Notices of Memoirs — Excursion in Brittany. 175 



isroTioiES oip :M:E:v^on^s■ 



L'ExCUKSION DE LA SoOIETE GEOLOGIQUE EN BkETAGNE. Par M. 



De L apparent. Kevue Scientifiqne, 8 Janvier, 1887. 



THIS is an article upon the excursion already described in the 

 February Number of this Magazine. It gives a general view 

 of the geological features of the Armorican peninsula, the igneous 

 and metamorphic rocks occurring there, and certain questions hitherto 

 controverted on which evidence regarded as conclusive was produced. 

 Among these were the age of certain granites, the causes of the 

 nietamorphism in certain localities, and the nature of the passage 

 from Cambrian strata to Silurian. As to this last, the sections in the 

 Bay of Douarnenez and the succession seen at Gourin are said to 

 present concurrent indications that in this district the transition is 

 conformable and continuous. 



- Upon the Archaean question the author expresses decided opinions. 

 To think that the crystalline schists can be excised from the chrono- 

 logical succession, and to regard them as capable of being produced 

 out of any strata, whatsoever their age, is, he says, '• an extension of 

 the idea of metamorphism which is altogether a misuse of it." " The 

 facts observed in Brittany seem fatal to this view." E. H. 



la IB "V" I S AAT S. 



Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada. 

 Annual Eeport (New Series), Vol. I. Accompanied by an Atlas 

 of Maps. Koyal 8vo. pp. ix. and 798. With Geological Maps, 

 Plans, Plates, and Woodcuts. (Montreal, 1886.) 



THE present volume ushers in a new series, and although entitled 

 Eeport for 1885, it includes work done in previous j^ears, and 

 in the early part of 1886. It begins with the customary " Summary 

 Eeport " (" A." pp. 1a— 108a ^) by the Director, Dr. A. E. C. Selwyn, 

 E.E.S., F.G.S. This contains an excellent resume of the operations 

 of the Geological Staff in the field, and of the work carried on 

 at head-quarters (Ottawa) in the museum, laboratory, and library. 

 • The succeeding reports fully sustain the deservedly high reputa- 

 tion so long enjoyed by the Canadian Survey. Many important 

 contributions to the history of the geology and resources of the 

 country are contained in them ; showing how work has been pro- 

 secuted " over portions of every province and territory in the 

 Dominion, from Nova Scotia to the west coast of Vancouver Island." 

 Among the vai'ied duties that now fall to the lot of the Dominion 

 geologists are included the collection of specimens illustrative of the 

 Zoology, Botany and Ethnology of the tracts explored, in addition 

 to their Geology and Lithology. 



Messrs. Whiteaves and Ami undertake the palseontological and 

 zoological work, with the occasional assistance of eminent English 



^ The Reports being also published separately, each is distinguished by a letter or 

 letters in the pagination. 



