Mineralogy and Geology of Nova Scotia. 307 
quartz give this rock a rough, forbidding aspect; and becom- 
ing loose in a few weeks, they dislodge any lichens which may 
have clung to them for support, and thus preserve a barren sur- 
face, defying all vegetation. The internal structure of this granite 
is firm and compact. It has a dark appearance, derived from the 
color of the mica, which is uniformly distributed through the 
mass. This rock would form an excellent building material, if 
the felspar was less prone to decomposition. This prevents its 
use in buildings, which are intended to last for a long time. We 
have before suggested, that this granite was subordinate or in- 
ferior to the clay-slate of the South mountains, and to all other 
rocks discovered in the Province. It here exhibits itself, protrud- 
ing through the clay-slate. The line of junction was not how- 
ever observed, as the covering of soil and underwood concealed 
their union. That there does exist a point of contact near this 
place, we cannot doubt; for a person may, in a few steps, pass 
from one formation to the other. The granite exhibits no ap- 
pearance of stratification, from which we could estimate its direc- 
tion; but there can be no doubt of its age being greater than that 
of the clay-slate, which it evidently supports, throughout its whole 
extent. That the granite is older than the clay-slate, appears 
from its containing no relics of organized beings, which occur in 
the latter, and prove it to belong to the transition formation. 
We do not however consider this granite as belonging to the 
oldest primitive, from the absence of all those metalliferous com- 
pounds and minerals which characterize more ancient formations ; 
from its brecciated structure, and from its being in contact with 
transition rock. It probably belongs to what Werner calls the 
newest granite formation ; a formation which is supposed to have 
been derived in part from the spoils of one still more ancient. 
