1854.] 



GEOLOGY OF WESTERN CANADA.— INDUSTRLiL PATHOLOGY. 



20 



the upper part of tlie deposit. From this the limestone 

 gains the Llack Piiver, and follows down the whole of its 

 course to Lake Ontario, of which it forms the coast from 

 Ellisburgh to a point below Cape St. Vincent. Again 

 entering Canada it composes Wolfe Island and the upper part 

 of Howe Island, and it is seen resting on the primary rocks in 

 Cedar Island without the interposition of the sandstone. 

 Kingston stands upon the formation, and the base of it, 

 cropping out several iniles north of the town, strikes away to 

 the Townships of Madoc and Marmora, in each of which the 

 primary rocks are seen giving it support near their respective 

 iron works. Thence it mns to Kama on Lake Simcoe, and 

 sinks under tte waters of Lake Huron in Georgian Bay. 

 Between Kingston and Lake Huron the general dip of the 

 formation is so small, that it is next to impracticable to measure 

 it. The breadth of the band it presents is consequently con- 

 siderable, thirty-five miles being the measure from its base at 

 Marmora to its summit at Newcastle, on Lake Ontario. The 

 north-eastern and northern shores of Lake Huron are described 

 by Dr. Bigsby as presenting a primary country, and they may 

 be taken as the boundary of the semidentary deposit we are 

 following, from the point where it is lost beneath the waters 

 of Georgian Bay, until it re-appears at St- Mary's Falls at the 

 exit of Lake Superior, where the Michigan geologists describe a 

 limestone apparently answering its conditions. Thence it 

 reaches Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, and proceeds to the 

 Wisconsin Eiver, following it down to its junction with the 

 Mississippi. 



1. PRIMARY AND JIETA.AIORPHIC ROCKS.* 



These rocks comprise the whole of the country to the north 

 of Lake Simcoe, and the north-eastern shores of Lake Huron ; 

 and their character, in the localities visited by me, may be 

 described as exactly similar in appearance to that of the masses 

 which compose the " Thousand Islands," in the St. Lawrence 

 below Kingston. The boundary between them and the lowest 

 beds of the stratified limestone is distinctly seen at the head of 

 a small sheet of water called St. John's Lake, in the township 

 of llama, within the distance of a mile from Lake Couchiching, 

 and it is easily traceable from one lake to the other. The 

 Eiver Severn, which unites the waters of Lake Simcoe with 

 those of Huron, passes its whole length over the primarj' rocks : 

 and their junction with the fossilliferous sedimentary deposits 

 may again be observed on the south shore of Matchadash Bay, 

 and at the mouth of the Coldwatcr River. The line of junction, 

 therefore, may be considered to run in a direction about AY. N. 

 W. and E. S. E., the whole of the township of Matchadash 

 and the northern half of Orillia being on the primary. 



Considering that my object, in the first instance, should be 

 to determine the boundaries of the several formations as they 

 might occur, with a view to entering into more minute details at a 

 future period, I did not penetrate into the primary region .in 

 search of metals or minerals. The general character of the 

 region, however, is such as would justify a careful and vigilant 

 search fjr them when the general geology of the ciiuntry is 

 better known. Among these rocks I obtained some spocimcns 

 of noble garnet ; and a rich' one of sul]ihnrct of antimony, 

 picked up among the drift on the shores of Lake Simcoe, was, 

 in all probability, originally derived from them. Strong local 

 attraction of the magnet, is said tu have been observed in 

 several places in the townshi]) of Matchadash, by Mr. Hamilton, 



* From the Reports of A. Muuuay, Esq., Assistant Provincial Geo- 

 logist. — Dated Woodstock, March 11, 1801. 



the gentleman who made its sun-ey, and it is probable that 

 iron ore of the magnetic kind exists in it. 



The rock masses observed in the priraay district p.srtake 

 severall}' of the character of gi'anite, syenite and gneiss, and on 

 the banks of the Severn, at a spot between the Fourtli Fall 

 and Fifth or Great Falls, they seem to me to present evidcncee 

 of stratification. The strata there rise vertically from the edge 

 of the stream to the height of fifty to sixtj- feet, and have all 

 the appearance of coai'se micaceous sandstone, which is in some 

 places much contorted and frequently intersected by quartz 

 veins. This exhibition of divisional planes, having all the 

 regnlaritj' of bedding, induces me to consider that the term meta- 

 morphic, is one of appropiate application to some of the rocks 

 beneath the fjssillifcrous, and unconformable with them. 



In an agricultuial point (jf view, the prinuiry region on the 

 banks of the Severn must be considered nearly valueless. With 

 the exception of the accumulation of vegetable matter in the 

 hollows where swamps exist, the country presents a surface of 

 naked rocks, the only production of which is a dwarf piue — 

 There is some good soft timber, however, in the swamps, and 

 were the land cajjable of being drainedl, the swamps might be 

 roclaimedand converted into meadows. But they are in 

 general soncarly on a level with the ri\-er, that drainage would 

 be impossible. 



Industrial Patholoo^y ; or the Accidents and Diseases incident 

 to Industrial Occupations- 



BY T. K. CII.\5IBERS, M.D. 



I come to this room to-day for the purpose of introducing a 

 subject, not indeed wholl}- new to the Society of Ai'ts, but .yet 

 probably now to most of the present membere. New, too, is 

 the mode adopted of taking it up, namely, the appointment of 

 a special committee, the undertaking of a special exhibition, 

 and the issue of special circulars and reports upon it. I think, 

 therefore, it cannot be devoid ofu.se, and I hope not of interest 

 either, to explain somewhat at length, what Industrial Patfio- 

 lorji/ is, that is, what its aims are in the opiuon of those who 

 are taking a part in its promotion ; u-hi/ tin: Societi/ of Arts 

 should concern tliemaclves icitli it ; and ichat the Council pro- 

 ]}ose to do in the matter. 



Industrial Palhologi/ then — (I do not particularly admire 

 the name, but I did not make it) — Industrial Pathology is the 

 '' science of bodily sufferings conuectcd with the caxrying ou 

 of handicraft work." 



Plan's Creator ordained that he should cat bread in the 

 " sweat of his brow," but he did not ordain that ho should eat 

 it in suffering, in the rotting of his vitals, the periling of his 

 soul, and the welcoming of premature de.-ith. Though labour 

 is the lot of our species, it is healthy, invigorating labour which 

 is natural to them, and not that which entails misery and pain. 



The highest and most natural state of man bc;iiig the groiitest 

 perfection of body and soul, any occupation which tends to 

 shorten his days, to make him a discomfort to himself and his 

 ncighbo\irs, is unnatural, and a proof of barbarism and dofcc- 

 tivc civilization. Every country where such uccupations exist 

 is lower than it might be in the social scale, — has not yet done 

 its utmo.st to place man in his proper ]>osition as king of the 

 world. As long as he tliat toils with the hands has a =''u sIkuUt 

 and more physically painful than he that toils witi liis brain, 

 the duty of self-imp-ovomeut is unperformed by a 



