All this, however, has nothing to do with the layers of fragments of
Eozoon which are scattered through the Laurentian limestones. In these
the fossil is sometimes preserved in the ordinary manner, with its
cavities filled with serpentine, and the thicker parts of the skeleton
having their canals filled with this substance. In this case the
chambers may have been occupied with serpentine before it was broken
up. At St. Pierre there are distinct layers of this kind, from half an
inch to several inches in thickness, regularly interstratified with
the ordinary limestone. In other layers no serpentine occurs, but the
interstices of the fragments are filled with crystalline dolomite or
magnesian limestone, which has also penetrated the canals; and there
are indications, though less manifest, that some at least of the layers
of pure limestone are composed of fragmental Eozoon.
[Illustration: Fig. 52.--_Acervuline Variety of Eozoon, Côte St.
Pierre._
(_a_) General form, half natural size. (_b_) Portion of cellular
interior, magnified, showing the course of the tubuli.]
[Illustration: Fig. 53.--_Archæospherinæ from Côte St. Pierre._
(_a_) Specimens dissolved out by acid, the lower one showing interior
septa. (_b_) Specimens seen in section.]
In the Laurentian limestone of Wentworth, belonging apparently to the
same band with that of St. Pierre, there are many small rounded pieces
of limestone, evidently the debris of some older rock, broken up and
rounded by attrition. In some of these fragments the structure of
Eozoon may be plainly perceived. This shows that still older limestones
composed of Eozoon were at that time undergoing waste, and carries our
view of the existence of this fossil back to the very beginning of the
Grenville series of the Laurentian.
With respect to organic fragments not showing the structure of Eozoon,
I have not as yet been able to refer these to any definite origin. Some
of them may be simply thick portions of the shell of Eozoon with their
pores filled with calcite, so as to present a homogeneous appearance.
Others have much the appearance of fragments of such Primordial forms
as _Archæocyathus_, now usually regarded as corals or sponges; but
after much careful search, I have thus far been unable to say more than
I could say in 1865.
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