536 SALTER, ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 



Island, however, it is connected with a sandstone and coal-forma- 

 tion, with a Carboniferous flora ; and, as this sandstone contains 

 THlobitcs, Encrinites, and Aviculcs, we may hesitate, in the 

 absence of authentic specimens, to extend the Silurian limestone 

 so far.* 



¥/e may now, then, definitely colour the shores of Wellington 

 Channel and Barrow Strait, except the eastern entrance of the 

 latter (which is occupied by igneous or crystalline rocks), as Upper 

 Silurian ; and, on the return of the expedition under Capt. Belcher, 

 the limits of this formation will be no doubt greatly extended. 

 I may mention that coal or lignite was picked up at Byam-Martin 

 Island, and that a fragment of it occurred in the detritus 350 feet 

 above the sea, at Kate- Austin's Lake, Cornwallis Island. Also 

 at Griffiths' Island and Browne Island fragments of iro7i [native ?] 

 were found. 



In conclusion, it is worth while to observe the occurrence 

 of Pleistocene deposits with marine Shells of existing Arctic 

 species {Mi/a ti'uncata, Saxicava rugosa, &c.), which were found 

 on every elevation up to 500 feet on Beechey and Cornwallis 

 Islands. 



LXXXIL — On the Occurrence of numerous Fragments 

 of Fir- Wood in the Islands of the Arctic Archi- 

 pelago ; with Ilemarks on the Rock-Specimens 

 brought from that Region. By Sir Roderick Impey 

 MURCHISON, D.C.L, F.R.S., V.P.G.S., Director-General 

 of the Geological Survey. Reprinted, with Permission, 

 from the Quart. Jouru. Geol. Soc, vol. xi., 1S55, 

 pages 536-541. (Read June 13, 1855.) 



On the present occasion I cannot attempt to offer any general, 

 still less any detailed description of the rocks and fossils of the 

 north-western portion of that great Arctic Archipelago whose 

 shores were first explored by Parry and Sabine. The specimens 

 they brought home from Melville Island, and which were 

 described by Mr. Konig, first conveyed to us the general know- 

 ledge of the existence there of fossiliferous limestones and other 

 rocks analogous to known European types in Scandinavia. Since 

 those early days the voyages of Franklin, and of the various 

 Officers who have been in search of our lamented friend, have 

 amplified those views, and have shown us that over nearly the 

 whole of the Arctic Archipelago these vast islands possess a 

 structure similar to that of North America. We shall soon, I 



* In the collection of rocks from Melville Island, in the Society's Museum, 

 a specimen of the compact limestone and a Coral (Favislella FrankUni) 

 occur ; the latter was " collected by Lieut. Liddon, second in command in the 

 " Expedition of 1819-20," and presented by Dr. Granville, F.G.S. 



