Some Salient Points in the Science of the EarthDawson, John William, Sir
Science
Some Salient Points in the Science of the Earth
Dawson, John William, Sir
Geology; Paleontology
The first specimens of Eozoon ever procured, in so far as known, were
collected at Burgess, in Ontario, by a veteran Canadian mineralogist,
Dr. Wilson, of Perth, and were sent to Sir William Logan as mineral
specimens. Their chief interest at that time lay in the fact that
certain laminæ of a dark green mineral present in the specimens were
found, on analysis by Dr. Hunt, to be composed of a new hydrous
silicate, allied to serpentine, and which he named loganite. The form
of this mineral was not suspected to be of organic origin. Some years
after, in 1858, other specimens, differently mineralized with the
minerals serpentine and pyroxene, were found by Mr. J. McMullen, an
explorer in the service of the Geological Survey, in the limestone
of the Grand Calumet on the River Ottawa. These seem to have at once
struck Sir W. E. Logan as resembling the Silurian fossils known as
_Stromatopora_, and he showed them to Mr. Billings, the palæontologist
of the survey, and to the writer, with this suggestion, confirming
it with the sagacious consideration that inasmuch as the Ottawa and
Burgess specimens were mineralized by different substances, yet were
alike in form, there was little probability that they were merely
mineral or concretionary. Mr. Billings was naturally unwilling to risk
his reputation in affirming the organic nature of such specimens;
and my own suggestion was that they should be sliced, and examined
microscopically, and that if fossils, as they presented merely
concentric laminæ and no cells, they would probably prove to be
protozoa rather than corals. A few slices were accordingly made, but
no definite structure could be detected. Nevertheless, Sir William
Logan took some of the specimens to the meeting of the American
Association at Springfield, in 1859, and exhibited them as possibly
Laurentian fossils; but the announcement was evidently received with
some incredulity. In 1862 they were exhibited by Sir William to some
geological friends in London, but he remarks that "few seemed disposed
to believe in their organic character, with the exception of my friend,
Professor Ramsay." In 1863 the general Report of the Geological Survey,
summing up its work to that time, was published, under the name of the
"Geology of Canada," and in this, at page 49, will be found two figures
of one of the Calumet specimens, here reproduced, and which, though
unaccompanied with any specific name or technical description, were
referred to as probably Laurentian fossils. (Figs. 5 and 6.)
[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Small specimen of Eozoon, weathered out,
natural size, from a photograph.
Fig. 2.--Canal System of Eozoon injected with serpentine (magnified).
Fig. 3.--Very fine Canals and Tubuli filled with Dolomite (magnified).
(From Micro-photographs.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Weathered Specimen of Eozoon from the Calumet.
(Collected by Mr. McMullen.)]
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