284 JReporh and Proceedings — 



The Palfeozoic rocks are exposed in places on the western side of 

 the old crystalline rocks near the Red Eiver, and show a remarkable 

 union and intermixture of Lower and Upper Silurian forms, or 

 rather, perhaps, a transition from the one fauna to the other in a 

 very limited thickness of beds. The collections of Mr. Panton, of 

 "Winnipeg, were referred to in this connexion. 



The Cretaceous and Eocene beds of the plains were then noticed, 

 and certain sections showing the coal-bearing series described ; and 

 comparisons were instituted between the Cretaceous and Eocene 

 succession in Canada and that in the United States and elsewhere. 



The Pleistocene drift deposits constitute a conspicuous feature on 

 the western prairies. Along the railway, Laurentian, Huronian, and 

 PalfBOzoic boulders from the east may be seen all the way to the 

 Eocky Mountains, near which they become mixed with stones from 

 these mountains themselves. The vast amount of this drift from 

 the east and north-east, and the great distance to which it has been 

 carried, as well as the elevation above the sea, are very striking. 

 The great belt of drift known as the Missouri Coteau is one of the 

 most remarkable features of the region. It was described in some 

 detail where crossed by the railway, and it was shown that it must 

 represent the margin of an ice-laden sea, and not a land-moraine, 

 and that its study has furnished a key to the exj)lanation of the drift 

 deposits of the plains, and of the so-called " Terminal Moraine," 

 which has been traced by the geologists of the United States, from 

 the Coteau round the basin of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic. 



2. " On the Dyas (Permian) and Trias of Central Europe and the 

 true divisional line of these two formations." By the Eev. A. Irving, 

 B.Sc, B.A., F.G.S. 



The author, having shown (in previous papers, which appeared in 

 the Geological Magazine during the year 1882) the inapplicability 

 of the " Permian System " of Murchison to the British Post-Carbon- 

 iferous rocks, and having had reasons for doubting the supposed 

 conformity between the Zechstein and the Bunter in Central Europe 

 (on which Murchison and his collaborateurs have laid so much 

 stress), has, with the aid of Professors Geinitz and Liebe and Dr. Von 

 Hauer, investigated the subject independently, both by examination 

 of sections in the field, and by the study of the evidence preserved 

 in the Museums, especially those of Dresden, Vienna, and Freiberg. 

 The sections described in this paper are from : — (1) Silesia (Ostran), 

 in which Dr. A. Dittmarsch is followed; (2) Murane (Saxony) ; (3) 

 Northern Thuringia. Those in districts (2) and (3) are from the 

 author's own observation last summer. The stratigraphical evidence 

 shows that there is a very marked break in time between the Zechstein 

 and the Bunterschiefer of Murchison, which he included in the 

 "Permian System." Almost every kind of discordance that can 

 possibly occur between two successive series of strata is shown to 

 occur in Central Europe between the Dyas and Trias, and in par- 

 ticular between the Bunter and the Zechstein ; physical and strati- 

 graphical evidence therefore confirm the classification adopted by 

 Geinitz on palcBontological grounds. 



