[ells] geology of the OIL-SHALES OF SCOTLAND 43 



Tn Nova Scotia the Perry formation, there known as the Horton 

 series, does not show the same development of coarse basal conglomerate 

 as in New Brunswick. This portion rather seems to be represented by 

 a coarse grit with some minor bands of conglomerate which are some- 

 times a reddish-brown and sometimes a bluish-grey in colour, in which 

 respects they somewhat resemble the basal portion of the Calciferous 

 sandstone series of Scotland. These gritty beds are quite extensively 

 quarried in some places. 



While the overlying shales are very similar in both provinces, in 

 Nova Scotia the brown bituminous shales of New Brunswick are ap- 

 Iparently represented by a considerable thickness of black carbonaceous 

 shale, portions of which are also oil-bearing. These contain remains of 

 plants and fishes which appear to be very similar in both provinces in so 

 far as yet determined. The black carbonaceous shales are found at a 

 number of widely separated points between the Avon river in Kings 

 county and the eastern part of Cape Breton. They also reappear farther 

 east in Newfoundland. They exhibit practically the same physical fea- 

 tures throughout their whole extent, and portions of this f onnation, both 

 in Nova Scotia and in Newfoundland are rich in hydrocarbons and yield 

 a large percentage of crude oil by distillation. 



In Gaspé the Devonian formations have been long recognized, and 

 in the section of 7000 feet measured by Sir William Logan in 

 1844, along the east coast, a number of fish and plant bearing beds 

 were found. Certain bands of shale also occur in that section, which are 

 rich in oils, though this can only be obtained by distillation after the 

 methods employed in Scotland. The horizon of the Gaspé oil-shales also 

 appears to be the upper part of the Devonian. 



In the comparison of the oil-shales of Scotland therefore with those 

 of eastern Canada, it will be observed that there are a number of points of 

 resemblance, practically sufficient to warrant the assumption that their 

 geological horizons are almost identical. There are also certain well 

 marked distinctions. Thus while on stratigraphical grounds the rocks 

 of the two areas agree in underlying the Lower Carboniferous marine 

 limestone, in the case of the formation in Scotland, as is also apparently 

 the case in England, it has been found hitherto impossible, on fossil 

 evidence alone, to detach these Scotch shales as a part of the Calciferous 

 sandstone formation from the Carboniferous system or to transfer them 

 to the Upper Devonian, as is the strong tendency at present in Canada, 

 since the fossils found are, according to Dr. Traquair, more especially the 

 fish remains, more closely related to the Lower Carboniferous than to 

 the Devonian. While this idea of fixity of horizons determined by 

 fossil evidence, as opposed to stratigraphical sequence is maintained, it 



