198 The American GeoJoyist. September, 1895 
only to a level GO feet Ijelow the suri'aue. When pumped several days 
the water attains the warm temperature of 80 degrees F., showing that 
the downward increase of the earth's heat at this locality averages about 
one degree for each 43 feet, the mean annual surface temperature of the 
air and of the earth at a slight depth being about 35 degrees F. The 
mineral contents of this water considerably exceed those of the many 
mildly saline and alkaline artesian wells of the James River valley in 
North and South Dakota, whicli recieve their strong tiows from the 
same sandstone at a less depth. 
Shore-lines of the Champlain epoch have been traced by Mr. Robert 
Chalmers all around the coast of Prince Edward island, the postglacial 
and recent emergence having there attained a vertical extent of about 
25 feet. It was somewhat more on the northwestern coast of Nova Sco- 
tia and much more in New Brunswick, amovmting to 225 feet in the vi- 
cinity of St. John. These provinces, like Newfoundland, are wholly 
drift-covered, though with abundant rock outcrops : Init the intermedi- 
ate Magdalen islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are found to have 
never been enveloped by the ice-sheet. The rocks of these islands bear 
no striation nor boulder-clay, but are decaying and mantled with resid- 
uary soil. They have well defined Champlain shores, which are higher 
than on Prince Edward island. 
During the year 1893 field work of expk)ratiou was carried forward by 
sixteen parties, of which four were in the province of Ontario, three 
each in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, two in the province of Que- 
bec, and one each in the Northwest Territories, in eastern Manitoba and 
Keewatin, in the East Main district and Labrador, and in New Bruns- 
wick. Brief outlines of the results of all these explorations are noted. 
w. u. 
Si(nnii(i)\tj Rf'iHii't nil the Operations of tlie Geotoyieat Siivreij [of Can- 
ada] for the year 1S!)4. By George M. Dawson, Director. (Pages 
124 : Ottawa, 1895. Price 10 cents.) After only a very short interval from 
the pviblication of the foregoing volvime, this first part of the next is is- 
sued. During 1894 it was found necessary to reduce the number of field 
parties to twelve, Ontario having three, British Columbia and Nova 
Scotia each two, and the Northwest Territories, Keewatin, Quebec, 
Labrador, and New Brunswick, each one, from all of which brief ad- 
ministrative reports are given. 
Boring to test whether petrolevim can be obtained in commercially im- 
portant qviality has laeen carried to the depth of 1,011 feet at Athabasca 
Landing. This work is to be continued to at least 1,500 feet, unless the 
stratum outcropping northeastward as " tar sands " shall be previously 
reached. It is hoped to find large svjpplies of petroleuin in this Creta- 
ceous formation, or in porous beds of the next underlying Devonian 
strata, whence the tar or bitumen is thought to have come by upwell- 
ing and evaporation. 
Among the areas of new explorations, the most interesting are the 
country from lake Athabasca northeast to Chesterfield Inlet, and thence 
south along the west coast of Hudson bay, traversed by Mr. J. B. Tyr- 
