106 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



area along the south side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, extending across 

 the northern shore of Nova Scotia, which includes the extensive coal 

 beds of that province. 



But while the Lower Carboniferous marine forms fix with sufficient 

 exactitude the age of the Coal Measures above them, no marine species 

 are contained in the beds of the Little River Group near St. John, so 

 their geological age could not be determined by that means; and the 

 plant remains were not of such a nature as to settle the question. It 

 is true that Sir William Dawson pronounced them " Middle Devonian ' ' 

 but his verdict as to their age has been questioned and by some 

 observers denied. 



Another series of deposits which, though not occurring within 

 the corporate limits of St. John is well represented in other parts of 

 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is that which was first described in 

 this region as the New Red Sandstone. It presents the following 

 succession : 



1. Bright red sandstone, uniform in colour and texture. 



2. Grey (Pebble) conglomerate (holding the position of the 

 effusive or volcanic rocks in other places). 



3. Red conglomerate and red shale in several repetitions. 



This series is the Newark formation as seen in New Jersey and 

 elsewhere. 



To revert to the other end of the geological scale as seen at St. 

 John one may say that the Portland Group was found to consist of 

 granitic and other intrusive and metamorphosed rocks as granite, 

 gniess, altered schists and limestones, in which last, however, only 

 the simplest forms of life were found. It forms a geological complex 

 upon which the later formations rested. LTpon this complex with a 

 manifest discordance the Cambrian beds of the St. John Group rested. 

 Remains of trilobites were found in it (first by the late Rev. C. R. 

 Matthew), whose exact age as Primordeal was determined by the 

 late Professor C. F. Hartt, at that time a student at Harvard College 

 with the late Louis Agassiz. 



Above the Cambrian, etc., at St. John there is an overlying series 

 of beds in which certain land plants were found, which were studied 

 by Sir J. William Dawson and by him determined to be of Middle 

 Devonian age. These Mrs. M. C. Stopes, Dr. H. M. Ami, Mr. David 

 White and others now say are Carboniferous. These plants have 

 been found in measures which Sir William personally studied and the 

 antiquity of these measures has been upheld by A. Gesner, L. W. 

 Bailey, G. F. Matthew, R. W. Ells, and others who have studied the 

 strata. 



