﻿54 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  existed 
  at 
  an 
  earlier 
  period 
  in 
  the 
  maritime 
  provinces 
  in 
  eastern 
  

   North 
  America. 
  The 
  problem 
  is 
  to 
  reconcile 
  this 
  diversity 
  of 
  evi- 
  

   dence 
  without 
  contradiction, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  believed 
  that 
  a 
  solvent 
  will 
  

   be 
  found 
  in 
  Dr 
  Clarke's 
  recent 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  Gaspe 
  sand- 
  

   stones 
  as 
  of 
  later 
  than 
  Oriskanian 
  age. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  sketch 
  of 
  the 
  geology 
  of 
  Perce, 
  published 
  in 
  1904, 
  Dr 
  Clarke 
  

   declared 
  that 
  the 
  fairly 
  rich 
  marine 
  fauna 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  beds 
  about 
  

   Gaspe 
  Basin 
  reveals 
  evidence 
  of 
  both 
  early 
  and 
  late 
  Devonic 
  age, 
  

   and 
  that 
  the 
  prevailing 
  sedimentation 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  aspect 
  as 
  

   characterizes 
  both 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Europe 
  the 
  deposits 
  of 
  the 
  

   Devonic 
  or 
  Old 
  Red 
  lakes 
  and 
  lagoons. 
  This 
  preliminary 
  statement 
  

   strikes 
  at 
  the 
  root 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  matter, 
  and 
  sounds 
  the 
  keynote 
  of 
  

   an 
  interpretation 
  which 
  has 
  since 
  been 
  more 
  fully 
  evaluated 
  by 
  the 
  

   skilful 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  Geologist. 
  The 
  results 
  of 
  his 
  extended 
  

   investigation 
  of 
  the 
  invertebrate 
  paleontology 
  of 
  the 
  Gaspe 
  Devonic 
  

   remain 
  as 
  yet 
  unpublished, 
  but 
  an 
  idea 
  of 
  their 
  general 
  import 
  may 
  

   be 
  gathered 
  from 
  the 
  following 
  extract 
  from 
  a 
  private 
  communica- 
  

   tion, 
  -which 
  we 
  are 
  enabled 
  to 
  present 
  here 
  through 
  the 
  courtesy 
  of 
  

   Dr 
  Clarke 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  profusion 
  of 
  evidence 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  obtained 
  from 
  a 
  study 
  

   of 
  invertebrate 
  paleontology 
  seems 
  indubitably 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  

   Gaspe 
  sandstones 
  are 
  not 
  of 
  the 
  geological 
  age 
  assigned 
  to 
  them 
  

   by 
  Logan 
  and 
  the 
  Canadian 
  geologists 
  generally. 
  That 
  is 
  to. 
  say, 
  

   they 
  are 
  not 
  Oriskanian, 
  for, 
  though 
  they 
  contain 
  certain 
  Oriskany 
  

   species, 
  these 
  are 
  the 
  survivors 
  of 
  the 
  earlier 
  limestone 
  faunas 
  of 
  

   that 
  region 
  persisting 
  during 
  the 
  incursion 
  of 
  a 
  distinctively 
  Ham- 
  

   ilton 
  Lamellibranch 
  and 
  Brachiopod 
  fauna 
  from 
  the 
  southwest. 
  

  

  Dawson 
  subdivided 
  the 
  Gaspe 
  sandstone 
  into 
  three 
  parts 
  : 
  the 
  

   lower 
  division 
  coordinated 
  with 
  the 
  Oriskany 
  and 
  Onondaga; 
  the 
  

   middle, 
  equivalent 
  to 
  the 
  Hamilton 
  group; 
  and 
  an 
  upper 
  conceived 
  

   to 
  be 
  equivalent 
  to 
  the 
  Chemung. 
  This 
  entirely 
  arbitrary 
  subdivi- 
  

   sion 
  was 
  based 
  upon 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  terrestrial 
  flora, 
  and 
  is 
  

   not, 
  I 
  think, 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  present 
  evidence. 
  The 
  

   weakness 
  of 
  the 
  comparison 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  correlate 
  with 
  

   true 
  marine 
  deposits 
  the 
  very 
  heavy 
  mantle 
  of 
  sands 
  of 
  telluric, 
  

   delta 
  or 
  lagoon 
  origin 
  conformable 
  in 
  every 
  way 
  physiographically 
  

   to 
  the 
  Old 
  Red 
  deposits 
  elsewhere, 
  the 
  few 
  marine 
  fossils 
  which 
  it 
  

   contains 
  being 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  overwash 
  from 
  outside 
  during 
  

   times 
  of 
  stress. 
  Ells 
  and 
  Low 
  have 
  suggested 
  the 
  probability 
  that 
  

   the 
  fish-bearing 
  beds 
  at 
  Scaumenac 
  and 
  Campbellton 
  were 
  laid 
  down 
  

   in 
  an 
  area 
  separated 
  from 
  the 
  more 
  northerly 
  region 
  by 
  barriers 
  of 
  

   old 
  land, 
  and 
  in 
  my 
  judgment 
  this 
  is 
  an 
  entirely 
  probable 
  condition, 
  

   not 
  eliminating 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  connection 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  basins 
  

   at 
  some 
  point 
  further 
  westward." 
  

  

  Indeed, 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1883, 
  it 
  was 
  noted 
  by 
  R. 
  W. 
  Ells 
  that 
  a 
  number 
  

   of 
  invertebrate 
  fossils 
  from 
  the 
  northern 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  Gaspe 
  Devonic 
  

   were 
  " 
  strongly 
  typical 
  of 
  the 
  Hamilton 
  formation," 
  thus 
  leading 
  to 
  

   the 
  inference 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  Gaspe 
  sandstone 
  series, 
  of 
  the 
  coast, 
  is 
  

   probably 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  age, 
  though 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  typical 
  shells 
  in 
  

   a 
  large 
  portion 
  of 
  it 
  makes 
  their 
  separation 
  more 
  difficult." 
  The 
  

  

  