PEESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 15 



Nova Si-otia, includiug the great ceutral basiu of the former, aud partially svibmergiug 

 tht'ir bordering hills, to an amount eqiial, in some cases, to 1,000 feet of their present 

 height. The character of the sediments (largely coarse red sandstone aud conglomerates, 

 with impure limestones and beds of gypsum), tlieir impregnation with salt and compara- 

 tive paucity of marine fossils, indicate a shallow water origin and general conditions 

 similar to those of th.e Salina period of the Silurian of New York. The close of the 

 era is marked by frequent igneous outflows, by long-continued and extensive denudation 

 and, in some instances, by uplifts, leading to unconformity with the overlying coal- 

 measures. 



(9 ) The replacement, in ihe Coal era, of the bays, straits, shallow basins aud 

 evaporating fiats of the Lower Carboniferous by fresh-water swamps and bogs support- 

 ing the coal vegetation. In northern and central New Brunswick, the movements 

 involved in this and succeeding chauges, though affecting large areas, were but small in 

 amount, the coal seams being few, and the entire thickness of the formation but slight. 

 In Nova Scotia, as is well known, the thickness is enormous, and includes coal beds 

 remarkable alike for their number and magnitude. In the former, over the central couu- 

 ii(\s, the strata are still very nearly horizontal ; along the Bay of Fundy they are more 

 highly inclined, with numerous faults and dislocations ; in Nova Scotia they are thrown 

 into numerous basins, showing similar evidences of powerful physical movements. 



(10.) Finally, with the chauges marking the New Red Sandstone era, a depression and 

 deepening of the Bay of Fundy trough, followed by igneous extrusions along its bed, aud 

 subsequent elevation to form the North Mountains of Nova Scotia and the Island of Grand 

 Manan, the Acadian basin assumes essentially its present physical aspect, subsequently 

 to be broken only by the events connected with the origination aud decline of the great 

 Glacial era, synchronous in all probability with the first appearance of mau. 



Passing now to these more recent formations, we find, as regards the Quaternary geo- 

 logy of New Brunswick, that, in addition to numerous more or less scattered observations 

 made by nearly all the field observers, special study of this subject has been made both 

 by Mr. Matthew and Mr. Eobert Chalmers, the last named gentleman being still engaged 

 in the prosecution of this work. The members of the Section are probably already familiar 

 with the more important conclusions of Mr. Chalmers, as set forth in an elaborate contrib- 

 ution to the memoirs of the Society, and iu an article on the glaciation of eastern America 

 iu the ' Canadian Eecord of Science.' These views are of great interest aud importance as 

 tending to modify, to a large extent, the opinions previously held as to the character, 

 amount and direction of ice-action in this region in glacial times, aud as giving confirma- 

 tion to tbe view, so long and ably ij^vocated by Sir. "W. Dawson, that the glaciation of 

 this part of the continent was the result of ^ora/ rather than continental glaciers, assisted 

 by icebergs, at a time when the country stood beloiv its present level. A highly import- 

 ant work in this connection is the preparation, by Mr. Chalmers, of a series of maps, 

 duplicating the geological maps referred to iu previous pages, but iu which the geologi- 

 cal distinctions are replaced by others showing the surface features of the country, the 

 distribution of the various Quaternary deposits, the character of the soil, the distribution 

 of forests, peat bogs, plains, etc. These, when completed, will be of the greatest pos- 

 sible service, not only in eonuection with the wants of intending settlers, but also in any 

 discussion of the facts of our Quaternary history. ♦ 



