94 



covered in this very district and elsewhere, from which an exact idea of 

 the fauna which characterized the old Silurian seas about Ottawa could 

 b had. The researches about Ottawa have, since the demise of that 

 excellent palaeontologist, been followed up with marked success by his 

 nephew, Mr. Walter R. Billings, of our Club, and from that time, when 

 the 0. F. N. C. was organized, new and interesting results have been 

 obtained regarding the completion of the geologic history of this district, 

 a number of active workers having arisen, in whose hands there is a 

 large store of work to be done as yet. 



One of the first contributions to the geology of Ottawa, in the 

 transactions of the Club, was the timely and interesting address deliver- 

 ed by Dr. A. R. C. Selwyn, the able director of the Geological Survey, 

 on the " Geology of the Ottawa Palaeozoic Basin " {see Trans. O.F.N.C, 

 Vol. III., page 34, et seq). There is there given a graphic and instruc- 

 tive account of the various formations existing in the basin in question, 

 which were deposited under such favourable circumstances on the shores 

 and in the greater depths of those old palaeozoic seas. 



During the past nine years, the writer has had many opportunities, 

 both as a member and leader in the geological section of the Club's 

 work, to examine the geological formations of the district and enter into 

 numerous details of structure, more interesting and instructive perhaps, 

 than remunerative, nevertheless of considerable vaHie in working out 

 the geological history of Ottawa. With a view of giving in a concise 

 and practical manner the result already obtained, it has been thought 

 that a table or schedule might better illustrate the same than a detailed 

 description. 



The question of natural gas occurring or not occurring in the strata 

 of the Ottawa district has been and is still being freely discussed a 

 question of considerable import from an economic standpoint and one 

 which has given rise to this paper, written with a view of giving those 

 interested in the matter a general idea of the succession of the rock 

 formations as they are known in this vicinity. There are many 

 problems involved in discussing the likelihood of gas occurring in a 

 certain district. The characters of the strata, its thickness, composi- 

 tion, mode of occurrence and its distribution have everything to do 

 with the occurrence of gas. The result of experiments made in other 

 parts of the world, and especially in the United States, show th(t gas 

 occurs in rocks of almost any age in the history of the earth, and in 

 comparing the rocks of the Ottawa district with those of similar age 



