Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 26.djvu/212

Rh PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. POSTPONED PAPERS.

1. On the Graphite of the Laurentian of Canada. ã By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.

(Read June 23, 1869 .)

In my paper of 1864, on the Organic Remains of the Laurentian Limestones of Canada, as a sequel to the description of Eozoon Canadense, I noticed, among other indications of organic matters in these limestones, the presence of films and fibres of graphitic matter, and insisted on the probability that at least some of the lower forms of plant life must have existed in the seas in which gigantic Foraminifera could flourish. Dr. Hunt had previously, on chemical evidence, inferred the existence of Laurentian vegetation, and Dana had argued as to the probability of this on various grounds ; and my object in referring to these indications in 1864, as well as to the supposed burrows of annelids, subsequently described by me , was to show that the occurrence of Eozoon was not to be regarded as altogether isolated and unsupported by probabilities of the existence of organic remains in the Laurentian deducible from other considerations.

Now that the questions which have been raised regarding Eozoon