2.2 The American Geologist. •^"'^■' i^^'*- 
series, and appearing to be inlaid upon a background of the 
Goldenville. In the field, and on such geologic sheets as have 
been published for the eastern half of the province, it is notice- 
able that these bands taper at both ends, with a resulting canoe- 
shaped outline. The intervals between the zones vary greatly, 
as do their Avidths. Thus, between the nearer margins of 
Halifax strata in the Waternish and St. iMary's Bay synclines, 
in the longitude of Indian harbor, there is an interval of eight 
miles, occupied entirely by strata of the lower formation. Be- 
tween the Waternish and Sherbrooke synclines the Goldenville 
beds cover six and one-half miles across the strike. On the 
other hand, between the Ruth Fall and Liscomb Harbor syn- 
clines, they are in one place only half a mile wide. This is, 
however, exceptional . 
It is difficult to estimate the relative areas occupied by the 
two formations. Conditions in the western half of the prov- 
ince are very dififeient in this, as in other matters relating to 
'the distribution ot the two groups of rocks. An average of 
five traverses at different places east of Halifax, and aggre- 
gating over fifty miles, gives a distribution in the ratio of about 
one of Halifax to five of Goldenville strata, across the strike. 
Character of sediments . — The rocks are chiefly slates, of- 
ten verv fine grained and evenly bedded. Indeed, in many 
places it is necessary, in the study of structure, to take ad- 
vantage of the fact that crystals of pyrite lie abundantly in the 
stratification planes. The color of the slates varies from dull 
black through shades of blackish gray to light gray, and light 
olive green. There is rarely, if ever, the peculiar dark green 
given to some of the slates in the Goldenville by an abundance 
of chlorite and more indefinite hydrous silicates. In few in- 
stances would a hand specimen from each formation, placed 
side by side, prove confusing. 
The black slates are often highly graphitic, and to an ex- 
tent indicating an abundance of life in the waters in which 
the Meguma was deposited. In many places they also con- 
tain such a quantity of pyrite crystals, generally along the 
stratification, as to impart upon decoinposing a characteristic 
rusty color to the rocks. 
Such quartzytes as occur in the Halifax are unimportant in 
quantity, and whether they lie at such definite horizons as to 
