OUTLETS OF THE ST. JOHN RIYKR. 45' 



Let us take up this history at tlie close of Iluronian 

 time. At this period only the simplest organisms existed, 

 viz., the Protozoa and Sea-weeds, with, perhaps, marine- 

 worms. The Protozoa had developed several types, as 

 Sponges and Radiolarians with siliceous shells or skele- 

 tons, and the Foraminifera with calcareous shells, and' 

 these, no doubt, were accompanied by soft-bodied 

 animals which have left no trace of their existence in 

 the solid rocks. These animals that we speak of are 

 known to have existed as early as, and probably before, 

 Iluronian time. 



PTuronian time in this region was too troublous to 

 admit of the peaceful existence of these minute and 

 delicate creatures. It was here a time of great physical 

 disturbance. The solid crust of the earth, perhaps then 

 more unstable than now, was broken up in many places 

 and gave passage to great eruptions of volcanic matter. 

 All the coast region of ITew Brunswick was overspread 

 with vast sheets of scoria and ashes, poured forth from 

 numerous volcanic vents. 



Yery noticeable among these volcanic ranges are the 

 Kingston hills, now sunk to four hundred or five hundred 

 feet above the sea level, but once towering above the- 

 surrounding country. Usually the rocks of this old 

 volcanic range are so twisted and folded, or broken up, 

 that it is impossible to trace the order of succession in. 

 which they were laid down ; but at 'Ne^v river, in 

 Charlotte county, they are more regular, and there a 

 succession has been traced amounting to ten thousand 

 feet in thickness. This means an accumulation of more 

 than a mile and a half in thickness of lavas. 



But the peculiar feature of this Kingston range i& 

 that while it has a longitudinal extent of about seventy 



