﻿^2 Canadian Record of Science. 



Keview of the Evidence for the Animal Nature of 

 EozooN Canauense. 



(Concluded. ) 



By Sir William Dawson, C.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., Etc.i 



II. PETROLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL. 



Bearing in mind the statements made in the previous 

 note, respecting the stratigraphical relations of the 

 Orenville Series, and referring to the excellent account by 

 my friend Dr. Bonney of his observations at Cote St. 

 Pierre, and to some difhculties stated by him which merit 

 -attention, we may sum up the evidence so far, under the 

 following statements : — 



1. The limestones included in the Grenville Series and 

 their associated quartzites and schists bear so strong a 

 resemblance in mineral character to metamorphosed 

 Palaeozoic calcareous beds of organic origin and their 

 -associates, as to warrant at least the careful consideration 

 •of any forms apparently organic contained in these 

 limestones. 



2. The occurrence in these limestones of nodular 

 silicates, of graphite, of pyrite, and of apatite, affords 

 additional reason to suspect their organic origin. 



3. The presence of large beds as well as of veins of 

 graphite and of thick deposits of iron ore in the Grenville 

 -Series constitutes an additional analogy with Palaeozoic 

 formations holding organic remains.^ 



These facts were adduced by Dr. Sterry Hunt and Dr. 

 J. D. Dana in evidence of the probability of life in 

 the Laurentian period, even before the discovery of 

 Eozoon. Certain particulars connected with them, how- 

 ever, now demand somewhat more detailed attention, in 



1 [Reprinted from tlie Geological Magazine, Decade IV., Vol. II., October, Novem- 

 ber, December, 1895. 



2 See papers by the author on the Graphite and Phosphates of the Laurentian 

 Jlocks, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1869 and 1876. 



