March 31, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



177 



and northeastern part of the hydrographic area of the Rio 

 Bokay, also the placer mines of gold along tributaries of the 

 Wylawas, Attawas, Laccos, and Nagawas Creeks and the Rio 

 Washponk have all been eroded and transported by currents of 

 water from the lateral moraine (about 60 miles long and 300 to 

 1000 feet altitude above the level of the valleys) that extends 

 northeastvirardly from the Barbar Mountains (the easterly ter- 

 mination of the Matagalpa system of mountains) to the Rio 

 Washpook ; and on the southeastern side of this series of terminal 

 and lateral moraines are the placer mines, also quite rich in gold, 

 ■discovered in 1889 at Principulka. 



P.S. — Since writing the above an opportunity occurred to pass 

 through and hurriedly examine a part of "the placer" mines 

 containing gold along one of the headwater confluents of Naga- 

 was Creek (tributary to Rio Wanque) and they gave such results 

 from panning as to indicate much gold in the deposits, although 

 no satisfactory estimate of the quantity of gold in the cubic yard 

 of the gold-containing gravels was made because the examina- 

 tion was hurriedly made and the "bed rock" on which tlie 

 gravel deposits rested was either not reached or not examined at 

 any place in that locality. These are drifts eroded and depos- 

 ited by floods from the Glacial Epoch lateral and terminal 

 moraines in that region. 



NATURAL AND ARTIFICIA.L CEMENTS IN CANADA. 



BY H. PEARETH BRUMELL, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DEPT., OTTAWA, 

 CANADA. 



In the last report of the U. S. Geological Survey on the mineral 

 resources of the United States, and under the heading of Cement, 

 particular stress is laid upon the fact that there has recently been 

 discovered in California an extensive deposit of natural cement 

 rock, and the fact of its importance to the State is spoken of at 

 length. The knowledge that a good, yet cheap, cement is of im- 

 portance to any district has led the writer to prepare the follow- 

 ing brief statement regarding cements in Canada. 



We have in this country a practically illimitable store of mate- 

 rials applicable to the manufacture of natural and artiflcial hy- 

 draulic cements, of both of which we are now producing a con- 

 siderable quantity, the production for 1891 being about 93,473 

 barrels of all kinds. Of this, however, the greater part was of 

 natural cement, and the total production altogether that of the 

 provinces of Ontario and Quebec. 



Over a, considerable portion of the Dominion are to be found 

 the following materials, which are or may be used in the manu- 

 facture of cement: Argillaceous and pure limestones, magnesian 

 limestone, marl, and clay. Of the limestones, probably the best 

 known in Ontario is that constituting a band about eight feet 

 thick and of Niagara age. This band is quarried along its ex- 

 posure on the Niagara escarpment between Thorold and St. David 

 in Lincoln County, and consists of a bluish-gray argillaceous 

 limestone overlying black bituminous shales. Again, at Lime- 

 house, in Holton County, the Niagara affords a good cement rock. 

 The band here is nine feet thick and rests upon eight feet of 

 bluish shales. As may be supposed, the shales underlying the 

 cement rock in both the foregoing instances form a very distinct 

 quarry floor, thus minimizing the danger of mixture with inferior 

 rock. At Rynal station, Wentworth County, a similar cement 

 rock is quarried. Many other bands of limestone and magnesian 

 limestone in the Niagara formation in Ontario are known to 

 possess hydraulic properties, though at present no others than 

 those noted are being utilized. 



Throughout the Onondaga formation, which is developed in 

 Canada only in Ontario, are many beds of hydraulic cement rock, 

 the best known being those of the Saugeen valley and vicinity 

 and those in the neighborhood of Paris. The lower beds of the 

 Lower Helderberg (Waterlime group) also afford impure mag- 

 nesian limestones eminently suitable for the manufacture of ce- 

 ment. 



In Eastern Ontario, cement is made from an impure limestone 

 found at Napanee Mills, in Addington County, and in the town- 

 ship of Nepean, Carleton County, there is developed a bed of 



argillaceous magnesian limestone of Chazy age, from which the 

 so-called " Huce cement" is made. An analysis of the crude 

 Nepean rock gave Delesse : — 



Carbonate lime. 45 80 



Carbonate magnesia 12.77 



Alumina and iron oxide 13.53 



Insoluble argillaceous residue 19.77 



Water and loss 9.64 



. . 100.00 

 In the Province of Quebec natural cement is made in Quebec City 

 from a bluish-black dolomite, and at the Mountain Portage, on 

 the Magdalen River, Gaspe County, is found a black dolomite, 

 which is said to possess strong hydraulic properties. A similar 

 band has also been noticed on the Grande Conde, six miles below 

 Great Pond River, in the same county. 



An analysis of the Magdalen River rock gave Delesse : — 



Carbonate lime 43.17 



Carbonate magnesia 33.12 



Alumina with iron oxide 4.10 



Insoluble (6ne clay) 30.30 



99.69 



Many other bands of rock suitable for the manufacture of natu- 

 ral cement are known in Canada, but the foregoing is thought 

 sufHcient to illustrate their geographical and geological distribu- 

 tion. 



For the making of Portland cement, suitable clays and marls 

 or limestones are found at many places in that juxtaposition 

 necessary for economical and profitable working, mention will 

 therefore be made only of those points whereat works are situated. 

 These are, Hull and Pt. Claire, in Quebec; Napanee Mills, Marl- 

 bank, and Ocorn Sound, in Ontario. At Hull, Pointe Claire, 

 and Napanee Mills clay and limestone are used, while at Marl- 

 bank and Ocorn Sound the cement is produced from clay and 

 marl, which occur in quantity and of singular purity. Of the 

 materials wherefrom the Ocorn Sound cement is produced the 

 following analyses are available. 



Marl.— Analyst, Bd. Chapman, Ph.D., Toronto. 



Carbonate lime 96.41 



Carbonate magnesia 1.64 



Carbonate iron 0.42 



Intermixed sand, clay, and organic material. . .. 1.16 



Moisture 0.87 



100.00 

 Clay, underlying marl. — Analyst, R. R. Hedley. 



Moisture 1.43 



Silica 63.26 



Alumina 14.70 



Ferric oxide 8.22 



Lime 5.28 



Magnesia 0.63 



Carbon dioxide 1&.09 



Potassium oxide \ „ n. 



Sodium oxide i 



100.34 

 Of the various manufactured natural cements, the following 

 analyses only are at hand : — 



