Geology of Newfoundland, 329 



The lower slate series is deemed by Mr. Jukes to belong to an 

 older formation and to be composed of two groups. 



1st. A mass of grey and red sandstone, which at the entrance to 

 the harbour of St. John's, has a thickness of 800 feet. 



And 2nd. The St. John slates, in which beds of red, green, 

 and grey stone alternate near the junction of the sandstone and 

 the slate rocks, forming the transition beds between the two. The 

 thickness of this formation is estimated at between 2000 and 

 3000 feet. 



The cleavage of the slate is frequently parallel to the line of 

 stratification, and in these cases produces excellent roofing slate. 



Veins of white quartz and masses of porphyry are found asso- 

 ciated with these slates. 



Descending lower in the Geological scale, there is found the 

 mica slate and gneiss and also the igneous rocks, which do not 

 difier from those usually found in other parts of the globe ; the 

 mica and the gneiss however alternate with and pass into each 

 other. 



Except in some indistinct vegetable impressions in the coal 

 formation, no organic remains have yet been found in Newfound- 

 land ;* but it must be remembered that its rocks have not yet 

 been subjected to the careful examination of modern geologists, nor 

 yet to the keen scrutiny of some of the younger members of this 

 society, whose well directed exertions have enabled them to dis- 

 cover evidences that animal life had existed in formations which 

 "were supposed to be far below the existence of any living thing. 



The strike throughout the island rarely varies from a true 

 N. N. E., and S. S. W. course. 



Hence, all the other prominent features of the country run in 

 the same direction, not only as regards the ranges of hills, but 

 also the principal lakes ; all the deep bays and the numerous 

 valleys lie in the same line of bearing. 



The strike of the cleavage is not invariably parallel to the 

 strike of the beds ; but the cleavage is much more constant as 

 regards the strike and dip in relation to the points of the compass 



♦ Trilobites of the Genus Paradoxides have been found in the older 

 slate formation of Mr. Jukes, and several lower silurian fossils have been 

 obtained by Mr. Richardson, of the Geological Survey of Canada, in the 

 limestone formation of the North of the Island, described in the con- 

 cluding part of this paper. 



