253 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
— A moderate elevation of the crust bringing tlie affected area near 
the sea level. 
4th. — Renewal of the subsidence, with prevalence of more tranquil con- 
ditions than in the second stage, and a longer continuance of these 
conditions. 
This period closes Etcheminian time, and there is a break,, 
more or less distinctly marked between it and the later Cambrian. 
In Xew Brunswick there is a sandstone or a quartzite at the 
beginning of the latter, with a decided change in the color and 
aspect of the sediments, and in Cape Breton a conglomerate 
marks the transition to the later terrane. In Newfoundland the 
conglomerate base is more faintly marked in the west (Smith 
Sound), but sufficiently distinct in the east (Conception Bay). 
The reverse conditions of surface distribution prevail in Massa- 
chusetts, where fine sediments are found in the eastern part 
( Boston ) but conglomerates are found on the west side of the 
area ( Attleboro’, ) As previously remarked, the Etcheminian 
terrane has not been found on the mainland of Nova Scotia,, 
where gray quartzites appear to be the oldest sediments 
In the outer areas of the Cambrian rocks of the Atlantic 
coast the Etcheminian terrane is easily traced by the prevailing 
red color, as well as by its fossils. In this outer-zone fine slates 
prevail, and there are beds of limestone as may be seen in the 
Massachusetts and Newfoundland areas. In the inner zone 
(New Brunswick and Cape Breton) the sediments are coarser 
and limestones are wanting; it is in this inner zone that a middle 
member of sandstones and flags is most distinctly marked. 
The organic remains of this middle member are similar to 
those of the lower sediments, so that the Etcheminian rocks have 
only two faunas, an upper and a lower. The volcanic rocks 
beneath them have yield a scanty fauna, which may not be more 
than a sub-fauna of the Lower Etcheminian. i\Iore material is 
required to determine the importance of this fauna. 
So far as the St. John terrane is concerned, it is clear that the 
basins we have now are but fragments of deposits that have been 
spread over large areas of the Atlantic coast, and there may be 
extensive tracts occupied by slates and flags so far metamorphosed 
that Cambrian fossils cannot be recognized. The materials which 
