from the one to the other, the species are for the most part different, and new generic forms are met with, and, as I have elsewhere shown, the physical conditions of the two periods were essentially different.* It is, however, to be observed that since-as Stur and others have shown-Calamites radiatus, and other forms distinctively Devonian in America, occur in Europe in the Lower Carboniferous, it is not unlikely that the Devonian flora, like that of the Tertiary, appeared earlier in America. It is also probable, as I have shown in the "Reports" already referred to, that it appeared earlier in the Arctic than in the temperate zone. Hence an Arctic or American flora, really Devonian, may readily be mistaken for Lower Carboniferous by a botanist basing his calculations on the fossils of temperate Europe. Even in America itself, it would appear, from recent discoveries in Virginia and Ohio, that certain Devonian forms lingered longer in those regions than farther to the northeast; † and it would not be surprising if similar plants occurred in later beds in Devonshire or in the south of Europe than in Scotland. Still, these facts, properly understood, do not invalidate the evidence of fossil plants as to geological age, though errors arising from the neglect of them are still current. VI. GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF SOME PLANT-BEARING BEDS OF EASTERN CANADA. ("Report on Erian Plants," 1871.) The Gaspé sandstones have been fully described by Sir W. E. Logan, in his "Report on the Geology of Canada," 1863. He there assigns to them a thickness of seven thousand and thirty-six feet, and shows that they rest conformably on the Upper Silurian limestones of the Lower Helderberg group (Ludlow), and are in their turn overlaid unconformably by the conglomerates which form the base of the Carboniferous rocks of New Brunswick. I shall add here merely a few remarks on points in their physical character connected with the occurrence of plants in them. Prototaxites (Nematophyton) Logani and other characteristic Lower Erian plants occur in the base of the sandstones at Little Gaspé. This fact, along with the occurrence, as stated in my paper of 1863, of rhizomes of Psilophyton preserving their scalariform *"Reports on Devonian Plants and Lower Carboniferous Plants of Canada." + Andrews, "Palæontology of Ohio,” vol. ii.; Meek, “Fossil Plants from Western Virginia,” Philosophical Society, Washington, 1875. structure, in the upper part of the marine Upper Silurian limestones,* proves the flora of the Devonian rocks to have had its beginning at least in the previous geological period, and to characterise the lower as well as the upper beds of the Devonian series. In this connection I may state that, from their marine fossils, as well as their stratigraphical arrangement, Sir W. E. Logan and Mr. Billings regard the lower portions of the Gaspé sandstones as the equivalents of the Oriskany sandstone of New York. On the other hand, the great thickness of this formation, the absence of Lower Devonian fossils from its upper part, and the resemblance of the upper beds to those of the newer members of the Devonian elsewhere, render it probable that the Gaspé sandstones, though deficient in the calcareous members of the system, seen farther to the westward, represent the whole of the Devonian period. The Gaspé sandstones, as their name imports, are predominantly arenaceous, and often coarsely so, the sandstones being frequently composed of large grains and studded with quartz-pebbles. Grey and buff are prevalent colours, but red beds also occur, more especially in the upper portion. There are also interstratified shaly beds, sometimes occurring in groups of considerable thickness, and associated with fine-grained and laminated argillaceous sandstone, the whole having in many places the lithological aspect of the coalmeasures. At one place, near the middle of the series, there is a bed of coal from one inch to three inches in thickness, associated with highly bituminous shales abounding in remains of plants, and also containing fragments of crustaceans and fishes (Pterygotus, Ctenacanthus ? &c.). The beds connected with this coal are grey sandstones and grey and dark shales, much resembling those of the ordinary coal formation. The coal is shining and laminated, and both its roof and floor consist of laminated bituminous shale with fragments of Psilophyton. It has no true under-clay, and has been, I believe, a peaty mass of rhizomes of Psilophyton. It occurs near Tar Point, on the south side of Gaspé Bay, a place so named from the occurrence of a thick dyke of trap holding petroleum in its cavities. The coal is of considerable horizontal extent, as in its line of strike a similar bed has been discovered on the Douglas River, about four miles distant. It has not been recognised on the north *The marine fossils of these beds have been determined by Mr. Billings. They are Upper Silurian, with an intermixture of Lower Devonian in the upper part. Fragments of Nematophyton occur in beds of the same age in the Bay des Chaleurs, at Cape Bon Ami, side of the bay, though we find there beds, probably on very nearly the same horizon, holding Psilophyton in situ. As an illustration of one of the groups of shaly beds, and of the occurrence of roots of Psilophyton, I may give the following sectional list of beds seen near "Watering Brook," on the north shore of the bay. The order is descending: 1. Grey sandstones and reddish pebbly sandstone of great 2. Bright-red shale.. 3. Grey shales with stems of Psilophyton, very abundant FT. IN. 4. Grey incoherent clay, slickensided, and with many 5. Hard grey clay or shale, with fragments and roots of 7. Grey and reddish crumbling sandstone.. Groups of beds similar to the above, but frequently much more rich in fossils, occur in many parts of the section, and evidently include fossil soils of the nature of under-clays, on which little else appears to have grown than a dense herbage of Psilophyton, along with plants of the genus Arthrostigma. In addition to these shaly groups, there are numerous examples of beds of shale of small thickness included in coarse sandstones, and these beds often occur in detached fragments, as if the remnants of more continuous layers partially removed by currents of water. It is deserving of notice that nearly all these patches of shale are interlaced with roots or stems of Psilophyton, which sometimes project beyond their limits into the sandstone, as if the vegetable fibres had preserved the clay from removal. In short, these lines of patches of shale seem to be remnants of soils on which Psilophyton has flourished abundantly, and which have been partially swept away by the currents which deposited the sand. Some of the smaller patches may even be fragments of tough swamp soils interwoven with roots, drifted by the agency of the waves or possibly by ice; such masses are often moved in this way on the borders of modern swamps on the sea-coast. The only remaining point connected with local geology to which I shall allude is the admirable facilities afforded by the Gaspé coast both for ascertaining the true geological relations of the beds, and for studying the Devonian plants, as distinctly exposed on large sur faces of rock. On the coast of the river St, Lawrence, at Cape Rozier and its vicinity, the Lower Silurian rocks of the Quebec group are well exposed, and are overlaid unconformably by the massive Upper Silurian limestones of Cape Gaspé, which rise into cliffs six hundred feet in height, and can be seen filled with their characteristic fossils on both sides of the cape. Resting upon these, and dipping at high angles toward Gaspé Bay, are the Devonian sandstones, which are exposed in rugged cliffs slightly oblique to their line of strike, along a coast-line of ten miles in length, to the head of the bay. On the opposite side of the bay they reappear; and, thrown into slight undulations by three anticlinal curves, occupy a line of coast fifteen miles in length. The perfect manner in which the plant-bearing beds are exposed in these fine natural sections may serve to account for the completeness with which the forms and habits of growth of the more abundant species can be described. In the Bay des Chaleurs, similar rocks exist with some local variations. In the vicinity of Campbellton are calcareous and magnesian breccia or agglomerate, hard shales, conglomerates and sandstones of Lower Devonian age. The agglomerate and lower shales contain abundant remains of fishes of the genera Cephalaspis, Coccosteus, Ctenacanthus, and Homacanthus, and also fragments of Pterygotus. The shales and sandstones abound in remains of Psilophyton, with which are Nematophyton, Arthrostigma, and Leptophleum of the same species found in the Lower Devonian of Gaspé Bay. These beds near Campbellton dip to the northward, and the Restigouche River here occupies a synclinal, for on the opposite side, at Bordeaux Quarry, there are thick beds of grey sandstone dipping to the southward, and containing large silicified trunks of Prototaxites, in addition to Psilophyton. These beds are all undoubtedly Lower Erian, but farther to the eastward, on the north side of the river, there are newer and overlying strata. These are best seen at Scaumenac Bay, opposite Dalhousie, between Cape Florissant and Maguacha Foint, where they consist of laminated and fine-grained sandstone, with shales of grey colours, but holding some reddish beds at top, and overlaid unconformably by a great thickness of Lower Carboniferous red conglomerate and sandstone. In these beds numerous fossil fishes have been found, among which Mr. Whiteaves recognises species of Pterichthys, Glyptolepis, Cheirolepis, &c. With these are found somewhat plentifully four species of fossil ferns, all of Upper Erian types, of which one is peculiar to this locality; but the others are found in the Upper Erian of Perry, in Maine, or in the Catskill group of New York. In order that distinct notions may be conveyed as to the geological horizons of the species, I may state that the typical Devonian or Erian series of Canada and New York may be divided in descending order into-1. The Chemung group, including the Chemung and Portage sandstones and shales. 2. The Hamilton group, including the Genesee, Hamilton, and Marcellus shales. 3. The Corniferous limestone and its associated beds. 4. The Oriskany sandstone. As the Corniferous limestone, which is the equivalent of the Lower Carboniferous limestone in the Carboniferous period, is marine, and affords scarcely any plants, we may, as is usually done for like purposes in the Carboniferous, group it with the Oriskany under the name Lower Erian. The Hamilton rocks will then be Middle Erian, and the Chemung group Upper Erian. In the present state of our knowledge, the series may be co-ordinated with the rocks of Gaspé, New Brunswick, and Maine, as in the following table: It may be proper, before closing this note, to state the reasons which have induced me to suggest in the following pages the use of the term "ERIAN," as equivalent to "Devonian," for the great system of formations intervening between the Upper Silurian and the Lower Carboniferous in America. I have been induced to adopt this course by the following considerations: 1. The great area of |