304 



PKOCEEDINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Maj 7, 



equivalent of the St. John shales and limestones occurs at Gaspe, unless 

 we seek for it in the Upper Silurian. 



The rocks of the St. John group extend along the coast as far as 

 the frontier of Maine, and there can scarcely be any doubt that the 

 plant-bearing beds at Perry represent some portion of the St. John 

 series, most probably Nos. 2 & 3 of our sectional list. At Perry the 

 plant-beds rest on a trappean bed, which may be the equivalent of 

 our No. 4, a member of the series much more constant in its occur t- 

 rence than would be anticipated from its composition. According 

 to Prof. Hitchcock, this last bed at Perry rests unconformably on 

 shales containing a Lingula which may be identical with that of 

 St. John, and also other fossils of distinct Upper Silurian forms. 

 The analogy of Perry, therefore, as well as of Gaspe, would point to 

 an Upper Silurian age for the lower members of the St. John series, 

 though at St. John they appear to be conformable with the over- 

 lying beds. On the other hand, the unconformability at Perry 

 renders it possible that the lower members of the St. John series 

 may be wanting there ; and to assign a Silurian date to the lower 

 beds at St. John would imply the entire absence of the copious and 

 characteristic Lower Devonian marine fauna observed at Gaspe and 

 in Nova Scotia, as well as in Maine, though not in immediate con- 

 nexion with the Perry beds ; while, if the whole series of St. John 

 be Devonian, the absence of this fauna would be accounted for by the 

 metamorphism of the lower beds. 



In the present state of the evidence, it would be premature to 

 decide this question, which may be settled either by the discovery of 

 portions of the lower beds in a less altered state, or by tracing the 

 St. John series into connexion with the similar deposits in Maine. 

 In the meantime, therefore, we may be content to regard the upper 

 members of the series as belonging to the later part of the Devonian 

 Period, leaving the lower members to be regarded as Lower Devo- 

 nian or possibly Upper Silurian. 



The fossiliferous portion of the St. John series presents the richest 

 local flora of the Devonian Period ever discovered. It far excels, in 

 number of genera and species, the Lower Carboniferous flora as it 

 exists in British America, and is comparable with that of the Middle 

 Coal-measures, from which, however, it differs very remarkably in 

 the relative development of different genera, as well as in the species 

 representing those genera. 



It is only just to observe, that the completeness of the following 

 list is due to the industrious labours of an association of young 

 gentlemen of St. John, who, under the guidance of Messrs. Matthew 

 and Hartt, have diligently explored every accessible spot within 

 some distance of the city, and have liberally placed their collections 

 at my disposal for the purposes of this paper. 



Dadoxylon Ouangondianum, Dawson. 

 Sigillaria palpebra, sp. nov. 

 Stigmaria ficoides (var.), Brongn. 

 Calamites transitionis, Goeppert. 

 cannaeformis, Bronan. 



Asterophyllites acicularis, sp. nov. 



■ latifolia, sp. nov. 



scutigera, sp. nov. 



longifolia, Brongn. 



parvula, Dawswi. 



