vanhisb.1  EASTERN    CANADA    AND    NEWFOUNDLAND.  227 
the  basal  conglomerates  of  the  series  referred  to  the  Cambrian,  the  crys- 
talline character  of  the  pre-Oambrian  as  contrasted  with  the  clastic 
character  of  the  Cambrian,  and  the  sharply  defined  line,  either  of  un- 
comformable  overlap  or  of  fault,  between  the  crystalline  series  and  the 
slates  and  qiiartzites  which  are  styled  Lower  Cambrian,  indicates  the 
probability  that  a  structural  break  of  great  magnitude  does  occur  be- 
tween the  two  series.  The  supposed  lower  series  of  crystalline  chloritic 
and  micaceous  schists  and  gneisses,  with  their  associated  qiiartzites 
and  limestones,  seems  clearly  to  be  of  clastic  origin.  It  is  compared 
with  the  Huronian  by  Ells.  From  present  imperfect  knowledge  it  can 
only  be  safely  placed  as  Algoukian.  If  it  shall  turn  out  that  the  non- 
fossiliferous  rocks  referred  to  the  Cambrian  by  Ells  are  also  Algoukian, 
this  system  is  represented  in  the  Eastern  townships  by  two  series  which 
are  probably  uncomformable. 
Selwyn's  later  position  as  to  the  nature  of  the  granite  is  the  opposite 
of  that  earlier  held.  In  his  reports  published  in  1879  and  1883  the 
granites  are  not  only  believed  to  be  intrusive,  but  many  of  the  crystal- 
line schists  are  believed  to  be  metamorphosed  irruptives.  In  the  foot- 
notes accompanying  Ells's  reports  these  same  granites  are  said  to  be 
metamorphic. 
SECTION  II.      GASPE  PENINSULA. 
LITERATURE. 
Ells,11  in  1885,  describes  the  pre-Cambrian  rocks  of  the  Gaspe 
peninsula.  These  are  confined  to  the  Shickshock  mountains.  They 
are  garnetiferous  gneiss,  hornblendic,  chloritic  and  micaceous  schists, 
epidosite,  etc.  These  rocks  are  so  like  the  pre-Cambrian  as  seen  in 
New  Brunswick  and  other  parts  of  Canada  that  they  are  removed  from 
the  Quebec  group  and  assigned  to  an  older  horizon.  Serpentines,  dio- 
rites,  and  granites  are  intrusives,  a  part  of  thern  later  in  age  than 
Devonian. 
Low,12  in  1885,  also  describes  the' pre-Cambrian  rocks  of  the  Gaspe 
peninsula.  They  are  represented  by  the  metamorphic  schists  and 
slates  of  the  Shickshock  mountains,  among  which  are  serpentine,  and 
several  beds  of  limestone,  one  of  them  being  90  feet  thick.  Great 
masses  of  granite  and  dikes  of  trap  are  found  in  these  series.  The 
granites  are  evidently  of  later  date  than  the  Silurian  and  Devonian 
rocks,  as  fragments  of  these  are  inclosed  in  them,  and  the  adjacent 
stratified  rocks  show  alteration. 
SECTION  III.      CENTRAL  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 
LITERATURE. 
Kobb,  13  in  1870,  gives  a  report  on  the  geology  of  central  New  Bruns- 
wick. The  crystalline  rocks  include  (1)  a  band  of  metamorphic  rocks 
immediately  underlying  the  Carboniferous  series  and  extending  to  the 
