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sandstone, before this Society, and our observations authorize us 

 in confirming his opinion, that it withstands the action of frost 

 even in the climate of St. John. 



By far the largest portion of the stone is of a yellowish tint, 

 or buff-colored, but there are also beds of a light red, and gray- 

 colored varieties. They are, however, all of the same geologi- 

 cal age, and belong to the true coal-bearing strata, as is proved 

 by the fossil plants closely impacted between the beds of stone, 

 and thin seams of bituminous coal, occasionally discovered in 

 them. 



An outlier of rock called, from its singular shape, the " Squaw's 

 Cap," presents us with an abundance of fossil trees and roots, 

 apparently of the Sigillaria, having none of the markings of 

 Stigmaria, but smooth, with striated surfaces. Occasionally we 

 find siliceous nodules in the blue sandstone, which are called by 

 the grindstone cutters " bulls' eyes." They injure the grind- 

 stones when they occur, and stones containing them are avoided. 

 Grindstone Island is one mile long, and half a mile wide, and is 

 estimated to contain about 140 acres of quarry stone. The 

 average height of the island above highest tides is sixty feet. 

 The tide rises and falls between sixty and seventy feet. In 

 obtaining slabs of the blue sandstone for making grindstones, 

 these extraordinary tides perform valuable services, for the 

 quarryman has only to split out his rock at low water, and fasten 

 it by chains to his flat-boat, and allow the rising tide to float it, 

 so that he can transport the stone to high-water mark, and leave 

 it, where he can work upon it at his leisure. It is observed that 

 the best grindstones are always obtained from the strata which 

 are submerged at every tide. They are softer, and less liable 

 to have cracks in them, as they are not exposed to extremes of 

 heat and cold. The strata all dip down under the Bay of Fundy, 

 at an angle of 38 degrees to the southward, and the trend of 

 the strata is nearly east and west. 



Above the tides, we have the extensive quarries now opened. 

 They are supplied with heavy and massive cranes, and a tram- 

 road or railway, for the removal of the stones and for trans- 

 porting them to the wharf, where they are put on shipboard. 



