PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 83 



appeared in 1858-59 and 1865, The contributors were Mr. Billings of the Canadian 

 Survey, Mr. Salter of the Survey of Great Britain, and Prof. James Hall, the State 

 Geologist of New York. They were slender octavo volumes containing 'altogether 

 only 370 pages of text, but with a liberal supply of excellently engraved plates. 

 Three of the Decades are monographs on the subject dealt with, and the four 

 volumes are classics in North American Geology and ab.solutely essential to 

 students of North American invertebrate paleontology. In 1865 the first volume 

 426 pp., of a series entitled " Palteozoic Fossils " appeared, the species described 

 being entirely by Billings. Many of the descriptions are unaccompanied by 

 illustrations and those afforded are wood-cuts. In 1866 the pamphlet, 93 i)p. 

 entitled "Catalogues of the Silurian Fossils of the Island of Auticosti " was 

 published. It also consi-sts of descriptions of species, sometimes illustrated', some- 

 times not. This closes the work done by the survey of the old Province of 

 Canada, the operations of which extended only to portions of what are now Quebec 

 and Ontario. As Sir William Logan said, much of the period was occupied in 

 obtaining topographical knowledge sufficient to enable the first geological map to 

 be made, and indeed this is the main result of his labours.* When we look at the 

 very small quantity of matter in the reports produced during this period of twenty- 

 four years we must deeply regret the indifference of a people who could leave un- 

 supported, save by two or three enthusiasts, a man with such endowments as the 

 Director of the Survey, Sir William Logan, our honoured president in the first 

 year of this Institute. We shall see later what this ignorance and indifference have 

 cost us. 



But narrow as was the scope of the work in old Canada it was worse in the 

 Maritime Provinces. As early as 1838, Dr. Abraham Gesner began a geological 

 survey of New Brunswick, which was carried on in some fashion until 1844, when it 

 came to an end, the result being the reports detailed in the footnote below. f There 

 was also, apparently, a report in 1843, 88 pp., not, however, styled the fifth report. 

 Dr. Gesner had already published a volume on Nova ScotiaJ as a private venture 

 in which he was assisted by the province, and the work in New Brunswick resulted 

 in another contribution which reached the public in a similar manner. He was 

 employed in 1846 by the government of Prince Edward Island to report on the 

 geology of that province, which apparently resulted in a short rei)ort in 1847, and 

 in 1849 he published a volume on the '-Industrial Resources of Nova Scotia," 

 but whether aided by the provincial government or not, I am unable to say. He 

 published other papers regarding gold, iron, coal, and especially petroleum, but 

 evidently to a languid public. In the volume on New Brunswick, published in 

 1847, and noted beloAV,|| Dr. Gesner says: "Of the British North American 

 Colonies, New Brunswick Avas the first to undertake an examination of her mineral 

 resources. Since the commencement of that survey, similar ones have been in- 

 stituted in Newfoundland and Canada. Prince Edward's Island has also followed 

 the example. Nova Scotia would have engaged in such a work long ago, were not 

 her mines and minerals sealed up by a close monopoly, which withholds from 

 the inhabitants any participation in the mineral wealth of the country." 



There were a few apparently official but irregular reports published in New 

 Brunswick which should not be" overlooked. In 1850, J. F. W. Johnston made a 

 report on the "Agricultural Capabilities of the Province," etc., which includes 

 geological notes by Mr. Robb. In 1864, L. W. Bailey made a report on INIiues and 

 Minerals. In 1865, Messrs. Bailey, Matthew and Hartt, made a geological report 

 on Southern New Brunswick. 



We have already mentioned Professor Henry Youle Hind in connection with 

 the Red River and Saskatchewan expeditions. When appointed to this important 



* " In i8s4 . . when before the . . select committee of the Legislature . . appointed to investigate 

 the working ot the survey, . . Logan was asked what the principal difficulties he had met with were; he re- 

 plied : ' Independently of those unavoidably incident to travelling in canoes up shallow rivers, or on toot through 

 the forest, are those arising from the want of a good topographical map of the country. Accurate topography is 

 the basis of accurate geology.'" Presidential Address, R. S. C, iSq^. G. M. Dawson. 



t " First, Second, Third and Fourth Reports on the Geological Survey of the Province of New Brunswick." 

 Gesner. St. John, ist, 1839, 82 pp. ; 2nd, 1840, 72 pp. ; 3rd, 1841, 88 pp. ; 4th, 1842, 101 pp. 



t " Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia : with a new map of Novn Scotia. Cape Breton. 

 Prince Edward Island, and part of New Brunswick." Gesner. Halifax and London. 1836. 



il "New Brunswick with Notes for Emigrants." Gesner. London, 1847. 



