THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



No. XXXIX.— SEPTEMBER, 1867. 



I. — On Some Eemains of Paleozoic Insects recently discovered 

 IN Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 



By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., 

 Principal of McGill's College, Montreal, Canada. 



(PLATE XVII., FIGS. 1-5.) 



F connection with the preparation of the second edition of " Acadian 

 Geology," I have obtained, from friends who have been engaged 

 in geological investigations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, some 

 interesting illustrations of the entomology of the Carboniferous and 

 Devonian Periods, which I have thought it might be useful to publish 

 in advance of the appearance of my work. 



1. Garhoniferous Insects. — The existence of insects in the Carboni- 

 ferous period has long been known. The Coal-formations of England 

 and of Westphalia afforded the earliest specimens ; and, more recently, 

 some interesting species have been found in the Western States.' 

 They belong to the orders Neuroptera (shad-flies, etc.), the Orthoptera 

 (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.), and Coleoptera (beetles, etc.). 



In the (3oal-field of Nova Scotia, notwithstanding its great richness 

 in fossil remains of plants, insects had not occurred up to last year, 

 except in a single instance — the head and some other fragments of a 

 large insect, probably Neuropterous, found by me in the coprolite or 

 fossil excrement of a reptile enclosed in the trunk of an erect Sigil- 

 laria at the Joggins, along with other animal remains. This speci- 

 men was interesting, chiefly as proving that the small reptiles of the 

 Coal-period were insectivorous, and it was noticed in this connection 

 in my " Airbreathers of the Coal-period." Last year, however, Mr. 

 James Barnes, of Halifax, was so fortunate as to find the beautiful 

 wing represented on Plate XVII. , Fig. 1, in a bed of shale, at Little 

 Glace Bay, Cape Breton. The original engraving was taken from a 

 photograph kindly sent to me by Eev. D. Honeyman, E.G.S. It 

 will be observed tliat in consequence, probably, of the mutual at- 

 traction of loose objects floating about in water, a fragment of a frond 

 of a fern, Aletliopteris lonchitidis, lies partly over the wing, obscuring 

 its outline, and bearing testimony to its Carboniferous date. The 

 wing has been examined by Mr. Samuel H. Scudder, of Boston, who 

 has made such specimens his special study, and who refers it to the 

 ' See Lyell's Elements, and Dana's Manual, for references. 



VOL. IV. — KO. XXXIX. 25 



