1870.] HIND GNEISSOID SERIES OF NOVA SCOTIA. 469
I. Introduction.
The descriptions contained in this paper, so far as they relate to Nova Scotia, are in the main the results of observations during the summers of 1868 and 1869, while making geological surveys for the Nova-Scotian Government, in the gold-districts of Waverley and Sherbrooke. The comparisons with New Brunswick are based on my official Report on the Geology of that Province*, published in 1865 ; and the references to Cape Breton, when not otherwise stated, are from MS. notes of explorations in that island during 1866.
The accompanying maps (Pl. XXX.) embrace part of Halifax, Hants, and Guysborough Counties in Nova Scotia, and in New Brunswick a broad belt extending from the Bay of Chaleurs to the boundary line between New Brunswick and Maine†.
Geological maps of Nova Scotia were published by Dr. Abraham Gesner in 1836‡, by Dr. Dawson in 1865§ and in 1868 ||, and by Sir William E. Logan in 1865¶ and in 1869**.
Sir William Logan states, in the introduction to his 'Atlas of Maps and Sections,' that for the geology of Nova Scotia " a manuscript map by Dr. J. W. Dawson, compiled from his own researches and those of Messrs. P. Brown and H. Poole, has been the source of information." Hence, in making the necessary comparisons between the subject of this paper and the published descriptions and maps of Nova Scotia, I shall have to refer almost exclusively to Dr. Dawson's maps of 1868, accompanying the 2nd edition of his beautiful work on Acadian Geology.
In a Preliminary Report†† on the supposed Laurentian of Nova Scotia, I have quoted some passages from Dr. Dawson's work, especially the explanation to the geological map, in which the uncertainty of the boundaries of formations, and the doubtful age of some strata are adverted to. The recognition of very large gneissoid areas in Nova Scotia, supposed to represent two series not hitherto described as occurring in the Province, will enable some of the changes in part anticipated by Dr. Dawson to be foreshadowed with some degree of accuracy ; and it is proper to repeat here Dr. Dawson's first paragraph of the ' Explanations to the Geological Map : ' — " The map in this edition, though greatly improved, is still to be regarded
- Preliminary Report on the Geology of New Brunswick: Fredericton, 1865.
† In southern New Brunswick Professor Bailey and Mr. Matthew have discovered Laurentian and Huronian rocks. They are described in their ' Observations on the Geology of Southern New Brunswick ' (Fredericton, 1865) ; also in an able paper by Mr. Matthew, published in the Society's Journal for November 1865, " On the Azoic and Palaeozoic Rocks of Southern New Brunswick."
‡ Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, by Abraham Gesner : Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1836.
§ Acadian Geology, 1st edition.
|| Op. cit. 2nd edition: Macmillan and Co., London, 1868.
¶ Atlas of Maps and Sections : Montreal, Dawson Brothers, 1865.
- Geological Map of Canada and the adjacent Regions, 1869: London,
Edward Stanford.
†† Preliminary Report on a Gneissoid Series underlying the Gold-bearing Rocks of Nova Scotia, and supposed to be the Equivalent of the Laurentian System : Halifax, Nova Scotia, January 5, 1870.
