
foundland Times of October, 1847 :— 

“Tt is a fact worthy of notice that the whole of the land in 


OF THE PENINSULA OF GASPE. 183 


and about the neighbourhood of Conception Bay—very probably 
the whole island—is rising out of the ocean, at a rate which 
promises at no very distant day, materially to affect, if not to 
render useless, many of the best harbors we have on the coast. 
At Port de Grave a series of observations have been made, which 
undeniably prove the rapid displacement of the sea level in the 
vicinity. Several large flat rocks, over which schooners might 
pass some thirty or forty years ago with the greatest facility, are 
now approaching the surface, the water being scarcely navigable 
for a skiff.” 
Montreal, February 2nd, 1863. 


Arr, XV.—On the Rocks of the Quebec Group at Point Lévis ; 
by Ste Wittram Logan, F.R.S.; Director of the Geological 
Survey of Canada; in a letter addressed to M. Barrande. 


Monrreat, 15th Marcu, 1868. 


My Dear Mr. Barranpz,—Mr. Jules Marcou has addressed to 
you a letter dated the 2nd August last, on the Taconic rocks of Ver- 
mont and Canada, in which he says, on page 10, “I was able this 
“ year to follow out and trace every bed and layer on the whole 
‘“ contour of Point Lévis, from the Grand Trunk Terminus to In- 
“dian Cove; and as Point Lévis is a point of land surrounded 
“by high cliffs, I feel satisfied that there is no repetition of beds, 
“and no synclinal axis; and that the few foldings of the strata 
“at Ferry’s cliff are mere accident, confined to a distance of a few 
“ feet, and are without any. effect upon the whole mass of strata 
“* but are what we call in French structure ployée (contorted © 
~“ strata).” On page 14 he says: “Fearing that my first unsuc- 
““ cessful attempt last year to understand the explanation of Messrs. 
“Logan and Billings might be my own fault, I tried very hard 
“ this year again, when at Point Levis, but with no better success 
“and I left the Point fully convinced that the fossils described by 
“Mr. Billings, and the so-called outcrops, A?, A%, A4, &ec., of 
*“‘ Mr. Logan, were collected and observed in a very careless way, 
“ without regard to stratigraphy, by irresponsible collectors, or 
“ by unskilful practical geologists.” 

I have neither time nor inclination for controversial geology. I 
have never criticised any of Mr. Marcou’s remarks on rocks in 
‘Canada, or out of it, nor have I suggested any such criticisms to 
others ; but a charge of carelessness on the part of public officers 


184 ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


in the discharge of their duties appears to me, on the present 
occasion, to require a few words of reply, lest you and others might 
suppose the accusation to have some foundation. It is due to Mr. 
Marcou to give him credit for the very great care he claims, as I 
am persuaded he would not have ventured so unreserved and con- 
demnatory a contradiction of what has been stated on the part of 
the Survey, without having exhausted all his skill on his own in- 
vestigation. The only critical remark therefore left for me to 
make, is that this distinguished stratigraphist has been very unfor- 
tunate ; and that having missed the main feature of the conspicu- 
ously marked structure he so carefully searched for, it is not 
surprising that he should find a difficulty in understanding a 
statement connected with it. 

In 1854 and 1856, a considerable time was expended by Mr. 
Richardson, one of my assistants, and myself, in ascertaining by 
measurement the position and extent of all the exposures of the 
limestone conglomerates which characterize Point Lévis. The 
result of this work was exhibited by me to Mr. Marcou, at the 
office of the Survey, in 1861, on an unpublished manuscript map, on 
a scale of six inches to one mile, showing nearly all the known 
exposures of rocks of the Quebec group for about twenty miles. 
below, twenty miles above, and nearly twenty miles to the south- 
eastward of Quebec. This map represents an area of 800 square 
miles, on which all the exposures are laid down by admeasure- 
ments, comprising the work of one member of the Survey for two 
seasons, and of another for one season. The measurements at 
Point Lévis I have recently re-protracted on the same scale, 
with a view of completely separating what is exposed to view, from 
what is inferred ; and aplan reduced from this to one half, by photo- 
graphy, accompanies the present communication. The topogra- 
phical as well as the geological features are delineated from the 
measurements of the Survey. 

On this plan, the heavy black bands represent the known ex- 
posures of the limestone conglomerates ; the dotted lines between 
different exposures represent their supposed connection. Some of 
the geographical undulations are shown by what I have desig- 
nated the Coast Ridge, and the North, Middle and South Ridges. 
The main feature of the Coast Ridge is a thick band of limestone 
conglomerate extending in a hill and precipice, which overlook 
the beach from Patton’s wharf to the neighborhood of the Lower 
Ferry; beyond which it gives place to the cliff immediately 
behind the houses near the Lower, Middle and Upper Ferries. The 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 185 


North Ridge is a hill which rises up from and runs parallel with 
the road passing in front of the Temperance Monument or Cross } 
and attains its greatest height in a band of limestone conglome- 
rate about 300 yards southeastward. The part of this ridge 
nearest the road probably constitutes Mr. Marcou’s Cross Hill. The 
Middle Ridge is, I presume, Mr. Marcou’s Parochial Hill. It in- 
cludes Guay’s quarry, or the Redoute, and crossing the St. Joseph 
Church road (Route de l’Eglise), extends for about a mile to the 
southwestward, with a somewhat broad depression southward from 
the Burying-ground. Where Mr. Marcou’s Middle Hill may be 
situated, I am not quite sure, but suppose it to be the upper part 
of my North Ridge, as the extension of this seems to be the only 
hill between the Temperance Monument and Guay’s quarry. The 
South Ridge crosses the St. Joseph Church road about half a mile 
to the southeastward of the Middle Ridge. 

The limestone conglomerates, as you are probably aware, consist 
of beds of yellow-weathering magnesian limestone, in which, as a 
base, are imbedded masses of pure compact limestone, of colors 
varying from yellowish-white, through gray and brownish, to 
nearly black. These masses are generally of a sub-spherical or 
sub-elliptical form, looking like boulders, and many of them 
may probably be such ; but beds of a limestone almost precisely 
similar to them in character appear occasionally to run in an irre- 
gular manner in the conglomerate bands, presenting the aspect of 
original sediments. The yellow-weathering matrix is often arena- 
ceous, the white silicious grains sometimes attaining a quarter of 
an inch in diameter. The bands of conglomerate are separated 
rom one another by greenish and blackish slates, which in many 
places, are interstratified with strong yellow-weathering gray and 

black calcareo-magnesian slates, and occasionally with yellow- 
_ weathering sandstones. Ina few places red slates are intermingled 
with the others. 

South-eastward from the St. Lawrence, the limestone conglome- 
rates of Point Lévis are distributed over a breadth of more than 
two miles. In the North Ridge there are four bands, numbered 
1, 2, 3, 4, on the map ; on which is represented, in addition, a long 
lenticular bed (4%) subordinate to 4, but separated from it by 
slate. The lenticular bed is composed of brown-weathering mag- 
nesian limestone, but appears to contain few or no enclosed masses 
of the pure limestone. The bands 3 and 4 are, respectively, A? and 
A? of a former description. You will perceive that northeast- 
wardly they converge a little; and at the time of that description, 


186 ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


- it was not determined whether they were to be considered two 
distinct beds, or one a repetition of the other. They are now 
taken to be two distinct beds. Followed northeastwardly, they 
appear to be dislocated by a fault near the St. Joseph Church 
road ; but beyond this they are easily traceable around the extrem- 
ty of a trough, with a deep channel worn between them in the 
slate. After passing the axis of the synclinal, the band 4 comes 
to the limestone of Guay’s quarry, which is nothing more than a 
large lenticular mass of pure limestone, subordinate to the band. 
Southwestward of the quarry, both bands are seen again crossing 
the St. Joseph Church road, and again coming against the trans- 
verse fault. This fault appears to show an upthrow on its south- 
west side; since on that side the opposite outcrops of the trough 
are thrown towards the centre. 

Continuing to trace the outcrops on the southern side of the 
trough, that of band 4 gradually thins, and disappears at P, in 
less than a furlong; while that of band 3 becomes more con- 
spicuous, and shows a great development as it folds over an anti- 
clinal axis just eastward of the eastern boundary of the fief St. 
Anne. From this it returns towards the Church road, but be- 
comes concealed about fifty yards before reaching it, after again 
shewing the effect of the fault, in a much smaller horizontal dis- 
placement than before. On the northeast side of the anticlinal 
axis, on both sides of the fault, the dip is to the southeastward, 
and is therefore overturned; but from the character of the dis- 
placement it is evident that beneath the surface, on the northeast 
side of the fault, the inversion must be compensated for by a 
change to the northwest in the slope. 

A little above the outcrop of band 4, at P, there occurs a layer 
of sandstone, which is traceable on the fief Ste. Anne over the an- 
ticlinal axis; and a sandstone approaches the outcrop of band 3 
at A!. In the description of 1860, this was supposed to show that 
possibly the stratigraphical place of the band 4 might gradually 
approach the band 3, and finally merge into it ; but finding farther 
on, along the outcrops, an exposure of conglomerate at z, which will 
answer for band 4, it is now conceived that there may be two layers 
of sandstone, one above, and the other below the stratigraphical 
place of band 4; and though this band thins to nothing at P, it 
may commence again in its relative place farther on. 

From the neighborhood of the Temperance Monument the 
outcrop of band 2 is traceable northeastward, running not quite 
parallel with 3, to the fault, and thence across the St. Joseph 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 187 


Church road to the main road. It traverses this obliquely, a little 
beyond the church, and its turn upon the synclinal axis is seen on 
the north side of the road, about 400 yards beyond. In the lime- 
stone of Guay’s quarry there is a small notch-like turn, which serves 
to augment somewhat its apparent volume; a corresponding twist 
is more conspicuous in the outcrop of band 38, and in band 2 it 
assumes a still further prominence at y. These successive forms in- 
dicate a plait in the stratification, commencing at the quarry, and 
rapidly augmenting northeastwardly in the space of 350 yards. 
The importance of its effect on the distribution of the strata would, 
at this rate of increase, soon become considerable, and it serves to 
show some of the complications of the neighborhood. 

Without going into detail, it is evident from the map that the 
Middle Ridge is an anticlinal form, and that the South Ridge is 
another. On this, the exposures of the bands 2 and 3 conspicuous- 
ly mark the turn on the axis, as they doin the synclinal between 
the ridges. It will be perceived that between the synclinal and 
anticlinal axes, the outcrop of band 2 is represented as showing 
a very sharp twist. The evidence of this is not quite satisfactory, 
and the apparent arrangement may possibly be due only to a 
swelling in the volume of the band, with parts obscured by drift. 

The Temperance Monument stands on band 1, with which are 
associated some layers of sandstone. This band is easily traced 
to the northeastward, across the fief Ste. Anne; but between that 
and the fault, it becomes broken down and obscured, and it will 
require farther investigation. Nothing like it, nor indeed any con- 
glomerate band has been yet observed following, in its relative place, 
the sinuosities of band 2, where the strata are affected by the 
synclinals and anticlinals that have been described. Eastward of 
the fault, and northward of band 2, there is an exposure of conglo- 
merate close upon the southeast side of the main road, the bearing 
of which would carry it under the church of St. Joseph ; and two 
years ago it was observed in an excavation for the foundation of a 
house on the northwest side of the road, close by the church. In 
the strike of these exposures, about 400 yards beyond the church, 
there is a band of conglomerate, which continues in the same strike 
for about a hundred yards. This strike would carry the band away 
from those of the North Ridge, and gradually bring it towards those 
ofthe Coast Ridge; and it appears probable that the bands of the 
Coast Ridge may be only a repetition of some of those of the North 
Ridge. The main band of the Coast Ridge is associated with sev- 
eral beds of sandstone; and from its great breadth it may possibly 


1388 ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


be capable of division into more than one mass of conglomerate. 
To the southwestward of the extreme point to which this band has 
been traced, there occurs in the cliff, to the southeast of the Lower 
Ferry, the band A; one of those referred to in the description of 
1860. Its exact relation to the other bands has not yet been 
satisfactorily determined. 

Southward of A? you will remark A‘, and you will perceive 
that these two bands somewhat converge to the southwest, in which 
direction they are not traceable for over a quarter of a mile. At 
the time of the previous description, it was left undecided whether 
these were to be considered distinct bands, or a repetition of one 
another. They are now assumed to be distinct. On the Middle 
Ridge, the band 4, at P, is followed by B! ; which is a band of slate 
with nodules of limestone. On the North Ridge its place would 
be between A? and A*. It would therefore be band 5, and A* 
would be band 6. The bands 7, 8, and 9 succeed on the north 
side of the Middle Ridge, the band 9 being B? of the former des- 
cription ; like B!, it is composed of slate studded with nodules of 
limestone. This band appears to have a considerable develop- 
ment soulhwestwardly, in a long shallow trough-like form, ex- 
tending to the Grande Cote road. From this, its outcrop returns 
on the south sidé of the Middle Ridge anticlinal, and points to B? ; 
which however differs from it in character, having a base of mag- 
nesian limestone instead of slate. What is seen of the band B? 
is broken into three portions by transverse faults. It is evidently 
on the south side of the Middle Ridge anticlinai, and may corres- 
pend with band 8, but this has not yet been satisfactorily made 
out; nor has it vet been found possible to arrange the complicated 
exposures to the southeast of it, on the South Ridge. 

On the southwest boundary of the fief Ste. Anne, near the 
quarry there indicated, the beds appear to be dislocated on the 
north side of the Middle Ridge anticlinal, by faults, which do not 
affect the outcrops on the south side. These faults may be small 
breaks accompanying twists in the strata, the connecting parts of 
which may be concealed by drift ; but it would require additional 
facts to make their arrangements certain. Though the number 
of bands is assumed to be nine, some of them may be repetitions 
through the effect of plaits suddenly starting up, like that at y, or 
through undetected faults running with the stratification. The 
distribution of the outcrops in the southwest part of the South 
Ridge shows the very complicated character of the disturbances, 
and is a warning against over-confidenc2 in respect to minute de- 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 189 


tails. In regard to the main features of the structure however, 
there appears to be no doubt; namely that the Middle and South 
Ridges are two well marked anticlinals, and that a synclinal, not 
less so, runs between the Middle and North Ridges, repeating the 
whole mass of strata. 

From the foregoing explanation you will be able to understand 
how the fossils enumerated in the description of 1860 are related 
to the conglomerate bands, as represented on the map. The 
whole of these fossils were collected by the officers of the Survey, 
who are all perfectly aware of the importance of observing the 
exact stratigraphical place of the organic remains, and always 
most carefully do so. The collectors were Messrs, Billings, Richard- 
son, Bell, and myself; and from the statements made to me by my 
colleagues and assistants, [am quite prepared to assert that the 
specimens referred to B3, B?, B', A, A!, and A3, are from the 
bands marked on the map by those letters. With the exception of a 
single specimen of the pygidium of Bathyurus Saffordi, obtained by 
Mr. Sterry Hunt from the band 4 (A?), where it crosses the more 
northern synclinal axis near the Redoute; the band A? afforded 
to my late regretted and talented young scientific friend, Mr. John 
Head, and myself, the first collection of fossils obtained by the Sur- 
vey at Point Lévis. These were taken from the whitish limestone 
masses associated with the bed, where it crosses the fief Ste. Anne, 
and the opinion in regard to them expressed by Mr. Billings, induced 
me to instruct Mr. Bell to make a farther collection on the same band. 
In addition to the fossils collected by Mr. Head and myself from the 
band, there are some by Mr. Richardson, and others by Mr. Bell, 
all from the fixed rock; but in Mr. Bell’s collection there are, in 
addition, those from the limestones designated by Mr. Billings as 
Nos. 1 and 3. These limestones were not, like the rest, firmly at- 
tached to the band, and as they have been by Mr. Marcou designated 
as two loose boulders, lying on the superficial soil, while he carries 
them away from their true site, and approximates their position 
to the lime-kiln of the Redoute, in order to affihate them to that 
mass, it will be necessary for me to describe their mode of occur- 
rence. 

On the fief Ste. Anne, the band 3 (A?) dips to the southeast 
at a high angle. It is from about twenty to twenty-five feet thick, 
and in its caleareo-magnesian base it holds a great many masses 
of yellowish-white limestone, in which fossils are apparent, and 
somewhat abundant. It is underlaid by slates; and in some 
parts a sudden step to the underlying slates occurs at} its 


190 ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


northern edge. At the foot of this step, Mr. Bell observed in one 
place a mass of gray-weathering yellowish-white limestone pro- 
truding for a few inches through the soil. This mass, when exca- 
vated from its position, proved to be about a foot in diameter, and 
very fossiliferous. Persuaded that it had fallen from the conglo- 
merate band, he tried farther on in the strike, and found another; 
and finally, in the distance of about fifty feet along the strike, he 
obtained five masses, each as heavy as would require a strong 
man to lift; and twelve smaller masses, each of about twenty 
pounds weight and upwards. They were all rich in fossils. Some 
of these gave to Mr. Billings his limestone No. 1, and others that 
of No. 3. All of these masses, some of which were sharply angu- 
lar, rested on the slate, just at the base of the conglomerate band ; 
and with the exception of the small portion of the first one, were 
wholly covered by the soil, one of them to a thickness of a foot; 
requiring, before it could be extracted by aid of pick, shovel, and 
crow-bar, a hole to be made of two feet deep. It appears to me 
much more probable that these masses should have fallen from 
the conglomerate band which they touched, than that they should 
have been transported nearly half a mile from the Redoute, and all 
laid at the foot of the conglomerate band A2, ina row in its strike. 
It is by no means supposed that the stock of these masses was ex- 
hausted by Mr. Bell; more may probably be obtained in the strike, 
and I am persuaded, that if the adjacent parts of the conglomerate 
band were laid bare, similar masses would be found imbedded in it. 

Mr. Marcou states that the limestones Nos. 1 and 3, without 
doubt come from the Redoute; and that in respect to No. 1, so 
rich in trilobites, he could almost point out the exact spot from 
which it came. Soon after the first discovery of fossils at Point 
Lévis, I spent a good deal of time in endeavouring to obtain spe- 
cimens from Guay’s quarry, but with very indifferent success. 
Fragments of trilobites were observed, but the only recognizable 
species obtained was Menocephalus globosus. Perceiving that 
Mr. Marcou had been so fortunate as to meet with upwards of nine 
species of trilobitesin the locality, Ilast season renewed my attempt ; 
and with Mr. Billings, made a diligent search of the rock, but with 
no better luck than had attended my previous researches ; /enoce- 
phalus globosus being again the only speeics procured. Mr. 
Marcou states that the stratification is indistinct, and that in con- 
sequence of the hardness of the stone, it is difficult to obtain spe- 
cimens. This perfectly accords with what we observed ; but not 
with the characters of the limestones Nos, 1 and 3; which are not 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 191 


very hard, and in which the fossils occur in layers, marking well the 
stratification. The limestones split with moderate facility in the 
direction of those layers, and give considerable planes of surface, 
with fossils starting prominently up from them. I presume therefore 
that the beds at the Redoute, with which Mr. Marcou compares 
the limestones No.1 and 3, are some which he has not yet 
desribed, and with which we can make no comparison, as we have 
not been so fortunate as to find them. 

Since 1860, Mr. Devine and Mr. Cayley, both ofthe Crown Lands 
Department, haye obtained several species at Point Lévis. The lat- 
ter gentleman discovered Amphion Cayleyz, (Billings) in band 3, 
(A?) on the North Ridge ; and Mr. Devine, on the same ridge, has 
procured Bathyurus Saffordi from band 2, Menocephalus globo- 
sus, and Cheirurus Eryx from band 3 (A?) ; and from band 4 (A?) 
Bathyurus Saffordi, B. Cordai,and B. bituberculatus. But from this 
band he has made a very important addition to the fauna of Point 
Lévis, in a perfect specimen of what Mr. Billingsagrees with him 
in considering an Olenus, or a closely allied genus. This was ob- 
tained on the North Ridge, just east of the fief St. Anne, in a mass 
of drab-colored limestone ; which Mr. Devine thinks is a part of 
the solid band, although he has not yet tested the matter sufli- 
ciently to be positive. The same part of this band here holds 
Obolella, Orthis Hvadne, Camerella calcifera, Pleurotomaria, 
Ecculiomphalus Canadensis, Orthoceras, Agnostus Americanus, 
A, Canadensis, A. Orion, Arionellus subclavatus, Bathyurus 
capax, B. quadratus, B. Saffordi, Cherurus Hryz, C. Apollo, 
Dikelocephalus magnificus, D. megalops, D. planifrons, D. 
Oweni, Menocephalus Sedgwickii, and M. Saltert, In this col- 
lection, the species of Plevrotomaria, LHeculiomphalus, and 
Chierurus do not occur in the same hand-specimens of rock with 
the others. Bathyurus Saffordi is in the same specimen with 
Menocephalus Salteri. On the Middle Ridge he has ob- 
tained Menocephalus globosus from band 4, at the Redoute. 
Mr. Billings has obtained in band 2, on the North Ridge, 
Bathyurus quadratus; onthe Middle Ridge, in band 6, on 
the north side of the anticlinal, Leptena decipiens; and the same 
species in band 7, on the same side of the anticlinal; while band 
7, on the south side of the anticlinal, has yielded him a Pleuro- 
tomaria, alliedto P. Laurentina, Orthoceras, n. s., Illenus : 
and Asaphus In a band of conglomerate forming two 
successive mounds at the water’s edge, northwest of the Coast 


192 ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


_ Ridge, and running parallel with it,he hasmet at D, with a new 
species of Dikelocephalus 

To make the distribution of the fossils, which we in Canada (in- 
cluding Mr. Devine and Mr. Cayley) have obtained at Point Lévis, 
more clearly understood, a catalogue of them has been prepared, 
with the specific names of those which have been described, and a 
separate column for each of the bands, and made a part of the 
present communication. In this catalogue no certain stratigraphical 
place is assigned to the bands D, G, and A, in relation to the 
others; which, from 1 to 9, are supposed to be in ascending 
order. With the exception of those otherwise marked, all the 
_ determined species have been described by Mr. Billings. 

Mr. Marcou, it appears to me, has gone somewhat out of his 
way to insinuate a discourtesy towards you on the part of the Ca- 
nadian Survey, in that we have, as he says, distributed fossils of 
the Quebec group, in England, to more favoured geologists than 
yourself. Mr. Marcou could not have stated this from his own 
knowledge, as it is not consistent with fact. The truth of the mat- 
ter is precisely the reverse of this. We long ago did our- 
selves the pleasure of transmitting to you a small collection of the 
principal species; while we have presented none to any other of 
our geological friends in Europe. On this side of the Atlantic we 
have exchanged a few specimens with Col. Jewett, of the New York 
State Museum, for New York species, of which we stood greatly 
in want; and we are just now about to make asmall exchange with 
Mr. A. H. Worthen, State geologist of Illinois, for species from 
several of the Western States, of which we have long been anxious 
to possess authentic specimens. Mr. Marcou seems especially 
agerieved that he didnot obtaina pygidium of Dikelocephalus 
magnificus, asked for, as he states, in your name. This was during 
my absence in England, at the International Exhibition. Mr. Bill- 
ings cannot call to his recollection that the application was made 
in your name. Such an application would have afforded him the 
opportunity of informing Mr.Marcou, that you were probably 
already supplied, in the collection sent; but it would not have 
altered the propriety of what, in conformity with his duty, he found 
himself under the necessity of replying; namely that he was not 
authorized to distribute the specimens of the Provincial Collection. 

I am, my dear Mr. Barrande, 
Yours very truly, 
M. Joacuim Barranpe, W. E. LOGAN. 
Rue Méziere No. 6, Paris, 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


CATALOGUE OF FOSSILS FROM THE QUE 


COLLECTED AT POINT LEVIS. 


E3EC GROUP, 


D|/G/A, 1/2 

PCT AC IMAM levered sValeiel cieicielens clelersvebsyers/siel * 
Graptolithus, several sub-genera (Hall).| | * 
Lingula Mantelli........ goboud00b0N8 

ce Ue memryeraieysyepaiet stele leyekel sts eialeterels * 

ce MEDS CEMSISis cinree/cielesiessievelelsiain * 
COMMENCES Sawen asda done atesstarelstslal'eye 

OF MeStderatartcls cis sieve lelellelseiclsc)es * 
Acrotreta n.s..-... aielalletels HidovsoMne BE 
Leptena decipiens...... wetelahetetelelst)ckere 

ft SOrdidary.l jeje sei. aielevohateajevelciare 

cc UMdescribe dil yi. sreyelssislslele« 

oC GY Aabalofatevalevarsteletsreteks 

ce GG Deilelolstefelaheh ove lale veel « 
Strophomena, undescribed......scccess * 
Orthis gemmicula........ iobioWadeoulan 

HMM UGO MMA rinedeieleyeaterevereleneleteie el cieys 50 

‘¢ _ orthambonites (Pander)........ 

SU VENUTIVONE\s «<1 \sie iselsteteefepstetevelcterers 

O31) BIC a HOO CORA OC TO Sa enoae 

&  Hippolyte. ieclslieleleelleveletsioeiess 

SU MMR ValGLIA levels) e efete) cielo dudbsabadaes 

ScemMH Viva ULC laeralesste\stsisvetelspetteletclele: elelels 

OG) eilooddad sso dioocadadobus G6 

G3 Quebecensis.....sc.ecees shenetenets * 

COP MUNG ES CHIE MD slehe sieietelavsyciere oleate 

OH ‘a As OdooaunosddaGo 

cc ce deielefereteictatelatcicieteters 

<t ee Ai etot eveletalldyavercrieielotene 


Camerella) caliciferas.jc.bcceclectecsecs 
Stricklandia? WAM ATC HIM Clojalevevetels eientieleraitye 


Arethusay si. jes eohetertc 
Otitis Cecuin Ges erie dralsivereloi siecsil tele 
Eceuliomphalus Canadensis odiaagon ote 
ft TDVOLCUS|a\e) acl Agongbood 
Pleurotomaria vagrans...cccecccccecess 
“ Postumia...... sMelaticlefei ste 
68 Quebecensis..eccccce cs 
cc WMGES Crile dy le leetetse les 
ce Of as ado Gon 
OG ce By oadoon 
tt fc AM iralelaleiateye 
Marchisonia, undescribed, 1. Soboue 
ec a As aooodanoe 
6 Os Bo) gdopoogtias 
we UB A ad olooob Oc 
Helicotoma perstriata.........ss. ates 


Ophileta uniangulata (Hall)........ He 


66 undescribed, SEE EOI CHIO RR OLIN 
66 Og PAN BO ON OBO NO ORC 
Maclurea Atlantica..... HidboO budoouonG 


Holopea dilucula (Hall).........0.0.- 


(73 


winoleseralywloodookaasasocauas 


Metoptoma; Melissa. .0. cece cee cse « 


ce lshyite-bouood oo scsonda counbet 
6 OnolyA@@osacodagsasoouonKe 
be Wjentlliavercislstevsisrerattar vores ale 
6 ANOMALAwielaletelctaleeinieoterctetecte 
Can. Nar. 13 


iss) 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* * Kk ke hk Ke K 


* % OK 


* * K® OK 


a a 


* * * 


* * & & KR KH HF HK * 


* * * * 


193 


8\9 


Vou. VII, 


194 


Metoptoma Augusta......e.- 


a BUPCLDA.. ccc cccrcevcccees 
Orthoceras Autolycus>>-,ceccsscseres 
vt undescribed 1. ...eseeees 
Ws up 2. cocccceee 
ss tf Bo o000 00000 
if ts Ab soos d0d0000 
ot i Bs odooodadgode 
oe Ut 6. . e e eee 
Pyptocenas Metellus...... pocKn0b0000 
DiiGiaododoogb000 CopDuo OS 
ob Alethes...e..cccccesscees 
3 Mercurius.....seece oen00 6 
We Syphax......sseccseceeeee 
a0 undescribed.... vote 
Nautilus i Goboos O00 CKD G00 
Agnostus AMECTICANUS.+ee.sseeeeeeeee 
os Orwasoiacooddoo6 blob od cn dod 
Agnostus Canadensis...... siclelsiels\e\i=ie 
Amphion Cayleyi......... Sd0000000 
Ampyx, undescribed.....s.see.ee eratelle 
Arionellus cylindricus........seeseses 
ub subclavatugs.....cc.ccoeee aie 
Asaphus Illenoides..... clolchels! sole lstafels 
ce QONIULUS.....0- “RO Co Od0nGS 
Bathyurus capax....... Rietepolecioleteneltateltel 
ce dubius: -.))0.5.. gs600 60000 
GS bituberculatus...-...ese.e- 
re ALMALUS wo scccoserccsccane 
cc Sattondisleleie sceleletsie WOdo000 
; ODIONGUS...cecsecesercees 
as Clordaitntetais dood so do000d 
at Quadratus..cesssssceee Gdon 
Cheirurus Apollo. .....cceesecccecees 
ee HryX. cee ee eeeeees q9.0900000 
Conocephalites Zenkeri saGaddonS oddoor 
Dikelocephalus MAGNIAICUS..cereseccee 
planifrons ...0++seceoes 
a Oweni...... mleleneieveratetete 
tf Belli .....sseee 900 
G3 MeEGALOPS.coccessecoce 
ce CriStatUS ..ce.serees 5.0.0 
ce undescribed....ceseoes 
“ (Olenus) Logani ee 
Endymion Meeki.......-- boooddouoK0D 


Holometopus Angelini.sccsscsceesers 
Illenus, undescribed.....eeees 
Leperditia........ : 
Menocephalus globosus...... 

ot Sedewicki. 

tf Salteri (Devine)......... 
Nileus, undescribed.....-eeeceees 
Shumardia granulosa..ccccccccscsccces 


eee Feet eee eee ® 


ON THE ROCKS OF THE QUEBEC GROUP. 


D/ GAl1)/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 


a 


* Ke Ke 
* e OF 


* KK RK KH KR HK 
* 


a ee ee ee 


ee WK % He K 
* 


* * * & 


* * * * 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 195 


Arr. XVI—On the Chemical and Mineralogical Relations of 
Metamorphic Rocks ;* by T. Srmrry Hunt, M.A, BRS. ; 
of the Geological Survey of Canada. 


Av a time not very remote in the history of geology, when all 
crystalline stratified rocks were included under the common 
designation of primitive, and were supposed to belong to a period. 
anterior to the fossiliferous formations, the lithologist confined his 
studies to descriptions of the various species of rocks, without 
reference to their stratigraphical or geological distribution. But 
with the progress of geological science, a new problem is present- 
ed to his investigation. While palzeontology has shown that the 
fossils of each formation furnish a guide toits age and stratigraph- 
ical position, it has been found that sedimentary strata of all ages, 
up to the tertiary inclusive, may undergo such changes as to 
obliterate the direct evidences of organic life; and to give to the 
sediments the mineralogical characters once assigned to primitive 
rocks. The question here arises, whether in the absence of organic 
remains, or of stratigraphical evidence, there exists any means of 
determining, even approximately, the geological age of a given 
series of crystalline stratified rocks ;—in other words, whether the 
chemical conditions which have presided over the formation of 
sedimentary rocks, have so far varied in the course of ages, as to 
impress upon these rocks marked chemical and mineralogical 
differences. In the case of unaltered sediments it would be difficult 
to arrive at any solution of this question without greatly multiplied 
analyses; but in the same rocks, when altered, the crystalline 
minerals which are formed, being definite in their composition, 
and varying with the chemical constitution of the sediments, may 
perhaps to a certain extent, become to the geologist what organic 
remains are in the unaltered rocks, a guide to the geological age 
and succession. 

It was while engaged in the investigation of metamorphic rocks 
of various ages in North America, that this problem suggested 
itself; and I have endeavoured from chemical considerations, con- 
joined with multiplied observations, to attempt its solution. In the 
American Journal of Science for 1858, and in the Quarierly 
Journal of the Geological Society of London for 1859 (p. 488), will 
be found the germs of the ideas on this subject, which I shall 
endeavour to explain in the present paper. It cannot be doubted 


* Read before the Dublin Geological Society April 10, and reprinted 
from advance sheets of the Dublin Quarterly Journal for July 1863. 


196 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


that in the earlier periods of the world’s history, chemical forces 
of certain kinds were much more active than at the present day. 
Thus the decomposition of earthy and alkaline silicates under the 
combined influences of water and carbonic acid, would be greater 
when this acid was more abundant in the atmosphere, and when 
the temperature was probably higher. The larger amourts cf 
alkaline and earthy carbonates then carried to the sea from the 
decomposition of these silicates, would furnish a greater amount 
of calcareous matter to the sediments ; and the chemical effects of 
vegetation, both on the soil and on the other atmosphere, must 
have been greater during the Carboniferous period, for example, 
than at present. In the spontaneous decomposition of feldspars, 
which may be described as silicates of alumina combined with 
silicates of potash, soda and lime, these latter bases are removed, 
together with a portion of silica; and there remains as the final 
result of the process, a hydrous silicate of alumina, which consti- 
tutes kaolin or clay. This change is favoured by mechanical 
division ; and Daubrée has shown that by the prolonged attrition 
of fragments of granite under water, the softer and readily cleay- 
able feldspar is in great part reduced to an impalpable powder, 
while the uncleavable grains of quartz are only rounded, and form 
a readily subsiding sand; the water at the same time dissolving 
from the feldspar a certain portion of silica, and of alkali. It has 
been repeatedly observed, where potash and soda-feldspars are 
associated, that the latter is much the more readily decomposed, 
becoming friable, and finally being reduced to clay, while the or- 
thoclase is unaltered. The result of combined chemical and 
mechanical agencies acting upon rocks which contain quartz, 
wi h orthoclase, and a soda-feldspar such as albite or oligoclase, 
would thus be a sand, made up chiefly of quartz and potash-feld- 
_ spar, and a finely divided and suspended clay, consisting for the 
most part of kaolin, and of partially decomposed soda-feldspar, 
mingled with some of the smaller particles of orthoclase and of 
quartz. With this sediment will also be included the oxide of iron, 
and the earthy carbonates set free by the sub-aérial decomposition 
of silicates like pyroxene and the anorthic feldspars, or formed 
by the action of the carbonate of soda derived from the latter upon 
the lime salts and magnesia salts of sea-water. The debris of horn- 
blende and pyroxene will also be found in this finer sediment. 
This process is evidently the one which must go on in the wearing 
away of rocks by aqueous agency, and explains the fact that 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 197 


while quartz, or an excess of combined silica, is for the most part 
wanting in rocks which contain a large proportion of alumina, it 
is generally abundant in those rocks in which potash-feldspar 
predominates. 

So long as this decomposition of alkaliferous silicates is sub-aérial, 
the silica and alkali are both removed in a soluble form. The 
process is often however submarine, or subterranean, taking place 
in buried sediments, which are mingled with carbonates of lime 
and magnesia. In such cases the silicate of soda set free, re-acts 
either with these earthy carbonates, or with the corresponding 
chlorids of sea-water, and forms in either event a soluble soda-salt, 
and insoluble silicates of lime and magnesia, which take the 
place of the removed silicate of soda. The evidence of such a 
continued reaction between alkaliferous silicates and earthy 
carbonates is seen in the large amounts of carbonate of soda, with 
but little silica, which infiltrating waters constantly remove from 
argillaceous strata; thus giving rise to alkaline springs, and to 
natron lakes. In these waters it will be found that soda greatly 
predominates, sometimes almost to the exclusion of potash. This 
is due not only to the fact that soda-feldspars are more readily decom- 
posed than orthoclase, but to the well-known power of argillaceous 
sediments to abstract from water the potash salts which it already 
holds in solution. Thus when a solution of silicate, carbonate, 
sulphate, or chlorid of potassiam is filtered through common 
earth, the potash is taken up, and replaced by lime, magnesia, or 
soda, by a double decomposition between the soluble potash salt 
and the insoluble silicates or carbonates of the latter bases. Soils 
in like manner remove from infiltrating waters, ammonia, and phos- 
phorie and silicic acids, the bases which were in combination with 
these being converted into carbonates. The drainage-water of soils, 
like that of most mineral springs, contains only carbonates, chlorids, 
and sulphates of lime, magnesia, and soda; the ammonia, potash, 
phosphoric and silicic acids being retained by the soil. 

The elements which the earth retains or extracts from waters 
are precisely those which are removed from it by growing plants. 
These, by their decomposition under ordinary conditions, yield 
their mineral matters again to the soil; but when decay takes 
place in water, these elernents become dissolved, and hence the 
waters from peat bogs and marshes contain large amounts of 
potash and silica in solution, which are carried to the sea, there 
to be separated—the silica by protophytes, and the potash by alge, 


198 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


which latter, decaying on the shore, or in the ooze at the bottom, 
restore the alkali to the earth. The conditions under which the 
vegetation of the coal formation grew, and was preserved, being 
similar to those of peat, the soils became exhausted of potash, and 
are seen in the fire-clays of that period. 

Another effect of vegetation on sediments is due to the reducing 
or de-oxidizing agency of the organic matters from its decay. 
These, as is well known, reduce the peroxide of iron to a soluble 
protoxide, and remove it from the soil, to be afterwards deposited 
in the forms of iron ochre and iron ores, which by subsequent 
alteration become hard, crystalline and insoluble. Thus, through 
the agency of vegetation, is the iron oxide of the sediments with- 
drawn from the terrestrial circulation; and it is evident that the 
proportion of this element diffused in the more recent sediments 
must be much less than in those of ancient times. The reducing 
power of organic matter is farther shown in the formation of 
metallic sulphurets ; the reduction of sulphates having precipitated 
in this insoluble form the heavy metals, copper, lead, and zinc ; 
which, with iron, appear-to have been in solution in the waters of 
early times, but are now by this means also abstracted from the 
circulation, and accumulated in beds and fahlbands, or by a sub- 
sequent process have been redissolved and deposited in veins. 
All analogies lead us to the conclusion that the primeval condition 
of the metals, and of sulphur, was, like that of carbon, one of 
oxidation, and that vegetable life has been the sole medium of 
their reduction. 

The source of the carbonates of lime and magnesia in sediment- 
ary strata is two-fold :—first, the decomposition of silicates con- 
taining these bases, such as anorthic feldspars and pyroxene; and 
second, the action of the alkaline carbonates formed by the decom- 
position of feldspars, upon the chlorids of calcium and magnesium, 
originally present in sea-water; which have thus, im the course of 
ages, been in great part replaced by chlorid of sodium. The clay, 
or aluminous silicate which has been deprived of its alkali, is thus 
ameasure of the carbonic acid removed from the air, of the 
carbonates of lime and magnesia precipitated, and of the amount 
of chlorid of sodium added to the waters of the primeval ocean. 

The coarser sediments, in which quartz and orthoclase prevail, 
are readily permeable to infiltrating waters, which gradually 
remove from them the soda, lime, and magnesia, which they con- 
tain; and if organic matters intervene, the oxide of iron ; leaving 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 199 


at last little more than silica, alumina, and potash—the elements 
of granite, trachyte, gneiss, and mica-schist. On the other hand 
the finer marls and clays, resisting the penetration of water, will 
retain all their soda, lime, magnesia, and oxide of iron; and con- 
taining an excess of alumina, with a small amount of silica, will 
by their metamorphism, give rise to basic lime and soda-feldspars, 
and to pyroxene and hornblende—the elements of diorites and 
dolerites. In this way, the operation of the chemical and mechan- 
ical causes which we have traced, naturally divides all the 
crystalline silico-aluminous rocks of the earth’s crust into two 
types. These correspond to the two classes of igneous rocks, distin- 
guished first by Professor Phillips, and subsequently by Durocher, 
and by Bunsen, as derived from two distinct magmas; which these 
geologists imagine to exist beneath the solid crust, and which the 
latter denominates the trachytic and pyroxenic types. I have 
however elsewhere endeavoured to show that all intrusive or exotic 
rocks are probably nothing more than altered and displaced 
sediments, and have thus their source within the lower portions of 
the stratified crust, and not beneath it. 

Tt may be well in this place to make a few observations on the 
chemical conditions of rock-metamorphism. I accept in its 
widest sense the view of Hutton and Boué, that all the crystalline 
stratified rocks have been produced by the alteration of mechanical 
and chemical sediments. The conversion of these into definite mineral 
species has been effected intwo ways: first by molecular changes ; 
that isto say, by erystallization, and a re-arrangement of particles; 
and, secondly by chemical reactions between the elements of the 
sediments. Pseudomorphism, which is the change of one mineral 
species into another, by the introduction, or the elimination of 
some element or elements, presupposes metamorphism ; since only 
definite mineral species can be the subjects of this process. To 
confound metamorphism with pseudomorphism, as Bischoff, and 
others after him, have done, is therefore an error. It may be 
farther remarked, that although certain pseudomorphic changes 
may take in some mineral species, in veins, and near to the surface, 
the alteration of great masses of silicated rocks by such a process is 
as yet an unproved hypothesis. 

The cases of local metamorphism in proximity to intrusive rocks 
go far to show, in opposition to the views of certain geologists, 
that heat has been one of the necessary conditions of the change. 
The source of this has been generally supposed to be from below; 


200 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


but to the hypothesis of alteration by ascending heat, Naumann 
has objected that the inferior strata in some cases escape change, 
and that in descending, a certain plane limits the metamorphism, 
separating the altered strata above, from the unaltered ones 
beneath; there being no apparent transition between the two. 
This, taken in connexion with the well-known fact that in many 
ceases the intrusion of igneons rocks causes no apparent ebange in 
the adjacent unaltered sediments, shows that heat and moisture 
are not the only conditions of metamorphism. In 1857, I showed 
by experiments, that in addition to these conditions, certain chem- 
ieal reagents might be necessary; and that water impregnated 
with alkaline carbonates and silicates, would, at a temperature 
not above that of 212° F., produce chemical reactions among the 
elements of many sedimentary rocks, dissolving silica, and gene- 
rating various silicates (1). Some months subsequently, Daubrée 
found that in the presence of solutions of alkaline solutions, at tem- 
peratures above 700° F., various silicious minerals, such as quartz, 
feldspar, and pyroxene, could be made to assume a crystalline 
form; aud that alkaline silicates in solution at this temperature 
would combine with clay to form feldspar and mica (2). These 
observations were the complement of my own, and both together 
showed the agency of heated alkaline waters to be sufficient to 
effect the metamorphism of sediments by the two modes already 
mentioned,—namely, by molecular changes, and by chemical reac- 
tions. Following upon this, Daubrée observed that the thermal 
alkaline spring of Plombieres, with a temperature of 160° F., had 
in the course of centuries, given rise to the formation of zeolites, 
and other crystalline silicated minerals, among the bricks and 
cement of the old Roman baths. From this he was led to sup- 
pose that the metamorphism of great regions migit have been 
effected by hot springs; which, rising along certain lines of dislo- 
eation, and thence spreading laterally, might produce alteration 
in strata near to the surface, while those beneath would in some 
cases escape change (3). This ingenious hypothesis may serve in 


1. Proc. Royal Soc. of London, May 7, 1857; and Philos. Mag. (4) 
xy., 68; also Amer. Jour. Science (2), xxii., and xxv., 435. 

2. Comptes Rendus de l’Acad., Nov. 16,1857; also Bull. Soc. Geol. 
de France (2), xv., 103. 

3. It should be remembered that normal or regional metamorphism is 
in no way dependent upon the proximity of unstratified or igneous rocks, 
which are rarely present in metamorphic districts. The ophiolites, 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC RocKS. 201 


some cases to meet the difficulty pointed out by Naumann ; but while 
it is undoubtedly true in certain instances of local metamorphism, 
it seems to be utterly inadequate to explain the complete and uni- 
versal alteration of areas of sedimentary rocks, embracing many 
hundred thousands of square miles. On the other hand, the study 
of the origin and distribution of mineral springs, shows that alka- 
line waters (whose action in metamorphism [ first pointed ou 
and whose efficient agency Daubrée has since so well shown), are 
confined to certain sedimentary deposits, and to definite strati- 
graphical horizons; above and below which saline waters wholly 
different in character are found impregnating the strata. This fact 
seems to offer a simple solution of the difficulty advanced by Nau- 
mann, and a complete explanation of the theory of metamorphism 
of deeply buried strata by the agency of ascending heat; which 
is operative in producing chemical changes only in those strata in 
which soluble alkaline salts are present. (4). 

When the sedimentary strata have been rendered crystalline 
by metamorphism, their permeability to water, and their altera- 
bility, become greatly diminished; and it is only when again 
broken down by mechanical agencies to the condition of soils and 
sediments, that they once more become subject to the chemical 
changes which have just been described. Hence, the mean com- 
position of the argillaceous sediments of any geological epoch, or 


amphibolites, euphotides, diorites, and granites of such regions, which 
it has been customary to regard as exotic or intrusive rocks, are in most 
cases indigenous, and are altered sediments. I have elsewhere shown 
that the great outbursts of intrusive dolerites, diorites, and trachytes in 
south-eastern Canada are found, not among the metamorphic rocks, but 
among the unaltered strata along their margin, or at some distance 
removed ; and I have endeavoured to explain this by the consideration 
that the great volume of overlying sediments, which, by retaining the 
central heat, aided in the alteration of the strata now exposed by denuda- 
tion, produced a depression of the earth’s surface, and forced out the still 
lower and softened strata along the, lines of fracture which took place in 
the regions beyond. See my paper ‘‘On some Points in American 
Geology,” Amer. Jour. Science (2), xxxi. 414., and Can. Nat. vi. 81. 

4. See Report of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1853-6, pp. 479, 
480; also Canadian Naturalist, vol. vii., p. 262. For a consideration 
of the relations of mineral waters to geological formations, see ‘‘ Gene- 
ral Report on the Geology of Canada,” p.561; also chap. xix. on “ Sedi= 
mentary and Metamorphic Rocks ;” where most of the points touched 
in the present paper are discussed at greater length. 


202 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


in other words, the proportion between the alkalies and the alu- 
mina, will depend not only upon the age of the formation, but 
upon the number of times which its materials have been brokea 
up, and the periods during which they have remained unmetamor- 
phosed, and exposed to the action of infiltrating waters. Thus 
for example, that portion of the Lower Silurian rocks in Canada 
which became metamorphosed before the close of the palaozoic 
period, will have lost jess of its soluble bases than the portion of the 
same age which still remains in the form of unaltered shales and 
sandstones. Of these again, such parts as remain undisturbed by 
folds and dislocations, will retain a larger portion of bases than 
those strata in which such disturbances have favored the forma- 
tion of mineral springs ; which even now are active in removing 
soluble matters from these rocks. The crystalline Lower Silurian 
rocks in Canada may be compared with those of the older Lau- 
rentian series on the one hand, and with the Upper Silurian or 
Devonian on the other; but when these are to be compared with 
the crystalline strata of secondary or tertiary age in the Alps, it 
cannot be determined whether the sediments of which these were 
formed, (and which may be supposed, for illustration, to have been 
directly derived from palzeozoic strata), existed up to the time of 
their translation, in a condition similar to that of the altered, or 
of the unaltered Lower Silurian rocks of Canada. The proportion 
between the alkalies and the alumina in the argillaceous sedi- 
ments of any given formation is not therefore in direct relation to 
its age; but indicates the extent to which these sediments have 
been subjected to the influences of water, carbonic acid, and 
vegetation. If however it may be assumed that this action, other 
things being equal, has on the whole, been proportionate to the 
newness of the formation, it is evident that the chemical and min- 
eralogical composition of different systems of rocks must vary with 
their antiquity; and it now remains to find in their comparative 
study a guide to their respective ages. 

It will be evident that silicious deposits, and chemical precip- 
itates, like the carbonates and silicates of lime and magnesia, 
may exist with similar characters in the geological formations of 
any age; not only forming beds apart, but mingled with the im- 
permeable silico-aluminous sediments of mechanical origin. Inas- 
much as the chemical agencies giving rise to these compounds 
were then most active, they may be expected in greatest abund- 
ance in the rocks of the earlier periods. In the case of the per- 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 203 


meable and more highly silicious class of sediments already 
noticed, whose chief elements are silica, alumina, and alkalies, 
the deposits of different ages will be marked chiefly by a pro- 
gressive diminution in the amount of potash, and the disappearance 
of the soda which they contain. In the oldest rocks the propor- 
tion of alkali will be nearly or quite sufficient to form orthoclase 
and albite with the whole of the alumina present; but as the 
alkali diminishes, a portion of the alumina will crystallize, on the 
metamorphism of the sediments, in the form of a potash-mica, 
such as muscovite or margarodite. While the oxygen ratio be- 
tween the alumina and the alkali in the feldspars just named is 
3:1, it becomes6: 1 in margarodite, and 12: 1in muscovite. The 
appearance of these micas in a rock denotes then a diminution in 
the amount of alkali, until in some strata the feldspar almost 
entirely disappears, and the rock becomes a quartzose mica-schist 
In sediments still farther deprived of alkali, metamorphism gives 
rise to schists filled with crystals of kyanite, or of andalusite ; 
which are simple silicates of alumina, into whose composition 
alkalies do not enter; or in case the sediment still retains oxide of 
iron, staurotide and iron-alumina garnet take their place. The 
matrix of all these minerals is generally a quartzose mica-schist. 
The last term in this exhaustive process appears to be represented 
by the disthene and pyrophyllite rocks, which occur in some 
regions of crystalline schists. 

In the second class of sediments we have alumina in excess, 
with a small proportion of silica, and a deficiency of alkalies, be- 
sides a variable proportion of silicates or carbonates of lime, magne- 
sia, and oxide of iron, The result of the processes already de- 
scribed will produce a gradual diminution inthe amount of alkali, 
which is chiefly soda. So long as this predominates, the meta- 
morphism of these sediments will give rise to feldspars like oligo- 
clase, labradorite, or scapolite (a dimetric feldspar); but in sedi- 
ments where lime replaces a great proportion of the soda, there 
appears a tendency to the production of denser silicates, like lime- 
alumina garnet, and epidote, or zoisite, which replace the soda- 
lime feldspars. Minerals like the chlorites, and chloritoid, are 
formed when magnesia and iron replace lime. In all these cases 
the excess of the silicates of earthy protoxides over the silicate of 
alumina is represented in the altered strata by hornblende, pyrox- 
ene, ol.vine, and similar species; which give rise by their admix- 
ture with the double aluminous silicates, to diorite, diabase, 
euphotide, eklogite, and similar compound rocks. 


904 oN THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


In eastern North America, the crystalline strata, so far as yet 
studied, may be conveniently classed in five groups, corresponding 
to as many different geological series, four of which will be con- 
sidered in the present paper. 

I. The Laurentian system represents the oldest known rocks of 
the globe, and is supposed to be the equivalent of the Primitive 
Gneiss formation of Scandinavia, and that of the Western Islands 
of Scotland, to which also the name of Laurentian is now applied. It 
has been investigated in Canada along a continuous outcrop from 
the coast of Labrador to Lake Superior, and also over a consider- 
able area in northern New York. 

II. Associated with this system is a series of strata characterized 
by a great development of anorthosites,of which the hypersthenite, or 
opalescent feldspar-rock of Labrador, may be taken as a type. 
These strata overlie the Laurentian gneiss, and are regarded as 
constituting a second and more recent group of crystalline rocks, 
to which the name of the Labrador series may be provisionally 
given. From evidence recently obtained, Sir William Logan con- 
ceives it probable that this series is unconformable with the older 
Laurentian system, and is separated from it by a long interval 
of time. 

III. In the third place is a great series of crystalline schists, 
which are in Canada referred to the Quebec group, an inferior 
part of the Lower Silurian system. They appear to correspond 
both hthologically and stratigraphically with the Schistose group 
of the Primitive Slate formation of Norway, as recognized by 
Naumann and Keilhau, and to be there represented by the strata 
in the vicinity of Drontheim, and those of the Dofrefeld. ‘The 
Huronian series of Canada in like manner appears to correspond 
to the Quartzose group of the same Primitive Slate formation (5). 
It consists of sandstones, imperfect varieties of gneiss, diorites, 
silicious and feldspathic schists passing into argillites, with lime- 
stones, and great beds of hematite. Though more recent than the 
Laurentian and Labrador series, these strata are older than the 
Quebec group; yet from their position to the westward of the 
greatest accumulation of sediments, they have been subjected to a 
less complete metamorphism than the paleozoic strata of the 
Kast. The Huronian series is as yet but imperfectly studied, and 
for the present will not be further considered. 


(5) See Macfarlane—Primitive Formations of Norway and Canada 
compared—Canadian Naturalist, vii., 113, 162. 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC rocks. 205 


IV. In the fourth place are to be noticed the metamorphosed 
strata of Upper Silurian and Devonian age, with which may also be 
included those of the Carboniferous system in eastern New England, 
This group has as yet been imperfectly studied, but presents inter- 
esting’ peculiarities. 

In the oldest of these, the Laurentian system, the first class of 
aluminous rocks takes the form of granitoid gneiss, which is often 
coarse grained and porphyritic. Its feldspar is frequently a nearly 
pure potash orthoclase, but sometimes contains a considerable pro- 
portion of soda. Mica is often almost entirely wanting, and is 
never abundant in any large mass of this gneiss, although small 
bands of mica-schist are occasionally met with. Argillites, which 
from their general predominance of potash and of silica, are related 
to the first class of sediments, are, so far as known, wanting through- 
out the Laurentian series; nor is any rock here met with, which 
can be regarded as derived from the metamorphism of sediments 
like the argillites of more modern series. Chloritic and chiastolite 
schists, and kyanite are, if not altogether wanting, extremely rare 
inthe Laurentian system. The aluminous sediments of the second 
class are however represented in this system by a diabase made 
up of dark green pyroxene and bluish labradorite, often associated 
with a red alumino-ferrous garnet. This latter mineral also some- 
times constitutes small beds, often with quartz, and occasionally 
with a little pyroxene. These basic aluminous minerals form how- 
ever but an insignificant part of the mass of strata. This system 
is farther remarkable by the small amount of ferruginous matter 
diffused through the strata; from which the greater part of the 
iron seems to have been removed, and accumulated in the form of 
immense beds of hematite and magnetic iron. Beds of pure 
crystalline plumbago also characterize this series, and are generally 
found with the limestones. These are here developed to an extent 
unknown in more recent formations; and are associated with beds 
of crystalline apatite, which sometimes attain a thickness of several 
feet. The serpentines of this series, so far as yet studied in Canada, 
are generally pale colored, and contain an unusual amount of 
water, a small proportion of oxide of iron, and neither chrome nor 
nickel ; both of which are almost always present in the serpentines 
of the third series. 

The second or Labrador series is characterized, as already re- 
marked, by the predominance of great beds of anorthosite, com- 
posed chiefly of triclinic feldspars, which vary in composition from 
anorthite to andesine. These feldspars sometimes form mountain 


206 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


masses, almost without any admixture, but at other times include 
portions of pyroxene, which passes into hypersthene. Beds of 
nearly pure pyroxenite are met with in this series, and others which 
would be called hyperite and diabase. These anorthosite rocks 
are frequently compact, but are more often granitoid in structure. 
They are generally greyish, greenish, or bluish in colour, and be- 
come white on the weathered surfaces. The opalescent jabradorite- 
rock of Labrador is a characteristic variety of these anorthosites ; 
which often contain small portions of red garnet and brown mica, 
and more rarely, epidote, and a little quartz. They are sometimes 
slightly calcareous. Magnetic iron and ilmenite are often dissem- 
inated in these rocks, and occasionally form masses or beds of 
considerable size. These anorthosites constitute the predom- 
inant part of the Labrador series, so far as yet examined, 
They are however associated with beds of quartzose orthoclase 
gneiss, which represent the first class of aluminous sediments, and 
with crystalline limestones ; and they will probably be found, when 
further studied, to offer aeomplete lithological series. These rocks 
have been observed in several areas among the Laurentide Moun- 
tains, from the coast of Labrador to Lake Huron, and are also met 
with among the Laurentian rocks of the Adirondack Mountains ; of 
which according to Emmons, they form the highest summits. 

In the third series, which we have referred to the Lower Silurian 
age, the gneiss is sometimes granitoid, but less markedly so than 
in the first; and it is much more frequently micaceous, often pass- 
ing into micaceous schist, a common variety of which contains 
disseminated a large quantity of chloritoid. Argillites abound, 
and under the influence of metamorphism sometimes develop 
crystalline orthoclase. At other times they are converted into a 
soft micaceous mineral, and form a kind of mica-schist. Chias- 
tolite and staurotide are never met with in the schists of this 
series, at least in its northern portions, throughout Canada and 
New England. The anorthosites of the Labrador series are repre- 
sented by fine grained diorites, in which the feldspar varies from 
albite to very basic varieties, which are sometimes associated with 
an aluminous mineral allied to chlorite in composition. Chloritic 
schists, freqently accompanied by epidote, abound in this series. 
The great predominance of magnesia in the forms of dolomite, 
magnesite, steatite and serpentine, is also characteristic of portions 
of this series. The latter, which forms great beds (ophiolites), is 
marked by the almost constant presence of small portions of the 
oxides of chrome and nickel. These metals are also common in 


ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 207 


the other magnesian rocks of the series ; green chrome-garnets, and 
chrome-mica occur; and bedsof chrome iron ore are found in the 
ophiolites of the series. It is also the gold-bearing formation of 
eastern North America, and contains large quantities of copper 
ores in interstratified beds resembling those of the Permian schists of 
Mansfeld and Hesse. In some parts of this series pure limestones 
occur, which contain various crystalline minerals common also to 
the Laurentian limestones, and to those of thefourth series. The 
only graphite which has been found in the third series, is in the 
form of impure plumbaginous shales. 

The metamorphic rocks of the fourth series, as seen in south- 
eastern Canada, are for the greater part quartzose and mica- 
ceous schists, more or less feldspathic; which in the neighboring 
States become remarkable for a great development of crystals of 
staurotide and of red garnet. A large amount of argillite occurs in 
this series; and when altered, whether locally by the proximity of 
intrusive rock, or by normal metamorphism, exhibits a micaceous 
mineral, and crystals of andalusite; so that it becomes known 
as chiastolite slate in its southern extension. Granituid gneiss is still 
associated with these crystalline schists. Gold is not confined to 
the third series, but is also met with in veins cutting the argilites 
of Upper Silurian age. The crystalline limestones and ophiolites of 
eastern Massachusetts, which are probably of this series, resemble 
those of the Laurentian system ; and the coal beds in that region 
are in some parts, changed into graphite. It is to be remarked 
that the metamorphic strata of the third and fourth series are 
contiguous throughout their extent, so far as examined, but are 
everywhere separated from the Laurentian and Labrador series by 
a zone of unaltered palzezoic rocks. 

Large masses of intrusive granite occur among the crystalline 
strata of the fourth series, but are rare or unknown among the 
older metamorphic rocks in Canada. The so-called granites of the 
Laurentian and Lower Silurian appear to be in every case indigen- 
ous rocks; that is to say, strata altered zn s¢tw, and still retaining 
evidences of stratification. The same thing is true with regard to 
the ophiolites and the anorthosites of both series; in all of which the 
general absence of great masses of unstratified rock is especially 
noticeable. No evidences of the hypothetical granitic substratum 
are met with in the Laurentian system, although thisis in one district 
penetrated by great masses of syenite, orthophyre, and dolerite. 
Granitic veins, with minerals containing the rarer elements, such as 


208 ON THE CHEMISTRY OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS. 


boron, fluorine, lithium, zirconium, and glucinum, are met with alike 
in the oldest and the newest gneiss in North America. These 
however, I regard as having been formed, like metalliferous veius, 
by aqueous deposition in fissures in the strata. 

The above observations upon the metamorphic strata of a wide 
region seem to be in conformity with the chemical princiciples 
already laid down in this paper; which it remains for geologists to 
apply to the rocks of other regions, and thus determine whether 
they are susceptible of a general application. I have found that 
the blue crystalline labradorite of the Labrador series of Canada 
is exactly represented by specimens from Scarvig, in Skye; and 
the ophiolites of Iona resemble those of the Laurentian series in 
Canada. Many of the rocks of Donegal appear to me lithologi- 
cally identical with those of the Laurentian period ; while the ser- 
pentines of Aghadoey, containing chrome and nickel, and the 
andalusite and kyanite-schists of other parts of Donegal, cannot 
be distinguished from those which characterize the altered palzo- 
zoic strata of Canada. It is to be remarked that chrome and 
nickel-bearing serpentines are met with in the same geological 
horizon in Canada and Norway; and that those of the Scottish 
Highlands, which contain the same elements, belong t» the 
newer gneiss formation; which, according to Sir Roderick 
Murchison, would be of similarage. The serpentines of Cornwall, 
the Vosges, Mount Rosa, and many other regions, agree in contain- 
ing chrome and nickel ; which on the other hand, seem to be absent 
from the serpentines of the Primitive Gneiss formation of Scandina- 
via. It remains to be determined how far chemical and mineral- 
ogical differences, such as those which have been here indicated, 
are geological constants. Meanwhile it is greatly to be desired that 
future chemical and mineralogical investigations of crystalline rocks 
should be made with this question in view; and that the meta- 
morphic strata of the British Isles, and the more modern ones 
of Southern and Central Europe, be studied with reference to the 
important problem which it has been my endeavour, in the present 
paper, to lay before the Society. 


Monrreat, January, 25, 1863. 


WEW SPECIES OF FOSSILS. 209 


ARTY. XVIL—Description of a new species of Puiviresia, from 
the lower Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia; by E. Bin.ines, 
EGS, 


Pariuresia Howr. (N. sp.) 


. How: Pygidium. The tubercles on the side lokes were over 
leoked in the drawing, the specimen being nearly smeoth. 


Description.—Pygidium semi-elliptical, strongly convex, width 
at the anterior margin a little less than the ength, seventeen or 
eighteen articulations in the axis, side lobes with ten er twelve 
wibs and a smooth border. The axis is very prominent, about 
‘one-third the width, gradually and uniformly tapering and ter- 
minating abruptly at five-sixths of the whole length in an obtuse- 
iy rounded apex. The ribs on the axis are depressed convex, 
becoming smalier and more crowded towards the apex, each with 
eight or nine small tubercles, which are confined to the middle 
third of the width of the axis, and are situated near the posterior 
margin of the ribs. The side lobes have ten or twelve depressed 
convex ribs, the last three indistinct, the first three or four with a 
very obscure fine groove near the posterior edge, in the outer 
third of the length. The smoeth berder is about one-fourth the 
width of the side lobes at the anterior angles, bué a little wider 
behind; all the space behind the apex of the axis is smooth. 
ach rib has nine or ten small tubercles near its posterior margin. 
On the posterior third of the pygidium there is an obscure shal- 
low groove along the inner edge ef the smooth border. 

Length of the specimen six lines; width at the anterior eet 
neatly the same, about one-sixth of a line Jess. 

This species resembles P. Meramecensis (Shumard), but has a 
greater number of ribs in the axis of the pygidium. 

P. insigens (Winchell) is a very closely allied species. The 
pygidium is thus described by Prof. Winchell in the Proc. Acad. 
Nat. Sci., Phi. January 1863, p. 24. 

“‘Pygidium very convex, semi-elliptic, the axis very prominent and 
forming about one third the width at the anterior margin; consisting of 
Awelve to fourteen rings each bearing six small tubercles, the whole of 
which are arranged in six longitudinal rows; the tubercles often worn 


Can. Nat. 14 Von. Vit 


210 NEW SPECIES OF FOSSILS. 


down on the exterior of the test, but always well defined in the cast< 
Tateral lobes bent rather abruptly downwards, having ten ribs, which 
become indistinct and disappear toward the margin, and are entirely 
wanting over the narrow space behind the axis; the anterior ribs shew— 
ing a faint median groove toward their vanishing extremities, and afew 
of the posterior ones bearing feeble tuberculations toward. their axial’ 
extremities”. ' : 

The only difference of any importance between the two species: 
appears to be the greater number of rings in the axis of our 
species. This however will most probably turn out to be corre- 
lated with differences in the glabella. 

Dedicated to Prof. H. How, King’s College, Windsor, Nova 
Scotia.. 

Locality and Formation—Kennetcook, Nova Scotia; lower 
earboniferous. 


Art. XVUll.—Description of anew Trilobite from the Quebec 
Group. By T. Devine, F. R. G. §., ©; L. Department, 
Quebec. 


Muxoczruatus Satrert, (N. s.r.) 
(Enlarged two diameters.) 


Dxscription.—form oblong—oval.—Entire length three lines 
and width at posterior margin of the head one and one fifth 
line—front of head and posterior margin of the tail broadly 
rounded—-sides parallel. 

Hzap—Semicircular, two fifths of the entire length, strongly 
convex, posterior margin marked by a well defined furrow 
which curves round the lateral angles anteriorly. 

G@LaBELLA—Ovate, narrow at the base, and broadly rounded in 
front, extending anteriorly beyond the fixed. cheeks, promin- 
ently convex with a very narrow flat rim forming an arch 
round the front. 

{uoractc SEemenrs—Six or seven, flat lying close to each other 
with a broad, deep groove extending outwards to the tips 
which are bent down. 


KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOOIHTY. 211 


Axis—Tapering regularly from the front of the head to the pos- 
terior margin of the tail, convex, as wide as the pleurz in 
front and less posteriorily, the rings of the axis run into the 
groves of the pleurseea—marked by a deep grove. 

Tart—Semicircular, the lateral lobes marked by two or three ribs 
with a deep grove as in the pleurze, owing to which and the 
smallness of the specimen, it is difficult to perceive the ling 
of separation between the body and tail. 

The eyes and free cheeks are absent in all the specimens. 

Arrinirres—In form and number of pleuree it resembles Cyphon- 
iscus Socialis (Salter) but differs from it in details of structure 
—the pleura are of a different type, having the groove run- 
ning along the middle, straight outwards, and not obliquely 
outwards and downwards, as in Salter’s figure. The pygidium 
is entire but is as deep grooved as the pleure, the whole 
form is not so convex, and the pleure are not facetted. 

It appears from the outward edge of the fixed cheeks that the 
facial suture cuts the margin in front and posterior margin far out- 
ward, The head of Menocephalus Salieri resembles closely that 
of Bathyurus Saffordi in the flat arched border in frcnt of the 
Glabella, and in the three convex lobes into which the head is 
divided. 

Dedicated to J. W. Salter, Esq, Paleontologist of the Geological 
Survey of Great Britain. 

This beautiful little crustacean was found at Point Levis in the 
Quebec Group of Rocks, in the same band of Limestone as Olenus 


Logant. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 


The usual monthly meeting was held in the University Hall, 
Kingston C. W. on Friday evening, March 13, Rev. Prof. Wil- 
liamson, LL.D., presiding. 

The following papers were read ;— 

1. Remarks on the Flora of Brockville, C.W., and vicinity. By 
Robert Jardine, B.A. 

2. Communication from Dr. Francis W. Bird, with fresh spe- 
cimens of broad-leaved evergreens from the woods of Virginia, in- 
eluding “Live Oak,” from within the walls of Fortress Munroe, 
Hollies, &c. Read by Prof. Dickson, M.D. 

3. List of ferns collected in the neighbourhood of Hamilton? 
C.W. By Judge Logie. 


aa} KINGSTON BOTANICAL SOCIETY. 


4. On the Flora of Beckwith, with remarks on the physical geo- 
graphy and industrial products of the locality. By Josiah Jones 
Bell. 

5. Remarks on the cultivation of flax in Canada. By. Rev. 
Prof. Williamson. 

The following were exhibited :— 

A Fairy Rose in bloom, from Mrs. Prof. Lawson ; specimens of 
an <Algia, apparently identical with a long lost plant, the 
Lemama variegata of Bishop Agardh, from Mr. Marcoun, 
Belleville ; specimens of Brockville Plants, from Mr. Jar- 

dine ; a flower of very large size, of the Night Flowering Cereus, 
preserved in alcohol, which had been presented to the college 
museum by Mrs. McLeod. 

Letters were read by Prof. Lawson, from Thomas Briggs, jr. ; 
Dr. Muller, Government Botanist, Melbourne, advising the 
transmission to the Society of a large collection of Australian 
plants; Dr. Grant, Ottawa, accepting of membership, &c. 

The Secretary laid on the table the first number of a new month- 
ly periodical, the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, edited 
by Dr. B. Seemann, London. 

The librarian presented donations to thelibrary from the Ame- 
rican Philosophical Society £ Dr. Muller, Melbourne ; and Prof. 
Asa Gray, Harvard. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 


A meeting of Canadian Entomologists was held in Toronto, in 
the rooms of the Canadian Institute on Thursday, the 16th of 
April, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety 
of forming a Society for the advancement of Entomological pur- 
suits. 

The following gentlemen were present :—Rev. Prof. W. Hincks 
F.L.S., Prof. H. Croft, D.C.L., Beverley R. Morris, M.D., J. H. 
Sangster, A.M., and J. Hubbert, of Toronto; Thomas Cowdry, 
M.D., and H. Cowdry, York Mills; Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, M.A., 
Cobourg, and W. Saunders, London. 

Prof. Hincks was appointed chairman, and Mr. Bethune, secre- 
tary pro tem. 

Letters of apology for non-attendance were read from E. Bil- 
lings, F.G.S., Montreal; R. V. Rogers, Kingston; T. Reynolds, 
Hamilton; B. Billings, Prescott; Rev. V. Clementi, B.A., Peter- 


MEETING OF ENTOMOLOGISTS. 213 


borough, and E. Baynes Reed, London. These gentlemen ex- 
pressed regret at their inability to attend, and pledged themselves 
to do all in their power to further the interests of the society. 

The following resolutions were then unanimously adopted : 

Ist. That a Society be formed to be called the Entomological 
Society of Canada, consisting of all students and lovers of Ento- 
mology, who shall express their desire to join it and conform to 
its regulations. 

2nd. That its officers shall consist of a President, a Secretary- 
Treasurer, and a Curator, to be elected annually at the first gene- 
ral meeting in each year, whose duty it shall be to manage the 
affairs of the Society. 

3rd. That the annual contribution of members shall be two dol- 
lars, to be paid in advance. 

4th. That application be made to the Canadian Institute for the 
use of a room in their building for the purposes of the Society. 

5th. That two separate collections be formed, a general one to 
be the property of the Canadian Institute, and a duplicate one to 
be the property of the Society, and to consist of all surplus speci- 
mens contributed to the Society by members; and that all mem- 
bers be at liberty to exchange species for species under the super- 
vision of the Curator. 

6th. That meetings be held at 3 Pp. M., on the first Tuesday in 
each month, and that special meetings may be called when neces- 
sary by the Officers. 

7th. That Prof. Croft be President for the present year; that 
Wm. Saunders be the Secretary-Treasurer, and J. Hubbert the 
Curator. 

8th. That the President be authorized to bring the subject be- 
fore the Council of the Canadian Institute at its next meeting. 

The following papers were then read to the Society :—“ Insect 
Life in Canada, March and April;” by the Rev.C. J. S. Bethune, 
and ‘“ A Synopsis of Canadian Arcrimp& ;” by W. Saunders, the 
latter illustrated by a complete series of specimens. 

A number of interesting insects were brought to the meeting 
for inspection, chiefly from the collections of Dr. Morris and W. 
Saunders. Among others, Canadian specimens of the following 
were much admired. Limenitis ursula, Vanessa cenia, Welli- 
twa nycteis, M. pheton, Thecla niphon, T. mopsus, T. laeta, Ly- 
cena neglecta, Polyommatus dorcas, Hesperia mystic, H. wam- 
sutta and Pamphila numitor. A specimen of Colias eurytheme 


214 MEETING OF ENTOMOLOGIS'S. 


though not itself Canadian, was regarded with great interest from 
the fact that a specimen had been captured last fall near St. Ca- 
therines by D. W. Beadle. 

The pretty little moths Glaucopis semidiaphana and Mela- 
nippe propriaria were duly represented ; also beautiful specimens 
of Arciia dione and Sphing drupiferarum. 

Magnificent specimens of Ceratocampa regalis and Dryocampa 
imperialis were exhibited, and although not natives, the probabi- 
lity of their being yet found with us gave them an additional in 
terest. 

Among the coleoptera we observed some rarities, for example : 
Xyloryctes satyrus, Canthon chalcites, Chloenius lithophilus, Ca. 
losoma frigidum, Geotrupes splendidus, Bolbocerus Lazarus, 
Aphonus frater, and Leptura nitens, all natives of Canada. 

After a careful examination of all that was interesting, the meet- 
ing adjourned, each one highly pleased with the results of the 
gathering. 

The application for the use of a room in the building of the 
Canadian Institute, for the purposes of the Society, was brought 
before the Council, by the President, at their meeting on Satur- 
day the 18th, when they very liberally granted it free of expense. 

The Society thus formed will we trust be a prosperous one. 
The number of Entomologists in this country is not large, but 
they are amply sufficient to sustain an organization of this sort. 
The advantages the Society offers to its members are not by any 
means small. The general collection will be open to all for pur- 
poses of reference and comparison, and will thus afford valuable 
opportunities to those who wish to name their specimens; while 
the cabinet of duplicates will offer means of exchange with al- 
parts of Canada. It is intended that duplicate copies of Entomo- 
logical papers, published by those connected with the Society, 
shall be left with the curator for distribution among members. 
It is probable also that as soon as the funds will permit, an Ento- 
mological library will be added to the other attractions in the 
Society’s room ; and that a stock of pins will be purchased from 
which members may obtain supplies at cost price. 

That the meetings of the Society may be made as interesting 
and attractive as possible, it is desired that members at a distance 
should furnish short monthly records of interesting captures in 
their localities, always accompanied when convenient with speci- 
mens of the insects. 


WATURAL HISTORY SOCIBTY. VAY 


All lovers of Entomology may become members of the Society 
‘by remitting the amount of the yearly subscription to the secre- 
‘tary-treasurer, W. Saunpers, London. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


Orpinary Mextine, Frprvuary 23. 


Principal Dawson, one of the Presidents, in the Chair. 

After some routine business a Committee was named to “ take 
steps in connection with the Horticulturai Society for the establish- 
ment of a Botanical Garden.” 

Several names were proposed for membership, after which the 
following papers were read and presented : 

On a new method of preparing Chlorine, Carbonate of Soda, 
Sulphuric Acid, and Hydrochloric Acid; by Thomas MacFarlane. 
Read by Dr. Hunt. 

On the Superficial Geology of the Gaspé Peninsula; by Robt. 
Bell. 

On the parallelism of the Quebec Group with the Llandeilo -of 
England and Australia, and with the Chazy and Calciferous form- 
ations; by E, Billings, F.G.S. 

On the Birds of North America; by B. B. Ross. Read by 
Dr. Hingston. 

Notes on the Diatemaceze from the St. John Rivers by Prof. 


iL. W. Bailey, of the University of New Brunswick. Presented 
by Dr. Dawson. 


Orpinary Merrine, Marcu 30. 


Rev. Dr. De Sola, Chairman of Council, in the Chair.—About 
forty members were present. 

The following gentlemen were elected corresponding members :— 

Hugh EH. Montgomerie, of London; Charles Waterton, neat 
Wakefield, England; Professor Bailey, of Fredericton, N. B.; N. 
W. Bethune, of Ottawa. 

The following gentlemen were elected ordinary members :— 

Alexander Urquhart, Thos. Leeming, Francis Scholes, Alfred 
Brown, Prof. Small, late of Lincoln College, Oxford; J. F. Whit- 
eaves, F.GS., d&c., &e. 

The following donations were presented :— 

From N. W. Bethune, a Canada Bank Note of the year 1792. 

From T. Devine, Quebec, sixteen specimens of Electrotype casts 
of Fossils from Point Levi. 


26 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY... 


from Mr. Charlton, Laprairie, fish for the Aquaria. 

. For the Library—From Principal Dawson: A pamphlet ow 
the Devonian Flora of Eastern America; a vol., thopalocera 
Afriz Australis, from W.S.M.D’Urban; and the usual maga. 
zines and papers. 

After other routine business the following papers were read :— 

1. On Amendmenis of the Game Laws of Canada, by A- 
Rimmer. The author explained and advocated a number of 
amendments which have been proposed by the Game Preservation 
Society, and which is was believed would materially tend to the 
preservation of game birds, as well as-of those smadler birds, the 
wanton slaughter of whick is 30 injurious to agriculture and horti- 
culture. 

2. Ona New Tritobste from the Quebec Group, by T. Devine, 

This paper was read. by Sir W. E. Legan, who noticed, in intro- 
ducing it, the successful labours of Mr. Devine in collecting in these 
ancient rocks, the fossils of which are of so great interest in eon- 
nection both with the questions as to the age of the group and 
with general geology. The fossil now described was of special 
interest, as giving the complete characters of a genus previously 
known only by parts of the body. 

8. On the Geology of the Cownty of St. fohn, New Brunswick; 
by G. F. Matthew. 

‘This p2per was read by Principal Dawson. Tt contaimed a mi- 
nute stratigraphical description of the Devonian rocksof the viein- 
ity of St. John, and of the overlying carboniferous and new red 
sandstone deposits. A very interesting fact was the occurrencer 
3n these beds, of successive floras of the Devonian, lower carbon 
iferous, coal-formation, and mesozoie periods, ail more or less dis- 
tinct from each other. 

Mr. Leeming stated that Mr. Whiteaves would enter on his: 
duties as scientific Curator to the Society on Wednesday, Ist April, 
and after that date would be found at the rooms. 


Procerpines or tHE ANNUAL MEETING. 


The annual meeting of this Society was held in their rooms on 
the evening of May 18th, Principal Dawson, one of the Vice- 
Presidents, in the chair. A large number of the members were 
present. Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, the Scientific Curator, on behalf 
of the recording secretary, Mr. John Leeming, read the minutes 
of the last annual meeting; after which the usual annual address 
of the presiding officer was read, as follows :— 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. J17T 


THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 


GrentLEmMen—I could have wished that the duty of preparing 
the annual address of the President had, on the present occasion, 
fallen on some other person, as I fear that the pressure of various 
official duties has scarcely left me time to do justice either to 
myself, or to the work of the Society—still less to enter on that 
wider survey of the progress of Natural Science to which we 
are invited on an occasion of this kind. 

I find that, in the past winter, twenty-six original papers have 
been read at the meetings of the Society, in addition to a number 
of articles and reviews contributed by our members, and published 
in the Naturalist, without being formally read here. [ shall not 
give a list of these papers, but shall endeavour to group them 
according to the subjects to which they relate, and to give in this 
way a general sketch, first of the amount of original scientific 
research represented by these papers ; and secondly, of their bear- 
ing on the arts of life, and on the material improvement of this 
country. 

To begin with Geology, which in our day sits justly enthroned 
as queen of all the natural history sciences, and with Canadian 
Geology which most nearly concerns us, we have had several 
elaborate papers on those ancient, disturbed, disputed, and until 
lately problematical rocks on which the oldest capital of Canada 
stands, and which are consequently known to our survey as the 
“Quebec group.” To the common eye, the ancient citadel. of 
Quebec has been standing impregnable and seeure, but in the 
minds of geologists it has been floating like a mirage, now here 
and now there, until many men have been at a loss in what terms 
to express their idea of its geological place. The officers of our 
survey have addressed themselves with much zeal and success to 
this formation, and deserve great credit, first for frankly giving up 
incorrect views previously maintained ; and secondly, for establish- 
ing the true geological position of these difficult rocks on a sure 
basis. Mr. Billings has in the past year furnished us with an in- 
teresting view of the parallelism of these beds with the Llandeilo 
of England. Sir Wm. E. Logan has introduced to us a new and 
useful laborer on these fossils, Mr. Devine, of Quebec, and will him- 
self publish in next number of our proceedings an elaborate sur- 
vey of the stratigraphical arrangements of the beds at Point 
Lévi. In the geology and mineralogy of the metalliferous deposits 
of this group, as they exist at the celebrated copper mine of Acton» 


218 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


Mr. MacFarlane’s paper is a great step in advance, more especially 
in the large number of facts which he chronicles, and which, but 
for his careful collection of them in the progress of the workings, 
would have been forever lost. 


Making a sudden leap from these ancient rocks to the most 
modern formations, our proceedings show several valuable con- 
tributions to the geology of the post-pliocene deposits. In this 
field, Mr. Billings’ paper on the remains of fossil elephants found 
in Canada is of especial value, as for the first time giving accurate 
descriptions and figures of these remains, and identifying our spe- 
cies with that known to American naturalists as Elephas Jacksont. 
In this paper, Mr. Billings has worthily followed up, with reference 
to the extinct elephantine animals of Canada, the able investiga- 
tions of Dr. Falconer on the general distribution of these animals. 
The society has also received valuable contributions in the field of 
Canadian post-tertiary geology from Mr. Robb, Mr. Bell, and Mr. 
Whiteaves. We have not yet succeeded in Canada in tracing 
man back to the post-pliocene period, as is claimed to have been 
done in Europe; but, as I have pointed out in papers on this sub- 
ject, read before the society on former occasions, the researches in 
the superficial geology of Canada, will have important bearings on 
many disputed questions as to the distribution and supposed 
changes of plants and animals which have survived from the post- 
pliocene to the modern period. 


On points of the geology of the United States connected with 
Canadian geology, we have had important contributions from Prof, 
Hall and Col. Jewett. The paper of the late lamented Moses 
Perley on N ewfoundland, presents a valuable picture of the 
geology and topography of that island; and the paper of Mr. 
Matthews on the geology of St. Johns, New Brunswick, is an 
excellent piece of stratigraphical geology, bearing on the solution 
of some most important and difficult questions. In this connection 
I shall take the liberty to apologise for the great length to which 
my Own papers on the Reptiles of the coal period have extended, 
_ and to mention the ray of light which the footprints of the modern 


King-crab have enabled me to throw on the Protichnites of the 
Potsdam sandstone, 


In chemical and economical geology, I need merely mention 
the profound generalisations of Dr. Hunt in his paper on the 
chemistry of the earth; the practical information contained in the 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 219 


same author’s paper on the gold-fields of Canada, and in that by 
Mr. MacFarlane on the extraction of cobalt from Canadian ores. 

In zoology and botany, our work has perhaps been less exten- 
sive and important than in geology. In these fields, however, we 
may mention Dr. Lawson’s paper on Aphis avence ; Mr. Cooper’s 
on Saperda Candida; Mr. Scudder’s on the Orthoptera of the 
northwest territory; Dr. Cobbold on a Canadian Tonia ; Mr, 
Billings on Monohammus ; Mr. Whiteaves on the land and fresh- 
water shells of Canada; Prof. Bailey on the Diatoms of the St. 
John River; Mr. Barnston on the Otters of America; and the 
completion of Dr. Hall’s elaborate paper on the mammalia and 
birds of Montreal. 


All of these papers contain important new facts in natural 
history. One of them, that of Mr. Whiteaves, nearly exhausts 
the subject to which it refers, in so far as present material is con- 
cerned; others add new species of the Canadian fauna; and 
several are of great practical value. 


In their purely scientific aspect, the pursuits of the Naturalist 
should be highly esteemed, as widening our views of nature, 
enlarging our minds, and elevating the reputation of our country, 
They. are, however, also of utility to the country in their econom- 
ical applications. To this I would especially advert, in connection 
with our proceedings, as establishing a valid claim to considera- 
tion on the part of the public, independently of our merely 
scientific discoveries, or of the pleasure to be derived from our 
collections and lectures. 


In 1862, Mr. Macfarlane of Acton gave us the results of 
experiments on certain varieties of iron pyrites occurring near 
Brockville, from which he showed that cobalt and sulphuric acid — 
could be obtained in remunerative quantities. These experiments 
seem to have led him to further studies of the reactions of sul- 
phuret of iron and common salt; and the result has been another 
paper, detailing a new mode of obtaining chlorine and soda, 
which has been patented in England, and promises to effect a 
revolution in the manufacture of these important substances, and 
to cheapen and render more accessible some of the most useful 
agents in the promotion of comfort, cleanliness and health. 


A little striped beetle, Saperda Candida, burrows when in its 
larval condition in our apple trees, and soon blasts the results of 
much expenditure, and of years of labour. Mr. Cooper of Que- 


220 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


bee has shown us how the entomologist, by careful study of this 
creature’s habits, can counteract its operations, and enable us to 
enjoy some degree of immunity from its ravages. Mr. Billings 
has explained to us the habits of another insect destroyer, of the 
genus Monohammus, which it seems can devour in a single sea- 
son and on a single property, pine timber to the value of £10,000. 
Dr. Lawsen has laid before us the habits of the curious little 
Aphis, which sometimes swarms in our grain fields; and has to 
some extent vindicated it from the charges brought against it, 
and which more properly lie at the door of the wheat midge. I 
have myself only been prevented by lack of time from bringing 
under your notice some sketches of the habits of the Army-worm, 
and of some other of the more common irsect pests, and may com- 
mend the subject to other observers as a most promising and 
valuable field of labor. 


A committee of our society has been engaged in promoting 
measures for the more effectual protection of the smaller insectiv- 
orous birds, to which has-been assigned by Providence the func- 
tion of protecting us against insect ravages, and which, as a part 
of the unpaid police of nature, as well as for their beauty and their 
song, should be cherished and guarded from harm in every coun- 
try truly civilized. 


Another Committee has been engaged in the investigation of 
the causes of the decay of the apple orchards, for which the 
island of Montreal was once celebrated. Among the principal 
results of this inquiry, in addition to points well known to gar- 
deners, may be mentioned the following :—(1) That old varieties 
of trees necessarily become delicate and unproductive, and should 
be replaced by new and hardy seedling varieties. (2.) That 
efforts should be made to supply to the soil the mineral matters 
required to constitute the ashes of healthy wood, and which in 
the process of culture become exhausted. (3.) That the habits 
of injurious insects, fungi, &., should be carefully studied, and 
that the birds frequenting orchards should be more effectually 
protected. 


Other kinds of trees have also attracted our attention, and 
among these the vine, which, notwithstanding the great success of 
its culture in vineries, and the zealous efforts of M. DeCourtenay, 
is not yet extensively cultivated in the open air. Observation and 
experience have convinced me that wherever, even in Lower 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 991 


Canada, there are gravelly or light soils, or stony hill-sides, with 
good exposure, some of the varieties of our native grapes could be 
ripened abundantly. Independently altogether of the manufac- 
ture of wine, the introduction of the grape as an article of food 
of a peculiarly agreeable and healthful quality, is well deserving 
of effort. 

At some of our meetings discussions have arisen respecting 
the use of Canadian fibres in the manufacture of fabrics and of 
paper. It would seem that the fibres of the stem and the silky 
coma of the seed of our common milk-weed, might be made 
available in this way, and that the culture of the plant might be 
profitably undertaken. A more important subject, perhaps, is 
the culture of silk. Efforts are now being made by the Botan- 
ical Society of Kingston, to introduce into this country from 
China, a species of silk-worm, Bombyx Cynthia, said to be hardy, 
and which feeds on the leaves of Ailanthus glandulosa, a well- 
known ornamental plant, rather tender for this climate, but still 
capable of cultivation here. Dr. Lawson has kindly sent me a 
few of the cocoons, from which it is hoped that a small colony of 
the animals may be reared, as Mr. Sheppard of this city possesses 
a little plantation of the Ailanthus. Dr. Lawson has also fur- 
nished for publication a valuable paper on the subject, by Mr. 
Patterson of Leith. It appears to me, however, that the silk of 
some of our native moths might be rendered more available than 
that of any foreign species. The ubiquitous moths of the genus 
Clisio campa, which devastate our forests and orchards, produce 
delicate silken cocoons, tons of which go to waste annually. and 
the amount could no doubt be greatly increased by the artificial 
culture of the animal. A still more abundant source of silk would 
be the cocoons of the great emperor moths of the genus Aftacus, 
some of which, and especially the A. cecropia, yield cocoons supe- 
rior to those of many of the species cultivated in China and 
India. Harris, in his “ Insects of Massachusetts,” states that 
the silk of this moth is very strong and quite available for manu-_ 
facture. The writer of an excellent article on this subject in the 
Journal of the Board of Arts and Manufactures for Upper 
Canada, adduces additional facts as to the easy breeding and cul- 
ture of the moth. An esteemed correspondent and good ento- 
mologist, Dr. Morris of Baltimore, has naturalized there the 
Ailanthus moth, and is now engaged in experiments on the cul- 
ture of the American species. There seems no reason why these 


rh) 


22, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


creatures, instead of reducing our forests and orchards to naked- 
ness, might not be employed in clothing the daughters of Canada 
with fabrics equal to those of China and India, and in adding 
silk to our articles of export. In effecting this result, the natu- 
ralists must, in the first instance at least, take the lead. 

An important part of the work of this society is that of popu- 
larizing natural science, in such a way that its results may be 
extensively known, and that new votaries may be attracted to its 
study. This end we seek to attain by our popular course of 
Somerville lectures, free to the public, and by throwing our 
museum open oneasy terms. I should especially mention in this 
connection, the engagement of our scientific Curator, Mr. Whit- 
eaves, under whose care large portions of our collections are 
being arranged in such a manner as to give education in natural 
history to any ordinary observer, and to aid the labours of the 
scientific student. 

We are also reminded, in glancing at the proceedings of the 
past year, that we do not now labour alone. On one side, the 
Canadian Institute of Toronto, avd on the other the Literary and 
Historical Society of Quebec are pursuing similar paths. The 
young but vigorous Botanical Society of Canada, established at 
Kingston, has availed itself of our journal for the publication of 
some of its papers and proceedings. The Natural History Society 
of New Brunswick has in like manner contributed some important 
memoirs for publication. The Literary and Scientific Society of 
Nova Scotia has sent us its constitution and regulations. Our 
proceedings have been enriched by valuable contributions from 
Rupert’s Land, and there is now a natural history society in that 
repion. Mr. Bethune has given us a catalogue of Canadian ento- 
moilogists, and this has been followed by the organization in To- 
ronto of an Entomological society. We have also to express our 
thauks to many individual contributors and correspondents in 
various parts of British America, and to many scientific institutions 
and associations abroad, which have in various ways recognized 
our humble labors. More especially in this regard should we state 
our obligations to the Smithsonian Institution of Washington for 
iis frequent kindly offices. The society has further to congratulate 
itself that its relations with its two nearest neighbors—the Geo- 
logical Survey of Canada and the McGill University—are at once 
intimate and mutually advantageous. The officers of the survey 
are among our most valued members, while through us they are 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 293 


sometimes enabled more readily to bring under the public notice 
important facts or discoveries. The prosperity of this society is an 
important stimulus to the study of natural science in the univer- 
sity; and, on the other hand, the graduates who are constantly 
going forth with a knowledge of the elements of natural science, 
and some degree of taste for its cultivation, must materially 
strengthen the society. 

The Council will report to the Society a regulation for the dis- 
posal annually of a silver or bronze medal to some gentleman dis- 
tinguished for important services to science, and especialiy to 
svience in Canada. I have further very much pleasure in stating 
that it is proposed that the first silver medal granted under this 
regulation shall be bestowed on Daniel Wilson, LL.D., of Univer- 
sity College, Toronto. Dr. Wilson came to Canada with a high 
reputation, earned in the study of British archeology ; and in 
this country he has pursued with much energy and success re- 
searches in the ethnology and antiquities of America, the results 
of which have appeared in many papers, published here and 
abroad, and more recently in his valuable work “ Pre-historic 
Man.” It is one of the most pleasant features connected with the 
institution of these medals, that they will thus enable us to testify 
our appreciation of the services of labourers in science not of our 
own body, nor resident here, but who are nevertheless fellow- 
workers with us in the objects which we have in view. 

I have reached the limits to which an address of this kind 
should be restricted, without exhausting the topics suggested by 
our annual meeting, and perhaps without having noticed some 
important parts of our work; but I must now conclude, with the 
expression of the hope that the coming year may be still more 
prosperous than the last, and more fruitful of great results. 


Report oF THE CouNcCIL. 


The Council of the Natural History Society of Montreal, on the 
occasion of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society, find it their 
duty to submit to the members generally a review of the pro- 
ceedings and condition of the Society during the past year. And 
if their predecessors have had cause on former occasions to con- 
gratulate themselves on the steady progress of the Society, your 
Council have now the pleasure of announcing that no other year 
has excelled, or perhaps equalled, the one just closing in its his- 
tory, either for the amount of scientific work done, or for the suc- 


224 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


cessful introduction of new valuable features, which it is believed 
will be sources of permanent benefit to the Society. Among 
these, two may be especially mentioned: first, the commence- 
ment ef a series of annual social meetings open to the public; 
and secondly, the appointment of a scientific curator, a want which 
had grown into a reproach to the Society. It is deemed proper 
to exhibit the operations and progress of the Society under ap- 
propriate heads. And first of 
Toe Muszevum. 

During the past year the donations to the Museum have been 
more than ordinarily numerous and valuable. Without desiring 
to be invidious, your Council cannot but acknowledge the extreme 
liberality ef some members of the Society who have very hand- 
somely added to departments hitherto scarcely represented in the 
Museum. Through the kindness of Sir William Logan, the cura- 
tor has been enabled to add to our collection some seventy-two 
specimens of marine shells, eighty-one of land and fresh water 
shells, ten echinodermata (sea urchins, and star-fishes), four crusta- 
ceans, four cirripides, six annelide, in all 177 species, besides a 
number of bryozoa and sponges, nearly all new to science. Dr. 
Dawson, among many other valuable gifts, presented the Society 
several species of marine shells, echinodermata, &c., from the gulf 
of St. Lawrence, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and the United States. 
James Ferrier, jun., Esq., has presented a most extensive and va- 
luable series of foreign shells, in which the Society’s collection 
was formerly very deficient. The number of species is about 410, 
and contains many rare genera. R. J. Fowler, Esq., has kindly 
enabled the Society to complete its collection of land and fresh 
water shells of Lower Canada, by contributing the missing spe- 
cies. Your Council invite an inspection of these valuable addi- 
tions to the Museum, and trust that the considerate liberality of 
the donors may be imitated by others. Your Council regret that 
the number of quadrupeds is still so very small. They have, 
however, issued a circular inviting contributions to their mam- 
malia, and adding a list of the specimens wanted. Of this circu- 
lar one thousand copies were printed, distributed to each member, 
and extensively sent to kindred societies in Europe and the United 
States; so that your Council are sanguine the Society will soon be 
enabled to see some improvement in this department. Some in- 
teresting specimens have been added to the collection of birds. 
Mainly through the zeal of Mr. Whiteaves, the curator of the 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 295 


Society, a commencement has been made for a collection of the 
eggs of North American birds, and several donations have already 
been received. Your Council having authorized Mr. Hunter 
the janitor of the Society, to collect specimens of the fish of this 
country not in the Museum, a very creditable progress has been 
made in the work, which it is earnestly hoped will be further pro- 
moted by the members. In the miscellaneous department various 
contributions .have been received; and your Council have had 
the pleasure of welcoming among the donors a new and promising 
organization—the Numismatic Society of Montreal. Your Coun- 
cil would offer.as a-suggestion to their successors the considera- 
tion of the expediency of uniting the Society’s collection of coins 
with that of the new Society. 
Tue Liprary. 

The additions to the library have consisted of donations from 
members and scientific societies, or exchanges of “the Naturalist,” 
the financial state of the Society still forbidding the purchase of 
scientific works much wanted. 


APPOINTMENT .OF A ScrentIFIC Curator. 

One of the greatest difficulties with which the student of Natu- 
ral History in Montreal has had to contend, was the impos- 
sibility of finding a trustworthy classified collection, especially 
in zoology. It were needless to remind the members, of the 
chaotic state in which the collection of this Society has been per- 
mitted to remain. And although a former sub-curator and some 
members had: bestowed much time on the task of classification, 
still, all must be aware that the work required to be done could 
not possibly be effected by a few spasmodic efforts of individuals, 
having but little leisure to spare. Your Council therefore esteem 
it matter of much congratulation that they have been enabled to 
secure the valuable and zealous services.of one so well and so fa- 
vourably known .as Mr. J. F. Whiteaves. It cannot be expected 
that all his labours should be specified within the limits of this 
portion of the Report; but-your Council-would beg leave to refer 
to the statements already made public, to Mr. Whiteaves’ Re- 
port delivered Jast. month, and finally to-the Museum itself, where 
the members .can judge for themselves, as to the expediency and 
necessity of the.appointment. 


OricivaL Papers READ. 
In the pastsession, twenty-six original papers in the departments 
of zoology, geology, botany, and ethnology have been read, the 


Can. Nat. 15 Vou. VIII. 


226 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


value and importance of which may be estimated by reference to 
“the Canadian Naturalist,” in which they’ have nearly all been 
published. . Many of them have been noticed in terms of the 
highest eulogy in the scientific periodicals of Europe and the 
United States. 

Tae Pusiication or THe NaturA.ist. 

This Journa! has been continued'as heretofore ; and the former 
liberality of its publishers, Messrs. Dawson Bros., has been ex- 
ceeded during the past year, they having furnished its columns 
with an unlimited number of engravings at a considerable pe- 
cuniary loss. The volume for 1862 (the 7th) has been duly com- © 
pleted. Two numbers for 1863 have been issued, and the third is. 
in progress. It is intended to commence a new series after the 
present volume is completed, with Scotch paper, expressly made 
for the Journal, and new type... Its. circulation however is still 
much smaller than it should be, and it is hoped members will use 
due efforts to extend it. 


peli LECTURES: 


The annual Somerville course of public lectures was delivered, 
as usual, and was well attended. The following is an enumera- 
tion of the lecturers and subjects discussed : 

12th February, 1863.—First oe Dr. Dawson, On’ some 
novelties in Natural History. fit 

19th February.—Second. lecture, Mr. Rimmer On the Fishes 
of the St. Lawrence. 

26th February.—Third lecture, Mr. Robb, On the! Radke 1 
Woods, and Waters of Western Canada... . 

5th March.—Fourth lecture, Mr, Gilbert, On the Climate and 
Products of Australia, and the Customs of the Inhabitants thereof. 

12th March:—Fifth lecture, Professor Small, On’ the Natural - 
History of the Old: World compared with that of the New. 

19th March.—Last lecture, Mr. Leeming, A Glance at Science” 

as a Recreation. \ 
Conversaztonns aes 

On the evening of the 3rd of Februaty the first Annual Con- 
versazione of the Society was held. ‘The rooms had been pro- 
vided with a large-collection of works of art, microscopes, &c., by 
tae miends of the Society, and addresses were delivered by. Prin- 
cipal Dawson, the Rev; A. F.. Kemp, and the Rev. Dr. De Sola. 
The audience was the largest. that had ever assembled in the city 
of Montreal, for such a purpose ; and your Council. have great 
pleasure in believing that the experiment proved a decided suc- 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 227 


cess. The tendency of such social reunions must necessarily be 
beneficial to the Society ; opportunity being afforded for general 
participation in the discussion of subjects connected with 
natural science. 


Boranic GARDEN. 


Your Council deemed it proper to appoint a committee* to 
co-operate with the Montreal Agri-Horticultural Society for the 
purpose of establishing a Botanic Garden in this city, if possible 
in the grounds of the McGill College. Your Council are happy 
to state that the project has been most favourably received by the 
public; and the governors of McGill University having, in the 
same spirit of hberality which led them to present gratuitously 
the site of the Society’s present building, offered their grounds at 
a nominal rent for the purposes of the garden, your Council 
trust that so important an auxiliary to this Society may soon be 
established. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Your Council are happy to announce a continued. increase in 
the number of members. During the month of July his Excel- 
lency the Governor General visited the Museum, when an address 
was presented to him requesting him to become a patron of the 
Society. His Excellency was pleased to assent and to express great 
gratification with the appearance of the Museum. The number 
of additional ordinary members has been forty-eight, correspond- 
ing members nine, and life members two, in all fifty-nine. Your 
Council believe fully one half of these resulted from the favourable 
impression made by the Society’s Conversazione, and they know 
that one other result was that a member liberally offered to com- 
mence. a list with the sum of $200, to pay off the remaining 
indebtedness of the Society. In this connection also your coun- 
cil deem it fitting to refer to the liberality of the Society’s trea- 
surer, James Ferrier, jun., Esq., who to save the payment of a 
high rate of interest, has advanced a considerable sum of money 
for the purpose of liquidating the Society’s indebtedness. 
The usual government grant was received—an earnest, your Coun- 
cil trust, that the legislature will continue to appreciate the efforts 
of the Society and enable them to bring together the means by 
which scientific attainments can be acquired. As evincing their 
own desire and that of the Society’s to extend as widely as possible 


* The committee consisted of Rev. Dr. De Sola (Convener), Rey. A 
F. Kemp, Messrs. S, C. Bagg, C. Robb, and John Leeming. 


998 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


_ the knowledge of natural science, your Council granted the use of 
their rooms to Mr. Denton during the month of October for the 
delivery of a course of five lectures on geology, being desirous 
more particularly that the younger and non-scientific portion of 
the community should benefit by them, and devote more atten- 
tion to such subjects than they have been accustomed to give. 
Among other proceedings of the year, your Council would further 
report that a committee was appointed to prepare for a field day 
under the direction of the Society, but that it was found necessary 
to postpone it for a future occasion; that the services of an assistant 
secretary have been dispensed with; that the building afd portico 
have been repainted, and the sign which has been placed thereon, 
has had the effect of increasing the number of visitors ; that the 
Society’s amended act has been printed, and that the election o | 
additional members of Council under its provisions has been found 
to promote the efficiency of its operations; that correspondence 
has been opened with kindred societies occupying a very high 
place in European estimation, among them the “Société d’His- 
toire Naturelle et de Physique ” of Geneva; and that these socie- 
ties have come to look upon the organ of the N. H. Society, “ the 
Canadian Naturalist,” as one of the most valuable exponents of the 
scientific progress of this continent. The sympathy of societies 
and individuals with the aims of the Natural History Society of 
Montreal, has been shown by many generous donations both of 
books and specimens; but your Council would offer as a sugges- 
tion that many desirable objects, the products of foreign countries, 
might be obtained by enlisting in behalf of the Society the assist- 
ance of the masters of the various vessels trading to this port, 
who have so many opportunities of procuring valuable specimens, 
and who have so extensively benefitted the various collections in 
the United States. The senior members of the Society will grate- 
fully remember the liberal and numerous contributions of their 
zealous friend Captain Stoddard, whilom of the ship “ Thames.” 

Your Council would especially record its gratification at the 
very efficient manner in which Mr. Wm. Hunter has discharged 
the duties of his office, combined as it has been with an obliging 
demeanor on all occasions. 

A committee, appointed by the Council of the Natural His: 
tory Society, at their meeting of the 28rd inst., to consider what 
disposition should be made of the medals of the Society, reported 
that after due consideration they would recommend that at least 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY: 929 


one bronze medal should be voted annually by the Society to 
some resident in the British provinces distinguished for attain- 
ments in natural science, or for special discoveries or active en- 
gagement in the same; and that the silver medals of the Society 
be presented occasionally to the same class of persons, whether 
resident in the British provinces or not. 

The Council would now propose to the Society that the silver 
‘medal of the Society for the present year be given to Professor 
Daniel Wilson, LL.D., of Toronto, in acknowledgment of his ser- 
vices in American ethnology. 

And now your Council would divest themselves of the trust 
with which they have been honoured, with the fervent hope 
that the onward steps taken during the past. year may be con- 
tinued and extended in the future, and that each succeeding anni- 
versary meeting may witness an increase of prosperity and useful- 
ness in the Natural History Society of Montreal. 

ABRAHAM De Sora, LL.D., 


Chairman of Counc. 


Montreal, May Isth, 1863. 


REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC CURATOR. 


It should be observed that this report referstoa period of time 
little exceeding six weeks, from the Ist of April, 1863, to the 
18th of May in the same year. On entering upon my duties 
one of the first things that struck me was the want of arrange- 
ment of the specimens in the side cases in the gallery. These 
contained a confused assemblage of marine shells, Echinodermata 
(sea urchins, star fishes, etc.), Crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, etc.), 
Sponges and other marine organisms from the Gulf of the St. 
Lawrence, and a large series of the land and fresh water shells of 
Upper and Lower Canada. These were the property of the 
Geological Survey of Canada, and were collected pri: cipally by 
Messrs. J. Richardson and R. Bell. The cases containing the 
same, also belonged to the Geological Survey. After several 
interviews with Sir W. E. Logan, I was requested to go over the 
whole of this rather large collection and pick out as complete a 
series as possible, for the Natural History Society. Since that 
time I have carefully mounted, classified and named the collection 
thus formed, which will now be available for reference and study. 


230 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


The sponges, corallines,' and other undetermined and, for the 
most part, minute objects have been temporarily grouped together 
in one casé by themselves. ‘The following is a rough estimate of 
this collection : Dern; 

. No. of Species. 
Marine Shells, (from the lower St. Lawrence) ' ee ol. Aes TZ. ° 


Land and Fresh Water Shells. ...... 0005.6. YOU Gh 8d 
Bryozoa, (Sea mats, ete.).. 0) 000 00 AS iiss undetermined. 
Echinodermata, (Sea urchins, star fishes ete): ht gioel ve Torus 
@rustaceay. 2). s Aceleniieniaa, bi. agen MLO 19 Qn 4 
Cirripedes, (barnacles, etc.). 0.2.00... OPO WOK, 3 ARIE | 
Annelida, (marine worms, inhabiting, im was case, shelly 

tubes). OS. 205, Ain Pe MQRGT, PLO VIRTUOUS 
Sponges, (mostly species new to science.)........ undetermined. 


It should be stated that the tablets upon which these specimens 
are affixed were presented by the Geological Survey. 

Among the marine shells are three species : Crenella nigra, Gray; 
Trochus\ occidentalis, Mighels; and Margarita obscura, Gould; 

which had previously been omitted in the lists of shells inhabiting 
the Gulfof St. Lawrenceas published in the “Canadian Naturalist.” 

Dr. Dawson has presented to the Society several species of 
marine shells, echinodermata etc., from Gaspé, Labrador, Nova 
Scotia, and the United States. Among them is the common 
edible periwinkle of Europe (Littorina littorea) discovered by 
Dr. Dawson at Pictou, Nova Scotia, where itis believed to have 
been for the first time detected on the North American continent. 

Mr. R. J. Fowler has presented a series of specimens of eighteen 
species of those Lower Canadian land and fresh-water shells which 
were wanting to complete the Society’s local collection. Some of 
these are rare species, for the first time described as inhabiting 
Lower Canada, inthe April Number of the ‘Canadian Naturalist ” 
for 1863. The specimens of the above mentioned series have 
been carefully arranged and named, with the donor’s name at- 
tached ‘to each species. ‘ 

Mr. James Ferrier, Jun., has presented to the Society a most ex- 
tensive and valuable series of foreign shells, including several 
rare and interesting genera. The number: of species is as 
follows: 

From the Bay of Mazatlan, Meniedi: 

Bivalves, 30 species. Univalves, 57. 

Exclusive of these . 

Bivalves, 87 species. Univalves, 228. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 231 


These have been mounted, named, and classified. The 
general collection of shells belonging to the Society has also been 
partly classified and arranged. The following is an estimate of 
the Society’s collection of shells, previous to the above mentioned 
donations : 

Bivalves, 74 species. 
Univalves, . 340 Ss 


As far as possible the names of the donors have been given 
with the name of each species, but in some cases this could not 
be ascertained. 


To add.to the interest of the Society’s collection of birds, an 
attempt has been made to get up a collection of the eggs of 
North American birds. A few gentlemen have been seen, and 
the following donations received : 

From J. Ferrier, Jun., Esq., 

15 species of eggs oka Canada and the United States. 

From G. Barnston Esq., 

6 species of eggs from the Hon. Hudson Bay Company. 
Teas! egg from Lake Superior. 

The egos thus obtained have been named and carefully put 
away, until a proper cabinet be voted by the Society for their 
reception. 

Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, has 
been written to by me soliciting donations to this branch of our 
natural history. 

As Recording Secretary to the Society, I have endeavoured to 
make the newspaper reports of our ordinary and annual meetings 
more accurate and satisfactory. In my spare time I have attempt- 
ed to call some attention, through the press, to what the Society 
is endeavouring to effect, by reviewing its journal and by popular 
articles on local natural history. It has been my duty too, assist- 
ed by other members of the Society, to prepare the annual 
report for the year ending May 17th, 1863. Finally, it is hoped 
that reasonable courtesy and attention has been paid to visitors 
who have wished for any special information, and to strangers. 

J. WuritEAvss F.G. S., 
Honorary Member of the Ashmolean 
Society, Oxford, England, etc., 


Scientific Curator and Recording Secretary. 


232 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


_ It was moved by Dr: David, seconded by Professor Cornish : 
—That'the various reports now presented be accepted, and with 
the annual address’ printed as usual. 
After which a vote of. thanks.to the: officers of the past year 
was proposed by Mr. Mackay, seconded by Major Latour,. and 
unanimously carried. 


The Society then proceeded to ballot for officers for the ensuing 
year, when the following were duly. elected. 


OFFICERS FOR 1863-64. 


President.—Piincipal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., &., &c. 

Vice-Presidents.—The Lord. Bishop of Montreal;. Rev. A. De 
Sola, LL.D.; Sir W. E. Logan, LL.D., F.RS., &e. 3: T. Sterry 
Hunt, M.A., F-R.S., &c.,; Rev. A. F. Kemp, M.A.,; E. Billings, 
Esq., F.G.S.,;. J. Leeming, Esq., and. W. H..A. Davies, Esq. 

Treasurer—J. Ferrier, jun., Esq. 

Cor. Secretary.—Prof. P. J. Darey. 


Rec. Secretary aud Scientific Curator.—J. F. Whiteaves, Esq., 
F.G.S., &e. 

Lnbrarian.—Mr. H. Rose. 

Council—Dr. Smallwood ; Stanley C. Bagg, Esq.; A. Rimmer, 
Esq. ;'C. Robb, Esq., C.E.; E. Murphy, Esq. ;'D. A. P. Watt, Esq: 5 
Dr. Hingston; J. H. Joseph, Esq., and J. Swanston, Esq. 

Library Committee.—Messrs. J. C. Becket; Prof. Cornish ; Dr. 
Fenwick; Dr. David, and Dr. Mackay. 

Editing Committee of the “ Canadian Naturalist.’—D. A. 
Poe Watt, Esq., Acting Editor; Dr. Dawson; Dr. Hunt; E. 
Billings, Hsq.; Rev. A. F. Kemp, M.A.; Prof. Robins, and the 
Corresponding and Recording Secretaries. 


NATURAL HISTORY. SOCIETY. 233 


Tum Canapian NATURALIST. 


The Canadian Naturalist is sent to the following Institutions 
and Societies :-— 


CANADA, ETC, 


University College, cic... sees eeee ee Toronto. 

Trinity College,...se:i tess eereeccseces Toronto. 

Canadian Inetitute,. iim «+0400 +,0°00 608 Toronto. 

inoxipi@ollee,::/\ciiseee sees ss sense Toronto. 

Waictoria Colles... cette. ss. + as o0 ye o0 Cobourg. 

Queen’s College,.....0... Sob odoudabda Kingston. 

Botanical Society,..i.05.20s2.0e+00ece Kingston. 

DUCE COM Coy. 516, weed erm ba) 610, 005 ¢/n et: Montreal. 

Isy@n@ars (Colllamy5 seyde no pobOoDoO One Lennoxville. 

Laval University; 0 se voces eieseres Quebec. 

Literary and Historical Society,........ Quebec. 

Natural History Society,.....6...0s6+5 St. John, N. B. 
UNITED STATES. 

Harvard, College, 06 coe. se cenntcinsis Cambridge, Mass. 

Amnherst College, . . . oe cjesererwisdewiele otters Amberst, Mass. 

Wale @ollerene caseindssse+-codeese © New Haven, Conn. 

Natural History Society,........c0000. Boston, Mass. 

State Library,....... EMG AUTOM UT CLO Albany, New York. 

Albany Dastitute, sence 'fe o's 0. 0)+ o10,0,0.0.450 Albany, New York. 

IH SSexe Stitt Oss 4 oi of) clebeis) «a's» shela als, siezere Salem, Mass. 

Lyceum of Natural History,,.......... New York. 

AS OM BATA TY saleraloyis lets i« w'oie se feusiese oie cee New York. 

Academy of Natural Sciences,........- Philadelphia. 

HramlnpIMMstitUte, eco \e sos sees 0+s Philadelphia. 

Smithsonian Institute,................ Washington. 

Neademiy, ot) Sciences tie}... 0's + e+.2 0/0.0,0.08 St. Louis, Missouri. 

University of Nashville,........... ... Tennessee. 


GREAT BRITAIN. 


Geological SOCLELY sje sue: alefeiintalsienes sie/eiaiois London. 
Mina N ze AT SOCICLY 312) a)s0n cho «/) 5) <!cls) elses eis London. 
LOW AIRSOCLELY s s/oreie'«, ey sialsiecsiante le! wie sclevctens London. 
Royal Geographical Society,.......... London. 
British Museum Library,............. London. 


Wiiversity College, <6. once soe. London. 


234 NATURAL HISTORY. SOCIETY. 


Sovicty ofpAirts, 2...) «cle cteleitoieieloletehs'el- London. 
Geological Survey of Great Britain,..... London. 
Geological Society,....052...0...6.. Dublin. 
Royal Dublin Society,...2.s.0+see0+ Dublin. 
Literary and Philosophical Society,..... Manchester... > |... 
Natural History Society,.........+0.-- Newcastle upon Tyne. 
Bodleiangaibrarye.nsroisiel-l sete! +/+ o\ee ei Oxford. 
University Library,... 06250... sso 's's . Cambridge. 
Whnliversiby Maral sa. eielenteleieieeicrei- .. Edinburgh, Scotland.’ | 
University Library,..............+%++Glasgow, Scotland. ~ 
University Library,....... weeeeeee ee St, Andrew's Scotland. 
College Library,........%:. ‘Sod0dae bo SpoLibypasobs. Ireland. 
Queen’s College,.........06. Weode es oe Conk, sare kniteaas 
Queen’s College,. 2... ee ee es Ree HT, Ireland: 
CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 

Société Géologique de ae Kaeo nee aes France. 
Académie des Sciences, . sos ceatonmee aris, Meru. 
Academia, Gar Iedpae.cs:.:235-2388 Jena, Saxe, Weimar. 
Imper. Geological Institute,........0. . Vienna, Austria. 
Deutsches Geolog. Gesellschafft,.. .. Berlin, Prussia. 
Société Hollandaise des on EAN wie tatete Haarlem, Holland. 
Konig]. Sachs. Gesellschaft: der Wissen- 

BHA COsersiee clererel es Tod odoowod Leipzig, Saxony. 


Société Impériale des Naturalistes,...... Moscow, Russia. 
Konigl. Bayerischen Akademie der Wis- 


senschaften,....... pekoteteiotcheleiets Munich, Bavaria. 
Stockholm Biksbiblioleket,..........% Stockholm! Sweden. 
(WpsalaWiniverstty, 022 cit clclcvsicicucae ince Upsala, Sweden. 
Academy of Sciences,....::.......2.+.-Stockholm, Sweden. 
Christiania University,...000000..00 000. Christiania, Norway. 
rovial Wiibratyirs sae cir povete) thet epeastevete Gopenfiubien! Denmark. 
St. Petersburg, Bibliotheque Paper. St. Petersburg, Russia. 
Dorpat University,........ Moores ...Dorpat, Russia. 
Kasan University,.......°. sonata ete teteteSe .«Kasan, Russia. 
Helsingfors University, . a. sen. einen. »- Helsingfors, Russia. 


Amsterdam Stadsch Bibliotheck, . ...e. Amsterdam, Holland. 
Leyden Batavian Academy,......... a . Leyden, Holland. 


Groningen University,........ 20.0% ..-Grdningen, Holland. 
BonngWmiversitye. << os csccye este ck . -» Bonn, Prussia. 
BreslausUmiversity, 3... shbs core cieislete love een Prussia, 


Freiberg Royal Acad.,.......0.0. ...- Freiberg, Saxony. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 235 


And to the following Periodicals :— 
CANADA, 


Journal of the Board of Arts,......... Toronto. 


UNITED STATES, 
Sibltmnan’s-SOUrn a) s-oececececacamerececececeeases New Haven. 
GREAT BRITAIN. 


Annals and Magazine of Natural History,..London. 


PUM ONGCOLOOISE oer kerala atv eel oie! eletelel ofel el ef ab London. 
The Phytologist, :.. <x<ac-ows aovles cele -. +» London. 
Phe Zoologist s.).210% hopes weds to. gia, London. 
Journal of Botany,....... cpa nag feces London. 
The Technologist, ..xadiogel. Reutos e923 owl. London 


London, E, and D. Philosophical Magazine, London. 
leas New Philosophical Journal,... Edinburgh. 


CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 


Annales des Sciences Naturelles,..6. 0. .. Paris, France. 
Allgemeine Deutsches Naturh. Zeitane . «Dresden, Saxony. 
Archiv. fur Naturgeschichte by Were -Berlin, Prussia. 
Heuwoldoiae waorse Pomoga out to eage J ena, Sax Weimar. 
Leonhard und Brohn Jahrbuch,........ Stutgardt, Wurtemburg. 


236 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY; 


List oF DoNATIONS TO THE MusEUM. 


Donors’ Namazs. 


— Lambe, Esq:.....+.- 
Dr. A. H. Hall} resienre se 


Miss Wright, ...... booc 
B: Hall, Hsq.) < «.itaicsieies 
N. Macintosh. Esq.,..... 
Mr. W. Hunter, ........ 


J. Ferrier, Jr., Esq..... 
Mrs. A. Miller, ....... 


Mr. R. P. Isaacgon,..... 
Mr. W. Hunter, .....00. 


— Ramsay, Esq, ».... 


Mr. W. Hunter, ........ 


J. Ferrier, Jr., Esq...... 


— Ross, Hsq.co.ssoeeee 
Mrs. McIntosh,..... 5000 
G. Barnston, Hsq.,....- 


DONATIONS. 


May 26th, 1862. 


English silver two-penny piece. 


.|Skin of Star nosed mole, (Condylura cristata, 


Linneus.) 
Hen’s‘egge’ within another. 
Two eggs joined together. 
Lop eared Rabbit. 
Little Sandpiper, female,(Tringa pusilla, Wilson) 
Number of small Fish-and water plants: for the 
Aquaria. 


-»|Specimen of Copper Ore from Lake Superior 


Antler from the Cape of Good Hope. 
Muscicapa—? (Flycatcher, species undetermined, ) 


June 30th, 1862. 


4 Eggs of the spotted Sandpiper, (Tringoides 
macularius, Gray.) 

Geothylypis Philadelphia, Baird, male. (Mourn- 
ing warbler.) 

Dendroica Striata, Baird, female. (Blackpoll 
warbler.) 

Helminthophaga ruficapilla, Baird, male. (Nash- 
ville swamp warbler.) 

Mniotilta varia, Viellot, male. (Black and 
white creeper.) 

Vireosylvia —? species undetermined. 

Fish and aquatic insects for the Aquaria. 


August 25th, 1862. 


Double hen’s egg, grown together. 

Lop-eared rabbit in spirits. 

Pelicanus erythrorynchus, Gmelin, (American 
Pelican.) 

Accipenser carbonaria, Agassiz, (Long nosed 
Sturgeon.) 

Salmo fontinalis, Linnzus, (Brook Trout.) 

Coregonus Artedi, (Fresh water “‘ Herring.”) 

Coregonus sapidissimus, (White fish.) 

Lota maculosa, Lesuer, (Loche.) 


Dr. Dawson,...... ..--.|4 Limulus Polyphemus, Latreille, (King Crab.) 


Mrs. Hamilton,......... 


An antique pair of stays, 100 years old. 


Mr. Higgins, Cote S. Paul|Petrifaction, (Incrustation of carbonate of lime 


and oxide of iron around leaves and branches.) 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 237 


List or DoNnATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. 


Donors’ NAME. 


Mrs. Peter Redpath, .... 


J. Ferrier, Jr., Esq., ...- 
H. G. Vennor, Esq., .... 


OMOEA HSq is. vic eles + « 
D. McKay, Hsq.,... 2006 
A. Rimmer, Esq.,....0+- 
Mr. W. Hunter;........ 


DoNATIONS. 


September 29th. 


4-young Limulus Polyphemus, Latreille. (King 
Crab.) 

9 Gold fish and several Hels for the Aquaria. 

Salmo “namycush” Pennant. The Longe. 
Lake Magog, Georgeville. 

Hen’s egg of unusual size. 


.|3 Flint arrow-heads from Burlington heights. 


2 specimens of Gorgonia —? (Sea fan,) 

W. Cowper, Esq., specimens of Saperda candida. 

Perisoreus Canadensis Bonaparte. ( Canada jay.) 

Eggs of Hmys picta. (The painted. turtle.) 

Case containing 18 species of Fish from the St. 
Lawrence at Montreal, .as follows : 

1 Perca flavescens, Mitchell. (Common yellow 
Perch.) 

1 Labrax-lineatus, Bloch. (Striped Bass.) 

2 Lucioperea Americana, Cuvier and Valen- 
ciennes. (American Pike Perch.) 

1 Centrarchus ceneus, Lesuer. (Rock Bass.) 

2 we fasciatus, Lesuer. (Black Bass.) 

1 Pomotis vulgaris, Richardson. (Sun fish). 


|2 Gasterosteus —~? (Stickleback, species unde- 


termined.) 

1 Pimelodus catus ? Linneus. (Common Cat 
fish.) 

1 Catastomus —? (Sucker, species uncertain.) 

1 Leuciscus pulchellus, Storer. (The ‘‘ Roach 
Dace”). 5 

Hsox estor, Lesuer. (Common. Pike or Maski- 
nonge:) 

1 Coregonus albus, Lesuer. (White fish.) 

1 Hyodon:clodalis, Lesuer. .( Winter shad:) 

2 Lepidosteus oxyurus. (Gar pike.) 


-{1 Lota maculosa, Lesuer. (Common ling.) 


J. Ferrier, Jr, Hsq.,.. +++ 
@. Barnston, Esq.,.-.0+- 


1 Anguilla tennirostris, DeKay. (Common Eel.) 

1 Accipenser oxyrynchus, Mitchell. (Sharp 
nosed Sturgeon.) 

1 Pteromyzon nigricans? Lesuer. (Blue Lamp- 
rey.) 

Also-Amia ocellicauda, Richardson. (The Mud 
or Beaver fish, from Lake St. Peter. 

October 27th, 1862. 


Fishes for the Aquaria. 


2 Salmo“ siscowet,” Agassiz. a De 

1 Salmo ursinus, Barnston, nov. sp. as 

1. Salmo:amethystinus ? “Mitchell. ee 

1 Salmo Hoodii, or nov. sp. (S. Bairdii, { g & 
Barnsion, M. S. 8.) DD 

1 Young beaver, (Castor fiber.) j= 


238 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


List oF DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. 


Donors’ NAME. Donations. 


October 27th, 1862. (Continued.) 


Dr. Van Courtlandt,....|Specimens of Gasterosteus gymnetes? and Leu- 
ciscus, néw species. 
Mr. W. Hunter, ........|Picoides hirsutus, Gray. (Banded 3 toed Wood- 


pecker.) 
November 24th, 1862. 
P. Macfarlane, Hsq.,.....|Minerals from the Giants Causeway. 
J. Ferrier, Jr. | Esq.;2++ ».«.|Pair of Bucephalaalbeola, Baird. (Buffel headed 
duck.) 


Fishes for the Aquaria. 
Mr. Gaven,......0+-....(2 Hutainia sirtalis, Baird, and Girard. (Garter 
Snake.) 
Mr. Miller, ....0-+c00+.\specimens of Copper Ore from the Bruce mine. 
J.S.- Thompson, Hsq:, .. 1 peenns Buceinator, Richards. (Trumpeter 
wan.) 
G. Barnston, Esq.,....../8 Percopsis —? nov sp. 
3| Coltus —? 
2 Rana —? 
1 Salamandra —? 
E. C. David, Esq:,......|Specimen of wild rice from the prairies. 


From Lake Superior. 


B. Gibb, Hsq-, ...2ecees Horn of African Rhinoceros. 
J. O’Brien, Esq., .......|Bubo Virginianus, Bonaparte. (Great Horned 
Owl.) 


Mr. W. Hunter,....-+.../32 Specimens of the sternum (Breast bone) of 
Canadian birds. 


February 23rd. 


R. Thompson, Esq.,.....{A silver, and copper coin of Napoieon III. 
2 busts of Daniel O’Connell. 
Model ‘of the Great Eastern Steamship. 
— Leslie, Hsq.,..)....0 Part of the stem of an Indian pipe found near 
Lake Ontario. 
Receptaculites occidentalis. 


Mrs. Rollo, .....e00 -ee|English blackbird, (Turdus merula, Linneus,) 
female. 
— Boa, Hsq.,.ecccececs Columnaria alveolata. 


Scops Asio, Bonaparte. Mottled Ow . 
Mr. W. Hunter,......++.|Troglodytes Parkmanni, Audubon. (female) 
Parkman’s Wren. 


March 20th, 1863. 


N. W. Bethune Esq.,....|A Canada bank note of the year 1792, 

T. Devine, Esq., Quebee.|16 specimens of electrotype casts of fossils 
from Point Levis. 

Mr. Charlton, Laprairie,.|Fish for the Aquaria. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 239 


List of DonATIONS To THE MusEuM. 


. Donors’ Namus. Donations. 


April 27th, 1863. 


Geological Survey of|A large series of marine shells, echinodermata 
Canada,......sceecee.| crustacea, sponges, &c., from the Gulf of the 
ae St. Lawrence, and a collection of the land and 
fresh water shells of Upperand Lower Canada, 
of which the following is a rough estimate : 
No. of Species. 
Marine shells.....+ POCO OGO ODO Oe olf 12: 
Land and Fresh water shells............ 81 
Bryozoa, (Sea Mats, &c.) not yet determined. 
Echinodermata, (Sea riven Starfishes,&c) »: 


@rustaceanss << .elcecivesisieesics « ees eaod 
Cirripedes (barnacles, §c. oe seado udsbosabod i 
Annelida ....... ereehelevels/ckelelelelelesiens coovad 6 


Corallines, not yet “determined. 
Sponges, (nearly all new to science) undetermined. 
Dr. Dawson, ...+e+++++|12 Species of marine shells and 3:of Echinoder- 
mata from Gaspé, ‘Labrador, ‘Nova Scotia, 
and the United States. - 
R. Js Fowler, Esq.) ....-{L5 Species of such Lower Canadian: land and 
——___ | fresh-water shells,as were wanting tocomplete 
the Society’s local collection. 
J. Ferrier, Jr., a .{A valuable and extensive series of foreign shells, 
corals, &c., of which the following is an 
estimate. 
{Shells from Mazatlan, ED, about 80 species. 
Exclusive of these: - - 


Bivalves: 87 species. 
Univalves - 228 - “ 
: Cirripedes. 


(barnacles.)— 
Acasta Montagui, Leach, Britain. 
Corals. 
6: ‘species. 
Foraminifera. 
IN ummulites nummularia? (Fossil from the 

Pyramids of Egypt.) 
G. Basneion. ng.© aeeols al species of birds’ eggs (named) from the Hud- 
son’s Bay Territory, and-1 from Lake Super- 
rior. 
J, Fersier, je ree ibe ». {15 species of birds’ eggs from Canada and the 

United States. 


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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY or CANADA 
SirWE LoganFRS Directer. \ 


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LIMESTONE CONGLOMERATES 


QUEBEC GROUP 


POINT LEVIS 


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HYLONOMUS ACIEDENTATUS, D® H WYMANT,D?. 


THE 


CANADIAN 


NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Wo, Aone AUGUST, 1863. No. 4. 


Arr. XIX.— Observations on the Geology of St. John County, 
New Brunswick. By G. F. Marruzw, Esq. 


As some interest in the geology of this vicinity has been excited 
by the articles of Professor Dawson on the Upper Devonian Flora 
of eastern America, in the ‘Canadian Naturalist’ and ‘Journal of 
the Geological Society,’ afew remarks on the lithology, strati- 
graphy, and distribution of the older deposits of this neighbour- 
hood may not be unacceptable. 

In presenting them, however, I would claim a considerate cri- 
ticism of the errors of one who is only an amateur of the science. 
I have confined my observations to a limited district, because it 
seemed to me that more permanent additions would thus be made 
to our knowledge of the geology of this part of the province than 
would be obtained by rambling over a larger field. 

If I have given more prominence to details than may seem ne- 
cessary, it is because I anticipate that the structure of the district 
which I propose to describe will explain that of the broken and 
hilly region east and northeast of St. John; and in a minor 
degree that to the westward. 

The Devonian age of certain deposits in Gaspé, Nova Scotia, 
and Maine, had been recognized before the existence of strata of 
this age in New Brunswick was ascertained. 

In various parts of the Bay of Fundy, red sandstones had been 
observed. Some were referred to the carboniferous period while 
others were fourd to be of still later origin. - The deposits to 

Can. Nar. 16 Vou, VIIL. 


9492 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


which these remarks more particularly relate were all classed as. 
Silurian. 

In June, 1861, Dr. Dawson asserted the Devonian age of the 
sandstones of Perry in Eastern Maine, and, in consequence, those 
of St. Andrews, N. B., from certain fossil plants submitted to him 
for examination. Ce, Jackson had previously suggested this as 
the probable age of these rocks. The additional proofs accumu- 
lated by Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, have thrown much further light 
on their history, and their Devonian age is now clearly recog- 
nized. 

Sandstones and conglomerates similar to these are known to 
occur at different points between Passamaquoddy Bay and the 
mouth of the river St. John, “but their stratigraphy and position 
have not been determined. 

_On the eastern side of the harbour of St. John, and extending 
many miles along the coast, are extensive sedimentary deposits of 
great thickness, consisting almost entirely of fragmentary rocks, 
usually of coarse materials, varied by the addition of numerous. 
beds of volcanic origin. 

The lower members of this formation pass beneath the harbour 
and extend a few miles along the coast to the westward. It is 
in this direction that vegetable remains of the period when these 
rocks were formed, have been found in the greatest abundance 
and best state of preservation. The examination of these fossils 
has enabled Dr. Dawson to refer the strata in connection with 
them to the Chemung and Portage group of New York geolo- 
gists.* 

The sediments which underlie this formation are of equal or 
greater thickness ; but few well-preserved fossils have been found 
in them, and these have not been studied; their age is)therefore 
uncertain. The resemblance of some of these beds to the middle 
Devonian of New York has already been pointed out by the same 
observer. 

To the eastward of St. John, Dr. Gesner (3rd Report, pp. 5-11) 
recognized two series of rocks, both of which he refers to the Silu- 
rian age, namely, an upper group of limestones, slates, and sand- 
stones, containing remains of plants, mollusca, &c., and described 


* The late Dr. Robb suggested this view of their age some years ago, 
although he had previously classed them as Lower Silurian (Johnston’s 
Report on agricultural capabilities of N. B. ). Iam not aware that he 
published anything on the subject. 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. Q45; 


as shelving from the southern side of a ridge of syenite; and an 
older group, in which he includes the conglomerates, clay slates, 
sandstones, talcose slaies and trap beds of Mispeck and Black 
River. | 

It will be one of my objects in the following remarks to show 
that the latter group is partly contemporaneous with, but for the 
most part less ancient than those to which Prof. Dawson’s papers 
relate, and that Dr. Gesner’s lower group is really to a great ex- 
tent younger than his “ upper series.” 

In the map and section accompanying these observations, I 
have endeavoured to show the distribution of the various groups: 
of strata and the manner in which they have been tilted and 
folded. 

Three principal folds in the strata are observable. The outer 
folds are anticlinal. Of these the northwestern skirts the south 
side of Kennebeckasis Bay, a lake-like expansion of the lower 
part of that river. 

The southeastern runs parallel to the Bay of Fundy, and at a 
short distance from it. Its axis has a considerable inclination to 
the southwest, for the strata are found to bend over it (in ascend- 
ing order) in that direction. 

This peculiarity causes the deposit in the intermediate syncli- 
nal fold to expand to the westward and assume the appearance of 
a basin opening to the sea. 

On examining the section it will be seen that of the two anti- 
clinal folds there shown, the northern brings up beds of an age 
much greater than any which are seen in the southern, Mecle the 
section crosses it. 

Principal Dawson in his article on the Devonian Flora of North- 
eastern America,* published in the November number, 1862, of 
the Journal of the Geological Society, divides these pre-carboni- 
ferous beds into several groups, which with some modifications are 
given below. I have attached names to these groups (indicating 
the localities where the best and most typical exposures have been 
observed), which may serve the convenience of local cbeervers, 


* I was favoured with an opportunity to peruse the rough draft of & 
part of this article, and have in consequence to a great extent avoided 
details relative to the rocks in the city and its immediate vicinity. Had 
I seen it in print before the following remarks were written, I would 
have omitted more, and thus have made them’ more concise and less re- 
petitious. 


944 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


till the strata shall have been co-ordinated with deposits in regions 

better known. 

Portianp Series (Nos. 7 and 8 of Dawson), thickness un- 
known. Granite and syenite, mica, schist and gneiss, limes- 
tones, clay slate, and sandstone. fossils, fragments of plants 
in the upper beds. 

CotpBrooKx Group (No. 6 of Daw. in part), thickness 3,000 feet 
or more. 

a. Greenish grey slate, stratification very obscure. 
b. Bright red slaty conglomerate and dark red sandy shale. 
c. Reddish conglomerate and grit, hard grey sandstone. 

Sr. Joun Group (Nos. 5 and 6 in part of Daw.), thickness 3,000 
feet or more; several zones of soft black and dark grey 
finely laminated shales alternating with zones of coarser grey 
slates containing numerous thin beds of fine grained sand- 
stone. Fossils, lingula, a conchifer, annelides, coprolites. 

Bioomspury Group (No. 4 of Daw.), thickness 2500 feet.* 

a. Basalt, amygdaloid, trap-ash, trap-ash slate; some beds of 
conglomerate. Thickness 2000 feet. 

b. Fine grained red clay slate f Tee OM eee 
Reddish grey conglomerate 

LirtLE River Group (Nos. 2 and 3 of Daw.), thickness 5200 
feet. 


a. “ Dadoxylon sandstone,” grey sandstone and grit with beds 
of dark grey shale, sometimes graphitic. Thickness 2800 ft. 


Fossils. Numerous plants, several crustaceans, wings of insects. 


(C. F. Hartt.) 


b. “Cordaite shales,” grey, greenish, and red shales; reddish 
and grey sandstones, grits, and conglomerates, alternating 
with the shales. Thickness 2400 feet. 


Fossils. Cordaites, Calamites, Stigmaria, Ferns, &c., for the 
most part identical with those of the preceding section. 
(?) Granulite or granitic sandstone, micaceous slate, trap-ash. 


* Where groups appear on both sides of the synclinal fold the average 
thickness has been given. The measurements are to be regarded as 
merely approximate, 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 245 


Misreck Group (No. 1 of Daw.), thickness 1800 feet. 
a. Coarse subangular conglomerate. 
b. Fine-grained purple clay slate and grits surmounted by 
slate conglomerate. 
(?) Red and green slate, basalt (stratified ?). 


Topography.—The indentations in the coast line of the Bay of 
Fundy at Port Simonds and St. John harbour, cut directly across 
all the groups of rocks mentioned above, except those of the Port- 
land series, which are crossed by the outlet of the St. John river. 

In the peninsula thus formed between Kennebeckasis Bay and 
the Bay of Fundy, two hilly ridges, one skirting the former and 
the other the latter Bay, with an intermediate valley, are the most 
prominent topographical features, 

The valley in its upper part forms the basins of several lakes: 
(Loch Lomond, &c.), and forks as it approaches the sea. One 
branch through which the Mispeck flows, ends at Port Simonds ; 
the other extends to the harbour of St. John, and is drained 
by Little River. An intermediate ridge of land, which extends a 
short distance into the Bay between the two ports, consists princi- 
pally of the highest group of Devonian rocks, (see Section). 

The uneven and hilly tract on the northwestern side of the pe- 
ninsula is underlaid by the Portland series and Coldbrook group, 
and its surface is diversified by numerous lakelets and ponds. 

The shales of the St. John group, being much softer than the 
deposit on either side, have suffered more from denuding agencies. 
They lie at the bottom of that branch of the central valley which 
ends at the harbour. Advantage has been taken of this depres- 
sion to supply the city with water from lakes in the vicinity of 
Loch Lomond. 

The volcanic and sedimentary beds of the succeeding group 
stand out boldly above the general level of the country wherever 
they attain a considerable thickness, and usually bear a generous 
forest growth. 

In passing from the wooded slopes underlaid by rocks of this 
_group to the arenaceous beds which succeed them, a notable 
change is apparent in the vegetation. Barren wastes and bare 
ledges of sandstone take the place of thick woods wherever the 
influence of the subjacent rock is not modified by the presence of 
a foreign soil. 


246 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


These open moorland tracts are known as “ Barrens,” and are 
‘covered with a profusion of heath-like plants.* 

‘In the upper part of the Little River group, some improvement 
in the character of the soil is manifest, more especially where vol- 
canic sediments prevail. 

But the agricultural capabilities of the land underlaid by these 
beds, as well as those of the highest Devonian group, depends 
very much upon the presence or absence of diluvial accumula- 
‘tions. The soils of the peninsula are indeed not remarkable for 
fertility, except where sea or river allavium has been formed, or 
carboniferous deposits prevail. Large tracts are entirely barren 
and unproductive. 

Porttanp Sreries—The intricate structure and exiensive me- 
‘tamorphism of these older beds renders their examination difficult 
cand perplexing. They are introduced here principally on account 
of their connection with later deposits. Their general appearance 
has been so well described by Dr. Dawson, that it is only neces- 
sary to mention some’ peculiarities which did not come beneath 
his notice. Beside the syenitic gneiss observed by him, there are 
masses of syenite and granite in which no traces of stratification 
are discernible; also beds of mica schist and gneiss conglomerate. 
‘The upper part of the series is mostly calcareous, consisting of 
limestone strata separated by deposits of pyritous slates. Several 
of these are graphitic and contain small fragments of plants. 


CotpBroox Group.—To these calcareous beds succeeds a group 
of rocks which does not hold a prominent place at St. John, but 
is largely developed to the eastward of that place. They are 
well exposed in the valley of Coldbrook, and further east where 
the following succession may be seen : 


1. Hard greenish grey slate, stratification very obscure. 
2. Conglomerate with bright red slaty paste. 

3. Grey conglomerate. 
4 


. Coarse reddish grit and conglomerate with purple sandstone. 
Apparent thickness of the whole, 5000 feet. 


* Gaylussacia resinosa, Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum, V. Vitis-Idcea, 
Cassandra calyculata, Epigoea repens, Gaultberia procumbens, Kalmia 
angustifolia, Rho@ora Canadensis, Corema Conradii, &c., are common 
on the ridges; while Sedum latifolium, Kalmia glauca, Andromeda po- 
lifolia, Myrica Gale, and a variety of other species occur in the hollows, 
which frequently expand into sphagnous bogs. 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 247 


To the westward of St. John this group thins out rapidly. At 
the “falls” of the river it does not exceed 150 feet. 

No organic remains have been detected in it. 

St. Joun Grovur.—No division of these slates has been at- 
tempted, as there is a repetition of similar sediments; the strata 
are much plicated, and the only well preserved fossil—a lingula— 
which occurs in cousiderable number, is common to the coarser 
beds throughout the group. | 

The great mass of the deposit consists of a grey clay slate often 
sandy, the layers of which present glistening surfaces owing to 
the abundance of minute spangles of mica. This rock frequently 
becomes very fine in lamination and texture, and dark in colour. 
Four thick bands of this kind occur, the uppermost of which has 
been denominated by Dr. Dawson papyraceous shale. They have 
as yet yielded no fossils.* The three bands of coarser shale 
which alternate with them include numerous layers of a fine com- 
pact grey sandstone, from a few inches to ten feet or more in 
thickness ; a few are so highly calcarerous as to become almost 
limestones, The surfaces of the layers in the coarser bands are 
frequently covered with worm burrows, ripple marks, shrinkage 
cracks, scratches—apparently made by creatures gliding through 
the shallow waters in which they were deposited—and other evi- 
dences indicating that the slates are in great part of littoral origin. 

Fragments and complete shells of a Lingula are scattered 
over the surfaces of the sandy layers, and thin seams composed 
entirely of these shells packed closely together are occasionally 
met with. 

These shales maintain a comparatively uniform breadth between 
Loch Lomond and St. John, but to the westward of the city their 
thickness rapidly diminishes. No proof that they are unconform- 
able to the deposits contiguous to their base and summit has been 
observed. 


* Since writing the above, I visited, in company with my brother, Mr. 
C. R. Matthew, a locality on CGoldbrook where he had previously met 
with loose pieces of fossiliferous slate. We found this rock in place 
near the base of the St.John group, and obtained from it, beside some 
obscure remains, a small* orthoceratite, and numerous trilobites of two 
or three species, the latter so excessively distorted that not even the 
genera can be made out. These and the species discovered in the Da- 
doxylon sandstone by Mr. Payne, are, I believe, the only salons found 
4m situ in the province. 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


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ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. ‘249, 


Long Island in Kennebeckasis R. is princi- 
pally composed of conglomerate and sand- 
stone of lower carkoniferous age, which rise 


in a bold and picturesque cliff from the. 


water’s edge at the eastern end. At the 
foot of this cliff and extending thence along 
the southeastern side of the island, strata of 
much greater age are exposed to view. 
They consist. in ascending order of—1st. 
Granite and granitic gneiss; 2nd. Crystal- 
line limestone and altered slate; 3. Thinly 
laminated grey shales with thin layers of 
fine sandstone much contorted. The whole 
dip to the northwest at an angle of 600 to 
70°. In the shales, fragments of a lingula 
occur similar to that found in the St. John 
beds and probably identical with it. There 
are also numbers of worm burrows and 
other markings like those in the shales at 
St. John. The texture and position of this 
deposit as well as the obscure fossils which 
it holds, seem to show that it is identical 
with that which underlies the city. A 
small exposure of slates, evidently a con- 
tinuation of those on Long Island, may be 
seen at Sand Point on the south side of the 
river, six miles southwest. 

These limited exposures of slate seem to 
me to point out the occurrence of a belt of 
fine sediments on the northwest of the 
Portland series of rocks similar to that 
which is more clearly seen on the south- 
eastern side of St. John, &c.; and further 
to indicate that the valiey of the Kennebec- 
_ Kasis, now mostly filled with carboniferous 
deposits, was originally scooped out of the 
soft beds of the St. John group. 

Broomssury Grourp—a. Volcanic beds. 
At the centre of the parish of Simonds, St. 
John County, rises a high hill called Blooms- 
bury mountain, the western termination of 


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250 .ON_THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


a ridge of land extending in a northeast direction through the 
middle of the county. The hill and ridge are on the southern 
anticlinal fold already alluded to. In the rear of Quaco the ridge 
is composed in part of syenitic and granitic rocks, but between 
the hill and the harbour of St. John no rocks of greater age than 
the trap beds of this group appear. 

The elevation consists of basaltic trap, and is flanked on each 
side by beds of amygdaloid, trap-ash, and other products of vol- 
canic origin, which also cover the crest of the anticlinal fold for 
two or three miles west of the hill. ‘The succession of strata is 
best displayed on the south side of the hill where they succeed 
each other in the following order :—Basaltic trap, unstratified, of - 
great thickness; bedded basalt, amygdaloidal porphyry, bedded 
basalt, hornblendic trap-ash, micaceous quartzite, vesicular trap-ash 
slate; thickness of the stratified deposits about 3000 feet. Tuere 
is also on this slope a volcanic conglomerate, viz., fragments of 
trap rocks imbedded in trap-ash slate. The quartzite resembles 
some of the finer beds at West Beach and Black River, and the 
porphyry is that alluded to in Gesner’s 3rd Report, p. 15. The 
trap-ash slate is in-many places full of irregular vesicles, the sides 
of which are coated with minute crystals of quartz, calcite, and 
specular iron. 

The great increase in bulk of the stratified traps, &c., at this 
place, and the nucleus of basalt over which they are spread, seem 
to indicate that it is one of those vents from which during the 
Devonian period, Java, ashes, and fragments of rock were poured 
forth and carried many miles to the westward. 

The outcrop of the lava beds can be traced trending away to 
the north and west, till they cross the harbour at. the southern 
end of the city, and disappear in the post-pliocene gravels west of 
St. John. 

On the north side Kennebeckasis valley is bordered by a range of 
abrupt hills from 250 to 600 feet high, consisting of altered clay 
slate and sandstone, with numerous beds of greenstone interstra- 
tified, the whole series being much disturbed and usually vertical. 
They may be the equivalents of the volcanic sediments described 
above; but their outcrop is so straight for a distance of thirty 
miles, that they may prove to be part of an older series brought 
up by a fault. 

b. Sedimentary beds. 

On each side of Bloomsbury mountain, and separated from it 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. DAES 


by the forks of Black River, there are subordinate ridges of ‘a 
dark red slate, capped by heavy beds of reddish conglomerate 
having a thickness of 2000 feet. 

This thickness decreases so rapidly to the westward, that at 
Courtney Bay oa the east side of the harbour it does not exceed 
150 feet. 

These sediments constitute a passage from the volcanic beds to 
the sandstones of the gronp above. No fossils have yet been ob- 
tained from them, and as they are thickest where the former are 
most prominent, they have been grouped as above. 

Lirrtt River Grourp—a. Dadoxylon Sandstone.—This depo- 
sit in its lithologolical characters and fossils is the most constant 
and unchanging of the strata which have been shown to be un- 
questionably of Devonian age, and has been a valuable guide in 
tracing out the relations of the rocks eastward of St. Jobn. A 
fine exposure of the whole of this sandstone and the greater part 
of the upper division of the group may be seen north of Mount 
Prospect (about four miles east of the city) where they rise from 
beneath the post pliocene gravel of Little River valley. The first 
consists of hard grey sandstone, with beds of grit and layers of 
dark grey shale at intervals, the whole having a thickness of 2000 
feet. The fossils are Calamites transitionis, and fragments yielding 
discigerous and other porous tissues. The lower layers can be 
traced four miles east (to Latimore Lake), where they sink beneath 
gravel beds in the valley of the Mispeck River. 

On the south side of the valley the sandstones again reappear 
with a westerly dip. Further down the river the strata incline to 
northwest and westnorthwest as they approach Port Simonds. 

At the bridge over the Mispeck on Black River road the sand- 
stone contains fragments of carbonized wood, Calamites transi- 
tzonis, and C.sp.? A bed of dark shale at the same place holds 
Cordaites Robbii, C. angustifolia, and a calamite (C. cannaefor- 
mis ?), numerous stems of ferns and leaflets and broken fronds of 
two species (one is probably Neuropteris polymorpha, Daw.) A 
few beds of grey pebble conglomerate occur in the sandstones of 
this valley, and the thickness of the deposit is much greater than 
at Liitle River; and further west (being about 3600 feet) an out- 
crop of grey sandstones, which I have, no doubt belong to this 
series, was traced for several miles along the southeastern side 
of Bloomsbury axis. They rest conformably on the lower divi- 
sion of the Bloomsbury group, being separated from it by a thin 


252 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


band of dark red slates, probably representing the upper division. 
Beds of dark shale, which are intercalated with the sandstones, 
hold stems and other fragments of plants. 

The upturned edges of these rocks, so remarkable for the abun- 
dance and perfection of the flora which they contain, have thus 
been traced around a double curve from Manawagonis to Black 
River, a distance of more than thirty miles and therefore spread 
over an area of sixteen miles in breadth. 

On a grey slate, just above the most prolific plant-bed at Duck 
Cove, distinct rain marks like those obtained from the red sand- 
stones of Connecticut were observed. 

It will be observed that from the base of the Bloomsbury 
group to the top of this sandstone there is a series of deposits sim- 
ilar to those of the Coldbrook group, viz., volcanic sediments, 
red slates and conglomerates, grey sandstones. 

b. Cordaite shales ——At the locality north of Mount Prospect, 
there is an excellent exposure of this as well as the lower division 
of the Little River group. By increase in the bulk and frequency 
of the finer beds, the sandstones gradually pass into arenaceous 
shales of greenish, grey and red colours, which frequently alternate 
with reddish and grey sandstone and grit,* the latter predomina- 
ting east of this place, while the shales are more prevalent in the 
western extension of the deposit. Near its upper limit it ap- 
proximates in the increase of coarser sediments to the lower 
beds of the Mispeck group; from these, however, the older con- 
glomerates are easily distinguished by the small size, great num- 
ber, and roundness of the quartz pebbles. Cordaites Robbit has 
been found to characteriza these shales throughout nearly their 
whole thickness of 2300 feet. They cover an extensive area in 
the valley of Mispeck River, owing principally to a secondary fold 
in the strata (see section). 

A thick series of micaceous slates and imperfectly formed gra- 
nites and granulites or granitic sandstones with beds of trap-ash, 
conglomerate grit and limestone occur on the Bay shore at West 
Beach and Black River; and with their contained minerals are 
described in 8rd Report on Geology of New Brunswick. At the 


* In two-thirds of the thickness of these shales there are thirty-seven 
distinct alternations of these coarser beds with the shales, varying from 
two to forty feet in thickness. In the upper third the sandstones he- 
come redder, and some thick beds of a coarser conglomerate appear. 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 253 


point where they are crossed by the section they present the fol- 
lowing succession : 


1st. Red clay slate, and grit, and coarse reddish micaceous slate, 
resting upon the Dadoxylon sandstone. 

2nd. A thick mass of granulite and imperfectly formed granite, 
with beds of trap-ash. 

3rd. Grey micaceous slate. 

Ath. Reddish sandstone and grit, overlaid by coarse conglomerate 
holding beds of hematite. 

5th. Dark grey micaceous slate, and basalt (stratified ?). 


A short distance to the eastward, the quasi-granite passes into 
schist abounding with volcanic ash beds, and overlaid by similar 
strata containing several large beds of iron one. 

Further east in the same metamorphic belt are a number of 
thick belts of impure limestone much altered, and hard clay slate 
with copper pyrites. The highest beds exposed at Black River 
are red and green clay slates, beds of trap-ash and basalt, resem- 
bling the voleanic sediments of the Bloomsbury group. The po- 
sition of these metamorphic beds will be discussed further on. 

- Mispeck Grovup.—Filling the centre of the basin of Devonian 
rocks intervening between Little River and Mispeck River, and 
having a breadth of about two miles, is a group of sediments in 
which no organic remains have been found, and which there is 
reason to suppose should be separated from the fossiliferous strata 
below, although resembling the latter in appearance and equally 
metamorphosed. West and north of Mount Prospect where the 
cordaite shales disappear beneath the stratified gravel which 
covers the top of that hill, the dip of the beds at the base of this 
group rapidly diminish’s from 30° to 15°, and the strike at the 
same herizon varies 10°. The lowest member is a coarse reddish 
conglomerate having a red slaty paste filled with large subangu- 
lar fragments of a grey altered rock, like the lower slate of the 
Coldbrook group. It also contains fragments of reddish sand- 
stone and a few pieces of impure slaty limestone. The conglo- 
merate is overlaid by thick beds of purple clay slate, which by the 
accession of coarser materials becomes a slaty sandstone and grit 
filled with white particles. The highest member on the line of 
section is a slaty conglomerate Lolding fragments of slate and 
sandstone. The strata of this group are much thicker on the 
north than on the south side of the basin. An isolated deposit 


254 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


of red slate resembling the finer beds of this group, rests against 
a mass of altered rock which seems to be a continuation of the 
Bloomsbury volcanic beds, at Taylor’s Island, west of the harbour 
of St. John. 

AssociaTED Devosirs.—These consist of sediments mostly 
arenaceous, referable to the carboniferous and new red sandstone 
formations. 

Lower carboniferous.—The upper part of the valley of the Ken- 
nebeckasis river is filled with deposits of carboniferous age ; in the 
lower part of the valley these rocks have been to a great extent 
removed by denuding agencies, and only detached masses remain. 
They seem divisible into two principal sections, viz. : 


A lower—consisting of coarse red conglomerates, red sand- 
stones, and red shales. Fossils—Algeze and stems of land 
plants. 

An upper—comprising grey sandstones and grey and brown 
shales. 


The lower beds were at first referred by Dr. Gesner to the new 
red sandstone, but subsequently on account of their resemblance 
to sandstones, gypsums, &c., of Minas Basin, to the lower carbo- 
niferous formation. 

The discovery of certain plants in the shales of the upper divi- 
sion at Norton station and Darling’s Island in King’s County, 
enables me to confirm the latter view of their age. At the latter 
place gray shales intercalated with grey sandstones hold the fol- 
lowing species : 

Lepidodendron elegans, L. corrugatum, and a species resembling 
L Sternbergii, also abundance of spore-cases of Lepidodendra. 
Cyclopteris Acadica, Daw. (or a species closely allied,) a carpo- 
lite (2). 

The beds near Norton Station, which were cursorily examined 
by Mr. C. R. Matthew last summer, are described as a thick undu- 
lating series of grey and black shales and shaly sandstones. 
Many of the layers are ripple marked and dotted with small bilo- 
bate impressions, and contain small fragments of land plants. 
Broken specimens of Lepidodendron corrugatum, Daw., and Le- 
pidodendron ‘elegans were obtained here. 

At Apohaqui, in beds belonging to the same series, a cordaite 
(or stem of a large fern) was found in the beds of bituminous shale, 
and seams of Albertite in sandstone were also observed. Further 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. » 955 


up the valley are thick deposits of bituminous shale and limestone, 
but their relation to the beds of Norton, &c., is not known. 

The resemblance of these shales and sandstones to those of 
Horton Bluff and Gaspereaux river in Nova Scotia, is remarkable, 
both as regards fossils, and the condition under which the strata 
were deposited; and there is every probability that they are of 
cotemporaneous origin. 

The conglomerates of the lower division are unconformable to 
the Portland series and St. John group, and have usually the fol- 
lowing composition : 


Paste—dark red clay or sand derived from granite, rarely a 
grey calcareous mud. 

Pebbles—imperfectly rounded fragments, one foot or less in 
diameter, of 

1st Granite or syenite. 

9nd Metamorphic limestone. 

3rd Mica slate. 

4th Soft brown sandstone. 


These rocks, except the last named, are derived from beds of 
the Portland series. 

-<The pebbles in those beds which recline on the flanks of the 
hills on the north side of Kennebeckasis Bay, are however mostly 
from the traps, Heed a ‘Ge, on which the conglomerates 
there rest. 

In rear of the post- -pliocene alae at Red Head, on the east 
side of St. John harbour, is a small isolated deposit of conglome- 
rate terminating in a cliff seventy feet high. It probably rests 
on the tilted edges of the lower beds of the Mispeck group, and 
is much less coherent than any of the Devonian conglomerates of 
the vicinity. ° The layers incline to the northwest at an angle of 
30°. The paste of the conglomerate is a dark brownish red‘sand- 
stone, enclosing fragments of Ist granite, 2nd grey metamorphic 
limestone, also pieces of trap, mica ‘slate, and soft brown’ sand- 
stone. The deposit is therefore in every naan similar to the 
conglomerates of the lower Kennebeckasis.: 4 

« Carboniferous.—There is a limited deposit ¢ of this age’ ettantig 
along the coast fron’ Emerson’s Creek near: Black river to Quaco, 
whicl» is unconformable ‘to the: micaceous slates, &e., of Black 
river, and which contains a flora more like the ordinary forms of 
the coal measures, than is that of the Kennebeckasis beds. The 


956 ON THE GEOLOGY OF 8ST. JOHN. 


genera Megaphyton (?), Sigillaria, Calamites, Cordaites, Astero- 
phyllites, Sphenopteris, Neuropteris, are represented. 


New-Red-Sandstone.—Bright red sandstones with some pebble 
beds, skirt the sea shore for a few miles near Gardner’s Creek, 
and may be seen both on the east and the west side to rest upon the 
upturned edges of the carboniferous beds just referred to. ‘They 
dip to the northwest, and hold fragments of coniferous wood. 


Metamorphism.—In comparing the appearance of the beds 
of the Portland series to that of the Laurentian formation 
in Canada, Dr. Dawson indicates the apparent antiquity of the 
former and the extreme metamorphism which the older strata 
have undergone. In the upper part of the series, however, the 
change is not so complete, and small fragments of plants may still 
be detected in the shaly layers. In the St. John slates metamor- 
phism has not proceeded so far, and the two highest Devonian 
groups present still less alteration in their shales, though the 
coarser sediments are often strongly cemented, the vegetable re- 
mains of the sandstones converted into anthracite, and the lustre 
of graphite given to the ferns, &c., which the finer beds contain. 

As soon as we pass to the Lower Carboniferous deposits a wide 
distinction is this respect is at once apparent. The vegetable re- 
mains which they contain have the appearance of plants from un- 
altered coal-measures. The conglomerates also differ largely from 
those of the Devonian series in their incoherence, and many of 
the shales are scarcely harder than the dried mud of a pond. 

Beside the regional metamorphism which characterizes all the 
Devonian and subjacent deposits, some of the beds have under- 
gone a local change, which is most prominent in the volcanic se- 
diments. By an alteration of this kind the stratification of the 
lower beds of the Coldbrook group has been almost obliterated. 

In the Bloomsbury group it is very marked, because the depo- 
sits above and beneath have undergone much less change. Sey- 
eral of the finer beds of this group have been converted into quart- 
zites and micaceous slate. . 

I have already alluded to a group of metamorphic strata at 
Black river and vicinity, which have been considered to be much 
older than the fossiliferous deposits in the vicinity of St. John. 
That they form a part of the Upper Devonian series seems clear, 
because — 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 257 


ist They overlie the Dadexylon sandstone conformably (or 
nearly so). 

2nd They underlie carboniferous deposits unconformably. 

3rd They partake of the flexures of the Devonian series, which 
preceeded the formation of the Lower Carboniferous con- 
glomerate. 


Their unusual metamorphism is evidently caused by the abun- 
-dance of volcanic debris with which the beds are charged. 1 
have connected them with the cordaite shales, but it is quite pos- 
sible that the upper part may be altered beds of the Mispeck 
group. 

Dynamical Features—The thinly laminated strata of the St. 
John group are in many places drawn up into sharp folds, having 
oblique axes directed to the west and southwest, and inclined to 
the horizon at various angles. The markings on the layers show 
that they have been inverted in some places where these plica- 
tures cannot be traced. The real thickness of the group may 
therefore be much less than we might, from a cursory examina- 
tion, be inclined to suppose. 

The grander folds of the Upper Devonian and older beds have 
already been described. That these were induced at the close of 
that epoch is evident, because the materials of which the frag- 
mental rocks at the base of the Lower Carboniferous strata on the 
Kennebeckasis are composed, have been derived from beds brought 
to the surface by the abrasion of one of these folds, and because at 
one locality these rocks rest on the upturned edges of the higher 
Upper Devonian strata. Physically therefore, the line of separa- 
tion between the two ages is strongly marked in southern New 
Brunswick. 

This fact stands out with greater distinctness when we consider 
that 2000 feet or more in vertical thickness of what had already 
become solid rock, were removed from the tops of the folds in 
the older beds, before the materials of which the Kennebeckasis 
conglomerate is formed, were exposed. And we cannot well 
avoid the conclusion that currents or other agencies of vast force 
or long continuance (perhaps both), held sway over this region 
at the opening of the carboniferous age. The wide hiatus between 
the two series also excites the suspicion that the conglomerate 
alluded to is not at the base of the carboniferous series. The gap 
which intervenes may be narrowed by the bituminous shales, &c., 

Can. Nar. 17 Vou. VIII. 


258 ON THE GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 


of Albert, which according to Dawson are beneath the carbon- 
iferous conglomerates of that county. 

The Carboniferous strata both in the valley of the Kennebecka- 
sis and on the coast have been crumpled up in the same manner 
as the Devonian of the intervening district, but at a later epoch. 
In the small deposit of New-Red-Sandstone at Gardner’s Creek, 
these plications do not occur. 

General Remarks.—In reviewing the general features of the 
deposits which I have attempted to describe, the rarity of deep 
water accumulations is worthy of note. Above the limestones of 
the Portland series the strata consist almost entirely of littoral 
or subzerial deposits; the finer shales of the St. John group and 
some limestones at Black river being the only beds which indicate 
a deep water origin. Ripple-marks, and other evidences of a sea- 
margin have been observed at three different levels in the St. 
John slates, and also at several places in beds of the Little River 
group and as already stated rain marks also oceur. 

The evidences of volcanic activity during the period marked by 
the Coldbrook beds, and the great accumulations of lava, ashes, 
and volcanic mud, which form the bulk of the Bloomsbury group, 
as well as the proof of renewed igneous action met with among 
the vast beds of gravel, sand, and clay subsequently formed, show 
that in some points the circumstances which attended the forma- 
tion of Devonian deposits in eastern America differed widely 
from those which prevailed at the west. 

The source of the detritus out of which the Devonian beds at 
St. John have been formed has not yet been ascertained; but 
that it is to be sought for in an easterly direction is obvious, since 
all the deposits (except perhaps the highest) increase in bulk and 
coarseness of material when traced in that direction. Its origin 
is probably closely connected with that of the voleanic beds, which 
as I have already shown are largely developed to the eastward. 

An intimate relation between volcanic deposits and red sedi- 
ments seems to exist in these beds, the latter appearing to be a 
consequence of the former. Thus red shales sandstones and con- 
glomerates succeed the lowest member of the Coldbrook group ; 
and a similar succession on a larger scale occurs in the Blooms- 
bury beds. IfI am correct in referring the metamorphic strata 
of Black river to the cordaite shales or Mispeck group, a similar 
succession appears in the higher beds, not vertically, however, but 
horizontally. 


ON THE.GEOLOGY OF ST. JOHN. 259 


A section of the Devonian rocks at Perry, Maine, is given by 
Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, in the Report of the Maine Scientific Sur- 
vey, 1861, p. 252, which indicate three geological epochs. 
Ist Silurian; 2nd When beds of trap were spread over the up- 
turned edges of the Silurian strata; 3rd The period when Deyo- 
nian sandstones were deposited unconformably on the trap. This 
trap seems to hold the position of the Bloomsbury beds at St. 
John. But no evidences of unconformability between the latter 
deposits and the overlying plant beds have been observed. Prof. 
Hitchcock therefore surmises that the Perry sandstones may be 
_ equivalent to the higher beds at St. John (Cordaite shales and 
Mispeck group). 

In confirmation of this view, I may remark that the Dadoxylon 
sandstone thins out both to the southwest and southeast, and not- 
withstanding its great thickness may be a comparatively local de- 
posit. Moreover between the highest and the lowest beds of tkis 
sandstone, there is a decrease of fifteen to twenty degrees in the 
dip, showing that a subsidence of the area over which the deposit 
is spread took place while it was in process of formation. If this 
oscillation extended to the western part of the Bay of Fundy and 
no beds corresponding to this sandstone were formed there, a dis- 
ordance between the dip of the trap and sandstones, such as is 
exhibited in the section at Perry, would result. 

I have already alluded to a rapid and equally great decrease 
in the dip of the beds at the base of the Mispeck group. Uncon 
formability to the extent of thirty degrees may therefore occur 
where the highest and lowest of the Upper Devonian beds are in 
contact. This seems to be the case at Taylor’s Island. 


Note by Principal Dawson on some fossils referred to in the above paper. 


Mr. Matthew has forwarded specimens of the Lower Carboniferous 
and New-Red-Sandstone plants referred to in the above paper. Among 
the former, I recognise most of the characteristic plants of the Lower 
Coal Formation of Horton in Nova Scotia, and have no doubt that the 
beds containing these fossils in New Brunswick, are strictly equivalent. 
The fossil wood from the New-Red-Sandstone, though not well pre- 
served, appears to be coniferous, and to have one row of discs on the 
cell walls, in the manner of the mesozoic pines of the genus Peuce or 
Pinite. 

The discovery of these plants by Mr. Matthew is of great importance 
in connection with the Devonian flora of the underlying beds; and it 
is extremely interesting thus to find, in so limited an area, a rich Devo- 


260 ON AILANTHINE. 


nian flora, two of the members of that of the Carboniferous system and 
indications of a mesozoic flora, in beds whose order of superposition is 
so distinct. It further affords an excellent illustration of the geological 
importance of the study of fossil plants, which first threw light on the 
age of these beds, and without which, in the absence of well-marked ani- 
mal fossils, their position in the series of deposits would still have been 
uncertain. 


Art. XX.—On Ailanthine. The silk yielded by the Saturnia or 
Bombyx Cynthia, with Remarks on the Ailanthus glandulosa 
or False Varnish Tree of China. By Rost. Parzrson, M.D., | 
F.R.C.P.E., Corresponding Member of the Botanical Society 
of Canada, &e., &e. 


(Read before the Botanical Society of Cunada, January 26, 1863.) 


There are few individuals who have not watched the interest- 
ing changes which take place in the larve of the Bombyx Mori, 
or common silk-worm, from the point of its exit from the egg 
until it has reached its full butterfly existence ; and many there 
are who have been sadly disappointed at the mortality which 
comes over a brood of silk-worms in a single night from some 
cause or causes unknown and consequently equally unremediable. 
Such epidemics are continually occurring in China as well as 
Europe, and constitute one of the greatest obstacles to the intro- 
duction of the culture of the silk-worm into this country. What 
occasions this sudden decimation of these insects has never been 
determined, but has long led to a wish, on the part of those inter- 
ested, that a more hardy breed of silk-producing worms could be 
introduced into Europe, even although the produce was coarser, 
and of a worse colour, than the ordinary mulberry silk. 

Recent information, through our missionaries in China, leads to 
the knowledge that there is a considerable number of worms 
used by the Chinese, in different districts, for the production of 
silk of various qualities and coarseness. These varieties of silk are 
used in China principally for the manufacture of dresses for the 
peasantry. Of late, however, some of these have reached this 
country, and have been considered durable and excellent. Could 
we but rear such silk in our country, as we hope shortly to be able 
to show that we can do, how much of the present overwhelming 
distress, which is visiting our manufacturing districts in conse- 
quence of the American war,-might be avoided. Such material, 


ON AILANTHINE. 261 


if not used alone, might be readily mixed with cotton or wool; and 
thus many new and beautiful, if not very durable, fabrics might be 
produced. 

In 1814 Dr. Roxburgh* published an interesting memoir on 
the silk-producing moths of the East Indies, and soon afterwards 
the Arrindy, or Palma Christi silk-worm was introduced into 
Europe. The Castor Oil Plant, in this climate and in the north 
of France is but a delicate shrub; in the south of Europe, how- 
ever, where the temperature never reaches the freezing point, it 
becomes a tree of very striking aspect, with large and richly tinted 
foliage. In such districts, therefore, the Arrindy moth thrives 
well, having plenty of food, undergoing its changes rapidly, and 
yielding five and six crops annually of silk of excellent quality. 
What was required for our climate, however, was an insect which, 
while sufficiently hardy to stand our cold springs and autumns, 
would also be regardless of storms, rain, dew, &c. Such a worm 
was first sent to Europe by the Abbé Fantoni, a Piedmontise 
missionary in the province of Shan Tung. He sent some cocoons 
immediately after the first gathering in 1856, to some friends in 
Turin. The name of the tree, on the leaves of which they lived 
was to him a mystery, but he described it as being like the leaf 
of an acacia: so when the young brood hatched, various and many 
were the plants tried for their food, until the leaves of the Ailan- 
thus glandulosa were presented to them; these they immediately 
ate greedily, and always preferred them afterwards to any other 
kind of food. : 

There can now be little doubt but that the Arrindy or Palma 
Christi moth, introduced into Europe from Dinagepore and Rung- 
pore in Bengal in 1854, and the Ailanthus moth introduced into 
Europe from the province of Shan Tung in China, in 1858, 
- are one and the same animal. The insects introduced in 1854 
were delicate, and did not stand much lowering of the temperature, 
besides the tree on which they fed perishes at 32° or 33° Fah. 
’ The insects introduced in 1858 were hardy, stood rain and cold, 
and the tree which they preferred is a hardy one in our climate. 
Those introduced in 1858, from China, would not eat the Palma 
Christi, and very naturally it was believed that they were different 
insects; upon examination, however, they turn out to be the same. 
Their changes, the colour of their larva, the character of the 


* Linnean Transactions, Vol. 7. 


262 ON AILANTHINE. 


cocoon, the kind of silk, and the characterizing marks of the moth 
‘itself pronounce them at once to be the same animal. But how have 
these animalsacquired such different habits and tastes? This can 
only be explained upon the supposition that a long period of hard- 
ening in a temperate climate like the province of Shan Tung 
would produce in course of time a more hardy progeny, feed- 
ing habitually on a common plant of the country ; while the more 
natural and more effeminate brood of Central India, preferred as 
food the leaves of a plant which will only flourish in warm lati- 
tudes. Unless specific distinctions exist it is clearly a bad plan to 
‘distinguish an insect from the peculiar plant it eats, for this may 
‘be a simple point of preference,—if it cannot get the one it 
will eat the other and thrive on it; besides a long period of hard- 
ening will often enable an animal to live and thrive on a vegeta- 
ble very different from its native food. We need only example 
the ordinary Bombyx Mori or common si'k worm, the finest varie- 
ties of which, after passing a year or two in our climate, will live, and 
thrive, and spin beautiful silk on the common lettuce. Of the 
tree on which tke ailanthus worm feeds it may be necessary here 
to speak shortly ; we shall have to describe the animal itself more 
fully afterwards. 

It appears that the tree was originally introduced into this coun- 
try by the abbé d’Incarville, in 1751, as the “ Vernis de Japon” 
tree, or that which yielded the famous Japan or China varnish. 
‘This turned out, however, to be a mistake, as the true Japan varnish 
tree has since been introduced into Europe. Since this latter 
introduction the Ailanthus glandulosa has been known as the false 
varnish tree. It is a hardy plant in our climate, standing severe 
winters well, and producing an abundant crop of leaves especially 
from young shoots in early summer, It has no especial partiality 
for particular varieties of soil, thriving as well and producing as 
abundant a crop of leaves in the most barren soil as in the richest 
loam. Itseems equally indifferent, too,as to the characteristics of the 
atmosphere in which it lives, healthy young trees being observable’ 
in the squares and smoky environs of London. The advantages 
of a plant such as this in the rearing of a hardy animal on its foli- 
age need not be pointed out. Throughout France generally this - 
tree flowers and seeds freely, and the seed sprouts and grows read- 
ily in Great Britain ; butin addition to this method of propagation, 
another exists in the roots, which if cut into pieces like the potato 
spring forth and grow luxuriantly; no plant indeed can be more 


ON AILANTHINE. 263 


easily grown, or more easily increased when grown, than the 
Ailanthus glandulosa. But to enable this plant when grown to 
yield a proper supply of food for the ailanthus worm, it is necess- 
ary to cut it down and grow it ozier-like. In this way young 
shoots spring forth abundantly, and bear large and delicate leaves 
fitted for the young worm,and greedily devoured by the older ones. 
They have an additional advantage also that when the insects are 
placed upon them in the open air they are more easily protected 
by nets, &e., from the depredations of birds, insects, &e. 

So much for the plant on which the animal feeds. Let us now 
turn to the insect inself :—I have already stated that the ailanthus 
silk worm was introduced into Europe in 1856.. Its cultivators 
have not been idle since that time as we find that M. Guerin 
Meneville endeavoured to introduce this worm into France. His 
first experiment did not succeed but the following year he reared 
a satisfactory crop of cocoons in the open air; this, however, and 
all the efforts of the Societé d’Acclimatization of Paris were not 
sufficient to effect the general introduction of the animal into 
France. It became necessary for him to show that agriculturalists 
might derive a profit, and a good one, from the rearing of this 
insect. 

Energetic, and thoroughly convinced ofthe success of such an ex- 
periment on a large scale, he induced personal friends to experiment 
on a larger scale at Toulon, in Provence, and at Chinon (Indre et 
Loire), the one being nearly in the south, the other in the centre 
of France. i 

At Chinon, for instance, 4,500 worms were placed upon flourish- 
ishing thickets of ailanthus, which had been cut down and grown 
as bushes with that intention. Their development progressed 
satisfactorily, and they yielded 3515 excellent cocoons, after suf- 
fering without injury, rains, heavy storms, and the attacks of 
birds and insects. The result of the experiment was a loss of 
about a fourth part, while the average loss of mulberry silk-worms 
is about one-half. 

M. Meneville, after some careful experiments and calculations 
which were submitted to the imperial government, has thus stated 
his profit and loss account, on the rearing of ailanthine, or 


the silk of this worm, produced in districts south of Paris. 


Francs. 
Twelve acres of ailanthus copse, share of expense of planting 


and annual expense of keepingyupsce. «s2- +5... <0 « 2030 
Average of receipts from two crops of ailanthine......... 9945 


264 ON AILANTHINE. 


Which leaves a balance of 7915 frances for the twelve acres, or in 
round English numbers, £330 for twelve acres, or £27 10s. per 
acre. In India and China there are said to be six crops of silk 
annually ; in the south of France two or three crops, but in the 
north of France and Great Britain two at most, and more securely 
one crop might be relied on. Let us take one good crop ahd see 
how our profit and loss account would stand in Great Britain 
The half of £27 10s. or £13 45s. would be the result, or about it; 
and be it remembered, for land, that after the planting of the 
ailanthus it requires no manure or tillage whatever, and the kind of 
soil being that on which nothing else would grow, provided always 
that it has as sheltered and sunny an exposure as possible. It 
always occurred to me that the climate of Canada would be espe- 
cially favourable for the growth of ailanthine. The insect and the 
plant on which it feeds wiil stand any amount of cold; and when 
the Canadian summer would arrive, rapid growth would take place 
in the tree, followed by hatching of the worm; in this way food 
would be speedily produced for the young brood, and two if not 
three crops of silk taken from the trees during the season. The 
experiment is one worthy of trial. 

In England and Scotland, for the last two years, some, experi- 
menters have been at work but as yet without any quantitative 
result. In the spring of 1862 I received, through the kindness of 
a friend, fifty eges of the Bombyx Cyrthia; they hatched in 
about ten days after their arrival; they were fed with cut branches 
of ailanthus ; kept in the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, 
but under glass. Of the fifty worms (for the eggs all hatched) 
with all my inexperience, I had thirty-five large and fine cocoons 
being a result not far short of that in the central districts of France. 
With more experience and with growing plants prepared for the 
trial, I do not fear for the result of a quantitative trial in Scotland 
at any future year. 

It is my intention, in describing this insect, to follow the differ- 
ent changes which it undergoes from the egg onwards until we 
arrive at the characterizing moth itself,from which distinctive marks. 
and pecularities are chiefly taken. 

The Eggs. These are about the size of a Jarre pin head, twice” 
as large as those of the mulberry silk-worm with which we are 
all familiar. They are yellow coloured, equally large at both ends, 
flattened from above downwards, and with a depression in their 
centre. They soon change their colour to a greenish black, the 


ON AILANTAINE. 265 


colour becoming more marked the nearer the point of hatching is 
at hand. The caterpillars are hatched from ten to fifteen days 
after the egos are laid according to temperature. 

The Caterpillar. When the worm first escapes from the egg it 
is exceedingly minute; the colour of the segments of its body at 
this early stage is obviously yellow, but there are so great a num- 
ber of black spots and dark coloured tubercles over it, as to give 
the impression that it is of a black colour; during the second period, 
that is to say after the first change of skin, the yellow colour 
becomes more marked, but the spots and tubercles are still black. 
During the third period, they become nearly pure white, arising 
from the presence of a white mealy secretion over their bodies, 
destined, obviously, to protect them from rain or dew, as water 
will not fix on it; the spots and points of the tubercles are still 
black or bluish black. 

During the fourth period the body is at first white, but gradu- 
ally changes toa pale green, the tubercles assuming the same 
colour, and soon the head, the feet, and the last segment become 
of a golden yellow; the flowery secretion still, to a certain extent, 
exists, and there are always black points upon the segments or rings 
of the body. 

During the fifth period the emerald green colouring becomes 
more intense, the points, as to segments, assume a soft black 
colour, and the extremities of the tubercles a marine blue. The 
caterpillar grows rapidly during this stage, eats largely and greed- 
ily till it attains the length of from 2? to 3 inches long, it then 
ceases to eat, becomes torpid for a few days, and then, after fast- 
ening a few leaves together at the extremity of a leaf or branch it 
begins its cocoon. Such is the general character of the changes 
which this caterpillar undergoes; but to enable those who may 
follow out this inquiry to know when these changes may be ex- 
pected and the size of the animals in them I will give a short 
table of my own experience, and that of my friend Dr. Gudwad, 
both in Scotland :— 


Eggs hatched, 28 to 30th June............. size 2 of an inch. 
First change, Vto 9th July ..¢...00...086 size 3 of an inch. 
Second change, 13 to' loth July ..:......... size 1 inch. 

Third change, 20 to 22nd July ......0..000 size 14 inch. 
Fourth change, 28 to 30th July ....... »....size 12 to 2 inches. 


From this time till the period when it begins to spin it rapidly 
grows till it reaches from two and a half to three inches long, 
depending upon the abundance and quality of its food. 


266 ON AILANTHINE. 


The experience of my friend Dr. Gudward is as follows : 


Eggs hatched 19th Sept. 
28th “ Ist change began. 
5th Octr. 2nd change began. 
12th Octr. 3rd change began. 
21st Octr. 4th change began. 
3rd Nov. began cocoon. 
‘The temperature ranged from 47° to 55°. 


The Cocoon. 1 have already remarked that after a short period 
of torpidity when no more food is taken and during which the 
remains of the undigested food is passed by the worm in abundance, 
it begins its cocoon by fastening some threads of silk to the end 
of the branch or leaf stalk, and, after binding some leaflets 
together, it spins its cocoon in the hollow thus formed. The 
colour of the silk is of a yellowish brown colour, very like, indeed, 
to that of a decayed leaf. In weaving its covo.n this worm leaves 
at its lower extremity, an elastic opening for the exit of the moth. 
The threads at this opening are not cut across, but simply turned 
and laid one over another. The silk of this worm has not as yet 
been unwound in a continuous thread; this, doubtless, arises from 
the substance which glues the threads together requiring some other 
solvent than the warm water which so readily affects the solution 
of the gummy secretion of the mulberry silk. This however can- 
not long remain undiscovered in this country, as a chemical sol- 
vent for this secretion will doubtless ere long be found.* In China 
even there is reason to believe that this has been accomplished, 
as the last examples of ailanthine from that country are stated to 
leave no doubt of their having been unwound from the cocoon. 
Even the carded silk of this worm is abundantly used. In China 
it forms the most durable dresses of the peasantry, —dresses which 
are ofien handed down from father to son. In France this “ flos- 
ille” or floss silk is abundantly used for weaving with thread and 
wool, and in the manufacture of fancy stuffs. At Roubaix, Nismes, 
and Lyons, it is imported from abroad in large quantities to the 
extent of 1,290,000 kilogrammes annually. 

Mons. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, President of the Societé d’Acclima- 
tization of Paris says:—‘‘ Here is the report of the weavers at 


*It has been stated by some that the cause of the silk not winding off, 
results from the slanting opening at the bottom of the cocoon, admitting 
water, and thus sinking it and breaking the thread. This explanation is 
not satisfactory and is inconsistent with fact. 


ON AILANTHINE. 267 


Alsace, who have made use of ailanthus silk. M. Schlumberger 
has found the cocoon very easy to ecard and spin; the thread ob- 
tained is less brilliant, strong and rough; it left no residue, not more 
than in combing the thread. It is a most excellent stuff for use 
in all manufactures where burre is employed. The cocoons are 
easily cleaned and they will take a good dye. This culture, made 
on a great scale, will furnish in abundance a finer and stronger 
floss than the mulberry silk-worm. The worm remains in the 
cocoon in the chrysalis condition for from twenty-six to thirty 
days, at which time the moth makes its appearance coming quickly 
and easily through the valvular opening at the extremity of the 
cocoon. At’ this time its wings are moist, soft, and folded up ; 
and naturally upon emerging from the cocoon it seizes hold of the 
lower part of it, thus allowing its large wings to drop, become un- 
folded and stiffen. If this precaution is not taken when the moths 
are allowed to exit artificially, their wings never expand but remain 
rumpled up, the moth never regaining much activity with its 
wings in this state, and seldom connecting itself with the opposite 
sex. In rearing these moths therefore, it is of consequence to 
observe that upon their exit from the cocoon they have some sub- 
stance on which they can climb up and allow their wings to hang 
down and become expanded. 

The moths have been Jong familiar to us, in collections of 
Chinese Butterflies, brought to this country. It is large, the ex- 
pansion of its wings being about five inches; the head and an- 
tennee are greyish brown, the latter strongly pectinated ; thorax 
and abdomen lighter grey, wings with a broad transverse light- 
coloured band near the middle, the space within which (forming 
nearly an equilateral triangle) is brownish grey, and that without 
ash colour, running into brownish grey at the margins of the wings, 
just within the margins there are two narrow. brown streaks run- 
ning parallel with them, somewhat interrupted before reaching a 
black spot near the apex of the superior wings; this spot is sur- 
mounted by a white crescent, and a zizgag white line runs from it 
to the tip. The basal portion of the superior wings is traversed 
by an ash-coloured bar commencing on the posterior edges next the 
shoulder, and after continuing in nearly a straight line for about 
half an inch is suddenly deflected and terminates on the anterior 
margin, between this bar and the transverse scapular line there is 
a pale longitudinal spot surrounded with black. The under wings 
likewise bear a similar spot but more crescent-shaped, and towards 


268 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


their base there is an ash-coloured arched bar bounded on the 
outer side with black. The under side differs principally in being 
paler and destitute of the angular and arched bars at the base of 
the upper and lower wings.* These moths, when in health and 
especially in sunshine, connect themselves and lay eggs in a few 
days. 1f they do not develope their wings or the temperature is 
low and without sunshine the males do not seek after the, females 
hence the eggs laid are often, under these circumstances, unpro- 
ductive. 


Arr. XXI—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova 
Scotia ; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., &e. 


(Continued from page 175.) 
VIII.—Hytoxomvus ACIEDENTATUS. 
Plate VI, Figs. 1 to 16. 


This species is founded on a single imperfect specimen obtained 
by me at the Joggins in 1859, and described in the Journal of 
the Geological Society, Vol. XVI. In this description, I men- 
tioned, as probably belonging to this species, certain detached 
bones which I have since found reason to attribute to Den- 
drerpeton Owent. These did not however materially interfere 
with the characters of species, which I shall give here from 
the fragments represented in Plate VI, Figs. 1 to 16, and which 
occur together in the matrix in such a manner as to render it 
certain that they belonged to the same individual. 

In size, H. aciedentatus was about twice as large as the species 
last described. Its teeth are very different in form. Those on 
the maxillary and lower jaw are stout and short, placed in a 
close and even series on the inner side of aridge or plate of bone. 
Viewed from the side they are of a spatulate form, and pre- 
sent a somewhat broad edge at top as in Fig. 4. Viewed in 
the opposite direction, they are seen to be very thick in a direc- 
tion transverse to that of the jaw, and are wedge-shaped as in 
Fig. 5. There are about forty on each side of the mandible, and 
about thirty on each maxillary, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 38, of 


* Sir H. Jardine’s description of Sturnia Cynthia, and corresponding 
in every particular to ailanthus silk moth. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 269 


which the two first are magnified slightly, the last natural size.* 

Since the publication of my previous paper, I have ascertained 
that the intermaxillary bones bore teeth of the form represented 
in Fig. 6. They are larger than the others, thick and coming to 
a blunt point, which is seamed with longitudinal and shghtly 
spiral ridges. This singular tooth must have been a most effi- 
cient instrument for crushing and penetrating the coats of crusta- 
ceans and insects, or the bony armour of the smaller ganoid fishes. 
Remains exist at the extremity of the lower jaw, which show that 
a few teeth there also were larger than the others, but whether 
they differed in form cannot be determined. The pulp cavity of 
the teeth is less extensive in proportion than in H, Lyelli, and the 
structure in the cross section is simple, showing merely radiating 
ivory tubes, as in Fig. 7. The bone represented in Fig. 8, was 
found with these remains, and as it is too large for the last spe- 
cies; and different from anything known in Dendrerpeton, it pro- 
bably belongs to the creature now under consideration. It is thin 
and smooth, except at the upper margin, where it has in the 
centre a group of small conical teeth. It evidently belongs to 
the palate, and somewhat resembles the palatal bone of Meno- 
branchus, but is broader, and the latter has no teeth. * Detached 
fragments of the skull show that its bones were thin and dense, 
and smooth on the surface as in H. Lyelli, That represented in 
Fig. 9 would seem to be a frontal bone seen from the inside. 

The remains of H. aciedentatus are too scanty to warrant much 
certain inference as to its form. Its vertebrae would seem - to 
have resembled those of H. Lyell, but to have been elongated 
and more thoroughly ossified (Fig. 16). Its ribs are similar in 
form and proportion to those of the last named species (Figs. 10 
and 11). A pelvic bone and some detached phalangial bones 
(Figs. 12 and 13) as well as very fragmentary limb bones, would 
indicate that its limbs were well developed. Its external scales 
are similar to those of the last species but larger, and a few frag- 
ments of skin show scales and appendages similar to those of H. 
Lyeltt, but of greater dimensions (Figs. 15 and 62), The micros- 
copic structure of its bone is also similar to that in the last species 
(Fig. 17). No doubt a more perfect specimen would show many 
points of difference between these species, not now appreciable ; 


* In Prof. Owen's paper, J.G.S., Vol. 18, this bone is figured, but in- 
correctly stated to be twice natural size, and referred to H. Lyelli. 


270 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE’ COAL PERIOD. 


but in the mean time the very different form of the teeth is a 
sufficient distinction. In H. Lyelli these are conical and pointed. 
In the present species they are of a peculiar wedge shape—their 
diameter transversely to the jaw being the greatest at the base, 
while at the top they are sharpened to an edge. The peculiar 
form of the intermaxillary teeth may also serve as a distinctive 
character, though those of H. Lyelli are not yet known. The 
form of the vertebrae would further seem to indicate different pro- 
portions of body. On the whole, while this species is in all pro- 
bability generically related to the last, it is certainly specifically 
distinct. Its habits and food may have been similar, but its den- 
tal apparatus was stronger and more formidable. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI, FIGS. 1 TO 16, AND FIG. 62. 
Hylonomus aciedentatus. 


Fig. 1—Maxillary bone, magnified, (a) natural size. 
‘¢ 2—Mandible magnified, (a) natural size. 
“ -3—Portion of mandible, natural size. 
‘¢ 4 and 5—Tooth, seen from the side and front. 
6—Tooth of intermaxillary. 
“ 4%¥—Cross section of tooth, magnified. 
‘8 —Palatal bone with teeth. 
‘« 9—Frontal bone. 
‘10 and 11—Rib natural size and cross section enlarged. 
12—Pelvic bone. 
‘ 13—Phalangial bone. 
“14 and 15—Bony scales magnified. 
“  16—Broken vertebra. 
‘© 62—Portion of skin with horny scales. 


[X.—Hytonomus WymMaat. 
Plate VI, Figs. 18 to 31. 


This is the species of Hylonomus originally detected by Prof. 
Wyman in the specimens brought from the Joggins by Sir C. 
Lyell and myself. Remains of several additional individuals have 
since been found, but no skeleton approaching to completeness. I 
shall describe this the most diminutive of the reptiles of the Nova 
Scotia coal, with the aid of the fragments represented in Plate 
VI, Figs. 18 to 31, most of which are almost miscroscopic in size. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 271 


The skull seems to have been much of the same form as in Hy- 
lonomus Lyelli, but very thin and delicate, so that all the speci- 
mens hitherto found are crushed and fragmentary. The maxil- 
lary and mandibular bones are furnished with teeth which are 
bluntly conical in form, and in the latter bone seem to be confined 
to its front part, or to be very small posteriorly. They are thus 
much fewer in number than in the species last named. I have 
been able to make out only 22 in the lower jaw, and they are 
alternately large and small, as if replaced in this manner as worn 
out. Their structure is of the same simple character as in the 
other species of Hylonomus, and they have large pulp cavities. 

The vertebre of this species are singular and characteristic.. 
The bodies are elongated and hour-glass shaped, with an internal 
cavity of the same form filled with cale spar (Fig. 30), and pro- 
bably once occupied by cartilage. They have, in the dorsal re- 
gion at least, strong articulating and lateral processes, and were 
furnished with numerous delicate ribs (Figs. 24, 25, 27). In one 
of my specimens as many as 38 of these little vertebrae may be 
seen lying together, and many of them attached to each other, 
This would indicate that the body was long and slender. It was 
furnished with limbs, similar to those of H. Lyelli, but very small 
and slender. The pelvis is of the same expanded form with that 
of the last species, and a pair of fore feet lying together on one 
slab, show the remains of four slender toes (Fig. 29). The bones 
of the limbs are very delicate and thin walled (Fig. 26). The 
bony scales are oval, and similar to those of the other species of 
the genus, but very small (Fig. 31.) I suppose it probable that 
the fragments of skin with imbricated scales represented in Plate 
V, Figs. 22, 28, and 24, may have belonged to this species, but 
I cannot certainly affirm that this was the case. 

In length, Hylonomus Wymani could not have exceeded four or 
five inches, and its form was thin and slender. It may be 
questioned whether this little creature was not the young of one 
of the other species. The form of the vertebrae and teeth would, 
I think, prevent us from supposing that it stood in this rela- 
tion to H. Lyelli. To H. aciedentatus it bears a stronger resem- 
blance in these respects, though not sufficient to render specific 
identity probable; and the occurrence of so many specimens of 
the smaller species, without any of intermediate size, renders it 
likely that it did not attain to any greater dimensions. 

Hylonomus Wymani probably fed on insects and larve, and: 


272 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


searched for these among the vegetable debris of the coal swamps, 
which would afford to a little creature like this abundant shelter. 
It occasionally fell a prey to its larger reptilian contemporaries ; 
for quantities of its tiny bones occur in coprolitic masses probably 
attributable to Dendrerpeton. It is interest ng to find reptilian 
life represented at this early period, not ouly by large and formi- 
dable species, but by diminutive forms, comparable with the smal- 
lest lizards and newts of the modern world. The fact is parallel 
with that of the occurrence of several small mammalian species 
in the mesozoic beds. It will be still more significant in this res- 
pect if the species of Hylonomus should be found to be truly la- 
certian rather than batrachian. 


- 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI, FIGS. 18 TO 31. 
Hylonomus Wymani. 


Fig. 18—Lower jaw with teeth, magnified. 
¢ 19—Anterior part of lower jaw more magnified. 
“ 20—Portion of maxillary bone with teeth, magnified. 
¢ 21—Maxillary bone, natural size. 
¢ 22—Lower jaw, natural size. 
‘« 23—Vertebre, natural size. 
“24 and 25—Vertebree, magnified. 
“ 26—Humerus, natural size and magnified. 
“ 2%—Rib, natural size and magnified. 
“ 28—Pelvic bone, natural size and magnified. 
1 “ 29—Foot ; the line shows the natural size. 
“ 30—Broken vertebra magnified, showing internal cavity. 
“ 31—Bony scales, natural size and magnified. 


X.— Hyterreton Dawsont. 
Plate VI, Figs. 32 to 46. 


In the more or less laminated material which fills the interior 
of the erect trees of the Joggins, it often happens that the more 
distinctly separable surfaces are stained with ferruginous or coaly 
matter, or with fine clay, so that the fossils which occur on these 
surfaces, and which would otherwise be more available than those 
in more compact material, are rendered so obscure as readily to 
escape observation. This was unfortunately the case with one of 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL RERIOD. Die 


the most interesting specimens contained in the last of these trees 
which I had an opportunity to examine. It consisted of the de- 
tached bones of a reptile scattered over a surface so blurred and 
stained that they escaped my notice until most of them were lost; 
and I was able to secure only a jaw bone and fragments of the 
skull, with a few of the other bones. On these fragments Prof. 
Owen founded the genus Hylerpeton and the species named at 
the head of this article. His description is as follows : 

“ This specimen consists of the left ramus of a lower jaw (Fig. 
32), which has been dislocated from the crushed head, of which 
the fore end of the left premaxillary is preserved, terminating 
near the middle of the series of the teeth of the more advanced 
mandible. A fragment of the left maxillary, which has been se- 
parated from the premaxillary, overlaps the hinder mandibular 
teeth. The fore part of the mandible is wanting. The teeth in 
the remaining part are larger and fewer, in proportion to the jaw- 
bone, than in Hylonomus or Dendrerpeton. They have thicker 
and more obtusely terminated crowns; they are close-set where 
the series is complete at the fore part of the jaw, and their base 
appears to have been anchylosed to shallow depressions on the 
alveolar surface. The shape of what is preserved of the upper 
jaw affords the only evidence, and not very decisively, that the 
present fossil is not part of a fish. It inclines the balance, how- 
ever, to the reptilian side; and, accepting such indication of the 
class-relations of the fossil, it must be referred to a genus of Rep- 
tilia distinct from those it is associated with in the Nova Scotian 
coal, and for which genus I would suggest the term MHylerpeton. 

“ A small part of the external surface of the dentary bone shows 
a longitudinally wrinkled and striate or fibrous character. The 
outer bony wall, broken away from the hinder half of the dentary, 
shows a large cavity, now occupied by a fine greyish matrix, 
with a smooth surface, the bony wall.ef which cavity has been 
thin and compact. We have here the mark of incomplete ossifica- 
tion, like that in the skeleton of Archegosaurus. The crushed 
fore part of the right dentary bone, with remains of a few teeth, 
is below the left dentary, and exemplifies a similar structure.. 
The teeth slightly diminish, though morein breadth than length, 
towards the fore part of the series: here there are nine teeth in 
an alveolar extent of 10 millimeters, or nearly 5 lines. The base 
of the teeth is longitudinally fissured, but the fissures do not ex- 
tend upon the exserted crown. In their general characters, the 

Can. Nar. 18 Vou, VIII. 


274 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


teeth manifest at least as close a resemblance to those of Gano- 
cephala as of Lacerta or any higher group of Reptilia; whilst 
their mode of implantation, with the structure and sculpturing of 
the bone, weigh in favour of its relations to the lower and earlier 
order of the cold-blooded Vertebrates.” | 

I can add to the above description only a few facts obtained 
from careful examination of other fragments imbedded in the ma- 
trix. One of these is a portion of a maxillary bone (Fig. 32). 
It has teeth similar to those of the lower jaw in form (Figs. 34 
and 85), but the last but one is twice the size of the others, and 
seems to have been implanted in a deep socket. All of the teeth 
have large pulp cavities, and the inner surface of the ivory is 
marked with slight furrows which are represented by ridges on 
the outer surface of the stony matter filling the pulp cavities 
(Fig. 36). The ivory of the teeth, however, which is very much 
-coarser than that of the species of Hylonomus, presents in the 
-eross section a simple structure of radiating tubes (Fig.37). The 
surface of the cranial bones, of which some fragments remain, is 
marked in the same striate manner alluded to above by Prof. 
‘Owen (Figs. 42, 43). The microscopic structure of the bone is 
muca coarser than that of Hylonomus or Dendrerpeton, the cells 
being larger and in some portions less elongated (Fig. 46). That 
the creature had stout ribs is shown by the fragments represented 
in Fig. 40; but the vertebre are represented only by a few 
bodies of small relative size and perhaps caudal (Figs. 38 and 39). 
On the same surface was found the foot represented in Fig. 44. 
It is of small size relatively to the head, and was probably for swim- 
ing rather than walking. A few ovate bony scales were found 
with the bones, and probably belonged to this species (Fig. 41). 

On the whole it seems certain that Hylerpeton must have been 
generically distinct from the other reptiles found with it, and it is 
probable that it was of more aquatic habits, swimming rather than 
walking; and feeding principally on fish. More perfect speci- 
mens would however be required in order to warrant any decided 
statement on these subjects. It is possible, as suggested by Prof. 
Owen, that the affinities of the animal may be with Archegosau- 
rus rather than with any of the other coal reptiles; but I confess 
that my present impression is that it tends rather toward the 
genus Hylonomus. It may possibly be a link of connection he- 
tween the Microsauria and the Archegosauria. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. DANG 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI, FIGS. 32 TO 46. 
Hylerpeton Dawsont. 

Fig. 32—Portion of maxillary bone with teeth. 

« 33—Lower jaw and portions of skull. 

‘ 34 and 35—Teeth magnified. 

“ 36—Cast of pulp cavity of a tooth. 

“ 3%—Cross section of tooth magnified. 

« 38 and 39—Bodies of Vertebre. 

“ 40—Fragments of ribs. 

« 41—Bony scale natural size and magnified. 

‘¢ 42 and 43—Surface of bone magnifled. 

& 44—Foot. 

«¢ 45—Bone of same magnified. 

4¢ 46—Section of bone highly magnified. 


XI.—AppirionaAL RepriniAn REMAINS. 
Plate VI, Figs. 47, 48, and 54 to 56. 


Beside the species above described, Mr. O. C. Marsh, in 1861,* 
added a new animal to the Joggins reptilian fauna; the Hosau- 
wus Acadianus. The species is founded on two large biconcave 
vertebra, in many respects resembling those of Ichthyosaurus, 
and indicating a reptile of greater size than any hitherto dis- 
covered in the coal, probably of aquatic habits, and possibly allied 
to the great Enaliosawrs or sea lizards of the mesozoie rocks. 
The specimen was found in a bed of shale belonging to group 
XXVI of my Joggins section, in the upper part of the middle 
coal measures, and about 800 feet above the bed which has 
afforded the remains described in previous sections. .The beds 
belong to one of those intervals of shallow water deposition of 
sediment, which separate the groups of coal beds; and on one of 
them I found some years ago the footprints of Dendrerpeton. 

The vertebree of Hosawrus have been fully and ably described 
by Mr. Marsh in Silliman’s Journal. Agassiz and Wyman regard 
their affinities as enaliosaurian. Huxley suggests the possibility, 
founded on his recent discovery of Anthracosaurus Russelli, that 
there may have been Labyrinthodoné batrachians in the coal pe- 
riod with such vertebree. However this may be, if the vertebrae 
were caudal as supposed by Mr. Marsh, since they are about 24 


* The remains were discovered in 1855 though not published till 1861. 


276 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


inches in diameter, they would indicate a gigantic aquatic reptile,. 
furnished with a powerful swimming tail, and no doubt with appa- 
atus for the capture and destruction of its prey, comparable with 
that of Ichthyosaurus. 

In a bed of hard calcareous sandstone, some distance below that 
which afforded the animal just noticed, there occur great numbers 
of teeth and scales, referable in part to large sauroid fishes, but 
perhaps also in part to reptiles. One of these is a remarkable 
tooth obtained by Sir W. E. Logan in 1843, and represented in. 
Fig. 47. It resembles externally the teeth of Baphetes, but its 
structure is almost precisely that of the teeth of the Lepidosteus, 
or bony pike of the St. Lawrence. Another tooth from the same 
bed, and with a similarly fluted surface, has a more complex laby- 
rinthic structure, as seen in Fig. 48, which however represents 
only a small fragment. With these occur large round thin scales. 
like those of Rhizodus, but also wrinkled bony plates resembling 
that which I have attributed to Baphetes. From the hardness of 
the rock it is difficult to extract perfect specimens of these re- 
mains, and no bones other than teeth and dermal scales have 
been found. 

Under this head may be noticed the coprolitic matter which 
not infrequently occurs with the remains of reptiles, in the erect 
trees of the Joggins, and to which reference has already been 
made in previous sections. This fossil excrement is of a brown 
or fawn colour, and consists in great part of carbonate of lime,, 
indicating probably that shells of snails or other mullusks formed 
a considerable part of the food of the smaller reptiles of the coal: 
swamps. Some portions of it are filled with small bones appa- 
rently of Hylonomus Wymant. Other examples contain abun- 
dance of fragments of chitinous matter referable in part to Xylo- 
bius Sigillarie, the millipede of the coal; and in other instances: 
to insects. Of the latter kind of remains the most JRABIONLOD is 
an Eye, represented in Fig. 56. It must have belonged to an in- 
sect of considerable size, and with highly complex eyes, probably 
a neuropterous insect. As many as 250 facets are distinguishable 
in the fragment preserved, and the whole number in each eye 
may have amounted to 2000. In size and form the facets re-- 
semble those of the eye of a common Canadian dragon fly of the 
genus Aeschna, but are a little smaller. In this and other copro- 
lites, though abundance of minute chitinous fragments remain, no 
others are sufficiently perfect to be recognized. In one coprolitic: 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. TT 


amass a quantity of thick crust or shell occurs, which under the 
microscope presents a minutely tubular and laminated appear- 
ance, resembling that of the shell of a crustacean rather than 
any other kind of structure with which I am acquainted. There 
may have been land-crabs in the coal period; but it is perhaps 
more likely that some one of the larger individuals of Dendrer- 
peton had been feeding on crustaceans in some pond or creek, 
before it fell into the pit in which it was entombed. It is how- 
ever interesting to observe that no remains whatever of fishes 
have occurred in any of this coprolite or in the erect trees contain- 
ing reptile bones, though such remains are very abundant in some 
of the associated beds. This fact confirms the inference dedu- 
cible from other considerations, that the ground in which these 
open pits presented themselves, was not that of a very low swamp, 
liable to inundation, or very near to the sea or other bodies of 
water. 

I may notice here certain very remarkable impressions, the 
‘origin of which I am at a loss to conjecture, but which may have 
had some relation to reptiles of the coal period. They occurred 
on the surface of a layer of grey sandstone about 60 feet above 
the bed containing the erect reptiliferous trees. This bed is one 
of a series of flaggy layers on which occur, with vegetable frag- 
ments, tracks, possibly of Hylonomus, and rain-marks. The im- 
pressions now referred to were thus described by me in 1861: 

“ They consist of rows of tranverse depressions, about an inch 
in length and one-fourth of an inch in breadth. Each trail con- 
sists of two of these rows running parallel to each other, and 
about six inches apart. Their direction curves abruptly, and they 
sometimes cross each other. From their position they were pro- 
bably produced by a land or fresh-water animal—possibly a large 
Crustacean or gigantic Annelide or Myriapod. In size and gene- 
ral appearance they slightly resemble the curious Climactichnites 
of Sir W. E. Logan, from the Potsdam sandstone of Canada.” 
To this I have only to add that the space between the rows of 
of marks is slightly depressed and smoothed, as if with a heavy 
body, like that of a serpent, trailed along. 

I have given in Fig. 54, as a supplement to the history of Den- 
drerpeton and Hylonomus, a diagram of the form of the skull and 
the character of the dentition, restored from actual specimens 
This will serve further to illustrate the descriptions in previous 
-sections. 


978 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


In Fig. 65 I have represented a group of scales from the throat. 
of Dendrerpeton, as they lie beside the skull from which the 
greater part of the details in Fig. 54 are taken. It will be seen 
that these are elongated, oval, and very closely imbricated in rows- 
diverging in a pinnate manner from a mesial line. They would 
give much protection, while not deficient in flexibility. It is pro-- 
bable however that Dendrerpeton could breathe by other means 
than the gulping of air by the contraction of the throat; and 
would therefore be less dependent on the action of the gular mus-- 
eles than the modern batrachians. 


nt 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI, FIGS. 47, 48 anp 54 To 56. 
Additional Reptilian Remains. 


Fig. 47—Tooth of unknown reptile or fish, natural size, section natu-- 
ral size, and portion of section magnified, showing infold=- 
ing of the enamel and arrangement of the dentine. 

“ 48—Small segment of another tooth similar to the last in form 
and size, but more complex in the folding of the enamel: 

“ 54—Outer figure—Diagram of skull of Dendrerpeton, showing its 
size and general form, the appearance of the occipital 
condyles, and the arrangement of the double row of max- 
illary teeth and of the vomerine teeth. 

“ 54—Inner figure—Diagram of skull of Hylonomus, showing the 
arrangement of the single row of maxillary teeth and the 
patch of palatal teeth. 

 55—Bony scales of the throat of Dendrerpeton Acadianum, natural 
size. 


XII. InverteBrate Atr-BREATHERS. 
Plate VI., Figs. 49 to 53, and 56 to 61. 


In addition to the insect whose eye has already been noticed, 
but two species of land Invertebrates have been recognized in the 
coal of Nova Scotia. One of these isa snail, Pupa vetusta, the 
other a gally-worm or millepede, Xylobius sigillariw. They are 
represented in the figures referred to at the head of this section, and 
have been fully described in the Journal of the Geological Society 
of London. 

The first is the oldest known representative of the land 
snails, and so closely resembles the modern “chrysalis shells” of 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 27% 


the genus Pupa, that I have not thought it desirable to refer it to 
a different genus, though the name Dendropupa has been proposed 
by Prof. Owen. Mr. J.8. Jeffreys and other eminent concholo- 
gists, who have seen the shell, concur in the opinion that it is a 
true Pupa; so that this genus, like Lingula and Nautilus, extends 
from the palzozoic to the modern times. 

It may be described as a cylindrical shell, tapering to the apex, 
with a shining surface, marked with longitudinal rounded ridges. 
The whorls are eight or nine, rounded, and the width of each 
whorl is about haif the diameter of the shell. The aperture is 
rather longer than broad; but is usually somewhat distorted by 
pressure. The margin of the lip is somewhat regularly rounded 
and is reflected outward. There are no teeth, but aslight indica- 
tion of aridge or ridges on the pillar lip, which may however be 
accidental. Length ,3,ths of an inch or a little more. It was 
first recognized by Dr. Gould of Boston, inspecimens obtained by 
Sir C. Lyell and the writer at the Joggins. 

This little shell is remarkable, not merely for its great antiquity, 
but also because it is separated by so wide an interval of time 
from any other known species of its race, there being no other 
Pulmonate known until we reach the Purbeck beds, and no true- 
land snail until we reach the Tertiary. Itis also worthy of remark,. 
that while hundreds of specimens have been found, not only in 
the erect reptiliferous trunks but in a bed 1217 feet lower, and 
separated by twenty-one coal beds, not any other species is found 
with it. It is very rare in modern times thus to find one species of 
snail in great abundance without any others. More especially is. 
this so when we can examine, as in this case, not only the decayed 
trunks in which the creature sheltered itself, but also the beds of 
mud into which its dead shells were washed. These facts present a 
striking instance either of that ‘imperfection of the geological 
record”, of which we hear so much, or of the solitary existence of 
a single species as a prophetic representative of future things, to 
be realized long after it had ceased to exist. 

The lower bed, holding shells of Pupa vetusta, just mentioned, 
is a grey and greyish-blue under-clay, full of stigmarian rootlets, 
though without any coal or erect trees at its surface. It is 7 feet 
thick, with sandstone above and below. The shells occur very 
abundantly in a thickness of about two inches. They have been 
imbedded entire; but most of them have been crushed and flat- 
tened by pressure. They occur in allstages of growth; the young. 


280 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


being, as is always the case in such shells, very different in general 
form from the adults. This bed is evidently a layer of mud deposited 
in a pond or creek, which afterward became silted up and carried 
sigillaroid trees. In modern swamps multitudes of shells occur in 
such places; and it is remarkable that in this case a single land 
shell should alone be found, without any trace of aquatic mollusks. 
The shells which occur in this bed are filled with the surrounding 
sediment. Those which occur in the erect Sigillarie, on the 
other hand, except when they are crushed and flattened, are filled 
with a deposit of brown calc-spar. I infer from this that the 
latter when buried contained the animals, and consequently that 
these lived or sheltered themselves in the hollow trees, as is the 
habit of many modern land snails. 

The gally-worm of the coal period, Xylobius Sigillarice, must 
have existed in great numbers, as many layers in the erect trees 
are full of them. It probably lived in these decaying trunks just 
as its modern congeners do in similar places. As an air-breathing 
animal, and subsisting on vegetable food, it cannot have lived in 
water, or even in very wet places ; and this is one of the evidences 
which in this case point to a greater dryness of the coal swamps 
than has hitherto been supposed probable ; it also shows the resem- 
blance of the conditions of the areas of coal accumulation to 
those of modern forests. 

With regard to the affinities of Xylobius, its form and structure 
vender certain its alliance with the Myriapods, and with the chilog- 
nathous division of them, or the gally-worms; but it is less certain 
to which of the families of the recent gally-worms it belongs, if to 
any of them. I have however little doubt that if it existed as a 
recent animal, it would go into the tribe Bizonia of Newport, and 
probably into the family of Julide, to the typical genus of which 
it bears a strong resemblance in such points as can be made out. 
The oldest Myriapod previously known is, I believe, the Geophilus 
proavus, Minster, of the Jurassic period*. 


EXPLANATION OF PL. VI, FIGS. 47 To 53, anp 56 To 61. 
Invertebrate Air-Breathers. 


Fig. 49.—Pupa Vetusta, natural size. 
“ 50.— it magnified. 


* Pictet, Palzontologie, Vol. 11, p. 405. 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 281 


ig. 51.—Pupa Vetusta, apex magnified, 
52.— %& ob sculpture of surface magnified. 
&  53.— & et cellular structure of shell highly magnified. 
56.—Eye of an Insect, natural size and magnified, and three ocelli 
highly magnified. 
57.—Xylobius Sigillarig, Anterior segments magnified. 


 58.— e so natural size. 

« 59.— ce is part of one of the posterior segments 
magnified. 

« 60.— f a caudal extremity magnified. 

« 61.— ss oe head magnified, showing the eyes. 


“XIII.—Cuaracters OF THE ANIMALS DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER. 


To facilitate comparisons, I propose in this section to give an 
abstract of the leading structural points which may serve to dis- 
tinguish the animals described in this paper from each other, and 
from such new species as may be discovered either in Nova Scotia 
or elsewhere. The characters given must necessarily be incom- 
plete, and I shall confine myself to points distinctly ascertained 
-and likely to be met with in any additional specimens which 
may be discovered. ; 


Province.—V ERTEBRATA. 


Class. —ReEptiia. 


Order.—MicrosauRIA. 


Genus.—HyLonomus. 


Reptiles or batrachians ; with simple teeth in one series; bi- 
concave vertebre with arches anchylosed to them; ribs long and 
‘bent; limbs developed for walking; cranial bones smooth or 
nearly so; body protected below with oval or ovate bony scales, 
-and above with horny scales and other appendages. 

1. Hylononius Lyelli, Dawson.—Teeth elongated, conical, 
thirty-six in each side of the jaw; larger toward the anterior 
part of the lewer jaw; length of lower jaw .7 inch; limbs well 
‘developed, especially the posterior pair; bony scales oval; body 
-above with imbricated horny scales, and rows of angular and 
bristly points. 

2. Hylonomus aciedentatus, Dawson.—Teeth of maxillary and 
mandible thick wedge form, or nearly round at base and flattened 
to an edge at tep. Teeth of intermaxillaries cylindric, bluntly 


982, AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


pointed, and with spiral furrows at the point. Number of teeth: 
about forty on each side of jaw; length of lower jaw about 1 inch. 
Size more than twice that of H. Lyelli. Dermal covering so far 
as known, similar, but the parts large in proportion. 

8. Hylonomus Wymani, Dawson.—Teeth obtusely conical, about 
twenty in each side of the jaw; length of lower jaw about .25. 
inch. Vertebra elongated ; size much smaller than that of AW 
Lyell. Bony scales small and rounded, body above probably 
clothed in imbricated horny scales. 


Order. —LABYRINTHODONTIA. 
Genus.—BAPHETES. 


Baphetes planiceps, Owen.—Teeth conica!, hooked, striated 
longitudinally, and with inflected and convoluted cement; in two- 
series; the inner of larger size. Cranial bones much corrugated. 
Head broad; breadth in front of orbits 6 inches; length from 
this line to front of snout 84 inches. Probably a dermal covering 
of corrugated bony scales. 


Genus.— DENDRERPETON. 


Batrachians with a double series of teeth; the outer simple and 
flattened conic, the inner conical with inflected folds of cement. 
Teeth also on the vomer. Bones of skull corrugated; body pro-- 
tected below with long ovate or rhomboid bony scales, and above 
with imbricated horny scales. Form elongated, fore limbs largest, 
tail natatory, vertebree biconcave, neural arches and bodies 
ossified. 

1. Dendrerpeton Acadianum, Owen.—Inner teeth straight, 
conical ; outer teeth short and obtuse. Length of head 2.75 inches, 
breadth at orbits about 2 inches, distance of orbits .7 inch. 
Length one to two feet. 

2. D. Oweni, Dawson.—Teeth slender and hooked, and cement. 
of inner teeth more perfectly inflected. Length of skull 1.2 inch,. 
distance of orbits about .5 inch; length one foot or less. 


Order.—ARCHEGOSAURIA ? 
Genus.— HYLERPETON. 


Hylerpeton Dawsoni.—Owen.—Teeth simple, bluntly conical, 
with large pulp cavity ; about 13 in one side of the jaw. Two 
of the anterior teeth of the upper jaw twice as large as the others, 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 283 


and deeply sunk in the jaw. Length of lower jaw 1.3 inch 
Bones of skull puncto-striate. Limbs unknown, probably natatory. 


Sepis [IncertTz, 
Genus.—Hosaurvs. 


Eosaurus Acadianus, Marsh.—Known by two biconcave ver- 
tebre 2.4 inches in diameter and much resembling the caudal 
vertebrae of Ichthyosaurus—see paper by Mr. Marsh, Silliman’s 
Journal, vol. xxxtv. 


Province. —ARTICULATA. 
Sub Class—Myri1aropa, 


Order.—CHILOGNATHA. 
Genus.— XYLOBIUS. 


Xylobius Sigillarie.—Dawson.—Body crustaceous, elongate, 
one to two inches in length, articulate; when recent, cylindrical of 
nearly so, rolling spirally. Feet small, numerous; segments 30 or 
more; anterior segments smooth, posterior with transverse 
wrinkles, giving a furrowed appearance. In some specimens 
traces of a series of lateral pores or stigmata. Labrum? quadri- 
lateral, divided by notches or joints into three portions. Mandibles 
two-jointed, last joint ovate and pointed. Eyes ten or more on. 
each side. 


Province—-MOLLUSCA. 
Class.:—GASTEROPODA. 
Order.—PULMONATA. 


Genus.—Poupa. 


Pupa Vetusta.—Dawson.—Cylindrical, tapering toward the 
apex ; surface shining, minutely marked with longitudinal ridges ; 
whorls 8 or 9, rounded, width of each equal to half the diameter 
of the shell; aperture rather longer than broad; outer lip regu- 
larly rounded and somewhat reflected ; pillar lip straightened above, 
rounded below. Edentulous or with faint ridges on columella? 
Length .3 inch or a little more. 


284 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


XIV.—CoNcLUDING REMARKS. 


Having finished the work which I proposed to myself, in illus- 
tration of the air-breathers of the coal period in Nova Scotia, it 
now remains to mention a few general thoughts which have arisen 
in connection with the animals which have been described. 

I have endeavored, in the frontispiece, to present to the eye the 
forms and attitudes of these creatures. In doing so as little lati- 
tude as possible has been allowed to the imagination, and the 
structural points indicated by the bones and skin actually found; 
have been adhered to as closely as practicable. On the left hand 
Baphetes planiceps is seen emerging with a ganoid fish in its 
jaws. Next Dendrerpeton Acadianum is represented slowly 
walking up the inclined shore, and leaving its hand-like footprints 
thereon. A little farther up Hylonomus Lyelli is leaping in pur- 
‘suit of an insect, and Hylonomus Wymani stands a little more in 
the foreground, while Hylerpeton Dawson is disporting itself in 
the water in front. I am quite aware that the form and action 
given to Hylonomus are at variance with the views of its nature 
which would ally it with A»chegosaurus; but, as stated above, I 
-cannot refuse my belief to the testimony of the bones themselves, 
which prove a development of the hind limbs not likely to have 
been associated with an elongated body and natatorial tail, and 
pointing to saltatory motion on land, and perhaps frog-like swim- 
ming in the water. In the middle ground of the picture I have 
placed a bank of soil, showing a section of a hollow trunk similar 
in situation to those in which the reptile bones of the Joggins 
ozcur, and on this bank and in the distance, I have endeavored to 
give some of the characteristic forms of the vegetation of the 
‘period: Ferns, Cordaites, Sigillaria, Lepidendron, Lepidophloios, 
and Calamites. 

It has recently been a favorite view with some writers on this 
subject, that coal beds may have been formed in shallow salt water, 
and that Sigillarie may have grown in such places, like man- 
groves. It will be seen from the frontispiece, that I do not believe 
in this theory of the formation of coal, but on the contrary adhere 
to the opinion which I have formerly maintained, that the coal beds 
and under-clays are of the nature of peaty soils. In no part of 
the world are the coal measures better developed or more fully 
exposed than in the coast sections of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 
and in these, throughout their whole thickness, no indication has 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 985 


been found of any of the marine fossils of the lower carboniferous 
limestone. Abundant remains of fishes occur, but these may have 
frequented estuaries, streams and ponds, and the greater part of 
them are small ganoids which, like the modern Lepidosteus and. 
Amia, may have been specially fitted by their semi-reptilian res- 
piration, for the impure waters of swampy regions. Bivalve 
mollusks also abound; but these are all of the kinds to which I 
have given the generic name Naiadites, and Mr. Salter those of 
Anthracomya and Anthracoptera. These shells are all distinct 
from any known in the marine limestones. Their thin edentu- 
lous valves, their structure consisting of a wrinkled epidermis, a 
thin layer of prismaticshell and an inner layer of sub-nacreous shell 
composed of obscure polygonal cells, all remind us of the Anodons 
and Unios.* A slight notch in front, noticed by Salter, as possibly 
byssal, concurs with their mode of occurrence in rendering it proba. 
ble that, like mussels in modern estuaries, they attached themselves 
to floating or sunken timber. They are thus removed, both in 
structure and habit, from truly marine species; and if not actually 
of the family Unionide, must have been fresh-water or brackish- 
water mussels closely allied to this family. The crustaceans 
(Lurypterus, Diplostylus,Cyprids,) and the worm shell (Spirorbis)+ 
found with them, are not necessarily marine, though some of them 
belonged probably to brackish water, and they have not yet been 
found in those carboniferous beds deposited in the open sea. There is 
thus in the whole thickness of the middle coal measures of Nova 
Scotia, a remarkable absence at least of open sea animals; and if, 
as is quite probable, the sea inundated at intervals the areas of 
coal accumulation, the waters must have been shallow and to a 
great extent Jand-locked,so that brackish-water rather than marine 
animals inhabited them. 

On the other hand, there are in these coal measures, abundant 
evidences of land surfaces ; and sub-aeriel decay of vegetable mat- 


* The microscopic structure of these shells is well preserved, and 
presents some differences of detail which I hope at a future time to 
illustrate. 

| The idea of some Palzobotanists, that these so-called Spirorbes are 
fossil parasitic plants, is obviously a mistake. They are calcareous 
shells, and present under the microscope a prismatic cellular structure, 
with numerous minute tubuli, in the manner of the shells of modern 
Serpule and Spirorbes. In Nova Scotia I have seen Estherie only in 
the lower coal formation. 


286 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


ter in large quantity is proved by the occurrence of the mineral 
charcoal of the coal itself, as I have elsewhere shown.* The erect 
_ trees which occur at so many levels, also imply sub-aerial decay. A 
tree imbedded in sediment and remaining under water, could not 
decay so as to become hollow and deposit the remains of its wood 
in the state of mineral charcoal within the hollow bark. Yet 
this is the case with the greater part of the erect sigillarize which 
occur at more than 20 levels in the Joggins section. Nor could 
such hollow trunks become repositories for millipedes, snails and 
reptiles, if under water. On the other hand, if, as seems neces- 
sary to explain the character of the reptiliferous erect trees, these 
remained dry or nearly so in the interior, this would imply not 
merely a soil out of water, but comparatively well drained; as 
would indeed always be the case, when a flat resting on a sandy 
subsoil was raised several feet above the level of the water. 
Farther, though the peculiar character of the roots of Stgillaric 
and Calanvites may lend some countenance to the supposition that 
they could grow under water or in water-soaked soils, this 
will not apply to coniferous trees, to ferns, and other plants; 
which are found under cirenmstances which show that they grew 
with the Sigillaric. 

In the coal measures of Nova Scotia, therefore, while marine 
conditions are absent, there are ample evidences of fresh-water or 
brackish-water conditions, and of land surfaces, suitable for the 
air-breathing animals of the period. Nor do I believe that the 
coal measures of Nova Scotia were exceptional in this respect. It 
is true that in Great Britain evidences of marine life do occur in 
the coal measures; but not, so far as I am aware, in circumstances 
which justify the inference that the coal is of marine origin. Al- 
ternations of marine and land remains, and even mixtures of 
these, are frequent in modern submarine forests. When we find, 
as at Fort Lawrence in Nova Scotia, a modern forest rooted in 
upland soil forty feet below high-water mark, + and covered with 
mud containing living Tellinas and Myas, we are not justified in 
inferring that this forest grew in the sea. We rather infer that 
subsidence has occurred. In modern salt marshes it is not un- 
usual to find every little runnel or pool full of marine shellfish, 
while in the higher parts of the marsh land plants are growing . 


* Journal of Geological Survey, vol. XV. 
+ Journal of Geological Society, vol. XI 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 287 


-and in such places the deposit formed must contain a mixture of 
‘and plants and marine animals with salt grasses and herbage— 
the whole én situ.* 

These considerations serve, I think, to explain all the apparently 
anomalous associations of coal plants with marine fossils ; and I do 
not know any other arguments of apparent weight that can 
be adduced in favor of the marine origin of coal, except such as 
are based on misconceptions of the structure and mode of growth 
of sigillaroid trees and of the stratigraphical relations of the coal 
itself.t It is to be observed, however, that while I must maintain 
the essentially terrestrial character of the ordinary coal and of its 
plants, I have elsewhere admitted that cannel coals and earthy 
bitumen present evidences of sub-aquatic deposition; and have 
also abundantly illustrated the facts that the coal plants grew on 
swampy flats, liable not only to river inundations, but also to 
subsidence and submergence.{ In the oscillation of these condi- 
tions it is evident that Sigillarie and their contemporaries must 
often have been placed in conditions unfavorable or fatal to them, 
and when their remains are preserved to us in these conditions, 
we may form very incorrect inferences as to their mode of life. 


* In the marshes at the mouth of Scarborough River, in Maine, chan- 
nels not more than a foot wide, and far from the sea, are full of Mussels 
and Mye; and in little pools communicating with these channels there 
are often many young Limuli, which seem to prefer such places, and the 
cast off shells and other remains of which many become imbedded in 
mud and mixed with land plants, just as in the shales of the coal mea- 
sures. 

} It ig unfortunate that few writers on this subject have combined with 
the knowledge of the geological features of the coal, a sufficient acquain- 
tance with the phenomena of modern marshes and swamps, and with the 
conditions necessary for the growth of plants such as those of the coal. 
It would be easy to show, were this a proper place to do so, that the 
“ swells,” ‘rock-faults,” splitting of beds, and other appearances of 
coal seams, quite accord with the theory of swamp accumulation; that 
the plants associated with Sigillarie could not have lived with their 
roots immersed in salt water; that the chemical character of the under- 
clays implies drainage and other conditions impossible under the sea ; 
that the composition and minute structure of the coal are incompatible 
with the supposition that it is a deposit from water, and especially from 
salt water ; and thatit would be more natural to invoke wind-driftage as 
a mode of accumulation for some of the sandstones, than water-driftage 
for the formation of the coal. 

$ Journal of Geol. Socy., vols. X and XV and “ Acadian Geology.” 


988 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


Farther, it is be observed that the conditions of submergence and 
silting up which were favorable to the preservation of specimens of 
Sigillarie as fossils, must have been precisely those which 
were destructive to them as living plants ; and on the contrary that 
the conditions in which these forests may have flourished for cen- 
turies, must have been those in which there was little chance of 
their remains being preserved to us, in any other condition at 
least than that of coal, which reveals only to careful microscopic 
examination the circumstances, whether aerial or aquatic, under 
which it was formed. 

It is also to be observed that, in conditions such as those of the 
coal-formation, it would be likely that some plants would be: 
specially adapted to occupy newly emerged flats and places liable 
to inundation and silting up. I believe that many of the 
Sigillarie, and still more eminently the Calamites, were suitable to- 
such stations. There is direct evidence that the nuts of Sigdllarie 
(Trigonocarpa) were drifted extensively by water over submerged 
flats of mud. Many Cardiocarpa were winged seeds which may 
have drifted in the air. The Calamites may, like modern Hguise- 
ta, have produced spores with elaters capable of floating them in 
the wind. One of the thinner coals at the Joggins is filled with 
spores or spore-cases that seem to have carried hairs on their 
surfaces, and may have been suited to such a mode of dissemina- 
tion. I have elsewhere proved that at least some species of Cala- 
mites, were by their mode of growth admirably fitted for growing 
amid accumulating sediment and for promoting its accumulation. 

These and other facts to be ascertained only by a careful and 
minute study of the coal formation and its fossils, are essential to 
a right understanding of the complicated conditions invelved in 
the growth of these great deposits; and notwithstanding the im- 
mense mass of facts which has been collected, there is still no de- 
partment of geology more encumbered with crude hypotheses and 
hasty generalizations, than that which relates to the history of the 
carboniferous period. 

The reptiles of the coal formation are probably the oldest known 
to us, and possibly, though this we cannot affirm, the highest pro- 
ducts of creation in this period. Supposing, for the moment, 
that they are the highest animals of their time, and what is 
still Jess likely, that those which we know are a fair average of the 
rest, we have the curious fact that they are all carnivorous, and 
the greater part of them fitted to find food in the water as wellfas 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 289 


on the land. The plant feeders of the period, on the land at least, 
are all invertebrates, as snails, millepedes, and perhaps insects. 
The air-breathing vertebrates are not intended to consume the 
exuberant vegetable growth, but to check the increase of its ani- 
mal enemies. Plant life would thus seem to have had in every 
way the advantage. The millepedes probably fed only on roots 
and decaying substances—the snails on the more juicy and succu- 
lent plants growing in the shadow of the woods. While, more- 
over, the vegetation of the coal swamps was most abundant, it 
was not, on the whole, of a character to lead us to suppose that it 
supported many animals. Our knowledge of the flora of the coal 
swamps is sufficiently complete to exclude from them any abund- 
ance of the higher phenogamous plants. We know little, it is 
true, of the flora of the uplands of the period; but when we speak 
of the coal formation land, itis to the flats only that we refer. The 
foliage of the plants on these flats, with the exception of that of 
the ferns, was harsh and meagre, and there seem to have been no 
grasses or other nutritious herbaceous plants. These are wants 
of themselves likely to exclude many of the higher forms of her- 
bivorous life. On the other hand there was a profusion of large 
nut-like seeds, which in a modern forest would probably have 
afforded subsistence to squirrels and similar animals. The pith 
and thick soft bark of many of the trees must at certain seasons 
have contained much nutritive matter, while there was certainly 
sufficient material for all those insects whose larve feed on living 
and dead timber, as well as for the creatures that in turn prey on 
them. It is remarkable that, perhaps with the exception of a 
very few European insects, no animals fitted to avail themselves of 
these vast stores of food have been discovered in the coal. The 
question: ‘‘ What may have fed on all this vegetation ?” was never 
absent from my mind in all my explorations of the Nova Scotia 
coal sections; but no trace of any creature other than those already 
mentioned has ever rewarded my search. In Nova Scotia it would 
seem that asingle snail and asingle gally-worm were the sole links 
of connection between the plant creation and air-breathing verte- 
brates. Is this due to the paucity of the fauna, or the imperfee- 
tion of the record? The fact that a few erect stumps have revealed 
nearly all the air-breathers yet found, argues strongly for the latter 
cause; but there are some facts bearing on the other side. 

Our gally-worm, if, like its modern relatives, hiding in crevices 
of wood in forests, was one of the least likely animals to be found 

Can. Nar. 19 Vou, VIII. 


290 ATR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD: 


in aqueous deposits. The erect trees gave it its almost soleichance of 
preservation. Pupa vetusta is a small species, and its shell very 
thin and fragile, while it probably lived among thick vegetation. 
Further it occurs.in great abundance in the sigillaria stumps, and: 
also in a bed separated from these by a thickness: of. 1217 feet, 
including 21 coal seams, haying an aggregate thickness of about: 
20 feet, 3 beds of bituminous limestone of animal origin, and per- 
haps 20 beds holding Stigmaria in situ,or erect Sigillarice and Cala-. 
mites. The lapse of time implied by this succession of beds, many of, 
them neccessarily of very slow deposition, must be very great, though 
it would be mere guess work to attempt to resolve it into years, 
Yet long though tnis interval must haye been, Pupa vetusta lasted 
without one iota of change through it all; and more remarkable, 
still, was not accompanied by any other mollusk, of its family. 
Where so many specimens. occur, and in situations so diverse, 
without any additional species, the inference is strong that. no. 
other of similar habits existed. If in any of those sub-tropical, 
islands, whose climate and productions somewhat resemble those 
of the coal period, after searching in and about decaying trees, and 
also on the bars upon which rivers and lakes drifted their bur- 
dens of shells, we should find only a single species, but. this in 
very great numbers, we. would surely conclude that other species, 
if present, were very rare. 

Again, footprints referrible to Dendrerpeton occur in the lower. 
coal measures below the marine limestones, in the middle coal 
measures, and in the upper coal formation, separated by a thick-. 
ness of beds which may be estimated at 15,000 feet, and certainly, 
representing a vast lapse of time. Did we know the creature by 
these impressions alone, we might infer its continued existence for 
all this great length of time; but when we also find its bones in, 
the principal repositories of reptile remains, and.in company 
with the other creatures found with it, we. satisfy ourselves that of, 
them all it was the most likely to have left its trailin the mud flats, 
We thus have reason to conclude that it existed alone during 
this period, in so far as its especial kind of habitat. was, con- 
cerned; though there lived with it other reptiles, some of. which, . 
haunting principally the woods, and others the water, were less 
likely to leave impressions of their footprints. These may be but 
slight indications of truth, but they convey strong impressions of 
the persistence of species, and also of the paucity of species belong- 
ing to these tribes at the time. 


AIR+-BREATHERS) OF THE) COAL PERIOD. 291 


Every fact of this kind is; at present regarded in: its bearings: 
onthe probable origin of species, and on the questions of indepen- 
dent creation or of: derivation by natural selection, or by some 
other secondary law. Naturalists have set themselves to discover 
the philosopher’s stone which can transmute the viler into the more: 
exalted species. They will probably fail as others have failed be- 
fore, but’ may at least hope to elicit: some law of succession or 
occurrence of living creatures, and to settle more clearly than 
heretofore what should be regarded as natural species, as distinct 
from. mere races and varieties. It may perhaps: be found, after 
all, that the question whether the creative force: manifested itself 
in calling certain species into existence from nothing, from) dead 
matter, or from previously organized matter, whether by an instant 
and miraculous act, by more sudden natural change, or by slow and 
gradual processes, is insoluble by us; or that all or many of these 
modes may have been concerned in making living: beings what 
they are; but of this every sound thinker must be convinced, that 
if not originating in distinct creative acts, species:as we have them 
must be due to causes vastly more recondite and complex than the: 
present advocates of derivation suppose. Norcan even the trans- 
mutationist altogether get rid of the: miracle:of creation; though 
he may push it -back:to as great)a distance as possible.. Some crea- 
tive force must: always precede: law, and: this: even when: the 
theorist goes:so far/as:to derive all things: from a concourse: of. 
atoms; or, more venturous still, dispenses even with: atoms, and 
resolves ail that he knowsinto an aggregate: of conflicting yet mutu-- 
ally convertible forces.. It-is:scarcelyoto be supposed. that any 
member even of this last: school, will choose to plunge:into the: 
two-fold absurdity: of supposing that'forces are: themselves pro=: 
duced by nothing but the law of their owmaction, and: produce 
all things by their action on nothing:but themselves.. 

If, we could affirm: that the air-breathers of the coal period 
were really the first species of their several families, they might 
acquire additional interest by their bearing on this question ‘of origin. 
of species. We cannot affirm this; but) it may be a harm- 
less:and not. uninstructive play of fancy to suppose for'a moment 
that they actually are so, and to inquire on this supposition as to 
the-mode of; their introduction. Looking at.them from this point: 
of view, we shall first be struck with. the fact that they belong to 
all of the three great leading types of animals which include our 
modern air-breathers—the Vertebrates, the Articulates, and the 


992 AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 


Mollusks. This at once excludes the supposition that they caw 
all have been derived from each other, within the limits of the 
coal period. No transmutationist can have the hardihood to as- 
sert. the convertibility, by any direct method, of a snaikinto a 
millipede, or of a millipede into a reptile. The plan of structure 
in these creatures is not only different but contrasted in its most es- 
sential features. It would be far more natural to suppose that these 
animals sprang from aquatic species of their respective types. 
We should then seek for the ancestors of the snail in aquatic 
gasteropods, for those of the millipede in worms or crustaceans, 
and for those of the reptiles in the fishes of the period. It would 
be easy to build up an imaginary series of stages, on the principle 
of natural selection, whereby these results might be effected; but 
the hypothesis would be destitute of any support from faet, and 
would be beset by more difficulties than it removes. Why 
should the result of the transformation of water snails breathing by 
gills be a Pupa? Would it not much more likely be an Auricule 
or a Limnea? It will not solve this difficulty to say that the 
intermediate forms became extinct and so are lest. On the con- 
trary they exist to this day. though they were not, in so far as we 
know, introduced so early. But negative evidence must net be 
relied on; the record is very imperfect, and such creatures may 
have existed though unknown to us. It may be answered that 
they could not have existed in any considerable numbers, else 
some of their shells would have appeared in the coal formation 
beds, so rich in crustaceans and bivalve mollusks. Further, the 
little Pupa remained unchanged during a very long time, and 
shows no tendency to resolve itself into anything higher or to 
descend to anything lower. Here, if anywhere, in what appears 
to be the first introduction of air-breathing invertebrates, we should 
be able to find the evidences of transition from the gills of the 
prosobranchiate and the crustacean to the air sac of the pulmonate 
and the tracheze of the millipede. It is also to be observed that 
many other structural changes are involved, the aggregate of 
which makes a pulmonate or a millipede different in every par- 
ticular from its nearest allies among gill-bearing gasteropods or 
erustaceans. 

It may be said however that the links of connection between 
the coal reptiles and the fishes are better established. All the 
known coal reptiles have leanings to the fishes in certain charac- 
ters; and in some, as in Archegosaurus, these are very close. Still 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD. 293 


the interval to be bridged over is wide and the differences 
are by no means those which we should expect. Were the prob- 
lem given to convert a ganoid fish into an Archegosaurus or Den- 
drerpeton, we should be disposed to retain unchanged such char- 
acters as would be suited to the new habits of the creature, and 
to change only those directly related to the objects in view. We 
should probably give little attention to differences in the arrange- 
- ment of skull bones, in the parts of the vertebra, in the external 
clothing, in the microscopic structure of the bone, and other 
peculiarities for serving similar purposes by organs on a different 
plan, which are so conspicuous so soon as we pass from the fish to 
the batrachian. It is not in short an improvement of the organs of 
the fish that we witness so much as the introduction of new organs. 
The foot of the batrachian, bears perhaps as close a relation to 
the fin of the fish as the screw of one steamship to the paddle wheel 
of another, or as the latter to a carriage wheel; and can be just 
as rationally supposed to be not a new instrument but the old 
one changed. 

Again, our reptiles of the coal do not constitute a continuous 
series, nor is it possible that they can all, except at widely different 
times, have originated from the same source. To suppose that 
Hylonomus grew out of Dendrerpeton or Baphetes, and Eosaurus 
out of either, startles us almost as much as to suppose that Baphetes 
grew out of Rhizodus, or Hylonomus out of Paleoniscus. It 
either happened, for some unknown reason, that many kinds of 
fishes put on the reptilian guise in the same period, or else the 
vast lapse of ages required for the production of a reptile from 
a fish, must be indefinitely increased for the production of many 
dissimilar reptiles from each other; or on the other hand we 
must suppose that the limit between the fish and reptile being 
once overpassed, a facility for comparatively rapid changes 
became the property of the latter. Either supposition would, I 
think, contradict such facts bearing on the subject as are known 
to us. 

We commenced with supposing that the reptiles of the coal 
might possibly be the first of their family, but it is evident from 
the above considerations, that on the doctrine of natural selection, 
the number and variety of reptiles in this period would imply that 
their predecessors in this form must have existed from a time 
earlier than any in which even fishes are known to exist; so that 
if we adopt any hypothesis of derivation, it would probably be 


(294 (ATR-BREATHERS (OF ‘THE *COAL ‘PERIOD.. 


omecessary to have: recourse to that which supposes at ;particular 

periods a:sudden:and:as yet: unaccountable transmutation of one 
form into.another 5a view which in its:remoteness from anything 
included under ordinary natural laws, does not materially differ 
from that:currently:received idea of creative intervention, with 
which, in so far.as our coal ‘reptiles ean inform us, we are for 
the present satisfied. 

There is one other:point which strikes the naturalist in consid- 
ering these animals, and which has a certain bearing on such hy- 
pothesis. ‘It isthe combination of various grades of reptilian types 
in these ancient: creatures. It has been well remarked by Hugh 
Miller, and more:fully by Agassiz, that this is characteristic of 
‘the first.appearance of inew groups of animals. Now selection, 
/as it acts inthe hands of the breeder, tends to specialization ; and 

snatural selection, if there is such a thing, is supposed to tend in 
the same direction. But when some distinctly new form is to be 
introduced,.an opposite tendency seems to prevail, a sort of agere- 
gation in one species of characters afterward to be separated and 
manifested in distinct groups of creatures. The introduction of 
such new types:also:tends to degrade and deprive of their higher 
properties: previously existing greups of lower rank. It is easy 
to perceive in:all this, law and order in that higher sense in which 
these terms express the will and plan of the Supreme Mind, but 
not in that lower sense in which they represent the insensate 
operation of blind natural forces. 

Humble though the subjects of this paper are, we see in them 
the work of Supreme Intelligence, introducing new types 
upon the scene and foreshadowing in them those higher forms 
afterward to be created. It is this, their Divine origin, and the 
light which they throw on the plan and order of the creative 
work, of which we ourselves form a part, that gives them all 
their interest to us. They are the handiwork of our Father and 
our God, traces of his presence in primeval ages of the earth, 
evidences of the unity of his plan and pledges of its progressive 
nature; adding their feeble voices to the testimony of revelation 
in respect to the history of creation in its earlier stages, and to 
the carrying on of that plau which still involves the extinction of 
many things from the present world, and the elevation of others 
into new and glorious manifestations. Their place in the system 
of nature and in the order of the world’s progress, their uses in 
their own time and their relations to other beings as parts of the 


‘ORIGIN (OF ‘RRUPTIVE AND ‘PRIMARY ‘RocKS. 295 


‘great cosmos, are the points that chiefly interest us: and if any 

one'desires to understand more in detail, how they were created, 
‘we wish him all suecess in his inquiries, but warn him not to 
‘suppose that this great mystery is to ‘be solved by a reference 
‘merely ‘to material agencies apart ‘from that Spiritual Power 
‘whois the essence of forces, the origin of laws. 


Arr. XXIIL—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks. 
By Tuomas Macrartane. Part J. 


(Presented to the Natural History Society.) 


On a former occasion, * I had the honor of presenting to this 
‘Society a series of papers describing the primitive formations 
‘as they occur in Norway, and comparing them with their Cana- 
dian equivalents. I then confined myself to a simple statement 
of the facts known regarding these formations, referring to their 
constituent rocks, to their structure, and to the order of their 
“succession, but abstaining altogether from any attempt to pro- 
pound a theory which might explain the various phenomena 
described. I subsequently | however gave a translation of a 
chapter from Naumann’s classical Lehrbuch der Geognosie, wherein 
the various views entertained by geologists as to the origin of 
these formations, are plainly and impartially stated. It there 
appears, that although there exists an extraordinary diversity of 
opinion among geologists on this subject, there are two distinct 
and opposing theories, under one or other of which those different 
views may be classified. The first of these theories, and the one 
adopted by the majority of geologists, supposes the primitive or 
primary rocks to have resulted from the alteration or metamor- 
phism of sedimentary strata. The second theory supposes them, 
in part at least, to represent the first solidified crust of our 
planet. 

Although these opposing theories might with justice be 
respectively termed, so far as they refer to the origin of the 
primary rocks, the aqueous or metamorphic theory, and the 
igneous theory, still they must not be considered as bearing the 
slightest relation to the old theories adopted, and so pertinaciously 


* Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VII, p. 1. 
‘} Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VII, p. 254, 


296 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


argued by the neptunists and plutonists. The question in dispute 
then, referred to the origin of the undoubtedly intrusive and 
unstratified rocks,—granite, porphyry, basalt, &c. So far however 
as concerns the primitive stratified rocks, Werner and Hutton 
both regarded them as of sedimentary origin, although they 
differed as to the state in which they were deposited; and Hutton 
alone considered it necessary to explain their crystalline con- 
dition by the metamorphic action of heat. Indeed, instead of 
there being any analogy between the old controversy and the 
present question, it happens that Hutton, the founder of the 
plutonic school of former days, was the originator of the theory 
at present prevailing of the aqueous origin of the primary 
stratified rocks. 

On the other hand, it is scarcely possible to say who was the 
author of the igneous theory, although the writings in which 
it was propounded are of comparatively recent date. Probably 
among its earliest supporters was Sir H. T. Dela Beche, who 
thus expresses himself on the subject:—“If we consider our 
“planet as a cooling mass of matter, the present condition of 
“its surface being chiefly due to such a loss of its original heat 
“by long continued radiation into the surrounding space, that 
“ from having been wholly gaseous, then fluid and gaseous, and 
“ subsequently solid, tluid and gaseous, the surface at last became 
‘* so reduced in temperature, and so little affected by the remain- 
“ing internal heat, as to have its temperature chiefly regulated 
“ by the sun, there must have been a time when solid rock was 
“ first formed, and also a time when heated fluids rested upon it. 
“The latter would be conditions highly favorable to the pro- 
“ duction of crystalline substances, and the state of the earth’s 
‘¢ surface would then be so totally different from that which now 
“ exists, that mineral matter even abraded from any part of the 
“ earth’s crust which may have been solid, would be placed under 
“ very different conditions at different periods. We could scarcely 
“expect that there would not be a mass of crystalline rocks 
“ produced at first, which, however they may vary in minor 
“ points, should still preserve a general character and aspect, the 
“result of the first changes of fluid into solid matter, crystalline 
“and sub-crystalline substances prevailing, intermingled with 
“ detrital portions of the same substances, abraded by the move- 
“ments of the heated and first formed aqueous fluids.” * 


* Report on the Geology of Cornwall, &c., p. 32. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 297 


Although this language is somewhat indefinite, still the idea 
embodied in the igneous theory is shadowed forth in it, and on 
the whole this quotation may be considered as the text of the 
present essay. It is I believe possible to maintain, with every 
appearance of reason, that the Primitive Gneiss formation con- 
stitutes the first solidified crust of the originally fused globe, 
and that the crystalline and sub-crystalline rocks of the Primitive 
Slate formation are the products of a peculiar transition period, 
during which aqueous fluids gradually accumulated on the surface, 
and the latter attained a temperature approaching somewhat to 
that of the present day. 

In attempting to show that this proposition is supported by 
geological evidence, I shall confine myself principally to arranging 
and elaborating the facts and arguments in support of it, which 
Ihave found scattered through a considerable number of geo- 
logical papers and manuals. I shall also, in order to state the 
case with full force, be obliged to insert prefatorily much of what 
may be considered as mere elementary facts in physical geography 
and geology. I shall first refer to the evidences which we 
possess regarding the internal heat of our planet and its density, 
deducing from them certain conclusions as to the present con- 
dition of the interior of the earth. In doing so, I shall allude 
to the nature of certain volcanic products; and then continuing 
the considerations of the constitution and mode of occurrence 
_of igneous rocks, I shall search back through the various eruptive 
formations for evidences of the nature of the igneous action 
which has taken place in former periods of the earth’s history, 
and ultimately arrive at the consideration of the theory of the 
earth’s original state of igneous fluidity. This theory, univer- 
sally admitted by geologists, will then afford us a firm starting 
point for some speculations as to the process of the first solid- 
ification of the earth’s crust, and the origin of gneissoid rocks. 
Pursuing the subject further, I shall endeavour to shew that 
the peculiar rocks of the Primitive Slate formation are also pro- 
ducts of the action of the first condensed fluids on the heated 
crust of the earth. There are few theories whereon such a 
unanimity of opinion exists among geologists, as that of the 
originally fused condition of our planet, and few formations 
regarding the origin of which more uncertainty prevails than 
that of the primitive formations. If therefore it can be shewn 
to be probable that these primitive formations have merely 


298 ORIGIN OF \)ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


resulted from an originally fused globe in the process of cooling, 
much will have been done toward filling up a great gap in the 
-history of the earth’s development, 


I, Tue Tempsratore anv Density or THE INTERIOR OF OUR 
PLanet. 


. 


‘Tt will no doubt’seem to’ many that ‘the ‘matters to be treated 
-of 'in' this chapter, ‘are far ‘beyond the limits of the subject ‘of 
the present paper. Since, however, the originally fused condition 
of our’planet, ‘and the constitution of ‘its mass, are at the founda- 
tion of the igneous view of the origin of the primitive ‘gneiss 
formation, it would seem necessary’ to refer to the reasonings upon 
which the idea ofa fused globe, and the various theories pro- 
pounded regarding the structure of the interior of our planet, 
“are based. “Many of ‘these 'reasonings are founded on phenomeéna 
observable ‘at the ‘present day, which point to the existence of 
intense heat and extraordinary density in the centre of the earth. 
‘Hence‘this proposed recapitulation of the evidences of internal 
cheat and density may net be out of place. 

‘Whatever may have been the ‘temperature of the earth’s 
~surface in the former periods, it is abundantly evident that it is 
‘now altogether regulated by the sun. Since the influence ‘of 
‘the sun’s rays’ penetrates to some extent beneath the surface, and 
affects the degree of temperature there existing, it will be neces- 
sary to define the extent 1o which this takes place, before pro- 
ceeding 'to ‘advert to the influence of the subterranean heat on 
the temperature of the earth’s crust. It is obvious that the 
influence of the sun’s rays is exerted very irregularly, and that 
~variations in the degree to which the surface of the earth is 
affected by it occur throughout the day, and annually. The 
“diurnal variations are of course not so great as those of the year, 
and the latter vary of course with the situation of the point of 
observation. These diurnal and-annual variations are less and _ 
less felt, the deeper, to a certain point, we penetrate beneath the 
surface. Towards this point’the extremes of temperature grad- 
ually approach nearer to each other, the differences are gradually 
equalized, and finally they disappear completely. The depth 
‘at which this point of constant temperature exists varies with 
latitude and climate, and with the capacity for conducting heat 
which the surface possesses. In African deserts, where the sand 
has been found to possess sometimes a temperature of 40° to 48° 


“ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ;ROCKS. 292 


R,* the point of constant temperature is near the surface, because 
‘the annual variations are comparatively small. The average 
¢emperature of the warmest month in Singapore is 22:40 ° R., of 
the coldest month 20.6° R.+ The yearly variation therefore, 
does not. exceed 1.8° R., and consequently the point where the 
‘extremes equalize themselves must be very near the surface. In 
higher lafitudes however, where the variations are greater, (London 

11,80°-R., Paris 13.50° R.,New York 21.70° R.,) the point 
of invariable temperature lies deeper. In the temperate zone, the 
daily variations disappear at a depth of from three to five feet, and 
the annual variations at a depth of from 60 to 80 feet beneath 
the surface. The celebrated thermometer placed 86 feet beneath 
the surface in the vault. of the national observatory at Paris in 
1783, shews constantly a temperature of 9.60° R.{ Since the 
average temperature of Paris is 8.60 ° R., it would therefore appear 
that even at this depth of 86 feet the influence of the central 
heat begins to make itself felt. 

As early as the year 1678, the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher was 
informed by Hungarian miners that a higher temperature existed 
in the depths of mines, than on the ‘surface of the earth, and 
Von Trebra, in 1785, mentions the same fact:§ Not only was 
practical experience of the existence of a subterranean source of 
heat first obtained by miners, but ‘the first experiments made 
with the view of ascertaining the temperature of the earth’s 
crust at greater depth, were instituted in mines, The results of 
these experiments constituted for a long time the only proofs of 
the increase of the temperature with the depth, It cannot be 
denied however that the observations made in the shafts and 
underground working of mines are subject to various disturbing 
‘influences, so that it would appear that at least the earliest 
of these observations are less to be relied upon than those from 
other sources. But since they shew a general coincidence they 
furnish, when taken in connection with other observations, a com= 
plete confirmation of the fact of the increase of temperature with 
the depth. The results of the experiments instituted in mines, 
differ in value according as they have reference to the tempera- 


* Pouillet; Muller, Lehrbuch der Physik and Meteorologie, Vol I, 
p. 24, : 
f Ibid Il, 716. 
¥ Quenstedt, Epochen der Natur, p. 13. 
§ Ibid p. 12, 


300 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


ture of the air, water or rock there occurring. Those obtained from 
observations made on the rock plainly deserve most confidence.* 
Not only in European mines,but in those of South America, Mexico, 
the United States, and the Hast Indies, observations have proved 
that the temperature increases with the depth, and shewn that it 
remains invariable at one and the same depth, provided no disturb- 
ing causes are at work. In 1740, Gensanne instituted experiments 
at Giromagny in the Vosges which gave the following results :— 
At a depth of 


339 feet the temperature was....+.--12.5°. Centigrade. 


634 & & werefelerelevele 213.1° te 
948 & ts SO 9 0VO te 
1333 & et ea akicclemaenic st 


Saussure obtained the following results at Bex in the Canton 
Waadt, in a shaft in which no one had been for three months 
previously. 


Depth. Temperature. 

SA Dlolela\olelelnlols ateleievalapal ofeleisiejerwieleie/p 4.4 1— Centigrade. 
FT a MOGs a i aR TET ut 
Gildctaselo) staielnielelelaiiaie/eieisinieleioiefeisicieletd deo ae 


Similar observations were afterwards made in the mines of 
Freiberg by d’Aubuisson, Von Humboldt, and Von Trebra; in 
the mines of Cornwall by Forbes, Fox, and Barkam, and in the 
Anzasca valley by Fontanetti. The most comprehensive and 
exact observations were however those made at the instance of 
the government mining officials of Saxony and Prussia, in the 
mines of those countries. The observations in the Prussian mines 
led to the following results.t 


1. That a decided increase of temperature takes places with 
increase of depth. 

2. That the temperature at every greater depth is invariable, 
since the annual oscillations were at the most only 1°. 

3- That the depth corresponding to an increase of temperature 
of 1°, differs extremely in different localities, varies from 
48 to 355 feet, and on an average amounts to 167 feet. 

4, That the temperature increases twice as rapidly in coal mines 
as In ore mines, 


* Naumann, Lehrbuch der Geognosie, I, 49. 
{ Poggend. Ann; vol. xxii, 1831, p. 497. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 301 


5. That the observations did not afford data sufficiently decided 
for the establishment of any law as to the progression of 
the increase of temperature. 


The experiments instituted in the Saxony mines were under th 
careful direction of Reich, and made with very good thermome- 
ters, sunk forty inches into the solid rock, and with every possible 
precaution. They yielded the following results.* 


1. That the temperature increases decidedly with the depth. 

2. That the temperature is invariable at every one point of 
observation. 

3. That the average distance, corresponding to an increase of 
one degree Reaumur in temperature, is 129 feet. 

4, That a general law with regard to the relative increase of 
temperature cannot be deduced from these experiments. 

5. That the rock in the underground workings and in the course 
of time becomes somewhat cooled by the air of the mine, 
and that on the whole the cooling influences overbalance 
the heating ones. 


Among other observations the following may be mentioned :— 
The distance corresponding to an increase of temperature of one 
degree was determined by: 


Oldham in Waterford, Ireland, a8.......++e00.+.165 Feet. 
BhillipsiinyNew. Castles oc iii. ccscsescecsncesn 00)  § 
Hodgkinson in Manchester..ccoscsccscocssccceoll5 § 
Hinzeau in’ Belgium. .)..ccccewecccconcdeceg ge LOL, 6 
Cordier near Canneaux...esccascccccccoccsccelll Mf 


It will be observed that in the observations mentioned above, 
the depth corresponding to an increase “of 1° varies from 92.3 
to 167 feet. 

Conclusive as, are the experiments in mines with regard to 
the increase of temperature, they after all refer only to compara- 
tively slight depths. The depths at which observations have been 
made in artesian wells exceed those of the mine experiments. As 
is well known, by means of these artesian wells, a vent is opened 
whereby the water of subterranean reservoirs or springs, confined 


* Reich: Beobachtungen tiber die Temperatur des Gesteines, 1834. 
f Naumann; Lehrbuch der Geognosie, I, 54, 


8302. oRIGINC OF *BRUPTIVE: AND! PRIMARY “ROCKS: 


at great depths, finds a passage to the surface. This water, having 
found its way from the surface into) those depths, is: generally 
subject to a very strong hydrostatic pressure, and: possesses the 
temperature of the depth from which it is liberated. The 
bore-holes, by means of which these subterranean reservoirs are 
tapped, are especially fitted for experiments as to the tempera- 
tures of various depths, since their depth, while being bored 
is accurately known, and since they are always filled with water. 
Such experiments have repeatedly been made, and have led to the 
complete and incontrovertible confirmation of the fact that the 
temperature of every constant depth, beneath the influences of 
the variations of temperature on the surface is invariable, and 
that the temperature increases continually with the depth. The 
following tables contain some of the most remarkable observa- 
tions of this. nature. 
Artesian well at Rudersdorf, near Berlin :— 
Depth. Temperature. 


380 featur cumicmalere Wale vcnciialeicialscieteencke Lamlcs Centigrade, 


~ 500 CCM creel siolerslelolalsts cisteteeeuclseiemtnloe 6“ 
be 


655 Cee lela tclelaye elelebetaiciolelelele eioceeicrenl Onl Om 
880 Wo ccccen ec ccccressssevessese Bd.00° 


Artesian well of Grenelle, in Paris :-— 
Depth. Temperature. 
917 feet.ccccerccccercccceccecescens.20° Centigrade. 
LORI sta ec ceog s wewes teoethas + s2OcIbS « 


1555 COSTA AEE Aap CNM Eset a 2000 20.430 6 


1684 We eeneeececceescacecees eoee 002T.70° 7 & 


Artesian well of ‘Neusalzwerk, Westphalia :— 


Depth. Temperature. 
580 feet. <cocccccseyaressesseeceel9.1° Centigrade. 


1285 CPi valatetaveleisisieieletetelerereisioiejeelelsiaits Dic Us 


1935 eT OS SRS OUR ESD Ley A) 
2144 ce ralaiotaisielsicie a Giawieiea we sisreiec oc OL 


Tn. the. artesian well; at. Mondorff, in. the: Grand Duchy. of 
Luxemburg, at:a depth of 2066 feet, a temperature of 34.° Cen- 
tigrade was even observed. We have already seen that the results. 
of the experiments in mines, as to the depth corresponding to one 
degree of increase, varied considerably. The results obtained in 
artesian wells.as to this point-were much more satisfactory. The 
distance corresponding to.an.increase of 1° was found: to. be: 


(13 
68: 


ORIGIN: OF ERUPTIVE! AND) PRIMARY: ROOKS. 803. 


At Beatte ral. oteieis etal 0 pravalsleletailld elb iets o diel dla) slataiellelelitaj Od 8 Feet 
IAGAMO NC OL flora cisicse vl piate obe(did oie e.eyepieqeinalerpen cles somo. 1 ut 


At Rtidersdorf.cercsasvcarercovesneres Beker Owe ca 
At Neusalzwerk .scssceccseccscccccsereseess 92.27 Mf 
At Grenelle...ccccccccvcccsccesovsccs Bern ciehee 9 Ov Olimimice 


At St. Andre (Eure)..soccseecsecccessseseees95, 3 


These results shew ‘a remarkable coincidence; but’ there are 
others which shew extraordinary differences, such as the follows 
ing:— 

At La Rochelle... ee AS GOR AARCOODOIOOGROOODO0 60. 6 Feet, 


At Pitzbuhl near Magdeburg’....cseoscrcsoee 80,0 & 
At Artem in Thiiringia,....ccccsscsesoeceees120. 0 &* 


These latter results, as well as. those differing. widely from each 
other, which have been obtained in mines, are not to be regarded 
as at all invalidating the general result. These differences may 
be caused by variations in the conducting capacity of the various 
rocks;. by the neighborhood of subterranean water courses ;. but 
especially by the greater or lesser distance of the point of a 
vation from the source of the internal heat’; in other words by the 
varying thickness of the earth’s crust: 

‘We have thus seen that actual observations have been made 
as to the temperature of the crust: at various depths beneath the 
surface, sometimes as»muchas.2000 feet, and the result: of these 
has, been to prove that an increase of temperature takes place: 
with the depth, amounting on the average ’to about 1° Cent. for 
every 100 feet.We have next to enquire as to whether any increase 
of temperature takes place at still greater depths. We have 
abundant proofs that this further increase does take place, in the 
temperatures. of the thermal:springs so: widely distributed’ over 
every part of the surfaceof the globe. These temperatures-are 
much higher than those which have been observed in mines or 
artesian wells. The waters:of these springs rush with extraordi- 
nary force out of the ground, from which circumstance we may con- 
clude that they ascend from their sources, witha rapidity which 
does not permit them to cool very considerably in their passage 
through the upper'and colder strata. Although we are ignorant 
of the exact. depth from which the waters of these springs 
rise, we are nevertheless justified in assuming that they come 
from greater depths-than those of mines- or- artesian wells. 


* Naumann’s Geognosie, I, 48. 


304 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


The highest temperature yet observed in the latter was at 
Mundorff, viz,, 34° Centigrade. The following is a list of re- 
markable thermal springs whose temperatures exceed that just 
mentioned. i We ate 


Spring. Temperature. 
Pfaffers ....ceceeccccccvccvevccsvcvcescesseesdt.2° Centigrade. 
Wildbad.......... aleialelejateteloiniciowsie(eieieicrcintlacieisieains ue le Wi 
Barréges...... slorslelelelslsieleierelele Sa00bQdG000K0000 40.0° G3 
Aix-la-Chapelle...c.ccoseccceccccecccee44® t0 57.5 2 « 
BAUM ete en ee atieen-toniock lacie oom salle sini oscatet 46.25 © a 
Leuck...... lekdisivioie sjeicicle slele wee cecccesecceees 50.2 3 
Aix in SavOy.cccccceccccccccsccccccecesecese 4.3 © “ 
HIMSetletoererevetelelelerete clererele efeicisioie(eleioleleielesiaieiaisielsO One Dake 6 
Baden-Baden ....c.scccccccscccccecccccseceessO1.5° & 
Wiesbaden .... .cccscecccccccconsccccscececsce 10.09 “ 
Carlsbad eje.\c\cjs0ccreccicle ©» alajoieeie sions s¥s.ceje 07S O0Q0— “ 
Burtscheid.......e. Dé oiaistarein aterageios wale meals Tl Oke WG 
Katherine Spring in Caucasia. ....ccceeccoorsee se 88.1 o U3 
Trincheros in Venezuela...cc.ceccccecccvccceeeII0>* se 


We have here a series of temperatures, from the warmest yet 
observed in artesian wells to that of boiling water, and it would 
seem not unreasonable to suppose that the differences in their 
temperatures correspond to differences in the depths of their 
sources. It is true that the neighborhood of volcanoes or of 
igneous rocks may heighten the temperature of springs rising from 
comparatively shallow depths, but it is also the case that many 
very hot springs occur in districts far distant from volcanic 
regions. Thus it is with the hot spring of Hammam-mes-Kutin, 
betwixt Bone and Constantine, the temperature of which is 
stated at from 60° to 95° Cent.; and also with the warm 
springs in Cape Colony, which, according to Kraus, break forth 
from sandstone, far from any plutonic rock.f It is clearly impos- 
sible to account for the differences in the temperatures 
of thermal springs in any other way than by supposing 
that the springs possess very nearly the temperatures of the 
depths from which they rise, and that the higher the temperature 
of the water the deeper is the source from which it springs. We 
are therefore justified in regarding it as fully proved that the tem- 

erature of the earth increases with the depth, until a point is 


* Muller's Kosmische Physik, p. 340, 
{ Naumann’s Geognosie, I, 306. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. B06 


reached at which water boils, It is a matter of much difficulty 
however to determine, with any degree of precision, the depth at 
which this heat is attained. If we assume that the same increase 
of 1° Centigrade for every 100 feet depth, which takes place at 
the surface, continues to greater depths, the calculation is very 
simple. The temperature of the Mondorff artesian well was 34 9° 
Cent., at a depth of 2066 feet. If we add 100 feet for each 
of the remaining 66° C, we have a temperature of 100° C, at 
adepth of 8666 feet. It will however be shewn in a subsequent 
part of this paper, that we are not justified in assuming that the 
increase of temperature follows such a regular progression, that 
the rapidity with which the temperature increases, diminishes with 
the depth, and that consequently the depth at which a constant 
temperature of 100° C. reigns, is much more considerable than that 
above stated ; that itis at least 10,000 feet, and probably even as 
much as 20,000 feet.* It is.quite possible that under the great 
pressure which must exist at this latter depth the boiling point 
of water may be higher than 100° C., but then however, this 
might be it could not retain this higher temperature until it 
reached the surface. Because however rapidly it might ascend, 
its temperature would on the way decrease with the removal of 
the pressure, steam being at the same time generated. It is not 
improbable that the waters of the Geyser and the Strokkr have 
at-their sources a much higher temperature than 100° C., and 
that the eruptions observable at these springs are caused by the 
generation of steain in the canal of egress, owmg to the removal 
of the pressure. This view is supported by the observations made 
on the temperature of these springs. The water.of the Geyser at 
the surface has a temperature of 76° to 89° C., but at a depth 
of twenty-two. meters it-is from 122° to127°.C. The water of 
the Strokkr is continually boiling at the surface, and has, at a depth 
of forty-one feet, a temperature of 114 °°C.t' But although it is 
possible for water to exist at a much higher heat than 100° OC, 
at such great depths, it is nevertheless also evident that at still 
greater depths, and increased temperatures, it can only exist in 
the form of steam. We can moreover readily conceive a depth 
and temperature to which it would be impossible for water to 
penetrate. If the temperature of the earth’s crust continues to 


“—-*"Naumann, Geognosie, I, 66. 
} Krug von Nidda, in Karsten’s Archiv fiir Mineralogie, &c., ix, 241. 
Can Nat. 20 Vou. VIII. 


306 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


increase with the depth, there must exist at some depth, sufficient- 
ly great, a point beyond which the rocks are heated to such an 
extent that before water can penetrate to them it is resolved into 
steam and expelled. 

Beyond this point there is a long interval, regarding the in- 
crease of temperature in which, we have no direct evidence until 
we arrive at that furnished by the fused rock which in the form 
of lava is poured forth by voleanoes, which are even more widely 
and generally distributed over the earth’s surface than thermal 
springs. This however supplies indirect evidence sufficient to 
prove that during this great interval the heat must in- 
crease with the depth, until the temperature of fused lava 
is reached, at which point we must suppose everything to 
be in a fluid state, and consequently the temperature 
from that point to much greater depths to continue about the 
same. The lavas which have been emitted by volcanoes in historic 
times, have been both of a trachytic and a basaltic nature, but 
those of the latter character seem to have predominated. Many 
of these doleritic or augitic lavas from very recent lava-streams 
have been described and analysed. They are of a comparatively 
basic composition, seldom contain more than 50 per cent of silica, 
and are much richer than other volcanic rocks in iron-oxide. 
The lava which constituted the stream from Etna, that destroyed 
a great part of Catania in 1669, had the following composition :— 


Silicatprelavcisieioreisinveleleiriercioleterelalarsieleicicicleielelele e000 00 48.83 


VAIN AS eictacs rele picieiac ole cinieisisielecscleleletelnic oleusiera mee LOR) 
Protoxide Of ir0n...eceaessccssccceserecessse 16.32 | 
Protoxide of manganese..... dot dAdEouGhoos cddods me 
Lime.... eeeceo@Geeseoete st @eeeeerpO2Gesevesoeetesoe Pelee sO con 
Ma ONEIDA. cJoiela/e boi «ole aloie elelnlaleicielsleicialsiefoiislels ae ie 
Bia ak come Pola sess ses ennsoesnevsvess Se 
Potash... He OG AE A Ny NMI os oF | 
99.95.* 


This analysis bears a general resemblance to those of other 
augitic lavas. It also bears a resemblance to that of the slag 
produced in smelting the copper schists of Mansfeldt. According 
to Hoffman, the composition of the slag produced at Kupfer 
Kammerhiitte in the first or raw smelting, is as follows. 
———————— nee a ree 

* Dischof; Chemical and Physical Geology, ii, 235. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 307 


SiLTCAlr ey <yeiatore ODO COLIUGO dal dedy lz payed aie Ueierefeterea Lena 
PAUIAIIUIN Biss) eleseim; «ls, slaheyojels sole! eys afeisteieislelsiele/efalela ove 16.35 
Protoxide of iron.......... elaisie sislesiss osiescecie s l0s (Oi 
NEI Cyerexerettarey cheteVoleteatereleleleisishelcletsyeleveleleleyers sete sceclos 29 
Magnesia..... eee cejcc es cond sees ewleesecenesesar+ ud | 3598 
Protoxide of Copper. ceessscccsccceas aisialelolafefevavelone mv 
ce sf ZAIN Claverelalete/s sie)s elevelals i onoode AOD I OR aeAS 
99.85.* 


According to Plattner, the melting point of these slags is about 
1400 ° Centigrade.t If we suppose that the increase of tem- 
perature downward in the earth’s crust progresses at the rate of 
1°C. for every 100 feet, the thickness of the earth’s crust may 
be calculated as follows. The temperature of the Mondorff arte- 
sian well was 34° C, at a depth of 2066 feet. If we add 100 
feet for each of the remaining 1366°( 136,600 ft.)—the tem- 
perature of 1400° would exist at a depth of 138,666 feet, (264 
English, or 22? geographical miles.) However crude and un- 
certain this method of calculating the thickness of the earth’s 
crust may be, it appears nevertheless to have been almost the 
only one hitherto employed for that purpose. It seeins to have 
been assumed on all hands that the increase of temperature takes 
place in the ratio of a simple arithmetical progression. Hum- 
boldt{ adopts the idea that “ granite is in a state of fusion about 
“ 26 or 30 geographical miles beneath the surface.” At another 
place§ he states it at “ somewhat more than 20 geographical 
“ miles (21,8, = 25 English).” “45,000 metres=24 geographical 
“miles, was named by Elie de Beaumont (Geologie, edited by 
“Vogt, 1846, I, 32) as the thickness of the solid crust of the 
“earth. Bischof (Warmelehre des Innnern unseres Erdkér- 
“ pers, pp, 271 and 286,) estimated it between 122,590 feet and 
* 136,448 feet, or on the average 214 geographical—244 English 
“miles.” The average diameter of the earth being 6864 miles, 
it follows from the: above: estimate, that the thickness of the 
earth’s crust only amounts to about >1>th of the radius of its 
circumference. When we reflect on this result, it would appear 
that this thickness is altogether insufficient to lend to the earth’s 
crust that stability which it now possesses. Moreover, there are 
other estimates than those above quoted, which give to the carth’s 


* Kerl. Handbuch der Huttenknude, I, 296. 
tIbid; I, p. 282. }{ Kosmos; English edition, I, 26. § Ibid V, 169° 


808  oRIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


erust a much more considerable thickness. Cordier assuming 100° - 
Wedgewood as the’ melting point of lava, determined the depth 
at, which everything is in a fluid state, from his observations :— 


At Canneauz, to be 148 English geographical miles.. 
At Littry 84 do. 
At Decise 64: do. 


And he finally draws the conclusion that the average thickness 
of the solid crust of the earth cannot well exceed 56 English geo- 
graphical miles.* Sartorius von Waltershausen’s estimate will be 
referred to when we come to take into consideration the density 
of the earth. Naumann remarks as follows on the subject : “ the 
“ temperature of the fused lava may certainly in the depths of 
“ the earth be estimated as at least 2000° C. If theincrease of 
“ temperature follows the law of an arithmetical progression, them 
“ such a temperature would be reached at a depth of 200,000 feet, 
“ or nine German,(—36 English) geographical miles. But since 
“itis more probable that the distance corresponding to an in- 
“ crease of 1° Centigrade augments with the depth, we are jus- 
“ tified in assuming a much greater depth, and in supposing it not 
“ at all impossible that the seat of the fluid lava is to be found at 
“ a depth of twenty and perhaps even upwards of thirty geogra- 
“ phical miles (80 or 120 English geographical miles,)’t There 
are not wanting observations to prove that the temperature of 
the earth’s crust increases less rapidly towards the interior. Thus 
from a comparison of several observations, Fox deduced the 
result that within the first 600 feet, the temperature increases 
more quickly than in the following 600 feet. Henwood obtained, 
similar results within the first 950 feet, and Rogers found in Vir-, 
ginia a notable enlargment with the depth, of the space corres- 
ponding to 1° increase. In the artesian well at Grenelle the 
temperature observed at 
700 feet depth was... ve wleeieelsie sjtyeieeesleets 20.00 ome 
1555 & eoeeereo reeewws cecsccccree 26.439 C, 


The thermometer in the cellar of the Paris observatory shews a 
constant temperature of 11.7° C. Calculating from this depth of 
86 feet, the distance corresponding to one degree’s increase of tem- 
perature within the first 677 feet is 81.6 feet; and within the 


7 Naumann, Geognosie, I. 74, 
{| Naumann, Geognosie, I, 67. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS, 309 


mext 792 feet, 123 feet; which figures plainly shew an increase 
with the depth of the distance corresponding to 19°C, Bis- 
chof’s experiments on the cooling of large masses of melted ba- 
salt also furnish a very convincing proof that the increase of 
temperature takes place less rapidly at greater depths, 48 hours 
after casting a globe of melted basalt, having a diameter of 274 
inches, he found it to possess the following temperatures :-— 


dinkthe; Centres. seroe neo ee es veeles celseesel os Dieu Re 
45 inches from d0.....ceccesee tele delalleleverersiay MoO. O/ Sis Kise 
6M15) 04h, 0 4 LOWEN Laie elstalcelebs: cvelelcieieleleieeslerey Lads9 & ee 
9, es sf LUE Ne) pater robe laiolabsione siteleloieieies eel d O Oe Shera vikcs 


These observations also shew with increasing depth a diminution 
of the rapidity with which the increase of temperature takes . 
place. They by no means furnish us however with secure data 
upon which to found a ealculation as to the thickness of the earth’s 
crust. Like the careful experiments in the mines of Prussia and 
Saxony, “a general law with regard to the increase of tempera- 
* ture cannot be deduced from them.” They are useful in so far 
as they prove the inaccuraey of a!l estimates of the earth’s thick- 
mess founded u»en the arithmetical pregression of the increase of 
temperature, and justify the supposition of Naumann, that the 
éerust of the earth may have a thickness ef upwards of 120 English 
geographical miles. 

There is however yet another estimate of the igo nlexe of the 
earth’s crust, the censideration of which will lead us to refer to the 
various views entertained as to the constitution of the interior of 
the earth. This estimate is thus referred to by Naumann: “ W. 
“Hopkins has adepted a peculiar method for the solution of 
* this problem. By very acute observation and reasoning on the 
“nutation of the earth’s axis, and the preeession of the equinoxes, 
“he finds that these two phenomena must come out with different 
“values according as the earth is solid throughout, or fluid 
“ throughout, or solid externally and fluid internally ; in which 
“ latter ease different thicknesses of the solid crust will produce 
“¢ different results. It is certainly the case that in order to a cor- 
“ rect estimate, the values ef two important.elements are necessary, 
“ which are as yet unknown, viz., the condensing action of pres- 
“sure, and the expanding action of such high temperatures. 
“« Nevertheless, Hopkins has attempted to answer the question ap- 


oe 


_* Naumann, Geognosie, I, 63. 


310 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


“ proximately, and gained the result, that according to the known 
“ values of the nutation and precession, the thickness of the solid 
“* crust cannot be less than one fourth or one fifth of the radius 
“of the earth and must at least amount to 172 to 215 
“German geographical miles (688 to 860 English geogra- 
“ phical miles.)- Such a thickness of the earth’s crust seems indeed 
“¢ to stand in the necessary relations to the stability of the exterior 
“ surface of the earth, but also almost completely to exclude the 
“* possibility of a communication with the interior of the earth, 
“‘ which is really so decidedly shewn to exist by varied volcanic 
“ phenomena. Hopkins:also adopts the view that with such a 
“ thick crust a direct. communication is impossible between the 
“interior of the earth and the surface. In order: therefore ta 
“ explain the phenomena of volcanoes, he supposes. the existence 
“ of very large cavities here and there within the solid crust, 
“which are filled with easily fusible materials, still in a liquid 
“* state, and which resemble colossal bubbles, enclosing whole seas 
“ of fused substance.** Elie de Beaumont and others, on the 
other hand, entertain the view that spaces were formed between 
the solid erust, and the fluid centre which, at least in earlier geolo- 
gical periods, caused partial depressions of the earth’s crust, and. 
which are:still to be considered as the real laboratories of volcanic 
activity. 

Somewhat allied to. Hopkins’s supposition is Bunsen’s theory, 
which rests upon certain ascertained facts with regard to the com- 
position of igneous. rocks generally, but more especially to that of 
lavas. Bunsen supposes the existence in the interior of the earth 
of two enormous reservoirs of fused matter having eacha differ- 
ent composition, and from the amalgamation. of which all the 
known varieties. of trachytic and doleritic rocks result. This theory 
is based upon two series of analyses of Icelandic lavas, the one 
comprising, according to Bunsen, those richestin silica (trachytes), 
the other those containing the largest amount of bases, (trap 
rocks, basalts and basaltic lavas). The first series of analysis com- 
prised those of the following rocks :— 

1. Trachyte from Baula. 

2. Do from Kalmanstunga. 

. 8. Do from Langarfjall near the Geyser. 


4. Trachyte from Arnar Knipa on the Laxa. 


5. Do from Falklaklettur near Kalmanstunga. j 
eee SEE 
* Naumaun, Geognosie, f, 75. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


6. Trachyte from Krabla. 
7. Obsidian from Krabla. 


1 2. 3, 4. 5. 6. 
Silica ......ce00200075-91 77.92 15.29 78.95 76.42 16.38 
Alumina..........011.49 12.01 12.94 10.22 9.57 11.53 
Ferrous oxide....... 2.13 1.32 2.60 2.91 5.10 . 3.59 
Mimemeree acces. 1.56, 6.76 1.0L 1.84 153. 1.76 
Mapnesiags...+>+... 0.76 0.13 0.03 0.14 0.20 0,40 
Sodas sac. sae... D51I 459) 27D) aig. 6.24" 4.46 
Potash. socveslec.e. 5.64 3.27 5.42 1.76 1.94 1.88 


Ce el 


100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 
The mean of these analyses is : 


MSILTC Ay fatere, alo ja'es clotlelejelelelseve selereicle| deietale erarelelcielsisrereL OSG 
PAILTAIN Aieieie «lei eielatalsieleyeraterelsieleisiolecciere cyetetelslelalerersieetl Le DO 
PHETLOUS) OXI eral tlelcle ciel: ove aloierolalevle sisleielerleeen a OGL 
GTI Slay ah static oie oratetalelcriel sisisuieievelel <ielsteis\eroncieiaiecetetcleier tattle OO) 
MAE NEBTR tere cuialare ctelelenses slelele) ave eles: ef eleicrel ccerefera, si eveiny OFA 
SOE BOR CSCO MCHOMOBUBO SEG HoUUCHOOAUAO COBO BOR alas 
BY OGAS TN PTe eis cles sleie ldwestaletale aiaiute) Slate e Mlatelate eel acs Oo OG 


100.00. 


oll 


1. 
75.77. 
10.29. 

3.85. 
1.82, 
0.25. 
5 56. 
2.46. 


—— 


100.00 


23.338 


This Bunsen assumes to be the composition of the normal 
trachytic mass, which occupies one of the reservoirs of his theory. 
The second series of analyses comprised those of the following 


rocks: 


1. Trap rock from Esiaberg. 
. Trap from Vidoe. 


2 
3. Light fine grained basaltic rock from Hagafgéll on the right 


bank of the Thiorsa. 
4, Basaltie rock from Skardsfjall. 
. Lava from an old stream of Hecla. 


& 


6. Rock from the precipice of Almannagjé near the lake of 


Thingvalla. 


1. 2. 3. 4, 5. 
Silica... ccc eee.2- 50.05 47.48 49.17 47.69 49.37 


IAUMINA cle sNcesscitieed SatSu Louion 14:89) LIES OF 6X8 
Ferrous oxide........11.69 17.47 15.20 19.43 11.85 
MGC eierenel etevejaveres Seecel-66  V134° V6 ts Tote b 13.01 
Magnesia. ...ssscces 2 520)" ©6247 61827075) B35 1052 
SOMA se ceive serewicieeisseae 2.89 0.58 2.82 1.24 


OAS ccciecielersicisierere 0-50-45 0.60 gu 1 Oli. 0.48) 0.20 


me 


100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 


6. 
47.07, 
12.96. 
16.65. 
11.27. 

9.50. 

1.97. 

0.58. 


or 


100.00. 


312 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


The mean of these analyses is: 


Silica....... Hdo60ad60 aloteleverelereteherstels alersicleieie ee) AQ eAite 
AUN aie sieicis wleteie'a csere afeneroveteters vatooleverelisketercelevere 14.781 
METrOUSIORIGCseieleloic cieielerelelelers selalcteleitie cielotcleterciet MIE SOS 
MGI Clrevavclayctercleveteleererevelehe 300 alee clesieicisjelslclclere ITS bb Oo leone 
Magnesia...c.c.sscccece ansead eiscsteveletoteeheletenete 6.890 
Soda geiscc sejereie Biatoleiallcverevereisiciels aieteioteleteleisielatoners 1.957 
Olas iciieleicisieicicisisisicleiotererss.e Slelojelsjeicleisisicrsien\ LOsGoil: 
100.000 


This Bunsen assumes to be the composition of the normal 
pyroxenic mass, which fills the second supposed reservoir of igne- 
ous fluid material in the centre of the earth. He further argues 
that all volcanic rocks, that is to say rocks: belonging to the 
trachytic, basaltic or lava eruptive formations, may be regarded 
as mixtures of these two fluid materials, and shews that after 
merely determining how much silica they contain, it can be 
ascertained by sclamevton in what proportions these two materials 
from the different reservoirs are present. With regard to this 
theory Sartorius von Waltershausen remarks: “It is evident 
“that this average (that of the normal pyroxenic mass) can 
“just as little be regarded as the limit on the basic side, as the 
“so called normal trachytic average on the other. Nor is it 
“ apparent why the above-mentioned six analyses only were used 
“in computing the average, while others, such as lava from Thicrsa, 
“and trap rock from Esia were neglected.’”* 

Mr. Sterry Hunt, who as we shall see, rejects altogether the 
theory which derives the eruptive rocks from a portion of the 
primitive fused mass of the globe, and supposes them to consist 
of altered, fused, and displaced sediments, (Can. Naturalist, Dec. 
1859], remarks, with regard to Bunsen’s hypothesis, that the cal- 
culated results as deduced from the volcanic rocks of Hungary 
and Armenia, often differ considerably from those obtained by 
analysis ; a result which will follow, when as is often the case, dif- 
ferent triclinic feldspars replace each other in the pyroxenic rocks. 
He also shows that the composition of certain eruptive rocks, 
like phonolites, (which are highly basic, and yet contain but little 
lime, magnesia, or iron-oxide) is such that they cannot be derived 
from either of the magmas of Bunsen. 


_ * Ueber die vulcanische Gesteine in Sicilien und Island, und ihre 
submarine Umbildung ; Gottingen, 1853. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 313 


Naumann quietly remarks that the theory of the two separate 
reservoirs is surely not yet sufficiently proved, and characterises Von 
Waltershausen’s theory of theconstitution of the interior of the earth 
as more natural, and morein accordance with our knowledge re- 
garding the probable condition of the earth’s centre.* This theory, 
which the author first promulgated in the work from which we 
have just quoted, deserves to be better known. It is principally 
founded upon certain reasonings deducible from the density of 
the earth, and for this reason a recapitulation of what is known 
concerning this point may not be inappropriate here. 

In 1776 Hutton and Maskelyne determined the density of the 
earth from the attraction exerted on the plumb line by the mass of 
the mountain Schiehallion in Perthshire. Assuming the mean of 
specific gravities of the three principal rocks, of which it consists, 
viz., mica slate, limestones, and quartzite, to be the density of the 
whole mass, they calculated from their experiments the density of 
the earth to be 4.713. 

The density of the earth has also been determined from observa- 
tions on the oscillations of the pendulum on high mountains. In 
this way Carlini found from experiments on Mount Cenis the den= 
sity of the earth to be equal to 4.37, which value was however 
raised by Schmidt to 4.837, by correcting an error in Carlini’s 
calculations. 

. The most exact method however yet applied towards deter- 
mining the density of the earth is that by means of the torsion 
balance invented by the Rev. John Mitchell, and used after his 
death by Cavendish. In 1798 this philosopher communicated to 
the Royal Society the result of his experiments with this appara- 
tus. From seventeen sets of experiments he deduced twenty- 
three results, from the mean of which he computed the density of 
the earth to be equal to 5.48. Bailly, correcting an error in 
Cavendish’s calculation, makes it &.45. Schmidt, likewise, after a 
revision of Cavendish’s computations, alters the result of these to 
5.52. In 1837, Reich of Freiberg performed a series of experi- 
ments with the same apparatus, much improved in various par- 
ticulars. Fifty-seven experiments were made in all, from which 
fourteen results were deduced,the mean of which makes the density 
of the earth equal to 5.44. In 1848 Baily, at the request of the 
Astronomical Socicty,undertook to repeat Cavendish’s experiments. 


* Lehrbuch, ii, 1101. 


314 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROOKS. 


It was not however until 1841 that the apparatus was modified 
and improved to such an extent as to give the most satisfactory 
results. The experiments with the perfected apparatus were 
continued till May, 1842, when the result was arrived at that the 
mean density of the earth is 5.66. From this enumeration of all 
the experiments which have been made for the determination of 
the mean density ofthe earth, it will be evident that the result as 
given by Baily, is one of the most unequivocally established 
scientific facts. Not only is there (considering, the different times 
and circumstances when they were instituted) a surprising coinci- 
dence in the results obtained by the torsion balance, but these are 
confirmed in the mean by the results obtained from the less 
accurate methods first deseribed. 

If we compare the mean density of the earth, as found by Baily, 
with the specific gravities of a few well known minerals, we find’ 
that it equals the density of copper glance, and exceeds that of: 
magnetic iron ore, iron pyrites, variegated copper ore, and copper 
pyrites. If we moreover compare it with the specific gravities of 
these minerals or rocks which constitute the great bulk of the 
earth’s crust, we find it to possess twice as great a density. The 
inference is unavoidable that the centre of the earth is much more: 
dense than its crust, and is also possessed of a higher density than 
that of the earth’s whole mass. This conclusion has, nevertheless, 
been received by many with grave doubts. It has even been sup- 
pose! that the increased density at the earth’s centre is attribu-’ 
table to the increased density which the substances there existing 
acquire from the enormous pressure of the superincumbent mass. 
This explanation rests upon the groundless supposition that 
solids may be compressed to an indefinite extent. It further ne- 
glects the very essential circumstance that the attraction exercised 
on any material point in the interior. of the earth is only exerted 
by that part of the earth which lies within the spherical surface 
passing through the given point, and that the mass of the earth: 
outside of this surface exercises no attracting influence on it. 
Since therefore the weight of a body is determined by the sum of 
the attracting forces acting on it, it follows that the weight. of one 
and the same body must be less in the interior of the earth than 
on the surface** Moreover, it is very certain that an extraordi- 
narily high temperature exists in the interior of our planet, which 


* Naumann, Lehrbuch, i, 40. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. o1D 


must cause the bodies existing there to expand, and which must 
thus neutralise much of the compression exercised on these bodies 
by the masses lying above them. Finally, it seems that the com- 
pressing powers of the superincumbent masses have been somewhat 
over estimated. The crust of the earth must be regarded as a 
self-supporting arch, exercising a pressure only on the elastic fluids 
occurring in it, and not as resting or floating om the fluid interior. 
The latter has then only to bear the weight of the columns of lava 
which may exist in the interior of volcanoes, and which is certainly 
not inconsiderable. Frem these considerations it would seem per- 
fectly correct to suppose that what the crust of the earth wants in 
density as compared with the whole mass of the planet, must be 
made up by the centre. 

Naumann finds that assuming the average density of the earth’s 
crust to be 2°5, and the increase of density to take place accord- 
ing to arithmetical progression, the density of the centre would 
be 8:5, consequently considerably more than the specific gravity 
of iron, and almost equal to that of cobalt. A similar calcula- 
tion is the starting point for the theory already mentioned of 
Sartorius Von Waltershausen. He finds the mean of the specific 
gravities of orthoclase, albite, quartz, crystalline limestone and 
mica to be 2°66, and assumes this as an approximation to the 
mean density of the outer crust. Calculating, first, three fifths 
of the total volume of the earth to possess this specific gravity, 
he finally computes the density of the centre to be 9585. He 
moreover calculates the densities which exist at various depths 
beneath the earth’s surface. These depths, converted into English 
geographical miles, with their calculated densities are as follows :— 


Miles from surface. : Density. 
OWejeielet cielcteielclclelcteialsicfelcicisietsie esr anOO 
DAWeicioie sisisinlalels/eiarc) els nielelotalsteleiere 2:79 
GSteisic lore cleislererelelcreveleicials/sieicleieis's 2°93 
MO Sis etercve ws cteloleiciere sletere'ce Mo slseenocOuemulmes 
MN SyGiafatetol stele) <falelelshersts <!<V= efelalole¢ »» 3:20 Magnesia. 
Ns legerereseysisverwtolcteisls elefeleeloteisisieinored 
2,0 Giteleheleketsielareiate sialeiaieiciexeipse Goood eu 
DA Operetoieiarsyerctetore siiaveveferelehelevelenersisie 3°60 
DUA yatstel ch sve HO6OOD US 36 Bele 
DOOM eilowicrekevereverere ptelelelerelereleie aie eo eOLSO 
BABU siete wcvatetceveve cre cielciate sloeratheteet os OO eA UIMNIN 2: 
GB8Gh aie cicise wiclolcicie s winieis.e sieielalaieiaf DO ho! [ronsoxide: 


1029 wccoevevcccecesoeccecoeces 629 Tellurium, Chromium 


316 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


Miles from surface. Density. 
132 arcleye ate oc cerecescerceccesaes 209, Zinc, Iranantimony 
TT16 weccceccccnnssasseceesese. 1.80 Cobalt, Steel. 
UES) sdacidddiobosiosddoocdlaboads 8:47 Uranium, Nickel. 
DAW welateletelela) crofetehatetetenelerers) sie iciels 8°96 Copper. 
ZITAT. Pa la\cleicele lel clele wlelel slclsve « vials ee 931 


¢ 3088 eeoeeoveeeeveeeeetgoneeoeosase 9-51 
3432 nds escccecececcceccevines. 9°59, Bismuth, Silver. 


The theory maintained by Sartorius Von Waltershausen regard- 
ing the constitution of the earth’s interior, (in opposition to 
Bunser’s hypothesis of the two separate reservoirs of acid and 
basic molten rock,) is indicated by the above series of calculated 
densities. He supposes that from the interior of the earth’s 
crust to its centre a gradual increase of density takes place in the 
fluid mass, or that this fluid mass in its present condition, as in 
former ages, consists of a series of concentric layers of molten 
matter, which are the denser the nearer they approach to the 
earth’s centre. Instead therefore of regarding trachytic and 
basaltic lavas as the products of the two separate reservoirs, he 
considers them as the products of two different concentric layers, 
or as originating from two different levels in the fluid mass, the 
basaltic lava eccupying the lower layer or level, and the trachytie 
floating above it; the one, both as regards chemical composition 
and density, onaaiatine into the other. Von Waltershausen found 
the mean specific gravity of seven different Icelandic trachytes to 
be 2,524, while that of ten different basaltic lavas amounted to 
2,911. With the increase of specific gravity towards the centre, Von 
Waltershausen supposes also an increase in the basic constituents 
of the molten rock, a change from a purely feldspathic material, 
yielding trachytic rocks mainly composed of feldspar, to one 
much richer in lime, magnesia and “iron-oxide, and yielding 
dolerites consisting of feldspar, hornblende or augite, and in 
smaller quantity magnetic iron ore. He ‘farther supposes that 
beneath this doleritic material the quantity of iron-oxide, capable 
of producing the last named. mineral, goes on increasing, and that 
ultimately a point is reached: from: which to the centre metallic 
elements alone exist. In further reasoning as to the condition of 
this metallic centre, Von Waltershausen takes into consideration 
the influence of the superincumbent pressure upon the fusing 
point of the metals. The following is a translation of his remarks 
on this subject: “ For sometime past. Bunsen has devoted his at- 
“ tention to this subject, and described (in Poggendorff’s Annalen, 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 317 


“ yxxx1, 562) a series of experiments from which it appears 
‘“‘ that the temperature of the fusing point of various substances 
“increases with pressure. These experiments have it is true only 
’ © been made on two easily fusible organic substances, spermaceti 
“and paraffine. The melting point of the former is under a 
“ pressure of 100 atmospheres raised 2.1° Centigrade, while that 
“ of parafline is raised 3.6° Centigrade. It cannot be doubted that 
“a heavy pressure acts in a similar manner, although possibly not 
“ to such an appreciable extent, upon solidifying masses of silicates. 
“Tf the point of fusion of the latter, under a pressure of 100 atmos- 
“’pheres, only increased 1° Centigrade, this would still be sufficient 
“to explain many important points in geology, and especially in 
“the formation of crystalline rocks. Although the law of the 
“ dependance of the point of fusion upon pressure is far from 
“being known, the observations of Bunsen already mentioned 
‘‘ have incited me to enquire as to what pressure, on the basis of 
“the increase of density already mentioned, may be expected to 
“exist at any given point in the interior of the earth. If we 
“ imagine the whole globe to be in a fluid condition, the following 
“ pressures would be experienced at the respective depths men- 
“ tioned. 


Depths in miles. Pressure in atmospheres, 

Shee cseces Sisieleisieseleleloleisielelsieleleleieisisie 17138 

68 wee ceeseee vce cece sc cee 34591 

LOB elves sieveccvicevieucccscwcecie - 53070 

VSM « sein) steisielelecieiosfoctiisws cide ee sicesl OT2L96 

NTLe se fe\erejerencievsicjoreialisisielsh siefalsverelseaeices oalg 2 aoe 

ZOG wcvessccereveesesccesetasecese, LISISO 
LAD) c's sic sie \ciswieisies.e's ove) siciee cise cicesis) LO4600 
Maire see) staieieie cist sttipieiare cece cesensice 156840 


SUG te cawetcles se css clasine des sectrece GOO 
B43 oc cvcccescecescecsceccsccseees A0d320 
; GEG: siete syaie/ofafeleselb) beers sisi ele oie) oleae wioce op 40 L680 
TO2D o a0 vi cisieveis ecpeieiase/siem eishue sewistateistosy LGO0SO 
MST 2is etelelecsleletele,c.a cio eieieisloietpelsicr sists sje lk 20090) 


VAG Addbeoabsasac eevee ececeeesaces 1468000 
2059 ..ccee seaman svcsees ecco c ewan as 1701500 
2402 wee0 ere eeenaes Sodochhdsoundide 2297500 
3088 ...2cne ve weecenvacae pe cececens 2441900 
3432 coeccos Deeceevesssccace eceeeee 2492600 


“Tf it is the case that the fusing point of metals (of which un- 
“ doubtedly the greater part of our planel consists,) increases with 
“ increasing pressure, then the question arises as to whether under 


318 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS, 


*‘ such enormous pressures as those above calculated, even with 
“the high temperatures which we have to expect in the interior 
“a fluid condition is conceivable. The hypothesis of a sotid 
“ metallic nucleus in the interior of the earth has nothing con- 
‘‘ tradictory in it, and indeed the phenomena of terrestrial mag- 
“‘ netism would appear to confirm this view. It is not to be 
“ doubted that the so-called magnetic storms have their seat in 
“ the atmosphere, or perhaps over it, and that the diurnal and 
“secular variations of the magnetic elements are only to be 
“sought in the exterior solid or solidifying crust of the earth. 
“Tf the seat of the greater part of the terrestrial magnetic 
“ power is in the earth’s crust, then we must suppose such a dis- 
“ tribution of the magnetic fluid in it, as if on the average eight: 
‘“‘ hard steel bars weighing one pound each, magnetised to the 
“ highest power, were present in every cubic metre. According 
“ to geological observation, however, we can scarcely suppose the» 
“ seat of the magnetic power to rest in the earth’s crust, since it 
“does not seem to possess either a very great thickness, or a 
“ very intensive magnetism. According to an approximative cal- 
“ culation which my friewd W. Weber has made, a globe of the 
“ hardest steel, magnetised to the highest degree, and having a 
“ diameter of nearly 476 (English) geographical miles, situated 
“in the centre of the earth, would be able to produce the mag- 
“ netic phenomena which we observe on the earth’s surface. In 
“ reality however these suppositions are not reliable, since we can 
“ neither expect to find. hard steel nor a perfect magnetism in 
“the centre of the: earth. With less favorable circumstances 
“ than those above supposed, it would be necessary to assume the 
“existence of a much larger solid globe in the interior of the 
“earth in order to account for the magnetism, on its surface. 
“ The radius of this globe would possibly extend far beyond the 
“ point at which, according to the calculations already mentioned, 
“a density equal to that of metallic iron exists.””’ 

In whatever degree Von Waltershausen’s method of determin- 
ing the earth’s density at its centre, may be looked upon as 
uncertain, it is scarcely possible to. regard his theory of the 
gradual increase of density as. otherwise than. very reasonable. 
Indeed since it is certain that the centre of the earth is much more 
dense than the surface, it is scarcely possible to conceive how 
the increase can take place otherwise than gradually. More- 
over Laplace deduced a similar result from his investigations 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 319 


regarding the decrease of gravity from the pole to the equator, 
It appears however that Sartorius Von Waltershausen’s estimate 
of the average specific gravity of the constituents of the earth’s 
crust at its surface is too high, since it is well known that the 
land only occupies one-fourth of the earth’s surface, and that the 
sea has sometimes a depth of more than 27,600 feet. It may 
probably be assumed with some degree of reason that the average 
specific gravity of the first few thousand feet of the earth’s crust 
below the level of the sea, does not exceed 1.5. With regard to 
the metals constituting the earth’s centre, it will probably be 
admitted that they exist there somewhat in the same proportion 
as they occur on the surface, that consequently iron constitutes 
by far the greater portion of the central mass. This supposition 
seems confirmed by the fact that among the gaseous products 
emitted by volcanoes, chloride of iron is very abundant, while 
traces only of the chloride of lead and copper have been de- 
tected. Since further, meteoric iron may be supposed to come 
from bodies having a common origin with our earth, their com- 
position might be supposed to afford a clue, however slight, to the 
composition of the metallic centre of the earth. It would there- 
fore seem not unreasonable to suppose that this centre is mainly 
composed of metallic iron, combined with copper, cobalt, nickel, 
lead, and perhaps silver, gold and platinum in comparatively 
small quantity, and that its specific gravity may be estimated on 
account of this admixture of heavier metals at 8. 0 (Sp. gr. of 
malleable iron 7. 78; cast iron, 7.1 to 7.5.) If weassume 1.5 
as the aensity of the earth’s surface, and 8. 0 as that of its centre, 
we must also—since the average density of the earth is 5. 56— 
suppose the existence at the centre, of a globe of metallic matter 
having a radius of 2245 English geographical miles. Assum- 
ing further a gradual increase of density from the surface of the 
earth to the surface of this metallic globe, we may calculate that 
at a depth of 132 miles the density of trachytic Java is reached, 
(2. 5), and at 202 miles the density of doleritic lava is slightly 
exceeded (3.0). According to this calculation therefore the 
crust of the earth has a thickness of from 132 to 202 miles, 
a result somewhat exceeding Naumann’s estimate. Calculating 
in the same way we further find that from a depth of 202 miles 
to that of 352, molten rock would exist having a specific gravity of 
from 3. 0 to 4, 0, and containing much more basic matter and iron- 
oxide than any rock now visible on the surface. Ata depth of from 


820 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


352 to 518 miles, substances may exist having a density 
of from 4.0 to 5. 0; such as magnetic iron ore, ilmenite, copper, 
iron, and magnetic pyrites, variegated copper ore, sulphuret of 
antimony, and perhaps antimonio-sulphurets. From 518 to 705 
miles in depth, substances may be present having a specific gravity 
of from 5. 0 to 6. 0 such asiron pyrites, millerite, and copper glance. 
Deeper still, and until a depth of 923 miles, a density of from 
6. 0 to 7.0 may be supposed to exist, and consequently arsenio- 
sulphurets of iron, cobalt and nickel, such as arsenical pyrites and 
speiss-cobalt, cobalt glance, and tease pyrites to be present. 
Between this depth of 928 miles, and that of 1187 miles, where 
according to the calculation already mentioned, the surface of the 
metallic globe may be found, we may suppose a density of from 
7.0 to 8. 0 to exist, and more or less pure arseniurets, such as the 
purest speiss-cobalt, arseniurets of copper and nickel, &c, to be pres 
sent. It will be evident that in calculating the results above given, 
I have only been endeavouring to develope Von Waltershausen’s 
theory, and in some measure to correct bis results. I say correct 
them, because in one instance assuming the sp. gr. of the surface as 
2.66, he arrives at the result that the thickness of the earth’s crust 
does not exceed 67 English geographical miles. So far as regards 
the composition of the various concentric layers deduced from 
their specific gravities, 1 may remark that I have observed a 
similar succession to that above indicated, manifest itself in 
smelting cobalt ores. This operation is carried on at Modum in 
Norway, where on drawing the -metal from the furnace there are 
formed in the crucible receiving it, four differert layers of material, 
which from the surface downwards, are as follows, viz.: Slag, 
containing about 60 per cent. of lime and oxide of iron; 2nd, 
sulphurets of copper, iron and cobalt; 3rd, Arseniosulphurets of 
iron and cobalt, graduating into 4th, impure metallic iron, mal- 
leable and containing cobalt. The accompanying sketch shows 
part of a section of the earth, exhibiting the size of the central 
metallic globe, the thickness of the concentric layers, and of the 
solid crust according to the above calculations.. As to whether 
the metallic globe in the centre isin a solid state, there would 
appear to be good grounds for this supposition, because apart 
from the consideration that the solidifying point rises with the 
pressure, it is well known that in many smelting furnaces, me- 
tallic iron can accumulate in the bottom, while the slag maintains 
its fluidity and runs perfectly free from the furnace. Mr. Sterry 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 321 


fiunt inclines also to the supposition that the centre of the 
earth is solid, although he is of opinion that the fluid matter 
resting above it is altogether of sedimentary origin, and is in a 
state of igneo-aqueous fusion. He remarks “that beneath the 
outer crust of sediments, and surrounding the solid nucleus, we 
may suppose a zone of plastic sedimentary material adequate to 


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alley) 
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explain all the phenomena hitherto ascrived to a fluid nucleus.” 
(American Journal of Science for May, 1861.) If, further, iron 
when fused loses its magnetic power, and the phenomena of mag- 
nism on the surface of the earth can be explained on the supposi- 
tion that the metallic centre has assumed the solid form, then this 
supposition would appear to be very reasonable indeed. It would 
of course be impossible to assume that the metals have not only 
Can. Nar. 21 Vou, VIII. 


322 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


solidified but also cooled to such an extent as to be capable of 
being magnetised to the most powerful degree. On the contrary, 
we must suppose them to be still very considerably heated, and 
consequently to possess but feeble magnetic properties. Accord- 
ing to Humboldt, “all magnetism is certainly not lost until we 
<‘ arrive at a white heat, and it is manifested when iron is ata 
“ dark red heat.” ** The feeble magnetic power of the metallic 
globe would however be amply compensated for by its enormous 
size. 

The possibility of the existence of such a metallic centre 
having been once admitted, the field opened for further reasoning 
as to the influence which cosmical bodies may exert upon its 
position, and consequently upon that of the earth’s centre of 
gravity, is very wide indeed. That these changes may affect the 
phenomena of volcanic eruptions, I shall endeavour to shew in 
Part II. of this paper. In the meantime it may be remarked 
that there exists a decided connection between magnetic, and 
volcanic phenomena. In the year 1767, Bernouilli observed 
that during an earthquake the inclination decreased half a degree, 
and Father de la Torre remarked that during an eruption of 
Vesuvius the declination varied several degrees. On the 18th 
April, 1842, at ten minutes past nine, Kreil in Prague observed 
that the needle received a very sudden stroke, and the same 
oscillation in the same direction was observed at the same instant 
by Cella in Parma, and Lamont in Munich. Shortly afterwards 
it was ascertained that exactly at the same minute a violent earth- 
quake had been felt in Greece.t From the irregularities in the 
course of the magnetic curves, Lamont reyards it as in the high- 
est degree probable that the seat of terrestrial magnetism is to be 
sought in a compact nucleus which lies under the earth’s crusts 
Miiller is of opinion that the magnetic variations and oscillations 
can be most simply explained by considering terrestrial magnet- 
ism as dependent on electric currents which pass through the 
nucleus in ever varying direction and intensity. 

That the magnetic variations stand in connection with the 
movements of certain of the heavenly bodies is a well ascertained 
Aact. Sabine came to the conclusion that the disturbances belong 


* Humboldt’s Cosmos, English Edition, I, 183. 
} Miiller’s Kosmische Physik, p. 497. 
¥ Ibid, p. 498. 


EARTHS CLIMATE IN PALEOZOIC TIMES. L) Bpe 


“to a special kind of periodically recurring variations, which 
“follow recognizable laws, depend upon the position of the sun 
“in the ecliptic, and upon the daily rotation of the earth round 
“ its axis, and further ought no longer to be designated as irreg- 
“ ular, since we may distinguish in them, in addition to a special 
‘“local type, processes which affect the whole earth.”* The 
hypothesis of a metallic centre would seem to be capable of form- 
ing the connecting link between the magnetic and astronomical 
phenomena here referred to. The relation of the sun to the earth, 
and the revolution of the latter on its axis, would naturally effect 
a change in the position of the metallic globe in the centre of the 
earth, which change might alter the direction of the electric cur- 
rents through the earth’s crust, and these again the position of the 
needle. Thus it seems not at all unreasonable to adopt the theory 
of a metallic centre, since it alone is capable of affording a solution 
of many problems in geology, magnetism and astronomy, and 
since itis capable of uniting harmoniously and explaining the 
most varied natural pnenomena. 


Art. XXIII.—On the Earth’s Climate in Paleozoic Times ; by 
T. Srerry Hunt, M.A, F.RS. 


The late researches of Tyndall on the relation of gases and 
vapors to radiant heat are important in their bearing upon the 
temperature of the earth’s surface in former geological periods. 
He has shown that heat, from whatever source, passes through 
hydrogen, oxygen ani nitrogen gases, or through dry air, with 
nearly the same facility as through a vacuum. These gases are 
thus to radiant heat what rock-salt is among solids. Glass and 
some other solid substances, which are readily permeable to light 
and to solar heat, offer, as is well known, great obstacles to the 
passage of radiant heat from non-luminous bodies; and Tyndall 
has recently shown that many colorless vapors and gases have a 
similar effect, intercepting the heat from such sources, by which 
they become warmed, and in their turn radiate heat. Thus while 
for a vacuum the absorption of heat from a body at 212° F. is re- 
presented by 0, and that for dry air is 1, the absorption by an at- 
mosphere of carbonic acid gas equals 90, by marsh gas 403, by 


* Humboldts, Cosmos, v, 138. 


324 EARTH'S CLIMATE IN PALEOZOIC TIMES. 


olefiant gas 970, and by ammonia 1195. The diffusion of olefiant 
gas of one inch tension in a vacuum produces an absorption of 90, 
and the same amount of carbonic acid gas, an absorption of 5:6. 
The small quantities of ozone present in electrolytic oxygen were 
found to raise its absorptive power from 1 to 85, and even to 136; 
and the watery vapor present in the air at ordinary temperatures 
in like manner produces an absorption of heat represented by 70 
or 80. Air saturated with moisture at the ordinary temperature 
absorbs more than five hundredths of the heat radiated from a 
metallic vessel filled with boiling water, and Tyndall calculates 
that of the heat radiated from the earth’s surface warmed by the 
sun’s rays, one tenth is intercepted by the aqueous vapor within 
ten feet of the surface. Hence the powerful influence of moist 
air upon the climate of the globe. Like a covering of glass, it 
allows the sun’s rays to reach the earth, but prevents to a great 
extent the loss by radiation of the heat thus communicated. 
When however the supply of heat from the sun is interrupted 
during long nights, the radiation which goes on into space causes 
the precipitation of a great part of the watery vapor from the air, 
and the earth, thus deprived of this protecting shield, becomes 
more and more rapidly cooled. If now we could suppose 
the atmosphere to be mingled with some permanent gas, which 
should posses an absorptive power like that of the vapor of 
water, this cooling process would be in a great measure arrested, 
and an effect would be produced similar to that of a screen of 
glass; which keeps up the temperature beneath it, directly, by 
preventing the escape of radiant heat, and indirectly by hindering 
the condensation of the aqueous vapor in the air confined beneath. 
Now we have only to bear in mind that there are the best of 
reasons for believing that during the earlier geological periods, 
all of the carbon since deposited in the forms of limestone and of 
mineral coal existed in the atmosphere in the state of carbonic 
acid, and we see at once an agency which must have aided greatly 
to produce the elevated temperature that prevailed at the earth’s 
surface in former geological periods. Without doubt the great 
extent of sea, and the absence or rarity of high mountains, contri- 
buted much towards the mild climate of the carboniferous age, for 
example, when a vegetation as luxuriant as that now found in the 
tropics flourished within the frigid zones; but to these causes must 
be added the influence of the whole of the carbon which was after- 
wards condensed in the form of coal and carbonate of lime, and 


MISCELLANEOUS. 325 


which then existed in the condition of a transparent and perma- 
nent gas, mingled with the atmosphere, surrounding the earth, 
and protecting it like a dome of glass. To this effect of carbonic 
acid it is possible that other gases may have contributed. The 
ozone, which is mingled with the oxygen set free from growing 
plants, and the marsh gas, which is now evolved from decompos- 
ing vegetation under conditions similar to those then presented by 
the coal fields, may, by their great absorptive power, have very 
well aided to maintain at the earth’s surface that high temperature 
the cause of which has been one of the enigmas of geology. 
Montreal, August 1st, 1863. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


THE CONFUSED MONOHAMMUs ! 
To the Editor of the Canadian Naturalist. 


The longicorn described by me (Canadian Journal, 1st series, vol. 
iii, p. 212) as Monohammus titillator, Fab., was determined by 
Mr. Ibbetson and myself from the best American Entomological 
authority that could be obtained at the time. 

Mr. Billings states (Canadian Naturalist, vol. vii. p. 431), that 
“ M.confusor is the largest insect.” I disagree with him, because the 
longicorn family, and this genus especially, has its species of max- 
imum and minimum lengths and breadths, a fact that cannot be 
overlooked by a person collecting anumber of each species. He 
further says: ‘ As neither Mr. Ibbetson nor myself mention Jf. 
confusor, and as the original specimen on which the species M. 
titillator was founded is an insect from the Southern States, it may 
be that they have applied the name to our most common and 
largest species.” 

Fabricius may have procured his specimen from the South, 
probably from the southern limit of pines; but since his time Ame- 
rican Entomological authority formed a boundary, north of which 
our insect provinces are formed into zones; through these we may 
follow the species to the extreme north. Insects therefore, taken 
north of Mexico are considered as belonging to the northern fauna ; 
indeed, many forms mentioned by Linnzus and Fabricius as 
having a southern habitat, are found commonly in the north. 
What then is to prevent the appearance of M. titillator in Western 


326 MISCELLANEOUS. 


Canada when it occurs in NewYork and Pernsylvania? The former 
place is in closer proximity to the land of pines and the climate 
congenial to its propagation. 

In a letter to the Editor of the “ Canadian Naturalist” 
(quoted below), “ H. C.”, confirms this idea of Mr. Billings, and 
at the same time states that the drawing of Monohammus 
titillator in Olivier’s work (an excellent authority) agrees very 
well with these specimens. 

Is M. titillator a species, and what difference is there between 
it and WZ. confusor? “ H. C.” remarks that “in arecent edition of 
Harris’ work the name is still employed”, therefore doubting its 
specific existence. The principal coleopterists of the United States 
consider it a species. (See Proceed. Ento. Soc. Philad. p. 98), 
and I quote the following from the Patent Office Report: Agricul- 
ture— Washington U. §., 1861, p. 613. by S. S. Rathoon: “ One 
of the largest species of Capricorn beetles belonging to this group 
is the Monohammus titillator, or “ tickling beetle.” This insect is 
from three quarters to an inch and a quarter in length, and 
the antenne of some uf the males are considerably more 
than twice the length of the body, bristle-shaped, and tapering 
gradually to the end. The head is vertical in these insects, carried 
very much like the head of a gnat; the eyes are oval and located 
immediately beneath the base of the antenne ; the thorax is round in 
front and behind, but the middle projects out on each side ina 
sort of wart or rough tooth. The anterior legs are rather the longest, 
and the tarsal joints much dilated. The colour of the whole insect 
is a brown mottled with specks of gray or white. On the upper 
edge of the middle legs is a small obtuse tooth, but in some indi- 
viduals this is hardly visible. This insect emerges from the pupa 
state during the months of June and July. Mr. P. Uhler, of Bal- 
timore writes to Mr. Rathoon: “TI guess you are right in supposing 
the larva of Monohammus titillator (Harris), to be brought down 
the Susquehanna in pine logs. It is found in pines in NewYork, 
from whence the river flows. The larvais a large white flesh-like 
grub, nearly cylindrical, without feet, numerous fine hairs of a fox 
colour, with fourteen segments, the second being larger, flat- 
tened, horny, inclined obliquely downward and forward; the next 
ones very short, and all the following except the last one with a 
transverse oval rough space above and beneath. The pupa state 
is passed in the interior of wood, into which the larva bores a 
cylindrical hole transversely, and which, when the perfect insect 


MISCELLANEOUS. 327 


gnaws its way out, is nearly large enough to admit the little 
finger. It appears abundantly in some parts of New-York state 
in July, sometimes doing extensive damage to the pine trees. ”* 

Mr. Billings notices “in the collection of McGill College three 
specimens from Toronto of the size of the smaller individuals of 
M. confusor, which have a light reddish tinge different from the 
usual colour of that species.” If the specimens alluded to are in 
the “Couper Collection” of that institution, the cases containing 
the insects are covered with glass; and the specimens having been 
exposed for several years to the light, it is no wonder that they 
have a tinge different from the usual color. 

“ H. C.” says :—“ The description agrees very closely with the 
reddish brown specimens mentioned by Mr. Billings as having 
been obtained from Toronto, where from my own observations 
they seem to be much more common than those of a cinereous 
tint.” 

Which description does “ H. C.” allude to—that of I, titilla- 
tor or M. confusor? If my memory serves me,—for I have 
neither my description nor a specimen of the insect, the longi- 
corn pointed out by Mr. Ibbetson and myself as titillator, was a 
large brown or cinereous beetle, with its elytra mottled by tufts of 
erect short hairs of a blackish grey colour. I cannot say that the 
collection which I sold to McGill College contained a specie 
men of M. titillator, but I am positive that Mr. Ibbetson, an ex- 
cellent coleopterist, identified the form prior to his removal from 
Toronto to Montreal. 


Wa. Couper, 
Quebec, L. C. 


To the Editor of the Canadian Naturalist. 


In the December number of the Canadian Naturalist, Mr. 
Billings has described some of the pine-boring beetles of Canada, 
of the genus Monohammus, and mentions that the IL. titillator 
is cited by Mr. Couper and Mr. Ibbetson as occurring at Toronto, 
but is of opinion that the insect described is the IL confusor. 

I can confirm this idea of Mr. Billings, as the insects in my 
own collection and in that of Mr. Ibbetson were named on refer- 


“ Mr. Rathoon’s fig. of M. titillator (Pat. Office Rep.—Agricul. 1861) 
has 13 antennal joints. 


328 MISCELLANEOUS. 


ence to Harris’ work. The description agrees very closely with 
the reddish brown specimens mentioned by Mr: Billings as having 
been obtained from Toronto, where from my own observations 
they seem to be much more common than those of a cinereous- 
tint. 

Moreover the drawing of Monohammus titillator in Olivier’s 
work agrees very well with these specimens. Those in my col- 
lection are mostly of the same size as the WM. confusor and gener- 
ally a little more robust, but are probably only a variety. The 
M. scutillatus is moderately common about Toronto, but the 
M. marmoratus quite rare; the latter easily distinguished by its 
smaller size, its rugosely punctured thorax, and the elytra mottled 
with brown and grey. 

In my collection there is also a crippled specimen very like 
MM. scutillatus but the elytra are covered with large white spots, 
in this respect resembling Leconte’s M. fatuor, which however is 
now referred to M. marmoratus. 

In the recent edition of Harris’ work the name ¢é¢illator is still 
employed. H. C. 


“‘ Notice of a new Species of Dendrerpeton, and of the Dermal 
Coverings of certain Carboniferous Reptiles.” By J. W. Dawson, 
LL.D., F.RS., F.G.S. 


This paper referred to new facts ascertained in the course of re- 
examination of the remains of Reptiles from the Coal-formation 
of Nova-Scotia, and first to the characters of a new and smaller 
species of Dendrerpeton, for which Dr. Dawson proposed the name 
of D. Oweni. The author then described the remains of skin and 
horny scales which he had lately discovered, and which he suppo- 
sed to belong to Dendrerpeton Owent, Hylonomus Wymani, and 
H. Lyellt. He also gave restorations of these animals, according 
to what he regarded as the more probable arrangement of the 
parts; and, after expressing his belief that Hylonomus may have 
Lacertian affinities, he stated that should they prove to be really 
Batrachian, a new Order must be created for their reception, many 
of the characters of which would coincide with those of the hum- 
bler tribes of Lizards.—Journal of Geo. Society. 


THE 


CANADIAN 


NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Vou. VIII. OCTOBER, 1863. No. 5. 


Art. XXIV—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks ; 
by Tuomas Macrarutans. Part 1, 


(Presented to the Natural History Society.) 


Il. THe ERUPTIVE FORMATIONS. 


In referring to these formations, it will be impossible altogether 
to avoid mentioning many matters, which are very generally 
known regarding them. Still the connection of eruptive rocks on 
the one hand with the constitution of the interior of the earth as 
adverted toin the last chapter, and on the other hand with certain 
slaty modifications of themselves, will be kept in view as much as 
possible. The rocks of these eruptive formations possess, as is 
well known, characters which distinguish them sharply from rocks 
of sedimentary origin. While the latter have been made up of 
the debris of rocks pre-existing on the earth’s surface, the eruptive 
formations have derived their material from beneath the earth’s 
crust. Hence they have been respectively termed by Humboldt 
exogenous and endogenous rocks. The eruptive rocks are more 
or less crystalline, generally but not always unstratified. The sedi- 
mentary rocks possess opposite. characters. Each eruptive rock 
is in a high degree homogeneous and shows nearly the same char- 
acters and composition throughout its whole mass. This is much 
less the case with sedimentary rocks. ‘The eruptive rocks occur 
in very irregular forms, as enormous irregular masses, (typhonische 
stécke) covers or caps (Kuppen or Decken), veins, streams and 

Can. Nar. 22 Vou. VIII. 


330 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


layers. Sedimentary rocks occur only in the latter form. Erup- 
tive rocks are totally destitute of fossils and their ages are deter- 
mined by the relations of contact, which exist between them and 
sedimentary rocks. Fossils constantly occur in the latter, and con- 
stitute the principal means of determining their age. Eruptive 
rocks resemble in the mode of their formation the slags, which 
run out of smelting furnaces ; sedimentary rocks the slimes depes- 
ited in stampworks and allowed to consolidate. 

The eruptive formations have been arranged in the order of 
their antiquity by Naumann as follows : 


1. The granulite formation. 
2. The granite do. 
3. The syenite do. 
4, The greenstone do. 
5. The porphyry do. 
6. The melaphyr do. 
7. The trachyte do. 
8. The basaltic do. 
9. The lava do. 


This arrangement is however general and approximative. Noé 
only do the rocks of these formations in their lithological charae- 
ter graduate into each other, but the latter part of one formation 
may have been erupted simultaneously with the earlier rocks of 
the succeeding one. Thus trachytes and basalts are almost of 
contemporaneous origin, and porphyries have been protruded 
through the earth’s crust in the same periods as certain greenstones 
and melaphyrs. I shall therefore class several of these formations 
together and refer to them in the following order: 

1. Trachyte, Basalt, and Lava. The volcanic formations of 
Naumann. 


2, Phorphyry, greenstone and melaphyr, } The plutonic forma- 
3. Granite, syenite, and granulite, tions of Nanmann. 

Trachyte, Basalt, and Lava. J have already adverted to the 
distribution of volcanoes as constituting a proof of the existence 
of a molten zone betwixt the central metallic globe and the crust 
of the earth. Ido not deem it necessary to enlarge much upon 
this pointe As Naumann remarks: ‘“ Volcanoes exist in every 
part of the earth, under every latitude, under the equator and near 
to the poles, in the torrid as well as in the temperate and frigid 
zones. ‘They are confined to no climate, because in Iceland, 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 331 


Kamschatka and the Aleutian Island, between a latitude of 50° 
and 66° they exist as numerously as in the Sunda isles, Galapa- 
gos and in Quito between 0° and 10° lat. But we find them 
especially frequent on the coasts of continents or rising out of the 
depth of the vcean, proving that there the conditions are. especi- 
ally present which are necessary to their development and activity. 
From all this we may conclude that the material cause of Vulcan- 
ism is present everywhere beneath the earth’s crust, although it 
may only have been able to break out along certain lines and at 
certain points.’ By means of voleanoes and the subterranean 
canals connected with them, a communication is established be- 
tween the molten zone beneath the earth’s crust and the atmos- 
phere. This communication is liable to be interrupted by vari- 
ous circumstances, and when this is permanently the case the 
volcano is extinct. But even the active voleanoes are far from 
being continually in a condition of violent eruption, their usual 
activity is rather of a very temperate character, and F. Hoffmann 
very correctly remarks that the energetic eruptions are more the 
exception than therule. Volcanoes in a state of rest exhale steam 
and other gases and it is even the case, that a quiet effusion of 
lava can take place unaccompanied by any extraordinary phe- 
nomena. Generally however the ascent of the lava in the canal 
and crater of the volcano is the immediate cause of all the sublime 
effects and terrible devastations, which accompany and follow vol- 
eanic eruptions. It isstilla matter of doubt among philosophers 
as to what is the real cause of the ascent of the lava from its home 
in the depths of the earth. The oldest hypothesis is that’ which 
attributes the force, which expels the lava to highly compressed 
steam, resulting from the access of water, and especially of sea 
water, to the regions filled with igneous fluid beneath the earth’s 
erust. In later times this view has been adopted by very many 
philosophers such as Gay Lussac, Von Buch, Angelot, Bischof, and 
Petzholdt. On the other hand, Humboldt does not at all regard 
the problem as completely solved,* and Naumann does not consid- 
er it probable that the expansive force of the steam derived from 
sea-water is the cause of the ascent of the lava, although he con- 
siders it as quite certain, that sea and other water obtains access 
through the eruptive canals of volcanoes to very great depths, 
and on the ascent of the lava plays a very important part in the 
phenomena of volcanic eruptions. Naumann’s view so far as re- 


* Cosmus I, 243. 


302 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


gards the part played by water seems very reasonable. We can 
readily conceive that it would be difficult for water, even under 
considerable pressure, to obtain access by means of fissures or 
otherwise through the solid crust of the earth tothe smelted mass 
beneath. As previously remarked, it would be impossible for it te 
penetrate the highly heated rocks constituting the inner part of 
the earth’s crust. But it would seem very possible, especially in 
those voleanoes situated on the coasts of continents, fer water to 
obtain access to great depths im the craters and subterranean 
canals. As to the cause of the rise of lava in these, Naumann 
propounds the followmg theory : 

“The solidified crust encloses the fluid interior of our planet, 
and at their junction the same solidifying process, by which the 
crust of the earth was formed, must still be going on. Because 
however imperceptible the radiation of the internal heatmay now 
be, it still contimually takes place although in a lesser degree; and 
;t cannot be doubted that on the imner side of the earth’s crust fluid 
matter is continually assuming theselid form. It is indeed the case 
that the greatest number of fluid bodies experience a diminution of 
their volume, and only a few of them, such as water and bismuth, 
expand, while solidifying, but we must reflect that the relations as 
to density of the bodies existing in the great depths of the earth 
where vulcanism has its seat, must be essentially different from 
those, which they possess on the surface, where we can experiment 
with them. The pressure of the superincumbent masses must com- 
press the materials existing at these depths. But fluid bodies are 
gifted with a much greater degree of compressibility than solid bo- 
dies, and therefore it can easily happen, that the most and per- 
haps all fused material which solidifies on the inside of the earth’s 
crust experiences in this solidification an increase in its volume. 
The unavoidable consequence of this can be no other than that 
during this slowly progressing solidification a diminution of the 
capacity of the earth’s crust takes place, that consequently the 
the space enclosed by it and filled with fused material is contrac- 
ted. The next consequence will be, that a part of the fluid ma- 
terial will be pressed up sometimes through one and sometimes 
through another volcanic canal, until the weight of the column of 
lava equalizes the pressure in the interior. In this way the first 
conditions are given by means of which volcanic eruptions become 
possible.”* The objections to this theory lie in the following 


* Lehrbuch [. 289. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 333 


considerations. The difference in the compressibility of fluid and 
solid bodies does not seem to be very considerable. Water is 
but slightly compressible. According to Oerstedt, the compres- 
sion produced by a pressure of 2000 atmospheres amounts ouly to 
1-12th.,* and one would suppose that fluid lava would be even less 
compressible than water. The decrease of compressibility which 
may accompany solidification would therefore seem inadequate to 
the production of such stupenduous effects as are observable dur- 
ing volcanic eruptions. Further, if this were the cause of the 
ejection of the lava, the latter would be poured forth only by vol- 
eanoes of inconsiderable height, but by these simultaneously. It 
ejection would also keep pace with the very slow and graduaj] 
solidification in the interior, and violent volcanic paroxysms would 
not occur. 

Sartorius Yon Waltershausen likewise assumes, that expansion 
takes place, but he does not attribute it to the mere difference in 
the compressibility of the igneous material befere and after soli- 
dification. He supposes that the expansion takes place in the act 
of crystallization i, e. while the various minerals form and separate 
themselves frem the fluid magma.+ Ee fails however to adduce 
any conclusive evidence in support of this supposition, which it 
might be possible to sustain, in the event of its being possible to 
show that melted rock rapidly cooled te a fine grained crystalline 
mass, had a lesser specific gravity than che same slewly cooled 
and distinctly crystallized. He indeed shows that the specific 
gravities of the minerais which result in the cocling of igneous 
rocks, are invariably less than those which result in calculating 
their specific gravities from the quantities and densities of their 
constituents; as the following instances show :— 


Substance. Density. 
by experiment. from calculation. 

1. Anorthite from Selsfjall 27 3.225 
2. Labradorite frem Egersund 2.705 3.212 
3. Orthoclase from Baveno 2.555 2.935 
4. Augite from Monte Rosso 2.886 3.208 
5. Hornblende from Aitna 2.893 3.447 
6. English crownglass 2.487 2.721 
7. Guinands Flintglass 3.77 5.64 

8. Bohemian glass — 2.396 2.735 


* Gmelin, Hand-book of Chemistry, If. 62. 
{ Uber die vulcanishen Gesteine, etc., p. 333. 


334 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


But this does not prove that a fused silicate, the constituents of 
which are already in chemical combination with each other, ex- 
periences a dimunition of density or increase of volume in cool- 
ing and crystallizing. The only instance of the cooling of 
a fused silicate, which has been made the subject of observation 
so far as regards density is the formation of Reaumur’s porcelain 
from glass, but this goes rather to prove the opposite of Von Walter- 
shausen’s theory. Many kinds of glass, after exposure for several 
hours to a-heat at which they become soft, pass into a condition 
resembling porcelain, become opaque, doubtless from the separa- 
tion of fine particles, whose composition differs from the mass. 
The resulting “ Reaamur’s porcelain ” isspecifically heavier than 
the glass from which it is prepared. Moreover, this substance 
when again fused and rapidly cooled yieldsan enamel the specific 
gravity of which is tothat of tne substance before fusion as 2,625 
is to 2,801. From thisit would appear that instead of an increase 
a diminution of volume takes places in the slow cooling or erys- 
tallization of fused silicates. 

If we reject both the hypotheses just mentioned, the only expla- 
nation left, whereby the ascent of the lava column may be account- 
ed for is that which is regarded as the cause of the more wide- 
spread earthquakes, viz. the fluctuations of the surface of the fluid 
interior of the earth.| While those earthquakes which occur 
simultaneously with volcanic eruptions and in volcanic districts 
may be considered as a consequence of the lava rising in the 
volcano, the same can scarcely be said of those earthquakes which 
occur in the midst of continents far distant from any volcanic 
region. According to Naumann, the most probable cause of these 
“plutonic” earthquakes is “a fluctuation of the surface of the 
“fluid kernel of the earth commencing from a line or a point, 
“ and progressing according to the laws of the motion of waves.” 
The cause of such fluctuations he leaves undecided, but in com- 
menting upon von Hoff’s, Merian’s and Perrey’s investigations as to 
the greater frequency of earthquakes in certain seasons of the year 
he propounds 2 question, the consideration of which would seem to 
yield the most important results. The investigations referred to 
established the fact that in the northern hemesphers in winter earth- 
quakes are of greater freueney than during any other seasons. Yon 
Hoff found that of the 115 earthquakes which, during the 10 years, 


R * Gmelin III, 385. 
'¢ Naumann: Lehrbuch, I, 291. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 330 


from 1821 to 1830, had been experienced in that part of Europe 
lying north of the Alps, 21 had occurred in summer, 34 in 
autumn, 43 in winter, and 17 in spring. In the same way Merian 
arranged all the earthquakes, which had been ebserved in Basle 
up to the end of 1836, with the following results: 

Summer 18. 

Autumn 39. 

Winter 41. 

Spring 22. 

The most important statistics of this character have however 
been furnished by Perrey of Dijon, who seems to have given special 
consideration to this subject. He has classified, according to the 
seasons of the year, 2,979 earthquakes, which have taken place in 
Hurope and the immediately adjoining parts of Africa and Asia 
from the year 306 to the year 1844, and found: 

653 to have taken place in summer 


705 ee autumn 
911 ce winter 
710 < spring 


The maximum falls in the coidest and the minimum in the 
warmest season of the year, while in spring and autumn the num- 
bers are almost equal. Naumann considers that these observations 
almost conclusively prove that “at least in Europe and the coun- 
“tries immediately bordering on it, autumn and winter must 
“be regarded as the seasons, in which earthquakes most frequent- 
“ly occur.” He adds that it is difficult to find a satisfactory expla- 
nation of this fact, that the cause ought perhaps to be sought for 
more in eosmical than in meteorological relations, and finally asks 
“ May not the position of the earth in the winter, ie. in the perthe- 
Yion exercise an influence ?”** This question he leaves unanswered 
contenting himseif with declaring that the mere difference of tem- 
perature in the seasons of the year can not explain the matter- 
If, as is supposed in the first part of this paper, there exists in the 
interior of the crust a central metailic globe surrounded by a fluid 
zone, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the former may be influ- 
enced by the heavenly bodies, that it is attracted by the sun and 
moon and that the attraction exerted is the more powerful the nearer 
these bodies approach the earth. Since the sun is nearest 
to the earth in the winter, there would appear to be grounds 
for attributing earthquakes partly to the attraction exercised 


* Lehrbuch, I, 213. 


336 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


by the sun upon the fluid interior, and the consequent pres- 
sure excercised by the latter on the earth’s crust. It moreover 
appears from investigations made by Perrey subsequent to those 
above mentioned, that the moon also exercises an influence.* 

Quenstedt} thus refers to the latter investigations: ‘“ A. Perrey 
“has found from 7000 observations during the first half of the 
“present century that earthquakes are much more frequent in the 
“conjunction and opposition of the moon than at other times; 
“more frequent, when the moon is near the earth than when it is 
‘‘ distant, more frequent in the hour of its passage through the 
‘meridian than at any other. From this it would appear, that 
“the moon is not without influence; that it occasions tides in the 
“central lava in the same manner as in the ocean, which tides 
“ press against the earth’s erust and seek an outlet.” The latter 
part of this quotation seems to contain the explanation least liable 
to objection, ef the rise of the lava in volcanoes. Not only may 
plutonic and volcanic earthquakes be attributed to this cause, but 
voleanie eruptions also, and with equal justice. If we adopt this 
explanation it is easier to comprehend why the lava should press 
forth at one in preference to another volcano, or burst open the 
obstructed canals of extinct voleances rather than seek an outlet 
through the vents already existing in the earth’s crust. 

Having thus discussed the various explanations of the cause of 
the rise of the lava in volcanic canals, the phenomena which attend 
volcanic eruptions may next be adverted to, with the view of 
ascertaining the origin of eertain velcanic products. The lava 
gradually ascending from the depths of the earth, comes in the 
upper part of the canal and in the crater into contact and conflict 
with the water, which has found its way down from the surface, 
and which may have collected in subterranean reservoirs, or merely 
saturated the side walls of the vent. The water is by the heat 
of the lava resolved into steam, which then forces its way through 
the fluid to the surface, when the bubbles containing it explode. 
A similar phenomenon may be observed on a small seale at blast 
furnaces, when the slag runs out of the breast and over a place 
upon which water had been previously thrown. The slag boils up 
until it cools, and becomes too stiff to allow of the passage of the 
steam. This production and escape of steam in the eraters of 
voleanoes takes place with a violence and intensity of which few 


* Bronns Jahrbuch, 1855, 72 
} Epochen der Natur, p. 812. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 337 


but eye witnesses can form any idea. Sartorius Von Waltershau. 
sen thus describes a volcanic eruption principally in relation to the 
various products formed by it: “ During an eruption the melted 
“matter ascends from the deeper lying regions of the earth into 
“the voleano where it serves both for the formation of volcanic 
ash and of lava. Steam prodigiously compressed tries, where it 
“can, to break through the column of lava to the atmosphere. 
“This escape of steam is the principal cause of that subterranean 
“noise known as volcanic thunder. A continual struggle takes 
“lace between the elastic fluid, the fused mass and the solid 
“walls of the volcanic canal, which struggle lasts so long as the 
“development of steam in the latter continues. During this 
“violent ascent of the enormous steam bubbles, which burst on 
“reaching the surface of the lava reservoir, pieces of lava already 
“eooled or still fluid are violently torn off from the latter and 
“thrown high up in the air out of the crater. When the eruption 
“is at its height, millions of these pieces, mostly red hot, from the 
“size of mere miscroscopic particles to those with a diameter of 
“one or more yards, fill the air above the crater, rising in myriads 
“with each explosion, and falling again in perpetually changing 
“motion. When the intervals between each explosion are short, 
“as is the case with all violent eruptions, it frequently happexs, 
“that during a lapse of about 20 seconds, which time the glowing 
“stones frequently take to complete their passage through the air, 
“ six to ten new explosions take place. It is evident that an uninter- 
“rupted volley and shower of stones mixed with the dense smoke of 
“finer particles will thus be sustained, and this it is, which, partly 
“ slowing itself, and partly lighted up by the glow of the melted lava, 
“in the crater, resembles a permanent flame. The fragments of 
“lava thus thrown out of the crater differ from each other in size, 
“im external form, (which is frequently determined by the tempe- 
“yrature at which they were formed,) and in chemical composition. 
“Blocks have been observed measuring 4 to 5 metres each way, 
“smaller ones about the size of a cubic yard occur frequently, 
“while from this size there are innumerable gradations down to 
“the finest dust. During an eruption, gravitation and the force 
“of the wind effect a separation of the fragments according to their 
“sizes. The largest of them fall back into or close around the 
“crater, the small pieces are thrown further, while the finer par- 
“ticles are borne off by the wind and gradually deposited from it, 
“the coarser particles first, and ultimately the finest dust, which is 


338 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


“often carried off several leagues from the voleano, This fine 
“ dust is termed volcanic ash, and furnishes the principal material 
“for the formation of the layers of tuff which are so abundant in 
“volcanic districts. The fragments of lava possess at the moment 
“of their ejection from the erater very different temperatures. 
“Some of them, especially at the commencement of the eruption, 
“are scarcely warm, and possess the dark colour of scorize ; others 
“in greater quantity are red and white hot—the latter remain for 
‘‘a short time fluid and perfectly plastic, form themselves into 
“rotating ellipsoids, or adopt some times abnormal long drawn 
‘*forms. These latter singular pieces have been termed volcanic 
“bombs. Decreasing in size, and becoming mixed with small 
‘angular fragments, they graduate into what has been called by 
“the Italians, Lapilli, or volcanic sand.” * 

When the eruption has reached its climax, and the whole of 
the crater toa certain level has become filled with lava, the latter — 
breaks out from beneath the dark crust that generally overlies it, 
at the lowest point of the bank of the crater, and rolls down the sides 
of the volcano, forming what appears as a stream of fire by night, 
and a thick viscid stream of slag by day. The lava leaves the 
erater red hot and as fluid as melted metal, but shortly afterwards 
the stream cools and becomes solid on the surface, while it remains 
for a long time fluid in the inside, the heat there hidden showing 
itself here and there through the cracks in the solidified crust. 
As the stream rolis on, these cracks close up, while others form at 
other places. ‘“ The whole surface isin continual motion; at 
“ one point large bubbles are observed swelling up, which finally 
“burst and leave their rugged sides behind standing erect in 
“ the most curious forms; at another point cakes of slag in the 
“ most varied positions are carried along ploughing furrows as 
“ they go, or tearing half fluid lava with them and drawing it out 
“ and winding it round in curious rope like forms (the so called rope 
“Java). Atsome points the surface folds itself into deep cylin- 
“ drical canals, which run on beside each other and parallel with 
“ thedirection of the stream; and at others, crossfolds and depres- 
“ sions are formed. Thus these lava streams present, in that part of 
“ their course where this struggle between their fluid interior and 
“ the solidified crust has taken place, an extraordinarily wild and 
“ rugged appearance.” + 


“ Die vulcanishe Gesteine in Sicilien nnd Island, p. 155. 
{ Naumann, Lehrbuch, I, 161. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 339 


According asa fused silicate cools more or less slowly, the 
structure of the resulting rock becomes more or less crystalline, 
No lava shows on its suface distinct mineralogical characters. 
Although traces of felspar or augite crystals make their appear- 
ance sometimes, they are nevertheless rendered unrecognizable 
by pieces of slag, the cavernous structure of the rock, atmospheric 
influences, etc. The non-crystalline character of the lava crust is 
of course attributable to its having been rapidly cooled. The great 
stream of 1669 from Etna, which is often 60 feet thick is at several 
places in the neighbourhood of Catania intersected by quarries, in 
which the structure of its various parts may be studied. It is 
only at the depth of several feet, that the lava begins to be com- 
pact and homogeneous. It here consists of a light gray felspa- 
thic mass in which crystals of black angite and grains of green ol- 
ivine are disseminated.* Many trachytic lavas of recent produc- 
tion possess distinctly crystalline characters containing in the 
compact mass crystals or grains of glassy felspar (sanidine). 

From this sketch of various volcanic processes it would appear, 
that there are being formed at the present day rocks entirely an- 
alogous to the basalts and trachytes, which have protruded them- 
selves almost uninterruptedly through the earth’s crust since the 
commencement of the tertiary period. We observe them solidify- 
ing from a condition as undoubtedly igneous as that of the slags 
which flow from our furnaces, and we observe them generally as- 
suming the form of streams radiating from volcanic craters or as 
layers on the more horizontal ground around these, which latter 
form of deposition forcibly reminds the observer of the basaltic lay- 
ers of much earlier date and non-voleanic origin. Lava is not so 
frequently observed in the form of veins as are the earlier trac- 
_ hytes, nevertheless it is sometimes observed in this form on the 
sides of craters. The earlier eruptions of trachytic and basaltic 
rocks seem to have taken place through fissures in the earth’s 
crust. somewhat in the same manner as the older eruptive rocks. 
The masses thus erupted assumed the form of isolated dome shap- 
ed hills or wide extended coverings or even of whole stratified sys- 
tems. In later periods we find these rocks gradually associating 
themselves with voleanic openings and occurring in the form of 
Java streams, many of which are even traceable to the craters, 
which emitted them. Fissures seem to have become more diffi- 
cult of formation in the crust of the earth and in their place those 


* Sart. Von Waltershausen: Gesteine in Sicilien und Island, p. 100. 


340 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


canals of eruption seem to have been developed, which terminate 
on the surface ofthe earth in the craters of volcanoes. The tran- 
sition from the earlier massive forms of deposition to the present pe- 
culiar volcanic type is so gradual and evident, that it is impossible to 
ascribe the former to any other cause than that from which the latter 
has been derived. Moreover it is impossible to discover any 
lithological difference between the trachytes of many lava streams 
and other rocks of the same class, which occur constituting whole 
mountain masses. 

It is further a very remarkable circumstance connected with 
basaltic intrusions that they have exerted upon the neighbouring 
strata effects which could only have been produced by great heat. 
These effects, such as the re-crystallization of limestone, the car- 
bonizing of coal, etc., are too well known to require particularisa- 
tion. Another fact which speaks for the igneous origin of basalts 
. is the following :—In many basaltic veins their sides or selvages 
are composed of a crust of glass or slag, which gradually alters 
towards the centre of the vein into the granular rock. This 
circumstance is entirely analogous to that observed in many slags, 
These are often quite vitreous on the surface where they have 
cooled quickly, while beneath they assume a granular and even 
erystalline texture. 

In the first part of this paper I have referred to the chemical 
composition of certain rocks of the trachytic and basaltic groups. 
The analyses there given were however of the extremely siliceous 
trachytes and basic basalts. In Bischof’s Chemical and Physical 
Geology there are recorded 27 analyses of trachytes containing 
from 52°8 to 72°24 per cent. of silica and averaging 62°91 per 
cent. In the same work there are given 22 analyses of dolerites 
and basalts, the content of which in silica ranges from 32°5 to 
52°96 and averages 76-16 per cent. For the sake of completeness 
I insert here a list of the various species of the tracayte and basalt 
families as given by Cotta, preparatory to adverting to certain pe- 
culiarities in the structure of some of them, which peculiarities 
will again be referred to towards the close of the present chapter 
in discussing the relation which exists betwixt granite and gneiss. 

Massive Trachytie Rocks. 
Name. Mineralogical constituents and principal 
characters. 
Trachyte, Sanidin (glassy felspar) and albite 
with hornblende or mica—granular. 


* Cotta: Gesteinelehre, p. 78. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 341 


Trachytie porphyry, Impalpable fundamental mass with 
crystals of sanidine, We. 

Perlite, Enamel-like mass—globular. 

Obsidian and pumice stone, Vitreous mass—impalpable to porous. 

Phonolite, Impalpable schistose, fundamental mass 

Andesite, Friable mixture of albite, oligoklase, 


hornblende and magnetic iron ore. 
Tufaceous Trachytic Rocks.* 
Name. 
Trachytic-breccia. 
Trachytic conglomerate. 
Trachytic tuff. 
Phonolotie conglomerate. 
Pumice stone tufl. 
Trass. 
Pumice stone boulders. 
Pumice stone sand. 


Alumstone. 
Massive Basaltic Rocks.+ 
Name. Mineral constituents and general characters. 

Dolerite, Augite and labradorite, granular. 
phanero-crystalline. 

Anamesite, Augite and labradorite, constituents 
erypto-crystalline. 

Basalt, Augite and labradorite, impalpable, 
crypto-crystalline. 

Nepheline dolerite, Augite and nepheline, granular ‘to 
impalpable. 

Leucitrock, Augite and leucite, granular to impal- 
pable. 

Analcimite, Augite, labrador, analcime, do. 


Tufaceous Basaltic Rocks.} 
Basalt conglomerate. 
Basalt tuff. 
Piperine. 
Palagonite tuff. 
The rocks above mentioned belong to a class, the igneous 
origin of which is regarded by geologists generally, as controvert- 


* Naumann: Geognosie, p. 709. . 
t Cotta; Gesteinlehre, p. 34, 
} Naumann: Geognosie, I. p. 712, 


342 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


ibly established. Nevertheless there are to be found among them 
instances of rocks possessing a characteristic hitherto almost ex- 
clusively ascribed to those of sedimentary origin. This is no other 
than the arrangement of some of the constituents of these rocks 
in a direction parallel to certain planes or lines. There exist 
numerous instances of undoubtedly igneous rocks possessing par- 
allel structure as marked as that of many sedimentary rocks, 
Many trachytic porphyries possess this, especially those from the 
Island of Ponza and Palmarola, from the foot of the Oyamel in 
Mexico and from the mountain Pagus near Smyrna.* Hoffmann 
also describes a trachyte from the Island of Pantellaria betwixt 
Sicily and Africa which consists of a light greenish grey compact 
fundamental mass with crystals of sanidine and another mineral, 
which by their form, position and distribution occasion a marked 
schistose structure. Trachytes of this nature have been observed 
in the Island of Basiluzzo betwixt Stromboli and Lipari, and in the 
Duchy of Nassau. Slaty trachytes are also of frequent oecur- 
rence and have been observed by Leopold von Buch at Angostura 
and near Perexil in Teneriffe, and in the Canary Islands at the 
Caldera of Tiraxana and at Mogan on Grancanaria. Also by 
Burat in Velay, especially at St. Pierre Eynac at the Pas-de-Compain 
andin the Monts-Dores.{ The slaty trachytes described by Burat are 
classed by other geologists among the Phonolites, which latter also 
furnish most remarkable instances of parallel structure among ig- 
neous rocks. Phonolitesas a class possess this slaty structure, which 
is caused by the parallel position of the tubular looking crystals of 
felspar contained in it and on this account the rock can often be split 
up into slates and flags. This slaty structure stands also in connection 
with the form in which these rocks have been deposited. In phonolitic 
mountains it is generally observed that the flags and the layerlike 
subdivisions of the rock corresponding to them are arranged 
around the axis of the mountain in a bellshaped system of strata, 
the inclination of the latter decreasing as the summit of the moun- 
tain is approached. This would seem to indicate that the parallel 
structure was occasioned by the flow of the phonolitic material 
from the opening in the summit over and down the sides of the 
mountain. This view is further supported by the fact that many 
lavas possess a marked linear parallel structure, sometimes com- 


* Lehrbuch, I, 632. 
{ Lehrbuch, I, 634. 
¢ Lehrbuch, I, 635, 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 343 


bined with an evident distension of their crystalline constituents 
in a direction parallel with the course of the lava stream. Accord- 
ing to Spallanzani and Dolomieu this phenomenon is of great im- 
portance, since it was doubtless occasioned by the moving forward 
and the distension of the half-fluid lava, an explanation amply 
confirmed by the elongation in the direction of the stream of the 
cavities filled with gas which are contained in the lava. In the 
Leucit-lava of Borghetto the crystals of Leucit in spite of their 
tesseral form are even drawn out in the direction of the stream.* 
These instances of parallel structure among the trachytie and bas- 
altic rocks have been specially dwelt upon, because of the analogy 
they present to gneiss and other schistose rocks of the primitive 
gneiss formation. 

Porphyry, Greenstone, and Melaphyr.—lt has been already 
mentioned, that the trachytic and basaltic rocks first make 
their appearance about the commencement of the tertiary 
period. Instances of such rocks occur however even earlier 
in the trias formation, in passing backward through which 
we find that their character gradually changes. Porphyries result 
on the one hand, and melaphyrs, or commonly called traps, resuit 
on the other. The rocks usually comprehended under the name 
melaphyr are, according to Cotta, of a very indefinite character, 
and resolvable partly into basalt, partly into greenstones, and 
partly into porphyrites (porphyries free from quartz). On this 
account it would appear advisable to classify most of the eruptive 
rocks, which have been protruded during the Silurian, Carbonifer- 
ous and: Permian periods into two great divisions, viz: porphyries 
and greenstones. With regard to the igneous origin of these, I 
cannot do better than quote the argument of Naumann.t ‘ We 
“have seen, that if the rocks of the lava family (as no one dcubts) 
“ must be regarded as pyrogenous formations, then the rocks of 
“the basalt and trachyte families have a similar origin. If now 
“the melaphyrs (or traps) are compared with the basalts, and 
“ the felsitic porphyries with the trachytic porphyries, an aston- 
“ishing similarity will be observed to exist between them; a 
“ similarity which renders it often quite impossible to distinguish 
“ the one from the other, when hand specimens of them merely 
“areexamined. According to Bergmann and Delesse, we may 
“ recognize the same mineralogical constituents in melaphyr as in 


* Lehrbuch, I, 468, 
{ Lehrbuch, I, 73%, 


344 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


“ dolerite, anamesite, and basalt. It shows quite similar amyg- 
“ daloidal forms to those of the latter rocks. It is a massive 
“ rock sometimes with columnar development, a completely non- 
“ fossiliferous rock like basalt. All these coincidences, from a 
“ lithological point of view alone, appear completely to justify the 
“ view, that the melaphyrs like the basalts must be numbered 
“among pyrogenous rocks, In the felsite-porphyries, it is true that 
“ common orthoclase takes the place of the glassy felspar of the 
“ trachytes, still the difference betwixt these two minerals must 
“be looked upon as trifling, especially when it is remembered, that 
“‘ most orthoclases contain some soda besides the potash. More- 
“over, the remaining constituents, albite, oligoclase, mica, and 
“ quartz are common to the trachytic-porphyries and to the 
“ andesites, as well as to the felsitic-porphyries, while the labra- 
“ dorite brings certain porphyrites in very close relationship to the 
“ melaphyrs, from which they are sometimes almost undistinguish- 
“able. The unprejudiced enquirer will therefore surely without 
“hesitation regard the felsitic porphyries as rocks quite analo- 
“gous to the trachytic porphyries, with which they also 
“correspond in many other properties. There are also other 
“rocks, regarding the origin of which we must come to similar 
“conclusions. ‘The diabases consist essentially of oligoclase or 
“labradorite and pyroxene; the diorites of albite, hornblende, 
“ and quartz; both classes therefore of exactly the same minerals 
“as we observe occurring in lavas, basalts and trachytes. In 
“ mineralogical and chemical respects therefore, no objection can 
“be taken to the supposition that they have been formed in a 
‘manner exactly similar to these latter rocks. When we add to 
“ this that these greenstones are always completelynon-fossiliferous, 
“ generally massive and supplied with structures and forms of 
“ deposition quite similar to those of the basalts and lavas, the 
“ above supposition would appear to be in every respect justifi- 
“ able.” With regard to the chemical composition of these rocks 
we find, that if we take the analysis of three hornblendic por- 
phyries, and of a similar number of felsitic porphyries, as given 
in Bishop’s Chemical and Physical Geology, the contents of silica 
of these will range from 77.9 to 59.87 and average 67.77 per 
cent. If we further take the analysis of greenstones and mela- 
phyres contained in the same work, we find their percentage of 
silica to range from 55.29 to 42.72, and average 50.9. 

The porphyries seem to have’ been formed principally during 
the Carboniferous and Permian periods. ‘They often occur in the 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 345 


midst of granites and syenites, in which they form veins, so that 
they are generally newer than these latter rocks. A few of them 
are decidedly older than the coal period, and several have been 
formed simultaneously with the Bundtsandstein of the Triassic, and 
even in the Jurassic and the chalk formations, but the height of 
their development falls in the Carboniferous and the first part of 
the Permian period, in the German Rothliegendes. In the latter 
formation the porphyries have played a very important part, fur- 
nishing the material for many of its sedimentary rocks, and dis- 
locating its strata considerably by their intrusion, In the carbo- 
niferous system porphyries break through and materially disturb 
the strata, forming veins or dykes, and inserting themselves hori- 
zontally as layers. While, as we have already mentioned, the 
basalts and trachytes exert a powerful chemical action on the 
rocks with which they come in contact, the influence of the 
prophyries seems to have been almost exclusively of a mechan- 
ical nature. It seems as if the porphyritic material on its arrival 
in the upper parts of the earth’s crust did not possess such a high 
temperature or such a great degree of fluidity as the basalts. On 
the other hand, the rocks broken through by the porphyries, show 
evidence of the enormous violence to which they have been sub- 
jected, huge pieces having been broken off, surrounded by the por- 
phyritie material, carried off by it and crushed and pulverized in 
its further progress. In this way have been formed the numer- 
ous breccias which occur in veins and masses of porphyry, 
where they adjoin the side-rocks. Sometimes the mechanical 
action has been so violent as to produce even a more finely di- 
vided material, which in the form of a sandstone-like or clay-like 
substance constitutes the selvages of many porphyritic veins. By 
far the most conclusive proofs however of the enormous forces 
which were at work during the eruption of the porphyry, are 
to be found in the dislocations which whole systems of strata 
have undergone. The neighbouring beds have been raised 
up, folded and fractured, while friction-grooves, and surfaces worn 
smooth by the sliding of one mass upon another occur at the junc- 
tion of the erupted rock with the neighbouring strata. These effects 
furnish almost as conclusive evidence of the igneous origin of the 
porphyries as the chemical changes on the adjacent rocks do, as to 
the igneous origin of basalt. 

With regard to the greenstones, they seem to have made their 
appearance in very great profusion during the Silurian and Devon- 

Can. Nar. 23 Vou. VIII, 


846 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


ian periods, and even earlier, although in lesser quantity among 
the primitive slates. In the Carboniferous system, they are in- 
truded almost as frequently as the porphyries; but towards the 
commencement of the Permian period, they seem to be replaced 
by melaphyres, which continue to be erupted even as late as the 
Triassic period. . The circumstances attending the protrusion of 
the greenstones and melaphyres are essentially the same as in the 
case of the porphyries. The strata which the former have broken 
through furnish abundant evidence of the extraordinary force which 
ejected them, and the dislocated strata also occasionally furnish 
proofs that they have been chemically acted on by the plutonic rock. 
This latter is especially the case with the melaphyres, which have fre- 
quently carbonized the coal and hardened the clay slates with 
which they have come in contact, in the same manner as more 
recent eruptive rocks. In the following tables will be found the 
names and characters of the rocks referred to in this paragraph. 


Massive rocks of the Porphyry class.* 


NAME. CRYSTALS OCCURRING OHARACTER OF THE PASTE, 
IN THE PASTE. 
Quartz porphyry. Quartz and Feldspar. Yellow, brown and red 
colored. 
Syenitic porphyry. Quartz, Chlorite { Brown or green ; 
Feldspar, sometimes{ somewhat granular. 
Mica. 

Granitic porphyry. Quartz, Mica,Feldspar. Sometimes granular. 
Micaceous porphyry. Mica and Felspar. Brown coloured. 
Minette. Mica and Felsite. 


Hornblendic porphyry. Hornblende & Feldspar. Dark coloured. 

Felspathic porphyry. Feldspar. 

Felsite rock. Sometimes Quartz. Yellowish, reddish, 
or greenish-grey. 

Pitchstone,and Pitch- ) Glassy Feldspar, Quartz 

stone porphyry. ; and balls of Felsite. 


Rocks made up of Porphyritic debris.t 
Porphyry breccia. 
Porphyry conglomerate. 
Porphyry sandstone (psammite.) 
Porphyritic tuff or felsite tuff. Claystone. 


Massive rocks of the Greenstone and Melaphyre class.{ 


NAME. ESSENTIAL CONSTITUENTS. TEXTURE. 
Diabase. Augite, Labradorite, and Granular, porphyritic 
Oligoclase. and slaty. 


* Cotta, Gesteinslehre, p. 97. 
{} Naumann, Lehrbuch, I, 706. 
t Cotta, Gesteinslehre, p. 47. 


ORIGIN OF BRUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 347 


WAME, 


Calcareous Diabase. d Giigoolace & Calcite. 


‘Gabbro. 
Hypersthenite. 
Augite-rock.. 


Norite. 


Diorite, 
Globular Diorite. 


Micaceous do. 


Hornblende rock. 
Hornblende-slate. 


Actynolite slate. 
Kersanton. 
Hklogit. 
Disthene rock. 
Aphanite. - 
Serpentine. 
Schiller rock. 
Garnet rock. 
Hulysite. 
Hpidesite. 


abrador rock. 


ESSENTIAL CONSTITUENTS. TEXTURE. 


Augite,Labradorite or § Granular impalpable, 
@ slaty concretionary. 


Granular, slaty and 


Diallage or Smarag- 
dite with Labrato- 


rite and Saussiirite. concretionary. 
Hypersthene and Granular, 

Labradorite. 
Augite. Granular to impalpable. 


f Hornblende and Felds- 
4 par Hypersthene and 
{ Feldspar. 
Hornblende and Albite Granular, slaty. 
Hornblende and Granular and globular 
Anorthite. 


Hornblende, Oligoclase. 
5 Orthoclase and Mica, 


} Granular. 


Granular: 


Hornblende. Granular or impalpable. 
Hornblende. Slaty. 
Actynolite. Slaty. 

Horblende and Mica. Granular. 


Smaragdite and Garnet. Granular, slaty. 
Disthene with Garnet Granular, slaty. 
and Mica. 


Feldspar and Pyroxene 


or Amphibole. 


impalpable, porphyri- 
tic, slaty, cellular, 


amygdaloidal. 
Serpertine. Impalpable, porphyri- 
tic slaty. 
Schillerspar and Ser- Granular. 
pentine. 


Garnet, Hornblende, 
and Magnetite. 
Garnet, Pyroxene, 
and iron oxide. 
Pistazite and Quartz. Granular, impalpable 
concretionary. 
Granular, porphyritic. 


i) 
é Granular. 


Granular, impalpable. 


Labradorite and 
Hornblende. 


Fragmentary rocks of the Greenstone and Melaphyre class,* 
‘Greenstone conglomerate and greenstone breccia. 
Greenstone sandstone (psammite.) 


Greenstone tuft. 


Schalstone. 


It will be observed from the foregoing tables, that by the 
action of water on the porphyries and greenstones rocks have 


* Naumanp, Lehrbuch, J, 703. 


348 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


been formed similar to the conglomerates and tufts of the volea- 
nic formations, and probably in a similar manner. Moreover just 
as in these formations we find among the massive rocks above 
enumerated many instances of undoubtedly igneous rocks pos- 
sessing a slaty structure. Many feldsitic porphyries possess a streak- 
ed texture caused sometimes by bands of varying eolour, and 
oftener by the arrangement of the quartz grains or crystals in 
parallel layers, or the presence of thin Jamin of quartz in 
the paste.* The instances of a similar modification of structure 
among the greenstones are very numerous, and they are even 
more important as showing more clearly the cause of this struc- 
ture among igneous rocks. The diorites usually oceur in the 
form of veins, irregular masses (typhonische Stécke,) and layers. 
The veins sometimes exhibit the following remarkable phenomena, 
In the middle they consist of granular diorite, and at the sides of 
slaty diorite or hornblende slate, a gradual transition being gene- 
tally observable from the granular to the stratified rock. Some- 
what similar instances of this nature have already been referred 
to in the paragraph concerning the basaltic rocks. The cause of 
these phenomena may most reasonably be sought for in the cireum- 
stances attending the cooling of the rock, and they are most 
likely the same as those which occasioned a similar structure 
among the porphyries. The fluid rock of the diorite vein was 
probably in motion in the centre, while the parts adjoining the 
side walls were solidified. The current in the centre would have 
a distending and arranging action at the junction of the fluid with 
the solidified parts, and an elongation and parallel grouping of the 
minerals there being formed would be the consequence. Not 
only has thisslaty texture been observed in connection with veins, 
but it has also been remarked, that the more irregular masses 
of diorite assume a slaty structure towards their junction with 
the other rocks, the stratification being, as in the case of the 
veins, parallel with the line of such junction. Naumann adduces 
numerous instances of this sort;t and from a former paper of 
mine it will be observed, that they often occur in Norway. 
Among the melaphyrs or traps the same circumstance is often 
remarked. Inthe melaphyr region south of the Hundsriick this 
rock, when it occurs in veins, often possesses a degree of 
parallel structure sufficient to cause it to separate into flags, which 


{ Lehrbuch, II, 403. 
{ Canadian Naturalist, VII, 115. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 349 


lie parallel with the walls of the vein. The trap of Kerrera de- 
eribed by Macculloch is another instance of slaty texture in trap 
veins. In this case the rock constituting the sides of the vein is 
filled with scales of mica, which all lie parallel to the enclosing 
walls. The same author also remaks concerning the hypersthenite 
of Sky, that the crystals of hypersthene “ are laminar and 
‘ placed in a position parallel to each other, and as in gneiss to the 
“ plane of the bed in which they lie.” Another peculiarity, 
which shews the influence of igneous flow on the structure of a 
rock is the following: The amygdaloidal varieties of melaphyr 
sometimes possess an arrangement of their cavities corresponding to 
that possessed by the gas bubbles of lavas. They are often elon- 
gated,in which case their longest axes lie parallel to each other, and 
we may suppose as in the caseof lava, to the direction of the flow 
of the igneous material. 

Granite and Syenite.—These formations include the oldest 
eruptive rocks, the granites and gneiss-granites, which during the 
primitive period seem to have broken through the comparatively 
thin erust of the earth then existing. Later granitic eruptions 
seem to have taken place with great frequency throughout the 
Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods, after which they 
gradually disappear. Syenite does not seem to appear in the Primi- 
tive Gneiss formation until long after the first general dislocation of 
thesame and the protrusion ofthe granite had taken place. The 
principal syenitic eruptions seem to have occurred during or shortly 
after the deposition of the Silurian and Devonian rocks, although 
there are many instances of much younger syenites. The rocks 
appear afler their protrusion to have assumed all the forms of 
occurrence, which we are accustomed to observe in plutonic and 
even volcanic formations ; irregular masses, covers, (nappes), 
layers and veins; every form except the stream of the volcanic 
rock. But it is to be remarked that instead of veins or dykes 
being the most common form, as in the newer plutonic formations, 
the irregular masses preponderate. These masses are not to be 
confounded with the covers or cap rocks of the basalt and trachyte 
formations. They are huge islands of granite as it were, possessing 
generally an elliptical shape, and oecurring in the midst of stratified. 
rocks, which are sometimes vertical, and which often lean against 
the granite as if it were the immediate cause of their inclined 
gesition. One of the most important phenomena observable with 
yegard to granite in all its forms of occurrence is the extent to 


350 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


which it contains huge masses and smaller fragments of other 
rocks. This is one of the most conclusive proofs of the power of 
the forces at work during the protrusion of the granite, and taken 
in connection with its forms of deposition furnishes incontrover- 
tible evidence of ifs eruptive origin. Among the objections which 
have been made to this view, the most important is that founded 
on the circumstance that the quartz of granite has been the last 
of its constituents to solidify. Many theories have been proposed 
to account for this circumstance but it would seem necessary 
before attempting its explanation to enquire whether this alleged 
behavior of the quartz is really the fact. It is doubted by a few 
geologists, and altogether denied by Sartorius von Waltershausen, 
who remarks that according te his experience in the primary 
rocks especially in granite as well as in the voleanic rocks, quartz 
corundum and periclase have always first been separated. “ For 
instance,’’ he says, “I have minutely examined the granites from 
““ Baveno, from various districts of the Grimsel, from Mont Blane, 
“from the Oker valley (Harz), from the Island of Mull and many 
“ other places, and those rocks show that the quartz solidified 
“ first, then the mica and finally the feldspar.”* In the face of 
such a distinct statement it might not be safe to regard as 
thoroughly established the fact whereon the above objection to the 
eruptive origin of granite is founded. 

With regard to the chemical composition of granite, its content 
in silica, according to 18 analyses mentioned by Bischof, ranges 
from 63.3 to 76.02 per cent., and averages 69.33 per cent. Only 
two analyses of syenite are on record, the silica being estimated as 
61.72 and 66.39 per cent. ; average 64.05. If we compare these 
figures with the average content in silica of other eruptive rocks 
we find generally a diminution in the quantity of silica as the rocks 
become more and more recent, provided always that their classi- 
fication into two great series of siliceous and more basie rocks is 
kept in sihgt. Thus the acid series comprehend: 

Granites 69.33 per cent. of silica. 
Porphyries 67.77 as “ 
Trathytes 62.91 ce ot 
The basic series on the other hand consist of 


Syenites . 64.04 per cent. silica. 
Greenstone and Melaphyrs 50.65 re ts 
Dolerites and Melaphyrs 46.16 ce 


* Die Vulcanische Gesteine, &c., p. 225. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 351 


Bunsen and Streng are inclined to extend the theory of the 
normal trachytic and basaltic magmas, mentioned in the first part 
of this paper, so as to include the plutonic rocks, and to maintain 
that granites, porphyries and the older eruptive rocks are capable 
of being also regarded as mixtures of the two hypothetical melted 
masses. Of course the same objections which apply to this 
theory so far as basaltic and trachytic rocks are concerned, apply 
also in the case of the older rocks. On the other hand von 
Waltershausen’s theory, also previously described, furnishes a 
complete explanation of the cause of the more siliceous character 
of the older rocks. The same increase of density and of basic 
constituents, which he supposes now to take place from the surface 
to the centre of the earth, existed in the oldest geological periods, 
The fused material, which, on breaking through the earth’s crust 
solidified to granite, was the uppermost concentric layer then 
existing. It was lightest in weight and richest in silica. 
Beneath it lay successive layers graduating into each other, and 
with the depth increasing in density and basic constituents. But 
according to this theory, the magmas from which granites, porphy- 
ries, and trachytes resulted ought to have had a position nearer 
the surface than the fused matter which on its eruption yielded 
syenites, greenstones, melaphyres, and basalts. Hence the former 
rocks ought to have been the first to appear upon the earth’s sur- 
face. Porphyries ought to have preceded syenites, and trachytes 
ought to have broken through the earth’s crust and _ solidified 
prior not only to basalt but to greenstone and melaphyre. This 
is, however, not the case, and Sartorius von Waltershausen fully 
appreciates the difficulty, mentioning that the trachyte of Esia 
near Reikjavik, ‘‘ which according to its mineralogical character 
“belongs to a higher-lying zone nevertheless intersects in the 
“form of a vem the strata of Iclandic trap, which in general 
“‘ originate from deeper) regions.”* To explain the difliculty he 
resorts to the theory “ that the earth’s crust possesses different 
“ thicknesses in different places, or that the surface of separation 
‘* between the already solidified and the still fluid masses represents 
“a relief turned inwards, of mountains and valleys. Now where 
“‘ such a mountain accidentally reaches down into greater depths, 
“ melted masses might be able, through fissures in it, prematurely 
“to escape to the surface, which masses might be broken through 
“later by rocks of higher zones which had remained longer fluid. 


* Die Vulkanische Gesteine, etc. p. 337. 


352 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


“The anomalies in the Esia trachyte formation might perhaps 
“also be explained by movements of the fluid matter in the 
“ interior, or by alterations in the relief forms of the surface of — 
“ separation just mentioned.” The method of explaining these 
anomalies by movements in the fluid matter existing beneath the 
crust would appear to be the most reasonable, and I shall endea- 
vour as briefly as possible to refer to it more minutely. 

We have already seen in referring to the cause of earthquakes 
and volcanic eruptions, that it is not impossible that movements 
take place in the interior of the earth similar to tides in the ocean 
on its surface. We shall suppose the two lines within the dark 
coloured crust in the subjoined figure (1) to represent respectively 


Fig. 1. 
the normal limits towards the interior of the acid, and the more 
basic melted matter, which in the earliest periods as now, may be 
supposed to have graduated into each other and yielded all the 
varieties of eruptive rocks now visible on the surface. We shall 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 353 


suppose further that a change comparatively slight takes place in 
the position of the metallic centre. It is evident that the conse- 
quence of this would be to press the higher zone against the 
solidified crust, and further to each side, bringing the lower zone 
in contact with the crust at a, as shown in figure 2. If at this 


Fig. 2. 
part of the crust there existed fissures or volcanoes, the denser 
and more basic mass, 6 would be erupted, while the acid 
mass, ¢ would remain in the interior. As soon, how- 
ever, as the central mass resumed its normal position the condi- 
tions would be re-established for the protrusion of the more acid 
rock of the superior zone. In this way the alternate eruptions of 
highly silicified matter and then of extremely basie rock with all 
the innumerable gradations that exist between them, would seem 
to be capable of explanation. The amount of divergence of the 
metallic mass from the centre necessary to produce the effect 


354 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. | 


above described is so inconsiderable, that it does not appear un- 
reasonable to attribute to the heavenly bodies the power of 
causing it. Still it would be very desirable if mathematicians 
would devote some attention to the subject. 

The rocks of the granite family have been arranged by Cotta* 
according to their granular and slaty varieties, as follows: 


ESSENTIAL CONSTITUENTS. RESULTING ROCKS. 
GRANULAR. SLATY. 
Feldspar and Hornblende. Syenite. Slaty Syenite. 
Feldspar, Quartz, Mica and | ra bi Se " 
Woeeblende: Granitic Syenite. Syenitic Gueiss. 
Feldspar, Quartz and Mica. Granite. Gneiss. 
Feldspar, Quartz and Talc. Protogine. Protogine Gneiss. 


Feldspar, Quartz and Chlorite. Chloritic Granite. Chloritic Gneiss. 
Feldspar, Quartz and Graphite. Graphitic Granite. Granitic Gneiss. 
Feldspar, Quartz and Iron Mica. Iron Granite. Tron Gneiss. 
Feldspar, Dichroite and Mica. Dichroite Granite. Dichroite Gneiss. 
Dichroite, Mica and Garnet. Dichroite Rock. 


Feldspar, Elzolite and Mica. Miascit. not known. 
Feldspar, Quartz and Schorly Schorl Granite. 

Quartz, Schorl and Topaz. Topaz rock. 

Oligoclase and Mica. Kersantite. Kersantite. 
Feldspar and Quartz. Granulite. Granulite. 
Quartz and Mica. Greisen. Mica slate. 


The sedimentary rocks of the granite family are as follows :+ 
Granitic conglomerate. 

Syenitic do. 

Gueiss breccia and gneiss conglomerate. 

Arkose (Feldspathic sandstone). 


These latter rocks, however, bear but little analogy to the 
tufaceous rocks of later eruptive formations. Instead of being 
formed and deposited simultaneously with their corresponding 
massive rocks, they have generally been derived from the abrasion 
of these, long after their eruption and solidification, and deposited 
with the rocks of comparatively recent sedimentary formations. 
There do not seem to exist or have been formed with granitic erup- 
tions any rocks of a tufaceous character. The obvious inference 
to be drawn from this circumstance is, that during at least the 
older granitic eruptions no water or ocean existed on the earth, 


* Gestein slehre, p. 114. 
T Lehrbuch, I, 702. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 355 


from the conflict of which with the fluid granite such rocks could 
Yesult. At the time of these eruptions, therefore, the temperature 
of the earth’s surface must have been higher than the boiling point 
of water, and the whole of the latter now condensed on the surface 
must then have existed only in the atmosphere. 

With regard to the stratified varieties of granitic rocks it will 
be seen from the above table, that such have been abundantly 
developed. Even syenites occasionally possess parallel structure, as 
is the case of those of the Planensche Grund near Dresden,of Ullern- 
Aasen, near Christiania, and of the Odenwald. A banded struc- 
ture has been observed in the syenites of Brotterode in Thurin- 
gia, of Jurgojaskaja in Asiatic Russia, and of the Malvern Hills. 
Phillips regards this structure, in the latter instance, as having 
been produced during the original solidification of the rock.* He 
remarks that “ the laminar and banded structures may be regarded 
as indications of crystallization under restraint, such restraint hay- 
ing reference to particular planes in consequence of the pressure 
of preconsolidated parts adjacent.” One of the most important tran- 
sitions observable among these rocks, however, is the stratification 
of granite, whereby it gradually assumes the character of gneiss, 
The most abundant and striking examples of this are to be found 
in the Primitive Gneiss formation, where granite occurs in beds 
between gneiss strata, and forms gradual but distinct transitions 
into these, by the laminz of mica gradually arranging themselves 
parallel to each other, and parallel to the direction of the strata 
generally. But the irregular masses of granite to which we have 
already referred have also often been observed to assume a slaty 
structure as they approach the rocks adjoining them. One of the 
most remarkable examples of this occurs in the Primitive Slate 
formation of Upper Tellemarken in Norway,especially in the neigh- 
bourhood of Aamdal, Vraadal, Hvideseid, &c. In the interior parts 
of the granitic protrusion, the rock is thoroughly crystalline. 
Towards its limits, gneissoid granite is developed, the foliation of 
which is invariably paralle! with the line of its junction with 
the adjoining rocks. That the rock here referred to is decidedly 
eruptive is proved by the numerous fragments of neighbouring 
slate enclosed in it. Instances of exactly the same phenomenon 
have been observed near Taubenheim, in Saxony, and in the valley 
of the Schwarza, in Thuringia. At the latter place the oranite is 


* Mem. of the Geol. Survey of Great Britain, II. 1, p. 74. 
} Dahll: Om Thelemarkens Geologie, p. 1. 


356 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


in the form of a long drawn mass, in the centre of which it is dis- 
tinct and characteristic, while towards the hanging wall it gra- 
duates into gneissoid rock. The central granite or protogine of the 
Alps, according to Delesse, also graduates at its limits into gneiss, 
and this, according to Raymond and Charpentier, is the case with 
the colossal granite masses of the Pyrenees. These various in- 
stances furnish good grounds for maintaining that gneiss bears 
the same relation to granite, that diorite slate or hornblende 
slate bears to many granular diorites, the micaceous selvage of 
the Kerrera trap vein to its granular centre, and the numerous 
instances of stratified or banded porphyrites or trachytes, to the 
corresponding granular rocks. In short there would appear to be 
reason for assuming that gneiss is as much an igneous rock, as 
are the banded or stratified varieties of igneous rocks just men- 
tioned. The instances just given prove at least that certain 
gneisses are eruptive, because they are nothing else than an out- 
ward covering, a contact modification of the eruptive granitic 
masses. There are, moreover, instances on record of gneisses occur- 
ring in veins, and sometimes enclosing fragments of other rocks. 
Humboldt mentions an instance occurring near Antimano, in Vene- 
zuela, where mica slate is intersected by veins from thirty-six to 
forty-eight feet thick, and consisting of gneiss filled with large 
crystals of feldspar; and Fournet maintains that in the mountains 
of Izeron, true eruptive gneisses occur in veins intersecting other 
gneissoid rocks.* Darwin relates that the granitoid gneiss of 
Bahia contains angular fragments of a hornblende rock, and that 
a similar gneiss occurring in Botofogo Bay, near Rio Janeiro, con- 
tains an angular piece seven yards long and two broad, of a very 
micaceous gneiss. Instances of the same nature have been ob- 
served by Naumann near Ullensvang in Norway and by Boeth- 
lingk near Helsingfors in Finland.{ The most satisfactory ex- 
planation which can be given of the formation of the gneissoid 
selvage to granitic masses is that which is given by Phillips in 
the case of syenite, and already quoted. Itis a consequence of 
erystallization under restraint or pressure, accompanied by a 
movement of the solidifying mass somewhat in the same manner 
as indicated in the case of greenstone. Naumann adopts almost 
the same explanation in referring to the formation of igneous 


* Naumann, Lehrbuch, IJ, 180. 
| Geological Observations on South America, p. 141. 
T Lehrbuch, I, 113. 


fr 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 357 


strata. His remarks on this point are as follows: “ Let us imagine 
that an igneous mass crystallizing as it slowly cools, is confined 
between two parallel planes, which exert both pressure and re- 
sistance; the cooling, and consequently the solidification will com- 
mence at and proceed from these enclosing planes. Now, if in 
the solidifying mass the conditions exist for the development of 
many lamellar bodies (such as crystals of mica) then each of 
those bodies will, in consequence of the pressure, assume a position 
parallel with the enclosing surface, and the rock will be furnished 
with a plane parallel structure more or less distinct. If, further, 
the process of solidification does not progress regularly, but with 
periodic interruptions, then the rock would be divided into layers 
lying parallel to the enclosing planes. If the whoie mass, during 
the progress of the solidification was in regular motion up and down, 
then there would be developed in each a linear parallel structure 
or distension of the rock more or less distinct.” * Whether the 
parallel structure of the gneiss of the Primitive formation may be 
attributed to causes similar to those here indicated, is a question 
reserved for consideration in the third part of this paper. Mean- 
while it may be remarked that the granite occurring in beds in 
that formation, between the zones or layers of gneiss is so intimately 
connected with the latter rock by lithological transitions that it 
would seem to be altogether inseparable from it, and that the 
same origin attributed to the one must belong to the other. In 
the gneiss-granite of the mountains of Lower Silesia, the granular 
and slaty modifications of that rock are, according to Von Raumer, 
regularly interstratilied with each other. In Podolia, according 
to Von Bléde, granite and gneiss together form a whole, to which 
a contemporaneous and similar mode of formation is ascribable. 
In Scandinavia and Finland, in. the central plateau of France, in 
Scotland, in Brazil, and Hungary the same relations betwixt granite 
and gneiss exist. “ En Hongrie,”> says Beudant, “ces deux roches 
se montrent toujours ensemble et uniquement ensemble, elles ne 
forment pas des couches alternatives, mais une seule et méme 
masse.” If, therefore, granite, as we have seen, is undoubtedly 
igneous, then the primary gneiss must be of the same origin, and 
in this manner we obtain a proof of the original state of the 
igneous fluidity of our globe. Gneiss is the oldest formation, and 
if it can be reasonably shown to be igneous, then it must have 
been the rock first solidified ; and previous to this, it, as well as all 
* Lehrbuch, I, 496. 
7 Voyage en Hongrie, IIT, p. 19. 


358 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


subsequent eruptive formations, and the material of all sedimentary 
rocks must have been in a state of igneous fusion. The theory of 
the. igneous state of the original globe is, however, probably so 
well established as to require no further proof. It is an axiom 
without which it isimpossible satisfactorily to account for the phe- 
nomena of volcanoes and hot springs, the elevation of mountains, 
the increase of temperature on penetrating into the earth, the phe- 
nomena of terrestrial magnetism, the formation of crystalline 
rocks, and the flattening of the earth at the poles. In the third 
and concluding part of this paper I shall advert more fully to this 
hypothesis, of the conditions which must have co-existed with the 
earth’s original fluid state. 


Art. XXV.—Roofing Slate asa Source of Wealth to Canada. 
A wsit to the Walton Slate Quarry; by Roperr Bett, 

C. I., of the Geological Survey of Canada, and interim 
Professor of Natural Sciences in Queen’s College, Kingston. 

The rarer treasures of the mineral world are not always those 
which yield the largest returns for the working. According to 
Darwin, it is remarked in South America, that “a person with a 
copper mine will gain ; with silver, he may gain; but with gold he 
issure to loose.’ Continuing this sort of comparison to the coarser 
mineral products, it could not be difficult to show that there are 
many of them which pay better, even than copper mines. In the 
midst of the excitement about copper and gold in the Eastern Town- 
ships, our valuable treasures in roofing slate have not been altogether 
overlooked. But before proceeding to point out the importance 
of this source of wealth, let us consider for a moment the value of 
slate quarries in other parts of the world, and ascertain how 
others turn their advantages, in this respect, to profitable account. 
The slate quarries of Wales are perhaps the most extensively 
wrought in the world. The Penrhyn Quarry, six miles from 
Bangor in North Wales, and owned by the Hon. Colonel 
Pennant, has been worked to a depth of nearly 900 feet by 
successive benches or chambers, each sixty feet below the next 
above. ‘The lowest of these have been reached by sinking shafts 
and runningyhorizontal adits or drifts, from which the material has to 
be raised perpendicularly. The cost of working is thus much 
increased, but notwithstanding this circumstance, the quarry is 
believed to pay nearly a hundred per cent. profit, and the annual 


CANADIAN ROOFING SLATE. 359 


net gains amount to upwards of £100,000. This quarry was 
opened about fifty years ago. It employs 2,500 men in the 
various operations connected with its working, and produces 
13,000,000 slates a year. The Lanberris quarry employs 2,000 
men and returns a net annual profit of about £70,000. The 
Welsh Slate Company’s quarry, owned in part by Lord Palmer- 
ston, employs 400 men, and yields an annual profit of about 
£25,000. The Rhewbryfair Slate Company’s quarry, gives 
employment to 350 men, and affords an annual net profit of 
£13,000, or fifty per cent. on the original capital. A quarry 
belonging to the Festiniog Slate Company is now being further 
developed, and it is proposed to make it furnish 50,000 tons per 
annum at a profit of £37,000 and a minimum dividend of from 
30 to 40 per cent. These and other quarries, employing from 250 
to 300 men, and yielding equally great returns, in proportion to 
their production, are situated on a slate band or “vein,” as it is 
locally termed, in the Festiniog district in North Wales. There 
are besides, about a dozen other quarries in operation in Wales, 
all making the most satisfactory returns, when judiciously worked, 
although some of them have to contend against great difficulties, 
arising from the unfavorable underlie of the cleavage for work- 
ing, or from disadvantages in the positions and locations of the 
quarries, some of which are between twenty and thirty miles 
distant from a port or railway. The slates are paid for at the 
quarries by the thousand, but the Welshmen reckon 1,200 tothe 
“thousand.” The Welsh quarries are estimated to produce an 
aggregate of from 350 to 400,000 tons of slate every year, of 
which fully one-half is furnished by the two first mentioned. The 
selling price of manufactured slates is about fifty shillings a ton, 
so that if the latter figure be correct, the yearly value of the slates 
produced in Wales, will be equal to a million of pounds sterling. 
A cubic yard of slate rock weighs about two tons, and when we 
know the proportion to allow for waste in quarrying and dressing, 
we can calculate approximately the quantity of slates which can 
be produced in a volume of slate rock whose dimensions are 
given. As these dimensions can be ascertained in each case, the 
profits of slate quarrying may be reduced to a certainty, and thus 
it has the character of a sure branch of business—a great advan- 
tage over the more hazardous enterprise of mining. Some of the 
slate quarries in Wales have a horizontal surface of from 1000 to 
2000 square yards, and are capable of being worked, in many 


360 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


instances, to great depths. It will presently be shown that some 
of the workable slate bands in Canada are very much more exten. 
sive. 

In Britain all the best slate quarries have been opened long ago, 
and capitalists are now spending large sums in developing indiffer- 
ent locations; still with proper management, fortunes are being 
made in working even comparatively new places. The large 
yearly profits derived from roofing slates have already enabled the 
owners of the quarries to amass immense sums of money, and the 
increasing demand, not only for roofing, but also for sanitary and 
other purposes to which slate has heen applied, foreshadows the 
brightest prospects for the future. Great as is the number of 
slates manufactured, the supply is not equal to the demand, and 
hence the producers have of late, been able to dictate all the 
terms and conditions of purchase to the buyers. The “rules and 
regulations” respecting the sale of slate at some of the quarries 
have very much the tone of the laws in the statute books. 

Some quarries have orders booked for forty to sixty weeks in 
advance. In consequence of the enormous demand, prices have 
lately advanced several times, and if they were again raised 20 
per cent, (says the Mining Journal from which these facts are prin- 
cipally derived) the sale would not be affected—so many new mar- 
kets are continually opening. In addition to the rapidly increasing 
demand in Britain itself, orders for slates are sent from all parts of 
the world. Large numbers are constantly shipped to Russia, 
France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Prussia, Austria and America, 
although the demand from the last mentioned quarter has not 
been so great for the last two years. 

Slates, equal to those of Wales, are obtained in the west of 
Scotland and in the Delabole district, parish of Tintagel, in the 
north of Cornwall, where quarries are now worked paying 30 per 
cent. profit on the outlay. It would be needless here to enter 
into the merits of the slates of these regions, since my object is 
merely to shew the great value of this source of wealth in Great 
Britain, for which it is hoped the facts given in regard to Wales 
are sufficient. 

The roofing slates of Great Britain and France belong to Lower 
Silurian strata, which are believed to be equivalent to the 
Quebec Group of this continent, and which comprises many of 
the slate bands of Eastern Canada and New England. 

Since competition in the slate market of this continent, and per- 


CANADIAN ROOFING -SLATE. 361 


haps also to some extent in that of the old world, is to be expect- 
ed mainly from Vermont, it may not be uninteresting here to 
refer to the slate resources of thatstate. Three belts of slate rock 
occur in the state running southward down its eastern, middle and 
western portions. In the first, which keeps near the boundary of 
New Hampshire, the slate is of a dark color, and the cleavage gen- 
erally corresponds with the planes of stratification, Although the 
belt has a great thickness, but little of it is available for working 
owiug tocontortions, the presence of foreign ingredients, imperfeet 
cleavage and cross joints. An occasional band, however, is found 
to be suitable for roofing slates, and upon one of them the Guil- 
ford quarries are situated. The slates of this locality are suffici- 
ently durable, but owing to their thickness, require a heavily 
timbered roof to support them. They are also liable to become 
rusty from the presence of oxide of iron. The situation of these 
quarries is such as to prevent their produce competing successfully 
with the slates imported from Wales. The slate bands in the eas- 
- tern belt dip at high angles to the horizon, and thus have an ad- 
vantage for working, over those of the western belt. 

The middle slate belt extends from the Canada line at Lake 
Memphremagog about half way down .the middle of the state, 
In places it is found to split into thin sheets, and is of a uniform color, 
—nearly black—differing in these respects from the slate bands of 
the eastern belt. Northfield, near the centre of the state, is the 
only place at which it has been worked. Here the price of slate 
delivered on the cars is $3.75 a square, or 50 cents more than Mr. 
Walton’s price, on the Grand Trunk cars at Richmond. It may 
not be generally known that a square of slates is a hundred 
square feet, and that the greater the number required to make 
this area, the smaller the price per square. 

The workable seams of the westerly belt are largely quarried for 
roofing and other purposes in the southwestern part of the state, 
where slate manufacturing forms a leading branch of industry. 
The slate is of a more uniform character than that of the eastern 
or the middle belt, and more exempt from foreign matter, which 
renders it capable of being sawn, as slab slate, and used for a 
great variety of purposes. The color of most of the western 
Vermont slates, like that of the Welsh, is dark purple, sometimes 
mottled with green spots. Bands of green, and sometimes of red 
slate are likewise found in this part of the state. Whatever may 

Can. Nat. | 24 Vou. VIII. 


362 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


be the cause of the green spots in the purple slate, they form a 
very objectionable feature, being liable to decompose under the 
weather, and allow the rain to leak through the roof. A small speck 
of iron pyrites can generally be detected in the centre of each of 
the spots, and these may have had something to do with their 
formation. The slate quarries of western Vermont have a common 
disadvantage, in the low underlie of the cleavage, which in several 
cases is less than 20 degrees, thus requiring a much larger expen- 
diture in working, than when the cleavage is vertical, or under- 
lying at a high angle to the horizon. In some of the quarries 
the underlie, which is always to the eastward, is from 20 to 40 
degrees, but unless the angle is sufficiently high to give a self- 
supporting hanging wa'l, a great loss is incurred in removing or 
supporting the superincumbent mass. 

About a dozen quarries are worked on the western belt. The 
principal one is the Eagle Slate Quarry, situated a mile south of 
Hydeville, and which produces about 10,000 squares a year. Here 
the underlie of the cleavage, which nearly coincides with the dip: 
of the strata, is at an angle of only 17 degrees. Roofing slates 
alone are made at this quarry, and bring from $2.50 to $3.50 a. 
square at Hydeville depot. In the township of Castleton, the 
West Castleton Railroad and Slate Company manufacture 150 
squares of slate a month, besides sawing from 15 to 16,000 square 
feet of slab slate. The cleavage here underlies to the eastward 
at an angle of 40 degrees. In 1857, the second year of operation, 
the sales of the produce of this quarry amounted to $60,000. 

A planed surface of slate is found to retain remarkably well the 
compounds used in enamelling, even in the presence of heat or 
acids, and hence slab slate can be marbieized and used in a great 
variety of ways. The western Vermont slate is marbleized for 
jambs and mantelpieces, table and bureau tops, billiard beds and 
kerosene lamp bottoms. These are successfully made to imitate 
all kinds of ornamental! marble, and are sold in immense numbers 
at one fourth the price of real marble. The cost of marbleized 
mantels varies from 10 to 125 dollars, according to the workman- 
chip which has been expended] upon them. Writing slates are 
also prepared in great numbers at the western quarries; and there 
is a large demand for unplaned slabs for sanitary and other pur- 
poses. The foregoing facts in regard to the slates of Vermont are 
condensed from Prof. Hitchock’s report on the geology of the 
state. 


CANADIAN ROOFING’*SLATE. 863 


In Canada, no clay slates have yet been discovered among the 
Laurentian rocks, the strata of this series which approach nearest 
clay slates in composition, being always massive, and usually of a 
crystalline character. Slaty rocks, approaching argillites, have 
been found in several places among the Huronian series. For ex- 
ample, specimens from the Montreal River, about five miles from 
its junction with Lake Temiscam‘ng, have the characters of roof- 
ing slate, but the plates into which they split are scarcely as thin 
as desirable. Among these rocks, on the north side of Lake Supe- 
rior, greenish-black and greenish-blue slates, some of which may 
be fit for roofing, are found on the Kaministiquia River above the 
Grand Falls, and slates which are said to be available for this pur- 
pose, occur on the Slate Islands, and at Anse a la Bouteille. 

In Eastern Canada the argillaceous bands of the Quebec Group, 
in many places yield good roofing slates, which have already been 
successfully wrought in a few localities. The most important of 
these is the Walton Slate Quarry, in Melbourne, to be described 
further on. The Melbourne Slate band, in its northeastward ex- 
tension, crosses the St. Francis River into Cleveland, where, in 
1854, a quarry was opened on the 6th lot of the 9th Range, but 
after a time abandoned, from the band being too narrow to pay 
to overcome the difficulties in the way of working it. The slate 
produced was nearly black in color and of the best quality. The 
locality is on the Grand Trunk Railway, about three miles south 
of the village of Richmond. On the 4th lot of the Ist range of 
Kingsey, reddish-purple slates of a good kind are found in the 
high eastern bank of the St Francis River, about seven miles below 
Richmond Station. The Kingsey slates are not so hard and 
smooth as those of Melbourne and Cleveland. A Montreal com- 
pany attempted to work this quarry, but abandoned it after gra- 
ding a railway track down the bank of the St. Francis from the 
Grank Trunk at Richmond. The failure to carry out this enter- 
prise, appears to have prejudiced Montreal capitalists against slate 
quarrying generally, and to Mr. Benjamin Walton remained the 
honor of first demonstrating its profitable nature, and of develop- 
ing a great slate quarry in Canada—a quarry which is un- 
surpassed by any in the world, either in the quality of the slates 
produced, or in the facilities for working. The Kingsey slate 
band is continued into the Township of Durham, on the west side 
of the St. Francis, and has been worked to a small extent on the 
6th lot of the 4th range. At the slate rapids on the Black River, 


364 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


on the 12th lot of the 10th range of Ely, an attempt was made some 
years ago to open a quarry on a band of very fossile bluish-black 
slate. The cleavage is vertical and strikes S. 56° W. Bands of ap- 
parently good roofing slate are met with on the 14th lot of the Ist 
range of Halifax, and further to the northeast, in the Township of 
Frampton. For some distance above and below the junction of the 
Riviére du Loup with the Chaudiere, good clay slates are largely de- 
veloped. On the Riviere du Loup, halfa mile above the junction, a 
band of the rock exceeding half a mile in breadth, would, in several 
places, afford good writing and roofing slates. A locality for slate 
occurs on the 18th lot in the 3rd range of Tring. In the continua- 
tion of the Quebec group to the northeastward, slates apparently fit 
for roofing, are found on the Marsouin River in the northern part 
of the County of Gaspé, a few miles back from the St. Lawrence. 
The above mentioned slate bands in the Eastern Townships also 
belong to the Quebec group of the Lower Silurian System. In the 
Upper Silurian rocks, on the 2nd lot in the 5th range of Orford, 
dark blue roofing slates are found, not unlike those of Melbourne, 
but less smooth in cleavage; and again on the 29th lot in the 
5th range of Brompton, on what appears to be a continuation of 
the last mentioned band. Similar slates occur in West Bury on 
the St. Francis River. Slackish slates, which may be suitable for 
roofing, are met with among rocks of the same age on the Pata- 
pedia River in the county of Bonaventure. The information just - 
given in regard to the slate rocks of Canada is to be fonnd in the 
reports of the Geological Survey. 


The Walton Slate Quarry. 

A short time ago the writer accompanied Mr. Walton from Mel- 
bourne village on a visit to hisslate quarry, and obtained most of the 
following notes respecting it when on the ground.* For the infor- 
mation of those not acquainted with the geography of this part 
of the country, it may be stated that Melbourne is on the west side 
of the St. Francis River opposite to Richmond, from which the 
Grand Trunk Railway diverges in three directions—to Montreal, 
Quebec and Portland; the branch to the last mentioned, running 
or a number of miles up the east side of the river. 

After a drive of three miles along the main road up‘y e west bank of 
the river, we come to the quarry road, turning west at right angles, 


*Mr. Walton’s property has been examined by Charles Robb, Esq. 
Mine Engineer, and his report, (an abstract of which was published in the 
Journal of the Upper Canada Board of Arts and Manufaetures) has been 
sonsulted in preparing this article. 


CANADIAN ROOFING SLATE. 365 


while the scow-ferry, by which the slates are conveyed to the rail- 
way depot on the other side of the river, lies on the left, Following 
the quarry road we ascend asteep incline all the way, which,although 
difficult to surmount, is,as Mr. Walton remarked, a necessary feature 
in order to have a good slate quarry. A strip of the woods has 
been cleared on either side to allow of the access of the sun and 
wind to dry the road. In making these clearings and construct- 
ing the road, the proprietor expended about twelve hundred dol- 
lars. At the end of about a mile, we come to the cluster of 
buildings attached to the quarry, and leaving our conveyance at 
one of the boarding houses for the employés, proceed to inspect 
the works. 

The quarry itself is not seen from the approach, being 
concealed by a band of serpentine which flanks the slate band on 
the north. It was found necessary to drive a tunnel, a hundred 
feet in length, from the slope of the hill through the serpentine; 
in order to expose a workable face of the slate rock behind. In 
front of the tunnel are the sheds for manufacturing the slate, and 
a dump or spoil bank, composed of the refuse from the dr+ssing 
process. Beautiful specimens of asbestus are seen on either side 
in passing through the tunnel, from which we emerge on the Jevel 
of the floor of the quarry and find ourselves in a great roofless 
chamber, the four walls of which rise to the height of seventy feet- 
The cleavage of the slate is about perpendicular, and runs in the 
direction of the greatest iength of the quarry. As in the best 
quarries in other countries, the slate is found to improve in all the 
desirable qualities in descending, and the waste, due to surface in- 
fluences, to diminish continually. Owing to the vertical cleavage, 
the surface influences have penetrated to an astonishing depth. 
In the upper forty feet the rock was injured to such an extent, 
that fully half the material quarried was wasted, and even at the 
present depth, the same influences are still discernible, but rapidly 
dying out. 

At first the rock was so fissile that it could with diffi- 
culty be split into sufficiently thick sheets, but now the plates can 
be split to any required thickness with perfect uniformity and 
beautifully smooth surfaces. No difficulty is to be apprehended 
from imperfect cleavage in slate of this character, at the greatest _ 
depth to which the quarry can be worked. Since it is always. 
found that in working a good band of slate the quality improves. 
in respect to smoothness, regularity of cleavage, color and hard~ 


366 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


ness, in going down, it will be perceived that a first rate quarry 
requires to have such a situation that it can be advantageously 
worked to a great depth. The great depth of the principal quar- 
ries in Wales is one of the reasons which cause the Welsh slates 
to be so highly prized. | 

The peculiarly favorable position of the Walton Quarry 
and the perpendicular cleavage of the slate, offer every facility 
for the most extensive and advantageous working. The top of 
the quarry is 451 feet above the St. Francis River at the depot, so 
that ample room is afforded for working by horizontal galleries 
driven from the side of the hill, thus avoiding all expense for 
pumping and hoisting. For future working, it is proposed to run 
an adit at a level of forty feet below the present one, and ultimate- 
ly, one from the bank of the river at about 360 feet below the 
same Jevel. From this last an almost unlimited supply of the 
finest slates might be taken out at the level of the railway. The 
quarry, in its present state, is capable of yielding 20,000 squares 
a year, so that the galleries referred to may be looked upon as 
work to be performed by another generation. It measures 24 
yards in depth, 14 in breadth and 82 in length, giving a total of 
10,752 cubic yards which have been excavated. The yield of slate 
up to the present time has been about 10,000 squares. The 
proportion of waste to manufactured slate has of course very 
much diminished in the lower portion of the quarry, and there 
now remain 381 feet between the bottom of the quarry and the 
level of the St. Francis, in which even better slate may be expected 
than that hitherto obtained. 

The position of the quarry is about the centre of the 22nd lot 
in the 6th range of Melbourne township. The property to which 
it belongs comprises 1180 acres, extending in every direction 
from the quarry—as far as the railway, to the eastward—and in- 
cluding the ground around the depot. The great band of serpen- 
tine in contact with the slate has a steep slope to the north, 
while to the south of the slate band, the ground falls away gradu- 
ally, and the rock is seldom seen. The roofing slate has been 
ascertained to have a breadth of at least a third of a mile at tbe 
broadest place, and the whole of it appears to be equally good, as 
far as can be determined from surface trials. The quarry is situated 
on the widest part, and the band is traceable on the surface (west- 
ward from the river) for about a mile and a half; at the end of 
which distance it appears to be cut off by the serpentine, but 


CANADIAN ROOFING SLATE. 367 


reappears further on, East of the river, it is again met with in 
the strike, with a greatly reduced thickness. It was on this part 
of the band that the quarry in Cleveland, already mentioned, was 
opened, 

The whole series in this neighbourhood is tilted to a vertical 
attitude, and strikes 8. 45° to 55° W., or at right angles to the 
river. The serpentine affords many varieties of green and green- 
ish-black marble, of which a few have been proved by Sir 
William Logan, to be of good quality ; and the specimens in the 
Geological Muséum are generally admired. On the west end of 
the quarry lot, there occurs a bed of chromic iron, of the hard, 
dark, crystalline variety, worth fifty dollars a ton in the English 
market, containing, as 1t does, 53 per cent. of the sesqui-oxide of 
-chromium.* It appears to be obtainable in su fficient quantities to 
work at a profit. On the north-east end of the adjoining lot (22 in 
the 5th range—part of the same property) vitreous copper ore is 
found along a crack or vein in the serpentine; and further on in 
the strike, larger deposits of copper ore are found in the township of 
Orford, associated with the same rock. 

The average price of the Melbourne slates delivered at the 
railway is $3.25 per square. They are made by contract at the 
quarry at $1.75, leaving a difference of $1.50 per square. From 
this is to be deducted 25 cents for cost of carriage to the railway: 
All other contingencies are covered by 15 cents more, giving 
upwards of a collar a square, or 50 per cent. as the net profit to 
the proprietor. It is to be observed, that this calculation of 
profit is based on the present working expenses, and makes no 
allowance for past expenditure or future development. The 
quarry is now brought into good working order, and, at the 
present rates the contractors are making large profits. It is caleu- 
lated that in future, by a different sys'em of working, the proceeds 
to the proprietor will be not lessthan 100 per cent. upon the cost 
after delivering on the cars. 

It is scarcely necessary to notice the superiority of slates, both 
in regard to appearance and excellence, asa roofing material, over 
shingles, compositions, andeven metals. The original cost of slate 
is about one-third more than shingles, although cheaper in the 
end; it is one-half less than tin and one-third less than galvanized 
iron. The reason of slate not being adopted in preferenee to 
these latter, is often attributable to prejudice, arising from examples 


*Mr. Robb’s analysis. 


368 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 


where slates had been unskilfully employed. In our towns and cities 
they are now displacing these materials, and since goed wood for 
shingles is becoming scarce in the agricultural districts, we may 
look foward to the time when slates will form the principal roofing 
material used in Canada. 

But outside of our own country, the market for slates is unlim- 
ited. For instance, after being sold at Richmond, at the large 
profits just mentioned, they can be delivered in Portland for $4.14 
per square and sold in Boston and New-York at from $8 to $10. 
The western cities in the United States could be more easily sup- 
plied from the slate quarries of Eastern Canada thin from any 
others and the prices in the old world are such, that our slate 
could probably be sent there and sold to advantage. 

Among the desirable qualities of a good slate, are uniformity of 
color, smoothness of surface, durability and strength with lightness; 
all of which are possessed in an eminent degree by those of the 
Walton Quarry, the slates from it being equal to any in the world, 
They are of a bluish-black color, contain no carbonate of lime. 
are unaffected by acids and almost perfectly non-absorbent, and 
thus can, in no way, be affected by the weather. The rock is fine 
grained and splits with great facility when newly taken from the 
quarry, but the slates harden rapidly and acquire great toughness 
and strength. From analyses by Dr. T. 8. Hunt, the Melbourne 
slates are shown to have a very striking resemblance in composition 
to those from Bangor in Wales, and also to those from Angers in 
France. Slates from the latter place have been exposed for a 
hundred years, without perceptible deterioration, on the roof of 
the seminary building at the corner of Notre Dame and St. 
Francois Xavier Streets in Montreal, which proves that a slate 
covering is well adapted to resist the influence of the Canadian 
climate.* It is to be regretted that no analysis of the Vermont 
slates is available for comparison, but the purple varieties are more 
liable than our bluish black slates, to fade and give the roof a 
checkered and unsightly appearance, and hence the latter are the 
more desirable, especially where artistic arrangement is required. 
While the bands or “veins” of workable slate in the principal 
Vermont quarries are said to be only about 18 to 24 feet thick, 
the Melbourne band has been ascertained to have a thickness of 
at least 1700 feet, opposite the Walton Quarry, and to occupy a 


* Descriptive Catalogue of the Hconomical Minerals of Canada sent te 
the International Exhibition of 1862. 


CANADIAN ROOFING SLATE. 369 
surface area in this neighborhood of about a hundred acres. Such 
a volume of slate is practically inexhaustible, and judging from ap- 
pearance itis all of auniformly good quality. Myr, Walton con- 
templates manufacturing writing and slab slates at his quarry, for 
both of which the Melbourne band is admirably adapted. 

It may not be out of place here to describe the process of man- 
ufacturing the roofing slates at the Walton Quarry. The rock is 
blasted by experienced workmen, in such a way as to give regular- 
ly shaped masses, which are conveyed on a tram-way to the 
dressing sheds. Here, the blocks, fresh from the quarry, are split 
by a mallet and chizel into sheets of the required thickness 
and thrown into a heap ready for trimming. The slate dresser, 
who is seated, places the sheet upon a horizontal steel bar infront ~ 
of him, and with a thick-bladed knife or cleaver, cuts off at a blow 
the part projecting over the edge of the bar, the knife and the bar 
forming, as it were, a pair of shears. The undressed sheets are 
received on the left side, and the finished slates piled on the right, 
each size being kept separate. Mr. Walton has adopted sixteen 
sizes, varying from 6 by 12 to 14 by 24 inches, From long ex- 
perience, the slate dresser perceives at a glance the largest size 
that a sheet will produce, and in a second, trims two of its edges, 
and having marked off the other two with a measuring gage, 
squares them with two blows, the whole process being performed 
in a twinkling. 

Mr. Walton commenced opening his quarry in 1860, and hay- 
ing himself every confidence in the undertaking, pushed it steadily 
forward, in the face of meny obstacles, to the present successful re- 
sult. The outlay incurred in buying and developing the property, 
amounted to about $36,000, but the quarry and all its machinery 
are now in a condition for profitable working for a long time to 
come. At first it yielded no adequate returns, and Mr. Walton 
was obliged to work on through many a dreary day, without sym- 
pathy or encouragement. It must therefore be a great. satisfac- 
tion to him, that his most sanguine hopes have been realized. 
The quality of the slate has proved to be all that could be desired 
and the demand is already in excess of the supply, the proprietor 
having been obliged, just the other day, to refuse, amongst others, 
an order fora thousand squares. We admire the enterprise and 
perseverance, and rejoice at the success of the gentleman,who em 
barked his fortune, and bestowed his time and attention, to develop 
so important, but hitherto untried source of wealth to our country 

Melbourne, Canada East, October 8, 1863. 


« 


370 MINERAL WATERS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 


Arr. XXVI.—On the genus Stricklandia ;—proposed alteration 
of the name; by H. Briuines. 


In April 1859, I described and published in this Journal a 
genus of fossil Brachiopoda under the name of Stricklandia. In 
the Geologist for the present month, there is a figure of a fossil 
plant under the name of Stricklandia acuminata, with a note by 
Mrs. Strickland directing attention to the fact that the species 
was figured in the geology of Cheltenham, and also on the title- 
page of the Memoir of the life of Strickland. 

Of this I was not aware until reading Mrs. Strickland’s note, 
never having seen the two works cited. As it will be inconvenient 
to have two genera with precisely the same name I propose to 
change my genus to Sétricklandinia. The difference in the ter- 
mination will be quite sufficient to distinguish the two, while no 
one can regret that H. E. Strickland should have two genera 
named after him. 


Arr, XX VII—On some Mineral Waters of Nova Scotia ; by Pror. 
How, D.C.L., University of King’s College, Windsor, N.S. 

Little has yet been done in the chemical examination of the 
mineral waters of Nova Scotia from the want of a systematic 

geological survey of the Province. They are, as appear from the 
| following notices and analyses, of varied character; and there 
would be much scientific interest in an extended and thorough in- 
vestigation into their qualities and composition. At the same 
time, if the results were duly published, the medicinal virtues 
which reside in some of the waters would be made generally 
known; itis probable too that new medicinal springs might be 
discovered. ‘This is obviously a matier of sufficient importance 
to the Province, both in a sanitary aad economic point of view, to 
demand the care and attention of an enlightened government. 
Mineral springs have been and are still so frequently the sole 
means of rendering localities famous and wealthy by attracting 
residents for more or less lengthened seasons, that it is well worth 
while to possess any water of great curative value, and to make 
its merits known as extensively as possible. Nova Scotia appears 
to be able to add valuable medicinal waters to her mineral resour- 
ces awaiting exploration and development. I propose in the follow- 
ing paper to give some facts about these mineral springs, and the 
results of my analyses. 


MINERAL WATERS OF NOVA SCOTIA. ote 


Bras @ Or Saline Water, Cape Breton.—This water has an ex- 
traordinary and apparently well grounded reputation for procur- 
ing alleviations and effecting cures in various maladies ; authentic 
cases being known of much benefit resulting from its use in rheu- 
matism and severe headaches. A gentleman of high standing 
and of scientific reputation informed me that he had obtained a 
good appetite and increased strength by taking about five gallons 
of it; and by further use a moderation of the violence of asthmatic 
attacks to which he was subject ; and in fact that its employment 
had proved a real blessing to him. A water possessing such qua- 
lities would of course be much resorted to, and it was considered 
worth while to erect a house for the accommodation of visitors 
soon after the merits of this water became somewhat known. 

There appear to be three springs at this locality, situated “ near 
Kelly’s on the high road from Sydney to St. Peters, in a brook 
that empties into the Salmon River, distant some two or three 
miles from the source of the river, six or seven from the southern 
shore of the Bras d’Or lake.’ On_ referring to .the map accom- 
panying Dr. Dawson’s Acadian Geology, at about the spot so in- 
dicated, Devonian and Silurian rocks are found to come in contact 
with syenite and other igneous rocks; and I have direct informa- 
tion that the water rises in syenitic rocks. The flow is said to be 
not more than agallonin aminute. Whether all the springs be- 
come mingled in one stream I do not know; the analysis which 
follows was made on a quantity of the water most esteemed, I 
apprehend, for medicinal virtues. The amount at my disposal] 
did not enable me to make a thorough investigation, so that no 
doubt I do not give all its ingredients. The results were calculated 
for the English imperial gallon of 70,000 grains. 

The water was clear and of neutral reaction. 


Grains. 
Imonvand: Phosphoric vAcidiar. eveyeere ercielgelstere!lels = LACES. 
Carbonates of Lime and Magnesia........ Blea en Ore60 
Sulphate of Lime........ Riaapaisront sieonieiels fetes Sty staan OS 94 
@hiloridel oft Sodimmig isl. cos celled cetseisre eter O Aor lel 
Chloride of Potassium........... miisisiscaioieeveioresiel REDO) 
Chloride of Calcium....... Meicereaieislatesste siserohaneye 308.90 
Chloride of Magnesium.......... SH AOS COOL een A 4NT 

662.57 


Specific Gravity at 54° = 1007.397. 
The carbonates of lime and magnesia were thrown down by boil- 
ing. It was assumed that two thirds of the precipitate thus obtained 


372 MINERAL WATERS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 


consisted of carbonate of lime, and the calculation made accord- 
ingly ; the precipitate was so small that no great error could arise 
in this way. No iodine was detected in the saline residue from 
1500 grains of the water. 

The composition of this water is very remarkable, quantities of 
sulphates and carbonates so very small being rarely met with: the 
large amount of chloride of calcium is also very unusual. On 
looking over a large number of analyses of mineral waters, belong- 
ing to different parts of the world, I find none to resemble the 
present excepting certain Canadian waters analysed and described 
by Hunt.* These form the first of the six classes in which he has 
arranged the mineral waters of Canada, and are characterized by 
“ containing chloride of sodium with large portions of chlorides 
of calcium and magnesium, sometimes with sulphates. The car- 
bonates of lime and magnesia are either present only in very 
minute quantities, or are altogether wanting. These waters are 
generally very bitter to the taste, and always contain portions of 
bromides and iodides.” It is also remarked, by the same authority,} 
that these brine springs are altogether unlike any hitherto studied ; 
and particularly instanced are those of England, Germany, and 
the State of New York, in which the chloride of sodium greatly 
preponderates, and which are supposed to arise from the solution of 
rock salt. The brine springs of the Lower Silurian limestones. 
(such as the Canadian waters in question), on the contrary, may 
be supposed, according to Hunt, to represent the composition of 
the ancient ocean, in which these early strata were deposited. I 
have mentioned that the Bras d’Or water is said to arise in sye- 
nitic rocks, Crystalline limestones may exist at the locality : I have 
seen them in some parts of the rocks of Cape Breton coloured of 
the same tint in Dawson’s map. 

IT, Renfrew Brine Spring, Hants Co.—This spring flows near 
the gold diggings of this place. I found it to yield about 1489 
grains of solid matter to the imperial gallon, consisting principally 
of chloride of sodium, with but a small proportion cf earthy 
salts. 

IIT. Brine Spring of River Philip, Cumberland Co.—A spring 
exists here affording a dry salt of gool taste and colour; some 
pounds of which were sent to the Exhibition at London in 1862. No 
information was furnished as to the spring; it arises no doubt in 


* Report on Geology of Canada, 1863, p. 531. 
t Loc. cit p. 563. 


_ MINERAL WATERS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 373 


¢arboniferous rocks, in which formation salt springs are known to 
-exist in several parts of this and other counties. Nothing however 
has yet been done in their examination; and the River Philip 
spring is the only one, so far as I know, that has been turned to 
any account. 

IV. Wilmot Springs, Annapolis Co.—These, situated about 100 
miles from Halifax, afford a water which has been much resorted 
to. Rev. Dr. Robertson, rector of the parish of Wilmot, has 
obligingly furnished me the following information. ‘The water of 
the Wilmot springs is cold, with an abundant flow, and is highly 
charged with mineral substances, chiefly iron and copper (?) No 
correct analysis of it, I rather think, has yet been made. It is 
said to contain a small proportion of iodine. In former times 
the springs were much frequented, but of late years very few 
visitors have come to them. The water however is remarkably 
efficacious in curing cutaneous complaints or eruptions. In my own 
opinion the Wilmot springs deserve to be better known and more 
frequented than they are at present. If the proprietors were men 
of substance and energy, I have not a doubt but that their locality 
‘would be one of the best known places in all Nova Scotia.” - 

V. Thermal? Spring near Chester, Lunenburg Co.—Amos F. 
Morgan, Esq., has furnished me with the following details of a spring 
of clear water issuing in the centre of a rising ground or small 
hillock in the woods in the neighbourhood of Chester. The tem- 
perature of the atmosphere at the time of finding the spring, in 
the beginning of March, was below the freezing point; but of the 
water, as far as could ba judged, about that of new milk, the pool 
having no appearance of having been frozen over the whole 
winter. The basin filled with the water was considered to be 
about eight feet square. The mud at the bottom was covered 
with small holes about the size of a man’s finger, and out of these 
rose continually bubbles of gas. The water tasted slightly bitter, 
or perhaps was imagined to taste so, but was peculiarly soft, so 
much so, that it felt more like oil than water in the mouth. Jt is 
possible that this water is decidedly thermal; and it would seem, 
from its described taste and oily character in the mouth, to be 
highly alkaline. The gas arising appears to be abundant. This 
water would be well worth investigation. 

VI. Spa Spring Water, Windsor, Hants Co—This is a 
water rising ina field in a district in which gypsum is one of 
the prevailing rocks, the geological age being Lower Carboniferous. 


374 MINERAL WATERS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 


The water has long been considered chalybeate, and has been 
taken medicinally by a number of persons, with what effect I do not 
know. It is well known asa favorite drink for horses and cattle: 
The chalybeate character of the water was inferred from its pos- 
sessing a strong inky taste, and also from a certain red deposit 
found in the conduit pipes through which it ran, both of which 
were justly attributed to the presence of iron, There is however 
very little iron in the water as it issues from its outlet, as is seen 
in the following analysis made of the water carefully collected 
in a small reservoir filled immediately from the spring rising 
beneath. 

The water was perfectly colourless and clear ; it had little taste, 
and that not inky; its temperature was 49° F., that of the air 
being 31°. It afforded the following constituents in an imperial 
gallon : 


Grains. 
Carbonatexoflaumenjentsc em scientist crcicin terse: 17.50 
Carhonaterotp lr onlyereeriatyeisiteictevelel clelsholerelsisialetel eke s*  0.40 
Carbonate of Magnesia’.......0.cece reece oavaooo 0.31 
Sulphate of Lime............ eateetelchalelsseletere eharele - 106.21 
Swlphatepotms od aacrcteie-leseteyscieietel cieherciel vetoes hs 2. OES 
SulphatevormPotassayaysmicl-ccieceulekeloeeiaicileteyevereineterelolele 0.38 
Sulphate of Magnesia)... 6.60.06 cnc ae uncles nes 11.02 
Chloride of Sodium........ Mrselnicteratercterieicielsisieverciste 0:90 
Phosphoric Acid and organic matter.......e.ees-ee traces” 
SCD os onbadaddoudod pindoane Joldosdooocosedod 0-60 
Grains) iniaporallomy sy feporstciavehare cdeseatorheyolatelsiatele eee PLS OLO, 
Free Carbonic Acid (1.35 cubic inch at 32° ) 0.64 
Specific Gravity, at 490 Paden) cci. sfaics ie 0 weele 1001.858 


This water would be placed in the sixth class of Hunt,* peing 
rich in sulphates. The sulphate of lime (derived no doubt from 
the prevai:ing gypsum,) which is the characteristic ingredient, is 
present in larger amount in only one out of fifteen waters from 
Cheltenham in England, and is by no means a common consti- 
tuent of waters in such large proportion. The water is known 
to possess purgative properties when taken freely, owing in part no 
doubt to the sulphate of magnesia present. The inky taste and the 
red deposit from the water are due to its action on the soil, and to its 
admixture with surface water, and are only observed when precau- 
tions are not taken to keep the spring-water pure. The chalybeate 


* Report on Geology of Canada, 1863, p. 532. 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM. ARMSTRONG. B15 


impregvation thus obtained is of course valuable, but will be 
subject to variation. | 

From the well marked characters of the waters mentioned in 
this paper it is evident that, in a systematic survey of the Province, 
the inquiry into its mineral springs would form a very interesting 
and useful part of the work involved in so desirable an under- 
taking. 


BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 

The British Association commenced its labours for the year by 
the introductory speech from the President. Sir W. Armstrong 
spoke as follows :—** 

Gentlemen of the British Association,—I esteem it the greatest 
honour of my life that I am called upon to assume the office of your 
President. In that capacity, and as representing your body, I 
may be allowed to advert to the gratifying reception which the 
British Association met with on their former visit to this region of 
mining and manufacturing industry ; and, as a member of the com- 
munity which you have again honoured with a visit, | undertake 
to convey to you the assurance of a renewed and hearty welcome. 
A quarter of the century has elapsed since the Association assem- 
bled in this town, andin no former period of equal duration has so 
great a progress been made in physical knowledge. In mechanical 
science, and especially in those branches of it which are concerned 
in the application of steam power to effect interchange between dis- 
tant communities, the progress made since 1838 has no parallel in 
history. The railway system was then in its infancy, and the 
great problem of Transatlantic steam navigation had only received 
its complete solution in the preceding year. Since that time 
railyays have extended to every continent, and steamships haye 
covered the ocean. These reflections claim our attention on this 
occasion, because the locality in which we hold our present meet- 
ing is the birthplace of railways, and because .the coal mines of 
this district have contributed more largely than any others to 
supply the motive power by which steam communication by land 
and water has been established on so gigantic a scale. . 

THE COALFIELDS. 

The coalfields of this district, so intimately connected with the 

railway system, both in its origin and maintenance, will, doubt- 


* Cited from the “ Weekly Review.” 


376 MEETING OF BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


less, receive much attention from the association at their present 
meeting. To persons who contend that all geological phenomena 
may be attributed to causes identical in nature and degree with 
those now in operation, the formation of coal must present peculiar 
dificulty. The rankness of vegetation which must have existed 
in the carboniferous era, and the uniformity of climate which 
appears to have prevailed almost from the poles to the equator, 
would seem to imply a higher temperature of the earth’s crust, 
and an atmosphere more laden with humidity and carbonic acid 
than exist in our day. But, whatever may have been the geologi- 
cal conditions affecting the origin of coal, we may regard the de- 
posits of that mineral as vast magazines of power stored up at 
periods immeasurably distant for our use. The principle of con- 
servation of force and the relationship now established between 
heat and motion enable us to trace back the effects which we now 
derive from coal to equivalent agencies exercised at the periods of 
its formation. The philosophical mind of George Stevenson, 
unaided by theoretical knowledge, rightly saw that coal was the 
embodiment of power originally derived from the sun. That small 
pencil of solar radiation which is arrested by our planet, and which 
constitutes less than the 2,000-millionth part of the total energy 
sent forth from the sun, must be regarded as the power which 
enabled the plants of the carboniferous period to wrest the carbon 
they required from the oxygen with which it was combined, and 
eventually to deposit it as the solid material of coal. In our day, 
the reunion of that carbon with oxygen restores the energy ex- 
pended in the former process, and thus we are enabled to utilize 
the power originally derived from the luminous centre of our 
planetary system. But the agency of the sun in originating coal 
does not stop at this point. In every period of geological history 
the waters of the ocean have been lifted by the action of the sun 
and precipitated in rain upon theearth. This has givenrise to all 
those sedimentary actions by which mineral substances have been 
collected at particular localities, and there deposited in a stratified 
form with a protecting cover to preserve them for future use. 

*K * ok *K *K *% *K *k *K 7% *k 

IS COAL THE MOST ECONOMIC HEAT POWER ? 

The causes which render the application of heat so uneconomic 
in the steam-engine have been brought to light by the discovery of 
the dynamical theory of heat; and it now remains for mechani- 
cians, guided by the light they have thus received, to devise im- 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. B17 


proved practical methods of converting the heat of combustion 
into available power. Engines in which the motive power is ex- 
-cited by the communication of heat to fluids already existing in 
the aeriform condition, as in those of Sterling, Ericsson, and Sie- 
_ mens, promise to afford results greatly superior to those obtained 
from the steam-engine. They are all based upon the principle of 
employing fuel to generate sensible heat, to the exclusion of latent 
heat, which is only another name for heat which has taken the 
form of unprofitable motion among the particles of fluid to which 
it is applied. They also embrace what is called the regenerative 
principle—a term which has, with reason, been objected to, as im- 
plying a restoration of expended heat. The so-called “ regenera- 
tor’ is a contrivance for arresting unutilized heat rejected by the 
engine, and causing it to operate in aid and consequent reduction 
of fuel. It is a common observation that before coal is exhausted 
some other motive agent will be discovered to take its place, and 
electricity is generally cited as the coming power. Electricity, 
like heat, may be converted into motion, and both theory and prac- 
tice have demonstrated that its mechanical application does not 
involve so much waste of power as takes place in a steam-engine ; 
but, whether we use heat or electricity as a motive power, we must 
equally depend upon chemical affinity as the source of supply. 
The act of uniting to form a chemical product liberates an energy 
which assumes the form of heat or electricity, from either of which 
states it is convertible into mechanical effect. In contemplating, 
therefore, the application of electricity as a motive power we must 
bear in mind that we shall still require to effect chemical combi- 
nations, and in so doing to consume materials. But where are we 
to find materials so economical for this purpose as the coal we 
derive from the earth and the oxygen we derive from the air? 
The latter costs absolutely nothing ; and every pound of coal which 
in the act of combustion enters into chemical combination renders 
more than 23lbs. of oxygen available for power. We cannot look 
to water as a practicable source of oxygen, for there it exists in 
the combined state, requiring expenditure of chemical energy for its 
separation from hydrogen. It is in the atmosphere alone that it can 
be found in that free state in which we require it’; and there does 
appear to me to be the remotest chance, in an economic point of 
view, of being able to dispense with the oxygen of the air as a 
source either of thermodynamic or electrodynamic effect. But to 


Can. Nat, 25 Vor. VIII. 


378 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


use this oxygen we must consume some omdizable substance, and 

coal is the cheapest we can procure. 

*k *K *k * *K *k *k *K *K * * 
MISCELLANEOUS USES OF COAL. 

I have hitherto spoken of coal only as a source of mechanical 
power, put it is also extensively used for the kindred purpose of. 
relaxing those cohesive forces which resist our efforts to give new. 
forms and conditions to solid substances. In these appli- 
cations, which are generally of a metallurgical nature, the same 
wasteful expenditure of fuel is everywhere observable. In an or- 
dinary furnace employed to fuse or soften any solid substances, it 
is the excess of the heat of combustion over that of the heated 
body which alone is rendered available for the purpose intended ; 
the rest of the heat, which in many instances constitutes by far 
the greater proportion of the whole, is allowed to escape uselessly 
into the chimney. The combustion also in common furnaces is so 
imperfect that clouds of powdered carbon, in the form of smoke, 
envelope our manufacturing towns; and gases, which ought to be 
completely oxygenized in the fire, pass into the open air with two- 
thirds of their heating power undeveloped. Some remedy for this 
state of things, we may hope, is at hand in the gas regenerative 
furnaces recently introduced by Mr. Siemens. In these furnaces 
the rejected heat is arrested by a so-called ‘regenerator,’ as in 
Stirling’s air engine, and is communicated to the new fuel before 
it enters the furnace. The fuel, however, is not solid coal, but 
gas previously evolved from coal. A stream of this gas raised to 
a high temperature by the rejected heat of combustion is admitted 
into the furnace, and there meets a stream of atmospheric air also 
raised to a high temperature by the same agency. In the combi- 
nation which then ensues, the heat evolved by the combustion is 
superadded to the heat previously acquired by the gases. Thus, 
in addition to the advantage of economy, a greater intensity of 
heat is attained than by the combustion of unheated fuel. In fact, 
as the heat evolved in the furnace, or so much of it as is not com- 
municated to the bodies exposed to its action, continually returns 
to augment the effect of the new fuel, there appears to be no limit 
to the temperature attainable except the powers of resistance in 
the materials of which the furnace is composed. With regard to 
smoke, which is at once a waste and a nuisance, having myself 
taken part with Dr. Richardson and Dr. Longridge in a series of 
experiments made in this neighbourhood in the years 1857-58, for 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 319 


the purpose of testing the practicability of preventing smoke in 
the combustion of bituminous coal in steam-engine boilers, I can 
state with perfect confidence that so far as the raising of steam is 
concerned, the production of smoke is unnecessary and inexcusable, 
The experiments to which I refer proved beyond a doubt that by 
an easy method of firing, combined with a due admission of air 
and a proper arrangement of fire-grate, not involving any complex- 
ity, the emission of smoke might be perfectly avoided, and that 
the prevention of smoke increased the economic value of the fuel 
and the evaporative power of the boiler. As a rule, there is more 
smoke evolved from the fires of steam-engines than from any others, 
and it is in these fires that it may be most easily prevented. But 
in the furnaces used for most manufacturing operations the pre- 
vention of smoke is much more difficult, and will probably not be 
effected until a radical change is made in the system of applying 
fuel for such operations. Not less wasteful and extravagant is 
our mode of applying coal for domestic purposes. It is computed 
that the consumption of coal in dwelling-houses amounts, in this 
country, to a ton per head per annum of the entire population ; so 
that upwards of 29,000,000 tons are annually expended in Great 
Britain alone for domestic use. If any one will consider that 1b. 
of coal applied to a well-constructed steam-engine boiler, evaporates 
10lb. or one gallon of water, and if he will compare this effect with 
the insignificant quantity of water which can be boiled off in steam 
by 1lb. of coal consumed in an ordinary kitchen fire, he will be 
able to appreciate the enormous waste which takes place by the 
common method of burning coal for culinary purposes. The sim- 
plest arrangements to confine the heat and concentrate it upon the 
operation to be performed would suffice to obviate this reprehensi- 
ble waste. So also in warming houses, we consume in our open 
fires about five times as much coal as will produce the same heat- 
ing effect when burnt in a close and properly constructed stove. 
Without sacrificing the luxury of a visible fire, it would be easy, 
by attending to the principles of radiation and conyection,, to ren- 
der available the greater part of the heat which is now so improvi- 
dently discharged into thechimney. These are homely considera- 
tions—too much so, perhaps, for an assembly like this; but I 
trust that an abuse involving a useless expenditure, exceeding in 
amount our income-tax, and capable of being rectified by attention 
to scientific principles, may not be deemed unworthy of the notice 


of some of those whom I have the honour of addressing. 
* * * * * * * * *% * 


380 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


NEW FORM OF CARBURETTED HYDROGEN. 


_ Before dismissing the subject of coal, it may be proper to notice 
the recent discovery by Berthelot of a new form of carburetted 
hydrogen possessing twice the illuminating power of ordinary coal 
gas. Berthelot succeeded in procuring this gas by passing hy- 
drogen between the carbon electrodes of a powerful battery. Dr. 
Odling has since shown that the same gas may be produced by 
mixing carbonic oxide with an equal volume of light carburetted 
hydrogen and exposing the mixture in a porcelain tube to an in- 
tense heat. Still more recently, Mr. Siemins has detected the 
same gas in the highly-heated regenerators of his furnaces, and 
there is now every reason to believe that the new gas will become 
practically available for illuminating purposes. Thus it is that 
discoveries which in the first instance interest the philosopher only, 
almost invariably initiate a rapid series of steps leading to results 
of great’practical importance to mankind. In the course of the 
preceding observations I have had occasion to speak of the sun as 
the great source of motive power on our earth, and I must not 
omit to refer to recent discoveries connected with that most glorious 
body. 
MATERIALS OF WHICH THE SUN IS MADE. 


Of all the results which science has produced within the last 
few years, none has been more unexpected than that by which we 
are enabled to test the materials of -which the sun is made, and 
prove their identity, in part at least, with those of our planet. The 
spectrum experiments of Bunsen and’ Kirchhoff have not only 
shown allthis, but they have also corroborated previous conjec- 
tures as to the luminous envelope of the sun. I have still to ad- 
vert to Mr. Nasmyth’s remarkable discovery, that the bright sur- 
face of the sun is composed of an aggregation of apparently solid 
forms, shaped like willow-leaves or some well-known forms of Dia- 
tomaceee, and interlacing one another in every direction. The 
forms are so regular in size and shape- as to have led to a sugges- 
tion from one of our profoundest philosophers of their being or- 
ganisms, possibly even partaking of the nature of life, but, at all 
events, closely connected with the heating and vivifying influences 
of the sun. ‘These mysterious objects, which, since Mr. Nasymth 
discovered them, have been seen by other observers as well, are 
computed to be each not less than 1,000 miles in length and about 
100 miles in breadth, The enormous chasms in the sun’s photo- 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 381 


sphere, to which we apply the diminutive term “ spots,” exhibit 
the extremities of those leaf-like bodies pointing inwards, and 
fringing the sides of the cavern far down into the abyss. Some- 
times they form a sort of rope or bridge across the chasm, and ap- 
pear to adhere to one another by lateral attraction. I can imagine 
nothing more deserving of the scrutiny of observers than these ex- 
traordinary forms. The sympathy also which appears to exist 
between forces operating in the sun and magnetic forces belonging 
to the earth merits a continuance of. that close attention which it 
has already received from the British Association, and of labours 
such as General Sabine has with so much ability and effect devoted 
to the elucidation of the subject. I may here notice that the most 
remarkable phenomenon which was seen by independent observers 
at two different places on the 1st of September, 1859. A sudden 
outburst of light, far exceeding the brightness of the sun’s surface, 
was seen to take place, and sweep like a drifting cloud over a por- 
tion of the solar face. This was attended with magnetic distur- 
bances of unusual intensity and with exhibitions of aurora of extra- 
ordinary brilliancy. The identical instant at which the effusion 
of light was observed was recorded by an abrupt and strongly 
marked deflection in the self-registering instruments at Kew. The 
phenomenon as seen was probably only part of what actually took 
place, for the magnetic storm in the midst of which it occurred 
commenced before and continued after the event. If conjecture be 
allowable in such a case, we may suppose that this remarkable 
event had some connexion with the means by which the sun’s 
heat is renovated. It is a reasonable supposition that the sun 
was at that time in the act of receiving a more than usual acces- 
sion of new energy ; and the theory which assigns the maintenance 
of its power to cosmical matter plunging into it with that prodi- 
gious velocity which gravitation would impress upon it, as it ap- 
proached to actual contact with the solar orb, would afford an ex- 
planation of this sudden exhibition of intensified light in harmony 
with the knowledge we have now attained that arrested motion is 
represented by equivalent heat. Teloscopic observations will pro- 
bably add new facts to guide our judgment on this subject, and, 
taken in connexion with observations on terrestrial magnetism, 
may enlarge and correct our views respecting the nature of heat, 
light, and electricity. Much as we have yet to learn respecting 
these agencies, we know sufficient to infer that they cannot be 
transmitted from the sun to the earth except by communication 


382 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


from particle to particle of intervening matter. Not that I speak 
of particles in the sense of the atomist. Whatever our views may 
be of the nature of particles, we must conceive them as centres in- 
vested with surrounding forces. We have no evidence, either 
from our senses or otherwise, of these centres being occupied by 
solid cores of indivisible incompressible matter essentially distinct 
from force. Dr. Young has shown that even in so dense a body 
as water, these nuclei, if they exist at all, must be so small in re- 
lation to the intervening spaces, that 100 men distributed at equal 
distances over the whole surface of England would represent their 
relative magnitude and distance. What then must be these rela- 
tive dimensions in highly rarefied matter? But why encumber 
our conceptions of material forces by this unnecessary imagining 
of a central molecule? If we retain the forces and reject the mole- 
cule, we shall still have every property we can recognize in matter 
by the use of our senses or by the aid of our reason. Viewed in 
this light, matter is not merely a thing subject to force, but is 
itself composed and constituted of force. 
DYNAMICAL THEORY OF HEAT. 

The dynamical theory of heat is probably the most important 
discovery of the present century. We now know that each 
Fahrenheit degree of temperature in a pound of water is equiva- 
lent to a weight of 772 lbs. lifted one foot high, and that these 
amounts of heat and power are reciprocally convertible into one 
another. This theory of heat, with its numerical computation, is 
chiefly due to the labours of Mayer and Joule, though many other 
names, including those of Thomson and Rankine, are deservedly 
associated with its development. I speak of this discovery as one 
of the present age because it has been established in our time ; 
but if we search back for earlier conception of the identity of 
heat and motion, we shall find (as we always do in such cases) that 
similar ideas have been held before, though in a clouded and un- 
demonstrated form. In the writings of Lord Bacon we find it 
stated that heat is to be regarded as motion, and nothing else. In 
dilating upon this subject, that extraordinary man shows that he 
had grasped the true theory of heat to the utmost extent that was 
compatible with the state of knowledge existing in his time. Even 
Aristotle seems to have entertained the idea that motion was to be 
considered as the foundation not only of heat, but of all manifes- 
tations of matter; and, for aught we know, still earlier thinkers 
may have held similar views. The science of gunnery, to which 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 383 


I shall make but slight allusion on this occasion, is intimately con- 
nected with the dynamical theory of heat. When gunpowder is 
exploded in a cannon, the immediate effect of the affinities by 
which the materials of the powder are caused to enter into new 
combinations is to liberate a force which first appears as heat, and 
then takes the form of mechanical power communicated in part to 
the shot and in part to the products of explosion, which are also 
propelled from the gun. The mechanical force of the shot is re- 
converted into heat when the motion is arrested by striking an 
object, and this heat is divided between the shot and the object 
struck, in the proportion of the work done or damage inflicted 
upon each. These considerations recently led me, in conjunction 
with my friend Captain Noble, to determine experimentally, by the 
heat elicited in the shot, the loss of effect due to its crushing when 
fired against iron plates. Joule’s law, and the known velocity of 
the shot, enabled us to compute the number of dynamical units of 
heat representing the whole mechanical power in the projectile, and 
‘by ascertaining the number of units developed in it by impact, we 
arrived at the power which took effect upon the shot instead of 
the plate. These experiments showed an enormous absorption of 
power to be caused by the yielding nature of the materials of 
which projectiles are usually formed; but further experiments are 
required to complete the inquiry. 
ASSIMILATING OF MEASUREMENTS. 

Another subject of a social character which demands our consi- 
‘deration is the much-debated question of weights and measures. 
Whatever difference of opinion there may be as to the comparative 
merits of decimal and duodecimal division, there can, at all events, 
be none as to the importance of assimilating the systems of measu- 
rement in different countries. Science suffers by the want of uni- 
formity, because valuable observations made in one country are in 
a great measure lost to another from the labours required to con- 
vert a series of quantities into new denominations. International 
commerce is also impeded by the same cause, which is productive 
of constant inconvenience and frequent mistake. It is much to 
be regretted that two standards of measure so nearly alike as the 
English yard and the French metre should not be made absolutely 
identical. The metric system has already been adopted by other 
nations besides France, and is the only one which has any chance 
of becoming universal. We in England, therefore, have no alter- 


384 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


native but to conform with France, if we desire general uniformity. 

The change might easily be introduced in scientific literature, and 

in that case it would probably extend itself hy degrees among the 

commercial classes without much legislative pressure. Besides 

the advantage which would thus be gained in regard to uniformity, 

I am conyinced that the adoption of the decimal division of the 

French scale would be attended with great convenience, both in 

science and commerce. I can speak from personal experience of 
the superiority of the decimal measurement in all cases where ac- 

curacy is required in mechanical construction. In the Elswick 

Works, as well as in some other large establishment of the same- 
description, the inch is adopted as the unit, and all fractional parts 

are expressed in decimals. No difficulty has been experienced in 

habituating the workmen to the use of this method, and it has 

greatly contributed to precision of workmanship. The inch, how-. 
eyer, is too small a unit, and it would be advantageous to substitute: 
the metre, if general concurrence could be obtained. As to our 
thermometric scale, it was originally found in error; it is also most 

inconyenient in division, and ought at once to be abandoned in 

favour of the Centigrade scale. The recognition of the metric 

system and of the Centigrade scale by the numerous men of science 

composing the British Association, would be a most important step 

towards aflecting that universal adoption of the French standards 

in this country which sooner or later will inevitably take place; 

and the Association in its collective capacity might take the lead 

in this good work, by excluding in future all other standards from 

their published proceedings. 

DISCOVERY OF SOURCES OF NILE. 

The recent discovery of the source of the Nile by Captains Speke 
and Grant has solved a problem in geography which has been a 
subject of speculation from the earliest ages. It is an honour to 
England that this interesting discovery has been made by two of 
her sons; and the British Association, which is accustomed to 
value every addition to knowledge for its own sake, whether or not 
it be attended with any immediate utility, will at once appreciate 
the importance of the discovery and the courage and deyotion by 
which it has been accomplished. The Royal Geological Society, 
under the able presidency of Sir Roderick Murchison, was chiefly 
instrumental in procuring the organization of the expedition which 
has resulted in this achievement, and the success of the Society’s 
labours in connexion with this and other cases of African explora- 


SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 385 


tion shows how much good may be affected by associations for the 
promotion of scientific objects. 


DARWIN'S AND SIR GC. LYELL’S WORKS. 


The science of organic life has of late years been making great 
and rapid strides, and it is gratifying to observe that researches 
both in zoology and botany are characterized in the present day by 
great accuracy and elaboration. Investigations patiently con- 
ducted upon true inductive principles cannot fail eventually to 
elicit the hidden laws which govern the animated world. Neither 
is there any lack of bold speculation contemporaneously with this 
painstaking spirit of inquiry. The remarkable work of Mr. Dar- 
win, promulgating the doctrine of natural selection, has produced 
a profound sensation. The novelty of this ingenious theory, the. 
eminence of its author, and his masterly treatment of the subject, 
have, perhaps, combined to excite more enthusiasm in its favor 
than is consistent with that dispassionate spirit which it is so 
necessary to preserve in the pursuit of truth. Mr. Darwin’s 
views have not passed unchallenged, and the arguments both for 
and against have been urged with great vigour by the supporters 
and oponents of the theory. Where good reasons can be shown | 
on both sides of a question the truth is generally to be found be- 
tween the two extremes. In the present instance we may without 
difficulty suppose it to have been part of the great scheme of 
creation that natural selection should be permitted to determine 
variations amounting even to specific differences where those differ- 
ences were matters of degree; but when natural selection is ad- 
duced as a cause adequate to explain the production of a new 
organ not provided for in original creation, the hypothesis must 
appear to common apprehensions to be pushed beyond the limits 
of reasonable conjecture. The Darwinian theory, when fully 
enunciated, founds the pedigree of living nature upon the most 
elementary form of vitalized matter. One step further would carry 
us back without greater violence to probability, to inorganic rudi- 
ments, and then we should be called upon to recognize in our- 
selves, and in the exquisite elaborations of the animal and vege- 
table kingdoms, the ultimate results of mere material forces left 
free to follow their own unguided tendencies. Surely our minds 
would in that case be more oppressed with a sense of the miracu- 
lous than they now are in attributing the wondrous things around 
us to the creative hand of a great presiding Intelligence. The 


386 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


evidences bearing upon the antiquity of man have been recently 
produced in a collected and most logically-treated form by Sir 
Charles Lyell. It seems no longer possible to doubt that the 
human race has existed on the earth in a barbarian state for a 
period far exceeding the limit of historical record; but, not- 
withstanding this great antiquity, the proofs still remain 
unaltered that man is the latest as well as the noblest- work 
of God. I will not run the risk of wearying this assembly by 
extending my remarks to other branches of science. In conclusion 
I will express a hope that when the time again comes round to 
receive the British Association in this town its members will find 
the interval to have been as fruitful as the corresponding period 
on which we now look back. The tendency of progress is to 
quicken progress, because every acquisition in science is so much 
vantage ground for fresh attaimment. We may expect, therefore, 
to increase our speed ,as we struggle forward; but however high 
we climb in the pursuit of knowledge we shall still see heights 
above us, and the more we extend our view the more conscious we 
shall be of the immensity which lies beyond.” 


CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 


We give the President’s address in full :—“ Before the Section 
enters upon the business for which it meets—that is to say, the 
consideration of Papers and Reports upon Special Branches of 
Chemistry and the Chemical Arts—it may not be unacceptable to 
cast a brief and cursory glance at some few topics illustrative of 
the tendencies of chemical science during the last few years and of 
its applications to some of the manufacturing arts. One of the 
most remarkable features of the progress of our science is the rapid 
rate at which materials have been accumulating by the labours of 
chemists in the so-called organic department of the science. The 
study of the transformation of organic bodies leads to the discovery 
of new acids, new bases, new alcohols, new ethers, and at a con- 
stantly increasing rate which is truly wonderful. Some of these 
new substances are found to possess properties which can at once 
be applied to practical manufacturing processes, such as dyeing, d&c.; 
but the greater number of them remain in our laboratories, and 
museums, and text-books, and serve to teach us new instances of the 
combining forces of matter. The influence of this rapid growth 
of materials upon our knowledge of principles and laws of combin- 
ation, which constitute the science of chemistry, has been simul- 


SPEECH OF PROF. WILLIAMSON. 387 


taneous with the discoveries of the materials themselves; and the 
material and intellectual progress of organic chemistry have gone 
on so regularly hand in hand that it is impossible to say which has 
done most in helping the other. It is, accordingly, observed that 
the science has been simplified by every important addition to her 
materials; instead of isolated unmeaning substances, with formule 
so complex and unintelligible as to be troublesome to chemists and 
truly distressing to learners, we have now definite and intelligible 
families of bodies, cf which the members are most harmoniously 
united together by some law of composition, and whose connection 
with neighbouring families is similarly clear and satisfactory. New 
discoveries are constantly coming in to fill up the gaps which still 
disfigure our growing system. In mineral, or inorganic chemistry, 
there is not the same scope for discovering at present, inasmuch as 
the elements which belong to it do not combine in those numerous 
proportions which occuramong the chief elements of organic bodies. 
But yet, mineral chemistry has not been standing still: for even 
the heavy metals most remote in their properties from those volatile 
and unstable substances of organic chemistry, have been got in 
many instances to combine with them; and the organo-metallic 
- bodiesthus formed have not only proved most valuable and powerful 
agents of decomposition, but they have served as a connecting link 
between the two branches of chemical science. A system of classifi- 
cation of elements is now coming into use, in which the heavy 
metals arrange themselves harmoniously with the elements of 
organic bodies, and in accordance with the principles which were 
discovered by a study of organic compounds. It is now many years 
since the attention of chemists was directed by a French professor 
to some inconsistencies which had crept into our system of atomic 
weights, Gerhardt showed that the principles which were adopted 
in fixing the atomic weight of elementary bodies generally required 
us toadopt for oxygen, carbon, and sulphur numbers twice as great 
as those generally in use for those elements. The logic of his argu- 
ments was unanswerable; and yet Gerhardt’s conclusions gained 
but few adherents. It is to be observed that for some years Ger- 
hardt represented chemical reactions by so-called synoptic form- 
ulze, which took no account of the existence of organic radicles, 
These synoptic formule represent in the simplest terms the result 
of a chemical reaction ; but they give no physical image of the pro- 
gress by which the reaction is brought about. The introduction, in 
this country,of the water-type in connectionwith poly-atomic as well 


388 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


as mon-atomic radicles, was found to satisfy the requirements of the 
synoptic formule. Gerhardt was the first to adopt them from us 

He gave, in his admirable ‘Traité de Chimie Organique,’ a system 
of organic chemistry on that plan; and his book has been of im- 
mense service to the development of our science. The extension of 
these principles to mineral chemistry had been commenced in the 
cases of the commonest acids and bases; but their general intro- 
duction met with difficulties, and sometimes seemed wanting to 
their complete success. I must now travel southward for a short 
time, and ask you to accompany me to the sunny land of glorious: 
memories, and to its southern dependency—the Island of Sicily. It 
was reserved for Professor Cannizzaro, of the University of Paler- 
mo, to show us how the remainder of the knot could be untied. 
He argued, upon physical as well as chemical grounds, that the 
atomic weight of many metals ought to be doubled, as well as 
those of oxygen, sulphur, and carbon. His conclusion is confirmed 
by the constitution of those organo-metallic bodies which I mention- 
ed just now ; and it certainly does seem to supply what was still 
wanting for the non-metallic elements to the heavy metals them- 
selves. Theelements are now arranged into two principal groups :— 
Ist. Those of which each atom combines with an uneven number 
of atoms of chlorine or hydrogen. 2nd. Those of which each 
atom combines with an even number of atoms of chlorine or hy- 
drogen. Like every classification founded upon nature, this one 
draws no absolute line, as some elements belong to both classes. 
The first group includes the mon-atomic elements of the chlorine 
family, the tri-atomic elements of the nitrogen family, hydrogen 
and the alkali-metals, silver and gold—in al) about eighteen ele- 
ments. The usual atomic weights of these are retained. The 
usual atomic weights ofall the other elements, biatomic, tetratomic 
&c., are doubled. The second group includes the oxygen family 
—carbon, silicon, and the alkaline earths; the metals, zinc, iron, 
copper, lead, &c. Every step in our theoretical development of 
chemistry has served to consolidate and extend the atomic theory ; 
but it is interesting to observe that the retention of that theory 
has involved the necessity of deprving it of the absolute character 
which it at first possessed. Organic compounds were long ago dis- 
covered, containing atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, in 
proportions far from simple ; and the atomic theory must have been 
abandoned but for the discovery that the atomic, or rather mole- 
cular weights of these compounds correspond invariably to entire 


SPEECH OF PROF. WILLIAMSON. 389 


numbers of the elementary atoms, We now use the term molecule 
for those groups which hold together during a variety of transfor- 
formations, but which can be resolved into simpler constituents ; 
whilst we receive the word atom for those particles which we cannot 
break up, and which there is no reason for believing that we ever 
shall breakup. Amongst the most brilliant extensions of our means 
of observation have been the researches in spectrum analysis. The 
application of these beautiful methods to the investigation of min« 
erals has already led to the discovery of three volatile metals which 
had previously escaped observation, whilst its extension to the in- 
vestigation of the light which reaches our planet from the heavenly 
bodies has led to the recognition, in several of them, of elements 
identical, in this respect at least, with some of our elements in this 
earth. An eminent French chemist has recently taken occasion, 
in reporting the results of some researches on the new metal ‘Thal- 
lium,’ to volunteer insinuations against Mr. Crooke’s claim to that 
discovery. M. Dumas considers it corroborative of his views that 
Mr. Crooke did not refer the consideration of his claims, on the 
first opportunity, to a jury of gentlemen, formed for examining 
products of manufacturing industry at the National Exhibition of 
1862, I have felt it my duty to allude publicly to this proceeding, 
because it occurred in a report of a commission of the French 
Academy, published by the order of that distinguished body. Before 
proceeding from the scientific and intellectual progress of chem- 
istry, I must beg leave to refer briefly to the educational effects of 
the progress. Little, indeed, would our conquests over nature 
avail us if they are only known to the systematic cultivators of 
science and only used by them; and, unless the popular dissemi- 
nation of knowledge keeps pace with its extension, the chief fruits 
of that extension will be lost. It would be unjust to deny that some 
important steps have been taken of late years by various governing 
bodies in this country towards giving to experimental science a posi- 
tion in national education; but these steps are only the beginning 
of a reform in education which must go much farther in order to 
be effectual. In illustration of what has been done, 1 may mention 
the admission of chemistry and physics into the list of subjects of 
examination for various Government appointments, civil and mili- 
tary; but the small vaiue which the framers of the schemes placed 
upon these sciences, compared to mathematies, is but too plainly 
shown by the small number of marks which they assign to the ut- 
most recognized proficiency in them; so that the effect of the re- 


390 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


cognition is tantamount to saying, ‘We can’t help acknowledging 
these sciences, but we want to encourage the study of themas little: 
as possible.’ The medical corporation, who influence the studies 
of the rising generation of practitioners by their examinations, have 
not only recognized the necessity of a thorough knowledge of che- 
mistry, but many of them require the knowledge to be acquired in 
the lecture-room, but partly also in the laboratory. The University 
of London is expressly to be noticed for the beneficial influence 
which it has exerted in this direction in its medical examinations; 
but more particularly for the institution of new degrees of Bachelor: 
and Doctor of Science, which acknowledges, for the first time in this. 
country, the physical and natural sciences as entitled to equal re- 
cognition with classical and mathematical studies for purposes of 
general education. These influences have no doubt contributed 
materially to the introduction of chemical instruction, and even 
of practical chemistry, into junior schools, which has been going 
on so extensively of late years. It is, however, consolatory to ob- 
serve that a more powerful influence than any of these is at work— 
viz., the popular appreciation of its real value, gradually raising 
physical science to the prominent place in national education 
which it is destined to occupy. If education is intended to prepare 
young people for a life of usefuluess, in which their various facul- 
ties may be employed to the benefit of their fellow-men, and con- 
sequently to their own, there can be no doubt of the value of teach- 
ing them to observe, to recollect, to arrange the phenomena of 
the physical world, and to apply the knowledge and skill thus ac- 
quired to practical purposes. No phenomena that can be brought 
within the observation of everybody by inexpensive experiments 
are so simple in their nature, no reasonings, more definite and tan- 
gible, or more easily controlled by special observations than those- 
of chemistry ; and the science affords probably scope for more 
thorough training of the various faculties of the mind than can be 
supplied to schools by any other means. Among the chemical 
arts much has been doing; but, as usual, in a quite undemonstra- 
tive way. First and foremost among improvements I must men- 
tion the introduction into one manufacture after another of those 
admirable furnaces invented by Mr. Siemens, and generally known 
as regenerative furnaces. Whether we consider them from the 
point of view of the economy of fuel, or whether as affording the 
means of attaining temperatures beyond the range of other fur- 
naces, there can be no doubt of the immense value of this invention. 


SPEECH OF PROF. WILLIAMSON. od, 


Heat isthe great source of power in almost all our dealings with 
inorganic matter; and I have not the slightest doubt that the 
power over heat given by these regenerative furnaces will revolu- 
tionize many a chemical art, Ths manufacture of iron, and its 
subsequent treatment for the removal of impurities, has been of 
late years the subject of many experiments. Various plans have 
been proposed for avoiding the injurious effects of the mineral 
impurities of our coal, by using gas for the reduction of the iron 
ores. In this country, however, the manufacture of cast iron is” 
carried on in such vast quantities that changes in the processes 
must meet with great resistance. The laborious and expensive 
process of puddling, hitherto adopted for burning out the carbon 
from cast iron, is being gradually superseded by one or other of 
the following :—either by treating the molten pigs with oxide of 
iron until the carbon is removed as carbonic oxide ; or by Bessemer’s 
process of blowing air through the molten coast iron. In either 
case it is desirable to add some carbon to the malleable iron in 
order to render it more fusible ; and for this purpose the best ma- 
terial is the manganiferous carburet of iron, known by the name 
of ‘Spiegeleisen,’ of which enough is used to make a low steel of 
about half per cent. of carbon. One of the most interesting novel- 
ties in metallurgy is the manufacture of aluminum, now carried 
on chiefly for the sake ofits alloy with copper, by the distinguished 
gentleman who holds the office of Mayor of Newcastle. The me- 
chanical properties of this so-called aluminum bronze give it great 
value; and it seems likely to find much favour for its appearance. 
Mr. Bell bas also rendered no small service to science by collecting 
and preparing a large quantity of that wonderful new metal, thal- 
lium. Among alloys, a variety of brass containing a small quan- 
tity ofiron has recently attracted considerable attention. The alloy 
is by no means new, though hitherto known but to few persons. 
It combines tenacity with elasticity to a remarkable degree, and 
can be easily forged. . Most of the members of the Section are pro- 
bably aware of the admirable series of agricultural experiments 
which have been proceeding for the last twenty years under the 
directions of Mr, Lawes of Rothansted; yet many are probably 
unaware of the vast importance of the results already established 
by those experiments Few things are perhaps more difficult than 
to conduct scientific experiments in any practical art like farming, 
to find h .w the resources which science discovers can be profitably 
turned to account, or how the defects which theory points out in 


392 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 


ordinary working processes can be profitably remedied. It is al- 
most proverbial that the greater number of persons who attempt 
the introduction on their farms of plans suggested by abstract sci- 
ence, succeed only in finding how to lose money. It does indeed 
require a rare combination of enthusiasm with caution, of know- 
ledge of theory with practical experience of the conditions of ordi- 
nary working, to carry such experiments to a definite and useful 
issue. Such rare combinations of qualities have existed in Mr 
Lawes; and, when we recollect that, by associating Dr. Gilbert 
with his labours, he obtained the co-operation of an able and ac- 
complished chemist, we have no longer reason to wonder that the 
results of twenty years’ continuous experiment, conducted on an 
ample scale, with the most scrupulous care and systematic order, 
should have led to the establishment of results so numerous and 
important as to secure for Mr. Lawes the highest rank among the 
founders of scientific agriculture. Inspeaking of the chemistry of 
agriculture, I cannot omit alluding to the writings of Liebig, which 
have rendered such important services by bringing vividly before 
the English agriculturists what was known of the chemistry of 
farming, and several ingenious and suggestive theories relating to 
practical agriculture. In the introduction to the last German 
edition of his Agricultural Chemistry, Liebig refers in terms of 
studied disrespect to the investigation of Mr. Lawes, and, while 
misquoting a paragraph in one of Mr. Lawes’ publications, endea- 
yours to convey the impression that that gentleman was unac- 
quainted with the correct use of the term ‘mineral, and had mis- 
understood Liebig’s mineral theory; which he is generally consider- 
ed to have disproved. I mention this circumstance with pain, and 
have no doubt that all who value Liebig’s truly important scientific 
labours will regret it as much asI do, Another practical question 
which science has latterly brought prominently before the attention 
of the public is that of the utilization of the drainage of towns. It 
is estimated that the quantity of nourishment for plants wasted in 
London alone in this form is worth about a million sterling per 
annum ; but this valuable material is contained inso large a quan- 
tity of water that no plan has come into working for separating 
it out profitably for use. Some persons are of opinion that the 
sewage might with advantage be conveyed through pipes for use 
in the fields, especially on meadow-land, to which it is most easily 
applicable. Baron Liebig has written a letter on the subject, which 
was forwarded by Alderman. Mechi to the Journal of the Society 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 393 


of Arts, containing a proposal to mix the liquid with superphos- 
phate of lime before distributing it, by which he considers that the 
value of the constituent already contained in the liquid will be prac- 
tically increased. It is, however, not likely that the opinion of a 
chemist will decide the authorities to adopt an experimental scheme 
of the kind, as itis really rather an engineering and commercial than 
a chemical question. The practical test of value commercially is 
how much an article will fetch ; and the data of this kind before 
us do not lead to the anticipation of a profit at all approaching to 
what theory suggests from the sale of this refuse. At Croydon (a 
town of about 18,000 inhabitants) it appears that the sewage is sold 
fer something over a thousand pounds per annum. Another refuse 
material which has already come to possess great value is coal tar. 
Not only is our chief supply of ammonia, the food of plants, derived 
from that source, but those brilliant and varied colours, which are 
now so much in use for dyeing silk, also owe their origin indirectly 
to the same source. There is, perhaps, no more striking instance 
of the benefits which ultimately arise even to the manufacturing 
arts, from every complete investigation of chemical substances than 
is afforded by those beautiful dyes which have sprung up to-day 
from aniline, which yesterday was a chemical novelty in the hands 
of a first rate investigator.” 


NATURAL HISTORY. 
THIRD REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC CURATOR. 


Since the annual meeting of the Society on May 19th, 1863, 
from which this report dates, the annual report for the last season 
has been issued to the members. Last year the published list of 
members was very inaccurate, and special care has been taken to 
remedy this defect. The list of donations to the museum during 
the past year has been prepared very carefully, and the proper 
scientific name of each specimen has been recorded. 

The co-operation of members of the Society is requested, in the 
endeayour to make the annual reports in future as reliable as pos- 
sible. The compiler will be thankful for the correction of any 
error, or for the rectification of any omission—more especially in 
the list of members. 

In, consideration of Sir W. Logan’s valuable donation to the 
Society of marine shells, sea urchins, crustaceans, corallines, &e., 
(collected mostly in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, by the officers 

Can, Nar. 26 Vou, VIII. 


394 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


of the Geological Survey,) it was voted by the council that it be 
part of my duty to distribute the duplicate specimens in this 
series, with a view partly of rendering the cases containing them, 
available for other purposes. I have therefore selected, labelled, 
and packed up five sets which have been sent (at the expense cf the 
Geol. Survey) to the following Institutions : 


Waniversitye@.Ol lee; stesctetaleralsietnlelel(elalslellnieloleletollate ats Toronto. 
Queen's Colleges oc. s.cfee sie clone elecio + «eels \vlolciavoje Kingston. 
Mc Gall u@ollesevjecire stdietaiae rie lateiolsiatalefelalaleiavetay asia Montreal. 
Museum of the Literary and Historical Society,...Quebec. 
Fave MU MiVSLSUt Vere <rellsielere| Jeietstshersrcilclale rere OG0'60'0000 Quebec. 


Letters acknowledging the receipt of these, and containing 
votes of thanks, have been duly received. The remainder of the 
duplicates, belonging to the Geol. Survey, have been put away. 

The. Society’s collection of shells and bryozoa has been 
thoroughly arranged and named. On the left band side of the 
gallery all the North American species have been grouped in twelve 
cases. The general collection occupies the whole of the right 
hand side of the gallery,-and one large case at the end of the 
gallery has been devoted to such large shells as could not con- 
veniently be classified in the side cases. 

The Society’s collections of foreign shells now fill fourteen cases. 
Printed labels have been procured, explanatory of the contents of 
each case. 

The corals, sponges, crustaceans, and in fact all the inverte- 
brata except the insects, have been classified and arranged in one 
large case at the south end of the gallery. The specimens are 
partly named, but the labelling of the specimens in this case is not 
quite finished. I have endeavoured to procure from friends such 
specimens as were wanting to complete the above mentioned 
series, with what success the printed lists of donations to the 
museum will show. 

In the lower room the whole of the Society’s collection of birds 
has been re-arranged, and large printed labels have been affixed to 
each case descriptive of its contents. This collection has been 
carefully gone over, and all those species that were previously un- 
named, have been properly labelled. 

The foreign birds have been partly named. I have written to 
England for printed labels to affix to each species in our collec- 
tion of British birds and their eggs. The birds’ eggs belonging to 
the Society have been thoroughly arranged and named, and, in 


MISCELLANEOUS, 395 


many cases, new specimens procured. It is much to be desired 
that a proper cabinet be voted for their reception, as exposure to 
light materially injures the specimens by causing their colours to 
fade. 

The mammalia have also been carefully gone through, and the 
whole collection properly named and labelled. Two large cases 
of Canadian fishes have been prepared by Mr. Hunter; these have 
been named, and proper printed labels have been affixed to each 
species. 

Dr. Hunt has promised to render his valuable assistance in 
naming our coliection of minerals. 

Sir W. Logan has kindly promised to give us a series of the 
most typical Canadian rocks, minerals, and fossils, some time 
during the ensuing winter. 

The council of the Society have voted thata large case be made 
to contain all the mammalia, including those specimens on the 
floor in the centre of the room, many of which sadly want cases ; 
also that a proper insect cabinet be procured, large enough to 
contain the whole of the Society’s collection of insects. 

Much remains to be done; the collection of insects as yet is 
untouched, as also are the reptiles. Many of the foreign birds are 
still unnamed, and most of the foreign fishes. The fossils, anato- 
mical preparations, and the whole historical, archzological and 
miscellaneous collections of the Society are still in a state of 
chaotic confusion. 

It is to be hoped, however, that in time the museum may be 
made more worthy of the city and indeed of the whole province, 
both as a place of referenee for special students, and as a medium 
for imparting general information. 

J. FE. WuHitraves, F.G.S., &c., 
Scientific Curator and Recording Secretary. 


DEATH OF PROFESSOR EMMONS. 

“Died, at Brunswick, North Carolina, on the 1st October last, 
in the 65th year of his age, Ebenezer Emmons, M.D.., late of the 
city of Albany. 

“ This announcement will fill many hearts with sadness. Dr. 
Emmons was long a resident of this city, and by long holding 

“professorships in two institutions, viz: the Albany Medical Col- 
lege and Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, he 


396 MISCELLANEOUS. 


has become intimately acquainted with great numbers of young 
men, then students, but now engaged in professional and other 
avocations. Dr. Emmons was an early graduate of Williams 
College, and commenced life as a physician. His tastes, however, 
almost immediately led him into the domain of science, more es- 
pecially in that department known as Natural History. He was 
early elected professor of Natural History in Williams College. 
So high a reputation had he acquired, that when the Geological 
Survey of this State was undertaken, he was selected as one to 
whom in part its Geological, and wholly its Agricultural depart- 
ment would be the most safely confided. How well and thorough- 
ly his work was done is attested by his valuable reports on Geo- 
logy and Agriculture, which have forever connected his name 
with the growth of Science and the development of the physical 
resources of this State. He was also for a long time the editor 
of an agricultural journal, and the author of a valuable work on 
American Geology. For the last few years he has been engaged 
in a Geological survey of North Carolina, and was thus engaged 
at the time of his death. - 

“ Dr. Emmons exhibits a life long devotion to Science. Patient, 
persevering, cautious in his facts, rigid in his deductions, he has 
always carried into all the departments of Science he has investi- 
gated a strong common sense, which has essentially influenced his 
conclusions. Among the scientific men of this country he held a 
_ high rank. Although disagreeing with many of them on some 
important points in Geology, especially the Taconic system, of 
which he was the originator and supporter, yet more recent in- 
vestigations have tended to show his sagacity and correctness. 
His name will long live in the scientific annals of this country.— 
Albany Journal, Nov. 6, 1863. | 


DEATH OF PROF. EILHARD MITSCHERLICH. 

Prof. Mitscherlich has. recently died at Berlin at the age of 
sixty-nine. He had long been known as one of the ablest philo- 
sophical chemists of the day, and the estimation in which he was 
held was exemplified by the numbers who attended his classes in 
the University of Berlin, and the Friederich-Wilhelm’s-Institut in 
in that city. The mere titles of his writings would occupy near- 
ly two columns of this journal; they embrace a wide range in 
chemical science, and may be found in the publications of the 


MISCELLANEOUS. 397 


Academy of Sciences of Berlin, of which he was a member, and 
in German periodicals, Besides these, he was the author of a 
‘ Lehrbuch der Cheinie,’ in two volumes, which has passed through 
two editions, and has been translated into French, Dr. Mitscherlich 
was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1828 ; and 
in 1829 one of the Royal Medals was awarded to him for his 
“ Discoveries relating to the Laws of Crystaltization and the prop- 
erties of Crystals.” It is, perhaps, by his researches into the phe- 
nomena of dimorphism that he will be best remembered.—Athen- 
coum, No, 1876, p. 470. 


AMERICAN TEA PLANT. 


A newspaper announcement states that the Tea Plant has been 
discovered by a Chinaman (or, as some say, by an Englishman 
formerly engaged in the tea culture in Assam), in the United 
States, “covering a large area of land in the central counties of 
Pennsylvania ;” and that tea of excellent quality and various sorts, 
green and black, has been made for the market by a company or- 
ganized for the purpose. We are told that the agent of this com- 
pany exhibits in this connexion a drawing, which is recognized 
as representing a genuine Tea-Plant. 

A specimen of the prepared tea has been shown to us; by which 
we recognize that this American Tea-Plant is the well known 
Ceanothus Americanus, the New Jersey Tea, the leaves of which 
were used for this purpose at the beginning of the American reyo- 
lution. Some one has remarked that the substituted beverage 
must have tried the patriotism of our great-grandmothers; but 
others report more favourably of its qualities—Pror. Gray, in 
Silliman’s Journal. 


~ 


A Natural History Association has just been established in 
Ottawa, which we hope will prove active and successful in 
advancing the interests of Natural History in connection with that 
interesting region. The following extract appears in one of the 
Ottawa, newspapers : 

The public meeting, called for the purpose of organizing a Nat- 
ur&l History Association, met, according to adjournment, at the 
_ Mechanics’ Institute, on Saturday evening last ; and after adopting 
a constitution and code of by-laws, proceeded to the selection of 


398 CORRESPONDENCE. 


officers, when the following gentlemen were elected for the cur- 
rent year :—President, A. Billings, jr., Esq.; 1st Vice-President, 
N. B. Webster, Esq., A.M.; 2nd Vice-President, George Hay, Esq., 
Secretary, ‘Thomas Austin, Esq.; Curator and Librarian, E. Van- 
cortland, Esq., M.D.; Committee of Management: J. Thorburn, 
Esq., A. M.'; Duncan Thompson, Esq., and Thomas Danic!, Esq. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Description of Elephantine Molars inthe Museum of the Univer- 
sity. By Prof. A. WINCHELL. 
(In a letter to one of the Editors of this Journal.) 
Anw Argor, Mich., Aug., 1863. 
My pEAR Sir, 

Your favour of 25th June was duly received, and I thank you for 
its various items of information. Relative to the remains of 
fossil elephants in the museum of the University, I regret to say 
that you have been misinformed. We have a cast of an entire 
lower jaw and a tusk of a mastodon from near St. Thomas, C. W., 
obtained from Thomas Barret, of Niagara Falls, and not unlikely 
you are in possession of similar casts. Probably this jaw has 
given rise to the report of which you speak. Of elephant remains 
the museum contains only three molars. Asa description of these 
may furnish some items of desirable information for you, I have 
delayed somewhat my reply to your letter with the view of obtain- 
ing time to make such observations as might be necessary for a 
description of them. 

1. The first is a cast of a left upper molar received by me from 
Prof. Tuomey, of Alabama, who had the cast executed from a spe- 
cimen found in that state. 

The anterior extremity of the tooth seems to have been broken 
off, and I think it is proper to allow one inch (including two plates) 
for this loss. Thealveolar portion of the tooth is furnished with 
several fang-like prolongations, the anterior one of which reaches 
a length of nearly two inches. The outer side of the tooth ex- 
hibits a curvature having a radius of about eight inches; the inner 
side is nearly straight. The crown presents a slight convexity 
longitudinally, and is flat transversely. The plates extend with 
slight, irregular undulations, continuously from side to side. The 
posterior ones—especially those behind the grinding surface—are 
somewhat curved in their prolongation from the crown to the 
roots of the tooth. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 399 


2. A well-preserved left lower molar froma peat bed in Jack- 
son county, Michigan. 

This tooth presents a marked longitudinal convexity on the 
outer side, while the inner side, in the vicinity of the crown, is 
nearly straight to the posterior third, when it becomes somewhat 
concave internally. The grinding surface is deeply concave—the 
middle being depressed nearly an inch below the extremities, and 
about one third of an inch below the adjacent sides. The grinding 
surface, moreover, is twisted so that its plane, near the posterior 
extremity, makes an angle of about 159 with the same plane near 
the anterior extremity, the crown being more turned outwards 
posteriorly. The five posterior plates still present traces of the 
digitations ; in the third from the extremity are five equidistant 
circular digitations. The posterior plate, as it penetrates the body 
of the tooth, curves backwards and then forwards, presenting a 
posterior convexity. The hinder plates are placed at right angles 
with the crown-axis, but in proceeding forwards the outer ends 
are most rapidly advanced, so that near the middle of the crown 
the plates make an angle of only about 80° with the crown-axis, 
and the 10th plate is duplicated in its outer half to fill up the en- 
lareed space in the outer curvature. When the tooth rests on its 
crown and is viewed from the side, the profile is nearly an equila- 
teral right-angled triangle, truncated two fifths of the way down 
from the apex. The hypothenuse, or anterior slope of the alveolar 
portion of the tooth is furnished with six short fangs produced by 
deep folds of the dentine. The truncated portion, viewed: from 
the side opposite the crown appears to be an irregularly long cup 
or crater of dentine, covered externally by cement, and filled with 
the same substance to within two-thirds of an inch of the rim. The 
cement of this tooth is nearly black, and is about .075 of an inch 
thick on the exterior; the dentine is light-coloured immediately 
beneath, and quite white in its deeper substance. The enamel, 
which projects in the plates, above both the cement and the den- 
tine, retains a fine chalcedonic colour and lustre. 

3. Cast of a left lower molar, found near Toronto, C. W:, and 
obtained from Thomas Barret, of Niagara Falls, C. W. 

This tooth is curved on both sides, with the convexity turned 
outwards. The grinding surface is strongly concave both longi- 
tudinally and transversely. One strong fang on the anterior por- 
_ tion of the tooth seems to have been removed. Posteriorly the ap- 
parent removal of the deeper alveolar portion has exposed ten of the 
plates. 


400 CORRESPONDENCE. 


The following table exhibits the dimensions and other precise 
characters of the three teeth : 


No. 24) Now 22 a Niowse 
Alabama Michigan) C. W. 
Total length..... Hoblouccae dusudcad so0u Lliin*®,. ./16-250in5 | yams 
Length of grinding surface......... Susy RS 1025 Opes | ores 
Projection posteriorly beyond the grinding 
SUED AON Cabo ouaAeeanoooaaddeDoodKD Tb piney }Os Wowace diarce 
Whole number of plates...........-...-- Pe} GON Mey 4 ni) Ge 
Number of plates on the grinding surface..|21¢ ‘' |19 GS ies G2 
Mean distance of plates on grinding surface|0.43 ‘ (0 55 “ |0.33 in. 
Greatest width of crown..............9- 4 Henipnees Sa Pee)) 
Average thickness ofplates....... Soac0dU 0:20) S033) mean Oe Olas 
Greatest height when resting on crown...|8.50 “ |6.50 % |4.75 ‘ 
Ratio of length and breadth of tooth.....|2.75 ** (3.09 ‘ 12.80 ‘ 


* Allowing one inch for apparent loss. 
{ Allowing two plates for portion lost. 


The foregoing examination of three elephantine molars in my 
possession shows that they probably agree sufficiently well to 
belong to one species. The mean distance of the plates conforms 
also with the data which you have given in the Canadian Natu- 
ralist, and seems, as you conclude to point to a distinction between 
Elephas primigenius and the remains commonly found in the 
United States and Canada West. The Michigan tooth presents the 
most marked peculiarities, and these may be enumerated as follows: 

1. A greater mean distance of the plates. 

2. The oblique position of the middle and anterior plates. 

3. A remarkable twisting of the grinding surface. 

4. A smaller relative inaee 

A different disposition of the dentine in the deeper or al- 
veolar portion of the tooth, especially as contrasted with the Cana- 
dian molar. 


Or 


Very truly yours, 


A. WINCHELL. 
E. Billings, F. G. S. 


Palzontologist, &., &c., 
Montreal, C. E. 


THE 


CHAN ACD ANG. 


- NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. 


Vou. VIII: DECEMBER, 1863. No. 6. 


Arr. XXVIUL—A list of Animals dredged near Caribou Island, 
Southern Labrador, during July and August, 1860 ; by A.S. 
PackaRD, JR. : 

The following results were collected during a stay of fifty days, 
with a party of six others, left by the Williams College (Mass.) 
Expedition to Greenland, in the summer of 1860. 

Caribou Island is situated in the extreme N. E. corner of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the entrance of the straits of Belle Isle 
in lat, 51°.25, long. 57°.39. It is composed of sienitic rocks, and 
is the largest of many small islets which line the coast of Labra- 
cor between the Mecatinas and Bradore. Like many others, this 
island is situated directly opposite the mouth of a long narrow 
bay, or reach, two or three miles in extent, which receives a shal- 
low impetuous stream. Salmon Bay, thus protected from the heavy 
swell of the Gulf, by the high cliffs of Caribou island, affords, with 
its deep muddy bottom, good anchorage, and a comparatively quiet 
harbor for the fishing vessels which yearly frequent it. It is con- 
nected on the west by a narrow ship channel with another exposed 
bay which receives Esquimaux River. On the east side, between 
the island and the mainland, is a narrow passage closed to navi- 
gation by a sand bar, where the fishermen draw their nets for 
capelin, lance fish, and young cod for bait. As the water deepens 
towards the gulf, the sand grows coarser, till farther out, where the 

‘strong current, sweeping down the Straits, carries off the fine 
Can. Nar. 27 Vou. VIII. 


402 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


sediment, the bottom is most curiously paved with polished and 
clean “ cobble stones.” This barren bottom is scattered over with 
patches of Desmarestia, Ptilota, and Agarum, which give shelter 
to Hyas, Chiton, Cynthia, and a few Echini. Three or four miles 
further out into the Straits, a long narrow ledge forms the “ Bank,” 
whose crown rises to within eighteen fathoms of the surface, and 
it is here that the Astrophyton abounds most. On this bank the 
Ptilota elegans and the Nullipora polymorpha were the only plants 
observed. Indeed I was struck with the poverty of this ‘locality 
in sea weeds, compared with the mouth of the St. Lawrence river, 
as catalogued in a previous number of this journal. 

The rocky shores exposed to surf from the Gulf did not seem 
to harbor any animal life, but a narrow, interrupted belt of sand 
and mud flats in Salmon Bay, with patches of Zostera marina, 
about six inches in length, exhibited a feeble assemblage of littoral 
animals compared with that of Maine, even. In the higher levels 
of the zone, whose whole extent was only six feet vertically, were 
Littorina rudis, Rissoa minuta, Balanus balanoides and Jaera 
copiosa ; and below, Mya arenaria, Macoma fusca, Mytilus edu- 
lis, Littorina littoralis, Tectura testudinalis, and Wereis. In the 
pools on the flats, myriads of Afysis and Crangon occurred with 
Platessa and Cottus; under the rocks and seaweed, Gammarus 
mutatus, Cancer borealis, and occasionally Homarus Americanus ; 
and on the fuci Laomedea, withDynamena pumila. 

The entire absence of any specimens of Purpura lapil- 
Jus was inexplicable, though I searched for that shell. So also I 
did not find any species of Jdotaea, though it is found at Anti- 
costi, and I took it from seaweed floating a few miles off Cape 
Ray, Newfoundland. There were also no Planarians or Nemerteans 
observed between tide marks. 

Another belt, extending a fathom or two below low water mark, 
was characterized by the three species of Asterias, Solaster pappo- 
as, Echinus, Echinarachnius, Pecten tenuicostatus, Mesodesma Jau- 
resii, Margarita helicina, Buccinum undatum, Pycnogonids, 
Cuma, Hyas aranea, Desmarestia with Spirorbis, Hupagurus, 
two species, and Agarum with eggs of Nudibranchs ; but no forests 
of Laminaria such as those in Maine, occurred around Caribou 
Island. 

The muddy and sandy bottom of Salmon Bay in 15 to 20 fath- 
oms was characterized by Ophoiglypha nodosa, Pentacta calcigera, 
Nucula tenuis and expansa, Leda buccata, Thyasira Gouldu, Car- 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 403 


dium islandicum and pinnulatum,Serripes Groenlandicus, Macoma 

proxima, Turritella reticulata and erosa, Aporrhais occidentalis, 
and the different species of Bela, with Pectinaria Hschrichtu and 
Onuphis Hschrichtii. These all occurred in the greatest abun- 
dance. 

So also out on the Bank in fifty fathoms did the following, 
which are mentioned here at the risk of repetition, since they are 
of special interest in connection with the patches.of Drift fos- 
sils found up and down the St. Lawrence, and in New England. 


Yealia crassicornis ? Astarte, two species. 
Sertularia, &c. Modiolaria decussata. 
Astrophyton eucnemis. M. corrugata. 
Ophiacantha spinulosa. Glycimeris siliqua, 
Eschara, Cellepora, and the Mya uddevallensis, 
species of Lepralia. Diadora noachina. 
Hippothoa, Stomatopora &c., Margarita cinerea. 
Anomia, two species. Admete viridula, 
Aypothyris psittacea. Trichotropis borealis. 
Pecten islandicus. Fusus tornatus. 
Cardita borealis. Trophon scalariforme. 


with Spirorbis cancellata and S, vitrea, Vermilia serrula, Hippolyte 
spini, Chionoecetes opilio. Dredging was carried on for about 
six weeks; from the middle of July to the last of August, during 
a season that proved to be the most boisterous and foggy that the 
inhabitants had experienced for twenty years. 

Dr. William Stimpson has kindly identified the annelides and 
erustacea, so far as their state of preservation would allow, and 
given me aid in the determination of several other forms. I am 
under obligations to Theodore Lyman, Esq., Museum of Compara- 
tive Zoology, Cambridge, fornaming the Ophiurians, and to Dr. 
Dawson, for identifying several species of Lepralia. I subjoin the 
names of some Foraminifera sent him in sand, &., which he has 
furnished me. 

Polystomella wmbilicatula, Truncatulina lobata. 

Miliolina seminulum (some very large and complex). 

Biloculina ringens, Entosolenia globosa (var. costata). 

Polymorphina lactea, Nonionina umbilicatula, Textularia vari- 
abilis, Nodosaria ? Spiroloculina ? 

Potyrt. 
Tealia crassicornis ? Gosse. On stones 15-50 feet. 
ACALEPHA. 

Halecium muricatum Johnst. Frequent on the Bank. Its 

occurrence on our coast has not before been noticed. 


A404 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


Laomedea gelatinosa Johnst.? Frequent on fuci in the lower 
 Jevels of the littoral zone. By no means so common as in 
Maine. 

Dynamena pumila Lam. Occurs with. the preceding. 

Sertularia rosacea Johnst. Very abundant in 50 feet on the 
Bank. : 

Sertularia tricuspidata Alder. Exactly agrees with Alder’s 
figure and description in the Annals Nat. Hist. Abundant on the 
Bank upon S, rosacea. 

Campanularia verticillata Lam. Several specimens dredged 
on the Bank. - 

Lafoea ramosa Lam. Abundant,occurring upright and branching 
out from a common stout stalk, or creeping upon S. rosacea in 
50 feet on the Bank. 

Clava multicornis Pallas. On shells. 

Hydractinia polyclina Ag. On an ascidian in 15 feet Salmon Bay.. 

Aurelia flavidula Per.and LeS. The young and mature were 
very abundant. The young were both yellowish and purplish. 

Cyanea arctica Per. anw LeS. This is the common species 
in the Gulf and about the Banks, and is rarely seen in retired bays 
where A. flavidula abounds. The fishermen experience much dis- 
comfort from handling fish lines entangled in the very long tenta- 
cula of this species. 

Idyia roseola Ay. This is doubiless the species so common 
on this coast. 

ECHINODERMATA. 

Astrophyton eucnemis Mill. and Trosch. 

One was hauled up by a fisherman 20 miles from land in 
about 80 feet. They are common and very large in 18 feet on the 
crown of the Bank. 

Ophiacantha spinulosa Mill. and Trosch. Several from the 
Bank. 

Ophiopholis aculeata Liitken. Most abundant among nulli- 
pores in 15 feet. A few were taken in dead pectens im 2 feet. Also 
from the Bankin 50 feet. 

Ophioglypha nodosa Lyman. This species was especially 
abundant on a sandy bottom in Salmon Bay in 10 feet, and 
ranges from low waver mark to 50 feet. 

Solaster papposa Forbes. Occasionally taken with the dip-net 
a few feet below low water mark. 

Gribella oculata Forbes, Among nullipores in 15 feet. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 405 


Asterias vulgaris Stm. (Asteracanthion rubens, M. and T.) 
Common just below low water mark. The largest specimens from 
8-10 inches across. 

Asteracanthion polaris M,and T. Occurring with and as 
common asthe preceding, if not moreso. Often taken, especially 
the young in 10-15 feet. 

A.n.sp? Large specimens measuring 20 inches across fre- 
quently: occurred in pools at low water mark. The color in life 
was alight greenish hue, mottled with reddish brown. 

Foxopneustes drobachiensis Ag. (E. granulatus Say.) Specimens 
measuring four inches across were often taken at low water mark. It 
extends to 50 feet, at which depth it was dredged on the Bank fre- 
quently, where the specimens were uniformly small: but after a 
careful study I cannot see any permanent specific differences. I 
cannot see that it differs at all from individuals collected during 
the past summer at Hastport. 

A specimen in my possession from Greenland seems to be very 
distinct from our Labrador and Maine species. The periphery is dis- 
tinctly pentagonal. The whole shell is more elevated; while 
the sides of the shell are not so full and rounded as in our spe- 
cies, the ambulacral plates are not slightly depressed, nor that area 
so distinctly marked as in ours. The tubercles are fewer and pro- 
portionately larger ; thus in the Greenland species there are 20 
tubercles in a row along the narrowest interambulacral zone, in 
ours 28. In the broader interambulacral zone there are 15. papillee 
in the Greenland species; in ours, 18. Moreover there are fewer 
flutings in the spines taken from either end of the shell than in 
our species. 

Echinarachnius parma Gray. (EH. atlanticus Gray). Abun- 
dant and large on sandy bottoms in 2-15 feet. 

Psolus Fabrictt Liitken. Two were taken in 15 feet on pebbles 
in Esquimaux Bay. 

Pentacta calcigera Stm. (Cucumaria Koreni Liitken), One 
was taken in 15 feet sand, in Salmon Bay. 

Pentacta frondosa Jaeger. One specimen was thrown upon 
the beach. 

Chirodota laeve Grube. Very fine specimens, eight inches 
long, were abundant in 10 feet sand in Salmon Bay. 

Eupyrgus scaber Liitken. Several were taken in 10 feet sand 
in Salmon Bay.. It has not occurred so low down the coast 
before. 


406 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


Potyzoa. 

Tubulipora patina Johnst. Common. 

T. hispida Johust. Frequent on sertularians in 50 feet. 

T. flabellaris Johnst ? 

Diastopora verrucaria M. Edw. (Millepora verrucaria O. Fabr.) 
Frequentin 50 feet. I have species from Greenland from which it 
does not differ, also from the Bay of Fundy, 

Stonapora expansa n.sp. Creeping, flat, expanding ; the branches 
widening at the origin of new ones, rugose. Cells in the young. 
long, slender, erect, slightly recurved; arising singly, or in groups 
of two or three at irregular intervals along the branch. Old speci- 
mens broader, cells horizontal, apertures hardly raised above the 
surface, emarginated. 

A small slender white species, the erect tubes in the young 
longer than the width of the branch. It differs from the 
Huropean A. major in being broader and more expanded.* 

Idmonea pruinosa Stm. Frequent from the Bank. 

Hippothoa rugosa Stm. Abundant. All the polyzoa here 
enumerated are, unless otherwise stated, from the Bank, in 50 feet 
hard stony bottom, occurrivig on stones, shells, &e. 

HT, borealis D’Orb. (H. divaricata Lamx.?) Abundant. 

HT, expansa Dawson. Frequent. I have also dredged it at 
Mt. Desert, Me., in 15 feet. 

Lepralia annulata O. Fabr. A group of three cells, with two 
spines on each side of the distal margin, occurred. 

LL. crassispina Stm. which I take to be the representative of 
the European Z. Peachii, and which assumes its forms, was one of 
the most abundant species. 

LL, trispinosa Johnst., or an allied species was very abun- 
dant. It is also abundant in Maine, as far south as Portland. 

LL. pertusa Thomps. I cannot distinguish my specimens by any 
permanent characters from the British species occurring on a stone 
with Crania anomala. It is oval or broad oval, somewhat flattened 
or convex, punctured somewhat coarsely, with ridges separating 
the cells, which are arranged in no special order. Aperture round, 


* S. compressan. sp. I have another narrow compressed, very convex 
species from Greenland. It is adherent, creeping, much rounded above. 
Cells in a single alternating row, being short and thick, and opening a 
little outwards; at the end of the branch much thickened and enlarged, 
giving rise to three or four cells. It varies in the size and relative 
distances of the cells. William Coll. Exp. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 4Q( 


truncate behind, or with a broad shallow sinus. The ovi-capsules 
globose, subrugose, sub-punctate, much as in the British specimens, 
Found growing in purple patches. Length >"; of an inch, half as 
broad as long. 

What I take to be a second and larger form of this species has 
the cells large, oblong, oval, convex, being closely connected with 
the ones before and behind in radiating lines. The surface has 
coarse emarginatad punctures. In old specimens the punctures are 
so large that the surface is often but a network enclosing them 
Apertures round, slightly raised, with a deep narrow sinus, 
at the entrance of which are two denticles, one on each side, which 
often become obsolete. In some cells the surface is perfectly 
smooth, and only the marginal punctures present. 

Specimens from Greenland do not differ. Itis much larger than 
the preceding form, whichis j'; of an inch long, and arranged in more 
regular rows, and preserves better its oblong, oval, convex form. 
The -ovi-capsules are emarginato-punctate, and proportionally 
smaller and smoother than in the preceding form. 

I have also specimens on Pecten islandicus from the Newfound- 
lund bank. 

L. producta n. sp. (Fig. 1.) Cells oval, convex, coarsely 
punctate ; in the young the punctures are emarginate, the base of 
the cell is produced and wedged in between adjacent ones. 
Aperture broad, round, with a moderately large and deep sinus in 
the young; in older cells, small, round, truncate behind, horse- 
shoe shaped ; margin full, broad, unarmed, and when the cells 
are crowded, the margin in front expands upon the base of the 
cell in front. Cells arranged in lines, soon becoming very irregu- 
lar, and partially radiating; forming white, but more generally 
purple patches. Length 3, of an inch. Old specimens are flattened, 
granulated with marginal punctures; very rarely the aperture 
has a small sinus. It is the largest species observed. Frequent. 

As in the preceding species, there are two forms which might 
easily be mistaken for as many species. The young cells are 
rounded, ovate, depressed and with emarginate punctures, while 
the apertures are sinuate. With the other form the species becomes 
the largest of the genus yet observed on this coast, being one 
thirtieth of an inch long. The cells are much thickened, convex, 
in outline often pyriform, owing to the elongation of the base of 
the cell; and the aperture is small and truncate behind. 

Tn both forms the surface is more than usually rugose. 


408 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


LI. Belli Dawson. Frequent. 

£L, labiata Stm. One group of this singular species ‘occurred. 

L. lineata Hassell. Rare. 

L. globifera nv. sp. Cells large, flat, white, the surface some- 
what raised around the small round aperture, which has a slight 
sinus. Behind the sinus isa minute perforated conical avicularium. 
Ovi-cell large, globose, with a few emarginated coarse punctures. 
Cells in radiating lines, with ridges running between them. The 
ovi-capsules are more crowded in the centre of the patch, not 
being present in the inner cells. Frequent, forming frosty white 
patches. It often encrusts Celleporee, where the ovi-cells are 
much crowded, and the ridges between the radiating rows of cells 
obsolete. I have dredged it in the Bay of Fundy. 

Stimpson’s LZ. candida, very common in the Bay of Fundy, did 
not occur in my collection. 

Membranipora pilosa Johnst. Especially abundant encircling 
fronds of Desmarestia just below low-water mark. 

M. lineata Busk. 

M. Lacroixti Busk? I cannot distinguish these two species 
from Greenland specimens. 

M. solida n. sp. (Fig. 2.) Cells large, flat, solid, oval angu- 
lated, often presenting a six sided figure as is common in the genus. 
Margin raised, simple, very broad and without spines. Aperture 
occupying ove half of the upper surface, transversely broad, oval, 
with a broad deep sinus; the posterior half of the upper valve is 
thin, convex subrugose, with a small, triangularly perforate, conical 
avicularium, situated at the posterior end of the upper surface. Cells 
arrauged in lines, orin quincunces, or more often irregularly. The 
cells are not so crowded as in the other species. ‘To the naked 
eye it looks like bleached patches of old worn Lepraliz. 

Beanta admiranda n. sp. Cells very large, erect, oval 
smooth, base produced, sessile. Growing in tufts, the cells arrang- 
ed in contiguous series, the new cells arising on each side of the 
aperture of the parent cell. Aperture raised, circular, surmounted 
by two long stout truncate spines, which are succeeded on the 
opposite side by two rows of long obtuse spines nearly meeting 
across the hollow formed by the two ridges on the back of the 
cell. Compared with B. mirabilis of the British coast, this is a 
much stouter species, growing in low spreading, but not creeping 
tufis. There are from 6 to 8 pairs of large obtuse spines which meet 
across the cell ; being fewerin number, and longer and stouter 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 409 


than in B. mirabilis. More important differences exist in the 
diameter of the cell being greatest at the distal or anterior third 
of the cell, where in the British species it is thickest posteriorly ; 
and in our species the aperture opens near the end of the cell. 
It occurred rarely on Pecten in 50 feet. 

Cellularia Peachii Johnst.? With the preceding. Rare. 

Menipea ternata Busk? Jrare. 

M. fruticosa n.sp. (Fig. 3.) This fine species grows an inch 
in. height, with large wide branches, dividing dichotomously. 
The cells are large and long, being attenuated downwards. 
Above they are truncated, with four spines,two upon each side, 
and invariably with an outer projecting spine, when the others are 
absent. The upper valve is long, oval and sunken ; aperture 
transversely linear, closed by a square incomplete lid. Cells con- 
tiguous, arranged in two alternating rows, with two or three median 
ones before the origin of the branches. The avicularia have long 
beaks, and are arranged sparsely at the base of the median cells. 
Long vibracula arise near the front of a few lower valves. The 
ovi-capsules are globose and smooth. It is more nearly allied to 
M. cirvata of Europe than any other species, though very distinct. 
Tt is a common species, and occurs in Greenland, from whence I 
have a specimen. 

Scrupocelicria Americana, n. sp. This species is closely 
allied to S. scruposa, with specimens of which, collected by Dr. 
Stimpson on the English coast, I have compared it. With much 
the same habit, our species is twice as large and much more solid. 

‘There are the same relative proportions in the form and size of 
the cells, but in our species the avicularia are smaller in propor- 
tion to the cell, and there is but a single spine surmounting this 
appendage, the lip of the orifice being unarmed, while in S. scru- 
‘posa two spines are very constantly present on the inner side of 
the cell. The lids or upper valves, which in my specimens are 
raised from the coenoecium by the relaxation of the muscles, are 
convex, and somewhat rugose, owing to several slight transverse 
lines. The ovi-cells are smooth and giobose. . Itis not unfrequent 
on the Bank. 

Caberea Hookeri Busk? One species presents some differ- 
ences from the British specimens in my possession collected by 

Dr. Stimpson; and also from Mr. Busk’s figures. It is abundant 
~ in Labrador, and on the coast of Maine as far as Casco Bay. 

Halophila borealis n. sp. (Fig. 4.) This species agrees 


410 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


well in its generic character with H. Johnstonice Gray from New 
Zealand, though differing specifically among other respects in 
being multiserial. The coenoecium forms soft and flexible horn 
colored tufts an inch in height. The cells in mature specimens are 
arranged in several contiguous series and are very long, subclayate, 
truncate, widening a little above, with sometimes a slight spine 
on the outer angle. The aperture is transversely linear and 
closed by a slightly sinuate lid. The ovi-capsules are globular 
and nearly smooth. The upper valves are so thin that in dried 
specimens it readily contracts and the lid and linear aperture are 
effaced, and the cell then appears as if it possessed a large, broad, 
oval aperture, covered by a thin lid. 

A single branch consisted in one example of eight rows of cells. 
A single isolated cell closely resembles a cell of Flustra truncata, 
showing the near relationship of this genus to the Flustrade. 
But one tuft of this interesting species occurred in 50 feet asso- 
ciated with Beania admiranda, on a fragment of Pecten. 

Flustra truncata Linn, Frequent. 

F. membranacea Linn. Abundant. 

F. Murrayana Busk., 10-50 feet. Abundant. A common 
species in Maine. 

— Cellepora pumicosa Ellis. Frequent on sertularians. 

Celleporaria surcularis n. sp. Grows two or three inches high, 
branching dichotomously, the ends of the branches somewhat 
truncated. Cylindrical, base two or three lines in thickness, 
surface rough. Cells crowded, of unequal size, erect, conical. 
Aperture small, with a slight sinus. In the young conical com- 
munities, the cells stand out more from the axis; apertures large, 
round, with a slight, often obsolete, sinus. Surface of the cells 
coarse, irregular and deeply punctured, often arranged in irregular 
series running down the sides from the aperture. The terminal cell 
Jarge and conical. In old species the sinus is sometimes enlarged 
with two denticles at its entrance. In section the cells are irregu- 
larly oval, scattered thickly over the axis and periphery. 

Abundant on stems and cells in company with Esvhare. 

Dr. Stimpson has placed in my hand specimens belonging to this 
species, collected by Dr. Hayes in Northern Greenland, and by 
McAndrew in Manseroe Sound, Finmark. European authors have 
confounded this arctic species with C. cervicornis of the Mediter- 
ranean sea, from whence it was originally described by Pallas. 

Eschara lobata Lamx. This species Lamoureux describes as 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 411 


growing in radiating patches, always adhering to the surface of ob- 
jects, and collected near the Bank of Newfoundland, Cells oblong, 
oval, convex; each end is connected with the cell in front and 
behind, with a few larger emaginate punctures. Aperture round 
with a shallow broad sinus. Just behind the aperture a small 
perforated conical eminence, which in old specimens bears a large 
avicularium, with long sharp pointed beaks gaping widely; or when 
absent the cone is large, covering the upper surface of the cell | 
and furrowed with descending ridges. In communities with ovi- 
capsules, the surface of the cell itself cannot be seen; the cap_ 
sules are globular, sublunate in form, with emarginated-punctures . 
the aperture large, often truncate behind. Cells arranged in linear 
series with intervening ridges. 

Occurs spreading over dead Cardium and Serripes in 10-20 feet 
Salmon Bay, or in 50 feet on the Banks. I have taken it in the Bay 
of Fundy from low water mark at Eastport to 20 feet. 

It is very different from a thin, flat, membranaceous, inverted 
cup-shaped species that inhabits Massachusetts Bay. 

E. elegantula D’Orby. The coenoecium of this fine species grows 
several inches high in erect branching masses, the branches 
expanding flat and spreading at the ends, Cells broad, oval flattened,. 
somewhat produced at the base; surface smooth, sub granulated 
Aperture round, with a broad shallow sinus. Young cells often 
margined with a row of large punctures. In old communities 
the ovi-cells are narrow-oblong, very convex, semi-cylindrical , 
the cylinder-like avicularia projecting over the aperture, and 
perforated with a large operculated aperture. Towards the end 
of the branches, the cells are somewhat cylindrical bearing narrow 
globular ovi-capsules, which are emarginate-punctured. This is 
near Busk’s /.. saccata which came either fromNorway or Finmark, 
It differs however from his figure; and his rather unsatisfactory 
description does not aid me in determining the species. 

Common on the Bank in company with Cellepora. I have spe- 
cimens also from the Newfoundland Banks. Dr. Stimpson has 
also specimens collected in Northern Greenland by Dr. Hayes in 
his last expedition. 

Myriozoum subgracile D’Orby. (Fig. 5.) (Millepora truncata 
Linn. Fabr. F. G.) Frequent with the other species. 

Fabricius’ description applies well to this species. It grows two 
or three inches high, branching dichotomously ; branches cylin- 
drical, smooth, while at irregular distances slightly contracting,— 


412 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


passim annulis angustioribus—Cells immersed ; apertures round 
with a very narrow deep sidnus, those at the end of the truncate 
branches have the figuram calcet equini of Fabricius’ description- 
The surface between the cells is deeply and irregularly punctured. 
A “transverse section of a branch shows about twelve oval cells 
separated by thin walls, arranged around the solid axis of the 
stem. 

This species approaches somewhat Busk’s Hschara teres, Ann. 
Nat.Hist., 1856, but it seems to havea more regular form ; the oval 
celis shown in a transverse section are not so much produced towards 
the central axis of the stem; while it differs wholly. from the ¢eres 
in the punctures dotting thickly the whole surface between the 
cells, instead of there being a single row surrounding the aperture 
as usual in the genus. Millepora truncata is a Mediterranean 
species, and as represented by Lamoureux, is a much larger and. 
very different form from the two species above mentioned. On 
the Bank in 50 feet; with the preceding species. 

TUNICATA. 

Leptoclinum. A species of compound ascidian was abundant 
in somewhat pellucid masses surrounding branches of nullipores 
in 15 feet. 

Ascidia callosa Stm. Dr. Stimpson has identified this and the 
species of Pelonaia. It is profusely abundant in the Bank in 50 feet 
growing to a very large size, and affords shelter to various worms, 
Sipunculi and Modiolariz, besides serving as a base of attachment 
to Sertularia, &c. 

Cynthia pyriformis Ratke. Several were taken up alive on 
beaches after storms, Fishermen haul them ashore in their nets. 

C. sp. A specimen occurred on Ascidiacallosa. It is whitish; 
smooth, low conical, base expanding. 

_Pelonaia arenifera Stm. Several occurred in 15 feet sand. 

Boltenia oviformis Sav. A, young specimen, that I refer to 
this species was taken on the Bank. It is much more hirsute 
than the two Maine species. 


BraAcHIOPODA. 
Hypothyris psittacea King. Frequent on hard and sandy 
bottoms in from 10-50 feet. 
LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 
Anomia ephippum Linn. Abundant, though small. On nulli- 
pores. 
A. aculeata Gm. In from 10-50 feet. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 413 


Pecten tenwicostatus Migh. (P. magellanicus Lam.) Is most 
abundant on a sandy bottom at a fathom’s depth. The young 
were only dredged in 15 feet. The inhabitants call them “ pussels” 
and often eat them, We can bear testimony to the delicacy and 
rich flavor of this shell fish. ‘ 

A species of boring sponge, which grows two inches or more in 
height, its roots boring worm-like galleries in the shell, hastens the 
decomposition of dead shells very greatly. 

P. islandicus Mill. Common in 10-50 feet on a sandy or 
rocky hard bottom. Valves are occasionally thrown up on 
beaches. 

Limatula sulculus Leach. Several dredged in 15-50 feet sand 
and gravel. 

Nucula tenuis Turton. 

NV. expansa Reeve. Occurred abundantly with the preceding. 

Dr. Stimpson has identified our specimens as being this before 
doubtful species. 

Yoldia sapotilla Stm. A few occurred in 10-15 feet. 

Leda buccataStp. Abundant. Does not differ from Greenland 
specimens. 

Crenella glandula Turton. Abundant. 

Modiolaria corrugata Stm. In 50 feet. 

M. laevigata Gray. With the preceding. 

M. discrepans Mill. A valve two inches long was taken from 
the stomach of cod caught on the Bank. 

Mytilus modiolus Linn. Not common. 

M., edulis Linn. Abundant. 

Alasmodonta arcuata Baines? I was told that a fresh water 
mussel was common in Salmon River. This must be the same shell 
that Professor Chadbourne informs me is very abundant in the 
streams of Newfoundland. 

No Cyclades or any other fresh water mollusca were found in the 
countless pools of the mainland ; thougha more thorough search 
than I could make must reveal some forms. 

Cryptodon Gouldii Phil. Very large and abundant; a few in 
50 feet. 

Cardita borealis Conr. Bank 50 feet. 

Astarte semisulcata Leach. A. elliptica Brown. Bank 50 feet 
Abundant. 

A. Banksvi Leach. Frequent with the two preceding shells 

Cardium islandicum Chemn. Very abundant and large in Sal 
mon Bay. 


414 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


C. pinnulatum Conr. Very common, and as large asusual ; with 
the preceding species. 

‘Serripes grenlandicus Beck. This is a very abundant species, 
and is a very constant companion of Cardium islandicum, occurring 
in a mixed sand and mud bottom in 10--20 feet, where it grows 
to an enormous size. 

It varies considerably when old, some specimens being triangu- 
lar and flattened, with the beaks placed far anteriorly, while other 
shells are ventricose, oval, with the beaks very central. The 
young all agree in being short and high, very thick and in 
having the large swollen beaks placed nearly in the middle of the 
shells. Some specimens from Greenland differ very much from 
the Labrador shel's in being very triangular, not much longer than 
high, and having the beaks small and flattened, and placed far 
anteriorly. Were there not others approaching very closely to 
some Labrador forms, these characters would easily separate the . 
grenlandicus into two representative species. 

Tapes fluctuosa Sby. One vaive from the Bank. 

Mactra solidissima Chemn. One valve was given me, which 
was taken three miles inland from the mouth of Esquimaux River 
on a sand beach. 

M. polynema Stm. (M. ovalis Gould.) Rarely thrown up on 
beaches. 

Mesodesma Jauresiti Joannis. It is thrown up very abundantly 
on beaches, of a very large size. 

Macoma fusca Stm. Common between tide marks, 

M. sabulosa Stm. (T. proxima.) Very large and abundant in 
15 feet Salmon Bay. 

Solenensis Linn. Rarely taken. Young dredged in 15 feet. 

Thracia Conradi Couth. One small specimen was dredged. 

T. myopsis Beck. A fine large specimen was dredged in 10 feet 
mud. 

Pandora trilineata Say. A few specimens occurred in 15feet sande 

Pandorina arenosa Méll. One valve was taken with the pre- 
ceding among nullipores in strong sand, 15 feet. 

Cyrtodaria siliqua Daudin. In from 15-50 feet Mostly on hard 
stony bottoms. 

Mya truncata Linn. The short obliquely truncated variety- 
uddevallensisif itshould not be considered a distinct species, oceur- 
red on the Bank. 

M. arenaria Linn, Abundant. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 415 


Saxicava rugosa Linn. Common in 10--50 feet Limestone pebbles 
are often fished up from the Gulf, which are bored into in every 
direction by these shells, which are then become short and much 
thickened. 

GASTEROPODA. 

Olione limacina Phipps. (Clio borealis Brug.) Seen frequent- 
ly floating near the surface in calm weather. 

Proctoporia ? sp. A-species with an expanded foot was taken 
in 50 feet on the Bank. It was not discovered until immersed in 
alcohol, and is undistinguishable, though it differs from anything 
in New England, approaching rather Fabricius’ figure of P. 
fusca, No other species of Nudibranchs, were found, though the 
ova frequently occurred in round masses on sea weeds in the Lami- 
narvan Zone. 

Cylichna alba Lovén. Several large specimens witha thin 
brown epidermis, and differing in no respect from one from Green- 
land, occurred in 10-15 feet mud and sand. 

Philine lineolata Stm. Frequent, with the preceding. 

Chiton marmoreus Fabry. From low water to 50 feet. 

C. albus Linn. Several in 50 feet. 

Tectura testudinalis Mill. Largest and most abundant at 
low-water mark. The young were dredged in 15 feet. 

Diadora noachina Gray. Several in 10-50 feet. 

Scissurella crispata Flem. Dr. Dawson has detected this 
species in sands examined for Foraminfera, as also the following 
species. 

Adeorbis costulata Stm. 

Margarita cinerea Gould. Grows largest on sandy bottom in 
50 feet. 

M. undulata Sby. and Brod. Common in 15-20 feet sand. 

M. helicina Moll. Common, 2-15 feet. 

Rissoa minuta Stm. One dead specimen occurred above 
high water mark. 

Rissoa castanea MOll. R. exarata Stm. 15 feet sand. 

Lacuna vincta Turt. The plain and banded varieties were 
common, 

Inttorina vestita Gould. T. vestitus Say L. rudis Gould. 

L. palliata, Gould. L. littoralis, F. and H. Both these species 
occurred abundantly and with variations, as in Maine. 

Scalaria grenlandica Perry. A fragment only occurred. 

Turritella erosa Couth. Abundant. 


416 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


T. reticulata Migh. Very abundant, occurring with the preced- 

ing in 10-50 feet, but most abundant in 15 feet mud. Salmon Bay. 
_ T. acicula Stm. One individual in 50 feet hard bottom. 

Menestho albula Moll. The young were frequent in 2-15 feet sand. 

Lamellaria perspicua Lovén. 15 feet sand and mud. 

Natica heros Say. Two young dead shells were found at high 
water mark. i 

NV. clausa Sby. Frequent in 15 feet. 

Bela violacea Stm. (Pleurotoma violacea Migh. and Adams.) 
18 feet. Both this and the bicarinata Couth., which Dr. Stimpson 
considers but a variation of the violacea, were frequent in 20 feet 
sand. 

B. decussata Stm. 

B. scalaris, (Defrancia scalaris M6ll., Ind. Moll. Grén. Fusus 
turricula Gould.) 

The European B. turricula, as observed by Mérch, is very dif- 
ferent from the American representative. Onacomparison of our 
shell with several specimens of the-éurricula, we find that the 
shoulder on each whorl that gives the shellits turreted appear- 
ance, is situated more in the middle in B. scalaris. The turricula 
has twelve longitudinal ridges on each whorl, being fewer and 
proportionately larger than in our species which has seventeen. 

Our species seems also tobealarger shell. It agrees well with 
Moller’s D. scalarzs to which he refers turricula Gould 

B. Woodiana M6ll. Fusus harpularius Gould. 

One specimen was dredged with the preceding aave also two 
specimens of it from Greenland. It is a shorter and thicker shell 
than B. scalaris, in which the first whorl is as long as the remain- 
ing ones together. In this species the first whorl is longer than 
the rest. The canal is shorter and the aperture rounder. The 
longitudinal ridges are the same in number, but are less promi- 
nent, while the revolving lines are much coarser, giving the surface 
a reticulated appearance. 

B. pyramidalis Stm. 

These species of Bela occurred in sand and mud 15 feet Salmon 
Bay. B. decussata was the most abundant species. 

Buccinum labradorense Reeve. Icon. Conch., pl.1, fig. 5. Most _ 
abundant just below low water mark. Fine specimens 34 inches 
long were frequent ; their egg capsules in large bunches were often 
deposited at low water mark. This species represents the European 
B. undatum. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 417 


B. scalariforme Mill. One specimen on the bank. 

B. cretaceum Reeve, Icon. Conch., Monogr. Bucc., pl. 14, fig. 112. 
Shell fusiform, slender, nearly three times as long as broad. Aperture 
oval, ending in a rather long, broad, oblique canal. Inner lip regu- 
larly curved ; the columella projecting into the aperture at the base 
of the canal; from this projection a slight ridge runs back to the 
other end of the aperture, following the curve of the inner lip, 
Whorls 9, convex, especially on the upper two thirds. Spire much 
prolonged, acute, 21 longitudinal ridges, smooth and rounded. On 
the first whorl the ridges disappear on the lower two thirds, where 
the minute revolving lines are more minute than elsewhere, Aper- 
ture within, light chocolate, darker in the young, in which the 
revolving lines are more distinct. Length 21 in, breadth 2; In. 

The slender and fusiform shape, and breath length of the spire 
than is found in other nortbern species, will distinguish it. The 
young and old were dredged alive in 10 feet mud and sand, Salmon 
Bay. Dr. Stimpson informs me that he has seen specimens from 
the Newfoundland Banks.. It seems to be identical with Reeve’s 
species, of which he gives no locality. 

Fusus tornatus Gould. A large specimen, tenanted by a her- 
mit crab, was dredged in 50 feet. 

Trichotropis borealis B. and 8. Frequent in 10-50 feet. 

Admete viridula Stm. Thick heavy specimens, an inch in 
length, were dredged in 40-50 feet. 

Trophon scalariforme Stm. Large specimens from the Bank, 

Bulimus harpa Say. One dead shell was found in moss. The 


only Helicid found. 
CEPHALOPODA,. 


Ommastrephes. A squid, the fishermen informed me, some- 

times comes ashore in swarms, or is fished up from deep water. 
ANNELIDA. 

Sipunculus n.sp. It is very different from S. Bernhardus, 
being larger, proportionately thicker, while the anterior third is 
suddenly rounded and cylindrical. Found between Ascidie on a 
hard bottom in 50 feet. 

Cerebratulus n. sp. Occurred with two other species of nemer- 
teans, in 10 feet mud. 

Spirorbis spirillum Lam, 

S. nautiloides Lam. 

S. vitrea Stm, 

S. porrecta Stm, 

Can. Nar, 28 Vou. VIII. 


418 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


S. cancellata Fabr. 

S. glomerata Mill., Fabr. F.G. Large, round, smooth, aperture 
round, sinistrose, raised slightly from the whorl beneath. The adult 
shell is not flattened out beneath upon the surface of objects, but 
nearly free. 

Diameter of the tube j, in., of the whole shell 24 tenths. The 
largest species observed occurring on the edges of Cardum in 10 feet 
mud, but more abundantly in company with the preceding species 
in 50 feet hard bottom. Other specimens are a little smaller, but 
with aslight ridge on the upper surface, occurred with it. I have 
a specimen of this form also, from Greenland, together with the 
slightly curved and flattened convex young shells. 

S. quadrangularis Stm. With the preceding species. 

Vermilia serrula Stm, Abundant with the preceding, 

Pectinaria Eschrichtii Rathke. Very abundant and large, es- 
pecially in 10 feet mud on fish offal thrown overboard from fishing 
vessels. One was taken at low water mark. 

Terebella n. sp. 50 feet Bank. 

Siphonostomum plumosum Mill., 10 feet mud. 

Cirrhatulus n. sp.” 

Nephthys coeca Fabr. 

Heteroneis arctica Oersted. One specimen was found swimming 
on the surface. 

Hteone sp. 

Nereis pelagica Linn. 

Nereis nu. sp. Allied to denticulata, and like that found in mud 
between tide marks. 

Lepidonote cirrata Oersted. 10-50 feet. 

L. punctata Oersted. 

CRUSTACEA. 

Cytherina Mulleria? In 15 feet gravel. 

Cytherina sp. 

Daphnia? A very large species, two tenths of an inch in length 
is abundant in fresh water pools, It is not the D. retispina of 
Greenland. 

Phoxichilidium sp. At a little below low water mark. 

Nymphon grossipes Kroyer. In 50 feet Bank. 

Coronula diadema. On the grampus. 

Balanus balanoides Linn. 

B. porcatus Da Costa. 

Cuma sp. A little below low-water mark. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 419 


Jaera copiosa Stm. Common near high-water mark. 

Aega sp. On the belly of cod. 

Unciola irrorata Say. 

Anonyx sp. In 15 feet gravel. 

Anonyx sp. 

Ampeliscus pelagica Stm. 

A, Eschrichtii Ky. 

Gammarus purpuratus Stm. In 10 feet mud and sand. 

G. mutatus Liljeborge. (G. pulex). Occurs as in Maine. 

Mysis spinulosus. In swarms in tidal pools. The sea trout feed 
on it. 

Hippolyte spini. (H.. Sowerbyi Leach). Frequent in 10--50 feet 

Crangon vulgaris Fabr. Very large and abundant. 

Argis lar Owen. This fine species occurs rarely in 10 feet mud- 

Homarus Americanus M. Edw. Common. 

Eupagurus pubescens Stm. 

E. Kroyert Stm. Both species from below low-water mark to 
50 feet. 

Hyas coarctata Leach. 

Hyas aranea Leach. Both species common. 

Chionocetes opilio Fabr. A number were taken from stomachs 
of cod from the Bank. 

Cancer borealis Stm. Common under sea weed. 

To make the list of species of this region as complete as pos- 
sible, I add the following radiata from Newfoundland, on the autho- 
rity of Liitken.* 

Astrophyton eucnemis M. and T.; Ophiura Stuwitzti Littk,: 
Ophioglypha nodosa Lyman—( Ophiura nodosa Liiiken.) ; Solaster 
papposus, S.endeca; Asteracanthion polaris M. and T., A. Gren- 
landicus Stp. ; Hchinus Drébachiensis,small specimens and Psolus 
Fabricit. 

Also the following mollusca from the Grand Bank, mentioned 
by Dr. Gould: 

Solecuartus fragilis, Machaera nitida, Panopaea Norvegica, 
Glycimeris siliqua, Mya truncata, Mactra ponderosa, polynema 
Stm., Mesodesma deauratum, Astarte lactea, Venus (Tapes) fluc- 
tuosa, Aphrodite Grenlandica, Mytilus discrepans, Pectend. 
islandicus, Natica clausa, N. flava, Scalaria Grénlandica 
Fis ventricosus, PF. tornatus, F. scalariformis, Aporrhais 
occidentalis, Buccinum Donovant, B. ciliatum. Also a few species 


* Uebersicht tiber Gronland’s Echinodermata. 


490 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


from Labrador, mentioned by Dr. Mighels. Bos. Jour. Nat. Hist., 
Vols.1 and 4: Cardium pinnulatum,Nucula rostrata, (N.bureata?) 
Mytilus pectinula, M. Minganensis, Margarita acun:inata, Sby., 
M. varicosa, Fasciolaria ligata, Fusus islandicus. 

Woodward also mentions Astarte crebricostata, Cyprina island- 
ica, Machera costata, Buccinum undulatum Mill., B. Labrado- 
rense Reeve, B. cyaneum, Lacuna , anl Ommastrephes todarus . 
d’Orb., as coming from Newfoundland. Sowerby, in the “ Thes- 
aurus,” figures Yerebratella Labradorensis. Troschel in Wieg- 
mann’s Archiv., 1846, describes Anaperus cigaro, and Orcula Bar- 
thii collected at Okkak in northern Labrador. 

Professor Chadbourne informes me that Pecten tenwicostatus and 
Alasmodonta arcuata are very abundant and characteristic shells 
in Newfoundland. 

Reeve (Icon. Conch. Monog. Fusus, pl. 21, fig. 89) figures and 
describes Fusus pullus, which was collected at Newfoundland by 
Mr. Jukes. 

Lamoureux, in his “ Exposition Methodique des Polypiers,” has 
figured and described several species of Polyzoa collected by 
Captain Laporte upon or near the Bank of Newfoundland: ZLort- 
carta Americana, of which Gemellaria dumosa Stm., seems to be 
a synonym ; Hucratea appendiculata, and Eschara lobata, besides 
one Acaleph, Lafoea ramosa. 

Gemellaria Americana d’Orb., Eschara retiformis Ray, (= E 
foliacea Lamk), Hschara lobata Lamarck, &schara elegantula. 
a’Orb., Celleporaria incrassata dOrb. (Cellepora incrassata La- 
marck), Celleporina ramosissima d’Orb., Biflustra aculeata d’Orb., 
Ornithoporina avieularia d’Orb., Hudson’s Bay. 0. dilatata 
@Orb., Semieschara lamellosa d’Orb. , Hippothoa borealis d’Orb., 
Hippothow robertina d’Orb., Ce aepina sp. (none aesorsbet 
Reptocelleporaria tuberosa ‘@’Orb, Reptescharellina borealis 
a’Orb., MMultescharellina aculeata WVOrb. var., Membranipora 
partita d’Orb., Reptoflustrella Americana d’Orb., Cridia appen- 
diculata d’Orb. (= Eucratea appendiculata Lamx.), Myriozoum 
subgracile d’Orb., Fasciculipora Americana d’Orb., Idmonea an- 
gustaia dOrb., Reptotubigera confluens d’Orb., Entalopora Galli- 
ca VOrb., Diastopora latomarginata VOrb., Tubulipora verruca- 
via Edwards, @roeboscina serpens d’Orb., iPpobesemna latifolia 
a’Orb., Berenicea preminens Lamx. 

Mr. Verrill bas identified specimens of a polyp in the collections 
of the Essex Institute, (Salem, Mass.) brought from the Grand 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 421 


Bank of Newfoundland, as Alcyonium rubiformis Dana, (Ebr. 
sp.) 

I have permission to introduce in this connection : 

A List ov tae Inverreprata coLLectep at AnricostTl AND 
Minean Istanps, by Messrs. A. E. Verrill, A. Hyatt, and N.S. 
Shaler, in 1861, who have allowed me to make this use of the 
names given below. The specimens are deposited in the Museum 
of Comp. Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. The list of radiates and 
the accompanying notes were furnished me by Mr. Verrill. 

Potyrt. 

Metridium marginatum E. and H., (Actinia marginata Les.)? 
Several young actiniee were dredged in 8 feet,at Ellis Bay, Anticosti, 
adhering to rocks, which appeared to belong to this species. No 
other polyps were obtained at these islands. At Gaspé, C. E., 
Prof. Dawson obiained this species, and has described and fig- 
ured it very accurately,* (Actinia dianthus?). With it he 
also found Actinia crrneola Stimp. In Chedabucto Bay 
on the southern side of Breton Island, N.S., we dredged an 
abundance of Alcyonium carnewm Ag., in 10 feet rocky bottom, 
associated with a variety of hydroids. This is the most northern 
locality yet known for the species, its range being southward to 
Cape Cod. 


ACALEPHAE. 
Pleurobrachia rhododactyla Ag. Very abundant about East 
Point, Anticosti, in July. 
Idyia roseola Ag. Hast Point, Anticosti. Very abundant 
the first of July. 
Bolina alata Ag. Near Fox Bay, Anticosti. Very abundant 


June 29. 
Cyanea arctica Per. and LeS. Anticosti. Common. Young 


about 1 inch in diameter were taken at Fox Bay, June 28. 

Aurelia flavidula Per. and LeS. Eastern end of Anticosti, 
Common, Young ones } inch in diameter were taken at Salmon 
River Bay, July 2. 

Haliclystus auricula Clark. (Lucernaria auricula Rathke, 
non Fabricius.) NearS. W. Point, Anticosti. Very abundant on 
Chorda filum, Aug. 14, at low water. Another species of Lucer- 
naria was taken, but the specimen was lost. 

Cosmetica sp. A beautiful species of this yenus, about 3 inches in 
diameter, with large tentacles about two incl »s lougand half an inch 
apart, was found in great abundance, June 28, at Entry Island, in 


* Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, vol. 3, p. 401. 


499, LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


the caverns excavated in the high cliffs of red sandstone by the sea. 
Hydractinia polyclina Ag. Anticosti and Mingan. Com- 
mon. 
Sertularia polyzonias Johnst. Niapisca Is.Mingan. In 15 feet 
rocky bottom. 


S. argentea Johnst. “ rt « 
S. rosacea Johnst. “ &“ és 
Eudendrium sp. “ ie 
Clytia olivacea Lamx. 6 6 ““ 
Thuiaria thuja Johnst. és « bc 


Plumularia falcata Lamx. Anticosti, 
EcHINODERMATA. 


Pentacta frondosa Jeg. Anticosti, near Ellis Bay. Not com- 
mon. A fine young specimen was found among rocks at low 
water. 

Chirodota lcevie Grube. Anticosti, near Ellis Bay. Several 
specimens were found under rocks at low water. 

Echinus drobachiensis Mill. Anticosti and Mingan Is. Very 
common in 20-30 feet, rocky bottom. 

Echinarachnius parma Gray. (EK. atlanticus Gray). <A few 
small specimens were dredged at Mingan. 

Asteracanthion polaris M. and T. S. W. Point and Heath 
Point, Anticosti. Common among rocks just below low-water 
mark. Also dredged in 15 feet rocky bottom at Mingan Is. 

Asteracanthion sp. A form with longer rays and sharp spines 
was obtained at Gaspé, C. E. 

A. Grenlandicus Stp. A-single specimen was dredged in 15 
feet rocky bottom off Ellis Bay, Anticosti. 

Cribella oculata Forbes. Heath Point. Common. 

Ophiopholis aculeata Liitken. Anticosti and Mingan Is. Very 
common in 10--15 feet rocky bottom. Cod-fish were often caught 
having their stomachs filled with this species. 

Ophioglypha robusta Lyman. <A single specimen dredged in 
20 feet, rocky bottom, off Table Head, Anticosti. 

Astrophyton Agassizii Stimp. A specimen of this species, ob- 
tained near Gaspé, C. E., was presented by Rev. I. A. Tallman. 

Potyzoa. 

Tubulipora patina Johnst. Anticosti. 

Diastopora verrucaria Fabr. sp. 

Membranipora Lacroiaii ? Say. All these species oecur at Min- 
gan in 15 feet. 


eo 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 42: 


Lepralia annulata abr. 

LL. trispinosa Johust. 

LL. hyalina Sohnst. 

LL. Belli Dawson. 

LL. pertusa Johnst. 

L. paucispina Stimp. 

Eschara lobata Lamk. 

Myriozoum subgracidle VOrb. 

D’Orbigny in the Paleontologie Frangaise, Terrain cretacés 
1850-52, has described a large number of Polyzoa from the Bank 
of Newfoundland, a list of which is here given : 

BRACHIOPODA. 

Hypothyris psittacea King. One specimen occurred at Anticosti 

in 20 feet, rocky bottom. 
LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 

Mytilus edulis Uinn. Anticosti. 

Saxicava arctica Desh. Anticosti. 

Mya arenaria Linn. Anticosti. 

M. truncata Linn. Anticosti. 

These four species, together with B. Labradorense and P. lapit- 
Jus and Cancer irrorata, were all that occurred duringa walk 
along the shores of the island for 12 miles. Owing to the freshness 
of the water, there was a remarkable paucity of littoral animals 
noticed, 

Pecten islandicus Mill. Mingan, 20 feet. 

Crenella glandula Turton. Anticosti, 20 feet. 

Cardita borealis Conr. Mingan, 20 feet rocky. 

Cardicum islandicum Chemn. Mingan, 20 feet rocky, abundant. 

Serripes Grenlandicus Beck. With the last; large and abundant. 

GASTEROPODA. 

Doris sp. Not described. 

Chiton marmoreus Fabr. Mingan. 

Margarita undulata Sowb. Mingan. 

M. cinerea, Gould. 

M. helicina Mill. Anticosti, abundant. 

M. varicosa Mightes. Mingan Is. 20 feet rocks, common. 

Turritella erosa Couth. 

Aporrhais occidentalis Beck. 

Lacuna vincta Turton. Anticosti. 

Inittorina vestita Gould. 

L, palliata Gould. 

Purpura lapillus Lam. Anticosti. Not very common. 


434 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


Buccinum Labradorense Reeve. (B. undatum Gould), Anticosti. 
Not very common. ( 

Fusus tornatus Gould. Mingan Is. 20 feet rocky. One large 
dead shell. 

Bela Woodian« Moll. Mingan, 20 feet rocky. 

Physt heterostropha Say. Occurred on the south side of Anti- 
costi in great abundance. 

Limncex. A species was common in ponds at Anticosti. 

Vitrina pellucida Drap.? Common at Anticosti and Mingan. 

Succinea obliqua Sry. Common at Anticosti and Mingan. 
Fright Island, and Niapisca Island. 

S. avara Say. Frequent at Mingan under drift stuff, boards, and 
rocks near the shore, where all the terrestrial species mentioned 
from Labrador occur. But those mentioned from Anticosti were 
found all over the island, in the interior as well as on the shore. 

Pupa badia Adams. Abundant at Fright Is., Mingan. 

Bulimus lubricoides Stm. Common at Niapisca Is., Mingan. 

Helix chersina Say. Frequent at Fright Is. 

Hf, nemoralis Linn. Both the plain-and striped varieties were 
found on plants at Anticosti. 

Hf arborea Say. Common at Niapisca Is. 

ff. minuta Say. Common at Anticosti.  < 

Ff, striatella Anthony. Abundant at Fright Island and Nia- 
pisca Island. 

Limax campestris Binney. Frequent at Anticosti. 

At Entry Island, one of the Magdalen group, in the centre of 
the island under boulders, occurred and in the usual abundance, 
Felix nemoralis, arborea, lineata, striatella, electrina, and Buli- 


mus lubricoides. 
At Chedabucto Bay Pandorina arenosa, young shells, alive, 


Margurita acuminata and Nassa trivittata were dredged by the 
same party. . 
ANNELIDA. 
Omatoplea Stimpsoni Girard. Anticosti, 15 feet rocky bottom. 
Nereis sp., allied to denticulata. Anticosti. 
Lepidonote cirrata Oersted. Anticosti. 
LL. punctata Oersted. Anticosti and Mingan. 
CRUSTACEA. 
Hippolyte aculeata Fabr. ' 
H. polaris Sabine. 
HI. Fabricit Kroyer. 
H, Gaimardit M. Edw. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 425 


Argislar Owen. This and the four preceding occurrel at the 
eastern end of Anticosti in 20 feet rocky bottom. 

Homarus Americanus M. Edw, Common. 

Eupagurus pubescens Stimp. Anticosti, 20 feet common. 

Cancer borealis Stimp. Common. 

yas arunea Leach. Common. 

Gammarus mututus Leily.. Low water, abundant. 

Idotea new sp. Low water and 10 feet, common. 

Cuprella. Two species, 20 feet, common. 

Culliope levinscula. Magdalen Isles. Abundant at the sur- 
face of the water in the caverns under eroded cliffs. 

Themisto sp. Antivos'i, common. 

Pandalus annulicornis Leach. Anticosti, 15 feet. 

Argis lar Owen. Mingan, 15 feet Niapisea I. 

Homarus Americanus M. Edw. (Lobster.) 

Hyas aranea Linn, At Ellis Bay, Anticosti, in 8 feet rocks, 

Cancer irrorata Say. Anticosti. 

These articulata were identified by Dr. Stimpson. 

Crangon boreas has been brought from Labrador by H. KR. 

torer, M.D. 

_ Though the above lists of species are imperfect, yet they seem te 

afford very satisfactory evidences that there are three distinct as- 

semblages of marine invertebrates intermingléd on the coast of 
southern Labrador. We can easily separate from the. list, as 

foreign to this coast, three species of moiuscs; viz. Pandora” 
trilineata, Nutica heros, and Rissoa minuta. These shells. were 

rare, and of small size, though on the coast of New England they 

are large and abundant. 

By the aid of “ The Invertebrata of Massachusetts,” by Dr. 
Gould, and a list of invertebrates found by Mr. Robert Bell, 
Professor of Natural Sciences, in Queen’s College, Kingston, 
about the mouth of the St. Lawrence and the coast of New 
Brunswick, published in the Canadian Naturalist and Geologist ; 
together with a list of the shells of Halifax by Mr. Willis, and 
Stimpson’s Invertebrates of Grand Manan, we are enabled to trace 
the fauna peculiar to the coast from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, as 
it reappears again in the Eastern shores of the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, about Prince Edward’s Island, at Gaspé, and extends 
up the river St. Lawrence towards Quebec. 

Some of the following shells do not occur at Grand Manan, bat 
seem to be as abundant on the shores of Canada as in Maine: 


496 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 


Leda limatula. Crepidula plana. 

: 5 s, i 
Mytilus plicatulus, fornicata. 
Venus mercenaria. Rissoa minuta. 
Lyonsia hyalina. Natica heros. 
Ostraea virginiana. “<  triseriata. 


Nassa trivittata. 

Mr. Bell observes that Natica heros is “large and abundant.” 
Mytilus plicatulus and Venus mercenaria were ‘‘from the Gulf.”. 
The last mentioned species occurs abundantly in Casco Bay- 
Lupagurus Bernhardus, which does not occur in Labrador, was fre- 
quent. Aporrhais occidentalis occurred very rarely at Gaspé, as 
it does on the coast of Maine. 

The occurrence of the large long oyster so common at Prince 
Edward’s Island, and which is found in such immense heaps at 
Newcastle, Me., upon the*banks of the Sheepscot River, in whose 
waters it still lives, though in diminshed numbers, indicates similar 
oceanic conditions existing on those two shores, which are sepa- 
rated by the colder waters of the Bay of Fundy. 

The occurrence of Astrephyton Agassizii at Gaspé, which is re- 
placed in Labrador by A. ewcnemis, is interesting as showing 
that the echinoderm faunz of those localities are also distinct. 
The island of Anticosti, judging by its land shells and vegetation 
and the presence of Jdyia roseola, Bolina alata, and Pleuro- 
brachia rhododactyla, belongs to New Brunswick. 

This fauna was stated by Dr. Gould to extend from Cape Cod 
to the Newfoundland Banks from the study of the mollusea alone. 
It was afterwards, by Forbes, termed the “ Boreal” province, and 
he considered Cape Breton its most northern limit. 

In 1852, Dana* established under the name of the “ Nova 
Scotian Province,” acrustacean fauna, embracing an extent of nine 
hundred miles, reaching from “Cape Cod to the Eastern Cape of 
Newfoundland ;” and in 1857, Littken + likewise proposed for the 
same region an echinoderm fauna, which he ealls the ‘‘ Acadiske 
Provinds,” merely changing Dana’s name for the more ancient 
title of that Province. 

They all agree in bringing down the Arctic or polar fauna to 
intermingle with the Acadian fauna at the northern limits of the 
latter. But with a better knowledge of the polar fauna, which is pre- 
sented in the lists of Greenland invertebrates by Reinhart, Mérch, 
Liitken, and others,t we are led to the conclusion that there is an in- 


* Crustacea of the U.S. Exploring Expedition. 


{ Uebersicht tiber Gronland’s Echinodermata. 
SS bea ae RO a Ea rt OS a a fan eb TPC A Rae Bern SFP (oyft ly / 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE «ANIMALS. 427 


termediate fauna inhabiting the seas of Labia lor and Newfoundland. 

A large portion of the polar species have not yet been discovered 
south of Greenland; and the following species are characteristic 
of Labrador and the Banks of Newfoundland : 


Cyrtodaria siliqua. Machera nitida. 
Asterias n. sp? Margarita acuminata, 
Anaperus cigaro. i varicosa., 
Orcula Barthii. Natica flava. 
Terebratella Labradorensis. Aporrhais occidentalis. 
Pecten tenuicostatus. Fasciolaria ligata. 
Alasmodonta arcuata. Buccinum cretaceum. 
Mesodesma Jauresti. Fusus ventricosus. 


Ommastrephes todarus. 

The littoral species of south-eastern Labrador agree well with 
those of Maine. The two species of Littorina present the same 
variations, and the Macoma fusca occurs in the same abundance. 
These three mollusks are replaced in Greenland by representative 
‘species ; as regards the latter, Dr. Stimpson has separated this 
species from Tellina Grenlandica Beck; and my own specie 
mens from Greenland are plainly distinct. The genus Mesodesma, 
which does not occur in Greenland, is represented by two species 
in Labrador and the Grand Banks. The fresh water Alasmodonta 
arcuata, which is so abundant throughout Newfoundland, and in 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the eastern half of Maine,which 
is included in what was formerly called ‘ Acadia,” also cha- 
racterizes this fauna. In the deep water species there is a greater 
similarity to the polar fauna, but many species of Buccinum and 
Fusus described from the frozen seas, which have not been found to 
the southward, show plainly a different fauna adapted to those 
climatic conditions. Most of the species enumerated in the pre- 
ceding list extend around Cape Breton to Halifax and the Banks 
lying off Nova Scotia, and predominate at the mouth of the Bay 
of Fundy; but along the coast of Maine they become reduced in 
size and numbers before reaching the mouth of the Penobscot, 
The fauna also reappears on St. George’s Banks, and very probably 
on Jeffries Bank, and the occurrence of Hupagurus pubescens* and 
Cardita borealis, a very abundant Labrador and Greenland shell, off 
the coast of New Jersey, indicates that the cold arctic currentimpin- 

 gesupon that coast. How far northward of Newfoundland this fauna 
extends is not now known. The charts show the existence ofan im- 


* Forbes’ Natural History of the European seas, p. 53. 


428 LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS, 


mense shoal to the northward of that island, which with the opposite 
coast of Labrador is no doubt occupied by this fauna. Returning 
down the coast we find it following very closely the line of float- 
ing ice as laid down in the charts. It includes the Mingan Is- 
lands, partially embracing Anticosti, and then sweeps around 
towards Cape Breton, there meeting the warmer waters of the 
Gulf Stream. 

Thus, south of Labrador, it is apparently a shoal fauna, and we 
would propose for it the name of the Syrtensian Fauna, indiva- 
tive of the physical features that limit its bounds. 

This fauna seems to have its equivalent upon the European side 
of the Atlantic in Finmark, where Lévén* records the discovery of 
several new species of Mollusksand other invertebrates. The climatic 
conditions are very similar, and the insect fauna and the flora 
correspond very exactly with the insects and plants of Labrador. 
Indeed, there is apparently a belt of faunge intermediate between 
the boreal province on both sides of the Atlantic on the one hand, 
and the circumpolar province, which touches upon the southern 
point of Greenland, includes Iceland, and spreads out so as to in- 
clude Finmark and the neighboring islands. Dr. Gould, in notic- 
ing the distribution of our mollusks, mentions the fact that 
“ about 20. species may be regarded as intermediate, being found 
most frequently by fishermen about the Banks, Newfoundland, 
and the islands intervening between Greenland and England. 
(Invertebrates of Massachusetts, p. 316). 

Thus with our present knowledge we can approximate very 
nearly to the southern limits of this shoal fauna, aud trace the 
isolated patches situated upon the cold and unprotected elevations, 
which rise in the warmer seas of New England; but our imper- 
fect information respecting the range northward of its most cha- 
racteristic species, does not allow us to speak with much certainty 
how far up the eastern coast of Labrador these species extend, 
or whether those few species, which reach Greenland and occur 
there rarely, may not be considered as foreigners to the soil. 
For example: of Apporhais occidentalis, which is so profusely 
abundant in the Straits of Belle Isle, Méreh reports but a frag- 
ment from Greenland. This is analogous to the occurrence of 


* Identified by Dr: William Stimpson.. 

+ In a communication to the Boston Society of Natural History, 
“ Proceedings,” 1863, Mr. S. H. Scudder has intimated that there is an 
insect fauna peculiar to Hastern Labrador, and in conversation with the 
writer, has also spoken of the close analogy, which the insects of La- 
brador bear to those of Lapland. 


LIST OF LABRADOR MARINE ANIMALS. 499 


Cardita borealis on the New Jersey coast, where it is certainly 
an alien. 

In the absence of requisite data concerning the distribution of 
marine life in the arctic and subarctic seas, we shall be very ma- 
terially aided by tracing the course of the yearly isothermal 
lines; and more especially for our purpose that area of the At- 
lantic ocean comprised between the line of 40° and 32°. The 
line of 40°, according to Professor Henry*, begins in America at 
the Northern portion of Nova Scotia. This agrees well with 
Gould’s and Forbes’ designation of Cape Breton, as being the 
dividing point between the Acadian and Arctic provinces. The 
line of “ 32° indicates the boundary of the region within which the 
average temperature is below the freezing point. It will be seen 
at a glance, that, instead of being circular in its outlines, it has 
the form of an irregular elongated ellipse, the greater diameter 
of which is across the pole, from the southern extremity of Hud- 
son’s Bay, to the south of Lake Baikal, in Siberia.’’? Upon the 
map .ccompanying the report, the line is made to pass through 
the lower third of the eastern coast of Labrador, dividing Cape 
Farewell from the remaining portion of Greenland, and touching 
Europe at Finmark in the vicinity of Nordland, one of the most 
southern of the Lofoden Islands. Thus to the north it shuts 
out a vast circumpolar region, inc!nuding the northern portion of 
Hudson’s Bay, with all of Baffin’s Buy; and upon the European side 
itincludes Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. We are therefore con- 
firmed in our opinion formed before meeting with these meteoro- 
logical facts, that this elliptical area embraces a belt of fauna 
of a subarctic character; and in the supposition that the 
fauna of Labrador and the Newfoundland banks has an European 
equivalent fauna in Finmark, occupying an extent of perhaps some 
400 miles along the coast from Nordland to a point somewhere 
beyond Cape North. 

Brunswick, Maine, Aug. 1863. 


es 


EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES, 
Pl.s. 1.0. Fig. 1. Lepralia producta Pack. 
‘ 2. Membranipora solida Pack. 
3. Menipea fruticosa Pack. 
4, Halophila borealis Pack. 
5. Myriozoum subgracile D’Orby. 
“ 6. Buccinum cretaceum Reeve. 


* Meteorology in its connection with Agriculture, Patent Office 
Report on Agriculture, 1856. 


430 FOOT-PRINTS OF A REPTILE. 


Art. XXIX.—WNote on the Foot-prints of a Reptile Jrom the 
Coal Formation of Cape Breton. 

Since the publication of my memoir on the “ Air-Breathers of 
the Coal Period,” my friend Richard Brown, Esq., of Sydney, 
Cape Breton, has favoured me with a photograph of a series of 
footprints eoh the Sydney Coal-field. They occur in a bed of 
rippled sandstone, and are sufficiently distinct to render it certain 
that they indicate the existence of a reptile as yet unknown to us 
by other remains. 


wr) 
i A vs iM eh a 


yr ml) 


fr 
el y iy 
Ty, 


LY U, 


Miffj i, 
Wf lig | 


The slab exhibits with some distinctness three foot-prints of the 
right side, and less distinct traces of the left feet. The feet are 
short and broad, the fore foot as large as the hind foot, the toes 
short, broad and deeply impressed in the sand. Four toes are 
distinctly marked in both fore and hind feet, and there are uncer- 
tain traces of a fifth. The stride is considerably greater than the 
breadth of the body. The toes are somewhat turned inward. 
The figure is reduced one fourth, so that the animal must 
have been rather larger than Dendrerpeton Acadianum, with 
shorter toes and broader body. 

These foot-prints are quite different in form from those previous- 
ly found by Sir W. E. Logan, Dr. Harding, and the writer, 
They more nearly resemble those figured by Dr. King and Mr. 
Lea from the carboniferous of Pennsylvania; and may have been 
produced by an animal generically related to that which has left 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 431 


the traces named Sauropus primevus by the latter author. For 
this reason, until we shall obtain some knowledge of the animal 
from more. definite remains, I propose for it the name of Sauwropus 
Sydnensis. The specimen was discovered by Mr. Brown, and 
is now in his collection. 

These footprints add a ninth species to the reptilian fauna of 
the Coal Formation of Nova Scotia, andare the first traces of this 
kind discovered in the Cape Breton Coal-field. 

J. W. Dawson. 


Art. XXX.—Synopsis of the Flora of the Carboniferous Period 
in Nova Scotia; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., 
&c., Principal of McGill College. 


The following list includes the plants in the collection of the 
writer, and in collections submitted to him by several geologi- 
cal friends; as well as those previously catalogued by Mr. Bun- 
bury, in Sir Charles Lyell’s Travels, and in the Journal of the 
Geological Society, and by Mr. R. Brown and the author, in the 
list appended to “ Acadian Geology.” 

The present synopsis was not prepared so much for immediate 
publication, as in aid of the writer’s investigations of the charac- 
teristic plants in the numerous coal beds at the South Joggins, 
and of the conditions of formation of those beds; but as some 
time may elapse before the publication of these researches, and 
the want of a list of the known species is much felt by those 
engaged in the study of the carboniferous rocks, it has been 
thought advisable to print it in the present form. 

The new species are accompanied by short characters; but 
roany of the details which might have been given are omitted for 
the sake of brevity. The collectors of the specimens examined 
are mentioned in every case, when known to the author. The 
part of the carboniferous system in which the species occur 
has also been stated; and as some confusion has lately arisen 
from the use of the term “sub-carboniferous,” by authors, it is 
proper to state that the name “ Lower coal formation” in this 
paper is equivalent to “‘sub-carboniferous” of Dana; that “ Middle 
coal formation” denotes that part of the system over the Marine 
Limestones and holding the principal coal beds ; and that “ Upper 
coal formation” is applied to the newer part of the system over 
the productive coal measures.* These three members are, to a 


* These groups are indicated in the following pages by the initials 
eC. M. ©., U. C: 


432 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


certain extent, distinct in their flora. Any minor differences which 
exist in subordination to these main divisions, will be fully detail- 
ed in the memoir on the coal beds of the Jogeins already refer- 
red to. 

Ihave included in the list such plants from New Brunswick 
as are known to me. Those from Grand Lake in that Province 
are I believe on the horizon ofthe middle coal formation, though 
tending to the upper. ‘A collection formed by Sir W. E. Logan 
at Baie de Chaleur, in beds of the lower and probably middle coal 
formation, includes also some species which in Nova Scotia are 
more characteristic of the upper coal formation. This apparent 
mixture of plants of different horizons, may be a consequence of 
the comparatively small thickness of the New Brunswick coal 
formation. 

In the present unsettled state of the species of coal plants, it is 
with much diffidence that I venture to publish this list, which 
will without doubt admit of many corrections and improve- 
ments, even in the memoir on the formation of the Nova Scotia 
coals, wit which I propose. to follow it. Ihave, however, en- 
deavoured to avoid adding to the load of synonyms, and have in 
all doubtful cases leaned to the side of identity with known species 
rather than to that of giving new names. I may add, that the 
increase of my collection has enabled me to reunite many speci- 
mens which I had regarded as representatives of distinct species. 
But for the large number of specimens which I have been enabled 
to examine, I should certainly in the case of several variable 
species, as for example Alethopteris lonchitica and Lepidodendron 
corrugatum, have erred in this way. Iam constantly more and 
more convinced that no satisfactory progress can be made in fossil 
botany without studying the plants as they occur in the beds in 
which they are found, or in large numbers of specimens collected 
from those beds, so as to ascertain the relation of their parts to 


each other. 
Davoxyion, Unger. 


Large quaatities of drifted coniferous trunks are found in the 
sandstones of the coal formation in Nova Scotia; but, after slice- 
ing more than one hundred specimens, the following are the only 
species I can distinguish. It is to be observed, however, that the 
different states of preservation of these trunks render their study 
and comparison very difficult, 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 43 


Co 


1. Dadoxylon Acadianum, s. n. 

M. C. Joggin, Port Hood, Dorchester. J. W. D. ; 

Large trees, usually silicified-or calcified, with very wide wood- 
cells, haying three or more rows of small hexagonal areoles, 
each enclosing an oval pore ; cells of medullary rays one-third of 
breadth of wood-cells, and consisting of twenty or more rows of 
cells superimposed in two series, Rings of growth indistinct. 

2. D. materiarium, s. 0. 

M. and U. C. Joggins, Malagash, Pictou, &e., J. W. D. Glace 
Bay, H. Poole. Miramichi, G. F. Matthew. 

Wood-cells less wide than those of the last; two to rarely four 
rows of hexagonal discs. Medullary rays very numerous, with 
twenty or more rows of cells superimposed in one series. Rings 
of growth slightly marked. Approaches in the eharacter of its 
woody fibre to D, Brandlingii ; but the medullary rays are much 
longer. Some specimens show a large sternbergia pith with 
transverse partitions.* Vast numbers of trunks of this species 
occur in some sandstones of the Upper Coal fpemation, 

3. D. antiquius, s. n. 

L. C. Horton, Dr. Harding. 

Wood-cells narrow, thick-walled, two or three rows of pores, Me- 
dullary rays of three or four series of cells with twenty or more 
superimposed, nearly as wide as the wood-cells. Rings of growth 
visible. This species would belong to the genus Palcoxylon of 
Brongniart, and is closely.allied to D. Withami L. and H., which 
like it occurs in the Lower Coal measures. 

4, D. annulatum. s. n. 

M. C, Joggins, Sir W. E. Logan. J. W. D. 

Wood-cells with two or three rows of hexagonal discs. Medul- 
lary rays of twenty or more rows of cells superimposed, in two 
series. Wood divided into distinct concentric circles, alternating 
with layers of structureless coal representing cellular tissue .or 
very dense wood. A stem six inches in diameter has fourteen to 
sixteen of these rings, and a pyritised pith about one inch in 
diameter. ‘This is probably generically distinct from the preced- 
ing species. 

Aravcarites, Unger. 

Araucarites gracilis, s. n. 


U. C. Tatamagouche., J. W. D. 


* Canadian Naturalist, 1857. 
Can, Nat. 29 Vou. VIII. 


434 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


Branches slender, 0:2 inch in diameter, with scaly, broad 
leaf bases. Branchlets pinnate, numerous, very slender, wit 
small acute, spirally disposed leaves. 

SraitLarra, Brongt. 

Under this name I include four sub-genera, viz., (1). Favu- 
laria of Sternberg, of which S. elegans is the type; (2). Rhytt- 
dolepis of Sternberg, of which S. scutellata is the type; (8). 
Sigillaria proper, of which S. reniformis is the type; (4.) Cla- 
thraria, Brongt, of which S. Menard is the type. 

To these may perhaps be added. Asolanus of Wood (Proc. Phila. 
Ac. Sci.), though most of the specimens of Sigillaria destitute of 
ribs are only portions of old trunks of the ribbed species. With 
these sub-genera I would place Syringodendron and Calamoden- 
dron as members of the gymnospermous family Sigillariacee. 
Stigmaria may be retained as a provisional genus, to include 
roots not connected with the trunks. 

1. Sigillaria (Favularia) eleyans, Brongt. 

M. C., Joggins, J. W. D.; Sydney, R. Brown: abundant, espe- 
cially in the roofs of coal seams. §. Hexagona includes old trunks 

of this species. Young branches have scars of an elliptical form 
like those of S. Serlit.. 

2. S. (Fav.) tessellata, Brongt. 

M. C., Joggins and Pictou, J. W. D.; Sydney, R. Brown. 

3. S. (Rhytidolepis) Scutellata, Brongt. 
.and U.C., Joggins, Lyell, J. W. D. 

. S. (Rh.) Schlotheimiana, Brongt. 
. C. Joggins, Lyeli, J. W. D. 
. S. (Bh.) Saulliz, Brongt. 
. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, Lyell, J. W. D. 
. S. Brownii, Dawson (J1. Geol. Socy., vol. X.) 
. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 
. S. reniformis, Brongt. 
.C. Joggins, Lyell, J. W. D., Sydney, R. Brown. 
. S. levigata, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown ; Joggins, J. W. D. 

9. S. planicosta, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Scars half hexagonal above, rounded below, lateral vascular 
impressions elongate, central small ‘punctiform. Ribs 1745 inch 
broad, smooth externally, longitudinally striate on ligneous surface. 
Slight transverse wrinkles between the scars, which are distant 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 435 


from each other about an inch, Allied to S. levigata, but with 
very thin bark. 

10. S. catenoides, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. Smith. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Cortical surface unknown, ligneous surface with puncto-striate 
ribs 14; inch in breadth and with single oval scars half an inch 
long, and an inch distant from centre to centre. A very large 
tree. Perhaps, if its cortical surface were known, it may prove to 
be a large Syringodendron. 

11. S. striata, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Ribs prominent, coarsely striate, 0°35 inch wide. Scars. 
nearly as wide as the ribs, rounded hexagonal, one inch distant; 
lateral vascular marks narrow, central large. On ligneous surface 
scars single, round, oblong ; bark very thin. 

12. S. 

M. C. Joge ins, J. W. D. 

A small erect stem, somewhat like S. Siauibea: 

13. S. (Clathraria) Menardi, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown ; N. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

14. S. (Asolanus) Sydnensis, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Riks obsolete; cortical and ligneous surfaces striate; vascular 
scars two,elongate longitudinally, and alike on cortical and ligneou 
surfaces ; scars 1°1 inch distant, in rows 0°6 inch distant. 

_ 15. S. organum, L. and H. ‘ 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

_ 16. S. elongata, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

17. S. flecuosa, L. and H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown’s list, in Acadian Geology. 

18. S. pachyderma, L. and H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown’s list. 

19. S. (Fav.) Bretonensis, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Like S. tesseleata, but areoles more hexagonal, bark thin and 
smooth on both sides, and furrow above the scars arcuate, and 
with a central punctiform elevation. 

20. S. eminens, S. N. 

M: C. Sydney, R. Brown: 


436 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERLOD. 


Like S obovata, Lesqx. but with narrower ribs, and larger and 
Jess distant areoles, each with a slight groove above. 
21. S§. Dournaisii, Brongt. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

22. S§. Knorrii, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


- SYRINGODENDRON, Brongt. 


Obscure specimens, referrible to a narrow-ribbed species of this 
zenus, occur in the lower carboniferous beds at Horton and Ons- 
low. 

Srigmaria, Brongt. 

Stigmaria ficoides, Brongt. 

Under this name I place all the roots of Sigillarie occurring 
in the carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia. They belong, without 
doubt, to the different species of sigillaroid trees, but it is at pre- 
sent impossible to determine to which; and the specific characters 
of the Stigmariz themsel ves are, as might be anticipated, evanes- 
cent and unsatisfactory. The varieties which occur in Nova 
Scotia, discarding mere differences of preservation, may be arranged 
as follows ; | ; 
Variety (a) Areoles large, distant; bark more or less smooth. 

This is the most common variety, and extends throughout 
the coal formation. 
“ (©) Areoles larae separated by waving grooves of the 
bark. 

“ (c) similar, but ridges as well as furrows between the 
areoles; var. undulata of Géeppert. . 

«  (d) Areoles small, separated by waving grooves. 

“ (e) Areoles moderate, in vertical or diagonal furrows sepa- 
rated by ridges ; var. sigillarioides of Géeppert. 

* (f) Areoles small, bark finely netted with wrinkles or 
striae. 

“ — (g) Areoles surrounded by radiating marks, giving a star- 
like form ; var; stellata of Géeppert. The only specimen 
I have seen was found by Dr. Harding in the lower car- 
boniferous coal measures of Horton 

« (4) Areoles small or obscure and n.requent. Surface 

covered with fine uneven striae. My specimens were col- 
lected by Mr. Brown in the middle coal measures at Syd- 
ney 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD, 43% 


Variety (¢) Aveoles narrow, elongate, bark smooth or striate. 

“ (k) alternans, with areoles in double rows on broad ribs 

separated by deep furrows. Probably old furrowed roots. 

‘© ()) knorroides, prominent bosses or ridges instead of 

areoles, These are imperfectly preserved specimens. 

The varieties (a) (6) (c) (e) (¢) have been seen attached to 
trunks of Sigillariz of that group distinguished by broad and pre- 
minent ribs, Stgil/aria proper of the above arrangement. Stig- 
mariz, like Sigillarize, are exceedingly abundant in the middle 
coal measures, and are comparatively rare. in the lower carbon- 
iferous and newer coal formations. 


CALAMODENDRON, Brongt. 


1. Calamodendron approximatum, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; M. C. Joggins, Pictou, J. W. D. ; 
Coal Creek, C. B. Matthew. 

This plant is evidently quite distinct from Calamites proper- 
The calamite-like cast is a pith or internal cavity, surrounded by a 
thick cylinder of woody tissue consisting of scalariform vessels and 
woody fibres with one row of round pores}; external to this is a 
bark of cellular and bast tissue. The structure appears to be‘allied 
to that of Sigillaria, and is one of the most common in the beds. 
of bituminous coal. 

2. C. obscurum, s. 0. 

M. C. Sydney, J. W. D. 

This is a calamite-like fragment found in a block of Sydney coal, 
im the state of mineral charcoal. The external markings are ob- 
scure but the structure is well preserved. It differs from the last 
in having large ducts with many rows of pores, or reticulated, in- 
stead of scalariform vessels. 


Crprrirss, L. and H. . 

Cyperites, ——— 

Middle and upper coals, everywhere. 

These elongate linear leaves have two or three ribs and the 
central band between the ribs raised above the margin: one spe- 
cies has been seen attached to Sigillaria Sclotheimiana. 

The leaves of Sigillaria elegans are different, being as broad 
as the areoles of the stem and with several parallel veins. 


; ANTHOLITHES, Brongt. 


Tinclude under this name spikes of inflorescence, or of fruits, usu- 
ally showing buds or scaly floral leaves, and sometimes ovate fruits 


438 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


which may be young Rhabdocarpi or Trigonocarpt. I have not 
seen them attached to stems; but their associations would lead 
me to suppose that they may have belonged to Sigillaria or Ca- 
lamodendron. Stems of Sigillaria of the groups Khytidolepis and 
Favularia have rings of abnormal scars at intervals, which may 
have borne such spikes of fruit. No such marks are seen on the 
stems of other sub-genera of Sigillaria, which probably bore fruit 
at their summits. 

1. Antholithes rhabdocarpi, s. n. 

M. C. Grand L., C. F. Hartt. 

Stem short, interruptedly striate, with two rows of crowded 
ovate fruit, and traces of floral leaves. Fruits half an inch long 
striate longitudinally, attached by short peduncles. 

2. A. pygmaea, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Rhachis 1 inch thick, rugose; two rows of opposite flowers, each 
showing four lanceolate striate floral leaves, two outer and two in- 
ner. 

3. A. squamosa, s. n. 

U.C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

RBhachis thick, coarsely rugose, with two rows of closely placed 
eones or scaly fruits. 

4, A, s. 1. . 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D; Sydney, R. Brown. 

TIndistinct, but apparently different from those above described. 


Triconocarpum, Brongt. 

1. Trigonecarpum Hookeri, Dawson. Geol. Journal, Vol, 17. 

M. C. Mabou, J. W. D. 

2. 7. Sigillaria, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. Ovate, $ inch long; testa smooth, or 
rugose longitudinally, acuminate, two-edged. . Found in erect 
trunks of Sigillarie, in large numbers. 

3. T. intermedium, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J.W.D. Allied to 7. olivaformis, but larger 
and more elongated. 

4. 7. avellanum, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Allied to ovatum, L. & H.; three-ribbed, size and form of a 
filbert. | ” 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 439 


5. T.éminus, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. Half the size of 7’. Hookert, and sim- 
ilar in form. 

6. T. rotundum, s. n. , 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. Small, round ovate, slightly pointed. 

7. T. Neggerathi, Brongt. 

Newer coal formation, Pictou, J. W. D. 

The Trigonocarpa are very abundant in some beds of the Mid- 
dle coalformation. Most of them are fruits of Sigillarie, some 
of them perhaps of conifers. 


RaaspocaRPus, Goep. and Berg. 


1. Rhabdocarpus S. D. 

M. C. Joggins,J. W. D. Ovate, acuminate, less than half an 
inch long. 

2. F. insignis, s. n. 

U. C. Pictou, J. W. D.; 1°5 inch long, ovate, smooth, with about 
7 ribs on one side, and the intervening surface obscurely striate. 
The nature of this fossil is perhaps doubtful, but if a fruit it is the 
largest I have seen in the coal formation. 


Ca.amitzes, Suckow. 


1. Calamites Suckowti, Brongt. 

M. C., Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, Lyell, J. W. D.; Grand 
Lake, C. F. Hartt. U.C. Pictou, J. W.D. Coal Creek, C. B. 
Matthew. 

This species is one of the most common in an erect position. 
It has verticillate branchlets with pinnate linear leaflets. 

2. C. Cistii, Brongt. — 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D.; Sydney, R. Brown; Grand Lake, C. 
F. Hartt; Bay de Chaleur, Logan. Coal Creek, C. B. Matthew. 

Often found erect. Its leaves are verticillate, simple, linear, striate, 
apparently one-nerved and 3 inches long. 

3. C. canneformis, Brongt. 

M.C., Joggins, Lyell, J. W.D.; Sydney, R. Brown. 

4. C. ramosus, Artis. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. Sydney, R. Brown ; possibly a variety 
of C. Suckowiz. 

5. C. Voltzii, Brongt—(irregularis, L. and H.) 

M.C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Often erect. Has large irregular adventitious roots. 


440 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


6 C. dubius, Artis. 

M. ©. Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, J..W.D., Logan; U. C- 
Pictou, J. W. D. 

7. CC. Nova Scotica, s. n. 

M. C, Joggins, J. W. D. 

Ribs equal, less than a-line wide,-striate longitudinally. Joints 
_obscurely marked and with: circular areoles separated by the 
breadth of 8 to 4 ribs. Bark of moderate thickness. 

8. C.nodosus, Schlot. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown: Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. 

This species has long slender branchlets, with close whorls of 
short rigid leaves. 

9. C. arenaceous? Jaeger. 

This species is mentioned with doubt in ivells list. 

EquisETiTEs, Sternberg. 

Equisetites curta, s. un 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Short thick stems, enlarging upward and truncate above, joints 
numerous, sheaths as longas the joints, with unequal acuminate 
keeled points. Lateral branches or fruit with longer leaf-like 
points: Has the characters of Equisetites, but its affinities are 
quite uncertain. 

ASTEROPHYLLITES, Brongt. 

1. Asterophyllites foliosa, L. and H. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D; Sydney, R. Brown. 

2. A, equisetiformis, ie and H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Pictou, J. W. D. 

8. A. grandis, Sternberg. 

M. C. Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt; Bay de Chaleur, Logan ; Sydney, 
~ Bunbury. : 

The specimens resemble this species, but are not certainly the 
same. lLogan’s specimens have terminal spikes of fructification. 

4, A, 

A species with tubercles (fruit) in the axils is mentioned in 
Lyell’s list as from Sydney. I have not seen it, but have a speci- 
men from Mr. Brown similar to A. tuberculata, Sternberg, which 
may be the same. 

5. A. trinervis, s 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Main stem smooth, delicately striate, with leaves at the nodes. 
Branches delicately striate, with numerous whorls of linear nearly 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 441 


straight leaves, 0°5 inch long, twenty or more in a whorl, and show- 
ing two lateral nerves in addition to the median nerve. This and 
No. 2 would be placed by some authors in Annularia. 
ANNULARIA, Sternberg. 
Annularia galioides, Zenker. 
M. C. Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt; U. C., Pictou, J. W. D.; Bay 
de Chaleur, Logan; Sydney, R. Brown. 


SpHENOPHYLLUM, Brongt. 


1. Sphenophyllum emarginatum, Brongt.* 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Grand L., C. F. Hartt; Bay de 
Chaleur, Logan ; Pictou, J. W, D. 

2. WS. longifolium, Germar. 

U. C. Pictou, J. W. D., M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

8. S. Saxifragifolium, Sternberg, Bay de Chaleur, Logan. 

Elongate, much forked variety, closely allied to S. byfurcatum 
Lesquereux. 

4, §. Schlotheimii, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, Bunbury. 

5. WS. erosum, L. and H. 

M. C. Sydney, Bunbury. 
_ The two last species are regarded by Geinitz as varieties of S, 
emarginatum. A specimen of the last named species in Sir 
William Logan’s collection shows a woody jointed stem like that 
of Asterophyllites, giving off branches at the joints. These again 
branch and bear whorls of leaves. The stem shows under the micro- 
scope a single bundle of reticulated or scalariform vessels like 
those of some ferns, and also tike those of Z’mesipteris as figured by 
Brongniart. Thissettles the affinities of these plants, as being 
with ferns or with Lycopodiacec. 

Pinynuuaria,. L. and H. 

1. Pinnularia capillacea, L. and H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

2. P. ramosissima, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W.D. More slender and ramose than the last. 

Sel tip. C7 SSA, IN cin 

L. C. Horton, C. F. Hartt. Branching like P. capillacea but 
much stronger fal coarser. 

All these are apparently branching fifa atoms or roots of 
soft cellular tissue with a thin outer bark. | Perhaps they are 
roots of Asterophyllites, or perhaps branchlets. of an aquatic plant. 


442 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


Genus NoracErRatHIA, Sternberg. 


1. NMoeggerathia 2s. 2. 

Bay de Chaleur, Sir W. E. Logan. A remarkable fragment of a 
leaf, with a petiole nearly three inches long, and a fourth of an inch 
wide, spreading abruptly intoa lamina one side of which is much 
broader than the other, and with parallel veins running up directly 
from the margin as from a marginal rib. It appears to be 
doubled in at both edges, and is abruptly broken off. It seems to 
‘be a new species, but of what affinities it is impossible to de§ 
cide. 

2. N. flabellata, L. and H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


CyctoprTeris. Brongt, 


Including Cyclopteris proper and sub-genera Aneimites Dn. and 
Nephropiteris, Brongt. 

1. Cyclopteris heterophylla, Géeppert. 

M. C. and U. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

2. C.\(Aneimites) Acadica, Dawson, (Journ. Geol. Soc., Vol. 17.) 

L. C. Horton, C. F. Hartt; Norton Creek, N.B., G. F. Matthew. 

Stipe large, striate, branching dichotomously several times. 
Pinnz with several broadly obovate pinnules grouped at the end 
of a slender petiolule, and with dichotomous radiating veins. 
Fertile pinnz with recurved petiolules, and borne on the divisions 
of the main petiole near their origin. This plant might be placed 
in the genus Adiantites, Brongt., but for the fructification, which 
allies it with such fernsas Aneimia. It has a very large frond, the 
main petiole being sometimes three inches in diameter, and two 
feet long before branching. Flattened petioles have sometimes 
been mistaken for. Cordaites and Schizopteris. It is a characteristic 
plant of the Lower coal measures. : 

8. C. oblongifola, Géeppert. 

U.C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

A little larger and coarser than Géeppert’s figure. 

4. C. (Nephropteris) obliqua, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. 

5. C. (2? Neuropteris) ingens, L.& He . 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Grand L., C. F. Hartt. 

6. C. oblata, L. & H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

7. C. fimbriata, Lesquereux. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. | 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 443 


8. C. hispida, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, Rh. Brown. 

Pinnate ; pinnules obovate, diminishing in size toward the point, 
decurrent on the petiole, veins slender, distant, forking several 
times; under surface covered with stiff hairs. 


Nevrorreris. Brongt. 


1. Neuropteris rarinervis, Bunbury. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Grand L., C. F. Hartt; Bay de 
Chaleur, Logan. 

2. N. perelegans, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Resembles WV. elegans, Brongt., but has narrower pinnules and 
nerves less oblique to the mid-rib. 

3. NV. cordata, Brongt. (and var. angustifolia.) 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

The ferns referred to this species are identical with WV. hirsuta 
of Lesquereux. They abound in the Middle and Upper coal- 
formation, and have larger pinnules than any of our other ferns. 
A single terminal pinnule in my collection is five inches long. 
The surface is always more or less hairy. 

4, N. Voltzii, Brongt. 

N. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

A single imperfect specimen, like this species but uncertain. 

5. NN. gigantea, Sternb. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Grand L., C. F. Hartt; U. C. Pic- 
tou, J. W. D. 

6. NV. flecuosa, Sternb. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, J. W. D. 

7. N. heterophylla, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

9. N. Loshii, Brongt. 

Bay de Chaleur, Logan. 

10. N. acutifolia, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, Lyell’s list. 

11 WV. conjugata, Goept. 

M. C. Sydney, Brown’s list, Ac. Geol. 

12 N. attenuata, L. & H. 

M. C. Sydney, I. c. 

13. N. dentata, Lesqx. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


444. FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


14 N. Soretit, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

_ 15. N. auriculata, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

16. N. Cyclopteroides, s. n 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Pinnate ; pinnules contiguous or overlapping, obliquely round- 
ovate, attached at the lower third of the base, nerves numerous, 
spreading from the point of attachment. Allied to N. Vilhierst 
Brongt. 

OpontoprTeRis, Brongt. 

1. Odontopteris Schlotheimii, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Bay de Chaleur, Logan; U. C. 
Pictou, J. W. D. 

2. O. antiqua, s. n. 

L. C.? Hebert R., J. W. D. 

Tripinnate, “atten slender, pinnules oblong, obtuse, not con- 
tiguous. Terminal pinnules much elongated, venation obscure. 

3. O. Sub-cuneata, Punbury. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


Dicryopteris, Gutb. 
Dictyopteris obliqua, Bunbury. 
M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


Loncuopteris, Brongt. 

Lonchopteris tenwis, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Pinnate or bipinnate, pea contiguous at base, nearly at 
right angles to petiole, oblong, elongate, obtuse. Network. of veins 
very delicate. Allied to ne Bricnté Brongt., but’ with. smaller 
more elongate pinnules and finer: veins. 


SPHENOPTERIS, Brongt. 

1. Sphenopteris munda, s. n. 

M. C. Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. Rants 

Like S. Dubuissonis, Brongt., or S. irregularis, Sternberg, in 
habit; but the pinnules are obovate, decurrent and few-veined. 

2. S. hymenophylloides, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

8. 8. latior, s. n. 

M. C. Grand L., C. F. Hartt; U. C.° Pictou; J. W. D. 

Petiole forking at an obtuse angle, slender, tortuous, divisions 
bipinnate. Pinnee with broad rounded confluent pinnules. 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 445 


Veins twice forked, with Sori in the forks of the veins. In habit 
like S. latifolia, Brongt., and S. Newburyi and S. sqguamosa, 
Lesqx. 

4. S. decipiens, Lesquereux. 

M. C, Sydney, R. Brown. 

5. S. gracilis, Brongt. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D.; Grand 'L., C. F. Hartt. 

6. S. artemisifolia, Bronve! 

M. C. Grand L., C. F. Hirt Sydney, R. Brown. 

7. S. Canadensis, N.S. 

Bay de Chaleur, Logan; Sydney? R. Brown. 

General aspect like S. Hoeninghausi, but secondary pinnules 
with a margined petiole and oblong pinnules divided into five to 
three obtuse points. It is not unlike S. marginata, from the De- 
vonian of St. John. 

8. S. Lesquereuxit, Newberry. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

9. S. Microloba, Guttbier. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

10. S. Obtusioloba? Brongt. 

M. C. Baie de Chaleur, Logan. 


PuyYLLopTeris, Brongt: 

Phyllopteris antiqua, s. n. 

M. C, Sydney, R. Brown. 

Pinnate; petiole thick, woody, pinnules oblong, pointed, attach- 
ed by middle of base; midrib strong extending to the point, 
giving off very oblique nerves which have obliquely pinnate 
nervules not anastomosing. A remarkable frond, which, if not the 
tvpe of a new genus, must belong to that above named. 


ALETHOPTERIS, Sternberg. 


1. Alethopteris lonchitica, Sternberg. 

M. & U.C. Joggins, J. W. D.; M. C., Sydney, R. Brown ; 
Grand L., C. F. Hartt. 

Very alahdant throughout the Middle and Upper coal forma- 
tion, and so variable that several species might easily be sores 
on detached specimens. 

2. A. heterophylla, L. & H. 

L. C. Parrsboro’, A. Gesner. 

3. A. grandini, Brongt. 

M. C., Sydney, R. Brown 


446 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


4, A. nervosa, Brongt. 

M. C., Sydney, R. Brown; Bay de Chaleur, Logan; U. C.,. 
Pictou, J. W. D. 

5. A. muricata, Brongt. 

M. C., Joggins, Bathurst, Lyell; U. C., Pictou, J. W. D. 

6. A. pteroides, Brongt. (Brongnartii, Goeppert.) 

L. or M. C., Bathurst, Lyell’s list. 

7. A. Serlii, Brongt. 

M. C., Sydney, R. Brown; Bay de Chaleur, Logan. 

8. A. grandis, s. n. 

Bay de Chaleur, Logan. 

Bi-pinnate; pinnz broad, contiguous, united at the base; 
veins numerous, once forked, not quite at right angles to the 
midrib. Upper pinne having the pinnules confluent so as to 
give crenate edges. Still higher the apex of the frond shows dis- 
tant decurrent long pinnules with waved margins. A very large 
and fine species of the type of A. Serliiand A. Grandini, but 
much larger and different in details. Its texture seems to have 
have been membranaceous, and fragments from that part of the 
frond where the long simple pinnules are passing into the com- 
pound ones might be mistaken for an Odontopteris. 

-PecopTeris, Brongt. 

1. Pecopteris arborescens, Schlot. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C. Pictou, J. W. D.; Wallace, 
Dr. Creed. 

Seems to have been an herbaceous species with a very strong 
petiole. It occurs in an erect position in a sandstone on Wal- 
lace R. 

2. P. abbreviata, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Salmon R., U. C., Pictou, J. W. D. 

Very common both in the Upper and Middle coal formation. 

3. P. rigida, s. n. : 

U.C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

Similar to arborescens, but much smaller and with finer nerves. 

4. P. unita, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

Certain pinuules of a frond are sometimes swollen as if covered 
with fructification below ; and in this state they resemble P. arguta, 
Brongt. The sori are seen in other specimens, and are large, 
round, and covered with an indusium as in Aspidiwm. 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 447 


5. P. plumosa, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

6. P. polymorpha, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

7. P. acuta, Brongt. 

M. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

8. P. longifolia, Brongt. 

In Bunbury’s list from Sydney. 

9. P. teeniopteroides, Bunbury. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

10. P. cyathea, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

11. P. equalis, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

12. P. Sillimani? Brongt. 

In Lyell’s list from Sydney. 

13. P. villosa, Brongt. 

M. C. Pictou, Lyell’s list. 

14. P. Bucklandi, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, Brown’s list. 

15. P. oreopteroides. Brongt. — 

M. C. Sydney, Brown’s list. 

16. P. decurrens, Lesqx. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; has pinnules more crowded, decreas- 
ing towards the apex., but may be a variety, 

17. P. Plunckenetii, Sternb. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


BEINERTIA, Gdeppert. 


Beinertia Goepperti, s. n. 

‘M.C. Grand L., Hartt; Bay de Chaleur, Logan; U. C. Jog- 
gins, J. W. D. 

Bi-pinnate, pinnz broad, contiguous, obtuse, with thick pin- 
nules. Pinnules above rounded, below obovate. Midrib thick, 
oblique, dividing above into a tuft of irregular hair-like veins. 


HYMENOPHYLLITES, Gdéeppert. 


Hymenophyllites pentadactyla, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. In general habit like Sphenopteris 
microloba, Géept, but with pinnules divided into 4 to 7 obtuse cu- 
neate lobes, each with one vein. 


448 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


PaLoprteris, Geinitz. 

1. Paleopteris Hartit, s. n. 

M. C. Grand L., C. F. Hartt. 

Stem or leaf oe transversely wrinkled with delicate Tinks, 
scars transversely oval, slightly appendaged below, vascular scars 
confluent. Breadth, 1.4 in. Length, 0.6 inch. 

2. P. Acadica, s. n. 

U. C. Pictou, J. W. D. 

Stem or leaf bases longitudinally striated. Scars transverse, 
flat above, rounded and bluntly appendaged below ; vascular scars 
in a transverse row; breadth of scars 0.7 inch; length 0.5 inch. 

CauLorreris, L. & H. 

Several small erect stems at the Joggins seem to be arftnks of 

ferns but are too obscure for description. 


Psarontvus, Cotta. 
Trunks of this kind must be rare in the Nova Scotia coal fields. 
A few obscure stems surrounded by cord-like aerial roots have 
been found, and probably are remains of plants of this genus. 


Mecapnyton, Artis. 


1. Megaphyton magnificum, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Stems large, roughly striate longitudinally ; scars contiguous, 
orbicular, deeply sunk, nearly three inches in diameter, and each 
with a bilobate vascular impression, twoinches broad and an inch 
high. 

2. M. humile, 8. N. 

M. OC. Sydney, R. Brown. 

Stem 2°5 inches in diameter ; leaf scars prominent, flattened and 
broken at the ends, 1 inch wide. Surface of the stem marked 
with irregular furrows and invested with a carbonaceous coating. 
An internal axis nearly two inches in diameter, with a coaly 
coating, sends off obliquely thick branches to the leaf scars. This 
is a very remarkable specimen, and throws much light on the 
structure of Megaphyton. Unfortunately the minute structures 
are not preserved. 

Genus LrepipopENDRON, Sternberg: 

1 A aaa corrugatum, aps Journal Geol. SEG, 
Vol. XV. 

L. C. Horton, C. F. Hartt, J. W. D.; Norton Creek, &c., N 

Brunswick, G. F. Matthew. 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 449 


Areoles elongate, ovate, acute at both ends, with a ridge along 
the middle, terminating in a single elevated vascular scar at the 
upper end. In certain states the vascular mark appears in the 
middle of the areole. In young branches the areoles are contigu- 
ous and resemble those of L. elegans. In old stems they become 
separated by spaces of longitudinally wrinkled bark ; in very old 
stems these spaces are much wider than the areoles. 

Leaves linear, one inch or more in lengtia, usually reflected, one- 
nerved. 

Cones (Lepidostrobi) terminal, short cylindric, with numerous 
short acute triangular scales. 

Structure of stem—a central pith with a slender cylinder of 
scalariform vessels, exterior to which is a thick cylinder of cellular 
tissue and bast fibres, and a dense outer bark. 

Variety verticillatwm has the areoles arranged in regular de- 
cussate whorls instead of spirally. This difference, which might 
at first sight seem to warrant even a generic distinction, is proved 
by specimens in my possession to be merely a variety of phyllo- 
taxis. 

This species is eminently characteristic of the Lower carboni- 
ferous coal measures; and has not yet been found in the Middle 
coal formation. Fragments of bark resembling that of this species 
occur in the coal formation of Bay de Chaleur, along with 
leafy branches of Lepidodendron, which resemble those of this- 
species, though I believe distinct. 

2. L. Pictoense, s.n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Pictou, H. Poole and J. W. D.;. 
Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. 


Aveoles contiguous, prominent, separated in young stems by a 
narrow line, long oval, acuminate, breadth to length as 1 to 8 or 
less, lower half obliquely wrinkled, especially at one side. Middle 
line indistinct. Leaf scar at upper end of areole, small, triangular, 
with traces of three vascular points, nearly confluent. Length of 
areole about 0.5 inch. ; 


Leaves contracted at base, widening slightly and gradually con- 
tracting to a point, ribs three, central distinct, lateral obscure, 
length 1 inch. . 

Cones borne on sides of smaller branches, small, oval, obscurely 
scaly. 


Can. Nat. 30 Vou. VIII. 


450 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


In habit of growth this species resembles L. elegans, for which 
‘imperfect specimens might be mistaken. It abounds in the Middle 
coal measures. 

3. L. rimosum, Sternberg. 


M. C. Sydney, R. Brown;.Joggins, J. W. D. 
4, [. dichotomum, Sternberg, (L. Sternberg, L. & H.) 


M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, J. W. D.; L. C. Horton, 
Je) Wie DD 
5. L. decurtatum, s. n. 
M.C. Pictou, J. W. D. 
Areoles approximate or separated by a shallow furrow, rhombic, 
- ovate, obliquely acuminate below, nearly as broad as long, wrinkled 
transversely, especially on the middle line, which appears tuber- 
culated, vascular scar rhombic, twice as broad as long, with three 
approximate vascular points. In some flattened specimens the 
line separating the areoles is indistinct, and the scars appear on a 
‘transversely wrinkled surface without distinct areoles. 
6. L. undulatum, Sternberg. 
M. C. Sydney, R. oe Joggins and Pictou, J. W. D.; U. C. 
-Joggins, J. W. D. 
Possibly several species are included under this name, but they 
-cannot be separated at present. : 
7. L. dilatatum, Lindley and Hutton. 
M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 
8. D. like tetragonum, Goept. 
L. C. Horton, J. W. D. 
Obscurely marked, but a distinct species, unless an imperfectly 
preserved variety of L. tetragonum. The areoles are square with 


a rhombic scar at the upper corner of each. 
9. L. binerve, Bunbury. 


M.'C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

10. L. tumidum, Bunbury. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

I think it probable that this species belongs to the genus Lepi- 
dophlovos, but I have not seen a specimen. 

11. L. gracile, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

In Brown’s list in Ac. Geology. Probably a variety of the next. 

12. L. elegans, Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

In Bunbury’s and Brown’s Lists. 

13. L. plumarium, L. and H. 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 451 


M. C. Sydney. In Brown’s List. 

14. L. selaginoides, Sternb. 

‘M. C. Sydney. In Brown’s list. 

15. L. Harcourtii, (Witham.) 

M. C. Sydney. In Brown’s list. 

16. L. clypeatum ? Lesqx. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; U. C., Joggins, J. W. D. 
17. L. aculeatum, Sternberg. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


Hatonra. L. & H. 


Halonia ? 
A specimen probably referrible to this genus from Grand 
Lake, in the collection of C. F. Hartt. 


Lepwwostrosus. Brongt. 


1. Lepidostrobus variabilis, L. & H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Pictou and Joggins, J. W. D. 

‘The most common species. 

2. Li. squamosus, 8. 0: 

M. C. Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. 

Two to three inches long, 1 inch thick, scales large, broadly 
‘trigonal, acute. Allied to No 6, but larger. 

3. L. longifolius, s. n. 

Long-leaved like Lepidodendron longifolium, L. and H. 

Middle Coal-formation, Joggins, J. W. D. 

4, L. 

Acute trigonal leaves, small. 

Middle Coal-formation, Joggins, J. W. D. 

ine We 

Round with obscure scales and remains of long leaves. 

Lower Coal Measures, Horton, J. W. D. 

6. L. trigonolepis, Bunbury. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 


LEPIDOPHYLLUM. Brongt. 


1. Lepidophyllum lanceolatum, L. & H. 

M. C. Joggins; U. C. Pictou, J. W. D 

2. L. trinerve? L. & H. 

U. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Two-nerved or three-nerved like Z. trinerve, L. & H. but nar- 
rower. Both th above are parts of Lepidostrobi. 


452 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


3. L. majus ? Brongt. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

4, DL. 

Broad ovate, short, pointed, one nerved, half an inch long. 

Upper coal formation, Pictou. 

5. LD. intermedium, L. & H. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown’s list. 

Halonia, Lepidostrobus and Lepidophyllum, including only 
parts of Lepidodendron and Lepidophloios, are to be regarded as 
merely provisional genera. 


LepipoPutoios, Sternberg. 


Under this genus I include, on the evidence of numerous 
specimens, those plants known under the names Ulodendron, L. & 
H., Bothrodendron, L. & H., and Lomatofloyos, Corda, and in part 
Halonia, Lepidostrobus and Lepidophyllum. These trees have 
more or less elevated areoles or leaf-bases, rhombic in outline, and 
terminated by rhombic scars, bearing long, narrow, one-nerved - 
leaves. The fruit consists of large strobiles borne on the sides 
of the stem and branches. The internal structure presents a 
large cellular pith, a slender cylinder of scalariform vessels, a very 
thick cellular and corky bark, and a dense rind or epidermis. 
They appear to have branched seldom and dichotomously, and are 
nearly related to Lepidodendron. They are abundant in the 
Middle coal formation. 

1. Lepidophloios Acadianus, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, Salmon, R., Pictou, J. W. D.; Sydney, R- 
Brown. 

Leaf-bases broadly rhombic or in old stems regularly rhombic 
prominent, ascending, terminated by very broad rhombic scars 
having a central point, and two lateral obscure points. Outer 
bark laminated or scaly. Surface of inner bark with single points 
or depressions. Leaves long, linear, with a strong keel on one side 
five inches or more in length, cone-scars sparsely scattered on 
thick branches, either in two rows or spirally, both modes being 
sometimes seen on the same branch. Scalariform axis scarcely 
an inchin diameter in-a stem five inches thick. Fruit, an ovate 
strobile with numerous acute scales covering small globular spore 
cases. ‘This species is closely allied to Ulodendron majus and 
Lepidophloios laricinum, and presents numerous varieties of 
marking. 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 453 


2. L. prominulus, s.n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Leaf-bases rhombic, pyramidal, somewhat wrinkled at the sides, 
truncated by regularly rhombic scars, each with three appproxi- 
mate vascular points. 

3. L. parvus, s. n. 

U.C. Pictou ; M. C. Joggins, J. W. D.; M.C. Sydney, R. Brown 

Leaf: bases Tho) small, with lagu sears brqader than 
long, vascular points obscure. Leaves linear, acute, three inches 
or more in length, with a keel and two faint lateral ribs. Cones 
large, sessile. 

4, L. platystigma, s. n. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown; Joggins, J. W. D. 

Leaf-bases rhombic, broader than long, little prominent. Scars 
rhombic, oval, acuminate, slightly emarginate above, vascular 
points two, approximate or confluent. 

5. L. tetragonus, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Leaf-bases square, furrowed on the sides. Leaf scar central 
with apparently a single central vascular point. 


DireLoteeium, Corda. 

Diplotegium retusum, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

The fragments referrible to plants of this genus are imperfect 
and obscure. The most distinct show leaf bases ascending ob- 
liquely, and terminating by a retuse end with a papilla in the 
notch. Some less distinct fragments may possibly be imperfect- 
ly preserved specimens of Lepidodendron or Lepidophloios. 


KNORRIA. 

Nearly all the plants referred to this genus, in the carboni- 
ferous rocks are, as Gézppert has shown, imperfectly preserved 
stems of Lepidodendron. In the Lower coal formation many such 
knorria forms are afforded by L. corrugatum. 

Knorria Sellonit, Sternberg. 

M. C. Sydney, R. Brown. 

This appears different from the ordinary Knorrice. Its sup- 
posed leaves may be aérial roots. It hasa large pith cylinder with 
very distant tabular floors like Sternbergia. 

Corparres, Unger, (Pycnophyllum, Brongt.) 
1. Cordaites borassifolia, Corda. 
M. C. Pictou, H. Poole; Grand L., C. F. Hartt,; Sydney, R. 


454 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


Brown; Joggins, Onslow, J. W. D.; Bay de Chaleur, Logan. 
Very abundant in the Middle coal formation. 

2. C. simplex, s. n. 

M. C. Grand R., C. F. Hartt ; U. C. Pictou: J. W. D. 

Leaves similar to the last in size and form, but with simple 
equal parallel nerves. It may be a variety; but is characteristic 
of the Upper coal formation. 

Carpiocarpum, Brongt. 

1. Cardiocarpum fluitans, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

Oval, apex entire or notched. Surface slightly rugose. Nu- 
cleus round ovate, acuminate, pitted on the surface, with a raised. 
mesial line. 

2. C. bisectatum, s. n. 

M C. Grand Lake, C. F. Hartt. 

Nucleus as in the last species, but striate. Margin widely 
notched at apex, and more narrowly notched below. . 

3. C. like marginatum. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

4. C. Allied to C. datum, Newberry. 

M. C. Pictou, H. Poole. 

These Cardiocarpa are excessively abundant in the roofs of some 
coal seams; and the typical ones must have been samaras or 
winged nutlets.- They must have belonged to phaenogamous. 
plants, and certainly are not the fruits of Lepidodendron, though 
some of the spore-cases of this genus have been described as 
Cardiocarpa. ‘These I propose to place under the provisional 
genus Sporangites. 

Sporaneites, Dawson. 

1. Sporangites papillata, s. n. 

M. C. Joggins, J. W. D. 

I propose the provisional generic name of Sporangites for spores 
or spore cases of Lepidodendron, Calanvites and similar plants, not 
referred to the species to which they belong. The present species. 
is round, about one inch in diameter, and covered with minute 
raised papillz or spines. It abounds in the roof of several of the 
shaly coals in the Joggins section, and especially in one in 
group XIX of that section. 

2. S. Glabra, s. n. 

About the size of a mustard seed, round and smooth. Exceed- 
ingly abundant in the lower carboniferous coal measures of Hor- 


FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 455 


ton Bluff, with Lepidodendron corrugatum, to which it possibly 
belongs. A similar spore-case, possibly of another species of 
Lepidodendron, occurs rarely in the Middle coal formation at the- 
Joggins. 

SrernBeratA, Artis. 

This provisional genus includes the piths of Dadoxylon, Sigillaria, 
and other plants, usually preserved as casts in sandstone, retaining 
more or less perfectly the transverse partitions into which the pith- 
cylinders of many coal-formation trees became divided in the pro- 
cess of growth. These fossils are most abundant in the Upper 
coal formation, but occur also in the Middle coal formation. The 
following varieties may be distinguished : 

(a) Var. approximata, with fine uniform transverse wrinkles. 
This is usually invested with a thin coating of structureless 
coal. 

(6) Var. angularis, with coarser and more angular transverse 
wrinkles. This is the character of the pith of Dadoxylon. 

(c) Var. distans, usually of small size, and with distant and 
irregular wrinkles. This is sometimesinvested with wood having 
the structure of Calamodendron, and perhaps is not generically 
distinct from C. approximatum. 

(d) Var. obscura, with distinct and distant transverse wrinkles, 
but not strongly marked on the surface. This is the character of 
the pith cylinders of Sigillaria and Lepidophloios. 


Enpvogenitss, L. & H. 

Many sandstone casts, answering to the character of the plants 
described under this name by Lindley, occur in the Upper coal 
formation. They are sometimes three inches in diameter and 
several feet in length, irregularly striate longitudinally, and 
invested with coaly matter. Sometimes they show transverse 
striation in parts of their length. I believe they are casts of pith 
cylinders of the nature of Sternbergia, and probably of sigillaroid 
trees. 

Sorenites, L. & H. 

Plants of this kind are found in the sandstones of the Upper 

coal formation of the Joggins. 


For all the specimens noted in the above list, as collected by 
Sir W. E. Logan, Richard Brown, Esq., of Sydney, Cape Breton, 
Henry Poole, Esq., of Glace Bay, C. B., and G. F. and C. B. Mat- 


456 FLORA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD. 


thew and C.F. Hartt, Esqs., St. John, New Brunswick, I am in- 
debted to the kindness of those gentlemen. To Mr. Brown especially 
I am under great obligations for his liberality in placing at my dis- 
posal his large and valuable collection of the plants of the Cape 
Breton coal field. 


The general conclusions deducible from the above catalogue, 
as well as detailed descriptions of the new species, I hope to give 
more fully hereafter, when I shall have completed my examination 
-of the microscopic structure of the several coal seams. In the mean 
time the following summary may be useful : 

1. Of 192 nominal species in the list, probably 44 may be 
rejected as founded merely on parts of plants, leaving about 148 
‘true species. 

2 Of these, on comparison with the lists of Unger, Morris, and 
Lesquereux, 92 seem to be common to Nova Scotia and to 
Europe, and 59 to Nova Scotia and the United States. Most of 
these last are common to Europe and the United States. There 
are 50 species peculiar, in so far as known, to Nova Scotia, though 
there can be little doubt that several of these will be found else- 
where. It would thus appear that the coal flora of Nova Scotia is 
more closely related to that of Europe than to that of the United 
States, a curious circumstance in connection with the similar re- 
lationship of the marine fauna of the period; but additional in- 
formation may modify this view. 

2. The greater part of the species have their head-quarters in 
the Middle coal formation, and scarcely any species appear in the 
Upper coal formation that are not also found in the former. The 
Lower coal formation on the other hand seems to have a few pe- 
euliar species not found at higher levels. 

3. The characteristic species of the Lower coal Hornnenion are 
Lepidodendron corrugatum and Cyclopteris Acadica, both of which — 
seem to be widely distributed at or near this horizon in Eastern 
America, while neither has yet been recognized in the true or Mid- 
dle coal measures. In the Upper coal formation Calamuites Sucks 
owtt, Annularia galioides, Sphenophyllum emarginatum, Cordatte- 
simplex, Alethopteris nervosa, muricata etc., Pecopteris arbores- 
ens, P. abbreviata, P. rigida, Neuropteris cordata, Dadoaylon ma- 
teriarum, Lepidophloios parvus, Sigillaria scutellata, are char- 
acteristic plants, though not confined to this group. 

4, In the Middle coal formation and in the central part of it, 

‘near the greater coal seams,occur the large majority of the species 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 457 


of Sigillaria, Calamites, Lepidodendron and Ferns ; some of the 
. Species ranging from the Millstone grit into the Upper coal for- 
mation,while others seem to be more narrowly limited. It is to be 
observed, however, that as we leave the central part of the system, 
the total number of species diminishes both above and below, and 
that itis only in those beds which hold large numbers of plants im 
situ or nearly so, that we can expect to find a great variety of 
species, and especially the more delicate and perishable organisms. 
It is also quite observable in the Joggins section that while some 
beds, in the same part of the system, supported Sigillariw, others 
carried Calamites, others mixtures of these with other plants; so that 
differences of soil, moisture, etc., frequently cause neighbouring 
beds to be more dissimilar in their fossil conten!s than others much 
more widely separated. These local and temporary differences 
must always have occurred in the deposition of the coal measures, 
and should not be confounded with those general changes which 
are connected with lapse of time. | 


Art. XXXI—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks ; 
by Toomas Macrariane. Part LIT. 
If. Tse Primary Formation. 

Following out the plan indicated in the first part of this paper, 
we proceed to the consideratlon of the primary rocks, with the 
view of ascertaining whether they, in part at least, may reasonably 
be regarded as constituting the first solidified crust of the earth. 
The igneous condition of the original globe has already been ad- 
verted to, and it would seem unnecessary here to refer at length to 
what may be called the keystone of this theory, viz. the flattening 
of the earth at the poles. It is sufficient to remark on this point, 
that Newton and Huygens first maintained and proved this to be the 
-case, from mathematical grounds alone. Subsequently numerous 
measurements of the length of a degree in various lands, but es- 
pecially in those near the equator and under the polar circle, have 
thoroughly established the truth of Newton’stheory. They have 
proved that the length of a degree of latitude increases with the 
distance from the equator. The following are some of the results 


obtained : 
Length of degree of 


, Latitude. Latitude. 
Peru 1931 56736.8 toises. 
India 12932 56762.3 ° 
France 46°8 57024.6 
England 5202 57066.1 
Lapland 62°20 57196.2 “ * 


* Muller’s Kosmische Physik, p. 51. 


458 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


The meridian lines are therefore more considerably curved im 
the neighbourhood of the equator than at the poles, and the 
equatorial diameter of the earth is consequently greater by about 
24 geographical miles than the polardiameter, This is of course, a 
consequence of the revolution of the earth on its axis, and of the 
influence of centrifugal force. This influence could not, however, 
have made itself felt, had not the earth been originally in a fluid, 
or at least plastic condition, so that the depression at the poles. 
constitutes one of the most unequivocal proofs of the original: 
fluid condition of the globe. 

Assuming this fluid condition to have been owing to the pre- 
valence of an extremely bigh temperature, we are necessitated to 
suppose that the atmosphere was then very differently constituted 
than it is at present. This has been remarked by many previous. 
writers. Dr. Hunt describes it as ‘an atmosphere holding in the 
state of acid gases all the carbon, the sulphur and the 
chlorine, besides the elements of air and water.”* Quensted re- 
marks: “ According to the igneous theory the whole of the sili- 
ceous rocks were originally in lava-like fusion. It follows of 
course that not only the whole of the sea must have existed in the 
atmosphere. but also a multitude of substances, which could not 
exist otherwise than in the gaseous state, such as carbonic acid, 
chlorine, sulphur, etc.”+ These inferences are legitimately drawn.. 
The sandstones, shales, and the fixed parts of the limestones of sedi 
mentary formations then existed in the fused matter, along with 
the materials of the igneous and primary rocks, the soda of sea- 
salt and the inorganic constituents of plants and animals. On the 
other hand, the carbonic acid of the limestones must have existed. 
in the atmosphere. The chlorine of the sea salt also could scarcely 
have existed anywhere else than in the atmosphere in combination. 
with hydrogen, or with those metals which form with it volatile 
chlorides, such as lead, zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel,. 
etc. Those volatile chlorides, which are decomposable while 
in the gascous state by oxygen, (such as those of the three 
metals last named) could not however have existed in an atmos- 
phere containing free oxygen, but it would seem, that the 
primitive atmosphere did not contain any such free oxygen. 
Bischof first adopted this view. He maintains that the carbon 
disseminated through the dark clay slates of the pre-carboniferous 


* Canadian Naturalist, p. 202. 
t+ Epochen der Natur. p. 20. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 459 


periods, is in itself more than sufficient to take up all the oxygen 
which the atmosphere of the present day contains.* He caleu- 
lates also that astratum of carbon, spread over the whole surface 
of the globe, 2.6 feet thick, would be sufficient to convert all the 
oxygen of the atmosphere into carbonic acid; and after consider- 
ing how richly furnished the sea is with animal and vegetable life, 
how rich its sedimentary deposits must be in organic substances ; 
that the earlier sedimentary rocks are highly changed with car- 
bonaceous and bituminous substances, that beds of coal and 
lionite are spread over an area of mavy hundreds of square 
miles with a very considerable average thickness, he comes to 
the conclusion, that a layer 2.6 feet thick is far from being an 
equivalent to all the carbon existing in the earth, leaving 
altogether out of the question the carbou of the organic world 
on its surface. This opinion certainly seems to be well grounded, 
and there would appear to be just reason for supposing 
that the oxygen of the atmosphere existed originally in the 
state of carbonic acid, and that a considerable quantity of 
carbon, besides that which was in combination with the oxygen, 
must have existed in the original atmosphere, either free, or in 
combination with other elements, and probably especially with 
hydrogen. Thus the gaseous envelope of the original globe 
must have been an enormous atmosphere of water, carbonic acid, 
carburetted hydrogen, and nitrogen, together with comparatively 
small quantities of sulphurous acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen, 
hydrochloric acid and metallic chlorides. The pressure of such an 
atmosphere must have been prodigious, at least 100 times greater 
than that of the preseut time ; and in conjunction with its compo- 
sition sufficient to produce effects totally different from those 
caused by atmospheric influences at the present day. Among its 
most remarkable properties must have been its power of absorb- 
ing heat. Dr. Hunt has shown that the atmosphere of paleozoic 
times must, from the amount of carbonic acid in it, have greatly 
aided to produce the elevated temperature then  existing.t 
How much more must this have been the case when the atmos- 
phere contained such hydro carbons as marsh and olefiant gases, 
- whose power of absorbing radiant heat greatly exceeds that of 
carbonic acid.{ Dr. Hunt has indeed indicated the part which such 
hydrocarbonsmay thus have played. After the fluid globe had suffi- 

* Chem. and Phys. Geologie, ii. p. 35. 

} Canadian Naturalist, vol. viii. p, 324. 

{ Tyndal: Heat considered as a mode of motion, p. 362. 


460 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


cently cooled, to allow the condensation ofsome of the constituents of 
this primitive atmosphere, the action of these on the earth’s crust must 
have been very energetic, and must have caused the formation 
of products differing considerably from the sedimentary deposits of 
later periods. We shail return to this subject, when adverting to 
the rocks of the so-called Primitive Slate formation. 

With regard to the fluid part of the original globe, we have 
seen that it must have been made up, with but little exception, of 
the inorganic constituents of the earth’s crust. It is evideut, 
that in this fluid globe the heavier particles must have found 
their way to the centre, and that then, as now, the interior of the 
globe must have had a greater density than its surface. Indeed, 
the fact that this is the case at the present day is another proof that 
the globe must have been originally in a state of igneous fluidity, 
otherwise we could not account for the accumulation of the den- 
ser particles at the centre. In the same way as the densest par- 
ticles were influenced by gravitation, so must also the fused sili- 
eates of different densities, and the metallic sulphurets and arsen- 
iurets have found their places in successive concentric zones, one 
beneath the other, according to their increasing specific gravities. 
Thus the theory of Sartorius von Waltershausen would appear to 
be as fully applicable when the earth was in a fluid state, as at 
the present time. 

There is nothing unreasonable or inconsistent with the observa- 
tions which we areable to make at the present day, in supposing 
the inorganic constituents of the earth to have once been in a state 
of igneous fusion. The various layers of fused material, to judge 
from the rocks resulting from their solidification, must have close- 
resembled in chemical composition the scoriz produced in differ- 
ent blast-furnaces. If we suppose the uppermost highly silicified 
and consequently most difficultly fusible layer to be represented . 
by granite, we find many instances of slags from iron-furnaces 
having almost as acid a composition. Many granites contain only 
63 per cent. of silica, but those of the Hartz as high as 73.* On the 
other hand there are instances of iron-slags containing 70 and 71 
per cent.t silica. So far as the other more basic layers and the 
rocks resulting from them are concerned, we can find their equi- 
valents among the slags of iron, copper and lead furnaces, since 
‘the silica contents of the latter range from 70 through every per- 


* Bischof : Chemical and Physical Geology, III. p. 414. 
} Kerl: Handbuch der Hittenkunde, I. p; 322. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 461 


centage down to 8 p.c. If we continue the analogy, and suppose 
the properties of these slags, to correspond somewhat to those of 
the eruptive rocks having a similar chemical composition, we 
may find a clue to the explanation of the various forms of 
deposition, and other characteristics of the latter. Thus it 
is well known that the slags in which silica preponder ates flow 
sluggishly and solidify Seal while basic slags flow quick and 
hot and harden suddenly. It may reasonably be concluded, that 
the rocks of igneous origin would act similarly, and that conse- 
quently granites, porphyries and trachytes would be more viscid, 
and have better time for cooling and erystallizing, than the more, 
basic greenstones, melaphyres ana basalts. The greater frequency 
of impalpable and finely granular varieties among the latter 
rocks would be in this way accounted for. 

We now proceed to consider what must have been the consc- 
quence of the gradual radiation of heat from the igneous globe. 
“ T know of no mode,” says McCulloch,* “in which the surface 
of a fluid globe could be consolidated but by radiation, while of 
the necessity of such a process I need not again speak. The 
immediate result of this must have been the formation of rocks 
on that surface; and if the interior fluid does now produce the 
several unstratified rocks, the first that were formed must haye 
resembled some of these, if not all. We may not unsafely infer 
that they were granitic, perceiving that substances of this charac- 
ter have been produced wherever the cooling appears to have 
been most gradual. The first apparently solid globe was there- 
fore a globe of granite, or of those rocks which bear the nearest 
crystalline analogies to it.” To these utterances we must in the 
main assent, inquiring however whether the relations existing at 
the time of this first solidification might not have given rise to 
the formation of schistose granite or gneiss. Nothing is more 
conclusively established, than that there exists, at the present day, 
in the atmosphere and ocean, a series of currents, caused by or 
attributable to the diurnal motion of the earth. May not similar 
currents have been in operation in the fluid igneous material, 
during the first solidification of the earth’s crust? Is it not pos- 
sible that after this solidification had commenced, the outer shell 
may have moved quicker than the fluid interior, from east to 
west, and that the gradual accumulation of crystallized rock on the 
int@pior of the crust may have taken place under circumstances 


* System of Geology, vol. ii. p. 417. 


A462 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


similar to those so well described by Naumann in referring to the 
parallel structure of certain igneous rocks ?** There are not want- 
ing instances of the formation of a slaty structure in artificially 
formed slags, from a similar cause. Nothing is more common 
than to observe in slags from iron-furnaces a distinct streaked or 
banded appearance, evidently caused by the different rate of 
motion in the interior and outside parts of the flowing stream of 
slag. This phenomenon I have often observed at the Eglinton 
iron-works, Scotland, and more recently at Bethlehem, Pennsyl- 
vania. It is simply another instance of the prcduction of a strati- 
Aied appearance, similar to those described by Tyndall in his work 
- Qn the Glaciers of the Alps.” In this work he shows that the 
banded appearance of glacier-ice, the lamination of wax subjected 
to pressure, and the fibrous texture of rolled iron, are caused by 
the motion under pressure of the atoms constituting those sub- 
stances. Not only has a banded structure been observed among 
certain furnace scoriz, but the latter have even been observed to 
possess sometimes both fibrous and foliated structures. The raw 
slag from the “ Frischfeuer” at Bieber in Hessia, possesses a 
marked fibrous texture, and slag with a distinct slaty texture is 
produced at the blast-furnace in Mégdesprung. The latter is 
formed swimming on melted iron, while its surface comesin con- 
tact with the cold air. Small pieces of this slag resemble the re- 
fuse of roofing slate, not only in their appearance, but also in 
their cleavage. In larger pieces perfectly vitreous layers are com- 
‘bined with the slaty ones, both graduating into each other.t 
From these instances, and considering that the existence of inter- 
nal currents at thit period is highly probable, it would appear 
not unreasonable to expect that some of the rocks solidified on 
the surface of the fiuid globe, would have a schistose structure. It is 
impossible to suppose that the particles of the fluid material be- 
neath the solidifying crust, would always preserve the same rela- 
tive position to the latter, in spite of the daily revolution of the 
globe. The liquid rock beneath the crust must have moved in 
one direction or other almost as freely as the water of a frozen 
river under the ice which covers it. The schistose structure re- 
sulting from this solidification under motion must however have 
resembled more the foliation of certain igneous rocks than the 


* Canadian Naturalist, vol. viii. p. 375. 
+ Von Leonhard, Hiittenerzeugnisse und andere auf kiinstlichem Weve 


gebildete Mineralien als Stitzpunkte geologischer Hypothesen, p..156. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 463 


atratification of sedimentary strata. The stratification of gneiss 
and gneissoid rocks has not unfrequently been denied. Thus 
Featherstonhaugh declared, that “what has been called the stratifi- 
cation of these igneous rocks, may be owing to the principle which 
occasions their fissility.” | Coquand regards gneiss as a “ granite 
stratoide, mais non stratifié.’* Riviere opines also that gneiss 
does not form true layers, but is only a fissile or pseudo-stratified 
rock.f Even McCulloch makes the following admission: 
4¢ Gneiss has not yet indeed presented any decided marks of that 
mechanical arrangement which so often occurs in the other 
stratified rocks ; since I must explain the parallelism of the mica, 
which has been supposed a proof of such arrangements, in a very 
different way. In hypersthene rock, an unstratified member of 
the trap family, the crystals ofthat mineral often occur in a 
‘similar laminar manner, so as to communicate a fissile tendency 
to it; and in Kerrara mica itself is thus found not only in a 
mass of trap, but in a vein of the same substance, with the 
same parallelism to the sides of the vein as it has to the plane cf 
the stratum in micaceous schist.”{ The idea that gneiss may 
have been formed in the manner above indicated is not entirely 
new. In 1845 it was stated that the gneiss of the Saxon Erzge- 
birge “perhaps differs only from granite because it solidified 
under the influence of certain pressures or tensions.|| 

Whether the explanation here attempted of the parallel struc- 
ture of gneiss may be regarded as adequate or not, it does not at 
any rate seem to be any more far-fetched than the theory which 
attributes this phenomenon to the influence of electrio magnetic 
eurrents (Scheerer’s theory) or even than that which regards gneiss 
as a sedimentary rock, altered in some obscure manner by heat 
or other agencies. Besides the arguments given above {in support 
of the first mentioned view, there are also some general considera- 
tions in favor of the existence of a primitive formation, which are 
stated as follows by Naumann.§ “The oldest sedimentary forma- 
tions must have had some material from which they could be 
formed, and a foundation on which to be deposited. The whole 
series of sedimentary formations must have been borne by some- 
thing, and the material of at least the first member of this series 
_ * Bull. de la Soc. Geol. tome ix. 1838, p. 222. 

+ Compte rendus, tome xxv. 1847, p. 898. 

{ System of Geology, Vol. II. p. 152. 

|| Geognostische Beschreibung des K6nigreiches Sachsen, 2tes Heft, p. 


PAS 
§ Lehrbuch der Geognosie, ii., p. 8. 


464. ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


must have been derived from something, which something cannot 
be assumed to be the result ofa sedimentary operation.” 

‘“Tn the same way there must have existed a covering through 
which the oldest eruptive formations were protruded, and a founda- 
tion upon which they could spread themselves out; and the whole 
series of eruptive rocks must, like those of sedimentary origin, have 
at the commencement been borne by something which cannot be 
regarded as the result of an eruptive operation.” 

“ We find ourselves thus obliged, from two sides, to assume the 
existence of an originally existing solid crust of the planet, which 
formed the theatre and the foundation for all the later formations, 
above and beneath which those two energies in nature could de- 
velop themselves ; through which on the one side the sedimentary, 
and on the other side the eruptive formations were brought into 
existence ; and that formation of which this original foundation con- 
sisted it is consequently proper to entitle the primitive or theme- 
lian, the original or fundamental formation.” 

“To this formation those enigmatical, deepest-lying rocks belong 
which resemble sedimentary strata, in possessing more or less per- 
fect stratification, and which resemble eruptive rocks, when their 
mineral composition and their crystalline structure are taken into- 
consideration ; but they are devoid of the fragmentary rocks and 
the organic remains by which the sedimentary formations are 
characterized, and on the other hand do not possess the veins; 
masses and streams common to eruptive rocks, nor the abnormal 
relations of these at their junction with other rocks. In a word, 
we meet in the primitive formation many of those rocks which we 
have above designated cryptogenous, such as gneiss, mica-schist, 
hornblende-schist, ete.; rocks whose unaltered character we are 
not justified in denying in every case, merely because in some 
eases similar rocks have been formed by the metamorphosis of 
sedirfentary strata, or in an eruptive manner. Those who, because 
a few beds of mica-schist or gneiss have been admitted to be meta- 
morphosed clay-slate or greywacke slate, declare that all mica- 
schists and gneiss are only altered sedimentary rocks, only meta- 
_ metamorphosed beds of mud, virtually remove the ground from 
beneath our feet, and limit us to a transcendental succession of 
sedimentary deposits, which, downward, has no end, or rather no 
demonstrable commencement ; because finally the actual sediment- 
ary origin can neither be recognized nor proved, but can only be 
maintained as a hypothetical assumption.” 


. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 465 


“The primitive formation appears to possess quite an extraor- 
dinary thickness ; and to reach very far down into the depths of the 
‘earth. At the same time it showsin a remarkable manner, in those 
different regions where it comes to the surface, such a general resem- 
‘blance as regards its rocks, their structure and form of stratifica- 
tion, that one is led from this alone to think that some stupendous 
process must have taken place over the whole surface of the earth 
at the same time and in the same manner, and that it is to this 
‘process that the primitive formation owes its existence ; and even, 
although it may be so completely covered over in regions of im- 
measurable extent that in these it is not observed to come to the 
surface, still we are entitled with complete justice to suppose the 
existence of an uninterrupted extension of the same, under all the 
sedimentary and eruptive formations with which we are acquainted- 

“The necessity of a primitive formation is besides so appa- 
rent that one can scarcely comprehend how its existence could 
ever be doubted. It appears, in fact, to be a first and indispensa- 
ble condition, without which the possibility of sedimentary, as well 
as of eruptive formations cannot be comprehended. The primitive 
formation has also been, by different authors, entitled the prozoic, 
-azoic or hypozoic formation, because it existed long before the com- 
mencement of the first races of animals or plants, and therefore 
contains nota trace of organic remains, and lies beneath all fossili- 
ferous formations. But all eruptive formations are likewise azoic; 
the oldest sedimentary formation is likewise prozoic, and the term 
hypozoic is perhaps a word which does not correspond sufficiently 
well with the idea intended to be expressed by it.” 

“Ttis possible for us to regard the primitive formation perhaps, 
as the uppermost part of the original solidified crust of our planet ; 
and this supposition has here and there been adopted. We leave, 
however, the process of their formation undecided, and rest satis- 
fied, in the meantime, with the negative result, that according to 

the present condition of our knowledge, the primitive formation 
can neither be a sedimentary formation, in the usual signification 
‘of the term, nor yet an eruptive formation, properly speaking. It 
is however a most remarkable fact, that a few comparatively 
far younger formations show a surprising similarity to the primi- 
tive formation in the structure and architecture of their rocks, 
(viz., the Miinchberg gneiss-formation in Oberfranken, and the pro- 
togine formation of the Alps). This fact, as well as the circum- 


‘stance, that they are almost all eryptogenous or stratified crystal- 
Can. Nat. 31 Vou. VIII. 


466 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE. AND PRIMARY ROOKS. 


line rocks, which occur, on the one hand, as undoubted primitive, 
and on the other as newer products, make it advisable to class 
both together under the common name of the eryptogenous form- 
ations, or also of the stratified silicate formations.” 

“‘Many, perhaps even the most of the geologists of the present 
day, are of the opinion that the strata of the primitive formation 
are very ancient metamorphic sedimentary strata. Until convine- 
ing proofs are adducel in support of this view, it may however, 
only be excused as an attempt to bring incomprehensible pheno- 
mena into unison, at least hypothetically, with comprehensible 
appearances. ‘Whereupon,’ asks Humboldt, ‘do the oldest sedimen- 
tary rocks rest, if gneiss and mica-schist are only to be regarded 
as altered sedimentaay strata? Cosmos, i., p. 299.” 

It is very evident from the foregoing, that Naumann leans to 
the opinion that the primitive formation is the result of the first 
process of solidification which the fluid globe underwent. He 
refrains from declaring himself in favor of this idea, principally on 
the grounds mentioned in another chapter of his “ Lehrbuch,” a 
translation of .which has already been given in this Journal.* 
These grounds are the foliated texture of gneiss and its associated 
rocks, and the highly inclined position of their strata. The first 
of these phenomena I have already attempted to account for. We 
shall, in the course of the following remarks, endeavour to ascer- 
tain whether the almost vertical position of the primitive strata is 
also capable of being explained. 

Ia regarding gneiss as an igneous rock, there are, of course, the 
same difficulties arising from its mineralogical composition, to be 
explained away, as in the case of granite, but these we intend to 
postpone .considering, until we come to speak of the protrusion of 
the latter rock. The same mode of explanation adopted in the 
case of gneiss, would of course require to be resorted to in the 
ease of the schistose rocks associated with it, especially such as 
mica-schist and hornblende slate. We must not suppose thal the 
latter rock was formed from the same zone of igneous material as 
the gneiss, but on the contrary, that it is the product of some of 
the lower zones, brought up tothe newly formed crust by cosmical 
influences, and consolidated on the inner part of the same, sub- 
ject, of course, to the same influences during its solidification as 
we have supposed in the case of gneiss, We thus suppose that 
the first stage of the consolidation of the globe consisted in the 


* Vol. vil, p. 254. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 46T 


formation of a thin crust of stratified rocks; those rocks being 
now to be found constituting the so-called primitive gneiss for- 
mation. 

In accordance with the views given in the second part of this 
paper, of the nature of the process of solidification at present pro. 
gressing beneath the earth’s crust, we must suppose that during 
the solidification of the first crust, a contraction of the volume of. 
the originally fluid material took place. This view must be 
adopted on experimental grounds also. Bischof found, in casting 
a globe of basalt, twenty-seven inches in diameter, that in the 
centre of the mass, on cooling, a cavity had formed capable 
of containing half a pint of water. Further, at the Muld- 
ner smelting works, near Freiberg, stones are cast of the slag run 
out of the reverberatory furnaces. They are two feet long, one 
foot, deep and one broad, and when broken after cooling, they are 
found to contain in the middle irregularly shaped cavities from 
three to five inches wide, the sides of which are covered with bril- 
liant microscopic crystals.* From these instances it might be ex- 
pected, that during the first solidification, a vacuum might, to some 
extent, have been formed beneath the crust of the earth. With 
the progress of the consolidation the dimensions of the vacuum must 

_haye increased, and the power of the crust to support the enor- 
mous pressure of the then existing atmosphere must have decreased. 
We may suppose that ultimately a point was reached, when the 
crust was unable longer to support the enormous load, and that it 
then gave way in various places, its fragments sinking down to 
the fluid interior and floating upon its surface. In this way the 
first great subsidence of the earth’s crust may be reasonably sup- 
posed to have taken place. The area of the original globe 
having however decreased during the solidification, it would 
be impossible for the fragments of the crust to maintain their 
original horizontal position. Very likely also the still fluid 
material beneath the crust would protrude itself through be- 
tween the fragments, thrusting them aside, and limiting still fur- 
ther the space occupied by the latter. The consequence of this 
would be, that the fragments would arrange themselves in posi- 
tions more or less vertical, and, although some of them might still 
remain horizontal, still highly inclined positions would be the rule. 
We can even imagine how corrugations of the strata, such as 

‘described by Sir William Logan in Canada, and by McCulloch in 


* Leonhard, Hiittenerzeugnisse, p, 186. 


468 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


Scotland, could be formed under the influence of the various forces 
here at work. While great areas of the earth’s crust must have 
been dislocated in this manner, it is quite possible that other great 
areas may have been able to preserve, throughout these convul- 
sions, their originally horizontal position. That part of the fluid 
material which may have protruded itself through the fractured 
crust, we may reasonably imagine to have solidified somewhat out 
of the range of the internal currents, and to have produced the 
first erupted granites. We may further reasonably suppose that 
the same fluid material must have penetrated into the interstices 
between the various fragments of the original crust, and have 
solidified there. This fractured and re-consolidated part of the 
crust would then present exactly the same appearance, so far as 
the relations of the various rocks are concerned, as the primitive 
strata of Canada, Scandinavia, and the north of Scotland do at the 
present day. That is to say the strata of gneiss, granite, mica and 
hornblende schist would be arranged in highly inclined positions, 
and if in contact with rocks of later periods, the latter would over- 
lie the primitive strata unconformably. This peculiar build of the 
primitive rocks is characteristic of those districts where they have 
been admitted to be the oldest rocks on the earth’s surface. Thus, 
in some of the Western Islands of Scotland, the primitive strata 
are not overlaid by any newer rock; and in Canada the vertical 
strata of the Laurentian series are in many places covered by the 
horizontal beds of the Potsdam sandstone. In Norway the out- 
crops of the highly inclined primary strata frequently occupy areas 
of several hundred square miles, and, at the outskirts of these areas 
they are overlaid by fossiliferous strata of the Silurian’ system. The 
primitive rocks of Brazil, consisting of gneiss, gneiss-granites, 
granite, syenite, mica-schist, and hornblende rocks, extend north 
and south through fourteen degrees of latitude, and have a breadth 
of 250 geographical miles, in which enormous area, strata inclined 
from 45 to 70 degrees are alone observable. We cannot suppose 
that these rocks were originally formed in this position; nor can 
we reasonably regard them as a system of strata, having, in their 
original horizontal position, a thickness of upwards of 100 geogra- 
phical miles. There remains only the explanation given above, . 
that the originally not very thick strata assumed their highly in- 
clined position owing to the lateral pressure to which they were 
exposed; the latter having been caused, partly by the contraction ex- 
perienced by the globe in cooling, and partly by the protrusion of 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 469 


igneous matter from beneath the broken crust. An analogous 
phenomenon may every winter be observed on the St. Lawrence, 
When the ice shoves, pressure being exerted upon it from higher 
up the stream, the floes of ice are raised upon their ends, and a 
confused aggregate of inclined beds is the result; and it is worthy 
of remark that each of these beds is in itself distinctly stratified, 
just as are the individual layers of the primary rocks, the cause of 
this stratification being in each case not entirely dissimilar. 

We have thus endeavoured to remove Naumann’s principal ob- 
jections to the igneous origin of the primary stratified rocks. We 
have next to refer to the objection founded on the mineralogical 
composition of gneiss, which is the same as in the case of granite. 
This objection is the presence in it of quartz, which occurs in such 
a manner, as to indicate that it must have been the mineral which 
solidified last of all, although it is the most infusible of the constit- 
uents of granite. Perfectly well formed crystals of it often, it is 
alleged, leave their impression on the adjoining feldspar and mica. 
We have already seen that this tis denied by Sartorius von Wal- 
tershausen, who also insists that the quartz formed subsequently to 
the consolidation of the granite, by the action of water, must not 
be confounded with the original granular quartz, which is never 
or seldom found crystallized. In spite, however, of this denial, 
many supporters of the igneous origin of granite consider it ne- 
cessary to attempt to account for the occurrence of quartz in the 
manner above stated. The following are the remarks of Naumann 
on the subject: “Gaudin’s experiments have shown that melted 
silica becomes. viscid before it solidifies, and while in this state it 
may be drawn out into threads like sealing wax. This proves that 
the temperature, at which it solidifies, lies very far below the tem- 
perature, at which it fuses, wherefore this phenomenon has been 
used by Fournet in support of his theory of the surfusion of silica, 
the fundamental idea of which theory has also been strongly sup- 
ported by Petzholdt (Fournet, Compte Rendu, tome xviii. 1844., p. 
1050 ; and Petzholdt, Geologie, p. 313). Moreover Durocher has 
pointed out that the fusing temperature of silica (perhaps amount- . 
ing to 2800 degrees C.) is not necessary in order to explain the 
crystallization of granite, because the silica of the quartz formed, 
combined with the elements of the feldspar and the mica, a com- 
pletely homogenous,igneous magma, in order to the fusion of which 
atemperature approaching the fusing point of orthoclase may have 
been sufficient. While the feldspar and mica crystallized from 


470 ‘ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


this magma, the excess of silica was merely separated as quartz. * 
These two explanations must not be confounded with each other. 
The surfusion of Fournet differs essentially from the viscosity of 
Durocher. “En vertu du premier,” says the latter philosopher, 
“ une substance peut conserver sa parfaite liquidité, a une tem- 
pérature inférieure 4 son point de fusion. En vertu du second, 
‘des substances diverses, chauffées jusqu’a liquéfaction, puis abannon- 
nées au refroidissement spontanné, dans les mémes circonstances, 
mettent des temps fort inégaux a se solidifier, celles qui tendent & 
erystalliser, deviennent solides les premiéres; celles qui constitu- 
ent des masses amorphes restent longtemps dans un état plastique 
analogue a celui de la poix et intermédiaire entre |’état liquide et 
état solide.’ When we take into consideration the common 
blowpipe reaction, in which silica is often separated from a fused 
‘bead as a gelatinous skeleton, it would appear to lend consider- 
-able support to Durocher’s theory. 
I here conclude the explanation which I have attempted of 
the origin of the Primitive formation. I conceive that only one 
‘series of rocks is entitled to this appellation. The term primary 
has often been applied to quartzites and slates of later age; which 
rocks have been classified by German geologists under the name 
of the Primitive Slate formation. It is very evident, however, that 
there can have been but one primitive formation, and since the 
slates and quartzites above referred to bear evidence of their having 
been derived frem pre-existing rocks, it would appear incorrect to 
entitle them primary or primitive. Were it not that geological no- 
‘menclature is already sufficiently confused, it would appear much 
more reasonable to apply the old term of Transition Formatien to 
‘these rocks ; since it is highly probable that during the period in 
which they were formed, the temperature of the first crust gradu- 
-ally decreased to a temperature at which it was possible for water 
to exist in large quantity on the earth’s surface. We have seen 
that during the first granitic eruptions, water did not exist on the 
-surface, otherwise rocks of a more or less tufaceous character would 
have been produced. This conclusion would also seem to be cor- 
roborated by the ideas which we must entertain of the high tem- 
perature of the newly solidified crust. When the temperature of 
the latter so far decreased as to admit of the condensation of the 
water existing in the atmosphere, the rain, which fell upon it, must 


* Naumann, Lehrbuch, i., p. 740. 
Tt Bul. de la Soc. Geol. 1849-50, p. 276. 


‘ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 471 


have been instantaneously evaporated. This rapid condensation 
and evaporation must have continued through long ages before 
any considerable accumulation of water could have taken place. 
Even then such accumulations must have possessed for a long 
time a boiling temperature, and long ages must again have been 
necessary before it cooled down tosuch an extent as to enable ani- 
mated creaturés to exist within it. If to these considerations we 
add the following,namely that the water condensing upon the heated 
rocks must have been charged, with muriatic and carbonic acids, 
(the latter at a later stage than the former), it is very plain that 
the products of the action of the atmospheric influences then, must 
have been of a character widely different from those produced by 
the same agencies at the present day. The action of such acid- 
ulated water aided by heat must have been much more energetic 
then than now. This has been already fully recognized by Dr. 
Hunt. “Thesolid crust,” he remarks, “ would afterwards be at- 
tacked by the acids, precipitated, with water, under the pressure 
of a high atmospheric column, and at an elevated temperature ; 
from which would result the separation of a great amount of silica, 
and the formation of an ocean, whose waters would contain in the 
state of chlorides and sulphates not only alkalies, but also large 
portions of lime and magnesia. Ata later period, the decompo- 
sition of exposed portions under the influence of water and carbon- 
‘ic acid would give rise, on the one hand to clays, and on the other 
‘to carbonate of soda, This latter reaction upon the calcareous 
salts of the seawater must produce chloride of sodium and carbon- 
ate of lime. We have here a theory of the source of the quartz, 
the carbonate of lime and the argillaceous matters of the earth’s 
crust explaining at the same time, the origin of the chloride of 
-godium of the sea, and the fixation of the carbonic acid of the at- 
mosphere in the form of carbonate of lime.”* I may be permit- 
ted to remark, that no theory accounts more completely and satis- 
factorily for the origin of the so-called Primitive Slate formation, 
‘than does this. It is surely not too much to assume, that the 
erystalline character of its rocks has been caused by the nature of 
the agents then'at work, and the influence of the higher tempera- 
ture and greater atmospheric pressure then prevailing. It is evi- 
dent that the action of the muriatic acid of the atmosphere 
must have long preceded the action of carbonic acid, since we 
are almost unable to conceive that the latter gas could exist in 


*Canadian Naturalist, vol. vii., p. 202. 


472 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


water of higher than ordinary temperature. The quartz, the carbon-- 
ate of lime, and the argillaceous matter above mentioned are pecu- 
larly at home in the Primitive Slate formation, and are compara- 
tively rare in the fundamental gneiss or primitive formation- 
proper. We have only to refer to the highly quartzose rocks of 
the Huronian formation, of the Thelemarken quartz formation, 
and of the so-called primary sandstones of the western islands of 
Scotland, to show that the separation of quartz on an extraordina- 
ry scale must have been one of the first products of the condensa- 
tion of aqueous vapour on the earth’s surface. Moreover, although 
primary limestones are not of unfrequent occurrence in gneiss, 
they are of trifling extent compared with the limestones of the so 
called Primitive Slates. At first of less frequent occurrence, of light 
grey colour, and crystalline character, and evidently more the ree 
sult of a chemical precipitation than made up of animal organisms, 
they pass through various gradations of color, becoming more: 
frequent and of darker color (more charged with carbon) as they. 
grow younger. In the micaceous and the clay slates, which ex- 
ceed in extent of developement both quartzites and limestones, we 
find a similar gradual change in their colours and lithological 
characters ; the younger they become the more they are charged 
with carbon, and the more they resemble slates of more modern 
formations. The source of this carbon was undoubtedly the at-. 
mosphere, where it probably existed free, or was derived from the: 
decomposition of its compounds with other elements. Duringthe 
period, when the primitive slate rocks were formed, the metallic 
chlorides were also most probably removed from the atmosphere.. 
This may have given rise to the extensive metallic deposits exist- 
ing among these crystalline slates. 

After the abrasion of the material from which the quartzose, 
micaceous and argillaceous slates resulted, we must suppose that it 
became deposited in the hollows of the then existing crust, which 
hollows were most probably occupied by primitive strata lying 
horizontal or nearly so. Those parts of the first crust, which rose 
above this primitive ocean, are most likely to have been the high-. 
ly inclined primitive strata or eruptive masses of granite. If 
this view be correct then the rocks of our Transition formation. 
must generally have been deposited conformably upon horizontal 
gneiss, or rocks allied to it. 

While the atmospheric agencies, and more especially water,. 
were thus at work upon the surface of the original crust of the 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. ATS. 


earth, the same process of solidification which we formerly re- 
ferred to, must have been progressing beneath it. The interior 
of the globe must have experienced a further contraction; and 
after having resisted for some time, the earth’s crust must have 
subsided, and become fractured and folded in the same manner 
as the primitive gneiss, though perhaps to a less violent degree. 
This idea of a gradual contraction of the globe, and the consequent 
folding of the strata composing the crust, has especially been ad- 
vocated by French geologists such as Riviére and Constant-Pré- 
vost. The latter geologist has the following remarks upon it : 
“ Aprés des dissidences plus apparentes que réelles, presque tous 
les géologues tendent 4 admettre aujourd’hui, que l’enveloppe 
consolidée de la terre a éprouvé, et éprouve encore, un mouve- 
ment centripéte contenu, di ala diminution de chaleur et de 
volume de la masse intérieure du globe. De ce mouvement il 
résulte nécessairement, dans l’enveloppe solide, et aprés une ré- 
sistence plus ou moins longue, des ondulations, des plissements, 
des redressements et des ruptures, dont les unes sont produites 
dans les parties enfoncées, et les autres dans les parties relevées. 
des plis. C’est par ces pentes que sont sorties les matiéres en- 
core molles sous-jacentes; elles ont traversé les issues qui leur 
étaient offertes, mais elles n’ont pas brisé les barriéres qui les re- 
tenaient. Sans doute qu’avec ces mouvements généraux des ap- 
prochements du sol vers le centre de la planéte, le refroidisse- 
ment a produit des retraits locaux partiels dans les matiéres re- 
froidies; que la diminution inégale des matiéres de nature di- 
verse a également donné lieu a des changements relatifs de ni- 
veau et ides ruptures quelquefois trés-importantes ; que souvent 
aussi le plissement de tables horizontales a pu occasionner des: 
pressions latérales qui ont poussé, de dedans ou en dehors, des 
matiéres malléables en sens inverse de celui déterminé par la. 
grande cause premiére du mouvement, lesquelles matiéres 
ont pu redresser, renverser, soulever les lambeaux des strates. 
brisées. Mais ce sont 1a des faits de détail, des exceptions qui, 
loin Winfirmer la loi générale, viennent la confirmer, lorsqu’ils 
sont analysés avec attention et réduits 4 leur juste valeur.”* In 
describing and accounting for the architecture of the “ Terrain 
gnéissique de la Vendée” Riviére adopts the same theory.} 


* Constant-Prévost, sur le mode de formation des chaines de monta- 
gnes. Bul. dela Soc. Géol. de France, 1849-50, tome vii, p. 53. 
} Bul. dela Soc. Geol., 2 series, tome vii., p. 327. 


474 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


We may now proceed to consider what effects, according to 
this theory, would be produced on the earth’s crust as the same 
“was constituted after the slate rocks above mentioned, and even 
the so-called greywacke series had been deposited. The slates 
and sandstones of the latter formation are the oldest rocks which 
thoroughly resemble, in their lithological characters, the sedimen- 
tary deposits of later periods ; wherefore we may suppose that at 
the same time they were formed, the temperature of the earth’s 
surface and the agencies at work upon it somewhat approxi- 
mated to those of the present day. The portion of the earth’s crust 
least likely to be affected by the subsidences consequent upon the 
contraction of the globe, may reasonably be supposed to have 
been the thickest part, that part where vertical strata of gneiss and 
rocks allied to it, extended deep down into the earth’s crust. The 
part most liable to be fractured and raised into folds, would most 
probably be the thinnest, or that part where horizontal or but 
‘slightly inclined gneiss strata, had been conformably overlaid by 
micaceous, argillaceous, chloritic and quartzose slates. If we at- 
tempt to speculate as to what might be the first consequences of 
the contraction upon these latter rocks, we would naturally sup- 
pose that after a fissure had once been formed, the strata border- 
ing on it would rise in a manner sketched in the subjoined figure. 


i a. gneiss, b. mica schist, c. clay slate. 

And in reality not a few of the so-called Primitive Slate districts 
possess an architecture closely analogous to the above ideal sec- 
tion. This is especially the case in the Alps of Salzburg and 
Upper Carinthia. In this part of the central Alps, according to 
Credner, a mass of granitic gneiss, drawn out from east to west, 
-forms the centre. On the north as well as on the south side of 
this mass crystalline slates overlie it. On the north side the dip 
is at a high angle to the north, and on the south side the highly 
inclined strata dip to the south. These crystalline slates are 
divisible into three groups, the lowest consisting of common and 
calcareous mica-slate, the middle group of chlorite and tale slates, 
-and the upper group of common and calcareous clay-slate. More- 
over the structure of thé metamorphic rocks of eastern North 
America, and also of the slate districts north of the Mjo’sen in 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND. PRIMARY ROOKS. 475 


Norway, would seem greatly to resemble the above ideal section, 
if we suppose one half of the same to be obliterated. The follow- 
ing is a section of the Alleghany chain according to Rogers :* 

4 4 3 4 2 1 


Up Gases mica metas! &e. 

2. Silurian system (so-called metamorphic strata). 

3. Devonian oh 

4. Carboniferous “ 

The above delineated structure of the slate rocks would have 
experienced a modification, in the event of igneous rocks having 
been protruded through the fissures formed by these movements 
of the earth’s crust. These igneous rocks would most easily be 
protruded at the point marked A in the sketch first above given. 
If we imagine a granitic mass to be erupted at the point so mark- 
ed, we have then a section resembling in its general features the 
build of the so called primitive rocks in many parts of the Alps 
of Switzerland, in the Saxon Erzgebirge, in Hungary, and in the 
gneissoid region of La Vendée, above mentioned. The following 
is a section given by Beudant, of the structure of the schistose 
rocks in the county of Gémér in Hungary.+ 
1284353636386 716 8 8 8 


. Granite. 

. Gneiss. 

. Mica-schist. 

. Greenstone. 

. Limestone. 

. Clay-slate. 

. Iron ore. 

. Schistose greywacke and limestone. 


Here the primitive and slate strata rest upon the ¢ granite in the 
following order: Ist gneiss, 2d mica-schist, 3d clay-slate. The 


Da Or f & BS 


* Naumann, Lehrbuch, i, 994. 
} Voyage en Hongrie, Atlas, Fig. 5. 


476 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


mica-schists and clay-slates in the districts above mentioned never 
occur overlying the gneiss strata unconformably. On the contrary, 
they are so intimately connected tnat a gradual transition is gener- 
ally observed to take place between them; the gneiss gradually 
changes into mica-schist, the latter gradually becomes less crys- 
talline, and finally argillaceous and chloritic rocks result. 

A further modification of the above type of the structure of 
the slate rocks occurs when the granite is so extensively protruded 
as to overlie the gneiss strata, or when the latter have not been 
forced up to the surface. In this case the micaceous or argilla- 
ceous slate is foundimmediately reposing upon or at least in con- 
tact with the granite. In this manner the mica-schist with inter- 
stratified limestones, north of Drontheim in Norway, overlie the 
granite of Vestfjord, and in this way also the killas or clay-slates. 
of Cornwall lean upon the granite of Dartmoor. In the latter 
cases no lithological transitions are observable between the 
slates and the granite, while in former cases, where gneiss is in- 
terposed between them, the transition from the latter rock to 
granite is distinctly observable. This phenomenon, it will be 
observed, however, is not inconsistent with the explanation here 
given of the origin of these rocks. 

T have thus attempted to explain some of the most remarkable: 
phenomena connected with the primary rocks. It will be obser- 
ved that in so doing, I have tried to elaborate and combine toge— 
ther many of the ideas expressed by different geological authori- 
ties. Iam far however from maintaining that the theory here 
given is adequate to account for all the facts observable in connec- 
tion with these rocks. Nor is it at present necessary that this 
explanation should be perfect. There must be in geology as in 
other sciences, obscure problems always awaiting solution. The 
best apology which I can offer for presuming to attempt an 
explanation of the enigmatical phenomena connected with the. 
primary rocks, is in the following words of McCulioch:* “ The: 
human mind is so constituted that it cannot rest content with 
facts. If it posesses innate propensities, the investigation 
of causes is assuredly one of them. The very geologist who. 
disclaims all theory has his own; the lowest of the vulgar 
desire reasons. The laws which govern the phenomena of na- 
ture force themselves irresistibly on our attention. They are 
strictly involved with the analogies which regulate all our reason- 


* System of Geology, vol. i, p. 485. 


ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. ATT 


ings and direct our observations ; and without them we cannot 
proceed astep on firm ground. They distinguish the philoso- 
pher from the empiric, and combine scattered observations into 
a body of useful and rational science. Even in the science of 
nature, as in that of numbers, the assumption of imaginary or 
erroneous laws, leads to the discovery of the truth. The history 
of astronomy is in itself a lesson to those who ignorantly un- 
-dervalue the pursuit of general laws. Bewildered in spheres and 
vortices, it arose, as ina moment, complete, from the theory of 
gravitation, 

“Hence the consideration of secondary causes, forms, not only 
‘a legitimate, but an essential part of geological science. That 
‘science, like all others, comprises the history of all the facts which 
it involves; and from these, it establishes certain general analo- 
gies... Ascending a step higher it declares the laws which have 
regulated, and will continue to regulate, all the phenomena of the 
globe; and thus finally establishes a legitimate theory of the 
earth.” 

No trace of organic remains has been discovered in these mica- 
ceous, chloritic or argillaceous slates, nor even in the limestones 
associated with them. The adherents of the metamorphic 
hypothesis attempt to account for this by supposing that the fos- 
sils have been obliterated by the agencies which have effected the 
alteration. But even in the greywacke slates and sandstones, 
traces of life are rare; and it is only in the very newest strata of 
that’ series, that they become at all frequent, and then they 
belong to the inferior grades of animal organisms. That the air- 
breathers, recently described by Dr. Dawson, first make their 
appearance in the coal-measures, may be regarded as a proof of 
the absence of free oxygen from the atmosphere which existed 
-dnring the deposition of the Lower Silurianrocks. Not until the 
carbonic acid was to a great extent removed from the atmosphere 
by the luxuriant vegetation of the coal period, and its place taken 
up by oxygen, was it possible for air-breathers to exist. The 
extraordinarily rich vegetation of that epoch was no doubt stimula- 
ted by the immense quantities of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, 
and the exceedingly warm climate which then prevailed over the 
whole surface of the earth. This warm climate, we are justified 
in supposing, was caused more by the radiation of heat from the 
interior of the earth, than by solar influence. So that it is possi- 
ble to trace a connection between the phenomena of internal heat 


478 ORIGIN OF ERUPTIVE AND PRIMARY ROCKS. 


and the characteristic strata of the carboniferous system, and 
between that series of rocks and the constitution of the primitive 
atmosphere. In this, as in much of what has been stated in this 
paper we recognise how intimately linked together all natural 
phenomena and all departments of science are. The various natu- 
ral sciences are like the crystalline rocks; they graduate into each 
other, forming, when properly interpreted, a compact, well ordered 
and harmonious whole. 

And while westudy and recognise all this, surely it behoves us to 
acknowledge reverently the great Author of all. The mere exter- 
nal features of primitive districts inspire us with feelings of 
wonder andawe. Standing on the summit of Gaustafjeld, we can 
look northward over hundreds of square miles of primitive rocks, 
forming there the broad, barren plateau of Hardangerfjeld. As 
far as the eye can reach there is spread out a desert of rocks. 
broken only by the lakes, which form the sources of the turbulent 
streams that leap down into the fiords of the west and south, or 
by valleys with precipitous sides, which seem as if hewn out of 
the solid rock of the jlateau beneath the level of its general 
surface. The scanty and stuated vegetation heightens the desola- 
tion of the scene, but nevertheless its rugged grandeur causes the 
observer to be deeply impressed with his own insignificance, and 
with the awful power of the Originator of the uniyerse. But 
how greatly is this feeling deepened when the architecture of 
these rocks and the mode a their formation is considered. Here 
we feel our utter littleness even more forcibly; but we at the same 
time gain some idea of that series of processes and revolutions by 
which the earth was fitted for man, and of the power and wisdom 
of the great Designer who caused our present beautiful earth to- 
emerge from the chaos of the primitive period. We also learn 
enough to exclaim with the Psalmist, “Of old hast Thou laid the 
foundations of the earth.” 

Acton Vale, C. E. 

12th January, 1864. 


INDEX. 


tees PAGE 
Acids, Maefarlane on a new-method of preparing.........+ss+05+ 39 
Ailanthine, Dr. Patterson ON. ....seeseee cece eeeeceans Aslalelefele ey ZOO 
Ailanthus glandulosa... GHP EHO BOnanaas cidtelaiels oAalaleteislaretelelaists|«/ elec) 260 
Air-Breathers of the coal period, Dawson on...... ib 81, 159, 161, 268 
Amnicola, (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated) ......+++++-- 102 
Ancylus, (Lower, Canadian species of, enumerated) ......0+-2++++ 104 
Anoiwonta, (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated) .......-.+-.- 100 
Armstrong, Sir W., speech Of... .cssseececeeseceeeeesseeseses SIO 
Bailey, Prof. L. W., on the diatomacee of the River St. Joln...... 92 
Baphetes pluniceps, (see Plast eWlilo) iateweveveteyelveyalelaiteley etelonstoteved nevoheye Sth PE 
Barnston on the genus Luira....... a aicidsciataee Rescate amubrali eat egetetete sete Lad 
perro, J., quoted by Mr. Billings... 0... ee wee isisjachelsterege (20 
Bell, Robert, on the geology of Gaspé. s6ag5e KMaNECBac dehao oce. 115 
on Canadian Roofing Slate..............- Sou ono: eit} 
Beniiis OHIO DINTSA RTOS SSCA aeieheforniel steicte ‘6 db cies BS cieleletlsiereletee 2 0G 
Billings, E., NOW hoo uoodS GooMbeRagDUD GODS Jonosoce viele eiesieieiele=s oD 
‘*-*on"'the remains of a fossil elephant... ....0.:eseee08 135 
sc ON Whew, LOSsil swe ess ciee sitorte scetsl eter sle « tiabeddouccgs - 209 
es on the genius Stricklundinia...... ....... eee eeceenes 310 
Billings, H.; on the parallelism of the Quebec group..........+.... 19 
Bulimus, (Lower Canadian species of ennmerated) .........+.0.-. 106 
Botanical Society, proceedings Olersinieisjetctereraye sts wee ssceveceee DLL, ING 
Bombyx cynthiu. .:....06.- ooodoC Yaodoooct sfojernertrearciere cies eeistee » 260 
British PASsOCiVtIGM |. tee «ene sclseere siete Sialevcjelersvelsheler elaleleiverers wee, OID 
Buceinum cretaceum, (figured and described). BOO OO Sek keene sf 
Canada, Hunt on the gold-mines of. . srofsherolelspareterstaletevateretchete cekelefetepielich 
oa) Mollusca "ef Lowers ¢¢ ocis ees JbbgoodbouGdd sand oe 50 
Carbonate of Soda, Macfarlane on’a new method of preparing.. 39 
CORY ENLUMETIZ UUM tas as ofetololetelerelele(eiale)clale'siciersieleletalevetelareieraictetereteveieiel Ondl 
Cella por W CUT CULTS eerccllerael totiersisok co eve ciereiencnts eters sieves erele/etale tae 
Chazy and Calciferous aamUOhe parallelism of..... sieteteyoroeriotete 19 
Chlorine; Macfarlane on a new method of preparing...........->. 39 
Coal-period, Dawson on the air-breathers of the... 1, 81, 159, 161, 268 
¢ > Dawson on ‘the flora’of.... 6.2.0.8. efefeleversichcioheretsileterstefetere 431 
Couper; Wm., on Monohummus......+.-.- Histarctoteroreets wiale oie eterste enOAD 
Cyrtina euphemia, (figured and described). . aie ale\(siela)erelereieataly eyeieletse anaS 
Dawsou, Dr. J. W., on the Air-Breathers of the Coal Period, 1, 81, 
159, 161, 268 
peared aa baehiness of, to the Natural History Society. 65 
sheep : Review of “ Lyell and Wilson”......... OT 113 
aes Note‘on the foot-prints of a reptile..... selsiele -meeoO 
431 


“>>> on the flura‘of the carboniferous period.......- 


480 INDEX. 


Pas 

DeSola, Dr., address by.......-.. sagctedud0dad Souggodadosodos0 Th! 
Dendrerpeton aeaiiniae, (Plate Ta doadcouu¢ ecsceeeece Sl, 159, 282 
Owent (Plate wea wee e eee e ence ne eeeees -. 162, 282 

ce new species of.. ajelevalsfclelele\je\alclsle)sleleinielalstatafelsielsteksieatcsa ts 
Devine on a new trilobite.......... idudedoncdoousd Sd5o5n000 Mi, ALT 
Diatomacese from the River, St. John... 2.62... occ cence sete Oe 
Harth’s climate in Palceozoic times.........- sie) a/s/e sfe/slelojelelaleteleilereo ao 
Elephant, Billings on the remains of a fossil......0+--0- seccceee 13D 
Emmons, Prof., death of.........0.+e0% iooogo0noo0bDG0uDD Sdaag6 et 
Entomological ‘Society, proceedings OigseGo0G0 coeboo0DGG0GDO das. BLP 
Eosaurus Aeadianus.....c.eeee heferelolachetetetatere dag0d0006 ode 283 
Eruptive Rocks, Macfarlane on.....+<. S000000.00OK~ 6000 295, 329, 457 
schara, (species of described).......... cee cece ccc ceevcccrecsees 410 
Eulephas Jacksoni figured and described..... slielelelcfele cleleto lel alserelete fet oG 
gf (American Species of enumerated.)....cc.seeseeeeeces 146 

re Remains of in the Ann Arbor University.....cece.sees . 398 
Flora of the carboniferous period... ..ceccsccccseccececcavecccce 431 
Foot-prints of air-breathers in the coal......... afcialels avelsinelefelarsfeteromo kL: 
Foot-prinis of a reptile in the coal.......cseescccccccccseerscee 430 
Foxopneustes drobachiensis...écosccecscccrcceccecs aac sietslcieleteharstonl4 Oey 
Fresh-water mollusca of Lower Canada.......cecescocccccseee D0 98 
Gaspé Peninsula, geology, Of... si... cc sec cles «ssc ces vsicsiviccvic eitemmihies 
Geology of New Brunswick........eeceee- B4dOboOS ndd6dnox0c00 ZENE 
“of Gaspé Peninsula../......0.. | Wobaooadoddedéoc soodoo its 
Gold mines of Canada, Hunt on the working of........ecceeseree 13 
Gray, Prof.. on the American Tea Plant....cc.csccccveccsecccee 390 
Harkness, Prof. R., quoted....-...cseeees Saddoounpdecanoonoade wil 
Halophila borealis, (figured and described)..........+seces eeeee 406 
Harpes Dentoni figured and described..... sbodudbuadoddCoUGs00000 © SE 
Helix, (Lower Canadian species enumerated) ........ clelolelefeteleleiseloqneOL 
How, on mineral waters of Nova Scotia....... guacddoqoadboddose Bil 
Hunt, Dr. T. Sterry, on the gold mines of Canada.......... nooodd ls 
‘¢ on the relations of metamorphic rocks..... cieverereioiens dodcoqoo UGG 

& On earth’s climate in Paleozoic times..... Hobocoda ssa eaccse OAD 
Hydrochloric acid, a new method of preparing ....c.ecceeceseess 39 
Hylonomus aciedentatus (Plate VI)... ccccccccccccscecccccsee 268 28L 
6 Wymani. (Plate VI)..... GacdoudoouGEaS DAO S0bC eee 270 282 

a Pyeili(Plate Wee eee. Sabb ob ene RIG HMIN 2E i) Be 
Hylerpeton Dawsont. (Plate V1).....esccecccccccccccccossse 2I2 282 
Kemp, Rev. A. F., address by..cecsscsecrccvececssccccescseres 68 
Labrador, Packard, on the marine animals of,..0...sessecoccsese 46L 
Land shells of Lower Canada .......e.sceeners sel ee 2\e(e\e/e) 80/6 00). 9S 
Lepralia, (species described and figured....... ec cveecseccscccese 406 
Limnea, (Lower Canadian specimens of enumerated) ......+.-+0-- 103 
Limaz campestris 2?.cce...0 dodavdsc00 stetal sieteletalelereleleteletellvele soos LOS 
Limnea ampla, figured and described... co.cc cccecccecccceccsscee LIZ 
Llandeilo formation, parallelism Of.....ccesceeccccccccscccerees LO 
Logan, Sir William, quoted by Dr. Dawson.......cceece BounGeHG ” < 
quoted by Mr. Billings..........asccccceoves 20 

Ge on the rocks of the Quebec Qroup....ceee--- 183 

Lutra, species of, figured and described........secececccceeceees 148 
At Barnston, on the genus 34886 shddddosedec de sintaratevelete a) clelatetate 4 


Lyell on the antiquity of man, reviewed... sescceccesccccceeces 


INDEX. 481 


PAGE 


Macfarlane, PERO, on new method of preparing ACA felo\eotslois ose oe (OD) 
on eruptive and primary rocks...... 295 329 457 


Margaritana, (species of, enumerated)......... sinc ceseceives eons 99 
Marine animals of Labrador, Packard’s list of........ a olofolatototelare ». 401 
Matthew, G. F., on the geology of St. John county.+......+ssee0- 241 
McCoy, Prof. F. WACUMOLEM eieValslee ctopsieloleleiae misikekalorelererssel srereiekstelotelererstomem cae 
Melania, (species of, enumerated). ino7 Keke #1 siainisleyelsiaie(¢imleloate/sfolate) (NU 
Membranipora solida, (figured and described). sisisie)s sdb ooc ceeeecee 40S 
Menipea fruticosa, (figured and described)........  oreja'e lv aie We, seteye . 409 
Menocephalus, Saltert,..cprescecvcserssocces diel dos (aj enarsyajorole ©, 6) 04s - 210 
Metamorphic rocks, Hunt on the relations Ofefererelatets(eystereiele ielelelaieie/ sek OL) 
Mineral waters of Nova Scotia. .....sceesveececeeees leks ovelelt ll viele 370 
Mitscherlich, Prof., death of....... ai slelehelajeleleleisieieielere sla cicesewesce OOS 
Mollusca of Lower Canada, Whiteaves on the .....csseeeseee - 50 98 
Monohammus titillator....... s/alajejsiole/ele\el sie/eieloie/sielslas(selelaleelejefe wisie a0 
Murchison, Sir R. I., quoted........ JOOSDDE 85 ejessfoee cece ovocecce 20 


Myriozoum subgracile (described and figured). ahepaletatele «\sialeyeleveloiereye) UL 


Natural History Society. 
Annual meeting of...... leielsisleieleis)sieie elolejepsjale ofoibiod veleeseiele ols] oieler AO 
Donations to Museum........ Sfolefeleleloraielochefatohelalelsirelstenerel stele) crelefom a0 
First annual conversazione .....ccccreesccceccs ofayateleleteteyeeisyele - 65 
Oficersmeereriesielieic- 560 Co600DOD00e sieleievelole/sierodefetelelaleleialeletekele moe 
Ordinary meetings of.. Nooo dDOOOb Eoodcags doond codnobUaans (ey Mille 
President’s address..... Syslerelelora(cleleleyslola/e/allaicvelaielelele/=ielsjelavetske(sleiemrotlag 
Report of the Council......... SouDoDgOUDbOODOUOO OF suoddconon 783 
Reportiot the Curator. sclcecetce steies «16 jonuoecdoadacdooccce Zee: 

New Brunswick, Matthew on the geology Of....s.seesssesceeveee 241 


Olenus? Logani (figured and described)....e0..+ee2 e000. Soopcuo. Oe 
Ottawa, Natural History Society in....... shefereleverelerolelalelaiatereleiaieistelt OOo 
Otters; Barnston on) Oumadian sso ss’ ccc se cscs ns Sooubaeqoo, LY 


Packard, Jun., A. S.,.on the marine animals of Labrador......... 401 
Paleozoic times, the earth’s climate .in.. st. cccrercscccscvsses GAS 
JE) CBM) S653 G5 SA sao OOS wasoduoueds seerccsccccess LOL 
Parallelism of the Quebec cigs eran cuggadecodoDooONdSGoceon IY) 
Patterson, Dr. Robert, on Ailanthine........... Shist ble sits ou welelomZOO 
RLULLUDSUUPIAO Wir cjolal ie) sehsieleis/eisiele steleioinicre a Selsitis clealelisioiee 209 
Physa (Lower Canadian species of described). . elslelislereiels sotidcodde NOS 
Pisidium (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated)...... eis cietoteloelOl 
Pisidium (Lower Canadian species of, figured and described)...... 111 
Planorbes (Lower Canadian species of enumerated)......+.++. se. 104 
LON OG OLIN ATINTS CT Ui avercreleveionoie) sists ale) eieketeLoleye odoaoddddoudUadooDe 104 
Planorbis macrostomus (figured and described). miefelerefeloraiefepevaraloyatalelic 113 
Primary rocks, Macfarlane on the origin of...-........++295, 329, 457 
Pupu (species of, EMUMELALEH)) Merercionelelcielieis clevelelelhelverseleisisietelareicleisreunl OO 
Pupa vetustd..ergerereveceeee wlofenatelel opaaielstaiteleieli<hsialsieielelersieleleisieicroma ces 


Quebecrgroup, parallelism Of thever ccrccysisiescisicisis sie cieisis clereieleieeies 019 


Reptilian remains, CeO res wore icc nie 600000d 275 
Rocks, Macfarlane on eruptive .....sscccesecscecscccce 295, 329, 457 

“ Hunt on Metamorphic......... Urcloliclerelaielere/ sleislelsichetcteielciciere Loo 

ce MEA IevO UcbioG/ SrOuin ean a oeae accceale cee nn aly 183 
Sal teraoe Wis CAMOtEH))icpeien)ois/ajelc oi sieicisie ois cierwielare Bopoupeopoodcse Zi 
Scrupocillaria Americand........ 5 On -CBOUOboOSe su0an pooGddodOodS <4N) 
Shells, Land and Fresh Water.........eeeeeeeeee veeeeeeee e250, 98 
Slate, Bell on Canadian Roofing...... Sa eeuscvcies sweccsesercecis GOS 


Soda, Carbonate of, a new method of preparing.....essseeeeeeees 39 
Can. Nat. 32 Vou, VIII. 


482 INDEX 


PAGE 
Spherium (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated)..... sdoooo60 LO 
Spherium (Lower Canadian species of, figured and described)..... 109 
Spiral coils of the genus Cyrtina.........0 aiele eeieiel serateteteetteye an SHE 
St John, Matthew on the geology of ........... Sanindosobsoooous | Aeul 
StONApOra CLPANSA .ceeeccercenccecces ereieoralevele taller he Kstek: codsdoo) C408 
Stricklandinia, Billings on the genusS.......sseecreserecons Bodod) BU 
Succinea (species of, enumerated)...... tlalelele\lereiaiel spencers Mele eleleisere LOD 
Sulphuric acid, a new method of preparing........... sdiuoidoo abo) | BY) 
‘Tebennephorus Carolinensis....... Nahaireherave slrapolsvalceldisrelsieteloleteteenerem lOO 
Trilobite, Devine on anew...... sleWolelersiteraiabey o/sirateleyehelele podiooaobuGS oe 


Unio (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated).....seeccceccesse 99 


Valvata (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated)... cccesesecsee 107 
Vertigo (Lower Canadian species of, enumerated).....+eee+eee-- 102 


Whiteaves, J. F., on the mollusca of Lower Canada...........50, 98 


ot 6c Reports of....... Goodin GoupN we cleslesiereleeliee 229s oOo 
Williamson, Prof., speech of.......0 ...ecevee pibgodooDO ODOC oOda, STS 
Wilson’s Pre-historic Man reviewed :*°*.sceccccevece dobidce soo conibils 
Winchell, Prof., letter from..... Srielaievareiarsionete Soladan vo” Duodooode 398 


RKYylOvIUs SIAL saserere resoioiereiotore oo.cle «si cia cislelelcieia'e’alejeteia oeleltleleletetell 2O2 


PLATES. 


Illustrating Dr. Dawson’s Air-Breathers of the Coal Period. 


2 


lates wilivat Magee s/s ciate asic sodooeoe 1 Bil 
ee I Led uieveley tatevetelevotetaltols eee 12 
SBE LUE Sonics sogbsuddcadesl OL 
Bovis siOh EU ms istset yo tonedetonele ee ket Slee ere (LOT, 
Nea abenciatctotetets sdounaoo doin /al ie 
er eal Semilld cavetavel staeliste fermi ss eialelcleg ise) 


Illustrating Sir William Logan’s article on the rocks of the Quebec 
group at page 184. 


Illustrating Mr. Packard’s article on the Marine Animals of Labrador 
at page 428. 


Vy va 


ie 


Thy tals 
AUN bie 
ip y ’ Unies 
OM ate) Vink 
pet 
} RANE 
ye 


say ny 
a) 


Pah ye 
LN Pi 
WE aA 


ek 
bTsTiet aoa yet WI 
Aa LIBRAM Sef at 
We POM eed bead 
HUA ES eit 
Ayes, 


if 
i 18h 

ih i hy 
f 


i} 
BAN Eich 
ia 


ye 
Ge 


Say A 
cia: 


ah 
ie 


PLATE 1. 


2 M. solida. 3 M. fruticogsa. 
4 H. borealis. 


PLATE Ml, 


1 L. producta. 5 M. subgracile. 


6 B. eretaceum. 


es 


CIRCULAR OF THE COUNCIL OF THE MONTREAL NATURAL 
HISTORY SOCIETY. 


The Council of the Natural History Society of Montreal have 
still to deplore the very defective state of their collection of mam- 
mals. The recent large increase of the working members of the 
Society, its improved status at home and reputation abroad, and 
the removal of the Society to their present commodious building, 
all demand that this collection should attain the same complete- 
ness as that of the Canadian birds, now in the Museum, and be- 
come equally useful for reference. The Council would therefore 
respectfully represent to Naturalists, Sportsmen and others, that 
they could much advance the desired object by sending their spe- 
cimens to the Society for preservation ; and to those kindred So- 
cieties who might also feel disposed to co-operate, the duplicate 
specimens of minerals, fossils, and birds, both American and fo- 
reign, now in possession of the Society, would readily be made 
available where wanted. In publishing the subjoined list of qua- 
drupeds chiefly wanted, the Council desire to solicit the aid of the 
public generally to supply them, convinced that their efforts to 
foster and advance the special branch of science to which they 
devote themselves, will be appreciated. 


ABRAHAM DE SOLA, LL.D., 


Chairman. 


JOHN LEEMING, 


Montreal, January, 1863. 


Lynx Canadensis, or Common 
American Wildcat. 

Lynx Fasciatus. 

Parry’s Marmot Squirrel. 

Four-striped Ground Squirrel. 

The Wolverine. 

Collared Peccary. 

Red-bellied Squirrel. 

Canada Pouched Rat. 

Black Spermophile. 

Douglas’ do. 

Richardson’s do. 

Franklin Spermophile, or Great 
Gopher of Wisconsinand Illinois. 

Hare-Squirrel. 

Black Squirrel, 

Hoary Marmot. 

Black-tailed Deer, or Columbia 
Deer. 

Mule-Deer, or Cervus macrotis. 

~ Musk-Ox. 

Long-tailed Deer. 

Arctic Fox. 

Little Otter. 


Recording Secretary. 


Canada do. 

Caribou. 

Cinnamon Bear. 

Grizzly Bear. 

Common Deer. 

American Buffalo. 

American Elk. 

Polar Hare. 

Black-tailed Hare. 

Virginian Opossum. 

Black American Wolf. 

Fox-Squirrel. 

Prairie-W olf. 

Rocky-Mountain Sheep. 

Rocky-Mountain Goat. 

Moose-Deer. 

Prong-horned Atelope. 

Ocelot, or Leopard-Cat. 

Prairie-Dog, or Marmot-Squirrel. 

Swift Fox, or Kit-Fox of plains. 

Raccoon, ° 

American Badger. 

Specimens of species of Moles, 
Rats, Mice, Shrews: 


Gans Glory in the Teabens: 


BY WILLIAM LEITCH, D.D., 


Principal and Primarius Professor of Theology, University of 
Queen's College, Canada. 
PRICE, $1.50. 


WITH NUMEROUS PLATES AND WOODCUTS. 
DO Go 


CONTENTS: 


JOURNEY THROUGH SPACE—The Moon: Is it In- 
habited—The Moon’s Invisible Side—Lunar Landscape— 
The Uses of the Moon—Discovery of the new Planet Vulean— 
Total Eclipse of the Sun—The Sun: its Work and Structure— 
The Chemistry of the Sun—The Structure of Comets—The 
History of Comets—The Structure of the Planets—The Struc- 
ture of Saturn’s Rings—The Nebular Hypothesis—Stellar Group- 
ing—The Observatory—Astronomy:in America—The Stability 
of the Solar System—The Eternity of Matter—The Plurality of 
Worlds—Synopsis of Astronomical Discovery. 


FOR SALE, WHOLESALE AND RUTAIL. 


DAWSON BROTHERS, 
No. 23, Great St. James Street. 


Vol, VIII.—No, 1. FEBRUARY, 1863. 


THE 


CANADIAN NATURALIST 


AND 


GEOLOGIST 


WITH THE 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
OF MONTREAL. 


CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


MONTREAL: 


DAWSON BROTHERS, No. 23 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET; 
BAILLIERE BROTHERS, LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK. 


PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, MONTREAL. 


Price Three Dollars per Annum, in Advance. 


CANADIAN NATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a Com- 
mittee of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 


EDITORS FOR THE YEAR 1862-3. 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.G.8., Principal of McGill College. 

T. Sterry Hunt, A. ML. , F.R.S., Chemist to Geological Sag) of Canada. 
E. Biuuines, F. G. Ss. _ ealbaa niolnepa & t 
Pror. S. P. Fonae. ea, A. F. Kemp. 


General Editor.—Davip A. Por Wart. 


EX OFFICIO. 


W. 4H. Hineston, M.D., Corresponding Secretary 


Joun Leemine, Esq., Recording Secretary Ly at. Hist. Society. 


3% The authors alone are responsible for their respective articles. 


CONTENTS OF NUMBER I. 
PusiisHepD Frp. 28. 


eee 


ARTICLE. PAGE 
I.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia; 

bys W Dawson, ia. MRIS.) ae. cr esencisueeunees 1 
II.—On the Gold Mines of Canada, and the manner of 

working them; by T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S............... 13 


III.—On the Parallelism of the Quebec Group with the 
Llandeilo of England and Australia, and withthe Chazy 
and Calciferous formations; by H. Billings, F.G.8..... 19 

IV.—On a new method of preparing Chlorine, Carbonate of 
Soda, Sulphuric Acid and Hydrochloric Acid; by 


ionras Macharlane.. 0 .- .ccver tase sas caceeuesun-eonenenae sae 39 
V.—-On the Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Lower 
Canada; by J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.8., Ke... ceceeeee - 50 
Natural History Society of Montreal........cccesssssssesseesesenes 65 
Pouamical Society, Of MiNGstOn so: wecowst-s-ccostncseneces stees neon 76 


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EARL ON THE PAPUANS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
KIRBY AND SPENCEH’S ENTOMOLOGY. New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. By Phillips. 
OWEN ON PALAONTOLOGY. 

ANSTED’S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGE'S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 
THE MASTER-BUILDER’S PLAN. By Ogilvie. 
NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 
DURA DEN. By John Anderson, D.D., &c. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Greenwood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. 8. 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


DAWSON’S ACADIAN GHOLOGY, with Supplement and Geological. 
Map of Nova Scotia. 


DANA’S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. 
WILSON’S PRE-HISTORIC MAN, 2 vols., 8vo. 


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Vol. VIII.—No., 2. ~ APRIL, 1863. 


THE 


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GEOLOGIST, 


WITH THE 


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OF MONTREAL. 


CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


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KIRBY AND SPENCH’S ENTOMOLOGY. New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. By Phillips. 
OWEN ON PALAZONTOLOGY. 

ANSTED’S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGE'S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GHOLOGICAL TERMS. 

THE MASTER-BUILDER’S PLAN. By Ogilvie. 

NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 

DURA DEN. By John Anderson, D.D., &c. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Greenwood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. S. 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


DAWSON’S ACADIAN GEOLOGY, with Supplement and Geological 
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EB 
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PRINTED BY JOHN LOYVELL, MONTREAL. 


————— ese 


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pT ee ne ee Cae ee ee 


CANADIAN NATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a Com- 
mittee of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 


EDITORS FOR THE YEAR 1862-3. 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of McGill College. 

T. Srurry Hont, A. M. ,F.R. S., Chemist to Ceol ae of Canada, 
E. Biutines, F.G.8., Patcontlccan a 
Pror. 8. P. Rone Rey. A. F. Kemp. 


General Editor.—Davin A. Por Watt. 
EX OFFICIO. 


The Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Nat. Hist. 
Society. 


<= The authors alone are responsible for their respective articles. 


CONTENTS OF NUMBER III. 
PuBLISHED JuLY 3rd. 


ARTICLE. a PAGE 
XIII.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova 

Scotia; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.RB.S., &e...:. 161 
XIV.—On the Superficial Geology of the Gaspé Peninsula ; 

by obert: Bell) 'Ce Kitviare. «sea doesceudeocusananse ove 175 
XV.—On the Rocks of the Quebec Group at Point Lévis ; 
by Sir William Logan, F.R.S.; Director of the 
Geological Survey of Canada; in a letier addressed 

tO Mc Baran ess ciusas cantupencnasdesees cosets. seomes 183 
XVI.--On the Chemical and Mineralogical Relations of 
Metamorphic Rocks; by T. Sterry Hunt, M.A., 

F.R.S.; of the Geological Survey of Canada........ 195 
XVII.—Description of a new species of Phillipsia, from the 
lower Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia; by H. 

EBs GaSe ate Scien te tec eataes eelet satel ate ee tat 209 
XVIII.—Description of a new Trilobite from the Quebec 
- Group. By T. Devine, F.R.G.S., C. L. Depart- 


MUM | OUCKECH cn cene lute tense dqetorsoe sta ceese seaMers 210 
Botanical Society of Canada..ccsJcut....00..<as0ceestacasa-cvene 211 
Entomological Society of Canada...........s.csseseeenceeeeeers 212 
Natural History Society......... RAs dou gees nates bees ee nace ran tas 215 


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pa All business communications to be addressed, prepaid, to 
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lishers. 


The next number of this Magazine willbe published, August 
15th 1863. 


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now on hand: 


BEACH RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF PEBBLES AND ORYSTALS. 
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TUGWELL’S MANUAL OF SEA-ANEMONES. 

EARL ON THE PAPUANS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
KIRBY AND SPENCE’S ENTOMOLOGY. New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. By Phillips. 
OWEN ON PALAONTOLOGY. 

ANSTED'S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGE’S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 

THE MASTER-BUILDER’S PLAN. By Ogilvie. 
NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 
DURA DEN. By John Anderson, D.D., &c. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Greenwood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. S. 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


DAWSON’S ACADIAN GEOLOGY, with Supplement and Geological 
Map of Nova Scotia. 


DANA’S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. 
‘WILSON’S PRE-HISTORIC MAN, 2 vols., 8vo. 


A good stock of Works on NATURAL HISTORY constant- 
ly on hand. Any not in stock imported to order. 


DAWSON BROTHERS, 
23 Great St. James Street, 
MONTREAL. 


Vol. VIII.—No. 4. AUGUST, 1863, 


THE 


CANADIAN NATURALIST 


AND 


GEOLOGIST, 


WITH THE 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
OF MONTREAL. 


CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


MONTREAL: 


DAWSON BROTHERS, No. 23 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET; 
BAILLIERE BROTHERS, LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK. 


PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, MONTREAL. 


Price Three Dollars per Annum, in Advance. 


CANADIAN NATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a Com- 
mittee of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 


EDITORS FOR THE YEAR 1862-3. 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of M!écGill College. 

T. Srerry Hunt, A. i. ,F.R. S., Chemist to Geological Sue of Canada. 
H. Biuuives, F.G.S., Paleontolonist te “ 
Pror. 8. P. eeeas! Rey. A. F. Kemp. 


General Editor.—Davip A. Por Watt. 
- EX OFFICIO. 


The Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Nat. Hist. 
Society. 


i= The authors alone are responsible for their respective articles. 


CONTENTS OF NUMBER IV. 


PousLisnep SeptemBer 16th. 
ARTICLE. PAGE 
XIX.—Observations,on the Geology of St. John County, 
é New Brunswick; by G. F. Matthew, Esq.,......... 241 
XX.—On Ailanthine. The silk yielded by the Saturnia 
or Bombyx Cynthia, with Remarks on the Ailan- 
thus glandulosa or False Varnish Tree of China ; 


by Robert, Paterson ~MeD. osc. scc.ecsesccoece evans . 260 
XXI.—The Air-Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova 

Scotia; by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.RB.S., &c...... 268 
XXII.—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks; 

by, Phomas:sMactarlan e2scc- ccc schecsauesc aoentaaeereas 295 
XXIII.—On the Harth’s Climate in Paleozoic Times; by 

usterty HunteoM A. BW. Sic.. ss cscs wcesnwcere cae 323 

BV See MEMMCOULGE cca Ssspec< <tc ste 5 vousssaunsouassuaete eucente » 825 


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through the following Booksellers :— 

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ges All business communications to be addressed, prepaid, to 
the Publishers. Articles and communications for publication in 
the Journal may be addressed to the Hditors, care of the Pub- 
-lishers. 


The next number of this Magazine will be published in 
October, 1863. 


“SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


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now on hand: 


BEACH RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF PEBBLES AND CRYSTALS. 
By J. G. Francis. 


TUGWELL’S MANUAL OF SHA-ANEMONES. 

EARL ON THE PAPUANS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
KIRBY AND SPENCE’S ENTOMOLOGY. New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. By Phillips. 
OWEN ON PALAONTOLOGY. 

ANSTED’S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGH’S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 
THE MASTER-BUILDER’S PI-AN. By Ogilvie. 
NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 
DURA DEN. By John Anderson, D.D., &e. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Greenwood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. S. 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


DAWSON’'S ACADIAN GHOLOGY, with Supplement and Geological 
Map of Nova Scotia. 


DANA’S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. 
WILSON’S PRE-HISTORIC MAN, 2 vols., 8vo. 


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ly on hand. Any not in stock imported to order. 


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Vol. VIII.—No, 5. OCTOBER, 1863. 


THE 


CANADIAN NATURALIST 


AND 


GEOLOGIST, 


WITH THE 


PROCEEDINGS. OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
OF MONTREAL. 


_ CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


MONTREAL: 


DAWSON BROTHERS, No. 23 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET; 
BAILLIERE BROTHERS, LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK, 


PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, MONTREAL. = 


Price Three Dollars per Annum, in Advance. 


CANADIAN NATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a Com- 
mittee of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 


© 


EDITORS FOR THE YEAR 1862-8, 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of McGill College. 

T. Sterry Hunt, A. M. , F.R.S., Chemist to Bae Sumey of Canada 
E. Binurnes, F.G.S. are niotome « 
Pror. 8. P. Pena, Rey. A. F. Kemp. 


General Editor.—Davip A. Pon Watt. 
EX OFFICIO. 


The Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Nat. Hist. 
Society. 


x= The authors alone are responsible for their respective articles. 


JUST PUBLISHED: 


DR. DAWSON’S NEW WORK. 


THE 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD; 


A descriptive account of the remains of Land Animals found in 
the Coal Formation of NovaScotia, with remarks on their bearing, 
on Theories of the Formation of Coal and of the Origin of 
Species, by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.8., Principal of 
McGill University, Montreal, 8vo. pp. 81 ; illustrated by 7 full page 
Lithographs containing over 200 drawings. 


Price $1.00. 
A few copies have been published with a Microscopic Photo- 
graph containing 11 illustrations. 
Price $1.50. 


Montreal : Dawson Brotuers;—Toronto: CuzwzTt & Co.;— 
New York: Bamurerz Broruzrs;—London: H. Batuiers, 


CONTENTS OF NUMBER V. 


PousuisHep Novempnr 30th, 


ARTICLE. PAGE 
XXITV.—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks; 

by. Lhomas Macfarlane Part 1l..t-crcsessesesseeders 329 
XXV.—Roofing Slate as a Source of Wealth to Canada, 
A visit to the Walton Slate Quarry; by Robert 


BS eMC eu evecioetenciss saat eanceciteractces esta enasseasaeuae - 358 
| XXVI.—On the genus Stricklandia ;—proposed alteration 
of the name; by H. Billings........ .....cscoscssceee 370 


XXVII.—On some Mineral Waters of Nova Scotia; by 
Prof. How, D.C.L., University of King’s College, 


IWhindsoreNaSsrescccescseoee aeacescvasecusscecescueenes - 370 

HSTIbiSKp eA SSOCIALION s..cereesemausc score ccedenenseaeecmesmeerans - 375 
Natural History—Third Report of the Scientific Curator. 393 

me Niiscellancouseseccssccrosscceuncatecsens occas seseveusceeeeenes - 395 
Wormespondencels..c-ccccasecaasosssrosronsecesseaseerencedesseers 398 


The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist may be ordered 
through the following Booksellers :— 

Toronto, W. OC. Chewett & Co.; W. Manson; H. Rowsell. 
Hamilton, Geo. Barnes & Co. Kingston, John Creighton. 
Quebec, Middleton & Dawson. 


see All business communications to be addressed, prepaid, to 
the Publishers. Articles and communications for publication in 
the Journal may be addressed to the Hditors, care of the Pub- 
lishers. 


The next number of this Magazine will be published in 
December, 1863. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


HE Subscribers have the Hees VALUABLE 200 


now on hand: 


BEACH RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF PEBBLES AND CRYSTALS. 
‘By J. G. Francis. 


‘“TUGWELL’S MANUAL OF SEA-ANEMONES. 

EARL ‘ON THE PAPUAN : OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
KIRBY AND SPENCH’S ENTOMOLOGY..’ New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. . By Phillips. 
OWEN ON PALAONTOLOGY. 

ANSTED’S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGE'S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 
THE MASTER-BUILDER’S PLAN. By Ogilvie. 
NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 
DURA DEN. By John Anderson; D.D., &. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Greenwood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. S. 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


/-DAWSON’S ACADIAN: GEOLOGY, with Supplement and Geological 
Map of Nova Scotia. 


~ DANA'S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. 
“WILSON’S PRE-HISTORIC MAN, 2 vols., 8vo. 


A good stock of Works on NATURAL HISTORY constant- 
ly on hand. Any not in stock imported to order. 


DAWSON BROTHERS, 
23 Great St. James Street, 
MontTREAL, 


Vol. VIII.—No. 6. DECEMBER, 1863, 


THE 


CANADIAN NATURALIST 


AND 


GEOLOGIST, 


WITH THE 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
OF MONTREAL. 


CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


MONTREAL: 


DAWSON BROTHERS, No. 23 GREAT ST. JAMES STREET; 
BAILLIERE BROTHERS, LONDON, PARIS, AND NEW YORK, 


PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, MONTREAL. 


ac AS SS AS 


Price Three Dollars per Annum, in Advance, 


CANADIAN NATURALIST. 


This Magazine is published bi-monthly, and is conducted by a ODEs 
mittee of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 


EDITORS FOR THE YEAR 1862-3. 


J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of McGill Colieze. 

T. Srerry Hont, A. M )F.B.S., Chemist to Geological Survey of Canada 
E. Binuines, F.G.8 Pale siiblosie ee Co “ 
Pror.S. P. Roce Rey. A. F. Kemp. 


General Editor.—Davip A. Por WATT. 


EX OFFICIO. 


The Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Nat. Hist. 
Society. 


<= The authors alone are responsible for their respective articles, 


JUST PUBLISHED: 


DR. DAWSON’S NEW WORK. 


THE 


AIR-BREATHERS OF THE COAL PERIOD; 


A descriptive account of the remains of Land Animals found in 
the Coal Formation of NovaScotia, with remarks on their bearing, 
on Theories of the Formation of Coal and of the Origin of 
Species, by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.RS., F.G.8., Principal of 
McGill University, Montreal, 8vo. pp. 81 ; illustrated by 7 full page 
Lithographs containing over 200 drawings. 

Price $1.00. 

A few copies have been published with a Microscopie Photo- 

raph containing 11 illustrations. 


Price $1.50. 


Montreal : Dawson Broruers ;—Toronto: Cuzwetr & Co.5;— 
New York: Barturerr Broruers;—London: H. Barturere. 


CONTENTS OF NUMBER VI. 


Pous.isHep January 30th. 
ARTICLE. PAGE 


XXVILI.—A list of Animals dredged near Caribou Island, 
Southern Labrador, during July and August, 1860; 


py. Aces: deackard ires.scccpes duds vaguuerclteaas aamenee 401 
XXIX.—Note on the Foot-prints of a Reptile from the 
Coal Formation of Cape Breton...........eceeeceseeees 430 


XXX.—Synopsis of the Flora of the Carboniferous Period 
in Nova Scotia; by J. W. Dawson, LU.D., F.B.S., 


F.G.8., &e., Principal of McGill College..........+. 431 
XXXI.—On the Origin of Eruptive and Primary Rocks ; 
by Thomas Macfarlane. Part III................. .. 457 
Mdina LGV Ol Ve LEDs oc 0c.6. 2 fy oscesacart as cecowssanspowopeest oe 479 
WU wn 


The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist may be ordered 
through the following Booksellers :— 

Toronto, W. C. Chewett & Co.; W. Manson; H. Rowsell. 
Hamilton, Geo. Barnes & Co.. Kingston, John Creighton. 
Quebec, Middleton & Dawson. 


g@s~ All business communications to be addressed, prepaid, to 
the Publishers. Articles and communications for publication in 
the Journal may be addressed to the Hditors, care of the Pub- 
lishers. 


The next number of this Magazine will be published in 
February, 1864. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


HE Subscribers have the follows VALUABLE BOOKS 


now on hand: 


BEACH RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF PEBBLES AND CRYSTALS. 
By J. G. Francis.. 


TUGWELL'S MANUAL OF SEA-ANEMONES. 

EARL ON THE PAPUAN OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
KIRBY AND SPENCE’S ENTOMOLOGY. New edition. 
LIFE: ITS ORIGIN AND SUCCESSION. By Pr 
OWEN ON PALAONTOLOGY.. 

ANSTED’S GEOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 

PAGE’S PAST AND PRESENT LIFE OF THE GLOBE. 
PAGE'S HAND-BOOK OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS. 
THE MASTER-BUILDER'S PLAN. By Ogilvie. 
NUGGETS FROM THE OLDEST DIGGINGS. 

BIRT’S HAND-BOOK OF THE LAW OF STORMS. 
DURA DEN. By John Anderson, D.D., &c. 

RAIN AND RIVERS. By Green'wood. 


NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By W. 8, 
Dallas, F.L.S. 


DAWSON’S ACADIAN GEOLOGY, with eli aee and” Geological 
Map of Nova Scotia. 


DANA’S MANUAL OF GEOLOGY. 
WILSON’S PRE-HISTORIC MAN, 2 vols., 8vo. 


A good stock of Works on NATURAL HISTORY constant- 
ly on hand. Any not in stock imported to order. 


DAWSON BROTHERS, 
23 Great St. James Strect, 
MONTREAL. 


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