ABRAHAM GESXER REVIEW OF HIS SCIENTIFIC WORK. 5 



The essay of Messrs. Jackson and Algei* was written in 

 1831, and gave the first full and accurate account, that had Ijeen 

 published, of the minerals of the " Noi'th Mountain " of Nova 

 Scotia. In connection with the principal topic of their work 

 they gave also an outline of the geology of the province as a 

 whole. 



Considering the time at which it was written, this work was 

 an excellent digest of information on the minerals of Nova Scotia, 

 but it was too technical for the ordinary reader, and Gesner's 

 book, written in a more popular style, and from the stand-point 

 of the colonist, had a wider circulation, and served to diffuse more 

 generally among the provincials a knowledge of the resources of 

 Nova Scotia. 



Gesner found four geological districts in the province, these 

 he called the Primary District, the Cla}' Slate District, the Red 

 Sandstone District and the Trap District. 



A division into four districts had been adapted by Messrs. 

 Jackson and Alger, but while Gesner classed all the red sand- 

 stones together, the above authors, on their map, distinguished 

 the red sandstones of the Annapolis valley from the others and 

 described them in connection with the trap rocks — a more 

 natural arrangement. 



Of the primary district extending along the Atlantic coast 

 from Canso to Shell)urne, Dr. Gesner observed that the " clay 

 slate " succeeded the granite, except where the gneiss and mica 

 schist are interposed. Fie thus recognized the antiquity of the 

 slates of this tract as contrasted with those of the district next 

 to be described. How little the mineral wealth of this district 

 was suspected at this time, may he gathered from another remark 

 wherein he says (in speaking of the countiy east of Halifax) that 

 no indications of ores were seen on any part of this coast. 



In the country west of Halifax Dr. Gesner found a variety 

 of qiiartzites, mica schists and clay slates, with hills and masses 

 •cjf gi'anite interspersed. He lays special stress on the rocking 



* Remarks on the Mineralogy and Geology of Nova Scotia by Chas. T. Jackson 

 and Francis Alger. Published by the American Academy of Science, 1831. 



