Reviews — Heatherlngtov! s Gold-fields of Nova Scotia, 459 



hill " of the Sierra of Erere. The basin was not, however, entirely 

 emptied, and a period of quiet accumulation again set in, during 

 which the third formation was deposited, and the boulders of Erere 

 were carried to their resting place either by the last remnants of 

 the ice-field, or by icebergs dropped into the basin from glaciers 

 still remaining in the Andes, etc. 



The only reason which Professor Agassiz can adduce for not 

 regarding these formations as marine, is that he found no marine 

 fossils. But we ask — How many years was the North German 

 plain hunted for marine fossils before they were found ? And is one 

 year's search over hundreds of thousands of square miles to be con- 

 sidered exhaustive ? We think not. 



Although we cannot accept Professor Agassiz's explanation of 

 the phenomena, we willingly recognise his claim to having advanced 

 our knowledge of Geology by proving these formations to be very 

 recent, and not to belong to the Devonian and Triassic periods. We 

 can also recommend the book to general readers who take any 

 interest in Natural History. It is agreeably written, and contains 

 many of those interesting accounts of little episodes and experiences 

 which go so far towards making the charm peculiar to a good book 

 of Travels. 



II. — A Practical Guide for Tourists, Miners, and Investors, and 

 ALL Persons interested in the Development of the Gold 

 Fields of Nova Scotia. By A. Heatherington. 12mo. pp. 

 177. Montreal, 1868. John Lovell. 



THIS little work, which as stated by the author, has been brought 

 forward for the express purpose of directing the attention of 

 capitalists to the development of the mineral resources of Nova 

 Scotia, seems to give a fair statement of what is known at present 

 with respect to the gold-fields of that country. 



It is got up in a compact and handy form ; and, after an introduc- 

 tory sketch ot the history of the colony and of the first discoveries of 

 gold, which appear to have been made as far back as 1849, it gives a 

 brief description of the several auriferous districts which have been 

 proclaimed, or in which gold is known to occur. 



The Geology is represented by abstracts from the reports of Pro- 

 fessors Taylor and Silliman of the United States, and of the Govern- 

 ment explorers, Messrs. Poole and Campbell, and is illustrated by a 

 coloured section across the gold-bearing rocks of the Atlantic coast of 

 Nova Scotia, by the last-named explorer. The prevailing rocks 

 appear to be metamorphic and granitic ; the strata being divided by 

 him into a superior clay-slate group resting upon an inferior 

 quartzitic formation ; and from his section it is seen that all the gold- 

 fields occur immediately on the point whei*e these rocks have been 

 violently disturbed and form anticlinals, from which it may not un- 

 reasonably be inferred that the introduction of the gold is in some 

 way connected with the appearance of the eruptive granitic rocks. 



Gold has also been found in the alluvium in minor quantities, but 



