APPENDIX B. 



SOME EVIDENCES OF A GLACIAL EPOCH. 



BY CHARLES R. FISHER. 



(Read October nth, ISU!,.} 



This evening it Is purposed to give 

 some account of that comparatively 

 short, but remarliable, recent geological 

 time, known as the Glacial Period, or 

 Great Ice Age. The immediate reason 

 for giving this description is because 

 we have before us a quantity of the 

 tiiaterial, accumulated by ice action 

 during that period. These specimens 

 Were found in England, not in Cana- 

 da, although in many respects, the 

 northern portion of America is un- 

 doubtedly one of the finest fields ex- 

 tant in which to study the phenomena 

 Resultant upon Glacial action, and es- 

 pecially is this the case in the vicinity 

 of St. John. Above your Canadian 

 t)rift you often find clays of a more 

 or less grey or reddish color, known 

 as the Leda Clay, so called because 

 amongst other marine shells, the Leda 

 Glacialis is found extensively in it. 

 Examples of this clay are to be found 

 along the coast of the Bay Shore, 

 near Fort Howe, in the valley be- 

 tween St. John and Portland, (St. John 

 North) along the Red Head Road, in 

 the Horticultural Grounds at Seely 

 Street, and elsewhere. This clay is 

 undoubtedly of sedimentary origin, 

 and one which accumulated very 

 quickly, probably at the time when 

 the immense amount of glacial ice 

 was re-converted into water. I am 

 not aware that the equivalent of this 

 is found in England, though some of 



the Eastern Counties' Boulder Clay 

 contains many broken portions of 

 marine shells. 



Our President, Dr. Matthew, is such 

 an authority upon all connected with 

 geology in this city and province, that 

 I will not attempt to give 

 any account of the evidences in the 

 immediate vicinity of St. John, which 

 tend to prove that at one time this en- 

 tire region was covered with ice, per- 

 haps to a depth cf from one to two thou- 

 sand feet. My work in this special 

 field has been very desultory, not so 

 much. I hope, from want of inclina- 

 tion as from absence of opportunity. 

 For many interesting facts in con- 

 nection with your local formations, 1 

 am much indebted to the kindness of 

 my friend Mrs. Bowden. 



Ice action has been the formative 

 agent of various deposits. During the 

 Pleistocene age, accumulations were 

 laid down upon the older rocks, with- 

 out any apparent order, often ending 

 very abruptly, and in a manner which 

 indicates the work of quite a different 

 force from any which built up the 

 more ancient strata. The evidences 

 of this action are found in the Boulder 

 Clays, Tills and Gravels of the early 

 Pleistocene Period. The clay some- 

 times has one or more layers of sand, 

 peat, or fine clay, sandwiched in, 

 showing either the action of water, 

 or the accumulation of a vegetable de- 



