

PRE-CAMliUlAN LIFE 



;i 



able to verify his Radiolarians and sponges as well 

 Matthew's observations in New Brunswick in any 

 case estabhsh their probability. Gumbel also re- 

 cognises a species of Eo^oon in the equivalent rocks 

 of Bavaria (see p. 213). 



It is evident that here we have approached the 

 .m,t of the higher forms of marine invertebrate 

 -.fe, having as yet nothing to show except worms 

 and Protozoa. It is to be observed, however, that 

 there may be somewhere Huronian deposits formed 

 >n deep and quiet waters, which may give better 

 results, and that the unconformity between the 

 Huronian and overlying Kewenian may indicate a 

 lapse of time, of which monuments may yet be found. 



The Laurentian. 

 Last of all we have the widely distributed Lau- 

 rentian system of Logan, the oldest known to 

 geologists, and which with the Huronian constitutes 

 the great Archaean group of formations of Dana and 

 others. In its lowest part this consists entirely of 

 the stratified granitic rock known as gneiss, inter- 

 bedded m some places with dark-coloured crystalline 

 rocks or schists. This may be a part of the <5rst- 

 formed crust of our globe, produced under conditions 



