THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 137 



plant remains. The absence of free shell, for instance, is very re- 

 markable ; but, although the 340 feet of it in Canada has been 

 carefully examined by field geologists, it has only yielded the 

 doubtful fucoids. Not long since it was thought to be a deep sea 

 deposit, and this may account for it. Such an idea cannot be en- 

 tertained. Deep sea dredging expeditions revealed the secrets of the 

 sea's abysses. The capping band (sandstone) points to an ancient 

 coast line, and seemingly it was deposited in shallow water. Prof. 

 Wilkins' idea that the shales were laid down in a sea impregnated 

 with mineral salts injurious to life, appears to be more worthy of 

 consideration than any other theory advanced on the subject yet. 

 He certainly deserves great credit for boldly grappling with a dis- 

 puted point which few field geologists would dare encounter, and 

 the majority are anxious to carefully avoid. All the four Clinton 

 bands, red and green, are fossiliferous, they thin out to the east, the 

 lower ones contain star-fishes and crinoids, one of the latter, probably 

 undescribed as yet, is exceedingly delicate. It possesses so 

 slight a stalk that I was induced to suppose it could only exist in 

 some well-sheltered cove or bay, protected from wind or wave, or 

 in deep water where their influence is unfelt. All the beds of the 

 May Hill sandstone series, known to us as Clinton, I examined on 

 this continent, were laid down in shallow water. Apparently the 

 portion called the Iron band is well displayed in rear of the small 

 reservoir at Hamilton, and is of great interest. It contains many 

 plants, differing altogether from fucoids in their nature. They may 

 not be land plants in the usual acceptation of the term, but I believe 

 them to be aUied, if not identical, with the ones Sir Wm. Dawson 

 mentions as growing in marshes, with only their upper parts in the 

 air. They are distantly related to the " mare's tail." The iron ore, 

 peculiarly characteristic of the upper red band, was derived from 

 plants, I think, which grew in low swamps to which the sea had 

 access occasionally as litoral shells, lingulse, etc., are found m it. 



Probably the sea bed was undergoing slow submergence when 

 the overlying band, green shale or sandstone, was deposited. Bur- 

 rows or casts of the lob-worm, and thin ripple or wave-marked 

 layers, may be noted through its entire thickness. The Pentamerus 

 bed, Niagara limestone, lying on the upper part, attaches to its un- 

 der surface about two inches of the compressed shale; this holds an 

 alga, perhaps a new species. In addition to the large shell Pentam- 



