373 



But no one acquainted with the peculiar and strongly featured fauna of 

 that formation could recognize it in this collection. Three of the species 

 are, indeed, Chazy fossils, but then they are not characteristic forms. The 

 typical and leading species which always go together in great numbers 

 and in one compact army, as it were, in every exposure of the true Chazy, 

 are totally absent. 



The Lamellibranchiata, Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda of these beds 

 have, so far as the genera Ctenodonta, Subulites, Pleurotomaria, and 

 Orihoceras are concerned, an aspect very like that presented by the same 

 genera in the Black River and Trenton formations. But species similar 

 to most of those above compared have a great range, and are found in all 

 the different groups of rocks up to the Devonian. Their occurrence here 

 is not, in my opinion, sufficient to counterbalance the negative fact that 

 (excepting those in question) not a vestige of any one of the species of 

 the vast fauna of the Black River and Trenton has been detected. 

 Tetradium jibratum, Columnaria alveolata, Leptcena sericea, Stropho- 

 mera alternata, Orthis testudinaria, Calymene Blumenbachi and Asaphus 

 platyceplialus are sure to be found in every collection of any considerable 

 extent from these two formations. If they occurred here as abundantly 

 and persistently as they do in Canada and New York, it would be difficult 

 to give any reason why these four Divisions should not be regarded as the 

 equivalents of the Black River and Trenton. But not one fragment of 

 anything which could by any possibility be referred to any one of these 

 species can be seen in this collection. A piece of red limestone was found 

 at Bay St. Paul which is full of L. sericea, but it was a loose and worn 

 fragment, lithologically different from any of the strata in question. Judg- 

 ing from this specimen I should say that the Trenton may possibly occur 

 somewhere near, but we cannot refer, on any palseontological ground, the 

 series of strata constituting Divisions I, K, L, M, to that formation. 



DIVISIONS N, 0, P. 



The rocks of these divisions, in ascending order, consist of 277 feet of 

 black, bituminous limestone, with some black shales, very fossiliferous ; 

 next 700 feet of sandstones, in which no fossils were collected or observed; 

 and at the summit 700 feet of black shales, holding grey and white lime- 

 stone conglomerates, abounding in fossils, although there are not a great 

 many species. There appear to be, in this series of strata, two forma- 

 tions, distinguishable from each other, both by lithological and palaeonto- 

 logical characters. The first includes the black, bituminous limestones 

 and shales, forming the upper 277 feet at Table Head, and those of Pis- 

 tolet Bay, and 4 miles N. E. from Portland Creek. The rocks at the 



