140 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
If the friendly reader will spread before him a modern map of 
New Brunswick, and will fix his attention upon all the boundary lines 
shown thereon ; or, if he will observe closely the diagrammatic map of 
the Province forming the frontispiece of the present paper, he will be 
impressed by the irregularity of the network the boundaries make, and 
by the seeming lawlessness of most of their courses. Closer observation 
will show that a few of the lines coincide with natural features of the 
country, such as sea-coasts and rivers; but the great majority have no 
such determinants, and are obviously entirely artificial. Hveryone 
versed in the history of this Province will readily recall that some of 
these boundaries have been subjects of serious international contentions, 
have exhausted the powers of the highest diplomacy, and have brought 
great nations within sight of war. A few are old, and interwoven with 
the earlier periods of our history, while. others have had experiences 
sufficiently remarkable or curious. Altogether, it is unlikely that any 
other country of equal size has had its boundaries so often or con- 
spicuously in contention, so fully discussed by many and weighty 
commissions, so closely interlocked with its general history, or deter- 
mined by so many distinct considerations as has the Province of New 
Brunswick. It is the object of this work to attempt to explain the 
precise factors which have determined for each New Brunswick bound- 
ary line its genesis, its persistence, its position, its direction and tts 
length. 
