152 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF NEWFOUNDLAND WESTON. 



refers to other forms found in Huronian argillite by the 

 Rev. Mr. Harvey. At the time of the discovery of these fossil- 

 like markings they were considered to be most important, and 

 were supposed to belong to the genus Oldhamia, and specimens 

 were sent to Sir W. E. Logan. Billings would not decide one 

 way or the other as to their organic affinity, and they were 

 handed to me. I said at once they were concretionary, and, what 

 had not' been observed by others, that these markings lay trans- 

 verse to the bedding of the slate in which they were.* 



Billings describes his Aspidella terranovica thus : " Small 

 ovate fossils five or six lines in length, and about one-fourth less 

 in width. They have a narrow ring-like border within which 

 there is a concave space all round. In the middle there is a 

 longitudinal roof -like ridge, from which radiates a number of 

 grooves to the border. The general aspect is that of a small 

 Chiton or Patella, flattened by pressure. It is not probable, 

 however, they are allied to either of these genera." 



While in the City of St. Johns in 1874, I made a diligent 

 search for these forms and collected several of the so-called Aspi- 

 della. These, together with all other specimens now in the 

 Dominion Geological museum, vary so much in form and appear- 

 ance that I am afraid they also will ultimately be classed with 

 the concretionary forms already spoken of, collected by the Rev. 

 Mr. Harvey. Thus it will be seen that we have no definite 

 organic remains either in the Laurentian or Huronian rocks of 

 Canada or Newfoundland. 



The Primordial Silurian of Newfoundland and Canada. 

 In spite of the oft-repeated assertion of Professor Jukes and 

 the late director of the Geological Survey of Canada, " If the 

 fossils don't agree with the stratigraphy, so much the worse for 

 the fossils," my long experience as a collector of fossils and 

 close observer of the various geologic horizons leads me to think 

 that if the stratigraphy does not agree with the fossils so much 

 the worse for the stratigraphy. To illustrate the faith the late 



"Notes by the writer, and a reproduction from a nature print in Trans. Nova Scotian 

 Inst. of Science, Second Series, Vol. I, Part 2, page 139. 



