474 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. ix. 



The fourth meeting was held on Monday Evening February 

 28th. Principal Dawson occupied the Chair. 



Mr. Kenneth R. Macpherson was proposed for election as an 

 ordinary member. The cabinet-keeper, Mr. Wm. Muir exhibited 

 a number of birds that had been recently added to the Museumv 



Dr. G. M. Dawson then addressed the meeting on " The Geo- 

 logy of the Peace River region." 



He remarked that absolutely nothing was known of the geology 

 of the great region through which the Peace River flows till 

 1875. In that year Mr. Selwyn, the director of the Geological 

 Survey, visited the district, exploring the Peace River as far 

 down as the confluence of the Smoky River. The results of this 

 survey were published in the Geological Survey report, and con- 

 stitute the basis of subsequent work. In 1879 it was considered 

 desirable to obtain definite information of the Peace River dis- 

 trict in connection with the projected line of the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway. The geological and geographical results of this expe- 

 dition in conjunction with those before obtained now enable a 

 clear general view to be taken of the region. The Rocky Moun- 

 tains formed a shore line during the deposition of the cretaceous 

 rocks, which, stretching eastward over a distance of at least 350' 

 miles, imply the existence of a sea of that width. Near the 

 mountains these rocks are almost altogether represented by sand- 

 stones and conglomerates, while to the eastward, shales are more 

 abundant, till on the Smoky River the formation resolves itself 

 into the following subdivisions, named from the highest down- 

 ward : Upper Sandstone, Upper Shales, Lower Sandstone, Lower 

 Shales. These represent in a general way the Fox Hill, Pierre,. 

 Niobrara and Benton subdivisions of the United States geologists. 

 A large number of fossils have been obtained from the " Upper 

 Shales," which are definitely correlated with the Pierre group,, 

 while an interesting estuarine and fresh-water fauna, with plant 

 remains, characterises the Lower Sandstones. The economic im- 

 portance of these rocks is found in the fact that coal seams occur 

 on two separate horizons, viz., the Upper and Lower Sandstones. 

 The coals of the former, near the mountains, are of very good 

 quality and resemble true bituminous coals. Those of the latter 

 must be clased as lio:nites, but still have a his^h calorific value. 

 It cannot be doubted that these fuels will before loner be exten- 

 sively mined, for the portion of the Peace River Valley embraced 

 in the exploration of 1879 is estimated to contain about 23,000 



