498 THE DEVONIAN PERIOD. 



farther west. More especially the thick limestones of the latter dis- 

 tricts are not represented, and there is a greater prevalence of sandy 

 and argillaceous deposits, often with fossil plants. Minor differences 

 exist in the Acadian Provinces themselves. In Nova Scotia only the 

 lower members of the system have been distinctly recognised, though 

 there are indications of the upper members. In New Brunswick the 

 newer portion of the Devonian seems most largely developed, and is 

 remarkably rich in fossil plants. 



I shall first notice the Lower Devonian rocks of Nictaux and its 

 vicinity in "Western Nova Scotia, and then, crossing the Bay of Fundy, 

 describe the rich plant-bearing beds in the vicinity of St John, New 

 Brunswick. 



Devonian of Nova Scotia. 



In Nova Scotia the rocks older than the Cai-boniferous system have 

 all undergone more or less alteration and disturbance. This, with the 

 imperfect preservation of their fossils and their inland position, renders 

 the working up of their details of structure very difficult. Large 

 tracts of country thus remain in a state of uncertainty, their rocks 

 being manifestly older than the Carboniferous, but yet otherwise of 

 uncertain age. In the case of the Devonian, the only place in Avhich 

 it has been clearly made out as distinct from the Silurian, is the belt 

 of hilly country extending along the south side of the Annapolis valley. 

 Here, in the section of the Nictaux Rivei', the first old rocks that are 

 seen to emerge from beneath the New Red Sandstone of tlie low 

 country, are fine-grained slates, which I shall describe in the sequel 

 as Upper Silurian. Their strike is N. 30° to 60° E., and their dip to 

 the S. E. at an angle of 72°. Interstratified with these are hard and 

 coarse beds, some of them having a trappean aspect. In following 

 these rocks to the S. E., or in ascending order, they assume the aspect 

 of the New Canaan beds ; but I could find no fossils except in loose 

 pieces of coarse limestone, and these have the aspect of the Upper 

 Arisaig series, or newest Silurian of the eastern part of Nova Scotia. 

 In these, and in some specimens recently obtained by Mr Hartt, 

 I observe OrUioceras elegantulum^ Bucania trilobifa, Cornulites 

 fiexuosus^ Spirifer rugcecosta f and apparently Chonetes Nova-Scotica, 

 with a large Orthoceras, and several other shells not as yet seen 

 elsewhere, — all Upper Silurian. These fossils appear to indicate that 

 there is in this region a continuance of beds of the upper Arisaig 

 series nearly to the base of the Devonian rocks next to be noticed. 



After a space of nearly a mile, which may represent a great thickness 

 of unseen beds, we reach a band of highly fossiliferous peroxide of 



