136 UNDEVELOPED COAL FIELDS OF NOVA SCOTIA—GILPIN. 
covery, however, of these seams, even if they are not likely to. 
be worked for some years, has been a distinct advertisement for 
that district, and encourages the confidence the local business 
men and the province feel in the permanency and future exten-. 
sion of the trade of Cumberland County. 
I do not pretend this evening to have the wand of Fortunatus, 
and to disclose to you vast fields of unworked coal, but brietly 
to refer to districts which may be found upon examination to. 
hold coal of economic value. 
The student of geology is most appreciated when he can 
show the public some material advantage accruing from his 
investigation, and his predictions are often correct and useful 
even when they are unpalatable. 
I need not refer here to those sections in the province in 
which coal is now being regularly worked, but proceed to notice 
briefly the geological conditions which, so far as our experience 
goes, govern the presence of coal in Nova Scotia. 
The term carboniferous is applied by geologists to a group of 
paleozoic strata, which, while distinguished by holding the best 
deposits of coal, are also possessed of certain other notable 
characteristics. 
Sir William Dawson stands out as the special delineator of 
the divisions of this system in the Maritime Provinces. He 
divided it into :— 
Upper Coal Measures, 
Productive Coal Measures, 
Millstone Grit, 
Limestone Series, 
Lower or Basal Measure. 
And these sub-divisions have been in a general way followed by 
other geologists. 
In this province the limestone series has not presented any 
workable deposits of coal. It is, as you know, distinguished as 
an important source of limestone for fluxes, ete., as well as fur- 
nishing enormous deposits of gypsum. It is also valued by the 
