No. l.J SELWYN — THE QUEBEC GROUP. 17 



THE STRATIGRAPHY OF THE QUEBEC GROUP 

 AND THE OLDER CRYSTALLINE ROCKS OF 

 CANADA. 



By Alfred R. C. Selwyn, F.R.S., F.G.S., 

 Director of the Dominion Geological and Natural History Survey. 



I propose in this paper to state as briefly as possible the con- 

 clusions I have arrived at from examinations made in the field 

 during the seasons of 1876 and 1877 with the object of satisfying 

 myself, before publishing the geological map of the Eastern 

 Townships, respecting the much-discussed questions of the struc- 

 ture and the age of the rocks ia the region on the south-east side 

 of the St. Lawrence, extending from the Vermont, New Hamp- 

 shire and Maine boundaries north-easterly to Gaspe. I shall 

 also make some remarks on the results of the work of the Geolo- 

 gical Survey in connection with the stratigraphy of the Lauren- 

 tian rocks on the north side of the St. Lawrence valley and the 

 conclusions at which they seem to point. 



In some respects my views are in accordance with those of 

 others, while as regards some points they are I believe new. 

 Whether they eventually prove correct or otherwise, I can say 

 that they have been arrived at solely upoQ and after careful 

 consideration of the evidence and the facts collected by myself 

 and colleagues, and without any bias or pre-conceived ideas, 

 which, had I allowed these any weight, would have led to con- 

 clusions entirely different. 



All who have taken any interest in Canadian geology are 

 aware that the whole of the region referred to has been described 

 by the Canadian Geological Survey as occupied by only four 

 great formations or groups of strata, which in descending order 

 are: — 



1. Devonian. 



2. Upper Silurian. 



3. Lower Silurian. 



4. Laurentian. 



YOL. IX. * B No. 1. 



