388 GEOLOGY OF THE LINE OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 
Discussion. 
The Presipent called attention to the numerous important sub- 
jects referred to in this paper, and expressed his conviction of the 
great gratification that was felt by the Fellows of the Society at 
having Principal Dawson among them in person. 
Mr. Baverman said he had no knowledge of the exact line of 
country described by Principal Dawson, but that he was pretty well 
acquainted with some neighbouring regions. The first point of 
importance to which he would advert was the occurrence of Upper 
Laurentian in the country west of Lake Superior. As that forma- 
tion is represented on the Labrador by a form of gneissic rock 
almost entirely composed of labradorite, the discovery further west 
of a series stratigraphically equivalent, but lithologically different, 
was a matter of great interest. He next referred to the Laramie 
group, and remarked upon the great lignitic series which occurs 
similarly on other lines of railway crossing North America further 
to the south. All these rocks contain carbonaceous beds different 
from the usual Tertiary brown coals of Hurope, some being bitu- 
minous, like those of certain parts of Austria. Near the head of 
the Colorado river, some 1000 miles south of the district described 
in the paper, there was good coking coal, and close by good anthra- 
cite also occurred in these same Cretaceous beds. He said that the 
_ Rocky Mountains, in this section, as seen by him, wanted the 
Laurentian axis which was met with further south. In conclusion 
he observed that the westerly carriage of glacial drifts, and the 
peculiar erosion of the surface of this fiat country around the Great 
Lakes were very remarkable phenomena. 
Mr. Torrey inquired, with regard to the distribution of the 
anthracite, whether it was always found in connexion with dis- 
turbed beds. 
Principal Dawson in reply thanked Mr. Bauerman for the addi- 
tional illustrations which he had given from the country to the 
south of the Canadian boundary. In answer to Mr. Topley’s ques- 
tion, he stated that in the undisturbed portions of the Cretaceous 
and Laramie, the coals are of various qualities, the difference de- 
pending partly on the material of which they are composed, whether 
wood of trees, or débris of foliage, &c., and partly on diversity of 
age; but the anthracitic coals are limited to the districts in which 
the beds are disturbed, and the same remark applies to the Creta- 
ceous anthracite of the Queen Charlotte Islands on the west coast, 
as compared with the bituminous coal of Vancouver Island. He 
hoped that many Members of the Geological Society would be in 
Montreal in August, to take part in the British Association excur- 
sions over the western districts which he had described. 
