﻿210 
  I. 
  W. 
  DAWSON 
  ON 
  THE 
  UPPER 
  COAL- 
  FORMATION 
  OF 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  whole, 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Report 
  ' 
  above 
  referred 
  to, 
  I 
  declined 
  to 
  

   separate 
  the 
  red 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Series 
  in 
  Prince 
  Edward 
  Island 
  

   from 
  the 
  Newer 
  Coal-formation. 
  Prof. 
  Geinitz, 
  however, 
  in 
  noticing 
  

   my 
  Report*, 
  and 
  also 
  in 
  a 
  private 
  letter, 
  expresses 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  

   the 
  fossils 
  have, 
  as 
  an 
  assemblage, 
  so 
  much 
  of 
  a 
  Permian 
  (or 
  Dyadic) 
  

   aspect 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  fairly 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  that 
  formation, 
  more 
  

   particularly 
  to 
  its 
  lower 
  part, 
  the 
  Lower 
  Rothliegende. 
  Attaching, 
  

   as 
  every 
  one 
  must, 
  great 
  weight 
  to 
  the 
  judgment 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Geinitz 
  on 
  

   such 
  a 
  point, 
  I 
  have 
  in 
  recent 
  visits 
  to 
  Nova 
  Scotia 
  reexamined 
  the 
  

   more 
  instructive 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  Newer 
  Coal-formation 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   coast 
  of 
  that 
  province, 
  with 
  the 
  view 
  of 
  ascertaining 
  whether 
  any 
  

   stratigraphical 
  or 
  palaeontological 
  line 
  can 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  divide 
  the 
  

   Upper 
  Coal-formation 
  series 
  of 
  my 
  former 
  papers 
  into 
  two 
  members 
  

   or 
  to 
  separate 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  Middle 
  Coal-formation. 
  The 
  results 
  of 
  

   this 
  reexamination 
  and 
  their 
  bearing 
  on 
  general 
  geological 
  questions 
  

   I 
  propose 
  to 
  state 
  shortly 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  The 
  Carboniferous 
  district 
  of 
  Pictou 
  county, 
  extending 
  for 
  about 
  

   45 
  miles 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  Northumberland 
  Strait, 
  exposes 
  in 
  that 
  

   distance 
  in 
  coast- 
  and 
  river-sections 
  the 
  whole 
  thickness 
  of 
  the 
  Carbo- 
  

   niferous 
  system, 
  arranged 
  in 
  three 
  synclinal 
  forms 
  (see 
  Section, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  

   The 
  first 
  or 
  eastern 
  synclinal 
  (No. 
  1 
  in 
  the 
  Section), 
  extending 
  from 
  

   the 
  older 
  metamorphic 
  rocks 
  on 
  the 
  eastward 
  and 
  southward 
  to 
  a 
  

   line 
  running 
  nearly 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  through 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  New 
  Glasgow, 
  

   consists 
  entirely 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Carboniferous, 
  Millstone 
  Grit, 
  and 
  

   Middle 
  Coal-formation, 
  and 
  contains 
  all 
  the 
  known 
  workable 
  Coal- 
  

   measures 
  of 
  the 
  county. 
  Its 
  northern 
  boundary, 
  the 
  New- 
  Glasgow 
  

   anticlinal, 
  brings 
  up 
  a 
  bed 
  not 
  recognized 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  Nova-Scotia 
  

   Coal-fields 
  — 
  the 
  New-Glasgow 
  Conglomerate, 
  an 
  immense 
  mass, 
  

   believed 
  in 
  some 
  parts 
  to 
  be 
  1600 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness 
  f, 
  and 
  containing 
  

   boulders 
  3 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter, 
  with 
  pebbles 
  of 
  all 
  sizes, 
  many 
  of 
  its 
  

   largest 
  stones 
  being 
  composed 
  of 
  the 
  hard 
  brown 
  or 
  purplish 
  sand- 
  

   stones 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Carboniferous. 
  Its 
  stratigraphical 
  position 
  is 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Millstone 
  Grit 
  or 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   Middle 
  Coal-formation 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  evidently 
  an 
  exceptional 
  bed, 
  re- 
  

   presenting 
  an 
  immense 
  bar 
  or 
  beach 
  of 
  gravel 
  and 
  stones 
  stretching 
  

   from 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  metamorphic 
  chain 
  of 
  the 
  Cobequid 
  

   Mountains 
  across 
  the 
  Pictou 
  Coal-field, 
  and 
  protecting 
  those 
  deep 
  

   swamps 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Pictou 
  main 
  coal, 
  36 
  feet 
  thick, 
  and 
  its 
  black 
  

   shale 
  roof, 
  more 
  than 
  1000 
  feet 
  thick, 
  were 
  deposited. 
  The 
  theory 
  

   of 
  this 
  remarkable 
  deposit, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  singular 
  connected 
  with 
  

   any 
  Coal-field, 
  is 
  fully 
  discussed 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  edition 
  of 
  my 
  ' 
  Aca- 
  

   dian 
  Geology.' 
  I 
  may 
  merely 
  remark 
  that, 
  facing 
  as 
  this 
  bed 
  does 
  

   the 
  open 
  sea 
  stretching 
  to 
  the 
  northward 
  in 
  the 
  Coal-formation 
  

   period, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unreasonable 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  it 
  indicates 
  the 
  action 
  

   of 
  heavy 
  ice 
  grounding 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  behind 
  which 
  grew 
  the 
  Sigil- 
  

   Zarra-forests 
  of 
  the 
  Coal-swamps. 
  The 
  arrangement 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  in 
  

  

  * 
  Neues 
  Jahrbuch, 
  1872. 
  

  

  t 
  This 
  is 
  Sir 
  W. 
  Logan's 
  estimate, 
  and 
  is 
  warranted 
  by 
  the 
  breadth 
  which 
  

   the 
  bed 
  occupies 
  in 
  the 
  Section 
  ; 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  indications 
  that 
  it 
  thins 
  rapidly 
  

   toward 
  the 
  dip. 
  

  

  