:^r-^if %^ A., ■<• WHITNEY LIBRARY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY THE GIFT OF J. I). WHITNEY, Stur(/is Hooper Professor IN THE MUSEUM or COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY rp^^ 2/y THE CANADIAN llaturalist u^ (Btalapi BY E. BILLINGS. VOLUME I. i^ontreal : PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, AT HIS STEAM PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT BT. WIOHOLAS 8TBEBT. "^"1857. Entered, according to the Act of the Provincial Parliament in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, by Bexjamin Dawson, in the Office of the Registrar of the Province of Canada. INDEX TO VOL. I. Page. ^.MBONYCHiA. — A genus of fossil bivalves. Greek, amhon, the boss of a shield, onyx, a claw. • 43 Ambonychia radi-Sta 44-46 Atrypa.— A genus of fossil Brachiopods. Name derived from the Greek a, without, and trupa, a hole or perforation. It was supposed that the shells of this genus had no foramen under the beak hence the name. Atrypa oongesta ^36 Atrypa nitida 137 Atrypa reticularis l^t Atrypa neglecta , 138 Atrypa cuneata • 138 Atrypa increbescens 207 Atrypa plena 208 Atrypa hemiplicata 208 Anas. — Latin, a duck 146 Anas obscura. — The black duck , 149 Anas sponsa. — The wood duck 146 Anas carolinensis. — The green winged teal 153 Anas discors. — Blue-winged teal.. 154 Anas boschas — The mallard ■ • 156 Audubon, Works of 240 Argillaceous. — Containing clay, from the Latin Argilla, clay. Avicula. — A genus of bivalves. Jlvicula, Latin, a little bird 60 Avicula emacerata. — A species of the Niagara Group 60 Alces.— Latin, the Elk. The genus to which the moose,,deer belongs. 60 Alces AMERICANA. — The moosc deer 6*^ AsTARTE Laurentiana 341 American Geological History 395 Boulder. — Any loose rounded mass of rock. Bear. — Black, Ursus Americanus 100 Bear. — Grizzly, Ursus ferox 1^^4 Bear. — Polar or White, Ursus marit'mius 100 Bear. — The Cinnamon, Ursus Cinnamomum m Black Bear 1<^0 Black Duck 146 BoBLiNK, or Rice Bird 238 Boulder Formation 321 BucciNUM Undatum 342 Balanus Uddevallenlis 344 Bison Americanus. — The Butfalo. 346 ^ IT. Page, BrPTALo 346 Bio Horn, Rocky Mouutain Sheep 357 Bubo 443 Bubo Viroiicianus. — Great horned Owl 443 Ckuvus macrotis. — Tl»e mule deer 92 Classification of Deer tribe. — 93 Column ARIA. — A geuus of fossil corals Columna, a column 124 CoLUMNARIA AL^TiOLATA 124 Ch^tetes. — A genus of fossil corals — Greek, Chaite, hair 125 cn^tetes lycoferdon . 125 Cinnamon Bear 114 Canis. — The genus to ■which the wolf and dog belong — Latin, Canis, a dog 20» Carcajou or wolverene. — Gulo Lusciis 242 Classification of Fishes 275 Cecidomya Destructor 307 Cecidomva Tritici 308 Catenipora Escharoides , 31^ Cyclopteris lumpus. — Lumpsucker , 345 CARBONiFEaous FORMATION. — The rocks Containing coal — Latin, Carbo, coal, and Fero, I bear. Cambrian. — Rocks next below the Silurian named after Cambria Wales l& Chemung and Pohtage Groups. — Named after places in the States. Formations above the Hamilton group IS CoENiFEROCS LiMESTONE. — So Called ou account of the rock containing numerous nodules of Hornstone 22 Clinton group. — Named after Clinton County, State of New York. . . 23 Calciferous. — containing lime. Calciferous Sandrock 19 Classification of the Animal kingdom 26 Classification of Formations. , 12-16 Cyetohtbs. — A genus of fossil univalve shells — Greek, kurtoa, curved, lithos, stone 43 Cyrtolites ornatus 43 44 Calymenx. — A genus of trilobites, Calymene, Greek, concealed 46 Calymene senaria. — A trilobite of the Trenton limestone, probably a small variety of the well-known species, C Blutnefibachii. 46-47 Crinoid. — An encriiiite is often called a Crinoid from the Greek, krinos. a lily, and eidos, form , 45 Caribou. — The woodland, Tarandus hastalia 77 Caribou. — The Barren Ground, Tarandus Arcticut 71 Cervl's. — Latin, a Deer 87 Cervub Viroi.vianus. — Common Red Deer of Canada, 87 Devonian. — The formation next above the upper Silurian ; the forma- tion takes its name from Devonshire, where it is largely developed 16 V. Page. Buck.— The Black 146 The Wood Duck 149 " The Mallard 150 " The Blue-winged Teal 155 ♦' The Green-winged Teal 153 DoLicHONYxoBYZivoEA.— The BoB-LiNK ; Greek, dolichos, long Onyx, aclaw 233 Dana — Professor T., his Address before the American Association on American Geological History 395 d'Urban, W] S. M., his notice of the Gros beak and Chatterer 469 Encrinite. — Au extensive family of lily-shaped fossils 48 Elaphus. — Greek, a Stag 81 Elaphus Canadensis. — The Canadian Stag, commonly but incorrectly called in America the Elk 81 EcTOPisTES. — A genus of birds of which the common blue Pigeon is a well-known species ; Greek, Ektopistos, frequently chang- ing place or habitation 168 EcTOPisTEs Migratoria. — Common Blue Pigeon 168 Earthquake. — 189 FucoiDEs. — Latin, fucus, a sea weed . Favosites. — A genus of fossil corals of the polaeozoic rocks, resem- bling petrified honey-combs, hence the name ; Latin, Favus, bee-hive, or honey-comb 60 Felspar 197 Fox, Red. — Vulpes Fulvus 21*7 Fox — Silver Grey or Black Fox 221 Fox— Cross 222 Fox — Arctic Fox, Vulpes lagopus 224 Fox — Swift, Vulpes velox 21*7 Fox — Jackall, Vulpes Utah 217 Fusus Carinatus 348 Glyptoceinds. — An extensive genus of Encrinites ; Greek, Glyptos, sculptured, and krinos lily 49 Glyptocrinus ramulosus. — A species of Encrinite, very common in the Trenton limestone 54 Gull. — Larus Argentatus 159, 160 Granite. — A rock composed of quaitz, felspar and mica 198 Gulo. — A Glutton, a genus of quadrupeds of which the Wolverene or Carcajou, Gulo luscus is a species 242 Grouse. — The Ruffed Grouse, tetrao umhellus 289 Gros beak 465 Hamilton Group. — Called after a place in the Slates of that name. . . 23 HuRONiAN Formation. — The formation next below the Potsdam sand- stone, largely developed in the vicinity of Lakes Huron and Superior, Cambrian 16 Hypostoma — 46 Hornblende, — 197 Hessian Fly.— ..307 VI. Pagb. Haltsites Catenulatus 319 HoMOLONOTCS Deli'hinocephalus 319 Hudson River Group. — Lower Silurian 18 Hydra. — A small fresh-water animal related to the coral building Po- lypi. Hydra, a water-serpent, with fifty heads, slain by Hercules 117 Hystrix Dorsata.— The Porcupine 365 Hare 359 Hall — Professor T., his article on Tellinomya 390 IsoTELUs.-;— A genus of trilobites ; Greek, isos, equal, and telos, end, in allusion to the equal extremities of the fossil 45 IsoTELUs GiGAS. — A. large trilobite of the lower Silurian rocks 45, 46 IcHTHYOCRiNUS. — A genus of Encrinites; Greek, ichthus, a fish, and krinos, a lily 69 IcHTHYocRiNUs LAEVis. — The smooth Ichthyocrinus, a beautiful encri- nite of the Niagara limestone 69 Infra-orbital cavities of Deer 96 Laubentian Eocks. — So called after the Laurentian Mountains, a range of low hills on the north shore of the St. Lawrence 18 Lawrencian Formation. — The deposit of clay, sand and gravel, in the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa, containing marine organic remains 336-334 LiNGULA. — A genus of Brachiopods 35-36 Leptena. — A. genus of Brachiopods ; from the Greek Leptos, thin 40 Leptena sericia 41 Lachrymal Sinus , 96 Leptena Transversalis 138 Lepi'ena Subplana 138 Leptena Deltoidea 205 Lupus. — Latin, a wolf 209 LuTEA Canadensis. — The Canadian Otter , , . . 228 Leidy, Prof. — Notice of his descriptions of fossil fishes and mammalia. 239 Lea, Dr. Isaac, L.LD., Philadelphia, his works on genus Unio 240 Lynx. — The Loup Cervier, Lynx Canadensis 24*7 Lynx Rufus. — The Wild Cat 249 LiNGULA Quadrata 318 Lawrencian formation 336 Lepus Americanus. — The Northern Hare 369 Logan. Sir Wm. E. See Davis' Notes to tlie article on American Geo- logical History, ei seq 4Q0 Medina Sandstone.— A division of the lower Silurian. Medina, the name of a locality in the State of New York. . 21 Murchisonia. — A genus of gasteropods, named in honor of Sir Rode- rick. I. Murchison, at present director of the Geologi- cal Survey uf Great Britain 42 MuRCUisoNiA gracilis 42 Vll. Pagk. MoDioLOPSis. — A genus of fossil bivalves, so called on account of their resemblance to species of modiola 4,4, MODIOLOPSIS MODIOLAUIS 44 Mule Deer. — Cervus Macrotis 92 Mica 19'7 MoArthur, p. a., of Ottawa, his discovery of a fossil seal 238 Metamorphoses of Insects 261 Mya truncata 339 Mttilus eddlis 343 Mallotds villosus. — The Capelan 345 Musk Ox 353 Mephitis chinga. — The Skunk 360 Mammoth 379 Mastodon , 379 Murray, Alexander Esq. His remarks on Drift of Northern Canada, quoted 328 Niagara Group. — A division of the upper Silurian rocks 22 TsTomenclature 20 Natica olausa 342 Onondaga Salt Group. — The formation containing gypsum, called after a locality in the States 22 Ortbis. — A genus of Brachiopods ; from the Greek, Orthos, straight.. 40 Orthis Testiidinaria 40 OssicuLA. — Small bones * 55 Orthis tricenaria , 129 Orthis elegantula 136 Orthis flabellullum 136 Ornithology. — Technical terms explained 139-140-141-142 Orthis Lynx 206 Orthis Pectinella 206 Ortyx. — Greek, a Quail 284 Orthooeras 315 Orthoceras Bilineatum 316 OviBos Moschatus. — The Musk Ox 353 Ovis Montana. — Rocky Mountain Sheep 357 Owl, Great horned 443 Owl, Snowy 447 Pliocene. — A division of the Tertiary formation ; Greek, plcion, more, and kainos, recent 12-13 Potsdam Sandstone. — So called from the town of Potsdam, in the State of New York— Fossils 18-32 Protiohnites. — The fossil, foot prints in the Potsdam sandstone ; Greek, protos, first, ichnos, foot-print or track, lithos, stone. .35-37 Pleurotomaria. — A genus of gasteropods, so called from a notch in one side of the aperture ; jo^ewron, a side, toma, a notch. 42 Pleurotomaria umbilicata 42-48 Pal^zoio. — From the Greek, palaios, ancient, and onta, beings, per- taining to ancient fossil animals . VI u. Paqb. PALiBONTOLOGY. — The science pertaining to organic remains. Pextamerus. — A genus of brachiopods, so called on account of the in- terior being divided into five apartments ; Gr«ek, penta, five, and meros, a portion 58 Pentamerus oblongus. — A species of pentamerus, very abundant in the upper silurian rocks of North America. . . 68 Phacops. — A genus of trilobites ; Greek, phakoi, a lens, and opi, the eye 58 Phaoops Limulurus — A species of Phacops, abundant in the Niagara group 68 Pigeon • 168 Pious. — Latin, a woodpecker. 176 Picus Aroticus. — The Arctic three-toed woodpecker 17*7 Picus ERTTHROCEPHALUS. — The Red-hcadcd woodpecker 198 Piccjs auratus. — The golden winged woodpecker 180 PiCDs piLEATUs, — The pileated woodpecker 182 Picus varius. — The yellow bellied woodpecker 184 Picus viLLOsus. — The hairy woodpecker 185 Picus pubescens. — The downy woodpecker 187 Picus canadensis. — The Canadian woodpecker... 187 Picus martini. — Maria's woodpecker 188 Picus HiRSUTus, — Banded three-toed woodpecker 188 Picus caeolinus. — Yellow bellied woodpecker 189 1*rocyon. — From the Greek, pro, before, and kuon, a dog 253 Procyon Lotor, — The Raccoon 253 Parteidce or Qu ul. — Orlyx Vtrginiaiia 284 Partridge — The Spruce 292 Ptilodictya 317 Pecten Islandicus 341 Porcupine 366 Quail. — Ortyz Virginiana 284 Raccoon — Procyon Lotor 253 Raphistoma staminea 318 Rhynccnella psittacea 344 Rocky Mountain Sheep 357 Silurian Formations, named after the ancient Britons, called by the Romans, Silures. Strophomena. — A genus of brachiopods, allied to Leptena ; Greek, strophos, bent, in allusion to the curvature of the shell. Strophomena alternata.— A species characteristic of the lower Silurian 204 Strophomena depressa.— A species abundant in the upper Silurian ... 59 Streptelasma. — A genus of fossil corals of the Silurian rocks ; Greek, streptos, twisted, and plasma, lammellas 121 Streptelasma corniculum 121 Streptelasma profunda 128 Salmon. — Salmo Salar 152 Schist, 189 IX. Page. Strophomena filitexta 204 Seal.— Fossil 238 Saxicava kugosa 339 Scalaria borealis 342 Shale. — A kind of slaty rock, generally soft, and resembling hardened mud, of various colors, yellow, green, often black. ScoLiTHUS. — Greek, scolax, a worm, and lithos, stone 32 Stromatocerium. — A genus of fossil bryozoa ; Greek, stroma, a layer or lamina, and cerion a Honey-comb 127 Stromotocerium rugosum. — A species characteristic of the bird's eye, limestone 127 Spirifer. — A genus of fossil brachiopods, from the Latin spira, a spire, and fero, I bear 134 Spiriferr adiatus 1^^ Spirifer sdlcatus l^ ' Spirifer jjiagarensis ^^ ' Syenite. — A rock composed of quartz, felspar, and hornblende 199 Spruce Partridge 292 ScoLOPAx. — Greek, a snipe 295 ScoLOPAx WiLsoNii. — Snipe 29o ScOLOPAX MINOR. WoODCOCK 300 StIOTOPORA ACUTA 317 Skunk. — Mephitis Chinga 360 SciURUS 431-434 SciuRUs MiGRATORius. — Gray Squirrel 434 SciURUS HUDSONius. — Red Squirrel , 438 SciuRus l^iGER. — Black Squirrel 437 Squirrel, Red 438 Squirrel, Gray 434 Squirrel, Black 437 SURNIA 447 SuRNiA NYCTEA. — Snowy Day Owl 447 Trentox LimestoxVE. — So called from the village of Trenton, where it is largely developed 18-20 Tarandus. — A genus of the Deer Tribe, probably derived in some way from the Saxon, Hrane, a reindeer 'J'l Tarandus hastalis. — The Woodland Caribou '^t Tarandus Arcticus. — The northern or barren ground Caribou 71 Teal. — The green winged 1^^ Teal. — The blue winged 256 Tertiary Formations of Canada 321 Tellina Groenlandica 340 Tellina Calcarea 340 Tellinomya. — See Professor Hall's article 391 Trap. — So called from the Swedish trappa, a flight of steps. Trap is of volcanic origin, and is found filling veins, or where it has overflowed, forms mountains, ex. the mountain of Montreal . B X. Page. TiTRPUS. — Latin, a thrush. The genus of birds to whicli the commou BO called Robin of this country belongs 142 TuRDUS MiGRAToraus. — The Migratory Thrush 142 Tetras. — Greek, tetrax, a moor fowl. Rutfed Grouse, T, umbellus. . . 280 Tetrao Canadensis.— Spruce Partridge 292 Utica Slate. — Lower Silurian. Utica, a city in the State of New- York 18-21 Ursus. — Latin, a hear 100 XJesus Americanus.— The Black Bear 100 Grsus ferox. — The Grizzly Bear 104 Ursus maritimus.— Polar or White Bear 108 Ursus cinnamomum. — The Cinnamon Bear 114 Vulpes. — Latin, a Fox 216 Wapite. — The Canadian Stag;, Elaphus Canadensis 81 Wood Duck 149 White Bear r 108 Woodpeckers. — See Pious. Wolf 209 Wolverene, or Carcajou, gulo luscus 242 Woodcock 300 Wheat Mldgk '^08 Waxwjng ^^^6 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. T HE above named J\lagaziue will be devoted to the Na- tural History and Geology of Canada and the neighbouring British Pro- vinces. It will contain — L. Articles upon the Geological Phenomena, rocks, minerals and fossils of those countries, illustrated by suitable wood or stone engrav- ings. 2. Ditto, upon the Natural History of the indigenous Quadrupeds, Bn-ds, Reptiles, Fish and' Molliisca,— comprising their description, habits, instincts, and geographical distribution. 3. A recoi-d of discoveries iii the sciences of Geology and Natural History.. It will be issued in numbers, six times in the year, in the months of February, April, June, August, October and December, each number con- taining from twenty to thirty wood cuts, and' one or more lithographic, steel, or copper plates, according to circumstances. These will consFst of original drawings from Canadian specimens, or copies from the best published autho- rities. The six numbers of each year will form a book of 480 pages, with over 120 engravings and a glossarial index, which will accompany the last number of the year. Like most other periodicals, its contents will be in part compiled and in part original matter. The former will be selected from the best English, French and' German works, and the latter will be founded upon materials collected in Canada by the subscriber. In this part there will be Ibund descriptions and Ogures of many remarkable species of extinct ani- mals. As the work is intended to be useful to young persons, all of whom ought to be well versed in the Geology and Natural History of their native country, the technical terms used will be explained or translated in cases where it may be necessary. Terms : — 15s. per annum, payable in advance. All communications to be addtesed (post paid) to the subscriber. E. BILLINGS. Ottawa, 15th February, 185G. (PVom the Ottawa Citizen, 16th February.).. In another column will be iound an advertisement of aMagazins of Natural History, about to be commenced in this city, under the above title. The subjects to the investigation of. which it will be devoted are the Zoology and Geology ol the British Provinces of North America. These very interesting departments of knowledge are, ot late, being sedulously cultivated: in all civilized countries, and it is, therefore, thought not out of place to attempt something of the kind ia, Canada. We do not wish tobe understood as intimating that no efforls have been made in this direction in this Province. On the contrary,, iat Quebec and Montreal there have been long in existence two Natural History Societies, and at Toronto, the Canadian Institute, established partly for the same purpose, is also in a flourishing condition. Again, in several of the' Universities of the Province, chairs of Natural History and Geology have been endowed, and which are now filled by some of the ablest scientific men of the age. One thing more, however, is required, and that is a periodical literature, devoted ex- clusively to the study of Natural History, circulating everywhere throughout the country, and published at a price within the means of the greater proportion of readers. It is not necessary in this age ol the world, to urge that these sciences are useful. All knowledge is good, and all will admit that the lessons we receive from the contemplation of nature and her wondrous laws, whether as exhibited in the growth of a plant, the instinct of a beast in pursuit of its prey, the gentle aflec- tion of a bird for its young, or the more grand operation of the revolution of a world, are those the most instructive and the most illustrative of the wisdom, power and gx)odness ot Providence. All science is founded upon the understanding of those lavrs. All the power that man has acquired over the material world has been derived from the observa- tion of their modes of operation. The more men observe, the more they must learn, and it is undoubtedly the opinion of all the best educationists, that no intellectual pursuit is better adapted to strengthen the observing powers than that of Natural History. The habit of noticing objects, of comparing them with each other, ascertaining their relations and usefulness, is one that should be cultivated to ihe utmost in the young, as it is upon this mental acquisition that the future success in life of the individual must, in a great measure, depend ; and as the two sciences to which the magazine proposed to be estab- lished will be devoted, consist altogether of such exercises, it will, no doubt, be useful to the youth of the Province. Every young man should know something about the Geology and Natural History of his native country. He should endeavour, in his leisure moments, to make this a large share of his general stock of knowledge, and he will find that in afterlife thousands of occasions will arise, when he will not regret that he acquired such information. The resources of a young country cannot be speedily developed without the intelligent application of the principles of these branches, and w^e think it a wise resolution of the Legislature to encourage, by liberal grants, the differ- ent institutions devoted to these subjects. There are certain great problems connected with the law^s of animal life, the investigation of Avhich is of the* very highest national importance. The dreadful ravages of certain species of insects upon the vegetable food of man have frequently plunged nations into the horrors of famine. ' Plow to guard against such visitations cannot be known until we shall have attained to a more profound knowledge of Natural History than that possessed by ihc mn. l>rocured in this country viitliout gvet^i diiTiGulty. Tlie reason is, that tho books in general circi'.lutiou contain littkc or noinformation concerning the- .species of fossils, animals or i)lants, peculi.ir to, or \vhicli range into this. F'roviuce. The greater number have been described by the scientific men "f other countries, but then these descriptions are scattered through the •louraalo of the diL^'erent learned Societies of Europe and America, or pub- lished in books not easily procured. Without the assistance of such infor- mation, practical observers must be rare in this country — ^yith it, they would abound in every county in the Province. There is no lack of ability in the youth of Canada, but they arc sadly destitute of books which might ouable them to make practical application of their talents in the study of :vny one of the innumerable objects of nature with whicii they are every- where and at ail times surrounded. Men do not take much interest in things they cannot investigate, and hence that universal indifference, of Avhich the several literary societies of Canada so frequently complain. The ]\Iagazine proposed to be established will be devoted exclusively to the Geology and Zoology of the British Provinces of North America, and in conducting it, I sliall endeavour to make it as useful as passible to all who may feel interested in the subjects to which it will, be confined. I f^hall collect and compile all the information concerning the fossils and animals of the country within my reach, commencing with the larger qua- drupeds, and more characteristic and common oj-gauic remains, and thence gradually proceeding to those more rare or hitherto undescribed. The 'vorks consulted will be the best European and American authorities. In I'txe present number, some of the matter in two of the articles, as will be observed, has been taken from the Reports of the Geological Survey of Canada ; but as I understand that these invaluable documents are about to be re-published for general circulation, I shall confine myself with tliis exception to other sources, and such discoveries as I have made myself. In fact, this journal will consist more of Natural IJistory than of Geology in the restricted acceptation of that term. It is intended principally to be of assistance to the youth of Canada, but as it will also contain many new species, and even several new and very remarkable genera of extinct animals,. I hope that scientific 7\ien will also regard it a» favourably as they can. In conclusion, I would respectfully solicit the public men of the Province, and others who can do so without inconve- nience to themselves, if they think the work worthy of encouragement, ta aid it by subicribiug for. it, and also by using, their, influence in its Aivour. E. BILLTNGS. IT HE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST. BY E. BILLINGS. Volume L FEBRUARY, 1856. Number I. ARTICLE I. Introductory. ^^Elevaiion and subsidence of Land — Various Theories of the Eartli — Origin of Stratified flocks — European and American Formations-^ Geographical Distribution of the latter in Canada. The Natural History of any extensive region comprises the description, not only of the existing races of animals, but also of those which have be- come extinct in forraGr ages, and whoH6 remains are found in a fossil state within its limits. The latter part of the subject is again intimately con- nected with the physical or geological structure of the country, owing to the fact that in all parts of the "#6rl- lished. The latter cannot be well interpreted, without the assistiincc of tho former. It generally requires all the old knowledge to explain new dis- coveries, and therefore for the convenience of the larger class of readers, we must trespass> somewhat upon the patience of the lesser number. To understand clearly, the nature of those causes that have produced at various times, the great beds of rock, which constitute the exterior layers of the earth's crust, is not difficult, provided the attempt be made in the right direction ; and yet this knowledge remained undiscovered by man, until near the commencement of the present century. Strange as it may appear, thc- eluc to the history of vast mountains and even whole continents of stone, was not found where It would be naturally sought for, in the mineral por- tion > of our planet, but where it could be least suspected of lying concealed, in the study of the animal kingdom. Geologists have succeeded in discov- ering and explaining the structure of the globe, for a distance of several railes- beneath the surface ; but these triumphs of science were only accomplished, through the assistance afforded by the organic remains, imbedded in the dif- ferent formations. The study of these relics of ancient life, is therefore not only of great interest, but also of an importance nearly equal to all the ad- vantages that countries rich in mineral treasures may derive fi*om such re- sources. In the earlier ages of the existence of the human race, it had become known that in certain regions^ sea-shells, lx)nes of fishes and other reraaias- of marine animals, were to be found, upon the dry land, in places far from the shore, upon the summits of lofty hills, or deeply buried in the solid rock, and facts of so extraordinary a character, could not but have given birth to a vast deal of discussion. The history of geology, should properly com- mence at that moment when the first inquiring persou began to wonder by what process these exuvia3 of the sea came to occupy positions apparently so anomalous. What those speculations may have been, we can never know ; — the thought permitted to pass away unrecorded, must be lost forever. Doubtless many theories w^ere conceived, but they liave not, and perhaps it is not important timt they shou'd liave been preserved. Among the anc-icat Urcciansj the idea of the elevation and subsidence of land, or that it s.ynietiin^\s sinks down and after lying for a time, beneath the waves rises a.'^iiin, bringjtig.upvWth it, the deposit of marine remains accu- mulated up)n it while, submorgeii appears to have been much favored by' their ab est. piiilosophers. Tiin&'Av^stotlc in one of his works, says " the touutains. In the chalk, no remains of mammalia have been found, but aii abundance of other fossils such as corals, echin oderms, mollusca, GAi, aud large saurians or lizards. Not fovmd in Canada. F. OOMTR. The Oolite is thus divided : — IG. Pur beck Beds; 17. Portland Beds ; 13. Kimmeridge Clay ; 19. Coral Rag ; 20. Oxford Clay ; 21. Great or Bath Ooliie ; 22. Inferior Oolite. — In the Oolitic seas, swarmed great uumbcrs of moilusca and fish of now extinct species, and Genera, together with the Pterodactyls, Plesiosaurs, Isthyosaurs, and other monsters, descrip- tions of which may be found in many of the common school books of this country : but in addition to these, there existed several species of mammalia,, whose remains have been found in the Stouesfield slate. This fact is justly regarded with much interest by geologists, for the reason that throughout the whole of the cretaceous rocks Ivinii: above the Oolite no mammalian relics have been discovered. The Oolite is not found in Canada. G. The Lias. 2.3. Lias. — Beneath the Oolite is the Lias, with fussils resembling in< general those of the last group, but specifically distinct. Not found ia Canada. H. The Trias. The Trias is thus divided : — 24. Upper Trias ; 25. Middle Tnas,. or Muschelkalk ; 26. Lower Trias, — The Trias, or New Eed Sandstone formation appears to have been accumulated at a tims when the world swarmed with large Batrachiaiis, or creatures of the frog tribe. From tho/ ?ize of some of the numerous footprints in the sandstone of Europe and the United States, it appears that many of these creatures were as large or even larger tha,n an ox. According to Professor Hitchcock, an eminent ^Inieri- ean Geologist, certain species whose tracks are found in great numbers in the State of Connecticut walked upon two legs like a bird ; between forty and fifty kinds of those tracks have been made out, many of which may have been the impressions of birds. There was at this time, land and laud plants, and in the seas were many large fish, bat the principal characteristic of the age was the abuudaiice of huge frogs aiid saurians which infested the sea shores.. The teeth of a small mammalian has been discovered in a bone breccia in Wurtemberg, in the Trias, and has been called microlcstis antiquus ;: from micros, little ; and testes, a beast of pray. Not found in Canada. /. Permian. 27. The Penr.ian, or Magncsian Limestone. — The formations above enumerated from the top of the cretaceous to the bottom of the Triaaalo j^oup constitute the Secondary or Mcsozoic rocks, and the Permian is eon- Eidercd to form a transition group between them and the Primary or Pal- • ccozic rocks^ The upper portion of the Permian belongs to the Secondary, • and the lower to the Primary scries. The fossils consist of a few planta. Classification of Rocks. 15 corals, shells, numerous fish, and some remains of Sauriana. The furmation IS widely spread out over liussla, and occurs also in Englaiul, hut not in ('auada. K. Caeboniferouf!. 28. Upper Carboniferous ; 29. Lower Carboniferous. — The first of these contains tlic beds of coal, and is of great thickness in some places. Sir Charles Lyell says, that " in South Wales the coal measures liavc been ascertained by actual measurement to attain the extraordinary thickness of 12,000 feet ; the beds throughout, with the exceptio]i of the coal itself, ap-- j^aring to have been formed in water of moderate depth during a slow, but perhaps, intermittent depression of the ground in a region to which the rivers,, were bringing a never faihng supply of muddy sediment and sand. The game area Avas sometimes covered with vast forests, such as we see in the deltas of gi'cat rivers in warm climates which are liable to be submerged beneath fresh or salt waters, should the ground sink vertically a few feet." The process appears to have been carried on as follows :— Large tracts of low level and marshy laud near the mouths of great rivers remained clothed with vegetation until the fallen leaves, branches, trunk's of trees, ferns and reeds, formed beds of vegetable matter several feet in thickness ;. the land then sank beneath the level of the sea and the surface became covered over v/ith more or less numerous strata of sand and mud. An elevation then took place — a new forest with a new^ bed of vegetable soil was formed; the country again subsided, and the materials for other strata of rock were spread over its sur- face, while at the bottom. Thus one bed of coal after another, was formed with layers of limestone, sandstone, or shale between. In the coal mines, the stumps of the trees are often found with roots imbedded in the spot where they grew. In 1852, Prof Dawson, (now the Principal of McGill College,. Montreal,) and Sir Charles Lyell, found in one locality, called the Joggins, in jSTova Scotia, GS of those buried forests one above the other in a depth of" 1,400 feet of rock. Mr. Logan had previously ascertained that the thick- i>es3 of the formation at the same place is 14,750 feet, nearly three miles, so tiiat there may be many others besides those observed. It appears to be well established that coal is entirely of vegetable origin, and that each bed: now occupies the spot where the plants from which it was derived' grew. — During the age of the formation of the coal the land, was stocked with a most prolific vegetation. In England, Europe, North America, and even- in the Arctic regions wdicre only a few dwarf shrubs and' mosses now grow ; there were in the carboniferous age of the world dense forcstvS similar to those of the tropical regions of the present day. There were many large fish in- the seas, and it appears a few air-breathing reptiles on land. The lower car- boniferous rocks contain no coal- The true coal measures, or the upper carboniferous formation does not occur in Canada, but a portion of the lower carboniferous reaches Guspe at the Bay of Chaleur. Both are exten- eive'y developed in Nova Scotia and' New BVuuswick.. 16 Classification of Rocks, L. Devonian. The Devonian or old Red Sandstone, constitutes numbers 30. Upper Devonian, and 31. Lower Devonian of Sir Charles Lyell's Tables. These formations are remarkable for the numbers of extraordinary fossil fish they contain, and have been made celebrated by the works of Hugh Miller, the leading geologist of Scotland. Occurs in Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. M. Silurian. 32. Upper Silurian ; 33. Lower Silurian. — These two formations constitute a large part of the fossiliferous surface of Canada, and Will occupy much of our attention hereafter. N. Cambrian. 34. Upper Cambrian ; 35. Lower Cambrian. — These are the lowest and oldest rocks kno^vn to contain the remains of organized creatures ; they are found m Britain, Bohemia, Sweden, the United States and Canada ; they are of great thickness, but contain few organic remains. The copper- producing rocks of Lakes Huron and Superior, called Huronian by Mr. Logan, are supposed to belong to this formation. In Bohemia, where the Palaeozoic rocks have been extensively and minutely examined by M. Bar- rand, this part of the series has been named the Primordial zone. Sir C. Lyell considers the Potsdam Sandstones of America to belong to the Cam- brian rather than the Lower Silm-iau, to which latter division they have hitherto been referred. In the following list the names of the formations which have their equi- valents in this Province, are given in black letters, so as to shew at a glanco ^svhat are present and what are absent in Canada : — ABRIDGED TABLE OF FOSSILIFEROUS ROCKS. 7.— TERTIARY OR CAINOZOIC. i. RECEXT. 2. POST-PLIOCENfe. 3. NEWER PLIOCENE, 4. OLDER PLIOCENE. 5. MIOCENE. 6. UPPER EOCENE. 7. MIDDLE EOCENE. 8. LOWER EOCENE. //.—SECONDARY OR MESOZOIC* 9. MAESTRICHT BEDS. 10. UPPER WHITE CHALK. 11. LOWER WHITE CHALK; 12. UPPER GREENSAND. 13. GAULT. 14. LOWER GREENSAND. 15. WEALDEN. 16. PURBECK BEDS. 17 Classification of Rocks, 17. PORTLAND STONE. 18. KIMMERIDGE CLAY. 19. CORAL RAG. 20. OXFORD CLAY. 21. GREAT OR BATH OOLITE. 22. INFERIOR OOLITE. 23. LIAS. 24. UPPER TRIAS. 25. MIDDLE TRIAS OR MUSCHELKALK. •26. LOWER TRIAS. ///.—PRIMARY OR PALyEOZOIC. 27. PERMIAN OR MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE. 28. COAL MEASURES. 29. CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE, (Gaspe.) 30. UPPER DEVONIAN. 31. LOWER DEVONIAN. 32. UPPER SILURIAN, 33. LOWI3R SILURIAN. 34. UPPER CAMBRIAN, 35. LOWER CAMBRIAN. Tlie foregoing are all the rocks at present known which contain organic remains, and considering that they would constitute, if all of them could be found lying one above the other in their natural order, a thickness of ten miles, composed altogether of the mud and sand which accumulated gradu- ally in the ancient seas, one would suppose that the bottom rocks on which the oldest of these rest would be the original surface of the earth — but it is not so. Below the Cambrian there are other and more ancient stratified rocks which proclaim the existence of seas still more remote in time than those of the Cambrian age. They consist of hard rocks, which, in general have been partly melted and re-consolidated — they are stratified, but much bent and twisted together, and their surface presents unmistakeable evidences of their having been greatly denuded or worn dov/ n by the long continued action of atmospheric and other causes before the Cambrian system was deposited upon their often upturneil edges. In Canada they occupy the surface of nearly all the country lying on the north shores of the St. Law- rence and Ottawa rivers, and the uninhabited territory between the Ottawa and Lakes Huron. This latter region is also prolonged southwardly into the United States, crossing the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Brockville. The formation has received the name of The Laurentian from Mr. Losran. The country occupied by it is generally rough and broken up into ragged hills and valleys, with numerous small lakes of beautiful clear watef well stocked with fish. Although these rocks, the Laurentian, are certainly of secondary origin, that is, were formed at the bottom of some vastly ancient sea, after the crea- tion of the world ; yet, on account of their wide diffusion, for they, with- out doubt, underlie ail the fossiliferous rocks, they may be assumed for our, 2 upper Silurian. Lower Silurian. 1 8 Classification of Rocks, present purpose to have been the original surface of the earth. They con- stituted the floor of the ocean upon which the Cambrian and Silurian rocks were slowly deposited, and in our enumeration of these latter, we shall con- sider the Laui-entions as the foundation supporting all the others. CANADIAN FORMATIONS. "We shall now proceed to the examination of the Canadian Formations in detail, characterising each briefly, and concluding with a table of their geographical distribution in the several counties of the province, so far as this can be ascertained from the materials in our possession. Commencing at the surface and proceeding downwards, the following is their order and supposed thickness : — Devonian -! ^' Cl^^'-^^o and Portage Groups, 7,000 ( 2. Hamilton Group, .... .... 1,000 3. Coruiferous Limestone,. ... 100 4. Onondaga Salt Group, .... 350 5. Niagara Limestones and Shales, 500 6. Clinton Group, .... .... GO 7. Medina Sandstone, 600 8. Hudson River Group, 1,100 9. Utica Slate, 100 10. Trenton Limestone, ... 450 11. Calciferous Saudrock, 250 n h 'r,^ i ^2. Potsdam Sandstone,. . . 300- Lamonan. | ^3^ Huronian Rocks, 14. Laureutian Rocks . Life- 11,810 The thickness of the Laurentian rocks is unknown, and that of the Huronian is stated by Mr. Logan at 10,000 feet. Deducting the Chemung and Portage gToups, which are only to be found in Gaspe, in this Province, we have for the fossiliferous rocks of Upper Canada the depth of 4,810 feet or nearly a mile ; but it is probable that the Hamilton group does not attain its full volume where it crosses the Western peninsula. The other measure- ments taken principally from the works of the New York Geologists, are-, probably not far from correct. The following are some further particulars concerning each of the fossili- ferous formations of Canada : — Potsdam Sandstone. This formation reposes in most places where it is seen in Canada, im- mediately upon the Laurentian rocks, the only exception being near Lakes Huron and Superior, where the Huronian lies between the Sandstone and the older deposits. It takes its name from Potsdam, a town situated about thirty miles from Ogdensburgh, in the State of New^ York. It is a sand- stone sometimes very compact, almcst resembhng pure quartz, sometimes fine and often coarse-grained, containing small rounded pebbles ; its colour varies from white, yellowish or reddish, to bro"s^ii. At Potsdam it is very regularly stratified, and splits readily into slabs of a convenient size for build- Classification of Rocks. 1& ing or flap:ging streets. It yields materials for glass making, and also makes a good lining for iron furnaces. The species of fossils it contains are few in number, but some of them of great scientific interest. In the ancient seas, the materials of which this rock is composed doubtless existed in the form of loose sand drifted about the bottom, and constituting extensive beaches and shallows where sported numerous animals, distantly allied to the crabs and lobsters of the present day, but of a generic form no longer seen. There were a few small shell fish, and it appears a good deal of sea weed in this ocean, as their remains are often found more or less perfectly preserved in the rock. The Potsdam Sandstone should be found at intervals along the base of the hills on the north shores of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa, from below Quebec, to a point opposite Pembroke. From this latter place it forms an irregular and interrupted belt southwardly through the counties of Renfrew, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, to the St. Lawrence above Brockville. It also crosses from the Ottawa, near the village of St. Anns, to Beauharnois and thence into the United States. West of the Thousand Islands this rock should be found in a belt extending from the vicinity of Kingston westwardly in the rear of the counties on the north shore of Lake Ontario, to the south- east corner of the Georgian Bay. It also occurs at the Sault St. Mary. Calcifeeous Sandrociv. The Calciferous Sandrock consists of limestone, containing more or less sand — some of the beds are of a shaly character, having the appearance of a drab coloured greenish or yellowish hardened mud, full of petrified sea weeds. The rock called by the farmers in some parts of the country, " Bas- tard Limestone," belongs to this formation. In the reports of the Geoloo-ical Survey of New York, it is thus described by Mr. Vanuxem, one of the Geo- logists who w^as employed on that important work, " it embraces genei-ally three distinct masses as to character and position — the first is silicious and compact, and may probably be the continuation of the Potsdam Sandstone, either in part or almost wholly," " The second is a variable mixture of fine yellew silicious sand and car- bonate of lime, which, v/hen fractured, presents a fine sparkling grain ; it is in layers, but they rarely shew that very regular structure which usually belongs to a limestone rock. They have a shattered appearance from numer- ous cracks, the parts being more or less separated from each other." '' The third is a mixture of the Calciferous material, which is usually yelloAvish, very granular and sparkling when fresh broken, and of compact limestone, which resembles the Birdseyc limestone in its mineral character, containing also some argillaceous or slaty matter." ■'-^ The Calciferous Sandrock often contains cavities, lined with beautiful quartz, crystals, and sometimes small rounded masses of transparent calca- reous spar. It has only a few species of fossils, but contains great quanti- ties of Fucoides, or petrified sea weeds. These are sometimes packed in * Report upon the Third District, page 30, 20 Classification of Rocks, beds, wliicli decompose readily an exposure to the weather ; the Fucoides partly retaiuing their form, and resembling small broken sticks or twigs. — The formation rests upon the Potsdam Sandstone, and is seen along the south shore of the Ottawa in many localities from Carillon to the Chatts, At Grenville, and also at Aylmer, it occurs on both sides of the river ; from the middle of the Allumettes Island it extends irregularly south to Prescott, where it crosses the St. Lawrence into the United States. It should be found also bordering the Potsdam Sandstone where this latter formation crosses from Lake Champlain through Beauharnois to the north shore of the Ottawa, above Montreal, thence it should form a baud running more or less near to the north shore of the St. Lawrence to the neighbourhood of Quebec. Its position west of Kingston would be along the south side of the line of the Potsdam Sandstone, pointed out in the description of that forma- tion. The Trenton Limestone. Tlie rock of this formation may, in general, be easily recognised — it is almost always a pure, grey, blue, buff or blackish limestone, very regularly stratified. Nearly all the good limestone in the inhabited portions of Ca- nada East of Toronto, consists of this very important deposit. The lime- stones West of Toronto belong to the Upper Silurian, while those used for burning in the country occupied by the Laurentian rocks, are white, and cannot be mistaken for the Trenton formation. Kingston, Ottawa, Mon- treal, Quebec, and a great many of the towns and villages East of Toronto, are built of materials derived from this rock. The Calciferous Sandrock is generally of a lighter colour, and mixed with sand as its name denotes, although it contains some beds which resem- ble the pure limestones of the Trenton series ; a little practice however will enable the student of Geology in Canada to point out the difference. The Trenton formation has been divided by the New York Geologists into four sections, the Chazy, Birds Eye, Black Eiver, and Trenton Limestones, but Mr. Logan considers them all united by their fossils into one. They repose upon each other in the order above indicated, the Chazy being the lowest, the Birds Eye resting on the Chazy, the Black Ptiver on the Birds Eye, and the Trenton lying upon the Black Eiver. There are certain fossils jxiculiar to each of those four divisions of the Trenton Limestone, while there are others which prevail throughout the whole mass, and for the latter reason is it considered to be a single formation. This rock is seen on the Eiver St. Mary between Lakes Huron and Superior, on the Island of St. Joseph, and again at the South-east end of the Georgian Bay ; from this latter locality^ it runs eastwardly until it reaches the Eastern extremity of Lake Ontario,- aud for some distance above Kingston. It is extensively spread out over the country lying between the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, its western limit in this region being the belts of Potsdam Sandstone and Calciferous Sandrock above mentioned, as stretching from the neighbourhood of Pem- broke, through Eenfrew, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, to the St. Lawrence. In Lower Canada it is largely developed in the neighbourhood of JMontrcal. Classification of RocJcs. 21 from which city it runs in one direction down the north shore of the St. Law- rence to some distance below Quebec, and in another dhection to Lake Champlain — several bands of it on the south side of the St. Lawrence below Montreal, extend southwardly to the Province line East of Lake Cham- plain. Utica Slate. The Utica Slate, so called after the city of that name in the State of New York, is a jet black shale resembling a mass of hardened mud. Upon exposure for a few mouths to the air, it turns of a light brown or chocolate colour upon its surface, and finally decomposes into a clay soil of consider- able fertility. The rock at the surface is generally seen in small flat slaty fragments, but on penetrating downwards into the deposit several feet, it is found to be very compact, but crossed by numerous joints or fissures in a direction diagonal to the stratification. In the lower part of the formation it includes several thin beds of limestone, with seams of bituminous shale between them, generally full of fossils. According to Mr. Logan's map, published in the Canadian Journal, vol. 3, the Utica Slate borders Lake Ontario in the irout of the Townships of Hamilton, Hope, Clarke, Darlmg- ton, Whitby, and Pickering. It then leaves the lake and runs in a belt, several miles wide, in the rear of Toronto and north to the Georgian Bay, where it forms the front of the Township of Nottawasaga and part of Col- lingwood. It forms several long parallellbeds in the counties of Carleton, Russell, and Prescott, extending from the city of Ottawa to the neighbour- hood of Hawkesbury. It also occurs in the neghbourhood of Montreal and again near Quebec. Between these two cities, on both sides of the St. Law- rence, it has been found in various irregular patches and bands, marked by its characteristic fossils. Hudson River Group. This group, which is said to have a thickness of from 1,000 to 1,400 feet, is composed of blue, green, or red argillaceous shales, interstratified with thin bands of sandstone, and occasionally some limestones. It forms the shore of Lake Ontario, from the Township of Pickering to the Credit. The city of Toronto stands upon it, or rather above it, for a deep bed of drift covers the formation in this part of the province. From Lake Ontario it extends back to the Georgian Bay, which it reaches in the Townships of Collingwood, St. Vincent, and Sydenham ; further on in this direction it courses along the northern sides of the Manitoulin Islands, where it is accon,- panied by the Utica. slate in a very narrow band. In Lower Canada it con- stitutes much of the country on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, below Montreal, and is largely developed at Quebec, and at several points in the neighbourhood on the north shore. The Medina Sandstone. The Medina Sandstone is composed of red and green coloured marls and slaty sandstones, with a thick bed of grey sandstone at the top, yielding fine building stones, for which purpose it is extensively used — the formation is said to be 600 feet in thickness. The grey band at the summit constitutes 22 Classification of RocTcs, the upper surface of the lower Silurian rocks in Upper Canada. The for- mation skirts the south shore of Lake Ontario, from the Niagara river to Hamilton, and thence continues down the Lake to Oakville ; it thence runs north to Owen Sound and fringes the western coast of the Georgian Bay for several leagues further, it also crosses the Manitoulin Islands in a narrow belt. In Lower Canada it does not appear to have been very decidedly recognized. Clintok and Niagara Groups. These are generally considered by the American Geologist to be sepa- rate formations distinguished from each other by characteristic suites of fossils. A series of green shales and impure limestones, with a partial bed of fossiliferous iron ore of variable thickness, are the materials of which the first is formed ; and a mass of shale 80 feet thick, overlaid by 160 feet of limestone, constitutes the latter. The Clinton group is estimated by Pro- fessor Hall, of the New York Geological Survey, at about 60 feet in thick- ness. Mr. Murray, of the Provincial Survey, ascertained the thickness of the two groups to be 560 feet on the Manitoulin Islands. These formations have yielded a rich harvest of fossils of the upper Silurian age. They cross the Niagara river between Queenstown and the Falls, in a belt here about 7 miles wide ; they then run westerly, and turning round to the north in the rear of Hamilton, stretch nearly across the counties of Wellington, Went- worth, Bruce and Grey, to Lake Hm-on. They constitute the long irregular tongue of land which separates this lake from the Georgian Bay, and also all the southern portions of the Manitoulin Islands. They have also been detected by Mr. Logan in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada. Onondaga Salt Group. This formation is a very important oiie for the agriculturist. It is des- cribed as consisting of grey or drab coloured limestones, ai*gillaceous sliales, marls and shaly limestones, with deposits of gypsum — thickness probably 350 feet. The gypsum is found in detached masses, often in great quantities, but never in regular strata. It is largely quarried in certain of the western Townships near Lake Erie, where the formation is extensively developed. — The formation enters the upper province in a narrow band between the Niagara Falls and Lake Erie, and proceeds westerly through the counties of Welland, Haldimaud, Brant, Waterloo, Wellington, Bruce and Grey, to Lake Huron, at the Townships of Bruce and Saugeen. It has not been distinctly recognized in Lower Canada. CORNIFEROUS LiMESTONE. ' The Corniferous Limestone consists of a fine grained, compact, calca- rous rock, generally bluesh or gi-eyish, and containing great numbers of hornstone nodules. It may be estimated at the thickness of 100 feet, and it probably includes in its lower portion in Canada a thin formation, called the Onondago Limestone by the New York Geologists. It crosses the western peninsula from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and probably underlies the greater portion of that tract of country occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Classification of Rocks, 53 Oxford, Perth, Elgin, Middlesex, and portions of several other counties adjoining these. Further west, it occurs in the counties of Kent and Essex. Hamilton Shales. This formation is a great mass of dull olive, blue, or black argillaceous? tind bituminous shales, 1,000 feet in thickness in New York, but probably not so thick in Canada. It occupies portions of Kent, Essex, and Lamb- ton. Chemung and Portage Grolts. These rocks, or those of the same age, only touch this province on the north side of the Bay of Chaleur, in Gaspe, where they are overlaid by the lower part of the coal formation. They consist of sandstones, and are the ■equivalents of the Devonian or Old Eed Sandstone Group. In Gaspe, they are said to be 7,000 feet in thickness, and constitute the highest rocks of the Geological series in Canada. In the Tables which follow, an attempt has been made to exhibit in a form convenient for reference all the formations which may be expected to occur in each of the counties of Upper and Lower Canada. We are well aware that there is a probability of its not being correct in some of the par- ticulars it contains. It must be borne in mind that there is no correct Geolo- gical Map of the whole Province yet published, and it is almost impossible to arrive at all the meanderings of these belts of rock with the materials for compilation at present extant. The tables, however, will be of use as a guide to the principal localities in a general way, and each reader can fill up with further details from his own district at his leisure. In Lower Canada, the country lying on the south side of the St. Lawrence, below Montreal, has t)een greatly disturbed by ancient convulsions of nature, and much difficulty will be experienced in ascertaining the boundaries of the tracts occupied by each formation. The whole of this region is Silurian, with the exception of the Devonian rocks in Gaspe, and the Lower Silurian lies next the St. Law- rence, the Upper being inland near and upon the boundary line between -Canada and the United States. The above are the only solid rocks to be seen over nearly all the Pro- vince of Canada. In the neighbourhood of Lakes Huron and Superior, what are called trap rocks, are of frequent occurrence. These are considered to have originated during the phenomena of ancient volcanoes. Where the •earth has cracked open and the melted matter from the interior has oozed up to the surface and there solidified these trap rocks have resulted. They are also found in Lower Canada. The mountain at Montreal, and others which will be hereafter examined, are examples of trap hills. 24 Classification of RocTcs. UPPER CANADA. Table of the Geograjphical distribution of the Formations in the several counties. M o • a a 1 • S a o u s HI « a o (0 a S 03 o Ph c 1 rt in u S o u .1-4 o a O 6 a o E a o w It si ■♦-• 3 o u C5 u > •F-l K a o Ii s 6 a o U2 C ft 0 ci 0 *' a 5 0 u C!5 rt ca ••< 0. 3 0 1-, r— < ca Vi R] re •a a e 0 0 c 0 ♦- (A (1> a in 0 s 0 0 0. P 0 a 0 re w ft 3 0 >>■ cis re i-> 0 Pk bA : C a M 0 14. 13. 13. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 3. ^- Addinffton 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 ii u 11 11 ii n ii 11 11 ii ii 11 ii 11 11 11 11 10 io 10 10 io 10 io io io 10 10 io io 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 "8 's 8 '& 7 i '7 •7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 6 6 "4 4 '4 '4 '4 4 4 3 3 3 3 '3 '3 3 3 ■3 3 2 '2 2 2 '2 '2 '2 • • Brant JBruce Carleton Dundas Durham Elgin Essex Eronlenac Glengarry Grey Granville Haldimand Halton . Hastinfs Huron Kent I^ambton I^anark Leeds Lennox Lincoln Middlesex Northumberland Norfolk Ontario . . Oxford Peel Perth Peterborough Frescolt Prince Edwards Renfrew Russell Simcoe Siormont Victoria AVaierloo Wellington AVellaiid Went worth York Note. — These Tables have been compiled from the valuable reports made to the Legislature by Mr. Logan, of the progress of the Geological Survey of the Province, under his charge. It is understood that he is about publish- ing, or has published, a Geological Map of great beauty and excellence. In the last number of Silliman's Journal, it is stated that this map will be the best cA'er executed of any part of America. It will be of the greateaH Classification of Rocks, LOWER CANADA. 25 Table of the Geographical distribution of the Formations in the several counties. ta P4 3 M 3 O o ll C5 TIES. a o a o 4- (A a W U2 o o a U2 a o tn s ■iH 6 o ci o a o tn n m P. o Ih r4 S o *-< C!5 o ;h r— • M Ul a> s •»H kI M 3 o 3 o 0) be o pL. iz; Hi n H o S p; rt o 4-. S3 O rt (4 o c 0 o u o o o a Oi H o o C •rH i~< o a o •rH o o I— » ••H a 3 s 14. 13. 13. k 8. 7. 4. 3. 11. 10. 9. 6. 5. 3. 1. i Beauhamois — — 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 S 8 8 7 6 6 Bellcchasse Berlhier Boiiavenlure Chamlilv Champlain Dorchester ^~- — — 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 3 2 Drummond Gaspe Huntingdon — — — 11 10 9 8 8 7 6 5 4 • •• Kamouraska Leiuster 14 E 12 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 ... ... I/Islet JjOtbiiiere Megaiitic Missisquoi Montmorency 14 1?. 11 10 9 8 7 Montreal , . . . 14 14 — 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 ;; — • 0 • • « • • • Kicolet Oitawa Portneuf Qiiel)ec 14 — 12 11 10 9 8 ... __ ._ • • • • • • Richelieu __ __ 10 9 8 Riinouski — 12 11 10 9 a 7 6 5 4 3 2 Kouvilie 14 14 — 12 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 — — KM ... ... St. Maurice Saguenay 12 11 10 9 ^ __ Sheifurcl — — 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 8 '^ ... ... Sherbmoke Slansiead Si. Hyacinlhe 10 9 8 ' Terrebonne 14 14 — 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 — -- — ••• ... Tv/o Mountains Vaudreuil 14 — 12 11 10 10 9 -- -- -- — ... ... VerQheres Yainaska — — -- — 10 9 S 7 _"^ — ... ... service to every student of Canadian Geology, and it is to be hoped that an edition accessible to all vpill be extensively circulated in this province. It should be observed, with respect to the above Tables, that although the course and whereabouts of the formations can in general be pointed out, yet for the greater part they are concealed beneath the beds of sand clay and gravel which forms the loose soil of the conntry, and cannot therefore always be seen. 26 Classification of the Animal Kingdom. ARTICLE 11. — On the Nomenclature and Classification of the Animal Kingdom. For the benefit of tlie juvenile reader, it appears to be proper in this place to explain, that in classifying objects of natural history, two names are absolutely necessary for each species. If we glance for a moment at any one group of animals, the reason will become apparent. In North America for instance, there are three kinds of Bears, — the black bear, white bear, and grizzly bear, — all of them animals of the same anatomical and physiological structure, yet so widely different in size, proportions and color, that the most superficial observer would not hesitate to pronounce them of three distinct species. A person well acquainted* with the appearance of the black bear, upon seeing a grizzly bear for the first time, would at once call it a bear, although very difierent from the species previously known to him. In con- versation, however, in order to make it understood which of the animals might happen to be spoken of, it would be necessary for him to distinguish the subject of his remarks by some word which would designate the species. The word black, white, or grizzly, would serve to point out very clearly which of the three was intended. It arises from the nature of language, that we cannot make ourselves understood, where the animal is one of a group consisting of several well kno\vn species, all having a similar structure and the same general form, without using two names for the same object. The word bear is the generic name, it indicates the genus or family, and is expressed by the latin word ursus, a bear, in scientific books. The words ■white, black, or grizzly, are the specific names — they serve to point out the species. The only difference between ordinary and scientific conversation in this respect is, that in the first we use our native language, and in the other the dead languages. Thus the American Bears are classified or named as fol- lows in the two cases : — Common Name. Syslemaiic. Translation. Black Bear. Ursus Americamcs. American Bear. White Bear. Ursus maritirmcs. Maritime Bear. Grizzly Bear. Ursus ferox. Ferocious Bear. Cinnamon Bear. Ursus cinnamomum. Cinnamon Bear. . The last species is considered to be a mere variety of Ursus AmerU canus, although some authors are of a contrary opinion. During the middle ages the learned men published their books in Latin, and sometimes even in Greek. This circumstance was perhaps the reason why generic and specific names were originally written in those languages, and the practice has been continued, we think, with great benefit to the more wide diffusion of Natural History knowledge. It would be well if there were but one general language ; men could then read the books of all nations without the expenditure of the vast time and mental labour of studying foreign tongues. How many valuable hours would thus be saved ? But Classification of the Animal Kingdom, 27 since this cannot be, we must resort to the next best substitute and use, so far as may be practicable, those lauguagues that are the most widely under- stood. In the higher institutions of education in all civilized countries, the Latin and Greek languages are taught. A French, German, or Russian scholar who had never acquired the English, would not understand the word " bear," but ursus he would at once. There is therefore this amount of gain in re- taining the use of Latin and Greek names, that our discoveries, to some extent at least, will be more widely understood. Knowledge is the universal pro- perty of mankind, and he who assists with the greatest effect in promoting its diffusion, is the greatest benefactor of his race. The names employed by Naturalists in their systematic classifications have not always the same meaning as those in ordinary use. Some of the scientific terms are an improvement, others are not. For the animal so well known in Canada, " Black Bear," is not a very distinctive appellation, be- cause there are bears in Europe quite as black as the one which inhabits our forests. Ursus Americanus, " the American Bear," is also somewhat objectionable. It would be very proper if there were but one species in America, but since there are at least three well defined species of American bears, and one or two varieties, it is certainly not a good name. Ursus mari- timus and Ursus ferox are both sufficiently significant, because the first lives always upon the sea shore and the second is the most ferocious and terrible of all bears. In no department of the science of Natural History have there been greater difficulties to be surmounted than in that which relates to nomencla- ture, or the devising of appropriate and significant names. On looking over any large work, it Avill be seen that a great many of the species have had, each one of them, a number of different names bestowed upon it by various authors, and it often becomes a matter of great perplexity to decide which is the one to be retained. The rule in such instances is, that the name given by the person who originally or first described the species and published his description, is to be adopted to the exclusion of all others. Some authors describe new species of animals or fossils in so vague and unsatisfactory a manner, that it is next to impossible to recognize the object by the account they furnish of its pecu- liarities. Such descriptions will apply equally well to half a dozen or more species, and therefore do not serve the purpose of defining clearly which was intended. Difficulties of this nature are common, and many instances will be pointed out hereafter. The necessity of using two names, the specific and generic, prevails throughout all classes of the animal kingdom, both living and extinct, and as our object is to make ourselves understood, we shall on all occasions where practicable give the translation of the words employed. Where these have been derived from the Latin or Greek, it is in general easy enough to furnish such explanations, but where names of species have been framed out of the names of obscure places or unknown persons, it cannot be done without 28 Classification of the Animal Kingdom. access to much more extensive libraries thau can be found in this country. The fossils of Canada are for the greater part of extinct species, and ia most cases of extinct genera. In order to explain clearly what this means, we shall refer again to our friends the bears. If by some fatality all the black bears should perish, then the species would become extinct — ages might roll away, but Ursus Americanus would never once be seen in life. If all the individuals of every species of Ursus should perish, then the genus would be extinct. In the British Museum there are preserved the remains of several extinct species of Ursus. There is the Ursus spelczus, or Cave Bear, whose bones have been found in the ancient caves of several European coun- tries, and the Ursus priscus, or the first of all bears. Xone of these are at present in existence, and their species are therefore extinct, but the genua still survives, and is represented by eight or ten well known and clearly de- fined species besides several varieties in various parts of the world. Ou the other hand, Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and others, whose figures may be seen in many of the common school books, are examples of extinct genera. No progress of any value can be made in the study of Natural History without attention to the distinction between genus and species, and to the principles of classification, and we shall therefore quote in this place the re- marks of Messrs. Agassiz & Gould, in their recent work upon this subject. '■• Every art and science has a language of technical terms peculiar to itself. With those terms the student must make himself familiarly acquain- ted at the outset ; and first of all, he will desire to know the names of the objects about which he is to be engaged. The names of objects in Natural History are double, that is to say, they are composed of two terms. Thus, we speak of the white-bear, the black- bear, the hen-hawk, the sparrow-hawk ; or, in strictly scientific terms, we have Felis ho, the lion ; Felis tigris, the tiger ; Felis catus, the cat ; Canis lupus, the wolf ; Canis vulpes, the fox ; Canis familiaris, the dog, &c. They are always in the Latin form, and consequently the adjec- tive name is placed last. The first is called the generic name ; the second is called the trivial, or specific name. These two terms are inseparably associated with every object of which we treat. It is very important, therefore, to have a clear idea of what is meant by the terms genus and species ; and although the most common of all others, they are not the easiest to be clearly understood. The Genus is founded upon some of the minor peculiarities of anatomical structure, such as the number, disposition, or proportions of the teeth, claws, fins, &c., and usually includes several kinds. Thus, the lion, tiger, leopord, cat, &c., agree in the structure of the feet, claws, and teeth, and they belong to the genus Felis ; while the dog, fox, jackall, wolf, &c., have another and a diflerent peculiarity of the feet, claws, and teeth, and are arranged in the genus Canis. The species is founded upon less important distinctions, such as colour , size, proportions, sculpture, «fec. Thus we have diflerent kinds, or species, of duck, different species of squirrel, diflerent species of monkey, &c., varying Classification of the Animal Kingdom, 29 from each other in some trivial circumstance, while those of each group agree in all theii* general structure. The specific name is the lowest term to which we descend, if We except certain peculiarities, generally induced by some modification of native habits, such as are seen in domestic animals. — These are called varieties, and seldom endure bevond the cause which occa- sion them. Several genera which have certain traits in common are combined to form a family. Thus, the alewives, herrings, shad, &c., form a family called CLUPEiDiE, among fishes ; the crows, black-birds, jays, &c., form the family CoRviD^, among birds. Families are combined to form orders, and orders form classes, and finally, classes are combined to form the four primary divisions of the animal kingdom, namely, the departments. For each of these groups, whether larger or smaller, we involuntarily picture in our minds an image, made up of the traits which characterize the group. This ideal image is called a type, a term which there will be fre- quent occasion to employ, in our general remarks on the animal kingdom. — ■ This image may correspond to some one member of the group ; but it is rare that any one species embodies all our ideas of the class, family, or genus to which it belongs. Thus, we have a general idea of a bird ; but this idea does not correspond to any particular bird, or any particular character of a bird. It is not precisely an ostrich, an owl, a hen, or a sparrow ; it is not because it has wings, or feathers, or two legs ; or because it has the power of flight, or builds nests. Any, or all of these characters would not fully represent our idea of a bird ; and yet every one has a distinct ideal notion of a bird, a fish, a quadruped, &c. It is common, however, to speak of the animal which embodies most fully the characters of a group, as the type of that group. Thus, we might perhaps regard an eagle as the type of a bird, the duck as the type of a swimming-bird, and the mallard as the typQ of ii duck." The following is the sketch of the classification of the animal kingdom given in the work from which the above is quoted, — this system differs in some respect from those in general use at present. We shall point out some of those differences hereafter : — The Animal Kingdom consists of four great divisions which we call Departments, namely, I. The department of Vertebrata. II. The department of Articulata. III. The department of Mollusca. TV. The department of Eadiata. I. The department of Vertebrata includes all animals which have an internal skeleton, with a back-bone for its axis. It is divided into four 1. Mammals (animals which nurse their youner). 2. Birds. ^ 3. Reptiles. 4. Fishes. The class of Mammals is subdivided into three orders. a. Beasts of prey {Carnivora). 30 Classification of the Animal Kingdom. h. Those which feed on vegetables (Herbivora). c. Animals of the whale kind [Cetaceans). The class of Birds is divided into four orders. a. Birds of prey (Incessores). b. Climbers (Scansores). c. Wadei's [Graltatores). d. Swimmers [Natatores). The class of Reptiles is divided into five orders. a. Large reptiles with hollow teeth, most of which are now extinct [Rhizodonts). b. Lizards [Lacertans). - c. Snakes [Ophidians). d. Turtles {Chelonians). e. Frogs [Batrachians). The class of Fishes is divided into four orders. a. Those with enamelled scales, like the gar-pike Lepidosteug [Ganoids). b. Those with the skin like shagTeen, as the sharks and skates [Placoids). c. Those which have the edge of the scales toothed, and usually with some bony rays to the fins, as the perch [Ctenoids). d. Those whose scales are entire, and whose fin rays are soft, like the salmon [Cycloids). n. Department of Articulata. Animals whose body is composed of rings or joints. It embraces three classes. 1. Insects. 2. Crustaceans, like the crab, lobster, &c. , 3. Worms. The class of Insects includes three orders. a. Those which have jaws for dividing their food [Manducata). b. Those with a trunk fur sucking fluids, like the butterfly [Sue- toria). c. Those destitute of wings, like fleas [Aptera). The class of Crustaceans may be divided as follows : — a. Those fm-nished with a shield, like the crab and lobster [Mala- costraca). b. Such as are not thus protected [Entomostraca). c. An extinct race, intermediate betvv'een these two [Tritobites] , The class of Worms comprises three orders : a. Those which have thread-like gills about the head ( Tubuli- branchiata). b. Those whose gills are placed along the sides (Z)orsi6rancA?ai«). c. Those which have no exterior gills, like the earth-worm [Abran- chiata). III. The department of Mollusca is divided into threeclasses, namely : 1. Those which have arms about the head, Uke the cuttle-fish [Cephalopoda] . 2. Those which creep on a flattened disc or foot, like snails [Gas- teropoda). 3. Those which have no distinct head, and are enclosed in a biva vie shell, like the clams [Acephala). The Cephalopoda may be divided into — a. The cuttle-fishes, properly so called [Teuthideans). b. Those having a shell, divided by sinuous partitions into numer- ous chambers [Ammonites). Classification of the Animal Kingdom. 31 c. Those having a chambered shell with simple partitions {Navr- tilus). The Gasteropoda contains three orders : a. 1'he land-snails which breathe air {Pulmonaia). b. Tlie aquatic which breathe water {Branchifera). c. Those which have wing-like appendages about the head, for swimming [Pteropoda). The class of Acepiiala contains three orders : a. Those having shells of two valves (bivalves,) like the clam {Lamellibranchiata). b. Those having two unequal valves, and furnished with peculiar arms {Brachiopoda). c. Those living in chains or clusters, like the Salpa, or upon plant- like stems, like the Flustra. — Bryozoa. lY. The department of Radiata is divided into three classes : 1. Sea-urchins, bearing spines upon the surface {Echinodermata). 2. Jelly-fishes [Acalepha). 3. Polyps, fixed like plants, and with a series of flexible arms. around the mouth. The EcniNODERMS are divided into four orders : a. Sea-slugs, like the bich&-le-mar [Holothurians^.] b. Sea-urchins [Echini). c. Free star-fishes [Asteriadce]. d. Star-fishes mostly attached by a stem [Crinoidce), The Acalepha includes the following orders : a. Medusae, or common jelly-fishes [Discophori) . b. Those provided with aerial vesicles (Siphonophori) . c. Those furnished with vibrating hairs, by which they move [Clenophori). The class of Polyps includes three orders : a. Fresh-water polyps, and similar marine forms [Hydroids). b. Marine polyps, like the sea-anemone and coral-polyp (Actinoids.) c. A still lower form, allied to the mollusca by their shell [Rhizo- pods) . In addition to these, there are mmiberless kinds of microscopic animal- cules, commonly called infusory animals [Infusoria,] from their being found specially abundant in water infused with vegetable matter. Indeed, a great many that were formerly supposed to be animals ai'e now known to be vege- tables. Others are ascertained to be crabs, mollusks, worms, &c., in their earliest stages of development. In general, however, they are exceedingly minute, exhibiting the simplest forms of animal life, and are now grouped together, under the title of Protozoa. But, as they are still very imperfectly imderstood, notwithstanding the beautiful researches already published on this subject, and as most of them are likely to be finally distributed among vegetables and various classes of the annual kingdom, we have not assigned any special place to them. 32 Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone, ARTICLE III. — Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone j Sea-weeds, Shells^ and foot prints on the rock at Beauharnois. The Potsdam Sandstone once existed in the condition of gi-eat beds of gand drifted about the bottom of the ocean, forming T\-ide flat bars or banks, and on the shores extensive level sea beaches. A few rocky desert islands, probably of no gTeat extent, and v/ith a fierce tropical climate, alone marked the position of the present continent of North America. The seas were inhabited, for, in the sandstone, we find the remains of what seems to have been a very remarkable aquatic vegetation, besides a few diminutive shell- lish and the foot-prints of certain extinct animals, concerning whose organi- zation there yet appears to be much doubt. All of these shall receive some consideration in the following article : — 1. ScomiHus Linearis. The fossils to which Professor Hall, the greatest of American Palaeon- tologists, has given the above name, consists of numerous small straight stems which penetrate the strata of sandstone perpendicularly sometimes to the depth of one or two feet. Where they are abundant they have the ap- pearance of a series of small pins or pegs, from \ to \ of an inch in diameter, driven into the rock. They are in general cylindrical, but sometimes flat- tened and even striated. As all traces of their internal structure have long since disappeared, it is impossible to decide with certainty what they may have been. On the margins of the existing lakes and rivers, we fi-equently Dieet with localities where in the shallow water fields ef straight reeds are growing with their heads above the surface. Were the intervals between these to be filled with sand and be converted into rock, the strata would doubtless present the appearance of those beds of sandstone which are found to be penetrated by scolithus. Professor Hall considers them to be the re- mains of aquatic plants. Others are of opinion that they are holes made in the sand before its consolidation by worms. The fossil occurs in the sand- stone in the State of New York, and also in Canada, at Beauharnois — in the Township of Landsdowne, in the County of Leeds, and in several other places. The generic name Scolithus is from the Greek " Scolax" a worm : linearis Latin, linear or line-like. In the neighbourhood of the City of Ottawa there are frequently found large boulders of Sandstone which are penetrated by similar straight tubes, but of much greater dimensions. Some of these are four inches in diameter and pass through rounded masses of the rock five or six feet in thickness. — They resemble the trunks of small trees rather than petrified marine plants; As nothing, however, remains to be seen but the straight cyhndrical stemSj they cannot be referred to any particular family of the vegetable kingdom. The boulders appear to be Potsdam Sandstone, but we are not aware that these large fossils have yet been discovered in the undisturbed beds of the Fossils of (he Potsdam Sandstone, 33 formation ; and as most of the loose masses of stone which are to be seen strewn about the surface of Canada have been transported from a greater or less distant source, it is barely possible that they may belong to rocks of some other age. 2. Genus Lingula. The Lingular constitute a genus of small shell fish, several species of which are living in the seas of the present day. Unlike the more com- monly known tribes of animated nature, these now under consideration have not the power of free locomotion, but are attached or anchored as it were, by means of a slender flexible stalk, so contrived as to chain the animal to one spot, on the bottom of the sea, throughout its life. Incon- sistent as it may appear Avitli our general ideas of what a living creature should be, with reference to its powers of motion, a very considerable portion of the oceanic races are not free, but permanently fixed or grow like a plant to the ground. Of the mollusca thus constituted, some have one of their shells firmly cemented to the bottom, probably by means of an exudation from the shell itself, which afterwards hardens — others by a bundle of hair-like filaments, called a byssus, that issues from the interior and becomes attached to a rock or floating piece of timber, while those of a third tribe are provided with a short stalk, somewhat like that of a flower in form and flexibility. The Lingulm are of the latter class. In the collection of the Silurian Society at the City of Ottawa, there are two specimens of the *' duck Lingula," Lingula anatina, lately procured from the Indian seas, which have this stalk or pedicle, as it is called, preserved and still attached to the shell. The largest of these specimens is 1| inch in length, \ of an inch in breadth — of a light brownish colour, and in shape somewhat like a duck's bill, whence its specific name. The pedicle issues out from the interior, through the beak, or the part corresponding to the smaller pointed extremity of the small fossils figured below. It is three inches in length, and one quarter of an inch in breadth, semi-transparent, and in appearance like a dried flat sinew from some quadruped. In its living state, this pedicle is said to be cylindrical, and of the size of a small straw, but flexible and contractile. It confines the animal to a circular space, upon the bottom of the ocean, the diameter of which, in the case of Lingula anatina is only about six inches. Within this limited domain, the duck bill Lingula spends the w^hole of its life, subsisting upon such minute articles of food as may be wafted by the currents, or otherwise brought within its reach. Its diet consists most probably of the smallest animal- cule or particles of vegetable matter difilised through the water. The valves, or the two shells, open at the larger extremity, opposite the beak, and while feeding there are protruded two slender flexible arms, fringed with delicate hair-like filaments, called cirri, which, by constantly vibrating, cause a current to flow in the direction of the mouth, situated within the cavity formed by the two shells. The possession of those arms has obtained for the class to which the genus Lingula belongs, the name of 3 34 Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone^- Brachiopoda, or arm-footed animals. It comprises about 40 genera,* ancf more than a thousand species, f All of these are extinct, except about seventy species, living in various parts of the existing seas. There arc seven existing species of the genus Lingula known on the coasts of India^ the Philippines, Moluccas, Australia, Feejees, and Sandwich Islands, There are about forty extinct species of the same genus described, and they are distributed through all the formations from the Cambrian up to the surface. Two species are mentioned as occurring in the Potsdam sandstone- They are the following : Fig 1. Lingula prima. 2. Lingula antiqua. The first of these, Lingula prima, is about i^the size represented in- Fig. 1. It is of an oval shape, obtuse at both ends, but more broadly rounded at the base than at the beak or upper extremity of the above figure. The surface is marked by faint concentric lines, and by a few concentric wrinkles in some specimens. From the base to the beak it is also marked by fine striae, extending up and down the fossil in that direction. In some cases the latter marks are more distinctly visible than the concentric lines ; but in. others both are equally apparent. I^rofessor Hall states that " this fossil is for the most part rare, even in the Potsdam sandstone, though at Keesville, in Essex County, (State of New York) it is abundant, forming distinct laminae in the rock, like films of carbonaceous matter." We are not aware that it has been yet discovered in Canada. The next species, Lingula antiqua, is longer than the other and more pointed towards the beak. The base is broadly rounded, and its surface marked by fine concentric lines, but according to Prof. Hall, no longitudi- nal striae are visible. Mr. Murray, of the Geological survey of Canada, says that this^ apecies occurs in the Potsdam sandstone, on Lot 22, in the 9th Concession of the Township of Bastard, in the County of Leeds, and also on Lot No. 11, in the 11th Concession of the Township of Landsdowue, in the same * See Davidson's classification of the Brachiopoda, in the TOliune of the Palaeontographical Society for 1863, page 50. f WooJvrard'a Manual of the Moilueca, page 214, Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone* 35 Couuty. In both of these localities it is associated with Scolithus linearis. " Lingula," Latin, a tongue ; " prima," the fii-st ; " aniiqua,'* ancient. 3. Fossil Foot-prints. The fossils of the Lower Silurian rocks are all of them, so far as is yet known the remains of animals which were confined by their organization to an aquatic life. The mollusks, corals, echinoderms, and trilobites of those ancient formations are all of marine species, but in the Potsdam sandstone which is now considered by some geologists to belong to the Cambrian, there have been found in Canada the tracks of a creature that was o\idently an air breather. Perhaps none of the relics of the tenants of the primeval seas have excited so much interest as these extraordinary and as yet unexplained foot-prints. They are so far from resembling anything yet seen in the formations lying im.mediately above, that persons familiar with the fossils of the Chazy, Black-river, and Trenton-limestones can scarcely look upon them without suspecting that they are traces of a type of life that belonged to an age widely disconnected by its organic forms from the Lower Silurian. The Lingulae above figured, it is true, are somewhat similar to species which occur in the Trenton-limestone, but then the fossils of this genus, although ranging through all the formations, do not assist materially in giving a marked aspect to any. We shall here give a short account of the discovery and principal characters of these remarkable impressions. In 1847, the late Mr. Abraham, then Editor of the Montreal Gazette, announced in his paper that the tracks of a tortoise had been discovered in the sandstone at Beauharnois. He supposed this rock to be the equivalent of the old red sandstone, and, as previous to the publication of his notice no remains of reptiles had been found in formations of so ancient a date, these were regarded by him as particularly interesting. Mr. Logan's attention was afterwards drawn to the discovery, and he soon not only settled the question as to the geological age of the formation, but also had specimens conveyed to England and laid before the Geological Society of London. Professor Owen, in a short paper, read in April, 1851, before the Society, expressed an opinion that the track was that of a fresh water tortoise, but afterwards having been furnished with other and better specimens, concluded that the creature more probably was an articulated animal, and perhaps a crustacean, the class to which our mode^'n crabs and lobsters belong. The localities where these traces of ancient life have been found in the greatest abundance, are situated in that belt of the Potsdam sandstone which crosses from Lake Champlain northerly to the Ottawa above Montreal. There are here large areas consisting of flat surfaces, like so many floors of rock, on M'hich the tracks are seen winding about, and sometimes crossing each other. Each track consists of two rows of foot- prints, with a groove in the rock, about half way between the rows, as if the animal had dragged something after it. The rows are from four to seven 36 Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone. inches apart and each corresponds to the impressions made by the feet upon one side of the animal. The wood cut (Fig. 3) is copied from one of the large engravings in the jour- nal of the Geological So- ciety for 1853. It repre- sents, on a small scale, the tracks of the species which Professor Owen has called Protichnites septemnota^ tus, or the " seven marked"' Protichnites. In the ori- ginal, the width of the track measured across from the outside of the rows of foot-prints, is five inches. The length of the portion figured in the journal is 21^ inches. « This species appears to have been a small animal, fiat like a tortoise, but with seven legs upon each side. In walking, the foot-prints made by the feet upon one side of a quadruped, are never opposite those made by the feet of the other side. But in the tracks of Protichnites they appear to be exactly opposite. It is difficult to understand how this could be effected, un- less we suppose the animal to rest itself between every step upon the ground, and raise all its legs, move them forward and put them all down at once, in the way that several men in a boat raise all the oars at the same time. It seems thus to have rowed itself, as it II were, along the sand. If U such were its mode of pro- ; jrression,, then between every step we should expect to find the groove made ' by dragging it^ body along deep, where the whole weight rested upon the Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone, ol sand, and shallower while partly raised by the legs in each move forward. Accordingly, Mr. Logan states, " a feature common to all the grooves ii?. that each repetition or homologue of the foot-prints is accompanied with a deepening and shallowing of the grooves, giving it the appearance of a chain of shalloio troughs, which, when the impression is light, are separated from one another by intervals of the ungrooved surface." The foot-prints of all the tracks are small and sharp, as if made with a pointed instrument, like the hard sharp extremities of a crab's claw, and instead of seven legs upon each side the animal may have had only two, three, or four, wath two or three points at the end of each. Whether this was so or not cannot be yet determined. In another kind of these tracks the groups of impressions are not opposite, but appear as if the animal had moved the legs upon one side, and then those of the other alternately, throwing itself forward a little each time, with a waddling motion, and making with each move, a plunge in the sand, Professor Owen has given to these last mentioned tracks the name of Frotichnites alternans. In another species there are eight prints instead of seven. Another shews three grooves, as if the animal had partly floated in the water, dragging its legs by its side. In one, where there is a bend in the track, the median groove verges to the outside of the turn and partly obliterates some of the foot-prints. This track appears to shew that the median groove was made by the tail rather than the body of the animal. In Professor Owen's paper above cited, he has classified these tracks into six species, as follows : 1. Protichnites septem-nofatus, (seven marked.) 2. Protichnites octo-notatus, (eight marked.) 3. Proiichnites latus, (broad.) 4. Protichniies multinotatus, (many marked.) 5. Protichnites lineatus, (linear.) 6. Protichnites alternans, (alternate.) In discussing the probable nature of the animal by which these tracks were made, he states in substance that three replies or suppositions may be given. 1st, Either each print was made by the extremity of a single limb, which would give either seven or eight pairs of legs to the animal, according to the species ; or, 2ndly, certain pairs of the limbs were bifurcate, as in some insects and crustaceans, another pair or pairs being trifurcate at their extremities ; and each group of impressions was made by a single so-subdi- vided limb, in w^hich case we have evidence of a remarkably broad and short hexapod or six legged creature ; or, 3rdly, three pairs of limbs were bifur- cate, and the supplementary pits were made by small superadded limbs, as in some crustaceans ; or, 4thly, a single broad fin-like member, divided at its border into seven or eight obtuse points, so arranged as to leave the definite pattern described, must have made the series of those groups, by successive applications to the sand. He thinks the latter hypothesis the least probable of all, and with respect to the first, says, '' I confess to much diificulty in conceiving how seven or eight pairs of jointed limbs could bo 38 Fossils of the Potsdam Sandstone. aggregated in so short a space of the sides of one animal ; so that I ineline to adopt as the most probable hypothesis, that the creatures which have left these tracks and impressions on the most ancient of known sea shores, be- long to an articulate and probably crustaceous genus, either with three pairs of limbs employed in locomotion, and generally divided to accord with the number of prints in each of the three groups, or bifurcated merely, the supple- mentary and usually smaller impressions being made by a small and simple fourth, or fomih and fifth pair of extremities." '•' The Limulus, (King crab.) which has the small anterior pair of limbs near the middle line, and the next four lateral pairs of limbs, bifurcate at the free extremity, the last pair of lateral limbs with four lamelliform appendages, and a long and slender hard tail, comes the nearest to my idea of the kind of animal which left the impressions on the Potsdam Sandstone." He states that the animal mored forward, not sideways like some of the crabs, and that in his opinion the median groove was formed by a caudal appendage rather than by a prominent portion of the under part of the body. " What further conjectures," says the learned professor, " the contemplation and comparison of the several series of foot-prints from the Potsdam Sandstone have originated in m.y mind, I do not deem it very helpful to their full understanding at present to record. The imagination is baffled in the at- tempt to realize the extent of time past since the period when the creatures were in being that moved upon the sandy shores of that most ancient Silu- rian sea ; and we know that, with the exception of the microscopic forms of life, all the actual species of animals came into being at a period geologically very recent in comparison with the Silurian epoch. The de^dations from the living exemplars of animal types usually become gi-eater as we descend into the depths of time past ; and of this the Plesiosaur and Ichthyosam- are instances in the reptilian class, and the Pierichthys, Coccosteusy and Cephalaspis in that of fishes. If the Vertebrate type has undergone such inconceivable modifications during the Secondary and Devonian periods,. Avhat may not have been the modifications of the Articulate t}-pe during a period probably more remote from the Secondary period than this is from the present time ! In all probability no living form of animal bears such a resemblance to that which the Potsdam foot-prints indicate, as to afford an exact illustration of the shape and number of the instruments and of the mode of locomotion of the Silurian Proiichnites. These most precious evidences of animal life, locomotive on laud, of the oldest known sedimen- tary and unmetamorphosed deposits on this planet, have been, I am well aware, far too inadequately described in the paper which I have the honour to submit to the Society. They offer characters which require more time for their due scrutiny and greater acumen and powers of interpretation than liave hitherto been bestowed upon them. The symbols themselves are dis- tinct enough. Old Nature speaks as plainly as she can do by them ; and if we do not fully thereby read her meaning the fault is in our powers of interpretation. In the present attempt I can, however, truly aver that I bestowed upon it all the leisure at my command, and have applied my best Fossils of the- Lower Silurian RocJcs of Canada. 39 .'aljilities in the endeavour to fulfil my obligations to their discoverer, and to •satisfy the generally expressed wishes of the Society." From the above remarks of Professor Owen, one of the most profound ■comparative anatomists of the age, it will be seen how much mystery still remains to be cleared away from the fossil foot-prints at Beauharnois. Not •a vestige of a bone or shell, or any other organic substance, has yet been seen, which can throw any additional light upon the subject. The Potsdam sandstone extends over large areas of the settled portions of Canada, and we would recommend all those interested in Natural History, and who may reside either upon or in the vicinity of the formation, to examine carefully every exposure of the rock in their neighbourhood. He who is the first to discover a Protichnites will have his name handed down to posterity tlu'ough we know not how many future geological ages. In conclusion, we have only to add, that Protichnites is from the Greek Protos, the first, — Ichnos, foot-print, or track, — and Lithoi, stone.; literally — The first stone foot-priuts. ARTICLE IV.— On some of the characteristic fossils of the Lower Silurian RocJcs of Canada. In the last article, we have seen, that from the Potsdam sandstone, a formation 300 feet in thickness, and which probably required a prodigi- ously long period of time for its accumulation, only a few species of fossils have been procured. We are not, however, to conclude from this circum- stance, that the seas in which this ancient rock was formed, were as thinly inhabited as the scarcity of its organic remains appears to indicate. It is well known that in the tropical oceans of the present day, where marine life is most abundant, beds of rocks are in the process of being formed, in which no petrifactions can be discovered. Were some future geologist to judge of the condition of the neighbouring waters, with respect to their animated contents, merely upon such grounds, he might decide that the Pacific was an ocean without corals, mollusks, fish, or other living creatures, while we Imow that no part of the world is more profusely stocked with animated beings . For aught we know, therefore, the seas of the Potsdam sandstone period may have been full of marine animals, and all that we can say upon the subject is, that if it were so, then their remains have not been preserved. The Calciferous sandrock, which reposes upon the Potsdam sandstone, is also comparatively barren. Its fossils are not numerous, and they are almost always in a very bad state of preservation. When, however, we ascend to the next overlying formations — ^the Chazy, — Birds-eye, — Black- river, and Trenton limestones, we abruptly meet with strata packed full of organic remains. If the previous seas were but sparsely inhabited, as some geologists believe, then about the commencement of the formation of these limestones, the water must have been suddenly fiUed with overwhelming 40 Fossils of the Lower Sihirian Rods of Canada* numbers of living things ; fossil plants, corals, echinoderms, mollusks and trilobites are to be found in greater or less abundance wherever these remarkable rocks are exposed upon the surface. The whole country between the rivers Ottawa and St. Lawrence, comprisingthe greater portion of the Counties of Carleton, Kussell, Prescott, Glengarry, Dundas, Stor- mont, Leeds, Grenville, and also small areas in Lanark and Eenfrew, are overlaid by enormous sheets of those limestones from 200 to 600 feet in thickness, crowded full of organic remains. There are vastly more animals buried in one cubic mile of the Trenton limestone than there are living at any one time upon the whole continent of America. They are all of extinct species, — nearly all of extinct genera, and many of them, such as the cystideans, orthoceratites, and trilobites, of orders which became wholly exterminated, myriads of ages since. In the following article we shall give figures and descriptions of some • of the most abundant and easily recognized species. Fig 1. Orihis testudinaria. Fig 2. Leptena sericia. Orthis testudinaria. — Fig 1 represents a common species of Orthis, s genus which consists of small fossil bivalve shells, generally of a circular shape, and with one valve more flattened than the other. In this species, the ven- tral valve above figured is the most convex or rounded of the two. At the upper side or upon the hinge line it projects into a small sharp or moderately obtuse beak. The dorsal valve is nearly straight along the hinge line, flat- tened or but slightly convex, and in most specimens with a shallow depres- sion which extends from the centre above to the base. The smfaces of both valves are covered with fine elevated lines or ridges Avhich radiate from the beak downwards and outwards. Towards the margin these lines bifurcate, and in very perfect specimens are crossed by numerous delicate concentric thread-like strise. Often the circular margin at the base is thickened, and appears as if several shells were laid one within the other. This little fossil is usually of the size of Fig 1, or somewhat less, and the specimens are most frequently found with the valves united and closed in their natural position. It is the most abundant of all the species of this genus found in the Lower Silurian rocks. It is generally seen partly im- bedded in the surfaces of the strata of limestone, but often when it occurs in the shale between the beds of the rock it can be obtained perfectly separated and in great numbers. It has a very wide geographical range, as it is found abundantly in the Lower Silurian rocks of Europe, as well as in those of America. Professor Hall says, " a comparison of a Swedish specimen of Fossils of the Lower Silurian RocJcs of Canada. 41 Orihis testudinaria with those of New York shews no essential difference ; the former being a httle more elongated, and the dorsal valve more convex than in the prevailing forms of the Trenton Limestone." In England it is found in the Llandeilo and Caradoc formations of the Lower Silurian. In Canada it ranges from the Black Kiver Limestone upwards, through the Trenton Limestone, Utica Slate, and Hudson River group. In the Utica Slate it is rare, and most abundant in the Trenton Limestone. The generic name Orihis is from the Greek Orthos, " straight," in allusion to the straight hinge line. The specific name testudinaria is from the Latin testudo, a '' tortoise," this species having a fanciful resemblance to a tortoise. In the earlier works of the American Geologists, this fossil is called Orthis striatula, and it is also so named in Sir Roderick Murchison's new work, Siluria. It thus appears that there yet remains some difference of opinion as to the correct appellation of the species. Leptena sericia. — All the species of the genus Leptena have a straight hinge line, and consist of two thin valves, one of which is convex, or rounded, and the other either flat or concave. The small engraving, at the right of Fig. 2, is a section through a specimen of L. sericia from the beak to the base, and shows how one valve is bent and fits into the corresponding outward curve of the other. This species is very broad and straight along the hinge line ; its width being usually more than twice its length. The ventral valve is convex ; the dorsal concave, and the surface is marked by fine striae, which are even and uniform, or alternating with stronger ones ; striae increasing in numbers towards the margin, granulate or papillose ; crossed by a few lines of growth ; surface shining." " This beautiful and abundant little shell is readily distinguished by its almost perfectly semi-oval form, with fine papillose striae, alternating with stronger ones ; the latter are often obsolete, and the surface appears uniformly striated. Very abundant in the Trenton limestone ; — Hudson river group, and more rare in the Clinton group. Speaking of this and other species. Sir R. Murchison says, " of the two species of Leptgena which are prevalent in the lower division, the most frequent is L. sericia ; w^hich occuiTing in swarms among the slates of Snowdou, is also frequent in the Caradoc Sandstone of Shropshire and of the Malvern Hills ; whilst the L. tranver- salis, published originally as a fossil of the Wenlock shale, is now found in Llandeilo formation of Wales and Westmoreland. The former of the two last mentioned species has indeed an universal range ; being known in Russia, Scandinavia, Central Germany, the British Isles and America. Leptena is from the Greek, Leptos, thin ; Sericia, Latin, silken, io allusion to the shining or silken exterior of the shell. 42 Fossils of the Lower Silurian RocJcs oj Canada, Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 3. — Murchisonia gracilis. " 4. — Pleurotomaria umbilicata. " 5. — View of the under side of Pleurotomaria umbilicata. Murchisonia gracilis is a long slender spiral shell, generally about the sizo and of the form represented in figure one. The number of the whorls or turns made by the shell is from eight to ten. They are regularly rounded, and crossed by fine striae, only to be seen in perfect specimens, and ■which extend in a direction up and down the shell. From the outside of the aperture a flattened band ascends in a spiral com-se to the apex, following the centre of the whorls. Neither this, however, nor the striae are to be seen, except upon specimens that are perfectly preserved. The fossil is usually found in the condition of casts, that is where the shell having been imbedded in the rock, has decayed, leaving an empty cavity or mould of its shape. This having afterwards been filled up -vsith stone, gives a cast of the shell, nistead of the petrified shell itself. Such specimens sometimes only present the form of the interior of the fossil. In certain localities, such as at the Chaudiere Falls, at the City of Ottawa ; at Paquette's Eapids, in the Township of Westmeath, and at the third Chute of the Bonuechere river, in the County of Renfrew, it is quite common, in the Black Eiver and Trenton limestones. It is also found in the Hudson River group, but we have never heard of its occurring in the Utica Slate. The genus Murchisonia was so named in honor of Sir Roderick Mur- chison, at present the Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and the author of several magnificent works upon the Silurian rocks. It was he who first worked out the Geology of those formations, and gave them the name they now bear, and all the subsequent labours of geologists, in this part of the series, are based upon the results of liis researches. The specific name of this species is, in Latin, gracilis, " slender." The genus contains a number of other very beautiful species, some of which shall receive due notice in this journal. Pleurotomaria umbilicata. — This is another fossil usually found in the condition of casts. The above figure 2 represents very correctly a specimen from the Barrack Hill, at the City of Ottawa. In this specie Fossils of the Lower Silurian RocTcs of Canada. 43 there are three elevated ridges or keels which follow the spiral curvings of the whorls, and produce the angular form seen in the figure. The first of these is situated at the bottom of the whorl, and the side of the shell rises perpendicularly from it to the second placed upon the upper and outer mar- gin— thence there is a curve still upwards, but inwards to the third keel. — Above the first whorl, only two of the keels are visible, the other being buried in the spiral suture between the whorls. The number of whorls or volutions is about four, but some specimens shew more than these. This fossil is seldom found in a perfect state, but even the iragments are easily recognized after a little practice. Figure 3 shews the under-side of a speci- men, with the umbilicus or cavity in the centre, around which the whorls are twisted. The perfect shells of this genus have a notch more or less deep in the outer margin of the mouth or aperture, and hence the name Pleurotomaria, from pleura, side ; and toma, a notch. The specific name of this species was given in allusion to the deep umbilicus. It occurs very commonly in the Black Eiver and Trenton Limestones. /Mk % 77/1 I %#///// ;iiiiU\\\\\ ; mil M^^m^ ^'-'^lliiiiiiiiil'iLi .i>'' Fig 6. Cyrtolites ornatus. Fig 7. AmbonycMa radiata. The first of the above named fossils, like the two preceding, is the shell of a gasteroped, the class of which the existing land snails are well known examples. It is a thin symmatrical shell, and is in its form simply an angu- lar tube, partly coiled up at its smaller extremity. There is no spire, as in the snails, but each side of the coil is equally depressed. The volutions are two or three, — there is a sharp keel on the back and a deep groove on the ventral or inside, next the whorls. The sides are also augulated, and the aperture of a quadrangular shape. The dorsal slopes are marked, says Pro- fessor Hall, " by strong transverse ridges, which extend to the angle at tiie sides of the volution ; the surface is marked by fine transverse strise, the spaces between which are crossed by fine curving ones, giving the surface a cancellated or pitted appearance." '• This fossil usually occurs in the form of casts of the interior, which preserve the form of the shell, the dorsal carina, and the transverse ridges, but not the finer sculpture of the surface." In the perfect specimens, the 44 Fossils of the Loiver Silurian Rods of Canada. whorls touch each other, but in those which are badly preserved, they are separate, as shewu in the above jQgure. This very interesting and often beautiful fossil is not found in neither the Trenton Limestone or Utica Slate, being confined to the Hudson Kiver group. Specimens have been procured at Toronto. In the Trenton Limestone there are several other species of this genus also very beautiful in their form and sculpture." The generic name is from the Greek, Kurtos, curved ; and Liihos, stone. Ornatus, Latin, ornamented. Ambonychia radiata is one of the most common and characteristic fossils of the Hudson River group. In the system of classification given on page 31 , this and the next following species would rank among the AcepJi- ala or headless mollusks, of which the common clam-shells of our rivers and lakes are members. Fig 7 is the usual form, although it is frequently much smaller, and not so acute above. The surface is marked by from twenty- five to forty strong radiating ridges which are somewhat flattened upon the top and crossed by fine concentric striae. The grooves between are rounded on the bottom, and half the width of the ridges. The name Ambonychia is from the Greek Ambon, the boss of a shield, and Onyx, a claw in allusion to the rounded and claw shaped beak of some of the species, " Radiata,'' radiated. This fossil is abundant m the Hudson River group, but is not found in any other formation. It was originally called Pterinea carinata, and is often quoted by that name in different works. Fig. 8. — Modiolopsis modioloris. This fossil abounds in the Hudson River group, being characteristic of the central and higher portions of the formation. It is of an exceedingly variable form, and is thus described by Professor Hall : " Somewhat obliquely oblong-ovate, narrowed before, expanded and obliquely truncated posteriorly, basal margin usually contracted or slightly arched upwards ; cardinal line extended straight, or slightly curved ; beaks moderately prom- inent near the anterior extremity ; an oblique scarcely defined ridge, extending from the posterior basal margin ; surface marked by concentric undulations ; muscular impression distinct close to the anterior extremity." In the above figure the narrow end on the left is the anterior, and the other the posterior extremity of the shell. In the living animal, the head and mouth occupied the small end, and hence it is called anterior. Prof Hall further states, that, "the fossil presents considerable variation in form, which has given rise to the establishment of several species, founded either upon natural or accidental characters. The Fossils of the Lower Silurian RocJcs of Canada, 45 more extreme forms miglit be regarded as distinct, did we not find numerous intermediate ones, showing a gradation from one to the other. The shells, more or less convex, depending on pressure, which sometimes obliterates the prominent oblique elevation extending backwards from the beak. Owing to the same cause, also, the beak is more or less prominent ; and the pressure in different directions changes the form of the shell.'' This fossil is everywhere found in the central and Jiigher part of the Hudson River group. It occurs at Toronto. In England it is not uncommon in the Caradoc sandstone. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. Fig. 9 — Isotelus gigas. " 10 — Calymene senaria. The two trilobites above figured, appear to have swarmed in prodigious multitudes in the seas of the Trenton limestone period. Judging from the abundance of their remains in every part of the great bed of sediment, which constitutes the formation, the ocean was continually filled with shoals of these creatures, similar to the thickend droves of herring and mackerel which are to be met with in the Atlantic at the present day. There were no true fish, or such as have an internal bony skeleton, but in company with the trilobites great numbers of orthoceratites — marine animals, with their bodies inclosed in long tube-like chambered shells, and their heads furnished with powerful arms for capturing their prey, ruled with unlimited sway over all the less formidable tribes of that ancient deep. These two tribes, then the reigning powers among the living things of this world, were in full bloom of strength during the Silurian epoch, but shortly after began to decline, and finally disappeared for ever, about the time of the commence- ment of the carboniferous period. The most abundant form in the earlier Silurian ocean of America, was the Isotelus gigas, a figure of which, upon u reduced scale, is given above. All that remains to us of this extraor- dinary animal is the crustaceous jointed armour with which its head, back and tail were covered. The same remark applies to all the trilobites. It is only the shelly upper covering that has been preserved, while no traces of parts which might show the form of the abdomen, feet, or other organs upon the under side, have ever been discovered, and, consequently, we are as yet totally without any, save conjectural ideas upon the principal portion of their structure. 46 Fossils of the Lowe?' Silurian RocJcs of Canada. Isotelus gigas is of an oblong oval form, the two extremities bein^ about equal. The middle portion, or the thorax, as it is called, consists of eight articulations or segments, which at their ends are slightly curved for- ward and flattened to a thin edge upon their anterior side. The tail, the lower portion of Fig 9, is smooth elevated in the centre, and gradually de- clining to the margin all round. This part of a trilobite is called the pygi- dium by pateoutologists, and is, in most species, furrowed with grooves in such a manner as to render it somewhat difficult to determine where the line between it and the thorax should be drawn. In tliis species it is so distinct that no such question can arise. The head is composed above of three pieces, the two outer portions called cheeks, and the central the glabella. — The latter is but slightly convex in this species, but in others, it is elevated and variously lobed. The sutures or lines of division between the cheeks and the glabella, stai't from the middle of each of the side lobes of the body and curve inwards to the lower corner of the eye, then form a short semicir- cle half round that organ and thence proceed with an outward curve to the centre of the front part of the head. The eyes are prominent in perfect specimens, and in the shape of a crescent with the angles rounded. The greater number of the species of this race are strongly trilobed by two deep^ nearly parallel furrows, which extend from the head to the extremity of the tail. In /. gigas only the thorax is much trilobed — the furrows being but obscurely visible on either the anterior or posterior extremities. Fig 11 represents a part of / gigas, called the hyposioma, an organ which appears to have been analogous to the lahrum. or upper lip of the insects of the present day. The hypostoma is often found separated from the other portions of the trilobites. The one figiu-ed, belonged to an /. gigas of medium size. Much larger specimens are occasionaly met with, but generally they are smaller. Fig 11. Hypostoma of Isotelus Gigas. In the Trenton Limestone fragments of this great trilobite have the appearance of smooth or slightly punctured pieces of black shell. The head and tail are the parts most frequently found perfect, and are easily recog- nized ; but good specimens with all the parts in their natural connection are exceedingly rare. It is said that they have been seen eighteen inches in length, but from four to eight inches appears to be the prevailing size in our Canadian rocks. Isotelus gigas commenced its existence about the period of the Black River Limestone, and disappeared from the seas at the close of the Trenton limestone epoch. The generic name is from the Greek, " isos,'* equal ; and '' telos," end ; in allusion to the equal extremities of the animal^ " gigas," a giant. Calymene senaria. — This fossil is very distinctly divided, from one end to the other, into three lobes, and thus presents in full perfection tha characteristic feature which gave name to the race. The specimens are of Fossils of the Lowe?' Silurian Roclcs oj Canada. 47 an elongated oval form, tapering gradually from the head to the tail. The thorax consists of thirteen segments, each one of which is flattened to a sharp edge on the anterior side, near its extremity, and slightly curved forward, as in Isotelus gigas. In perfect specimens, the central lobe of the body is much elevated, and forms a strong, rounded serai-cylindrical ridge. The segments of the side lobes are each of them provided with a triangular projection, with its point directed forward, as may be seen in the figure. They are also abruptly bent down at half their length, and near their extremities curve a little outwards. The central lobe of the pygidium or tail, consists of seven segments, and the lateral lobes of four or five each ; these latter are flattened and marked with a small groove along their centres, so that each generally has the appearance of two. A small portion at the extreme point of the tail is not grooved. At the base of the head a strong furrow extends from one angle across to the other, and causes an elevated border upon the posterior margin, which might be readily mistaken for one of the segments of the body. The glabella is much narrower at the front than at the base, and divided into three lobes, on each side. The front lobes are, at least in some specimens, obscurely divided each into two others. The fxont of the head is turned up into a broad beak. The eyes are small and situated nearly opposite the second lobe of the glabella, and the whole surface, in perfect specimens, is rough, with small irregular granules. This species very much resembles the celebrated Calymene Blumenbachii, figured in all elementary books, upon the science of geology, and is, in fact, considered by some authors to be the same. It does not, however, agree with the figures given in the best European works, particularly in the structure of the front part of the head. In the English fossil, the glabella extends quite to the margin, but in ours there is a space of about one eighth of an inch in specimens of the size of Fig. 10, between the elevated beak and the rounded front lobe of the glabella. This character alone certainly appears sufficient to warrant a separation of the species. The specimen above figured was found in the , Trenton limestone, at the Chaudiere Falls, near the City of Ottawa. The central lobe has been flattened by pressure, so that it appears wider than it would be, had it been preserved in its natural shape. The sides are also a little bent under the body. The specimens of this locality are, most of them, of the above dimensions, although separated heads are occasionally found much larger. Calymene, Greek, " concealed," senana, " ancient." 48 Slonc Lilies of the Trenton Limestone, ARTICLE V. — On the Crinoidea or Stone Lilies of the Trenton Limestone, with a description of a new species. "We pass now to the examination of a very beautiful class of fossil ani- mals, of which the Canadian rocks have furnished some of the most magnifi- cent and interesting specimens yet discovered. The European species have been long known under the various titles of Stone Lilies, Encrinites. or Cri- noidea, and although their remains in a very fragmentary state, are per- haps the most abundant of all fossils, yet specimens approaching to perfection are comparatively rare. Few collectors have had the good fortune to dis- cover half-a-dozen of those highly prized pala^ontological jewels. In the Trenton Limestone in the neighbourhood of the City of Ottawa, a large number, nearly three hundred — many of them with all their parts, even to the delicate hair-like tentacula which fringed their branching arms, have been collected in a very good state of preservation within the last few years. They constitute between thirty-five and forty new species, and more than one half of them are of genera, hitherto unknown. This is a very large number to be found in any one formation, and it would thus appear that that portion of the Silurian ocean which covered Canada during the epoch of the Trenton Limestone, was particularly well adapted to the nature of those animals and also to the preservation of their remains. There is plenty of evidence to show that as many as twenty species, some of them of a widely different structure from others, were all living together within an area of two hundred vards in diameter at the same time. That number of species has been collected from the surface of a single bed of the limestone which can be traced uninteruptedly for a greater distance alono- the clifts upon the shores of the Ottawa. Li the midst of these, or scattered about in little groups, among them, were also eight or ten species of Cystideaus — animals closely allied to the crinoids in their structure, but mounted upon a much shorter stem. The long stalks of the crinoids raised their heads generally from two to four feet above the bottom, while none of the cystideans attained a greater height than from three to six inches. The two tribes appear not to have been enemies of each other, because they srrew tosrether in submarine fields of considerable extent ; the encrinites towering above and overshadowng, as it were, their more humble companions. As we shall have occasion in this journal to describe some of these fossils, it seems proper in this place to give a general outline of their structure. The Crinoidea were, at least the gTcater numlier of them, of an oval shape, and covered by an armour of small flat plates, which were always of an angular form, and accurately fitted together, so as to enclose the animal completely, like an egg in its shell. Attached to one end was a long flexible stalk, and in or near the centre of the other extremity, a small aperture which served the purpose of a mouth. Around the mouth there were arranged in a circle a number of arms more or less branched in the Stone Lilies of the Trenton Limestone. 49 ■lifTcrcnt species, and fringed on the inside with two rows oftentacula, which most probably, with the arms, were used in capturing such food as the crinoid subsisted upon- The stalk, at its lower end was attached to the bottom of the ocean, and supported the animal like a flower upon its stem. Such is a general des- cription, which will apply to all the true encrinites. When examined in detail, however, the covering of a crinoid will be seen to consist of a number of flat angular plates arranged according to a certain plan, and so contrived as to constitute an external skeleton, with many moveable parts attached to it, completely under the control of the animal, and exquisitely iKlapted to the supply of all its wants. -^ig. 1 shews the skeleton of Glyptocrinus RAMiiLOsus dissected and spread out upon a fat surface. In the centre, is seen the circular upper joint of the column or stalk ; around it the fve pelvic plates ; next, the fveFRiMARY Bays, of three plates each, dividing into ten Secondary Rays, of four plates each, and lastly, the bases efthe ttventyTEUTiATiY Rays, or free arms, with a few of the tentacula attached. In one of the spaces are seen the abdominal or Inteeradial plates. In the perfect Crinoid, these are also found in the other four intcrradial spaces. On dissecting one of those skeletons, it will be found that resting immediately upon the top of the stalk there are one or more, (in the typical species five,) small plates so arranged as to form a shallow saucer-shapc(.t 50 Stone Lilies of the Trenton Limestone. receptacle, called the pelvis, supporting the viscera and body. From the- upper margin of the pelvis there arise five upright rows of other plates^ called the rays, which constitute a large portion of the sides of the cup. When spread out upon a flat surface, in their natural order, these radiate from the centre, in the form of a star, and hence the' crinoidca are pro- perly considered to fall within the department of the Radiata. In many species these rays are divided into numerous branches, but i» others they remain single to their extremities. In the branched varieties, the five undivided portions are called the Primary Rays, and in many species- these consist of three flat plates, each as seen in the figures 1 and 2. — Above the Primaries follow the Secoxdary, Tertiary, Quaternary, or Quinary Rays. At a variable distance from the base of the body or cup of the Criuoid, the rays become free, or no longer form a part of the general covering of the animal. They are then all called by the common name of ARMS, no matter whether they consist of Secondary, Tertiary, or Quater- nary Radials. This liberation of the rays from the walls of the body some- times takes place near the base, and then even a portion of the Primary rays is included in the arms, but in other genera they do not become free until the- third, fourth, or fifth division- Fig. 2" is an encrinite of the genus Glyp- TOCRiNus, with the branching arms above, and a short piece of the staJk, at the base. The. figure does not represent any particular speci- men, but was drawn to give an idea of tha cup-like body, with its external skeleton of an- gular plates and branching arms. It will be observed that the rays, two of which only caa be seen in this figure, originate in the base of the body, and proceeding upwards, are blended in the general covering of the animal, until at length they become free at the top and con- stitute the arms. Hence the arms of a Crin- oid are simply coutmuationa of the rays. Fig. 2, These organs constitute the Radial System of the Crinoids, and can be detected, though often umler an extremely modified form, in all the species vet known. In those of the most simple organization, there is little else t^ be seen— the rays forming the wiiolc of the skeleton, but in others the top of the body,"^ or the abdomen, is eoTcred over by numerous other plates, the abdominal plates, which constitute a firm, dome-shaped roof. Caiino- all the space between the free arms. In the species now living m tho Stone Lilies of the Tre?iton Limestone, 51 »ea, the Pentacrinus caput Mcdusce, this part of the body in covered by a eimple leather-like integiunent, strengthened by small plates, and many of the ancient and now extinct species were similarly constructed. The abdominal plates sometimes extend down the sides, between the rays, nearly to the base^ of the cup, and form a large part of the sides. The arms are composed of a great number of small joints, articulating upon each other in such a manner as to give the greatest amoimt of flexibility, and they are each also provided on their inside, towards the mouth, with a groove, more or less deep, and extending tlieir whole length. These were occupied by certain tube-like vessels, which communicated with the interior, through the mouth. The stalk (ailled the column by pateontologists) is either round or more or less pentagonal, composed of a great number of joints, and perforated throughout its Avhole extent, from the cup to the base, by an alimentary canal. The purpose of this channel down the centre of the column, appears to have been to convey nourishment for its growth from the body. In some species it was attached to the bottom by several branching roots, and in others by a broad button-shaped base, consisting of a hardened exudation from the alimentary canal, at the lower extremity. The columns of the Crinoidea, in a fragmentary state, are among the most abundant of all fossils. The separated joints are to be seen in some of the strata of limestone, imbedded in millions in the rock. They generally occur in the shape of small circular or pentagonal plates, perforated in the centre, and have been known for ages in Europe, under various names. In Britain they were formerly called by the peasantry, '' St. Cuthbert's beads,'* " Screw-stones," or " Pulley-stones ;" in Germany, " Rosenkranzsteine,'" rosary-beads ; " Huennenthranen/' giants-tears, or " Roedersteine,'' wheel-stones. Speaking of their numbers, Dr. Buckland says : " We may judge of the degree to which individuals of these species multiplied among the first inhabitants of the sea, from the countless myriads of their petrified remains, which fill so many limestone beds of the transition formation, and compose vast strata of entrochal marble, extending over large tracts of country in northern Europe and North America. The substance of this marble is often almost as entirely made up of the petrified bones of Encrin- ites as a corn rick is composed of straws. Man applies it to construct hia palace and adorn his sepulchre ; but there are few who know^, and fewer still who appreciate the surprising fact, that much of this marble is com- posed of the skeletons of millions of organized beings, once endowed with life, and susceptible of enjoyment, which after performing the part assigned to them in living nature, have contributed their remains towards the com- jX)6ition of the mountain masses of the earth." The Crinoidea were among the first organized creatures that made theif appearance in the seas of this planet, and although all the earlier species and genera are extinct, yet the order still exists, and is represented by a single species so fiar as is at present known, several specimeiis of which have been ■procured off the coasts of Barbadoes, ^Martinique and Nevis. In a work Btpou the recent and fossil species published several years since in Loudon, 52 Stone Lilies of the Trenton Lunestoncr the authors state that " the two specimens of ilns crmoid, Peniacrimis caput Mediisce, now in the Bristol Institution, were taken in the Caribbean sea, off Barbadoes ; and Mr. Scutchbiu-y informs us that he has reason to be- lieve they were taken by the fishermen at a depth of from fifty to eighty fathoms, in clear water with a rocky bottom. I'he side arms, and probably the rays, encircled the fishing lines and clung with such tenacity that en the fishermen drawing up their lines the columns became fractured, so that the upper portions of the animals were taken into the boats, and the lower parts left attached to the rocky bed of the sea, thus in a great measure proving that they were fixed by an indurated base of calcarous matter." ^' The structure of this existing species of the Crinoidea is of the most simple radiated character. It has a five sided column — five plates in the pelvis — five rays which are free nearly to their base, and three plates in each of the Primaries. Thcv are all subdivided several times, and form numer- ous feather-like arms. In all the formations, from the Lower Silurian up to the most recent, we find Crinoids, with the same structure of the rays, and it may therefore be regarded as the typical or model form. There are, however, many genera which exhibit this plan of organization in a greatly modified condition. For instance, the genus Platycriuus has a pelvis of only three pieces, and these are often anchylosed into one, and . although it has five rays, yet they consist each of one very broad plate at the base and resting upon it a very narrow one, from the sloping upper sides of which spring the secondary rays. The genus Cyathocrinus has two series of pelvic plates of five each, and with the rays similar to those of Platycri- nus, but with the addition' of a large abdominal plate between two ' of the rays on one side. In these and most other genera, no matter how widely differing from the t}-pical form, the radial system can be traced more or less distinctly. In this work, we propose to designate the different plates of the rays by numbers, as follows. The bottom or basal plate of each ray, 1st Kadial, the next above it 2ud Radial, and the next 3rd Eadial. The secondary rays will be numbered in the same manner as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Secon- dary Radials. The abdominal plates between the rays we shall call Interra- dials. This is in part the system of nomenclature adopted by Professor McCoy, an eminent Irish Pateoutologist, in Professor Sedgewick's recent splendid work, the British Pal,^ozoic Fossils. * It is a gi-eat improvement upon the original nomenclature of Miller, Vfho was the first to prepare a work upon the Crinoidea. In the Paleontology of New York, vol, 1, five species of encrinite^s ai*e e seen in confinement at the cities of Montreal and Quebec, will acknowledge that the moose is not a remarkably good looking animal. A full grown moose is of the size of a large horse. The body and neck are both short and stout, and the latter ia covered with a thick mane of strong hair. The legs are long and clumsy, the head enormously large and not gracefully pointed as in other deer, but somewhat resembles that of an immense romaji-nosed horse. It is ter- minated over the mouth by a long flexible upper lip which forms a moveable snout, like a short blunt proboscis. This peculiar shape of the head, its narrowness below the eyes, and greater eize at the mouth, gives to the moose a very nugalnly appearance. The nostrils are very long, and the eyes are small in proportion to the size of the animal, and somewhat deeply sunk into the head. The ears are about twelve inches in length, and the feet are cleft so far up that the hoofs separate widely in walking. In winter the moose is covered with long coarse hair, and in summer with a short glossy coat. The colour is generally blackish, brown, or black, lighter under the belly, on the nose, and inside the ears. There is a long- tuft, eight or ten inches in length, hanging down beneath the jaws in the young moose. Some of the individuals are of various shades of grey, and it is said that these are the largest, sometimes attaining the height of eight feet, and weighing 1500 lbs. The gigantic horns of the moose are well known in almost every town of Europe or America where there is a museum. It is difficult to believe that those enormous solid appendages are the growth of a single season, and yet the fact is too well established to admit of a doubt. Only the males are provided with them, and no matter how large they may be, they grow to their full size in about twelve or fourteen weeks. On the young nioose, one year old, they " are merely short knobs ; they increase in size after each annual shedding, and after the fourth year become palmated, and may be termed full grown about the fifth year. The palms are, on the widest part, on a moderate sized male, about 11 inches wide. The space between the roots, six or seven inches. A very large pair measures over five feet between the tips, and will weigh 60 or 70 pounds. They begin to sprout' in April, and fall off in December or January. It is said that their growth is complete in July, when the velvet peels off", and they are then white, but afterwards become brown or yellow. From one to three points or short prongs are added to the palms each year, so that the age of the animal ia not indicated by the number of these prongs as is generally supposed. In fighting with each other they use both horns and feet, but in con- tending with dogs, only the latter, with which they strike tremendous blows. Their pace is a long swinging trot, which they can keep up for several hours in succession. Moose Deer, — AIccs Americana. 63" Tlie following interesting account of the habits of tbis^ famous deer ia from Mr. James E. Powell, a hunter in Maine, and was read before the- Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, in June last : — " Id regard to the moose, I speak of it only as I am acquainted with it in this State (Maine), other latitudes causing some slight variation in its^ habits. " When the snows have left the ground entirely bare, which, in the' favorite haunts of the moose, happens about the middle of May, they leaver their winter haunts and approach the marshes, ponds and rivers, where they come to search for their summer food, consisting of all the various aquatic^ plants which flourish in this region. Their favorite food, however, is the- water lily and rush, in all their varieties, and at this season they crop them as soon as they appear, close to the bottom, frequently holding their heada under water a minute or eighty seconds, and often wading, m water so deep, that when they put their heads down under the surface, to obtain the small" lily leaves or to dig up th^ root of the plant (which they often eat at thia season), before the leaves are plentiful, only a portion of the back is visible. About this time the females go apart, seeking the most impenetrable thickets' that border on or near water, and there bi-ing forth their young ; those of three years old and upwards almost invariably producing two. Still I have occasionally, but very rarely, seen and known three at a birth. Those of two years old never produce more than wie. They shed their coats of long,, rough hair, too, at this period, and are soon covered with short, smooth, fine- ' hair, of a dark brown color,, which, however, soon becomes a jetty, glossy- black on the sides and back, and grey on the legs (with the exception of one- variety of the animal, which is of a grey colour, and which is now very scarce here. As the season advances, the moose frequent the water still more, and remain in it longer at a time. In May, or early in June, the/ eeldom stay in it more than half an hour at once, but in July and August they sometimes remain in the water several hours, and also frequent the waters very much during the night, especially in hot, dry, sultry weather, or thunder storms, which they seem particularly to delight in, swimming back and forth, apparently in a high state of enjoyment. During these visits to the water, the female secretes her young with great care, to protect them from the ferocity of the old males that would destroy themi. For this purpose they commonly select a very dense clump of large bushes, or a spruce or fir thicket, which, from its density, prevents the male from reach- ing them, on account of his horns, which generally sprout in April. They grow rapidly, and are very tender and easily hurt at this time. By Septem- ber the horns are out of the velvet, and have acquired hardness, and towarda the close of this month the moose leaves the water for two or three weclai and resort to the mountains. At this period the males are frequently very fat, (I have killed them with nearly three inches in thickness of fat on the rump,) and are often very fierce and savage, sometimes even attacking the iiunter, but in the course of a few weeks they become thin and poor, in con- fpequeuce of their coutinual roaming and their many combats. They also 04 Moose Deer, — Alces Americana* neglect food at this time. At this period the loud bellow of the male is frequently heard and distinguished by the watchful hunter at the distance of two or three miles, in the stillness of night. The males also make another noise, v/hich, from its peculiac sound, the hunters call chopping ; it is pro- duced by forcibly bringing together and separating thejaws in a peculiar and singular manner, and (as its name implies) resembles the sound of an axe, used at a great distance. They also emit a variety of strange sounds and cries. "When they return to the water they spend a great deal of time in it for a week or two, but afterwards they gradually shorten their visits, until the sh«irp frosts set in. Still, they occasionally come into it, till ice forms an inch thick during the night. Then thev leave and return to the moun- tains, where they select their fall and winter haunts, roaming about and sub- sisting on the bark of small trees, which they peel or gnaw off, and the twigs of the fir tree and other woods. When the deep snows fall, they select a spot well adapted to their wantg, and commence to browse and peel more closely. This is called * yarding,' and as the snow deepens and crusts form on its surface, they peel and break down bushes and browse closely, in preference to wallowing through the snow in search of choicer food. A ' moose yard' frequently occupies about one hundred acres, more or less, but the latter few weeks of the season is frequently spent on an area of ten acres, or less. The old males and females never ' yard' together, but sometimes the young ani- mals are found occupying the same ' yard.' Still they are seldom found in close company. The females and their calves frequently yard together, the calves remaining with the mother one vear. The oldest males invariablv yard alone, choosing some lonely knoll or mountain peak, where they reside in utter solitude. Indeed, as age increases, the moose becomes more solitary in his habits, avoiding the common resorts of other moose, and frequenting some lone little pond or stream. The moose of two and three years old, also, often yards alone, but the males between the ages of three and ten years are very gregarious. I have known as many as nine in one yard. When hunted at this tune (deep snow,) they go off in Indian file, each moose stepping accurately in the foot-prints of its predecessor, so that any but an experi- enced hunter would scarcely suppose that more than one moose had passed, when perhaps sis or seven had gone in reality. Still, when they are closely pursued, and the one that is first becomes tired, (in consequence of having to break the way through the snow,) that one turns out a very little, and (tlie rest having past him) bring up the rear. So they change in rotation, the males showing the most chivalrous spirit in aiding the females or the weaker ones. Sometimes, too, they break their order of going in awkwardly pass- ing a tree, when hard pressed, some going on each side, but instantly falling into line again when the obstacle is passed. At this season the ' spikehorn,^ or tvv'o year old male, is noted as affording the longest and most difficult chase, and the oldest male for making the most gallant fight. In fact, tliey often refuse to run at all. " A ' moose-yard' presents a strange sight to those not familiar with it, with ita broken bushes and peeled tre<3S ; for sometimes, when the snow is . Moose Deer, — Alces Americana, 05 very deep and difficult for them to get through, they break down and browse •closely the tops of young fir trees five or six feet from the ground, and where they are two or three inches in diameter. They also reach up and peel and browse ten or twelve feet high above the ground, raising the fore legs and allowing the weight of the body to rest on the hind ones. Although so fond of browsing the fir, they never eat the bark of it, yet they seldom kill any other tree, as they generally peel only one side of those they use for food ; they also break down the bushes iiione direction, pulling them towards them ; so that the direction the moose has taken is known to the hunter by this sign, when he first approaches a ' yard.' The young fir-trees are killed by the males rubbing their heads against them, instinct teaching them in that manner to apply the balsam of fir (which possesses great healing powers) to the sore and tender places caused by the loosening and falling ofi* of the horns. '^ The favorite winter food of the moose is the twigs of the fir tree and the bark of the mountain ash, and of a species of dwarf maple, and the young twigs of the ' moosewood.' "During the summer the females are often seen accompanied by their two calves, but in the winter there is seldom more than one calf found with each female. From this I infer that the young of the moose are subject to many dangers. The female gives -an abundance of milk, and the growth of the moose is very rapid for the first three years. It possesses immense strength and is capable of enduring long continued exertion and very great fatigue. It consumes very little food in proportion to its size, and, during the winter, seldom drinks, quenching its thirst with snow. Yet it very often chooses its yarding place near or on some little streamlet, perhaps on account of its favorite maple being most abundant in such places. <* The age of the moose is not grea,t. I have never known but one to attain the age of twenty years ; in fact, it is a rare and uncommon thing to find one that has attained the age of fifteen years. It possesses a quick ear and very strong, keen scent, and differs from most other wild animals in re- gard to its desire to attack a person bearing a torch, or rather the torch it- self. For instance, in hunting on a dark night, in a canoe, on the water, when in pursuit of a deer, &c., a flambeau, or torch, or candle, can be used to great advantage, the animals being apparently bewildered or fascinated by the bright, steady light which approaches them so noiselessly and still ; but the moose, as soon as he perceives it, approaches it, quickening his pace as he comes nearer, till (unless utterly disabled by the deadly rifle shot) he charges full upon it, destroying the canoe, and frequently injuring its occu-- pant. However, with the extinction of the torch his fury ceases. The moose is easily tamed, and when domesticated, exhibits much sagacity, and has, if well treated, a very affectionate disposition. I kept a young one (one year old) a short time, which manifested as much docility aiKl! affection as a pet lamb. But when insulted or injured they are very ievengcfuJ and' ua> forgiving'. In reference to which I will relate an anocdote.. 66 Moose Deer, — Alces Americana, " The moose above alluded to was a great favorite witli a young girl, who used to visit him several times a day, playing with him and giving him such delicacies as were most grateful to his epicurean palate (by the way, he acquired a strong predilection for boiled, mashed potatoes,) and the moose always showed the greatest pleasure when she was present. But one day, in a frolicksome mood, she bound some gaily colored ribbons in her hair, leaving" the ends loose and fluttering, surmounting the whole by a tall and flaunting plume. Thus attired she slowly approached the moose, while we stood watching and wondering how he would recognise her. At length, gently and in perfect silence, she stood beside the moose, and he slowly and haughtily turned his head, surveying her strange appearance with the most inefiable contempt. At last, utterly unable to repress her mirth at the ridiculous scene, she gave way to a fit of loud joyous merriment. The wonted sound seemed to affect the moose, and he partially turned his head away, then took another survey of her strange appearance and his eyes suddenly lit up with a red savage, fiery light, and he struck her forcibly with his fore foot, and, had it not been for instant assistance, would probably have killed her. He never afterwards would permit her to approach him, showing signs of dis- content and anger if she came within ten or twelve rods of him, and if (when at liberty in the field) he ever saw her he would instantly rush to attack her> Two or three times, when escaping into the house, she had not time to shut the door, and the revengeful beast followed her into the rooms, to the great detriment of the furniture. We have often heard of a bull in a crockery shop, but fancy a moose in a parlor. And if I was not present, no other- person could eject him, but he would instantly cohk; at my call and be obe- dient and submissive ; and if at any time this strange creature fancied itself not sufficiently noticed or petted by me, it would utter most piteous criea imtil it attracted attention, '•The animal in a wild state is very lithe and supple, turning itself about and bending its form as easily as an ordinary dog, frequently standing in the most singular postures. It also frequently crawls on its knees, to pascj under logs, &c., and drinks, in very shoal water, in the same position." In feeding, they use their long upper lip to clasp the twigs and leaves. In peeling the branches and small saplings, they place the hard roof of the mouth upon one side and the teeth of the lower jaw upon the other, by which, means they speedily strip off the bark. The foUowii^ account of the methods of hunting the Moose was writ- ten by Mr. Kendall, of Quebec, and published in Audubon and Bachman'3 Quadrupeds of North America : — " The seasons for hunting the moose are March and September. la March, when the sun melts the snow on the surface and the nights arc frosty, a crust is formed, which greatly impedes the animals progress, as it has to lift its feet perpendicularly out of the snow or cut the skin from its- shanks by coming in contact with the icy surface, "It would be useless to follow them when the snow is soft, as their great strength enables them to wade through it without any difficulty. If Moose Deer, — Alces Americana. 67 you m&h. to see them previous to sbooting them in their " yard," it is neces- sary to make your approach to leeward, as their sense of smelling and hearing is very acute ; the crack of a twig will start them, and they are seldom seen any more, until fatigue compels them to knock up, and thus ends the chase. Their pace is a long trot. It is necessary to have two or three small curs (the smaller the better), as they can run upon the snow without breaking through the crust ; their principal use is to annoy the moose by barking and snapping at their heels, without taking hold. A large dog that would take hold would be instantly trampled to death. The males generally stop, if pressed, and fight with the dogs ; this enables the hunter to come up unobserved and despatch them. Sometimes they are killed after a run of an hour, at other times you may run them all day, and have to camp at night without a morsel of provisions or a cloak, as every- thing is let go the moment the moose starts, and you are too much fatigued to retrace your steps to procure them. Your only resource is to make a huge fire, and comfort yourself upon the prospect of plenty of moose-meat next day. As soon as the animal finds he is no longer pm^sued, he lies down, and the next morning he will be too stiff to travel far. Generally, a male, female, and two fawns are found in a ' yard.' " When obliged to run, the male goes first, breaking the way, the others treading exactly in his track, so that you would think only one has passed. Often they run through other ' yards,' when all join together, still going in Indian file. Sometimes, when meeting with an obstacle they can- not overcome, they are obliged to branch off for some distance and again unite ; by connecting the different tracks at the place of separation you may judge pretty correctly of their number. I have seen twelve together, and killed seven of them. "A method of hunting this animal is as follows : " In September, two persons in a bark canoe paddle by moonlight along the shore of the lake, imitating the call of the male, which, jealous of the approach of a stranger, answers to the call and rushes down to the combat. The canoe is paddled by the man in the stern w^ith the most death-like silence, gliding along under the shade of the forest until within short shooting distance, as it is difficult to take a sure aim by moonlight ; the man in the bow generally fires, when if the animal is only wounded, he makes imme- diately for shore, dashing the water about him into foam ; he is tracked by his blood the next day to where he has laid down, and where he is generally found unable to proceed any further. Many are killed in this manner in the neighbourhood of Moose River every season. " Hunters sometimes find out the beaten tracks of the moose (generally loading to the water), and bend down a sapling and attach to it a strong hempen noose hanging across the path, while the tree is confined by another cord and a sort of trigger. Should the animal's head pass through the dangling snare, he generally makes a struggle which disengages the trigger, and the tree springing upward to its perpendicular, lifts the beast ofl his logs, and he is strangled !" 6S Moose Deer, — Alces Americand. Sir Jolin Richardson states that iu the more northern part of Nort^ America the Moose is a very solitary animal, more than one seldom being seen at a time unless during the autumn. *' It has the sense of hearing in very great perfection and is the most shy and wary of all the deer-species, and on this account the art of moose-hunting is looked upon as the greatest of an Indian's acquirements, particularly by the Crees, who take to them- selves the credit of being able to instruct the hunters of every other tribe. — The skill of a moose-hunter is most tried in the early part of the winter ; for during the summer the moose, as well as other animals, are so much tormen- ted by musquitoes that they become regardless of the approach of man. In the winter the hunter tracks the moose by its foot-marks in the snow, and it is necessary that he should keep constantly to leeward of the chase and make his advances with the utmost caution, for the rustling of a withered leaf or the cracking of a rotten twis' is sufficient to alarm the watchful beast. The difficulty of approach is increased by a habit which the moose-deer has of making daily a starp turn in its route, and choosing a place of repose sa near some part of its path that it can hear the least noise made by one that attempts to track it. To avoid this the judicious hunter, instead of walking iu the animal's footsteps, forms his judgment from the appearance of the country of the direction it is likely to have taken, and makes a circuit to leeward until he again finds the track. This manceuvre is repeated until he discovers, by the softness of the snow in the foot-marks and other signs, that he is very near the chase. He then disencumbers himself of everything that might embarrass his motions, and makes his approach in the most cautious manner. If he gets close to the animal's lair without being seen, it is usual for him to break a small twig, which alarming the moose, it instantly starts up, but not fully aware of the danger squats on its hams and voids its urine preparatory to setting off. In this posture it presents the fau-est mark, and the hunter's shot seldom fails to take effect in a mortal part. In the au- tumn the bucks lay aside their timidity, and attack every animal that comes in their way, and even conquer their fear of man himself. The hunters then bring them within gun-shot by scraping on the blade-bone of a deer and by whistling, which, deceiving the male, he blindly hastens to the spot to assail his supposed rival. If the hunter fails in giving it a mortal wound as it approaches, he shelters himself from its fury behind a tree, and I have heard of several instances in which the enraged animal has completely strijiped the bark from the trunk of a large tree by striking with its fore feet. " The flesh of the moose is very good, though the grain is coai-se, and it is much tougher than any other kind of venison. The nose is most excel- lent, and as is also the tongue, but by ho means so fat and delicate as that of the common deer (caribou.) The fat of the intestines is hard, like suet ; but all the external fat is soft, Hke that of a breast of mutton, and when put into a bladder is as fine as marrow. In this they differ from all the other species of the deer, of which the external fat is as hard as that of the kidnies." The skin of the moose deer, when properly dressed, makes very good moccassins, mittens, leggins, and other articles useful m a cold climate Moose Deer, — Alces Americana. 69 The question whether the moose is precisely the same species as the dk of Europe, does not appear to be yet decided. The general rule, with respect to the quadrupeds of America, seems to be, that, no matter how much they may at first sight resemble those of the old world, yet, when a close comparison is instituted, they are found to be different. Thus the red fox, the wolf, and the stag {Elaphus Canadensis) were all regarded by the earlier emigrants as identical with those upon the other side of the At- lantic, but they are now known to be sufficiently different to constitute distinct species. It is thus with the moose and the elk. The size, habits, food and movements appear to be the same. In Lloyd's Field Sports of the North of Europe, he states that the female elk brings forth, about the middle of May, from one to three young ones ; but it is seldom that she has more than two. At this period, the mother retires alone to the wildest re- cesses of the forest. After a lapse of two or three days, the fawns, which are of a light brown colour, have sufficient strength to follow their dam everywhere ; they keep with her until they are in their third year, when she leaves them to shift for themselves. " The elk is a long-lived animal ; he does not attain to his full growth until after his fourteenth year. At least so it is to be presumed, as up to that period his horns, which are of a flat form, are annually provided with an additional branch. He sheds his horns about the month of February in each year. The female elk, unlike the rein- deer of that sex, has no horns. The horns of the young male elk are perceptible nine months after its birth ; for the first year they are cylindrical and short ; the second year they are about a foot in length, but not branched ; the third year two points are discernible ; the fourth year three ; the fifth year they are full grown in length. From that time forward they yearly increase in breadth and in the number of branches until there are as many as fourteen on each horn. " By nature the elk is timorous, and he usually flies at the sight of man. In the autumn, however, lilve other animals of the deer kind, he is at times rather dangerous. His weapons are his horns and hoofs ; he strikes so forcibly with the latter as to annihilate a wolf or other large animal at a single blow. It is said that when the elk is incensed, the hair on his neck bristles up like the mane of a lion, which gives him a wild and frightful appearance. " The usual pace of the elk is a high shambling trot, and his strides are immense, but I have known him when frightened to go at a tremendous gallop. In passing through thick woods he carries his horns horizontally, to prevent them being entangled in the branches. From the formation of his hoofs he makes a great clattering, like the rein-deer when in rapid motion. In the summer season the elk usually resorts to morasses and low situations ; for, like other animals of the deer kind, he frequently takes to the water in warm weather ; he is an admirable swimmer. In the winter time he retires to the more sheltered parts of the forest, where willow, ash, &£., are to be found ; as from the small boughs of these trees he obtains his "70 Moose Deer, — Alces Americana » sustenance during that period of the year. In the summer and autumn tijo elk is often to be met with in small herds, but in the winter there are seldom more than two or thi-ee in company. At the latter season indeed he is fre- quently alone. " The flesh of the elk, whether fresh or smoked, is very excellent ; the young are particularly delicious. According to Mr. Kilsson it resembles in taste that of the stag. The tongue and the nose are thought to be great delicacies in Scandinavia as well as in America. Great Yirtue was once placed in the hoof of that animal, as parings of it were supposed to be a specific against the falling sickness and other disorders ; but this idle notion must by this time, I should think, be nearly exploded. The skin is convert- ible to many purposes, and is very valuable. Mr. Greiff says : — * It is not long since that a regiment was clothed with waistcoats made from the hides of those animals, which were so thick that a ball could scarcely penetrate them.' He adds further, that 'when made into breeches, a pair of them among the peasantry of former days went as a legacy for several generations.' " The dk is easily domesticated ; several instances have come to my knowledge- I had a fawn in my own possession a year ago, but from want of proper nourishment it died. Formerly these animals were made use of in Sweden to draw sledges, but owing, as it was said, to their speed fre- quently accelerating the escape of people who had been guilty of murders, or other crimes, the use of them was prohibited under great penalties. Though I apprehend those ordinances if not abrogated are obsolete, I am not aware that the elk is ever made use of in that kingdom at the present day, either to draw a sledge or for other domestic purposes, "In Swe(fen, as I have observed, it is contrary to law at this particular time to kill the elk at any season of the year ; this is not the case in Nor- way ; for in that country as I have just shown, these animals may be des- troyed with certain limitations as to numbers, from the 1st of July to the 1st of November inclusive. The penalty, however, for killing an elk out of season in Norway is very much heavier than in Sweden ; it amounts indeed, including legal expenses, &c., to about £20, which is no inconsiderable sum in that kingdom." From the above extract, it will be seen how very similar the European elk must be to the American moose deer. We do not pretend to be any authority in the matter, never having seen the elk of the old world, although we have often admired the stately dimensions of that of the new. Geographical Distribution. The Moose is found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, and La- brador. In Lower Canada on both sides of the St. Lawrence below Quebec,, and west of Quebec, on the north slwres of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa, to Lake Temiscamaugue. It rarely strays over to the South shore of the Ottawa, but they are sometimes killed on that side of the river. In the northwest they range to the mouth of Mackenzie's River, on the Arctic sea in latitude 69** . In the State of New York they still exist — rarely m Herkimer, Franklin, Lewis, and Warren counties. Reindeer. — Barren Ground Caribou* 71 ARTICLE VIII. — Th& Northern Reindeer, or Barren Ground Caribou^ ( Tarandus arcticus.) GENUS TARANDUS. Dental Formula. Incisive I ; Canine i-^ ; Molar ^ — 34. Horns in both sexes, Canine teeth in both sexes, muzzle small, horns slender, smooth, palmated, lachrymal sinus. Tarandus arcticus, (Richardson.) Smaller than the common deer, Cervus virginianus, general colour dove brown in summer, whitish in winter. Inhabits the " Barren grounds" and Arctic regions of North America. Head of Tarandus arcticus, — Front view. There are two species of Reindeer, commonly called Caribou, in North America, confined in their geographical distribution to the eastern and northern portions of the continent. One of these, the subject of the present Note. — The Reindeer have eight incisors or front teeth in the lower jaw, and twelve molar or grinding teeth, six on each side. In the upper jaw they have no incisors, but two small canine teeth and twelve molars, six of the latter and one of the former on each side. The above figures represent the numbers, the upper row standing in the place of the upper jaw, and the lower row the lower jaw. " Tara7idtis,'' a Reindeer ; Arcticus, latin ; " Arctic." In the Natural His- tory of New York this animal is called Rangifer tarandus ; in Audubon and Bachman's Quadrupeds of North America, Rangifer Cariboic ; by many authors, Cervus tarandus ; by the Cree Indians, Attehk ; by the Chippewyans, Etthin ; Esquimaux, Tooktoo ; Greenlanders, Tukta i French Canadians, Carre-b(Buf ov CariboUf literally a " square oxP 72 Reindee7\ — Barren Gi'ound Caribou. article, is Tery abundant in the summer season, in a tract of barren, treelesR W)untry, bounded on the south by the Churchill river ; on the west by the Great Slave, Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deer Lakes, and the Coppermine rivers ; while towards the north it stretches away quite to the Polar seas. It is from the circumstance of its being the only deer found in this desolate region, that the Barren Ground Caribou has received this one of its names. The animal, however, is not strictly confined to that territory, for in the au- tumn it migrates towards the south, and spends the winter in the woods, and again towards the northwest it ranges nearly across the continent. This is the deer so frequently mentioned by the hardy adventurers in search of the north-west passage ; the other reindeer is the caribou of Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It shall receive some attention in the next article.. r my' U Head of Tarandus arcticus, — Side view. From the accounts furnished by the many travellers who have visited the Barren Grounds, Tarandus arcticus is a small deer, the largest and fattest bucks weighing only from 90 to 120 lbs., exclusive of the offal. Its legs are shorter and stouter in proportion to its size than those of the com- mon deer, and the fi-ont part of the head more blunt like that of a cow. The horns are slender and palmated at their upper extremities, and near their base they send out brow antlers, which incline downwards in front of the forehead, and are flattened laterally, so that the palmated portion is vertical before and between the eyes. Both males and females have horns, and they fall off and are renewed annually, as in other deer. The ears are small, oval and covered both inside and out with thick hair : the feet are very Reindeer, — Barren Ground Caribou^ 73 broad, flat, concave beneath, and adapted for dig-g'iug ia the snow. The tail is of moderate length, the hair in winter being long and coarse, in sum- mer short and smooth. The general colour is greyish brown, with the belly, insides ft" legs, and under part of the neck white. The caribou is a true reindeer, and in the descriptions given by various authors, it is usually spo- ken of as so closely allied to the European species Tarandus furcifer, that tlie two cannot be well separated. The more recent works, however, shew that not only are the American reindeer distinct from those of the old world, but that upon this continent we have two species which differ greatly in their size — occupy different regions, and when they meet on common ground do not commingle or associate with each other. The species of the two continents are the representatives of each other, or the one occupies the same place in the general economy of nature in one part of tbe world that the other does in another quarter, and yet they are distinct species. Sir John Richardson, the celebrated explorer of the northern portion of America, says, in his work upon the animals of the country . — • " In the month of July, the Caribou sheds its winter covering, and acquires a short coat of hair, of a colour composed of clove brown, mingled with deep reddish and yellowish-brown, the under surface of the neck, the belly, and the inner sides of the extremities, remaining white in all seasons. The hair at first is fine and flexible, but as it lengthens it increases gradually in diameter at its roots, becoming at the same time white, soft, compressible, and brittle, like the hair of the moose deer. In the course of the winter the thickness of the hairs at their roots becomes so great that they are exceed- ingly close, and no longer lie down smoothly, but stand erect, and they are then so soft and tender below, that the flexible coloured points are easily rubbed off, and the fur appears white, especially on the flanks. This occurs in a smaller degree on the back ; and on the under parts, the hair, although it acquires length, remains more flexible and slender at its roots, and is con- sequently not so subject to break. Towards the spring, when the Deer are tormented by the larvae of the gad-fly making their way through the skin, they rub themselves against stones and rocks until all the colored tops of the hair are worn off, and their fur appears to be entirely of a soiled white co- lour. '' The closeness of the hair of the Caribou, and the lightness of its skin, when properly dressed, render it the most appropriate article for winter clothing in the high latitudes. The skins of the young Deer make the best dresses, and they should be killed for that purpose in the month of August or September, as after the latter date the hair becomes too long and brittle. The prime parts of eight or ten Deer-skins make a complete suit of clothing for a grown person, which is so impervious to the cold that, with the addi- tion of a blanket of the same material, any one so clothed may bivouack on the snow with safety, and even with comfort, in the most intense cold of an Arctic winter's night. " The Barren ground Caribou, which resort to the coast of the Arctic Bea in summer, retii-e in winter to the woods lying between the sixty-third 74 Remdeer, — Barren Ground Caribou. and the sixty-sixth degree of latitude, where they feed on the long grass of the swamps. About the end of April, when the partial melting of the snov has softened the cetrarlce, corniciUarioe, and cevomyces, which oiothe the barren grounds like a carpet, they make short excursions from the woods, but return to them when the weather is frosty. In May the females proceed to- wards the sea-coast, and towards the end of June the males are in full march in the same direction. At that period the power of the sun has dried up tlie lichens on the barren grounds, and the Caribou frequent the moist pas- tures which cover the bottoms of the narrow valleys on the coasts and islands of the Arctic sea, where they graze on the sprouting carices and on the withered grass or hay of the preceding year, which is at that period still standing, and retaining part of its sap. Their spring journey is performed partly on the snow, and partly after the snow has disappeared, on the ice covering the rivers and lakes, which have in general a northerly direction. Soon after their arrival on the coast the females drop their young ; they commence their return to the south in September, and reach the vicinity of the woods towards the end of October, where they are joined by the males. This journey takes place after the snow has fallen, and they scrape it away with their feet to procure the lichens, which are then tender and pulpy, be- ing preserved moist and unfrozen by the heat still remaining in the earth. Kxcept in the autumn, the bulk of the males and females live separately ; the former retire deeper into the woods in winter, whilst herds of the preg- nant does stay on the skirts of the barren grounds, and proceed to the coast very early in sprmg. Captam Parry saw Deer on Melville peninsula as late as the 23d of September, and the females, with then* fa^sus, made their first appearance on the 2 2d of April, The males in general do not go so far north as the females. On the coast of Hudson's Bay the Barren-ground Caribou migrate farther south than those on the Coppermine or Mackenzie rivers ; but none of them go to the southward of the Churchill. " When in condition, there is a layer of fat deposited on the back and rump of the males to the depth of two or three inches or more, immediately under the skin, which is termed depouille by the Canadian voyagers, and as an article of Indian trade, is often of more value than all the remainder of the carcass. The depouille is thickest at the commencement of the autumn ; it then becomes of a red colour, and acquires a high flavour, and soon afterwards disappears. The females at that period are lean, but in the course of the winter they acquire a small depouille, which is exhausted soon after they drop their young. The flesh of the Caribou is very tender, and its flavor when in season is, in my opinion, superior to that of the finest English venison, but when the animal is lean it is very insipid, the difierence being greater between well fed and lean Caribou than any one can conceive who has not liad an opportunity of judging. The lean meat fills the stomach but never satisfies the appetite, and scarcely serves to recruit the strength when exhausted by labour," ' The Chepewayans, the Copper Indians, tlie Dog-Ribs and Hare Indians of Great Bear Lake, would be totally unable to inhabit their barren lands were it nor for the immense herds of this Deer Reindeer^ — Barren Ground Caribou, 75 that exist there. Of the Caribou horns they form their fish-spears and hooks ; and previous to the introduction of European iron, ice chisels and various other utensils were likewise made of them.' The hunter breaks the leg-bones of a recently slaughtered Deer, and w^hile the marrow is still warm, devours it with relish. The kidneys, and part of the intestines, particularly the thin folds of the third stomach or manyplies, are likewise occasionally eaten when raw, and the summits of the antlers, as long as they are soft, are also delicacies in a raw state. The colon or large gut is inverted, so as to preserve its fatty appendages, and is, when either roasted or boiled, one of the richest and most savoury morsels the country affords, either to the native or white resident, The remainder of the intestines, after being cleaned, are hung in the smoke for a few days, and then broiled. The stomach and its contents, termed by the Esquimaux nerrooksy and by the Greenlanders nerrikak tierriookak, are also eaten, and it would appear that the lichens and other vegetable matters on which the caribou feeds are more easily digested by the human stomach when they have been mixed with the salivary and gastric juices of a ruminating animal. Many of the Indians and Canadian voyagers prefer this savoury mixture after it has undergone a degree of fermentation, or lain to season, as they term it, for a few days. The blood, if m.ixed in proper proportion with a strong decoction of fat meat, forms, after some nicety in the cooking, a rich soup, which is very palatable and highly nutritious, but very difficult of digestion . When all the soft parts of the animal are consumed, the bones are pounded small, and a large quantity of marrow is extracted from them by boiling. This is used in making the better kinds of the mixture of dried meat and fat, which is named pemmican, and it is also preserved by the young men and women for anointing the hair and greasing the face on dress occasions. The tongue roasted, when fresh or when half dried, is a delicious morsel. When ^it is necessary to preserve the caribou meat for use at a future period, it is cut into thin slices and dried over the smoke of a slow fire, and then pounded betwixt two stones. This pounded meat is very dry and husky if eaten alone, but when a quantity of the black-fat or depouille of the deer is added to it, is one of the greatest treats that can be offered to a resident in the fur countries. " The caribou travel in herds, varying in number from eight or ten to two or three hundred, and their daily excursions are generally towards the quarter whence the wind blows. The Indians kill them with the bow and arrow or gun, take them in snares, or spear them in crossing rivers or lakes. The Esquimaux also take them in traps ingeniously formed of ice or snow. Of all the deer of North America they are the most easy of approach, and are slaughtered in the greatest numbers. A single family of Indians will sometimes destroy two or three hundred in a few weeks, and in many cases they are killed for their tongues alone" This deer is described as of an unsuspecting but inquisitive disposition, the latter quality often leading to his destruction. The northern hunter, when he sees a caribou feeding in the open plain, approaches as near as he 76 Reindeer, — Barren Ground Caribon. can without being seeen, then throws himself upon the ground, draws his coat of skins over his head, and arranges it so as to resemble somewhat the form of a deer. He then attracts the animals attention by a loud bellow. Urged on by his curiosity, the silly caribou approaches to examine the myste- rious object, capering about and running round in circles. Meanwhile the Indian remains perfectly still, well knowing that his prey will not be satis- fied until he can get a near view, When within a short distance, twelve or twenty yards, the hunter shoots him with an arrow. Many of the northern Indians are still without guns, but they use their rude bows and arrows with great effect. The Esquimaux digs a pit in the snow, and heaps up its sides, so that from a distance it rsembles a small rounded hillock. Within, the walls of the pit are perpendicular, and its mouth above is covered with a slab of ice, so arranged that when the deer walks over it, one end tips down suddenly, and having precipitated the deer into the pit, turns back and closes the en- trance. For this purpose it is contrived with an axle running through it, and it appears from this account, if it be true, that the ice and snow of the north, owing to the intensity of the cold, is more solid and tough than it is in our countrv. The Indians also construct large inclosures of brushwrod, sometimes a mile in circumference, with a narrow entrance, situated upon one of the more frequented paths of the deer. Within they have a multitude of wind- ing lanes, formed of similar materials. In these they place a great many snares, made of deer-skin thongs of great strength, and then by various expedients manage to drive a herd of the deer into the enclosure. The ter- rified animals run about in all directions through the winding avenues, be- come entanjrled in the snares, and soon the whole herd is killed. Great numbers, it is said, are slain in this way, and some families are so successful that they do not recjuire to remove then- tents morethan two or thi-ee times in a season. The barren ground caribou spends the winter in the woodland regions, subsisting upon mosses and shrubs, and in the summer regularly migrates towards the north and the sea coast, and returns again to the south in the autumn. Geographical Distribution. From all the information we have been able to collect upon the subject, Tarandus arcticus never travels as far south as Canada, although its near relative, the woodland caribou, is abundant in certain parts of the Province. Audubon and Bachmau state that from the " Barren Grounds," it ran- ges westvvard across the continent, and that it is ineutioned by several authors as inhabiting the Fox or Aleutian Islands. " It is not found so far to the southward on the Pacific as on the Atlantic coast, and is not found on the Rocky Mountains within the limits of the United States." In every part of Arctic America including the region from Hudson's Bay to far within in the Arctic circle, the Barren Ground Caribou is met with in greater or less abundance. The Woodland Corihou, 77 ARTICLE \X.— The Woodland Caribou, [Tarandus hastalis.) Tarandus hastalis, (Agassiz.) Similar to Tarandus Arcticus, but twice as large, horns more stout and short in proportion ; inhabits Labrador and northern Canada, and thence Bouth to Nova Scotia. The species of Caribou, of which an account has been given in the last article, is a small animal, but the one now to be examined grows to a size much greater than that of the common red deer. A full grown and large woodland Caribou weighs 300 lbs., while it is rare to meet with a buck of the common species which would weigh 200. In fact, the woodland Cari- bou appears to be upon an average nearly twice the size of the common red deer. Its geographical range extends over Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the northern part of the State of Maine, Lower Canada upon both sides of the mouth of the St. Lawrence, thence westerly in the inhabited country north of Quebec to the rear of Lake Superior. It never migrates towards the north in the summer as is the habit of Tarandus arcticus, but rather to the south ; the lines of migration in the two species being in exactly opposite directions. In the Lower Provinces and in Labra- dor, it is somewhat abundant in the more secluded tracts of forest, and be- ing more gregarious in its habits does not linger in the settlements like the common deer. The principal difference in form between this species and the last appears to consist in its superior size. The following is the descrip- tion given by Audubon and Bachman of an individual two years and a hal f old : — " Larger and less graceful than the common American deer, body stout and heavy, neck stout, hoofs thin, flattened, broad and spreading, ex- cavated or concave beneath, accessary hoofs, large and thin, legs stout, no glandular opening, and scarcely a perceptible inner tuft on the hind legs, nose somewhat like those of a cow, but fully covered with soft hairs of a moderate length, no beard but on the under side of the neck a line of hairs about four inches in length which hang down in a longitudinal direction, ears small, short and oval, thickly clothed with hair on both surfaces, horns one foot three and a half inches in height, slender, one with two and the other with one prong, prongs about five inches long, hair soft and wooly underneath the longer hairs like those of the antelop#, crimped or waved, and about one to one and a half inches long." As to the colour of the ani- mal, the authors state that " at the roots the hairs are whitish, then become brownish-grey, and at the tips are light dun grey, whiter on the neck than elsewhere, nose, ears, outer surface of legs, and shoulder brownish, a slight shade of the same tinge behind the fore legs, hoofs black, neck and throat dull white, a faint whitish patch on the sides of the shoulders, forehead brownish white, belly white, tail white with a slight shade of brown at the root and on the whole upper surface, outside of legs brown, a band of white around all the legs adjoining the hoofs and extending to the small secondary hoofe, horns yellowish brown, worn white in places." 78 The Woodland Caribou, The dimensions of this specimen were as follows : — Length from nose io root of tail, 6 feet ; length of tail, 4 inches ; height of shoulder, 3 feet 6 in- ches ; width between the eyes, 5^ inches ; length from point of nose to lower canthus of eye, 9 inches ; from point of nose to the ear, 1 foot 2 inches ; height of ear, 5 inches." The height of a full grown animal of this species is four feet and a half, and the weight of its carcass, without the entrails, 300 pounds. It appears to be an exceedingly shy animal, seldom frequenting the fields, but confining itself to the swamps or marshy plains in the winter, where there is an abundance of moss and small shrubs upon which it feeds, " The cari- bou," says a writer in the same work, " is famous for its swiftness, and has various gaits, walking, trotting or gallopping alike gracefully and and rapidly. By many people these animals are, in fact, thought to be much fleeter than the moose, and they are said to take extraordinary leaps. When pursued, the caribou immediately makes for a swamp, and fol- lows the margin, taking at times to the water and again footing it over the firm ground, and sometimes turning towards the nearest mountain, crosses it by another morass. If hard pressed by the hunters, (who now and then follow up the chase for four or five days) the animal ascends to the highest peaks of the mountains for security, and the pursuit becomes very fatiguing and uncertain. Upon one occasion, two men followed several caribou for a whole week, when, completely tired out, they gave up the chase, which was then continued by two other hunters, who at last succeeded in killing a couple of the animals at long shot. Sometimes, however, fresh tracks are found, and the caribou is surprised whilst lying down or browsing, and shot on the spot. When the snow is not deep, and the lakes are covered with ice only, the animal, if closely pursued, makes for one of them and runs over the ice so fast that it is unable to stop if struck with alarm at any ob- ject presenting itself in front, and it then suddenly squats down on its haunches and slides along in that ludicrous position until the impetus being exhausted, it rises again and makes off in some other direction. When the caribou takes to the ice the hunter always gives up the chase. Sometimes, when the mouth and throat of a fresh killed caribou are examined, they are found to be filled with a blackish looking mucus, resembling thin mud, but which appears to be only a portion of the partially decomposed black mosses upon which it fed, probably forced into the throat and mouth of the animal in its dying agonies. "■ When overtaken in the chase, the caribou stands at bay, and shows fight, and when thus brought to a stand still will not pay much attention to the hunters, so that he can approach and shoot them with ease." If we are to believe what is stated of the speed and powers of endu- rance of the European reindeer, to which the caribou is so closely allied that naturalists were long in doubt as to the propriety of separating it as a distinct species, then it is easy to understand that the hunting of this animal must be a laborious undertaking. Journies of one hundred and fifty miles in twenty hours art said to be a common performance of the domesticated The Woodland Caribou^ 7^ reindeer, and in 1G90, one animal is affirmed to have drawn an officer, with important despatches, eight hundred miles in forty-eight hours. In Forester's Game in its season, the author gives a very lively des- cription of the Caribou, having reference to this species, lie states that ** as regards the nature of the pelage, or fur, for it is almost such, of the Caribou, so far from its being remarkable for closeness and compactness, it is by all odds the loosest and longest haired of any deer I ever saw ; being, particularly about the head and neck^ so shaggy as to appear almost maned. " In color, it is the most grizzly of deer, and though comparatively dark brown on the back, the hide is generally speaking, light, almost dun-colored , and on the head and neck fulvous, or tawny gray, largely mixed wdth white hairs. " The fiesh is said to l^e delicious ; and the leather made by the Indians- from its skin, by their peculiar process, is of unsurpassed excellence for leg- gins, moccasins or the like ; especially for the moccasin to be used under snow-shoes. " As to its habits, while the Lapland or Siberian Eeindeer is the tamest and most docile of its genus, the American Caribou is the fiercest, fleetest, wildest, shyest, and most untameable. So much so, that they are rarely pursued by white hunters, or shot by them, except through casual good fortune ; Indians alone having the patience and instinctive craft, which enables them to crawl on them unseen, unsmelt — for the nose of the Caribou C4T,n detect the smallest taint upon the air of anything human at least two miles up wind of him — and unsuspected. If he takes alarm and starts off on the run, no one dreanis of pursuing. As well pursue the 'svind, of which no man knoweth whence it cometh or whether it goeth. Snow-shoes against him alone avail little, for propped up on the broad, natural snow-shoes of his long, elastic pasterns and wide cleft clacking hoofs, he shoots over the crust of the deepest drifts, unbroken ; in which the lordly moose would soon flounder, shoulder deep, if hard pressed, and the graceful deer would fall despairing, and bleat in vain for mercy — but he, the ship of the winter wil- derness, outspeeds the wind among his native pines and tamaracks — even as the desert ship, the dromedary, out-trots the red simoon on the terrible Zahara — and once started, may be seen no more by human eyes, nor run down by fleetest feet of man, no, not if they pursue him from their nightly- casual camps, unwearied, following his trail by the day, by the week, by the month, till a fresh snow effiices his tracks, and leaves the hunter at the last,. as he was at the first of the chase ; less only the fatigue, the disappointment' and the folly. Therefore, by woodsmen, whether white or red skinned, he is followed only on those rare occasions when snows of unusual depth are crusted over to the very point at which they will not quite support this fleet and power- ful stag. Then the toil is too great even for his vast endurance, and he can be run down by the speed of men, inured to the sport, and to the hardships of the wilderness, but by them only. Indians by hundreds in the provinces, and many loggers and hunters in the Eastern States, can take and keep his Bo The Woodland Caribou, trail in suitable weather — the best time is the latter end of February or the beginning of March ; the best weather is when a light, fresh snow of some three or four inches has fallen on the top of deep drifts and a solid crust ; the fresh snow giving the means of following the trail ; the firm crust yielding a support to the broad snow-shoes and enabling the stalkers to trail with silence atid celerity combined. Then they crawl onward, breathless and voiceless, up wind always, following the foot prints of the wandering, pas- turing, wantoning deer ; judging by signs, uumistaken to the veteran hunter, iindistinguishable to the novice, of the distance or proximity of their game^ imtil they steal upon the herd unsuspected, and either finish the day with a sure shot and a triumphant whoop ; or discover that the game has taken alarm and started on the jump, and so give it up in despair, '* One man perhaps in a thousand can still-hmit, or stalk, Caribou in the summer season. He, when he has discovered a herd feeding up wind, at a lei- sure i^ace and clearly uualarmed, stations a comrade in close ambush, well down wind and to leeward of their upward track, and then himself, after •closely observing their mood, motions and line of course, strikes off in a wide ■