336 



it is identical in Nova Scotia, Maine, Massachusetts, and New 

 Jersey. He agrees with Elie de Beaumont, that what is here 

 called the new red Sandstone is not the same as the new red 

 Sandstone (properly so called) of Europe ; that it belongs to the 

 Silurian system. Confirmed >by a recent examination of the 

 fossils by Mr. Wells, of Cambridge, Mass. Wherever it occurs, 

 from Nova Scotia to New Jersey, there are the same masses of 

 trap found running through it ; but the trap never comes up as 

 dykes, but always as heds ; always between the strata of Sand- 

 stone, never through them. The under surface, on the leaning 

 side, is converted into amygdaloid ; at this point, where the trap 

 and sandstones come into contact, native copper occurs ; the 

 accompanying minerals are nearly the same from Lake Superior 

 to Nova Scotia. The direction of the strata, in nearly all cases, 

 is E. N. E. and W. S. W. The masses of trap, in both 

 countries, curve to the N. W., showing that the direction of 

 upheaval was the same over the whole extent from Lake Supe- 

 rior to Nova Scotia. 



If the Connecticut River Sandstone belongs to the Silurian 

 system, it will show that birds made their appearance on the 

 earth some time before Geologists have generally supposed. 



There are many difficult problems in connection with the Sand- 

 stones, which geology as yet has not materials enough to solve. 



October 16, 1850. 

 Dr. A. A. Gould in the Chair. 

 Present, thirty members. 



Prof. Agassiz expressed his dissent from the opinions of 

 Dr. C. T. Jackson on the age of the Connecticut Sand- 

 stones, as given at the last meeting. 



He believed, with Dr. Hitchcock, that they were of more 

 recent formation. Their fossil fishes were in exact relation with 



