200 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



carrying on operations and making a profit ; whilst others barely 

 pay expenses ; but the whole are now suffering from a depreciation 

 in the value of their stock, caused by the bursting of speculative 

 bubbles thrown into the market, and wafted upwards by seductive 

 scientific reports, by the exhibition of rich nuggets and massive 

 bars of gold, and by wondrous tales of the yield to the ton of ore 

 and of the expected profits. The question whether gold mining in 

 Nova Scotia is a profitable and safe investment for capital, is still 

 an unsettled one, though, judging from the past, it would appear 

 to be both, unsatisfactory and unprofitable. 



The whole southern coast of Nova Scotia, from Cape Canso 

 to Cape Sable, consists of altered or metamorphic rocks, such 

 as slates, quartz-rock, gneiss, &c. This zone averages about thirty 

 miles in width, and in it are found the gold-bearing quartz-veins 

 for which Nova Scotia has now become noted, and from which 

 a large amount of wealth is being derived. The aspect of the 

 country is barren and sterile, the hills in many places being 

 covered with a sparse and stunted growth of trees ; huge boulders 

 of granite, quartzite, or conglomerate abound, giving to the district 

 under consideration the appearance of a country entirely unsuitable 

 for agriculture. Prof. Dawson, in his •' Acadian Geology,' page 

 364, in treating on the Metamorphic district of the Atlantic coast, 

 states, " With respect to the surface and industrial capabilities, 

 the different rocks occurring in this district present very various 

 aspects. The clay-slate often has a regular undulating surface 

 and a considerable depth of shingley or clay soil of a fair quality, 

 though usually deficient in lime. These slate-districts, however, 

 contain beds of quartz-rock, which form rocky ridges, from which 

 boulders have been scattered abroad, and which, by damming-up 

 the surface waters, produce lakes and bogs, an effect also produced 

 by the ridged structure of the slate itself, and the impervious sub- 

 soil which it affords. Wherever, as for instance in North Queens 

 and Lunenburg, the slate is sufficiently elevated for drainage, and 

 not encumbered with surface stones, it supports fine forests and 

 valuable farms. Where quartz-rock prevails, the soil is almost 

 invariably extremely stony and barren. Instances of this occur in 

 Southern Queens, near Halifax, and in the hills near St. Mary's 

 River." 



With regard to the position of this metamorphic band in the 

 logic scale, some doubt seems to exist. There is no positive 



evidence of its geologic age— no trace of a fossil has been found in 



