204 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 



iu the Leda clay period, as they abouod throughout the deposits 

 of the Baie de Chaleur basin. In the Benjamin River beds the 

 littoral species Mytilus edulis var. elegans, Mya arenarla and 

 others predominate, particularly in the upper strata, and appear 

 to range upwards into the stratified sands overlying them. 

 Serripes Groenlandicus and one or two species of Natlca are also 

 common, and the deposits are evidently of shallow water origin. 

 At Black Point the prevailing forms are also such as inhabited 

 comparatively shallow seas, ^iy^^ frimcata var. Uddevallensis 

 is common, and a variety of Mytilus edulis and Mya arenaria 

 likewise occur here in strata s-raduatins: into the sands. Balanus 

 crenatus is especially abundant, the upper part of the clay being 

 literally packed with fragments of it; and the lobster (^Homarus) 

 which probably inhabited the Baie de Chaleur in later Post- 

 Pliocene times is apparently to be met with in these deposits. 

 But the presence of several Arctic Buccina (i?. teiiue, B. gla- 

 ciale) and Tritonofusus Kroyeri^ besides Fortlandia glacialis, 

 Leda minuta, Maconia calcarea and others indicate colder and 

 deeper waters and climatic conditions, similar to those of high 

 latitudes, in the Leda clay period previous to the existence of 

 these littoral species. It may be stated that the clay contain- 

 ing these fossils at Black Point rests on the flanks of a kame, 

 has a sloping attitude, and is packed with sand, gravel and 

 pebbles derived from it, as is also the formation overlying the 

 clay corresponding to the Saxicava sands. Were it not for the 

 presence of the fossils which can be traced along certain strata 

 the whole might readily be taken as constituting the kame, as is 

 the case at the mouth of the Cascapedia already referred to. 



The fossils embedded in the clays of Jacquet River imply 

 deposition in deeper or colder waters than those found elsewhere 

 on the coast, if we are to judge from the occurrence of such 

 species as Fortlandia glacialis, Leda pernula and L. minuta of 

 Dawson's lists in considerable abundance and in a good state of 

 preservation. In the upper strata however, Mya arenaria and 

 Saxicava rugosa come in, in full force. The skeleton of Beluga 

 Vermontana, already spoken of, was found here near the surface 

 of the clay. 



The deposits at Tattagouche and Bathurst afi'ord typical ex- 

 amples of Leda clays and Saxicava sands, the latter, however, 

 unfossiliferous. Rev. C. H. Paisley published a description of 

 these beds in the Canadian Naturalist, Vol. VII. No. 5. 



