The Canadian naturalist and geologist

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• • • •\ * t i

CANADIAN

aluralist anli Geologist,

AND PBOGEBDIKGS OF THB

*

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

OF MONTREAL,

coiTOoras BT A oolaaTm ov thb hatvbil bistobt socnrr.

VOLUME HI.

PUBLISHED BT B. DAWSON k SON, 28 GBSAT ST. JAMES STREET.

1868.

1.1

1

Entered, according to the Act of the ProTincxal Parliament^ in the jear
one thousand eight handred and fifty-eight, hj Bkkjavik I>aw80s
& Soir, in the Office of the Registrar of the ProTinoe of Canada.

f

CONTENTS.

■^»^#N^^^%#»»^»^»^#»^»»»<^

Pass

Abticlb I. — Things to be obserred in Montreal and its ricinitj,.. . 1

II. — On the Metallurgy of Iron, and the Processes of Chenot, 13

III. — Entomology, No. 1, 24

lY.— Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of Plants

in the British Possessions of North America, 26

y. — Report of the Geological Sorvey of Canada, 1853

to 1866, 32

YL-^A List of Indigenous Plants found growing in the
neighbourhood of Prescott, C.W., under the nomen-
clature of Gray, 39

YIL — ^Professor Owen on the Classification of Mammalia,.. . 51
YIII. — On a method of preparing and mounting Hard Tissues

for the Microscope, 64

IX.— Oeneral Position and Results of Geology, 67

X. — Geological Survey of Canada: Reports of Progress

for the years 1853-1856. Second Article, 81

XI. — On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water, 97

XII. — Contributions to Meteorology, by Charles Smallwood,

M.D.,LL.D., 110

XIII.— On the Packing of loe in the River St. Lawrence, by

Sir W. E. Logan, 115

XIY. — Geological Gleanings, 122

XY. — On the Genus Graptolithus, by James Hall, 139

XYI. — ^Note on the G^nus Graptolithus, by James Hall, .... 161
XYII. — ^Entomology No. 2, by William Couper, Toronto,. ... 177

XYIII.— Geological Gleanings, 182

XIX. — On the Existence of a Cave in the Trenton Limestone

at 06t6 St. Michel, by Dr. Gibb, 192

XXI. — On the Theory of Igneous Rocks and Yolcanos, by T.

Sterry Hunt, 194

XXII.-*Agas8iz's Contributions to the Natural History of the

United States, 201

XXIII.— Coal in Canada. — The Bowmanyille Discovery, 212

XXIY.— Agassiz's Contributions to the Natural History of the

United States, 241

Geological Gleanings, 260

The Bowmanville Coal Case, 276

Scientific Meeting in Germany, 277

XXY. — (Geological Surveys in Great Britain and her Depen-
dencies, 293

XXYI. — Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organic Re-
mains, 298

XXYn.— A Week in Gasp^, 321

XXYIII.— The Fresh-Water Alga of Canada, 331

XXIX. — Description of two Species of Canadian Butterflies, . . 346
XXX.— The Observatory at St. Martins, Isle Jesus, C. B.,. . . . 352
XXXI.— Answers to questions proposed to the Essex Insti-
tute on Lightning Conducting Rods, 364

iv Contents,

Art. XXXII. — On Sea Anemonefl and Hjrdroid Poljps from the

Galf of St. Lawrence, 401

XXXIII. — ^Description of a Canadian Batterfly, and some re-
marks on the Genus Papilio, 410

XXXIV. — New Genera and Species of Fossils from the Silu-
rian and Devonian formations of Canada, 419

XXXV. — Some observations on Donati's Comet of 1858, .... 444
XXXY I.--The Fresh-Water Alg» of Canada, 450

KiaoBLLAjnonB.

A Hint to Agricultural Societies, 77

Dr. John Forbes Royle, 78

Canadian Institute, 79

Permian Fossils in Kansas and elsewhere in America,. . 80

Migration of Pigeons, 150

Annual Report of the Canadian Institute of Toronto, . . 151

Effects of Foreign Pollen on Fruit, 153

AgassiE's Contributions to the Natural History of the

United States, 1 64

Ascent to Chimborazo, 155

The Late Dr. James Barnston, 224

Annual Meeting of the Natural History Society, 227

Obituary Notice of Robert Brown, 306

Botany, &c., 310

Presentations to the Natural History Society of Mon-
treal, 319

Correspondence, 320

Scientific Gleanings, 372

Is the Onion Indigenous to the North West of Canada? 397

Monument of Hugh Miller at Cromarty, 398

The Natural History Society of Montreal, 399

To our Reviewers, 400

Twenty-eighth meeting of the British Association for

the advancement of Science, 468

Breeding Skylarks, 472

BSVnwS AJTD yOTIOKS OF BOOZg.

A Premium Essay on Practical and Scientific Agricul-
ture, 72

IlluBtrative Scientific and Descriptive Catalogue of

Achromatic Microscopes, 73

The Aquavivarium, Works on 75

How to Lay-out a Garden, 314

The Family Aquarium, or Aqua Vivarium, 316

Nova Britannia. Nova Scotia as a field for Emigration.
Reports of Messrs. Childe, McAlpine & Eirkwood on the

Harbour of Montreal,, 392

Humble Creatures : The Earth- Worm and the Common

House-Fly, 395

The Practical Naturalist's Guide, 396

Canadian Ginseng, 466

A General View of the Animal Kingdom, 467

' $

THS

CANADIAN

NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST.

YOLUMB IIL

FEBRUARY, 1858,

NUMBKB 1.

ARTICLE I. — Things to be observed in Canada, and especially
in Montreal and its vicinity. The introductory Lecture
of the Popular Course of the Montreal Nalutal History
Society, winter of 1857-8. — By the President.

There are in all places some things which every one sees, and
other things which, though equally or more inteiesting, very few
see. Every visitor to Montreal is hkely to know something of our
public works and buildings, our mountain and its scenery, our
rapids, and many other prominent objects, interesting to natural-
ists no doubt, but equally so to other men. It is not necessary to
refer to spich things as these ; and I propose this evening to direct
your attention to some more obscure and less noteworthy objects,
deserving attention from those among us who love the study of
nature.

In order to receive much pleasure and some advantage from the
study of natural history, it is not necessary to be a great natural-
ist. In this subject we do not repel the tyro with the harsh
warning, dnnk deep or taste not We hail every young inquirer
as an aid, and are glad to have the smallest contributions which
are the result of earnest and well directed inquiry. In truth a
large proportion of the new facts added to natural science, are
collected by local naturalists, whose reputation never becomes
very extensive, but who are yet quoted by larger workers, and

2 Things to he observed in Canada*

receive due credit for their succeBsfal efforts. A ft;w men higfalf
gifted and widely travelled, or tboroughly conversant with all the
details of special subjects, are consulting naturalists, and the re-
ducers into a more general and scientific form of the faets obtained
from many quarters ; but still the great majority of naturalists,
and among them many of the most estimable and useful, are very
limited in their field of actual observation.

We have several such men in Montreal, as Tell as a few of
somewhat more extended reputation \ and there are no doubt a
number of young persons who might be induced to devote some
portion of their leisure to such studies, did they know of a profit-
able field of enquiry. To such I have no doubt that the topics of
this lecture will be of interest*

Good works of art are rare and costly, good works of nature are
scattered broadcast around our daily paths ; and are neglected
only because their familiarity prevents us from observing their
surpassing beauty and interest Nor tfre all of these objects
known even to naturalists. There are, more especially in these
new countries, scarcely any objects that have been thoroughly in-
vestigated, and there are vast numbers that are quite unknown to
science. I cannot in the space of one lecture point to even the
greater number of these objects, — nor is it possible to conjecture
the results which may attend inquiries prosecuted in new direc-
tions. It may, however, be possible to direct your attention to
some leading departments of the great field of nature, that deserve
your attention.

Let us inquire in the first place for the most promising local
fields of inquiry in the domain of zoology.

To begin with the lower members of the animal kingdom, I
am not aware that anything has been done with our spongillse or
fresh-water sponges. Soch organisms must exist in our lakes and
streams, and though very low and simple in their structure, much
interest attaches to their growth, nutrition and reproduction.
They are soft gelatinous structures, with an internal skeleton of
silicious spicula, greenish in colour, and resembling some of the
fresh water algse which live with them. Dr. Bowerbank of Lon-
don is preparing a monograph of the sponges, and informs me
that he will be glad to receive specimens from our waters. Here
then is an opening for a young naturalist I quote the following
from Dr. Bowerbank^s printed circular, and shall be glad to receive
and forward specimens i —

Things to he cbwrved in Canada. 8

" Tlie writer would al«o be particularly obliged by specimens of
spongillse, or fresh- water sponges, as be is engaged on a mono-
graph of that tribe. They are found in rivers, lakes or tanks, and
pools, attached to dead wood, rocks or stones, and are occasion-
ally found surrounding the branches of trees, dipping into the
water during periodical floods ; and if they contain their granular,
seed-like bodies, they are the more valuable. Drf them just as
they come from the water. If it* be deemed necessary to preserve
parts or the whole of delicate specimens of either marine or fresh-
water sponges in fluid, the best material is strong spirit, or water
with a considerable excess of undissolved salt in it, but never alum.
Jars or pickle and fruit bottles, well corked and sealed, or tied
over with bladder, are the best vessels for the purpose."

Rising a little higher in the scale of life, little has been done
with our fresh-water polyps, whether the simple hydra-like forms
or the more complex fresh-water bryozoa. Great reputations have
been made by the study of such creatures in Europe, — and in a
land of streams and lakes like this, much could certainly be done
in collecting new forms, and adding to our knowledge of tlie ha-
bits and range of organization of the fresh- water radiates. These
animals should be sought in lakes and streams, especially on sub-
merged wood, iresh-water shelly and the leaves of aquatic plants.
They may easy be kept in water for examination, and careful draw-
ings should be made of their forms and internal structures as seen
under the microscope. It is difiicult to preserve them ; but I would
recommend immersion in glycerine or the method above given for
spongef, as likely to succeed.

The mollusks also offer tempting fields of inquiry, more culti-
vated than those formerly noticed, but still having large promise.
Many species of unio, alasmodon and ai^odon, exist in our river^
most of them no doubt identical with species described by Ameri-
<ian naturalists, but some perhaps new, and many requiring more
careful study as to their habita, reproduction, and the real limits of
species and varieties. ThA univalve mollusks are also very nume-
rous, both in the waters and on the land, and require study, more
especially in relation to the animals as distinguished from the
empty shells. Such studies demand patience and nicety, and
would be greatly aided by vivaria, in which these creatures can
be easily kept alive and examined at leisure. Mr. Billings, one
of our members, has done some work in this field, portions of
which have appeared in the CancuiHan Naturalist. Prof. Hall
will bring before us this winter some interesting facts respecting

4 Things to be observed in Canada.

the occurrence of pearia in the fresb-water mussels, and Mr. Bell
of the Geolo^cal Survey has collected many species in the lower
part of the river.

Many members of this Society hav^e opportunities of collecting
marine shells in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, — this is also a useful
field of inquiry. Rear Admiral Bayfield has made large collections
in the course of his survey. My own collection contains
many species. More recently Mr. Bell exhibited to us a very
interesting collection from the head of the Gulf between Gasp6
and Quebec. I have no doubt that much may still be done, and
these shells would be of great interest for comparison with those
fonnd fossil in the tertiary clays, long since deserted by the sea.
While speaking of the marine fauna, I may add that the echind-
derma, the zoophytes and crustacreans, also afifbrd fields of much
interest! and promise, still very imperfectly cultivated.

Of the huge province of the articulates I am almost afraid to
speak. There is work here for all the naturalists in Canada for
the next century. Mr« Oouper of Toronto has collected and iden-
tified several hundreds of species of coleoptera ; and his collection,
now in the McGill College, affords a good basis for any one desi-
rous of commencing the study of these creatures. Mr. D'Urbain
of our own Society has entered on the investigation of the but-
terflies. With the exception of what has been done for us by
the Arctic explorers, and the naturalists of the United States, the
other orders of Canadian insects are almost a terra incognita. In
the mean time the country is suffering so seriously from the ra-
vages of many of the insect tribe.«, that the attention of Grovern-
ment has been attracted to the subject, and the essays produced
in answer to its call, by Prof. Hind and others, show that co*m-
paratively little examination of these creatures or inquiry into
their habits has been made within the limits of the Province;
nearly all the facts contained in these essays, having been co]«
lected from abroad though the value of the essays published, and
the large number of competitors, show that we have persons
qualified for the work. For hints very useful to the young natu-
ralist, I may refer to the papers on collecting insects, and on the
distribution of insects, by Mr. Couper, published in the J/aiU"
ralisU

Who knows anything of the myriads of minute crustaceans and
aquatic worms that swarm in our waters in summer. I have
seen enough to be assured that their name is legion, but I am not
aware that any one has collected or determined the species

Things to he observed in Canada. 6

occurring here. The subject is a difficnit one, bat many of these
creatures are exceedingly curious in structure and habits ; and
collections of facts ^ind fipecimens might be made, by any one
having time to devote to such pursi|its.

Among, the vertebrated animals, though there is little ground
so completely untraversed as in some of the lower forms of lift",
much may still be done. In one department the late TYot McCul-
loch and Prof. Hall long since set a good example, in collecting
birds and other vertebrates, and preparing lists of those frequenting
or rarely visiting this locality. The geographical distribution of
the higher animals as illustrated by such collections and lists, is
in itself a very important subject

The fishes of our rivers afford a fertile subject of inquiry.
Many of the smaller species are probably undescribed, and there
are some of peculiar interest which deserve study in their habits
and modes of life. I refer especially to the Lepidosteus* and the
Amia,f those ancient forms of ganoid fishes which remind us so
strongly of the antique Fpecies found fossil in the Palseozoic rocks,
and a minute acquaintance with whose habits might throw most
interesting light on the condition of the world in those bygone
periods. Information on their spawning grounds, their haunts at
different stages of growth, their food, their winter and summer
resorts, their migrations, iheit peculiar instinct^ if carefully col-
le<l^ted, would be of inestimable value* Living speciidens, which
might be kept in vivaria aud examined at leisure, would also be
of great interest, and might be procured by many persons who
have not themselves time or inclination for such studies. Agassiz,
who has already so ably illustrated the structures and affinities of
these animals, has invited collectors to contribute specimens for
his great work now in progress ; and any facts relating to the
habits of these inhabitants of our waters, will be gladly received
for this journal. I should add here, that Mr. Fowler, one of our
members, has prepared a nmnber of accurate and beautiful draw-
ings of Canadian fishes, and can thus perpetuate for us the fleeting
tints of our specimens.

Even the smaller quadrupeds of Canada are by no means well
ascertained. The mice, the shrews, the bats, are very imperfectly
known. There may be unknown specif s. There certainly are
many unknown facts in distribution and habits. Mr. Billings has

* fionj Pike, Gar Fish, Poisson arm^e.

t Marsh fish, Mad fish, Poisson de marais, Poisson Oastor.

6 Tfiings to he observed in Canada*

published id our journal an interesting summary of facts on Cana-
dian quadrupeds; and much curious information exists in the
work of Mr. Gosse, as well as iq the standard Works of Richardson
fy Audubon. I would especially invite attention to the mice and
other sraa)l rodents, and the shrews. Only a few days ago a fine
pair of specimens of the old Black Rat of Europe, which I did not
know as a resident of Cauaaa, were procured by Mr. Hunter, beau*
tifully prepared by him, and, presented by a friend to the College
Cabinet, affording an illustration of the curious facts that may be
.learned even within the limits of our city.

I had almost forgotten to refer to ih^ reptiles of Canada. The
magnificent volumes of Pro'essor Agassiz shew what may be done
" with one fi^mily, that of the tortoises. None of us, perhaps, can
enter into the study in the manner in which this great naturalist
has pursued it, but many may collect important facts and speci*
mens. We do not yet know much about the numerous snakes, frog^,
toads and newts of Canada, though many specimens exist in the
collections of this Society, of Dr. M*Culloch, and of the University.
Even a catalogue of the specimens in these collections would be
valuable. Unattractive though these creatures may appear to the
popular view, they afford more than most other animals evidences
of the wonders of creative skill.

One little batrachian reptile I regard, as a geologist, with
pecufiar interest, and would commend to your notice. I refer to
the Menobranchus, or Proteus,]; a creature most unattractive in
aspect, byt most singular in its habits and mode of life, and a
representative of the earliest forms of air-breathing life introduced
upon our planet. No gift would afford me greater pleasure thHn
a few living specimens of this animal, which might enable me to
become better acquainted with its mode of life, and thus better to
appreciate the probable habits of some of its extinct congeners,
whose bones I have disinterred from the carboniferous rocks.
Some time ago a living specimen was procured by Mr. Hodgins
of Toronto ; but the few observations of its habits which he has
recorded in the Canadian Journal, only stimulate the desire for
further informaiion.

It would be ungracious to leave the animal kingdom, without
notice of Ethnology as a field of investigation. The remarkable
collection of Mr. Kane, exhibited here during the meeting of the
American Association last summer, must have strongly impressed

t Water— Azard.

Things to he observed in Canada. 7

your minds with the interest of tbe sulject, as it relates to the
Indian tribes. Mr. Kane was fertuDate in having so able an
expositor of his ec^ection as Dr Wilson ; and I may add that
Canada is fortunate in hanng an ethnologist so well fitted tor lead
in this department Surely, some of onr members might contri-
bute something to this great subject. Specimens relating to it
are not often laid before us. We received, however, last year,
through the Bishop of Montreal, a curious ancient urn, which
excited much interest. I have since been in correspondence with
the gentleman who made known the discovery, and hope to obtain
further information and specimens. On the return of his Lord-
ship, who possesses the original notes on the subject, I trust this
interesting relic will be figured and described in our Journal.

Plants afford as many local attractions as animals, but I shall
occupy less time with the sub^t of Botany than wiih that of
Zoology, 'a very large herbarium has been collected by the
oldest living member of this Society, Professor Holmes;' and as
we now have it arranged by Professor Bamston, in the Cabinet of
McGill College, it affords an invaluable means of reference to the
student. Dr. Bamston is now engaged in preparing a catalogue
of this and his own collections, which will, I trust, be published
under the auspices of this Society ; and it will then be for 6ubse-
^uent collectors to add to this aiready extensive list such species
as may still remain undiscovered.

, The Canadian Botanist should not, however, content himself
with the mere determination of pknts. I cannot doubt that much
remains to be done in investigating the uses of native plants not
now applied td practical purposes in the arts or in domestic life ;
and that as Canada becomes more populous, and agriculture less
rude in its practice, the cultivation of many neglected plants fitted
to contribute to minor practical uses, will be und^taken. Nor
i&ould our forests and the means for their preservation and resto-
ratioi^ to such an extent as may be desirable for shelter and for the
«up{dy of wood, be neglected by scientific men. Rich gleanings,
applicable to Canadian practice, may be made in this direction,
&om the expeditints employed in European countries; and in a
country in which one-third of the soil should probably remain in
forest to supply the permanent demand for fbel and other uses,
this subject is of great practical importance.

Another subject less practical, but profoundly interesting, ^ the
geographical distribution of plants, so ably expounded by De

Candolle, and on our side of the Atlantic by Professor Oray.

8 Things to be dbserwd in Canada.

The cnrions facts respecting the geographical distribution of the
Ranunculacese, so pleasantly stated by Mr. George Barnston,in an
article in the last volume of the Canadian NaturaliaU show how
much can be done in this field. But it is not merely in relation
to botany that this inquiry is of interest Edward Forbes haa
shewn that great questions in geology are illustrated by it ; and
nowhere better than on the American Continent 6an it be studied
in this aspect Let us iuquire respecting any plant, what are its
precise geographical limits ? To what extent do these depend on
climate, elevation, exposure, soil. What inferences may be de-
duced as to the centre from which it originally spread, and what
as to the changes in the extent of the land and the relative levels
of land and sea that have occurred since its creation i Here are
fertile subjects of inquiry, leading to the grandest conclusions in
reference to the history of life upon our planet

But I must turn for a moment from this great subject to the
humbler members of the vegetable kingdom, no less curious than
^he higher, and less known. One of our number, the Rev. Mr.
Kemp, has directed bis attention to the fresh-water Algse, and
has contributed a valuable paper as the first result of his inquiries*
Mr. Poe, another of our members, is an enthusiastic student of the
Fun^ and other more minute and simple forms of plant life. A
summary of what is known of these objects, as occurring in Can-
ada, will be given to ui by Mr. Poe in the present winter ; and I
have no doubt will excite some interest in these singular and
anomalous structures, so curious in their habits and often s6 inju-
rious to our property.

The Mosses, Lichens, Lycopodiacess, Ferns, and other allied
families, offer many rewards to any diligent student; and the
excellent arrangement and descriptions in I'rofessor Gray's new
edition of his Manual, give facilities heretofore within the reach of
few. There may be Canadian botanists engaged in this stu^y,
but I have no evidence that this is the case. Our mountain and
the neighbouring hills afford peculiar facilities for it ; and I sus-
pect that curious facts as to the distribution of these plants might
be obtained, firom their study on these isolated trappean eminences,
in a limestone and alluvial country.

The naturalists and professional men of Montreal have devoted
much attention to the nnicroscope ; and our city possesses many
good instruments, daily increasing in nnmber, and affording
a most dcli^tful and instructive means of scientific observation in
all departments of Natural History. Among our members, Mr.

Thif^i to he oherved in Canada. 9

Poe and Mr. Murphy deserve especial mentioD, as having devoted
much time and effort to the improvement and increase of our
means of study in this department/

Geology presents on every side ample harvests to the inhabi-
tants of this city. Our noble mountain, — ^the skeleton of an old
Silurian volcano, with its multitudinous trap-dykes of various age
and composition, is itself a study capable of throwing new light on
the phenomena of volcanic agency as manifested in those ancient
period^ The stratified rocks at its base, full of fossils, — ^many of
them no doubt undescribed, and, in some of their beds, actually
made np of the comminuted fragments of shells and corak, — in-
vite the attention of the most unobsen^ant. Every block of build-
ing-stone from our quarries is a mass of animal debris, presenting
nnder the microscope hundreds of beautiful forms bearing the
impress of creative skill, though belonging to perished races of
animals. Our worthy associate, Mr. Billings, now most usefully
connected with the Geological Survey, is a brilliant example of
reputation, and, what is better, accurate and extensive knowledge,
gathered from the study of the Lower Silurian limestones.

I .need scarcely remind you of the tertiary clays to which I had
the pl<)asure of directing the attention of this Society at one of
its late meetings. They have yielded in the past summer about
thirty species of animal remains not previously known to exist in
them ; and many of these have been brought to light by the in«
dnstry of onr College students. Some even of the boys of the
High School now have collections of these fossils, and have been
successful in adding to the number of species. Much yet re-
mains to be done in this field ; and I look forward to the time
when we shall have nearly complete lists of the shells peculiar to
each level of the Peistocene sea, and to the present Gulf of the
St. Lawrence, and an accurate knowledge of the position of the
shores of each successive salt-water area, as the sea gradually left
our noble valley. We shall then be in a position to offer a large
contribution to the tertiary geology of America, and of the world.

With the present facilities lor travelling, the whole geology of
Canada lies before us ; and we need not apprehend that Sir Wm.
Logan will grudge us space in this large field. He has done, and
is doing, a great work ; but, even with his skill and energy, were
he to live far beyond the allotted age of man, he would but find
the number of openings for investigation increasing before hinu
He has well and effectually opened up an immense territory ; but
there is room in it for hundreds of geologists to earn reputationi

to Things to be observed in Canada.

by following on his track. He will thank yoa for anything that
you can do in the accumulation of facts ; that is, provided yoa
do not embarrass him and oppose Ihe interests of truth by those
crude and hasty generalizations, or baseless hypotheses, in which
unskilful and hasty observers are too prone to indulge, and which
sooaetiroes impose upon the credulity of the public to the serious
injury of the science. No department of natural science presents
greater temptations to such vagaries than geology, and none has
suffered more seriously from their effect on the popular mind.
Ko science is more grand in its ultijaate truths, none more valu-
able in its practical results, than geology, when pursued in the
spirit which characterises the head of our survey. None is more
dangerous or misleading in the hands of pretenders.

The subject of geology I may remind you includes within itself
many subordinate fields, which have been or are being successfully
cultivated, by observers in various parts of Canada ; and here as in
most other parts of America, geological investigations have been
more eagerly and extensively pursued than other branches of na-
tural science. The mineralogical researches of Dr. Holmes, and
of Dr. Wilson of Perth, who, though not one of our citizens, has
contributed much to our collection, and tne geological observa-
tions of Dr. Bigsby, some of which relate to ^ef vicinity of this
dty, preceded the work of the Provincial Survey, and not only
made many important discoveries, but may be regarded as among
the causes which led to t^e institution of that great enterprise, so
successful and so creditable to the Province, Nor must I here
omit the interesting paper on the Montreal mountain, long since
contributed to this Society by our late Treasurer, Dr. Workman,
a paper to w^hich I all the more readily give prominence here, as
I have had the pleasure of visiting some of the localities in com-
pany with its author, and as it was inadvertently omitted in the list
of authorities referred to in the paper on that subject, which I
lately read before this Society. Were it expedient to attempt
extending such notices beyond the more immediate limits of our
own sphere of operation, I might name many useful men who
have variously distinguished themselves in this science, by way of
encouragement to our embryo geologists, One name 1 cannot
pass by, that of a man of much more than Canadian
reputation, and of eminent usefulness in promoting the growth of
Canadian geology, Prof. Chapman, of University College, Toronto*
whose able papers and notices in the Canadian Journal wo shall
do well if we can approach in the journal of this Society. I shall

Thingi to be observed in Canada. 1 1

farther take the liberty of mentioniiig the collection of the Rev.
Mr. Bell, now id Queen's College, and that of Sheriff Dickson, of
Kingston, from both of which I have derived much pleasure and
instruction, and those of Dr. Van Oortlandt, and of the Silurian
Society of Ottawa, and of our more venerable sister the Literary
and Historical Society of Quebec, the study of which is a pleasure,
I trust, yet in store for me.

I have probably sufSciently trespassed on your patience, and
shall say little of the aids which intelligent public appreciation
can render to meteorological investigations, such as those of Prof.
Smallwood and Prof. -Hall, or to the important chemical inquiries
of Prof. Hunt. The results attained by these gentlemen are full of
material for thought, and in many minor departments of their work
I have no doubt they might be aided by local co-operation on the
part of some of our members. If in no other way, we can aid
these gentlemen by studying and expounding to the public the
conclusions which they reach. Independently of their interest to
science, now appreciated far beyond the limits of Canada, the
tables of Prof. Smallwood and Prof. Hall, and the analyses of Prof.
Hunt, are full of facts of immense practical value in agriculture
and the arts of life. I had occasion, not long since, in connec-
tion with my lectures on agriculture to study the analyses of soils
in the reports of the Geological Survey, and I am convinced that
those analyses contain the germ of a revolution in Canadian agri-
culture, which will be effected so soon as they are thoroughly
understood by the people.

Enough has been said to indicate some of the paths of inquiij
open to the members of this Society. But, it may be asked, why
should we leave our ofSces, our business, our social amusements,
for such occupations. It is not necessary that we should do so. All
of us have public, social, and private duties, that have prior claims
on our attention. We must not neglect these ; but, if we have a
little leisure for rational amusement, I know none more agree-
able or inspiring than the study of nature, or of some small de«
.partment of it, such as the observer in his own locality can take
time fiilly to master. Let him provide himself with, or secure
access to, the best books in the department he may select| and
this need not, in the first instance, be a very extensive one. L^
him read, collect, observe, and note ; and, in an incredibly short
time, he will find a new world of beauty opening to him. Objects
before unregarded will become friends, and will speak to him of
the wonders of the Universe of Ood, until he will long to make

12 Things to be observed in Canada.

known to others tlie utterances which have broken on his own
inner ear, and rejoice in being able to add his mite to the treasury
of onr knowledge of nature.'

I might hefe speak of the facilities which this city presents in
access to books and collections. They are small in comparison
with those in many cities of the old world. Yet they are not
despicable. The collection of the Geological Survey, the collec-
tion and library of this Society, and those of our educational insti^
tntions, offer many aids to the student, as well as many objects
deserving of farther study and explanation. The meetings of this
Society also afford a valuable means of improvement and profit-
able intercourse ; and our Journal, the Canadian Katuralisty has
for one of its objects the introduction of inquirers to profitable
fields of research. Already, in the two volumes published,^ there
are valuable summaries of the facts most necessary to the student
in many of the departments referred to in this lecture.

It is' scarcely necessary to add that such studies as those which
I have recommended, even if they afford no new fact) of prin-
ciples, are in themselves capable of yielding much rational plea-
sure ; and that in this aspect of the subject the field of inquiry is
much more extensive than in the former; since here we are not
restricted to the absolutely unknown, but may find for ourselves
quite as much interest and novelty in ground previously trodden
by others, but new to us.

In conclusion, I may say on behalf of all those members of this
Society engaged in the pursuit of any department of Natural His-
tory, that they will welcome with pleasure any inquirer fired with
the true ardour of a naturalist ; and that they will most thank-
fully avail themselves of, and honourably acknowledge any aid
that they may receive in collecting the material of their investiga-
tions. Nor need this statement belimited to Montreal. My subject
beipg local, I have confined myself chiefly to things and persons in
our city ; but there are men in other parts of Canada and beyond
its limits, working at these subjects ; and while it is desirable that
here we should rival them in these pursuits, no reason exists to
prevent our emulation from being accompanied by mutual and
friendly aid. In this spirit I close by asking pardon, if, in the
above remarks, I have unwittingly omitted or done injustice to
any labourer in the departments of science to which I have ad-
verted.

J.W.D*

Metallurgy of Iron. 13

ARTICLE II. — On ike Metallurgy of Iron and the Frocessei
of Chenot,*

The new metallurgical processes of Adrien Chenot attracted
in a particular manner the attention of the Jury at the Exhibition at
Paris in 1855, and were the object of a special study by the Jurors of
the first class, who awarded to the inventor the Gold Medal of Hon-
our, M. Cheuot there exhibited a series of specimens, serving to
illustrate the processes which bear his name, and which have
been the result of extraordinary labors on his part, continued
through the last twenty-five years. As the industry of iron-
smelting promises for the future to be one of great importance
to Canada, it may be well to advert briefly to the history and
theory of the metallurgy of iron, in order to explain the processes
now in use, and to prepare the way for an exact underttanding of
those of Chenot.

The most ancient and simplest mode of obtaining iron from
its ores is that practiced in the Corsican and Catalan forges*
where pure ores are treated with charcoal in small furnaces, and
by variations in the mode of conducting the process, are made
to yield at once either malleable iron, or a kind of steel. But
this method requires very pure ores, and a large expenditure
of fuel and labour, while from the small size of the furnaces
it yields but a limited quantity of iron. It is scarcely used ex-
cept in the Pyrennees, Corsica, some parts of Germany, and
northern part of the State of New York,

The high or blast-furnace, which converts the ore directly into
cast metal, furnishes by far the greater part of the iron of com-
merce. This furnace may be described as consisting essentially
of a crucible in which the materials are melted, surmounted by a
vertical tube or chimney some thirty feet in height, in which th«
reduction of the ore is effected. Into this furnace a mixture of
ore and fuel is introduced from the top, and the fire, once kindled,
is kept up by a blast of hot or cold air, supplied by a proper ap.
paratus, and admitted near the bottom of the furnace. The ores
submitted to this process are essentially combinations of iron with
oxygen, often containing besides water and carbonic acid, and

always mingled with more or less earthy matter, consisting of

■ ' ^ -

* From the recently published volume of Reports of the Geological
Survey of Canada for I853-64^55-'56. , Pp. 392-404.

Metallurgy of Iron.

silica, alumina, &o. The water and carbonic acid, being readily
volatile, are often expelled by a previous process of roasting.
When these oxyds of iron are heated to redness in contact with
charcoal, this material combines with the oxygen of the ore, and
the iron is set free or reduced to the metallic state, after which by
the further action of the combustU)le it is fused, and collects in a
liquid mass in the crucible below. The earthy ingredients of the
ore, with the ashes of the fuel, are also melted by the intense heat,
and form a kind of glairs or slag^ which floats upon the surface
of the molten metal, and from time to time both of these are
drawn off from the crucible. It is very important to give to these
earthy matters that degree of fluidity which shall permit their
ready reparation from the reduced and melted iron, and to attain
this end, the different ores are generally mixed with certain, ingre-
dients termed fluxes, which serve to augment the fusibility of the
sl^gs. Limestone, sand, and clay may each of them be used for
this object with different ores. It will be kept in mind that the
fuel employed in the process of smelting, serves for two distinct
objects : first,, as a combustible to heat the materials, and secondly,
as a reducing agent to remove the oxygen fi;om the ore.

The contents of a blast furnace in action consist then of a great
column of mingled or^ and fuel, continually moving downward
towards the crucible, and constantly replenished from the top»
while a current of air and gases is continually traversing the mass
in a contrary direction. The investigations by Leplay and Ebel-
man on the theory of this operation have prepared the way for the
processes of Chenot, and we shall therefore state in a few words
the results of their researches. They have shown in the first place
that the direct agent in the reduction of the ore is a portion of the
carbon of the fuel in a gaseous state, and secondly, that this re-
duction is effected at a temperature far below that required tor the
fusion of the nietal. The oxygen of the air entering by the blast
is at first converted by combination with the ignited coal^ into
carbonic acid, in which an atom of carbon is combined with two
atoms of oxygen, but as this gas, rising in the furnace, encounters
other portions of ignited coal, it takes up another equivalent of
carbon and forms carbonic oxyd gas, in which the two atoms of
oxygen are combined with two of carbon. This gas is the reduc-
ing agent, for when in its upward progress it meets with the ig-
nited oxyd of iron, the second atom of carbon in the gas takes from
the iron two atoms of oxygen to form a new portion of carbonic
acid, which passes on, while metallic iron remains.

Metallwgy of Iron* 16

The interior of the blast furnace may be divided into ibur dis-
tinct regions ; the first and uppermost is that in which the mix-
tare of ore and fuel is roasted ; the water and volatile matters are
there driven off, and the whole is gradually heated to redness. In
the second region, immediately below the last, the already ignited
ore is reduced to tlie metallic state by the ascending current of
carbonic oxyd gas ; the metal thus produced is ^however in the
condition of malleable iron, nearly pure and Vjery difficultly fusi-
ble ; but in the third region it combines with a portion of car-
bon, and is converted into the fusible compound known as cast
Iron. In addition to this, small portions of manganese, alumi-
nium and silicium, whose combinations are always present in the
' contents of the furnace, become reduced, and alloying with the
iron, affect very much its quality for better or worse. Oast iron
generally contains besides these, small portions of sulphur,, phos-
phorus, and other impurities less important.

In the fourth and lowest r^on of the furnace, which is near to
the blast, the heat becomes more intense, the carburetted metal
melts, together with the earthy matters, and both collect at the
bottom of the crucible upon what is called the hearth, from which
the two are drawn off from time to time. The cast iron thus ob-
tained is very fusible, but brittle, and is far from possessing those
precious qlialities which belong to malleable iron or steel.

To convert the cast metal into malleable iron, it is exposed to a
process which is called puddling^ and consists essentially in fusing
it in a furnace of a peculiar kind, where the metal is exposed to
the action of the air. The carbon, manganese, silicium, and other
foreign mattere, are thus burned away, and the once liquid metal
is converted into a pasty granular mass, which is then consolida-
ted under hammers or rollers, and drawn out into bars of soft
malleable iron.

To convert into steel the soft iron thus obtained, it is heated for
a long time in close vessels with powdered charcoal, a small quan-
tity of which is absorbed by the iron, and penetrating through the
mass changes it into steel. This process is known by the name of
cementation^ The change is however irregular and imperfect ; it
is therefore necessary to break up these bars of cemented or blis-
tered steel, as it is called, and after assorting them according to
their quality, either to weld them together, or to melt down each
sort by itself in large crucibles. The metal is then made into in-
gots, and forms cast steel, which is afterwards wrought under the
hammer and drawn out into bars.

16 Metallurgy (f Iron*

Such 18 an outline of the long and expensive processes by which
malleable iron and steel are obtained from the ores of iron. The
reduction of the iron to the metallic state constitutes but a small
part of the operation, and consumes comparatively but little fuel,
but as we have already seen the reduced iron is first carburetted
as it descends in the furnace, then melted by an intense heat into
the form of cast iron, which is again fused in the puddling fur-
nace before being converted into malleable iron, the transforma-
tion of which into cast steel requires a long continued heat for the
cementation, and still another fusion.

In Derbyshire in England, there are consumed for the fabrica-
tion of one ton of cast iron, two tons and twelve quintals of ore,
and two tons of mineral coal, wh^e in Staffordshii;e two tons eight
quintals of coal, and two tons seven quintals of ore are employed
for the production of a ton of cast metal. In the furnaces of the
Department of the Dordogne, in France, where charcoal is
employed, two tons and seven quintals of ore, one ton and
three quintals of charcoal are employed for a ton of iron.
For the production of a ton of wrought iron in England about
one ton and one-third of cast iron, and from two to two
* and a-half tons of mineral coal are consumed, while the,
same amount of the cast iron of the Dorc^ogne requires to
convert it into a ton of wrought iron, one ton and ahalf of
charcoal. Thus in England the fabrication of a ton of wrought
iron, from poor ores yielding from thirty-eight to forty per cent,
of metal, requires a consumption of about five tons of mineral coal,
and in Dordogne a little over three tons of wood charcoal, which
costs there about fifty-eight shillings currency the ton. The aver-
age price of charcoal in France, however, according to Dufr6noy,
is about seventy-four shillings, while in Sweden it costs only about
fourteen shillings, and in the Ural Mountains eleven shillings the
ton. In France, much of the pig iron manufactured with charcoal
is refined by the aid of mineral coal.

The questions of the price and the facility of obtaining fuel are
of the first importance in the manufacture of iron. The ores of this
metal are very generally diffused in the earth's surface, and occur
abundantly in a great many places where fuel is dear. The iron
which is manufactured either wholly or in part with wood-char-
coal, is of a quality much superior to that obtained with mineral
coal, and commands a higher price. One principal reason of this
difference is that the impurities present in the coal contaminate
%e iron, but it is also true that the ores treated with mineral coal

MetaUurgy of Iran. 17

are for the greater part of inferior quality. Intet^tratified with
the beds of coal in many parts of Great Britain, Europe and North
America there are found beds of what is called elay iron-stone, or
ar^llaceous carbonate of iron, yielding from twenty to thirty-five
per cent of the metal. This association of coal with the ore offers
great facilities for the fabrication of iron, which is made in large
quantities, and at very low prices from these argillaceous ores.

These poor ores will not admit of being carried far for the pur-
pose of smelting, and it is not less evident that the large quantity
of coal required for their treatment could not be brought from any
great distance to the ores. As a general rule the richest and
purest ores of iron belong to regions in which mineral coal is
wanting," while the carboniferous districts yield only poorer and
inferior ores. , On this continent, which contains vast areas
of coal-bearing rocks, the great deposits of magnetic and hematitic
iron ores are chiefly confined to the mountainous district north of
the Saint Lawrence, and the adjacent region of northern New
York, to which may be added a similar tract of country in Mis-
souri. In the old world it is in Sweden, the Ural Mountains,
Elba and Algiers, that the most remarkable deposits of similar
ores are met with ; and it is not, perhaps, too much to say, that if
favourable conditions of fuel and labour were to be met with in
these regions, these purer and more productive ores would be
wrought to the exclusion of all others. But where charcoal
is . employed the forests in the vicinity of large iron furnaces
are rapidly destroyed, and fuel at length becomes scarce.
In a country like ours where there is a ready market for fire-wood
near to the deposits of ore, the price of fuel will one day become
such as to preclude their economic working by the ordinary pro-
cesses. As the industrial arts progress, the consumption of fuel
is constantly increasing, and its economic employ becomes an
important consideration.

From these preliminaries it is evident that a great problem with
regard to the manufacture of iron, is to find a process which shall
enable us to work with a small amount of fuel, those rich ores
which occur in districts remote from mineral coaL Such was the
problem proposed by Adrien Chenot, and which in the opinion of
the International Jury, he has in a great measure resolved.

To return to the blast furnace ; we have seen that the second
and moderately heated region, is that in which the reduction of
the ore is effected, and that the intense heat of the lower regions .
of the furnace only affects the carburation and fnaion of the metal.

B

18 Metallurgy of Iran*

Mr. Cbenot conceived the idea of a furnace which should consist
Qnly of the roasting and reducing regions ; his apparatus is but
the upper portion of an ordinary blast furnace, the carburetting
and fusing regions being dispensed with. In this the ore is re-
duced at a low red heat, and the inetal obtained in the form of a
gray, soft, poroas mass, constituting a rentable metallic sponge,
and resembling spongy platinum. The furnace of Chenot is a
vertical prismatic structure forty feet high, open at the top for the
reception of the ore, and having below a moveable grate by which
the charge can be removed ; the bottom is susceptible of being
closed air-tight. The lower part of the furnace is of iron plate,
and is kept cool, but about mid-way the heat is applied for the re^
duction of the ore, and here comes in a most important principle,
which will require a particular explanation, It is required to heat
to moderate redness the entire surface of the rectangular vertical
furnace throughout a length of several feet, a result by no means
easy to be effected by the use of a solid combustible, but readily
attained by a gaseous fuel such as is employed by Mr. Ghenot.

We have already explained the theory of the production of
carbonic oxyd. The possibility of employing this gas as a com-
bustible was first suggested by Karsten, and in 1841 Mr. Ebelman
of the School of Mines at Paris, made a series of experiments on
the su' ject by the direction of the Minister of Public Works. The
process employed by this chemist consisted essentially in forcing
a current of air through a mass of ignited coal of such thickness
that the whole of the oxygen was converted into carbonic oxyd ;
this escaping at an elevated temperature was brought into contact
with the outer air, and furnished by its combustion a heat sufBcient
for all the ordinary operations of metallurgy. A consideration
of great importance connected with this process is, that it permits
the use of poor earthy coals, and other waste combustibles, which
could hardly be employed directly, while by this method the whole
oftheir carbonaceous matter is converted into inflammable gas.
Wood and turf may be made use of in the same way, and the ga»
thus obtained will be mingled with a portion of hydrogen, and
probably with some hydrocarburet ; a similar mixture may be ob-
tained with charcoal or anthracite, if a jet of steam be intro-
duced into the generating furnace, a modification of the process
which has however the effect of reducing the temperature of the
evolved gases.

This mode of emplojring combustibles becomes of great impor-
tance in the process of Chenot, who generates the gas in small

Metallurgy (f Iron. 19

furnaces placed around the great prismatic tube, and conducts it
into a narrow space between this and an outer wall ; through this,
by openings, a regulated supply of air is introduced for the com-
bustion of the gas, by which the ore contained in the tube is raised
to a red heat. The next step is to provide the reducing material
which shall remove the oxygen from the ignited ore, and for this
purpose we have already sefen, that even in the ordinary smelt-
ing process carbonic oxyd is always the agent ; but instead of the
impure gas obtained from his furnaces, and diluted with the ni-
trogen of the air, M. Chenot prefers to prepare a pure gas, which
he obtains as follows. A small quantity of carbonic acid gas,
evolved frpm the decomposition of carbonate of lime, is passed
over ignited charcoal, and thus converted into double its volume
of carbonic oxyd gas ; this is then brought in contact with ignitt-d
oxyd of iron, which is reduced to the metallic state, while the gas
is ohangerl into carbonic acid, ready to be converted into carbonic
oxyd by charcoal as before. In this way the volume goes on
doubling each time the two-fold operation is repeated. By intro-
ducing the carbonic oxyd thus obtained into the furnace charged
with ignited iron ore, and withdrawing a portion of the gas at a
higher level, for the purpose of passing it again over ignited char-
coal in a smaller tube apart, the process may be carried on inde-
finitely, th^ carbonic acid serving as it were* to cairy the reducing
combustible from the one tube, to the ore in the other.

A modification of this process consists in mingling the ore with
an equal volume of small fragments of charcoal, and admitting a
limited supply of air into the body of the apparatus, by openings at
mid-height, the heat being as before applied from without. In
this case the action is analogous to that which takes place in the
ordinary blast furnace ; carbonic oxyd and carbonic acid are al-
ternately formed by the reactions between the oxygen of the air,
the ore and the charcoal ; but the supply of air being limited,
and' the temperature low, neither carburation nor fusion of the
metal can take place, and five-sixths of the charcoal employed,
remain unchanged and serve for another operation. This simpler
way has the disadvantage that one half of the furnace is occupied
with charcoal, so that the product of metal is less than when the
reducing gas is prepared in a separate generator. In either case
the product is the same, and the iron remains as a soft porous
substance, retaining the form and size of the original masses of ore.
This metallic sponge is readily oxydized by moisture, and if pre-
pared at a verj low temperature, takes fire* from a lighted tapers

20 MetaUwrgy of Iron.

and burns like tinder, yielding red oxyd of iron. In order to
avoid the inconvenience of this excessive tendency to oxydation,
the metal is ex{iosed in the process of manufacture to* a heat some-
what greater than would be required for the reduction ; this ren-
ders the sponge more dense, and less liable to oxydation in the air.

The part of the furnace below the action of the fire is so pro-
longed, that the reduced metal in its slow descent, has time to be-
come veiy nearly cold before reaching the bottom. It is then re^
moved at intervals, by an ingenious arrangement, which enables
the operator to cut o£f, as it were, the lower portion of the mass,
without allowing the air to enter into the apparatus. Ih the case
where the ore has been mixed with charcoal, the la'-ger masses of
metal are now separated from it by a screen, and the smaller by a
revolving magnetic machine.

This spongy metallic iron may be applied to various uses. If
we grind it to powder and then submit it to strong pressure, co-
herent masses are obtained, which at a welding heat, contract
slightly, without losing their form, and yield malleable iron. By
this process of moulding, which may be termed a casting without
fusion, the metal may bo obtained in forms retaining all the .sharp-
ness of the mould, and possessing the tenacity, malleability and
infusibility of wrought iron. The masses thus compressed have in
fact only to be forged, to give wrought iron of the finest quality;
and it is found that during the hammering, any earthy matters
mechanically int"rrnixed, are eliminated like the scorias of the
iron from the puddling fiirnace.

But without overlooking the great advantage of this method of
making malleable iron, and moulding it into the shapes required,
it is especially as applied to the manufacture of steel, that the
metallurgical methods of Chenpt deserve attention. In the ordi-
nary process, as we have already seen, the b irs of malleable are
carburctted by a prolonged heating in the midst of charcoal pow-
der ; but the operation is long and expensive, and the metal ob-
tained'by this mole of cementation is not homogeneous. Mr.
Chenot avails himself of the porosity of the metallic sponge, to
bring the carbon in a liquid state, in contact with the minutest
particles of the iron. For this purpose he plunges the sponge
into 'k bath of oil, tar, or melted resin, the composition of the bath
varying according to the quality of the steel which it is desired
to obtain. The sponge thus saturated, is drained, and heated in «
close vessel. The oily or reainous matter is expelled, partly as a
gli% but for the greater part distils over as a liquid, which may be

Metallurgy of Iron^ 21

again employed for cementation. A small portion of carbon from
the decomposition of the oil rests however with the iron, and at
the temperature of low redness, employed near the end of the dia*
tillation, appeai-s to have already combined chemically with the
metal. This treatment with the bath and distillation, may be re-
newed if the carbonization is not suffi^nent aftei* one operation.

The cemented sponge is now ground to powder and moulded
by hydraulic pressure into small ingots, which may be heated and
directly wrought under the hammer, like the compressed iron
sponge; the metal thus obtained may be compared to refined
blistered steel. If however the cemented and compressed sponge
be fused in crucibles, as in the ordinary process for making cast
steel, the whole of the earthy impurities which may be present,
rise to the surface as a liquid slag, which is easily removed, while'
the fused metal is cast into ingots. In this way, by cementation,
and a single fusion, the iron sponge is converted into a cast steel,
which is from the mode of its preparation, more uniform in quality
than that obtained by the ordinary process, and which was found
by the Jury to be of remarkable excellence.

Such is a brief outline of the method^} invented by Adrien Che-
not for the reduction of iron ores, and the fabncation of wrought
iron and steel, eonatituting in the opinion of one eminently fitted
to judge the case, (Mr. Leplay, of the Imperial School of Mines,
and Commissary General of the Exhibition,) the most important
metallurgical discovery of the age.

The peculiar condition of the iron sponge has enabled the in-
ventor to make many curious alloys, some of which promise to be
of great importance ; by impregnaiingjt With a solution of bora-
cic acid, a peculiar steel is obtained, in which boron replaces car-
bon, and by a similar application of different metallic %»lutions
various alloys are produced, whose formation would otherwise be
impbs^ible.

The processes of Mr. Chenotare now being applied to the fabri-
cation of steel at Clichy, near Paris, where I had an opportunity
of studying in detail the manufacture. The iron ore is imported
^m Spain, and notwithstanding the cost of ite transport, and the
high prices of labor and fiiel in the vicinity of the metropolis, it
appears from the data furnished by Mr« Chenot to the Jury, that
steel is manufactured by hini at Clichy, at a cost which is not
more than one-fourth that of the steel manufactured in the same
vicinity from the iron imported from Sweden. According to Mr.
Chenot^ at the works lately established on bis system by Villa-

22 Metallurgy (^ Iron*

longa & Co., near Bilboa in Spain, they are enabled to fabricate
the metallic sponge at a cost of 200 francs the ton, and the best
qnality of cast steel at 500 francs, or $100 the ton of 1000 kilo-
grammes, (2.200 pounds avoirdupois ) The conyersion of the ore
to the condition of sponge is, I was assured by Mr. Chenot, ef-
fected with little more than its own weight of charcoal.*

The differences in the nature of the steel made from various
ores have long been weH known, but until the recent experiments
of Chenot) tlie subject was but very imperfectly understood. Ac-
cording to him the nature of the ore has much more to do with
the quality of the metal than the mode of treatment, and he com-
pares the different steels to ^e wines of dififerent localities, which
owe Jheir varied qualities far more to the nature of the grapes^
than to any variations in the mode of their fermentation. The
process of cementation employed by Chenot furnishes, according
to him, an exact measure of the capability of the iron to produce
steel. The sponges of the iron from iSweden and the Ural Moun-
tains, after taking up six per cent, of carbon, yield a metal which
is still malleable, while that of Elba with four per cent, becomes
brittle and approaches to cast iron in its properties. While the
ores of Sweden and the Urals are famous for the excellent quality
of their steel, the ore of £lba is known to yield a very superior
iron, but to be unfit for the fabrication of steel ; and Chenot con-
cludes, from a great many observations, that the steel producing
capacity of any iron is measured by the quantity of carbon which it
can absorb before losing its malleability and degenerating into cast
iron.

Desirous to avail myself of these researches of Mr. Chenot, I
placed in his hands, in September, 1855, specimens of the different
iron ores from Canada, which had been sent to the Exhibition at
Paris, and engaged him to submit them to the process of reduc-
tion, and to test their ca{)abilities for the production of steel*
Mr. Chenot has also obtained remarkable alloys of chromium and
titanium with iron, his processes enabling him to efiect the direct
reduction of chromic and titaniferous iron ores ; specimens of these
two ores from Canada were therefore furnished him, but the sudden
and lamented death of Chenot^ by an accident in the month

* We have since the printing of this report learned that several large
eompanies have been formed in France and Belgium for the use of Che-
nofs patents, and are now applying his processes on an extensive scale.

T.S.H.

Metallurgy of Irxm. 23

of Noverober following, deprives us for a time of the ad*
vAQtages of his experiments. His' sons however are instruct-
ed ID his processes, and have promised to undertake at an
early day the examination of our Canadian ores. I am disposed
to attach great importance to these investigations, from the hope
that among our numerous deposits of iron ore, belonging in great
part to the same geological formation as the iron ores of Scandi-
navia, there may be found some capable of yielding a steel equa^
to that of the Swedish iron. With the new and economical pro.
cesses of Chenot a valuable steel ore will be aought ica^ even in a
distant country, |nd may be advantageously transported to the
localities where fuel and 'labour are most available.

One great condition for the successful application of these pro-
cesses is, that the ores should be comparatively pure and free from
earthy mixtures. We have4»lready alluded to the impurity of the
ores whicli are smelted in the coal districts of England, and even
the ore brought by Chenot from Spain, and employed by him in
his works at the gates of Paris, contains about ten per cent, of
fixed, audits much volatile matter, it being a decomposed spathic
iron. Many of the magnetic and hematite ores of Canada are
almost chemically pure :* such ftre those of Marmora, Madoci
Hull, Crosby^ Sherbrooke, MaeNab and Lake Nipiasing, which "
even if they should not prove adapted to the manufacture of su-
perior steel, offer for the fabrication of metallic iron, by the pro-
cesses of Chenot, very great advantages over the poorer ores,
which in many parts of this eontiuent are wrought by the ordinary
processes.

The small amount of fuel required by the new methods, and the
fact that for the generation of the gas which is employed as com-
bustible, turf and other cheap fuels are equajiy available, are con-
siderations which should fix the attention of those interested in
developing the resources of the country. With the advantages
offered by these new modes of fabrication, our vast deposits of iron
ore, unrivalled in richness and extent, may become sources of na-
tional wealth, while by the ordinary method of working they can
scarcely, at the present prices of iron And of labour, compete with
the produce of much poorer ores, wrought in the vicinity of
deposits of mineral coaL

T. S. H.

* See Mr. BillingB on the Iron Ores of Canada. This Journal, vol II, p. 20.

24 ' Entomology,

ARTICLE in. — Entomology. No. I. By William Couper

Toronto.

In conclading my Notes on the Distribntion of Insects, Vol. II.
p. 40, 1 promised to make some remarks on insects injurious to
vegetation, mor^ particularly the parasites that destroy the staff
of life, and concerning which so much has been written of late.

Harris, one of the best English writers on American insects, in
his history of the Dipterous Order, must have been unacquainted
with the fact that many species of the two-yinged flies pass
the winter in a semi-torpid state. In the month of January of
the present year, I discovered two species in society. One of
these, belonging to the genus Musca apparently a cuckoo-fly,
was found in an old decayed stump, that had originally been per-
forated by beetles of the geniis MonohammvA, Through the holes
thus made the flies reached the interior. They were found in
clusters of from thirty to forty ; each portion occupied a dry
crevice, and were in a semi-torpid state. I have placed two spe-
cimens in my cabinet, and a description will appear in another
paper.

The other is a Oecidomyice, Its head, antenna, thorax, and
body are black ; femor» whitish ; tibise black ; wings have a blu-
ish colour, rounded at tip. Length 1} lin. Thetie insects take
up their winter quarters in the stems of the Rvhus villoswt (a very
common fruit-bearing plant in Upper Canada), made tubular by
the larva of Saperda (Oberia) tripunctata having devoured the
pith during the month of June of the preceding year. They
occupied every stem examined, each containing about two hun-
dred specimi'ns, huddled together in a semi-torpid state. In
many instances these insects enter holes made in the sides of the
plant by other insects ; in other examined specimens there were
no side entrances, but an opening on top, which to all appearance
had been originally the work of a Saparda or Cepkus^ as I found
the larva of the last genus devouring the pith immediately be*
neath the torpid Ceetdomyiof.

Are they destructive insects ? If so, with nothing to obstruct
their exit, what can prevent their issuing forth in hundreds at
any favourable season to produce millions? It is therefore ad-
visable to destroy every medullary plant growing in the vicinity
of cultivated lands, as it is an unmistakeable truth that they pro-
tect many minute insects from moisture and cold.

Entomology* S&

I do not wish to say it is a cereal parasite ; but, when we dis-
cover BO many instances of this kind among the Tipnlidse, we
have every reason to suspect that the greater number of species
of a like nature will look for winter quarters, particularly when
we have before us examples of one animal forming a place of re-
treat for another. It therefore requires a close search to discover
them. No one 'can make reliable observations wj^out practice ;
it is the only way to arrive at a proper mode of studying the
habits of insect life. Now that entomologists, both of Upper and
Lower Canada, have no difficulty in communicating their obser-
vations, I trust that hereafter more attention will be paid to them
with a view to their early publication. The knowledge obtained
by an entomologist, unless rendered available to others, may be
of no gain to science ; at his death all his thoughts perish, and
all his knowledge is lost fi>r ever. *' Who can calculate the loss
sustained by the death of Edward Forbes f Simply, in his case,
by the loss of undeveloped, half-formed ideas. But suppose — and
such instances do occur — he had amassed stores of informatiout
which he was treasuring up to form, at some distant day, a valu*
able scientific work ; and suppose that every scrap of knowledge
he was thus collecting were carefully kept to himself^ not to be
made known to others till the due period had arrived, is it not
evident that the knowledge he thus obtained might be no real
gain to science, for it might all be lost again V"

An entomolo^t may have a fund of information, and, without
m<^aning to be selfish, may, from supineness, indifference, love of
ea^e, or the doleefar niente^ allow his information to be useless to
others. We want no such men in the practice of entomology.
What we want are men who think more of what is still left for
them to do, than to extract what has already been done by others-

Of what benefit are entomological essays to the agricultural
community ? This question can be answered more than one way.
However, it is very evident that unless a writer particularly
on entomology, be practically acquainted with the science,
his production can never command a higher name than a compi-
lation; for a good reason, we find nothing new — we discover
that no search has been made for material to establish new facts.
An individual, therefore, can at any time select sufficient from for*
mer authors to issue an essay of 139 pages, this only exhibits
a want of eutomological acuteness ; and, as a work of referencei
is of no more value than waste paper.

26 Geographical Distribution ofPlafUs.

ART. rV. — Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of Plants
in the British Possessions of North America, By Georob
Barnston, tsq., Honorable Hudson's Bay Company.

Group— Albuuinob^.
• Order — Nymphwaceoi,

This order, containing a very few genera, and these purely aqua-
tic plants, is very ornamental to our small lakes and shallow rivers.
A certain depth of water, and in the streams a sluggish current,
are necessary for them. In such situations, their dark green and
generally cordiform leaves are seen floating on the surface, and
here and there a bright yellow or pure white cupshaped flower of
considerable size will be seen to attract the eye, and gratify the
beholder. Are these the ofispring of the water ? is the first en-
quiry of the untutored stranger. But a slight investigation sets
queries at rest. The long pliant peduncles and loaf stalks are
found to be attached to a massive root of some hardness and con-
sistency, embedded in the oozy bottom.

The Nymphcsa odorata, or white water lily, no stranger to Cana-
da, is rarely seen in the regions north of the Province, but the
Nuphar lutea^ or yellow pond lily, is fond of the colder latitudes.
Sir John Richardson brings it up to latitude 55^, or places in his
first zone on the east side, and as far as 58*^ on the west* side of
the continent In ihe longitude of lake Winipeg, 55 '^ is certainly
within its bounds, but it may be obborved here that Sir John de-
. fines this zone of 45^ to 55^ as an isothermal one, not exactly one
of latitude. It corresponds nearly with the strongly wooded dis-
trict south of the lichen covered barren grounds, from which we
may suppose it to be separated, by a line running from latitude
62° or 63*^, on the Labrador peninsula, up to 58** or even 60®, in
the longitude of 120°, or the neighbourhood of the Rocky Moun-
tains. In this section of the country, viz: Lake Winipeg, the
Nuphar lutea is particularly abundant Its shining yellow flowers,
less chaste and delicate than those of nymphsBa, are everywhere
to be seen on our shoal and muddy lakes, and they greet us at
every turn of those winding streams, that drag their dull courses
through the dark and continuous forests, that cover the Chippewa
and Cree lands. A thick fringe of sedges and reeds may in
these lazy rivers occupy the approach to the shore, but where the
water deepens, the Nuphar lutea dots the expanse, its leaves and

Geographical Distrilmtum of Plants • 27

flowers clinging to the surface, as if they had been actually glued
thereto. The dash of the paddle or stroke of the oar alone dis-
turbs their quiet

Order — Sarrweniacece.

One genus of plants constitutes this remarkable order, and it
comprises only six species, confined almost entirely, I believe, to
North America. We have but one species in the British posses-
sions, the Sarraeenia purpurea. It occurs every where, exten-
sively diffused throughout the marshy and swampy wastes, as fax
as Bear's Lake north, and the Rocky Mountain West. Where
timber is stinted in growth, and the moss is unshaded, it springs
from its damp sphagnous bed in great perfection. Its vase-shaped
leaf is attractive as a rare form of vegetable growth. Fairies
might adopt it as a driuking cup. After rain it may be had nearly
filled with water, and the goblet then tells many a tale of death,
disaster and woe. Many small insects— often of the dipterous
order, Chironomi, Tanypi, and other minute airy forms — retiring
probably for shelter from the storm, in this house of refuge end
their short day. Overwhelmed by «ome drop, to them a water
spout, they may have died struggling in the abyss profound, or
perhaps, having performed the great mission of their life, they may
have tranquilly given up the ghost, within this deep funereal urn,
by nature prepared for them, and chosen by themselves — memori-
ah even they of their Qreat Creator's marvellous attributes, power
and skill.

At the season when the flower of the 'Sarracenia purpurea is in
fiill expansion, the .plague of mosquitoes has oommenced, and then
'tis only the most determined, zealous botanist who will penetrate
into the swampy recesses, where this singular plant abides. In
early winter when the frozen surface affords firm footing, and the
snow has scarcely covered the ground, the sportsman crashes over
its frosted and brittle cup that rises from the moss and seems to
claim firom him a more cautious step. It is but a leaf, yet a rare
specimen of nature's incomprensible handywork, and therefore a
vessel which her thoughtful admirers dislike to destroy.

Sir John Richardson in his excellent tables places this plant in
the eastern prairies, as well as in the western district. He pro-
bably means that it is to be found in those outskirting woods and
swamps that encroach in many places on the prairie lawns. We
must not conclude that it occurs on those dry plains and grassy
meadows, which, ocean^like, spread over the interior of the country.

28 Geographical DistrUnUion of Plants*

Order— Popaveroeca,

From the genus Papaver, the poppy, Jussieu, the reviver, if not
the founder of the natural system of botany, drew the name' for
this order of plants, of which Torrey has given nine or ten genera,
as pertaining to North America. These genera contain but one
or two species each, with the exception of Eschscholtzia or Chry- <*

seis, of which there are five enumerated by him, natives of Califor"
nia. The milky juices of the PapaveraceaB may serve sometimes
as a guide to the young collector, when he is at a loss in deter-
mining the place of a plant, possessed of two deciduous sepals,
four cruciform petals, and hypogynous stamens.

The Papaver nttdicaule is the most northern plant of the poppy
kind. It is found by travellers along the whole extent of our
northern coast from latitude 04° on the eastern side of McKenzie
river, and from 68° on the western side to the ocean; We hear
of it also on the islands of the Arctic Sea, in Greenland and Spitz-
bergen. It therefore closely encircles the great polar basin by an
arc of 180° of longitude, or half the circumference of the
whole arctic region. It was found as an alpine production by
Drummond at great heights on the Rocky Mountains, from lati-
tude 62^ to latitude 55^. We have good reason to conclude, that
following the great ridges northwards, this plant may keep its
climatal altitude, descending by degrees in its elevation until it
reach the coast level, thus keeping up a strict and decided con-
nection along 20<^ of latitude, between its arctic and highest alpine
habitats. This most interesting little plant, hardy yet slender,
endures the storms, and braves all the inclement weather of the
boreal regions, and like the Esquimaux, courts not the shelter of
the woody district. It prefers the bleak coast and dreary barrens,
indifferent to all the rude treatment it receives from the boisterous
elements. It is decreed by nature that each of her subjects shall ^

occupy a certain position on the earth's surface, and everything
has been arranged and kindly fitted by her for such her purpose.
This is the only poppy truly native of North America. Those
species seen in uncultivated waste ground in Canada and the States
have been introduced.

The Sanguinaria Carwdermi or bloodroot, common in the milder
parts of Canada, is not to be met with north of the Province.
Torrey assigns it place as far south as Florida, and west to the
Mississippi. In Canada the flowers rise as soon as the snow is
gone, about the end of April ; further south, March is the month

Geographical Distribution (f Plants. 29

it appears in. Lindl(3y in hift system (page 8) has called it the
** Puccoon," which I suspect is a mistake, that name being given to
another plant, the Batschia canescens, the root of which is used to
dye a red by tlie native tribes. The root of the Sangninaria hav-
ing a red juice may have led the compiler to consider it the
Puccoon.

There are soil and situations suitable for the Sanguinaria below
Quebec, but I have not observed it so low down on tlie St. Law^
rence, and certainly it does not pass below the Sagnenay.

That beautiful genus, tlie Eschschpltzia of Chamisso, changed by
Torrey to the name of Chryseis, is hot known native, east of the
Kocky Mountains. The five species now discovered all keep to
the belt of country borderii:g on the Pacific, south of the river
Columbia. In the valley of the Multnomah or Walhamet, on
which is built the city of Oregon, the rich colour and brilliant
Chryseis calif omica occurs, in latitude 43^, proceeding southward
into California. In that still warmer land the closely allied sp^
cies C, crocea, 0. emspitosa^ C, tenuifolia, and C* hyperoides^
beautify the plains and meadows. The Chryseis Californica was
first discovered by Menzii s, but afterwards described by the Rus-
sian naturalists accompanying Eotzbue. The other species were
made known by Douglas, who was for a short time engaged bo-
tanizing California.

Although growing in a country where there is scarcely any winter
frost, and where the summer heat is intense, this genus nevertheless
appears to possess that hardiness that fits it to bepome an onia-
ment to gardens even in the coldest parts of our Province. In
latitude 54^ north, it is cultivated as a hardy annual with the
greatest care, and if left to itself, it becomes: a weed in the borders,
still retaining, however, undiminished beauty. The other genera
of this order, existing native of North America are found south,
and are never seen, unless in a cultivated state, within the British
territory. The Argemone Mexicana and Mecorwpsis dipkylla are
both denizens of the Western States. The Meeonop^is heterophyUa^
and M, crassifolia — ^with a single species each of the new genera,
Dendromecon, Meconella, Platystigma and Piatysteman, — hold
ground still farther to the westward, in California and the Oregon.

With the exception of papaver nudicaule, all the plants of this
order, just passed un<ler review, prefer a mild climate, and the
Sanguinaria, of which there is but one species, is the sole repre-
sentative of the order in Canada. The southern half of the tem-
perate zone holds tihe others.

30 Geographical Distribution of Plants*

Generally speaking, the constitution of the papaveracese may
be said to be more sensitive and less able to bear change than the
Hanunculacese to which they are closely allied. The area over
which each species spreads itself is much more narrowly limited
than with the Ranunculacese. The eastern species do not traverse
the great water shed to the westward, neither do the western spe-
cies cross to this side. We may therefore decidedly infer, that
compared with the other order, they have less pliability of habit,
and greater susceptibility under changes of climate. The E-^cha-
choltzia, however, when cultivated, accommodates itself to very
different temperatures «nd 'situations from those whence it was
originally taken. As for our little northern poppy it takes a wide
range in place, but a small one in temperature and climate.

Lindley says that two-thirds of the species of Papaveracese are
found in Europe, yet of his total thirteen genera, we have pro-
duced seven, as occurring in North America. In fact this Conti-
nent possesses as nearly as many genera as Europe, but as most
of them contain but one species, we need be little surprised at
Europe having a greater number of individual species. In all
other quarters of the globe Papaveracese are scarce.

Order — FumartacecB,

The Fumariaceae are in many points akin to the Papaveracese,
such as the number of deciduous sepals, the four cruciate petals^
and usually one called capsules. They shew also a tendency to
imitate some of the Ranunculaceae in the spurred inflorescence and
divided leaves. We have three gonera existing in Canada, Diely-
tra, Adlumia and Corydales.

The first of these is familiar enough to our rusticating children
in the pretty Dielytra cucullata, or Dutchman's breeches. At the
confluence of the Ottawa with the St. Lawrence it is plentiful in
different localities. From our north shores it extends south to
Kentucky. It has never been seen in the central Prairies. Yet
the Blue Mountains round which the south, fork of Lewis and
Clarke winds, is noted as one of its residences. Elsewhere west
of the Rocky Mountains it has not, to my knowledge, been heard
of. It may however occur in the volcanic ranges of mounts Hood
and Rainier. A great distance indeed have these Cucullarias
strayed from their kith and kin on the banks of the St. Lawrence.

The Dielytra Canadensis^ or squirrel com, very like the last, is
its companion in Canada and the States, but does not trouble

Oeographical Distribution of Plants. 81

itself by travelling so far westward as tlie Cucullaria. Neither of
them appear in the Hudson's Bay Company's Terr.tories.

The i>. formosa is a southern species, confined apparently to
the States of Virginia and South Carolina. The D. saccata of
Nnttall is the D, eximia of Hooker, and inhabits the shady woods
of the Oregon.

The single species of the genus Adlumia I have never had the
pleasure of collectiDg, although it be native of Canada. Like the
Dielytras, it extends southwards into the States, but not to the
northward of the Province.

Last to be mentioned as a genus of the Famariacese inhabiting
British North America is Corydalis. The C, aurea has a very
extended range. It occurs throughout Canada to as far as Geoi-
gia, and westward from thai to the Rocky Mountain, along the
Arkansas and Missouri. It is seen occasionally on the canoe route
into the far northwest, tufted among the spongy ground, where
springs spread over upon the rocks along shore. In the useful
tables of Sir John Richardson three species of Corydalis are as-
signed to the 2sone occupying the space from the Arctic circle to
12^ north, or to the coast; this species must be one of these.
Possibly it does not enter this zone until it gets westward to the
banks of the Coppermine and McKenzie's Rivers. Drummond
found it in the Rocky Mountains from 62^ to 57^ north latitude.

Corydalis glaxiea must be the other Corydalis that rea3hes the
Arctic circle in the eastern district. It is a more common plant
along our rivers than the (7. aurea^ and probably is as hardy. It
IS met with generally in more exposed situations, and in drier
ground. It stretches from the north shore of the St. Lawrence,
from below the entrance of the Saguenay, extending itself through
Canada, and is met with as far south as North Carolina. In ca-
noe travelling in the interior of the north it forms an agreeable
object to the sight, often pendant upon the steeply inclined rocks,
rising out of the debris and moss collected in their clefls, its va-
riegated flowers and glaucous leaves, shewing to groat advantage
upon the sombre back ground.

The third Corydalis mentioned by Sir John as an Arctic species
ghould be the (7. paucifiora of Persoon. Kotzbue Sound is the
locality given it. This is near the island of St. Lawrence in Beh-
ringH Sti aits, where Chamisso also noted it. Has it crept from
the Asiatic continent })y taking passage on some navigating drifts
stick, or has it had place on our continent before we were sepe-
rated from Asia by some mighty throe of the volcanic elements )

32 Geographical Distribution of Plants.

Two perennial species, one the C Scouleri of Hooker, named
after Dr. Soouler of Glasgow, who accompanied Douglas on his
first voyage to the Columbia, and the other the (7. monophylla of
Nnttall, are confined to the northwest coast. The C. Scouleri is
plentiful at the confluence of the Columbia with the Pacific, and
extends in shady woods along the coast. If it be the same as the
C pcenoioe folia of Siberia, why should it not also ^ be found
at tbe Russian settlements towards Sitka ? Has the question as to
the identity of these two plants been yet det3rmined ? The Cory-
dalis macrophylla has been passed over by Douglass as being the
same as the C. Scouleri. I know for a certainty he explored re-
peatedly the Wahlamet woods and prairies, especially about the
falls, where the city of Oiegon has since been founded^ and he
must have observed such a plant growing in abundance in that
vicinity. If it be specifically difierent from the C. Scouleri, we are
indebted to Mr. Nuttall's discrimination for an addition to the
original American stock of this elegant genus.

Lindley in his list gives fifteen genera to the order FumariaceaB,
but only the three that I have gone over belong to North Ame-
rica. The Cory dales take a much more extended range than the
Dielytne, and choose also more rocky ground. With them I close
my remarks upon the first family or alliance of the large group of
albuminose plants, — the Rakalbs of Lindley, from which he
excludes the Sarraceniacese. I believe, however, that whatever
relation Sarracenia as a genus may hold to other plants, its posi-
tion as chosen for it by Torrey, between Nymphseace® and Papa-
veraceiB, will by most people be considered correct.

ARTICLE V. — Report of the Geological Survey of Canada^
1853 to 1855. {^^-i pages 8vo., with 4 to. Atlas of Maps,

It is some compensation for the absence of regular reports of
progress, caused by the occupation of Sir W. £. L(^n with the
exhibition of Canadian products in Paris, to find the accumulated
reports of several yearo now issued in a respectable volume, with
an amonnt of elaboration and illustration giving them a much
more readable and permanent character than that which usually
attaches to reports of progress. The present report is in effect a
treatise on several important parts of the geology of Canada, iUus-
trated with valuable and ac<Surate maps, and embracing not only
the usual accounts of the progress of the survey, but systematic

n

^ ^

V ^

I'J.iMiliuii.riH ?nrt>.ci) vi H'riimtiii.

'■nipl'.ii ^

Geological Survey of Canada. S3

descriptions of roanyimportant fossils, and carefully prepared essays
on theoretical and practical points that haro occurred during the
work of the explorers in past years.

The' portion of the volume relating to the personal explorations
of the head of the survey, is occupied with the intricate and diffi-
cult subject of the structure of that great Laurentian district
stretching along the whole northern side of the settled portion of
Canada, and as we have long thought practically limiting the
extension of population in this direction. This question must,
however, depend on several points only to be ascertained by siich
labour as that at present being performed by the survey. The
streams and valleys of a country such as that in question are sure
to extend along its better parts ; and the ordinary traveller passing
along these, and knowing nothing of the intervening forest*clad
ridges and table lands, except their effect as distant objects in the
landscape, must form exaggerated ideas of the value of the
country as a field for immediate settlement. On the other hand,
he sees little of the mineral riches which may be present, and
whicl^ in a different way may render such regions available.

The previous reports of Sir W. E. Logan have left on the minds
of Geologists the conviction that all that part of Canada lying
north of a line drawn from the S. E. angle of Georgian Bay to
Kingston, and thenc^ ^long the north side of the St. Lawrence to
Labrador, consists mainly of gncissosc rocks, like those of the
highlands of Scotland and Scandinavia, with the exception of a
triangular paiich between the mouth of the Ottawa and the St.
Lawrence, and a narrow stripe reaching thence as far as Quebec.
In short, those great regions lying north of the river and great
lakes, and of the lines above indicated, are mapped as consisting
of the rock formations of which a specimen is seen in the Thou,
sand Islands, and are presumably similar to these in their agricul-
tural capabilities. Canada, for practical purposes, thus appears to
consist of the Silurian regions lying south of the river and around
the mouth of the Ottawa, and of the great Silurian and Devonian
peninsula of the Upper Province. The remainder, though pre-
senting cultivable valleys, may in the main be regarded as unpro-
ductive, and not likfly for some time to enter into competition
with the rich lands of the west.

It is vefy probable that these views may have had some con-
nection with the selection of Ottawa as a seat of Government.
Situated nearly at the apex of the triangular tract above referred
to, it forms the last outpost to the northward, of the great Silurian

0

34 Geological Survey of Canada*

plains of Canada, ^nd might therefore be regarded as a (avour-
kble poiDt for bringing the wealth and population of the more
valuable parts of the province to bear on the improvement of the
rocEy and intractable Laurentian country. It seems inconceivable
that any civilized Government in settling such a question should
leave out of sight those geological conditions which determine
beforehand the resources and population of countries. A glance
at the beantiful little map attached to the essay prepared by Sir
William and Mr. Hunt for the Paris exhibition, is sufScient to show
that this important element of the question admits of no otiier in*
terpretation than that which we have given ; and taking this into
account, it would be extreme folly to place the capital of a great
and fertile country in the midst of a desolate region, apparently
destined through all time to have a comparatively sparse and poor
population, unless with some such view as that above hinted.

All this depends however, on the relative extent, within the
Laurentian region, of rocks capable of affording fertile soils ; and
in the present report Sir W. E. Logan has addressed himself to
this question. We shall give his results, so Important to a cor-
rect estimate of this great subject, in his own words : —

" Limestone and Lime-feldepars, — ^The crjrstalline limestones of
the Laurentian series are quite as good for all the economic pur-
poses to which carbonate of lime is applied, as the earthy lime-
stones of the fossiliferous formations. It is from the latter, how-
ever, that is obtained nine-tenths of the material used throughout
the country, for the very good reason that more than nine-tenths
of the works of construction, both public and private, are raised
upon the fossiliferous rocks, and for such present works these
rocks therefore afford the nearest sources of supply. Thus the in-
habitants are well acquainted with the aspect of the fossilifei^us
limestones, and can easily recognise them, but very few of them
understand the nature of the highly crystalline calcareous beds of
the Laurentian series. Hence it is that settlers in the back town-
ships, who have dwelt many years upon tliese rocks, have been
accustomed, when in want of lime for the manufacture of potash,
or the construction of their chimneys, to send to the fossiliferous
deposits for it — ^the distance being sometimes thirty miles — when
it might have been obtained at their own doors. In following
out the calcareous bands of the gneiss district, in 1853, therefore,
especial pains were taken to point out their character to the
settlersi wherever exposures were met with ; and in visiting some
of the same localities last season, I had the satisfaction of finding
lime-kilns erected, and lime burnt in four of them.

4
1

Geological Survey of Canada. 35

The fossiliferond rooks, iu a large part of Canada, maintaimng
an attitude approaching horizontality, give a much more even 8ai>
face than the corrogated serjes coming from beneath them, and
this, combined with a generally good soil, renders them more &-
Tonrable for agricultural purposes. It is over them, too, that the
River St. Lawrence maintains its coarse, affording an unrivalled
means of exit for the produce of the land, and of entrance for the
materials that are to be received in exchange. If is only a nata-
ral result of these conditions that the area supported by the fos-
siliferous rocks should be the first settled. This area, however,
constitutes only between 60,000 and 80,000 square miles, while
the whole superfices of Canada comprehends 330,000 square miles.
ot about five times the amount.

Four-fifths of Canada thus stand upon the lower unfossiliferous
rocks, and it becomes a question of some importance, before it has
been extensively tested by agricultural experiments, to know what
support this large area may offer to an agricultural population.
An undulating surface, derived from the contorted condition of
the strata on which it rests, will more or less prevail over the
whole of this region ; but the quality of its soil will depend on the
character of the rocks from which it is derived. *

These rocks, as a whole, have very generally been called
granite, by those travellers who with little more than casual ob-
servation have described them, without reference to geological
considerations. The rains of granite are known to constitute an
indifferent soil from tlTerr deficiency in lime, and hence an nn&*
vourable impression is produced in respect to the agricultural
capabilities of any extended area, when it is called granitic.
Such soils are however never wanting in those essential elements
the alkalies, which are abundant in the feldspars of the granite.

In the reports of the survey, the Laurentian rocks have b^en
described in general terms as gneiss, interstratified with impor-
tant masses of crystalline limestone. The term gneiss, strictly
defined, signifies a granite with its elements, quartz, feldspar and
mica, arranged in parallel planes, and containing a larger amount
of mica than ordinary granite possesses, giving to the rock a
schistose or lamellar struAure. When hornblende instead of
mica is associated with quartz and feldspar, the rock is termed
syenite, but as there is no distinct specific single name for a rock
containing these elements in a lamellar arrangement, it reeeirds
the appellation of syenitic gneiss.

36 Geological Survey of Canada*

Gneiss rock then becomes divided into two kinds, granitic ftnd
syenitic gneiss, and the word gneiss would thus appear rather to
indicate the lamellar arrangement than the mineral composition.
Granitic and syenitic gneiss were the terms applied to these rocks
in the first reports ; but as granite and syenite are considered rocks
of igneous origin, and the epithets derived from them might be
supposed to have a theoretical reference to such an origin of the
gneiss, while at the same time it appears to me that the Lauren-
tian series are altered sedimentary rocks, the epithets, micaceous
and homblendic have been given to the gneiss, in later reports,
as the best mode of designating the facts of mineral composition,
and lamellar arrangement, without any reference whatever to the
supposed origin of the rocks. When the general term gneiss
therefore is used, it may signify both kinds, or either ; and the
epithets micaceous and homblendic are applied to the rock to in-
dicate that the mica greatly preponderates or excludes the horn-
blende, or the hornblende the mica.

In no part of the area included in this report is hornblende
completely absent from the gneiss, and sometimes it predominates
over the mica ; hornblende contains from ten to fifteen per cent,
of lime, so that the ruins of the rocks of the area, such as they
htive been described, whether gneiss, greenstone, syenite, or por-
phyry, would never give a soil wholly destitute of lime. Of this
necessary ingredient, the lime feldspars' would be a more abun-
dant source. Different species of them from andesin to anor-
thite, may contain from about five up to twenty per cent of lime,
and the range of those Canadian varieties which have been ana-
lyzed by Mr. Hunt is from seven to about fifteen per cent. The
personal exploration which is the subject of the present report, has
shewn, for the first time, that these lime feldspars occur in this
province, and probably in other regions, in mountain ranges, be-
longing to a stratified deposit, and not in disseminated or intru-
sive masses. The breadth of these displayed in the district ex-
amined, demonstrates their importance; and the fact that the
opalescent variety of labradorite was ascertained by Dr. Bigsby
to exist, in dtu^ on an island on the east cost of Lake Huron,
while the name of the mineral reminds us of its existence at the
eastern extremity of the Province, sufiSciently points out that the
lineal range of the lime-feldspars will be co-extensive witli Canadar
We may therefore anticipate a beneficial result from their influ-
ence upon the soils, over the whole breadth of the province.

Chotogical Surveyf Can ada. 37

The rains of the cry8ta11ine limestone constitute a most fraitfal
soil, so much so that the lots first cleared in any settled area of
the Lanrentian country, usually coincide with its range. In these
limestones phosphate of lime is sometimes present in great abun-
dance, and there is scarcely ever any large exposure of them ex-
amined, in which small crystals of the phosphate are not discem-
able by the naked eye. Mica and iron pyrites are present, to fur-
nish other essential ingredients, and the easily disintegrating cha-
racter of the rock readily permits its reduction to a soil. The
effects of these limestones and lime-feldspars are not howerdr con-
fined to the immediate localities in which the beds are found, for
boulders of them are met with transported to southern parts, even
far on the fossiliferous rocks beyond ; and there can be little donbt
that their fragments are very generally mixed with the soils of
the Lanrentian country. Thus while the diversity of minerals in
the different rocks of the series furnishes the ingredients required
to constitute good soils, the agency of the drift has mingled them,
and considering the resistance to disintegration offered by most of
the rocks, with the exception of the limestome, the deficiencies that
may exist will rather be in the quantity of soil covering the rocks
in elevated parts, than in its quality where the materials have
been accumulated."

The question of the agricultural value of the Laurentian dis-
trict thus hinges on the proportion of limestone and lime-feldspar.
' but especially of the former, as it alone gives a deep and low-lying
soil, containing the elements of fertility. The settlers, without
knowing anything, of the causes, have discovered the relative
value of these soils, and hence we are informed that the clearing^
stretch along the limestone valleys almost exclusively. These
narrow belts, which we may roughly estimate as amounting, in the
districts referred to in this report, to from one-sixth to one-tenth
of the whole, may be regarded as of great agri en] rural value.
Such portions of the intervening hilly country as have received a
considerable share of calcareous debris, and are not too steep,
rocky, or stony, to admit of cultivation, may, when labour becomes
cheaper, be profitably converted into fiirms or sheep pastures. In
the meantime, they will supply an enormous quantity of valuable
timber. Gradually there will grow up in the gleus of the Lauren-
tian territory, a race of hardy Canadian hill-men, who, if su£S-
ciently leavened by the elevating influences of CJiristianity and
education, will be of inestimable value to the country, both in
peace and war. For a long time^ however, it is evident that the

S3 - Qtologisal Sm^ of Canada.

west mast drain fram this country its agricultural population, and I

that the lumberer will have it as his special patrimony.

The miner, however, has found his way thither, and will with-
out doubt find remuneration for his toil* AmoDg the useful mine*
rals and rocks of the region, mentioned in this report, are magnetic
iron ore, the most valuable of all the ores oi that metal ; plum- '

bago; lead; mica for stove fronts, ^c; buhntone, the well- ^

known material of the French millstones; garnet, useful as a
substitute for emery ; marble and building stones of many varie-
ties. The Labradorite of the lime^feldspar region is a beautiful .
ornamental stone, presenting finei opalescent reflections, and
admits of being polished for a great variety of ornamental pur-
poses. The time may come when hundreds of tons of this rock
may be daily borne about on the persons of &ir ladies, in broQch- ,

es, bracelets, and other articles of bijouterie, greatly to the profit
of the industrious lapidaries, who may locate themselves on the
sunny sides of the ridges of lime-feldspar.

We have as yet said nothing as to the scientific value of the
labors of Sir W. E. Logan in the Laurentian district. This sub*
ject has been' already referred to in our notices of the American ' '

Association, at the last meeting of which two papers on these
rocks were read. It is only necessary to add that the curious un-
ravelling of the intricacies of these deposits, evidenced in the pre-
sent report, displays great scientific skill, and will lead to most
interesting deductions as to the original nature and arrangement^
of the sediments out of which these highly metamorphosed and
strangely distorted rocks have been formed.

In the conclusion of his special portion of the Report, Sir William
refers to his general geological map now in progress. We know
that almost incredible pains and. precaution have been taken to
ensure absolute accuracy in the representation of Canada in this
map. When published, accompanied as we trust it will be by a - 41

suitable letter-press description, embracing the substance of the
reports of progress, it will mark an era in the scientific and indus-
trial progpress of Canada. Its internal evidence of accuracy, and
the reputation of its author, will render it a standard authority in
physical geography ; and it will do mqch to spread throughout
the world the reputation not only of the material resources of our
country, but of the enlightenment and public spirit of its legisla-
ture and people*

The second part of the report includes a large amount of pains-
taking and accurate work done 1^ Mr. Murray in tJie difficult

Chologieal Survey of Canada.

S9

region lying between Greorgian liay and the Ottawa, «n itnpfo-
mising country, ooBmsting in great part of ridges of gneiss alter-
nating with fiwamps, though containing pine, cedar, and other
kinds of timber in considerable quantity. It bids fair also to be
productive of iron and .copper and the other minerals of the Lau-
rentian and Huronian rocks.

The remainder of the report, consisting of the i<hyest]gation9 of
Mr. Bichardson, Mr. Billings, and Prod Hunt, contains so much
matter both of commercial and scientific importance that we must
defer its considerat^pn to aa<^er number. J. w.. n.

{To be continued.)

-i»i^-^r"»w.T!

ARTICLE VI. — A List of Indigenous Plants found growing in
the Neighbourhood of Frescott, C. W., under the Nomendor
ture of Gray. By B, Billings, Jr.

RAKUNCITLAiC&S.

ClenuUU Vvrginiana^ Jjinn. Common Virgin's Bower.

J^aemone Virginianaf Linn. Tall Anemone.

" Pemuylvanicai Linn. ^Peansjlyanian Anemone.

Hepatica acutUoba, De OandoUe Sharp-lobed Hepatica.

Thalictrum dioicunif

Linn.

fiarlj Meadow-Rue.

" Comuti,

Linn.

Tall Meadow-Rue.

RanunculuB abortivuSf

•Linn.

Small-flowered Crowfoot.

" ' recurvqiuSf

Poiret.

Hooked Crowfoot. ^

" repenSf

Linn.

Creeping CrowfojM.

, " acrii,

Linn.

Tali Crowfoot.

Caltha palustritj

Linn.

Marsh Marigold.

Coptis trifoliaj

Salisbury.

Three-leaved Goldthread.

jSquiUgia CanadensU,

Linn.

Wild Columbine.

Act<Ba tpieatay alba,

Michaux.

White Baneberry.

MiNISPERXACEJB. .

Menitpermum Canadenu^ Linn. Canadian Moonseed.

BeRBIBU) ACBiE .

Caulophyllum ihaliciroides, Michaux. Blue Cohosh.
Podophyllum peltatum, Linn. May-Apple.

Nymphaa odorata, Aiton. Sweet-scented Water-!

PAPAVEBAOlJi.

Sanguinaria Canadensis, Linn. Blood-root.

FincAaiAOE^.

JHcentra Cucallaria, De CandoUe. Dutchman's Breeches.
Canadensis, De CandoUe. Sqnirrel-Com.

a

40

Indigenous Plants*

Gbucifers.
Nasturtium pcdustrCf De GandoUe. Marah Cress.

Dentcaria diphylla^ Linn.

. TwrritU stricta^ Graham.

Erysimum cheiranthoideB, Linn.
Sisymbrium officinale^ Scopoli.

((

canescens.

Nnttall.
Sinapis arvensisj Linn.

Capsella bursa-pastoriSj Moench.

YlOLAOEJi.

Viola blandcLj
cuadlata,
rostrata,
Muhlenbergiij
" pubescenSf .

HTPEBlGAOBiG.

Hypericum perforatumy Linn.

Pepper-root.

^Straight Tower Mustard.
Worm-seed Mustard.
Hedge Mustard.
Tansy Mustard.
Field Mustard.
Shepherd's Purse.

Wildenow. Sweet White Violet

It
It

Alton.
Pursh.
Torrey:
Alton.

Common Blue Violet.
Long-Spurred Violet.
American Dog Violet.
Downy Yellow Violet.

Common St. John's-wort.

it

corymhosum, Muhlenberg, *Corymbed St. John's-wort.

Canadensej Linn.
Elodea Virginicaj Nuttall.

Cabtophtllacba.

Silene nociiflora, Linn'i

jSgrostemma Githago, Linn.
Stellaria media, Smith.

" hngifoliaj
Cerastium viscosum,

POBTULACAGB^.

Portulacca oleraceoj
Claytonia Carolinianay

Maltacea.
Malva rotundtfolia,

TiLIACBA.

TUia Jmericana,

OZALIDACBA.

OxcUis strictOj

Gbbanicbjs.

Geranium mactdatumf

'Balsahinacba.
Impatiens ftUva,

Akaoabdiaceje.
Bhus typhina, Linn.

'Canadian St. John's-wort.
'Virginian Elodea.

Night-flowering Catch-fly.
Com-Cockle.
Common Chickweed.

Muhlenberg. StitcI\wort.

Linn. .

Linn.
Miohauz.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Larger Mouse-ear Chickweed.

Common Purslane.
Broad-leaved Spring Beauty.

Common Mallow.

Basswood.

Tellow Wood-^orrel.

Wild CranesbUl.

Nuttall. Spotted Touch-me-not.

Staghom Sumach.

iidigenout Plants*

41

NiTACEA.

Nitia eordifoliOf Michfinx.

Ampelopm quinquefblit^ MichAux.

Bhamnacbje.

Ceanothus JmericanuB, Linn.

Celabtbaoeje.

CeUutrus scandenSf Linn.

SapiitdaoAji.

Jicer Pefiinsyhanieumj Linn.
<^ tpicatuMf Lambert.

*' tocc^rinum, Wan^.
nigTunij Gray?
Linn.

11

C(

" rubrtm,

LBGUlONOSiB.

TVt/b/tionpralauc, Linn.

" rtpen$j Linn.

*' procumbeiUj Linn.
jRo&inta Psevdacacin, Linn.
Desmodium nud\florum, De Candolle.

" acttmina/um, De Candolle.
Ftcia Cracca^ Linn.

Xo/Ayritf poZiiff rit, Linn.
Phateolut permmiiy Walter.

ROSAOEJB.

Prunus Americana^

Marsh.

*' Pennaylvaavka^

Linn.

" Virginianaj

Linn.

" aerotina,

Ehrhart.

Spiraa salicifoliOj

Linn.

" tomentciOj

Linn.

jigrimonia Eupatoria^

Linn.

Gtum albumj

Gmelin.

" strictum,

Alton.

" rivalef

Linn.

Waldateiniafragarioides, Trait

PoteniiUa Norvegica^

Linn.

" jSntervrutj

Linn,

" paluatrUf

Scopoli.

Fragaria Vtrginiana,

Ehrhart.

" v€«ca|

Linn.

/{tf^iM odorattUf

Linn.

« triflanu^

Richardson,

" «^n^on»,

Michanx.

<< occitienfa^,

Linn.

<< vi/lonw,

Alton.

Frost Grape.
Virginian Creeper.

JTew Jersey Tea.

Climbing Bitter-sweet.

Striped Maple.
Mountain Maple.
Sugar Maple.
Black Sugar Maple.
Red Maple.

Red CloTer.
White Clover.
Low Hop-Clover,
Common Locust.
*Naked-flowered Desmodium.
*Acuminate-leaved DesmoditdU.
Tufted Vetch.
Mars Vetchling.
Wild Bean.

Wild Yellow or Red l»lnm.

Wild Red Ckeiry.

Choke Cherry.

Wild Black Cherry.

Common Meadow-^weet.

Hardhach.

Common Agrimony.

♦White Avens.

•Yellow Avens.

Water A-^ns.

Barren Strawberry.

♦Norway Cinquefoil.

SllreivWeed.

Marsh Five-Flnge*.

•Wild Strawberry.

•Common Strawberry.

Purple Flowering-Raspberry.

Dwarf Raspberry.

Wild Red Raspberry.

Black Raspberry.

Common or High Blackberry.

42

Lidigenous PlanU.

ROBACBJB.

Rom. lucida, Efarhart. Dwarf Wild-Rose.

Cratagtu coecinea, Linn. Scarlet-fruited Thorn.

" tomentota punctata, Linn. Blaclc or Pear Thorn.
Pyrus arbutifolia, melanocarpa, Linn. Ghoke-beny.
AnulanckUr CanadenaU^ Torry k Graj. Shad-bash.

Onaoraoba.
Epilobium angtutifoliumf Linn. Great Willow-herb.

" coloratunij

Muhlenberg. ♦Colored Willow-herb.

OSnothera biennU,

Linn.

Common Evening Primrose.

Ludvfigia paltutrU,

Elliot.

Water Purslane.

CirciBa LutetianOj

Linn.

♦Common Enchanter's Nightshade.

'' alpina,

Linn.

♦Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade.

MyriophyUum tpieaium, Linn.

♦Spiked Water MUfoU.

Gbossulaoba.

Ribes Cynotbatij

Linn.

Wild Gooseberry.

" floriduMj

Linn.

Wild Black Currant.

Gbabsulaoba.

Penthorum sedoidei.

Linn.

Ditch Stone-cross.

SAXIFBAGAOBiB.

MUella diphylla,

Linn.

♦Two-leaved Bishop's-cap.

" nuda.

Linn.

♦Heart-leaved Bishop's Cap.

Tiarella cordifolia,

Linn.

False Mitre-wort.

Chrysosplenium Jmericanum, Schweinitz. Golden Saxifrage.

Hamakilaobjs.

Hamamelis Ftrftmca,

Linn.

Witch-Hazel.

UMBBLLinitfi.

Sanicula CamadentUy Linn.
Pattinaca Bativa^ Linn. «

Cicuta mactUataj Linn.

'' btUbiferaj Linn.

Stum lineare, if ichaux.

Cryptotenia CanadenHtfie Candolle. Honewort.
Otmorrhiza brevUtylitj De Candolle. Hairy Sweet Cicely.

Abaliaobje.

♦Canadian Sanicle.
Common Parsnip.
Spotted Cowbane.
♦Bulb-bearing Cowbane.
♦Narrow-leaved Water Parsnip.

Aralia racemosa,
" nudieatUiSj
" QuinquefoliCf
" trifolia,

COBBAOBA. '

ComuM CanadewtUf
" stolonifera,
<< altemi/oliaf

Linn. Spikenard.

Linn. Wild Sarsaparllla.

Gray ? Ginseng.

Gray ? Dwarf Ginseng.

Linn. Dwarf Cornel.

Michaux. Red-Osier Dogwood.

Linn. Alternate-leaved Cornel.

Indigenous Plants.

43

Moench.

Oapbifoliaoba.

Lmnaa barealisy
Lonieera parviflora^

" ciliatay
IHerviUa trifidaf
Sa-mbucui Canadennsj Linn.

" pubeta, Michanz.

Vibumum ntidumj Linn.

LentcLgOf Linn.

dentaium, Linn.

acerifolium^ Linn.

lantanoide^j Michanx.

GronoTias. Twin-flower.
Lambert. Small Honeysackle.
Muhlenberg. Fly Honeysuckle.

(C

C(

CI

f(

RUBIAOBA. '

CkUium atprellum^
trifidunif

u

tt

li
tt
tt

Michauz.

Linn.

Michauz.

Michauz.

Michauz.

Linn.

triflorumj

circiKzanSj

latifoliumj

boreaUf

Cephalanihtts occidentaJiSf Linn.
Mitchella repens, ' Linn.

Composite.

Eupatorium purpureunif Linn.
perfoliatumf Linn.
ageratoidesj Linn.

a

tt

Mter macrophylluSf
" eordi/oliuSf

misery

tenuifolitUj

puniceusj

aettminatuaf
Erigeron Cajutdenae^

Linn.
Linn.

^Bnsh Hdneysuckle.
Common Elder.
Red-berried £lder.
Withe-rod.
Sweet Viburnum.
Arrow-wood.

Maple- leaved Arrow-wood.
Hobble-bush.

Rough Bedstraw.
Small Bedstraw.
Sweet-scented Bedstraw.
Wild Liquorice.

Northern Bedstraw.

Button-bush.

Partridge-berry.

Trumpet-Weed.
Thoroughwort.
White Snake-root.
*Large-leayed Aster.
*Heart-leayed A49ter.

tt

tt

tt
tt

tt

It

tt

PhiUuUlpkicumj Linn.
annuum. Persoon.

It

atrigommj
vemunif
Solidago bicoloTf
c(B8ia,

tt
tt

Linn., Alton. ^Starved Aster.
Linn. ^Slender-leared Aster.

Linn. *Red-stalked Aster.

Michauz. ^Acuminate-leaved Aster.
Linn. Horse-weed.

Fleabane.

Daisy Fleabane.
Muhlenberg. ^Stigose Fleabane.
Torrey it Gray.

Linn. •Two-colored Gol^n-rod.

Linn. ^ *Purple-8talked Golden-rod.

Muhlffibergii, Torrey k Gray. •Muhlenberg's Golden-rod.

tt

altUnmaj Linn.

nemoraliSf Alton.

CanadensiSj Linn.

ierotina, Alton.

lanceolatOj Linn.

Inula Heleniumj Linn.

Helianthut divaricatusj Linn.

" decapetaluSf It'uxn,

tt

tt

tt

tt

•Tall Rough Golden-rod.
•Woolly-stalked Golden-rod.
•Canadian Golden-rod.
•Late-flowering Golden-rod.
•Bushy Golden-rod.
Common Elecompane.
•Rough-leaved Sunflower.
•Thin-leaved Sunflower.

44

Ifdig&wns Plants,

GOMPOBITiK.

Bidens chrysanthemoideBf Linn.

" bipinnata, Linn.

Mdruta Cotvla^ De Gand^Ue.

jichillea JdUlefoHtm^ Linn.
Leucanthemum vulgare^ Lambett.
Gnaphalium decurrenjt, Ires^

" tdiginonnHj Linn.

jSntennaria mm-garitojct^ R. Brown.

" plantag^foHaf Hooker.
EredthU€9 kieratifoHOf Rafindsque.
Centaurea Cyanus^ Linn.
Cirsium lanceolatumj Scopoli.
ducolorf
arvetuBf
Lappa major^
JKeracium Caneulensef Michanx.

" scabrumf Michanz.
Nabalus albusj Hooker.

" aitUHmtUj Hooker.
Taraxacum DenfleonUf Desfontaines.
Lactuca elongata^ Muhlenberg.

Sonchus (upeVf Villars.

u

u

Sprengel.

Scopoli.

Gaertner.

LOBBLIAOBA.

Lobelia cardinaliiy

GoiCPANXTLAOBiB.

Linn.
LinA.

Bttr-Marigold.
Spanish Needles.
Common May-weed.
Gommon Yarrow.
Ox-Eye Daisy.
Eyerlasting.
Low Cudweed.
Pearly Everlasting.
Plantain-leaved Everlasting.
Fireweed.
Bluebottle.
Gommon Thistle.
Two-Coloured Thistle.
Canada Thistle.
Gommon Burdock.
Canada Hawkweed.
Rough Hawkweed.
Rattlesnake-root.
Tall White Lettuce.
Common Dandelion.
Wild Lettuce.
Spring-leaved Sow-Thistle.

Cardinal-flower.
Indian Tobacco.

CompantUaaparinoid48j Pnreh. Marsh Bellflower.

Ebioacba.

Oaylutsacia resinosay Torrey k Gray. Black Huckleberry.
Vaccmium macrocarpon^ Alton. Common American Cranberry,

Chiogenes hitpidula^ Torrey k Gray. ♦Creeping Snowberry.

GauUheria procumbent, Linn.

Pyrola rotundifolia, Linn.

« eUiptica, Nuttall.

'' secundOj Linn,

Moneses uniflora, Salisbury.

CkimaphUa umbellataf Nuttall.

Monotropa un\flora, Linn.

Creeping Wintergreen.
Round-leaved Pyrola.
Siim-leaf.
One-sided Pyrola.
One-flowered PyroUa.
Prince's Pine.
Indian Pipe.

Black Alder.

lUat tertteUlata, Gfay f

Nejnopanihei CaHMdennSf De CandoUe. Mountain Holly.

Plantaoinaoba.
Plantago tMJor^ Lmn% Gommon Plantain,

Indigenom Plants,

45

Pbiuulacba.

Trinitalis Americana^ Parsh:
Lynmackia atrietOy Aiton.
" cUiataj Linn.

Nawnburgia thrynfiora^ Reichenb.

Orobanchacba.
Epiphegus Virginianaj Barton.

SOBOPHTTLABI ACE^ .

Verbascum ThapstUj
Linaria Vulgaris^
Chelone glabra^
Mimulut ringenSf
Veronica AnagalliSj

Americana^

scutellata,

serphyllifoliay Linn.
Pedicttlaris CanadensUj Linn,

tt

u

u

Linn.

Miller.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Schweinitz.

Linn.

VBBBENACEiB.

Verbena hastatUj Linn.

" urticifolia^ Linn.

Pkryma Leptostackyaj Linn.

Labiatje.

Teucrium Canadense, Linn.

Mentha Canadensis^ Linn.

Lycopus VirginicuSj Linn.

Europ<BU8f sinuatusj Linn.

u

Star-'flower.
*Uprigfat Loosestrife.
*Ciliate Loosestrife.
Tufted Loosestrife.

Beech-drops.

Oommon Mullein.
Toad-Flax.
Snake-head.
Monkey-flower.
Water Speedwell.
American Brookline.
Marsh Speedwell.
Thyme-leaved Speedwell.
Common Lousewort.

Blue Yervain,
White Vervain.
Lopseed.

American Germander.

Wild Mint.

Bugle-weed.

^Common Water Hoarhound.

Lophanthus scrophulariafolius, Bentbam. *Purple Giant Hyssop.

Nepeta Cataria^ Linn.

Brunella vulgaris^ Linn.

Scutellaria gahricuhUa^ Linn.
" lateriflora^ Linn,

GaUopsis Tetrahitj Linn.
Strachys palustris, glabra^ Linn.
Leonurus Cardiaca^ Linn.

BOBRAOINAGE^.

Echium vulgarcj Linn.

Lythospermum officinale ^ Linn.

Catnip.
Common Self-heal.
* Common Skullcap.
*Mad-dog Skullcap.
Common Hemp-Nettle.
*Marsh Hedge Nettle.
Common Motherwort.

Blue-weed.
Common Gromwell.

Echinospermum Lappukij Lehmann. Stickseed.
Cynoglossum officinale, Linn. Common Hound's-Tongue.

" Morisonij De Csmdolle. Beggar's Lice.

OONVOLVULACE-fi.

Calystegia $epium, R. Brown.

SoLONACBiB.

Solanum Dulcamara^ Linn.

Hedge Bindweed.

tt

nigrum.

Linn.

Bittersweet.
Conmion Nightshade.

46

Ikdigefious Plants.

Solon AOBiB.

Hyosqfomua iHger^ Linn.
Datura StramoniuMy Linn.

Apootnaosje.
Jtpocynum andro$ami/olium, Linn.

Abolepiadaoba.
Asclepias Comutij Decaisne.

phytolacoideSj Pursh.
incartuUaj Linn.

Olbaqba.

FraxinuM jimericana^ Linn.

pubescent, Lamarck.
sambucifolitif Lamarck.

CI

AniSTOLOOHIAOBJi.

^earum Canadense^ Linn.

Ghbnopodiacbjs.

Chenopodium album, Linn.
Blitum capUatum, Linn.

AXARANTAOEA.

Jimarantus hybriduSj Linn.
" albu9f Linn.

POLTOONACBJB.

Polygonum amphibium aquoHcum,

" terrestre,
Perticariaf Linn.
Hydropiper, Linn.
acre, H. B. K.

aviculare, Linn.
taggitatumf Linn.
Convolvulus, Linn.
cUinode, Michaud.
Rumtx verticillatus, Linn.

" Hydrolapathum, Hudson.
Rumex crispus, Linn.

" Acetosella, Linn.

Thymeibacb^.
Dirca palustris, Linn.

SANTALACBiB.

Conumclra umbellatci, NnttalL

EUPHOBBIACBA.

Euphorbia Helioscopia, Linn.

Black Henbane.
Common Stramonium.

Spreading Dogbane.

Oommon Milkweed.
Poke Milkweed.
Swamp Milkweed.

White Asb.
Red Ash.
Black Ash.

Wild Ginger.

LamVs Quarter.
Strawberry Blite.

Green Amaranth.

ti
It
It
u
ti
It
ti

Linn. Water Persicaria.
Linn.

Lady's Thumb.
Smart-weed.
Wild Smart-weed.
Knotgrass.

Arrow-leaved Tear-Thumb.
Black Bind-weed.
•Fringe-jointed Enotweed.
Swamp Dock.
Great Water-Dock.
Curled Dock.
Sheep Sorrel.

Letttherwood.
•Bastard Toad-flax.
Sun Spurge.

Indigenous Plants.

47

Ubtio'aob^.

Ulmusfulvaj
'' Americana^
" racemoiaf

Urtica gracilis^

If

urens^

Zaportea CanaderuiSf
Pilea pumUaj
Boehmeria cylindrica^
Canabis icUiva^

Juglans cinerecij
Carya alba^

u

amara.

CUPULIFBBI^.

" alhoy

" rubra^
Fagus ferrugina,
Corylus rostrate^
Carpinua Americana^
Ostrya Virginicct^

Bbtulacba.

BettUa papyracea,

" excehaj

" lenta,
Alntu incaTia,

Salioaobj!.

jSoiia; discolor j

" rostrata,

" fragUUf

" lucidUj

" pediceUarUj
PoptUus tremuloidesj

Michanx.

Linn.

Thomas.

Alton.

Linn.

Gandich.

Lindley.

Wildenow.

Linn.

Linn.

Nuttall.

Nuttall.

Michanx.

Linn.

Linn.

Alton.

Alton.

Michanx.

Wildenow.

Alton.
Aiton.
Linn.
Wildenow.

Red Elm.
White Elm.
Corky White Elm.
Tall WUd Nettle.
Small Stinging-Nettle.
Wood Nettle.
Richweed.
False Nettle.
Hemp.

Buttemnt.
Shell-bark Hickory.
Bitter-nut.

■

Bur-Oak.
White Oak.
Red Oak.

»

American Beech.
Beaked Hazel-nut.
Hornbeam, Water Beech.
Hop-Hornbean, Iron-wood.

Paper Birch.

Yellow Birch.

Cherry Birch.

Speckled or Hoary^lder.

Muhlenberg. Glaucous Willow.

Richardson. Long-beaked Willow.

Linn. Brittle WUlow.

Muhlenberg. Shining Willow.

Pursh. Stalk-fruited Willow.

Michaux. American Aspen.
grandidenkitaj Michaux. Large-toothed Aspen.
balsamiferaj Linn. Balsam Poplar.

Salix BcUyylonicaf S. Babylonica anntUarUj and Populus dUitata and
P. Alba, are cultivated species growing here as indigenous.

f(

If

CONirEBJS.

Pinus strobutj

Linn.

White Pine.

Albies baUameaj

Marshall.

Balsam Fir.

" Canadensis^

Michaux.

Hemlock Spruce.

Larix Americana^

Michaux.

American or Black Larch

Thnja occidentalis,

Linn.

American Arbor Yitse.

Taxtis baccata^ Linn. rar. Canadensis, American Yew.

48

Jhdigenota Plants*

Arjlcrx.

Calla paltutrisj Linn.

Ttphace^.

Typha Icttifolioj Linn.

Sparganium ramjosum^ Hudson.

Alismacejs.
Mistna Plantago, Linn.

Water Arnm.

Common Gat- tail.
'Branching Bur-Reed.

Water Plantain.

SagUaria vari€j)ilUj Bnglemann. *Oommon Arrowhead.

Orohidacba.

Orchis spectabUiSf Linn.

Plantanihera Hookerij Lindlej.

" fimbriata^ Lindlej.

Cfoodyera pubesceru, B. Brown.
Spiranthes cemua, Richardson.
CorcUlorhiza innataf R. Brown.

" multifloroj Nuttall,

Cypripedium parviflorum^ Salisbury.

IniDAOEiB.

IrU versicolor J Linn.

Sisyrinchium Bermudiana^ Linn.

Smilaob^.

Smilax herbacea, Linn.

Trillium erectum, Linn.

grandiflorumj Salisbury.

erythrocarpuvij Micbaud.
Medeola Virginicaj Linn.

LiLIAOBiB.

Polygonatum biflorunij Elliott.
Smiktcina racfimosOy Desfontaines.

" ^ bifoli&j Ker.

Cliiitonia borecUisj Rafinesque.

Allium tricoccumj Aiton.

Erythronium Americanum^ Smith.

MSLANTHAOBA.

Uvularia grandiflora^
Streptopus rose^Sj

JUBOAOBJE.

Juncus effususj
BcdticuSf
scirpoidesj
nodosusj
tsnuiSj
bufoniusj

Showy Orchis. "

Smaller Two-leaved Orchid.

Larger Purple-fringed Orchis.

'Rattlesnake Plantain.

'Nodding Ladies' Tresses.

•Vernal Coral-root.

•Large Coral-root.

Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper.

Larger Blue Flag.
Blue-eyed Grass.

Carrion-Flower.
Purple Trillium.
Large White Trillium.
Painted Trillium.
Indian Cucumber-root.

Smaller Solomon's Seal.
False Spikenard.
•Two-leaved Smilacina.
•Large-flowered Clintonia.
Wild Leek.
Yellow Adder's-tongue.

tt
<c
ti
u
u

Smith.

Large-flowered Bellwort.

Michanx.

•Rose Twisted Stalk.

Linn.

Common or Soft Rush.

Wildenow.

•Baltic Rush.

Lamarck.

Linn.

•Knotty Rush.

Willdenow.

♦Slender Rueh.

Linn.

•Toad Rush.

Lid^enotu PhtUs.

4i)

Ctpebaoi^.

Ctfperu8 inftexuij tfahlenberg.

*Dwaif Odorous Oalingale.

Jhilichium spatkacevm, Persoon.

•Dnlichium.

EleocfutrU obttua, Schultes.

•Obtuse Spik6 Rush.

" palrutris, R. Brown.

•Common Spike Rush.

Sciarjms lacuitrU, Linn.

Bulrush.

'<^ Eriophorumj Michauz.

Wbol-Grasd.

^ Eriophorum Virginicum^ I^inn.

•Rusty Oofton-Grass,

" gracile, Koch.

Carex erinUa, Lamarck.

•Fringed Sedge.

" lacwtrisy Wildenow,

•Lake S^dge.

" hyaricinOy Wildenow.

•Porcupine Sedge.

" tentacuLatOy Muhlenberg.

•Long-pointed Sedge.

<< intumescenSf Budge.

•Swollen Sedge:

** lupulina, Muhlenberg.

•Hop-like Sedge.

" roatrata, Schweintz.

•Beaked Sedge.

" cylindrical Schweintz.

•Cylindrical Sedge.

Obaxinia.

Leersia oryzoidtty Swarts.

Rice Cat-Grass.

Pkleum praiensej Linn.

Timothy.

jSgroatii vulgarisj With.

Red-Top.

" albdy Linn.

White Beni-Grass.

Oryzoptu melanocarpay Muhlenberg.

•Black-fruited Mountain Ri<

•

Glyceria CanaderuiSy TriniuB.

Rattlesnake-Grass.

" tiervata, Trinius.

•Nervel ManarGrass.

<' (iqtuUicaj Smith.

Reed Meadow-Grass.

" Jluitansj R. Brown.

•Common Manna-Grass.

Poa serotinOj Ehrhart.

False Red-Top.

" pratenHSf Lion.

Common Meadow-Grass.

" compreisa, Linn.

Blue Grass.

Bromut secalimuy Linn.

Chess.

TrUicum repensy Linn.

Couch-Grass.

HardeuM Jubaiumy Linn.

Squirrel-Tail Grass.

Gymnoatichum HystriXy Schreber.

Bottle-brush Grass.

Phalaris arundinacecty Linn.

Red Canary-Grass.

'' CanariensiSy Linn.

Canary-Grass.

Panicumcapillarey ^ Linn.

•Hair-stalked Panic-Grass.

" dichotomunty Linn.

•Hairy Panic-Grass.

^ « Crus^galliy Linn.

Barnyard-Grass.

Setaria glaueoy Palisot de BeauTois. Foxtail.

" viridisy Palisot de Beanvois, Green Foxtail.

EQXnSBTAOl^.

EquUetum arvensCy Linn.
^* fylvaticumy Linn.
" hyemdUy Linn.

*• Mcirpoidety Michaox.

•Field Horse-tail.
•Wood Horse-tail.
Scouring Rush.
•Smallest Rough Hone-tail.

i
1

60

FlLIOM.

Indigenous Plants.

Polypodiwn DryopterU^
PUris aquilinaf
Adiatitum pedatuniy
Atplenium tfielypteroides^
" FUix fanninaf
CyttopterU bvlbifera^
jSipiHum TJielypterUf
" tpinuloium,
'' criMtatumf
" Ofcrostichoideif
** marginaUf
Onoclea sefuibilUf
Otmunda regalUf
OMmunda ClaytonianOj
Otmunda cinnamoneOf
Botrychium Virginicumf

Ltoofodiaosa.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Michaux.

R. Brown.

Bernhardi.

Swartz.

Swartz.

Swarts.

Swarts.

Swarts.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Linn.

Swartz.

Lycopodium lueidulumj Michaoz.
*< amnotwunij Linn.

" dendroideum^ Michaux.

" clavatumy Linn.

MUBOI.

. Sphagnum acuUfoliumf^
Trichostomum vaguuuu^
Tetraphis pellucidaj
Polytrickum junipermumj
Timmia megapolitanaf
Bryum pyrtform^f
Mnium offine^
Pkmaria hygrometrica^
Cryphtsa gUmeratOf
PylaUaa intricata^
Platygyrium repent^
Climacium dendraideif
Hypnum tamariseinumf
<' uncinatumf

HiPATIOJI.

Madotheca platyphylla^
Uarchantia polymorphOf

* Three-branched Poljpodj.
Common Brake.
Maidenhair.

*Thel7pteris-like Spleenwort.
Female Spleenwort.
"Bulb-bearing Bladder-Fern.
•Marsh Shield-Fern.
*DUated Shield-Fern.
•Orested Shield-Fern.
"Terminal Shield-Fern.
"Marginal Shield-Fern.
"Senaitiye Fern.
Flowering Fern.
"Interrupted Flowering Fern.
Oinnamon Fern.
Rattlesnake Fern.

"Shining Club-Moss:
"Interrupted Club-Moss.

Ground-Pine.
Common Club-Moss.

Ehrhart.

SulliTant.

Hedwig.

Hedwig.

Hedwig.

Hedwig.

Bland.

Hedwig.

W. P. Schimper.

Brjol Europ.

Brjol Europ.

Weber k Mohr.

Hedwig.

Hedwig.

Dnmort.
Linn.

The orders CyptraeuBf Orambutf Mutei^ and JXepo^tctf, as also the
genus SaliXf would require a suplementary list, which I intind to flupplj
at some future time.

3.— Br^ of Baanr.

6.-^de view Kagro.

irra

11 Classification tfthe Mammalia. 51

ART. VIL — Professor Owen on the Classifitation of the Man^
malia.

None of oar living Naturalists displays a greater mastery over
ihoee general truths that relate to the difficult subject of classifica-
tion, than Professor Owen, and we are especially indebted to him
for asserting that predominance of the brain and nervous system,
in indicating the real affinities of animals, which is one of the
leading truths of modern Zoology. The nervous system is the
primary material element in the animal, that which marks more
than any other its grade of intelligence and consequent rank
in nature. It is thus the basis of the animal frame ; and thouorh
less obvious than the skeleton and other superadded structures,
is really that which has moulded their form and proportions. No
one ground of arrangement will suff ce to express all those grades
of relationship impressed on animals by their Maker, and percep-
tible by us; but some are more general and impoitant than others ;
and we have long thought that the nervous system' bears to the
whole the relation of a grand dominant end to which all others
have been bent and made subservient.

In an elaborate paper communicated to the Linnean Society,
Professor Owen has applied this principle of arrangement to the
mammals; and we commend the following extracts, giving a
sketch of his views, to all §f our readers who take an interest in
Zoology.

Primary Divisions of the Mammalia, — The question or pro-
blem of the truly natural and equivalent primary groups of the
class Mammalia has occupied much of my consideration, and haa
ever been present to my mind when gath -ring any new facts in the
anatomy of the' Mammalia, during dissections of the rarer forms
which have died at the Zoological Gardens, or on other opportu-
nities.

The peculiar value of the leading modifications of the mamma-
lian brain, in regard to their association with concurrent nfodifi-
cations in other important systems of organs, was illustrated in
detail in the Hunterian Course of Lectures on the Comparative
Anatomy of the Nervous System, delivered by me at the Royal
College of Surgeons in 1842. The ideas which were broached or
suggested, during the delivery of that course, I have^ tested by
every subsequent acquisition of anatomical knowledge, and now
feel myself justified in submitting to the judgment of the Linnean
Society, with a view to publication, the following fourfold primary

62 Classification of the Mammalia.

division of t'le mammalian class, based npon the four leading
modifications of cerebral structure in that class.

The brain is that part of the organization which, by its superior
development, distinguishes the Mammalia from all the inferior
classes of Vertkbrata ; and it is that organ which I now propose
to show to be the one that by its modifications marks the best
and most natural primary divisions of the cla^.

In some mammals the cerebral hemispheres are but feebly and
partially connected together by the *" fornix ' and ^ anterior com-
missure ; ' in the rest of the class a part called * corpus callosum '
is added, which completes the connecting or ' commissural ' ap-
paratus. *

With the absence of this great superadded commissure is asso-
ciated a remarkable modification of the mode of development of the
offspring, which involves many other modifications ; amongst
which are the presence of the bones called ^ marsupial,' and the
non-development o( the deciduous body concerned in the nourish-
ment of the progeny before birth, called ^ placenta ; ' the young
in all this ' implacental ' division being brought forth prematurely,
as compared with the rest of the class.

This first and lowest primary group, or subclass, of Mammalia
may be termed, from its cerebral chnracter, Lyencephala, — signi-
fying the comparatively loose or disconnected state of the cerebral
hemispheres. The size of these hemypheres (fig. 1, a) is such
that they leavp exposed the olfactory ganglions (a), the cere-
bellum (c), and more or less of the opiic lobes (b) ; their 8urfiEu:e
is generally smooth ; the anfractuosities, when present, are few
and simple.

The next well-marked stage in the development of the brain is
where the corpus callosum (indicated in fig. 2, by the dotted lines
dy d) is present, but connects cerebral hemispheres as little ad-
vanced in bulk or outward character as in the preceding subclass •
the cerebrum (a) leaving both the olfactory lobes (a) and cerebel-
lum (c) exposed, and being commonly smooth, or with few and
simple convolutions in a very small proportion, composed of the
largest members of the group. The mammals so characterized^
constitute the subclass Lissencephala, (fig. 2).

In this subclass the testes are either permanently or temporarily
concealed in the abdomen : there is a common external genito-
urinary aperture in most ; two precaval veins ('superior ' or * an-
terior venae ') terminate in the right auricle. The squamosal in
many, retain their primitive separation as distinct bones. The

Classification of the Mamfnalid. 53

orbits have not an entife rim of bone. Besides these more gene-
ral characters by which the Lissencephala, in cominon with the
Lyencephala, resemble Birds and Reptiles, there are many other
remarkable indications of their aflSnity to the Oviparous Verte-
brata fn particular orders or genera of the subclass. Such, e, g,^
*re the cloaca, convoluted trachea, supernumerary cervical verte-
brae and their floating ribs, in the 3-toed Sloth ; the irritability of
the muscular fibre, and persistence of contractile power in (he
Sloths and some other Brtita ; the long, slender, beak-like eden-
talous jaws and gizzard of the Anteaters ; the imbricated scales of
tlie eqdally edentulous Pangolins, which have both gizzard and
gastric glands like the proventricular ones in birds ; the derma[
bony artnonr of the Atm^dillbs like that of loricated Saurians 9
"the qui Is of the Porcupine and Hedgehog; the proven tric^ulus of
4he Dormouse ai]d Beaver ; the prevalence of disproportionate
development of the hind-limbs in the Rodentid ; coupled, in the
Jerboa, with confluence of the three chief metatarsals into one
bone, as in birds ; the keeled sternum and wings of the Ba's; the
aptitude of the Cheiroptera^ In^ectivora, and certain Rodehtia to
&11^ like Heptiles, into a State of true torpidity, associated with a
corresponding faculty of the heart to circulate carbonized or black
blood : — these, and the like indications of co-affinity with the
Lyencephala to the Oviparous air-breathing Vertebrata, have
mainly prevailed with me against aki acquiescence in the elevation
of different groups of the Lissencephala to a higher place in the
Mammalian series, and in their respective association, through
iome single character, witb better-brained orders, according to
Mammalogical systems which, ^t different times, have been pro-
posed by zoologists of deserved reputation. Such, e,g,, as the as-
sociation of the long-clawed Bruta with the Ungulatay and~of the
shorter-clawed Shrews, Moles and Hedgehogs, as well as the B»t«i,
with the Carnivora ; of the Sloths with the Qtiadrumana ; of the
Bats with the same high order ; and of the Insectivora and Ro^
dentia in immediate sequence after the Linnean < Primates,' as in
the latest published ' System of Mammalogy,' from a distinguished
French author.

The third leading modification of the Mammalian Cerebrum is
such an increase in its relative size, that it extends over more or
less of the cerebellum ; And generally more or less over the olfac-
tory lobes. Save in very few exceptidnal cases of the smaller and
inferior forms of (^uadrumana (fig. 3) the superficies is folded
into more oV less numerous gyri or convolutions,— rwhence the

1

54 Classificatum of the Mammalia.

name OyrencepJiala, which I propose for the third subclass of
Mammalia (fig. 4.)

In this subclass we shall look in vain for those marks of affinity
to the OviparcLj which have been instanced in the preceding sub-
classes. The testes are, indeed concealed, and through an obvious
adaptive principle, in the Cetacea ; but, in the rest of the subcla^
with the exception of the Elephants, they pass out of the abdomen,
and the Gyrencephalous quadrupeds, as a gcueral rule, have a
st^rotum. The vulva is externally distinct from the anus. With
the exception, again, of the Elephants, the blood from the head
and anterior limbs is returned to the right auricle by a single
precaval trunk. The mammalian modification of the Vertebrate
type attains its highest physical perfection in the Gyrencephalc^
as manifested by the bulk of some, by the destructive mastery of
others, by the address and agility of a third order. And, through
the superior psychological faculties — an adaptive intelligence pre.
dominating over blind instinct — which are associated with the
higher development of the brain, the Gyrencephala afford those
speides which have ever formed the most cherished companidns
and servitors, and the most valuable sources of wealth and power,
to Mankind.

In Man the brain presents an ascensive step iu development,
higher and more strongly marked than that by which the preced'
ing subclass was distinguised from the one below it. Not only do
the cerebral hemispheres (figs. 5 & 6, a) overlap the olfactory
lobes and cerebellum, but they extend in advance of the one, and
further back than the other (fig. 6, c). Their posterior develop-
ment is so marked, that anatomists have assigned to that part
the character of a third lobe ; it is peculiar to the genus ffomoi
and equally peculiar is the ' posterior horn of the lateral ventri-
cle,' and the ' hippocampus minor,' which characterize the hind
lobe of each hemisphere. The superficial grey matter of the cere-
brum, through the number and depth of the convolutions,
attains its maximum of extent in Man.

Peculiar mental powers are associated with this highest form o^
brain, and their consequences wonderfully illustrate the v^ue of
the cerebral character ; according to my estimate of which, I am
led to regard the genus Jlomoy as not merely a represenlative of a
distinct order, but of a distinct subclass of the Mammalia, for
which I propose the name of * Archencephala^ (fig. 6)^.

Prosessor Owen then proceeds to subdivide his primary groups
into orders. We can only give extracts bearing upon groups of
special interest.

Classification of the MammaUa, 66

LrSVCKPHALA.

In the Lyencephalous Mammalia some have the ' optic lobe *
simple, others partly subdivided, or complicated by accessory gan-
glions, whence they are called * bigeminal bodies/ The Lycene
phala with simple optic lobes are ' edentulous' or i^thout calcified
teeth, are devoid of external ears, scrotum, nipples, and marsupial
pouch : they are true ' testiconda;' they have a coracoid bone
extending from the scapula to the sternum, and also an epicora*
coid and epistemum, as in Lizards ; they are unguicniate and
pentadactyle, with a supplementary tarsal bone supporting a per-
forated spur in the male. The order so characterized is called
' MoNOTRSMATA,' in reference to the single excretory and genera-
tive outlet, which, however, is by no means peculiar to them
among Mammalia. The Monotremes are insectivorous, 'and are
strictly limited to Australia and Tasmania.

The Marsupialia are Mammals distinguished by a peculiar
pouch or duplicature of the abdominal integument, which in the
males is everted, forming a pendulous bag containing the testes ;
and in tiie females is inverted, forming a hidden pouch containing
the nipples and usually sheltering the young for a certain period
after their birth : they have the marsupial bones in common witl^
the Monotremes ; a much-varied dentition, especially as regards
number of incisors, but usually including 4 true molars ; and never
more than 8 premolar!} : the angle of the lower jaw is more or
less inverted.

With the exception of one genus, Didelphys^ which is Ameri-
can, and another genus Cuscus^ which is Malayan, all the known
existing Marsupials belong to Australia, Tasmania, and New
Guinea. The grazing and browsing Kangaroos are rarely seen
abroad in full daylight) save in dark rainy weather. Most of the
Marsupialia are nocturnal. Zoological wanderers in Australia,
viewing its plains and scanning its scrubs by broad daylight, are
struck by the seeming absence of mammalian life ; but during the
brief twilight and dawn, or by the light of the moon, numerous
forms are seen to emerge from their hiding-places and illustrate
the variety of marsupial life with which many parts of the conti-
nent abound. We may associate with th«ir low position in the
mammalian scale the prevalent habit amongst the Marsupialia of
limiting the exercise of the faculties of active life to the period
when they are shielded by the obscurity x>f night

I

$6 Cla3sicfiaH(fn oj . tht Mammalia^

LlSaSNOXPHALA.

The Lissenoopbala or smooth-brained Placentals form a group
which I consider 9S equivalent to the Lyencephala or Implaoen-
tals ; and which includes the following order% Hodsntia, Inseeii-
vora^ Cheiroptera and Bruia, The RoDENtiA are characterized
by two large and long curved incisors in each jaw, separated by a
wide interval from the molars ; and these teeth are so constmcted^
and the jaw is so articulated^ as to serve in the rsduction of the
food to small particles by acts of rapid and continued gnawing^
whence the name of the order. The orbits are not separated from
the temporal I6s8». The testes pass periodically from the abdo-
men into a temporary scrotum, and are associated with prostatic
and vesicular glands. The placenta is commonly discoid, but is
sometimes a circular mass (Gavy), or flattened and divided into
three or more lobes (Lepus). The Beaver and Capybara are now
the giants of the order, which chiefly consists of small, numerous^
prolific and diversified ungtiioulate genera, subsisting wholly or in
part on vegetable food. Some lUxlents, e. ff. the Lemmings, pei^
fprm remai'kable migvaiiona, the impulse to which, unchecked by
dangers or any surmoujKtable obstacles, seems to be mechanical-
Many Rodenta build very artificial nests, and 9^ ^ew manifest their
constructive instinct in association. In all these inferior psychical
manifestations we are reminded of Birds. Many Rodents hiber-
nate like Reptiles. They are distributed over all continents.

The transition from the Marsupials to the Rodents is made by
the Wombats ; and the transition from the Marsupials is made,
by an equally easy step, through the smaller Opossums to the In-
SfiCTivoRA. This term is given to the order of small smooth-
brained Mammals, the molar teeth of which are bristled with
cusps, and are associated with canines and incisors ; they are un-
guiculate, plantigrade, and pentadactyle, and they have complete
clavicles. The testes pass periodically frvm ihe abdomen into a
temporary scrotum, and are associated with large prostatic and
vesicular glands : like most other Liswicepkala, the lusectivora
have a discoid or cnp-shaped placenta. Their place and office in
South America and Australia are fulfilled by Marsapialia ; but
true Insectivora exist in all the other continents.

The order Chsiboptxra, with the exception of the modification
of their digits for supporting the large webs that serve as wings,
repeat the chief characters of the Insectivora ; but a few of the

Classification of the Mammalia. fi7

larger species are frugivoroos and have corresponding; modifica-
tions of teeth and stomach. The mamnuB are pectoral in posi-
tion, and the penis is pendulous in all Cheiroptera. The most
remarkable examples of periodically torpid Mammals are to be
found in the terrestrial and volant Insectivora. The frugivorous
Bats diflfer much in dentition from the true Cheiroptera, and would
seem to conduct through the Colugos or Flying Lemurs, directly
to the Quadrumanous order. The Cheiroptera are cosmopolitan-

The order Bauta, called Edentata by Cuvier, includes two
genera which are devoid of teeth ; the rest ^ossesB those organs,
which, however, have no true enamel, are never displacedi by a
second series, and are very rarely implanted in the premaxillary
bones. All the species have very long and strong claws. The
ischium as well as the ilium unites with the sacrum ; the orbit
is not divided from the temporal fossa. I have already adverted
to the illustration of affinity to the oviparous Yertebista which,
the Three-toed Sloths afford by the aupernumerary cervical verte-
brae supporting false ribs and by the convolution of the windpipe
in the thorax ; and I may add that the unusuad number — three
and twenty pairs— of ribs, forming a very long dorsal, with a short
lumbar region of the spine in the Two-toed Sloth, recalls a lacer-
tine structure. The same tendency to an inferior type is shown
by the abdominal testes, the single cloacal outlet, the low cerebral
development, the absence of meduUary canals in the loi^ bones
in the Sloths, and by the great tenacity of life and long-enduring
irritability of the muscular fibre, in both the Sloths and Ant-
eaters.

The order Bruta is but scantily represented at the present
period. One genus, Manis or Pangolin, is common to Asia and
Africa ; the Orycteropus ia peculiar to South Africa ; the rest of
the order, consisting of the genera Myrmeccphaga^ or true Ant-
eaters, Dasypus or Armadillos, and Bradypus or Sloths, are con-
fined to South America.

Gtrbncbphala.

to

In next proceeding to consider the subdivisions of the Gyren-
cephala, we seem at first to descend in the scale in meeting with
a group of animals in that subclass, having the form of Fishes ;
but a high grade of mammalian orgapization is masked beneath
this form. The Gyrencephala are primarily subdivided, according
to modifications of the locomotive organsi into three series, for

58 , Classification of the Mammalia.

which the LinDean terms may well be retained ; viz. Mutilata^
Ungulata and Uhguiculata^ the maimed, the hoofed, and the
clawed series.

These characters can only be applied, to the Gyrencepbalous
subclass ; i, e. they do not indicate natural groups, save in that
section of the Mammalia. To associate the Lyencephala and
Lissencephala with the unguiculate Gyrencephala into one great
primary group, as in the Mammalian systems of Ray, Linnnus
and Ouvier, is a misapplication of a solitary character akin to that
which would have founded a primary division on the discoid pla-
centa or the diphyodont dentition. No one has proposed to asso-
ciate the unguiculate Bird or Lizard with the unguiculate Ape ;
and it is but a little less violation of natural affinities to associate
the Monotremes with the Quadrumanes in the same primary
(unguiculate) division of the Mammalian class.

The three primary divisions of the Gyrencephala are of higher
value than the ordinal divisions of the Lissencephala ; just as
thosd orders are of higher value than the representative families
of the Marsupials.

The Mutilata, or the maimed Mammals with folded brains*
are so called because their hind-limbs seem, as it were, to have
been amputated ; they possess only the pectoral pa\r of limbs, and
these in tlie form of fins : the hind end of the trunk expands into
a broad, horizontally flattened, caudal fin. They have large brains
with many and deep convolutions, are naked, and have neither
neck, scrotum, nor external ears.

The first order, called Cetacea, in this divison are either eden-
tulous or monophyodont, and with teeth of one kind and usually
of simple form. They are testiconda and have no * vesiculse semi-
nales.' The mammse are pudendal ; the placenta is diffused ; the
external nostrils — single or double — are on the top of the head,
and called spiracles or ^* blow-holes." They are marine, and, for
the most part, range the unfathomable ocean ; though with cer-
tain geographical limits as respects species. They feed on fishes
or marine animals.

The second order, called Sirenia, have teeth of different kinds,
incisors which are preceded by milk-teeth, and molars with fiat-
tened or ridged crowns, adapted for vegetable food. The nostrils
are two, situated at the upper part of the snout ; the lips are beset
with stiff bristles ; the mammae are pectoral ; the testes are abdo-
minal, as in the Oetacea, but are associated with vesiculae seroina-
les. The Sirenia exist near coasts or ascend large rivers ; brows-

Classification of the Mammalia. 69

iDg on fiici, water plants or the grass of the shorjB. There is much
in the organization of this order that indicates its affinity to mem-
bers of the succeeding division.

In the Ungulata the four limbs are present, but that portion of
the toe which touches the ground is incased in a hoo( which blunts
lis sensibility and deprives the foot of prehensile power. With
the limbs restricted to support and locomotion, the Ungulata
have no clavicles ; the 'f6re-leg remains constantly in the state of
pronation, and they feed on vegetables.

The third division of the Oyrencephala enjoy a higher degree
of the sense of tduch through the greater number and mobility of
the digits, and the smaller extent to which they are covered by
homy matter. This substance forms a single plate, in the shape
of a claw or nail, which is applied to only one of the surfaces of
the extremity of the digit, leaving the other, usually the lower,
surface possessed of its tactile faculty ; whence the name Ungui-
culaia, applied to this group; however, is more restricted and
natural than the group to which Linnaeus extended the term. All
the splBcies are ' diphyodont,' and the teeth have a simple invest-
ment of enamel.

The first order, Oarniyora, includes the beasts of prey, pro-
perly so called. With the exception of a few Seals, the incisors
are ^ in number ; the canines ^j » always longer than the other
teeth, and usually exhibiting a full and perfect development as
lethal weapons ; the molars graduate from a trenchant to a tubef-
culate form, in proportion as the diet deviates from one strictly of
flesh to one of a more miscellaneous kind. The clavicle is rudi-
mental or absent ; the innermost digit is often nidimental or
absent; they have no vesiculae seminales ; the teats are abdominal i
the placenta is zonular. The Carnivora are divided, according to
modifications of the limbs, into ' pinnigrades,' * plantigrades ' and
' digitigrades. ' In the Pi nnigrades (Walrus, Seal-tribe) both fore
and hind feet are short, and expanded into broad, webbed paddles
for swimming, the hinder ones being fettered by continuation of
integument to the tail. In the Plantigrades (Bear-tribe) the whole
or nearly the whole of the hind foot forms a sole, and rests on
the ground. In the Digitigrades (Cat-tribe, Dog-tribe, Ac.) only
the toes touch the ground, the heel being much raised.

It has been usual to place the Plantigrades at the head of the
Carnivora, apparently because the higher order, Quadrumana, ia
plantigrade^ but the affinities of the Bear, as evidenced by inter-
nal structure, e..^. the renal and genital organs, are closer to the

60 Classi/icaHoh of the Mammalia.

Seal-tribe ; the broader and flatter pentadactyle foot of the plan-
tigrade is nearer in form to the flipper of the Seal than is the
more perfect digitigrade, retractile clawed, long and narrow hind
foot of the felrne quadruped, which is the highest and most typi-
cal of the Camivora.

The next perfection which is sbperinduced upon the unguieulate
limb is such a modification in the size, shape, position, and direc-
tion of the innermost digit, that it can be opposed, as a thumb,
to the other digits, thus constituting what is properly termed a
'band.' Those TJnguiculates which have both fore and hind
limbs 80 modified, or at least the hind limbs, form the order Qn a-

Arcbeitobphala.

•

The structural modifications in the genus Homo, — ^the fcole rt-
-J^reseotative of the ArchencepJialay — more especially of the lower
limb, by which the erect stature and bipedal gait are maintained,
4kre such as to claim for Man ordinal distinction on merely exter-
nal zoological characters. But as I hav^ already argued, hts
psychological powers^ in association with his extraordinarily de-
veloped brain, entitle the group which he represents to equivalent
rank with the other primary divisions of thie class Mammalia
founded on cerebrtd chafacters. In this primary group Man
forms but one genus. Homo, and Uiat genus but one order, called
BiMANA, on account of the opposable thumb being restricted to
the upper pair of limbs. The testes ate scrotal ; their serous
«ac does not communicate with the abdomen ; they are associated
with vesicular and prostatic glands. The inammse are pectoral*
The placenta is a single, subcircular, cdlulo-vascular, discoid body.

Man has only a partial covering of hair, which is not merely
protective of the head, but is ornamental and distinctive of sex.
The dentition of the genus Homo is reduced to thirty-two teeth
by the suppression of the outer incisor and the first iwo premolars
of the typical series on each side of both jaws^ the dental formula
being :

t. izz3> c, i~, jp. f7-^< tn, s — 1=32.

All the teeth are of equal length, and there is no break in the
aeries ; they are subservient in Man not only to alimentation, but
to beauty and to speech.

Clas9ific€Uian of the Manmalia* 61

The human foot is broad, plantigrade, with the sole not invert-
ed as in Quadrumana, but applied flat to the ground ; the leg
bears vertically on the foot ; the heel is expanded beneath ; the
toes are short, but with the innermost longer and much larger
than the rest, fonuing a * hallux ' or great toe, which is placed oa
the same line with, and cannot be opposed to, the other toes ; the
pelvis is short, broad, and wide, keeping well apart the thighs ;
and the neck of the femur is long, and forms an open an^le with
the shaft, increasing the basis of support for the trunk. The whole
vertebral column, with its slight alternate curves, and the well,
poised, short, but capacious subglobular skull, are in like harmony
with the requirements of the erect position. The widely-sepa*
rated shoulders, with broad scapulae and complete clavicles, give
a favourable position to the upper limbs, now liberated from the
service of locomotion, with complex joints for rotatory as well as
flexile movements, av4 terminated by a hand of matchless perfection
of structure, the fit instrument for executing the behests^ of a ra^
tional intelligence and a free will. Hereby, though naked, Maa
can clothe himself, and rival aU native vestments in warmth and
beauty ; though^efQuceless, Man can arm himself with every variety
^f weapon, and become the most terribly destructive of animals.
Thus he fulfils his destiny as the supreme master of this earthy
and of the lower Creation.

In these endeavours to comprehend how Nature has associated
together her mammalian forms, the weary student quits his task
with a conviction that, after all, he has been rewarded with but
an imperfect view of such natural association. The mammalian
class has existed, probably from the triassic, certainly from the
, lower olitic period ; and has changed its generic and specific
forms more than once in the long lapse of ages, during which life-
work has been transacted on this planet by animals of that high
grade of organization., Not any of the mammalian genera of the
secondary periods occur in the tertiary ones. No genus found in
the older eocenes (plastic and peptarial clays, &c,) has been dis-
covered in the newer eocenes. Extiemely few eocene genera occur
in miocene strata, and none in the pliocene. Many miocene ge-
nera of Mammalia are peculiar to that division of the tertiary
series. Species indistinguishable from existing ones begin to apr
pear only in the newer pliocene beds. Whilst some groups, as
e, g, the Perissodactyles and omnivorous Artiodactyles, have been
^adually dying out, other groups, as e. g, the true Buminants,
have been augnienting in genera and species.

63 Ckusi/icatian of the Mammalia. '

In many existing genera of different orders there is a more
specialized structure, a greater deviation from the general type,
than in the answering genera of the miocene and eocene periods ;
such later and less typical Mammalia do more effective worls>by
their more adaptively modified structures. The Ruminants, e. g.
more effectually digest and assimilate grass, and form out of it a
more nutritive and sapid kind of meat, than did the antecedent
more typical or less specialized non-ruminant Herbivora.

The monodactyle Horse is a better and swifter beasf of draught
and burthen than its tridactyle predecessor the miocene Hippa-
rion could have been. The nearer to a Tapir or a Rhinoceros in
structure, the further will an equine animal be left from the goal
in contending with a modem Racer. The genera Felts and Ma-
chairadtUf with their curtailed and otherwise modified dentition
and short strong jaws, become, thereby, more powerfully and effec-
tively destructive than the eocene Hycenodon with its typical den-
tition and three carnassial teeth on each side of its concommitantly
prolonged jaws could have been.

Much additional and much truer insight has, doubtless, been
gained into the natural grouping of the Mammalia since palsB-
ontology has expanded our survey of the class ; but our best-cha- *
racterized groups do but reflect certain mental conceptions, which
must necessarily relate to incomplete knowledge, and that as ac-
quired at a given period of time. Thus the order which Cuvier
deemed the most natural one in the class Mammalia becomes the
debris of a group, known at a Bubeequent period to be a more -
natural order.

We calinot avoid recognizing, in the scheme which I now
submit, the inequality which reigns amongst the groups, which
otir present anatomical knowledge leads us to place in one line or
parallel series as orders. I do not mean mere inequality as re-
spects the number and variety of families, genera, and species of
such orders, because the paucity or multitude of instances mani-
festing a given modification or grade of structure in no essential
degree affects the value of such grade or modification. i

The order Monotremata is not the less ordinally distinct from
the Marsupialioj because it cohsists of but two genera, nor is the
order Bimana from that of Qu<idruman<i, because it includes only
a single genus. So likewise the anatomical peculiarities of the
Proboscidian Sirenia, and Toxodoniia call, at least, for those ge-
neral terms, to admit of the convenient expression of general pro-
positions respecting them ; and some of these general propositions 4

Clcusification (^ the Mammalia. 63

are of a value as great as the organic characters of more expanded
orders.

There are residuary or aberrant forms in some of the orders,
which, to the systematist disagreeably, compel modifications of
the characters that would apply to the majority of such orders.
The flying Lemurs (Galeopitheci)^ the rodent Lemurs {Cheiromys)^
the slow Lemurs {LariSy Otolicnu8\ forbid any generalization as
to teeth or nails in the QuadrumanOy whilst they continue asso*
ciated with that order by the character of the hinder thumb ;
which, by the way, they possess in common with the pedimanous
Marsupials. The large, volant, frugivorous Bats {Pteropus) are
equally opposed to the application of a common dental character
to the Cheiroptera, They are associated with the insectivorous '
Bats on account of the common external form arising out of the
modificatibn of their locomotive organs for flight, just as the Du-
gongs and Manatees are associated with the Ceiacea on account of
their resemblance to Fishes arising out of the same modification
of the locomotive system for an aquatic existence. The herbivo-
rous Cetacea are now separated from the piscivorous Ceiacea as a
distinct order ; and with almost as good reason we might sepa-
rate the frugivorous from the insectivorous Cheiroptera ; the cases
are very nearly parallel.

Nature, in short, is not so rigid a systematist as Man. There
are peculiar conditions of existence which she is pleased shall be
enjoyed by peculiarly modified mammals ; these peculiarities
break through the rules of structure which govern the majority of
species existing and subsisting under the more general conditions
of existence, to which the larger groups of Mammalia are respec-
tively adjusted.

One class of organs seems to govern one order, another class
another order ; the dental system, which is sp diversified in the
Marsvtpialia and Bruta^ is as remarkable for its degree of con-
stancy in the JRodentia and Insectivora, But, as^ a general rule,
the characters from the denta], locomotive, and placental systenis
are more closely correlated in the Gyrencephalous orders than in
those in the inferior subclasses of the Mammalia. — Journal Lin-
man Society.

64 Microscopical Preparations.

ARTICLE Vin. — On a method of Preparing and Mounting
Hard Tissues for the Microscope; by Christopheh
Johnston, M.D.*^

Having for several years ooctipied my leisure moments with
what are usually denominated ^* microscopical studies," I beg
leave to offer^ as the result of successful experience, a simple and
certain method of preparing and mounting hard tissues, snch as
bone, teeth, shells, fossilized wood, &c.

I am aware that treatises upon the microscope give a few in-
dications for making sections and embalming them in Canada
balsam; but they are unsatisfactory either by reason of their
brevity or their want of precision. Specimens may be procured
ready-made from the hands of Topping, Bourgogne and others,
but while they are expensive, persons in remote situations are
obliged to purchase by catalogue without the opportunity of
selection. Besides, it is oftentimes difficult or else impossible to
obtain series of particular objects, so that the student must eitlier
limit his researches or "prepare" for himself: in the latter case
he may increase his number of objects indefinitely, and supply
himself with many such as are not attainable from abroad, and
divided in any direction he may require.

A microscopic section should be as thin as the structure of the
object will allow, of uniform thickness, and polished on both sides,
whether it be mounted in the dry way or in balsam. To meet
these requirements I proceed as follows : —

Being provided with

I. A coarse and a fine 'Kansas hone, kept dressed ^a^ with fine
emery;

' 2. A long fine Stub's dentist's file ;
3. A thin dividing file and fine saw ;

4» Some Russian isinglass boiled, strained, and mixed with alco-
hol sufficient to form a tolerably thick jelly when cold ;

5. A smnll quantity of Canada balsam ;

6. Slides: 7. Clover glass.

8. One ounce of chloroform ; 9. One of F.F. aqua ammonia.
10. Some fragments of thick plate (mirror) glass 1 inch square
or 1 by 2 inches ; and finally,

II. An ounce of " dentist's silex," and

12. Thin French letter paper, of which 600 or more leaves are
required to fill up the space of an inch : I examine the object
and decide upon the plane of the proposed section.

* From SUliman^s Journal,

The Microscapical Preparations.

65

Coarse approximative sections may be obtained with the saw
or dividing file (excepting silicified substances), but these instru-
ments are not applicable to longitudinal sections of small human '
or other teeth, small bones, i&c Take now the object in the
fingers if sufficiently large, and grind it upon the coarse hone
with water, to which add " silex^' if necessary, until the surface
coincides with the intended plane. Wash carefully : finish upon
the finer hone; and polish upon sofb linen stretched upon a
smooth block.

If the object be too small to admit of immediate manipulation
it should be fiistened upon a piece of glass with isinglass — or
what is better, upon thin paper well glued with the same sub-
stance upon glass ; and a piece of thick paper or visiting card,
perforated with a free aperture for the object, must be attached
to the first paper. This is the guards down to which the speci-
men must be ground with oil : and its thickness and the disposal
of the object require the exercise of good judgment Hot water
will release everything ; and chloroform remove the grease from
the specimen, which, like that ground with water, is ready for
the second part of the process.

2d. Carefully cover the surface of a piece of the plate glass
with thin French letter paper ; next apply a paper guard, as be-
fore stated, but not thicker, for teeth and bone, thanj^ij^th inch ;
then trace a few lines with a lead pencil upon the first paper in
the little space left in the gtiard so that the increasing transpar-
ency of a specimen being prepared may be appreciated ; and
finally moisten the '^ space*' with isinglass to* the extent of the
object, which must be delicately brushed over on the ground
surface and at the edges with tolerably thin isinglass before it is
cemented in its place. Gentle pressure should now be employed,
and maintained with a wire spring, or thread wound round about.

In two or three hours the second side may be ground in oil ;
silez may be employed at first, or even a file ; but these means
must not be persevered' in, and the operation roust be completed
upon the bare hone. When the second side shall have been
wiped with chloroform it may be polished with a bit of silk
^upon the finger ; and after spontaneous separation froni the paper
in hot water the specimen ought to be well washed on both
sides with a camel's hair pencil and soap water, dropped into
cold water, and thence extracted to dry. After immersion in
chloroform for a moment, and examination for the removal of

66 The Microscopi^ai Treparaticms^

possibly adherent particles, the section may be declared saitable
for mounting.

Before proceeding to this step, a few precautions are necessary
about particular sections. Transverse sections of teeth or bone
sbould be dried, after the preliminsry washing, between glass^ in
order to avoid the disadvantage of warping. Very porous parts^
such as cancellated bone, or fragile bodies, such as the poison
fang of serpents, require that the whole structure, or the canals, be
saturated with glue and dried. Sections may now be cut with a
saw, ground in oil, and cemented to the holding-glass subsequent
to immersion in chloroform.

Mounting. — Spread a sufficient quantity of old Canada balsam,
or of that thickened by heat (not boiling), upon a slide, and,
when cold, impose the section. Have ready a spatula bearing a
quantity of equally inspissated balsam warmed until it flows,
with which cover the specimen, and then immediately warm the
slide, being careful to employ the least possible heat. Now
carefully depress the section and withdraw every air bubble with
a stout needle set in a handle towards the ends of the slide : put
on the cover glass, slightly warmed, not flat, but allowing one
edge to touch the balsam first, press out superfluous balsam, and
the specimen is safe. The slide may now be cleaned with a warm
knife, spirits of wine, and ammonia.

This communication would be incomplete without some very
important hints concerning " cover glass.*' It is easy to clean
small covers, but very thin glasses or large ones, one or two
inches in length, are not so safely handled. All danger of break-
ing is, however, avoided by placing a cover upon a large clean
slide, and wiping one side only with a bit of linen damp with ,
aqua ammonia, and then with a dry piece. The other side may
be cleaned alter the mounting.

In the next place, all preparers are aware of the difficulty at-
tending the use and application of large covers. I beg leave to
assure the inexpert that the following method will insure success.
Having prepared the cover glass, and superposed it, let it first be
gently pressed downwards at many pointu, with the flat end of a
lea«l pencil : it will be found, however, almost impossible to flatten
it without breaking, consequently too much balsam will overlie
and underlie the section. Let now a piece of thin paper be laid
over the cover and upon this a thick slide ; if a moderate heat
be applied to both the slides, over and beneath the specimen, direct

Results ef Geology, 67

pressure evenly exerted with the finger (or spring clothespins)
will force out all unnecessary balsanif and leave the section and the
protecting cover perfectly flat and unbroken.

The reader will not deem me too prolix when he attempts his
first preparation, or when, after having followed the plans so
scantily given in the books, he feels the need of something pre-
cisely definite. It is certain that neither Canada balsam nor
gum mastic will retain the first ground side of a specimen upon,
a slide long enough to enable the preparer to reduce it to the
requisite thinness, and with both these substances heat must be
employed, which is objectionable because most objects are there*
by warped or cracked ; and furthermore the paper guards which
I hold to be iudispensable for limiting and equalizing the thinness
of a section, is not mentioned in treatises, in which, if known to
the author, such a measure should be noticed. But it is possible
to fasten agate, fossil wood, <fec. with hot gum shellac, so that they
may be ground upon both sides with a water stone ; but even ia
these instances invidious cracks may endanger or destroy the beau-
ty of a choice preparation.

I am confident that my specimens are second to none in any
respect: and the highly creditable performances of friends, to
whom I have given the method forming the subject of this com-
munication, lead me to believe that with the facilities it affords
the observers of our country will need no Topping for objects
within their reach, and I beg leave to add that the profitable
pleasure I have enjoyed induces me, through the American Jour-
nal of Science, to invite participation.

* ARTICLE JX.— General Position and BesulU of Geology.
(From the Anniversary Address of the President of the Geo-
logical Society of London, 1857.)

Let nre now close my address by a few observations necessarily
occurring to my mind, as the result of these investigations. First,
then', it appears to me, we are steadily progressing towards a
knowledge of the material structure of the crust of the earth, and
of the modifications it has undergone in the long course of ages ;
and such a knowledge seems essential to the right appreciation of
many of the phenomena connected with the variations in the fauna
and flora of the surface of the earth. In regard to the natural
bistory of the earth, every day produces new genera and new

L -

68 ' Results of Geology.

species in every great section of geological formations ; and yet
this new evidence does not appear to approximate these sections
together, or to bind them more into one great whole, so long as
the test applied be identity of species, though unquestionably, if
all the formations be taken together, every new discovery seems
to supply a link, and to bring the organic elements of formations,
widely apart as to time, into connection as parts of one great and
harmonious organic system. How tKisn are we to account for
this separation in time of the elements of a creation ? Are we
still, with Cuvier, to suppose that it has resulted from successive
destructions of a partially constructed creation and successive re-
newals, each new creation supplying deficiencies it^ the preceding
one, but producing others by leaving out some of the elements of
the last ; the creations, therefore, remaining imperfect ? Or are
we to suppose, with Blainville, that the work of creation was ori-
ginally complete, and that the gaps now vifiible are due to the
gradual dropping-out of certain of the links in the course of count-
less ages t Or are we to consider, with Lamarck and many others,
that the present is only the development, through various succes-
sive siages, of the past, and that the limits of possible variation
and transmutation of species, either by imperceptible steps of
gradation or by periodic and sudden changes, regulated by the
original law of creation, have not yet been determined f To one
or other of these theories we must necessarily recur, and so far as
the wisdom and power of the Great Creator are concerned, neither
can augment or diminish it ; for, admitting that creative power
must have been exercised, it is indifferent whether it acted in the
mode of Cuvier, or in that of Blainville, or in that of Lamarck.
In every case the image of the whole must have been in the crea-
tive mind, and the wisdom equal, whether the creation was formed
as a whole, and members of it were allowed to perish at certain
intervals, corresponding to the successive physical conditions of
the earth ; or, the whole creation being mentally determined by
the Creator, those- portions of it only which corresponded to the
conditionij of the earth's crust at each epoch were called succes-
sively into existence, various classes and genera attaining therefore
the highest development under circumstances best suited to the
requirements of their organization ; or, the final result having
been conceived by creative intelligence, and certain members only
of the great whole called into existence, like points on the circum-
ference of a circle, and imbued with such a power of vital deve-

Results of Geology. 69

lopment, as shoald cause them in successive ages to fill up the
whole space with an infiuite variety of organic beings. * The great
discovery of Von Baer^ of the existence of lower forms in the em-
bryo-state of higher aiymals, has been supposed by ^culative
philosophers to favour the theory of development ; but it does no
more than prove that, whilst the animal is obliged to live under
conditions different from those of his complete organization^ no
new form of organization is adopted, but simply one of those be-
longing to animals wjio ordinarily live under such conditions;
and, though the perfect animal has passed through such changes,
the successive developments exhibited during the embryonic life
of an animal, or during the period of a few w&eks or months, or
perhi^s a year, can neither be taken as a proof of a sepairate in-
dividual existence, under either of the embryonic types, nor repre-
sent the changes which the same animal, as a species, may have
really passed through in countless ages : on the contrary, it is
more reasonable to suppose that this involved structure was adopt-
ed at the first creation of each of these species, and indicates only
the simplicity and harmony of natural laws. If^ however, the
organic creation was- effected as one great whole, and gradually
diminished by tlie dropping-out of many of its links, either by
generic or by specific death, how can' we account for the total ab<
sence in the deposits of early times of any traces of the now living
animals which were then co-existent with those of whom such
abundant records have been preserved ? To me it seems impos-
sible to adopt such a theory without combining with it that of
development. For not only must certain forms of organization
have disappeared, but others must have so varied as no longer to
be recognized as identical with those which have been revealed to
us in the stony tablet of the earth.

I have already, more than once, alluded to the theory of colo-
nies, proposed by M. Barrande, and I cannot deny myself the
pleasure of once more recurring to it^ and pointing out its great
importance. Whilst then regretting, more than condemning, that
ill-judged zeal, which, seeking to restrict the inquiries of man, by
insisting that he shall take all his. opinions of creation from that
one book given unto man for a totally different object, I cannot
but observe that the real history of the creation given in the Bible
affords a wholesome caution to all those who endeavour to explain
every act of the Creator as if He had been a man. Except as re-
gards man, creation is not described as a work of manufacturing

70 Resulu of Otology.

ingenuity, bul as an act of infinite power : let the earth, let the
Bea, let the air bring forth things of their Mnd, was the fiat of the
Almighty ; and I cannot but think, that at each portion of the
earth this fiat led to the production of genera and species suitable
to the conditions of each, and to the appearance, therefore, in dif-
ferent localities, of species representative o( but rarely identical
with, each other. On such a principle, how easy is it to under-
stand that the colonies of M. Barrande should, although not iden-
tical with those species which had pre-existed in a locality, still
have co-existed with them 1 Absolute identity would indeed be
more opposed to the laws of creation than the slight variations
we observe in clokely allied species.

Let me too for a moment refer to that theory which would as-
cribe the destruction of species to the agency of man, knd has
sought to bestow upon the human race an antiquity far greater
than that usually assigned to it. Doubtless the actual number of
years of the existence of the human race might be multiplied ten^
or a hundred -fold, and yet the problem left unsolved. Man, as a
species, in a natural state, is restricted in his development by the '
hardships of life, and the difficulty of obtaining subsistence. So
tar from being an agent of destruction, beyond those limits which
fender the existence of the Garni vora compatible with the exist-
ence of the Ruminantia and other harmless animals, he, perhaps,
of all animals, is the most feeble and defenceless ; and it is only
when he has become a civilized species that his race is capable of
great development, and he becomes a really destroying agent.
The ordinary history of the world is sufficient to prove this state-
ment ; and, if we compare the wide forest and prairie lands of
America as they were 200 years ago, when the wild Indian tribes
only killed for subsistence, and used for that purpose only the
simple weapons which barbaric ingenuity had enabled them to
form, with their present state, when citrilized man has not only
invaded their lands, but supplied the still uncivilized natives with
the weapons of civilization, uot merely to supply the wants of their
own existence, but also to minister to the luxury of civilized uaan,
-^we shall see that the actual destruction of species, so far as the
agency of man is concerned, could never have occurred, to any
ftppreciable extent, had not that extraordinary phasis in man's
existence — civilization — occurred ; and I will add, that even civi-
lized man would have required a vast extension of time to work
out the destruction of species, had not the invention of gunpowder

BewUs of Geology. 71

supplied him vrith an agent of almost unlimited power of destruc-
tion ; and furth^, that, even provided with it, he has made but
small progress indeed in the destruction of species. The Creation
18, and must ever be, a mystery to man, and yet it is a speculation
worthy of the exercise of the highest intelh'gence. Placed on the
earth, it is our privilege to study everythiiig* connected with it,
and we should be neglecting the highest endowments of our race
were we not to do so ; nor let us be tempffed to scoff at or con-
demn those who, possessed perhaps of a higher intelligence than
our own, see further than we do, and adopt theories which appear
to us absurd, sometimes only from our own inferiority ; and above
all, let us avoid that fatal error of connecting the results of scien-
tific inquiry with the articles of religious belief. In attempting
to discuss two widely different subjects at the same time, we must
necessarily stumble. The speculation of a plurality of inhabited
worlds, for example, is to the philosopher a proper mental exer-
cise, though incapable of any positive solution ; for, even suppos-
ing organic life to be compatible with every possible variation of
physical conditions — », postulate at variance with the conditiona
of existence present on the earth, where life is limited on the one
hand by the increase of pressure under the water, and on the
other by its decrease in the air, — what more can we do than guess
or speculate in the dark ? Why then should we rashly connect
such a speculation with the creed of the philosopher and the faith
of the Christian, or assume the dream of the philospher to be a
proper measure of the Creator^s wisdom ? Let us then continue,
as we have hitherto done, to pursue our investigations into the
history of the earth, under all its various stagi-s, unbiassed by any
preconceived opinions, and unshackled by the dicad of offending
those who will not study the works of creation, but, remaining
Ignorant of them, consider that they are thereby the better fitted
for discussing the Divine attributes. At all events, let us mak^
truth, and truth alone, our aim, supporting our own appreciations
of it when we have reason for so doing, but treating with calm-
ness and forbearance the opinions of others who may differ from
us : it is from such differences of opinion that we may expect ulti-
mately to discover truth, sublimed from the dross of error which
must ever be mingled with it in all those reasonings of man which
cannot be actually based on mathematical principles, or reduced
to positive demonstration. — Journal of Geol, Society,

73 Miscellaneous,

A Premium Essay on Practical and Scientific Agriculture^ by
Prof. G» C» Swallow, State Geologist, Missouri,

This Essay has been published by the Missouri District Agricul-
tural Society, and is prefixed to the Report of their Second Annual
Fair. In looking over this report we are struck with the vigour
and wisdom of our Western cousins. They have awarded $5466
in premiums to competitors for excellence in every conceivable de-
partment of agriculture and of arts which contribute to the com-
fort and elegance of civilized life. The Essay opens very appro-
priately with a few words in praise of a rural life, and its happy
moral influences. The learned Professor then defines what scien-
tific and practical agriculture is. He shows that geology and
chemistry are the sciences, a knowledge of which is of most im-
portance to the agriculturalist. The application of these sciences
to the agriculture of the State of Missouri he also treats with
brevity, point and skill. The following account of the geological
formatit^ns upon which the soil of this State depends, may be in-
teresting to many of our readers.

Ab the most essential properties of the soils of Missouri depend npoa
the Geological Formations on which they re^t, this Bcience is destined
to give as material aid in understanding the nature and durability of
our soils, and in determining the best method of developing their re-
sources and preventing that deterioration so detrimental to agricoltural
pursuits.

The alluvial bottoms of our large rivers usually furnish a light sandy
calcareous soil, which contains more or less of the clay and humus^de.
posited in the beds of those ancient lakes and sloughs, now converted
into rich savannas by the accumulated sediment and decayed vegetable
matter. This soil possesses in an eminent degree all the properties
essential to the highest degree of fertility. The fine sands and humus
render it light and porous ; the humus gives it the power to imbibe and
retain moistur#; its sand and dark t^olor prepare it to receive the heat
pf the sun ; while the clay and vegetable mould enable it to absorb car-
bonic acid and other fertilizing gases from the atmosphere.

These alluvial deposits have rendered this soil as durable as it is pro-
ductive, by furnishing a loose subsoil, rich in all the elements of fer-
tility. A soil thus productive and durable and so admirably adapted to
the production of our great staples — ^hemp, corn and tobacco — and
covering an area of more than four millions of acres, is destined to exert
a vast influence over the future wealth and prosperity of our State.

But this variety of soil is surpassed in value and extent by that based
upon the silicious marls of the bluff, where that formation is best de-
veloped, as in Platte, Lafayette, Jackson, Buchanan, Clay, Saline,
Chariton, Howard and several other counties of the State, — The light

Miscellaneous. 73

porous character and composition of these marls^ and the intermingled
Tegetable matter, constitute a soil unsurpassed in fertilitj and adapta-
tion to many of our most important crops. It corers an area of, at
least, six millions of acres.

In a still larger portion of the State the excess of claj in the Bluff for-
mation renders the soil less pervious to water and atmospheric influen-
ces. While this rarietj is somewhat inferior in nature to that last de-
scribed, still it may be rendered almost as productive hj a judicious
system of subsoiling and clovering.

The Magnesian Limestone, so abundant in the great basin of the
Osage and' its tributaries, on the Gasconade and in the mining region of
the South east, together with the inter callated sandstones and chert
beds and oyerlajing clays, form a soil at once light, warm and rich in
lime, silex, potash and magnesia. These ingredients with its location
on the sunny slopes and hill-sides of those dry, salubrious regions, give
it a peculiar adaptation to the culture of the grape.

In treating of practical agriculture the essayist warns the farmer
against the fatal mistake of exhausting the soil, and enforces by co-
gent reasons the necessity of " suteoiling, deep, thorough and fre-
quent tilling, and the addition of vegetable matter by clovering or
other means, as the best method of preparing the soil to sustain the
frequent droughts incident to the climate, and to retain the mois-
ture from the excessive rains which fall during certain seasons of
the year. Altogether the Essay in a short compass, contains most
valuable suggestions for the direction of the farmer in those parts,
and for the emigrant who may settle in the magnificent lands of
the West

The late meeting of the American Association ^r the advance-
ment of science in this city lias brought us into hearty sympathy
with many eminent students of natural science in the United
States ; and none more worthy of esteem than the author of this
Essay. Having seen their faces in the flesh, and having had
living evidence of the warmth of their hearts, the ardour of their
zeal and the thoroughness of their attainments, we are now belter
prepared to appreciate their valuable labours and to follow with
interest the course of their important researches and discoveries,

UliutraHve Sdentifie and Descriptive Catalogue of the Ackroma-
tic Microscopes manufactured by J, <t W". Orunow <& Co^
New Haven^ Conn^ U, 5. Price 30 cents. Pp. 104.

We have lately received a valuable pamphlet with the above
very unassuming title. It is, in point of fact, a concise and well-

74

MiiceUaneous*

written treatise on the theory of the mioroBCope, its mechanical
construction, its accessory apparatus, and its use, each section
being copiously illustrated with good wood engravings, and hav-
ing a price-list attached. From personal experience we can cor-
dially recommend the Messrs. Grunow as careful and able work-
men. Their instruments are superior to those of the French, and
nearly equal to the best of English makers ; indeed, nothing we
have seen can surpass their rack- work and levers-stage movements.
We regret to see them advertising two grades of object-glasses
— first and second class; the latter at little over half-price.-
Surely such artists ought to confine themselves to their best work.
We note with some surprise the absence of a Micro-Photographic
apparatus among the accessory instruments, in view of the atten-
tion which microscopists have lately been giving to that mode of
illustrating their objects. We regret too that the Messrs. Grunow
should have seen fit to give no credit to those English makers^
the forms of whose stands they have copied. Their prices appear
high, but good workmanship must always be expensive. The
following comparison may be of use to intending purchasers in
Canada. The instruments are nearly equal in point of excellence.
Messrs. Grunow's stand is somewhat heavier, but Messrs. Powell
& Lealand's Glasses are, in^our opinion, superior : —

KicroBcope Stand and Eye-pieces..

Mahogany Case

i-inch Object Glass

1-inch " "

Buli's-eje Condenser

Frog plate

Three Dark Wells

Diaphragm Plate

Lieberkahn's

Polariscope

Animalcule X)age

Steel Disc (Drawing)

Forceps

Cobweb-Micrometer Eye-piece ...

Powell k Lea-

Grnnow k Co.'s

Und's Sterling

prices in N. H.

prices in Lon-
don.

studint's LAaeia

MICBOSOOPB,
NO. 4, A.

LIVSB-BTAOI MI-
CBOSOOPI.

$70 00]

15 00

80 00

18 00

6 00

A

5 00

3 00

6 00

6 00

X18 14 0

20 00

2 10 0

2 00

0 6 0

4 00

0 12 0

3 00

0 10 0

30 00

4 4 0

$217 00

£26 16 0

MiicdUmeofiu. 76

A few typographical errors have been overlooked, but as they
are not likely to mislead any one we pass them by. d. a. p.

Thb Aquavivarium. — We had it in view ta write an article on
the Aquavivarium before the advent of spring, giving short in-
structions for its formation and successful management, and indi-
cating some Canadian plants and animalf^ that would form inte-
resting objects of study. But in this both time and materials have
failed us, and for the present we confine ourselves to the enume-
ration of a few of the numerous works which have lately appeared
in Britain, to the best of which we refer those of our readers who
may wish to study natural history, under its most charming form.

fhe Aquarium ; an unveiling of the wonders of ike deep tea.

With coloured plates and wo«>d engravings. By Philip

H. GosBK, A.L.S., Ac. 1 vol., post 8vo. London : John
Van Voorst. Price 11%^

We give the first place to Mr. Gosse's beautiful volume, as we
believe that gentleman in conjunction with Mr. Warrington, may
fairly claim to be the discoverer of the Aqnarium, and to bis
writings we chiefly attribute its great popularity, ami the rapid
improvement in its universal application which has lately taken
place. We consider this work unnecessarily expensive, and as it
treats only of the marine forms, it is not available forlin inland
latitude.

Common objects of the sea shore, including hints for an aquarium.
By Rev. J. G. Wood. London : Routledge & Co. 1857.
1 vol., 12 mo., pp. , with 13 plates. Colored 3s. 6d.,

plain Is. ^

A marvel of cheapness, fluently written, and well illustrated.
The author is a superficial observer, and adds nothing to what was
previously known. As its name indicates, this book is also marine.

handbook to the Aquarium. By F. S. Mbrton. London:

Whiteley & Co. Price Is.

The Athenamm says, ^ This book is a very dear shilling's worth,
and the highest compliment we can pay it is to say that it is less
fiill of errors than most of the popular books on the Aquarium.
It is to be regretted that so good an opportunity for cultivating

76 Miscellaneous*

natural history sho^ild be rendered almost useless, by ft set of
books written b}r persons who know nothing of natural history,
and who cannot spell or write their own language." We have-
not ourselves seen the book, but have no doubt at all of the cor-
rectness of the above estimate of its merits.

Ocean and River Gardens ; a history of the marine and fresh-
water Aquaria, By H. Nobl Humphreys. 1 vol., 1 2 mo.,
with 18 colored plates, pp. 219. Price 10s. 6d. London :
S. Low is Co.

The Atkenceum's remarks above quoted, apply with even more
force to this work, than to the one for which they were intended.
It would be hard to find within any pair of boards devoted to
natural history a greater number of erroneous views, unscientific
descriptions, and errors of all sorts, than are perpetrated by our
author under the cloak of a pretended scientific knowledge, and
a grandiloquent style. Mr. Humphries had better return to his
illuminated missals and his coins, and leave natural history to ori-
ginal observers ; he may be a numismatologist and probably a
colourist, but assuredly he is no naturalist.

Popular History of the Aquariun^ of marine and fresh-water
Animals and Plants. By George Brettingham Sowerbt,
F.L. S. 1 vol., 16 mo. pp. 327, with 20 colored plates.
London : Lovell Reeve. Price half a guinea.

We anxiously waited more than a year for this book, with high
expectations as to the value of the observations of an accomplished
natural history draughtsman, upon the objects of his peucil. We
regret to say that in it we have been grievously disappointed. A
great part of the book is taken from the writings of other men.
Gosse, Harvey and Forbes, being largely drawn upon, and even
Hugh Miller occasionally quoted. And his original observations
meagre as they are, are so filled with errors, that were it not for
the plates, which are for the most part excellent, we would feel
bound to pronounce the book worthless. As it is we can recom*
mend no one to invest so much money in so little 'science.

The Aquavivarium^ fresh and marine. By K Lanka ster, MJ).
. a small 12 mo. vol., pp. Yl, with plates and wood engrav-
ings. London : Hard wick. Price Is. fid.

Exclusive of the writings of Mr. Gosse, this little book is to our

Miscettaneaus. 77

mind worth more than all that has been published on the subject
to which it relates, that has come under our obserration. We
cordially recommend it to our readers. It treats chiefly of the
fresh- water tank, (therefore' all the more valuable to us,) in five
chapters. — I. First Principles. 11. History of. III. How to
form. IV. Plants for. V. Animals for. His VI. and last chap-
ter is devoted to the marine department. We quote his preface
in full ; the whole treatise is equally pithy and to the point.

** Having taken considerable interest in the domestic culture o^
plants and animals in water, and written the article '* Aquaviva-
rium" for the English Cyclopsedia, I was induced, at the request
of the publisher, to put together the following remarks. I have
done so in the hope that they will in some manner contribute to
make the prevailing taste for establishing domestic Aquavivaria
subservient to the teaching of ^ Natural History, and the study of
Qod's works."

Bustic Adornments for Homes of Taste, By Shirlet Hibberd.
1 vol., 1 2 mo., with plates. London : Groombridge.

The Book of the Aquarium and water-cabinet ; or instructions on
the formation and management of collections of Fresh-water
and Marine Life. By Shirley Hibberd. I vol., 12 mo.,
pp. 148, with plates. London : Groombridge.

Plain Instructions for the Management of the Aquarium.
Edited by J. Bishop, assisted by other gentlemen. Lon-
don : Dean & Son.

We only give the titles of these works, the two former aim to
be popular and practical, |he latter we have not seen.

D. ▲. p.

A Hint to Agricultural Societies. — ^If Agricultural Socie-
ties throughout the country would hold out annual prizes for exhibi-
tion of collections of insects possessing merit., it would be some
inducement to young Canadian entomologists who are at present
devoting much time to the study. Farmer's sons and others could
then go to work in a practical manner, giving us yearly observa-
tions and discoveries in their respective branches of entomologi-
cal study, therefore producing beneficial results, and more satis-
fiiptory to the country than paying large sums of money for a re-
petition offsets already known.-r-CT. C. Paper,

78 Miscellaneous*

Dr. John FoilBEfl Rotlb. — Science has sustained a loss in the
death of Dr. Boyie, wbich took place at his residence, Heathfield
Lodge, Acton, Middlesex, on the 2d of January. He had been for
many weeks in ill-healtb, but his death was sudden at last. Dr.
Royle was educated in London for the medical profession, and was
a pupil of the, late Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson, from whom he
seems to have acquired that taste for the study of botany which
afterwards distinguished him. Hitving passed bis medical exami-
nations, he entered into the service of Uie East India Company,
and was for many years stationed in the Himalaya, where he had
great opportuniti^ afforded him of studying, not only the plants ,
of that district, but of the whole empire. He was appointed su-
perintendent of the East Lidia Company's Botanic Garden at Sa-
harempore, — ^a position which gave him the largest possible pp-
portunity for studying the indigenous Flora of Hindustan. The
result of his labours was 'given to the world in a magnificent
work, entitled ' Illustrations of the Botany and other branches of
Natural History of the Himalayan Mountains, and ofthe Flora of
Cashmere ' This work was published, in folio, with plates, in
1833, and at once gave to the author a European reputation as a
botanist In this work Dr. Koyle gave the result of his researches
nto the medical properties of a large number of plants, as well as
the history of drugs used in Europe, whose origin was unknown.
In 1857 he published an essay /On the Antiquity of Hindoo
Medicine,' a work displaying much learning and research. On
the opening of King's College, London, as a medical school, the
knowledge of drugs and plants possessed by Dr. Boyle pointed
him out as a fit person to hold the Chair of Materia Medica, a
position which he filled till the year 1856. Whilst lecturing on this
subject he published his * Manual of Materia Medica,' a book
which is now used as a text-book on the subject in medical schools.
His extensive knowledge of the natural history of India made
him a valuable contributor to the periodical scientific literature,
and he was a contributor to * The Penny cyclopaedia,' and Eilto's
' Dictionary of the Bible,' and other works. He took an aotive in-
terest in promoting a knowledge of the material resources of In-
dia, and in 1840 produced a work which perhaps will be read
with more interest now than when it was published, ' On the Pro- 1
ductive Resources of India.' During the period of the Bussian
War, Dr. Royle drew attention to India as a source ofthe various
fibrous materials used in the manufacture of cordage, clothing,

V;

Cahadiah Institutb. — We see by tbe Toronto papers that a
costly and very beaiitifuK service of plate has been procured to bd
presented to Dr. Daniel Wilson, who has gratuitously edited the
Canadian Journal for the past two years. The cost was $480.
From the report of the Institute it appears that the journal is now
sent to the scientific societies of Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm,
dec , and that several articles that have appeared in its pages have
been translated and reprinted in some of the leading scientific
journals of Europe. It is gratifying to mark the progress of Can-
ada in science and literature. — Athaneum,

The University of St. Andrew has conferred its degree of LL.D.
on Mr. James Scott Bowerbank. This is a graceful and well-
earned compliment As the founder of the Palseontographical
Society, and a mnsenm of unique fossil specimens, and a laborious
investigator in many departments of Natural History and Geology,
every one will recognise Mr. Bowerbank's claim for such an hon-
our, and the judgment displayed by the University that has con-
ferred it. — Athaneum

Miscellaneous. 79 \

r

paper, Ac, by a lecture delivered before tbe Society of Arts in
1854. This lecture was afterwards expanded into a valuable
work * On the Fibrous Plants of India^' which was published in
1856. In the Prefiice to this work he announced that he was
emj»loyed in a general work on * The Commercial Products of In-
dia,' which, we believe, has not yet appeared. DV. Royle was a
Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Sci-
••ence, at whose meetings he often read papers, two of which
de»eiTe especial mention, one * On the Cultivation of Cotton,' and •
another * Oci the Cultivation of Tea in the East Indies.' He took
an active interest in the last subject, and his efforts have been at-
tended with complete success, as tea, rivalling that from China,
is now produced in abundance in the Himalaya. For a short
time be held the office of Secretary to the British Association for tbe
Advancement of Science. He took an active interest in the de-
velopement of the plan of the Great exhibition of 1851, and the
success which attended th& exhibition of the Department of In-
dian Products was due, in a great noeasure, to his effoils. He
was a Fellow of the Royal Linn can and Geological Societies, and
at the time of his death held an appointment in connexion with
tbe East India Campany in London. — Athaneum,

til

i

51!

rt

IF

80 Miscellaneous.

Permian Fossils in Kansas, and elsewhere in America. — '
We bave received, nearly at the same time, published notices hj
Mr. Meek and Dr. Haydon of Albany, and by Professor Swallow
of Missouri, on the discovery in a bed of limestone at Smoky Hill j ^]

Fort, and other places in Kansas, of fossil shells, clearly indicating 1 {

that this bed represents the Permian system of Sir K. I. Murchison, J*]

the newest member of the Palaeozoic series, and one of the links \^'

heretofore wanting to give completeness to the chain of geological J

formations in Western America. We observe that a controversy
exists between the gentlemen above named as to the priority of
discovery or the right of announcing it. As both of the parties
have sufficiently established reputations, independently of this
discovery, we would recommend to them to leave the honor to >»

Major Hawn and'^Dr. Cooper, who actually disinterred these in- a

teresting remains, and to co-operate in the description of the fos- ^

sils and the prosecution of farther researches. t

We observe in the November number of SillimaTCs Journal^ \

that the fossils collected by Professor Emmons in Ndrth Carolina ^

are leading to the conclusion, that the well-known red sandstones ^.

of Connecticut, New Jersey, etc., are of somewhat older ds+e than
geologists have recently supposed — that they may ^^jower ;

Triassic or even Permian. This is of some geological interest in
British America, as it would bring these deposits into parallelism
with the great areas of red sandstone in Prince Edward Island
and Nova Scotia, known to be later than the coal period, and
respecting which the writer several years since* stated his opinion,
founded on fossil plants and reptilian remains, that they were
probably Permian or Lower Triassic, a view which then seemed
scarcely compatible with the received age of the similar sand-
stones in the United States.

The most interesting part of the discoveries of Prof. Emmons,
rendered still more interesting by the probability that these rocks
are older than .the American geologists have hitherto supposed,
is, that among these fossils appears a small mammal, probably
the oldest known, the Dromatherium Sylvestre (Emmons). This
is the first evidence of Mammalian life obtained from the Second-
ary rocks in America; and if the views above mentioned are
correct, older than the Microlestes of the German Trias, the old-
est fossil mammal heretofore found. j. w. d.

* Jonrnal Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. 2, and Proc. vol. rii \ and Acadian
Geologj.

1
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...£S FOB JA.NDART, 1858.

dw*. amountliis to O^Sl Inc

>n T day), amounting to 1178 Incl

M houn and K mlnut«a.
Moat pnnalint wind, N, B. bj B. I.CMt pmalrnt w
Moat windr daj. tha l^h d^ ; raflan mllM per hour.
Lnwt wtnd; diir. the ISthdaji m«n mila per hour,
Aonm BoreaUi Ti>il>le G nifihu. Zocltgcal LlebC vor
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Zodiacal Light.

Zodiacal Light. [of the 13f a.

Faint Zodiacal Light. High Wind at its maximum between 6 ft 6 A. M.

Faint Zodiacal Light. Aurora, with streamers.

Auroral Light.

Lunar Halo.
Lunar Corona.

1
2
8
4
6
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8
9
10
11
12
18
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Faint Zodiacal and Auroral Lights.

Brilliant Aurora. Faint Zodiacal Light.

Faint Zodiacal Light. Metoor perpendicularly from Auryga at 11*46 p.m.

Auroral Bank.
Faint Zodiacal Light.
Faint Zodiacal Light.
Faint Zodiacal Light.

Auroral Bank.
Faint Auroral Light.

Faint Auroral Liffht.

Paint Auroral Hank.

Imperfect Lunar Halo, with Central Corona.

Faint Solar Halo at 2 p. m.

lRKS FO& JANUARY, 1868.

Bwm

avrt

108. I Rain fell on 6 days during 66 hours 60 minutes. It snowed on

1 12 days durimr 62 hours 16 minutes. Of the former there fell 0*64
inches in depth ; of the latter 17*96 inches. This melted and
add d to the former yielded a total of 3*81 inches rain in depth,
The mo>t prevalent wind was the N. E.
The least ** B.

No record of wind fh>m N. N. W., E. 8. B., 8. B., and 8. 8. B.
^ . The most windy day was the 11th.

^r**j The most windy hour hetween 4 and 6 a. m. of same.

j^ari|0^ There was no ddm day.

2pla^06. Cloudless days occurred on 5th. litth, 28nd, 28rd and Slbt .

Heaii, Osone wa« in moderate proportioii.

low gnagas are noted each morniog at 10 a. m.

THE

CANADIAN

NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST

VoLUMB III. MARCH, 1858. Number 2.

ARTICLE X. — Geological Survey of Canada. Beports of Fro-
ffressfor the Fears 1863-1866.

(SBCOND ARTICLE.)

In the previous article, the able Report of Mr. Murray, Assist-
ant Geologist, was passed over with a very short notice, the
region traversed by hira being of comparatively small geological
intertfst. It is however a region of some economical importance.
Lying in the route which many Canadian public men have
marked out as probably destined to be one of the great lines of
communication between the Upper Lakes and the Oi-ean, the
country between Lake Huron and the Upper Ottawa may by its
topographical fadlities or difficulties, or by its fertility or sterility,
aid or oppose the establishment of such communication, while,
by its mineral or other productions, it may oflfer inducements to
enterprise •that may give it other claims than those of a mere
way of transit. Based almost entirely on rocks of the Lauren-
tian system, it presents a nigged thongb not very elevated sur^
faee, and abounds in lakes, streams, and swampy hollows; and its
soils, with the exception of those on the bands of limestone and
other calcareous rocks, must on the whole be of inferior quality.
Its agricultural capabilities alone therefore cannot bo regarded
aa- likely to promote its speedy settlenent. We m^ist not how«
ey«r follow the practice too common in new oonntrtes^ of abso*

82 Geological Survey of Canada,

lutely condemning every region that is not naturally as level as a
meadow and as fertile «8 a garden. There can be no doubt, that,
in llie pr?pent state of this country, the narrow glens and scat-
tered alluvial flats of a hilly and broken region are not likely to
be very inviting to settlers ; but if other inducements than thos^
of agriculture alone can be offe-ed, such districts may be profitably
occupied. The river alluvia and the sheltered vallevs of such
regions are often very fertile ; the black peaty swamps, when
drained, {jffi)rd inexhaustible crops of grass ; and the stony hill-
sides aie well adapted for orchards, and yield good pasturaore.
Expeneiice shows also that the energy and force of character of
the population of such districts rise lo meet the diflBculties that
surround them ; and thus these regions become nurseries of the
patriotic fueling and of the mental and bodily energy, th^]t are too
apt to die out on the more fertile plains. If therefore by placing
the scat of government on the confines of the Lauronlian region,
by opening new lines of traffic, or by developing the mineral
resources that may be present, an effectual stimulus can be given
to the setllerncnt of these vast wastes, the object is well worthy
of the attention of Canadian statesmen.

Into the consideration of the two first of these means of im-
provement it is not the province of the Geological Survey directly
to ente^, but the last falls within its scope. Unfortunately the
present state of the district presents many obstacici to its explo-
ration, but everywhere Mr. Murray met with indications of mag-
netic iron ore, which probably occurs in workable quantity in
many places, while abundance of wood for its reduction exists in
the territory. Tlic Huronian formation also, which has jwoved
BO pro luctive of co|>per on the shoies of Georgian Bay, is exten-
sively distributed, and small quantities of copper ore were found
in it in several places. On this subject Mr. Murray says: —

<< The existence of the ores of copper and iron, wbich are known to
be more or less characteristic of the Huronian rocks, invefts the geo-
graphical distribution of the formation with much economic impor-
tance. These ores were repeatedly observed in the region explored last
season, and, although nowhere seen in large amount or to a large ex-
tent, the Indications were sufficient to establish their pretty general
distribution. Small specks and patches of the yellow sulphuret of
copper were frequently found in the blackish and dark-gray slates, on
the lower lakes of the Maskanongi ; and at the southern turn of these
lakes there is a quartz vein of from six to eight feet wide, with copper
pyrites, cutting slate conglomerate and an intrusive mass of compact

Geological Survey of Canada. 83

fiesh-red feldspar. In the feldspathic dyke, small narrow yeins of
gpecular iron ore occur, which appear to run either parallel with the
djke or slightly oblique to it^^and the quartz vein and its subordinate
droppers cut across both. Were this vein as couTeniently situated as
those of somewhat similar character on Lake Huron, it is fully as well
worthy of trial as many that were selected by explorers there, som^
years ago, upon which to found claims for mining locations."

Mr. Richardson was fortunate in having as his field for -explo-
ration the remarkable and interesting island of Anticosti, which
lie f -und to consist of limestones representing the middle fonna-
tions of the Silurian period, and dipping to the southward, giving
a high and bold outline by their outcropping edges to the north .
coast, while at the south they dip gently, with a low shore, under
the waters of the Gulf of St, Lawrence. These roiks are arranged
by Mr. Richardson in six divisions, of which the following may
■ serve as a general summary in ascending order :

(A) Grey limestone and argillaceous limestone, with green-
ish shale and conglomerate Ifmestone, the highest bed
<;ontaining some very singular impressions or animal
tracks 229 0

(B) Gray, greenish -gray, and reddish-gray limestone, with
_ shale and limestone conglomerate. In one of the

limestones occurs a singular trunk-like fossil named
Beatricea by Mr. Billings, along with corals and ma-
rine shells 73Q 0

(O) Argillaceous limestones, argillo-arenaceous shales,

coral limestones. Beatricea occurs in these also. . . . 806 3

(D) Ash-gray and reddish-gray limestones, bituminous
limestones and shales, and measures unseen. Some of

the limestones contain Pentatnerus 480 0

(E) Gray and drab arjrillaceous and bituminous lime-
stone?, abounding in Pentatnerus^ Atrypa reticularis
Calymene Blumenbackii^ and many other mollusks

and trilobites 550 0

(F) Gray and yellowish granular limestone, with quanti-
ties of crinoidal remains and corals 69 0

_Mr. Billings, on the evidence of the fossils, refers divisions A
and B to the Hudson River groups, many of the most character-
istic fossils of which are contained in them ; but the presence of
the genera Caienipora^ Favosites^ and Ascoceras indicates an
Approach to the Upper Silurian. Divisions C and D afford sev-

84 Geological Survey of Canada.

eral additional Upper Silurian forms ; and in divisions K and F
the prevailing forms are 4ho8e of the Clinton group of the New
York geologists. Great paheontologi<2^l interest attaohes.to these
vocbi, in consequence of the numerous new species contained in
them ; and in a geological point of riew they are especially im-
portant as affording a regular succevion of fossiliferous beds
connecting the Lower and the Upper Silurian in America into
one great system. In New York, and in other parts of Canada
beside that under notice, the continuity of the series is broken
by the intervention of the Oneida conglomerate and the Medina
sandstones, and even locally by unoonformability. To Anticosti
the physical changes which led to the spreading out of great beds
of sand and pebbles at the close of the Lower Silurian did not
extend. In this favored spot therefore of the old Silurian world,
we have the records of the slow changes of organic life whi6b
went on independently of the direct action of these physical
changes, including probaUy the introduction of many species
which were not able to extend themselves over the sandy bot-
toms which prevailed at the time under a great part of the ocean
then representing America.

On the one hand these Anticosti formations point to the loca)
character of those physical changes which form breaks in the se-
ries of stratified deposits^ as compared with the more general ex-
tension of animal life and its comparative permanence. On the
other hand, they show that, perhaps very gradually and slowly, the
extinction of some species and the introduction of others were
l^oceeding, even in this comparatively undisturbed locality.
8uch facts still leave unsettled the great question, to what extent
these changes were determined by the pUn of succession esta-
blished by the Creator in organic life, and to what extent by the
new conditions of existence established by the operations (^ his
physical laws. That both were in harmony we cannot doubt,
but their precise relations are only beginning to be elucidated by
^e accumulation of new facts like those above referred to, and
hy the careful examination of each form of life included in these
transitional deposits, in connection with tbe evidences of physical
change which they afford.

Among the new fossils from Anticosti, one of the most carious
13 that already mentioned under the generic name Beatricea^ pro-
posed by Mr. Billings, who describes two species, B, nodulosa and
wndulata. They are rough cylindricaj trunks, one specimen ob-

Geological Survey of Canada, 85

taiBed being ten feet in length and eight inches to six and a half
inches in diameter. They consist of carbonate of lime, presenting
concentric rings, like the growth-rings of exogenous trees, in th*
transverse section, and in the centre is a cylindrical ttibe crossed
by transyetse septa* At flwt sight they resemble exogenous trunks
with chambered piths, like the West Indian Cecropia peltaia.
Taking their probably marine habitat into account, we are struck
by the general resemblance of their structure to that of the rari
and curious Arthrocladia vilionaoi the deeper parts of the Atlan^
tic. These may however be m^re analogies, and the appearan(i6
of the fossils also snjtgests affinities to the transversely st^jftated
corals, such as <7ya(kophyllum and Zapkrenitui. The real natur*
of the fossil can only be settled by its minute structure, which has
not yet been examined. In the mean time Mr. Billings regards
it as a plant.

The tracks referred to in the flection are also very curious
objects, and appear to occur only in one thin bed. They eonsisl
of two parallel r6ws of semi-<;incular pits, arranged alternately,
about half -an inch apart, the pits are each about half an inch
in diameter. Their alternate arrangement and their great depth
prevent them from being attributed to marine worms. Thiy
rather resemble the marks which might be made in soft mud by
the longitudinally cleft fe^t of some gasteropodous mollnsks,
as for instance the ^Phasianelid*. Possibly some of the gnstero-
pods which have left their shells in these beds, n;ay have had the
-cleft foot and the ambling gait of that genus.

Since however the creatures that lived in Anticosti in the Silu-
rian era, may not be so interesting, to many of our readers m the
xjnestion, What lives or can live in it now? we give nearly in full
Mr. Kichardson^s very intelligent notes on the appearance fLuA
productions of th6 island : —

" The south aids at tlie island, in its ^neral aspect, is low ; tbe most
•elevated points close on this coast are at the mouth of Jupiter River,
where «Iiflb rise on the east side to the height of from eighty to a hufK
dred feet ; and on the west side to a hundred and fifty feet. On no
other part of the south coast were they observed to rise more than frotti
thirty to sixty feet, hut the general heigiit above the sea is from ten to
twenty feet.

From the south-west end, the hills inland are more elevated than thej^
4ire to the eifstward ; in general they rise gradually and more contl-
Quonsly Arom the shore, attaining the height of from a hundred and fifty^
t o two hundred and fifty feet, at about the distance of from one to thre

86 Geological Survey of Canada.

miles. From this however are to be excepted certain localRies on the
coast, where plains are met with having a superficial area of from a
hundred to a thousand acres underltiid by peat partly bare of yegetation,
but over considerable spaces, supporting a heavy growth of wild grass
from four to five feet high.

From a position a few miles east of South-west Point te Wreck Bay,
which is at the east end of the island, between Heath Point and East
Point, the elevation of the coast above high water is from seven to fif-
teen feet, with the exception of the neighbourhood of South Point and
Cormorant Point, which rise to the height of from twenty to thirty feet
on the shore; but very little rise tskes place inland for from one to
three miles, and this flat surface is bounded: to the north by a gradual
ilope, rising to the height of from one hundred to two hundred feet,,
probably becoming more elevated still further inland. The low coun-
try is a succssion of peat plains, occasionally bare, but often covered
with wild grass ; the whole being varied with strips and clumps of irees^
as well as dotted with small Takes, on which ducks, geese, and other
wild fowl breed in considerable numbers.

The whole of the north side of the island is a succession of ridge-like
elevations of from 200 to 500 feet above the sea, separated by depres-
sions. From English Head, three miles east from the West Cliff, a dis-
tance of fifty-eight miles in a straight like, each successive ridge and
ralley occupies a breadth of from four to six miles ; the ridges form a
somewhat rounded end, facing the sea on the north ; their rise is first
well marked at from a quarter of a mile to a mile from the shore, and
in about a mile more inland they attain their greatest elevation ; con-
tinuing this elevation to the south and widening, they narrow the inter-
mediate valley, until, as far as known, the country becomes in appear-
ance of a gently undulating character. * The run of the valleys with
some exceptions is from S. 10® W. to S. 30® W.

Macastey Ridge or Mountain, eleven miles east from the west end,,
rises upwards of four hundred feet at about a mile inland. High Cliff,
eighteen miles further east, is probably 500 feet, one quarter of a mile
from the shore ; these are in some respects the most conspicuous ridges.
High Cliff is a bold head-land, while Macastey Mountain is separated by
a broader valley than usual from its neighbour to the east, and is highec
than any other to the west. Macastey Mountain is a conspicuous object
when viewed even &(<m the south side of the island, in the neighbour-
hood of Ellis, or Gamacho Bay ; sailing up this natural harbour, it is
observed in front a little to the right about five or six miles distant.

The succession of ridge and valley from English Head all the way to
West Cliff, is regular and characteristic, and produces a pleasing and
beautiful effect. From West Cliff to Observation Bay, a distance of
about twenty miles, there is a similar succession, but on this part the
ridges rise to their full elevation nearer to the shore. West Cliff rises im-
mediately oyer the sea to an elevation of between 200 and 400 feet. Char«
leton Point has an elevation of 100 feet over the sea, and a quarter of a

Geological Survey of Canada. 87

mile inland rises to between 300 and 400 fe6t ; from Charleton Point io
Qbserration Bay the coast is somewhat lower, Observation Bay forming
an indentation on the coast of a mile and a quarter deep, and five miles
across ; from the head of this bay a well marked valley bears S. 10^ W.
f*rom Observation Bay to Gull Gape, a distance of fifty-three miles,
the cliffs become prominent on the coast, rising almost perpendicularly
at the points to the height of from 100 to 300 feet ; and the indentations
are more numerous, producing more sharply defined valleys.

Between Bear Head and Gape Robert, a distance of five miles and
a-balf, the greatest indentation from a straight line is about a mile and
a-half ; but this is subdivided into Easton Bay, Tower Bay, and White
Bay, the last being the largest.

Salmon River Bay, east from Gape Henry, is five miles wide, and its
greatest depth is one mile. Salmon River runs through a well-marked
valley, of which the general bearing up-stream is S. 65** W. for nearly
six miles, where a transverse valley, -in the bearing N. 77® W. and 8.
*l*l^ E. (about parallel with the coast) meets it, and gives it two streams
running from opposite directions. From the middle of the valley the
land gradually rises on each side to the height of from 400 to 450 feet,
and the bed of the valley must rise pretty fast ; for though the current
of the stream is without leaps, it is rather rapid.

PrinstA Bay, further east, is an indentation of about one mile in depth,
with a width of a mile and a-half; perpendicular cliffs surround this
bay to the height of from 100 to 150 feet, except at the very head, where
two creeks cut through the rock. On the west side of Prinsta Bay is Gape
James, 150 feet in height ; and on th:^ east is Table Head. Table Head has
a face of from 150 to 160 feet perpendicular, and gains almost at once an
additional height, from the summit of which there is a gradual descent on
the opposite side, the surface forming on that side a rough outline to
the valley through which Fox River passes to Fox Bay, which affords
the second important harbour on the Island. The upward course of the
valley of the Fox River is N. '?2<» W.

From Fox Point on the west side of the bay to Gulf Gape, upwards
of a mile on the east side, there is a distance of six miles, in which the
coast is low, Fox Point, the highest part of this, not being more than
from thirty to forty feet above the sea.

From Gulf Gape to Wreck Bay, a distance of eleven miles, the cliflk
are in general perpendicular, and from 100 to 130 feet, while the surface
back from them gives, as far as observed, a slightly rolling country.

Excepting the valley of Jupiter River, there are no well-defined val-
leys on the south side of the island.

In respect to the soil of the Island, the plains on the south side, as has
been stated, are composed of peat, but the general vegetation of the
country is supported by a drift composed for the most part of a calcareous
clay, and a light grey or brown colored sand. The elements of the soil
would lead to the conclusion of its being a good one, but the opinion of
most persons, guided by the rules derived from the description of timber

88 Qeolo^ka* Survey of Canada^

which grows on it, would not be favorable, as there is almost a complete
absence, as far as m j obesrvation went, of the hard-wood trees supposed
to be the sure indication of a good settHog country.
. The most abundant tree is spruce, in sise raryiug f^om eight to eigh*
teen inches in diameter, and from fortj to eighty feet in length. On the
north coast, and in some parts of the south, it is found of good size in
the open woods close by the beach, without any interrenlng space of
stunted growth. The stunted growth was occasionally met with on the
north "side ; but it is only on the tops of cliffis, and other places exposed
to the heavy coast winds, where spruce, or any other tree on the island^
is stunted. In these situations there is oftentimes a low, dense, and
almost impenetrable barrier of stunted spruce, of from ten to twenty feet
across, and rarely exceeding a hundred feet ; beyond which open woods
and good comparatively large timber prevails.

Pine was observed in the valley of the Salmon River, about four
miles inland, where ten or twelve trees that were measured gave from
twelve to twenty inches in diameter at the base, with heights varying
from sixty to eighty feet. White and yellow birch are common in sises
from a few inches to two feet in diameter at the base, and from twenty
to fifty feet high. Balsam-fir was seen, but it was small and not abun-
dant. Tamarack was observed, but it was likewise small 'and scarce.
One of our men, however, who is a hunter on the island, informed me
he had seen groves of this timber north from Ellis, or Gamache Bay,
of which some of the trees were three feet in diameter, and over a hun-
dred feet in height. Poplar was met with in groves, close to the beach,
on the north side of the island.

Of fruitrbearing trees and shrubs, the mountain-ash, or rowan, wa«
the largest ; it was most abundant in the interior, but appeared to
be of the largest size close on the beach, especially on the north side,
where it attains the height of forty feet, with long extending and some-
what slender branches, covered with clusters of fruit. The high cran-
berry ( Viburnum opultu) produces a larg^ and juicy fruit, and is abun-
dant. A species of gooseberry bush from two to t^ree feet high is met
with in the woods, but appears to thrive best close to the shingle, on
the beach, where strips of two or three yards across and half-a-mile
long were occasionally covered with it. The fruit is very good, and re-
sembles in taste the garden berry ; it is smooth and black colored, and
about the size of a common marble. The shrub appeared to be very pro-
lific. Red and black currants are likewise abundant. There appear to be
two kinds of each, in one of which the berry is smooth, resemblii^ both
in taste and appearance that of the garden ; the other rough and prickly,
with a bitter taste.

Strawberries are found near the beach. In size and flavor they are but
little inferior to the garden fruit. They are most abundant among the
grass in the openings, and their season is from the middle of July to the
end of August. Five or six other kinds of fruit-bearing plants were ob-
served, some of which might be found of value. The low cranberry was

Geological Survey of Canada. 89

seen hi one or two I'laces in some abundance, but I was infbrmed that U
was less abundant than in many other past seasons. The raspberry waa
rarely met with.

The most surprising part of the natural vegetation was a species of pea
which was found on the beach, and in open spaces in the -'woods ; on
the beach the plant, like the ordinary cultivated field-pea, often covered
spaces A*ora a-quarter of an acre to an acre in extent. The stem and the
leaf were large, and the pea sufficiently so to be ga^ered for use. The
straw when required is cut and cured for feed for cattle and horses during
the winter.

Bht little is yet known of the agricultural capabilities of the island.
The only attempts at cultivation that have been made are at Gamache
Bay, South-west Point, and Heath Point. Sotith-west Point and Heath
Point are two of the most exposed places in the Island ; and Gamacbe
Bay, though a sheltered position, has a peat soil : the whole three are
thus unfavourable.

On the 22nd July potatoes were well advanced, and in healthy con*
dition at Gamache Bay ; but a field under hay, consisting of timothy,
clover, and natuKil grass, did not shew a heavy crop. At Soiith*weet
Point, Mr. Pope had about three acres of potatoes planted in rows three
feet apart. He informed me he expected a yield of 600 bushels, and at
the time of my arrival on the 5th of August, the plants were in full
blossom, and covered the ground thoroughly. Judging from the appear-
ance, they seemed the finest patch of potatoes I had ever seen. About half>-
an-acre of barley was at the time commencing to ripen. It stood about
four feet high, with strong stalk and well-filled ear. I observed oats in
an adjoining patch. These had been late sown, being intended for winter
feed for cattle. Their appearance indicated a large yield.

On the day of my arrival at Heath Point, the 23rd August, I accom*
panied Mr. Julyan about a mile from the light-house, to a piece of ground
composed of yellowish-brown loam, which he had cleared in the wood,
and planted in about the middle of June with potatoes and peas. Of the
potatoes he procured a bucket^fuU of good size and middling good
quality. The peas were in blossom, yet a few pods were found to be fit
for use. In this patch I discovered three ears of bald wheat, the seed
of which had been among the peas when sown. They were just getting
into blossom, and probably would ripen. The ear was an average size,
and the straw about three and a-half feet high.

I observed frost only once.,* it was on the 18th September, but not
sufficiently severe to do injury to growing crops ; and I was informed
by Mr. Julyan that the lowe3t temperature of the previous winter was
only seven degrees of Fahrenheit below zero. On the coast, as might
be expected, the atmosphere is damper, and the temperature from ten to
fifteen degrees below that of the interior, during June, July, August, and
September, and probably May and October.

During the three months of my stay on the island, fogs prevailed for
ten days, five of which were the 3l8t July and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and Sth

90 Geological St^rvey of Canada,

of AugQSt, while we were at South-west Point. Mr. Pope told me it was
an unusual occurrence. I observed that frequent openings in the fog
,were seen towards the land, leading to the idea that it was less dense
in the interior.

I observed some cattle at South-west Point, belonging to Mr. Pope
and Mr. Corbet. They appeared to be in good condition, although they
had been left to provide for themselves in the wood openings, or along
the shQre. A horse belonging to Mr. Pope was in equally good condition.

Gam iche or Ellis Bay and Fox Bay are the only two harbors on the
island that are comparatively safe in all winds. The former is eight and
a-half miles from West-end Lighthouse, on the south side ; the latter is
fifteen miles from Heath Point Lighthouse, on the north side. From
Cape Eagle to Cape Henry, across the mouth of Gamache Bay, the dis-
tance is two miles, with a breadth of deep water of three quarters of a
mile, extending up the bay a mile and a-half, while the depth of the
indentation is two miles and a-half. Fox Bay is smaller, and has less
depth of water than Gamache Bay. The distance across its mouth is a
mile and a-half, with half a mile of deep water in the centre, extending
up the bay nine-tenths.of a mile *, the whole depth of the indentation
being one mile and two-tenths. These two harbours occur in the same
geological formation, while the rock presents a very regular and com-
paratively level surface, over which a road could be easily constructed
from one harbour to the other, tlie distance being 120 miles. By such
means the whole island would be brought to within a moderate distance
of a road having a nati^ral harbour at each end.

The wild animals met with on the island, as far as I am aware, are
the common black bear, the red, the black, and the silver fox, and the
marten. Bears are said to be very numerous, and hunters talk of their
being met with by dozens at a time ,* but on my excursion I only observed
one at Ellis Bay, two near Cormorant Point, and one in the neighbour-
hood of Observation Cape. I came upon the last one on a narrow strip
of beach at the foot of a high and nearly vertical cliff. Seen from a
distance, I took the animal for a burnt log, and it was only when within
fifty yards of him that I perceived my mistake. He appeared to be too
busily engaged in making his morning meal, on the remains of a seal, to
pay any attention to me ; for although, with a view of giving him notice
to quit, I struck my hammer upon er boulder that was near, and made
other noises which I conceived might alarm him, he never raised his
head to show that he was aware of my presence, but fed on until he had
finished the carcase, obliging me, having no rifle, to remain a looker-on
for half-an-hour. When nothing of the seal remained but the bones, the
bear climbed in a leisurely way up the face of* the naked cliff, which
could not be many degrees out of the perpendicular, throwing down as
he passed considerable blocks of rock, and disappeared over the summit,
which was not less than a hundred feet above the sea.

Foxes and martens are very abundant. The marten was frequently
heard during the night in the neighbourhood of our camp, and foxes

Geological Survey of Canada. 91

»
were seen on several occasioDS. Of the silyer-grey fox, the ekin of
which frequently sells for from twenty-five to thirty pounds currency,
from four to twelve have been obtained by the hunters every 'winter.
Jfr. Corbet the lessee of the island employs several men during that
season to hunt these animals for their fur, and I understand he makes
some profit by the trade.

I heard of no animals of any other description, with the exception
of wild fowl, and I saw no frogs nor reptiles of any description, and I
was informed by the hunters that there were none."

The portion of the Rej ort specially due to Mr. Billinus contains
the notices of Anticosti fossils to which we have alrea<ly referred,
and also descriptions of a number of new species found in other
parts of Canada. In the Crinoids and Cysiideans^ in particular,
large additiors are made to our knowledge, and these will be
rendered siill more valuable when the engravings of f«;8sil!», now
we believe in progress in Great Britain, are published. To the
Cephalopoda also Mr. Biilinp^s has directed much attention, and
has described many new forms.

Mr. Hunt's portion of the Report embraces so much matter,
both of scientific and practical interest, that we roust confine our-
selves to notices of a few subjects. Analyses of mineral waters
are given in considerable numbers; but we prefer considering
those of the two greatest drains of the Canadian territory, the
St. Lawrence and the Ottawa : —

" The plan proposed for supplying the city with water from one of these
rivers, having made a knowledge |>f their chemical composition a mat-
ter of considerable interest, I proceeded, agreeably to your desire, to
make a careful analysis of their waters. The results, independent of
their local value, are important, as showing the composition of two im-
mense rivers which drain so large a portion of the continent.

The time chosen for collecting the waters was in the month of March,
before the melting of the snows had commenced. The river waters were
then unaffected by th^ rains and the drainings of the surface, which
tend to make their composition variable during the summer season.

The water of the Ottawa was collected on the 9th of last March at
the head of the lock at Ste. Anne, where the position and the rapid cur-
rent assured me the water of the river free from all local impurities.
The river was here unfrozen, owing to the rapidity of the current, and
its temperature was found to be 33 ® F., that of the air being the same.

The water, which was free from all sediment or suspended matter, had
a pale amber-yellow color, very distinct in masses of six inches. When
heated this color deepens, and by boiling there separates a bright brown
precipitate, which, when the' volume of the water is reduced to one-tenth,
is seen to consist of small brilliant iridescent scales. These are not

05 Oeohgieal Survey of Canada,

gypsum, of which the water does iiot contain k trace, but consist of
carbonates, with silica and organic mattet. Meanwhile the water be-
comes more highly colored, and now exhibits an alkaline reaction with
test papers.

The recent Water, mingled with hydrochloric acid and a salt of baryta
remains clear for a time, but after an hour a faint turbidness appears
indicating i'. vrace of sulphate. With nitrate of silver and nitric acid, a
slight milkiness ft*om the presence of chlorids is perceptible. The
amounts of sulphuric acid and chlorine were determined onportions of
two or four litres of the water reduced by evaporation to a small volume,
and acidulated. The precipitate obtained by the addition of a few
drops of nitric acid and nitrate of silver, was scanty and reddish color-
ed. After twelve hours of repose it was collected, dissolved from the
filter by ammonia, and the pure chlorid of silver thrown down by a
large excess of nitric acid, while the silver-salt of On. organic' acid re*
mained in the solution.

When the precipitate obtarined during the evaporation of the water ia
boiled with a dilute solution of potash, the organic matter is dissolved,
and the akaline solution assumes a bright brown color which becomes
paler on the addition of acetic acid ; acetate of copper produces no pre-
cipitate in the liquid thus acidulated ; but on adding carbonate of
ammonia and heating the mixture, a minute white flocculent precipitate
separates, having ihe characters of crenate of copper. Another portion
of the precipitate by evaporation was dissolved in hydrochloric acid,
and decolorized by boiling with chlorate of potash ; on evaporating the
solution a portion of ^ilica separated, and the liquid gave with ammonia
a colorless precipitate, which was chiefly composed of alumina ; re-dis-
solved in hydrochloric acid however, it gave with a sulphocyanid, evi-
dence of the presence of oxyd of iron, and with molybdate of ammonia
an abundant yellow precipitate indicating phosphoric acid. The alumin-
ous precipitate heated on silver foil with caustic potash gave a slight
but decided reaction of manganese.

When the concentrated water, with its precipitate, was evaporated
to dryness in a platinum capsule with excess of hydrochloric acid, and
the restdue treated with acidulated water, a large amount of silica was
obtained, equal to one-third of ail the solid matters present. This silica
was white after ignition, and perfectly pure. A portion of the watet
was evaporated to one-fortieth and filtered; the residue being farther-
evaporated to one-fourth, deposited on the platinum capsule an opaqu4
film, which was but imperfectly soluble in hydrochloric acid. The con-^
centrated liquid was dark brown and alkaline, reddening turmeric paper;
it was now evaporated to dryness, ignited and treated with, water. The
soluble portion was strongly alkaline to test papers, and perceptibly so
to the taste. The residue insoluble in water was treated with st)rotig
hydrochloric acid, which dissolved a portion of lime without etferves^
cence, and left a residue of pure silica ; the acid solution contained fio
magnesia.

Geological Survey of Canada. # . 98

The dried residue from the eraporation of this water is of a deep browQ
color, when ignited, the organic matter which it contains burns like
tinder, diffusing an agreable regetable odour, and leaying a little carbon«
The water was not examined for nitrates ; but the absence of any defla-
gration during the ignition of the residue, showed^ that if present they
were in very small amount. The season moreover at which the water
was collected (being at the end of a winter of four months of unremit*
ting frost), would not be favorable to the formation of nitrates

The following numbers are deduced from the means of two or more
concordant determinations made upon quantities of two and four litres
of the Ottawa, and calculated for ten litres or 10*000 grammes.

Carbonate of lime, 0-2480 gpms.

« << magnesiil, '0696 "

Chlorine, 0076 "

Sulphuric acid, 1 0161 "

Silica, -2060 "

Chlorld of sodium,. . . . .^ , -0607 "

" " potassium, -0293 "

Residue dried at 300o F., '6975 "

" ignited, ' •6340 "

The amounts of silica remaining dissolved in the water evaporated to
one- twentieth and one-fhirtletl), were found to be 0*019 and 0'020 for
four litres, giving for the ten litres a mean of 0*046 grammes of silica
thus retained in solution. , The amount of lime remaining dissolved in
this quantity of the water thus evaporated, was equal to 0*023 of carbo«
nate of lime:

The chlorine and sulphuric acid present in this water are sufficient to
neutralize only about one-half of the alkaline bases present. The remain-
ing portion may be regarded as exlstiog in combination either with silica,
or with the organic acids present ; and it is probably in a similar state of
combination that a- portion of the lime remains dissolved in the evapo-
rated water.

In the following table the lime and the excess of alkalies are however
represented as carbonates, and we have for 10*000 parts,

Carbonate of lime, 0*2480

« <^ magnesia, '0696

Silica, '2060

Chlorld of potassium, -0160

Sulphate of potash, , -0122

" *■ soda, -0188

Carbonate of soda, '0410

Alumina and oxyd of iron, (traces)

Manganese and phosphoric acid, " ■■

0-6116

The water of the St. Lawrence was collected on the 30th of March, on
the sooth side of the Pointe des Cascades (Yaudreuil). The rapid cur-
rent had here left aa opening in the ice, from which the water was taken

94 Geological Survey of Canada.

at a distance of six feet from the shore. It was clear and transparent,
and, unlike the water of the Ottawa, exhibited no color in vessels several
inches in diameter. The recent water gives a considerable precipitate
with salts of baryta, and a slight one with nitrate of silver. When boil-
ed it lets fall a white crystalline precipitate which adheres to the sides
of the vessel, unlike the deposit from the Ottawa water. A little yellow
flocculent matter appears suspended in the concentrated liquid, which is
only slightly colored, and the dried residue contains much less organic
matter than that from the last mentioned water^ The residue from two
litres, when dissolved in hydrochloric acid, sufficed to give distinct re-
actions of iron and maganese. The ammoniacal precipitate from this
solution was in great part soluble in potash, and was alumina. From a
second portion of two litres a precipitate of phosphate was obtained by
molybdate of ammonia, less abundant howerer than from the same quan-
tity of the water from the Ottawa The determinations were made as in
the previous analysis, and gave for 10,000 parts.

Carbonate of lime, 0-8033

" "magnesia, -2537

Chlorine, ', -0242

Sulphuric acid, -0687

Silica, -. -3700

Chlorid of potassium, ^ '0220

" " sodium, -1280

Residue dried at 300o P., 1-6780

" ignited, 1-5380

When evaporated to one-fortieth this water still contains in solution a
portion of silica and some lime. The silica thus dissoved was found
equal to 00 75, and the lime to 0*050 of carbonate of lime for 10,000
parts. The proportions of sulphuric acid and chlorine are much larger
than in the Ottawa water, but were found not quite sufficient to satu-
rate the whole of the alkaline bases present. The small portion of lime
is probably held in solution by the concentrated water in the form of
silicate, which, as is well known, possesses a certain degree of solubil-
ity ; while from the insolubility of the silicate of magnesia, this base is
completely separated during the evaporation.

I subjoin the calculated results for 10,000 parts of the St. Lawrence
water, the lime and magnesia and the slight excess of alkalies being
represented as carbornates.

Carbonate of lime, 0*8083

" « magnesia, ^. '2637

Silica, .' : '3700

Chlorid of potassium, -0220

" " sodium, *0225

Sulphate of soda, '1229

Carbonate " '0061

Alumina, phosphoric acid, (traces.)

Oxyds of iron and manganese, " .

1*6055

Oeological Survey of Canada, 96

The ignition of the dried residue expels a portion of carbonic acid
from the earthy carbonates, and hence the calculated results exceed
the weight of the residuej besides which considerable portions of the
lime and magnesia are combined Tuth silica, and not with carbonic acid
as in the calculated table.

The comparison of the water of these two rivers shows the following
differences : — Tke water of the Ottawa, containing but little more than
one-third as much solid matter as the St. Lawrence, is impregnated
with a much larger portion of organic matter deriyed fpom the decom-
position of vegetable remains, and a large amount of alkalies uncombin-
ed with chlorine or sulphuric acid. Of the alkalies determined ib
chlorids, the cblorid of potassium in the Otta^ a water forms 32 per
cent, and in that of the St. Lawreuce only 16 per cent., while in the
former the silica equals 34 per cent., and in the latter 23 per cent, of
the mineral matters. The Ottawa drains a region of crystalline rocks,
and receives from these by far the greater part of its waters ; hence the
salts of potash liberated by the decomposition of these rocks are in
large proportion. The extensive vegetable decomposition, evidenced
byAhe organic matters dissolved in the water, will also have contri-
buted a portion of potash. It will be recollected that the proportion of
potash salts in the chlorids of sea-water and saline waters generally,
does not equal more than two or three per cent. As to the St. Law*>
rence, although the basin of Lake Superior, in which the river takes its
orign is surrounded by ancient sandstones and by crystalline rocks, it
afterwards flows through lakes whose basins are composed of palseozic
strata which abound in limestones rich in gypsum and salt, and these
rocks have given the waters of this river that predominance of soda,
chlorine, and sulphuric acid which distinguishes it from the Ottawa. It
is an interesting geographical feature of these two rivers that they each
pass through a series of great lakes, in which the waters are enabled to
deposit their suspended impurities, and thus are rendered remarkably
clear and transparent.

The presence of large amounts of silica in river waters is a fact only
recently established, by the analyses by H. Ste. Claire Deville of the
rivers of France.* The silica of waters had generally been entirely or
in great part overlooked, or had, as he suggests, from the mode of ana-
lysis adopted, been confounded with gypsum. The importance in an
agricultural point of view of such an amount of dissolved silica, where
river waters serve for the irrigation of the soil, is very great ; and geo-
logically it is not less significant, as it marks a decomposition of the
silicious rocks by the action of water holding in solution carbonic
acid, and the organic acids arising from the decay of vegetable mat-
ter. These acids combining with the bases of the native silicates, libe-
rate the silica in a soluble form. In fact silica is never wanting in na-
tural waters, whether neutral or alkaline, although proportionately
much greater in those surface waters which are but slightly charged
with mineral ingredients. The alumina, whose presence is not less con-

* Aunales de Chimie et de Physique, 1848. vol. xxii!., p. 32.

96 Oeological Survey of Canada,

Btant, although in smaller quantity, equally belongs to the spluble con-
stituents of the water. The quantity of silica annually carried to the sea
in solution by the St. Lawrence and similar rirers, is very great, and
doubtless plays an important part in the silicifi cation of organic remains,
and in the formation of silicious deposits, both directly and through the
intervention of silicious infhsorial animals.

As regards the question of a supply of water for thetity of Montreal,
it is to be remarked that the composition of these waters will be sub-
ject to considerable changes ^ith the different seasons. The waters from
the melting of the snows and autumnal rains, will give to the river a
character somewhat different from that presented after the long droughts
of summer, or after several months of continued frost, when we may
suppose that the water will contain the largest amount of soluble
matters.

The waters of the St. Lawrence meeting those of the Ottawa below
Yaudreuil, the two flow side by side, and may, as is well knowA, be dis-
tinguished by their difference in color. The clear greenish-blue of the
larger river contrasts strongly with the amber-brown color of its tribu-
tary. The agitation of the current however gradually mingles the two
streams ; and even the brown water along the front of the island of
Montreal is already mixed with a considerable portion of the St. Lawrence
water, as will be evident from the analyses given below. As bat a portion
of the Ottawa enters the channel of the St. Lawrence at the head of the
island, and as the Tolume of the former river u very variable it
happens that the proportions of the mixture at a given point in front of
the island are subject to considerable changes. At the close of the
summer and winter seasons the waters of the Ottawa are comparatively
low, and then it may be observed that the water supplied by the City
Water Works is but slightly colored, the water of the St. Lawrence pre-
dominating; while during the spring floods its deep color shows the larger
proportion of Ottawa water. It hence follows that the purity of our
supply of water is in aa inverse ratio with its color, and that in obtaining
an uncolored water we exchange a small proportion of organic matter
for a much larger amount of calcareous salts."

Several years ago Mr. Hunt announced the remarkable fact,
that shells of ^ the genus Lingula consist in great part of phos-
phate of lime. lie has since analysed several additional species,
with the same results ; and also the recent X. ovalin^ which was
found to contain 6^1 per cent, of earthy matter, consisting ©fj —

** Phosphate of lime 86.79

Carl)onate " ^ 1 1.75

Magnesia 2.80

100.34

Extraction of SalU from Sea-Water, 97

This is very nearly the composition of calcined human bones."
Similar characters are found in fossil and redent Orbicula, and
also in Conularia, a shell probably belonging to the Pteropoda^
a very different group of mollusks. On the other hand, species
of Atri/pa^ Leptcena, SiTid other genera belonging, like Lingula^
to the Brachioppday were found to have the composition of ordi-
nary shells. This selection of phosphate of lime by some of the
lower animals, no doubt points to peculiarities in their food and
habits, to wliich both zoologists and geologists would do well to
direct their attention.

The present Report contains a collected and condensed state-
ment of the valuable remarks of Mr. Hunt on the composition
and origin of raetamorphic rocks. To attempt any summary
of them would be unjuj^t to their author ; but we earnestly com-
mend them to the careful study of all geologists who de:*ire to
understand the chemical principles involved in the conversion
of sediments deposited in water into crystalline and metamor^
phic masses, — a very important subject, hitherto too muph ne-
glected.

Mr. Hunt's Report also contains several essays on highly
important practical points. Two of these, on the manufac.ture of
Iron and on the. extraction of Salts from sea- water, have been trans-
ferred to this Journal ; and there are others equally valuable,
on Magnesian Mortars and the manufacture of Magnesia from
Canadian rocks, on the preparation of Plumbago, and on Peat
and the products from it.

This Report, from its more compact and readable form, will be
more extensively lead and consulted than any of the previous
Reports of Progress ; and with the accompanying maps, it will
still further establish and extend the reputation of the Canadian
Survey for accurate and able work.

J. w. D.

\

ART, XL— On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water*

The manufacture of salt from the ocean has, from an early
period, been a most important branch of industry for the south
of Europe. Without reverting to high antiquity, we may cite the
salines of Venice, to which that republic owed the commencement

* From the Reports of the Qeologi^l Survey of Canada for 1853-56,
pp. 404r-419.

B

98 JSxtraciion of Salts from Sea- Water,,

r

of its greatness and its wealth. The lagoons which snrrounded
that city were enclosed, and set apart for the breeding of fish,
and for the manufacture of salt. Making a monopoly of this
staple of life, the policy of Venice was to obtain possession of all
those salines which could compete with her, and we find the
Venetians destroying such as they could not make use oi^ and ex
acting from the neifrhbouring princes, treaties to the effect that
they would not re-establish the suppressed salines. It was only
two or three centuries later that this powerful republic ordered, in
the interest of her commerce, the suppression of the salines of
her own lagoons, and augmented the produce of those of Istria
and of the Grecian Islands, which had become hers by right of
conquest, still retaining in her own hands the trade in salt for all
southern Europe. But with the downfall of Venitian power, we
find the salines of Provence and Languedoc growing into impor-
tance, while those of Venice had fallen into decay, so that when
the Emperor Napoleon I. created the kingdom of Italy, he Lad re-
course to a French ena:ineer from Marseilles to re-establish the
salines of Venice, which are now once more organised on a vast
scale.

It is however in France, and especially upon the shores of the
Mediterranean, that wo shall find the most extensive salines, and
the most intelligent system of working these great sources of
national wealth. On the western coast of France, the salt marshes
of Brittany and La Vendue are wrought to a considerable extent,
but the cool, moist and rainy climate of these regions is much less
favorable to this industry than that of the southern shores of the
empire, where dry and hot summers offer great facilities for the
evaporation of the sea-water, which is effected in all the salines of
which we have spoken, by the sun and wind, without artificial

heat

The salt-works of the lake of Berre, near Marseilles, were those
whose products attracted the most attention at the Exhibition, not
only on account of the excellent method there pursued for the
manufacture of sea-salt, but from the fact that the important pro-
cesses of Mr. Balard for the extraction of potash, sulphates and
other valuable materials from the mother liquors, are there ap-
plied on a large scale. Having had occasion to examine carefully
these products in the course of my duties as Juror at the Exhibi-
tion, and having afterwards visited the saline of Berre, I propose
to give here some account of its construction and mode of opera-

Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water* 99

»

tioi), as well as of the method employed for the working of the
mother liquors. I have to express my great obligations to my
distinguished colleague, Mr. Balard, of the Academy of Sciencea*
who most kindly furnished me with every information respecting
the processes of his invention which are there applied, and also Mr.
Agard, the enlightened and scientific director of the saline.

The first -condition for the establishment of a salt work is a low,
broad, level ground on the border of the sea, which can be protected
by dykes from the action of the tides, and as these are considerable
on the Atlantic coast and insignificant in the Medilcrranean, the
arrangements required in the two regions are somewhat different.
In both cases however the high tides are taken advantage of to
fill large and shallow basins with the sea-water, which there de-
posits its sediments, becomes warmed by the sun's rays and begins
to evaporate. From these reservoirs it is led by a canal to a series
of basins from ten to sixteen inches in depth, through which it
passes successively, and where by the action of the sun and wind
the water is rapidly evaporated, and deposits its lime in the form
of sulphate. It then passes to another series of smaller basins where
the evaporation is carried to such a point that the water becomes
a saturated brine, when its volume being greatly diminished, it is
transferred to still smaller shallow basins called salting-tohleB,
where the salt is to be deposited. In the salines of the Atlantic
coast, the different basins are nearly on the same plane, and the
water flows from one series to the other as its level is reduce.! by
evaporation'. In the large establishments of the Mediterranean,
the system is different ; the basins are constructed at different
levels, and the waters having passed through one series, are raised
by wooden tympans or drums from eight to sixteen feet in diame-
ter (moved by steam or horse power), and conducted into the
other basins. ' These differences of level establish a constint cur-
rent, and in this way greatly promote the evaporation.

But in whatever manner the process is conducted, the concen-
trated brines, making 25^of Beaume's areometer, arc finally con-
ducted to the saving tables, where they begin to depo:«ite their
salt in the form of crystalline crusts, which are either collected
with rakes as soon as they form, or as at Berre, allowed to accu-
mulate at the bottom, until they form masses six or eight inches in
thickness. The concentration of the brines must be care-
fully watched, and their density never allowed to exceed
28^5, otherwise a deposit of sulphate of magnesia would

100 On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water*

be formed, rendering the sea-salt impure. The mother liquors,
as they are called, are run off so soon as they have reached the
above density, and reserved for operations to be detailed further
on. When the talt has attained asuflScient thickness, it is broken
up and piled upon the sides of the basins in large pyramids, which
are covered with clay on the western coast of France, but left
unprotected during the summer season, in the dry climate of the
south. In these heaps, the salt undergoes a process of purifiiiation ;
the moisture from the clay or from occasional rains penetrates
slowly through the mass, removing the more soluble foreign
matters, and leaving the salt much purer than before. In the
south, it is taken directly from these heaps and sent into the
market, but in the less favorable conditions presented on the
western coast, the thin layers of salt there collected are more or
less soiled with earthy matters, and for many uses require a process
of refining before they are brought into commerce. For this
purpose two methods are employed ; the one consists in simply
washing the crude salt with a concentrated brine, which removes
the foreign salts, and a large portion of the earthy impurities The
other more perfect, but more costly process, consists in dissolving
the impure salt in water, and adding a little lime to precipitate the
srtlts of magnesia always present, after which the filtered brine is
rapidly boiled down, when a fine-grained salt separates, or is more
slowly evaporated to obtain the large-grained cubic salt which is
used in the salting of provisions. The masses of coarsely crystal-
line salt from the salines of the south have Jio need of these refining
processes.

In practice, the evaporation of the brines for sea-salt at Berre
is carried as far as 32^, and the salt separated into three qualities,
Between 25^ and 26^ the brine deposits one-fourth of its salt,
which is kept apart on account of its great purity, and sold at a
higher price thaa the rest In passing from a density of 26° to
28^5, sixty per cent, more of salt of second quality are deposited,
and from this point to 32° the remaining fifleen per cent are
obtained, somewhat impure and deliquescent from the magnesiao
salts which it contains, but preferred for the salting of fish, on
account of its tendency to keep them moist The average price of
the salt at the salines is one franc for 100 kilogrammes, (220
pounds avoirdupois,) while the impost upon it was until recently,
thirty times that sura, and is even now ten francs the 100 kik)-
grammes.

On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water, 101

The waters of the Meditei ranean contain, according to the
analysis of Usiglio, about three per cent, of common salt, while
those of the Atlantic contain from 2.5 to 2.7 per cent. In
the waters of the Mediterranean there are besides, about 6.8
per cent, of sulphates and chlorids of calcium, magnesium and
potassium. The quantity of water which it is necessary to evapo-
rate in order to obtain a small amount of salt, thus appears to be
very great, but under favorable circumstances this is a small consi-
deration, as will appear from the following fact. The saline of
Berre is situated upon a small lake, communicating with the
ocean, but fed by streams of fresh wat r, so that while the waters
of the open sea have a density of 3^5, those of the lake have only
1®5, or scarcely half the strength of sea water. Nevertheless, the
advantages of the position offered by the shores of the lake for the es-
tablishment of a saline, are suflScient to compensate for the deficien-
cy of salt in the water, and to make of Berre one of the most flour-
ishi ng sal Ines of the south of France. The e vaporati ng surfaces h ere
cover 3,300,000 square metres, equal to 816 English acres ; of this
area one-tenth is occupied with the salting tables, but with sea-
water, where less evaporation is required to bring the brine to the
crystallizing point, one sixth of the area would be thus occupied.
The amount of salt annually produced at the saline of Berre is
20,000,000 of kilogrammes.

Owing to the dilution of the water of the lake of Berre, the
proportion of salt there n:anufactured is small when we consider
the area, and compare the produce with that of other salines
where pure sea- water is evaporated. According to Mr. Balard,
' 2,000,000 square metres mny yield 20,000,000 kilogrammes annu-
ally ; and Mr. Payen states that the same amount of salt is
produced at Baynas from a superficies of 1,500,000 metre. ♦As a
cubic metre of sea-water contains about 25 kilogrammes of salt,
the evaporation required to produce the above amount corresponds
to 800,000 cubic metres, equal in the second estimate given above,
to a layer of water 0.40 metre, or 16} English inclres in thickness.

The plan hitherto adopted in the salines of the European coasts^
has been to commence the evaporation of the sea- water with the
spring time of each year ; in this way some three or four months
elapsed before a sufficiently large amount of strong brine was
accumulated to enable the manufacturer to commence the deposi-
tion of salt on the salting tables, and as this latter operation can
only be carried on in fine weather, the rainy season of autumn

102 0» the Extraction of Salts from Seor Water.

soon came to interrupt the process, so that during a large part
of the year the labours of the salines were suspended. The
enh'ghtened director of the works of Berre, Mr. Feliuien Agard,
has however introduced a very important improvement in
the management of the salines, by means of which he car-
ries on the works throughout th« whole year, and is en-
abled to increase the produce by 50 per cent. During tlie
montlis of the autumn, the evaporation, which is still carried on,
though more slowly, enables him to obtain brines marking 8^, 10**f.
and even 20^. These are stored away in large pits, where the
depth of liquid being considerable, the diluting etfeet of the spring
rains is but little felt, and at the commencement of the warm s^'ason
these brines are raised into the evaporating basins, so that the
summer's labours are commenced with concentrated liquors, and
the salt is all harvested in tlie months of Au2ust and Sei)tember,

In selecting the site for a saline it is of great im[)ortance to
choose a clayey soil, an earth of this character being required to
render tKe ba.«ins and dykes impei*vious to water. In the saline of
Berre, a coriaceous fungous plant, to which botanists have given
the name Microcoleus corium^ was observed to vegetate upon the
bottom of the br,sinSy and tins being carefully protected, has finished
by covering the clay with a layer like felt, which protects the salt
from contamination by the earth, and enables it to be collected in
& state of great purity.

The conditions of exposure to sun and wind offered by the
locality chosen for a saline are also to be carefully considered, for
upon these will of course greatly depend the rapidity of evaporation.
The salines of the lagoons of Venice, to which we have already al-
luded, have recently been re-organised by B-^rou S.M. Rothschild and
Mr. Chaa. Astric, and cover an area nearly twice that of Berre.
The tides of the Adriatic are considerable, and from the lowness
of the ground, the labour of constructing the basins and dykes
could only be carried on at low water. The moist and rainy
climate of Venice also offers serious obstacles to the manufacture
of Fait ; to overcome these, two plans are adopted. The salting
tables are so arranged that in case of heavy rains, the concentrated
brines can be rapidly run off into deep reservoirs, while other
reservoirs of saturated brine at higher levels serve not only to feed
the salting tables, but to cover with a thick layer those tables
which may contain a large amount o£ salt, and thus protect then^
from the atmospheric waters.

On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water. 103

We may mention here a process which, although unknown in
France, is applied in Russia on the borders of the White Sea, and
may, perhaps, be advantageously employed on our own shores. It
consists in applying the cold of winter to the concentration of the
sea-water. At a low temperature a large quantity of ice separates
but all the saline matters rest in the liquid portionsf so that by
separating the ice, a concentrated brine is obtained, which may
afterwards be evaporated by the summer's sun or by artificial heat.

Treatment of the Bittern or Motlter Liquors. — The waters which
have reached a density of 32^ in the salting tables, have already
deposited the greater part of their common salt, and now contain
a large amount of sulphate and hydrochlorate of magnesia, together
with a portion of chlorid of potassium. The admil-able researches
of Mr. Balard have taught us to extract from these mother liquors,
sulphate of soda, and salts of magnesia and potash, so that although
formerly rejected as worthLss, these liquors are now almost as
valuable as the salt of which they are the residue.

The production of sulphate of soda, which is directly employed
in the manufacture of glass, and as a manure, and still more large-
ly as a material for the fabrication of carbonate of soda, is the
most important object of the working of the mother liquors. Im-
mense quantities of sulphate of soda are now prepared in France
and England by decomposing sea-salt with sulphuric a^idt
which is manufactured with sulphur obtained chiefly from
foreign sources. In view of this immense consumption of sulphur,
it becomes important, especially in time of war when this substance
IS required for the fabrication of gunpowder, to find some source
of sulphate of soda other than the decomposition of sea-salt by
sulphuric acid- This process is besides objectionable from the
vast amount of hydrophloric acid disengaged, which in most local-
ities cannot be entirely consumed, and is very pernicious to both
animal and vegetable life in the vicinity.

It had already been observed that under certain conditions the
reaction between sulphate of magnesia and chlorid of sodium
-could give rise to sulphate of soda ; and Mr. Balard has shown that
by taking advantage of this decomposition, the sulphate of soda
can be advantageously prepared from the bittern of the salting
tables.

When the liquors of 32^ are evaporated by the summer's heat,
they deposit during the day a portion of common salt ; but the
iioblness of the nights causes the separation of crystals of sulphate

104 On the Extraction of Salts from Sea-Water,

of magnesia, and the quantity of this latter salt goes on increasing
as the evaporation advances toward 35**. This mixture t>f salts
(A) is carefully collected, and reserved for the manufacture of the
sulphate of soda.

When the hittern at 36^ is still further evaporated hy the heat
of the sun, it deposits a mixture which is called sel cTeti, and c'or-
tains a large amount of potash. By a second crystallization of this
product, a douWe sulphate of potash and magnesia is obtained,
which holds 24 per cent, of potash ; but this mode of treating the
mother liquors of 35** is less advantageous than the following
Vrhich is now adopted. The' liquors are placed in large basins '
and preserved until the first frosts, when at the temperature of ^SS**
or 40*^ Farenheit, they deposit the greater part of their sulphate
of magnesia in large crystals. This sulphate, which is pure Epsom
salt, is either sold to the apothecaries, or used to prepare sulphate
of soda by the process about to be described. When the sulphate
of magnesia has been thus separated, the liquid is run off into
large reservoirs, and preserved until the next summer, when it is
again evaporated in shallow basins by the sun's fays. It now de-
posits a large amount of a fine granular salt, which is a double chlo-
rid of potassium and magnesium. This double salt can only be
crystallized from solutions containing a large quantity of chlorid
of magnesium,and when re-dissolved in pure water gives pure chlorid
of potassium by ev poration. The double chlorid is rak'ed up
from the tables and placed in piles on the earth, where the mois-
ture causes the salt to decompose ; the magnesian salt deliques-
cing drains off, and the chlorid of potassium remains behind.

The mother liquors having acquired a density of 38*^, have de-
posited all their potash, *and are now evaporated by artificial heat
lo 44^ ; during this evaporation they still deposite a portion of
common salt mixed with sulphate of magnesia (B), and on
cooling, the liquid becomes a solid mass of hydrated chlorid of
mngnesium, which may be employed to furnish caustic and carbo-
nated magnesia* by decomposition. When calcined in a current
of steam, it is completely decomposed into hydrochloric a'lid and
an impure magnesia, still containing some sulphates and chlorids,'
which may be jremoved by water.

By mingling in proper proportions the solution of chlorid of
magnesium at 44^ with brine at 24*^, nearly the whole of the sea-
salt is precipitated in the form of minute crystals of great pure-
ness aud beauty; the mother liquors are then removed by washing

On the Extracttai^ of Salts from Sea-Water, 105

with a saturated brine, and in this way a veiy fine quality of table
salt may be advantageously manufactured,

During these successive concentrations the volume of the water
has become greatly diminished, 10,00d gallons of sea- water re-
duced to 26%. (the point at which it begins to deposit salt,)
measure only 935 gallons ; at 30°, 200 gallons ; at 31°, 50 gallons ;
and at 34°, are reduced to a volume of only 30 gallons.

Preparation of Sulphate of Soda, — For this process the cold
of autumn and winter is required. The mixtures of sea-salt and
sulphate of magnesia, (A and B.) together with the pure sulphate
of magnesia obtained from the mother liquors at 32*^, are dissolved
in water heated to 95^ F., with the addition of such a quantity of
common salt as shall make the proportions of the two salts equal
to 80 parts of chlorid of sodium to 60 of anhydrous sulphate of
magnesia. The warm saturated solution is exposed in shallow ba-
sins to a cold o( 32 ® F., when it deposits 120 parts of hyd rated
sulphate of soda, equal to 64 of anhydrous sulphate, or three-fourths
of the sulphuric acid of the mixture. In theory, about equal
weights of the two salts are necessary for their mutual decompo-
sition, but an excess of common salt diminishes the solubility of
the sulphate of soda, and thus augments the product. Fi-om the
residual liquid, which contains chlorid of magnesium mixed with
common salt and a portion of sulphate of magnesia, the latter
salts may be separated by evaporation. The sulphate of soda is
converted into carbonate of soda by the usual process of calcina-
tion with carbonate of lime and coal.

The Potash Salts. — The chlorid of potassium obtained by the
process already indicated, is decomposed by sulphuric acid, and
the resulting sulphate at once converted into carbonate of potash
by a process similar to that employed for the manufacture of car-
bonate of soda. The carbonate of potash thus prepared is free
from sulphate and chlorid, as well as from silica and alumina, and
those metallic impurities which like iron and manganese^ are al-
ways present in the salt obtained from wood-ashes, and render the
potashes of America and Russia unfit for the fabrication of fine
crystal glass. The double sulphate of potash and magnesia may
be at once decomposed like the sulphate of potash, by limestone
and coal, and both it and ^the chlorid may be directly employed
in the fabrication of potash-alum, a salt which contains nearly
ten per cent potash, and of which five thousand tons are annual-
ly manufactured in France. The high price of the salts of potash

106 On the Extraction of Salts from Sea- Water.

has led the manufacturers of alum to replace this alkali wholly
or in part by ammonia, but the potash salts from sca-viatcr will
furnish potash so cheaply as to render the use of ammouia no
longer advantageous.

The greater part of chlorid of potassium as yet produced in the
salines in the south of France is now however, employed chiefly
in the Imperial manufactories of saltpetre or nitrate of potasU.
The nitrate of soda which is so abundant in some parts of South
America, is decomposed by chlorid of potassium, yiel ling com-
mon salt, and pure nitrate of potash for the fabrication of gun-
povder.

Yield of the Mother Liquors. — According to a calculation of
Mr. Balard the proportion of sulphate in sea- water corresponds to
a quantity of anhydrous sulphate of soda equal to one-eighth that
of the common salt, but on a large scale the whole of this cannot
be economically extracted ; the saline of Baynas yields annually
besides 20,000 Ions of sea-salt, 1550 tons of dried sulphate of
soda, or 7*75 per cent, instead of the 12*50 per cent, indicated by
theory. Estimating the yield at 7*0 per cent according to Payen,
the cost of the sulphate will be 30 francs the ton, which will make
the cost of the crude carbonate of soda 50 francs, while it brings
in France from 80 to 120 francs the ton.

The amount of chlorid of potassium obtained is equal to one-
hundredth, or to 200 tons for the above amount of seasalt, and
the value of this salt is 360 francs the ton. By its decomposition
it will yield 185 of pure carbonate of potash, which sells for 1000
or 1100 francs the ton. Thus it appears that for 20,000 tons of
sea-salt, worth at 10 francs the ton, 200,000 francs, there is ob-
tained chlorid of potassium for the value of 72,0^0 francs. The
potash being a secondary product from the residues of thi3 pro-
cesses for sea-salt and sulphate of soda, is obtained almost with-
out additional cost It has been shown by careful calculations
that the sulphate of soda and the potash from the waters of the
Mediterranean, will alone repay the expense of extraction, the
sea-salt first deposited, being re-dissolved and carried back to the
ocean« A powerful company is now erecting works on a great
scale in the vicinity of Marseilles, where the marshes of the Ca-
marguc offer a great extent of waste lands, valueless for cultiva-
tion, but well adapted for this manufacture. Here it is proposed
to evaporate the sea-water solely for the sake of the sulphates,
the potash and the magnesia which it contains. Basins which are

On the Extraciion of Suits from SeorWater. 10^

already covered with a layer of sea-salt, are very advantageously
employed for the evaporation of the mother liquors, from the ease
with which the potash and magnesia salts may be collected from
it in a state of purity. ^

The amount of salt produced in France in 1847 was about 5l0,
000 tons, of which 263,000 were from the salt-marshes of the Me-
diterranean, 231,000 from those of the western coast, and 76,000
from salt-springs and a mine of rock-salt ; there were employed
in these 16,650 workmen. If we estimate the produce of the salt
marshes in round numbers at 500,000 tons, the amount of chlorid
of potassium to be obtained from the mother liquors, at one per
cent., will be 5000 tons, and that of the sulphate of soda at seven
per cent, will be 35,000 tons. The amount of sulphate of soda
annually manufactured in France is 65,000 tons, requiring for
this purpose 54,000 tons of sea-salt, and nearly 1 4,000 tons of
sulphur, which is completely lost in the manufacture of carbonate
of soda.* If now the mother liquors from an area twice as great
as is now occupied by all the salines in France, were wrought
with the same results as atBaynas, they would yield besides 70,
000 tons of sulphate of soda, or more than is required for the
wants of the country, 10,000 tons of chlorid of potassium, equal
to 9,250 tons of pure carbonate of potash, a quantity far greater
than is consumed in France, and would enable her to export pot-
ash salts. According to Mr. Balard the consumption of potash
in France amounted in 1848 to 5,000 tons, of which 3,000 were
imported, and 1,000 tons extracted from the refuse of the beet-
root employed in the manufacture of sugar.

The production of the two alkalies, potash and soda, offers some
very interesting relations. Previous to the year 1792, soda was
obtained only by the incineration of sea-weed and maritime plants,
but it was at that epoch, when France was at war with the whole
of Europe that her necessities led to the discovery of a mode of ex-

* The soda manufactory of Chauoaj, established in connection with
the glass works of St. Gobain, consumes above 5,000 tons of ^ulphur
yearly, and the immense establishment of Tennant, at St. RoUox, near
Glasgow, employs annually 17,000 tons of salt, 6,550 of sulphur, and
4,500 tons of oxyd of manganese. It produced in 1854, 12,000 tons of so-
da-ash, 7,000 of crystallized carbonate of soda, besides 7,000 tons of
chlorid of lime, prepared with the chlorine obtained by decomposing the
waste hydrochloric acid from the soda process by the oxyd of manganese.
The cost of sulphur in England in 1854 was about twenty-fire dol*
lars the ton.

108 On the Extraction of Salts from Sea-Water,

tracffn|r soda f' cm ^a-salt. Obliged f<yr the purposes of war to
employ all the potash which the country could produce, for the
manufa(;ture of saltpetre, it became ueofssary for the fabrication
of soaps and glass to replace this alkali by soda, and therefore to
devise some more abundant source of it than was afforded by sea-
weed. It was then that the Government haNing offered a prize
for the most advantageous method of extracting tlie soda from
sea-salt, Leblanc proposed the process above alluded to, wliich
consists in converting the chlorid of sodium into sulphate, and
decomposing this salt by calcining it with a proper mixture of
ground limestone and coal, thus producing carbonate of soda and
an insoluble oxy-sulphuret of calcium. This remarkable process,
perfect from its infancy, has now been adopted throughout the
woFld, " and those who thought to annihilate the industry of
France were soon obliged to borrow from her those great resources
which French science had invented." (^Payen^ Ckimie Industri-
die, p. 20D.)

Soda has now replaced potash to a very great extent in all
those arts where it can without prejudice be substituted for the
latter ; potash is however indispensable for the* manufacture of
fine crystal and Bohemian glass, for the fabrication of saltpetre,
as well as for the preparation of various other salts employed in
the arts. The country people in France having been accustomed
to employ the crude American potash for the bleaching of linen,
were unwilling to make use of the purer soda-ash, and the result
^ that a great part of what is sold as American potash in France,
is nothing more than an impure caustic soda, coloured red with
flub-oxyd of copper, and fused with an admixture of common salt,
which serves to reduce its strength, and give it the aspect of the
cmde potash of this country.

But notwithstanding the soda from sea-salt is now replacing
potash to so large an extent, the supply of this alkali is scarcely
adequate to the demand, and the consequence is that while the
price of soda has greatly diminished, that of potash has of late
years considerably augmented, and it bas even been proposed to
extract this alkali from feldspar and granitic rocks, by processes
which can hardly prove remunerative. The rapid destruction of the
forests before the advancing colonization of this continent, threat-
ens at no distant day to diminish greatly the supplies of this as
jet important production of our country, and it was therefore a
problem of no small importance for the industrial science of the

On the Extraction of Salts from Sm- Water, 109

future, to discover an economicai and unfailing source of potash.
The new process of Mr. Balard appears to fulfil the conditions "re-
quired, and will, for the time to come, render the arts indepen-
dent of the supplies to be derived from vegetation.

In more ways than one, this result will be advantageous for
our country ; the importance of potash salts as a manure, is now
bfgi piling to be undei stood, and it is seen that the removal from
the land in the shape of ashes, of the alkali which during a cen-
tury has been taken up from the eartli and stored in the glowing
forest, is really an unwise economy, for the same alkali restored
to the soil becomes a fertilizer of great value. It is to be feared
too that in many parts of the country, the colonist wishing to
render the for eat available as: an immediate source of gain, has
thought rather to cut down and burn the wood for the sake of its
ashes, than to cultivate the land thus cleared. The effect of this
short-sighted policy in thus destroying our forests, is already be-
ginning to be seriously felt in some parts of our country, where
the early settlers looking upon the forest as their greatest enemj,
sought only to drive back its limits as.fast and as far as possi-
ble, and have thus left the borders of the St. Lawrence nearly des-
titute of wood, so that the cultivator is often obliged to bring from
a distance of many miles that fuel, which in a country like ours,
is such an important necessary of life, and now commands in our
large towns a high price, which is annually increasing. But apart
from their value as sources of fuel, the importance of occasional
forests in breaking the force of winds, and tempering both the
cold blasts of winter, and the heat and dryness of the summer,
should not be overlooked in a country which like ours, is exposed
to great extremes of temperaturo. The unwise policy which former-
ly levelled with an unsparing hand the forests of Provence, has
rendered portions of that country almost a desert, exposed to the
strong winds which descend from the Alps. Future generations
may plant forests where we are now destroying them.

But to return from this digression ; it is worthy of consideration
whether the extraction of salt from sea-water, for the internal
consumption of the province, as well as for the supply of the im-
mense fisheries on our coasts, might not be made a profitable
branch of industry. The shores of the lower St. Lawrence, or
of the Bay of Chaleurs, would probably afford many favorable lo-
calities, for the establishment of salines ; the heat of our summers
which may be compared to those of the south of France, would

110 Contributions to Meteorology,

%

produce a very rapid evaporation, while the severe frosts of our

winters might be turned to account for the concentration of the
water by freezing, as is practised in northern Russia. Expe-
riments would enable us to determine how far the concentration
can be carried during the winter months, and whether this pro-
cess could be advantageously employed during the cold season,
in preparing strong brines for the summer. The sulphates of
magnesia and soda, and the potash salts, would find a ready mar-
ket in England, if the consumption of carbonate of soda and soda-
ash in the province should not be found sufficient to warrant the
establishment of furnaces for the manufacture of these alkalies in
the country.

In the construction of a saline it would be necessary to choose
a locality where there is a considerable extent of nearly level surface
between the lines of high and low water. High embankments
would be necessary to protect the evaporating ground against the
tides of our coasts, but these once constructed, the high tides
would enable us to fill reservoirs at such an elevation as would
carry the water by its own gravity through a series of basins, and
thus dispense, in a great measure at least, with the elevating ma-
chines employed in the salines of the Mediterranean.

I have given these suggestions, and have entere J into many de-
tails of the process of working the salines, from a conviction of
the great importance of this industry as now developed in France,
and from a hope that some persons may be induced to inquire
whether those processes may not be economically applied upon
our own coasts.

T. 8. H.

ARTICLE Xn. — Contributions to Meteorology^ reduced from
Observations taken, at St, Martins^ Isle Jesus, County of
Laval, Canada Edst, By Charles Smallwood, M.D.,
L.L.D., Professor of Meteorology, University qf MuGill Col-
lesre.

These observations extend over the past year (1 857). The geo-
graphical co-ordinates of the place are, latitude 45<> 32' north,
and longitude 75° 36' west from Greenwich. The cisterns of the
barometers are 118 feet above the mean sea-level. The instru-
ments are standard ones, and are verified at suitable seasons.
The results are reduced from tri-daily observations, taken at

Con trihuitona to Meteorology. Ill

6 A.M^ 2 P.M., and 10 p.m., (by which the civil day is divided
into 3 equal divisions of 8 hours each,) and the observations arc
subjected to the usual corrections for the construction of instru-
ments and for temperature. The self-registering principle has been
applied to some of them ; and it is matter of regret that more of .
our observations are not thus supplied, for how scientifically in-
correct must be observations on the currents of the wind, for ex-
ample, (and which subject is at the present time forming an
important point for meteorological investigation in all parts of
the world,) unless something better than the mere erapirifal for-
mula of tenths is adopted? However vigilant the observer may
have been, it is not possible that he can approach even to an
approximate estimate of its force or velocity.

Atmospheric Pressure. — The highest reading of the baro-
meter during the year was at 10 p.m. on the 20th December;
and indicated 30.346 inches, and the lowest occurred also in
December, on the 31st day, and indicated 28.880 inches, giv-
ing a range for that month of 1.466 inches. The ftverage
mean range for some years gives the greatest amount in January,
next in December. Judy^ for. a like period, gives the least
range; and July the past year (1857) gave a range of 0.669
inches, which is rather less than the average for some years,
Tlie mean annual pressure was 29.768 inches, which gives 0.082
inches more than the annual mean of the last seven years. The
atmospheric pressure for January was 29.916 inches, for February
29.915 inches, for March 29.718 inches, for April 29.69 1, inches,
for May 29.682 inches, for June 29.615 inches, for July 29.754
inches, for August 29.723 inches, for September 29.842 inches,
for October 29.824 inches, for November 29.681 inches, and for
December 29.743 inches.

The greatest barometric range within twenty-four hours with
a rising column, was 0.679 inches, on the 8th of February; and
the greatest range with a falling column was 0.877 inches, on the
27th February. Both these variations occurred at Toronto ; the
latter happened twenty-four hours sooner there.

The Symmetrical Wave of November was marked by its usual
fluctuations. The final trough terminated at noon on the 23rd
day.

Temperature, — The mean temperature for the year was 40.57
degrees, which Ehows it 0.99 degrees colder than the mean an-
nual temperature of the last seven years. The month of Janu-

112 Contributions id Meteorology.

ary was scarcely ever equalled for the low reading of the thermo-
meter, and indicated 9.21 degrees lower than the mean tempera-
ture of January for the last sev^n years, and is the coldest Janu-
ary on record here. The mean temperature of the mouth was
4.05 degrees.

February was the warmest February on record, the mean tem-
perature being 21.61 degrees, and 8.30 degrees, higher than the
mean of February fv)r the last seven years. The highest tempe-
rature observed in February was 46.1 degrees, which exceeds by
6 degrees the mean highest temperature of the month of February
for the last seven years.

The lowest temperature was observed on the 18th January,
and was — 31.8 degrees (below zero), and the highest reading
of the thermometer was on the 14th of July, indicating 98
degrees ; making a yearly range of 130.5 degrees, which is less
by 6.2 degrees than the greatest absolute range for the past
seven years. July was the warmest month, the mean tempera-
ture being 71.57 degrees, which is 3.21 degrees less than the
mean annual temperature for July for the last seven years. The
mean temperature for each month was as follows : January 4.05
degrees, February 21.61, March 23.79, April 37.19, May 51.90,
June 61.44, July 71.67, August 65.07, September 57.47, October
44.19, November 33.69, and December 14.96.

The cold terms of January were felt generally in Canada, and
through the Eastern and the Northern States. On the 18th Janu-
ary, at Missisquoi, the thermometer attained a minimum of 42
degrees below zero. This fact was kindly furnished me by Mr,
J. C! Baker, At Sherbrooke, my friend Dr. Johnston writes me,
the greatest cold observed was on the morning of the 24th Janu-
ary, when the mercury in the thermometer was frozen, in those
instruments using it; and Professor Miles of Lennoxville Col-
lege observed his spirit thermometer at 44 degrees below zero ;
while at Missisquoi on the 24th Mr. Baker's record showed a
temperature of 24 degrees below zero, and at this place on
the 24th day the mercury stood at 29.6 degrees below zero;
the spirit thermometer stood also at the same temperature.
At Watertown, N. Y., on the 18th, the temperature was 36
degrees below zero ; and on the 24th, at the same place, frozen
mercury was carried about in a vial for exhibition. At Harvard
College, at 7 a.m. on the 24th, the thermometer indicated a tem-
perature of 16° — (below zero), at Albany it reached 30^ — , at

CantribuHon to Meteorology* 113

Providence it reached 32^ — ^ at Quebec 39o.6 — ; while more
south the weather was somewhat moderate, but was accompanied
by very heavy snow-storms.

In Montreal the record of my friend Dr. Hall indicated on the
18th a temperature of only 20° — (below zero); on the 23d,
21^ — ; and on the 24th, 25.1 — , •

The Mean of Sumidity for the year was 0.822, and indicated
0.008 of moisture above the average of the last seven years. The
mean humidity for January was 0.925, for February 0,350, for
March 0.820, for April 0.821, for May 0.763, for June 0.Y86, for
July 0.800, for August 0.848, for September 0.823, for October
0.859, for November 0.871, and for December 0.800. Complete
saturation occurred but at one observation during the year.

Rain fell on 105 days. It rained 556 hours 8 minutes,
and amounted to 48.251 inches on the surface. This depth ex-
ceeds by 5.147 inches the mean yearly amount of the last seven
years. On 19 days, the rain was accompanied^ by thunder and
lightning.

Snow fell on 50 days. It snowed 273 hours 15 minutes, and
amounted to 86.98 inches on the surface. This amount shows a
decrease of 8.78 inches from the mean of the last seven years.

The greatest amount of rain fell in October, and indicated
6.823 inches; the least amount in January, and was inappre--
ciable.

The greatest amount of snow fell in December, and reached
26.81 inches. The least amount fell on the 29th September,
being the first snow of the autumn. The last snow in spring fell
on the 27th of April.

Evaporation, — ^The amount of water evaporated from the sur-
face during the months of April, May, June, July, August, Sep-
tember, and October amounted to 20.245 inches, which amount
represents very nearly the average of the last seven years. The
amount of ice evaporated during the remaining months gives an
equivalent of 9.57 inches of evaporation from the sur&ce. The
monthly amount of evaporation bears a striking proportion to the
humidity of the air, and to the velocity and the direction of the
wind.

Winds. — The most prevalent wind during the year was the
Westerly, and the least was the East The whole amount of
wind for the year was 54,425.10 miles, which shows an increase
of 1,363.47 miles over the amount of last year. The mean relo-

0

114 * Contribution to Meteorology.

city for the year was 6.18 per hoar. The most windy hour wad
from 2 to 3 a.m. od the 25th of November, when the wind
reached a velocity of 49.89 miles. January was the most windy
month, and July the calmest. The mean velocity for the year
exceeds by 1.10 miles the mean velocity of the Toronto anemo-
metric observations* The N. E. by £. wind shows a great amount
in miles, owing to its velocity being greater' than the winds
from any other point of the compass with the exception of the
westerly. ,

The greatest intensity of the sun's rays for the year was 122® ;
and the lowest point of terrestrial radiation was S2^A — (below
zero).

The amount of Dew during the year was less than the usual
average.

There were 31 days perfectly cloudless, which gives 26 more
cloudy days than the mean amount of cloudy days during the
last seven years. There were 113 nights suitable for astronom-
ical purposes.

The winter of 1856 fairly set in on the 14th December.
The Song Sparrow [Fringilla melodiay, the harbinger of
spring, first made its appearance on the 25th March. Swallows
{Hirudo rufa) first seen 19th April. Frogs [Rana) first seen
^ 22nd April, Shad (Alosa) first caught 24th May. Fire-flies
(^Lampyrus corusca) first seen 19th June. Snow-birds {Phl^ctro-
phanes nivalis) first seen 22nd December, 1856. (Very few were
seen during the past winter, 1857-8.)
Crows wintered here.

Ozone, — The amount of ozone during the year has shown a
little increase on the amount of last year.

Atmospheric Electricity , — The amount present has been some-
what below the usual average. The electricity of serene weather
has indicated very feeble intensity ; and during the summer
thunder-storms the amount has been varied both in intensity and
kind. Maximum intensity 360°, in terms of Volta's No. 1 Elec-
trometer.

A suitable instrument for collecting atmospheric electricity of
small expense, is still a th^ng to be desired, to obviate the use
and consequent expense of collecting and insulating lamps, which
require constant attention. I have one constructed on the plan
of Romershausen, but have not yet used it suflSciently to test
its collecting powers.

Packing of the Ice, 115

The Aurora Borealis was visible at observation-Lour on 24
nights ; and Lunar Halos were visible at the same hour on 6
nights. The Zodiacal Light was unusually bright at the evening
observations, but the morning observations did not show any such
increased brightness.

St. Martin, Isle J^sus, 3d April, 1858.

ARTICLE Xin,— On the Packing of the Ice in the River St,

Lawrence. — By Sir W. E. Logan.

(From the Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, for June

15, 1842 ; vol. iii., p. Y66.)

The island of Montreal stands at the confluence of the rivers Ot-
tawa and St Lawrence, and is the largest of several islands splitting
up these mighty streams, which cannot be said to be thoroughly
mingled until they have descended some miles below the whole
cluster. Th^ rivers first come in contact in a considerable sheet of
water called Lake St. Louis, which separates tlie upper part of the
island of Montreal from the southern main. But thousrh the
streams here touch, they do not mingle. The waters of the St.
•Lawrence, which are beautifully clear and transparent^ keep along
tlie southern' shore, while those of the Ottawa, of a darker aspect,
though by no means turbid, wash the banks of the island ; and
the contrast of colour they present strongly marks their line of
contact for many miles.

Lake St. Louis is at the widest part about six miles broad, with
a length of twelve miles. It gradually narrows towards the lower
end, and the river as it issues from it becoming compressed into
the space of half a mile, rushes \^ith great violence down the
lUpids of Lachine, and, although the stream is known to be
upwards of eight feet deep, it is thrown into huge surges of nearly
as many feet high as it passes over its rocky bottom, which at this
spot is composed of layers of trap extending into floors that lie
in successive steps.

At the termination of this cascade the river expands to a breadth
of four miles, and flows gently on, until it again becomes cramped
up by islands and shallows opposite the city of 'Montreal. From
Windmill Point and Point St Charles above the town, several
ledges of rock, composed of trap lying in floors, which in seasons
of low water are not mu^h below the surface, shoot out into the
stream about 1000 yards ; and similar layers pointing to these come

116 Peking of the Ice.

out from LoDgaeuil on the opposite shore. In the narrow cBan-
nel between them, the water, rushing wkh much force, produces
the Sault Normandy and cooped up a little lower down by the
island of St. Helen and sereral projecting patches of trap, it forms
St. Mary's Current

The interval between St. Helen and the south shore is greater
than that between it and Montreal ; but the former is so floored
and crossed by hard trap rocks that the St. Lawrence has as yet
produced but little effect in wearing them down, while in the
latter it has cut out a channel between thirty and forty feet deep,
through which the chief part of its waters rush with a velocity
equal to six miles per hour. It is computed that by this channel
alone upwards of a million of tons flow past the town every
minute.

Between this point and Lake St. Peter, about fifty miles down,
the river has an average breadth of two miles, and proceeding in
its course with a moderate current., accelerated or retarded a little
according to the presence or absence of shoals, it enters the lake by
a multitude of channels cut through its delta, and forming a group
of low flat alluvial islands.

The frosts commence about the end of November, and a margin
of ice of some strength soon forms along the shores of the river
and around every island and projecting rock in it ; and wherever
there is still water it is immediately cased over. Tne wind, acting
on this glacial fringe, breaks off portions in various parts, and
these proceeding down the stream constitute a moving border on
the outside of the statibnary one, which, as the intensity of the
cold increases, is continually augmented by the adherence of the
ice-sheets which have been coasting along it ; and as the station-
ary border thus robs the moving one, this still further outflanks
the other, until in some part the margins from the opposite
shores nearly meeting, the floating ice becomes jammed up be-
tween them, and a night of severe frost forms a bridge across the
river. The first ice-bridge below Montreal is usually formed at
the entrance of the river into Lake St Peter, where the many
channels into which the stream is split up greatly assist the
pi6ce8s.

As soon as this winter barrier is thrown across (generally
towards Christmas) it of course rapidly increases by stopping the
progress of the downward-floating ice, which has by this time
assumed a character of considerable grandeur, nearly the whole

Packing of 1h$ Ie€» 117

mr&ce of the stream being covered with it ; and the quantity is
60 great, that to account for the supply, many, unsatisfied with
the supposition of a marginal origin, have recourse to t^e hypo-
thesis that a very large portion is formed on and derived from the
bottom of the river, where rapid currents exist But whatever its
origin, it now moves in solid and extensive fields, and wherever it
meets with an obstade in its course, the momentum of the mass
breaks up the striking part into huge fragments that pile over
one another ; or if the obstacle be stationary ice,* the fragments
are driven under it and there closely packed. Beneath the con-
stantly widening ice-barrier mentioned, an enormous quantity is
thus driven, particularly when the barrier gains any position
wher« the current is stronger than usual. The augmented force
with which the masses there move, pushes and packs so much
below, that the space left for the river to flow in is gnatly dimin-
ished, and the consequence is a perceptible rise of the waters
above, which indeed from the very first taking of the bridge
gradually and slowly increase for a considerable way up.

There is no place on the St. Lawrence where all the phenomena
of the taking, packing and shoving of the ice are so grandly dis-
played as in the neighbourhood of Montreal, l^e violence of
the currents is here' so great, and the river in some places expands
to such a width, that whether we consider the prodigious extent
of the masses moved or the force with which they are propelled,
nothing can afford a more majestic spectacle, or impress the mind
more thoroughly with a sense of irresistible power. Standing for
hours together upon the bank overlooking St. Mary's Current, I
have seen league after league of ice crushed and broken against
the barrier lower down, and there submerged and crammed
beneath ; and when we reflect that an operation similar to this
occurs in several parts from Lake St. Peter upwards, it will not
surprise us that the river should gradually swell. By the time
the ice has become stationary at the foot of St. Mary's Current,
the waters of the St Lawrence have usually risen several feet in
the harbour of Montreal, and as the space through which this
current flows affords a deep and narrow passage for nearly the
whole body of the river, it may well be imagined that when the
packing here begins the inundation rapidly increases. The con-
fined nature of this part of the channel affords a ntore ready
resistance .to the progress of the ice, while the violence of the
current brings «uch an abundant supply, and packs it with so

118 Pcuiking of the Ice,

much force, that the river, dammed up by the barrier, which ii>
many places reaches to the bottom, attains in the harbour a height
usually twenty, and sometimes twenty-six feet above its summer
level ; and it is not uncommon between this point and the foot of
the ciirrent within the distance of a mile, to see a difference in
elevation of several feet, which undergoes many rapid changes,
the waters ebbing or flawing according to the amount of impedi-
ment they meet with in their progress, from submerged ice.

It is at this period that the grandest movements of the ice
occur. From the effect of packing and piling and the accumula-
tion of the snows of the season, the saturation of these with water,
and the freezing of the whole into a solid body, it attains the
thickness of ten to twenty feet, and even more ; and after it has
become fised as far as the eye can reach, a sudden ^rise in the
water, occasioned no doubt in the manner mentioned, lifting up a
wide expanse of the whole covering of the river so high as to free
and start it from the many points of rest and resistance offered
by the bottom, where it bad been packed deep enoagh to touch
it, the vast mass is set in motion by the whole hydraulic power
of this gigantic stream. Proceeding onward with a truly terrific
majesty, it piles up over every obstacle it encounters ; and when
forced into a narrow part of the channel, the lateral pressure it
t here exerts drives the bordage up the banks, where it sometimes
accumulates to the height of forty or fifty feet In front of the
town of Montreal there has lately been built a magnificent rev6te-
ment wall of cut limestone to the height of twenty-three feet
above the summer level of the river. This wall is -now a great
protection against the effects of the ice. Broken by it, the ice
piles on the street or terrace surmounting it, and tliere stops ; but
before the wall was built, the sloping bank guided the nK>ving
mass up to those of gardens and houses in a very dangerous
manner, and many accidents used to occ«r. It has been known
to pile up against the side of a house more than 200 feet from
the margin of the river, and there break in at the windows of the
second floor. I have seen it mount a terrace garden twenty feet
above the bank, and crossing the garden enter one of the princi-
pal streets of the town. A few years before the erection of the
rev^tement wall, a friend of mine, tempted by the commercial
advantages of the position, ventured to build a large cut-stone
warehouse 180 feet long and four or five stories high, closer than
usual upon the margin of the harbour. The ground-floor was not

Packing of the Ice, 119

more than eight feet abov^e the summer level of the river. At
the taking of the ice, the usual rise of the water of course
inundated the lower story, and the whole building becoming
surrounded by a frozen sheet, a general expectation was entertain-
ed that it would be prostrated by the first movement. But the
proprietor had taken a very simple and effectual precaution to
prevent this. Just before the rise of the waters he securely laid
against three side^ of the building, at an angle of less than 45*^, a
number of stout oak logs a few feet asunder. When the move-
ment came the sheet of ice was broken and pushed up the wooden
inclined plane thus formed, at the top of which meeting the wall
of the building, it was reflected into a vertical position, and
falUng back, in this manner such an enormous ram]iart of ice was
in a few niinutes placed in front of the warehouse as completely
shielded it from all possible danger. In some years the ice has
piled up nearly as high as the roof of this building. Another
gentleman, encouraged by the security which this warehouse ap-
parently enjoyed, erected one of great strength and equal magni-
tude on the next water lot, but ho omitted to. protect it in the
same way. The result might have been anticipated. A move-
ment of the ice occurring, the great sheet struck the walls at right
angles, and pushed over the building as if it had been a hduse of
cards. Both positions are now secured by the rev^tement wall.

Several movements of the grand order just mentioned occur
before the final setting of the ice, and each is immediately pre-
ceded by a sudden rise of the river. Sometimes several days and
occasionally but a few hours will intervene between them ; and it
is fortunate that there is a criterion by which the inhabitants are
made aware when the ice may b^ considered at rest for the
season, and ii^hen it has therefore, become safe for them to cut
their winter roads across its rough and pinnacled surface. This
is never the case until a longitudinal opening of considerable
extent appears in some part of St Mary's Current. It has em-
barrassed many to give a satisfactory reason why this rule, derived
from the experience of the peasantry, should be depended on.
But the explanation is extremely simple. The opening is merely
an indication that a free sub-glacial passage has been made for
itself by the water, through the combined influence of erosion and
temperature, the effect of which, where the current is strongest,
has been sufficient to wear through to the surface. The forma-
tion of this passage shows the cessation of a supply of submerged

120 , Packing of the Ice,

ice, and a consequent security against any further rise of the river
to loosen its covering for any further movement The opening
is thus a true mark of safety. It lasts the whole winter, never
freexing over even when the temperature of the air reaches 80**
below zero of Fahrenheit ; and from its first appearance the waters
of the inundation gradually subside, escaping through the channel
of which it is the index. The waters seldom if ever however fall
so low as to attain their summer level ; but the subsidence^is suffi-
ciently great to demonstrate clearly the prodigious extent to
which the ice has been packed^ and to show that over great occa-
sional areas it has reached to the very bottom of the river. For
it will immediately occur to every one, that when the mass rests
on the bottom its height will not be diminished by the subsidence
of the water, and that as this pr6ceeds, the ice, according to the
thickness which it has in various parts attained, will present
various elevations after it has found a resting-place beneath, until
just so much is left supported by the stream as is sufficient to
permit its free escape. When the subsidence has attained its
maximum, the trough of the St. Lawrence therefore exhibits a
glacial landscape, undulating into hills and valleys that run in
various directions, and while some of the principal mounds stand
upon a base of 500 yards in length, by a hundred or two in
breadth, they present a height of ten to fifteen feet above the level
of those parts still supported on the water.

On the banks of the St. Lawrence, in the neighbourhood of
Montreal, there is an immense collection of boulders, chiefly from
rocks of igneous origin, and among them syenite greatly abounds.
They are of all sizes, but many are very large, and multitudes
must be tons in weight From their appearance above the surface
in shallow parts of the river it is very probable the bed of it teems
with them also ; and it is remarked by the inhabitants that the
positions of these boulders, both in the river and on the banks,
frequently appear changed after the removal of the ice in the
spring. I spent several days in the autumn of last year examin*
ing the boulders along shore, all the way from Montreal to La-
chine, a distance of nine miles; and on again looking at them in the
«pring I missed sonie which had particularly attracted my atten-
tion, but as I had not mapped their positions I may inadvertently
have passed them over. But when we consider the manner in
which the ice packs and subsequently moves, it cannot fail to ap-
pear a very probable agent in transporting these blocks. Closely

Packing of the Iee» 121

jammed together down to the yery bottom of the river over such
extenflive areas as have been mentioned, and there solidified bj
severe frosts around the projecting materials that present them-
selves to its grasp, the ice must seize a multitude of the loose
boulders below ; and not only will these be carried away, occa-
sionally to very considerable distances, when it breaks up in the
spring, but firmly set in their glacial matrix, they will, when in
the course of the movements that occur, such masses as hold
them are forced over shallow places, act as gravers to register in
parallel groove on the face of such rocks as they encounter, a
memento of their progress as they pass along.

The boulders in the middle of the river may at once be occa-
sionally carried to considerabte distances ; but it can scarcely be
80 with such as are stationed at or near the borders. For though
these may become packed and imbedded in marginal ice, and by
the force of a general movement or skovCj as it is termed by the
inhabitants, be driven obliquely up the bank, as soon as this
ceases they will there be left ; and as these general movements
occur only three or four times during a season, and are never of
long continuance, and even where' the marginal ice is driven up
the bank the friction it suffers soon causes succeeding portions to
pile over one another, it is evident the boulders would not be
carried by it to any very great distance. When a break-up
occurs in the spring, it is the great body of ice in the middle of
the river that is carried away, which, separating from the ground-
ed portion on the margin, leaves this to be melted down by the
increasing temperature of the s<ia8on. The movements of suc-
ceeding winteis may push marginal boulders farther and farther
on, but they must at the same time have a tendency to carry all
within a certain range gradually nearer to the bank, and at last
place them in a position at the very limit of their influence. And
it is certainly the case, that in the neighbourhood of Montreal
there are in many places along the borders of the river collections
of boulders sufiSciently great to induce the supposition that their
presence may be. accounted for in this manner.

It is not however only on the immediate banks «f the St Law-
rence that boulders abound. They are more or less spread over
the whole island of Montreal, and over the plains on the opposte
side of the river. I do not pretend to have ascertained their
distribution with the precision necessary to permit the expression
of an opinion as to the causes which placed them, bnt I may state

122 Geological OUa^ings,

that they, appeared to me more abnodant in the upper part of
the island than in the lower, and that proceeding down the valley
of the St. Lawrence they ceased altogether not many miles below
the island in question : and it may be further remarke^d, that they
did not seem of less weight at the limit of their range than else-
where.

ARTICLE XW.— Geological Gleanings.

Prof, Wyman on Carboniferous Reptiles, — Silliman's Journal,
No. 74. — (3ne result of the progress of geological inquiry is that
of carrying back the higher forms of life farther and farther into
geological time. Mammals are now represented by a number of
secondary species, and the reptiles, in their amphibian forms,
occur in the Palaeozoic series as far back as the upper Devonian.
Still the multiplication of such instances serves only farther to
convince us that we are nearing the periods of the introduction of
these forms, for the reptiles of the coal period are all amphibian,
and therefore among the lower members of the class, though high
among these lower members, while the Mesozoic mammals are
chiefly marsupial, and otherwise deficient in the more special-
lized characters of the higher members of that group.

" One of the most interesting subjects presented to the palseon-
tologist for investigation, is that relating to the determination of
the period when the Creator gaye forms to organized beings and
placed them in definite relations with the earth and its atmo*
sphere, and made them living things. But the history of geology
shows, that generalizations as to the time and circumstances of the
creation of given animal forms have approached precision, only as
the depths of the ancient lakes and oceans have been faithfully
explored, and the shores and dry lands which co-existed with them
have been accurately examined.

^ It was during the deposition of the Oolite that reptilian life
reached its culminating point ; below this, the deeper explorations
are carried, the less numerous are the remains of reptiles found to
bo, and it has been assumed within a few years even, that their
creation took place during the triassic period. The coal forma-
tions had been largely examined, thousands of fishes and still lower
animals had been discovered, before the first traces of reptiles came

Geological Qleanmgs^ 129

to light in tlie remainB of ApateoD and ArchegoBaurus, After
these, there were found the footprints and other remains of other
reptiles, discovered or described by Goldfuss, Burmeister, Dr,
King, Sir C. Lyell, Mr. Lea, H. Von Meyer, Profs, X^avrson,
Owen, H. I>. Rogers, and E. Hitchcock. The Telerpeton, dis-
covered by Dr. Mantell, was obtained from the upper layers of
the £lgin sandstones ; and these some of the leading English geo"
legists have referred to the Old red. Doubts have recently arisen
as to their real age, so that, in the present state of knowledge we
eannot refer reptile life to a period older than the Coal, However,
in view of our as yet imperfect knowledge of the Old red fauna,
the question may still be raised whether we have even now reached
the period of primoidal reptiles."

The reptiles of the Devonian are still limited to the little Teler-
peton Mginense discovered by Dr. Mantell ; but in the carbonife-
rous period new forms have within the last few years rapidly in-
creased in number. The coal measures of Germany, of the United
States, of Nova Scotia and Great Britain, had between 1844 and
1854 afforded bones or other remains of seven species referred to
five genera, and less distinct evidence perhaps indicating several
additional species. Prof. Wyman has now described remains
found by Profc Newberry and Mr. Wheatley in the Ohio coal field,
of three additional species of smaller size iban some of those pre-
viously discovered, but one of them having its anteriox»liinbs and
vertebral column preserved along with the skull. To this species
Prof. Wyman gives the name of Maniceps Lyelliu Like so many
ancient animals it combines in one species characters now dis-
tributed between two groups, agreeing with the Anourous ba-
trachians, (frogs, <!^c.,) in the form of the head, length of lower
jaws, and absence of ribs, and with the Urodela (Newts, &c.,) in
" the regular convex border of the lower jaw, and in the separar
tion of the bones of fhe fore arm.'' The other species, though
too imperfect for detailed description, are regarded as deviating
still more widely from known forms and probably of higher rank
in nature than the ordinary batrachia.

^ If farther investigations should prove them to be the remains
of Batrachians, with which they have some affinities, then we
shall have a type of which there is no living representative. If
they belong to a group higher in the series, they become
still more interesting, and give evidence of the existence in the
coal formation of animals hitherto referred to later periodsj^

124 Geological Gleanings.

The former of these suppositions is perhaps the more probable, as
the sauriod characters of the batrachiaos hitherto found in the
coal measures, point to the general assumption by the batra-
chians of that early period of structures, afterwards restricted by
I the Creator to nobler members of the class.

Dr. Falconer on Extinct Elephantine Animals. Jour. Geol.
-Society of London, No. 52. — Only two species of elephants exist
in the modem world, but in the later tertiary era there must have
been at least twenty-six species, and these were extensively dis-
tributed over North America, Europe, and Northern Asia, as well
as India. What an addition it would be to the modern fauna,
were these alone of all the great multitude of perished species re-
stored to life, and thus widely diflfused. These species, however,
were not contemporaneous even in the tertiary period. Thirteen
are stated to belong to the Miocene tertiary, one to the Miocene
and Pliocene, dight to the Pliocene, and four to the Post Pliocene.
It would thus appear that the Miocene period in which these giant
proboscideans first appear, gives us also the greatest number of
species. To the Miocene also belong two species of another great
proboscidean, the Dinotherium.

The extinct elephants have hitherto been arranged in two ge-
nera only. 1. Mastodon (Cuvier), having the teeth comparatively
simple, and divided on the crown into broad mammillae or tuber-
cles, arranged in transverse ridges. All the species of this genus
are extinct 2. Elephas (Lin.), having the teeth very complex,
and the crown with numerous thin tran verse ridges, filled in with
cement. The two recent elephants belong to this genus, as well
as the well .known extinct mammoth. Dr. Falconer divides the
Mastodons into two sub-genera, as follows : — 1. Trilopkodon hav-
ing three ridges on each of the true molara 2. Tetralopkodon^
having 4 or more, rarely 5 ridges. The genus Elepbas he divides
into three sub-genera. 1. Stegodon with Y to 8 ridges, obtuse like
those of the mastodons. 2. Loxodon with 7 to 8 ridges, more
elongated and acute than in the Mastodon, 3. Eiielephas having
12 to 18 acute and thin-plated ridges. The genus Trilophodon
includes our American Mastodons, which are the latest represen-
tatives of this form, and extend to the Post Pliocene period. The
Tetralophodons occur principally in the Miocene, and none of
them in the new world. The genus Stegodon is Miocene, and hi-
therto found only in India. The genus Loxodon is represented by
one Miocene and two Pliocene species, and by the recent Afncan

&eological ff leanings, 125

«

Elephant. Eulephaa includes the semi-Arctic mammoth, and
several other species of Post Pliocene, Pliocene, and Miocene date,
as well as the existing Indian Elephant, Dr. Falconer will follow
up this subject by descriptions of all the species occurring in Great
Britain.

Prof, HalVs New Volume on the Paloeontology of New York,
— Silliman's Journal. — ** We have received some sheets of Prof.
James Hall's forthcoming (third) volume on the Palaeontology
of New York ; and learn that it is making rapid progress
towards completion. The volume will include the fossils of the
Lower Helderberg Rocks or the upper part of the Upper Silurian,
and the Onskany Sandstone generally regarded as Devonian,
The author remarks that the sub-divisions of the Lower Helder-
berg beds (into Upper Pentamerus limestone and Tentaculite or
water limestone) are distinguishable only for a short distance^
while the formation as a whole reaches widely from the north-east
to the south-west The Oriskany Sandstone appears in some places
to pass into the Helderberg rocks below, and in Maryland some of
the fossils of the latter beds occur in it ; and they may yet prove
to blend intimately. But the separation of them in successive
groups, is fully justified by their physical condition in the State
of New York.

*' In the south-west, the Oriskany sandstone contains many Cri-
noids similar in genera to those of the Lower Helderberg lime-
stones.. Among the peculiar forms in both, is the genus Edriocri-
nue (Hall) — a crinoid which is sessile in its young state and
firmly attached to other bodies by the base of its cup, but becomes
free' as it advances and gradually loses all evidence of a cicatrix ;
the base becoming rounded and smooth, or very rarely preserving
a depression or pit near the centre, which marks the original point
of attachment."

WoUaston Medals. — At the Annual Meeting of the Geological
Society, a Wollaston medal was awarded to the veteran Palaeon-
tologist, Herman Von Meyer, of Frankfort-on-Maine, and a se-
eond, with the balance of the fund, to Prof. James Hall, State
Geologist of New York. We have much pleasure in recording
this deserved recognition of Prof. Hall's long, able, and to a great
extent unrequited labours, in American geology and palaeonto-
logy.

Distribution of Animals in Australasia, — Many faets in the
distribution of aninutlB and plant^ point to ancient diflferencet of

12S Geological QUaningn,

level which have disconnected lands or eeas formerly united. In
Silliman's Journal we find some facts of this kind, in relation to
Australia, New Guinea, and the Aru Islands, from a paper by
Mr. Wallace in the American Magazine of Natural History,
Shallow seas we are told, about 30 to 40 fathoms in deptk, con-
nect all these islands.

^ "But there is another circnmstance still more strongly proving
this connexion : the great island of Aru, '80 miles in length from
north to south, is traversed by three winding channels of such
uniform (width and depth, though passing through an irregular,
undulating, rocky country, that they seem portions of true rivers,

jugh now occupied by salt water, and open at each end to the
entrance uf the tides. The phenomenon is unique, and we can
account for their formation in no other way than by supposing
them to hav^ been once true rivers, having their source* in the
mountains of New Guinea, and reduced to their present condition
by the subsidence of the intervening land."

Nearly one half of the Passerine birds of New Guinea hitherto
described are contained in the author^s collections made in Aru,
and a number also of species in the other tribes.

The author farther observes on the absence of the peculiar East
Indian types. " In the Peninsula of Malacca, Sumatra, Java,
Borneo and thcT Philippine Islands, the following families are
abundant in species and in individuals. They are everywhere
common birds. They are the Buceridce, Picidce, Bucconidce,
TrogonidcBy MetopidoB, Surylaimidce ; but not one species of all
these families are found in Aru, nor, with two doubtful exceptions,
in New Guinea, The whole are also absent from Australia. To
complete our view of the subject, it is necessary also to consider
the Mammalia, which present peculiarities and deticiencies even
yet more striking. Not one species found in the great islands
westward inhabits Aru or New Guinea. With the exception only
of pigr) and bats, not a genus, not a family, not even an order of
mammals is found in common. No Quadrumana, no Sciuridae,
no Camivora, Rodentia, or Ungulata inhabit these depopulated
forests. With the two exceptions above mentioned, all the mam-
malia are Marsupials ; while in the great western islands there is
not a single*marsupial ! A kangaroo inhabits Aru (and several
New Guinea), and this, with three or four species of Cuscus, two
or three little rat-like marsupials, a wild pig and several bats, are
all the mammalia I have been able either to obtain or hear oC

Cfeologkal Gleanings, 127

Fossil plants of Pennsylvania Coal Field, — We are glad to
observe that M. Lesqiiereux and Professor Rogers have commenc-
ed the publication of the new species of coal plants from Pennsyl-
vania. 106 new species have been described in the Journal of
the Boston Society of Natural History. The results of compari-
son with European species are, that out of 200, 100 " are identical
with species already recognized in the European coal-fields, and
some 50 of them shew differences so slight that a fuller compari-
son with better specimens may result in their identification like-
wise." This is a result vefy similar to that previously deduced
by Mr. Bunbury and Sir G. Lyell from the comparison of speci-
mens from Nova Scotia and other parts of America, with the
European forms. The coal flora of the whole Northern hemis-
phere was remarkably uniform, indicating great facilities for ex-
tensive migrations of plants from west to east, along with a very
equable climate. The geographical forms corresponding to such
conditions would be very different from those now existing.

Supposed remains of Domestic Animals in Post-Pliocene De-
posits in SotUh Carolina, — Prof. Holmes of Charleston College
has published a paper on this subject, which has attained some
celebrity, owing to its introduction into that eccentric piece of
ethnology, the " Indigenaus races of the earth." The nature of the
points maintained by Prof. Holmes may be learned from the
following sentences : —

** Now the evidence herein to be adduced will shew that among
the fossils in South Carolina from beds of this age — Post Pleio-
cene — some of which are exposed at Ashley Ferry, Goose Creek,
Stono, John's Island, and other localities, a number hjCve been
found apparently belonging to animals having specific characters
in common, with recent or living species not considered indige-
nous to this country, such as the horse, hog, sheep, ox, etc.

" A large collection of fossils from this interesting formation
were submitted by me about three years ago, to Prof. Leidy, of
Philadelphia, the eminent palaeontologist, for determination ; of
these a number were returned with the remark, that they appeared
to belotig to recent species which had become accidental occupants
of the same bed with the true fossils. I held the opposite opinion,
and believed that these relics were indeed true fossil remains, as
they were obtained not only from the banks and deltas of rivers,
but a large number from excavations several feet below the surfece,
and at a distance from any stream, creek, pond, bog or ravine;

128 Oeological Gleanings,

and in some cases from excavations below the high sandy land of
cotton fields."

Professor Leidy's explanation of the occurrence of these remains
is as follows : —

'^Tbe interesting coUectioji of remains of vertebrated animals,
which form the subject of the following pages, for the most part
have been submitted to the inspection of the author, by Professor
Holmes and Capt. A. H. Bowman, U. S. A^ who collected them
from the eocene, post-pleiocene, and recent geological formations,
in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina.

"The collections of these gentlemen consist of a most remark-
able intermixture of remains of fishes, reptiles and mammals, of
the three periods mentioned ; and in many cases perhaps we may
err in referring a particular species to a certain formation, more
especially in the case of the fishes. The remains usually consist
of teeth often well preserved, but frequently in small fragments,
more or less water worn ; and most of the fossils are stained
brown or black.

" By far the greater portion of the fo&sil remains are obtained
from the post-pleiocene deposit of the Ashley river, about ten
miles from Charleston. The country in this locality is composed
of a base of whitish eocene marl, containing remains of squalodon
— sharks and rays — above which is a stratum of post-pleiocene
marl, about one foot in thickness, overlaid by about three feet of
sand and earth mould.

" The post-pleiocene marl contains great quantities of irregular
water worn fragments of the eocene taarl rock from beneath, min-
gled with sand, blackened pebbles, water-rolled fragments of bones,
and more perfect remains of fishes, reptiles and mammals, belong-
ing to the post-pleiocene and eocene fossils.

" On the shores of the Ashley liver, where the post-pleiocene
and eocene formations are exposed, the fossils are washed from
their beds, and become mingled with the remains of recent indi-.
genous and domestic animals, and objects of human art, so that
when a collection is made in this locality, it is sometimes difficult
to determine whether the animal remains belong to the formations
mentioned or not. Generally, however, we have been able to as-
certain where the fossils belong, which we have had the opportu-
nity of examining, from the fact that the greater number were ob-
tained from the deposits referred to in uiggmg into them some
distance from the Aridey river.

Geological. Oleanings* 129

^ " The collections cootain remains of the horse, ox, sheep, hog
and dog, which I feel strongly persuaded, with the exception of
many of those of the first-mentioned animal, are of recent date,
and have become mingled with the ^rue fossils of the post-pleio-
cene and eocene formations, where these have been exposed on the
banks of the Ashley river and its tributaries. In regard to the
remains of the horse, from the facts stated in the accounts given
of them in the succeeding pages, I think it will be conceded that
this animal inhabited the United States during the post-pleiocene
period, contemporarily with the mastodon^ megalonyx, and the
great broad-fronted bison."

In the subsequent part of his paper. Prof. Leidy proceeds to
state the grounds on what he distinguishes the modem horse
from the really extinct species, which with its allies of the genus
Hipparion^ did ceitainly inhabit post-pleiocene America, but had
become extinct before its colonization by man — a very remarka-
ble fact to which the- researches of Prof. Holmes have added far-
ther confirmation.

Prof. Holmes, dissenting from Dr. Leidy's view as to the recent
origin of the bones of the sheep, hog, dog, ox, and common horse
found with the undoubted fossils, proceeds to state his reasons for
believing them to be post-pleiocene. He attempts to show that
some of the bones are scarcely better preserved than those of ex-
tinct animab found with them, and argues from the state of pre-
servation of shells, and the per centage of these known to be re-
cent, as Well as the fiact of some species still existing in a wild
state in America, having left their bones in these deposits. These
arguments, however, afford merely presumptive proof, and are
liable to many solid objections ; and he does not attempt to show,
what alone could establish his position, that the disputed bones
have actually been found in undisturbed tertiary beds. Since,
therefore, the evidence fails in this essential point, we cannot ac-
cept the conclusions of Prof. Holmes; but must believe this to be
one of these cases, rather numerous in the history of American
tertiary geology, in which comparatively modem relics have been
mixed with those of more ancient date. We were somewhat sur^
prised to find in the end of the paper a letter Uom Pro£ Agassizi
in which that eminent naturalist appears fully to endorse its con-
clusions. Comparing the confident tone of this letter with the
evident weakness of the case as stated by Prof. Holmes^ it is
scarcely possible to avoid the iitference that the great zoologist is

130 Oeoloffical Gleanings.

too ready to grasp at any semblaDce of fact, that tends to support
that strange doctrine of the diverse origin of the individuals of the
same species, with which in a manner so unworthy of his acute
mind, he endeavors to cut the knot of the difficulties in the geo-
graphical distribution of auimals and plants, the legitimate solu-
tion of which forms one of the most interesting problems of geo-
logy and its allied sciences.

Tiie following is a list of species collected by Prof. Holmes,
which is sufficiently interesting, independently of those which may
be the debris of modern beef and mutton : —

Extinct Species, — Mastodon, Megatherium, Megalonyx, Glypto-
don, Mylodon and Hipparion, 2 species.

^ot now found on the Atlantic Coasty but indigenous to North
America, — ^Bison, Tapir, peccary, Beaver, Musk-rat, and Elk.

The Deer, Racoon^ Opossum^ Rahhit and the following Domestic
Animals — Horse, Hog, Sheep, Dog and Ox are not distinguishable
from the living species.

Devonian and Carboniferous Rocks of Ireland, — The progress
of Geology is continually sweeping into one, groups of rocks here-
tofore distinct, and it is becoming a most exciting question where
will the breaks in geological time be ultimately left, or will there
be any breaks. Our geological chronology is like that of the old
Assyrian empire, where a few detached kings i^tand out, on the
page of history broadly separated by intervals of time ; but just
as new monuments are disinterred, new names fill up the gaps,
and it is only as the list approaches completion that we can know
how and where one dynasty rudely or quietly displaced another.

In Ireland a group of yellow and red sandstones, iuterveniug
between the carboniferous and silurian systems, have been vari-
ously referred to the former, and to the Devonian period. Some
of the Irish Geologists even appear desirous of including the
whole, and with them the greater part of the Old Red of Scot-
land, among the carboniferous rocks. The case is thus stated by
Mr. Griffiths :—

■

^No difficulty hence arises in regard to the position of the Old
Red series \x\ the south of Ireland, it having been clearly ascer-
tained to conform to the Carboniferous strata above, while resting
unconformably upon the Silurian series beneath. The only ques-
tion that will arise regarding it is, as to what system it will of right
belong. And here I must enter upon an explanation, of the principle.
of subdivision by which I have been hitherto influenced. Finding^

Oeological OUaningn. 131

in the course of my geological researches, that certain rocks below
the lowest beds of the lower Carboniferous Limestone conformed
to them, and contained the same fossils, I was led to add them to
the Carboniferous system, the boundary at the base of the Moun-
tain Limestone, as it had until then been termed, being found to be
far too limited. These lower rocks I was ultimately led to consider
as divisible into two groups, the upper of which I proposed to call
Carboniferous Slate, and the lower, Yellow Sandstone. In res-
pect to this latter and lower of the two series, it became a question
as to where the line of division between them and the red beds
lying conformably beneath should be drawn; and the discovery
of certain plants, apparently of Carboniferous type, and at present
known as Sphenopteris Hihernica^ Lepidodendron minutum and
€hriffi,thii (th^ last of which was discovered by Dr. Carte in the
course of the last year), led to the adoption of the lines of boun-
dary which have been published on the last, as well as on previous
editions of my geological Map.

" Subsequently, through the researches of my friends, Professors
Hftughton and Jukes, as well as those of myself imperfect casts
of these plants were found very far beneath the boundary which
I had originally adopted, and-hence the extent of the district which
I had allotted to these lower Carboniferous rocks will be found
much too circumscribed. The principle, however, upon which I
set out, remains intact, and as often contended for, both by Pro-
fessor Haughton and myself, in numerous papers, I would again
say, that the base of the Carboniferous system will extend to any
zone of these plants, no matter at what depth, or in connexion
with what rocks soever, found. That this may have the effect of
sweeping the whole of the fi«ih beds of Scotland, with the similar
rocks of Glamorganshire in Wales, hitherto considered to be De-
vonian, into the Carboniferous system, I am not prepared to deny,
as it is only a natural inference from the principle which I have
laid down. It is true that I have preserved the established terri-
tories of the Old Red Sandstone on my Map, curtailing it only of
the Plant or Yellow Sandstone beds, as I was not prepared to risk
a controversy, merely upon the grounds of the well-known con-
formity between the two scries, • without a sufficiency of fossil
evidence, — statements founded upon the hypothesis, no matter
how well grounded soever they may appear, but upon less than
indisputable scientific principles, being still open to the charge of
being mere speculation or guess ; and especially as I found that

132 Geological Glean%ng$,

up to the present tim« it Has been as much as I could do to defend
the innovations which I had already naade, even though the Irish
geologists generally, and especially Mr. Haughton and Mr. Jukes^
who, I trust, will favour us with their views, have all arrived at
similar conclusions.

'^ No means that could have been adopted to ascertain the age of
these plants have been neglected ; and besides the attention paid
to their examination by Professor Haughton, I have consulted M.
Adolphe Brongniart, as already mentioned, whose opinion may b^
Eeen in a translation of a letter which I lately communicated at
one of the Scientific Meetings of the Royal Dublin Society. I
may observe, that as I was not looking for plants with a view of
including the Old Red Sandstone within my line of boundary, I
did not originally discover them so low down as my friend Mr.
Jukes has since done ; besidesthat colour being the order of the day,
I limited my rese«*ches mainly to- the yellow beds, discontinuing
my search upon reaching the underlying red beds. But I shall
be ever ready to hear with pleasure of their discovery to the very
bottom of these rocks,, and to recognise them, with Mr. Jukes* and
Mr. Haughton^B concurrence, on my Geological Map, aa a group
of the Carboniferous system. I may here observe, that I do not
vdsh to be understood as aiming at a subversion of the Devonian
system, whether occurring in Devonshire or elsewhere, my present
observations being strictly limited to the Old Red Sandstone of
the south of Ireland."

It may be doubted if the evidence above given is sufficient fully
to establish the conclusions reached, though it shews a remarka-
ble extension of the coal flora. Both in America and Europe
rocks containing plants of carboniferous ^nera are known to be
associated with Devonian animal remains. The species, however, are
different, and perhaps we should conclude rather that tiie peculiar
type of flora having its largest development in the coal me^suresy
is that of the paleozoic period generally, than that we should ex-
tend the carboniferous system downward as far as this peculiar
flora extends. Plants closely allied to those of the carboniferous
system have been found by the Canadian Survey in beds as low as-
the horizon of the Oriskany Sandstone, the base of the Devonian
in America, and under marine fossils, altogether distinct from
those of the carboniferous limestones.

Earthquakes in lUdy. — In these quiet regions, we do not read-
ily realise the shaky character of those portions of the world

^eohgieal OUamngn. 138

in which the earth's internal forces are still acting, making them-
Belves felt at the surface. A letter from an eminent living geolo-
gist, who revisited Naples and Sicily in the past winter, informs us
that after an interval of 28 years, both Vesuvius and Etna presented
great and marked differences of aspect ; and it would only be in
accordance with past experience, if the recent earthquakes have
permanently, if we may use the word, changed the levels of land
and water in portions of the Neapolitan territory. The following
extracts from the Athencmm forcibly describe the effects of these
disturbances : —

" The phenomena which preceded and have followed the disas-
trous earthquake which has struck such a panic throughout this
kingdom, have a remarkable and a separate interest from that of
the afflicting details of the suffering occasioned by it^ as many
things occurred to show that before the event there was great
subterranean agitation going on. Similar indications of existing
agitation now continually manifest themselves. That Vesuvius
has been in a.state of chronic eruption for nearly two years, and
the wells at Resina for the last few months nearly dried up, I
have already noted ; that the kingdom has been in this interval,
in various parts, alarmed by minor shocks of earthquake, may not
be so generally known, but such is the fact, and to those signs of
impending danger the Official Journal of the 90th of December
adds the following: — "The Syndic of Salandro (one of the com-
munes which has suffered much from the recent scourge) reports
thai for nearly a month at about two miles distance from the
town a gas has been observed to issue from a water-course ; the
temperature of it was about that of the sun. A few days since,
too, from another similar fosse, the same kind of gas issued.
These exhalations were observed only in the morning however;
during the rest of the day they were not perceptible. On the
2 2d of December, they ceased altogether, and there was an ex-
pectation that hot mineral springs would burst forth from that
spot." The Official Journal of the 2d of January relates another
remarkable fact. In the territory of Bella, about two miles from
the town, the earthquake on the night of the 16th of December,
levelled the neighboring hills, rolled the earth over and over, and
formed deep valleys. Half an hour before the shock, a light as
bright as that of the moon was seen to hover over the whole
country, and a fetid exhalation like sulphur was perceived. On
the morning following the shocks, which were accompanied by

134 Geological GUaningi,

loud rumblings, a large piece of land, full 600 moggia (a moggia
is something leas than an acre), and at about the same distance
from the town, was found encircled by a trench of from ten to
twenty palms in depth, and the same in width. A letter from
Vallo, now lying before me, and written much in detail, speaks
of " those two terrible shocks," and of the innumerable minor
shocks which have continued from the 16th of December up to
the present time — the letter being written on the 29th of Decem-
ber. ^ A few minutes before the first shock," adds the writer,
/' a hissing sound was heard in the river, as if vast masses <^
stones were being brought down by a torrent. It is to be noted,
too, that all the dogs in the neighborhood howled immediately
before the first awfiil shock."

** Let us visit some of the ruined places at the centre of the dis-
aster ;— and I will speak in the words of a gentleman who has
just returned : ** I found the country seamed with fissures, which
had at first been wide, but which gradually closed. The ground
was heaving during the whole time of my visit to Polls. Once
a beautifully situated township, with 7,000 souls, it is now half
in ruins, and the survivors were sitting or walking about, telling
us of their misery, and lamenting more that there were no hands
to take out the dead or rescue the living. Two country people
were groping amongst the stones of a building; one found a body,
and throwing a stone towards the face called the attention of the
other, ' That perhaps is some relation of yours,* but the body was
not recognized. I tried to get food at a trattoria, the only house
standing, at the corner of a street ; but the proprietor, who was
by our side, repulsed me, and refused to go in,, saying that the
moon has just entered the quarter, and we should have another
earthquake. In most of these places, as in Naples, the deep,
heavy rumblings which preceded and accompanied the earthquake
have been much dwelt upon." On the night of the 26th Decem-
ber, the little town of Sasso, near Castelabbate, consisting of one
long street, was separated in two by tlie sudden opening of a
fissure through its entire length, each side remaining separated
from the other by a considerable interval — and so it stands. On
the 28th and 29 th of December, both in Sal a and Potenza, strong
shocks were felt, followed by many others of a less intense char-
acter, and these still continue. The consequences will be that
even those houses which were only cracked will give way, and
those which were feeble will be reduced to ruins. In Naples, too^

Geological Gleanings, 185

the eSiocks continue producing vibrations of tlie doors and win-
dows ; and in one instance, I have heard ringing of the bells.
The common report is, that since the 16th of December we hare
had eighty-four shocks in the capital It is not at all improbable
if every vibration is counted as one, and if the great subterrauean
agitation, which is now going on, be taken into account. Every
one looks really with anxiety to Vesuvius, and prays, not for
curiosity only, for an eruption. The indications of so desirable a
result seem to be on the increase. A person who resides at Resina
says, that on the night of the 29th, from 10 p. m. to 5 a. m. of the
SOth uit., the whole town was in a state of continued vibration.
Every three minutes a sound was heard as of a person attempting
to wrench the doors and windows out of their places, followed by
a quiver. The next morning the mountain was observed to vomit
forth much smoke and a cloud of ashes. Friends, too, who
reside at Capo di Marte, near the city, speak of the deep thunders
which they hear from the mountain in the stillness of the night.
The same phenomena are observed at Torre del Greco. I must,
also, advert to the manifest lowness of the sea, which seems to-
day to have receded from the land. I noticed this fact in my last
letter, and tried to explain it as consequent upon the neap tides :
but the same thing continues ; and unless it has been occasioned
by the long continuation of a land wind, the conclusion is inevit-
able that there has been an upheaving of soil. It would be rash,
however, to come speedily to so important a decision. How this
state of things will terminate, it is impossible to say ; bnt that
some great change is pending, there is but too much reason for
supposing."

** Some Bnglish gentlemen who have just returned from the
scene of disaster give the following interesting though harrowing
details : — ** Before arriving at Pertosa, we found the houses on
either sid# of the road thrown to the ground ; the landlord of a
tavern now abandoned told us that he had the good fortune to
escape with his wife, but that his child and servant had been both
killed. He himself bore the marks of a heavy blow on his fa3e.
The population of this place was about 3,000, and 143 bodies
only had been dug out on the 1st of January ; whilst 200 more
were known to be missing. The whole town was. destroyed, with
the exception of six houses, which were in a falling state. Be-
tween Pertosa and Polla the strength and caprice of the earth-
quake were made manifest in a remarkable way. Crossing a

136 Geological Gleanings.

deep ravine, we found the road on the opposite side carried off
200 feet distant from its former position : the mountain above it
had been clefl in two, revealing i6 a great depth the limestone
caverns in the bowels of the earth. The ground was seamed with
fissures ; and we could put our arms into them up to the should-
ers. Folia has a population of 7,000 persons : — 1,000 had fallen
vii'tims, of whom 567 had been dug uo and buried ; the work of
disiuterment was continuing slowly, but the stench here and else-
where, from the bodies, was insufferable. Three shocks of an
earthquake were felt on this day, January 1 . The first was very
early in the morning; the second about half-past 12. When we
were standing on the ruins of a church, the ground began to
heave under our feet and the subterranean thunders to roll. We
immediately fled from the spot, but were nearly overwhelmed as
the wall of a bell-tower fell close upon our heels, and a leaning
house, in an inclining state, came down witliin twenty feet of us.
The frightened people immediately formed a procession, and head-
ed by the priests, bearing the crucifix and an image of the Ma-
donna, lashed themselves with ropes as they walked. On leaving
the town, we rested on the wall of a bridge just outside, where
some priests begged us to rise, saying we were in danger, for the
ground was continually trembling. Whilst silting there, we felt
the third shock, and required no other hint." At the last moment
I add, from official documents, that upwards of 80,000 are re-
turned as dead, and 250,000 living in the open air.''

Habits of the Beaver, — ^To include an account of these among
geological notices, is hardly an anachronism, since over a large
part of the continent the beaver is an extinct animal, and it is
rapidly becoming so wherever European colonization penetrates.
The following interesting notes are from the Journal of the Aca-
demy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia : —

"Mr. Harris observed, in relation to the specimens|pf cotton-
wood and chips cut by beavers, presented this evening, that they
had been obtained bv him from the Missouri River, between Fort
Union, at the ihouth of the Yellowstone, and Fort Clark, at the
Mandan Village. He adied, that in returning from a trip up the
Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone, in company with the
late J. J. Audubon and party, in the month of September, 1843,
our Mackinaw boat was moored for the night on the right bank
of the* river, under shelter of timber on the bank, which was here
about twenty feet above the water at its then rather low stage.

Geological Gleanings, 13?

Our guide and pilot in descending the river, Prevost, who was an
old trapper, hired by Mr. A. at St Louis for the trip, soon dis-
covered signs of the beaver, and 4>resently a newly constructed
beaver-house about one hundred yards above the boat. It was
too late to examine the premises, and after cutting wood, building
a fire, and cooking our supper, we turned in for the night Very
early in the morning, before breakfasting, we hastened to examine
w at had been the object of more than one expedition on the
Yellowstone, and which had, heretofore baffled our search. Pre-
vest assured us that the noise and smell of smoke, and cooking
from our camp, must have driven the' beaver to a place of safety
soon after our landing the night before, and that we could only
gratify our curipsity by the inspection of the building ; whereas,
had daylight permitted, we might, at first landing, have proceeded
quietly and stopped the covered outlet from the house to the water,
and thus secured the inmates, and this only by using the utmost
caution in approaching without giving them the wind of us, or
making the sliglitest noise, even the cracking of a dry twig under
our feet ; so religiously did he believe in their superhuman sagacity
in discovering and avoiding danger. Thus assured, I took my
gun, more from the influence of the habit of some months of seldom
stirring from camp without it., than from any expectation of seeing
a beaver. I followed the water to the outlet, while others took
the bank ; here I stood watching the operations of those above,
who bad commenced removing the branches of cotton-wood which
formed the covering of the domicile. I was startled suddenly by
the splashing of the water at ray feet, and, looking down, I saw
the dusky back of a beaver a few inches under the surface, gliding
out into the deep water of the river, and before I could prepare
and bring my gun into position, he was out of sight. Nothing
could have been easier, had I been prepared, than to have shot
him as he thus passed within three feet of the spot on which I
stood. Thus, from too much reliance on popular tradition of the
unerring instinct of this animal, was I prevented from adding the
skin, and description, and measurements of a fresh specimen of
the beaver to the trophies of our expedition. As the beaver
passed down the stream he was seen to rise for air, abreast of our
boat, by some of the men on board. We then proceeded to un-
roof the house by removing the cotton-wood branches, which
covered it for several feet in thickness ; they extended for a con-
siderable width on each side, and coverad the passage from the

136 Geological Olmnings.

house to the water ; this passage was about fourteen inches square,
as neatly excavated as a ditcher could have made it with a spade ;
it was from twenty-five to thirty feet long, fallowing the scope of
the bank, and ending some two or three feet under the water.
The branches were laid with their butts uppermost, and formed a
complete thatching to the house, nearly weather>proof. The
house itself was a vertical excavation into the bank, cylindricai
in form and about three and a half feet in diameter ; the slope of
the bank, where it was cut, gave it the figure of a section of a
cylinder of about four feet high on the side of the bank, and the
height of the passage to the river, on the other, about fourteen
inches. The bottom and walls of this room were smooth and
hard as though they had been pressed or beaten, but not plastered.
The circle was apparently perfect in form. I should have said, it
was rather more than half way up the bank. Prevost said .that
the house was unfinished, and that, before winter, the whole in-
terior earth ^and brush of the sides and rdof would have been neatly
plastered with clay so as to render it entirely weather-proofl The
quantity of cotton-wood branches and saplings used in this structure
was enormous ; I suspect the measurement would have been three
^ords, or as many wagon loads, and so closely impacted that it
was only after considerable labor that a breach was made. On
the bank above was the area of stump-land where they had felled
their timber, taking what was suitable from the most convenient
distance. The large block presented thjs evening was cut from
the lai^est log felled ; the branches only were taken, leaving the
trunk where it fell. Small saplings were taken entire. The smaller
piece, which is cut at both ends, was the butt of a bough or sap-
ling, which, in their attempt to drag to the bank, had become
wedged among a clump of bushes in such a manner that they
could not back it out again, owing to the resistance of the branches
on the ground and of other bushes, so, like the sailor who throws
overboard a portion of his cargo to enable him to save the rest,
they cut off this piece that they might steer clear of the difficulty
with the remnant of their treasure. The chips are from the larger
specimen; in cutting them out they must work horizontally
around the trunk, and when they have cut two grooves at the
proi^er distance apart, they take hold of the isolated portion with
their teeth, and split off portions vertically, and so in succession
split off chips until they have girdled the tree ; a second course
is then removed from the bottom of this, and so on diminishing

Gernu OraptoUihus, 139

the size of the chips until th« tree is only supported by a portion
of its heart connecting the apices of two cones — one on the stump
upright, the other on the butt of the log inverted. In this man-
ner, also, the Indians cut down trees with their hatchets, leaving
the same form of a cone on the butt of the log and on the tftump^
as their beaver neighbors have done before them/'

ART. XV. — J^ote upon the Genus Oraptolithus^ and descrip-
tion of some remarkable new forms from the shales of Uie
Hudson Biver group, discovered in the investigations of the
Geological Survey of Canada, under the direction of Sir
W. E. Logan, F.R.S. By James Hall.
[Communicated to Sir W. E. Logan in Aprils 1855.]

[By the kind permission of Sir W. E. Logan, the Director of the
Geological Survey, we publish the following description of new species
of GraptoUtes, from his Report for 185Y. He has placed at oar dispo-
sal to accompany these descriptions, two plates which will shortly be
published in the first decade of the fossils of Canada. — Editors.]

The discovery of some remarkable forms of this genus during the
progress of the Canada Geological Survey, has given an opportu-
nity of extending our knowledge of these interesting fossil remains.
Hitherto our observations on the Graptolites have been directed to
simple linear stipes, or to ramose forms, which except in branching,
or rarely in having foliate forms, diflfer little from the linear stipes.
In a few species, as G, tenuis (Hall), and one or two other Ameri-
can species, there is an indication of more complicated structure ;
but up to the present time this has remained of doubtful signifi-
cance. The question whether these animals in their living state
were free or attached, \i one which has been discussed without
result ; and it would seem to be only in very recent times that
naturalists have abandoned altogether the opinion that these bodies
belonged to the Cephalopoda.

In the year 1847 I published a small paper on the Graptolites
from the rocks of the Hudson River group in New York. To
the number there given, two species have since been added from
the shales of the Clinton group. Other species, yet unpublished,
have been obtained from the Hudson River group ; and since the
period of my publication in 1847, large accessions have been made
to our knowledge of this &mily of fossils, and to the number of
species then known. The most important publications upon this

* An accident prevents us from giving the second plate, bat it will
appear in the next nnmber. — Ens.

140 Hall on the

subject are, Les Graptolites de j^oA^m^, par J. Barrande, 1850;
Synopsis of the Classification of British Rocks^ and Descriptions
of British Palcsozoic Fossils^ by Rev. A. Sedgwick and Frederick
McCoy, 1851; Grawwacken Formation in Sachsen, etc,, H. B.
Geinitz, 1852.

The radix -like appendages, known in some of our Americiin as
well as in some European species, has been regarded as evidence
that the animal in its living state was fixed ; while Mr. J. Bar-
rande, admitting the force of these facts, asserts his belief that other
species were free. It does not however appear probsble that in a
family of fossils so closely allied as all the proper OraptolitideoSj
any such gr^at diversity in mode of growth would exist

It will appear evident from what follows, that heretofore we have
been compelled to content ourselves for the most part, with de-
scribing fragments of a fossil body, without knowing the original
form or condition of the animal when living. Under such circum-
stances, it is not surprising that various opinions have been
entertained, depending in a great measure upon the state of
preservation of the fossils examined. The diminution in the di-
mensions, or perhaps we should rather say in the development, of
the cellules or serrations of the axis towards the base, has given rise
to the opinion advanced by Barrande, that the extension of the
axis by growth was in that direction, and that these smaller cells
were really in a state of increase and development In opposi-
tion to this argument, we could before have advanced the evidence
hnnished by G,bicomis, G. ramosuSy G, sextans, G. furcatus^ G*
tenuis^ and others, which show that the stipes could not have in-
creased in that direction. It is true that none of the species figured
by Barrande indicate insuperable objections to this view ; though
in the figures of G. serra (Brong.), as given by Geinitz, the
improbability of such a mode of growth is clearly shown.

It is not a little remarkable that with such additions to the
number of species as have been made by Barrande, McCoy, and.
Geinitz, so few ramose forms have been discovered ; and none so
far as the writer is aware, approaching in the perfection of this
character to the American species.

Maintaining as we do the above view of the subject, which is
borne out by well-preserved specimens of several species, we can-
not admit the proposed separation of the Graptolites into the ge-
nera MonograpsuSy Diplograpsus, and Cladoprapsus, for the
reason that one and the same species, as shown in single indiv

t

Oenus Oraptolithus, 141

duals, may be manoprionidean or diprionidean, of both ; and we shall
see still farther objections to this division, as we progress, in the
utter impossibility of distinguishing these characteristics under
certain cii cumstances. We do not yet perceive sufficient reason
to separate the branching forms from those supposed to be not
branched, for it is not always possible to decide which have or
have not been ramose, among the fragments found. Moreover,
there are such various modes of branching, that such forms as O.
ramosus present but little analogy with ^uch as G. gracilis,

Mr. Geinitz introduces among the OraptolitidecB the genus Ne-
reoffrapsus, to include Nereites, MyrianiteSj Nemeriitea^ afcd Ne-
mapodia. Admitting tliCse to be organic remains, which the
writer has elsewhere expressed his reasons for doubting, they are
not related in structure, substance, or mode of occurrence, to the
Graptolites, at least so far as regards American species ; and the
Nemapodia is not a fossil body, nor the imprint of one, but sim-
ply the recent track of a slug ever the surface of the slates. The
genus Hastrites of Barrande has not yet been recognized among
American OraptoUtidece, These forms are by Geinitz united to
his genus Cladograpstu, the propriety of which we are unable to
decide.

The genus Oladiolites {Retialites of Barrande, 1860, Orapto-
phyllia of Hall, 1849) occurs among American forms of the Grap-
tolitidecB, in a single species in the .Clinton group of New York.
A form analagous, with the reticulated margins and straight mid-
rib, has been obtained from the shales of the Hudson River
group in Canada, suggesting an inquiry as to whether the separa-
tion of this genus on account of the reticulated structure alone,
can be sustained. In the mean time we may add that the Canada
collection sustains the opinion already expressed, that the Dictyo-
nema^will form a genus of the family GraptohtidecB, The same
collection has brought to light other specimens of a charncler so
unlike anything heretofore described, that another very distinct
genus will thereby be added to this femily. The Canadian speci-
mens show that the Graptolites are far from always being simple
or merely branching flattened stems.

The following diagnosis will express more accurately the cha-
racter of the genus Graptclithus^ as ascertained from an examina-
tion of perfect specimens in this collection.

142 ffall on the

^tfenus Graptolithus (Linn.).

Description. — Coral lum or bryozoum fixed, (free ?) compound
or simple ? the parts bi-laterally arranged, consisting of few or
many simple or variously bifurcating branches, radiating more or
less regularly from a centre, and united towards their base in a
continuous thin corneous membrane or disk, formed by an expan-
sion of the substance of the branches, and which in the living state
may have been in some degree gelatinous. Branches with a
single or double series of cellules or serratures, communicating with
a common longitudinal canal, affixed by a slender radix or pedi-
cle from the centre of the exterior side.

The fragments, either simple or variously branched, hitherto
described as species of Graptolithits, are for the most part to be
regarded as detached portions from the entire frond.

In its living state we may suppose it to have been concavo-con-
vex (the upper being the concave side), or to have had the power
to assume this form at will. In many specimens there is no evi-
dence of a radix or point of attacBment, and they have very much
the appearance of bodies which may have floated free in the
.ocean.

Graptolithus Looani.

Plats I. Fig. 1—6. Plati II. Pig. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Description. — Frond composed of numerous branches nearly
equally disposed on two sides of a central connecting stipe, and
each again subdividing nearly equally, after which they bifurcate,
always near the base, with greater or less regularity ; connecting
membrane thin, composed of the same substance, and continuous
with the branches, and extending from the centre to some distance
beyond the bifurcations ; the branches after the third bifurca-
tion become marked on the inner side by a row of cellules, and
along the centre by an abruptly depressed line wTiich follows the
divarication of the branches ; cellules minute, not prominent to-
wards Uie base of the branches, being compressed vertically, and
appearing like a double series with a central depressed line, becom-
ing developed as they recede from the base. The branches
beyond the disk are turned on one side and laterally flattened,
and present a single series of cellules or serrations, which are
moderately deep, with the serratures acute at their extremities ;
from twenty-four to twenty-eight in an inch. The substance of

Genus Cfraptolithus. 143

the branch upon the exterior surface near the cetitre, is marked
by a depressed longitudinal line, which follows the ramifications
and gradually dies out as the branches become finally simple,
when the surface on the same side is smooth or somewhat ob-
liquely striated* The disk is smooth exteriorly, and irom the
centre is a small radicle from which the two sets of branches
diverge.

This species, though in a general manner bi-lateral, and present-
ing four principal branches, is nevertheless, from the irregular di-
vision of these, usually unequal upon the two sides ; and we find
on examination of those figured that they are as ten and ten, nine
and eleven, eight and nine, ten and eleven, seven and ten, twelve
and twelve, eight and eight, eight and ten, while the half which
is figured on Plate II. has eleven rays.

Plate I. Fig. 1. An individual showing the exterior lurface ;
the central portions entire, with the impression of the connecting
corneous membrane, some portions, of which remain still attached
to the arms. The extent and outline of the membrane are very
distinctly preserved. Some of t)^e arms are broken off at the ter-
mination of this meipbrane or <Jisk, while others extend to some
distance beyond its limits ; all however are imperfect.

The appearence of serratures is due to exfoliation, which shows,
the impression of the inner side upon the stone.

Fig. 2. Exterior view of another individual, in which some por-
tions of the membrane still remain^ the branches being all broken
off just beyond the last bifurcation.

Fig. 3. The inner side showing the commencement of the
cells, which appear in some places to be in a double series.
The connecting membrane of the branches is removed in this
specimen.

Fig. 4. Enlarged view of the exterior surface of the central por-
tion of an individual.

Fig. 6. Enlarged view of the inner surface, exhibiting the ap-
pearance of a double series of cells, separated by a depressed
line in the substance of the branch. In some instances these
appear to be absolutely separate, while in others they are con-
.nected, showing that there is but a single series, and the apparent
separation is due to the depression along the centre.

Fig. 6. An enlarged view of a fragment of *a branch, showing
serratures on one side, with a corresponding row of obscure, ele-
vated ridges, which may perhaps be due to the foldings of the
branch.

.144 Sail on the

Plats II. Fig. 1. An individual preserving the connecting
membrane almost entire, showing the sinuous outline.
* Fig. 2. A specimen exhibiting the half of an individual, in
which the disk is unequally extended between the rays. The
margins are apparently entire between all of these ; and from
whatever cause or injury this inequality may be due, it existed in
the animal while living.

Fig. 3. A fragment of slate preserving portions of three indivi-
duals. The connecting membrane had been removed by mace*
ration before they were imbedded in the stony matter ; but the
branches are preserved to the length of more than seven inches.
It does not appear that the por^ons preserved present the entire
animal ; on the other hand, tt is almost certain from the condi*
tion of the specimens, that the branches were originally much
longer. It will be observed that the branches ^o not all show
the serrated margin at equal distances from the centre, but this
is due to the accidental position assumed by the branches as they
were imbedded ; some present the exterior sui'fftce for a consider-
able distance, and, gradually turning, become flattened laterally.

Fig. 4. The exterior of the base of a specimen, showing the
small node or radicle which proceeds from the centre of the vin-
culum or connecting stipe.

The preceding illustrations are of a single species in different
degrees of preservation. The manner of branching, although
subject to slight modifications, is still always reliable for the pur-
poses of distinguishing the species.

Locality and Formation, — These specimens were obtained at
Point L^vy, opposite to Quebec, in a band of bituminous shale,
separating beds of grey limestone. These strata belong to the
Lower Silurian series, and are of that part of the Hudson River
Group which is sometimes designated as Eaton's sparry limestone,
being near the summit of the group ; they form also the rocks of
Quebec.

Collectors, — J. Richardson, Sir W. E. Logan, and James Hall.

Graptolithus abnormis.

Description. — ^This species, of which only imperfect specimens
have been seen, presents four principal branches diverging from
the centre, two from each extremity of the vinculum, and each
one of these bifurcating and branching unequally, and at unequal
distances from the centre.

• Genua OraptoUtkut. 149

The forms above described do not by any means exhanst the
Tariety presented in this collection. With a single exception
however, all the specimens which offer any new light in regard to
the habit of the Graptolites, indicate that the mode of growth waa
in the manner described, in radiating branches from a centre, or
in tufts joining in a central connecting substance.

The specimens from the Canadian locality afford further evi-
dence in confirmation of what we have elsewhere observed, that,
with few exceptions, the species have a limited geographical range.
This locality has already, after very cursory examination, afforded
eight new species of Graptolites, with one or two species which
appear to be identical with those previously found in the State of
New York. A comparison of specimens from more southern
localities with those of New York, .shows a large proportion of
new species; and it now appears probable that the number of
American species of Graptolitkus previously known (about twen-
ty) will soon be increased by an equal number of new ones.

Locality and Formation, — Point Levy, Hudson River Group.
Collectors. — J. Richardson, Sir W. E. Logan, and James Hall.

Since the date of the above communication, great numbers of
Graptolites have been added to the Canada collection ; and with
AD increased number of species, our knowledge of the structure of
these animals has been very much extended. Had we at that
time possessed all the materials which we now have, the subject
might perhaps have been treated in a more natural order by
presenting in the first place the more siqpple forms ; but since the
first two plates of the species were then engraved, I follow thia
note with the descriptions of others of the same character, which
have been prepared since that time.

Graptolitbus flsxilis.

Description, — Multibrachiate, bi-lateral ; branches slender,
flexile, bifurcating at irregular intervals ; bifurcations of contig-
uous branches often opposite, repeated four time^ within one and
a-half inches of the centre, having from thirty-two to forty or
more branchlets at the extremities. Substance of branches thin^
extremely compressed ; non-celluliferous side smooth or faintly
striated; celluliferous side with slight transverse indentations
when compressed vertically, and with serratures when compressed
pteraily ; serratures not deep, acute at the extremities, variable in

B

14^ Ball on the

prominence according to the position of tbe * branch ; about
twenty-four in an inch. Branches often compressed in the direc-
tion of the cell to such a degree as to give an apparent double
serrature, or serrature on each side of the axis. In this condition^
the edges of the cells are at right angles to the axis, very shallow,
and not pointed.

When the celluliferous side, compressed in the direction of the
cell, is- uppermost on tbe surface of the shale, a line may be traced
across the branch joining the edg& of the serratures, thus showing
that the two apparent serratures are but the single one, so com-
pressed that its extremities project beyond the margin.

We have thus all gradations : the smooth surface of the branch
with minute striations upon the outer side ; the inner side when
not compressed with serratures, showing as indented-lines across
the surface, i i i ■ i i ■ -y ; the double serration, produced hj
more pressure in the same direction, ^^^-^-'"^ ^ ^ ; and
again, as tbe branch is turned around, these serratures disappear-
ing from one side, and becoming more prominent upon the other
CjC;^^^-v^^^^ ; finally showing their full breadth as the ray is
compressed in its transverse or lateral direction. .

This condition, which has not been understood with regard- to
many species, is the principal cause of the diminution and some-
times final disappearance of cells towards the base of a branch ;:
even when both sides are serrated, a less degree of compression,.
which might very naturally result towards the base, would cause
the serratures to be less prominent, as is seen in many of the
figures in Barrande's Graptolites de Bohime ; in the New York
Paiseontology, etc.

The serratures of this species differ essentially from those of

any other in the Canadian collection, and from any in the Newc

Tork collections or others that have come under my observation.

Locality and Formation, — Point L^vy, Hudson River Group.
Collectors. — ^J. Richardson and E. Billings.

Graptolitbus rigibus.

Description. — Multibrachiate, bi-lateral ; branches slender, cy-
lindroid exteriorly ; rigid, maintaining their width to the third
bifurcation, and beyond this very gradually diminishing ; bifurca-
tions five in the space of one and a half inches ; internodes unequal
shorter near the base, and increasing towards the extremities ;
•erratures undetermined.

GenuB Graptolithui. . 147

In some specimens the branches are broader and flattened near
the base, and the connecting bar or vinculum is broad and strong
with a small central node, the base of the radicle. Some portions
of the corneous membrane or disk are preserved in a single speci-
men.

The subdivisions of each branch are from fifteen to twenty, or
perhaps more numerous when entire ; giving from sixty to eighty
or more branchlets at the extremities of the frond.

A distinguishing feature of the species is its rigid and divergent
bifurcation, and the almost uniform size of the branchlets.

AH the specimens of this species examined are in a coarse are-
naceous shale, and present the exterior or non-celluliferous side
only. A single specimen has the extremities of the branches
partially turned on one side, and gives some obscure indication of
serratures. Individuals are extremely numerous in certain layers
and are spread out in profusion upon the surfaces of the slate, the
bifurcating «nd interlocking branchlets presenting a net-work in
which it is extremely diflScult to trace the ramifications of each *
individual.

Locality and Formation, — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — J. Richardson and E. Billings.

Graptolithus octobrachiatus.

Description, — Frond composed of eight simple undivided branch-
lets, arranged bi-laterally, and proceeding from the two extre-
mities of a short strong vinculum, which is subdivided, and each
part again divided near the base, giving origin to four equal rays
or branchlets. Branchlets strong, linear, not sensibly diminishing
in size as they recede from the centre ; subangular, flattened upon
the outer side, with a depressed line along the centre ; obliquely
st^ated ; serratures short and strong, twenty in an inch, varying
in depth according to the position of the branch, in one or two
instances showing a deeper indentation.

This species presents the essential characteristic of eight simple
arms or branchlets^ which appear to have been subquadrangular
in its living state, and when compressed laterally are scarcely
broader, excepting the serratures, than when vertically compressed.

The branches are formed by the division of the vinculum at
each extremity, first into two parts, making four ;. each of these is
again subdivided almost inamediately, and often so close as to
present the appearance as if the four branchlets on each side ori-

148 ffall an the

ginated from the same point. A careful^xaraination however will
show a little intervening space, and in one individual in its young
state this feature is very cliarapteristic.
* The disk is a thick carbonaceous film, much stronger and coars-
er than in any of the preceding species, and corresponding in
this respect to the stronger brancihes. It is moreover variable in
form and extent in different specimens, and does not always appear
to be in proportion to the size of the branches.

All the specimens yet examined present the exterior surface, so
that the celluliferous face of the arms has not been seen. An
impression of a short fragment of that surface of .one of the bran-
chlets shows strong, deep indentations. The vigorous aspect of
this species contra.sts with all others in this collection. In one
•pecimen, where the frond is imperfect, one of the arms extends
to a distance of more than eight and a-half inches from the
centre, while two others are more than six inches each, and
these are all broken at their extremities.

In its long linear branches, this species resembles the G, sagiU
tarius (Hall, Pal. N. Y., Vol. I., pi. 74, fig. 1, perhaps not the
European species of that name), but the branches are stronger
and the serratio is coarser ; «it is moreover associated with a group
of species, all or nearly all of which are quite distinct from those
of New York with which the G, Sagittarius occurs.

Locality and formation, — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — J. Richardson and E. Billings.

Graptolithus octonarius.

Description. — Frond composed of four principal branches, two
diverging from each extremity of the short vinculum ; each
branch equally subdivided near the base, giving eight branch lets
which continue simple to their extremities ; branch lets gradually
expanding from the base ; serratures slightly inclined and trun-
cated above almost rectangularly lo the direction of the serratures
and oblique to the rachis, giving a slightly obtuse extremity ;
about twenty-four in the space of an inch ; substance of the
branchlets thick ; divisions between the cells marked by a strongly
depressed line which extends from the base of the serrature down-
wards as far as the second serrature below, ending near the back
or lower side of the branch.

The branchlets of this species resemble those of G. hryonoides^
and the distance of the serratures is almost the same, while in
some well-preserved specimens the obliquity of theso parts is

OenuB OraptoUikus. 14D

greater. ' There is also some difference in the form of the branoh-
letfl. In separate branches the characters are too nearly alike to
t>ffer the means of description, unless they are in a very perfect
state of preservation.

From O, octobrackiatus it differs conspicuously in the form of
its branchlets, and in the comparative number and form of the
serratures.

Locality/ and Formation, — ^Point L6vy.

Collector, — J. Richardson 4

Graptolithus quadribrachiatus.

Deseription, — Frond composed of four simple undivided branch-
es, arranged bi-lateraly, or two from each extremity of the vincu-
lum ; branches slender, linear, obliquely striated, usually somewhat
incurved, serrated upon the inner side ; serratures a little recurved,
and mucronate at the tip ; about twenty-four in an inch ; indented
to about one-third the width of the branch when completely flatten-
'ed. Disk thick, strong, often extending along the branches and
giving them a somewhat alate appearance ; poiut of attachment of
radicle obscure.

Almost all the specimens of this specie's are obscure, and all are
fragmentary ; in a few specimens only the serratures are exhibited
with some degree of perfection. The branches are preserved in
some specimens to an extent of two inches.

Graptolithus grucifer.

Description, — Frond composed of four simple strong branches
united by a small thickened disk ; branches broad, connected by
a short vinculum ; serratures nearly vertical to the direction of
the branch and sloping at an almost equal angle on each side,
acute at the extremity, and apparently mucronate or setiferous;
about twentv-four in an inch.

This species preserves the general character of G. quadribrachi"
atu8, but the branches are much stronger, anil about twice the
width. The serratures are scarcely oblique to the rachis, and are
very clearly mucronate at the tips, while some of them exhibit the
appearance of long setae. The imperfect preservation of the spe-
cimen examined renders it impossible to determine accurately the
nature of these appendages.

In the specimen here described one of the branches is preserved
to the extent of two and a half inches, with a width of three-six-
teenths of an inch to the extremity of the points of the serratures^

150 ' Miscellaneous,

exclasire of the setsB ; the brancli to the base of tlie teeth being
five-sixths of the whole width.

Locality and Formation, — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — J. Richardson, £. Billings.

(jtRAPTOLITHUS brtonoidei.

Description, — Frond composed of four short simple branches,
united at the base by a vinculum, and terminating below in a
minute radicle; branches short, comparatively broad, obliquely
and strongly striated from the base of the serratures to the outer
edge of branch ; serratures moderately oblique, the outer and
inner margins making very nearly a right angle ; mucronate at
the tip ; about twenty-four to twenty-eight in an inch.

Of several specimens in the collection none of the braBches ex-
ceed an inch in length, while they are almost one eighth of an inch
in width from the tip of the solid part of the serratures to the outer
■edge. They are all strongly striated from tbe base of the serra-
tures to the outer margin, the strise sometimes a little curved. The
serratures are usually slightly oblique, or with the longer sloping
side directed towards the base of the branch, and the shorter side
advanced a little bdyond a right angle to the rachis. In one spe-
cimen, where the branches are less than five-eights of an inch in
length, the serratures seem to be equally or nearly equally sloping
on the two sides from the tip to the base.

The vinculum is obscure, and from the mode of imbedding
in many specimens, this part might be inferred to be absent.

Locality and Formation. — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — J. Richardson, E. Billings, Sir W. E. Logan,
James Hall.

{To he continued in the next number).

kAums.

Unusual Migration of Wild Pigeons. — A correspondent in
Barrie, C.W., sends us the following interesting facts, worthy ol
record among the other exceptional features of the past winter.
Wo shall at all times be glad to receive short' communications of
this kind from any of our subscribers. — Eds.

On the afternoon of Friday, the 19th of March, immense flights
of wild pigeons passed along the shores of Eempenfeldt Bay (an

Jiiseellaneous, 1-51

«nn of Lake Simcoe) flying generally in a we&terlj. and north-
westerly direction. One flock at a fair computation was at least
three miles long, and in the distance looked like ^ very large cloud
rising gradually from below the horizon.

The pigeons during this day flew high, but in the pine woods
aome large flocks pitched. On Sunday the flocks were smaller,
and flew very much lower, the birds then were to be found in the
beech woods. .,

No one here ever remembers so early an arrival of these birds ;
April 21st, I believe, is the earliest date at which they have been
seeu*

The winter has however been peculiar ; generally from Decem-
ber or the eud of November till the beginning of April no birds
are to be seen here but a few crows and a blue jay at intervals.

This year woodpeckers, blue' tomtits, tree-creepers, and a small
red-headed bird,* blue jays, and a small finch were seen almost
every day. With the thermooieter at 8^, I have seen them flyings
about

With regard to the number of pigeons seen, I have often heard
and read of the large flights of passenger pigeons on this conti-
nent, but never until now could have believed them possible.

Annual Report of the Canadian Institute op Toronto. —
This society, much younger than the Natural History Society,
is now a vigorous rival, and has in some respects much outgrown
its older sister. Its labours in the past year have been highly
•creditable, embracing the reading and publication of a large num-
ber of valuable papers, the publication of the <])anadian Journal,
the collection of many books and specimens, and preparations to-
ward the erection of a building. The number of members is said
to amount to 614, the papers read to 37, and the Journal 'is distri-
buted to 42 of the leading societies and sicentific institutes in Eu-
rope and America, bringing large returns by way of exchange.
The following paragraphs show the view taken by the council of a
portion of the institute and its causes.

*^ The constant accession of new members, the numerous and
Taluable donations presented to the Library and Museum, the
<K>mparatively large and increasing attendance at the meetings
of the session, the character of the papers communicated to these
meetings abd finally the continued sucoess of the Journal of the

Institute, are each and all, it is submitted, legitimate subjects of

' ■ ' ~ ■ <■ ■ ■

* Linaria minor 7

162 Miscellaneous,

coQSfratulation. Sbowincf, as these facts roost assuredly do, tbe hon-
orable positioD accorded to the institute in the estimation of the
Province. «

" It is believed that the papers read will compare favorably with
those of other years : more especially, as several bave been deemed
worthy of re-publicatlon in some of the leading Scientific Journals
, ^of Europe. It js also gratifying to observe, with regard to those pa-
pers, tbat the appeals of preceding- Councils for more active co-
operation on the part of Members generally, has been to a great
extent responded to. The present Council venture, therefore, to
express a hope that a still more extended co-operation in this de-
partment, may be anticipated in the session now about to com-
mence.

" Feeling strongly that the success of the Institute is dependent
on, or at l^ast largely influenced by, the success of its Journal,
the Council have great satisfaction in alluding to the now fairly
established and very marked success which has accompanied the '
issue of the new series of the " Canadian Journal,'' under the edit-
orship of Dr. Wilson and a Committee appointed by the respective
Councils' of 1865 and 1866. The Council cannot allow this op-
portunity to pass without expressing an earnest desire that 8om«
special recognition on the part of the Members of the Institute,
be devised to mark their sense of the zealous and valuable services
of the chief editor."

Rejoicing as we do in the prosperity of the Canadian Institute,
and recognising it as a worthy representative of Canadian Science,
we are desirous of making its prosperity a reason why in the Natu-
ral History Society of Montreal similar vigour should be exhi-
bited. We trace the rapid growth of the Institute, in the first
place to the actiye exeitions of a few leading scientific and
literary men in Toronto, more especially of the Professors of
University College. In the next place, to the regular publication
of its Journal and the ability of the Society to give this publica-
tion to every member for a subscription, the whole amount of
which is not more than the price of the Journal itself. Lastly,
the large public aid received by the Institute, has' given it the
means thus liberally to repay its members their subscriptions and
otherwise to extend its operations.

In the case of the Natural History Society of Montreal, we have
now a body of active members fully abl^ by their Scientific and
Literary exertions to sustain the Society ; and we have a

Miscellaneous. 15S

Journal, comparable in its peculiar field with that of the
Canadian Insitute ; but on- tfie other hand ^not having any
available means, except the annual subscriptions of members,
this. society is unable to give its Journal gratuitously to its
members, or by means of exchanges to augment its library*
The truth is, tbat Science in Toronto as represented by the
Canadian Institute is liberally fostered by the Legislature, where- «
as Science in Montreal as represented by the Natural History
Society receives only the pittance allotted to ordinary Mechanics'
Institutes. We are vei y far from gnidging the Institute the grant
so well bestowed on it, and we admit in our own case that inde-
pendence cultivates many nigged self-reliant virtues. Nor do
we deny that, other things being equal, a Journal or publication
unsupported by public aid will usually be better managed than
one so supported. In the meantime however, as a stimulus to
our membership, and for the wider circulation of the results of
Canadian Science, we think it very desirable that the friends of
Natural Science, in Lower Canada should endeavour to secure,
for this its leading representative, some adequate, share of legis-
lative aid.

Effects of FoicsiGK Pollen ok Fruit. — The following on this
curious subject is from Silliman's Journal, No. 73 : — In the last
number of this Journal, p. 443, some facts were referred to, which
led to the supposition that pollen applied to the stigma may exert
some specific action upon the ovary itself, independent of its action
upon the ovules detennining the formation of the embryo. This
was mentioned as furnishing the most probable clue to the explan-
ation of the reputed fact that squashes are spoiled (that is the
quality and appearance of the fruit altered) by pumpkins growing
in their vicinity, and vice versa ; and even that melons are spoiled
by squashes ; and this notwithstanding the fact, ascertained by
Naudin, tbat distinct species of Cucurbitacece refuse to hjbridize,
although the various races of the same species cross with the
greatest facility. It is generally agreed that the alteration of the
character of the fruit is immediate, i. e., that it afiects the ovary
itself which has been contaminated by strange pollen. It might
then equally affect the fruit whether the seeds were any of them
fertilized or not ; and in Naudin's experiments the application of
pollen apparently caused the fruit to set, even when no ovules
were fertilized.

154 Miseellaneotu.

Now a similar case of direct action of alien pollen upon the
fruit, or grain, occurs in Indian com, and is familiar to every &r.
mer in the country, in the form of grains of different rarieties on
the same ear. A decisive instance is before us in a small ear of
sweet com, grown in the vicinity of a patch of the common hard,
yellow variety ; in consequence from three to six grains in every
row have become yellow corn, while the rest retain the character-
istic appearance of the sweet variety. It is not rare, where several
sorts of maize are cultivated together, to find nearly all of them
separately represented upon one ea^. This must be the result
either of cross-fertilization of the previous year showing itself, not
in a blending of the characters of the fruit of the progeny, but in
a complete separation into the constituent sorts in the fruit re-
sulting from one seed, which would be a wonderful anomaly, but
no impossibility ; or else, of an immediate action of the pollen the
present year, as is reputed of squashes and melons. But the oc-
curence of three sorts of corn upon one ear goes far towards ex-
cluding the first supposition, since there can have been but two
immediate parents to one embryo. (Pro£ Gray).

AoAssiz's Contributions «■© the Natural History of thb
United States. — ^The first two volumes of this work have made
their appearance and are worthy of the high reputation of their
author. We shall in a future number review the work at length,
and in the meantime give the following nummary of its contents.

Vol. I., Part I. Essay on Cldsnfication^

Chapter I. The fundamental relations of animals to one an-
other and to the world in which they live, as the basis of the
natural system of animals :- under which head the author treats of
— the actual foundation in nature of the true zoological system or
classification, — the unity of plan throughout the diversified types
— the distribution of the same types over widely diverse geogra-
phical regions, and as widely diverse geological ages, — the per-
manency of types and the immutability of species,— the relations
between plants and animals and the surrounding world, — embry-
ology a basis for determining the rank of species — succession in
geological time a basis for deciding approximately upon rank ; —
all of which topics, besides others not here enumerated, are so
handled as to bear directly on the question of creation by physical
agencies, giving it a decided negative reply.

Chapter II. Leading groups of the existing system of animals
—a philosophical disquisition on the true significance of tht

Miscellaneous. 165

grades of subdivisions in the kingdoms of life, the nature of species,
genera, families, orders and classes.

Chapter IIL Notice of the principal systems of zoology, iodqd-
ing observations on the systems of Aristotle and Linnaeus ; the
anatomical systems of Cuvier, Lamarck, Ehrenberg, Burmeisteri
Owen, yon Siebold and others ; the physio-philosophical systems
of Oken and McLeay ; and the emhryological systems of Dollin-
ger, von Baer, Bogt, etc.

Part n. North American Testudinata.

Chapter L The order of Testudinata, its rank, classification,
general characters, anatomical structure, geographical distribution,
geological history, etc.

Chapter U. The Families of Testudinata.

Chapter IIL North American genera and species of Testudi-
nata— their characters, distributions, etc., for the several families.

Part m. Embryology of the Turtle,

Chapter I. Development of the egg from its first appearance to
the formation of the embryo.

Chapter II. Development of the embryo firom the time the egg
leaves the ovary to that of the hatching of the young, including
the laying of the eggs, — the deposition of the albumen and forma-
tion of the shell, — the absorption of albumen into the yolk sac, —
the transformations of the yolk in the fecundated Qgg^ — segmen-
tation of the yolk, — the whole egg is the embryo, — ^foldings of
the embryonic disc and successive stages of growth of the turtle,
— formation and development of the organs, — histology, — chrono.
logy of the development of the embryo.

The young of various species and the several successive phases
in emhryological development are illustrated with details in the
plates, all of which are crowded full of figures.

Ascent op Chimborazo. — The Edinburgh New Philosophical
Journal quotes the follow ing interesting account of an ascent of
Chimborazo by a French traveller, M. Jules Bemy, and an Eng-
lish traveller, ^r. Brenchley : —

'* On the 23d of June, 1802, the illustrious Humboldt, accom-
panied by his friend Bonpland, made the first attempt to ascend
Chimborazo. On account of a pointed rock, which presented an
insurmountable barrier, they were unable to ascend above 5909
metres of the mountain, then regarded as the highest in the worldi
and which still occupies a principal place among the colossi of
America.

156 JUiacellaneous,

"Thirty years later, on the Idth of December, 1831, M. Bous-
singault, after a long and skilful exai|iination of the Cordillera of
the equator, endeavoured to accomplish the ascent in which his
predecessor had failed. He reached the enormous height of 6004
metres, that is to say, 95 metres higher than the others ; but he
was arrested by rocks as they had been, and could not get beyond
this limit, which was then the most elevated point ever attained
by man on mountains.

" The accounts of these famous travellers had deprived us of all
hope of reaching a height so considerable; but, after having ob-
served the snowy and rounded summit ofChimborazo from Guaya-
quil, we could not help thinking that it was accessible from some
j'oint or other. M. lirenchlev and myself were thug led to f^rm
the design of attempting a third ascent.

"On the 21st of July, 1856, as we crossed the plateau of the
Andcrf on our way to Quito, we halted at the foot of this stupen-
dous mountain. We employed two days in studying its outlines
from a distance, with the view of discovering any peculiar places
on the surface of its gigantic dome which might afford us a pas-
sage.

" The route followed by MM. Humboldt and Boussingault,
seemed to us at first to be greatly the most easy and desirable on
account of its regular declivity ; but, the barrier of rocks, which
we readily distinguished, presented no outlet to the eye. When
we had made nearly the entire circuit of this mighty mountain,
and without success, w^e resumed our journey towards Quito, re-
serving the execution of our plan till we should be better fortified
against the rigorous climate of the higher Cordilleras.

" After visiting Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and other giants of the
Andes, we again found ourselves, on the 2d of November, at the
foot of Chimborazo. We pitched our camp at a height of 4700
metres, a little below the line of perpetual snow, in a valley be-
tween A renal and the point where the Riobamba route separates
from that of Quito. We intended to spend the following day in
collecting plants and hunting deer and birds, endeavoring, at the
same time, to determine beforehand the places which might afford
us the most easy access to the summit.

** We took up our quarters under a huge inclined rock, which
afforded us suflBcient protection against the northwest wind, but
gave us no shelter in the event of rain. Rain had fallen in the
afternoon. The weather cleared at night-fall, the sky' became

Miscellaneous, • 157

sprinkled with myriads of stars, and Chimborazo was delineated,
in all its splendour, on the azure and sparkling vault of the firma-
ment.

*' On the morning of the 3d of November, at five o'clock, when
day had not yet dawned in the equinoctial regions, we left our
camp in charge of our people, and departed on our exploring ex-
pedition, carrying with us a coffee pot, two thermometers, a com-
pass, matches, and tobacco. A steep hill, sandy and rough with
pebbles, which separated us from the perpetual snow, occasioned
us so much fatigue at our outset, that two of the natives who ac-
companied us became discouraged and turned back.

** When we had surmounted this hill, we descended on some
soft saud to the bottom of a valley, which we followed, and from
the extremity of which we distinguished very clea/ly the summit
of the mountain, entirely free from snow.

** After walking half an hour on the snow, vegetation suddenly
ceased, and we saw no other living thing but two large partridges,
and on the rocks a few lichens of the families Idiothalamus and
Hymenothalamus. At this point of our ascent we collected some
dry branches of chuquiragua, and made a bundle of them, which
we tied to our backs. We had still to scale an immense rock of
trachyte, from the top of which the summit of Chimbarazo ap-
peared to us so near, that we thought we could reach it in half an
hour.

" Our accent was so rapid, that we were soon obliged, from
fatigue, to make frequent stoppages to recover our breath.
Thirst also began to be severely felt, and in order to moderate it
"we almost always kept snow in our mouths. But we felt no
symptoms of illness or any morbid aff'ection, such as is spoken ot
by the majority of travellers who have ascended high mountains,

" After halting a few seconds, without even seating ourselves,
we again started not only with renewed ardour, but even a kind
of furious determination inspired by so near a view of the sum-
mit. It appeared evident to us, by this new instance confirming
80 many previous ones, that at those heights the atmospheric
column is still sufficient to prevent any impediment to respiration,
and that the shortness of breath and organic affections which are
8o generally complained of at considerable elevations, must be
ascribed to some other cause.

" Always rapidly ascending, we now began to overlook the
peaks of the Cordilleras, and to discover a distance furnished with

%
t

158 Miscellaneous.

immense valleys, when som^ light vapors, which at first appeared
only like spiders webs on the sides of the mountain, soon began
to deUich themselves in the form of white flakes, stretching nearer
and nearer to each other, till they at last arranged themselves like
a girdle along the horizon.

** All of a sudden, about eight o'clock, this curtain enlarged
itself} and approached Chimborazo'; then in a few minutes it
mounted to us, thin at first, but becoming perceptibly more dense-
We no longer ould perceive the summit. We continued, how-
ever, to mount upwards, enticed by the hope of attaining our ob-
ject much more easily than we had supposed on leaving our en-
campment.

" The fog continued to increase ; we could not see twenty paces
from us. At half .past nine, it' had become so thick that it was
almost as dark as night at the distance of a few metres. Confi-
dent of finding oar footsteps again to guide our descent, we tra-
velled on with additional stubborness ; but we had every moment
to examine the compass, in order to avoid a precipice which we
had left on our right before reaching the terminal depression by
which we resolved to gain the summit.

" It seemed to us that the declivity became less steep, we
breathed more freely, and walked with less effort. Some dull
detonations began at intervals to be heard in the distance. At
first we ascribed them to the explosions of Cotopaxi ; but soon
reverberating peals, such as are heard only in the vicinity of the
equator, convinced us that thunder was rolling in the lowdr
regions. A terrible storm was in preparation.^

^ In the fear that the hail or snow would efface the marks of
our feet, and thereby expose us to the risk of losing ourselves in
the descent, we determined, with regret, to halt for a while. We
hastened to kindle our chuquiragua wood, in order to melt the
snow in our coffee-pot At ten o'clock, the thermometer which,
at five feet above the snow, indicated 1*7, was plunged in boiling
water where the mercury stood at 77*6.

'^ At five minutes past ten, our observations terminated, and we
began to descend with giant strides in order to regain our en-
campment as speedily as possible. We arrived there in the midst
of the thick fog about an hour after noon. The thunder rolled
almost without interruption, the flashes of lightning describing
dazzling zigzags around us, never seen elsewhere so distinctly
defined except in pictures.

^

Miscellaneous, 159

** About three o'clock, a fearful tempest of ram, hail, and wind
assailed us under our rock. It continued throughout a part of
the night with a fury which seemed as if it could never be allayed*
We were literally lying in water. On the morrow, at day break?
our eyes rested everywhere on a vast field of hail.

^ Certain indications of another tempest made us abandon the
idea of trying again the ascent of Chimborazo, which we hence-
forth regarded as quite impracticable. We made all haste to
break up our camp and make for Guarandn, where we arrived
about three o'clock, travelling through a cold and dense fog, which
prevented us for that day admiring one of the most beautiful views
in the world.

" When we calculated our observations, we were not a little
surprised to find that we had reached the summit of Chimborazo
without being aware of it. According to personal researches,
made at first in the Archipelago of Hawaii, and afterwards re-
peated among the Cordilleras iof the equator, the co-efficient o^
a degree in the centigrade thermometer, reckoning between the
point to which the mercury rises when the instrument is immers-
ed in boiling water, and the boiling point of water at the level of
the sea, is found to be 290*8 ; that is tq^say, each degree below
100 indicates a difierence of level equal to 290*8 meters, or about
29 meters for the tenth of a degree, hence the formula

ir=:(100-B) (290-8)

which gives us 6543 meters for the absolute vertical height we
had reached on Chimborazo. This figure places us quite on the
•ummit, the altitude of which, above the sea level, according to
Humboldt's triangulations, is 6544 metres. But whatever degree
of confidence may be conceded to our calculations, the unques-
tionable fact resulting from our ascent is, that the summit of
Chimborazo is accessible."

Artesian Wells in Sahara, (Athen.,No.. 1562).. — ^The Moniteur
Algirien brings an interesting report on the newly-bored Artesian
-wells in the Sahara Desert, in the province of Constantino. The
first well was bored in the Oasis of Oued-Bir^ near Tamema, by a
detachment of the Foreign Legion, conducted by the engineer, M«
Jus^ Th€^ works were begun in May, 1856., and, on the 19th of
June, a quantity of water of 4,010 litres per minute, and of a
temperature of 21<^ B^aumur, rushed forth from the bowels of the
earth. The joy of the natives was unbounded ; the news of the
event spread towards the South with iKezampled rapidity. People

160 Miscellaneous.

came from long distances in order to see the miracle ; the Mara-
bouts, with i^'\'-t •^olemiiity, consecrated the uewly-created well,
and gave iii 'h' name of "the well of peace." The second well>
in Temakn , yielded 36 litres, of 21^ temj^erature, per minute,
and from a Hepth of 85 metres ; this well was called " the well of
bliss." A third experiment, not far from the scene of the second,
in the Oasis of Tamelhat, was crowned with the result of 120
litres of water per minute. The Marabouts, after having thanked
the soldiers in the presence of the whole population, gave tliem a
banquet, and escorted them in solemn procession to the frontier of
Oa'^is. In another Oasis, that of Sidi-Nached, which had been
cotiii>letely ruined by the drought, the digging of •*the well of
gratitude" was accompanied by touching scenes. As soon as
the rejoicing outcries of the soldiers had announced the rushing
forth of the water, the natives drew near in crowds, plunged them-
selves into the blessed waves, and the mothers bathed their
children therein. The old Emir could not master his feelings;
tears in his eyes, he fell down upon his knees, and lifted his
trembling hands, in order to thank God and the French. This
well yields not less than 4,300 litres per minute, from a depth of
54 metres. A fifth welj has been dug at Oum Tliior, yielding
108 litres per minute, Here a part of the tribes of the neighbor-
hood commenced at once the establishment of a village, planting
at the same time hundreds of date-palms, and thus giving up
their former nomandic life. The l^st well is that of Shegga,
where soon an important agricultural centre will sj^lng up. There
is no doubt but' that these wells will work in these parts a great
social' revolution. The tribes which, after the primeval custom of
their ancestors, kept wandering from one place to another, will
gather round these fertilizing springs, will exchange the herds-
man^s staff for the plough of the farmer, and thus take the first
steps towards a civilization, which, no doubt, will make rapid
progress in Northern Africa.

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THE

CANADIAN

NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST

Volume III. JUNE, 1868. Numbbb 3

ARTICLE XVL—N^oU upon the Genus Graptolithus, and de-
Bcription of some remarkable new forms from the shales of
the Hudson River Group, discovered in the investigations of
the Geological Survey of Canada, under the direction of Sir
W. E. togan, F.R.S. By James Hall.

{Continued from our Uuit^
Graftolithus Hbadi.

Description, — ^Frond robust, four-branched; disk large, sub-
quadrangular, moderately extended along the branches ; branches
strong, much elongated, sub-angular exteriorly ; serratures small,
acute, from twenty-two to twenty-four in an inch ; fine distinctly
marked stride extend from the base of the serratures nearly across
the branch.

The specimen described presents the disk, which in its diame-
ter across the centre between the branches is nearly one inch and
an eighth, or nine-sixteenths of an inch on each side of the centre ;
while from the centre to its extent along the branches it varies
from about three-fourths of an mch in one branch to an inch in
another. The substance of the disk is strong and somewhat ru-
gose, either from its original character or from the accidents ac-

162 Ifall on the

compaDjing its imbedding in the rock. The specimen exhibits
the inner or serrated side, and the branches are turned so as to
be compressed laterally at a distance of two inches or more from
the centre; one of the branches presents a length of nearly
seven inches from the centre. This species is named after its dis-
cover, Mr. John Head.

Locality and Formation, — Point L6vy ; Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — Mr. John Head, and Sir W. E. Logan.

Graptolithus alatus.

Description, — Frond composed of four branches; disk much
extended along the sides of the branches, giving them an extreme-
ly alate character ; branches strong, angular on the lower side ;
upper or serrated side unknown. Some indentations on the ex-
terior side of the branches, which may indicate the place of serra-
tures on the opposite side are about one twenty-fourth of an inch
distant.

The only specimen of this species yet recognized is a part of the
disk with three of the branches, twoofwhicb present the corneous
expansion apparently entire, extending about two inches from the
centre along the branches, while its margin in the indentation be-
tween the branches is not more than three eighths of an inch from
the centre. This species is much more robust than G, quadribraeki'
atus or G. bryonoides, and the form of the disk when preserved
will always be a distinguishing feature.

Locality and Formation. — Point L^vy ; Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — Mr. John Head, and Sir W. E. Logan.

Graptolithus fruticosus.

Description, — Branches bifurcating from a long slender filiform
radicle, and each division again bifurcating at a short distance
above the first; branches and branch lets short, narrow linear;
serratures apparently commencing in the lower axil, where there
are one or two between the first and second bifurcations. Serra-
tures Fomewhat obtuse at the tip ; lower side longer, upper margin
nearly at right angles to the rachis ; about sixteen serratures in
the space of an inch. Substance of the branches thin, fragile.

In one specimen the position of the serratures is such as to
present elongate acute apices in one of the branches.

This species has the general habit of G, nitidus and G, bryo-
noides, but is very distinct in its long slender radicle, narrow fra-

Genus Qraptolithtu, 163

gile branches, and distant, obtase serrations. Two individuals
onlj have been obtained, but the form and habit are so precisely
alike, and so distinctive in both of these, as to mark it a very well
characterised species.

Locality and Formation. — Island of Orleans ; Hudson River
Group.

Collectors, — J. Richardson, and R Billings.

GaAPTOLrrHus indentub.

Description* — Fronds consisting of two simple branches, diverg-
ing at the base froih a slender radicle, and continuing above in a
nearly parallel direction : branches narrow, slender ; serratures
very oblique, somewhat obtuse, truncated above almost rectangu-
larly to the line of the rachis ; about twenty-four in the space of
an inch ; a depressed line reaching from the serrature to near the
base or outer margin of tl^e branch where it terminates in a small
node ; surface of branches striate.

This species resembles the G. nitidus in form, except that it is
less divei^ent, the divergence from the base being at an angle of
about thirty-six degrees for half an inch or more, after which the
two branches continue nearly parallel. Though it is probable that
this character may vary in some degree, it seems nevertheless to
mark the species, and in numerous individuals of G. nitidus I have
seen none with parallel or converging branches. The serratures
in the two species differ in some degree in form, and the propor-
tional distances, thirty-two and twenty-four, form a very charac-
teristic distinction. A single fragment of a branch measures six
inches, but the full extent when perfect is not known.

Locality and Formation, — Point L6vy ; Hudson River Group.

Collectors, — Sir W. E. Logan, and James Hall.

GRAPTOLirHUS NITIDUB.

Description, — Frond composed of two simple branches, diver-
ging from a small radicle ; branches narrower towards the base,
gradually expanding towards the extremities, which in perfect spe-
cimens appear to be rounded, and the last serrations a little short-
ened ; serratures small, shorter at the base, and becoming gradually
developed as they recede from this point ; acute at the extremities,
almost vertical to the line of the rachis, and making an angle of
about sixty degrees, the two sides being almost equal in length ;
about thirty-two in the space of an inch. A well-defined groove

164 Hall on the

or depressed line extends from the base of the serrature obliquely
towards the base of the branch, and at its termination the snrfiftoe
of the branch is marked by a minute but distinct round tubeixde.

This beautiful little species differs very distinctly from any oth^en
of this genus, in the thickened substance of its branchesi the close-
ly arranged serratures, and the minute tubercles at the base of
the grooves or striae. The specimens usually preserve consider-
able substance, and are far less flattened than most of the other
species, owing either to their original character or to the nature
of the surrounding matrix. The impressions of the oblique lines or
8tri» are often well preserved in imprints of the fossil left in
the slate.

The impressions of &• bryonoides resemble those of this species ;
but the branches are broader, and the striae are less rigid and less
distinctly impressed, while tho absence of tubercles, and the coars-
er serratures, when visible, at once serve to distinguish the species.

In mode of growth and general aspect this species resembles
the G. serratulus (Pal. N. Y., vol. 1, p. 274, pi. 74, fig. 6, a, b.)
of the Hudson River shales ; but in the latter the serratures are
coarser and more oblique, the lower side being much the longer.
The branches of that species are also more distinctly linear, while
in this they l)ecome gradually wider from the base, and are very
distinctly striate and tuberculate in well-preserved specimens.

The preceding description applies to the specimens of this spe-
cies where the branches diverge abruptly, or nearly at a right angle,
fh)m the radicle.

Locality and Formation* — Point L6vy, Hudson River Qrpup.

Collector, — J, Richardson.

Gra^ptouthus bifidus.

Deicription. — ^Two^branched ; branches very gradually and
uniformly diverging from the base to the extremities ; surfaces
obliquely striated ; serratures moderately oblique ; extremities
often nearly vertical to the rachis, and submucronate (?) ; from
thirty-eight to forty in the space of an inch ; radicle short

This species resembles in general features the G. nitidus^ and
might be mistaken for that species with the branches approxi-
mated by pressure. In several individuals examined the serra-
tures are much closer, being from six to eight more in the space
of an inch, while the general form is constant. The outer mar-

Genu9 OrapioHthus, 165-

gins of the branches are curved for a short distance from the ra-
dicle, and thence proceed in a uniform divergent line. The
entire branch is very narrow at the base, but becomes gradually
wider, the full width being attained at about half an inch from
the bifurcation, while a few of the serratures towards the outer
extremity, not having attained their full development, leave the
branches narrower in that part The same feature is observed in
O. nitidus and others of this general character, and probably may
be observed in all species where the extremities of the branches
are entire.

Locality and Formation. — Point L6vy ; Hudson River Group.r

Collectors, — J, Richardson, E. Billings.

Graptolithus patultjs.

Description. — Frond composed of two simple widely diverging
branches from a small radicle; branches long-linear, having a
width from the base of the serratures to the back of the branch of
froin one-sixteenth to one-twelfUi of an inch ; serratures oblique, with
vertical mucronate points, which from base to apex are more
than half as wide as the branch. A well-defined line or ridge
extends downwards from the apex of the denticle two-thirds across
the brancb.

Fragments of this species are numerous upon some slabs of
greenish or blackish-green slate where no other species occurs.
The fragments are sometimes five or six incbes in length, offering in
different individuals little variation in width. Sometimes the
branches are compressed vertically, and present the smooth, linear
base or exterior, which is less in width than when compressed
laterally.

The lateral faces of the branches exhibit considerable variety
of surface, dependant on the degree of compression, or in some
mstances, the replacement or filling of the interior by iron py-
rites. In such caseb, or when the branch is not flattened, theiur-
fiice IS deeply striated, or wrinkled obliquely. In some of the
extremely compressed individuals the surface has some appear*
aiice of resicular structure ; butthisisprobably due to influences
attending the mineralization of th^ fossil, or the filling up of the
original canal, and not to the structure of the substance itself.

Locality and Formation. — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group*

ColUctoTS.---} . Richardson, E Billings.

166 Hall on th$

«

QrAPTOLITHUS BXTXN8U8.

Frond probably two-branched ; branches long-linear, varying in
'Width in different individuals from one-twelfth to one-tenth of an
inch exclusive of the serratures, and from one-tenth to one-eighth
of an inch including the serratures. Serratures oblique, with the
extremities slender and nearly erect, mucronate at the tip ; about
twenty in the space of an inch ; base of branch scarcely narrowedy
showing a few smaller serratures ; surface strongly striated, the
striffi being preserved in .those specimens which are extremely
compressed.

The branches of this species bear a very close resemblance to
those of Q, octobrachiatus^ but an individual in which the base is
preserved shows in its peculiar curving and smaller serratures a
feature which belongs only to the two-branched forms. The ser-
ratures also appear to be more slender, and are slightly closer in
their arrangement ; branches of the same size in the two, present-
ing respectively eighteen and twenty serratures.

This species in separate branches of from three to six or eight
inches in length, is abundant on some slabs of decomposing gray-
ish-brown shale, associated with G. brganoides^ G, nitidus, and
others.

Locality and Formation, — ^Point Wvy ; Hudson River Group.

Goll€eiors.—J. Richardson, E. Billings, Sir W. E. Logan, James
Rail

GbAPTOUTHUS DENTIGULA.TUS.

Dueripiion. — ^Frond apparently consisting of two broad branches
(the base and junction of which are obscure in the specimen ;) mar-
gins defined by a rigid line, beyond which on the inner side are ser-
ratures which have the form and character of small denticulattons
inserted upon the margin of the branch and vertical to its direc-
tion, broad at base, abruptly tapering above, and ending in mu-
cronate points ; about sixteen in the space of an inch.

This very peculiar species is readily recognised by the dentionla-
tions, which have the character of small sharp teeth fixed upon the
margin of the branch. These denticles are more widely separated,
as well as different in character, from those of any other species
observed.

Locality and Formation. — Point L6vy, Hudson River Group*

Colleciors.Sir W. E. Logan, James Hall.

OeniL9 Qraptolithus. 167

Oraptolithus pbistinitormis.

Description. — Stipe simple, with serratures on both sides ; ser-
ratares closely arranged, very oblique, acute, mucronate ; thirty-
two in the space of an inch.

This species approaches to G, pristis (Pal. N.Y., vol I^ p. 265,
pL 72, fig. 1), but the serratures are more ascending, and the ex-
tremities more distinctly mucronate. The specimens observed
however, are imperfect fragments, which are very closely com-
pressed, being barely a film upon the surface of the shale, and the
determination is somewhat unsatisfactory.

Locality and Formation, — Point L6vy ; Hudson River Group.

Collector. — J. Richardson.

Oraptolithus bnsiformis.
(GentM RiTiOLiTBB ? Barrande.)

DeMripticn* — Stipe simple, sub-ensiform or elongate-spatolate,
usually broader in the middle and narrower towards the extremi-
ties ; a central rib, with strongly marked obliquely ascending stria
which reach the margins ; serratures obscure, apparently corres-
ponding to the striBB ; margin usually well defined.

Several spedmena of this form occur on a single slab of slate,
aaBociated with &. tenaculatua and ff. quardribrachiaiui. The
oblique strise apparently indicate the direction of the serratureSi
and in one specimen there is an appearance of obtuse indentations
upon the margin ; but it is scarcely possible at the present time to
define satisfiictorily the character of Uiese serratures. In form and
general character this species differs from all the others sufficiently
to be readily distinguished.

Locality and Formation. — ^FointL^vy ; Hudson River Group.

CoUectora. — J. Richardson, Sir W. K Logan, James Hall.

Graptolithub tsntaoulatus.

(Oennu Ritiolitu, Barrande.)

Dcicription. — Stipe simple, linear, elongate-lanceolate or some-
times dongate-ellipttcle when entire ; mid-rib double, extending
much beyond the apex of the frond ; exterior maigins when en*
tir^ reticulate and armed with mucronate points, (and with mn*
cronate points alone, or smooth, when imperfect,) with an extend-
ed setiform tentacle-like proceei from each side of the basal extre-
mity ; substance of the centre reticulate or cellular?

168 ffall on the

This species presents mueli variety of appearance dependant
upon the condition of preservation. In specimens most nearly
entire, the doable midrib often extends beyond the apex nearly as
&r as the length of the frond ; the margins present a series of
oval or sub-hexagonal reticulations, every second one (and some-
times each one,) of which is armed by a minute mucronate spinule.
When these outer ceils or reticulations are broken away, the trans-
verse walls between them often remain, and the specimens then
present an undulating margin, with a short muoronate extension,
which is the original wall between the marginal reticulations,
and which is continuous with the strisB or fibres which traverse
the frond from the midrib to the margins. On each side of the
basal extremity the long setiform fibres extend obliquely forward
to the distance of half an inch, and between these are two short
terminal ones, like the processes on the sides of the frond.

In many specimens the whole exterior reticulate portion is re-
moved, leaving the frond with straight or nearly straight parallel
rides, the long extended midrib above, and ihe two setifonn pro-
erases from the lower extremity ; whUe in some specinEiens theae
parts are also removed. The serraturea cannot well be deter-
mined in any of ^ numerous individuals ezamiBed, but thiqr
doubtless o<HnreBpoiDd to the vm4ike markingft of the centre, and
the retienlate narginal exteasion.

Some specimens indicate that the central portion may be finely
reticulate^ whidi chanustw, with that of the exterior, would be re-
gairded as sufficieiit to warrant us in referring it to t^e genua
SeMiteB.

taealify and IhrmaUon. — ^Point Ury ; Hudson River Gronp.

Collectors, — J. Bichardson, Sir W. K Logan, James Hall.

PHTLLOaRAPTUS.

Among the various forms in this Canadian collection of Grap-
iolitidecB there are several which approach in general form to (?.
oivatus of Barrande^ and €f. folium of HisingBr. They present
however some differeaeeB of character, varying from broad*oval
with Ac eztremitiea nearly equal, to dongate oval or ovate, the
apoK usually the narrower, but in a few instances tlie base is nar*
rower than ^ iqpex. These forms are sometimes extremely nu-
nttroua in the shales, and present on a cursory ez^minatioa a
geateml similarity to the leaves of laige specie of Neuropterk in
the ahalea of the coil meaaures.

6f€nu9 Qtapiclithus. 199

Instead of the narrow filiform mid-rib represented in the figures
and descriptions of the authors mentioned, these specimens pre-
sent a broad linear mid-rib continued from the apex to the base,
and extended bejond the base in a slender filiform radicle, usually
of no great extent, but in some instances nearly half an inch in
length. The mid-rib is rarely smooth, varying in width, with its
margins not often strictly defined. In examining a great number
of indifiduals of one species, I have discovered that this mid-rib is
serrated ; and though for the most part the serratures are obscure^
tiiey nevertheless present all the characteristics which ihey ex-
hibit in graptolites of other forms, in which the branches have
been compressed vertically to the direction of the serratures.

In this view, the lateral leaf-like portions appear to be appen-
dages to the central serrated portion ; but these are nevertheless
denticulate on their margins^ and the intermediate spaces are well-
defined, as if admitting of no communication by serratures or
cellular openings with the centre.

In another species the central axis or mid-rib is strong and
broad, often prominent and distinctly serrate, the edges of the in-
tanqMces bring all broken ofi* asif the extremities had been left in
the idate deaved fircmi tira sur&ee. At the same time the lateral
portions ase so well preserved as to show ditftiiict odlules upon
each side. We have therefore three ranges of eells visible, the
oentral axis projecting at right angles to the two lateral parts*
This remarkable feature leads to the int^ference that this grapto-
lite was oomposed of lour semi-elKptical parts joined at their
staraigfat sides, and projecting rectangularly to each other, presents
ing on each of the fbmr margins a series of serratures, which
penetnting towaids the centre, were all united in a common
canal, and all sustained upofn a eimple radide.

Ill another more elongate form, the specimens examined are ex-
tramdy ooooopreHed, and I have ndt been able to detect serraturea
in the axis, which however is siafBcienti^y wide to admit of this
ftatnre.

For these remarkable ibrms, whether consisting of bilateral or
quadrilateral foliate expansions, or with two or feur series of celi-
uleS| I propose the name of PHTLLooiUFnTB, from their leaf-like
appearance when compressed in the slaty strata.

It is easy to perceive how bodies foroied as these are may pre*
sent difierent appearancu^ dependant upon the litie <^separattaB
of the parts by the slaty luminoe. When separated loi^iidiaaU|r

170 Mall on the

through the centre, the cells of the parfB laterally compressed,
would be seen with the mid-rib not strictlj defined ; and the bases
of the cells of that part vertically compressed, scarcely or not at
all visible. When a small portion of the base of that part which
is vertically compressed is preserved, the bases of the cells remain
and mark the axis. When instead of being imbedded so that two
parallel sides are compressed laterally and the other vertically, the
whole frond lies in an oblique position, the two adjacent rectan-
gular parts are spread open and flattened upon the surface of the
slate, the specimen then appears as if the cells were conjoined at
their bases, or as if separated by a filiform mid-rib. An individual
compressed in this manner and then separated through the
middle, will present the bases of the two adjacent divisions with
the cells lying obliquely to the plane of the slaty laminse. These
and other varieties of appearance are due to the position in which
the fossil was imbedded, and the direction of the cleavage or lami-
nation of the slate.

Phtllooraptus. (New Genus.)

Description, — Frond consisting of simple foliate ezpanaions,
celluliferous or serrated upon the two opposite sides ; margins
with a mucronate extension from each cellule ; or of similar foliate
forms united rectangularly by their longitudinal axes, and fur-
nished on their outer margins with similar cellules or serraturea,
the whole supported on a slender radicle.

These bodies which usually appear upon the stone in the form
of simple leaf-like expansions, may possibly have been attached in
groups to some other support ; but the form of some of them, and
the character of the projecting radicle at the base, indicates that
we have the entire frond. These forms fnmish perhaps the best
illustration of all the Cfrapiolitidece^ of the lesser development of
the oells at the base, and their gradual expansion above, until
they reach the middle or upper part of the frond. Many of them
diminish from the centre upwards, and rarely the cells are more
developed above the centre, reversing the usual form, and leaving
the narrower part at the base.

PATLLOaRAFTUB TTPU8.

Deteription. — Frond elliptical, elongate-ovate or lanceolate,
broad-oval or obovate; margins ornamented by mucronate points;
serratures closely arranged, about twenty-four, rarely twenty-two

Genus Oraptolithus. Hi

and Gometimes twenty-aix in an inch, usually obscure at the mar«
gins ; axis or mid-rib broad, often crenulate or serrate ; radicle
usually short ; frond robust

This species assumes considerable variety of form ; and from the
examination of a few specimens of the extremes of the series one
might be disposed to regard them as .distinct species. After ex-
amining several hundred individuals however, I have not been
able to find reliable characters in the form, or subordinate parts,
to establish specific differences. The individuals figured represent
the principal varieties noticed, though a greater number of forms
might have been given. I have not thus far observed forms inter-
mediate between the short broad ones and the more elongate oval
ones ; but it is not probable that larger collections will furnish
such. The number of serratures in entire fronds varies in differ-
ent individuals from twenty-five or twenty-eight to fifty on each
side, depending on the size and form of the specimen. The small-
est examined have about twenty-five on each side.

The specimens of this species examined are all so much com-
pressed that the rectangular arrangement of the parts of the frond,
as seen in JP. ilicifolius, cannot be shown, the only evidence of
this character being the serratures along the central axis, which,
are transverse to those of the two sides.

Locality and FcrmaHon, — Point Uvy ; Hudson River Group

Collector. — J. Richardson.

Fhtlloobaptus ilioifouus.

Description. — ^Frond apparently broadly oval or ovate, with the
margin ornamented by mucronate points ; mid-rib or axis broad,
serrated ; the extension of the serratures broken off in the sepa-
rated laminso of shale ; radicle short Serratures from thirty to
thirly-two in the spaoe of an inch, varying slightly with the pro-
portionate length of the frond. ^

The form in reality however is that of two broadly oval or ovate
leaves or fronds, joined rectangularly at their centres or by the
longitudinal axis, and in a transverse section presenting a regular
cruciform figure. The expansions of the two sides, which are
laterally compressed, show distinct serratures or cells with pro-
jecting mucronate extensions. Those which are vertically com-
pressed have their outer portions broken off in the separated la-
minie of slate, and present the bases of the oells, which, having

172 ffcUl Mi the

sometimes been filled and distended with mineral matter before
imbedding, are very conspicuous. In a few instances the cells of
the lateral portions are filled in the same manner, presenting the
character of carving, conical tubes, with the broader extremity
outwards.

The condition of preservation in several species examined is such
as to render unavoidable any other conclusion as to their mode of
growth than the one I have given above, however anomalous it
may seem. This species differs from P. iypus in its thicker sub-
stance, proportionally shorter and broader form, and more olosely
arranged serratures.

Locality and Formation. — ^Point L^vy ; Hudson River Group.

Coileetor, — J. Richardson.

PhTLLOGRAPTUS AVOtTStlFOLHTS.

Description, — ^Frond elongate-elliptical or ctlongate-lanceolate,
okaely serrated ; serratures fiifnished with mucronate extensions,
about twenty-four in the space of an inch ; mid-rib broad, smooth;
radicle scarcely preserved.

This species is readily distinguished from either of the preceding
by its narrow and elongate form. The individuals examined are
very numerous, but being tot the most part upon slaty lamime,
which are extremely compressed, they preserve scarcely any sub-
stance ; a mere outline with a more brilliant surface being almost
the only remaining character by which th^y are recognised.

The individuals of this species are, in several specimens, equally
abundant with those of Phyllograptus typU9. The mucronate
extensions upon tbe mitrgins of this species are not so abrupt
as IB P, typus and P. ilidfoliuSi ^e sub^lice of thd cell margm
being more extended along the mucronation. The number
of serratures upon each side of the frond vsries according
to the size of the individual, being ordinarily from eleveti or
twehe to twenty-four, while in a single individual of nearly
two inches in length diere ard forty-thrte or forty-four on
eaoh side. The mid-rib in this species thot^ broad, like those of
liie preceding spedes, is not conspicuously serrate in any of the
qpedmoBS examined. This- feature however may have been obli-
terated by pressure.

Locality and ForrrUition. — Point L^fv ; Hudson River Group.

Collector. — J. Richardson.

Genus Oraptolitkus, 17S .

Phtllograptus similis.

Deieription.-^Ftond broad-oval ; margins ornamented by Blend-
er, sttb-mncronate serratures, which are closely arranged, being in
the proportion of thirty-two to an inch, usually from thirteen to
sixteen upon each side ; axis disjoined ; radicle unknown.

This species exhibits much variety of aspect. The more per-
fect forms are broadly oval, the diameters being about as six to
seven. The central portion is open and free from any organic
substance, as if there had originally been a cavity in the place of
the longitudinal axis. In other specimens the parts are separated
at one extremitv, and appear like three or four branches closely
joined at the other extremity, giving it the aspect of a four-branch-
ed frond. On examining numerous specimens they appear to have
been originally arranged like the species of this genus already de-
scribed, with perhaps this difference, that the margins of the axial
portion were not closely united, or were quite disjoined along the
centre. From the equal extremities of the frond, and the almost
rectangular serratnres, conjoinsd with the very obscure condition
of the specimens, it has not been possible to determine whether
the separation of the parts at the extremities has taken place at
the base or the summit

This species occurs associated with G. Logani and G, quad-
ribraehiatus.

Locality and Formation. — Point L^vy ; Hudson River Group.
CoUeetors. — Sir W. £. Logan and James Hall.
Besides the forms described in the preceding pi^es, there are
several others belonging to the genus GhraptolithuSy of which I
have not specimens in sufficient perfection to furnish a proper de-
scription ; and there are others which, possessing some abnormal
characters, I hesitate to describe as distinct species, until I shall
have an opportunity of seeing more specimens. One of these,
having the general character of G. octobrachatus, has but seven
branchlets, three from one extremity of the vinculum and four from
the outer, bifurcating as in the species named above. The
branches, however, are more slender than in G, octobrackiatus^
and it may prove to be a distinct species.

Another form having the general habit of G. Logani has but
nine branchlets, four from one and five from the other side of the
vincolum. The exterior side only is visible, and the branches be-
ing broken off a short distance from the vinculum, no opportunitv

174 Hallonthe

is offered of examining the eerratures. It seems quite probable
that this may prove a distinct species.

A single fragment of a ramose form, with two branches like (7.
raTiioius^ of New York, has been observed, but I have not thought
it desirable to give its characters at present.

Among other forms of the Graptolittdece, there are at least three
species of DictyoTiemay which are of common occurrence, associ-
ated with the Graptolites of Point L6vy.

The genus Dicty&nema was described in the Palseontology of
New York, vol. 2, p. 174, from an examination of the broad fla-
belliform or sub-circular expansions of corneous reticulated fronds
common in the shales of the Niagara group. These forms were
described as having ** the appearance and texture of Graptolites,
to which they were doubtless closely allied," Further examina-
tions have demonstrated the truth of this remark in the discovery
of serratures, like those of Graptolithtis, on the inner side of the
branchlets of both D. reti/ormis and D, gracilis. The celluli-
ferons side adhering more closely to the stone than the opposite^
as in Ratepora and Fenestella, is much more rarely seen than the
other. The mode of growth, though probably flabelliform in some
species, is clearly funnel shaped in D, reti/ormis, the serratures
being upon the inner side as in Fenestella.

The generic characters heretofore given may therefore be ex-
tended as follows.

DICTYONEMA.

Generic characters, — Frond consisting of flabelliform or funnel-
shaped expansions, (circular from compression) composed of
slender radiating branches, which frequently bifurcate as they re-
cede from the base ; branches and subdivisions united laterally by
fine transverse dissepiments ; exterior of branches strongly striated
and often deeply indented ; inner surface celluliferous or serrate,
as in Graptolithus,*

The general aspect of the species of this genus is like that of
Fenestella^ both in the form of the fronds and the bifurcation of the

* A paper bj J. W. Salter, Esq., Palaeontologist of the Geological
Survey of Great Britain, read before the American Association, for the
advancement of Science, at the Montreal Meeting, 185 Y, describes a new
genus of the Graptolite family under the name of Graptopora. Although
having had no opportunity of examining this paper, it appears to me
that the forms described are true Dictyonema.

I

Oenus Graptolithus, 175

branches. Some of the species have heretofore been referred to
that genus, and others to Oorgonia, They may be known from
either of these genera by the striated and serrated corneous skele-
ton, and absence of round ceiluies, which latter character, with a
calcareous frond, marks the Fenestella,

Since the essential characters oi Dictyonema^ with figures of two
species, have been given long ago, and their similarity to Grapto-
lites pointed out, I am disposed to retain the name, and to describe
the Canadian species under that designation.

There are still two other types in this collection which seem to
merit generic distinction. One of these consists of imperfect
branching fronds, the smallerbranchlets of which are often rigidly
divergent from the main branch at an angle of about thirty-six
degrees. In others the branchlets diverge in a similar manner,
but are less rigid. Exterior of branches smooth, interior surface
celluliferous. There are two or three forms of this type which I
propose to designate as D£ND0oraptu8.

Another form consists of fronds which arc strong stipes near
the base, and become numerously and irregularly branched, end-
ing in a great number of filiform branchlets, one side of which is
serraed. The general aspect is that of a shrub or tree in minia-
ture. For these forms I would pi opose the generic name of Team-;

NOORAPTUS.

There is also a single species approaching in character to that
published in the Report of the Fourlh Geological District of New
York as FiliciUs ? The lateral branchlets are much longer, more
lax and slender, being in this respect more nearly like Filicites
gracilis of Shumard, (Geol. Report of Missouri, part 2, p. 208, pi.
a. fig. 11) but the branchlets in the Canadian species are longer
and more slender. They have all the same general plumose cha-
racter, and from the well preserved corneous structure in the Ca-
nadian specimens, I regar I tliein as belonginjr to the Graptolidese,
although tho celluliferous or serrated margins have not been seen.
For these forms of Canada, New York and Missouri, should they
prove generically identical, I propose the name of Plumalina,
making the FilicitQa ? cited above, the typ« of the genus with the
namo of Plumalina plumaria^ while the western species will re-
ceive the name of P, gracilis.

The disk-like forms which are described in the Palaeontology
of New York, vol. 1, p. 277, under the name of Discophyllum, are
probably the disks of a species of Graptolithus with numerous

176 Hall an the Oenug Oraptolitktut.

branches. One specimen preserves a thick corneous substance,
which is the exterior surface, while the other preserves the mould
of the opposite side, the radiating impressions of which are ere-
nulated. There are no evidences of branches extending beyond
the margin of the disk.

We have now so many well-established forms in the flEunily
Graptolitidect, that we have the means of comparison with other
allied families among paleozoic fossils.

Although numerous species in this collection are shown to be
of compound structure, or to consist of fronds composed of two or
more branches, and many of them originating in, or proceeding
from a disk of thickened corneous substance, yet it is not impro-
bable that there are among true Graptolites simple stipes or stems,
as all the species have been usually heretof9re regarded. I am
disposed to believe that those Graptolites where the stipe is ser-
rated on the two sides (Diplorfrapsua) may have been simple from
the base ; and that the branching forms having both sides, or one
side only of the branches serrated, may possibly also have been
simple, or bearing no more than a single stipe from the radicle.
The bifurcate appearance at the base of G, bicomU however,
offers some objections to this view, and these too may have been
compound, like those which have only one side serrated.

The numerous compound forms shown in this collection, and
the great variety of combination in the mode of branching, in-
duces the belief that all those with a single series of serratures
have been originally composed of two, four, or more branches,
either diverging from a radicle or connected by a vinculum from
which the radicle has extended.

The PhyllograpiuSy although apparently an anomalous form,
is not more so with our present knowledge of the Graptolites than
&. Logani or 6. octchrachioLius would have been considered a few
years since.

It is not among the least interesting focts, that we should find
the Graptolitidem simulating in their mode of growth so many of
the Palffiozotic Bryozoa, We have Fenestetla represented in
Dictyonema ; the ramose forms of Eetepora in Dendrograptua ;
Glauconome and Ichthyorachis in Plumalina ; while the spirally
ascending forms figured by Barrande appear to simulate in their
mode of growth the spiral forms of Fenestella or Archimedes,

The forms of Graptolites now known are so numerous as to de-
serve especial consideration in their relations to other groups or

Entomology. 177

families of fossil or living forms. They have been referred to the
Radiata and to the Bryozoa, They were all originally composed
of a thin corneous film which enclosed\the bodies of the animals
inhabiting the cells, and formed the general canal or source of
communication along the axis. The substance of the Graptolites
was then unlike that of the Radiata of the same geological age ;
the sub-divisions are in twos, or some multiple of two, except in a
few instances which appear to be abnormal developments ; and
when the sub-divisions are irregular there is f<ir less similarity
with Radiata.

From all Palaeozoic Bryozoa the Graptolites differ essentially in
the form and arrangement of the cellules, and the nature of the
substance and structure of the skeleton ; and simulate only the
genera] forms of Bryozoan genera.

ARTICLE XVII.— Entomology, No. 2.' By Wm. Couper, To-

ronto.

The 2nd of April was a beautiful day, such as a person would
select to enjoy a ramble in the neighbouring woods of Toronto —
indeed, it was a naturalist's day — birds sang sweetly, and butter-
flies appeared in their innocent gambols through forest paths and
open spots whereon the sun's rays produced warmth. Three
species of Vanessa made their appearance on Friday ; I captured
specimens of two species, but the third I did not secure on
account of its scarcity. It has long been known that the imago
of the American Vanessa antiopa passes the winter in some shelter-
ed place, in a semi-torpid state, but now I am of opinion that two
additional species V,progne and F. Interrogaiiones do so likewise ;
probably it is natural to the few northern types of the genus,
while in the same species in more genial southern latitudes, such
instinct is very rarely developed. As butterflies are supposed to
•ubsist only on the nectar of flowers, the non-entomologist may
naturally enquire how do they receive nourishment when there are
no flowers ? During this month trees are also awakening from
torpidity, and should there happen to be recent wounds on the
south side of a maple or birch, the sap while ascending may be
seen to ooze ; to these wounds our April butterflies repair to
nourish themselves. Their activity after remaining the whole
winter in a torpid state, is really astonisbing. For the first ten
days they were flitting before us in the woods and elsewhere, but

B.

1

178 Entomology.

whero did they go daring the cold days that followed ? Back to
the semi-torpid state there to remain until sufficient warmth re-
turned to cause the sap to fiow again — hence the sudden appear-
ance and reappearance of our April butterflies.

It is mj intention to describe species of micro-lepidoptera, when
they can be satisfactorily traced from the larvaB, and I am induced
to call the altention of my Canadian brother entomologists to a
pretty liltle species which appears to be rather common in the
vicinity of Toronto. The larva is at present unknown to me ;
however, it may be discovered from the description of the imago,
its cocoon and exuvia : —

Head and face white, the former crowned with a tuft of fer«
ruginous cilia ; eyes black, and concealed above by white cilia ;
antennae long, threadlike, and silvery; anterior wings mottled
black and silver, the latter predominent at the base, with greyish
cilia on the posterior margin, longest towards the apex ; posterior
wings silvery, densely surrounded with grey cilia ; body and legs
ailvery. Exp. al. SJ lin.

Wiicn in repose, the wings are closed around the body ; on the
base of anterior wings there is a little black tuft, and a large one
near the centre, surrounded anteriorly with a white lunulc.

The cocoon of this moth is white, oblong, and longitudinally
but slightly lined. From observations already made, it appears
the larva select various places for its construction, some are
found under bark of trees, others are attached to stones, but the
greater number were upon grass and stems of clover. The color
of the exuvia or pupa case is deep chestnut, and the joints of
Abdominal rings are visible to the naked eye. This pretty micro-
lep belongs to the genus Nepiiculay and probably is a new species.
My specimens appeared in April. Cocoons of this moth contain-
ing pupa were found in the middle of May.

If leaves of basswood are examined in July and August they
wiU be found mined by small white larvae. Not unfrequently as
many as four may be noticed in a single leaf. They occupy dis-
tinct cells that are at first small, but as the age and appetite of the
larva increases, so likewise the cells. When about to change to
the pupa state, each constructs a perfectly circular brown-colored
<^ll, by uniting the upper and lower sections of the leaf together^
and there remains till it becomes a perfect insect I have failed
to secure ihe imago from this larva last summer, but I hope to
i>e more fo:t*^nate in my second attempt I am strongly of opi-

.1

Entomology. 179

«
Tiion that it is lepidopterons, probably belonging to the genus

Nepiieula.

I truBt that ere long, some clever lepidopterist will enter this
field of study, which, as Mr. Stainton the English micro-lepidop-
terist says : — :'*0r all the groups of lepidoptera, perhaps none are
more interesting than the Tineina, and few, if any, so &r from
being understood. The peculiarity of their forms in numerous
instances, the gorgeousness of their coloring, the wonderful beauty
of the pencilled markings of their wings, the fanciful and grotesque
position in which many of them delight to stand, the variety and
singularity of their transformations, all of these and other charac-
teristics render them uncommonly attractive ; while on the other
hand, their minuteness, the pains taken and the expertness mani-
fested by both larvaB and perfect insects in concealing themselves,
or escaping if discovered, as well as the difficulty of obtaining
uninjured specimens, have thrown difficulties in the way of the
scientific student, if not insuperable, at least extremely perplexing
and tantalizing."

I procured an entomological curiosity from the woods, which
serves to illustrate the parasitic family CkalcididcB ; the specimen
is worthy of notice as an interesting addition to my collection of
insect architecture. It is a small branch of the common alder
that had been last summer infested by a species of Coceus, which^
while alive, were attacked by a micro-ichneutnon-fly of the above
family. The CoccidcB occupying the upper section of the branches,
were of a whitish color, hence their detection with the naked eye.
Knowing at the time that vegetable parasites are occasionally in-
fested by other insects, led me to examine them with my pocket
magnifier which soon revealed that some minute insect occupied
the interior of each and every Coccus. The specimen is now in
my possession about twelve days, and since, I have with pleasure,
liberated an occasional issue of those eminently useful insects.
For a little insight into their economy, as well as to point out the
difference between the CynipidcB and Chalddidai^ I quote the fol-
lowing from Harris, whose description will serve to determine
them :*^*' Qall insects are often destroyed by little parasites be-
longing to the family Chalddidagy and as these are liable to be
mistaken for the former, especially when coming from the same
gall, it may be well to point out the difference between them.
The four winged gall-flies have rather long, straight threadlike
and ascending antennae ; the fore-wings with a few veins, forming

ISO Entomology,

two triangular mesbes, one of which is very small, and situated
near the middle of the wing, the other mesh larger and near the
the base ; the hind body roundish but laterally compressed ;
and the piercer spiral or curved, and concealed. The Chalcu
dians have shorter, elbowed, and drooping antennae, which are
enlarged towards the end ; a single vein, running from the
shoulder near the outer margin of the fore-wing, uniting with
this margin near the middle, and emitting thence, towards the
disc of the wing, a short oblique branch, which is enlarged or
forked at the end ;# the hind body generally oval, pointed at the
end in the females, and provided in this sex with a straight piercer,
which is more or less visible beneath, and prominent at the ex.
Iremity."

About a month ago, I picked up a specimen of ffelix albolabrii.
Upon examining the shell, I discovered that the animal it con-
tained had been consumed, and nothing remained but a number
of larvse attached to the interior. I took them to be coleopterous,
as they appeared to the naked eye to resemble that of Dti*mes-
li^CB — since then they have turned out to be Diptera, The form
of antennsB classes it as a Tachina^ bui in general characters it
resembles a minute species of parasitic Sarcophaga] it differs
from Tachina in having its wing longitudinally folded when at
rest. This is the first instance within my recollection of having
found a dipterous parasite within a terrestrial molluao.

I once had the pleasure of witnessing the stratagems of a little
cuckoo fly ; it was on the island opposite Toronto, where a large
^ider is found during summer, generally under stones, and in the
Band. Nature- has clothed this spider, as is invariably the case
with insecta that conceal from their enemies, in colors resembling
the sand it inhabits, — however, color does not protect this ppider
Ibom all its enemies, particularly a sand wasp Spkex Pennsylvanica ;
indeed, these spiders constitute the principal food of the larvse of
fbese wasps. I obseiTed one of the wasps running backwards,
holding and dragging with its mandibles the body of a spider ; it
would occasionally drop it and reconnoitce, forming a series of
circles, which were extended according to distance from centre,
and although these round-about excursions were many times re-
peated, the wasp, with head down, like a dog on scent, arrived at
the identical spot where its prey lay. Its manoeuvres appeared
fttrange to me ; oft times it stood in an erect position with open
mandiblofli as if in defence, and well it might, for all this time H

Entomology. 181

was followed by a sinall species of Taekina or cnckoo-fly, which
despite the energy of the wasp to carry off its prey, managed to
deposit its minute eggs in the body of the spider ; it effected this
either in hovering in a direct line over the head of the wasp while
it was dragging the spider, or keeping within range of its com-
pound eyes, and no sooner did the wasp leave it for a short time,
than the little fly would return and deposit its eggs. The wasp was
instinctively aware of the presence of an enemy, which accounts
for the strange erect position in which it sometimes placed itself*
Whether this fly is a parasite on the larvse of the wasp, making the
spider the means of conveying its eggs to the nest, or on the
spider, T am not in possession of facts to shew ; but there is a pro-
bability it is the spider, and, that as soon as parasitic larvae make
their appearance, the wasp drags the spiders containing them, out
of its burrow or nest, to the surface sand where they effect their
propagation.

On the 28th of April, when examining the bark of trees for
mining beetles, I came in possession of a cluster of insects eggs
that are new to me. The following description of the form, d;c.,
under the microscope, together with the locality may lead to the
discovery of the parent. The number is about fifty, closely ar-
ranged in quincunx order. Oup-like in form ; lower part attached
to the bark, light brown ; a ring near the margin is dark brown,
and the margin white, surrounded with short bristles, of the same
color, which give it a star-like appearance. The lid is semi-spheri-
cal, whitish on the disk, and surrounded with a dark brown ring.
The form of the egg is more oblong than round, and something
less than a line in length. They are attached to the interior bark
of the maple ; probably they are Coleopterous. *^ The eggs of
insects are very variable in shape ; most perhaps are oval or round ;
in some instances they are lenticular, in others somewhat conical ;
sometimes they^re pedicuiated. Many when examined through
the microscope closely resemble the shelly cases of echini, often
called sea-eggft. All insects deposit their eggs upon or near the
substances which are to furnish the future caterpillars, grubs, Ac,
with food. Consequently situations chosen, and the mode in
which their safety is secured, are almost as diversified as the species
are numerous."

It is generally the case that students in entomology overlook the
small insects, even when they constitute material towards their
particular order, under the idea that they are too minute either ta

182 Oeologtcal Oleanint/s,'

d6 good or evil. This is a great mistake and one that arises from
carelessness ; he who rejects an insect because it is small, is no
entomologist, and this he disc-overs when he happens to converse
with the more advanced in the minutisB of nature. In the Feb.
number of the *' Zoologist'' (English) there is a communicaiion
from one of its correspondents, headed " What there is beneath
cur Noses^^ He says : — ** My wish is to draw the attention of all
and sundry young men who have never bethought themselves
about the subject, to the wonders which the road-sides, quiet lanes,
woods, thickets, moors, or amongst whatsoever kind of scenery
they may chance to be located, would yield them, if^ instead of
frittering away and spending their time without a single thought of
•eeing into nature, they would only lie in her lap for an odd half
hour at a time, and recount to themselves a few of the many his-
tories which even a couple of yard's square of a grassy bank fur-
nishes. I feel convinced that one single experiment would aston-
ish them at their ignorance. It startled me considerably, some
few years ago, when I first heard of caterpillars taking up their
quarters in leaves of grass, and that they were to be found every-
where for looking after ; places where I had lain a thousand times,
either resting after a days' hunting, or thrown myself down upon
with a friend to enjoy our otium cum dig., being tenanted by scores
of larvsB mining and working out an existence in such narrow
houses. Yet there they are sure enough, and abundant proo&
have been shewn establishing the fact."

ARTICLE XVIII.— Geological Gleanings.

Geology of the Western States, — ^Western geology is making
rapid progress, under the active exertions of many skilful ex-
plorers. In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences,
Philadelphia, we have a long report on the geology and fossils of
Nebraska, so well known on account of the remarkably interesting
mammaliferous tertiary-beds of the Mauvaises Terres. Messrs.
Meek k Hayden, the authors, give the following summary of the
structure of the region : —

Chneral Section of the Geological FormaHons seen in and near the Black

Hillt (defending),

\9t. Miocene beds consisting of whitish clays and sandstones of varioof
thickness.

Geological Gleanings,

189

a

CQ

o

a

3

I

«o
P
o

o

No. 6. Of the Nebraska general section, with its usnal characters
and fossils — 150 ft.

No. 4. Presenting its usual characters and containing its charac-
teristic fossils, — 150 ft.

No. 3. Usual fossils and composition, — 150 to 200 feet.

No. 2. Usual lithological characters and fossils, with some new
forms,— 200 to 250 ft.

No. 1. Upper part yellowish and reddish sandstone, sometimes in
heavj beds, passing down into alternations of yellowish,
gray, bluish, and reddish laminated shale, with seams and
layers of dark carbonaceous matter or impure lignite ; be-
neath which there is a heavy bed of compact yellowish and
reddish sandstone, with indistinct vegetable remains, and
much fossil wood, — above beds variable at different places,
—300 to 400 ft.

Then come alternations of light gray argillaceous grit,
and rather soft sandstone, containing Ammonites Henryi,
n. s. p., and a small oyster; also in bluish gpray compact
argillo-calcareous masses Unio nuccUis n. s. p., and a small
Planorbis, with other small univalves like Paludina.

A.<»Layer8 of argillo-calcareous, somewhat gritty mass, contain-
ing Belemnites densus^ n. s. p., Ammonites cordiformis^ n. s. p.,
Avicula {Monoiis) tenuicostaiaj n. s. p., Area (Cucullaa)
inomatay n. s. p. ; passing down into a 6 or 8 foot bed light
gray, or yellowish sandstone, with ripple marks and trails
of marine wcrmV — ^0 to 80 ft.

B. — Light red argillo-calcareous gritty bed, with greenish seams,
and nodules (sometimes wanting), — 30 to 40 ft.

C. — Soft gray and dark brownish sandstone, passing down] into
about 8 feet of laminated shale of various colors, below
which there « is a 6 foot bed of sandstone similar to that
above, containing w^vtruia tenuicottata, and trails of marine
worms. Then comes 30 to 40 feet of bluish, or ash-cclored
argillaceous shale, with great numbers of Zingttia6rmro*-
traj n. s. p., and Serpula. Next we have a light-gray cal-
careous grit, containing columns of PentcKrintts aateriscut,
n. 8. p., ^vicula tenuicostaiay Serpula^ Ac, the more com-
pact and calcareous portions often perforated by Pkolas t
The latter bed passes down into a light-yellowish gray
sandstone, splitting into thin layers, and containing im-
perfect casts of MytHtu (Modiola) Pecten^ Trigonia, and
other bivalves, in considerable numbers. Whole 60 to
100 ft.

D. — Brick-red, incoherent, argillo-calcareous, very fine slightly
gritty material, containing great quantities of gypsum in
the form of seams, layers, and irregular beds, — 100 to 150
feet.

E. — Bluish and reddish gray, very hard gritty limestone, in which
were found a smooth tpirifer like S. lineatits, two or three
species small Pleurotomaria^ two species Macrocheilus and*
one or two species of Bellerophon, This bed is variable in
thickness, — 10 to 50 ft.

F. — ^Brick-red material, very similar to the bed D, excepting that
it contains much less gypsum ; passing down into a very
hard compact concretionary sandstone, — 250 to 300 ft.

G. — Hard, more or less gritty, yellowish and whitish limestone,
containing ProductWj Spirifery EuomphaltUy &c. Ac, pass-
ing down into a light yellow calcareous grit ; altogether
60 ft.

184 Geological Gleanings^

• ^ fH. — ^Very hard reddish-gray limestone, containing Syringopora^
o § j Productiu, Terebratula^ &c. In the middle of this bed

^ "S I there is an 8 foot layer of very hard compact bluish lime*

O QQ I stone containing many crinoid remains, whole 50 ft.

^ d I

S.S J I. — ^Potsdam sandstone, containing Lingula, Oboltu? and frag-

2 S 1 ments of Trilobite8y—30 to 60 ft.

J. — Coarse feldspathic gpranite, forming mountain masses.
K. — Sighly metamorphosed strata, standing yertical.

We have also received from the authors a paper by Messrs.
Shuinard <fe Swallow, describing a large number of new species
of animal remains from the coal measures of Missouri and Kansas,
and a paper by Prof. Swallow and Major Ilawn on the Permian
rocks referred to in our last number. It would appear from this
paper that the Permian rocks of Kansas attain a thickness of 820
feet, and consist of Limestone, magnesian limestone, shales, and
clays of various texture and colour, conglomerate, and gypsum.
They are divisible into two subordinate groups, an upper and
lower, and are wholly marine. Their distinct superposition on
the coal measures, and the character of the fossils, would seem to
leave little doubt that they are really of the age ascribed to them.

"We learn that in Prof. Hall's Report on Iowa, soon to be
published, evidence will be adduced of the existence of the latest
member of the Palaeozoic series in that state, and also in Illinois.
Nothinor affords a stronger evidence of the activity of geology
in the West, than the nearly simultaneous discovery of this impor-
tant fact by several observers.

In the same report, Prof. Hall notices the remarkable interca-
lation in the coal measures of the West of a bed of limestone
higher than the true or underlying carboniferous limestone, and
gradually thickening westward. He argues from this the preva-
lence of oceanic conditions throughout the far West, at a time
when terrestrial conditions prevailed to the East : —

'"The evidences of the existence of this ocean in the far west
and south-west during the Coal period, amount to almost a proof
that ihe conditions of that area which now constitutes a part of
the continent, were never such as to admit of the production of
coal plants, and the deposition of such materials as make up the
Coal me?isures, at least during the latter part of the Coal period.
In regard to the earlier part of that period, or the time in which
the Lower Coal measures were formed, we have not, at present,

Oiologieal Gleanings, 185

as I conceive, the means of fullj deciding what were the condi-
tions in the central and south-western part of our continent."

" These facts, the result of so many observations, and coinci-*
dent over so vast an area in the west, confirm conclusions drawn
from other Fource**, that the dry land and land plants first appear-
ed in the eastern part of the continent. Indeed we have good
reason to believe that dry land existed in proximity to our present
continent on the e&^t from the earliest geological time, as shown
in the vast accumulation of materials in the Lauren tian and Hu-
ron inn periods.

*^ The Potsdam sandstone, it is true, seems to be almost equally
spread out over the entire breadth of the country, from the slopes
of the Rocky Mountains, to the Atlantic; and judging from its
angmenting thickness in many western localities, we may expect
to find it, either in its normal condition or as a metHmorphicrock,
strongly developed in some parts of the Rocky Mountains. Sub-
sequent to this period, however, every sedimentary formation indi-
cates the proximity of land on the east. The great thickness of
strata, coarse materials, and numerous fucoids of the Hudson
River ffroup in its eastern extension, indicate proximity to land, or
the course of stiong currents ; while in the west the formation
dies out in some inconspicuous fine shaly and calcareous beds,
which, both in the nature and condition of the material and in
the fossil contents, indicate great distance from land and a quiet
ocean. The Clinton group, in like manner, in its coarse materials
and abundant fucoids, points to a littoral condition of its area of
deposition in the east; while it gradually diminishes in its west-
ern extension, and is finally altogether lost in that direction.

"In the sedimentary rocks of the Devonian period, including
the Hamilton, Portage, Chemung and Catskill Mountain groups,
we find in Cana^la and Eastern New York the first appearance of
land |ilant<«, some of which closely resemble plants of the Coal
period ; and it was at that time that this peculiar vegetation be-
gan its existence on this continent, where we now find its remains
in strata of these several groups.

** Notwithstanding this great accumulation of land-derived ma-
terial with its marine shells, gradually decreasing westward as
calcareous deposits increase — its numerous fucoids and land plants^
the whole series has diminished to less than two hundred feet of
marine sedimentary deposits in the Mississippi valley, and is there
marked by marine fossils only.

186 Geological Gleanings.

^ We cannot expect that the Coal formation, with its land*de-
rived materials and its abundant land plants — far more abundant
in the east than in the west — will prove an exception to this gene-
ral rule ; and when we find that these strata have a thickness of
more than fourteen thousand feet in Nova Scotia, according to
the measurements of Sir W. K. Logan ; that the productive coal
measures in Cape Breton are estimated by Mr. Brown to exceed
ten thousand feet ; and that in Pennsylvanin, the coal measures,
including the conglomerate, may be about eight thou-^and feet,
and in the Mississippi valley one thousand feet, — we are forced to
the conclusion already suggested of the ultimate disaj»pearance
of the coal measures in that direction.

'* It would therefore appear, that from the earliest Silurian
times, the Great West, or the region of the Rocky Mountains, has
been an ocean, which successively received the finer sediments
derived from eastern lands, or which produced within its own area
the calcareous deposits, but ever an ocean, not only to the close
of the Carboniferous period, but still later through the Permian,
Jurassic and Cretaceous periods ; showing apparently no evidences
of dry land till about the beginning of the Cretaceous era, or per-
haps a little earlier ; while in later Tertiary periods, the conti-
nental fauna and flora have been remarkably developed over the
same area.

" Thus while the older Palaeozoic formations have been largely
accumulated in the east, in successive beds, having altogether a
thickness of several times the height of our highest mountains,
they have greatly diminished in the west. At the same time,
while the Post-palseozoic formations are very thin or often absent
in the east, they have accumulated in vast amount along the line
of the Rocky Mountains, fix)m one end of the continent to the
other."

The^ are hints of great general truths, of profound significance
in geology : but a much larger induction of facts than we at pre-
sent possess, is required to give them certainty ; and they
will be found to be liable to many local exceptions, even if fully
established for the continent at large,

Canadian Geology. — Prof. Chapman introduces to us two new
species of the genus Asaphus^ found in the lower Silurian rocks
of Upper Canada, and which he names A, Canadensis and A,
Halli. (Canadian Journal, May.)

We are also indebted to Prof. Chapman for a very valuable

Geological Gleanings, 187

piq>er on the Blow-pipe Assaying of Coals. The precise diflfer-
ences in the coropositioii of coals have been too much neglected
by geological observers ; and a considerable amount of experience
in ass^iys and other examinations of this mineral, enables us to
say that the methods recommended by Prof. Chapman will be
found exceedingly valuable in circumstances in which trials on a
larger scale cannot be made. We copy, for the benefit of students
of this subject, Prof. Chapman's preliminary classification of the
coals: —

" Without attending to minor distinctions or points of merely
local value, we may arrange all varieties of coal, so far as regards
practical purposes, under the following sub-divisions :

1. Anthracites.

2. Anthracitic or Dry Coals.

3. Caking or Fat Coals.

4. Cannel or Gas Coals.

5. Brown Coals or Lignites.

These varipties pass by almost insensible transitions into one
another. Thus, the cannel coals are related to the lignites by the
different kinds of jet, some of which are referable to the one, and
some t6 the other sub-division. Between the caking and the can-
nel coals there are also various links ; whilst the anthracite or dry
coals, on the other hand — passing by excess of bitumen into the
caking coals, and by a diminution of bituminous matter into the
anthracites — serve to connect the first and third divisions. The
typical or normal specimens of each of these five varieties, how-
ever, are suffiuienlly well marked.

1. Anthracites. — The true or normal anthracites possess a bril-
liant sub-metallic lustre, a degree of hardness varying from 3.0 to
3.25*, and a specific gravity of at least 1.33. A specimen from
Pennsylvania gave 1.51 ; another specimen, 1.44 ; one from the
department of the Isere in France, 1.56 ; and three from Wales
yielded respectively 1.33, 1.37, 1.34. It should be stated, how-
ever, that many of the Welsh specimens belong strictly to the
division of anthracitic coals, rather than to that of the true anthra-
cites. The normal anthracites exhibit also a black or grayish-
black streak ; and all are good conductors of electricity. The

* Hausmann in his Handbuch der diineralogiej gives 2.6 as the extreme
hardness of all coals ; but this is evidently erroneons, as many speci-
mens, not only of anthracite, but of common and cannel coals, scratch
calcareous spar.

188 Oeohgical Oleanings.

latter character may be conveniently shewn by the method first
pointed out by Yon Eobell. A fragment placed in a solution of
sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) in contact with a strip of zinc,
will become quickly coated with a deposit of metallic copper : a
phenomenon not exhibited in the case of common coal. Deduct-
ing ash and moisture, true anthracites present, as a mean, the
following composition : — Carbon 92 i, Hydrogen 3 J, Oxygen (with
trace of Nitrogen) 4. All yield an amount of coke equal to or
exceeding 89 per cent The coke is frequently pulverulent,
never agglutinated.

The comportment of anthracite before the blowpipe has not
hitherto been given in detail. It is as follows : Per ge, the assay
quickly loses its metallic brilliancy. After continued ignition,
small white specks of ash appear on its edges. In borax it dis-
solves very slowly, with constant escape of bubbles. It is not at-
tacked by salt of phosphoruf^ ; the assay works to the top of the
bead and slowly burns away. In carbonate of soda, it effervesces,
scintillates, and turns rapidly in the bead ; and the soda is gra-
dually absorbed. In the bulb tube a little water is always given
off, but without any trace of bituminous matter.

As regards their geological position, the true anthracites belong
chiefly to the middle portion of the Palaeozoic series, below the
Carboniferous formation ; or otherwise, they constitute the under
portion of the coal measures. Frequently also, anthracites occur
in the vicinity of erupted rocks, and amongst metamorphic strata,
as manifest alterations of ordinary coal.

2. — Anthracitic Coals. — These are often confounded with the
true anthracites, into which indeed, as already stated, they gra-
dually merge. Normally, they differ from the true anthracites in
being non-conductors of electricity, in burning more easily and
with a very evident yellow flame, in yielding a small quantity of
bituminous matter when heated in a tube closed at one end, and
in furnishing an amount of coke below 80 per cent The coke is
also in general more or leas agglutinated, although it never pre-
sents the fused, mamillated appearance of that obtained from cak-
ing coal. The mean composition, ash and moisture deducted,
may be represented as follows : — Carbon 891, Hydrogen 5, Oxy-
gen (with trace of Nitrogen) 6^ ; or Carbon 89, Hydrogen 6,
Oxygen (with trace of Nitrogen) 6.

8. — Caking Coals, — These are often termed, technically, "Fat
Coals." They constitute the type-series of the coals, properly so

Geolo^cai Oleanings. 189

called. All yield a fased and mamillated coke, varyiog in amount
from iSb to 70 per cent Sp. gr. «= 1.27-1.32. Commonly mixed
with thin layers of strongly soiling "mineral charcoal" or fibrous
anthracite. Mean composition (ash and moisture excluded) : Car-
bon 87.9, Hydrogen 5.1, Oxygen (wiih Nitrogen) 7.0.

4. Cannel Coals. — These coals, at least in normal specimens,
do not fuse or ** cake " in the fire. They give off a large amount
of volatile matter, frequently more than half their weight ; hence
their popular name of " gas coals." They soil very slightly, or
not at all. The coke obtained from them is sometimes fritted,
and partially agglutinated, but never fused into globular, mamil-
lated masses, like that obtained from the caking coals. It varies
in amount from 30 to 60, or, in typical specimens, from 55 to 58
per cent. Mean composition (normal cannel) : Carbon 80-85,
Hydrogen 6.5, Oxygen (with Nitrogen) 9-12.3.

5. Lignites or Brown Coals. — These coals of Tertiary age, differ
greatly from one another in external aspect. Some of the so-
called jets— passing into the cannel coals — are black, lustrous,
and non-soiling ; whilst other varieties are brown, and of a ligni-
form or stratified structure; or, otiierwise, earthy and loosely co-
herent All, however, are partial ly soluble in caustic potash,
communicating to it a dark brown colour. The coke — usually of
a dull charcoal-like aspect, or in sharp-edged fragments retaining
their original form — varies from 25 to 50 per cent. Its separate
fragments pre rarely agglutinated, except in the case of certain
varieties (as the lignites of Cuba, and those from the fresh water
deposits of the Basse Alpes in France) which contain asphaltum.
All the typical varieties of lignite, as pointed out by Cordier, con-
tinue to burn for some time, in the manner of ^' braise^' or ignited
wood, after the cessation of the flame occasioned by the combus-
tion of their more volatile constituents ; whereas with ordinary
coal, ignition ceases on the flame going out The mean compo-
sition of lignite may be represented by — Carbon 66-75 ; Hydro-
gen 5, Oxygen (with Nitrogen) 20-30.

All the different kinds of coal, enumerated above, contain a
variable amount of moisture, and of inorganic matter or ** ash."
The moisture rarely exceeds 3 or 4 per cent, although in some
samples of coal it is as high as 6 or 7, and even reaches 15 or 20
per cent, in certain lignites. The amount of ash is also necessa-
rily a variable element In good coals it is under 5, frequently
indeed, under 2 per cent On the other hand, it sometimes ex-

190 Geological Gleanings.

ceeds 8 or 10, and in bad samples even 15 or 20 per cent. The
ash may be argillaceous, argillo-ferraginous, calcareous, or calca-
reo-fer rug! nous. The ferruginous ashes arc always more or less
red or tawny in color from the presence of sesqui-oxide of iron,
derived from the iron pyrites (Fe S«) originally present in the
coal. If much pyrites be present, the coal is not available for
furnace operations, gas making, engine use, &c., owing to the in-
jurious effects of the disengaged sulphur. Calcareous ashes are
more common in Secondary and Tertiary coals than in those of
the Palaeozoic Age.

Lower Carboniferous Coal-measures of British America, — A
paper by Principal Dawson, giving an account of the present state
of knowledge respecting these interesting beds and tbeir fossils,
was read before the Geological Society of London, at its meeting
of April 28th. The following is from the Abstracts of Proceed-
ings of the Society :

*' Deposits indicating the existence of the Coal flora and its asso-
ciated freshwater fauna at the beginning of the Carboniferous
period, are well developed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
with a clearness and fulness of detail capable of throwing much
light on the dawn of the terrestrial conditions of the Coal-period,
and on the relations of these lower beds to the true coal-measures.
This lower series comprises shales and sandstones (destitute of
marine remains, but containing fossil plants, fishes, entomostraca,
worm-tracks, ripple, and rain marks, sun-cracks, reptilian foot-
prints, and erect trees) and great overlying marine limestones and
gypsums. These are distinct from the true coal-measures by their
position, mineral character, and fossil remains. In the western
part of Nova Scotia (Horton, Windsor, &c.) the true (or Upper
and Middle) Coal-measures are not developed; and here the
Lower Carboniferous marine deposits attain their greatest thick-
ness. The lower coal-measures (or Lower Carboniferous fresh-
water or estuarine deposits) have here a thickness of about 000
feet. These beds are traceable as far as the Shubenacadie and
Stewiacke Rivers. They outcrop also on the south side of the
Cobequid Mountains, where the marine portion is very thin, owing
perhaps to the fact of these mountains having been land in the
coal-period.

Along the northern side of the Cobequid Range the upper and
middle coal-measures and the marine portion of the Lower Car-
boniferous series are of great thickness. The freshwater beds

Geological Gleanings, 191

are absent bere, tbougb brougbt up on tbe nortbern side of tbe
coal-trough of Cumberland, wbere, as well as in New Brunswick
(Peticodiac River, &c.), tbey are remarkable for their highly
bituminous composition, their well-preserved fish-remains, and the
almost entire absence of plants. To the north, at the Bay of Cha-
leurs, the great calcareous conglomerate, with sandstone and shale,
2766 feet thick, described by Logan, and containing a few plant-
remains, probably represent the Lower Coal-measures of Nova
Scotia. In eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton the Middle
Coal-measures are found at Caribou Cove and elsewhere; the
marine limestones and gypsums, and the imderlying sandstones
and shales, are seen at Plaister Cove ; also at Right's River, and
St. Mary's River.

In Nova Scotia these older Coal-measures, as compared with the
true coal-measures, are more calcareous, more rich in remains of
fishes, and have fewer vegetable remains, and indications of terres-
trial surfaces. They occur generally along the margins of the
coal-areas, near their old shores ; and, as might be expected under
such circumstances, they are associated wilh or replaced by beds
of conglomerate derived from the neighboring highlands of
Devonian or Silurian rocks. When the conglomerates are absent^
alternations of sandstones with sandy and calcareous shales occur,
with frequent changes in character of the organic remains ; the
general aspect being that of muddy estuarine deposits, accumulat-
ed very slowly, and discoloured by decaying organic substances.
The supply of sediment, and the growth and preservation of
vegetable matter, appear to have been generally on a smaller scale
in this early carboniferous period than subsequently. In those
districts where the true coal-measures are least developed the
lower series is most important; showing that the physical and
vital conditions of the Coal-measures originated as early as those of
the Mountain-limestone ; and that locally these conditions may have
been contemporaneous throughout the whole period ; but that in
some localities the estuary and swamp deposits first formed were
completely submerged and covered by oceanic deposits, whilst in
others early marine 'beds were elevated and subjected to the con-
ditions of gradual subsidence and vegetable growths indicated in
the great coal-measures of the South Joggins, Pictou and Sydney.

In Nova Scotia the Lower Coal-measures are characterized by
a great preponderance of Lepidodendra (especially Z. elegant)
and Foacites, with few Ferns or Sigillarise. The middle CoaL

192 Cave in the Trenton Limsione.

measures are ricb in sigillarise and Ferns, as well as Lepi-
dodendra. The Upper Coal-measures especially abound in Coni leis
Calamites and Ferns. PalcsonisctiSy Gyrolepis or AcrolejAiSf Cen-
tradus^ Rhizodus^ and Ctenacanthus are the chief fossil fishes of
this Lower Carboniferous series. Unio-Iike shells are nearly die
only remains of Molluscs.

ART. XIX. — On the Existence of a Cave in the Trenton Limstone
at the C6te St. Michel^ on the Island of Montreal, By
George D. Gibb, M.D., M.A., F.G.S., Member of the Cana-
dian Institute ; corresponding Member of ihe Natural History
Societies of Montreil, and of Boston, and of the Literary and
Historical Society of Quebec.
A peculiar interest is at all times attached to the discovery of
caverns, more especially to the paleontologist if they have con-
tained an abundant harvest of organic remains ; a largtj number
of extinct fossil mammalia, at the present moment, would be un-
known, but for the accidental opening into these caves. North
America is preeminently celebrated for its remarkable cavernsi
among which the Mammoth cave in Kentucky and Weger's Cave
in Virginia are well known. So far as I can learn, Canada pos'
Besse.H but few indeed. The neighbouring Provinces of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, have not as yet
afforded any published evidence of their presence.

When a lad I made several ineffectual attempts to discover a
cave said to exist in the Montreal mountain, and although foiled
in my efforts, the impression remained on my mind that there was
a cave somewhere on the Island or Montreal. That impression
has recently become confirmed, by an interview with a friend in
London, who, many years ago was actually inside of it.

Now, although it is by no means of such wonderful magnitude ,
and proportions as those I have just mentioned, it still deserves to
be placed upon record, so that it may be examined by some com-
petent geologist, and a more accurate description of It published
than this pretends to be.

The cave exists on the borders of a limestone ridge, running in
a N. £. and S. W, direction which skirts a number of farms back
of the main road at C6te St. Michel. Its dimensions are not very
great, being some twenty-five yards or more in depth, with a width
of two or more yards. The latter varies a good deal and is some-
what irregular, but the roof is considerably wider than the floor,

Cave in the Trenton Limestone. 198

which ifl covered with water to the depth of some feet. A part of
the floor will permit of a footing, and when in the cave a person
can stand upright with plenty of room to spare. The roof of the
Cave is of limestone, lined with a coating of stalactitical carbonate
of lime, but from which there do not project any stslactites ;
some portions of the floor however contain stalagmites, as my
friend collected a few specimens. No bones of animals were found
possibly owing to the presence of the water. I would surmise
their presentee at the bottom, and possibly consolidated into a sort
of breccia .from the lime held in solution becoming deposited
around them during super-saturation. This could be ascertained
by pumping the water out of the cave.

It would seem from the description of the cave, as if its origin
was due to upheave! from below, producing a dislocation of the
stratum of limestone and the formation of a wide fissure. This
can be determined by a careful examination.

The name of the farmer upon whose property is the cave, is for-
gotten ; the cave is situated some six or eight acres back of his
house in the limestone ridge, which here takes somewhat of the
character of a hill, at the base of which is an opening leading
into its interior. It was accidentally discovered some thirty years
ago, on the occasion of a party of kabitans going out hunting.
The dog belonging to the party commenced to scratch at the spot
which forms the entrance of the cave, and suddenly disappeared ;
be harl fallen into it, and his cries brought the hunters to the hole
in the ground, the opening was enlarged and the party entered
the cave by crawling on their hands and feet. I can do no more
in this short paper than to communi/»te the fact of the existence
of the cave, and leave it to others residing in lifontreal to make
cut its formation and precise locality.

The fwite which must be followed to reach the site of it, is along
the Victoria and Papineau Roads, continuing till the Road of the
C6te de la Visitation is arrived at ; this must be followed till the
chemin de ligne is reached, which partly traverses the Island*
Half way up the Chemin de ligne is t^e C6te St Michel, and on
turning into the Road* St. Michel in a N. £. direction for about
half a mile more or less, is the farm in question containing this cave.

Although of small dimensions the discovery of "the cave was at
tbe time loidced upon as someting very wonderful ; it adds another
to the many objects of interest which already abound in the vicinit]^

of Montreal.

14 Queen Square, Lcmdmi, iCpiil, 1868.

C

194 Igneous Bocks and Volcanas.

ART. XXI. — On the Theory of Igneous Bocks and Volcanos, Bj
T. Sterry Hant, of the Geological Survey of Canada.

(Read before the Oanadian Institute, 13th March, 1858.)

In a note in the American Journal of Science for January,
1858, 1 have ventured to put forward sonie speculations upon the
chemistry of a cooling globe, such as the igneous theory supposes
our earlh to have been at an early period. Considering only the
crust with which geology makes us acquainted, and the liquid
and gaseous elements which now surround it, I have endeavored
to show thst we may attain to some idea of the chemical con-
ditions of the cooling mass by conceiving these materials to again
re-act upon each other under the influence of an ' intense heat.
The quartz, which is present in such a great proportion in many
rocks, would decompose the carbonates and sulphates, and aided
by the presence of water, the chlorids both of the rocky strata
and the sea, while the organic matters and the fossil carbdn
would be burned by the atmospheric oxygen. From these reac-
tions would result a fused mass of silicates of alumina, alkalies^
lime, magnesia, iron, etc., while all the CMbon, sulphur and chlo-
line, in the form of acid gases, mixed with watery vapour, azote^
and a probable excess of oxygen, would form an exceedingly
dense atmosphere. When the cooling permitted condensation, an
acid rain would fall upon the heatedcrust of the earth, decompos-
ing the silicates, and giving rise to chlorids and sulphates of the
rarious bases, while the separated silica would probably take the
form of crystalline quartz.

In the next stage, the portions of the primitive crust not covered
by the ocean, undergo a decomposition under the influence of the
hot moist atmosphere charged with carbonic acid, and the felda-
pathic silicates are converted into clays with separation of an
alkaline silicate, which, decomposed by the carbonic acid, finds
its way to the sea in the form of alkaline bicarbonate, where,
having first precipitated any dissolved sesqnioxyds^ it changes the
dissolved lime-salta into bicarbonate, which precipitated ehemi-
oally or separated by organic agencies, gives rise to limestones,
the chlorid of calcium being at the same time replaced by com-
mon salt. The separation from the water of the ocean, of gypsum
and sea-salt, and of the salts of potash, by the agency of marine
plants, and by the formation ot glaucooite, are considerations
foreign to our present study.

Igneous Rocks and Votcamye. 195

Id this way we obtain a notion of tbe processes by which, from
a primitive fused mass, may be generated the sili clous, calcareous
and argilaceous rocks which make up the greater part of the
earth's crust, and we also understand the source of the salts of
the ocean. But the question here arises whether this primitive
crystalline rock, which probably approached to dolerite in its
composition, is now anywhere visible upon the earth's surface. It
is certain that the oldest known rocks are stratified deposits of
limestone, clay and sands, generally in a highly altered condition,
but these, as well as more recent strata, are penetrated by various
injected rocks, such as granites, trachytes, syenites, porphyries,
doleritea, phonolites, etc. These oflfer, in their mode of occurence,
not less than their composition, so many analogies with the lavas
of modem volcanos, that they are also universally supposed to be
of igneous origin, and to owe their peculiarities to slow cooling
under pressure. This conclusion being admitted, we proceed to
inquire into the sources of these liquid masses, which, from the
earliest known geological period up to the present day, have been
from time to time ejected from belbw. They are generally re-
garded as evidences both of the igneous fusion of the interior of
oar planet, and of a direct communication between the surface
and the fluid nucleus, which is supposed to be the source of the
various ejected rocks.

These intrusive masses, however, oflfer very great diversities in
their composition, from the highly silicious and feldspathic granites,
eurites, and trachytes, in which lime, magnesia and iron are pre-
sent in very small quantities, and in which potash is the predom*
inant alkali, to those denser basic rocks, dolerite, dlorite, hyperite,
melaphyre, euphotide, trap and basalt ; in these, lime, magnesia
and iron-ozyd are abundant, and soda prevails over the potash.
To account for these differences in the composition of the injected
rocks, Phillips, and after himDurocher, suppose the interior fluid
mass to have separated into a denser stratum of the basic silicates,
upon which a lighter and more silicious portion floats like oil
upon water, and that these two liquids, occasionally more or less
modified by a partial crystalization and eliquation, or by a refu-
sion, give rise to the principal varieties of silicious and basic
rocks, while from the mingling of the two zones of liquid matter,
intermediate rocks are formed. (Phillip's Manual of Geology, p.
550, and Durocher, Annales des Mines, 1857, vol. 1, p. 217.

An analogous view was suggested by Bunsen in his researches

196 Igneous Bocks and Volcanos,

on the volcanic rocks of Iceland, and extended by Strang to simi'
lar rocks in Hungary and Armenia. These investigators suppose
a trachytic and a pyrozenic magma of constant composition, re-
presenting respectively the two great divisions of racks which we
have just distinguished ; and have endeavored to calculate from
the amount of silica in any intermediate variety, the proportions
in which these compounds must have been mingled to produce it,
and consequently the proportions of alumina, lime, magnesia, iron-
oxyd and alkalies which such a rock may be expected to contain.
But the amounts thus calculated, as may be seen from Dr. Strong's
results, do not always correspond with the results of analysis.
(Streng, Annales de Chimie et de Physique^ 3rd series, vol. 39, p.
52.) Besides there ^re varieties of intrusive rocks, such as the
phonolites, which are highly basic, and yet contain but very small
quantities of lime, magnesia and iron-oxyd, being essentially sili-
cates of alumina and alkalies in part hydrated.

We may here remark that many of the so-called igneous rocks
are often of undoubted sedimentary oi*igin. It will scarcely be
questioned that this is true of many granites, and it is certain that
all the feldspathic rocks coming under the categories of hyperite,
labradorite, euphotidc, diorite, amphibolite, which make such so
large a part of the Laurentian system in Nurth America, are of
sedimentary origin. They are here interstratified with limestones,
dolomites, serpentines, crystalline schists and quartzitcs, which are
often conglomerate. The same thing is true of similar feldspathic
rocks in the altered Silurian strata of the Green Mountains. These
metamorphic strata have been exposed to conditions which have
rendered some of them quasi-fluid or plastic. Thus for example,
crystalline limestone may be seen in positions which have led many
observers to regard it as intrusive rock, although its general mode
of occurrence leaves no doubt as to its sedimentary origin. We
find in the Laurentian system that the limestones sometimes
envelope the broken and contorted fragments of the beds of quart-
zite, with which they are often interstratified, and penetrate like
a Teritable trap into fissures in the quartzite and gneiss. A rock
of sedimentary origin may then assume the conditions of a so-
called igneous rock, and who shall say that any of the intrusive
granites, dolerites, euphotides, and serpentines, have an origin dis-
tinct from the metamorphic strata of the same kind, which make
up such vast portions of the older stratified formation ? To sup-
pose that each of these sedimentary rocks has also its representa-

l

Igneous Rocks and Voleanos. 107

live among the ejected products of the central fire, seems a hypo-
thesis not only unnecessary, but when we consider their varying
composition, untenable.

We are next led to consider the nature of the agencies which
have produced this plastic condition in various crystalline rocks.
Certain facta, such as the presence of graphite in contact with
carbonate of lime, and oxyd of iron, not less than the presence of
alkaliferouB silicates, like the feldspars in crystalline limestones, foi-
bid us to admit the ordinary notion of the intervention of an intense
heat such as would produce au igneous fusion, and lead us to
consider the view first put forward by Poulett Scrope, * and since
ably advocated by Scheerer and by Elie de Beaumont, of the
intervention of water aided by fire, which they suppose may com-
municate a plasticity to rocks at a temperature far below that
required for their igneous fusion. The presence of water in the
lavas of modern voleanos led Mr. Scrope to speculate upon the
effect which a small portion of this element might exert at an
elevated temperature and under pressure, in giving a liquidity to
masses of rock, and he extended this idea from proper volcanic
rocks to granites.

Scheerer in his inquiry into the origin of granite has appealed
to the evidence afforded us by the structure of this rock, that the
the more fusible feldspars and mica crystallized before the almost
infusible quartz. He also points to the existence in granite of
what he has called pyrognomic minerals, such as allanite and
gadolinite, which, when heated to low redness, undergo a peculiar
and permanent molecular change, accompanied by an augmenta-
tion in density, and a change in chemical properties, a phenomenon
completetly analogous to that offered by titanic acid and chromic
oxyd in their change by ignition from a soluble to an insoluble
condition. These facts seem to exclude the idea of igneous fusion,
and point to some other cause of liquidity. The presence of
natrolite as an integral part of the zircon-syenites of Norway,
and of talc and chlorite and other hydrous minerals in many
granites show that' water was not excluded from the original granitic
paste.

Scheerer appeals to the influence of small portions of carbon
and sulphur in greatly reducing the fusing point of iron. He.
alludes to the experiments of Schafhautl and Wholer, which show

* See Jonmal of Geol. Society of London, vol. zil. p. 326.

198 Igneous Rocks and Vokanos,

that quartz and apophylite may be dissolved by heated water
under pressure and recrystallized on cooling. He recalls the
aqueous fusion of many hydrated salts, and finally suggests that
the presence of a small amount of water, perhaps five or ten per
cent., may suffice at a temperature which may approach that of
redness, to give to a granitic mass a liquidity, partaking at once
of the characters of an igneous and an aqueous fusion.

This ingenious hypothesis, sustained by Scheerer in his discus-
sion with Durocher, * is strongly confirmed by the late experiments
of Daubree. He found that common glass, a silicate of lime and
alkali, when exposed to a temperature of 400^ C, in preseDce of
its own volume of water, swelled up and was transformed into an
aggregate of crystals of woUastonite, the alkali with the excess
of silica separating, and a great part of the latter crystallizing in
the form of quartz. When the glass contained oxyd of iron, the
woUastonite was replaced by crystals of diopside. Obsidian in
the same manner yielded crystals of feldspar, and was converted-
into a mass like trachyte. In the experiments upon vitreous alka-
liferous matters, the process of nature in the metamorphosis of
sediments is reversed, but Daubree found still farther that kaolin,
when exposed to a heat of 400^ G. in the presence of a soluble
alkaline silicate,vis converted into crystalline feldspar, while the
excess of silica separates in the form of quartz. He found natural
feldspar and diopside to be extremely stable in the presence of
alkaline solutions. These beautiful results were communicated to
the French Academy of Sciences on the 16th of November last,
and as the author well remarked, enable us to understand the
part which water may play in giving origin to crystalline minerals
in lavas and intrusive rocks. The swelling-up of the glass also
shows that water gives a mobility to the particles of the glass at
a temperature far below that of its igneous fusion.

I had already shown in the Report of the Geological Survey of
Canada for 1856, p.'479, that the reaction between alkaline silicates
and the carbonates of lime, magnesia and iron at a temperature
of 100<^ G. gives rise to silicates of these bases, and enables us to
explain their production from a mixture of carbonates and quartz,

J III ■ ni -■--_-

* KoTB. — See for the arguments on the two sides, Bulletin of the Geo
Soc. of France, Second series, vol. iv., p.p. 468, 1018 ; vi. 644 ; vii., 2T6
Till., 600 ; also, Elie de Beaumont, Ibid, vol, It., p. 1312. See also the
recent microscopical observations of Mr. Sorby, confirming the theory of
,the aqueous-igneoas origin of granitie.— X. £. Sf D, PhUMag.^ Feb. 1858.

Igneous Books and Volcanos. 199

in the presence of a solution of alkaline carbonate. I there also
suggested that the silicates of alumina in sedimentary rocks may
combine with alkaline silicates to form feldspars and mica, and
that it would be possible to crystallize these minerals from hot
alkaline solutions in sealed tubes. In this way I explained the
occurrence of these silicates in altered fossiliferous strata. My con-
jectures are now confirmed by the experiments of Daubr6e, which
serve to complete the demonstration of my theory of the normal
metamorphism of sedimentary rocks by the interposition of heated
alkaline solutions.

But to return to the question of intrasive rocks : Calculations
based on the increasing temperature of the earth's crust as we
descend, lead to the belief that at depth of about*twenty-five miles
the heat must be sufficient for the igneous fusion of basalt The
recent observations of Hopkins, however, show that the melting
points of various bodies, such as wax, sulphur and resin are greatly
and progressively raised by pressure^ so that from analogy we
may conclude that the interior portions of the earth are, although
ignited, solid from great pressure. This conclusion accords with
the mathematicai deductions of Mr. Hopkins, who, from the pre-
eession of the equinoxes, calculates the solid crust of the earth to
have a thickness of 800 or 1,000 miles. Similar investigations
by Mr. Hennessey however assign 600 miles as the maximum
. thickness of the crust The region of liquid fire being thus re-
moved so far from the earth's surface, Mr. Hopkins, suggests the
existence of lakes or limited basins of molten matter which serve
to feed the volcanos.

Now' the mode of formation of the primitive molten crust of the
earth would naturally exclude all combined or intermingled water,
while all the sedimentary rocks are necessarily permeated by this
liquid, and consequently in a condition to be rendered semi-fluid
by the application of heat as supposed in the theory of Scrope
and Scheerer. If now we admit that all igneous rocks, ancient
plutonic masses, as well as modern lavas, have their origin in the
liquefaction of sedimentary strata, we at once explain the diversi-
ties in their composition. We can also understaud why the pro-
ducts of volcanos in different regions are so unlike, and why the
lavas at the same volcano vary at different periods. We find an
explanation of the water and carbonic acid which are such con-
stant accompaniments of volcanic action, as well as the hydro-
ehloric acid, sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphuric acid, which are

SOO Ipneoui Boeki and Volccmas^

r

io abundantly evoked by certain volcanoe. The reaction betweea
silica and carbcMiates nnist gire rise to carbonic acid, and the
decomposition of sea-salt in saliferoos strata by silica in the pre-
sence of water, will generate hydrochloric acid, while gypsum in
the same way will evolve its sulphar in the form of sulphurous
acid mixed with oxygen. The presence of fossil plants in the
melting strata would generate carburretted hydrogen gases, whose
ledacing action would convert the sulphurous acid into sulphuretted
hydrc^en ; or the reducing agency of the carbonaceous matters
might give rise to sulphuret of calcium which would be in its turn
decomposed by carbonic acid or otherwise. The intervention of
carbonaceous matters in vcdcauic phenomenon is indicated by the
recent investigations of Deville, who has found carburetted
hydrogen in the gaseous emanations of Etna and the lagoons
of Tuscany. The ammonia and the nitrogen of the vdcanos are
abo in many cases probably derived from organic matters in the
strata decomposed by subterranean heat The carburetted hy-
drogen and bitumen evolved from mud volcanos, like those of the
Crimea and of Bakou, and the carlxHiized remains of plants in
the moya of Quito, and in the volcanic matters of the Island of
Ascension, not less than the infiisiorial remains fround by Ehren*
berg in the ejected matters of most volcanos, all go to show that
fbssiliferons sediments are very generally implicated in volcanic
phenomena; It is to Sir J<^n F. W. Herschel that we owe, so far
as I am aware, the first suggestions of the theory of volcanic action
which I have here brought forward. In a letter to Sir Charles
Lyell, dated February 20, 1836, (Proceedings Geol. Soc. London,
vol. 11, p. 448), he maintains that with the accumulation of sedi-
ment the isothermal lines in the earth's crust must rise, so that
strata buried deep enough will be crystallized and metamorphosed,
and eventually be raised, with their included water, to the melting
point This will give rise to evolutions of gases and vapours,
earthquakes, volcanic explosions, etc. all of which results must,
according to known laws, follow from the fact of a high central
temperature ; while from the mechanical subversion of the equili-
brium of pressure, following upon the transfer of sediments, while
the yielding surfiEU^e reposes upon a mass of matter partly liquid and
partly solid, we may explain the phenomena of elevation and sub-
sidence. Such is a summary of the views put forward more than
twenty years since by this eminent philosopher, which, although
they have passed almost unnoticed by geologists, seem to me to

I I 1 iJMl

Jfatural Hutory of the United States. 201

furnish a simple and comprehensive explanation of sereral of the
most difficult problems of chemical and dynamical geology.

To snm up in a few words the views here advanced. We con-
ceive that the earth^s solid cmst of anhydrous and primitive igneous
rock is everywhere deeply concealed beneath its own ruins, which
form a great mass of sedimentary strata permeated by water
As heat from beneath invades these sedimeotSy it produces in them
that change which constitutes normal metamorphism. These
rocks at a sufficientdepth are necessarily in a state of igneo-aqueous
fbsion, and then in the event of fracture of the overlying strata^
may rise among them, taking the form of eruptive rocks. Where
the nature of the sediments is such as to generate great amounts
of elastic ^uids by their fusion, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
may result, and these, other things being equal, will be most
likely to occur under the more recent formations.

ABT. XXII. — Agassiz^ Contributions to the Natural History <^
the United States. (Vols. 1 <b 2. Boston.)

Anything from so great an authority as Professor Agassiz,
commands the attention of naturalists ; and especially an elabo-
rate work like the present, giving matured views on leading sub-
jects in Zoology. For this reason we propose to devote some
pages to a sketch of the contents of these volumes. The work,
it is true, has had a circulation unexampled in the case of such a
book, and we are glad to see several Canadian names on the
subscription list; but many of our young Naturalists may not
have had access to it, and it is too elaborate and scientific to
reach the mass of readers.

The first volume is in great part occupied with investigations of
general principles ; and chiefly with those concerned in classifi-
cation, considered in its widest sense as the attempt of the
human mind to explore the plans of construction adopted in
nature and to represent them systematically.

The first topic under this head is the unity of plan in nature,
and its origin from an all pervading Intelligence. Unity,
design, and creative power, $a evidenced in nature, are no new
ideas. From the time of the Hebrew lawgiver downward, they
have been articles of faith with all true philosophers, and in more
modem times have been popularly expounded in a multitude of
works, from Paley down to Hugh Miller and McCosh. It might
indeed, in this period of the world's history, seem superfluous to

202 Affosaiz' Contributions to the

devote a large portion of a scientific work to such a subject, had
not some late writers, with that same eccentricity which occasion*
ally brings up a strong and wordy opponent of the Coperincan
system in astronomy, attempted to maintain the introduction of
organic forms in a way different from the "Miracle of Creation."
In this part of the subject, therefore, we find little that is new
in itself, but a sort of cumulative argument, gathering into one a
vast number of considerations illustrated by facts familiar to the
writer, and all bearing on the doctrine that nature is not God ;
but that in studying what we call nature we have before us the
works of a Supreme intelligent creator. Coming from a man so
thoroughly versed in his subject, and supported as it is by a vast
mass of illustrative facts, the conclusion tells with irresistible
force. Most strenuously and boldly does Agassiz assert this
great result, in which science, rising above her favourite ideas of
recurring cycles and unchanging laW) finds herself in direct relation
with the great First Cause.

The argument on this subject is spread over a great number of
heads, but they may in effect be reduced to the following : —

1. The idea of type or pattern in nature, as distinguished from
that of mere individual adaptation, the construction of creatures in-
tended for similar uses on different types, and the persistence of
the same type through many subordinate varieties of structure,
the simultaneous existence of the most diversified types in identi*
cal circumstances and the converse of this, the persistence of all
the leading types through the whole sequence of geological ages,
the wide geographical distribution of some types and the narrow
range of others, the special resemblances in details of structure
that occur in animals otherwise quite different, the order of
succession of types in geological time. These and many other
considerations founded on types in nature, prove a thinking
Agent, just as similar considerations in reference to the various
styles of aruhitecture, would effectually answer any one who
should attribute these, like the columns of basalt, or the stalactites
of a cavern, to merely physical agencies.

2. The relations of animals to each other and to the world
around them. Among these are the relative sizes of animals,
and the relations of size to the media in which animals exist ; the
adaptation of animals in their structure and habits to the world
in which they live and its various conditions ; the relations of
animals with each other as mutually dependent; the mutual

Natural History of the United States. 208

dependence of the animal and the plant ; the relations of parasites
to animals. Under all these and other heads, we have the old
argument of Paley against the accidental origin of the watch or
its production by physical agencies, vastly augmented by the
great additional stores of fact since collected by naturalists.

3. The permanency of species in nature and the changes
through which the individuals of the species pass. Here we
have immutability of structure associated with continued succes-
sion of individuals, and that succession often complicated by a
series of changes, as in the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the
butterfly, and some even more marvellous than this. Further, we
have these changes in the individual, presenting a singular
parallelism with the gradations of rank which our minds invari-
ably recognise in distinct species, and on the other hand with the
grand succession of species in geological time ; so that in the
great march of creation, in the ephemeral life of the individual
animal, and in the ideas of order in nature which arise within our
minds, we have a resemblance indicating at once the planning
Creator and the fact that our own minds are created in his image*

4. The union of the whole animal kingdom in one great systemi
dividing in a regular manner into subordinate groups, and the
persistence of this, whether we regard widely separated geogra-
phical areas, or the lapse of geological time, indicate thought ;
and, when we consider the vastness and intricacy of the subject,
thought which the most gifted naturalists are ready to admit
transcends the powers of man.

We have preferred thus to group, however imperfectly, some
of the leading considerations adduced by our author, to avoid con-
fusing the reader with too numerous heads ; but we shall give as
a specimen of the treatment of the subject, the details of the
argument on one of the points least familiar to the general reader,
the doctrine of ^^ prophetic types^

PROPHETIC TYPES AMONG AKIUALS.

" We have seen in the preceding paragraph, how the embryonic
conditions of higher representatives of certain types, called into
existence at a later time, are typified, as it were, in representa-
tives of the same types, which have existed at an earlier period.
These relations, now they are satisfactorily known, may also be
considered as exemplifying, as it were, in the diversity of animals
of an earlier period, the pattern upon which the phases of the

204 Agassiz^ Oontrihutions to the

developement of other animals of a later period were to be es-
tablished. They appear now, like a prophecy in those earlier
times, of an order of things not possible with the earlier com^
binations then prevailing in the animal kingdom, but exhibiting
in a later period, in a striking manner, the antecedent considera-
tion of every step in the gradation of animals.

This is, however, by no means the only, nor even the most re-
markable case, of such prophetic connections between facts of
different dates.

Recent investigations in Palaeontology have led to the discovery
of relations between animals of past ages and those now living,
which were not even suspected by the founders of that science.
It has, for instance, been noticed, that certain types which are
frequently prominent among the representatives of past ages*
combine in their structure, peculiariti^ which at later periods
are only observed separately in different, distinct types. Sauriod
Fishes before Reptiles, Pterodactylei before Birds, Ichthyosauri
before Dolphins, etc.

There are entire families, among the representatives of older
periods, of nearly every class of animals, which, in the state of
their perfect development exemplify such prophetic relations, and
afford, within the limits of the animal kingdom, at least, the
most unexpected evidence, that the plan of the whole creation
had been maturely considered long before it was executed. Such
types, I have for some time past, been in the habit of calling
prophetic types. The Sauroid Fishes of the past geological ages,
are an example of this kind. These Fishes, which have preceded
the appearance of Reptiles, present a combination of ichthyic
and reptilian characters, not to be found in the true members of
this class, which form its bulk at present. The Pterodactyles
which have preceded the class of Birds, and the Ichthyosauri
which have preceded the appearance of the Cetacea,* are other
examples of such prophetic types. These cases suffice for the
present, to show that there is a real difference between embryonic
types and prophetic types. Embryonic types are in a measure
also prophetic types, but they exemplify only the pecularities of
development of the higher representatives of their own types ;

* In the text the author is made to say Crustacea instead of Cetacea ;
and we observe other typographical errors, which the publisher should
endeavour to avoid in succeeding volumes.

Natural History f)f the United States, 205

while prophetic types exemplify structural combinations observed
at a later period, in two or several distinct types, and are, more-
over, not necessarily embryonic in tbeir character, as for example,
the Monkeys in comparison to Man ; while they may be so,- as in
the case of the Pinnate, Plantigrade, and Digitigrade Carnivora,
or still more so in the case of the pedunculated Crinoids.

Another combination is also frequently observed among ani-
mals, when a series exhibits such a succession as exemplifies a
natural gradation, without immediate or necessary reference to
either embryonic development or succession in time, as the
Chambered Cephalopods. Such types I call progressive types,

Again a distinction ought to be made between prophetic types
proper and what I would call synthetic types^ though both are
more or less blended in nature. Prophetic types proper, are
those which in their structural complications lean towards other
combinations fully realized in a later period, while synthetic
types, are those which combine, in a well balanced measure,
features of several types occurring as distinct, only at a later
time. Sauroid Fishes and Ichthyosauri are more distinctly
synthetic than prophetic types, while Pterodactyles have more
the character of prophetic types ; so are also Echinocrinus with
reference to Echini, Pentremites with reference to Asterioids, and
Pentacrinus with reference to Comatula. Full illustrations of
these different cases will yet be needed to render obvious the
importance of such comparisons, and I shall not fail, in the course
of this work, to present ample details upon this subject. Enough,
however, has already been said to show, that the character of
these relations among animals of past ages, compared with those
of later periods or of the present day, exhibits more strikingly
than any other feature of the animal kingdom, the thoughtful
connection which unites all living beings, through all ages, into
one great system, intimately linked together from beginning to
end."

Another example may be taken from a section giving the views
of Agassiz, on the much debated question of the date of succes*
sion of fossil animals in iU relations to their grade in nature.

PABALLSLISM BBTWBSN THB GBOLOGICAL BUOOBSSION OF ANIMAL8
AND PLANTS AND THBIB PBBSBNT BBLATIYB BTANDINO.

^ The total absence of the highest representatives of the animal
skiogdom in the oldest deposits forming part of the crust of oar

206 AgasBtz^ Contrihutions to the

globe, has naturally led to the very general belief^ that the ani-
mals which have existed during the earliest period of the history
of our earth were inferior to those now living, nay, that there is
a natural gradation from the oldest and lowest animals to the
highest now in existence. To some extent this is true ; but it is
certainly not true that all animals form one simple series from
the earliest times, during which only the lowest types of animals
would have been represented, to the last period, when Man ap-
peared at the head of the animal creation. It has already been
shown (Sect. VII.) that representatives of all the great types of
the animal kingdom have existed from the beginning of the crea-
tion of organized beings. It is therefore not in the successive
appearance of the great branches t>f the animal kingdom, that we
may expect to trace a parallelism ' between their succession in
geological times and their relative standing at present. Nor can
any such correspondence be observed between the appearance of
classes, at least not among Radiata, MoUusks, and Articulata, as
their respective classes seem to have been introduced simultane-
ously upon our earth, with perhaps the sole exception of the In-
sects, which are not known to have existed before the Carboni-
ferous period. Among Vertebrata, however, there appears al-
ready a certain coincidence, even within the limits of the classes,
between the time of their introduction, and the rank their repre-
sentatives hold, in comparison to one another. But upon this
point more hereafter.

It is only within the limits of the different orders of each class,
that the parallelism between the succession of their representa-
tives in past ages and their respective rank, in the present periody
is decidedly characteristic. But if this is true, it must be at the
same time obvious to what extent the recognition of this corres-
pondence may be influenced by the state of our knowledge of the
true affinities and natural gradation of living animals, and that
until our classifications have become the correct expression of
these natural relations, even the most striking coincidence with
the succession of their representatives in past kges may be entire-
ly overlooked. On that account it would be presumptuous on
my part to pretend, that I could illustrate this proposition^ through
the whole animal kingdom, as such an attempt would involve
the assertion that I know all these relations, or that where there
exists a discrepancy between the classification and the succession
of animals, the classification must be incorrect, or the relationship

Natural HUtory of the United States. 207

of the fossils incorrectly appreciated, I shall therefore limit my-
self here to a general comparison, which may, however, be suffi-
cient to show, that the improvements which have been introduced
n our systems, upon purely zoological grounds, have nevertheless
tended to render more apparent the coincidence between the re-
lative standing among living animals and the order of succession
of their representatives in past ages. I have lately attempted to
show, that the order of Halcyonoids, among Polyps, is superior
to that of Actinoids ; that, in this class, compound communities
constitute a higher degree of development, when contrasted with
the characters and mode of existence of single Polyps, as exhibit-
ed by the Actinia ; that top-budding is superior to lateral bud-
ding; and that the type of Madrepores, with their top-animal, or
at least with a definite and limited number of tentacles, is
superior to all other Actinoids. If this be so, the prevalence of
Actinoids in older geological formations, to the exclusion of
Haley onoids, the prevalence of Rugosa and Tahulata in the
oldests deposits, the later prevalence of Astrseoids, and the very
late introduction of Madrepores, would already exhibit a corres-
pondence between the rank of the living Pplyps and the repre-
sentatives of that class in past ages, though we may hardly ex-
pect a very close coincidence in this respect between animals the
structure of which i^ so simple.

The gradation among the orders of Echinoderms is perfectly
plain. Lowest stand the Crinoids^ next the Asterioids, next the
Echinoids^ and highest the Holothurioids. Ever since this class
has been circumscribed within its natural limits, this succession
has been considered as expressing their natural relative standing,
and modem investigations respecting their anatomy and embiy-
ology, however extensive, have not led to any important change
in their classification, as far as the estimation of their rank is con-
cerned. This is also precisely the order in which the representa-
tives of this class have successively been introduced upon earth in
past geological ages. Among the oldest formations we find pe-
dunculated Crinoids only, and this order remains prominent for
a long series of successive periods ; next come free Crinoids and
Asterioids ; next Echinoids, the successive appearance of which
since the triasic period to the present day, coincides also with the
gradation of their subdivisons, as determined by their structure ;
and it was not until the present period, that the highest Echino-
derms, the Holothurioids, have assumed a prominent position in
their class.

20S Agtxmi^ Conirihutions to ths

Among Acephala there is not any more uncertainty respecting
the relative rank of their living representatives, than among
Echinoderms. Every zoologist acknowledges the inferiority of
the Bryozoa and the Brachiopods when compared with the
Lamollibranchiata, and among these the inferiority of the Mono-
myaria in comparison with the Dimyaria would hardly be denied*
Now if any fact is well established in PalsBontology, it is the
earlier appearance and prevalence of Bryozoa and BrachiopodB
in the oldest geological formations, and their extraordinary deve-
lopment for a long succession of ages, until Lameltibranchiata
assume the ascendancy which they maintain to the fullest extent
at present. A closer comparison of the different families of these
orders might further show how close this correspondence is
through all ages.

Of Gasteropoda I have nothing special to say, as every palsBOft-
tologist is aware how imperfectly their remains ha^e been invea*
tigated in comparison with what has been done for the fossils of
other classes. Yet the Pulmonata are known to be of mora
recent origin than the Branchifera, and among these the Sipho-
nostomata to have appeared later than the Holostomata, and this
exhibits already a general coincidence between their succession
in time and their respective rank.

Our present knowledge of the anatomy of the Nautilus, for
which science is indebted to the skill of Owen, may satisfy every-
body that among Cephalopods the Tetrabranchiata are inferior to
the Dibranchiata ; and it is not too much to say, that one of the
first points a collector of fossils may ascertain for himself, is the
exclusive prevalence of the representatives of the first of these
types in the oldest formations, and the later appearance, about
the middle geological ages, of representatives of the other type
which at present is the most widely distributed.

Of Worms, nothing can be said of importance with reference
to our inquiry ; but the Crustacea exhibit, again, the most strik-
ing coincidence. Without entering into details, it appears from
the classification of Milne-Edwards that Decapods, Stomapodst
Amphipods, and Isopods constitute the higher orders, while
Branchiopods, Entomo&traca, Trilobites, and the parasitio types,
constitute, with Limulus, the lower orders of this class. In the
olaasifioation of Dana, his first type embraces Decapods and
Stomapodt, the second Amphipods and Isopods, the third £nto<
moatraca, including Branchiopods, the fourth Cirripedi% and the

Natural Hktory of the United StaUs. 209

fifth Rotatoria. Both acknowledge in the main the Bame grada-
tion ; though they differ greatly in the combination^of the lead-
ing groups, and also the exclusion by Milne-Edwards of some
types, as the Rotifera, which Burmeister first, then Dana and
Leydig, unite justly, as I believe, with the Crustacea. This gra-
dation now presents the most perfect coincidence with the older
of succession of Crustacea in past geological ages, even down to
their subdivisions into minor groups. Trilobites and Entomo-
straca are the only representatives of the class in palteozoic rocks ;
in the middle geological ages appear a variety of 8hrimps, among
which the Macrouran Decapods are prominent, and later only the
Brachyoura, which are the most numerous in our days.

The fragmentary knowledge we possess of the fossil Insects,
does not justify us, yet, in expecting to ascertain with any degree
of precision, the character of their succession through all geo-
logical formations, though much valuable information has already
been obtained respecting the entomological &une of several
geological periods.

The order of succession of Vertebrata in past ages, exhibits
features in many respects differing greatly from the Articulatai
Mollusks, and Radiata. Among these we find their respective
.classes appearing simultaneously in the oldest periods of the his-
tory of our earth. Not so with the Vertebrata, for though Fishes
may be as old as any of the lower classes, Reptiles, Birds, and
Mammalia are introduced successively in the order of their relative
rank in their type. Again, the earliest representatives of these
classes do not always seem to be the lowest; on the contrary,
they are to a certain extent, a^d in a certain sense, the highest,
in as far as they embody characters, which, in later periods, ap^
pear separately in higher classes, (See Sect 26,) to the exclusion
of what henceforth constitutes the special character of the lower
elass. For instance, the oldes( Fishes known, partake of the
dharaoters, which, at a later time, are exclusively found in Rep-
tUes, and no longer belong to the Fishes of the present day. It
nay be said, that the earliest Fishes are rather the oldest repre-
sentatives of the type of Vertebrata than of the class of Fishes,
and Uiat this class assumes only its proper characters after the
introduction of the class of Reptiles upon earth. Similar velar
tions may be traced betweens the Reptiles and the classes of
Birds and Mammalia, which they precede. I need only allude
here to the resemblance of thePterodactyli and the Birds, and to

210 Agams^ CcntribuHam fi> the

that of Ichtbyosanri and certain Cetacean Yet, through all these
intricate relations, there runs an evident tendency towards the
production of higher and higher types, until at last, Man crowns
the whole series. Seen as it were at a distance, so that th^ mind
can take a general survey of the whole, and perceive the connec-
tion of the succeflsive steps, without being bewildered by the
details, such* a series appears like the development of a great con-
ception, expressed in such harmonious proportions, that every
link i^pears necessary to the full comprehension of its meaning,
and yet, so independent and perfect in itself, that it might be
mistaken for a complete whole, and again, so intimately connects
ed with the preceding and following members of the series, that
one might be viewed as flowing out of the other. What is uni-
yersally acknowledged as characteristic of the liighest conceptions
as genius, ifrhere displayed in a fulness, a richness, a magnificence,
an amplitude, a perfection of details, a complication of relations,
which baffle our skill and our most persevering efforts to appre-
ciate all its beauties. Who can look upon such series, coincid-
ing to such an exteat, and not read in them the successive mani-
festations of a thought, expressed at different times, in ever new
forms, and yet tending to the same end, onwards to the coming
of Man, whose advent is already prophesied in the first appearance
of the earliest Fishes !•

The relative standing of plants presents a somewhat different
character from that of animals. Their great types are not built
upon so strictly different plans- of structure ; they exhibit, there-
fore, a more unilbrm gradation from their lowest to their highest
types, which are not personified in one highest plant, as the
highest animals are in Man.

Again, Zoology is more advanced respecting the limitation of
the most comprehensive general divisions,, than Botany, while
Botany is in advance respecting the limitation and charaoteristica^
of feunilies and genera. There is, on that account, more diversity
of opinion among botanists respecting the number, and the relar
tive rank of the primary divisions of the vegetable kingdom, than
among zoologists respecting the great branches of the animal
kingdooL While most writens agree in admitting among plants^
Buch primary groups aa Acotyledonee, Monocotyledones, and
Dicotyledones, under these or other names, others would separate
the Gymnosperms from the Diootyledonesb

It appears to me^ that this point in the claasifioation of the

Natural History of th$ United States. 211

Hying plants cannot be fully nnderstood ^vithont a thorough
acquaintance with the foesils and their distribution in the succes-
sive geological formations, and that this case exhibits one of the
most striking examples of the influence classification may hare
upon our appreciation of the gradation of organized beings in the
course of time. As long as Gymnosperms stand among Dicotyle-
dones, no relation can be traced between the relative standing of
living plants and the order of succession of their representatives
in past ages. On the contrary, let the true affinity of Gymnos-
perms with Ferns, Equisetacese, and especially with Lycopodiace®
be fully appreciated, and at once we see how the vegetable king-
dom has been successively introduced upon earth, in an order
which coincides with the relative position its primary divisions
bear to one another, in respect to their rank, as determined by
the complication of their structure. Truly, the Gymnosperms,
with their imperfect flower, their open carpels, supporting their
polyembryonic seeds in their axis, are more nearly allied to the
anathic Acrophytes, with their innumerable spores, than to either
the Monocotyledones or Dicotyledones ; and, if the vegetable
kingdom constitutes a graduated series beginning with Crypto-
gams, followed by Gymnosperms, and ending with Monocotyle-
dones and Dicotyledones, have we not in that series the most
striking coincidence with the order of succession of Cryptogams,
in the oldest geological formations, especially with the Ferns-
Eqnisetacese, and Lycopodiacese of the Carboniferous period, fol-
lowed by the G3rmnosperms of the Trias and Jura and the Mono-
cotyledones of the same formation and the late development of
Dicotyledones ? Here, as everywhere, there is but one order,
one plan in nature."

The discussions to which we have referred, are all regarded by
our author as introductions to the classification of animals ; a
most just and noble view, since when classification sinks to be a
mere matter of arbitrary naming or even a convenient arrange*
ment of structures, it foregoes its, highest aims. We now know
that there is in nature plan and system, depending upon the
arrangements of the Creator, and appreciable to our minds. This
plan, in so far as we have yet attained to its comprehension^
marks the true relations of animals and plants as products of »
thinking mind, and relates not only tostruotores but to embryonic
^^elopment, habits, geographical and geological distributions.
Classification in nature ttius rises £rom its mimite facts and
structures, to a great philosophical system of the universe.

212 Coal in Canada.

" It may appear Birange that I should have incladed the preced-
ing disquisition in that part of my work which is headed Classi-
fication. Yet, it has been done deliberately. In the beginning
of this chapter, I have already stated that Classification seems to
me to rest upon too narrow a foundation when it is chiefly based
upon structure.* Animals are linked together as closely by their
mode of development, by their relative standing in their respec-
tive classes, by the order in which they have made their appear-
ance upon earth, by their geographical distribution, and general-
ly by their connection with the world in which they live, as by
Uieir anatomy. All these relationd should, therefore, be fully
expressed in a natural classification ; and though structure fur-
nishes the most direct indication of some of these relations, al-
ways appreciable under every circumstance, other considerations
should not be neglected, which may complete our insight into
the general plan of creation.

In characterizing the great branches of the animal kingdom, it
is not enough to indicate the plan of their structure, in all its
peculiarities ; there are possibilities of execution which are at
once suggested to the exclusion of others; and which should also
be considered, and so fully analyzed, that the various modes in
which such a plan may be carried . out shall at once be made
apparent The range and character of the general homologies
of each type should also be illustrated, as well as the general con-
ditions of existence of its representatives. In charactmzing
classes, it ought to be shown why such gronps constitute a class
and not merely an order, or a family ; and to do this satisfactorily,
it is indispensable to trace the special homologies of all the sys-
tems of organs which are developed in them. It is not less im-
portant to ascertain the foundation of all the subordinate divisions
of each dass ; to know how they di£fer, what constitutes orders,
what families, what genera, and upon what characteristics species
are based in every natural division."

To be concluded in our next Number.

ART. XXnL— Cba/ in Canada. The BovmanvilU Discovery.

The thing that we cannot have, is always that which we most
deure, and the more richly we are endowed otherwise, the more
earnestly do we long for the one object that may have been with-
held. So it would seem to be with the Canadian ptablic in the

Coal in Canada. 213

matter of coal. All the riches of the earth and of the hills and
of the deep beneath, have been thrown into its lap, except this ;
and like the child whose toys are all valueless because mamma
cannot give it the moon to play with in its own hand, it tarns its
eyes away from all its other treasures, and cries fior coal. Then
when any clever pretender, or simple practical roan misled by
indications which he does not understand, for a time deludes it with
the &ncy that it possesses the much coveted combustible, it rails
at the stupid Geological Survey which has failed to make the dis-
covery, and snaps its fingers at the geologists, whose spectral
" theories " have — like the ghosts that guard hidden treasure —
hitherto scared it from the prize.

We are far from desiring to insinuate that in Canada the public
mind is in such matters behind that of other countries ; and it is
cheering to know that many intelligent men are fully aware of
the real position of this country in its geological resources. It is
however very disheartening to scientific men, to find on the peri-
odical recurrence of delusive mining schemes or unexpected prac-
tical facts, how very little even the more literary portion of the
people are leavened with scientific truth. We write and lecture,
and finally suppose that men have at least some general appreci-
ation of that which we teach ; but on a sudden we find ourselves
quite mistaken, and the public ready to give ear to any statement,
no matter how much at variance with the facts established by long
and patient enquiry. The best use to be made of such unplea-
sant discoveries of popular ignorance, is to take advantage of
the excitement which they occasion, in order to diffuse better
ideas.

The latest of these professed discoveries is that of coal at Bow-
manville, C. W., a town of about 4000 inhabitants, 43 miles dis-
tant from Toronto. A practical miner acquainted with the digging
of coal, and therefore supposed to know more of its whereabout
than the geologists and such unpractical persons, has made his
way to this place. He assures a proprietor there that there is
coal on his property, though situated on Lower Silurian rocks, and
these rocks overlaid by no one knew how much tertiary clay and
sand. A glance at the geological reports scattered broadcast over
the country, would have shown that the occurrence of coal there
is in the last degree improbable. But miners are supposed to
have a wonderful penetration in such matters. Without taking
any competent advice, a bore is made, and, wonderful to relate, at

214 Coal in Canada.

the depth of 150 feet, coal or somethioi!^ like it is found. Speci-
mens are now sent to a learned professor in Toronto, who damps
the ardour of the enthusiastic by assuring them, that it is only
compact bitumen, like that often found in small quantities in the
^ Utica shale" which is believed to be the rock of the locality, and
by giving a great many geological reasons why the occurrence of
coal there should be considered not absolutely impossible, but
contrary to all known facts.

But the enterprise is not to be quashed in this summary man-
ner. The bore-hole is again appealed to, and now produces ac-
tual veritable coal, not only like coal and burning like coal,
but having all the characteristics of true coal-measure coal, and
showing its vegetable structures. The mineral is further stated to
be found under clay and sand having the aspect of the ordinary
tertiary clays and sands of Upper Canada, and showing none of
the characteristics of coal measures either in mineral character or
fossils. These and other further statements render the reality of
the discovery still more improbable ; but gentlemen who cannot
distinguish ordinary calcareous clay from fire clay, who suppose
that fire clay often or ever forms the roof of coal seams, and who
believe that fetid exhalations and inflammable gases escaping from
wells are infallible indications of the presence of coal, are not
likely to be easily staggered by geological evidence.

Accordingly their faith only becomes established by the growing
improbabilily, and we find them at the date of our latest informa-
tion sending a deputation to Toronto to solicit aid from the Qov-
ernroent toward prosecuting the discovery, and their friends in
the newspaper press chuckling over the " nuts" which they have
given the geologists to crack. The one wise proposal which the
believers in this discovery make, is that the Director of the Geo-
logical Survey should be requested to examine the locality. This
however should have been done at the first Sir W. E. Logan is
always ready to give any information in his power ; and is not
disposed, as his reports show, to treat with scepticism or contempt
any statement of a valuable discovery however improbable. In
the present state of the matter, it is hardly likely that anything he
will be able to state, on the evidence of surface indications, will
satisfy the public ; and a shaft may have to be sunk, at an expen&e
of several hundreds of pounds*, to find out that there has been a
mistake or a fraud at the bottom of the matter instead of a seam
of coal. We do not say that this will be the certain result ; there

Coal in Canada, 215

flfre, as we-fihall Acm in the sequel, certain geological possibilitiea
of the occurrence of coal at Bowmanville, but no indications of
these appear in the statements which have been made, and all the
facts before us at present point to the conclusion that' the very
common trick of secretly supplying the bore-hole with the mate-
rials afterwards obtained from it, has been practised by some in-
terested or mischievous person. We give this opinion on the facts
which have reached us up to the 1st of June, and we are glad to
observe that the Government have very properly thrown the onus
of opening the deposit on the proprietors and people of the locality.
Having pursued the narrative thus far, we proceed to give a few
.plain statements as to the actual condition of the question. Does
Canada contain workable coal ? Many persons are of opinion that
geologists, and more particularly those of the Survey, have arrived
at the conclusion that coal cannot possibly be found in this coun-
try. Thifi is entirely a mistake. To maintain such a sweeping
negative would be mere presumption, such as no really scientific
man could be guilty of. All that we assert is embodied in the
expression of Prof. Chapman, that "^ all known facts are opposed to
the idea" that coal occurs here, and therefore that any reported dis-
covery should be regarded with distrust and carefully scrutinized.
Let us look for a moment at a general statement of the evidence
on which this view rests.

It has been ascertained that nearly all the valuable coal seams
known, exist in the coal-measures of a particular geological sys-
tem— the carboniferous — readily distinguishable by its relations to
other systems of rocks and by its characteristic fossils. In some
of the formations overlying or newer than this coal series par ex-
eellencej beds of coal have been found, as for instance in the Tri-
assic series at Richmond, Virginia, in the tertiary of Western
America ; but these are exceptional cases, and the mineral is for
the most part different from the coal of the carboniferous system
or differs in its accompanying fossils. In the formations older
than the carboniferous system no workable coal has been found,
and these formations have now been so extensively explored as to
render it probable that they are quite destitute of the mineral ;
though still, geologists do not assert this as a positive conclusion, but
merely as the negative result likely to be reached when all the
fiicts are known, and in the meantime as a useful warning agiunst
imprudent speculation.

Now in relation to Canada, the whole province so far as known —

219 Ooal in Canada.

except a small diBtrict in Gasp^ — ^rests on rocks older tban the oar-
boniferous system. This great general fact is a most important
one practically, and has already saved much ruinous expenditure*
It is a fact to be insisted on with this view ; and has been so in*
tisted on by the head of tiie Survey ; bat be has not overstepped the
bounds of certainty in the matter, and has in each case of sup-
posed coal discovery, stated merely the facts and principles bearing
on that case, without indulging in rash general statements. We
may take for example, and as a further illustration of the subjecti
the following from the report of 1849-50. It refers to the sup*
posed discovery of coal at Bay St. Paul and Murray Bay.

** Wherever workable seams of coal have yet been found on thei
face of the globe, the evidences connected with them prove
beyond a doubt^ that their origin is due to great accumulationa
of vegetable matter, which has been converted into a mineral
condition. The vegetable structure is detected in the minend
by microscopic examination, and as might be expected, the strata
associated with coal beds are profusely stored with fossil plants ;
even where the seams are too thin to be workable, or so thin as
to be readily passed over without great attention, the vegetable
remains disseminated in the masses of rock dividing the s^ms,
are still in vast abundance. In the section of the Nova Scotia
coal rocks, at the Joggins, for example, as detailed in the report
transmitted to the Governmeut in 1844, it will be found that in a
thickness approaching 15,000 feet^ seventy-six coal seams occur
with a total thickness of no more than forty-four feet, and that
for thousands of feet in some parts, no coal seam is met with
over three inches; there are yet comparatively few layers of
the rock that are wholly free from vegetable remains, and the
substance of these remains, however thin the leaf or small the
fragment, being generally converted into coal, the mineral — ^from
the multitude of grains of it disseminated through great thick-
nesses of the strata — ^frequently gives a peculiar character to the
stone as one of its constituents. The same thing is observable in
other carboniferous localities, both in America and Europe, and it
appears quite reasonable to suppose, that if coal seams were dis-
covered of an older date than those which constitute the present
known great magas^nes of fossil fuel, the vegetable growth that
would be required to give them an approach to a workable thick-
ness, would afford the means of an extensive distribution of re-
mains in the strata with which they were associated. The forma-

Coal in Canada. 21f

tioiis of Baj St Paul and Murray Bay however shoir no carbon-
ised vegetable remains whatever, and the only planta they pre-
sented at aU, were a very few obscure fucoids, the forms of which
were replaced by peroxyd of iron. The bitumen of the limestone
may possibly be derived from the soft tissues apd gelatine of the
marine animal remains which have been buried in the deposit^
and supporting this opinion, indurated bitumen has been found in
the interior of some of the fossil testacea, of the same limestone
at Beauport ; but the calcareous material of the harder part of
sudb remains, so predominates over the carbon of the softer, that
coal seams could not be expected as the result of the mixture.

*' There being not the remotest doubt whatever of the geologi*
cal age of the limestone of Bay St. Paul, supposing the specimens
were really derived from the strata, and that the species of plants
should at the same time be ascertained to be identical with some
of those of the carboniferous period, it would prove that all evi«
deooe up to the present time has been imperfect, and that the
flora of this period is of hitherto unsuspected antiquity. ' But even
in such a case, or supposing the plants were different in species
from those of the true coal era, the paucity of vegetable remains
being such that scarcely a trace of them is found in so great and
so clear a development of the strata as occurs at Cap au Rets, th«
probability, amounting almost to certainty, would be, that the
specimens were derived from some local patch so thin and cir-
cumscribed, as to be altogether worthless in an economic point ot
view."

All Sir William's early reputation as a geologist was gained in
the coal-fields, no more competent mining surveyor for coal
could be found, and no one would be more rejoiced at the oppor-
tunity of reporting on a coal-field in Canada. But for this very
reason, he is too cautious to hazard any conjecture as to the pro-
bability of the occurrence of fossil fuel in a country where facts
palpable to the geologist, have inscribed everywhere a negation of
its presence.

Not having this public responsibility weighing upon us, we may
venture to mention certain possibilities as to the occurrence of
coal in Canada, which would furnish the only means of account-
ing for the BowmanvUle discovery should it prove a reality. The
fundamental rocks of Canada are as we have said below the carbon-
iferous, and therefore unlikely to contain workable coal. But
Canada may in this respect prove an exception to other countries.

218 Coal in Canada.

There may have been a ]and flora and the accumalation of coal
at an earlier period than ve have elsewhere ascertained these
phenomena to exist Unfortunately however no indication of this
exists except the discovery, by Sir W. E. Logan, of a bed of coal
one inch thick, in the Devonian rocks of Gasp6, associated with
a few vegetable fossils. This is in itself a rare and interesting geo-
logical fact, and the beda in which it occara are those which are
next below the trae carboniferous series.

Secondly, the coal measures approach Canada somewhat
closely both on the East and West. In the peninsulas of Canada
West, and of Gasp6, we have the Devonian series, the next below
the carboniferous. To these succeed respectively the coal-fields of
Michigan and New Brunswick, which on the West and East occur
just beyond the limits of Canada. In those parts of the province
which thus approach nearest to the carboniferous system, it is
barely possible that outliers of these carboniferous districts, as
yet unobserved, may extend within our limits. The Bowmanville
locality is however too far distant from the Western coal*fiel()s to
give any likelihood to such a view in this case.

Again it sometimes occurs that locally certain members of the
geological series are wanting, and the coal-measures may thus
rest directly on beds far older than themselves. For instance at
Bowmanville a small and hitherto unobserved independent coal-
field, may rest unconformably on the Utica slates. But then in
such cases the coal never occurs alone, but in company with shales
and sandstones containing fossil plants, and usually also with
limestones containing fossils quite distinct from those of the under-
lying Silurian and Devonian rocks. Coal sometimes even occurs
on unstratified or altered rocks, as granite or gneiss ; but in those
cases it still has its characteristic accompaniments, and it must be
observed that such rocks are of all geological ages, many granites
being even newer than the true coal formation. A curious mis-
application of this fact has we observe been made by one of our
contemporaries ; but we have determined not to attempt any ex-
posure of the multitudinous errors that are showered upon the
public on every side from the press, as these would already in the
Bowmanville case, require nearly a whole volume of the NaturalUt
for their full illustration and explanation. If in the Bowmanville
case any evidence of the characteristic accompaniments of coal
had been adduced, all geologists would at once have admitted the
credibility of the statement, without any cavil as to its resting on

Coal in Canada, 219

very old rocks. They cannot do this merely on the assertioQ
of an unknown person, against whose statenents all the £Eict8, even
those said to be ascertained by his owit borings, militate.

Farther, in the transference of materials oyer the surface, in the
so called drift period, fragments of coal deriyed from distant coal-
fields may have been mixed with the superficial tertiary deposits*
In coal districts it is not uncommon thus to find loose coal in
places where it does not occur in situ. Various circumstances
make such an occurrence unlikely in the drift of Canada ; and as
it must be very limited and exceptional, and could not a priori
be anticipated, the discovery of such drift-coal in a deep bore-hole
is in the highest degree improbable.

Lastly, it is not uncommon to find in the tertiary superficial beds
themselves, consolidated peat and imperfect coal (brown coal)^
a substance which exists largely in such deposits in the West and
North of America. Such material though not likely to occur in
workable quantity, might be of some economic importance. The
Bowman ville mineral is however evidently not of this kind.

These exceptional cases taken together, give scarcely a shadow
of a hope of coal in Canada, and none of them applies to the Bow-
manville case, as it stands at present. We must therefore in the
meantime regard this case as beyond the pale of ordinary geolo-
gical facts, and as either a fraud, a mistake, or a singularly ex-
ceptional occurrence only to be explained by further explorations
of the locality.

With respect to the mineral itself, it would seem that specimens
sent to Prof. Chapman had the aspect of compact bitumen, but
other specimens sent to the same geologist and to this city, are
true coal, having the aspect, properties and structure of rich bitu-
minous coal of the true coal formation. The writer has submitted
small fragments — prepared in a manner which he has applied to
numerous specimens of coal from other localities — to microscopic
examination, and finds that they afford three distinct kinds of
vegetable structure, all found in ordinary coal, and one of them
the scalariform tissue characteristic of sigillarias and ferns. The
substance is therefore true coal, formed iroin the remains of land
plants, and not distinguishable from that of the carboniferous
system.*

* To prevent farther mistake, it is necessary to add that, since this
article went to press, the writer has seen some additional specimens said
to be from Bowmanville, 'some of which, are not coal, but appear to be
charred wood saturated with some bitnminoas substance.

220 Coalin Canada,

With regard to the geological position assigned to tbe coal of
Bowmanyilie, it appears from the latest statements to be, not tbe
Silurian rocks of tbe country, bat the tertiary clays and sands.
This we need hardly say excludes a number of the ways of ac-
counting for it above stated, and almost shuts us up to tbe con-
elusion that if a real discoyery at all, the coal is a boulder or
layer of boulders of coal transported from a distance, no doubt a
very unlikely mode of occurrence, when we take into account the
usual direction of Canadian tertiary drift from the N. E., and the
absence of any known coal within a reasonable distance in that
direction. The following is given in a Hamilton newspaper as an
authoritative statement of the beds passed through, and it corres-
ponds very nearly with a manuscript boring journal which we
have seen, and which was famished by one of the persons employ-
ed.

" A shaft of 60 or 65 feet was sunk last November, then boring
for about 90 feet deeper before reaching the coal. The materials
were, beginning at the surface,

** 1. Fine clay, about 25 feet

*' 2. Large boalders, 7 or 8 feet.

•* 8. Fine clay, 80 feet

^ 4. Olean washed lake sand, 20 feet.

«* 6. Fire-clay, 80 or 40 feet

^ 6. The remainder of the distance — nearly 50 feet, a kind of
hard pan fire-clay, gravel, stones, and a mixture of clay and sand.

^ 7. One foot or foot and a-half of a hard substance — rock of
some kind, I could not say what on account of sand and clay idl-
ing in from the sides, but I drew up small pieces of coarse red
sandstone.

*' 8. Six feet or six feet and a-half of coal."

This section is followed by the very tu^ve remark that it showa
''no material which ought according to existing theories to
be found above coal." This is quite true, inasmuch as the tertiary
sands and clays may, like the green sod, coyer anything ; but it
would be quite a different thing to say that they are the materials
usually or ever found immediately above a coal seam. On the
contrary the occurrence of coal like that sent from Bowmanville,
in situ, immediately under or in the bottom of such a mass, with-
out any of the usual shales, under-clays, ironstones, or sandstones
accompanying the mineral, or any of the fossils of the formationi
would if possible be more extraordinary than its occurrence in the

Coal in Canad€L. 221

Silurian rocks themselyes. Prof. Chapman farther informs ns^ in
a letter published in a Toronto paper, that the days are not coal
measure fire-clays, but the ordinary tertiary clays, and that the
red sandstone of the boring section is merely a boulder of syenite,-
and the ironstones, said to be found, iron pjrrites. Were it not
that ive are aware of the many uncertainties of such explorations
and of the probability that the parties concerned may misrepre*
sent their own case, we should thus, on the evidence adduced by
themselves, be disposed to regard the whole affair as an absurd
practical joke. Prof. Chapman we observe has boldly taken this
ground, but as in such cases all possibilities should be fully al*
lowed for, and as we cannot perceive in the published accounts
any indication on the part of the persons reporting the discovery,
of that familiarity with the structure of coal-measures and the ope-
ration of boring for that mineral, which could alone give value to
their testimony, we are willing to take the most charitable view
possible, and even to suppose that, contrary to all probability, they
may have, by a rare and marvellous accident, discovered coal in
circumstances hitherto unheard o^ and therefore beyond all ra-
tional anticipation.

In concluding this article it may be useful to group together a
few general statements which m&y serve to prevent misapprehension
on the subject.

First Geologists do not assert that no coal can exist in Ca-
nada. They only maintain that all the facts hitherto known to
them afford no indication that it does occur.

Secondly. The occarrence of coal in any locality or geological
formation not known to contain the mineral, would not effect
theoretical geology. It would only extend the amount of facts
available for the. construction of the theory of the science.

Thirdly. Geologists thus hold no " theory" depending on the
non-occurrence of coal in Canada or in the Lower Silurian rocks ;
and in respect to tlie latter they would be very glad to obtain
so interesting a fact as the evidence of terrestrial vegetation in
that period.

Fourthly. Should coal be found in any part of the Silurian dis-
trict of Canada, the fact would be one of those comparatively race
cases to be accounted for in some of the ways stated above ; but
geologists will be slow to credit it unless accompanied by evidence
of tha presence of some of the usual accompaniments of coal, either

222 Coal in Canada.

in its ordinary relations, or in some otber of tbe more rare circam-
stances above stated.*

Fifthly. Boring operations are so very liable to fraud error, or
tbat tbey cannot be considered a» establishing any fact otherwise
improbable, without the further evidence of such inspection as
can be made by actually opening up the deposit, or of corrobora-
tive facts obtained from surface indications. It is principally the
entire want of such facts, and the substitution of irrelevent state-
ments, in the reports now before the public, that causes us at pre-
sent to doubt, what otherwise would be a most welcome discovery

whether in a scientific or practical point of view*

jr. w. D,

* As the ordinarj accompaniments of coal have been several times

referred to in this article, we give below a characteristic example, being

the beds accompanying the main coal of the 9. Joggins in Nova Scotia.

ft. in.
Shale, grBjj passing into black. Modiola in lower part, 0 6

Sliale, calcareo-bituminons. Modiola, Cypris, Fish-seal ea,.... 0 10
Coal and bituminous shale. Poacites, Sigillaria, Spirorbis,

Fish-scales, Gypris, 0 8

Underclay. Rootlets of Stigmaria, 3 9' fi

Sandstone, gray. Rootlets, 4 6

Shale and sandstone, 8 0

'Underclaj, hard and sandy below. Roots and rootlets (tf Stig-
maria, 1 6

Gmi/ impure. Full of Poacites, 0 1

Shale and argillaceous sandstone. Plants with Spirorbis, rain-
marks 7 7 0

Sandstone and arenaceous shale. Brect Oalemites in five feet
of upper part ; an erect coaly tree passes through these beds

and the sandstone below, 8 0

Sandstone, gray. Erect coaly tree as above, 7 0

*ShaIe, gray. Roots of coaly tree spread in this bed, 4 0

Sandstone, gray, 4 0

Shale, gray. Prostrate and erect Sigillaria and Lepldodendron,
Poacites, Asterophyllites, Ferns, Modiola, Spirorbis on surface

of fossil plants, Stigmaria and rootlets,. 0 6

Oo^L, main teamy worked by the General Mining Association,. • 3 6

Shale or underclay. Thins out in working to N.E., 1 6

OoALj worked with main seam, I 6

^Underclay and shale with bands of sandstone, 20 0

^Sandstone and clay. Stigmaria stools ; on the surface of this

bed a thin film of coaly matter [Coal Mm Pwr here.] 2 6

Sendstone and shale. Irregular beds, 5^ 0

Shale, gray, with bands of sandstone and ironstone, 4 0

Co<d in Canada, 228

ft. in.

Sandstone, gray. Two erect stumps, one of them a Sigillaria

with Stigmaria roots, erect Galamites 2 0

*BhaIe, gray and Ironstone. Roots and rootlets of erect stumps, 6 6

Coal, impure. Much Poacltes, 0 0|

Shale, gray, 0 11|

Co<U and bituminous shale. Prostrate trunks and mineral char-
coal, 0 0)

^Sandstone with clay parting. Stigmaria rootlets and pros-
trate Sigillaria above the clay parting, 3 6

Sandstone and shales with ironstone, 12 0

Ironstone-band. Sigillaria^ PaTularia, Poacites, Ferns, &c. ;

Spirorbis attached to many of these plants,. 0 3

*Underclay8. Rootlets of Stigmaria and carbonized plants,. . . 2 0

CotUj impure, 0 1

^Sandstone, Argillaceous. Stools and rootlets of Stigmaria, . . 2 6
^Sandstone alternating with shales. In one bed, Stigmaria
stools and an erect tree. In another Ulodendron and other

trees, prostrate, with Spirorbis attached, 10 0

*Shale, gray, passing downwards into underday. Poacites,
Lepidophylla, &c. ; an erect tree, Stigmaria rootlets in lower

part, 3 10

Coal, 0 3

*UndercIay. Rootlets, 0 5

Goal and bituminous shale, in several alternations. Lepido-
dendron, Ulodendron, Poacites, Lepidophylla. (This is called

the Queen's Vein.) 1 9

*Shale, gray. Poacites in upper part. In lower part an under-
day with remains of erect stumps, 4 4

Coal, 1 0

*Underclay, black, bituminous, slickensided, resting on hard
arenaceous understone. Stools and rootlets of Stigmaria,. . . 3 0

The remainder of this section, one of the most distinct in the world,
may be found in Sir W. E. Logan's first report; and with full illustra-
tions of its fossils, in " Acadian Geology," and in the Journal of the
Geological Society of London, 1863.

224

Obituary.

OBITUARY.

JAMES BARNSTON, M. D.

Since the last number of the Naturalist was issued, the
most aclive member of its Editing Committee, and one of
the principal and most valued contributors to its columns,
has passed to his rest On Thursday the 20th May last,
Prof. James Barnston, M.D^ afler a long and severe illness,
breathed his last, at his residence in Little St James Street,
in this city. The deceased was the eldest son of George
Barnston, Esquire, Chief Factor of the Hon. Hudson's Bay
Company. He was born at Norway House, in the Terri-
tories of that Company, on the drd July, 1831 ; and, con-
sequently, at the time of his death, had not completed his
twenty-seventh year. He began his studies at Bed River
Settlement in 1840, and remained there for a period of
five years. He was then removed to Canada, where his
education was principally of a private nature ; but he early
distinguished himself by his tbirst for knowledge^ and es-
pecially pursued with assiduity those preparatory studies
suited for the learned and honorable profession it was his
intention to enter ; and of which, had bis life been spared,
he would have become a distinguished ornament. In 1847
he went to Edinburgh, and entered upon the study of
Medicine at the University there. He went through the
usual comse, and in 1851 passed the final examination for
his degree with the greatest credit Being then under age,
he did not receive his diploma till the following year.
During the third year of his course he filled the post of
House-Surgeon to the Royal Maternity Hospital ; an office
which he resigned on passing his examination. He subse-
quently became assistant to a Physician in extensive prac-
tice in the town of Selkirk and adjacent country ; but on
receiving his diploma in the Spring of 1852, he went to
the continent, with the view of " walking " the Hospitals
there, acquiring additional knowledge of his profession,
and completing his medical studies. He remained there
over a year, principally in Paris and Vienna, and received
the highest certificates from the Medical Directors of the

Obituary, 2125

Hospitals where he attended. In October, 1858, he re-
turned to Canada, and commenced practice in Montreal^
and, consequently, at the time of his death he had been
upwards of four years a Physician in our city. — We have
said that he graduated at Edinburgh, before his twenty-
first year, wifch the highest honors. During his stay at the
University he carried of several prizes, two of which were
for Botany, one of his favorite studies. In Medical Sci-
ence, Midwifery was the particular branch to which he
devoted himself. He made it indeed, to some extent, a
special duty. In the year 1857 he was appointed to the
newly-established chair of Botany in McGill College ; and
had nearly completed his first courae of lectures when
prostrated by illness. His class-lectures were distinguished
by an intimate knowledge of his subject, clearness of illus-
tration, and appreciation of the difficulties of learners,
which gave earnest of the highest success as a teacher of
this delightful branch of natural science. During his stu-
dies in Scotland, he made a large collection of Botanical
Specimens ; and it was his delight, when time and oppor-
tunity offered, to add to and increase this from the great
variety to be found on the Mountain, and in the vicinity
of Montreal. He had commenced a detailed catalogue of
Canadian plants, which it is hoped may be sufficiently ad-
vanced to be in part, at least, published ; and which would
have given him a high place in American Botany. — Dr.
Barnston held until the time of his death the office of
Curator and Librarian to the Natural History Society. He
was one of its most valued members, and foremost and
most active friends. He read many interesting papers,
and delivered many delightful, and instructive lectures, be-
fore its members; and among those of his own age,
whom he has left behind, we fear the Society will find
few upon whom his mantle will Ml, — In private life, the
Doctor was quiet, unassuming and gentle. There was
something about him which provoked to love; and to
those with whom he was intimate, he was a friend indeed.
For a young man, who had so lately entered upon the
practice of a profession numbering so many old and honor-

226

OBituarp',

ed members, he enjoyed a large share of the public patron-
age; and his devoted attention at the bed-sides of his
patients, and the aniforro lundness and gentleness which
characterized his treatment of them, would in time have
assuredly gained him an extensive practice. A constitu-
tion naturally delicate, and ardent devotion to his scientific
and professional pursuits, con^ired to invite and hasten
the inroads of disease ; but, unwilling to abandon his cher-
ished fields of usefulness and study, he held out to the last^
and worked until the night had come. He then resigned
himself meekly to the will of Ged. His sufferings at times
were very severe ; bnt he bore them with resignation ; and
his end was peace. He was a member of the Church
of England ; and was cheered by the prayers of its Priests,
and received at their hands the Holy Communion shortly
before his last hour came. He leaves behind him a young
wife, to whom he had been married scarcely a year, and an
infant daughter. It were vain in us to attempt to con-
sole them nnder their sad bereavement. But God tempers
the wind to the shorn lamb* The husband and the father
is not lost, but gone before. He cannot return to us ; but
if we strive, and watch and pray, we shall assuredly go
to him : —

" ' Tis sw«et, as year by year we lose
Friends oat of sight, in faith to muse
How grows in Paradise onr store.

" Then pass ye mourners eheerly on,
Through prayer nnto the tomb,
Still, as ye watch life's falling leaf.
Gathering from every loss and grief
Hope of new spring and endless home."

Dr. Bamston's remains were interred on the Monday
following ^s decease. The Principal, many of the Profea-
sors iwd Students of McGill College, the Dean and a lai^
number of the Medical Faculty, and a great ooncourse of
friends, followed him to the grave. He sleeps in a quiet
nook in our new Cemetery — on the side of tbat Mountain
he has so often traversed, in order to gather fresh specimens
of plants and flowers, to illustrate and adorn the science
he loved so wcU. a. v. r.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Natural History Society of
Montreal, held on Tuesday evening, May 16th, 1858, —

Present : — Principal Dawson, President, in the chair; Doctors.
Wright, Fenwick, Jones, Eraser, Craik, Hingston, and Eolmeyer ;
and W. H. A. Davies, H. Rose, T. M. Taylor, E. Murphy, Jno.
Leeming, Joe. T. Dntton, Hen. Bouker, A. N. Ronnie, D. Rohert-
Bon, Esqrs.

The Report of last Annual Meeting of the Society was read oyer
and confirmed.

The Reports of the Council, Curator and Librarian, and Trea-
surer, were presented, — (they will be found below.)

On motion of Mr. Davies, seconded by Mr. Leeming,
it was ordered, That the Report of the Council, with those
of the Curator and Treasurer, be received and printed under
the direction of the Council.

The meeting then proceeded to the election of officers for the
ensuing year, and

Messrs. Rose and Murphy were appointed Secretaries.

The election of Officers by ballot resulted as follows :

Principal Dawsoh, President^ elected unanimouBly.

Rer. A. di Sola, LL.D., Ut, Viee-Prendmii.

The Anglican Lord Bishop of Montreal, . . 2d, "

B. BiLLuroB, Esq., ,..,,3d, '*

Dr. HiVGSTON, Corresponding SecreUry,

Jmo. Liiinxo, Esq., Recording Secretory,

Jab. FiRBiiB, Jan., Esq., Treasurer,

Dr. Fbn WICK, » . . . . Curator and Ltbrarian.

W. S. M. D'UhBAiN, Sub-Curator.

couiroiL :

Dr. Jomis. Dr. Fbasbr. A. K. RamnB, Esq.

W. H. A. Datiss, Esq. W. GHAniAH, Esq.

It was then moved by Mr. Murphy, seconded by Mr. Rose,
That the Secretaries be added to the Publishing Committee)

which was carried unanimously.

Mr. Taylor, moved, seconded by Mr. Robertson,

That the thanks of the Society are hereby given to the retiring

Office-bearers and Council for their valuable and efficient services

during the past year. Carried unanimously.

228 Annual Report of the

After some conversation on the subject, it was moved by Mr
Taylor, seconded by Mr, Rose,

That the Council be authorised to sell the building in the pos-
session of the Society, for such sum as they can obtain not less
than two thousand pounds, clear of brokerage and seignorial dues,
and that the details of the arraogement be left with them, —
which was carried.

The meeting then broke up.

«
Annual Report of the Council of the Natural History Society

of Montreal^ for the year ending May 18<A, 1858.

The Council of the Natural History Society have the honor to
lay before the members, the following Report of the condition and
proceedings of the Society during the past year, along with some
suggestions for the consideration of their successors in office.

The Council have much pleasure in noting that the past year
has l)een one of marked interest to the students of natural history
in this city. In the month of August last, we had the honor and
pleasure of giving a hearty welcome to "The American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science," which met for the first time
in this city and province. This meeting has been the most note-
worthy event which has ever happened in the history of the
Society. Mainly through the efforts of the Society was this
meeting brought about. In conjunction with influential citizens
of Montreal, you invited the Association to meet here in the year
1857. This invitation having been cordially accepted, your Coun-
cil, co-operating with the Local Committee of the '^ Association,''
made every effort to provide suitable accommodation for its seve-
ral meetings, and for the hospitable entertainment of its members.
These efforts, the Council are happy to report, were eminently
successful. In the most prompt and cordial manner the Court
^ouse, vnth its halls and rooms, so admirably adapted for the
purposes of the "Association," was put at the disposal of the
Local Committee, The City Council also freely granted the use
of the City Hall to your Society, for the public entertainment of
our guests.

In accordance with the resolution of the Society, a portion of
the funds granted by the Legislature for the reception of the
" Association," was appropriated for a public Conversazione in the
City Hall. This meeting was held on Thursday, Aug. 13, 1857,

Natural History Society. 229

and was attended by about 800 of our fellow-citizens, wbo wel-
comed witb much satisfaction tbe ofiBcers and members of the
" Association." Considering our inexperience in the management
of such large assemblies, it was yet most gratifying to witness the
general excellency of the arrangements, and the complete success
of the entertainment For the interest of the meeting your
Council were successful in obtaining for exhibition the celebrated
Indian curiosities and pictures, the property of Paul Kane,^Esq.,
who, with a liberality worthy of all praise, placed these valuable
objects freely at our disposal.

The Council feel that they not only express their own senti-
ments, but also those of every member of this Society, when they
state that the opportunity which this scientific convention afforded
them of meeting with so many gentlemen of scientific celebrity, was
in the highest degree gratifying, and an honor which they highly
appreciate. We had then amongst us the distinguished represen-
tatives of the Geological and Linnean Societies of Britain, together
with the savans of the United States and Canada, vying with each
other in the exposition of their scientific discoveries. Many
valuable papers were read, and facts of interest and value elicited
in discussion, in the various sections into which the Association
was distributed. In the more popular departments of geology
and ethnology the citizens generally took a deep and appreciating
interest. In the various sections it was also gratifying to note
the cordial reception and honorable position accorded to the
representatives of Canadian science. May we not indulge the
hope that a Canadian Scientific Associaion may soon be orga-
nized, and take an honorable place alongside of similar institu-
tions in Europe and America f

Tour Council have good reason to believe that this most
successful meeting of the " American Association ^ has awakened
an interest in scientific pursuits, both in this city and in the pro-
vince at large, which will yet prove most beneficial in its results.
Your Society has, undoubtedly, reaped much advantage from this
event Its zealous members have been greatly cheered, its num-
bers considerably increased, and hopes have been awakened, that
it will yet occupy a higher position of scientific eminence than
that to which it has yet attained.

The Council report with regret that their sanguine expectations
of being able to proceed with the erection of a new and more com-

230 Annual Report of the

modioas building than that which the Society now ocenpes ha^e
been frustrated. In the report of last year it was announced that
a site had been obtained, on very liberal terms, froro the GoTehiors
of McOill College, that plans had been prepared for the building,
that contributions to a considerable amount had been subscribed,
and that we only waited a favorable offer for the purchase of the
present building to commence operations. This last and indis'
pensible step .to furtber progress has, contrary to their expecta*
tiona, not yet been carried into effect. In these circumstances tho
Society must wnit a more favorable season for the prosecution
of this good project. Your Council are equally of opinion with
their predecessors, that the premises now occupied are most un-
suitable in many important particulars, either for a museum,
library, or lecture room, and that no great improrement can be
expected in any of these departments until a building erected for
their special use has been obtained. The Council would earnestly
eommend this matter to the immediate consideration of their
successors.

Tour Council have also to report that petitions have again this
year been presented to His Excellency the Governor General, and
to both Houses of the Legislature, urging them, from public and
national considerations, to grant a more liberal sum of money to
the Society for scientific purposes, than we have hitherto received*
It may be confidently said that there is no scientific institution in
the country so comprehensive in its aims as ours is, possessing a
larger collection of scientific objects than our museum contains, or
publishing transactions on natural history of greater scientific
value than are to be found in our Journal — these facts, we there^
fore think, entitle us to some more marked consideration at the
hands of the Legislature than we have yet obtained. We deem
it at least but justice that this, the oldest and not the least honor-
ble of the incorporated institutions of the country, should be placed
upon an equni footing as regards public support with the Canadian
Institute of Toronto. Hitherto we have been left mainly to our
own efforts and resources in arranging and furnishing our museum
and library ; anc^ the building we now occupy, together with our
valuable collections in zoology, geology, and ethnology, testify
to the liberality of our members and friends. But it is now felt
that if the Society is to take that place which the rapid progress
of modem science demands, large additions must be made to its
museum and library, and some method adopted to keep alive a

Naturai History Society. 281

publie interest in its proceedings. This last desirable object the
Council think would be best attained by the publication and
Ifratitnoas distribution of our transactions among the members*
Pro<*^ding Councils have advised and attempted this, but as yet
without success. With our limited income such a step has hith-
erto been quite impossible. It is therefore to be hoped that the
prayer of our just and reasonable petition to His Excellency the
Governor and to the Legislature will meet with a favoraUe
response.

UBCTUBia.

Your Council have much pleasure in reporting that the series
of Lectures, in accordance with the Somerville bequest, have been
of much interest this eeason, and been generally well attended.
The gentlemen who have lectured with so much acceptance are all
saenibers of your Society, and are entitled to your thanks for their
seal on its behalf. The Coancil deem that it wonid be an improve-
ment, did your funds permit, to invite some of the distinguish-
od naturalists of BritHin, the United States, or Canada West, to
take part in these lectures. They would commend this matter to
the consideration of their successors, hoping that means may be
feund to carry it into effect

The subjects of the lectures are as follows : —

Things to be observed in Canada and especially in Montreal
and its vicinity, by Principal Dawson, the President,
25th February.
Scripture Botany, by the Rkv. A. DbSola, LL.D., 4th March-
On the Alkalies, by T. 8. Hunt, Esq^ 8ih March.
Marine Algae, by the Rev. A. F. Kemp, 18th March.
The Boracic Acid Springs of Italy, by Ma. Button, 25th
March.

MU8BU1C

The Council havo much pleasure in reporting that the Museum
has undergone a thorough review and re-arrsngeraent, under the
able superintendence of Mr. \V. S. M. D'Urban, for some time our
sub-i'.urator. The departments of Ornithology and Mammalia
have been carefully cUissified, and many new specimens added.
Upon each object the specifiu name has been placed ; and the
divisions of genera, family and class, have been noted and labelled.
The Ethnological collection has als3 been judiciously arranged
and described. The valuable collection of Minerals and Fossils,

232 Annual Repwt of the

whicli had hitherto been in much confusion, has likewise been
revised and classified by the careful hands of Mr. D^Urban. In
the department of Entomology many new species and some new
genera have been added to the collection by the sub-curator ; and
the Council would specially note, in this connection, the valuable
cases of classified British Lepidoptera which Mr. D'Urban has
presented to the Society. This gift is of no small scientific value-,
pertaining as it does to a department in which the Museum was
very defective. Mr. D'Urban having retired from -the service of
your Society, the Council cannot permit this opportunity to pass
without stating their high estimate of the value of hi» laborious,
zealous and efficient services,, especially in preparing the Society ^s
collections for the meeting of the ^^ American Association," as
well as for public exhibition and scientific use. The Council
would recommend that sonve skilled naturalist be occasionally
employed to overlook the collection, to attend to its preservation,
and to add new speciiJiens to the genera that are yet only par-
tially or not at all represented in the Museum.

The contributions which have been sent to the Museum, and
lor which the thanks of the Society have been awarded to the
donors, will be found at the end of this report.

EIBRABT.

The Library Committee have reported to the Council that no
great additions have been made to the Library during the past year*
The 2 vols, of the " Contributions to the Natural History of the
United States," by L. Agassiz, and "Blodgett's Climatology,''
have been purchased; and several books and 'pikers of value
presented to the Society, by Authors and Societies, a list of which
will be found below. The Committee have carefully classified
the volumes, and labelled the departments, so that the works we
possess may be readily referred to. There is no department of the
Society's collection in which the Council feel so little satisfaction
as that of the Library. Its progress has not at all kept pace with
the advancement of knowledge. While it contains some ancient
Tolames of much value, and several modem works of scientific
note, it is still extremely defective in books of recent publication,
without which it is scarcely entitled to the name of a Scientific
Library. The Council hope that means may ere long be found
to supply this manifest defect, and to make your Library worthy
of its name.

Natural History Society, 233

THE CAKXdIAN naturalist AND GEOLQOIST, AND PROCEEDINGS OF
THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL.

The Committee appointed to edit this journal report to the
Council that a second volume has been snccessfnllj completed,
which, as regards matter, illustrations and printing, admits of most
favourable comparison with any similar publication.

In this volume will be found not only original articles on sub-
jects of Natural History, but also articles of scientific value and
novelty, extracted from the journals of Europe and America. The
desire of the Editors has been to assist young naturalists in their
studies, and to awaken an interest in the pursuits of Natural
Science in this country, in which tJhey believe they have not alto-
gether been unsuccessful. Such was the design of Mr. Billings,
its original projector and editor, and they would recommend that
the same plan be pursued in succeeding volumes.

The Editors do em that Mr. B. t)awson, the publisher, is entitled
to the thanks of the Society for his liberality and readiness in
furnishing all necessary illustrations for the articles, and also in
contributing to the Society several copies for exchange, and dis-
tribution among learned Societies. They have pleasure in report-
ing that the circulation of the magazine is already considerable
and encouraging ; they would, however, urge upon all interested
in the advancement of Canadian Science the importance of so in-
creasing the subscription-list as to place the Journal on a self-sup
porting and even a profitable basis.

The second volume, just completed, contains twenty-nine origi-
nal papers pertaining to the various departments of Natural His-
tory, all of which have been contributed by gentlemen connected
with the Society. The valuable Meteorological tables of Professor
Smallwood, of St. Martin, are also published monthly. These,
with the Selected Articles, Reviews of Scientific Publications,
Proceedings of Societies, and Miscellaneous Intelligence, make
this magazine a work not only of periodical but also of perma-
nent value.

The third volume now in progress, of which the second number
has been issued, will contain, in addition to the usual matter, the
Meteorological Observations of Prof. Hall, of Montreal ; and, from
the experience acquired during the past year, the Editors trust
that the third volume will be even more interesting and valuable
than its predecessors.

234 Annual Report of the

The '* Canadian Naturalist '* ie now a good vehicle for the pub-
licationof inve&tigationB and discoveries in the Natural History of
Canada. It has a wide circulation in Canada, the United States
and Europe. The Committee are therefore in a position to in-
vite communications from those engaged in scientific pursuits.
Short statements of interesting facts will be equally acceptable
to the E<1 iters as more elaborate papers.

The Committee beg to draw the Society's particular attention
to the fact, that this Journal of admitted value to science, although
edited by its members, is not published at the cost or risk of the
Society; but is entirely supported by its own subscribers, and
issued at the risk of the publisher. The members of the Society have
therefore no special privilege in regard to it, and can only obtain
it on payment of the full subscription price, over and above their
annual subscription to the Society. This is a state of things which
your Committee cannot regard as satisfactory. The Committee are
decidedly of opinion that it would be most beneficial to the So-
ciety, were each member to receive a copy of the Journal gratui-
tously, on the payment of his annual subscription. Nothing they
conceive would more materially promote the interests of the
Society or the advancement of that department of science with
which it is identified than this. They therefore deeply regret that
the Society's funds will not admit of such a desirable object being
immediately carried into effect. They cannot help comparing
their condition, in this respect, with that of the Canadian Institute
of Toronto. That Society has been able, by a liberal annual par-
liamentary grant, to give its Journal gratuitously to its members
and to circulate it widely among the scientific institutions of Ame-
rica and Europe ;, whereas our Society, older, and equally devoted
to the advancement of Canadian science, has hitherto been all
but left to its own resources. It is therefore to be hoped that the
Legislntive aid for which we have again applied, will this year be
granted, eo that we may be able to assume our just position as a
Canadian Scientific Institution. The publication of our Journal
for circulation among our members, and for distribution as a ve-
hicle of scientific research among learned societies, is one of the
chief objects, on account of wliirh we have again urged our peti-
tion upon the Legislature. Your Council are of opinion that this
is a step of the utmost importance to the future welfare of the
Society, and would recommend that it be prosecuted with perse-
verance and energy by their successors.

Natural History SoeUtg. 2S8

The Ooancil would further notic<>, that, during the p»%t year
the montlilj meetings of the Society have been regularly held*
and 8U«taiiied with «oroe spirit At each meeting one hour has
been devo'ed to business, and the remainder of the evening to the
readipg of scientific papers and to discussions on topics of natural
history.

As most of these papers have been or will be published in the
Journal, it is unnecessary further to refer to them here. The
Council trust that the next year will be one of even greater
activity and zeal than the past A wide field of investigation is
open in ihis province to the students of natural science. Some
departments have not yet been touched, and many are but partially
treated. This Society offers to the lovers of nature a happy sti-
mulant to exertion, together with the fellowship of kindrec^ minds,
and a medium through which discoveries may be communicated
to the world.

Report of the Curator and Librarian.

The Curator has reason to congratulate the Society upon the
marked improvements in the general appearance and actual value
of the Collections in its Museum and Library. This will be ad-
judged from the following report of Mr. W. S. D'Urban, Sub-
Curator, whose services to the Society can now be fully appre-
ciated : —

REPORT OF THE SUB-CURATOR.

Pbof. James Barnston, M.D., Curator :

Sir, — In compliance with your request, that I would draw up
a short statement of the arrangements effected by me in the Mu-
aeum of the Society during the time I had the care of the collec-
tions, I beg to submit the following brief summary of them.

In the first room to the left, on the second floor, I have a<^sem-
bled all the Veitebrate Animals, with the exception of the Birds.
The Canadian Mammalia are cased separately, and are classified
and named. A few foreign specimens, belonging to such orders
as are not represented in Canada, are also cased and stand next
to those of this country. Such specimens &s are of too great size
for the cases occupy the middle of the floor. This room also con-
tains two large cahinets of sperimens illustrating Comparative
Anatomy, two cabinets of Reptiles ( Canadian and Foreign ). and
one case of Foreign Fish. The walls are hung with Deer's Heads

286 Annual Report of the

m

aad Antlers, and various parts of Yertebrated Animals are disposed
in the remaining vacant portions of the room.

The room adjoining the last has the side on the right entirely
devoted to the Invertebrata. There are here displayed twelve
cases of Insects systematically arranged, one large case of Cms*
tacea, one of Echinodermata, and one of Polypi, whilst various
fine specimens of Corals are exhibited on the walls and underneath
the cases. Two other sides and the centre are occupied by ten
flat cases on tressels, respectively devoted to Miscellaneous Objects,
Pottery, Objects of Historical Interest, Articles of Clothing of
various nations. Objects of Interest from Battle-fields, North Ame-
rican Antiquities, Rotnan Antiquities from Pompeii, Vegetable
Substances, Coins, Medals and Medallions. The walls above are
bung with the weapons of different races of men, and various
other Ethnological specimens. On the remaining side of the room
stands the large cabinet containing the fine Botanical Collection,
and round it are hung various Vegetable substances.

The long room on the other side of the passage, opposite the
Manmialian Room, contains the collection of Mounted Birds, three
sides being devoted to North American species, the whole of
which are grouped under their respective families and orders, and
to each specimen is attached a printed label indicating its scien-
tific and English name ; to which I have added, whenever prac-
ticable, its sex, locality, &c. The fourth side is allotted to Birds
from various parts of the world, of which there is a large collec-
tion, as yet only partially arranged. There is also a case con-
taining a small collection of Foreign Nests and Eggs. In the
centre of the room are two long table-cases : one contains a con-
siderable collection of Foreign Shells, arranged under their proper
families ; and the other, when the specimens are numerous en-
ough, will be filled with Canadian and American species.

In the Curator^s room, adjoining the Bird Room, is placed a
large chest for Bird-skins, collections of Insects, &c., for which
there is no available space in other parts of the Museum.

The room on the ground floor opposite the Library contains
the whole of the extensive collection of Minerals, as well as those
of Fossils and Geological specimens, all of which have been clean-
ed and neatly arranged.

It will thus be seen that every branch of Natural History is
more or less fully represented in the Museum. My aim has been

Natural History Society, 237

to exhibit as promiDently as possible everything which might tend
to illustrate Canadian Natural History, and to arrange the speci-
mens in such a manner as wonld give a clear idea of their scien-
tific classification. The shortness of the time allotted me, the
number of subjects to be attended to, and the small means at my
disposal, will I trust be taken into consideration and admitted as
some excuse that these objects have not been carried out as suc-
cessfully as could have been wished ; and I am glad that I can
report the collections in, at least, tolerable order and good preser-
vation.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

"WILLIAM STEWART M. DURBAN,

Sub- Curator,
Montreal, May 10th, 1858.

The Curator may observe here, that a considerable number of
Birds, some of our smaller Mammalia, as well as numerous Rep-
tiles, Insects, Mollusks, <fec., have been added to the Museum dur-
ing the past year, besides the articles contained in the subjoined
list of donations ; a portion of which were presented by the Sub-
Curator, and the remainder acquired by purchase.

The following list of Donations to the Museum and to the Li-
brary, is respectfully submitted.

JAMES BARNSTON, M.D.,

Librarian and Curator.

Montreal, 18th May, 1858.

DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY, 1857-58.

Statutes of Canada, 1857 ; in French and English ; 8yo., half-calf; two*

copies.
Jonmal of the Legislative Assembly, with Appendices ; 10 yols., 8yo.,

half-calf.
Maps appended to Bieport of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, 4to.,

half-calf.
Table des Statnts Proyincianz en force dans le Bas Canada, 1857 ; 8yo.,

half-calf; 2 copies.
Report of the Canada Geological Suryey for the years 1853-64-56-66;

8yo., cloth ; 2 copies.
Jonmal and Transactions of the Board of Agricnltore of IT. C. ; No. 4,

Vol. 1.
Report of the Commissioners of Crown Lands of Canada for 1866, 8yo.
Bombay Magnetical and Meteorological Obseryations,

1854-55, 4to., bd. H. B. I C.

Report of the Saperlntendant of the U. S. Coast Sur- > Qeo. F. Hongh-

yey for 1865 ; 4to., cloth, > ton, Vermont.

288

Annual Bepore of the

Smithsonian In-
stitution.

Office.

G. L. Flint, Se-
cretary to the
Massachusetts
Board of Agri-
culture, Bos-
ton.

The Regents of
the University
of the State of
New York.

Snuthsonian Institution Reports for 1856 and 1866 ; 2
Yols., 8to., cloth.

Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. IX.;
4to., cloth.

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,.
Washington, U. S., 1865-56, 1 Yol.

Patent Office Reports for 1863-54-55 ; 8to., cloth ; 6 > U. States Patent
vols. >

Fourth Annual Report of the Sec*y. of the Massachu- '
setts Board of Agriculture ; 87o, cloth.

Report of Commissioners on the Artificial Propag&-
gation of Fish ; pamphlet.

14th Annual Report relating to the Registry and Re-
turns of Births, Marriag^es, Deaths, Ac, in Mas-
sachusetts for 1855.

Catalogue of the N. T. State Library 1856, Maps, Ma- '
nuscripts, &c. ; 8vo., half-calf,

Annual Reports of the Trustees of the N. T. State Li-
brary for 1 855-56-5 *?,

I7th Annual Report of the Regents of the University
of the State of«N. T., 1857 ; 8vo., cloth.

Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Annual Reports of the Re-
gents of the University of N. Y. on the condition
of the State Cabinet of Nat. Hist., fte.

A Report of the Navy Department of the U. States on
American Coals, 1844.

Various Pamphlets.

Report of the Sanitary Commissioners on the Epidemic '
Yellow Fever of 1853, 8vo.

Proceedings of the New Orleans Aoademy of Sciences.
Vol. 1, No. 1.

Constitution and By-laws " " "

Annual Address read before the " " by

Prof. J. L. Riddell, 1856.

Report bf the Special Committee of " '' on

the importance of a Geological Scrientlfic Sur-
vey of the State of Louisiana.

Papers relating to the Coal-field on the Upper Machita
River.

A Sketch of General Jackson, by himself.

Bulletin of the Geographical and Statistical Society of New York, 2
vols.

Address to Natural History Society of New York, pamphlet.

Reports I. and II. Geological Survey of Missouri, U. S., by Prof. J. C
Swallow, State Geologist, 1 vol.

Catalogue of the Human Crania in the Collection of the Academy of
Natural Sciences of PhUadelphia, by A. Meigs, M. D., Librarian,
1 vol.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from
pages IT to T2.

The Canadian Journal of Industry, Scienoe, and Art, condncted bj ttie
Editing Committee of the Canadian Institute, Toronto.

The Journal of Education for U. C. Vols. 2, 3, 4, 5 ; 1
4to.

Correspondence on the Subject of the Sdiool Law for
Upper Canada.

Annual Reports of the Model and Common Schools in
U. C. for 1848 and '49.

Lower Canada Journal of Education, French mnd Inglish, 2 Tolf. ;
presented by the Hon. J. 0. Chf^uvean.

New Orleans
Academy of
Sciences.

Rev. E. RyW"
•on, D.D.

L. A. H. Jjtir

tour.

Natural HUtory Stfoiety, 239

Agassiz's Gontribniions to the Kctdral History of the TTnited SUtes of
AmericA ; 2 yols.| 4to. cloth.

BinneVs Terrestrial Mollusks and Shells of the United S ^^-^J"^^' ^fT
States ; 3 vols., 8vo. half-calf. \ ^^^f ^f fatlL^

Blodget's Climatology of the IT. S., imp., 8to B. Dawson.

The Canada Edacational Directory and Calendar for 1857-8.
Catalogue de la Collection Envoyee da Canada a I'Ex-

position de Paris, 1855 ; 12mo.
Letter of Chief Engineer in reply to Resol. of Council

for information respecting Water Works.
Report of tbe City Sarveyor of Montreal, 1853.
Les Servantes de Dieu en Canada.
Hind's Essay on the Insects and Diseases i^jnrions to the Wheat Crops,

8vo. cloth ; 3 copies. «

Annals of the Lyceum of Nat. Hist, of N. T. Vol. 5, > Lyceum of Nat.

and part of Vol. 6. ) Eist., N. Y.

Transactions of the Academy of Sciences, St. Louis. > Acad. Sciences,

No. 1. S St. Louis.

Report on Strychnia, by Lewis H. Steiner, U.D.; pamph. The Author.
Address delivered before the Am. Assoc'n for the aid-

yancement of Learning at Montreal, 1857, by

Hon Charles Mondelet The Author.

Natural History in its Edacational Aspects, by J. W.

Dawson The Author.

On the occurrence of Natro-boro-calcite with Qlauber

Salts in the Gypsum of Nova Scotia, by Prof.

Henry How The Author.

Report on the Artificial Propagation of Fish H. Wheatland*

Address at the Opening of the 103rd Session of the Society for the en-
couragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, by Col. W.

H. Sykes, 1856.
Notes sur les Reglstres de Notre Dame de Quebec.
Annual Announcement of Jefiferson Med. College, Philadelphia, 1857-^.
Proceedings upon the Dedication of Plummer Hall at Salem, Oct. 6, 1857.
A Geological Map of Wisconsin, by J. A. Lapham. .. The Author.
Illustrated Map of British Guiana, mounted with roller. W.S. M. D'Urban.
Remains of Domestic Animals discovered among the Post-Pliocene

fossils, by Prof. F. S. Holmes, Cbafleston, S. C.

DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM.

1

A Box containing a large quantity of Tertiary Fossils,
Talcohuano Bay, Chili, S. A.

A Box containing Fossils from supposed Coal measures.
Aranco Bay, Chili ; and a specimen of the Coal, j

Two Fossil Trilobites ; Belleville, C. W J. H. Merohell, Bsq.

Collection of Interesting Relics, numbering 29 speci-
mens, from Sebastopol and other localities in
the Crimea Dr. Gibb.

ftiake (in Spirits) from heights of Inkerman J. T. Dutton, Esq.

Skeleton of Common Rat Dr. Fenwick.

2 Specimens of Cancer Sayii, Sable Island Prof. Dawson.

3 Specimens of Clypeaster, Nova Scotia,. " "

Collection of British Birds' Eggs ) nv.*. jr., .

Egg of Rhea Americana....... f Philip Holland,

Gar-fish of the Atlantic, in spirits ) ^**-

Chinese Lady's Shoes ) Capt. Brown, of

2 Bamboo Jmi iascribed with Chinese Characters . . . ) Bark Emily.

f

240 NaturaX History Society.

7 Gases British Lepidoptera, containing upwards of ) -^ a ^ D'lJr-

400 species, named and arranged. > |^ *

" Pepper-pot" Bowl used by Natives of Demerara. )
A valuable collection of Rocks and Minerals from the > ^ PUtt. Esa
volcanic regions of Italy J * ^ ^'

RBPOflT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.

The Special Committee appointed to report on the Finance
operations of the Soeietj for the year ending 18th May, 1858 ;
beg to state that they have examined the Treasurer's Book and
vouchers, (a recapitulation of which will be found annexed), and
find that the general statement is much larger than usual, owing
to the government grant and disbursements on account of the
meeting of the American Association in this city in August of
last year.

The amount received from subscribers during the past year is
somewhat larger than the previous one, but not near so much
as your Committee think ought to be obtained from our citizens,
if a right appreciation of the great benefits the Society does and
^ will confer was more generally felt, and they recommend renewed
exertions on the part of the Society to bring its claims before the
public, and especially do they desire to express their Lope that
this Society will be placed on the same footing as regards Pariia-
mentary aid as its respected "younger sister" in Toronto, which is
enabled to place its periodical in the hands of every one of its
members in return for their subscription to the Society. If your
Society could obtain similar favor from the Government, and be
thus enabled to place its ^ bi-monthly Canadian Naturalbt" in the
hands of each of its members, it is not too much to expect that
their number might readily be trebled, its efBciency very
largely increased, and the Society placed on a footing which
its antecedents and present prospects, justify your Committee in
predicting Would bo alike honorable to the city, and greatly con-
ducive to the promotion of the objects for which it was instituted.

Your Committee would draw attention to the very large amount
paid for advertising and printing, and recommend rigid retrench-
ment in those items.

Your Committee believe that with an increased revenue for
the coming year, arising from additional membership, as well as
an additional grant from Government, with greater economy in
advertising, &C., the fiscal affairs of your Society will continue to
improve, and cease to be a source of anxiety to your officers, and
permit them to avail themselves of purchases for its legitimate
objects, which they regret to learn have, in some cases, been im-
practicable for want of necessary funds.

The whole nevertheless respectfully submitted.

Wm. Edmonstone,

^ James Ferrier, Jr.,

L» John Leeming.

r

r (

<° a
a 9 s

erel of the

Amo'nt
'ofSnow

) in
inches.

••••••• «faaa '

Cle

...

rie

;::;:;i

Ck

1

1

i

N'i

'

C.

IC.

1

,1

'••■■•- ... '

'

1

1 ■ ...,,.

"1 1

1

• 11"***

••••

•••1

'Inch*

'9.

'»/

level of the Sea, 118 feet.

alAmo 'nt
|of Snow
in
inches.

2 -80

••••■•••acai

Weather, CloudB, Bemarks, &&, &o.
[A doudy aky Ib repruented I7 10, a dondlesB one hj 0.3

0a.m.

Clear.
CStr.

M

Clear.

Ni.
Clear.

M
«

Nt

CStr.

Clear.

M

CStr.

M
U

Str.
Clear.

C. Str.
Snow.
C. Str.
C. C. Str.
CStr.

M

Clear.

u

CStr.
Clear.
C Str.

10.
10.

10.

10.
10.

10.

10.

10.

2.

8.

2.

8.

6.

10.

10.
10.

2 p.m.

aear.

H

C C. str.

M

CStr.

Clear.

Str.

Ni.

CStr.

Clear.

C C Str.

Ni.

CStr.

C C Str.

C Str.

M

Clear.

M

C Str.

«

Ni.

C C Str.

C Str.

C C str.
C Str.
Clear.
Ni.

10.
6.

4.

4.
10.

4.

6.
10.
10.

6.

4.

8.

10.
10.
10.
10.

6.

6.
10.

8.
10.

10.

10 p.m.

Clear.

M

Clear. Aurora BoreaUn.
Str. 4.

C. Str. 10.
Clear.

M

CStr. 9. Aurora BorealiL

C Str. 10.

Clear. Aurora Borealia.

_ ** Aurora BoreaUa.

CStr. 9. •• •*

NL 10.

C Str. 10.

Ni. 10.

Clear. Aurora Borealla.

Clear.

M

Light Cirri. Lunar Halo.

0. Str. 10.

Clear.

C Str. 10.

Clear.

M

C str. 8.

Cirr. Cum. 6.
Clear.

C Str. 6L

10.

6 a.m.

••••»•••••••

•■ *••• ••••■

•••■••••••••

•■••••••••a*

Clear.
44

M
C4

CStr.

«c

Clear.

M

C C str.

CStr.

Cirr.

Bain.

CStr.

Clear.

CStr,

M

Str.
Ni

C Str.
Bain.
CStr.

M

Cumulus.
Bafai.
C C Str.

Str.

Clear.

Cirri.

Clear.

Chrri.

10.
10.

10.
6.
4.

10.
10.

4.

10.

8.

8.
8.

4.

0.
6.

4.

2.

4.

2. p. m.

Cirri.
Clear.

M

Bain.
C Str.
Clear.
Cir.Str.
CStr.

c«
«

Bain.

C Str.

Clear.

CStr.

Cirr.

CCStr.

Bain.

CCumL

CStr.

Bain.

CStr.

C C Str.

CStr.

Cir.Cum.

M

CStr.
Clear.

M
M

C str.

2.
1.

10.

4.
6.
4.
8.

10.
2.
6.

4.
10.

4.

10.

8.

4.
4.
6.

REMAKES FOR MAY, 1858.

0-404 inches.
Sr865 «

Str.
Clear.

CStr.

Clear.

Cirr. Str. 4. Aurora Bor'i.

C Str. 10.

Cirr. Str. 2. Aur. BoreaUa.

C Str. 6.

Bain.

0. Str. 10.

Clear.

10 p. m.

M
M

2.

10.

«

C str. 6L
Clear. Aurora Borealia.

C Str. 6.
Bain.

Cirr. Cum. 6. Lunar Hala

C Str. 10.

« 9.

CCStr. 7. LunarHalo.
Bain.

C Str. ML

CCStr. 6.

Str. 10.
Clear.

M

CStr.

«.

nohea.

'80«5.
8OO6.

(9.
«1.

Bain fell on 14 d^jn, amounting to 6*887 inches ; it was rainii«
97 hours 25 minutes, and was accompanied hy tbunder on 1 te;

Most prevalent wind, N. B. hy B. Least prevalent wind, W.

Most windy daj, the ISth day ; mean miles per hour, I8'i9.

I^ast winc^ di^, the 4th daji mean miles per hour, 01M»

Aurora Borealis virible on 8 nights.

Lunar Haloes visible on 2 nij^Sts.

Oisne was present in luge quantity.

The Etootiical state of the atmosphere has indioated h2kli
tension.

Shad first oaofffat on the 29th day.

Frost occurred on the morning of the 14tfa day.

rV/Xli ljgL£. lUV/I^JLXJL \JC JCAJJXWUAXVl , IDOO.

oportioD, in
loudless, to
ercMt.

9 p.m.

OBSEEVATIOirS.

Slight Fog early A. M. Snow during the night.
Snow.

Lunar Cor6na.

Bright Zodiacal light.

Snow.

Bright Zodiacal light.

Snow.

Snow. Paint Zodiacal Light.

Bright Zodiacal Light.

n

<«

Solar Halo. Bad.22<^J{.

Imperfect Solar Halo. Bright Zodiacal Light. Auroral Bank.

Famt Zodiacal Light.

Faint Auroral Light.

Snow.

Lunar Corona. Faint Auroral Light.
Haayr, A. M. Lunar Ck>rona.
H!u^,A.M. Solar Halo. BAd.22<=>.5.
Slight snow during day.

Lunar BcUpse, seen firom Dr. Bmallwood's house, St. Martins.
Eain, sleet, snow.

ft

i

0 p.m.

Cu.St.
Cu.St.

0

0
Nim.
Cu.St.

0
On. St.
|Cu.St.

0
Cu.

0

Strat.

Ou. St.

Nim.

Nim.

Cu.St.

Ou.St.

0

0
Cu.St.

0

0

0
Cu. St.
Cu.St.
Co. St.

0

Ou.St.
Cir.

0

£KAKKS FOB MARCH, 1858.

Snow.

Dense Fog at 2.80 A. M. Lunar Corona.

rogi
odii

Faint Zodiacal and Auroral Lights. Lunar Cor6na.
Snow.

Lunar Corona.

Slight Snow, A. M.

««

«(

Faint Auroral Light.
Snow, Bain. Sleet. " " ^

Snow. Brilliant Aurora, with streamers.
Bright Aurora.
Snow. Bright Aurora.

Solar Eclipse invisible in oonsequence of douds.
Bain.

Bain. Faint Auroral Light esrly A. M. of 18th.
Snow during night.

Bain during di^. [Melodia first heard.

Faint Auroral Light. Bain beginnin($ about midnight. Fcingilla
Bain.

Auroral Light. Lunar Cor6na. High wind during night.
Lunar Halo. Bad. 30^. Auroral Light.
Double Lunar Cor6na.

M (C •«

Lunar Cor6na.

Lunar Halo. Bad. 4SP6,

Limar Cor6na. Saw a Butterfly.

iFaint Auroral Light.

nches.
««

:>0.
30.

he 20th 6By,
3lng460oe.

1*88.
^oto 1*70 Inch.
There fell V9

^ of 0*941 in's.

il inches.

The most prevalent wind was the N.

The least ** ** were the E.SJB. and S.S.W.

No record of wind flrom the N.E., E.N.E., S.E., and H.S.E.

The most windy day was the 18th.

The most windy hour between 11 and ]L2 p. m. of 2l8t.

There was no calm d^y.

Cloudless days occurred on 4th, 20th, and Slbt.

Ozone was in rather large proportion.

The Aurora was seen on 10 nights, with streamers brilliantly
on 1. Oa 7 nights it was not present.

The Zodiacal light was seen on one night.

The SoUr Eclipse of the 15th was invisible here in consequence
of the clouded condition of the atmosphere.

The Fringilla Melodia (Song Sparrow,) was first heard on 20th,
and a butterfly ** sporting in the sunbeam" was noticed on>'2S}h.

36' W.,) FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL, 1858.

their Proportion, in
rom 0^ Cloudless, to
'eotly Overcaat.

OBSSBTATIOVS.

8 p.m.

9p.in.

rat.

S

0

0

•

)

0

0

0

Lanar Halo early A. M. of 8d.

)

0

0

0

uSt.

10

0

0

Solar Halo, A. M.

I. St.

10

Nlm

10

Rain.

i.St.

7

Strat.

2

Hiehwind.

Faint Auroral Light.

)

0

0

0

r.St.

7

Gil. St.

0

m.

10

Nim.

10

Bain. Slight Snow during night.
Aurora, with streamers.

.St.

10

Cu.

4

T.

2

0

0

Bright Aurora, with streamers.

\Str.

4

Cu.St.

10

.St.

10

Co. St.

10

Bi)in.

.St.

10

Co. St.

10

Ha^ early A. M. Bain.

.St.

10

Nim.

10

Bain.

.St.

6

0

0

5

0

0

.

0-6

0

0

Lunar Cor6na. Faint Auroral Light.

)

0

Cir.St.

8

0

.St.
m.

10
10

Nim.

ClLSt.

10
10

Bain, t9n»T^'n» to snow during night.

Hirundo Bieolor, Conmion Swallow, seen this day. Lun, Halo.

Bad.85»

.St.

10

Strat.

s

.

.St.

10

Cu.8t.

10

Slight Snow. Lunar Corftna.

.St.

10

Oir. St.

8

Hwd Frost. Lunar Corona.

.St.

0

0

0

.St.

10

Cu.

6

.St.

10

Cu.St.

10

.St.

10

0

0

Lunar CorAna.

an.

0
10

0

Nim.

0

10

Wind aqually.

Bain. First arriTal from sea.

3. m.

It.

t.

It.
t.

7

2

0

0

10

10

2

8

10

5

10

10

3

0

8

8

10

10

9

). 10

10

7

;. 10

;. 10

S;Cu.6

0 p.m.

t.

t.

t.

11.

Cu.St.

0

0

0
Cu. St.
Cu.St.

0

0
Nim.
Ou.St.
Nim.
Cu.

0

0
Cu.St.
ZO
Cu.St.

mm.

Cu.St.

Nim.

Nim.

0
Cn.St.
Co. St.

0
Cu.St.

0

0

0

0
Cir.Cu.

6

0

0

0

10

6

0

0

10

8

10

10

0

0

4

0

10

10

10

10

10

0

10

10

0

8

0

0

0

0

7

Cj/pteUu Pela9ffiu9 (Chimney Swallow) first seen this day. Qrystes

\Nigr%eanB (Black Bass) first caught at LacUne.

SUghtrain.

Rain.

Brilliant Aurora, with streamers.

Bain, thunder, and lightning.

Bain.

Bain.

Faint Auroral Ll^t seen through northern douds.

Distant Thunder.

Bain. Wind squally.

Solar Halo. Bad.»^J^ Faint Auroral Light.

Bain,

Bain.

Bain.

Bain.

Bain.

Bain. Hirundo Purpurea first seen.

Bain.

Bain.

Swallows building.

Shad-flies first noticed {Bvlhemera vuXffoia).
Shad-fish {Alosa Prtutabilit) in market.

High wind, continuing most of day.

REMARKS FOB MAT, 1668.

r I 30*661 inches.

29-868 "
inches.

•«

,79«H).
83*»0.

, on the 29th day.
oratiire being 70O80.
" 48»8S.

kim avtit

Bain fell on 14 days during 87 hours 28 minutes, amounting to
9*40 inches. No snow fell.

The most prevalent wind was the N. E.

The least •• " were the B.N.E.,E.S.£., and W.8.W.

A record of wind from each of the sixteen quaxtors, the division
employed.

The most windy day was the Slst.

The most windy hour between 12 and l p. m. of Slst.

A calm day occurred on the 16th.

Cloudless days occurred on the 8d, 4th, 14th, 29th. and SOth.

Ozone was in rather large ratio, its mean average being 2*09.

THE

CANADIAN

NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST.

Volume III. AUGUST, 1868. Numbke 4.

ARTICLE XXTV.-'Affassiz' Contributions to the Natural HU-
tory of the United States, (Vols. 1 <fe 2. Boston.)

(^Concluded from our last)

The second chapter is one of the most important in the work.
It treats of the actual basis in nature of the various ranks of
gronps in which animals are arranged, — the Branch or Province^
Uie Class, the Order, the Family, the Oenus, the Species, Is
there any reason in nature why this particular gradation should
be adopted, or is it merely an artificial convenience. Agassis
thinks that it is natural, and that naturalists, like many other
workers, have reached to a truly scientific system without know*
ing it He believes that the successive subdivisions of the animal
kingdom are based on the following considerations : —
'* Branches or types are characterised by the plan of their struc-
ture.
Classes by the manner in which the plan is executed, as &r at

ways and means are conceraed.
Orders by the de^ees of complication of structure.
Families by their /orm, as far as determined by structure.
Genera by the details of the execution in special parts.
Species by the relations of individuals to one another and to the
world in which they live, as well as by the proportions of
their parts, their ornamentation, &c^

242 Agassiz^ Contributions to thd

The very attempt thus to attach a scientific va^iue to these divi-
sions is a great step in advance; for^ though such distinctions
have almost instinctively fixed themselves more or less Ftrongly
on the minds of naturalists, no one has given them full and formal
expression as Agassiz now does. The attempt, however, is full of
difficulty ; and, as might have been anticipated, — and as the au-
thor himself fully and moJently admits, — must be regarded as very
imperfectly successful; though the whole doctrine of type and
homology in nature implies that there must be a definite grada-
tion of groups. Let us examine it in detail ; and, in doing so,
we would wish to direct the attention of students in natural his-
tory to a careful consideration of the subject as set forth in the
work^ilself.

1. Following Cuvier in this, our author justly regards the ani-
mal kingdom as separating itself into four great types of structure
known as Sub-Kingdoms, Provinces, or, as Cuvier originally call-
ed them, *' Branches^ This first distinction is based wholly on
the idea of pattern or type. But here the question arises, — type
or pattern in what? In art, when we speak of type, pattern or
style, we may refer to a spoon, a piece of calico, or a cathedral.
In nature, in like manner, each great kingdom has its own sets
of types, corresponding to the materials employed and the uses
ibey are to serve. If we speak of animals, then, as one portion
of the Creator^s works, that we may think correctly of their plan,
it is necessary that we first clearly comprehend the material and
ji^lace in nature of the animal, and its truly essential qualities.
This question — what is the animal I — our author scarcely touches, j

perhaps because it is so constantly and clearly present to his own
Bind. We may answer it in its most important bearing by the
wwrds used by Linnieus to indicate the distinction between the
animal and the plants " Sententia, sponteque moventia/* adding
tke related faot, enforced by modem physiology and chemistry,
that, in reference to its sustenance and material, the animal life
ii based upon the yegetable. The animal is an organised being
endowed with sensation and volition, Mid^ as the agents of these
powers, with nervous matter and muscular fibre ; while to supply
the material of these, and maintain their vital powers, it consumes
and oxidizes preri^osly organised matter. In other words, the
poeesses necessarily perfoimed by the animal are the assimila-
tioB and oxidation of regetablis or animal matter* These pro-
cesses go on to supply tJlie essential stFoctores of tlie asimal, tele-

Natural ffUtory of t^ United States. 24^

graphic nerve and contractile muscle; and these are produced
and maintained to subserve its psychical endowments of sensation
and voluntary motion.

This being the general and essential nature of the animal, type
or pattern may be discovered in any one of these three leading
peculiarities : in the psychical nature of the animal; in the arrange-
ment of its nerve and muscle, or, subordinate to them, in the ar-
rangement of the hard parts which protect the former or serve
for the attach ndent of the latter ; or lastly, in that of the apparatus
employed for nutrition, respiration and circulation. It must hap-
pen, that, to a certain extent, these will agree as grounds of ar-
rangement. Thus if the nerve matter be arranged on a given
plan, this must indicate something corresponding in the psychical
endowments, and may probably require something corresponding
in the apparatus for motion, protection, and nutrition. Siill, some
of these points may be more important than others. For instance,,
psychical characters, not being material, cannot be accurately
measured ; apparatus for nutrition has a broad similarity amount-
ing almost to general identity of plan, over the whole animal
kingdom, while again it is subject to modification in nearly re-
lated species, intended to consume different articles of food. For
such reasons, when we study the types of animals, we prefer to
take as our chief guide that part of the physical structure which
is most independent of the accidents of outward relations, and
which is most nearly connected with the intelligence, which is the
essence of the animal. Hence Agassiz very justly traces the old
division of Aristotle into enaima and anaima^ and that of La-
marck into vertebrata and invertebrata ; not so much to the per-
ceived difference in blood or skeleton, as to the perception, perhaps
unconsciously, that there i& an essential difference between the
plans of structure in those animals that have the nervous matter
protected in separate cavities of skull and spinal column, and
those that have it confounded, as it were, with the organs of vege-
tative life. Hence also Oavier, examining more minutely the
nature and value of these differences, proposed the four branches
of the Vertebrata, Mollosca, Articulata and Radiata, based on the
arrangement of the structures protective of the nervous matter
or subserving voluntary motion. Hence also Owen, penetrating
more deeply into the real philosophy of the subject, names these
branches from the arrangement of the nerve matter itself, Mye.
lencepbaia, Heterogangliata, HomogangliatHf, and Nematoneura ;.

1

244 Agasm^ Contributions to the

including in this last the Acrita, or those in which a nervous sys-
tem, existent no doubt, has not yet been distinctly traced.

Ag«ssiz, as we have seen, prefers to bike a more general view
of the plan of structure as a whole, though accepting the four
brandies of Cuvier. We confess that we entertain doubts whether
this is not,>as compared with the position of Owen, a backward
step. We might point, for example, to undoubted Radia*a even
amo ig the Echinodermata and Acalephae, in which the general
radiated structure does not exist, while the type of nervous
sy&t'm does. On the other hand, the separation of the Bryozoa,
the Rotifera and the Eiif ozoa from the Radiates, now so generally
accepted, appears to us very likely to be condemned in the future
progi C.-S of Zoology, as an error caused by want of attention to
dominant structures, as compared with those which pertain to
merely vegetative life and accidents of existence.*

Before leaving this subject of the division of Animals into four
great branches, we would pau^^e to insist on the fact, that v%hile,
as our author very properly insists, this division does not depend
on gradation of rank or complexity of structure, it is still insepa-
rably connected with these, just as in art, certain styles are con-
nected with higher and others with lower works. The Vertebrate
in no form sinks so low as the Invertebrate ; and though the
Articulates and Molluscs may be regarded as parallel series, both
are higher on the whole than the Radiates and lower than the
Vertebrates. These differences are not arbitrary, but apparently
based on the inherent capabilities of the types themselves.

* As an illastration of the reasons for doabt on this subject, we may
point to the fact that in Allman's recent able monograph, he admits the
difficulty of establishing the homology Of the nervous systems in Bryozoa
and Tunicates. In short, he finds affinities in the accessories, but fails
to find them, or finds them only obscurely, in the essential structures per^
taining to sensation and voluntary motion. Huxley, who differs mate-
rially from Allman in his explanation of these supposed homologies,
finds the same difficulty. On the o^her hand, some marine worms affect
the general aspect of Bryozoa ; and we know from personal observation
as well as from the statements in the work now before ns, that the
Yorticellidffi, with no good claim to be regarded as Molluscs, are little
else than minute Bryozoa. In our view the radiates should be regarded
as not strictly a distinct branch, but as a sort of root-stock of the animal
kingdom, approaching in many points in its plans of structure to the
plant, and in other points uniting itself closely with the basis of the
JfolluBCOus and Articalate branches.

Natural History rf the United States. 245

2. ClasseSy we are told, refer to the " ways and means em-
ployed " in the structure of animals, or to the " combinations of
their different systems of organs'*, — somewhat vague grounds,
which we may perhaps illustrate by an example, all the more clear
because very familiar. Let us suppose the animal kingdom, n»t
the living clay from the hand of the Great Potter, but a collection
of earthenware vessels appertaining to table uses; and that we
have to effect an orderly arrangement of the mass. First we
might observe that among this collection of vessels of all shapes
and sizes, there were only a few different patterns, — some all
white, some white and gold, some ixith a landscape, some with
a flower; and each having in connection with this its peculiar
style of form. We might then adopt, as our first basis of arrange-
ment, pattern or type, both for simplicity and as indicating in the
hi<^hest respect the mind of the artist. Having formed four great
hetps oti this ground, we should find that we had in each, vessels
differing in material, in shape, in use, in complexity of parts ; and
we miorht carry out our farther division on any of these grounds.
According to our author, we take the material, whether common
earthenware or china, for instance, as our ground, this correspond-
ing to ways and means of construction. Just, however, as we
found that type could not be dissociated from rank, so neither
can ways and means; and these moreover have a direct relation
to use, and until we had read the views of Prof. Agassiz, we had
supposed that this, or perhaps more generally, position in the eco-
nomy of nature, was the predominant idea in the class. Let us
place before our minds the classes of Invertebrates as proposed by
Agassiz : —

Radiata, MoUusea. Jrticulata,

1. Polypi, 1. Acephala. 1. Worms,

2. Acalephae. 2. Gasteropoda. 2. Crustacea.

3. Echiiiodermata. 3. Cephalopoda. 3. Insects.

Now, it is quite evident that in these several classes the ground
insisted on by our author, the manner of combination of the struc-
tures, is highly distinctive, and affords a good ground for discri-
mination in practical Zoology ; but it appears to us that there is
a higher reason in the distinction of these groups, which refers to
the idea of modifit-ation of the type with reference to uses or place
in nature. First, then, we would observe that there is a manifest
gradation in elevation of rank. The Echinoderm, Cephalopod, and
Insect, are respectively at the head of their branches, representing'.

246 Affogsiz* Contributions to the

therefore their highest perfection ; the Polypi, Acephala and Worms
are respectively at the lowest or simplest portion of each branch.
Secondly, if is manifest that the three highest classes have each
a special reference to the highest development of the ps^ychical
powers of the branch, and of its organs of sense and ner-
vous system. The three middle classes represent the hi(>hest
adaptation of the type to variety of locomotion and habitat. The
three lowest classes represent the modification of the type
with especial reference to the highest development of the mere
vegeiative life. Class, then, represents the expression of the ge-
neral intention of the Creator in the construction of the members
of a branch. Ways and means, or combinations of organs, are J

the indications of that intention which we most readily perceive.
In this limited sense we are quite willing to accept the definition
of our author.

In the ordinary division of the vertebrates, even the popular
mind, we think, has all along recognised this principle. The
Mammal, the Bird, the Reptile and the Fish, differ not merely in
structure ; but the first is the expression of the Vertebrate type in
relation to its highest psychical powers, the second in relation to
extent of locomotive powers, the third and fourth in relation to
mere vegetative life in air and in water respectively.*

3. Orders have been fruitful causes of difference among natu-
ralists. The ground on which they should stand is thus stated :

" To find out the natural characters of orders from that which
really exists in nature, I have considered attentively the different
systems of Zoology in which orders are admitted and apparently
considered with more care than elsewhere, and in particular the
Systema Naturae of Linnaeus, who first introduced in Zoology
that kind of groups, and the works of Cuvier, in which orders
are frequently characterised with unusual precision, and it has
appeared to me that the leading idea prevailing everywhere res-
pecting orders, where these groups are not admitted at random,
is that of a definite rank among them, the desire ,to determine the
relative standing of these divisions, to ascertain their relative
superiority or inferiority, as the same order, adopted to designate
them, already implies. The first order in the first class of the
animal kingdom, according to the classification of Linnaeus, is
called by him Primates^ expressing, no doubt, his conviction that
thcj^e beings, among which Man is included, rank uppermost in
their class. Blainville uses here and there the expression of

Natural ffUtary of the UniUd States. 241f

^degrees of organization," to designate orders. It is true
Lamarck uses the same expression to designate classes. We find,
therefore, here as everywhere, the same vagueness in the defini-
tion of the ditferent kinds of groups adopted in our systems.
Bat if we would give up any arbitrary use of these terms, and
assign to them a definite scientific meaning, it seeniis to me roost
natural, and in accordance with the practice of the most success-
ful investigators of the animal kingdom, to call orders suck
divisions as are characterised by diflPerent degrees of complication
of their structure, within tke limits of the classes. As such, I
would consider, for instance, the Actinoids and Haley onoids in
the class of Polypi, as circumscribed by Dana ; the Hydroids,
the Discophorse, and the Otenoids among Acalephs ; the Grinoids,
Asterioids, Echinoids, and Holothnrise among Echinoderms; the
Bryozoa, Brachiopods, Tunicata, Lamellibranchiata among Aoe-
phala ; the Branchifera and Pulmonata among Gasterpods ; the
Ophidians, the Saurians, and the Chelonians among Reptiles ; tke
Ichthyoids and the Auoura among Amphibians, etc."

It would be injustice to the author not to state that in the suo-
eeeding paragraph he carefully guards the reader against suppos-
ing that he denies or ignores distinction of rank in other groups,
as in classes, for instance ; but he holds that here it is predomi-
nant. We could have wished that the view had been followed
farther into detail ; for, taking orders as we now have ihem, there
are some evident exceptions. In the birds, for instance, the orders
differ far more markedly in adaptation to conditions of life and
structures depending on these, than in grade. In the orders of
insects there is the same idea, along with that of type or pattern
in a subordinate form ; for we must bear in mind that type, and
the homologies which express type, descend in different degrees
through all our sub-divisions from the grent leading types to the
genera. It is expressed as distinctly in the elytra of beetles and
the scales of butterflies as in the skeletons of vertebrata or articn*
oulata; it is curioui^, too, that naturalists have differed so very
much as to the rank of the orders of insects. In other groups
again, as the reptiles, the idea of rank is quite patent in the orders*
but is much obscured when we add the fossil forms to those now
living. In the orders of Mammals, as htely proposed by Owen,
it is clearly exhibited. Dana has well shewn its existence in the
Crustacea. It is pretty evident also in the orders of the several
classes of Molluscs, and is very manifest in the Echinoderms. On

248 Agassi^ Contributions to the

the whole, we are willing to accept this view as at least one lead-
ing idea to be expressed by orders in the animal kingdom.

4. Families are characterised by general external form ; and
here we see no reason to differ from our author. The family ia
in short one of the most obvious and easily recognised relation-
abips among animals, is almost instinctively perceived by us, and
on this very account should have much more attention given to
it in systematic Zoology than it has yet received, as one of the
most useful aids in the determination of species.

''Unless, then, form be too vague an element to characterise any
kind of natural groups in the animal kingdom, it must constitute
a prominent feature of families. I have already remarked, that
orders and families are the groups upon which zoologists are
least agreed, and to the study and characterising of which they
have paid least attention. Does this not arise simply from the
fact, that, on the one hand, the difference between ordinal and
class characters has not been understood, and only assumed to be
a difference of degree ; and, on the other hand, that the import-
ance of the form, as the prominent character of families, has been
entirely overlooked? For, though so few natural families of
animals are well characterised, or characterised at all, we cannot
open a modern treatise upon any class of animals without finding
the genera more or less naturally grouped together, under the
heading of a generic name with a termination in idee or ince indi-
cating family and sub-family distinctions; and most of these
groups, however unequal in absolute value, are really natural
groups, though far from designating always natural families,
being as often orders or sub-orders, as families or sub-families.
Tet they indicate the facility there is, almost without study, to
point out the J nter mediate natural groups between the classes and
the genera. This arises, in my opinion, from the fact, that family
resemblance in the animal kingdom is most strikingly expressed
in the general form, and that form is an element which falls most
easily under our perception, even when the observation is made
superficially. But, at the same time, form is most difficult to
describe accurately, and hence the imperfection of most of our
family characteristics, and the constant substitution for such
characters of features which are not essential to the family. To
prove the correctness of this view, I would only appeal to the
experience of every naturalist When we see new animals, does
not the first glance, that is, the first impression made npon us by

Natural History of the United States. 249

their form, give ii8 at onc.e a very correct idea of their nearest
relationship? We perceive, before examining any structural
character, whether a Beetle is a Carabicine, a Longicorn, an
Elaterid, a Ourcnlionid, a Chrysomeline ; whether a Moth is a
Noctuelite, a Geometrid, a Pyralid, etc. ; whether a bird is a
Dove, a Swallow, a Humming-bird, a Woodpecker, a Snipe, a
Heron, etc., etc. But before we can ascertain its genus, we have
to study the structure of some characteristic parts ; before we
can combine families into natural groups, we have to m^ke a
thorough investigation of the'r whole structure, and compare it
with that 6r other families. So form is characteristic of families ;
and I can add, from a careful investigation of the subject for
several years past, durin*^ which I have reviewed the whole ani.
mal king(^om with reference to this and other topics connected
with ilassification,' that form is the es.«ential characteristic of
families. I do not mean the mere outline, but form as determin-
ed by structure ; that is to Bay, that families cannot be well de-
fined, nor circumscribed within their natural limits, without a
thorough investigation of all those features of the internal struc-
ture which combine to determine the form."

5. Oenera^ also, are well and ably characterised :
'^I have stated before, that in order to ascertain upon what
the different groups adopted in our systems are founded, I con-
sulted the works of such writers as are celebrated in the annals of
science for having characterised with particular felicity any one
kind of these groups*, and I have mentioned Latreille as promin-
ent among zoologists for the precision with which he has defined
the genera of Crustacea and Insects, upon which he has written
the most' extensive work extant. An anecdote which I have
often heard repeated by entomologists who knew Latreille well, is
very characteristic as to the meaning he connected with the idea
of genera. At the time he was preparing the work just mention-
ed, he loHt no opportunity of obtaining specimens, the better to
ascertain from nature the generic peculiarities of these animalsy
and he used to apply to the entomologists for contributions to his
collection. It was not show specimens he cared to obtain, any
would do, for he used to say he wanted them only " to examine
their parts." Have we not here a hint, from a master, to teach
us what genera are and how they should be characterised ? Is it
not the special structure of some part or other, which character-
ises genera ? Is it not the finish of the organization of the body,

250 Agassis^ ChntributioM to the

as worked out in the ultimate details of structure, which distin-
guishes one genus from another? Latreille, in expressing the
want he felt with reference to the study of genera, has given db
the key-note of their harmonious relations to one another.
Genera are most closely allied groups of anim^ils, differing neither
in form, nor in complication of structure, but simply in the ulti-
mate structural peculiarities of some of their parts; aud this is, I
believe, the best definition which can be given of genera. They
are not characterised by modifications of the features of the fami-
lies, for we have seen that the prominent trait of family difference
18 to be found in a typical form ; and genera of the same family
may not differ at all in form. Nor are genera merely a more'
comprehensive mould than the species, embracing a wide range
of characteristics; for species in a natural genus should not pre-
sent any structural differences, but only such as express the most
special relations of their representatives to the surrounding world
and to each other. Genera, in one word, are natural groups of a
peculiar kind, and their special distinction rests upon the ultimate
details of their structure."

We could have wished in this place some remarks on the ten-
dency, at present prevalent to sub-divide the old genera into a
multitude of new ones, characterised by the most trivial and ev-
anescent differences, a process which threatens to reduce some
departments of Zoology to a mere chaos ; and which, from the
differences of view that arise, as a matter of course, when a natu-
ral genus is thus broken up, loads science with an odious and
vexatious synonymy. There appears to be a prevalent idea that
a genus should n»3cessarily contain few species; but this is obvi-
ously an error, since the number of species generically related to
each other varies between large limits in different groups of ani-
mals. Nor is a genus to be created merely to include species
related to each other in a very near degree ; but for those por-
tions of a natural family in which the details of execution in
the more important parts correspond, however many the spedies
so agreeing, may be. In such a genus there may be many
minor sub-divisions established for convenient reference, or to ex-
press minor distinctions ; but these should not be characterised as
distinct genera. Attention to this is all the more important, be-
oaiise the generic name is attached to the 8[)ecies and should tell
something of its affinities. In order to appreciate natural genera,
some breadth of mind is required, as well as familiarity with de-

Natural History of the United States. 251

tails of structure. Unfortunately many naturalists are deficient
in this. Hence they regard a good natural genus such as a mind
like that of Linnaeus could found, not as one, but as several ; their
mental virion not enabling them to see the whole of it at once,
though they can see little trifling distinctions. They break it up,
attach names to the fragments, and believe themselves discrimi-
nating interpreters of nature, until the discovery of a few more
^ecies or the glance of some higher intellect throws the whole
again into oue, and nothing remains except a shoal of obsolete
synonymes, against which young students may wreck theme^ilves.
We could fill our pages with instances, but it is better not to enter
into particulars. The subject is, however, so important to the
progress, and especially to the diflfusion of science, that it demands
at least an energetic protest against the genus-makers as a body.
We are glad to see in some good modern text books, as in Wood-
naid^s MoUusca, many useless genera restored to their proper
places.

6. Species. — ^In this most important department of the subject
a large number of naturalists will at once join issue with Agassiz ;
and we think that the interests of truth demand a careful sifting
of the views put forth, not only in the short section under this
head, but also in the introductory chapters. The general defini-
tion, which we have already quoted, is so vague in its terras that
it hardly serves to give the author's view. The "relations of in-
dividuals to each other" may. for instance, mean much or very
little; and on the interpretation of this expression hangs the
whole question herein dispute between Agassiz and other natural-
ists. The precise view intended to be conveyed may perhaps be
best gathered from the following passages^: —

**The species is an ideal entity, as much as the genus, the fami-
ly, the order, the class, or thjB type; it continues to exist, while
its representatives die, generation after generation. But these
representatives do not simply represent what is specific in the
individual, they exhibit and reproduce in the same manner,
generation after generation, all that is generic in them, all that
characterises the family, the or*ler, the class, the branch, with the
same fullness, the same constancy, the same precision. Species
then exist in nature in the same manner as any other groups,
they are quite as ideal in their mode of existence as genera, fami-
lies, etc., or quite as real. But individuals truly exist in a difl^er-
ent way ; no one of them exhibits at one time all the character-

-252 Aga8iii£ Contributions to the

istics of the species, even though it be herpiaphrodite, neither do
any two represent it, even though the species be not polymorph-
ous, for individuals have a growth, a youth, a mature age, an old
ag«-, and are bound to some limited home during their lifetime.
It is true species are also limited in their existenoe ; but for our
purpose, we can consider these limits as boundles^s, inasmuch as
we have no means of fixing their duration, either for the past
geological ages, or for the present peiiod, whilst the short cycles
of ihe life of individuals are easily measurable quantities. Now
as truly as individuals, while they exist, represent their species
for the time being, and do not constitute them, so truly do these
same individuals represent at the same time their genus, their
family, their order, their class, and their type, the characters of
which they bear as indelibly as those of the species.*^

In tliis general statement, with the ex;)lanati«>ns elsewhere given
of it, in relation to the capacity of species f>r intermixture, and
the supposed origin d creation of numbers of representatives of the
same species in difiPerent places, we see much that is objection-
able, and a want of that accuracy of thought which is essential
in treating of such a subject.

First, we cannot admit the high standing here given to the
individual animal. The individual is here confounded with an
entirely diflferent thing, namely, the unit of the science. As
has been well stated above, the individual rarely represents the
species as a whole. To give this we have to employ a series
of individuals, including the differences of age and sex, and the
limits of variation under external circumstances. The individuals
representing these varieties are therefore only fractional parts of a
unit, which is the species. Let it be observed, also, that the rela-
tion here is different from that which subsists between the species
and the genus. Each species should have all the generic charac-
ters with those that are specific; but each individual, as a frac-
tion of the species, need not necessarily possess all the mature
characters of the species ; and this is one reason of the indistinct
notion in many minds that the limits of species are more uncer-
tain than those of genera. On the other hand, the idea of specific
unity is expressed by our attaching the specific name to any indi-
vidual that we may happen to have ; and even popular speech
expresses it when it says the grisly bear, the Arctic fox.

Secondly, the species is not merely an ideal unit : it is a unit in
the work of creation. J^o one better indicates than our aublior

Natural History of the United States, 253

the doctrine of the creation of animals; but to what is it that
creation refers ? — not to genera and higher groups, they express
only the relations of things created, — not to individuals as now
existing, they are the results of the laws of invariability and in*
crease of the species, — but to certain original individuals, proto-
plasts, formed after their kinds or species, and representing the
powers and limits of variation inherent in the species — the poten-
tialities of their existence, as Dana well expresses iL Tlie spe-
cies, therefore, with all its powers and capacities for reproduction,
18 that which the Creator has made, his unit in the work, as well
as ours in the study. The individuals are merely so many masses
of organised matter, in which, for the time, the powers of the spe-
cies are embodied ; and the only animal having a true individu-
ality is man, who enjoys this by virtue of mental endowments,
over-ruling the instincts which in other animals narrowly limit
the -action of the individual. To this great difference between the
limitations imposed on animals by a narrow range of specific
powers, and the capacity for individual action which in man fvirces /
even his physical organisation, in itself more plastic than that of
most other animals, to bend to his dominant will, wc trace not
only the varieties of the human species, but the changes which
man effects upon those lower animals which in instincts and con-
stitution arc sufficiently ductile for domestication.

Thirdly, the species is different, not in degree, but in kind, from
the genus, the order, and the class. We may recognise a generic
resemblance in a series of line engravings representing different
subjects, but we recognise a specific unity only in those struck
from the same plate ; and no one can convince us that the resem-
blance of a series of coins, medals, or prints, from different dies or
plates, is at all of the same kind with that which subsists between
those produced from the same die or plate. In like manner, tiie re-
lation between the members of the brood of the song sparrow of
this spring, is of ^ different kind as well as different degree from
that between the song sparrow and any other species of sparrow.
So of the brood of last year to which the parent sparrows may
have belonged ; so by parity of reasoning of all former broods, and
all song sp arrows everywhere. The species differs from all other
groups in not being an ideal entity, but consisting of indivi-
duals struck from the same die, produced by continuous repro-
duction from the same creative source. Nor need we suppose
with oar author — for as yet it is merely an hypothesis — that spe-

254 AffosH^ Contrihutitms to the

ciea may have sprung from two or several origins. We cannot
be required to assume a cause greater than that which tbe effect
demands ; and if one pair of the American crow or Canada goose
would now be sufficient, in a calculable number of years, to sup-
ply all America with these species, we need not suppose any
more. Even in those <5ases where one centre of creation appears
to be insufficient, this may only be a defect in our information, as
to the precise range of the species, its capabilities for accommo-
dating itself to external differences of habitat, and the geological
changes which may have occurred since its creation. Take the
example given at p. 40 of the "Contributions." The American
Widgeon and British Widgeon, and the American and British
red-headed Ducks are distinct species. The Mallard and Scaup
Duck are common to both sides of the Atlantic. The inference
is that since the distinct species of widgeons and red ducks were
probably created on the opposite sides of the Atlantic, so were
the Mallards, though specifically identical. To prove this is ob-
viously altogether impossible; but even to establish some degree
of probability in its favor, it would be necessary to show thai the
Widgeons and Red Du<iks equal the Mallard and Scaup Duck in
hardiness, in adaptability to different conditions of climate and
food, in migratory instinct and physical powers of migration, and
farther, that these species are equally old in geological time.
We do not happen to know, in reference to this last particular,
which species is the oldest, if there is any difference ; but remains
of ducks have been found in the later deposits, and if it should
prove that the species now more widely distributed existed at a
time when the distribution of land and water was different from
that which now prevails, we should have a case quite parallel to
many known to geologists, and utterly subversive of the view be-
fore us. The Mallard is also an unfortunate instance, from its
well-known adaptation for domesticity, and consequently proved
capability of sustaining very different conditions of existence. The
Scaup Duck, hardy and carnivorous, a sea-duck and a good diver
and Asiatic as well as European, is probably far better fitted for
extensi;re migration than the Widgeon. It is on such grounds,
incapable of positive proo( and with palpable flaws in even the
negative evidence, that we are required to multiply the miracle
of creation, rather than submit patiently to investigate the psy-
chical, physiological and physical agencies involved in one of the
meet interesting problems of Zoology, the geographical distribn-
tion of animals.

Natural History of the United States. 265

One farther remark is rendered necessary by the illustration
above referred to. No one knows better than Agassiz that to
compare, in reference to their geographical distribution, animaKi
nearly related, may often lead to errors greater than those likely to
result from the comparison of creatures widely different in strnc-
tare but adapted for somewhat similar external conditions of ex^
istence. It is a fact very curious in itself independently of this
application, that we find closely related species differing remark^
ably in this respect; and that, on the other hand, animals of very
different grades and structures are equally remarkable for wide
geographical ranges. The causes of these differences are often
easily found in structural, physiological, or psychical peculiarities,
but in many cases they depend on minute differences not easily
appreciable, or on the effects of geological changes.

Fourthly. — Our author commences his dissertation on species
by taunting those who maintain the natural limits set to hybridity
with a petitio principii. The accusation might be turned against
himself. The facts shewing that species in their natural state do
not intermix, and that hybrids are only in exceptional cases fer-
tile, so enormously preponderate over the few cases of fertile
hybridity, that the latter may be regarded as the sort.of exception
which proves the rule. The practical value of this character in
ascertaining the distinctions of species in difficult cases is quite
another question, as is the precise nature of the resemblances in dis-
tinct species which most favour hybridity, and the greater or less
fixity of the barrier in the case of species inhabiting widely sepa-
rated geographical areas, when these are artificially brought toge-
ther. Nor is the specific unity to be broken down by arguments
derived from the difficulty of discriminating or of identifying spe-
cies. The limits of variability differ for every species, and must
be aBcertained by patient investigation of large numbers of speci-
mensy before we can confidently assert the boundaries in some
widely distributed and variable species ; but in the greater nam-
ber this is not difficult, and in all may be ascertained by patient
inquiry.

Fifthly,— The above considerations, in connection with the doc-
trines of created protoplasts, and the immutability of species, as
80 ably argued by Agassiz himself, we hold irresistibly compel na
to tlie conclusion of Guvier, that a species consists of the ^^beinga
descended the one from the other or from common parent^" ; or
at least to Uiat of De CandoUe, that the individuals of a apecies
moat ''bear to each other so close a resemblance as to alloirof

256 Agassiz^ Contributions to the

our supposing that they may have proceeded originally from a
single being or a single pair." This being admitted, it must be
only on the most cogent grounds, to be established in every indivi-
dual case, that we can admit a difference of origin either in geo-
logical time or in space, for animals that on comparison appear to
be specifi(!ally identical.

It may be objecte(? that this is a merely hypothetical definition ;
but we contend that it is as practical as the opposite view, that it
is indeed essential to any trustworthy determination of species.
If we have given to us a number of individuals absolutely similar,
we do not doubt their specific unity, or, as we even sometimes
venture to call it, identity ; but if there are differences which we
suppose may be specific, we inquire whether these differences ex-
ceed those known to occur in individuals of common parentage*
If Wo' are informed that these same diversities occur in individuals
of the same brood or litter, in individuals that have been trans-
ferred to different conditions of life, or in individuals of different
age or sex, we discard them as specific distinctions. If we cannot
obtain these facts as to the species in question, we compare large
numbers of specimens to ascertain the gradations that occur, or
we refer to the known facts in allied species, or in those which
may be supposed similar in tendency to variation. We always
suspect determinations which, on the one hand, require us to be-
lieve specific diversity in forms no farther apart than those known to
be connected by parentage ; or, on the other, unity where the dif-
ferences are greater than this. Other considerations, of course,
enter into such questions ; but the identity of the protoplast, or
mould, is one essential element in our complete mental conception
of the species.

We could, on the other hand, state practical evils injurious to
the mere technical accuracy of Zoology, likely to arise from the
opposite view. One of these may sufiSce. It is their tendency to
take it for granted that forms must be new specifically, merely
because they are found iu new places — a mischievous laxity *

likely to prevail where so loose views as to species are held by a
great leading naturalist ; too wise himself to he so misled, but
unable to communicate his own largeness of mind to followers
who eagerly adopt a view tending to increase their chance of be-
coming species-founders, or at all events their freedom to commit
errors in this matter, without being liable to the charge of sepa-
rating individuals connected by actual descent from common an-
cestors.

Natural History of the United States, 257

It only remains on this subject to remark that the practical
difficulty of the discrimination of species occurs only in excep-
tional cases. When we endeavour by external characters, such
as proportions of parts, external ornamentation, <fec., accurately to
distinguish forms of the same origin, we may, it is true, be deceived
in sonae rare cases by the similarity of really distinct species, or
the variations of the individuals of the same species. But, when
we consider the well-defined limits of form, ornament, <kc., in the
greater number of animals, we cannot doubt that accurate atten-
tion to all the facts bearing on these will enable us eventually to
solve the most intricate cases, without having recourse to any
hypothesis destructive of the true unity of the species.

We have" aimed in the above remarks only to show that grave
difficulties beset the view of species advocated by Agassiz, and
that such views, if carried to their legitimate results, would des-
troy all certainty in Zoology, quite as effectually as that opposite
view which would so enlarge the limit of specific unity as to ad-
mit that any number of species may have descended from a com-
mon parentage.

As might have been expected, a mind so familiar with nature
as that of Agassiz clings to the truth on this practical view of the
subject, however far from it in the mere theory of species. Hence
the able reasoning in this work on the immutability of species,
their range of distribution in time and space, and the care neces-
sary in their discrimination and description. On these last sub-
jects the following paragraphs are well worthy of attention, though
some of the considerations referred to are vastly more important
than others : —

^ If we would not exclude from the characteristics of species
any feature which is essential to it, nor force into it any one which
is not so, we must first acknowledge that it is one of the charac-
ters of species to belong to a given period in the history of our
globe, and to hold definite relations to the physical conditions
then prevailing, and to animals and plants then existing. These
relations are manifold, and are exhibited : Ist. in the geographiea.
range natural to any species, as well as in its capability of being
acclimated in countries where it is not primitively found ; 2d. in
the connection in which they stand to the elements around them,
when they inhabit either the water, or the land, deep seas, brooks,
rivers and lakes, shoals, flat, sandy, muddy, or rocky coasts, lime-

B

258 Natural HUtory of the United States,

stone banks, coral reefSs, swamps, meadows, fields, dry lands, salt
deserts, sandy deserts, moist land, forests, shady groves, sunny
hills, low regions, plains, prairies, high table-lands, mountain
peaks, or the frozen barrens of the Arctics, etc. ; 3d. in their de-
pendence upon this or that kind of food for their sustenance ; 4th.
in the duration of their life ; 5th. in the mode of their association
with one another, whether living in flocks, small companies, or
isolated ; 6th» in the period of their reproduction ; 7th, in the
changes they undergo during their growth, and the periodicity of
these changes in their metamorphosis ; 8th, in their association
with other beings, which is more or less close, as it may only
lead to a constant association in some, whilst in others it amounts
to parasitism; 9th, specific' characteristics are further exhibited
in the size animals attain, in the proportions of their parts to one
another, in their ornamentation, etc. and all the variations to
which they are liable.

** As soon as all the facts bearing upon these different points
have been fully ascertained, there can remain no doubt respecting
the natural limitation of species ; and it is only the insatiable
desire of describing new species from insufScient data which has
led to the introduction in our systems of so many doubtful species,
which add nothing to our real knowledge, and only go to swell
the nomenclature of animals and plants already so intricate.

*' Assuming, then, that species cannot always be identified at
first sight, that it may require a long time and patient investiga-
tions to ascertain their natural limits ; assuming further, that the
features alluded to above are among the most prominent charac-
teristics of species, we may say, that species are based upon well
determined relations of individuals to the world around them, to
their kindred, and upon the proportions and relations of their
parts to one another, as well as ypon their ornamentation. Well
digested descriptions of species ought, therefore, to be compara-
tive ; they ought to assume the character of biographies, and at-
tempt to trace the origin and follow the development of a species
during its whole existence. Moreover, all the changes which
i^cies may undergo in course of time especially under the fos-
tering care of man, in the state of domesticity and cultivation,
belong to the history of the species ; even the anomalies and dis-
eases to which they are subject belong to their cycle, as well as
their natural variations. Among some species, variation of color

Natural History of the United States. 25 d

k frequent, others ocver change, some change periodically, others
accidentally ; some throw off certain ornamental appendages at
regular times, the Peers their horns, some Birds the ornamental
plumage they wear in the breeding season, etc All this should
be ascertained for each, and no species can be considered as well
defined and satisfactorily characterised, the whole history of
which is not completed to the extent alluded to above. The
practice prevailing since LinnsBus of limiting the characteristics
of species to mere diagnoses, had led to the present confusion of
our nomenclature, and made it often impossible to ascertain what
were the species the authors of such condensed descriptions had
before them. But for the tradition which has transmitted, gene-
ation after generation, the knowledge of these species among the
cultivators of science in Europe, this confusion would be still
greater ; but for the preservation of most original collections it
would be inextricable. In countries, which, like America, do not
enjoy these advantages, it is often hopeless to attempt critical in-
vestigations upon doubtful cases of this kind. One of our ablest
and most critical investigators, the lamented Dr. Harris, has very
forcibly set forth the difficulties under which American natural-
ists labor in this respect, in the Preface to his Report upoa the
Insects Injurious to Vegetation.*'

We have been led by the great interest of the subject into so
long a discussion of the points already referred to, that it will be
impossible to notice many others equally important, as for instance
the application of the general views above discussed ; or to say
anything of the more special subject of the volume, the Embry-
ology of the American Tortoises, so ably described and beautifully
illustrated. Nor will it be possible to enter on the views given of
the relation of embryonic development to classification and geolo-
gical sequence, — a most tempting subject, though at present en-
compassed with a crowd of difficulties and apparent exceptions
that await for their solution and explanation such investigations
as those which now occupy Agassiz.

In conclusion^ every true naturalist will endeavour not only to
read but carefully to study this work, the high merits of whieh
we do not wish to depreciate, however we may be constrained to
differ from some of its more general doctrines. Agassiz himself
will be the last to require an implicit assent to his views, merely
because he holds them ; and we know that he values truth too
much, and is too deeply imbued with reference for nature and its

260 Geological Gleaningi,

Maker, wilfully to misrepresent the smallest fact^ or arrogantly to
oppose the most full discussions of his results.

J. w. D.

GEOLOGICAL GLEANINGS.

1. Sir Edmund Head on the temple of Scrapie at Fozzuoli.
The (Geologist is only a sort of pre-adamite antiquarian ; but it is
not often that the researches of the historical antiquary and
scholar throw light on his pursuits. The paper named above, and
published by the Society of Antiqnaries is an exception. The
building to which it relates is of exceeding geological interest, as
showing in its erect columns perforated by lithodomous mnllusks,
that the ground on which it stands has been dry land, then sub-
merged and again elevated since the erection of the temple. It
is a curious instance of the peculiarities of the civilization and
science of classical antiqnity and the middle ages, that no distinct
record remains of the nature and date of these remarkable changes
of level. The little mussels that bored their burrows in the marble,
were the only geologists of those days. Sir Edmund endeavours
to supply this lack of testimony by pointing out a number of re-
ferences more or less direct to the edifice and its fortunes, which
have occurred to him in his reading. The following extract shows
the mode of treating the subject, and contains one of the most
curious results of the inquiry, namely, the possibilitj^ that part of
the deposits covering the floor of the old temple giay be artificial.

** At Foz2uoli a building of some sort occupied the centre of the
area. Whether, as in Egypt, the image of the god was placed there,
or behind the four columns to which the ruin owes its modern
celebrity, may be uncertain. The lowness of situation must have
deprived our temple of subterranean passages, and the underground
arrangements so elaborately, provided in the Egyptian model.
The possession, however, of a natural hot spring just behind the
temple must have made up for many disadvantages. No appen-
dage could be more appropriate for the temple of a god who
among his many attributes usurped those of JBsculapius.

^ This warm spring, however, suggests another curious question
with reference to a passage in Pau8anias.s After mentioning
several cases of fresh springs in the sea, and the hot springs in
Xhe channel of the Meander, Pausanias proceeds as follows: —

Geological Gleanings. 261

'Before Dicsearchia of the Tyrseni (Pozzuoli) there is water
boiling up in the sea, and for the sake of it an island made with
hands, so that not even this water is wasted, but serves people for
warm baths/

'^ May not this spring be the very one now existing behind the
Temple of Serapis ?

*' Had the hot spring of Fausanias originally discharged itself
into the sea, it does not seem likely that it would have been used
at all ; but if its virtues had been long known to the inhabitants
of Pozzuoli, and a gradual encroachment of the sea, or rather a
depression of the land, deprived them of the benefit of the baths
to which they had become accustomed, what could be more natural
than that a small mound or island should be made by hand in
the shallow water, in order that the baths might be again avail-
able?

'^ Pausanias does not indeed say that these baths were connected
with a temple of Serapis, but this is immateriaL

" On this theory a number of curious questions present them-
selves.

*' Which is the pavement of the building existing at the time
of Pausanias? What, relatively to the floor as now seen, was the
level of the original building submerged in the sea ? Is it repre-
sented by the mosaic pavement found five feet below the floor of
the temple ? If so, it would be important to examine the soil
between the two pav^nfents, and to ascertain whether it appears
to warrant the supposition that it was a part of a mound construct-
ed artificially.

'^ The intervention of the hand of man in filling up or raising
this spot of ground, may complicate most materially the solution
of the several changes of level.

''It should be stated that, according to the general notion,,
mosaic pavements were not in common use at Rome before the
time of Sylla — that is, about eighty years before Christ ; but it
does not follow that a mosaic pavement may not have been added
after that date to a building existing before it : so that the mosaic
pavement in question may have been part of the Temple of Serapis
* mentioned in the '' Lex Parieti faciundo." Pausanias lived in the
time of Hadrain, as has been already stated, and, according to
this view, the submergence of the first baths or temple must have
taken place between the time of Sylla and that date. We cannot,
I presume, suppose that a mosaic pavement would be originally
laid under water.

262 Geological Gleaninps.

'' The level below the water of the Mediterranean of the old
mosaic pavement must correspond pretty accarately with that of
the base of the columns of the submerged '* Temple of the Nymphs' '
in the neighbouring bay. Did this submergence take place at
the time of the great eruption of Vesuvius which overwhelmed
Pompeii and Herculaneum, a.d. 79 ?

"^ Statius was bom a.d. 61, and was therefore about nineteen at
tibe time of the eruption of 79. As a native of Naples he may be
presumed to have been conversant with all the phenomena which
th^i took place. His lines on the subject of the destruction of
the cities are very striking.

** Best ego Ghalcidkis ad te, Marcelle, sonabam
Littoribus, fractas ubi Yesvios egerit iras,
iBmnla Trinacriis rolreiiB incendia flammis.
Mira fides 1 credetne yiriiin yentnra propago,
Gum segetes itenim, et jam h»c deserta virebant,
Infra uibea, populosque premi 7 proavitaque toto
Rura abiisse mari ? necdum letale minari
Cessat apex—"

'^The latter part of this passage seems to me to mean 'Mands
tilled by our ancestors (proavita) have disappeared in the body of
of the sea" (toto mari). The commentator in the Variorum
edition (Lugd. Bat. 1671) appears to understand the word "pro-
avita'' as referring to the restoration of the^e districts hereafter
" proavita dicit respectu futurae posteritatis" — which seems to me
absurd. How were posterity to get the lands out of the sea
again ? Such is not the use of the word when applied to Hector : —

" Pngnantem pro se, proayitaque regna tnentem.''

Ovid. Metamorph, xiii. 416.

" I infer from the expressions of Statius that considerable tracts
of land had been sunk in the sea by some Sijidden depression of
the ground.

" May not this have been the time when the Temple of the
Nymphs, and the first baths or temple of Serapis, were covered
with shallow water ? Is it not possible that between this convul-
sion and the time when Pausanias wrote the inhabitants of
Pozzuoli may have made the island in the sea {cheiropoieton\ and
have erected on it a second temple — the one of which the ruins
still puzzle the geologist ?

" It may be worth while adding, that there exist three frag-
ments of Latin verse, by a certain Regianus (or Regilianus), whose

Geological GUanings. 268

age does not appear to be known. One of these is entitled " de
Baiis," another is "• de Thermis.*' The latter contains this line —

" In regnis, Neptnne, tuis Yulcanus anbelat."

^ Considering the proximity of Baiae to Futeoli, it is not im-
probable that this last verse may refer to the baths described by
Pansanias."

2. Professor Ramsay ^on the geological causes that have infiuenced
the Scenery of Canada and the North Eastern States, This lecture
read at the Boyal iDstitntion in London, is one of the results of
Professor Bamsay^s visit last year. We take the following sketch
from the published abstract of the lecture.

^ The island of Belleisle and the Laurentine chain of mountains
between the shores of Labrador and Lake Superior consist of
gneissic rocks older than the Huronian formation of Sir Wm*
Logan. This gneiss is probably the equivalent of the oldest gneiss
of the Scandinavian chain, and of the north-west of Scotland, un-
derlying that conglomerate, which, according to Sir Boderick
Murchison, in Scotland represents the Cambrian strata of the
Longmynd and of Wales. The mountains of the Laurentine chain
present those rounded contours that evince great glacial abrasion ;
and among the forests north of the Ottawa the manmiillated sur-
faces were observed by the speaker to be often grooved and
striated, the striations running from north to south. The whole
country has been moulded by ice. Above the metamorphic rocks,
in the plains of Canada and the United States south of the St.
Lawrence, and around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the Silurian
and Devonian strata lie nearly horizontally, but slightly inclined
to the South. Consisting of alternations t>f limestone and softer
strata, the rocks have been worn by denudation into a succession
of terraces, the chief of these forming a great escarpment, part of
which, by the river Niagara, overlooks Queenston and Lewiston,
and capped by the Niagara limestone, extends from the neigh-
bourhood of the Hudson to Lake Huron. Divided by this
escarpment the plains of Canada bordering the lakes, and part of
the United States, thus consist of two great plateaux, in the lower
of which lies Lake Ontario, Lake Erie lying in a slight depression
in the upper plain or table land, 329 feet above Lake Ontario.
The lower plain consists mostly of Lower Silurian rocks, bounded
on the north by the metamorphic hills of the Laurentine chain.
The upper plain is chiefly formed of Upper Silurian and Devonian

264 Geological Gleanings,

strata* East of the Hudson, the Lower Silurian rocks that form
the lower plain of Canada become gradually much disturbed and
metamorphosed, and at length rising into bold hills trending
north and south, form in the Green Mountains part of the chain
that stretches from the southern extremity of the Appalatchian
Mountains to Gasp^, on the Gtdf of St. Lawrence. Between the
plains of the lakes and this range, the steep terraced mass of the
Catskills, formed of old red sandstone, lies above the Devonian
rocks facing east and north in a grand escarpment.

** The whole of America south of the lakes, as far as latitude
40^, is covered with glacial drift, consisting of sand, gravel, and
clay, with boulders, many of which, during the submergence of
the country have been transported by ice several hundred miles
from the Laurentine chain. Many of these are striated and
scratched in a manner familiar to those conversant with glacial
phenomena. When stripped of drift all the underlying rocks are
evidently ice-smoothed and 8triated,the striations generally running
more or less from north to south, indicating the direction of the
ice-drift during the submergence of the country at the glacial
period. The banks of the St. Lawrence, near Brockville, and all
the Thousand Islands, have been rounded and moutonnee by glacial
abrasion during the drift period.

" The submergence of the country was gradual, and the depth it
attained is partly indicated in the east flank of the Catskill moun-
tains. This range, near Catskill, runs north and south, about 10
or 12 miles from the right bank of the Hudson. The undulating
ground between the river and the mountains is seen to be covered
with striations wherever the drifl has been removed. These have
a north and south direction ; and ascending the mountains to
Mountain House, the speaker lobserved that their flanks a^e marked
by frequent ^roove& and glacial scratches, running not down hill,
as they would do if they had been produced by glaciers, but
north and south horizontally along the slopes, in a manner that
might have been produced by bergs grating along the coast
during submergence. These striations were observed to reach
the height of 2850 feet above the sea. In the gorge, where the
hotel stands at that height, they turn sharply round, trending
nearly east and west ; as if at a certain period of submergence,
the floating ice had been ^t liberty to pass across its ordinary
course in a strait between two islands. During the greatest
amount of submergence of the country, the glacial sea in the valley

Oeologieal Gleanings. 265

of the Hadson must have been between 3000 and 4000 feet deep,
and it is probable that even the highest tops of the Oatskills lay
below the water.

^ In Wales, it has been shown that dnring the emergence of
the country in the glacial epoch, the drifl in some cases was
ploughed out of the valleys by glaciers ; but though the Catskill
mountains are equally high, in the valleys beyond the great eastern
escarpment the drifl still exists, which would not have been the
case had glaciers filled these valleys during emergence in the way
that took place in the Passes of Llanberis and Nant-Francon, and
in parts of the Highlands of Scotland.

'^ It has been stated above that the upper plain around Lake
Erie, and the lower plain of Lake Ontario, are alike covered with
drift Part of this was formed, and much of it modified during
the emergence of the country. In the valley of the St. Lawrence,
near Montreal, about 100 feet above the river, there are beds of
clay, containing Leda Portlandica, and called by Dr. Dawson of
Montreal, the Leda clay. Dr. Dawson is of opinion that when
this clay was formed, the sea in which it was deposited washed the
ba^ of the old coast line that now makes the great escarpment
at Queenston and Lewiston, overlooking the plains round Lake
Ontario. It has long been an accepted belief that the Falls of
Niagara commenced at the edge of this escarpment, and that the
gorge has gradually be^n produced by the river wearing its way
back for seven miles to the place of the present Falls.* In this
case, the author conceives that the Falls commenced during the
deposition of the Leda clay^ or near the close of the drift period^
when during the emergence of the country the escarpment had
already risen partly above water. If it should ever prove possible
to determine the actual rate of recession of the Falls, we shall
thus have data by which to determine approximately the time
that has clasped since the close of the drift period ; and an im-
portant step may thus be gained towards the actual estimate of a
portion of geological time."

8. Sir Charles Lyell on the formation of Continuous Tabular
Masses of stony Lava on steep slopes, — ^The question as to whether
volcanic cones have originated from the deposition of successive
sheets of the ejectamenta of their vents, or from the bulging up-

* The details on which this belief is founded, maj be fonnd in the
writings of Professor Hall, of Albany, and Sir Charles Lyell.

266 Geological Gleanings.

ward of the crust by subterranean force has long been agitated,
and Sir Charles Lyell has long upheld the former view. In the pre-
sent paper Sir Charles removes an objection derived from the steep
slopes of the beds of lava and scori» in some volcanic cones.
In connection with this subject, the remains of a more ancient
vent than the present crater of Etna and the probable antiquity
of the mountain, are noticed.

'* The question whether lava can consolidate on a steep slope,
so as to form strata of stony and compact rock, inclined at angles
of from 10<^ to more than 30^, has of late years acquired consider-
able importance, because geologists of high authority have affirmed
that lavas which congeal on a declivity exceeding 5^ or 6^ are
never continuous and solid, but are entirely composed of scoria-
ceous and fragmentary materials. From the law thus supposed
to govern the consolidation of melted matter of volcanic origin,
it has been logically inferred that all great volcanic mountains
owe their conical form principally to upheaval or to a force acting
from below and exerting an upward and outward pressure on beds
originally horizontal or nearly horizontal. For in all such moun-
tains there are found to exist some stony layers dipping at 10^,
15^, 25^, or even higher angles ; and according to the assumed
law, such an inclined position of the beds must have been acquired
subsequently to their origin.

"After giving a brief sketch of the controversy respecting
" Craterrs of Elevation," the author describes the results of his
recent visit (October, 1857) to Mount Etna, in company with
Signer Gaetano G. Gemmellaro, and his discovery there of modern
lavas, some of known date, which have formed continuous beds of
compact stone on slopes of 15^, 36^, 38^, and, in the case of the
lava of 1852, more than 40^. The thickness of these tabular layers
varies from 1) foot to 26 feet ; and their planes of stratification are
parallel to those of the overlying and underlying scoriae which form
part of the same currents. The most striking examples of this phe-
nomenon were met with — 1st, at Aci Reale ; 2ndly, in the ravine
called the Cava Grande near Milo, where a section of the lava of
1689. is obtained ; 3rdly, in the precipice at the head of the Val
di Calanna, in the lava of 1852-53 ; and 4thly, at a great height
above the sea near the base of the Montagnuola.

" Sir C. Lyell then alludes to the extraordinary changes which
had taken place in the scenery of the Valley of Calanna and the
Val del Bove since his former visit to Mount Etna in 1828 —

Geotoffieal Gleanings, 2M

changes effe<;ted by the eruption of 1852-68, one of the greatest
recorded in history. A brief account is given, extracted from
contemporary narratives and illustrated by a map, compiled with
the assistance of Dr. Qiuseppe Gtemmellaro, of the course taken in
1852-53 by various streams of lava, souie of them six miles in
length, flowing during nine successive months from the head of
the Val dol Bove to the suburbs of Zafarana and Milo. The pre-
sent aspect of this lava-field, parts of it still hot and emitting
vapour, and the numerous longitudinal ridges and furrows on its
surface are described. As to the origin of these superficial in-
equalities, the author inquires whether they may be due to the
flowing of lava in subterranean tunnels, or whether they be anti-
clinal and synclinal folds caused by fresh streams pouring over
preceding and half-consolidated ones, so that these last may be
bent and crumpled by the newly superimposed weight, like soil
yielding ground on which a railway embankment has been made.
The cascade of the lava of 1852, descending a precipitous declivity
500 feet high, called the Salto dellaGiumenta, and the stony cha-
racter of the layers which encrust the steep slope at angles o^
more than 85^ and even 45^, are commented upon. This lava
has overflowed that of 1819, which congealed on the same preci-
pice ; and it is shown that in such cases the junction-lines separating
two successive currents must be obliterated, the bottom scorise of
the newer dovetailing into the upper scorise of the older current
^ The structure of the nucleus of Etna, as exhibited in sections
in the Val del Bove, is next treated of, and the doctrine of a
double axis is deduced from the varying dip of the beds. The
strata of trachyte and trachytic agglomerate in the Serra Giannicola
seen at the base of the lofty precipice at the head of the Val del
Bove are inclined at angles of 20® to 80° N. W t. e. towards the
present central axis of eruption. Other strata to the eastwards
(as in the hill of Zoccolaro) dip in an opposite direction, or S.E.,
while, in a great part of the north and south escarpments of the
Val del Bove, the beds dip N.E. or N., and S.E. or S. respectively.
There is, therefore, a qud.qu4versal dip away from some point
situated in the centre of the area called the Piano di Trifoglietto.
Here a permanent axis of eruption may have existed for ages in
the earlier history of Etna, for which the name of the axis of Tri-
foglietto is proposed, while the modem centre of eruption, that
now in activity, may be called the axis of Mongibello. The two
axes, which are three miles distant the one from the other, are

268 Oeological QleaningB.

illustrated by an ideal section through the whole of Etna, passing
from west to east through the Yal del Bove, or from Bronte to
Zafarana. Touching the relative age of the two cones, it is sug-
gested that a portion only of that of Mongibello may be newer
than the cone of Trifoglietto. The latter when it became dormant,
was entirely overwhelmed and buried under the upper and more
modern lavas of the greater cone. This doctrine of two centres,
originally hinted at by the late Mario Gemmellaro, had been
worked out (unknown to Sir 0. Lyell at the time of his visit) by
Baron Sartorius v. Waltershausen, and has been since supported
in the fifth and sixth parts of his great work called '^ The Atlas of
Etna*' both by arguments founded on the qu&qud.versal dip of the
beds as above explained, and by the convergence of a certain class
of greenstone dikes towards the axis of Trifoglietto. Von Walters-
hausen has also shown that the superior lavas and volcanic for-
mations crowning the precipices at the head of the Yal del Bove,
from the Serra Giannicola to the Rocca del Corvo, inclusive, are
unconformable to the highly inclined beds in the lower half of
the same precipice, the superior beds being horizontal, or, when
inclined, dipping in such directions as would imply that they slope
away from the higher parts of Mongibello."

" According to Sir C. Lyell, the alleged discontinuity between
the older and modern products of Etna is, in truth, only partial,
and almost confined to that flank of the mountain, where its phy-
sical geography has been altered by three causes : 1st, the inter-
ference of the two foci of eruption (Trifoglietto and Mongibello) ;
2ndly, the truncation of the cone of Mongibello ; and Srdly, the
formation of the Yal del Bove. The inm^ation of the mountain
here alluded to is proved by the remains of the upper portion of
a cone, traceable at intervals around the borders of an elevated
platform between 9000 and 10,000 feet high. These remains
bear the same relation to the highest and active cone, nearly in
the centre of the platform, which Somma bears to Yesuvius.
The manner in which the north and south escarpments of the Yal
del Bove diminish in altitude as they trend eastward from the high
platform, is appealed to as showing that the great lateral valley
had no existence till after the time when Mongibello had attained
its fullest development and height.

<* The double axis of Etna is then compared to the twofold axis
of the island of Madeira, as inferred from observations made in
1854 by M. Hartung and the author. In that island the principal

Geological Gleaningi. 269

cbaiD of volcanic vents, running east and west, and 30 miles long,
attains at one point a height of 6000 feet. Parallel to it, at the
distance of two miles, a shorter and lower secondary chain once
existed, bnt was afterwards overflowed and buried to a great depth
by lavas issuing from the higher and dominant chain. The space
between the two axes, like the space which separated the two cones
of Etna, has been filled up with lavas in part horizontal. On the
north side of Madeira, as probably on the west side of Etna, where
no secondary ceutre of eruption interfered with the slope of the
volcanic formations, and where the order of their saccession and
superposition is uninterrupted, there occur, both in Madeira and
Etna, deep crateriform valleys (the Curral and the Val del Bove)
intersecting the products of the two axes of eruption.

" In concluding this part of his memoir. Sir C. Lyell observes,
that the admission of a double axis, as explained by him, is irre-
concileable with the hypothesis of " craters of elevation ;" for it
implies that, in the cone-making process, the force of upheaval
merely plays a subordinate part. One cone of eruption, he says,
may envelope and bury an adjoining cone of eruption ; but it is
obviously impossible that one cone of upheaval should mantle
round and overwhelm another cone of upheaval.

*^ An attempt is then made to estimate the proportional amount
of inclination which may be due to upheaval in those parts of the
central nucleus of Etna where the dip is too great to be ascribed
exclusively to the original steepness of the flanks of the cone. The
highest dip seen by the author was on the rock of Musarra, where
some of the strata, consisting of scoriae with a few intercalated
lavas, are inclined as 47^. Some masses of agglomerate and beds
of Ia?a in the Sena del Solfizio were also seen inclined at angles
exceeding 4Q°. Some of these instances are believed to be excep-
tional and due to local disturbance ; others may have an intimate
connexion with the abundance of fissures, often of great width,
filled with lava, for such dikes are much more frequent near the
original centres of eruption than at points remote from them.
The injection of so much liquid matter into countless rents may
imply the gradual tume&ction and distension of the volcanic mass,
and may have been attended by the tilting of the beds, causing
them to slope away at steeper angles than before, from the axis of
eruption. But instead of ascribing to this mechanical force, as
many have done, nearly all, or about four-fifths of the whole class,
one-fifth may, with more probability, be assigned as the efiects of
such movements.

2Y0 Geological Gleanings.

'^ The alleged parallelism and uniformity of thickness in the
volcanic beds of the Val del Bove, when traced over wide areas,
is next considered, and the author remarks that neither in the
northern nor southern escarpments of the great valley, could he
and his companion verify the ezisteoce of such parallelism. Ex-
ample of a marked deviation from it are given, both in cli£fs seen
from a distance, and in others which were closely inspected, even
in cases where these last, when viewed from far off, appeared to
contain regular and parallel strata.

^'The direction and position of the dikes in the Val del Bove is
then spoken of, both in reference to the two ancient centres of
eruption, and to the question of the altered inclination of the inter-
sected beds. In regard to the arrangement also of the lateral
cones of eruption, the question is entertained, whether they are
disposed in linear zones, or are in some degree independent of the
great centre of Mongibello.

'^ The origin of the Val del Bove has been variously ascribed
to engulfment, explosion, and aqueous erosion. Admitting the
probable influence of the two first causes, the author calls attention
to the positive evidence in favour of aqueous denudation afforded
by the accumulation of alluvium in the low country at the eastern
base of Etna between the Yal del Bove and the sea. This rudely
stratified deposit, 150 feet thick and several mile^ in length and
breadth, contains at Giarre, Mangano, Riposto and other places,
fragments, both rounded and angular, of all the rocks, ancient and
modem occurring in the escarpments of the Yal del Bove, and it
implies the continuance there for ages of powerful aqueous erosion.
The alluvium of Giarre is therefore supposed to bear the same re-
lation to the Yal del Bove that the conglomerate of the Barranco
de las Angustias bears to the Caldera of Palma in the Canaries ;
and those two craterlike valleys, as well as the Curral of Madeira,
are believed to have been shaped out in great part by running
water. But to render this possible^ the suspension, for a long
period, of the outpouring of lava im the eastern flank of Etna most
be assumed."

*' The author fully coincides in the generally received opinion
that the accessible parts of Etna are of subaerial origin, and refers
to some fossil leaves presented to him by MM. Gravina and
Tornabene of Catania, as well as to others collected by himself in
M<u, from the volcanic tuffs of Fasano and Licatia, which have
been determined by Poof. Heer to belong to terrestrial plants^ of

r

Geological Gleanings. 271

the genera Myrtle, Laurel, and Pistachio, now living in Sicily.
These tuffs, together with the general mass of Etna, repose on
marine strata of the newer Pliocene period in which 150 species
of shells, nearly nine-tenths of them identical with species now ex-
isting in the Mediterranean, have been found. A very modem
marine breccia, with shells of living species extending to the height
of thirty feet on the coast along the eastern base of Etna, was
pointed out to the author by Signer G.G. Gemmellaro near Trezza,
and in the Island of the Cyclops. The same formation has been
traced together with lithodomous perforations by Dr. Carlo Gem-
mellaro and Baron v. Waltershausen along the sea-shore as far
north as Taormina, beyond the volcanic region of Etna. From
these and other data enlarged upon in the memoir. Sir C. Lyell
concludes, first, that a very high antiquity must be assigned to the
successive eruptions of Etna, each phase of its volcanic energy, as
well as the excavation of the Yal del Bove, having occupied a
lapse of ages compared to which the historical period is brief and
insignificant ; and secondly, that the growth of the whole mountain
must nevertheless be referred, geologically, to the more modem
part of the latest Tertiary epoch."

4. Arctic Geology. — We are indebted to Silliman's Journal for
the following Summary of Prof. Haughton's classification of the
geological formations of Arctic America as observed in McClin-
tock's voyage.

" (1.) Granitic or cryetalline rocks : over eastem North Devon,
long. 80*^— 82 JO, lat Y4 J— Y6|o ; western North Somerset, near
long. 95<> ; in scattered boulders over many other parts of the
islands.

" (2.) Upper Silurian and Devonian : over the northern part of
CockbuTO Island, 78o— 78fo N., and 760— 90o W.; the larger
part of North Somerset ; Gomwallis Island ; all but the eastem
part of North Devon.

'^(3.) Carboniferoua limestone: over the islands or parts of
islands lying north of lat 76^, from Grinnell Land on the east
(930 w.^ to Prince Patrick Land on the west This limestone
is stated to overlie the coal-bearing standstones.

" (4.) The Coal'bearingsandstones{TefeTTedto8nhcsThomkToui^):
over the same islands as the limestone, but south of 76<^ : includ-
ing Bathurst Land, 75«»— 76<> N., 99J«— 104© W.; Melville
Island, firomits southern shore to 75^ $(/ N. ; Byam Martin Island
between Bathunt and Mdville^ part of I^Iinton Id., west of Mel-

272 Geological Gleanings,

ville, south of 76» 50' • Baring (or Banks) Land, Y2J°- 74^° N.,
1160— 125«W.

'^ (5.) Jurassic rocks : over a small peninsula on the eastern
side of Prince Patrick Land ; also at islets Exmouth and Talbe^
north of Grinnell Land ; in long. 95° W.,lat. 77° 10' N.

** Viewing the range or direction of the whole, the line between
the " Carboniferous limestone" and the ^ coal-bearing sandstones,"
according to the map, is nearly straight between E. 5° N. and W.
5° S. In the coal-bearing sandstone region, two parallel outcrops
of coal are marked as existing on Bathurst Land and southeastern
Melville Island, and on the intervening island of Byam Martin, the
distance between the two lines eight or ten miles ; also a third out-
crop in Melville Island, and along the same line in Baring Land
to the southwest. The strike is represented as uniform between
E.N.E. and W.S.W., and is deduced from the observed occurrence
of coal at Cape Hamilton on Baring Island, Cape Dundas on Mel-
ville Island, also Bridport Inlet and Skene Bay on Melville Island ;
on Byam Martin Id. ; and at Schomberg Point and Graham Moore
Bay on Bathurst Island."

In addition to this series there are interesting tertiary deposits
containing lignite, described in the following extract from Dr. Arm-
strong's voyage of the Investigator. The wood is probably like
that of the present arctic sea, drifl tmnks.

** On ascending one of these hills, about a quarter of a mile from
the beach on its side, about 300 feet high from the sea-level, we
discovered the wood of which we were in search. The ends of
trunks and branches of trees were seen protruding through the
rich loamy soil in which they were embedded. On excavating to
some extent, we found the entire hill a ligneous formation, being
composed of the trunks and branches of trees ; some of them dark
and softened, in a state of semi-carbonization. Others were quite
fresh, the woody structure perfect, but hard and dense. In a few
situations, the wood, from its flatness and the pressure to which it
had for ages been exposed, presented a laminated structure, with
traces of coal. The trunk of one tree, the end of which protruded,
was 26 inches in diameter by 16 inches ; that of another, a portion
of which was brought on board, was 7 feet in length, and 3 feet in
circumference: and dense in structure,although pronounced then to
be pine.* Other pieces, although still preserving the woody struc-

* " A section of this piece of wood is to be seen in the MnBenin of the
Royal Dublin Society, Dublin. To the obliging kindness of its able

Oeohgical Oleaninpi. 273

tiire, bad a specific gravity exceeding that of water, in which they
readily sunk, from their having undergone an incipient stage of im-
pregnation with some of the earthy products of the soil. Nume-
rous pine cones and a few acorns were also found in the same state
of silicification. The trunks apparently extended a considerable
distance into the interior of the hill, and were bituminous and fri-
able. Many of those which were embedded crumbled away on being
struck with a pickaxe, which readily found its way into any part
of them, rendering their removal impossible ; some of them were
in such a state of carbonization as to approach lignite in character.
The whole conveyed the idea of the hill being entirely composed
of wood. As far as our excavations were carried, nothing else
was met with, except the loamy soil in which they were embedded;
but the decay of the wood in some places appeared to form its own
soil. The petrifactions, with numerous pieces of wood, were found
strewn everywhere over the surface of this and many of the con-
tiguous hilK Many specimens of these were obtained, varying
from one to fourteen inches in length, the longest not exceeding
five or six in circumference ; they consisted of portions of the
branches of trees. Some of them were impregnated with iron
(brown hsematite), had a distinct metallic tinkle when struck,
and were heavier than other pieces, without the metallic impreg-
nation or sound ; they were simply silicified, the sand entering
into the composition of the soil being silicious or quartzose.
Several smaller pieces of fresh wood were also found strewn about,
which had not been, perhaps, subject to the petrifying influence
of the water. The numerous small rills which issued from the
interior, similar to those I had seen in the morning, flowed over
the surface, and the constituents of the water, largely impregnated
as it was with iron and sulphur, indicated from whence the metal-
lic agency in the petrifaction was derived ; this also possessed a
dull yellowish-brown discoloration of the sulphur, (? oxide of iron,)
and the stones everywhere over which the water flowed were
coated with the same.

Director (Dr. Carte) I am indebted for a knowledge of this fact ; who has
also kindly informed me, that he submitted it to the examination of Drs.
Steele and Joseph Hooker, both of whom pronounced it to be coniferoos
wood. The latter thought it of the white pine species ; and one of the
semifossilized cones has been, pronounced by Dr. Harvey, Professor of
Botany, Trinity College, Doblin, to be similar to the present Spruce of
North America.''

274 Geological Gleanings,

" On several of the neighbouring hills I observed distinct strati-
fications of wood running horizontally in a circular course)
formed by the protrusion of the ends of the trunks of trees, to
some of which the bark still adhered ; and large pieces of this,
cropping out and hanging loosely, frequently led in other situations
to our detection of the wood to which the bark adhered in the soil.
Any attempt to remove these with the hand or other slight means
fisiiled ; and excavation ever established the fact that the hills were
entirely composed of wood — ^the appearances met with being iden-
tical with those first mentioned. On subsequent occasions, wheo
exploring the land several miles in the interior, observation led me
to infer that a precisely similar state of things there existed. The
situation in which our first excavation was made was in lat. 74°
27' N., long. 122° 82^ 15" W., and about a quarter of a mile from
the beach. The distance, inland, whence similar appearances were
observed, embraced a circuit from eight to ten miles in diameter."

5. Age of remains found in Deltas. — All geologists are aware how
much uncertainty attends any ^reasoning as to the age of remains
found in alluvial deposits, based on the depth at which they are
imbedded ; but very incautious inferences are sometimes drawn
from such facts. The following from the AthenoBum shows the
extent of error possible in such reasoning.

" Pottery in the Bowels of the Earth, — In a late number of the
AthencBum it was, I think, stated that a traveller in Egypt, having
lately found a piece of pottery at some 80 feet below the present
surface of the soil on the banks of the Nile, came to the conclusion
that, because the annual deposit of earth by the stream would
have required so many centuries to lay down so many feet of
earth, — therefore, the bit of pottery found must have been manu-
factured some 13,000 years before the beginning of the Christian
era. Does the following statenaent of facts bear at all on such a
theory ? Having lived for many years of my life on the banks of
the river Ganges, I have seen the stream encroach on a village,
undermining the bank where it stood, and deposit as a natural
result bricks, pottery, <fec. in the bottom of the stream. On one
occasion, I am certain that the depth of the stream where the bank
was breaking was above 40 feet ; yet in three years the current
of the river shifted so much that a fresh deposit of soil took place
over the dihris of the village, and the earth was raised to a level
with the old bank. Now, had our traveller then obtained a bit of
pottery from where it had lain for only three years, could he

Geologieal Gleanings, 275

reasonably draw tbe inference that it had been made 19,000
years before f

6. New View of the Zoological relations of certain ancient corals
hy Prof Agasdz, The following appears in Silliman. If con-
firmed by farther investigation it will place nearly all our Silurian
corals in a different class of the Radiata, from that to which they
have hitherto been supposed to belong.

^ I have seen in the Tovtngas something very unexpected.
Millepora is not an Actinoid polyp, but a genuine Hydroid, close-
ly allied to Hydractinia. This seems to carry the whole group
of FavositidaB over to the Acalephs, and displays a beautiful array
of this class from the Silurian to this day."

*'The drawings of Professor Agassiz which have been sent to us
for examination, are so obviously Hydractinise in most of their cha-
racters that no one can question the relation. With regard to the
reference of all the Favositidse (a group including Favosites, Favis.
tella, Pocillopora etc., as well as the minuter MelL-pora, Ghaetetes,
«tc.) to the Acaleph class, direct evidence is not yet complete, as
the animal of the Pocillopora has not been figured by any author
on zoophytes.* On this point Professor Agassiz observes in a
subsequent letter, after observing that the Sideroporse obviously are
polyps :

*' There are two types of radiating lamellae, which are not
homologous. In true Polyps (excluding Favosi tides asHydroids),
the lamellae extend from the outer body wall inward, along the
whole height of that wall, and tlie transverse partitions reach only
from one lamella to the other, so that there is no continuity
between them, while the radiating lamellae are continuous from
top to bottom in each cell. In Milleporidae the partitions are
transverse and continuous across the cells and so are they in
Pocillopora and in all Tabulata and Rugosa, while the radiating
lamellae, where they exist, as in Pocillopora and many other Favo-
sitidae, rise from these horizontal floors and do not extend through

« • From the specimens of tke species of this genus which I procured in
the Pacific I never obtained a clear view of the poljps, and hence made no
figure. The brief description on page 623 of my Report, may be reason-
ably doubted until confirmed by new researches. The much larger sixe
of the cells in Pocillopora, Favosites and Favistella than in Millepora,
and Ihe frequently distinct rays in these cells, are the characters I had
mentioned to Prof. Agassis as suggesting a doubt as to their being
Acalephs, and to this what follows above relates.— J. d. d.**

[

2^^ Geological Oleaning$.

the transverse partitions ; indeed thej are limited within the spacer
of two saccessive floors, or to the upper surface of the last. A careful
oomparison of the corallum of Millepora and PoUicopora with that
of Hjdractinia has satisfied me that these radiating partitions of
the Favositidffi far from heing productions of the body- wall are foot
secretions, to be compared to the axis of the Gorgonia, Corallium,
etc., and their seeming radiating lamellae to the vertical grooves
or keels upon the surface of the latter, which reduced to a hori-
sontal projection, would also make impression of radiating
lamellae in the foot of the Polyp. If this be so, you see at once
that the apparent radiating lamellae of the Favositidae do no longer
indicate an affinity with the true Polyps, but simply a peculiar
mode of growth of the corallum ; and of these we have already
several types, that of Actinoids, that of Halcyonoids, that of
Bryozoa, that of Millepora and other Corallines, to which we now
add that of the Hydroids. Considering the subject in this light,
is there any further objection to uniting all the Favositidae with
the Hydroids, — Sideropora and Alveopora being of course removed
firom the Favositidae. It is a point of great importance in a geo-
logical point of view, and for years I have been anticipating some
such result, as you may ftee by comparing my remarks in the
Amer. Journal, May, 1864, p. 315. If all the Tabulata and
Bugosa, are Hydroids, as I believe them to be, the class of Aca-
lephs is no longer an exception to the simultaneous appearance of
all the types of Radiata in the lowest fossiliferons formations and
the peculiar characters which these old Hydroid corals present
appears in a new and very instructive aspect." -

The Bowmanville Coal Case. — ^The newspapers inform us that
this bubble has at last burst, and has proved to have been a gross
and deliberate fraud. As we did not give credence to the pre- J

tended discovery, we do not need to join in the outcry which a

aow pursues the authors of the imposture. Such men usually be- J

gia by being themselves misled by appearances which they do
•ot understand, and having gone a certain length under this in*
fluence, and finding themselves elevated into popular lions and a
ready belief given to their statements, they are easily induced by
the desire to maintain their credit and by the prospect of profit
to. go any length in deception. We trust that this lesson willnot
soon be forgotten ; and that those oi our contemporaries who

SeienHfic Meeting in Germany. 29^*7

eulogised the self-taught practical man, ignorant of the ''jargon**
of geology, who made this great discovery, will confess themselves
little less in fault than the poor sinner who, out of pocket and of
work in a strange land, lends himself to deceive a too-creduloua
public and to afford scoffers at the hardly-earned results of scien-
tific investigation a short-lived triumph.

SCIENTIFIC MEETING IN GERMANY.
GommimieAted by A. Gordon Esq.

The thirty-third annual meeting of German naturalists and phy-
sicists was held last September in Bonn ; and having had an op-
portunity of witnessing a portion of the proceedings, it has occur-
red to me that a short account of what came under my notice
may possess some interest for the readers of the Canadian Natura-
list Many of them are no doubt aware that it is to these meetings
that the plan of the British Association owes its origin. The late
Professor Oken is the man to whom the Germans are indebted
for their first organization, and he himself received his idea from
Switzerland. In noticing the proceedings of the Swiss naturalists
in his Isis, Oken frequently took occasion to represent the advan-
tages which Germany might derive from similar reunions, where
the members, becoming personally acquainted, could interchange
their opinions, communicate and endeavour to resolve each others'
doubts, and afford each other mutual encouragement in the path
of scientific inquiry. The first meeting took place at Leipzig in
1822, but it was several years before the number of participators
rose so high as thirty. The stream, however, if not broad, was
deep from the outset. Gradually it became wider. The recent
meeting in Bonn though by no means so numerously attended as
that held in 1856 at Vienna, mustered to the number of nine
hundred and sixty, and included many of the most eminent names
of Europe in the various departments of science. In the geologi-
cal section, of which I formed an unworthy member, I observed
Merian, Eose, Von Camall, Blum, Noeggerath, Murchison, B!ie
de Beaumont

The proceedings of the first general meeting were opened on
18th September by Professor Noeggerath, who greeted the as-
sembly with genunine German bonhommie. His appearance
reminded me of a weather-beaten column of basalt, which seenred

2*18 Scientific Meeting in Germany.

to bid eternal defiance alike to time and to tempest. Dr. Kilian
then read yarious letters of compliment or apology, the most in-
teresting of which was a note from Alexander von Humboldt,
who had been specially invited to assist at the proceedings, but
excused himself on the ground of the necessity he felt himself to
be under at his advanced period of life, to employ every available
moment of his time in the completion of the works which he had
now in progress. On Professor Noeggerath's motion, the whole
assembly rose up, with acclamation, to testify their respect for the
illustrious veteran ; and a telegraphic message was despatched to
him in the instant informing him of this grateful tribute of homage.

After the proceedings had been duly opened, Professor Schulz-
enstein delivered an address on the value of the natural sciences
as a means of educating the human mind. Professor Mad-
ler of Dorpat then read a contribution on the subject of the fixed
stars. The motions, he said, of certain fixed stars were not com-
patible with the assumption of a central sun ; nor did the assump-
tion of partial systems appear admissible, inasmuch as, for
the explanation of the size of the measured motions of in-
dividual fixed stars, the central masses — ^if such existed —
must possess a mass incredibly great. The centre of gravity of
the fixed siderial system, which may possibly lie in empty space,
was to be regarded as the centre of motion. If the system pos-
sessed a globular form, with a nearly uniform distribution of the
masses in the interior of the globe, the period of revolution of the
various masses would be of nearly similar length, so that the whole
viewed from one of the stars in conjunct motion, must appear
nearly immoveable. A more definite decision was to be expected
only from later centuries enriched with the spoils of long series
of observations. The speaker considered it probable that the cen-
tral point lay in the region of Taurus, perhaps in the group of the
Pleiades, the apparent motions of which seemed best to harmonise
with that assumption.

Dr. Hamel, of St. Petersburg^h, then delivered a discourse, in
which he endeavoured to trace the history of the invention of the
Electric Telegraph. The first telegraphic apparatus worked by
galvanism was that exhibited by Soemmering on the 29th August
1809, before the Academy of Sciences at Munich, in which the
mode of signalling consisted in the development of gas bubblea
from water placed in a series of glass tubes, each of which denoted
a letter of the alphabet. Baron Schilling, attached to the Rus-

Seientifie Meeting in Germany, 279

sian Embassy at Munich, was a particular friend of Soemmering^
and a frequent visitor at his laboratory in 1807 and 1808, when
he was occupied with his galvanic telegraph. When Oersted in
1820 published his important discovery, it occurred to Schilling
that the instant declination of the magnetic needle on the appli-
cation of a stream of galvanism through a surrounding wire might
be applied to telegraphic purposes; and although Ampere, no
doubt, so early as the autumn of 1820, had announced an appli-
cation of Oersted's discovery to telegraphy as something that was
perhaps possible, Schilling was the first to realise the idea by ae-
tually producing an electro-magnetic telegraph, simpler in con-
struction than that which Ampere had imagined. By degrees he
succeeded in producing an apparatus with which, by means of a
wire several (German) miles loDg, he was able successfully to
transmit electro-magnetic signals, previously sounding an alarm
when required. His journey to Mongolia (commenced in May
1830) interupted for a time his telegraphic labours, but he
speedily resumed them upon his return home in 1 832. The ser-
vices of Professor Weber of G6ttingen in the same cause in 1833
Dr. Hamel passed over as already known to his auditory. In May
1835 Baron Schilling lefb St. Petersburgh on a tour through
Germany, France, and Holland, and he attended the meeting of
German naturalists which took place that year in Bonn. At the
sitting of the Physical Section on the 2dd September, of which
the President for the day was Professor Muncke of Heidelberg,
Schilling exhibited and explained bis telegraphic apparatus, with
which Muncke was greatly taken. He frequently spoke of it after
his return to Heidelberg, and on the 6th March following (1836)
he explained the whole thing to William Fothergill Cooke, who
was then occupied at the Anatomical Museum with Professor
Tiedemann's sanction, in the preparation of wax models for his
father, then recently appointed Professor of Anatomy in the Uni-
versity of Durham. Cooke, although he had never previously
studied physics or electricity, was so struck with what Muncke
told him, that he instantly resolved on abandoning the work he
was engaged on, and on endeavouring to introduce electro-magne-
tic telegraphs upon the English railways. With this object in
view he reached London on the 22d April. On the 27th of Feb-
ruaflhy 1837, he became acquainted with Professor Wheatstone of
King's College ; and early in May the two gentlemen resolved to
labour in common for the introduction of the Telegraph into

280 Scientific Jfeeting in Germany,

England — an object which thcy successfully accomplished. On
the 12th of June they obtained their patent, and on the 25th
July the first trial was made at the London terminus of the North-
Western Railway with a wire a mile and a quarter long. About
a fortnight previously, Steinheil of Munich had placed the build-
ings of the Academy of Sciences in electric communication with
the Observatory at Bogenhausen ; and his discovery, the following
year, of the possibility of bringing the galvanic current in tele-
graphing through the earth, back to the battery, deserves greater
recognition than it has yet received.

Schilling, on his return to St. Petersburgh, had renewed his
efforts to turn his telegraph to useful account with more energy
than ever. After a scries of experiments, he believed he had suc-
ceeded in effecting a sufficient isolation of the conducting wire to
admit of the transmission of signals through water, and he pro-
posed to unite Cronstadt with St. Petersburgh by means of a sub-
marine cable. He had got a rope prepared with several copper
wires isolated agreeably to his instructions, when death put a stop
to his labours on the 7th August 1837.

In the course of the summer of that year intelligence reached
America of what had been done in Germany and England in the
way of electric telegraphy. This news stimulated Samuel F. B.
Morse to construct, with the assistance of Dr. Gale, Professor of
Chemistry, an apparatus with which he hoped to be able to tele-
graph. The subject was not at that^ time quite new to Morse.
He had been twice over in Europe to improve himself in his pro-
fession as a painter, and in the course of his second homeward
voyage in 1832, he had had his attention awakened to the possi-
bility of electro-magnetic telegraphy by Dr. Jackson, his fellow-
passenger on board the Sully. On the 4th September — a month
after Schilling's death — he made what he termed a ** successful
attempt.'^ The speaker was in possession of a sketch prepared by
Morse himself of the apparatus with which this successful attempt
was effected. By means of a set of flat-toothed types there was
impressed upon a sheet of paper moved horizontally over a cylin-
der a set of zigzag marks like the teeth of a saw, which were meant
to denote figures. In this manner a set of numbers, was presented
to the eye, each denoting a certain word or number for the ascer-
tainment of which the receiver of the despatch required to consult
a voluminous dictionary. The strip of paper operated upon on
the 4th September 1837, represented, in teeth shaped somewhat

Scientific Meeting in Gerrduiny. 281

like the letter V, the following numbers, viz. :— 216, 36, 268, 112,
04, 01837, which, according to the dictionary, denoted "Succesa-
ful eiperiment with telegraph September 4, 1887." This cum-
brous process, of course, oever came into actual use ; but notwith-
standing this, Morse boldly terms himself the inventor of elec-
tric telegraphy, and dates his invention from the year 1832. Nay
more, the Supreme Court of the United States pronounced a judg-
ment in 1864, finding that in this respect he had the priority of
all Europe. It may possibly be worth while to observe that Morse
is not, as seems to be commonly supposed, a Professor of Physics*
In 1836 he was appointed " Professor of the Literatare of the Aits
of Design" in the educational institution termed the University of
New York ; but he never delivered a single lecture. The instru-
ment now known by the name of Morse's Telegraph was brought
to perfection by degrees, long subsequently to 1837, and after
Morse had made two more voyages to Europe.

In November 1839, Cooke and Wheatstone eiecuted in London
a contract of copartnery, and on the 12th December they gave in
their specification. Their process was founded essentially on the
same principle as Schilling's, only giving the needle a vertical in-
stead of a horizontal position. In August 1839 there were com-
pleted thirteen miles — namely, from Paddington to Drayton— of
a telegraphic line along the Great Western Railway, then in pro-
gress. Other extensions followed, and in 1846 Cooke suddenly
received commissions for a number of lines in various directions
throughout the country. The telegraph had received a sudden
accession of popularity from the aid it had afforded in the dis-
covery and apprehension of John Tawell the murderer. In 1846
Cooke succeeded in forming the Electric Telegraph Company,
which afterwards amalgamated with the International. Their
head station is at Lolhbury, and down to the present day most of
the apparatus employed by them are constructed on the principle
originally applied by Schilling, though now greatly improved by
Wheatstone. From these apparatus proceed 150 different wires
at the least, which run below the pavement to various localities.

Thus it was Baron Schilling of Cannstadt who was the first man
by whom electro-magnetic telegraphy was really applied ; and it
was the telegraphic seed from St. Petersburgh which, after finding its
way vid Bonn and Heidelberg to England, struck its roots in
London — roots from which a tree has sprung up whose gigantic
branches, laden with golden fruit, now stretch and ramify over
Und and sea.

282 Scientific Meeting in Germany,

After tbe delivery of Dr. Hamel's address, and a few words np-
on the subject of it from Colonel von Siebold and Dr. Drescber,
the meeting separated into tbe various sections, virhere the only
business performed was tbe election of their respective presidents.
The afternoon was pleasantly and profitably consumed in eating
and drinking.

On Saturday (September tbe 19th), the proceedings of the Geo-
logical Section commenced with some observations by Dr. J&ger
of Stuttgart, on the origin of regular forms in rocks, which he re-
ferred to processes of crystallisation in the sedimentary masses. Dr*
Otto Yolger, of Frankfort exhibited a series of specimens with the
view of demonstrating the results of his inquiries (some of which
had been already published) on the history of the development
of mineral bodies, and the mode in which the various rocks origi-
nate.

Dr. Yolger maintained that these specimens afforded direct
and irrefragable proof that Feldspath and Quartz were formed in
nature under circumstances which utterly excluded the notion of
a high temperature having been one of the concurrent causes of
their formation. The specimens had been taken from the crys-
talline rocks of the Alps formerly regarded as " primitive rocks"
(Urgebirge) but afterwards claimed partly as plutonic lava rocksf
partly as masses belonging to the first period of refrigeration of
the globe from its original state of igneous fusion. According to
the speaker's investigations, these were nothing else than meta-
morphic rocks that had arisen from the regular development
depending upon chemical processes, of various mineral bodies
particularly Feldspath and Quartz, which had come in the place
of limestone masses contemporary with the Jurassic formation.
The speaker, in reference to this and to another more general and
important result of his inquiries,' namely, that the silicates so far
from being primary formations, or even in the general case pos-
sessing a high degree of antiquity, as Geology had hitherto supposed,
were always younger than the carbonates^ and that the history of
the development of the former constantly pre-supposed the earlier
existence of the latter ; he shewed by means of the specimens in
question, on the largest and on the smallest scale, that Feldspath
and Quartz had grown upon and between Carbonates of lime
(ELalkspathen), which last were still to be found in a portion of
specimens, well preserved, and without exhibiting the slightest
trace of the operation of heat, partly surrounded by Feldspath and

Scientific Meeting in Germany. 288

Quartz crystals, and partly, where effaced througH subsequent dis-
solution and lixiviation, leaving their impression on these crystals
in the distinctest manner possible.

Dr.Pichler, of Innsbruck, exhibited a geognosticmap of the north-
em limestone Alps of the Tyrol, from the borders of the Voralberg
to the borders of Saltzburg,and spoke at some length upon the differ-
ent formations. Dr. Yon D^chen gave information with respect to
the geognostical map of Rhenish Westphalia, of which eleven sec-
tions had already appeared and nine others were in course of pre-
paration. Professor Plieninger spoke upon the difference in the
formation of the teeth between the microleates antiquus, from the
upper breccia (betwixt the keuper and the lias) of Wurtemberg,
and the Plagiaulax of the Purbeck oolite. Herr Yon dem Borne
discoursed on the geology of Pomerania, referring to the alluvium,
the diluvium, the tertiary strata, and the Jura formations. The al-
luvium is found chiefly on the sandy coasts, greatly changed by cur-
rents. It is washed away from the Pomeranian and deposited on
the Prussian coast. In the diluvium he distinguished a disturbed
recent formation and a regularly deposited older one.

On Monday 21st September, Professor GustavHose made some
observations on the gneiss which forms the north-westero limit of
the granitite of the Riesengebirge, and of the granite which oc-
curs in it ; he also spoke of the relation of granite to gneiss in
general. The boundaries betwixt the two could, he said, be very
distinctly drawn in the Riesengebirge. In 1856 at Yienna the
learned Professor gave an account of some recent investigations
which he had made in the Riesengebirge and Isergebirge, with a
a view to determine the exact limits betwixt granitite and granite,
and assigned the reasons which had induced him to regard the
former as a separate species of rock from the latter. These reasons
were — ^first, the distinct mineral composition — the white mica of
the granite being entirely wanting ; secondly, the accurate limits
which can be drawn betwixt it and the granite of the Isergebirge :
and, thirdly, the circumstance that mixtures of a similar composi-
tion to the granite of the Riesengebirge and Isergebirge occurred
in the most diverse localities* From the relations of the granitite
to the granite the Professor considered that the former must have
penetrated to the surface more recently than the latter. [See
also a contribution by Rose " Ueber die zur Granitgruppe geh6rigen
G^birgsarten" in the first volume of the *' Zeitschrifl der deutsch-
geologischen Gesellschaft."]

284 Scientific Meeting in Germany,

Sir Roderick Murchison laid before the meeting the most recent
pubiicatioDS of the Geological Survey, consisting of maps, sections,
&c., as illustrative of the Silurian or older palaeozoic rocks, the
coal measures, and the secondary and tertiary deposits ; and he
also referred to the records of the School of Mines and the De-
cades of Organic Remains, which exhibited the labours of various
distinguished English geologists. M. E. de Yemeuil observed
that, whilst Sir R. Murchison had borne such willing testimony
to the distinguished merits of his colleagues, he had entirely over-
looked his own services ; and pointed out that, in regard espeoi'
ally to the School of Mines, Sir {U>derick had had the greatest
share in its extension and results, both through the great works
which he had himself accomplished, and through what others had
accomplished under his guidance and superintendence.

Herr Yon Carnal! exhibited a copy of the new edition of his
geognostical map of Upper Silesia, and explained in what respects
it differed from the first edition. He took occasion to remark that
of the ironstone rocks of Upper Silesia it was only a portion that
could be regarded as middle-Jurassic ; the portions of this forma-
tian lying to the north and west of Oppel, and the great Rybnik
and Rattibor portions, must be regarded as tertiary-miocene. Un-
der these strata lay the Upper Silesian gypsum and marl rocks
(tegel) with traces of salt, which are now in the course of being
investigated.

Professor Von Zepharovich of Cracow, spoke of the progress
that had recently been made in the knowledge of Austrian mi-
nerals, and pointed out the necessity of collecting and arranging
the results of inquiries made during long periods of time in order
to obtain a synoptical view of what had really been accomplished.
He next exhibited a few printed sheets of a large work of this des-
cription applicable to the Austrian empire, and mentioned that
the work itself would probably be published in the course of next
year. He then handed the President a piece of fossil iron from
Chotzen in Bohemia. Thereupon Dr. O. Volger, with reference
to the aqueous origin of iron, mentioned the fact that Herr Von
Baer had found in a fossil tree imbedded in the turf of a floating
island on the coast of Sweden, which only occasionally emerged
from the water, that the mass by which the cells had been replaced
consisted of native iron.

The proceedings of the day were concluded by a few short but
exceedingly interesting remarks from Professor Blum (Heidelberg),

Scientific Meeting in Oermany, 285

on tbe causes of the formation of different combinations of crys-
tals in tbe same species of mineral. On this subject, he observed*
our knowledge was exceedingly scanty. We had scarcely a single
observation or inquiry to wbich we were able to refer. Experi-
ment alone presented us with facts by the aid of which we might
possibly make some progress. It was a familarfact that' when an
ea^ly soluble salt (alum) crystallised from a pure solution, the
forms exhibited differed from those which were obtained from im-
pure solutions. This fact was suflScient of itself to show beyond
a doubt that the medium in which substances crystallise exerts an
influence upon the form of the crystal. Taking this for our prin-
ciple, and applying it to nature, we find it to be a fact that certain
minerals, when they occur in certain rocks, appear under one and
the same form of crystal — when magnetic iron ore, for example,
occurred in chlorite-schist, it was found in the general case to oc-
cur in the form of an octohedron. The subject was worthy of
careful investigation, and might turn out to be of very great im-
portance in a geognostic point of view.

At the sitting of Tuesday (September the 22nd), Professor Dau-
bree, of Strasburg, spoke on the formation of sulphnret of copper
and apophyllite from the thermal springs of Plombieres. In the
course of certain excavations, undertaken with the purpose of
fencing in these springs, the speaker had found two recent sub-
stances, which were of geological interest from the resemblance
they bore to certain minerals. On a bronze cock, of Roman work-
manship, which had been lying amidst the rubbish of ancient
buildings for more than fifteen centuries, sulphuret of copper had
been formed in the shape of beautiful crystals. They belonged to
the hexagonal system, and could not be distinguished from natu-
ral crystals. From a similar composition, artificial crystals be-
longing to the regular system had already been obtained. The
circumstances under which they had been formed seemed to dif-
fer from those under which the formation of similar crystals occur-
red in veins. The ancient mortar into which the warm water
percolates includes in its cavities colourless crystals identical in
form and composition with apophyllite. They owe their formation
to the operation of the silicate of potash from the hot springs on
the lime of the mortar. The formation both of the apophyllite
and of the hexagonal sulphuret of copper had here taken place in
water of which the temperature did not exceed 70 deg. C.

Dr. Volger gave an account of the result of his observations on
the phenomena of earthquakes in Switzerland, and especiallj the

286 Scientific Meeting in Germany.

earthquake of 25th July 1856 in the Visp-Thal, Canton of Valais.
An investigation of the manner in which this earthquake operated
showed the opinion which refers these phenomena to the develop-
ment of subterranean gases, or to fluctuations of the earth's (hypo-
thetical) fiery-fluid interior, to be mechanically inadmissible. On
the other hand, there existed, in the structure of the Valais moun-
tains, conditions which necessarily led to the movement of portions
of the mountain masses. These were strata of gypsum under-
lying slate and Jurassic masses of immense thickness, and thermal
springs containing large quantities of this gypsum in solution.
This was withdrawn from the earth ; the underlying stratum was
eroded ; and the sinking of the overlying strata became inevitable.

Of the twenty springs of Leuk, a single one conveyed away from
the soil of Valais no less than 60,000 cubic feet of gypsum annually.
With the efforts of the subsidence of an undermined mass, and
of the propagation in the strata of the earth of the impetus there-
by conveyed to the solid substratum, the phenomena exhibited in
the Valais earthquake entirely corresponded. The results of the
speaker's inquiries were given in detail in a work of which two
volumes had already appeared, and the third was now in the press.

The map belonging to this third volume, exhibiting the diffusion,
intensity, and directions of movement of the Valais earthquake,
together with the tables belonging to the two first volumes, with
graphic representations of the relative frequency of earthquakes in
different years and at different periods of the year in the various
districts of Switzerland, were laid before the meeting.

Dr. Abich spoke on the subject of mud volcanoes, and their im-
portance for geology. He founded this importance on an analysis
of the history of the development of these formations as they occur
in the environs of the Caucasus, particularly in the two Caucasian
peninsulas Taman and Apsoheron and endeavoured to establish
the following propositions : — 1. Thestratographic facts of the be-
fore named localities aff jrd a proof that the structure of these for-
mations, notwithstanding the Neptunian origin of the masses of
which they are composed, is determined by precisely the same
laws which regulate the various forms of mountains composed of
strictly Vulcanio masses that have arisen in the mode of igneous
fluidity. 2. The distribution of those small independent systems
of mountains is most distinctly subordinate to the grand lines
which determine the direction of mountain ranges, and therewith
the fundamental features of our continents. 3. The linear group-

Scientific Meeting in Germany. 2Sl

ing and serial arraDgement of these mountains in accordance with
these lines of elevation, was regulated by the same laws which
regulated the foundation and successive completion of the moun-
tain systems and ranges of every portion of the earth's surface.
In conformity with these principles, Dr. Abich maintained that
every view was to be rejected which might incline lo refer the
eruptive phenomena which still retain their permanent seat in the
bosom of these formations to so-called secondary causes, that is,
in the present case, to any other causes than such as depend upon
Vulcanism.

Herr Ignatius Beissel spoke on the marl of Aix-la-Cbapelle, and
laid before the section a geological collection from the Friedrichs-
berg and the Willkommsberg, in the neighbourhood of that city.
The distinction hitherto assumed between the Aiz and Bohemian
chalk on the one hand, and the Westphalian on the other, ground-
ed on the occurrence of polythalami and cirrhipoda in the for-
mer, must now be done away with. Ehrenberg's discovery that
marl consists of organic bodies is confirm )d. The green sand has
arisen from a marly rock by the loss of its carbonate of lime. Down
to the present time the marl is passing" into sandbeds under the in.
flnence of fresh water. The proofs wliicli he adduced were : — 1.
Those fossils which characterise the green sand are found in banks
of sandstone which have lost every particle of lime, in banks of
sandstone containing lime, in the banks of Dumont's psammite
glauconifere. 2. The speaker had himself found the characteristic
fossils of the upper beds of the Aachen chalk in dry deposits of
green sand. 3. The glauconite granule is in most cases the re-
sult of the formation of a stone nucleus in the shells of polythala-
mise. 4. On dissolving the marl in muriatic acid we obtain a re-
siduum of green sand. That the lower portions of the chalk are
precisely those which have lost their lime is explained by the cir-
cumstance that, being the last to be elevated above the sea, they
were the longest exposed to the influence of the sea- water ; more-
over the meteoric waters flow over the clay strata of the Aachen
sand, and thus fill the lower division while they merely filter
through the upper. The speaker then discussed the residuum of
the marl and green sand : — I. The double refracting siliceous splin-
ter ; 2. The single-refracting spongiolites. The siliceous splinters
originate : — 1. From spongiolites which become crystalline on the
change of the amorphous silica ; 2. From the disintegration of the
white stone grannies of polythalamise ; 8. From glauoonite gra-

288 SeientiJU Meeting in Germany,

nules whicli have burst and lost their colouring matter, and of which
the amorphous silica had been changed into crystalline. The
speaker's collections, and especially his microscopic preparations
of the finest organisms, excited in the section the utmost admira-
tion.

At the sitting of Wednesday (September 23) General von Pan-
huys explained a small geological map of the southern portion of
the Duchy of Limburg, which he had prepared in 1850, by in-
structions of the Dutch War Office. The object had been to as-
certain whether the coal mieasures extended to the Dutch territory^
The speaker endeavoured to show that the Bardenberg district,
north of Aix-la-Ohapelle, is connected with the Liege coal trough,
and forms a portion of it. Were this the case— a fact that can be
perfectly ascertained only by borings — ^Limburg would be in pos-
session of two square miles of coal measures, of which one-half is
covered merely by green sand and the other half by green sand and
by chalk.

Herr von der Marck spoke on the subject of some petrifactions
of the Westphalian chalk, and exhibited a number of well-preserv-
ed fossils — amongst others, the remains of huge Saurians from
the Schoppinger Berg, near Miinster. ,

Herr Heymann spoke of the changes of certain constituents
that had occurred in trachytic and basaltic rocks in the Siebenge-
birge. He exhibited specimens of oligoklas transmuted into kao-
lin and red Ehrenbergit ; of hornblende transmuted into steatite ;
of transmuted augite and olivine in the basalt of the Menzenberg,
near Honnef ; radiated mesotype from the basalt of the Minder-
berg was also partly changed into a steatitic mass.

Professor Noeggerath denied that the black mica in the trachy-
tes was altered hornblende.

Herr Max Braun observed that the occurrence of blende at the
Wettemsee in Sweden, was something very different from what
it is in our known veins and beds in the district of the Rhine. la
Sweden the blende formed beds which were imbedded in the gneiss^
following the gneiss strata, with similar strike and dip, for a con-
siderable extent, and with a thickness of 16 to 20 feet or more.
The blende is for most part finely granular, and always intimately
mixed with more or less feldspath. In these beds of blende are
found concretions of green feldspath and of quartz, including
crystalline particles of blend. The gneiss in immediate contact with
the blende contains a bed of granular lime, containing garnet and

Scientific Meeting in Germany. 289

pistazite and tbin layers of Wollastonite. Parallel to the blende
strata is a bed of brown garnet, containing mica and dichroite,
and in like manner subordinate to the gneiss. There were similar
layers of white cobalt and copper pyrites imbedded in quartzo^
mica-slate. This occurrence of zinc blende is peculiar, and does not
seem to harmonise well with our common views regarding mine-
ral veins.

Sir Roderick Murchison exhibited the plates of a new edition
of his Siluria, and explained the most important additions that
had been made to our knowledge of the Silurian rocks during the
last three years. He maintained that it was now proved, both by
physical and zoological facts, that the Bala beds of Wales were
identical with the Caradoc beds, resting similarly upon the Llan-
deilo formation, in the lower division of which a number of new
fossil species had been discovered. He then referred to the group
of the Llandovery rocks in South Wales (containing the Pentam-
ems Ohhngus) Ijring between the lower and upper Silurian, and
closely connected with each. Finally, he exhibited figures of gi-
gantic crustaceans (pterygotus) found in the upper Silurian bedsf
which had been published by Mr. Salter in the Decades of the
Geological Survey.

M. Ch. St. Claire Deville exhibited his topographical map of the
island of Guadaloupe. In the centre rises the cone of the Son-
friere, surrounded by a crater of elevation. The latter consists of
dolerite ; the central one of a trachyte, the feldspath of which ap-
proaches in chemical composition to Labrador. The Sonfriere is
an extinct volcano. At the request of Sir Roderick Murchison
and Mr. Merian, the speaker then communicated his views with
regard to the volcanoes of Italy and their mode of action. He
held Yon Buch's theory of elevation, but laid considerable stress
upon itoilemeiit, Vesuvius and Etna, as central volcanoes, he re-
garded as the points of intersection of radiating fissures, in which
▼olcanic action burst forth. The Phlegrean fields, the Rocca Monfi-
na, the Lago d'Amsanto, Ischia, and other points he considered
as lying upon these fissures.

Herr von Gamall exhibited maps of the coal formation in Rus-
sian Poland on a scale of 1-20,000, and of Lower Silesia, at which
Beyrich, Rose, and Roth had been working for years, on a scale
of 1-100,000.

Director Nauck, with reference to the question agitated on
Monday by Professor Blum, reported the result of a series of ex.

290 Scientific Meeting in Germany.

periments undertaken with a view to ihe arbitrary production of
secondary surfaces on artificial crystals. He described the method
employed by him, by means of which he found that the number
of surfaces became greater in proportion to the slowness with
which crystallisation proceeded, a fact of which he cited several
examples. He stated^ in conclusion, that his experiments should
be continued.

Professor Romer communicated the result of a survey of the
Jurassic Wesergebirge between Hameln and Osnabriick. He re*
(erred especially to the striking alterations which the members of
the Jura formation composing the range undergo in the course of
their extent. In consequence of such a change, for example, the
Oxford appears in the western spurs of the chain as compact
quartz, whilst in a section of the Porta Guestphalica it is develop-
ed in layers of loose sandy marl schist, which crumbles to pieces
in the atmosphere. As something altogether peculiar to the Wes-
ergebirge, and differing from anything to be found either in other
parts of North Germany or in any other district, he denoted the
occurrence of thick beds of brown sandstone in the uppermost
member of the series, which is distinguished chiefly by exogyra
virguloj the member which in North Germany has hitherto been
denoted as Portland, but would more properly be termed Eimme-
ridge. Such sandstone strata may be observed in the neighbour-
hood of Ltibbecke and of Prenssisch Oldendorff.

At the last sectional meeting (24th September), Berghauptman
von Dechen gave an account of the progress that had been made
in preparing the geogaostical map of Germany, and received the
thanks of the meeting for his own trouble in that work. In Dr.
Ewich's absence, he also made some observations regarding the
mineral spring in the Brohlthal and its future importance. He
concluded with a short report on the thermal springs of Neuenahr
near Beuel in the Ahrthal, recently discovered by Professor
Bischof.

Dr. Yolger pointed out the error that was committed when re-
cent geological tendencies were characterised as ^'a revival of,
Neptunism.'' The new tendency had nothing in conunon with
Noptunism except this, that it was the opposite of Plutonism. In
a positive sense it partook no more of Neptunism than Plutonism
had retained of the Neptunistic doctrine ; nay, in essential points
it deviated from these still more widely than Plutonism itself did*
Neptunism assumed the crystalline rooks,— the Basalts, the Gneiss^

Scientifie Afeeting in Otrmany. 291

the Granites — to be immediate sedimentary deposits in water, just
as it assumed that mode of deposit for sandstone, clay, and lime-
stone. The new geology entertained no doabts regarding the af-
finity of basalts with the lavas of active volcanoes ; but it supposed
these basalts, after their eruption in the form of lava, to have un-
dergone chemical alterations in their masses, by virtue of which
they now appear as basalts and not as lavas. The new geology,
whilst, no doubt, absolutely denying the Vulcanic, or, if the term
be more agreeable, the ^ Plutonic" origin of Gneiss, Granite and
other crystalline rocks, was yet very far from regarding these as
being therefore immediate sediments. On the contrary, it suppos-
ed these rocks to have proceeded, by means of complete chemi-
cal changes, from sediments which were originally of a totally
different constitution; — ^to have proceeded, e. g. from limestone
strata by processes capable of exact demonstration by means of the
pseudoraorphoses, the relative antiquity of the various minerals
composing the rocks, and other aids to investigation. Again, no
Plutonist had ever called in question that sandstone, clay, and
stratified limestone were immediate deposits from water, just as
their formation was conceived in Werner's Neptunism. The new
(Geology was not so neptunistic, but here too pointed out a number
of chemical processes caused by the sediments partly in the act of
their deposit and partly immediately afterwards. Whilst Pluton-
ism, e. g. had never scrupled to assume that limestone strata had
been formed and were still in process of formation, partly from
the evaporation of water holding lime in solution, partly from the
liberation of the carbonic acid by means of which the water held
the lime in solution, the new Geology showed that this process so
little occurs in nature that by no possibility could sedimentary
limestone ever have arisen in such a manner. Sea water contained
so much free carbonic acid that it could dissolve ten times the
quantity of lime that it contains ; and, far from being able to depo-
sit lime for want of carbonic acid, it most operate as a solvent up-
on all masses of lime with which it comes in immediate contact.
According to the results attained by the new geology, the mode
in which sedimentary lime was formed was as follows : Its mate-
rials were frimished not ooly by the (Carbonate of) lime contained
in the water, but also by the gypsum (sulphate of lime) which is'
such a singularly universal constituent of all the waters of the
Earth and in sea-water e^cially is contained in great abundance;
The business of separating the lime from the water was performed

292 Sdeniific Meeting in Germant/.

partly by plants, partly by animals. The former secreted the
(carbonate of) lime by absorbing the carbonic acid by means of
which it was held in solution in the water, and decomposing it in
their change of matter, whilst by their organic materials them*
selves they protected the secreted lime from immediate contact with
the water and thereby from being re-dissolved. The latter took
up the gypsum, employed its sulphuric acid in the formation of
such of their organic materials as require sulphur (flesh, blood, <fec :)
and combined the calcareous earth thus robbed of its acid with the
carbonic acid constantly produced in their bodies by respiration.
The carbonate of lime thus formed they deposited in their
organs, especially in their skin, in the form of shell. It
was of accumulations of these shells (interpenetrated with orga-
nic tissues and materials) and of the masses of lime secreted by
plants, that all limestone strata originally consisted. The lowest
classes of plants and animals, especially the microscopic (the one-
celled Algae — ^Diatomace or Bacillarioe — and the Foramenifera),
are in this respect of by far the greatest importance in nature.
Hence, in the apparently compact limestone masses, their origin
from the incrustations of plants and the shells of animals generally
escaped the naked eye and required the aid of the microscope for
its demonstration. Afte;r the deposition of these calcareous se-
diments they were continually undergoing transpositions in conse-
quence of the decomposition of organic materials which was going
on within them. In this manner the traces of their origin became
more and more obliterated ; but even in limestones of the oldest
formations, we could occasionally observe those traces to such an
extent that it was impossible to mistake them. The speaker elu-
cidated his observations by laying before the meeting a series of
specimens from the miocene formation of the basin of Mainz taken
from the locality of Frankfort.

The agreeable, though for me somewhat presumptuous, task
which I undertook I have now performed to the best of my ability.
I do not profess to have furnished anything like a complete out-
line of the proceedings ; but I trust that I may have been the hum*%
ble means of conveying to such readers of the Naturalist as take
an interest in the proceedings of foreign geologists a slight idea of
the contents of some of the more important ^communications,
which will be found reported in externa when the transactions of
the meeting shall have been published.

Geological Surveys in Great Britain^ de, 293

ART. XXV. — Geological Survey in Great Britain and her De*
pendencies.

Extnotod firom the Saturdaif Bepi&w of Srd July.

In 1769 there was born to a yeoman of Oxfordshire, named John
Smith, a son, who in due course was christened William.
William Smith, as he grew into boy's estate, delighted to wander
in the fields collecting *^ poandstones {Behintes,) *'pundibs**
(Terebratula!)y &ud other stoney curiosities ; and, receiving little
education beyond what he taught himself he learned nothing of
classics but the name. Grown to be a man, he became a land
surveyor and civil engineer, and by-and-by in the western parts
of England was much engaged in constructing canals. While
thus occupied, he observed that all the rocky masses forming the
substrata of the country were gently inclined to the east and
south-east — that the red sandstones and marls above the coal-
measures passed below the beds provincially termed lias clay, and
limestone — that these again passed underneath the sands, yellow
limestones, and clays that form the table land of the Cotteswold-
Hills — while they in turn plunged beneath the great escarpment
of chalk that runs from the coast of Dorsetshire northward to the
Yorkshire shores of the German Ocean. Gifted with remarkable
powers of observation, he further observed that each formation of
clay, sand, or limestone held to a very great extent its own
peculiar suite of fossils. The '* snakestones" [Ammonites) of the
lias were different in form and ornament from those of the inferior
oolite ; and the shells of the latter, again, differed from those of
the Oxford clay, combrash, and Eimmeridge clay. Pondering
much on these things, he came to the then unheard-of conclusion
that each formation had been in its turn a sea-bottom, in the
sediments of which lived and died marine animals now extinct,
man; of them specially distinctive of their own epochs in time.

Here indeed was a discovery — made, too, by a man utterly
unknown to the scientific world, and having no pretension to
scientific lore. He spoke of it constantly to his friends, and at
breakfast used to illustrate the subject with layers of bread and-
butter, placed with out-cropping edges to represent the escarp-
ments that mark the superposition of the strata. He talked of
it wherever he went — ^at canal boards, county meetings, agricul-
tural associations, and Wobum sheep-shearings — and once much
astonished a scientific friend and clergyman of Bath by deranging
the zoological classification of his cabinet of fossils, and rapidly

294 Geologieai Surveys in Ortat Britain^ <te.

re-arranging them all in stratigrapbical order : — '* These came
from the blue lias, these frooa the overlying sand and freestone,
these from the fuller's earth, and these from the Bath building-
stones." A new and unexpected light was thrown upon the whole
subject, and thenceforth the Rev. Samuel Richardson became his
disciple and warmest advocate. But '' Strata Smith" was too
obscure and unscientific to be at once received as an apostle bj
the more distinguished geologists of the day. Gould a country
land surveyor pretend to teach them something more than was
known to Werner and Hutton ? He might preach about strata
and their fossils through the length and breadth of England, but
the structure of the Earth was not to be unravelled in this un-
learned manner. Established geologists therefore pooh-poohed
bim, and it took many a long year before his principles, working
their way, took effect on the geological mind. This long-delayed
result was chiefly due to the discrimination of tiie now venerable
Doctor Fitton ; and the first geologists of the day learned from a
busy land surveyor that superposition of strata is inseparably con-
nected with the succession of life in time. The grand vision in-
dulged in by the old physicist Hook was at length realized, and
it was indeed possible to " build up a terrestrial chronology from
rotten shells" embedded in the rocks. Now there could be no
mistake that the time had arrrived to do him honour, and through
Sedgwick, the President of the Geological Society, William SmitJi
was presented with the Wollaston medal, and hailed as *^ the
Father of English Geology;" and his reputation still further
ripening, he was ultimately created LL.D. by the University of
Oxford.

But during all this time he did not confine himself to the pro-
mulgation of his doctrines by words alone. By incessent journeys
to and fro, on foot and on horseback, in gigs, chaises, and on the
tops of stage coaches, he traversed the length and breadth of the
land, and, maturing his knowledge of its rocks, constructed the
first geological map of England. It was a work so masterly in
conception, and so correct in general outline, that in prindpal it
served as a basis not only for the production of later maps of the
British Islands, but for geological maps of all other parts of the
world, wherever they have been undertaken ; and thus the faintly
expressed hope of Lister (1683) was accomplished, that if such and
such soils and the underlying rocks were mapped, *' something
more might be comprehended from the whole, and from every

Geological Surveys in Great Britain^ dtc. 295

part, than I can possibly foresee." In the apartments of the
Geological Society Smith's map may yet be seen — a great histori-
cal document, old and worn, calling for renewal of its faded tints.
Let any one conversant with the subject compare it with later
works on a similar scale, and he will find that in all essential
features it will not suffer by the comparison — the intricate anatomy
of the Silurian rocks of Wales and the north of England by
Murchison and Sedgwick being the chief additions made to his
great generalizations. In 1840 he died, having, in his simple
earnest way, gained for himself a name as lasting as the science
he loved so well. Till the manner as well as the fact of the first
appearance of successive forms of life shall be solved, it is not
easy to surmise how any discovery can be made in geology equal
in value to that whip}! we owe to the genius of William Smith.
Since the publication of Smith's map, many others have ap-
peared— the noble compilation for England by Greenough, the
great original map of Scotland by Macculloch, and the yet finer
map of Ireland by Sir Richard Grifllth. The last is a work only
less remarkable than Smith's in this — that, when commenced, the
principles of geology were established, and he followed instead of
leading the way. To these, of various dates, may be added the
maps by Professor Phillips, Sir Roderick Murchison, and Enipe,
and many others of districts in detail — an example first set by
Smith in his geological maps of counties. But the most remark-
able result of this appreciation of the growing value of the subject
was the establishment of the Government Geological Survey of
Great Britain, under the late Sir Henry De la Beche, to whom
the whole honour is due of having commenced, and for many years
successfully carried on, this great undertaking. From small
beginnings in Cornwall he gradually extended his operations, and,
aided by Government, he gradually trained or selected a corps of
skilled geologists, who, ere his death in 1855, had already mapped
and published nearly a half of England and Wales and part of the
Sonth of Ireland. The maps employed in this survey are the
one-inch Ordnance sheets for the southern half of England, and
the six-inch maps for Ireland, the north of England and Scotland.
Each fault, each crop of coal, and every geological boundary is
traced so minutely, that on some of the roughest and loftiest hill's
in Wales, twenty geological lines may be counted in the space of
an inch, corresponding to one mile of horizontal measurement ;
and all the country is traversed by numerons measured sections

296 Geological Surveys in Cheat Britairif <tc*

on which the structure and dispoeition of the rocky masses is laid
down in still more precise detail. On the death of Sir Heory De
la Beche the office of Director General was conferred on Sir
Roderick Murchison, himself a geological workman whose field of
operations has extended from the Atlantic to the Caspian Sea.

The Government School of Mines aiid Geological Museum in
Jermyn-street is an oflfshoot of the Survey. There, in addition to
the published maps, other substantial proofs of the progress of the
Survey are preserved and exhibited. Ores, metals, rocks, and
whole suites of fossils are stratigraphically arranged in such a
manner, that, with an observant eye for form, all may easily un-
derstand the more obvious scientific meanings of the succession of
life in time and its bearing on geological economics. It is perhaps
scarcely an exaggeration to say that the greater number of so-
called educated persons are still ignorant of the meaning of this
great doctrine. They would be ashamed not to know that there
are many suns and material worlds besides our own; but the
science, equally grand and comprehensible, that aims at the dis-
covery of the laws that regulated the creation, extension, deca-
dence, and utter extinction of many successive species of genera
and whole orders of life is ignored, or if intruded on the attention,
is looked on as an uncertain and dangerous dream — ^and this
in a country which was almost the nursery of geology, and which,
for fifty-one years, has boasted the first Geological Society in the
world. Several other governments have followed the example of
that of Great Britain. Similar Surveys have long been established
in France, Belgium, Austria, and the United States ; and others
will certainly be founded as knowledge progresses, and as those
branches of material prosperity advance on which the subject im-
mediately bears. A direct result, perhaps not at first foreseen by
the founder of the British Survey, was the establishment of kin-
dred undertakings in our possessions abroad. In 1843, a syste-
matic geological survey was commenced in Canada, in 1846 in
India, and at later dates in Australia, the Cape of Good Hope,
and Trinidad ; and all of these sprang from the parent institution in
which the chief Colonial geologists were trained in the field, while
both the Survey and the School of Mines supplied many of the
younger officers. We have before us a pile of Blue-books, Reports,
and a large Atlas of the Geological Survey of Canada, published
by order of the Legislative Assembly, and probably almost un-
known in England except to a few scientific geologists. From

Oeological Surveys in Great Britain, <tc. 297

them it appears tliat Sir William Logan, the Director of the Sur-
vey, and his assistants, have traversed and examined for 1500
miles, every part of Canada, from Gasp6 to the head of Lake
Superior, following the Lakes and the great and small rivers, and
penetrating the forest-clad interior, often in districts utterly un-
visited by settlers. The result is, that all the great geological
' features of Canada are laid down on the map, and in many dis-
tricts, the most interesting new topographical and geological
details have been inserted with unrivalled skill.

But those who merely look at the result have little idea of the
difficulties that attend such an undertaking in a country the
greater part of which is yet unreclaimed. From the want of
accurate maps to serve as a foundation for geological work, Sir
William and his assistants have actually been obliged in almost
all cases to construct topographical plans — truly very different
operations from those of an Ordnance Survey in fertile England,
where houses and steeples, hill-tops and beacons, afford innumer-
able points for accurate triangulation, while all the minor field
operations are carried on almost mechanically by well-trained
Sappers and Miners. Though like in result also, their labour is
yet very different in kind from English field-work in geology,
where the explorer has road sections and railway cuttings, open
rivers, quarries and coal-pits, all waiting to afford him data. If
the lowlands of Eagland were partly, and the highlands of Scot-
land and Wales entirely, covered with lofky and almost impene-
trable forests, and if the most experienced English geologists were
turned loose upon these countries, and required to unravel all the
intricacies of their stratifications, they would have some idea of a
kind of geological labour not to be met with in any part of Europe
out of Russia. On a gigantic scale, the great Laurentine chain,
extending from Labrador to Lake Superior, might represent the
highlands of Scotland — Qasp^ the mountains ojf Wales — and the
flat Silurian strata bordering the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, and
Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron, might be compared, in their
broad terraced arrangement, to the escarpments of the oolitic rocks
and chalk in the centre of England. Qeology is a delightful
science, but it may be questioned if gentleman who live at home
at case would in all cases be enthusiastic enough to devote them-
selves to it were they obliged, for half of every year, for half a
lifetime, to rough it in dreary pine forests — to navigate newly-dis-
covered rivers in birch-bark canoes made by Indian assistants on

208 Figures and JDeeeriptions cf Canadian Organic JRemains.

the spot — to sleep in bircb-bark tents witb their feet to nightly
fires at the entrance — ^to be thankful when they fell in with a few
wild onions to flavour their daily salt pork — to have their paths
disputed by occasional bears in qnarries, on the river banks, or
the shores of the desolate Anticosti — and, worst of all, to have but
little of that direct sympathy and clear appreciation of the scien-
tific value of their labours of which men of science who work
amid their peers daily experience the value. The Government of
Canada may well be proud of Sir William Logan and his well-
eelected stafi*, and the mother country has equal cause of gratu-
lation that the great Imperial colony has emulated her example
in founding, on a scale so large and efficient^ a national work
which no civilized country should be without.

ART. XKYL— Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organic
Remains, Decade IIL 8vo.Pp. 102, with 12 plates, price
$1. Montreal: B. Dawson & Son.

In a scientific point of view, this is the first instalment of work
of the Canadian Survey. The reasons for the early appearance,
of this the third part, and other matters Connected with it, aro
thus explained by Sir W. E. Logan in the preface : —

^ One of the subjects comprehended in the recommendation of
the Select Committee appointed by the House of Assembly, on the
Geological Survey, in 1854, was the publication of figures and
descriptions illustrative of such new organic forms as might be
obtained in the progress of the investigation. In compliance with
this recommendation, it was determined that the publication should
be made in parts or decades, after the mode adopted by the
Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, each part to consist
of about ten plates, with appropriate descriptive text, and to
comprehend one or more genera or groups of allied fossils, or the
description of several species^ for the illustration of some special
point in geology.

" The first part or decade was confided for description, in 1855,
to Mr. J. W. Salter, one of the Palaeontologists of the Geological
Survey of the United Kingdom, This comprehends different genera
and species from one locality. Of these several are new, while
others are more perfect forms of species already partially described ;
and the general object is to exhibit a commingling of forms here-
tofore supposed to belong to distinct epochs. The plates of this

Figure$ and DucriptioM of Canadian Organic Remains. 2^

decade are the work of Mr. W. Sowerby, from drawinge by
Mr. R C. Bone. The engravings are on steel ; nine of the plates
are finished, and it is expected the tenth will be completed in a
short time.

''The second decade was undertaken also in 1855, by Mr. Jas*
Hall of Albany, so justly celebrated for his works on the Palaeon-
tology of New York. It will comprehend the description of a
large nnmber of remaikable new forms of Ghraptolithus and allied
genera from the Hudson River gronp. The drawings are by
Mr. F. B. Meek. Six plates have been engraved on steel by
Mr. J. E. Gfavit, and ten more plates are in the engraver's hands.
The number of species will probably be twenty-four, of which
Mr. Hall has already given a description in the Report of Progress
for the year 1857.

*' On the appointment of Mr. E. Billings as Palaeontologist of the
Survey, in 185<(, his first dnty was to effect an arrangement of the
Museum. This being accomplished, he devoted his attention to a
third decade. This comprehends all the Cystidesd and Star-fishes,
as well as all the Entomostraca, of the collection. With the view
of obtaining the plates necessary for the illustration of these, Mr.
Billings in the month of February last, carried his fossils to Lon-
don. Finding that considerable delay was likely to attend the
publication of the decade should he illustrate it by engravings
on steel, he determined to have recourse to lithography. Although
minute detail cannot be so finely given by this mode, nor so large
an edition be obtained, it is yet perfectly suitable for all practical
purposes. It is occasionally used for the fossils of the British
Survey, and very generally for the illustration of the best palffion-
tological works on the continent of Europe. The twelve plates
which illustrate the third decade are the work of several well-known
artists, who have all their respective merits. One of the plates is
by Mr. R. C. Bone, two of them by Mr. J. Dinkle, four by Mr.
Tuffen West, three by Mr. H. S. Smith, one by Mr. W. Sowerby,
and one by Mr. G. West. Of the descriptive part, the Cystide«
and Star-fishes are by Mr. E. Billings ; the genus Cyclocystoides
by Mr. Salter and Mr. Billings ; and the Entomostraca by Mr. T.
R. Jones, assistant-secretary of the Geological Society of London,
who is considered the best authority on this particular family of
animals, and had previously described a large number of f^e
Canadian species.

** While Mr. Billings was attending to the progress of his decade

300 Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organie Eemains*

in London, it appeared doubtful which of Ihe three that were in
hand would be first ready for publication. He, in consequence,
caused to be registered on the plates, as the number of the decade,
the figure which indicates the order in which it was commenced.
It therefore appears as the third decade, but being the first
ready, and the subject quite distinct from those of the other two,
no hesitation is experienced in placing it first before the public.

^ Mr. H. S. Smith, who, as already stated, supplied three of the
plates, has been induced to come out to Canada with the design of
devoting his attention to the representation of the fossils of the
Provincial collection ; and it will therefore in future be unneces-
sary to go out of the country for the illustration of them, unless it
be to procure the aid of the best authority on some special subject.

'^ Of the third decade an edition of 2000 copies is issued. Of
these 500 copies are reserved for the members of the Legislature ;
and it is intended to fix upon the remainder a moderate price, and
dispose of them to the public through some respectable bookseller.
By this means it is hoped that they will fall into the hands of those
who will really appreciate them. The same course will be pur-
sued in respect to the first and second decades, when they are
ready.

^' A fourth decade is now in hand which will illustrate the Gri-
noids of the collection."

The first and most important paper in the work is that by Mr.
Billings on the Cystides ; an able essay in which Mr. Billings is
emphatically on his own ground, and gives an earnest of much
good work in Canadian Palaeontology. We cannot do better than
allow Mr. Billings to explain the nature of these curious denizens
of the ancient seas, only remarking that to introduce them in a
popular style, is in the best possible taste. Li a national work
published at the public expense, it is more than pedantry to refrain
from such popular explanations as may enable the non-scientific rea-
der to understand at least the nature of the subject. Yet this has too
often been done, much to the detriment as we believe of science,
and we are glad that a better example is here set.

'' As several elaborate and beautifully illustrated memoirs upon
the structure and affinities of the Cystides have appeared during
the last few years, it would be superfluous, on the present occa-
sion, to enter upon a re-examination of the subject, were this de-
cade designed to circulate only among scientific men, for whom it
would be sufficient to give nothing more than the most concise

Figures and Deseriptiotis of Canadian Organic Bemains. 301

technical descriptions of the species. But being intended also for
the nse of the students of Canadian geology — whose number is
rapidly increasing throughout the Province — it appears necessary
to commence with a general summary of what has been ascertained
up to the present time concerning the zoological characters and dis-
tribution in time and epace of this somewhat extraordinary group
of extinct organisms. By this course it is hoped that, while the
foreign geologists will leceiyeall the intimation he desires of what
we are doing, the growth of science in our own country wiU also
be promoted.

"^ The GystidesB were a race of small marine animals, which
flourished vigorously during the Silurian period, but totally disap-
peared before the commencement of the Carboniferous era. They
were closely allied to that interesting family, the lily eucrinites,
or Crenoids, and, like them, entirely covered, as with a coat of mail,
by a dermal or external skeleton of thin calcareous plates, which
were sometimes richly ornamented with radiating ridges or striae.
Attached to the lower extremity of the body was a short flexible
stalk, usually called the column, that served to anchor the animal
securely to one spot on the bottom of the ocean throughout life ;
and at the opposite, or upper end, a set of arms, which, in addi-
tion to their other functions, may have assisted in the collection of
food by exciting currents of water towards the mouth. This latter
organ was a circular or oval aperture, situated in the side, below
or near the summit, and in some species must have been also the
passage through which such matter as could' not be digested was
thrown out The young were developed from eggs, which were,
there is good reason to believe, generated in the grooves of the
arms, or pinnuls, where, as has been ascertained by actual obser-
vation, the organs of reproduction are situated in the Crinoids that
exist in some of the seas of the present time.

^ Concerning the food, habits, or other particulars of the natural
history of the Cystide», we can never hope to acquire any great
amount of information, as the race wholly perished many ages ago
and the only evidences we have of its existence are, with few
exceptions, very imperfect skeletons, which exhibit nothing except
the structure of the external hard parts. It is only probable that
their nourishment was derived from minute particles of animal or
vegetable matter diffused through the waters in which they lived.
The structure and position of the mouth are such, that they could
not have been highly carnivorous, while their nearly sedentary

302 Figures and Desoripiions of Canadian Organic Remains.

condition would altogether preclude the cftpture of any prey ex*
cept such as might float by chance within their reach. Animals
rooted to the ground like a plant would fare ill were they orga-
nised to support life by the predacious mode only.

" The fossil remains of the Cystidese consist for the greater part
of mere fragments of the plates and columns ; but these, in cer-
tain localities, occur in such prodigious abundance, that they con-
stitute the principal portion of strata of rock several feet in thick-
ness. Of many of the species specimens of the bodies are
exceedingly rare, and when these are discovered they are usually
more or less crushed and distorted. While the fossil Corals,
Brachiopods and Gasteropoda may be collected in hundreds, few
cabinets can boast of half-a-dozen good Cystideans, even in those
countries where whole formations of rock are composed of the
exuvisB of the race.

^ With respect to their distribution in time, they have been dis-
covered in Bohemia, by M. Barrande, in beds which He in the very
bottom of the oldest rooks containing traces of animal life ; and
therefore, according to the present state of our knowledge of the
primeval fauna, they were among (he first living things t^at made
their appearance upon the surface of this planet. The Lower
Silurian formation, in the several countries where it has been most
studied, has at its base a great thickness of stratified rocks which
are altogether without fossils — at least none have been discovered
in them up to the present time. Then follows in conformable
succession a series in which organic r^nains do occur, but not in
any great abundance. This is the lower half of the fossililerous
portion of the Lower Silurian. In Great Britain these strata are
the Lingula Flags of Sir Roderick Murchison ; in Bohemia the
Primordial Zone of Barrande ; and in Norway and Sweeden the
Alum Slates, or Regions A and B, of M. Angelin, the leading
paheontologist of that country. In America they have not been
distinctly recognized, although it is doubtfully anticipated that the
Potsdam sandstone and the lowest sandstones of the western states
may be of the same age. It is more probable that some of the
ancient schists in the eastern states, where a large trilobite of the
genus Paradoxides has been founds are of the age of this ^' pri-
mordial zona of life." In whatever way this point miay be dedded
hereafter, it is only in Bohemia that Gystideae have been found so
low down in the geological series. Four species have there been
discaveredf together with twenty-seven species of Trilobites^ one

Figures and I>e8cripium$ of Canadian Organic Remains. 808

Brachiopod {Orihis Bomingeri^ Barrande,) and one Pteropod
{Pugiuneulus primus^ Barraode,) but no Crinoids.

" In Scandinavia the Primordial Zone has not jet yielded traces
of either Crinoids or CyBtide8e,batseYenty-one species of trilobites,
and eight Brachiopods of the genera Idngula, Orbiculoy Orthis and
Atrypa^ have been discovered, with one or two graptolites and a
small orthoceratite, near the top.

"• In England the Lingnla Flaga, which are regarded as the
equivalents of the Bohemian and Scandinavian deposits, have
furnished a very similar fauna of trilobites and rare mollusca, with
one or two graptolites ; but up to this date only a fragment of a
crinoidal column and no Oystideana. It is also to be observed^
that in none of these countries have any corals been detected in
these lowest fosailiferous strata.

^ In the upper half of the Lower Silurian, organic remains become
exceedingly abundant^ and it is in this part of the geological series
that the Cystide» attain their greatest dev^opment, both in the
numbers of the species and of the individiials. This deposit ig
represented in England by the Llandeilo and Bala or Garadoc
groups of Murchison; in Bohemia by the stage D. containing the
^ second fauna" of Barrande; in Scandinivia and Russia by the
Regions BC, 0 and D of Angelin, and the ^ Pleta*^ or Orthoceratite
limestone ; and in Canada by all the groups from the base of the
Calciferous Sandrock up to the top of the Hudson River group.

^^ While these rocks were slowly being deposited, the Gystidese
literally covered the bottom of the ocean in dense swarms in certain
localities which were f&vorable to their existence, one generation
growing upon the remains of another, until thi<^ beds were formed
In Russia, Norway and Sweden, Sir Roderick Murchison dis-
covered them in the Pleta limestone, which appears to be of the
age of theChazy, Bridseye, Black River and Trenton lime-
stones, packed together like ^ bunches of enormous grapes f and
in Bohemia M. Barrande has found them equally abundant. He
says that the Crinoids and Star-fishes have left only iosignifieant
traces, but the Cystidefie form entire beds of fifom one to two yards
in thickness.

^' In Canada they make their ^p^rance rarely in the Calciferous
Sandrock, but in the Chazy and Trenton their remains are more
common, consisting however mostly of the detatched platea packed
together in thick strata. Thqr are not very generally distributed,
but confined to certain . locality Throughout extensive regioaa

304 Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organic Memains.

•

occupied by these formations scarcely 9 vestige of a Cystidean is
to be found ; but in other places^ such as the neighbourhoods of
the cities of Montreal and Ottawa, they are exceedingly plentiful.
Everywhere however good specimens are rare.

" M. Barrande, in comparing the European rocks of this age,
observes that in Bohemia the Cystidean zone occurs about the
centre of his stage of Quartzites D, which would be also the
equivalent of Angelin's group C. In England the corresponding
level would be about the Bala limestone, where the principal masses
of CystidesB are found. The abundance of their remains in the
Chazy and Trenton of Canada confirms the views of M. Barrande,
and at the same time tends to shew that these two American
formations should be paralleled with the Bala rather than with the
Llandeilo. This question however cannot be decided without
more perfect lists of fossils than can be at present procured.

" The number of species of CystidesB that occur in this zone are
as follows, so far as I can ascertain, in these countries respectively :

Scandinavia and Russia 20

Great Britain 13

Bohemia, about.. 8

Canada 21

New York 1

63

*' In consequence of the imperfection of the specimens and some
confusion in the descriptions of different authors, the above num-
bers may not be exactly coirect ; but from what I have seen it
appears to me that there are more than sixty species, described and
underscribed, belonging to this period.

*^ In the Upper Silurian there are in Great Britain nine species,
and in Canada and New York about the same number, but none
in either Bohemia or Scandinavia have yet been made public.

'^According to the present state of our knowledge, then, in the
lower half of the Lower Silurian there are four species, in the
upper half sixty-three, and in the Upper Silurian eighteen.

**• Very little dependence however can be placed upon numerical
comparisons, such as the above, in dealing with questions relating
to the CystidesB or CrinoidesB, for the reason that new discoveries
are every year being made which very materially change the aspect
of these computations. For instance, six years ago only eleven
Crinoids, one Cystidean, and one Star-fish, were known in the
Lower Silurian of New York and Canada, but in the collection of

Figures and Descriptions of Canadian Organic Remains. 305

the Geological Surrey of Canada there are now twentj-one species
of Cystideans, about fifty Orinoids, and ten Star^fishes, or in all
eighty-one species of Echinodermata from this formation instead
of thirteen.

^ In the Devonian formation several forms resembling Cystidese
have been referred to that group of organisms ; but it remains still
to be shewn that they are true Cystideans. The weight of the
evidence tends to shew that the race was ushered, in with the first
living inhabitants of the deep — att-ained its greatest development
in the latter portion of the Lower Silurian era, and died out about
the time of the commencement of the Devonian. Of its associates
in the Primordial Zone, the Brachiopoda,Pteropodaand Bryozoa
remain to the present day. The trilobites held their possession of
existence until the Carboniferous period, and the graptolites disap-
peared early in the Upper Silurian. With the exception then of
the graptolites, the Cystideae were the first race that became extinct."

In the remainder of the paper the scientific reader will find
much curious investigation of the structures of the Crinoids and:
Cystideans of the silurian rocks, and the differences between them
and their nearest modern relatives. These things are interesting
in themselves, and raise curious questions as to the use of these
perished creatures, and the conditions of life to which they were
adapted. These questions we can answer only in part, but it is
only by patient investigation of the minutest structures that we
can hope to have even a general idea of the part they played in
the works of the Supreme. Certain it is at least that they had
an important share in gathering the materials of some of those
limestone beds on which our country is based, and that the study of
oar numerous Canadian species is contributing largely to our know-
ledge of their mode of life. The investigations in this volume of
the true nature of the orifices of Cystideans are of especial impor-
tance in this respect. No less than nineteen species are described
in this decade, and many of them are illustrated by admirable
figures, which equal, and we rather think far surpass anything
hitherto done for American fossils. Another valuable paper by
Mr. Billings, relates to the fossil Star-fishes of Canada.

Mr. Salter's contribution to the volume is a description of a singu-
lar new genus allied to Cystideans or Star-fishes if not connect-
ing these groups.

Mr. Jones gives descriptions and figures of nine species of little
bivalve Gmstacea allied to the Cypoits and Cytheridea that now

306 Robert Broum,

swarm in our ports and on our sea coasts, and which in the Silu-
rian Seas, no doubt formed a part of the food of the Crinoids and
Cystideans.

We are glad to learn that this work is to be offered on sale at
a low price, and we hope that by this means it will find its way
into the hands of numerous collectors, who may by the discovery
of new species, and more complete specimens, assist in still farther
extending our knowledge of the subjects of which it treats. This
educational use alone will repay the publication of the work, and
we trust that its practical importance will be duly appreciated
when we state that a plate of one of these Cystideans no larger
than a kernel of wheat, might enable any one to distinguish a
Silurian limestone from one belonging to the coal formation.

ROBERT BROWN.

The distinguished botanist died on Saturday last, at his house
in Dean Street, Soho, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. Though
less popularly known as a man of science than many of his con-
temporaries, those whose studies have enabled them to appreciate
the labours of Brown rank him altogether as the foremost scien-
tific man of this century. He takes this position not so much
from his extensive observations on the structure and habits of
plants, as from the philosophical insight and the power he display-
ed of applying the well-ascertained facts of one case to-the expla-
nation of doubtful phenomena in a large series. Till his time
botany can scarcely be said to have had a scientific foundation.
It consisted of a large number of ill-observed and badly-arranged
facts. By the use of the microscope and the conviction of the
necessity of studying the history of the developement of the plant
in order to ascertain its true structure and relations, Brown changed
the face of botany. He gave life and significance to that which
had been dull and purposeless. His influence was felt in every
direction : — the microscope became a necessary instrument in the
hands of the philosophical botanist, and the history of develope-
ment was the basis on which all improvement in classification was
. carried on. This influence extended from the vegetable to the
, animal kingdoms. The^ researches of Schleiden on the vegetable

cell, prompted by the observations of Brown, led to those of
l^ Schwam on the animal cell ; and we may directly trace the pre-

^ sent position of animal physiology to the wonderful influence that

Robert Broum. 807

the researches of Brown have exerted upon the investigation of
the laws of organization. Even in zoology the influence of Brown's
researches may be traced in the interest attached to the history of
development in all its recent systems of classification. Brown
had, in fact, in the beginning of the present century, grasped the
great ideas of growth and development, which are now the bea-
con lights of all research in biological science, whether in the plant
or animal world.

But whilst his influence was thus great, his works are not cal-
culated to attract popular attention. They are contained in the
Transactions of our learned Societies, in the scientific appendices
of quarto volumes of voyages and travels, or in Latin descriptions
of the orders, genera, and species of plants. The interest taken in
these works by his countrymen was never suflScient to secure for
them republication, although a collected edition of his works,
in five volumes, is well known in Germany. He was of
a difilident and retiring disposition, shunning whatever partook
of display, and anxious to avoid public observation. Thus it is
that one of our greatest philosophers has passed away without
notice, and many will have heard his name for the first time with
the announcement of his decease. But for him an undying repu-
tation remains, which must increase as long as the great science
of life is studied and understood.

Robert Brown was the son of a Scottish Episcopalian clergy,
man, and was bom at Montrose on the 21st of December, 1773
fie was first entered a student at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and
afterwards studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he completed his
studies in 1793. In the same year he was appointed assistant-
surgeon and subaltern in a Scotch Fencible Regiment, which he
accompanied to Ireland, and stayed there till the end of 1800.
Having through his love of botany made the acquaintance of Sir
Joseph Banks, he was through his interest appointed naturalist to
Capt Flinders's Surveying Expedition to New Holland. During
this voyage the whole continent of Australia was circumnavigated
many parts of the coast were visited, and eventually the ship in
which the Expedition sailed was condemned as unseaworthy at
Port Jackson in 1803. Mr. Brown, remained in Now Holland,
visiting dififerent parts of the colony of New South Wales and
Van Diemen's Land, and eventually returned to England in 1805.
Australia was then an unexplored mine of botanical wealth.
Brown returned with nearly 4,000 species of plants. He was

308 Eohert Brown.

shortly appointed Librarian to the Linnean Society. Here he
quietly examined bis plants, and evolved with philosophic caution
and patience those views which were destined to produce so ez-
t^iD^ive and lasting an impression on science. One of his earliest
papers was published in the Transactions of the Wernerian Socie-
ty of Edinburgh, and was devoted to the family of plants called
by him " Asclepiadae." In this paper the character of mind of the
%uthor is well seen. The microscope had been used, the process
of the development had been watched, a new series of facts import-
ant to the laws of reproduction had been discovered, and a new
order of plants established. Such was the nature of most of hia
future communications to the Linnean and Royal Societies. Such
ifas the character of his great work on the plants of New HoUandr
l^hich he published in the year 1810, with the title 'Prodromus
l^lpriB Novae Hollandise et Insuke Van Diemen.' This work con-
tiiined not only a description of the plants which he had himself
collected in Australia, but also those collected by Sir Joseph
Banks during Cook's first voyage. This book abounded in new
^ts and new orders. It was published as a first volume, but it
was never succeeded by a second, as appeared to have been
originally intended by the author. At the time this work was^
pfiblished, it was the practice of English botanists to arrange plants
according to the artificial method of Linnseus, and Brown's *Pro-
dromus' was the first English work devoted to a scientific and ra-
tional classification of plants. Although the Linnean system of
clfussification survived some time after the publication of this work,
it. eventually succumbed before those principle of arrangement
w^ch were carried out in so masterly a manner by Brown, and
the importance which had been recognized by John Ray and
Adamson, and even by Linnsus himself.

In 1814 Capt Flinders published a narrative of his voyage, and
Co this was attached an appendix by Brown, entitled ' General re-
marks. Geographical and Systematical, on the Botany of Terra
Auatralis.' In subsequent years several important papers appeared
uk the Transactions of the Linnean Society, Amongst others
may be named, ' On the Natural Order of Plants called ProteacsBi'
— * Observations on the Natural Family of Plants called Compo-
litie' (Vol xii.), — 'An account of a New Genus of Plants called
Ij^esia' (Vol. xiii.) In 1828 he published in a separate form
' A Brief Account of Microscopical Observations on the Particles
OQQtained in the Pollen of Plants, and on the general existence o^

Robert Brown, 30^

active Molecules in Organic and Inorganic Bodies.' These move-
ments, the full import of which is at present not understood, he
was the first to point out, and draw attention to their importance.
On the Continent it is the custom to allude to this phenomenon
as the *' Brownonian movement." He is the author also of the bo-
tanical appendices attached to the accounts of the voyages of Rosi
and Parry to the Arctic Regions, of Tuckey's expedition to the
Congo, and of Oudney, Denham, and Clapperton's explorations in
Central Africa. Assisted by Mr. Bennett, he has also described
the rarer plants collected by Dr. Horsfield during his residence in
Java.

After the death of Dryander m 1810, Dr. Brown received the
charge of the library and collections of Sir Joseph Banks, who
Mbqueathed them to him for life. They were afterwards, by hik
permission, transferred to the British Museum in 182Y, and he
was appointed keeper of Botany in that Institution. In 1811 he
became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and has several times been
elected on the Council of that body. In 1832 he received the de.
gree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. In 1833 he was
elected one of the eight Foreign Associates of the French Academy
of Science. In 183d the Royal Society awarded him their Copley
medal for his discoveries during a series of years ' On the subject
of Vegetable Impregnation.' In 1849 he was elected president of
the Linnean Society, a post from which he retired in 1853. Du>
ing the administration of Sir Robert Peel he received a pension
of £200 as a recognition of his scientific merits. He also received
the decoration of the highest Prussian civil order " Pour le M6rite,''
of which his friend and survivor at the age of 88, the Baron von
Humboldt, is Chancellor. Humboldt long since called him " Bo-
tanicorum facile princeps," a title to which all botanists readily
admitted his undisputed claim.

He died surrounded by his collections in the room which had
formerly been the library of Sir Joseph Banks. In private. Dr.
Brown was greatly admired by a large circle of attached friends
for the singular soundness of his judgment, the simplicity of his
habits, and the kindness of his disposition. He was buried on the
•15th inst at the cemetery at Kensal Qreen, when his funaral wai
attended by a large body of his scientific and personal friends. —
AthencEum.

^

310 Botany^ de,

BOTANY, Ac.

The Natural History of British Meadow and Pastoral Grasses,
By James Buckman. Messrs. Hamilton & Adams, London. —
This little epitome is represented as adding a large amount to our
knowledge of British Gramineae. Every portion of the book
gives evidence of the author's practical acquaintance with the
subject on which he writes. The work is divided into three parts :
— 1. The Natural History of British Grasses ; 2. Their Structure
and Economy ; 3. Their Agricultural Economy. To the Agri-
culturist desirous of improving the character of his pasture-lands,
this book will be found a useful guide : —

The Practical Naturalises Ouide^ containing Instructions for
Collecting, Preparing and Preserving Specimens of all depart'
ments of Zoology, By J. B. Davies. Messrs. Simpkin & Mar-
shall, London. — To those who know bow to use specimens
aright, this manual will be invaluable. It contains ample in-
structions for the preservation of all sorts of animals and their
parts, from the huge Proboscidea and Cetacea down to the mi-
croscopic forms of the Protozoa. The means of taking animals,
both on the land and the water, are detailed. There is a good
chapter on dredging, and the taking of marine animals by the
haul-net and towing- net; also, a series of receipts for making
solutions and pastes in which to preserve animals : —

A Manual Flora of Madeira and the adjacent Islands of
Porto Santo and the Dezertas, By R. T. Lowe, M.A. Van
Voorst, London. — ^Tolerably accurate lists of the plants of these
islands have been published before ; but none of them can be
compared, for extent and accuracy, with the present work. It is
only a first part, embracing the Thalamifloral Exogens, and con-
tains a very full and complete description of every species, with
the character of the genera, orders and classes. Mr. Lowe has
also added notes on the rarer or more interesting species, which
will be found most valuable to those studying the botany of this
part of the world. — Athenoeum.

Illustrations from the genus Carex. By Francis Boott, M.D.
W. Pamplin, London. — In the preface, the author says: "My
original design in this work was limited to the illustration of the
Carices of N. America, which I had studied for several years
under the advantage of frequent communication with my friend
Mr. Carey, who had so ably described and gp*ouped them in Dr.

"H

Botany^ Ac, 311

Gray's " Manual of the Botany of the Northern States " ; and
the lithographed impressions were made in the prosecution of
that design. The extensive and beautiful collection of specimens
subsequently brought by Dr. Hooker from the East Indies, which
were liberally placed in my hands by that eminent man, impel-
led me to extend my plan ; and I have endeavored to illustrate
the genus at large.^' Most of the species here figured are accord-
ingly North American or East Indian. The ample list of North
American will be found to comprise a very large share of the
Carices of Gray's Manual, as well as of species of higher northern,
more southern, and western regions. The figures of these fasci-
nating plants are very truthful. The main object of the work is
to give accurate representations of all the known Carices : —

A List of the Orchidaceous Plants collected in the Ea^t of
Cubaj by Mr. C, Wright^ with Characters of the New Species.
by Prof. LiNDLEY, (from Ann. and Mag. JVa^ Hist.^ Miy, 1838),
— It appears that of the eighty species of Orchids gathered by
Mr. Wright in his recent visit to Cuba, twenty-one are novelties
(here characterised by Prof. Lindley), and several others have
scarcely been seen since the time of Swartz; — showing "how rich
in new species of the Order is the vegetation of that little-known
island, and how much is still open to discovery by the diligent
traveller." : —

Salices Boreali-Americance : a Synopsis of North American
Willows. By N. J. Akdsrsok, Professor of Botany in the Uni-
versity of Stockholm, Sweden. — In the March number of this
Journal (Silliman^s) we stated that Professor Anderson had
undertaken to elaborate the Salicinece for DeCandoUe's Pro-
dromus, and that materials in the form of complete speci-
mens of Willows were earnestly solicited from every part of
this country, in order that he might attain to something like the
same full acquaintance with our species which he possesses of the
European forms.' We are happy to announce that Prof. Ander-
sen has already made a preliminary study of our Willows, from
such materials as he has been able thus far to examine ; and that
he has embodied the results in a memoir upon the subject, which
is just printed in the Proceedings of the American Academy of
Arts and Soiences, vol. iv., where it occupies thirty-two pages.
The introduction and the conclusion, embracing a critical compa-
rison of our Salices with those of Europe, are written by Professor
Anderson in the English language (which he uses with remark*

812 Botany y dc,

able facility) ; the deBcriptiye and critical matter is in Latin. To
render it accessible to all who take an interest in the subject, a
small separate edition has been printed, and is sold by Messrs.
B. Westermaun A; Co., No. 290 Broadway, New York. On the
receipt by the Messrs. Weslermann, of postage stamps to the
amount of 86 cents, a copy will be sent by mail, prepaid, to anj
applicant : —

Systematische Untersuchungen uber die Vegetation der Karai-
ben^ in besondere der Jnsel Guadeloupe ; von A. Grisbbach,
(from Trans. Roy. Sci. Gattingen, vol. xvii, 1867), pp. 138, 4to. —
This sketch of the Flora of Guadaloupe is very interesting and
useful in itself, and of good promise for -the Mora of the British
West Indies^ upon which Prof. Grisebach is now engaged, and
which is so greatly needed : —

£ssai d^une Exposition Systematique de la Famiile des Chor
racSes ; par feu J. Wallman, Traduit du Suedois ; par M.
le Dr. W. Nylawdbr. Bordeaux, 1866, pp. 91, 8vo.-— This
monograph of the Characecs appeared in the Transactions of
the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm for 1862, pub-
lished in 1864, a year after the death of the author, who barely
lived to complete the manuscript. To render the monograph
more generally accessible, M. Durien de Maisonneuve engaged
Dr. Nylander, the lichenologist, a compatriot of the author, to
translate the memoir from Swedish into French, and caused it to
be reproduced in this form in the Transactions of the Linnean
Society of Bordeaux, in the first volume of the third series, 1866,
also publishing a small extra impression in a pamphlet form. The
author characterises no less than fifty species of Nitelloj and sixty-
six of Chara : —

Elogio di Filippo Barker Wehb^ scritto da Filippo Parla-
TORE. Ficenze, 1866, 4to., pp. 118. — ^The late Mr. Webb, a cele-
brated English botanist long resident in Paris, bequeathed his vast
herbarium and excellent library to the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
along with some funds for the care and augiuentation of the col-
lection. The immediate charge of the collection was of course
entrusted to Prof. Parlatore, a near friend of the testator, and a
most zealous botanist After coming into possession of this noble
bequest, upon the occasion of opening his course of lectures for
the year 1866, Professor Parlatore pronounced the eulogy here
published. It is illustrated by interesting explanatory notes, and
followed by a catalogue of the works and opuscula published by

Botany^ de, 818

Mr. Webby twentj-fonr in namber ; by an account of his library
and herbaria; and by selections from his correspondence with
various botanists. The lithographed portrait in the frontispiece
is a truer likeness of Mr. Webb, than that which was published
in his great work, the Histoire NaturelU des lies Canaries : —

Agricultural Botany tfi the Western Stntes. — ^In the fourth
volume of the Transactions of the State Agricultural Society of
Wisconsin for 1854-7, Mr. Lapham has given a good popular ac-
count of the forest trees indigenous to that State, illustrated by
outline wood'cuts. To the Transactions of the Illinois Agricul-
tural Society for 1856-7 the same indefatigable author has con*
tributed, 1. A Catalogue of the Plants of Illinois, prefaced by
some historical and statistical details ; 2. An account of the Na-
tive, Naturalized and Cultivated Grasses of Illinois, illustrated by
three plates or pages of wood-cuts. These do not equal the
figures in Mr. Lapham's Grasses of Wisconsin. We are disposed
to doubt the statement on p. 559 about the difference in the spe-
cific gravity of the pollen of Indian com and of wild rice, unless
the author can vouch for it from his own proper observations.
Perhaps it rests upon no bettw basis of fact than the statement on
the preceding page, that ^ had the wheat crop been at any time
entirely destroyed, this invaluable grain would have been restored
to us from seeds preserved for more than three thousand years in-
the folds of an Egyptian mummy 1" We ought perhaps to say,
that the asserted cases of such germination will not bear exami-
nation ; and that those best qualified to judge utterly disbelieve,
not only the asserted fact, but also the possibility of any such oc-
oarrence : —

ffow Plants Chow : A simple Introduction to Structural Bo*
tany; with a Popular Flora^ or an arrangement and description
of Common Plants^ both wild and cultivated. By Asa Grat^
M. D., Fisher Professor of Natural History in Harvard Univer-
sity. 234 pp„ 16mo., illustrated by 500 wood engravings. New
York, 1858. Ivison <fe Phinney. — Dr. Gray has prepared this
little volume expressly for young beginners in botany, and for
use in common schools, and has well carried out his purpose.
The work is simple in style, and beautiful in its illustrations.
While teaching with clearness the details of the subject, it is
constantly bearing the mind, by simple explanations, above these
details to higher thoughts and principles, and preparing it for the
fuller survey of the science in the more extended works of the

314 Reviews.

author's series. He considers in order — 1st, How plants grow,
and what their parts or organs are ; 2nd, How plants are propa-
gated or multiplied in number; 3rd, Why plants grow; what
they are made for, and what they do; 4th, How plants are
classified, named and studied. Then, in the second part, the work
contains a " Popular Flora for Beginners,'' including descriptions
of the common plants of the country, both those of the woods
and fields, as well as those of our yards and gardens. It is
arranged according to the natural system, and for the beginner in
the science takes the place of the large Manual of Botany. The
excellence of the volume consists in its being really "science
made easy," not by culling out " interesting facts " to attract, and
tying them artfully together, but by presenting the system of fun-
damental truths in a manner intelligible and attractive to the
young mind. — Silliman's JoumaL

REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

How TO Lay-out a Garden. Intended as a general gaide in choosing,
forming, or improving an estate (from a quarter of an acre to a
hundred acres in extent), with reference to both design and exe-
cution. Second edition, greatly enlarged, and illustrated with
numerous plans, sections and sketches of gardens and garden
objects. By Edward Kemp, Landscape Gardener, Berkenhead Park.
London : Bradbury k Evans. Montreal : B. Dawson k Son.

This book is of a thoroughly practical as well as scientific cha-
racter. It gives directions as to the choice of a place for a country
residence and the site and aspect for a house. It very clearly,
sensibly, and fully informs proprietors what to avoid in laying-out
or ornamenting their gardens or lawns. It states with appropriate
illustrations the general principles of taste and style applicable to
landscape gardening, with both the general and particular objects
which by attention to these principles may be attained, as well in
limited as in more extended grounds and gardens. It contains a
chapter on special departments, such as the park with its trees
and walks — the flower garden ; its situation, design and contents —
the rose garden — the pinetum — the kitchen garden, etc. ; also a
chapter of practical directions on a variety of points and matters
pertaining to ornamental and useful gardening. The author has
consulted with skill and judgment the well-known works of Price,
Repton, and Loudon. The book is, however, essentially his own
He writes with an evident enthusiasm, and an earnest love of his

Meviewa. 316

subject. The wood-cnt illustrations are of a high order, and
greatly heighten the interest of the volume. The style is clear,
elegant, lively and forcible. We would cordially recommend this
work to the attention of gentlemen who desire the grounds of
their country residences to be a source of pleasure as well as
profit to them. In this country, where wood is regarded as the
enemy of the cultivator, and is cut down so frequently with a
wanton disregard of good taste or even comfort, we need just
such instructions as this book contains to direct us in the replant-
ing and ornamenting of our waste places with leafy boscage and
floral beauty.

Thb Family AqnABnTif, or Aqua YivAanTii ; a " New Pleasure " for the
domestic circle, being a familiar and complete instructor upon the
subject of the construction, fitting-up, stocking and maintenance
of the Fluvial and Marine Aquaria, Or " River and Ocean Gardens."
Bj H. D. BuTLiB. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald. Montreal:
B. Dawson & Son.

This is a little book of 121 pages, written in a popular and rather
florid style, intended to instruct amateurs in the construction and
maintennnce of Aquaria. It contains much that has been de-
scribed before in European works, along with remarks suggested
by the author's own experience. Although written in America,
and expressly for American use, it does not appear to us to contain
anything that may not be found in English books. It directs
special attention to the Vivaria in "Bamum's Museum," New York,
and to the manufacture and preparation^ of Aquaria conducted
under the direction of the proprietor, from whom it appears much
curious and interesting materials for ^ stocking" may be obtained.
The book is well got-up, written with no pretence of scientific
precision, and is illustrated by several well-executed wood-cuts.
It has also the merit of being cheap, and will prove an interesting
addition to the young naturalist's library.

MISCELLANIES.

8. Geological Survey of Canada. — ^The following deserved
commendation of the last Report of the Canadian Survey is ex-
tracted from the last number of Silliman : —

^^ Report of Progress for the years 1863-56; by Sir W. E.
Logan, Provincial Geologist. Printed by order of the Le-
islative Assembly, 494 pp., 8vo., with maps and a quarto

816 Miscellanies.

volume of plans of various lakes and rivers between Lake
Huron and the River Ottawa. Toronto, 1857. — This Report
covers four years of exploration. As in all the labors of the au-
thor, there is evidence of careful research and sure progress. Tho
Special Report of Sir W. E. Logan covers the first 50 pages. It
takes up especially the arrangement of the crystalline limestone
among the other Lanrentian (Azoic) rocks, and especially its con-
dition in the vicinity of Grenville. The limestone occurs in bands
that are nearly parallel, and which are so related as to leave no
doubt that one or more strata of limestone are there folded up
among the crystalline rocks. In Grenville there are two such bands
about two miles apart, having a N.N.E. strike, and dipping, like
the included gneiss, to the N.N.W. 60<^ to 70o. To the rear of the
township the two unite andhave a thickness of 500 to 1000 feet.
Other similar bands and patches occur to the northward and east-
ward of these, which have approximately the same strike, and
confirm the view that the Azoic rock of the region, before its
crystallization, contained one if not two or more thick strata of
limestone. The author discusses the precise character of these
^olds and illustrates the subject by means of a map of the region
on which the bands of limestone are represented in color.

"The Reports of A. Murray for the years 1853 to 1856 occupy
pages 59 to 190, and contain details respecting the topography
and geology of the region west of the Ottawa and north of Lake
Huron. These are followed by Mr. James Richardson^s Report
on the Island of Anticostiy and the Mingan Islands in the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, and the Pals&ontological Report of £. Billings,
Esq. The island of Anticosti is covered by fossiliferous starta re-
ferred to a period uniting the Lower and Upper Silurian ; the
rock is an argillaceous limestone 2300 feet in thickness, through-
out conformable and nearly horizontal. E. Billings, Esq., observes,
p. 249, " All the facts tend to show that these strata were accu-
mulated in a quiet sea, in uninterrupted succession during that
period in which the upper part of the Hudson river group [Lower
Silurian], and the Oneida conglomerate, the Medina sandstone
and the Clinton group [Upper Silurian], were in the course of be-
ing deposited in that part of the Palaeozoic ocean now constitut-
ing the State of New York and some of the countries adjacent'
The fossils of the middle portion fill up the blank with the Upper
and Lower Silurian, combining many of the Hudson river group
with those of the Clinton, with the addition of other species un-
known to both.

MUedlanies. 911

** In the two lower diviaions (960 feet) the fosBils that are of
known species have heen found in the Hudson or Trenton group,
with three exceptions, the Heliolites megastoma^ Catenipora escha-
raides and Favosites favosa^ not before known to extend into the
Lower Silurian. Singular tree-like fossils {Beatricea) occur 430
Cset from the base. They are straight stems 1 to 14 inches in
diameter, tubular, with the tube transversely septate, the structure
in layers resembling in this respect an exogenous tree. 950 feet
above the base there are three additional Upper Silurian fossils, Zep-
tcmasubplana, SiropkomenadepressaaxidAtrypanaviformis. In the
upper 600 feet, 60 species of fossils were collected, and 20 out of
the 24 hitherto described occur in the Clinton group, while 12 of
the 24 are found also in the beds below. The following are the
names of the 24 species ; those in italics occur also in the lower
beds of Anticosti, and those marked with an asterisk, are known
as species of the Clinton group. Ckoetetes lycoperdon* Catenipora
escharaideSy* Favosites favosa^ Zaphrentis bilateralis,* Orthis
LyfiXf* O. elegantula,* O. flabellulum, Leptcena subplana^* L.
transversalis, L. profunda^ Strophomena altemata* S depressa*
Atrypa reticularis* A, congesta^* A. plicatula,* A. hemispherica,*
A, naviformis^* Spirifer radiatus,* Pentamerus oblongus,* Murchi*
sonia subulata^* Cyclonema cancellata^* Flatyostoma hemisphe-
rica, Calymene Blumenhachii^* Bumastes Barriensis.*

^ Mr. Billings describes a number of new Cystides and Asteriadse
from the Silurian of Canada, besides various Brachiopods and
other molluscs. The genus Huronia he refers to Orthoceras (or
Ormoceras if that genus be retained).

"Next follows the Report of T. Sterry Gunt, Chemist and Mine-
ralogist to the Geological Survey. We have already quoted a
few facts on minerals from this report ; also at page 217 an arti-
cle on Ophiolites, and page 361 a chapter on the Salines of
Europe. We propose to cite farther on the subject of rocks at
another time. There are also valuable chapters on the Metallurgy
of Iron, Magnesian Mortars, the Purification of Plumbago, and
Peat and its products, which we must pass by.

" The quarto volume of twenty maps of the various lakes and
rivers between Lake Huron and the Ottawa, by Mr. Murray, show
that the Canadian government is carrying forward the survey on
the right plan — a union of geographical and geological investiga-
tions. The maps are of large size, nearly two feet by three, and
contain particulars respecting the rocks of the regions, besides the
usual map details, and in both respects a large amount of work
has been ably peiformed."

318 Miscellanies,

Note on a Molar Tooth of the Horse in the Collection of the Natural
History Society of Montreal,

In a collection of antiquities and fossils presented to the Society
by Mr. Little of Newberry, C.W., is a specimen of a molar of an
equine animal, labelled as having been found " on the margin of
the River Sydenham, nine feet below the surface, near Hunt's
Ferry, Township of Dawn. C.W." The question having arisen at
the meeting whether this tooth is that of the common horse or of
any of the fossil species whose remains have been found in American
tertiary deposits, we have compared it with such specimens and
figures as are within our reach. The specimen is a middle supe-
rior molar ; 3*6 inches in length, 1*2 in its extreme anterio-posterior
breadth and 1*1 inch nearly in its transverse measurement. It is
not more curved than the molars of the domestic horse, but the
folding of its enamel is more complex, especially in the isolated
folds. In this last respect and in the dimensions of its crown, it
corresponds much more closely with Leidy's figure of the tooth of
the extinct species named by him Equus Americanus, than with
that of the common horse. The specimen is in a good state of
preservation. It is stained black on one side, and the cement has
become brown and is somewhat cracked and broken externally,
but it has not experienced any change giving evidence of great
antiquity. It would not be safe to affirm on the evidence of this
single specimen, the occurrence of the fossil horse in Canada ; yet
the form of the tooth and the circustances in which it is stated to
have been found render this not improbable, and it would be inte-
resting to know whether the ground in which the specimen occurred
had certainly been undisturbed previously, what was the nature
of the bed containing it, and what its other organic remains if any.
To these questions we would invite the attention of any collectors
or naturalists visiting the locality.

We may add that there would be nothing extraordinary in the
occurrence of the remains of the extinct American horse in Western
Canada, since these remains have been found not only in various
parts of the United States, but by Sir J. Richardson as far north
as Eschsbholtz Bay in Arctic America. Should any further equine
remains be found in the locality in question, we should like to
have an opportunity of Fubmitting them to Dr. Leidy, the best
authority at present on this subject, for coniparison with his speci-
mens. We would caution collectors, however, to be very care-
ful in distinguishing remains taken from undisturbed beds, from
those that may have been mixed with modem debris.

\

Miscellanies. 319

The following interesting articles were added to tbe Museum
of the Natural History Society at its last monthly meeting. They
were procured by Edward Little, Esq., of Newbury, C. W., from
Alexander Bell, Esq., of Euphemia, and forwarded to thtf Society
by J. T. Dutton, Esq. : —

1. A Wart, taken from the root of a soft maple tree (Acer dasy^-

carpum), fully 26 feet from the living trunk, the root to which
it was attached not exceeding one ipch in diameter at its
junction in either end. 1856.

2. An Arrow, nearly one yard in length, one of a full quiver of

fifty, from Upper California, now in possession of a gentle-
man who after being pierced with two of them despatched
the Indian, and brought the bow and arrow home. The
quiver is made of tanned deer-skin, with the hair on. The
arrow is made of two different kinds of wood, and spliced
very neatly. It is also barbed with three feathers. The
stone head is remarkably sharp and neatly made.

3. An Oak Deer-bleat, given to the donor by the Indian Shaw-

nabeein 1846, and stated by him to be his own manufacture.

4. A Stone Arrow-head, IJ inches long, found ten feet under

ground on Lot 21, Euphemia, C.W., shewing a striking ana-
logy between the Califbrnian and Canadian weapon.

5. An oval Stone Hatchet ? about 4 inches long by 2 J broad and

1 thick, well polished and perforated across its breadth, the
aperture } inch in width. The stone is a very hard jaspery
slate, transversely marked with natural lines. This instru-
ment was' obtained in 1854 below the surface of the ground
on the margin of the river Sydenham, Lot 12th, First Con-
cession, Brooke, C. W.

6. The Molar Tooth of a Horse, — for description of which see

page 318.

7. A pieee of Fossiliferous Limestone, from Newbury, C. W.

Mr. Joseph T. Dutton lately presented to the Natural History
Society a specimen of native loadstone or magnetic iron ore with
polarity, from near Samakoff in Bulgaria, received from his bro-
ther, Samuel Dutton, Esq., of Constantinople, chief engineer to
the Sultan. An analysis by Mr. Samuel l^utton accompanied the.
specimen, which has, according to him, a density of 4.223, and
gives for 100 parts, —

J'apilio PhUettor SvtUrfiy,

Sesqui-oiyd of iron, 79.00

Tllanio acid : 2.00

Red oxyd of manganese, 50

Silica 14.70

Alumina, 1.30

■ir_i..:i ')hur,&c 2.50

100.00

NADIAN NaTDKALIBT.

yoa by the Expiess tomor-
iUnoT (!) BuUerfly, which was
iboro'. These Butterflies ap-

the liloo trees as long as they
luddenly disappeared. They

June, but very few appearing

ire this sent you a specimen ;
down from Flamboro*, baring
[h they were numerous thera
I tinge on the posterior wings,
you. The Caterpillar I have

be bepnninng of last month,
this butterfly. By infonning
nsect, you will greatly oblige

Chas, J. BxTHCiri.

in MUtwlth the abore commnni-
'abr., a rerj beautiful bulUifl;
far aa we are awaie, pceTlonilj
resting to know if it is actullj
DB to OUT conespondent to atste,
eached ns as earlj at June. To
f inspecUng the ipscimso, it hu
>lishers.]

le Sea, 118 feet.

BuronK

(El

6

9 80

Weather, Clouds, Benuffki, Ac, &o.
[A cloudy sky if represented by 10, % doodless one by 0.]

6a.m.

Clear.
'907 C. Str.
mIClear.

CStr.

Clear.

614C. str.
<f

Clear.
C.Str.
NL

C. Str.
Cirr.
C. Str.
Nu
Clear.

n

C. str.
Clear.
CStr.

M

Clear.
It

CStr.
i«

C. C. str.

CStr.
««

M

Clear.

6.

10.

10.
8.

10.

10.

9.

4.
10.
10.

6.

8.
8.

2.
2.
6.
2.
10.
3.

2p.in.

Clear.

C Str.

Clear.

Ni.

Clear.

Ni.

C Str.

Cirr. Cum.

CStr.

Ni.

C Str.

M

Ni.

CStr.
Cirr.
C.Str.

M

Clear.

CStr.
«<

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O.Str.

C C Str.

C.Str.
«<

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0. C Str.
Clear.
C. C Str.
Clear.

2.
10.

10.

6.

2.
10.
10.

6.

8.
10.

0.

6.

9.

9.

10.
4.

4.

0.
6.
6.

8.

10 p. m.

Str.

2.

Str.

2.

C Str.

8.

Ni.

10. Tliunder.

Clear.

Ni.

10. Thunder.

C.Str.

7.

Str.

2.

Ni.

10.

Ni.10.

Distant Thunder.

Clear.

Aurora Borealis.

C Str.

9.

M

8.

Clear.

Str.

4.

Cum. Str.

0.

M

9.

C.Str. 10.

Dist. Tlmndor.

Clear.

CStr.

4.

Str.

2.

C Str.

4.

««

6.

M

8.

Ni.

10.

CStr.

2.

M

4.

Clear.

CStr.

»

4.

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S4
26

26

27
28
29
30
31

74 C.Str.
Clear.

Str.
Str.
t. ,C. Str.
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.! C.Str.
C. C Str.

M

«1

6 a. va.

10.

4.
10.
10.
10.
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10.

6.

8.

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10.
10.
10.
10.

4.

2.

4.

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6.
6.

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2. p. m.

M

NL

C Str.
Clear.

C. Str.

Str.

C. Str.

Ni.

C. Str.

Str.

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C. C. Sir.

Clear.
««

C. Str.

C.Cir.

C Str.

NL

C. Str.

Cumuliu.

C.CStr.

C. Str.
f«

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Ni.
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C. Str.

ARKS FOR JULY, 1868.

10.

8.

10.
10.

8.

8.
10.
10.

2.

10.

6.

8.
10.

8.

4.

6.

6.

2.

2!
10.

10.

10 p. m.

Clear.

Str.

Ni.

Clear.
««

(t

Cfl

Ni.

C Str.
Ni.
Cum. Str.

!Ni.

C. Str.

Str.

C. Str.
<«

Str.

Clear.

Clear.

G. Str. 8.

C.Str. 6.

C. Str.
«f

tt

K _

•«

Clear.

Cum. Str.
•<

u

3.

10.

10.
10.
10. Thunder.

9.
10. Thunder*

9.

2.

2.

6.

4.

Thunder. Hail.
Thunder.

10.

8.

9.

6.

9.

4.

9.
2.
6.

les.

Rain fell on 18 days, amounting to 12*214 inches ; it was raining
72 hoivs 44 minutes, and was accompanied by thunder on 4 da vs.
(The rivers in this vicinity rose nearly 2 feet on the ISth div
owing to the heavy and continued rain.

Mort prei^ent wind, N. E. by B. Lesst prevalent wind, N.

Host windy day, the 28th day j mean miles per hour, 12*22.

Least windy diyr, the 19th diy » mean miles per hour, 0*20.

The Electrical state of the atmosphere has indicated nether
high tension.

Oz«ne was present in large quantity.

.,) PVK lar. Munm uj? junt!^ luea.

&iinin, with '

*^ OlXBt. Id
» oOn-St. 10

10 Co. St.

0 a

Mirtm.

iTliutidavtorm,

Ttnmdostonu HkU.

LmurHalo. B>d.M°J.
Anronk with ilmiiinn
]DanM IUK mtU A.U.

KBHASES FOB JDLT. ISU.

.10 iBoDid at wind fnnu B.N.B, E, KftS, 8.E, and B.B.T.
Thamott wlw^ dvwia tlwStli, tba mcaiiraladtT hsrisK

beoi BTO mlba par hoof-
Hie most wlnar hour bctwean t and 3 p. m. of WDedtf, tho

T«lod^ hMinc baoi U mllai ptr hour.
A nun dar oeoomd on tha Mth.
CloMlMi dva oeemred on tha ttk, T(h, Ut h, U14 ISth.
Oioia WM In moderate imtlo.

i

CANADIAN

NATURALIST AND GEOLOGIST.

VoLOMS IIL O'TTOBER, 1858. Ndmbkr 6.

ART. XXVn.— ^ Week in Gaapi. Read in part before the
Natural History Society of Montreal.

Id 1643, Sir William Logan iDformed tJie writer of tbis article,
at that time engaf^d in tbe study of the coal-fields of Ift/ra
Scotia and their foutl plante, that he bad found in Gaspd a
great eetiea of sandstones and shales older than the carboniferous
sjstem, sod probably of Devonian age, containing remains of
ft^Bsil vegetables, apparently terrstrial, aod a small seam of coal.
Such an announcement awakened, as a matter of course, a
strong desire to viut a locality so interesting, and to study tiiii

322 A Week in Gaspi.

most ancient known flora. But Gasp6 was practically inaccessible
to a naturalist, whose intervals of leisure never exceeded a week
or two ; and so this long-cherished wish remained ungratified
until a month ago, when, armed with hammer and dredge, and
other necessary implements for studying the rocks and the sea-
bottom, I landed at Gasp6 Basin from the steamer Lady Head, on
a fine August evening, ready to commence work on the morrow.
Only a week could be devoted to the task, but I was fortunate in
having the assistance of Mr. Dougall, one of my students in natu-
ral history ; and in securing the services of two very obliging and
intelligent boatmen. So our woik speeded well. We formed a
large collection of fossil plants, which when added to those pre-
viously collected by the Geological Survey, will I trust serve to
illustrate the Devonian flora of Canada, in a manner as yet unsnr
passed by deposits of that age in any other country. The waters
too yielded their treasures of sea-anemones, urchins, star-fishesi
shells, and zoophytes, some of them new to me ; and we formed
for ourselves a somewhat distinct mental picture of Gasp^ and its
people. The more -special scientific results of the expedition, I
shall reserve for future occasioni^, and in the mean time design to
give a slight sketch of the general features of the district, and
some desultory observations which cannot well be placed under
any distinct head.

The peninsula of Gasp6, the land^s-end of Canada toward the
east, presents within itself an epitome of several of the leading
geological formations of the Province ; and here as elsewhere,
these impress with their own characters the surface and its capa-
bilities. On that side which fronts the river St. Lawrence, it con-
sists of an enormous thickness of shales and limestones, belonging
to the upper part of the Lower Silurian series, and the lower part
of the Upper Silurian. These beds, tilted in such a manner that
they present their up-turned edges to the sea and dip inland, form
long ranges of beetling cliflfs running down to a narrow strip of
beach, and affording no resting-place even for the fisherman, ex-
cept where they have been cut down by streams, and present
little coves and bays opening back into deep glens affording a
riew of great rolling wooded ridges that stand rank after rank
behind the steep sea*cliff, though no doubt with many fine val-
leys between. At present this inland country appears little set-
tled, but every cove and ravine along the shore is occupied by
fishermen, who either permanently reside here or resort to this

A Week in Ga^. 323

coast in summer. Thia bold and pictureeqae coast, after runniDg
down to the low point of Cape Rosier, on which stands an im-
posing white brick tower, which figured somewhat largely la^t
winter as a disputed item in the public accounts, falls back
suddenly to the southward, and then stretches out into the
bold narrow promontory of Capd Gasp^, which marks the out-
crop of an Upper Silurian limestone believed to be the geo>
It^cal equivalent of that which forms the cliff of Niagara, and
the great ridge which divides Lake Huron. Here, with its feet in
that same ancient oceau in which shell-fish and corals lonor sioce
collected its molecules of lime, it asserts its usual character by
standing forth as the last member of the Silurian series that lifts
its head above the waters. As we passed it the sea broke heavily
upon it, and we could in some degree sympathize with stout old
Jacques Cartier, when in his first voyage, after battling for many
days off this cape and on the opposite shore, against the autumnal
northwesters, he called a council of his oflScers, and, anzious^
though he was to see what lay beyond, bore away on his return
to France. Being fortunate enough to have as a fellow-passengjBP
Mr. Faribault of Quebec, who carried with him a little library of
his favorite antiquarian lore, we read the narrative as we passed
over the ground. Cartier found here only a tribe of Indians, who^
appeared to him among the rudest he had seen ; a branch of
the Micmac tribe that stretched along all the coast from Maine
to Gasp^, and afterwards called in this district the Qaspesians..
They appeared to have no property but their bark-canoes, under
which they slept at night, and nets made of some kind of Indian,
hemp ; and were probably a fishing-party, whose wigwams might
have been at the head of the bay, where their descendants still
reside. They had abundance of maize and various kinds of fruits,
some of which they dried for winter use. The name Gasp6 is
derived from the language of these Indians, and is stated to mean*
as nearly as possible the ** land's end." *

R<:sting on the Upper Silurian beds which form Cape G«sp6,
and of course newer in geological time, is a series of gray, red^
and brown sandstones and shales. These rocks belong to the

* H. Hamel, qndted by Staart in a paper on Canadian names in Pxoea

of Quebec Lit. and Hist. Society, gives the meaning as " Bwd de kn

poifUt de itrrt,^ It is perhaps identical with the termination ''gash'' in

names of points of land in Kova Scotia and New Brunswick ; as, Mala-

gaih, Tracadegash.

324 A Week in Gaip^.

Devoniati system, the equivalent of the older part of tlie Old Red
Sandstone of Scotland, and probably of the Hamilton and Upper
Helderburg groups of New York. Doubled into a trough along
the south side of Cape Qaspd, they form a low country in which
Oasp6 Bay stretches &r inland, affording a noble harbour for ship,
ping, which, could it procure an exemption from the icy fetters
of winter, might be the emporium of Canada. As it is, it pre-
sents great facilities for the prosecution of the fisheries and for
the trade of the peninsula, and appears to be a favorite resort of
the American fishermen who frequent the Gult Its sides are
everywhere thickly settled ; and though toward its entrance the
coast participates in the precipitous character of the outer shorCi
as we approach the arms into which its upper part divides, the
country becomes low and undulating, though still backed by high
hills. The vignette and tail-piece of this article may serve to
illustrate its more varied aspects. In the latter sketch, borrowed
from the note-book of a friend, we have a portion of the bold
Gulf shore ; the other, taken from the ** battery " on the beauti-
fully-situated property of the County Member, Mr. Boutillier,
shows Ga6p6 Basin, with its steam-mill, its shipping, its neat
church and parsonage, and the little town that is growing up at
the "Point''

Southward of Gasp6 Bay the Devonian rocks are capped by a
great mass of Conglomerate, belonging to the Lower Carbonife-
rous series, and made up of pebbles of all the rocks from the Old
Laurentian of the North Shore to the Devonian. It is this
ibed which gives its picturesque character to the scenery of Perc^,
,and, running onward with a slight dip to the southward, under-
iies the coal formation of New Brunswick.

The whole of the rocks that have been mentioned afford good
toils, and, though the climate of Gasp6 is less favorable to agri-
culture than that of many other parts of Canada, there seems no
reason to prevent the extended cultivation of all the ordinary
crops-; and the presence of a large fishing population is one of
Hie best guarantees of a near and good market for the farmer. At
the time of our visit, in the middle of August, the hay-crop was
being taken in, barley was nearly ripe, oats and wheat were well
filled, and we saw one field of the latter with straw six feet in
height Potatoes were abundant and good, though the first au-
tumnal frosts had nipped their leaves in some places ; cauliflower
waa ready for the table ; raspberries were in full fruit ; and the

A Week in Ghupe. 325

blosh-rose and some other flowers which had passed at Montreal
some time before our departure, were in bloom.

For the present Gasp6 is essentially a fishing district, and its
population, scattered along the coast, presents all those social
features which elsewhere mark those who earn their subsistence
from the sea. The British American fisherman is an amphi*
bious being, oombining much of the roving adventurous tem-
perament of the sailor with the more steady industry of the agri-
culturist. At one time tossing on the bosom of the deep, at an*
other guiding the plough ; living much a^part^ yet often seeing
new faces and strange places, he acquires much mental activity
and force of character, and, if blessed with the influences of edu-
cation and pure religion, becomes a superior style of man. Among
the principal disadvantages of his pursuits are the comparative
isolation of many families, and the consequent difficulty of access
to schools, and the frequent absences of the head of the house-
hold from his home. This however creates an early spirit of
self-reliance in the young, and I have known in the fishing dis-
tricts mere boys to carry on the work of the family and its inter-
course with neighbours, in a manner which would be quite start-
ling lo the little people of more inland districts.

The fishing principally maintained in Gaspe Bay is that of the
cod, the most safe and profitable of all our fisheries, and that
which cultivates the most steady and orderly habits in the men
engaged in it. Morrhua Americana himself and his congeners
are steady-going animals, regular in their habits as compared
with the vagrant herring and mackarel, and the character of the
fisherman is influenced by that of the fish he pursues. Hence the
settlements in which the cod fishery is the staple are uniformly
more prosperous than those much addicted to the pursuit of the
mackarel ; and it is as much the good sense of the people con-
cerned, as any other cause, that prevents our fishermen from en-
tering into the latter pursuit as extensively as many over-zealous
people would have them. It may be annoying to patriotic per-
sons that the Gulf of St. Lawrence should be filled with the fishing
schooners of New England ; but if the necessities of an unfa-
vourable position^ or excessive artificial stimuli, impel them to
this, we should rather congratulate ourselves that we are exempt
from these evils. Our comparatively thinly settled coasts could
ill afford the frequent unsuccessful voyages and terrible disaster!
and loss of life that attend the American mackarel fisheries. In

320 A Week in GaspL

our fishing districts the cod fishery forms a stable fonndation,
and on this, little by little, and as far as prudence warrants, other
less certiun fisheries are built, and will be extended as opportu-
nity ofi«rs in the natural growth of wealth and population ; and
perhaps their principal use is to afford an opening to those rough
and adventurous spirits who cannot endure steady labor. It is
with such men, partly Americans, partly Irishmen, partly Nova
Scotians or Canadians, that many of the American fishing vessels
are manned ; and hence their frequent turbulent and disorderly con-
duct when, in un&vourable seasons and bad weather, they throng
our harbours and the dram shops which unfortunately abound in
many of them*

One branch of the fishery long successfully carried on by the
people of Gasp6, is however sufficiently adventurous in its character.
Seven whaling schooners are at present owned in the bay ; and
with their comparatively humble outfit of two whale boats and
sixteen men to each, they appear to carry on a thriving business,
five out of the seven being known to have made good voyages in
the present summer. Formerly, whales could be obtained plenti-
fully in the Bay and its vicinity, but they are timid and not prolific,
and the fishermen have already driven them to the north shore
of the Gulf, and will probably soon have to follow them faither.

Several species are taken by the Gasp^ whalers ; but it is not
at {M^sent possible with certainty to identify all of them with
those described by naturalists. The black or right whale, Balaena
MysticetuSy is the principal and most valuable, though I believe
not very frequent The great rorqual or finner, Borqualus Bth
realiSy usually shunned by whalers, is also sometimes killed, but
it yields less oil and is much more dangerous and troublesome
than tlie '^ Right ^ whale. Another rorqual, or perhaps a variety
of the same, is known as the ^ Sulphur " whale, from its yellow
belly, and is said to attain the length of 70 feet Another whale
often taken is the ^ Humpback^, which is either the RorgualuB
Rottratus, or one of the whales included in the Genus Megaptera of
Gray* All these belong to the Balcenidae or whale-bone whales.
But beside these, the Gasp6 whalers take the Grampus {Pkocaena
Qrampus\ known here as the "Killer,*' and said to attack the
large whales in packs and to destroy them, a habit attributed to
it by the whale-fishers elsewhere, though it has been doubted by '
naturalists. A smaller whale, known as the Black-fish in the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, has been referred by various writers to dif-

A Week in Gaspi. 327

fereot species. The skull, the only part that I have examined,
corresponds with that of Qray's Delphinus ( GMnfcphalus /)
intermedit^. The singular and beautiful white porpoise of
the St. Lawrence, Beluga Catodon^ and the coooiroon porpoise,
Phocaena CommunU^ though well known, do not appear to be
among the species to which the Gasp6 whalers trust for their pro-
fits. It would well deserve the time and attention of any young
naturalist to spend a few months with the whalers, and draw and
describe with accuracy these various species, most of which are
as yet very imperfectly known. The " Canadian Naturalist"
would welcome a contribution on the subject. We could only
glean a little information from persons who had been engaged in
the fishing, and collect a few specimens of the large bones that
the whalers have left on the beach.

On the long sand point that, stretching far into the bay, shelters
the harbour, and along which we walked in search of whales' bones
and shells, I observed an appearance new to me, and of some
geological interest. Shoals of the American Sand Launce, {Am'
modytes Americanus) a little fish three or four inches in lengthy
had entered the Bay, and either seeking a place for spawning
or sheltering themselves from their numerous enemies, had run
into the shallow water near the point, and according to their usual
habit, had in part buried themselves in the sand which they
throw up by means of their long pectoral fins. In this situation
countless multitudes had died or been thrown on shore by the
surf, and the crows were fattening on them, and the fishermen
collecting them in barrels for bait. Acres of them still remained
whitening the bottom of the shallow water with their bodies. It
was impossible not to be reminded hy such a spectacle of the beds
full of capelin in the post-pliocene clay of the Ottawa, and the
similar beds filled with fossil fishes, in other deposits as far back
as the old red sandstone. Geologists have often sought to account
for such phenomena, by supposing sudden changes of level or
irruptions of poisonous matter into the waters ; but such catas-
trophes are evidently by no means necessary to produce the effect.
Here in the quiet waters of the Gasp6 Bay, year by year immense
quantities of the remains of the Sand Launce may be embedded
in the sand and mud without even a storm to destroy them. Si-
milar accidents, I was told, happen to the schools of capelin, so
that there is nothing to prevent the accumulatiou here of beds,
equally rich in the remains of fishes with those other deposits of
ichthyolites that have excited so much interest and wonder.

328 A Week In Gatpi.

Gasp6 Bay, like most olher good fiafaing gToan<l«, b rich in
the humbler tenants of the 8e&, those "oreepin^ things innumer-
able " fantastic and curiotu in form and ttructure, of which old
ocean is the great habitat, and which bo vastly ontniimber
the denizGDS of the land. By dredging, and in examining the
■borea, and ia the atomacha of fishea, we collected many iotereeting
species, ihough probably bnt a small part of those actually to be
found. The Bay prosenls many Tarieties of dredging ground, ia
addition to the deeper banks off its month, which rongh weather
prevented xa from exploring. Much of the deeper part connsts
of mud full of tiny foraminifera and containing Tellina Calcarea and
a fine Leda; a mud in short, very similar in a[^arance, fossils and
origin, lo the clay which the sea, when it stood at a higher lereli
has left over all our Lower Canadian plains. In other plaues there
is a sandy bottom, full of the carious flat cake-like shells of Behi-
narackniui Allanticu$, the " Dollar-Bsb" of some parts of the coast.
On the more rocky grounds, are immense nnmbers of various spe-
cies of Zoophytes and Bryoioa. One of the choicest spots that we
found WHS JQst off the month of the Basin, on gravelly ground ia
about 10 fHthoms, and with a strong tidal current. Bere every
stone was coated with nullipoTM and zoophytes, and there were
abundance of brittle stars, echini, chitons, and two fine species of
sea anemone, in addition to many sheila. I trust in subwqnent
papers to describe such of these specimens as may be new or pre-
viously unobserred on this coast, and in the meantime give a list

A Week in Gaspi. 329

of those I have been able to determine, which it may be of interest
to compare with the list of Post-pliocene fossils from Montreal,
and of recent shells collected bj Mr. Bell in Gasp^, given in pages
414 et seq., of the last volume of this Journal.

Marine Invertebfates collected in Gaepi Bay^ N", L*it, 48® 45',

August 1858.

Aeticulata.

Homarus .ioiericanut.— -The common lobster is verj abundant, and
might be obtained in large quantities for exportation.

Platycareiniu irrcratut.^-Yery abundant, especially near the fishing
stations.

Maia. — ^A large spider-crab, apparently of this genus. Fragments
from stomach of a halibut.

PaguruM Bemhardus, — ^Young specimens inhabiting shells of small
Buccinaj found in stomach of cod.

P. Itttu (Thomp8on).-^A specimen was dredged, on sandy ground, in
the shell of a small natica, which I cannot distinguish from this species.

Cytkere, — ^A small species, perhaps undesoribed. In mud in deep
water.

Balanu* creiui/tif .— <fOmmon on stones near the shore.

B. Porcatui,^-On stones in ten fathoms.
Coronula diadema,-^n skin of whales.

C. Begins (Darwin).-^On shreds of the skin of the humphback
whale in one of the whale houses, we found a specimen which corres-
ponds exactly with Darwin's description of this species, hitherto ob-
tained only from the Pacific. It is full g^own, being nearly two inches
in diameter, and was imbedded nearly to the summit in the skin. It
may be easily distinguished from the common whale barnacle, C. diO"
dema, by its flattened form, its low and smooth ribe delicately marked
with radiations and transverse ribs with minute tubercles at the inter-
sections, and by the thinness of its radial plates. It would be inte-
resting to know if this comula is peculiar to the humpback, which is
very probably an Arctic species visiting both the Pacific and Atlantic.

Spirorbii Stnistrcna. — Stones and weeds, six to ten iktboms.
S, quadrangtdaris,'Seja» habitat.
Serpula vermievZam.— Same habitat.
Several species of Nereids not determined.

MOLLUSCA.

Loligo iUecehroia, — Squid. — Common, and caught for bait by means
of a lead sinker having a circle of pins fixed in its lower end.
I^uus pyramidalU (rufut), — Stomachs of cod.
Buccinum, vfuia/vm.— Stomachs of halibut and cod.
B. trivittaium. — Dredged in sand near the shore, four &th.
Purpura tojnl/iit.— On stones near the shore.

330 4 Week in Oaspi.

Natica Aeroi.-— Sandj shores. Some specimens very large.

N» Oram/atuiica.— Stomachs of cod.

N, clatua.'^-^ne small specimen, stomach of cod.

Turritella eroia. — Same source.

Lacuna vincta^-^Yerj common on fronds of Laminaria,

Idttorina palliata,

X. RudU.

Margarita ttnitcZato.— Stomachs of cod.

M, helicina (^re^ica).— Same source.

Lottia testudinalii, — On stones, eight fathoms.

Jicmaa caeca,-^A single specimen from stomach of cod.

Chiton marmoreiu, — Yerj plentiful on stones, in ten fathoms.

Mga orenoria.— The common sand-clam grows to a very large size in
Oasp^ Bay, and is much used as bait. Some shells are nearly six inches
in length, contrasting strongly with the dwarfish specimenB &om the
Post Pliocene clays.

Ifya truncai€t, — ^A single valre dredged on stony ground.

Glycimtrii ti/t^va.— In stomachs of cod.

Saxicava rvgoM.— Small specimens in carities of NtMiportn and inte-
rior of empty shells, attached by an evident byssos,

Mach^ra co</ata.— Dead shells on beach.

Solen eniii (Razor-fish). — Same situation.

Tellina etilcar^a (proxlma).— Common in mad, tea to eleven lathoans.

T, GronZaiMiica.— Kuddy bqttoms, various depths.

T. (eaera.— Stomachs of cod.

*Sphrodit€ OriBnlandica. — Fine specimens ia stomach of halibut;
smaller dredged in eight to ten fieith.

Cardium I»Umdicum,^-SiomMiha of halibut, and small shells in sto^
maehs of cod.

C. initauJatuni.-^tomachs of cod.

ji§tart€ cttlcofa.-— Rare in six to ten ikthoms.

Cardita borealii, — Same situation ; also in stomachs of cod.

Mytilui eiffiZtt.— Common mussel. Plentifal near shores.

Modiola modiolui, — One specimen, dredged from deep water.

M. deeusMia (gJafK/if£a).-*^tomach of cod.

Leda Ztnui^Kto.— Living in mud, ten to twelve fathoms; also in sio*
machs of cod.

Pecten /s2aiu2tcuf.^-€tomachs of halibut.

P. magellanicut. — ^Mouth of Gasp^ Basin, various depths. Said to be
veiy abundant in Mai Bay. .

jSnomia ephippwn and Var. acuUata, — Small shells attached to Pec-
tens, kc,

Radiata.

Echinarachniui jStlanticut (Dollar-fish, Cake Urchin). — ^Very plentifhl
on sandy bottom ; also in stomachs of cod.

EehinuB gronulatut (Common Urchin). — Very abundant, low water to
eleven fibthoms ; the long spined variefy, and often of very light colour.

A Week in Gaepi. 881

Opkioeoma heUu (ooiledtfa).— Abundant, eight to ten &thom«. Often
inhabits interior of dead shells of Ptcttn mageUmdeta^

Mttraeanthion rvbem, — ^Yery abundant in Gasp4 Basin, where it was
seen feeding on Mya arenaria.

Ji, glacialU. — Some small specimens, probably young of this species.

Piohu, — A small animal of this genus, perhaps the young of P. phan»
topuij on stones, ten fathoms.

Actinia dianthui. — ^Abundant on stones in ten fitthoms. The speci-
mens obserred differ somewhat from the European in range of colour-
ing and form, but probably are referable to this species. I hare not
seen any notice of the occurrence of ji. diaathui on the American coast,
except in Stimpson'a Marine Inrert. of Grand Manan, where it is stated
that a specimen supposed to be of this species was obtained by dredging,
but lost before it could be examined.

•S. —.—..— A species resembling in some respects ^, Cameola (Stimp-
son), but much larger. It has 150 tentacles in three rows, an elerated
disk, red and purple, with two rows of white spots at the base of the
tentacles. Exterior finely lined with red or crimson. (These jictinuB
will be described and figured in next number.)'

Cyanea Pottelni. — Qasp^ Basin.

Jurelia aurita, — Specimens cast on shore probably of this species.
Multitudes of Medus» and small Omstaceans were obserred to cause a
brilliant phosphorescence in the waters of the Bay at night ; but not
haying a proper towing-net we did not obtain specimens.

TtibfUaria toryiu;.— Abundant on shells in deep water.

Sertularia argetUea. — Same habitat.

Ptantfiaria/alca/a.— Same habitat.

In addition to the aboye species, I find in our collection ten or
twelye species of Bryoxoa, all apparently identical with those described
by Johnston and others ; two or three sponges ; and six species of .Fb-
ramiftt/era, four of which at least are identical with European species,
and three with those found in the Post Pliocene clays at Montreal. I
hope at some future time to notice these specimens more fully, in con-
nection with fossil Bryoxoa and Poramin\fera recently found at Montreal
and Beauport, and with a suflBcient amount of explanation to render the
subject interesting to the readers of the Journal.

J. w. D.

ART. XXVin — The Freeh Water Alga of Canada. A Paper
read before the Natural History Society of Montreal, by the
Rev. A. F. Esmp.

Id the year 1840, when Haasall undertook his researches into
the British Fresh-Water Algse, this department of Cryptogamic
Botany was in a very unsatisfoctory condition. There were few
works on the subject, and the descriptions and figures which they

832 Frenh-ymter AlgcB of Canada.

oonfained were for the most part both inaccurate and obscure.
The minuteness of the objects, their fragile and changing character,
together with the imperfections of the microscopes formerly in use,
made their study sufiSTciently formidable, and account for the ne*
gleet whicb they met with at the hands of botanists. The improve-
ments effected of late years on achromatic microscopes in a
great measure obviates the difficulties which were at one time
experienced by observers, the result of which is that many have
entered into the field, and are prosecuting with much zeal the
difficult problems which pertain to the fecundity and growth of
these plants. Among the older botanists there was a want of
due appreciation of the value of the characters of this minute class
of plants founded on their reproductive organs. Appearances
were chiefly relied on for distinguishing families, genera, and
species, and hence, as might be expected, their classification was
very imperfect and arbitrary. The discrimination of these organs is
however in accordance with the natural system, regarded as the
only legitimate principle of classification. They are now seen to
be of more importance for the determination of genera and species
than all their other appearances whatever. While many plants are
exceedingly alike in other characters, they are yet on examination
found to be exceedingly unlike in their modes of reproduction,
and in the forms of their reproductive organs. A better system
having thus been adopted by modern algologists, it ha^ resulted
in a more scientific arrangement, which it is to be hoped the pro-
gress of discovery will yet bring to a greater measure of perfec-
tion.

The work which drew special attention to the study of the
Fresh- Water Algae, in modem times, was the valuable treatise of the
Bev. Jean Pierre Vauchor, of Greneva, entitled ''Histoire des
Oouferves d'Eau Douce," published in 1803.* A knowledge of
the different modes of their reproduction was the chief aim and
study of this writer. Many of his observations are exceedingly
accurate, of great value, and have been confirmed by subsequent
research. The figures appended to the work are curious, and,
upon the whole, correct. One finds no great difficulty in deter-
termining the plants they are intended to represent, and in this re-
spect they are not inferior to many of the more artistic represen-
tations of modern books. The work is still valuable to the careful

• A fine copy of this volnme is in the McQill OoUege Library, Mon-
Izeal.

Fresh-water Algce of Canada* 333

student. It has been largely used and acknowledged by all sub-
sequent writers, and fonns the basis of the more recent and com-
plete volumes of Hassall. Since Yaucher's work was published,
in the fiery times of the French revolution, much has been done
by both Continental and British botanists in the discovery and
classification of new species. Among others may be mentioned,
as illustrious for their works and labours, Hugo Mohl, Eutzing,
Agardh, Pringsheim, and Ohon, in Germany ; with Hooker, Tur*
ner, Greville, Harvey, Berkeley, Ralfs, and Hassall, in Britain.
Thei'e men, eminent in science, have both added to our know-
ledge of the Algae, and adorned its literature with works of
unquestionable accuracy and beauty.

Much obscurity has arisen in this department of Cryptogamic
Botany, from observers describing plants without reference to their
stage of growth. It is impossible that plants treated in this way
can be recognized by future enquirers. In no class of plants is a
collector more liable to fall into this error than in that of the
Fresh-Water Algae. In their several stages of growth, while main-
taining a uniform type of structure, they are yet so variable in
many of their parts and habits, that, without considerable experi-
ence, there is great danger of multiplying species without reason.
It has, therefore, been considered the wisest course, by modem
algolc^'sts, to notice only, or chiefly, those species whose repro-
duction has been satisfactorily determined or accounted for.
Upon such principles, our classifiction of the Fresh Water Algas is
grounded.

We are not aware that this order of plants has yet been- ex-
amined or determined in Canada. It has, doubtless, been noted
with more or less attention, by several explorers of our botany ;
but not to our knowledge has anything yet been published. In
the United States, Prof. Bailey is known to have directed some
attection to the genera and species of his own country, and, pro-
bably, among the specimens of his magnificent herbarium, be-
queathed to the Natural History Society of Boston, mictoscopic
or dried illustrations of much value may be found.

So far as our imperfect examination, during hours of rest and
leisure, of the rivers, lakes, streams and waters of Canada, has ex-
tended, we have found a rich and varied field of research, possessing
all the channs of novelty and beauty, and abounding in won-
deiful evidences of the Creator^s perfections. We can fully en-
dorse the remark of Hassall in the introduction to his valuable

884 Freih-water Algce (^ Canada.

^History," that "so abundant are the prodactions under our
consideration, that there is not a ditch or pool of any extent or
standing but furnishes one or more species, and even our mineral
springs are not entirely free from them. From the uniform na-
ture of ihe element which the majority of the Fresh-Water AIg»
inhabit, it may confidently be anticipated that very many of the
species described in this work, will, when the Algm comes to be
studied with that diligence and care they so well merit, be found
in most of the Continental countries.'' In this statement he
has exclusive reference to Europe, but he might have extended
his view also to America. It is a singular fact, that, while in the
PboBDOgamus plants, and the higher order of Cryptogams, much
that is novel, both in genera and species, may be found in this
New World ; yet that the waters, so far as they have been ex-
amine J, present no new forms of Algae, no new genera, and but
few plants that are specifically different from those already de-
scribed as inhabitants of Europe. It may be found that we have
even fewer forms here that are to be found in the more temperate
SK>nes of the earth. The severity of our winter, for five months
in the year at least, for the most part hinders and may altogether
prevent the growth of such delicate plants. Again, our arid
midsummer, drying up ponds and streams in which Alg» are gene-
rally found, is also a hindrance to their developement. On the
other hand, the warmth and moisture of our springs and autumns,
ftnd the high temperature of our rivers and lakes, are likely to
make the genera which we do possess more exuberant and proli-
fic As instances in point, we have not yet found a single exam-
ple of the verticellate genus Batrachospermunu In vain we
have searched for it in places where it might naturally be ex-
pected, yet not a frond have we seen. It may still be found, but
80 far the researches of two years in the Canadas have been in
vain. In contrast with this, we find the allied family, Chcetophora,
called by Yaucher Batrachosperme a Mamelons^ very plentiful and
much more prolific in its fronds than as would appear from the
descriptions and figures of Hassall, pertains to the European spe-
cimens. This difference between the two hemispheres, future dis-
coveries in both will doubtless greatly modify, if not altogether
remove. We may, therefore, regard it as an. ascertained fact that
the Fiesh- Water AlgcB of the old and new worlds are all but uni-
form in the number and character of their genera and species.
In this paper, we shall follow the classification and generally

FrUhrwater AlgiM of Canada. 395

the descriptions given by Hassall in his valuable volumes on the
«* History of the British Fresh- Water AlgatP This is the best and
most systematic treatise which we have on the subject It was
first published in 1845, and is much in advance of any similar
work up to that time. It, however, now requires to be re-edited,
and its descriptions and figures carefully revised. It is to hoped
that the author may yet meet with sufficient inducements to lead
him to undertake a new and enlarged edition.

The three main divisions into which Hassall divides this order
of plants are : —

I. ALGiB FILXFOBMBS. II. ALOiB GLOBULIFERiK. lEL hXQM

FiaUBATJS.

Under the first of these divisions we have

Family L Sifhone^e.

Characters, — Algae composed of a continuous branched and cylin-
drical cell, inarticulate. Reproductive organs external.

Genus I. Vauchbria, D. C.

Characters, — ^Frond here and there, occasionally inflated. Repro-
ductive organs (f two kinds capsules t and anthercs or horns
lateral or terminal.

This is both a curious and highly interesting plant It is gen-
erally found in quiet pools and ditches with muddy bottoms, into
which it strikes its root^. It grows in masse?, in its young state
is of a bright velvety green, but on attaining maturity it takes a
light-olive colour. The organs, which are described as reproduc-
tive, are very singular in appearance, and quite peculiar to this
genus. These consist of capsular bodies, either terminal or pro-
jecting from the main stem, at nearly right angles. In fructifica-
tion the contents of the more or less enlarged extremities of the
branches or special projections separate from the general contents
of the plant, condense into a globular green mass, and become a
spore, which, at length, escapes by a rupture of the walls, moves
freely about in the water, in a short time becomes fixed, and de-
▼elopes into a new plant This was at one time thought to be
reproduction without fecundation. ButVaucher, in 1803, observed
attached to the capsular bodies which spring from the sides of
the plant, horn-shaped projections, which he conjectured to be
analogous to anthers. No observer had, up to a recent date, been
able to verify his observatioos, and doubt was cast upon their

836 Freshrwater Alga of Canada.

reality. We find, however, in, " Gray's Structural and Systematic
Botany," fifth edition, that Pringsheim, of Berlin, is alleged to
have discovered the fecundation, and verified Vaucher's conjecture.
In the **' Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences,' Berlin,
March, 1855," he states that the horn-shaped projections are
antheridia, or analogous of the anther. They produce myriads of
very minute corpuscles of oblong shape,and furnished with a bristle
or cilia at each end, by the vibration of which they move freely
in the water. These he calls spermalozoids from their resemblance
to the spermatozoae of animals, and regards them as analogues of
pollen. At the proper time, he says, the antheridia burst at the
summit and discharge the spermatozoids. At this time the wall
of the projection, which contains the spore, likewise opens and
numbers of the free-moving spermatozoids find their way into the
opening and into contact with the forming spore, and even pene-
trate its substance. As a consequence of this, a wall of cellulose
is presently formed around the mass, and connects it into a proper
fertilized cell or spore." Our examination of this plant has not as
yet verified these discoveries, and we have reason to doubt their
reality. In the first place, those plants which have no capsules,
but whose spores are formed at the extremities of the branches,
have no organs at all analogous to antheridia, and, unless their
fertilization depends upon tiie pollen of other species, or other
plants, it must arise from another cause. Again, the attach-
ment of one or two spermatozoids to the aggregated granules
of the capsules, would not be satisfactory proof that they
were pollen. It is well known that these vivacious corpuscles
attach themselves readily by their cilia to any body with which
they come into contact ; being she>l, therefore, from the project*
ing horns of the capsule, it might be expected that some of them
would adhere to its surface, or even penetrate its walls. That the
cells are not fertile, or do not form cellulose until theycome into
contact with the spermatozoids, is, we apprehend, mere conjec-
ture.

We are inclined to think, from what we have seen of this plant,
that the spermatozoids are true spores, and themselves fertile,
while the cell-mass, which, after assuming a definite form, escapes
from the branch, is neither more nor less than a fertile bud, — an
instance, by no means uncommon in the Algae, of propagation by
fission. Thus we shall, if this be true, have two forms of reproduc-
tion in Vaucheria, analogous to that which is found in some of the

Fresh-water Algce of Canada, 337

lowest forms of animal life. The pbenomeuon of the Aggregation
of sporules, or the granular contents of filaments or cells, which
is so marked a feature in most of the confervoid plants, is one that
admits of still further ihvestigatiou than it has yet received. We
have been tempted to think, from various appearances which we
have observed in several species of Algae, that this aggregation
may be found referrible to some general principle, peculiar to fer-
ilized zoospores whose escape is retarded by the cell walls within
which they are germinated. The subject is, however, a diflficult
one. The objects to be examined are so minute, that to observe
their developement under the microscope, is all but impossible.
The evidence upon which a determination must mainly rest, will
be of a negative character, and only appreciable by those who
have given the subject attentive study. In a future paper we
hope to direct special attention to this point

The VaucherisB possess the remarkable property of resisting the
action of severe cold for a lengthened time. We collected some
specimens this spring, immediately after the dissolving of the ice,
in a pond the water of which had been frozen into a solid mass for at
least four months and a half. Many of the plants had shed their
spores, but others were quite fresh and healthy. Autumn would
appear to be the time during which they are chiefly to be found
in a perfect state. They may, however, be found in shady and
damp ditches during spring and summer.

We have been able to determine the following species : —

I. Yaugheria diohotoma, Ag.

Char, — ^Frond setaceous dichotomous,fastigiate. Vesicles solitary

globose sessile^ Grev.
Hab. — ^In ponds and ditches ; frequent ; annual ; spring and sum*

mer. In the fields at Mile End Toll-Bar, Montreal.

Hassall's mst. Brit. F. Algce, p. 61, Plate IV., fig. 1.

Hassall doubts if this species is anything more than a condi^
tion of V. sessilis. The capsules are the same in both. A yel-
lowish or olive green is the color of all this genus when aged or
in seed.

11. V. Geminata, Vauch.

Char. — Capsules situated on the ped(uncle common to both^ An-
ther intermediate.

Hassall's Hist. Brit. F. Algos, p. 5o, Plate III., fig. 1.

This belongs to a subdivision of the genus in which the vesicles

B

838 Freshrwater Algo& of Canada,

are pedunculate, in pairs, lateral. In Yaucher^s history it is called
Ectosperma geminata^ the generic name being that by which he
distinguished the plants ; and but for the sake of immortalizing the
illustrioua algologlst, we should greatly prefer it still ; a descriptive
name being at all times better than an arbitrnry title. The fila-
ments of this species are fine, and the seed-vessels, after ascending
from the filaments, send off laterally two branches on each of
which a capsule rests; the continuation of the peduncle inter-
mediate between the capsules forms the anther. It is not quite
certain that this form of the capsule is uniform or charscteristio
of the species. On the same frond we have observed capsules of
various fprms,— K>n the geminata^ cruciate forms, and on the cru-
ciata, sessile forms, (fee, &c. There must, therefore, rest some
uncertainty upon these characters. It may be that they are all
modifications and varieties of the same capsular system, and that
we have after all fewer species than are supposed.

III. V. CRUCIATA, Vauckm

Char. — Seminibus duohus^ lateralibus^ pedunctdatis. Antherse
intermedial cruciata^ Vauch.

Hah. — In pools or ditches with mud bottoms. In the fields at the
toll bar, Mile End, Montreal.

Vaucher's Hist, des Oouf.y p. 30, Plate II., fig. 6.

This species is not described by Hassall. He regards it as in-
cluded with several others in a species which he proposes to call
V. Ungeri ; but it is found very distinctly marked, the cruci-
ate form of the capsules being very regular and well defined.
Vaucher says of it that " it may possibly be but a variety of
geniinata ; but there is in it a sufficient difference to entitle it to
a distinct place and name."

There are eleven other species described by Hassall, most of
which will doubtless be found in Canada in the proper season, and
after diligent search.

Passing over five families, of which we have as yet found no
examples, we come to, —

Fam. YIL Chjetophork^, Hass.

Char. — Algae gelatinous^ ramose^ composed of principal stems
and smaller filaments for the most part ciliated. Reproduc-
tion usually by means of zoospores contained in the filaments^
hut in some cases said to he capsular.
This family has a strong resemblance to the Batrachospermece,

Fresh-water Algoe of Canada, 339

which immediately precedes it. Both of them are highly mucous to
the touch, and their lubricity chiefly arises from the presence of in-
numerable lashes or ciliform appendages which terminate their
branches. They likewise agree in habit, dwelling for the most
part in fresh, pure water, in spring-wells in which there is a con-
stant current, and upon rocks and stones in the shallow and shel-
tered parts of rivers and streams. It is doubtful whether a sepa-
rate family should be made of this group of genera. The genus
Drapemaldia which it embraces, has certainly in its mature state
a close resemblance to the Batrachosperms^ while in its early stacres
it approximates to the character of Chastophora. The only point
in which the Batrackosperms dilQfer materially from this family is
in the verticellate fronds or filaments of the former ; but it may
be doubted whether these are more than mere generic distinctions.
Our idea is that Vaucher's arrangement in this respect is much to
be preferred to that adopted by HassalL

Genus L Drapernaldia, Bary.
C%ar.-— Filaments /re^, not immersed in a gelatinous matrix.
Hassairs ITist. BriL F. Algoe, p. 1 18.
Bory, in his Annales du Museum, dedicates this genus toDra-
pernand, a distinguished but modest naturalist, who took great
delight in the study of the Coufervae.

The mode of its reproduction is simple. If a specimen be ex-
amined in a young state, the filaments will be found to be made
up of cylindrical cells; but by and bye the green granules which
the cells contain, become enlarged and swell up the cells, so that
the filaments assume a beautiful beaded form, which' gives a
most distinct character to the frond. This inflation is indicative
of the period of reproduction. The cells soon rupture, and the
zoospores escape through the aperture, and after swimming about
for an hour or two become fixed, and germinate by the elongation
and division of the cells.
Of this genus we find the following species in Canada :
I. Drapernaldia plitmosa, Ag,
Char.— Frond, gelatinous. FilsmentagracUe, elongated. Branches
subpinnate. Tufts elongated, scattered, approximate to the
branches, ciliated.

Hassairs ffist. Brit. F. Algas, p. 121, Plate, XH, fig. 1.
£a6.— Quiet deep and clear pools or spring-wells ; fine specimens
collected on the Mountain, and in the fields at Mile End toll
bar, Montreal.

340 Fresh-water AlgoB of Canada.

This species ip, in its young state, of a bright beautiful green,
yery gelatinous, delicate, and fragile. As it becomes mature, it
changes to a green olive. It is a very elegant, and, -as a micros-
copic object, possesses great beauty. The branches are long and
graceful, and the head-like form of the cells give them a sparkling
gem-like lustre.

IL D. C0NDEN8ATA, HaSS.

Ckar, — ^Filaments of eonsiderabie stze, sparingly branched.
"Br&nches only occasionally compound^ shorty with short cilia.
Cells abbreviated.

Hassall in Annals of Nat. His. Vol. XI., p. 420. Hist. Brit. F.

AlgcB, p. 122, Plate XL, fig. 1.

Hab. — In the quiet and clear waters of the St. Lawrence ; found
in spring, while the ice was upon the river, at the steamboat
wharf, Morrisburg.

This species is described as one of the finest and most distinct
of the genus. There is no diflSculty whatever in recognising it.
It is very sparingly branched. The ramuli are never tufted;
irregular in length; occasionally very short; and the cilia are
rarely prolonged. Only in the locality mentioned have we found
this species. Our specimen when found was of a lustrous green
color. In the dry state it has taken a yellowish tinge.

ni. D. TENUIS, Ag.

Char. — Filaments slender ciliated^ moderately branched. Branches
usually simple and solitary^ but sometimes subfastigiate.
Cells of the stems twice or thrice as long as broad ; those of
the branches rather longer than broad.

Hassall's Hist. Brit. F. Algce, p. 123.

Hab. — The rapid streams which run through the railway pier at
St. Lambert, Montreal ; also at St. Helen's Island.

This species is very tenacious, and is an inhabitant of streams
and rivuletB the current of which is strong. ' It is found in great
profusion and beauty in the localities referred to. Its bright
green fronds fringe the rocks, stones, and drift-wood, and add
brilliancy to the rushing waters. The filaments are very long,
and are as hardy as the Cladopheraghmerata. The branches are
irregular or alternate, more or less furnished with scattered ramuli
whose tops are either acute or drawn out into long setaceous
colourless points. Harvey in his Manual says that at first the
filaments are enclosed after the manner of Chastophora. in a com-

Fresh-water Algce of Canada, 341

mon somewhat definite gelatine. Afterwards, on its bursting, they
issue from it like a Conferva^ but are at all times very gelatinous.
In the dried state it makes a beautiful specimen for the portfolio.

IV. D. NANA, Hasi,

Char. — Filaments highly mucous^ very slender^ sparingly branched.

Branches acuminate, not usually ciliated. Cells rather broader

than long,

Hassairs Hist, Brit. F. Algce, p. 124, Plate X, fig. 3.
Hab. — Stagnant pools on the road by the river to Point St. Charles,

Montreal.
This species is not unlike D. condensata. lis characteristic dis-
tinction is the fineness and mucosity of its filaments, and the
shortness of its cells. Our specimens were found in stagnant
pools upon dead wood. Its habitat may both account for its
want of cilise, and entitle it to be considered as a distinct species.

Genus 11. Ch^etophora, Schrank.

Char. — Filaments embedded in a gelatinous matrix, globose or
lobed, aggregated, branched, articulated, sometimes setaceous,
and issuing from a common base. Branches nearly colorless.
Hamuli colored.
Derivation from chaite, a bristle, and phoreo, to bear.
HassalFs Mist. Brit. F. Alg., p. 124.
Yaucher classes this genus among the Batrachospermes. He
notes also in the gelatinous matrix of the older specimens a num-
ber of stony particles which he conjectures to be ruptured cells,
and destined to reproduce the species. It is questionable if these
stony grains belong to the plant at all. Most probably they are
foreign matter absorbed by the gelatine in the process of its
growth. The general character of this genus is very distinct In
external appearance some of the species are exceedingly like Nos-
tochinecB ; but the filaments contained in the matrix, differ widely
from that family in being aggregated, frequently branched, and in
springing from a common base.

Of this genus we have fouud specimens of the following species :

I. CfiiETOPHOIU. ENDIVIiEFOLIA, Ag.

Char. — Mucous matrix somewhat compressed, sUb^ichotomously
branched. Primary branches frequently parallel, apices of
ultimate ramuli ciliated.

Vaucher's Hist, des Conf, p, 116, Plate XUI, fig. 1. HassalKfl
Hist. Brit. F. Alg., p. 125, Plate IX, figs. 1 and 2.

842 Fresh-water Algce of Canada,

^ah. — ^In the stream on the south side of St. Helen's Island, and
on the south-east sicje of Moffatt's Island, St. Lambert, Mon-
treal.
This species is met with in slowly-running clear wat^r, adher-
ing to rocks and stones, and is in good condition in summer and
autumn. It has to the eye the appearance of a green protruber-
ance, irregularly lobed at its extremities, and, in the more prolific
spscimens, waving with the motion of the water. It seems to
grow in much greater luxuriance with us than it does in Europe.
Vaucher says of it that " it is but little more than a few lines in
length, and about half as broad.'* Our specimens are greatly
larger than this, and more prolific in their branches than any that
appear to have come under the notice of European botanists. One
which lies before us has a knotty stem as thick as a crow's quill,
and about an inch in length. From allsides of it branches spring irrer
gularly, and are from an inch to an inch and a half in lengthy twice and
thrice compounded. The plant is of a bright-green color^ which
it retains when dried. It spreads over the paper in length four
and a quarter inches, and in breadth two and a half. Mr. Harvey^
in his description of this species, compares the mode of branching
of the frond to stags' horns, a comparison which conveys a veiy
good idea of the appearance of this beautiful object.

The filaments contained in the matrix are fastigiat«, articulate,
and closely packed in the gelatine. They throw out from their
sides dichotomously- branched ramuli, Iq a racemose manner, or
as one would arrange flowers in a bouquet. The whole surince
of the lobes or main branches has the appearance of being cov-
ered with bristles, from the apices of which, and extending beyond
the mucous, there spring long gelatinous cilis^. One marked
character of this species is that the bristles do not tufb or form
protruberances ; but are equally distributed over the lobes, a good
illustration of which is given in Vaucher^s fig., Plate XIIL

n. Ch. mammosa ?

Char, — ^Mucous matrix somewhat eompressedj subdichotomozLsl^
hranclud. Primary hvdJich^^ frequently parallel^ containing
numerous irregular protuberances. Ultimate ramuli of the
fiiaments tufted^ fasciculate.

Hab. — Same as the preceeding.

This species differs evidently from any that are figured or de-
scribed by either Vaucher or Hassall. The mucous is much firmer

Fresh-water Alyoe of Canada. 343

and less labricous than in endivicefolio ; mature specimens, are
leathery to the touch. Its peculiar characteristic, in which it
differs from any other known to us, is the mamillce or wart-like
protuberances which cover its fronds. Tuberculosa would have
been a good descriptive name, but this has already been given
to another, and a very different species. We have therefore
ventured provUionalli/ to call it mammosa. These protuberances
arise from the peculiar form of the contained filaments, the ramuli
of which are found to branch dichotomously, and ultimately to
form tuffs not unlike an umbel. Several of these tuffs grouping
together form external protuberances on the mucous. This species
is undoubtedly closely allied to the preceding, but is clearly more
than a mere variety. Its main branches are neither so delicate
nor so long as its are, and even to the eye the mamillse give it a
character peculiar to itself.

III. Ch. TUBERCULOSA, Hook,

Char, — Gelatinous matrix, at first glabrous and firm. Filaments
very slender^ fi^xuouf^ hyaline, Bamuli coloured palmate
fasciculate. — Harvey.

Hassall's Hist. Brit. F. Algce. p. 126, Plate IX, figs. 7, 8 ; Harvey

in Manual, 1st edition, p. 121.

Hab. — In a pool at the west end of St. Helen's Island, adhering
to the stems of aquatic plants, and to stones.

Harvey describes the fronds of the European species of this plant
as bright-green, and an inch and more in diameter. The largest of
our specimens have not exceeded a quarter of an inch, and several
of them are, no larger than the head of a pin. In this respect they
bear a resemblance to C. elegans^ which according to Vaucher ** is
formed of gelatinous protruberances of all sorts of figures, and of
a diameter which varies from a point to an inch." It is evidently
identical with the Batrochospermum intricatum of Vaucher. In
English Botany the filaments are figured without cilisB, and in this
respect agree with our specimens. We have no doubt that this is
a permanent character and distinguishes it from 0. eleyans, whose
apices are setigerous and produced beyond the gelatine. Under
the microscope this is an exceedingly beautiful object. The cells
of the filaments are about one and a half times loutr as broad, and
in maturity become round and bead-like. The branches begin at
thefoui'th or fifth cell from the base of the filaments and bifurcate
at every fourth or fifth cell twice or thrice ; the ultimate ramult

344 Fresh-water AlgcB of Canada.

are long and parallel, and slightly incurved at the apices as if
conforming to the globose form of the matrix.

It is ascertained that this species has a corpuscular fructifica-
tion, observed on but few of the Fresh-water Alga), and analogous
to that which is characteristic of the Marine Rhodosperms. *^ The
fruit of (7Ac?toj9Aora appears hitherto, says the *^ Annals'' for June,
quoted by Hassall, to have been observed only by Mr. Berkeley,
a figure of which he published in his '* Gleanings of British Algae."
Dr. Muller of Detmold has however met with and figured similar
fruit Be has made moreover a very curious observation, viz.,
that the fruit is accompanied by and at length connate with a red
globule of a similar form but smaller in size, which he considers
as the male fructification As the female capsule advances to
maturity, the male approaches it, becomes elongated, and at length
is united with it, emptying the pollen globules into the female fruit.
This process being accomplished, it falls offl

His account of the development of the spores within the capsule
is also curious. From each of the seeds a hyaline thread is deve-
loped, formed of the globules which press forward from the inside
of the seed ; this at length becomes green, and consists of a very
tender hyaline tube filled with a moniliform row of globules.
Fmally, the uppermost globule is elongated into anew tube, which
is of a paler green than the rest of the thread. The capsule is no
longer visible, and the whole now resembles a Rivularia and
soon asumes the form C. tuberculosa.

It has not been our good fortune to discover these capsules as
yet in this plant, nor to verify this process of reproduction. We
have however, observed certain red globules or granules, in the
cells, or assuming a Lirge and independent external position.
Further investigation may thus enable us to verify this interesting
discovery of Miiller's.

Ch. eleqaks, Ag.

Char. — Mucous matrix sub-globosSj or lohed^ rather solid, green^
Filaments sulhdichotomous, Bamuli /astigiatSf the apices
produced beyond the gelatine and setigerous.

Hassall, Hist Brit. F. Alg., p. 127, plate ix., figs. 3, 4.
Harvey in Manual, p. 122.
Hab. — On sticks and stones in stagnant and clear pools. In the
fields at Mile End Toll-bar ; not very common.

Vaucher says of this plant that "no species is more easy to
recognise ; it is formed of gelatinous protuberances of all sorts of

Freihrwater AlgcB of Canada, 345

figures, and of a diameter that varies from a point to an incb.^
In our specimens the globose frond is sometimes solitary, and
sometimes grouped in masses five or six together, and of various
sizes. It is of a deep green colour and very solid, requiring con-
siderable pressure to prepare it for the microscope. The internal
filaments are very prolifically branched, and from the apices of
the ultimate ramuli mucous setigerous threads protrude beyond
the gelatinous matrix. In this last particular, as well as in its
gre:iter density, it is readily distinguished from Ch. tuberculosa.

Que curious fact is well ascertained in regard to many of these
plants, namely ; that there is a double process of development into
maturity : one of the primary spores into several individuals, and
another of the individuals by subdision into fronds. The spores are
sometimes parted twice, thrice, and four times, by the constriction
of their hyaline integument By this means it is obvious that a
single plant, with its numerous cells and countless spore?, will re-
produce itself at an immense ratio. Provision is thus made by
the Creator against the injury and destruction to which these tiny
germs are exposed, to ensure the perpetuation of their species^ and
to maintain the progressive chain of creation.

Another curious feature, especially found in the families now
described, is their power of secreting large quantities of Gelatine*
The mucous of the Ckoetophora is greatly disproportioned to the
organised filaments of which it is composed. Whatever function
of nutriment this substance may possess, it unquestionally serves
the purpose of protecting the plant from injury — presenting no
points of resistance to the running water, or to the smaller bodies
which are carried along in its course. This mucous answers also
as food for aquatic insects, and for the smaller fishes. Dr. Living-
stone in his ** Travels " mentions a fish in the Zambese River of
Central Africa, which feeds on a mossy kind of substance which
grows in the bottom of the river. Now we have no doubt that
this mossy substance is our Gelatinous Ckcetophora, These there-
fore are some of the important uses which the mucous so largely
secreted by these plants serves in the economy of nature.

(To be continued,)

1

346 Canadian Butterflies,

ART. XXIX. — Description of two species of Canadian Butterflies.

I. Cynthia cardui (the painted lady.)

The Imago, — ^The colours of tbe upper side .are brown, tawny-
orange, black and white distributed as follows : — The fore wing
at the base or next the body is brown ; a large space of the tip
black, with five white spots. Of these latter, the one nearest the
body is the largest ; it is of an irregular oblong shape, one end
touching the front margin of the wing. The other four white
spots are nearer the tip of the wing, and arranged in a short
curved row. The outer margin of the wing is also marked with
several whitish or yellowish semi-circular spots. Situated on the
edge, and parallel with these at the distance of about half a line
from the border, is a second row of obscure yellow spots. The
greater part of the central portion of the fore-wing is tawny-
orange, with some irregular black patches, connected with
each other by slender points of the same colour. The hind wing
is principally tawny-orange or reddish, with three rows of black
Bpots in the posterior halfl The first row consists of five round
spots, the two largest sometimes touching each other ; the next,
of seven or eight ^mall irregular diamond-shaped spots ; while
those of the third or marginal row are somewhat larger, and of a
triangular shape, projecting out to the edge of the wing. About
the centre of the wing there is a large irregular spot of black
curving across it. The base and front margins are black. The
posterior edge is delicately bordered with crescents of yellow. The
upper side of the body and the base of the wings are covered
with fine long brown hairs.

On the underside the fore-wings are marked nearly the same
as on the upperside, but the dark colours are not so strong. The
undersides of the hind wings are beautifully dappled with olive-
brown, white, and grey, the veins being white. Near the poste-
rior margin is a row of five beautiful eye-shaped spots, the two in
the centre being the smallest. Behind these is a slender chain of
elongated light-blue spots, each with a narrow black border, and
nearer the edge are two other faint parallel black lines, the outer
one consisting of a series of short curves. The underside of the
body and legs are yellowish- white, the clubs of the antennaa tipped
with the same colour.

The Larva. — The caterpillar is dark-brown, or nearly black,
with greyish scattered hairs, and several rows of tufted spines.

Canadian Butterflies,

847

There are two very narrow bands of yellow along the back, di-
vided by a line of black. On the lower part of each side there is
also a stripe of a yellow colour, but not so conspicuous as those
upon the back, on account of its position being nearly on the un-
derside of the body. On each of the 2d, 3d, and 4th segments of
tbe body there are four spines; 6th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, lOlh, lltli*
seven spines; 12th, four spines; 13th, two spines. All the speci-
mens I have obseiVed are more or less speckled with minute spots
of yellow, and sometimes these are so numerous, that the cater-
pillar has a yellowish instead of a brown or blackish colour.

The Chrysalis is about three-fourths of an inch in length, and
of a light or dark-grey or ash colour, with three rows of golden
tubercles on the dorsal side. There are nine of these in each of
the outer rows, and six in the central. The latter are very small.
Two of those of the outer rows, one large and a very small one
beside it, are situated in the constriction of the back. On the sides
of the head are two or three small projections. '

'W

GmiTSALis olr G. oarduz. Fig. 1, Vteto of the Dorsal side, 2, Ventral

tide. 3, Left tide. 4, Itight side.

Cynthia cdrdvi was very abundant in the city of Montreal and
around the base of the mountain, during September and the be-
ginning of the present month of October. In the small common

348 Canadian Butterflies,

below tbe McTavish house, fifty or sixty of these beautiful insects
could be counted at once, regaling themselves on the flower of
the thistles growing in that locality. In one small yard in the
city about twenty of the chrysalides were observed attached to
the fences and projections of the roof of the shed. There were a
few thistles growing in the yard, and these were much frequented
by the caterpillars. The larva, chrysalis, and imago could be all
well observed at the same time. A caterpillar was taken into the
house on the 19th of September, and put in a box covered with a
piece of gauze, and placed upright so as to afford it a chance of
suspending itself. It immediately crawled to the top of the box,
and, in about half an hour more commenced to spin a quantity of
fine white silk from its mouth. The next morning it was found
suspended in the usual position, with the head downwards.
It remained in this position two days, apparently becoming
smaller and shrivelling up. During the third night it was trans-
formed into a chrysalis, in which condition it remained until the
13 th of October, when the butterfly was produced.

Another, which suspended ifjself to a window-sash, on the 13th
of September, had entered into the chrysalis state sometime be-
tween that date and the 16th. On the 11th of October the
butterfly appeared. A chrysalis was taken from the fence, on the
lYth of September, and brought into the house produced a but-
terfly on the 2nd of Oct, the time observed being 17 davs. How
long it had been in the chrysalis state, previously, is not known.
At this time of the year, therefore, this species remains in the
chrysalis state from three weeks to one month.

This butterfly is one of the most interesting of all the Lepidop-
tera, on account of its very extensive geographical range, it being
common in North America, New South Wales, Java, Africa,
Brazil, and Great Britain. Its appearance appears to be some-
what irregular. Thus Westwood states : — " This is one of those
species of butterflies remarkable for the irregularity of its appear-
ance ; in some years occurring plentifully, even in the neighbor-
hood of London, after which it will disappear for several years.
Indeed, instances are on record in which, owing to the vast num-
bers, migration has become necessary ; and in the "' Annales des
Sciences Naturelles," for 1828, an account is given of an extraor-
dinary swarm which was observed in the preceding May, in one
of the cantons of Switzerland, the number of which was so pro-
digious, that they occupied several hours in passing over the place

Canadian Butterflies. 849

where they were observed. The precise causes for this phenomo-
noD were not investigated, and the time of the year is remarka-
ble."*

In a paper by Prof. J. P. Kirtland, of Ohio, on the Butterflies
of that state, this species is noticed as having been introduced into
North America from some foreign country. The author states
that in some seasons it becomes extremely numerous, while in
others the collector of insects will hardly discover a solitary indi-
vidual. Allthe thistle family are eaten by the larva. Even the
forbidding Canada thistle I have found in Wisconsin to be strip-
ped of leaves by the larva." f

Boisduval and Leconte, who describe it as a species of Fa-
nessaj say that it is not so common in America as in Europe.
** Cette Vanesse, tr^s commune dans toute I'Europe, FAfrique et
les Indes orientales, est beaucoup plus rare en Amerique, quoique
du reste elle se trouve dans presque toute I'entendu de ce contin-
ent."t

Mr. Emmons has described it in the Natural History of Few
York, but^ives no particulars as to its distribution in that state
whether abundant or otherwise. He has also figured a caterpillar
which does not at all resemble those we have observed at Mon-
treal.

Cynthia huntera (Fabricius).

At the same time that C. cardui was seen in such abundance be-
low the McTavish house, C. huntera was observed in stiU greater
numbers further up the mountain, and west of the monument.
Several specimens were also met with on the top of the mountain.
Although a diligent search was made, none of the larvse or chry-
salides were found. It was, however, most interesting to find these
two beautiful species of insects on the same day so numerous in
two localities which are only three or four hundred yards apart.
This is also an English species, and as Westwood's description
agrees exactly with our specimens we shall give it entire. He says
^it measures 2} inches in the expanse of the wings, which are of
a less twany-orange colour than those of C. cardui ; brown at the
base, the x)range disk much broken in the fore-wings by blackish
irregular bars, the apex blackish with a long white costal spo

* Westwood's Bbitibh Buttbbfliks, p. 67.

t Eirtland on Diurnal Lbpidoptera of Nobtbbrit and Hn>DLi Ohio
Annals of Science, Vol, 2, p. 73.
t Boisdaval et Leconte, Vol. 1, p. 179.

350 Canadian Butterflies,

and four dots near the apex, white, between which and the margin
is a pale broken rivulet. Beyond the middle of the hindwings is
a slender interrupted brown bar, succeeded by four indistinct eye-
lets, a black submarginal bar, aud two very slender submarginal
dark lines. But the great beauty of the insect consists in the
underside of the wings, the anterior being elegantly varied with
white, brown and black, with two eyes near the apex. The disk of
the hind wings is white, with the veins and many lines and bars of
brown ; these form a double scallop beyond the middle of the
wing, succeeded by a white bar of the same form ; the terminal
part of the wing being brown and ornamented by two very large
eyes, margined with black ; between these and the margin is a
bar, and two dark thin marginal lines."*

These two species much resemble each other ; but can be dis-
tinguished without diflSculty by the marking of the underside of
the hind wings. C cardui has five ocelli or eye-like spots be-
neath ; while C, huntera has only two, but much larger.

As before stated, we have not seen the caterpillar, and the seve-
ral authors describe it differently. Drury says it is green, with
black rings round the body. According to Boisduval and Laconte
it is blackish-grey, striped with yellow ; while Abbot says it is
brown with a yellow lateral line.

It occurs in most of the Southern and Western States, and is
said to appear once in five or six years in great abundance, while
at other times it is scarce.

As yet we have no published observations upon the natural
history of the above two species of insects in any Canadian work.
The foreign authors do not give many reliable details. In fact,
with regard to all our Lepidoptera it may be stated that not one
species is perfectly known. We need not be surprised at this,
because even in England, where there are perhaps more enthu-
siastic collectors and more good observers than in any other part
of the world of the same extent, the natural history of the sixty-
five species of butterflies found in the country is not complete.
Upon this subject Mr. Stainton, editor of the Entomologist's
Annual, makes the following remarks : — *

"A recent writer in the *Ncw Quarterly Review ' has remark-
ed : — * The metamorphoses of the British butterflies, of which
there are only about sixty-five, arc proportionably less known

• Westood'a Btitish BuTTBBPLras, p. 67.

* See Stainton's British Butterflies and Moths, page. 70

Canadian Butterflies, 351

than those of the small moths ! The books which describe onr
butterflies, it is tme,^ also give descriptions of their caterpillars
and their food ; bat these cannot be depended npo'n ; they are
only copied from other books, and may be traced back from
author to author, until they turn out to be the original descrip-
tions of some old French, Dutch, or German entomologist, who
looked at objects with a very different eye to that which we use.
A9 such, they remind us rather of the astonishment expressed by
Mr. John Robinson's friend on finding he was really alive : —

' Somebody told me that some one said
That some other person had somewhere read,
In Bome newspaper yon were somehow dead 1 '

Our readers are therefore recommended to catechiz*? themselves
by seeing how many of the following questions they can answer
with reference to those, butterflies with which they may consider
themselves best acquainted : —

1. Where is the egg laid ?

2. How soon is it hatched ?

3. How long does the larva live before changing its skin ?

4. What change takes place in the form and markings of the
larva when it changes its skin ?

6. Is the larva gregarious or solitary I

6. Is it active or sluggish ?

7. Does it feed by night or by day ?

8. What is its principal food-plant ?

9. On what other plants is it sometimes found i

10. At what period is the larva full fed ?

11. What change takes place in the appearance of the larva
when full fed ?

12. Where does it change to pupa ?

13. How is the pupa suspended or attached ?

14. What is the form of the pupa ?

15. How long does it remain in that state ?

16. What are the motions of the perfect insect ?
, 17. To what flowers is it most partial ?

18. Does it hybernate or not ?

When these questions can be answered with reference to each
species of our butterflies, we may then admit that their natural
history is known ; and it would then become practicable to write
a good monograph of the group.

352 The Observatory at St» Martin.

A.RT. XXX. — The Observatory at St, Martin, Isle Jesus, Ca-
nada East. Notes by Prof. Charles Smallwood, m. d.
LL. D. Read before the Canadian Institute, 20th February,

1858.*

The following sketch of the general appearances of the building
and instruments, from the pen of Dr. Hall, of Montreal, furnishes
a very suitable introduction to Dr. Smallwood's account of the
Observatory established by him at St. Martin, Isle Jesus.

A small wooden building, distant about twenty yards from the
dwelling house of Dr. Smallwood, contains the whole of the appa-
ratus which has for many years furnished such valuable results.
A short distance from it, and on a level with the ground, is the
snow gauge. Immediately in front of the entrance to the small
building is a dial, with an index to point out the course of the
clouds. Contiguous to the building again may be seen four erect
staffs. The highest of which — 80 feet — is intended for the ele-
vation of a lighted lantern, to collect the electricity of the atmos-
phere, the copper wires from which lead through openings in the
roof of the building to a table inside, on which a four-armed insu-
lated conductor is placed. The lantern is made to ascend and
descend on a species of railway, in order to obviate all jarring.
On another pole is placed the wind vane, which, by a series of
wheels moved by a spindle, rotates a dial inside the building
marked with the usual points of the compass. Another staff,
about 30 feet high, contains the anemometer, or measurer of the
force of the wind, which, by a like arrangement of apparatus, is
made to register its changes inside. The last pole, 20 feet in
height, contains the rain guage, the contents of which are con-
ducted by tubing also into the interior of the building, in which,
by a very ingenious contrivance, the commencement and ending
of a fall of rain are self-marked.

At the door entrance on the right side is a screened place, ex-
posed to the north, on which the thermometer and wet bulb
thermometer are placed, four feet from the surface of the earths
A similar apartment on the left contains the scales with which
experiments are conducted throughout the winter to ascertain the
proportional evaporation of ice.

• From the Journal of the Canadian Institute. We are indebted to
its Council for the use of the wood engraviugs.^JSJc^s.

I

The Observatory at St. Martin. 853

On entering the door, in the centre of the apartment is a trandt
instrament t» eiiu^ for the oonyenienoe of using which openings
are made in the roof, usually kept dosed bj traps. This apparatus
is not the most perfect of its kind, but is amply adequate for all
its uses. On the left is a dock, the works of which, by means of
a wheel, are made (while itself keeps proper time,) to move slips
of paper along little railways, on which the anemometer by dots
registers the velocity of the wind ; the rain guage, the conmience-
ment and end of showers ; and the wind vane, the continually
shifting currents of the wind. This is effected by a pencil, kept
applied by a spring to a piece of paper on the dial previously
alluded to, and as, by the clock-work, the dial and the two pievi*
ously mentioned slips of paper move at the rate of one inch per
hour, so it is easy to determine, in the most accurate manner, the
direction and force of the wind at any hour of the day, or liny
period of the hour. With the exception of the clock, the whole
of this miniature railway-work, with all its apparatus, wheels, d^c,
ikc, is the work of Dr. Small wood's owu hands, and exhibits, on
his part, a niechanical talent of the highest order.

At the extreme end of the room is a table, beneath which is an
arrangement for a heating apparatus, and on which is the four
arm conductor previously alluded to. To the two lateral and
front arms hangs, respectively, two of Yolta's electrometers, and
one of Bennet's, while beneath the knob on the anterior, there is
a discharging apparatus, with an index playing over a graduated
scale, to measure during thunder storms the force of the electric
fluid, by the length of its spark. On this subject we cannot avoid
a reflection on the fate of the unfortunate Richman. In this case
such precautions are adopted as will obviate any casualities what-
ever ; great precaution, however, is required in these experiments,
and Dr. Smallwood, fully aware of it, has the whole placed in
connection with the earth by means of a brass chain and iron rod.
As another proof of Dr. Smallwood^s ingenuity and mechanical
skill, we may notice that the whole of this apparatus, even to the
electrometers, is the result of his own handicraft ; and the whole
arrangements in the little room are a signal proof how much a
man may do unaided, and how well he can effect an object when
thrown entirely upon his own resources.

On the right wall of the apartment are suspended the barome-
ters, of which there are three. 1. A standard of Newman's; 2*
Another of Negretti's, but of different construction ; and 3. One

854 The Observatory at St. Martin.

of Dr. Smallwood's own conBtruction. The means of the three
observations is the measure adopted for the observation.

The only other instrument deserving of notice is the one to de-
termine the terrestrial radiation ; and this also has been made by
Dr. Smallwood, It consists of a mirror of speculum metal, (com-
posed of copper, zinc, and tin,) of six inches in diameter, and
wrought into the form of a parabolic surface, in the focus of which,
at the distance of eight feet, a self-registering spirit thermometer
is placed. The construction of this was a labor requiring great
nicety in execution, and involving the sacrifice of much time; but
perseverance even here conquered the difficulties, and we witnessed
a mirror whose reflecting powers would not have disgraced Lord
Ross' telescope. In fact, placed in a telescope, it has, we are in-
formed, proved itself capable of resolving those singular stellar
curiosities — the double stars.

Dr. Smallwood certainly deserves great credit for his persever-
ance of a favorite study, under the most unpromising circum-
stances ; but in nothing is he so remarkable as in that peculiar
ingenuity which has led him to overcome difficulties in the prose-
cution of scientific enquiry, which, to most minds, would have
been< utterly discouraging.

The Natural History Society of Montreal have petitioned the
legislatuve for a grant of money to enable them to publish Dr.
SmallwoodV tables of observations for the last twelve years. This
is a measure, on. which no difference of opinion can be anticipa-
ted, and must meet with the support of every man who has the
welfare of science and Canada at heart

DEBORZPTION 07 THE OBSXfiTATORT BT DR. SMALLWOOD.

The observatory is placed in the magnetic meridian, is con-
structed of wood, and has an opening in the rooi^ furnished with
sliding shutters for taking observations by means of the Transit
Instrument, of the passage of a Star across the meridian for the
purpose of obtaining Correct time.

It is also connected by the Montreal telegraph with the princi-
pal places in the United States ; the wires being laid into the
Observatory. It has also a seven-inch achromatic telescope, 1 1
feet focus. The object glass, by Frauenhofer of Munich, is mount-
ed equatorially and possesses right ascension and declination
circles ; and observations are taken on the heavenly bodies as
often as there are favourable nights.

The Observatory at St. Martin* 355

Observations for the purpose of Meteorology, are taken by the
usual instruments, at 6 and 7 a.m. 2, 0 and 10 p.m. daily, besides
extra hours, on any unusual occurrence. Constant tri-daily obser^
rations are also taken on the amount and kind of atmospheric
electricity, also on the amount of Ozone, and likewise particular
attention is directed to the phenomena of thunder storms — all of
which observations are regularly recorded. Besides these daily
observations, record is kept of the temperature of springs and
rivers and the opening and the closing thereof, by ice ; also on the
foliation and flowering of plants and trees, and the periodic
appearance of animals, birds, fishes and insects, besides the usual
observations on auroras, haloes, meteors, zodiacal light, and any
remarkable atmospheric disturbances.

Many of the instruments, are self-registering and to some the
photographic process may be applied, being constructed for that
purpose.

The Observatory is furnished with four barometers. 1. A New-
man standard, 0.60 of an inch bore ; the brass scale extends from
the cistern to the top of the tube, and is adopted for registration
by the photographic process. 2. A Negretti and Zambra's tube,.
0.30 of an inch bore ; another of a small bore, and also an Aneroid.
The cisterns are all placed at the same height (118 feet,) above
the level of the sea and are read at each observation.

Thermometers of Sixes, Rutherford, Negretti, &c., the readings
of which are corrected, with the standard instruments of the new
observatory, and most of the scales are engraved on the stem of
the tubes. Care is taken to verify them twice a^ year, they are«
placed four feet from the ground, and have occupied the same
position for some years, being placed free from radiation, and
carefully shaded from the sun and rain.

The Psychrometer^ consists of the dry and wet bulb thermome-
ters, the scales of which are coincident, and have been carefully
read together. There is also a Saussure's hygrometer. In winter
the wet muslin is supplanted by a thin covering of ice which
requires frequent renewal.

For solar radiation a maximum Rutherford's thermometer is
used, with the bulb kept blackened with Indian ink ; the tube is
shaded by a piece of glass blackened also with Indian ink, which
prevents the index from adhering to either the tube or the mer-
cury, as is often the case when not shaded.

Terrestrial radiation is indicated by a spirit thermometer of

356 The Observatory at St. Martin.

Batherford, which is placed in the focu8 of a parabolic mirror, 6
inches in diameter and of 100 inches focns.

Drosometer or dew measurer. — One is of copper, like a funnel,
the inside of which has been exposed to the flame of a lamp and
has been coated with lamp black ; the other is a shallow tin dish
painted black and ten inches in diameter.

Rain-guage. — ^The reservoir is thirteen inches in diameter, and is
placed 20 feet above the soil. It is self-registering, and is attached
to the anemometer and shews the beginning and ending of the
rain and the amount of precipitation in inches on the surface.

The Snow-guage presents 200 square inches of surface, and is
placed in an open space. The surface of the snow requires to be
lightly levelled, before taking the depth, which is recorded in
inches. A tin tube, 3 inches in diameter and 10 inches long, is
used for obtaining snow for the purpose of reducing the amount
to the relative amount of water. The tin tube fits in another
vessel of tin of the same diameter, and the snow is easily reduced
and measured.

The Evaporator exposes a sur&ce of 100 inches, and is care-
fully shaded from sun and rain. It is made of zinc and a glass
scale, graduated in inches and lOths, is well secured in front of
it, a strip of the metal being removed the glass scale supplies its
place, so that the amount evaporated can be easily read off. Its
place is supplied in winter by a pair of scales, upon one of which
is placed a dise of ice, and the amount of evaporation from the
surface is estimated by being very accurately weighed.

The Ozonometers are Schonbien^s and Moffat^s. The solution
consists of one drachm of starch, boiled in one ounce of distilled
water, to which is added when cold 10 grains of th^ Iodide of
Potassium-^this is spread on sized paper which is found to an-
swer better than bibulous or unsized paper, for the solution is more
equally distributed over the surface, whereas on bibulous paper
it is very difficult to spread the solution equally. ' It is cut into
slips of about 3 inches long and 5 inches wide — having been
previously dried in the dark it is also requisite, to keep it dry and
free from light When required one of these slips is placed 5
feet from the ground and shaded from the sun and rain, — another
of these slips of ozone paper is elevated and exposed at an altitude
of 80 feet, for the purpose of comparison. It is also well to place
dips of this prepared paper in the vicinity of any vegetables, which
may be affected with disease, for instance during the prevalence
of the potatoe rot.

The Observatory at St. Martin, 357

A Mici'Oicope and appanituB for the examiDation of snow crja-
tals and also obtaining copies by the chromotype process, is also
provided.

The Electrical Apparatus, — This consists of three parts: a hoist-
ing, a collecting and a receiving apparatus.

The hoisting apparatus consists of a pole or mast 80 feet. It
is in two pieces, but is spliced - and bound with hoop iron, and
squared or dressed on one face for about eix inches. It is dressed
in a straight line to receive cross pieces of two-inch plank, 8 inches
wide and 12 inches long, which are firmly nailed to the mast or
pole about three feet apart ; this serves as a ladder to climb the
pole in case of necessity. Each of these cross pieces is rebated to
receive pieces of inch board 4 inches wide, and placed edgeways
in the rebate^ extending from the top to the bottom of the pole,
and forms a sort of vertical railway; these pieces are also grooved
or rebated to receive a slide, which runs in these grooves and carries
the receiving apparatus. From the top of the sliding piece passes
a rope over a pulley fixed at the top of the mast, and from it to a
roller and windlass, by which means the collecting lantern is raised
or lowered for trimming the lamps. It has also been used for the
purpose of placing the ozonometer at that height (80 feet). The
lower part of the mast or pole is fixed into a cross piece of heavy
timber, and is supported by four stays. These cross timbers are-
loaded with stones, and are thus rendered sufficiently firm.

The collecting apparatus consists of a copper lantern 8 inches in
diameter, 5 inches high. (See top of mast G, fig 1.) The bottom
is moveable and the lamp is placed in it by the means of a small
copper pin passing in a slit, which is a very easy method of fixing
it. This lantern is placed on top of a copper rod \ inch thick
and 4 feet long : the bottom of the lantern having a piece of copper
tube fixed to it, a very little larger than the rod, and is thus easily
removed and replaced. To the lower end of the copper rod is sol-
dered an inverted copper funnel, a parapluie, for protecting the
glass insulating pillar upon which it is fixed by means of a short
tube firmly soldered to the underside of the parapluie. This glass
pillar passes into and is fixed firmly in a wooden box, and is freely
exposed to the heat of a second lamp, which is placed in this box.
It is trimmed at the same time as that in the collecting lantern,
and keeps warm and dry the glass pillar, by that means secuiing
a more perfect insulation. From this upright rod and collecting
apparatus descends a thick copper wire which serves to convey

358 The Observatory at St. Martin,

the accumulated electricity to the receiver which is placed in the
observatory.

The receiver consists of a cross of brass tube (gas tubes), each
about 2 feet long, and is screwed into a large tube fitting upon a
glass cone, which is hollow, formlDg a system of hollow pipes for
the passage of the heat internally, and keeping up a certain amount
of dryness and consequent insulation. The glass cone is fixed
upon a table over an opening made in it, fitting to the hollow part
of the cone. Immediately under this table is placed a small stove
of sheet-iron, about 8 inches in diameter, made double, the space
of about 1 inch beiug left between the two chambers ; and this
plan has been found to effect a good insulation by k^ping the
whole of the apparatus warm and dry. Charcoal is used as fuel,
and is, I think, preferable to a lamp. * A coating of suet or tallow
is applied to the glass cones or pillars. Care must be taken not
to rub or polish the collecting apparatus as it seems to deteriorate
its power of collecting and retaining atmospheric electricity ; and
I have found that its collecting powers increase with its age.
Suspended from these cross arms hang the electrometers. 1.
Bennefs electroscope of gold leaves ; this scarcely needs a descrip-
tion. 2. Volta^s electrometers^ No, 1, consisting of two straws,
two, French inches long : a very fine copper wire passes through
these straws, which are suspended from the cross-arms. This
electrometer is furnished with an ivory scale, the old French inch
being divided into twenty-four parts, each being \^\ this forms
the standard scale for the amount of tension. 2. Volta^s electro-
meter^ No, 2, is similar to the No. 1, but the straws are five times
the weight of No. 1, so that one degree of Yolta*s No. 2 is equal to
five of No. 1. Henlrfs electrometer is a straw suspended and fur-
nished with a small pith ball : each of the degrees of Henly's is
equal to 100® of No. 1 of Volta's. These electrometers are all sus-
pended from the cross-arms. A discharging apparatus^ furnished
with a long glass handle, measures the length of the spark, and
serves also as a conductor to carry the electricity collected to the
earth, and is also connected by a chain and iron rod passing outside
of the observatory for about twenty yards, and buried under
ground.

Various forms of Distinguishers are used to distinguish the kinds
of electricity. The Volta's electrometers may be rendered self-
registering, with great facility, by the photographic process. By
placing a piece of the photographic paper behind the straws, and

The Obiervatory at St. Martitu 359

throwing the light of a good lens upon them, the expansion is
easily depicted, and serves well for a night register. There is also
a Peltier's electrometer, another form of electrometer, consisting of
two gold leaves suspended to a rod of copper two feet long ; the
upper end being furnished with a ¥nre box, in which is kept burn-
ing some rotten wood (touch-wood).

The Anemometer consists of a directum shaft and a velocity
shaft : to the top of the direction shaft is placed the vane, which
is eighteen feet in length. The shaft is made of three pieces, to
insure lightness and more easy motion : each piece is connected
by means of small iron-toothed wheels. The two shafts are six
feet apart, and work on cross-arms from a mast firmly fixed in the
ground. The vane passes some six or eight feet above the velocity
shafti and does not in any way interfere with the other movements.
The lower extremity of these shafts are all furnished with steel
points, which work on an iron plate or a piece of flint, and pass
through tlie roof of the Observatory ; the openings being protect-
ed by tin parapluies fixed to the shaft;, and revolving with them.
Near the lower extremity is placed a toothed-wheel, eight inches
in diameter, connected to another wheel of the same diameter^
which carries upon its axis a wooden disc, thirteen inches in dia-
meter, upon which is clamped a paper register (old newspapers
answer very well) washed over with whiting and flour paste. Upon
the surface of this register is traced by a pencil the direction of
the wind. This register is renewed every twelve hours.

The velocity shaft is in two pieces, connected by means of the
toothed wheels and steel pivots, as in the direction shaft ; and,
practically, the friction is nil. At the top of the velocity shaft;
are fixed three hemispherical tin or copper caps, ten inches in dia-
meter, similar in construction to those of the Rev. Dr. Robinson
of Armagh, and are firmly rivetted to three iron arms of |-inch
iron. These caps revolve always in the same direction, and one
revolution is found to be just one third of the linear velocity of the
wind. I have no reason to doubt Dr. Robinson's formula for this
calculation. At the lower extremity of the velocity shaft is fixed
a one-toothed wheel, 2} inches in diameter ; this moves a second,
or ten-toothed, wheel, which also gives movement to a third wheel.
This marks a hundred revolutions of the caps, which are so cal-
culated that each one hundred revolutions are equal to one mile
linear; and whenever one hundred revolutions have been accom-
plished, a small lever is elevated by means of an inclined plane.

860 The Observatory at St. Martin.

fixed upon tbe edge of the last wheel, and which gives motion to
the leven The other extremity of the lever is furoished with a
fine steel point, which dots oflT, npon a paper roister, the miles as
they pass. This register is of paper, one and a quarter inch wide,
and is removed every twelve hours.

Between the two shafts, at the lower extremities, are placed two
runners of wood, rehatedy to receive a slide or train, which carries
the register. To the underside of this slide is fixed a rack, and it
is moved by a pinion, the movement of which is communicated
by a clock, — the cord of the weight being passed over a wheel
and pulley,— and advances one inch per hour, and the lever befoie
described dots off the miles as the register advances under the steel
point. In this manner it shows the increase and decrease of the
velocity, and also the moment of its change. Attached to this
moveable train is a rod of wood carrying a pencil, which passes
over the disc connected with the direction shaft, and there traces,
as it advances, the direction of the wind, the moment of its changes,
and the point from which it veered. The extreme height of the
vane is forty feet, but this might be increased if required. The
clock is wound up every twelve hours, which brings back the train
to its starting point.

There are also a polariscope, prisms, and glasses of different co^
lors, for experimenting on the different rays of light, in connexion
with the germination of seeds, and the art of photography. The
Observatory possesses a quadrant and artificial horizon, which
serve for measuring the diameter of halves, and altitudes of auroral
arches, drc : also a dial fbr the indication of the direction and
course of the clouds ; and other minor instruments.

The Ohiervatary at St. Martin. 861

EXPLANATION OF EXTERNAL VIEW OF THE OBSEBYATOBT.

jt. Thermometer for BoUr rftdiation.

B. Screen of YenetiAii blinds.

C. Thermometer.

D. Opening in ridge of the roof, closed with shatters, to ftUov nse of
transit instrument.

E. Rain guage with conducting pipe through the roof.

F. Velocity shaft of the anemometer.

O, Mast for eleyating apparatus for collecting electrioitj.
H. Cord for hoisting the collecting apparatus.
/. Oopper wire for conducting the electricity into the building.
/. Direction shaft of the anemometer.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN OF THE OBSERYATORT.

Jl. Anemometer.

B, Small transit for correcting time.

C. Electrical machine for charging the Distinguisher.
2). Peltier's electrometer.

d. Space occupied bj Drosometer, Polariscope, te.

E, Electrometer, e. Discharger.

F, Distinguisher.

/. Small store — sometimes used in damp weather.

O, Thermometer placed in the prismatic spectrum for Inyestigations on
light.

H, Nigretti k Zambra^s barometers and cisterns, 118 feet abore the
lerel of the sea.

/. Small-tube barometer.

X Newman's barometer.

K. Aneroid barometer.

£. Quadrant and artificial horison.

M, Microscope and apparatus for ascertaining the forms of snow crystals.

N, Thermometer, psjchometer, kc, 4 feet high. A space is left be-
tween the two walls to insure insulation and prerent radiation.

O. Ozonometer.

P, Eraporator — ^remored In winter and replaced by scales for showing
the amount of eyaporation from the surface of ice.

Q. Post sunk in the ground, and 40 feet high, to cany the arms of
snpport for the Anemometer.

R, Solar radiator.

8, Yenetian blinds.

T, Iron rod beneath the surfeoe of the ground connected with t^e
discharger to insure safety.

ft

^\

3

^<\

O

864 Conducting RodB.

AET. XXXI. — Armoers to Questions proposed to the Essex In-
stitute on Liphtning Conducting Bods, By a Committee of the
Institute. [Vtd. ** Proceedings," voL ii., part i., p. 164.]

1. Has the exemption of buildings through lightning rods,
been such as to justify the general confidence reposed in them f

To most of those who have given any attention to the subject,
it is a matter of surprise that any doubt should exist, that nearly
absolute safety may be secured by the use of rods erected on scien"
tific principles.

Mr. Ebenezer Merriam, of Brooklyn, N. Y., in a communication
to the Journal of Commerce, says, that he recorded 89 deaths by
lightning, and 27 thunderstorms, in July, 1854.— *' Oar record,
says he, gives an aggregate of 750 deaths on the land for the
period of 14 years, only one of which occurred in a building fur^
nished with lightning conductors, and that one in the summer of
1855, at Little Prairie, Wisconsin. There were throe buildings
burnt by lightning in this country, the last year, which were fur-
nished with conductors, a bam in West Chester Co., a house in
Richmond, Va., and the house of Mr. Yan Renssalssr, in St. Law-
rence Co., N. Y. We have in vain endeavoured to learn the
particulars in each case." He proceeds to declare that in no other
instance, ashore or at sea, has any case of death been made
known to him. He recommends continuous rods with glass insu^
lators, as the sarest protection against lightning. He gives a
description of the house of Mr. Nathan Frye, of this city, and
attributes the failure of the two rods to protect it, to the size of the
house, to the number of chimneys and the imperfect, arrange-
ment of the rods. He gives an extract from a letter by Prof.
Henry, relative to the shock which visited the building of the
Smithsonian Institute, in which the latter declares that the reports
of great injury done were much exaggerated, and he was in the
building at the time and was not affected ; that two other persons
stood within a few feet of the rod and felt no shock.

Mr. M. describes the shock that struck the house of Mr. James
Spillman, of Morrisania, though protected by rods, and shews
that the injury to the house resulted from the uputard passage
of the rod from the chimney to the top of the roof at which point
the injury was done, while another part of the house at which tiie
rod descended directly to the earth was uninjured.

From events of this character, doubt has arisen in some minds
of the efficacy of lightning rods, when, if the causes of their fiulur^

J

Conducting Bods. 365

\7er6 duly weighed, the incidents would fnrnish additional proof
of their value.

A work recently published in England, entitled " Three years
in Canada," written by F. MacTaggart, Civil Engineer of the
British government, contains the following jxitno^tc declaration:—
'* Science has every cause to dread the thunder rods of Franklin ;
they attract destruction, and houses are safer without than with
them."

As if for the express purpose of deciding this question, the
Nautical Magazine of March, 1853, says, "• objections to the em-
ployment of lightning rods have been so strenuously made, that
the Governor and Council of the East India Company, were led
to order the lightning rods to be removed from their powder
magazines and other public buildings, having in the year 1838
come to the conclusion from certain representations of their officers
that lightning rods were attended by more danger than advan-
tage.''

In the teeth of which conclusion a magazine at Dum Dum and
a corning house at Mazagon, not having lightning rods^ were
struck by lightning and blown up. But no such instance of
magazines preserved by rods for seventy years has occurred.

No supposition can be more erroneous than that which ascribes
to a well constructed lightning rod the power of drawing the
thunder cloud into its vicinity. An experiment by Dr. Franklin
sets this matter in its proper light. He insulated a scale beam
hung on a vertical pivot, from which one of the scales had been
removed, and into the other a light bunch of cotton wool had
been placed. He then charged the beam with positive electricity,
giving it at the same time a horizontal rotatory motion over the
surface of a table ; when he placed beneath the scale as it revolv-
ed a piece of blunt iron, the soiile descended towards the iron to
give off its explosive discharge ; but when he substituted an iron
point for the blunt iron, instead of descending, the scale having lost
its electricity to the iron point rose quickly above the table. Thus
a cloud, instead of approaching a forest of lightning rods in a
village, would be deprived of the sleetrieity which has kept it so
near the earth hy attraction and ascend in censequence of the loss
of it.

That the confidence so generally felt in the efficacy of the pro-
tection of lightning rods, is not misplaced, has been triumphantl/
proved cases in innumerable.

866 Conducting Rods.

In 1769, the Jacob tower, in Hambnr^, was furnished with a
rod ; and after the cathedral at Sienna had been repeatedly struck
by lightning the authorities concluded to follow the example of
Hamburg, and erected conductors. The inhabitants at first re-
garded them with great terror, and stigmatized them as heretical*
But on the 10th of April, 1777, a heaTy shock of lightning yisited
the tower and glided harmlessly to the earth ; the church has not
been injured since, and the conductors are absolved from the
charge of heresy.

Old St. Paul's church in London, unprotected by rods, was twice
struck and damaged. The present structure, though more elevated,
being provided with rods, has never suffered from electricity.

The cathedral of Geneva, the most elevated in the city, for
more than two centuries enjoyed immunity from lightning;
while the neighboring bell tower of St Gervais, though not so
elevated, has often been struck and damaged. In 1771, Saussuro
by examination discovered the cause to consist in a complete coat-
ing of tin plate froni the top of the Cathedral spire to the base of
the tower, thence by metallic water pipes tp the ground, forming
a series of conductors analagous to those of Harris.

But if lightning rods are useful to protect buildings, still more
useful are they for the protection of ships. In the British navy,
between the years 1810 and 1815, forty sail of the line, twenty
frigates, and twelve sloops were damaged by lightning. Between
1789 and 1798, seventy-three men were killed, and seyeral hun-
dred dangerously wounded by the same instrumentality. The
amount of property destroyed cannot be estimated. The main-
mast alone of a seventy-four, costs originally $5000. To this must
be added the cost of its removal, of mined spars, rigging, hull and
stores, and the daily expenses of the ship, varying from $400 to
$550 per day. This estimate glances at the cost of repairing
those not totally destroyed by lightning. In the space of forty-six
years the average expense thus occurring amounted to $30,000 per
annum. Probably some of those ships that " sail from their port
and are never heard of more'' are destroyed by lightning.

To the foregoinrr estimate must be added the casualities occur-
ring to vesseb weakened by the electric shock, and afterwards
lost in struggle with the wind or the foe. ^ The Guerriere is an
instance," says the Nautical Magazine, '^ of a frigate fighting a
superior force with her main mast in a defective state, by a stroke
of lightning, and which might have stood but for this defect The

Conducting Bods, 367

mainmafit was carried away in battle, by the fall of the foremast
across the main stay, which certainly might not have led to this
disaster, had the main-mast been in an efficient state. The loss
of all the masts was the loss probably of the ship."

The British government at length resolved to furnish the nation-
al vessels with the most approved system of conductors, that of
Bir Wm« Snow Harris. This measure was fully justified by the
resnlt. For between the years 1828 and 1840, upwards of sixty
ships of the line l\ad been exposed to lightning in all climates
without sustaining any damage ; while for the rest of the navy on
different stations and not so protected, there were damaged by
lightning, 7 ships of the line, 7 frigates, 30 sloops, and six smaller
vessels and steamers, in all 50 vessels, averaging more than one-
fourth of the British navy in commission. In a period of twenty-
two years, of the ships of the navy at sea, those without conductors,
compared with those with conductors, the number struck was in
the proportion of three of the former to two of the latter.

Induced by such facts and considerations, the British govern-
ment in the year 1846, selected ten vessels to wear suits of light-
ning conductors, and sent them to different parts of the world and
into all climates during one year, and, finding every ship effectually
protected, before the year 1848, furnished every vessel in the
British navy with a similar protection, and the East India Com-
pany followed the example of the British government.

The Committee therefore do not hesitate to declare their belief
that '^ the exemption of buildings from injury by lightning, through
the protection of lightning rods, has been suck as to justify the
general confidence reposed in them,

2 Have not single trees and groves afforded greater protection
than the metallic rod t

It admits of no doubt that trees serve as natural conductors, and
especially those, of which the leaves are linear. A case in point
is quoted in Franklin^s Letters. A Mr. Wilcke saw a large fringed
doud strongly electrified, and extending its inferior surface towards
the earth, which suddenly lost its electrical character in passing a
forest of tall fir trees. The ragged and dependent portions shrank
back upon the main cloud, and rose up as it were from the
earth.

The conducting power of trees results only from the water they
contain ; for dry wood, especially when baked, becomes a non-
conductor ; water by the estimate of Mr. Cavendish, has to iron a
conducting power of only one to 400.000,000.

368 Conducting JRods,

Whether a grove would adequately protect a dwelling, depends
entirely on the quantity of metal used in the construction of the
latter. It appears that the trees which have been visited by
thunderbolts have not been able to protect themselves. In other
words the obstructioi; to the current of electricity has been such
as to furnish no passage to a large quantity of the fluid, as in the
case of lightning rods badly insulated, which have been forsaken
by the fluid for a better conductor.

Among the trees struck and more or less injured by lightning
the past year, have been notidcd sycamores, pines, oaks, apple trees,
elms, and locusts. If trees possess a higher power of conduction
than a moistened bundle of wooden rods of the same heigth, it is
attributable to the increased evaporation from their leaves and
branches ; especially is this true, when the electrical condition of
atmosphere is highly intense. By experiments, its has been shown
that a living plant evaporates from one third to one fourth more,
when electrified, than in its natural state ; so that not only the tree,
but its column of vapour, serves as an electrode through which
the positive electricity of the air passes to the earth Animals, in
like manner, by their profuse evaporation, greater than that o^
vegetables from their higher temperature, furnish better conduo-
tors than trees ; in confirmation of this, is the common direction
given in our scientific works, to avoid the shelter of trees. The
electricity, leaving the worse conductor the tree, selects the better
the animal It may even be lured from a lightning rod of small
capacity, by a mass of the same metal of greater magnitude.

Some facts furniehed by Mr. Warner, before quoted, are here
available.

He writes, ^ there were apple trees of good size on the North
and the South of the bam that was struck, at about the distance
of three rods. I have a barn 65 rods west of my house, which has
been struck ; the same shock went through an apple tree to a post
in a fence some seven feet from the tree, which it split and tore in
pieces. I could see no mark on the tree, but it has since died*
This tree is 30 feet from the bam. Six rods northerly is wood
land ; lightning has struck in these woods. I do not know of any
minerals in the laud in this vicinity, which would attract the
lightning, but the land is rolling and of a strong moist soil.'*

In South Abington, an oak was shivered, and a pine was struck;
and another in Reading. In Plymouth, an apple tree was struck.
In Exeter, a pine tree was cut ofl", and fell to the earth in an erect

J

Conducting Bod$. 869

position. Jnly 15th, a locust was split in Hamilton, 80 rods from
Dea. Loring's bouse. A large elm was struck at Dedham.

In every instance of %he passage of lightning through trees,
brought to the attention of the Committee, the tree has been found
to suffer to a greater or less extent.

If then we find the tree incapable from its conducting power,
of defending itself, we should judge that lightning would need
little inducement to forsake it for a building in which iron to a
greater or less extent is employed ; nay, even animals in the
vicinity of trees would be exposed to greater danger than in an
exposed situation in the open air; for the tree by its great height
would first receive the shock, but would not withhold it from an
animal within the sphere of attraction. The Committee would
therefore decide the second question in the negative.

8. Whose rods, and of what construction have afforded the
greatest security $

The best rods or those which have stood longest the test of
time were invented by King Solomon ; for the temple, was
unharmed by lightning during one thousand years. The whole
roof bristled with metallic pinnacles, the body of the building was
covered with plates of gold, and water spouts from the roof de-
scended into deep cisterns of water. This was the system of Solo-
mon. ,

If then we elevate a sufficient number of points to furnish a pass-
age for the electric fluid, and with surface sufficient to prevent
any part of it from seizing some iron bar, zinc roof, tinned porch
or widow-casing, we have complied with one essential condition ;
if we keep open a sufficient number of these passages to the earth,
and spread the rods into points below as above, we have answered
another condition. If different parts of the house are furnished
with metals, these substances should be united by wires with one
of the main trunks; if, however, we insulate the system with con-
ductors, furnish a sufficient number of them, and thus prevent the
fluid from reaching the imperfect conductors within the building,
we shall have answered the same purpose.

An excellent system of conduction for our buildings is that of
George W. Otis ; for ships that of W. G. Harris.

The rods of the former are constructed from 8-8 in. iron, elevat-
ed above each chimney, the points of the ridge pole and other
prominent elevations, presenting either a branch of points or a
single point, gilt, extending over the ridge-pole down the rafters

870 Conducting Bods*

to the earth, united with a screw and socket, and insulated from
the building bj means of glass cups.

That of Mr. Harris, consists of a double strip of copper, sunk
into each mast and spar by a shallow channel, to bring the metal
flush with the wood ; the strip being interrupted at everj few feet
to give way readily with the bending of the spar, and still so as
to preserve its continuous extension. The strips extend from the
mizen mast to the stern-post, from the steps of the mast to the
metallic bolts passing through the kelson and keel to the water :
also bands of copper pass under the beams leading to the iron
knees or metallic fastenings, passing through the side of the ship,
the whole formed with shut joints, and making of the ship a com-
pound metallic mass, little liable to be destroyed by any electrical
shock to which it may be subjected ; this system has had a trial
of 18 years in the British navy, and even the common sailor has
merged his suspicion into admiration.

The Committee declare it to be their opinion, that any system
of conductors, sufficiently elevated, presenting a sufficient number
of points, perfectly continuous, presenting competent surface, and
pursuing the most direct route to the earth, claims and should re-
ceive full confidence of the public.

4. Are some trees better conductors than others, as the elm
for instance than the pine, and therefore more efficacious pro-
tectors ?

In the cases of this nature which have been noticed the past
year, it has almost invariably been found that the pine when struck
has been shivered. But the elm receives the shock most patiently,
perhaps its exceeding strength enables it better to bear the shock.
The oak usually manifests the effects of the contact The North
American Indians have a tradition, which declares that the beech
is never struck by lightniug. Tiberius, the emperor of Rome,
wore a wreath of laurel as a protection from lightning. Since
tradition is usually founded in truth, we may infer that, so far as
its authority extends, the affirmative is the true answer to this ques-
tion.

Pospibly the trees whose branches make a small angle with the
trunk, are better conductors than those constructed with greater
angles The angles of the branches of the beech and the elm are
small ; those of the oak, the apple, the locust, the sycamore and
the pine are large. I have spent six years in the vicinity of a

Conducting Bads, 87l

grove of Lombardy populare, but knew no instance of violence done
to them bj lightning or to the buildings which they shaded.

Has the maple, the willow, or the birch, been known to suffer
from electricity f

Facts in relation to this question are few indeed, but what there
are, led to the conclusion that some trees are better conductors of
electricity than others.

5. Are the amount and operations of the electric fluid con-
siderably affected by the growing and ripening harvest f

It may be regarded as an established fact^ that a chemical
change in the form of bodies is attended with the development of
electricity.

Now in the production of electricity by the sulphate of copper
battery, we have the decomposition of water and of the salt; and
the formation of an oxide of copper, and a new salt, the sulphate
of zinc; and in this process, abundant electricity is set at
liberty.

M. Becquere],by a series of experiments, hasshown that between
the plant and the soil flows an electric current^ the soil being
positive and the plant negative ; that by the banks of a stream
the phenomena are complex, the alkaline waters being negative,,
and acid waters positive. If so, then the deposit of the salts of
soda-potash and ammonia in vegetables may be the cause of their
negative electricity. And when a thunder cloud surcharged with
positive electricity approaches the ripening harvests, the con-
ditions become such as to favor a discharge of electricity between

them.

Arago says, that wheat fields, after a thunder storm of sheet
lightning, suffer from the breaking of the stalk and tbe dropping
of the heads of wheat. That the growing and ripening harvest
exercises an influence on the electrical condition of the air, may be
affirmed on the same grounds that warrant our conclusion that trees
and forests act in this way. Evidence on this subject is not abun-
dant, and it is to be hoped that the facts and opinions jupt present-
ed may stimulate other minds to other and more extensive re-
searches.

For the Committee,

JACOB BATCHELDER, Chairman.

872 Scientific Gleanings,

SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS.

TWENTY-BIOHTH MEBTINO OF THB BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOB THB
ADVANCEMENT OF SciENCB AT LeBDS, SePTEMBBR 22nD, 1858.

The Athenceum informs us that the busy town and vicinily of
Leeds manifested their appreciation of the honor of this meeting,
and their estimation of Science and its most celebrated professors,
by assembling on the evening of the 22nd September in such
numbers in the magnificnt New Hall of the town, as had never
come together at any previous inaugural meeting of the Associ-
ation. The Rev. Dr. Lloyd took the chair j9ro/orm J, resigning it
to Professor Owen, the President chosen for the year, whose dis-
tinguished and world-wide reputation added greatly to the interest
of the meeting. In the forenoon the General Committee met and,
having elected the officers of Sections, received the usual reports
from its Council and Committees. From the Council Report it
appears that the next meeting is to be held in the City of Aber-
deen, and that Prince Albert has signified his willingness to accept
the Presidency. The most interesting feature of this Annual
Congress of the princes of Science is generally the opening address
of the Chairman, which, on this occasion, is characterised by the
sagacity, large-mindedness, and varied learning of its illustrious
author. We therefore offer no apology to our readers for the
space occupied by our large extracts from this most interesting
and valuable production. It gives an able resumi of the scientific
progress of the past year and the present tendencies of scientific
research, and is especially interesting in the departments of Natural
History, in which Prof. Owen is facili princeps. We commend
it to the careful perusal of our readers.

PROFESSOR OWEN^S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the British Association, — ^We are here met, in this
our twenty-eighth annual assembly, having accepted, for the
present year, the invitation of the flourishiug town and firm seat
of British manufacturing energy, Leeds, to continue the aim of the
Association, which is the promotion of Science, or the knowledge
of the laws of Nature; whereby we acquire a dominion over
nature, and are thereby able so to apply her powers as to advance
the well-being of society and exalt the condition of mankind. It

Professor OwevCs Address^ 373

is no light matter, therefore, the work that we are here assembled
to do. God has given to man a capacity to discover and compre-
liend the laws by which His universe is governed ; and man is im-
pelled by a healthy and natural impulse to exercise the faculties
by which that knowledge can be acquired. Agreeably with the
relations which have been instituted between our finite faculties and
the phenomena that affect them, we arrive at demonstrations and
convictions which are the most certain that our present state of
being can have or act upon. Nor let anyone, against whose pre-
possessions a scientific truth may jar, confound such demonstrations
with the speculative philosophies condemned by the Apostle ; or
ascribe to arrogant intellect, soaring to regions of forbidden
mysteries, the acquisition of such trutlis as have been or may be
established by patient and inductive research. For the most part,
the discoverer has been so placed by circumstances, — rather than
by predetermined selection, — as to have his work of investigation
allotted to him as his daily duty ; in the fulfilment of which he is
brought face to face with phenomena into which he must inquire^
and the result of which inquiry he must faithfully impart. The
advance of natural as of moral truth has been and is progressive :
but it has pleased the author of all truth to vary the fashion of the
imparting of such parcels thereof as He has allotted, from time to
time, for the behoof and guidance of mankind. Those who are
privileged with the faculties of discovery are, therefore, to be re-
garded as pre-ordained instruments in making known the power
of God, without a knowledge of which, as well as of Scripture, we
are told that we shall err. Great and marvellous have been the
manifestations of this power imparted to us of late times, not only
in respect of the shape, motions and solar relations of the earth,
but also of its age and inhabitants.

AGB OF THE WORLD.

In regard to the period during which the globe allotted to man
has revolved on its orbit, present evidence strains the mind to
grasp such sum of past time with an effort like that by which it
tries to realize the space dividing that orbit from the fixed stars
and remoter nebulae. Yet, during all those eras that have passed
since the Cambrian rocks were deposited which bear the impressed
record of creative power, as it was then manifested, we know,
through the interpreters of these *^ writings on stone,'* that the

8?4 Profes8or OwerCi Addresf,

earth was vivified hj the sun's h'ght and heat, was fertilized hy
refreshing showers and washed by tidal waves. No stagnation
has been permitted to air or ocean. The vast body of waters not
only moved, as a whole, in orderly oscillationsy regulated, as now,
by sun and moon, but were rippled and agitated here and there
successively by winds and storms. The atmosphere was healthily
influenced by its horizontal currents, and by ever-varying clouds
and vapours rising, condensing, dissolving, and falling in endless
vertical circulation. With these conditions of life, we know that
life itself has been enjoyed throughout the same countless thousands
of years ; and that with life, from the beginning, there has been
death. The earliest testimony of the living thing, whether shell,
crust, or coral in the oldest fossiliferous rock, is at the same time
proof that it died. It has further been given us to know, that not
only the individual but the species perishes; that as death is
balanced by generation, so extinction has been concomitant with
creative power, which has continued to provide a succession of
species ; and furthermore, that as regards the varying forms c^
life which this planet has witnessed, there has been ^ an advance
and progress in the main ." Geology demonstrates that the creative
force has not deserted this earth during any of her epochs of time ;
and that in respect to no one class of animals has the manifestation
of that force been limited to one epoch* Not a species of fish that
now lives, but has come into being during a comparatively recent
period ; the existing species were preceded by other species, and
these again by others still more different from the present. No
existing genus of fishes can be traced back beyond a moiety of
known creative time. Two entire orders (Cycloids and Ctenoids)
have come into being, and have almost superseded two other
orders (Ganoids and Placoids), since the newest or latest of the
secondary formations of the earth's crust. Species after species of
land animals, order after order of air-breathing reptiles have suc-
ceeded each other; creation ever compensating for extinction.
The successive passing away of air-breathing species may have
been as little due to exceptional violence, and as much to natural
law, as in the case of marine plants and animals. It is true,
indeed, that every part of the earth's surface has been submerged ;
but successively, and for long periods. Of the present dry land

«

different natural continents have different Faunae and Florae ; and
the fossil remains of the plants and animals of these continents
respectively show that they possessed the same peculiar characters,

Professor OwerCs Address. 8 76

or characteristic /ac^«, during periods extending far beyond the
ntraost limits of human history. Such, gentlemen, is a brief sum
mary of facts most nearly interesting us, which have been demon-
stratively made known respecting our earth and its inhabitants.
And when we reflect at how late and in how brief a period of his-
torical time t^ acquisition of such knowledge has been permitted,
we must feel that vast as it seems, it may be but a very small
part of the patrimony of truth destined for the possession of future
generations.

BCXENTIFIO PROQRSSS.

In reviewing the nature and results of our proceedings during
the last twenty-seven years, and the aims and objects of our Asso-
ciation, it seems as if we were realizing the grand Philosophical
Dream or Frefignrative Vision of Francis Bacon, which he has
recounted in his ' N^ew Atlantis.' In this noble Farable the Father
of Modem Science imagines an Institution which he calls '^ Solo-
mon's House," and informs us by the mouth of one of its mem-
bers that " The end of the Foundation is Knowledge of Causes
and Secret Motions of Things ; and enlarging of the bounds of
Human Empire to the effecting of all things possible." As one
important means of effecting the great aims of Bacon's ^^ six days
college," certain of its members were deputed as *' merchants of
light," to make circuits or visits of divers principal cities of the
kingdom." This latter feature of the Baconian organization is
the chi^f characteristic of the '* British Association ;" but we
have striven to carry out other aims of the * New Atlantis,' such
as the systematic summaries of the results of different branches of
science, of which our published volumes of * Reports' are evidence ;
and we have likewise realized, in some measure, the idea of the
"Mathematical House" in our establishment at Eew. The
national and private observatories, the Royal and other Scientific
Societies, the British Museum, the Zoological, Botanical, and Hor-
ticultural Gardens, combine in our day to realize that which Bacon
foresaw in distant perspective. Great^ beyond all anticipation,
have been the results of this organization, and of the application
of the inductive methods of interrogating nature. The universal
law of gravitation, the circulation of the blood, the analogous
course of the magnetic influence, which may be said to vivify the
earth, permitting no atom of its most solid constituents to stagnate
in total rest ; the development and progress of Chemistry, Geology,

376 Professw OtoerCs Address,

Palaeontology ; the inventions and practical applications of Oaa,
the Steam-engine, Photography, Telegraphy : — ^such, in the few
centuries since Bacon wrote, have heen the rewards of the faithful
followers of his rules of research. (He dwelt on the importance of
direct ohservations as illustrated in the history of Astronomy —
referred to the discovery of Galileo^ the application «f his discovery j

hy Kepler and Horrocks, and continued.) Without stopping to
trace the concurrent progress of the science of motion, of which
the true foundations were laid, in Bacon's time, hy Galileo, it will
serve here to state that the foundations were laid and the materi-
als gathered for the establishment by a master-mind, supreme in
vigour of thought and mathematical resource, of the grandest
generalization ever promulgated by science — ^that of the universal
gravitation of matter according to the law of the inverse square
of the distance. The same century in which the ^ Thema Goeli'*
of Lord Verulam and the ' Nuncius Sidereus* of Galileo saw the
light, was glorified by the publication of the * Philosophise Natu-
ralis Principia Mathematica' of Newton. Has time, it may be
asked, in any way affected the great result of that masterpiece of
hnman intellect f There are signs that even Newton's axiom is
not exempt from the restless law of progress. The mode of ex-
pressing the law of gravitation as being '* in the inverse proportion
of the square of the distances" involves the idea that the force
emanating from or exercised by the sun must become more feeble
in proportion to the increased spherical surface over which it is
diffused. So indeed it was expressly understood by Halley. Prof.
Whew ell, the ablest historian of Natural Science^ has remarked
that "" future discoveries may make gravitation a case of some
wider law, and may disclose something of the mode in which it
operates." The difficulty, indeed, of conceiving a force acting
through nothing from body to body has of late made itself felt;
and more especially since Meyer of Heilbronn first clearly expressed
the principle of the *' conservation of force." Newton though
apprehending the necessity of a medium by which the force of
gravitation should be conveyed from one body to another, yet
appears not to have possessed such an idea of the uncreateability
and indestructibility of force as that which, now possessed by
minds of the highest order, seems to some of them to be incom-
patible wita the terms in which Newton enunciated his great law,
viz., of matter attracting matter with a force which varies inversely
as the square of the distance. The progress of knowledge of an-

Profesior OtoetCs Address^ S11

other from of all-pervading force, which we call, from its most
notable effect on one of the senses, *^ Light," has not been less
remarkable than that of gravitation. Galileo's discovery of
Jupiter's satellites supplied R5mer with the phenomena whence he
was able to measure, in 1676, the velocity of light. Descartes, in
his theory of the rainbow, referred the different colours to the
different amount of refraction, and made a near approximation to
Newton's capital discovery of the different colours entering into
the composition of the luminous ray, and of their different refran-
gibility. Hook and Huyghens, about the same period, had entered
upon explanations of the phenomena of light conceived as due to
the undulations of an ether, propagated from the luminous point
spherically, like those of sound. Newton, whilst admitting that
such undulations or vibrations of an ether would explain certain
phenomena, adopted the hypothesis of emission as most convenient
for the mathematical propositions relative to light. The discoveries
of achromatism, of the laws of double refraction, of polarization
circular and elliptical, and of dipolarization, rapidly followed : the
latter advances of optics, realizing more than Bacon conceived
might flow from the labours of the ^ Perspective House," are as-
sociated with and have shW lustre on the names of Dollond,
Young, Malus, Fresnel, Biot, Arago, Brewster, Stokes, Jamain, and
others.

MAGNETISM XVD ELECTRICITY.

Some of the natural sciences, as we now comprehend them, had
not germinated in Bacon's time. Chemistry was then alchemy ;
Geology and Palaeontology were undreamt of: but Magnetism and
Electricity had begun to be observed, and their phenomena com-
pared, and defined, by a contemporary of Bacon, in a way that
claims to be regarded as the first step towards a scientific know-
ledge of those powers. It is true that, before Gilbert ('De
Magnete,' 1600), the magnet was known to attract iron, and the
great practical application of magnetized iron — ^the mariner's
compass — had been invented, and for many years before Bacon's
time had guided the barks of navigators through trackless seas.
Gilbert, to whom the name '* electricity" is due, observed that
that force attracted light bodies, whereas the magnetic force
iron only. About a century later the phenomena of repul-
sion as well as of attraction of light bodies by electric subs-
tances were noticed : and Dufay, in 1733, enunciated the

378 Ptoftuof Owen^s Address,

. principle, that '^ eleotrio bodies attract all those that are not so,
and repel them as soon as they are become electric by the vicinity
of the electric body/* The conduction of electric force, and the
different behaviour of bodies in oontact with the electric, leading

^ to their division, by Desaguliers, into conductors and non-conduc-
tors, next followed. The two kinds of electricity, at first by
Dufay, their definer, called ** vitreous" and " resinous," — after-
wards, by Franklin, " positive*' and " negative," — formed an im-
portant step, which led to a brilliant series of experiments and
discoveries, with inventions, such as the Leyden jar, for intensify-
ing the electric shock. The discovery of the instantaneous trans-
mission of electricity through an extent of not less than 12,000
feet, by Bishop Watson, together with that of the electric state of
the clouds, and of the power of drawing off such electricity by
poiuted bodies, as shown by Franklin, was a brilliant beginning of
the application of this sei^nce to the well-being and needs of
mankind. Magnetism has been studied with twoaims; the one, to
note the numerical relations of its activity to time and space, both
in respect of its direction and intensity ; the other, to penetrate
the mystery of the nature of the magnetic force. In reference to
the first aim, my estimable predecessor adverted, last year, to the
fact, that it was iu the committee-rooms of the British Association
that the first step was taken towards that great magnetic organi-
zation which has since borne so much fruit. Thereby it has been
determined that there are periodical changes of the magnetic
elements depending on the hour of the day, the season of the year,
and on what seemed strange intervals of about eleven years.
Also, that besides these regular changes there were others of a
more abrupt and seemingly irregular character — Humboldt's
'^ magnetic storms " — which occur simultaneously at distant parts
of the earth's surface. Major-General Sabine, than whom no in-
dividual has done more in this field of research since Halley first
attempted ^ to explain the change in the variation of the magnetic
needle," has proved that the magnetic storms observed diurnal,
annual, and undecennial periods. But with what phase or pheno-
menon of earthly or heavenly bodies, it may be asked, has the
magnetic period of eleven years to do ! The coincidence which
points to, if it does not give, the answer, is one of the most remark-
able, unexpected, and encouraging to patient observers. For
thirty years a German astronomer, Schwabe, had set himself the
task of daily observing and recording the appearance of the sun's

Professor Owen^s Address, 379

disc, in which time he found the spots passed through periodic
phases of increase aud decrease, the length of the period being
about eleven years. A comparison of the independent evidence
of the astronomer and magnetic period coincides both in its dura-
tion and in its epochs of maximum and minimum with the same
period observed in the solar spots.

A few weeks ago, during a visit of inspection to our establish-
ment at Kqvt^ I observed the successful operation of the photo-
heliographic apparatus in depicting the solar spots as they then
appeared. The continued regular record of the macular state of
the sun's surface, with the concurrent magnetic, observations now
established over may distant points <5f the earth's surface, will ere
long establish the full significance and value of the remarkable,
and, in reference to the observers, undesigned, coincidence above
mentioned. Not to trespass on your patience by tracing the
progress of Magnetism from Gilbert to Oersted, I cannot but advert
to the time, 1807, when the latter tried to discover whether elec-
tricity in its most latent state had any effect on the magnet^ and
to his great result, in 1820, that the conducting wire of a voltaic
circuit acts upon a magnetic needle, so that the latter tends to
place itself at right angles to the wire. Ampere, moreover, suc-
ceeded, by means of a delicate apparatus, in demonstrating that
the voltaic wire was affected by the action of the earth itself as a
magnet. In short, the generalization was established, and with a
rapidity unexampled, regard being had to its greatness, that
magnetism and electricity are hut different effects of one common
cause. This has proved the first step to still grander abstractions,
— to that which conceives the reduction of all the species of im-
ponderable fluids of the chemistry of our student days, together
with gravitation, chemicity, and neuricity, to interchangeable
modes of action of one and the same all-pervading life-essence.
Galvani arranged the parts of a recently-mutilated frog so aa to
bring a nerve in contact with the external surface of a muscle,
when a contraction of the muscle ensued. In this suggestive
experiment the Italian philosopher, who thereby initiated the
inductive inquiry into tbe relation of nerve force to electric force,
concluded that the contraction was a necessary consequence of the
passages of electricity from one surface to the other by means of
the nerve. He supposed that the electricity was secreted by the
brain, and transmitted by the nerves to different parts of tbe body,
the muscles serving as reservoirs of the electricity. Volta made

380 Professor OwerCs Addrese.

a further step by showing that, under the conditions or arrange-
ments of Galvani^s experiments, the muscles would contract,
whether the electric current had its origin in the animal body, or
from a source external to that body. Galvani erred in too exclu-
sive a reference of the electric force producing the contraction to
the brain of the animal : Yolta in excluding the origin of the
electric force from the animal body altogether. The determina-
tion of " the true " and " the constant " in these recondite phe-
nomena, has been mainly helped on by the persevering and in-
genious experimental researches of Mateucci and Du Bois Rey-
mond. The latter has shown that any poins of the surface of a
muscle is positive in relation to any point of the divided or trans-
verse section of the san^e muscle ; and that any point of the surface
of a nerve is positive in relation to any point of the divided or
transverse section of the same nerve. Mr. Baxter, in still more
recent researches, has deduced important conclusions on the origin
of the muscular and nerve currents has been due to the polarized
condition of the fibre, and the relation of that condition to changes
nerve or muscular which occur during nutrition. From the pre-
sent state ofneuro-electricity, it maybe concluded that nerve force
is not identical with electric force, but that it may be another
mode of motion of the same common force : it is certainly a polar
force, and perhaps the highest form of polar force :

A motion which may change, hat cannot die ;
An image ef some bright eternity.

CHEMISTRT, PHOTOORAPHT.

The present tendency of the higher generalizations of Chemistry
seems to be towards a reduction of the number of those bodies
which are called " elementary" ; it begins to be suspected that
certain groups of so-called chemical elements are but modified
forms of one another ; that such groups as chlorine, iodine, bro-
mine, fluorine, and as sulphur, selenium, phosphorus, boron, may
be but allotropic forms of some one element. Organic Chemistry
becomes simplified as it expands ; and its growth has of late pro-
ceeded, through the labours of Hofmann, Berthelot, and others,
with unexampled rapidity. An important series of alcohols and
their derivatives, from amylic alcohol downwards ; as extensive a
series of ethers, including those which give their peculiar flavour
to our choicest fruits ; the formic, butyric, succinic, lactic, and

Professor OwetCs Address, 381

other acids, together with other important organic hodies, are now
capable of artificial formation from their elements, and the old
barrier dividing organic from inorganic bodies is broken down.
To the power which mankind may ultimately exercise through the
light of synthesis, who may presume to set limits ? Already
natural process can be more economically replaced by artificial
ones in the formation of a few organic compounds, the '* valerianic
acid," for example. It is impossible to foresee the extent to which
Chemistry may not ultimately, in the production of things need-
ful, supersede the present vital agencies of nature, ^ by laying
under contribution the accumulated forces of past ages, which
would thus enable us to obtain in a small manufactory, and in a
few days, effects which can be realized from present natural
agencies only when they are exerted upon vast areas of land, and
through considerable periods of time/' Since Niepce, Herschel,
Fox, Talbot, and Daguerre laid the foundatiens of Photography,
year by year some improvement is made, — ^some advance achieved
in this most subtle application of combined discoveries in Photicity,
Electricity, Chemistry, and Magnetism. Last year M. Poitevin'g
production of plates in relief, for the purpose of engraving by the
action of light alone, was cited as the latest marvel of Photography.
This year has witnessed photographic printing in carbon by M.
Pretschi. Prof. Owen continued by alluding to the application of
photography for obtaining views of the moon, of the planets,' of
scientific and other phenomena.

ATLANTIC TBLEORAPH.

After referring to the discoveries in Electro -magnetism, the
lecturer continued. — Remote as such profound conceptions and
subtle trains of thought seem to be from the needs of everyday life
the most astounding of the practical augmentation of man's power
has sprung out of them. Nothing might seem less promising of
profit than Oersted's painfully-pursued experiments, with his little
magnets, voltaic pile, and bits of copper wire. Yet out of these
has sprung the electric telegraph I Oersted himself saw such an
application of his convertibility of electricity into magnetism, and
made arrangements for testing that application to the instantaneous
communication of signs through distances of a few miles. The
resources of inventive genius have made it practicable for all dis-
tances ; as we have lately seen in the submergence and working
of the electro-magnetic cord connecting the Old and the New

382 Professor OwerCs Addrfss.

World. On the 6th of August 1858, the laying down of upwards
of 2,000 nautical miles of the telegraphic cord, connecting New-
foundland and Ireland, was successfully completed ; and on that
day a message of thirty-one words was transmitted in thirty-five
minutes, along the sinuosities of the submerged hills and valleys
forming the bed of the great Atlantic. This first message ex-
pressed— " Glory to God in the highest : on Earth Peace, Goodwill
towards Men." Never since the foundations of the world were
laid could it be more truly said, *' The depths of the sea praise
Him !'' More remains to be done before the far-stretching engine
can be got into full working order ; but the capital fact, viz., the
practicability of bringing America into electrical communication
with Europe has been demonstrated ; consequently, a like power
of instantaneous interchange of thought between the civilized inha-
bitants of every part of the globe becomes only a question of time.
The powers and benefits thence to ensue for the human race can
be but dimly and inadequately foreseen.

ZOOLOOT.

After referring to the labours of Ray, Linnaeus, Jussieu, Buffbn,
and Cuvier, he said : To perfect the natural system of plants has
been the great aim of botanists since Jussieu. To obtain the same
true insight into the relations of animals has stimulated the labours
of zoologists since the writings of Cuvier. To that great man
appertains the merit of having systematically pursued and applied
anatomical researches to the discovery of the true system of dis-
tribution of the animal kingdom ; nor, until the Cuvierian amount
of zootomical science had been gained, could the value and im-
portance of Aristotle's * History of Animals' be appreciated.
There is no similar instance, in the history of Science, of the well-
lit torch gradually growing dimmer and smouldering through so
many generations and centuries before it was again fanned into
brightness, and a clear view regained, both of the extent of ancient
discovery, and of the true course to be pursued by modern research.
Rapid and right has been the progress of 2^o1ogy since that
resumption. Not only has the structure of the animal been in-
vestigated, even to the minute characteristics of each tissue, but
the mode of formation of such constituents of organs, and of the
organs themselves, has been pursued from the germ, bud, or egg,
onward to maturity and decay. To the observation of outward
characters is now added that of inward organization and develop-

Professor OwetCs Address. 383

mental cbange; and Zootomy, Histology and Embryology combine
their results in forming an adequate and lasting basis for the
higher axioms and generalizations of Zoology properly so called.
Three principles, of the common ground of which we may ulti-
mately obtain a clearer insight, are now recognized to have
governed the construction of animals : — unity of plan, v^etative
repetition, and fitness for purpose. The independent series of
researches by which students of the articulate animals have seen,
in the organs performing the functions of jaws and limbs of varied
powers, the same or homotypal elements of a series of like segments
constituting the entire body, and by which students of the verte-
brate animals have been led to the conclusion, that the maxillary,
mandibular, hyoid, scapular, costal and pelvic arches, and their
appendages sometimes forming limbs of varied powers, are also
modified elements of a series of essentially similar vetebral seg-
ments,— mutually corroborate their respective conclusions. It is
not probable that a principle which is true for Articulata should
be false for Vertebraia : the less probable since the determination
of homologous parts becomes the more possible and sure in the
ratio of the perfection of the organization.

MICROSCOPIO INVB8TIGATI0NS.

The microscope is an indispensable instrument in embryological
and histological researches, as also in reference to that vast swarm
of animalcules which are too minute for ordinary vision. I can
here do little more than allude to the systematic direction now given
to the application of the microscope to particular tissues and parti-
cular classes chiefly due, in this country, to the counsels and exam-
ple of the Microscopi<5al Society of London. A very interesting ap-
plication of the microscope has been made to the particles of matter
suspended in the atmosphere; and a systematic continuation of such
observations by means of glass slides prepared to catch and retain
atmospheric atoms, promises to be productive of important results.
We now know that the so-called red-snow of Arctic and Alpine re-
gions is a microscopic single-celled organism which vegetates on the
surface of snow. Cloudy or misty extents of dust-like matter per-
vading the atmosphere, such as have attracted the attention of
travellers in the vast coniferous forests of North America, and have
been borne out to sea, have been found to consist of the ^* pollen'*
or fertilizing particles of plants, and have been called '* pollen
showers." M. Da,peste, submitting to microscopic examination

384 Professor OwtiCs Address.

similar dust which fell from a cloud at Shanghai, found that it
consisted of spores of a confervoid plant, probably the Trickodes-
mium erythrcBum^ which vegetates in, and imparts its peculiar
colour to the Chinese Sea. Decks of ships, near the Cape de
Verde Islands, have been covered by such so-called " showers" of
impalpable dust, which, by the microscope of Ehrenberg, has been
shown to consist of minute organisms, chiefly ^' Diatomacese."
One sample collected on a shi^/s deck 500 miles off the coast of
Africa exhibited numerous species of freshwater and marine diatoms
bearing a close resemblance to South American forms of those organ-
isms. Ehrenberg has recorded numerous other instances in his paper
printed in the ' Berlin Transactions'; but here, as in other exemplary
series of observations of the indefatigable miscroscopist, the conclu-
sions are perhaps not so satisfactory as the well observed data. He
speculates upon the self-developing power of organisms in the
atmo8phere,affirra8 that dust showers are not to be traced to mineral
material from the earth's surface, nor to revolving masses of dust
material in space, nor to atmospheric currents simply ; but to some
general law connected with the atmosphere of our planet, accord-
ing to which there is a ^ self-development" within it of living
organisms, which organisms he suspects may have some relation
to the periodical meteorolites or aerolites. The advocates of
progressive development may see and hail in this the first step in
the series of accending transmutations. The unbiassed observer
will be stimulated by the startling hypothesis of the celebrated
Berlin Professor to more frequent and regular examinations of
atmospheric organisms. Some late examinations of dust showers
clearly show them to have a source which Ehrenberg has denied.
Some of my hearers may remember the graphic description by
Her Majesty's Envoy to Persia, the Hon. C. A. Murray, of the
cloud of impalpable red dust which darkened the air of Bagdad,
and filled the city with a panic The specimen he collected was
examined by my successor, at the Royal College of Surgeons, Prof.
Quekett, and that experienced microscopist could detect only
inorganic particles, such as fine quartz sand, without any trace
of Diatoroaceae or other organic matter. Dr. Lawson has obtained
a similar result from the examination of the material of a showers
of moist dust or mud which fell at Corfu, in March, 1 85 7 : it consisted
for the most part of minute angular particles of a quartzose sand.
Here, therefore, is afield of observation for the miscroscopist, which
has doubtless most interesting results as the reward of persevering
research.

Profe99or Owen's Address. 385

To specify or analyze the labours of the individuals who of late
years have contributed to advance Zoology by tl^^ comprehensive
combination of the various kinds of research now felt to be essential
to its right progress, would demand a proportion of the present
discourse far beyond its proper and allotted limits. Yet I shall
not be deemed invidious if I cite one work as eminently exemplary
of thespirit and scope of the investigations needed for the elucidation
of any branch of natural history. That work is the monograph of
the Chelonian Reptiles (tortoises, terrapenes and turtles) of the
United States of America, published last year at Boston, U. S., by
Prof. Agassiz.

OBOORAPHICAL DI8TBIBUTI0K OF PLA19TS.

Observations of the characters of plants have led to the recogni-
tion of the natural groups or families of the vegetable kingdom,
and to a clear scientific comprehension of that great kingdom of
nature. This phase of botanical science gives the power of further
and more profitable generalizations, such as those teaching the
relations between the particular plants and particular localities.
The sum of these relations, forming the geographical distrubutions
of plants, rests, perhaps at present necessarily, on an assumption,
viz., that each species has been created, or come into being, but once
in time and space; and that its present diffusion in the result of
its own law of reproduction, under the diffusive or restrictive in-
fluence of external circumstances. These circumstances are chiefly
temperature and moisture, dependent on the distance from the
source of heat and the obliquity of the sun's rays, modified by
altitude above the sea-level, or the degree of rarefaction of the at-
mosphere and of the power of the surface to wastefully radiate heat.
Both latitude and altitude are further modified by currents of air
and ocean, which influence the distribution of the heat they have
absorbed. Thus large tracts of dry land produce dry and extreme
climates, while large expanses of sea produce humid and equable
climates. Agriculture affects the geographic^il distribution of
plants, both directly and indirectly. It diffuses plants over a wider
area of equal climate, augments their productiveness, and enlarges
the limits of their capacity to support different climatal conditions.
Agriculture also effects local modifications of climate. Certain
species of plants require more special physical conditions for health ;
others more general conditions ; and their extent of diffusion varies
accordingly. Thus the plants of temperate climates are more

380 Pryyfesiw OwerCa Address,

widely diffused over the surface of the globe, because tbey are
suited to elevated tracts in tropical latitudes. There is, however,
another law which relates to the original appearance, or creation,
of plants, and which has produced different species flourishing
under similar physical conditions, in different regions of the
globe. Thus the plants of the mountains of South America
are of distinct species, and for the most part of distinct genera
from those of Asia. The plants of the temperate latitudes of North
America are of distinct species, and some of distinct genern, from
til 086 of Europe. The Cactese of the hot regions of Mexico are
represented by the Euphorbiacese in parts of Africa having a similar
climate. The surflAce of the earth has been divided into twenty
five regions, of which I may cite as examples that of New Zealand,
in which Ferns predominate, together with generic forms, half of
which are European, and the rest approximating to Australian,
South African, and Antarctic forms; and that of Australia, charac-
terized by its Eucalypti and Epacrides, chiefly known to us by the
researches of the great botanist, Robert Brown, the founder of
the Geography of Plants^

DISTRIBUTION OF MARINS LIFE.

Organic Life, in its animal form, is much more developed, and
more variously, in the sea, than in its vegetable form. Observationa
of marine animals and their localities have led to attempts at
generalizing the results ; and the modes of enunciating these
generalizations or laws of geographical distribution are very analo-
goua to those which have been applied to the vegetable kingdom,
which is as diversely developed on land as in the animal kingdom
in the sea. The most interesting form of expression of the distri-
bution of marine life is that which parallels the perpendicular
distribution of plants. Edward Forbes has expressed this by
defining five bathymetrical zones, or belts of depth, which he calls,
— 1, Littoral, 2, Circumlittoral ; 8, Median ; 4, Infra-median ; 5,
Abyssal. The life-forms of these zones vary, of course, according
to the nature of the sea-bottom ; and are modified by those primi-
tive or creative laws that have caused representative species in
distant localities under like physical conditions, — species related
by analogy. Very much remains to be observed and studied by
naturalists in differnt parts of the globe, under the guidance of the
generalizations thus sketched out, to the completion of a perfect
theory. But in the progress to this, the results cannot £eiil to be

J

ProfesBor OwerC 8 Address. 387

practically most valuable. A shell or a sea-weed, whose relations
to depth are thus understood, may afford important information or
warning Ho the navigator. To the geologist the distributions of
marine life according to the zones of depth, has given the clue to
the determination of the depth of the seas in which certain forma-
tions have been deposited.

DISTRIBUTION OF TERBESTRIAL LIFE.

Had all the terrestrial animals that now exist diverged from one
common centre within the limited of period a few thousand years,
it might have been expected that the remoteness of their actual
localities from such ideal centre would bear a certain ratio with
their respective powers of locomotion. With regard^ to the
class of birds, one might have expected to find that those
which were deprived of the power of flight, and were adapted to
subsist on the vegetation of a warm or temperate latitude, would
still be met with more or less associated together, and least dis-
tant from the original centre of dispersion, situated in such a
latitude. This, however, is not only not the case wiih birds, but
is not so with any other classes of animals. The Quadruman a
or order of apes, monkeys and lemur, consist of three chief divi-
sions— Catarhines, Platyrhines, and Strepsirhines. The first
family is peculiar to the " Old World " ; the second to South.
America ; the third has the majority of its species and its chief
genus (Lemur), exclusively in Madagascar. Out of twenty-six
known species of Lemuridae, only six are Asiatic, and three are
African. Whilst adverting to the geographical distribution of
Quadrumana, I would contrast the peculiarly limited range of the
orangs and chimpanzees with the cosmopolitan power of mankind.
The two species of orang (Pithecus) are confined to Borneo and
Sumatra ; the two species of chimpanzee (Troglodytes) are limited
to an intertropical tract of the western part of Africa. They
appear to be inexorably bound by climatal influences regulating
the assemblage of certain trees and the production of certain
fruits. Climate rigidly limits the range of the Quadrumana lati-
tudinally ; creational and geographical causes limit their range in
longitude. Distinct genera represent each other in the same lati-
tudes of the l^ew and Old Worlds ; and also, in a great degree,
in Africa and Asia. But the development of an orang out of a
chimpanzee, or reciprocally, is physiologically inconceivable. The
order of Euminantia is principally represented by Old World

388 Profeasor OwtfCi Address.

species, of which 162 have been defined ; whilst only 24 species
have been discovered in the New World, and none in Australia,
New Guinea, New Zealand, or the Pol jnesian Isles. Th# cameleo-
pard is now peculiar to Africa ; the musk-deer to Africa and
Asia ; out of about fifty defined species of antelope, only one is
known in America, and none in the central and southern divisions
of the New World. Palaeontology has expanded our knowledge
of the range of the giraffe; daring Miocene or old Pliocene
periods, species of Cameleopardalis roamed in Asia and Europe.
Geology gives a wider range to the horse and elephant kinds
than was cognizant to the student of living species only. The
existing Equidae and Elephantidse properly belong, or are limited
to, the Old World ; and the elephants to Asia and Africa, the
speciesfof the two continents, being quite distinct The horse, as
Buffon remarked, carried terror to the eye of the indigenous
Americans, viewing the animal for the first time, as it proudly
bore their Spanish conqueror. But a species of Equus, co-existed
with the Megatherium and Megalonyx, in both South and North
America, and perished apparently with them, before the human
period. Elephants are dependent chiefly upon trees for food.
One species now finds conditions of existence in the rich forests of
tropical Asia ; and a second species in those of tropical Africa.
Why, we may ask, should not a third be living at the expense of
the still more luxuriant vegetation watered by the Oronooko, the
Essequibo, the Amazon, and the La Plata, in tropical America ?
Geology tells us that at least two kinds of elephant {Mastodon
Andium and M. Humholditi) formerly did derive their subsistence
along with the great Megatherioid beasts, from that abundant
source we may infer that the general growth of large forests, and
the absence of deadly enemies, were the main conditions of the
former existence of elephantine animals over every part of the
globe.

Etbkologt.

But, with regard to the alleged conformity between the. geo-
graphical distribution of man and animals, which has of late been
systematically enunciated, and made by Agassiz^ in Gliddon &
Nott's ^Varieties of Mankind,' the basis of deductions as to the
origin and distinction of the human varieties, many facts might
be cited, aflecting the conformity of the distribution of man with
that of the lower animals and plantSi as absolutely enunciated in

Prafeswr Owen's Address^ 389

some recent worts. Nor can we be surprised to find that the
migratory instincts of the human species, with the peculiar en-
dowment of adaptiveness to all climates, should have produced
modifications in geographical distribution to which the lower
forms of living nature have not been subject. Ethnology is a
wide and fertile subject, and I should be led far beyond the limits
of an inaugural discourse were I to indulge in an historical sketch
of its progress. But I may advert to the testimony of different
witnesses — to the concurrence of distinct species of evidence — as
to the much higher antiquity of the human race, than has been
assigned to it in historical and genealogical records.

Mr. Leonard Homer discerned the value of the phenomena of
the annual sedimentary deposits of the Nile in Egypt as a test
of the lapse of time during which that most recent and still operat-
ing geological dynamic had been in progress. In two Memoirs
communicated to the Royal Society in 1855 and 1858, the result
of ninety-five vertical borings through the alluvium thus formed
are recorded. In the excavations near the colossus of Rameses
n. at Memphis, there were 9 feet 4 inches of ^ ile sediment be-
tween 8 inches below the present surface of the ground and the
lowest part of the platform on which the statue had stood. Sup-
posing the platform to have been laid in. the middle of the
reign of that king, viz, 1361 b. c. such date added to a.
D. 1854 gives 3,215 years during which the above sediment
was accumulated ; or a mean rate of increase of 3} inches in a
century. Below the platform tbere were 82 feet of the total
depth penetrated ; but the lowest 2 feet consisted of sand, below
which it is possible there may be no true Nile sediment in this
locality, thus leaving 30 feet of the latter. If that amount has
been deposited at the same rate of 3^ inches in a century, it gives
for the lowest part deposited an age of 10,285 years before the
middle of the reign of Rameses 11., and 13,500 years before a. d.
1854. The Nile sediment at the lowest depth reached is very si-
milar in composition to that of the present day. In the lowest
part of the boring sediment at the colossal statue in Memphis, at a
depth of 39 feet from the snr&ce of the ground, the instrument is
reported to have brought up a piece of pottery. This, therefore,
Mr. Horner infers to be a record of the . existence of man 13,371
years before a. d. 1854 : — " Of man, moreover, in a state of civi-
lization, so far, at least, as to be able to fashion clay into vessels,
and to know to harden them by the action of a strong heat''

390^ Professar Otoen^e Address.

Prof. Mftx Miiller has opened out a similar vista into the ramote
past of the historj of the human race by the perception and ap*
plication of analogies in the formation of modern and ancient, of
living and dead languages. From the relations traceable between
the six Romance dialects, Italian, Wallachian, RhsQtian, Spanish,
Portuguese, and French, an antecedent common ^ mother-tongue^'
might be inferred, and, consequently the existence of a race an-
terior to the modem Italiaus, Spanish, French, &c., with conclu-
sions as to th& lapse of time requisite for such divisions and mi-
grations of the primitive stock, and for the modifications which
the mother-language had undergone. History and preserved
writings show that such common mother-race and language have
existed in the Roman people and the Latin tongue. But Latin,
like the equally ^'dead" language Greek, with Sanscrit, Lithuanian,
Zend, and the Gothic, Sclavonic, and Celtic tongues, can be simi-
larly shown to be modifications of one antecedent common lan-
guage whence is to be inferred an antecedent race of men, and a
lapse of time sufficient for their migration over a tract extending
from Iceland in the north-west to India in the south-east, and for
all the above-named modifications to have been established in
the common mother '^Arian*' tongue.

THE GOVERMENT AND SCIENCE.

In reference to the relations now subsisting between the State
and Science, my first duty is to express our grateful sense of such
measure of aid, co-operation and countenance as has been allotted
to scientific bodies, enterprises and discoveries. More especially
to acknowledge how highly we prize the sentiments of the Sove-
reign towards our works and aims, manifested by spontaneous
tribute to successful scientific research, in honourable titles and
royal gifts, and above all, in the gracious expressions accompanying
them, vrith which Her Majesty has been pleased to distinguish
some of our body. Happy are we, under the present benignant
reign, to have^ in the Royal Consort, a Prince endowed with ex-
emplary virtues, and w'ith such accomplishments in Science and
Art as have enabled His Royal Highness efiectually, and on some
memorable occasions, in the most important degree, to promote
the best interests of both. We rejoice, moreover, in the prospect
of being honoured and favoured at a future meeting by the Pre-
sidency of the* Prince Consort ; and that, ere long, this Associa-
tion may give the opportunity for the delivery of another of those

Profe99or Owen^d Addrest, 391

"Addresses," pregnant with deep thought, good sense, and right
feeling, which have placed the name of Prince Albert high in tbc
esteem of the intellectual classes, and have engraven it deeply in
the hearts of the humblest of Her Majesty's subjects.

On the part of the State, sums continue to be voted in aid of
the means independently possessed by the British Maseum and
the Royal Society, whereby the Natural History Collections in the
first are extended and the more direct scientific aims of the latter in-
stitution are advanced. The Botanical Gardens and Museum at Eew,
and the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street, are examples
of the national policy in regard to Science, of which we can hard-
ly over-estimate the importance. Most highly and gratefully
also do we appreciate the co-operation of the " Board of Trade"
with our meteorologist, by the recent formation of the depart-
ment for the collection of meteorological observations made at
sea. But not by words only would, or does. Science make return
to Goverments fostering and aiding her endeavours for the public
weal. Every practical application of her discoveries tends to the
same end as that which the enlightened statesman has in view.
The steam-engine in its manifold applications, the crime-decreas-
ing gas-lamp, the lightning conductor, the electric telegraph, the
law of storms, and rules for the mariner's guidance in them, the
power of rendering surgical operations painless, the measures for
preserving public health, and for preventing or mitigating epide-
mics,— such are among the more important practical results of
pure scientific research with which mankind have been blessed
and States enriched. They are evidence unmistakeable of the
close affinity between the aims and tendencies of Science and
those of true State policy. In proportion to the activity, produce
tivity, and prosperity of a community is its power of responding
to the calls of the Finance Minister. By a far-seeing one, the man
of science will be regarded with a favourable eye, not less for un-
looked-for streams of wealth that have already flowed, but for
those that may in future arise, out of the applications of the ab-
stract truths to the discovery of which he devotes himself. This
may, indeed, demand some measure of faith on the part of the
practical statesman. For who that watched the philosophic Black
experimenting on the abstract nature of Caloric could have fore-
seen that his discovery of latent heat would be the stand point of
Wattes invention of a practically operative steam engine ! How
little could the observer of Oersted^s subtle arrangements for con-

392 Profes9or OwerCa Address.

verting electric into magnetic force have dreamt of the applica-
tion of such discovery to the rapid interchange of ideas now dai-
ly practised between individuals in distant cities, countries, and
continents I Some medical contemporaries of John Hunter, when
they saw him, as they thought, wasting as much time in study-
ing the growth of a deer^s horn as they would have bestowed upon
the symptoms of their best patient, compassionated, it is said, the
singularitv of his pursuits. But by the insight so gained into
the rapid enlargement of arteries, Hunter learned a property of
those vessels which emboldened him to experiment on a man
with aneurism, and so to introduce a new operation which has
rescued from a lingering and painful death thousands of his fel-
low-creatures. Our great inductive physiologist, in his dissections
and experiments on the lower animals, was *' taking light what
may be wrought upon the body of man." The production of
Chloroform is amongst the more subtle experimental results of
m6dem Chemistry. The blessed effects of its proper exhibition
in the diminution of the sum of human agony are indescribable.
But that divine-like application was not present to the mind of
the scientific chemist who discovered the anaesthetic product, any
more than was the gas-lit town to the mind or Priestley, or the
condensing engine to that of BlacL

REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

PAMFHLVTS ON BRITISH AMXRIOA.

J^ova Britannia. — A. Morris^ M,A, Nova Scotia as a field for
Emigration, — P. S, Hamilton, Beport of Messrs. ChildSj
Mc Alpine and KirJnoood on the Harbour of Montreal.

Nothing more enlarges men*s minds than the belief that they
form units, however small, in a great nationality. Nothing more
dwarfe them than exclusive devotion to the interests of a class, a
coterie, or a limited locality. Heuce it is to every philosophical
mind a cheering feature of our British American literature, that
it dwells BO much on union of separate provinces, and establish-
ment of friendly and profitable intercourse between them.

Physically considered, British America is a noble territory,
grand in its natural features, rich in its varied resources. Politi-
cally, it is a loosely united aggregate of petty states, separated

Bevtews and KotieeB of Books. 893

by barriers of race, creed, local interest, distance, and insufficient
means of conimunication. As naturalists, we bold to its natural
features as fixing its future destiny, and indicating its present in-
terests, and regard its local subdivisions as arbitrary and artificial.
It is from tbis point of view, and not witb reference to tbe con-
troverted points agitated in tbe public press, tbat we regard tbe
publications named at tbe bead of tbis article, and wbicb we refer
to as specimens of many similar works.

Mr. Morris, lecturing to a popular audience, and desirous of
stating important facts in sucb a manner, as to fix tbem on
tbe minds of bis bearers, is at once statistical, patriotic, and pro-
pbetic. Facts and figures relating to extent of territory, popula-
tion, revenues, actual products, form tbe groundwork of tbe lec-
ture, and on tbese are built broad views of tbe duties of tbe peo-
ple of Britisb Nortb America, and glowing anticipations of tbo
results of tbe union of all tbe Britisb territory, from Newfoundland
to Vancouver's Island, in one great nationality. Tbe lecturer sees
in tbe future a fusion of races, a union of all tbe existing provinces
witb new provinces to grow up in tbe west, and a railway to tbe
Pacific. Tbe design of tbe lecture is excellent, and its facts ^eem
to bave been carefully collecte(^ Tbe success wbicb bas attended
its publication by Mr. Lovell, sbows tbe popular nature of tbe
subject, and tbe effective manner in wbicb it bas been treated.

Mr. Hamilton's pampblet is publisbed by autbority of tbe Pro-
vincial Parliament of Nova Scotia, and contains a condensed
statement of tbe wealtb and resources of tbat colony, wbicb may
be commended to any one desirous of knowing tbe actual matenal
value of tbese Lower Colonies, now claiming alliance witb Canada,
Tbe Acadian provinces, tbougb bitberto oversbadowed by tbe
greater growtb of Canada and tbe Western States, bave in tbeir
extent of fertile land, tbeir mineral ricbes, tbeir fisberies and tbeir
trade, an importance wbicb may fairly entitle tbem to stand side
by side witb eitber Lower or Upper Canada, and it does not re-
quire any gift of propbecy to discern tbat tbeir resources, more
especially tbeir coal, tbeir iron, and tbeir maritime situation, must
eventually render tbem tbe seats of a dense population, more
wealtby and more influential in tbe world's destinies tban tbe
more purely agricultural and more secluded population of tbe
West

Tbe Eeport of tbe Harbour Engineers, sbows tbat Montreal
now turns ber enquiring eyes along tbe wbole lengtb of tbe St*

394 Reviews and Noticee of Books.

Lawrence and i(s great lakes, and that the bold and successfal
enterprise of deepening Lake St. Peter, has led to demands for
larger accommodation for shipping than she can now supply.
The manner in which the Harbour Commissioners of this city
have identified themselves with the commerce of the whole of the
St. Lawrence valley, is one of those large minded efforts that are
at once creditable and profitable, and, in the present report, we
have the broad views of the chairman, Mr. Young, as well as the
calculations of the Engineers. Others, we imagine, beside prac-
tical mercantile men, must regard with interest the curious calcu-
lations in this report of the shortest and cheapest way in which a
baiTel of flour, from the new lands of the West, can reach the
mouths of hungry artisans in the old world, whose children may,
at some future time, come out to swell the tide of Canadian popu-
lation, by the same route along which they now send the products
of their skilful and busy hands, to add to the comforts, and sus-
tain the labour of the settler. All honour as well as profit to the men
who thus plan and toil by developing the capabilities qf our great
river, to make man a true citizen of the world, and to diffuse
through all lands, the rich bounties of Providence.

For such effort, British America itself affords wide scope. In
the Ear East, the sealer of Newfoundland is battling with the Arc^
tic ice, and the fisherman preparing to realise his harvest from the
sea. Along the white shore of Nova Scotia the ocean is dotted
with sails hastening to the Labrador fisheries, and the coast is
alive with busy preparations for the labors that are to make the
warehouses of Halifax groan with the treasures of the deep. In-
land, the farmer is mending his dyke, or ploughing his upland, or
pruning the interminable orchards of the Annapolis valley. Gyp-
sum is tumbling into the holds of ships along the shores of the
Bay of Fundy, and the coal miner has heaped up at Pictou,
Sydney, and Cumberland, the produce of his winter^s toil in the
bowels of the earth. Farther west^ in the forests of New Bruns-
wick and Canada, the lumberer has gathered from the banks of
innumerable streams, his rafts of timber and mill logs, which
thousands of mills are cutting into useful forms. Farther west
still, the miner of Greorgian Bay and Lake Superior is laboriously
searching for or dressing his rich copper ores. Farther still, the trap-
per has collected his winter stock of peltries, in solitudes in which,
even the sound of the lumberer^s axe has not been heard. Over all
these broad regions, through 50 degrees of longitude, from Cape

JReviews and Notices of Books. 895

Scattari to the Saskatchewan, the fanner scatters his seed over a
genial soil. Let as thank God, who has given this great heritage
to the British people, and strive to unite all its various popula-
tions in the bonds of a common patriotism, which, because itself
so large, will be certain not to exclude other nations from its sym-
pathies.

We have not attempted to quote, but refer our readers to the
pamphlets themselves, which, owing to the tardy appearance of
this notice, occasioned by the pressure of other matters, most of
them wiil probably havp been already seen, in advance of our
review.

Humble Creatures: the Earth-worm and the Common House-fly,
In Eight Letters ; by James Samuelson, assisted by J. B.
Hicks, M.D., Lond., F.L.S., <fec. ; with Microscopic Illustra-
tions by the Authors. London : John Van Voorst. Mon-
treal : B. Dawson & Son.

In a series of eight letters we have a most able and interesting
treatment of the subjects under consideration in this book. It is
written by men who have given serious attention to scientific
studies. No one can say that it has been ^' got up," as too many
little books of natural history are in these days from the research-
es and witness of others. Although there is nothing very new
or original in what it narrates of the structure, habits and repro-
duction of these animals, there is yet about the statement of the
facts a clearness and freshness which are the sure indications of
personal observation and research. The subject is not treated in
a purely scientific way, but, by the use of familiar words, the
wonderful structure and functions of the Worm and the Fly are
made clear to the understanding of the young. In this attempt
the authors have avoided that feebleness and imbecility which
frequently marks books intended for young persons. The style
is pure, simple and manly, and the discussion of the subjects
merits even the attention of the scientific.

The introduction says : — " Not only do these humble creatures
merit our attention on the ground that they rank amongst the
valuable works of Nature, but also as affording useful lessons in
the education of our minds ; for unless we carefully examine and
endeavour to comprehend the character and attributes of the
lower animals, we remain children in the knowledge of Nature."

896 JReviews and Notices of Books,

We do not need to travel far for interesting examples in Natural
History, by an investigation into whose structures and habits we
may be delighted with beautiful forms and instructed by the for-
cible illustrations of the Creator's wisdom which they afford.
These writers introduce us to two of the commonest of animal
existences, — the Earth-worm {Lumbricus terrestris)^ and the
House-fly [Musca domestica). They tell us of their rank and
standing in the ascending order of life ; of their nervous system,
with its curious ramifications ; of their complex organs of vision
and nutriment ; the circulation of their fluids, and their cunoua
respiratory organs ; with their processes of reproduction and deve-
lopment Each particular is described with sufficient minuteness
to enable an ordinary reader to comprehend it, and yet with suffi-
cient generality to be free from prolixity or tedium. We would
not only recommend this book to the young to awaken and sti-
mulate in them a taste for the pursuits of Natural History, but
we would also recommend it to those whose studies have already
embraced this department of knowledge as a delightful fragment
of scientific literature. The illustrations are excellent, in drawing
and execution;. the whole book is got up with that care and
beauty for which its publisher is so favourably known.

The Practical Naturalisfs Guide ; containing instructions for
collecting, preparing, and pre.«erving specimens in all de-
partments of Zoology. Intended for the use of students,
amateurs, and travellers, by Jamss B. Daviss, Assistant
Conservator Natural Histoxy Museum, Edinburgh, (fee, <fec.
Edinburgh : Maclachlan <fe Stewart. Montreal : B. Dawson
h Son.

This book is written with a view to promote the collection,
preparation and careful classification of private collections of ob-
jects for the illustration of Natural History. The chief intention
of the writer is to supply, within a small compass, so much know-
ledge as will enable the student and amateur, as also the traveller
in foreign countries, to collect the animals by which he is sur-
rounded, to prepare them in such a way that they can at any time
be rendered available for the purposes of science, and to preserve,
arrange and catalogue them with neatness and precision. This
aim the author has most effectively carried out The informa-
tion which the book contains is of the most practical kind.
Methods of manipulation are reduced to their utmost simplicity,
and all its directions may, with a little care and practice, be easily

Iteviews and Notices of Books. 897

followed. We recognise in it the band of a real, earnest worker
in zoological science. The book is invaluable to the student and
amateur.

MISCELLANEOUS.

(to THX SDITORS of THS CANADIAN NATUBALIST.)

/* the Onion Indigenous in the North West of Canada ?

It would tend much to increase the practical value of jour
journal if your subscribers were from time to time to communi-
cate such facts relating to any department of the natural history
of the Province, as may come within their observation ; and,
therefore, I transcribe the following extract from a letter lately
received from Mr. W. J. Morris, of Perth, C. W. He says : —
^ A friend sent me from Lake Temiscameng, a small package of
wild onions, from a place called by the voyageurs ^^ZeJardindu
DiableP It is on the side of a steep hill. The onions, though
small, are precisely the same as the <;ultivated kind. They grow
in a damp, black sand, covered with a thick bed of moss. I sup-
pose they must have been at first sown by the early French
Jesuits ; or, are they indigenous f I have planted them in my
garden." I incline to the belief that the first supposition is the
correct one, viz : that the onion is indigenous in the North West-
em Territories; and this view is corroborated by the ensuing
extract from McKenzie's "Journal of a Voyage through the
North West" In vol. 2, page 224, of this interesting narrative,
he says :—

" On the banks of the river (i. e. the McEenzie River) there
was great plenty of wild onions, which, when mixed up with our
pemmican, was a great improvement of it ; though they pro-
duced a physical effect on our appetites, which was rather incon-
venient to the slate of our provisions."

Though this seems conclusive, yet perhaps some of your read-
ers may be able to settle the point with positiveness.

V\ hile on this subject, I may also note that I recently found a
red currant, identical in appearance and flavour with the garden
fruit, but a little smaller, growing wild in the woods on the shores
of the Lower St Lawrence, at Kacouna. The leaf was of a lighter
green, and more sharply defined, than that of the cultivated plant
It would be worth propagating from. There is also in the same
locality a very large, rough, unpleasantly-flavoured red currant,

398 Miscellaneous,

and a hairy black currant, resembling in appearance and growth
the gooseberry, but of an unpleasant flavour. A smooth, well-
tasted gooseberry, is also very plentiful. The sands are covered
with clumps of a spreading pea, with large purple blossoms, which
is very productive. A very large Triticum (I suppose) is* also
abundant, which bears a well-filled grain, and is called by the
residents " wild rye." The leaves are broad, and dark -green. It
grows in patches, and is perennial. A plant of it has been grow-
ing in my garden for two years past in this city, but is trouble-
some from the number of shoots it sends up in the Spring.
Montreal, August, 1858. M.

Note bt Editors. — In addition to the Allium Canculense or
wild garlic of Canada; and the A, Sckoenopiarum or wild chives,
collected in Canada by Mrs. Shephard and Lady Dalhousie, but
which we have not yet seen here, several species of Allium are
mentioned by Richardson as found in the North West. We can-
not, however, give any opinion as to whether the specimens above
referred to belong to any of these indigenous species, without
specimens.

Monument to Hugh Miller at Cromarty. — At the usual

monthly meeting of the Natural History Society, which was held

at the Rooms of the Society, on the evening of the 25th instant,

amongst other business transacted, there was read by Alexander

Morris, Esq., a letter from W. Gordon Mack, Esq., of this city, but at

present in Scotland, directi jg the attention of scientific men and

of the admirers of the late Hugh Miller, to the proposal to erect

a monument to his memory at his native place, Cromarty. The

letter stated that inquiries had been made, by members of the

Committee charged with erecting the monument, (which is now

in progress), if the people of Canada were interested in his

writings, and would respond to an appeal to aid this effort ; and

that Mr. Mack had been requested to forward a subscription-list to

Montreal. The letter further mentioned the following interesting

particulars : —

** The monument is to be erected in Cromarty, his native town,
on a site that is described as exceedingly beautiful. Some time
ago he was requested to select a site for a monument to Mr.
Thompson, the surgeon who so greatly distinguished himself at
the Alma. He selected the place which has now been chosen for
his own, as the other is being put up at Forres. You will easily
see how very appropriate the site is, and, from all I can hear, it is
a lovely spot."

Miscellaneous, 309

The Society, haviDg considered this proposal, agreed to recom-
loend it to the support of the members of the Society, and
appointed Messrs. Alex. Morris and J. C. Becket of this city, a
Committee, to whom contributions for this object may be handed.

We are confident that many will warmly respond to this appeal.
We are not called upon to pronounce an eulogium on Hugh
Miller. Few events have called forth more real sympathy and
true sorrow than did his sad and tragic death ; and we are per-
suaded that many in Canada will gladly avail themselves of this
opportunity to place a few Canadian stones on his monumental
pile. It is desired that the collection should be general, and sub-
scriptions, from a dollar upwards, will be welcomed, if transmitted
to either of the gentlemen named.

The Natural Histort Societt op Montreal. — The read-
ers of the ** Canadian Naturalist^ and citizens generally, are
aware that the members of the Natural History Society, having
long felt the utter inadequacy of their present building to the
purposes required, determined some time ago to erect a building
with a Lecture Room, large enough to accomodate their audiences,
a Library for their books, and a Museum which would contain
the large and constantly increasing collection of Fossils, preserved
Fauna and Indian Antiquities ; that the Trustees of the McGill
College property, with a liberality which does them credit, made
an offer of a building site in the finest part of the city on terms
almost amounting to a free gift ; and that this offer was gladly
accepted.

The building is now in course of erection on the corner of
Cathcart and University Streets. It is a plain but neat and com-
modious structure, 94 x 45 feet^ — the style Grecian, with Doric
porticoes.* The two fronts are of white brick, the back of red.
But white bricks cost money and so do red ones ; and timbers even
in this timber country have a price, — and this the building Com-
mittee already feel very forcibly. The Government of the coun-
try has hitherto not dealt with the Society in a spirit of liberality,
affording no more support to this institution, whose importance is
generally recognized, than is given to country Societies without a
local habitation or a name. This necessitates, on the part of the
Society, most vigorous action, and a Committee has been appoint-

« A full description with wood cat will appear in next number of the
Natoraliat.

400 Miscellaneous,

ed to solicit subscriptions from the citizens. That they will meet
with encouragement, we do not doubt A Society which has
done so much to beget and encourage a taste for nature ; which
assists so much in the investigation of this widely extended science,
and which, from the very nature of things is necessarily so far in
advance of our national state, will not, we are confident, be allow-
ed to suffer from want of proper support

TO OUR BBTIXWER8.

The Editors of this Journal are always thankful for the notices
with which they may be favoured by the newspaper-press, and
are willing to profit by the hints whether of friendly or hostile
critics. They may, however, be aUowed to say that they have
sometimes been distressed by statements which convey to the
pnblic — unintentionally no doubt — very imperfector incorrect ideas
of their meaning. A remarkable instance of this has occurred
with reference to an article in our June number on the Bowman-
ville Coal question. In that article we endeavoured to vindicate
Prof. Chapman and Sir W. £• Logan from the charges which
had been urged against them ; and by a careful investigation of
all the possibilities that remain of the occurrence of coal in Ca-
nada, to show that none of these applied to the current statements

respecting Bowmanvilte, and consequently that the pretended
discovery must be rejected. Our explanations may have been
less clear than we had supposed, but it certainly was with some
surprise that we found one of our contemporaries stating that the
possibilities referred to were urged in defence ot the supposed
discovery ; and that we had blamed Sir W. E. Logan for excess
of caution when we said that he is " too cautious to hazard any
conjecture as to the occurrence of fossil fuel in a country where
facts palpable to the Geologist have inscribed .every where a nega-
tion of its presence." With still greater astonishment we found
that only a few weeks ago we were accused of attacking our Pro-
vincial Geologist as guilty of rashness, an opposite and we are
sure still more undeserved charge. Personally we feel that we
have good reason to complain, that after fully committing our-
selves against the so-called discovery, at a time when it was very
generally credited, we should now be blamed as if we had taken
an opposite course. But as Canadians we feel more deeply ag-
grieved, that through what we must regard as the culpable care-
lessness of our reviewers, an impression should be spread abroad
that there was any controversy between scientific men here on the
subject. In the interest of truth, therefore, and of our common
country, we ask the gentlemen who have thus misrepresented us,
to re-examine the position taken by thi^ Journal, and to do jus-
tice to its statements.

THE

CANADIAN

NATUEALIST AND GEOLOGIST,

DECEMBER, 1868.

Fig. 1. — Aelittia Dianthus. Contracted.

ARTICLE XXXIL— On Sea ArumoTieg and Rydroid Polt/ps

from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Read before the Natural
History Society of Montreal.

The creatures to which tliia notice relates are of great interest,
whether we regard their singular and heautifal plant-like forma,
their zoological relations, or the curious questions that concern
their growth and reprodnction. Tliey are favourite subjects of
study with all sea side f^ollectora, and they have engaged and aro

402 On Sea Aaemotus and Sydrad Polypi

engagiog the moat minnte attention of Bome of tbe ablest nata-
ralists. I do Dot propose in the present paper to add anything to
their general natural history, but merely to record the occurrence
on the coast of British America of some species found by myself
in Gasp^, or collected at Metis and Murray Bay by Miss Csrey of
Perth, who has placed a number of interesting specimens in my
bands for determination.

I. — Sea Anemonet collected in Oaspi.
The Actinin, or Sea Anemones, belong to a large and impor-
tant group of radinted animals, including the coral building polype
of the intertropical seas, and constituting the class Antkozoa of
Owen's system, and Uie Polypi of that of AgasBiz. The Acli-

Fig. 2. — Actinia Diantkui. Expanded.

niffi are the largest and most interesting representatives of this
group in these latitudes. They derive their common name from
their flower-like aspect, thongh they are truly animals, and are
both complex in structure and voraciou 4 in their habits. Wheo
expanded they present a circular fleshy disc having the mouth in
the centre, and at or near the dicumfeience a fringe of tentacle*

from, the Gulf of St. Lawrence 403

serving as organs of touch and prehension, and which can be
extended or retracted at pleasure. The whole of the upper sur-
face is tinted with gay or softly blend«.d colours, often of great
beauty. Internally the mouth leads into a sac-like stomach, sur-
rounded by a space divided by a series of radiating membranous
lamellae, between which are the organs of respiration and repro-
duction. Without the whole is a thick muscular skin.

Fixed by their flat bases to rocks or stones, the Actiniae extend
their tentacles and seize and devour any small animals that
come within their reach. When at rest or when alarmed, the
animal withdraws all its oral and tentacular apparatus, and the
body shrinks into a cylindrical, spheroidal, or conical mass.

(1.) — Actinia Dianthus.

Near the mouth of Gasp^ Basin is a patch of gravelly bottom
at a depth of from eight to ten fathoms, which abounds in sea
anemones, and especially in the fine species represented in Figs.
1 and 2, and which appears identical with the A, dianthus of the
British coast. It falls within the characters of the published de-
scriptions of that species, and cannot properly be separated from
it, though it presents some points of difference. As compared
with the British figures and descriptions^ my Gasp6 specimens
show somewhat longer oral bands, with wedge shaped secondary
bands between their extremities ; the inner tentacles are more
crowded toward the margin, and the range of colouring is different.
These characters may however be within the limits of variation
of the species.*

In the spot above referred to, not only were the Actiniae abun-
dant, but the stones to which they were attached could bo taken
up with the dredge ; so that in a few hours dredging, about thirty
perfect specimens were obtained, and being placed in basins of
salt water, could be drawn and studied at leisure. Observed in
this way, they presented a great variety of colouring, form, and
attitude. I have selected the drawings copied in Figs. 1 and 2,
from several others, as exhibiting the ordinary attitude of repose,
and that of watching for prey, with the body exten<led to its full
length. Both figures represent individuals of small size — the
larger specimens being four inches in diameter when expanded.
In their habits they corresponded with the accounts of the species

given by Johnston and Landsborough, and like the British speci-

■ - . ■ , ,

• Johnston, British ZoopbjteB. P. 232.

4 04 On Sea Anemones and Hydroid Polyps

raens they adhered very firmly to the stones, and could scarcely
be detached without injury to the base. When disturbed, they
ejected water forcibly from the pores of the skin, along with their
long white filaments, probably organs of defence, and possessing
an urticating or benumbing property.

The range of colouring was very great, and was quite indepen-
dent of the age or size of the specimens ; but when several speci-
mens were attached to the same stone, they were usually of the
same colour. The prevailing tint externally was umber brown of
various shades , but some specimens were fawn coloured, and this
passed in others into a very pale flesh colour ; some were beauti-
fully striped with brown on a fawn or flesh coloured ground. In
every case the colours of the disc and tentacles corresponded in
intensity with those of the outer coat The following descrip-
tions show this relation in the more conspicuous colour varieties.

(a) Body externally very pale flesh colour, sometimes nearly
white ; oral bands pale flesh colour ; outer tentacles rich flesh
colour. The inner tentacles in this and the other varieties were
paler than the outer. The specimen represented in Fig. 1 was of
this variety.

(6) Body flesh colour or fawn, striped with brown ; oral disc-
flesh colour ; outer tentacles rich dark flesh colour. The speci-
men represented in Fig. 2 was of this colour.

(c) Body reddish brown ; oral bands reddish orange; outer
tentacles deep purple.

{d) Body umber brown, lighter wben expanded ; oral bands
fawn or dull orange ; outer tentacles purplish slate colour. Some
of the largest specimens were of this colour, and presented a lurid
or dingy aspect, very strongly contrasting with their delicately
complexioned neighbours. ,

- I have not met with any notice of tlie occurrence of A. dianthus
in America, except in Stimpson's Marine Invertebrata of Grand
Manan, where it is stated that a specimen supposed to belong to
this species was taken, but lost before it could be examined. As
already stated, I believe the specimens above described to be re-
ferrible to this species, but should they prove on comparison to be
distinct and previously undiscovered, I shall claim for them the
name of A. Canadensis.

{1)—Actiniu ? N. S.

With the specimens just described were found a few indivi-
duals of a very distinct species, not unlike A, Afesernbryantkemum^

from the Gulf of St. Zaarence. 405

or A. Mar^inala, but qaite distiucL The largest specimens
obtained were an inch Ed diameter. Specimens of this size have
ahout 150 tentacles, conical, transversely striaied, and uniform in
size, placed at the margin of the disc in about threa rows. The
disc rises when expanded considerably above the plane of the ten-
tacles. The body below the tentaclea is short, aud expands to-
ward the base. When contracted the form is blunt conical, with
a amooth outer skin, apparently destitute of tubercles and pores.
Fig. 3. Fig. 4,

The colonr, when contracted, b a fine reddish salmdn, arranged
-In veitical stripes on a light ground. When expanded the lip
and oral bands are reddish ; the tentacles are salmon colour,
deeper toward the tips. The disc between the tentacles and the
oral bands is dull purple, with two rows of pure white spots This
beautiful species is comparatively locomotive and active; and
when placed in a basin, removed from its stone, and crept around
in search of a more convenient situation.

I think it 'very probable that Stimpson's A. Cameola is the
young of this species ; but mj specimens do not include any so
small as that which lie figures, and the colour aDd tentacles differ.
If distinct from A. Cameola it b probably new. Ita description
b as follows : —

Body short, cylindrical, smooth ; colour red, arranged in stripes ;
tentacles triaerial, short, conical, striated, reddish ; disk promi-

406 On 8 -a /netnorus and ffydroid Polyps

nent, dull purple with two rows of white apota. Oral bands
nameroiu, flesh colom.

Should it prove new, the specific nnme Nitida wonid well ex-
press the eleek neat appearance for which it is rematkable.

Fig. 6.

ft

Group of Hydfoioa fr<m. iht Oulfof St. Zaterenee,

(a) SerttUaria pamila.

(6) Tubularia .

(c) Laomedeft dicbotoma.

n. — Sydroid PolypB collected at Gatpi, Metis, etc.
The hydroid polyps are of much' simpler Btnictnre than tbd
AcUnie, each animal being little more than a gelatinons sac, fur-
nished with a circle or circles of tentacula. They constitute the
claw Hydrozoa of Owen ; and by Agasaiz and some other natu-
ralists are placed with the Acalcphae, an arrangement which ex-
presses their close relationship to the Medusae or Jelly fishes.
The marine hydrozoa, though individually of simple struutu re, have
a remarkable tendency to multiply by a process of gemmxtion
or budding, the result of which is the formation of complex groups
ofliltlehomy cells, each having its animal occupant, and the
whole when dried resembling a small sea weed. In some of the
tribes, by a different kind of budding from that which merely in-
creases the polypary, locomotive individuals are pfoduced, which
detaohii g themselvea from the parent, swim avfay in a form as

from the OuLfof SL Lawrence. 407

different from that of the sessile polyp as the butterfly from the
caterpillar. Others are not known to have this doable kind of
existence, but produce ova or little locomotive ovoid bodies which
lay the foundation of new groups.

To a visitor to the sea side, provided with a microscope, these
creatures form a very agreeable study. When taken up alive
and placed in a vessel of sea water, the extension and retraction
of their beautiful transparent bodies and crowns of tentacles
looking like beads strung on a spider^s thread, present a spectacle
strikingly illustrative of the amount of life that exists hidden
under plant forms in the sea. When a mere boy, I have spent
many holiday afternoons in searching for these creatures that I
might enjoy this curious spectacle, and I still treasure many rough
sketches of their forms and structures made to perpetuate the
wonders which they disclosed under the microscope. I am sorry
that in the present notes I can refer not to the living animals but
only to dried specimens.

Family TuhulariadcB,

1. Eudendrium ramosum, — ^The genus Eiidendrium has tubular
branches, at the ends of which are pretty reddish polyps, not re-
tractile, and with one or two rows of tentacles. In Miss Carey's
collection is a specimen not distinguishable from the species above
named, which is a common British form. I have not met with it
elsewhere.

2. Tuhularia indivisa, — In the genus Tubularia the cells are
simple homy tubes, with beautiful flesh-colored polyps, not re-
tractile, and with two rows of tentacles. The T. indivisa occurs
of large size at Sable Island, from which I have a specimen col-
lected by Mr. Willis, of Hali&x. It was attached to a sponge.
Stimpson notes it as occurring at Grand Manan.

3. Tubularia larynx, — This pretty little species I found alive
in great numbers at Gasp6, and covered with its little bead-like
reproductive buds. Tlie body is flask-like, of a red color, and
covered with short tentacles At the base of the body is a second
series of larger and lighter colored tentacles, and immediately above
these the little gems are attached like flower-buds flEistened l>y
their smaller ends to the body.

4. Tubularia . — Another small species, about the size

of T. larynx^ but with a simple and very flexible tube, occurs in

408 On Sea Anemones and Hydroid Polyps

the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I have not seen it for many years, and
a drawing which I have preserved, does not correspond exactly with
any described species known to me, but it closely resembles T.
Dumortierii oi Van Beneden. (See Fig. 6.)

The species both of Eudendriura and Tubularia, give birth in
summer to beautiful medusiform individuals, or free polyparies,
that swim on the surface of the water like little translucent balls
or cups of jelly, and in turn give birth to the germs of fixed gene-
rations like their parents.

Family Campanulariadce,

1. Laomedea {Companularia) dichotoma — ^The genera Oampa-
nularia and Laomedea, which perhaps should not be separated, have
slender ringed branches supporting conical or bell-shaped cells,
in which are beautiful tassel-like Dolyps. This species occurs in
Miss Carey's collection from Metis, and I have also specimens from
Nova Scotia, one of which is represented in the living state in
Fig. 6.

2. L, gelatinosa, — ^In Miss Carey's collection from Metis. It
is noted by Stimpson as found at Grand Manan.

3. Z. geniculatay or a similar species is very common on sea^
weeds in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

These creatures also produce medusiform progeny in immense
abundance in the summer months, and it is partially through
these means that they appear in countless multitudes on the
leaves of marine plants, the bottoms of boats, and similar situa-
tions, in which they are developed as if by magic.

Family Sertuhriadas.

1. Sertularia argentea, — ^The genus Sertul aria includes species
that' have two rows of cells placed like teeth or triangular projec-
tions on the opposite sides of the stalk. The polypary is horny,
usually brownish and plant-like in appearance. S. argentea,
known to British collectors as the ^ SquirrelVtail coralline," is
one of the most beautiful species, and was found in Ga^p6 Bay
attached to shells of Pecten Magellanicus, and itself loaded with
quantities of smaller Zoophytes, which somewhat mar its beauty
though they add to its interest. This species is common to both
sides of the Atlantic. Stimpson found it at Grand Manan*

2. S, pumila. — *' Sea-oak coralline " is a small species which

from, the Oulfof St. Lawrence. 400

dings to submerged wood and sea-weeds. I have seen in Nova
Scotia sunken logs completely covered with a brown fleece
of this creature, and specimens from Metis occur in Miss Carey's
collection. It is said like many others, of these little animals, to
be very phosphorescent when agitated in the dark, and its polyps
are exceedingly limpid and delicate when extended from the cells.
In Fig. 6 is represented a portion of a stem with one of the po-
lyps extended.

3. S, latitMcula. — This is a species discovered by Stimp-
son at Grand Manan, in the Bay of Fundy. A fine specimen from
Metis in Miss Carey's collection corresponds so closely with Stimp-
son's description, that I cannot doubt it is the same species.

4. Sertularia . — In Miss Carey's collection from Murray

Bay, is a small Sertularia, having the general aspect and mode of
growth of S. pumila, but its color is gray or pearly, and its form
is more delicate, the stem being very slender, so that the pairs of
cells appear like a string of broad arrow heads. They are exactly
opposite, the upper part projecting at right angles from the stem,
the opening small and the lower part rapidly contracting. I have
not seen the animals or ovicapsules. This species is possibly the
same with that described by Desor in Proc. Bos. Socy. Nat. His.,
Vol. 4, as S. plumea,

5. Plumularia falcata, — ^In the genus Plumularia the cells
are placed only on one side of the branchletS| which often have a
fine feathered arrangement. A number of specimens in my own
and Miss Carey's collections from Sable Island, the coast of Nova
Scotia and Metis, all appear referrible to the species above named^
which would thus appear to be very abundant and widely diffused
on our coasts. It is also mentioned by Stimpson as occurring at
Grand Manan.

In the collection of Miss Carey above referred to, there are seve-
veral species of Bryozoa, which I hope to notice in a future paper,
in connection with species which I have recently found fossil in
the tertiary clays and gravels, or living in the Gulf of St Law-
rence.

J. w. D.

410 Description of a Canadian Butterfly,

ARTICLE XXXLll.— Description of a Canadian Butterfly, and
some remarks on the Genus Papilio.

In the August number of this magazine, appeared a letter from

Charles J. Bethune, Esq^of Cobourg, C.W., communicating the

interesting fact of the occurrence of Papilio Philenor in great

numbers at West Flaraboro'-and Toronto, between the Yth and

18th of last June. We subjoin a description of this insect, which

is the fourth species of the Genus Papilio now known to inhabit

Canada ; and as seven occur in Ohio, there appears no reason why

some additional species should not turn up in the more southern

portions of the Upper Province. We therefore give synoptical

tables of all the North American species described in Boisduval

and Leconte, and which wo hope will enable any collector to

name his specimens, either of the Larvaa or Perfect Insects, at a
glance.

GENUS PAPILIO.

Species 4 — P. Philenor, Linn.

b
a The Larva, b The Pupa.

Papilio Phileiior, Linnaeus, Mantissa, p. 536, 1771.

it it Fabricios, Systema Entomologiae, p. 445, No. 12,

1775, &c.
" « Herbst, Pap., tab. XIX, /. 2-3, 1785—1806.

« « Smith and Abbott, the Nat. Hist. Lepid. Ins. of

Georg., Vol. 1, p. 5, tab. Ill, 1798.
" " Godart, Encjclop. Method, Ins., tab. IX, part 1, p

40, No. 47, 1819—1821.
" " Say, American Entomology, Vol. 1, tab. 1, 1824.

" " Boisduval et Leconte, Ico., &c., des Lepid., &c.

de I'Amer. Sept., t. 1, p. 29, pi. XI, 1833.
" Astinous, Drury, Ins. I, tab. II, f. 1 — 4, 1776.
" " Cramer, Pap. XVIII, p. 26, pi. OOVIII, fig. a. b.,

1770—1791.

and remarks on the Genus Papilio, 411

Wings slightly denticulated, edged with cream color in the
crenge or notches.

On the upper side : the anterior pair are hlack, marked hy a
row of white spots (obsolete, or nearly so, in many specimens)
parallel to the hind margin ; the posterior pair are also black,
glazed over with greenish or bluish, shining scales, except at the
base, and have a row of six whitish lunules near the hind margin.
Tails short and narrow, greenish, bordered with white at their base*
On the under side! the anterior wings are somewhat dullet
than on the upper, and are ornamented with a marginal row of
four or five distinct yellowish spots. The posterior wings are
washed with very brilliant greenish blue, except at the base,
which is black and marked with a yellow spot ; they are also dis*
tinguished by a marginal row of seven lunules of a lively yellow,
surrounded by black, and all but the last bordered with white on
their external margin ; these lunules correspond wifh the white
ones of the upper surface. Inside this marginal row of lunules, are
generally four white dots.

The body is blackish tinged with green, with a lateral line
of yellow dots. The Antennae are black. There is but little dif-
ference between the two s^xes.

The Larva is brown, with two lateral series of small reddish tuber-
cles. It is provided with two long spines on the first segment, and
on the sides near the feet, it has nine of moderate length, and others*
also of moderate length, are placed upon the three last segments*
It lives on the Virginian Snakeroot {Aristolochia Serpentaria),

The Butterfly appears in Spring or the beginning of Summer*
and, according to Boisduval, is common in all North America
wherever the Snakeroot flourishes. In a paper " on the Diurnal
Lepidoptera of Northern and Midland Ohio," read before the
Cleveland Acadaray of Natural Sciences, January l7th. 1854, and
to which we have frequently had occasion to refer. Prof. J. P. Kirt-
land ohscrves, that this species " was among the most rare of our
butterflies until I introduced into my garden a few plants of the
Aristolochia Sipho and puhescens. Since then they have multi-
plied in immense numbers."

Aristolochia Sipho (Pipe Vine, or " Dutchman's Pipe ") grows
most luxuriently in some of the gardens in the neighborhood of
Montreal, climbing over verandahs, &c., the leaves ^quently
measuring 12 X 13 inches, and we are not without hopes that
this beautiful butterfly may therefore eventually extend its range
even into Lower Canada. Profl Emmons describes it in his Iik-

412

Description of a Canadian Butterfly^

sects of New York, but says nothing whatever regarding its natu-
ral history. It is not included in Dr. Harris's Catalogue of the
' Insects of Massachusetts. The figures of this Insect given by Cramer
and Say, are very erroneously coloured, that in Boisduval is better,
still it gives but a poor idea of the beautiful metallic lustre on
the hind wings.

ON THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS PAPILIO.

The following pages embody such information as I have been
able to collect with regard to the species of Papilio inhabiting
North America. At the present day, all the old works on American
Entomology have become so scarce and valuable, that it is rare to
meet with a copy of any of them in this country, excepting the few,
too often imperfect, contained in some of our public libraries, as will
be presently shown. At the same time, unfortunately for the Ca-
nadian Entomologist, there is no modern work at all calculated
to fill their place, and it is much to be regretted that there is no
one capable of doing for Canadian Insects what Dr. Gray, in his
admirable " Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States,"
has done for our Plants.

TABLE SHOWING THE BJLXGE AND FOOD-PLANTS OF THE NOETH

AMERICAN SPECIES.

BFBCISS.

P.Ajax,Smith&\

Abbott. S

P. Marcellas,Cra- *>

mer, }

P. Sinon, Fabr... ...

P. Asteriaa, Fabr •<

HABITAT.

Georgia, Virginiii^ Ohio (Kirtland),...

" •• «« (Kirt.)Buropep

{^outhAxnerica,Ouba,jMnaioa,Florida.
West Indies, Virginia, Geoi^gia, New
York, Massachusetts, Ohio, &c. Up-
per and Lowrer Canada, Newfound-
jland (Gosse),

^•fplSm^^eSn gf,je^^^ "d many of the
Cramer.)....... ) |Northem States

P TroUiM Linn r^*™*"**' ®,®**I3?*' Virginia, Mass.'
^, iTouufl. j^iim. I Qj^^^ Canada West,

P. Tumus. Linn,
(Alcidamas,

Virginia, Georgia, Carolina, Mass., N.
York, Maine. Ohio, all Canada. New-

uramer,) ) fouudland (dosse)!

P. Glaucns, Linn., Georgia and Virginia,

^' ^rSSShon^ VSowth America, W. Indies. Florida,
[Cresphontes, \ Georgia, Ohio (Kirtland)

Cuba, Florida.

BrazU and Guiana, Cuba, Florida,....

Cramer,) )

P.VUliersiUGodart
P. Poiydamas,

Linn.,

P. Pliilenor, Linn.,
(ABtinou8,Cramer) I Canada Vfest,

}

Most of tl^ Northern States, Ohio,

FOOD-PLAirrS OF LABVA

Plants of the order

CAjrOlfACBA.

?

(plants of the order
r Umbellifebjb.

^Plants of the genus
Laubus.

"Plants of the genus
Pbunub,

Lirio^endron ttUipi-
/era (Kirtland).
Pf^lea trifoliata (Ab-
bot).

T%liaAmericana;^'\\-
low. Poplar. Brown
Ash (Gosse), Alder k

LElm.

^Styrax Americana,

((Boisduval).

} Plants of the genera
Citbus & Xastho-
XTLUM (Kirtland).

9 « X

/plants of the genus
CAbistolochia.

f

;

and remarks an the Genus Papilio. 413

STNOPSIS OF THE SPECIES.

A. Scarlet spots on the Posterior wings.

a. Scarlet spots both on the upper and under side.
Also a scarlet stripe on the under side.

P. Ajax, Black| banded with jellowish white ; hind wings, up-
per side, with two blue lunales, and two scarlet and
one blue spots at the anal angle.

P. Mabobllus,*. Black, banded with yellowish white ; hindwings, up-
per side, with two blue lunules and one blood-red
spot at the anal angle.

P. SiNON, Black, banded with greenish white ; hindwings, upper

• side, without any blue lunules and with a large,
bilobed, oblique, red spot at the anal angle.

b. Scarlet spots on the under side on/y, no scarlet stripe.
9 Posterior wings vnth tails.

P. TiLLiEBSii,. . .Greenish black, bronzed and shining ; all the wings on

the upper side with a marginal row of bluish lunules,
those on the hind wings very large.
« Posterior wings vfithout tails,

P. PoLTDAMAS,..Qreenish black, bronzed ; all the wings on the upper

side wHh a band of deep yellow near the middle.

B. No scarlet spots on the wings.

a. General color of the wings, black,

« Posterior wings the same color as the upper.
.^ An ocellus at the anal angle.
P. AsTXBUS,.. ..On the upper side, a band of yellow spots through the

middle of each wing ; posterior wings with a row of
blue, and a marginal one of yellow lunules ; ocellus
fulYous, with a black pupil.
.^ .^ A Ittnule at the anal angle.

P. Tboilub, The marginal row of lunules on the upper side of the

posterior wings greenish-grey^ an orange spot at the
apex of the wing, anal lunule half orange, half green-
ish-grey,
P. G ALOHAS,.... Marginal lunules of the upper side of the posterior

wings yellowj lunule blue, no other blue spots on the
upper side of the wings.
P. Glaucus,. • . .Marginal lunules of the upper side of the wings yeUow^

bordered with fulvous, the apical and anal lunules
fulvous, these wings also powdered with 6/ue.
«« Posterior wiug^ washed with jnetallic green,
P. Philekob, • . .On the upper side all the wings with a marginal row of

white lunules,
,,, Under side of the Posterior wings principally yellow,

P. Thoas, On the upper side a band of large yellow spots through

each wing ; at the anal angle of the posterior wings
is a fulYOus lunule, surmounted by some blue dots.

b. General color of the wings yellow.

414 Description of a Canadian JSutterflt/j

P. TuBMUS, Upper side banded with black ; a row of blue lunules

on the posterior wings, and falvoos lunule at the
anal angle.

BTNOPSIS OF THE LARViE.

A. Without Spines.

a. Cylindrical (nearly the same size throughout).
« Marked with transverse bands.

P. AsTXBiA8,....Larva apple-green; each segment with a transverse

black band| interrupted with orange spots. It very
much resembles that of the Buropean P. Machaon,
«^ Colours distributed In blotches.

P. Thoab, Larva brown, marked with three large patches of

white.
«^» Marked with ocellated spots.

P. PoLTDAMAS,*. Larva brown, streaked with red; upon each segment

4 yellowish ocellated spots, having the anterior
part red. Tentacles brovm,

P. YiLLiEBsn,. . .Larva r-t

b. 2rd and 4th Segments much thicker than the rest.

^ 3rd or 4th Segment with transverse bands of various
colors.

P. Aja3[, Larva apple-green ; at the juncture of the 3rd and 4th

segment, a tri-color band, pale blue, dark blue and
yellow.

P. Mabckllu8|*. Larva whitish with transverse yellow bands and violet

lines. On the 3rd segment two bands, white and
black.

P. Smon, Larva ^?

9« 3rd Segment with ocellated spots.
.^ Under side of the body of a different color from the
upper.

P. Calobab,.... Larva apple-green on the back and sides, with the un-
der side and legs red, the two colors separated by a
marginal yellow line. Head reddish-yellow with a
black colar. Iris of the ocellus flesh color, pupil
blue. Upon the 4th segment a flesh-colored spot.

P. Tboxlub, Larva green above, flesh color underneath ; a yellow

line separating the two colors. Head Jlesh color
with a black colar. Iris of the ocellus flesh color
pupil blue. Upon the 4th segment ^too flesh-colored
spots.
.^ ^ Color uniform or nearly so.

P. Glauous, . . • .Larva apple-green. Head brown with a yellow colar ;

ocellus with yellow iris and a ningle blue pupil.
Between the 6th and 6th segments a double trans-
verse band, yellow and black.

and remarks on the Genus PapUio. 415

P. Tu&NUS, Larva apple*green. Head flesh-color with ,a yellow

colar. Ocellus with jellow iris and a double blue
papil. Between the Uh and bth segments a double
tranverse band, yellow and black.
B. Spinose.

P. PmLBNOB,'. . • .Larva brown with two lateral series of small reddish

tubercles and spines.

On examining the above analytical tables, and comparin<T them
with that showing the food-plants of the LarvjB, it will be seen that
this extensive genus is naturally divided into various groups, char-
acterized not only by peculiarities in the colors of the wings and
structure of the Larvae, but also by their geographical distribution
and pabulum.

The Larv» of the group represented by P. AftteriaSy feed exclu-
sively on plants of the order Umhellifera (such as Parsley, Poi-
son Hemlock, Carrot, &c.,). The species occur in Euiope, Aaia,
Africa and America* This may be regarded as the typical
group.

P. Thoas is the largest North American species. It repre-
sents a rather large and very natural group, almost peculiar to
South America. The species all feed on plants of the genus dirua
(such as Orange, Lemon, <kc.,). This species was formerly consi-
dered as belonging exclusively to »the Southern States, but ac-
cording to Prof. Kirtland it occurs in Ohio, feeding there, how-
ever, on Xanthoxylum (Hercules Club and Prickly Ash).

P, Polydamas forms with some South American species a small
but very natural group ; they feed on plants of the genus Artsto-
lochia (Pipe Vines). This is the only North American species
without tails to the posterior wings, and the tentacular organ on
the head of the of the Larva is brown, whilst in the other species
it is yellow or orange.

P, Ajax, Marcellus and Sinon, bear a great resemblance to
each other in the perfect state, though not in the Larva. They
feed in America on plants of the order Anoriacece or Custard Ap-
ples (such as Admina triloba. North American Papaw, &c.,).
This group is represented in Europe by P. podalirius,

P, Calchas and Troilus have very similar larvse. They feed on
plants of the genus Laurus (such as the Spice-bush, Sassafras,
&C.,). P. Calchas is not unlikely to occur in Canada West

P. Olaueus and Tumus are closely allied both in ihe Imago
and Larva, the ground color of the wings of the first, however^ is

416 Description of a Canadian Butterfiy^

black, "whilst that of the latter is yellow. The larva of glaucus
feeds on Styrax Americana (Storax, a Southern plant), whilst that
of turnus lives on a great variety of shrubs and trees, such as Ash,
Elm, Plum, Tulip-tree, Basswood, <fec. ; while young it is bluish-
grey at each extremity and white in the middle (Gosse), and just
before changing to the pupa it becomes purpli&h-brpwn.

P, Fkilenor is the only N. American species with a spiny
Larva. It feeds exclusively on plants of the genus Aristolochia
(Virginian Snakeroot^ Pipe- Vine, &c.,).

LIST OF WORKS TO BB CONSULTED BY STUDENTS OF CANADIAN

DIUBNAL LEPIDOPTERA.

Abbott k Smith. Natural History of the rarer Lepidopterons Insects of
Georgia, inclading their ajstematic character, metamorphoses,
and the plants on which thej feed. 2 vols, folio. Colored plates.
London, 1779. Text in French and English. Yerj scarce \ ad-
vertised price in N*ew York, $55.00.

This work contains figures and descriptions of many Canadian
Butterflies and Moths. There is a copy in the Library of the
Provincial Parliament, Toronto.

Agassiz, Louis. Lake Superior, its Physical Character, Vegetation and
Animals, &c. 1 vol., 8 vo. Boston, 1850. Libraries of P. Par-
liament and Geological Survey.

There is a figure and description of Poniia oleracea^ and of
several other Canadian Lepidoptera, by Dr. Harris, in this work.

Boisduval k Leconte. Histoire g^n^rale et Iconographie des Lepidopt^res
et des chenilles de I'Amerique Septentrionale. 2 vols. Text and
plates (colored). Paris, 1833. French.

This work is very scarce, but, through the kindness of R Bil-
lings Esq., I have had access to a copy in his possession. It con-
tains beautifully colored figures of nearly all the known Canadian
species of Butterflies, beside^ many not included in our fauna ;
the letter-press is unfortunately incotnplete. A newer edition in
1 vol. (1843), also very scarce, is advertised in New York at
$25.00.

Cramer, Pierre, de nitlandsche Eapellen, on Papillons Exotiques des

trois parties du monde, L^Aise, L'Afrique, et L'Amerlque. 5 vols.,

4 to. Colored plates. Amsterdam, 1*775 — 1791. ' Text in Dutch
and French.

There is an incomplete copy of this fine and rare work in the
Library of the Montreal Natural History Society. It has figures

V

]

and remarl»<m the Oenus Papilio, 417

of nearly all the North American Papilios, and a great number
of the Diamal and Nocturnal Lepidoptera found in Canada. The
descriptions are, however, very meagre and incomplete*

Duncan's British Butterflies (Yol. XXIX, Naturalist's Library). 1 vol., 8
TO. Colored plates. Edinburgh, 1836. Price in London, 4a.
6d. Libraries of P. Parliament and Montreal N. H. Society.

This may be consulted for such British Species as occur in this
country. It is a very complete little work, though somewhat out
of date.

Duncan's Foreign Butterflies (Vol. XXXI, Naturalist's Library). 1 vol.,
8to. Colored Plates. Edinburgh, 1837. Price in London, 4s.
6d. Libraries of P. Parliament and M. Nat. Hist. Society.

In this there are descriptions and figures of a few American
species.

Ernst k Engramelle, Papillons d'Europe. 8 vols., 4to. Colored
plates. Paris, 1770 — 1793. Libraries of the P. Parliament and
Montreal Nat. Hist. Society,

This fine work may be consulted with advantage for such Eu-
ropean species as occur in Oaiiada.

Emmons, E. Insects of the State of New York (Vol. Y of the Agricul-
ture of New York). 4 to. Colored plates. Albany, 1854. Ad-
Tertised price, $7.50 Libraries of P. Parliament and McGill
College.

This work is so inaccurate and the figures so badly executed, that
it is of little value to an Entomologist It, however, con tains figures
and descriptions of some Canadian Butterflies, &c., and may assist
a beginner in naming his specimens.

Fabricius, J. C. Systema Entomologis, Ac. 3 vols. . Flensburgi et Lip-
sis, 1775. Text in Latin.

This old work contains correct though short descriptions of a
great number of Canadian Insects of all orders. It may be occa-
sionally picked up cheap at second-hand bookstalls, but is a rare
work. Mr. Billings possesses a copy.

Godart (Article Papillon). Encyclopedic Methodique. 8 vols., 4 to.
Paris 1789—1825. Lib. Provincial Parliament.

Contains ^numerous Canadian Butterflies, <fec.

Gosse, P. H. The Canadian Naturalist. 1 vol., 8 vo. 44 engravings.
London, 1840. Price, $3.60. Lib. P. Parliament, McGill Col-
lege, &c.

Mr. Gosse notices 26 species of Canadian Butterflies, and fl-

418 Description of a Canadian Butierfti/j

gures 5 of tbem. It is a most useful book to a Canadian Ento-
mologist, furnishing him with accurate information regarding the
liabits, food-plants, seasons, &c., of many spfecies in all orders.

Hamphrejs & Westwood. British Butterflies and their transformations.
1 .vol., 4 to. Colored plates. London, 1841. Advertised price
in New York, $15.00. Lib, Geological Surrey.

Figures of the Larva, Pupa, Imago, and food-plants of all the
British and of a few American species. The Text contains much
valuable information regarding the Families, Genera and Spe-
cies.

Kirby, Rer. W. Fauna Boreali Americana, rol. 4. The Insects ; with
colored figures. 4 to. Norwich, 1831 Lib. P. Parliament and
McGiirs College.

Some Canadian Butterflies and other Lepidoptera are described
and figured in this work, which is now, unfortunately, rather
scarce.

LinnssuB, Systema Naturae. Ed. 13. 3 vols., 8 to. Yindobon9&, 17T5.
Lib. Mont. Nat. Hist. Soc.

In this there are short descriptions in Latin of all the Lepi-
dopterous Insects known at the time of publication. It is of but
little use at the present day, except as a reference in cases of doubt
as to the priority of a name.

Say, Thomas. American Entomology ; or Descriptions of the Insects
of North America, illustrated by colored figures from original
drawings, executed from nature. 3 vols., 8 to. Philadelphia,
1824 — 28. Very scarce. Advertised price in New York, $30.00.
Libraries of McQill's College and Lit. and Hist. Soc. of Quebec.

Contains figures and descriptions of a few Canadian Butterflies,

<Si:c.

Stainton, H. T. A manual of British Butterflies and Moths. Vol. 1
(comprising the Butterflies and Stout-bodied Moths), 12 mo.
London, 1857. Price in London, 4s 6d. Vol. 2nd is in course
of publication in monthly parts, price 3d. each. Can be obtained
of B. Dawson, Bookseller, Gt. St. James St. Montreal.

This will be found a most valuable work to the Canadian stu-
dent, and its extremely low price puts it within the reach of
every one. It is illustrated with excellent wood-cuts of nearly
every genus of British Lepidoptera, and enables a collector in this
country to determine the genera of a large portion of our Lepi-
pidopterous Insects. It is much to be wished that there existed a
similar work on Canadian species.

and remarks an the Genus Papilio. 419

Tarton's Translation of Gmelln's Edition of the Systema Naturae of Lin*
naaus (Insects, yols. 3 and 4). 7 toIs., 8 to. Lib. Mont. Nat.
Hist. Societj.

Short descriptions of the Lepidoptera of the world, known at
the time of publication, with their Habitats, &c.

Westwood, J. 0. Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects.
2 vols., 8 TO., with 133 illustrations on wood. Price in London y
183. Lib. of P. Parliament, Toronto.

A most useful work, now, I believe, nearly out of print. It is
the best work of its kind ever published, and almost indispensable
to any one wishing to investigate the Classitication of insects in
general. It contains figures of the Larvae and Pupae of every fa.
mily of Buttei-flies.

The valuable works of Dr. Thaddeus EArris, Insects of Massachusetts
injurious to vegetation, 1841, Treatise on the Insects of New
England. 8vo. Cambridge, 1842, &c., are very scarce, and I
have not as yet been fortunate enough to meet with them.

The prices of some of the above works have been derived from
the Catalogue of Standard and Recent Books on Natural History
of H. Bailliere, 290 Broadway, N. York.

For numerous modern works on the Lepidoptera of the world,
and of which I know of no copies to be found in Canada, I must
refer the reader to Stainton's Entomologist?8 Annuals for 1856
— 56 — 57 — 68 (price of each in London, 28. 6d.), which contain
a variety of useful information concerning the study of Entomo-
logy.

William Stewart M. d'Urban.

Montreal, November 22nd, 1858.

.ARTICLE XXXIY.—New Genera and Species of Fossils from
the Silurian and Devonian formations of Canada. By E.
Billings, F. G. S. &o.

(By the kind permission of Sir W. E. Logajt, the following article has
been extracted from the Report of the Geological Survey of Canada
for 1851.)

Genus Fistulipora (McCoy).

(McCoy, British PaUeozoic FosHls, p. 11.)

Generic Characters. — '* Corallum incrusting, or forming larg^

masses, composed of long, simple, cylindrical, thick-walled tubes

the mouths of which open as simple^ equal, circular smooth-edged

cells on the surface, and have numerous transverse diaphragms at

420 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada*

variable distances; intervals between the tubes occupied by a
cellular network of small vesicular plates, or capillary tubules
traversed by diaphragms."

This genus has no radiating lamellae, a character which con-
stitutes the only difference between it and Heliolites (Dana.)

1. FiSTUUPORA Canadensis (Billings).

Description, — Corallum forming irregular, contorted masses, or
wide, flat, undulating expansions or layers from one-half of an
inch to one inch in thickness, which are based upon a thin, con-
centrically wrinkled epitheca. Cell-tubes half a line or less in
diameter, and about one line distant from each other ; the mouths
of the tubes protruding a little above the general surface. Trans-
verse diaphragms thin, horizontal or flexuous, and sometimes very
numerous, there being in some of the tubes three or four in half a
line of the length of the tube. The intercellular tubules are poly,
gonal, and about four in the diameter of one of the principal
cells; their transverse diaphragms are well developed, usually
four or five to one line of the length.

F, Canadensis differs from the other described species in the
following respects : — From F. decipiens (McCoy) in having the
cell-tubes more distant and the diaphragms more numerous, and
from F. minor (McCoy) in the same particulars, the cell-tubes of
the latter species being still smaller and closer together than in
F, decipiens.

This coral much resembles Heliolites porosa (Goldfuss), but
can be readily distinguished by the absence of the radiating septa*

Locality and Formation, — Devonian ; Cornifcrous or Onondaga
limestone; lot 6, con. 1, Township of Wainfleet; at the east end
of Lake Erie.

Collector. — A. Murray.

Oentis CoLUMNARiA (Goldfuss).

Generic characters, — Composed of large masses of elongated
sub-parallel corallites, which when separate are round, but when
in contact polygonal. Radiating septa either rudimentary, or well
developed, sometimes reaching the centre. Transverse diaphra-
gms numerous, usually complete, and either horizontal, oblique or

flexuous.

Column ARIA Goldfussi (Billings).

Description,— Thh species is found in large amorphous or sub-
globose masses composed of long straight or flexuous polygonal

Silurian and Devonian FossiU of Canada. 421

corallitea ivitb an average diameter of about half a line ; transverse
diaphragms from four to six in a line ; radiating septa rudimentaryv
but distinctly striating the interior walls.

Formation ufid Locality. — Hudson River group ? Snake Is-
land and Traverse point, Lake St. John.

Collector. — J. Richardson.

CoLUMNARiA Blainvilli (BiUiugs).

Description, — ^Forming large sub-globose pyriform or hemis"
pheric masses of polygonal corallites one line and a-half in dia-
meter ; about eighteen radiating septa which reach the centre ;
transverse diaphragms three or four to one line.

The radiating septa in fractured specimens where the interiors
of the tubes are well exposed, striate the surface exactly as in
Columnaria aiveolata^ from which species and from Favistella
stellata, Hall, it only differs by its smaller size.

Formation and Locality, — Hudson River Group. Snake Is-
land, Lake St. John,

Collector, — J. Richardson.,

Columnaria rigida (Billings).

Description, — Forming large masses of polygonal corallites
usually three lines in diameter, but with numerous smaller ones,
and occasionally others of a larger size ; radiating septa, about
twenty, not reaching the centre ; transverse diaphragms from two
to four in one line.

This species also resembles (7. alveolata, but differs in the
greater development of the radiating septa which extend about
half-way to the centre. The tubes are also about the same size as
those of Favisiella stellata, ^all, which differs in the septa not
only reaching the centre, but also in their often being so strongly
developed there, as to produce by their junction the appearance
of a pseudo-col umella.

Formation and Locality, -^Hudbon River group ! Lake St John.

Collector. — J. Richardson.

Columnaria erratica (Billings).

Description, — Forming large masses of corallites either in con-
tact or separate. The separate cells are round, those in contact
more or less polygonal, the radiating septa rudimentary, forming
about four sulci in the breadth of one line upon the interior ; dia-
meter of corallites from two to five lines, in general about ihtee

422 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of. Canada,

and a balf lines. The transvers^e diaphragms are not visible in the
specimens examined. The walls of the separate corallites are
thick and concentrically wrinkled.

One specimen with corallites two lines in diameter appears to
be a variety of this species.

Formation and Locality, — Trenton. Blue Point, Lake St John.

Collector, — J, Richardson.

Oenus pALiEOPHYLLUM (BilHngs).
»

Generic characters, — Corallum fasciculate or aggregate; co-
rallites surrounded by a thick wall ; radiating septa extending the
whole length ; transverse diaphragms either none or rudimentary ;
increase by lateral budding.

This genus only differs from Petraia or Streptelasma by form-
ing long fasciculate or aggregate masses instead of being simple*

Pal^ofhtllum ruoosuh (Billings).

Description. — Corallum in large aggregations of scarcely se-
parate corallites, which where they open out upon the surface of
the rock are from ono to six lines in diameter, the average adult
size being about four lines. Badiating septa reaching the centre ;
about twenty-two septa in a corallite four lines in diameter, with
an equal number in a rudimentary state between.

The great disparity in the size of the tubes in the same mass is
owing to the mode of increase and gradual growth of the young
corallites. These, of all. sizes from one line in diameter and
upwards, are uniformly intermingled with the adult indi\iduals.

Formation and Locality, — ^Trenton. Lake St John, Little
Discharge.

Collector. — J, Richardson.

Petraia rvbtioa (Billings).

Description. — Straight- or slightly curved, covered with a strong
epitheca, which is more or less annulated with broad shallow
undulations ; radiating septa about one hundred or usually a little
more ; much confused in the centre, where they form a vesicular
jnai^s ; every alternate septum much smaller than the others, only
half the whole number reaching the centre. Length from two
inches and a half to three inches and a halt Diameter of cup
one inch to one inch and a half; depth of cup half an inch or
8om£what more.

Sil^rian and Devonian Fossils of Canada. 423

This species appears to be the same as that described by
Edwards and Haime under the name of Streptela,sma corniculum.
The true 5. comieulum of Mr. Hall is a very diflferent species,
being always shorter and much curved.

Formation and Locality, — Hudson River group. Snake Island*
Lake St. John.

Collector, — ^J. Richardson.

Genus Syringopora (Goldfuss.)

Generic characters. — The fossils of this genus are fasciculated
or composed of large aggregations of long cylindrical corallites
somewhat parallel to each other and connected by numerous
smaller transverse tubes. The exterior walls consist of a well
developed solid epitheca; the cells circular; radiating septa rudi-
mentary; transverse diaphragms infundibuliform or placed one
within anotlier like a series of funnels.

About twenty species of this genua are knoWn, and these are
found in the Upper Silurian, Devonian and Corniferous form-
ations.

Stbingopora Dalshnii (Billings),

Description, — Forming large masses; corallites long sub- pa.
rallei, slightly radiating, occasionally a little flezuous, annulated
one line or rather more in diameter, distant usually half a line,
occasionally in contact or where flexures occur, more than one
line apart ; connecting processes very short, about two lines distant.

Formation asid Locality, — ^Upper Silurian, Head of Lake Te-
miscaming.

Colleclor, — Sir W, E. Logan.

SVRIVQOPORJL OOMFACTA (Bllllngs).

Description, — Forming large hemispherical masses of straight
parallel or slightly diverging corallites, which are so closely
agregated as to compose a nearly aolid mass ; about six corallites
in two lines.

This species di£fers from all others of this genus hitherto
described in the closeness of the corallites. These are so small,
straight and closely united that large masses broken in the longi-
tudinal direction of the tubes have the aspect of some species of
lionticulipora.

Formation and Locality, — Upper Silurian. L^Anse a la
Vieille, Gasp6.

Collector. — Sir W. E. Logan*

' urian and Devonian Fosails of Canada.

Stringopora vkrtioilata, (Goldfuss.)
(Goldfuss, Petr. Germ,, vol. i. p. 16, note 25, 26.)

Description, — Forming large masses, corallites nearly atraiglity
about two lines in diameter, and from two to three lines distant ;
connecting tubes three or four lines distant, rerticilating, or three
or four radiating from the main tube at the same lerel in different
directions, like the spokes of a wheel.

Formation and Locality, — Upper Silurian. Head of Lake
Temiscaming. Goldfuss^ specimens were from Lake Huron.

Collector, — Sir "W. E. Logan.

Strinooposa retbformis (Billings).

Description, — Forming large masses ; corallites much geniculat-
ed, frequently ana«»tomosing or connecting by stout processes;
diameter of corallites about two-thirds of a line, distant from each
other from half-a-Iine to a line and a-half ; distance of connecting
processes one line to three lines, usually about two lines.

Formation and Locality, — ^Upper Silurian. Isthmus Bay;
Lake Huron.

Collector, — A. Murray.

Stringopora dxbilis (Billings).

Description. — Corallites a little more than half a line in dia*
meter, distant one or two diameters ; connecting processes slender,
distant one or two lines.

Formation and Locality, — ^Upper Silurian. L'Anse k la Vieille.

Collector, — Sir W. E. Logan.

Stringopora tubiporoides, (Yandell and Shumard.)

(^Contributions to the Geology of Kentucky, page 8 ; 1847.) «

(M. Edwards and L. Haime, Polypiers fossile* des terrains palotozoiqueSf

p. 292.)

Description, — This species is found in large masses of long-
slightly flexuous corallites. These have a diameter of about one
line and a-hal^ and owing to their flexuosity, are at times in con-
tact, and often two, three or four lines apart. In large colonies
which have grown luxuriantly without the interference of disturb-
ing causes, the corallites are more regular than in the smaller or
stunted groups, in which the corallites are mnch bent and con-
fused. The connecting processes are very short and distant, and
appear to be sometimes mere inosculations of the stems. The

Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada* 425

corallites after growing separately for a sLort distance, approach
each other and seem to ^ow together or adhere to each other for
the space of a linp and a-half or more, they then diverge and
again unite. These points of contact occur at distances varying
from three lines to six, nine, or even twelve lines. Externally
they exhibit numerous indistinct annulations, and also faint indi-
cations of longitudinal striae.

Formation and Locality, — ^Devonian ; abundant in the Corni-
ferous limestone of Canada West.

Collectors, — A. Murray, E. Billings.

SrBiNGOPORA KOBiLis (BilHngs).

Description. — Corallites three lines in diameter, distant two to
four lines. The connecting processes in this species have not been
observed, but the size of the corallites is quite sufficient to separ-
ate it from any known species.

Formation and Locality, — Devonian. Corniferous limestonet
near Woodstock Canada West.

Collector, — A. Murray.

Syrinoopoba BLS0AN8 (Billiugs).

Description, — Corallites, one line in diameter, sometimes a little
more or less, distant a little less than one line ; connecting tubes
half a line in diameter, and distant from one line to one line and
a half, usually projecting at right angles, but sometimes a little
oblique. Epitheca with numerous annulations, generally indis-
tinct, but under certain circumstances of growth sharply defined
and deep, so much so as to give to the corallites the appearance
of the jointed sialk of a crinoid. The young individuals «re
produced by lateral budding, and in one specimen examined, the
whole colony appears to be based upon a broad lamellar fqot
secretion like that which forms the base of a Favosite.

The distance of the corallites is usually about a line, but like
all the other species, this one varies a good deal in this respect.
When some cause has intervened to prevent their regular growth
thv^y are much flexed and consequently at times more distant than
when they have been disturbed. The connecting tubes on the
same side of the corallite are three or four lines distant, but gene-
rally on the other sides one or two others in the same space occur,
making the average distance one line or one line and a hal£

426 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada,

Formation and Locality, — Devonian, Corniferous limestone,
near Woodstock Canada West.
Collector, — ^A, Murray.

Syringopora Hisingsri (Billings).

Description, — ^This species forms large masses of very long,
nearly {/arallel or slightly varying, slender corallitea, which are
closely aggregated and present a rugged or knobby appearance
from the great number of the connecting tubes. The diameter of
tlie corallites is one-third of a line, or a little more. The tubes
of connection are distant from two-thirds of a line to one line and
a-half. The distance between the corallites is for the greater part
less than their diameter. The young corallites branch from the
gides of the adult individuals, and immediately become parallel
with the parent, and connected with it again by the usual tubes
of connection.

Formation and Locality, — ^Devonian. Corniferous limestone,
Canada West, (common.)

Collectors, — A. Murray and E. Billings.

Affinities of S, Hisingeri, — Edwards and Hairae have describ-
ed two species from Ohio, collected in rocks of tlie age of the
Onondaga and Corniferous limestones, which appear to be closely
allied to this ; the following are their descriptions :

" String opoBA Vernbdilli. — Corallites long, distance be^
tweu them twice or thrice their diameter, subflexuous and angular
at the points of the origin of the tubes of connection, these are
distant two or three millimetres ; diameter of the corallites two-
thirds of a millimetre." — Devonian, Columbus, Ohio. {Polypiers
Fossile.% p. 289).

" Syrinoopora Clbviana. — Corallites slightly flexuous, dis-
tant once or twice their diameter, which is two-thirds, of a milli-
metre."— Devonian, Carolton and Dayton, Ohio. (Polypiers
Fossiles, p. 295.)

The first of these species is different from S. Hisingeri in the
greater distance of the corallites. The description of the second
is too incomplete to enable us to decide whether it refers to the
same species or not The authors state that their specimen was
imperfect, and that they were not certain that it had not been
previously described.

Oenus MicHBLiiaA (De Koninck).

Generic characters. — ^ Corallum compound, forming rounded.

Silurian and Devonian Fowils of Canada. 427

or conoidal massea of inseparably united, thick-walled, polygonal
tubes of large size, marked internally ' with numerous vortical,
lamellar strise, and communicating pores ; base of cells filled up
by very irregular, numerous, highly inclined vesicular plates, not
forming distinct horizontal diaphragms ; external or basal epitheca
of the general mass, strong, concentrically wrinkled, and some-
times spinose." — McCoy, British Palosozoic Fossiles, page 80.

This genus differs from Favosites in the vesicular character of
the transverse diaphragms, and in the radiating lameUse being
represented by vertical striae on ihe inner surface of the cells
instead of series of minute spines. The cells are usually much
larger than in Favosites. The genus appears to be confined to
the Devonian and Carboniferous formation.

MicHKLiNiA ooNVEXA (D'Orbigny).

(Prodr. de Paleont., t. 1, p. 107, 185ft.)

Description. — Gorallnm forming hemispherical, or erect rudely
cylindrical masses, several inches in diameter ; the base covered by
a strong wrinkled epitheca. Adult calices from four to five lines
in diameter ; about forty septal striee in each ; pores small, arrang-
ed in several vertical scries in some of the tubes, irregularly dis-
tributed in others ; distant from half a lino to more than one line.
Diaphragms very convex in the centre of the tub^s, and usually
with three or four smaller rounded prominences on their surface ;
a vertical section shews that they are more vesicular at the sides
of the cells than in the centre, where they are from half a line to
one line and a-half distant.

MM. Edwards and Haime in their description of this species
say that there are two vertical series of porps on the larger plane
sides of the cells and one on the smaller. Our specimen, however
shews that this is not a constant character.*

Formation and Locality. — Devonian ; Onondaga and Comife-
rous limestones. Rama's farm, Port Colborne. Savage's quarry,
lot 6, con. 1, Wainflect. Oxford, near Woodstock and in nume-
rous other localities in Western Canada. This species occurs in
Michigan and in Preston County, Virgina.

V

MiCHELINIA INTJERMITTEN8 (BilKngs).

Description. — Corallum forming large hemispherical masses;
calyces nearly equal in diameter, with periodical constrictions

• See Polypiers FossUes des Terrains Pals&ozoiques, page 251.

428 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada.

within at the distance of half a line to one line and a-half. Dia-
phragms numerous, thin, slightly convex, sometimes shewing four
or five vesicular swellings upon a single surface. The septal stris
are but slightly developed, about fifty to the inner circumference
of the cell. Pores only visible in the intervals between the cons-
trictions where the walls are thin, three or four series on each
plane side of the tube. The cells are from three to four lines in
diameter.

The constrictions give to the cells of this species a circular
aspect, whereas they are in feet polygonal, I am not certain tliat
this fossil is different from the species described by Edwards and
Haime (op. cit. p. 299,) under the nkme of ChonosU<jfites Clappu
If so it shoujd I think be called Mickelinia Clappi, as it exhibits
all the characters of Michelinia. The constrictions appear to be
occasioned only by the periodical thickening of the walls of the
cells. Where not constricted the cells have the usual prismatic
shape, with pores and septal striae.

Formation and Locality, — ^The only specimen I have seen was
collected by Mr. Murray, near Woodstock, C. W. It was found
loose, but in lithological characters, It resembles the other species
from the Comiferous limestone of that region.

Michelinia fatosoidea (Billings).

2>e«cnp/to».— Corallum forming large hemispheric or flattened
masses ; cells unequal in size, adult diameter about two lines and
a half; diaphragms, fiat, horizontal, with small vesicular swellings,
usually around the margins of the upper surface ; septal striae very
obscure, six to eight on each plane side of the cells ; pores, Tery
small, iri'egularly distributed, sometimes in rows of five or six
across the cell, about one-sixth of a line distant from each other
in some places, and sometimes absent in spaces of half a line in
width. This species has ranch of the aspect of Favosite favosa,
Goldfus8,but is notwithstanding very clearly a true Michelinia.

Formation and Locality, — Comiferous. Ramans farm, Port
Colborne. <

Collector. — E. Billings.

Genus Zaphrxntjs (Rafinesque).

Generic Characters. — Corallum simple, elongated, free and tur-
binated, surrounded by a complete epitheca; cup more or less
deep ; no columella ? ; a single fossette well developed and oc-

Silurian ond Devonian Fossils of CaTiada, 429

cupying the place of one of the radiating septa ; these are in
general well developed, denticulated upon ^ their margins, and
extend upon the surface of the transverse diaphragois to the cen-
tral of the visceral chambers.

Edwards and Haime in the Polt/piers FossileSy page 326, have
in substance given the above definition of this genns. In some
of the species there is a rudimentary columella, and sometimes
even in the same species the radiating septa may or may not
reach the centre in different individuals.

Zaphrentis proufica (Billings).

Description, — Corallum simple, turbinate, curved, with a few
broad shallow encircling folds. Septal fossette of a pyriform
shape, gradually enlarging from the margin towards, but not quite
reaching the centre, variable in its position in relation to the
curvature of the fossil. Radiating septa in the adult specimens
between sixty and seventy-five of the larger size, alternating with
a like number of smaller ones, the former in some of the individuals
extending to the centre on the bottom of the cup, where they are
spirally twisted or irregularly contorted, in other specimens not
reaching the centre, which is then occupied by a smooth space or
often with a columella elongated in a direction from the, septal
fossette towards the opposite side. The septa are also sharp-
edged for about half the distance from the bottom of the cup to
the margin, then become gradually less projecting until at the edge
of the cup they are reduced to mere flat rounded ridges. Length
from four to five inches. or a little more. Width of cup from two
inches to two inches and a- half. Depth of cup about one inch.

Very numerous specimens of young individuals of this species
one inch and a-half and upwards in length, and with fifty or more
principal radiating septa occur along with ttose full grown. These
small ones might perhaps be regarded as constituting distinct
species, but when good specimens can be observed they all exhi-
bit the characters which are persistent in the large individuals.

The presence of the columella seems at first sight to be a suffi-
cient ground for placing the individuals in which it occuis in the
genus Lophophyllum (Edwards and Haime). I have however
examined a great number of specimens and have found every
gradation between the following characteristics.

1st Specimens with a perfectly smooth space in the bottom of
the cup, no columella.

430 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada,

2nd. With a columella slightly developed.

3rd. Columella large and prominent, with a smooth space all
round,

4th. Columella well developed, but with a number of irregular
often elongated tubercles in the surrounding smooth space.

5th. The septa reaching the columella, no smooth space.

Cth. Septa covering the columella.

*Ith. Septa reaching the centre, with the columella either prom-
inently, slightly or not all indicated beneath.

This last mentioned form must certainly be regarded as a true
Zaphrentis, all other characters of the genus being present, and
fh>m it there is a regular series of forms leading in the seven or
more directions above indicated. It appears to me therefore that
80 far from these specimens being divisible into several genera
they only constitute one species.

The most persistent characters are the rounded edges of the
septa near the margin of the cup, and the oval shape of the septal
fossette, in the bottom of which where it reaches the side of the
cup is a single septum which projects a little and partially divides
the fossette.

This species somewhat resembles Z. comiaula (Lesupur), but
differs in the edges of the septa, which are not dentated as in that
species.

Formation and Locality, Devonian; Comiferous limestone.

Extremely abundant at Kama's Farm near Port Colbome, Canada

West.

Zafhrbntis 8PATI0SA (Billiugs).

Description. — Corallum short, turbinate, moderately curved *and
very broadly expanding. At the margin of the cup about ninety
radiating septa alternately a little unequal and with their edges
broadly rounded as in Z. prolific^. Length measured on the side
of the greater curvature, about three inches, width of cup two
inches and a-half. Septal fossette unknown.

This species is closely related to Z, prolijica, and may perhaps
be united with it when its characters become more fully known.

Formation and Locality. — Devonian; Onondaga and Comiferous
limestones, Kama's Farm, near Port Colborne Canada West.

Gentis Cystiphyllum (Lonsdale.)

Ghneric Characters, — Corallum simple, turbinate, entirely filled
with vesicular celluliferous structure ; radiating septa rudimentary
or obsolete.

-/.

Silurian and Devonian Fossih of Canada. 431

^ Cybtiphyllun sulcatum )Billings.)

Description, — Short, turbinate, much curved, expanding at the
rate of between forty and forty-five degrees from the minute sharp
curved point upwards ; cup oblique, the lower margin being on
the side of the lesser curvature, moderately deep and nearly re-
gularly concave, the bottom covered with obscure course roun-
ded radiating ridges ; a shallow rounded groove or fossette exten-
ding from the centre to the higher margin, and in some specimens
two others much less distinct radiating to the sides at right angles
to the main groove. Exterior encircled by obscure undulations,
and longitudinally striated by the rudimentary radiating septa,
The vesicular structure consists of irregular sub-lenticular ceUs
from half a line to two lines in width ; length of the convex side
from one inch and a half to three inches, the usual length appears
to be about two inches or a little more ; width of cup from one
inch to one inch and a half; depth about half an inch.

This species when the interior cannot be seen might be mis-
taken upon a superficial examination for a small curved CyatJio-
phyllum or Zapkrentis, It is about the size and shape of the
curved specimens of Petraia comicula.

Locality and Formation, — Rather common in the Comiferous
or Onondaga limestone on Rama's farm, Port Colborne.

Collector — ^E. Billings.

Oenus Cyrtodonta (Billings).

Generic Characters, — ^Equivalve, inequilateral; nmbones near
the anterior end ; general form obliquely tumid, transversely sub-
rhomboidal or ovate, posterior extremity larger than the anterior
and usually broadly rounded ; two muscular impressions, of which
the posterior is superficial and the anterior sometimes deeply ex-
cavated ; three oblique often more or less curved, anterior teeth,
situated either beneath or a little in front of the nmbones ; two
or three remote posterior lateral teeth parallel with the hinge line ;
pallial line simple ; ligament external ; some of the species have
a narrow area between or behind the beaks.

Silurian and Devonian Fotdlt of Canada,
CrETODOMTi. BUGOSA (BiltingB).

Deteription. — Small, aub-rhoroboidal or sub-qaadrate, tha dor-
sat and ventral raargina being soDtewhat parallel, and the anterior
and posterior extremities obtDsel; roanded, the latter broader than
the Tormer ; obliquely tumid from Oie beaks to the posterior ven-
tral angle ; tbe beaks rather small and incurved ; h broad, shnllon,
searcely perceptible depression eKteodinsr from the ventral margin
obliquely forward and upward towards the umbones ; surface con-
ceDtrically striated, and also marked with several more or less pro-
miaent aub-imbri eating concentric ridges of growth ; hinge line
nearly straight, a little curved ; interior shelving in the right valve
three anterior teeth, the central one of whi::h is the largest-
two posterior lateral teelh, In the left valve there appear to be
four anterior teeth ; hut as the specimens are somewhat imper-
fect, this may not he the correct number. Width nine lines ;
length from the centre of the hinge line to the centre of the ven-
tral margin, seven lines ; depth of a single valve, three linea.

None of the fpecimens that I have seen are larger than the one,
represented in figures 1 and 2.

Locality and Formation. — Fourth Chute of the Bonne chSre
Pauquettc's Rapids, and La Petite Chaudiore Rapids near tlie city
of Ottawa north side, aasocinted with numerous fossils of the Tren-
ton and Black River formatioos.

Colleetor»~%\T W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, E Billings.
CrRTODONTA HnRONEsaiB (Billings).

Fig. 3. Fig. 4.

Figure 3, View of left, valve from Lake Hnroo,
" 4. Interior of uMther specimen, same loootl^.

Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada,

43a

Descriptum, — ^Transversely oval ; anterior and posterior extremi-
ties rounded ; ventral margin moderately convex, dorsal margin a
little more convex than the ventral ; umbones rather small, incurv-
ed ; greatest tumidity extending from the umbones obliquely to-
wards the posterior ventral angle ; surface concentrically marked
with fine striae and ridgt-s of growth. Width one inch five lines ;
length at the centre, one inch.

Locality and Formation, — ^The specimens are from an island in
the group lying off Point Pal ladeau, Lake Huron, where they were
found associated with Chazy, Black River and Trenton fossils ; al-
so at Point Claire, Island of MontreaL

Collector — A. Murray.

Cyrtodonta subcabinata (Billings)

Fig. 6.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Figure 6. A specimen from Point Olaire.
' " 6. Dorsal view of same specimen.

" 7. A cast from lot 26, con. 5, Osnabmck.

Descrijdion, — Transversely sub-oval; ventral margin sf'arcely
convex, straight or slightly sinuated for a small space of the cen-
tre; dorsal margin elevated in the centre and sloping with a slight
curve towards the posterior end, which is narrowly rounded, or
truncate in the casts of the interior ; umbones moderately small,
incurved, and somewhat carinate for a greater or less distance ;
surface marked with obscure concentric ridges of growth. The in-
terior has not been seen. Width one inch three lines ; length nine
lines.

This species may perhaps be considered a variety of the last ;
but the proportions are somewhat different, and it is always char-

434 Siluriaa and Devonian FotiiU of Caimda.

ftctetised by the strong, rounded carinfi, which eitands from the
umboneB to the posterior ventral aogle.

Locality and Formation. — Occurs st Pointe Claire and in nu-
merous localitita in the valley of the 0(tawa in the top oftheChazy,
throughout the Birdseye and Black River limeatones, and in the
biif e of the Trenton.

Collectors — Sir W. E. Logan, A, Murray, J. lUoliardson, E. Bil-
lingfc

Ctrtodonta Can^dehbib (Billings),

Fig 10.

Figure 8. A amall specimen tlrotn the north side of St. Joseph's Island,

Lake Huron.

" 9. An elongated variety from the lower beds opposite the foot of

tlmbet-slide, 4th Chute of the Bonne chere.

Fig. 10. A large specimen ttota Pauquetle's Rapids.

Daeription. — TraDEversely broad-oval ; anterior, poaterior, and
ventral margins, and also the posterior half of the donal margio

Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada, 435

regularly rounded ; a portion of the ventral margin about the cen-
tre of the width is sometimes nearly straight; dorsal margin ele-
vated, somewhat compressed ; diagonally and rounded ventricose
from the umbones towards the posterior ventral angle ; beaks short,
obtusely rounded, incurved ; surface nearly smooth or obscurely
marked with concentric ridges ; a few strong imbricating lamellae
of growth near the margin of some specimens. Width from fifteen
lines to two inches and one-fourth ; length from eleven lines to
twenty -one lines.

^ome of the specimens are a little more transverse than others ;
but there are intermediate forms connecting the specimen, repre-
sented by Figure 0, with Figures 8 and 10.

Fig. 11.
^ Fig. 11. A fragment, shewing the anterior teeth.

The anterior teeth are short, the central one being the longest
and the most curved ; the posterior teeth of the specimen repre-
sented by Fig. 10 are two in number, elongated and prominent.

Locality and Formation, — Island of St Joseph's Lake Huron ;
La Petite Chaudiere Rapids near the City of Ottawa; Fourth
Chute of the Bonne-chere and Pauquette's Rapids ; associated
with fossils of the Trenton and Black River formations.

Collectors — Sir W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, A. Murray, E. Bil-

•to'

CVBTODONTA SPINIFERA (Blllings).

Fig. 12.

Description, — Small, sub-circular ; greatest length and breadth
about equal ; moderately convex ; hinge line much elevated ; um-
bones sfhall, incurved ; dorsal margin nearly straight from the um-

438 Silurian and Devonian FoasiU of Canada.

bon&s about half way to the posterior eitremity of the hinge line ;
anterior, venlral, posterior and posterior half of doreal maT^ns
broadly and regularly rounded ; Burface smuoth, with a few short
Btoiit spines.

Tiie ppcciinen figureil shews the anterior teeth : they are three
in number, and do not differ from those of C. rvpota, Length
eight lines ; breadth the sume.

Loealiiy and /ormation. — Pauquetles Rapids, and Fourth Chute
of Bonne-i;here,'8s*)(:iated with foasila of the Trenton and Black
River Formations.

Collectors — Sir W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, E Billiogs,

CTRTOnONTA 0BT08A (Hall sp.)

fJnthottychia obttua, Hall, PalKontologj of New York. Vol. I, p. IBl.
Plate 36 ; Figures Ba, 86.)

Fig. 13. Fig- !*■

Figure 13. Left Tahe from Pauqnette'S Raplda.
« 1* Interior of same sbewiag (he teetb. ^

/>C3m>iion.— Tlie following is Professor Hall's description :
"Obliquely ovate, short, gibbous ; umbones short, obtuse, scsrcc-
ly incurved or bending forwards ; shell somewhat compressed to-
wards the lower margin, convex on the centre and becoming in-
flated above ; anterior side obtuse, rounded, scarcely extendi ng be-
yond the urabonea ; posterior side compressed, scarcely alated ;
cardinal line straight, margin of shell curving from its posterior
extremity; surface 1"

"The specimens seen are casts, where the markings of the shell
are not preserved. This species is distinguished from the others
bv its short, ovate form, as weH as the shorter, very obtuse and
^bbous umbones. It deparU somewhat from the typical forms of
the genus (Ambonychia) ; but it has nevertheless the essential
features, and cannot be referred to any other genus." (Fal. N. Y,
vol. 1, page 181-)

Silurian and Devonian FassiU of Canada, 437

Locality and Formation, — City of Ottawa, Belleville, and at
Trenton on the bay of Quinte, in the Trenton limestone ; at the
Fourth Chute of the Bonne-chere, and also at Pauquette's Rapids
▼ery perfect specimens are common, associated with fossils of the
Trenton and Black River formations.

Collector8,Sit W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, and E. Billings.

CYRTODOlffTA 8UB-TRUNeATA (Hall Sp.)

Edmandia ntb-trtmcata, Hall, Palaeontology of New York, Vol. i., page
156, Plate 35, Figure 3 c, (not Fig. 9, Plate 34.)

This species is common in the Trenton and Black River lime-
stones of Canada at all the localities above mentioned. The silici-
fied specimens shew the internal characters of Cyrtodonta very
clearly

Cyrtodonta sdb-angulata (Hall sp.)

Edmondia tub-angnkttaj Hall, Paleontology of New York, Vol. i., page

156, Plate 35, Figures 2 a, b.

A specimen of this species from Pauquette's Rapids exhibits in
the right valve two posterior lateral teeth and an area between
the beaks. That portion of the hinge line occupied by the anterior
binge teeth is destroyed, so that their character cannot be observed.
There is an ante:ior muscular impression as in the other species.

It occurs at Pauquette's Rapids and at La Petite Chaudiere.

CrRTODOKTA C0RDIF0RMI8 (Billiugs),

Description, — Sub-rhomboidal ; cordiform; extremely ventri-
cose ; umbones strongly incurved ; obtusely carinate on their up-
per side; the carination extending backwards and diagonally
downwards, becoming more rounded and nearly obsolete before
reaching the posterior ventral angle ; the hinge-line is straight, short,
and about at right angles to the direction of the carina ; from the
extremity of the hinge-line the posterior side slopes abruptly, but
with a moderate curve, to the posterior ventral angle ; ventral mar-
gin a little convex, and about as long as the posterior side ; ante-
rior margin half the length of the ventral, not much curved ; an-
terior muscular scar oval and distinctly marked ; surface concen-
trically striated. Length of largest specimen examined from the
beaks to the posterior ventral angle, thirteen lines ; length of hinge-

438 Silurian and Devonian Fotails of Canada.

line, seven lines; length of posterior and Tenlral udea, about ten
linea each. The dii^onal carina is not alraiglit, but has a strong
upward curve.

Loeatily and ForTnation. — East point of St. Joseph's Island,
Lake Huron ; Trenton limestone.

Collector. — A. Murray.

Ctbtodokti siGUOtDSA (Billings).

Deacription. — Sub-rhomboidal, veatricose, a strong obtasely an-
gular carina extending from the closely appressed beaks with a
sigmoid curve to the posterior ventral margin ; anterior end round-
ed, projecting a little in front of the beaks ; ventral margin longer
than the dorsal and moderately convex ; posterior extremity ob-
liquely truncate. Width one inch and a half; length from the
umbonesto the ventral margin tbirtesD lines.

Locality and Formation, — Hudson Riv^ group ; Anticosli.

Collector. — J. Richardson.

Sub-yeniu tandzbhia (Billings).

Oemrie charaet^s. — Ovate; beaks terminal or sub-term i n al ;
posterior extremity rounded ; anterior more or less acuminated ;
two muscular impressions; anterior teeth variable in number,
sometimes curved and striated ; posterior lateral teeth irom two
to four.

Vanoxkuia isconstuis (Billings)

Ftgnre IS. Right vslre ; v, ventral margin ; a, the boibU Bnl«rior ear.

" 16. A fragment shewing the teeth obscurelj ) m, the muscular

impression.

Dcwriplion. — Ovate ; moderately convex ; beaks terminal gra-
daally expanding from the beaks tothe posterior extremity, which

Silurian and Devonian FomU vf Canada, 439

is brosdly roanded ; donal margin siightly und unifomily coDvex
from the beske to the posterior angle ; anterior extremity repre-
sented by a very small projection beneath the beaka ; »en(ral aide
regularly rounded, except a short pace near the beaka, which is
Bometimes concave and partly occopied by the small projection of
the anterior extremity. Three strong curving anterior teeth ; two
posterior Interal teeth ; shell very thick towards the anterior end ;
a smtm area between the beaks ; the anterior muscnlar impressioD
is apparently excavated in the edge of the very thick shell. Sur-
face with a few more or less strongly marked concentric furrows
of growth. The beaks are short, rounded, and closely incurred.

The proportional length and breadth varies. The specimens are
usually an inch si)d a half in leugtb from the beaks to the poste-
rior extremity, the greatest width from the dorsal to the ventral
side being an incb and three or four lines. There is a small va-
riety, scarcely an inch in lengtii, and more obtuse at the anterior
end, than the specimen figured ; it is also more ventriuose.

Locality and Formation, — Fourth Chute of the Bonne-chore, La
Petite Chaudiere Rapids near the city of Ottawa, and numerous
localities in the valley of the Ottawa, associated with fossils of the
Black River and Trenton formations.

Colleclon. — Sir W. E. Logan, E. Billings, J. Richardson.

Vakcxeuia Bat^ibU)!! (Billings).

Fig. IT.
Figure 17. Intetior of the left valve of V. Ba^tldU.

Detcription. — Very ventricose ; ovate; the anterior extremityr
tnclnding the beaks, narrowly rouuded ; the posterior end broadly
rounded; shell very thick; seven anterior teeth; four posterior
teeth ; anterior muscular impression large, deep, and excavated in
the very muck thickened edge of the shell ; posterior muscular

440

Silurian and Devonian FomU of Canada,

impression sub-circular, superficial and situated just beneath the
posterior extremity of the hinge line.

The specimen is deeply imbedded in a coral (Monticulipora
petropolitana), and only exhibits the edges and inside of the shell.
From the great thickness of the shell, casts of the interior must
bear very little resemblance to a perfect specimen. The form is
very like that of Vanuxemia inconsianSj but the characters of the
inferior Ieave<no doubt ns to its distinctness.

Locality and Formation, — Bayfield Sound, Lake Huron a sin-
gle loose specimen ; Lower Silurian ; appears to be of the Hudson
River Group.

Collector. — A. Murray.

Genua Matheria (Billings).

Generic Characters. — Transverse; equi valve; inequilateral;
beaks near the anterior end ; dorsal and ventral margins sub-
parallel; two small obtuse cardinal teeth in the left valve, and
one in the right ; no lateral teeth ; two muscular impressions ;
ligament external.

This genus is dedicated to Mather, one of the Geologists of
the New York Survey.

Mathxria tkner.

V>w-

Fig. 18.

Figure 18. A, dorsal view of Matheria tener ; B, interior of right ralve ;
C, exterior of left valve ; D, interior of left valve.

Description, — Small, oblong, depressed; dorsal and ventral
margins nearly straight and parallel ; upper half of posterior
extremity obliquely truncate ; lower half rounded ; anterior
extremity sub-truncate from the beaks nearly to the anterior ven-
tral angle, which is rounded, and projects slightly beyond the
umbones. From the beaks to the anterior ventral angle extends

Silurian and J}tvoHian Foitilt of Canada, 441

a promiuent obtusely angular canina ; sarface marked with fine
comentric strie. Width eight lines; length four lines.

Locnlity and Formation, — Bine Point, Lake St Johns ; Trenton
limestone.

ColltctoTi—3. Richardson, R. Bell.

Genug Obolus (Kchvald),
Obolus Canidehbis (Billings).

Fig. 31. Ti%. la. Fig. 23.

Figare 19. Dorsal Tatve.

SO. Interior of dorsal TaWe.

21. Doraal Tiew of an elongated specimen which has both

YalTBH iu place but a little distorted.
23, Side view or the same specimen.
23. Ventral view.

Deieription. — The form of this magnificent species is somewhat
variable, the width being often greater than the length, and some-

442 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada.

times leas. Usually, it is Iran&versely broad-oval ; the apex of the
dorsal valve obtusely an^lar, and that of the ventral rather acute.
The dorsal valve is moderately and pretty uniformly convex ; the
ventral valve depressed-convex. The beat of the ventral valve
projects about two lines above that of the dorsal valve, and ex-
hibits a wide, scarcely concave area, with a triangular excavation
representing the obsolete foramen ; the surface is smooth, or with,
a few concentric imbricating furrows of growth. In the inside of
the dorsal valve there are near, but above the centre, two pyri-
form muscular impressions, with their pointed extremities close
together and directed downwards, while in the upward direction
they diverge outwards ; they are separated by an obscure round-
ed ridge, and surrounded on the lower side by an elevated angular
border, which forms a projecting point just below their lower ex-
tremities. Beneath and close to the hinge there is a narrow and
deep flexuous furrow. The muscular impression at the cardinal
angles figured by Davidson in 0. Apollinis (Eichwald), 0. trans-
versa (Salter), and 0. Davidsoni (Salter), are very indistinct in
this species ; the area of the ventral valve does not appear to be
striated. The interior of the ventral valve is not clearly shewn in
any of our specimens. Width usually about two inches, but some
of the fragments undoubtedly belonged to individuals which were
three inches wide. The length from the beaks to the base, is ei-
ther equal to or a little greater or less than the width, the dimen-
tions being variable.

Locality and Formation. — Occurs abundantly at the Fourth
Chute of the Bonne-chere, Pauquette's Rapids, and in the Town-
ships of Stafford and Westmeath, County of Renfrew, associated
with fossils of the Trenton and Black River limestones.

Collectors. — Sir W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, and E. Billings.

Oenus EicHWALDiA (Billings.)

Generic Characters. — Large valve perforated on the umbo for
the passage of the peduncle ; the place of the foramen beneath
the beak occupiM by an imperforate concave plate ; the interior
divided by an obscure medio-longitudinal ridge; interior of
smaller valves divided throughout from the back to the front by a
very prominent medio-longitudinal ridge; no hinge, teeth,
sockets, or other articulating apparatus in either valve.

After a great deal of examination and comparison I have not

Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada, 443

been able to refer the species for which the above generic name
is proposed to any of the described genera. Although several
silicified specimens exhibiting the interior have been obtained,
they do not show any muscular impressions. The perforation on
the back of the beak was at first supposed to be a fracture, but
we have now specimens which exhibit its characters so complete,
ly that I do not think it po>sible there can be any mistake. The
internal structure of the larger valve somewhat resembles that of
Pentamerus or Camarophoria, the concave plate beneath the
beak appearing to be the homologue of the floor of the triangular
chamber found in these genera. I cannot make out however,
that it is in any way connected with the medio-longitudinal ridge
as is the case in both Pentamerus and Camarophoria, In remov-
ing the limestone from silicified specimens the delicate processes
in the interior of species of brachiopoda are very often destroyed,
and it is possible that the connection in question njay exist in per-
fect specimens, but not appear after treatment with acids. It is
therefore uncertain whether or not it is attached to the plate be-
neath the beak. If it should be hereafter ascertained that it is so
connected, the foramen on the umbo would still be sufficient to
show that this is a new genus, to the establishment of which the
characters of the smaller »alve and theabsenceof any articulating
and apophysary apparatus would be additional characters. As
other specimens can be procured and as the internal characters
cannot be well shewn by wood-engraving, I shall for the present
give figures of the exterior only,

ElCHWALDIA 8XU3TBIG0NALI8 (BilliugS.)
A B

Fig. 24.

Figure 24. A, dorsal view; B, ventral; C, side; D, front; E, apex,

8bewin«r tlie fbnunen.

444 Silurian and Devonian Fossils of Canada,

Description. — Sub-triangular ; both valves moderatel v convex
and smooth, apical angle about ninety degrees or a little less;
sides from the beak to about one ba^f the length straight, theA
rounded ; front more or less broadly rounded ; beak of larger
valve extended, incurved at the point and with a moderately
large concave area beneath ; beak of smaller valve strongly
incurved apparently entering the v^'sceral cavity beneath the area
of the larger valve ; length and width about equal.

Locality and Formation. — Fourth Chute of the Bonne-chere
and Pauquette^s Rapids, associated with numerous fossils of the
Black River and Trenton Formations.

Collectors — Sir W. E. Logan, J. Richardson, E. Billings.

ARTICLE XKXY.—Some Observations on Donates Comet of
1858. By Charles Smallwood, M.D., LL.D., Professor
of Meteorology in the University of McGill College, Mon-
treal. (Presented to the Natural History Society.)

The measured limits that were set to the orbit of our earth
by the Creator's fiat, and which tend to develop with remark-
able regularity the buddii g flowers of spring, to ripen the
fi^olden fruits of autumn, and bring the retuniing seasons of '^ sum-
mer and winter," are instances of those permanent and perpe'.ual
laws which mark the wisdom, the power, and the beneficence of
the Almighty Architect. To contemplate the starry host night
after night, seems to have been the primitive and favourite occu-
pation of the Chaldean shepherds while in the pursuit of their
pastoral duties ; and to admire and to study its grandeur is still
the sublime occupation of many, who, when the dim veil of night
invites the busy thoughtless world to slumber and spreads dark-
ness over the resorts of pleasure, delight to search in the all but
fathomless depths of space for some bright fpeck or point of light,
removed from the observer to such a distance that the human
mind cannot embrace even the thought of its immensity, and
whose light has taken even thousands of years to reach us.
This distant spot of light is to us fixed in its position ever since
the human eye aided by the telescope has gazed upon if, and the
micrometer has marked its position with the greatest accuracy.
Hundreds too of those minute and distant objects have been
yearly " catalogued." The earth has undergone its changes, but
the glorious canopy of the heavens has thus remained unchanged*

Observations on Donates Comet of 1858. 445

Another class of heavenly boilies move — revolve in orbits like
that of our earth — round the common centre of our system, the
sun. The limits and courses of these wandering bodies, the night-
watchings of the astronomer have pencilled and measiired as with
a span ; he has also weighed them as in a balance. A very few
years ago the number of these bodies — the planets — did not ex-
ceed five, but recently the catalogue has increased to sixty-one; and
but a few years have passed away since Leverrier, as with a colos-
sal stride, placed one foot as it were on the centre of the sun f^nd
the other on the surface of the remotest star of our system, and
pointed out the spot where a new planet — Neptune — was to be
found : such has been the modern pn^gress of science.

At certain periods of the world's history another class of erratic
bodies, called comets, have appeared in the celestial vault, whose
perihelion passage was in comparatively close proximity to the
orbit of our earth, while its aphelion circuit far exceeded the im-
mense distance of those remote stars already mentioned. Bodies
of this nature in all ages of the world have attracted the attention
of astronomers, and filled the wondering inhabitants with awe and
amazement, appearing for a few nights, and even at noon-day, with
excessive splendour, and th- n apparently vanishing into the depths
of space for ever. The written history of the appearance of comets
has always been associated with some disaster, hence the popular
fear at their appearance. (I need only call to recollection the
panic which spread over the United States and the Continent of
Europe last year.)

The description of the appearances of these bodies has often been
distorted by the fears of the histoiian and the excited imagination
of the ignorant. So far back as 596 years before Christ, the
mother of the Chinese £m[)eror Yu, considered the comet of that
year as i^uspicious for the future Empire and the yet unborn Em-
peror ; but modern astronomy has robbed these bodies of their
terrors, and they are now considered as forming a part of our
solar system, and appearing at certain intervals of time. To
trace the orbits of these bodies and predict their return involve
calcidations of no small labomr. Their light density subjects them
during their circuit to perturbations from all other bodi&s which
can act upon them, and so deflects or retards their course : hence
the difficulty in predicting their return. But here again science
has once more triumphed, and a Halley, a Biela, and an Encke
have traced their orbits, measured their distances, predicted their

446 Observations on DonatPs Comet of 1858.

returns with the greatest accuracy, and even calculated their
elements.

In July, 1264, a comet, whose tail was 100 degrees in
length and of great brightness, made its appearance in the con-
stellation Cancer, passing through Auriga and Taurus ; its orbit
was b«low the plane of the Ecliptic, and its aphelion extended
twice the distance of Neptune. It disappeared on the night of
the 2nd of October, the night that Pope Urban IV. died.

Hevelius, Fabricins, Lahmde, Pingr^, and others have collected
numerous records of a remarkable comet which appeared in March
1566, which is described as blazing with uncommon splendour
like a £^lobe of flame about half the size of the moon, and display-
ing a vast train of light. It first was seen near Spica VirginU, and
soon advanced with great rapidity and with a retrogade motion
(a movement contrary to the motion of the planets), towards the
north, as far as Ursa Mnjor. It then advanced towards the
south, when it wrs gradually lost to view. It was seen for nearly
two months. Its position seems to have been marked with such
accuracy as the instruments used in those days permitted, and
it is said to have moved so rapidly as to have passed over
75 degrees from east to west, and 30 degrees from south to
north, in four days. It is considered to have been one of the
greatest comets ever seen.

A body of such a nature and with such appearances, was, as
a matter of course, associated with some great disaster; and
history has associated it with the death of two great German
princes, diseases in cattle, famine, pestilence, and war. The
emperor Charles V. taking fright, abdicated his throne, imagined
that its appearance predicted his death, and actually made prepa-
rations for his final departure from this world ; but Kepler says
he survived some years after. Its distance from the sun,, at its
aphelion, was 8,500,000,000 miles, while its perihelion passage
was within the orbit of Venus. This famous comet has received
the name of Charles V.'s. comet, from the fact of his abdication at
its advent.

Our object, in referring to the history and appearance of only
two of these bodies, among some hundreds that have been record-
ed, is for the purpose of directing attention to their probable re-
appearance, and to contrast their movements with those of Donati's
comet of 1858, as the impression has extended that Donati's comet
was in reality the expected comet of 1566. As far back as 1751,

Observations an JDonatPs Comet of 1858. 447

Mr. Duntborpe of Cambridge, England, in comparing the elements
of the comets of 1264 and 1556, found them so similar, that the
two were considered by him as identical, and that it was a comet
wl^ose period was about 292 years, making its re-appearance in
1848.

Mr. Barber of Etwell, in following up these calculations, found
that Dunthorpe had not taken into account the perturbations
occasioned by Jupiter and Saturn, and he found that between the
years 1566 and 1592 their united attraction would diminish the
period of its appearance 263 days, but that between 1592 and
1806 it would be increased, by the action of Jupiter alone, no less
than 751 days, or more than two years.

. Babinet of Paris has also published his results, and found that
the orbits of the comets of the years 304, 685, 975, 1264 and
1556, have some appearances in common, and have always been
marked with an extraordinary display.

Bomme of Middleburg has re-calculated their orbits, and says
that thjs re-appearance of the last may be expected in August
1858, with an uncertainty of two years.

Hind of Bishop's Observatory, Regent's Park, has paid especial
attention to the orbits of the comets of 1264 and 1556, and, after
many intricate and careful calculations, taking into account the
perturbations caused by Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, has also
come to the conclusion that the comet of 1856 would probably
appear in August 1858, with an error of two years.

The opinion of this eminent practical astronomer has often been
the subject of severe criticisms, owing to the misrepresentation of
what has been called his " predictions," which have in reality been
nothing more than opinions, and probabilities reduced from
deductions and calculations worked out by himself, upon the orbits
of these comets, which are bodies of a very uncertain nature.

Hock of Leyden has recently raised some objection to the views
of Hind on the ideniity of the comets of 1264 and of 1556 ; but
Hind, in a letter written to me under the date of the 12th May,
1857, says : ^ I still maintain the opinion that I have so long held
respecting the identity of the comets of 1264 and 1556."

The re-appearance of this remarkable comet will throw much
light upon the perturbatory influences of those heavenly bodies,
which may be in proximity to its orbit^ and it can now be scarcely
doubted that Donad's comet of 1858 was not the expected comet
of 1556.

448 Observations on Donates Comet of 1858.

The comet which lias so recently visited us, and which has
now passed from view, was discovered bj Donati at Florence, on
the 2nd of June 1858, in Right Ascension 9h. 25m. 12s., North
Polar distance 67 ® 13'. Its appearance was a round, bright,
nebulous patch of light, with a condensed centre, and without any
tail. It was seen at Berlin, by Bruhns, on the 'STth of August ;
and on the 23rd of the same month it was visible at Carabiidge,
England. It was seen in Canada as early as the 6th or 7th of
September. On the 12th at 8 p. m., M. T., its appearance was
bright and nebulous, the tail was slightly curved upwards, and it
was near the star Xi of the constellation Ursa Major^ being
nearly in a line with the pointers Merah and Dubhe. Its position
(nearly*) was Right Ascension llh. 20m., and North Polar dis-
tance 54 ^ 23'. It was seen after sunset and before sunrise (which
led to the supposition of two distinct visible comets). Its appear-
ance gradually increased both in brightness and magnitade, until
the 10th of October. On the 28Lh of September, at 8 p. m.,
its place was R. A. I2h. 32m., N. P. D. 57 ® 10'. Its tail extended
over nearly thirteen degrees, and was calculated to be about eighteen
millions of miles iu length. It was then in the constellation Canes
Venatici, On the 2d of October its R. A. was 1 3h. 30m., N. P. D.
66 ^ . Its tail was nearly twenty-seven degrees in length, curved
and reaching to JSta Ursa Major (Bf*netnach). It passed over a
cluster of small stars in Coma Berenices, which were visible
through it Its calculated distance from us was 50,000,000 of
miles, and its motion was at the rate of 20,000 miles per minute.
On the 4th of October it was near the bright star Arcturus,
and nearly rivaled it in brightness. On the lOth-llth of October
it passed from North to South Declination. On the 10th, at
6:30 M. T., its R. A. was 15h. 66m., and N. P. D. nearly 90 ^ .
It was now at its maximum of brightness, and was a most
brilliant and magnificent spectacle. Its tail was nearly 50 ® in
length, cuived like a Turkish 8abrc},and passing upwards tlirough
the constellation Opkiuchus^ the star Phi of that constellation
apparently bounding its concave edge. Its convex border was
much brighter and better defined than its concave ; it extended
upwards nearly as far as Zeta Herculis, It crossed the Earth's
path on the 18th, and was nearest the planet Venus on the
morning of the 18th,

* The measurements are taken only approximately from stars in its
neighborhood.

Observations on Donati^s Comet of 1858. 449

On tke evening of the 18th it was dim and near the horizon^
and required the aid of powerful telescopes to distinguish it,
although it was seen as late as the 22nd in some of the United
States Observatories south of us. On the 2l8t its N. P. D. was
ll-S ® 15^, having passed over upwards of 100 ^ in its path. At
€ach observation a dark shade of light could be seen passing
from the body of the central sebulous mass, triangular in shape,
as though the body of the comet projected a shadow on the
surrounding coma. The direction of this shadow was upwards.

From some recent calculations of Bruhns of Berlin, he is of
opinion that the period of its revolution jound the sun exceeds
2,000 years. Loewy has fixed its period of revolution at 2,494
years.

The Chinese records make mention of a comet which ap-
peared 331 y-eara before the Christian era, associated, as customary,
with the popular belief of wars and disasters, and corresponding
in date with the battleof Arbela. These records also make mention
of the appearance of remarkable comets both at an earlier and a
later date.

Donati's comet seems to have surpassed the comet of 1811 both
in size and brightness ; the extreme length of its tail, according
to Sir Wm. Herscheil, was only 25 degrees, while that of Donati's
on the 10th of October was nearly 50 degrees in length. The
night of the 10th was peculiarly fitted for observation, and nothing
oould have exceeded the magnificent blaze of light that proceeded
from both the nucleus and tail.

Its appearance, course, motion, and disappearance would tend
to the opinion that it is a distinct body from the comets of 1264
and 1556 ; so that the appearance of the body that excited so much
wonder at those periods of time, and which has occupied the
attention of mathematicians and astronomers up to the present
date, may yet be looked for.

The superior advantages of observation that we now possess have
not been lost upon Donati's comet, and its place has been so
accurately laid down, that its reappearance cannot be mistaken ;
and the calculation of its orbit may in a measure tend to throw
some light on the perturbations that may influence all such-like
bodies.

Several other comets were also visible during the year, but
excited little attention owing to their small size.

8t. Martin, Isle Jesos, Ist Dec, 1858.

D

450 Fresh- Water Algm of Canada^

ARTICLE XXXVI.— The Fresh Wa ter Alga of Cdnada. A Paper

preseDteii to the Natural History Society of Montreal, by the

Rev. A. F. Ebmf.

(Sbooxd Past.)

In our previous paper it was ?aid that ** we have not yet found a
single example of the verticellate genus Batrackospermum. In
vain we have s'^arched fbr it in places whrere it unght naturally
be expected, yet not a frond have we seen. It may still be found ;
but, so far, the researches of two years in the Canadps have been
in vain.** So far as the Eastern Province is concerned, this state-
ment is still true : no specinieii has rewarded our search up to
tliis time. But we are happy to say that a correspondent and
diligent collector in Parisy Canada West, has been more fortunate.
A most beautiful example of this genus has been sent U9, both in
tlie moist and dry state. We have examined it wi\li the utmost
care, and, after the most careful comparison with the figures and
descriptions of Hassall, our impression was that it did not bear
any distinct resemblance to any of the species described or fig-
ured in that work. On referring, however, to Vaucher's "His-
toire des Conferves," we find bis spedes B, moniliforme de-
scribed in such terms as to lead us to think that our plant is
identical with it. The characters which he notes as belonging
to it are : " Filaments ramose, moniliform ; articulations, glohosCj
gelatinous^ Our specimen possesses all these characters, but also
has another and a peculiar one, which this description doe»
not embrace, namely, that of having branched moniliform fibril-
lar on the internodes of the main stem between the whorled arti-
culations. While this feature is not noticed by Yaucher in his
specific characters of the plant, he yet in his appended notes says,
that *' this plant does not always present the same appearance :
sometimes the ramifications are so very numerous, that the con-
ferva resembles only an irregular filament ; sometimes, on the
contrary, they are so very rare, that the verticelli bec<Wi)e quite
distinct : but the shades which separate the two extremes are so
very numerous, that they may be regarded as varieties of the
same species."

A correspondent in Boston^ U. S^ having compared our plant
with those in the collection of the late Mr. Bailey, says that it
appears to be identical with some of his specimens marked
B. moniliforme^ some of which, he remarks, differ considerably
from one another.

FrtihrWater Algm of Canada. 451

A further companaon with specimens from the collection of
the late Dr. Landsborough convinces us that this BatrachoFpenn
is none other than B, moniliforme. The species is very rare in
Scotland, and was found by Dr. Landsborough only in one or
two localities favorable for the warmth of their temperature, — in
one instance in a stream in which the water from a condensing
steam-engine flowed. As compared with ours, Dr. L.'s plants
have a very poor and sickly appearance, and the figure given by
Vaucher (natural size) is quite diminutive* It woald thus appear
that although we have not obtained a new species, we have yet
to say that our plant is greatly more prolific and more distinct in
its characters than any of the described European species. We
deem it of sufficient importance and beauty to present to our
botanical readers three illustrated figures of its principal parts,
together with a full description of its characteristic features.

Batracbosfermum moniliforme. Vauch. Figs. 1-3.

Char, — Frond dark green, very mucous, large. Main branches
dichotomous ; secondary branches irregular, partiallg secund,
divaricate, beset with short ramuli, irregularis pinnate, occasion-
ally compound. Whorls of the stems spherical^ distinct, distant,
large, those of the branches sub-distant, and those of the ra*
mult approximate. The internodes of the main stems and
the base of the larger branches beset with shorty minute^
branched, articulate fibrilla.

Hab, — On stones, in a clear, rapid stream. Paris, Canada
West.

This is really a most beautiful plant. A frond now before us
covers, in its dried state, a space of six inches by five, and is very
prolifically branched. Fig. 1 (p. 462) is a representation of one of the
main stems. The extremities of the branches arc rather more
delicate than in the original, but otherwise it is an accurate
likeness of the object The whorls are as distinctly marked in
the original as they are in this figure.

The second illustration (p. 453) represents the appearance of the
whorls with the fibrillse between the articulations, and a branchlet^
as seen under a half-inch object glass. In the original the whorls
are rather more distinct, and their filaments more crowded than
they appear here to be represented ; but, upon the whole, the
wood-cut comes very near the appearance of the object itselC

452

Fresh- Water Algoe of Canada,

The third figure (p. 454) represents a branched filament of the
whorls, and is one of the most characteristic specimens selected
from several equally proliferous and similarly branched. The di-

/

^

Fio. I. B, mMiiUform^, Branchy natural size.

chotomous branching of the main filaments with the secund
tendency of the extremities is very obvious. Some filaments are
even more secund and more proliferous towards the extremities
than this one ; no two are indeed alike. They present to the eve
under an object-glass of 400 diameters, objects of great variety of
form and exceeding beauty. In some cases the cells are much
more swollen, and have more of the club shape than those of the
figure (3) ; others again are less moniliform. The mucous character

Fruh-Water Algee of Canada. 463

of thia plant seems to arise, not from the extended cilire at the
extremities of the Glaments, as we find to be the ca9e in B. bom-
buiinum and others, but from the clear, and apparently lubricous

Fra. 2. B. nemitijiirme. WhorU andfibrilla, megnifiad,

sheath, in which the filaments are enclosed. This sheath we
have not represented in the figure (3): its appearance islso clear and
<:ielicate that we despaired of expressing it in a wood-cut. Under
the microscope it has the appearance of a line of light surround-
ing and uniting the cells, bo that they do not come into contact
with one another, as they appear in the figure, but are separated
by this mucons integument. These cells contain n h'ght-green
endochrome, in which there are distinct and dark colored granules.
The probability is tbat these granules are Eoospores, which, on
the maturity of the plant, break Ihrough the cells, and, be-
coming fixed, germinate like the mother plant The proper
fructifica^on is however by glomeVuIee, which grow in the
srhorla, and seemingly spring like buds from the articulations.
Tliey are in this specimen composed of three or fonr cells, much
enlarged and swollen at the extremities, and very club-shaped.
The two upper articulations emit nnmerous articulate branches,
which radiate in all directions, and vary in length. This is
a most distinct and curious object. It is surrounded with
a very tbin coat of mucous, and conlainc bright green granules.
We are unable to say how it germinates. Whether it is a bud!

454 Fmh-Water Algee cf Canada.

or a conccptsble for seed, we cannot discover ; but tbe latter ib
probably the case.

The fiUrillK of the internodes are branched id the eame manner
as the filaments of the whorls, only tlie oelh are less moniliform and

FiQ. 3. B. nonSifoTBu. FllamtiU of a Whorl, highly magnifitd.

more delicate. The branches are besides not quite so proHferouB
as in the other, and they spring from the cells nhich form the
outer membraneofthe stem (fig. 2). The slem is thickly beset with
tbem, and has much the appearance »f a Thorta. This is the
characteristic fijatnre of this plant It is evidently, too, much
more proliferous in the filamenta of its vrhoria (fig. S) than any we
have yel seen. This, however, may be only an effect of climate or
sittiation, and need not be considered aa a distinct or specific
character. The stems of this pl^nt are .cylinders, the whIIs of
which are composed of many small, articulated, tubular fiU-
mBDts, nnited together by a niucous intcguraenk They swell out
slightly at the artJculittioiis of the stem, from which the whorls
spring, as may be seen in Fig. 2, and have much the appearance
of a bamboo.
BomeepMiea of this genus are regarded as the most hardy of the

Freth- Water Algtx of Canada. 455

A!g«. They are frequeDtly found in cold spriags. And Bory men-
tions that he had carried, many times, individuals of the species B,
confusum from one locality to another, and that they continued to
prosper in spite of the change of hahitation. He also eteeped many
of them in lukewarm water, afterwards in boiling, and no part of the
katracKosperm appeared uader the microscope to have undergone
the slighteet disorganisation ; and certain sprigs replaced in their
native place continued to vegetate after these experiments. ^^ I
do not think,^' says he, "that there exist other vegetables which
boiling water does not immediately disorganise : there are not
others that can resist temperatures so opposite." We have made
a like experiment with our plant, and find that boiling water does
not affect it in the least; probably some part of its mucous may
be abstracted, but it remains in all its parts the same ae before.
It would appear, however, that the species B. monUiforme flour-
ishes best, if not exclusively in warm temperatures, or in places
where the winter is comparatively open and mild.

We have gone back in the order of arrangement to introduce
1)iis plant. It should have come in immediately before the Ckae-
4opkore4B^ According to the classification of Hassall, it is the only
genus of the family Batraekospermeo!^ We regret that we are
not permitted the pleasure of mentioning the name of the col lec-
tor. We, however, anticipate that much will yet be done by this
diligent and punstaking correspondent to illustrate the Marine and
Vresh-Water Algae of Canada.

Fam. VIIL— COISrJUGATEA

^ Char. — Filaments Hmple^ equal, often corrugating^ Endochrome
mostly figured. Sporangia formed generally by the union
of the contents of two cdls, either in different «r in the same
filaments,^ Haas.

" This is perhaps the most curious of all tho tribe of Confervee.
When viewed together they form an exceedingly nataral group
but one which is defined rather by the enumeration of a number
of characters than by one in particular.**

When examined by a microscope they are seea to be ua-
branched, and of uniform diameter. For the most part they are
unattached, their natural home being quiet, deep, and clear pools.
In the young state they are frequently rooted to stones. Those
also that are found in streanM are fixed to atones or wood. la

456

Fresh" Water Algcs of Canada,

their young condition they are smooth and unctuous to the touchy
and of a deep green color. •* They are composed of an assemblage
of elongated cells placed end to end, and all of them enclosed and

Fig. 4. Zygnena varianSf showing the spiral thready the conjug/aiion^ ani
the sporangia, Hass. Brit. F. W. ^Ig., pi. 29.

held in union by an investing membrane. The interior of these
cells are chiefly filled with endochrome, which is variously dis-
posed, sometimes in the form of spiral threads and stars, at others
completely filling their cavities " Mixed up with the endochrome
there are observed numerous vesicles, which are presumed to be
unfertilized zoospores. Sometimes adjacent cells conjugate, (fig.
6, a.) and their contents coalesce ; and sometimes the conjuga-
tion takes place with a cell of a contiguous filament, (figs. 4 and 6-,
ft, p. 469) a paspage of communication having been formed by the
protrusion of little tubular processes from each cell. This phe-
nomenon of conjugation is one of the chief characteristics of this
large family of plants, and it is certainly a very curious process*
The idea of most botanists is that it is necessary in order to
the fecundity of the plant — that fertilization does not take place
— sporangia are not formed — until this process has been com-
pleted. There is however no regularity in the passing of the con-
tents of the cells of one filament into that of the other, neither is
there anything analogous to the pistils and stamens of flowering
plants ; nor does it appear that the one plant is male and the
other female, or that there is any difference in the physical cha-
racter of the granules contained in either cell. The larger eel)

Fresh' Water Algce of Canada, 457

invariably attracts the contents of the smaller : sometimes this will
happen in the one and sometimes in the other filament (fig. 6, b.).
The same thing is observable in the conjugation of adjacent cells in
the same filament ; the cell wall of one is everted into the other
and a channel of communication is thus formed, through which the
smaller mass of endochrome passes into the larger. The united
contents of two cells form a large circular or oval cist, (fig. 6, a.) most
frequently of a deep green color, but occasionally becoming reddish
brown. The endochrome soon becomes a mass of granules ; and
by and by the cist, or sporangium as it is called, breaks away from
the filament and floats free in the water. The granules (zoospores)
finally burst the cells walls, and, after moving about freely in the
water, germinate into filaments.

A curious organ has been observed in this family of plants by
Hassall, J. Agardh, J. S. Bowerbank, Kutzing and others^
which they call a cytoblast. ** It is solitary, and usually occupies
a central situation in each cell of the genus Zygnema. It consists
generally of two membranes, but sometimes there are three ; the
innermost of these being either circular or elliptical, and present-
ing a nucleated appearance, (as may be seen in Fig. 6, p. 468) The
surface of the enclosed membpne is smooth, while that of the exter-
nal is rendered irregular by the giving off of numerous tubular
prolongations or radii which terminate in the spiral threads
formed by mucous, and containing endochrome and large bright
granules, which I regard as unfertilized Spores."

" The structure of this curious organ explains with apparent
satisfaction one of the ofiices which it is destined to discharge,
viz., that of a laboratory or stomachy in which the materials neces-
sary for the growth and vitality of the cell and its contents are
received and digested, and from which they are conveyed by
means of the tubular radii to those organs by which the materials
are to be assimilated."

" The cytoblast, therefore, is at first fixed in the centre of the cell
by the prolongations which proceed from it (see Fig. 6) ; but it
happens that at a certain epoch these radii disappear, and then
the cytoblast fioats freely within the cavity of the cell ; the dis-
appearance of the rays, the cessation of the growth of the cells,
and the assumption of the characters of reproduction, being almost
contemporaneous, the two latter being readily accounted for by
the disappearance of the radii."

'^ In addition to the organs above described two others have

468 I'rah-Water Algee of Gtiuuia.

been notir^d by Mr. Bonerbftnk ia a specks of Zygnema, vUich
I transmitted. to bim, and subsetjnently by myself in a variety of
otber apecies. The one is cruciform, and adherent to the inner
wall of tlie cell, (see Fig. 5). It, Mr. Bowerbank remarks, is tbe
vegetable structure which secretes the rapbidea. They are pro-
bably not definite organs, but crystals. The other body is small,
elongated, somewhat curved, and attached to or lying upon tbe
plant, (see Pig. S). This, Ur. B. ubserves, is certainly a siring of -
minute cytoblasts." — Hatt.

Fig, S. CiU of Z. nitidum, ikmemg tht ipiral threadi containing' tportt
ike cytobUut, and tht erud/orai rajAidti. Hua. F. W. Jlga, plate IT. ,

We have collected and examined with great £Hre multitudes
of these plants — they are to be found in great abundance in almost
every stagnant pool— and only in one instance (Z. curvalum) have
we, during a period of two yeare, observed conjugation in the
L Canadian specimena. We eagerly looked for it last spring, the
time of Ute year, at which, according to Haesall, it is most usu-
ally fonnd in England, and have, up to the beginning of winter,
almost every week examined specimens from various localities,
and in all conditions of growth, but in no instance have we
found conjugation, with the exception noted. We have also failed
to discover in any case the cytoblastic organ.

A specimen hss however been sent us of Z, eatenceforme from
Paris, C. W., about 860 miles 8. West from Montreal, which
curiously presents the three forms in which conjugation is som»
times found. In Ihe following figure (0) it will be seen that at
(a) tbe contignous cells are in conjugation, while at (i) it is the
contiguous filaments, and that the contents of the apposite cells
pass ftlleratcly into each otber.

From these considerations one would be led to infer that these
characters are either very evanescent in their nature and rapid in
tlieir fiinctions, or that they are mere accidental conditions of

Fresh' Water Algce of Canada, 459

the plant and not necessary to its fecundation. In a few in-
tftances we have seen the sporangia very distinct, but only
in a few. For the most part the spores, or zoospores, contained

IVgr. 6. Z. ccUenaforme, in conjugation,

in the spiral threads, becoming diffused through the cells
break the walls and escape into the water. This simple process
seems to be the one most commonly followed. If fertilization
only takes place through the asjency of sporangia and by the zoos-
pores which it contains, or only by the action of the cytoblast, the
plant, according to our observation for now two years, would soon
altogether disappear. Apparently, however, without the con-
jugation of adjacent cells, or of cells of adjacent filaments, and
without the oytoblastic organ, spores or zoospores are formed
and, escaping from the cells, immediately become fertile. From
the facts which have come under our observation we are tempted
to think that the union of cells is purely accidental, and results
from the process of endosmosis, or by simple attraction. We are
the rather confirmed in this conjecture by the fact that conjuga-
tion takes place chiefiy in spring, when life is most active and the
membranes of the cells most delicate. The intrusion of the new
matter into a cell may also under such conditions result in the for-
mation of new cell membranes ; and the occasional reddish color
of the sporangia may be merely the effect of age. Not having
seen the cytoblastic organ we can form no conjecture as to its
function, bnt the fact that it is of so rare occurrence naturally
leads to the inf^^rence that it is an accidental excess of mucous in
the cell and by no means necessary for the fertilization of the
spores. Hassall himself admits ^Hhat this combination (conjuga-
tion) is not an essential to the perpetuation of the species " ; but
he does this on the ground that the cytoblastic organ is that
which fertilizes the zoospores, and thinks that by this means
the permanence of species is explained where cells have broken
up *' before the union of endochrome, or the formation of spores,
has taken place." But, allowing this to be the case, how again
shall we account for the permanence, or the reproductive germs,
of those species in which there are neither cytoblastic organs.

'

I

L

460 FresJir Water Algce of Canada,

nor conjugation of cells? That such species are permanent,
and gerrainate from spores or zoospores produced in the cells,
we entertain no doubt, or at all events, from the evidence
before us, we regard it as highly probable. It is possible that
future and more careful research may yield a different result.
In the meantime, and with all humility, we propound these
views. They are contrary, we know, to the inductions of
naturalists of the highest distinction and most accurate obser-
vation; but we submit them to our botanical friends in the
hope that they may lead to enquiry and the elucidation of the
truth. Our intelligent correspondent in Paris informs us that the
research of the past year has failed to discover any but one single in-
stance of conjugation (fig. 6). There must therefore,we think, be either
a specific difference between our plants and the European, or the
characters referred to must not be essential to the reproduction
of the species. In the absence of conjugation we have found a
diflSculty in fixing npon characters that may be regarded as specifiCy
The length of the cells and the number of spiral threads fre-
quently vary in the same filaments. Still it does appear that
there is a normal size of the cells, and a normal number of spiral
threads and coils in the several species, which may, after a little
experience, be readily distinguished ; other forms are obviously
exceptional. The ceUs grow by sub-division, previous to which
they are somewhat elongated, and afterwards considerably short-
ened, until they attain maturity. The normal length will conse-
quently be that which lies between the two extremes. The same
process of growth will naturally somewhat affect the spiral threads
also, and produce anomalies in their form during their state of
transition. So far, therefore, we know of no characters by which
to determine our Canadian species except the size of the cells, the
number of their spiral threads, and other normal arrangements of
the endochrome.

Genus Ztokema. Ag»

*' Char. — ^Endochrome arranged in spiral order within each celL
Sporangia generally oval, and never lodged in the transverse
tubes of communication^ Ilass.

Derivation. — zugos^ a yoke ; nema^ a thread.

Hassall, Brit. F. W. Alg.; Vauch. Conf. d'Eau douce; Bory

in Diet. Class.

This genus is placed first in order in the family as being the
moat remarkable in its appearance and complicated in its structure.

Fresh- Water Algoe of Canaaa, 461

The endochrome is arranged in the form of spiral threads, as may
be seen in Figs. 4 and 5 ; the number of spires varying from one
to eight, and the number of threads from one to six. These spiral
cords are tubular, and contain at intervals, united together by a
delicate cord, brilliant granules, \vhich Miiller, in his surprise on
first discovering a species of the genus, likened to precious stones.
European naturalists have divided them into two sub-gen«:ra, in
one of which the filaments unite, as in Fig. 4, and in the other no
such conjugation takes place.

The structure of the joints of some species of the Zygnema has
been a subject of special observation by European naluralii^ts.
Mohl, quoted by Ha^sall, says that " In Z. elongatum (Ag.) the
dissepiments have a very peculiar structure which I have found
in no other species. The terminal surface of each cell is not even^
but elongated into a blunt conical process. This process can only
be observed in its true state when two joints are separated one
from the other ; when on the contrary the threads are unbroken,
the process is generally introverted, like the finger of a glove.
This is the common condition, and in most threads no joint is
found otherwise constructed." It is not quite accurate to say
that the eversion is only truly observed when two joints are sepa-
rated. Hassall remarks that it has nothing whatever to do with
the separation of the cells, but depends upon the unequal internal
pressure of the granular contents which occurs chiefly at the period
of reproduction.

Z. cuRVATUM. Hass.

" Char, — Filaments nearly equal in diameter to those of Z, ne-
glectttm. Conjugation angular. Cells three or four times as
long as broad^ coalescing without the intervention of transverse
tubes. Sfires about four in number, faintly indicated. Spo-
rangia ovaV^ Hass.

ffabit. — In pools at Moffatt's Island, St Lambert, Montreal.

This species is remarkable for the direct conjugation of the
cells without the intervention of tubes, and is the only species of
the genus that does so. By this junction the filaments become
geniculate, or bent at angles more or less obtuse, a very good
idea of which may be obtained by bending the middle joint of
a finger on each hand and bringing the knuckles together.

462 Fresh' Water AlptB of Canada.

Z. PBLUJOXDUM. Haas.

•* Char. — Filaments of rather less diameter than those of Z. cur-
vatum ; mucous almost transparent, Conjug&tion para lleL
Cells six or seven times as long as broad. Spires indistinct
{in our specimen very clearly developed) usually four in num-
ber. Sporangia circular, lodged in cells which are consider a^
bly enlarged for their accommodation?'* Hhss.

Hass., Brit. F. W. Alg, p. 143, pi. 25, figs. 1 and 2.

Hab, — ^In pools at the Old Race Course, Mile End.

This is a very curious and beautiful species, and one by no
means common either in Europe or Canada. The spires are very
distinct, and cross one another at acute angles. We have not
seen this plant in conjugation or sporangia, but we have no doubt
as to its other characters, and these are sufficiently striking to
render it easy of identification.

Z. DBOIMIUIC Ag.

" Char, — Filaments rather fine. Cells twice or thrice as long as
broad. Spires two, crossing each other. Granules large. Spo-
rangia ovalj obtuse^ not producing inflation of the cells in
which they are lodged.*^ Haas.

Hass., Brit. F. W. Alg., p. 144, pi. 23, figs. 3 and 4. Harv.
Manual, p. 143.

ffab, — Frequent in stagnant pools throughout Canada.

We can only determine our specimens by the length of the
cells, and the number and character of the spires. Concerning
the Sporangia we can say nothing from our own knowledge, but
we have no doubt whatever as to the identification of the species
It is a very beautiful plant under the microscope, and very dis-
tinct in its characters.

Z. jcsTivuM. Hass. ?

" Char, — Filaments very delicate. Spire single. Cells usually
about four times as long as broad, but sometimes much longer
and occasionally shorter. Sporangia oval, not producing any
inflation of the cells in which they arefound?^ Haas.

Hass., Brit. F. W. Alg., p. 146, pi. 28,^figs. 3 and 4.

Hab. — Common in pools.
We have marked this species doubtful, because two of the cha-

Freshr Water Al^m pf Canada. 468

racters are that the cells containing the sporangia are not inflated,
and the sporangia are oval ; neither of which appearances have
we been able to observe or verify.

Z. CATXNiETORMX. HaSB,

** Char, — Filaments a little finer than thoee of Z. mal forma turn
Cells usually rather more than twice as long as broad. Spo-
rangia largely inflating the cells in which they are contained^
acutely ovuir Hass.

Hass. Hist. F. W. Alg., p. 147, pi. 80, flgs. 3 and 4.
Hah, — Paris, C. W., in pools.

This is the second species which has been found conjugated in
Canada to our knowledge. It was collected during the last
autumn, and had the appearance of age. We have represented it
in fig. 6 (p. 450) as it appeared in conjugation under an object glass of
100 diameters. This species, Hassall informs us, cannot be dis-
tinguished from '^ Z, commune before conjugation. After this has
occurred, the difference in the length of the cells, and the form
of these is so obvious, as not to leave any doubt of its being dis-
tinct from that species." In Z, commune the sporangia do not,
it would appear, occasion any inflation of the cells in which they
are formed, whereas in this species the cells are considerably in*
flated, as may seem in the figure 6. It appears to us that this is a
yery doubtful difference. It is very questionable whether such a
difference will uniformly characterise all the individuals of either
species. We suspect that there is no real difference between the
two, and that they are in fact one and the same planL Berkeley
remarks that " Characters like those in HassalPs F. W. Algse, de-
pendent simply on comparative size, are altogether inadmissible."
Until, therefore, we can obtain some more thorough discrimina-
tion of the species belonging to this family; we must be satisfied
with such as we have.

Besides these species named we have collected probably Z, rivu^
lore J Z, commune J and Z, gmcile. We have frequently observed
sereral other — as we think — distinct species ; but, in the absence of
conjugation and sporangia, we have not been able to identify
them with any of those described by HassalL We hope in a fu-
ture paper to enter more at large into the discrimination of the
species to be found in the waters of Canada.

The speciea of this family are^ with acaroely an exception, in-

464 Freah-Water AlgcB of Canada,

habitants of fresh water, and are probably distributed very widely
over every region of the world. They have been found by Drs.
Hooker and Thompson on the Southern Himalayas, and in the
lower parts of India. The genus Zygiiema ascends as high as
15,000 feet on the Himalayas, Species identical with the Euro-
pean are found in almost every part of the United States and
Canada. South America is said to yield scarcely a trace of them,
but this may be accounted for from the fact that few botanical
explorers of these regions have thought the lowly Algae worth
observing. We doubt not that a diligent Algologist would reap
a rich harvest of curious species in the everglades of that region,
and in the waters and tributaries of its mighty rivers.

Passing over the other genera of the family CoNJCGATKiE, and
also the family Ctstospkrme.*, of which we have found no spe-
cimens as yet in Canada, we come to —

Fam. X.— MONOCYSTEiE.

This family consists of three genera of fresh-water Algie, viz.,
Cladophora^ ColeochoBte^ and Lynghya, In the species there
is no union of the cells or intermingling of their contents;
each cell contains all that is requisite for its reproduction
in the way of fertilizing vesicles and zoospores. When the
zoospores have been fertilized the* cells swell up, until, by the
increase of the size of the zoospores, the cell walk are ruptured,
and the zoospores escape through the aperture thus produced.
The plants of this family are for the most part attached to sub-
merged stones or wood, and grow by the lateral and longitudinal
development of their cells, aud the production of new branches at
the articulations.

SUD-FAM. I. — CLODOPHOREifi.

GenuB 1. — Cladophora. Kiitz.

" Char, — ^Filaments attached^ much branched^ not settgerous, and

not invested with secondary cells^ Hass.
Derivation, — From klados a branch, and pJioreo to bear.

This genus is very marked, and easily distinguished ; for the
most part its species are prolifically branched, and very simple in
the structure of their cells.

Cladophora olomerata. Dillw.

" CTiar, — ^Filaments tufted^ bushy; somewhat bright green, shining.
Branches crowded, irregular, erect; the ultimate ramuli
secund, sub»fasiculate. Articulations /our and eight times
longer than broad^ Hass.

Fresh- Water Algm of Canada. 465

Has8., Brit. F. W. Alg., p. 213, pis. 56 and 57, figs. 1 and' 2 ;
Hary. in Manual, p. 1 34.

Hah. — Common over the whole length of the fresh-water por-
tion of the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, and their trihutaries.

The characters by which to distinguish the species of this arti-
culate genus of Algse are very slight, and require great caution in
^he observer so as not to multiply species without cause. A great
difference in the diameter of threads belonging to the same frond
vill constantly be found, and the proportions of length and breadth
m the articulations are quite variable. Berkeley says, in his
"Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany," p. 166, that "specie?,
evidently of the most close affinity, cannot be separated from mere
consideration of relative proportion without any other characters.
Even the branching of the threads is not sufficient, or the mode
of branching. Cladophora glomerata assumes a multitude of
forms which it would be rash in the extreme to separate ; and it
may safely be affirmed that of published species of Cladophora
and Conferva, at least one-half will ultimately be reduced."
There is a normal character in the forms of the cells and in the
style of branching which the practised eye soon detects. But, so
variable are the appearances of Cladophora, and so modified are
its characters by habitat, that it is hard to divide them into species
at all. Hassall, not over scrupulous as to the multiplication of
species, himself admits only two into his distribution of the genus.
Under C7. glomerata he includes C. mgagropila (Linn.) and C.
Brownii (Harv.), and accounts for the appearance of the former
by the force of the mountain streams rolling detached portions of
(7. glomerata into compact balls ; and of the latter by the sub-
immer&ed habitat in which it grows. It is also with doubt that
he admits his second species, L, erispata, to a distinct place.
The three British species, C, nigricans, C, fracta, and Cfiaves*
eens, he refers to this one ; all being, as he thinks, different states
of the same plant. He concludes by saying that ^ The suspicion
also may, I think, be entertained that (7. crispata itself is but a
condition of C glomerata, changed by the difference in its place
of growth — it growing for the most part in still water, in deep
ponds, and lakes. I have often seen specimens which it would be
impossible to refer with certainty to either species."

The fructification of this plant is very simple. Every cell
seems to contain fertile zoospores. At maturity they either burst
through the cell walls, or a natural apperture is formed for their

466 Ckinadian Ginseng.

escape on one side of tbe distal extremity of the ceDs. We doabt,
however, whether this last apparent aperture is destined for thi»
purpose. It is only observable in those cells from the extremiue»
of which the second ramuli hare not been developed } and the
slight lateral protrusion which they exhibit is rather, we think, to
be regarded as the incipient state of future branchlets than chaii^
nels for the passage of zoospoKs^ That the zoospores escape by
bursting the walls of the cells is doubtless the normal form of thia
stage of the reproductive process. No plants are more proliferous
than tliese. Young branches continue to spring from old stem»
for years, so that in running water they sometimes stretch out t»
several feet in length. Very fine dark green fronds^ of from 6 U>
12 inches long, may be obtained in autumn from the rapid currenta
at the railway bridge St* Lambert, Montreal. Long and beauti-
fully, green fronds clothe the edges of the rock over which the
Niagara rolls. It infests the bottom of ships and boats, and
assumes there a delicate and pretty appearance. It grows readily
in the aquarium, and is both a beautiful specimen and a valuable
aerating plant.

REVIEWS.

Canadian Ginseng : Memoire presents k S. A. R. le Due d'Or-
l^ans, Regent de France, conc^rnant la precieuse plant du
Gin-sing de Tartaric ; par le Pere Jobefh-Frasgois Lafitau,
S.J.

The name of Qinseng^ or Jinchen, ia given by the Chinese to
the Aralia quinquefolia (Panax quinquefoliumj Linn.)^ to which
they ascribe marvellous tonic and restorative powers, commemo-
rated in its name of panax^ and also in the Chinese appellation
which is said to signify ^^ dose for immortality ^ ; although the
experience of Europeans has not justified tliis high reputation.
It has been used for ages by the Chinese, among whom it waa
often sold for thrice its weight in silver. Their supply of this root
was obtained exclusively from Tartary ; but the p^re Jartoux, a
Jesuit Missionary, haring described and figured the plant, the
pere Lafitau, at that time missionary at Sault St. Louis (Caugh-
nawaga) in I7l6, discovered the Ginseng on the banks of the
St. Lawrence. This discovery led to an important commerce,
and the Ginseng of Canada was exported in large quantities to
China; in 1752 its price at Quebec was twenty-five francs the
pound, and there was shipped of it to the value of 500,000 francs.

Mrs, RedfieWa Chart of the Animal Kingdom. 46?

This Dew source of profit exoited among the colonists so much
cupidity, that in their haste, they gathered the roots at wrong
seasons of the year, and drying them without care, the value of
the product deteriorated, and it lost favour in the Chinese market,
80 that in 1854 the exportation fell to 38,000 francs; and the
fellen credit of the Ginseng gave rise to a proverb still known
among our peasants, '^ ^a tombera comme le ginseng?"* Large
quantities of Ginseng are however still exported from the United
States, which in 185t furnished 158,455 pounds, valued at 102,-
709 dollars; and, as the plant is still common in the Province^
there is no reason why it might tiot again become a source of
profit.

The pamphlet before us was addressed by Lafitau to the Duke
of Orleans, then Regent of France, about the year 1718. It con-
tains a curious history of the Ginseng among the Chinese, as
gathered from the researches of pere Jartoux and others ; an ac-
count of its discovery in Canada, and a minutely detailed descrip-
tion of the plant, with figures. To this succeeds a learned
disquisition upon the virtues of the plant, and an attempt to iden-
tify it with the mandragora of Theophrastus. This pamphlet had
become very rare ; and Mr. Hospice Verreau, Principal of the
Jacques-Cartier BTorraal School, has had the good idea to reprint
the memoir, which he has enriched with interesting notes, to
which we are indebted for the above facts, prefacing it with a
biographical sketch of the pere Lafitau, one of those learned and
zealous apostles whose labours form a noble chapter in the early
history of Canaila. After several years spent in this country, he
returned to France about 1718, and in 1724 published a learned
work, in two large volumes, with 41 plates, on the ^ Manners and
Customs of the North American Indians," in which he endea-
voured, by erudite and ingenious arguments, to prove their Pelasgic
origin. He also published in 1733 a History of the Portuguese
Conquests in America, in 4 vols. The P^re Lafitau died about
1740. An engraving, copied from a portrait of him preserved at
Sault St Louis, forms the frontispiece to this curious and in\ere8t-
ing pamphlet. t. s. h.

A General View of the Animal Kingdom, By Mrs. A. M. Kkd-
7ISLD. New York : Eellog. Agent in Montreal : Mr. Telfer.

Many attempts have been made to represent the arrangement
and forms of the Animal Kingdom on diagrams and charts for

468 Scientific GUan%ng$.

Educational purposes, and all are more or less imperfecti partly
because the classification in many departments is in an unsettled
state, and partly because the true arrangement of the animal
kingdom is probably not capable of accurate representation on a
plane surface. For these reasons in the more modern zoological
representations, as for instance in the admirable series of figures
by Patterson, issued by the Department of Science and Art in
England, the attempt to represent the classification to the eye haa
been abandoned ; and instead, we have merely each group illus-
trated by an appropriate example. Mrs. Redfield, undeterred by
past failures, has attempted to combine the form of the diagram
with a sufficient amount of pictorial example, and has attained a
very creditable measure of success. Her classification is in snfii-
cient accordance with the views of the best naturalists for all
practical purposes of instruction, and the illustrative oVijects are
well selected and represented. The method of arrangement, like-
wise, has a certain degree of pictorial grace and beauty which
commends it to the eye. It will be found very serviceable either
for school or family instruction, more especially in giving a general
view of the extent and variety of the animal kingdom.

The text-book intended to accompany the chart, is a thick
volume of 700 pages, with a great number of additional illustra-
tions, and a large' amount of explanations of the clasi^ification and
technical terras, and fact and anecdote. It would be easy, as in
the case of all similar works, to refer to little inaccuracies ; but,
on the whole, we think the work an excellent one of its class, and
cordially recommend it. One merit of considerable importance is,
that where practicable, American examples are given, so that
the teacher may often be able to refer to creatures known to the
pupils.

SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS.

TWENTY-EIGHTH MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE

ADVANCEMENT OF 801SN0B.

In our last number we reprinted the greater part of the truly
excellent address of Prof. Owen as President of the AsK>ciation«
Our space will not admit of our giving a detailed account of the
proceedings of this Congress of Science. For those who are inter-
ested in the progress of scientific enquiry in its various depart-
ments, abstracts of the pi^rs and observations which were the
tubjects of discussion will be foundy moi« or less full, in the page^

Scientific Gleanings. 469

of the AiheDsenm, or in the annual rolume of the Society's Pro*
ceedingB. It may, however, be interesting to general readers to
have an opportunity of pemsihg the addresses of the Gbairmen
of the various sections. These are of a highly interesting and
instructive kind. In a few words they indicate the progress of
the past year, and the chief points to which enquiry should be
directed for the future. The gentlemen selected to fill the honor-
able position of Chairmen of sections are all celebrated in their
special departments; words from their lips may, therefore, be
regarded as the last oracles from the priests of nature. Having
surveyed the field from its highest elevations they speak with
authority as to its character and prospects.

MATHEMA.TIOAL AND PHTSICAL SXCTXOK.

PruidatU — Rbv. Dr. Wbiwiu..

The President, on taking the chair, addressed the Section :—
The managers of the Association have assigned a small room to
this Section. I hope that no one is at present inconvenienced by
this. I shall be glad if it should be found that in this respect the
managers have been mistaken. But the fact is, that we are very
much in the habit in this Section of treating our subjects in so
sublime a manner that we thin the room very decidedly. This is
true, but this is no fault of ours. We seek the laws of Nature,
and Nature presents to us her laws in a form which is to many
persons repulsive, — namely, a mathematical form. It has been
truly said, both by sacred and profane writers, that all things are
made by number, weight, and measure. Now things which hap-
pen by number, weight, and measure, happen according to mathe-
matical ]aw8, according to the relations of number and space.
According to such relations the laws of various of the appearances
which Nature presents to us were studied at the earliest periods
of the intellectual progress of man ; and if the laws detected by4
man on such subjects are in some respects perplexing to many
from their mathematical form and complexity, and are thus repul-
sive, they are at least attractive in another point of view, — for the
extent and brilliancy of the success which has been obtained in
these fields of speculation are such as could not have been in any
degree anticipated at an early period. And the truths obtained
in this way at an early period of man's intellectual progress are
even still of great value and interest, and are essential parts of the
body of scientific truth af the present lime. The astronomy of the

4Y0 Scieniijic Gleanings^

ancient Greeks, expressed in the mathematical forms which they
devised, has been an imf>orlant element in the formation of that
astronomy of modern times of which I have several of the eminent
masters near me. And this connected progress of knowledge
from ancient to modern times has been exemplified in various
portions of science, and still goes on appearing in new examples.
You recollect, perhaps, that a Roman philosopher, Seneca, made
a remark which, though conjectural, is striking. In faking of
comets, he said, these objects now appear to follow no law, as the
planets do. They appear unforeseen and unexpected, filling us
with perplexity and alarm. Yet these bodies, too, he said, shall
disclose their laws to astronomers in future years. Their returns
will be predicted, their laws known, and our posterity will wonder
that we did not discern what is so plain. And this prophecy has
been fulfilled. Comets have had their returns predicted, and have
fulfilled their predictions. And though this is not always the
case, for comets still shine forth unpredicted and unforeseen, yet
still, even in such cases, we are not quite destitute of knowledge
of their law and progress ; for when an unexpected stranger of this
class blazes forth in our sky, as soon as he has shown himself for
a few days, we can mark the path which he will follow, the rate
at which he will travel, and in a great degree the appearances
which he will assume. And even objects which as yet are still
more lawless and perplexing to our science. than comets are,
still not altogether extraneous to the domain of our know-
ledge. There is a class of such objects which has been especially
attended to by the British Association. This is the subject of the
first of the communications which are to be laid before this Sec-
tion to-day. I speak of Prof. Powell's ^' Report on Luminous
Meteors." These objects, falling stars, shooting stars, fiery globes,
or whatever they may be commonly called, have attracted the
attention of this Association for many years ; and the Report
which we are to have laid before us to-day is the continuation of
several Reports of the same kind prepared by the same gentleman
in preceding years. These bodies, as I have said, are in a great
degree irreducible to laws and extraneous to our science ; yet not
wholly so. We have speculations of ancient times by some of
our most eminent philosophers, in whieh these bodies play an
important part Prof. W. Thompson has been led, by his
mathematical speculations on Heat, to the conclusion, that the
heat of the sun is maintained by the perpetual falling in upon

Seieniifie Gleanings. 471

his surface of the abnormal bodies moving in the solar sys-
tem, which appear to us as luminous meteors and shooting stars.
And he conceives that he has shown that there is in those bodies
an aboundable supply to keep up the heat of the sun ; and that^
by the effects of them, the sun may have gone on radiating heat
for thousands and thousands of years without the smallest diminu-
tion. And this, again^ is the result of profound and complex
mathematical calculations, — so wide is the domain of mathema*
tical reasoning, and so necessary is it in any line of speculation in
which we are to convert our ignorance into knowledge. I may
mention, as a public example of this, a ca^ which is fiir removed
from the vastness of astronomical phenomena, — a case of the
manipulation of mathematical law upon a scale of the smallest
dimensions, and in the work of a humble insect. I speak of the
form of the cells of bees : a mathematical problem which already
attracted the attention of the ancient Greeks, and which has been
the subject of mathematical investigation by several of the most
eminent mathematicians of modern times, — the most eminent, for
being a problem involving the properties of space of these dimen-
sions, it requires admirable powers of mathematical conception
Upon this subject two communications are promised to the pre-
sent Meeting, to be laid either beforo this Section or the Section
of Natural History. And in order further to exemplify the advan-
tages derived from the action of the British Association, I may
mention another report upon a very different subject, Mr. Cayley's
"Report on the Progress of Theoretical Dynamics." The gene-
rality, multiplicity, and complexity of the recent labours of analysts
in this department of mathematics have been so great that ordi-
nary mathematicians cannot hope to follow them by reading the
original memoirs ; and I am greatly obliged, as one of them, to
Mr. Gayley for enabling us compendiously and easily to under-
stand what has been done and how it has been done. Perhaps,
after all, his report is not so very unlike that of Prof. Powell
'*0n Luminous Meteors, — ^for the original researches of the great
analysts who have treated this subject, though bright and objects
of wonder, are so &r above our head and so difficult to under-
stand, that they are not unlike the things tabulated in the other
report. And now, having explained that we must often be neces-
sarily difficult to follow in this Section, I must ask the ladies and
gentlemen here present, as the Spectator has his readers, to be-
lieve that, if at any time we are very dull, we have a design in it

{To be continued.)

4*12 Correspondence.

BREEDING SKYLARKS.

{To the Ediiore of the Canadian NaluralisU)

Sir, — A correspotidflnt in yOur October i!uir)ber rernarks that r
''It would tend much to increase the practical value of jour
^ Journal, if your subscribers were from time to time to communi-
^ cate facts relating to any department of the Natural History
•* of the Province. Adopting this sugcrestion, I beg to note a
singular incident which has occurred in Quebec, in respect to the
breeding of skylarks An amateur noted for possessing the best
singing larks in the city, has succeeded in rearing in captivity
six or seven healthy broods of these birds. The plan he adopted
is as follows : in pairing season, the birds are removed from the
cages to a quiet room, the floor of which is covered with green
sod ; a wire blind allows free access to the air ; no one except the
owner is allowed access during the period of incubation. The
birds although wild when in cages, become so tame in the room
that the owner has in some insiances even removed tliem with
his hand from the nest without their manifesting any alarm.
Their nest was so artfully concealed in the thick grass that jt
was impossible to notice it, unless the old bird was seen coming
from it The youns: birds were wholly fed on grass-hoppers, untH
they were a week old. Should rainy weather set in and grass-
hoppers become scarce, the young brood would wither and die.
Many thriving birds were lost in this manner. Some of the larks
thus bred were remarkable for the sweetness of their song. This
is the only instance I know of, in which skylarks have been bred
in captivity in Canada. Another instance of captive European
birds breeding in Canada, occurred some years ago. A pair of
English blackbirds, the property of the late Wm. Patton, Esq^
Seigneur of Montmagny, being allowed the free range of a
small room, built their nest in an old boot. The young were
thriving and gave much promise, when one night old and young
fell victims to the voracity of a cat. Should you reserve me a
small corner in your Magazine, I may send you a short notice of
our Wood Thrush (Tundus Melodus), and Veery, the Tundus
Wilsonii, as observed in the pine Groves of Spencer Wood.
Truly may it be said that the Canadian Fauna and its acrree-
able songsters are comparatively unknown. Altliough the birds
of Canada cannot compare for sweetness of song with European
warblers, still many of them are highly worthy of note. Who,
ever, for example, can listen unmoved to the rollicking, jingling
and merry song of the Boblink, when from the bough of some
magestic elm, he pours forth his morning hymnt

J. M. L.

Spencer Grange, near Quebec.
October, 1868.

INDEX.

Actinia (GeniiB of Zoophytes), speeiet annmsrated 403

Agassi&'B contributioDB to the Kat. Hist, pf the U. S 164, 201, 241

Agassiz on the Zoological relations of ancient coral. ,i 275

▲gricnltural Botany of the Western States 313

" Societies, hints to ft

Alga, Kemp on the Canadian Fresh-water 831, 450

Animals in the Post-Pliocene deposits 12T

Artesian Wells in the Sahara 159

Arctic Geology 271

Australasian Animals, distribation of 125

Barnston, Qeorge, on the Geographical distribntion of Plants 26

'' Prof. James, obituary notice of 224

Batrachotpermum moniltforme (Algtt), • • • 451

Bearer, habits of. 136

Bethone, Chas. J., letter from. 320

Billings, B., \iaX of Indigenous Plants 39

'' E., on the Deyonian Fossils of Canada 419

Book Notices, . . Anderson's North American Willows 311

" Aqaayivarium, books on 75

*' Boott's illustrations from the Genus Oarez 310

" Buckman's Jfoitish Grasses 310

<< Butler's Aquarium 315

" Daris' Naturalist's Guide 310, 396

" Decade III. of Canadian Fossils 298

« Gray's How Plants Grow 313

<< Grisebaeh's Flora of Goadaloupe. 912

" Grunow's Catalog^ of Microscopes 73

« Kemp's How to Lay-Out a Garden 314

'' Lafitau on Canadian Ginseng, 466

« Lowe's Flora of Madeira 310

<< Lindley's list of Cuban Orchids 311

'' Pamphlets on Br. America 392

« Redfield's (Mrs.) Chart of the Animal Kingdom, . . 467

" Samuelson's Humble Creatures 895

Swallow's, Prof., Premium Essay 72

« Wallman'sOharacesB 312

Botany, ko 310

British North America, Distribation of Plants in 26

British AsBociAtlan fgr the Adyaneement of Soienee • 468

4Y4 Index.

Bowerbank, J. S., Degree conferred upon ; 79

Brown, Robert, Obituary Notice of 306

Butterflies, Canadian Species enumerated 320, 346, 410

Canada, Report of the Geological Survey of, noticed 32, 81, 315

Canadian Institute, Report of, noticed 161

Canadian Fossils, Decade III., 298

Canadian Geology 186

Canadian Ginseng, Pere Lafitan 466

Carboniferous Rocks of Ireland 130

Caye in the Limestone near Moiitreal 192

Chenot, Metallurgical processes of 13

Chlmborazo, Ascent of 155

Chapman, Prof., on the Blow-Pipe Assaying of Coals 187

CfuBtophora (Genus of Algaa), species enumerated 341

Coal-measures of British America 190

Coal in Canada, the Bomanyille discoYcry 212, 276

Couper, William, Articles on Entomology 24, 177

Cladophora (Genus of F. W. Algse), Canadian Species 464

Columnaria (Genus of Fossil Corals), ** 420

Comet, Smallwood on Donati's 444

Cynthia (Genus of Butterflies), species enumerated. 346

Cyrtodonta (Genus of Fossil Shells) species 431

Cyatiphyllum sulcatum (Fossil Coral) 430

Dawson, Dr., Introductory Lecture before the N. H. Society 1

'^ On the Report of the Geological Survey of Canada. 32, 81

" On the Permian Fossils of Kansas 80

" Geological^ Gleanings 122, 182, 260

*^ On Agassiz's Contribution to the Nat. Hist, of the

U. S 1 54, 201, 241

" On Coal in Canada 212

" Review of Decade III of Canadian Fossils 298

" A Week in Gasp^ 321

<< Sea Anemones, &c., in Gulfof St. Lawrence 401

Donati's Comet, Smallwood on' 444

Devonian Rocks of Ireland 130

DrapamaJdia (Genus of Algae), species enumerated 339

D'Urban on the Genus Papilio 410

Eickwaldia subirigonalis (Fossil Shell) 443

Entomology, articles on, by W. Couper 24, 177

Entomological Works, List of 417

Eudendrium (Genus of Zoophytes), ramosum 40 7

Falconer, Dr., on Extinct Elephantine Animals 124

Fistulipora Canadensis (Fossil Coral) 420

Fossil Plants of Pensylvania 127

i^martacc(S^ Distribution of, in B. N. A 30

Gasp^, a week in, by Dr. Dawson 321

etiological Survey of Canada, Report of noticed 32, 81, 315

Geological Society of London, Anniversary Address ...• • 67

Index. 475

Qeological Gleanings 122, 182, 260

ecological Sorrey of Qreat Britain 293

Geology, the Results of 67

Geology of the Western States 182

German Naturalists, Meeting of at Bonn 2*77

Gihh, Dr., on a Cave in the Limestone near Montreal 192

Gordon, A., on Scientific Meeting in Germany 277

Graptolithus, Note upon the Genus, hy Prof. Jas. Hall 139, 161

Oraptolithus (Genus of Fossils), species enumerated ..189-160, 161-1 77

Hall, Prof., the Paleontology of New York 126

" On the Genus Graptolithus 139, 161

Head, Sir W. E., on the Temple of Seraphis 260

Horse, Note on a Moler Tooth of a 318

Hunt, on the Metallurgy of ^ron 13

" Extraction of Salts from Sea-water 97

" Theory of Igneous Rocks and Yolcanos 194

Ice, Logan on the Packing of, in the Rirer of St. Lawrence 116

Inrertabrata, List of Marine, collected by Dr. Dawson in Gasp^.... 329

Iron, Hunt on the Metallurgy of 13

Johnston, G., on Preparing Microscopic Objects 64

Jurassic Rocks 272

Kemp, Rer. A. F., on the Canadian Fresh-water Algse 331, 460

Laomedea (Genus of Zoophytes), species enumerated 408

Larks, on the Breeding of 472

Lecture on the Nat. Hist, of Canada 1

Lightning Conducting Rods, Report on 366

Logan, Sir W. E., on the Packing of Ice in the Rirer St. Lawrence. 116
Lyell, Sir Charles, Reports of Progress of the Geolo. Survey. 32, 81, 315

" on the Formation of Lava 266

Mammalia, Owen on the Classification of 61

Matheria ttner (Fossil Shell) 440

Meteorology, Smallwood's Contributions to 110

Michelinia (Genus of Fossil Corals), Canadian Species 426

Microscopical Preparations, on the Mounting of 64

Miller, Hugh, Monument to 398

Montreal and Vicinity, Lecture on Nat. Hist, of 1

Nat. Hist, of the Vicinity of Montreal 1

Nat. Hist. Society, Lecture before, by President 1

" Annual Meeting and Report of 22 7, 26

** Papers presented to, see under special heads.

" Its Building 399

Nymphaaceaj Distribution of. 26

Obolus Canadensis (Fossil Shell) 441

Observatory of Dr. Smallwood 352

Onion, is it Indegenous to Canada? 397

Owen, Prof., the Classification of Mammalia 61

" Opening Address of, before the Br. Ass. for the Advance-
ment of Science • 372

476

Index.

4
•1

PaUto^ffllum rug08um (Fossil Coral) 422

PapaveraeeiBf Distribution of, in B. N. A 2S

Pajrilio Philenor (Butterflj), Discovered 320

Papilio, D'Urban on the Genas 410

Papilio, N. A. Species enumerated 412

Petraia rustica (Fossil Coral) • 422

Permian Fossils, Notice of 80

Pigeons, Unusual Migration of Wild 150

Plants, Geographical Distribution o^ in B. N. A • 26

Plants, Billing's List of Indegenons 39

PlumtUariafalcata (Zoophyte) 409

Pollen, Effects of Foreign, on Fruit 153

Pottery in the Bowels of the Earth 274

Bamsay, on the Geological causes that hare influenced the Scenery of

Canada 263

BeTiewers, to our 400

Boyle, Dr. John Forbes, Death of • . . . 78

Salts, Hunt on the Extraction of, from Sea-water 97

SarracerUaceaj Distribution of, B. N. A 27

Scientific Gleanings 469

Strtidaria (Genus of the Zoophytes) species enumerated 408

Skylarks, Breeding of, 472

Smallwood, Dr., Contributions to Meteorology 1 10

<< Obseryatory of. 352

f< On Donati's Comet, 444

SyHngopora (Genus of Fossil Corals), Canadian Species. .'. 423

Tubularia (Genus of Zoophytes) species enumerated 407

Vanuxtmia (genus of Fossil Shells) 438

Vaticheria (Genus of Algae) species enumerated 335

"Webb, F. B., Obituary Notice of 312

Whewell's (Dr.) Address before the British Association for the Ad-

Tancement of Science • . . # 469

Wilson, Dr. Daniel, Testimonial to 79

Wollaston Medals 1 25* ;

Wyman, Prof., on Carboniferous Reptiles 122 j

Zaphrentis (Gknus of Fossil Corals), Canadian Species 423 ;

Zyg7i«ma(GenusofF. W. Alga), *< 460 i

4 I I /^

1815

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:ES FC SEPTEyBER, 18SS.

anl4daji,iniountlnKlos-839lnchei: itwairainlnr

_i__. J accompanied bj thunder on S dam

T — . ..^valent wind, 8. B.

4S boun £11 mluBter oiii^ ,_

H«t preialent wlud, 8. W. Leait

Hoat *ln^ daj, the net da? j

Least wixiax 6aj, tha lOth daj\ mean milea per bour, 0*00.

Anron Borealis vtalble on 7 nights.

The Eleottital itate of tha atmcaphere hai indicated feablc
intensity.

it in moderate quautilr.

|l THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1858.

,^5 in
Ffth.d

a.111. 2p^

OBSEBTATIOHS.

Meteor at 2*23 A. M.« finom constellation ** Aquila."

Bain.

Bain. Distant lightning at night.

Bain.

Rain. Distant Thunder.
Aurural Light.

Auroral Light.

Faint Auroral Bank.

Bain, with thunder.

Bain.
Bain.
Bain.

Bain. Lunar Corona.

Bain at night.
Bain.

Rain early A. M.

7 a.m.

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29 044
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718
762
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29*982
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775
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30*222
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29*626
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423
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29*844
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Distant lightning in tho evening.

Auroral Light.

Paint Auroral Light.

Bain.

Bain.

Rain.

Rain. Aurora^ with streamers.

Auroral Light.

Rain.

Bain in showers.

Solar Halo.

Bain, thunder, and lightning.

Bain.

Faint Auroral Light.

Bain.
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;F0B SEPTEMBEB^ 1859.

^

Baro

Themj
Wanx^KMA

l_^LJ

Tho most prevalent wind was the W,

Tho least " •« were the N.W. and B.N.E.

No record of Mrind from the E., E.8.E., S.8.E., or 8.S.W.

No cloudlcsa da^r occurred.

A calm di^ occurred on the 26th.

The most windy day was the 15th, the mean Telocity haying
been 6*95 mDes per hour.

The most windy hour between noon and 1 p. m. of 16th day,
the actual velocity having been 18 miles per hour.

The Aurora was seeu on 6 nights. It was not visible on 18
nights when it oould have been seen, if existing ; tlic remaining
nights were clouded.

Ozone was in moderate ratio.

..1.

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