REPORT OF THE CHIEF ASTRONOMER 5 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 25a 



20. Origin of the Alkaline Eocks: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 21, 1910, 

 pp. 87-118. 



Earlier Work on the Geology of the Forty -ninth Parallel. — The British and 

 United States governments attached geologists to the parties of the first Inter- 

 rational Boundary Commission appointed (1857-61) to mark the Forty-ninth 

 Parallel across the Cordillera. The geologist, George Gibbs, traversed the 

 Boundary belt for the United States government and published his results in 

 the third and fourth volumes of the Journal of the American Geographical 

 Society, New York, 1873-74. The late Hilary Bauerman was the geologist for 

 the British government. His brief report was not published until 1884, when, 

 fit the suggestion of George M. Dawson, it appeared as a part of the Report of 

 Progress of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada for 1882-3-4, 

 Part B, Ottawa, 1884. 



Dawson himself entered the same transmontane belt at its eastern end 

 during his work as geologist to the British North American Boundary Commis- 

 sion. His report published in 1875, at Montreal, bears the title ' Report on the 

 geology and resources of the region in the vicinity of the forty-ninth parallel 

 from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.' Since then Dawson 

 continued his memorable reconnaissance of British Columbia and, in the Boun- 

 dary belt, was accompanied or followed by McConnell, McEvoy, Brock, Leach, 

 Young, LeRoy, Camsell, and other members of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



On the United States side of the line many other workers have similarly 

 added to our knowledge of the formations crossed by the Forty-ninth Parallel, 

 though comparatively few of them, other than those already mentioned, have 

 actually reached the Boundary line in their detailed work. Reference to the 

 publications on British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, and Washington 

 geology can be readily found in the bibliographic bulletins of the United States 

 Geological Survey and in the general index to the reports of the Geological 

 Survey of Canada (published in 1908). Special note should be made of the 

 papers published by the American geologists attached to the present Boundary 

 Commission, namely: — 



Stratigraphy and structure, Lewis and Livingston ranges, Montana : by 

 Bailey Willis: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, Vol. 13, 1902, pp. 305-352. 



A geological reconnaissance across the Cascade range near the Forty-ninth 

 Parallel: by George Otis Smith and Frank C. Calkins, Bull. 235, U.S. Geol. 

 Survey, 1904. 



Continuation of the Forty-ninth Parallel Section. — Mr. Charles H. Clapp 

 is now employed by the Canadian Geological Survey on a structural study of 

 Vancouver island, and it is hoped that materials will soon be in hand for a 

 continuation of the Forty-ninth Parallel section across to the open Pacific. 



General Sketch of the Subject Matter. — The 400-mile section crosses the 

 grain of the Cordillera and accordingly includes a high proportion of all the 

 Cordilleran formations to be encountered in these latitudes. The structural 



