No. 3.] DAWSON — PHOSPHATES OF CANADA. 165 



anite). The enclosing limestone and the filling of the tubes 

 present a coarser texture, and appear made up of fragments of 

 limestone and broken shells, with some dark-coloured fibres, pro- 

 bably portions of Zoophytes. Scattered through the matrix 

 there are also small fragments, invisible to the naked eye, of 

 brown and blue phosphatic matter. 



One of the nodules from Alumette gave to Dr. Hunt 36*38 of 

 calcic phosphate; one from Hawkesbury 44-70 ; another from 

 Riviere Ouelle 40-34; and a tube from the same place 67-53.* 

 A specimen from Kamouraska, analyzed by Dr. Harrington, gave 

 55-65 per cent. One of the richest pieces of the linguliferous 

 sandstone from St. John yielded to the same cnemist 30-82 of 

 calcic phosphate and 32-44 of insoluble siliceous sand, the re- 

 mainder being chiefly carbonate of lime. 



Various opinions may be entertained as to the origin of these 

 phosphatic bodies ; but the weight of evidence inclines to the 

 view originally put forward by Dr. Huntf , that the nodules are 

 coprolitic ; and I would extend this conclusion with some little 

 modification to the tubes as well. The forms, both of the tubes 

 and nodules, and the nature of the matrix, seem to exclude the 

 idea that they are simply concretionary, though they may in 

 some cases have been modified by concretionary action. There 

 are in the same beds little piles of worm-castings of much smaller 

 diameter than the tubes, and less phosphatic ; and there are also 

 Scolithus-\ike burrows penetrating some of the limestones, and 

 lined with thin coatings of phosphatic matter similar to that of 

 the tubes. Further, the association of similar nodules in the 

 Chazy limestone with comminuted Lingulce, as already stated, is 

 a strongly confirmatory fact. 



The tubes are of unusual form when regarded as coprolitic ; 

 but they may have been moulded on the sides of the burrows 

 of marine worms ; or these creatures may have constructed their 

 tubes of this material, either consisting of their own excreta or 

 of that of other animals lying on the sea-bottom. In any case, 

 the food of the animals producing such excreta must have been 

 very rich in solid phosphates, and these animals must have 

 abounded on the sea-bottoms on which the remains have accu- 

 mulated. It is also evident that such gphosphatic dejections 

 •might either retain their original forms, or be aggregated into 

 nodular masses, or shaped into tubes or burrows of Annelids, or, 



Geology of Canada, p. 461. f Ibid. 



