[eus] CANADIAN GEOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE 13 



were arranged anew, by the introduction of the terms Portland, Cold- 

 brook and St. John groups, the two first of which included a large 

 part of the rocks pertaining to the oldest or crystalline series, while 

 the latter was applied to certain fossiliferous sediments which contained 

 a peculiar fauna, regarded as the oldest yet discovered in the rocks 

 of the province. The names Bloomsbury, Little Eiver and Mispec were 

 also employed to designate a great series of slates, sandstones, shales 

 and conglomerates, along with certain igneous and crystalline rocks, 

 whose exact horizon could not, at that date, be definitely determined, 

 other than that they were beneath the Carboniferous limestones. In a 

 report by Bailey " On the Geology of the Province of New Brunswick " 

 in 1865, the positions of these various groups was more definitely out- 

 lined. The three last named divisions were stated to probably represent 

 portions of the Devonian, the St. John group was regarded as a part of 

 the lower Silurian, while the Portland and Coldbrook graups were con- 

 sidered as the representatives of the Laurentian and Huronian of 

 Ontario, of which the first was regarded as representing probably the 

 lowest member of the crystalline series. In this report also the name 

 Trias was first applied to designate certain areas of soft red sandstone 

 found along the south shore of the province. 



The nomenclature was also shortly prior to this date advanced by 

 the employment of the term Kingston group, which was applied to a 

 series of formations of uncertain age, some portion of which, it was 

 thought, might belong to the Devonian, while other portions appeared 

 to be more closely related to the upper Silurian system. 



The term Primordial was also, in the report just noted, employed 

 by Hartt as the equivalent of the St. John group, in consequence of 

 finding fossils in some of the black slates of St. John city, which it was 

 then supposed might represent the lov/est zone of fossiliferous sedi- 

 ments. The further study of the rocks of this group resulted 

 in their correlation with the Menevian of Wales. They have since been 

 elaborated under the name of the St. John or Acadian group by 

 Matthew in a series of papers before this section of the Eoyal Society. 



The report of Professor Hind on the Geology of this province, 

 which appeared in 1865, added but little to the nomenclature of the 

 subject. Certain formations of slate and sandstones in the northern 

 area were made the equivalents of a new division, styled " the Quebec 

 group '' in that province, but the other terms already used to designate 

 the formations in the southern part of the province were adopted 

 throughout this report. 



The conclusions arrived at by Matthew and Bailey from the study 

 of the rocks in soutliern ISTew BrunsAvick, were summed up in an 



