236 



REPORT OP COaiMITTEE ON GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



[1855. 



their friends, so that tlie reports of two consecutive years rarely 

 fall into the same hands. As a further proof of the ignorance 

 which prevails as to what has already been done, your Com- 

 mittee may mention, that the existence of a combustible mate- 

 rial, closely resembling coal, in the rock at Quebec, which has 

 lately occupied so much attention, is fully described, and the 

 reasons why there is small probability of its being profitably 

 worked given at large in the report of 1844, pp. 19 and 20. — 

 These fijcts speak for themselves as to the necessity of repub- 

 lishing the reports in some shape. 



Another serious deficiency is the want of a map. Not only 

 are the annual topographical measurements of the survey un- 

 known, till the publisher of some new map obtains copies of 

 them, but it is extremely difficult to follow a geological descrip- 

 tion without a map, and a student must colour one for himself 

 from the reports, before he can get a clear knowledge of the 

 geological features of the country. 



Again, there are many things which even the reports do not 

 contain, were they accessible, viz : plates and descriptions of 

 new and characteristic fossils, sections and illustrations of the 

 disturbances of the strata, &c., without which a complete under- 

 standing of the subject cannot be obtained. We may mention 

 also generalizations, and theoretical conclusions, deduced, not 

 from the report of one season's work, but from a comparison 

 of the whole, such as the investigations upon the metamorphie 

 rocks already mentioned, which must be sought for in a perfect 

 form in the papers communicated by Messrs. Logan and Hunt 

 to the scientific bodies of Europe and the United States. 



Lastly, the vast collection of minerals accumulated at Mon- 

 treal, from insufficiency of funds to provide for their proper 

 arrangement, lie in a great measure buried in packing cases in 

 the vaults and .sheds of the Survey Office. 



With a view to remedying these deficiencies, your Committee 

 would recommend the immediate republication of the substance 

 of all the former reports. The course which your Committee 

 recommend, would be, to publish all that is necessary of the 

 old reports, revising, re-arranging, and if necessary adding to 

 them, so as to give a connected and systematic view of the 

 geology of the Province, as far as it is at present known. This 

 volume, which would not be a very large one, should be accom- 

 panied by a coloured geological map of the whole Province, 

 upon a scale of from 20 to 25 miles to the inch, and should be 

 illustrated with a few wood cuts of the most characteristic 

 fossils, and, the most common crystalline forms of minerals, 

 with plates of such geological sections as may be requisite to 

 elucidate the subject, and, if necessary, with maps on a larger 

 scale of particular localities, which may require more minute- 

 ness of detail to exhibit their structure, or the occurrence of 

 mineral veins. There should also be a copious index of the 

 locahties reported upon, and another of economic materials, 

 with a reference to the body of the work, where a fuller des- 

 cription of them and their geological relations, and geographical 

 distribution, would be found. 



The publication of the annual reports of future progress 

 should continue as heretofore, with the addition of such wood 

 cuts, sections, and detailed maps, as might be judged necessary 

 to elucidate the report in an uniform shape with the volume 

 above mentioned, to which they would, in fact, become an 

 annual Appendix. In order to secure this uniformity, as the 

 annual reports would be published by the House, and form part 

 of the journals, the revised reports, though not on the journals, 

 should be published in the same form. 



Your Committee would also recommend the publication, in 

 numbers, from time to time, as materials accumulate, of plates 



of new and characteristic fossils, with letter-press descriptions, 

 together with such other illustrations, sections, &e., as may be 

 thought of scientific value, but not of a nature to accompany 

 the reports as above mentioned. 



The importance of an accui'ate geological acquaintance with 

 the country is so universally acknowledged, that it is un- 

 necessary to do more than point out some portions of the 

 evidence, which shew the immediate practical results; but 

 as an apparent misapprehension exists ■ in some quarters as 

 to the objects of such a national undertaking, your Com- 

 mittee may be pardoned for making some additional obser- 

 vations. The discovery of valuable economic materials speaks 

 for itself, although, even here it may be doubted, whether 

 the relative importance of the minerals indicated is always 

 justly appreciated, whether the crystalline limestones of the 

 Laurentian series have not been of more real value, than 

 some discoveries of a far more imposing character. But 

 where the outline of some formation of no very obvious 

 economic use is accurately traced for many miles, when 

 minute and laborious investigations are carried on of the un- 

 dulations, contortions and disturbances of other strata, with 

 exact measures of their thickness and dip, and when the 

 greatest attention is paid to the fossils they contain, some 

 people are apt to think that the Geologist might be more use- 

 fully employed. They draw a distinction between practical 

 utility and scientific interest. The ultimate object, however,, 

 of all science is practical utility ; it is only a systematic, instead 

 of a desultory search for valuable facts. The discovery of 

 some useful material at a particular point would be an isolated 

 fact though perhaps of great importance to that locality; but 

 combined with a correct scientific knowledge of the geology of 

 the country, it would be not only available over an extensive 

 region, but would be the contribution of a valuable truth to 

 the whole world. Instances of this intimate connection be- 

 tween science and economics will be found in the evidence. 



Again difi"erent individuals, according to their several pur- 

 suits, expect information of a special nature from the Geological 

 department. The agriculturist wishes to have every bed of 

 marl pointed out, and an analysis of every soil ; the architect 

 or engineer calls for details of accessible building stone, brick- 

 clay, and hydraulic lime ; while the miner wants information 

 of where mineral veins occur, the abundance of the ores, their 

 chemical constituents, and the per centage of metal. Now, 

 details of this description for the whole country cannot be ex- 

 pected, especially where it is to such an extent uncleared. The 

 duties of persons engaged in a Provincial Survey is to ascertain 

 and make known with such accuracy and detail as is practi- 

 cable, the physical structure of the country ; to record the lo- 

 calities where any valuable material has been observed, with 

 its probable extent, and the direction in which its recurrence 

 may be expected, and in the case of mineral veins, to describe 

 their character as far as visible, the apparent richness and 

 abundance of the ores, and the indications which the country 

 exhibits of the frequent occurrence of the lodes. They cannot 

 point out every bed of marl or brick-clay, or pause to search out 

 every promise of a mine, or still more the probability of its 

 being worked to commercial advantage. The practical details 

 must, of necessity, be left to private enterprise to accomplish. 

 No appropriation by Parliament, no staff of geologists, however 

 extensive, would suffice for the whole Province, if more were 

 expected. The public should provide general information for 

 all ; the individuals who are to turn it to their private profit, 

 must supply the rest. 



In conclusion, your committee beg leave to submit the fol- 



