2IO 



RELICS OF PRIMEVAL LIFE 



■<i> 'Uli 



Dr. Giimbel, the Director of the Geological Sur- 

 vey of Bavaria, is one of the most active and widely 

 informed of European geologists, combining Euro- 

 pean knowledge with an extensive acquaintance 

 with the larger and in some respects more typical 

 areas of the older rocks in America, and strati- 

 graphical geology with enthusiastic interest in the 

 microscopic structures of fossils. He at once, and 

 in a most able manner, took up the question of the 

 application of the discoveries in Canada to the 

 rocks of Bavaria. The spirit in which he did so 

 may be inferred from the following extract : — 



" The discovery of organic remains in the crystal- 

 line limestones of the ancient gneiss of Canada, for 

 which we are indebted to the researches of Sir 

 William Logan and his colleagues, and to the 

 careful microscopic investigations of Drs. Dawson 

 and Carpenter, must be regarded as opening a new 

 era in geological science. 



"This discovery overturns at once the notions 

 hitherto commonly entertained with regard to the 

 origin of the stratified primary limestones, and their 

 accompanying gneissic and quartzose strata, in- 

 cluded under the general name of primitive crystal- 

 line schists. It shows us that these crystalline 



! 



