8 ' THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. ix. 



that independently of the determination of species, the whole 

 aspect of the fauna of the Nictaux iron bed, in its abundance of 

 large ribbed spirifers, of large strophomenoid shells, and of great 

 lamellibranchiate species, is different from that of the Medina, 

 and on the contrary reminds an observer forcibly of the Oriskany 

 sandstone of Gaspd and of western Canada. I shall show in the 

 sequel that it is also distinct from that of the Upper Silurian 

 red hematite of Pictou. 



It should; however, be distinctly understood, that, in so far as 

 I have held Devonian rocks to exist at Nictaux and Bear River, 

 the upward extension of such rocks is limited to the Oriskany 

 sandstone, and should any one hold that this formation may be 

 included in the Upper Silurian, I have no objection; though I 

 think that on physical grounds and by virtue of its close relation- 

 ship with the overlying formations, it has quite as good claims 

 to be correlated with the Lower Devonian. 



The question which has been raised respecting the age of the 

 granite, can only be discussed profitably on the ground. My 

 notes of many years ago assure me, however, that I have traced 

 the Lower Devonian beds into contact with the granite in such 

 circumstances as prove the later date of the latter, and there are 

 now in my collections specimens showing the gradations from the 

 fossiliferous to the altered strata, includins: some which hold 

 Oriskany fossils, but have assumed an incipient gneissic struc- 

 ture, and were penetrated by granite veins. It is further to be 

 observed that the age assigned by me to these granites accords 

 with the fact that in Nova Scotix the formations older than the 

 Carboniferons are more or 'less in an altered and disturbed con- 

 dition, and that granite debris does not occur as a prominent 

 ingredient in our formations till the Lower Carboniferous a":e. 

 In the district in question, the thick beds of granitic sandstone in 

 the Lower Carboniferous near Wolfville and Lower Horton, 

 afford a good illustration. I hope that this interesting district 

 may soon be surveyed and mapped by the officers of the Geolo- 

 gical Survey, when we may expect to have more light thrown on 

 this subject. In the meantime I would caution geologists against 

 accepting the somewhat crude deductions of the paper referred 

 to, more especially as this question affects our conclusions as to 

 the age of the auriferous veins of the Atlantic coast, and as to 

 the correlation of the intrusive granites of Nova Scotia with those 

 of other parts of Eastern America. 



