APR 10 i9!7 



THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 



Vol. X. OTTAWA, DECEMBER, 1896. No. 9. 



THE GEOLOGY OF THE OTTAWA AND PARRY 

 SOUND RAILWAY. 



By R. W. Ells, LL.D., F.R.S.C. 



The opening of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound 

 railway, while marking an epoch in the affairs of the Capital from 

 the commercial standpoint, furnishes, to the student of Natural 

 History, fresh fields for study along the several lines in which 

 the members of the Field-Naturalists' Club are interested. It 

 has rendered readily accessible many places which have hitherto 

 been reached with great difficulty and at very considerable ex- 

 pense. To the student of Geology and Palaeontology it is 

 especially advantageous ; since many interesting points can now 

 be easily reached and large areas of fossiliferous strata can be 

 examined, many of wftich will furnish a rich harvest to the 

 collector. With the object of calling attention to some of these 

 and thus arousing interest in the subject on the part of our 

 younger members, as well as renewed interest among those who 

 have already done good work in collecting and determining the 

 fossil contents of our Palaeozoic formations, a brief sketch of 

 some of the leading geological features observable along the line 

 is here presented. 



Starting from the Capital, a short run of about fifteen miles 

 over a generally level country brings us to the first stopping 

 place near the line between Nepean and March. The formations 

 traversed in this distance are nearly all horizontal, and comprise 

 the Trenton, Black River, Chazy, Calciferous and Potsdam. 

 The last three can be well seen' between the crossing of the 

 Canadian Pacific railway, south of Britannia, and the station 



