PREFACE. 



THE plan and mode of treatment adopted in the original edition 

 of this work, are retained in the present edition ; but the subject 

 matter has been greatly extended, and, with the exception of a 

 few pages, the work has been entirely rewritten. It aims to convey, 

 in language as little technical as possible, a practical knowledge of 

 the minerals and general geology of the two central provinces of 

 the Dominion Ontario and Quebec. In its plan, it embraces five 

 leading sections or subdivisions. These follow each other in logical 

 order, and are discussed throughout in an essentially explanatory 

 form. 



The first section describes briefly the more salient characters or 

 properties by which the determination of minerals is effected ; and it 

 includes a sufficient notice of the blowpipe to enable anyone to 

 employ that useful instrument in the practical examination and rough 

 analysis of mineral bodies. 



The second part or section contains descriptions of all the minerals 

 hitherto recognized within the Provinces to which the work refers. 

 In these descriptions, minute crystallographic and chemical details 

 are purposely avoided, as unsuited to the character of the book.* The 

 descriptive portion of the section is preceded by a couple of Determi- 

 native Tables, drawn up expresslv for the present work, by the use of 

 which, the name of any mineral occurring in central Canada, may be 

 easily ascertained. 



The two succeeding sections, PARTS III and IV, are introductory 

 to PART Y, in which the geological features of Ontario and Quebec 

 are passed under review. Part III discusses the classification, struc- 

 tural characters and other technical points belonging to the study of 

 rock masses generally, and that of mineral veins ; and it includes also 

 a brief outline of the Earth's rock-recorded history (pp. 199 to 207). 

 Part IV comprises an epitome or systematic synopsis of Canadian 

 Paleontology, with figures and descriptions of our more characteristic 



* A synopsis of the crystallographic characters of the more important mineral species will be 

 found in the Notes attached to the Determinative Tables of the author's Blowpipe Practice In 

 these Notes, spectroscopic characters, where readily determinate, are also <nven 



