CANADIAN FOSSILS. 





containing fragments of crustaceans and fishes (Pieryjfoftw, Ctenacanthus f 

 &c). The beds connected with this coal are grey sandstones and grey and 

 dark shales, much resembling those of the ordinary coal formation. The 

 ;, ^ ■ coal is shining and laminated, and both its roof and floor consist of lami- 

 , •■ ■ nated bituminous shale with fragments of Psilophy ton. It has no true 

 under-clay, and has been, I believe, a peaty mass of rhizomes of Pftilophyton. 

 jjl^ ' It occurs near Tar Point, on the south side of Gasp^ Bay, a place so 



named from the occurrence of a thick dyke of trap holding petroleum in its 

 cavities. The coal is of considerable horizontal extent, as in its line of 

 strike a similar bed has been discovered on the Douglas River, about four 

 miles distant. It has not been recognized on the north side of the Bay, 

 > though we find there beds, probably on very nearly the same horizon, hold- 



ing Psilophyton in situ. 

 ' , As an illustration of one of the groups of shaly beds, and of the 



occurrence of roots of Psilophyton, I may give the following sectional list of 

 '::- beds seen near " Watering Brook," on the north shore of the Bay. The 



order is descending : 



Ft. In. 



■ 1. Grey sandstones and reddish pebbly sandstone of great thickness 



, 2. Bright red shale 8 



3. Grey sha!cs with stems of Fiilophyton, very abundant but badly pre- 



- served 5 



;• : , 4. Grey incoherent clay, slicken-aided, and with many Rhizomes and roots 



. . of Psilophyton 3 



5. Hard grey clay or shale with fragments and roots of Psilophyton 4 



' • 6. Red shale 8 



7. Grey and reddish crumbling sandstone 



Groups of beds similar to the above, but frequently much more rich in 



fossils, occur in many parts of the section, and evidently include fossil soils 



of the nature of under-clays, on which little else appears to have grown 



than a dense herbage of Psilophyton, along with plants of the genus 



«(l Arihrostigma. 



In addition to thes? shaly groups, there are numerous examples of beds 

 of shale of small thickness included in coarse sandstones, and these beds 

 often occur in detached fragments, as if the remnants of more continuous 

 layers partially removed by currents of water. It is deserving of notice 

 that nearly all these patches of shale are interlaced with roots or stems of 

 Psilophyton, which sometimes project beyond their limits into the sandstone, 

 as if the vegetable fibres had preserved the clay from removal. In short, 

 these lines of patches of shoie seem to be remnants of soils on which Psilo- 

 phyton has flourished abundantly, and which have been partially swept 

 away by the currents which deposited the sand. Some of the smaller 

 patches may even be fragments of tough swamp soils interwoven with 



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