REVIEWS — LAKES SUPERIOR AND HFEOK. 447 



Superior, belong, apart from the intrusive and overlying traps, to 

 two distinct groups : the Cambrian or Huronian, underlying the 

 Lower Silurians ; and the Grneissoid or Laurentian formation of still 

 older date. So far as present researches go, neither of these groups* 

 have yielded a single trace of fossils. The Count in his Report, how- 

 ever, in reference to this, tells ns, that " a most important fact is the 

 discovery of fossils about Lake Superior." An important fact it 

 would be, truly, were the fossils discovered there, in situ; but when 

 we state that the Count's fossils — and we have seen them — are sim- 

 ply Upper Silurian forms obtained from drifted limestone boulders, 

 the pretended discovery, so ostentatiously announced, might be sub- 

 jected to a somewhat undignified comparison. 



Our mention of the Huronian rocks reminds us of another illus- 

 trative trait of a very similar kind, occurring almost at the commence- 

 ment of the Report. It is there stated, that the rock formations will 

 he divided "for the present into two distinct classes, namely into 

 p ilaeozoic and azoic rocks, following in this, Mr. Murchison. These 

 terms are already in use among the learned of Europe. I shall 

 arrange the palaeozoic rocks according to the fossils which I discov- 

 ered in the different localities, whether of Lake Superior or Lake 

 Huron. This classification demands great attention, and very 

 minute discrimination to avoid the solecism of giving names accord- 

 ing to individual fancy, not used in the scientific world. Such are 

 the names applied to formations in Canada, of Huronian, Sillery, 

 Laurentine, Richelieu, peculiar to the localities which they indicate, 

 substituted for Jurassic, Carboniferous, Cambrian, Devonian, &c., 

 which are so well classified, defined and admitted throughout the 

 scientific world." This is, of course, an attempted hit at Sir William 

 hi. On reading it, a stranger to our Geology would naturally 

 t Sir William had substituted the term Huronian for that of 

 Jurassic, Sillery for Carboniferous, and so on; and, perhaps, that is 

 really what the Count means to imply ; since by reference to another 

 of his R-eport3,t we find him quite ready to acknowledge the pre- 

 sence of Jurassic rocks in Canada. The facts were these : Sir Wm. 

 Logan had mentioned the occurrence of an oolitic limestone near 

 Quebec, and the Count — forgetful apparently of the elementary fact 

 that oolitic limestones are not confined to the so-called Oolitic or 

 Jurassic period, but are common to various epochs — jumped at once 



* We refer, of course, to the localities now under consideration. It yet remains to be seen 

 if our Huronian rocks be really the equivalents of the European Cambrians. 



t Rapport Geologiqne d W.D Rottermund, addxease a Son Honneur leMaire dc Que- 

 bec, Mars, 185D. 



