66 Geological Survey of Canada. 



insist on it here ; because, while every person knows the value of 

 economical geology, comparatively few are aware of the intimate 

 relation which palaeontology bears even to this more utilitarian 

 artment. Fossils are in truth the readiest means for identi- 

 fying rock formations, and are indispensable to any satisfactory 

 comparison of Canadian geology with that of other countries. 

 Does some speculator insist that the Gaspe or the Trenton limestone 

 is the equivalent of the English mountain limestones, and the 

 overlying sandstones and shales coal-measures, a comparison of the 

 fossils ^t once convicts him of his error. Is a vein of lead-ore 

 discovered in a Canadian formation, ahd is it important to ascer- 

 tain if the bed containing it corresponds geologically with those 

 of the lead regions of Missouri or Wisconsin, it may be quite 

 impossible lor the geological surveyor to trace its line of outcrop 

 into those regions, but a few fossil shells may settle the point. 

 Does a foreign geologist wish to compare the geology of Canada 

 with that of his own country, he can have confidence in the 

 identification of formations only if their fossils have been carefully 

 and accurately examined. Independently of all this, there is the 

 duly which lies on Canada as a civilized country to contribute 

 her share to the elucidation of the records of creation, in so far as 

 these have been inscribed on her own rocks. She is not asked 

 to pay for explorations to discover a north-west passage or ex; .lore 

 the Antarctic seas ; but it will be a lasting disgrace if she cannot 

 work out the natural history and physical geography of her own 

 territory. Nor must the knowledge of fossils be confined to the 

 officers of the survey and die with them. It must be published 

 and illustrated by good figures, so that, once done, it may remain 

 for future reference, and thus become a permanent addition to the 

 scientific literature of the country. Times may change, and 

 editorials and acts of Parliament may become waste paper ; 

 but rocks and fossils are permanent things, and work once well 

 done in reference to them is sure to retain its value. Additions 

 may be made to it, but the substratum will remain good. Nay, 

 it will increase in value; for as a native Canadian literature 

 arises, popular writers will take hold of it; and here, as in Eng- 

 land, we shall have pleasant and instructive popular books grow- 

 ing out of what are now dry descriptions and lists of fossils. It 

 may be said that the palaeontology of the country would in time 

 be explored and published by amateurs ; but this would be an 

 affair of centuries; and in the mean time even the industrial 



