GENERAL REMAPaCS. Ill 



" I am not aware that any rocks equivalent in age to the red 

 sandstones Avhich have been described occur in any other part of Nova 

 Scotia. Red sandstones, not unlike those of Cornwallis and Truro, 

 occur in some parts of the newer Coal formation, as seen on the shores 

 of the Gulf of St Lawrence ; but they alternate with beds of shale and 

 gray sandstone, containing fossil plants of carboniferous species. 

 Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, is chiefly com- 

 posed of soft red sandstones, little disturbed, and similar in mineral 

 character to the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia ; but they contain 

 in their lower part slllcified wood and other vegetable fossils, which are 

 not unlike some of those found in the newer Coal formation. It is, 

 however, probable that the greater part of these red sandstones of 

 Prince Edward Island are post-carboniferous. It is also probable that 

 the New Red Sandstone of Connecticut, and some other parts of the 

 United States, which is believed to be a Triassic deposit, may be of the 

 same age with the formation above described. At present, however, 

 from the want of fossils in the New Red Sandstone of Nova Scotia, 

 it must be regarded as a post-carboniferous deposit of uncertain age. 



"The red sandstones now described appear to have been de- 

 posited in an arm of the sea, somewhat resembling in its general form 

 the southern part of the present Bay of Fundy, but rather longer and 

 wider. This ancient bay was bounded by disturbed Carboniferous and 

 Silurian strata ; and the detritus which it received was probably chiefly 

 derived from the softer strata of the Carboniferous system. The are- 

 naceous nature of the New Red Sandstone, as compared with the char- 

 acter of these older deposits, indicates that the ancient bay must have 

 been traversed by currents, probably tidal like those of the modern 

 bay, which w^ashed away the argillaceous matter so as to prevent the 

 accumulation of muddy sediment. When Ave consider the large 

 amount of land in the vicinity of the Avaters in Avhich the New Red Sand- 

 stone was deposited, the deficiency of organic remains in its beds is 

 somewhat surprising, though this is perhaps to be attributed rather to 

 the materials of the deposit and the mode of its accumulation, than to 

 any deficiency of vegetable or animal life at the period in question. 



" The volcanic action which manifested itself in the bed and on the 

 margin of the bay of the New Red Sandstone is one of the most remark- 

 able features of the period. It lias brought to the surface great 

 quantities of melted rock, without disturbing or altering the soft are- 

 naceous beds through which it has been poured, and whose surface it 

 has overflowed. The masses thus accumulated on the surfiice have 

 greatly modified the features of the districts in which they occur ; 

 especially the great ridge extending westward from Cape Blomidon. 



