wiLLiAMs.j BARTON AND CROSBY, DAWSON. 253 



formation, and their physical characters resemble the Lower Carbon- 

 iferous rocks, consisting of red and gray conglomerates, brownish red 

 shales, bituminous sandstones, and limestones. 



Of the Middle Carboniferous there is considerable evidence that if it 

 had ever attained any degree of development it has since been carried 

 away by denudation, leaving only a shallow deposit in the great Car- 

 boniferous basin which underlies the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and which 

 is bounded by the southern shore of the Gaspe peninsula on the north 

 and by the Cobequick Hills and coast ranges of western Cape Breton 

 on the south and east. Coal in thin seams has been discovered in this 

 formation by borings, extending over quite an area. It was found in 

 the Newcastle, Coal Creek, and Salmon Eiver coal basins, having a 

 usual thickness of from 18 to 20 inches. Other small areas were found 

 in South Albert, as far west as Herring Cove j also about Quaco and 

 Gardener's Creek rocks resembling Millstone grit were noticed over- 

 lying Lower Carboniferous rocks. A small area was also noted in the 

 north part of Charlotte County. 



Messrs. Barton and Crosby, 1 in 1880, reported that the Carboniferous 

 rocks of Massachusetts are an extension of the lihode Island series, 

 and are mainly found in Narragansett Basin, which lies wholly within 

 Norfolk County. This was determined by President Hitchcock. 



These rocks are well developed on the island of Aquidneck, and also form a broad 

 semicircular belt reaching from Warwick and Providence northerly by Valley Falls 

 to Wrentham, in Massachusetts, and thence easterly through Attleborough and Mans- 

 field into Bridgewater. 



The rocks of this series consist of a very thick, coarse conglomerate, 

 conglomerates passing into green sandstones about 600 feet in thick- 

 ness, a series of carbonaceous slates including the true Coal Measures, 

 with few sandstones and red rocks. Yery close connection can be 

 traced between the Norfolk belt and those at Wrentham. From a 

 close examination of the Norfolk Basin the author is very doubtful 

 whether coal will be found within its limits. 



Dr. J. W. Dawson, 2 in 1882, classified the Paleozoic floras as follows • 



I. — Carboniferous flora : 



(1) That of the Permo-Carboniferous is best seen in eastern Nova Scotia, and 



is represented by Dadoxylon, Pecopieris, and Catamites. 



(2) The coal formation contains the greatest number of species, and is especially 



rich in Sigillaria and ferns. One hundred and thirty-five species have 

 been catalogued from this formation. 



(3) Millstone grit : Here the species are limited. Dadoxylon acadianum is a 



characteristic conifer of this formation. 



(4) Lower Carboniferous: The floras of this period consist mainly of Dadoxylon, 



Lepidodendron, and Aneimites. 



1 Crosby, W. O., and Gr. H. Barton : Extension of the Carboniferous formation in Massachusetts. Am. 

 Jour. ScL, 3d ser., vol. 20, 1880, pp. 416-420. 



2 Dawson, J. W. : Comparative view of the successive Paleozoic floras of Canada. Am. Aaeoc. , Proc. , 

 vol. 31, pp. 415-417 ; Canadian Nat., new ser., vol. 10, 1882, pp. 372-378. 



