1836.] 



ON THE FOSSILS FROM THE OTTAWA RIVER. 



221 



Tlie disclosure of the continent of America itself, Lad it no 

 connexion at tlie time witli the approaching overburdened con- 

 dition of the populations of the old world, with its social theories 

 becoming obsolete and requiring a free field in which to be 

 re-constructed ? 



If such a view of events be well-grounded, what are we to 

 think of the present aaje? Is the curious accumulation of won- 

 ders, in the midst of which we find ourselves, accidentiil? Are 

 the facilities for intercommunication among our fellow-raen, acci- 

 dental ? Is the abundance of gold, accidental ? Is the perfec- 

 tion to which the arts — the certainty to which the sciences — are 

 so rapidly tending, accidental ? If not, thei-e are signs enough to 

 in^■est this age with an enormous amount of interest — nay, with 

 a degree of solemnitj'. For, what are our duties in such an age? 

 Surely our responsibilities are greater than those of our forefethers. 

 The facilities which we enjoy — the powere which we are enabled 

 to exert — wei'e not intended to be mere toys for our amusement : 

 are we not expected to work out with them i-esults which shall in 

 son:e degree be proportionate to the trust ? 



An era of great importance is just opening upon ourselves. 

 We are beginning to feel that the wave of the world's movement 

 lias reached us, and that we are being lifted forwards on its tide. 

 Our opportunity has arrived ; we shall, I doubt not, embrace it 

 with energy. 



It is in such times, in most countries, that ideas of stei-ling 

 value are struck out. We may expect to see an intellectual ac- 

 tivity among oui-selves surpassing any that has as yet character- 

 ized us. One remark it will be useful to ddd. In every instance 

 which I have adduced of what I have called "accidental dis- 

 coveries," the accident was such as would be very unlikelj' to oc- 

 cur to an unobservant, unthinking, badly-informed person. The 

 more observant — the more thougiitfnl — the more completely in- 

 formed we are — each in our several professions — the more likely 

 w'e may be sure, w^e shall be, to light on ideas that will be of 

 practical ad\antage to the world. 



Let each man stand, then, judiciously on the watch, and chal- 

 lenge every phenomenon witti intelligence. Nature is not e-£- 

 hausted ; there are yet latent secrets within her stores. Clues to 

 additional truths are floating about in the air above, in the water 

 beneath ; let but the observer come who has the eye to see, the 

 hand to lay hold of them. In arrangements already established, 

 there are combinations and simplifications possible, wdiich may 

 eclipise the original inventions on which they are founded. 



All countries have contributed names to the list of those who 

 have made posterity mindful of them for services rendered in 

 science and the arts. From the omens of her existing history, we 

 cannot doubt but that Canada will contribute names to that list. 



In what direction will the first great manifestation be amongst 

 lis? Will it be i.i the mill, or the loom, or the plough? In the 

 canal oi- the railway ? In the modes of navigation on lake and 

 river ? In the purifying and working of the metals ? Will it be 

 in the department of the chemist, the anatomist, the therapeutist ? 

 Or will It be in the shape of literature and metaphysical specula- 

 tion ? 



Our country has a wreath ready for each one of her sons who 

 .shall give to the C[uestion a practical resjaonse. 



Note on Fcfsils from the Ottawa River; by J. W. Sa'ter, F.G.S., 

 A*LaS« — (See Caimdian Journal for January^ 



Lower Silurian. — The fossils from the S.E. end of AUumette 

 Islands, on the Ottawa Piiver, are the only Lower Silurian fossils 



yet examined of Mr. Logan's large collections, and they bear out 

 well the opinion he has expics^ed, that in some paits of Canada 

 but one calcareous group can be distinguished Letween the Pots- 

 dam sandstone below, and the Hudson Hi\'er group above, agree- 

 ing in the main with the celebrated " Trenton limestone" of 

 New York, but possessing also many of the fossils characteristic 

 of the lower limestones which in that countiy have received se- 

 parate names. 



For instance, one of the most abundant fossils is a species of 

 Scalites (^ Euomphahis urdangulaius , desoiibed as a fossil of 

 the calciferous sand-rock by Hall. The corals, again, Stromato- 

 cerimn riigosum, C olumnu.ria alveolaiu, wdiich are very abun- 

 dant, are those of the Bird's-eye and Black iiiver limestones. — 

 The former of these corals, too, is usually found investing (after 

 the manner of a sponge) a large and fine species of Madurea, a 

 genus of gasteropods which in New York does not mount abo\'e 

 the " Chazy" or lowest limestone, and is there abundant. Hall 

 indeed expressly mentions that the Stromnlocerimn occurs in 

 beds above those which contain the Madurea. In this case, 

 however, the parasitic zoophyte has generally selected this fine 

 and new shell, to which I propose giving the name of its discov- 

 erer. It is well distinguished from M. magna, by the much 

 more rapid increase in diameter of its whorls and its minute um- 

 bilicus. It is possessed moreover of a most peculiar operculum, 

 which will at once establish the right of Madurea to rank as a 

 distinct genus, being furnished within with a broad and strong 

 bony process for the muscular attachment, and being itself very 

 strong and massive. Prof Forbes has undertaken to compare 

 this peculiar operculum with that of some rare living gasteropods 

 of far inferior size, so that more need not be said of it at present. 



The Stromatocerium affects also a small and new species of 

 Scalites allied to the one above-mentioned, and frequently covers 

 all but the mouth, so as to mask the form of the shell completely. 



But it is with the Trenton limestone that the greater number 

 of species agrees ; and while a lai'ge portion of them, especially 

 the gasteropods, appear to be undescribed in Hall's work, still 

 the analogies are very evident. A list of ten or more Mvrchi- 

 sonice or Pleurotomariw aflFords one, M. ventricosa, characteristic 

 of the Bird's-eye limestone ; two common in the Trenton lime- 

 stone, M. bicincia and 31. gracilis (\'ery abundant species), and 

 M. hellicincta, Hall, a large Turritella-WkQ form ; the rest seem 

 to be new ; and some of them are remarkable for the tendency 

 of the whorls to separate and become what may be called va- 

 grant, as happens in some accidental varieties of the common 

 snail. The shells are tolei'ably thick and strong. 



Some smooth shells, exactly like the Euompliali of the car- 

 boniferous limestone, and several roughly scul]3tured Turbines or 

 shells of a]iparently allied genera, occur; and one exceedingly 

 elegant, with close thread-like lines of growth, is very common. 

 Holopea of Hall, an ill-defined genus, offers one or two species 

 of the typical form, and one closely allied to H. bilix of the Wes- 

 tern States. There are three species of Scalites, a genus with the 

 mouth notched like Pleurotomaria, but destitute of a spiral band ; 

 one is the small species so commonly enci'usted over; a second, 

 of which we have but a single specimen, is muricated with spines, 

 like a Delpliinula ; the third is the very common S. (Euom- 

 phah(s) uniangvlatus above mentioned, which also, but rarel}', 

 shows a tendency to become spinose. There are also two or 

 three species of the genus Raphistoma, which appears to be only 

 a discoid form of Scalites. We have a Turritella? spirally 

 ribbed, and undistinguishable in general form from living species. 

 But the most abundant and characteristic shell is the Madurea, 

 fragments of which, with scattered opercula, occur on almost 

 everv surface. 



