382 . Dr. Hunt on the Primordial Zone* 



To Dr. Emmons undoubtedly belongs the merit of having re- 

 cognized for the first time tbe trilobites which are known to belong 

 the primordial zone, although from incorrect notions of stratigraphy- 

 he placed the slates containing them at the summit of the series 

 of rocks to which he gave the name of the Taconic system. We 

 have shown that the true place of these shales is at the base of 

 the series, and that the remainder of the Taconic system is the 

 palseontological equivalent of the Calciferous sandrock; it is 

 not yet certain whether these lower shales with a primordial fauna 

 do not sustain a similar relation to the Potsdam sandstone, in 

 which case the whole of the Taconic system would be the equivalent 

 of the two lower groups of the Champlain division. It yet remains to 

 be seen whether Dr. Emmons can retain from the wreck of his 

 system, the lower slates as a Taconic formation older than the Pots- 

 dam sandstone of Lake Champlain, and subordinate to the Pri- 

 mordial Zone, whose fossils he was the first to recognize. 



Mr. Barrande refers to the opinion expressed by Mr. Marcou 

 that the rocks beneath the fall at Montmorenci, near Quebec, are 

 Primordial, and are overlaid unconformably by the Trenton lime- 

 stone found above the fall, contrary to the statement of Sir William 

 Logan in his report for 1852-53, that these rocks are the upper 

 members of the Lower Silurian series, brought down by a fault. 

 A reference to Sir William's paper in this Journal for June last, 

 will show that the strata at the base of the fall, so far from being 

 Primordial, contain in abundance the fossils of the Trenton and 

 Utica formations, and that the latter may be traced over to the 

 north side of Orleans Island, beyond which is the overlap that 

 brings to the surface the rocks of the Quebec or Calciferous group. 



Mr. Barrande then observes that " the results from the study of 

 the Quebec group are another proof of the prompt and eflBcient 

 aid which palaeontology lends to geology, when local circum- 

 stances put at fault all the resources of stratigraphy." He next 

 proceeds to analyze Sir William Logan's letter of December last, 

 (this Journal Jan., 1861) and expresses his entire accordance 

 with the views therein advanced, concluding; with the foUowinor 

 tribute to the labors of the Geological Survey, which we may be 

 pardoned for reproducing. 



" The vast regions of Canada have only within a few years 

 been made known to geologists, and that they have already 

 greatly attracted the attention of savants, is due solely to the 

 rapid and productive labours of the Geological Commission which 



