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THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST
AND GEOLOGIST
% it-Utontltln Journal of Natural Science,
CONDUCTED BT A COMMITTEE OP THE NATURAL
HISTORY SOCIETY OP MONTREAL.
NEW SERIES -Vol. 3.
(WITH three plates.)
EDITING COMMITTEE.
General Editor : David A. P. Watt.
J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S.,
Principal of Me Gill College.
T. Sterry Hunt, LL.D., F.R.S.,
Geological Survey of Canada.
E. Billings, F.G.S.,
Geological Survey of Canada.
J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S.
Prof. P. J. Darey.
MONTREAL:
DAWSON BROTHERS, GREAT ST. JAMES STREET.
*"■ 1868.
Entered, according to Act of the Provincial Parliament, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by Da\tson Brothers, in the
Office of the Registrar of the Province of Canada.
MONTREAL : PRINTED BY THE MONTREAL PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY
CONTENTS.
Page
On the Rocks and Cupriferous Beds of Portage Lake, Michigan, U.S.
By Thomas Macfarlane 1
Comparisons of the Icebergs of Belle-Isle with the Glaciers of Mont
Blanc, with reference to the Boulder-clay of Canada. By J. W.
Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S ••••• 33
The Musk-rats as Builders and as Miners. By J. K. Lord, F.Z.S 45
A Catalogue of the Carices collected by John Macoun, Belleville 56
Notes on the Spectrum femoratum. By Alex. S. Ritchie 66
The evidence of Fossil Plants as to the climate of the Post-pliocene
Period in Canada. By J. W Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S 69
On the Laurentian Rocks of Bavaria. By Dr. Gumbel, Director of the
Geological Survey of Bavaria 81
On the Canadian Species of the Genus Picea. By the Abbe 0. Brunet,
Laval University • 102
On the Objects and Method of Mineralogy. By Dr. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S. 110
On the Vital Statistics of Montreal. By P. P. Carpenter, B. A., Ph. D. 134
The Distribution of Plants in Canada, in some of its relations to physi-
cal and past geological conditions. By A. T. Drummond, B.A.,
LL.B 161
On the Geological Formations of Lake Superior. By Thomas Macfar-
lane 1"
On some remains of Palaeozoic Insects, recently discovered in Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick. By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.... 202
On the relation between the Glacial Deposits of Scotland and those of
Canada. By the Rev. Henry W. Crosskey 207
On a sub-division of the Acadian Carboniferous Limestones, with a de-
scription of a section across these rocks at Windsor, U.S. By C.
Fred. Hartt, A.M 212
On the Chemistry of the Primeval Earth. By T. Sterry Hunt, LL.D.,
F.R.S 225
On the Geological Formations of Lake Superior. By Thomas Macfar-
241
LANE M*L
On Scientific Education in Schools. From a Report of a Committee of
the British Asociation for the Advancement of Science 257
New Specimens of Eozoon. By Sir W. E. Logan, F.R.S., F.G.S 306
On Eozoon Canadense. By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. With
Notes by W. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S 312
Outlines of the Distribution of Arctic Plants. By Joseph D. Hooker,
M.D., F.R.S 325
Notices of some remarkable Genera of Plants of the Coal Formation.
By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S 362
On the Azoic and Palaeozoic Rocks of Southern New Brunswick. By
F. G. Matthew 387
IV
Page
The Removal and Restoration of Forests. By J. W. Dawson, LL.D.,
F.R.S 405
On the Respiratory System of Insects. By S. H. Parkes 417
Some Statistical Features of the Flora of Ontario and Quebec. By A.
T. Drummond, B.A., LL.D 429
On Leskia Mirabilis (Gray). By Prof. S. Loven 437
A Few Points of Interest in the Study of Natural History. By the Rev.
A. De Sola, LL.D 445
On Seeds and Saplings of Forest Trees. By Dr. J. D. Hooker, F.R.S... . 453
On the Extraction of Copper from its Ores in the Humid Way. By
Thomas Macfarlane 457
On the Organization of Mosses. By R. Braithwaite, M.D., F.L.S 462
The American Association.
On a new Nomenclature 115
On the Primeval Atmosphere 117
On the Geological Structure of the Southern Part of Minnesota 120
On Petroleum 121
On the Laurentian Limestones and their Mineralogy 123
On Modern Scientific Investigation. By Prof. Newberry 278
Meeting at Burlington : — Synopsis of Papers. By Prof. Hubbert... 292
The Natural History Society.
Monthly Meetings 18
The President's Address. By Dr. Smallwood 125
Sommerville Lecture by Dr. Smallwood 374
Report of the Council to the Annual Meeting, May 18, 1867 392
Miscellaneous.
New Preserving Fluid 77
Microscopic Illumination 79
The Birds of North America 79
Catalogue of some North American Ferns 158
Note on supposed Burrows of Worms in the Laurentian Rocks of
Canada. By J. W. Dawson. LL.D., F.R.S 321
The Genus Botrychium 474
Book Notices.
Smith's British and Foreign Ferns 157
Gray's Manual of Botany 234
Dawson's Acadian Geology 400
Watt's Filices Canadenses 402
Archives des Sciences Physiques 403
Obituary.
The Right Honorable Sir Edmund W. Head, Bart., K.C.B 322
Plate i to face 101
" ii and iii to face 321
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST,
SECOND SEEIES.
ON THE ROCKS AND CUPRIFEROUS BEDS OF
PORTAGE LAKE, MICHIGAN.
By Thomas Macfarlane.
During the summer of 1865 I was employed on the Geological
Survey of Canada in making certain explorations on the north and
east shores of Lake Superior. I had instructions to visit also the
mines of the south shore," in order to acquire some idea of the
experience there gained in mining the deposits of native copper, it
being anticipated that such might be advantageously applied in
explorations on the Canadian side of the lake. The observations
which I made on the south shore, although sufficiently interesting,
could not well find a place in a report having reference to Cana-
dian territory, and, Sir William Logan having kindly consented,
I have made them the subject of the following paper.
One of the most conspicuous geographical features of the south
shore of Lake Superior, is Keweenaw Point. Like the rocks
constituting it, it strikes out into the lake in a north-easterly
direction for a distance of fifty miles. Portage Lake is situated
near its base, and together with Sturgeon River, which flows into
Keweenaw Bay, almost severs the point from the main land. The
north-western part of Portage Lake intersects the various strata of
trap and other rocks which run along the whole length of Kewee-
naw Point. While to the north-eastward, at Eagle River and
elsewhere, the mines of greatest note are generally situated upon
veins crossing the strike of the trap, those in the neighbourhood of
Vol. III. a No. 1.
2 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
Portage Lake are worked almost exclusively upon beds, tbe strike
and dip of which are parallel with that of the enclosing rocks.
Such beds are not, however, altogether absent in other districts of
the copper region, where they have been called ' ash beds,' but
it is in the Portage Lake district that they occur most frequently,
and are mined most successfully. The rocks with which they are
interstratified are principally what are called traps and greenstones,
together with conglomerates and sandstones. They maintain a
general strike of N. 20° to N. 40° E., and have a dip of 50° to 60°
north-westward.
In attempting to describe these rocks more minutely, I shall
begin with those lying immediately west of the great cupriferous
bed on which the Quincy, Pewabic and Franklin mines are situated,
and proceed then to notice those lying to the eastward, which are,
geologically, lower lying rocks.
The rock which is observed at the side of the road leading past
the Quincy mine to the Pewabic, and which lies several hundred
feet west of the cupriferous bed, is distinctly of a compound
nature, but all its constituent minerals are not large enough to be
accurately determined. Conspicuous among them is a dark green
chloritic mineral, the grains of which vary from the smallest size
to one fourth of an inch in diameter. In the latter case they are
irregularly shaped, with rounded angles, but they are never quite
round or amygdaloidal. They frequently consist in the centre of
dark green laminae. The mineral is very soft and has a light
greenish-grey streak. It fuses readily before the blow-pipe to a
black magnetic glass, and it would seem to be the preponderating
mineral in the rock. The other constituents are in very fine grains,
and consist of a reddish-grey feldspathic mineral, with distinct
cleavage planes, and closely resembling it, light greenish-grey par-
ticles but whether of a feldspathic, pyroxenic or hornblendic
nature could not be determined. The prevailing colour of the
rock is dark greyish-green. Hydrochloric acid produces no effer-
vescense with it, even when in a state of fine powder. Its specific
gravity is 2 . 83, and the magnet attracts a very small quantity of
magnetite from its powder. The colour of the powder when very
fine is light greenish-grey. When ignited it loses 3 . 09 per cent, of
its weight and changes to a light brown colour. When digested
with nitric acid, and then afterwards with a weak solution of
caustic potash (to remove free silica) it experiences, including the
lo&s by ignition, a loss of 46.36 per cent. This consists of
1866.] MACFARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS.
Silica 14.73
Alumina 7.17
Peroxide of iron 14 . 87
Lime 4.47
Magnesia 2.03
Water 3.09
46.36
In the undeeomposed residue light red and dark coloured par-
ticles are discernible. On digesting it with hydrochloric acid
and subsequently with a weak solution of potash, it sustains a
further loss of 10.6 per cent., which consists of
Silica 3.48
Alumina 3.03
Peroxide of iron 1 . 98
Lime 1.76
Magnesia 35
The undecomposed residue was still found to consist of a light
red and a dark coloured constituent. The latter was the heavier,
and an approximate separation was accomplished by washing. The
dark coloured particles, which could not however be freed wholly
from the light coloured felspathic constituent, fused readily to a
dark brown glass. To judge from its gravity and fusibility
it would not appear unreasonable to regard it as either pyrox-
ene or hornblende. In quantity, however, it did not exceed one-
eighth of the felspar. The latter fused easily before the blow-pipe
to a colourless glass, tinging the flame strongly yellow. It would
therefore seem to be of the nature of labradorite, although it is
only slightly decomposed by hydrochloric acid. Since, according
to Girard, neither labradorite, nto pyroxene nor magnetite are
decomposable by nitric acid, it may reasonably be concluded that
the constituents removed by the nitric acid are those of the chlori-
tic mineral. On treating the rock, previous to ignition, with
hydrochloric acid, much of the iron is removed as protoxide.
Although some peroxide is also possibly present, I have calculated
the whole of the iron as protoxide, and have moreover added the
difference of weight between it and the iron as peroxide, to the
loss sustained by ignition, and put it down as water. In this way
the composition of the chloritic mineral calculated to 100 parts,
would be
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
Silica 31.78
Alumina 15.47
Protoxide of iron 28.87
Lime 9.64
Magnesia 4.37
Water 9.87
100.00
In these figures the quantity of iron is much greater, and that
of magnesia much less than in ordinary chlorite. In its compo-
sition, and in being easily decomposed by acids, the mineral most
closely resembles the ferruginous chlorite of Delesse,* (the delessite
of Naumann), but differs from it in containing a considerable
amount of lime, and in being readily fused before the blow-pipe.
Assuming, nevertheless, that the chloritic constituent is delessite,
and that one half of the iron removed by hydrochloric acid belongs
to the magnetite, then the rock would be composed mineralogically
of
Delessite •. 46.36
Labradorite 47 . 43
Pyroxene or hornblende 5.26
Magnetite 0.95
100.00
The next rock to the eastward, to which I paid some attention,
is that which constitutes the hanging wall of the Quincy Mine.
It is a fine-grained mixture of reddish-grey feldspar, and dark
green delessite, the former predominating. In this mixture larger
crystals of feldspar and larger rounded grains of the ferruginous
chlorite are occasionally discernible. Its sp. gr. is 2.83. The powder
is of a reddish-grey tint, and the magnet shews the presence in it
of a trace of magnetite. On ignition it changes to light brown,
* The following is the composition of ferruginous chlorite according to
Delesse's analysis :
Silica 31.07
Alumina 15.47
Peroxide of iron 22.21
Protoxide of manganese. ........... traces
Lime 0.46
Magnesia 19.14
Water 11.55
Bischof ; Chemical and Physical Geology, III, 22S.
1866.] MACFARLANE ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 5
sustaining at the same time a loss of 1 .32 p. c. No effervescence
is produced by hydrochloric acid, which dissolves out from the
rock 32.44 per cent, of bases, consisting of
Alumina 7.52
Peroxide of iron 15.04
Lime 4.34
M agnesi a 5.54
which, doubtless, principally belong to the chloritic mineral. The
residue contains a very small quantity of the heavier and darker
constituent which was found in the rock first described. The
residue is not decomposed by concentrated sulphuric acid.
Next, in downward succession, comes the cupriferous bed gene-
rally known as the ' Pewabic Lode,' although it possesses none
of the characters of a vein. It has a thickness of about 12 feet,
and in places resembles the rock which constitutes the foot-wall of
the mine, into which it seems to graduate. In its characteristic
varieties it differs, however, completely from that rock. It is a
reddish-brown or chocolate coloured uncrystalline rock with amyg-
daloidal structure and uneven, almost earthy fracture. The
matrix sometimes contains some small amygdules, which are not
always completely filled, and thus render the rock porous. The
matrix is fusible to a black, slightly magnetic glass. It is in
places impregnated with grains of metallic copper, from the
minutest size to those having a diameter of a tenth of an inch.
Those of a still larger size very generally project from the
matrix into the amygdules, or form rounded particles lying entirely
within these cavities, and filling them. The copper is here accom-
panied by a mineral of a light green colour, very soft, and sepa-
rable from the rock as a green powder. It fuses before the blow-
pipe to a black slightly magnetic glass. On ignition it changes to
a light yellow colour losing 0.4 p. C. of its weight. It is decomposed
by hydrochloric acid and the resulting solution contains protoxide
as well as peroxide of iron. On analysis, it gave the following-
results, in which all the iron is calculated as protoxide, and the
difference between it and peroxide put down as water
Silica 46.48
Alumina 17.71
Protoxide of iron 21.17
Lime 9.89
Magnesia trace
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
Alkalies 1 .97 by difference.
Water 2.78
100
It is probably a variety of green-earth. Some of the amygdules
are altogether filled with it, in which case it frequently contains
small isolated grains of metallic copper. Sometimes calcspar is
found along with the green-earth, the two minerals generally occu-
pying separate parts of the cavity. Very frequently the green
mineral merely lines the cavities, and the rest is filled up with
calcspar. The foregoing description is of a specimen of the bed
exceedingly rich in copper. At other places the matrix is more
compact and darker coloured, and the amygdules are exclusively
filled with calcspar, without any enclosing film of green-earth.
Sometimes quartz, delessite, laumontite and prehnite occur
filling the cavities. In many parts of the bed, large irregular
patches and veins of calcspar are seen, through which and
through the adjoining rock, run huge irregular masses of copper
frequently weighing several tons, with which small quantities of
native silver are associated. Epidote is also often met with in the
bed, generally unconnected with the amygdules, and forming small
irregular masses in the chocolate-coloured rock. The foregoing
description applies equally to the cupriferous bed as developed in
the Pewabic and Franklin mines. These are situated on the north
side of Portage Lake. The continuation of the bed to the south-
east was sought for a long time fruitlessly, until at last it was dis-
covered accidentally at a distance of about four miles south-west of
Portage Lake. At this point, on the property of the South Pewa-
bic Mining Company, it is being opened and presents the following
characters. The rock is of the same colour as on the Quincy
Mine, but it is finer grained, and in places a conchoidal fracture
is even observable. The amygdules are smaller, and the metallic
copper seems altogether confined to them, forming solid rounded
pellets. It is accompanied by delessite, calcspar, laumontite and
prehnite, which minerals also occur in the cavities alone. The
matrix of this bed is also fusible to a black magnetic glass.
The rock which underlies the copper-bearing bed of the
Quincy Mine is distinctly amygdaloidal. The matrix is fine
grained, but it is crystalline and is seen to consist of different consti-
tuents. Its colour is dark reddish-grey, and it is fusible to a black
glass. The cavities, which seldom exceed the size of a pea; are
1866.] MACFARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 7
filled with what appears to be the same chloritic mineral which
occurs as a constituent in the first two rocks above described. It
is very soft and may be cut into small, slightly coherent slices.
These fuse readily to a black glass, which is slightly magnetic.
In fine powder its colour is light greenish grey, and by ignition
it turns dark brown, losing 5 . 85 p. c. of its weight. Hydroch-
loric acid decomposes it readily. On analysis, and calculation as
above described, it gave.
Silica 30.59
Alumina 26.07
Protoxide of iron 22.01
Lime 1.92
Magnesia 12.36
Water 7.23
100.18
It will be observed that these results correspond much more
closely with the composition of delessite than that calculated from
the constituents dissolved by nitric acid from the rock first des-
cribed. The specific gravity of the rock, including the amygdules,
is 2 . 78. The colour of the fine powder is dark reddish-grey.
On ignition it turns brown and loses 2.33. Nitric acid dissolves
25.67, and hydrochloric acid 34.12 of its weight. In the
residue from treatment with the latter acid, no heavy dark
coloured constituent could be detected. From the above particulars
the following mineralogical composition is deducible.
Delessite in amygdules and grains... 38.
Labradorite 62.
100
An occasional crystal of feldspar is met with in the rock, which
seems to be identical with that occurring in the matrix, and is
only partially decomposed by hydrochloric acid.
The various bands of rock which underlie the Pewabic lode
have been intersected by a cross-cut, more than five hundred feet
in length, from the seventy fathoms level of the Pewabic mine.
This working has passed through the following rocks, the local
names and thicknesses (horizontally) of which are as follows :
Trap 137 feet.
Old Pewabic lode 34 ".
Trap 85 "
8 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb-
Green amygdaloid vein 19 feet.
Trap 98 «
Albany and Boston vein 7 H
Trap 45 "
Epidote or Mesnard vein 23 "
Trap 20 "
Fluckan 1 "
Conglomerate 31 "
Sandstone 6 "
506 feet.
The general strike of these strata is N. 38° E. and the dip 55°
northwestward. The two beds above denominated as the Green
amygdaloid vein and the Mesnard vein are also found on the
Quincy property, where the first named bears a general resem-
blance to the rock of the Pewabic lode. The matrix is perhaps
darker coloured, and contains grains and crystals of feldspar as
well as amygdules of green-earth and calcspar, the latter containing
copper in fine grains. The rock of the Mesnard vein is dark
brown, with a bluish tint. The minerals of the amygdules are
principally green-earth, quartz and metallic copper. This bed is
also called the Epidote vein but the green-earth has probably
been mistaken for epidote.
The trap which overlies the conglomerate in the Albany and
Boston Mine is a fine grained mixture of dark green delessite,
(in grains less distinctly isolated than in the rocks already des-
cribed) greenish-grey feldspar, and reddish-brown mica, some of
the laminae of the latter shewing ruby-red reflections. Its sp. gr.
is 2.81, and the smallest trace only of its powder is attracted by
the magnet. The colour of the powder is greenish-grey, which
changes on ignition to brown, a loss of 4.19 being sustained.
Nitric acid dissolves from it 24 . 52 p. c, which consist of
Alumina 5.96
Peroxide of iron 14.78
Lime 3.41
Magnesia 0.37
These figures agree pretty closely with the quantities of bases
dissolved from the rocks already described, but the quantities of
lime and magnesia are a little smaller. The residue consists of a
dark coloured, heavier, and a reddish-white coloured lighter part,
the latter about twice as large in quantity as the former. The
1866.] . MACFARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 9
dark coloured portion consisted probably in greater part of
mica, and to judge from the comparatively low specific gravity of
the rock, little or no pyroxene or hornblende could be present.
The mineralogical composition of this trap is therefore probably
as follows :
Delessite 40
Mica 20
Labradorite 40
100
The ' Fluckan ' which underlies the trap last described is sepa-
rated from it by a small seam of clay. The fluckan itself is
a fine grained, dark-red shaly rock in which pieces of a greenish
blue colour are sometimes seen. Both substances are fusible
before the blow-pipe and contain occasionally small grains and
flakes of copper. It resembles the old Thonstein (claystone) of
the Germans, now more properly named Felsite tuff.
The conglomerate upon which the foregoing rock rests, has
acquired some celebrity on account of its being mined for copper
on the property of the Albany and Boston Mining Company. The
boulders and pebbles consist of various species of porphyry. One
of them has a dark brown matrix with small white crystals of
feldspar j another has a matrix of the same colour but with larger
crystals of orthoclase, while a third variety consists principally of a
fine grained mass of orthoclase with which a small quantity of a
dark coloured mineral occurs in particles too small for determina-
tion. The matrix consists of a coarse grained sand of porphyritic
material, impregnated with calcareous matter. In many places the
interstices are not at all filled up, in others calcspar is the matrix,
and very often in the lower part of the bed the matrix is almost
pure metallic copper. Sometimes the metal completely fills the
whole space between the pebbles, sometimes it is accompanied by
calcspar, but much more frequently it is disseminated in fine par-
ticles through the coarse grained matrix. Sometimes a pebble is
found quite saturated with copper, but it seems to have been of a
more porous nature than the others and an amygdaloidal structure
may be detected in it.
As above mentioned, a bed of sandstone underlies the conglo-
merate. It shews traces of stratification, is of a dark-red colour,
and evidently consists of the same material as the conglomerate
pebbles but in finer particles.
10 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
The trap which underlies this sandstone is amygdaloidal, but
becomes more compact at a distance from the sandstone. In the
ad it which is being driven across the strata on the Quincy pro-
perty, and which, so far as it has yet gone, is in the trap underlying
the conglomerate, the rock much resembles the one first described
as occurring on the road passing the Quincy mine. The grains of
delessite are however smaller, seldom exceeding one tenth of an
inch in diameter. An occasional crystal of feldspar is also obser-
vable in the fine grained mass of the rock. This mineral is in
places reddish-grey, and in others greenish-grey, fuses readily to a
colourless blebby glass and colours the blow-pipe flame strongly
yellow. The sp. gr. of the rock is 2 . 89, and the colour of the
powder light greenish-grey, but somewhat darker than that of the
rock first described. It changes like that to a light brown on
ignition, losing at the same time 2 . 77 p. c. On being treated
with nitric acid and caustic potash the following substances are
removed from it :
Silica 12.41 per cent.
Alumina 5.96 "
Peroxide of iron 15.85 "
Lime 3.77 "
Magnesia 1.84 "
39 . 83 per cent.
These substances, together with the water lost on ignition, cal-
culated in the same manner as in the case of the rock first
described, for 100 parts give
Silica 29.52
Alumina 14.00
Protoxide of iron 33.47
Lime 8.80
Magnesia 4.29
Water 9.92
100.00
The residue from this treatment, which amounts to 57.17 per
cent, of the original rock, on being digested in hydrochloric acid
lost 6 . 7 p. c. additional, consisting of
Alumina 2.38
Peroxide of iron 2.45
1866.] MACFARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 11
Lime 1.57
Magnesia 30
The residue consisted of the same dark and light coloured parts
as in the case of the rock first described. Calculated in the same
manner as it, the mineralogical composition of this rock from the
Quincy adit would be
Delessite 42.60
Labradorite 50.69
Pyroxene or hornblende 5.62
Magnetite 1.09
100.00
From the particulars above given, it would seem that the consti-
tuents of the traps of the Portage Lake district are principally
feldspar of the labradorite species, and chlorite of a species allied
to delessite, with which are found occasionally mica, small quan-
tities of magnetite and perhaps of augite or hornblende. Similar
results are given in Foster and Whitney's Lake Superior Re-
port II, 87 ; but the relative proportions of the constituents
are not given, nor is the peculiar nature of the chlorite referred to.
The name of greenstone would seem altogether inapplicable to
these rocks, because augite or hornblende only occurs in them occa-
sionally if at all, and then in comparatively small quantity. As to
the name of trap, the rocks previously so called have been by the
best lithological authorities subdivided into two families, Mela-
phyre and Basalt.* The latter family which includes dolerite,
anamesite and common basalt is distinguished by the dark, mostly
black or greyish-black colour, the high specific gravity, and the
richness in augite and magnetite of its rocks, and by the frequent
occurrence in them of olivine and zeolites. The melaphyres on
the other hand are characterised by their apparent want of augite,
by their comparatively low specific gravity, by their colour of red-
dish-grey mixed with green and black, and their frequent deve-
lopment as amygdaloidal varieties ; in which case quartz, calcspar and
delessite fill the cavities more frequently than zeolites. The traps
above described would seem to belong to the class of melaphyres,
and to resemble especially those of Mansfeld described by Freies-
leben, of Saxony,f and that of Faucogney described by Delesse.
* Naumann ; Lehrbuchder Geognosie i, 599 ; Senft. Classification und Bes-
chreibung der Felsarten. pp. 262 & 272.
f Geognostische Beschreibung des Konigreiches Sachsen ii, 447.
12 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
It is in the latter locality that the ferruginous chlorite, of which
the analysis is quoted above, is found. It not only occurs in the
amygdaloidal varieties of other localities, but, according to Nau-
mann, it is also a constituent of many compact melaphyres. The
following translation is from Naumann's Lehrbuch (I, 600) and is
descriptive of the peculiarities of the melaphyres. It will be seen
at once that it in every particular applies to the melaphyres of
Portage Lake. " The principal characteristic of these rocks is
" founded, on the one hand, on the decided nature of the felspa-
" thic constituent, which when distinctly developed, has always
" been recognized as labradorite, and on the other hand on the cir-
" cumstance that pyroxene is very seldom present in recognizable
" crystals, or grains, and usually cannot be determined miner alogi-
" cally. The melaphyres generally appear as micro- or crypto-
" crystalline rocks and only sometimes have arrived at a distinctly
" granular developement. A third peculiarity is recognizable in
" the tendency which these rocks have to the formation of air-
" cavities and amygdaloidal structure, on which account the mela-
" phyres are very frequently developed as amygdaloids or spilites.
" In the amygdules, which sometimes reach a considerable size,
" and then appear as geodes of varied constitution, the following
" minerals are mostly found : — calcspar or brown-spar, and many
" varieties of the species quartz (chalcedony, carnelian, jasper,
" quartz, amethyst, agate) as also a mineral resembling chlorite or
" green-earth which usually forms the periphery of the amygdules
" like a shell or rind. A similar, soft and green-coloured mineral
" is also often disseminated in the rock in grains and indistinct
" crystals. The zeolites which are so frequent in the amygdaloidal
" basalts, belong to the more rare occurrences in melaphyres pro-
" perly so called. If we now add to these characters the com-
" plete absence of quartz in the form of a rock constituent, the
" predominating reddish-brown to reddish-grey colour of the mass
<c of the rock, which sometimes runs into greenish-grey, dark-
" green and black, and the frequent occurrence of rubellan or
" mica, we shall have tolerably exhausted the general petrographical
" peculiarities of the melaphyres." Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, in his
valuable paper on lithology, refers to this class of rocks as requir-
ing a distinctive name, but he seems unwilling to adopt that of
melaphyre. Since, however, Von Buch, Naumann and Senft*
* My objection to retaining- the name of melaphyre is based upon the fact
that these authors apply the name to different rocks. Brongnart, who invented it,
1866.] MACFARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 13
favor its adoption, and the science of lithology is already well
stocked with terms of by no means general adoption, it would
seem advisable to retain the word melaphyre to denote such rocks
as those above described. With regard to the copper-bearing beds,
the fusibility of the rock, and its transition in places into the
neighbouring rock connects it distinctly with the melaphyres.
This, together with the total absence of crystalline structure, and
its apparently detrital character in places, would lead one to sup-
pose that these beds are melaphyre tuffs, bearing the same relation
to melaphyre, which volcanic tuffs bear to trachytes and basalts.
The trap of the Portage Lake District might therefore be pro-
perly termed granular melaphyre when it is small-grained and
crystalline ; amygdaloidal melaphyre when cavities are present in
a crystalline matrix ; compact melaphyre when the rock is fine-
grained and crystalline ; and tufaceous melaphyre when the matrix
is destitute of crystalline structure.
The rocks which occur to the eastward of the trap last described,
I had no opportunity of examining minutely. They consist pro-
bably however of the same rocks as those above mentioned, alter-
nating with each other for about one and a quarter miles, which is
the distance across the strata from the conglomerate bed of the
Albany and Boston property to the so called vein explored by
the Isle Roy ale, and other mines.
About 260 feet west of the ' Isle Hoy ale Vein,' the bed occurs
upon which the Grand Portage mine is situated. The colour of
the matrix is light-green, thus differing greatly from the beds
hitherto described. It has an uneven earthy fracture, is non-
crystalline, with small white spots here and there through it. It is
fusible and gives water when heated in a glass tube. The amyg-
dules are all of a dark-green colour, and frequently consists exclu-
sively of delessite. Quite as frequently, however, they consist of
that mineral, with a kernel of quartz, or much more seldom of
calcspar. The copper is found oftener in the amygdules than in
the matrix. As in the other beds larger aggregations of crystal-
gave it to black porphyries holding hornblende ; Von Buch and d'Halloy use
the name as synonymous with an augite-porphyry, while finally Naumann and
Senft restrict the term to rocks which contain neither hornblende nor augite,
and are not black in color, as the name melaphyre would imply. Hence I agree
with Bernhard Cotta in rejecting the name, while admitting at the same time
that some term is requisite to designate the important class of anothosite rocks
in which a hydrous mineral (ferruginous chlorite) takes the place of horn-
blende or augite.— T. S. H.— (Editor's Notje.)
14 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
line minerals occur, in which quartz generally preponderates, asso-
ciated with calcspar, prehnite and native copper. Some specks of
native silver sometimes occur in this veinstone. The strike of the
bed is N. 30° E., and the dip about 52° north-westward.
Between the Grand Portage and Isle Royale Yeins the trap is
of the usual character, reddish-grey coloured, with dark-green
grains and spots of delessite impregnating it.
The cupriferous bed of the Isle Royale mine is often of a dark-
chocolate colour similar to that of the Pewabic lode. In other
places it has the character of the Portage lode, being light-green
coloured, non-crystalline and with an uneven fracture, but it is
comparatively free from amygdules.
Trap, as usual, underlies the Isle Royale Yein, and, with other
rocks, fills up the space between it and M abb's vein which lies
about a mile to the south-eastward. One of these is a conglome-
rate resembling that of the Albany and Boston mine, so far as the
nature of the pebbles is concerned. The matrix is very porous,
and in coarse grains, which are in places cemented together by
quartz as well as calcspar.
Mabb's Vein, upon which mining has also been commenced by
the Isle Royale Co., has a matrix of a much more crystalline cha-
racter than any of the cupriferous beds already described. It is
of a dark-green colour, and is impregnated with grains and irre-
gular spots (but not amygdules) of quartz, which is accompanied
by epidote and metallic copper. Sometimes, however, an approach
to the light-green earthy rock of the Isle Royale vein is noticeable.
A short distance to the east of Mabb's vein another conglome-
rate bed is found. The pebbles are porphyritic here also, but con-
tain crystals of quartz as well as of felspar, and the paste is diffi-
cultly fusible before the blow-pipe, fine splinters of it only becoming
glazed. The pebbles do not seem to be so well rounded as in the
other beds.
I had no opportunity of examining any of the rocks further
eastward, which form the base of the trap formation, but since those
already described form part of a series of strata having a vertical
thickness of about 10,000 feet, it may be supposed that they afford
good average specimens of the whole.
There is probably no one point, even in Europe, where within a
limited area, there are to be found such a number of mines, many
of them rich, well appointed and well managed j such a display of
beautiful mining machinery j or such magnificent stamp-works as
1866.] MACPARLANE — ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 15
are to be found within say five miles of the towns of Hancock and
Houghton on Portage Lake. Even the professional visitor, who
has given previous attention to the subject, cannot but be astonished
as he rounds the point beneath these towns, and sails up to them,
at the scene of life and activity which suddenly opens up before
him. Having only spent ten days in the district, it would be im-
possible for me to attempt to describe with a moderate degree of
minuteness even its principal mines. There are at least twelve mines
in operation within a short distance of the lake, and of these the
majority are producing copper in quantity varying from 20 to 120
tons of the pure metal monthly. The mines which have the lar-
gest production are those of the Pewabic lode, and it will be suffi-
cient to refer briefly to their mining and dressing operations.
In exploring the cupriferous bed in the Quincy mine, as in fol-
lowing the other beds in the district, the miner has only its litholo-
gical character to guide him, there being no distinct joints or
walls on either side. The shafts, levels and winzes of the mine
are all opened within the bed so that the amount of dead loork done
is the very least possible. At the 100-fathom level the strike is N.
30° E., and the dip 70° north-westward. The shafts on the Quincy
mine are from 200 to 300 feet apart, and the levels from 72 to 75
feet beneath each other on the incline of the bed, and 60
feet perpendicularly. The width of the bed is from 6 to 30
feet and the average thickness ten feet. According to the
general experience at the mine, the thicker the bed the richer
is the rock in copper. About two-thirds of the area of the bed
is removed as remunerative ; the other third, although it may
contain some copper, is left standing, as unworthy of excava-
tion. The amount of ingot copper yielded by the ground actually
removed in 1864 was 562 lbs. per cubic fathom. Assuming the
sp. gr. of the rock of the lode to be 2.7, it thus yielded 1.4 per
cent. Of course the copper was unequally distributed through
the bed rock, and the true per centage would be at many places
above, and at others below that just mentioned. The bed is exca-
vated by a very judicious combination of over-hand and under-hand
stopping. The rock is removed to the shafts in waggons containing
about one ton each, and hoisted in skips or waggons of a peculiar
shape, running on tracks in the inclined shafts. The contrivance
whereby these skips are emptied on their reaching the surface is
without doubt the simplest and most beautiful anywhere in use.
There are six shafts ; the deepest, No. 4, is 660 feet vertically,
16 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
and about 800 feet on the incline of the bed, below the surface.
The pumps have a six-inch bore with a seven-inch column, but
they only work three hours in twenty-four, so little is the mine
troubled with water. On reaching the surface the bed-rock under-
goes a sorting and about one-third is set aside as worthless. The
other two-thirds are roasted in huge heaps much in the same
manner as iron-stone. The object of this operation is to render
the rock more easily pulverized. After roasting, the larger masses
of copper are sorted out and sent directly to the furnace, where they
yield about 60 per cent. The remainder is forwarded in waggons,
on an inclined tram-way (where the full waggons in descending
pull up the empty ones) to the stamp-work situated close to the lake,
below the village of Hancock. Here Wayne's stamps, Shierrnanns
jiggers and ordinary Cornish buddies are employed in concentra-
ting the ore. Each stamp weighs 900 lbs., and has 16 inches lift.
The stamped rock passes through a sieve made of boiler plate, J-
inch thick. The holes are J inch in diameter, and have a slight
diminishing taper towards the stamps. The latter are stopped
every eleven hours in order that the larger pieces of copper may
be removed from the stamp-box. The stamped ore is discharged
into a shallow run which has an inclination of a half inch in a
foot. From this it comes on to a sieve which is constantly in mo-
tion, has J inch holes, and separates it into coarse and fine work for
the jigger. The fine work in passing down into the jigging sieve
meets an upward current of water which carries away the slimes
from it. The jigging machine, in which the sieve is stationary,
apparently cleans the ore very effectually. A sample of the coarse
ragging from it was given me which assayed 98.6 per cent., while
the skimpings or refuse contained only 0.6 per cent. The fine
ragging from the same machine assayed 89.3 per cent, and the
refuse 0.73 p. c. The product from washing the finer stuff on the
buddies assayed 78.6 per cent, while the tailings from the same
operation gave 0.46 per cent. The whole of the refuse products
of the stamp-work are, however, passed through an adjoining
building, and some part of them worked over. The yield of the
rock treated in the ' stamp-work was, during 1864, 2.96 per cent.
I make no attempt to describe the magnificent machinery of the
Pewabic and Franklin stamp-works where Ball's patent stamps
and washers are employed. To judge, however, from the per-
centage of copper in the refuse products, the work is not so well
done here as in the Quincy stamp-works. With the permission
1866.] MACFARLANE— ON CUPRIFEROUS BEDS. 17
of the superintendent of the Franklin stamp-work, I took several
samples from various parts of the run-house, and from the waste
heap outside, which assayed as follows :
From head of run 4.93 per cent.
" middle of do 3.
« end of do 3.13 "
" a heap immediately outside of run
house 0.66 «
« sandbank 1.00 «
When it is recollected that the yield of the rock treated in the
Franklin stamp-work is only 1.69 per cent, the loss in the refuse
products would appear to he very large. At the stamp-works of
the Albany and Boston Mining Co., Gates's revolving stamps and
Collom's jiggers are employed. This is also the case at the Huron
stamp-work. (The Huron mine is on the Isle Royale bed.) It
appears to be as yet uncertain as to which system of dressing is
the most advantageous, but in view of the experience which is
being acquired in the district almost daily, this cannot long re-
main a matter of doubt. It is, however, singular that in a district
where such an enormous amount of capital is invested in mines
and stamp-works, there should be no provision made for testing
accurately, by the wet process, the various refuse and other pro-
ducts of the ore-dressing operations. It would seem difficult
without such means, to come to a reliable result as to which me-
thod of concentration is the best.
The system of dividing the lands into small sections seems to
have contributed not a little to the rapid developement of the
mines of the Portage Lake district. The sections contain one
square mile of 640 acres, and each of these is subdivided into
four quarters. Some of the best of the mines have no more
length of lode to work upon than may be contained in a quarter
section. As a consequence, the attention and energies of the
mining companies, and their managers, are, on the discovery of a
cupriferous bed, at once turned to exploring and mining in depth.
The opposite system, which prevails on the north shore of the lake,
of having very large mining locations is as detrimental to the pro-
gress of the country as it is to the interests of the owners. The
explorations are carried on over too great an area, they are desul-
tory, are not easily superintended, and seldom yield any definite
result.
Vol. III. b No. 1.
18 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
In concluding this paper, I venture to hope that some of the
facts which it relates concerning the mines of Portage Lake will
be found useful in detecting the presence of remunerative cupri-
ferous beds on the Canadian shore of the lake. The existence of
such there can scarcely be doubted, and it is equally certain that
if the same energy, intelligence and capital were employed in their
developement as on those of Portage Lake, the north shore,
now a wilderness, would soon become studded with towns as flour-
ishing and populous as those which now ornament the south
shore.
Acton Vale, C. E., January 3, 1866.
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
MONTHLY MEETINGS.
At the first monthly meeting convened at the rooms of the
Society on Monday evening September 25, and at the second held
Monday evening October 30, only routine business was done. The
following donations were announced : —
TO THE LIBRARY.
The Statutes of Canada, for 1865 : from the Provincial Govern-
ment.
Journal of Education, L. C. ; from the Superintendent.
United States Coast Survey Report ; from the Superintendent.
Report of the Smithsonian Institute ; from the Director.
Statistics of U. S. Commerce ; from Secretary Chase.
Notes on Selandria Cerasi ; from Prof. Winchell.
Report on the Geological Survey of the Province of Canter-
bury, by Julius Haast, F. G. S. ; from the author.
Animals of N. A., by H. B. Small, (2 copies) ; from the author.
Journal of Prison Discipline, Philadelphia.
Diagnosis of new Gasteropods, by Dr. Stimpson ; from the
author.
Report of the Northern Home for friendless children, Phila-
delphia.
Calendar of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Pre-Historic Man, by Dr. Wilson ; from the author.
Descriptions of new fossils, by Prof. Winchell ; from the author.
Pennsylvania School Report for 1865.
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 19
Report on the Geology of New Brunswick ; from Prof. Hind.
Defenses des Colonies, par Joachim Barrande ; from the author.
And in exchange for the Canadian Naturalist.
Journal of the Society of Arts, London,
Geological Magazine, London.
Quarterly Journal of Science, London.
Journal of the Geological Society, London.
Technologist, London.
Popular Science Review, London.
Journal of the Board of Arts for U. C.
Transactions of the Lit. and Hist. Society of Quebec.
Journal of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa.
Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa,
Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
Silliman's Journal, New Haven, Conn.
Annals of the Lyceum of Nat. Hist., New York.
Proceedings of the Society of Nat. History, Boston, Mass.
The third monthly meeting was held Monday evening November
27 ; the President Dr. Small wood in the chair.
The following donations were announced, and the Society's thanks
voted to the donors : —
TO THE MUSEUM.
A young specimen of the white variety of the Canadian Deer
(Cervus Virginianus) from Mr. W. S. Macfarlane ; Sword, Powder-
horn and Pouch, made by the Mandingoes, from Sierra Leone, from
Commissary General Winter ; Stone Hatchet, &c, found in New
Jersey, from Mr. J. M. Brown ; White-footed Mouse, (Mus leu-
copus, Raff.), from the Cabinet Keeper.
NEW MEMBERS.
Dr. Daniel Wilson, Toronto, and Mr. Westwood, Professor of
Zoology, University of Oxford, were elected honorary members ;
Mr. G. P. Angas, of London, a corresponding member; and
Messrs. Thomas Watson and Thomas Robinson, ordinary mem-
bers.
PROCEEDINGS.
Mr. Alfred Rimmer read a paper on certain proposed altera-
tions of the Game Laws. A discussion ensuing, the subject was
referred to a Committee consisting of Messrs. Drummond, Rimmer
and Watt, when the meeting adjourned.
20 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb,
The fourth monthly meeting was held at the society's rooms on
Monday evening, December 18 ; the President, Dr. Smallwood,
in the chair.
The following donations were announced and thanks voted to the
donors : —
TO THE MUSEUM.
A fine specimen of the American deer (Cervus Virginianus),
from Mr. W. S. Macfarlane ; seven specimens of Central American
birds from Mr. Haig, through Mr. Leeming ; specimen of a South
American turtle-dove from Mr. Struthers ; nine specimens of
Devonian fossil fishes from Orkney, Scotland, from Mr. Barnston.
PROCEEDINGS.
A paper on the natural history of Sanguinaria Canadensis or
Canada blood-root, by Dr. Gribb, of London, was read by the
Secretary.
Principal Dawson afterwards exhibited a number of specimens
of flint implements and fossils from St. Acheul, near Amiens, and
made some observations on the mode of their occurrence in the
* high level gravel,' in the valley of the Somme. He referred to
the investigations of Boucher-de-Perthese, Lyell, and Prestwich,
and quoted a portion of the description of the locality by the
latter geologist. He stated that he had come to the following
conclusions, derived from an examination of the locality and of
the specimens, more especially those in the collection of Mr,
Prestwich :
1. The implements cannot be considered so much as character-
istic of a particular age as of particular work. They are not
spears, or arrows, or hatchets, but picks and diggers, adapted for
digging in the earth, or hollowing wooden canoes. A consideration
of the implements of the American stone age renders it in the high-
est degree improbable that the makers of these tools did not pos-
sess also stone arrows, spears, knives, and other implements. The
application of the idea of an older and ruder stone age to such im-
plements is gratuitous, and contradicted by the evidence afforded
by American antiquities.
2. There are some reasons which induce the belief that these
implements have been used in burrowing small horizontal adits into
the gravel beds of St. Acheul, in search of flints. In this case they
may not be of great antiquity, though certainly older than the
Roman occupation of GauL
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 21
3. They may have been deposited with the gravel. In this case
they belong historically to a very ancient period, though geologi-
cally modern ; and at the time when they were so deposited the
climate of France must have been more severe than at present, its
level different, its surface covered with dense forests, inhabited by
several great quadrupeds now extinct, and the River Somme must
have been much larger than at present, and must have spread its
waters over a wide plain, in which the St. Acheul gravel constitu-
ted a bank or point, inundated in times of flood, and perhaps re-
sorted to by the aborigines as a place for making canoes.
4. Before either of the two theories above stated can be finally
accepted, much more thorough investigations must be made, and
also careful topographical surveys of the whole district. In event
of the view last mentioned being sustained, the question of the
absolute time required will still be difficult to determine, since the
causes of erosion and deposition in operation at the period in ques-
tion must have been very dissimilar from those now in action ; and
other unknown causes, whether sudden or gradual in their opera-
tion, must have intervened to produce the present state of the
country. In this case, however, there would be a strong probabi-
lity that the Rhinoceros tichorhinus and the Mammoth had conti-
nued to exist in Europe down to the period of the implement
making.
It is much to be desired that a series of systematic excavations
in these gravels, and a geological and topographical survey of the
whole basin of the Somme should be undertaken by some scientific
body in France or England, as it may require many years to
enable individual explorers to obtain the data required to settle the
questions that have been raised in connection with these deposits.
The society's thanks were voted to Dr. Gibb and to Dr. Dawson,
and the meeting thereafter adjourned.
The fifth monthly meeting of the Society was held Monday
evening, January 29 ; The President in the chair.
NEW MEMBER.
Mr. Alexander Agassiz, of Cambridge, U. S., was elected a
corresponding member.
PROCEEDINGS.
It was resolved to hold the Annual Conversazione on Thursday
evening, March 1, and a committee was appointed to make the ne-
cessary arrangements.
99
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
Dr. Dawson moved the adoption of the following new by-law (of
which he had given due notice) which was unanimously carried : —
" That ordinary members not resident in Montreal shall be
required to pay an annual subscription of $3, -and shall be entitled
to received the Canadian Naturalist for each year ; the said con-
tribution to be paid in advance, and such members to be design-
ated non-resident ordinary members."
Mr. Rimmer made some remarks on the proposed amendments
to the Game Laws and read the draft of a report. His views had
not the support of the committee and the discussion was therefore
adjourned till next meeting.
Mr. H. G. Vennor presented a catalogue of the birds noted on
the Great Manitoulin Islands, and accompanied it with a few obser-
vations on its physical features. Having given a brief topographical
description of the Island and a sketch of its geology, some
of the silicified fossils of the Clinton group from the neigh-
borhood of Lake Manitou were exhibited; also photographs of
glacial groovings and scratchings on rocks on the south shore of
the island. The following are extracts from the notes then read :
" From the village of Manitouaning, a fair portage road or trail
leads off to the first and largest lake on the Island, Lake Manitou,
or the Lake of the Great Spirit. The portage is about three
miles in length and runs through fine open woods, compara-
tively free from under-brush. For the information of any who
may hereafter visit the Great Manitoulin, I may state that no
canoes are to be had on any of the interior lakes of the island, and
that it is not unusual to paddle for days on these, without even
meeting with an Indian family. Consequently all canoes and
Indians required have to be procured either at Little Current or
Manitouaning. * * * * * Manitouaning Bay is ten
miles long, and reaches to within two and one-half miles of South
Bay, on the South side of the Island, thus nearly cutting off
the unceded portion of the Island.
" The waters of Lake Manitou are beautifully clear, and abound
in fine fish — such as Black-bass, Salmon and Brook-trout,
White-fish, and Perch.
" At the extreme Western end of this lake the Indians cross by
a portage to another large lake called ' Mindemooya' or ' Old
Woman's Lake' ; here canoes have also to be portaged.
" The whole of this portage is strewn over with very fine Clinton
fossils. The cliffs around this lake lie at some distance from the
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 23
shores, so that we were not much surprised at finding a belt of
good and well timbered land, between these cliffs and the shores.
On such land we noticed large crops of corn and potatoes. From
the middle of the lake rises Mindeniooya Island, which is said to
be much infested by snakes. Farther westward we have another
large lake called Kagaweng, and numerous smaller ones generally
distributed over the island.
" Oil wells were being successfully worked at Wequemakong by
the Great Manitoulin Oil Company. The oil from this locality is of
the finest description. An office has been opened in Montreal in
connection with this Company.
" On the interior lakes the bald-eagle and fish-hawk were very
numerous ; the former bird apparently living by the toiling of the
latter species. Ruffed-grouse, Spruce-partridge and Wild-pigeons
were very numerous all through the interior of the island. The
islands in the lakes swarmed with the Silvery and Black-backed
gulls, while the waters resounded with the cries of the Loon.
The Whip-poor-will might always be heard along the rocky
shores and particularly near the mouth of rivers."
On the whole, the reader remarked that the Great Manitoulin
presented many advantages to the settler ; for although perhaps
one third of the island was of a rocky and consequently barren
character, the remaining two-thirds contained land of the finest
description, covered at present either by Indian crops, or splendid
hard-wood forests, which last yielded large quantities of maple
sugar — generally at the rate of 1,000 lbs per acre. Mr. Yennor
concluded by expressing a hope that ere long we might be able to
hear of this great Manitoulin Island as being the home of the
white settler, where he might be seen surrounded by waving fields
of grain, and possessing not only the comforts, but also the luxu-
ries of life.
The sixth monthly meeting of the Society was held at the
rooms of the Society, on Monday evening, February 26 ; the Pre-
sident, Dr. Smallwood, in the chair.
PROCEEDINGS.
" The Committee on the Game Laws submitted the following
Report : —
The Committee on the Game Laws has the honour to report the
following recommendations :
24 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb,
1. That all game legislation be consolidated into one general
act.
2. That the following be the close-terms for the whole Province.
Woodcock and Snipe; — March 1, to August 1.
Ptarmigan and all kinds of Duck; — March 1, to September 1.
Deer of all kinds ; — February 1, to September 1.
Turkey, Pheasant, Partridge, and Grouse of all kinds ; — Feb-
ruary 1, to September 1.
Quail; — February 1, to October 1.
Fur bearing animals ; — April 1, to November 1.
Your Committee does not consider these dates to be absolutely
the best, but rather as compromise close-terms such as would pro-
bably unite different interests.
3. That egging and bird-nesting be prohibited, save on the
North-shore east of the Saguenay, and on the Islands of the Gulf,
where it shall be legal up to June 1 as at present.
4. That there should be no close-term for birds within these
limits. [Except for Eider-ducks.]
5. That this Report be sent to the Fish and Game Club with a
view to a joint effort being made to procure the necessary legis-
lation.
The Committee is of opinion that no action is needed in the
matter of fish, inasmuch as the administration of the Fisheries
Department has been judicious, and the operation of the new
Fishery Act (in itself greatly in advance of similar enactments in
the mother country) promises to be on the whole satisfactory.
Respectfully submitted.
George A. Drummond.
David A. P. Watt.
The Report having been received was thereafter unanimously
adopted, excepting the last clause relating to fish, which was
reserved for discussion.
Mr. A. Rimmer believed that fishing by means of fixed-engines
should be made illegal ; and contended that all such were destruc-
tive of fish and ruinous to salmon grounds. Since they had been
suppressed in England, the yield of salmon had been increased
immensely. He remarked on the demoralizing effects of such nets,
killing and maiming the fish by night and by day ; and asserted that
the destruction of salmon in Upper Canada was owing to these
nets, as the fish were thereby driven off their proper breeding
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 25
grounds. Formerly salmon abounded in the rivers to the west of
Montreal, and formed a staple article of food for the inhabitants ;
but they had long since ceased to exist, and for many years none
had been seen. One solitary fish found its way to the St. Regis
river last season, but the Indians who killed it were unable to tell
its name and looked on it as a sort of turns naturce. He objected
to any fixed obstacles being placed in the way of fish going to their
spawning grounds, and said that since these had been abolished in
England, salmon could there be purchased cheaper than in Canada.
As to using seines for catching fish, they were used in England,
and our Canadian rivers were much better adapted to their use.
One river that he knew, the Jacques C artier, in which salmon had
been exterminated, now abounded with these fish, the result of care
and of allowing a free passage to the spawning ground ; the Murray
river too formerly abounded with salmon, but they had been ex-
terminated by brush-weirs, and now a single fish was the season's
catch. The owners of brush-weirs at Murray Bay had told him
that formerly they took herrings by means of them in such abun-
dance that they had to use them for manure ; while now they got
very few herrings or fish of any kind, a result not to be wondered
at as he had found these weirs full of herring-fry and other small
fish ; in one brush-weir upwards of five thousand smolts had been
killed in one tide.
Mr. Drummond maintained that the only question at issue was
how to catch for the market, at the smallest expense, the greatest
weight of salmon, making sure to leave in the rivers, as well an ample
supply for keeping up the breed as all the immature fish. He argued
that these ends could most easily be attained by means of fixed-
engines in the salt-water (where seining was practically out of the
question), and had in fact, to a considerable extent, been already
attained by the Canadian nets hitherto used, inasmuch as the
numbers of fish in our salmon-rivers had of late years vastly
increased. He asserted that the British modes of fishing were
much more destructive than the Canadian, and quoted statements
to prove that salmon had not increased in the United Kingdom
under recent legislation and that they were very much dearer there
than here.
Dr. Dawson said that the chief objection which he saw could
be urged against brush-weirs was their inefficiency ; they captured
too few fish, and were rude clumsy implements which fish soon
learned to avoid. He thought a good deal of misapprehension
26 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
existed as to the kinds of fish caught in them, his observations led
him to believe that no salmon- or herring-fry nor other immature
fish were taken by them ; at least he had never seen such though
he had examined several weirs.
Mr. Watt stated that the Fisheries Act left the Commissioner
of Crown Lands free to allow or to disallow any sort of net or com-
bination of nets, and that he and his subordinates might be sup-
posed to understand their own business better than amateurs and
to have the interests of the fisheries as much at heart. He said
that so far from fixed-emnnes beino- abolished in Britain it was
perfectly lawful to use them even in fresh-water and for salmon,
and quoted official advertisements approved at the Home Office in
January last, containing regulations for the guidance of salmon
fishermen using stake-nets, bag-nets, stake-weirs and fly-nets, autho-
rizing meshes much smaller than ours, and netting five weeks later ;
he averred that the modes of salmon fishing pursued in Britain
were much more destructive than that pursued here, and would,
owing (among other causes) to the different physical conformation of
Lower Canada, empty our rivers in a few years if practised by
us. He denied that the salmon nets now in use were in any way
responsible for the evils complained of. His observations on
brush-weirs coincided with those of Dr. Dawson. Having examined
many such he had found neither smolts nor immature fish of any
kind ; their contents consisted chiefly of tomcods, sand-launce,
caplin, sardines, and smelts — some of which fish had often been
confounded with salmon-fry. As regulated by the Act, Mr. Watt
considered these weirs should be harmless enough modes of
fishing.
Mr. A. Murray (President of the Game Protection Club)
said that as this matter had been taken up by the Society, it was
important that its decision should be a correct one and based on a
sufficient knowledge of the subject. In the Game Protection
Societies of Montreal and Quebec the opinion was almost unani-
mous against fishing by means of fixed-engines. He had with him
a number of authorities on the subject and was prepared to enter
upon it, but as the discussion was not likely to be a short one, he
preferred to adopt the suggestion already thrown out and allow the
matter to lie over until next meeting. The report of the Montreal
Fish and Game Club would be issued in course of a week or two ;
it would discuss the subject at some length and he would see that
18G6.]
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
27
Oxford University
a copy of it was placed in the hands of each member of the
Society.
Further discussion was accordingly adjourned.
Mr. J. F. Whiteaves then made a communication u On certain
new additions to the Society's museum."
He remarked that the few statements which he had been
requested to make would refer only to the collection he had
brought from England during the summer of 1865, and that he
did not wish that any remarks he might offer concerning the
specimens should be looked upon as the result of original investi-
gation, or that they had any claim to novelty.
The following is a list of the donations in question, which have
not previously been recorded : —
Prof. Rolleston, Skin of the grey headed kalong or
flying-fox (Pterojms polio ceplialus, Tem-
minck).
Cast of the head of the dodo, from the
specimen in the Oxford University Mu-
seum. #
Two cuttle-fishes, (Loligo vulgaris), in
spirits.
Three cases of crustaceans from the
Mediterranean (mostly brachyurous
decapods) consisting of forty-five speci-
mens, of twenty-six species.
Two cases of exotic insects, mostly
coleoptera, some of them from Central
Africa, as follows :
Coleoptera,
Hymenoptera,
Orthoptera,
Hemiptera,
From the late Rev.
F. W. Hope, through
Professor Westwood,
Oxford University.
84
species,
1
«
4
cc
15
cc
Mr. G. F.
Angas,
London.
Prof. Tennant,
King's College,
London.
Seven species of shells, two of bryozoa,
three of annelida, three of echinodermata,
four of corals, and four of sponges ; all
from Southern Australia.
One lepas from California.
Six species of fossils from the Upper
Chalk of Gravesend, Kent.
28
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Feb.
Mr. Jas. Parker, Jr.,
Oxford.
Mr. W. E.
Jameson,
London.
Mr. B.
S. Standen,
London.
Mr. J. F. Whiteaves.
Six species of fossils from the English
Upper Silurian, and five from the Purbeck
beds of Dorsetshire.
Fossils from the Oxfordshire oolites,
the greensand of Farringdon (Berkshire)
and from the Norfolk Crag; in all eight
species.
Fossils from the Great Oolite of Min-
chinhampton, Gloucestershire ; and from
the Inferior Oolite of the neighbourhood
of Cheltenham. Altogether ten species.
Two specimens of the Sagouin, (Jac-
chus vulgaris Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Hapa-
lesjacchus Illiger,) from Brazil.
One skin of the Malabar squirrel 5
(Sciurus maximus).
Six species of exotic shells.
Five species of Echinodermata.
One coral.
A fine specimen of the Balanus tulipa,
from Australia.
A number of European fossils, includ-
ing a series of fishes- from the Old Bed
Sandstone of Scotland : the Carboniferous
deposits of Staffordshire, &c. : the Permian
of Durham : the Lias at Lyme Begis : the
Oolites of Oxfordshire : the Chalk of
Kent : the Eocene of Monte Bolca, near
Verona : and the Crag of Norfolk.
Estimate of this collection.
Upper Silurian,
11
species,
Devonian,
1
n
Carboniferous,
14
a
Permian,
1
a
Lias,
12
ic
Oolites,
59
it
Chalk,
27
a
Tertiary,
40
iC
Post-tertiary,
1
u
Altogether
166
snecies,
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 29
From Principal Fourteen species of Echmodermata from
Dawson, (in exchange Norway.
for duplicate speci- A series of Tertiary fossils, consisting
mens brought from of forty-one species from the Eocene and
England). Miocene of Paris; of eight species from
the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene of
the United States ; and five from the
English Pliocene.
Specimen of Dictyoncma Wcbsteri,
from the Upper Silurian shales of Nova
Scotia.
Mr. Whiteaves said : — In the few remarks which I propose
making on these specimens, I shall adopt the ordinary zoological
classification.
A pair of specimens of the Sagouin, Jacclius vulgaris of Geoffroy
St. Hilaire, ITapales jacclius of Uliger, were exhibited. They
were stated to belong to the order Quadrumana, a group which
includes the Baboons, the Apes, the Monkeys generally, and the
Lemurs. The Sagouin is one of the American or Platyrhine
monkeys, a group peculiar to the New World, and one which is char-
acterized by the flatness and broadness of the nose, and the width
of its septum, which makes the nostrils appear far apart from each
other on each side of the nose. The species in question has re-
ceived several popular names. It is the Sagouin or Sangiin of
Edwards and of other authors ; the Ouistiti of Buffon and of
French naturalists; the striated monkey of Pennant; while by
some it is called loosely the Marmoset. It is a small species, not
much larger than some squirrels, and is very squirrel like in its
habits. It inhabits the forests of Guiana and Brazil, to some
extent is omnivorous in its habits, but its favourite food, in a wild
Btate, is said to be the banana. It has two tufts of hair round the
ears, its tail is long but not prehensile.
The grey-headed flying-fox, (Ptcropus poliocqylialus) belongs
to the order Cheiroptera, which includes the Bats, the Yampyres,
&c. The ordinary bats are for the most part insectivorous in their
habits, while the flying-foxes, from the blunt tubercular crowns of
their molars, were supposed to be essentially frugivorous. All
the members of the order, however, are more or less omni-
vorous, and it was found that the Pteropus in confinement fed
readily on the flesh of birds. They derive their name of flying-
foxes from the resemblance of the head to that of a fox. Their
30 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
jaws are more elongated than are those of the bats and vampyres.
Probably the idea of the harpy was derived from animals of this
order, and it has been thought likely by some writers that the
bat of the Bible was a species of Pteropus.
The Malabar squirrel (Sciurus Maximus) is a true squirrel and
belongs to the genus Sciurus as restricted by modern zoological
writers. It inhabits the Malabar coast, and is chiefly remarkable
for the peculiar colouring of its fur. It is said to prefer living
among palm trees, and to be very fond of the milky juice of the
cocoa-nut, as well as of the more solid part of the fruit.
A cast of the skull of the Dodo was exhibited, taken from the
specimen in the Oxford University Museum. The species, of
which only a few fragments of the skeleton, &c, are preserved,
formerly inhabited the Mauritius, and is supposed to have been
extinct for about 200 years. Considerable discussion has taken
place amongst naturalists as to its supposed affinities ; some have
thought that it should be classed in the order Raptores, and placed
near the Vultures ; others again have regarded it as belonging to
the group Cursores, on account of the rudimentary character of
its wings. Messrs. Strickland and Melville, in a comparatively
recent treatise on this bird, have placed it among the pigeons, and
consider that its nearest living ally is the Didunculus of the Navi-
gator's Islands, a bird which, however, can fly tolerably well. Bones
of three other species of large wingless birds from the Island of
Rodriguez, an island east of those of Bourbon and of the Mauri-
tius, are in the possession of the Zoological Society of London.
As these last three birds, and the Dodo, could hardly pass from
one island to another, being provided with rudimentary wings
only, it has been supposed by some naturalists, that the islands of
Bourbon, of the Mauritius, and of Rodriguez, at one time formed
part of a great continent, which is now submerged beneath the
waves of the Indian Ocean.
Two letters were read from Mr. G. A. Rowell, the Assistant
Curator of the Oxford University Museum, in which a contribution
of skins of mammals and birds was promised by the professors of
geology and zoology, in the spring of 1866.
Several species of South Australian Molluscahave been presented
by Mr. G. F. Angas, and some miscellaneous exotic species by Mr.
Whiteaves. One of the S. Australian shells is a Solemya (S. Aus-
tralis) interesting as closely resembling a species ($. velum, Say,)
found on the Atlantic coast of the United States.
1866.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 31
Two species (four specimens) of Bryozoa have also been received
from Mr. Angas, who collected them in S. Australia, two of them
belonging to the genus Retepora. The difference between the
hardparts of a bryozoon and those of a true coral was explained ;
and it was shewn that the stony cells of bryozoa are destitute
of the radiating calcareous partitions usually seen in the cells of
corals.
An interesting named series of crustaceans from the Mediter-
ranean, has been received from Mr. Westwood, the Pro-
fessor of Zoology in the University of Oxford. They formed a
part of the fine collection presented by the late Rev. F. W. Hope
to that University. All of them belong to the order Decapoda,
in which order all the stalk-eyed Crustacea of which it is composed
have the whole of the thoracic segments united, with the head,
into a single mass, " incased in a common shell, with no traces of
segmentary division." Their branchial organs are inclosed within
a cavity on each side of the cephalo-thorax, and their true tho-
racic legs are nearly always ten in number, whence the name of the
order. One of the species, Scyllarus Arctus, belongs to the ma-
crurous or long-tailed division of the Decapods, a division to
which Shrimps, Prawns and Lobsters belong. The remainder of
the twenty-six species are brachyurous or short-tailed decapods,
and are mostly peculiar kinds of crab.
A beautiful series of exotic insects has been presented by Prof.
Westwood. Among the most noticeable of the beetles are seven
species from Tropical Africa, collected by some of the members of
Dr. Livingstone's expedition. Of these, Tcxius Megerki is a
fine large carnivorous ground beetle, belonging to the family
Carabidse. A fine pair of the rare Dynastes taurus has been
received, a genus which is allied to the well known Hercules beetle
of Brazil, and belongs to the family Dynastidae of the lamellicornes.
Other examples of the lamellicorn beetles from Tropical Africa are
a pair of the large Rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes boas, and of
Copris gigas, an insect not very dissimilar to the sacred beetle
(Ateuchus saccr) of the Egyptians. The Gnathocera Iris, a bril-
liant green cockchafer, aud the G. suturalis, another cockchafer
with black longitudinal stripes on a light olive green ground, are
also representatives of the lamellicornes of Tropical Africa. There
remain two specimens of a Calandra, a large and curious weevil, also
Tetrognatha gigas, from the same country, which is a large longi-
corn species. Attention was called to a series of Buprestidse,
32 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
from India, New Holland, Brazil, &c. These beetles surpass all
others of their class in the beauty of their metallic colouring, and
are used at the present day as jewelry. Other curious forms are
the Goliath beetles, Goliathus (CeratorrMna) guttata and G. aurata,
a pair of each of which, from Cape Palmas, have been received
from Prof. Westwood. The two species indicated are not how-
ever among the larger forms of the group, but are remarkable for
beauty of colour. These insects, like the crustaceans, were part of
the Rev. F. "W. Hope's collection, presented by him to the Uni-
versity of Oxford. Mr. Angas has kindly presented a series of
annelida, echinodermata, corals and sponges, from S. Australia ;
Mr. Whiteaves, several interesting exotic echinodermata and corals ;
and Principal Dawson a collection of Norwegian echinodermata.
The Society's collection of fossils previously consisted of a little
more than 300 species, and was very deficient in fossil fishes. Pains
have been taken to supply this deficiency, and with some success,
twenty-six species, from rocks of various ages, having been added to
the collection. The latest classification of recent fishes was briefly
explained, and specimens of fossil fishes, from Palaeozoic, Meso-
zoic and tertiary rocks, were exhibited, and their affinities de-
scribed. It was shewn that the Palaeozoic fishes in point of orga-
nization, belong to a very high order among fishes, a fact which
by Hugh Miller and others has been thought to militate against
Mr. Darwin's views as to the origin of species. Some of the
Palaeozoic fishes have many reptilian characteristics. Throughout
the Palaeozoic and in the older mesozoic age, ganoids, and sharks
(selachians with placoid scales) were the dominant race of fishes,
and true bony fishes (teleosts), which are the prevalent forms now
in existence, do not date farther back than the cretaceous period. A
number of miscellaneous European fossils were exhibited, and some
of the more interesting were explained verbally somewhat in detail.
It was stated that about 250 species had been added to the Society's
collection of fossils, the result of last summer's collecting in England.
A special vote of thanks was unanimously voted by the Society
to each of the donors of the specimens referred to, also a vote of
thanks to Mr. Whiteaves for his zeal in collecting.
1866.] DAWSON — ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 33
COMPARISONS OF THE ICEBERGS OF BELLE-ISLE
WITH THE GLACIERS OF 3IONT BLANC,
WITH REFERENCE TO THE BOULDER-CLAY OF CANADA.
By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., Principal of McGill College.
The snow-clad hills of Greenland send down to the sea great
glaciers, which in the bays and fiords of that inhospitable region,
form at their extremities huge cliffs of everlasting ice, and
annually ' calve,' as the seamen say, or give off a great progeny of
ice islands which, slowly drifted to the southward by the Arctic
current, pass along the American coast, diffusing a cold and bleak
atmosphere, until they melt in the warm waters of the Gulf
stream. Many of these bergs enter the Straits of Belle-Isle, for the
Arctic current clings closely to the coast, and a part of it seems
to be deflected into the Gulf of St. Lawrence through this passage,
carrying with it many large bergs.
Mr. Vaughan, late superintendent of the Light-house at Belle-
Isle, has kept a register of icebergs for several years. He states
that for ten which enter the straits, fifty drift to the southward,
and that most of those which enter pass inward on the
north side of the island, drift toward the western end of the
straits, and then pass out on the south of the island, so that the
straits seem to be merely a sort of eddy in the course of the bergs.
The number in the straits varies much in different seasons of
the year. The greatest number are seen in spring, especially in
May and June ; and toward autumn and in the winter very
few remain. Those which remain until autumn, are reduced to
mere skeletons ; but if they survive until winter, they again grow
in dimensions, owing to the accumulations upon them of snow
and new ice. Those that we saw early in July were large and
massive in their proportions. The few that remained when we
returned in September, were smaller in size and cut into fantastic
and toppling pinnacles. Yaughan records that on the 30th of
May, 1858, he counted in the Straits of Belle-Isle 496 bergs,
the least of them sixty feet in height, some of them half a mile
long and two hundred feet high. Only one-eighth of the volume
of floating ice appears above water, and many of these great bergs
may thus touch the ground in a depth of thirty fathoms or more,
so that if we imagine four hundred of them moving up and down
Vol. III. c No. 1.
34 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
under the influence of the current, oscillating slowly with the
motion of the sea, and grinding on the rocks and stone-covered
bottom at all depths from the centre of the channel, we may form
some conception of the effects of these huge polishers of the sea-
floor.
Of the bergs which pass outside of the straits, many ground on
the banks off Belle-Isle. V aughan has seen a hundred large bergs
aground at one time on the banks, and they ground on various
parts of the banks of Newfoundland, and all along the coast of
that island. As they are borne by the deep-seated cold current,
and are scarcely at all affected by the wind, they move somewhat
uniformly in a direction from N. E. to S. W., and when they
touch the bottom the striation or grooving which they produce
must be in that direction.
In passing through the straits in July, we saw a great number
of bergs, some were low and flat-topped with perpendicular sides,
others were concave or roof-shaped like great tents pitched on the
sea ; others were rounded in outline or rose into towers and
pinnacles. Most of them were of a pure dead white like loaf
sugar, shaded with pale bluish green in the great rents and recent
fractures. One of them seemed as if it had grounded and then
overturned, presenting a flat and scored surface covered with sand
and earthy matter.
At present we wish to regard the icebergs of Belle-Isle in their
character of geological agents. Viewed in this aspect, they are
in the first place parts of the cosmical arrangements for equalizing
temperature, and for dispersing the great accumulations of ice in
the Arctic regions, which might otherwise unsettle the climatic
and even the static equilibrium of our globe, as they are believed
by some imaginative physicists and geologists to have done in the
so-called glacial period. If the ice islands in the Atlantic, like
lumps of ice in a pitcher of water, chill our climate in spring,
they are at the same time agents in preventing a still more serious
secular chilling which might result from the growth without limit
of the Arctic snow and ice. They are also constantly employed in
wearing down the Arctic land, and aided by the great northern
current from Davis's Straits, in scattering its debris of stones,
boulders and sand over the banks along the American coast.
Incidentally to this work, they smooth and level the higher parts
of the sea bottom, and mark it with furrows and striae indicative
of the direction of their own motion.
1866.] DAWSON — ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 35
When we examine a chart of the American coast, and observe
the deep channel and hollow submarine valleys of the Arctic cur-
rent, and the sand-banks which extend parallel to this channel
from the great bank of Newfoundland to Cape Cod, we cannot
avoid the conclusion that the Arctic current and its ice have great
power both of excavation and deposition. On the one hand, deep
hollows are cut out where the current flows over the bottom, and
on the other, great banks are heaped up where the ice thaws and
the force of the current is abated. I have been much struck
with the worn and abraded appearance of stones and dead shells
taken up from the banks off the American coast, and am convinced
that an erosive power comparable to that of a river carrying
sand over its bed, and materially aided by the grinding action of
ice, is constantly in action under the waters of the Arctic current.
The unequal pressure resulting from this deposition and abrasion,
is not improbably connected with the slight earthquakes experienced
in Eastern America, and also with the slow depression of the
coast ; and if we go back to that earliest of all geological periods
when the Laurentian rocks of Sir Win. Logan, constituting
the Labrador Coast and the Laurentide Hills, were alone above
water, we may even attribute in no small degree to the Arctic
current of that old time the heaping up of those thousands of feet
of deposits which now constitute the great range of the Alleghany
and Appalachian mountains, and form the breast-bone of the
American continent.
But such large speculations might soon carry us far from Belle-
Isle, and to bring us back to the American coast and to the
domain of common things, we may note that a vast variety of
marine life exists in the cold waters of the Arctic current, and
that this is one of the reasons of the great and valuable fisheries
of Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, regions in which
the sea thus becomes the harvest field of much of the human
population. On the Arctic current and its ice also floats to the
southward the game of the sealers of St. John and the whalers of
Gaspe. The distance that some of these creatures come, is shown
by the fact that I once found upon the skin of a whale killed by the
Gaspe fishermen, a species of acorn-shell (Coronula regince, Darwin,)
supposed to be peculiar to the Pacific, an evidence that the crea- '
tare had navigated the Arctic channels from Behring's Straits to
be slain in the gulf of Saint Lawrence.
We may now proceed to connect these statements as to the distri-
36 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
bution of icebergs, with the glaciated condition of our continents,
with the remarkable fact that the same effects now produced by
the ice and the Arctic current in the strait of Belle-Isle and the
deep-current channel off the American coast, are visible all over
the North American and European land north of forty degrees of
latitude, and that there is evidence that the St. Lawrence valley
itself was once a gigantic Belle-Isle, in which thousands of bergs
worked perhaps for thousands of years, grinding and striating its
rocks, cutting out its deeper parts and heaping up in it quantities
of northern debris. Out of this fact of the so-called glaciated
condition of the surface of our continents, has however arisen one
of the great controversies of modern geology. While all admit
the action of ice in distributing and arranging the materials which
constitute the last coating which has been laid upon the surface
of our continents, some maintain that land glaciers have done the
work, others that sea-borne icebergs have been the agents employed.
As in some other controversies, the truth seems to lie between the
extremes. Glaciers are slow, inactive and limited in their sphere.
Icebergs are locomotive and far-travelled, extending their action
to great distances from their sources. So far, the advantages are
in favor of the iceberg. But the work which the glacier does is
done thoroughly, and time and facilities being given, it may be
done over wide areas. Again, the iceberg is the child of the
o-lacier, and therefore the agency of the one is indirectly that of
the other. Thus, in any view we must plough with both of these
o'eoloo-ical oxen, and the controversy becomes like that old one of
the Neptunists and Plutonists, which has been settled by admitting
both water and heat to have been instrumental in the formation
of rocks.
Our country is one of those which have been most thoroughly
glaciated, and in the midst of these controversies a geologist
resident here should have some certain doctrine as to the
question whether at that period, geologically recent, which we
call the Post-pliocene period, Canada was raised to a great height
above the sea, and covered like Greenland with a mantle of per-
petual ice, or whether it was, like the strait of Belle-Isle and the
banks of Newfoundland, under water, and annually ground over
by icebergs. A great advocate of the glacier theory has said that
we cannot properly appreciate his view without exploring
thoroughly the present glaciers of Greenland and ascertaining
their effects. This I have not had opportunity to do, but I have
1866.] DAWSON — ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 37
endeavoured to do the next best thing by passing as rapidly as
possible from the icebergs of Belle-Isle to the glaciers of Mont
Blanc, and by asking the question whether Canada was in the
post^pliocene period like the present Belle-Isle or the present Mont
Blanc, or whether it partook of the character of both ?
Transporting ourselves then to the monarch of the Alps, let us
suppose we stand upon the Flegere, a spur of the mountains
fronting Mont Blanc, and commanding a view of the entire group.
From this point the western end of the range presents the rounded
summit of Mont Blanc proper, flanked by the lower eminences of
the Dome and Aiguille de Goute, which rise from a broad and
uneven plateau of neve or hard snow, sending down to the plain
two great glaciers or streams of ice, the Bossons and Tacony
glaciers. Eastward of Mont Blanc the neve or snow plateau is
penetrated by a series of sharp points of rock or aiguilles, which
stretch along in a row of serried peaks, and then give place to a
deep notch through which flows the greatest of all the glaciers of
this side of Mont Blanc, the celebrated Mer de Glace, directly
in front of our stand-point. To the left of this is another mass
of aiguilles, culminating in the Aiguille Verte, only recently
ascended by Mr. Whymper, of melancholy notoriety in connection
with the fatal ascent of the Metterhorn. This second group of
needles descends into the long and narrow Glacier of Argentiere,
and beyond this we see in the distance the Glacier and Aiguille de
Tour. As seen from this point it is evident that the whole
system of the Mont Blanc glaciers originates in a vast mantle of
snow capping the ridge of the chain, and extending about twenty
miles in length with a breadth of about five miles. This mass of
snow being above the limits of perpetual frost, would go on increasing
from year to year, except so far as it might be diminished by the
fall of avalanches from its sides, were it not that its plasticity is
sufficient to enable the frozen mass to glide slowly down the valleys,
changing in its progress into an icy stream, which descending to
the plain melts at its base and discharges itself in a torrent of
white muddy water. The Mont Blanc chain sends forth about a
dozen of large glaciers of this kind, besides many smaller ones.
Crossing the valley of Chamouni, and ascending the Montanvert
to a height of about 6,000 feet, let us look more particularly at
one of these glaciers, the Mer de Glace. It is a long valley with
steer/ sides, about half a mile wide and filled with ice, which
presents a general level or slightly inclined surface, traversed with
38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
innumerable transverse cracks or crevasses, penetrating apparently
to the bottom of the glacier, and with slippery sloping edges of
moist ice threatening at every step to plunge the traveller into the
depths below. Still the treacherous surface is daily crossed by
parties of travellers apparently without any accident. The whole
of the ice is moving steadily along the slope on which it rests, at
the rate of eight to ten miles daily ; the rate of motion is less in
winter and greater in summer ; and farther down, where the glacier
goes by the name of the Glacier du Bois, and descends a steeper
slope, its rapidity is greater ; and at the same time by the opening
of immense crevasses its surface projects in fantastic ridges and
pinnacles. The movements and changes in the ice of these
glaciers are in truth very remarkable, and show a mobility and
plasticity which at first sight we shoald not have been prepared to
expect in a solid like ice. The crevasses become open or closed,
curved upwards or downwards, perpendicular or inclined, accord-
ing to the surface upon which the glacier is moving, and the whole
mass is crushed upward or flattens out, its particles evidently
moving on each other with much the same result as would take
place in a mass of thick mud similarly moving. On the surface
of the ice there are a few boulders and many stones, and in places
these accumulate in long irregular bands indicating the lines of
junction of the minor ice streams coming in from above to join
the main glacier. At the sides are two great mounds of rubbish,
much higher than the present surface of the glacier. They are
called the lateral moraines, and consist of boulders, stones, gravel
and sand, confusely intermingled, and for the most part retaining
their sharp angles. This mass of rubbish is moved downward by
the glacier, and w\th the stones constituting the central moraine,
is discharged at the lower end, accumulating there in the mass of
detritus known as the terminal moraine.
Glaciers have been termed rivers of ice ; but there is one
respect in which they differ remarkably from rivers. They are
broad above and narrow below, or rather their width above cor-
responds to the drainage area of a river. This is well seen in a
map of the Mer de Glace. From its termination in the Glacier
du Bois to the top of the Mer de Glace proper, a distance of about
three and a half miles, its breadth does not exceed half a mile,
but above this point it spreads out into three great glaciers, the
Geant, the du Chaud and the Talefre, the aggregate width of
which is six or seven miles. The snow and ice of a large interior
1866.] DAWSON — ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 39
table-land or series of wide valleys are thus emptied ' into one
narrow ravine, and pour their whole accumulations through the
Mer de Glace. Leaving however the many interesting phenomena
connected with the motion of glaciers, and which have been so
well interpreted by Saussure, Agassiz, Forbes, Hopkins, Tyndall
and others, we may consider their effects on the mountain valleys
in which they operate —
1. — They carry quantities of debris from the hill-tops and
mountain valleys downward into the plains. From every peak,
cliff and ridge, the frost and thaw ar& constantly loosening stones
and other matters which are swept by avalanches to the surface of
the glacier, and constitute lateral moraines. When two or more
glaciers unite into one, these become medial moraines, and at
length are spread over and through the whole mass of the ice ;
eventually all this material, including stones of immense gize, as
well as fine sand and mud, is deposited in the terminal moraine or
carried off by the streams.
2. — They are mills for grinding and triturating rock. The
pieces of rock in the moraine are, in the course of their movement,
crushed against one another and the sides of the valley, and
are cracked and ground as if in a crushing-mill. Farther the
stones on the surface of the glacier are ever falling into crevasses,
and thus reach the bottom of the ice, where they are further
ground against one another and the floor of rock. In the
movement of the glacier these stones seem in some cases to come
again to the surface, and their remains are finally discharged in
the terminal moraine, which is the waste-heap of this great mill.
The fine material which has been produced, the flour of the mill,
so to speak, becomes diffused in the water which is constantly
flowing from beneath the glacier, and for this reason all the
streams flowing from glaciers are .turbid with whitish sand and
mud.
The Arve which drains the glaciers of the north side of Mont
Blanc, carries its burden of mud into the Rhone, which sweeps it
with the similar material of many other Alpine streams into the
Mediterranean, to aid in filling up the bottom of that sea, whose
blue waters it discolours for miles from the shore, and to increase
its own ever enlarging delta which encroaches on the sea at the
rate of about half a mile per century. The upper waters of the
Rhone, laden with similar material, are filling up the Lake of
Geneva ; and the great deposit of ' loess ' in the alluvial plain of
40 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
the Rhine, about which Gaul and German have contended since
the dawn of European history, is of similar origin. The mass of
material which has thus been carried off from the Alps, would
suffice to build up a great mountain chain. Thus by the action
of ice and water —
" The mountain falling cometh to naught
And the rock is removed out of its place."
Many observers who have commented on these facts have taken
it for granted that the mud thus sent off from glaciers, and which
is so much greater in amount than the matter remaining in their
moraines, must be ground from the bottom of the glacier valleys,
and hence have attributed to these glaciers great power of cutting-
out and deepening their valleys. But this is evidently an error,
just as it would be an error to suppose the flour of a grist-mill
ground out of the mill stones. Glaciers it is true groove and
striate and polish the rocks over which they move, and especially
those of projecting points and slight elevations in their beds,
but the material which they grind up is principally derived from
the exposed frost-bitten rocks above them, and the rocky floor
under the glacier is merely the nether mill-stone against which
these loose stones are crushed. The glaciers in short can scarcely
be regarded as cutting agents at all, in so far as the sides and
bottoms of their beds are concerned, and in the valleys which the
old glaciers have abandoned, it is evident that the torrents which
have succeeded them have far greater cutting power.
The glaciers have their periods of advance and of recession.
A series of wet and cool summers causes them to advance and
encroach on the plains, pushing before them their moraines, and
even forests and human habitations. In dry and warm summers
they shrink and recede. Such changes seem to have occurred in
by-gone times on a gigantic scale. All the valleys below the pre-
sent glaciers, present traces of former glacier action. Even the
Jura mountains seem at one time to have had glaciers. Large
blocks from the Alps have been carried across the intervening
valley and lodged at great heights on the slopes of the Jura, lead-
ing the majority of the Swiss and Italian geologists to believe that
even this great valley and the basin of Lake Leman were once
filled with glacier ice. But unless we can suppose that the Alps
were then vastly higher than at present, this seems scarcely to be
physically possible, and it seems more likely that the conditions
were just the reverse of those supposed, namely, that the low land
1866.] DAWSON— ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 41
was submerged and that the valley of Lake Lenian was a strait
like Belle-Isle, traversed by powerful currents and receiving ice-
bergs from both Jurassic and Alpine glaciers, and probably from
further north. One or other supposition is required to account
for the appearances, which may be explained on either view.
The European hills may have been higher and colder, and changes
of level elsewhere may have combined with this to give a cold
climate ; or on the other hand, a great submergence may have left
the hills as islands, and may have so reduced the temperature by
the influx of Arctic currents and ice, as to enable the Alpine
glaciers to descend to the level of the sea. Now we have evidence
of such submergence in the beds of sea-shells and travelled boulders
scattered over Europe, while we also have evidence of contempo-
raneous glaciers in their traces on the hills of Wales and Scotland
and elsewhere, where they do not now occur.
I have long maintained that in America all the observed facts
imply a climate no colder than that which would have resulted
from the subsidence which we know to have occurred in the
temperate latitudes in the post-pliocene period, and though I would
not desire to speak so positively about Europe, I confess to a
strong impression that the same is the case there, and that the
casing of glacier ice imagined by many geologists, as well as the
various hypotheses which have been devised to account for it and
to avoid the mechanical, meteorological and astronomical difficulties
attending it, are alike gratuitous and chimerical, as not being at
all required to account for observed, facts and being contradictory,
when carefully considered, to known physical laws as well as
geological phenomena.*
Carrying with me a knowledge of the phenomena of the glacial
drift as they exist in North America, and of the modern ice drift
or its shores, I was continually asking myself the question — To
what extent do the phenomena of glacier drift and erosion resemble
these ? and standing on the moraine of the Bosson glacier, which
struck me as more like boulder clay than anything else I saw in
the Alps, with the exception of some recent avalanches, I jotted
down what appeared to me to be the most important points of
difference. They stand thus : —
1. — Glaciers heap up their debris in abrupt ridges. Floating
* Canadian Naturalist, Vols, viii and ix. Geological Magazine, December,
1865.
42 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
ice sometimes does this, but more usually spreads its load in a
more or less uniform sheet.
2. — The material of moraines is all local. Icebergs carry their
deposits often to great distances from their sources.
3. — The stones carried by glaciers are mostly angular, except
where they have been acted on by torrents. Those moved by
floating ice are more often rounded, being acted on by the waves
and by the abrading action of sand drifted by currents.
4. — In the marine glacial deposits mud is mixed with stones
and boulders. In the case of land glaciers most of this mud is
carried off by streams and deposited elsewhere.
5. — The deposits from floating ice may contain marine shells.
Those of glaciers cannot, except where, as in Greenland and Spits-
bergen, glaciers push their moraines out into the sea.
6. — It is of the nature of glaciers to flow in the deepest ravines
they can find, and such ravines drain the ice of extensive areas
of mountain land. Icebergs on the contrary act with greatest
ease on flat surfaces or slight elevations in the sea bottom.
7. — Glaciers must descend slopes and must be backed by large
supplies of perennial snow. Icebergs act independently, and being
water-borne may work up slopes and on level sufaces.
8. — Glaciers striate the sides and bottoms of their ravines very
unequally, acting with great force and effect only on those places
where their weight impinges most heavily. Icebergs on the con-
trary being carried by constant currents and over comparatively
flat surfaces, must striate and grind more regularly over large
areas, and with less reference to local inequalities of surface.
9. — The direction of the stria? and grooves produced by glaciers
depends on the direction of valleys. That of icebergs on the
contrary depends upon the direction of marine currents, which is
not determined by the outline of the surface, but is influenced by
the large and wide depressions of the sea bottom.
10. — When subsidence of the land is in progress, floating ice
may carry boulders from lower to higher levels. Glaciers cannot
do this under any circumstances, though in their progress they
may leave blocks perched on the tops of peaks and ridges.
I believe that in all these points of difference the boulder clay
and drift of Canada and other parts of North America, correspond
rather with the action of floating ice than of land ice. More
especially is this the case in the character of the striated surfaces,
the bedded distribution of the deposits, the transport of material
1866.1 DAWSON — ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS. 43
up the natural slope, the presence of marine shells, and the
mechanical and chemical character of the boulder clay. In short,
those who regard the Canadian boulder clay as a glacier deposit,
can only do so by overlooking essential points of difference between
it and modern accumulations of this kind.
In conclusion, I would wish it to be distinctly understood, that
I do not doubt that at the time of the greatest post-pliocene sub-
mergence of Eastern America, at which time I believe the
greater part of the boulder clay was formed, and the more important
striation effected, the higher hills then standing as islands would
be capped with perpetual snow, and through a great part of
the year surrounded with heavy field and barrier ice, and that in
these hills there might be glaciers of greater or less extent. Fur-
ther it should be understood that I regard the boulder clays of
the St. Lawrence valley as of different ages, ranging from the
early post-pliocene to that at present forming in the gulf of St.
Lawrence. Further, that this boulder clay shows in every place
where I have been able to examine it, evidence of sub-aquatic
accumulation, in the presence of marine shells or in the unweathered
state of the rocks and minerals enclosed in it, conditions which, in
my view, preclude any reference of it to glacier action, except
possibly in some cases to that of glaciers stretching from the land
over the margin of the sea, and forming under water a deposit
equivalent in character to the ' boue glaciare ' of the bottom of
the Swiss glaciers. But such a deposit must have been local, and
would not be easily distinguishable from the marine boulder
clay. While writing these notes I have had the advantage of
reading the interesting papers of Messrs. Jamieson, Bryce and
Crosskey, on the boulder clay of Scotland,* which in character and
relations so closely resembles that of Canada, but I confess several
of the facts which they state lead me to infer that much of what
they regard as of sub-aerial origin must really be marine, though
whether deposited by ice-bergs or by the fronts of glaciers ter-
minating in the sea, I do not pretend to determine. It must
however be observed that the antecedent probability of a glaciated
condition is much greater in the case of Scotland than in that of
Canada, from the high northern latitude of the former, its more
hilly character, and the circumstance that its present exemption
from glaciers is due to what may be termed exceptional and acci-
* Journal oi Geological Society for August, 1865.
44 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
dental geographical conditions ; more especially to the distribution
of the waters of the Gulf stream, which might be changed by a
comparatively small subsidence in Central America. To assume
the former existence of glaciers in a country in north latitude 56°,
and with its highest hills, under the present exceptionally favour-
able conditions, snow-capped during most of the year, is a very
different thing from assuming a covering of continental ice over
wide plains more than ten degrees farther south, and in which,
even under very unfavourable geographical accidents, no snow can
endure the summer sun, even in mountains several thousand feet
high. Were the plains of North America submerged and invaded
by the cold Arctic currents, the Gulf stream being at the same
time turned into the Pacific, the temperature of the remaining
North American land would be greatly diminished ; but under
these circumstances the climate of Scotland would necessarily be
reduced to the same condition with that of South Greenland or
Northern Labrador. As we know such a submergence of America
to have occurred in the Post-pliocene period, it does not seem
necessary to have recourse to any other cause for either side of
the Atlantic. It would, however, be a very interesting point to.
determine, whether in the Post-pliocene period the greatest sub-
mergence of America coincided with the greatest submergence of
Europe, or otherwise. It is quite possible that more accurate
information on this point might remove some present difficulties.
I think it much to be desired that the many able observers now
engaged on the Post-pliocene of Europe, would at least keep before
their minds the probable effects of the geographical conditions
above referred to, and enquire whether a due consideration of
these would not allow them to dispense altogher with the somewhat
extravagant theories of glaciation now agitated.*
* While these sheets were in the press, I have seen with much gratification,
that Jamieson has recognized in Caithness a truly marine boulder-clay, holding
those elongated and striated stones heretofore regarded as characteristic of
glacier action ; but which are frequent in the marine boulder-clays of Canada,
and in the bed of the present Arctic current.
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 45
THE MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS AND MINERS.*
By J. K. Lord, F. Z. S.
The genus Fiber has hitherto been based on a solitary species,
the well-known musk-rat, the Fiber zibethicus of zoologists, the
musquash of Canadian trappers and fur traders, the ooklak of the
inland Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. Strictly American
mammals, musk-rats, true to their native proclivities, are habitual
wanderers, regardless of even < squatter's preemptive law,' unscru-
pulously seize on ' new locations ' that best befit their tastes and
requirements.
A summer travelling party of musk-rats, on discovering a
desirable spot for a settlement, at once appropriate it. One species
sets to work and erects neat little dwellings, that are always placed
in the water ; the building materials fringe the pool, fixed on as
the village site. The other species, diggers by profession, scorn
the builder's art, and excavate houses on the bank of some lazy
stream or muddy pool.
The requisite establishments complete, the emigrants settle
quietly to the ' struggle for existence,' and patiently bear as best
they can, the ills that musquash, like all other flesh, is heir to.
A happy adaptability to extreme climatal changes, enables the
musk-rat to endure the scorching heat of an inter-tropical sun, or
the nipping cold of an Arctic winter, with trifling inconvenience
either to its health or happiness. Throughout the length and
breadth of Canada — tenanting the shoals of its countless lakes, the
banks of its many rivers, its oozy swamps and muddy, stagnant
pools — musk-rats are always to be found. Away into the trackless
wastes of the Hudson Bay Company ; by the lone, still ponds
scattered over the sunny prairies," or hid neath the shadows of the
* Fiber zibethicus, Musk-Rat.
Synonym. — Castor zibethicus, ' Lin. Syst. Nat.,' i., 1766.
Mus. zibethicus, « Gmelin Syst. Mat.,' i., 178S.
Myocastor zibethicus, e Kerr's Linnaeus,' 1792.
Fiber zibethictcs, Cuv., R. A.I., 1817, 192.
Lemmus zibethicus, ' Fischer Synop.,' 1829, 289.
Ondatra zibethictis, * Waterhouse Mag. Nat. Hist.,' iii., 1839, 594.
Musk Beaver, ' Pennant's Aret. Zool.'
Musquash, Wac-h-usk of the Crees and Hurons (the animal that
sits on the ice in a round form).
Nov. Sp. — Fiber osoyooseiisis (Lord), ( Proo. Zool. Soc.,' London, 1863.
46 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
lofty pines ; in dark, miry wastes, amid fungoid growths, sedge
plants, and perpetual decay ; along the banks of tortuous rivers,
from their sources — mere mountain burns, trickling down the
craggy sides of the Rocky Mountains — to their mingled exit into
the Atlantic, as the great St. Lawrence ; — musk-rats live, thrive,
and multiply. Cross the snow-clad heights of the Rocky Moun-
tains, and descend their western slopes, through hotter lands, to
the shores of the Pacific ; from the Rio-Grande to the desolate
regions of Arctic America ; through fertile California ; grassy,
flower-decked Oregon ; Washington Territory, with its deserts and
mountains ; and the densely-timbered wilds of British Columbia,
to its junction with Russian America ; on rocky Vancouver Island,
as well as on every island of any size in the Gulf of Georgia ; —
musk-rats have found their way, built and burrowed. It was
once supposed, that the musk-rat had made its way to the Asiatic
side of Behring's Straits, but there can be but little doubt the
skins obtained from Kamschatka and Tschucktchis are traded, or
bartered, from native tribes living on the American shores.
There are many structural points of similarity betwixt the
musk-rats and Arvicolas, or ' field-mice ;' still the peculiarly
formed feet, flattened tail, much larger size, and singularities of
habit in the former, distinctly separates the two genera. Indeed,
the musk-rat seems to fill a gap, as it were, between the field-
mice (Arvicolince) and the porcupines (Hystricidce). The sub-
family (CasterincB) which the famed beaver represents, connects
the squirrels and marmots (Sciurissce), on the one hand, with the
gophers (Geomyince) on the other. The teeth of the musk-rat
are of arvicoline type. The first and third molars are longer than
the second, the second being wider than either of the other two.
The grinding surface of the first molar has two indentations or
reentrant angles on each side ; the second, two outside and one
inside ; the third, three outside and two inside. The first and
third grinders have five prisms or projections on their surfaces,
the second four. The loops of enamel extending across the tooth,
and joining the enamel that encases the surface, completely isolates
the patches of dentine ; thus a mill-stone is formed by this most
simple contrivance, that improves in grinding power the more it is
worked, and never needs roughing with the stone-cutter's hammer.
In the lower jaw the first molar is much larger than the second
and third, which are about equal in length and width. The first
having five indentations inside and four outside. The other
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 47
grinders have each two on either side ; the angles are alternate.
The npper cutting, or incisor teeth, are broader than the lower,
plane in front, but bevelled off at the outside edges, the lower
being more rounded away than are the upper. Like the teeth of
all the rodents, they are admirably constructed chisels, that by a
simple arrangement of hard and softer material, sharpen them-
selves, the cutting edges becoming keener in proportion to the
density of the material gnawed. The musk-rat's mouth is truly a
marvellous mill, worked by machinery that needs neither steam or
water-power to drive it. Its millstones — by the side of which
man's best contrivance is but a bungle — never wear smooth, nor
deteriorate in grinding capabilities, however hard the ' miller '
works. To supply the mill are admirable nippers that never
blunt, and always remain the same length, wear and growth being
so admirably balanced.
A very marked peculiarity in the skull of the musk-rat is the
curious shape of the temporal bone ; so compressed is it betwixt
the orbits as to narrow the skull into a mere isthmus, not at all
wider than the extreme end of the muzzle. Parietals very small ;
occipital foramen nearly circular.
Fiber osoyoosensis Lord. Sp. char. — In total length 3J
inches shorter than Fiber zibethicus Cuy. ; in general size
much smaller. General hue of back jet-black ; but, the hair bein^
of two kinds, if viewed from tail to head, it looks grey — the under
fur being fine, silky, and light grey in colour ; concealing this on
the upper surface are long coarse black hairs ; the belly and sides
somewhat lighter ; head broad and depressed ; neck indistinct ;
ear small, upper margin rounded ; eye small and black ; whiskers
long, and composed of about an equal number of white and black
hairs ; incisors nearly straight, on the external surface orange-
yellow. The thumb of the fore-foot is quite rudimentary ; the third
claw is considerably longer than the second and fourth. The
hind feet are singularly twisted, the inner edges being posterior to
the outer. This simple modification of position, gives the animal
immense power in swimming. The feet are then bent towards
each other ; in the backward stroke, the full expanse of the flat
soles pushes against the water, sending the swimmer forwards ; in
the forward stroke the feet are ' feathered,' like rowers feather an
oar, passing through the water edge on, offers the least possible
resistance. The claws on the hind feet are small, compressed,
and but slightly curved. The skin covering the under surfaces
48 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
of the feet is black, wrinkled, perfectly naked, and keenly sensitive
to tactile impressions. A distinct web joins the digits for about
half their length ; the upper parts of the feet are clothed with
short lustrous hairs, terminating at the sides in a fringe of stiff
bristles, which increase the surface, and give additional force in
swimming. Tail nearly as long as the body without the head,
cylindrical at the base, then flattened to the point. The tail
curves somewhat to a sickle shape ; being readily bendable towards
the belly, its point can be made to touch the inferior surface of
its base ; in this position it is almost circular, like a hoop. This
is a highly important arrangement, indispensable to the musk-rat.
A more perfect rudder was never designed than is this flexible
tail. If swimming when freighted, and a stiff breeze curls the
water into miniature waves, the musk-rat drops its tail, and bend-
ing it more or less according as it needs extra steering power,
guides itself straight for the desired haven. In calm weather and
smooth water the rudder is carried horizontally, and a slight
lateral motion close to the surface, suffices to guide the living ship.
It is worth while to note, en passant, how differently the beaver's
rudder is built, as compared with that of the musk-rat's — a differ-
ence easily accounted for when we know their respective habits.
The beaver never uses its tail as a trowel, and has no more idea
of ' lath and plaster ' than a hippopotamus has of a polka. This
story is a myth, and the sooner the absurd fables of plastering,
and " using the wondrous tail as a trowel," are sponged from out
all books on natural history the better.
The beaver, with a heavy log of green timber (that would sink
like a stone if free) clasped between its fore-legs, swims for its
house. The counterpoise to this overweight at the bows is the
downward pressure of the flat tail on the water, flattened more
horizontally than the musk-rat's. Indeed, the tail of the beaver
is much like an ox- tongue in shape. The musk-rat, conveying
such materials through the water as are light, needs only powerful
rudder-power, having no forward weight to counterbalance. The
tail is covered by small hexagonal scales, with a few long, coarse
hairs irregularly scattered over it. The skull differs from Fiber
zibethicus in being much smaller, 2 J inches in length, If inch in
width, very much shorter from the anterior molar to incisors ;
nasal bones much more rounded at their posterior ends, the superior
outline less curved ; postorbital process not nearly so much devel-
oped ; the cranial portion of the skull in its upper outline is much
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 49
less concave and smoother ; superior outline of occipital bone not
so prominent or strong ; incisors shorter and much straighter ;
molars much smaller, but in general outline similar.
And now I must ask my readers to accompany me, in imagina-
tion, to the Osoyoos Lakes, on the eastern side of the Cascade
Mountains, where my attention was first directed to the rush-
building rat, as being distinct in species from that which burrows
in the mud banks. The specific name osoyoosensis was given in
commemoration of the locality.
This magnificent piece of water is formed by the widening out
of the Okanagen river as it passes through a deep valley, walled
in by massive piles of rock. The Osoyoos Lake may be defined
as one huge lake, or three smaller ones, with equal correctness ;
as a narrowing in at particular points, gives the appearance of an
actual division into separate lakes. The ' boundary-line ' runs
through its centre, so that one half the lake belongs to Britain
(its northern half), the southern to the United States. The
shore is sandy, like a sea-beach, and strewn thickly with fresh-
water shells along the ripple line, gives it quite a tidal aspect.
On either side, a sandy, treeless waste stretches away to the base of
the hills, so carpeted with cacti — which grow in small knobs covered
with spines, like vegetable porcupines — that walking on it without
being shod with the very thickest boots, is to endure indescribable
torture ; the prickles are so sharp and hard that they slip through
ordinary leather like cobbler's awls. I had to tie up both dogs
and horses, for the latter, getting the prickly knobs into their
heels, kicked and plunged until exhausted. The dogs at once got
three or four fast to their feet ; when impatiently seizing the
vegetable pests, the prickles stuck with like pertinacity to the
tongue and cheeks. I have no hesitation in savins a dosr must
sayim
inevitably die from starvation if he - ventured to cross this waste
alone ; once getting the cactus prickles in his mouth, unaided he
could never free himself. A low ' divide ' separates this valley from
the Similkameen. The water from the lakes eventually finds its
way into the Columbia river. If there is an Eden for water-
birds, Osoyoos Lakes must surely be that favoured spot. At the
upper end a perfect forest of tall rushes, six feet in height, affords
ducks, grebes, bitterns, and a variety of waders, admirable breed-
ing haunts ; safe alike from the prying eyes of birds that prey oa
their kindred, and savages that devour anything.
Vol. III. d No. 1.
50 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb-
The water, alive with fish of many species (permanent resi-
dents), becomes during ' the season ' crowded with lordly salmon
like a fashionable watering-place ; thus affording a perpetual
banquet to birds that devour fishes. The tempting, juicy mol-
lusks, " like turtle," seem palateable to all, be the diners scale-clad
or feathered. On one side of this lake is a swamp, in which are
numerous pools, some of them deep in the middle, shoal at the
sides to a few inches, all alike fringed with a tall growth of rushes.
In these aquatic snuggeries, ducks, literally swarm thick as bees
round thorn-blossoms. Here, too, musk-rat houses may be likened
to cities rather than villages ; the inhabitants — swimming idly
about, just diving out of the way i£ I came too near, reappearing
a short distance off — evidently deemed me an impudent intruder.
For years I have been in the habit of seeing these rush houses
(which I shall presently describe), but took it for granted there
existed but one species of musk-rat, whose winter quarters was the
rush house ; its summer residence a tunnel excavated in a mud
bank. Sir John Richardson (Fa, Bo. Am.), after describing the
1 winter huts,' goes on to say, " In summer the musquash burrows
in the banks of the lakes, making branched canals many yards in
extent, and forming its nest in a chamber at the extremity, in
which the young are brought forth." Another author writes,
" They live in curiously-constructed huts, in a social state during
winter ; in summer, these creatures wander about in pairs, feed-
ing voraciously on herbs and roots." Charlevoix adds, " They
build cabins, nearly in the form of those of the Beaver, but far
from being so well executed ; their place of abode is always by
the waterside, so that they have no need to build causeways."
Captain John Smith was in all probability the first who gave
any account of the musquash, in a work published in the year
1624. He says, " The musascus is a beast of the form and nature
of a water-rat, but many of them smell exceedingly strong of musk."
" We are not, however, aware that these nests are made use of
by the musk-rat in spring for the purpose of rearing its young ;
we believe these animals always for that purpose resort to holes in
the sides of ponds, sluggish streams, or dykes." — Aud. and Bach.
Seated on a sandy knoll, I contemplated, measured, and began
to skin my prize. It occurred to me that there were no mud
banks near, into which these rats could burrow, and according to
the statement of the authorities, at this very time, they ought to
have been in their summer holes.
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 51
My first proceeding was to hunt carefully round the lake to
discover, if possible, some evidence of a burrow — not a trace of
such could I find ; next the rush houses underwent a rigid scrutiny.
In each musk-rats were living, and more than this, whole families
had clearly resided in the several mansions for a very long time.
I now felt convinced there must be two distinct species, one a
miner, the other a builder ; and further, that the two species had
been classed together by observers, under the supposition that
they changed quarters, in accordance with the seasons. The next
thing was to prove my supposition based on correct data.
Tents were soon after struck, and the lake, with all its li vino-
treasures, abandoned to nature and the red man.
We must take up our story at Fort Colville, one of the earliest
trading posts of the Hudson Bay Company, situated on a gravelly
plateau, close to the Kettle Falls, on the Columbia river, about a
thousand miles from the sea.
The two weary winters passed in this solitary spot were cold
enough to satisfy an Esquimaux, the temperature often as low as
thirty and thirty-two degrees below zero, with deep snow covering
the ground for full six months of the twelve. Through the
gravelly valley leading from the Fort to the hills, wound a sluggish
muddy stream, with deep banks on either side, in which dwelt
whole colonies of musquash. About a mile and a half from the
stream, divided from it by a steep ridge of rocks, was a sedgy flat,
surrounding a deep, quiet pool, so overshadowed and shut in by a
brake of bulrushes, as to be hidden, until its margin, reached by
wading and cutting a trail through the reedy fringe, revealed its
water, and a city of musquash-houses scattered like hay-cocks
over the entire surface.
In the bright, glowing sunshine of mid-summer, I carefully
watched the stream and pool, fully satisfying myself that both
localities were densely populated ; and, further, that < builders '
and < miners ' were blessed with infant workers, born, some in the
rush dwellings, others in the nurseries of the mud tunnels. So
far so good, nothing more could be done until winter. On care-
fully comparing several of the musk-rats shot in the pool, with
those brought from Osoyoos Lake, I found them to be specifically
alike, but differing most markedly from the rats inhabiting the
Colville stream ; others procured from very distant mud banks,
east and west of the Cascade Mountains, tallied exactly with these
and each other, as did a series of rush-building-rats from widely
52 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
separated localities. Up to this point, I had proved that both
holes and lodges were occupied in July, and the rats inhabiting
them differed in several distinctive characters always constant,
though extended over a series of specimens, from remote and
proximate districts.
The fur clothing of the two species (as I now venture to call
them) seemed to my mind designedly coloured to facilitate
concealment. The mud-rat's reddish, rusty-brown suit, closely
resembled the furruginous tint peculiar to the gravelly soils pre-
vailing in the north-west, and its habit is, when frightened, to
dive, or if under water, to at once descend to the bottom, there to
stir up the mud with all its might. In a second, the course of
the fugitive is traceable only by clouds of mud rolled up into the
water, like smoke into the air. Thus hid, escape is easy.
In clear water, too, small roadways are distinctly visible in
every direction, threading the bottom of the stream like the lines
on a map of railways, trails through which they travel to the
different landings and doorways.
The rush-rat's black jacket is equally in keeping with the still
dark water in which it swims, builds, and enjoys life ; or the
sombre stalks amidst which it rambles and feeds. I know no
prettier sight than that of watching a musk-rat village. As the
shadows lengthen, and the mingled sounds of day die imperceptibly
away, and — save the whisper of the breeze as it rattles the tall
rushes, the muffled cry of the owl soaring over the marsh, the
1 quack ' and ' whistle ' of the bald-pate (Mareca amer), sure
herald of coming night, and the throb of invisible wings — no
sounds are audible. In this quiet eventide, the entire rat popu-
lation steal out to swim, flirt, quarrel, or feast, as the custom is in
musquash society. So like are the swimmers to dark sticks float-
ing on the surface, that save the tiny wake made as they paddle
on, the keenest eye can hardly detect the difference. The slightest
noise indicative of danger, plunging sounds over the pool as though
a heap of stones hurled into the air, were falling into the water
like rain-drops, warns one the revellers are gone. They soon,
however, reappear, some to sit on the domes of their houses in the
position of begging dogs, holding between their fore-feet a dainty
on which to sup ; others to swim ashore, and forage amidst the
rushes and sedge-plants, perhaps to be pounced on by the mousing-
owl ; whilst the remainder seem to have no definite occupation,
but swim or dive for sheer enjoyment. I can recal many long
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 53
evenings spent by some lone pool, watching these industrious little
animals ; too earnest in my vigils to note passing time, as stars
one by one gemmed the sky, and night with silence came down
upon the earth.
Winter came all too soon in October, heavy snow, and biting
blasts, sent the hybernators to their quarters, the lingering migrants
to their southern retreats, the deer to the depths of the forests,
the insects, some to their final home, others into torpidity, hid in
cleft or cranny.
If previous statements be true, no musk-rats will be found
tenanting the mud-holes, but all snugly ensconced in rush-mansions
in the pool.
On a piercing cold December morning, I waded through the
snow to the miner's quarter, my aid and guide, a red-skin, equipped
with pick, shovel and spear, to do the digging and capturing ; if
the musquashes, as I felt convinced was the case, had not aban-
doned their dwellings. It was no easy job breaking through the
frozen ground ; but the Indian warmed to his work, then I took
a spell, and so on, until the subterranean galleries were one after
the other laid open. No rats ; we were not far enough in. At
length we, by digging on, came plump upon a large vestibule, and
in it, coiled up semi-torpid and stupid, was a family of ' miners ;'
a goodly heap of dry grass and leaves formed an admirable bed.
The sleepers were hardly alive to danger, too drowsy to make any
attempt at escape. No food was stored, but they lay huddled
together for mutual warmth, as pigs do in straw. There were no
holes visible through the snow, but several had been dug through
the ground, to give, I imagine, admittance to the air.
This was a grand discovery. If like success attend our assault
m the builders, my theory will be proven.
The pool was frozen hard enough to have bome ten men,
mabling us to walk easily to the rush-houses, which were built in
rom three to four feet water. I could discover no holes, though
•|uite three feet of dome in each house was clear above the ice.
On removing the snow, and tearing open the intertwined rushes,
there, rolled together in a grassy nest, as we had found the miners,
were many builders, doing their quasi-hybernation. This clearly
proved there were two kinds of musk-rats, that differed in habit,
size and colour. The skulls also showing structural variations,
left no further doubt. Two species for the future must charac-
terize the genus Fiber, the second being Fiber osoyoosensis.
54 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
The number of young produced at a birth varies from four to
seven, and it is by no means uncommon for a female to have three
litters in a year ; and well for the musk-rats is it that nature has
given them such powers of increase. Their enemies are legion.
Birds of prey are ever watching for them ; indeed, it is difficult
to save a trapped rat from the feathered banditti, ready on the
shortest notice to tear the prisoner from the iron teeth of the trap-
per's snare.
The robber gang of weasels are untiring foes, hunting the rats
night and day on the land and in the water. Their greatest
enemy, however, is the trapper, be he red Or white man. Five
hundred thousand musk-rat skins were at one time annually
imported from the Hudson Bay Company's territories. At the
last fur sale in Fenchurch Street, in August, 1865, 93,787 skins
of musquash were sold — a small proportion only of the yearly
supply. The fur is used for various purposes, the bulk finding-
its way to foreign markets. The musk glands furnish the power-
ful, pungent odour from whence the animal derives its name, not
to my nose the least like commercial musk. In the spring musk-
rats really scent the air, and at this time the tails are taken off
the trapped skins, tied in bundles, dried, and eventually sold in
the bazaars at Constantinople, for ladies wherewith to perfume
their cloths. The two glands are situated close to the base of the
tail. Indians, white traders, trappers and settlers alike devour
the muk-rat's body. To cook it secundem artem, after skinning,
the glands should be carefully removed ; the body, split and
gutted, is skewered on a long, peeled wand, and carefully grilled
over a brisk camp-fire.
There are various modes of trapping musquash. If by steel
trap, the trap is usually placed on a log, in the rat's water way,
about four or five inches below the surface, with a bait suspended
over it. In trying to reach this seductive morsel the hind feet
are secured in the iron snare, which has a long string and cedar
log float attached, to mark its whereabouts, as the prisoner drags
it on the muddy bottom of a stream, or the deeper water of the pools.
Others are caught in a kind of figure-of-4 trap, but by far the
larger number are speared. The food of the musquash is of most
varied character ; in the summer, grass, roots of marsh plants, the
green bark from the young cotton-wood trees, and the stalks of
succulent vegetation, constitutes their general fare. Though
rodents, and in a measure vegetarians, they never refuse flesh if it
1866.] LORD — MUSK-RATS AS BUILDERS. 55
can be obtained, and rather enjoy at times doing the cannibal.
It is no infrequent occurrence for a hungry band to set upon their
relative when fast by the legs in a trap, tear it to pieces, then
devour the fragments as hounds are wont to rend and eat a fox.
Sir J. Richardson tells us they have been known to eat one another
in their houses, if unusually hungry, a statement I can quite
believe, although it has never been my good or ill fortune to wit-
ness a musquash famine. I have often shot a duck that has fallen
into the centre of a musk-rat pond ; waiting and wishing for a
friendly breeze to waft the prize ashore, I observe it moves slowly,
propelled by some unseen power, it nears a rush-house, bobs and
bobs like a float as a fish tugs impatiently at the bait, then sud-
denly disappears. Musk-rats are the thieves that dine sumptuously
at my expense. River mussels and craw-fish are also largely con-
sumed by the musk-rats. They either crack the shells of the
Unios with their strong teeth, or, taking them on the land, let
them remain until, panting for air, the shells are opened, when
the rat pounces in and devours the inmates. Not only are mussels
eaten, but all fresh-water mollusks share a like fate, if discovered
by prowling musk-rats.
It may be as well to say a few words, in conclusion, about their
systems of building. The rush-houses are built in from three to
four feet water. A solid pier, composed of sticks, rushes, grass,
mud and small stones, is raised from the bottom to a height of
some inches above the surface ; over this the dome-shaped roof is
thrown, made of intertwined rushes with mud and sticks worked
in amongst them ; the bed is placed on the centre or pier, and the
entrance is invariably beneath the surface of the water. I do not
believe this dome is in any degree impervious to water ; whenever
I have opened a house in summer, it has invariably been wet ;
and during blazing hot weather it must be a great advantage to
the rush-rats, assisting to keep them cool — an advantage equally
enjoyed by the ' miners,' whose houses are always wet in summer.
In winter the water freezes, and hence cannot wet the insides of the
domes or mud galleries. The grass and other material carried in
for the winter bed must manifestly get wet in the transport, but
rapidly drains and dries when the water solidifies. I do not
believe in the possibility of an animal formed as the musk-rat
making a waterproof fabric out of rushes and mud. One thing
has always puzzled me in their engineering : how they manage to
keep down the materials forming the centre or pillar, preventing
56 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
light substances from floating until the aggregated weight of
stones, mud, wetted rushes, and sodden sticks becomes, en mass,
specifically heavier than water, is a secret I was never able to dis-
cover. They always work at night, hence it is impossible to
watch their operations.
The pleasure of describing the habits of these interesting
animals must be my excuse for these lengthy notes. A new
species, like gold, usually tempts its finder to wander beyond the
limits of prudence ; if such has been my failing, I crave for-
giveness, and conclude with the sentiments of Wordsworth —
" To the solid ground
Of nature trust* the mind that builds for aye :
Convinced that there, there only, she can lay
Secure foundations."
From the Intellectual Observer.
A CATALOGUE OF THE CARICES COLLECTED
by John Macotjn, Belleville, C. W.
The following list embraces ninety species, many of which
have not hitherto been published as Canadian, and three of which
are new. All the species have been critically examined and
determined by Prof. Dewey, of Rochester, U. S., the eminent
caricographer ; his descriptions of the new species are cited from
Silliman's Journal for March, 1866.
Nat. Orel. CYPERACE.E— Genus Carex Linn.
C gynocrates, Wormsk. : Cedar swamps North Hastings ; Big
swamp Murray ; on a mound in a swamp near Belleville Railroad
Station.
C. polytrichoides, Muhl. : Cedar swamps ; common.
C. Bickii, Boott : Rocky ground vicinity of Belleville and
Shannon ville ; scarce.
C. bromoides, Schk. : Marshes and borders of ponds; scarce.
C. siccata, Dewey : Sandy plains; abundant around Castleton.
C. disticha, Hudson — var. Sartwellii, Dewey : Small marsh
west of Belleville College ; rare.
C. teretiuscula, Good. : Marshes along the Bay of Quinte :
marshes and swamps ; abundant.
1866.] MACOUN — CATALOGUE OF CARICES. 57
C. prairea, Dewey : Marshy border of Round Lake, Peterboro
County ; big swamp, Murray. Local ; abundant.
C. vulpinoidea, Michaux : Low meadows ; very common.
C. stipata, Mulil. : Along rivulets in wet meadows ; common.
C. sparganioides, Muhl. : Low thickets and along fences ;
uncommon.
C. cephalophora, Muhl. : Woods and dry meadows, Belleville
and Shannonville ; frequent.
C. Muhlenbergii, Schk. : Dry sand hill, Belmont, Peterboro
County ; rare.
C. rosea, Schk. : Cedar swamps and wet woods ; common.
C. rosea — var. radiata, Dewey : Dry open woods and thickets ;
frequent.
C. retroflexa, Muhl. : Wet woodlands, five miles south of
Belleville ; rare.
C. tenella, Schk. : Abundant in all cedar and tamarack
swamps.
C. trisperma, Dewey : Cedar swamps ; common.
C. tenuiflora, Wahl. : Cedar swamps four miles west of Belle-
ville. Abundant in a cedar swamp one mile beyond the Jordan,
Hastings Road.
C. canescens, Linn. : Abundant in a wet meadow near Belle-
ville. Sphagnum swamps, North Hastings.
C. canescens, Linn. — var. vitilis, Carey : Borders of cedar
swamps and low woods, Hastings County.
C. Deweyana, Schw. : Rich low woods in tufts ; abundant
C. stellutata, Good. : Cedar and sphagnum swamps ; also low
woods.
C. scirpoides, Schk. : Border of Hooper's Lake, Hastings Road ;
rare.
C. sychnocephala, Carey : Border of the Millpond, Hastings
Village, Madoc. Low meadow along the Moira, Marmora.
C. scoparia, Schk. : Boggy woods and wet meadows ; common.
C. lagopodioides, Schk. : Border of water holes in meadows
and fields.
C. cristata, Schw. : Low woods and meadows ; abundant.
C. festucacea, Schk. : Wet meadows and borders of woods,
abundant ; all the varieties common.
C. straminea, Schk. : Low meadows near Belleville ; depres-
sions in rocky ridges at Shannonville.
58 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
C. aperta, Boott : Border of a small lake, Hastings Road,
Tudor ; rare.
C. striata, Lam. : Wet meadows near Belleville ; meadows,
Brighton.
C. aquatilis, Wahl. : Marshes along the Bay of Quinte ; wet
meadows, Belleville.
C. lenticularis, Michx. : Crevices of rocks back of the old saw
mill, Marmora Iron "Works ; growing almost in the waters of Crow
River ; abundant.
C. crinita, Lam. : Low banks of streams ; common.
C. limosa, Linn. : Peat-bog five miles north of Colborne ; rare.
C. irrigua, Smith : Big swamp Murray ; Sphagnum swamps,
North Hastings ; frequent.
C. Buxbaumii, Wahl. : Border of Hooper's Lake, Hastings
Road ; rare.
C. aurea, Nutt. : Low boggy meadows and sphagnous swamps;
common.
C. tetanica, Schk. : Woods east of Belleville ; very rare.
C. vaginata, Tausch : In cedar swamps near Belleville and
Trenton ; abundant.
C. granulans, Muhl. : Wet meadows ; abundant.
C. conoidea, Schk. : Wet meadows east of Belleville ; scarce.
C. grisea, Wahl. : Meadow east of Belleville ; very rare.
C. formosa, Dewey : Low meadows and moist woods ; frequent.
C. gracillima, Schw. : Wet woods ; common.
C. plantaginea, Lam. : Rocky slopes in woods ; Brighton and
Huntingdon.
C. platyphylla, Carey : Dry rocky woodlands near Belleville ;
frequent.
C. digitalis, Willd. : Hillside, North Hastings ; dry meadow,
Brighton ; meadows near Belleville.
C. laxiflora, Lam. : Rich moist woods ; many varieties.
C. oligocarpa, Schk. : Gibson's Mountain, Prince Edward Co. ;
hillside Port Hope ; rare.
C. Hitchcockiana, Dewey : Dry sandy field, Seymour ; very
rare.
C. eburnea, Boott : Dry limestone rocks, banks of Moira and
Trent,
C. pedunculata, Muhl. : Dryish cedar swamps near Belleville.
C. umbellata, Schk. : Border of the Oak-hill Pond, Sidney ;
1866.] MACOUN — CATALOGUE OF CARICES. 59
C. Novae-Angliae, Schw. — var. Enimonsii, Carey ; Rocky
woods and banks near Belleville.
C. Pennsylvania, Lam. : Woodlands and thickets ; common.
C. varia, Muhl. : Dry rocky ledges near Shannonville and
Belleville.
C. Richardsonii, R. Brown : Dry field and thickets near Belle-
ville and Trenton.
C. pubescens, Muhl. : Moist woods and meadows ; frequent.
C. miliacea, Muhl. : In a ravine on Simon Terrill's farm,
Brighton ; scarce.
C. scabrata, Schw. : Margins of springs and woodland brooks,
Brighton ; also near Port Hope.
C. arctata, Boott : Woods rear of Picton ; wet meadows near
Wooler, Brighton.
C. debilis, Michx. : Woods and meadows, Brighton ; scarce.
C. flexilis, Rudge : In a cedar swamp near Trenton ; rare.
C. flava, Linn. : Abundant in old beaver meadows, North
Hastings.
C. (Ederi, Ehrh. : Wet sand, Presqu'ile Point, Lake Ontario ;
also on Wellington Beach ; abundant.
C. filiformis, Linn. : Peat bogs and beaver meadows ; abundant.
C. lanuginosa, Michx. : Low wet meadows : common.
C. Houghtonii, Torrey : Dry rocky hills, Marmora, Tudor and
Grimpsthorpe.
C. lacustris, Willd. : Marshes and swamps ; common.
C. aristata, R. Brown : Low wet ground, three miles west of
Belleville ; scarce.
C. trichocarpa, Muhl. : Low marshy meadow rear of Picton ;
low meadow along Crow River at Marmora works.
C. comosa, Boott : Marsh near Weller's Bay, Lake Ontario ;
also Big swamp Murray ; scarce.
C. Pseudo-Cyperus, Linn. : Swamps and bogs ; common.
C. mirata, Dewey — var. minor : Border of a small pond in a
meadow east of Belleville ; very rare.
C. hystricina, Willd. : Wet meadows ; common.
C. tentaculata, Muhl. : Wet meadows near Belleville ; also
Presqu'ile Point.
C. intumescens, Rudge : Woods and new meadows ; common.
C. Canadensis, Dewey : Border of a small pond in a meadow,
lot No. 6, 10th range, Seymour ; abundant.
60 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
C. lupulina, Muhl. : "Wet meadows ; common.
C. Macounii, Dewey : Along a small stream on lot 7, 10th
range of Seymour ; rare.
C. retrorsa, Schw. : Marshy meadows, and along small rivulets.
C. Schweinitzii, Dewey : In a wet swampy meadow, near
Baltimore, Northumberland Co. ; abundant.
C. Hartii, Dewey : Border of a small stream in F. Macoun's
farm, Seymour.
C. Bella-villa, Dewey : In a ditch about four miles north of
Belleville, along the gravelled road leading to Stirling.
C. monile, Tuckerman : Low meadows along the Moira, North
Hastings. Also, C. Vaseyi, Dewey — which proves to be a young
state of this plant.
C. ampullacea, Good. : Ponds in meadows, also in swamps ;
common.
C. cylindraca, Schw. : Swamps and wet meadows ; abundant.
C. longirostris, Torrey : Rocks, Gibson's Mountain ; ' Big
Boulder ' of the Trent valley ; rocks, Marmora.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE NEW SPECIES.
Carex Hartii, Dewey ; Spicis staminiferis 1-3, saepe 2,
interdum 1, vel raro nulla, cylindraceis gracilibus variis erectis,
suprema longiore in medio vel supra vel infra fructifera, sessilibus
squamas lanceolatus acutas subfuscas ferentibus ; spicis pistilliferis
2-7, vulgo 4, cylindraceis oblongis sublaxifloris et infra praaecipue
subremotis plerumque erectis foliaceo-bracteatis, superioribus
sessilibus saepe ad apicem staminiferis, inferioribus exserto pedun-
culitis interdum supra staminiferis infimis duobus longo-exserto-
pedunculatis interdum recurvis, cum bracteis culmum superan-
tibus ; fructibus tristigmaticis ovatis inflatis vel conico-ellipticis
longo-rostratis et teretibus bidentatis nervosis infra teretibus et
stipitatis kevibus divergentibus et adultis prope retrorsis, squama
lanceolata acuta margine albida latera fusca multum longioribus ;
culmi foliis longis strictis modosis per-angustis margine scaber-
rimis et saepe culmum laevem plusquam duplo praecedentibus.
Culm 15-25 inches high, erect, slender above, smooth except
the highest part of the edges, with bracts and leaves surpassing
the culm, and the leaves very narrow and long, often more than
1866.] MACOUN — CATALOGUE OF CARICES. 61
twice the length of the culm and very scabrous on the edges,
knotted : spikes very variable ; the wholly staminiferous 1-3,
commonly 2, nearly half 1, very rarely 3 or none, cylindric, slender,
sessile ; some staminiferous have a few fruit in the middle or at
the base or vertex ; the terminal much the longest, and all clothed
with lanceolate acute scales ; pistilliferous spikes 2-7, usually 4,
the highest with stamens at the summit or in the middle or both
and sessile, the next higher exsert pedunculate and erect, the
lowest one or two very long-exsert pedunculate sometimes recurved,
and the lowest sometimes staminate at apex, all oblong-cylindric,
^ to 2-| inches long, mostly erect, rather distant, loose-flowered,
especially below, bracteate and the lower with long-leafy bacts
surpassing the culm and rough-edged ; stigmas 3 ; fruit ovate-
conic, inflated, long conic-rostrate, bidentate, nerved, tapering
below, and stiped, diverging or nearly retrorse in maturity, much
longer than the slender ovate lanceolate scale.
Wet grounds, Dundee, Yates Co., N. Y., discovered by Dr. S.
Hart Wright. Ludlowville, Tompkins Co., H. B. Lord. Hastings
Road, Canada West, J. Macoun.
The retrorse fruit brings up G. retrorsa, but the difference in
the spikes and culm and fruit is too great, and the achenia are
very dissimilar. C. retrorsa has achenia long and round sub-tri-
quetrous ; the other has shorter triquetrous achenia tapering from
the middle toward each end, and not roundish.
Yar. Bradleyi, Dewey : Staminate spikes less various ; pistil-
late spikes more loosely flowered ; fruit smaller ; and plant more
slender.
Wet grounds, Greece, ten miles west of Rochester, Dr. S. B.
Bradley. Here Dr. B. had discovered C. mirata, and was search-
ing for its rediscovery, 1861. Also, at Belleville, Canada West,
J. Macoun.
C. VAGINATA, Tausch, 1821 : Spicis distinctis ; staminifera
unica oblonga culmo stricto fulta vel " sub-anthesi rectangule
refracta ;" pistilliferis sub-binis oblongis laxifloris remotis erectis
linearibus exserto-pedunculatis lato-vaginatis ; fractions tristig-
miticis triquetro-ovatis basi attenuatis brevi-rostratis bidentatis,
squama oblonga sub-obtusa longioribus ; culmo lasvi foliato, foliis
longis lato-linearibus margine supra scabris, bracteae vagina vix
foliaceum cuspidem abruptam ferente ; culmo perlaevi.
This plant is widely spread over Germany and Scandinavia, but
it is so variable that Kunze in 1840-50 gave twelve synonyms in
62 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
the nineteen authors he quotes on this species, and omitted the
name given by Fries, C. sparsiflora. In my specimens from
Europe, and one of them from the hand of Fries (in my collection),
there is too great a difference for identity of species ; and if so,
different plants may have been confounded by some authors. The
one from Fries has a pair of too close-fruited spikes, scarcely
sheathed, too nearly sessile, and bracts too leaf-like. The others
correspond chiefly to the above description, authorized by those of
Fries, Lang, Anderson, Kunze and Steudel. In Hooker's Flora
Bor.-Amer., Dr. Boott gave C. plioeostachyce, Smith as synonymous
with C. vaginata Tausch, as does Kunze also, and credited it to
Greenland, Fort Norman on Mackenzie River, and Rocky Mts.
It is doubtless the European plant. Dr. Gray informed Mr.
Paine, who had found a variety in this vicinity, that C. vaginata
had been found near Montreal by the late Mr. Macrae, and later
at " Riviere-du-Loup by "W. Boott." A recent * examination
of some of Dr. Macrae's plants by Prof. Brunet of Quebec, did
not detect any plant of that name. I had hoped to ascertain
whether the Montreal specimens agreed with the European or with
the varities found by Mr. Paine. This differs however from the
European in so many particulars that a more full account is given
under the following name.
Var. alto-CAULIS, Dewey : Spica staminifera brevi cylindracea
erecta vel infra " rectangule fracta ;" pistilliferis spicis 1-3, saepe
1, vulgo 2, per-raro 3, cylindraceis brevibus laxifioris vel alterno-
fructiferis sub-vicinis vel remotis, suprema subsessili, infirma
interdum subradicali exserto-pedunculata, bracteatis vaginantibus,
fructibus tristigmaticis ovatis ovato-conicis ellipticis interdum
obovatis infra teretibus substipitatis subtriquetris lsevibus nervosis
brevi-rostratis bidentatis, rostro recto vel refracto, squama subacuta
duplo longioribus : culmo alto-cauli infra laevi inclinato longi- et
arcti-foliaceo : vagina angusta cum folio.
Culm 12-30 inches high, very slender and nearly filiform above,
stiff and inclined, with culm leaves about half as long, sometimes
longer ; staminate spike single, short-cylindric or oblong, often
distant from upper pistillate, erect or with stem bent rectangularly
above and near that pistillate, with scales oblong and obtuse, green
on the back and reddish on the sides or wholly ; pistillate spikes
1-3, often 1, commonly 2, very seldom 3, cylindric, short, erect,
loose-flowered or alternate-fruited, near or often quite remote ;
lowest rarely subradical, long-pedunculate, upper sometimes nearly
1866.] MACOUN — CATALOGUE OP CARICES. 63
sessile, lower enclosed or exsertly pedunculate, bracteate with a
narrow and longer foliate sheath ; stigmas three ; fruit ovate or
ovate-conic-elliptic, sometimes obovate-triquetrous, tapering below,
stiped, short-rostrate and the beak often turned one side or
refracted, two-toothed, smooth, near twice longer or rarely little
longer than the ovate or oblong obtuse or sub-acute scale.
Discovered in a marsh in Bergen, twenty miles west of Rochester,
by Rev. J. A. Paine ; the first known locality in the United
States; fruit mature in June, 1865. On some of the Bergen
specimens, the refraction of the culm below the staminate spike
and of the beak of the fruit, especially of the early mature plants,
is striking. Both of these curious particulars are found on many
of the European specimens. The former is given in the descrip-
tion of Kunze and Steudel as a common fact, and in some popular
remarks of Fries ; and the latter is alluded to, with the other, as
of no consequence, by Andersson in his Cyperaceaa Scandinaviae ;
while Lang states of the former that he had examined it on the
C. vaginata cultivated in a botanic garden, but had never found
it on one of the numerous specimens he had collected, or growing
in their indigenous state. Of course Dr. Lang did not introduce
the refraction of the stem into his description of this species.
The height of C. vaginata (5 to 12 inches by Steudel), the
greater width of the leaves (foliis latis, Lang) ; the short cuspid-
like leaf or termination of the broad sheath in Andersson, so clear
on the specimens from Europe and on the figures of Kunze and
Andersson, the more thick and coarse leaves and more stocky
form, as well as differences in the fruit, distinguish the Bergen
plant from the European.
C. Macounii, Dewey : Spicis variis ordinatis distinctis vel
inordinatis cylindraceis erectis bracteatis ; ordinatorum stamini-
feris 2, inferiore breviore longo-bracteata, terminali longiore,
squamas longas graciles lanceolatas infra sparsas ferentibus ; et
pistilliferis 4, suprema subsessili, caeteris remotis longo-pecluncu-
latis : ordinatorum terminali staminifera longa et fructifera pistillis
paucis supra vel medio vel infra interpositis, vel interdum terminali
apicem pistillifera et dimidio inferiore fructifera, tunc terminali
pistillifera longa et in medio vel basi pauco-staminifera ; spicis
pistilliferis subquinis cylindraceis erectis laxifloris, inferioribus
longa exserto pedunculatis, infirma apice vel medio raro stamini-
fera : fructibus tristigmaticis ovatis longo-conico-subinflatis laavibus
nervosis brevi-furcatis substipitatis longo-gracili-rostratis divergen-
64 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
tibus vel rectangule separatis, squamam ovato-lanceolatam ad basin
aequantibus vel supra superantibus ; bracteis foliisque margine
vix scabris et culmo lsevi longioribus ; culmo foliis basin breviore.
Culm one to two feet high, erect, smooth ; bracts and leaves
long, narrow, linear-lanceolate, the lower much surpassing the
culm, smooth but slightly scabrous on the edges, nodose ; spikes
six, cylindric, pedunculate ; the pistillate 1-2 J inches long, sessile
above and sheathed exsert-pedunculate below, very variable ; as
(1.) regular, staminate spikes 2, terminal, cylindric, long, the
lower short with a long slender bract, both bearing long lanceolate
scales very lax below, and the pistillate 4, uppermost subsessile
and the others remote, long pedunculate, erect ; (2.) irregular,
staminate spike terminal long, with a few scattered fruit at the
vertex or in the middle or below, and pistillate 5, with some
stamens at the vertex of the upper, sometimes the terminal 2-3
inches long and upper half pistillate with the lower half staminate,
sometimes the terminal pistilliferous long with few stamens in the
middle or at the base, sometimes the lowest pistillate with some
stamens at its apex and in the middle ; all the pistillate loose-
flowered, especially below ; stigmas 3 ; fruit ovate long-conic,
inflated at base, rostrate with beak slender and bidentate, diverging
or nearly rectangular below, smooth, nerved, generally longer than
the narrow oblong acute and awned or ovate-lanceolate scale, or at
the base of the lower spikes the fruit is sometimes scarcely longer
than the scale ; plant straw-yellow.
At streams in Seymour, Northumberland Co., Canada West, J.
Macoun, whose name the discovery honors. Though related to
C. folUculata L., it seems quite different, and the achenia wholly
unlike ; future forms may show more clearly its relations.
C. Canadensis, Dewey : Spicis distinctis ; staminifera unica
perlongo-cylindracea erecta remota et bractea foliata e basi distante,
squamas tongas latas lanceolatas ferente : spicis pistilliferis 1-3,
vulgo 2, saepe 1, per-raro 3, oblongis cylindraceis erectis subensi-
floris, inferiore interdum brevi-ovata et saepe per-longo-pedunculata;
fructibus tristigmaticis ovato-conicis inflatis conico-rostratis bifur-
catis subtriquetris nervosis glabris, squama ovata brevi-acuta vel
aristata plus duplo longioribus ; bracteis foliisque margine supra
scabris culinum lsevem superantibus.
Culm 15-24 inches high, erect, rather slender, very smooth,
leafy towards the base;. leaves and bracts surpass the culm; spikes
distinct ; terminal staminate long-cylindric, remote from its bract
1866.] MACOUN — CATALOGUE OF CARICES. 65
and more from the pistillate, erect and slender, covered with long
broad lanceolate scales ; pistillate spikes 1-3, commonly 2, often
1, very rarely 3, cylindric, oblong, erect, the lowest sometimes
short and ovate and long exsert-pedunculate, bracteate and
sheathed, sub-close-fruited ; stigmas 3 ; fruit ovate, inflated, conic-
tapering into a 3-sided beak, which is rather deep bifurcate and
sub-scabrous on the edges, nerved and smooth, more than twice
longer than the ovate acute or awned scale ; plants yellowish.
Small ponds at Seymour, Northumberland Co., Canada West,
J. Macoun. I have seen nothing like it in the specimens obtained
by me. It has been referred to C. lupuUna, but the achenia
much differ, as well as the spikes and fruit.
C. Bella-villa, Dewey : Spicis staminiferis 2-3, fere 3,
cylindraceis erectis vulgo approximatis sub-remotis, terminali
longiore et omnibus bracteatis sessilibus longo-squamiferis ; pistil-
liferis vulgo 2, interdum 1, cylindraceis erectis exserti-pedunculatis
brevi- et lato-vaginatis per-laxifloris suprema apice staminifera ;
fructibus tristigmaticis longis gracilibus ovato-lanceolatis conicis
basin inflatis nervosis laevibus per-divergentibus rectangule positis
vel sub-retorsis rostro longi-bifurcato subtriquetro longo-stipitatis,
squamam longam lanceolatam dorso viridem infra subaequantibus
supra prasstantibus bracteis foliisque margine scabris culmum
foliatum superantibus. Achenium est triquetrum infra teres
supra brevi-rotundum triquetrum.
Culm about 1^ foot high, erect, strong, leafy toward the base,
rough a little on the upper part ; bract-leaves rise from short
broad sheaths, and with the leaves surpass the culm ; staminate
spikes 2-3, commonly 3, cylindric, erect, near or sub-remote, the
terminal often longer, all sessile and bearing long lanceolate scales,
rough to the eye but soft to the touch ; pistillate spikes commonly
2 and rarely 1, cylindric, exsert-pedunculate, erect, very loose-
flowered, short and broad sheathed, the highest staminate at the
apex and nearly sessile, the lowest sub-remote ; stigmas 3 : fruit
long, slender, ovate-lanceolate, conic, nerved, smooth, diverging
and horizontal or sometimes retrorse, stipitate, with a back deeply
bifid or bifurcate, quite equalling the scale at the base and
exceeding the scale at the upper part of the spike. Plant yellowish.
Near Belleville, Canada West, J. Macoun : a fine species.
Vol. III. e No. 1.
66 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
NOTES ON THE " SPECTRUM FEMORATUM."
By Alex. S. Ritchie.
The order of Orthoptera, to which this insect belongs, is remark-
able for the singularity of developement which characterizes
individuals of some of its families ; especially, those exotic species
as the Mantis rcligiosa from the south of France, the PhiUium
siccifolium, or walking-leaf; and in the Ectatosoma tiaratum
monstrosity reaches its acme ; the last named insect has dilated
spined legs, a swollen body, and appendages also spined. I had
the pleasure of seeing a specimen of this insect in a private collec-
tion in New York. The appearance of the Spectrum femoratum
is no less wonderful, having a long cylindrical body, resembling a
little broken twig and hence the popular name of Walking-stick.
The only entomologist who has treated on the habits of the Phas-
midse is Stoll ; Kirby quotes him when speaking of this family
of insects ; with a few exceptions the order of Orthoptera has been
less studied than any of the others.
There are two localities near Montreal where I have found this
insect, namely, on the bass-wood trees on the north-east side of the
mountain and on Logan's farm ; to one who is not in the habit of
collecting insects it is very difficult to observe them, they are
generally slow and quiet in their habits when undisturbed, and
their resemblance in colour to the bark of the trees on which they
feed makes it difficult to notice them, except to the prying eye of
the entomologist ; in fact the general question asked me is — are
these insects found in Canada ? and the enquirer generally says,
'tis strange I have never seen any of them before. A friend of
mine told me that while he was sitting reading in the vicinity of
Niagara Falls, something fell on his book, which he said resembled
a dried twig, but he was more astonished when he perceived the
twig (as he called it) was possessed with life, and immediately
walked off.
I am not aware of any other species than the Spectrum fem-
oratum being found in Canada ; they are apterous in both sexes,
the male (as is generally the case among insects) being the small-
est. The Diurna chronos of Van Dieman's Land, has wings ;
there is a specimen of this insect in the University Museum ;
another winged species is found in Virginia.
1866.] RITCHIE — ON SPECTRUM FEMORATUM. 67
Having studied the habits of this insect for some time, I shall
mention a few facts from actual observation, illustrating the
peculiar adaptation for its comfort and place in the animal economy,
and having also dissected carefully, and examined its external and
internal anatomy with the microscope, I may be able to mention
some new facts hitherto unobserved.
We shall first look at the habits of this little creature ; the only
time they are to be seen in numbers, is during the latter part of
August and the month of September, when the males are in search
of the females ; you find them in rows on the bark of trees,
their anterior legs stretched out horizontally in a level with the
body ; at other times they are rarely met with, as they are pecu-
liarly solitary in their habits ; they are not easily disturbed by
the approach of any one, as instinct teaches them that they are
not easily observed ; however, when touched, the anterior legs are
dropped, and they make good their escape in rather an active
manner ; their motion is ambulatory, or a kind of trot. They
are exclusively herbivorous, living on the leaves of trees.
We shall now look at their external anatomy ; the body is long
and cylindrical, head and eyes small, legs long, very perfect
mouth, antennas long and setaceous, the feet are armed with two
claws, and have a pulvillus or cushion, colour varies in the sexes,
the length of any of the males which have come under my notice,
has been from 2J- to 2f inches exclusive of antennae, the antennae
measuring about 2 J inches ; the length of the female from 3 to
3J inches, antennae 2 inches ; the body of the male is more
slender, and the colour of the legs of a green shade. The number
of joints in the antennae of those I have examined, amount to
fifty-eight in the female, and seventy- two in the male, the joints
gradually shortening to the tips ; the eyes are small. One thing
I may observe here, that there are no ocelli or simple eyes on the
head of these insects, a fact about which there has been some
dispute. Latreille who has also examined them, bears me out in
this, although Kirby says that three very visible ones are distin-
guished in the winged species.
The trophi or organs of the mouth are well developed, serving
both for cutting and grinding their food. The mandibles are
rounded and blunt, the maxillae or lower jaws are obtuse, the
labial palpi are four jointed, and the maxillary palpi three jointed.
Another fact which I noticed, is the presence of a spur at the
base of the femur, which evidently has been overlooked, as Kirby
(38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb,
states that their legs are without spurs or spines. I find this
spur on the second and posterior pair of legs in the male well
developed, and smaller in the female ; the tarsi are five jointed,
with a rudimentary or psuedo joint. The body is divided into
eleven dorsal, and seven ventral segments.
The internal anatomy of these insects is typical of the class,
only there are fewer convolutions of the intestinal canal, respira-
tion is effected in the same manner as in the class insecta, by
means of trachea, having an outlet by spiracles placed two on each
segment. This dissection was made on a female ; the eggs are
attached by a thin membrance to the back of the insect, under
the dorsal vessel or heart. I examined the ovaries and saw
clusters of eggs in every stage of developement, from the simple
cell with a nucleus, to the more advanced oval shape, with the
germinal spot clearly visible, they taper from the size of a pin's
head to appearance under the microscope to that of a three cent
piece, in this state they are all attached by the end. I opened
one of the eggs laid by the insect and saw the germinal spot more
advanced.
I obtained this specimen on the morning of the 12th of Sep-
tember when she commenced laying, at noon on the 13th she had
deposited twenty-eight perfectly formed eggs ; but on looking at
her a few hours afterward she was dead, the eggs look like a
miniature French bean, they have a depression on the inner side
like the eye spot in that seed, and have a capsule fastened by a
hinge like ligament on one side, to aid the young spectrum in
making a more easy entrance into the world.
The largest egg belonging to any known insect, is the egg of
Phasma dilatatum, one of this family it is figured in the
fourth volume of the Linnean transactions ; it measures five lines
in length and three lines in breadth or from a quarter to half an
inch approaching the size of some of the humming birds eggs.
In this family are also some of the largest known insects ; they
are natives of South America, Australia and the more southern
latitudes.
The Phasma gigas measures about seven inches long by about
seven-eighths of an inch broad. The P. titan of Macleay, a
winged species, measures eight and one-half inches long, and three-
fourths of an inch broad, longitudinal expansion of its wings, seven
and one-half inches, transverse expansion, two and three-fourth
inches. P. dilatatum is another giant in the insect world.
1866.] DAWSON — ON POST-PLIOCENE PLANTS. 69
Very little is known of the larval state of this insect, and very
little difference of appearance is observed, the metamorphoses not
being complete ; size appears to be the only distinction, a succes-
sion of moults or excuviations bringing the young spectrum to
the imago or perfect state.
We shall now look at the adaptation of this little creature for
its place in the animal economy. First we may wonder why
wings were denied it, nature answers this question ; instead of
being a rover like some other insects, whose food is more precarious
or uncertain, and has to be hunted, to those wings are given,but to —
our humble neighbour born near its food, which, while spring time
and harvest remain, trees will grow and put forth their buds, it
manages to live and move and have its being.
We see also that it is gifted with a long leg to enable it to
walk over the rough bark (full of hills and hollows) of the bass-
wood on which it is generally found, where a short leg would not
be so well suited, it is able to surmount those diffiulties with its
long steady step, with its long body we can easily see that a short
leg would not be so serviceable ; then the cushioned feet enable
it to hold with greater security.
We may ask why those eyes on the crown of most insects were
denied ; the dragon-fly and other insects to hunt their prey on
the wing require to be pretty sharp-sighted, require to see above,
around, and I may say, behind them ; but the Femoratum
walks leisurely along, its food is there before it as it were, its
residence is among the leaves, (except towards the close of its
existence, when we find them on the bark looking for their mates,)
where it manages to get at it without the quick visual organ of
those insects that live by hawking.
The mouth is also well adapted ; we can see the use of the
grinders in ruminating animals, as" well as the incisors in carnivo-
rous so even in the insect^world the divine mechanician has sup-
plied the wants of the little spectrum.
THE EVIDENCE OF FOSSIL PLANTS AS TO THE CLIMATE
OF THE POST-PLIOCENE PERIOD IN CANADA.
By J. \V. Dawson, LL.D., F.R S., F.O.S., Principal of MoGill College.
The importance of all information bearing on the temperature
of the Post-pliocene period, invests with much interest the study
70 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
of the land plants preserved in deposits of this age. Unfortunately
these are few in number, and often not well preserved. In
Canada, though fragments of the woody parts of plants occasion-
ally occur in the marine clays and sands, there is only one locality
which has afforded any considerable quantity of remains of their
more perishable parts. This is the well-known deposit of Leda
clay at Green's Creek on the Ottawa, celebrated for the perfection
in which the skeletons of the capelin and other fishes are preserved
in the calcareous nodules imbedded in the clay. In similar
nodules, contained apparently in a layer somewhat lower than that
holding the ichthyolites, remains of land plants are somewhat
abundant, and, from their association with shells of Leda truncate,
seem to have been washed down from the land into deep water.
The circumstances would seem to have been not dissimilar from
those at present existing in the north-east arm of Gaspe Basin,
where I have dredged from mud now being deposited in deep
water, living specimens of Leda Umatula mixed with remains of
land plants.
In my examinations of these plants, I have been permitted to
avail myself of a considerable collection in the museum of the
geological survey of Canada, and also of the private collections of
Mr. Billings, of Prof. Bell of Queen's College, and of Sheriff
Dickson of Kingston. An imperfect list of these plants was pub-
lished in my paper on the Post-pliocene of Canada in this
Journal, and which was reproduced in ' Geology of Canada,' 1863.
Since that time I have obtained some additional material, and
have carefully re-examined all the specimens with the aid of col-
lections of recent northern plants. I have also explored the
locality in which the greater number of these remains were found.
The principal points to which my attention has been directed are, —
(1) The correct determination of the species of plants found ;
(2) The climate which they would indicate ; and, (3) The
portion of the Post-pliocene period to which they belong, with its
probable geographical conditions.
I. Species of plants found.
Under this head I shall give in detail only those species which
I am able, from the fragments found, to determine with tolerable
certainty.
1. Drosera rotundifolia Linn. In a calcareous nodule from
Green's Creek, the leaf only preserved. This plant is common in
1866.]
DAWSON — ON POST-PLIOCENE PLANTS.
71
bogs in Canada, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and thence,
according to Hooker, to the Arctic circle. It is also European.
2. Acer spicatum Lamx. (Acer montanum Aiton.) Leaf
in a nodule from Green's Creek. Found in Nova Scotia and
Canada, also at Lake Winnepeg, according to Richardson.
3. Potentilla Canadensis Linn. In nodules from Green's
Creek ; leaves only preserved. I have had some difficulty in
determining these, but believe they must be referred to the species
above named or to P. simplex Michx., supposed by Hooker and
Gray to be a variety. It occurs in Canada and New England,
but I have no information as to its range northward.
Fig. 1. Gaylussaccia resinosa.
4. Gaijlassaccia resinosa Torrey and Gray. Leaf in nodule
at Green's Creek. Abundant in New England and in Canada,
also on Like Huron and the Saskatchewan, according to Richardson.
Figs. 2 and 3. Populus balsamifera.
72 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
5. Populus bahamifera Linn. Leaves and branches in nodules
at Green's Creek. This is by much the most common species,
and its leaves are of small size, as if from trees growing in cold
and exposed situations. The species is North American and
Asiatic, and abounds in New England and Canada. It extends
to the Arctic circle, and is abundant on the shores of the Great
Slave Lake and on the McKenzie River, and according to Richard-
son constitutes much of the drift timber of the Arctic coast.
Fig. 4. Wood of Populus bal>amifera.
6. Thuja occidentalis Linn. Trunks and branches in the
Leda clay at Montreal. This tree occurs in New England and
Canada, and extends northward into the Hudson Bay Territories,
but I have not information as to its precise northern range.
According to Lyell it occurs associated with the bones of Mastodon
in New Jersey. From the great durability of its wood, it is one
of the trees most likely to be preserved in aqueous deposits.
7. Potamogeton perfoliatus Linn. Leaves and seeds in nodules
at Green's Creek. Inhabits streams of the Northern States and
Canada, and according to Richardson extends to Great Slave
Lake.
1866.] DAWSON — ON POST-PLIOCENE PLANTS. < 3
8. Potamogeton pusillus. Quantities of fragments which I
refer to this species occur in nodules at Green's Creek. They
may possibly belong to a variety of P. hybridus which, together
with P. nutans, now grows in the river Ottawa, where it flows
over the beds containing these fossils.
9. Caricece and Graminece. Fragments in nodules from Green's
Creek, appear to belong to plants of these groups, but I cannot
venture to determine their species.
10. Equisetum sdrpoides Michx. Fragments in nodules,
Green's Creek. This is a widely distributed species, occurring
in the Northern States and Canada.
11. Fontlnalis. In nodules at Green's Creek there occurs,
somewhat plentifully, branches of a moss apparently of the genus
•Fontinalis.
12. Aljce. With the plants above mentioned, both at Green's
Creek and at Montreal, there occur remains of sea-weeds. They
seem to belong to the genera Fucus and Viva, but I cannot deter-
Fig:. 5. Frond of Fucus.
mine the species. A thick stem in one of the nodules would
seem to indicate a large Laminaria. With the above there are
found at Green's Creek a number of fragments of leaves, stems
and fruits, which I have not been able to refer to their species,
principally on account of their defective state of preservation.
Additional specimens may possibly in time resolve some of them.
74 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
II. Climate indicated.
None of the plants above mentioned is properly Arctic in its
distribution, and the assemblage may be characterized as a selec-
tion from the present Canadian flora of some of the more hardy
species having the most northern range. Green's Creek is in the
ceutral part of Canada, near to the parallel of 46°, and an accidental
selection from its present flora, though it might contain the same
species found in the nodules, would certainly include with these,
or instead of some of them, more southern forms. More especially
the balsam poplar, though that tree occurs plentifully on the
Ottawa, would not be so predominant, But such an assemblage
of drift plants might be furnished by any American stream flowing
in the latitude of 50° to 55° north. If a stream flowing to the
north it might deposit these plants in still more northern latitudes,
as the McKenzie River does now. If flowing to the south it
might deposit them to the south of 50°. In the case of the
Ottawa, the plants could not have been derived from a more
southern locality, nor probably from one very far to the north.
We may therefore safely assume that the refrigeration indicated
by these plants would place the region bordering the Ottawa in
nearly the same position with that of the south coast of Labrador
fronting on the Gkdf of St. Lawrence, at present, The absence
of all the more Arctic species occurring in Labrador, should
perhaps induce us to infer a somewhat more mild climate than
this.
The moderate amount of refrigeration thus required, would in
my opinion accord very well with the probable conditions of
climate deducible from the circumstances in which the fossil
plants in question occur. At the time when they were deposited
the sea flowed up the Ottawa valley to a height of 200 to 400 feet
above its present level, and the valley of the St. Lawrence was a
wide arm of the sea, open to the Arctic current. Under these
conditions the immense quantities of drift ice from the northward,
and the removal of the great heating surface now presented by
the low lands of Canada and New England, must have given for
the Ottawa coast of that period a summer temperature very
similar to that at present experienced on the Labrador coast, and
with this conclusion the marine remains of the Leda clay as well
as the few land mollusks whose shells have been found in the beds
containing the plants, and which are species still occurring in
Canada, perfectly coincide.
1866.] DAWSON — ON POST-PLIOCENE PLANTS. 75
The climate of that portion of Canada above water at the time
when these plants were imbedded, may safely be assumed to have
been colder in summer than at present, to an extent equal to about
5° of latitude, and this refrigeration may be assumed to correspond
with the requirements of the actual geographical changes implied.
In other words, if Canada was submerged until the Ottawa valley was
converted into an estuary inhabited by species of Lcda, and fre-
quented by capelin, the diminution of the summer heat consequent
on such depression, would be precisely suitable to the plants
occurring in these deposits, without assuming any other cause of
change of climate.
III. Age or the deposits.
I have arranged elsewhere the Post-pliocene deposits of the
central part of Canada, as consisting of, in ascending order ; (1)
The Boulder Clay ; (2) A deep-water deposit, the Leda Clay ;
and, (3) A shallow-water deposit, the Saxicava Sand. But
although I have placed the boulder clay in the lowest position, it
must be observed that I do not regard this as a continuous layer
of equal age in all places. On the contrary, though locally, as at
Montreal, under the Leda clay, it is in other places and at other
levels contemporaneous with or newer than that deposit, which
itself also locally contains boulders.
At Green's Creek the plant-bearing nodules occur in the lower
part of the Leda clay, which contains a few boulders, and is
apparently in places overlaid by large boulders, while no distinct
boulder clay underlies it, The circumstances which accumulated
the thick bed of boulder clay near Montreal, were probably absent
in the Ottawa valley. In any case we must regard the deposits
of Green's Creek as coeval with the Leda clay of Montreal, and
with the period of the greatest " abundance of Leda truncata,
the most exclusively Arctic shell of these deposits. In other
words I regard the plants above mentioned as probably belonging
to the period of greatest refrigeration of which we have any
evidence of course not including that mythical period of universal
incasement in ice, of which, as I have elsewhere endeavoured to
show, in so far as Canada is concerned, there is no evidence
whatever.
The facts above stated in reference to Post-pliocene plants,
concur with all the other evidence I have been able to obtain, in
the conclusion that the refrigeration of Canada in the Post-pliocene
76 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
period consisted of a diminution of the summer heat, and was of
no greater amount than that fairly attributable to the great
depression of the land and the different distribution of the ice-
bearing Arctic current.
In connection with the plants above noticed, it is interesting to
observe that at Green's Creek, at Pakenham Mills, at Montreal,
and at Clarenceville on Lake Champlain, species of Canadian
Pulmonata hcive been found in deposits of the same age with
those containing the plants. The species which have been noticed
belong to the genera Lymnea and Planorbis.*
I may also state as a curious fact, that among the nodules con-
taining leaves, I have found some containing impressions of
/.''.titers, apparently of some small grallatorial bird. The sub-
stance of the feather has disappeared even more completely than
in the celebrated Solenhofen specimens, but the impression is
perfect, and in these hard nodular concretions might endure for
any length of time. In searching for the fossil plants, I have also
found an interesting addition to the fauna of these deposits in a
Stickleback of the genus Gasterosteus.
MISCELLANEOUS.
New Fluid for preserving Natural History speci-
mens ; by A. E. Verrill. — In consequence of the high price of
alcohol, a series of experiments were undertaken by me last year,
with the view of finding a substitute for it in preserving the soft
parts of animals. Among the various solutions and liquids tested
were nearly all that have ever been recommended, besides many
new ones. Chlorid of zinc, carbolic acid, glycerine, chlorid of
calcium, acetate of alumina, arsenious acid, Goadby's solutions,
and various combinations of these and other preparations were
carefully tried, and the results made comparative by placing the
same kind of objects in each, at the same time. Although each
of these, under certain circumstances, have more or less preserva-
tive qualities, none of them were found satisfactory, especially
when the color and form of the specimen are required to be pre-
served as well as its structure.
* Canadian Naturalist, 1S50, p. 195 ; « Geology oi Canada,' 1863, p. 92S.
1866.] MISCELLANEOUS. 77
As a test for the preservation of color, the larvae of the tomato-
worm (Sphinx quadrimaculata') was used. These larvae are
difficult of preservation with the natural form and color, nearly
always turning dark brown and contracting badly in alcohol and
most other preparations.
As a result of these experiments the following solutions were
found highly satisfactory in all respects when properly used. By
their use the larvae and recent pupae of the tomato-worm were
preserved and still retain their delicate green colors, together with
their natural form and translucent appearance, while the internal
organs are fully preserved. Fishes, mollusks, various insects,
worms, and leaves of plants have also been preserved with perfect
success and far better than can be done with alcohol. In the
case of mollusks, especially, the preparations are very beautiful,
retaining the delicate semi-transparent appearance of the mem-
brances nearly as in life, with but little contraction. Another
great advantage is the extreme simplicity and cheapness of the
solution.
To use this fluid I prepare first the following stock solution,
which may be kept in wooden barrels or casks, and labeled :
Solution A 1.
Rock salt 40 oz.
Nitre (nitrate of potassa) 4 oz.
Soft water 1 gal.
This is the final solution in which all invertebrate animals must
be preserved. A solution with double the amount of water may
be kept if desirable, and called^ A 2. Another with three
gallons of water will be A 3.
In the preliminary treatment of specimens the following solution
is temporarily employed, and is designed to preserve the object
while becoming gradually saturated with the saline matter, for in
no case should the specimen be put into the full strength of solu-
tion A 1, for it would rapidly harden and contract the external
parts and thus prevent access to the interior. Even with alcohol
it is far better to place the object for a time in weak spirits and
then tranfer successively to stronger, and for some objects as
Medusae, no other treatment will succeed.
78 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb.
Solution B 1.
Soft water 1 gal.
Solution A 1 1 qt.
Arseniate of potassa 1 oz.
Another solution with double the amount of water may be made
if desired, and called solution B 2.
To preserve animals with these solutions, they are, if insects or
marine invertebrates, ordinarily placed first in solution B 1, but
if the weather be cool it would be better in many cases to employ
first B 2, and in the case of all marine animals washing first in
fresh water is desirable, though not essential. If the specimens
rise to the surface they should be kept under by mechanical
means. After remaining for several hours, or a day, varying
according to its size and the weather, in the B 1 solution it may
be transferred to A 3, and then successively to A 2 and A
1, and when thus fully preserved it may be transferred to a fresh
portion of the last solution, which has been filtered clear and
bright, and put up in a cabinet, when no further change will be
necessary if the bottle or other vessels be properly secured to pre-
vent the escape of the fluid by crystallization around the opening.
To prevent this, the stoppers, whether of cork or glass, together
with the neck of the bottle or jar, may be covered with a solution
of parafime or wax in turpentine or benzole, which should be
applied only when the surfaces are quite dry and clean. The
length of time that any specimen should remain in each of the
solutions is usually indicated by their sinking to the bottom when
saturated by it. In general the more gradually this saturation
with the saline matter takes place the less the tissues contract or
change in appearance. In many cases, however, fewer changes
than indicated above will be effectual. I have in some cases
succeeded well with but two solutions below A 1. For vertebrates,
except fishes, the solution A 2, will usually be found strong
enough for permanent preservation, especially when the object is
small or dissected. If the entire animal be preserved, when larger
than two pounds in weight, it should be injected with the fluids,
especially B 1 or B 2, or an incision may be made in one side of
the abdomen in vertebrates, or under the carapax of crabs, &c,
to admit the fluids more freely. In preserving the animals of
laro-e univalve shells an opening should be made through the shell
at or near the tip of the spire. Mammals, birds and reptiles,
1866.] MISCELLANEOUS. 79
should be placed first in solution B 2 to obtain the best results.
In cases where the use of the B. fluids would be objectionable, on
account of their highly poisonous nature, a fourth dilution of
solution A 1, corresponding in strength with B 1, but without
the arseniate of potassa, may be substituted, and in many cases
will do nearly as well, if the weather be not very hot, but the
specimens in this case should be carefully watched and transferred
to the stronger solutions as soon as possible, so as to avoid incipient
decomposition while in the first fluids. — SiUimans Journal.
New Haven, Feb. 12, 1866.
Illumination under the Microscope. — At the late soiree
at University College, two forms of Mr. Smith's (of the United
States) illumination for opaque objects under high microscopic-
powers were exhibited. One was constructed by Messrs. Smith
and Beck, of Cornhill, and the other by Messrs. Powell and
Lealand. The first form closely resembles the American contri-
vance— so closely, indeed, that it is difficult to know in what the
difference between the two consists. A bass box intervenes
between the end of the microscope tube and the objective. This
is pierced at the side by an aperture opposite which a table lamp
is placed ; within the box is a small silvered mirror, which receives
the light from the lamp, and throws it down through the objective
upon the object. This contrivance, thought it works admirably
with such a power as the one-fifth inch, is objectionable, from the
fact that it cuts off half the pencil of rays proceeding to the eye
of the observer. The second form — that exhibited by Messrs.
Powell and Lealand — is superior to that of Smith and Beck, and
differs from the American plan in having a reflector of plain glass.
The result of this alteration of the original plan is that whilst,
sufficient light is thrown down to illuminate the object, the rays
proceeding from the latter are not partially cut off. This modifi-
cation applied to the one-twelfth inch gave splendid results, and
the makers allege that it may be used with one-twenty-fifth or
one-fiftieth inch glasses with equal advantage. — fieader, Pec. 23.
The Birds of North America. — D. G. Elliot of New
York (27, AY. 23d st.) proposes to publish a work to contain all
the new and unfigured birds of America, to be issued in Parts,
19 x 24 inches in size, containing each five plates colored by
80 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
hand, with, a concluding part of text ; price for each part, ten
dollars. Only 200 copies will be published. Mr. Elliot is author
of a Monograph of the Pittidae or Ant Trashes, in one volume
imperial folio, with 31 plates, and a Monograph of the Tetraoninae,
Grouses, one vol. royal folio, with 25 plates ; in each of which,
the birds, with two exceptions only, are represented of life-size.
Subscriptions are requested. — Sillimans Journal.
PUBLISHER'S NOTICE.
Owinn to various unforeseen circumstances a very great delay
has occurred in the issue of this number of the Canadian
Naturalist. The remaining numbers of this volume will be
issued during the present year, so that Vol. 3, New Series, will
be for 1866-7.
Montreal,
January 12, 1SG7.
Canadian ^aturalisl.
lew Series TaLlE, PI. I
mj^m^
l^-l"
Roberts fc"Reirihdia .Iafli. Place 1'Annes . Montreal ,
Giimbel oiiEozooniixnntlie primitive rocks of Bavaria
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST
SECOND SERIES.
ON THE LAUKENTIAN ROCKS OF BAVARIA.
By Dr. Guhbel, Director of the Geological Survey of Bavaria ; with a
plate containing figures of tAvo species of Eozoon.
Translated from the Proceedings of the Royal Bavarian Academy for 1866, by
Professor Markgraf.*
The discovery of organic remains in the crystalline limestones
of the ancient gneiss of Canada, for which we are indebted to
the researches of Sir William Logan and his colleagues, and to
the careful microscopic investigations of Drs. Dawson and
Carpenter, must be regarded as opening a new era in geological
science.
This discovery overturns at once the notions hitherto commonly
entertained with regard to the origin of the stratified primary
limestones, and their accompanying gneissic and quartzose strata,
included under the general name of primitive crystalline schists.
It shows us that these crystalline stratified rocks, of the so-called
primary system, are only a backward prolongation of the chain of
fossiliferous strata ; the ' elements of which were deposited as
oceanic sediment, like the clay-slates, limestones and sandstones of
the paleozoic formations, and under similar conditions, though at
a time far more remote, and more favorable to the generation of
crystalline mineral compounds.
In this discovery of organic remains in the primary rocks, we
hail with joy the dawn of a new epoch in the critical history of
these earlier formations. Already, in its light, the primeval
geologic time is seen to be everywhere animated, and peopled with
new animal forms, of whose very existence we had previously no
suspicion. Life, which had hitherto been supposed to have first
^Editor's Xote. — In revising and preparing this for the press, the
original paper has been considerably abridged by the omission of
portions, whose place is indicated in the text. Some explanatory notes
have also been added. — T. S. H.
Vol. Ill P No. 2
82 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
appeared in the primordial division of the Silurian period, is now
seen to be immeasurably lengthened beyond its former limit, and
to embrace in its domain the most ancient known portions of the
earth's crust. It would almost seem as if organic life had been
awakened simultaneously with the solidification of the earth's
crust.
The great importance of this discovery cannot be clearly
understood, unless we first consider the various and conflicting
opinions and theories which had hitherto been maintained
concerning the origin of these primary rocks. Thus some, who
consider them as the first-formed crust of a previously molten
globe, regard their apparent stratification as a kind of concentric
parallel structure, developed in the progressive cooling of the mass
from without. Others, while admitting a similar origin of these
rocks, suppose their division into parallel layers to be due, like the
lamination of clay-slates, to lateral pressure. If we admit such
views, the igneous origin of schistose rocks becomes conceivable,
and is in fact maintained by many.
On the other hand, we have the school which, while recognizing
the sedimentary origin of these crystalline schists, supposes them
to have metamorphosed at a later period; either by the internal
heat, acting in the deeply buried strata; by the proximity of
eruptive rocks ; or finally, through the agency of permeating waters
charged with certain mineral salts.
A few geologists only have hitherto inclined to the opinion that
these crystalline schists, while possessing real stratification, and
sedimentary in their origin, were formed at a period when the
conditions were more favorable to the production of crystalline
materials than at present. According to this view, the crystalline
structure of these rocks is an original condition, and not one
superinduced at a later period by metamorphosis. In order
however to arrange and classify these ancient crystalline rocks, it
becomes necessary to establish, by superposition or by other
evidence, differences in age, such as are recognized in the more
recent stratified deposits. The discovery of similar organic
remains, occupying a determinate position in the stratification, in
different and remote portions of these primitive rocks, furnishes a
powerful argument in favor of the latter view, as opposed to the
nation which maintains the metamorphic origin of the various
minerals and rocks of these ancient formations ; so that we may
regard the direct formation of these mineral elements, at least so
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 83
far as these fossiliferous primary limestones are concerned, as an
established fact.
So early as 1853, after investigating the primitive rocks of
eastern Bavaria, which are connected with those of the Bohemian
forest, I expressed the opinion that, although eruptive masses of
granite and similar rocks occur in that region, the gneiss was of
sedimentary origin, and divisible into several formations. I at
that time endeavored to separate these crystalline schists into
three great divisions, the phyllades, the mica-schists, and the
gneiss formation, of which the first was the youngest and the last
the oldest ; all these formations having essentially the same dip
and strike.
These results, obtained from very detailed geological and topo-
graphical researches, were subsequently more fully set forth in the
Survey of the Geology of Eastern Bavaria, (Book IV., p. 219 et
seq.) ; where I endeavored to assign local names to the subdivisions
of the primitive rocks of that region. Beginning with the more
recent, I distinguished the following formations :
1. Hercynian primitive clay-slate.
2. Hercynian mica-slate.
3. Hercynian gneiss. ) -r, .
, -n .. . } Jrnniary gneiss system.
4. Bojian gneiss. ) J ° J
In some cases, within limited regions, I even succeeded in tracing
out still smaller subdivisions. It was in this way established that
definite and distinct kinds of rocks, as for example hornblende-
slate and mica-slate, may replace each other and, as it were, pass
into each other, in different parts of the same horizon.
After Sir Roderick Murchison had established the existence of
the fundamental gneiss in Scotland, and recognized its identity
with that of the Laurentian system" of Canada, he turned his
attention to the primitive rocks of Bavaria and Bohemia. My
researches and my communications to him disclosed the important
fact that these rocks belong to the same series as the oldest
formations of Canada and of Scotland. On one point only was
there an apparent difference of opinion between Sir Roderick and
myself; which was that he was disposed to look upon the whole
of the gneiss of the Hercynian mountains as constituting but a
single formation, corresponding to the Laurentian gneiss of Canada
and of Scotland; while I had endeavored to distinguish two
divisions, the newer grey or Hercynian gneiss, and the older red
84 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
or variegated, which I called the Bojian gneiss. This difference
of opinion is however at once removed by the remark that I did
not intend to maintain in the older gneiss the existence of a
formation more ancient than the fundamental gneiss of Scotland,
nor yet to assimilate the newer or grey gneiss to the more recent
or so-called metamorphic series, which, according to Sir Roderick,
may be clearly distinguished in Scotland from the Laurentian
gneiss.
[This newer gneissic formation of the Highands is, according
to Murchison, Ramsay and others, of Lower Silurian age. Our
author simply claims to have established a division in the proper
Laurentian rocks of Bavaria and Bohemia. It will be seen
from the recently published maps of the Laurentian region of the
Ottawa, that Sir William Logan there distinguishes three great
limestone formations, by which the enormous mass of Laurentian
gneiss is separated into four divisions. One or two of the upper
ones of these may be eventually found to correspond to the grey
Hercynian gneiss of Bavaria, which is there accompanied by the
Eozoon Canadense, a fossil so far as yet known characterizing the
highest of the three Laurentian limestones. This grey gneiss
of Bavaria appears to be lithologically distinct from the Labrador
(or Upper Laurentian) series ; nor do we find in the present
memoir of Gumbel, any clear evidence of the occurrence either of
this, or of the Huronian system, in Bavaria. — T. S. H.
After citing in this connection Sir W. E. Logan's observations
on these ancient formations, which are shown, by the results of the
Canadian Survey, to represent three great systems of sedimentary
rocks, formed under conditions not unlike those of more modern
formations, our author observes : — ]
Accepting these views of the older Canadian rocks, it would
naturally follow that organic life might be expected to reach back
much farther than the so-called primordial fauna of Lower
Silurian age, and to mark the period hitherto designated as Azoic.
Guided by these ideas, the geologists of Canada zealously sought
for traces of organic life in the primitive rocks of that country.
Dr. Sterry Hunt had already concluded that it must have existed
in the Laurentian period, from the presence of beds of iron ore,
and of metallic sulphurets, which, not less than the occurrence of
graphite, were to him chemical evidences of an already existing
vegetation, when at length direct evidence of life was obtained by
the discovery of apparently organic forms in the great beds of
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LATJRENTIAN ROCKS. 85
crystalline limestone which occur in the Lauren tian system. Such
were collected in 1858, by Mr. J. McMullen from the Grand
Calumet on the Ottawa River, and were observed by Sir Wm.
Logan to resemble closely similar specimens obtained by Dr. James
"Wilson in Burgess, a few years previously. In 1859, Sir Wm.
Logan first expressed his opinion that these masses, in which
pyroxene, serpentine, and an allied mineral, alternated in thin
layers, with carbonate of lime or dolomite, were of organic origin ;
and in 1862 he reiterated this opinion in England, without
however being able to convince the English geologists, Ramsay
excepted, of the correctness of his views. Soon after this,
however, the discovery of other and more perfect specimens, at
Grenville, furnished decisive proofs of the organic nature of these
singular fossils.
The careful and admirable investigations of Dawson and of
Carpenter, to whom specimens of the rock were confided, have
placed beyond doubt the organic structure of these remains, and
confirmed the important fact that these ancient Laurentian lime-
stones abound in a peculiar organic fossil, unknown in more recent
formations, to which has been given the name of Eozoon.*
The researches of Sterry Hunt on the mineralogical relations of
the Eozoon-bearing rocks, lead him to the important conclusion
that certain silicates, namely serpentine, white pyroxene, and
loganite, have filled up the vacant spaces left by the disappearance
of the destructible animal matter of the sarcode, the calcareous
skeleton remaining more or less unchanged. If, by the aid of
acids, we remove from such specimens the carbonate of lime, (or,
in certain cases, the dolomite which replaces it,) there remains a
coherent skeleton, which is evidently a cast of the soft parts of the
Eozoon. The process by which the silicates have been introduced
into the empty spaces corresponds evidently to that of ordinary
silicification through the action of water. It is to be noted that
Hunt found serpentine and pyroxene, side by side, in adjacent
chambers, and even sharing the same chamber between them ;
thus affording a beautiful proof of their origin through the
* Here follows, in the original, a lengthened analysis of the memoirs
of Messrs. Logan, Dawson, Carpenter, and Hunt, published in the
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, and already
reprinted in the Canadian ^Naturalist.
86 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
infiltration of aqueous solutions, while the Eozoon was yet
growing, or shortly after its death. * * *
Hunt, in a very ingenious manner, compares this formation and
deposition of serpentine, pyroxene, and loganite, with that of
glauconite, whose formation has gone on uninterruptedly from the
Silurian to the Tertiary period, and is even now taking place in
the depths of the sea ; it being well known that Ehrenberg and
others have already shown that many of the grains of glauconite
are casts of the interior of foraminiferal shells. In the light of
this comparison, the notion that the serpentine, and such like
minerals of the primitive limestones have been formed in a similar
manner, in the chambers of Eozoic foraminifera, loses any traces
of improbability which it might at first seem to possess. * *
My discovery of similar organic remains in the serpentine-
limestone from near Passau was made in 1865, when I had
returned from my geological labors of the summer, and received
the recently published descriptions of Messrs. Logan, Dawson, etc.
Small portions of this rock, gathered in the progress of the
geological survey in 1854, and ever since preserved in my
collection, having been submitted to microscopic examination,
confirmed in the most brilliant manner the acute judgment of the
Canadian geologists ; and furnished paleontological evidence that,
notwithstanding the great distance which separates Canada from
Bavaria, the equivalent primitive rocks of the two regions are
characterized by similar organic remains; showing at the same
time that the law governing the definite succession of organic life
on the earth is maintained even in these most ancient formations.
The fragments of serpentine-limestone or ophicalcite, in which I
first detected the existence of Eozoon, were like those described in
Canada in which the lamellar structure is wanting, and offer
only what Dr. Carpenter has called an acervuline structure. For
further confirmation of my observations, I deemed it advisable,
through the kindness of Sir Charles Lyell, to submit specimens of
the Bavarian rock to the examination of that eminent authority,
Dr. Carpenter ; who, without any hesitation, declared them to
contain Eozoon.
This fact being established, I procured from the quarries near
Passau as many specimens of the limestone as the advanced season
of the year would permit ; and, aided by my diligent and skilful
assistants Messrs. Beber and Schwager, examined them by the
methods indicated by Messrs. Dawson and Carpenter. In this
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 87
way I soon convinced myself of the general similarity of our
organic remains with those of Canada. Our examinations were
made on polished sections and in portions etched with dilute nitric
acid, or, better, with warm acetic acid. The most beautiful
results were however obtained by etching moderately thin sections,
so that the specimens may be examined at will either by reflected
or by transmitted light.
The specimens in which I first detected Eozoon came from a
quarry at Steinhag, near Obernzell on the Danube, not far from
Passau. The crystalline limestone here forms a mass from fifty
to seventy feet thick, divided into several beds, included in the
gneiss, whose general strike in this region is N.W., with a dip of
40°-60° N.E. The limestone strata of Steinhag have a dip of
45° N.E. The gneiss of this vicinity is chiefly grey, and very
silicious, containing dichroite, and of the variety known as
dichroite-gneiss ; and I conceive it to belong, like the gneiss of
Bodenmais and Arber, to that younger division of the primitive
gneiss system which I have designated as the Hercynian gneiss
formation ; which both to the north, between Tischenreuth and
Mahring. and to the south, on the south-west of the mountains
of Ossa, is immediately overlaid by the mica-slate formation.
Lithologically, this newer division of the gneiss is characterized by
the predominance of a grey variety, rich in quartz, with black
magnesian-mica and orthoclase, besides which a small quantity of
oligoclase is never wanting. A farther characteristic of this
Hercynian gneiss is the frequent intercalation of beds of rocks
rich in hornblende, such as hornblende-schist, amphibolite, diorite,
syenite, and syenitic granite, and also of serpentine and granulite.
Beds of granular limestone, or of calcareous schists are also never
altogether wanting ; while iron pyrites, and graphite, in lenticular
masses, or in local beds conformable to the great mass of the gneiss
strata, are very generally present.
The Hercynian gneiss strata on the shores of the Danube near
Passau are separated from the typical Hercynian gneiss districts
which occur to the north, on the borders of the Fichtelgebirge and
near Bodenmais and Arber, by an extensive tract, partly occupied
by intrusive granites, and partly by another variety of gneiss.
These Danubian gneiss strata are not seen to come in contact
with any newer crystalline formation, but towards the south are
concealed by the tertiary strata of the Danubian plain ; while
towards the N.W. they are in part cut off by granite, and in part
88 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
replaced by those belts of gneiss which accompany the quartz
ridge of the Pfahl; and belong to the red variety or Bojian
gneiss. The grey gneiss strata of the Danube might therefore be
supposed to be older than this red gneiss, which from its relations
in the district to the N.W., between Cham and Weiden, I had
regarded as itself the more ancient formation. But the litholooical
characters of the grey Danubian gneiss are opposed to this view,
since this rock not only presents a general resemblance to the
gneiss formation of Bodenmais, which without doubt is directly
overlaid by the mica-schist of the mountains of Ossa, thus shewing
it to be the newer gneiss ; but exhibits a repetition of the minor
features which characterize the gneiss district of Bodenmais. We
find in the Danubian gneiss that same abundant dissemination of
dichroite, which gives rise to the typical dichroite-gneiss of
Bodenmais, with nearly the same mineral associations in both
cases. On the Danube, also, interstratified beds of hornblende-
rock (at Hals near Passau), of serpentine (at Steinhag), and of
pyrites (at Kelberg, and many points along the Danube), occur, as
in the north. On the other hand, the graphite which abounds in
the gneiss of Passau is not wanting at Bodenmais or Tischenreuth.
The interstratified syenites and syenitic granites are, in like manner,
common to all these districts ; those near Passau being, however,
richer in easily decomposed minerals, such as porcelain-spar
(scapolite) and calcspar, are more subject to decomposition, and
form the parent rock of the famous porcelain clays of the region.
These resemblances lead me to refer the Danubian gneiss,
notwithstanding its apparent stratigraphical inferiority to the red
gneiss, to the newer or Hercynian formation ; and to explain its
apparently abnormal relations by assuming a fault running along
the strike from N.W. to S.E., through which the older gneiss of
the Pf hal is brought up, and seems to overlie the younger.
We shall then regard the whole of the gneissic strata character-
ized by dichroite, which extend on the Danube from Passau to
Linz, as equivalent to the Hercynian gneiss of Bodenmais, and
designate it as the Danubian gneiss. We may here call attention
to the abundance of graphitic beds in it, as also to the occurrence
of porcelain clay, and of beds of iron pyrites and magnetic pyrites.
If it is true (as maintained by Dr. Sterry Hunt) that all graphite
owes its origin to organic matters, we must suppose the existence
of a primordial region peculiarly rich in organic life ; since
graphite occurs here in almost all the strata, and in some places in
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. * 89
such quantities that it is profitably extracted, and is largely used
for the manufacture of the famous Passau crucibles. In all of
the numerous graphite mines, the uniform interstratification of
bands and lenticular masses rich in graphite with the gneiss
is here distinctly marked. A similar .arrangement is seen in the
sulphurets of iron, which are more abundantly disseminated in the
more hornblendic strata. The localities of porcelain-earth or
kaolin are in like manner confined to the strike of the gneissic
strata ; and are generally contiguous to certain interstratified
granitic and syenitic bands, rich in feldspar. Its frequent
association with porcelain-spar, (probably nothing more than
a chloriferous scapolite or anorthite,) indicates that this mineral
has played an essential part in the production of the kaolin. The
presence of chlorine in this mineral is highly significant, and
suggests the agency of sea-water in its production.
Of particular interest, from their mineral associations, are three
or more parallel bands of crystalline limestone of no great
thickness, which occur conformably interstratified with the gneiss
of the hills near Passau. They begin near Hofkirchen, and
extend north and south, from along the Danube as far as the
frontier, near Jochenstein, where the Danube leaves Bavaria.
These separate limestone bands, although exposed by numerous
quarries, cannot be followed uninterruptedly, being sometimes
concealed, and sometimes of insignificant thickness.
The large quarry of Steinhag already described, from which I
first obtained the Eozoon, is one. The enclosing rock is a grey
hornblendic gneiss, which sometimes passes into a hornblende-
slate. The limestone is in many places overlaid by a bed of
hornblende-schist, sometimes five feet in thickness, which separates
it from the normal gneiss. In many localities, a bed of serpentine,
three or four feet thick, is interposed between the limestone and
the hornblende-schist ; and in some cases a zone, consisting chiefly
of scapolite, crystalline and almost compact, with an admixture
however of hornblende and chlorite. Below the serpentine band,
the crystalline limestone appears divided into distinct beds, and
encloses various accidental minerals, among which are reddish-
white mica, chlorite, hornblende, tremolite, chondrodite, rosellan,
garnet, and scapolite arranged in bands. In several places the
lime is mingled with serpentine, grains or portions of which, often
of the size of peas, are scattered through the limestone with
90 k THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
apparent irregularity, giving rise to a beautiful variety of ophical-
cite or serpentine-marble. These portions, which are enclosed in
the limestone destitute of serpentine, always present a rounded
outline. In one instance there appears, in a high naked wall of
limestone without serpentine, the outline of a mass of ophicalcite,
about sixteen feet long and twenty-five feet high, which, rising
from a broad base, ends in a point, and is separated from the
enclosing limestone by an undulating but clearly defined margin, as
already well described by Wineberger. This mass of ophicalcite
recalls vividly a reef-like structure. Within tftis, and similar
masses of ophicalcite in the crystalline limestone, there are, so far
as my observations in 1854 extend, no continuous lines or
concentric layers of serpentine to be observed, this mineral being
always distributed in small grains and patches. The few
.apparently regular layers which may be observed are soon
interrupted, and the whole aggregation is irregular. [This is
well shown in plates II. and III. in the original memoir, which
recall the acervuline portions, that make up a large part of the
Canadian specimens of Eozoon. — Eds.]
The numerous specimens which were subsequently collected, at
the commencement of the winter, show, throughout, this irregular
structure, which seems to characterize the Bavarian specimens of
Eozoon, as is in part the case in those from Canada. It is true
that small lenticular masses or nodules, consisting chiefly of
scapolite, measuring fifty by twenty millimeters, and even much
more, are often met with, around which serpentine is arranged in
a concentric manner ; but even here the serpentine is in small
cohering masses, and not in regular layers ; nor could I, after
numerous examinations of fragments of such masses, satisfy
myself whether I had to deal with the commencing growth of an
Eozoon, or merely with a concretionary mass ; since the granular
structure of the scapolite centre could never be clearly made out.
Moreover the occurrence of these nodules, arranged in a stratiform
manner, is opposed to the notion that they are nuclei of Eozoon,
although in the parts around these nodules I could sometimes
distinctly observe tubuli, canals, and even indications of a shell-like
structure.
The portions of serpentine in the ophicalcite occur of very
various sizes, from that of a millet-seed to lumps whose sections
measure fifteen by six or eight millimeters. But I think I can
detect within certain lines, (which are not, it is true, very well
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 91
defined,) chains of serpentine grains, of nearly equal size, connected
with each other. When by means of acids the lime is removed
from these aggregates, a perfectly coherent serpentine skeleton is
in all cases obtained, which may be compared to a piece of wood
perforated by ants. * * * * *
The surface of the serpentine grains is rounded, pitted, and
irregular ; plane surfaces and straight lines are rarely to be seen.
Even when dilute nitric or acetic acid has been used to remove
the lime, a white down-like coating is frequently found on the
serpentine, which does not answer to the nummuline wall of the
calcareous skeleton. In many cases, where the lime is very
crystalline, and the more- delicate organic structure obliterated,
small tufts of radiated crystals, apparently hornblende or tremolite,
are seen resting upon the serpentine. These crystals, when seen
in thin sections, by transmitted light, may easily give rise to
errors ; their formation seems to have been possible only where the
calcareous skeleton had been destroyed, and crystalline carbonate
of lime deposited in its stead ; during which time free space was
given for the formation of these crystalline groups. In very
many cases there are seen, by a moderate magnifying power, (in
the residue from acids) deposits of small detached cylindrical
stems, with some larger ones, consisting of a white matter insoluble
in acids. These appear to be the casts of the tubuli which
penetrated the calcareous skeleton, and of the less frequent stolons,
as will be described.
The serpentine in these sections never appears quite homo-
geneous, but exhibits, on the contrary, irregular groups of small
dark-colored globules disseminated through the mass, without
however any definite indications of organic form. Still more
frequently, the serpentine is penetrated by irregularly reticulated
dark colored veins, giving to the mass a cellular aspect.
In certain parts of the serpentine^ however, parallel lines, groups
of curved tube-like forms, and oval openings, clearly indicate an
organic structure like that of the Canadian Eozoon. The finely
tubulated nummuline wall of the chambers, which was discovered
by Carpenter, and the casts of whose tubuli appear in the
decalcified specimens from Canada as a soft white velvet-like
covering, could only be found in a few isolated cases in the
Bavarian specimens, but was clearly made out in a few fragments.
(PI. I., 4.) The somewhat oblique section shows the openings
of the minute tubuli.
92 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
It should be remarked that the serpentine at Steinhag occurs,
not only repla^ng the sarcode in the carbonate of lime of
the Eozoon, but also forming layers over the limestone strata,
and moreover filling up large and small crevices and fissures,
which have nothing at all to do with the organic structure.
Especially worthy of notice are the plates of fibrous serpentine,
or chrysotile, often from five to ten millimeters in diameter,
which are found extending in unbroken lines through the compact
serpentine.
The color of the serpentine presents all possible shades, from
blackish green, to the palest yellowish green tint. Where it has
been exposed to the weather, the serpentine has become of a pale
brownish green, and appears changed into gymnite. The different
tints are arranged in zones, and seem to mark different periods of
growth. The carbonate of lime which is interposed among the
grains of serpentine in the specimens from Steinhag, is either
distinctly crystalline, or apparently compact. In the first case, no
organic structure can be perceived ; thin sections of the crystalline
portions show only intersecting parallel lines; and in etched or
entirely decalcified specimens, no clear evidence of the fine
canal-system of the skeleton can be observed. These crystalline
portions often alternate with others which are compact and but
feebly translucent. In thin sections of these compact parts, the
rounded forms of the delicate tubuli are very clearly discerned,
provided the section is at right angles to them. In etched
specimens, viewed by reflected light, these tubuli are seen to
branch out in the form of tufts, exactly as described and figured
by Drs. Dawson and Carpenter.
These branching and ramified tubuli rest upon the serpentine
granules, and seem by anastomosis to be connected with adjacent
groups. The diameter of these tubuli is from tooo to t!uo
millimeters. They are easily distinguishable from the delicate
groups of crystals, which are also sometimes found implanted in
the serpentine, by the nearly uniform thickness throughout their
whole length ; by their extremities, which are always somewhat
crooked ; and by their pipe-like form. The latter are never
ramified ; have a fibrous aspect ; and are always straight, and
terminate in a point. (PI. I., figs. 1, 2, 3.)
Here and there are observed larger tubuli, which, so far as my
observations extend, are always isolated, and nearly or quite
parallel. (PI. I., fig. 1.) Their diameter is about tijo millimeters,
1866.1 GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 93
and they not improbably represent those stolons or connecting
channels with which Carpenter has made us acquainted.
In the decalcified specimens, delicate very slender string-like
leaflets were very frequently observed, stretched between the
serpentine granules; but they presented no discernible organic
structure, and are perhaps only the casts of small crevices. More
remarkable are the numerous canals filled with carbonate of lime,
which traverse the serpentine granules, and at the surface of these
are expanded into funnel shapes. They appear to represent cross
connections between the calcareous skeleton.
As my object at present is merely to shew the presence, in the
primitive limestones of Bavaria, of forms corresponding to the
Canadian Eozoon, I will not dwell longer on these various
appearances met-with in the microscopical examinations, nor on
the peculiar cellular structures observed in the carbonate of lime.
I will, for the same reason, only mention a specimen which exhibits,
by the side of a curved main tube, a number of secondary tubuli,
and farther on a parallel layer of fibres; and also another radiated
form which resembles a section of a Bryozoon. It is sufficient to
draw attention to the fact that, in addition to Eozoon, there are
other organic remains in these crystalline limestones. There
remains however to be noticed a phenomenon of some importance.
When the lime is removed by nitric or acetic acid from the
interstices of the serpentine granules, there may be observed, on
gently moving the liquid, extremely delicate membranes, that
separate themselves from the serpentine grains, (which they
covered thickly, as with a fine white down,) and now remain
swimming in the liquid, so that they can readily be separated,
by decantation, from a multitude of heavier particles, which,
having also detached themselves from the serpentine mass, accu-
mulate at the bottom of the vessel. - These consist in great part of
indistinct mineral fragments, and of small crystalline needles,
together with distinct cylindrical portions, which are the broken
tubuli of the Eozoon. Besides these are, here and there, distinctly
knotted stems or tubules, (PL I., figs. 5, a and &,) which I dare
not suppose to belong to Eozoon. Various other fragments of
tubuli are also associated with these.
The delicate flakes, which can be obtained by evaporating the
liquid in which they are suspended, shew, under a magnifying
power of 400 diameters, a membranous character, and peculiar
structures, which seem to be undoubtedly of organic origin.
94 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
Their forms are best understood by the figures 6, a, b, c and d.
The examination of the fine slimy residues from the solution of
various primary crystalline limestones, in which, from the absence
of well marked foreign minerals, it may be difficult to prove the
presence of distinct organic forms, will, I think, afford the quickest
and readiest mode of establishing the existence of organisms.
The presence of the Eozoon in the primary limestone of
Steinhag being thus established, I proceeded to examine such
specimens as were at my disposal from other localities of similar
limestones in the vicinity of Passau. I must here remark that
these specimens, collected during my geolological examinations
twelve years since, were chosen as containing ' intermixtures of
serpentine and hornblende, and not with reference to the possibility
of their holding organic remains. I succeeded however in detecting
at least traces of Eozoon in specimens of the limestone from
Untersalzbach, (fig. 2,) from Hausbach, Babing, (fig. 3,) and
from Kading and StettiDg. Moreover a specimen of ophicalcite
from a quarry near Srin, in the region between Krumau and
Goldenkron, among the primitive hills of Bohemia, afforded
unequivocal evidences of Eozoon. Yon Hochstetter moreover
has received specimens of crystalline limestone from the same
strata at Krumau, in which Dr. Carpenter has shown the presence
of Eozoon. To the same formation belong the calcareous rocks
near Schwarzbach, in the vicinity of which, as near Passau, great
masses of graphite are intercalated in the gneiss hills. These
limestones of Schwarzbach connect those of Krumau with the
similar strata near Passau, from which they are only separated by
the great granite mass of the Plockenstein hills. We thus obtain
a still farther proof of the similarity of structure throughout the
whole range of primitive rocks of Bavaria and Bohemia ; and of
the parallelism of their lowest portion with the Lauren tian gneiss
system of Canada. I think therefore that we may, without
hesitation, place the Hercynian gneiss formation of the mountains
forming the Bavarian and Bohemian frontier, on the same
geolocjirnl horizon with the Laurentian system.
Farther northward, in similar gneiss hills, occupying a limited
area, a crystalline limestone occurs near Burggrub, not far from
Erbendorf, from which a few specimens were at hand. They were
however a reddish, very ferruginous dolomite, penetrated by fibres
of hornblende and epidote, and gave me no trace of organic remains.
Besides these limestones of the Hercynian gneiss, there is found
1866] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 95
in Bavaria another remarkable deposit of crystalline limestone,
included in the Hercynian primitive clay-slate series on the south
and south-east border of the Fichtelgebirge, in the vicinity of
Wunseidel. This clay-slate formation, as we have already shewn,
overlies the Hercynian gneiss and mica-slate series, and is
immediately beneath the primordial zone of the Lower Silurian
strata met with in the Fichtelgebirge. It would thus seem to
correspond with the Cambrian rocks of Wales, and with the
Huronian system of Canada, as Sir Roderick Murchison has
already suggested. This view is confirmed by Fritzsch's discovery
of traces of annelids in the grauwacke of Przibram, and by the
occurrence of crinoidal steins and foraminiferal forms, according to
Reuss, in the limestone of the primitive clay-slates of Paukratz,
near Reichenstein. Thus our Hercynian mica-slate, with certain
hornblendic strata and chloritic schists belonging to the same
horizon, would occupy a stratigraphical position similar to the
Labrador series, or Upper Laurentian, of Canada.
The crystalline limestone of the Fichtelgebirge forms in the
primitive clay-slate two nearly parallel bands, which I conceive to
be the outcrops of one and the same stratum, on the opposite sides
of a trough. It presents several parallel beds separated by inter-
vening bods of the conformable clay-slate.
The limestone strata near Wunseidel dip from 50° to 75° S.E.,
and sometimes attain a thickness of 350 feet. They are in many
places dolomitic. * * * * Spathic iron,
in nests and disseminated, characterizes this rock, and by its
decomposition gives rise to the valuable deposits of brown hematite,
which are worked along the outcrop of the limestone band.
Among the other minerals may be mentioned graphite, in crystal-
line plates, and also in small round grains and rounded compact
masses in the limestone ; besides which it frequently enters into
the composition of the adjacent clay-slate, giving rise to a
plumbaginous slate. Fluor-spar, chondrodite, tremolite, common
hornblende, serpentine, cubic and magnetic pyrites, are among the
minerals of the limestone. Quartz secretions are also met with,
but are evidently of secondary origin. The hornblende forms
rounded patches, remarkable twisted stripes, and banded parallel
layers, often of considerable dimensions, as in the specimens from
Wunseidel, which exhibit sheets of hornblende of from five to
fifteen millimeters, separated by limestone layers of from fifteen to
twenty millimeters in thickness. My examinations of the specimens
96 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
of this nature, in my collection, have not enabled me to connect
these hornblende layers with organic structure, nor to discover
any traces of Eozoon in the highly crystalline limestone.
The result of my examinations of specimens of the limestone
containing serpentine from the quarries near Wunseidel, from
Thiersheim, and from between Hohenberg and the Steinberg, were
however more successful. Fragments of the rock from near
Hohenberg show irregular greenish stripes, which are made up of
parallel undulating laminae, or of elongated grains. This banded
ao-o-regate is a granular mixture of carbonate of lime, serpentine,
and a white mineral, insoluble in acids, which appears to be
a variety of hornblende. The grains of this aggregate have
generally a diameter of to millimeter.
When examined in thin sections, the calcareous portions appear
for the most part sparry, and traversed by straight intersecting
lines, (PI. 1, fig. 7 «,) or divided into cellular spaces by small
irregular bands, which, after the surface is etched, are seen in
slight relief. The portions between these bands are granulated.
(fi°\ 7 h.) More compact calcareous portions are however met
with, and these are penetrated by delicate tufts of tubuli like
those of Eozoon, (fig. 7 c,) and are adherent to the serpentine
portions, which have nearly the same form as in the Eozoon
of Steinhag, but are far smaller, (fig. 7 d.) In decalcified
specimens, they are found to possess the 'same arched walls as the
Eozoon. Their breadth in the cross section is generally about one
tenth, and the diameter of the casts of the tubuli only about one
hundredth of a millimeter. These broader serpentine portions
are generally connected with an adjacent portion of lamellae, (also
composed of serpentine, or of a whitish mineral,) which are not
more than one-half their size, curiously curved, and presenting
highly arched and deeply incurved outlines, as may be seen in
decalcified specimens, (fig. 7 e.) The study of these structures
leaves no doubt that they are due to an organism belonging to the
same group as the Eozoon. In order however to distinguish this
distinctly smaller form of the primitive clay-slate series, with its
minute contorted chambers filled with serpentine, from the typical
Eozoon Ccmadense of the more ancient Laurentian system, it may
be designated as Eozoon Bavaricam.
I have moreover subjected to microscopic examination a series
of specimens from the same limestone horizon in the Fichtelgebirge,
which, unlike those just described, showed no distinct foreign
1866.] GUMB'EL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 97
minerals, although presenting certain dense portions which seemed
to indicate the presence of some foreign matter. These portions
however showed only a cellular structure, like that in the specimen
from Hohenberg, without any tubuli ; nor did etching succeed in
developing any structure in these wholly calcareous specimens.
When therefore carbonate of lime both constitutes the skeleton,
and replaces the sarcode, there is evidently little hope of recognizing
these organic forms. If however the flaky pellicles which remain
suspended in the acid after the solution of the lime, in these
almost wholly calcareous specimens, are examined, they present a
very great resemblance to the similar pellicles from the Eozoon
limestone of Steinhao-, already figured, which have such a striking
resemblance to organic forms. The careful examination of the
limestone from many other parts in the Fichtelgebirge, affords
evidence of organic life similar to those of Hohenberg ; thus
tending more and more to fill up the interval between the
Lauren tian gneiss, and the primordial zone of the Lower Silurian
fauna. We may therefore reasonably hope that in the study of
these more ancient rock-systems, which geologists have only
recently ventured to distinguish, paleontological evidence will be
found no less available than in the more recent sedimentary
formations. The inferences which we are permitted to draw from
the discovery of organic remains in these ancient rocks, confirm
the conclusion to which I had previously arrived from the study
of the stratigraphical relations, and the general character of these
ancient rock-systems ; viz., that there exists, in these ancient
crystalline stratified rocks, a regular order of progress determined
by the same laws which have already been established for the
formations hitherto known as fossiliferous.
I cannot conclude this notice of the preliminary results obtained
in the investigation of the ancient Eozoon limestones of Bavaria,
without adding a few observations upon some foreign crystalline
limestones. It is well known that the crystalline minerals, which
in numerous localities are found in these limestones, often present
rounded surfaces, as if they had at one time been in a liquid state.
As examples of these, Naumann mentions apatite, chondrotite,
hornblende, pyroxene, and garnet. The edges and angles of these
are often rounded ; the planes curved or peculiarly wrinkled,
and only rarely presenting crystalline faces ; having in short a
half-fused aspect, and offering a condition of things hitherto
unexplained. One of the best known instances of this is found in
Yol III. G No. 2.
98 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
the green hornblende (pargasite) from Pargas in Finland. This
mineral there occurs in a crystalline limestone with fluor, apatite,
chondrotite, pyroxene, pyrallolite, mica and graphite; associations
very similar to those of the serpentine of Steinhag. The grains
of pargasite, although completely crystalline within, and having a
perfect cleavage, are rounded on the exterior, curved inward and
outward, and also approximatively cylindrical in form ; so that
they may be best compared with certain vegetable tubercles. If
the crystalline carbonate of lime which accompanies the pargasite
is removed by an acid, there remains a mass of pargasite grains,
generally cohering, and presenting a striking resemblance to the
skeleton obtained by submitting the Eozoon serpentine-limestone
to a similar treatment. The tubercles of pargasite are then seen
to be joined together by short cylindrical projections, which are
however readily broken by pressure, causing the mass to separate
into detached grains. The highly crystalline and ferruginous
carbonate of lime which is mingled with the pargasite, shews no
organic structure either when etched or examined in thin sections ;
although the pargasite presents forms similar to those observed in
the serpentine of Steinhag. The surfaces of the curved cylindrical
and tuberculated grains of pargasite are in part naked, and in part
protected by a thin white covering. In some parts fine cylindrical
growths are observed, and in others cylindrical perforations passing
through the grains of pargasite. By a careful microscopical
examination of the surface of these grains (PL I., fig. 8),
numerous small tubuli, sometimes two millimeters in length, are
clearly seen, and by their exactly cylindrical form may be readily
distinguished from other pulverulent, fibrous and acicular crystal-
line mineral matters. These cylinders consist of a white substance,
which contrasts with the dark green pargasite, and have the
diameter of the tubuli of Eozoon, or from -rtjftu to rMu millimeters.
A single large cylinder was also observed lying obliquely across
between two of the pargasite tubercles. (PI. I., fig. 8 a.) In
the decalcified specimens, a white mineral, probably scapolite, was
observed side by side with the green pargasite ; sometimes forming
groups of tubercles like the latter ; while in other cases a single
tubercle was found to be made in part of the green and partly of
the white mineral. From these observations there can scarcely
remain a doubt that these curiously rounded grains of pargasite
imbedded in the crystalline limestone of Pargas represent the
casts of sarcode-chambers, as in the Eozoon ; and that they
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 99
are consequently of organic origin. From the great similarity
between the forms of the pargasite grains and the Eozoon-
serpentine, we may fairly be permitted to assume the presence of
Eozoon in the crystalline limestones of Finland.*
Similar relations are doubtless to be met with throughout the
crystalline limestones of Scandinavia, wherever such mineral
species occur in rounded grains or in tuberculated forms. The
notion that these forms are of organic origin, and have been
moulded in the spaces left in a calcareous skeleton by the decay of
animal matter, receives a strong support from the observations of
Nordenskiold and Bischof. The former found in a tuberculated
pyrallolite, 6-38 per cent, of bituminous matter, besides 3-58 per
cent, of water ; while Bischof states that the same mineral
becomes black when ignited, and when calcined in a glass tube,
gives off a clear water with a very offensive empyreumatic odor.
There may also be mentioned in this connection a phenomenon
which is probably related to those just described. Upon the
pyritous layers which occur in the Hercynian gneiss near Boden,
are found great quantities of grains of quartz, almost transparent,
and with a fatty lustre, which have in all cases rounded undulating
forms, precisely resembling the pargasite tubercles from Finland.
Dichroite also sometimes occurs in this region in similar shapes,
although it also, in many cases, forms perfect crystals. The
evidence of organic forms may perhaps be found in these masses of
quartz and dichroite, though their treatment will necessarily
present difficulties.
A specimen of crystalline limestone, with rounded pyroxene
(coccolite) grains from New York, showed, after etching by
means of acids, no traces of tubuli ; but the grains of coccolite,
remaining after the entire removal of the carbonate of lime,
were found to be connected with each other by numerous fine
cylindrical tubuli and skin-like laminae. The surface of the
rounded coccolite grains was much wrinkled, and studded with
small cylindrical processes of a white mineral, sometimes ramifying,
and apparently representing the remnants of a system of tubuli
which had been destroyed by the crystallization of the carbonate
of lime. The flaky residue from the solvent action of the acid
exhibits, under the microscope, laminae, needles, and strings of
* These belong to the primitive gneiss formation of Scandinavia,
which the geologists of Canada, so long ago as 1855, referred to the
Laurentian system. — T. S. H.
100 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
globules similar to those described in the residue from the
Eozoon ophicalcite of Steinhag, with which, and with the
hornblendic limestone of Pargas, this coccolite-bearing limestone
of New York seems to be closely related.
A fragment of ophicalcite from Tunaberg in Sweden bears a
striking resemblance to the coarser marked varieties of this rock
from near Passau. The carbonate of lime between the tubuli is
very sparry ; and after its removal, a perfectly coherent serpentine
skeleton is obtained, as in the Passau specimens. The surface of
the serpentine tubercles is abundantly covered with acicular
crystalline needles of various lengths, whose inorganic nature is
unmistakeable. The sediment from the acid solution also contains
a prodigious quantity of these same small crystalline needles. On
etching a specimen of this rock with dilute acid, the same needles
were found in most places ; but here and there, in isolated, less
crystalline and more solid portions of the carbonate of lime, there
were seen curved and ramified tubuli, undoubtedly corresponding
with the tubuli of Eozoon, and having the same size and manner
of grouping as in the Eozoon of Passau. The ophicalcite of
Tunaberg is therefore to be classed with the Eozoon-bearing
limestones.
A specimen of crystalline limestone from Boden in Saxony,
holding rounded grains of chondrodite, hornblende and garnet, and
furnished me by Prof. Sandberger, showed, after etching, tubuli of
surprising beauty, both singly and in groups, but only in small
isolated compact portions of the carbonate of lime. The sparry
crystallization of this mineral seems to have frequently destroyed
the cohesion of the very delicate tubuli, the fragments of which
may be observed in very large quantity in the flaky residue from
the solution.
A blackish serpentine limestone from Hodrisch in Hungary,
showed by etching no traces of tubuli. The granular residue from
its solution in acids showed under the microscope large quantities
of cell-like granules, with a central nucleus, and generally joined
in pairs, like the spores of certain lichens. More rarely however
three or four of such grains were joined together. By far the
greater part of them were of one and the same size, although
occasionally others of double size were met with. Their regularity
of form is much in favor of their origin from organic structure.
A fragment of ophicalcite from Reichenbach in Silesia, which
Prof. Beyrich kindly furnished me, showed distinct parallel bands
1866.] GUMBEL — ON LATJRENTIAN ROCKS. 101
of serpentine with curved and undulating outlines, resembling the
Eozoon ophicalcite of Canada. The etched portions show, in the
carbonate of lime between the serpentine, or in the interspaces of
the serpentine, the same relations as the limestone of Hohenberg
from the primitive clay-slate formation. The tubuli, which have
a certain resemblance with those of Hohenberg, are stuck together,
as if covered by an incrustation. Further examinations of this
limestone are required to determine more definitely the organic
nature of its enclosures.
A fragment of similar limestone without serpentine, from
Raspenau, shows not the remotest trace of any organic structure
whatever. The same negative results were obtained with a
specimen of granular limestone from Timpobepa in Brazil ; and
with a very coarsely crystalline carbonate of lime, holding
chondrodite, from Amity, New Jersey. These negative results
show that organic remains are sometimes wanting in the primitive
crystalline limestones, as well as in those of more recent for-
mations. The occasional absence from the primary limestones of
these regular structures is therefore an indirect argument for
their organic origin.
Explanation of the Plate.
Figure 1. Section of Eozoon Canadense, with its serpentine replacement,
showing the fine tubuli and the canal-system, from the limestone of
the Hercynian gneiss formation at Steinhag ; seen by reflected
light, and magnified 25 diameters.
2. Section of Eozoon from the limestone of Untersalzbach; 25 diameters.
3. Section of Eozoon from the limestone of Babing.
4. Section of Eozoon from the limestone of Steinhag ; 120 diameters.
5. a and b. Knotted tubuli from the insoluble residue of the Steinhag
limestone ; 300 diameters.
(5, a, 1), c, and d. Flocculi from the same residue ; 400 diameters.
7. Section of Eozoon Bavaricum, with serpentine, from the crystalline
limestone of the Hercynian primitive clay-state formation at
Hohenberg ; 25 diameters.
a. Sparry carbonate of lime.
b. Cellular carbonate of lime.
c. System of tubuli.
d. Serpentine replacing the coarser ordinary variety.
e. Serpentine, and hornblende, replacing the finer variety, in the
very much contorted portions
8. Aggregated grains of pargasite, remaining after the solution of the
carbonate of lime, from the granular limestone rock of Parga*.
10** THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
ON THE CANADIAN SPECIES OF THE
GENUS PICEA.
By the Abbe 0. Brunet, of Laval University
Botanists have always recognized the existence in North
America of two trees which may be referred to the genus Picea,
established by Link. They are the Abies alba of Michaux, and
the Abies nigra of Poiret, (A. denticulata, Michaux). These two
species have been imperfectly described, and are almost always
confounded ; some authors, moreover, have regarded them as
nothing more than varieties of one and the same species. These
considerations have led me to study these interesting trees in
detail, and to complete, as far as possible, their history.
Genus PICEA, Link.
Leaves persistent, solitary, scattered, and surrounding the
branches, tetragonal, stiff, marked on both sides with white lines of
numerous stomata ; male flowers clustered towards the ends of the
branches ; cones pendulous, persistent, terminal or axillary ;
seeds without resiniferous ducts, separating after a time from the
base of the wing. Wood, almost white, with resiniferous ducts,
bavins no distinction of alburnum or duramen; cells of the
medullary rays without large pits ; groups of cubic lignified cells
in the older bark.
Picea alba.
The Picea alba is one of the most abundant trees in Canada,
extending throughout the province. To the northward, following
the line of the Saguenay, it is found, diminished in size, along the
Mistassini, but disappears altogether about the cascades of that
river (Michaux MS.) to reappear in the Hudson Bay territory ;
where, according to Dr. Richardson, it grows to a large size, and
is the most important forest tree of those northern regions.
The Picea alba in favourable situations generally attains a
height of from seventy to eighty feet, with a diameter of ten feet
at the base ; in the Saguenay district however, trees of this
species are said to have been found, from 130 to 140 feet in
height. These large trunks taper gradually and regularly towards
thetop ; they are very straight, and the branches extend horizon-
tally, and are arranged so as to form a regular pyramid, the
summit of which is long and slender, giving to the tree a very
1866]
BRUNET — ON THE GENUS PICEA.
103
characteristic aspect. In places exposed to the force of the tem-
pests it becomes stunted in growth, creeping as it were, along the
soil. This is well shown in Anticosti, where, on the cliffs and at
the point of the island, these trees are seen extending from ten to
twenty feet in length, though scarcely five feet in height, and
forming a sort of hedge, which is almost insurmountable. In the
interior of the island, however, the tree assumes its ordinary
aspect.
Picea alba, Link.
A. Branch with cone, gathered in winter.
B. Transverse section of leaf ; g. vascular bundles ; h. resiniferous
canals ; x. parts of leaf where the stomata occur ; X 50 diameters.
C. Point of leaf, enlarged ten diameters.
D. Ripe seed with its wing.
E. Seminal scale, dorsal view.
F. End of a branch with a male flower. (May 27, 1863.)
G. End of a branch with a female flower. (Ditto.)
104 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST, [Dec.
The bark of this tree is whitish upon the branches, but on the
old trunks it appears as a corky tissue, ferruginous-brown in color,
with a scaly rhytidoma, cracked in all directions, and separating
in whitish-gray plates. Some have supposed that both the speci-
fic and vulgar names of this tree are derived from the whitish
color of its bark.
The leaves are from six to ten lines in length, and about
three fourths of a line in breadth, ordinarily curved, presenting
few stomata on both surfaces, summit acute, but much less so than
is the leaf of Ab ies (Picea) Menziesii ; section of the leaf quadran-
gular, presenting two resiniferous ducts larger tj^an those of
P. nigra. The leaves of P. alba are much more robust than
those of P. nigra, but their size varies very much, even upon the
same individual ; the same is true of the form, which is also very
variable.
The male catkins are ovate, not pedicellated, about six lines
long ; length of the anthers one line. Female flowers in cylindri-
cal catkins, violet-red in color, and ten lines in length. Cones
cylindrical, reddish-brown, from one to two and a half inches in
length, numerously disseminated at the extremity of the branches,
and in the axils of the leaves ; scales thin, six lines long, rhom-
boidal, entire, slightly indented at the summit. Seeds small,
brown, a line long, with an oval wing of a very pale yellow color,
three times that length ; embryo with from six to eight
cotyledons.
This tree in the vicinity of Quebec blossoms about the end of
May, and its fruit ripens in the autumn of the same year.
The warmth of the following spring-time opens the scales of the
cones, and liberates the seeds. These require for their germination
about twenty days ; twelve days later the young plant escapes
from its envelopes, and appears with its numerous cotyledons,
which resemble precisely the other leaves. The plumula of the
young plant is not apparent before two or three months.
The wood of the white spruce is very white, compact, and
harder than that of the white pine (Pinus strobus). The
annual rings are sometimes three lines in breadth, and are
for the most part strongly marked, the autumnal wood being dark
colored. The medullary rays are composed of a layer of uniform
cells (figures A. and B, p. 109). The resiniferous canals (figure c.)
which are distinguishable by the aid of a magnifying glass, furnish
an excellent characteristic, and a ready means o distinguishing
I860.] BRUNET— -ON THE GENUS PICEA. 105
the wood of the species of Picea from that of any other
conifers.
This wood is more subject to cracking than that of the white pine.
and is liable to shrink when not perfectly dried. It is, however,
much employed for flooring, on account of its greater hardness,
and is largely exported from Quebec in the form of planks. It is
also esteemed for its lightness and elasticity, for which quality it
is employed for the ship-yards. All the houses which, in the
country parts of Canada are made of hewn logs, and are known
as log-houses, are constructed of white spruce, which is also
employed for the frame-work of steeples, of bridges, etc. The
bark of the tree furnishes curved timbers, or knees, as they are
called, which are used for ship-building, although inferior to those
furnished by the tamarack (Larix Americana). The aborigines
make use of the tough rootlets, previously macerated in water, to
sew the seams of their bark canoes.
The pyramidal form of this tree, the regularity and number of
its branches, and its abundant foliage, make the white spruce one
of the best of ornamental evergreen trees. It moreover adapts
itself to almost any soil, not too solid and compact, so that it is one
of the Canadian trees best fitted for plantations. The readiness
with which the white spruce throws out auxilliary buds renders
it fit for pruning, and enables us to make of it excellent hedges,
which may advantageously replace these of hawthorn.
This sketch of the white spruce would be incomplete if we did
not mention a parasitic insect, which frequents it, and causes
the small galls which are often seen upon this tree. They may be
observed in the spring-time at the ends of the young branches,
where they are dark red in color, and resemble in miniature the
fruit cones. We met them for the first time at the end of May,
1863, on the island of Orleans, arid again some time later near
the Chateau Bigot, in the rear of Quebec. Baron Osten-Sacken,
after having examined the specimens which we sent him, informs us
that these galls are produced by a species of Aphis, hitherto
unknown to science.
PlCEA NIGRA.
The Picea nigra is even more widely spread in the north of
America, than the preceding species, for it is found farther
to the northward, and beyond the Saguenay, in elevated localities,
106
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
where, as already remarked, the P. alba disappears. Michaux the
elder, in his manuscript journal, informs us that the black spruce
is met with, in a stunted form, upon the hills bordering on Swan
Lake, and that it is only on the height of land, or water-shed
between the St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay that it entirely dis-
appears, giving place to the Pinus rupestris which reigns alone in
those boreal regions.
The Picea nigra in certain localities may reach a height of
seventy feet, and a diameter of from fifteen to eighteen inches,
but is generally smaller, and seems to diminish in size as we go
Picea nigra, Link.
H. Branch with a cone, gathered in January, 1865.
I. Transverse section of the leaf; g. vascular bundles ; 7;. resiniferous
canals ; x. parts of the leaf having stomata ; X 50 diameters.
K. Point of a leaf, enlarged ten diameters.
It. Ripe seed with its wing.
N. Seminal scale, dorsal view.
M. End of a branch with a male flower. (June 5, 1865.)
0. End of a branch with a female flower. (Ditto.)
1866.] BRUNET — ON THE GENUS PICEA. 107
northward. In the vicinity of Quebec its height is not above
seventy feet, and in the valley of the Saguenay, it does not exceed
forty or fifty feet, with a diameter of eight or ten inches. It
prefers a deep, black, and moist soil, thickly covered with moss,
but in places which are constantly wet or covered with water, as
in peat bogs, it grows but indifferently, and rises to no great
height.
The bark of the P. nigra is yellowish on the young branches ;
the older trunks are covered with a reddish corky rhytidoma, the
cracks in which are chiefly vertical, and which exfoliates at last in
little plates, more or less rectangular in shape.
The leaves are from five to seven lines in length, and about
three fourths of a line in breadth, flattened, and with the apex
obtuse. They are of a sombre green color, and are supported
on sterigmata twice as prominent as those of the preceding species.
The leaves of the P. nigra are shorter, more closely appressed
to the branches, and more flattened than those of the P. alba.
They also present more numerous rows of stomata, amounting
sometimes to not less than five or six rows on each side of the
median vein, and the diameter of their resiniferous ducts is
smaller.
The male catkins are ovoid, slightly pedunculate, and three or
four lines in length. The female flowers are also in ovoid catkins,
violet-red in color, six or eight lines in length, which are at first
upright, but after impregnation are bent sharply downwards. The
cones are ovoid, reddish-brown, from one inch to one and a half
inches in length, slightly pedunculate ; scales thin, about six lines
in length, with undulated and denticulated edges. The seeds are
black, with an oval wing, smaller than that of P. alba. The em-
bryo has ordinarily four cotyledons, rarely more. This tree
flowers in the month of June, about a week later than the pre-
ceding species, and ripens its seeds the same year. The seeds
germinate in three or four weeks, and demand a great deal of
moisture. After the fall of the perisperm, the young plant gener-
ally presents four seed-leaves, which have the form of the
ordinary leaves, and already present the sombre green color which
characterizes the foliage of the P. nigra.
In the localities most favourable to the development of this
species, and in places where the white pine has become rare,
the black spruce is cut by the lumberers. It is manufactured
into planks and boards, and the wood is employed for the same
108 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
uses as that of the white spruce. The woods of these two species
of Picea offer no perceptible differences in structure, color, light-
ness, or other qualities. They are equal in value, and command
the same price in the Quebec market.
Picea nigra, var. grisea; gray spruce.
This spruce does not appear to differ essentially from the black
spruce in its organs of fructification. Its leaves are however of
a more or less dingy and grayish green, and its bark has a lighter
red color than the typical black spruce. The gray spruce is found
principally in poor soils. This variety often attains a very large
size. We measured one of these trees in the eastern section of
Rimouski, and found it to be 160 feet high, with a diameter of
four feet.
In certain parts of Canada an infusion of the leaves of the
Picea nigra is used as a common drink. The Abbe Ferland in
his Voyage au Labrador speaks of " the little black spruce which
creeps over the rocks, and whose leaves infused in hot water fur-
nish a beverage which by the peasants is preferred to tea." It is
with this plant also that is made the fermented liquor known as
spruce beer. As it may not be without interest, we copy a
description of the mode of preparing this beverage a century since,
copied from Duhamel, (Traiti des arbres et arbustes, Paris, 1755.)
" The white spruce * (epinette blanche) which is a species of
Epicea, having smaller leaves and cones than that cultivated in
France, serves in Canada to make a wholesome beverage, which
is not agreeable when tasted for the first time, but becomes so by
use. As a similar drink might be made very cheaply from our
own Epicia, I give the receipe *
* This is evidently an error of the author, since the black spruce has
always been employed for making this kind of small beer.
The French of Lower Canada apply the name of Epinette to several
trees ; the Larix Americana is by them called epinette rouge, and the
white and black spruce are respectively epinette blanche, and epinette
noire, while the name of epinette grise is given to what we regard as a
variety of the latter, P. nigra var. grisea. The origin of this word, which
is not applied to any tree in France, is by no means clear. It has, how-
ever been used from an early date in the history of the colony, as
will appear from the following citation from the Histoire Naturelle du
Canada, of Pierre Boucher, 1663. " II y a une autre espece d'arbre qu'on
nomme epinette ; c'est quasi comme du Sapin, si non qu'il est plus
propre a faire des masts de petits vaisseaux, comme des chaloupes et
des barques, estants plus fort que le Sapin."
1866.]
BRUNET — ON THE GENUS PICEA.
109
" For a barrel, a boiler holding at least a quarter more is required.
This being filled with water, and heated, a bundle of spruce
branches, broken small, and about twenty-one inches in girth, is
added, and the water is kept boiling until the bark readily peels
off from the whole length of the branches. Then a bushel of oats
is roasted by portions, in a great iron pan, about fifteen sea-biscuit
Figure a. Longitudinal tangential section of the wood of P. alba.
c. ligneous cellules ; m. medullary rays;_p, discs ; (500 diameters.)
Figure b. Longitudinal section, parallel to one of the medullary rays ;
v. medullary rays ; p. discs; (500 diameters.)
Figure c. Transverse section of the same wood ; a. fibres of the autum-
nal wood ; &. fibres of the spring wood ; c. resiniferous ducts ;
(300 diameters.)
These figures were drawn by the author and engraved by Mr. G.
J. Bowles.
110 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
or in place of them, twelve or fifteen pounds of bread, cut in slices,
are also roasted, and with the oats, added to the boiling kettle,
where they remain till the spruce branches are well cooked. These
branches are now taken out, and the fire extinguished. The bread
and oats then settle to the bottom, and the spruce leaves are re-
moved by a skimmer ; after which are added six quarts of molasses
or syrup, or in place thereof twelve or fifteen pounds of coarse
sugar. The liquid is then put at once into a fresh red-wine cask;
and if it is wished to give more color to the liquor, the lees, and
five or six quarts of the wine are left therein. When the liquid is
only lukewarm, a pint of beer-yeast is added, the whole well stirred,
to mix it, and the cask then filled to the bung-hole, which is left
open. Fermentation soon begins, and much scum is thrown off;
during this time the cask must be filled from time to time with a
portion of the liquid which has been kept apart in some wooden
vessel. If the cask is bunged at the end of twenty-four hours,
the liquor is sharp and lively as cider, but if it is wished to have
it milder, the cask should be filled twice a day, and not bunged
till fermentation is over. This liquor is very refreshing and
wholesome, and those accustomed to it drink it with pleasure,
especially in summer."
ON THE OBJECTS AND METHOD OF MINERALOGY.
By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S.
(Read before the American Academy of Sciences, Jan. 8, 1S67.)
Mineralogy, as popularly understood, holds an anomalous
position among the natural sciences, and is by many regarded as
having no claims to be regarded as a distinct science, but as
constituting a branch of chemistry. This secondary place is
disputed by some mineralogists, who have endeavored to base a
natural-history classification upon such characters as the crystal-
line form, hardness, and specific gravity of minerals. In systems
of this kind, however, like those of Mohs and his followers, only
such species as occur ready formed in nature, are comprehended,
and the great number of artificial species, often closely related to
native minerals, are excluded. It may moreover be said in
objection to these naturalists, that, in its wider sense, the chemical
history of bodies takes into consideration all those characters
1866.] HUNT — OBJECTS OP MINERALOGY. Ill
upon which the so-called natural systems of classification are
based. In order to understand clearly the question before us,
we must first consider what are the real objects, and what the
provinces, respectively, of mineralogy, and of chemistry.
Of the three great divisions, or kingdoms of nature, the classifi-
cation of the vegetable gives rise to systematic botany, that of the
animal to zoology, and that of the mineral to mineralogy, which
has for its subject the natural history of all the forms of unorgan-
ized matter. The relations of these to gravity, cohesion, light,
electricity, and magnetism, belong to the domain of physics ;
while chemistry treats of their relations to each other, and of their
transformations under the influences of heat, light, and electricity.
Chemistry is thus to mineralogy what biology is to organography ;
and the abstract sciences, physics and chemistry, must precede,
and form the basis of the concrete science, mineralogy. Many
species are chiefly distinguished by their chemical activities, and
hence chemical characters must be greatly depended upon in
mineralogical classification.
Chemical change implies disorganization, and all so-called
chemical species are inorganic, that is to say unorganized, and
hence really belong to the mineral kingdom. In this extended
sense, mineralogy takes in not only the few metals, oxyds, sulphids,
silicates, and other salts, which are found in nature, but also all
those which are the products of the chemist's skill. It embraces
not only the few native resins and hydrocarbons, but all the bodies
of the carbon series made known by the researches of modern
chemistry.
The primary object of a natural classification, it must be
remembered, is not like that of an artificial system, to serve the
purpose of determining species, or the convenience of the student,
but so to arrange bodies in orders, genera, and species as to satisfy
most thoroughly natural affinities. Such a classification in
mineralogy will be based upon a consideration of all the physical
and chemical relations of bodies, and will enable us to see that the
various properties of a species are not so many arbitrary signs,
but the necessary results of its constitution. It will give for the
mineral kingdom what the labors of great naturalists have already
nearly attained for the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
Oken saw the necessity of thus enlarging the bounds of miner-
alogy, and in his Physiophilosophy, attempted a mineralogical
classification ; but it is based on fanciful and false analogies, with
112 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
but little reference either to physical or chemical characters, and
in the present state of our knowledge is valueless, except as an
effort in the right direction, and an attempt to give to mineralogy
a natural system. With similar views as to the scope of the
science, and with far higher and juster conceptions of its method,
Stallo, in his Philosophy of Nature, has touched the questions
before us, and has attempted to show the significance of the
relations of the metals to cohesion, gravity, light, and electricity,
but has gone no farther.
In approaching this great problem of classification, we have
to examine — first, the physical condition and relations of each
species, considered with relation to gravity, cohesion, light, elec-
tricity, and magnetism ; secondly, the chemical history of the
species ; in which are to be considered its nature, as elemental or
compound, its chemical relations to other species, and these
relations as modified by physical conditions and forces. The
quantitative relation of one mineral (chemical) species to another,
is its equivalent weight, and the chemical species, until it attains
to individuality in the crystal, is essentially quantitative.
It is from all the above data, which would include the whole
physical and chemical history of inorganic bodies, that a natural
system of mineralogical classification is to be built up. Their
application may be illustrated by a few points drawn from the
history of certain natural families.
The variable relations to space of the empirical equivalents of
non-gaseous species, or, in other words, the varying equivalent
volume (obtained by dividing their empirical equivalent weights
by the specific gravity), shows that there exist, in different species,
very unlike degrees of condensation. At the same time, we are
led to the conclusion that the molecular constitution of gems, spars
and ores, is such that those bodies must be represented by
formulas not less complex, and with equivalent weights far more
elevated than those usually assigned to the polycyanids, the
alkaloids, and the proximate principles of plants. To similar
conclusions, conduce also the researches on the specific heat of
compounds.
There probably exists between the true equivalent weights of
non-gaseous species and their densities, a relation as simple as
that between the equivalent weights of gaseous species and their
specific gravities. The gas, or vapor of a volatile body, consti-
tutes a species distinct from the same body in its liquid or solid
1866.] HUNT— OBJECTS OP MINERALOGY. 113
state, the chemical formula of the latter being some multiple of
the first, and the liquid and solid species themselves often
constituting two distinct species of different equivalent weights.
In the case of analogous volatile compounds, as the hydrocarbons
and their derivatives, the equivalent weights of the liquid or
solid species approximate to a constant quantity, so that the
densities of these species, in the case of homologous or related
alcohols, acids, ethers and glycerids, are subject to no great varia-
tion. These non-gaseous species are generated by the chemical
union, or identification, of a number of volumes or equivalents
of the gaseous species, which varies inversely with the density
of these species. It follows from this, that the equivalent weights
of the liquid and solid alcohols and fats must be so high as to
be a common measure of the vapor-equivalents of all the bodies
belonging to these series. The empirical formula, CmHnoOi2 ,
which is the lowest one representing the tristearic glycerid, ordi-
nary stearine, is probably far from representing the true equi-
valent weight of this fat in the liquid or solid state; and if it should
hereafter be found that its density corresponds to six times the
above formula, it would follow that liquid acetic acid, whose
density differs but slightly from that of fused stearine, must have
a formula, and an equivalent weight about one hundred times
that which we deduce from the density of acetic acid vapor,
C4H,04.
Starting from these high equivalent weights of liquid and
solid hydrocarbonaceous species, and their correspondingly com-
plex formulas, we become prepared to admit that other orders
of mineral species, such as oxyds, silicates, carbonates, and sul-
phids, have formulas and equivalent weights corresponding to
their still higher densities ; and we proceed to apply to these bo-
dies the laws of substitution, homology, and polymerism, which
have so long been recognized in the chemical study of the mem-
bers of the hydrocarbon series. The formulas thus deduced
for the native silicates and carbon-spars, show that these poly-
basic salts may contain many atoms of different bases, and their
frequently complex and varying constitution is thus rendered
intelligible. In the application of the principle of chemical ho-
mology, we find ready and natural explanations of those vari-
ations, within certain limits, occasionally met with in the compo-
sition of certain crystalline silicates, sulphids, etc., from which
some have conjectured the existence of a deviation from the law
Yol III. H No. 2
114 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
of definite proportions, in what is only an expression of that law
in a higher form.
The principle of polymer ism is exemplified in related mineral
species, such as meionite and zoisite, dipyre and jadeite, horn-
blende and pyroxene, calcite and aragonite, opal and quartz, in
the zircons of different densities, and in the various forms of
titanic acid and of carbon, whose relations become at once intel-
ligible if we adopt for these species high equivalent weights and
complex molecules. The hardness of these isomeric or allotro-
pic species, and their indifference to chemical reagents, increases
with their condensation, or, in other words, varies inversely as their
empirical equivalent volumes ; so that we here find a direct
relation between chemical and physical properties.
It is in these high chemical equivalents of the species, and in
certain ingenious, but arbitrary assumptions of numbers, that is to
be found an explanation of the results obtained by Play fair and
Joule in comparing the volumes of various solid species with
that of ice ; whose constitution they assume to be represented by
HO, instead of a high multiple of this formula. The recent in-
genious but fallacious speculations of Dr. Macvicar, who has
arbitrarily assumed comparatively high equivalent weights for
mineral species, and has then endeavoured, by conjectures as to
the architecture of crystalline molecules, to establish relations
between his complex formulas and the regular solids of geo-
metry, are curious but unsuccessful attempts to solve some of the
problems whose significance I have endeavoured to set forth.
I am convinced that no geometrical groupings of atoms, such as
are imagined by Macvicar, and by Gaudin, can ever give us an
insight into the way in which nature builds up her units, by
interpenetration and identification, and not juxtaposition of the
chemical elements.
None of the above points are presented as new, though they are
all, I believe, original with myself, and have been, from time
to time brought forward, and maintained, with numerous illus-
trations, chiefly in the American Journal of Science, since March,
1853, when my paper on the Theory of Chemical Changes and
Equivalent Volumes, was there published. I have however
thought it well to present these views in a connected form, as
exemplifying my notion of some of the principles which must form
the basis of a true mineralogical classification.
1866.] MEETING OP AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 115
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION AT BUFFALO,
AUGUST, 1866.
ON A NEW NOMENCLATURE.
BY PROF. S. D. TILLMAN OF NEW YORK.
The author, in this paper, gave a brief account of the amend-
ments and alterations made in our present nomenclature, which
originated with DeMorveau, Lavoisier, Bertholet and Fourcroy in
France, in the year 1787. He showed furthermore, that it cannot
be adapted to the new views of chemical combinations, according
to the atomic system, without producing serious confusion, and
rendering all our present works on chemistry comparatively
worthless. He therefore proposed to let the old nomenclature
remain as the exponent of the system of combining proportions, or
so called " equivalents," and to give new names to atomic
combinations, which would express both the views of Berzelius
and Gerhardt. The method was devised by him many years ago,
but until there was a general agreement among advanced chemists
with regard to the numbers expressing atomic weights, it would
have been useless. Under the lead of Gibbs, in this country, and
Canizzaro in Europe, those of the unitary school who double the
numbers represented by the symbols 0, C, and S, now also double
the numbers of at least fifty other symbols, and' thus all objections
have been removed in regard to using a system of names based
upon atomic weights. The nomenclature now proposed is also
adapted to the typical classification, first proposed by a distinguished
member of this Association, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, which, with a
few modifications, has been very generally adopted by European
chemists. Prof. Tillman's method of construction may be briefly
explained in the following heads :
1. The system is based on abbreviations of the universally
received names of the metals, and on the chemical symbols of
the metalloids, or non-metallic elements, with such modifications
as were imperatively required.
2. The name of each chemical element relates not to its mass,
but only to a minimum combining proportion, termed an atom, or
to some multiple of it. The atom is therefore the unit of meas-
urement, and the starting point of the scale in each series of
compounds.
3. The atomic name of each of the 50 metals now well-known,
consists of two syllables, and ends with the consonant m.
116 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
4. The name of each of the 13 metalloids terminates with a
different consonant ; arsenic and tellurium, classed by some
chemists among the metalloids, are by this arrangement included
among the metals.
5. The number of atoms of any element is designated by the
vowel immediately preceding the terminal consonant. The
numerical power of the vowels advances with the order in which
they are placed in the alphabet, thus 1, 2, 6, 4 and 5 are repre-
sented by a, e, i, o and u, each having a short or stopped sound,
and the same vowels, each preceded by e, and having the long or
full sound, represent 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Other letters represent
higher numbers, so that any number to 1000 is readily denoted.
6. The following metalloids are represented by their symbolic
letters : One atom of Fluorine is of, one atom of Bromine ab,
one of Nitrogen an, one of Carbon ac, one of Sulphur as, one
of Phosphorus, ap. For reasons which] need not here be
stated, an atom of Hydrogen is al, of Oxygen at, of Chlorine ad,
of Iodine av, etc.
7. The manner of uniting these syllables may be thus illustrated :
The protoxide of iron is Ferramat ; the sesqui-oxide of iron,
Ferremit; the black or magnetic oxide, Ferrimot ; sulphate of
protoxide of iron, Ferrmasot ; sulphate of sesqui-oxide of iron,
Ferremisoit.
The combinations containing carbon and hydrogen are so
numerous that it was found essential to use another letter, r, to
designate carbon — ar and ac each denote an atom of carbon. Two
atoms of hydrogen are designated by h, thus ach is equal to
C2 H2 in the old notation. This is the important increment in
several series of organic radicals. The first of the alcohol-forming
radicals is achal, methyl ; the second, echal, ethyl ; the third,
ichal, propyl ; the fourth, ochal, butyl ; the fifth, uchal, amyl, etc.
These radicals play the part of monatomic metals.
The author gave specimens of the new names for several
thousand compounds; and showed their application in cases of
isomerism, where, for instance, ten bodies, having the same ultimate
components, are distinguished by ten different names. The
doctrine of substitutions was also very clearly set forth ; and
derivatives were so classified and simplified as to be readily
comprehended.
The author then proceeded to show the manner in which
names were provided for salts containing water of crystallization,
1866.] MEETING OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 117
and for solutions containing either an indefinite or definite
quantity of water.
In future chemical investigation, the speaker thought increasing
significance must be given to the state of dilatation in which
the body under consideration exists ; he therefore proposed to
designate every gas, and every volatile body after it is formed into
vapor, by prefixing to the new name the letter g. For instance,
carbonic oxide is gart, CO ; carbonic anhydride (commonly called
carbonic acid gas), garet, C02; sulphuretted hydrogen, gelas ;
olefiant gas, gerlel ; carburetted hydrogen gas, garol ; oxychloride
of carbon gas, garted; etc. So of volatiles heated to the boiling
point; for instance, bisulphide of carbon, ares, when heated to
49 ° Centigrade, is a vapor, denoted by gares ; water, elat,
heated to 100 ° Cent, or steam, is gelat.
In conclusion the speaker proposed that the new names, if
approved, should be used at first side by side with the old names,
and in lieu of the notation. Chemical writers, who study brevity
of expression will fully appreciate the saving of pen and type work,
as seen in the following statement of a recent discovery in the old
and new manners. Lossen has succeeded in replacing an atom of
hydrogen in ammonia by an atom of hydrogen and oxygen, or
hydroxyl, thus forming hydroxalamine, which may be thus stated :
' Lossen has succeeded in replacing al in ihm by alt, thus forming
alt elan.'
The speaker thus, in one paper, attempted to present to his
hearers the whole chemical field ; yet, as he passed from one
division to another, he only cited such examples as seemed essential
to prove the copiousness and capacity of the new nomenclature.
A more complete elucidation and application of it was reserved
for succeeding papers.
*
ON THE PRIMEVAL ATMOSPHERE.
Dr. Hunt adverted, in commencing, to a theory first put forward
by him to explain the chemical conditions of our globe. Starting
from the notion of an igneous origin, he had contended that the
mass probably commenced cooling at the centre, and thus gave
rise to an anhydrous solid nucleus, having a crust of silicates,
with an irregular surface, while the chlorine, carbon and sulphur,
together with all the hydrogen, and an excess of oxygen, formed
the atmosphere. As cooling from radiation went on, the first
precipitate from this dense atmosphere must have been an intensely
118 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
acid liquid, which, attacking the crust of the silicates, separated
vast amounts of silica, and became saturated with earths and
alkalies, forming the primeval sea. This condition of things, he
claimed, was in strict accordance with the known chemical laws,
and flowed logically from the hypothesis of the origin of our
planet. The early ocean should thus have abounded in salts of lime
and magnesia ; and this is confirmed by the saline waters from the
Paleozoic rocks, which represent fossil sea-water of that ancient
period. Dr. Hunt here referred to his extended chemical and
physical investigations of the older rocks, and their mineral
springs, in support of this view.
The stronger acids of chlorine and sulphur having been
separated from the atmosphere, a decomposition of the silicates of
the exposed portion of the earth's crust, under the influence of
carbonic acid, moisture, and heat, went on, resulting like the
modern process of kaolinization, in the production of a silicate of
alumina or clay, and carbonates of the protoxyd bases. In this
way great quantities of carbonate of soda were formed, which,
decomposing the lime and magnesia salts of the sea, gave rise
to the first limestones, and to chlorid of sodium. Hence the clays,
the limestones, and the sea-salt were the joint results of a process
which was slowly removing from the earth its carbonic acid,
and fitting it for the support of higher forms of life. These
views of Dr. Hunt, first put forward in 1858 and 1859, are
gradually being received and appropriated by writers, who do not
always acknowledge the source of them. They are here insisted
upon as preliminary to some considerations on the atmosphere of
early times, when it must have contained, in the form of carbonic
acid, the whole, or the greater part of the carbon now present in
the strata of the earth, and in bodies of fossil coal.
Simple calculation show that the carbonic acid contained in a
layer of pure carbonate of lime extending over the earth, with a
thickness of 8-61 meters, would, if set free, double the weight of
our atmosphere ; and that from 13-65 meters, (about forty-four
feet), would double its volume. It moreover appears that a
similar layer of ordinary coal, one meter in thickness, would suffice
to convert into carbonic acid the whole of the oxygen of the
atmosphere : so that if, as is probable, the whole amount of coal
and carbonaceous matters on the earth exceeds this quantity,
there must have been an absorption of the oxygen, set free during
the conversion of carbonic acid into coal, this oxygen being
1866. J MEETING OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 119
probably retained by peroxyd of iron. Disregarding this, however,
and admitting that the carbonic acid, corresponding to a layer
8-61 meters of limestone [about twenty-eight feet] were present in
our atmosphere, the effect would be most remarkable. The height
of the barometric column would be doubled ; the boiling point of
water, raised to 121 ° Centigrade [250 ° Fahr.] ; and, as the
absorptive power of an atmosphere of carbonic acid is, according
to Tyndal, ninety times that of dry air, the temperature of the
lower regions of the atmosphere would be greatly elevated, and
the whole climatic conditions of the earth modified. Yet, as the
amount of carbonic acid required to produce these results is
probably but a small proportion of that now fixed in the limestones
of the earth's crust, we should find this condition of thino-s at a
period, geologically, not very remote, and in still earlier times the
earth must have had a far denser and more highly carbonated
atmosphere than that just supposed. The relations of such a
condition of things to the animal and vegetable world furnish
fruitful themes for conjecture and experiment ; and its influence
on chemical processes is not less worthy of consideration, as a
single instance will show. Some years since, I pointed out that
the explanation of the almost constant association of gypsum and
magnesian limestone in nature, was to be fouud in the fact that
solutions of bicarbonate of lime and sulphate of magnesia
decompose each other, with production of solutions of sulphate of
lime and bicarbonate of magnesia. By spontaneous evaporation,
the former may be in part separated as gypsum ; but as in this
process the bicarbonate is changed into mono-carbonate of
magnesia, this partially decomposes the gygsum, regenerating
carbonate of lime, and the results of the experiment in an ordinary
atmosphere are imperfect. I find, however, that by infusing into
the drying atmosphere a large proportion of carbonic acid, the
separation by evaporation goes on regularly, and the gypsum is
deposited in a pure state, enabling us thus to realize the conditions
of earlier geologic periods, when vast beds of gypsum, with their
accompanying magnesian limestone, were deposited in evaporating
basins at the earth's surface, beneath an atmosphere charged with
carbonic acid.
Ebelman has speculated on the probable existence of a much
larger proportion of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of earlier
geologic times; and Dana, Tyndal, and anterior to them, the late
Major E. B. Hunt, have considered its meteorological relations ;
120 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
but the chemical history of this carbonic acid, considered with
reference to its origin, its fixation in the form of limestones, and
and its influence on chemical processes at the earth's surface, are
points for the most part peculiar to the author, and, in part, now
brought forward for the first time.
ON THE GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF
MINNESOTA.
BY PROF. JAMES HALL, OF ALBANY.
The object of this paper is mainly to show a clear and depicted
geological structure of formations of different age, over a large
part of Minnesota, heretofore regarded as deeply covered by
drift deposits.
In going west from the Mississippi River at St. Paul, we pass
over the older Silurian formations of Trenton limestone, Magnesian
limestone, and Potsdam sandstone, which extend as far as the
lower bend of the Minnesota, at Mankato. Beyond this, in
ascending the Minnesota River, for more than one hundred miles,
no pakeozoic formations are at present known. Approaching the
Minnesota, at New Ulm, over the high prairie from the East, we
find frequent exposures of a metamorphic rock, having on its
weathered surface a syenitic aspect, which is in reality a quartzite,
of gray, variegated or reddish color. On the Minnesota River, at
Redstone ferry, these quartzites are found to have a decided dip
to the eastward or south-eastward, and we have an exposure of
one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet of thickness.
Triassic. — Abutting against the upturned edges of these
quartzites of Huronian age, there is a series of horizontal strata,
consisting of red marls, reddish and variegated, and red and gray
limestones, which are referred to the Triassic system.
Cretaceous. — Lying upon the latter formation, and likewise
horizontally stratified, is a series of marls, clays, sandstones,
and beds of earthy coal, having altogether a thickness of perhaps
two or three hundred feet. The sandstones contain fragments
of plants or trees, and leaves of the willow, poplar, liriodendron,
and magnolia, all of which are referred to the age of the Creta-
ceous formations.
Prairie Formation. — Covering all these, except in the
river banks, and at intervals in the prairie, is the deposit of drift
and lighter soil, constituting the Prairie formation.
1866.] MEETING OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 121
From the Minnesota at Redstone ferry west-ward, the
Cretaceous formation extends for forty miles unbroken, when we
come again to the red quartzites, which dip in the opposite
direction, or to the westward ; and continues for seventy miles,
coming out again at the Pipestone locality, on the Sioux valley.
At some point higher up the Minnesota valley, the Cretaceous
formation occupies large areas resting on Laurentian rocks.
The result of these investigations shows a portion of the outcrop
of a synclinal axis on the east of the Minnesota, with a valley of
forty miles in width, which has been eroded in the line of a great
anticlinal axis ; while beyond this is a synclinal axis ; of quartziteF,
of similar character, which forms the foundation of the great
Coteau-des-Prairies, which extends for more than four hundred
miles to the northwest, rising seven or eight hundred feet above
the lower prairie.
"We have the evidence that the synclinal axis referred to is the
highest portion of the country, while the anticlinal axis had been
eroded prior to the age of the Triassic formation.
The chains of lakes of this part of the country, lie in the
plateau of the synclinal axis, while the line of the anticlinal is
free from this feature ; and the same conditions, essentially,
prevail in a portion of a more eastern synclinal, which lies to the
east of the Minnesota River.
ON PETROLEUM.
At the opening of the session, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt read an
interesting paper on Petroleum, of which the following is a brief
synopsis.
He had shown in 1861, that the mineral oil of Western Canada
was indigenous in the Corniferous limestone ; wells sunk in the
outcrop of which have yielded, and still yield, oil in that region,
and also in Kentucky, according to Lesley. At that time (1861)
he called attention to the existence of petroleum in the limestones
of the Trenton group, and had, since then, in the Geology of
Canada, in 1863, insisted upon these Lower Silurian oils as likely
to prove, in some regions, of economic importance — a prediction
verified by the recent developments in the Lower Silurian strata
of the Cumberland, in Kentucky, and the oil wells of the Mani-
toulin Islands, which latter are sunk through the Utica into the
Trenton formation. Another important point, on which he had
122 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
been the first to insist, was that the accumulation giving rise to
productive wells, occurs along the lines of anticlinal folds, where
the oil would naturally accumulate in fissures, or in porous strata,
in obedience to well-known hydrostatic laws. This view, first
insisted upon in a lecture published in the Montreal Gazette for
March, 1861, was further developed in a paper on Petroleum in
the Canadian Naturalist for July, 1861, and simultaneously by
Professor E. B. Andrews in Sillimans Journal. Since then,
this view, though frequently opposed, is gaining ground; and,
according to Prof. Andrews and Dr. Newberry, is sustained by all
experience in the oil fields of the United States, as it also is in
Canada. This remark applies to large accumulations, and to
flowing wells, but oil may doubtless flow slowly from horizontal
strata containing it.
As to the origin of the petroleum, Dr. Hunt supposes that it is
indigenous in the two limestone formations already mentioned, and
that it may have thence risen and accumulated in overlying
pervious strata, or in fissures capped or sealed by impervious beds,
such as the Pennsylvania sand-rock, or quarternary gravel beds.
He is inclined to think, however, that petroleum may also be
indigenous in certain sandstones of Devonian or Carboniferous
age, and referred to Lesley's observations to this effect, closely
agreeing with those of Wall and Cruger in Trinidad, where fossil
plants are sometimes found partly converted into petroleum, and
partly into lignite.
Dr. Hunt regards the process by which animal and vegetable
hydrocarbonaceous tissues have been converted into solid or liquid
bitumen, as a decay or fermentation, under conditions in which
atmospheric oxygenation is excluded, so that the maximum amount
of hydrogen is retained by the carbon ; and as representing one
extreme of a process, the other of which is found in anthracite
and mineral charcoal, the two conditions being antagonistic, and
excluding each other, and the production of petroleum implying,
when complete, the disappearance of the organic tissue. Hence
pyro schists, the so-called bituminous shales, and coal, are not
found together with petroleum, but in separate formations, and it
is to be borne in mind that the epithet bituminous applied to the
former bodies is a mistaken one, since they seldom or never contain
any bitumen, although, like all fixed organic bodies, they yield
hydrocarbons by destructive distillation. The fallacy of the notion
which ascribes petroleum to the action of subterranean heat on
1866.] MEETING OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 123
strata holding coal and pyroschists was exposed; and it was
remarked, among arguments founded upon the impermeability of
many of the petroleum-bearing strata, that the oil of the Trenton
limestone occurs below the horizon of any pyroschists, or other
hvdrocarboneous rocks.
A discussion on the subject of Petroleum followed, in which
Dr. Andrews, Prof. Hall and Prof. Newberry took part.
ON THE LAURENTIAN LIMESTONES AND THEIR MINERALOGY.
BY DR. T. STEKRT HUNT, F.R.S.
The author alluded to the existence in the Lower Laurentian
system of three limestone bands or formations, of great but
variable thickness, which might fairly be compared with the great
limestone groups of the North American paleozoic system. In
addition to these, there is probably a fourth and newer limestone
formation belonging to the lower or true Laurentian, besides one
or more in the unconformable overlying Labrador series or Upper
Laurentian. The three limestone formations first named are
separated by great masses of gneissic and quartzose strata, and
are intimately associated with beds in which silicates of lime and
magnesia prevail, together with graphite, and various metallic
ores. The minerals associated with these limestones, and their
accompanying strata, were next considered, and it was shown that
they occur, both disseminated in the beds, and filling fissures or
veins which traverse the strata. The importance in a geological
point of view of these veinstones, which from their mode of
formation might be named endogenous rocks, was insisted upon.
They may attain very great dimensions, and may include any or
all of the mineral species belonging to the adjacent stratification,
variously grouped, and sometimes, having a banded arrangement
parallel to the walls of the vein. Among the characteristic
minerals of these veins are calcite, apatite, pyroxene, hornblende
serpentine, chondrodite, orthoclase, scapolite, phlogopite, quartz,
garnet, idocrase, epidote, spinel, corundum, sphene, zircon, mag-
netite, and graphite. Some of these occasionally occur in a nearly
pure state, filling the veins, as graphite, pyroxene and apatite.
Veins of crystalline carbonate of lime, generally including some
one or more of the preceding minerals, are often met with, and it
is these which have given rise to the notion maintained in this
country by Emmons, and in Europe by Leonhard and others, that
124 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
crystalline limestone is either partially or entirely of eruptive
origin, these calcareous veinstones having been confounded with .
intrusive dykes. From such veinstones a transition may be traced
to those in which orthoclase and quartz prevail, often to the
exclusion of lime and magnesia compounds. We have then true
o-ranite veinstones, in which tourmaline, beryl, muscovite, cassi-
terite and columbite are sometimes met with. These endogenous
rocks, in which are often concentrated the rarer chemical elements
of the rocks, are to be carefully distinguished from intrusive dykes
which are exotic rocks. Such veins are not peculiar to the
Laurentian system, but are found in crystalline strata at various
a^es. The crystalline limestones of Scandinavia, which offer so
many remarkable resemblances to those of New York, New Jersey
and Canada, are however of Laurentian age, and the nature of
their veias has been well understood by Scheerer.
The rounded angles of crystals of certain minerals from the
calcareous veins of the Laurentian system, especially of the crystals
of apatite and quartz, which Emmons had supposed to be due to
a commencement of fusion, is to be regarded as the result of a
partial resolution of the previously deposited crystals, and as
marking a stage in the progressive filling of the veins. Crystals
of orthoclase, pyroxene, sphene and zircon, though accompanying
these rounded crystals, retain the sharpness of their angles, because
of their permanence in the heated alkaline solutions which circu-
lated through these yet partially filled veins. The various
minerals of these veinstones have been deposited from aqueous
and saline solutions, at elevated temperatures, and the experiments
of Daubree and of De Senarmont, and the microscopic observations
of Sorby, support this view. Plutonists begin to understand that
water cannot be excluded from rocky strata, but is all-pervading,
and that at greater depths, kept by pressure in a liquid state, at
an elevated temperature, and having its solvent powers augmented
by alkaline salts, it plays a most important part in metamorphosis,
and in the formation of veinstones. The author supposed, with
Mr. Hopkins, that in earlier geological periods the increase of
temperature in buried strata was far more rapid than at present,
so that great heats prevailed at comparatively small depths from
the surface, and produced important chemical and molecular
changes. The temperature at which the various silicated and
other minerals, including graphite, were dissolved from the strata
and crystallized in the veins, he supposed to have been, judging
1866.] MEETING OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 125
from various analogies, between the melting point of tin and low
redness.
The distinction between the apatite, graphite and magnetite
disseminated in the beds, and the same minerals in the^veins, was
particularly insisted upon. As to the origin of the principal
silicious minerals of the limestones, such as serpentine, chondrodite,
pyroxene, rensellaerite and loganite, Dr. Hunt regards these as
having been directly deposited as chemical precipitates from the
seas of the time; and cites the example of the Eozoon Canadense,
an abundant fossil of the age, found imbedded in these silicates,
which enclose it, and fill the minute pores of its calcareous
skeleton. To a similar chemical precipitation he attributes the
serpentines, talcs, chlorites and epidotes which occur in more
recent rocks, and may be found in their incipient state before the
metamorphosis of these rocks, which has for the most part only
crystallized and re-arranged the already-formed amorphous sili-
cates. The chemical agencies which gave rise to these silicates of
lime, magnesia, iron and alumina were briefly discussed, and
declared to be still active, although probably to a less degree than
formerly.
(Corrected from the Newspaper Reports.)
ADDRESS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE MONTREAL
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY,
DELIVERED MAY 18TH, 1866^
By Charles Smallwood, H.D., LL.D., D.C.L., &c, President of the
Society.
My Lord and Gentlemen, — The rolling wheels of time have
again brought us to this our annual re-union. Thirty-nine years
have passed away since this Society was founded ; and it now
devolves upon me, as your President, (a position which I owe to
your individual kindness,) to resign into your hands the charge
you have placed in my keeping. I felt at the outset my utter
inability to fulfil those duties which my predecessors have so well
and so efficiently discharged ; but I relied upon your help and
assistance, and was assured that what was wanting in my own
personal exertions, would be supplied by your advice and help.
In this, gentlemen, I have not been disappointed ; and permit me
now to tender to each of you individually my best and warmest
126 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
thanks for the forbearance and kindness you have at all times
shewn to me in those shortcomings which have occurred during
my tenure of office. And while it is with . feelings of gratitude
that I tender to you my resignation, they are mingled, neverthe-
less, with feelings of pride for the honor you have conferred
upon me.
It is not, gentlemen, due to any personal exertions or energy on
my own part that we have arrived at this, the termination of
another year of great prosperity and increased usefulness ; but it
is to those friends whose scientific efforts have been so well
directed ; and it is to you who have trodden so zealously the path
of those few devoted men whom we may be proud to call our pre-
decessors and the founders of this Institution. It is, I repeat, to
your efforts that our increased prosperity must be attributed. It
is a noble object that has invited us to these Halls of Science.
We meet together to contemplate the teachings of God in Nature ;
and our mutual aim should be, and we hope has been, to decipher
some new word in the pages of that great book, in order that we
may the better learn the will and the workings of Him who
ordereth all things well. We have sought to study the method of
God's workings in nature ; for in the vision of science there is
nothing too minute for our notice, or unworthy of it. The means
for the investigation of almost every branch of Natural Science
are gradually extending ; and the Montreal Natural History
Society is not the least important of those institutions which are
spreading over our country, and the world generally, scientific
knowledge, for science is nothing more than knowledge reduced to
order. But to say that science is worthy of your pursuit, is at
best a waste of words. You know too well its importance ; for by
science we have converted the products of our forests and our
fields into articles of commerce ; we have by science abridged
human labour to an immense extent ; we have by science invented
machines, some of immense power, all but surpassing human efforts
at calculation, and others which almost rival the winds in swift-
ness, propelled on road-ways that have compassed our globe by
their iron bauds ; and science, again, has nearly achieved a victory
over the velocity of thought, light and sound, in the invention and
application of our electrical telegraph.
Where shall I specially turn to contemplate the wondrous works
of God, or to follow up the yearly march of science ? Shall I dip
with a Logan, a Dawson, a Hunt, and a Billings, beneath the
1866.] SMALLWOOD — PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 127
rocky covering of our globe, for a subject of discourse ? I dare
not. Their mantle would not fall with graceful folds upon one so
incompetent as myself. Our reports and journals bear ample
evidence of their united labours and individual researches. Or
shall I stroll through the deep forests or over the flowery sod,
where once trod the footsteps of a Holmes or a Barnston, one of
whom was removed from among us full of years and of honour ;
while the other had scarcely entered upon the busy stage of science
ere he was called away ? But why should I hesitate to find a
suitable theme in the vast domains of science ? Why should I say
more ? Ascend with me above the dust, ascend with me far above
those sure foundations that were laid in the ages of this our world,
far, far gone by ; ascend with me above the clouds, — those cirrous
clouds, where the heavens are never obscured, where the atmos-
phere is pure and free from mist, — in the balmy but intensely cold
regions of space, where our earth, with its lofty mountains and
fertile valleys, with its noble mansions and its lovely cottages, is
only seen as a small planet ; where our sun itself is dwindled
to a twinkling star ; where the starry host is nearly lost from
vision, — merged, as it were, into a milky way ; — and where the
great girdle of the heavens itself is but a faint nebulous mass.
Yet deep even into this immensity of space science has cast its
divining rod.
A Herschel discovered a world eighty times larger than our
own, which revolves in its circuit in a long period of time, corres-
ponding to more than 80 of our years, ere its curved course is
run. Bound this planet, thus removed some eighteen hundred
millions of miles, six moons revolving like our own accompany it
on its onward and extended course.
But from this distant world the shout of science was still
Onward ! A Le Verrier and an Adams, with a colossal stride,
placed one foot, as it were, on our earth, and another on the sur-
face of this distant globe, and pointed out the spot where Neptune
was to be found, a planet still further removed from us, and whose
period of revolution was more than double that of Uranus. But
even that planet appears near us when we measure the nearest
star that bedecks the vaulted canopy of heaven ; for that is twenty
billions of miles distant from our sun.
If geology marks the progressive development of the rocks on
our globe, and counts its periods by millions of years, (for the rocks
are but incidents in the earth's history,) surely the astronomer
128 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
may well be lost in admiration by the contemplation of these
wondrous works that are manifest in
" the wide expanse,
Where stars, and suns, and systems shine."
The progress of astronomical science has shown us that our sun
can no longer be regarded as the centre of our solar system, but
that all the starry host is moving yearly in a grand procession
towards another, a far distant central sun, the great centre of our
universe ; and we may well say, in the words of the poet,
" He sets the bright procession on its way,
And marshals on the order of the year."
Scarce a year has passed without adding to our list of the
Asteroids, until the number now reaches 85 ; while a very few
years ago it was but four. Are these asteroids the particles of a
larger planet ? or are they new worlds opened up to human vision,
aided by science- in the construction of the telescope ? or have they
been for ever wanderers in the pathless regions of space ? Here
science will one day, with a spectroscope, tell us if they are the
remains of a larger body. A short time will no doubt set this
question at rest, for if they are the particles of a larger planet,
which from any cause has burst asunder, the spectra will furnish
the same results for them all.
Modern investigations have shown that our sun possesses an
atmosphere, and that this atmosphere is disturbed by some action
that renders visible certain spots at different times, spots which
led Galileo to demonstrate the rotation of the sun upon its axis.
It is the opinion of modern observers that the photosphere, (our
sun's atmosphere) consists of solid or liquid bodies of a greater or
less magnitude, either slowly sinking, or suspended in equilibrio
in a gaseous medium ; and that either the body of the sun itself
is older than the surrounding medium, or else that some chemical
or molecular changes have taken place where a spot is formed ;
or that it is produced by matter coming from a colder region ; or,
may be, by the solidification of its particles. But more recent
investigation would tend to show that the body of the sun itself is
hotter than the surrounding photosphere.
From the surface of the sun that imponderable fluid, light, is
diffused, shedding on this earth all the brilliancy of colour, and
tinting the landscape with an ever-varying degree of beauty.
What a glorious expanse of view, and what a vast field of know-
1866.] SMALLWOOD — PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 129
ledge has been revealed within even the few past months, hearing
on this subject of spectral analysis.
The immortal Newton, by means of the prism, resolved light
into its ultimate rays in the solar spectrum, a fitting rival to the
rainbow. Fraunhofer discovered that this spectrum was tra-
versed by numerous dark lines or bands which gave no light or
colour, indicating that at the source from whence they emanated,
the rays of light were absorbed in their passage from the sun to
our earth, and probably some by the earth's atmosphere. More
probably some are absorbed in the atmosphere of the sun itself,
tor the most recent investigations in this department of physical
research have shown that a glowing and gaseous atmosphere
surrounds the solid nucleus of the sun, which, possessing a still
higher temperature, approaching the intense heat of the brightest
whiteness.
The polarized rays of this light exhibit spectra still more beau-
tiful and intense than the solar spectrum itself. Forms of the
most symmetrical order are constantly presented when a polarized
ray of light is passed through various substances; and these
appearances are constantly varied when we change, by means of
pressure, the molecular arrangement of these bodies.
And are we not, by the photographic art, able to preserve, in
unfading lines, the lineaments of those we love, of those that are
great, and wise, and good ; as well as to transfer to paper, by this
process of sun-p tinting, those cherished spots on earth most dear
to us, every modulation of the landscape, the familiar dell, and the
rippling river by our homes of childhood ?
But the progressive march of science has not stopped here.
The investigations by means of the spectral analysis have pene-
trated into those regions of space to which I have already alluded,
and the fixed stars have been the objects of intense interest. The
astronomers had well said that they were distant suns, like our
own, shining by their own light ; and this opinion has been con-
firmed by the spectroscope. They are composed of the same matter
as our sun; and in the spectra of these stars, the dark lines are
wonderfully well brought out and defined.
Many of the stars of the first magnitude have been subjected to
direct experiment ; and it has been shown that they possess in
their atmospheres many of our terrestrial elements. Aldebaran, a
star of the first magnitude, possesses sodium, magnesium, hydro-
gen, calcium, iron, bismult, tellurium, antimony and mercury.
Vol. III. I Xo. 2
130 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
besides others which give negative evidence only. Alpha
Orlonis has been carefully examined, and contains most of the
above-named elements with the exception of hydrogen. The
presence of hydrogen has been noticed in the sun, and in almost
forty fixed stars, and is eminently characteristic, showing that its
presence belongs to the atmospheres of the luminous bodies them-
selves, and not merely to our own atmosphere.
These investigations have confirmed and demonstrated, beyond
the shadow of a doubt, that all the planets shine by light reflected
from the sun, and that any variety differing from the solar
spectrum may be attributed to the peculiar properties of the
atmospheres that surround the planets themselves.
One of the most important and interesting deductions to be
drawn from these researches, is in connection with the origin of
the colour of the stars. That a difference of colour in the stars
does exist, is too well known to require any comment : for " one
star differeth from another star in glory." And it is now no longer
a matter of conjecture that the brightest stars at least are, like
our sun, giving energy and life to systems of worlds like our own,
adapted for the abode of intelligent life. While yellow and red
stars are the most frequent, in double stars the contrasted
colours are green and blue. The source of the light of the stars
must be a solid or liquid body in a state of incandesence, as only
such bodies, when raised to a high temperature, give out a con-
tinuous spectrum. In the case of the fixed stars and the sun,
this continuous spectrum becomes crossed by dark bands, which
are produced by the absorbing power of the constituents, held in a
vaporous form in the investing atmospheres. These atmospheres
vary in chemical constitution, according to the elements composing
the star ; and the dark lines are produced by the absorptive power
of the vapours forming the stellar atmospheres. They correspond
to the bright lines they would form in an incandescent state, aiad
would be the strongest and most numerous in the more refrangible
portions of the spectrum, consequently a star would have a red or
orange tint should that part of the spectrum suffer least absorp-
tion : while, on the contrary, should the red and yellow portion
have most lines, the blue and green rays would then predominate
in the colour of the star.
In Sirius, the < dog star,' which is of a brilliant white, there
are no lines sufficiently intense, in any particular part of the spec-
trum, to interfere with our receiving the light in about the same
1866.] SMALL WOOD — PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 131
proportion as to the quantity of the different coloured rays, to that
which starts from the incandescent light-giving surface. Sodium,
magnesium, hydrogen, and probably iron, have been found in this
star ; and even a photograph on wet collodion has been obtained.
In reference to double stars, observations on Beta Cygni and
Alpha Hercules confirm these observations.
Various opinions have been ventured on the composition of the
nebulae. It has been affirmed that they are masses of minute
stars, and only require higher optical powers to reduce them to
distinct vision. The construction of Lord Rosse's telescope was
looked forward to as tending to set the matter at rest ; but,
instead of this, it seemed to involve the question in still greater
difficulty. Its solution was not lost sight of during the past year,
and the spectrum observation has been shown to have an impor-
tant bearing on the nebular hypothesis of the cosmical origin of
the universe. It shows that the elementary substances must have
existed in different proportions at different points of the nebulous
mass ; otherwise, by condensation, equal portions of the elements
from the surrounding vapour would have been collected.
There is also an analogy to the manner in which the components
of the earth's crust are distributed, for some of these elements are
widely diffused through vegetable, animal, and mineral matter.
It has been further shown that it is only liquid and solid
bodies that give out a continuous spectrum ; while gases alone,
when rendered luminous by heat, give out light which, after
dispersion by the prism, is found to consist of certain degrees of
refrangibility only, and which appear as bright lines on a dark
ground, contrary to the solar spectrum, which shows dark lines on
a bright ground. This fact has shown that, in the nebulae, large
masses of gas exist, and they possess no resemblance whatever to
stars or clusters of stars. The nebulae, therefore, are not masses
of stars removed to such a distance as to render them irresolvable,
but consist, for the most part, of luminous gases.
This presents to us, at once, another instance of unity in nature,
by recognizing; each of the simple bodies held in suspension in the
flame, whose rays are decomposed by the prism. The dispersion
of the sun's rays by the prism forms the standard of observation ;
any deviation will shew either bright lines in the place of dark
ones, or dark lines in the place of bright ones. Nickel, chromium,
magnesium, iron, potassium, sodium, barium, copper, cobalt and
132 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
zinc, are found always present in the sun's atmosphere in a state
of vapour.
The possession of an atmosphere by the moon has been the
subject of frequent investigation and conjecture ; but, by the
spectrum analysis, it is now rendered certain that the moon has
no atmosphere, at least on that side presented to our view. This
has been lately further confirmed by observing the different spectra
shown by the occultation of a star by the moon at the moment of
contact, by obtaining the two separate spectra at once in the field
of view.
It may be thought that the few remarks on the branches of
science to which I have more immediately alluded, do not fairly
come within the scope of the Natural History Society. But as, in
looking over the annual addresses for the past few years, I found
no account of any of the progressive steps in the sciences gene-
rally, except in those of Geology and Botany, I deemed it not
unworthy to allude to some of these more recent researches in
other departments of physical science.
I ought not to close this short address without expressing my
great regret that Montreal does not possess any adequate means,
owing to the want of proper instruments, for prosecuting the
science of Astronomy. A climate like that of Lower Canada,
which furnishes, upon an average, 120 nights in a year suitable
for celestial observation, offers a vast field for astronomical labours,
and also for the investigations now being carried on in celestial
chemistry, and the spectum analysis. Since our last annual
meeting, many original papers on subjects more intimately
connected with Natural History have been read before the Society,
or printed in the Canadian Naturalist, the perusal of which will
shew that many new and curious facts have been observed and
recorded, bearing upon the geology, zoology and botany of British
North America. These papers will furnish evidence that the
members of this Society have not been idle during the past session,
and that some of them have devoted a considerable time to the
study of those objects which come more directly within its scope.
Those who are more particularly engaged in the study of natural
history in Canada, know further that investigations have been
carried on during the past Summer, the results of which have not
yet been recorded. Among the papers to which I may more
particularly refer are : four on Geology and Palaeontology, by
Dawson, Billings, Packard and Whiteaves ; four on Zoology, by
1866.] SMALLWOOD — PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 133
Stimpson, Parkes, Couper and Ritchie ; two on Botany, one by
Mr. Watt, and another from Dr. Gibb ; and one on Geography,
from Br. Hunt. I would refer to the pages of the Canadian
Naturalist for more ample information on these points.
The pursuit of science, in its legitimate sense, is to endeavour
to advance man's happiness, and to elevate and refine every human
sentiment. Associations of a like character to our own are
intended to diffuse intelligence and the light of truth to man, to
fit him for a higher state of existence.
The study of nature has formed the object of the most elevated
and aspiring thoughts, — thoughts that have dwelt on the works
and wonders of creation. What is more beautiful or more elevat-
ing than those aspirations that direct us to contemplate the
wisdom and goodness of God ? and what can be more pleasing
than that kindred minds should associate in mutual harmony, and
contribute each his small portion (though small) to the grand
treasury of knowledge and of truth ? Nor is it possible to suppose
that the onward progress of true science will ever operate to the
disparagement of that devout homage we owe to Him in whose
hands are held our daily wTants and future destiny ; but on the
contrary science, if directed in the proper paths, will aid in fitting
us, after a life devoted to its pleasures and its beauties, for the
enjoyment of that intellectual intercourse which has ever been
among the holiest and noblest aspirations of man.
T have not entered much (nor did I intend) into the business
part of the Society's operations, properly so called, leaving it to
your Council, Scientific Curator and Treasurer to present their
reports, which, I have no doubt, will be very satisfactory. But I
must not forget to mention the eminent and efficient services of
Mr. Whiteaves. A look into our museum will, I am sure, convince
any one of the amount of labour he has bestowed ; and I feel sure
that your Council will render also a good account of his recent
visit to England.
For my own part, I am sorry to say that a lack of time has
prevented me from filling the office of President so well as I could
have wished. In resigning the charge into your hands, I must
be allowed to express a fervent wish that increasing prosperity
may mark our way ; and to say that we may congratulate ourselves
on our increasing usefulness in spite of a Winter of more than
ordinary excitement, owing to a most wicked and unheard-of
threat of invasion of our country by strangers, many of our young
134 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
men having taken up arms in defence of our homes. But I trust
that now peace is again restored to us, and hope that war, with
all its appalling features, may merge into the calmer pursuits of
science ; and that the Montreal Natural History Society may long
continue to diffuse and spread knowledge ; for
" There's beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes
Can trace it 'midst familiar things, and through their lowly guise."
ON THE VITAL STATISTICS OF MONTREAL.
By Philip P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph. D., Hon. Sec. of the Montreal
Sanitary Association.
In the Canadian Naturalist for 1859, pp. 173-186, was publish-
ed the first attempt to eliminate and explain the sanitary statistics
of Canada. The facts and figures therein set forth were carefully
scrutinized in this and other cities. As was to be expected, the
conclusions arrived-at were frequently called in question ; but the
writer was charged with inaccuracies which belonged to the data,
and not to the working-out of the materials. The figures were not
set forth as accurate ; but only as the nearest approach to accuracy
ichich ivas then attainable.
The census of 1861 has now furnished elements for comparison
with similar results in the previous decade ; and the yearly tabu-
lation of burials and baptisms in the city of Montreal and in the
adjacent counties has added to the cumulative evidence of the
peculiar unhealthiness of the city. It is proposed, in the present
paper, to present the results of these two sources of information ;
and to compare them with a third source, viz. the weekly returns
of interments at the city cemeteries, which were not accessible to
the writer in 1859.
A. Census of 1861.
It must be premised that the deaths are twice tabulated in the
census returns, viz. under ages, and under diseases. On analyz-
ing these in order to ascertain the proportions of deaths from
xymotic diseases, of deaths under 5 years, and of deaths above 70
years, to the total deaths, it was found that in Quebec City, then
the capital of Canada, there was no less a discrepancy than 296,
in the total number of deaths recorded, between these two tabula-
1866. J CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 135
tions. Such a glaring inaccuracy in a work executed at consider-
able expense, and demanding the greatest care to make it of
practical value, is not calculated to raise the character of the
Canadian Executive ; and throws considerable doubt on the value
of the returns in general. Evidence is given in the ' Second Re-
port of the Financial and Departmental Commission,' Feb. 1864,
pp. 32 et seq., that " the irregularities in the returns themselves
resulted from the ignorance of many of the enumerators as to the
object of the different columns ; and carelessness in leaving some of
them blank, or filling them in a manner that was manifestly absurd.
Where the addition of several columns should have agreed with the
total given in some other column, it often happened that irreconcil-
able differences occurred. . . . Some mode of bringing these
totals into harmony was necessary ; and an arbitrary system of what
I must call cooking the figures was resorted to for the purpose."
The returns for Montreal City are said to have been made with
the greatest attainable accuracy ; yet the deaths for the year are
only stated as 2,038, while we know that 3,181 interments actual-
ly took place during the year at the two cemeteries, being a differ-
ence of 1,143, or more than 50 per cent. If it be supposed that
this marvelous discrepancy arose from a different division of the
year, the fact remains that the interments for 1860 were 3,171,
and for 1862, 3,461 ; in neither case presenting a perceptibly
lower rate.
If such be the manifest and gigantic untruth in the returns of
the two largest cities of British America, it is hard to place any
reliance on returns of places of less importance, least of all of
country districts. Even if the figures had been accurately given,
they would only have established facts for a single year, which
might have exceptional : as it is, they must only be accepted for
comparative, not for absolute results. Such as they are, they are
presented in the following table, where the first two columns A and
B give the actual population and mortality. Column C presents
the average deaths among each thousand of the population. Column
D shews the number of deaths, out of every hundred from all
causes, which were due to xymotic diseases. When this propor-
tion is permanently high, it is a sure sign of bad air outside or
within the dwelling, or of polluted water: where it is exceptionally
high (as, apparently, in Ottawa, Laval, Vaudreuil, Soulanges and
Laprairie) it betokens an epidemic, which is probably due to
cumulative corruptions : where it is remarkably low, it may be
136 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
taken as a very favourable sign of the sanitary conditions. Column
E gives the percentage of the total deaths which took place under
five years of age. If accurate, unless there were some special
infantile epidemic, the high or low percentage in this column
ought to be a sure test of sanitary condition ; but the high
rate in healthy Upper Canada, never falling below 35 p. c, and in
even the country districts of Lower Canada (with the exception of
Soulanges), needs some explanation not yet given. Column F
gives the number, out of every hundred deaths, which were of
people above the allotted term of 70 years of age. Contrary to
the previous columns, it ought to be highest in the most healthy
districts; but the numbers are so low that they could only be
trusted on an average of years, or for a large population. Thus
the low rate for Three Rivers, and the very high rate for Soulanges
(iiearly five times that of Montreal) are probably accidental.
Column CI exhibits the proportion between the births and deaths
in the year ; the figures representing the deaths in each district to
every hundred births. If accurate, these ought to be lowest in the
most healthy districts, as we see in the case of Vercheres which
presents only half the death-rate of Montreal.
The last column, H, representing the number of Catholics out
of every hundred in the population, has been added to test the
value of a suggestion made in certain quarters that the religious
customs of the French Canadians, who bring their infants to be
baptized in the church, even in the coldest weather, was a main
cause of the excessive infantile mortality of Montreal. It will be
seen that the proportion of Catholics is less in Montreal than in
any other quoted district of Lower Canada, except Sherbrooke.
The returns may be regarded (subject to exceptions) as suffi-
ciently correct to show the comparative mortalities of cities and
adjacent counties, and to compare these with the ratios worked-out
from the preceding census. It is presumed that the causes of in-
accuracy will affect the different returns in somewhat of the same
ratio. They must also be taken (whether accurate or not) as our
only data for the actual population ; and, by comparison with the
census of 1851, for the yearly average rate of increase. There
was no temptation to *; cook the figures'' in this, the easiest part
of the work ; least of all, to reduce the population below its actual
extent.
In all the columns which include Quebec city, two sets of figures
are bracketed together for the reason stated above. Analogy proves
1866.] CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 137
that the higher rate, assigning 1,111 deaths, is more likely to be
correct.
. Sanitary Statistics of the Census of 1861.
ALL CANADA.
Upper Canada. .
Do. less 5 cities.
Toronto
Hamilton
Ottawa
Kingston
London
2,507.657
,396,091
,292,207
44,821
19,096
14.669
13,743
n,555
23,<
23,384
rt £
49-7
48.9
18.6
18.9
14.2
18.9
32-5
16.3
7.8
4
41.4
48.7
49.9
48
34-9
39
u_ o
7-0
6.8
66
70
3'5
3'7
3"5
5'4
3'o
, o
"8 2
Lower Canada. .
Do. less 2 cities ,
Do. less 4 cities
Montreal
Quebec
Quebec County.
Three Rivers .. .
Sherbrooke
,111,566
970,134
958,177
90,323
51,109
27,893
6,058
5,899
12,928
13,224
10,075
9,877
2,038
815
11. 6
11. 9
10.3
22.5
15-9
21.7
14.7
17.5! ax.
15-6, 27.
25.
24-5
23-5
27 6
55-4
54-2
53-3
66.0
55-2
4o-5
48.2
56.6
42
7-3
7-i
8.2
3-4
4.1
3-6
10.2
1.9
6-5
Hochelaga County.
Jacques Cartier " .
Laval " .
Vaudreuil " .
Soulanges " .
Laprairie " .
Chambly " .
Vercheres " .
16,474
11,218
10,507
[2.282
'4,475
[3,132
[5,485
226
13-7
23.0
140
12-4
18.6
152
I4.4
32-9
163
13-3
34-3
149
12.2
29-5
183
12.7
35-5
121
9-9 17-3
167
10.8} 18.5
"*
74-3
52.1
56.5
60.7
28.2
58-4
43-o
49-7
2.6
40
5-7
39
8-5
58
8.0
34
4-7
29
5-4
49
6.6
28
8.9
27
Total of 8 Counties
round Montreal
Montreal City
Excess for Montreal. . . .
90,323
-i5,47i
1,301
2,038
+737
22.5
+ 10.2
26.2 5
23.5 66.0
-2.7 +13.2
Total of 7 of the above
Counties, leaving out
Vercheres
Montreal City
Excess for Montreal.. .
90,323
+ 14
2,038
+9°4
12.5 27.3
22. 5I 23.5
+10.0 — 3.8
66.0
+ 12.7
3-4
-3-9
+54
73
— 21
Comparison of
{London n,555
Montreal 1 1 90,323
Excess for Montreal 1/ +78,768
102
8.8
7-8
39-2
2,038
22.5
23'5
66.0
+1,936
+I3,
+ 15-7
+26.8
3-o
3-4
+ •4
24
55
+3i
18
73
+55
138 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
In the above schedule is first given the general average for the
whole of Canada, from Gaspe to Essex, including the cities.
Next come the figures ; 1. for the whole of Upper Canada; 2.
for the same, excluding the five principal cities, but including all
the others ; and 3. for the five cities, in the order of their popula-
tion. As compared with England, one cannot but be struck with
the extremely low rate of mortality throughout. English insurance
companies doing business in the province according to their home
tables, may expect to gain considerably on life policies.
The third group presents the principal statistics for Lower Ca-
nada ; first for the whole province ; next for the same, leaving out
the two unhealthy cities, Montreal and Quebec ; next for the pro-
vince, leaving out also Three Rivers and Sherbrooke ; (these how-
ever, although as unhealthy as Toronto, do not affect the general
average;) next for Montreal, and for Quebec with its double entry
of "uncooked" figures; next for the county of Quebec, leaving
out the city ; and lastly for the two smaller towns, which, though
healthy in comparison with their populous neighbours, are much
more unhealthy than the larger cities of Upper Canada.
The next group contains the figures for the eight counties round
Montreal, which were included in the registration district, and whose
returns are preserved at the Protonotary's Office. Some of these
display a high rate both of xymotic and of infantile mortality ; yet
when their total is added up, and the average taken and compared
with that of the city repeated below, the excess of deaths amounts
to one citizen taken yearly out of overt/ hundred, who would have
lived had he dwelt in the country, with the same climatal condi-
tions, and a preponderating Catholic element.
The contrast is perhaps rendered more apparent by leaving out
Vercheres from the above total, and thus bringing the country
population to an almost exact equality with that of the city. Al-
though the abstraction of this healthy district somewhat raises the
death-rate for the rural population ; we find that in that year 904
persons were killed by city life; 12 per cent more of city than of
rural deaths were of children under five years ; less than half the
number reached the age of 70 ; and there were 17 additional deaths
to set against each hundred births. This was in spite of special
epidemics which appear to have visited at least half of the rural
districts, and which caused nearly 4 out of every hundred deaths
more than in the city.
1866.]
CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS.
139
The last group of figures shews the contrast between Montreal,
the most unhealthy, and London, the most healthy of Canadian
cities, which presents a death-rate below that of the rural districts
of Lower Canada. It appears that the extra mortality of Mon-
treal amounts to 137 in every 10,000 persons; that for every 10
persons who die in London, 25 die in the older city ; and that, out
of every hundred deaths, more than 26 additional cases of children
cut off under 5 years of age are found in Montreal.
The following is a comparison of the statistics of population and
mortality between the census of 1851 and that of 1861. Some
particulars from the report of the (English) Registrar General for
1857* are added.
2. Comparative Sanitary Statistics of the Census of 185 1
and of 1 86 1.
Population.
Total Deaths.
ALL CANADA
1851.
1,842,265
1861.
2,507,657
1851.
19,449
1861.
23,384
Upper Canada. .
Do. less 5 cities
Toronto
Hamilton
Ottawa
Kingston
London
952,004
880,737
3o,775
14,112
7,760
11,585
7,035
1,396,091
1,292,207
44,821
19,096
14,669
13,743
n,555
7,775
6,754
474
\ 172
90
185
100
10,160
8,813
727
217
172
129
102
Loiver Canada. .
Do. less 2 cities.
Montreal
Quebec
890,261
790,494
57,7i5
42,052
1, n 1,566
970,134
90,323
51,109
n. 674
8,632
i,97S
1,064
13,224
10,075
2,038
Deaths
per 1000
living.
1851 186:
10.5 9-3
i3-
10.9
34-4
25-3
22.5
21.7
Excess of Deaths
in 1861 over rural
districts of
Upper Lower
Canada Canada
6,269
263
19
[778
All England
London
Eastbourne, Sussex
Liverpool
Average Deaths in all England from xymotic diseases, out of
every hundred deaths
Do. under five years ,
22.0
25 -o
15.0
36.0;
22.0
39- 1 1
If these returns could be relied upon, they would present an
extremely flattering picture of Canada in general, and even of the
cities in particular, as compared with the rural districts and cities
of England, and as compared with its own condition ten years
previously; Toronto and Ottawa being the only cities in which
* This is the latest return accessible at the free library in the Mecha-
nics' Institution. It represents an average of many years. Not a single
district in England is found to have a mortality less than 15 per 1000, or
more than 36.
UO
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
the mortality has increased. But as we know that the deaths for
Montreal are glaringly understated, we are obliged to doubt the
accuracy of the returns in other districts also. As the registers
of interments at cemeteries and churchyards must be always
accessible to the enumerators, it is hoped that the authorities will
take the necessary steps to insure accuracy at the next decennial
census.
The following table has been calculated in order to estimate the
proportion borne between the interments at different ages, and the
number living at the same age. The "total deaths" are probably
much below the real numbers, but the ratio between the ages
may be sufficiently near the truth.
3. Popidation and Deaths in Montreal at different ages :
from the Census of 1861.
Under i year
From 1 to 2 years.
" 2 to 3 " .
3 to 4 " .
" 4 to s " .
o to s " .
5 to 10 " .
" 10 to 15 " .
" 15 to 20 " .
o to 10
" 10 to 20 "
" 20 to 30 " . . .
" 30 to 40 " ...
" 40 to 50 "
" 50 to 60 " ...
" 60 to 70 "
Above 70 and unknown.
All Ages.
Number
living.
3,700
3,183
2,821
2,609
.15,196
10,363
g, 200
25,559
20,090
18,174
11,044
7,24s
4,476
2,460
1,272
90,323
Total
Deaths.
,006
179
70
46
44
1,345
86
37
55
Deaths per i
,000 living Quebec.
at the Do.
same age,
271 -3
56.2
24-3
16.3
16.5
tt-5
8-3
4.0
5-5
,43i
92
119
89
5°
72
56
129
2,038
55-9
4-5
6-5
8.6
6.9
16.0
22.8
101.4
22.5
161.9
48.8
33-2
17.9
11. 6
Lower
Canada,
less
4 cities.
82.6
43-8
16.0
7.2
58.4
(It was not judged
necessary to
complete the
table for adult
deaths in Que-
bec and the
rural districts.)
It appears, therefore, that for every hundred children who die
under one year in Montreal, only sixty die in Quebec, and thirty
in the country districts. For every hundred who die under five
years in Montreal, sixty die in Quebec, and only thirty-six in the
country districts.
B. Protonotary's Returns.
It appears, by the rate of increase ascertained from the census
of 1861, that the population of Montreal City must have been
greater than that assumed in the table printed in the Canadian
Naturalist, 1859, p. 176, so far as the later years are concerned.
Subtracting that rate, viz., 3,260 annually, to find the population
1866.]
CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS.
141
before 1861, and adding it for the subsequent years,* we are able
to present a table approximately correct, as follows :
4. Montreal City : Returns of Baptisms and Funeral
Services.
Year.
i359
i860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1S65
Average of 7 years
Average of 6 years( — 1864)
Supposed
Population
83,803
87,063
9°>323
93,583
96,843
100,103
103,363
93,583
92,496
Births.
4,238
4>438
4,579
4,811
5,388
4,024
4,339
4,545
4,°32
Deaths.
3,016
3,005
3,222
3,5io
4,3o6
3,732
3,39°
3,i77
Excess
of Births
over
Deaths.
+ 1,657
+ 1,422
+ i,574
+ 1,589
+ 1,878
— 282
+ 607
+ i,i55
+ i,455
Deaths
per
1. 000
living.
30.8
34-7
33-2
34-4
36.2
43-o
36.1
36.2
34-3
Deaths
per 100
Births.
65
67
65
107
74
The returns from which this table is constructed were the
most accurate known at the time the former article was
written. They are now known to be consideraby below the
truth. They only profess to register religious services at birth
and death ; so that many children are born, and some corpses
perhaps interred, without the names appearing in the clerical
registers. The returns are not always sent in with becoming punc-
tuality ; and none are yet accessible for the year 1866. Their
chief use is in furnishing data for the comparison of births and
deaths ; and of the city with the country districts. These last
consisted, from 1859-1861, of the following counties, viz. : Hoche-
laga, Jacques C artier, Laval, Vaudreuil, Soulanges, Laprairie,
Chambly and Vercheres. In 1862 Vaudreuil, and in 1863
Soulanges, were removed to another registration district ; but their
averages have been added in, to make the returns for the different
years correspond. The population in 1861 is taken from the census ;
a comparison of this with the census of 1861 gives 3817 as the
average yearly rate of increase. It is probable that these country
returns are more accurate than those of the city ; the population
being less affected by immigration; and the proportion who are
careless as to religious observances being much smaller. It will
be specially noticed that there is no remarkable fluctuation in births
in 1863-4, nor extra mortality in 1864.
* This simple mode is not exact, being less than the real rate. But
as the recorded deaths are also below the real numbers, the lower totals
of population make the averages more near the truth.
142
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
5. Eight Adjacent Counties: Returns of Baptisms and
Funeral Services.
Year.
i359
i860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
Average of 7 years
Do. Montreal
Balance for the city, + and
Supposed
Population
98,160
101,977
105.794
109,611
113,428
117,245
121,062
109,611
93,5S3
Births.
4,087
4>°i3
3.935
3,882
3,395
3,712
3,943
3,923
4,545
+ 62
Deaths.
1,881
1,787
1,799
2,020
1,823
2,019
2,045
1,911
3,39o
+ i,479
Excess
of Births
over
Deaths.
+2,206
+2,226
+2,136
+1,862
+2,072
+ 1,693
+ 1,898
-T2,OI2
+1,155
- 857
Deaths
per
1,000
living.
19. 1
17-5
17.0
18.4
16.0
17. 1
16.9
17.4
36.2
Deaths
>er 100
Births.
+ 26
It appears, therefore, that although the average population of
Montreal is more than sixteen thousand less than that of the eight
counties, (making a difference greater than the whole population
of Vercheres,) it furnishes yearly 1479 more deaths, being at the
rate of 188 additional yearly deaths among each myriad of the
living population, which is more than double the country rate of
dying.
It is found to be a standard fact in sanitary statistics, that, by
a compensating power in nature, extra deaths are accompanied by
extra births, so that if a city has above the normal number of
births in proportion to the population, it will be found to have
also an abnormal number of deaths. We find therefore that, for
the smaller population of Montreal, there is yet a yearly excess of
622 births ; yet in spite of this, there is a yearly loss to the city,
on comparing the balance of births and deaths with that of the
country, amounting to 857 souls, or 26 extra deaths out of every
hundred births. Such is the contrast presented, not by a single
year, as in the census returns, but by the average of seven years,
between the city and the country, both having the same climatal
conditions, and the balance of comforts and the means of living
being decidedly in favour of Montreal.
C. Interments at the Cemeteries.
We have been obliged to express doubts as to the accuracy
of the previous returns. Those of the census, even if correct,
apply to one year only. Those of the clergy apply only to
religious services ; and among them may be some which are not
accurately registered. But of the graves dug, and the coffins
1866.] CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 143
actually interred, there can be no mistake. That the name, age,
and other circumstances attending the death of a citizen should be
actually entered in the register, without that person actually hav-
ing died, cannot be believed. Citizens may have died, and been
interred elsewhere ; they may have been interred at the cemeteries,
and by bare possibility an entry not have been made ; the returns
may not therefore be complete, but they cannot be gainsaid so far
as they go. That such and such numbers of persons were interred
at Cote des Neiges and at Mount Royal Cemeteries on such and
such dates, is recorded in black and white, and forms a record of
human life prematurely cut off, truly fearful to contemplate.
It is no doubt true that several interments are made of country
residents : but the suburban districts are not populous enough
materially to affect the averages ; and the number of countrymen
buried from them is probably balanced by citizens who die or are
interred elsewhere. The census returns of population may indeed
be incorrect ; and therefore the assumed yearly increase, and the
actual rate of mortality per thousand. But there are three classes
of facts which are not affected by these chances of error, and
which are of the highest importance; viz.: 1. the comparative
mortality from one year to another ; 2. the comparative mortality
at different seasons of the year ; and 3. the comparative mortality
of children and adults.
In accordance with a Municipal Bye-Law, weekly returns are
tabulated, at the office of the fcity Clerk, of all interments in the
burial grounds of the City of Montreal. They are compiled from
sheets sent from the "Catholic Cemetery;" and from the " Pro-
testant Vaults or Burial-ground." The latter is said to include
all interments made elsewhere than in the Cote des Neiges Ceme-
tery. These sheets are ruled to contain the
No.
Name. Date of Decease.
Males.
Children. \ Married Men. \ Widowers.
Bachelors.
Females.
Children. \ Married Women. \ Widows. | Unmarried Women.
Age. I Place of Residence. I Country. \ Disease
Years. \ Months. \ Days. \ Street. \ Ward. 1 '
The last two columns, in the Catholic sheet examined as a
specimen, and even the previous ones of place of residence, are
imperfectly filled up. With more care in the registration, and
with accurate tabulation extending over a series of years, these
sheets might afford materials for fixing the special localities of
144
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[D<
extra mortality, which might produce most important results.
Many of the streets being extremely long, and containing houses,
even in the same ward, differing very greatly in sanitary condition,
the number of the house ought in every case to be recorded. As
in England, no interment ought to be allowed, without the pro-
duction of a duly authorized medical certificate, assigning both
the proximate and the remote cause of death, both of which should
be recorded.
The only items tabulated in the City Clerk's register are the
numhers in the columns for males and females, and the totals for
each week. There are two columns for disease, simply divided
between 'epidemic' and 'others;' but the epidemic of cholera,
which caused this return to be instituted, (on July 16, 1854,)
having terminated in November, no returns have been entered
under the disease columns since that date. The columns for
' children ' include all deaths under twelve years of age.
The returns for 1854 are of course incomplete. There is an
entry of 274 deaths from cholera, from June 28 to July 11 ; and
of the total deaths registered from cholera being 1067, principally
in July. The greatest mortality was in the week ending July
23rd, viz.: 281 ; the least, Nov. 25, viz. : 33. The totals are as
follows :
6. Partial Returns of Deaths in Montreal, for the Cholera
year, 1854.
[854.
July, 3 weeks.
Aug., 4 " .
Sept., 5 " .
Oct., 4 " .
Nov., 4 "
Total.
Children.
Adults.
Total.
414
262
396
278
810
S40
211
103
93
60
304
163
99
74
173
1,089
90 1
1,990
Weekly Average.
270.0
1350
60.8
40.7
43-2
The cemetery tables enable us to present the complete returns
for twelve years, from Jan. 1, 1855, to Dec. 31, 1866, inclusive;
and to divide them between ' children' and adults.
The population for each year has been calculated, as exactly as
possible, not by adding and subtracting a fixed quantity, as in
tables 4 and 5, but according to the average rate of increase, which
is found to be very nearly '4 • 7 per cent. ; (that of all England being
somewhat under 2 p. c.) Of course a considerable part of this large
increase is due to immigration, and is a fluctuating element. This
1866.] CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 145
was probably greatest during the American war, and least in 1866,
when the nominally high wages in the United States tempted
many to emigrate. Due allowance is made for the excess of deaths
over births in 1854 and 1864.
The following table presents the total population; the total
deaths ; the deaths of all above 12 years of age, called adults ; and
of those under 12, classed as children. Corresponding columns
exhibit the proportion of each entry of death to 1000 living per-
sons of all ages. A separate column exhibits the proportion be-
tween every 100 deaths of persons of all ages above 12, and the
corresponding deaths in the same year below 12. /// every year
except 1866, the latter are more than double. — In order to render
more conspicuous the high death-rate of the city, a tenth column
shews the average group of individuals among whom a single death
occurs, viz. : among every 30 in the healthier years, every 28 in
the balance of years, every 22 in 1864, and every 17 in the cholera
year. The eleventh column shews the actual number of deaths
which occurred in the city above the rural average ; that is, of
lives which might have been saved, had the people been scattered
over the neighbouring counties. The last column presents the
same excess of city death, as compared with each 1000 living.
It will be observed that although so large a proportion of the
moribund population were killed off in the. cholera year, the
succeeding year, 1855, was still unhealthy. From 1856-1859,
the mortality, though frightfully great, was below the average.
The six years from 1860-1865 march on with steady course,
presenting a death-rate only equalled, in the worst English cities,
during periods of special pestilence. In 1866, there is a
marvellous and sudden rebound to the death-rate of the least
unhealthy year, 1858. During 1864, there was a terribly fatal
epidemic of scarlatina, its virulence being no doubt caused by the
accumulations of xymotic poison, which then attained their
. maximum. These fluctuations are brought out most strongly in
the column for children's deaths : they are much slower in
affecting adults. With them the rise does not begin till 1863 ;
it is even somewhat lower in 1864 ; and there is no change for
the better in 1866. '
Vol. ILL K No. 2.
146
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec
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1866.]
CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS.
147
"We are now in a position to judge of the statistics recorded
under sections A & B. The following table exhibits these in com-
parison with the totals from the cemeteries. It appears that
during the eleven years no fewer than 2,134 deaths have escaped
registration by the clergy ; being never less than 76 in a year; on
the average 194; and, in the deadly year, actually 395. The
average equals 6 per cent of the total deaths ; or 22 unrecorded
deaths to every 10,000 living.
In the case of the census returns, the deficiency is still more
startling; no fewer than 36 per cent of the total deaths having es-
caped recording.
8. Comparison of 3 returns of Deaths in Montreal,
1855-1865.
Year.
Cemetery
Returns.
Clergy Returns
Not entered in
Clergy returns.
Census Return
Not entered in
Census Return
1855
2,416
2,231
iS< ,
1856
2,360
2,284
7b
1857
2,490
2,367
123
1858
2,510
2,299
211
1859
2,766
2,581
185
1S60
3,i7i
3,016
i55
1861
3,181
3,005
176
2,038
i,U3
1862
3,46i
3,222
239
1863
3,606
3,5io
96
1864
4,701
4,3o6
395
1865
4,025
3,732
293
Total. . . .
34,687
32,553
2,134
Mortality of 1861. — Cemetery 35.2 per 1000 living.
Protonotary 33.2 "
Census 22. 5 "
Not registered by the clergy. . . 2.0 "
Not recorded in census 12.7 "
These facts are surely sufficient to convince the most sceptical
of the importance of a compulsory civil registration of births and
deaths. In addition to the usual details, it is very necessary to
provide that no death be registered without the production of a
medical certificate, declaring the remote as well as the proximate
cause of death. There should be heavy penalties for any inter-
ment without previous registration.
The next step in our analysis leads to very important results :
it is, to distribute the total deaths for each year under the months
in which they occur. This is done in table 9 for all ages ; in
table 10, for children under 12 ; and in table 1 1 , for children above
12 and adults. The numbers which include five weeks instead of
four are distinguished by large-faced figures. The totals for each
year are added at the bottom; for the same month in the twelve
years, in the last column.
148
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
9. Total DeatJis in Montreal, of all ages, for each month
from January, 1855, to December, 1866.
10. Deaths of Children under 12 in Montreal, for each
month, from 1 8 5 5 - 1 866.
Year.
1555-
1856.' 1857.
1858J1859.
1
i860.
1861.
129
124
163
114
144
ISO
337
214
197
1 So
216
158
1862.
174
154
186
131
228
263
39i
338
176
i39
156
129
1863.
176
108
138
140
197
218
376
397
i95
197
193
200
1864.
312
235
273
387
266
317
519
365
241
210
173
238
1865.
201
187
184
254
206
234
453
320
335
174
154
152
1866.
15°
146
183
183
152
181
34i
289
280
157
166
Total of
each month,
for 12 years.
January.. .
February .
March . . .
April
May
Tune
July
August . . .
September
October . .
November
December.
119
117
180
164
180
203
213
161
79
48
m
85
87
151
116
140
124
179
281
134
105
106
109
159
133
127
123
176
128
188
237
125
115
89
94
134
127
97
119
140
ft4
287
158
166
148
114
135
133
126
113
165
133
176
351
224
94
143
108
153
125
135
185
144
m
302
242
216
130
117
157
1,897
1,679
1,980
2,040
2.074
2,440
3,927
3,358
2,320
1,777
1,630
1,810
Total of |
each year. 1,704
1,617 1,694
i»739 ^W
2,249
2,236
2,465
2,535
3,536
2,854
2,3S4
26,932
1 1. Deaths of Adults and Children above 12 in Montreal,
for each month, from 185 5-1 866.
1
Total of
Year.
x8SS.
1S56.
-».
1858.
1859. 1
860.
1861.
1862.
1863.
1864.
1865.
90
1866.
77
each month,
for 12 years.
January.. .
February .
19
50
58
60
73
84
86
88
Ill
99
895
86
63
51
61
62
69
80
61
78
73
88
88
860
March. . ..
80
76
6q
51
6q
'<8
70
91
80
,*7
75
114
940
April
May
June
July
August . ■
71
60
70
68
78
79
68
68
9i
134
131
no
1,028
65
75
74
75
44
68
68
108
9/
100
97
106
977
7"?
59
63
66
62
74
92
76
86
96
92
103
941
42
6t
68
62
100
81
70
66
86
118
103
74
93i
58
67
75
59
62
67
84
102
10 1
84
100
98
114
963
September
57
60
64
77
94
84
73
b7
85
,59
91
925
Octobar. . .
56
5°
87
81
74
80
7b
iV
'lb
H)'i
92
108
964
November
43
6(1
67
53
60
64
IOI
llo
90
79
.V5
104
937
December.
63
56
50
5^
69
[
94
77
77
84
129
Hi
130
1,004
Total 01
each year.
712
743
796
77i
847
922
945
996
1,071
1,105
w.
1, 22b
11,365
1866.]
CAKPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS.
149
In order to bring out more vividly the startling differences ex-
hibited by the foregoing tables, not in one year only, nor in many,
but in each one of a Jong scries, a fresh series of tables has been
constructed, nos. 12-14, exhibiting the average weekly mortality of
each class during each month. This is done by dividing the pre-
vious items by 4 or by 5 ; fractions below one-tenth being omitted.
The averages for each year, and for the sum of years, are in each
case constructed from the totals, and not by the mere addition of
the previous items, which would involve error from the disregarded
hundredths.
12. Average Weekly Mortality, of all ages, for each month
from Janamyi 1855, to December, 1866.
Year.
January. . .
February. .
March
April
May
June
July
August. . . .
September.
October. . .
November.
December.
Average
week for
[2 months.
i*55
34 5
5°-7
52.0
58-7
46-5
S°-4
61.2
67.7
43-6
33-7
22.7
36-4
46.4
^
857 1S58
4 38.
047.
°37-
246.
°43-
7:45-
069.
4!54-
2 60.
4l45-
47.948.2
[859
41-252
47.0s1-0
45.552.6
48-6:55-7
44-259-7
59-579-8
9°-2|95-7
71-577-2
47 -o 60 -o
43-452-5
42.045.2
44.4 50.2
60.9
53-7
51.0
46.6
45-5
53-°
54-4
tor. 7
75-6
67-5
64.0
63-4
58-7
iS-62
65-5
53-7
55-4
49-7
67.2
S4.7
[14.2
88.0
60-7
54-o
54-2
5i-5
66.5
1^3
57-4
4°-5
54-5
57-7
58-8
76.0
"5-5
IOI-O
70.0
54-6
70.7
71.0
69-3
82.2
77.0
90.0
104.2
9i-5
103.2
127.4
112- 2
75-o
63-4
63-0
73-4
[81 5
72.7
68.7
64.7
76.6
75-7
81.5
tii. 2
[05.0
85-2
h6.5
62.2
53-8
56.7
58-5
59-4
73-2
64-5
56.8
103- 7
96.7
78.8
66.2
65.0
59-2
4 69.4
Average per
y, 1 ek in
each month,
f< r!2 year*.
52-7
52-9
54-i
60.1
57-6
65.0
93-4
82.1
62.4
5i-7
5o-3
52-1
61.2
13. Average Weekly Mortality of CJiildren under 12, for
each month, from Jan. 1855, to Dec. 1866.
Year.
January. . .
February..
March
April
May
June
July
August.. . .
September
October. . .
November
December.
Average week
for 12 months.. .
^55
29.7
29.2
36.0
41.0
30.2
36.0
50-7
53-2
32.2
19.7
12.0
23-8
'S56
21.2
21.7
30.2
29.0
28.0
31.0
44-7
56.2
33-5
26.2
21-2
27.2
tS57
:8;S
i-59
3i-5
28.2
33-o
33-2
44.0
70. 2
56.0
23-5
28.6
27-0
30.6
•1 32-633.436.2
1 S60
31.2
33-7
37-°
36.0
42.7
65.0
75-5
60.5
43-2
32-5
29.2
3i-4
:86;
32.2
31.0
32-6
28.5
36.0
36.0
84.2
58-9
49.2
45-o
43-2
39 5
.86:
43.047.,
1863
35
27.0
34-5
35-°
39-4
54-5
94.0
79-4
48.7
39-4
48.2
50.0
48.7
[864
66.6
[865
50.2
46.7
46.0
50.8
5i-5
58-5
90.6
80.0
67-0
43-5
38-5
30-4
54-0
:360
37-5
36-5
36.6
45-7
38.0
36.2
85-2
72.2
56.0
39-2
39 -°
33-2
45-9
Vv
erage per
week in each
month, for 12
years.
35-8
34-9
36-6
40.0
38-9
46.9
75-5
63-3
44.6
33-5
3i-9
33-5
150
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
14. Average Weekly Mortality of Adults and Children
above 12, for each month from Jan., 1855, to Dec., 1866
Year.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September. . .
October
November. . .
December. . . .
Average week
for 12 months
355
4-7
21-5
1 6 . o
17.7
[6.2
14.4
10.5
14-5
11. 4
14-0
10.7
12. ii
856 1857 1858 1859
5 11
017
014
7 15
2 17
4 IS
016
517
216
.6
■7
.2
■S|i7-
.815-
.7116.
• o!l2.
.014.
.0119.
.4|i6.
■7 13.
•5|i4-
5-9
S60
19
16
20
16
19
23
19-3
[8631864
[Sr,5
!2.2 19. S
:9.5!i8.2
;o.o 21.7
'2.726. 8
9- 425-0
51. S 24.O
5I.523.6
.214.
• 2 21.
•5 19'
T
.1,
22.5
22.0
18.7
26.2
24.2
23.0
20.6
25.0
23-
23-
23-4
22.5
27-5
26.5
20.6
18.5
24 5
22.8
27.0
26.0
26.0
23.6
Average per
week, in each
month, for 12
years.
It was natural to expect that there should be some difference
between the mortality at different seasons of the year. It is found
in England, on the average of 10 years, that this difference does
not affect in the same degree the town and the country population.
15. English Seasonal
Variations between Town ana
Country Mortality.
Large Towns.
Country.
Town Excess.
Deaths in an average quarter, for every
25-9
27-5
24.6
26.2
25-4
20.0
22.8
20.8
17.8
18.7
5-9
4-7
3-8
8. 4
6.7
The town excess is thus shown to be intensified most in summer,
and next in autumn; no doubt because the zymotic poisons are
rendered most active in the hottest weather, and their influence
continues till the frosts of winter. The effect of the heat in the
five plague years of London which have been recorded in history is
very noteworthy. The bills of mortality shew the following average
for every 1000 persons living.
16. Plague Years in London.
Winter Quarter : January, February, March 17 per 1000 living.
Spring " April, May, June 20
Summer " July, August, September 163
Autumn " October, November, December 50
Total 250 "or 1 in 4
1866.] CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 151
But if there are no special stenches to be drawn-out into viru-
lence by the summer sun, the cold of winter renders it ; the most
unhealthy of the seasons ; as shown by the following table for a
year in which the minimum temperature was 11°.
17. Mortality of London Seasons in 1830.
Winter Quarter .
Spring "
Summer '*
Autumn "
Total of the year.
Average Temperature 360
Mean " 48. 90
Total Deaths 8.5 per 1000 living.
7.0
" 6.0 "
6.6
28.1 "
The same is shown in the average of all England for 1857 ;
when, the average quarter being assumed as 1000 deaths, winter
furnished 1050, autumn 1045, spring 955 and summer 950. A
long series of observations has led to such uniform results in England
that the Kegistrar General is able to predict a definite excess of
mortality for every considerable fall in the thermometer. The
severe frost of Jan. 1867, caused an excess of 732 deaths in a
fortnight in London alone ; of which only 50 were of young per-
sons under 20, and 411 were of old people about 60. The same
frost raised the death-rate in the 18 large towns to 31 per 100.
It would therefore be naturally expected that in the extreme
cold of a Lower Canadian winter, the death-rate would rise propor-
tionally. But it is not so. For adults there is a marvelous uni-
formity between the different months of the year. Old people, and
indeed all above 12, do not appear to be rendered moribund either
by the intense frosts of winter or the unhealthy heats of summer.
On the average of 12 years, it does not appear that their mortality
varies more than 9 out of every 10,000 living at all ages ; or as 10
to 12 between January, the most healthy, and April, the least
healthy of the months. The lowest recorded mortality was in
January, 1855, (many of the moribund adults having been cut off
by cholera in the previous summer^) ; and the contrast of the year
is consequently the greatest, being 16.8 between that month and
February. The highest recorded mortality of adults was in
April, 1866, when the thawed stenches of an unusually severe
winter were precipitated on the putrifying corruptions of previous
years; the contrast of the year between April and July being 9-0.
The year of death, 1864, affords a .somewhat greater contrast, viz.,
12-1 between April and September ; but those above twelve years
old do not appear to have been more unhealthy than usual.
If winter cold does not specially kill the aged, we are not sur-
prised to find that it appears by no means unhealthy to children.
152
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec
The five coldest months are uniformly the most healthy ; the two
hottest, not only uniformly unhealthy, but so frightfully destructive
that July kills off 247 children out of every 10,000 of all ages
living, in addition to the 184 who die in November ; which is as
23 to 10, or more than double. This is nearly double the excess
of the terrible year of death 1864 over the most healthy of the
years 1858. These facts are brought out in fearful contrast in
the following table.
1 7. Comparative Weekly Mortality of each Month, on the
average of 1 2 years, 1 8 5 5 - 1 866.
Deaths of Children. Deaths of Adults.
Yearly average to
1000 of all ages living
Yearly average to
1000 of all ages living
November 1S.4 January 9.7
October iQ^iMarch.' 10. o
December iQ.3JSeptember 10.3
February 20. 2 February 10. 4
Deaths of all
Yearly average to
[ooo of all ages living
ges# Total yearly mortality
to 1000 of all ages
living.
January 20.6
March 21.2
May 22.5
April 23.2
September 25.3
June 27.1
August 30.8
Jul>' 43-i
July
June —
August . .
October 10.5
November 10.6
May 10.7
December 10.8
April 1 1 . 6
November 29.0
October 29.8
December 30. 1
January 30. 5
0.4! February 30.6
5 March 31.3
5 May 33-3
April 34-8
September 36. 1
June 37-6
August 47.5
July 54-°
1858.
1866.
1856.
tS57-
1S59.
1861.
1855-
1863.
1862.
i860.
1865.
1864.
32.0
32-4
32-9
33-3
33-7
35-2
35-3
36.4
36.6
.36.8
■37-8
■45-3
Average 24.8
Excess of July \
over Nov . . J 24-7
Or as one to. . . . 2.3
Average
Excess of April
over Jan.. . .
Or as one to . .
Average 35.5
Excess of July) Q
over Nov. . . j s"
Or as one to ... . 1.9
Average 35.6
Excess of 1864 )
over 1858 ) Ij"3
Or as one to 1.4
But this is not all the contrast. It is rendered even more
marked by comparing not the months but the weeks of greatest
and least mortality. This is done for each year in table 18. It
will be noticed that the maximum is uniformly in July or the
first week in August. The minimum is always in one of the cold
months ; or at least, as shown in the notes, a cold week appears
with nearly as low a rate. There is one distinct exception for the
minimum of 1866, which appears in June : for this there is a clear
reason, which will presently be shown to add a striking confirma-
tion to the general rule. In the year of mother's woe, 1864, there
is an excess in July of 101 deaths over the 44 of October ; which
is the same as adding 51 per 1000 to the death rate of the city.
In the cholera year, the deaths rose from 33 to 281 ; which last,
if continued, would have added 195 per 1000 to the death rate of
the city. — a mortality which only admits of parallel with the plague
years- of London before the fire. In this table, the extremes are of
total mortality ; as we have seen but little change in that of adults,
there is no doubt that if the maxima and minima of children's
1866.]
CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS.
153
deaths had been eliminated, the result would have appeared even
more appalling.
1 8. Weeks of Maximum and Minimum Mortality in
Montreal, 1 8 5 5 - 1 866.
Which is at the
Range of
Actual Range
J General
c
Highest
Lowest
yearly rate, per
variation at
of variation
|Average
u
Mortality in
Mortality in
,1,000 of the living
yearly rate
between
| of year
per i, 000
>
week ending
week ending
inhabitants, of
per
max. and min.
Maximum Minimum
1,000 living.
195
weeks.
: living.
i8S4
July 23.. 281
Nov. 25.-33
221
26
248
61.4
i355 Aug. 4. . 78
" 17.. iS
59
13
46
60
35-3
1856 " 2.. 93
" 22. . 19
67
14
53
74
32-9
1S57 July 18.. 79
Dec. 19.. 25
55
17
3S
54
33-3
1S5S
" i7-- 81
Nov. 13. .29
53
19
34
52
32.0
1859
' 9- • 97
*May 7.. 30
61
19
42
67
33-7
iSbo
" 7. .106
Nov. 17. .36
64
27
37
70
36.8
1861
" 20.. 118
tMar. 9. .31
67
l8
49
87
35-2
1862
" i9--I23
Dec. 6.-43
68
23
45
80
36.6
1863
" 25. .124 JFeb. 7- .44
65
23
42
80
36-4
1864
" 2. .145 Oct. 22. .44
73
22
5i
101
45-3
186s
" 1..127I " 28.-45
59
21
38
82
37-8
1866
" 21.. 121 §June 9. .44
54
19
35ll
77lF
32-4
* Nov. 5 and 19 are each quoted at 33 ; Oct. 8 at 32 ; and Jan. 8 at 33. All other
weeks in the year are 40 or above,
t December 21 is quoted at 55.
% October 17 is quoted at 45.
§ Jan. 20 and Dec. 1 are each quoted at 45.
II Average range per 1,000, without cholera year, 42.
IT Actual range of" variation, on the average of 12 years, (leaving out 1854,) 72-
The number of living children in Montreal under 12 is to the
total population as 29,249 is to 90,323 : those of children under
5 years to the total children as 15,196 is to 29,249; those under
1 year to those under 5 as 3,700 to 15,196. From these elements,
furnished by the census of 1861, and from the corresponding totals
of deaths, the deaths of Montreal children under 12 years may be
calculated in proportion to those living, of the same ages.
19. DeatJi-rate of Montreal CJiildren under 12, as com-
pared with 1000 children living at the same age.
Estimated
Total
Deaths per
1000 living
children.
Average of years, months, and
ages.
number
of living
children.
Deaths
of
Children.
Or, one death out
every
of
Average of 12 vears, 1855-1S66,
for all children under 12
29,099
2,244
77 2
13 children living.
The child-killing year, 1864,
for all children under 12
33,591
3,536
105.2
91 "
The least unhealthy year, 1866,
for all children under 12
36,066
2,384
66.1
15 " '•
The most unhealthv month, )
July, 1855 to 1866, for all [
29,099
3,927
*34-9
7h "
The least unhealthy month, }
November, 1855-1866, for all >
29,099
1,630
56.3
18
Lower Canada, less 4 cities,
1861, for all children under 12
293,579
10,796
36.8
27 " "
Average of Montreal children
under 5 years, 1855-1866
15,119
2,i39
i4i-5
7 '' "
Average of Montreal children
under 1 year, 1855-1866
3,681
i,599
434-1
zi «
154
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
That is, three out of every seven children born in Montreal, die
before they are one year old ! ! Or, out of every 7 children under
five years of age, living at the beginning of the year, one (on the
average) will die before its close. Or, out of every 13 children?
of all ages under 12, living in the city, on the average one will die
during the year. It appears from the census returns, that even
of the children living on the Island outside the city limits, or in
any country district from Soulanges to Gaspe, out of every group
of 27 one must expect to lose his life within the year ; but if those
children had been taken to live in Montreal in 1864, two out of 19
would have been seized by the destroyer ; even if they had lived
amongst us last year, when children had a better chance of life
than ever before, death would have seized one in every fifteen.
Should these children spend July with their friends in the city,
for twelve consecutive years, they must expect to follow to the
cemetery twice that number of their companions.
Lastly let us compare the slaughter of the innocents in Montreal
with their condition in different parts of England. Table 20 com-
pares the deaths of children of different ages with the total deaths
at all ages during the same year.
20. Death-rate of Children living in Montreal and in
England, compared with every iooo deaths at all ages.
Deaths
under i
year.
Deaths
under 5
years.
Deaths
under 12
years.
North Lancashire.
All England
London
Liverpool
Montreal
174-3
214-5
190.3
256.9
501. 1
318.7
391.0
404.2
482.6
670.3
377-3
447-4
453-4
528.6
703.2
Excess of Montreal over Liverpool. ,
Do do North Lancashire.
244.2
326.8
187.7
35i-6
174.6
325-9
The London death-rate of children is below the average, because
of the large immigration of adults. There is perhaps a
proportionate immigration into Montreal, for similar reasons.
Liverpool is a commercial city, like our own with great natural
advantages, but cursed with a neglect of the sanitary laws. It is
cursed also by drink and by debauchery, to a greater extent than
any other town in England. Being the most criminal as well as
the most unhealthy city in the island, it is called the Plague-spot
on the Mersey. Yet the plague-spot on the St. Lawrence is nearly
twice as fatal, in the first year of being, as the polluted queen of
1866.] CARPENTER — ON VITAL STATISTICS. 155
the Mersey, with its cul-de-sac courts and tide-backed sewers ; while
round the sands of Morecambe Bay (within a fraction) only one
of the coffins contains an infant of days to three which are laid
within the bosom of our mountain forests, because the city rulers,
and the owners and occupiers of their dwellings, denied them the
right to breathe, even for one short year, the pure air that nature
is for ever wafting to our otherwise favoured city.
It was well said, in the Sanitary Keport presented to the imperial
parliament in 1858, pp. xxvii. that " 1. The lives of young
children, as compared with the more hardened and acclimatized
lives of the adult population, furnish a very sensitive test of sanitary
circumstances , so that differences in the infantine death-rates, are,
under certain qualifications, the hest proof of differences of house-
hold condition in any number of compared districts. 2. Those
places where infants are most apt to die, are necessarily the places
where survivors are most apt to be sickly ; and where, if they
struggle through a scrofulous childhood to realize an abortive
puberty, they beget a sicklier brood than themselves. A high local
mortality of children must almost necessarily denote a high local
prevalence of those causes which determine a d<g< iteration of race."
These words are prompted by long experience, built on facts which
cannot be gainsaid. If they are true of all high rates of infantile
mortality, how awful must be their truth in this city where the rate
is the highest yet presented! And if the number of graves in our
cemeteries prove these things to be true on the average of the whole
city, what must be the harvest of death if we subtract the popu-
lation living on the healthy mountain-side, and mark the coffins
from the houses in Griffintown ! Surely a fearful responsibility
rests on the members of the City Council, and especially on the
members of the Health and Road Committees, as well as on all
owners of property and householders in the city. Has any man a
right to draw money from the rents of houses, by living in which
children cannot but be killed ] Has the Council a right to compel
owners and tenants to cleanse their premises, while it leaves the
streets, over which it assumes the entire control, unsewered and even
reeking with the surface filth of years?*
* Instances were recorded by the Sanitary Association, of women
who were compelled last summer to open their windows over the
reeking fumes of the back courts, because they could not bear the still
greater stenches of the street.
156 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
During the year 1864, without any known special predisposing
cause, but apparently through the cumulative virulence of the
deadly agencies always at work, the fearful scourge of mortal
disease carried off 3,516 of our children, or 341 out of every
myriad of our population, which exceeded even the abnormal
number of our births by 280. It does not appear that the legal
guardians of the public health took any steps to mitigate this
frightful calamity ; and again in 1865, the mortality of children
(as well as of adults) was above even the high average of
twelve years.
But in the spring of 1866, owing to a wholesome dread of
cholera, a strong public opinion, an Order in Council, and the
labours of the Sanitary Association (then first formed), the
Corporation appointed two Health Officers for three months, and
detailed police to act as inspectors. Only a very partial surface
cleansing of the yards was the result; the streets remaining as
before, the subsoil retaining all its pollutions, and the production
of fresh poisons unchecked ; and yet what was the result of this,
aided probably by the unusually cold, wet, and windy season ? Four
hundred and seventy lives of children were saved as compared with
the previous year; and June, which on the average is the most
unhealthy month except July or August, acturdly furnished the
week of lowest deaths. Yet, no sooner was the cleansing finished,
and the July sun drew forth to the surface the substratum of
xymotic poison, than the death-rate of the children rose at once
from 362 per myriad to 852; and the deaths of adidts in the
whole year exceeded those of 1865 by fifty-five.
But if this minute instalment of what ought to be done,
produced at once such a marvellous benefit as the saving of 470
children's lives, what might not be expected, were councillors,
owners of property and householders to perform their manifest
duties ? And if they are not willing, for the love of God and
the good of their brethren, to obey the plain laws of health and
remove the causes of disease and death, ought not the power of
the law to protect the helpless, and prevent the selfish from
robbing their neighbours of their happiness, and the very lives
of themselves and their children ?
Editor's Note. — The present number of this journal is published
April 26, 1867.
1866.] REVIEW — SMITH ON FERNS. 157
REVIEW.
Ferns : British and Foreign ; By John Smith, A. L. S.
The well-known ex-curator of the Royal gardens, Kew, has
lately published this most useful fine manual ; intended primarily
to assist fern cultivators, it is nevertheless valuable also to
botanists. He gives a very interesting history of the introduction
of exotic ferns into European gardens ; an essay on the genera of
ferns and their classification ; an enumeration of the ferns at pre-
sent cultivated, and very full instructions on their cultivation.
Mr. Smith's mode of classification aims to be natural and his
tendency is to multiply genera unduly. His enumeration extends
to 1084 species (nearly half of those known to science) ; he gives
many synonyms, a reference to the best descriptions and engrav-
ings in standard works, and wood-cut illustrations of the genera.
Sir William Hooker recently said of our author : —
" The formation of this fine collection [of cultivated ferns in
" Kew gardens] is mainly due to the exertions and ability of Mr.
" John Smith. His knowledge of ferns and his writings upon
" them, justly entitle him to rank among the most distinguished
" Pteridologists of the present day."
Mr. Smith gives us, northern North Americans, no credit for
having the following ferns in our native flora :
Phegopteris rha3tica (the Polypodium alpestre of British
botanists), which is found on the eastern side of the Rocky Moun-
tains ; Dryopteris Thelypteris, one of our commonest ferns ;
Polystichurn Lonchitis, which has a wide range and is locally
plentiful ; Scolopendrium vulgare, which is local but also abun-
dant ; Asplenium Ruta-muraria, which is found in all the neigh-
boring States, as far west as Michigan and further south than
Virginia; A. viride, which ranges from Newfoundland to the
Rocky Mountains, and perhaps thence to the Pacific Ocean ; and
A. septentrionale, not uncommon on the Rocky Mountains. We
learn nothing of our author's views on Woodsia ; he gives only
two species, Ilvensis and hyperborea, and gives North America
credit for neither of them ; moreover his wood-cut, which is said
to be a frond of Ilvensis, is unmistakeably hyperborea, as we
understand that species.
We believe the following to be bad species : — Asplenium
Michauxii is A. Filix-fcemina, one of the most variable of ferns ;
Cystea tenuis is merely a form of the protean C. fragilis ;
Aspidium atomarium should have been referred to C. bulbifera ;
Osmunda spectabilis is not separable from 0. regalis, nor does our
Onoclea Struthiopteris differ from the European form. Onoclea
gracilis, and Ophioglossum pedunculosum are unknown to us.
Mr. Smith's arrangement of the following species of the genus
Dryopteris (or Lastrea) is not understood by us. He places Ame-
rican plants thus : Filix-mas, remota, rigida, marginalis, Goldiana,
dilatata, cristata, intermedia, spinulosa. We look on their affinities
158
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
in a different light, and would arrange them as shewn below. Four
of these forms we consider to be unquestionably one species ; dila-
tata is our more common form northward, and is well-marked as
a variety, intermedia is identical with spinulosa and remota (as
we understand it) hardly separable from it, while cristata is more
closely allied to Goldiana than to any of the forms of spinulosa.
The publisher has done his part well, the book is neatly got up,
well printed and remarkably cheap.
The question, — under what circumstances is the author or emen-
dator of a genus justified in writing his own name after such old
species as he chosen to place in it ? has lately been discussed ; we
incline to answer, " under no circumstances," being of opinion
that a specific name should never be changed, and that the original
author's name should always be affixed to it. We append a cata-
logue of northern North American ferns, giving our views of the
nomenclature and classification of this order ; it includes all the
species mentioned by Michaux and by Dr. Gray, and most of those
mentioned by Pursh and by Hooker. The classification is based
principally on that of Dr. Mettenius. A few species known to us
W.
only by name are omitted
Suborder POLYPODINEiE.
Tribe Acrostiche^.
Chrysodium, Fee.
I. C. aureum (Linn. 1525).
Mettcii. Fil. Lips. 81; Acrostichum a. Linn.
Sp. PL; Michx. Fl. Bor.-Ani. ii. (1820) 272.
Tribe Polypodies.
J'itturia, Smith.
1. Y. lineata (Linn. 1530).
Swartz, Syn. Fil. 109; V. angustifrons, Michx. 261.
Pohjpodium, Linn, in part.
1. P. vulgare, Linn. 1544.
Willd. Sp. PL v., 172.
2. P. polypodioides (Linn. 1525).
P. eeteraecinuni, Michx. 271 : P. incanum,
Swartz 35, Pursh 659, Gray's Manual, ed. 2nd, 590.
Gtymnogramme, Desvaux.
3 . Gr. triangularis, Kaulrass,
Emim. Fil. 75. Found on Vancouver Island by
Mrs. Miles.
Cheilantlies, Swartz.
There are three well-defined species of this
genua within Gray's limits; but as they have been
sadly confused by some authorities, I am unable to
give synonyms, nor do 1 know to which of the three
ilichiiux'sXejihrurltunt hutotiuu should be referred.
1. C. vestita, Swartz 123.
Willd. 458; Gray's Manual, 592.
2. 0. tomentosa, Gray's Man.
Link, Fil. Hort. Berol, ii., 42 ? Hook. Sp. Fil. 65 ?
3. C. lanuginosa, Nuttall.
C. gracilis, Metten. CheiL 36.
Cryptogramme, R. Brown.
1. C. crispa (Linn. 1522).
R. Brown, App. Frank. Journ. 754. Osmunda,
Linn. Allosorus, Bernhardi. " 1 -\- lioyiil in Lake
Superior;"— Moore: probably the following.
2. C. acrostichoides K. Br. 767.
Hooker considers these two plants to be speci-
fically identical, which is probably correct. Mr.
Moore considers them genericaUy distinct.
Pellcea, Link.
1. P. gracilis (Michx. 262 \
H« ok. Sp. Fil. ii., 138. Pteris g. Michx. 262,
Pursh 668. Ledebour and Moore refer Pteris
St, II, ri fGmelin) here, while Swartz and Hooker
refer it to C.crispitu ; should the former prove to be
correct, this plant must be named Pellcea Stelleri.
2 P. atropurpurea (Linn. 1534).
Link, Fil. Hort. Berol, 59. Pteris a. Linn.
Michx. 261, Pursh 668.
Pteris, Linn, in part.
1. P. aquilina, Linn. 1533.
P. caudata, Linn. 1533, Pursh 668 is a variety
found in the Southern U. S. and elsewhere.
Adiantum, Linn.
1. A. pedatum, Linn. 1557.
Tribe Asplenieje.
Blechnum, Linn., Presl.
1. B. Spicant (Linn. 1522).
Smith, Turin Trans. v. 411 Osmunda. Linn.;
Lomaria, Desv.; B. boreale, Swartz 115, Pursh 669.
2. B. serrulatum, Rich.
Michx. 264; Pursh 669.
Woodwardia, Smith.
1. TV", areolata (Linn. 1526).
Lowe's Ferns, iv. t. 46. W. ane
Smith ; Onoclea nodulosa, Michx. 272 ; W. onocle-
oides, Willd.; Pursh. 669.
1866.]
WATT — CATALOGUE OF FERNS.
159
chiarum, Swart/. 89.
2. W. Yirgiuica (Linn. Mant. 307).
Smith, 1. c. 412; TV. Banisteriana, Michx. 263.
Scolopendrium (Smith) Hook.
$ vera.
1. S. Yulgare, Smith 421.
Asplenium Scolopendrium, Linn. 1537; S. offi-
§ Camptosorus, Link.
1. C. rhizophyllus (Linn. 1536).
Link, Fii. Hort. Berol, ii. 69.
Asplenium, Linn.
1. A. pinnatifidum, Nuttall,
Gen. N. A. Plants, ii. 251.
2. A. montanum, Willd. 342.
A. Adiantum-nigrum, Micks. 265.
3. A. Euta-muraria, Linn. 1541.
4. A. septentrionale (Linn. 1524).
Hoffman, Deuts. Fl. ii. 12.
5. A. viride, Hudson,
Fl. Aug. 385; A. Tri.-ramosni Linn. 1541.
6. A. Trichomanes, Linn. 1540.
A. melanocanlon, Willd.; Pursh 666.
7. A. ebeneum, Aiton,
Hort. Kew. iii. 462; A. trichomanoides, Michx. 265.
8. A. marinum, Linn. 1540.
Attributed to the Lower Provinces by Sir Wm.
Hooker, — probably in error.
9. A. angustifolium, Michx. 265.
10. A. thelypteroides, Michx. 265.
Athyrium, Eoth.
1. A. Filix-fcemina (Linn. 1551).
Both, Fl. Germ. iii. 65 ; N. filix-f. and N. asple-
nioides, Michx. 268 ; also Aspd. angustum, Willd.,
Pursh 664. Perhaps an Asplenium.
Tribe Aspidie^:.
Phegopteris, Fee.
1. P. Dryopteris CLinn. 1555).
Fee, Gen. Fil. 243. Nephrodium D., Michx. 270.
(Mr. Moore refers Michaux's plant to the next
species.)
2. P. Eobertiana (Hoffm.).
P. calcarea, Fee, 1. c. 243; Polypodium ealca-
reum, Smith ; doubtfully distinct* from I'. Dry-
opteris. Universally but erroneously attributed to
North America.
3. P. connectile (Michx. 271).
Polypodium Phegopteris, Linn. 1550; P. con-
nectile, Willd. 200, Pursh 659. Michaux's name
ought to be restored to this plant; it has priority
over those of Fee or Mettenius.
4. P. hexagonoptera (Michx. 271).
Fee, Genera Filicum, 243.
5. P. rhsetica (Linn. 1552).
P. alpestris, Mettenius ; Polypodium alpestre,
Hoppe; Aspidium riueticum, Sw'irU 59. Cascades ;
RoC&y Mts. 49Q N. Lat,, Dr. Lyall.
[P. montana (Yolger).
More properly Aspidium montanum ; though it
has been placed here by Fee.]
Aspidium, Swartz.
Polystichum, Roth. ; Dryopteris, Adanson.
§ Dryopteris (Schott) A. Gray.
Lastrea, Presl ; Nephrodium, Richards, 11.
Brown, Hooker; Polystichum, D.C., Koch, Le-
debour.
1. D. Thelypteris (Linn. 1528).
Gray's Manual, Ed. 1st. 630.
2. D. Nov-Eboracensis (Linn. 1552).
Gray, 1. c. 630, N. thelypteroides, Michx. 267.
3. D. montana (Yolger).
Aspd. Oreopteris (Ebrhart) Swartz 50. Mr.
Moore says that Asprdum montanum has been
found in Vermont — certainly an error.
4. D. spinulosa-dilatata.
Polypodium dilatatum, Hoffman ; Aspd. dila-
tatum, Swartz 420 ; and A. dumetorium, Willd.
2(13. D. dilatata, Gray, 1. c. 631. Dr. Gray justly
considers this fern (which is common in eastern C.
E.) to be merely a variety of Aspidium spiiudosum
Swartz.
5. D. spinnlosa-vera.
Polypodium spinnlosum Betzius; Aspd. s.
Swartz 54, 520 ; A. intermedium, Willd. 262.
Common west of Quebec.
6. D. spinnlosa-remota.
Aspd. remotum, A. Br. ; Nephrodium r. Hook.
Br. Ferns, t. 22; Aspd. Boottii, Tuckerman. Dr.
Gray refers Dryopteris remota here (as A. spinn-
losum var. Boottii)— it may prove to be a distinct
species; it is not well known to me.
7. D. eristata (Linn. 1551).
Gray, 1. c. 631 ; A. Lancastriense, Sprengel,
Swartz 52.
8. var. majus (Eaton).
A. filix-mas, Pursh 667 ?
9. D. Goldiana, Hook.
Gray, 1. c. 631 ; A. filix-mas, Pursh 662 ?
10. D. Filix-mas (Linn. 1551).
Schott, Gen. Fil. t. 9. Bocky Mts.
11. D. marginale (Linn. 1552).
Gray, 1. c. 632.
12. D. arguta (Kaulf. 242).
N. rigidum var. American um, Hook. Sp. Fil. 60.
13. L>. rigida (Hoffin.).
Not of Gray, 1. c. 631. A. rigidum, Swartz 53.
Attributed to North America by Mr. Bentham—
doubtless in error.
§ PohjsticliHin, Schott,
Presl, A. Gray ; Aspidium, Bichards, B.
Brown, Ledebour.
1. P. fragrans (Linn. 1550).
A. fragrans, Swartz, 51. In technical characters
this plant is more properl}- /Jri/opUris jhnjraus,
and is so considered by Hooker, Ledebour, ete. I
agree with Dr. Gray in considering that its natural
affinity places it lure.
P. aculeatnm (Linn. 1552).
A. aculeatnm and A. lobatum (Aiton) Swartz
53, and A. angulaiv, Willd. 2J7. The typical form
(A. aculeatum, Willd. ete.) lias not been found in
North America. Mr. Moore's remark—" extends
" from the eastern U. S. to Columbia on the north-
" west coast"— is certainly an error. "We have,
however, two well-marked and constant varieties.
2. var. Bramiii (Koch).
A. Braunii, Spenuer; P. Braunii. Fee; which is
allied to the European Aspidium aculeatum var.
annulare.
160
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
3. var. lobatum, Deakin.
A. lobatum (Aiton) Swartz, Willd. 260. Aspi-
chum aculeaium var. Jobation was found by Mrs.
Girdwood during the past summer on He Perrot,
near Ste. Anne.
4. P. Lonchitis (Linn. 1548).
Schott, Gen. Fil. t. 9.
5. P. acrostichoides (Michx. 267).
Sehott, Gen. Fil. t. 9.
6. P. mimitum (Kaulf. 230).
Referred by Mr. Moore to A. falcineUum,
Swartz 46. Vancouver Island, and 49J X. Lat
Dr. Lyall.
Cystea, Smith.
I adopt Sir J. E. Smith's characteristic name
for this genus, as I do not consider Bernhardt
genera to be of much value.— Eng. Fl. iv. 260, 264.
1. C. bulbifera (Linn. 1553).
Aspidium b., Swartz 59. "A. atoma-rium
Muhl.", Gray!
2. C. fragilis (Linn. 1553).
Smith, 1. c. 285 ; X. tenue, Michx. 269 ; A. ato-
ruarium and A. tenue, Pursh 665.
3. C. montana (Lamarck).
Aspidium, Swartz 61. Said to be found in
north-western America.
Woodsia, K. Br.
1. TV. Ilvensis (Linn. 1523).
R. Br. Linn. Trans, xi. 173; Neph. rufidulum,
Michx. 269; W. Ilvensis and W. hyperborea, Pursh
2. TV. alpina (Bolton).
W. hyperborea, R. Br. 1. c. t. 11; Hook. Br.
Ferns, t. 9; H . alpina, Moore, Xat.pr. Br. Ferns t.
106. More properly II'. Ilrtusis var. alpina.
Scarcely distinct from No. 1— from which,
it may usually be distinguished by its smoothness.'
shorter pinnae, more rounded lobes, and darker
(often almost ebeneous) stit es which have fewer
scales.
3. TV. hyperborea (Liljeb.)
Newfoundland, per Geological Survey. I re-
gard the Acrostichum hi/perlioreum of L
quite distinct from the A. alpinurn of Boltou, (.Fil.
Brit. t. 42), and as very closely allied to No. 4.
4. TV. glabella, E. Brown.
Rich. App. 39; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. t. 237. Pro-
bably identical with Xo. 3 and thus If. hyperborea
var. glabella, but very distinct from Nob. 1 and 2.
5. TV Oregona, Eaton.
In Can. Xat. (1865) 90.
6 TV. scopulina, Eaton.
1. c. 91.
7. TV. obtusa (Sprengel).
Torrev, Cat. PI. 1840; Aspidium, Swartz 420,
Pursh 662.
Onoclca, Linn.
1. 0. sensibilis, Linn. 1517.
0. dbtusilobata is merely an abnormal form
having semi-fertile fronds.
2. 0. Struthiopteris (Linn. 1522).
Swartz 111.; Struthiopterifl Pi nnsvlvaniea,
"Willd. 289; Pursh 666. Hardly generieally distinct
from Onoclea.
Tribe Davallie^:.
Diclsonia, L'Heritier.
1. D ? punctilobnla (Michx. 268).
Kunze in Silliman's Journal, Xov. (184Si 88.
D. pilosiuscula (Muhl.) "Willd. 484; Pursh 671 .
Sub. HYMENOPHYLLE.E.
Hymenophyllum, Smith.
1. H. ciliatnm, Swartz 147.
Pursh 671. Doubtless an error of Pursh; he
may have collected Tricliomanes radicans, which is
found in the Southern States.
Suborder SCHIZiEINEiE.
Sclnzcca, Smith.
1. S. pusilla, Pursh 657.
Lygodium, Swartz.
1. L. palmatum (Linn. 1518).
Swartz 154 ; Cteisium paniculatum, Michx.
275. Hydroglossum, Willd. 84, Pursh 656.
Suborder OSMUNDINE.^.
Osmunda, Linn.
1. 0. regalis, /3. Linn. 1521.
O. spectablis, Willd. 98, Pursh 658.
2. 0. Claytoniana, Linn. 1521.
Pursh 657; O. interrupts, Michx. 273, Pursh
657.
3. 0. cinnamomea, Linn. 1522.
Suborder OPHIOGLOSSE^E.
Botrychium, Swartz.
1. B. Lunaria (Linn. 1519).
Swartz 171. Osnunda, Linn.
2. var. simplex.
B. simplex Hitchcock.
3. B. matricarisefolium, A. Braun.
Osmunda inatricariae, Breyn. B. rutaceum,
Swartz 171. Possibly identical with Xo. 1.- Doubt-
fully North American.
4. var. lanceolatum.
O.-iimmda lanceolata Gmel. B. lanceolatum,
Angstrom. Possibly a distinct species.
5. B. virginianum (Linn. 1519).
Swartz 171; Pursh 656; B. gracile Pursh 656;
Botrypus, Michx. Z74.
6. B. lunaroides (Michx. 274).
Swartz 172; B. fumarioides, Pursh 655.
7. var. obliquum, Gray.
B. obliquum (Poir.) Muhl., Pursh 655.
8. var. clissectum, Gray.
B. dissectum f Poir.) Muhl., Pursh 656.
Opliioglossum, Linn.
1. 0. vulgatum, Linn. 1518.
O. vulgatum and O. bullosum; Michx. 275-6,
Pursh 655.
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST.
SECOND SERIES.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS IN CANADA
IN SOME OF ITS RELATIONS
'to physical axd past geological conditions.
By A. T. Drummond, B.A., LL.B.
More than two years ago, in this journal, the writer endeavoured
to indicate and illustrate some of the more obvious features in the
distribution of Canadian plants. It was shown that in taking a
general view of this distribution several distinct floras could be
recognized, viz. : — a general Canadian flora composing species
which range over the whole or greater part of the Province ; a
second flora whose species are confined to the districts around the
northern shores of Lakes Superior and Huron ;' a third to the com-
paratively narrow district bordering Lakes Erie and St. Clair and
the south-western parts of Lake Ontario ; a fourth to the Gulf
and Lower St. Lawrence shores; and a fifth which had an un-
doubted boreal aspect. Besides these, were a small inland mari-
time flora, and two other floras whose limits and characteristics
could not then be accurately defined, but which appeared to be
limited — the one to Upper Canada and the other chiefly to Lower
Canada. A number of plants were also indicated which were
apparently confined to the tract of country around the northern
shores of Lakes Huron and Superior and to the more eastern
parts of Lower Canada, whilst several species were named whose
occurrence was quite local. These prefatory references will render
subsecment remarks more intelligible.
In investigating the causes which have influenced the diffusion
of species in Canada, we find that whilst some have in past time
been and are still exerting their influences, others are perhaps
correctly referred to far distant periods. And whilst the operation
of some is confined to narrow limits, others extend their effects
Vol. III. L No. 3.
162 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
over a wide extent of territory, and many are identical with causes
which produce somewhat similar results in other countries.
There are no long ranges of mountains within the Province to
retard the free interspersion of its different indigenous forms, nor
are the Laurentide hills of such considerable height as to much
impede the admission of the cold boreal winds from around Hud-
son Bay. The great breadth of the lakes, however, must, there
is no doubt, preclude a migration from the northern United States
as extensive as under altered circumstances it would be.
To the influences effected by our numerous and extensive lakes
and rivers through their currents, the formation of prairie land,
the evaporation from their surfaces and the necessarily modified
temperature of the land surrounding them, references will, in sub-
sequent parts of this paper, be made.
An eminent writer on botanical as well as geological subjects,
thinks, that many anomalies in the distribution of Canadian vege-
tation can be explained by considering the chemical constitution of
the soil. "A little more lime or a little less alkali in the soil ren-
ders vast regions uninhabitable by certain species of plants. For
many of the plants of our Laurentide hills to extend themselves
over the calcareous plains south of them under any imaginable con-
ditions of climate is quite as far beyond the range of possibility as
to extend across the wide ocean."* This view is, in at least a
limited sense, probable. Rubus Chamcemorus Linn, and Ernpe-
trum nig ram Linn, have been cited as illustrations of the prefer-
ence maintained by some plants for soils of Laurentian origin. It
may be more correct to, in part, ascribe the range of these plants
to their known predilections for northern situations. They are
both in fact sub-arctic plants, and it merely happens to be a coinci-
dence that the Laurentian formations skirt the Lower St. Lawrence
and the northern shores of Lake Superior, on the coasts of the
former of which both of these plants occur, and on those of the
latter Empetrum nigrum. Were their distribution entirely depen-
dent upon the nature of the soil, they should occur in the country
around the Upper Ottawa and elsewhere, but they are not known
to ram-eso far to the southward. Finns Banksiand Lamb. — a less
northern form— and probably Polygonum cilinode Michx. would
seem, in our present knowledge of their distribution, to constitute
better illustrations of preference lor Laurentian soils and
* Dr. Dawson ; this journal, 0. S., vol. vh, p. 'M2.
1867.] DRTTMMOND — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 163
strata. It would be interesting, however, to compare the range,
in relation to soils, of those plants which are common to
Europe and America.
We can conclude from the known distribution in Canada of
rocks of the earlier geological formations, and from the direction
of the ice-grooves upon them, that soils composed chiefly of Lau-
rentian, or, in some instances, Huronian debris, were spread both
over these formations and for at least some distance over the Silu-
rian and Devonian rocks during the epoch of the drift, whilst the
strata farther south were carpeted with more calcareous soils.
The distribution of these soils was, no doubt, at subsequent periods,
somewhat disturbed. Now, the Laurentian strata are composed of
such different materials in different localities — some of which lie
at but comparatively short distances apart — that knowing the
composition of the soil at any given locality, it would be often
incorrect to assign a similar composition to soils in the vicinity
which we know must have been derived from rocks of the same
system. The quartzites have afforded silica in abundance to the
soil ; the limestones, phosphate and carbonate of lime, and other
minerals in variable quantities ; the dolomites, carbonates of lime
and magnesia; the serpentines, silica and magnesia; and the
orthoclase and labradorite, silica, alumina, soda and potash. All
of these mineral species, with others, are common in the Lauren-
tian rocks. The Huronian formation also abounds in quartzites
and dolomites. Within the limits, then, of a single township there
might be met with soils in one case highly calcareous, in another
with noticeable quantities of alkalies and but a trace of lime. The
very variable proportions in which the same chemical ingredients
will frequently occur in soils, at localities not far distant from each
other, has been well shown by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.* It is a
noticeable circumstance that lime, potash and soda, appeared in
all the soils analyzed by him. These facts are mentioned to show
that if the composition of soils has such an influence as to affect
the presence of plants upon them, conditions must occur in some
parts of but limited areas favourable to the existence of many
plants which do not in others. Moreover, when we consider the
varied compositions of our early formations, it is easy to conceive
that over the immense extent of country in which they are deve-
loped, whilst many situations afford the requisite conditions for
* Geology of Canada, \^(\^, p. 640.
164 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
plants requiring much alkali, many other localities must be well
suited for species to whose growth lime is more necessary. And
again, the different proportions in which lime exists in soils over-
lying the Silurian and Devonian rocks, make it probable that in
many localities the proportion would be so small as to afford suita-
ble habitats for plants preferring non-calcareous soils. However
much, then, there may be in the relation existing between plants
and the chemical constituents of the soils in which they grow, it
seems exceedingly difficult to arrive at any satisfactory conclusions
regarding the effect of this relation upon the general distribution
of our native plants.
In the above remarks I do not of course include any reference
to sea-shore plants, which, without a doubt, derive sustenance from
the chloride of sodium, with which both the air and soil, in
the vicinity of the coast, are to some extent impregnated. But
the very fact that many of these plants ar$ met with in localities
far distant from any possible influence of the ocean, clearly shows
that this alkali may not be entirely essential to the existence of
all maritime species. \
Before leaving the subject, a few instances of apparent prefer-
ences for particular soils or locations may be cited. The white-
wood, Platanus occidentalis Linn., is, at London, only met with on
the low alluvial flats on either side of the Biver Thames, and the
two or three trees occurring at Toronto exist in a similar situation
on the banks of the Biver Don. At Chatham, and nearer the
mouth of the Biver Thames, this one of the largest of Canadian
trees occupies like locations, and is said to attain there a mag-
nificent size. Pinus rigid" Miller, again, has only been detected
the Thousand Islands — which form the connecting link
a 1110112:
s
between the Laurenticle hills of Canada and the Adirondacks of
New York State — and in the Township of Torbolton on the LTpper
Ottawa, in the immediate vicinity of which the Laurentian strata
are also largely developed. Corydalis glauca Pursh, K<tlmi<(
anqustifolicL Linn., Asplenium ebeneum Aiton, and Woodsia
liven six B. Brown — for the most part easily recognized plants —
are, induing by our present knowledge of their distribution in
Canada, limited in range to the area occupied by the Laurentian
rocks. The distribution of these and other species is not, how-
ever, so definitely established as to warrant any perfectly safe con-
clusions regarding the effects upon them of particular soils and
ocations. and other reasons already mentioned would further
1867.] DRUMMOND — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 165
induce the withholding of any conclusion. Besides, it seems diffi-
cult to escape the conviction that very often local circumstances —
to some of which reference will hereafter be made — will, more
than the general climate or the presence of any particular ingre-
dients in the soil, account for the occurrence of plants in specific
localities.
Other features of interest may be also cited. Those who have
visited the Thousand Islands in the River St. Lawrence must
have been struck with the vast abundance of Rhus typhina Linn,
and Pteris aquilina Linn. Neither of these plants is, however,
limited to Laurentian soils, and it is very probable that the pro-
fusion here of at least the former is in part due to the rugged,
rocky nature of almost all of the islands. It may be also men-
tioned that the capacity of land for cultivation is often in Canada
judged of by the timber trees growing naturally upon it. Eastern
farmers look upon the red pine, Plnus resinosa Aiton, as character-
izing a poor soil, whilst there are many in the Erie district, where
the red pine is unknown, who regard the chestnut, Castanea vesca
Linn, as evidencing some sterility.
Another circumstance affecting distribution is not to be over-
looked. The Laurentian rocks, which are very largely developed
in Canada, are remarkable for their rugged, corrugated character —
in some places forming ranges of high hills, in others, individual
elevations of considerable height, and everywhere, to a greater or
less extent, displaying the same characteristic rugged surface.
The whole breadth of the strata is, besides, dotted with basins of
varying sizes and forms, which have been worn out of the softer
material of the rock, and are now filled with sheets of water. The
surface of the Laurentian rocks is, to a very considerable extent,
bare and only tenanted by numerous saxicolousParmelias, Lecideas.
and other lichens, with mosses and some ferns, and a few often
stunted phanerogams maintaining an existence in the little soil
collected in the frequent cracks and fissures. The very numerous
little hollows and depressions in the surface — probably in most
instances grooved out by the action of ice — are covered by a layer
of soil generally scanty, but which is often very rich and supports
a prolific vegetation. On the other hand, the Silurian and
Devonian formations have either a level or somewhat undulating
surface, and are everywhere covered by clays, sands, gravels and
loams, which attain very often a great thickness, especially in the
Upper Canada peninsula, where numerous illustrations are afforded
166 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [^av
by the oil-well borings. Between the River Ottawa and the
Georgian Bay and Lake Superior, the Algoma sands form a pro-
minent feature in the surface deposits, whilst over the Upper
Canada peninsula and along Lake Ontario, are chiefly distributed
the Erie clays and Saugeen clays and sands. This varied nature
of the rock surface, the presence of these very numerous lakes over
the Laurentian strata, and the great diversity in the depth as well
as general characters of the surface deposits, must have a not
inconsiderable influence upon the vegetation of the country,
especially in the multiplication or diminution of the numbers
of many species.
In many localities throughout Western Canada, there are
terraces and ridges of soil extending over, in some cases, con-
siderable surfaces of country — evidences of the much higher levels
attained by the Great Lakes and certain rivers in some recent times
than exist at the present day. My correspondent, Mr. John
Macoun, of Belleville — other of whose careful observations
obligingly communicated, are elsewhere in the present paper
referred to — has informed me that in his neighbourhood the
ridges (the surface soil of which is generally a fine sand slightly
mixed with clay, with a subsoil of usually limestone gravel or fine
sand) support a vegetation of a southern and western aspect
not met with in localities of a different nature in the same section
of country. This would appear to be attributable rather to the
general nature and state of aggregation than to any particular
chemical condition of the materials composing the ridges. When
of such loose materials as the sand, clay and gravel referred to,
these ridges are always well drained, and where exposed to the
action of the sun, absorb the heat with great readiness. This
heat in radiating again into space, continues to supply the plants
growing upon the ridges with warmth during the intervals of
night, Now, much less heat is absorbed, and, consequently, less
radiated into the atmosphere by a wet and stiff clay, than by a
loose, gravelly, or somewhat sandy soil, and the oxygen of the air
has much less access to the organic substances in and the roots ot
plants growing upon the soil. These consequences are observable
among all our surface deposits, in a greater or less degree in propor-
tion to the state of aggregation and general character of their com-
ponent materials, and would be similar, though in a less marked
manner, if the soil were not in ridges. The rather rare Ranunculus
rhomboideus Goldie, Helhmth* emim Ccmadense Michx., and
1867.] DRUMMONJ) — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 167
Viola sagittata Aiton, I have found at London, growing along
with other interesting plants, nearly side by side, on a gentle
slope, well exposed to the rays of the sun, and composed of a very
sandy clay. Mr. Macoun has found the same plants upon the
ridges of Northumberland County, growing with Anemone
cylindrical Gray, Linum Virginianum Linn., Trifolium sfo/<>-
niferum Muhl., Liatris cylindracea Michx., Aster ericoides
Linn., Rudbeckia hir ta Linn., Artemisia biennis Willd., and a few
others. Both southern and western forms require a higher degree
of heat than plants of our eastern districts, even under the same
parallel of latitude. As in many parts of Western Canada
similar ridges of sand and gravel occur, the circumstances
detailed are not of mere local interest.
In connection with the subject of soils, Mr. Macoun points
out the fact, that in his neighbourhood, western plants, where not
aquatic, always occur in either a sandy soil, or a soil holding
much limestone gravel. My own observations at London, and
elsewhere, would tend to confirm this in regard to, at least,
some plants.
The flora of the Lake Superior districts, in some of its features.
is very different from that of other parts of Canada. Many of
the familiar trees and herbaceous plants of the more southern
parts of the province are absent, whilst there occur — mingling
with the very large number of our more abundant species, and
the few northern forms — a little assemblage of plants, more
characteristic some of the western woody country and plains,
and others of the middle and southern States. Additional species
are met with upon the American side of the lake. Ranunculus
abortivus Linn. var. micranthus Gray, Matricaria inodora Linn.,
Tanacetum Huronense Nutt., Senecio canus Hook., and some
others, extend as far eastward as the Lake Huron shores, but the
majority have only been found in the vicinity of Lake Superior]
It is not difficult to account for their presence in these localities,
but why do we not find them about Lakes Erie and Ontario, and
farther eastward, as well as around the Upper Lakes ? Questions
of a similar nature will occur to United States botanists.
What precludes the eastward range of the characteristic vegetation
of the western prairies, and of the central wooded plains of the
continent ; and to what cause can be ascribed the very peculiar
north-westward range of many American plants, by which they
occur in Ohio, Michigan. Wisconsin and westward, am! about the
168 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
Saskatchewan, but arc altogether absent from the New England
States, and the eastern and central parts of Canada ? Two
questions are, in fact, involved in considering, in the present
place, the distribution of the vegetation of the country surrounding
Lake Superior.
The vegetation of the prairies, like that of the pampas of South
America and the steppes of Russia, is of a peculiar type —
approached, however, in general characters, by that of the marshes
and swamps. Leso-ucreux. Henry Engelman, and others, have
pointed out many of the distinctive features of the prairies and
their flora.* Conditions are not suitable for the extension of this
flora into the more eastern parts of the United States and Canada.
In our Erie district, however, there are a few forms which remind
us much of the western prairies. To these some allusion will be
thereafter made.
With regard to the vegetation of the central wooded districts of
British America and the adjoining American States, doubtless the
colder climate of Lake Superior and the rugged nature of the sur-
rounding country preclude the eastward distribution of more of its
plants. Climatal and physical conditions would, besides, on prin-
ciples hereafter explained, encourage a different range.
The north wesward diffusion of many American plants has been
referred, perhaps correctly in part, to the direction of the valleys
in the United States and British America. Other causes must,
however, be also taken into account. The principal ranges of
North American mountains have a general northern and southern
course, with considerable inclinations to either the eastward or
westward. The prevalent trends are in fact parallel with the
coast lines of the continent. The directions of the large rivers,
again, are generally north-east, south-east, or nearly south-west.
Here we have furnished to us as the general course of the valleys,
along which the southern temperate flora may with facility migrate,
two directions — one to the north-east, and the other to the north-
west. Still further, the central parts of the continent are com-
paratively low lying, not exceeding at the headwaters of the Mis-
sissippi 1700 feet above the ocean; and the watershed, which
separates the rivers which flow into the great lakes and the St.
Lawrence from the tributaries and subtributaries of the Missis-
sippi, crosses the northern part of the State of Wisconsin, and
* Amor. Journal of Science [2] xxxvi. 384 ; id., xxxix. 317.
1867.] DRUMMOND -DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 169
almost skirts the southern and western parts of Lake Michigan.
Now, it is generally known that the north-eastern parts of North
America have a temperature lower than that of the central plains
and wooded countries in similar latitudes, and that the lines of
mean temperature rise very considerably as they cross the conti-
nent from the New England States and Canada westward. The
reason for this lies in the much greater mass of land on the western
half of the continent extending far into the Arctic Sea, the large
areas of polar land on the eastern side separated by extensive
bodies of water from the mainland, and the Great Lakes — all (if
which tend, on principles Ion-' since, stated by Lycll, Humboldt,
Dana, and others, to produce a lower temperature in the north-
eastern sections of the continent. Other influences, arising from
proximity to the sea, from the Labrador current, and the general
configuration of the coast, also lend their aid. Now, a plant from
the warmer temperate zone, in migrating northward, would not
range far up those valleys having a north-eastward bearing from
the gradually lower temperature mot with there, and yet, favoured
by the course of the valleys and the warmer climate, would be
found in much higher latitudes farther inland. Further, the Ap-
palachian chain of mountains must form to some extent a barrier
to eastward distribution. It is also a noteworthy circumstance,
when taken in connection with the lower temperature in proceed-
ing northward, that at least the larger river valleys of eastern New
York and the New England States have a general southern direc-
tion. In this way, it seems to me, the apparently anomalous
north-westward range of many American plants can be fully ac-
counted for. To some of the causes mentioned, added to the con-
figuration of the coast lines of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron,
and Erie, must be also ascribed the presence of the few south
temperate plants which occur around Lake Superior. The lower
temperature and the broken character of the country must alone
prevent many other species from also finding homes there.
In the districts which border Lake Erie there is a not unex-
pected intermingling of northern temperate with more southern
forms. The most casual observer will not fail to account for this.
Separated on the one side by the River Niagara from the western
part of the State of New York, the district extends westwardly
along Lake Erie, widening gradually in its course, consequent on
the form of the lake, until it almost touches upon a not inconsid-
erable part of Michigan. We would be quite prepared to meet
170 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
within the limits of this district many of the characteristic species
of the western portions of the States of New York and of Michigan ;
and from their relatively lower latitude, and their position near the
bend at the head of Lake Erie, we would be as well prepared to
find in the townships fronting the Detroit River some of the rarer
species of Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio.
The prairie lands around Lake St. Clair, and extending towards
Chatham, indicate the considerably greater breadth of surface of
that lake at a recent period (geologically considered). These
prairie soils are, very probably, the most recent surface deposits of
any extent existing in Canada. Their deposition took place after
the waters of the Great Lakes had assumed their present level,
and, consequently, subsequent to the formation of the ancient
lake ridges, terraces and beaches, so frequently observed in
Canada West. They clo not here, however, as in the Western
States, occupy extensive tracts of country. At the present day
the formation of prairies is in progress along some of our lake
shores. On the American side of Lake Erie, the Bay of Sandusky
jg — ^ has been well explained by Leo Lesquereux — in process of
transformation into prairie land, and on the Canadian side of the
same lake, Point Pelee affords an illustration of more recent
commencement.
I am not aware that our Canadian prairies have been explored.
There are, however, elsewhere, within the Erie district, some
outliers, as it were, of the western prairie flora. Illustrations are
found in Vernoiuo fasciaUata Michx., Solidago Ohioensis
Riddell, S. Riddellii Frank, SilpMum terebinthinaceum Linn.,
Hieraeium longipilwm Torrey, and Phlox pllosa Linn.
Mr. Macoun, more than a year ago, pointed out to me the very
interesting fact, that on the Lake Ontario beach at Wellington
and Presquile, occur a few plants which, are not to be met with
farther inland, and which have been hitherto thought to be limited
in range to the more southern districts of Canada, or to New-
York, Ohio, and other of the middle States. The more interest-
ing species which he has thus far detected are Jeffersonia dipliylla
Pers., Lithospermum Mrtum Lehm., Rkynchospora capillacea
Torrey, Sderia verticillata Mnhl., Sporobolus cryptandrus Gray,
Pafticum virgatum Linn., and Hypnum trifariwm Web. and
Mohr. Upon these beaches the same discerning botanist has
obtained Cladium mariscoides Torrey, and Scirpus p mciflorus
Smith, neither of which have been hitherto familiar as Canadian
18G7.] DRUMMOND — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 171
plants, nor has the latter been observed in the Northern States ;
and he has also collected Conopholis Americana Wallroth,
Physostegia Virginiana Benth., Eleocharis tenuis Schulter, and
Carex (Eden Ehrh., species which have been observed elsewhere
in the central, or in more northern parts of Canada, but which he
had never met with in the Counties of Hastings and Northumber-
land. The occurrence of these species in the localities named
was. I conceive, rightly ascribed by Mr. Maconn, to the drift of
Lake Ontario. The currents of the lake take a direction from
the Niagara River to the entrance to the St. Lawrence, and the
Prince Edward peninsula, extending far into the lake would —
aided by the prevailing winds — readily intercept the drift.
It is easy to conjecture that a similar cause to that which
occasioned the presence of the above-mentioned plants upon the
northern shores of Lake Ontario, would lead to the occurrence of
forms still more southern upon the Lake Erie shore, at Point
Pelee and Long Point, localities, the very formation of which
was due, in the first place, to the action of the winds and current.
Some plants not at present familiar to us as Canadian, will yet,
I suspect, be detected there. The action of the currents of Lake
Huron and of the River St. Clair is, I think, exemplified in
the occurrence of Primula farinosa Linn, and P. Mistassinica
Michx. upon the shores of that lake and Lake St. Clair.
It has long been a fact familiar to American botanists that a
number of strictly maritime plants are diffused along the shores
of the Great Lakes, in the immediate vicinity of some smaller
lakes, and extensive swamps, situated at a short distance away,
and near salt springs in New York State and Wisconsin. The
number of these has been, within the last two years, slightly
increased. The Rev. Mr. Paine and Judge Clinton, have
detected Naias major All., Ruppia maritima Linn., and
Lcptodoa fascicularis Gray — a perhaps sub-maritime species
near the margin of the Onondago Lake, in New York State
and Canadian botanists, although they have not added to this
section of their lake shore flora, have yet thrown some further
light upon its distribution. The brief catalogue hereunder, prob-
ably includes all the maritime plants, with one or more, perhaps
strictly sub-maritime species, now known to have this peculiar
range.
Ranunculus Cymbalaria, Pursh. Polygonum articulatum, Linn.
Cakile Americana, Nutt. Rumex maritimus. Linn.
172 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. Play
Hudsonia ericoides, Linn. Euphorbia polygonifolia, Linn.
II. tomentosa, Xutt. Xaias major, All.
Hibiscus moscheutos, Linn. Ruppia maritima, Linn.
Lathyrus maritimus, Bigel. Triglochin maritimum, Linn.
Atriplex hastata, Linn. T. palustre, Linn.
Salicornia herbacea, Linn. Scirpus maritimus, Linn.
Polygonum avicnlare, Linn. Galamagrostis arenaria, Loth.
var. httorale, Link. Leptochloa fascicularis, Gray.
Hordcum jubatum, Linn.
It is to be observed that some of these plants have a very
extended inland range, whilst others are apparently distributed over
very limited areas. Hudsonia tomentosa, Lathyrus maritimus,
and Triglocltu/ maritimum are, perhaps, the most widely diffused.
It is conceived that this peculiar distribution owes its origin to
successive changes in the physical aspect of the province during
the post-pliocene epoch, and the gradual adaptation of the plants
to the new conditions in which they were, by force of circumstances,
placed; and further, that these plants indicate the probable
existence of a much more extensive maritime flora which flourished
on the ocean shores during this epoch. I have already briefly
detailed my views on the subject in this journal. I may, however,
here explain, that it has not yet been satisfactorily established,
what in post-pliocene times were the conditions of land and water
in what is now known as Western Canada. The precise age,
and the marine or lacustrine origin of the Erie clays, which are
largely developed there, are yet involved in some uncertainty from
the absence of any fossil evidence; nor is it yet known what
relations they bear to the marine sands and clays of Eastern
Canada, although they may have been contemporaneously de-
posited. If, however, I am correct in referring the origin of the
distribution of the inland maritime flora to the post-pliocene epoch,
it will furnish an argument for the marine character of such
deposits as are coeval with those of the eastern sections of the
province referable to this epoch. If the Great Lakes were in
these distant and yet comparatively recent times, bodies of salt-
water, or if they were united into one vast inland sea, as, judging
from geological evidence, was probably the case, we can readily
account for the migration of the sea-shore species along the coasts.
And if these seas or united seas gradually became fresh-water.
it docs not require much stretching of the imagination to picture
the struggle for life which must have taken place among these
wanderers from the ocean coast, in consequence flf. the gradual
1867.] DRUMMOND — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 1 To
change in at least one of those conditions, hitherto so apparently
es.sential to their very existence. As year followed year, and the
lakes became imperceptibly more fresh, successive individuals
of some of the species would, as it were insensibly, become more
and more reconciled to the new conditions, whilst, perhaps,
most of the species would gradually diminish in both numbers
and luxuriance, and finally, unable to perform those functions
necessary for their reproduction, would die, and thus completely
disappear from the lake coasts. As the lakes receded to their
present limits, the survivors, lured by the presence of the waters,
would follow, leaving, however, some of their number around the
saline springs of New York State and elsewhere. These sur-
vivors probably constitute a more hardy race than their fellows on
the ocean coast. This would seem to be illustrated by the more
northern inland range of some, the extended diffusion along the
lake margins of others, and the adaptation of all to new
conditions.
These inland maritime plants have only as yet been detected on
or near the shores of broad lakes, and extensive bays, on the
borders of large swamps, or in the immediate vicinity of salt
springs and •• salt licks, " showing the marked preference which
these little ramblers still retain for the neighbourhood of saline
waters or for homes near the lake or bog margin, in which the saline
element alone is wanting to render complete. It is further to be
observed that the greatest number of species exist around, or at
smaller sheets of water, not far from the shores of lake Ontario,
the lake which, of all our inland, fresh-water seas, is much the
nearest to, in fact, almost adjoins what formed in post-pliocene
times, the ocean coast, and to the shores of which the first migra-
tion of sea-shore plants was probably effected.
The animal kingdom affords illustrations of a distribution
analogous to that indicated by these little inland maritime plants.
Dr. Leconte has recognized upon the north shores of Lake
Superior, insects of a sea-shore type ; and in fresh-water lakes in
Norway have been observed two marine crustaceans whose
presence is attributed to a submergence and subsequent rise of
the land during the post-tertiary epoch, and a change in the
conditions of the waters of the lake from a state of saltness
to that of freshness, which these species survived.
There is a probability that many existing species of plants in
Canada can date their period of creation as far back as t lie post-
174 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
pliocene epoch, and, it may be, to a more distant age. In the Leda
clays of Green's Creek, near Ottawa, occur numerous nodules
enclosing, among other organic remains, many fragments of plants.
Dr. Dawson has, after careful examination, identified Drosera rotun-
difolia Linn., Acer splcatum Linn., Potentilla Canadensis Linn.,
Gaylussacm resinosa Torrey and Gray, Populus balsamifera'
Linn., Thuja occidental is Linn., Potamogeton perfoliatus Linn.,
P. pusillus Linn., and Equisetum sewpoides Michx.J Now, it
will be noticed not only that all of these plants are of still existing
species, but also that four, Drosera rotundifolia, Potamogeton per-
foliatus, P. pusillus, and Equisetum scirpoides, are common to
Europe and America. This would appear to establish the fact,
irrespective of any evidence which may exist in other countries,
that the intermingling of European and American forms, so notic-
able a feature in our North American vegetation, took place either
during this epoch or at an earlier period. Still further evidence
of this is afforded by the inland maritime flora. No less than
eleven of these have a European as well as an American range.
Thus, a part of the temperate floras of both continents can mark
the dawn of its existence at a very early period in this epoch, and
probably during the antecedent age.
All of our high northern forms occur either in the districts
fronting the Gulf and upon the shores of the Lower St. Lawrence,
or upon the coasts of Lake Superior. We have no mountains
known to us to be capped with little assemblages of arctic and sub-
arctic plants, since Mt. Logan and other considerable elevations in
the extreme eastern parts of Lower Canada, on which some may
be supposed to occur, remain as yet unexplored. The Island of
Anticosti, the Mingan Islands, and, it is to be presumed, the neigh-
bouring districts of the mainland on the northern coast, have a
nearly arctic aspect, while the north shores of Lake Superior are
as nearly sub-arctic in their floral characters. On the former occur
a number of characteristic arctic forms, but associated with many
plants of more temperate range ; and on the latter, whilst there are
sub-arctic species present, they are also accompanied by numerous
others which have an extensive diffusion to the southward.
It is a circumstance to be somewhat expected, in consequence of
the difference of latitude, that the flora of the south shore of Lake
Superior, and of the north shore of Lake Huron, is much less
| Canadian Naturalist, present volume, p. »'>;).
1867.] DRUMMOND — DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 175
boreal in its aspect than that of the northern coasts of the former
lake.
It is a fact of considerable interest that far up the River St.
Lawrence, upon both sides, even towards Quebec, are found,
mingling with sub-arctic forms, some species of truly arctic range.
Rubus Chamcemorus Linn., Gentiana acuta Miehx. , Pleurogyne
rotata Linn., Empetrum nigrum Linn., and Woodsia hyperborea
R. Br.,* among others, range as far up the river bank as liiviere-du-
Loup, where they have been detected by Dr. Thomas ; and Astra-
galus alpinus Linn., A. secundus Michx., Vaccinium Vitis Idcea
Linn., V. uliginosum Linn., .Euphrasia officinalis Linn., with one
or two other boreal forms, extend to the Island of Orleans and
Quebec. In seeking for an explanation of this somewhat peculiar
diffusion, it must be borne in mind that arctic plants delight in
a low equable temperature, accompanied by a moist atmosphere,
and wherever these conditions exist, whether on mountain summits
or on northerly ocean coasts, there these little plants can find a
home. Now, the coasts of the Lower St. Lawrence amply supply
these conditions. They occupy a rather high latitude, and besides
frequently rise to considerable elevations, forming extensive cliffs.
The broad and deep expanse of water fronting them necessarily
has the effect of lowering and equalising the temperature, and the
evaporation, which must be very great, continuously taking place,
aided by the winds, moistens the surrounding air. Further, a
branch of the cold Labrador current flows through the Straits of
Bellisle, carrying with it, no doubt, amongst other drift, seeds of
arctic and sub-arctic species, and extends its influence far up the
St Lawrence. This current would further aid in lowering the
temperature of the immediate shores, but its effects, the more
marked because the waters are chilled by recent connection with
icebergs, would be especially experienced upon the island of Anti-
costi, which, from its position, w7ould intercept the current, and tend
to direct it towards the entrance of the river. To these causes
must be ascribed this climate which seems so suited to these little
arctic and sub-arctic species of the more eastern sections of the
Province.
Upon the northern shores of Lake Superior some of these causes
likewise operate. There is the same moist atmosphere and more
* Editor's Xote.— Woodsia hyperborea R. Br., has been found by Mr.
Horace Mann in north-western Vermont; //'. Ilvensis (Linn.) is abun-
dant on the rocks of the Quebec group south of the St. Lawrence. W.
i7ft THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
equalized and lower temperature resulting from the proximity to
the widely extended and deep waters of the lake. The higher
latitude does not, hy any means, alone account for these coasts
forming suitable stations for plants of a northern range.
It is a circumstance not without considerable interest that in
the alpine and sub-alpine flora of the New England States there is
a remarkable paucity of peculiarly American species. With the
exception of Alsine Groenlandica Fenzl, Gewm radiatum Michx.
var. Peckii Gray, Arnica mollis Hook., Solidago thyrsoidea E.
Meyer, Nabalus nanus DC, N. Bootii DC, Vaccinium ccespi-
tosum Michx., Salix Uva-Ursi Pursh, Carer scirpoidea Michx.
and Calamagrostis Pickeringii Gray, all of these alpine plants
are likewise of European range. This circumstance will, it may
be thought, have considerable bearing upon the question with res-
pect to the antiquity of the peculiar flora of Arctic America.
The presence of these few species may be thought to be possibly
due to the migrations of birds, or to other agencies at work in ex-
isting or recent times, and not to causes which, operating in post-
pliocene ages, are believed to have given rise to the occurrence of
the other members of the flora. In glancing, however, over the
arctic plants of Newfoundland, the extreme eastern parts of Canada,
and the adjacent coasts of Labrador, it is also somewhat noticeable
how comparatively few of these high northern American forms
descend, even with the increased facilities afforded now for migra-
tion, as far southwards as these districts. In a climate relatively
of but little greater severity, we can accordingly conceive the
high range which these American arctic plants must have also
had in post-pliocene times, and how lew could be expected to occur
upon the then almost submerged mountain summits of New Eng-
land.
In the number of this Journal before alluded to, reference
was made to an apparent anomaly in the range of Anemone
parviflora Michx., Potentilla tridentata Aiton, Finns Bank-
siana Lambert, Allium schxmoprasum Linn., Botrychium Lu-
uaria Swartz, and a number of other species, whose distribution
in Canada seems to be confined to the northern coasts of Lakes
Superior and Huron, and the Lower St Lawrence, with, at least
in some instances, a range between these limits. "Without refer-
ring to others whose intermediate diffusion is known, I may here
mention that the little northern Scrub Pine alluded to has been
met with by the Rev. J. K. Macmorine in a few localities in the
1867.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 177
southern sections of the County of Renfrew. To the species cited
might be added Saxifraga Aizoon Jacq., Viburnum pnuc iflorum
Pylaie, Aster grominifolius Pursh, Vacdnium Vitis-Idcea Linn.,
Primula farirtosa Linn., P. Mistassinica Michx., Comandra
livida Richards., Tofieldia palustris Hudson, Carex Vahlii
Schk., Aspidium fragrans Swartz, and many others. I have
already suggested the probability that the composition of the soil
may, to some extent, affect the range of one of these plants, and
it is just possible that the distribution of a few others may be
modified by the same cause. It is, however, an observable fact
that whilst none of these plants is arctic or perhaps even sub-arctic
in its aspect, all have a high northern range. In the United
States their distribution is limited to northern New England and
Wisconsin, or to mountain sides and summits. The vicinity of the
lakes and the broad waters of the St. Lawrence, and their equaliz-
ing effects upon the temperature, account in part for the presence
of the more boreal forms, and their general northern range for
that of others. The little Primulas occur on the American shores
of Lakes Huron and St. Clair, but probably the winds, and especi-
ally the currents, have brought their seeds from the Manitoulin
Islands and the upper shores of the former lake, where both species
have been frequently met with by Dr. John Bell. It may be men-
tioned that in the St. Clair River, especially where the waters of
Lake Huron enter it, the current is very considerable.
Montreal, April, 1867.
ON THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF LAKE
SUPERIOR.
By Thomas Hacfarlane.
The crystalline rocks of Lake Superior present many features
of interest to the lithologist, and to the student of primary
geology ; and the sedimentary rocks of that region, being almost
destitute of organic remains, have been the subject of much
discussion among scientific men, which can, nevertheless, scarcely
be said to have settled unequivocally the question of their age.
Having, as I believe, observed certain new facts concerning the
composition and association of these rocks, which aie calculated to
Vol. III. M ]STo. 3
178 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
throw some Light on their origin and age, I have attempted to
describe them in the following paper.
Four different formations are distinguishable on the north, south
and east shores of the Lake, where I have had an opportunity
of examining their constituent rocks and mutual relations, but the
same formations may be observed elsewhere in this region. These
formations have been designated as follows: The Laurentian
system, the Huronian series, the Upper copper bearing rocks of
Lake Superior and the St. Mary sandstones. The two first-
named (and older) formations usually occupy those parts of the
shores which form high promontories and precipitous cliffs, and
they constitute, almost exclusively, the areas which have been
explored in the interior. On the other hand, the Upper rocks
and St. Mary sandstones are never found far inland, but occur
close to the shore in comparatively low-lying land and rocks.
They seem to have had, as the theatre of their eruption and
deposition, the bottom of the Lake, at a time when its surface was
at a higher level than it is at present, although not so high as the
general surface of the surrounding Laurentian and Huronian hills.
I. — THE LAURENTIAN SYSTEM.
Under this name it has become usual, in Canada, to class those
rocks which, in other countries, have been regarded as forming
part of the primitive gneiss formation, of the primary or azoic
rocks, or of certain granitic formations.
The most prevalent rocks of the Laurentian series on Lake
Superior present a massive crystalline character, partaking much
more of a granitic than of a gneissic nature. Some of these I shall
endeavour to describe first. To the north of the east end of
Michipicoten Island, on the mainland, there is a very large area
of reddish-coloured granite, which exhibits, in a marked degree,
the phenomena of divisional planes, and huge detached blocks.
The rock is coarsely granular, has a specific gravity of 2-668 to
'J-676, and consists of reddish o.'thoclase, a small quantity of
a triclinic felspar, dark green mica (also in small quantity), and
greyish white quartz. The mica is accompanied by a little
epidote, and an occasional crystal of spheue may be detected. A
ew miles to the east of Dog River a grey granite occurs exten-
sively, which does not show any divisional planes. The felspar of
this variety is yellowish white, with dull fracture, and is fusible
without difficulty. It is associated with black, easily fusible
mica, in considerable quantity, and with quartz, which is occa-
1867.] MACFARLANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 179
sionally bluish tinted. The specific gravity of the rock is 2-750
to 2-703. Large-grained granite is of very frequent occurrence
on Montreal River and on the coast betwixt it and Point-aux-
Mines. It consists principally of orthoclase, in pieces from one
to several inches in diameter, a comparatively small quantity of
quartz, and a .still smaller proportion of white mica. The
promontory of Gros Cap, at the entrance of the Lake from River
St. Mary's, is composed of coarse-grained and characteristic
syenite. In some places its hornblende is soft, seems decomposed,
and is accompanied by epidote. The rock is seldom free from
quartz, and some of it contains so much as to be justly termed
syenitic granite. A chloritic granite appears to occur at a few
points on the north side of Bachewalmung Bay, and a small-
grained granite, consisting exclusively of felspar and quartz,
occurs in large masses at the north-western extremity of the same
Bay. It has not the structure of granulite, and might be properly
named aplite or granitelle.
These rocks are all unequivocally granular, without a trace of
parallel structure. They far exceed in frequency and extent those
which possess a thoroughly gneissic character ; indeed, character-
istic gneiss was only observed at Goulais Falls and at Point-aux-
Mines. The rock of the latter locality varied from the closely
foliated, resembling mica schist, to that of a granitic character.
Granitic gneiss is found on the north shore of Bachewalmung Bay,
between Chippewa River and Bachewalmung Village, on the road
between the latter and the Bachewalmung Iron Mine, in the
neighbourhood of the Begley Copper mine, and at other points on
the north shore of Bachewalmung Bay.
Almost equal in frequency to these thoroughly granitic and
gneissic rocks, there are found certain aggregates of rocks which
present different lithological aspects almost at every step, and
which can only be generally described as brecciated and intrusive
gneissic, granitic, or syenitic rocks. There is, however, to be
detected a certain uniformity in the manner of their association
with each other, which is of the greatest interest, and several
instances of which it is now proposed to refer to. On the north
shore of the Lake, about twenty-five miles west of Michipicoten
Harbour, one of these rock-aggregates may be observed. Here
fragments of a dark schistose rock, consisting of felspar and horn-
blende (the latter largely preponderating), are enclosed in a
coarse-grained syenitic granite, and both are cut by veins of
180 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
another granite containing much less hornblende than the second-
mentioned rock. These veins are, in their turn, intersected by a
vein of fine-grained granite, consisting of quartz and felspar, with
traces only of mica or hornblende. The specific gravities of these
different rocks were found to be as follows : —
Hornblendic schist 2-836
Syenitic granite 2-787
Granite.." 2-608
Fine-grained granite 2-630
That the specific gravity of the last-mentioned rock should be
greater than the one preceding, is attributable to its containing
more quartz. Figure 1 gives a representation of the phenomcn i
here observed. No chemical analysis of these rocks is required to
Fig. 1.
a. Fragments of hornhlendic schist.
b. Enclosing sj'entic granite.
c. First intersecting granite.
d. Second intersecting granite.
show that the newer they are the greater are their contents in
silica. This is evident as well from their specific gravities as from
their mineralogical composition. The following relations, similar
to these are observable on the north side of the Montreal
River, at its mouth. The prevailing rock here is small-grained
granitic gneiss, which contains lighter and darker coloured portions,
according as the black mica which it contains is present in smaller
or larger quantity. A triclinic felspar is also noticeable in it.
Pieces of this rock are seen to be cut off and enveloped in a
1867.]
MAC FAR LANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
181
finer-grained granite, of a much lighter colour than the gneiss,
and comparatively poor in the black mica. The specific gravity
of the gneiss is 2-667, and that of the granite, 2-6-18. Veins of
large-grained granite, containing very little mica, traverse both
of the rocks just mentioned. The appearance of these rocks
is shewn in Figure 2. At the falls of the Chippewa or
Fig. 2.
m
mm^ ■ ^■■^&if ■ ■ ■
mmMfn
■■■-■•'iMSm'---
a. Granitic gneiss. | b. Fine-grained granite. | c, Large-grained granite.
Harmony River, which empties into Bachewahnung Bay, the
predominating rock is highly granitic gneiss, consisting of reddish
orthoclase, quartz and dark-green mica. It is rather small-
grained, and, when observed in mass, shows sometimes a schistose
appearance, the direction of which ranges from N. 10° W. to N.
57° E. Occasionally, in the more micaceous portions, broad
felspathic bands occur, with selvages rich in mica, forming the
nearest approach to gneiss. The direction of these bands is
altogether irregular. This is also the case with veins of large-
grained granite which intersect the rock just described. This
182 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
granite consists mainly of red ortlioclase, with a comparatively
small quantity of quartz, with which a still smaller quantity of
greenish mica is associated. The specific gravity of the granitic
gneiss is 2-G76, and that of the coarse-grained rock of the veins
2-594. On the north-east shore of the Bay, close to the landing
place of the Begley Mine, rocks are observed consisting principally
of granitic gneiss, in hand specimens of which, no parallel structure
can be detected. At some places, however, in larger masses, a
schistose appearance is observable, with a strike of N. 75Q E. This
rock, which is syenitic, contains masses and contorted fragments
of gneiss very rich in hornblende. Both the fragments and
enclosing rock are intersected by veins of large-grained granite,
containing little or no hornblende or mica. In the most south-
easterly corner of Bachewahnung Bay, rocks occur, which, although
they are totally devoid of any approach to gneissic structure,
and possess a very different composition, bear some resemblance in
the manner of their association to those just described. A dark-
coloured, small-grained mixture of felspar and greenish-black
mica, with occasional crystals of reddish orthoclase, and, more
rarely, of greenish-white oligoclase, is enclosed in and intersected
by another rock consisting of a coarsely granular mixture of
orthoclase and soft dark-green mica, enclosing crystal of orthoclase
(but no oligoclase) from one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch
in diameter. Both of the rocks might be called micaceous
syenites, but as they possess a pdelorphyritic structure, they
probably belong to the rock species called minette. The matrix
of the first-mentioned and darkest coloured rock is fusible,
but the orthoclase which it encloses is less readily so. In both
rocks, where exposed to the action of the waters of the Bay, the
micaceous constituent has been worn away, and the grains and
crystals of orthoclase project from the mass of the rock The
specific gravity of the small-grained rock is 2-85, and that of the
coarse-grained enclosing rock 2-65. They are both intersected by
narrow veins of granite, consisting of felspar and quartz only, the
specific gravity of which is 2.62. At Goulais Falls, about fifty
miles up the Goulais River, gneiss occurs, which is very distinctly
schistose, contains a considerable quantity— about one-third— of
brownish black mica, interlaminatcd with quartzo-felspathic
layers, in which a transparent triclinic felspar is observable. The
gneiss possesses a specific gravity of 2-74 to 2-76. Its strike and
dip are variable ; the former seems, however, to average N. 55° E., .
1S67.] MACFARLANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
183
and the latter varies from 1-1° to 20° north-westward. It is
in t erst ratified with a small-grained granitic gneiss, containing
much less mica than the last — about one-twentieth only, — no
tricliuic felspar, and having a specific gravity of 2-71 to 2-72.
The same granitic gneiss intersects the characteristic gneiss in
veins, and both of these rocks are cut by a coarse-grained granite,
almost destitute of mica, and completely so of schistose structure.
The strata of the gneiss are much contorted in various places.
The intersecting granitic gneiss and granite are almost equal in
quantity to the gneiss itself; and although they occur as irregular
veins, they are, at the point of junction, as firmly united with
the gneiss as any two pieces of one and the same rock could
well be. Figure 3 is intended to represent the relations
observable at Goulais Falls. Between Goulais Falls and the
Fie. 3.
a ==
a. Gneiss. | b. Granitic gneiss. | c. Coarse-grained granite.
point where the line of junction between the Laurentian and
Huronian rocks crosses Goulais River, there are numerous
exposures of gneissoid rocks, but characteristic gneiss is of rare
occurrence among them. At several places hornblende schist,
in fragments, is observed enclosed in a gneissoid granite. Some
of them are longer than others, and have their longer axes
running N. 50° to 60° W. Hand specimens of the enclosing
granite show little or no mark of foliation, but when seen in
184
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[May
place, a faint parallel structure is observable, the strike of which
is N. 50° to 60° W. Both the hornblendic fragments and
the gneissoid granite are cut by veins of newer granite. On the
south-east shore of Goulais Bay, a beautiful group of syenitic
rocks is exposed, the mutual relations of which are similar to those
above described. Fragments of hornblende rock or schist, varying
from half-an-inch to three feet in diameter, are enclosed in a
coarse-grained syenitic granite, in which, occasionally, a rough
parallelism of the hornblende individuals is observable, the direction
of which is N. 57a E., and coincides with that of the longer axes
of the hornblendic fragments. The specific gravity of the horn-
blendic rock is 2-94 to 3-06, and of the enclosing oranite 2-74.
Both are intersected by a coarse-grained granite, having a specific
gravity of 2-61 only, and containing little or no hornblende or
mica. The appearance here described are represented by Fig. 4.
Pig! 4.
a, Hornblende schist, b, Syenitic gneiss-granite, c, Coarse-grained granite
The mutual relations of these brecciated and intrusive
rocks in eight different localities, some of them upwards of one
hundred miles apart, have here been described, and it will be
observed that, in every one of the instances mentioned, the oldest
rock is the most basic in constitution, and this appears to be the
case, without regard to the mineralogical composition or structure
of the rocks associated together as above described. It matters
not whether the older rocks be brecciated or entire, hornblendic or
micaceous, granular, schistose or porphyritic, it is always most
deficient in silica. It appears, further, that the newer the rock
1867.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 185
which encloses or penetrates older ones, the more siliceous it
becomes. On reference to the specific gravities above given of
the various rocks, it might be supposed that their relations as to
age might be equally well expressed by saying, the older the rock
the heavier ; the more recent, the lighter it is ; and, in the
majority of instances, this applies. But, as in the case of the rock-
aggregate occurring to the west of Michipicoten Harbour, when
we come to the very newest granitic veins, consisting only of ortho-
clase and quartz, those are the heaviest which contain most of the
latter mineral, its mean specfic gravity being 2-65, while that of
orthoclase is only 2-55. It is to be remembered that these newest
veins are altogether different in appearance from certain veins of
large-grained granite, with distinct side joints, which are occasion-
ally found intersecting these rocks, and the origin of which has
been indicated by Dr. Hunt in his recent valuable report on
mineral veins. Near Point-aux-Mines a vein of this nature is
found, the rock of which is pegmatite, consisting of orthoclase,
quartz, and greenish white mica, together with occasional grains
of purple copper, copper pyrites, galena, and molybdenite.
It may not be out of place here to advance certain considera-
tions regarding these Laurentian rocks, and especially concerning
the peculiar rock aggregates just described. The relations of
these rocks to each other we have seen to be .as follows : — The
older the rock the more basic is its nature, and the richer it be-
comes in triclinic felspar, hornblende, and mica. The newer the
rock the more siliceous it becomes, and the more such minerals as
orthoclase and quartz predominate. It can scarcely be supposed
that this relation is an accidental one, for it is observable in every
one of the instances above given, the localities of many of which
arc very far distant from each other. It would seem to be the
consequence of an unvarying law which was in operation at the
time when these rocks were first formed. At first sight, the facts
above described would appear to militate against the idea of the
igneous origin of these rocks, and, in fact, the relation is a similar
one to that which has been observed among the constituent
minerals of granite, and which is one of the chief difficulties in
explaining the origin of that^ rock on the igneous hypothesis. In
granite the quartz is frequently found filling up the interstices
between the other minerals, and sometimes it even retains impres-
sions of the shape of the latter. Nevertheless the felspar and
mica are the most fusible, and the quartz the most infusible of
186 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
the constituents of granite. Similarly, the older basic rocks, among
the brecciated and intrusive aggregates above described, are the
most fusible, while the newer rocks, being most siliceous, are most
infusible. At first sight, it is difficult to conceive how a basic and
fusible rock could solidify from a melted mass previous to a more
siliceous one. But the geological relations of these rocks are such
as to aiford the fullest proofs of their igneous origin. It may be
urged that such an origin for the oldest and more basic fragments
does not appear proved, but their similarity in mineralogical
composition with the intrusive members of the aggregate is in
favour of such a view. Furthermore, these older fragments
shew, in every instance, such an analogy as regards their relation
to the intrusive rocks that they cannot be regarded as accidental
fragments of other rocks brought from a distance. If their oriain
were of this nature, they would not invariably be more basic in
composition than the enclosing rock. The fact of their always
bearing a certain relation, as regards composition, to the enclosing-
rock renders it unlikely that their source is similar to that of
boulders in a conglomerate or fragments in a breccia. On the
contrary, it would appear more reasonable to regard them as the
first products of the solidification of the fluid mass from which
the oranites, and other rocks above described, resulted. In
pursuing this subject further, it would appear not unreasonable
to base some such theory as the following upon the facts above
stated. The area now covered by these rocks must at one time
have been occupied by a mass of fused silicates. The temperature
of this fluid magma and of the surrounding crust has been
intensely high, although perhaps very gradually on the decrease,
and the extent of the igneously fluid material muit have been
such as to render uniformity in its chemical composition an
impossibility. Variations in its composition, as well as in the
manner of its solidification, may therefore be supposed to have
obtained in different parts of the fluid area. According to the
proportion of silica and bases present where crystallisation com-
menced and progressed, hornblendic rock, mica syenite, or com-
paratively basic granite, first assumed the solid form, leaving a
part of the fluid or magma beneath or on the outside of it still in a
plastic state, but changed in its chemical composition, and rendered
more siliceous than the original magma. If the solidification com-
menced at a point where the fluid mass was comparatively undis-
turbed, the granular varieties of the rocks above described may have
1867.] MACPARLANB — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 187
been produced. If, on the other hand, the solidification took place
while the fluid mass was in motion, the hornblendic and micaceous
schists and gneisses were most probably the results of this process,
and the strike of these would indicate the direction of the current
at the time of their formation. The rarity or indistinctness of
parallelism in the Laurentian rocks of Lake Superior shews, how-
ever, that no very constant and persistent motion in one direction
took place in the fluid mass which produced them. This first
solidification of part of the fluid magma most likely continued for
a long period, and spread over a large surface ; but there seems
at last to have arrived a time when, from some cause or other,
these first rocks became rent or broken up, and the crevices or
interstices became filled with the still fluid and more siliceous
material which existed beneath them. Gradually, this material
solidified in the cracks, or in the spaces surrounding the fragments,
and the whole became again a consolidated crust above a fluid mass
of still more siliceous material. Further solidification of this
latter material doubtless then took place, and continued until a
second general movement of the solidified crust opened other and
newer crevices, which became filled with the most siliceous ma-
terial which we see constituting the newer veins among the rocks
above described.
Although the theory here given as to the origin of these rock
aggregates is in thorough harmony with the facts related concern-
ing them, it is doubtless possible to urge objections against it
founded upon the relative fusibility of their constituent rocks.
There is no doubt that the point of temperature at which these
various rocks become fluid under the influence of heat is higher
with the newer than with the older rocks, but it does not follow
that in cooling they solidify, that is, become quite hard and solid
at the same point of temperature at which they fuse. Bischof
describes an experiment which proves that the temperature at
which certain substances solidify does not at all correspond with
their fusing point. He prepared a flux, consisting of common
glass and carbonate of potash, which fused at a temperature of
800° E,., and melted it along with some metallic bismuth in a
crucible. This metal fuses at 200°, and solidifies with a very
uneven surface, on account of its tendency to crystallize. Although
the difference between the fusing point of the bismuth and of the
flux amounted to 600°, nevertheless, when the crucible cooled, all
the irregularities of the surface of the metal were found to have
188 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
imprinted themselves upon the lower surface of the solidified flux,
a very plain proof being thus furnished that at a temperature of
200° R., the flux was still soft enough to receive the impression of
the solidifying metal. If we further observe the various fused
slags which flow from different furnaces, we shall obtain some idea
of the manner in which the rocks above described may have be-
haved during their solidification. The scoriae of iron furnaces are
usually very acid, containing as much as 60 per cent, of silica.
They generally fuse at a temperature of 1450° C. As they flow
out of the breast of the furnace, they may be observed to do so
very leisurely, to be sluggish and viscid, but nevertheless to con-
tinue fluid a long time, and even in some cases to flow out of the
building in which they have been produced, before solidifying.
On the other hand, slags from certain copper furnaces, or from
those used for puddling iron, are more or less basic, containing
from 30 to 45 per cent, silica. As they flow out they are seen to
be very fluid, and to run quickly, but they solidify much more
rapidly than iron slags. Yet these basic slags fuse at about 1300°
C, or about 150° less than the more acid slags. Those who have
been accustomed to observe metallurgical processes will not find it
difficult to conceive how a very siliceous slag might continue fluid
at a temperature at which a more basic one might become solid.
We conceive, however, that the rocks which we have described
must heave solidified under circumstances altogether different from
those under which furnace slags cool. We suppose that these
rocks must have solidified at temperatures not very far below their
fusing points ; that the temperature of the atmosphere, and of the
fluid mass itself, had sunk somewhat beneath the fusing point of
the more basic rocks before solidification began, and that at this
point it was possible for the basic rocks to crystallize, while a more
siliceous magma still remained plastic. This latter supposition
does not appear unreasonable when the experiment above referred
to, and the behavior of furnace slags above described, is taken into
consideration.
It becomes a question of much interest as to whether these rocks
are to be regarded as constituting one and the same, or several and
distinct, geological formations. There cannot be a doubt as to the
fact that some of them are of more recent origin than others ; but,
on the other hand, many of the veins above described do not pre-
sent such distinct joints as are visible where trap or basalt dykes
traverse sedimentary strata. Although the cementing material
1S67.] MACPARLANE — GEOLOGY OP LAKE SUPERIOR. 189
of the brecciated rocks above described differs in composition from
the fragments which it encloses, we nevertheless find that the two
are usually so intimately combined with each Qther as to behave
under the hammer like one and the same rock. There is, in the
majority of cases, no joint to be found at their junction with each
other; and in fracturing them, they very often break just as
readily across as along the line which separates them. It would
appear, therefore, that, although these rocks solidified at different
times, the dates of their formation were not sufficiently far
distant from each other to enable the previously existing rock to
cool thoroughly before it became penetrated by or enclosed in the
newer one ; that consequently the older rock, being in an intensely
heated condition, readily amalgamated at its edges with the next
erupted and fused mass, and formed with it a solid compact whole.
Apart from the difficulties which would doubtless attend any
attempt to distinguish separate geological groups among these
rocks, it would appear just as unreasonable so to separate them, as
to regard each distinct stratum of sedimentary rock as distinct
geological formations. According to Naumann, a geological
formation consists of a series of widely extended or very numerous
rocks or rock-members (Gehirgs-gliedcr), which form an indepen-
dent whole, and are by their lithological and palseontological
characters, as well as by their structure and stratigraphical suc-
cession (Lagerungs folge), recognisable as contemporaneous (geo-
logically speaking) products of similar natural processes. According
even to this definition, it would appear just to class all the rocks
above described, in spite of the distinctly intrusive character of
some of them, as belonging to one and the same geological forma-
tion,— in short, to the Laurentian series of Sir W. E. Logan,
or the Primitive Gneiss formation of Naumann. The last-named
geologist certainly distinguishes a separate granite formation, but
the rocks included in it are generally more recent than the primi-
tive gneiss or primitive schists. Where, as in Silesia, in Podolia on
the Dnieper, in the central plateau of France, in Finland, in Scan-
dinavia, and in the Western Islands of Scotland, granite occurs
in similar intimate association with gneissoid rocks as on Lake
Superior, Naumann always regards it as part and portion of the
primitive gneiss. As early as 1826, Hisinger, in his work on
Swedish mineralogy, shewed that the granite which occurs in
intimate combination, by lithological transition and otherwise, with
the primitive gneiss of Scandinavia, was of contemporaneous origin
190 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. PIay
with it ; and in the Pyrenees, La Vendee, Auvergne, the Black
Forest and Hungary, according to Coquand, Riviere, Rozet, Reng-
ger, and Beudant respectively, the gneiss and granite of these
countries cannot be separated into distinct formations, but form one
and the same mass of primitive rock.
II. — THE HURONIAN SERIES.
The rocks of this system, as developed on Lake Superior,
present at first sight rather a monotonous and uninteresting aspect
to the student of lithology. Large areas are occupied by schistose
and fine-grained rocks, the mineralogical composition of which is,
in the most of cases, exceedingly indistinct. These rocks are, to
a very large extent, pyroxenic greenstones and slates related to
them. On closer examination, they are found to exhibit many
interesting features, and it is possible to distinguish among them
the following typical rocks: —
Diabase. — The granular varieties among these greenstones
belong to this species. It is developed at several points on
Goulais River, at some distance to the west of the Laurentian
rocks already referred to. It is usually fine-grained, pyroxene is
the preponderating constituent, and chlorite is present in con-
siderable quantity in finely disseminated particles. The felspar
is in minute grains, and, in many instances, it is only on the
weathered surface of the rock that its presence can be recognized.
One variety of this rock from the Goulais River has a specific
gravity of 3-001. Its colour is dark green, and that of its
powder light green. The latter, on ignition, lost 2-29 per cent,
of its weight, and changed to a brown colour. On digestion with
sulphuric acid, 22-99 per cent, of bases were dissolved from it,
which circumstances would seem to indicate that the felspathic
constituent is decomposable by acids, and is therefore, in all like-
lihood, labradorite. This rock is underlaid to the south-west by
greenstone schist, striking N. 65° W., and dipping 75° north-
eastward, and is overlaid by amygdaloidal diabase and greenstone
slates, striking N. titi0 W., and dipping 49° north-eastward.
Granular diabase is also met with a few miles higher up the river
from the rocks just mentioned, associated with porphyritic diabase
and diabase schist, the latter striking N. 55° to G5° W., and dip-
ping G0Q north-eastward. Similar rocks were observed on the
hills between Bachewahnung and Goulais Bay, and at several
points on the north shore of the lake between Michipicoten
1867.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 191
Harbour and Island. In the neighbourhood of, and on the road to,
the Bachewahnung Iron Mine, they are also plentiful. Not unfre-
quently the pyroxene in them assumes the appearance of diallage.
AugiUporphyry. — The porphyritic diabase above referred to is
a small-grained diabase, in which are disseminated crystals of
pyroxene, about three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The specific
gravity of the rock is 2-906. Its fine powder has a light
greenish grey colour, which changes on ignition to dark brown,
2.01 per cent, of loss being at the same time sustained. Hydro-
chloric acid dissolves from it 2348 per cent, of bases.
Calcareous Diabase. — The amygdaloidal diabase above men-
tioned is the same rock as is termed by Naumann Kalkdiabase.
It is a fine-grained diabase, somewhat schistose, in which oval-
shaped concretions of granular calcspar occur. The latter are
not, however, always sharply separated from the mass of rock,
which is slightly calcareous. The amygdules, if such they can
be called, have their longer axis invariably parallel with each
other, and with the schistose structure of the rock.
Diabase Schist. — This rock occurs much more frequently than
either of those just described. It is, indeed, difficult to find a
diabase among these Huronian rocks which does not exhibit a
tendency to parallel structure, or which does not graduate into
diabase schist. But the latter rock occupies- considerable areas
by itself, not only on Goulais River, but also on that part of the
north shore referred to in this paper. The higher hills to the
north-east of Goulais Bay consist, to a large extent, of this rock.
Apart from its schistose structure, it possesses the characters of
diabase. For example, a specimen of the rock from the north
shore has a specific gravity of 2-985. Its powder, which is light
grey, changes on ignition to light brown, losing 1-43 per cent, of
its weight. On digestion with hydrochloric acid, it loses 14-21
per cent, of bases; and with sulphuric acid, 16-12 per cent. It
is fusible before the blow-pipe. Many of these schists are
pyritiferous and calcareous, and these graduate frequently into
greenstone slate.
Greenstone and Greenstone Slate. — The rocks above mentioned,
being small-grained, are recognizable without much difficulty ;
but, besides these, and occupying much more extensive areas,
there occurs finely granular and schistose rocks, many of them
doubtless of similar composition to the above mentioned diabase
and diabase schist. Where the transition is traceable from the
192 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. , [May
latter rocks to those of a finer grain, the same name's are perhaps
applicable. But since this is not always the case, it would seem
advisable to make use of other terms for them until their compo-
sition is more accurately determined. The names aphanite and
aphanite slate have been applied to rocks such as these, but since
the former term has been applied by Cotta to compact melaphyre,
it would seem better for the present to continue the use of the
other terms, compact greenstone and greenstone slate, especially
since the signification of the first of these has been so limited by
Naumann as to denote pyroxenic greenstones only, thus distin-
guishing them from the hornblendic greenstones or Diorites.
These pyroxenic greenstones, or fine-grained diabases, frequently
contain more chlorite than the coarser-grained varieties. They
are very frequent on the Goulais River, in the district between it
and Bachcwahnung Bay, and in the neighbourhood of the
Bachewahnung Iron Mine. One specimen from a point four
miles north-east of Goulais Bay yields 2144 per cent, of bases to
sulphuric acid. Its powder is dark green, changing on ignition to
dark brown, and losing 1-72 per cent, of its weight. These
greenstones are seldom destitute of iron pyrites. Quartz never
occurs in them as a distinct constituent, and even in veins it is
rare ; but there are a few occurrences of greenstones which are
lighter in colour, more siliceous, and harder than others, and
which have possibly become so by contact with quartzose rocks.
On the other hand, they are frequently found impregnated with
calcareous matter. By assuming a schistose structure, these
greenstones often graduate into greenstone slate, an apparently
homogeneous rock, generally of a dark greenish grey colour and
slaty texture. The latter character is sometimes so marked, that it
becomes difficult to distinguish it from clay slate. The greenstone
slates however, would seem to differ from the latter rock in the small
quantity of water which they contain, their generally higher
specific gravity, and in their yielding nothing which would form a
o-ood roofing slate. On the other hand, they are related to the
greenstones and diabase schists not only by gradual transition, but
in some of their physical characters. For instance, a greenstone
slate from Dog Biver, on the north shore, of a dark grey colour,
has a specific gravity of 2-738, and loses 1-62 per cent, of its
weight on ignition, in which operation the colour of its powder
changes from a greenish white to a decided brown. It yields to
hydrochloric acid 16 --14, and to sulphuric acid 10-29 of bases.
1867.] macfarlaNE — geology of lake superior. 193
Siliceous Slate. — In many places bands of such dark coloured
slate as that just described are interbedded with others which
are lighter coloured and more siliceous. Such banded slates may,
for instance, be observed on the north-east shore of Goulais Bay.
Here the darker slate is very evenly foliated, of a dark greenish-
grey colour, and has a specific gravity of 2-685. Its powder is
light green, changing on ignition to light brown, and losing 2*02
per cent, of its weight. It yields to sulphuric acid 16*75 of bases.
The rock of the lighter bands is highly siliceous, and in fusibility
equal to orthoclase. The powder has a reddish grey colour,
which changes on ignition to brownish grey, 0-54 per cent, of loss
being at the same time sustained. Hot sulphuric acid removes
only 3-79 per cent, of bases. A similar association of slates is
found at a point bearing 41° 30' E.from the east end of Michipi-
coten Island. Here, a series of lighter and darker coloured bands
of very decided slate occur, striking N. 78° to 86° W., and
dipping 50 ° to 52 ° northward. They are overlaid by a band
of dark green slate, which contains granitic pebbles, and this band
is again overlaid by light coloured slates. Small bands may be
observed to leave the dark green slates and to join with those of a
lighter colour. The latter are not only lighter in colour, but harder
and less dense, and occasionally show on their cleavage planes a
silky lustre. A specimen gave a specific gravity of 2-681, and its
powder, which was almost quite white, lost 1-12 per cent, on
ignition, becoming slightly brown. It fuses only in fine splinters,
and, generally, the fusibility of these slates is the greater the
darker their colour.
Chlorite Schist. — Some of the greenstone slates occasionally
contain an unusually large quantity of chlorite, and sometimes so
much as to form chlorite schist. This schist forms the side rock
of the Palmer Mine on Goulais Bay.
Quartzite. — This rock is of less frequent occurrence than I had
anticipated. It is most frequent on the west and south-west side
of the hills between Bachewahnung and Goulais Bay, and in the
district north-eastwards from Sault Ste. Marie.
Hematite. — This mineral often occurs in such quantity as to
constitute rock masses. It will however be referred to under the
economic minerals of the series.
Greenstone Breccia. — The occurrence of angular fragments of
other rocks in the greenstones above described is by no means rare,
and the resulting breccias are common between Bachewahnung
Yol. III. ST No. 3.
194 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
and Goulais Bays. In the majority of instances where the matrix
is granular, the fragments are angular ; on the other hand, where
the matrix becomes schistose, the fragments are generally rounded^
and there results the slate conglomerate so characteristic of the
Huronian series.
Slate Conglomerate. — This rock is extensively developed at the
mouth of the Dore River, some distance to the west of Michipi-
coten Harbour. Its matrix is the greenstone slate above described.
The boulders and pebbles which it encloses seem, for the most part,
to be granite, and are rarely quite round in form. The most
of them are oval or lenticular shaped, and then their outlines are
scarcely so distinct as in the case oi those which approach more
closely to the round form. Very frequently those of a lenticular
form are drawn or flattened out to such an extent that their
thickness decreases to a quarter or half-an-inch, and they are
sometimes scarcely distinguishable from the slate, except by their
lighter colour. Part of the rock exhibits merely a succession of
lighter and darker coloured bands, the former of which sometimes
resemble in form the flattened pebbles above-mentioued. On
account of the presence of these lighter bands, it is often impos-
sible to select a piece which may be regarded as the real matrix of
the rock. As in the case of some of the rocks above described,
the light bands are more siliceous and less dense than the darker
ones. The latter are, not unfrequently, calcareous. A specimen
of this character had a density of 2-708 to 2-802. Its powder
was light green, which changed on ignition to light brown, with a
loss of 2-75 per cent. On treatment with sulphuric acid, it effer-
vesced strongly, and experienced a loss of 36-85 per cent. Iron
pyrites impregnates the matrix quite as frequently as calcareous
matter. The direction of the lamination in the matrix is parallel
with the longer axis of the lenticular pebbles, and where the boulders
are large (they seldom exceed twelve inches in diameter) and
round, the lamination of the slate winds round them, and resumes
its normal direction after passing them. Occasionally a flattened
pebble is seen bent half round another, and, among the very thin
pebbles, twisted forms are not uncommon. The nature of the
pebbles, especially of those which have been flattened, is sometimes
very indistinct. The quartz is generally easily recognized in the
larger boulders, but the felspar has lost its crystalline character,
and the mica is changed into dark green indistinct grains, where it
has not altogether disappeared. Besides the granitic pebbles,
18G7.] MACFARLANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
195
there are others which seem to consist of quartzite. An idea of
the structure of this rock is attempted to be given in figure 5.
Fig. 5.
a. Granite boulders, and long drawn masses. b. Schistose matrix.
The manner in which these rocks are occasionally associated
with each other is calculated, as in the case of the Laurentian
rocks, to suggest to the observer some definite ideas regarding
their origin . Equally instructive is the manner in which they
adjoin the Laurentian areas at several points on' the north shore,
between Michipicoten Harbour and Island. I paid some attention
to that point of junction which lies to the west of Eagle River,
the precipitous cliffs to the east of which consist principally of
diabase schist and greenstone slate. A few miles to the west of
these cliffs, and at a point bearing N. 29 ° E. from the east end of
Michipicoten Island, the Laurentian granite is penetrated by
enormous dykes of dense basaltic greenstone (having the peculiar
doleritic glitter when fractured), wliich contain fragments of
granite. This greenstone is also seen in large masses, which can
scarcely be called dykes, overlying the granite and enclosing huge
masses of that rock, one of wliich I observed to be cut by a small
vein of the greenstone. From this point to Eagle River those
two rocks alternately occupy the space along the shore, seldom in
such a manner as to show any regular superposition of the green-
stone on the granite, but almost always more or less in conflict
with each other. The greenstone, however, becomes more frequent
towards the east, and at Eagle River it has almost wholly replaced
the granite, and assumed a lighter colour and an irregular schistose
196
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[May
structure. The strike of these schists is, at places, quite incon-
stant ; they wind in all directions, and what appear, at first sight,
to be quartz veins, accompany their contortions. On closer
inspection, however, of the largest of these, they are seen to be of
granite, but whether twisted fragments of that rock or really veins
of it, is, at first glance, very uncertain. Observed superficially,
they have the appearance of veins, but they do not preserve a
straight course, and bend with the windings of the enclosing schist.
They often thin out to a small point and disappear, and, a few
feet or inches further on in the direction of the strike, reappear
and continue for a short distance. Sometimes a vein thins out at
both ends and forms a piece of granitic material of a lenticular
shape, always lying parallel with the lamination of the enclosing
slate. Figure 6 is a representation of the phenomena here
described.
a. Fragments and contorted pieces of granite.
&. Slates enclosing same.
At another point of junction, on the north shore, to the east of
that above described, there is a large development of similar
basaltic greenstone. Its constituents, with the exception of iron
pyrites, are indistinguishable ; it has a greenish black colour, and
a specific gravity of 3. Its powder has a dark green colour, which
changes on ignition to dark brown, with a loss of 1-79 per cent, of
its weight. It yields to sulphuric acid 1841 per cent, of bases.
18G7.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 197
It exhibits numerous divisional planes and a tendency to slaty
structure, the direction of which is not, however, parallel with
that of the divisional planes. It contains numerous fragments
and long drawn contorted masses of granite, which are best dis-
cernible on the worn surface of the rock, and not readily so where
it is freshly fractured. To the eastward it changes to a much
harder light grey siliceous rock, having a specific gravity of 2-709
only. In fine powder this rock is white, but on ignition becomes
brownish, and loses 0-55 per cent, of its weight. It yields only
4-62 per cent, of bases to sulphuric acid. At one place it seems
to contain fragments and twisted pieces of the dark greenstone, and
further eastward it assumes the character of a breccia, granite
fragments being enclosed in the slaty rock, which is at some points
darker, at others lighter, coloured. The fragments are sometimes
quite angular, and sometimes rounded oif, and not sharply separ-
ated from the matrix. Their longer dimensions are invariably
parallel with the lamination of the matrix. The distance over
which the transition extends renders it impossible to give any ac-
curate sketch of the phenomena described.
Similar relations are observable at the junction of the two
formations in the north-east corner of Bachewahnung Bay. Here
the greenstone is compact, but still possesses the glittering basaltic
fracture. The Laurentian rock is a highly granitic gneiss, and
pieces of it are enclosed in the dark greenstone, which at one place
seems to underlie the granite. A reddish grey felsitic rock, with
conchoidal fracture, is observed at the point of junction. East-
ward from it banded traps occur, striking N. 55° W., together
with greenstone — breccia, and conglomerate. On ascending the
hills behind this point another breccia is observed, of which the
matrix is greenstone and the fragments granite.
With regard to the succession of these rocks, it will doubtless
be found a matter of very great difficulty to establish any such,
even if any order of superposition of a tolerably regular character
should exist among them. That this is not very likely to be the
case, will appear from the considerations yet to be advanced re-
garding the origin of these rocks. As to their general strike, it is
scarcely possible to give any such, but within certain limits a
tolerably constant strike may be observed. In the Huronian area,
betwixt Goulais River and Bachewahnung Bay, although there are
occasional north-easterly directions, the strike generally ranges
from N. 40° to N. S0° W. On the north shore it is generally
193 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [^;>y
east and west, seldom deviating more than 20° to the north or
south of these points. The following observations were made in
the neighbourhood of Eagle River, at points where the slates ap-
peared most regular: N. 83° E., dip 45° northward; N. 80° W.,
dip 46° northward; N. 45° E., dip 34° north-westward.
In the foregoing description an attempt has been made to
delineate with fidelity the most important features of the Huronian
formation as developed on Lake Superior. It is now proposed to
give a fair unstrained interpretation of the characters stamped
upon the rocks of that series. The fact of the Laurentian granite
being pierced, as above described, by Huronian rocks, and the fact
of their enclosing fragments of such granite, proves incontestably
that some of them are of eruptive origin, and of later age than the
Laurentian series. The enclosure of the huge sharply angular
fragments of granite in the very basic greenstone, above described,
stands in intimate connection with the enclosure of smaller and
contorted granite fragments in a matrix of similar chemical com-
position, but different (slaty) structure. The appearances visible
near Eagle River, of which figure G is an illustration, prove that
enclosed granitic fragments sometimes undergo modifications of
form through contact with certain Huronian rocks. In Foster
and Whitney's Lake Superior Report (Part II., pp. 44 and 45),
analogous phenomena are described, but the exactly opposite con-
clusion is arrived at, viz., that the granite is in the form of veins,
and is the newest rock. There would seem to be only the two methods
of explaining the facts described : either the granite forms veins
penetrating the schistose greenstones, in which case the latter are
the oldest rocks, or it is in the form of contorted fragments, in
which case the enclosing rocks must be of eruptive origin. The
fact that the granitic fragments do not cut but run parallel with
the slates which enclose them, is the strongest argument against con-
sidering them to be veins. The supposition that they are long drawn
and contorted fragments seems to be most in harmony with the
facts stated, and with what is known as to the relative ages of the
Laurentian and Huronian rocks. The true explanation most
likely is, that the basic greenstone, after enveloping the granitic
fragments, continued for some time in motion, and, previous to
solidification, softened and rendered plastic the fragments, which
then became drawn out in the direction of the flow of the igneous
mass, and forced to accompany its sinuosities, and that the motion
of the fluid mass previous to and during solidification developed in
1867.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 199
the greenstone its schistose structure. The other facts, described
above as observable at a considerable distance east of Eagle River,
shew that something more than a mere modification of form is
caused by the action of basic greenstone upon granite fragments.
Not only are the latter there observed to be enclosed in, softened by,
and twisted around with the greenstone, but the phenomena observ-
ed fully justify the supposition that they have been dissolved in
it, that is to say, actually fused in and incorporated with its ma-
terial. The fragments are seen to be firmly joined together with
the enclosing rock, especially where the latter becomes more
siliceous. Furthermore, their sharp angles are often rounded off,
indicating plainly that these parts were first melted away by the
fluid greenstone. Moreover, the product of the union of the latter
with the dissolved parts of the granite is plainly visible. It is the
siliceous slate rock described above as forming in places the matrix
of the breccia. This siliceous rock, the specific gravity of which
is much lower than that of the greenstone, is further seen to be
twisted about with the latter in such a manner as, in its turn, to
envelope parts of the greenstone, thus shewing that motion assisted
the incorporation of the two. The reddish grey felsitic rock,
mentioned as occurring at the junction of the two formations in
the north-east corner of Bachewahnung Bay, has doubtless had a
similar origin to fat of this siliceous rock, and it is not unlikely
that the banded traps and slates, so frequently found among
Huronian rocks, are attributable to a similar mode of formation.
Closely connected with the breccias just alluded to, so far as re-
gards the cause of its peculiar structure, is the Huronian slate
conglomerate. It is impossible to examine closely this rock with-
out being impelled to the conclusion that its origin is not very
different from that of the breccias ; that its matrix has been a
fused mass, flowing slowly but constantly in the one direction ;
and that its boulders are merely fragments which have been half
melted and rounded off by contact with the igneous rock. The
oval, twisted, lenticular and long drawn forms of the boulders are
such as could never have been produced by ordinary attrition, and
they frequently furnish examples of such intimate amalgamation
with the matrix as are never found in aqueous conglomerates.
Further, the fact of the boulders being frequently drawn out into
what are simply bands of light coloured slate, not only disproves
the sedimentary origin of the conglomerate, but indicates the
manner in which the association of greenstone slate and siliceous slate
200 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
above described have been formed. They have simply been produced
where no tumultuous motion was at hand thoroughly to incorporate
the material of the greenstone with that derived from the softened
fragments, but where a steady continuous motion, always in the
one direction, drew out the materials of the different slates into
long bands side by side with each other. It thus seems to us
reasonable, and quite compatible with a scientific interpretation of
the facts above given, to explain the origin of by far the greater
number of the above enumerated Huronian rocks upon a purely
igneous theory ; and it has occurred to us that many of the in-
stances of local metamorphism, recorded by geologists, in which the
contact of an igneous rock caused the silicification or lamination
of another, might be capable of thorough explanation in a manner
similar to that in which we have tried to account for the origin of
the breccias, conglomerates, siliceous greenstones and banded slates,
which constitute such a large part of the Huronian series.
The Huronian series, whatever its mode of origin may have
been, must undoubtedly be regarded as an independent geological
formation. It has been represented as being " a mixture of the
St. Alban's group of the upper Taconic with the Triassic rocks of
Lake Superior, the trap native-copper bearing rocks of Point
Keeweenaw, and the dioritic dyke containing the copper pyrites of
Bruce mine on Lake Huron" * but surely such a description
is based upon a misconception of Sir W. E. Logan's views on the
subject. Until its discovery by Sir William, the Huronian formation
was unknown to geologists as a separate and independent system, and
even now it is only in comparatively few countries besides Canada
that it has been shown to exist. On a former occasion, in the
columns of the Naturalist f I endeavoured to shew that the
Azoic schists of Tellemarken, in Norway, were almost identical
in lithological characters with the Huronian rocks, and Dr. J. J.
Bigsby % shortly afterwards insisted upon the fact of their being
the same formations. Dr. Bigsby is of opinion that the Huronian
also occurs on the Upper Loire, in France, and that it is a totally
distinct formation from the Cambrian, with which it has hitherto
been customary to associate it. The Huronian forms part of
what Naumann calls the primitive slate formation.
* Marcou; The Taconic and Lower Silurian Rocks of Yermont and
Canada.
t Vol. vii, p. 113.
X Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Vol. xix, p. 49.
1867.] MACFARLANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR, 201
Besides the black and greenish black dykes which occur in the
neighbourhood of, and stand in connection with, Huronian rocks,
there are others which occur at a distance from Huronian areas,
and whose rocks differ somewhat from those of that formation.
This is the case, for instance, with a set of dykes which occur on
the south-east shore of Goulais Bay, cutting Laurentian rocks.
They are there separated from the gneissoid rocks by very distinct
joints. They vary in thickness from nine to seventy feet, and
strike N. 72° to 75°, W. In the widest veins the rock is fine
grained at the side and small grained in the centre, so that even
there it is difficult to determine its constituents. They seem,
however, to be dark green pyroxene and greyish felspar, with
magnetic and minute grains of iron pyrites. The rock has a
specific gravity of 2-97-1. Its powder, from which a magnet ex-
tracts magnetite, has a grey colour, which changes on ignition to
a dirty brown, with a loss in weight of 1-67 per cent. Hydro-
chloric acid produces no effervescence, but removes 21-74 per cent.
of bases. Sulphuric acid removes 20-83 per cent. The presence
of magnetite and absence of chlorite would seem to indicate that
the rock inclines more to the nature of dolerite than diabase. A
similar vein of fine grained rock penetrates the syenite of Gros
Cap, on the summit of that hill, striking N. 40 ° W. A very
large mass of small grained doleritic rock likewise occurs at the
mouth of the Montreal River, on its south bank. It probably
forms a dyke of very large dimensions in the granitoid gneiss
there. It consists, seemingly, of black augite, white or greyish
white felspar (on some of the cleavage planes of which parallel
striae are distinctly observable), and magnetite. Its specific
gravity is 3-090. Its powder yields magnetite to the magnet, and
does not effervesce on treatment with sulphuric acid, which re-
moves 11-15 per cent, of bases. - Other dykes of this nature cut
the reddish granite of the north shore opposite Michipicoten
Island, and, nearer to Michipicoten Harbour, a sixty feet dyke of
diorite cuts the grey granite. It is fine grained at the sides, but
granular and even porphyritic in the centre. Its direction is N.
63 ° E. About a mile further east another dyke occurs, which
seems to contain fragments of granite. Close to the landing-place
of the Begley Mine, in Bachewalmung Bay, a dioritic dyke, bear-
ing N. 80 ° E., cuts gneissoid rocks Further investigation is
necessary to determine what relation, if any, these dykes bear to
the Huronian series.
(To be continued.)
202 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
ON SOME REMAINS OF PALAEOZOIC INSECTS
RECENTLY DISCOVERED IX
XOTA SCOTIA AND KEW BEUISWICK.
By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.E.S., F.G.S.
In connection with the preparation of the second edition of
"Acadian Geology," I have obtained, from friends who have been
engaged in geological investigations in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, some interesting illustrations of the entomology of the
Carboniferous and Devonian Periods, which I have thought it might
be useful to publish in advance of the appearance of my work.
1. Carboniferous Insects.
The existence of insects in the Carboniferous period has long
been known. The coal formations of England and of West-
phalia afforded the earliest specimens ; and, more recently, some
interesting species have been found in the Western States.*
They belong to the order of the Ncuroptera (shad-flies, etc.),
the Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.), and Coleoptera
(beetles, etc.)
In the coal-field of Nova Scotia, notwithstanding its great
richness in fossil remains of plants, insects had not occured up to
last year, except in a single instance — the head and some other
fragments of alarge insect, probably Neuropterous, found by me in
the Coprolite or fossil excrement of a reptile enclosed in the trunk
of an erect Sigillaria at the Joggins, along with other animal
remains. This specimen was interesting, chiefly as proving that
the small reptiles of the coal period were insectivorous, and it was
noticed in this connection in my " Airbreathers of the coal period."
Last year, however, Mr. Jas. Barnes, of Halifax, was so fortunate
as to find the beautiful wing represented in Fig. 1, in a bed of
Uhale, at Little Glace Bay, Cape Breton. The engraving is taken
from^aphotograph kindly sent to me by Rev. D. Houeyman, F.G.S.
It will be observed that in consequence, probably, of the mutual
attraction of loose objects floating about in water, a fragment of
a frond of a fem, Alethopteris fonchitica, lies partly over the wing,
obscuring its outline, but bearing testimony to its carboniferous
date. The wing has been examined by Mr. S. II. Scudder, of
Boston, who has made such specimens his special study, and who
* See Lyell's Elements, and Dana's Manual for references.
1867.1
DAWSON — ON PALAEOZOIC INSECTS.
203
refers it to the group of Ephemerina (day-flies, shad-flies) among
the Neuroptera, and has named it HaplopMebium Barnedi. It
must have been a very large insect— seven inches in expanse of
wing— and. therefore, much exceeding any living species of its
group. When we consider that the larva} of such creatures inhabit
the water, and delight in muddy bottoms rich in vegetable matter,
we can easily understand that the swamps and creeks of carboni-
ferous Acadia, with its probably mild and equable climate, must
have been especially favorable to such creatures, and we can
imagine the larvae of these gigantic ephemeras swarming in the
deep black mud of the ponds in these swamps, and furnishing a
great part of the food of the fishes inhabiting them, while the
perfect insects emerging from the waters to enjoy their brief space
of aerial life, would flit in millions over the quiet waters and
through the dense thickets of the coal swamps.
Mr. Scudder describas the species as follows:—
Fig. 1.
liippiip
I
ft&i Hi
^S^lM
(a) Profile of base of wing.
" Haplophlebitjm Barnesii Scudder; (Fig. 1.)— This is
probably one of the ephemerina, though it differs very much
from any with which I am acquainted. The neuration is
exceedingly simple, and the intercostal spaces appear to be com-
pletely filled with minute reticulations without any cross-veins.
The narrowness of the wing is very peculiar for an Ephemeron.
The form of the wing and its reticulation remind me of the
Odonata, but the mode of venation is very different; yet there is
204 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
apparently a cross- vein between the first and second veins in the
photograph (not rendered in the cut) which, extending down to
the third vein, occurs just where the "nodus" is found in Odonata,
and if present would, unquestionably, remove this insect to a
new synthetic family between Odonata and Ephemerina. I
cannot judge satisfactorily whether it is an upper or an under
wing. The insect measured fully seven inches in expanse of wings
— much larger than any living species of Ephemerina."
2. Devonian Insects.
The only known remains of insects of this age are the wings of
four species found by Mr. C. F. Hartt, in the plant-bearing
Devonian Shales of St. John, New Brunswick. The figures now
given of these remains, taken from drawings made by Mr. Scudder,
though they represent fragmentary specimens only, are of the
highest interest, as the most ancient remains of insects known to
us, and contemporary with the oldest known land flora ; their age
being probably about that of the Hamilton or Chemung formations
of New York.
Their geological date is unquestionable, since they are found in
beds richly stored with species of Devonian plants, and unconform-
ably underlying the oldest portion of the carboniferous series. The
containing beds are fully described in a paper by Mr. Matthew,
in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, and also in
Prof. Bailey's Report on the Geology of Southern New Brunswick
— Appendix A, on the Devonian Plant locality of Lancaster, by
Mr. C. F. Hartt.
These insects, it will be observed, are of older date than the
carboniferous species previously noticed, and they bore the same
relations to the land and the water of the Devonian which the
former did to those of the carboniferous period. They were all
Neuropterous insects, and allied to the Ephemeras. It is
interesting, however, to observe that, like many other ancient
animals, they show a remarkable union of characters now found
in distinct orders of insects; or constitute synthetic types, as they
have been named. Nothing of this kind is more curious than the
apparent existence of a stridulating or musical apparatus like that
of the cricket, in an insect otherwise allied to the Neuroptera. This
structure also, if rightly interpreted by Mr. Scudder, introduces
us to the sounds of the Devonian woods, bringing before our
1867.]
DAWSON — ON PALAEOZOIC INSECTS.
205
imagination the trill and hum of insect life that enlivened the
solitudes of these strange old forests.
Mr. Scudder has kindly furnished descriptions of these insects
as follows : —
Fig. 2.
" Platephemera antiqua Scudder; (Fig. 2.) — The direc-
tion of the principal nervures in this insect convinces me that
it belongs to the Ephemerina, though I have never seen
in living Ephemerina so much reticulation in the anal area as
exists here — so, too, the mode in which the intercalary nervules
arise is somewhat peculiar. It is a gigantic species, for it must
have measured five inches in expanse of wings — the fragment is a
portion of an upper wing.
Fig. 6.
" Homothetus fossilis Scudder ; (Fig. 3.) — At first sight
the neuration of the wings -^eems to agree sufficiently with
the Sialina to warrant our placing it in that family; but it
is very interesting to find, in addition to minor peculiarities
that near the base of the wing, between the two middle veins, there
is a heavy cross-vein from which new prominent veins take their
rise ; this is characteristic of the Odonata, and of that family
only. We have, therefore, a new family representing a synthetic
type which combines the features of structure now found in the
Odonata and Sialina, very distant members of the Neuroptera.
The fragment is sufficiently preserved to shew the direction, extent
and mode of branching of nearly every principal nervure. It is
206 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
evidently a portion of an upper wing ; the insect measured not far
from three one-half inches in expanse of wings.
Fi<r. 4.
" Lithentomfm Harttii Scudder ; (Fig. 4.) — This was
the first specimen discovered by Mr. 0. F. Hartt. I have
therefore named it after him : — apparently, it docs not
belong to any family of Neuroptera represented among living
forms. It agrees more closely with the family Hemeristina,
which I founded upon a fossil insect discovered in Illinois,
than it does with any other ; but is quite distinct from that,
both in the mode of division of the nervures and in the peculiar
cross-veining. The fragment which Mr. Hartt discovered is
very imperfect ; but, fortunately, preserves the most important
parts of the wing. I am inclined to think that it was a lower
wing. The insect probably measured three one-half inches in
expanse of wing.
Fig. 5.
" Xenoneura antiquorum Scudder ; (Fig. 5.) — Although
in this fragment we see only the basal half or third
of a wing, the peculiar mode of venation shows that the
insect cannot belong to any known family of Neuroptera
living or fossil ; yet it is evidently a neuropterous insect. In
addition to its other peculiarities, there is one of striking
importance, viz.: — the development of veinlets, at the base of the
wing, forming portions of concentric rings. I have endeavored in
vain to explain these away as something foreign to the wings,
accidentally introduced upon the stone ; and I know of nothing to
which it can be compared but to the stridulating organ of some
male Orthoptera ! It is difficult to tell whether the fragment
belongs to an upper or an under wing. Its expanse of wings was
probably from two to two one-half inches."
18G7.] CROSSKEY— ON GLACIAL DEPOSITS. 207
ON THE RELATION
BETWEEN THE
GLACIAL DEPOSITS OF SCOTLAND AND tTIIOSE OF CANADA.
By the Eev. Henry "W". CROSSKEY.
Principal Dawson, of Montreal, among his other great services
to Geology, has very carefully investigated the Canadian glacial
beds, and the following notes are suggested by a study of his
writings : —
I. The difference between the glacial fossil fauna of Canada and
that now existing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is far less marked
than the difference between the glacial fauna of the Clyde beds
and that now existing in the Firth. The fossil fauna of Canada,
in its general aspect, and in the proportions and characteristic
varieties of its species, is slightly more arctic than that of the
Gulf, but does not present that broad contrast with which we are
familiar between the fossil contents of our local clays and - the
living inhabitants of our waters. There are only two species in
Canada which can be regarded as locally extinct, viz., Leda
Porilandica (Gould), and Astarte Laurentiana (Lyell) ; while in
Scotland there is a very remarkable list of species fossil in the
clay, but extinct through the whole range of the neighbouring
seas. Upon the west, we find :
Tellina calcarca (proximo,.) Mangelia pyramidalis.
Saxicava (Panopcea) Nbrvegica. Natica affinis (clausa).
Astarte borealis. Trophon clathratus (scalar if ormis).
Leda permila, Yehrtina unclata.
Pecten Islandicus. Cyclostrema costulatum.
Modiolaria discors. Balanus cariosus {Darwin).
Littorina limata (Loven).
The eastern clays comprise extinct species even more artic in
character, viz. : —
Leda arctica (Porilandica, Gould). Thracia myopsis.
„ lncida. Cardium Grocnlandicum.
„ thraciseformis. Scalaria Groenlandica.
Pecten Grcenlandieus.
It is evident, therefore, from this very marked contrast, that the
change of climate in Scotland has been more complete than in
Canada. From this fact important physical consequences ensue :
the glacial epoch cannot have been caused by any of those
cataclysmal agencies to which it has been attributed. Any
heaping up of the land at the North Pole; or passage of the earth
208 the Canadian naturalist. [May-
through, colder regions of space ; or shiftings of the earth's axis ;
or alteration in the heat-conducting power of the atmosphere,
would leave, I apprehend, a more uniform distribution of climatic
results, and obliterate those delicate proportions of species, varying
in different beds of the same epoch, in exact analogy to those
variations produced by the causes now at work. To account for
the fact we are examining, there must have been a deflection of
the Gulf Stream from our coasts. The effect of the Gulf Stream
is shown by the lingering of a species like Saxicava (Panopaea)
Norvegica upon the Dogger bank, which is protected from its
influence, and subject to an arctic current, while it is extinct on
the west of Scotland. Moreover, the existence of Pect&n Islandicus
in its natural position over large beds in the glacial clay, combined
with the fact of its total absence, not only from our present sea,
but from any intermediate bed, renders its comparatively sudden
extinction by warmer currents taking the place of the more arctic,
the most probable hypothesis. The cause of extinction must have
been quiet, or its position would not have been so natural, and at
the same time sufficiently marked to permit little lingering. The
deflexion of the Gulf Stream must be considered in connection
with those movements of the land which we know to have been
going on in Scotland during the whole epoch. The subsidence
indicated by the shell beds at Airdrie and elsewhere was followed
by an elevating movement, which, judging from the peculiarly
undisturbed arrangement of different clays in various uplifted
beds, must have been very gradual. This elevating movement
itself also, is proved by the sections given by Mr. Jamieson* to
have been broken by a second, although slighter subsidence. The
shifting arrangements of the boundaries of land and water,
occasioned by these undulations of the earth's crust, would
materially affect climate, distributing variously the points of
insular and more continental temperatures, and in connection with
the deflection of the Gulf Stream, would (I am at present disposed
to think) sufficiently account for the cold of the glacial epoch.
Upon this point, however, Mr. Croll's most able and remarkable
papers give him a right to be heard, and I would venture to
suggest to him the consideration of the variable eccentricity of the
earth's orbit (as claimed by his theory) upon the climate of
Canada, so as to account for the fact that its temperature was,
* Journal of Geological Society, Vol. xxi.
1867.] CROSSKEY — ON GLACIAL DEPOSITS. 209
during the glacial epoch, so little different from that now prevailing,
while in Scotland the contrast has been so extreme.
II. Another most important point connected with the Canadian
glacial beds, as compared with those of Scotland, is that they
occur in a distinct order, whereas in the Clyde district, their order
is only a matter of inference.
Dr. Dawson gives some instructive sections. In the lower beds
are the deep water fossils, while littoral species occur in ascending
order, manifesting the gradual alteration of the old sea bottom.
In collections of Clyde fossil shells we have a mixture of deep-
sea coralline, laminarian, and littoral species ; but while we have
superimposed beaches, we have no orderly succession in any
exposed section, equivalent e.g. to that of Logan's farm, Montreal.
- By carefully collecting the fossils from each separate pit in
Scotland, and comparing them together, it may be proved, I think,
that we have beds equivalent to those of Montreal, although our
local sections are physically more obscure. Taking our glacial
beds as a whole, it cannot be said that they co-existed at one
depth, or were even synchronous. The Canadian beds justify the
conviction I have long entertained and endeavoured to work out
in the field, that our clay beds can be classified, and that there
exists a definite order to reward patient research. They also
support the proofs we have accumulated in this district of the
theory that the rise of land was gradual, and that the passage
from the ice epoch to the present was accomplished by forces
extending over that vast period of time, necessarily demanded for
those very delicate changes, involved in the distribution and
redistribution of a specific fauna. It is not simply that a few
mollusca disappear from their accustomed haunts— a great deal
more is involved in a change of climate as it affects a fauna.
Zoophytes, Foraminifera, Entomdstraca, must gradually alter
their proportions and their specific representatives, as well as
mollusca, so that between any two marked points of contrast, must
stretch vast periods of geologic time.
III. All our Clyde shells occur in beds, resting upon the oldest
boulder clay. The absolute absence of fossils, and the superposition
of the shell-bearing clays, are facts which prove that the old
boulder clays of the west of Scotland are the produce of land ice.
The boulder clay appears the base of the section quoted from
Logan's farm, just as it is of our Clyde series
Y0L-IIL * Xo.3
110 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
Undoubtedly, however, it is possible to have a boulder clay with
marine remains. This may happen in two ways — (1) a glacier
may lap over the sea, and melting, deposit the striated stones and
mud which it has gathered on its course ; or (2) striated boulders
may be dropped from floating ice upon the mud beneath, and when
the sea-bottom is uplifted, there will be a boulder clay of marine
origin.
Patches of boulder clay containing shells may thus occur along
the seaboard, as, for example, at Caithness, and on the east coast
of England; but these patches of marine boulder clay will be
newer than the clay at the base of the Clyde sections. Upon this
point I kope soon to submit a detailed argument to the Society.
Meanwhile, I remark, as a curious coincidence, that Dr. Dawson
pronounces the shells collected from an " indubitable instance of a
marine boulder clay" at Biviere-du-Loup, to be, on the whole, a
more modern assemblage than those of the Leda clay of Montreal,
which rests upon the boulder clay.
Dr. Dawson gives one or two localities for fossils in " stony clays
of the nature of true till;" but in the greater part of his sections,
the fossiliferous beds are superimposed on the boulder clay, exactly
as in the Clyde sections.
IV. Very curiously, a bed is noted beneath the boulder clay,
for which we have a Scottish equivalent. A peat deposit, with fir
roots, is found beneath boulder clay at Cape Breton, while at
Chapelhall, Airdrie, we have vegetable remains in the same
position — indicating the existence in both countries of land in
parts afterwards depressed beneath the sea and again uplifted.
The exact climate when this land existed, is believed by Dr.
Dawson to have been, at Cape Breton, that of Labrador — in this
country I believe it to have been such as to support the Elephas
primigenius, whose remains have been found beneath boulder clay
(certainly) at Kilmaurs, and (probably) at Airdrie.
V. The researches of the last few years have brought the Clyde
list of fossils into nearer relation to the Canadian list than has
hitherto been supposed. The Leda arctica from Errol is undoubt-
edly the L. PortlancUca of the Canadian beds. This species
occurs in such large quantities at Errol as to be characteristic of
that clay. The Astarte compressa of the Clyde beds is not identical
with A. Laurentiana, but often approaches exceedingly near to it.
Menestho albula has been found at Paisley. It is doubtful whether
the Menestho albula of the Canadian beds is Moller's species. Mr.
1867.] CROSSKEY — ON GLACIAL DEPOSITS. 211
J. Gwyn Jeffreys considers a specimen from Quebec to which that
name has been affixed to be Scalaria borealis. Taking the contents
of one section, as collected by Dr. Dawson (this journal, April,
1865), out of twenty species of Lamelli-branchiata, fifteen occur
fossil in Scotland, and seventeen out of twenty-seven species of
Gasteropoda.
Speaking generally, about two-thirds of the Scottish fossils at
present collected are also fossil in Canada, while the differences are
no greater than those which geographical position might easily
cause. At the period, therefore, when our glacial fossils lived in
the Scottish seas, the climate was nearly the same as that prevail-
ing in Canada during the same epoch — that is, slightly colder than
in the present Gulf of St. Lawrence. The fossils, however, can not
be considered as marking the extreme point of cold reached during
the epoch, but rather as indicating the commencement of slightly
milder climatic conditions than had hitherto prevailed. When the
deposition of the oldest boulder clay commenced (which it must
always be remembered is beneath the shell beds in the Clyde
sections), the land must have stood higher than at present, and the
temperature would be more intense than during its subsidence.
The question of climate as indicated by the fauna, thus resolves
itself into this — what conditions would produce in the Clyde a
temperature slightly colder than that of the Gulf of St. Lawrence ?
The existence of an arctic current, the wide expanse of land in
the American Arctic regions, exercising its chilling influence, and
other circumstances connected with the directions of the mount a in
ranges and heights of the watershed, well known to the physical
geographer, sufficiently account for the climate of Canada. A
corresponding series of circumstances, therefore, would adequately
explain the existence of a more arctic climate in Scotland. There
is no necessity to introduce causes for the production of cold which
do not now exist. Those alterations of level, for which there is
ample evidence, would involve re-arrangements of the relative
proportions of land and water, and vital changes in the directions
of the arctic currents. For the solution of the problems involved
in the great history indicated by the fossil fauna of Canada and
Scotland, we must first consult those great principles of physical
geography, which may now be studied in hourly action over the
surface of the globe. From Transactions of the Geol. Society of
Glssgow.
212 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
ON A SUBDIVISION
OF THE ACADIAN CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES,
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A SECTION ACROSS THESE ROCKS AT WINDSOR, N.S.
By C. Fred. Hartt, A.M.
During several excursions made to Nova Scotia, previous to the
year 1864, I visited Windsor, Brookfield, Shubenacadie, and
Stewiacke, making extensive collections of the fossils of the
carboniferous limestone, so abundant at these localities. Taking
care to keep all the species obtained from any one bed or set of
beds separate from those from any other, I soon found that certain
oroups of fossils were limited in their occurrence to certain beds,
and that by means of these the whole series might be subdivided
somewhat after the manner of the sub-carboniferous limestones of
the west. In the summer of 1864, 1 spent some time in examining
the same ground, and in working out a section exposed on the river
Avon at Windsor. The collection made at that time I had an
opportunity, through the kindness of Prof. Agassiz, of examining
at the Museum of Comparative Zoology ; but before my studies had
been brought to completion, they were interrupted by my Brazilian
journey, and as I have in this city no facilities for resuming them,
I have sent, for determination, a considerable number of these fossils
to Dr. Dawson and Mr. Billings, so that ample material will be
afforded for the establishment of the faunal differences of the
subdivisions of the Acadian carboniferous limestones, which I shall
attempt to point out in this paper.
On the right bank of the river Avon, at Windsor, a few rods
below the bridge, there begins a bluff, which, attaining in some
places a height of fifty or sixty feet, skirts the shore for the
distance of about half-a-mile above the bridge, when it gradually
descends into a tract of marsh, which occupies the shore for nearly
three-quarters of a mile further up, where there is a good exposure
of a heavy bed of limestone seen in a bluff, called the Otis King
rock. The bluff below the toll-house of the bridge is composed
of drift, a great part of the mass being derived from the under-
lying dark red, soft, friable, calcareous, marl-like sandstone. At
the toll-house the first rocks in situ appear buried deeply under
the drift deposit, thence southward, for about half the length of
the bluff above the bridge, the beds of carboniferous limestone,
1867.] IIARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 213
clayey sandstone, etc., crop out under the drift. Some of the
harder beds extend from top to bottom of the cliff, but owing to
the softness and friable nature of the marly beds, and the way in
which the beds of limestone are broken up by the action of the
weather and hidden by drift and dehris, the section is not easy to
work out. Fortunately, the line of strike of the beds is such as
to carry them out on the sloping shore, and though they are much
hidden by shingle and mud deposited by the turbid Avon, we are
able to gather material for the piecing together of our section,
and occasionally to gain a clue as to the arrangement of the beds
which is not given on the cliff.
Beginning at the beds of the toll-house, and going thence
southerly along the shore, we find the following succession of
beds : —
The first rocks seen at the toll-house are beds of limestone,
having a strike of E. 15 ° S., and a dip of 65 ° to the north-
ward, and of which a thickness of about twelve feet is visible. In
the upper part these limestones are, in their weathered state,
cream coloured, earthy, soft, and highly laminated, but with some
compact bands. They afford fucoids of a slender, flattened
cylindrical kind, without carbonaceous coating, a Productus of the
Cora type, exactly like that so common in a reef just south of the
bridge ; and a Bakevellia-like shell. In the middle portion is a
band of soft, earthy, light lead-colored limestone, apparently full
of fucoids, and with a few fragments of shells. In the lower part
there is a not very compact, light brown, weathered limestone of
a beautiful oolitic structure. Then follows, in descending order,
a bed of very friable, fine-grained, greenish sandstone, cemented by
carbonate of lime, which is succeeded by a bed of the same
character, but of a deep red color from the presence of iron ; but
this has several greenish layers. This bed occupies the shore for
a distance of about seventy-five feet. In the lower part it is much
obscured by rubbish. The cliff is then occupied for a distance of
about thirty feet (horizontal) by a limestone of a loose texture
and a light blueish color mottled with white, and probably altered
by the action of the weather. The bed is much fractured and
hidden by dehris. Then succeeds an irregular mass of breccia,
composed of angular fragments of limestone, and this rests on beds
of Jight lead-colored, highly laminated calcareous shales, and lime-
stone bands: thickness, six feet; strike, E. 15° S. ; dip, 25°
northward; fucoids. Underlying this is a highly vesicular limestone,
214 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
the cavities being lined with minute crystals of calc-spar : thick-
ness, five feet. Then come fifteen feet of light, lead-colored fissile,
often highly laminated limestone, which, from its hardness, forms
the most prominent part of the cliff, and extends in a reef down
to low-water mark. These beds are very rich in fossils.
The most characteristic fossil of this bed is a Productus of the
true Cora type, but differing from P. Lyelli De Verneuil, in its
smaller size, its long perpendicular posterior marginal prolongation,
its more prominent and less numerous surface lines, which increase
by a more regular and frequent implantation or bifurcation.*
This Productus is exceedingly common in certain layers of the
shelly limestone. Among the few other forms associated with it
is a Bakevellia, usually indifferently preserved, and a slender
branching fucoid, often preserved as a carbonaceous film ; minute
stems of crinoids occasionally occur. It is worthy of note that
crinoidal remains are exceedingly rare in the limestone of the
carboniferous about the Basin of Minas, and I have observed only
the stems, which are always minute. The dip of these beds
varies from 35 ° to 50 ° northward ; strike, same as last observed.
Succeeding these are beds of a very dark, blackish limestone,
very hard, cracking into small irregular pieces, and wearing
nodular: thickness five to six feet. This is full of fossils ; the
most characteristic is a Spirifer, which appears to differ from
Spirifer glabcr Martin, only in its smaller dimensions ; a small
Rhynconella, with large plaits (R. Ida, nob.) ; a Spirifer like
S. Octoplicatus, but larger. I have found here a single specimen
of a Phillipsia, which differs from P. Howi in wanting the
tubercles on the axial rings and pleurae of the side lobes, in the
shape of the pygidium, which is more rounded in outline, and in
which the grooves are distinctly marked on the six anterior
pleura). For this species, which appears to be new, I have
proposed the name of P. Vinclobonensis. Dr. Dawson has, in his
description of this section, in his Acadian Geology, inadvertently
placed this bed on the southern side of the gully about to be
mentioned. There is also a minute plaited Aviculopecten which
occasionally occurs in this bed. For this series of beds, characterized
by P. Cora Var. Nova-Scotica, and Spirifer Glabcr, I propose
the name of Avon Limestone.
* Mr. Billings regards this as a variety of P. Cora. It may be
designated as Yar. Nova-Scotica, this name being proposed by Mr. Hartt.
1867.] HARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 215
Underlying these beds are seven and one-half feet of calcareous
sandstone, of a light lead color, and decomposing into a soft, in-
coherent mass; then nine feet of compact, flaggy, light brown
limestone, with shaly partings, apparently without fossils ; and very
friable shales of a blueish tint, much decomposed at the surface,
and hidden by rubbish. Here we have a fault, a dislocation of about
six feet. Then comes a bed of red, very friable, marly, calcareous
sandstone, of which a thickness of about thirty feet is exposed.
Here the surface water has excavated a considerable gully through
the soft sandstone. There can be no doubt, as Dr. Dawson has
stated, that there is a fault here, for the beds on the other side
of the gully are seen dipping southward, and there is no repetition
of the strata.
Continuing the section, the first bed seen on the opposite side
of the gully is exactly like that last described, and occupies the
shore ibr some sixty feet. This is overlaid by a bed of limestone,
flaggy, with more compact bands. In the cliff these beds have a
dip southward of 50 ° , but at its foot they become more nearly
vertical, and run out some twenty feet on the beach, with a strike
of E. 10° S., and an almost vertical dip, inclining, however, to
the south about 96 ° to 95 ° . Crossing a belt of mud on the
shore at low tide, we find the same beds appearing, with the same
strike, near the bed of the river, but their dip is reversed, and
they are inclined to the northward at an angle of 25 ° to 30 ° .
The thickness of beds just described is twenty to twenty-five feet.
A bed of the red, marly sandstone, about thirty-five to forty feet
thick, next follows. It seems to be irregularly stratified, and
there are several green layers. This same bed, in ascending-
order, succeeds at low-water mark to that last mentioned.
Beds of limestone, with a strong southerly dip, next come,
occupying the cliff for a distance of sixty to seventy feet along its
base, whence they extend out on the shore for some twenty feet,
with an easterly strike and an almost vertical dip. In their line
of strike across a belt of mud and shingle, a few yards down the
beach, the same beds appear again, describing a slight curve to the
north on the inclined beach. Tracing them towards low-water
mark, they gradually change their dip towards the north, until,
at the bed of the river, it is about 60 ° N. Examined at the
base of the cliff, the limestone of these beds is of a blueish color,
weathering light brown, concretionary in the lower part, and with
a band in the middle of a beautiful oolitic structure. This lime-
216 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
stone appears to be quite unproductive of fossils, except in one or
two thin bands, which are closely packed full of minute gasteropods,
and the joints of slender stemmed crinoids. Associated with these
are occasionally found a fossil resembling a large Dentalium, but
Mr. Meek writes me that it does not belong to that genus. * The
fossils which characterize this bed seem to me to be quite distinct
from those found in the other beds. I have not observed this
limestone elsewhere.
A bed of the red, marly sandstone overlies the limestone,
appearing also at the foot of the beach, and this is overlaid
in turn by a bed of limestone, fifteen feet in thickness, having
a southward dip of 45 ° . This last bed is seen to be over-
laid by a bed of the red marly sandstone, having a layer of
a green tint about a foot thick at its base. The face of the cliff
is here not very clear, but the limestone is seen to be broken
abruptly off by a fault, and the marly sandstone to occupy the
face of the bluff from top to bottom. This fault I developed by
cutting away the face of the bluff.
The limestone last described is very compact, and of a light,
clear, leaden blue color, weathering, however, to a brown. It
seems to be made up of alternate layers of a very hard and con-
cretionary limestone, and of a softer kind, so that they wear
unequally, which gives to their upturned edges, exposed on the
sea shore, a rubbly appearance. This bed has usually been
supposed to be non-fossiliferous, and it is not mentioned by Dr.
Dawson in Acadian Geology. Struck with the resemblance the
highly tinted limestone bore to that which at Kennetcook affords
the Pliillipsia Howl of Billings, I was led to examine it with care,
and was rewarded by finding a specimen of that trilobite, together
with a Zaphrentis, common in the Kennetcook and Cockmegun
limestones, and a number of other fossils. Among these was a
Spirifer over two inches long, a valve of what Mr. Meek refers
doubtfully to Athyris lamellosa L'Eveille, a Productus quite
undistinguishable from the ordinary form of P. semi-reticulatus
and another species like P. costatus, with very long spines.
There are also several species of Myoid Lamellibranchs, and occa-
sionally one finds a minute fish tooth. An Athyris, somewhat
like A. subtilita, but distinct, occurs in this bed, both at Windsor
and Kennetcook, together with a Stenopora and a Fenestella
* It is apparently a Serpulites. — J. W. D.
1867.] HARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 217
(or Retepora), both of which are not found in the other beds.
In Dr. Dawson's collection there is a large Orthoceras and a
Bellerophon from Kennetcook. The Kennetcook limestone is
quarried for building purposes, and the library of King's College
at Windsor is partially built of it. From this limestone Professor
How has collected many of these fossils. A fucoid occurs quite
abundantly in some of the layers at Kennetcook, but I have never
detected it at Windsor.
These same beds appear low down on the shore, but badly
exposed, owing to the loose material encumbering the surface.
The same limestones, bearing the same fossils, are exposed at
Lower Stewiacke, on the Stewiacke River, near the house of Mr.
Jacob Stevens, where it has a strike of N. 50 ° E., and a dip of
45 ° S.W. This bed is so well characterized, both faunally and
lithologically, and has an extension over so large an area, that it
seems to merit a special name, and I would propose for it the
name of Kennetcook Limestone.
Continuing our examination of the bluff still farther southward
from the fault last described, we find the rocks so disintegrated
and stratification so obscured by the falling of rubbish over its
sloping face, that little else can be ascertained except the presence
of beds of marly sandstone and limestone from the oblique lines
seen on the face of the bluff. About one hundred yards beyond
the fault occurs a bed of snowy white gypsum, containing stellar
crystals of Selenite disseminated through it, which, being of a
brownish tinge, are very conspicuous on the weathered surfaces.
This gypsum was formerly quarried at this point for exportation.
If we cross the hill in the line of strike of the bed, we reach, at a
short distance from the river, the principal quarry of this vicinity
excavated in this same bed, which is here about thirty feet iii
thickness, with a strike of E. 35 ° JNL, and a dip of 1 5 ° to 30 °
to the southward. The excavation made in quarrying the gypsum
is some thirty feet deep, one hundred feet wide, and five hundred
feet long. The bed does not seem to be very regular, and it
appears to be considerably contorted.
Returning to the river side, we find the section fails from the
gypsum bed, and it is not until we reach a fence, where the shore
bends eastward, that we meet with any exposure of rock of any
interest. Here there is an irregular mass of limestone of a
brownish color, exceedingly rich in fossils, being almost wholly
made up of shells. These are often empty, so as to give the rocks
218 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
an open texture. Following the higher land of the shore eastward
along a marsh for a few rods, we find it making a bend southward
once more along a low bluff of the same limestone, and here, as
well as at the first named exposure of this limestone, beautiful
specimens of its characteristic fossils may be obtained in great
quantity. The bed is so badly exposed that its thickness cannot
be determined. It has a slight southward dip.
This bed, which I shall call the Windsor Limestone, has
afforded me a large number of very interesting species, among
which the following may be named as the most characteristic : —
Of Radiates, a few crinoid joints, very minute, have been
detected, but they are by no means common. A Stenopora
{Cerio'pora spongites of Acadian Geology) is exceedingly
common, and very characteristic of this bed. The fauna of this
bed is not rich in Articulates, but it has afforded a Leperditia, a
Serpula (?), and part of the cephalo-thorax of another crustacean
(a Decapod?), which is in the hands of Dr. Dawson and Mr.
Billings for study.*
It is in Mollusks that this bed is especially rich, and of these
the following may be named : —
Bryozoans. — A species of Fenestella, different from the
species occuring elsewhere ; very rare.
Brachio-PODS. — Rliynchonella Evangelina, nobf, very common.
This has the characteristic oral supports of Rhynconella, which
are easily examined, a large proportion of the specimens being
hollow. A small Productus of the Cora type is very abundant.
It is very different from the other Producti of Nova Scotia, and
it differs from P. Lyelli DeVerneuil, in being constantly smaller,
more globose, and wanting in the large marginal prolongations.
A Terebratula {T. saccuhis Mart.) is a common fossil in this
bed. I have examined large numbers of specimens of this form,
and have compared them, not only with the T. saccuhis of
Davidson's paper, from the overlying bed, but also with specimens
of that species from de Koninck's collections in the Museum of
* The specimen is too imperfect for determination. — J. W. D.
t This is probably the shell which Davidson has referred to in his
paper on Acadian Carboniferous Brachiopods as Eh. pu gnus, but it bears
a strikingresemblance to the form which he has figured as CamarojphoHa
globulina ? This is certainly a Rhynconella, tor it has the characteristic
oral supports of the genus. It is quite distinct from Eh. Pug mis.
1867.] HARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 219
Comparative Zoology, but I cannot satisfy myself that they are
specifically identical. There is a not uncommon Terebratula-like
shell, which shows, finely preserved, the characteristic loop of
Centronella (C. Anna Hartt). This is the first evidence we have
of the existence of this genus above the Devonian.
Lamillibranchs. — Several species of Aviculopecten are
especially abundant. Of one of these, A. simplex Daws., Mr.
Meek writes me as follows : " There are among the Windsor
collection several good specimens of a little shell, exceedingly like
the so-called Pec fen pusillus (not a true Pecten), from the
European permian rocks. They are very similar, and, indeed,
almost the only differences observable on direct comparison with
good European specimens now before me. are the slightly more
ventricose form of the valves, and the rather more prominent
anterior ear of the left valve of the Windsor shell. Perhaps this
ear, in its left valve, is also a little more defined from the swell of
the umbo in some of the large specimens from Windsor, but on
comparing examples of the same size as the German specimens
here (which are not near so large as some figured in foreign
works), it is difficult to see characters by which they can be
distinguished. They are, in fact, more nearly alike than the figures
given of P. pusillus by different European authorities, or, in some
cases, by the same author, as varieties of that species. In short,
if found associated in the same rock at the same locality with P.
pasillus, few would suspect them to be distinct species."
Aviculopecten fallax McCoy ? Windsor and de Bert River,
Dr. Dawson ; A. Nova-Scotica Daws., Schubenacadie, Dr.
Dawson ; Pteronites Gayensis Daws., Gay's River, Dr. Dawson ;
Macrodon elegans De Koninck ? Windsor, Dr. Dawson and
Mr. Hartt; Modiola Pooli Daws., Windsor, Poole and Hartt.
Besides the above, there are several other Lamillibranchs not
yet determined.
Gasteropods. — Naticopsis Howi, nob., one of the commonest
fossils of the Avon beds. I have detected only a single fragment
of Conularia in these beds, and this appears to be different from
the species of the overlying beds.
Cephalopods. — A single Orthoceras has been collected at
Windsor.
The Windsor limestone is well developed at Brookfield and
Stewiacke, and Gay's River, where it holds the same fossils as at
Windsor. I have not had an opportunity of examining extensive
220 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
collections from the other Acadian localities, so that I am unable
to report its existence elsewhere.
At the eastern end of the little bluff last described, there is an
accumulation of broken masses of a limestone, similar to that of
the Windsor limestone, but it is lighter in color, more compact, of
a light brownish tint, and composed almost entirely of fossil
remains, the species are, with rare exceptions, distinct from those
which are found in the Windsor limestone. Among the masses of
rock here found there is not a single piece from the Avon beds, so
that it is evident that here there is a bed of limestone, which
overlies the Avon beds. Three quarters of a mile farther up the
river, across a wide marsh, is the Otis King rock, which is composed
of the same limestone and furnishes the same fossils. Here,
however, the beds are seen with a slight northward dip. The beds
in their lower part are less compact than in the upper, where they
pass into a very hard fine-grained limestone, capable of taking a
high polish. Fossils occur all through the bed, but they are
especially abundant in the upper part. This bed which I would
call the Stewiacke limestone, appears to be overlaid by a bed of
gypsum, seen between the two localities, at the head of the marsh,
which appears to occupy a synclinal valley. The Stewiacke
limestone is very rich in beautifully preserved fossils.
Radiates. — Of Radiates there is a great paucity of species, as
elsewhere in Nova Scotia ; minute crinoid stems are occasionally
found, and there is a pretty Stenopora (S. exilis Daws.) which
is very common, and is one of the most characteristic fossils of this
limestone.
Articulates. — Of Articulates there are very few species, a
Serpula (?) tube occurs rarely, together with a Leperditia and a
Spirorbis.
Mollusks are the reigning type. Bryozoans are represented
by a Fenestella, F. Lyelli Daws. This is exceedingly abundant
and eminently characteristic of this limestone, wherever it occurs.
Of Brachiopods there are many representatives. Prodaetus
Lyelli De Verneuil, (P. Cora,) is one of the commonest fossils
both at Windsor and elsewhere, and this is associated with an
abundance of P. semi-reticulatus, and the Terebratula referred
by the last mentioned author to T. Sacculus Martin, and the forms
referred by him to Athyris subtilita, fipirifer acuticostata De
Koninck, and Splriftrina cristata. Besides there are a number
of Rhynconellse and other Brachiopods, which appear to be
1867.] IIARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 221
confined to this bed. Lamellibranchs are abundant, and among
the most characteristic may be named the following : —
Avicuhpecten reticulata, Daws., Windsor and Gay's River;
A. Nova-Scot lea Daws., (.4. plicata of Acadian Geology);
Macrodon Hardingii Daws., very characteristic; Conocardium
Acadicum, nob., rare. The Gasteropods are all minute and as
yet undetermined. A Conularia is occasionally met with at
Windsor and Stewiacke.
Of the Cephalopods, we have a large Nautiloid shell, Nautilus
(Cryptoceras) Avonensis Daws., not uncommon at Windsor and
Stewiacke; a Trematodiscus (?), and also two or more species of
Orthoceras. I cannot report a single fragment of a vertebrate for
the Stewiacke limestone. *
The question naturally arises as to the relative position of these
beds, but this is one which it seems impossible to settle from the
Windsor section, and I have seen no localities elsewhere, where
their relations to one another were distinctly exhibited. I think
that there can be no doubt that the Stewiacke limestone is the
highest, the Windsor limestone coming next below, the Kennetcook
limestone appears to come next in order, and the oolitic fossiliferous
band, to which I give no name, underlies this again, but the Avon
limestone at Windsor, is separated from the rest by a fault, and
although I believe it to be the lowest of the four limestones, it may
be that subsequent observations made elsewhere, may not confirm
that belief. These carboniferous limestones whenever they occur, are
much disturbed and broken up, while the disintegration of the
intercalated soft marly strata and gypsum beds, adds to the
obscurity of the exposures.
The resemblance borne by the faunae of the Acadian carbon-
iferous limestone to the permian of Europe, has been ably discussed
by Lyell, Dawson and Davidson ; but these gentlemen have united
in expressing the opinion that they are really members of the
carboniferous system. In studying the Windsor fossils at the
Museum of Comparative Zoology, I failed to find any marked
resemblance between them and those of the sub-carboniferous of
the West, while I was exceedingly struck with the greater
similarity borne by these in their fades to the fauna of the Kansas
permo-carboniferous ; and in a list of New Brunswick fossils, which
I contributed to Professor Bailey's Report on the Geology of the
* The whole of the fossils referred to in this paper, will be described
in the forthcoming edition of Dr. Dawson's Acadian Geology. — Eds.
222 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
Southern Counties of New Brunswick, I ventured to express a
doubt as to the precise age of the Acadian carboniferous limestones,
for a few species collected in the vicinity of the Albert mines had
the same permo-carboniferous look as those at Windsor. Dr. J.
S. Newberry, in looking over my collection, was also impressed
with their permo-carboniferous fades. At his suggestion, I sent
a small collection of these fossils to Mr. Meek, who writes me as
follows : — "A small collection of these same fossils from Windsor
was presented to the Smithsonian Institution, by Dr. E. Foreman,
some three or four years since, and they have remained a puzzle
to me ever since, If they had been brought in from some unex-
plored region of the Rocky Mountains, for instance, I confess I
should have referred them to the horizon of the upper coal
measures, or to that of a series of rocks known in Kansas as the
permo-carboniferous, from the remarkable mingling in them of
coal measure and permian types there ; but in reading over the
able publications of Dr. Dawson, Sir Charles Lyell, and Mr.
Davidson, on the age of these Nova Scotian beds, I was led to the
conclusion that this must be one of those very rare cases where
physical structure shows palaeontology to be at fault. Although
I am not positively sure that any of the species are absolutely
identical with those of the higher horizon, these fossils certainly
present a remarkable permo-carboniferous look, and, when viewed
collectively, they are unlike the western sub-carboniferous fauna.
For instance, there are here from Windsor several good specimens,
showing both valves, with the surface markings of an Aviculo-
pecten undistinguishable by any characters yet observed from A.
OccidentaUs of Shumard (Peeten Cleavelandicus Swallow), one
of our most common and characteristic coal measure, permo-
carboniferous and permian species in the west, which, so far as
yet known, has never been found below the upper coal measures,
at any rate in the western localities. Another shell represented
in the collections from Windsor by casts, is very similar to
varieties of the so-called Mytilus squamosus from the English
permian. It has almost precisely the form, and agrees in size, as
well as in showing between the beaks the cast of a little depression
on a shelf or septum within the beaks, such as we often see in
species of Myalina, to which these shells doubtless belong.
Another little shell, from Windsor, is quite or nearly like a little
permo-carboniferous species in the west, known as SedpwicMa ?
concava. M. and H. ; while you have from the same casts of an
1867.] HARTT — ON CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONES. 223
Edmundia very like a western coal measure form. . . Taking
the whole group of Windsor Mollusca, including the Lamillibranchs,
any one familiar with the fossils of the western coal measure and
permo-carboniferous beds, would, upon pakeontological grounds
alone, be very strongly inclined to refer the Windsor rocks at least
to the upper coal measures." This conclusion Mr. Meek hardly
feels that we ought to accept, seeing that so many able geologists
have united in placing the beds in the sub-carboniferous, but
expresses his opinion that " it may be an example of what
Barrande would call an upper coal measure, or even permo-
carboniferous fauna, < colonized ' far back in the sub-carboniferous
period."
The carboniferous limestones and marls of Windsor certainly
overlie the plant bearing shales and sandstones of the lower coal
measures, which are seen exposed at Windsor Brook, Horton
Bluff, Gaspereaux, and Wolfville, skirting the edge of the
carboniferous basin ; and Dr. Dawson has described these marine
limestones, marls and gypsums as occupying a synclinal trough in
these lower coal measure strata, extending from Windsor to
Stewiache, a distance of some fifty miles.* Over this region the
middle coal measures do not occur, so that of these limestones
there is no stratigraphical evidence to contradict the evidence
afforded by palaeontology as to their permo-carboniferous age, and
in this region Dr. Dawson has suggested that the upper limestones
may represent the coal measures. I have not had any opportunity
of studying these limestones except about the Basin of Minas
neither have I been able to examine sufficient suites of fossils to
enable me to determine whether the above divisions I have marked-
out obtain elsewhere. From a careful study of the evidence
brought forward by Dr. Dawson, it certainly seems proven that
the limestones, with their fossils, underlie the true coal measures
in other parts of Nova Scotia.
This whole subject is one of great interest, and needs the most
careful investigation. It will now be of much importance to have
the limestones of north-eastern Nova Scotia and of Cape
Breton compared with those of the Basin of Minas, in order to
ascertain whether the same divisions obtain there as at Windsor.
Another interesting point to be studied is the extension of the
marly sandstones and gypsums, the conditions of their deposition,
and the influence which they may have had in the extinction of
* Proceedings of Geological Society, Yol. xv., Part I., pp764U65^
224 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
life over the regions they occupy. Might not some material be
gathered from this new and rich field bearing on that vexed
question of descent with modification ?
New York, May 28th, 18G7.
Note by Dr. Dawson. — Much credit is due to Mr. Hartt for
the careful manner in which he has worked up the succession of
fossils in the limestones of the Avon estuary. I have endeavoured,
in the new edition of Acadian Geology, to apply his results to
other parts of Nova Scotia. In regard to the resemblance of the
Windsor fauna to the permo-carboniferous of the west, it is to be
observed — (1) That no such distinction as sub-carboniferous and
carboniferous can hold in Nova Scotia. The Windsor fauna is
simply the marine fauna of the carboniferous, and some of the
beds may be coeval with the coal measures, as I suggested many
years ago (Acad. Geol. 1st. Ed.). (2) The lithological character
of these beds is like that of the permian, and similar sea bottoms
of different periods often present resemblances of fauna. (3)
That the fauna in question actually lived in the lower carboniferous
period, is proved by the sections in Cumberland, Pictou and Cape
Breton, which show the limestones with these shells lying below
the productive coal measures. (4) It is to be observed that the
supposed premo-carboniferous fades applies to the upper members
of the Windsor limestones more especially. I have fully illustrated
these points in the new edition of Acadian Geology.
1867.] HUNT — THE CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 225
ON THE CHEMISTRY OF THE PRIMEVAL EARTH.
Bv T. Sterrt Hunt, LL.D.. P.K.S.*
The natural history of our planet, to which we give the name
of geology, is, necessarily, a very complex science, including, as it
does, the concrete sciences of mineralogy, of botany and zoology,
and the abstract sciences chemistry and physics. These latter
sustain a necessary and very important relation to the whole
process of development of our earth, from its earliest ages, and
we find that the same chemical laws which have presided over its
changes, apply also to those of extra-terrestrial matter. Recent
investigations show the presence in the sun, and even in the fixed
stars — suns of other systems — the same chemical elements as in
our own planet. The spectroscope, that marvellous instrument,
has, in the hands of modern investigators, thrown new light upon
the composition of the farthest bodies of the universe, and has
made clear many points which the telescope was impotent to
resolve. The results of extra-terrestrial spectroscopic research
have lately been set forth in an admirable manner by one of its
most successful students, Mr. Huggins. We see, by its aid, matter
in all its stages, and trace the process of condensation and the
formation of worlds. It is long since Herschel, the first of his
illustrious name, conceived the nebulae, which his telescope could
not resolve, to be the uncondensed matter from which worlds are
made. Subsequent astronomers, with more powerful glasses, were
able to show that many of these nebulae are really groups of stars,
and thus a doubt was thrown over the existence in space of nebulous
luminous matter; but the spectroscope has now placed the matter
beyond doubt. By its aid, we find in the heavens, planets, bodies
like our earth, shining only by reflected light ; suns, self luminous,
radiating light from solid matter ; and, moreover, true nebulae, or
masses of luminous gaseous matter. These three forms represent
three distinct phases in the condensation of the primeval matter,
from which our own and other planetary systems have been formed.
This nebulous matter is conceived to be so intensely heated as
to be in the state of true gas or vapour, and, for this reason, feebly
* Keport of a lecture delivered before the Royal Institution of Great
Britain, London, May 31st, 1867, and reprinted from the Proceeding of
the Royal Institution.
Vol. III. O No. 3
226 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
luminous when compared with the sun. It would be out of place,
on the present occasion, to discuss the detailed results of spectro-
scopic investigation, or the beautiful and ingenious methods by
which modern science has shown the existence in the sun, and in
many other luminous bodies in space, of the same chemical
elements that are met with in our earth, and even in our own
bodies.
Calculations based on the amount of light and heat radiated
from the sun show that the temperature which reigns at its surface
is so great that we can hardly form an adequate idea of it. Of
the chemical relations of such intensely heated matter, modern
chemistry has made known to us some curious facts, which help
to throw light on the constitution and luminosity of the sun.
Heat, under ordinary conditions, is favourable to chemical com-
bination, but a higher temperature reverses all affinities. Thus,
the so-called noble metals, gold, silver, mercury, etc., unite with
oxygen and other elements ; but these compounds are decomposed
by heat, and the pure metals are regenerated. A similar reaction
was many years since shown by Mr. Grove with regard to water,
whose elements — oxygen and hydrogen — when mingled and kindled
by flame, or by the electric spark, unite to form water, which, how-
ever, at a much higher temperature, is again resolved into its
component gases. Hence, if we had these two gases existing in
admixture at a very high temperature, cold would actually effect
their combination precisely as heat would do if the mixed gases
were at the ordinary temperature, and literally it would be found
that " frost performs the effect of fire." The recent researches
of Henry Ste.-Claire Deville and others go far to show that this
breaking up of compounds, or dissociation of elements by intense
heat, is a principle of universal application ; so that we may
suppose that all the elements which make up the sun or our planet,
would, when so intensely heated as to be in that gaseous condition
which all matter is capable of assuming, remain uncombined —
'that is to say, would exist together in the condition of what we
call chemical elements, whose further dissociation in stellar or
nebulous masses may even give us evidence of matter still more
elemental than that revealed by the experiments of the laboratory,
where we can only conjecture the compound nature of many of the
so-called elementary substances.
The sun, then, is to be conceived as an immense mass of
intensely heated, gaseous and dissociated matter, so condensed,
1867.] HUNT THE CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 227
however, that notwithstanding its excessive temperature, it has a
specific gravity not much below that of water ; probably offering
a condition analogous to that which Cagniard de la Tour observed
for volatile bodies when submitted to great pressure at tempera-
tures much above their boiling point. The radiation of heat,
going on from the surface of such an intensely heated mass of
uncombined gases, will produce a superficial cooling, which will
permit the combination of certain elements and the production of
solid or liquid particles, which, suspended in the still dissociated
vapours, become intensely luminous and form the solar photo-
sphere. The condensed particles, carried down into the intensely
heated mass, again meet with a heat of dissociation ; so that the
process of combination at the surface is incessantly renewed, while
the heat of the sun may be supposed to be maintained by the slow
condensation of its mass; a diminution by To\roth of its present
diameter being sufficient, according to Helmholtz, to maintain the
present supply of heat for 21,000 years.
This hypothesis of the nature of the sun and of the luminous
process going on at its surface is the one lately put forward by
Faye, and although it has met with opposition, appears to be that
which accords best with our present knowledge of the chemical
and physical conditions of matter, such as we must suppose it to
exist in the condensing gaseous mass, which according to the
nebular hypothesis, should form the centre of our solar system.
Taking this, as we have already done, for granted, it matters little
whether we imagine the different planets to have been successively
detached as rings during the rotation of the primal mass, as is
generally conceived, or whether we admit with Chacornac a process
of aggregation or concretion, operating within the primal nebular
mass, resulting in the production of sun and planets. In either
case we come to the conclusion that our earth must at one time
have been in an intensely heated gaseous condition, such as the
sun now presents, self-luminous, and with a process of condensation
going on at first at the surface only, until by cooling it must have
reached the point were the gaseous centre was exchanged for one
of combined and liquefied matter.
Here commences the chemistry of the earth, to the discussion
of which the foregoing considerations have been only prelimiuaiy.
So long as the gaseous condition of the earth lasted, we may
suppose the whole mass to have been homogeneous ; but when the
temperature became so reduced that the existence of chemical
228 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
compounds at the centre became possible, those which were most
stable at the elevated temperature then prevailing, would be first
formed. Thus, for example, while compounds of oxygen with
mercury or even with hydrogen could not exist, oxides of silicon,
aluminium, calcium, magnesium, and iron might be formed and
condense in a liquid form at the centre of the globe. By pro-
gressive cooling, still other elements would be removed from the
gaseous mass, which would form the atmosphere of the non-gaseous
nucleus. We may suppose an arrangement of the condensed
matters at the centre according to their respective specific
gravities, and thus the fact that the density of the earth as a
whole is about twice the mean density of the matters which form
its solid surface may be explained. Metallic or metalloidal com-
pounds of elements, grouped differently from any compounds
known to us, and far more dense, may exist in the centre of the
earth.
The process of combination and cooling having gone on until
those elements which are not volatile in the heat of our ordinary
furnaces were condensed into a liquid form, we may here inquire
what would be the result, upon the mass, of a further reduction of
temperature. It is generally assumed that in the cooling of a
liquid globe of mineral matter, congelation would commence at the
surface, as in the case of water ; but water offers an exception to most
other liquids, inasmuch as it is denser in the liquid than in the
solid form. Hence, ice floats on water, and freezing water becomes
covered with a layer of ice, which protects the liquid below. With
most other matters, however, and notably with the various mineral
and earthy compounds analogous to those which may be supposed
to have formed the fiery-fluid earth, numerous and careful experi-
ments show that the products of solidification are much denser
than the liquid mass; so that solidification would have commenced
at the centre, whose temperature would thus be the congealing
point of these liquid compounds. The important researches of
Hopkins and Fairbairn on the influence of pressure in augmenting
the melting point of such compounds as contract in solidifying, are
to be considered in this connection.
It is with the superficial portions of the fused mineral mass of
the globe that we have now to do; since there is no good reason
for supposing that the deeply seated portions have intervened in
any direct manner in the production of the rocks which form the
superficial crust. This, at the time of its first solidification,
18G7.] HUNT — THE CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 220
presented probably au irregular, diversified surface from the result
of contraction of the congealing mass, which at last formed a liquid
bath of no great depth, surrounding the solid nucleus. It is to the
composition of this crust that we must direct our attention, since
therein would be found all the elements (with the exception of
such as were still in the gaseous form) now met within the known
rocks of the earth. This crust is now everywhere buried beneath
its own ruins, and we can only from chemical considerations
attempt to reconstruct it. If we consider the conditions through
which it has passed, and the chemical affinities which must have
come into play, we shall see that there are just what would now
result if the solid land, sea, and air were made to react upon each
other under the influence of intense heat. To the chemist it is at
once evident that from this would result the conversion of all
carbonates, chlorides and sulphates into silicates, and the separa-
tion of the carbon, chlorine, and sulphur in the form of acid gases,
which, with nitrogen, watery vapour, and a probable excess of
oxygen, would form the dense primeval atmosphere. The resulting
fused mass would contain all the bases as silicates, and must have
much resembled in composition certain furnace-slags or volcanic
glasses. The atmosphere, charged with acid gases which sur-
rounded this primitive rock must have been of immense density.
Under the pressure of such a high barometric column, condensa-
tion would take place at a temperature much above the present
boiling point of water, and the depressed portions of the half-
cooled crust would be flooded with a highly heated solution of
hydrochloric acid, whose action in decomposing the silicates is
easily intelligible to the chemist. The formation of chlorides of
the various basis, and the separation of silica, would go on until
the affinities of the acid were satisfied, and there would be a separa-
tion of silica, taking the form of quartz, and the production of
a sea-water holding in solution,^ besides the chlorides of sodium,
calcium, and magnesium, salts of aluminium and other metallic
basis. The atmosphere, being thus deprived of its volatile chlorine
and sulphur compounds, would approximate to that of our own
time, but differ in its greater amount of carbonic acid.
We next enter into the second phase in the action of the atmos-
phere upon the earth's crust. This, unlike the first, which was
subaqueous, or operative only on the portion covered with the
precipitated water, is sub-aerial, and consists in the decomposition
of the exposed parts of the primitive crust under the influence of
230 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
the carbonic acid and moisture of the air, which convert the
complex silicates of the crust into a silicate of alumina, or clay,
while the separated lime, magnesia, and alkalies, being converted
into carbonates, are carried down into the sea in a state of solution.
The first effect of these dissolved carbonates would be to pre-
cipitate the dissolved allumina and the heavy metals, after which
would result a decomposition of the chloride of calcium of the
sea-water, resulting in the production of carbonate of lime or lime-
stone, and chloride of sodium or common salt. This process is one
still going on at the earth's surface, slowly breaking down and
destroying the hardest rocks, and, aided by mechanical processes,
transforming them into clays ; although the action, from the com-
parative rarity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, is less energetic
than in earlier times, when the abundance of this gas, and a higher
temperature, favoured the chemical decomposition of the rocks.
But now, as then, every clod of clay formed from the decay of a
crystalline rock corresponded to an equivalent of carbonic acid
abstracted from the atmosphere, and equivalents of carbonate of
lime and common salt formed from the chloride of calcium of the
sea-water.
It is very instructive, in this connection, to compare the com-
position of the waters of the modern ocean with that of the sea in
ancient times, whose composition we learn from the fossil sea-
waters which are still to be found in certain regions, imprisoned
in the pores of the older stratified rocks. These are vastly richer in
salts of lime and magnesia than those of the present sea, from
which have been separated, by chemical processes, all the carbonate
of lime of our limestones, with the exception of that derived from
the sub-aerial decay of calcareous and magnesian silicates belonging
to the primitive crust.
The gradual removal, in the form of carbonate of lime, of the
carbonic acid from the primeval atmosphere, has been connected with
areat changes in the organic life of the globe. The air was doubtless
at first unfit for the respiration of warm-blooded animals, and we
find the higher forms of life coming gradually into existence as
we approach the present period of a purer air. Calculations lead
us to conclude that the amount of carbon thus removed in the form
of carbonic acid has been so enormous, that we must suppose the
earlier forms of air-breathing animals to have been peculiarly
adapted to live in an atmosphere which would probably be too
impure to support modern reptilian life. The agency of plants in
1867. J HUNT — THE CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 231
purifying the primitive atmosphere was long since pointed out by
Brongniart, and our great stores of fossil fuel have been derived
from the decomposition, by the ancient vegetation, of the excess of
carbonic acid of the early atmosphere, which through this agency was
exchanged for oxygen gas. In this connection the vegetation of
former periods presents the curious phenomenon of plants allied to
those now growing beneath the tropics, flourishing within the polar
circles. Many ingenious hypotheses have been proposed to account
for the warmer climate of earlier times, but are at best unsatisfac-
tory, and it appears to me that the true solution of the problem
may be found in the constitution of the early atmosphere, when
considered in the light of Dr. Tyndall's beautiful researches
on radiant heat. He has found that the presence of a few hun-
dredths of carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere, while offering
almost no obstacle to the passage of the solar rays, would suffice
to prevent almost entirely the loss by radiation of obscure heat, so
that the surface of the land beneath such an atmosphere would
become like a vast orchard-house, in which the conditions of climate
necessary to a luxuriant vegetation would be extended even to the
polar regions. This peculiar condition of the early atmosphere
cannot fail to have influenced in many other ways the processes going
on at the earth's surface. To take a single example : one of the
processes by which gypsum may be produced at the earth's surface
involves the simultaneous production of carbonate of magnesia.
This, being more soluble than the gypsum, is not always now
found associated with it; but we have indirect evidence that it
was formed and subsequently carried away, in the case of many
gypsum deposits, whose thickness indicates a long continuance ^f
the process under conditions much more perfect and complete than
we can attain under our present atmosphere. While studying
this reaction I was led to inquire whether the carbonic acid of the
earlier periods might not have favoured the formation of gypsum ;
and I found, by repeating the experiments in an artificial atmos-
phere impregnated with carbonic acid, that such was really the
case. We may thence conclude that the peculiar composition of
the primeval atmosphere was the essential condition under which
the great deposits of gypsum, generally associated with magnesian
limestones, were formed.
The reactions of the atmosphere which we have considered,
would have the effect of breaking down and disintegrating the
surface of the primeval globe, covering it everywhere with beds of
232 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
stratified rock of mechanical or of chemical origin. These would
now so deeply cover the partially cooled surface that the amount
of heat escaping from below is inconsiderable, although in earlier
times it was very mnch greater, and the increase of temperature
met with in descending into the earth must have been many times
more rapid than now. The effect of this heat upon the buried
sediments would be to soften them, producing new chemical
reactions between their elements, and converting them into what
are known as crystalline or metamorphic rocks, such as gneiss,
greenstone, granite, etc. We are often told that granite is the
primitive rock or substratum of the earth, but this is not only
unproved, but extremely improbable. As I endeavoured to show
in the early part of this discourse, the composition of this primitive
rock, now everywhere hidden, must have been very much like that
of a slag or lava ; and there are excellent chemical reasons for
maintaining that granite is in every case a rock of sedimentary
origin — that is to say, it is made up of materials which were
deposited from water, like beds of modern sand and gravel, and
includes in its composition quartz, which, so far as we know, can
only be generated by aqueous agencies, and at comparatively low
temperatures.
The action of heat upon many buried sedimentary rocks, how-
ever, not only softens or melts them, but gives rise to a great
disengagement of gases, such as carbonic and hydrochloric acids,
and sulphur compounds, all results of the reaction of the elements
of sedimentary rocks, heated in presence of the water which every-
where filled their pores. In the products thus generated we have
a rational explanation of the chemical phenomena of volcanoes,
which are vents through which these fused rocks and confined
gases find their way to the surface of the earth. In some cases,
as where there is no disengagement of gases, the fused or half-
fused rocks solidify in situ, or in rents or fissures in the overlying
strata, and constitute eruptive or plutonic rocks like granite and
basalt.
This theory of volcanic phenomena was put forward in germ by
Sir John F. W. Herschel thirty years since, and, as I have dur-
ing the past few years endeavoured to show, it is the one most in
accordance with what we know both of the chemistry and the
physics of the earth. That all volcanic and plutonic phenomena
have their seat in the deeply buried and softened zone of sedimen-
tary deposits of the earth, and not in its primitive nucleus,
18G7.] HtJNT — THE CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 233
accords with the conclusions already arrived at relative to the
solidity of that nucleus, with the geological relations of these
phenomena as I have elsewhere shown ; and also with the remark-
able mathematical and astronomical deductions of the late Mr.
Hopkins, of Cambridge, based upon the phenomena of precession
and nutation ; those of Archdeacon Pratt ; and those of Pro-
fessor Thompson on the theory of the tides ; all of which lead to
the same conclusion — namely, that the earth, if not solid to the
centre, must have a crust several hundred miles in thickness,
which would practically exclude it from any participation in the
plutonic phenomena of the earth's surface, except such as would
result from its high temperature communicated by conduction to
the sedimentary strata reposing upon it.
The old question between the plutonists and the neptunists,
which divided the scientific world in the last generation, was, in
brief, this — whether fire or water had been the great agent in giv-
ing origin and form to the rocks of the earth's crust. While
some maintained the direct igneous origin of such rocks as gneiss,
mica-schist, and serpentine, and ascribed to fire the filling of
metallic veins, others — the nuptunial school — were disposed to
shut their eyes to the evidences of igneous action on the earth,
and even sought to derive all rocks from a primal aqueous magma.
In the light of the exposition which I have laid before you this
evening, we can, I think, render justice to both of these opposing
schools. We have seen how actions dependent on water and acid
solutions have operated on the primitive plutonic mass, and how
the resulting aqueous sediments, when deeply buried, come again
within the domain of fire, to be transformed into crystalline and
so-called plutonic or volcanic rocks.
The scheme which I have endeavored to put before you in the
short time alloted, is, as I have endeavoured to show, in strict
conformity with known chemical laws and the facts of physical
and geological science. Did time permit, I would gladly have
attempted to demonstrate at greater length its adaptation to the
explanation of the origin of the various classes of rocks, of metallic
veins and deposits, of mineral springs, and of gaseous exhalations.
1 shall not, however, have failed in my object, if, in the hour
which we have spent together, I shall have succeeded in showing
that chemistry is able to throw a great light upon the history of the
formation of our globe, and to explain in a satisfactory manner
some of the most difficult problems of geology ; and I feel that
234 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
there is a peculiar fitness in bringing such an exposition before
the members of this Royal Institution, which has been for so
many years devoted to the study of pure science, and whose glory
it is, through the illustrious men who have filled, and those who
now fill, its professorial chairs, to have contributed more than any
other school in the world to the progress of modern chemistry and
physics.
REVIEW.
" Manual of the Botany of the Northern United
States."
By Asa Gray, Fisher Professor of Natural History in
Harvard University. New York, 1867.
A fifth edition of this very useful manual has been recently
issued. The author has, to a great extent, re- written the work,
and, in the elaboration of some parts, has received active co-opera-
tion from some other American botanists, prominent among whom
are Dr. George Engelmann and Prof. D. C. Eaton. Important
changes in the arrangement of some of the orders and genera have
been embodied in this edition ; the geographical range of very
many species has been extended ; naturalized as well as indigenous
plants — some familiar as Canadian — not previously known to
occur within the Northern United States (as limited by the author)
have been recently discovered and are now included ; and to the
work have been added not a few new species.
In the present edition there are many points of considerable
interest to Canadian botanists.
Among the orders several noticeable changes occur. The
Cabombeae are treated by the author as constituting a sub-order
of Nymphasaceae, and the Linmantheas, Balsamineoa and
Oxalideae as sub-orders of Geraniaceae. This comprehensive view
of Geraniaceae is that originally entertained by Jussieu, the
founder of the order, but regarding which difference of opinion
has existed among later botanists. The irregular, unsymetrical
flowers, the usually fewer sepals, petals, and stamens, the spur or
sac on the posterior sepal, the simple leaves, as well as other dis-
tinguishing characters of the Balsams, seem to entitle, at least,
1867.] review. 235
them to rank as a distinct order. The Parnassise, which in many
respects approach the Hypericacese, but the flowers of which are,
as indicated in former editions of the Manual, sometimes clearly
perigynous, and the Grossulariae are removed by the author to
Saxifragaceae. The Halorageae, formerly regarded as a sub-order
of Onagraceae, he now considers to have characters sufficient to
constitute an ordt%\ Under Liliacese, as here extended and re-
arranged, are included the Trillidese, Melanthiese, and Uvularieae.
Among the genera there are not many changes to note.
Atragine, distinguished by the presence of petals which gradually
merge into stamens, is included in Clematis. Iodanthus and
Turritis are referred to Arabis, and Alsine, Mcehringia, and
Honkenya, also considered by some authors, as well as in former
editions, as genera, and of which the last named has considerable
claims to generic distinction, are comprised in Arenaria, Further,
among endogens, the older genus Habenaria, distinguished from
Orchis by its naked and exposed separate glands or viscid disks,
is revived in this edition, and the Gymnadenia and Platanthera of
former editions referred to it. Whilst on the subject of genera,
it may be added that it admits of grave doubt whether an author
when changing a species from one genus to another should wholly
suppress the name of the original describer.
Mr. Paine's new Water Lily, Nyrnphcea tuberosa, from Oneida
Lake and other parts of the Union, and which has been recently
observed near Belleville by Mr. Macoun, is fully described.
Arabis petrcea Lam., which occurs on the Canadian side of Lake
Superior, appears now as a Uuited States plant, having been
found on Willoughby Mountain by Mr. Horace Mann. Oxytro-
pls campestris DC, it will interest Quebec and New Brunswick
botanists, is to be looked for about the Maine boundary line.
The other species, 0. Lamberii Pursh, an interesting local plant
of the Province of Quebec, is another noticeable addition to Dr.
Gray's work. Such are also Parnassia parviflora DC, one of
our Anticosti plants, which has been observed on the north-west
shore of Lake Michigan, and Sedum Rhodiola DC, a rather
boreal plant of Anticosti, Labrador, and Newfoundland, which has
been met with in Maine and, curiously enough, in Pennsylvania
on cliffs of the Delaware Biver above Easton. Among other
recent additions of interest to the flora of tne Northern United
States there may be mentioned, as species previously known to
occur in either Quebec or Ontario, Matricaria inodora Linn, a
236 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
native of the far-west, introduced from Europe into Maine ;
Senecio pseudo-arnica, Less., a plant of Anticosti and northward,
detected on Grand Manan Island, off the coast of Maine ; Pole-
mon'ium ceeruleum Linn., and Corispermwm hyssopifolium Linn.,
both western plants, the latter apparently extending eastward ;
Rumex patientia Linn., a stray introduction into both countries
from Europe, and Sagittaria calycina Engl., also a recent
addition to our flora from Grand Manitoulin Island, where it has
been collected by Dr. John Bell.
A hasty enumeration of the number of genera and species
shows that, numerically, considerable additions have been made.
Of Exogenous plants there are 627 genera and 1842 species, and
of Endogenous plants 174 genera and 716 species. The increase
has chiefly taken place in the orders Leguminosae, Composite,
Naidacege, Cyperaceae, and Graminae.
Six lithographic plates, illustrative of the genera of the Cyper-
aceae, have been added to the fourteen illustrating the Graining
and Filices. These will prove useful aids to the young botanist.
A. T. D.
Mr. Eaton's elaboration of the ferns is painstaking, able and
thorough. Four sub-orders are represented within the limits,
Polypodiacese, Schizaeaceas, Osmundaeese and Ophioglossacese.
The second of these contains the genera Schizaea and Lygodium
which have not yet been detected in Canada. Some changes have
been made in the arrangement of the genera composing the
Polypodiacese. Phegopteris has been seperated from Polypodium
and put next to Aspidium, its proper place, as was long ago
indicated by Roth (who included it in his genus Polystichum,
the equivalent of Swartz's Aspidium) and by Fee, who founded
the genus. Struthiopteris has been removed from Pterideae to
Aspidieae and placed next to Onoclea, but not included in that
genus, chiefly because of its different venation. Pelkea has been'
seperated from Allosorus, the only species which retains the latter
name being Alio, acrostichoidcs, an inapt section, inasmuch as
Bernhardi's name is not appropriate to any other genus than
Cheilanthes of Swartz, and moreover, Robert Brown's well named
and well defined genus, Oyptogaunne, was constituted expressly
for this species. Sir William Hooker held (probably correctly)
that our North American plant was identical with the European
C. crispus ; Mr. Eaton appears to consider them distinct. Mr.
1867.] review. 237
Eaton has here cleared up the confusion which existed among our
species of the genus Cheilanthes. He has confirmed the Abbe
Brunet's observations that Neph. lanosum of Michaux is the
11 Ch. vestita Willdenow" of former editions and of American
botanists generally, — the " Ch. vestita Swartz" of the present
edition of this work. It is matter for regret that Michaux's
name has not been respected, but, having been continued through
so many editions and now confirmed in this one, and being probably
applied to the plant which the founder of the genus had in view,
the name vestita must now stand ; it is, however, noteworthy that
Swartz misunderstood Michaux's plant — he believed it to be an
Aspiclium, and that Sir William Hooker and other European
botanists have applied vestita to the plant here named Ch. lan-
uginosa. Ch. vestita has been found by Mr. Denslow, as far north
as the island of New York, and his specimens appear to be as
vigorous as those of more sourtheru latitudes. Ch. tomentosa of Link
(Lindheimer No. 743 ; Ch. Bradburii, Hook. Sp. Fil.) is not stated
to be rare, and yet specimens of it appear to be very scarce in the
herbaria of American botanists. The third species of Cheilanthes
which occurs within the geographical limits is here named Ch.
lanuginosa, a MS. name given by Nuttall; this must give place to
Biehl's earlier name Ch. gracilis which has been adopted by Fee
and by Mettenius : this plant is the Ch. vestita of Hooker's
Species Filicum. In Asplenium one new species has been admitted,
A. ehenoides R. R. Scott, which is only an abnormal form of A.
ebeneum. In Woodsia, Mr. Eaton has receded from the position
assumed in his paper on the genus contributed to this journal,
having readmitted W. glabella to the rank not merely of a good
species but of a purely American species. The truth would appear
to lie between his two extremes ; those glaberous Lapland plants,
named W. liyperborea by Scandinavian botanists, are certainly
identical with our W. glabella, and are possibly what Liljeblad had
before him when describing his Acros. hyperboreum, and also what
Wahlenberg named Polypocliiim hyperboreum in " Flora Lap-
ponica." Our plants are, however, certainly distinct from the
Acros. alpinum of Bolton (W. hypcrborea, R. Br., Hook, etc.)
which is very near to W. llvensis if, indeed, it be separable from
it. In Botrychum, B. simplex is admitted as a species, as is also
B. lanceolatum, neither of which have much claim to that rank.
With his views of generic limits, Mr. Eaton might very fairly have
seperatecl Dryopteris from Polystichum ; he has, however, following
238 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [May
Swartz and Mettenius, combined them in Aspidium. Leaving
out Aspl. ebenoides, there are described fifty-six good species and
six well-marked (" black-letter ") varieties. Of these the following
were not recognized in the second edition : — Oh. lanuginosa, Alio,
acrostichoides, Aspd. Filix-mas, Woodsia Oregana, Botryclium
Lunaria, B. simplex and B. lanceolatum. Twenty species are
marked with the contraction "Eu." as being common to Europe
and America, and from three it has been accidentally omitted (B.
simplex, B. lanceolatum and B. virginianum) ; to these I would
add for the reasons above stated Alio, acrostichoides, Woodsia
glabella, and also probably Aspd. fragrans (which appears to extend
all round the Arctic circle), which would increase this number to
twenty-six. But the remaining thirty species are not all of them
confined to America; Adiantum pedatum, Pellcea gracilis, Aspl.
theli/pteroides and Onoclea sensibilis are also Asiatic and Aspl.
eheneum has been collected in Africa. Of the sixty-two species
and varieties forty-nine are known to me as Canadian, in addition
to which the following may be looked for within our boundaries
with good prospect of success, — Ch. vestita, Woodwardia areolata,
Aspl. Ruta-muraria, Aspd. Filix-mas (about Lake Superior),
Woodsia obtusa, W. Oregana (about Lake Superior), and
Li/godium palmatum ; on the other hand, Polypodium incanum,
Ch. tomentosa, Ch. gracilis, Aspl. montanvm, A. pinnatifidurn
and Schizcea pusilla are pretty surely beyond our reach. We
have left to us but two Canadian ferns not noticed by Mr. Eaton,
W. hi/pcrborea R. Brown, and Aspl. viride Hudson, but as the
first-named has been found on Willoughby Mountain by Mr.
Horace Mann, and the latter is most probably a native of the
northern parts of Maine, etc., Mr. Eaton might as well have
included them and thus had the opportunity of fully revising his
former views on the genus Woodsia. Aspidium spinulosum has
been split up into four varietal forms — dilatatum, intermedium,
verum, and Boottii, the var. intermedium {Aspd. intermedium
Willd.) being our common narrow form; this would seem to be a
somewhat too minute subdivision. The large broad form of J..
cristatum which we have been calling var. majus is here named
var. Clintonianum, in compliment to Judge Clinton of Buffalo.
The var. Braunii of A. aculeatum is hardly entitled to '-black
letters/' it being merely a form of the var. angulare — the .1.
angulare of Willd. etc. — unless on the supposition that this latter
is a good species. The plates being unaltered, the genera Allosorus
1867.] review. 239
and Phegopteris are not illustrated; the figures of Ch. vestita
and W. glabella are very indifferent, the latter particularly so.
The following extracts from the preface are of interest : —
" This work is designed as a compendious Flora of the Northern
portion of the United States, for the use of students and of
practical botanists.
" The first edition (published in 1848) was hastily prepared to
supply a pressing want. Its plan, having been generally approved,
has not been altered, although the work has been to a great extent
twice rewritten, and the geographical range extended. The second
edition, much altered, appeared in 1856. The third and fourth
were merely revised upon the stereotype plates, and some pages
added, especially to the latter.
" The Garden Botany, an Introduction to a Knowledge of the
Common Cultivated Plants, which was prefixed to this fourth
edition in 1863, is excluded from the present edition, and is to
be incorporated into a simpler and more elementary work, but of
wider scope, designed especially for school instruction, and for
those interested in cultivation, — entitled Field, Forest, and
Garden Botany.
" In the present edition, it has been found also expedient to
remand to a supplementary volume the Mosses and Liverworts,
so carefully and generously elaborated for the previous editions
of this work by my friend, Wm. S. Sullivant, Esq. It is hoped
that the Lichen es, if not all the other orders of the Lower
Cryptogamia, may be added to this supplementary volume, so
that our students may extend their studies into these more
recondite and difficult departments of Botany.
% % >!- ^ ^ ^ ;•< >}c
" There is abundant reason, I doubt not, for me to renew the
request that those who use this book will kindly furnish informa-
tion of all corrections or additions that may appear to be necessary,
so that it may be more accurate and complete hereafter, and
maintain the high character which it has earned.
" Geographical Limitation, Distribution, etc. As is stated on the
title-page, this work is intended to comprise the plants which grow
spontaneously in the United States, north of North Carolina and
Tennessee, and east of the Mississippi. A Flora of the whole
national domain, upon a similar plan (the issue of which I may
240 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
now hope will not be delayed many years longer), would be much
too bulky and expensive for the main purpose which this Manual
fulfils. For its purpose, the present geographical limitation is, on
the whole, the best,— especially since the botany of the states
south of our district has been so well provided for by my friend,
Dr. Chapman's Flora of the Southern States, issued by the same
publishers. The southern boundary here adopted coincides better
than any other geographical line with the natural division between
the cooler-temperate and the warm-temperate vegetation of the
United States ; very few characteristically Southern plants occur-
ring' north of it, and those only on the low coast of Virginia, in the
Dismal Swamp, etc. Our Western limit, also, while it includes a
considerable prairie vegetation, excludes nearly all the plants
peculiar to the great Western woodless plains, which approach
our borders in Iowa and Missouri. Our northern boundary, being
that of the United States, varies through about five degrees of
latitude, and nearly embraces Canada proper on the east and on
the west, so that nearly all the plants of Ccinada East on this side
of the St. Lawrence, as well as those of the deep peninsula of
Canada West, will be found in this volume.
" Distinction of Grade of Varities. Vain is the attempt to draw
an absolute line between varieties and species. Yet in systematic
works the distinction has to be made absolute, and each particular
form to be regarded as a species or a variety, according to the
botanist's best judgment. Varieties, too, exhibit all degrees of
distinctness. Such as are marked and definite enough to require
names are distinguished here into two sorts, according to their
grades: 1. Those which, I think, cannot be doubted to be
varieties of the species they are referred to, have the name printed
in small capitals. These varieties make part of the common
prragraph. 2. Those so distinct and peculiar that they have
been, or readily may be, taken for species, and are some of them
not unlikely to establish the claim : of these the name is printed
in the same [black letter] type as that of the species ; and they
are allowed the distinction of a seperate paragraph, except where
the variety itself is the only form in the country."
The whole work is a model of accurate description, correct
orthography and typographical excellence. W.
Published, Montreal, 1st January, 1868.
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST
SECOND SERIES.
ON THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF LAKE
SUPERIOR*
By Thomas Macfarlane.
III. Upper Copper-bearing Series.
The name of the Upper Copper-bearing Rocks of Lake Superior
was given to this series by Sir W. E. Logan, to distinguish it from
the Huronian or Lower Copper-bearing Rocks. The geographical
and geological position, lower altitude, regular .bedding, and pecu-
liar lithological character of these Upper Rocks cause them to be
easily recognised and readily distinguished from the Huronian.
They have been separated into an upper and lower group, the
latter of which seems, however, to be confined to the north-west
parts of the lake. Along its eastern shore, between Sault St.
Marie and Michipicoten, there are frequently found, betwixt the
water and the high Huronian or Laurentian hills, narrow strips
or patches of the rocks of the upper group, which often jut out as
small islands into the lake, and doubtless extend out great distances
beneath its waters. Such limited strips of these rocks are found,
for instance, skirting the base of Gros Cap, along the south shore
of Bachewahnung Bay and at Cape Gargantua. But besides
these and much more important for the study of the upper group
of the Upper Copper-bearing series, there are occasional extensive
developments of its rocks, many thousand feet in thickness, such
as at Cape Mamainse, Michipicoten Island, and Point Keweenaw
* Continued from page 201.
Vol. III. P ;no. 4.
242 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
on the south shore. These rocks have been generally described
in the Geology of Canada as sandstones, conglomerates, stratified
traps and amygdaloids. In referring to them more minutely, the
following rock-varieties may be distinguished as belonging to the
upper group of the series : —
Granular Melaphyre, — A large number of the rocks of this
series which have hitherto been described as traps and greenstones,
belong to this species. The simplest variety of it is seen at the
north-west end of Michipicoten Island, and consists of two
minerals only, a felspar and a greenish black mineral. The
felspar is the principal constituent, possesses a red, almost pink,
colour, which it loses on ignition, and being readily fusible and
but slightly decomposed by acids, is most probably oligoclase, or
closely allied to that species in composition. The dark coloured
mineral is easily fusible and has the appearance of augite. Some
of it appears soft and decomposed, and has most probably been
converted into delessite. These two minerals are combined into a
small grained, distinctly compound rock, which does not effervesce
with acids, and whose red colour is visible at a considerable
distance. It is very seldom however that this rock is observed
with such a bright colour, or with constituents so distinctly
separated. Much more frequently the felspar has a dark reddish-
brown colour, and the grains of augite or delessite have a very
indistinct contour. This is the case with some of the melaphyres
of Mamainse and Gros Cap. When the brown coloured felspar
predominates, and the augitic or chloritic constituent becomes
scarcer and even more indistinct, rock-varieties are developed
belonging to the species Porphyrite, hereafter to be described.
When, on the other hand, the dark greenish constituent gains the
upper hand, and is recognisable as consisting almost exclusively
of delessite, it gives rise to the variety of melaphyre next
described.
Delessitic Mela pi tyre. — This rock has a greenish-gray colour
and consists of a granular mixture of felspar and delessite, with
small portions of magnetite and undecomposed augite. In some
instances mica is also found as a constituent. The delessite,
besides occurring in small grains, often forms larger rounded
particles and amygdules, without however imparting to the rock
a very marked amygdaloidal structure. The rocks enclosing the
cupriferous beds of the Pewabic and Quincy Mines, and that from
the Quincy adit are examples of this variety, and have already been
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 243
described by me in this journal.* The delessite which enters
so largely into their composition can scarcely have been one
of the original constituents, and has probably resulted from
the gradual alteration of augite, since authenticated instances
are on record of the conversion of that mineral into delessite and
green-earth. The specific gravity of these rocks varies from 2.83
to 2.89. When ignited they lose 1.32 to 3.09 per cent, of their
weight, the powder changing from light greenish-grey to a light
brown colour. Digested with hydrochloric acid from 32.44 to
35.72 per cent, of bases are removed from them, the greater part
of which belongs to the chloritic constituent. While the variety
of melaphyre first above described is seldom found with
amygdaloidal structure, the delessitic melaphyres are exceedingly
prone to be developed as amygdaloids. In this case the rock
contains amygdules of small size but very numerous, and they are
either filled with delessite alone, or are lined with a coating or
rind of that mineral, in which latter case calcspar generally
fills out the centre of the cavity. Quartz or agate is
comparatively rare in amygdaloids the matrix of which is
delessitic melaphyre.
Compact Melaphyre. — When the small grained melaphyres
above described become so fine-grained as to render the recognition
of their constituents impossible, there results the fine-grained traps
which are so numerous on the south-west coast of Mamainse and
on Michipicoten Island. These rocks vary from reddish, bluish,
greenish, or greyish black, to decided black in colour, and possess
not unfrequently conchoidal fracture and resinous lustre. Their
specific gravities vary from 2.67 to 2.898, and they' fuse before
the blowpipe to glasses of black or brownish black colour.
Occasionally their material becomes less homogeneous, and presents
the appearance of an intimate mixture of reddish grey and green
coloured specks, which may perhaps represent partially developed
constituents. They exhibit various phenomena as regards
divisional joints. Some possess a rudely columnar structure,
others have planes of separation forming various angles with the
plane of bedding, several shew a tendency to separate into flags,
while a few instances are observable of curved shaly separation,
(Krwnmiscliaalige Absonderung) . Transitions can frequently be
traced from these compact melaphyres to others approaching in
* Yol. iii., Second Series, p. 2.
244 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
character to porphyrite. For instance, to the west of the entrance to
the harbour on the south side of Michipicoten Island, there is found,
forming part of a bed of undoubted compact melaphyre, a rock of
a greenish-grey colour, with conchoidal fracture. It had a specific
gravity of 2.589, and could only be glazed at the edges before the
blowpipe. To the east of the same harbour entrance, another
rock occurs intermediate in character betwixt compact melaphyre
and porphyrite. It is black, impalpable, with imperfectly con-
choidal fracture. It bears some resemblance to pitchstone, but
differs from that rock in its specific gravity, which is 2.774, and
in being readibly fusible to a black glass. It possesses a slightly
resinous lustre, and contains an occasional crystal of colourless
triclinic felspar. It exhibits planes of separation at right angles,
or nearly so with the inclination of the bed, and agate veins are
observable, which seem to accompany the divisional joints. This
latter phenomenon is also seen in some of the beds of compact
melaphyre, and in one of these, curved joints are visible, standing
at right angles to the plane of bedding and filled out with calcspar.
Brecciated quartz veins occasionally permeate these rocks, and
agatic geodes are very frequent among them. The latter are
sometimes so frequent as to form amygdaloids, but they are
much larger, and never so numerous as are the cavities in the
amygdaloids of which delessitic melaj>hyre is the matrix. There
is further this peculiarity with the amygdules of the compact
melaphyres, that they contain little or no delessite, agate occupying
its place, with occasionally calcspar filling the centre of the geocle.
Tufaceous Melaphyre. — Interstratified with the rocks above
described, and much more frequently associating with, and gradu-
ating into the delessitic melaphyres than the other varieties, there
are occasionally found beds of comparatively soft, dark brown,
porous rock, with almost earthy fracture and seldom destitute of
amydaloidal structure. These frequently carry metallic copper,
and constitute the ' ash beds ' so extensively worked in the mines
of the south shore. Although they are generally of a dark brown
or chocolate colour, as in the case of the ' Pewabic lode,' there are
rocks of this species which are bluish-brown and green coloured.
The matrix is generally fusible, and in places impregnated with
grains of metallic copper, sometimes of a very minute size. The
larger grains of the metal are frequently found in the amygdules,
either alone or accompanied by green-earth, calcspar, quartz,
delessite, laumontite, and prehnite. Besides the rounded grains
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 245
or ' shot copper' of the amygdules, these roeks often contain
huge masses of metallic copper, with which small quantities of
native silver are associated. Large irregular patches and veins
of calcspar, and smaller masses of epidote are frequently met with
in these tufaceous melaphyres.
Porphyrite. - The transitions, which are frequently observable
on the south side of Michipicoten Island, from compact melaphyre
to porphyrite have been referred to above. Undoubted porphyrite
is to be found at the south-west corner of the Island. It possesses
a fine-grained greenish red matrix, containing small flesh-coloured
crystals of felspar, some of which have striated cleavage planes.
The specific gravity of the rock is 2.619, and the matrix is
fusible at the edges. In the upper part of the bed the matrix of
the rock becomes coarser grained, shewing distinctly felspar and
a darker coloured mineral as constituents, with the small felspathic
crystals still scattered through it. The felspar predominates in
the matrix and determines the colour of the rock, which is dark
red. Its specific gravity is 2.626, and it is fusible, although not
readily, before the blow-pipe. It separates into blocks, with very
decided divisional planes, but of no regular form. Similar rocks
are found at the south-east corner of the Island, where also rocks
resembling pitchstone and pitchstone porphyry are extensively
developed. The black shining impalpable trap, which has the
appearance of pitchstone, has a specific gravity of 2.573. It is
fusible to a brown glass, and sometimes contains small colourless
felspar crystals. Where these accumulate, there results the rock
resembling pitchstone porphyry. The crystals in this rock are
frequently recognisable as triclinic. The matrix is fusible to a
brown blebby glass, and the specific gravity of the rock as a whole
is 2.631 to 2.678. Since the specific gravity of the rock in which
no crystals occur is lower than that usually ascribed to melaphyre,
and since it is greater than that of true pitchstone, it would
appear reasonable to class both these rocks with the porphyrites,
or with these porphyries which contain no quartz, to which they
probably bear the same relation as true pitchstones bear to felsitic
or quartzose porphyries.
Melaphyre Breccia. — Among the newest of the beds of compact
melaphyre, developed on Michipicoten Island, there are sometimes
observable beds of a breccia consisting of fragments of dark
brown melaphyre, cemented together by a reddish-brown trappean
sand. Occasionally the fragments appear rounded, and present
246 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
more of the character of a conglomerate. Similar rocks are seen
in the Point Keweenaw district.
Porphyritic Conglomerate.- At the sonth-west corner of Michipi-
coten Island there is visible a conglomerate bed, the boulders of
which consist principally of porphyrite, in which a few minute
felspar crystals are discernible. Some of the boulders are granitic,
and occasionally pebbles occur consisting of or containing agate.
These are enclosed in a matrix consisting of coarse-grained and
red-coloured porphyritic or trappean debris. In the upper part
of the Mamainse group similar conglomerates are found, but in
one instance the matrix seems to consist of the same crystalline
materi 1 as the boulders and fragments, and is very firmly cemented
to these. The most interesting example of this rock is that of the
Albany and Boston mine, near Portage Lake. Here the matrix
of coarse-grained porphyritic sand is accompanied by calcspar, and
in some places fine metallic copper.* Other porphyritic conglo-
merates occur to the south of Portage Lake, some of the boulders
of which consist of quartzose porphyry, and the matrix of some
of which contains quartz as well as calcspar.
Felsite-tuff. — Overlying the Albany aud Boston conglomerate a
bed of so-called l fluckan ' occurs, which is a fine-grained, dark-
reel shaly rock, in which pieces of a greenish blue colour are
sometimes seen. Both substances are fusible before the blow-pipe,
and contain occasionally small grains and flakes of copper.
Polygenous Conglomerate. — This name is applied by Naumann
and Zirkel to those fragmentary rocks whose boulders consist of
two or mare different rocks. Conglomerates of this nature are
especially frequent, among the inferior rocks of the Mamainse
group, and among those of Keweenaw Point. The boulders of
these Mamainse conglomerates are chiefly of granite, gneiss,
quartzite, greenstone, and slate, and some of the newer beds con-
tain boulders of melaphyre and amygdaloid in abundance. The
matrix is generally a dark red sandstone.
Sandstone. — Among the melaphyres and conglomerates of
Mamainse and Point Keweenaw an occasional stratum of sand-
stone is found of the same character as that which forms the
matrix of the polygenous conglomerates.
The manner in which the rocks above described are associated
with each other, is much more regular than the architecture of
* This Journal, Yol. hi., Second Series, p. 9.
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 247
the Laurentian and Hurooian rocks. They are regularly inter-
stratified with each other, and even among the melaphyres and
porphyrites distinct bedding is observable. They do not
seem to have been disturbed to such a degree as to occasion the
formation of anticlinal and synclinal folds, and in each of the
principal areas of distribution a tolerably persistent strike and dip
can be observed.
The general strike of the rocks of the Mamainse group is N.
20 2 to 50° W., and the dip 20° to 45° south-westward. They
are beautifully exposed along the west coast of Mamainse. and
the highest strata of the group form the south-west extremity of
the cape. The lower part of the group consists of granular and
delessitic melaphyres, polygenous conglomerates and sandstone. Iu
the upper part compact melaphyres and porphyritic conglomerates
predominate. The total thickness of the group, according to an
approximative measurement, is 16,208 feet, of which the conglo-
merates occupy 2,138 feet. The succession of the beds along the
coast is quite regular ; but on attempting to follow them inland,
they are found to thin out and disappear, while others take the ir
places. This is especially the case with the conglomerates. Were
the beds continuous throughout, the section above given ought to
be repeated on the south coast, and round to Anse-aux-Crepes.
But there, although some of the melaphyre beds have the same
strike and dip as on the west coast, there is not the same regularity
nor the same plentiful development of conglomerates. Theiv
are moreover evidences of great disturbances and of a conflict
between the rock of some of the igneous beds and a sandstone,
which here appears in highly contorted and sometimes vertical
strata. On coming round the south coast of Mamainse, from
Anse-aux-Crepes, strata of sandstone are observed very much
disturbed and dipping inland. As near as it can be ascertained,
their strike is about N. 85° W., dip 25° to 40° northward. The
sandstone is red coloured, and contains streaks and spots of a
cream coloured felspathic substance, which also forms bands crossing
the stratification. Many thin cracks filled with calcspar also
traverse the beds. The same sandstone continues for about a
hundred and forty yards further to the west, becoming still more
disturbed, and containing between its layers the felspathic
substance. The strike, where the beds are at all regular, is N. 10°
W.j and dip 52° eastward. Further west it changes to N. 52°
E., with dip vertical, and in places 75° S. W. Here the sandstone
248 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail.
becomes utterly broken up into a breccia, which has pieces from
one inch to a foot in diameter invariably angular, and a matrix
consisting of the white felspathic substance above mentioned, with
occasionally calcspar. Further westward the measures are
concealed for two hundred yards ; then strata of bluish-grey
calcareous sandstone are exposed, striking N. 40Q E., and dipping
75° S. E. From this point for three hundred yards further north-
westward, disturbed sandstone occupies the coast where the
measures are not concealed. It is followed by a breccia similar
to that already mentioned, with angular fragments of sandstone,
and then by beds of trappean rocks, striking N. 75° W., and
dipping 40° S. W. Rocks of this nature occupy the coast, where
not concealed, for one and a half miles further north-westward.
Here sandstone again becomes visible, in strata almost vertical,
but nevertheless much bent. It is covered by a breccia consisting
of sandstone fragments with a trappean matrix, and this again is
surmounted by regular trap. In many places there would seem
to be the clearest evidence that the trap lies unconformably upon
the upturned and contorted edges of the sandstone. Besides the
breccia above mentioned, other rocks of a peculiar nature are
found at the junction of the sandstone and trap. One of these
is indistinguishable from quartzose perphyry, and another seems to
consist of fragments of trap bound together by this same quartzose
perphyry. There are good grounds for supposing that the latter
rock is the product of the action of the more basic trap upon the
sandstone, and results from the igneous amalgamation of the two
rocks last named. These confused rocks occupy about a quarter
of a mile of the coast. To the north-westward, although the
sandstones occasionally protrude, they become much less frequent,
while the overlying melaphyres become much more regular, and
gradually assume the same strike and dip as the strata on the
west coast. The hills to the north of Anse-aux-Crepes consist of
the same beds of melaphyre and conglomerate as were observed
on the west coast, with similar strike and dip.
The eruptive origin of the melaphyres and traps of this group
is evidenced not only by their crystalline character, and by some
of their relations in contact with undoubted sedimentary rocks,
but also by their occurring as intrusive masses in the gneiss of
Point-aux-Mines, and in the granitoid gneiss of Chippewa Falls.
At the latter place the melaphyre is in the form of a d\ke, and at
Point-aux-Mines it is seen to form a dome-shaped mass, completely
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 249
surrounded by gnessiod rocks. Furthermore, the lower members
of the Mamainse series are intersected by numerous dykes, con-
sisting; of compact melaphyre. In some of them, the constituents
of that rock are distinguishable, but most of them are almost
impalpable, vary from a reddish-brown to a dark green colour, and
frequently exhibit at their sides bauds of slightly different colours,
which run parallel with the side-walls of the dyke.
The average strike of the Upper Copper-bearing rocks of Michi-
picoten Island is N. 68° E.. and the dip 25° south-eastward. An
approximative estimate of their thickness is as follows: —
( h-anular, delessitic and compact melaphyres,
and conglomerates 10.000 feet.
Compact melaphyres with agate amygdules. 4,500 "
Resinous traps, porphyrites and breccias. . . 4,000 "
18,500 feet.
If we compare the rocks of Michipicoten Island with those of
Mamainse, it would appear that the inferior rocks of the latter
group do not come to the surface at Michipicoten Island, and that
the higher rocks of the Michipicoten group have not been de-
veloped at Mamainse, or lie beneath the waters of the lake to the
south-west of the promontory. It would therefore appear just, in
estimating the thickness of the Upper Copper-bearing rocks of the
eastern part of Lake Superior, to add to the Mamainse series the
above mentioned 4000 feet of resinous traps or porphyrites, which
would make the whole thickness at least 20,000 feet. The rocks
of the west and south shores of Michipicoten Island present the
most regular appearance, and it might be expected that those of
the south shore would, from their strike and dip, repeat them-
selves on the east side. But, as in the case of Mamainse, such an
expectation is disappointed. On examining the rocks of the east
shore, the upper beds, consisting of the porphyrites above men-
tioned, seem regular enough, but beneath these come brecciated
melaphyre, delessitic melaphyre cut by a porphyritic rock, and
others in which the evidences of bedding are very indistinct.
Among these rocks the two following may be particularised as
occuring in large masses. The first has an impalpable flesh-red
or reddish-grey matrix, wherein occur numerous grains of dark
grey quartz, and also light-coloured soft particles, which
seem liable to removal by atmospheric agencies, giving
the rock where this has taken place a porous appearance.
250 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
It also contains light red and ash-grey crystalline grains of
felspar, and others which appear earthy and decomposed.
The matrix is fusible, in fine splinters only, to a white enamel.
The rock has an uneven fracture, a specific gravity of 2.493, and
is probably a porphyritic quartz-trachyte. The other rock, which
occupies a very considerable area, partakes more of the character
of felsitic porphyry, although the felspar crystals are very often
indistinct. It contains, besides these, numerous grains of greyish
quartz, sometimes one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and a fine-
grained, dark red, difficultly fusible, matrix. The specific gravities
of three different specimens were found to be 2.54-8, 2.579, and
2.583. The bedding of the rock, if it possesses any, is very
obscure ; but it shews in places a tendency to separate into flags.
It has a very rough uneven fracture, and is probably also
quartzose trachyte. At the north-east corner of the Island it
seems to overlie, unconformably, beds of trap, which here assume
something like the ordinary strike and dip, viz., N. 72° E., dip
25° S. E.
The islands which lie opposite the mouth of the harbour on the
south shore are composed of a peculiar rock, which is nowhere
visible on the main island. It consists of a reddish-brown im-
palpable matrix, with a hardness but slightly inferior to that of
orthoclase, in which minute spots of a soft yellowish-white material
are discernible. There are also lighter flesh-coloured grains ob-
servable, which seem to be incipient felspar crystals. The matrix
is difficultly fusible to a colourless blebby glass, and the specific
gravity of the whole rock, where freshly broken, is 2.469. A
piece slightly bleached to a greyish-white, from its adjoining
a crack in the rock, gave a specific gravity of 2.477. Some parts
of it exhibit a slightly porous structure, but this was not the case
with either of the pieces whose specific gravity were determined.
The rock has a very uneven fracture, and is probably trachytic
phonolite. The occurrence of these trachytic rocks on Michipi-
coten Island is very interesting, for they are the only ones of the
region which have in other countries been found in connection
with undoubted volcanoes.
The general strike of the strata of the rocks of Point
Keweenaw, at least in the neighbourhood of Portage Lake is N.
30° to 40° E., and the dip 55° to 70° north-westward. The
melaphyres predominate, although polygenous and porphyritic
conglomerates are also frequent. The copper-bearing tufaceous
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 251
melaphyres seem to be more plentiful here than in the other
areas, or at least the mines to which they give rise are more
extensively worked.
At the other points in the east shore of the lake, where rocks
of the character of melaphyre have been observed, the area
occupied by them is very limited, and confined to narrow strips of
beach and rocky ground, between the lake and the much more
elevated Laurentian or Huronian rocks. In the most westerly
cove on the south shore of Bachewalmung Bay, red sandstone is
observed striking N. 12- W., and dipping 15° south-westward.
It is interstratified with conglomerate, the boulders of which are
principally of quartzite, dark green slate and red-jasper conglo.
merate, which have doubtless been derived from the Huronian
hills in the rear. They range in diameter from one to twelve
and even eighteen inches. The matrix is generally red sandstone,
but the interstices are sometimes filled out with quartz. A short
distance along the shore to the north-east exposures occur of a
reddish-brown melaphyre tuff, containing amygdules of calcspar
and quartz, the matrix of which is very soft and decomposed.
The beds appear to strike N. 8s E., and dip 25° to 29° west-
ward. They would therefore seem to be conformable with the
sandstone and conglomerate. Further north-eastward the rock
becomes more compact, of a reddish-green colour, and exhibits
curves of igneous flow. The geodes become much less frequent
and consist almost exclusively of agate. The next rock to the
north-east is a light red sandstone, striking N. 65Q W., and
dipping 35Q to 40^ N. E. Its contact with the trap is not
visible, but its dip is such as to lead to the supposition that it has
been disturbed by that rock. There is a great thickness of this
sandstone exposed here, in strata frequently vertical, striking
generally east and west, or to the north of west, and exhibiting
dips varying from 35G N. to 57Q Sv, and at least two anticlinal
axes. From what has been stated here and also concerning the
south shore of Mamainse, it would appear that there is evidence
of the existence of a sandstone of greater age than the bedded
melaphyres and conglomerates, and it would appear not unreason-
able to suppose that it belongs to what has been called the Lower
group of the Upper Copper-bearing series.
The trap rocks which surround the south-west base of Gros
Cap, although comparatively seldom amygdaloidal, are readily
distinguished as melaphyres. They are sometimes coarse-grained,
252 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
consisting of reddish-grey felspar, soft dark-green iron-chlorite
(delessite), and occasional spots of yellowish-green epidote. From
this they graduate into finer-grained varieties, but they very
seldom become impalpable, or their constituents altogether indis-
tinguishable. Sandstone was not observed in contact with the
traps, but a large mass of quartzose porphyry is seen at a short
distance from the shore.
Another large development of traps and sandstones occurs to
the north of Pointe-aux-Mines, where an occasional bed of
tufaceous melaphyre is also found.
Besides the rocks above described, there are found on the low
ground betwixt Goulais and Bachewalmung Bays, betwixt the latter
and Pancake Bay, and on many of the islands of the east shore,
large areas of red sandstone, almost horizontal, which are supposed
to be the continuation of that occurring at Sault St. Marie, and
usually called the St. Peter Sandstone. The true relations of this
rock to those of the upper group of the Upper Copper-bearing series
have not yet been made out. It closely resembles, in lithological
character, the sandstone described above as occurring in almost
vertical strata on the south shore of Bachewahnung Bay. The
disturbance of the latter is reasonably attributable to the neigh-
bouring melaphyres, in which case the sandstone would be the
earlier rock. On the other hand, as Sir W. E. Logan observes,
" the contrast between the general moderate dips of these sand-
" stones and the higher inclination of the igneous strata at
" Gargantua, Mamainse, and Gros Cap, combined with the fact
" that the sandstones always keep to the lake side of these, while
" none of the many dykes which cut the trappean strata, it is
" believed, are known to intersect the sandstones (at any rate on
" the Canadian side of the lake), seem to support the suspicion
" that the sandstones may overlie unconformably those rocks
(l which, associated with the trap, constitute the copper-bearing
" series."* The following facts are confirmatory of this view.
In the bay immediately south of Point- aux-Miues, where the
Mamainse series adjoins the Laurentian rocks, the lowest member
of the former is unconformably overlaid by thin bedded bluish and
yellowish-grey sandstones, striking N. 50° E., and dipping la°
north-westward. The lowest layer is a conglomerate, with granitic
and trappean boulders, and a bluish, fine-grained and slaty matrix.
* Geology of Canada, p. 85.
1868.] MACFARLANE— GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 253
It is about six feet thick, and is followed by thirty feet of the thin
bedded sandstones, some parts of which might yield good flag-
stones. Some of the surfaces of these are very distinctly ripple-
marked. Above these come thin, shaly, rapidly disintegrating
layers, in which are found spheroidal concretions from five to ten
inches in diameter. It is not possible to ascertain the total
thickness of these sandstones, since they descend beneath the level
of the lake. They are similar in lithological character to the
sandstones which occur on the north side of Point-aux-Mines.
Although there is no doubt that these sandstones unconformably
overlie the melaphyre series, still their lithological characters are
very different from those of the horizontal red sandstone above
referred to. The latter is evenly small-grained, is coloured red by
iron oxide, and contains here and there small pieces of red shale,
which have evidently furnished the colouring matter, It
frequently consists of evenly bedded red and yellowish-grey
layers, and exhibits sometimes the phenomenon named by
Naumann, discordant parallel-structure, and by Lyell, diagonal or
cross stratification.
In enquiring next as to what geological formation in Europe
most closely resembles the Upper Copper-bearing series of Lake
Superior, the opinion expressed by Delesse ought not to be lost
sight of, viz., that the constituent minerals have- the same meaning
and importance for eruptive rocks which organic remains have
for those of sedimentary origin. Therefore, where the pakeonto-
logical evidence does not entirely contradict it, that derived from
lithological resemblance ought to be allowed its full weight. The
melaphyres of the upper rocks being interbedded with conglomer-
ates and sandstones, the age of the latter may be ascertained
approximatively by enquiring under what circumstances and
during what period the melaphyres of Europe were developed.
Upon this point Naumann thus expresses himself : " With regard
" to the eruption-epochs of the melaphyres, there appears, indeed,
" to have been many of them, but the most occur in the period
" of the Rothliegende, or in the first half of the Permian forma-
" tion, and all are probably more recent than the Carboniferous
" system This applies at least to the melaphyres on the south
" side of the Hundsriick, to those of the Thuringian Forest, of the
" neighbourhood of the Hartz, of Lower Silesia, Bohemia, and
" Saxony. Many of these melaphyres were deposited soon
" after the commencement, others towards the end, of the
254 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
" Rothliegende "period, and generally the latter, in many coun-
" tries, shews a decided coincidence, both as regards time
" and space, with the formation of the melaphyres." Zirkel,
in his recent work on " Petrographie," gives a description
of the melaphyre deposits of Germany, of which the fol-
lowing is a translation: " In districts which are older than the
" Carboniferous formation melaphyre rocks are but seldom found.
" The melaphyres of the southern Hundsriick and of the Pfalz,
" whose stratigraphical relations are better known than their
u mineralogical composition, appear in the Carboniferous system
" or the lower Rothliegende. This melaphyre region extends
" from Diippenweiler to Kreuznach, a distance of twelve miles,
" with a breadth between St. Wendel, Birkenfeld, Kirn, and
" Grumbach of several miles. Very few irregular masses are known,
" but, on the other hand, numerous veins have been observed with
" thicknesses varying from four to sixty feet. They possess
" mostly a vertical dip, cut sharply the Carboniferous strata, and
" often extend on their strike considerable distances. The mass
" of the vein frequently encloses fragments of the side rock, slate-
" clay or sandstone. But most frequently in this region, the
" melaphyres present themselves in the form of beds, which are of
" very variable dimensions, (often only five to ten feet, sometimes
" two hundred feet thick,) and lie, for the most part, evenly
" inserted between the strata of the Carboniferous system. Some
" of these can be traced for a distance of two miles. Besides
" these a melaphyre layer appears in this region, extending over
" many square miles. It is superimposed upon the upper strata
" of the Carboniferous system, and upon it rest the Conglomerates,
" sandstones and slate-clays of the Rotidiegende. This great
" covering of melaphyre is at its edges accompanied by melaphyre-
" tuffs, which are in many places developed as melaphyre-amygda-
" loids. In very few instances only has it been observed that
" these melaphyres have exerted altering influences upon the side-
" rock. Within the limits of the Rothliegende melaphyres are very
" frequent. According to Naumann the melaphyre of Ilfeld in
" the Hartz, must be regarded as a thick layer bedded into the
" Rothliegende. It nevertheless in places lies immediately over
" the Carboniferous system, on account of its extending beyond
" the edges of the lower strata of the Rothliegende. Naumann
" also mentions a mass of melaphyre which inTyrathal covers the
" junction of the Greywacke with the Rothliegende, and in its
1868.] MACFARLANE — GEOLOGY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 255
" further extension overlies also the latter formation. The
"• melaphyre-aniygdaloid of Planitz, near Zwickau in Saxony,
" forms also a covering regularly inserted into the Rothliegende,
" above its inferior strata. On the western declivity of the
" Oberhohndorfer Hill, near Zwickau, the melaphyre which here
" contains numerous green-earth and calcspar amygdules, shews an
" interesting intercalation with the brownish-red slate-clays of the
" Rothliegende, irregular lumps and patches of which being as it
" were kneaded into the mass of the melaphyre. The melaphyric
" rock of the Johann-Friedrich and Zabenstadter Adit, in Mansfeld,
" is evenly interstratified in the Rothliegende. G. Leonhard
" mentions that in the Rothliegende of the neighbourhood of
" Darmstadt, at Gcetzenhain and Urberach, the melaphyre forms
" distinct outbursts of considerable size in the form of domes
" (_Kuppen,) which consist in the centre of solid melaphyre, and
" towards the periphery of amygdaloidal rocks, and shews in
" places both flagstone-like and columnar separation. In Silesia
" the melaphyres appear in two places : in the country between
" Loewenberg and Lsehn, where they, according to the investi-
" gations of Beyrich, occur in several courses, striking from
" north-west to south-east, intersecting the Rothliegende, and
" in still more extended measure at the edge of the great
" bay opening towards south-east in the Grauwacke at Landeshut,
" in which the carboniferous formation and the Rothliegende
" have been deposited, and in which they form,- accordiug to Zobel
" and Von Carnal, a range extending from Schatzlar to Neurode.
" In north-eastern Bohemia, according to Emil Porth, and
" Jokely, malaphyres are found as numerous, and sometimes very
" thick layers, in the Rothliegende. Jokely describes, in the
" district of Jicin, five beds of melaphyre in various parts of the
" Rothliegende, which exhibit very distinctly observable strati-
" graphical relations. They prove to be, for the most part, true
" melaphyre streams, which have flown like lavas, and in visible
" connection with undoubted vein-like outbursts. According to
" Porth, the neighbourhood of the melaphyre veins is frequently,
" for great distances round, a field of melaphyric ash and
" scoriae."*
From these quotations it is plain that, in Europe, melaphyres
only made their appearance during the Carboniferous and Permian
* Zirkel ; Petrographie. Yol. h\, p. 71.
256 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
periods, and especially characterised the latter. The occurrence
of porphyritic conglomerates in Germany is similarly limited. On
this point Zirkel says : " As porphyritic eruptions principally fall
" in the period of the Bothliegende, so the whole of the clastic
" rocks of the porphyry family stand in close connection with the
" deposition of its strata, to which they have also contributed a
" considerable amount of material. For instance, coarse porphy-
" ritic conglomerates form members of the Upper Rothliegende
" in the Oschatz-Frohburg basin, in the Dohlen basin, at Wieser-
•• st licit in the Hartz, and in the north-western part of Thiiringia.
" At Baden, in the Black Forest, the deepest strata of the
" Bothliegende consist of porphyritic breccia and the middle
" strata of conglomerates." * Even polygenous conglomerates,
such as those above-mentioned, are especially frequent among the
carbcniferous and permian strata of Europe. Naumann thus
briefly characterises the Bothliegende of Germany, which he
considers as equivalent to the English lower New Bed Sandstone
and the French gres rouge : " The Bothliegende appears in so
" many of the countries of Germany, and iu such great thickness,
" that, in its mode of development there, we recognise the normal
" type of this remarkable sandstone formation. The pigment of
" the sandstone, consisting principally of iron-oxide, the frequent
" occurrence of conglomerates, the often repeated change in the
" size of grain of its rocks, the association with porphyries and
" melaphyres, the very frequent layers of claystones and porphy-
" ritic conglomerates, the great poverty, and often complete
" absence of organic remains, — all these are characters by which
" the Bothliegende is distinguished as quite a peculiar sandstone
" formation."-]* That not one of the peculiarities here emphasised
by Naumann are absent from the upper group of the Upper
Copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior, will be evident to any
one who has observed them or carefully gone through the
description above given. It therefore becomes a matter of much
importance, and deserving of the most careful study, to ascertain
whether this resemblance is a mere coincidence, or whether there
is reason for supposing that any part of these Upper Copper-bearing
rocks are of Permian age.
* Zirkel ; Petrographie. Vol. ii., p. 529.
t Naumann ; Lehrbuch der Geognosic. Vol. ii., p. 584.
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 257
BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS.
xMr. Griffith read the report which had been prepared by the
Committee on this subject, the members of which were: — The
general officers of the Association, the Trustees, the Rev. F. W.
Farrar, M.A.,F.R.S., the Rev. T.N. Hutchinson, M.A., Pro-
fessor Huxley, F.R.S., Mr. Payne, Professor Tyndall, F.R.S.,
and Mr. J. M. Wilson, M.A.
1. A demand for the introduction of science into the modern
system of education has increased so steadily during the last few
years, and has received the approval of so many men of the highest
eminence in every rank and profession, and especially of those who
have made the theory and practice of education their study, that
it is impossible to doubt the existence of a general, and even
national, desire to facilitate the acquisition of some scientific
knowledge by boys at our public and other schools.
2. We point out that there is already a general recognition of
science as an element in liberal education. It is encouraged to a
greater or less degree by the English, Scottish, and Irish Universi-
ties ; it is recognized as an optional study by the College of Pre-
ceptors ; it forms one of the subjects in the local examinations of
Oxford and Cambridge ; and it has even been partially introduced
into several public schools. We have added an appendix containing
information on some of these points. But the means at present used
in our schools and universities for making this teaching effective,
are, in our opinion, capable of great improvement.
3. That general education in schools ought to include some
training in science is an opinion that has been strongly urged on
the following grounds : —
1. As providing the best disciptiue in the observation and col-
lection of facts, in the combination of inductive with deductive
reasoning, and in accuracy both of thought and language.
2. Because it is found in practice to remedy some of the defects
of ordinary school education. Many boys on whom the ordinary
school studies produce very slight effect, are stimulated and im-
proved by instruction in science ; and it is found to be a most
valuable element in the education of those who show special
aptitude for literary culture.
Yol. III. Q .No. 4.
258 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail
3. Because the methods and results of science have so profoundly
affected all the philosophical thought of the age, that an educated
man is under a very great disadvantage if he is unacquainted
with them.
4. Because very great intellectual pleasure is derived in after
life from even a moderate acquaintance with science.
5. On grounds of practical utility as materially affecting the
present position and future progress of civilization.
This opinion is fully supported by the popular judgment. All
who have much to do with the parents of boys in the upper classes
of life are aware that, as a rule, they value education in science on
some or all of the grounds above stated.
4. There are difficulties in the way of introducing science into
schools ; and we shall make some remarks on them. They will be
found, we believe, to be by no means insuperable. First among
these difficulties, is the necessary increase of expense. For if
science is to be taught, at least one additional master must be
appointed ; and it will be necessary in some cases to provide him
with additional school-rooms, and a fund for the purchase of
apparatus. It is obvious that the money which will be requisite
for both the initial and current expenses must in general be obtained
by increasing the school fees. This difficulty is a real but not a
fatal one. In a wealthy country like England, a slight increase in
the cost of education will not be allowed (in cases where it is
unavoidable) to stand in the way of what is generally looked upon
as an important educational reform ; and parents will not be unwill-
ing to pay a small additional fee if they are satisfied that the
instruction in science is to be made a reality.
Another ground of hesitation is the fear that the teaching of
science will injure the teaching in classics. But we do not think
that there need be the slightest apprehension that any one of the
valuable results of a classical education will be diminished by the
introduction of science. It is a very general opinion, in which
school-masters heartily concur, that much more knowledge and
intellectual vigour might be obtained by most boys, during the
many years they spend at school, than what they do as a matter
of fact obtain. It should, we think, be frankly acknowledged, and,
indeed, few are found who deny it, that an exclusively classical
education, however well it may operate in the case of the very few
who distinguish themselves in its curriculum, fails deplorably for
the majority of minds. As a general rule, the small proportion of
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 259
boys who leave our Schools for the Universities consists undeniably
of those who have advanced furthest in classical studies, and judg-
ing the existing system of education by these boys alone, we have
to confess that it frequently ends in astonishing ignorance. This
ignorance, often previously acknowledged and deplored, has been
dwelt on with much emphasis, and brought into great prominence
by the recent Royal Commission for Inquiry into our public schools.
We need not fear that we shall do great damage by endeavouring
to improve a system which has not been found to yield satisfac-
tory results, xlnd we believe, further, that the philological abilities
of the very few who succeed in attaining to a satisfactory know-
ledge of classics will be rather stimulated than impeded by a more
expansive training.
Lastly, it may be objected that an undue strain will be put
upon the minds of boys by the introduction of the proposed
subjects. We would reply that the same objections were made,
and in some schools are still made, to the introduction of mathe-
mathics and modern languages, and are found by general experience
to have been untenable. A change of studies, involving the play
of a new set of faculties, often produces a sense of positive relief;
and at a time when it is thought necessary to devote to games so
large a proportion of a boy's available time, the danger of a general
over pressure to the intellectual powers is very small, while any
such danger in individual cases can always be obviated by special
remissions. We do not wish to advocate any addition to the hours
of work in schools where it is believed that they are already as
numerous as is desirable ; but in such schools some hours a week
could still be given up to science by a curtailment of the vastly
preponderent time at present devoted to classical studies, and
especially to Greek and Latin composition.
5. To the selection of the subjects that ought to be included in
a programme of scientific instruction in public schools we have
given our best attention, and we would make the following remarks
on the principles by which we have been guided in the selection
that we shall propose.
There is an important distinction between scientific information
and scientific training ; in other words, between general literary
acquaintance with scientific facts, and the knowledge of methods
that may be gained by studying the facts at first hand under the
guidance of a competent teacher. Both of these are valuable ; it
is very desirable, for example, that boys should have some general
260 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
information about the ordinary phenomena of nature, such as the
simple facts of astronomy, of geology, of physical geography, and
of elementary physiology. On the other hand, the scientific habit
of mind, which is the principal benefit resulting from scientific
training, and which is of incalculable value whatever be the
pursuits of after life, can better be attained by a thorough
knowledge of the facts and principles of one science, than by a
general acquaintance with what has been said or written about
many. Both of these should co-exist, we think, at any school
which professes to offer the highest liberal education ; and at every
school it will be easy to provide at least for giving some scientific
information.
1. The subjects that we recommend for scientific information
as distinguished from training, should comprehend a general
description of the solar system ; of the form and physical geography
of the earth, and of such natural phenomena as tides, currents,
winds, and the causes that influence climate ; of the broad facts of
geology ; of elementary natural history, with especial reference
to the useful plants and animals ; and of the rudiments of physio-
logy. This is a kind of information which requires less preparation
on the part of the teacher ; and its effectiveness will depend on
his knowledge, clearness, method, and sympathy with his pupils.
Nothing will be gained by circumscribing these subjects by any
general syllabus ; they may safely be left to the discretion of the
masters who teach them.
2. And for scientific truiuiuy we are decidedly of opinion that
the subjects which have paramount claims are experimental
physics, elementary chemistry, and botany.
i. The science of experimental physics deals with subjects
which come within the range of everybody's experience. It
embraces the phenomena and laws of light, heat, sound, electricity
and magnetism, the elements of mechanics, aud the mechanical
properties of liquids and gases. The thorough knowledge of these
subjects includes the practical mastery of the apparatus employed
in their investigation. The study of experimental physics involves
the observation and collation of facts, and the discovery and
application of principles. It is both inductive and deductive. It
exercises the attention and the memory, but makes both of them
subservient to an intellectual discipline higher than either. The
teacher can so present his facts as to make them suggest the
principles which underlie them, while, once in possession of the
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 261
principle, the learner may be stimulated to deduce from it results
which lie beyond the bounds of his experience. The subsequent
verification of his deduction by experiment never fails to excite
his interest and awaken his delight. The effects obtained in the
class-room will be made the key to the explanation of natural
phenomena, — of thunder and lightning, of rain and snow, of dew
and hoar-frost, of winds and waves, of atmospheric refraction and
reflection, of the rainbow and the mirage, of meteorites, of terres-
trial magnetism, of the pleasure and buoyancy of water and of
air. Thus the knowledge acquired by the study of experimental
physics is, of itself, of the highest value, while the acquisition of
that knowledge brings into healthful and vigorous play every
faculty of the learner's mind. Not only are natural phenomena
made the objects of intelligent observation, but they furnish
material for them to wrestle with and overcome ; the growth
of intellectual strength being the sure concomitant of the enjoy-
ment of intellectual victory. We do not entertain a doubt that
the competent teacher who loves his subject and can sympathise
with his pupils, will find in experimental physics a store of know-
ledge of the most fascinating kind, and an instrument of mental
training of exceeding power.
ii. Chemistry is remarkable for the comprehensive character of
the training which it affords. Not only does it exercise the memory
and the reasoning powers, but it also teaches the student to gather
by his own experiments and observations the facts upon which to
reason.
It affords a corrective of each of the two extremes against which
real educators of youth are constantly struggling. For on the one
hand, it leads even sluggish or uncultivated minds from simple
and interesting observations to general ideas and conclusions, and
gives them a taste of intellectual enjoyment and a desire for
learning. On the other hand, it checks over-confidence in mere
reasoning, and shows the way in which valid extensions of our
ideas grow out of a series of more and more rational and accurate
observations of external nature.
It must not, however, be supposed that all so-called teaching of
chemistry produces results of this kind. Young men do occa-
sionally come up to public examinations with a literary acquaintance
with special facts and even principles of chemistry, sufficient to
enable them to describe those facts from some one point of view
and to enunciate the principles in fluent language, and yet who
262 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
know nothing of the real meaning of the phrases which they have
learnt. Such mere literary acquaintance with scientific facts is
in chemistry an incalculable evil to the student if he be allowed to
mistake it for science.
Whether the student is to learn much or little of chemistry, his
very first lessons must be samples of the science. He must see the
chief phenomena which are described to him ; so that the words
of each description may afterwards call up in his mind an image
of the thing. He must make simple experiments, and learn to
describe accurately what he has done, and what he has observed.
He must learn to use the knowledge which he has acquired before
proceeding to the acquisition of more ; and he must rise gradually
from well examined facts to general laws and theories.
Among the commonest non-metallic elements and their simplest
compounds, the teacher in a school will find abundant scope for
his chief exertions.
iii. Botany has also strong claims to be regarded as a subject
for scientific training. It has been introduced into the regular
school course at Rugby, (where it is the first branch of natural
science which is studied) ; and the voluntary pursuit of it is
encouraged at Harrow, and at some other schools with satisfactory
results. It only requires observation, attention, and the acquisition
of some new words ; but it also evolves the powers of comparison and
the colligation of facts in a remarkable degree. Of all sciences it
seems to offer the greatest facilities for observation in the fields
and gardens ; and to this must be added the fact that boys, from
their familiarity with fruits, trees, and flowers, start with a
considerable general knowledge of botanical facts. It admits
therefore pre-eminently of being taught in the true scientific
method. The teaching of science is made really valuable by
training the learner's mind to examine into his present knowledge,
to arrange and criticise it, and to look for additional information.
The science must be begun where it touches his past experience,
and this experience must be converted into scientific knowledge.
The discretion of the teacher will best determine the range of
botany at which it is desirable to aim.
6. The modes of giving instruction in the subjects which we
have recommended are reducible to two : —
1. A compulsory system of instruction may be adopted, similar
to that which exists at Rugby, where science has now for nearly
three years been introduced on precisely the same footing as
1868. J SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 263
mathematics and modern languages, and is necessarily taught
to all boys.
2. A voluntary system may be encouraged, as has been done
for many years at Harrow, where scientific instruction on such
subjects as have been enumerated above, is now given in a systematic
series of lectures, on which the attendance of all boys who are
interested in them is entirely optional.
Of these systems it is impossible not to feel that the compulsory
system is the most complete and satisfactory. The experience of
different schools will indicate how it may best be adopted, and
what modifications of it may be made to suit the different school
arrangements. It will often be very desirable to supplement it by
the voluntary system, to enable the boys of higher scientific
ability to study those parts of the course of experimental physics
which will rarely, if ever, be included in the compulsory school
system. Lectures may also be occasionally given by some non-
resident lecturer, with a view of stimulating the attention and
interest of the boys. We add appendices containing details
of these two systems as worked at Rugby and Harrow, and we
believe that a combination of the two would leave little or nothing
to be desired.
The thorough teaching of the physical sciences at schools, will
not, however, be possible, unless there is a general improvement in
the knowledge of arithmetic. At present many boys of thirteen
and fourteen, are sent to the public schools, almost totally ignorant
of the elements of arithmetic, and in such cases they gain only
the most limited and meagre knowledge of it; and the great
majority enter ill taught. It is a serious and lasting injury to
boys so to neglect arithmetic in their early education ; it arises
partly from the desire of the masters of preparatory schools to
send up their boys fitted to take a^good place in the classical school,
and from the indifference of the public schools themselves to the
evil that has resulted.
7. With a view to the furtherance of this scheme, we make the
following suggestions : —
1. That in all schools natural science be one of the subjects to
be taught, and that in every public school at least one natural
science master be appointed for the purpose.
2. That at least three hours a week be devoted to such scientific
instruction.
3. That natural science should be placed on an equal footing
264 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
with mathematics and modern languages in affecting promotions,
and in winning honours and prizes.
4. That some knowledge in arithmetic should be required for
admission into all public schools.
5. That the universities and colleges be invited to assist in the
introduction of scientific education, by making natural science a
subject of examination, either at matriculation, or at an early
period of a university career.
6. That the importance of appointing lecturers in science,
and offering entrance scholarships, exhibitions, and fellowships,
for the encouragement of scientific attainments, be represented to
the authorities of the colleges.
With reference to the last two recommendations, we would observe
that without the co-operation of the universities, science can
never be effectively introduced into school education. Although
not more than 35 per cent., even of the boys at our great public
schools, proceed to the university, and at the majority of schools
a still smaller proportion, yet the curriculum of a public school
course is almost exclusively prepared with reference to the
requirements of the universities and the rewards for proficiency
that they offer. No more decisive proof could be furnished of
the fact that the universities and colleges have it in their power
to alter and improve the whole higher education of England.
APPENDIX A.
1. Oxford.
The Natural Science School at Oxford was established in the
year 1853. By recent changes, the university allows those who
have gained a first, second, or third class in this school to graduate
without passing the classical school, provided they have obtained
honours, or have passed in three books at least at the second
classical examination — viz., moderations (which is usually passed
in the second year of residence) ; honours in this school are thus
placed on an equality with classical honours. The first classical
examination, " responsions," is generally passed in the first term
of residence. Arithmetic and two books of Euclid, or algebra up
to simple equations, are a necessary part of this examination.
The university offers ample opportunities for the study of
physics, chemistry, physiology, and other branches of natural
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IX SCHOOLS. 265
science. At present, only a few of the colleges have lecturers on
this subject; while for classics and mathematices every college
professes to have an adequate staff of teachers. At Christ Church,
however, a very complete chemical laboratory lias been lately
opened.
A junior studentship at Christ Church and a demyship at
Magdalen College, tenable for five years, are, by the statutes of
those colleges awarded annually for profiency in natural science.
A scholarship, tenable for three years, lately founded by Miss
Brackenbury, at Balliol College, for the promotion of the study of
natural science, will be given away every two years. With the
exception of Merton College, where a scholarship is to be shortly
given for proficiency in natural science, no college has hitherto
assigned any scholarships to natural sciences. The number of
scholarships at the colleges is stated to be about 400, varying in
annual value from £100 to £60. With these should be reckoned
college exhibitions, to the number of at least 220, which range in
annual value from £145 to £20, and exhibitions awarded at
school, many of which are of considerable value.
The two Burdett-Coutts geological scholarships, tenable for two
years, and of the annual value of £75, are open to all members of
the university who have passed the examination for the B.A.
degree, and have not exceeded the 27th term from their matricu-
lation. Every year a fellowship of £200 a year, tenable for three
years (half of which time must be spent on the continent) on
Dr. Radcliffe's foundation, is at present competed for by candi-
dates, who, having taken a first class in the school of natural
science, propose to enter the medical profession.
At Christ Church, two of the senior studentships (fellowships)
are awarded for proficiency in natural science. At the examina-
tion for one of these, chemistry is^ the principal subject, and for
the other physiology.
At Magdalen College, it is provided that, for twenty years from
the year 1857, every fifth fellowship is assigned to mathematics
and physical science alternately. In the statutes of this, and of
every college in Oxford (except Corpus, Exeter, and Lincoln) the
following clause occurs : — " The system of examinations shall
always be such as shall render fellowships accessible, from time to
time, to excellence in every branch of knowledge for the time being
recognized in the schools of the university." This clause, so far
as it relates to the study of natural science, has been acted on
266 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
only by Queen's College and at Merton College, where a natural
science fellowship will be filled up during the course of the present
year.
At Pembroke College, one of the two Sheppard fellows must
proceed to the degree of Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine in the
university. At the late election to this fellowship, natural science
was the principal subject in the examination. The number of
college fellowships in Oxford is at present about 400.
2. Cambridge.
It is important to distinguish between the university and the
colleges at Cambridge as at Oxford.
There is a natural science tripos in which the university
examines in the whole range of natural sciences, and grants
honors precisely in the same manner as in classics or mathematics.
The university also recognizes the natural sciences as an
alternative subject for the ordinary degree. As the regulations
on this point are comparatively recent, it will be well to state
them here.
A student who intends to take an ordinary degree without
taking honours has to pass three examinations during his course
of three years, — the first, or previous examination, after a year's
residence, in Paley, Latin, Greek, Euclid, and arithmetic, and one
of the gospels in greek ; the second, or general examination,
towards the end of his second year, in the Acts of the Apostles in
Greek, Latin, Greek, Latin prose composition, algebra, and
elementary mechanics , and the third, or special examination, at
the end of his third year, in one of the following five subjects : —
1. Theology; 2. Moral Science; 3. Law; 4. Natural Science;
5. Mechanism and applied Science.
In the natural science examination, a choice is given of chemistry,
geology, botany, and zoology.
There are only five colleges in Cambridge that take any notice
of natural science — viz., Kings, Caius, Sidney, Sussex, St. John's,
and Downing. At Kings, two exhibitions have been given away
partly for proficiency in this subject ; but there are no lectures,
and it is doubtful whether similar exhibitions will be given in
future. At Caius there is a medical lecturer and one scholarship
given away annually for anatomy and physiology. At Sidney
Sussex two scholarships annually are given away for mathematics
and natural science ; and a prize of £20 for scientific knowledge.
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION TN SCHOOLS. 267
There is also a laboratory for the use of students. At St. John's
there is a chemical lecturer and laboratory ; and though at this
college there is no sort of examination in natural science either
for scholarships or fellowships, it is believed distinction in the
subject may be taken into account in both elections. Downing
was founded with " especial reference to the studies of law and
medicine ;" there is a lecturer here in medicine and natural science,
and in the scholarship examinations one paper in these subjects ; no
scholarship is appropriated to them, but they are allowed equal
weight with other subjects in the choice of candidates. It is
believed that the same principle will govern the election to fellow-
ships in this college, though no fellowship has yet been given for
honours in natural science. We believe that, owing to the new
university regulations (mentioned above), the authorities of
Trinity College have determined to appoint a lecturer in natural
science ; the matter is under deliberation in other colleges, and it
is not improbable that the same considerations will induce them
to follow this example.
It must always be remembered that the practice is rare in
Cambridge of appropriating fellowships and scholarships to special
subjects. At present public opinion in the University does not
reckon scientific distinction as on a par with mathematical or
classical ; hence, the progress of the subject seems enclosed in this
inevitable circle — the ablest men do not study natural science
because no rewards are given for it, and no rewards are given for
it because the ablest men do not study it. But it may be hoped
that the disinterested zeal of teachers and learners will rapidly
break through this circle ; in that case the subject may be placed
on a satisfactory footing without any express legislative provision.
3. The University of London.
At the University of London the claims of science to form a part
of every liberal education have long been recognized. At the
matriculation examination the student is required to show that he
possesses at least a popular knowledge of the following subjects :—
a. In Mechanics. — The composition and resolution of forces ;
the mechanical powers ; a definition of the centre of gravity ;
and the general laws of motion.
6. In Hydrostatics, Hyrdaulics, and Pneumatics. — The pressure
of liquids and gases ; specific gravity ; and the principles of
268 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail.
the action of the barometer, the siphon, the common pump
and forcing pump, and the air-pump.
c. In Acoustics. — The nature of sound.
d. In Optics. — The laws of refraction and reflection, and the
formation of images by simple lenses.
e. In Chemistry. — The phenomena and laws of heat; the
chemistry of the non-metallic elements ; general nature of
acids, gases, &c. ; constitution of the atmosphere ; composi-
tion of water, &c.
At the examination for the degree of B.A. a more extensive
knowledge of these subjects is required, and the candidate is further
examined in the following branches of science : —
/. Astronomy. — Principal phenomena depending on the motion
of the earth round the sun, and on its rotation about its own
axis ; general description of the solar system, and explana-
tion of lunar and solar eclipses.
g. Animal Physiology. — The properties of the elementary
animal textures ; the principles of animal mechanics ; the
processes of digestion, absorption, assimilation ; the general
plan of circulation in the great divisions of the animal king-
dom ; the mechanism of respiration ; the structure and actions
of the nervous system ; and the organs of sense.
Besides the degree examination there is also an examination for
honours in mathematics and natural philosophy, in which, of course,
a much wider range of scientific knowledge is required.
We would venture to remark that, if a similar elementary
acquaintance with the general principles of sciences were required
for matriculation at Oxford and Cambridge, it is certain that they
would at once become a subject of regular teaching in all our great
public schools.
There are also two specially scientific degrees, a Bachelor of
Science, and a Doctor of Science. For the B. S. there are two
examinations of a general but highly scientific character. The
degree of D. S. can only be obtained after the expiration of two
years subsequent to the taking the degree of B. S. The candidate
is allowed to select one principal subject, and to prove his thorough
practical knowledge thereof, as well as a general acquaintance with
other subsidiary subjects.
1868.] scientific education in schools. 269
4. The College of Preceptors.
In the diploma examinations at the College of Preceptors, one
branch of science — viz., either chemistry, natural history, or physio-
logy— is required as a necessary subject for the diploma of Fellow.
In the examinations for the lower diploma of Associate or Licentiate
some branch of science may be taken up by candidates at their
own option. The council recently decided to offer a prize of three
guineas half-yearly for the candidate who showed most proficiency
in science, and who at the same time obtained a second class in
the other subjects.
In the examinations of pupils of schools, natural philosophy,
chemistry, and natural history are optional subjects only, and are
not required for a certificate for the three classes. Two prizes are
given to those candidates who obtain the highest number of marks
in these subjects at the half-yearly examinations; and it is an
interesting fact that last year, out of a total of 651 candidates,
100 brought up natural history, and 36 brought up chemistry as
subjects for examination. Two additional prizes were consequently
awarded.
5. The French Schools.
In France the " Lycees" correspond most nearly to our public
schools, and for many years science has formed a distinct part of
their regular curriculum. A strong impulse to the introduction
of scientific teaching into French schools was given by Napoleon I.,
and since that time we believe that no French school has wholly
neglected this branch of education. The amount of time given to
these subjects appears to average two hours in every week.
The primary educatiou is that which is given to all alike, what-
ever may be their future destination in life, up to the age of eleven
or twelve years. After this period there is " bifurcation" in the
studies of boys. Those who are intended for business or for
practical professions lay aside Greek and Latin, and enter on a
course of " special secondary instruction. " In this course,
mechanics, cosmography, physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and
geology occupy a large space; and the authorized official pro-
grammes of these studies are very full, and are drawn up with the
greatest care. The remarks and arguments of the Minister of
Public Instruction (Mons. Duruy) and others in the " Pro-
grammes officiels, etc., de l'enseignement secondaire special," are
extremely valuable and suggestive; and we recommend the
270 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail.
syllabuses of the various subjects, which have received the
sanction of the French government, as likely to afford material
assistance to english teachers in determining the range and limits
of those scientific studies at which, in any special system of instruc-
tion, they may practically aim. The " Enseignement secondaire
special" might very safely be taken as a model of what it is
desirable to teach in the "modern departments" which are now
attached to some of our great schools.
The boys who are destined to enter the learned professions con-
tinue a classical course, in which, however, much less time is
devoted to classical composition than is the case in our public
schools. Nor is science by any means neglected in this course,
which is intended to cover a period of three years. Besides the
" elementary division," there are five great classes in these schools,
viz., a grammar division, an upper division, a philosophy class, and
classes for elementary and special mathematics.
In the grammar division there is a systematic instruction on the
physical geography of the globe.
In the second class of the upper division the boys begin to be
taught the elements of zoology, botany, and geology in accordance
with the ministerial programmes ; and in the rhetoric class descrip-
tive cosmography (which seems to be nearly co-extensive with the
German Erkunde) forms the subject of a certain number of weekly
lessons.
In the class of philosophy, the young students are initiated into
the elementary notions of physics (including weight, heat, elec-
tricity, and magnetism, acoustics, and optics) and of chemistry,
in which, at this sta^e, the teaching is confined to " general con-
ceptions on air, water, oxidation, combustion, the conditions and
effects of chemical action, and on the forces which result from it."
In the classes of elementary and special mathematics, this course
of scientific training is very considerably extended ; and if the
authorized programmes constitute any real measure of the teaching,
it is clear that no boy could pass through these classes without a
far more considerable amount of knowledge in the most important
branches of science than is at present attainable in any English
Public School.
6. The German Schools.
In Germany the schools, which are analogous to public schools
in England, are the Gymnasia, where boys are prepared for the
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 271
universities, and the Bilrgerschvlen or Realschulen^ which were
established for the most part about thirty years ago, for the
purpose of affording a complete education to those who go into
active life as soon as they leave school. An account of the Prussian
Gymnasia and Realschulen may be seen in the Public School Com-
mission Report, Appendix G; further information may be obtained
in " Dashohere Schulwesen in Preussen," by Dr. Wiese, published
under the sanction of the Minister of Public Instruction in Prussia,
and in the programmes issued annually by the school authorities
throughout G ermany .
At the Gymnasia natural science is not taught to any great
extent. According to the Prussian official instructions, in the
highest class two hours, and in the next class one hour a week are
allotted to the study of physics. In the lower classes, two hours
a week are devoted to natural history, i. e., botany and zoology.
The results of the present training in natural science at the
Gymnasia are considered by many eminent university professors
in Germany to be unsatisfactory, owing to the insufficient time
allotted to it.
In the Realschulen about six hours a week are given to physics
and chemistry in the two highest classes, and two or three hours
a week to natural history in the other classes. In these schools
all the classes devote five or six hours a week to mathematics, and
no Greek is learnt. In Prussia there were in 1864 above one
hundred of these schools.
APPENDIX B.
On the Natural Science Teaching at Rugby.
Before the summer of 1864, a boy, on entering Rugby, might
signify his wish to learn either modern languages or natural science ;
the lessons were given at the same time, and therefore excluded
one another. If he chose natural science, he paid an entrance
fee of £1 Is., which went to an apparatus fund, and £5 5s.
annually to the lecturer. Out of the whole school, numbering
from 450 to 500, about one-tenth generally were in the natural
science classes.
The changes proposed by the Commissioners were as follows : —
That natural science should no longer be an alternative with
modern languages, but that all boys should learn some branch of
272 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail.
it; that there should be two principal branches — one consisting of
chemistry and physics, the other of physiology and natural history,
animal and vegetable — and that the classes in natural science
should be entirely independent of the general divisions of the
school, so that boys might be arranged for this study exclusively
according to their proficiency in it.
Since, owing to circumstances which it would be tedious to
detail, it was impossible to adopt literally the proposals of the
Commissioners, a system was devised which must be considered as
the system of the Commissioners in spirit, adapted to meet the
exigencies of the case.
The general arrangement is this — that new boys shall learn
botany their first year, mechanics their second, geology their third,
and chemistry their fourth.
In carrying out this general plan certain difficulties occur, which
are met by special arrangements depending on the peculiarities of
the school system. We need not here enter upon these details,
because it would be impossible to explain them simply, and
because any complications which occur in one school would differ
widely from those which are likely to arise in another.
Next, as to the nature of the teaching.
In botany the instruction is given partly by lectures and partly
from Oliver's Botany. Flowers are dissected and examined by
every boy, and their parts recognized and compared in different
plants and then named. No technical terms are given till a
familiarity with the organ to be named or described has given rise
to their want. The terms which express the cohesion and adhesion
of the parts are gradually acquired until the floral schedule, as
highly recommended by Henslow and Oliver, can be readily worked.
Fruit, seed, inflorescence, the forms of leaf, stem, root, are then
treated, the principal facts of vegetable physiology illustrated, and
the principle of classification into natural orders explained, for
the arrangement of which Bentham's " Handbook of the British
Flora" is used. Contrary to all previous expectation, when this
subject was first introduced it became at once both popular and
effective among the boys.
The lectures are illustrated by Henslow"s nine diagrams, and
by a large and excellent collection of paintings and diagrams
made by the lecturers and their friends, and by botanical collec-
tions made for use in lectures. When the year's course is over,
such boys as show a special taste are invited to take botanical
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 273
walks with the principal lecturer, to refer to the school herbarium,
and are stimulated by prizes for advanced knowledge and for
dried collections, both local and general.
In mechanics, the lecturer is the senior natural science master.
The lectures include experimental investigations into the mechanical
powers, with numerous examples worked by the boys; into the
elements of mechanism, conversion of motion, the steam engine, the
equilibrium of roofs, bridges, strength of material, &c. They are
illustrated by a large collection of models, and are very effective
and popular lectures.
The lectures in geology are undertaken by another master.
This subject is only temporarily introduced, on account of the
want of another experimental school. When this is built, the
third year's course will be some part of experimental physics, for
which there already exists at Rugby a fair amount of apparatus.
It is very desirable that boys should obtain some knowledge of
geology, but it is not so well fitted for school teaching as some of
the other subjects, on several grounds. Perhaps a larger propor-
tion of boys are interested in the subject than in any other j but
the subject pre-supposes more knowledge and experience than most
boys possess, and their work has a tendency to become either
superficial, or undigested knowledge derived from books alone.
The lectures include the easier part of Lyell's Principles, i. e., the
causes of change now in operation on the earth ; next, an account
of the phenomena observable in the crust of the earth, stratifica-
tion and its disturbances, and the construction of maps and
sections; and lastly, the history of the stratified rocks and of
life on the earth. These lectures are illustrated by a fair geo-
logical collection, which has been much increased of late, and by
a good collection of diagrams and views to illustrate geological
phenomena.
For chemistry, the lecturer has a convenient lecture-room, and
a small but well-fitted laboratory ; and he takes his classes
through the non-metallic and metallic elements : the lectures are
fully illustrated by experiments. Boys, whose parents wish them
to study chemistry more completely, can go through a complete
course of practical analysis in the laboratory, by becoming private
pupils of the teacher. At present twenty-one boys are studying
analysis.
This being the matter of the teaching, it remains to say a few
words on the manner. This is nearly the same in all classes
Yol. III. R ]STo. 4.
274 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
mutatis mutandis: the lecture is given, interspersed with ques-
tions, illustrations, and experiments, and the boys take rough
notes which are re-cast into an intelligible and presentable form in
note books. These are sent up about once a fortnight, looked
over, corrected and returned ; and they form at once the test of
how far the matter has been understood, the test of the industry,
care and attention of the boy, and an excellent subject for their
English composition.
Examination papers are given to the sets every three or four
weeks, and to these and to the note books marks are assigned
which have weight in the promotion from form to form. The
marks assigned to each subject are proportional to the number of
school-hours spent on that subject.
There are school prizes given annually for proficiency in each of
the branches of natural science above mentioned.
This leads us, lastly, to speak of the results : —
First, as to the value of the teaching itself; secondly, as to its
eifects on the other branches of study.
The experience gained at Rugby seems to point to these con-
clusions : — That botany, structural and classificatory, may be
taught with great effect, may interest a large number of boys, and
is the best subject to start with. That its exactness of terminology,
the necessity of care in examining the flowers, and the impossibility
of superficial knowledge are its first recommendations ; and .the
successive gradations in the generalizations as to the unity of
type of flowers, and the principles of a natural classification, are of
great value to the cleverer boys. The teaching must be based on
personal examination of flowers, assisted by diagrams, and every-
thing like cram strongly discouraged.
Mechanics are found rarely to be done well by those who are
not also the best mathematicians. But it is a subject which in
its applications interests many boys, and would be much better
done, and would be correspondingly more profitable, if the
standard of geometry and arithemetic were higher than it is.
The ignorance of arithmetic which is exhibited by most of the
new boys of fourteen or fifteen would be very surprising, if it had not
long since ceased to surprise the only persons who are acquainted
with it ; and it forms the main hinderance to teaching mechanics.
Still, under the circumstances, the results are fairly satisfactory.
The geological teaching need not be discussed at length, as it is
temporary, at least in the middle school. Its value is more literary
18G8.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. 275
than scientific. The boys can bring neither mineralogical, nor
chemical, nor anatomical knowledge ; nor have they observed
enough of rocks to make geological teaching sound. The most
that they can acquire, and this the majority do acquire, is the
general outline of the history of the earth, and of the agencies by
which that history has been effected, with a conviction that the
subject is an extremely interesting one. It supplies them with an
object rather than with a method.
Of the value of elementary teaching in chemistry there can be
only one opinion. It is felt to be a new era in a boy's mental
progress when he has realised the laws that regulate chemical
combination and sees traces of order amid the seeming endless
variety. But the number of boys who get a real hold of chemistry
from lectures alone is small, as might be expected from the nature
of the subject.
Of the value of experimental teaching in physics, especially
pneumatics, heat, acoustics, optics, and electricity, there can be no
doubt. Nothing but impossibilities would prevent the immediate
introduction of each of these subjects in turn, into the Rugby
curriculum.
Lastly, what are the general results of the introduction of
scientific teaching in the opinion of the body of masters ? In
brief, it is this, that the school as a whole is the better for it, and
that the scholarship is not worse. The number of boys whose
industry and attention is not caught by any school study is
decidedly less ; there is more respect for work and for abilities in
the different fields now open to a boy ; and though pursued often
with great vigour, and sometimes with great success, by boys
distinguished in classics, it is not found to interfere with their
proficiency in classics, nor are there any symptoms of over-work
in the school.. This is the testimony of the classical masters, by
no means specially favourable to science, who are in a position
which enables them to judge. To many who have left Rugby
with but little knowledge and little love of knowledge, to show as
the results of their two or three years in our middle school, the
introduction of science into our course has been the greatest
possible gain : and others who have left from the upper part of
the school, without hope of distinguishing themselves in classics
or mathematics, have adopted science as their study at the
Universities. It is believed that no master in Rugby School
would wish to give up natural science and recur to the old
curriculum.
276 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
APPENDIX C.
On the Teaching or Science at Harrow School.
From this time forward, natural science will be made a regular
subject for systematic teaching at Harrow, and a natural science
master has been appointed.
But for many years before the Royal Commission of Inquiry
into the Public Schools had been appointed, a voluntary system
for the encouragement of science had been in existence at Harrow.
There had been every term a voluntary examination on some
scientific subject, which together with the text-books recommended,
was announced at the end of the previous term. Boys from all
parts of the school offered themselves as candidates for these
voluntary examinations, and every boy who acquitted himself to
the satisfaction of the examiners (who were always two of the
masters) was rewarded with reference to what could be expected
from his age and previous attainments. The text-books were
selected with great care, and every boy really interested in his
subject could and did seek the private assistance of his tutor or
of some other master. The deficiencies of the plan, if regarded
as a substitute for the more formal teaching of science, were too
obvious to need pointing out ; yet its results were so far satisfac-
tory that many old Harrovians spoke of it with gratitude, among
whom are some who have since devoted themselves to science with
distinguished success.
One of the main defects of this plan (its want of all system)
was remedied a year ago, when two of the masters drew up a
scheme, which was most readily adopted, by which any boy staying
at Harrow for three years might at least have the opportunity
during that time of being introduced to the elementary concep-
tions of astronomy, zoology, botany (structural andclassificatory),
chemistry, and physics. These subjects are entrusted to the
responsibility of eight of the masters, who draw up with great
care a syllabus on the subject for each term, recommend the best
text-books, and give weekly instruction (which is perfectly
irratuitous) to all the boys who desire to avail themselves of
it ; indeed, a boy may receive, in proportion to the interest
which he manifests in the subject, almost any amount of assist-
ance which he may care to seek. Proficiency in these examina-
tions is rewarded as before ; and to encourage steady perseverance,
1868.] SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS.
ki77
the boys who do best in the examination during a course of three
terms receive more valuable special rewards.
As offering to boys a voluntary and informal method of obtain-
ing much scientific information, this plan (which was originated
at Harrow, and has not, so far as we are aware, been ever adopted
at any other school) offers many advantages. It is sufficiently
elastic to admit of many modifications ; it is sufficiently com-
prehensive to attract a great diversity of tastes and inclinations ;
it cannot be found oppressive, because it rests with each boy to
decide whether he has the requisite leisure or not ; it can be
adopted with ease at any school where even a small body of the
masters are interested in one or other special branch of science ■
and it may tend to excite in some minds a more spontaneous
enthusiasm than could be created by a compulsory plan alone.
We would not, however, for a moment recommend the adoption
of any such plan as a substitute for more regular scientific training.
Its chief value is purely supplemental, and henceforth it will be
regarded at Harrow as entirely subordinate to the formal classes
for the teaching of science which will be immediately established.
In addition to this, more than a year ago some of the boys formed
themselves into a voluntary association for the pursuit of science.
This Scientific Society, which numbers upwards of thirty members,
meets every ten days at the house and under the presidency of one
or other of the masters. Objects of scientific interest are exhibited
by the members, and papers are read generally on some subjects
connected with natural history. Under the auspices of this
Society the nucleus of a future museum has already been formed,
and among other advantages the Society has had the honour of
numbering among its visitors more than one eminent representative
of literature and science. We cannot too highly recommend the
encouragement of such associations for intellectual self-culture
among the boys of our public -schools. — From a Newspaper
Report.
278 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
MODERN SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION : ITS
METHODS AND TENDENCIES.*
Gentlemen of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science : Every day of our lives we hear that
this is an age of progress ; and that it is so we find evidence at every
turn. The rapidity with which effects follow causes in human events,
the celerity with which the plan is carried into execution, gives to
a year in the experience of one of the present generation the practical
value of a lifetime in ages past. Much labour has been expended on
the exposition of the causes of the mental activity of the present
ao-e, and of the grand achievements which have attended it ; and
yet, the key to the whole enigma is to be found in the universal
adoption of the comparatively new system of inductive reasoning.
It would be foreign to my purpose to attempt to illustrate or defend
this proposition, and I must therefore trust to its acceptance
without argument, while we pass to consider that branch of the
subject which more immediately demands our attention.
Although the progress of the age to which I have referred has
been a matter of wonder and delight to all students of humanity
and civilization, many of our best men have been somewhat
alarmed and dizzied by it; and while accepting the achievements
of modern industry and thought as full of present good and future
promise, they are not a little concerned lest our railroad speed of
progress should lead to its legitimate consequences, a final crash —
not of things material, but of those of infinitely more value — of
opinions and of faith. As often as it is boasted that this is pre-
eminently an age of progress, that boast is met by the inevitable
" but " (which qualifies our praise of all things earthly) "it is
equally an age of scepticism." For the truth of this assertion the
proof is nearly as palpable as of the other ; and in view of the
ruthlessness with which the man of the present removes ancient
landmarks and profanes shrines hallowed by the faith of centuries,
it is not surprising that many of the good and wise among us
should deplore a liberty of thought leading, in their view, inevi-
tably to license ; and mourn over this wide-spread scepticism as an
* An address delivered before the American Association, at Burlington,
August, 1865, by Prof. J. S. dewberry, President of the Association ;
from a copy communicated by the Author.
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 279
evil and inscrutable disease that has fallen upon the minds and
hearts of men.
Now for every consequence there must be an adequate cause ;
and while confessing the fact of this modern lack of faith, I have
thought that a few moments given to an analysis of it, and an
attempt to trace it to its source, might not be wholly misspent —
might possibly, indeed, result in giving a grain of encouragement
to those who look with distrust and dread upon the investigations
and discussions which now occupy so large a portion of the time
and thought of our men of science.
If the wheels of time could, for our benefit, be rolled back, and
we could see in all its details the civilization of Europe three or
four hundred years ago, we should find that our so much respected
ancestors, who fill so large a space on the page of history, were
little better than barbarians. Among the English, the French,
the Germans, Spanish and Italians, we should find a phase of
civilization which, excepting that it included the elements — as yet
but imperfectly developed — of a true religious faith, is scarcely to
be preferred to that of the Chinese. Aside from the vast differ-
ence perceptible between the civilization of that epoch and ours,
as exhibited in the political condition of the people, in their social
economy and morals, the general intellectual darkness of the
period referred to could not fail to impress us both profoundly
and painfully. Out of that darkness and chaos have come, as if
by magic, all our modern democracy with its individual liberty
and dignity, all our civil and religious freedom, all our philan-
thropy and benevolence, all our diffused comfort and luxury, most
of our good manners and good morals, and all the splendid achieve-
ments of our modern scientific investigation.
It is unnecessary for me here to describe in detail the origin and
growth of modern science. That has been so well done by Dr.
Whewell that all men of education^ are familiar with the steps by
which the grand, beautiful, and symmetrical fabric formed by the
grouping of the natural sciences has acquired its present lofty
proportions.
Previous to the period when the Baconian philosophy was
accepted as a guide in scientific investigation, but one department
of science had attained a development which has any considerable
claim to our respect. Mathematics, both pure and applied, had
been assiduously cultivated from the remotest antiquity, and with
a degree of success which has left to modern investigators little
280 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
more than the elaboration of the thoughts of their predecessors.
In Metaphysics — which had claimed even a larger share of the
attention of the scholars of antiquity — little progress had been
made. Perhaps I am justified in saying little progress was
possible, inasmuch as in the light of all the great material dis-
coveries of modern times the metaphysicians of the present day are
debating, with as little harmony of opinion, the same questions
that divided the rival schools of the Greeks. Each successive
generation has had its two parties of idealists and realists, who
have discussed the intangible problems which absorbed the great
minds of Plato and Aristotle with a degree of enthusiasm and
energy — and it may be of acrimony — which seems hardly com-
pensated by any expansion of the human intellect or amelioration
of the condition of mankind.
Of the Physical Sciences we may say that, except Astronomy,
no one had an existence prior to the time of Bacon. There were
men of vast learning, and much that was called science in the mass
of reported observation that had been accumulating from century
to century, until it had become " rudis indigestaque moles," in
which — though it constituted the pride of universities, the intel-
lectual capital with which the savant thought himself rich, and
that on which the professional man depended for success — there
was far more error than truth, and its study was sure to mislead
and likely to injure. In these circumstances the task before the
scientific reformer was one far more difficult than that of clearing
the Augean stables ; no less, in fact, than to seat himself before
this great heap of rubbish, this mass of truth and error, — of the
sublimest philosophy with the wildest fiction, — to patiently winnow
out the grains of truth, and from infiniteismal facts build up a
fabric that should have a sure foundation below, and beauty and
symmetry above. What more natural, then, than that the process
adopted in winnowing this chaff-heap should be that which had
given success to the only true science of the period ? — that the
mathematical touchstone should be the test by which every grain
was tried ? And such precisely was the course pursued ; perhaps
we may even say the only one practicable. Provided with this
test, the reformer was compelled to rejudge upon its merits every
proposition submitted to him, and accepted only as true such ss
could be demonstrated. The materials which composed the
science to be reformed naturally fell into several categories.
First — That which had been demonstrated to be true. Second,
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 281
— That which was demonstrable. Third, — That which was
probable. Fourth, — That which was possible ; and fifth, — That
which was impossible. Of these he systematically rejected all
but the first and second classes. And this, in few words, has
been the method adopted, not only in the purification of old
science, but in the creation of new.
It will be seen at a glance, that in this process all that was con-
trary to the order of nature (supernatural or spiritual) was
necessarily excluded; and it was taken for granted that the
mathematical or logical faculty of the human mind was capable of
solving all the problems of the material universe. Sir William
Hamilton and others have demonstrated the inadequacy of mathe-
matical processes as a guide to human reason, and a moment's
thought will show us that our boasted intellect is incapable of
grasping even all the material truths which are plainly presented
to it. To illustrate : as we scan the heavens of a clear evening,
we recognize the fact that we stand as it were on a point in space
where our field of vision is limitless ; the heavenly bodies stretch-
ing away into the realms of obscurity, and becoming invisible only
through the imperfection of our organs of vision. Bringing to
our aid the most powerful telescopes, we are apparently as far as
ever from reaching the limits of the universe; and when we
endeavour to conceive of such a limit, the reasoning faculty finds
itself incapable of grasping either of the two alternatives offered
to it, one or the other of which must be true. The universe
must be either limited or limitless. But no man can conceive of
a universe without a limit ; and if it be regarded as terminated
by definite boundaries, the imagination strives in vain to fill the
void which reaches beyond. In fact, we stand here face to face
with infinity, and recognize the fact that the infinite exists without
the power to comprehend it.
The same is true of time. We cannot conceive of its beginning
or its end. All things which come within the scope of our
senses are limited in duration and circumscribed in space, and
though we prate flippantly of the infinite, the pretence that we
can grasp it is simply talk.
Conducted on such a plan, it was inevitable that scientific in-
vestigations should be narrow and materialistic in their tendency.
No matter how strong the probability in favor of the truth of a
certain proposition, — though the whole fabric of society were
based upon its acceptance, and it formed the foundation of civil
282 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
and moral laws, even though it controlled the actions of the phil-
osopher himself, — if not proved consistent with nature's physical
and material laws, it must be rejected as unworthy to enter into
the construction of the edifice he was erecting. In his great task
of undoing the work of blind, unreasoning faith, and wild, illogical
speculation, all the fruit of such faith or speculation must be
looked upon as matter valueless to his hand. We may even go
further and say that were it true that the Supreme Intelligence
had created the material universe, and by special providence
modified or thwarted the general laws through which that universe
was governed, such divine supervision and such miraculous inter-
position must necessarily have been ignored.
Let it not be inferred, however, that each and all of the great
men who have been engaged in this work of scientific reformation
were necessarily driven to be impious iconoclasts, or that in their
efforts to emancipate themselves from time-honored errors, they
necessarily prostituted the liberty they gained to selfish or sensual
purposes. On the contrary, the most important advances which
the human intellect has made within these latter centuries have
been due to the efforts of men of the purest and most conscientious
character ; men whose lives were devoted with the utmost single-
ness of purpose to determine "what is truth;" men who, knowing
that all truth must be consistent with all other truth, were willing
to go whithersoever it should lead. If it shall prove that they
have been occupied with " mint, anise, and cumin," omitting the
" weightier matters of the law," it is also true that in no other
way could the material laws of the universe be thoroughly investi-
gated than by making them the subjects of an absorbed and
undivided attention. It would be as just to impugn the motives
and decry the merits of the maker of our almanacs because his
mathematical calculations were not interlarded with moral maxims,
as to reproach the student of natural phenomena because he did
his work so well, and left to others the co-ordination of the results
of his efforts with the accepted dogmas of religious faith. And it
is not true, in any sense, that these devotees of science have lived
in vain ; for to them we mainly owe the fact that man is not only
wiser now than formerly, but that he is better and happier.
In justice to the man of science we must claim lor him the
position of co-laborer with, and indispensable ally to, the philan-
thropists and moralists: for from no source have they drawn
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 283
richer lessons, stronger arguments, or more eloquent illustrations
than from his discoveries.
And yet, while conceding conscientiousness and purity of motive
to the vast majority of our men of science, and acknowledging the
contributions they have made and are making to human happiness,
compelled by my sense of justice to defend their spirit, approve
their methods, admire their devotion, and assert their usefulness,
I cannot deny that the tendency of modern investigation is
decidedly materialistic. All natural phenomena being ascribed to
material and tangible causes, the search for and analysis of these
causes have begotten a restless activity and an indomitable energy
which will leave no stone unturned for the attainment of their
object. But while this is apparent, and, indeed, inevitable, as has
been seen from the sketch of the growth of modern science, I am
far from sharing the alarm which it excites in the minds of many
good men. Nor would I encourage or excuse that spirit of con-
servatism— to call it by no harsher term — which, for the safety of
a popular creed, would by any and all means repress, and, if
possible, arrest investigations that, it is feared, may become revo-
lutionary and dangerous.
Such opposition, in the first place, must be fruitless. All
history has proved that persecution by physical coercion or
obloquy is powerless to arrest the progress of ideas, or quench the
enthusiasm of the devotees of a cause approved by their moral
sense. The problems before our men of science must be solved in
the manner proposed, if human wisdom will suffice for the task.
In every department of science are men actuated simply by a
thirst for truth, whom neither heat nor cold, privation nor opposi-
tion, will hold back from their self-appointed tasks. We may,
therefore, accept it as a finality, that this problem will be carried
to its logical conclusion.
In the second place, if possible, the arrest of scientific investiga-
tion would be not only undesirable, but an infinite calamity to our
race. As has been so often said, truth is consistent with itself.
If, therefore, our faith in this or that is based on truth, we have
no cause for fear that this truth will be proved untrue by other
truths. And more than this : it seems to me that, in the reach
and thoroughness of this material investigation, we may hope for
such demonstration of the reality of things immaterial as shall pro-
duce a deeper and more universal faith than has ever yet prevailed.
Through this very spirit of scepticism which pervades the
284 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
modern sciences we are compelled to exhaust all material means
before we can have recourse to the supernatural. When, however,
that has been done, and men have tried patiently and laboriously,
but in vain, to refer all natural phenomena to material causes,
then, having proved a negative, they will be compelled to accept
the existence of truth not reached by their touchstone, and faith
be recognized as the highest and best knowledge.
That such will be the result is the confident expectation of
many of the wisest of the scientific men whose influence is looked
upon with such alarm by those who, in their anxiety for their
faith, demonstrate its weakness.
Already, as it seems to me, scientists have reached the wall of
adamant — the inscrutable — that surrounds them on every side,
and, ere long, we may expect to see them return to that heap of
chaff from which the germs of modern science were winnowed,
with the conviction that there were there left buried other germs
of other and higher truths than those they gleaned ; truths
without which human knowledge must be a dwarfed and deformed
thing.
A few illustrations from the many that might be cited will
suffice to show the materialistic tendency of modern science. In
" Pure Philosophy," — as the students of Psychology are fond of
styling their science, — the names alone of Compte, Buckle,
Herbert Spencer, Mill, and Draper, will suggest the more promi-
nent characters of the school they may be said to represent. The
most conspicuous feature in the " Positive Philosophy " of Compte
is the effort it exhibits to co-ordinate the laws of mind with those
of matter. Spencer is a thorough-going mental Darwinist, who
considers the highest attributes of the human mind, the loftiest
aspirations of the soul, as only developed instincts, as these were
but developed sensations. Mill, more guarded, more fully inspired
with the spirit of the age, — which believes nothing, and is a foe
to speculation, — leaves the history of our faculties to be written,
if at all, by others ; takes them as they are, but reasons of con-
science and free-will with an independence of popular belief that
savors more of the material than the spiritual school. Buckle
wore himself out in a vain chase after an ignis fatmts, an inherent,
inflexible law of human progress, and hence of human history.
Draper is a developmentist, but not a Darwinian. With him
civilization is a definite stage in the growth of mind ; a degree of
development to which it is impelled by a vis a tergo, not unlike.
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 285
in kind, to that which evolves from the germ, the bud, the leaf,
the flower, and the fruit in plant-life, — a development which, when
unchecked and free, will be regular and inevitable, but which is so
modified by the accidents of race, climate, soil, geographical
position, etc. as to render it difficult to say whether the rule or
the exception has, in his judgment, greatest potency. If he were
a consistent Darwinist, the accidents of development would be
its law.
Among the students of " Social Science," — a new and important
member of the sisterhood of sciences, — as in most of the other de-
partments of modern investigation, two groups of devotees are
found ; one patiently and conscientiously studying the problems of
social organization, inspired with the true spirit of the Baconian
Philosophy, ready to follow whithersoever the facts shall lead, and
having for their object that noblest of all objects, the increase of
human happiness. The other class of investigators, in whom the
bump of destructiveness is largely developed, would be delighted
to tear down the whole fabric of society, and abrogate all laws,
both human and divine. Looking upon man as literally the
creature of circumstances, as an inert atom driven about by
material forces, conscience and responsibility are by them repudi-
ated, and laws and penalties regarded simply as relics of barbaric
despotism. The dreary soul-killing creed of these fatalists is
fortunately so repugnant to the reason and feelings of the majority
of men, that there is little danger that their efforts will reach their
legitimate conclusion in throwing society into a state of anarchy
and chaos.
In Theology or Biblical Science the tendency of modern inves-
tigation is so distinctly felt, that I need only refer to it. The
spirit of independent criticism, so noticeable elsewhere, is still
more conspicuous here ; assuming sometimes the form of derisive
scepticism, but oftener of cold, passionless judgment on the
reported facts of sacred history, or the psychological phenomena
of religious faith, studied simply as scientific problems.
The names ot Strauss, Kenan, and Colenso, will suggest the
results to which men, possibly honest, are led by this so-styled
" enlightened and emancipated spirit of enquiry ;" while " Ecce
Homo" and cognate productions may be considered as the fruit of
this spirit, tempered by a very liberal but apparently sincere faith.
Aside from these more marked examples of the decided " set "
in the tide of modern religious opinions, we everywhere see
286 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
evidences that no part of the religious world is unmoved by it.
In every sect and section an impulse is felt to substitute for
abstract faith, the " faith without works " — rather a characteristic
of the religion of our fathers, and not unknown at present — that
other faith which is evidenced by works. In other words ; in our
day more and more value is being attached to this life, as a sphere
for religious effort and experience. With what propriety, I leave
to the individual judgment of my auditors ; the faith of every
sect and man is coming to be respected and valued precisely in the
ratio of the purity, unselfishness, and active sympathy in the life
produced by it.
While, therefore, we have less now than formerly of the self-
centred and fruitless piety of the old deacon whom I chanced to
know, who excused his avarice by proclaiming that ' business was
one thing and religion another, and he never allowed them to
interfere;' in place of that we have many an Abou Ben Adhem,
and all the splendid exhibitions of modern philanthropy.
Though the golden mean displayed in the life and words of
Christ is far better than either extreme, I cannot but think the
present religious condition of the world is better than any which
has preceded it.
In Ethnology — the pre-historic history of the human race — the
researches of the large number of investigators who are devoted
to its study have made interesting and important additions to our
knowledge ; but it cannot be denied that the result of such inves-
tigation has been to create general distrust of our previously
accepted chronology, and give an antiquity to man such as the
scholars of a previous generation would have looked upon as not
only unwarranted but impious. It should be said, however, that
our preconceived opinions of the antiquity of the human race —
like those of the age of the earth itself — were based upon no solid
foundation in nature, history, or revelation ; and that our system
of chronology was a matter of convention, about which there has
been a wide latitude of opinion among the scholars of all ages.
In regard to the origin of man — whether by special creation or
development — we may confidently assert, that modern investigation
has given us no new light. Among those who have accepted the
theory of a special creation, and have differed only in regard to
the number of species and their places of origin or centres of
creation, there has been such a diversity of opinion that all con-
fidence in the reality and value of the bases of their reasoning has
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 287
been lost. Among the advocates of a multiplicity of species and
diversity of origin we have from Blumenbach to Agassiz almost
every number between fifteen and three as that of distinct species
of the human race, scarcely any two writers advocating the same
number. We may, therefore, very fairly infer that the facts upon
which their conclusions are founded are not of a very clear and
unmistakeable character.
The subject of the origin of the human race brings us into the
domain of zoology, and opens the wide question of the origin of
species, which, of late years, has been shaking the moral and
intellectual world as by an earthquake. While the various writers
upon the origin of the human race were gathering with so much
industry, and reporting with so much eloquence, the proofs of a
diversity of origin, the Darwinian hypothesis comes in and refers,
not only all the human family, but all classes of animals and
plants, to an initial point in a nucleated cell.
It would be impossible for any one to discuss, in a fair and
intelligent manner, the great question of the origin of species, in
anything less than a bulky volume. The merest mention is,
therefore, all we can give to it at the present time. Although
the appearance of Darwin's book on the Origin of Species com-
municated a distinct shock to the prevalent creeds, both religious
and scientific, the hypothesis which it suggests, though now for
the first time distinctly formularized, was by no means new ; as it
enters largely into the less clearly stated development theories of
Oken, Lamarck, De Maillet, and the author of the Yestiges of
Creation. There was this difference, however, that in the develop-
mental theories of the older writers the element of evolution had a
place; the process of development had its main spring in an
inherent growth, or tendency, such as produces the evolution of
the successive parts in plant-life, while, according to Darwin, the
beautiful symmetry and adaptation" which we see in nature is
simply the form assumed by plastic matter in the mold of external
circumstances.
Although this Darwinian hypothesis is looked upon by many as
striking at the root of all vital faith, and is the bete noire of all
those who deplore and condemn the materialistic tendency of
modern science, still the purity of life of the author of the Origin
of Species, his enthusiastic devotion to the study of truth, the
industry and acumen which have marked his researches, the
candor and caution with which his suggestions have been made,
288 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail.
all combine to render the obloquy and scorn with which they have
been received in many quarters peculiarly unjust and in bad taste.
It should also be said of Mr. Darwin that his views on the origin
of species are not inconsistent with his own acceptance of the
doctrine of Revelation ; and that many of our best men of science
look upon his theory as not incompatible with the religious faith
which is the guide of their lives, and their hope for the future.
To these men it seems presumption that any mere man should
restrict the Deity in His manner of vitalizing and beautifying the
earth. To them it is a proof of higher wisdom and greater power
in the Creator that He should endow the vital priuciple with such
potency that, pervaded by it, all the economy of nature, in both
the animal and vegetable worlds, should be so nicely self-adjusting
that, like a perfect machine from the hands of a master-maker, it
requires no constant tinkering to preserve the constancy and
regularity of its movements.
This much I have said in view of the possible acceptance of the
Darwinian theory by the scientific world. I should have stated
in limine, however, that the Darwinian hypothesis is not accepted
and can never be fully accepted by the student of science who is
inspired with the spirit of the age. From the nature of things it
can be proved only to a certain point, and while we accept that
which is proven, — and for it sincerely thank Mr. Darwin, — that
which is hypothesis, or based only upon probabilities, we reject, as
belonging in the category of mere theories, to disprove or purify
which the modern scientific reform was inaugurated. Much, too,
may be said against the sufficiency of ' natural selection in the
struggle of life,' from observations made upon the phenomena of
the economy of nature. Necessarily, the action of the Darwinian
principle must be limited to the individual, be literally and purely
selfish ; and if it can be proved that a broader influence pervades
the created world, that something akin to benevolence enters into
the organization of the individual, something which benefits others
and not himself, one single fact establishing this truth would hurl
the entire Darwinian fabric to the ground ; or rather restrict it to
its proper bearing upon the limits of variation, and the mooted
question of ' what is a species ? '
One^ of the most potent influences in the perpetuation of species
is fecundity in the individual, whereas we see in social insects the
economy of the community is best served by a total loss of this
power in the great majority of the individuals which compose it.
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 289
This objection will perhaps be met by the Darwinians with the
assertion that the community 3 in fact, constitutes an individual ;
but I must confess that I find it difficult to comprehend how the
sterility of the workers in ants and bees was ever introduced
through the medium of modified descent, the Darwinian method,
or how it is kept up from generation to generation among those
individuals which have no posterity to inherit their peculiarities
of structure.
The Honey Ants of Mexico offer additional difficulties. Among
them a portion of the community secrete honey in the abdominal
cavity until they resemble small grapes, and these individuals,
during the winter, are despatched in succession to furnish food
for the other members of the colony. How, by modified descent,
is this honey-making faculty transmitted, when those who possess
it are systematically destroyed ?
A still harder nut for the Darwinians to crack is furnished in
a fact stated by Dr. Stimpson, that among the Crustacea, which do
not live in communities, a very large proportion of the individuals
of a numerically powerful species pass their lives as neuters, or
undeveloped females.
Another element in nature's economy, which at first sight
suggests an objection to the Darwinian theory, is that of beauty,
which affects others far more than the possessor. This is con-
sidered by the Darwinians simply as an attraction to the opposite
sex, but as a fact we find that in the larval condition of some
insects — a condition in which no propagation is effected — varieties
of form and combinations of color exist which appeal to our sense
of beauty scarcely less forcibly than in the perfect insects.
Again, the origin of life is left completely untouched by the
Darwinian hypothesis, and so long as the vital principle resists, as
it has done, all efforts of theorists and experimenters to brin«- it
within the category of material forces^ so long we must regard the
world of life as including elements not amenable to the laws which
control simple inert matter.
Upon this question of the origin of life so much is being done
and said that you will expect a word of reference to it at my
hands, yet little more can be reported as the result of modern
research than that the origin of life is as great a mystery as ever.
You will all remember how, a few years since, we were startled by
the announcement of the discovery of the generation of the Acarus
Crossii ; and, while our original distrust of the accuracy of the
Yol. III. S No. 4.
290 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
observations of Mr. Crosse was strengthened by the failure of subse-
quent experimenters to reproduce his results, our belief is further
confirmed by the unanimity of all the more modern and intelligent
devotees of spontaneous generation in the assertion that life can only
originate in its simplest form, that of a unicellular organism. There
is no Darwinist who will concede the possibility of an animal as
highly organized as an Acarus, with body, head, limbs, digestion,
and senses, all more or less complete, being the product of spon-
taneous generation and not the result of slow and gradual
development.
Still farther ; it is known that the animal kingdom rests upon
the vegetable as a base. Animals being incapable of assimilating
inorganic matter could not exist without plants. Plants must
therefore have preceded animals, and the fruit of spontaneous
generation must be a prototype and not a protozoan.
Strange as it may seem, there are, however, men, respectable
by their numbers and attainments, who are believers in spontaneous
generation ; but it is with this proviso — which leaves the mystery
as great as ever — that only from organic matter can organisms be
produced. So that to the original and primary appearance of life
upon the earth modern science has given us not the slightest clue.
As I have said, the materialists have so far utterly failed to
co-ordinate the vital force, with those which we designate as
material. The beautiful and important discoveries which have
followed researches into the correlation and conservation of forces,
by pointing to a unity of all the forces in the material world, have
naturally prompted efforts to centralize, with electricity, magnetism,
and chemical affinity, that which we know as vital force. But a
moment's reflection will show us how far removed is this vital
force from all others with which it has been compared.
The nicest manipulations of chemical science will probably fail
to detect a difference in composition between the microscopic
germs of two cryptogamous plants. Each consists of the same
elements, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, in nearly or
quite the same proportions. Both may be planted in a soil which
laborious mixture has rendered homogenous, and subsequently
supplied with the same pabulum, and yet, in virtue of some in-
scrutable, inherent principle, one develops a humble moss, and the
other rises into the beauty, symmetry, and even grandeur of a
tree fern. The same may be said of the spermatozoa of the
mouse and the elephant. Indeed all the phenomena which attend
1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 291
the reproduction of species are totally at variance and incompatible
with those which mark the action of material laws. Why, in
physical circumstances differing toto coelo, does the germ produce
a plant or animal so closely copying the parent ? and whence this
tenacity of purpose in the germ which reproduces, through a long
line of posterity, the trivial characteristics of a remote ancestor ?
Even within our limited observation we have been struck by the
reappearance in the grandchild of the voice, the gesture, the
stature, the features, or some other marked peculiarity of his
grandsire. Whence comes the force of the axiom that ' blood will
tell ' ? — and how incomprehensible that, by the action of only
material laws, mental force, or, it may be, moral infirmity, is
transmitted from generation to generation, in spite of the system
of infinitesimal dilution through which it passes !
And now, even with this hurried and sadly imperfect exposition
of the tendency of modern science, the time at our command has
been consumed. Before leaving the subject, however, I crave
your indulgence for a word to those who, wholly absorbed in the
study of the laws which regulate the material universe, are so
deeply impressed with their universality and potency, that they
forget that law is but another name for an order of sequence, and
has in itself no force. These are they who, in their pride in the
achievements of the human intellect, fail to realize that the uni-
verse furnishes conclusive proof that all our philosophy, all our
logic, all our observation are utterly inadequate to solve the
problems that are presented to us ; inadequate not simply from
the limited nature of our powers of observation, but because the
human mind, though forced to confess the existence of the infinite
is utterly unable to grasp it; and that while the logic of reason
and the logic of numbers suffice for a qualified understanding of
the manner in which material forces work, of the origin and nature
of these forces we are and must "ever remain ignorant, unless
gifted with higher powers than we now possess. As has been
stated, seen from the stand-point of our modern materialists and
judged by the criteria which they have adopted, spiritual existeuce
and supernatural phenomena, even if as all-pervading as the most
devout religionist believes, must, from a priori considerations, be
utterly ignored. Of those who are thus led by their regard for
the dignity of material laws to reject the idea of a creative and
overruling Deity, I would ask, Is not man himself a disturbing
element in your universe ? Whatever may be said in regard to
292 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST* [Jan,
man's free-agency, and however confidently it may be asserted that
his will is but the resultant of the various motives that operate as
distinct forces upon it, consciousness lies at the base of all reason-
ing; and the conduct of every man proves that he accepts this
axiom. As he issues from his door he is conscious, beyond all
argument, that it is in his power to turn to the right or to the
left; and while he holds himself responsible for his volition, he
cannot blame us if we ascribe to him free-agency. Man is there-
fore an independent power in the universe. He wills and creates.
The locomotive is as truly his creation as himself, fashioned from
the dust of the earth and vitalized by the breath of the Almighty,
is the work of His hands. If, therefore, all the realm of nature
is controlled through material laws, by forces that, like attraction,
electricity, chemical affinity, etc., act in an invariable and inflexible
way, in this universe man is a stupendous anomaly ; and unless
he can be degraded from his position of pre-eminence in this
material world, the boldest and most irreverant of modern philoso-
phers will strive in vain to dethrone the great Creator from the
rule of the universe, or from His place in the hearts and minds of
men.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
The sixteenth annual meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, was held in Burlington, Vermont ;
under the presidency of Professor J. S. Newberry, of Columbia
College, New York; commencing on Wednesday, Aug. 21, and
closing on Monday, Aug. 26, 1867.
The attendance was larger than at the Buffalo meeting in 1866 ;
but still below that at the meetings held before the suspension of
the Association's active work, rendered necessary by the late
American war.
The papers presented were not very numerous ; but nearly all
were of great scientific value ; bearing on controverted questions,
applying the results of investigation to the determination of
natural laws, or suggesting new fields and methods of research.
A few comprised nothing beyond local details, which, if pub-
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 293
lished, might have been of some service ; but which should not
have come before the Association. We give above the annual
address of the President, and the following abstract of most of
the papers read in the Natural History section, acknowledging our
indebtedness to Prof. Newberry, and other members; and to the
editors of the American Naturalist, for notes of papers, and
proofs, kindly furnished us.
Considerations drawn from the study of the Or-
THOPTERA OF NORTH AMERICA; by S. H. SCUDDER, of
Boston. -This paper was a lengthened, comparative view of the
North American and European orthopterous faunas. The groups
characteristic of each continent were detailed, and the conclusion
inferred, that, under similar climatic and other conditions, this
family of insects is much richer in species and individuals in
North America than in Europe.
Traces of ancient Glaciers in the White Mountains
of New Hampshire ; with a few remarks upon the geological
structure of that part of the group.— The author recounted" the
observations made by him on the geological structure ami
grouping of the rocks in the region of the Androscoggin, Peabody,
and other valleys in the White Mountains, and the traces they
bear of glacial action. His observations tended to confirm the
opinion that these valleys have been occupied by local glaciers, as
well as by a general one.
On the origin of the Lignilites, or Epsomites; by
Prof. 0. C. Marsh, Yale College, New Haven.— These name;
have been applied to the columnar markings, and more or less
detached columns, occurring in the seams between strata, among
limestone rocks of all ages. Prof. Marsh, after stating the
conflicting opinions hitherto held and published by geologists, on
the cause of the structure, exhibited a fine series of specimens
showing it to be due to pressure. He has found that a shell, or
other foreign substance, often forms the nucleus of one of these
columns.
The Fossil Insects of North America; by S. H.
SCUDDER.-This paper was a summary of all that is yet known
on the subject. Eighty species have been determined and
described; while a few fragments are so badly damaged that it is
impossible to identify them. The Orthoptera have the greatest
number of representatives in the North American rocks; and
no species of coleoptera has yet been found. The oldest
294 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
of our known fossil insects are from the Devonian strata of New
Brunswick ; while in Tertiary rocks their remains have been
found in only one locality, near Green River, Colorado. No
fossil spiders have been discovered in North America.
On the Winooski Marble of Colchester, Vt.; by
Prof. C. H. Hitchcock. — This beautiful marble, which is found
in Potsdam rocks, near Burlington, consists of a silicious dolom-
ite, containing imbedded nodules of silica, enclosed in calcite.
The prevailing color is red, mottled, and veined with white,
brown, chocolate, yellowish, and whitish tints. So highly is it
valued abroad, that considerable quantities are exported to Italy
for the use of the sculptors of that country. The presence of
the quartz, however, renders it somewhat difficult to work.
On the Zoological Affinities of the Tabulate Corals ;
by Prof. A. E. Verrill. — The questions discussed in this paper
were the position of the tabulate corals among Polyps, and the
true value of the tabulate structure in classification. Coral-like
forms are produced by Protozoa (Eozoon, Polytrema, Sponges,
etc.), Molluscan corals (Bryozoa), Hydroid corals (Sertu-
laria, etc.), Polyp corals (Gorgonia, Tubipora, Madrepora,
etc.), and by vegetable corals (Nullipora, Corallina). Most of
these have been carefully studied. Two important groups,
however, are still involved in considerable doubt,— the Cyatho-
phylloid corals (Rugosa, Edw.), and the Tabulate corals.
The former are entirely extinct, and their structure may long
remain somewhat uncertain The latter are represented in
tropical seas by several genera and numerous species. Usually
they have been considered true Polyps ; but some zoologists urge
their affinity with the Bryozoan mollusks, while Agassiz, after
examining the genus Millepora, places the whole group among
Hydroids. Prof. Verrill considered the point as only settled so
far as Millepora and its allies were concerned, and requested Mr.
F. H. Bradley, while collecting, at Panama, for the Yale College
Museum to study the structure and habits of a species of
Pocilopora found at the place. The descriptions and figures of
the animal show it to be a true Polyp, scarcely differing from
Porites, except in the position of the tentacles. The animals are
exsert when expanded, and have twelve equal cylindrical tentacles
surrounding the margin, in a single circle, six of them being held
horizontally, and the alternate ones erect. Prof. Verrill, there-
fore, concludes that the tabulate structure is of secondary
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 295
importance as a character, in fixing their affinities, and that the
Tabulata must be dismembered, — Halisites, Millepora, and their
allies, being classed as Hydroids ; and Pocillopora and Favosites
with other extinct tabulated genera, as true Polyps.
On the Coal Measures of Illinois ; by Prof. A. H.
Worthen, State Geologist. — In prosecuting the geological
survey of Illinois, it seemed desirable to identify the coal seams
of that State with those of Kentucky, which occupy the same
basin. To effect this, a section was constructed along the valley
of the Illinois River, which traverses the coal-field from S.W. to
N.E. for about 100 miles. Six beds of workable coal, and four
or five thin seams, were met with in the section. After correcting
an error, which he thinks had been made in constructing the
Kentucky section, by considering the outcrop of the same
sandstone at Mahoning and Anvil Rock as different beds, Prof.
W. found a very close resemblance between the Illinois and
Kentucky strata. From his observations, he infers the existence
of coal seams over wide geographical areas. The fact was also
stated that many of the fossils of the carboniferous limestone,
in this region, are identical with those described by Hayden
and Meek, from the so-called sub-carboniferous rocks of Eastern
Kansas.
ON RECENT GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN THE ACADIAN
Provinces of British America; by J. W.Dawson, LL.D.,
F.R.S., Principal of McGill University. The object of the paper
was to notice some recent discoveries, which, though of interest
might have escaped the notice of members of the Association.
In New Brunswick, the older rocks in the vicinity of the city of
St. John have been reduced to order, and their probable a^es
ascertained, principally through the labors of Mr. Matthew, Mr.
Hartt, and Professor Bailey. The first step toward the knowledo-e
of their precise date was the discovery of a rich land flora in some
of the upper beds, next below the Lower Carboniferous rocks
which overlie them unconformably. These fossil plants he was
enabled to recognize as of the Devonian Period, and the zealous
researches, more especially of Mr. Hartt, have brought to light no
less than forty to fifty species, or half of the whole number known
in the Devonian of Eastern America, as well as six species of
insects, four of which have been described by Mr. Scudder.*
Canadian aSTaturalist. 1867.
296 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
These insects are the first ever found in rocks older than the
Carboniferous.
These rocks, consisting chiefly of hard shales and sandstones,
having been ascertained to be Devonian, there still remained an
immense thickness of underlying rocks of uncertain age. In the
upper member of these rocks, the same active observers already
mentioned have observed a rich primordial fauna, embracing species
of Conocephalites, Paradoxides, Microdiscus, andAgnostus, as well
as an Orthis, and a new type of Cystidians. These fossils are
regarded by Mr. Hartt and Mr. Billings as of the age of Barrande's
" Etage C," and as marking a new and older period of the " Silurian
Primordial" than any other as yet recognized in America, with the
exception of the slates holding Paradoxides in Massachusetts, and
the similar slates of the "Older Slate Formation" of Jukes, in
Newfoundland. Descriptions of these fossils, by Mr. Hartt, will
be published in the edition of " Acadian Geology" now in press.
It is proposed to call this series, represented in New Brunswick by
the St. John slates, the Acadian Series.
Below these primordial beds are highly metamorphosed rocks,
at least 9,000 feet in thickness, which have afforded no fossils.
A portion of these, consisting principally of conglomerate and
trappean beds, is regarded by Messrs. Matthew and Bailey as
of the age of the Huronian. The remainder, containing much
gneiss and a bed of crystalline limestone, they regard as Lau-
rentian. If this view is correct, and it certainly seems to be
probable, these rocks, thus rising through the oldest members
of the Lower Silurian, and forming a stepping-stone between the
Laurentian of Newfoundland and that of New Jersey, show that
the foundations of the north-east and south-west line of the east
side of North America were already laid in the Laurentian period.
Still, it is not here, but farther west, that we are to look for the
dividing line between the great inland Silurian basin of America,
and that of the Atlantic coast ; the latter has been pointed out by
Professor Hall and Sir. W. E. Logan, as remarkably distinguished
by the predominance of mechanical sediments, and by a develop-
ment of the lower rather than the upper members of the Lower
Silurian.
To ascend from these rocks to the Carboniferous, — recent labors
of Mr. Davidson, Mr. Hartt, and the author, had led to the division
of the Lower Carboniferous into successive subordinate stagehand
to the determination of most of the marine fossils, and also to the
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 297
explanation of the curious and apparently anomalous fact that
some forms allied to Permian species actually exist in the Lower
Carboniferous, under the productive coal-measures. These
researches had also shown that no distinction between Sub-
carboniferous and Carboniferous proper, can fairly be made in
Nova Scotia, notwithstanding the grand development of the
Carboniferous in thickness.
After noticing the large advances made in the fossil botany of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the paper referred to the dis-
covery by Mr. Barnes of two new species of insects, and to
the discovery by the author of a new pulmonate mollusk, described
by Dr. P. P. Carpenter as Conulus priscus. There are thus in
the coal formation of Nova Scotia a Pupa and a Conulus or
Zonites, generically allied to living pulmonates, and representing
already in that early period two of the principal types of these
creatures.*
Specimens of these fossils were exhibited, and also specimens
and a photograph of the Laurentian fossil Eozobn Canadense sent
by Sir. W. E. Logan. Special attention was drawn to the
specimen recently found by the Canadian Survey at Tudor,
which shows this organism in a state of preservation comparable
with that of ordinary Silurian fossils.
On some remarkable fossil fishes, from the " Black
Shale" (Devonian) at Delaware, Ohio ; by J. S. Newberry.
— Dr. Newberry exhibited to the Section different portions of the
head of a gigantic fish, to which he had given the name of Dinichthys
Herzerl ; and which, he said, from its size and structure, deserved
the same distinction among fishes that Dinotherium andBinoDiis
enjoy among mammals and birds. Most of the bones obtained as
yet belonged to the head, which was over three feet long, by one
and a-half broad, and wonderfully strong and massive. All parts
of the head had been procured, ^ind many different individuals
were represented in the collections made by Mr. Herzer. The
cranium was composed of a number of plates firmly anchylosed
together, and strengthened near the occiput by internal ribs or
ridges, nearly as large as one's arm. The external surface was
covered with a very fine vermicular ornamentation. The anato-
mical structure was more wonderful than the size, and was such
as to separate this quite widely from any fishes known, living or
* Acadian Geology. Second Edition.
298
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Jan.
fossil. The most marked peculiarity was in the structure of the
jaws and teeth, both as regards the form and texture. The form
of the jaws will be best understood by the following figures.
Fig. 1 .
Lower Jaw — one-eighth natural size.
Figr. 2.
Front view of Head — one-eighth natural size.
The head terminated anteriorly and above in two great incisors,
representing the premaxillary, behind which on either side were
the maxillaries — broad, flattened bones of very dense tissue — along
the lower edge of which was set one row of small robust teeth,
which were neither implanted in sockets nor cemented to the
jaw, but were formed by the consolidation and prolongation of the
jaw tissue. The mandibles are over two feet long by six inches
deep, laterally flattened and very massive, being without any
medullary cavity. The anterior extremity was turned up in a
huge triangular tooth, composed of dense ivory-like tissue, which
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 299
alternated with (passing between) the divergent incisors of the
upper jaw. Back of this terminal tooth, on some specimens, was
another triangular summit, behind which was a row of small teeth
corresponding to those of the mamillaries. Such was the power
of this tremendous dental apparatus, that the bodies of our
largest living fishes would be instantly pierced and crushed by it,
if exposed to its action. Behind the head were large and thick
plates, one of which corresponded to the " os medium dorsi" of
ffeterostius (of Pander) being at least of equal size.
These interesting fossils were found in the calcareous
concretions, which occur so abundantly near the base of the
"Black Shale" (Hamilton) at Delaware, in Central Ohio, by
Mr. Herzer, a clergyman, who, while performing his pastoral
duties, and living on a very small salary, had been a most zealous
and remarkably successful student of the local geology.
On some Fossil Reptiles and Fishes from the Carbon-
iferous Strata of Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois; by J. S.
Newberry. — The specimens exhibited and described in this
communication consisted of reptiles and fishes from the cannel
stratum underlying the main coal seam at Linton, Ohio ; of fishes
from the coal measures of Illinois, collected by the State
Geologist; and of a group of fishes collected by Dr. Patterson
from a stratum of bituminous shale lying in the Waverly group,
125 feet above its base at Vanceburg, Kentucky. Of these, the
first series included Raniceps Lycllii (Wyman) with several as yet
undescribed reptiles, some of which apparently belong to Prof.
Huxley's new genera, OpJiiderpeton and Urocordylus. Associated
with these were some twenty species of fossil fishes, most of which
have been described by Dr. Newberry, but were now represented
by new and more perfect specimens. Among these were eight
species of Eurylepis, a genus created by Dr. Newberry to receive
a group of small lepidoids, allied to Palceoniscus, but distinguished
by the scales of the sides, which are much higher than long. The
scales on several of these species are very highly ornamented.
The specimens exhibited were preserved in cannel coal, and
covered with a film of sulphide of iron, by which they were
brilliantly gilded. With these were two species of Coelacanthxs,
some of the specimens of which showed that the fishes of this
genus were furnished with a supplemental caudal fin, as in
Undina. This, Dr. Newberry stated, was an interesting fact,
confirmatory of Prof. Huxley's view of the relations of Undina,
300 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
Macropoma and Coelacanfhus. The numerous and very com-
plete specimens of Coelacanthus exhibited, supply much that was
wanting to a perfect knowledge of the anatomy of this genus.
The bones of the head are similar in form to those of Macropoma ,
are highly ornamented with tubercles above and thread lines below ;
the jugular plates are double and long-elliptical as in Uhdina and
Macropoma, but the teeth are conical and curved. The position
and form of the fins is as in Uhdina, but the anterior dorsal is
stronger. The fins are supported on palmated interspinous
bones, similar in a general way to those of the other genera of the
family. The paired fins are slightly lobed. The supplemental
caudal has been referred to ; the scales are ornamented with
curved and converging raised lines. In many specimens the
earbones (otolites) are distinctly visible. Besides the fishes
found at Linton already enumerated, there were scales and teeth
of Rhizodus, two species, at least one of which (P. angustus) has
teeth of two forms, — one large, flattened, and double-edged ; the
others smaller, more numerous, slender, striated, and conical,
with a circular section throughout ; two species of Diphdus,
consisting of bony base and enamelled crown, — the latter distinctly
and beautifully serrated ; so that there can scarcely be a question
that they were teeth, and not, as claimed by Mr. Atthey, of
Newcastle, England, dermal tubercles.
In the Linton fauna is one species of Pakvoniseus (i3. Scuti-
gerus, JSf.) ; one of Pygopterus ; one of MegaUchthys, represented
by scales ; and numerous spines of placoid fishes of the genera
Compsacanthus and Pleuracanthus.
The fish remains from Illinois consisted of a splendid specimen
of Edestus vorax (Leidy) from the coal at Bellville, opposite St.
Louis, and of several individuals of a new species of Platysomus
from the concretions of iron ore at Mazon Creek. The Edestus
was said by Dr. Newberry to have been described as a jaw, but
the specimen exhibited was much more complete than any before
found, and there could scarcely be a doubt that it was the spine
of a Selachian. Platysomus, he said, though common in the
coal measures of England, had not been before found in America.
The fishes from the Waver ly were from a new locality, and
from a horizon that had furnished very few fossils of any kind,
and no fishes except a Palaeoniscus (P. Brainerdi) found in
northern Ohio. The specimens collected at Vanceburg, by Dr.
Patterson, consisted of teeth of Cladodus and Orodus, with spines
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 301
of Ctenacanthus, with the tail of one of these Selachians distinctly
preserved. This Dr. Newberry said was a great rarity, as the
soft, and even the cartilaginous parts of plagiostomous fishes had
usually disappeared, the teeth, spines, and dermal tubercles — the
only bony parts — alone remaining. The only similar case of
which he had any knowledge was the discovery of the tail and
fins of Chondostreus, in the Lias of Lyme Regis, England, and
the preservation of Thyalina in the Solenhofen slate. The
specimen shown was greatly older than these, being from the base
of the Carboniferous, and was the only figure that nature has yet
given us of the external form of these ancient sharks. This tail
was very heterocercal, had the form of the caudal fins of some
living sharks, and indicated a fish of seven or eight feet in length.
In the specimen exhibited, the vertebral column had entirely
disappeared, but the impressions of the spinous bones were
distinctly visible, those of the lower lobe of the tail being ossified
throughout. Dr. Newberry said that he hoped to gather data
from this collection for uniting teeth and spines, which, though
described under different names, were parts of one fish.
On some new Fossil Sponges from the Lower Silurian ;
by Prof. 0. C. Marsh. — The author exhibited and described
some specimens of the new genus Brachiospongia, from the Lower
Silurian rocks of Kentucky. These sponges, of which a full
account will shortly be published by Prof. Marsh, differ widely
from all the species hitherto known, and are of great interest to
science.
On the occurrence of Fossil Sponges in the successive
groups of the Pal/eozoic Series ; by Prof. Jas. Hall. —
This paper was an epitome of all that is known of the sponges of
the Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian formations.
Sponges with calcareous skeletons, and coral-like forms, were
among the earliest inhabitants of the earth, being found in the
Lower Silurian strata. In the Devonian age they were still
more abundant ; but from this period diminished in numbers, and
became more like the horny sponges of the present day.
On the American Beaver; by Lewis H. Morgan,
Rochester, N.Y. — The Beaver appears to be rapidly becoming
extinct wherever civilization advances. It is still found, how-
ever, in certain localities, from Virginia to the parallel of 60 N.
lat., though most abundant in the Hudson Bay Territory. Mr.
Morgan had examined the dams constructed by them around the
302 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
southern shore of Lake Superior. Some of these show an
astonishing amount of instinct in the way of engineering. Trees
many feet in diameter have been cut down by them ; canals are
often constructed from their ponds to the localities of the trees on
the bark of which they feed — in one instance the canal measuring
over 60 yards in length. Natural obstacles are overcome by
means of bridges, tunnels, etc., built with great ingenuity.
On the metamorphosis and distortion of Pebbles in
Conglomerate ; by C. H. Hitchcock, State Geologist,
Vermont. — Geologists have noticed that in certain highly
disturbed localities, when a band of conglomerate can be traced
from its normal position to that in which it is contorted and
folded, the undisturbed stratum is simply a loosely cemented gravel
with rounded pebbles, while in the plicated rocks the pebbles are
distorted and flattened. Examples of this occur at Middleton, R.
I., Plymouth, Vt., Nagelflue, in Switzerland, and the Permian
conglomerate in England. The pebbles are not only distorted,
but often changed in their chemical composition, impure lime-
stones or schists being displaced by quartz, and probably the
original sandstone and conglomerate changed into schists, gneiss,
and granite. Prof. Hitchcock thinks that both the metamorphism
and warping are due to the agency of infiltrated water under
enormous pressure.
On the Loaver Silurian Brown Haematite Beds op
America; by B. S. Lyman. — Thirty exposures of the four beds
of this ore have been studied in Western Virginia. Of these,
three or four show the solid bed ; the others only have weathered
boulders of the ore, mixed with other detrital matter. In
comparing these with other Brown Haematite deposits in the
United States, the author infers that the lumps of ore, sometimes
found mixed with the debris of other rocks, mark the proximity
of beds of the Haematite, from which the blocks have been
separated by denudation. From the frequent occurrence of
carbonate of iron, he regards this as the original composition of
the ore, — the carbonic acid having been driven off by heat, or
other causes, and the protoxide changed to a sesquioxide.
Explanations of the Geological Map of Maine ; by
Prof. C. H. Hitchcock. —The author showed the large
geological map, which embodied the results of work done by the
State Survey during 1861-62, and called attention to several
points of interest settled during that period.
1868.] meeting of the american association. 303
On the geographical distribution of the Radiates on
the West Coast of America ; by Prof. A. E. Verrill. —
Eleven distinct marine zoological provinces have been recognized
along the coast, each characterized by the existence or prevalence
of peculiar genera and species. These provinces were discussed
by Prof. Verrill, in detail, the characteristic species, and the
conditions under which they exist stated, the number of species of
each class of Radiates known to exist in the several provinces, and
number peculiar to the respective provinces given, and each Pacific
shore region compared with parallel regions on the Atlantic
coasts of America and Europe. Distribution is effected mainly
by temperature, less by the nature of the bottom and shore.
Depth of water exerts principally an indirect influence by
diminishing the temperature as we descend. A few Holothurians
are the only Radiates recorded as common to the Atlantic and
Pacific. The Polyps and corals of the two seas differ widely.
The mollusca, Crustacea, fishes, and echiuoderms are usually
specifically distinct, but the genera and families of these groups
are often identical. No direct evidence exists of a water commu-
nication across the Isthmus later than the cretaceous period.
Prof. Verrill concludes that all the phenomena observed in the
distribution of identical species may be accounted for by supposing
a former depression of about 300 feet, which would cause a
connection across the Isthmus by means of a shallow, brackish
estuary, capable of sustaining the life of many mollusca, Crustacea,
and fishes, but not the genera of corals and other Radiates. In
the case of distinct, but similar species, we must suppose different
centres of creation, or a descent from common ancestors, the
distribution having taken place at a very early period, when an
extensive connection existed between the two oceans. The animals
on the latter supposition have subsequently become distinct, by
natural selection, or otherwise.
Considerations relating to the Climate of the
Glacial Epoch in North America ; by Prof. E. Hungerford.
— The object of this paper was to discuss the growth, and climatic
influence of such an accumulation of ice and snow as the glacial
hypothesis supposes to have once existed. The result of an
elevation of the northern part of the continent would be to lower
the snow line by depressing the mean summer temperature. If
the surface were raised by the accumulation of frozen snow,
instead of by an upheaval of the land, the frigorific effect would
304 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
be similar, but greatly intensified. Then every addition to this
icy accumulation would depress still farther the temperature of
the continent, and extend the area of perennial snow. The great
northern ice plateau would thus increase in height and superficial
extent until prevented by some reactionary cause. Meteorological
considerations all show us that the interior of such a plateau
would be intensely cold, — so cold as to prevent the simultaneous
mo vins; 0f the continental glaciers in one determined direction.
Hence, the erosive effects which we witness are due to glacial
motion along the southern and seaward edge of the glacier, where
the snow is softened by the sun, or sea-breezes, and a slope
supplied by the glacial front itself.
Depression of the Sea during the Glacial Period ; by
Colonel Charles Whittlesey. — The level of the ocean is
maintained by the evaporated water being returned through
rivers, etc. If part of this vapor, instead of returning, accumu-
late on the land as permanent snow and ice, the result will be a
depression of the sea level, proportionate to the extent of the ice-
fields. A decrease of one degree annually in the earth's
temperature would lower the snow line 300 feet, extend the area
of ice and snow, and diminish evaporation ; while additions
would be constantly made to the thickness of the ice beds. Now,
as one-fifth of the earth must have been covered by ice-fields
during the glacial period, and the extent of the ocean at the time
is known with considerable certainty, by knowing the thickness,
and, consequently, the mass of the beds of ice, we can easily
determine the decrease in the water of the sea. Ice etchings are
observed on rocks in British America and New England, at heights
varying from 1,500 to 5,300 feet above the present sea level. Ad-
mitting an average of 2,000 feet, and an expansion of one-tenth in
freezing, we have a sufficient amount of congealed water to cover
the above area to a depth of 1,800 feet. As nearly the entire
remaining surface of the earth was covered with water, the surface
would sink about one-fifth of the above, or 360 feet. The weight
of such a mass of ice would probably be sufficient to cause a
sinking of the land on which it rested, while that adjacent to it
would be elevated; just as we see Greenland settling down, and
Newfoundland rising, at the present day. These facts should be
kept in mind in studying fresh water and marine terraces, and
drift-beds. From the absence of these elevations on the Rocky
Mountains above a height of 2,000 feet, that part of the continent
1868.] MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 305
seems to have been sinking, during the past glacial period, while
the eastern sea-coast was rising, — the line of rest being near the
middle of Lake Ontario.
On the Ripton Sea-beaches; by Prof. E. Hungerpord. —
This paper described a series of terraces, situated at a height of
2.196 feet above the sea, on the west flank of the Green
Mountains, on the pass from Ripton to Hancock. They consist
of a modified drift, overlying the true boulder drift of the region,
and arranged in this presant form by the action of waves and
currents. As the configuration of the country would not allow
the accumulation of a large body of fresh water at this point, these
deposits are regarded as strongly confirming other evidence that
this area has suffered a depression of at least 2,000 feet since the
glacial epoch. The author regards the following as the successive
geological events by which the drift phenomena have been produced :
1. The formation of a continental glacier, to whose partial
movements, always limited to a comparatively narrow belt upon
the southern or seaward margin, are due the erosive phenomena,
and the transportation of the drift over limited areas.
2. A depression of the continent, bringing the ocean into
contact with the long glacial border, which on its retreat sends off
icebergs and ice-rafts into the ocean. To these are attributed the
further transportation of detritus and boulders.
3. Emergence of the continent, the higher beaches marking
the earlier, and the Champlain terraces the later stages of this
process.
On certain effects produced upon Fossils by weather-
ing; by Prof. 0. C. Marsh. — Prof. Marsh has discovered
that certain peculiarities observed in Ceratites nodosus, and
other fossil shells, especially cephalopods, and which have long
perplexed German geologists, are due to the action of the ele-
ments, the layers of the shell differing in composition, hardness,
and markings. In some cases the markings characteristic of two
distinct genera may be observed on the same specimen.
On the Geology of Vermont ; by Prof. C. H. Hitchcock.
— Prof. Hitchcock exhibited a large geological map of the State,
showing the great progress made in determining the structure of
its rocks, since the publication of his final Report upou the Geology
of Vermont, in 1861. This is largely due to the extension
southward of the recent discoveries of the Canadian survey.
On the Ichthyological Fauna of Lake Champlain;
Vol. III. T Xo. 4
306 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
by F. W. Putnam, Superintendant of the Essex Institute. — A list
numbering 45 species of true lake fishes, obtained by the author
from Lake Champlain, was given; of these, 41 were found by him
in Lake Erie. As Lake Champlain was a salt-water bay at a
period subsequent to the glacial epoch, while the lakes above
Niagara Falls contained fresh-water, the weight of evidence goes
to support the conclusion that the fishes of Lake Champlain have
been chiefly derived from those higher lakes.
Among other business transacted before the close of the
meeting, the following resolution was moved by Prof. 0. C. Marsh.
and adopted: —
"Resolved, That the chair appoint a commission of nine
members to examine the Linnean rules of Zoological Nomenclature
by the light of the suggestions and examples of recent writers, and
to prepare a code of laws and recommendations in conformity
with past modern usage, to be submitted to the Association at the
next annual meeting ; the committee to have authority to fill
vacancies and increase the number to twelve, if deemed advisable."
The committee appointed consists of: — Prof. J. D. Dana, of
Yale College ; Prof. Jeffries Wyman. of Howard University ;
Prof. S. F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution; Prof. Joseph
Leidy. of the Philadelphia. Academy of Natural Sciences ; Prof.
J. F. Newberry, of Columbia College; Principal Dawson, of
McGill University, Montreal ; Dr. Wm. Stimpson, of the Chicago
Academy of Science; S. H. Scudder, of the Boston Natural
History Society ; and F. W. Putnam, of the Essex Institute.
The next meeting will be held at Chicago, commencing on the
first Wednesday of August, 1868. II.
ON NEW SPECLMENS OF EOZOOX.
By Sir W. E. Logan, F.R.S., F.G.S.*
Since the subject of Laurentian fossils was placed before this
Society iu the papers of Dr. Dawson, Dr. Carpenter, Dr. T. Sterry
Hunt, and myself, in 1865, additional specimens of Eozoon have
been obtained during the explorations of the Geological Survey of
Canada. These, as in the case of the specimens first discovered,
have been submitted to the examination of Dr. Dawson ; and it
will be observed, from his remarks contained in the paper which is
* From the Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc. for August, 1867. Head before the
Geological Society, May 8, 1867.
1868.] LOGAN — NEW SPECIMENS OF EOZOON. 307
to follow, that one of them has afforded farther, and what appears
to him conclusive, evidence of their organic character. The
specimens and remarks have been submitted to Dr. Carpenter,
who coincides with Dr. Dawson ; and the object of what I have to
say in connexion with these new specimens is merely to point out
the localities in which they have been procured.
The most important of these specimens was met with last
summer by Mr. G. H. Vennor, one of the assistants on the
Canadian Geological Survey, in the township of Tudor and county
of Hastings, Ontario, about forty-five miles inland from the
north shore of Lake Ontario, west of Kingston. It occurred on
the surface of a layer, three inches thick, of dark grey micaceous
limestone or calc-schist, near the middle of a great zone of similar
rock, which is interstratified with beds of yellowish-brown sand-
stone, grey close grained siliceous limestone, white coarsely
granular limestone, and bands of dark bluish compact limestone
and black pyritiferous slates, to the whole of which Mr. Vennor
gives a thickness of 1,000 feet. Beneath this zone are grey and
pink dolomites, bluish and greyish mica slates, with conglomerates,
diorites, and beds of magnetite, a red orthoclase gneiss lying at the
base. The whole series, according to Mr. Vennor's section, which
is appended, has a thickness of more than 21,000 feet ; but the
possible occurrence of more numerous folds than have hitherto
been detected, may hereafter render necessary a considerable
reduction.
These measures appear to be arranged in the form of a trough,
to the eastward of which, and probably beneath them, there are
rocks resembling those of Grenville, from which the former differ
considerably in lithological character ; it is therefore supposed that
the Hastings series may be somewhat higher in horizon than that of
Grenville. From the village of Madoc, the zone of grey micaceous
limestone, which has been particularly alluded to, runs to the east-
ward on one side of the trough, in a nearly vertical position into
Elzivir, and on the other side to the northward, through the
township of Madoc into that of Tudor, partially and unconform-
ably overlaid in several places by horizontal beds of Lower
Silurian limestone, but gradually spreading, from a diminution of
the dip, from a breadth of half a mile to one of four miles. Where
it thus spreads out in Tudor it becomes suddenly interrupted for
a considerable part of its breadth by an isolated mass of anortho-
site rock, rising about 150 feet above the general plain, and
308 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
supposed to belong to the unconformable Upper Laurentian, thus
showing that the specimens of Eozoon of this neighbourhood, like
those previously discovered and described, belong to the Lower
Laurentian series.
The Tudor limestone is comparatively unaltered ; and, in the
specimen obtained from it, the general form or skeleton of the
fossil (consisting of white carbonate of lime) is imbedded in the
limestone, without the presence of serpentine or other silicate, the
colour of the skeleton contrasting strongly with that of the rock.
It does not sink deep into the rock, the form having probably
been loose and much abraded on what is now the under part,
before being entombed. On what was the surface of the bed, the
form presents a well-defined outline on one side ; in this and in
the arrangement of the septal layers it has a marked resemblance
to the specimen first brought from the Calumet, eighty miles to
the north-east, and figured in the ' Geology of Canada,' p. 49 ;
while all the forms from the Calumet, like that from Tudor, are
isolated, imbedded specimens, unconnected apparently with any
continuous reef, such as exists at Grenville and the Petite Nation.
It will be seen, from Dr. Dawson's paper, that the minute
structure is present in the Tudor specimen, though somewhat
obscure ; but in respect to this, strong subsidiary evidence
is derived from fragments of Eozoon detected by Dr. Dawson in a
specimen collected by myself from the same zone of limestone
near the village of Madoc, in which the canal-system, much more
distinctly displayed, is filled with carbonate of lime, as quoted
from Dr. Dawson by Dr. Carpenter in the Journal of this Society
for August, 1866.
In Dr. Dawson's paper mention is made of specimens from
Wentworth, and others from Long Lake. In both of these local-
ities the rock yielding them belongs to the Grenville band, which
is the uppermost of the three great bands of limestone hitherto
described as interstratified in the Lower Laurentian series. That
at Long Lake, situated about twenty-five miles north of Cote St.
Pierre in the Petite Nation Seigniory, where the best of the
previous specimens were obtained, is in the direct run of the
limestone there ; and like it the Long Lake rock is of a serpentinous
character. The locality in Wentworth occurs on Lake Louisa,
about sixteen miles north of east from that of the first Grenville
specimens, from which Cote St. Pierre is about the same
distance north of west, the lines measuring these distances running
1868.] LOGAN— NEW SPECIMENS OF EOZOON. 309
across several important undulations in the Grenville band
in both directions. The Wentworth specimens are imbedded in
a portion of the Grenville band which appears to have escaped
any great alteration, and is free from serpentine, though a mix-
ture of serpentine with white crystalline limestone occurs in the
band within a mile of the spot. From this grey limestone, which
has somewhat the aspect of a conglomerate, specimens have been
obtained resembling some of the figures given by G umbel in his
' Illustrations' of the forms met with by him in the Laurentian
rocks of Bavaria.
In decalcifying by means of a dilute acid some of the specimens
from Cote St. Pierre, placed in his hands in 1864-65, Dr. Car-
penter found that the action of the acid was arrested at certain
portions of the skeleton, presenting a yellowish-brown surface ; and
he showed me, two or three weeks ago, that in a specimen recently
given him, from the same locality, considerable portions of the
general form remained undissolved by such an acid. On partially
reducing some of these portions to a powder, however, we imme-
diately observed effervescence by the dilute acid ; and strong acid
produced it without bruising. There is little doubt that these por-
tions of the skeleton are partially replaced by dolomite, as more
recent fossils are often known to be, of which there is a noted in-
stance in the Trenton limestone of Ottawa. But the circumstance
i» alluded to for the purpose of comparing these dolomitized por-
tions of the skeleton with the specimens from Burgess, in which
the replacement of the septal layers by dolomite appears to be the
general condition. In such of these specimens as have been ex-
amined the minute structure seems to be wholly, or almost wholly,
destroyed ; but it is probable that upon a further investigation of
the locality some spots will be found to yield specimens in which
the calcareous skeleton still exists unreplaced by dolomite ; a'nd I
may safely venture to predict that in such specimens the minute
structure, in respect both to canals and tubuli, will be found as
well preserved as in any of the specimens from Cote St. Pierre.
It was the general form on weathered surfaces, and its strong
resemblance to Stromatopora, which first attracted my attention to
Eozoon ; and the persistence of it in two distinct minerals, pyroxene
and loganite, emboldened me, in 1857, to place before the Meeting
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science speci-
mens of it as probably a Laureutian fossil. After that, the form
was found preserved in a third mineral, serpentine ; and in one of
310 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
the previous specimens it was then observed to pass continuously
through two of the minerals, pyroxene and serpentine. Now we
have it imbedded in limestone, just as most fossils are. In every
case, with the exception of the Burgess specimens, the general form
is composed of carbonate of lime ; and we have good grounds for
supposing it was originally so in the Burgess specimens also. If,
therefore, with such evidence, and without the minute structure, I
was, upon a calculation of chances, disposed, in 1857, to look upon
the form as organic, much more must I so regard it when the
chances have been so much augmented by the subsequent accumu-
lation of evidence of the same kind, and the addition of the minute
structure, as described by Dr. Dawson, whose observations have
been confirmed and added to by the highest British authority
upon the class of animals to which the form has been referred,
leaving in my mind no room whatever for doubt of its organic
character. Objections to it as an organism have been made by
Professors King and Bowney ; but these appear to me to be based
upon the supposition that because some parts simulating organic
structure are undoubtedly mere miueral arrangement, therefore all
parts are mineral. Dr. Dawson has not proceeded upon the
opposite supposition, that because some parts are, in his opinion,
undoubtedly organic, therefore all parts stimulating organic
structure are organic ; but he has carefully distinguished between
the mineral and organic arrangements. I am aware, from having
supplied him with a vast number of specimens prepared for the
microscsope by the lapidary of the Canadian Survey, from a series
of rocks of Silurian and Huronian, as well as Laurentian age, and
from having followed the course of his investigation as it proceeded,
that nearly all the points of objection of Messrs. King and Bowney
passed in review before him prior to his coming to the conclusions
which he has published ; and his reply to these objections forms a
part of the succeeding paper.
Ascending Section of the Laurentian Rocks in the County of
Eastings, Ontario. By Mr. H. G. Vennor.
1. Reddish and flesh-coloured granitic gneiss, the thickness of Feet-
which is unknown ; estimated at not less than 2,000
2. Greyish and flesh-coloured gneiss, sometimes hornblendic,
passing towards the summit into a dark mica-schist, and including
portions of greenish-white diorite ; mean of several pretty closely
agreeing measurements 10,400
1868.] LOGAN — NEW SPECIMENS OF EOZOON. 31 t
)!. Crystalline limestone, sometimes magnesian, including lenti-
cular patches of quartz, and broken and contorted layers of
quartzo-felspathio rock, rarely above a few inches in thickness.
This limestone, which includes in Elzivir a one-foot bed of
graphite, is sometimes very thin, but in other places attains a
thickness of 750 feet ; estimated as averaging 400
4. Hornblendic and dioritic rocks, massive or schistose, occasion-
ally associated near the base with dark micaceous schists, and also
with chloritic and epidotic rocks, including beds of magnetite;
average thickness 4,200
5. Crystalline and somewhat granular magnesian limestone,
occasionally interstratified with diorites, and near the base with
silicious slates and small beds of impure steatite 330
This limestone, which is often siliceous and ferruginous, is
metalliferous, holding disseminated copper pyrites, blende, mis-
pickel, and iron pyrites, the latter also sometimes in beds of two
or three feet. Gold occur in the limestone at the village of
Madoc, associated with an argentiferous grey copper ore, and in
irregular veins with bitter-spar, quartz, and a carbonaceous
matter at the Richardson mine in Madoc.
6. Grey silicious or fine-grained mica-slates, with an interstra-
tified mass of about sixty feet of yello wish- white dolomite divided
into beds by thiu layers of the mica-slate, which, as well as the
dolomite, often becomes conglomerate, meludiug rounded masses
of gneiss and quartzite from one to twelve inches in diameter. . . . 400
7. Bluish and greyish micaceous slate, interstratified with
layers of gneiss, and occasionally holding crystals of magnetite.
The whole division weathers to a rusty brown 500
8. Gneissoid micaceous quartzites, banded grey and white, with
a few instratified beds of silicious limestone, and, like the last
division, weathering rusty brown 1,900
9. Grey micaceous limestone, sometimes plumbaginous, becom-
ing on its upper portion a calc-schist. but more massive towards
the base, where it is interstratified with occasional layers of
diorite, and layers of a rusty -weathering gneiss like 8 1,000
This division in Tudor is traversed by numerous X W. and S.E.
veins, holding galena in a gangue of calcite and barytine. The
Eozoon from Tudor here described was obtaiued from about the
middle of this calcareous division, which appears to form the
summit of the Hastings series.
* Total thickness 21,130
*In explanation of the apparent discrepancies between the above
section and the one given in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological
Society, it is to be said that 8 and 9 of the latter section are repetitious
of 1 and 2 on the other side of a synclinal, and that 2 in that section
represents but a small exposed portion of the great mass of 8, whose
measured thickness, as there stated, is 15,000 feet, and includes divisions
2, 3, and 4 of the present section. — Eds.
312 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
ON EOZOON CANADENSE .*
By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. With Kotes by "W. B.
Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S.
I. SPECIMEN OF EOZOON FROM TUDOR, ONTARIO.
This very interesting specimen, submitted to me for examination
by Sir. W. E. Logan, is, in my opinion, of great importance, as
furnishing a conclusive answer to all those objections to the organic
nature of Eozoon which have been founded on comparisons of its
structures with the forms of fibrous, dendritic, or concretionary
minerals, — objections which, however plausible in the case of
highly crystalline rocks, in which organic remains may be simulated
by merely mineral appearances readily confounded with them, are
wholly inapplicable to the present specimen.
1. General appearance. — The fossil is of a clavate form, six
and a half inches in length, and about four inches broad. It is
contained in a slab of dark-colored, coarse, laminated limestone,
holding sand, scales of mica, and minute grains and fibres of
carbonaceous matter. The surface of the slab shows a weathered
section of the fossil (PI. II.) ; and the thickness remaining in the
matrix is scarcely two lines, at least in the part exposed. The
septa, or plates of the fossil, are in the state of white carbonate of
lime, which shows their form and arrangement very distinctly, in
contrast to the dark stone filling the chambers. The specimen lies
flat in the plane of stratification, and has probably suffered some
compression. Its septa are convex towards the broad end, and
somewhat undulating. In some places they are continuous half-
way across the specimen ; in other places they divide and re-unite
at short distances. A few transverse plates, or connecting columns,
are visible ; and there are also a number of small veins or cracks
passing nearly at right angles to the septa, and filled with
carbonate of lime, similar in general appearance to the septa
themselves.
On one side, the outline of the fossil is well preserved. The
narrow end, which I regard as the basal portion, is rounded. The
outline of the side first bends inward, and then outward, forming
a graceful double curve, which extends along the greater part of
the length. Above this is an abrupt projection, and then a sudden
* From the Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc, Aug. 1867. Read before the
Geological Society, May 8, 1867.
1868.] DAWSON — EOZOON CANADENSE. 313
narrowing; and in the middle of the narrow portion, a part has
the chambers obliterated by a white patch of carbonate of lime,
below which some of the septa are bent downward in the middle.
This is probably an effect of mechanical injury, or of the inter-
ference of a calc-spar vein.
With the exception of the upper part above referred to, the
septa are seen to curve downward rapidly toward the margin, and
to coalesce into a lateral wall, which forms the defined edge or
limit of the fossil, and in which there are some indications of
lateral orifices opening into the chambers. It is worthy of remark
that, in this respect, the present specimen corresponds exactly
with that which was originally figured by Sir W. E. Logan in the
' Geology of Canada,' p. 49, and which is the only other specimen
that exhibited the lateral limit of the form.
On the side next the matrix, the septa terminate in blunt edges,
and do not coalesce ; as if the organism had been attached by that
surface, or had been broken before being imbedded.
2. Microscopic characters.— Under the microscope, with a
W power, the margins of the septa appear uneven, as if eroded or
tending to an acervuline mode of growth ; but occasionally the septa
show a distinct and regular margin. For the most part merely
traces of structure are presented, consisting of small parts of canals,
filled with the dark colouring-matter of the limestone. In a few
places (PI. HI. fig. 1), however, these appear as distinct bundles,
similar to those in the G-renville specimens, but of fine texture.
[In fig. 2 is represented a portion of the canal system in a
Grenville specimen, in which the canals, which are transparent in
one side (being infiltrated with carbonate of lime only) are seen
on the other to be partially filled with black matter, probably a
carbonaceous residuum of the sarcode which they originally con-
tained.—W. B. C]
In a few rare instances only can I detect, with a higher power,
in the margin of some of the septa, traces of the fine tubulation
characteristic of the proper chamber wall of Eozoon. For the
most part this seems to have been obliterated by the infiltration
of the tubuli with colourless carbonate of lime, similar to that of
the skeleton.
In comparing the structure of this specimen with that of those
found elsewhere, it would appear that the chambers are more con-
tinuous, and wider in proportion to the thickness of the septa, and
that the canal-system is more delicate and indistinct than usual.
314 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
In the two former respects the specimens from the Calumet and
from Burgess approach that now under consideration more nearly
than do those from Grenville and Petite Nation ; hut it would he
easy, even in the latter, to find occasional instances of a propor-
tion of parts similar to that in the present example. General
form is of little value as a character in such organisms ; and so
far as can be ascertained, this may have been the same in the
present specimen and in that originally obtained from the Calumet,
while in the specimens from Grenville a massive and aggregative
mode of growth seems to have obliterated all distinctness of indi-
vidual shape. Without additional specimens, and in the case of
creatures so variable as the Foraminifera, it would be rash to
decide whether the diiferences above noticed are of specific value,
or depend on age, variability, or state of preservation. For this
reason I refer the specimen for the present to Eozoon Canadense^
merely distinguishing it as the Tudor variety.
From the state of preservation of the fossil, there are no crys-
talline structures present which can mislead any ordinarily skilful
microscopist, except the minute veins of calcareous spar traversing
the septa, and the cleavage-planes which have been developed in
some portions of the latter.
I would remark that, as it seemed desirable not to injure any
more than was absolutely necessary a unique and very valuable
specimen, my observations of the microscopic structure have been
made on a few slices of small size, — and that, as the microscopic
structures are nearly the same in kind with those of specimens
figured in former papers, I have not thought it necessary to pre-
pare numerous drawings of them ; while the admirable photograph
executed for Sir W. E. Logan by Mr. Notman illustrates suffi-
ciently the general form and arrangement of parts (see PI. II.).
3. Concluding remarks. — In a letter to Dr. Carpenter, quoted
by him in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society ' for
August 1866, p. 228, I referred to the occurrence of Eozoon pre-
served simply in carbonate of lime. The specimens which enabled
me to make that statement were obtained at Madoc, near Tudor,
this region being one in which the Laurentian rocks of Canada
appear to be less highly metamorphosed than is usual. The
specimens from Madoc, however, were mere fragments, imbedded
in the limestone, and incapable of showing the general form. I
may explain, in reference to this, that long practice in the exami-
nation of these limestones has enabled me to detect the smallest
1868.] DAWSON— EOZOON CANADENSE. 315
fragments of Eozoon when present, and that in this way I had
ascertained the existence of this fossil in one of the limestones of
Madoc before the discovery of the fine specimen dow under con-
sideration.
I am disposed to regard the present specimen as a young indi-
vidual, broken from its attachment and imbedded in a sandy
calcareous mud. Its discovery affords the hope that the com-
paratively unaltered sediments in which it has been preserved, and
which also contain the worm-burrows described by me in the
' Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society ' for November,*
will hereafter still more largely illustrate the Laurentian fauna.
II. SPECI3IENS FROM LONG LAKE AND WENTWORTH.
Specimens from Long Lake, in the collection of the Geological
Survey of Canada, exhibit white crystalline limestone with light-
green compact or septariiformf serpentine, and much resemble
some of the serpentine-limestones of Grenville. Under the micro-
scope the calcareous matter presents a delicate areolated appear-
ance, without lamination ; but it is not an example of acervuline
Eozoon, but rather of fragments of such a structure, confusedly
aggregated together, and having the interstices and cell-cavities
filled with serpentine. I have not found in any of these frag-
ments a canal-system similar to that of Eozoon Canadense,
though there are casts of large stolons, and, under a high power,
the calcareous matter shows in many places the peculiar granular
or cellular appearance which is one of the characters of the supple-
mental skeleton of that species. In a few places a tubulated
cell-wall is preserved, with structure similar to that of Eozoon
Canadense.
Specimens of Laurentian limestone from Wentworth, in the
collection of the Geological Survey, exhibit many rounded silice-
ous bodies, some of which are apparently grains of sand, or small
pebbles ; but others, especially when freed from the calcareous
matter by a dilute acid, appear as rounded bodies, with rough
surfaces, either separate or aggregated in lines or groups, and
having minute vermicular processes projecting from their surfaces
(PI. III. fig. 3). At first sight these suggest the idea of spicules ;
* Vol. xxii. p. 608.
t I use the term ' septariiforrn' to denote the curdled appearance so
often presented by the Laurentian serpentine.
316 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
but I think it on the whole more likely that they are casts of
cavities and tubes belonging to some calcareous Foraminiferal
organism which has disappeared. Similar bodies, found in the
limestone of Bavaria, have been described by Giimbel, who inter-
prets them in the same way.* They may also be compared with
the silicious bodies mentioned in a former paper as occurring in
the Logan ite filling the chambers of specimens of Eozoon from
Burgess.
III. SPECIMENS FROM MADOC.
I have already referred to fragments of Eozoon occurring in
the limestone at Madoc, one of which, found several years ago, I
did not then venture to describe as a fossil. It projected from
the surface of the limestone? being composed of a yellowish dolomite,
and looking like a fragment of a thick shell. When sliced, it
presents interiorly a crystalline dolomite, limited and separated
from the enclosing rock by a thin wall having a granular or porous
structure and excavated into rounded recesses in the manner of
Eozoon. It lies obliquely to the bedding, and evidently represents
a hollow flattened calcareous wall filled by infiltration. The lime-
stone which afforded this form was near the beds holding the
worm-burrows described in the Society's Journal for November,
1866.
[A thin section of this body, carefully examined microscopically,
presents numerous and very characteristic examples of the canal,
system of Eozoon, exhibiting both the large widely branching
systems of canals and the smaller and more penicillate tufts (PI.
III. figs. 4, 5) shown in the most perfect of the serpentinous
specimens — but with this difference, that the canals, being filled
with a material either identical with or very similar to that of the
substance in which they are excavated, are so transparent as only
to be brought into view by careful management of the light.
— W. B. C]
IV. OBJECTIONS TO THE ORGANIC NATURE OF EOZOON.
The discovery of the specimen from Tudor, above described,
may appear to render unnecessary any reference to the elaborate
attempt made by Profs. King and Rowney to explain the struc-
tures of Eozoon by a comparison with the forms of fibrous and
* Proceedings of Eoyal Academy of Munich, 1866 ; Q. J. G. S. vol.
xxii. pt. i. p. 185 et seq. ; also, Can. ^Naturalist, vol. iii. p. 81.
t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxii. pt. ii. p. 23.
1368. J DAWSON — EOZOON CANADENSE. 317
dendritic minerals,* more especially as Dr. Carpenter has already
shown their inaccuracy in many important points. I think, how-
ever, that it may serve a useful purpose shortly to point out the
more essential respects in which this comparison fails with regard
to the Canadian specimens — with the view of relieving the discus-
sion from matters irrelevant to it, and of fixing more exactly the
limits of crystalline and organic forms in the serpentine-limestones
and similar rocks.
The fundamental error of Messrs. King and Rowney arises from
defective observation — in failing to distinguish, in the Canadian
limestones themselves, between organic and crystalline forms.
This is naturally followed by the identification of all these forms,
whether mineral or organic, with a variety of purely crystalline
arrangements occurring in other rocks, leading to their attaching
the term ' Eozoonal ' to any rock which shows any of the charac-
ters, whether mineral or organic, thus arbitrarily attached to the
Canadian Eozoon. This is obviously a process by which the
structure of any fossil might be proved to be a mere lusus naturce.
A notable illustration of this is afforded by their regarding the
veins of fibrous serpentine, or chrysotile, which occur in the Cana-
dian specimens, as identical with the tubulated cell-wall of Eozoon
— although they admit that these veins traverse all the structures
indifferently and do not conform to the walls of the chambers.
But any microscopist who possesses specimens of Eozoon contain-
ing these chrysotile veins may readily satisfy himself that, under
a high power, they resolve themselves into prismatic crystals in
immediate contact with each other; whereas, under a similar
power, the true cell-wall is seen to consist of slender, undulating,
rounded threads of serpentine, penetrating a matrix of carbonate
of lime. Under polarized light, more especially, the difference is
conspicuously apparent. It is true that, in many specimens and
parts of specimens, the cell-wall of Eozoon is badly preserved and
fails to show its structure ; but in no instance does it present the
appearance of chrysotile, or of any other fibrous mineral, when
examined with care under sufficiently high powers. In my original
examination of Sir William Logan's specimens from Grenville and
the Calumet, I did not detect the finely tubulated cell-wall, which
is very imperfectly preserved in those specimens ; but the veins of
* I do not include here the ' septariiform ? structure referred to above,
which is common in the Canadian serpentine and has no connexion with
the forms of the chambers.
318 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
fibrous serpentine were well known to me ; and when Dr.
Carpenter discovered the tubulation of the cell-wall in the speci-
mens from Petite Nation, I compared this structure with that of
these veins, and satisfied myself of its distinctness before acceding
to his conclusions on this point.
It would also appear that the radiating and sheaf-like bundles
of crystals of tremolite, or similar prismatic minerals, which occur
in the Canadian serpentines, and also abound in those of Conne-
mara, have been confounded with the tubulation of Eozoon ; but
these crystals have no definite relation to the forms of that fossil,
and often occur where these are entirely absent ; and in any caee
they are distinguished by their straight prismatic shape and their
angular divergence from each other. Much use has also been
made of the amorphous masses of opaque serpentinous matter
which appear in some parts of* the structure of Eozoon. These
I regard as, in most cases, simply results of alteration or defective
preservation, though they might also arise from the presence of
foreign matters in the chambers, or from an incrustation of mineral
matter before the final filling up of the cells. Generally their
forms are purely inorganic ; but in some cases they retain indica-
tions of the structures of Eozoon.
With reference to the canal-system of Eozoon, no value can be
attached to loose comparisons of a structure so definite with the
forms of dendritic silver and the filaments of moss-agates ; still
less can any resemblance be established between the canal-system
and vermicular crystals of mica. These occur abundantly in
some serpentines from the Calumet, and might readily be mistaken
for organic forms ; but their rhombic or hexagonal outline when
seen in cross section, their transverse cleavage planes, and their
want of any definite arrangement or relation to any general organic
form, are sufficient to undeceive any practised observer. I have
not seen specimens of the metaxite from Reichenstein referred to
by Messrs. King and Rowney ; but it is evident, from the descrip-
tion and figure given of it, that, whether organic or otherwise, it
is not similar to the canals of Eozoon Canadense. But all these
and similar comparisons are evidently worthless when it is con-
sidered that they have to account for definite, ramifying, cylindri-
cal forms, penetrating a skeleton or matrix of limestone, which
has itself a definite arrangement and structure, and, further, when
we find that these forms are represented by substances so diverse
as serpentine, pyroxene, limestone, and carbonaceous matter.
1868.] DAWSON EOZOON CANADENSE. 319
This is intelligible on the supposition of tubes filled with foreign
matters, but not on that of dendritic crystallization.
If all specimens of Eozoon were of the acervuline character, the
comparisons of the chamber-casts with concretionary granules
might have some plausibility. But it is to be observed that the
laminated arrangement is the typical one ; and the study of the
larger specimens, cut under the direction of Sir W E. Logan,
shows that these laminated forms must have grown on certain
strata-planes before the deposition of the overlying beds, and that
the beds are, in part, composed of the broken fragments of similar
laminated structures. Further, much of the apparently acervuline
Eozoon rock is composed of such broken fragments, the interstices
between which should not be confounded with the chambers ;
while the fact that the serpentine V\ i such interstices as well as
the chambers shows that its arrau o ^jient is not concretionary.*
Again, these chambers are filled in different specimens with ser-
pentine, pyroxene, loganite, calcareous spar, chondrodite, or even
with arenaceous limestone. It is also to be observed that the
examination of a number of limestones, other than Canadian, by
Messrs. King and llowney, has obliged them to admit that the
laminated forms in combination with the canal-system are 'essen-
tially Canadian,' and that the only instances of structures clearly
resembling the Canadian specimens are afforded by limestones
Laurentian in age, and in some of which (as, for instance, in
those of Bavaria and Scandinavia) Carpenter and Griimbel have
actually found the structure of Eozoon. The other serpentine-
limestones examined (for example, that of Skye) are admitted to
fail in essential points of structure ; and the only serpentine
believed to be of eruptive origin examined by them is confessedly
destitute of all semblance of Eozoon. Similar results have been
attained by the more careful researches of Prof. Gumbel, whose
paper is well deserving of study By all who have any doubts on
this subject.
In the above remarks I have not referred to the disputed case
of the Connemara limestones ; but I may state that I have not
been able to satisfy myself of the occurrence of the structures of
Eozoon in such specimens as I have had the opportunity to
examine.* It is perhaps necessary to add that there exists in
* Such Irish specimens of serpentine limestone as I have seen, appear
much more highly crystalline than the beds in Canada which contain
Eozoon.
320 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
Canada abundance of Laurentian limestone which shows no indi-
cation of the structures of Eozoon. In some cases it is evident
that such structures have not been present. In other cases they
may have been obliterated by processes of crystallization. As in
the case of other fossils, it is only in certain beds, and in certain
parts of those beds, that well-characterized specimens can be
found. I may also repeat here that in the original examination
of Eozoon, in the spring of 1864, I was furnished by Sir W. E.
Logan with specimens of all these limestones, and also with
serpentine-limestones of Silurian age, and that, while all possible
care was taken to compare these with the specimens of Eozoon, it
was not thought necessary to publish notices of the crystalline and
concretionary forms observed, many of which were very curious
and might afford materials for other papers of the nature of that
criticised in the above remarks.
[The examination of a large number of sections of a specimen
of Eozoon, recently placed in my hands by Sir William Logan, in
which the canal-system is extraordinarily well preserved, enables
me to supply a most unexpected confirmation of Dr. Dawson's
statements in regard to the occurrence of dendritic and other
forms of this system, which cannot be accounted for by the intru-
sion of any foreign mineral ; for many parts of the calcareous
lamellae in these sections, which, when viewed by ordinary trans-
mitted light, appear quite homogeneous and structureless, are
found, when the light is reduced by Collin's ' graduating
diaphragm,' to exhibit a most beautiful development of various
forms of canal-system (often resembling those of Dr. Dawson's
Madoc specimen represented in PI. III. figs. 4, 5), which cross the
cleavage-planes of the shell-substance in every direction. Now
these parts, when subjected to decalcification, show no trace of
canal-system ; so that it is obvious, both from their optical and
from their chemical reactions, that the substance filling the canals
must have been carbonate of lime, which has thus completely
solidified the shell layer, having been deposited in the canals
previously excavated in its interior, just as crystalline carbonate
of lime fills up the reticular spaces of the skeleton of Echinoder-
mata fossilized in a calcareous matrix. This fact affords con-
clusive evidence of organic structure, since no conceivable process
of crystallization could give origin to dendritic extensions of
carbonate of lime disposed on exactly the same crystalline system
with the calcite which includes it, the two substances being
18G8.] MISCELLANEOUS. 321
mineralogically homogeneous, and only structurally distinguishable,
by the effect of their junction-surfaces on the course of faint rays
of light transmitted through them.— W. B. C]
Explanation of the Plates.
Plate II.
Specimen of Eozoon Canadense, imbedded in a dark-coloured homo-
geneous limestone, occurring in the Lower Laurentian series
in Tudor, Ontario ; two-thirds of the natural size.
Plate III.
Fig. 1. Section of one of the calcareous layers of the Tudor specimen
(Plate IL), showing canal-system imperfectly infiltrated with
black (carbonaceous '?) matter; magnified 120 diameters.
2. Section of the shelly layer of a specimen of Eozoon from Gren-
ville, showing a minute form of canal-system, partly injected
with black matter and partly with serpentine ; magnified 120
diameters.
3. Siliceous bodies (internal casts?) from a specimen of Eozoon
from 'Wentworth ; magnified 50 diameters.
4. 5. Sections of a fragment of Eozoon from the Hadoc limestone,
showing various forms of canal-system filled with carbonate
of lime ; magnified 120 diameters.
MISCELLANEOUS
XOTE OX SUPPOSED BURROWS OF WORMS IX THE
LAUREXTIAX ROCKS OF CAXADA.
By J. W. Dawsox, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.
Among other indications of fossils in the Laurentian rocks, men-
tioned in my paper on the structure of Eozoon, are certain per-
forations resembling burrows of worms, found in a calcareous
quartzite or impure limestone from Madoc, in Upper Canada.
They occur in specimens in the Museum of the Geological Survey,
and also in specimens subsequently collected by myself at the same
place.
The beds at Madoc, containing these impressions, underlie, un-
conformable, the Lower Silurian limestones, and are regarded by
Sir W. E. Logan as belonging to a somewhat higher horizon in the
Laurentian, than the Eozoon Serpentines of Grenville. They are
also less highly metamorphosed than the Laurentian rocks gener-
VoL III. U Xo. 4.
3*22 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jan.
rally. They are described in Sir W. E. Logan's Report on the
Geology of Canada, 1863, at p. 32.
The impressions referred to consist of perforations approaching
to a cylindrical form, and filled with rounded siliceous sand, more
or less stained with carbonaceous and ferruginous matter, more
especially near the circumference of the cylinders. These super-
ficial portions being harder than the containing rock, and of darker
colour, and also harder than the interior of the cylinders, project
as black rings from the weathered surfaces ; but in their continua-
tion into the interior of the mass, they appear only as spots or
lines of a slightly darker colour, or stained with iron-rust.
When sliced transversely and examined under the microscope,
they appear as round, oval, or semicircular holes drilled through
the rock, and lined around their circumference with dense and
dark-coloured siliceous matter, while the axis, which is often of a
bilobate form, is comparatively transparent and of softer texture.
The perforations are often at right angles to the bedding, but in
some cases nearly parallel with it.
In regard to the origin of these perforations, I suppose that they
may have been either (1) burrows of worms filled with sand sub-
sequently hardened and stained at the surface, or (2) tubes com-
posed of sand, like those of Sabella, or (3) cavities left by the
decay of Alga3 and filled with sand. The first I think the most
probable view.
I may add that the beds at Madoc, containing these supposed
fossils, hold also, on their weathered surfaces, impressions with rude
casts of concentric laminae like those of Stromapotora or Eozoon,
but too obscure for determination. The limestones interstratified
with these beds also contain fragments of Eozoon not fossilized
by serpentine but simply by carbonate of lime, carbonaceous
fibres, spicules like those of sponges, and lenticular bodies of un-
known nature. - Journal of the Geological Society of London.
OBITUARY.
The Right Honourable Sir EDMUND HEAD, Bart., K.C.B.,
L.L.D., F.R.S., etc.
By the sudden death of the able and patriotic man whose name
stands at the head of this article, Canada loses one of the few states-
men in the mother country interested in her welfare, and having
influence to make their o;o:>d wishes effectual. Sir Edmund, after
1868.] .MISCELLANEOUS. 323
a brilliant career at Oriel College, Oxford, where lie took a first-
class, and afterwards a fellowship, entered into educational and
literary pursuits as a tutor of Mereton College and a writer
of articles in the Reviews. Having attracted attention by the
ability displayed in the latter, he was appointed an Assistant
Poor Law Commissioner, and subsequently Chief Commissioner.
On the reconstruction of the Poor Law Board in 1847, he
received the government of New Brunswick, and in 1854 was
promoted to be the Governor-General of Canada, from which
office he retired in 1861.
Both in New Brunswick and Canada Sir Edmund was, as
might have been expected, conspicuous as a patron of education,
literature, and science; and was remarkable, not only for his
readiness to give his countenance to every worthy undertaking,
but for the judicious advice which he gave, and his willingness to
devote time and thought to the consideration of the best means
for advancing the interests in view.
In New Brunswick he more especially took a warm interest in
the Provincial University, then in a languishing condition ; and
procured the appointment of a Commission to inquire into its
deficiencies and difficulties, and the means for their remedy. The
labours of this Commission (which consisted of the Honble. J. H.
Gray of New Brunswick, Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Principal Dawson-then
Superintendent of Education in Nova Scotia,— and the Honbles.
J. H. Saunders and James Brown of New Brunswick) resulted in
the preparation of a scheme which, if fully carried out, would
have placed New Brunswick far in advance of the other colonies
m this respect, Sir Edmund was, however, soon after removed
to Canada, and the plan devised was only partially acted on ; but
it has already given a new stimulus to higher education in
New Brunswick, and has resulted in placing the University in a
very satisfactory condition.
In Canada, though checked by the unsettled condition of
political affairs and by the want of sympathy with his large views
on the part of most of our public men, Sir Edmund did much for
the promotion of his own favourite pursuits and for laying the
foundation of a high educational culture. The educational
measures adopted during his administration all more or less bore
the impress of his mind, and the various Scientific and Literary
Societies, and the Geological Survey, owe much to his personal
influence. In this community, the McGill University, the
324 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
Natural History Society, and the Normal Schools, specially
owe him a debt of gratitude.
While in Canada he met with the most severe calamity of his
life, the death, by drowning, of his only son, a young man of
excellent parts, who had already made much progress in scientific
attainments, and who bade fair to follow in the footsteps of his
father.
Sir Edmund's largest literary work was his " Handbook of
Spanish Painting." He also published a clever little book on
" Shall and Will," and an important memoir on the celebrated
" Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli," in which he brings his classical
and antiquarian lore to aid the geologist in explaining the
wonderful alternations of elevation and subsidence to which this
building and the neighbouring coast have been subjected.
Sir Edmund died suddenly at his town residence, Eaton Square,
London, on the 25th of January, 1868.
Published. Montreal, May 24r 1868.
Be:
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST.
SECOND SERIES.
OUTLINES OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF
ARCTIC PLANTS.
By Jos. D. Hooker, M.D., F.R.S., <fcc*
I shall endeavour in the following pages to comply, as far a
I can, with a desire expressed by several distinguished Arctic
voyagers, that I should draw up an account of the affinities and
distribution of the flowering plants of the North Polar Regions.
The method I have followed has been, first to ascertain the names
and localities of all plants which appear on good evidence to have
been found north of the arctic circle in each continent ; then to
divide the polar zone longitudinally into areas characterized by
differences in their vegetation ; then to trace the distribution of
the arctic plants, and of their varieties and very closely allied
forms, into the temperate and alpine regions of both hemispheres.
Having tabulated these data, I have endeavoured to show how far
their present distribution may be accounted for by slow changes of
climate during and since the glacial period.
The arctic flora forms a circumpolar belt of 10° to 14° latitude,
north of the arctic circle. There is no abrupt break or change in
the vegetation anywhere along this belt, except in the meridian of
Baffin's Bay, whose opposite shores present a sudden change from
an almost purely European flora on its east coast, to one with a
large admixture of American plants on its west.
The number of flowering plants which have been collected within
Read before the Linnean Society, London, June 21st, I860, and
reprinted (by permission of the President) from its Transactions, Vol
xxiii., pp. -251-2^1 : with some corrections by the Author.
Yol. III. V No. 5
326 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
the arctic circle is 762 (Monocot. 214; Dicot. 548). In the
present state of cryptogenic botany it is impossible to estimate
accurately the number of flowerless plants found within the same
area, or to define their geographical limits; but the following
figures give the best approximate idea I have obtained: —
Fil.ces 2S Characeje 2 Fungi 200 ?
Lycopodiacea; . . . . 7 Musci 250 Alga; 100
Equisetacea; S Hepaticas So Lichenes 250
Total Cryptogams 925
" Phasnogams 762
1687
Regarded as a whole, the arctic flora is decidedly Scandinavian ;
fir Arctic Scandinavia, or Lapland, though a very small tract of
land, contains by far the richest arctic flora, amounting to three-
fourths of the whole: moreover, upwards of three-fifths of the
species, and almost all the genera, of Arctic Asia and America are
likewise Lapponian, leaving far too small a percentage of other
forms to admit of the Arctic Asiatic and American floras being-
ranked as anything more than subdivisions, which I shall here
call districts, of one general arctic flora.
Proceeding eastwards from Baffin's Bay, there is, first, the
Greenland district, whose flora is almost exclusively Lapponian,
having an extremely slight admixture of American or Asiatic
types : this forms the western boundary of the purely European
flora. Secondly, the Arctic European district, extending eastward
to the Obi river, beyond the Ural range, including Nova Zembla
and Spitzbergen ; Greenland would also be included in it, were it
not for its large area and geographical position. Thirdly, the
transition from the comparatively rich European district to the
extremely poor Asiatic one is very gradual ; as is that from the
Asiatic to the richer fourth or West American district, which
extends from Behring's Straits to the Mackenzie River. Fifthly,
the transition from the West to the East American district is
even less marked; for the lapse of European and West American
species is trifling, and the appearance of East American ones is
equally so : the transition in vegetation from this district, again,
to that of Greenland is, as I have stated above, comparatively
very abrupt.
The general uniformity of the arctic flora, and the special
differences between its subdivisions, may be thus estimated : the
arctic Phsenogamic flora consists of 762 species ; of these, 616
Asiatic and
American
30 = 1
: i9'5-7
4'
44 = 1
: 4-2
"
i
no = 1
: 2-3
"
no = I
: 2-4
"
12 = 1
: 16-2
1868.] HOOKER— ARCTIC FLORA. 327
are Arctic European, many of which prevail throughout the polar
area, being distributed in the following proportions through its
different longitudes : —
Arctic Europe 616 : Scandinavian forms 5S6 :
" Asia. ....... 233 " " 1S9
" W. America. 364 " " 254
" E. America . 379 " " 269
" Greenland . . 207 '* 195
This table places in a most striking point of view the anomalous
condition of Greenland, which, though so favourably situated for
harbouring an Arctic American vegetation, and so unfavourably
lor an Arctic European one, presents little trace of the botanical
features of the great continent to which it geographically belongs,
and an almost absolute identity with those of Europe. Moreover,
the peculiarities of the Greenland flora are not confined to these ;
for a detailed examination shows that it differs from all other parts
of the arctic regions in wanting many extremely common Scan-
dinavian plants which advance far north in all the other polar
districts, and that the general poverty of its flora in species is
more due to an abstraction of arctic types than to a deficiency of
temperature. This is proved by an examination of the temperate
portion of the Greenland peninsula, which adds very few plants to
the entire flora, as compared with a similar area south of any other
arctic region ; and these few are chiefly arctic plants and almost
without exception Arctic Scandinavian species.
There is nothing in the physical features of the arctic regions,
their oceanic or aerial currents, their geographical relations, nor
their temperature, which, in my opinion, at all accounts for the
exceptional character of the Greenland flora ; nor do I see how it
can be explained, except by assuming that extensive changes of
climate, and of land and sea, have exerted great influence, first, in
directing the migration of the Scandinavian species over the whole
polar zone, and afterwards in introducing the Asiatic and American
species with which the Scandinavian are so largely associated in
all the arctic districts except those of Europe and Greenland. It
is inconceivable to me that, under existing conditions of sea,
land, and temperature, so many Scandinavian plants should
have found their way westward to Greenland, by migration
across the Atlantic, and stopped short on its west coast, net
crossing to America ; — or that so many American types should
terminate as abruptly on the west coast of Baffin's Bay, and not
328 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
cross to Greenland and Europe ; — or that Greenland should con-
tain actually much fewer species of European plants than have
found their way eastwards from Lapland by Asia into Western
and Eastern Arctic America ; — or that the Scandinavian vege-
tation should in every longitude have migrated southward across
the tropics of Asia and America, whilst the typical genera of Asia
and America which have found their way into the arctic regions
have remained restricted to these continents.
It appears to me difficult to account for these facts, unless we
admit Mr. Darwin's* hypothesis, first, that the existing Scan-
dinavian flora is of great antiquity, and that previous to the glacial
epoch it was more uniformly distributed over the polar zone than
it is now ; secondly, that during the advent of the glacial period
this Scandinavian vegetation was driven southward in every longi-
tude, and even across the tropics into the south temperate zone ;
and that on the succeeding warmth of the present epoch, those
species that survived both ascended the mountains of the warmer
zones, and also returned northward, accompanied by aborigines of
the countries they had invaded during their southern migration.
Mr. Darwin shows how aptly such an explanation meets the
difficulty of accounting for the restriction of so many American
and Asiatic arctic types to their own peculiar longitudinal
zones; and that far greater difficulty, the representation of the
same arctic genera by most closely allied species in different
longitudes. To this representation, and the complexity of its
character, I shall have to allude when indicating the sources of
difficulties I have encountered, whether in limiting the polar
species, or in determining to what southern forms many are most
directly referable. Mr. Darwin's hypothesis accounts for many
varieties of one plant being found in various alpine and arctic
regions of the globe, by the competition into which their common
ancestor was brought with the aborigines of the countries it
invaded : different races survived the struggle for life in different
longitudes ; and these races again, afterwards converging on the
zone from which their ancestor started, present there a plexus of
* This theory of a southern migration of northern types heing due to
the cold epochs preceding and during the glacial, originated, I believe,
with the late Edward Forbes ; the extended one, of their transtropical
migration, is Mr. Darwin's, and is discussed by him in his ' Origin of
Species,' chap. xi.
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 329
closely allied but more or less distinct varieties or even species,
whose geographical limits overlap, and whose members very
probably occasionally breed together.
Nor is the application of this hypothesis limited to this inquiry ;
for it offers a possible explanation of a general conclusion at which
I had previously arrived * and shall have again to discuss here —
viz. : that the Scandinavian flora is present in every latitude of the
globe, and is the only one that is so; and it also helps to explain
another class of most interesting and anomalous facts in arctic
distribution, at which I have now arrived from an examination o^
the vegetation of the several polar districts, and especially that
of Greenland.
A glance at a circumpolar chart will show how this theory bears
upon the Greenland flora, explaining the identity of its existing
vegetation with that of Lapland, and accounting for its paucity of
species, for the rarity of American species, of peculiar sj)ecies, and
of marked varieties of European species. If it be granted that
the polar area was once occupied by the Scandinavian flora, and
that the cold of the glacial epoch did drive this vegetation south-
wards, it is evident that the Greenland individuals, from being
confined to a peninsula, would be exposed to very different con-
ditions to those of the great continents. In Greenland many species
would, as it were, be driven into the sea, that is, exterminated ;
and the survivors would be confined to the southern portion of the
peninsula, and not being there brought into competition with other
types, there could be no struggle for life amongst their progeny,
and consequently no selection of better adapted varieties. On the
return of heat, these survivors would simply travel northwards,
unaccompanied by the plants of any other country.
In Arctic America and Asia, on the other hand, where there
was a free southern extension and dilatation of land for the same
Scandinavian plants to occupy, these would multiply enormously
in individuals, branching off into varieties and subspecies, and
occupy a larger area the further south, they were driven; and
none need be altogether lost in the southern migration over plains,
though many would in the struggle that ensued when they reached
the mountains of those continents and were brought into competi-
tion with the alpine plants, which the same cold had caused to
descend to the plains. Hence, on the return of warmth, many
* Introductory Essay to the ' Flora of Tasmania,' p. ciii.
330 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
more Scandinavian species would return to Arctic America and
Asia than survived in Greenland ; some would be changed in form,
because only the favoured varieties could have survived the struggle ;
some of the species of Alpine Siberia and of the Rocky Mountains
would accompany the Scandinavian in their return to the arctic
zone ; while many arctic species would ascend those mountains,
accompanying the alpine species in their reascent.
Again, as the same species may have been destroyed in many
longitudes, or at most elevations, but not at all, we should expect
to find some of those Arctic Scandinavian plants of Greenland
which have not returned to Arctic America still lurking in remote
corners of that great continent; and we may account for Drdba
aurea being confined to Greenland and the Rocky Mountains,
Potentilla tridentatato Greenland and some scattered localities from
the Alleghanies northward, and Arenarta Grmdandlca to
Greenland, Labrador and the Mountains of New England, by sup-
posing that these were originally Scandinavian plants, which were
driven south by the cold of the glacial epoch, but which on the return
of warmth, being exterminated on the plains of the American con-
tinent, found a refuge among its mountains, where they now exist.
It appears, therefore, to be no slight confirmation of the general
truth of Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, that, besides harmonizing with
the distribution of arctic plants within and beyond the polar zone,
it can also be made, without straining, to account for that distribu-
tion and for many anomalies of the Greenland flora, viz., i. — its
identity with the Lapponian ; ii. — its paucity of species; iii. — the
fewness of temperate plants in temperate Greenland, and the still
fewer plants that area adds to the entire flora of Greenland ;
iv. — the rarity of both Asiatic and American species or types in
Greenland ; and v. — the presence of a few of the rarest Greenland
and Scandinavian species in remote and often alpine localities of
West America and the United States.
I. — ON THE LOCAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS WITHIN
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
The greatest number of plants occurring in any given arctic
district is found in the European, where 616 flowering plants
have been collected from the verge of the circle to Spitzbergen.
From this region vegetation rapidly diminishes in proceeding east-
wards and westwards, especially the latter. Thus, in Arctic Asia
only 233 flowering plants have been collected ; in Arctic Green-
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 331
land, 207 species ; in the American continent east of the Mackenzie
River, 379 species ; and in the area westward from that river to
Behring's Straits, 36-4 species.
A glance at the animal and monthly isothermal lines will show
that there is little relation between the temperature and vegetation
of the areas they intersect, beyond the general feature of the scanti-
ness of the Siberian flora being accompanied by a great southern
bend of the annual isotherm of 32° in Asia, and the greatest
northern bend of the same isotherm occurring in the longitude of
west Lapland, which contains the richest flora. On the other
hand, the same isotherm bends northwards in passing from Eastern
America to Greenland, the vegetation of which is the scantier of
the two ; and passes to the northward of Iceland, which is much
poorer in species than those parts of Lapland to the southward of
which it passes.
The June isothermals, as indicating the most effective tempera-
tures in the arctic regions (where all vegetation is torpid for nine
months, and excessively stimulated during the three others), might
have been expected to indicate better the positions of the most
luxuriant vegetation : but neither is this the case ; for the June
isothermal of 41°, which lies within the arctic zone in Asia, where
the vegetation is scanty in the extreme, descends to 54° N. lat. in
the meridian of Behring's Straits, where the flora is comparatively
luxuriant; and the June isothermal of 32°, which traverses Green-
land north of Disco, passes to the north, both of Spitzbergen and
the Parry Islands. In fact, it is neither the mean annual, nor the
summer (flowering), nor the autumn (fruiting) temperature that
determines the abundance or scarcity of the vegetation in each
district, but these combined with the ocean temperature and con-
sequent prevalence of humidity, its geographical position, and its
former conditions both climatal and geographical. The relations
between the isothermals and floras in each longitude being there-
fore special, and not general, I shall consider them further when
defining the different arctic floras.
The northern limits to which vegetation extends varies in every
longitude ; and its extreme limits are still unknown ; it may, indeed,
reach to the pole itself. Phsenogamic plants, however, are probably
nowhere found far north of lat. 81°. 70 flowering plants are found
in Spitzbergen ; and Sabine and Boss collected 9 on Walden Island,
towards its northern extreme, but none on Boss's Islet, fifteen miles
further to the north. Sutherland, a very careful and intelligent
332 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
collector, found 23 at Melville Bay and Wolstenholme and Whale
Sounds, in the extreme north of Baffin's Bay (lat. 76°, 77° N.).
Parry, James Ross, Sabine, Beech ey, and others, together, found
60 species on Melville Island, and Lyall 50 on the islands north
of Barrow Straits and Lancaster Sound. About 80 have been
detected on the west shores of Baffin's Bay and Davis' Straits,
between Pond Bay and Home Bay. To the north of Eastern
Asia, again, Seemann collected only 4 species on Herald Island,
lat. 71|° N., the northernmost point attained in that longitude.
On the east coast of Greenland, Scoresby and Sabine found only
50 between the parallels of 70° and 75° N . ; whilst 150 inhabit
the west coast, between the same parallels.
The differences between the vegetations of the various polar
areas seem to be to a considerable extent constant up to the
extreme limits of vegetation in each. Thus Ranunculus glacialis
and Saxifraga flagdlaris, which are all but absent in West
Greenland*, advance to the extreme north in East Greenland and
Spitzbergen. Caltha palustris, Astragalus alpinus, Oxytropis
Uralensis, O. nigrescens, Parrya arctica, Sieversia Possii,
Nardosmia corymbosa, Senecio palustris, Deschampsia ccespitosa,
Saxifraga Meraciifolia and S. Ilirculus, all of which are absent in
West Greenland, advance to Lancaster Sound and the polar
American islands, a very few degrees to the westward of Greenland.
On the other hand, Lyclinis alpina, Arabis alpina, Stellaria
cerastioides, Potentilla tridentata, Cassiopeia Jiypnoides, Phyl-
lodoce taxifolia, Veronica alpina, Thymus Serphyllum, Luzula
spicata, and Phleum aJpinum, all advance north of 70° in West
Greenland, but are wholly unknown in any part of Arctic Eastern
America or the polar islands.
The most arctic plants of general distribution that are found far
north in all the arctic areas are the following; all inhabit the
Parry Islands, or Spitzbergen, or both : —
anuncuii
nivalis. Draba hirta. Stellaria longipes.
muricella. Cerastium alpinum.
auncomus.
Potentilla nivea.
pygmasus. incana.
Papaver nudicaule. rupestris. — frigida.
Cochlearia officinalis. Cochlearia anglica. Dryas octopetala.
Braya alpina. officinalis. Epilobium latifolium.
Cardamine bellidifolia. Silene acaulis. Sedum Rhodiola.
pratensis. Lychnis apetala. Chrysos. alternifolium.
Draba alpina. Arenaria verna. Saxifraga oppositifolia.
androsacea. arctica. caespitosa.
Both were found by Kane's Expedition, but by no previous one.
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
'.i q o
Saxifraga cernua.
rivularis.
nivalis.
stellaris.
flagellaris.
Hirculus (E. Green-
land only.)
Antennaria alpina.
Erigeron alpinus.
Taraxacum Dens-leonis.
Cassiopeia tetragona.
Pedicularis hirsuta.
Pedicularis sudetica.
( >xyria reniformis.
Polygonum viviparum.
Empetrum nigrum.
Salix herbacea.
reticulata.
Luzula arcuata.
J uncus biglumis.
Eriophorum capitatum.
polystachyon.
Alopecurus alpinus.
Deyeuxia Lapponica.
Deschampsia caespitosa (E
Greenland only I.
Phippsia algida.
Colpodium latifolium.
Carex fuliginosa (not yet found Poa flexuosa.
in Arctic Asia, but no doubt pratensis.
there.) nemoralis
aquatilis (do.) Festuca ovina.
Of the above, Saxifraga oppositifolia is probably the most
ubiquitous, and may be considered the commonest and most
arctic flowering plant.
The following are also inhabitants of all the five arctic areas,
but do not usually attain such high latitudes as the foregoing : —
Ranunculus Lapponicus.
Draba rupestris.
Viola palustris.
Honkenya peploides.
Epiiobium angustifolium.
alpinum.
Hippuris vulgaris.
Artemisia borealis.
Vaccinium uliginosum.
Vitis-idaea.
Ledum palustre.
Pyrola rotundifolia.
Polemonium caeruleum, and
Betula nana.
Salix lanata.
glauca.
alpestris.
Luzula campestris.
vars. (E. Greenland only.) Carex vesicaria.
Pedicularis Lapponica. Eriophorum vaginatum.
Armeria vulgaris. Atropis maritima.
The absence of Gentiana and Primula in these lists is very
unaccountable, seeing how abundant and very alpine they are on
the Alps and Himalaya, and Gentiana on the South American
Cordilleras also.
The few remaining plants, which are all very northern and
almost or wholly confined to the arctic zone, are the following.
j indicates those species absolutely peculiar ; £ the only peculiar
genus.
Rananculus Palasii.
hyperboreus.
TroUius Asiaticus.
Corydalis glauca,
Cardamine purpurea.
Turritis mollis.
Cochlearia sisymbrioides.
Hesperis Pallasii.
fBraya pilosa
Eutrema Edwardsii.
Parrya arctica.
t arenicola.
I >dontarrhena Fischeriana.
Sagina nivalis.
Stellaria dicranoides.
( )xytropis nigrescens.
Sieversia Rossii.
glacialis.
Rubus arcticus.
Parnassia Kotzebuei.
Saxifraga Eschscholtzii.
serpyllifolia.
t Richardsoni.
Ccenolophium Fischeri.
tNardosmia glacialis.
Artemisia Richarcrsoniana.
glomerata.
t androsacea.
Erigeron compositus.
Chrysanthemum arcticum.
Pyrethrum bipinnatum.
tSaussurea subsinuata.
Campanula uniflora.
Gentiana arctophila.
aurea.
Eutoca Franklinii.
Pedicularis flammea.
fDouglasia arctica.
tMonolepis Asiatica.
Betula fruticosa.
Salix speciosa.
t glacialis.
phlebophylla.
arctica.
Orchis cruenta.
Platanthera hyperborea.
Carex nardina.
glareosa.
rariflora.
Hierochloe pauciflora.
Deschampsia atropurpurea.
Phippsia algida.
Dupontia Fisheri.
Colpodium pendulinum.
fulvum.
latifolium.
JPleuropogon Sabini.
t Festuca Richardsoni.
334 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
II. — ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARCTIC FLOWERING PLANTS IN
VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE GLOBE.
There is but one distinct genus confined to the arctic regions,
the monotypie and \ocn\PIeuwpogon Sabini; and there are but seven
other peculiarly arctic species, together with one with which I am
wholly unacquainted, viz., Mpnolepis Asiatica. The remaining
762 species are all of them found south of the circle ; and of these all
but 150 advance south of the parallel of 40° N. hit., either in the
Mediterranean basin, Northern India, the United States, Oregon,
or California ; about 50 are natives of the mountainous regions of
the tropics ; and just 105 inhabit the south temperate zone.
The proportion of species which have migrated southwards in
the Old and New World also bear a fair relation to the facilities
for migration presented by the different continents. Thus,
Of 616 Arctic European species, Of 233 Arctic Asiatic species,
496 inhabit the Alps, and 210 reach the Altai, Soongaria, etc. ;
450 cross them ; 106 reach the Himalaya ;
126 cross the Mediterranean ; o are found on the tropical mts. of Asia;
26 inhabit South Africa. 5 inhabit Australia and New Zealand.
Of 379 Arctic East American, Of 346 Arctic West American species,
203 inhabit the United States. 274 are north temperate ;
34 inhabit tropical American mountains. 24 on tropical mountains ;
50 inhabit temperate South America. 37 in south temperate zone.
These tables present in a very striking point of view the fact of
the Scandinavian flora being the most widely distributed over the
globe. The Mediterranean, South African, Malayan, Australian,
and all the floras of the New World have narrow ranges compared
with the Scandinavian, and none of them form a prominent feature
in any other continent than their own ; but the Scandinavian not
only girdles the globe in the arctic circle, and dominates over all
others in the north temperate zone of the Old World, but intrudes
conspicuously into every other temperate flora, whether in the
northern or southern hemisphere, or on the alps of tropical
countries.
The severest test to which this observation could be put is that
supplied by the Arctic Scandinavian forms ; for these belong to
the remotest corner of the Scandinavian area, and should of all
plants be the most impatient of temperate, warm, and tropical
climates. The following will, approximately, express the result : —
Total Arctic Scandinavian forms 5S6 Cross Alps, etc 480
In North United States, Canada, etc . . . 360 Reach South Africa 20
In Tropical America 40 Himalaya, etc 300
In Temperate South America 70 Tropical Asia 20
In Alps of Middle Europe, Pyrenees, etc. 490 Australia, etc 60
1868.] HOOKER— ARCTIC FLORA. 335
In one respect this migration is most direct in the American
meridian, where more arctic species reach the highest southern
latitudes. This I have accounted for (Flora Antarctica, p. 230)
by the continuous chain of the Andes having favoured their
southern dispersion.
But the greatest number of arctic plants are located in Central
Europe, no fewer than 530 out of 762 inhabiting the Alps and
Central and Southern Europe, of which 480 cross the Alps to the
Mediterranean basin. Here, however, their further spread is
apparently suddenly arrested ; for though many, doubtless, are to
be found in the Alps of Abyssinia and the western Atlas; these
are few compared with what are found further east in Asia ; and
fewer still have found their way to South Africa.
The most continuous extension of Scandinavian forms is in the
direction of the greatest continental extension; namely that from
the North Cape in Lapland to Tasmania* ; for no less than 350
Scandinavian plants have been found in the Himalaya, and 53 in
Australia and New Zealand ; whereas there are scarcely any
Himalayan and no Australian or Antarctic forms in Arctic
Europe. Now that Mr. Darwin's hypotheses are so far accepted
by many botanists, in that these concede many species of each
genus to have had in most cases a common origin, it may be well
to tabulate the generic distribution of arctic plants as I have done
the specific ; and this places the prevalence of • the Scandinavian
types of vegetation in a much stronger light : —
Scandinavian Arctic Genera in Europe. . 2S0 Cross Alps (approximately) 260
Found in N. U. S. (approximately)... 270 Found in South Africa (approximately) no
" Tropical American Mts. " ... 100 ;" Himalaya, etc 270
" Temperate South America 4i ... 120 " Tropical Asia So
•• Alps " ... 2S0 " Australia, etc 100
The most remarkable anomaly is the absence of Primula in
Tropical America, that genus being found in Extra-tropical South
* The line which joins these points passes through Siberia, Eastern
China, the Celebes Islands, and Australia, hut the glacial migration has
no doubt been due south from the arctic and north temperate regions in
various longitudes to the Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, Caucasus, Asia
Minor, Persian and North Indian mountains, etc. The further migration
south to the distant and scattered alpine heights of the tropics, and thence
to South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, is, in the present state
of our knowledge, to me quite unaccounted for. Mr. Darwin assumes for
this purpose a cooled condition of the globe that must have been fatal
to all such purely tropical vegetation as we are now familiar with.
33 ti
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[June
America ; and its absence in the whole southern temperate zone of
the Old World, except the Alps of Java.
Thalictrum, Delphinium, Impxtiens, Primus, Circoea, Chrysos-
plenium, Parnassia, Bupleurum, Heracleum, Viburnum, Valeri-
ana, Artemisia, Vaccinium, Rhododendron, Pedicularis, and
Salix, are all arctic genera found on the tropical mountains of
Asia (Nilghiri, Ceylon, Java, etc.), but not yet in the south
temperate zones of Asia, and very few of them in Temperate
South Africa.
There are, however, a considerable number of Scandinavian
plants which are not found in the Alps of Middle Europe, though
found in the Caucasus, Himalaya, etc. ; and conversely there are
several Arctic Asiatic and American plants found in the Alps of
Central Europe, but nowhere in Arctic Europe. In other words,
certain species extend from Arctic America through Central Asia
and North India to Central Europe, which do not extend from
Arctic America westward to Arctic Europe; and there are certain
other species which extend from Arctic Europe to the Caucasus
and Central Asia, which do neither exist on the Alps of Central
Europe nor extend eastward to Arctic America : thus,
Common to Arctic Europe and Temperate Asia, etc., but not to
Alps of Europe.
Ranunculus nivalis.
hyperboreus.
Trollius Asiaticus.
Cardamine bellidifolia i
Parrya macrocarpa.
arctica.
Draba alpina.
muricella.
hirta.
rupestris.
Eutrema Edwardsii.
Silene turgida.
Lychnis apetala.
Sagina nivalis.
Arenaria lateriflora.
arctica.
Stellaria borealis.
humifusa.
longipes
■ crassifolia.
Rubus arcticus.
cbamaemorus.
Rosa blanda.
Saxifraga rivularis.
nivalis.
flagellaris.
bronchialis.
Ccenolophium Fiscberi.
Conioselinum Fiscberi.
Ligusticum Scoticum.
Cbserophyllum bulbosum.
Cornus suecica.
Galium triflorum.
Valeriana capitata.
Nardosmia frigida.
palmata.
Chrysanthemum arcticum.
Pyrethrum bipinnatum.
Artemisia borealis.
Antennaria alpina.
Senecio frigidus.
Ligularia Sibirica.
Aster Sibiricus.
Tataricus.
Mulgedium Sibiricum.
Campanula uniflora.
Cassiopeia hypnoides.
Cassandra calyculata.
Diapensia Lapponica.
Rbododendron Lapponicum.
Ledum palustre.
Gentiana detonsa.
Pleurogyne rotata.
Myosotis sparsiflora.
Eritrichium villosum.
Gymnandra borealis.
Castilleja pallida.
Veronica macrostemon.
Pedicularis Lapponica.
hirsuta.
Sudetica.
Pinguicula villosa.
Primula stricta.
Sibirica.
Koenigia Islandica.
Betula alpestris.
Salix lanata.
polaris.
Picea orientalis.
Larix Ledebourii.
Platanthera obtusata.
Calypso borealis.
Sparganium natans.
Luzula arcuata.
Juncus biglumis.
Carex glareosa.
Norvegica.
festiva.
loliacea.
rariflora.
livida.
1368.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
337
Carex laxa.
salina.
aquatilis.
globularis.
Alopecurus alpinus.
Deyeuxia deschampsioides.
Lapponica.
strigosa.
Langsdorffii.
Hierochloe alpina.
Colpodium latifolium.
pendulinuni.
fulvum.
Blysmus rufus. Langsdorffii. Dupontia Fisheri.*
It is curious to remark how many of these boreal European
plants, which are absentees in the Alps, have a very wide range,
not only extending to the Himalaya and North China, but many
of them all over Temperate North America; only one is found in
the south temperate zone. In the present state of our knowledge
we cannot account for the absence of these in the Alps; either
they were not natives of Arctic Europe immediately previous to
the glacial period, or if so, and they were then driven south to the
Alps, they were afterwards there exterminated; or, lastly, they
still inhabit the Alps under disguised forms, which pass for
different species. Probably some belong to each of these cate-
gories. I need hardly remark that none inhabit Europe south of
the Alps, or any part of the African continent.
The list of Arctic ^American and Asiatic species which do
inhabit the Alps of Europe, but not Arctic Europe, is much
smaller. Those marked f are Scandinavian, but do not there
enter the arctic circle.
Anemone patens.
alpina.
narcissiflora.
fRanunculus sceleratus.
fAconitum Napellus.
fArabis petraea.
tCardamine hirsuta.
Draba stellata.
t'l'hlaspi montanum.
|\Lepidium ruderale.
fSagina nodosa.
jLinum perenne.
Phaca alpina.
tAstragalus hypoglottis.
fSpirsea salicifolia.
tPotentilla fruticosa.
sericea.
tCeratophyllum demersum.
Bupleurum ranunculoides.
tViburnum Opulus.
Galium rubioides.
f saxatile.
Ptarmica alpina.
Aster alpinus.
Gentiana prostrata.
Polygonum polymorphum.
Corispermum hyssopifolium.
Alnus viridis.
Pinus cembra.
fSparganium simplex.
fTypha latifolia.
Carex ferruginea.
supina.
stricta.
f pilulifera.
fScirpus triqueter.
Deyeuxia varia.
Spartina cynosuroides.
tGlyceria fluitans.
Hordeum jubatum.
III. — BOTANICAL DISTRICTS WITHIN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
The following are the prominent features, botanical, geographical,
and climatal, of the five districts of the arctic zone : —
1. Arctic Europe. — The majority of its plants are included
* The following species were included in this list as first published,
but ha^e siuce been found in Switzerland : —
Naumbergia thyrsiflora.
Salix myrtilloides.
Calla palustris.
Carex fuliginosa.
capillaris.
Carex vulgaris.
casspitosa.
[Cardamine bellidifolia has been found on the Pyrenees by Lange !— Ed.]
338 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
in the Lapland and Finland floras ; and, owing to the temperature
of the Gulf Stream, which washes its coasts, Lapland is by far the
richest province in the arctic regions. The mean annual tempera-
ture at the polar circle, where it cuts the coast-line, is about 37°,
and the June and September temperatures throughout Lapland
are 40° and 37° respectively; thus rendering the climate favour-
able both to flowering and fruiting. Spitzbergen belongs to this
flora, as do Nova Zembla and the arctic countries west of the
river Obi, which forms its eastern boundary ; for the Ural
Mountains do not limit the vegetation, any more than do the
Rocky Mountains in America. Gmelin observed more than a
century ago that the river Obi in lower latitudes indicates the
transition longitude from the European to the Asiatic flora.
Even in this small area, however, there are two floras, correspond-
ing to the Arctic Norwegian and Arctic Russian. The latter, com-
mencing at the White Sea, though comparatively excessively poor
in species, contains nearly twenty that are not Lapponian, includ-
ing Braya rosea, Dianthus alpinus, D. Seguieri, Spir<<<i chamccdri-
folia, Saxifraga hieraciifolia, JETeracleum Sibiricum, Ligularia
Sibirica, Ptarmica alplna, G'entiana verna, Pleurogyne r<>t<<f</.
and Larix Sibirica.
There are further several Scandinavian plants which cross the
arctic circle on the east shores of the White Sea, but do not do so
in Lapland, as Aihamanta Libanotis, Chrysanthemum Leucanthe-
mum. Bidcns tripartita, and others.
Iceland and Greenland also botanically belong to the Arctic
Laplaud province, but I have here excluded both: the former
because it lies to the south of the arctic circle ; the latter because
both its magnitude, position, and other circumstances, require that
it should be treated of separately.
Ac far as I can ascertain, 616 species (Monocotyledons, 183;
Diocotyledons, 433 z= 1 : 2-3) enter the arctic circle in this region,
of which 70 advance into Spitzbergen ; but no phaenogamic plant
is found in Ross's Islet, which lies to the north of Spitsbergen.
The proportion of genera to species 266 : 616=1 : 2-3. Of these
Arctic European plants, 453 cross the Alps or Pyrenees to the
Mediterranean basin, a few occur on the mountains of Tropical
Africa, (including Luzula campestris and Deschampsia coespltosa),
and 23 are found in South Africa.
No fewer than 264 species do not enter the arctic circle in any
other longitude, and 184 are almost exclusively natives of the
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
339
Old World, or of this and of Greenland ; not being found in any
part of North America ; 24 are confined to Arctic Europe and
(it
and.
The following Arctic European plants are of sporadic occur-
rence in North America : —
Ranunculus acris, (Rocky Mountains).
Arabis alpina, (Greenland and Labrador).
Lychnis alpina, (Greenland and Labra-
dor).
Arenaria arctica, (Greenland and Rocky
Mountains).
vema, (Greenland, Arctic Islands,
and Rocky Mountains).
Alchemiila vulgaris, (Greenland and Labra-
dor).
Gnaphalium sylvaticum, (Greenland and
Labrador).
supinum, (Greenland, Labrador, and
White Mountains).
Vaccinium myrtillus, (Rocky Mountains
and shores of great lakes).
Cassiopeia hypnoides, (Greenland, U. States
Mountains, Canada, and Labrador).
Phyllodoce taxifolia, (Greenland, New Eng-
land Mountains, and Labrador).
Gentiana nivalis, (Greenland and Labrador).
Veronica alpina, (Greenland and White
Mountains).
Bartsia alpina, (Greenland and Labrador).
Pedicularis palustris, (Lab'r& Newfoundl'd).
Primula farinosa, ( Labrador, Canada, Maine
and shores of the Great Lakes).
Salix phylicifolia. (U. States Mountains).
herbacea, (Greenland, Labrador, and
White Mountains, etc.).
Juncus trifidus, (do. do.).
Carex capitata, (Greenland and White
Mountains).
Phleum alpinum, (Greenland, White
Mountains, Canada, and Labrador).
Calamagrostis lanceolata, (Labrador).
There are besides a considerable number of Arctic European
plants, which, in the New World, are confined to Greenland, being
nowhere found in East America : these will be enumerated when
treating of the Greenland flora.
The plants which are widely distributed in Temperate America
or Asia, but almost exclusively Arctic in Europe, are the following —
Ranunculus Pallasii, (Asia and America).
Trollius Asiaticus, (Asia).
Parrya macrocarpa, (Asia and America).
arctica. (Asia and America).
Stellaria longipes, (Asia and America).
Potentilla emarginata, (America).
Epilobium latifolium, (Asia and America).
Sedum quadrifidum, (Asia).
Saxifraga bronchialis, (Asia and America).
Senecio resedasfolius, (Asia and America).
Ligularia Sibirica, (Asia).
Mulgedium Sibiricum, (Asia)
Cassiopeia tetragona. (Asia and America).
Gentiana detonsa, (Asia and America).
Pleurogyne rotata, (Asia and America).
Eritrichium aretioides, ( Asia and America).
Gymnandra Pallasii, (Asia).
Castilleja pallida, (Asia and America).
Veronica macrostemon. (Asia).
Pedicularis flammea, (America).
Pinguicula villosa, (Asia and America).
Koenigia Islandica, (Asia and America).
Salix>polaris, (Asia and America).
Picea orientalis, (Asia).
Larix Ledebourii, (Asia).
Platanthera hyperborea, (America).
obtusata, (America).
Deyeuxia deschampsioides, (Asia and N. W.
America).
Dupontia Fisheri, (America).
The works upon which I have mainly depended for the habitats
of the Arctic European plants are Wahlenberg's ' Flora Lapponica '
Ledebour's ' Flora Rossica,' Fries's ' Summa Vegetabilium Scandi-
naviae,' and ' Mantissas,' and various admirable treatises by
340 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
x\ndersson, Nylander, Hartmann, Lindblom, Wahlberg, Blytt,
C. Martins, Ruprecht, and Schrenk.
For Spitzbergen plants I have depended on Hooker's enumera-
tion of the Spitzbergen collections made during Parry's attempt
to reach the north pole, Capt. Sabine's collection made in the
same island, and on Lindblom and Beilschmied's ' Flora von
Spitzbergen' (Regensburg, Flora, 1842).
For the southern distribution of the Arctic European plants, I
have further consulted Nyman's excellent ' Sylloge,' Ledebour's
' Flora Rossica,' Grisebach's l Flora Rumelica, ' Grenier and
Godron's 'Flore de France,' Parlatore's 'Flora Italiana,' Koch's
' Synopsis Florae Germanise,' Munby's ' Catalogue of Algerian
Plants,' A. Richard's of those of Abyssinia, Visiani's ' Flora
Dalmatica,' Delile's ' Flora iEgyptiaca,' Boissier's noble ' Voyage
Botanique dans l'Espagne,' and Tchihatcheff's 'Asia Minor,'
besides numerous local floras of the Mediterranean region,
Madeira, the Azores, and Canaries.
2. Arctic Asia. — This, which for its extent, contains by far
the poorest flora of any on the globe, reaches from the Gulf of
Obi eastwards to Behring's Straits, where it merges into the West
iVmerican. The climate is marked by excessive mean cold ; at
the Obi the isotherm of 18° cuts the arctic circle in its S.E.
course, and at the eastern extremity of the province the isotherm
of 20° cuts the same circle, while the centre part of the district is
all north of the isotherm of 9°. The whole of the district is hence
far north of the isotherm of 32°, which descends to 52° N. lat. in
its middle longitude. The extremes of temperature are also very
great ; the June isotherm of 41G ascending eastward through its
western half to the Polar Sea, whilst the September isotherm of
41° descends nearly to 6° N. lat, ; whence the low autumn tempera-
ture must present an almost insuperable obstacle to the ripening
of seeds within this segment of the polar circle.
The warming influence of the Atlantic currents being felt no
further east than the Obi, and the summer desiccation of the vast
Asiatic continent, combine to render the climate of this region one
of excessive drought as well as cold ; whence it is in all ways
most unfavourable to every kind of vegetation.
The total number of species hitherto recorded from this area
is 233 (Monocotyledons, 42 ; Dicotyledons, 191 = 1 : 4-5.) The
proportion of genera to species is 1 : 2. Of the 233 species, 217
inhabit Siberia as far south as the Altai, or Japan, etc. ; 104
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
341
extend southwards to the Himalaya or mountains of Persia ; none
are found on the mountains of the two Indian peninsulas, but
5 are found on those of Australia and New Zealand. All but
the following 37 are European. Those marked with a f are
almost exclusively arctic : —
Saxifraga serpyllifolia (W. America).
tNardosmia glacialis (Arctic Asia only).
Gmelini.
tArtemisia Steveniana (Arctic Asia only).
glomerata (West America).
biennis (E. and W. America).
Osmothamnus fragrans.
Pedicularis capitata (E. and W. America).
euphrasioides (E. and W. America)-
fMonolepis Asiatica (Arctic Asia only).
Rumex salicifolius (E. and W. America).
graminifolius.
Salix ovalifolia (West America).
Abies alba (E. and W. America).
Larix Americana (E. and W. America).
Tofieldea coccinea (E. and W. America).
Fritillaria Kamtchatkensis (West America).
Carex concinna (West America).
Elymus mollis (E. and W. America).
Delphinium Menziesii (West America).
fCochlearia sisymbrioides (Boreal ditto).
Hesperis Pallasii (East and West America)
Odontharrena Fischeriana.
Cardamine macrophylla.
f Arenaria macrocarpa (West America).
laricina.
t Rossii (Rocky Mountains).
Cerastium maximum (West America).
fOxytropis nigrescens (Boreal E. and W.
America).
Hedysarum Sibiricum.
fSieversia glacialis (Boreal W. America).
Potentilla stipularis.
fragiformis.
Claytonia lanceolata.
tSedum euphorbioides (Arctic Asia only).
Saxifraga Escholtzii (Boreal W. America).
punctata (West America).
Thus out of 37 non-European species, only 12 are confined to
Asia, the remaining 25 being American. On the other hand
there are only 22 European species in Arctic Asia which are not
also American ; which scarcely establishes a nearer relationship
between Arctic Asia with Europe than with America. These
Dianthus Seguieri.
superbus.
Silene inflata.
Arenaria uliginosa.
Phaca alpina.
Hedysarum obscurum.
Rubus Idsus.
Sedum quadrifidum.
Gaya simplex.
Leontodon autumnalis.
Hieracium alpinum.
Veronica longifolia.
Pedicularis Sceptrum.
Pinguicula alpina.
Polygonum Sibiricum.
Salix Lapponum.
nigricans.
hastata.
Picea orientalis.
Larix Ledebourii.
Cypripedium Calceok
Carex ferruginea.
In other words, of the 233 Asiatic species, 196 are common to
Asia and Europe, 22 are confined to Asia and Europe, 25 are
confined to Asia and America, and 12 are confined to Asia (three
of which are peculiar to the arctic circle) .
The rarity of Gramineae and especially of Cyperacese in this
region is its most exceptional feature ; only 21 of the 138 arctic
species of these orders having hitherto been detected in it.
Cryptogamic plants seem to be even more rare ; Woodsla llvensis
and Lastrea fragrans being the only Filices hitherto enumerated.
Yol. III. W Ko. 5
342 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Further researches along the edge of the arctic circle would,
doubtless, add more Siberian species to this flora, as the examina-
tion of the north-east extreme would add American species, and
possibly lead to the flora of the country of the Tchutchis being
ranked with that of West America.
The works which have yielded me most information regarding
this flora, are Ledebour's ' Flora Rossica,' and the valuable
memoirs of Bunge, C. A. Meyer, and Trautvetter, on the vegeta-
tion of the Taimyr and Boganida rivers; and on the plants of
Jenissei River in Von Midden dorff's Siberian ' Travels'. For their
southern extension Trautvetter and Meyer's ' Flora Ochotensis,'
also in Middendorff's 'Travels; ' Bunge's enumeration of North
China and Mongolian plants; Maximovicz's l Flora Amurensis ; '
Asa Gray's paper on the botany of Japan (Mem. Amer. Acad.
N.S. vi.) ; Karelin and Kiriloff's enumeration of Soongarian
plants : Kegel, Bach, and Herder on the East Siberian and
Jakutsk collections of Paullowsky and Von Stubendorff. For
the Persian and Indian distribution, I have almost entirely
depended on the herbarium at Kew, and on Boissier's and
Bunge's numerous works.
3. Arctic West America. — The district thus designated is
analogous in position, and to a considerable extent in climate, to
the Arctic European, but is much colder ; as is indicated both by
the mean temperature, and by the position of the June isotherm
of 41°, which makes an extraordinary bend to the south, nearly
to 52° N. lat., in the longitude of Behring's Straits.
It extends from Cape Prince of Wales, on the east shore of
Behring's Straits, to the estuary of the Mackenzie river, and as a
whole it differs from the flora of the province to the eastward of it
by its far greater number both of European and Asiatic species,
by containing various Altai and Siberian plants which do not
reach so high a latitude in more western meridians, and by some
temperate plants peculiar to West America. This eastern boundary
is, however, quite an artificial one ; for a good many eastern plants
cross the Mackenzie and advance westwards to Point Barrow, but
which do not extend to Kotzebue Sound ; and a small colony of
Rocky Mountain plants also spread eastwards and westwards along
the shores of the Arctic Sea, which further tend to connect the
floras ; such are Aquilegia brevistyHs, Sisymbrium humile,
Ifutchinsia calycina, Heuchera Richardsonnii, Crepis nana,
Gentiana arctoph ila, Salix speciosa ; none of which are
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 343
generally diffused arctic plants, or natives of any other parts
of Temperate America but the Rocky Mountains.
The arctic circle at Kotzbue Sound is crossed by the isotherm
of 23°, and at the longitude of the Mackenzie by that of 12° 5' ;
whilst the June isotherm of 41° ascends obliquely from S.W. to
N.E., from the Aleutian Island to the mouth of the Mackenzie,
and passes south of this province; the June and the September
isotherms of 41° and 32° both traverse it obliquely, ascending to
the N.E.
The vast extent of the Pacific Ocean and its warm northerly
currents greatly modify the climate of West Arctic America,
causing dense fogs to prevail, especially throughout the summer
months, whilst the currents keep the ice to the north of Behring's
Straits. The shallowness of the ocean between America and Asia,
north of lat. 60°, together with the identity of the vegetation in
the higher latitudes of these continents, suggests the probability of
the land having been continuous at no remote epoch.
The number of phaenogamic plants hitherto found in Arctic
West America is 364 (Monocotyledons, 76; Dicotyledons, 288
= 1 : 3-7.) The proportion of genera to species is 1 : 1-7. Of
these 364 species, almost all but the littoral and purely arctic
species are found in West Temperate North America, or in the
Rocky Mountains, 26 in the Andes of Tropical or Subtropical
America, and 37 in Temperate or Antarctic South America. Com-
paring this flora with that of Temperate and Arctic Asia, I find
that no less than 320 species are found on the north-western shores
and Islands of that continent, or in Siberia, many extending to
the Altai and the Himalaya. A comparison with Eastern Arctic
America shows that 281 are common to it, and the following 38
are found in Temperate, but not Arctic East America: —
Anemone alpina. Saxifraga bronchialis (Eu., As., & R. M.)
Pennsylvanica. Archangelica officinalis (Eu., As., & A.).
Hutchinsiacalycina (Rocky Mountains only Ligusticum Scoticum (Eu., Asia, Am.).
and Asia.) Cornus Suecica (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Sisymbrium humile (Rky. Mrs. and As.). Galium rubioides (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Draba oligosperma (Rocky Mounts, only). Senecio resedaefolius (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Lathyrus palustri» (Europe, Asia, East Pseudo- Arnica ( Asia and America.)
and West America). Cassandra calyculata (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Spirasa salicifolia (Eu., As., E. & W. Am.). Gentiana arctophila (Rocky Mounts, only).
Potentillafruticosa(Eu., As., E. & W. Am.). prostrata (Europe, Asia. Am.).
Pennsylvanica (E., A., E.&W.Am.). tenella (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Comarum palustre (Eu., A., E. & W. Am.). Veronica scutellata (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Montia fontana (Eur., As., and W. Am.). Pedicularis palustris (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Saxifraga Sibirica (Asia and Labrador only). Atrip'lex patula (Europe, Asia, Am.).
— Dahurica (Asia and Rky. Mts. only). Corispermum hyssopifolium (E., A., Am.).
344 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Corallorhiza innata (Europe, Asia, Am.). Carex lagopina (Europe, Asia, Am.).
Luzula spadicea (Europe, Asia, Am.). Gmelina (America only).
spicata (Europe, Asia, Am.). cryptocarpa (Europe, Asia, Am.).
pilosa (Europe, Asia, Am.). stricta (Europe, America).
J uncus balticus (Europe, Asia, Am.). Hierochloe borealis (Europe. Asia, Am.).
These, it will be seen, are for the most part north temperate
plants, common in many parts of the globe, and which are only
excluded from Eastern Arctic America by the greater rigour of
its climate.
The best marked European and Asiatic species that are not
found further east in Temperate or Arctic America are the
following : —
Anemone narcissiflora. Spirasa chamaedrifolia. Atriplex littoralis.
Ranunculus Pallasii. Pyrethrum bipinnatum. Pinus cembra.
Aconitum Napellus. Gentiana prostrata. Carex Norvegica.
Parrya macrocarpa. Eritrichium aretioides. Deyeuxia strigosa.
Dianthus alpinus. Pedicularis verticillata. Langsdorffii.
Cerastium vulgatum. Primula nivalis. Colpodium fulvum.
Hence it appears that of the 364 species found in Arctic West
America, 319 inhabit East America (arctic or temperate, or both),
and 320 are natives of the Old World — a difference hardly sufficient
to establish a closer affinity of this flora with one continent rather
than with the other.
The species peculiar to this tract of land are : —
Braya pilosa. Artemisia androsacea. Salix glacialis.
Saxifraga Richardsoni. Saussurea subsinuata.
The rarity of monocotyledons, and especially of the glumaceous
orders, is almost as marked a feature of this as of the Asiatic
flora : of the 138 arctic species of Glumaceae only 54 are natives
of West Arctic America.
The materials for this flora are principally the plants of Chamisso,
collected during Kotzebue's voyage, and described by himself and
Schlechtendahl ; Lay and Collie's collections, described in Beechey's
voyage; the 'Flora Boreali- Americana ;' and Seemann's plants^
described in the ' Botany of the Herald.' Most of the above
collections are from Behring's Straits. For the arctic coast flora
I am mainly indebted to Richardson's researches, and to Pullen's
and other collections enumerated by Seemann in his account of the
flora of Western Eskimo Land. For the southern extension of
the flora I have had recourse to the 'Flora Boreali-Americana;'
Ledebour's ' Flora Bossica,' which includes the Sitcha plants ; the
American floras of Nuttall, Pursh, Torrey, Gray, etc. ; and to the
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 345
collections of Drs. Lyall and Wood formed in Vancouver Island
and British Columbia ; for the Californian, Mexican, and Cordillera
floras generally, to the herbarium at Kew, the works above men-
tioned, and the various memoirs of Torrey and of Gray on the
plants of the American Surveying Expeditions.
4. Arctic East America (exclusive of Greenland). —
This tract of land is analogous to the Arctic Asiatic in many
respects of position and climate, but is very much richer in species.
It extends from the estuary of the Mackenzie River to Baffin's
Bay, and its flora differs from that of the western part of the
continent, both in the characters mentioned in the notice of that
province, and in possessing more East American species. The
western boundary of this province is an artificial one ; the eastern
is very natural, both botanically and geographically ; for Baffin's
Bay and Davis Straits (unlike Behring's Strait) have very deep
water and different floras on their opposite shores.
The arctic circle is crossed in the longitude of the Mackenzie
River by the isotherm of 12Q, which thence trends south-eastward
to the middle of Hudson Bay ; and in the longitude of Davis
Straits it is crossed by the isotherm of 18^-°. The June isotherm
of 41° descends obliquely from the shores of the Arctic Sea, near
the mouths of the Mackenzie, to the northern parts of Hudson
Bay, south of the arctic circle; and the September isotherm of
41° is everywhere south of the circle. Hence, the western parts
of this province are very much warmer than the eastern ; so much
so, that the whole west coast and islands of Baffin's Bay lie north
of a southern inflection of the June isotherm of 32° which passes
north of all the other polar islands; the Parry Islands have an
analogous temperature of 40 ° . The warmth of the western portion
of this tract is no doubt mainly due to the influence of the Pacific
Ocean being felt across the continent of West America ; though
possibly also to the presence of a comparatively warm polar ocean,
or to Atlantic currents crossing the pole between Nova Zembla
and Spitzbsrgen, of which nothing certain is known*. Be
this as it may, the comparative luxuriance of the flora of Melville
Island is a well-known fact, and one inexplicable by considerations
of temperature, if unaccompanied by a humid atmosphere. The
* It is a well-known fact that the temperature always rises rapidly
with the north (as well as other) winds over all this Arctic American
346 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
whole region is of course far north of the isotherm of 32°, which,
in the longitude of its middle district, descends to Lake Winnipeg,
in lat. 52°.
That portion of this province which is richest in plants is the
tract which intervenes between the Coppermine and Mackenzie
Rivers ; east of this, vegetation rapidly diminishes, as also to the
northward. The flora of the Boothian Peninsula, surrounded as
it is with glacial straits, and placed centrically among the arctic
islands, is perhaps the poorest of any part of the area ; those of
Banks Land and Melville Island to the N.W. being considerably
richer, as are those of the shores of Lancaster Sound and Barrow's
Strait, and the shores of Baffin's Bay to the north and east. *
The phamogamic flora of Arctic East America contains 379
species (Monocotyledons, 92 ; Dicotyledons, 287= 1 : 3-1). The
proportion of genera to species is 1 : 2*0. Of these 379 species, 323
inhabit Temperate North America, east of the Rocky Mountains ;
35 the Cordillera ; and 49 Temperate or Antarctic South America.
Comparing this flora with that of Europe, I find that 239 (or
two-thirds) species are common to the arctic regions of both
continents, whilst but little more than one-third of the Arctic
European species are Arctic East American. Of 105 non-
European species in Arctic East America, 32 are Asiatic; leaving
73 species confined to America, of which the following are further-
more confined to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains and
Mackenzie River : —
Corydalis glauca. Primus Virginiana. Urtica diofca.
Sarracenia purpurea. Heuchera Richardsoni. Salix cordata.
Viola cucullata. Cornus stolonifera. Populus tremuloides.
Silene Pennsylvanica. Grindelia squarrosa. Picea nigra.
Arenaria Michauxii. Vaccinium Canadense. Spiranthes gracilis.
Polygala Senega. Dracocephalum parviflorum. Cypripedium acaule.
Lathyrus ochroleucus. Douglasia arctica. Carex oligosperma.
Rubus triflorus. Elasagnus argentea. Pleuropogon Sabini.
Of these Douglasia and Pleuropogon are the only ones abso-
lutely peculiar to Arctic East America. It is a noticeable fact
that not one of them is found in any part of Greenland. Com-
pared with Greenland, the Arctic East American flora is rich;
containing, besides those just enumerated, no less than 165 other
* Details of these florulas will be found in the volume of the ' Linnean
Journal,' under the notice of Dr. "Walker's Collections, made during the
voyage of the Fox.
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
347
species not found in Greenland. The following are found on the
arctic islands, and many of them on the west coast of Baffin's Bay,
but not in West Greenland : —
Caltha palustris.
Parrya arctica.
Merkia physodes.
Stellaria crassifolia.
Astragalus alpinus.
Oxytropis campestris.
Uralensis.
mgrescens.
Sieuersia Rossii.
Saxifraga hieracifolia.
Virginiensis.
Hirculus (East
Greenland only).
Valeriana capitata.
Nardosmia corymbosa.
Ptarmica vulgaris.
Chrysanthemum arcticum.
Artemisia vulgaris.
Senecio frigidus.
palustris.
pulchellus.
Solidago Virga-aurea
Aster salsuginosus.
Crepis nana.
Saussurea alpina.
Arctostaphylos alpina.
Kalmia glauca.
Phlox Sibirica.
Castilleja pallida.
Pedicularis capitata.
versicolor.
Androsace septentrionalis.
Chamsejasme.
Salix phlebophylla.
Lloydia serotina.
Hierochloe pauciflora.
Deschampsia caespitosa (East
Greenland only).
Glyceria fluitans.
Pleuropogon Sabini.
Bromus purgans.
Elymus mollis.*
There are thus no fewer than 184 of the 379 Arctic East
American species (fully half) which are absent in West Green-
land, whilst only 105 (much less than one- third) are absent in
Europe. This alone would make the limitation of species in the
meridian of Baffin's Bay more decided than in any other arctic
longitude ; and I shall show that it is rendered still more decisive
by the number of Arctic Greenland plants that do not cross to
Arctic East America.
Of the 379 Arctic East American species only 56 are not found
in Temperate East America, of which two are absolutely confined
to this area ; two others (Parrya arenicola and Festuca Richard-
soni) to Arctic East and West America ; 25 are found in
Temperate West America, and about 20 are Rocky Mountain
species, and not found elsewhere in Temperate America.
For our knowledge of this flora I am principally indebted to
the ' Flora Boreali- Americana,' and to Richardson'sf botanical
appendix to Franklin's first voyage — and his ' Boat Journey
through Rupert's Land.' I have also examined the materials
upon which the above works were founded, and the collections of
almost every subsequent journey and voyage, up to those of Dr.
* Andromeda polifolia has been found in Greenland by Mr. Taylor,
an intelligent surgeon of whale ships, who has spent many seasons in
Baffin's Bay. He has given me a list of all the plants he knows.
t I am indebted to Sir John Richardson for some corrections to this
list, which account for a few discrepancies between his lists of Arctic
American plants and my own ; these refer chiefly to genera and species
introduced into his lists, but here excluded.
348 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
"Walker in the Fox. To enumerate the numerous botanical
appendices to voyages, and separate opuscules to which these have
given rise, from Ross's first voyage to the present time, would be
out of place here. I have endeavoured to embody in the essay
the information gleaned from all of them. For the southern dis-
tribution of these plants in the United States, etc., T have had
recourse primarily to Asa Gray's excellent ' Manual of the Botany of
the Northern United States,' to Chapman's l Flora of the Southern
States,' and to the reports on the Botany of various Exploring
Expeditions.
5. Arctic Greenland. — In area Arctic Greenland exceeds
any other arctic district except the Asiatic, but ranks lowest of
all in number of contained species. In many respects it is the
most remarkable of all the provinces, containing no peculiar species
whatever, scarcely any peculiarly American ones, and but a scanty
selection of European. A further peculiarity is that the flora of
its temperate regions is extremely poor, and adds very few species
to the whole flora, and, with few exceptions, only such as are
arctic in Europe also. Being the only arctic land that contracts
to the southward, forming a peninsula, which terminates in the
ocean in a high northern latitude, Greenland offers the key to the
explanation of most of the phenomena of arctic vegetation ; and
as I have already made use of it for this purpose, I shall be more
full in my description of its flora than of any other.
The east and west coasts of Greenland differ in many important
features ; the eastern is the largest in extent, the least indented by
deep bays, is perennially encumbered throughout its entire length
by icefields and bergs, which are carried south by a branch of the
arctic current that sets between Iceland and Greenland ; and is
hence excessively cold, barren, and almost inaccessible. The west
coast, again, is generally more or less free from pack ice from Cape
Farewell (lat. 60°) to north of Upernsevik in lat. 73°. It is
washed by a southerly current, which is said to carry drift timber
from the Siberian rivers into its fiords, and enjoys a far milder
climate, and consequently has a more luxuriant vegetation. A
somewhat similar contrast is exhibited between West Greenland
and the opposite shores of Baffin's Bay, against which latter the
northerly arctic current from Lancaster Sound drives great masses
of polar ice, derived from the regions beyond that estuary, and to
which the bergs that float away from the glaciers in the Greenland
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 349
fiords are also drifted. It is important to bear in mind these
features of the two shores of Greenland and of Baffin's Bay and
Davis Straits, because they may in some degree explain their
differences of vegetation. There is also another difference between
the polar islands and Greenland, inasmuch as the former are for
the most part low, without mountains or extensive glaciers ; while
the latter is exceedingly mountainous, with valleys along the
shore terminating in glacier-headed fiords, and the coast is bound
by glaciers of prodigious extent from Melville Bay northwards to
Smith Sound.
The isothermal lines in Greenland all follow one course, from
S.W. to N.E., running more parallel to one another in this
meridian than in any other. The isotherm of 32° passes through
the southern extremity of the peninsula, and that of 5° through
its north extreme at Smith Sound. The June isotherm of 41°
skirts its east coast, and that of 32° passes north of Disco ; the
June temperature of Disco is hence as low as that of the north of
Spitzbergen, of middle Nova Zembla, and of the extreme north of
Asia, and yet Disco contains quadruple their number of plants.
The autumn cold is very great ; the September isotherm of 32°
crossing the arctic circle on the west coast ; and to this the
scantiness of the flora may to some extent be attributed.
The Arctic Greenland flora contains 206 species, according to
Lange's catalogue (in Rincke's ' Greenland ') ; or 207, according
to my materials (Monocot. 67, Dicot. 140=1 : 2-1) ; the pro-
portion of genera to species being 1:2.
Of these 207 species the following 11 alone are not European : —
Anemone Richardsonii (Asiatic). Potentilla tridentata (Labr. to Aileghanies).
Turritis mollis (Asiatic). Saxifraga triscuspidata (do. to L. Superior).
Vesicaria arctica (American only). Erigeron compositus (American only).
Draba aurea (Rocky Mountains). Pedicularis euphrasioides (Asia).
Hesperis Pallasii (Asia and America). Salix arctica (Asia).
Arenaria Grcenlandica (Labr. to U. S.).
On the other hand, no less than 57 Arctic Greenland species
are absent in Arctic East America, and the following 36 Arctic
Europe and Greenland species are either absent in all parts of
Eastern Temperate America, or are extremely local there: —
Arabis alpina (Labrador only). Stellaria cerastioides (absent).
Lychnis alpina (do. and Newfoundland). Alchemilla alpina (do.).
dioica (absent). vulgaris (Labrador only).
Spergula nivalis (do.). Sibbaldia procumbens (Labr. to Wht. Mts.).
Arenaria uliginosa (do.). Rubus saxatilis (absent).
ciliata (do,). Potentilla verna (Labrador only).
350
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[June
Sedum villosum (absent).
Saxifraga Cotyledon (Labrador and Rocky
Mountains only).
Galium saxatile (absent).
Gnaphalium sylvaticum (Labrador only).
supinum (do. and Wht. Mounts.).
Cassiopeia hypnoides (Labr. to W. Mts.)
Phyllodoce taxifolia ( Labrador to W. Mts.).
Gentiana nivalis (Labrador only).
Thymus serpyllum (absent).
Veronica alpina (White Mountains only).
saxatilis (absent).
Euphrasia officinalis (N. U. S. & Canada).
Bartsia alpina (Labrador only).
Rumex acetosella (absent).
Salix arbuscula (do.).
Peristylus albidus (do).
Carex capitata (White Mountains only).
microglochin (absent).
microstachya (do.).
pedata (do.).
Elyna caricina (Rocky Mountains only).
Phleum alpinum (Labrador to White Moun-
tains).
Calamagrostis lanceolata (Labrador only).
Deschampsia alpina (absent).
When it is considered how extremely common most of these
plants are throughout Europe and Northern Asia, and that some
of them inhabit also N. W. America, their absence in Eastern
America is even more remarkable than their presence in
Greenland.
A small colony of Greenland plants has been found by Mr.
Taylor in Cumberland Gulf, on the West side of Baffin's Bay,
where the following Arctic Greenland plants occur, viz. : —
Arabis alpina.
Gnaphalium sylvaticum.
Cassiopeia hypnoides.
Phyllodoce taxifolia.
Euphrasia officinalis.
Kcenigia Islandica.
Luzula spicata.
Carex Hebonastes.
vulgaris.
Agrostis vulgaris.
Another singular feature of both Arctic and Temperate
Greenland is its wanting a vast number of Arctic plants which are
European, and found also in America. The following is a list of
most of these, excluding about 15, which are water-plants, or
species whose range is limited. The letter I. placed before a
species signifies that it is Icelandic, and is introduced to
show not only how many are absent from this island, but also
how many are present. The letter S. indicates that the species is
found in the south temperate or antarctic circle. The asterisk (*)
indicates that the species is arctic both in East America and
Europe : —
Anemone alpina,
Sisymbrium Sophia.
I. Stellaria crassifolia.
nemorosa.
•I.
Erysimum lanceolatum.
Linum perenne.
narcissirlora.
Arabis hirsuta.
Geranium Robertianum.
*
Ranunculus Purshii.
I. S.
Cardamine hirsuta.
Hypericum 4-angulum.
I.
Caltha palustris.
*
Parrya arctica.
Oxalis acetosella.
*
Aconitum Napellus.
I.
Draba muralis.
* Phaca frigida.
Aetata spicata.
I.
Subularia aquatica.
* Astragalus alpinus.
Nuphar luteum.
•I.
. Drosera rotundifolia.
* hypoglottis.
Nasturtium amphibium.
I.
longifolia.
* Oxytropis campestris.
s.
, Barbarea prascox.
I.
, Viola tricolor.
Uralensis.
s
, Turritis glabra.
•I.
Arenaria lateriflora.
Lathyrus palustris.
Thlaspi montanum.
* Stellaria longifolia.
Spiraea salicifolia.
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
I.S.
*I.S.
•I.S.
s.
* I.
Geum urbanum.
rivale.
Rubus arcticus.
Potentilla fructicosa.
Pennsylvanica.
argentea.
Fragaria vesca.
Sanguisorba officinalis.
Rosa cinnamomea.
blanda.
Circaea alpina.
Epilobium tetragonura.
, alsinaefolium.
Lythrum salicaria.
Ribes rubrum.
alpinum.
Parnassia palustris.
Saxifraga Sibirica.
■ hieraciifolia.
bronchialis.
Bupleurum ranuncu-
loides.
Conioselinum Fischeri.
Cicuta virosa.
Carum carui.
Adoxa moschatellina.
Viburnum Opulus.
Lonicera caerulea.
Linnasa borealis.
Galium boreale.
rubioides.
trifidum.
aparine.
Valeriana capitata.
Nardosmia frigida.
: Chrysanthemum arc-
ticum.
Pyrethrum nodosum.
bipinnatum.
Artemisia vulgaris.
Bidens bipartita.
Tanacetnm vulgare.
Antennaria Carpatica.
Senecio resedaefolius.
; frigidus.
palustris.
campestris.
aurantiacus.
Solidago Virga-aurea.
Aster Sibiricus.
alpinus.
Erigeron acris.
I,
*
I. S.
s.
I.S,
s
I. s
I. s.
I.
s,
I. s,
Sonchus arvensis.
Hieracium boreale.
Saussurea alpina.
Vaccinium myrtillus.
Andromeda polifolia.
Cassandra calyculata.
Arctostaphylos alpina.
Pyrola secunda.
Gentiana amarella.
tenella.
Myosotis sylvatica.
palustris.
arvensis.
Scutellaria galericulata.
Prunella vulgaris.
Glechoma hederaceum.
Stachys palustris.
Gymnandra Pallasii.
' Castilleja pallida.
Veronica officinalis.
scutellata.
— serpylifolia.
Melampyrum pratense.
sylvaticum.
Pedicularis palustris.
versicolor.
Scrophularia nodosa.
Utricularia vulgaris.
Pinguicula villosa.
Glaux maritima.
Trientalis Europasa.
Androsace septentrio-
nalis.
' Chamasjasme.
Naumbergia thyrsiflora.
Primula farinosa.
Plantago major.
lanceolata.
Chenopodium album.
Atriplex patula.
Corispermum hyssopi-
folium.
: Polygonum Bistorta.
amphibium.
: Myrica Gale.
Betula alba.
pumila.
Alnus incana.
Salix pentandra.
myrtilloides.
Triglochin maritimum.
Scheuzeria palustris.
351
Veratrum album.
* Lloydia serotina.
* Allium schaenoprasum.
* Smilacina bifolia.
* Platanthera obtusata.
* Calypso borealis.
Godyera repens.
Cypripedium guttatum.
Calla palustris.
Typha latifolia.
Narthecium ossifragum.
Luzula maxima.
S. Juncus communis.
I. articulatus.
I. bulbosus.
stygius.
Carex pauciflora.
tenuiflora.
S. stellulata.
I. chordorrhiza.
teretiuscula.
paradoxa.
S. Buxbaumii.
I. limosa.
S. Magellanica.
ustulata.
livida.
I. pallescens.
maritima.
I. casspitosa.
I. acuta.
stricta.
filiformis.
I. S. Eleocharis palustris.
S. acicularis.
S. Scirpus triqueter.
S. lacustris.
Eriophorum alpinum.
Rhynchospora alba.
Alopecurus pratensis.
I. Milium effusum.
S. Phalaris arundinacea.
I. S. Phragmites communis.
* I Hierochloe borealis.
* pauciflora.
* I. Catabrosa aquatica.
*I.S. Glyceria fluitans.
* I. Atropis distans.
I. Festuca elatior.
S. Bromus ciliaris.
I. S. Triticum caninum.
S. Hordeum jubatum.
Altogether there are absent in Greeenland upwards of 230 Arctic
European species, which are all of them American plants. The
most curious feature of this list is the absence throughout Green-
land of the genera Spircea, Senecio, Astragalus, Trifolium, Phaca,
352 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Oxytropis, Androsace, Aster, Myosotis, Rosa, Ribes, Thlaspi,
Sisymbrium, Geranium, etc., and of sue h ubiquitous arctic species
as Fragaria vesca, Caltha palustris*, Barbarea prcecox. It is
remarkable that Astragalinece are also absent from Spitsbergen
and Iceland.
Iceland possesses 432 species (Monocot., 157; Dicot., 275)
amongst which I find about 120 Arctic European plants that do
not enter Greenland; whereas only 50 of the European plants
that inhabit Greenland are absent in Iceland. The more remark-
able desiderata of Iceland are Astragalinece, Anemone, Aconitum,
Braya, Turritis, Artemisia and Androsace ; Alopecurus alpinus,
Luzula arcuata, Hierochloe alpina, Rubus chanuemorus, Cassio-
peia tetragona, Arnica montana, Antennaria dioica, and Chrysos-
p/enium alternifolium. On the other hand, Iceland contains of
arctic genera absent in Greenland : Caltha (one of the most
common plants about Icelandic dwellings), Cahile, Geranium, Tri-
folium, Spircea, Senecio, and Orchis.
But perhaps the most remarkable fact of all connected with the
Greenland flora is that its southern and temperate districts, which
present a coast of 400 miles, extending south to lat. 60° N., do
not add more [than 74 species to its flora, and these are almost
unexceptionably Arctic European plants ; and inasmuch as these
additional species increase the proportion of Monocotyledons to
Dicotyledons of the whole flora, Greenland as a whole is botanically
more arctic in vegetation than Arctic Greenland alone is !
The only American forms which Temperate Greenland adds to
its flora are, Ranunculus Cymbalaria, Pyrus Americana, a very
trifling variety of the European P. Aucuparia, Viola Muhlenberg ii,
a mere variety of V. canina, Arenaria Graenlandica, a plant else-
where found only on the Mountains of New England, etc., and
Parnassia Kotzehuei, a species which is scarcely different from
P. pedustris.
The only plants which are not members of the arctic flora else-
where, and which are confined in Greenland to the temperate zone,
besides the above American plants, are Blitum glaucum, Potamo_
geton marinus, Sparganivm minimum, and Streptopus amplexi-
folius : the rest will all be found in the column of the arctic plant
* This is the more remarkable because it forms a conspicuous feature in
Iceland, and is a frequent native of all the Arctic American coasts and
islands.
1868.] HOOKER— ARCTIC FLORA. 353
catalogue devoted to Greenland, where S. signifies that the species
is found only south of the arctic circle in that country.
On the other hand, Temperate Greenland adds very materially
to the number of European Arctic species that do not enter
Eastern America (Arctic or Temperate), amongst which the most
remarkable are : —
Cerastium viscosum. Galium palustre. Betula alpestris.
Vicia cracca ? Leontodon autumnale. Juncus squarrosus.
Rubus saxatilis. Hieracium murorum. Anthoxanthum odoratum.
Sedum annuum. alpinum. Nardus stricta.
Galium uliginosum. Gentiana aurea.
Another anomalous feature in the Greenland flora is the presence,
on the East Arctic coast, of some species not found on the west,
nor in the temperate southern end of the peninsula. These are : —
Lychnis dioica (Arctic Europe).
Saxifraga Hirculus (abundant in all extreme arctic latitudes but West Greenland).
Polemonium casruleum (all arctic longitudes, but West Greenland).
Deschampsia caespitosa (all arctic longitudes, but also absent in Spitzbergen).
For data connected with the Greenland flora, I am mainly
indebted to the collections of the various polar voyagers in search
of a north-west passage, especially to Drs. Lyall's and Sutherland's ;
to Lange's catalogue in Rincke's ' Greenland ' ; and to the notices
of Vahl, Greville, Sir William Hooker, etc., on the plants collected
by Sabine, Scoresby, Ross, Jameson, Graah, Vahl, etc. ; to
Sutherland's appendix to Penny's voyage and Durand's to Kane's
voyage.
There is a curious affinity between Greenland and certain
localities in America, which concerns chiefly a few of the European
plants common to these countries. First, there are in Labrador,
or on the Rocky Mountains, or on the Mountains of New Eng-
land, etc., a certain number of European plants found nowhere
else in the American continent. T-hey are : —
Ranunculus acris (Rocky Mountains). Gentiana nivalis (Labrador).
Arabis alpina (Labrador). Veronica alpina (White Mountains).
Lychnis alpina (do. & Newfoundland). Bartsia alpina (Labrador).
Sibbaldia procumbens (do. & Wht. & Rky. Salix herbacea (Labr. and Wht. Mts.)
Potentilla verna (Labrador). [Mts.). Luzula spicata (White Mountains).
Montia fontana C Labrador). Juncus trifidus (New England Mts.).
Gnaphalium sylvaticum (Labrador). Carex capitata (White Mountains).
supinum (Labr. and N. E. Mts.). Kobresia scirpina (Rocky Mountains).
Cassiopeia hypnoides (Labr. & U. S. Mts.). Phleum alpinum (Labr. to White Mounts.).
Phyllodoce taxifolia (Labr. to N. E. Mts.). Calamagrostis lanceolata (Labrador).
There are also two plants peculiar to Greenland, Labrador and the
354 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Mountains of New England, or to Greenland and the Rocky
Mountains, which have not hitherto been found elsewhere.
They are : —
Draba aurea (Rocky Mountains).
Arenaria Grcenlandica (White Mountains northward to Labrador),
IV. — ON THE ARCTIC PROPORTIONS OF SPECIES TO GENERA,
ORDERS, AND CLASSES.
The observations which have hitherto been made on this subject
are almost exclusively based on data, collected on areas too small
to yield general results. Especially in determining the influence
of temperature in regulating the proportions of the great groups of
flowering plants, it is of the highest importance to take compre-
hensive areas, both because of the wider longitudinal dispersion of
some orders, especially the Monocotyledons, and the effects of
local conditions, such as bog land, which determine the over-
whelming preponderance of Cyperacese in some arctic provinces
compared with others.
The proportion of genera to species in the whole arctic phaeno-
gamic flora is 323 : 762, or 1 : 2-3 (Monocot., 1:28; Dicot.,
1 : 2-2); and that of orders to species 1 : 10*8; in the several
provinces as follows : —
Gen.
Arctic Europe 277
" Asia 117
" West America 172
" East America 193
" Greenland 104
Thus Europe presents the most continental character in its
arctic flora, and West America the most insular ; which may be
attributable to the same cause in both ; namely, the uniformity or
variety of type. In West America we have, as in an oceanic
island, a great mixture of types (Asiatic, European, East and
West American) and paucity of species ; in Europe the contrary.
The proportions of species to orders are still more various ; but
here, again, Europe takes the lead decidedly.
The proportions of genera and orders to species of all Greenland
differ but little from those of its arctic regions ; whereas the
contrast between Arctic Europe and this, together with Norway
as far south as 60° N. lat., is very much greater. This is in
accordance with the observation I have elsewhere made, that the
Gen
to Sp.
Orders.
Ord. to Sp.
i
2-3
64
1 : 9-6
i
2.0
33
1 : 6.1
i
2. I
4s
1 : 7.6
i
2-5
56
1 : 6.8
i
2.0
33
1 : 5-5
1868.]
HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA.
355
whole of Greenland is comparatively poorer in species than Arctic
Greenland is.
Gen. Sp. Ord. Sp. Gen. Sp. Ord. Sp.
Arctic Scandinavia .. i : 2.3 — 1 : 9*6 Arctic Greenland 1 : 2.0 — 1 : 5.5
All Scandinavia 1 : 2.8 — 1 : 11.6 All Greenland 1 : 2.3 — 1 : 6.6
The proportions of Monocotyledons to Dicotyledons are: —
Arctic Flora
" Europe
" Asia
" West America.
2.6
2.3
4-5
3-8
Arctic East America.
" Greenland
All Greenland
2.1
2.0
THE PROPORTION OF LARGEST ORDERS TO THE WHOLE FLORA.
Gram.
&
Cyp.
Salicin.
Polygon.
Scroph.
Eric.
&
Vaccin.
Comp.
Arctic Flora
" Europe
" Asia
" W. America.
" E. America. .
" Greenland . . .
All Greenland
1 : 5-6
1 : 5-2
1 : io'6
1 : 6-7
1 : 5-8
1: 3-8
1 : 37
3Q'5
38-4
16-6
24 '3
27-0
29^6
34'°
1 : 50-2
1 : 56'o
1 : 23-3
1 : 52-0
1 : 76 'o
1 : 5i'7
1 : 42-7
1 : 271
1 : 23 7
1 : 166
1 : 330
1 : 34'5
i : 230
1 : 24-9
33 'i
30-8
21'2
22"7
23'7
i7"3
21-4
IO'O
12-3
9-6
9-6
10-5
20-7
i5'°
Saxif.
Ros.
Leg.
Caryop.
Crucif.
Ranun.
Arctic Flora
" Europe
" Asia
" W. America.
" E. America. .
" Greenland . . .
All Greenland
r : 26-2
1 : 34-2
1 : i5-5
1 : 19-1
1 : 21 -o
1 : 17-2
1 : 27-2
1 : i7"3
1 : 21 -2
1 : 19-4
1 : 166
1 : 237
1 : 20 '7
1: 19-8
1 : 24-6
1 : 30 8
1 : 29-1
1 : 28-0
1 : 27-0
0 : 207 -o
1 : 149-6
1 : 150
1 : i5'4
1 : i4'5
1 : i5'9
1 : 17-2
1 : 10-3
1 : 12-4
14-1
177
116
18-9
n-g
io'g
I2'0
«
177
24 6
21 2
17*3
iS-9
23'o
27-2
The great differences between these proportions show how little
confidence can be placed in conclusions drawn from local floras.
Ericeas is the only order which is more numerous proportionally
to other plants in every province than in the entire arctic flora,
and Cruciferae is the only one that approaches it in this respect ;
and Leguminosae is the only one which is less numerous
proportionally in them all. East and West America agree most
closely of any two provinces; then (excluding Leguniinosse) all
Greenland and Europe ; next Arctic Greenland and all Greenland.
The greatest differences are between Arctic Europe and Asia,
and Arctic Asia and West America; they are less between
Arctic Greenland and Asia (excluding Leguminosaa) ; they are
great between Arctic Greenland and East America ; and as great
between all Greenland and Arctic America.
356 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
The proportion formerly deduced by Brown, etc., for the high
arctic regions was a much smaller one ; the Monocotyledons being
in comparison with the Dicotyledons 1:5; and this still holds for
some isolated, very arctic localities, as North-east Greenland;
whereas Spitsbergen presents the same proportion as all the
arctic regions, 1 : 2-7 ; the Parry Islands, 1 : 2-3 ; the west coast
of Baffin's Bay, from Pond Bay to Home Bay, 1 : 3-3; and the
extreme arctic plants mentioned at p. 333, 1:3. Of the preva-
lent arctic plants mentioned at p. 332, the proportion is 1 : 3-4.
I have dwelt more at length on these numerical proportions
than their slight importance seems to require ; my object being to
show how little mutual dependence there is amongst the arctic
florulas. Each has profited but little through contiguity with its
coterminous districts, though all bear the impress of being
members of one northern flora.
V. ON GROUPING THE FORMS, VARIETIES, AND SPECIES OF
ARCTIC PLANTS FOR PURPOSES OF COMPARATIVE STUDY.
Considering the limited extent of the arctic zone, the poverty of
its flora, which is almost confined to 14° of latitude in the longi-
tudes most favorable to vegetation, and to only 10° in the Asiatic
area, and the number of able botanists who have studied it, it
might be supposed that the preliminary task of identifying the
species, and tracing their distribution within and beyond the
arctic circle would have been short and simple ; but this is not the
case ; for owing to the number of local floras, voyages, travels, and
scientific periodicals that have to be consulted, to the variability
of the species, and the consequent difficulty of settling their limits,
and to the impossibility of reconciling the divergent opinions of
my predecessors regarding them, I have found this a very tedious
and unsatisfactory operation.
Of all these sources of doubt and error, the most perplexing
has been the well-known variability of polar plants ; and in the
existing state of the controversy upon Mr. Darwin's hypothesis,
it requires to be treated circumspectly. In several genera I have
not only had to decide whether to unite for purposes of distribu-
tion dubious or spurious arctic species, but also how far I should
go in examining and uniting cognate forms from other countries,
which, if included, would materially aflect the distribution of
the species. These questions became in many instances so numer-
ous and complicated, that I have often resorted to the plan of
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 357
treating several very closely allied species and varieties as one
aggregate or collective species. This appears at first sight to be
an evasive course ; but as it offered the only satisfactory method
of solving the difficulty, I was obliged, after many futile attempts
to find a better, to resort to it, and hence I feel called upon to
enter more fully into my reasons for doing so ; premising that all
my attempts to treat each variety, form, and subspecies as a
distinct plant involved the discussion of a multitude of details
from which any generalization was hopeless ; the results in every
case defeated the object of this paper.
Of the plants found north of the arctic circle, very few are
absolutely or almost exclusively confined to frigid latitudes (only
about 50 out of 762 are so), the remainder, as far as their
southern dispersion is concerned, may be referred to two classes ;
one consisting of plants widely diffused over the plains of Northern
Europe, Asia, and America, of which there are upwards of 500 ;
the other of plants more or less confined to the Alps of these
countries, and still more southern regions, of which there are only
about 200. Glyceria fluitans, Atropls maritima, and Senecio
campestris are good examples of the first, as being high arctic and
boreal but not alpine ; while most of the species of Saxifraga,
Draba, and Androsace, are examples of the second.* Both these
classes abound in species, the limitation of which within the arctic
circle, and the identification of whose varieties with those of plants
of more southern countries, present great difficulties.
Those plants of the temperate plains which enter the arctic
regions are often species of large, widely dispersed, and variable
genera, most or all of whose species are very difficult of limitation ;
as Ranunculus, of which the arctic species auricomus, aquatilis,
and acris, are each the centre of a nceud of allied temperate
species or varieties, as to whose limits no two botanists are agreed ;
and the same applies to the species^ of Viola, Stellar ia, Arenaria,
and Sieracium. This has often led to the grouping of names of
plants considered as synonymous by some authors, varieties by
others, and good species by a third class. Furthermore, such
* Conversely the only arctic genus unknown in the Alps of the middle
temperate zone is Pleuropogon, and the only alpine genera containing
several species which inhabit the highest Alps of the north temperate
zone, but not the polar regions, are Soldanclla in Europe, Siccrtia in
Europe and the Himalaya, etc.
Vol. III. X Xo. 5.
358 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
genera are often represented in the temperate regions of two or
more continents (and some of them in the south temperate zone
also) by closely allied groups of intimately related species. This
always complicates matters extremely ; for an arctic species, being
generally in a reduced or stunted state, may be equally similar to
alpine or reduced forms of what in two or more of these geogra-
phically sundered groups may rank as good species, and its
affinities and distribution be consequently open to doubt. Thus
under the arctic Stellaria longipcs are included five other arctic
forms (lo3ta,Fdwardsii,peduncidaris, hebecalyx, and ciliatosepala) ;
but amongst these forms some specimens approach closely the
American S. Longifolio Muhl., or slight varieties of it ; while
others resemble the European S. Friesiana Ser., others S.
graminea, others certain Tasmanian forms, and others again
Chilian. My own impression is, that some of these may prove
but slight modifications of one common, very widely dispersed
plant, between all whose varieties no constant definable characters
will eventually be found ; but in the present state of science I
have abstained from including any of them, because to prove this
or disprove it, the whole genus wants a far longer and closer study
than it has yet received or than I can give it. Arenarla vema
and its forms offer a very parallel case, and these I have included
more largely, because I have the published opinion of many
botanists to bear me out in doing so. Viola epipsila, palustris
and blanda, are thus included, though they are more constant and
have to a considerable extent different distributions; because I
have found no differences of any moment between their normal
forms, because such as exist seem to me to be too slight to attach
specific value to, and because, though well distinguished by
Scandinavian botanists, they have not been so carefully collected
and studied in other parts of the arctic zone. Viola canina,
Fragaria vesca, and Sanguisorhia officinalis, afford other ex-
amples : all these arctic plants affect the temperate plains rather
than the mountains of the northern hemisphere.
Turning to those arctic plants that chiefly affect the Alps of the
temperate or tropical zones, their limitation is quite as difficult ;
alpine plants being as proverbially variable as arctic. Many
alpine plants are now considered to be only altered forms of low-
land ones ; and this affects the estimated distribution of every
arctic species that is identified with an alpine one. As an ex-
ample, Saxifmga exilis is a very slight variety of S. cernua ;
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 359
both are arctic and alpine plants, but S. cemua is considered by
some botanists to be an alpine form of the lowland S. granulata,
whose limits and distribution are very difficult to settle, because
it apparently passes into several oriental forms, which have been
distinguished as species. In this case I have not included S.
granulata with S. cemua ; because the latter is everywhere easily
distinguished as a well-marked plant, having a restricted range
both in area and elevation, which S. granulata does not share.
At the same time I am in favour of a hypothesis that would give
these a common origin previous to the glacial epoch.
Other reasons for adopting the system of including very closely
allied species are the following : — When species have been founded
in error ; this generally arises from their authors having imperfect
specimens, or too limited a series of them ; various species founded
by Brown on the first Arctic American collections come under
this category, as do Adams's Arctic Siberians pecies ; the genera
Ranunculus, Draba, Armaria, and Potcntilla, offer many
examples : When the species, besides belonging to very variable
genera, are apparently identical both in the herbarium and
according to their descriptions, and present the same or a con-
tinuous distribution; of this Trientalis, Scnecio, Aster, Erigeron,
Mertensia, Sedum, Claytonia, Turritis, and many others, afford
examples.
It may be asked what useful scientific results' can be obtained
from the study of a flora whose specific limits are in so vague a
condition ? the answer is, that though much is uncertain, all is
not so ; and that if the species thus treated conjointly really
express affinities far closer than those which exist between those
treated separately, a certain amount of definite information, useful
for my purpose, is obtained ; and it is a matter of secondary
importance to me whether the plants in question are to be con-
sidered species or varieties. Again-, if, with many botanists, we
consider these closely allied varieties and species as derived by
variation and natural selection from one parent form at a com-
paratively modern epoch, we may with advantage, for certain
purposes, regard the aggregate distribution of the very closely
allied species as that of one plant. When sufficient materials
shall have been collected from all parts of the arctic and sub-arctic
areas, we may institute afresh the inquiry into their specific
identity or difference, by selecting examples from physically differ
ing distant areas, and comparing them with others from inter
360 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
mediate localities. An empirical grouping of allied plants for the
purpose of distribution may thus lead to a practical solution of
difficulties in the classification and synonymy of species.
My thus grouping names must not therefore be regarded as a
committal of myself to the opinion that the plants thus grouped
are not to be held as distinct species ; I simply treat of them
under one name, because for the purposes of this essay it appears
to me advisable to do so. Every reflecting botanist must acknow-
ledge that there is no more equivalence amongst species than there
is amongst genera ; and I have elsewhere* endeavoured to show
that, for all purposes of classification, species must be treated as
groups analogous to genera, differing in the number of distinguish-
able forms they include, and of individuals to which these forms
have given origin, and in the amount of affinity both between
forms and individuals. My main object is to show the affinities
of the polar plants, and I can best do this by keeping the specific
idea comprehensive. It is always easier to indicate differences
than to detect resemblances, and if I were to adopt extreme views
of specific difference, I should make some of the polar areas appear
to be botanically very dissimilar from others with which they are
really most intimately allied, and from which I believe them to have
derived almost all their species. A glance at my catalogue will
show that, had I ranked as different species the few Greenland
forms of European plants (called generally by the trivial name
Groenlandica) , I should have made that flora appear not only
more different from the European than it really is, but from the
American also ; and that the differences thus introduced would be
of opposite values, and hence deceptive, in every case when the
European species (of which the Groenlandica is often not even a
variety or distinct form) was not also common to America.
I wish it then to be clearly understood that the catalogue here
appended is intended to include every species hitherto found
within the arctic circle, together with those most closely allied
forms which I believe to have branched off from one common
parent within a comparatively recent geological epoch, and that
immediately previous to the glacial period or since then. Further,
I desire it to be understood that I claim no originality in bringing
these closely allied forms together ; from the appended notes it will
* Essay on the Australian Flora ; introductory to the Flora
Tasmanica,, etc.
1868.] HOOKER — ARCTIC FLORA. 361
be seen that there is scarcely one of them that has not been treated
as a synonym, variety, subspecies, form, or lusus, by one or more very
able and experienced botanists, some of them by many. Further-
more, it is curious to observe how much the botanists of each coun-
try do to a considerable extent agree amongst themselves as to the
specific identity or difference of the same forms — the Scandinavian
agreeing with Fries, the German with Koch, and the American
with Hooker's l Flora Boreali- Americana' ; also to observe, that in
all these cases the authors I quote are independent observers, and
not copyers or followers. I think this fact indicates that the same
plant presents a different aspect (probably obliterated in drying)
in each country. This observation is consonant with what we
know of the tendency of all species to run into local varieties in
isolated areas, which varieties are often appreciable to the eye or
to the touch, but are not expressable by words.
Of the 7G2 species enumerated, I have compared arctic or boreal
specimens of all but a few which I have indicated in the appended
notes, and in most cases I have compared specimens from all the
southern areas indicated ; but I do not pretend to have made such
a critical study of all the grouped species, or of all those belonging
to difficult genera (as Draba, Poa, etc.), as to enable me to say
that I have given all their distribution, or satisfied myself of all
their affinities and differences. There are, on the contrary, fully
60 genera out of the 323 arctic ones enumerated, each of which
requires careful monographing, and months of study before the
limits, systematic and geographical, of its common European
species can be ascertained. In two of the largest and most
difficult of these I have been indebted to others ; namely, to Dr.
Boott, who has revised my list of Carices, and to Dr. Andersson of
Stockholm, who has drawn up that of the Salices: each has
extensively modified the conclusions of his predecessors in arctic
botany ; quite as much or more so than I have done in any genus,
and I have every confidence in their judgment. Colonel Munro
has twice revised the list of grasses with a like result. In these
important genera, therefore, the groups express the opinions of
these acute botanists as to the limits of the species.
With regard to the probable completeness of our knowledge of
the flowering plants of the arctic zone, I think it is pretty certain
that there are few or no new species to be discovered. The
collectors in the numerous voyages undertaken since 1847 in
search of the Franklin expedition have not added one species to
362 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
the flora of the Arctic American islands, and but one to that of
Arctic Greenland. The Lapponian region is, of course, as well
known as any on the globe ; but further east, and especially in
Arctic Siberia, much remains to be done; not perhaps in the
discovery of new plants, but in ascertaining the southern limits of
various Siberian ones that probably cross the arctic circle. Of
Arctic Continental America the same may be said.
The method which I adopted in finally arranging the materials
for geographical purposes was the following. I took Wahlenberg's
1 Flora Lapponica,' Fries's ' Summa Vegetabilium Scandinavise,'
Ledebour's ' Flora Rossica,' Hooker's ' Flora Boreali-Americani,'
and Lange's ' Plants of East Greenland,' which together embrace
in outline almost everything we know of arctic botany, geographi-
cal, systematic, and descriptive. I put together from these all
the matter they contained, and arranged it both botanically and
geographically into a ' Systema,' which I studied with an
Admiralty north circumpolar chart ; and by this means arrived at
a general idea of the position and extent of the centres of
vegetation within the polar circle. I then again went through the
catalogue with the herbarium, with every work treating on arctic
plants that was accessible to me, and lastly revised it, verifying
the habitats, comparing specimens from each province, adding new
localities from more recent floras, catalogues, and voyages ; tracing
the extra-arctic distribution of the species, and noting all points
requiring further investigation.
(To be continued,')
NOTICES OF SOME REMARKABLE GENERA OF
PLANTS OF THE COAL FORMATION.
By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., etc.*
Genus Siqillaria. — The Sigillariae, so named from the seal-
like scars of fallen leaves stamped on their bark, were the most
important of all the trees of the coal-swamps, and those which
contributed most largely to the production of coal. Let us take
as an example of them a species very common at the Joggins, and
which I have named S. Broumii, in honour of my friend, Mr. R.
* From " Acadian Geology," 2nd edition, with specimens of the
illustrations.
1868.] DAWSON — THE COAL FLORA. 363
Brown, of Sydney. Imagine a tall cylindrical trunk spreading at
the base, and marked by perpendicular rounded ribs, giving it the
appearance of a clustered or fluted column. These ribs are
marked by rows of spots or pits left by fallen leaves, and toward
the base they disappear, and the bark becomes rough and uneven,
but still retains obscure indications of the leaf-scars, widened
transversely by the expansion of the stem. At the base the trunk
spreads into roots, but with a regular bifurcation quite un-
exampled in modern trees, and the thick cylindrical roots are
marked with round sunken pits or areoles, from which spread
long cylindrical rootlets. These roots are the so-called Stigmariee,
at one time regarded as independent plants, and, as the reader
may have already observed, remarkable for their constant
presence in the underclays of the coal-beds. Casting our eyes
upward, we find the pillar-like trunk, either quite simple or
spreading by regular bifurcation into a few thick branches,
covered with long narrow leaves looking like grass, or, more
exactly, like pine leaves greatly increased in size, or. more exactly
still, like the single leaflets of the leaves of Cycads. Near the
top, if the plant were in fruit, we might observe long catkins of
obscure flowers or strings of large nut-like seeds, borne in rings
or whirls encircling the stem. If we could apply the woodman's
axe to a Sigillaria, we should find it very different in structure
from that of our ordinary trees, but not unlike that of the
Cycads, or false sago-plants of the tropics. A lumber-man would
probably regard it as a tree nearly all bark, with only a slender
core of wood in the middle ; and, botanically, he would be very
near the truth. The outer rind or bark of the tree was very
hard. Within this was a very thick inner bark, partly composed
of a soft corky cellular tissue, and partly of long tough fibrous
cells like those of the bark of the cedar. This occupied the
greater part of the stem even in old trees four or five feet
in diameter. Within this we would find a comparatively small
cylinder of wood, not unlike pine in appearance, and even in its
microscopic structure ; and in the centre a large pith, often
divided, by the tension caused in the growth of the stem, into a
series of horizontal tables or partitions. Such a stem would have
been of little use for timber, and of comparatively small strength.
Still the central axis of wood gave it rigidity, the surrounding
fibres, like cordage, gave the axis support, and the outer shell of
hard bark must have contributed very materially to the strength
364 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
of the whole. Growing as these trees did in swampy flats close
together, and the bark of which they were chiefly composed being
less susceptible of rapid decay than most kinds of wood, and too
impervious to fluids to be readily penetrated by mineral matter,
they were admirably fitted for the production of the raw material
of coal. (Fig. 161.)
* # * *
I include under Sisfillariae the remarkable fossils known as
o
Stigmaria, being fully convinced that all the varieties of these
plants known to me are merely roots of Sigillaria ; I have verified
this fact in a great many instances, in addition to those so well
described by Mr. Binney and Mr. Brown. The different varieties
or species of Stigmaria are no doubt characteristic of different
species of Sigillaria, though in very few cases has it proved
possible to ascertain the varieties proper to the particular .species
of stem. The old view, that the Stigmari^e were independent
aquatic plants, still apparently maintained by Goldenberg and
some other palaeobotanists, evidently proceeds from imperfect
information. Independently of their ascertained connexion with
Sigillaria, the organs attached to the branches are not leaves, but
rootlets. This was made evident long ago by the microscopic
sections published by Goeppert, and I have ascertained that the
structure is quite similar to that of the thick fleshy rootlets of
Cycas. The lumps or tubercles on these roots have been mistaken
for fructification ; and the rounded tops of stumps, truncated by
the falling in of the bark or the compression of the empty shell
left by the decay of the wood, have been mistaken for the natural
termination of the stem.* The only question remaining in regard
to these organs is that of their precise morphological place.
Their large pith and regular areoles render them unlike true
roots ; and hence Lesquereux has proposed to regard them as
rhizomes. But they certainly radiate from a central stem, and
are not known to produce any true buds or secondary stems. In
short, while their function is that of roots, they may be regarded,
in a morphological point of view, as a peculiar sort of underground
branches. They all ramify very regularly in a dichotomous
* For examples of the manner in which a natural termination may be
simulated by the collapse of bark or by constriction owing to lateral
pressure, see my papers, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. x. p. 35, and vol.
vh. p. 194.
1868.J
DAWSON — THE COAL FLORA.
365
Fig. 161. — Sigillaricv.
"vXf> \
A , StgallariaBrownn, restored. B, S. elegant, restored. Bi, Leaf ofS. elegans.
B2 Portion of decorticated stem, showing one of the transverse hands of fruit-scars. eiefeaub-
B*, Portion of stem and branch reduced, and scars nat. size
* hi^X1 °fjifillaria Brpionii (?), reduced, and portion at (M) natural size, (o) Stern-
pph! J, \l ™i i ?, Inner cylin?e,r of scalariform vessels. (62) Outer cylinder of diseiserous
Zfi^er^k. fflo^&rl ** scalariform vessels s°ins to the leavesat (6s).
D, Scalariform vessel magnified. ' ' H, S. eminent, reduced. (Hi) areole, half n size
E, Discigerous woody fibre, magnified. I.' 8. catenates, half nat. size '
V, btgdlaria Bretonensis, %. (/l ) Areole n. size. K, 8. plnnicotta, half nat. size.
U, b. striata, nat. size. L, Portion of leaf of 8. scutellata.
366 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
manner, and, as Mr. Brown has shown, in some species at least,
give off conical tap-roots from their underside.
In all the Stigniariae exhibiting structure which I have
examined, the axis shows only scalariform vessels. Corda, how-
ever, figures a species with wood-cells, or vessels with numerous
pores, quite like those found in the stems of Sigillaria proper ;
and, as Hooker has pointed out, the arrangement of the tissues in
Stigmaria is similar to that in Sigillaria. After making due
allowance for differences of preservation, I have been able to
recognize eleven species or forms of Stigmaria in Nova Scotia,
corresponding, as I believe, to as many species of Sigillaria.* At
the Joggins, Stigmariae are more abundant than any other fossil
plants. This arises from their preservation in the numerous
fossil soils or Stigmaria underclays. Their bark, and mineral
charcoal derived from their axes, also abound throughout the
thickness of the coal beds, indicating the continued growth of
Sigillaria in the accumulation of the coal.
Our knowledge of the fructification of Sigillaria is as yet of a
very uncertain character. I am aware that Goldenberg has
assigned to these plants leafy strobiles containing spore-capsules :
but I do not think the evidence which he adduces conclusive as
to their connexion with Sigillaria ; and the organs themselves are
so precisely similar to the stobiles of Lepidophloios, that I
suspect they must belong to that or some allied genus. The
leaves, also, with which they are associated in one of Goldenberg's
figures, seem more like those of Lepidophloios than those of
Sigillaria. If, however, these are really the organs of fructifica-
tion of any species of Sigillaria, I think it will be found that we
have included in this genus, as in the old genus Calamites, two
distinct groups of plants, one cryptogamus, and the other phaeno-
gamous, or else that male strobiles bearing pollen have been mis-
taken for spore-bearing organs.
I cannot pretend that I have found the fruit of Sigillaria
attached to the parent stem ; but I think that a reasonable
probability can be established that some at least of the fruits
included, somewhat vaguely, by authors under the names of Tri-
gonocarpum and Rhabdocarpus, were really fruits of Sigillaria.
These fruits are excessively abundant and of many species, and
they occur not only in the sandstones, but in the fine shales and
* See Paper on Accumulation of Coal, Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxii.
1866.] DAWSON— THE COAL FLORA. 367
coals and in the interior of erect trees, showing that they were
produced in the coal-swamps. The structures of these fruits
show that they are phgenogamous and probably gymnospermous.
Now the only plants known to us in the Coal formation, whose
structures entitle them to this rank, are the Conifers, Sigillariae,
and Calamodendra. All the others were in structure allied to
cryptogams, and the fructification of most of them is known.
But the Conifers were too infrequent in the Carboniferous swamps
to have afforded numerous species of Carpolites ; and, as I shall
presently show, the Calamodendra were very closely allied to
Sigillariae, if not members of that family. Unless, therefore,
these fruits belonged to Sigillaria. they must have been produced
by some other trees of the coal-swamps, which, though very
abundant and of numerous species, are as yet quite unknown to
us. Some of the Trigonocarpa have been claimed for Conifers,
and their resemblance to the fruits of Salisbury a gives counten-
ance to this claim ; but the Conifers of the Coal period are much
too few to afford more than a fraction of the species. One species
of Ehabdocarpus has been attributed by Geinitz to the genus
Nseggerathia ; but the leaves which he assigns to it are very like
those of Sigillaria elegans, and may belong to some allied species.
With regard to the mode of attachment of these fruits, I have
shown that one species, Trigonocarpum racemosum of the
Devonian strata,* was borne on a rhachis in the manner of a
loose spike, and I am convinced that some of the groups of inflor-
escence named Antholithes are simply young Rhabdocarpi or
Trigonocarpa borne in a pinnate manner on a broad rhachis and
subtended by a few scales. Such spikes may be regarded as
corresponding to a leaf with fruits borne on the edges, in the
manner of the female flower of Cycas ; and I believe with Golden-
berg that these were borne in verticils at intervals on the stem.
In this case it is possible that the ^strobiles described by that
author may be male organs of fructification containing, not spores,
but pollen. In conclusion, I would observe that I would not
doubt the possibility that some of the fruits known as Cardio-
carpa may have belonged to sigillarioid trees. I am aware that
some so-called Cardiocarpa are spore-cases of Lepidodendron ;
but there are others which are manifestly winged nutlets allied to
* ' Flora of the Devonian Period,' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. viii.
p. 324.
368 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Julie
Trigonocarpum, and which must have belonged to phsenogams.
It would perhaps be unwise to insist very strongly on deductions
from what may be called circumstantial evidence as to the nature
of the fruit of Sigillaria ; but the indications pointing to the
conclusions above stated are so numerous that I have much con-
fidence that they will be vindicated by complete specimens, should
these be obtained.
All of the Joggins coals, except a few shaly beds, afford
unequivocal evidence of Stigmaria in their underclays ; and it
was obviously the normal mode of growth of a coal-bed, that, a
more or less damp soil being provided, a forest of Sigillaria should
overspread this, and that the Stigmarian roots, the trunks of
fallen Sigillarise, their leaves and fruits, and the smaller plants
which grew in their shade, should accumulate in a bed of
vegetable matter to be subsequently converted into coal — the
bark of Sigillaria and allied plants affording ' bright coal,' the
wood and bast tissues mineral charcoal, and the herbaceous
matter and mould dull coal The evidence of this afforded by
microscopic structure I have endeavoured to illustrate in a former
paper.*
The process did not commence, as some have supposed, by the
growth of Stigmaria in ponds or lakes. It was indeed precisely
the reverse of this, the Sigillaria growing in a soil more or less
swampy but not submerged, and the formation of coal being at
last arrested by submergence. I infer this from the circumstance
that remains of cyprids, fishes, and other aquatic animals, are
rarely found in the underclays and lower parts of the coal-beds,
but very frequently in the roofs, while it is not unusual to find
mineral charcoal more abundant in the lower layers of the coal.
For the formation of a bed of coal, the sinking and subsequent
burial of an area previously dry seems to have been required.
There are a few cases at the Joggins where Calamites and even
Sigillarige seem to have grown on areas liable to frequent inunda-
tion; but in these cases coal did not accumulate. The non-
laminated, slicken-sided and bleached condition of most of the
underclays indicates soils of considerable permanence.
In regard to beds destitute of Stigmarian underclays, the very
few cases of this kind apply only to shaly coals filled with drifted
leaves, or to accumulations of vegetable mud capable of conversion
* ' On the Structures in Coal,' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, 1859.
1868.] DAWSON — THE COAL FLORA. 369
into impure coal. The origin of these beds is the same with that
of the carbonaceous shales and bituminous limestones already
referred to. It will be observed in the section that in a few
cases such beds have become sufficiently dry to constitute under-
clays, and that conditions of this kind have sometimes alternated
with those favourable to the formation of true coal.
There are some beds at the Joggins, holding erect trees in situ,
which show that Sigillarise sometimes grew singly or in scattered
clumps, either alone or amidst brakes of Calamites. In other
instances they must have grown close together, and with a dense
underground of ferns and Cordaites, forming an almost impene-
trable mass of vegetation.
From the structure of Sigillariae I infer that, like Cycads, they
accumulated large quantities of starch, to be expended at intervals
in more rapid growth, or in the production of abundant fructifi-
cation. I adhere to the belief expressed in previous papers that
Brongniart is correct in regarding the Sigillariae as botanically
allied to the Cycadacese, and I have recently more fully satisfied
myself on this point by comparisons of their tissues with those of
Cycas revoluta. It is probable, however, that when better known
they will be found to have a wider range of structure and
affinities than we now suppose.
*P »K »J» »T«
Genus Lepidodendron, Sternberg. — This genus is one of the
most common in the Coal formation, and especially in its lower
part. Any one who has seen the common Ground-pine or Club-
moss of our woods, and who can imagine such a plant enlarged to
the dimensions of a great forest tree, presenting a bark marked
with rhombic or oval scars of fallen leaves, having its branches
bifurcating regularly, and covered with slender pointed leaves,
and the extremeties of the branches laden with cones or spikes of
fructification, has before him this characteristic tree of the coal
forests, — a tree remarkable as presenting a gigantic form of a
tribe of plants existing in the present world only in low and
humble species. Had we seen it growing, we might have first
mistaken it for a pine, but the spores contained in its cones,
instead of seeds, and its dichotomous ramification, would unde-
ceive us ; and if we cut into its trunk, we should find structures
quite unlike those of pines. As in Sigillaria, we should perceive
a large central pith, and surrounding this a ring of woody
matter ; but instead of finding this partly of disc-bearing wood
370
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[June
Fig. 168. — Lepidodendron corrugation.
A, Restoration.
B, Leaf, nat. size.
C, Cone and branch.
D, branch and leaves.
E, Various forms of leaf areoles.
F, Sproangium.
G, Scalariform vessel, magnified.
H, I, K, L, M, Bark with leaf-scars.
N, Do. of old stem.
0, Decorticated stem (Knorria.)
1868.] DAWSON — THE COAL FLORA. 371
cells, as in Sigillaria, and divided into regular wedges by medullary
rays, we should find it a continuous cylinder of coarser and finer
scalariform vessels. Outside of this, as in Sigillaria, we should
have a thick bark, including many tough elongated bast fibres,
and protected externally by a hard and durable outer rind. The
Lepidodendra were large and graceful trees, and contributed not
a little to the accumulation of coal. Several attempts have been
made to divide this genus. My own views on the subject are
given below.
Of this genus nineteen species have been recorded as occur-
ring in the Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia. Of these six
occur at the Joggins, where specimens of this genus are very much
less abundant than those of Sigillaria. In the newer Coal forma-
tion, Lepidodendra are particularly rare, and L. undulatum is
the most common species. In the middle Coal formation, L. ri-
mosum, L. dichotomum, L. elegans, and L. Pictoense are prob-
ably the most common species ; and L. corrugatum is the charac-
teristic Lepidodendron of the Lower Carboniferous, in which
plants of this species seem to be more abundant than any other
vegetable remains whatever.
To the natural history of this well-known genus I have little to
add, except in relation to the changes which take place in its
trunk in the process of growth, and the study of which is
important in order to prevent the undue multiplication of species.
These are of three kinds. In some species the areoles, at first
close together, become, in the process of the expansion of the stem,
separated by intervening spaces of bark in a perfectly regular
manner ; so that in old stems, while widely separated, they still
retain their arrangement, while in young stems they are quite
close to one another. This is the case in L. corrugatum. In
other species the leaf- scars or areoles increase in size in the old
stems, still retaining their forms and their contiguity to each other.
This is the case in L. undulatum, and generally in those Lepidoden-
dra which have very large areoles. In these species the continued
vitality of the bark is shown by the occasional production of lateral
strobiles on large branches, in the manner of the modern Red
Pine of America. In other species the areoles neither increase
in size nor become regularly separated by growth of the inter-
vening bark ; but in old stems the bark splits into deep furrows,
between which may be seen portions of bark still retaining the
areoles in their original dimensions and arrangement. This is
372 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
the case with L. Pictoense. The cracking of the bark no doubt
occurs in very old trunks of the first two types, but not at all to
the same extent.
%. ■%. %■ *
Genus Lepidophloios. — Under this generic name, established
by Sternberg, I propose to include those Lycopodiaceous trees of
the Coal measures which have thick branches, transversely elon-
gated leaf-scars, each with three vascular points and placed on
elevated or scale-like protuberances, long one-nerved leaves, and
large lateral strobiles in vertical rows or spirally disposed. Their
structure resembles that of Lepidodendron, consisting of a
Sternbergia pith, a slender axis of large scalariform vessels,
giving off from its surface bundles of smaller vessels to the leaves,
a very thick cellular bark, and a thin dense outer bark, having
some elongated cells or bast tissue on its inner side.
Regarding L. Larlcinum of Sternberg as the type of the genus,
and taking in connexion with this the species described by Golden-
berg, and my own observations on numerous specimens found in
Nova Scotia, I have no doubt that Lomatophloios crassicaulis
of Corda and other species of that genus described by Golden-
berg, L. Ulodendron and L. Botlirodendron of Lindley, Lepido-
dendron ornatissimum of Brongniart, and Hcdonia punctata of
Geinitz, all belong to this genus, and differ from each other only
in conditions of growth and preservation. Several of the species
of Lepidostrobus and Lepidophyllum also belong to Lepidophloios.
The species of Lepidophloios are readily distinguished from
Lepidodendron by the form of the areoles, and by the round scars
on the stem, which usually mark the insertion of the strobiles,
though in barren stems they may also have produced branches ;
still the fact of my finding the strobiles in situ in one instance,
the accurate resemblance which the scars bear to those left by the
cones of the Red Pine when borne on thick branches, and the
actual impressions of the radiating scales in some specimens, leave
no doubt in my mind that they are usually the marks of cones ;
and the great size of the cones of Lepidophloios accords with
this conclusion.
The species of Lepidophloios are numerous, and individuals are
quite abundant in the Coal formation, especially toward its upper
part. Their flattened bark is frequent in the coal-beds, and their
roofs, affording a thin layer of pure coal, which sometimes shows
the peculiar laminated or scaly character of the bark when other
1863.]
DAWSON — THE COAL FLORA.
373
Fig. 171. — Lepklopldoios Aeadianus.
L
A, Restoration.
B, Portion of bark. % natural size.
C, Ligneous surface of the same.
T, Portion of the same, nat. size, showing («)
pith, (6) cylinder of scalariform
(c) inner hark.
D, Lower side of a branch, with scars of cones. K, Portion of woody cylinder, showing outer
E, Upper side of the same. and inner series of vessels magnified.
F, Cone, % natural size. L. Scalariform vessels, highiy magnified.
G, Leaf, natural size. M, Various forms of leaf scars, natural size.
H, Cross section of stem, ■educed,
Vol. III. X No. 5,
374 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
characters are almost entirely obliterated. The leaves also are
nearly as abundant as those of Sigillaria in the coal-shales. They
can readily be distinguished by their strong angular midrib.
I figure, in illustration of the genus, all the parts known to me
of L. Acadianus. (Fig. 171.)
ON OZONE.
A SOMERVILLE LECTURE IN 1866.
By Charles Smallwood, M. D., LL.D., D.C.L.
What is Ozone ? Again, and perhaps, a q-uestion of greater
import — more especially at the present time — What is the
peculiar action and atmospheric influence, during Cholera and
some other of those diseases, usually called Epidemics ? This
subject has engaged the attention alike of the chemist, the
physician and meteorologist ; to each it has presented a prolific
field for investigation and research, and the subject becomes at
the present time of still greater importance from the existence of
cholera on the continent of Europe. As to whether cholera
may visit us or not, I shall not speculate, but content
myself simply to lay before you some points of interest in relation
to a powerful and subtile agent, a component of our atmosphere,
and which, from numerous observations, has been found to
possess a wonderful influence over some diseases, and to exert
some peculiar action on the lives of animals and vegetables.
The nature and composition of the atmosphere was long-
involved in mystery ; its properties were not ascertained until
chemistry and other branches of natural science were considerably
advanced.
The discovery of oxygen, by Priestly, was the first-fruits of
modern chemistry; and after its properties have been in-
vestigated for so many years, and ^in so ample and varied a
manner, we are only just now beginning to find out how utterly
io-norant we are of its real nature ; — a substance which is the very
breath of life for all created beings, both animal and vegetable,
which inhabit and propagate on our globe.
In furtherance of our views on this subject, let us notice the
progress of Electrical science, one which now takes its rank
among the most important branches of natural philosophy, and
1868.] SMALL WOOD — ON OZONE. 375
which has made most rapid strides within the past few years ; it
embraces subjects curious and interesting from their close relation
to almost every other branch of natural and physical investigation.
It may be true that the ancients were familiar with some of its
peculiar properties — that property possessed by amber, which,
when smartly rubbed on a piece of linen or cloth, attracted light
substances when thus excited by friction — the shock felt on
touching the electric fish — and the appearance of sparks which are
seen to issue from the human body under some peculiar conditions,
are among the familiar and earlier examples of electrical knowledge,
and it was at this period of history, and by slow degrees, that the
knowledge thus acquired was reduced to something like system.
That toy — the kite — which the renowned Benjamin Franklin
floated under the canopy of the American firmament in June,
1752, caught from the storm-cloud the electric sparks which are
now, in our day, made subservient to man, to flash our messages
of commerce and daily wants along the slender pathway of a
single wire.
Recent investigations have brought to light many interesting
facts in connection with the sources of atmospheric electricity,
which is said to have a certain bearing on the subject under our
present consideration. Some of these have their origin in
evaporation, which takes place constantly from the whole surface
of our globe, and from the waters of the sea, lakes, and rivers ;
thus furnishing a constant moisture in our atmosphere, holding
therein, in solution, a number of foreign substances which plants
imbibe and eliminate for their own peculiar use ; and it is a
well ascertained fact that no electrical action takes place unless
accompanied with some chemical change. Now this constant
evaporation and the chemical change that is thus going on upon the
surface of the earth, in the respiration of animals and plants, and
the various cosmical phenomena of our globe, are supposed to be
some of the sources which give rise to the generation and frequent
changes of the electrical state and tension of our atmosphere. I
would just allude to a theory which has a certain reference to the
supposed connection between the amount of Ozone and the
electrical tension of the atmosphere. It is stated that the earth is
always charged with negative electricity, or that the earth is
negatively electrified, and that the vapours which rise from its
surface are, like itself, of a negative character ; but from a
constant law observed in electrical phenomena, named induction,
376 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
(which is a property it possesses of producing in bodies a state
opposite to its own) these particles of aqueous vapour once having
left the surface of the earth, by evaporation or any other cause,
become of an opposite or positive character, and are repelled in
accordance with another well-known electrical law ; this action of
repulsion repels the positive electricity towards the upper strata of
the atmosphere, carrying with it its positive character. During
the night the aqueous vapour becomes condensed into dew by
cold and radiation, and by the absence of the sun's rays, the
amount of positive electricity in the atmosphere is diminish-
ed, and the upper vapours possess a less amount of water ;
the effects of heat, furnished by the rising sun, cause the dew
and water to assume again its state of elastic vapour, to
be again subjected to the same laws of induction and repulsion,
and again placed between the negative earth and the positive
celestial space. The first particles, which change from dew to
the elastic state of vapour, come off the earth at a higher
negative tension, which is obtained by weakening or diminishing
the tension and repulsive power of the vapour they leave behind, and
which has become less negative than the earth itself, thus keeping
up an everchanging amount of electricity, differing both in
character and tension.
It was in the year 1785, that Van Marum first called the
attention of scientific men to the existence of some anoma-
lous body, which further investigation proved to be Ozone ; for
he discovered, in passing the electrical spark through atmos-
pheric air, that there was generated a peculiar and strong odour
which, says he, is certainly the smell of electrical matter. For
more than fifty years this fact remained forgotten or unheeded,
until Schonbien, in 1839. while conducting some experiments by
passing the electric current through gases, became struck with
the same thought, and wrote to M. Arago, the French Astronomer
Royal, that for some years he had remarked the perfect
analogy that exists between the odour which is developed when
ordinary electricity passes the point of a conductor into the sur-
rounding atmosphere, and that which takes place when water is
decomposed by the galvanic current.
To Schonbien, then, must be awarded the discovery of Ozone ;
it was he who gave it its present name, taken from a Greek verb
which signifies to give out an odour, but the name reveals nothing
of its real nature,
1868.] SMALLWOOD — ON ozone. 377
It is not my purpose to enter into a very long and argumentative
chemical reasoning on the composition of Ozone. Some difference
of opinion still exists as io its present character. Schonbien
looked upon it as a regular constituent of our atmosphere, forming
a part of, and always present in the air we breathe. I mi^ht
casually mention that Cavendish, more than half a century a^o,
found, what he stated was nitrous-acid, present in atmospheric air,
and he attributed the beautiful green colour of plants, after a thun-
derstorm, to a chemical combination of ammonia and nitrous-
acid, making a nitrate of ammonia. This effect upon plants,
after thunderstorms, is now referred to the effects of Ozone in
increased quantity.
The absolute and uniform composition of Ozone has been the
subject of much controversy. Schonbien claimed it as a binoxide
or peroxide of hydrogen. Faraday denied this, and considered
Ozone as oxygen in an isomeric state, or as a simple modification
of oxygen in an allotropic condition of that body. Williamson
says that, according as Ozone is produced by a galvanic battery,
developed by the electric spark, or brought forth by the action of
phosphorus on atmospheric air, it is a peroxide of hydrogen and
azotic-acid, or a mixture of both. Berzelius opposed this idea
and went to show that Faraday was correct. De la Rive and
others stated that it was only oxygen in a peculiar condition oiven
to it by electricity. Freney and others instituted experiments to
confirm their ideas, and went on to state that the presence of Ozone
would not be developed unless the oxygen was electrified, — for it
was shown that in the presence of oxygen alone, or electricity
singly, no development of Ozone took place, but as soon as the
oxygen became electrified, Ozone became manifest ; they placed a
strip of test paper in a glass filled with oxygen and hermetically
sealed, and by means of metallic bulbs at each end, electric sparks
were made to flash across, or through the volume of oxygen ; the
result was, the test paper immediately became blue, indicating the
presence of Ozone.
Test papers have been suspended in oxygen for ten days
without any apparent change, but when electrified at the
end of that time, they became blue, thereby indicating the
presence of Ozone. Test papers of the same quality have been
placed in a vacuum, and when the electric spark has been passed
through it, no change of colour in the test papers took place, but
the moment oxygen gas was introduced, and the otherwise same
378 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
conditions were fulfilled, the test papers showed the presence of
Ozone, thus demonstrating that neither electricity nor oxygen
alone, was sufficient to cause any change in the test papers-
From these facts it has received the name of electrified oxygen.
Ozone can -be made artificially by taking a piece of phos-
phorus, about half an inch long, cleaning its surface by scraping,
putting it into a clean quart bottle, and adding as much water
as will cover half the surface of the phosphorous ; close the
bottle with a loose fitting stopper, and set it aside at a tempera-
ture of about 60° Fahrenheit ; Ozone will soon then begin to
form in the bottle, and in five or six hours it will be abundant.
Remove the phosphorus, shake a little water in the bottle, and
throw this out to remove the phosphoric acid. This washing
must be repeated several times ; the Ozone will not be washed
away but will remain with the atmospheric air in the bottle.
Oil of turpentine, exposed to the sun's rays, in a bottle, partly
filled, will also generate Ozone ; also some other chemical combina-
tions. The chemical agencies of magnetism and galvanism evolve
Ozone, and a current of electricity passed across the surface of
water produces it. It might be stated in reference to the formation
of Ozone by phosphorus, that the atmospheric air in the vessel
should be of the average barometrical pressure, and of a tempera-
ture not under 50° or over 90°, for Ozone is not formed in this
artificial way at zero Fahrenheit. The formation becomes very
rapid at 75° Fahrenheit. It is also formed by the ordinary
electrical machine in rapid motion, when the electric fluid is
evolved from the conductor — which fact, as before stated, led to
its discovery. It may also be formed in various other ways, but
enough for our present purpose. When formed by the decom-
position of water by means of the galvanic pile, Ozone is always
manifest at the positive pole.
I shall now proceed briefly to state the means used to ascer-
tain its presence, and its amount in the atmosphere. The
method of detecting its presence is by means of a combination
of the iodide of potassium and starch. Take one part of iodide
of potassium, ten parts of starch, and 100 parts of water;
boil the starch with the water, allow the water to cool, and
stir intimately with it the iodide of potassium ; then spread the
mixture on slips of good glazed paper by means of a soft brush
or a sponge. My experience is that good glazed or sized paper is
preferable to bibulous or blotting paper. Cream-laid post has been
1868.] SMALLWOOD — ON OZONE. 379
used by me for years ; but I have since found that strips of well
washed calico, after dipping them in the solution and smoothing
their surfaces, answers better than paper ; the calico seems
more readily to absorb any moisture present, and also to retain
it better than the paper, and for experiments will be found
better suited for the purpose than paper slips. The exposure
of these tests, free from rain, but placed in the light, causes them
to become first a pale straw colour, increasing to the tint of a dried
leaf, then a deep brown or dark violet approaching to black, which
being wetted with pure water resolves into a blue. The decompo-
sition which takes place in these tests is owing to the fact that
the Ozone acts similarly to an acid, uniting with the potassium
forming potash, and a portion of the iodine is set free, which
unites to the starch, giving the peculiar blue colour just alluded
to ; the starch is only used to estimate the amount present by the
depth of colour, and this test is sometimes called an Ozonoscope.
The amount is measured from 0 to 10, the different degrees of
shade indicating its amount, 10 being the deepest shade. Dr.
Moffatt advises that the test papers be placed free from light, but
having a free access to air ; I have followed both these methods,
and the results are nearly alike. Should there be a great
amount of moisture in the atmosphere, the exposed test paper
attains at once its blue colour, which becomes brown as it
dries, but the blue colour may be again attained by moisture or
re-wetting with water. Ozone is colourless, possessing a peculiar
odour, resembling chlorine, and when diluted cannot be distin-
guished from the electrical smell ; its density is said to be four
times that of oxygen; it is a most powerful oxydizing agent, con-
verting most of the metals into peroxides ; it is very slisjhtlv
absorbed by water after long contact; a very high temperature
destroys its properties ; it possesses bleaching qualities — hence its
affinity to chlorine ; it combines witlrchlorine, bromine and iodine ■
it is also rapidly absorbed by albumen, fibrine, blood, and other
such like solutions. It is a most powerful disinfectant, and when
even largely diffused in atmospheric air causes difficult respiration,
acting powerfully on the mucous membrane, and in still larger
quantities may prove fatal. Its presence is easily detected in
the state produced in the laboratory as well as the atmosphere ;
its rapid production, its peculiar smell and other marked proper-
ties, render it somewhat less difficult to investigate than many
other substances.
380 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Winds influence the amount of Ozone, the amount depending upon
the quarter from which they come, and in some cases on their velo-
city : easterly and southerly winds may be called ozonic winds, while
westerly and northerly winds barely ever indicate a trace. Rain
and snow generally give indications of a large amount. A N.E.
land wind does not generally indicate Ozone ; whenever there
is Ozone in a N. E. wind it may be attributed to the sea-breeze
passing over the land, for we have very often, in this vicinity, a
dry N. E. wind with a very high barometer for some days,
with no indications of Ozone. Atmospheric temperature does
not seem to influence the amount ; I have observed its presence
at some 30° to 40° below zero, and at 98° above zero, Fahren-
heit.
The variation in its daily amount, has been the source of some
discussion. Observations were carried on for some years at the Isle
Jesus observatory, by means of a movable ozonometer, time
being taken as an element ; the strips of calico were by a simple
contrivance passed over an opening exposed to light and air at
the rate one inch per hour. From upwards of 3000 observations,
tending to confirm this important point, it was found that the
increase and decrease of the daily ozonic periods corresponded in
a striking manner to the bi-daily variations of the atmospheric
humidity. There were also some slight fluctuations corresponding
in a marked degree to the bi-daily variations of the barometer.
Upwards of 20,000 observations on Ozone have been taken and
recorded, and I am ashamed to say, unaided, thus depriving
us of any means of comparison, or confirmation ; but I can but
express a wish that brighter and better days will come in the
future, and that observers will not be found wanting to set at rest
the important problem of the effects of the absence or presence of
Ozone on the health of animals and vegetables. Assuredly, a
substance which has been found to exert an important bearing on
the health of individuals, and upon the agricultural and commer-
cial wealth of nations, demands from men of science a calm and
patient investigation. It requiries, for its due prosecution, a
systematic method of recording its amount ; it is for common
purposes observed twice in twenty-four hours, and a mean of the
two observations is recorded, and also a register of rates of disease
and mortality, and a correct register of the nature of these diseases ;
these of course must be simultaneous with the usual meteorological
observations, of atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity,
1868.] SMALLWOOD— ON OZONE. 381
the force and the direction of the winds, and such like conditions.
It has been stated that the higher we ascend the greater
the amount of Ozone found present in the atmosphere. For many
years past observations were taken at the Isle Jesus observatory,
with an ozonometer hoisted nearly 80 feet high, but the observa-
tions at that altitude yielded no different results from those
taken at five feet from the surface of the soil. [I might mention,
the height five feet is now considered a standard one for observation ;
it is, probably, at that distance, removed far enough, from the
earth, to prevent the action of moisture which is emitted at the
surface]. At very high altitudes, as it would appear from
Glaisher's balloon experiments, a very trifling difference was
apparent, much of course depending upon the wind and its direc-
tion ; and if it is to be received as a general law that there is
always a westerly current of wind in the higher regions of the
atmosphere produced by the rotation of the earth on its axis, it is
not probable that any great increase in amount would be found,
as westerly are not generally known as ozonic winds.
Captain Jansen, of the Dutch Navy, in a voyage to Australia
confirms the assertion as to the ozonic winds, he says: — That in
the Northern hemisphere those winds which have a southing in
them are more abundant in Ozone, and that in the Southern
hemisphere, those winds which have a northing, in them are those
more abundant in Ozone ; and he further says : — That the
Equatorial calm belts, with their thunder and lightning, constant
rain and moisture, may well be said to be its birth-place.
So far as there is any connection between the amount of Ozone
coinciding with the variations in the amount and kind of atmos-
pheric electricity, I would beg leave to state, that from some 6000
observations taken at the Isle Jesus observatory simultaneously
with the various electrometers and other apparatus connected
with the investigation of atmospheric electricity, no apparent
connection was evident between the amount of Ozone and the
changes in the tension and kind of electricity.
In passing to the next part of the subject — its influence on some
epidemics — it might be observed that epidemics generally are
said to be generated by miasmata, a term used for designating a
highly important class of febrific agents of a gaseous form, which
act on the animal system through the medium of the atmosphere.
This class of agents is generally divided into two orders : First,
infectious — comprehending those febrile effluvia which are
382 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
generated by the decomposition of vegetable and animal matter ;
Second, aeriform contagious, generated by the animal system in a
state of disease. First, infection may result from the humid
decomposition of vegetable and animal matter, contained in the
filth of cities, in marshes, and some soils furnishing these materials,
hence the designation marsh-miasma. Second, it may result
from the decomposition and natural exhalations and excretions of
the human body, under ill-conditioned circumstances ; to this has
been applied the term idio-miasma, expressive of the personal
or private character of its source. Marsh-miasma has also
received the name of malaria. Much has been written of malaria
but little of its true nature is understood, although it is supposed
to be the effluvia that generates fevers, cholera, and such like
diseases ; many physicians of eminence have written elaborately
on the subject — but after all, very little is really known of its
subtile influence.
Here is a picture drawn by Dr. Macculoch: — " The fairest
portions of Italy are a prey to the invisible enemy, malaria — its
fragrant breezes are poison, the dews of the summer evenings are
death. The banks of its refreshing streams, its rich and flowery
meadows, the borders of its glassy lakes, the luxuriant plains of
its overflowing agriculture, the valleys, where its aromatic shrubs
regale the eye and perfume the air, these are the chosen seats of
this plague — the throne of malaria. Death here walks hand-in-
hand with the resources of life, sparing none. The labourer reaps
his harvest but to die, or he wanders amid the luxuriance of vege-
tation and wealth, the ghost of man, a sufferer from his cradle to
his impending grave ; aged even in childhood, and laying down in
misery that life which was but one disease. He is driven from
some of the richest portions of this fertile, yet unhappy country :
and the traveller contemplates, at a distance, deserts — but deserts
of vegetable wealth — which man dares not approach, or he dies."
Whatever is its composition, it may be enough for us to know
that its existence in the atmosphere is incompatible with health.
Now, Ozone is said to destroy this malaria ; no deleterious
substance is found in the atmosphere where Ozone is manifest, for
one of the peculiar properties of Ozone is, its disinfecting powers ;
putrid meat exposed to the action of ozonized air soon becomes
disinfected. Manure heaps and foul drains, where there is decom-
position going on, become quite innocuous : and it has been shown
that when putrid organic matter is subjected to the action of
1868.] SMALLWOOD — ON OZONE. 383
Ozone, the bad odour is destroyed as long as the ozonometer
gives evidence of the presence of Ozone, but as soon as the
ozonometer ceases its indications, the odour immediately returns.
Schonbien's experiments proved that air containing one-6000th part
of Ozone can disinfect 540 times its volume of air from putrid
meat. Apartments are now being purified by means of Ozone ;
and during the visitation of cholera, last summer, in Lon-
don, Ozone was extensively used as a disinfectant. Pieces
of phosphorus were also suspended over the gratings of the
sewers, so as to generate Ozone and neutralize the spread of the
choleraic-contagion. It is here necessary to remark that the
phosphorus must be luminous to produce Ozone, and the height
of the barometer and the degree of temperature must be taken
into account ; even the direction of the wind has some influence on
its development.
It is a matter of history that, in 1854, cholera visited many
cities of the old world and of the new. It has been asserted, and
that by numerous observers, that during this visitation, there
was always indicated a deficiency of Ozone in the air ; and fur-
ther, that the increase or decrease of cholera coincided strictly
with the development or absence of this mysterious substance.
Below is a table shewing for seven years the comparative day
of precipitation (rain or snow) each year, and the amount of Ozone
indicated, in quantity more than five-tenths of the scale.
1850 there were 106 days of precipitation and 110 days of ozone in more than uf
1851 do. 123 do. 136 do.
1852
do.
136
do.
135
do.
1853
do.
156
do.
114
do.
1854
do.
133
do.
73
do.
1855
do.
140
do.
110
do.
1856
do.
144
do.
126
do.
Shewing the comparatively small amount of ozone in the year
1854, the year this cholera was prevalent.
A commission of the members of the Medical Society of Stras-
burgh, during the visitation of cholera" in 1854, was named for
testing the subject, and their united report was: — That during
the days that Ozone was deficient in the atmosphere, cholera was
at its greatest rate of mortality. From observations taken at
Isle Jesus observatory and carefully compared with the death
rates in Montreal, and the country parts visited by the epidemic
in 1854, this opinion was certainly confirmed. At Newcastle, in
England, during the prevalence of cholera, in 1854, Ozone was at
its minimum ; in London, in the same year, from the 24th of
August until the 11th of September, Ozone was only present
384 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jime
once, and then in a minute quantity, and cholera was at its height
during that period. On the 11th of September, a southerly breeze
set in, with indications of Ozone, and from day to day the number
of cases diminished. In a paper, read by me in Montreal, before
the American ^Association for the Advancement of Science at their
meeting in 1857, I stated that moisture in the atmosphere
was necessary for the development of Ozone ; this opinion has
been opposed by the only American observer, Captain Pope, during
some journeys that he made across the great plains in 1856 and
1857. He says : — " Ozone increases in quality, rapidly and regular-
ly, in receding from the low lands which border the Gulf of Mexico,
and is greatest on the table lands of the interior": he goes on further
to state that on the low lands animal and vegetable decomposition
is very rapid, and on the table lands very slow and with little
escape of offensive gases — therefore, on account of the moisture in
i the low lands, there should be more Ozone developed than in the
table lands. But another cause must, with all deference, be
brought to bear on the observations of Captain Pope, and it is a
very important one : for as already shown, there is a considerable
amount of fever and malaria in these wet, low lands, hence the
deduction that Ozone has been partially destroyed by the malaria,
consequently a less amount was indicated by the ozonometer on
the low lands than on the higher tablelands. These reasons will
account for Captain Pope's observations, without in the least dis-
paraging the theory, that moisture is necessary for the deve-
lopment of Ozone. The fact, that a humid state of the atmosphere
better developes Ozone, is confirmed by the observation of Dr.
Moffatt, Mr. Lowe, and other Europeans, who have paid attention
to the subject. I shall read a short extract from my 1857 paper,
showing the amount of precipitation as a test for determining its
presence in the atmosphere, and the amount of Ozone corres-
ponding to the days of precipitation ; and showing, also, the
diminished quantity of Ozone during the months of July, August,
and September, 1854, which were the months of the greatest
mortality during that visitation of cholera in this neighbour-
hood. During the visitation of cholera, in most places there
were high readings of the barometer. In 1854, here, the mean
reading for the month of July was 29.961 ; for August, 29.910 ;
and for September, 30.201 inches — the lowest reading during the
period was 29.619. The thermometer also ranged high — the
mean temperature for July being 76.2, and for August 68.31 ; the
1868.] SMALLWOOD — ON OZONE. 385
dryness oi the atmosphere for July was .709, and for August,
.714 — taking saluration as 1.000 — with which number at 9 P.M.
on the 11th of August, the thermometer even stood at 76°. There
was a haze in the atmosphere, which led to the supposition of fires
in the woods being the cause ; the weather was calm, and the wind
north-westerly, but very light. There was a great thunderstorm
at Isle Jesus on the 6th of September, from 6 to 8 P.M., and a
slight frost occurred on the morning of the 11th, and snow fell at
Quebec on the 21st. The ozonometer, soon after these meteoro-
logical events, indicated its usual amount. On the other hand,
influenza and pulmonary diseases, when prevalent, are accompanied
by a high amount of Ozone, while all gastric diseases, diarrhoea
and its allies are accompanied by a decrease in the average amount.
The air coming from the sea shows a high amount of Ozone, and
it is presumed that, it is this property that makes the sea-breeze
so beneficial to health. It is a direct stimulant to animal and
vegetable life, and it must be borne in mind, that a 2000th part
of Ozone in the atmosphere would make it fatal to small animals,
and a little more than this would be fatal to man in an atmos-
phere which gives the maximum number 10 in the ozonoscope or
ozonometer; Ozone only exists iu the proportion of 1 to 10,000
parts of atmospheric air. When considering the source of Ozone
it would seem reasonable to suppose that there should be but
little of this agent manifested in the atmospheres of large and
crowded cities ; repeated experiments have proved this to be the
case. In such cities there is always a large consumption of Ozone
going on ; on the contrary, in the pure air of the country, and at
the sea-side, Ozone is generally abundant, and the consumption is
manifestly less. There is, indeed, a marked difference between the
amount observed at my own residence, which is not in a crowded
part of the city, and at the observatory in McGill College
grounds. Ozonometers placed in the wards and halls of hospitals
give no trace of Ozone, while at the exterior of these buildings a
reasonable amount is indicated, shewing that the atmosphere of
a city, where large numbers are dwelling together, tells largely
on the consumption of this peculiar body, and it must be self-
evident that any thing tending to its conservation, such as good
and efficient drainage, free currents of air and plenty of ventil-
ation, will directly contribute to the health of cities ; and the
removing of the causes of its consumption, if not destruction, is
the paramount duty of every citizen ; and it is thus to the interest of
386 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
the rich to aid the poor by a cheerful submission to such taxes as
may be necessary for the proper cleansing and scavengering our
city. It has been beautifully put by one of England's fa-
vourite writers: — "That the universal diffusion of common
means of decency and health is as much the right of the poorest
of the poor, as it is indispensable to the safety of the rich, and
of the State ; that a few petty boards and corporate bodies —less
than drops in the great ocean of humanity around them — are not
for ever to let loose fever, malaria, and consumption on God's
creatures at their will, or always to keep their jobbing little
fiddles going, for a Dance of Death."
Chemical and physical agents produce Ozone, while the decay
of vegetable and animal matter consumes it, and when the balance
is destroyed between its production and consumtion, disease is the
consequence. Ozone is apparent in large quantities in the pine-
forests of America, and but few of the diseases arising from
malaria exist in their neighbourhood, except where marshes are
numerous — their exhalations, under a tropical sun, producing what
is termed marsh-miasma. Ozone is generally found to exist in
larger quantities in the winter than in summer — more particularly
in Montreal, because there then is a much less decomposition of
animal and vegetable matter.
Ozone in excess has been found to prevail when disease of the
lungs and catarrh are in the ascendant ; it has been frequently
remarked that easterly winds aggravate these diseases. Dr.
Beckel, jr., of Strasburgh, selected cases suffering from pulmonary,
bronchial, and heart diseases, carefully comparing the numbers
admitted into hospital through a long period of time, and by the
fluctuation of the ozonometer, and the variation of the tempera-
ture, he came to the conclusion that pulmonary diseases are in
adverse relation to the quantity of Ozone, and in reverse relation
with the degree of temperature. When there is much Ozone
with a low temperature, such diseases increase, and death often
ensues ; whereas, when there is little Ozone with a high tempera-
ture, the contrary occurs. Scoutetten's tables show similar results.
Schonbein states, that in Berlin a diminution of atmospheric Ozone
coincides with the production of gastric disorders, and that
there was a complete absence of Ozone in that city, during the
invasion of the cholera, and that indications of Ozone in large
quantities give rise to pulmonic affections.
Persons interested in the bleaching of linen fabrics have of late
1868.] MATTHEW — ON PALAEOZOIC ROCKS. 387
directed attention to the amount of Ozone in the atmosphere, and
have been induced to keep daily registers of its amount, so that
it would seem that it has an important bearing upon our economic
wants. Experience shows that upon days when Ozone was pre-
sent in large quantities, the bleaching was better accomplished ;
and from experiments carried on in this department, it has been
proved that our test papers rather underrate the amount of Ozone
absolutely present. The bleaching properties of Ozone have been
carried out, still further, for restoring books and prints that have
become brown by age and exposure to the light, or have been
soiled or smeared with colouring matter — a short time only being
required to render them perfectly white, as if just issued from the
press, and this without the slightest injury to the blackness of the
printer's ink, or the lines of a pen and ink sketch or crayon
drawing.
Writing ink may readily be discharged by Ozone, if the paper
be subsequently treated with chlorohydric acid to remove the
oxide of iron. Vegetable colouring matters are completely
removed by it ; but it does not act so readily on metallic colouring
matters or on grease spots.
Much still remains to be said on this interesting subject. I
trust the day is not far distant when it will receive from
the scientific world the attention which is due to its great
importance as bearing on the health and welfare of the whole
community, and that observers will not be wanting to aid in
carrying out the important objects embraced in its study.
ON THE AZOIC AND PALAEOZOIC ROCKS OF
SOUTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK.
By F. G. Matthew.*
While exploring with my brother, Mr. R. Matthew, the Man-
ganese district of King's County, in the summer of 1866, we
made some observations on the geology of this County, having an
important bearing on the subject of the article above named.
Huronian. — A more extended examination than had pre-
* Supplementary note to my paper in the Journal of Geol. Society of
London, vol. xxi., p. 422.
388 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
viously been given to the Cambrian rocks in the Quaco Hills,
led to the discovery of an important part of this series not
previously recognized as sedimentary; it consists of shales, grits,
and conglomerates, usually highly aietamorphic, so much so, as
in general to have lost all traces of stratification. In this
condition they appear to be syenites, granulites and felsites, all
highly coloured by the bright red felspar of which they are chiefly
composed. Masses of these rocks were observed by our party,
in 1864, on the Hammond River, and in the adjacent hills, but
their sedimentary character was not at that time recognized.
With this addition the grand lithological features of the older
supra-Laurentian rocks in the Southern Hills of New Brunswick
appear to be : —
Lower Silurian. — The lingula bearing flags and shales of
St. John, etc., at the base of which the primordial fauna occurs.
Huronian. — Red sediments of comparatively small volume,
perhaps not recognizable in other parts of Acadia. ( No. 5 in
article on Azoic Rocks.)
Dark coloured trap-slate rocks (Nos. 2 and 4, art. cit.) of great
thickness ; parted about midway by a rusty-colored calcareo-
arenaceous zone charged with iron and manganese. (No. 3,
art. cit.).
Red sediment, usually converted into red felspar rocks, also
of great thickness, resting upon the Laurentian series ( No. 1
of article on Azoic Rocks is here included). The felsites referred
to (No. 3, in my article,) may be of this lower horizon, but I have
not been able to verify this point. The succession throughout
this immense series of beds is greatly obscured by faults. An
instance is given at page 28, of Mr. Bailey's Report.
It is noteworthy that the core of the Northern Highlands of
New Brunswick consists, in a great degree, of red felspathic rocks
(vide Bailey's Notes on Geology and Botany of N. B., Can. JVat.),
and that these are flanked by metalliferous slates, frequently of a
dark brown colour, which may be of the same age as the
main portion of the Huronian in the south (Nos. 2 — 4) above
noticed.
The resemblance of the Lower Silurian of Saint John to the
gold and antimony bearing slates of the central part of the
Province has been already noticed in the article cited above
Thus the Northern metamorphic region may present a full
1868.] MATTHEW — PALEOZOIC ROCKS. 389
representation of the older Palaeozoic series in the Southern Hills.
There is a large area of red felspar rocks in northern Cape
Breton, and masses of a similar character in Charlotte Co., N. B.,
both of which may prove to be Lower Cambrian.
It will be seen that these views are partially at variance with
conjectures offered in the last paragraph of page 428, and on
page 427 ; the latter should be applied to the southern band of
Cambrian slates (yielding gold and antimony) only.*
Lower Carboniferous. — There is a great development of
this formation in the area N. and N. B. of the Quaco Hills,
drained by the Kennebeckasis and Petticodiac Rivers. The
following succession (see wood-cut,) observed on the slopes of
these hills, and in the lower valleys parallel to them, are beds,
collectively, of very considerable thickness, but some of them
vary much in bulk in other parts of this tract. They represent,
as nearly as can be judged without actual measurement, the
thickness of the formation in eastern Kings County.
Nos. 1 to 5 are much attenuated in the western part of this
L. C. district, and have not been detected west of Hammond
River valley. In this western quarter also the upper members,
especially 6, 7, and 8 have a more considerable thickness than
elsewhere. The first of these (6) is much reduced in bulk about
the middle of the area ; and 7 changes its character or dis-
appears entirely in the east.
The limestone and gypsum beds are but a small part of this
voluminous series, in which we were unable to find more than one
calcareous horizon ; the other outcrops of these rocks in the
valley appearing to be merely repetitions of the same beds thrown
up by faults.
In No. 6 the salt springs of Sussex and Upham occur. No.
4 is rich in manganese derived from the Cambrian rocks, upon
and against which much of the lower carboniferous sediments of
this tract rest.
Nos. 8 and 8 have complimentary characters in different parts
of it ; thus, the first towards the east has much bright-red sand-
stone, but on the Lower Kennebeckasis it is mostly chocolate
coloured, and largely made up of thick shale beds, while the
converse holds in regard to No. 8. The general prevalence of
* Observations made for the Canadian Survey during the past summer
indicate that much of the slate country of the interior may be of Upper
Silurian or Lower Devonian age. — Oct. 1868.
Yol. III. Y No. 5.
390
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[June
chocolate coloured rocks appears to be due to the presence of oxides
of iron and manganese, derived from the Huronian system in the
adjacent hills.
Lower Carboniferous Series in Kings Co.
O a 0°O o
I
°ooo Ooo
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OOO OO O q
OOO o 0 Ofs
O o O ° O 0^
CO O ° c v «
OO- v o o
00000°
Oao OQOO
Qfl o a r> o o
D OOoo'O'o
1. Busal Conglomerate resting on the Cambrian or
Huronian slates.
2. Break in the section (probably shales).
3. Lower Conglomerate, hard heavy beds.
Limestone and Gypsum — covered by Conglomerate
and underlaid by dark grey shales, somewhat bitu-
menous. Fossils — Tereoratida saccuhis, Productus,
etc., in the limestones ; Cyclopteris Acadica, Lepido-
dendroncorrugatum and Fish remains in the shales.
Grey sandstones and dark gray shales, somewhat
bitumenous. Fossils — Lepidodendron corrugatum,
Cyclopteris Acadica, etc.
Bright-red sandstones, and brown-red shales and
sandstones. Fossils — several species of fucoids and
fragments of land plants. (Brine springs rise from
these beds).
7. Upper Conglomerate (or " Kennebeckasit
merate ") hard massive beds.
Conglo-
8. Eed-brown arinaceous shales and Bed sandstones.
Nos. 4, 5, and 6? which are comparatively soft, are frequently
1868.] MATTHEW — PALAEOZOIC ROCKS. 391
seen on the slopes and at the bottom of valleys of erosion, formed
between the hard conglomerates of Nos. 3 and 7. These softer
members also yield the elements of the fertile loamy soils, for
which the valleys of Kings County are famous.
Along the margin of the great central coalfield, these " Lower
Coal-measures"* are much reduced in bulk; and volcanic
outbursts have left traces of their presence in that quarter, at
epochs corresponding to those marked by the spread of conglom-
erate beds (Nos. 3 and 7) among the Southern Hills. See
Prof. Bailey's Report, page 98.
The following changes in that part of my article which relate
to this formation, will bring it into accord with the preceding
remarksf : —
Page 431, line 11, for " which may represent" read " of later
origin than"
11 " 29, for "at or near" read " not far from".
Sea-weeds in medicine. — The genus Laminaria consists
chiefly of large plants growing abundantly in deep water. They
are very rich in iodine, chlorine, sulphur, silica, lime, potash, and
soda. They are burnt in large quantities on the French shores
of the British Channel and Atlantic, and produce the best
raw soda from which iodine is afterwards extracted. There are
three species : — Laminaria digitata, L. saccharina, and L. bul-
losa ; and these almost exclusively yield the 70,000 kilogr. of
iodine annually brought into the market. There are also other
algae such as Fucus vesicidosus, F. nodosus, F. serratus, etc.,
which generally yield bromine. The inhabitants of the Cordilleras
of the Andes were in the habit of using the decoctions of sea-weeds,
in cases of scrofula, wens, and lymphatic tendencies. These
liquids are, however, very unpalatable,- to avoid which M. Moride
proceeds as follows: — The plants are slightly rinsed in fresh
water, then dried and exposed to the sun, whereby they lose their
smell and taste of wrack ; after which they are pounded in a mor-
tar and macerated in strongly alcoholized water at a somewhat
high temperature. The iodized tincture thus obtained is
found useful in all affections for which iodine is prescribed. — Ex.
* Dawson. — Synopsis of the Flora of the Carboniferous period in N~ova
Scotia.
t Journal of Geological Society of London, Yol. xxi.
392 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
REOPRT OF THE COUNCIL TO THE ANNUAL MEETING OP THE
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, MAY 18, 1867.
The Council begs to congratulate the members on the more
hopeful condition of the Society in many of its aspects.
MEMBERSHIP.
During the last year, twenty additional ordinary members
have been elected; but as ten of these have been proposed as
life members, the real addition from this source only amounts to
ten.
In order to meet the increased expenses of the Society, it has
been agreed, after mature and frequent deliberation, to raise the
subscription from four dollars to five dollars per annum. It will
be an important branch of the labours of the incoming Council to
endeavour to increase the list of ordinary members, as the work-
ing revenue of the Society depends principally on this source.
Two new life members have been added to the Society; but
they regret to record the decease of one, Mr. W. H. A. Davies,
who was also a Vice-President. The number of life members is
now forty-one, which will shortly be increased by ten of the
ordinary members, as above noted. The payments received from
life members will now be $50 instead of $40 as before.
A new bye-law has lately been passed admitting ladies to the
privileges of the Society as Associate Members, on payment of
two dollars per annum. Thirty names have already been pro-
posed ; and if members will exert themselves to add to this good
beginning, the income will not only be increased, but the attend-
ance at the meetings, the visits to the Museum, and the general
interest felt in the concerns of the Society will receive a very
healthy augmentation. It is hoped that this new source of
income may more than counterbalance the loss incurred by the
transference of many names from the list of ordinary to that of
life members, — a change which otherwise would be of question-
able benefit to the Society.
FINANCE.
The present income from ordinary and associate members may
be stated at $800. The Society is still under great obligations
to Mr. Ferrier for his valuable services as Treasurer. The
financial position during the past year is set forth in the balance
sheet herewith presented.
1868.]
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
393
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394
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[June
After considerable discussion on the liabilities of the Society,
it was determined, by an appeal to the public, to raise a special
fund to defray the debt incurred by the Building Committee,
now amounting to $2,400 ; and, if possible, to increase the
Library and Museum. The object was announced by the Pre-
sident at the Conversazione; the appeal has been printed and
circulated, and a special Collecting Committee appointed. It
was decided that all subscribers of $50 or upwards to this fund
should be recommended as life members, or be able to nominate
a friend if they were themselves qualified. The Council earnest-
ly recommend that this most important committee be re-appoint-
ed. The subscriptions already promised amount to $1,430, of
which the following is a list : —
Subscriptions for the Liquidation of debt owed by the Natural
History Society of Montreal, and thereafter for the improve-
ment of its Museum and Library.
Mr. John Frothingam
— William Molson
— Thomas Workman, M.P.
— William Workman
— Thomas Morland
$ioo
ioo
5o
50
50
Peter Redpath 50
John W. Molson 50
George Barnston ... 50
J. Henry Joseph 50
Thomas Rimmer 50
G. A. Drummond 50
William Muir 50
William Ewan 50
John Leeming 50
W. Fred. Kay 50
Mr. T. Macfarlane $50
— Champion Brown 50
— John Swanston 50
— Alexander McGibbon 50
— J as. Ferrier, Jr 50
— T.J. Claxton 50
— F. J. Claxton 50
Rev. A. DeSola, LL.D 50
Rev. Canon Balch, D.D 20
Sir W. E. Logan, LL.D., F.R.S.... 50
Mr. E. Billings, F.G.S 25
— J. F. Whiteaves 25
— A. S. Ritchie 20
— Jas. Ewan 20
— Jno. Lovell 20
PUBLIC LECTURES.
The yearly course of the Somerville Free Lectures was de-
livered last winter as follows :
1. — General Sketch of the Gasteropodous Mollusks. By P. P.
Carpenter, B.A., Ph. D.
2. — On the Chemistry of the Stars. By J. B. Edwards, Ph.
P., F.C.S.
3. — On the Origin of Continents. By the President.
4. — On the Anatomy of the Common Sea-Urchin. By Prin-
cipal Dawson, LL.D., F.B.S.
5.— From Granite to Basalt. By Mr. T. Macfarlane.
6. —On Coleoptera. By G. P. Girdwood, M.D.
In consequence of the interest excited by the very beautiful
experiments made by Dr. Edwards in illustration of the second
lecture, he kindly consented to deliver a supplementary lecture
1868.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 395
on Artificial Auroras, illustrated by Rumkorff's Induction Coil
and Geissler's vacua Tubes. A small charge was made for
admission to this, to defray the expenses of illustration.
CONVERSAZIONE.
The annual Conversazione was held at the Museum on Feb.
18th, and was numerously attended. After an address by the
President, a series of interesting experiments on Force was made
by Dr. Edwards. Objects were exhibited in microscopes lent
by Messrs. Ferrier, Watt, Muir, Clarke, Ritchie, Murphy, Baillie,
and others. A binocular microscope was lent by Mr. F.
Cundill. Principal Dawson exhibited a collection of Fossils and
Canadian Pearls ; Mr. Rimmer a series of Fossils ; Mr. Chap
man of Fictile Ivories ; Mr. Stanley Bagg of Coins and Medals ;
Mr. Reynolds of Illustrated Works and Roman Antiquities.
The rooms were tastefully ornamented by a committee of ladies ;
and a choice collection of flowers was exhibited from the con-
servatory of Mr. Donald Ross. The band of the Rifle Brigade
enlivened the meeting with beautiful music. A novel feature on
this occasion was the execution of permanent decorations, design-
ed by Mr. M'Cord, which recall to mind the names of the leaders
in different departments of science, emblazoned with mottoes and
emblems, in a very attractive manner. It is hoped that every
year permanent additions will be made of the same character.
MUSEUM.
The Council has pleasure in again expressing their high
appreciation of the services of Mr. Whiteaves, whose special
report to the Council has fully set forth the labours and acquisi-
tions of the year. They have renewed the previous engagement
with him, subject to due notice being given on either side. In
consequence of the great additions to the collection, and especial-
ly those generously presented by the University of Oxford at the
instance of Mr. Whiteaves, it has Been found necessary to erect
three new glass cases. A sub-committee was appointed to assist
the Curator in this and other changes in the Museum. Special
donations to the fund for cases were made by Mr. Rimmer of
$40, and Mr. Reynolds of $45.
The two extremities of the Museum room being now fitted with
permanent cases, the much greater work of fitting up the two
sides on the same plan ought to be proceeded with without delay.
The existing cases are not only unsightly, but they afford no
396 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
room for additional specimens. Upwards of a hundred new
species of birds (of which ninety-two specimens were presented
by the University of Oxford), several fine and rare mammals, and
specimens in every other branch of natural history, make the new
cases urgently called for.
Perhaps the most important alteration introduced this year has
been the throwing the Museum open to the public gratuitously
on Saturdays, from 1 to 4 p.m. in winter, and from 2 to 6 p.m. in
summer. This step, which was not taken without full deliber-
ation and some difference of opinion among the members, has at
any rate proved their desire to spread the knowledge and pleasure
to be derived from their collections as widely as possible among
the inhabitants of Montreal and the strangers visiting the city.
At first considerable damage was done to the property of the
Society; but, an appeal having been made to the Mayor, two
policemen have been regularly placed in attendance, and the
conduct of visitors has been such as to warrant the Council in
recommending the present as a permanent arrangement. The
visitors have varied from 30 to 130 on these occasions, — a small
number for so large a population.
During the past summer one of the Vice-Presidents, Mr.
Leeming, kindly made arrangements to send the Cabinet-keeper
on a collecting excursion to the coast of Maine. This was not
only an agreeable change from his ordinary employments, but
Mr. Leeming (who defrayed all the expenses of the expedition,)
generously presented the specimens obtained to the Museum.
Many other places might be visited with great advantage if other
gentlemen are disposed to follow this excellent example.
The Scientific Curator reports as follows : —
Mammalia. — Fourteen specimens of North American mam-
mals, mostly Californian species, and six specimens of Australian
marsupials, have been procured. These additions made it
necessary to re-group and re-arrange the whole of this part of
the collection. The collection of antlers has been taken down,
cleaned, re-arranged, and conspicuously labelled.
Birds. — The collection of birds has largely increased, especial-
ly in the department of British and exotic species. Ninety-two
specimens have been presented by the authorities of the Univer-
sity of Oxford and by the late Rev. F. W. Hope, through Prof.
Westwood. Mr. Angas has given an Australian eagle, Mr.
Jno. Molson a specimen of the "black-headed plover" of the
1868.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 397
Nile, and six exotic species have been purchased, making a total
of one hundred specimens. Twenty new Canadian birds have
been added, some of which are new to our series. The new
British and exotic species have been named as far as possible,
and have been arranged in a temporary manner until proper
cases are provided for their reception.
Eeptiles. — Dr. Gunther, of the British Museum, has kindly
given thirty -five species of exotic reptiles ; seven have been
acquired by purchase ; and Mr. Yining has given two Geckos
from Jamaica. This portion of the collection has more than
doubled during the past year. With the exception of about
half the exotic snakes, all the specimens have been labelled and
arranged.
Fishes. — Mr. Leeming's donation above referred to consisted
of twelve species from the Portland coast ; Mr. Morland gave
the head of a Tunny caught at Gaspe ; Dr. Gunther seven
species of exotic fishes ; and other donors six specimens of Cana-
dian fresh-water fishes. A specimen of the rare Port Jackson
Shark, and four species from the Pacific Ocean have been pur-
chased.
Invertebrates. — Thirty species of shells, principally fine
cones, have been presented by Mr. B. M. Wright. A collection
of beetles and butterflies from Jamaica was given by Mr.
Yining, and some of the rarer Canadian moths by Mr. Powler.
The insect cabinet has been re-arranged. Seventeen species of
Crustacea (from Dr. Dawson and Mr. Wright), three of corals
and five of Echinodermata, have been received during the year.
Botany. — In this department a set of specimens of the woods
of New Zealand has been presented by Mr. Wright, and a
beautiful specimen of the fibre of the lace-bark tree of Jamaica
by Mr. Yining. In the Aquarian room a space has been set
apart for the illustration of structural botany and botanical
economics after the plan adopted by the British Museum.
Geology. — About one hundred and thirty species of fossils
have been added during the past session, mainly through the
kindness of Mr. Henry Woodward, Mr. Wright and Mr. Mason.
These have been mounted on tablets, labelled, and arranged in
their respective places in the Museum. Sixty-six fine specimens
of rare exotic minerals have been presented by Mr. Wright ■
these are named, and have been provisionally placed in one of
the cases in the gallery.
398 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
Miscellaneous. — The ethnological and miscellaneous objects
in the cases and on the walls of the gallery have been re-grouped
and, as far as possible, labelled. A new case has been put up
in the gallery for the reception of objects of antiquarian and of
general ethnological interest. A collection of medals and medal-
lions given some years ago by Dr. Gibb, has been arranged and
labelled. Want of cases has prevented the formation of a collec-
tion to illustrate the comparative anatomy of our Canadian
vertebrates; still, a beginning has been made, and the few
specimens we have, have been collected together and some of
them cleaned.
The Council desire to renew their expression of satisfaction at
the manner in which the varied duties of Janitor, Taxidermist
and Cabinet-keeper have been performed by Mr. Hunter, — whose
labours have been necessarily increased by the opening of the
Museum to the public.
LIBRARY.
The Council regret that no funds have been at their disposal
to increase the Library, or even to bind the periodicals, which at
present are almost useless for reference. It is recommended that
during the forthcoming year the Council take steps to render this
department more attractive to members, and that gentlemen
be incited to contribute books and periodicals thereto.
ORIGINAL PAPERS.
The following are among the communications laid before the
Society : —
On the Mineralogy of Crystalline Limestones. By the Pre-
sident.
On the Classification of the genus Athyris M'Coy, as de-
termined by the laws of Zoological Nomenclature. By E. Bil-
lings, F.G.S.
On certain discoveries in regard to Eozoon Canadcnse ; On
Insects from the Devonian and Carboniferous Formations ; and
On Canadian Pearls. By Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S.,
On the Distribution of Plants in Canada, as related to its
physical and geological conditions. By A. T. Drummond, B.A.
On Some Mammals and Birds recently added to the Society's
Museum. By the Scientific Curator.
On certain peculiarities in the Shell-structure of Chitonidae ;
and on the Vital Statistics of Montreal. By P. P. Carpenter,
B.A., Ph. D.
1868.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 399
The last paper belongs rather to the unnatural than to the
natural history of our species, and might therefore be regarded
as somewhat foreign to the objects of the Society. As, however,
it is impossible at present to organize a Society in this city for
the prosecution of every branch of scientific knowledge, it is to
be hoped that the subject on which it treats, which is confessedly
of the greatest importance, will be fully discussed from time to
time at the monthly meetings.
MISCELLANEOUS.
In consequence of the unnecessary labour caused by the
appointment of sub-committees for separate but connected objects,
a bye-law has been passed providing that a committee should be
nominated by the Council and elected by the Society at the
meetings in October, to make the necessary arrangements for
both the Conversazione and the Somerville Lectures.
A new bye-law has also been adopted, changing the date of the
Council meetings from the Thursday to the Tuesday preceding
the monthly meetings, in order to allow more time for the issuing
of the necessary circulars.
It is recommended that steps be taken by the Council now to
be appointed, to codify and print these and all other new bye-laws
of the Society which have been passed since 1859.
In conclusion, the Council beg to recommend that the Silver
Medal of the Society be awarded to Mr. Billings. It was owing
to his exertions that the Canadian Naturalist, which has become
so valuable an organ for the Society's operations, was first
established. His contributions to scientific literature and to the
geology of Canada, although unobtrusive, and of a nature not to
attract the general attention, have been singularly careful and
exact, and have won the praises of all on this continent and in
Europe, who are competent to pass judgment on their merits.
And at the present time there is a .special reason why this mark
of appreciative respect should be no longer delayed, — the Council
wishing to bear testimony to the singular ability which Mr.
Billings has displayed in the volume on the Palaeozoic Fossils of
Canada and other publications, which have been issued by the
Geological Survey during the last year.
Respectfully submitted by
Phillip P. Carpenter,
Chairman.
400 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [*June
BOOK NOTICES.
ACADIAN GEOLOGY.*
Canada has been upon the whole liberal to science. Not so
liberal, it is true, as the neighbouring State of New York, whose
splendid series of quartos are known the world over ; not perhaps
so liberal as some even of our sister colonies, who have cheerfully
contributed their share of the expense necessary to publish the
series of works known as the Colonial Floras, while Canada has
hitherto refused hers. Yet, withal, she has been, in her
own way, liberal. She has for many years back spent something
like $20,000 per annum on literary and scientific societies.
It might .have been better if this money had been given to
these several societies for some specific object — for research
into some defined branch of literature or science (excluding
geology), to be pursued from year to year, and the results
published ; nevertheless, though probably there may not be
much to show for it, this money has, doubtless, been upon
the whole well spent. Canada's greatest benefaction to science
is, however, in the maintenance of her Geological Survey, which,
under the direction of its eminent chief, has been continued
for some sixteen or eighteen years, with plenty of good work to
shew for the sums expended on it. Personally we are of opinion
that this Survey has been too restricted, — all has been devoted to
the fossil, almost nothing to the living. Had Sir William been
provided with means to extend his survey so as to report on the
natural productions of a district as well as on its geology, the
country might have been saved the thousands it has spent in
making so-called colonization roads through uncolonizable terri-
tory, and in surveying lots unfitted for settlement.
Until very recently, the Lower Provinces have not enjoyed the
benefits of organized Geological Surveys, but our author, Dr.
Dawson, aided to some extent by other zealous explorers, animated
by a love of science for its own sake has, and that to no mean
extent, in great part made up for this deficiency, though of course
devoting himself to those points most likely to yield important
scientific results, leaving' the drudgery of details to those who
* Acadian Geology. — The Geological Structure, Organic Remain*,
and Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island, by John William Dawson, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. Second
edition, with a Geological map and numerous illustrations. London :
MacMillan & Co. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. 8vo, pp. xxviii, 694.
1868.J BOOK NOTICES. 4°1
might be officially entrusted with that part of the work. Not
content with mere survey, Dr. Dawson has from time to time,
and at his own expense, generously published his < Reports of
Progress,' the last and most complete of which is now before us,
and in a form well entitled to take rank with official reports, while
it is much more attractive to the general reader.
We do not propose giving any lengthy review of this work, as
it is within easy reach of all our readers, and moreover we shall
hereafter have opportunities of enriching our pages with copious
extracts, one of which is given in the present issue of this journal.
The following paragraphs are from the preface : —
" While the progress made in the Geology of Acadia since the
publication of the first edition of this work is most satisfactory,
it also suggests the fact that the present edition, probably the
last which the author will be permitted to issue, merely marks a
stage in that progress; and that the time will soon arrive when
its imperfections will be revealed by the discovery of new facts,
when many things now uncertain may have become plain, and
when some things now held as certain will be proved to have been
errors. When that time shall come, I trust that those who may
build on the foundations which I have laid, if they shall find it
necessary to remove some misplaced stone or decaying beam, will
make clue allowance for the difficulties of the work, and the
circumstances under which it was executed." ■
"The lovers of the lighter kind of scientific literature may be
disappointed in not finding in this work any incidents of travel or
illustrations of the aspects of social life in Acadia. I have been
obliged by the pressure of graver and more important matter to
resist all temptation to dwell on these; but may perhaps find
some future occasion to introduce the public to the incidents and
adventures of my geological excursions.
"For myself, I confess that at an earlier period of my life it
was a cherished object of ambition with me, that it might be my
lot to work out in a public capacity the completion of some, at
least, of the departments of geological investigation opened up to
me in my native province; but it has been otherwise decreed;
and however I may regret the want of that extraneous aid, which
would have enabled me to devote myself more completely to
original researches, by which my own reputation and the interests
of my country might have been advanced, I am yet thankful that
I have been enabled to do so much by my own unaided resources,
402 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June
and that I have also been able to assist and encourage others,
who may now carry on the work more effectually in connection
with an organized Geological Survey." d. a. w.
FILICES CANADENSES.
Under this title the undersigned has issued, for distribution
among his foreign correspondents, a collection of our native ferns
(Slices exsiccatae). The following is his catalogue : it includes
all the species hitherto detected in Upper and Lower Canada,
and were the Maritime Provinces included in the limits, the list
would have been extended by only one species, (and that of very
doubtful occurrence,) namely, Asphnium marinum, of which Sir
William Hooker says in the Species Filicum, iii. p. 96, "I
possess specimens from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, from Capt.
Kendal" — which contradictory note is corrected in the more
recent Synopsis Filicum, so as to read " from Nova Scotia,"
while the Flora Bor. Am., had it from " New Brunswick, E. N.
Kendal, Esq." — but its occurrence in either of those Provinces
has not otherwise been authenticated. Three other species
probably occur on the Canadian shores of Lake Superior, namely,
Cryptogramme crispa (acrosticlioides B. Br.), Dryopteris Filix-
mas, and Woodsla Oregana, but have not been found there, the
region being probably not yet botanized. The name attached
to each species and variety is, in all cases, that of the author of
the same ; when it is placed within brackets, that author put
the plant in a different genus (or in the same genus differently
named) from that here assigned to it. It is noteworthy that
out of forty-two species twenty-nine belong to Linnaeus, and five
(or if P. gracilis be included, six) to Michaux.
FILICES CANADENSES.
COLLECTS DISTRIBUT^QUE CURA D. A. WATT.
S. rhizophyllum (L inn.); No. 8.
Polypodium (Linn.) Mett.
P. vulgare Linn. ; No. i.
Pell^ea, Link,
i. P. Stelleri (Gmel.)
sub P. gracilis (Michx.) ; No. 2.
2. P. atropurpurea (Z. inn.); No. 3.
Pteris, Linn.
1. P. aquilina Linn. ; No. 4.
Adiantum, Linn.
1. A. pedatum Linn. ; No. 5.
Woodwardia, Smith.
1. \V. Virginica(Z, inn); No. 6.
Scolopendrium (Smith) Hook.
1. S. vulgare Smith,
\Aspl. Scolopendrium Linn.] ; No. 7.
Asplenium, Linn.
1. A. viride Hudson;
2. A. Trichomanes Linn. ;
3. A. ebeneum Aiton;
4. A. angustifolium Michx. ;
Athyrium, Roth.
1. A. thelypteroides {Michx.) ;
2. A. Filix-fcemina (Linn.) ;
Phegopteris, Fe6.
1. P. Dryopteris (L inn.);
2. P. connectile (Michx.),
[Polyp. Phegopteris Linn.]
3. P. hexagonoptera (Michx-);
No
.9.
No.
10.
No.
11.
No.
12.
No.
13-
No.
14.
No.
15.
No.
16.
No.
i7«
1868.]
BOOK NOTICES.
403
Dryopteris (Adans.) Schott.
I
D. Thelypteris {Linn.);
No. 18.
2
D. nov-Eboracensis (Linn.) ;
No. 19.
3-
D. spinulosa {Midi.) ;
No. 20.
b. dilatata ( Wahl.) ;
No. 21.
4-
D. cristata (.£/««.) ;
No. 22.
5-
D. Goldiana {Hook.) ;
No. 23.
6.
D. marginale (Linn.);
No. 24.
Polystichum (Roth) Scho
tt.
i
P. fragrans (Linn.) ;
No. 25.
2.
P. aculeatum (Linn.). .
a. Braunii (Koch) ;
No. 26.
3-
P. Lonchitis (Linn.) ;
No. 27.
4-
P. acrostichoides (Michx.) ;
No. 28.
Cystea, Smith.
i.
C. bulbifera (Linn.) ;
No. 29.
2.
C. fragilis (Linn.) ;
No. 30.
Woodsia, R. Brown.
I.
W. Ilvensis (Linn.) ;
No. 31.
b. alpina
sub IV. hyperborea R. Br.
; No. 32.
2. W. glabella R. Brown ;
Onoclea, Linn.
1. O. sensibilis Linn. ;
2. O. Struthiopteris (Linn.);
Dicksonia, L'Herit.
1. D. punctilobula (Michx. ) ;
Osmunda, Linn.
1. O. regalis B. Linn. ;
2. O. Claytoniana Linn. ;
3. O. cinnamomea Linn. ;
Botrychium, Swartz.
1. B. Lunaria (Linn.);
b. simplex ;
2.- B. matricariasfolium A . Braun
b. lanceolatum ;
3. B. ternatum ( Thunb.).
a. lunarioides Milde ;
b. obliquum Milde ;
4. B. Virginianum (Linn.) ;
Ophioglossum, Linn.
vulgatum Linn ;
No. 33.
No.
34-
No.
35-
No.
36.
No.
37-
No.
38.
No.
39-
No.
40.
No
41.
No.
42.
No.
43.
No.
44.
No.
45-
No.
46.
o.
No. 47.
The following supplementary species (of fern allies) are
intended to be included in the collection : —
No 48.
No. 49.
No. 50.
Lycopodium apodum Linn. ;
L. rupestre Linn. ;
L. dendroideum Michx. ;
L. lucidulum Michx. ;
Equisetum robustum A . Braun
Eq. scirpoides Michx.;
No. 51.
No. 52.
No. 53.
A complete set will be deposited in the Herbarium of the
Society. d. a. w.
ARCHIVES DES SCIENCES PHYSIQUES.
Prof. Oswald Heer, of Zurich, has continued his researches
into the Miocene Flora of Greenland, and has published the
results, and his inferences therefrom, in the above named period-
ical. By these researches our knowledge of the distribution of
vegetation in an era long prior to the present is increased, In
Prof. Heer's details we find that the Arctic Fossil Flora> so far
as known, now comprises 162 species, among which are eighteen
cryptogams, nine being tall, handsome ferns, that probably covered
the soil of forests, while on some of the others a growth of minute
fungi can be detected, as in analogus" species of our own day. Of
phanerogams 31 species are conifers, 14 are monocotyledons, and
99 dicotyledons; and judging of these by the existing Flora,
78 were trees and 50 shrubs, which gives a total of 128 species
of woody vegetables formerly distributed over the polar regions.
The pines and firs come near to those now growing in America,
particularly the Pinus Maculrii, which closely resembles the
P'uius alba of Canada. Cones of this tree were brought from
Banks Land by Capt. Maclure, who saw the stem of the tree in
404 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
the hills of fossil wood in that country. And, remarkable enough,
that extinct Arctic Flora includes four species of the largest trees
in the world, of which two only survive — the Sequoia sempervircns
and S. gigantea of California. These prodigious trees played an
important part in the forests of the miocene period ; they are
found fossilized in Europe, Asia, and America, as well as in the
polar regions.
Prof. Heer distinguishes three kinds of cypress Taxodium,
Thujopsis, and Glyptostrobus, of which the last two are still
living in Japan. The elegant twigs of the Thujopsis are identical
with those sometimes found embedded in amber.
Among the deciduous trees are a number which resemble the
beech and chestnut of the present day. The Fagus Deucalinois,
which flourished beyond the 70th degree of north latitude, nearly
resembles our common beech — Fagus sylvatica — the leaves being
of the same forms and dimensions and the same venation, that,
were they not toothed at the extremity, it would not be easy to
describe the difference. The tree appears to have been widely
spread in the north, for its remains are found in Iceland and
Spitsbergen as well as in Greenland. There is even more variety
among the oaks ; eight species have been discovered in Greenland
alone, most of them with large, beautifully-formed leaves. One
example (Quercus Olafsoni,), which can be traced from the north
of Canada to Greenland and Spitzbergen, is the analogue of the
Q. Prinus of the United States. The plane and poplar were
also largely represented. The willow, on the contrary, is very
rare ; a surprising fact, when we remember that in the present
day the willow forms one-fourth of the woody vegetation of the
Arctic zone. The birch was abundant in Iceland ; where, also, a
maple and a tulip-tree have been found. The magnolia, the
walnut, a species of plum and two species of vine grew in Green-
land; a large-leafed lime and an alder in Spitzbergen. In shortj
Prof. Heer, with all the interesting fossils before him, sees in
imagination the polar regions of the miocene period covered with
great forests of various trees, leafy and resinous, the leaves in
some instances extraordinarily large, where veins and ivy inter-
laced their wandering branches, while numerous shrubs and
handsome ferns grew beneath their shade; and these forests
extended to the lands bordering on the Pole, if not to the very
Pole itself. — The Athenaeum.
Published, Montreal, 31st December, 1868.
THE
CANADIAN NATURALIST.
SECOND SEEIES.
THE REMOVAL AND RESTORATION OF FORESTS.
By J. W. Dawson, LL D.s F.K.S., &c*
The woods perish by the axe and by fire, either purposely
applied for their destruction, or accidental. Forest fires have
not been confined to the period of European occupation. The
traditions of the Indians tell of extensive ancient conflagrations ;
and it is believed that some of the aboriginal names of places in
Nova Scotia (for example, Chebucto, Chedabucto, Plctou) origin-
ated in these events. In later times, however, fires have been
more numerous and destructive. In clearing land, the trees
when cut down are always burned, and that this may be effected
as completely as possible, the driest weather is frequently
selected, although the fire is then much more likely to spread
into the surrounding woods. It frequently happens that the
woods contain large quantities of dry branches and tops of trees,
left by cutters of timber and firewood, who rarely consider any
part of the tree except the trunk worthy of their attention.
Even without this preparation, however, the woods may in dry
weather be easily inflamed ; for, although the trunks and foliage
of growing trees are not very combustible, the mossy vegetable
soil, much resembling peat, burns easily and rapidly. Upon this
mossy soil depends, in a great measure, the propagation of fires,
the only exception being when the burning of groves of the
resinous coniferous trees is assisted by winds, causing the flame
to stream through their tops more rapidly than it can pass along
*From 'Acadian Geology,' second edition.
Vol. III. Y * No. 6.
406 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
the ground. In such cases some of the grandest appearances
ever shown by forest fires occur. The fire, spreading for a time
along the ground, suddenly rushes up the tall resinous trees with
a loud crashing report, and streams far beyond their summits, in
columns and streamers of lurid flame. It frequently happens,
however, that in wet or swampy ground, where the fire cannot
spread around their roots, even the resinous trees refuse to burn ;
and thus swampy tracts are comparatively secure from fire. In
addition to the causes of the progress of fires above referred to, it
is probable thai at a certain stage of the growth of forests, when
the trees have attained to great ages, and are beginning to decay,
they are more readily destroyed by accidental conflagrations. In
this condition the trees are often much moss-grown, and have
much dead and dry wood; and it is probable that we should
regard fires arising from natural or accidental causes as the
ordinary and appropriate agents for the removal of such worn-out
forests.
Where circumstances are favourable to their progress, forest
fires may extend over great areas. The great fire which occurred
in 1825, in the neighbourhood of the Miramichi river, in New
Brunswick, devastated a region 100 miles in length and 50 miles
in breadth. One hundred and sixty persons, and more than 800
cattle, besides innumerable wild animals, are said to have perished
in this conflagration. In this case, a remarkably dry summer, a
light soil easily affected by drought, and a forest composed of
full-grown pine trees, concurred, with other causes, in producing
a conflagration of unusual extent.
When the fire has passed through a portion of forest, if this
consist principally of hardwood trees, they are usually merely
scorched, — to such a degree, however, as in most cases to cause
their death ; some trees, such as the birches, probably from the
more inflammable nature of their outer bark, being more easily
killed than others. Where the woods consist of softwood or
coniferous trees, the fire often leaves nothing but bare trunks and
branches, or at most a little foliage, scorched to a rusty-brown
colour. In either case, a vast quantity of wood remains uncon-
sumed, and soon becomes sufficiently dry to furnish food for a
new conflagration ; so that the same portion of forest is liable to
be repeatedly burned, until it becomes a bare and desolate
' barren,' with only a few charred and wasted trunks towering
above the blackened surface. This has been the fate of large
1868.] DAWSON — RESTORATION OP FORESTS. 407
districts in Nova Scotia and the neighbouring colonies ; and as
these burned tracts could not be immediately occupied for agri-
tural purposes, and are diminished in value by the loss of their
timber, they have been left to the unaided efforts of nature to
restore their original verdure. Before proceeding to consider
more particularly the mode in which this restoration is effected,
and the appearances by which it is accompanied, I may quote,
from a paper by the late Mr. Titus Smith of Halifax, a few
statements on this subject, which, as the results of long and
careful observation, are entitled to much respect, and may form
the groundwork for the remarks which are to follow.
" If an acre or two be cut down in the midst of a forest, and
then neglected, it will soon be occupied by a growth similar to
that which was cut down ; but when all the timber on tracts of
great size is killed by fires, except certain parts of swamps, a very
different growth springs up; at first, a great number of herbs
and shrubs, which did not grow on the land when covered by
living wood. The turfy coat, filled with the decaying fibres of
the roots of the trees and plants of the forest, now all killed by
the fire, becomes a kind of hot-bed, and seeds which had lain
dormant for centuries, spring up and flourish in the mellow soil.
On the most barren portions, the blueberry appears almost every-
where; great fields of red raspberries and fire- weed or French
willow spring up along the edges of the beech and hemlock land,
and abundance of red-berried elder and wild red-cherry appears soon
after ; but in a few years the raspberries and most of the herbage
disappear, and are followed by a growth of firs, white and yellow
birch, and poplar. When a succession of fires has occurred, small
shrubs occupy the barren, the Kalmia or sheep-poison being the
most abundant ; and, in the course of ten or twelve years, form
so much turf, that a thicket of small alder begins to grow, under
the shelter of which fir, spruce, hackmatack (Larix Americana)
and white birch spring up. When the ground is thoroughly
shaded by a thicket twenty feet high, the species which originally
occupied the ground begins to prevail, and suffocate the wood
which sheltered it; and within sixty years, the land will generally
be covered with a young growth of the same kind that it produced
of old." Assuming the above statements to be a correct summary
of the principal modes in which forests are reproduced, we may
proceed to consider them more in detail.
1st. Where the forest trees are merely cut down and not
408 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
burned, the same description of wood is immediately reproduced.
This may be easily accounted for. The soil contains abundance
of the seeds of these trees, there are even numerous young plants
ready to take the place of those which have been destroyed ; and
if the trees have been cut in winter, their stumps produce young
shoots. Even in cases of this kind, however, a number of shrubs
and herbaceous plants, not formerly growing in the place, spring
up ; the cause of this may be more properly noticed when describ-
ing cases of another kind. This simplest mode of the destruction
of the forest may assume another aspect. If the original wood
has been of kinds requiring a fertile soil, such as maple or
beech, and if this wood be removed, for example, for firewood, it
may happen that the quantity of inorganic matter thus removed
from the soil may incapacitate it, at least for a long time, from
producing the same description of timber. In this case, some
species requiring a less fertile soil may occupy the ground. For
this reason, forests of beech growing on light soils, when removed
for firewood, are sometimes succeeded by spruce and fir. I have
observed instances of this kind both in Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island.
2nd. When the trees are burned, without the destruction of
the whole of the vegetable soil, the woods are reproduced by a
more complicated process, which may occupy a number of years.
In its first stage, the burned ground bears a luxuriant crop of
herbs and shrubs, which, if it be fertile and not of very great
extent, may nearly cover its surface in the summer succeeding
the fire. This first growth may comprise a considerable variety
of species, which we may divide into three groups. The first of
these consists of those herbaceous plants which have their roots so
deeply buried in the soil as to escape the effects of the fire. Of
this kind are the various species of Trillium, whose tubers are
deeply embedded in the black mould of the woods, and whose
flowers may sometimes be seen thickly spread over the black
surface of woodland, very recently burned. Some species of ferns
also, in this way, occasionally survive forest fires. A second
group is composed of plants whose seeds are readily transported
by the wind. Pre-eminent among these is the species of Epilo-
bium, known in Nova Scotia as the fire-weed or French willow,
(E. angustifoUum), whose feathered seeds are admirably adapted
for flying to great distances, and which often covers large tracts
of burned ground so completely, that its purple flowers com-
DAWSON — RESTORATION OF FORESTS. 409
municate their own colour to the whole surface, when viewed
from a distance. This plant appears to prefer the less fertile
soils, and the name of fire-weed has been given to it in conse-
quence of its occupying these when their wood has been destroyed
by fire. Various species of Senecio, Solidago and Aster, and
Equiseta, Ferns and Mosses, are also among the first occupants
of burned ground ; and their presence may be explained in the
same way with that of the Epilobium, their seeds and spores
being easily scattered over the surface of the barren by wind. A
third group of species, found abundantly on burned ground,
consists of plants bearing edible fruits. The seeds of these are
scattered over the barren by birds which feed on the fruits, and,
finding a rich and congenial soil, soon bear abundautly and attract
more birds, bringing with them the seeds of other species. In
this way, it sometimes happens that a patch of burned ground,
only a few acres in extent, may, in a few years, contain specimens
of nearly all the fruit-bearing shrubs and herbs indigenous in the
country. Among the most common plants which overspread the
burned ground in this manner, are the raspberry, which, in good
soils, is one of the first to make its appearance ; the species of
Vacciniese or whortleberries, and blueberries ; the tea-berry or
wintergreen {Gaultluria procumbens) ; the pigeon-berry (Conias
canadensis) ; and the wild strawberry. It is not denied that
some plants may be found in recently burned districts whose
presence may not be explicable in the above modes; but
no person acquainted with the facts can deny that nearly all
the plants which appear in any considerable quantity within a
few years after the occurrence of a fire, may readily be included
in the groups which have been mentioned. By the simple means
which have been described, a clothing of vegetation is speedily
furnished to the burned district ; the unsightliness of its appear-
ance is thus removed, abundant supplies of food are furnished to
a great variety of animals, and the fertility of the soil is
preserved, until a new forest has time to overspread it.
With the smaller plants which first cover a burned district,
great numbers of seedling trees spring up, and these, though for
a few years not very conspicuous, eventually overtop and, if
numerous, suffocate the humbler vegetation. Many of these
young trees are of the species which composed the original wood,
but the majority are usually different from the former occupants
of the soil. The original forest may have consisted of white or
410 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec,
red pine ; black, white, or hemlock spruce ; maple, beech, black
or yellow birch, or of other trees of large dimensions, and capable
of attaining to a great age. The 'second growth' which suc-
ceeds these usually consists of poplar, white or poplar birch, wild
cherry, balsam fir, scrub pine, alder, and other trees of small
stature, and usually of rapid growth, which, in good soils, prepare
the way for the larger forest trees, and occupy permanently only
the less fertile soils. A few examples will show the contrast
which thus appears between the primeval forest and that which
succeeds it after a fire. Near the town of Pictou, woods chiefly
consisting of beech, maple, and hemlock, have been succeeded by
white birch and firs. A clearing in woods of maple and beech in
New Annan, at one time under cultivation, was, after thirty
years, observed to be thickly covered with poplars thirty feet in
height, presenting a striking contrast to the surrounding woods.
In Prince Edward Island, fine hardwood forests have been succeed-
ed by fir and spruce. The pine woods of Miramichi, destroyed
by the great fire above referred to, have been followed by a second
growth, principally composed of white birch, larch, poplar, and
wild cherry. When I visited this place, twenty years after the
great fire, the second growth had attained to nearly half the
height of the dead trunks of the ancient pines, which were still
standing in great numbers; and in 1866 I found that the burnt
woods were replaced by a dense and luxuriant forest principally of
white birch and hackmatack, and I was informed that some of
these trees were already sufficiently large to be used in ship-
building. This is an instructive illustration of the fact, that
after a great forest fire an extensive region may in less than half
a century be re-clothed with different species from those by which
it was originally covered.
As already stated, the second growth almost always includes
many trees similar to those which preceded it, and when the
smaller trees have attained their full height, these, and other
trees capable of attaining a great magnitude, overtop them, and
finally cause their death. The forest has then attained its last
stage, that of perfect renovation. The cause of the last part of
the process evidently is, that in an old forest, trees of the largest
size and longest life have a tendency to prevail, to the exclusion
of others. For reasons which will be aftenvards stated, this last
stage is rarely attained by the burned forests in countries begin-
ning to be occupied by civilized man, and it is evident that many
1868.] DAWSON — RESTORATION OF FORESTS. 411
circumstances may occur which will prevent this restoration of
the primeval forest.
In accounting for the presence of the seeds necessary for the
production of the second growth, we may refer to the same
causes which supply the seeds of the smaller plants appearing
immediately after the fire. The seeds of many forest trees,
especially the poplar, the birch, and the firs and spruces, are
furnished with ample means for their conveyance through the air.
The cottony pappus of the poplar seems especially to adapt it for
this purpose. The seeds of the wild cherry, another species of
frequent occurrence in woods of the second growth, are dispersed
by birds, which are fond of the fruit ; the same remark applies to
some other fruit-bearing species of less frequent occurrence.
When the seeds that are dispersed in these ways fall in the
growing woods, they cannot vegetate ; but when they are deposit-
ed on the comparatively bare surface of a barren, they readily
grow ; and if the soil is suited to them, the young plants increase
in size with great rapidity.
It is possible, however, that the seeds of the trees of the
second growth may be already in the soil. It has been already
stated, that deeply-buried tubers sometimes escape the effects of
fire ; and, in the same manner, seeds embedded in the vegetable
mould, or buried in cradle hills, may retain their vitality, and,
being supplied by the ashes which cover the ground with alkaline
solutions well fitted to promote their vegetation, may spring up
before a supply of seed could be furnished from any extraneous
source. It is even probable that many of the old forests may
already have passed through a rotation similar to that above
detailed, and that the seeds deposited by former preparatory
growths may retain their vitality, and be called into life by the
favourable conditions existing after a fire.
If, as already suggested, forest fires, in the uncultivated state
of the country, be a provision for removing old and decaying
forests, then such changes as those above detailed must have an
important use in the economy of nature, since by their means
different portions of the country would succeed each other in
assuming the state of ' barrens,' producing abundance of herbs
and wild fruits suitable for the sustenance of animals which could
not subsist in the old woods; and these gradually becoming
wooded, would keep up a succession of young and vigorous
forests.
412 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
3rd. The process of restoration may be interrupted by succes-
sive fires. These are most likely to occur soon after the first
burning, but may happen at any subsequent stage. The re-
sources of nature are not, however, easily exhausted. When
fires pass through young woods, some trees always escape ; and
so long as any vegetable soil remains, young plants continue to
spring up, though not so plentifully as at first. Repeated fires,
however, greatly impoverish the soil, since the most valuable part
of the ashes is readily removed by rains, and the vegetable mould
is entirely consumed. In this case, if the ground be not of great
natural fertility, it becomes incapable of supporting a vigorous
crop of young trees. It is then permanently occupied by shrubs
and herbaceous plants ; at least these remain in exclusive posses-
sion of the soil for a long period. In this state the burned
ground is usually considered a permanent 'barren,' — a name which
does not, however, well express its character ; for though it may
appear bleak and desolate when viewed from a distance, it is a
perfect garden of flowering and fruit-bearing plants, and of
beautiful mosses and lichens. There are few persons born in the
American colonies who cannot recall the memory of happy youth-
ful days spent in gathering flowers and berries in the burnt
barrens. Most of the plants already referred to, as appearing
soon after fires, continue to grow in these more permanent
barrens. In addition to these, however, a great variety of other
plants gradually appear, especially the Kalmia angustifoUa, or
sheep laurel, which often becomes the predominant plant over
large tracts. Cattle straying into the barrens deposit the seeds
of cultivated plants, as the grasses and clovers, as well as of many
exotic weeds, which often grow as luxuriantly as any of the
native plants.
4th. When the ground is permanently occupied for agricultural
purposes, the reproduction of the forest is of course entirely pre-
vented. In this case, the greater number of the smaller plants
found in the barrens disappear. Some species, as the Solidagos
and Asters, and the Canada thistle, as well as a few smaller
plants, remain in the fields, and sometimes become troublesome
weeds. The most injurious weeds found in the cultivated ground
are not, however, native plants, but foreign species, which have
been introduced with the cultivated grains and grasses; the
ox-eye daisy or white-weed, and the crowfoot or buttercup, are
two of the most abundant of these.
DAWSON — RESTORATION OF FORESTS. 413
When a district has undergone this last change, — when the
sombre woods and the shade-loving plants that grow beneath
them have given place to open fields, clothed with cultivated
plants, — the metamorphosis which has taken place extends in its
effects to the indigenous animals; and in this department its
effects are nearly as conspicuous and important as in relation to
vegetation. Some wild animals are incapable of accommodating
themselves to the change of circumstances ; others at once adapt
themselves to new modes of life, and increase greatly in numbers.
It was before stated that the barrens, when clothed with shrubs,
young trees, and herbaceous plants, were in a condition highly
favourable to the support of wild animals ; and perhaps there are
few species which could not subsist more easily in a country at
least partially in this state. For this reason, the transition of a
country from the forest state to that of burned barrens is tempo-
rarily favourable to many species, which disappear before the
progress of cultivation ; and this would be more evident than it
is, if European colonization did not tend to produce a more
destructive warfare against such species than could be carried on
by the aborigines. The ruffed grouse, a truly woodland bird,
becomes, when unmolested, more numerous on the margins of
barrens and clearings than in other parts of the woods. The hare
multiplies exceedingly in young second growths of birch. The
wild pigeon has its favourite resort in the barrens during a great
part of the summer. The moose and cariboo, in summer, find
better supplies of food in second growth and barrens than in the
old forests. The large quantities of decaying wood, left by fires
and wood cutters, afford more abundant means of subsistence to
the tribe of woodpeckers. Many of the fly-catchers, warblers,
thrushes, and sparrows, greatly prefer the barrens to most other
places. Carnivorous birds and quadrupeds are found in such
places in numbers proportioned to the supplies of food which they
afford. The number of instances of this kind might be increased
to a great extent if necessary ; enough has, however, been stated
to illustrate the fact.
Nearly all the animals above noticed, and many others, dis-
appear when the country becomes cultivated. There are, however,
other species which increase in numbers, and at once adapt them-
selves to the new conditions introduced by man. The robin
( Turdus migratorius) resorts to and derives its subsistence from
fields, and greatly multiplies, though much persecuted by sports-
414 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
men. The Junco hy emails, a summer bird in Nova Scotia,
becomes very familiar, building in outhouses, and frequenting
barns in search of food. The song sparrow and Savannah finch
swarm in the cultivated ground. The yellow bird (Sylvia cestiva)
becomes very familiar, often building in gardens. The golden-
winged woodpecker resorts to the cultivated fields, picking grubs
and worms from the ground. The cliff-swallow exchanges the
faces of rocks for the eaves of barns and houses, and the barn
and chimney swallows are everywhere ready to avail themselves
of the accommodation afforded by buildings. The Acadian or
little owl makes its abode in barns during winter. The boblin-
coln, the king-bird, the wax-wing or cherry "bird, and the hum-
ming-bird, are among the species which profit by the progress of
cultivation. The larger quadrupeds disappear, but the fox and
ermine still prowl about the cultivated grounds, and the field-
mouse (Arvicola Pemisylvanica'), which is very abundant in some
parts of the woods, is equally so in the fields. Many insects are
vastly increased in numbers in consequence of the clearing of the
forests. Of this kind are the grasshoppers and locusts, which, in
dry seasons, are very destructive to grass and grain ; the frog-
spittle insects (Cercopis), of which several species are found in
the fields and gardens, and are very injurious to vegetation;
and the Lepidoptera, nearly the whole of which find greater
abundance of food and more favourable conditions in the
burned barrens and cultivated fields than in the growing
woods.
It thus appears that, in the course of between two and three
centuries, large areas of the Acadian provinces have passed
through two or more of the following conditions: — i. that of
primitive forest; ii. that of second-growth forest; iii. that of
the burned barren; iv. that of cultivated fields. Each of these
changes is accompanied with modifications of the animal popu-
lation ; and in primitive states of society each would imply a
change in the habits of the people ; and, if very extensive, might
even cause migrations of tribes and important changes of popu-
lation. In the old world, most countries have passed through
these vicissitudes in very early times, and have subsequently
reached a more stable condition, with more slow and gradual
changes ; and in extensive regions it has usually happened that
the destruction and removal of forests have been effected piece-
meal, so as to extend only over limited areas at one time. The
1868.] DAWSON — RESTORATION OF FORESTS. 415
case of Denmark would seem to have been an exception to this.*
At a very early pre-historic time it seems to have been covered
by forests of Scotch fir. These were destroyed, probably by a
great fire like that of Miramichi. The people perished or were
driven from the country, and were replaced by another race,
while the forests grew up again, but were now composed of oak.
Still more recently the oak forests were replaced by beech. The
stages of unrecorded human history connected in Denmark with
these successive forests, are thus summed up by Steeustrup and
Morlot : — " 1st. A stone period, when the inhabitants were small-
sized men, brachykephalous or short-headed, like the modern
Lapps, using stone implements, and subsisting by hunting ; then
the country, or a considerable part of it, was covered by forests of
Scotch fir {Pinus sylvestris) . 2nd. A bronze period, in which
implements of bronze as well as of stone were used, and the skulls
of the people were larger and longer than in the previous period;
while the country seems to have been covered with forests of oak
(Quercus robur). 3rd. An iron period, which lasted to the
historic times, and in which beech forests replaced those of oak."
All of these remains are geologically recent ; and, except the
changes in the forests, and of some indigenous animals in con-
sequence, and probably a slight elevation of some parts of
Denmark, no material changes in organic or inorganic nature
have occurred.
The Danish antiquaries have attempted to calculate the age of
the oldest of these deposits by considerations based on the growth
of peat, and the succession of trees ; but these calculations are
obviously unreliable. The first forest of pines would, when it
attained maturity, naturally be destroyed, as usually happens in
America, by forest conflagrations. It might perish in this way
in a single summer. The second growth which succeeded would,
in America, be birch, poplar, and similar trees, which would form
a new and tall forest in half a century; and in two or three
centuries would probably be succeeded by a second permanent
forest, which in the present case seems to have been of oak.
This would be of longer continuance, and would, independently
of human agency, only be replaced by beech, if, in the course of
ages, the latter tree proved itself more suitable to the soil,
climate, and other conditions. Both oak and beech are of slow
* Lyell, "Antiquity of Man " ; Lubbock, in Xat. Hist. Eeview.
416 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
extension, their seeds not being carried by the winds, and only to
a limited degree by birds. On the other hand, the changes of
forests cannot have been absolute or universal. There must have
been oak and beech groves even in the pine woods ; and the
growing and increasing beech woods would be contemporary with
the older and decaying oak forest, as this last would probably
perish, not by fire, but by decay, and by the competition of the
beeches. The growth of peat has also been appealed to in con-
nexion with the succession of forests as affording a mark of time ;
but this is very variable even in the same locality. It goes on
very rapidly when moisture and other conditions are favourable,
and especially when it is aided by wind-falls, drift-wood, or
beaver-dams, impeding drainage and contributing to the accumu-
lation of vegetable matter. It is retarded and finally terminated
by the rise of the surface above the drainage level, by the clearing
of the country, or by the establishment of natural or artificial
drainage. On the one hand, all the changes observed in Denmark
may have taken place within a minimum time of two thousand
years. On the other hand, no one can aflirin that either of the
three successive forests may not have flourished for that length of
time. A chronology measured by years, and based on such data,
is evidently worthless ; but it is interesting in connexion with our
present subject to observe, that the remains preserved in the
shell-heaps or 'Kjokkenmodding' of the stone age in Denmark
indicate a wonderful similarity of habits and customs with those
of primitive America, except that the people seem to have borne
a closer resemblance to the Esquimaux than to the ordinary
American Indian.
On the whole, nothing can be more striking to any one
acquainted with the American Indian than the entire similarity
of the traces of pre-historic man in Europe to those which remain
of the primitive condition of the American aborigines, whether we
consider their food, their implements and weapons, or their modes
of sepulture; and it seems evident that if these pre-historic
remains are ever to be correctly interpreted by European anti-
quaries, they must avail themselves of American light for their
guidance. Much of this light has already been thrown on this
subject by my friend Professor "Wilson, in his " Pre-historic
Man;" but one can searcely open any European book on this
subject, or glance at any of the numerous articles and papers on
this fertile theme in scientific journals, without wishing that those
PARKES — RESPIRATION OP INSECTS. 417
who discuss pre-historic man in Europe knew a little more of his
analogue in America. The subject is a tempting one, but I must
close this notice, already too long for the space I should devote
to it, by remarking, that the relations in America of the short-
headed and long-headed races of men are by no means dissimilar
from those of the two similar races in Europe; while it is also
evident that some pre-historic skulls, supposed to be of vast
antiquity, as, for instance, that of Engis, bear a very close resem-
blance to those of the Algonquin and Iroquois Indians.
ON THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM OF INSECTS.
By S. H. Parkes, Birmingham, England.
The subject of the present paper is The Respiratory System
of Insects, and its direct relation to their nervous, nutritive and
muscular functions, and as I trust this will only be the first of a
series of papers on the structure of this remarkable and interesting
class in the animal kingdom, I may perhaps be permitted to make
a few introductory observations.
To some minds the discussion of insect physiology may appear
a well nigh threadbare and exhausted subject, so much having
been said and written on the structure, habits,' and economy of
these creatures. But, like other branches in the great domain of
scientific research, this one has still hidden wonders, which will
repay the labour of diligent and persevering inquiry.
No one ever thinks of asking, " What is a Bird ?" or "What
is a Fish V but the question has yet to be answered satisfactorily
and scientifically, " What is an Insect?" Nor need we wonder
at the difficulty which naturalists have felt, when striving to find
a distinctive name for these creatures ; for of all the living things
which this wondrous world presents to our view, there is no one
class which contains such a strange diversity as that usually
designated Insects.
There are insects with wings, and without wings ; with jaws,
and without jaws ; with two eyes, and with many thousand eyes;
some as large as humming birds, and others so small that the aid
of a microscope is required to enable us to see them. Some
insects, with dainty appetite, sip honey from the nectaries of
flowers; while others, furnished with a pair of terrible jaws, grind
418 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
down the root, bark or trunks of stately forest trees. All sorts
of food is devoured by them in all sorts of ways. There are
honey sippers, blood suckers, cabbage eaters, insect cannibals, and
even, we regret to say, men eaters !
Insects too, have all sorts of odd ways for getting on in the
world. There are creepers, runners, jumpers, fliers, swimmers
and divers. Some take it into their heads to walk heels upwards ;
while others, with as strange a fancy, swim head downwards in
the water. Very queer, too, are the occupations and habits of
these strange little creatures. Some, like hermits, live alone in
the wilderness ; while others form themselves into well ordered
communities, having a queen, government, soldiery and laws.
And what fantastic shapes do they assume ! what a variety of
dresses do they wear ! Beasts, fishes, birds, reptiles, and even
plants, have all their mimic representatives in the insect world.
There are black insects, and white ; blue insects, and grey; insects
with smooth skins, hairy skins, homy skins, and feathery skins.
Some strut about in a bright coat of armour, and others are
decked from " top to toe " with sparkling gems, more brilliant and
dazzling than those of an eastern prince. Some few there are
that encircle themselves with a beautiful halo of light, moving
about like fairy sprites, in the darkness of night.
All sorts of trades and occupations are likewise pursued by
these busy little mortals. There are carpenters, builders, miners,
stone-masons, paper-makers, silk-weavers, sugar-refiners, uphols-
terers, net-makers, fishermen, scavengers, nurses, and even slave-
holders ! with a few tribes of lazy epicures, who seem to think
(like some of their human brethren) that life was given only for
eating, drinking, sleeping and enjoyment. Without insects we
should neither have honey nor wax, scarlet dye nor lac. The
poor silk- weaver would have to look out for another occupation,
and queens, princesses, and aristocratic ladies, would be obliged
to doff their shining robes and satisfy themselves with dresses of
cotton, linen and wool. Fevers and other fearful diseases would
make their appearances in many places for lack of the same useful
tribe of busy little scavengers, and the doctor would shake his
head sorrowfully for want of some potent remedy which some
insects supply. In short, the world could not wag on as comfortably
as it does, if even a single tribe of these much despised creatures
were wanting. And no wonder, for the great Architect has
made no useless thing amid the million curiosities of earth,
1868.] PARKES — RESPIRATION OF INSECTS. 419
however idle or blind man may be in seeking to understand tlie
sublime plan !
As, however, it is not my purpose in this paper to offer a new
designation for these strange and diversified animals, but rather
to describe an important and essential peculiarity in the anatomy
and physiology of the entire class, (which, by the way, might per-
haps forma very scientific groundwork for their classification,) I
will now proceed to the discussion of my subject.
A careful study of the structure and functions of organs, as
developed in the lower animals, has long been considered by com-
parative physiologists, an important and instructive pursuit. We
may thus see functions performed by the simplest possible
structural arrangements, and may learn what are the essentials
of such organs. Dr. Goadby (the once English but now Ameri-
can professor of comparative physiology,) remarks in his beauti-
fully illustrated work on this subject, "that in this class (Insecta)
the most important problem — the ultimate structure of glands —
may be studied with great ease. In the higher animals, these
organs are veiled by a parenchyma, which renders investigation
difficult ; but in insects we find them already analyzed — existing
as simple tubuli, and offering every facility for the most minute
examination of them. When the like organisms in man and the
higher animals have been successfully treated and reduced to
their elemental conditions, lo ! they too, are simple tubes !" Now
with regard to the special function of respiration, I think some
important truths may be elicited, by a careful study of the very
beautiful and elaborate arrangement by which it is effected in
the insect race. It will scarcely be needful to observe — even in
the most casual way — what an important part is played by this
function in the economy of all organized beings. Most animals
can exist for a considerable period without food ; although this is
an essential condition to the continuance of their life. But if the
function of respiration be suspended, even for a very limited
period, death is the speedy and inevitable result. Now the
necessity for respiration in all animals — whether aquatic,
terrestrial or aerial — results from the fact, that a continual decay
takes place during every moment of such an animal's existence.
Waste and renewal form one of the prominent pecularities of
organic life. And one of the peculiar phases of this physiologi-
cal law is, that activity and waste bear a definite relation to each
other. The more active any organ, or set of organs may be, the
420 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
more rapidly does waste occur, and the greater necessity is there
for rapid renewal. One of the results of waste in the animal
economy is, the liberation of carbonic acid ; which carbonic acid
is produced by the union of the broken down carbonaceous par-
ticles of the old body with a portion of oxygen still existing in
the blood. Unless this poisonous carbonic (when thus formed)
be speedily removed, death is the inevitable consequence.
Thus arises the paramount necessity for the exercise of this
function of respiration — which consists essentially in the removal
of carbonic acid from the fluids of an animal's body, and in the
interchange for this of an equivalent amount of oxygen. The
mode by which this is effected, is wonderfully varied in different
classes of animals ; the respiratory apparatus of each great division
being beautifully adapted to the peculiar mode of such animal's
existence, and to the general plan of its structure. But in all
cases, however complicated may be the structural arrangements
this function is performed, it depends essentially on the effective
action of a most exquisitely simple law, usually expressed as that
of ' the diffusion of gases.' Thus : — if a bladder containing
pure oxygen gas be hung up in a room or vessel containing com-
mon atmospheric air, although no distinguishable pores may exist
in the membraneous bag thus containing the gas, still, after a
while, an interchange will have taken place between the internal
and external gases ; and the bladder will ultimately be found to
contain nothing but common air ! This interchange will take
place between other dissimilar gases under the same conditions ;
and thus, the beautifully simple arrangement is provided for the
carrying on of this all important function of respiration. For
it matters not whether an animal may exist in the water or on
the land ; whenever or however the blood (which may have be-
come overcharged with carbonic acid by its passage through the
body) is brought, through the intervention of an enclosing mem-
brane, in contact with oxygen, contained either in water or in the
air, this interchange — of which we are speaking— instantly takes
place, and respiration, or -the revivifying of the blood, is the re-
sult. It would have been interesting to trace the various struc-
tural arrangements by which this is effected in different grades of
animal life ; but this would lead us too far away from the special
subject under consideration. It will, however, be necessary to
make a passing reference to the respiratory apparatus of other
animals ; in order to show clearly the totally distinct, and very
1868.] PARKES — RESPIRATION OF INSECTS. 421
unique means by which it is effected in the insect race. In all
other animals, whether low or high in the scale of being,
wherever there is a circulation of the blood, or nutritive fluid,
and as a consequence, some organ of propulsion termed a heart,
this blood is sent continually to some special region of the body,
where an apparatus is set apart for its constant renewal,
termed lungs, in reptiles, birds and mammals, and gills, in
fishes. Thus, all the blood in the body of a fish is brought suc-
cesssively, through a delicate net work of vessels which spread
over the gills, into direct contact with the water which bathes
every portion of such gills ; and thus the interchange of gases we
have referred to, takes place. In the various terrestrial animals,
however, lungs of different kinds are provided, and to these the
blood is constantly sent, to receive the necessary aeration.
Perhaps we should also remark still further that, according to
the peculiar habits of each class of animals, according to
the slowness or activity of their movements and the feebleness or
vigour of their vascular system, so are their lungs or respiratory
organs modified. For instance, in the cold-blooded and slow
moving Reptile class, the lung is little more than a simple bag,
with a few air chambers lining its interior ; and thus the blood,
which flows through the vascular net-work lining these chambers,
is somewhat slowly brought in contact with the air which is
inspired.
On the other hand, in the case of birds and mammals whose
muscular system is called into active and vigorous play, we find a
most effective and elaborate arrangement, consisting of an almost
innumerable aggregation of elastic air cells, over the walls of
which is spread an immense surface of capillary net-work ; so that,
at every fresh inspiration, a considerable portion of the animal's
blood is exposed to atmospheric influence.
Now of all the diversified grades^ of animals, that add variety,
beauty, vivacity and utility to the wondrous planet on which we
live, there is no one class which exhibits such marvellous evidence
of muscular force, and untiring activity as the class Insecta. We
might therefore — reasoning from analogy — have expected to find
a most elaborate system of arteries and veins, conveying their
blood to and from an equally elaborate and vigorous respiratory
organ. Instead of this, however, we find a sudden and startling-
break, in what appeared to be the uniform and universal organic
arrangement, ordained for the performance of this function ; a
Vol III. Z No 6.
422 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
complete turning upside down of the general plan. Here, in the
Insect body, we have blood, it is true, and a pulsating organ
(termed the dorsal vessel), which appears to give this blood a
somewhat definite and uniform motion through different parts of
the animal's frame. Bat no blood-vessels are any where to be
seen, nor can we discover any one organ set apart for the special
aeration of the vital fluid. But we do find something no less
wonderful and interesting ; nay, I would rather say, immeasur-
ably more interesting and instructive, because illustrative of the
limitless resources of that Infinite Mind which thus condenses and
concentrates within the small dimensions of a point, such an ex-
quisitely perfect and marvelously elaborate vital mechanism !
What is there then, in the anatomy of an insect, which claims
the special and careful attention of a modern physiologist 1 Not
only (I humbly think) the mere structural difference, which I
will now briefly describe, but the physiological inference which
may possibly be deduced therefrom, as to the true nature and im-
mense importance of the respiratory function in the animal
economy. As this paper will be accompanied by a series of
microscopic preparations, illustrative of some of the structural
peculiarities here alluded to, it will not be necessary to give any
lengthened verbal description. I will merely remark, therefore,
that instead of the blood (which flows in grooved channels or
canals through the body of an insect) being forced to one spot to
receive oxygenation, the air is conveyed to it, by means of a most
elaborately arranged system of external breathing mouths, termed
spiracles, and internal air tubes, termed trachea. Although the
plan of respiration is the same essentially in all insects, the modi-
fications of these breathing organs is as wonderfully varied as the
external appearance and peculiar habits of the creatures them-
selves. When it is remembered that insects pass through a series
of metamorphosis, some living in water at one period of their
existence, and then assuming an aerial life ; others burying in the
earth, during their early days, and then coming forth to roam
abroad amid the forest trees ; and when we recollect that almost
all exist under very different external conditions, at different
periods of their changeful history, and that in each of these
states respiration is an indispensible function, we need not be
surprised to find striking and important modifications in the phy-
sical structure of their breathing organs, suited in each case to
the peculiar exigencies of the individual. It will be impossible,
1868.] PARKES— RESPIRATION OF INSECTS. 423
therefore, in tins paper to do more than indicate the prevailing
structure. And first, with regard to the spiracles, or external
breathing organs of these creatures. If you will examine the
body of almost any insect, you will perceive, arranged along each
side of the abdomen and thorax, a series of openings, each bounded
by a dark colored ring. The office of these, is to admit air to
the interior of the animal's body, and to regulate its admission
and expulsion according to existing circumstances. The
essentials of these spiracles appear to be, 1st, a marginal ring of
horny or cartilaginous substance, capable of being opened and
closed by an arrangement of muscles, (thus forming the frame-
work of the spiracle, and serving as a support to the delicate
tubes within) ; and 2nd, a variously arranged membrane, or fringe,
or system of horny plates, placed within this horny ring, for the
purpose of preventing the entrance of dust or other matter, which
might stop up the air passage within, and thus cause the death of
the animal. The number of these spiracles, possessed by different
insects, varies of from two to eighteen ; the number frequently
differing in the same insect, according as it is in its larval or per-
fect state. Iu every order (as before observed) there is some
peculiar modification in the structure of this important organ ;
and even striking variations in different members of the same
order, as will be seen in the specimens sent to illustrate this paper.
It is supposed by some entomologists, that some of these spiracles,
(namely, the abdominal ones,) are specially concerned in the
inspiration of air ; and that those situated in the thorax are
designed for its expulsion. The point most worthy of notice and
admiration, however, in the structure of these orgaus is, the
perfect and exquisitely beautiful manner in which provision is
made for the protection of the elaborate system of vessels to which
they lead. In some beetles, peculiarly liable to be infested by
parasites, (which parasites attach themselves to the softer parts
of the body where the spiracles are placed,) there is a membranous
covering with a narrow opening, thickly studded with sharp spines.
In others, whose habits are of a burrowing character, we fiud the
entrance guarded by an admirable arrangement of horny or
cartilaginous plates, while in many of the dipterous and neurop-
terous insects, there is an elegant arrangement of fringed
processes, which, for beauty as microscopic objects, can scarcely
be surpassed. Some writers have supposed that the humming or
buzzing noises made by many insects, when on the wing, is pro-
424 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
duced by-these spiracle appendages, during the rapid ingress and
egress of the air ; an effect similar to that which is produced by
the sweeping of the air over the strings of an eolian harp.
The most important vital purpose, however, is doubtless
that to which I have already alluded — the protection afforded to
the air vessels within. There is also another important end
which they may serve, and one which, 1 think, has not been
observed by any writer on the subject. It is this : the modifica-
tion of the temperature of the air, as it enters the trachea, and
the preservation of that within the body, at the normal standard
of heat, usually existing in the different members of this class.
For this purpose these fringes and plates and membranous folds,
would be admirably adapted, and would act in precisely the same
way as the metallic framework of a respirator does when
worn by consumptive persons. A question might here naturally
arise, as to the production and maintenance of animal heat in the
insect economy. But the full discussion of this subject would
demand more time than we have at disposal. Many interesting
observations have been made, which show that the temperature of
different insects varies greatly, especially those living in societies
(as the hive bee) whose normal standard of heat is very much
higher than that of other classes. There has been a prevailing
notion that the temperature of insects is altogether regulated by
that of the external atmosphere in which they live, but this opinion
is, I think, at variance with the common principles of animal
physiology; and it is, moreover, contradicted by a variety of
experiments, bearing on this questien. There can be little doubt,
I think, that the standard of heat, in different species of insects, is
regulated very much by the degree of muscular activity mani-
fested by them ; for this would involve a more rapid and vigorous
respiration, and a greater consequent evolution of heat. Without
pursuing this question farther, however, I would remark finally
respecting the spiracles of insects, that however beautiful and
elaborate they may be in their structure, and however perfectly
adapted to the habits and peculiarities of the creatures possessing
them, they are but the portals to an inner sanctuary of wonders,
unspeakably transcending all human contrivances in execution,
and surpassing human thought, even in conception. The fact
that insects breathe, and that their respiration is carried on by
means of an elaborate system of air tubes, which ramify extensive-
ly through the interior of their body, has long been known, and
1868.] PARKES — RESPIRATION OF INSECTS. 425
has been described by writers on this subject. But very few, I
believe, until lately, have been able to show, by actual demons-
tration, to what an almost infinite extent these wonderful air
channels divide and sub-divide, and how they spread over and
penetrate, almost every membrane and fibre of an insect's body.
The principle published accounts of the Respiratory System of
insects, have been descriptive chiefly of the larger species of
lepidopterous caterpillars ; also of colcoptera, neuroptera and
diptera. Preparations of these are of course more easily made
and displayed, than the demonstration of the same system in the
smaller tribes. As the microscope, however, has gradually
been improved, and as microscopic manipulation has also kept
honorable pace in the same onward march, so have the more
minute marvels of this wondrous material world been gradually
unfolded ; and a restless and iusatiate craving has been awakened
in the minds of physical philosophers, which has prompted them
to see and to touch, not only the most minute organs, of the most
minute organism, but even the very molecules of which those
natural substances are composed. The great cry of the
physiological microscopist now is, More magnifying power —
more light. Well, suppose he could obtain both, what would he
then want ? Why, most assuredly — I verily believe — something
which he does not now possess : more mental power ; and a far
more steady and delicate touch, to enable him to handle and
separate such infinitesimal forms of matters. And even then, he
would still " see through a glass darkly," for he would certainly
never touch that invisible essence, which gives vitality to the
visible form ! But this is a digression — for my purpose, in this
paper, has been, not to speak of what is impossible and unattain-
able, but to show what marvellous results have been attained by
patient microscopic research, and by persevering practical mani-
pulation. As an illustration of this, I have had prepared for
examination, not only the larger tracheal system, dissected from
the body of a large caterpillar, but the same system of respiratory
tubes taken from the body of a human flea. In another slide
containing a specimen of Pediculus, the body of the creature has
been rendered transparent, and so mounted, as to show the entire
respiratory system in situ. Preparations will also accompany
this paper, showing the minute ramifications of air vessels over
the stomach of the house fly, and of the honey bee, also over the
nerve ganglia of a caterpillar. In another slide containing the
428 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
contents of the head of the honey bee, may be seen the singular
and somewhat puzzling connection between these air vessels
distended by their peculiar spiral fibres, and the salivary glands
of this insect. In this preparation it will be seen that, instead of
a large spiral vessel, dividing and sub-dividing into extremely
fine tubes, and these tubes ramifying over the part requiring
aeration (as in other cases), these tubes appear to be modified
and converted into the very gland structures themselves ? And
in another slide, may be traced the connection of these wonder-
ful air tubes, with the muscles, the ovaries, and the gizzard of a
flea. Perhaps I should remark by the way, that the existence of
this last mentioned organ, a flea's gizzard, was, some time since,
warmly discussed by a number of microscopists. It is well known
that insects, possessing a suctorial apparatus, are not usually
furnished with a gizzard, of which is essentially a grinding or
triturating organ. But the late Professor Quckett (whom it was
the writer's great privilege to know) asserted in spite of all
opposition, and contrary to analogy, that the flea possessed this
organ; and so it turns out! For the clever little Frenchman
who made this flea preparation for me, has managed to demon-
strate the fact ; and to mount the minute dissection (thus made
with an amazing amount of patient persevering skill) in a
most exquisitely beautiful manner.
But what of these air tubes, about which so much has already
been said ? On examining the preparations which accompany
this paper, you will observe that they consist of two membranous
tubes— one inside the other — and that between these delicate
membranes, there is coiled a spiral fibre which tapers down
smaller and smaller, as the tubes subdivide ; and which continues
its course down to the most minute vessel that the microscope
can reveal. The purpose which this spiral fibre serves, affords a
striking and beautiful illustration of that marvellous design and
adaption, which is exemplified in the whole of the great Creator's
works. As these tubes contain only air, they would be liable to
collapse by the constant pressure of surrounding organs, and still
more by the violent contortions of the animal when moving about
were it not for these spiral fibres, which combine lightness,
firmness, elasticity, and every other needful requisite. So
admirably do they fulfil their intended purpose, that the human
inventor has copied them, to strengthen his elastic india rubber
gas pipes and other tubes of similar character.
1868.] PARKES — RESPIRATION OF INSECTS. 427
But what of the termination, — the ultimate distribution of these
elaborately constructed tubes ? And what of the purpose they
are intended to subserve ? With regard to their distribution ; no
one, perhaps, has gone so far in demonstrating their universality and
extreme fineness, as Dr. Beale, with his 25th-inch object glass, and
with this, which gives a magnifying power of nearly 3000 diameters,
he has traced both air tubes and nerve fibres interlacing and
spreading over the sarcolemma of muscular fibre, taken from the
larva of the blow fly, a single fibre of this insect's muscle being
completely encased in a net work of these inconceiveable minute
and wondrous air tubes, whose very existence requires a power
of 3000 diameters to reveal?
And not only do they thus intertwine about the fibres of an
insect's muscles, but they penetrate the very substance of the
nerve ganglia of the body; entering the head, and spreading over
that optic nerve which receives impressions through ten thousand
compound eye lenses ; penetrating the wings, and giving lightness
and energy to those untiring organs of flight ; spreading over the
stomach and other abdominal viscera ; and aerating every particle
of that blood which bathes and surrounds all the internal organs !
I know not, gentlemen, what your feelings may be when yon
examine with your microscopes such unspeakably wonderful and
complicated organisms, condensed and crowded within an almost
invisible point of space ; and this mechanism vitalized, directed
and controlled during the period of its existence by an individual
will, and by an unerring instinct. I know not, I say, what you may
think and feel about the origiu and design of such manifestations
of constructive wisdom and skill ; but for myself, I can say, it
produces in my mind the most profound emotions of humility
and awe ; nay, rather, I would say, of adoring gratitude to that
Infinite Being, who, while he displays to my astonished sight a
spectacle so grand and glorious, as I look through my telescope
at a starry universe, has also stooped so low, as to lay at my very
feet the same incontestible proofs of His own " Infinite power
and Godhead."
But what of the Physiological necessity for such a complicated
mechanism ? Can we suppose that the mere general aeration of
the blood, such as is supposed to take place in the pulmonary
respiration of higher animals, calls for this excessive elaboration
and minute sub-division of air tubes in the insect economy.
These tubes penetrate and twine about the interior of organs,
428 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
which cannot possibly be bathed as other parts are, by the
nutritive fluid. What is this atmospheric air ? — this component
fluid which all animals must breathe, but which to insects appears
to be pre-eminently " the breath of life." Does it contain some-
thing more than oxygen, carbonic acid and nitrogen ? Is there
not ammonia, and that wonderful substance ozone ? And is it
not the carrier of that still more wonderful something, which we
call electricity ? It may yet appear, as science advances, that in
our respiration, there is something more effected than the mere
interchange of oxygen and carbonic acid, with one or two sub-
ordinate results ; and that the character of the air we breathe,
and the air we live in, is a question of no mean importance to
individuals and to communities. Not only do we, like all other
terrestrial beings, draw this atmospheric air within our bodies,
during the process of respiration, but, like a great ocean, it
encompasses us about on every side. And like that deep and
dark blue ocean of waters, whose restless vicissitude of storm and
calm, is changing our land marks, and modifying our climates ;
so this great ocean of air, carries in its bosom the same wonder-
ous law of mutation. For, the electrical changes which are
constantly taking place in its upper strata, producing sometimes
very sudden hygrometric and thermometric changes in the lower,
regions, must and do affect the conditions of animal health, to
a very great extent. The effect produced by physical alterations
in the atmosphere upon the nervous system of animals, and the
peculiar influence of atmospheric air upon the bodies of animals
(especially upon man) externally, when freely exposed to its
action, have not, we think, had that attention from the scientific
men that the subject deserves.
I must not, however, go further with this subject, but will
conclude by quoting the eloquent language of Dr. Williams;
which langugage he also puts into the form of interrogation.
" What can be the meaning of these incomparable pneumatic
plexuses, which embrace immediately the very ultimate elements
of the solid organs of the body 1 — those minute microscopic air-
tubes, which carry oxygen in its gaseous form, unfluidified by
any intervening liquid, to the very seats of the fixed solids
which constitute the fabric of the organism? The intense
electrical and chemical effects, developed by the immediate
presence of oxygen at the actual scene of all the nutritive
operations of the body, fluid and solid, give to the insect its vivid
1868.] DRTJMMOND — COMPARATIVE FLORAS. 429
and brilliant life, its matchless nervous activity, it3 extreme
muscularity, its voluntary power to augment animal heat. Such
contrivances, subtle and unexampled, reconciles the paradox of a
being, microscopic in corporeal dimensions and remarkable for
the minuteness of the bulk of its blood, sustaining a frame,
graceful in its littleness, yet capable of prodigious mechanical
results."
SOME STATISTICAL FEATURES OF THE FLORA
OF ONTARIO AND QUEBEC,
AND A COMPARISON WITH THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES FLORA.
By A. T. Drummond.
The recent issues by Prof. Gray of a fifth edition of his
Manual of Botany of the Northern United States and by Mr.
Horace Mann of a Catalogue of the Phsenogamous Plants of the
United States east of the Mississippi, have suggested the thought
that with the materials for a flora of Ontario and Quebec, which
have been for some years accumulating, the prominent statistical
characteristics of our local vegetation might now be indicated
with reasonable certainty, and a fair comparison instituted be-
tween them and those of the flora of the United States. That
any statistics given will, in coming years, be altered in consequence
of additions made to our flora, is certain. There is reason to
believe that a considerable number of phgenogamous and filicoid
plants not at present known to occur within our geographical
limits, will yet be detected there. Whilst, however, these statis-
tics are not invested with absolute certainty, they can, I think,
be regarded as fair general conclusions.
The works of Michaux, Pursh, Hooker, Torrey and Gray, etc.,
afford much information regarding the flora of this part of the
continent, but since their publication our knowledge of it has
been greatly extended. Foreign as well as provincial scientific
journals have within the past few years contained valuable papers
on the subject of Canadian botany. The institution of a society,
whose special aim was the promotion of botanical research in our
midst, infused for a time much interest in the study, and resulted
in the accumulation of considerable material for a provincial
flora. Some of the papers and catalogues were published in the
society's ' Annals/ but many are still in manuscript. To these
430 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
latter, as well as to other catalogues in the hands of the editor
of this journal, I have been permitted to have access, and from
them have derived much aid in arriving at the results given
hereafter.*
Endeavours have already been made to bring the flora of
Ontario and Quebec into one connected view. The work of
the Abbe Provancher, in the French language, which was
published some years since, is upon an ample scale, and contains
descriptions of the plants referred to in it, whilst the more recent
brochure of the late Prof. Hubbert is simply an arranged cata-
logue, which was intended as the precursor of his contemplated
Hand-book of the Canadian Flora. Prof. Hubbert's list, in
addition to the results of his own collections, as well as of those
of his correspondents, probably contains all previously published
information bearing on the subject.
The views of authors, of course, vary considerably with regard
to orders, genera and species ; however, for the purposes of
comparison with the flora of the United States, those of Prof.
Gray, as expressed in the recent edition of his Manual of
Botany, are here adopted. Further, it should be premised that
only flowering and filicoid plants are referred to in this paper,
our knowledge of the lower cryptogams being as yet too limited ;
and it should be added that when speaking of the Northern
States and the United States or Union, no more extended
geographical limits are intended than are kept in view in the
Manual on the one hand and Mr. Mann's catalogue on the
other.
The prominent features in the distribution of the plants of
Quebec and Ontario have been indicated in another place. With
regard to the nature of the flora of the United States, it may be,
in a general way, said that in the eastern and central portions of
the Northern States the vegetation embraces a mountain
and a woodland flora, which, excluding the more southern
* In addition to the catalogues cited in the foot note to p. 406, vol. i.
(new series) of this journal, I have had access to those of Dr. Thomas, of
the Kiviere-du-Loup flora, and Dr. J. Bell, of the Maintoulin Island
flora ; to the notes of Prof. Hincks on Toronto plants (through Prof.
Hubbert), and to the elaborate lists of Dr. McLaggan and Mr. John
Macoun, the former of whom collected in different sections of the pro-
vinces, but chiefly in the western peninsula, and the latter in the vicinity
of Belleville.
1868.] DRUMMOND — COMPARATIVE FLORAS. 431
forms, is similar to that of Ontario and Quebec; that as the
Mississippi is approached there is a transition to a prairie flora
in some districts, and in others to the flora of the western plains
and wooded country ; that along the Atlantic coast there is a
maritime flora, some former members of which now occur in
special inland localities; that the line of distribution of many of
the United States plants has a north-westward trend ; and that
the Southern States have their semi-tropical species, many of
which do not range as far as, whilst others extend within, the
geographical limits of the Northern States. All these circum-
stances largely affect the number and character of the species in
each region.
In our two Provinces there are representatives of one hundred
and fourteen natural orders. Of these Magnoliacese, Melasto-
niacese, Dipsacese, Bignoniacese, Pbytolaccacea3, Lauracess,
Ceratophyllacefe, Platanaceae, Amaryllidaceas, Commelynacese,
and Xyridacese, are, as far as known, confined to Ontario, No
order is, however, peculiarly provincial ; all have their represent-
atives in the Northern States among the one hundred and thirty-
two orders which embrace the flora of that section of the Union.
It is nevertheless a not uninteresting circumstance that, although
there are eighteen of these Northern States orders which have no
place in our Provincial flora, they comprise only thirty-five
species, most of which are Southern States forms.
The geuera which have representatives in Ontario and Quebec
number 575, of which 428 are dicotyledenous, 124 are monoco-
tyledenous, and 23 comprise the filicoid plants.
Of indigenous genera five are unknown south of the Great
Lakes. These are Cochlearia, Crepis, Armeria, Pleurogyne, and
Eheagnus, each of which comprises a single species. Crepis and
Elaeagnus are, with us, only found along the upper lakes, and are
probably entirely western in their distribution, whilst the remain-
ing three are of semi-arctic range. In addition to the above
there are some introduced genera, as Scabiosa, Tragopogon, Ajuga,
and Borago, which apparently have not been noticed in the
United States. Within the geographical limits of Prof. Gray's
work are 834 genera, 631 of which are dicotyledonous, 175
monocotyledonous, and 28 are filicoid. There are thus 263 genera
in the Northern States which are without either indigenous or
introduced representatives in either Ontario or Quebec.
The relative numerical proportion of monocotyledonous and
432 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
dicotyledonous genera decreases from our section of the continent
southward. Thus, in Ontario and Quebec monocotyledons are to
dicotyledons as 1:3.46; in the Northern States as 1:3.61, and in
the whole of the States east of the Mississippi as 1:4.13. The
numerical relations of filicoid to phaenogamous genera present
much more marked differences. In the Provinces the proportion
is as 1:24, whilst in the Northern States it is as 1:28.9.
The relative positions of the orders with respect to the number
of genera in them vary to some, though not to any considerable,
extent in the two countries. In the Northern States and the
whole Union these relative positions are not much different.
Composites and Graminae, however, assume the precedence there
in each case as well as here. Arranging the large orders repre-
sented in each country according to priority in point of number
of included genera, the following results are presented :
In Oti'ario and Quebee-
Composite 56 Filices, Liliaceae and Umbellifeae, each 19
Graminae 47 Cruciferae and Rosacea?, " 17
Labiatae 24 Ranunculaceae and Scrophulariaceae, " 15
Ericaceae 22 Orchidaceae 14
Leguminosae 21 Caryophyllaceae 12
In Northern States.
Compositae 86 Umbelliieraeae 27
Graminae 67 Scrophulariaceae 25
Leguminosae 39 Filices 22
Labiatecleae 33 Ranunculaceae and Cruciferae, each.. . . 20
Liliaceae and Ericaceae, each 28 Rosaceae 18
Of the 576 genera in the two Provinces, 291 or rather more
than one-half, are referable to the twelve orders which take
precedence in the first of these lists. The aggregate of the
genera in the second list barely attains the half of the whole
number of genera which have representatives in these States.
The largest interest is of course invested in the species which
occur within our geographical limits, and in the numerical
relations of the orders and genera with regard to the species
which they embrace. The details given with respect to them
will be less wearisome.
Recent discoveries have confirmed the occurrence in Canada of
several species whose previous claims to a place in our flora rested
solely on the authority of Michaux or Pursh. I have therefore
experienced a reluctance to exclude any of their species — unless
the occurrence of the plant is very improbable — on the mere
ground that it has not been noticed by subsequent observers.
This reluctance is increased by the circumstance that the Lake
Superior and lower St. Lawrence districts, where many, if not
1S68.] DRUMMOND — COMPARATIVE FLORAS. 433
most, of these species are supposed to occur, have received but a
limited exploration. Though Sabbatia gracilis, Utricular ia,
subulata, and Ilex glabra are probably errors, I have had no
hesitation in admitting Rhododendron maximum, Phlox macu-
lata, TricJtostema dichotomum, Andromeda tetragona, and even
Gnaphalium sylvaticum, which occurs in Labrador and may very
well be found within our extreme north-eastern limits. The
same course in admitting or rejecting species has been adopted
with regard to other authors.
Special reference will hereafter be made to introduced plants.
Here, in order to exhibit the mass of the vegetation of each
country and the relative proportions which classes, orders and
genera bear to one another with regard to the entire number of
species which they include, both indigenous and introduced
plants are, without distinction, embraced in the statistics of species
now given.
As far as considerable care can extend the catalogue, there are
1,676 flowering and filicoid plants in Ontario and Quebec. Of
these, 1,161 are referable to dicotyledonous, 450 to monocoty-
ledouous, and 65 to filicoid species. Monocotyledons are thus to
dicotyledons as 1:2.5, and to phsenogams as 1:3.5. In the
Northern States the relative numerical proportions are almost
identical, and the extension of the comparison to the whole Union
does not much alter them. The large number of monocoty-
ledonous species is very remarkable, and evinces a climate and
physical conditions very favourable to these plants. Again,
filicoid plants are to phsenoganis in the Provinces as 1 to 25,
whilst in the Northern States they are as 1 to 28.7.
Some facts of considerable interest are presented by the
relations which the different orders bear to one another, and to
flowering plants, with respect to the number of included species.
In ten natural orders are grouped nearly one-half of our in-
digenous and introduced species, and eighteen orders represent
about two-thirds of them. Another interesting feature which
appears quite as conspicuous in the United States flora, is that
CyperaceEe, Graminse, Orchidacese, and Liliaceas embrace the
greater portion of our endogenous plants. Again, in the United
States, east of the Mississippi, the Compositae number l-7th, and
the Cyperacese 1-1 lth of the entire phaenogamous flora ; whilst in
the Provinces the same orders comprise nearly l-9th and 1-llth,
and in the Northern States l-8th and 1-1 0th respectively. The
434 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [D
ec.
grasses bear very nearly the same relations to flowering plants —
1 -1 2th to l-13th — in the three divisions of country mentioned,
xlmong other orders there are some marked differences in the
proportions as they are exhibited in the different geographical
regions ; — in some the species proportionably increase from Canada
southward ; in others, the reverse of this is the feature. The five
examples cited below will illustrate these particulars : —
Ontario Northern United
and Quebec. States. States.
Leguminoseas i-2gth i-2ist i-iSth
Euphorbiaceae 1-95^ i~72nd i-58th
Rosacea? i-25th i-32nd i-40th
Cruciferae i-3ist i-39th i-49th
Ericaceae J-34th i-38th i-43rd
Among the smaller orders there are instances quite as marked.
Convolvulacese increases from eight species within our limits to
twenty-four in the Northern States, and forty-one in the whole
Union ; and the Malvaceae are similarly augmented from eight to
twenty-two and forty-four ; whilst in Cupuliferae the species, in
which are sixteen, twenty-three, and thirty-one, respectively, the
numbers proportionally diminish. These circumstances tend, of
course, to indicate the well-known facts, that, whilst some of the
orders mentioned are semi-tropical and southern temperate, others
are more abundant in the northern temperate regions of America.
The number of species occurring within our limits in each of
the large orders is indicated below. To admit of a comparison
being more easily made, the numbers in the same orders in the
United States are placed in parallel columns.
Ontario Northern United
and Quebec. States. States.
Composite 194 324 481
Cyperaceae 155 248 336
Graminae 124 212 287
Rosaceae 65 81 92
LeguminosEe 55 120 199
Cruciferae 51 65 74
Ericaceae 47 68 84
Labiatae 47 76 108
Orchidacese 46 57 71
Scrophulariaceae 44 66 94
Filices 44 57 76
Liliaceae 42 62 78
Caryophllaceae 34 33 70
Polygonacese 34 38 54
Umbeiliferae 28 45 58
To somewhat complete the parallel drawn, it will be useful to
bring to view the number of species in the more important
genera of Ontario and Quebec and of the Northern States. To
extend the comparison to the flora of the Southern States may
diminish its interest, as many of the conspicuous genera there are
1868.] DRUMMOND— COMPARATIVE FLORAS. 435
but scantily or not at all represented north of the Great Lakes or
in the valley of the St. Lawrence. The carices, it will be observed,
constitute nearly l-14th of our flowering plants. The asters
comprise thirty-one and the solidagos twenty-six species— the
larger number in each case being in Ontario — and together form
l-28th of phasnogams. The maximum development of these two
genera is probably in the Northern States, but they do not there
form so conspicuous a relation to the entire vegetation as, though
they comprise seventy-eight species, they constitute but l-33rd of
the flowering plants. Along the northern banks of the lower St.
Lawrence and among the Laurentide hills to the northward, the
same genera are, in both number of species and individuals of
each species, poorly represented ; and in the effect which they
elsewhere have upon the aspect of the shubby and herbaceous
vegetation, they are replaced by Cornus Canadensis and Vpc-
ciniums
Ontario and Quebec. Northern States.
Carex 118 Carex 153
Aster 31 Aster ., 4I
Solidago 26 Solidago 37
Polygonum ici Juncus 26
Ranunculus and Juncus, each i§ Potamogeton and Euphorbia, each. .. . 23
Saiix 17 Polygonum 22
Viola 16 Cyperus and Scirpus, each 21
Euphorbia and Habenaria, each 15 Panicum and Helianthus, each 20
Panicum 14 Desmodium and Ranunculus, each iq
Potamogeton and Rumex, each 13 Habenaria x$
Poa 12 Quercus, Viola and Eleocharis, each. . 17
Vaccinium 11
Common to Ontario and Quebec on the one hand, and to the
Northern United States on the other, there are no less than 1,591
flowering and filicoid plants. Of these, 1,089 are dicotyledonous,
440 monocotyledonous, and 62 filicoid species. There are
thus eighty-five species which are without representatives
across the border. Of these, however, it should be specially
observed nineteen are manifestly introduced, and there are there-
fore only sixty-six indigenous plants which, as between the
two Provinces and the Northern States, are peculiar to the
former. There is thus a very marked similarity between the
floras of these two sections of country. The indigenous species
referred to include the following : —
Anemone narcissiflora, L. Vesicaria arctica, Richn.
Thalictrum alpinum, L. Draba hirta, L.
Ranunculus affinis, R. Br. D. muralis, L.
R. cardiophyllus, Hook. Thlaspi montanum, L.
Caltha natans, Pallas. Cochlearia tridactylites, DC.
Aquilegia vulgaris, L. Arenaria arctica, Steven.
Arabis patula, Graham sp. Linum perenne, L.
A. brachycarpa, Torr. & Gray sp. Astragalus Labradoricus, DC.
A. retrofracta, Graham. Dryas octopetala, L.
Erysimum lanceolatum, R. Br. D. Drummondii, Hook.
436
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
Geum geniculatum, Michx.
Rubus arcticus L.
Rosa stricta, Lindl.
Epilobium tetragonum, L.
Ribes oxyacanthoides, L.
Saxifraga Grcenlandica, Hook.
S. nivalis, L.
Angelica lucida, L.
Sium latifolium, L.
Cornus suecica, L.
Nardosmia frigida, Hook.
Aster Lamarckianus, Nees.
A. cornuti, Nees.
Matricaria inodora, L.
Gnaphalium sylvaticum, L.
Antennaria Carpathica, R. Br,
Senecio canus, Hook.
Hieracium vulgatum, Fries.
Crepis runcinata, T. & G.
Andromeda tetragona, L.
Ledum palustre, L.
Armeria vulgaris, L.
Penstemon gracilis. Nutt.
Pedicularis palustris, L.
Melampyrum pratense, L.
Mertensia Sibirica, Don.
M. pilosa, Don.
Gentiana acuta Mx. v. stricta, Hook.
Pleurogyne rotata, L.
Rumex acetosa, L.
R. domesticus, Hartm.
Elaeagnus argentea, Ph.
Salix reticulata, L. var. vestita.
Alisma natans, Ph.
Echinodorus subulatus, Engel.
Iris tridentata, Ph.
Eriophorum capitatum, Host.
E. russeolum, Fries.
Carex Macounii, Dew.
Carex bicolor, Allioni.
C. ovata, Rudge.
Elymus Europseus, L.
Triticum Macounii, Dew.
Asplenium viride, Hudson.
Woodsia hyperborea, R. Br. *
Equisetum littorale, Kuhl.
A critical examination of the above catalogue suggests some
remarks. Ranunculus affinis and R. cardiopliyllus will by
some authors be referred to R. auricomus Linn., which, however, is
a known British-American plant, and is absent from the United
States flora; Geum geniculatum, Angelica lucida, and Aster
cornuti are species of which not much is known ; Carex Macounii
and Triticum Macounii were only discovered about two years
since, and, when their range is more fully known, may be found
to occur south of the lakes; Sium latifolium Prof. Gray rejects
from his manual as erroneously applied to the broad-leaved form of
& linear e Michx., and here a similar mistake may probably have
been made ; and Equisetum littorale perhaps requires confirmation.
Prof. Gray, again, in the manual, takes no notice of Arab-is
brachycarpa, which Torrey and Gray locate at Fort Gratiot,
Michigan ; of Nardosmia frigida (to which N. sagittata Hook.
is referred) which, on Pursh's authority, occurs on the highest
mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire; of Ledum palustre,
whose occurence in Vermont and Pennsylvania is mentioned by
Beck ; or of Penstemon gracilis, to which Wood gives a place in
his flora, with Chicago as a locality. It should be further
observed that Matricaria inodora is adventive though not native
in Maine. Aster borealis, Prov., if a good species, and not a
variety of A. aestivus, must be added to the list. If the twelve
^Editor's Note. — My esteemed correspondent, the late Mr. Horace
Mann, sent me specimens of this fern, collected by himself on Willough-
hy Mountain, Vermont. Lycopodium alpinum, long known as a New-
foundland plant, may be added to this list ; it occurs on the north shore
east of Point de Monts, and probably elsewhere. D. A. "W.
1868.] lov£n — LESKIA MIRABILIS. 437
species referred to be rejected from the catalogue, there still
remains fifty-four species unrepresented in the Northern States.
In connection with the non-occurrence of these plants in the
Northern States, their range becomes a subject of considerable
( interest. Speaking generally, some are of semi-arctic and boreal
types, and only occur in the more northern or otherwise suitable
stations ; others are entirely western in their distribution ; whilst
there are a few which are sparingly distributed in the Provinces,
or with whose range we have but a limited acquaintance.
Ranunculus affinis, Tlialictrum alpinum, Vesicaria arctica,
Cochlearia tridactylites, Saxifraga Grcenlandica and 8. nivalis
are peculiar to the arctic climate, and, with the exception of the
Ranunculus and Cochlearia, are also denizens of the coasts of
Greenland. Artnaria arctica, an interesting discovery of which
was not long since made at Muskoka Lake, Ontario, by one of
Prof. Hincks's students ; Dryas Brummondii, a pretty species in
the Gaspe collections of Dr. Bell; Astragalus Labradoricus,
Rubus arcticus and Pleurogyne rotata are examples of a less
arctic type, though the little Arenaria penetrates the polar
regions beyond Whale Sound on the West Greenland coast.
Ribes oxyacanthoides is said by Torrey and Gray to occur
throughout Canada; and Caltha natans, Aquilegia vulgaris,
Linum perenne, Rosa stricta, Matricaria inodora and Elcmgnus
argent ea are probably limited to the north western parts of
Ontario, and may be looked for in the neighbouring districts of
the Northern States.
ON LESKIA MIRABILIS (GRAY).
By Prof. S. Loven.
♦Communicated by Dr. Christian Lutken, Assistant Zoologist in the Museum of
the University, Copenhagen.
This little paper, inserted in the Proceedings of the Royal
Swedish Academy for 18G7, well deserves the attention of
paleontologists, though its principal aim is to redescribe a little-
known recent Sea-Urchin from the Eastern Seas, because this
animal throws a peculiar light on certain important points in the
morphology of Cystidea. It is, moreover, distinguished by all
the ingenuity, accuracy, and profound knowledge which is peculiar
to the works of the celebrated Scandinavian zoologist.
* From the Geological Magazine, vol. v., p. 179.
Vol. III. B No. 5.
438 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
The genus Leskia is described, in 1851, by Dr. J. E. Gray, in
the " Annals," and subsequently, in 1855, in the Catalogue of
Recent Echinida, from specimens from Lugard, in Mr.
Cummings's collection. It is most intimately allied to the
Spatangidae, of which it has the general stamp, but is distinguish-
ed from them, and therefore the type of a peculiar family
(Leskiadce Gray) or tribe {Palcvostomata Loven) by the peristome
and periproct being closed up with a few " triangular converging
valves," those of the vent with some small " spicula" in the centre.
Dr. Gray has already remarked that " in the form of the mouth
and vent it has considerable affinity with the fossil Cystidea,
especially the genus Echinosphserites." The detailed description
given by Prof. Love'n quite confirms this remarkable combination
of features ; the characters assigned to the Palasostomata are
as follows: " testa oviformis, peristomium non labiatum, pentago-
num, cequilaterale, ore quinqueralis, anus intra periproctium
centralis, valvis clausur quinque octo ; aperturce genitales Linos ;
semita unica peripetalaT Leskia is a true Spatangoid, save the
mouth and the vent ; the latter, instead of being surrounded by a
threefold circle of minute plates, the greater and outermost, has only
five, seven, or eight great triangular outer plates, and an equal num-
ber of minute inner papilla?. The peristome is not bilabiate with
a prominent under-lip, nor is it formed principally by the ambula-
cral plates ; it is pentagonal, and bordered almost exclusively by
the interambulacralia ; there is no buccal membrane covered with
three to five series of irregular plates, decreasing inwards, but
the mouth is closed up by five equal triangular plates, inserted on
the five sides of the peristome. " No living Echinid has such a
mouth;" but the author thinks that the genus Toxaster of the
1 Neocomien Inferieur,' whose peristome was pentangular, not
labiate, might possibly — though the configuration of its mouth
somewhat more approaches to that of the true Spatangidae — have
had a similar organization.
In the Silurian Cystidea again, we find precisely the same
structure as in the recent East Indian Sea-urchin, viz., in the
commonly so-termed c ovarian pyramid,' which, after the opinions
of Gyllenhal, Wahlenberg, Pander, Hisinger, de Koninck, and
Billings, is really the mouth, whilst Von Buch, with some incon-
sistence, makes it the mouth of Caryocrinus, but the genital outlet
in the other Cystidea, and Joh. Muller and Volborth sought the
mouth in the centre of the converging ambulacral furrows. The
1868.] LOVEN— LESKIA MIRABILIS. 439
remarkable observations on Sphceronites pomum and Echinospha'-
rites aurantium, by means of which Prof. Loven draws the con-
clusion that Leskia is a Spatangoid with the mouth of a Cysti-
dean, we will give with his own words. (See figures on page 443.)
" Good specimens of Sphceronites pomum GylL, collected by
Prof. Angelin, show its organization more distinctly than usual.
He had observed that this animal had no stalk, but adhered im-
mediately to rocks or other objects through a part of its lower
surface, which is without pores, and surrounded by a ridge form-
ed of the somewhat thickened, free, smooth border of the under-
most plates. This surface of attachment is of a very variable
form and extension in different specimens, — round and but little
excavated in some, oblong and deep in others, — depending upon
the nature of the object to which it adhered. On the point
opposite to this basal surface lies the apex with the ambulacral
apparatus. In the middle of a somewhat deepened area d, through
which five delicate but distinct ambulacral furrows pass towards
five arms, whose bases form a circle, which however is broken at/*,
one-fifth of its circumference. Where the furrows reach the arms,
they will be seen to pass into an oblong hole e, which is the lumen
of the broken furrow of the lost arm : in every remaining arm-
base you will see an indication of the branching of the arms and
of the central channels of the branches. Close up to the ambula-
cral circle lies the ' pyramid' or mouth a, closed by its five valves
of unequal dimensions ; two of them are emarginate on one side
in order to give space to the two adjoining outermost arms,
which are less than the others, and, as it were, crippled, the right
by its vicinity to an oral valve, the left by an apparatus b, that
cannot be interpreted otherwise than as an external genital organ.
When it is tolerably well preserved, it is conical, with a rounded
apex, without any terminal aperture ; for vestiges of valves I have
sought in vain, but in two specimens I found the two pores
indicated in the figure. From this organ a ridge c runs towards
the next arm, suggesting the idea of the possible existence of a
' madreporite.' The centre of the brachial apparatus forms
with the genital organ and the oral orifice a compressed but only
slightly inequilateral triangle. In Echinosphcerites aurantium
the relative position of these parts is the same, but the triangle
which they form with each other is much larger, longer, and
more inequilateral, because the distances are greater, especially
that of the mouth from the ambulacral apparatus, which is cor-
440 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
rectly described and delineated by Volborth and Joh. Muller.
Close to this is seen the other l orifice,' viz., the external genital
organ. All specimens that I have examined have this so-termed
' orifice' in such a condition that it most likely is the remnant
of a prominent broken part, and it must be assumed that in this
species also it had a conical form, but remained mainly in the
surrounding stone-matrix. Volborth's figure (Ueber die Russis-
chen Sphaeroniten, x. ix. f. 9) appears to be correct, but gives no
complete evidence as to the presence of the three valves. That
the ' pyramid,' which in Leskia is the armature and covering of
the mouth, is the same thing in Cystidea, is now quite certain ;
in the last-named group it was, doubtless, also the vent. The
mouth does not lie where J. Muller and Yolborth sought for it,
viz., in the centre of the ambulacral furrows ; and the organ, inter-
preted as the vent by Volborth and Yon Bueh, is more correctly
regarded as an external sexual organ."
It is not my intention to criticise the various interpretations of
the morphology of Cystidea given by different authors, or to
trespass on the space here allowed me by a detailed examination
of all the questions entangled with them. But should I venture
to express any humble opinion of my own on this important point
in the morphology of Echinodermata, I must first confess that
hitherto I have been very sceptical as to the theory advocated so
very ingeniously by Mr. Billings and now upheld by Mr. Loven.
The concordance between these two authorities is nevertheless
not so great as would be supposed — that the ' pyramid' was the
mouth of the Cystidea, and that this orifice accordingly would
lie elsewhere than in the centre of the ambulacral system, where
it lies in all living Echinoderms and (I may add, where it did lie,
I have no doubt, also in the Palaeozoic Crinoids, where no super-
ficial ambulacral channels are to be seen, but where they pursued
their way on the inferior surface of the 'vault' through the
1 ambulacral orifices' at the base of the arms, — as shown by
Mr. Billings, with those researches (see Decades Geol. Survey of
Canada) I was, I regret, unacquainted when I wrote my paper
on Pentacrinus, etc.) I know no other exception to this rule;
and would it not be a dangerous thing — not to be done without very
strong arguments — to give up the leading principle of Palaeonto-
logy, viz., that only from the organization of the living form can
we learn to understand that of the extinct ? Might we not thus
too often run the risk of giving up ourselves to the delusions of
1868.1 LOVfiN — LESKIA MIR.ABILIS. 441
fancy I When we remember how minute and concealed the mouth
often is in recent Crinoids, we should not be puzzled at its being
almost or quite invisible m fossils; and if we should search for
the interpretation of an orifice, closed by a definite tow number ot
triangular valves, will not several recent Eohimda {EcUnocidaris,
EcUnometra «,*«««, Leskia itself,) give us the answer that
such an aperture could (at least) be a vent? Nor can I well
conceive that an aperture should altogether fad to exis tin the
centre of the ambulacral system of Cystidea. How otherwise
could the ambulacral vessels communicate with the interior ?
And if such an orifice must be assumed (though it be often
obliterated and hidden in the fossils), why should not this apical
or ambulacral orifice be also the mouth as in Astendse and
recent Crinoids, and the valvular orifice be the vent, analogous
to the proboscis of the Palaeolithic Crinoids, or the oral tube
of the living ?* The superiority of size of the presumed mouth is
not as Mr! Billings thinks, a very good argument. Has not
the' anal tube in many of our recent Crinoids (Antedcn, Actinome-
tra Pmtacrbms) the same preponderance over the minute buccal
orifice ? Nor has the repeated revision of the published descrip-
tions of other Cystidea, accessible to me, convinced me of the
correctness of a theory, according to which the mouth would, in
many instances, lie very far from the arms, sometimes nearer to
the base (the stalk or point of attachment) than to the apex of
the calyx The argument deduced in later times from the
presumed existence of five similar peristomatic valves in the
recent Pentacrini, I have elsewhere had the opportunity of
refuting ;t no such hard " clapets" are to be seen m P. Mullen
and until their existence is proved in other recent Pentacrini I
must doubt, or rather deny, their existence at all !| On the other
hand I must confess that matters are considerably altered by
these' hi-hly valuable investigations of Prof. Loven, who, for the
first tinTe, supports this theory with strong (perhaps convincing)
' The analogy between the valvular aperture of Caryocrinus and the
• prohoscS of Crinoids is also argued hy Mr. Billings (Bee. No.3,p. 22).
, Oni Vestindiens Bentacrinen, p. 205 iVidempel. Meddel. f. d. Natur-
hist Porneing, 1864). ,
t Brof Loven told me himself that during his last stay m Bans he
succeeded in getting access to the original specimen of Mr. Dachassamg
Tthe collection o/the late Mr.Michelin. It did not show the five
valves, because it had no peristome at all !
442 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
arguments. It is now no longer a mere hypothetical supposition
— hitherto it was in reality no more — but a real scientific explana-
tion, borne out by well established facts and undeniable analo-
gies from living forms.* To Dr. Gray we certainly owe the first
intimation of this analogy between Leskia and Cystidea, but
while the knowledge of that genus rested on a single examination,
there might still linger some doubt whether its importance in this
respect had not possibly been overrated. Science, therefore, must
be highly indebted to Prof. Loven for his small but valuable
memoir, and for the excellent observations laid down in it. The
absolute denying of the existence of an apical orifice in that place
where, in other Cystidea at least, such an orifice was also believed
to exist, is particularly recommended to the attention of future
investigators of Cystidea, as bearing upon the very heart of the
question. Adhuc sub jadice lissit !
NOTE BY E. BILLINGS, F.G.S.
Professor Liitken is certainly mistaken when he makes use of
the expression, " It is now no longer a mere hypothetical supposition,
hitherto it was in reality no more," etc. The earlier Palaeonto-
logists, Gyllenhal, Wahlenberg, Pander and Hisinger, described
the valvular orifice of the Cystidea as the mouth, but they never
proved it to be so. Indeed they could not do so, for the data, i. e.,
the structure and functions of the arms of the Crinoids living in
the sea at the present time, were not known. In 1845 Leopold
von Buch pronounced the aperture in question to be an ovarian
orifice, and the small one in the apex the mouth. His views
were adopted by Prof. E. Forbes, in his beautiful memoir on the
British Cystidea and by Prof. J. Hall in the Palaeontology of
New York. In my first attempt at describing fossils, in 1854, I
followed these three last named distinguished Naturalists, in a
paper on the Cystidea of the Trenton Limestone at Ottawa,
published in the Canadian Journal. But in 1858, while re-
investigating the subject for my Decade, (No. 3,) I saw that they
were wrong, and proved it according to the ordinary rules of com-
parative anatomy. If any organ of an extinct animal is the exact
homologue of an organ possessed by an existing species (of the
the same zoological group), its function must have been the same.
* To these analogies might be added, that between the valves of
Cystidese and those of the young (larval) Antedon.
1868.]
LOVfN — LESKIA MIRABILIS.
443
Fig. 1.
© 00©i©©
rig. 3.
Fig. 4. Fig. 5.
Fig. 1. Mouth and adjoining parts of LesJcia mirdbilis Gray. Fig. 2.
Vent of the same. Figs. 3 and 4. The mouth of Echinospli(Brites auran-
tium Gyll. Fig. 5. The apex of Sphwronites pomum Gyll. (a.) The
mouth, (b .) The genital process, (c.) Its ridge, (d.) The ambulacral
area with its furrows, (e.) The lumen of the furrows. (/.) The base
of the five arms.
444 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
The principal office of the arms of the existing Crinoids is the
maturing of the ova. On comparing the arms of the extinct
Crinoids with those of the species living at the present day, we
find that both have the same anatomical structure and, con-
sequently, they are all the homologues of each other. The small
apertures, at the bases of the arms of the ancient species, are the
passages through which the ovarian tubes and the vessels of the
ambulacral system gained access to the grooves and pinnulae.
Their functions were first pointed out in my Decade. The arms
of the Cystidea are the homologues of those of the Crinoids.
This at once proves that, in the Cystidea, the orifice at the apex,
which in all cases opens out into the grooves of the arms, is the
ovarian aperture. The large lateral orifice is undoubtedly the
exact homologue of the valvular opening in the summit of
Caryocrinus which is admitted by all to be the mouth. I
proved all this in my Decade, and consequently in 1858, the
date of the publication of that work, the theory that the lateral
aperture of the Cystidea is the mouth, ceased to be a mere
hypothetical supposition as Dr. Liitken calls it.
The Cystideans are rare fossils ; few Palaeontologists have
occasion to examine them, and consequently only a few have given
their opinion on this vexed question since 1858. J. W. Salter, the
celebrated English Palaeontologist says : "I strongly suspect Mr.
E. Billings is right ; this is the anal, not the ovarian Pyramid,"*
thus partly adopting my views. Prof. Wyville Thompson also
agrees with me that it is not the ovarian orifice, but then he
strongly opposes me in the view that it is the mouth on
the same ground, that is alluded to by Dr. Liitken, i.e., that
it is not situated in the centre of the radial system. f Prof.
J. D. Dana has recognised it as the homologue of the oral
and anal aperture of the Criniods, which is exactly the opinion
advocated in my Decade^ ; and now it gives me much satisfaction
to add the illustrious name of Prof. S. Loven to this short
list.
With regard to the grounds taken by Prof. Wyville Thompson
and Dr. Liitken, I freely admit that if it is impossible for an
Echinoderm to have the mouth situated anywhere except in the
* Memoirs ot the Geological Survey of England, vol. iii, p. 286.
t Edinburgh New. Phil. Jour. vol. xiii p. 112.
\ Manual of Geology p. 162.
1868.] DE SOLA — THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 445
ambulacral centre, then my theory falls to the ground. But all
experience in Palaeontology has proved over and over again, that
although we can show that the extinct animals, whose remains we
find buried in the earlier formations, possessed organs identical in
their functions with those of the existing races, yet they were not
always combined together in the same manner. As an example
we have only to refer to the Crinoidea. In the few species known
to live in the seas of the present day, the mouth and the vent are
separate orifices ; but in the palaeozoic species they were combined
into one. Why, then, is it impossible that the mouth and radial
centre, which are now united, could not be separate in the earlier
ages ? This question, however, can be decided without argument.
I have specimens lying before me, in which we can see the mouth
and also the radial centre, and at the same time see that they are
not in the same place. A long train of reasoning is not necess-
ary,— only simple inspection.
A FEW POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE STUDY OF
NATURAL HISTORY.
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS BY THE REV. A. DE SOLA, LL.D.
Ladies and Gentlemen, — The study of Natural History, if
merely considered in its aspect of a branch of human knowledge, has
a claim on every one's attention. It is a knowledge which is not
merely power, but pleasure ; and has claims great and peculiar on
both the theoretical and practical man. The theoretical will find in
it almost boundless scope for absorbing and interesting cogitation in
such inquiries as the origin of species, spontaneous generation, the
animal or vegetable character of certain obscure forms of life, the
correlation of physical forces, mutual relations of the physical and
vital forces, and similar modern engagements of human thought.
The other great class, the practical, who have been taught by the
books of their earliest youth to appreciate the difference between
' eyes and no eyes,' will also be prepared fully to admit with the
student of Natural History that, merely to see an object, or to
remember its name, is not to know it ; and that if thoroughness
of knowledge be essential or desirable in all the practical engage-
ments of life, it must be equally so in our study of the countless
objects of nature's universal domain — objects that are inseparably
445 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [BeC.
connected with the supply of all human necessities and comforts.
But this knowledge is not merely useful, it is also elevating and
interesting in the highest possible degree ; and this I will proceed
to show as far as I can in the brief limits to which I must confine
myself, by seeking in the three great kingdoms of nature some
practical illustrations of the truth of these assertions.
The animal world, from which we may take our first illustra-
tion, presents, from its lowest to its highest forms, a series of
organic structures progressing with almost imperceptible gradation
in perfection of development and complexity of organization.
Amongst the simplest of its representatives are the Protozoa,
the great majority of which are too small to be distinguished
without the aid of the microscope. They are graphically
described by Dr. "Wm. B. Carpenter as consisting of " seemingly
structureless jelly." They perform those vital operations which
we are accustomed to see carried on by an elaborate apparatus
without any special instruments whatever ; a little particle of
apparently homogeneous jelly changing itself into a greater variety
of forms than the fabled Proteus, — laying hold of its food without
members, swallowing without a mouth, digesting without a
stomach, appropriating its nutritious material without absorbent
vessels or a circulatory system, moving from place to place without
muscles, feeling (if it has any power to do so) without nerves,
multiplying itself without eggs, and not only this, but, in many
instances, forming shelly coverings of a symmetry and complexity
not surpassed by those of any molluscous animal. And yet
these creatures have performed, and are still performing, one of
the chief parts in the history of this globe. With them, we
arrive at that mysterious border-land which divides, and yet
seemingly blends, the organic and inorganic world; where we find
arising the simplest vegetable and animal structures scarcely
distinguishable from each other, and beyond which we cannot
proceed in our search for the beginning of life. Yet the earnest
student when examining them feels with more than ordinary
intensity the profound mystery of life, and will continue to
investigate the phenomena they present in eager hope of new
revelations. But the Protozoa have not ungenerously left without
reward the researches made in their behalf. They have presented
to man's astonished sight objects of marvellous beauty in the
form and structure of the microscopic shells of many of them.
They have also enabled him to obtain enlarged conceptions
1868.] DE SOLA — THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 447
respecting the nature of species and the laws of organic life, and
have taught him to recognize in these minute organisms some of
the chief builders of the earth's crust, — many of its component
rocks being the stupendous monuments of their labors, and in
which they lie entombed.
Not without interest, also, will be found the study of the shell-
fish, long considered the most inert and stupid of all animals.
" Les mollusques," wrote Virey, even within our own time, " sont
les pauvrcs et les affliges, parmi les 6tres de la creation; ils
semblent solliciter la pitie des autres animaux." On the other
hand, Lorenz Oken exclaims, " Surely a snail is an exalted symbol
of mind slumbering deeply within itself!" Shakespeare's fool hit
the happy medium between extremists, when he told King Lear
that the reason why the snail has a house, was " to put his head
in, not to give it away to his daughters, and have his horns
without a case." Lucian ridiculed the philosophers who spent
their lives inquiring into the soul of an oyster ; but a modern
writer is yet more severe on the conchologists when he says
" Lucian's wiseacres were respectable when compared with their
brethren, who care for neither an oyster's soul nor body, but con-
centrate their faculties in the contemplation of its shell." But
this writer may have forgotten that the conchologist — reversing
the procedure of the lawyer of the fable, who gave to his clients
the shells and kept the oyster to himself — may be as much war-
ranted in examining the waves, scales, and ribs of the shell, as is
another to anatomize the contained creature, which, says Lentitius,
" animal est aspectu et horridum et nauseosam, sive ad spectes in
sua concha clausum," etc. Without claiming too much for the
shell fish, we may assert that the student will find them possessing
quite a sufficiency of acuteness and sensibility, and their in-
stinctive proceedings are often very surprising. Some of these
proceedings of mollusks, it is true, we are not always inclined to
admire; for instance, those of the Teredo, or ship-worm, that
terrible destroyer of ships, landing-piers, and dockyards ; though,
perhaps, he may consider he is only offering just retaliation for
man's unceasing warfare against his cousins — the oysters. I
may not stay to take a more particular view of the mollusks, but
will proceed to notice a few points of interest in the study of the
vegetable kingdom.
About a century and a quarter ago, Linnaeus declared the
number of the different kinds of plants to be 5,938. Half a
448 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
century afterwards the estimate had increased five-fold. In 1847
it was announced as 92,920 ; and now, Meyers and others calcu-
late the entire vegetation of our planet to consist of some 200,000
species. The aborigines of New Zealand have learned to distin-
guish by name some 700 species of the trees and plants produced
on their own island, a number considerably greater than that
described by Theophrastus in the first history of plants ever given
to the world. But besides those plants which the pious and
philosophic Ray says " are by the wise disposition of Providence
proper and convenient for the meat and medicine of men and
animals" — besides those which enable the botanist, like his proto-
type in Milton's Comus, to
" Ope' his leathern scrip
And show simples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties,"
we find vegetable life in its most simple form and develop-
ment represented by the mere primary cell ; and of the one-
celled plants the most interesting order is the Diatomaceae. The
yellow- dust, which falls like rain on the Atlantic, near the Cape-
de- Verde Islands, and occasionally drifts even to Italy and
Central Europe, was found by Ehrenberg -to consist of myriads
of silicious-shelled microscopic plants. Darwin discovered that
a cloud of dust, drifting through the air from America to Af-
rica, and coming in contact with the rigging of the ship in
which he was sailing, consisted of the shelly coverings of
diatoms. The naturalists of the Antarctic Expedition constantly
found them adhering to the lead, after sounding depths in the
ocean which would have engulphed the loftiest peaks of the Andes.
Humboldt, on the other hand, has shown that they float in the
upper currents of the atmosphere perhaps for years, until brought
down to the earth by vertical currents. But, turning from these
— and the almost equally interesting family of the Fungi, which
are so destructive to our bread, fruits, and other objects of
domestic economy, — I would now, on the Solomonian principle of
ascending from the hyssop to the cedar, say a few words respect-
ing some of the giants of vegetation. I take, as an illustration,
the celebrated big-trees of California. This group of huge
conifers (placed botanically between the pine and the juniper)
was discovered in 1850, by some hunters when pushing their
way through a hitherto unexplored forest in the Calaveras country,
about 240 miles from San Francisco. It is deeply to be re-
1868.] DE SOLA — THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 449
gretted that cupidity and vandalism have led men to hew down
the largest of the group, for the purpose of making a show of
it. One measured ninety-six feet in circumference, and afforded
ample space for thirty- two persons to dance on : theatrical per-
formances were given on it in 1835 ; it measured three hundred
and two feet as it lay on the ground. The so-called 'Mother
of the Forest' is ninety feet in circumference, and three hundred
and twenty- seven high. The largest, called the ' Father of the
Forest,' is forty-two feet in circumference and four hundred and
fifty high — only a few feet lower than the Pyramids of
Egypt. As a set-off' to this barbarity — which, be it said, no
where called forth greater indignation than in the United States,
— the Wellingtonia, * as these trees were called by the English
(Washingtonia by the Americans), have become acclimated in
England and Scotland, where their growth, first recorded in
inches, is now annually reported in feet. The propagation of
these trees lead us to examine, as points of interest in the
vegetable kingdom, the more general subjects of the propagation
of plants by nature's wondrous provisions, their fertility and
preservation.
Recurring for an instant to the Diatomacese, I may here
remark that the existence of these minute uni-cellular organisms
may lead the uninitiated to doubt whether they could well
answer that apparently easy question, What is a plant? Fur-
ther investigation would show that it is difficult for the greatest
adept to do so, and that when it is attempted to draw a line of
demarcation between the primary conditions and forms of animal
and vegetable life, no problem in the science of nature is more
obscure; and the difficulty increases too with our knowledge.
Perhaps this may be sufficiently shown by those familiar objects,
the sensitive plant and the sponge. It was always held by
naturalists that the property or character distinguishing animals
from plants is feeling, which is evinced in the lower forms of
animal life by their shrinking from the touch. But when we try
vegetables as well as animals by this rule, we find many plants
(one example is the Mimosa pudica, or sensitive plant) endowed
with a far higher degree of susceptibility to external impressions
than is evinced by some of the lower races of animals under the
* Dr. Torry has shewn conclusively that these trees belong to the
genus Sequoia. — Ed.
450 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
operation of tests which, if applied to the higher races, would
amount to torture. Thus, the art of ingeniously tormenting
has been exhausted in vain upon the imperturbable sponge,
which is so endowed with vital powers as to render its
animal nature unquestionable; — lacerated with forceps, bored
with hot irons and saturated with the fiercest acids of the
chemist, it has never once given any symptom of suffering or
sensibility. These facts may be sufficient to show that no differ-
ence of a physical or chemical nature can be established
between plants and animals in that low part of the organic world
where these two great divergent branches have their source, and
that any attempt to separate them must be arbitrary and artifi-
cial. Here, then, the student of Natural History learns the great
lesson of a fundamental unity prevailing throughout organic
nature ; he sees exhibited to him a sequence without interrup-
tion in the working out of the divine idea of creation from man
spiritual and immortal, in whose wonderful organization meet
and culminate the structural perfections of all the animals, down
to the primary cell in which both vegetable and animal life ex-
hibits its simplest form of development.
Turning now to the third of nature's great kingdoms, I would
remark that no one has ever questioned the utility of that study
which directs and guides us in our search within the bowels of
the earth for the ores and other substances that are at once the
sources of national wealth and the supply of human wants and
comforts. But while the utility of the study of mineralogy is
everywhere conceded, geological research, which is inseparably
connected with it, has been regarded not without much suspicion
and disfavor. Irrespective of the fact that all quarrying and
mining undertakings must be properly based on and directed by,
geological knowledge, how different the aspect which a section of
country exhibits to the eye of a geologist and of the uninformed
spectator. Whether it present sand, gravel or alluvial soil, and
in its form, hill or valley, solid rock or detached boulders— all add
to the interest and pleasure of the scientific observer. The stone
turned up by the ploughman, and which would not interrupt his
whistle, or call forth the slightest interest in the stolid wielder of
pick and mattock, has, for the geologist, sermons and histories,
exhibiting to him mighty changes and wondrous revolutions, that
have completely changed the surface of the globe he lives on.
The careless laborer breaks the stones that have no other interest
1868.] DE SOLA — THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 451
in his eye than that they are intended to mend roads ; and
the quarryman cuts out his slabs, the highest utility of which he
deems their appropriation to building or ornamental purposes.
Both crush or cut to pieces, in all the blindness of ignorance, the
fossil forms of unknown organisms contained in them, but from
which the geologist learns the botany and zoology of former ages
of the world, and which enable him to predict the great changes
to take place in the future. The achievements of geology are,
however, too numerous and important even to be glanced at within
my limits, but I would venture to say something respecting one
of its sub-divisions — Ichnology, or the study of fossil footsteps —
revealing to us wonders of the past such as the imagination of
even a Milton or a Dante could never conceive.
Possibly Robinson Crusoe himself was not so much aston-
ished at the footprints on the sands of his desolate island,
as the naturalist who first saw the footmarks of birds on a slab of
sandstone which was turned up by the plough of an American
boy in 1802, at South Hadley, in the valley of the Con-
necticut River. From this valley, the tide of conjecture
flowed over other continents, until it seemed finally to settle down
into the theory that the Noachic flood had rolled over those sand-
stone slopes, the surface of which, when the waters subsided, was
so soft as to readily receive the imprints of a bird's foot. The
traces, then, were those by which the raven of Noah had written
the historical fact of his standing on the earth itself; and so the
foot-prints were finally set down as those of Noah's raven. For
another quarter of a century or more, this dictum of popular
ignorance remained uncontroverted, men of science paying but
little attention to it, until a Scotch clergyman, Dr. Henry Duncan
of Ruth well, in 1828, called attention to fossil tracks in connection
with the sandstones of Corncocklemuir. Dean Buckland, by means
of his Bridgewater Treatise, gave wide circulation to Duncan's
discoveries, showing that these impressions were found through a
depth of forty-five feet of rock, not on a single stratum only, but
on many successive strata, thus demonstrating that they had been
made at successive intervals. The sandstones of Dumfrieshire
are supposed to have been wide-spread expanses of sand of a
littoral character, visited and covered by the ancient tides, some
of their surfaces, recording atmospheric conditions, being
sometimes pitted with hollows, the results of a pelting shower,
and these pittings have occasionally such a well-defined and dis-
452 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
tinct course, that one can ascertain the direction of the wind,
which bore the rain clouds along with it. The sandstones of
Cheshire, again, exhibit sufficient evidences of solar influence.
We find here the sun- dried surfaces of the clayey strata associated
with the sandstone, over which animals formerly crawled, cracked
and shrunk by the solar beams. Sometimes they present beautiful
sand ripples, the result of a gentle breeze breaking the stiff
surface of a shallow pool of sea water on these sandy shores.
There may also be found instances of the evaporation of salt-
water, and the crystallization of sea-salt, from the natural salt
pans of the ancient beaches. Another noticeable fact is the
almost constant and uniform direction of the impressions. They
nearly all indicate that the animals, which Sir William Jardine
shows must have belonged to some forms of tortoise, walked from
the west towards the east. Further discoveries of fossil foot-
steps were made in the United States in 1835 ; the impressions
resembled the feet of birds, and were found in the sandstone
rocks near Greenfield. Dr. Hitchcock, President of Amherst
College, showed that they were actually produced by the feet of
living birds, and that one of the tracks had been made
by a pair of feet, each leaving a print twenty inches in length.
Says the eminent Owen : " Under the term Ornithichnites gigcm-
ieus, Dr. Hitchcock did not shrink from announcing to the geolo-
gical world the fact of the existence, during the period of the
deposition of the red sandstone of the valley of the Connecticut, of
a bird which must have been at least four times larger than the
ostrich." Says Hugh Miller, K I have already referred to
flying dragons, real existences of the Oolitic period, that were
quite as extraordinary of type, if not altogether so huge of bulk,
as those with which the Seven Champions of Christendom used
to do battle ; and here we are introduced to birds that were
scarcely less gigantic than the roc of Sinbad the sailor." I might
add to Miller's remarks, that the Bar Yuchne, that enormous
bird of the Talmudic legend, seems to find identification here.
But I must hasten to conclude these remarks, already too long.
They must necessarily convey but a very faint idea of the bound-
less field of interesting and pleasurable inquiry awaiting the
student of Natural History ; still, I trust, they will not be without
effect in leading into this field5 some of those who have not
hitherto entered at all. To such my concluding words would be
in the accents of caution and advice. I would say, You must
1868.] HOOKER — ON FORESTRY. 453
needs fearlessly concede to modern science all that is claimed for
it, to this extent, that in its dealings with the great physical
powers or elementary forces which pervade and govern the
material world, it has been led or even forced into a bolder form
and method of inquiry, — that inductions of a higher class have
been reached, and generalizations attained, going far beyond those
subordinate laws in which science was formerly satisfied to rest, —
that the precision and refinements of modern experimental research
strikingly distinguish it from that of any anterior time, —
that physical researches generally in our own day have a larger
scope and more connected aim, experiment being no longer tenta-
tive merely, but suggested by views which stretch beyond the
immediate result, and hold in constant prospect those general laws
which work in the universe at large. But, let it be ever remem-
bered that there is also exhibited in our own day, a marked
fondness for what is new and difficult and unintelligible in
philosophy, — a spirit that takes pleasure in stigmatizing as hin-
drances to truth in physical science, all such opinions as are
fostered by ancient and popular belief, including those which
assume Scriptural authority for their foundation. In their too
hot zeal against dogmatical authority, we find some falling into
the opposite rashness of lending their authority and favour to
hasty and partial experimental deductions, or to doctrines still in
their infancy, and checked or controverted by opposite opinions of
equal weight. Let, then, the dangerous effects of gratifying too
prevalent a taste for transcendental inquiries in science be duly
marked and carefully avoided, regarding it as cause for gratitude
and felicitation that they are corrected by the cotemporaneous
activity of those philosophers who make experiment and strict
deduction the sole measure and guides of their progress.
ON SEEDS AND SAPLINGS OF FOREST TREES.
By Dr. J. D. Hooker, F. R. S., etc.*
Forestry, a subject so utterly neglected in this country,
that we are forced to send all candidates for forest appointments
in India, to France or Germany for instruction both in theory and
* One of the Reports on the Paris Exhibition,
Yol. III. C No. 6.
454 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
practice, holds on the continent an honourable, and even a
distinguished place amongst the branches of a liberal education.
In the estimation of an average Briton, forests are of infinitely
less importance than the game they shelter, and it is not long
since the wanton destruction of a fine young tree was considered a
venial offence compared with the snaring of a pheasant or rabbit.
Wherever the English rule extends, with the single exception of
India, the same apathy, or at least inaction, prevails. In
South Africa, according to the colonial botanist's reports,
millions of acres have been made desert, and more are being
made desert annually, through the destruction of the indigenous
forests ; in Demarara the useful timber trees have all been
removed from accessible regions, and no care or thought given
to planting others ; from Trinidad we have the same story ;
in New Zealand there is not a good Kandi Pine to be found near
the coast, and I believe that the annals of almost every
British colony would repeat the tale, of wilful, wanton waste and
improvidence.
On the other hand, in France, Prussia, Switzerland,
Austria, and Russia, the forests and waste lands are the subjects
of devoted attention on the part of the Government, and colleges,
provided with a complete staff of accomplished professors, train
youths of good birth and education to the duties of state
foresters. Nor, in the case of Prance, is this law confined
to the mother country ; the Algerian forests are worked with
scrupulous solicitude, and the collections of vegetable produce
from the French colonies of New Caledonia, etc., contain
specimens which, though not falling technically under Class
87, abound in evidence of their forest products being all
diligently explored.
The collection exhibited by the Administration of Forests
of France is by far the finest of its kind ever brought together ;
the enumeration of its contents alone fills an instructive pam-
phlet of 160 octavo pages, classified as follows, and which
further contains a great deal of useful information on the
geology of the forest regions, the growth, strength, and
durability of timber, and many other matters concerning
which no certain information is obtainable in this country.
It consists of: —
1. Forest map of France, showing the relations between
the distribution of the forests and the geology of the country.
1868.] HOOKER — ON FORESTRY. 455
2. A collection, in the shape of books, of the indigenous
and naturalized woods. Each species is represented by
several specimens, differing in their origin and qualities. The
specimens, of which there are 1,300, are divided into two classes ;
namely, woods of ordinary leaf-bearing trees, and of conifers ;
these in each class are arranged alphabetically.
3. Collection of truncheons of the most important indigen-
ous species ; 223 specimens.
4. Experiments and observations on the density of woods,
particularly with regard to age. Specimens exemplifying the
opinions given.
5. Collection of seeds and fruit of indigenous and naturalized
species.
6. Complete collection of corks of all ages and qualities, and of
French production, furnished by the cork oak (Quercus mber)
and the western oak (Q. occidental is).
7. Barks and astringent substance suitable for tanning or
dyeing.
8. Resins from the Pinus maritima and P. Laricio ; methods
of procuring them, and their various products.
9. Charcoals.
10. Different products resulting from the carbonization of
wood.
11. Forest sawmills ; three models.
12. Instruments for felling, prunning, etc., trees, and for
collecting resin. A pusher for directing the fall of trees felled by
uprooting. The 'Flanmi' saw Rollers for the removal of
logs from young plantations without injury to the latter.
13. Relievo of the valleys of Barr and Andlau (Lower Rhine),
to show the arrangement of the forest roads established there.
Sledge tracks with sledges, tramway with waggons, metalled
roads.
14. Relievo of the perimeter of the plantations of Labouret,
above Digne (Basses Alpes). Photographs of mountains to
be laid down with grass or replanted.
15. Photographic forest herbarium, consisting of photographs of
the branches with leaves, fruit, and flowers of the various
forest trees, all of the natural size.
It only remains to add that the specimens are well selected and
excellent, the method of ticketing leaves very little to be desired,
and the arrangement is admirable.
456 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
With regard to the other collections, chiefly appertaining
to Class 87, the reporter has little to say ; there was no English
exhibitor, and up to the end of April, when the jurors were called
together for the purpose of deciding upon the merits of the
exhibitors, there were no collections of any importance ready for
adjudication.
Further, various circumstances occurred that rendered it
impossible to consider certain collections of plants, some of whose
contents might be considered as referable to Class 87, from other
cognate classes, and it hence became necessary to amalgamate the
duties of Class 87 with those of other classes, including that
class under which hardy conifers more naturally came, as objects
of landscape gardening or ornamental planting, and not of forestry
proper. Under this head comes the beautiful collection of hardy
conifers of Messrs. Veitch & Sons, to which the first prize was
awarded, with the full complement of marks ; and the same firm
carried off the first prize for a collection of the rarest Coniferse
not yet in commerce.
The collection at Billancourt, which did not exist in April, was
visited by Dr. Moore, F.L.S., associate juror, in August, and
he found many very interesting plants suited for forest purposes
amongst them, but they were not exhibited under Class 87, and I
shall therefore allude to them here in reference to their being
probably, at some future period, introduced into plantations
in such considerable quantities as to be profitable as timber
trees.
M. Accidin, nurseryman, Lisseux, was awarded the first
prize for a collection of forest conifers, which consisted of the
kinds usually selected for the same purpose in England, along with
many rare species which are not yet sufficiently abundant
for forest planting, though they may yet become suitable for that
purpose when the prices at which they now sell are lowered
at least ninety per cent. Pinus grandis, P. nobilis, P. Nordman-
niana, P. Beiithamiana, P. Coulteri, etc., all of which were in this
collection, are not likely to be either moderate in price or
plentiful for many years to come. There were equally rare
Thujas and Cupressus in this collection, as well as other
scarce CDniferse, which obviously cannot be considered under
Class 87.
M. Accidin had also a large collection of trees generally
used in forest planting, such as oaks, Juglans, willows, etc.
1868. J MACFARLANE — EXTRACTION OF COPPER. 457
Among the oaks, Querents castuncefolia, Q. ambigua, Q.
aquatica and Q. haliphlceos were fine foliaged kinds.
M. Rissot, Inspector of the Forests of the Bois de
Boulogne, exhibited a good collection of conifers, more suit-
able in general for forest planting ; among which were some
Mexican species of Pinus, which seemed hardy looking kinds.
The same exhibitor had also a good general collection of forest
trees.
A series of plants were also exhibited for the purpose of
showing the effects of prunning by different methods, prepara-
tory to planting in forests and in towns, as well as for
ordinary ornamental purposes. This was not a successful exhibition,
as many, in fact nearly all, the trees which had been brought for
the purpose were dead, owing to their having been removed at a
late period of the year.
ON THE EXTRACTION OF COPPER FROM ITS ORES
IN THE HUMID WAY.
By Thomas Macfarlane.
In a former paper on this subject published some time ago in
this Journal,* I described a series of experiments, which had,
for their object, the economical extraction of the copper
contained in the poor pyritous ores of the Eastern Town-
ships. The results of these experiments may be briefly stated
here. It was shewn — 1st, That it is impossible to remove
from a very pyritous ore, by simple calcination with com-
mon salt, and lixiviation with water, more than a small propor-
tion of its copper contents; 2nd, That by calcining such an ore
with twice its weight of impure iron oxide, and the necessary
quantity of common salt, it is possible to remove 95 per cent, of
the copper; 3rd, That, if, in such an operation, a temperature
much above redness be employed, copper is, to a considerable
extent, volatilized ; 4th, That in order to complete extraction it
is necessary that the materials should remain undisturbed during
calcination ; 5th, That even with the use of a large quantity of
iron oxide and salt, it is impossible to extract the whole of the
* Yol. ii [2nd series], p. 219.
458 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
copper from ores containing purple copper or copper pyrites, with-
out any admixture of iron pyrites. Although in some respects
very successful, these experiments still left much to be wished
for. Ores deficient in sulphur could not at all be efficiently
treated. Even the pyritous ores required to be mixed with a
large quantity of iron oxide in order to the complete removal of
the copper. This, although favorable to the extraction, largely
increased the bulk of material to be treated, and consequently the
cost of calcining.
While visiting the Bruce and Wellington mines, on Lake
Huron, last summer, I was forcibly reminded of the vital impor-
tance to them of an easy and economical process for extracting
the copper of their ores, which consist, almost exclusively, of
copper pyrites in a matrix of quartz. It may be safely assumed
that one-fourth to one-third of the copper in these ores is lost in
the present system of ore dressing. Of equal importance would
such an economical humid process be to the Harvey Hill mines,
in Megantic county, Quebec, where the ores are also too poor in
sulphur to be advantageously treated by any known extraction
process. It occurred to me that the difficulty, caused by the
scarcity or absence of sulphur, might be overcome by furnishing
the ore with sulphuric acid in the shape of calcined sulphate of
iron, giving it at the same time the proper proportion of common
salt, from the decomposition of which by the sulphate of iron
chlorine might be developed for the formation of proto-chloride
of copper. It next occurred to me that on precipitating the
copper from the solution of the latter salt by metallic iron, a
solution of proto-chloride of iron would result, which, on evapora-
tion to dryness, would furnish an effective re-agent for treating
fresh portions of ore. And, lastly, it appeared to me, that an
easy method of procuring this proto-chloride of iron in the first
instance would be to dissolve together equivalent quantities of
green vitriol and common salt, crystallise out the sulphate of
soda, and evaporate the mother liquor to dryness. The proto-
chloride during evaporation might become partially oxidized, but
this would not lessen its effectiveness in the proposed application.
At the first opportunity I proceeded to ascertain by experi-
ment, in the laboratory, whether these ideas were capable of being-
applied successfully, and the following is an account of some of
the trials made. Through the kindness of James Bennetts, Esq.,
Manager of the West Canada Company's works on Lake Huron, I
1868.] MACFARLANE EXTRACTION OF COPPER. 459
had been furnished with various samples of ores from their mines.
Slimes from the Wellington and Copper Bay mines were first
operated on by calcining them with proto-chloride of iron in a
muffle furnace at a dull red heat. Fumes of volatilized chlorides
were abundantly developed, especially on stirring the mixture.
The results obtained were very variable. With Wellington Mine
slimes of 2.9 per cent., one experiment gave 0.5 per cent, copper
soluble in water, 0.7 per cent, insoluble and 1.7 per cent, volati-
lized. In a second trial with the same slimes and a larger
quantity of chloride, 1.5 per cent, were dissolved, 0.8 per cent,
left insoluble, and 0.6 per cent, volatilized. In a third experi-
ment with Copper Bay slimes of 2.1 per cent., the whole of the
copper was rendered soluble. But such a result as the last men-
tioned was only attainable occasionally, and it became very
evident that high temperature and unlimited access of air often
combined to make the result unfavorable and at least uncertain.
The temperature at which the sulphurets contained in the slimes
oxidized, seemed to be so high as to cause a sublimation both of
the chlorides of iron and copper. I therefore, in the subsequent
experiments, calcined the one previous to treating it with chloride
of iron.
The ore next operated on was an average sample of the crush-
work at the Wellington Mine, as it comes from the crusher to
the jiggers in the ore dressing works. On shaking it on a sieve
having fifteen holes to the lineal inch, it was separated into a
coarser and finer part, the former assaying 2.6 per cent, and the
latter 5.2 per cent copper. On calcining and further pulverising
the finer part, and sifting it on a finer sieve, it separated into one
part, coarser in grain, and containing 4.4l per cent, and three
parts finer containing 5.58 per cent, copper. The latter sort was
heated over a spirit lamp, with one-fourth of its weight of proto-
chloride of iron, in a retort through which a current of air had
passage. In one experiment -3.9 per cent., and in another 4.3 per
cent, of the copper contents were rendered soluble in water. In
the first experiment water dissolved out proto-oxide of iron along
with the copper, but in the second, which had been heated longer,
all iron in the solution was present as peroxide.
Having observed in one of these experiments, that the air con-
tained in the retort seemed sufficient for converting the proto-
chloride of iron into perchloride and peroxide, (6 Fe CI + 03 =
Fe2 03 4- 2 Fe2 Cl3), it occurred to me that the current of air
II.
III.
4.76
4.96
.32
.28
460 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec
passing through the retort might be dispensed with. Twelve
grammes, calcined ore from the Wellington Mine, assaying 5.22
per cent., were intimately mixed with three grammes of the dry
chloride, and heated over a spirit lamp in a common digesting
flask for twenty or twenty-five minutes. These experiments
resulted as follows :
I.
Dissolved by water per cent. 4.76
Remaining in residue " .59
In II and III there were respectively extracted 91.18 and
95.02 per cent, of the copper contents. The residues contained
respectively one-third and one-fourth of one per cent, copper.
None of the solutions obtained in these experiments contained
any protoxide of iron, but there was abundance of peroxide
present. This proves that, although an excess of proto-chloride
was used, all of it was decomposed as above explained. Little or
none of the perchloride of iron was observed to sublime during
the heating. It would therefore seem that, in these experiments,
the protoxide of copper was converted into proto-chloride by
simply exchanging its oxygen for the chlorine of the perchloride
of iron (3 Cu 0 + Fe2 Cl3 = 3 Cu CI + Fe2 03).
Although the calcareous nature of the ores of Acton Mine
gave little hope that experiments on them with this process would
be successful, I nevertheless tried a few, but never obtained more
than one per cent, of copper from an eight per cent. ore.
Ore of five per cent, from the Albert Mine, near Lennoxville, was
next calcined and heated with one-fifth of its weight of chloride,
as above described ; 90.2 per cent, of its copper was rendered
soluble in water.
I next returned to experimenting with the slimes from Wel-
lington Mine, which had been unsuccessfully treated by calcining
them with the chloride in the muffle. They were first calcined,
and then leached out with hot water, whereby some sulphate of
copper formed in the calcination was removed. After drying
they assayed 1.77 per cent. Ten grammes mixed with one gramme
of the chloride and heated over the spirit lamp for fifteen minutes
gave up 1.33 per cent, of its copper to water, while 0.44 per
cent, remained in the residue. The same quantities heated for
twenty minutes gave 1.55 per cent, soluble and 0.22 per cent, in
the residue. Neither of the solutions contained protoxide of iron,
1868.] MACFARLANE — EXTRACTION OF COPPER. 461
and of peroxide, the solution from the first experiment gave more
than that from the second.
The plan of using the chlorides of iron for the extraction of
copper is not proposed here for the first time, but the manner of
using it advantageously, as indicated by the above experiments,
differs essentially from those heretofore proposed. The above
experiments shew that direct calcination of a raw ore with the
re-agent, under unlimited access of air, seldom leads to a successful
or a reliable result. On the other hand, when the ore is pre-
viously calcined, the temperature kept low, and the current of
air excluded, the application of the chloride becomes advantageous
and practicable.
In the above trials, and others which have not been mentioned,
the copper was sometimes determined volumetrically, and some-
times precipitated by iron and weighed. The residual solutions
from the latter operation were evaporated to dryness, and the
proto-chloride of iron recovered. The precipitated copper was
easily compressed, in a diamond mortar, into little solid cakes
readily fusible to buttons before the blow-pipe.
This process of extracting copper would seem to be capable of
affording more reliable and more economical results than any
hitherto proposed. Any ores, whether rich or deficient in
sulphur, may be treated by it, except those containing carbonates
of lime or magnesia. The exclusion of air, and the low temperature
employed, render a decomposition or volatilization of the proto-
chloride of copper, when once it is formed, impossible. There
being no free acids in the solutions obtained, an equivalent quan-
tity only of metallic iron is consumed. By evaporating the
residual solutions, the re-agent is always recovered, and thus a
further saving is effected. The amount of copper contained in
the insoluble residues, is, in most cases, below, and never exceeds
that of copper furnace slags, while the cost of the process will not
exceed one-third of the expense of the ordinary method of produc-
ing copper from its ores by smelting.
With regard to applying it on the large scale, there would appear
to be no grounds for anticipating any difficulty. The pulverisa-
tion of the ore would be most economically effected by wet stamps.
If allowed to drain thoroughly, after being thrown out of the
slime pits, it could then be completely dried and calcined, at the same
time, in reverberatory or other furnaces. The roof of these furnaces
might consist of cast iron plates which might form the hearths of
462 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec.
chambers wherein the operation of heating the roasted ore with
the chloride might be performed. The lixiviation is a matter of
no difficulty, and with regard to precipitating the copper, it would
be well to do this quickly, in vats heated by steam, in order to
obtain a perfectly pure product. T he evaporation of the waste
solutions might be effected by waste heat from the calcining
furnaces without any special expense for fuel. In short, there is
nothing to prevent its economical application, and in all probability,
an establishment for treating copper ores in this manner will
shortly be established in connection with one of our Canadian
Mines.
Actonvale, January 11th, 1869.
ON THE ORGANISATION OF MOSSES.
By R. Braituwaite, M.D., F.L.S. *
In former times many of the smaller cryptogamic plants were
termed mosses, and although no order of plants is better denned
or more readily recognized, the name is still vulgarly applied to
lichens, as Iceland Moss, Cup Moss, and the shaggy forms growing
on old trees ; to algae as Irish Moss ; and even to some fungi.
But the plants we have to consider are the mosses par excellence
Musci veri, or frondosi, as they have been termed, to distinguish
them from the Musci hepatici, or liverworts.
By the ancients this group was but little regarded, for then
plants were sought after on account of their real or supposed medi-
cinal virtues ; yet they had a Muscus cranii humani, or moss of a
dead man's skull, which no doubt in the days of signature medi-
cine was found of great service in head complaints. The first
special work on the subject is the Historia Muscorum of Dillenius,
published in 1741, remarkable for the excellence of its engravings,
and containing also lichens and algse.
Linnaeus enumerates many mosses in his Species Plantarum,
but he seems to have paid little attention to cryptogamic plants,
* Read before the Queckett Microscopical Club, June 28th, lcS07, and
cited from Science- Gossip.
1868.] BRAITHWAITE— ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES. 463
and hence often confounded them. His erroneous notion, that the
capsule was an anther, and the spores pollen, led his followers
astray, though we may chiefly attribute it to the want of sufficient
optical assistance.
John Hedwig, however, now gave to the world those great
works which have rendered his mime immortal, and fully entitle
him to rank as the founder of Bryology. He was undoubtedly
the first to discover the sexual organs in these plants, and his
clear diagnosis of species is indicated by the great number which
still bear the names he imposed.
These were followed by the valuable Bryologia Universa, and
other works of the learned Bridel, whose critical eye greatly
augmented the number of species ; and in our day Wilson, and
Mitten, and, lastly, Professor Schimper, have immensely extended
our knowledge of them, the Bryologia Europaea, of the last named
author, being the grandest contribution ever made to a single
department of botanical study.
Bridel heads the first chapter of his Muscologia Recentiorum
with the querry, " Quid sit muscus?" (What may a moss be?;,
and this I hope you will be able to answer, after becoming
acquainted with the details of their structure.
The mosses, to a cursory observer, may appear uninviting from
their minuteness and apparent similarity, yet when we call the
microscope to our aid, the exquisite beauty of their structure is
at once apparent. They are entirely cellular, and it is not surely
a subject for admiration, that by mere diversity in form, arrange-
ment, and construction of cells, we are able to characterize near
9,000 species in this one class of plants?
The seed or spore— This is very minute, yet varying in
diameter between £ and T±, of a millimetre; in some minute
mosses it is of large size, the capsule containing only ten or twenty
spores; in others it is very minute and innumerable. The spore
is globose, of a yellow, rufous, or brown colour; its surface smooth
or covered with rough points, and it consists of a mother cell, or
primordial utricle, enveloped in an outer coat, or exospore, the
contents being chlorophyl, starch, and oil globules, with mucus.
The first result of germination is the rupture of the outer coat,
and protrusion of the primordial utricle or cell, which immediately
commences division, the new cells repeating the process, until a
dense felt of branched confervoid threads results, which we term
the prothallium, and forming the green film we may often notice
464
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
in spring coating damp walls and banks, and long mistaken ior
species of algae (figs. 1, 2, 3). From various cells of this, young
Fig. 1. Spore ot
Fun aria hygrometrica.
Fig. 2. Spore of Fanaria hygrometrica
germinating.
Fig. 3. Prothallium and young plant.
plants are developed, whose fine radicles penetrate the soil ; their
leaves shoot up, and they become like the parent from which the
spore emanated; and being now capable of maintaining an inde-
pendent existence, the prothallium, no longer needed, dies away,
except in a few minute annual mosses of delicate texture, where
it is persistent during their whole life. But some mosses rarely
produce fruit ; yet it is necessary that their reproduction should
be ensured, and we find prothallium also developed from tubercles
on the roots, from gemmae or buds occurring on the leaves, or
even from the cell-tissue of leaves themselves ; while in some
mosses a portion of the leaves become altered into gemmae, and
clustered in a head on the top of a naked stalk called a pseudopo-
dium, as in Tetrapliis pellucida and in Aulacomnium (fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Pseudopodium of Aulacomnium androgynum,
with one of the gemma.
The roots. — These are slender fibrils, by which the plants are
1868.] BRAITHWAITE ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES. 465
attached to their place of growth — the soil, crevices in the bark of
trees, or rocks — and consist of a single series of cells, the septa
between which are always oblique to the axis of the filament.
Adventitious radicles or rhizina3 of a brown or purple colour also
frequently occur on the stem, uniting the plants into a dense
matted tuft, and like a sponge conveying water to every portion.
The stem. — Often simple, and sometimes so short as to appear
wanting, it is in the terminal fruited mosses repeatedly forked,
for on the cessation of each annual growth, a lateral bud is thrown
off at the apex, producing an innovation or secondary stem ; in
the lateral fruited mosses, however, the stem is truly and repeat-
edly branched. It is of the same thickness throughout, for it
grows only at the apex, or is acrogenic, and is composed of dense
elongated ceils, which thus render it firm and tough, those of the
outer layer being often richly coloured.
The leaves. — These are always sessile and simple, their form
usually ovate or lanceolate, but varying in every degree between
orbicular and awl-shaped. They are inserted spirally on the
stem, though sometimes appearing to be distichous, or in two
opposite rows ; they may be erect, or spreading, or reflexed, or
curled, and again they may be secund, or all turned to one side.
The margin may be simple, or have a thickened border, entire or
toothed, plane or wavy, involute or revolute.
The leaves may also be nerveless, but usually there is a central
nerve, which may be short, or reach the apex, or be excurrent in
a point, or long hair, and some mosses have two nerves. In the
Polytricha, the nerve consists of a number of erect lamellae, on
its upper surface. The leaves consist of a single, sometimes of a
double, or triple stratum of cells, the form and arrangement of
which constitute the areolation, and afford characters of the
greatest importance in the diagnosis of species, indeed used by
some recent Bryologists, as. Carl Miiller and Hampe, for the
chief divisions in classification.
In form, the cells are hexagonal, but varying to quadrate,
rohmboidal, or linear, according to the density of their arrange-
ment, and their surface may be smooth, or covered with minute
papillae. They contain granules of chlorophyl, which is often
beautifully distinct, and the cause of the fine green colour, well
seen in Brijum capillare, while in others it is expended on the
growth of the cell, or the thickening of its walls, and thus in
many mosses, while the cells in the upper part of the leaf retain
4G6
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[Dec.
their chlorophyl, those at the base are empty, hyaline, and elon-
gated ; in a few mosses the chlorophyl is wanting, and hence they
have a white aspect, as in the family Leucobryaceae.
Occasionally the basal wing of the leaf is occupied by cells,
which differ from the rest, being enlarged or deeply coloured, and
the presence or absence of these alar cells has been conveniently
used by Prof. 8chimper to divide the great genus Dicranum into
two sections. When the cell-ends join by horizontal walls,
they are termed Parenchymatous, and in one form of these, the cell
walls are thickened, and the cell proper reduced to a mere point,
producing the dotted areolatioDS of Grimmiaceae and others (figs.
5, 6). When the cell ends are pointed, we have rhombic areola,
Fig. 5. Areolation of
Pottia truncata.
Fig. 6. Areolation of
Grimmia apocarpa.
and these are termed Prosenchymatous, as in Bryum (figs. 7, 8).
I must add that occasionally stipuliform organs occur intermixed
with the stem leaves, as in Hi/pnum mplluscum ; these are named
Paraphyllia.
An anomalous form of leaf occurs in the genus Fissidens, in
which it appears to be vertical, and split into two laminae for a
part of its length. This split portion is, however, the true leaf,
but the nerve and one wing have taken upon themselves extra-
ordinary development, and there is also a lamina formed along
the back of the nerve, these additional parts being named the
apical and dorsal laminae (fig. 9).
The reproductive organs. — It is now satisfactorily deter-
mined that these are of two kinds, male and female, and unless they
occur near each other, the fruit is not produced; as an instance,
I may refer to Fissidens grandifrons, of which male plants only
have been found in Europe, female only in America, hence the
fruit is unknown.
Hedwig was the first who pointed out the nature of these
1868.] BRAITHWATTE— ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES. 467
minute organs, but his views were long opposed, for Roth and
Meese asserted that when sown, they produced young plants, and
hence were gemmae or buds.
Fig. 7. Areolation of
Bryum ceespiticium.
Fig. 8. Areolation of
Hypnum rutabuluro.
As in flowering plants, we find the sexual organs present three
modes of arrangement, and the species may be : —
Synoicous — when male and female organs are combined.
Monoicous — when they are separate, but on the same plant.
Dioicous — when separate, and on different plants.
The male or barren flowers are either terminal or lateral, and
consist of an involucre of minute leaves termed the perigonium ;
Fig. 9. Leaf of Fissidens taxifolius.
these perigonial leaves vary in number, and in form and texture
differ considerably from those of the stem, becoming gradually
thinner and more delicate toward the centre. Some mosses have
no perigone, but the male organs nestle in the axils of the stem
leaves ; in others the flower terminates the stem as a beautiful
disc or rosette, well seen in the coloured heads of Polytrichum ;
and again it may be gemmiform, or like a minute bud composed
of a few imbricated leaves, as in Hypnum.
Enclosed by the perigone are the antheridia, organs analogous
to the stamens of flowering plants; these vary in number, are
468
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST,
[Dec.
somewhat sausage-shaped, and usually intermixed with them are
numerous jointed threads termed paraphvses, whose use no doubt,
by the mucus they contain, is to keep moist and preserve the
vitality of the antheridia, for in the open discoid flower they are
most numerous, but in the closed gemmiform flower few or none
(fig. 10). The antheridial sac contains the Spermatozoids,
minute clavato-filiform bodies with two cilia, and coiled spirally,
which on the rupture of the antheridium move about with great
activity; they are most readily seen in the Polytricha (fig. 11).
Fig. 10. Two Antheridia and Paraphyses of Polytrichum.
The female or fertile flower, in a similar way, consists of leaves
forming a perigynium, which enclose the archegonia, corresponding
to the pistils of flowering plants ; and so the oval base of an
archegonium is named the germen, enclosing in its centre the
germinal cell, and the tapering upper part the stylidium (fig. 12).
Fig. 11. Sperinatozoids.
Fig. 12. Three Archegonia and
Paraphyses of Bryum.
The inner leaves of the perigynium, as the fruit forms, become
enlarged into a sheath round the base of the fruit stalk, forming
what is called the perichastium, which is very distinct in
Hypnaceae.
Of the archegonia in each flower, seldom more than one is
fertilized ; sometimes, however, four or five may be, and we have
1868.] BRAITHWAITE — ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES.
469
as many fruits enclosed in one perichaetium as in Mnium and
Dieranum ma jus.
Having made you acquainted with the reproductive organs, we
shall be prepared to follow out their functions. As stated, the
antheridium at maturity bursts at the apex, and out pass the
spermatozoids as a cloud of active particles ; the archegonium
equally prepares for their reception, the apex of the stylidium
ruptures, the edges of the aperture roll back forming a trumpet-
shaped orfice, from which we can trace a fine duct passing down to
the germinal cell, and more evident now because it has acquired
a reddish tinge. Both Hofmeister and Schimper have seen the
spermatozoids within this canal.
The germinal cell, now fertilized, immediately commences its
own proper development, first downward ; perforating the base
of the archegonium, it fixes itself in the receptacle or apex of the
stem, just as a stake is driven into the earth ; then upward to
form the seta or fruit stalk, and the contents of the archegonium
being thus consumed, its delicate walls are ruptured, the lower
part remaining attached to a process of the receptacle, as a little
sheath — the vaginula (fig. 13) ; the upper carried aloft, becomes
Fig. 13. Young fruit of Orthotrichum
crispum, showing Yaginula and
hairy Calyptra.
Fig. 14. Mitriform calyptra of
Encalypta.
the calyptra, or veil, and the seta, having attained its full length,
begins to enlarge at the apex to form the capsule.
Yol. ITT. D No. 6.
470
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
[D,
The calyptra or veil envelops the young fruit, and is thin
and membranous; it is sometimes torn irregularly, or it remains
even at the base, when it is termed mitriform, or it is slit upon one
side, when we call it cucullate or dimidiate ; it is usually smooth,
but sometimes densely hairy (figs 14, 15, 16).
The theca or capsule. — This presents an infinite variety of
forms, but all of the greatest elegance; it may be globose, ovate,
pear-shaped, or cylindric, straight or arched, erect or pendulous,
smooth or furrowed. In some it is swollen all around at the base,
Fig. 15. Cucullate inflated Calyptra of
Fuuaria.
Fig. 16. Cucullate conic
Calyptra of Fissidens.
and this part is usually of a different colour, and is named the
apophysis (fig. 17) ; in others it bulges out on one side of the
base, and is then said to be strumose (fig. 18).
Fig. 17. Fruit ofSplachnum
ampullaceum with small
conic lid, cylindric capsule,
and obovate apophysis.
Fig. 18. Strumose capsule of Dicranum
Starkii, with rostrate lid and annulus.
Closing the mouth of the capsule, we see a little cap — the
operculum or Hd, in shape flat, conical, or beaked; this, at matu-
rity, is thrown off, either by the swelling of the contents or by
the shrinking of a contractile ring of cells interposed between the
lid and mouth of the capsule, which is named the annulus; well
seen in the common Funaria. Tn the genus Andresea there is no
lid, and the capsule opens by splitting into four valves (fig. 19);
and in another section there is also no lid, the capsule giving exit
1868.] BRAITHWAITE — ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES. 471
to the spores by breaking up from decay (fig. 20). These
Fig 19. Schistocarpous fruit of Fig. 20. Cleistocarpous fruit of
Andrerea. Pleuridium subulaturn.
characters enable us conveniently to arrange mosses in three
divisions : —
Schistocarpi — the Split-fruited Mosses.
Cleistocarpi — the Closed-fruited Mosses.
Stegocarpi — the Lid-fruited Mosses.
The wall of the capsule consists of several layers of cells, the
outer of which becomes indurated at maturity, and often richly
coloured.
Enclosed with in thecapsule is the Sporangium, or Spore-sac,
consisting of two strata of cells, the outer of which is contiguous
to the lining membrane of the capsule, or is suspended from it by
delicate threads?; the inner is united to a pillar, occupying the
Fig. 20. Section of Fruit of Funaria, showing Sporangium suspended
by threads.
47
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
U>
ec.
central axis of the capsule, and named the Columella, the apex of
which joins the lid, and sometimes falls away with it, though
occasionally we see the columella projecting from the mouth of
the capsule like a style (figs. 21, 22). The lid having fallen
Fig. 21. Section of upper part of fruit of Mnium hornum, a. wall of
capsule, b. annulus, c. lid, d. tooth of outer peristome, e. tooth of
inner peristome, /. cavity of sporangium and spores, g. Columella.
away, the mouth of the capsule is seen, sometimes naked, when
it is termed gymnostomous, but usually adorned by the beautiful
appendage named the Peristome, consisting of curious hygroscopic
tooth-like processes in a single or double series.
The simple peristome, or the outer one when double, originates
from the lining membrane of the capsule ; its teeth are always
constant in number, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and present an infinite variety
Fig. 22. Part of inner and outer peristomes of same.
1868.]
BRA1THWAITE — ORGANIZATION OF MOSSES.
473
of forms (figs. 24, 25, 26). They consist of two strata of cells,
the outer in two rows, transversely jointed (trabeculate), richly
coloured, and often separated for a part of
their length, in the central or divisural
line ; the inner in one row, thin and hygros-
copic, and projecting inward as transverse
lamellae (figs. 22, 23, 27). In the Poly-
trichaceae, however, they are quite different,
and consist of a mass of agglutinated filaments, and Mr. Mitten
uses this distinction to separate all mosses into two sections,
Fig. 23. Transverse sec
tion of tooth of outer
peristome.
Fig. 24. Fruit of Tetraphis Fig. 25. Splachnum sphaericum,
pellueida, peristome of with eight bigemiuate teeth,
four teeth. and exserted columella.
Arthrodonti, those with jointed teeth, and Nematodonti, those with
filamentous teeth. In the Polytricha, also, the top of the colu-
mella is dilated into a membrane, closing the mouth of the
capsule, and joined to the points of the teeth ; this expansion has
leen named the epiphragm or tympanum (fig. 27).
Fig. 26. Bifid tooth from
peristome of Fissidens,
Fig. 27. Peristome and tympanum
of Pogonatam aloides.
474: THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.
The inner peristome takes its origin from the outer wall of the
spore sac, and is a thin plicate, or keeled membrane, divided into
processes of cilia, which usually stand opposite the interspaces of
the outer teeth, and occasionally one to three still finer ciliola,
occur between the cilia (fig. 22).
The spores are formed from the cells, filling the spore sac, and
are always free from the spiral threads found in the Hepaticse.
In the above account I have not included the Sphagnina or
Bog-mosses, as the views of recent writers tend to separate them
as a distinct class, parallel with Mosses and Hepaticse.
The Genus Botrychiuiu. — Dr. Milde has recently published
an elaborate monograph of this genus, in which he recognizes the
following species : — 1. B. Lunaria Swartz. 2. B. crassinervium
Ruprecht; a Siberian species. 3. B. boreale Milde; North Europe
and said to be North American. 4. B. matrlcaricefoUum A
Braun. 5. B. lanceolatitm Angstrom. 6. B. simplex Hitch-
cock. 7. B. tematum (Thunberg). 8. B. lanuginosum W allien.
9. B. daucifoUum Wallich. 10. B. Virginianum Swartz.
The first six species appear to be unduly numerous ; Mr. Baker
(very properly) condenses 2, 3, 4 and 5 into one, under the name
B. rutaceum Swartz giving 5 the rank of a variety, but he
recognizes 6 (which is hardly more than a variety of 1) to be a
good species. The normal form of 7 is a plant of East Asia ;
the European B, rutcefolium A. Braun, and the American B.
lunarioides, with its forms obliquum and dissectum, being reduced
to varieties : the latter form is more of an accidental ' sport' than
a botanical variety. Mr. Baker considers 8 to be a variety of 10 ;
8 and 9 are found only in East Asia. The normal form of 10,
well known to Canadian botanists, is found throughout America
from Canada to Brazil, and is widely dispersed in Europe and in
Asia. D. A. w.
ERRATA.
On page 38, line 7, for ' ten miles daily,' read ' ten inches daily.'
On page 431, line 28, for '263,' read '268.'
On page 432, line 28, for '576,' read '575.'
On page 434, line 44, for '33,' read '53,' as the number of species in the
Northern States referable to Caryophyllaceee.
INDEX.
Page
Abies, species noticed 102
Acadia, on the Carboniferous Limestones of 212
Acadian Geology, extracts from 362
" " review of 400
Acer spicatum 71
Algae in the Post-pliocene 73
American Association (see table of contents).
Andresesa, species noticed 471
Arctic Plants, Hooker on the Distribution of 325
Arvieola Pennsylvanica
Ateuchus sacer 31
Atmosphere, Hunt on the Primeval 117
Aulacomnium androgynum 464
Bavaria, Laurentian Rocks of 81
Beaver, notes on the American 301
Billings on the structure of Cystideae 441
Birds of the Manitoulin Islands 22
" of America, by D. Elliot 79
Botany : —
Braithwaite on the organization of Mosses 462
Brunet on the Canadian species of Picea 102
Catalogues of Ferns ; 158, 402
Dawson on the Removal and Restoration of Forests 405
Drummond on Geological 161
" on Geographical and Statistical 429
Gray's Manual reviewed 234
Hooker on Arctic flora 325
" on seeds and saplings of forest trees . 453
Macoun's catalogue of Carices 56
Smith's "Ferns" reviewed 157
Botrychium, species of 474
Boulder-Clay, Dawson on s. 33
Braithwaite, on the Organization of Mosses 462
British Association, report of Committee on Education 257
Brunet on the genus Picea 102
Br yum capillar e 465
" other species of 467
Cambridge, Scientific Education in 266
Carboniferous Insects 202
" Limestones of Acadia 212
Carex, Canadian species of 56
Carices, Macoun's Catalogue of 56
" in the Post-pliocene 73
Carpenter, P. P., on Vital Statistics 134
476 index. [Dec.
Page
Carpenter, P. P., report of council by 392
" J. W., on new specimens of Eozoon 312
Cheilanthes, species noticed 158, 237
Chemistry of the Primeval Earth 225
Climate of the Post-pliocene 74
" of the Glacial Epoch 303
Coal, Worthen on Illinois 295
" Fauna and Flora of 202, 295, 362
Conulus priscus 297
Copper, Macfarlane on the extraction of 457
Copper Mines of Lake Superior 1, 177, 241
Copris gigas 31
Corals, Verrill on the Affinities of 294
Cornus Canadensis 409
Coronula reginse 35
Crosskey on Glacial deposits 207
Cupriferous beds of Lake Superior 1, 177, 241
Dawson on recent Geological Discoveries in Acadia 295
" note by 224
" on Flint Implements 20
" on Icebergs and Glaciers 33
" on new specimens of Eozoon 312
" on Palaeozoic Insects 202
" on plants from the coal 362
" on Post-pliocene Fossil Plants 67
" on supposed Worm Burrows 321
" on the Boulder-clay of Canada 33
De Sola, President's address by 445
Bicranum majus 469
" other species noticed 470
Binichthys Herzeri, figured and described 297
Drosera rotund if olia.r. 70
Drummond on the distribution of Plants in Canada 161
" review by 234
Bynastes taurus 31
Earth, Hunt on the Chemistry of the Primeval 225
Eaton's work on ferns reviewed 236
Echinosjyhierites aurantium 443
Education, Scientific, in Schools 275
Encalypta, species of 460
Eozoon Bavaricum 81
" Canadense 306, 312
Epilobium augustifolium 408
Equisetum seirpoides, etc 37
Ferns, Catalogue of 158, 402
" Eaton's work on, reviewed 236
" species noticed 158, 164, 236, 402
Fiber zibethicus 45
" Osoyoosensis 45, 47
Filices Canadenses, notice of 402
Fishes, Fossil from the Black Shale, etc 297, 299
1868.] index. 477
Page
Fishes of Lake Champlain 305
Fissidens grandifrons 466
" other species noticed 467
Flint Implements, Dawson on 20, 415
Floras, Drummond on comparative 429
" of the Arctic circle 325
Fontinalis in the Post-pliocene 73
Forestry, Hooker on 453
Forests, removal and restoration of 405
Fossil Insects of North America 203, 293
" Plants of the Post-pliocene 69
" " of the Miocene in Greenland 403
French Schools, Scientific Education in 269
Funaria hygrometrica 464
Game Laws, discussions on 19, 22, 23
Gaultheria procumbent 409
Geology and Mineralogy : —
Dawson on Icebergs and Glaciers 33
note by 224
" on Coal plants 362
" on Eozoon Canadense 312
" on Flint Implements 20, 415
" on Palaeozoic Insects 202
" on Post-pliocene Fossil Plants 69
" on supposed worm burrows 321
" on the Boulder-clay of Canada 33
Carpenter on Eozoon Canadense 312
Crosby on Glacial Deposits 209
Gumbel on the Laurentian in Bavaria : 81
Hall on the Geology of Minnesota 120
Hartt on a sub-division of Acadian Limestones 212
Hunt on the objects and method of Mineralogy 119
" on Petroleum 127
" on the Primeval Atmosphere 117
" on the'Chemistry of the Primeval Earth 235
" on the Mineralogy of Laurentian Limestones 123
Logan on new specimens of Eozoon 306
Macfarlane on Cupriferous beds 1
" on the extraction of copper 457
" on the Geology of Lake Superior 177, 264
Matthew on Azoic and Palaeozoic rocks 387
of Minnesota 120
Synopsis of Papers on 292
Gaylussaccia resinosa 71
German Schools, Scientific Education in 270
Glacial deposits in Scotland 234
Glaciers, Dawson on 33
" traces of, in New Hampshire 293
Gnathocera, species noted 31
Goliathus, species noted 32
Grasses in the Post-pliocene 73
478 index. [Bee.
Page
Gray's Manual of Botany reviewed 207
Greenland, on the Botany of 325
" on the Fossil Flora of. 403
Grimmia apocarpa 466
Gumbel on Eozoon 81
Hall, Geology of Minnesota 120
" on Fossil Sponges 301
Haplophleb ium Bamesii 203
Harrow, Scientific Education at 276
Hartt on Acadian Carboniferous Limestones 212
Head, Obituary Notice of the Rt. Hon. Sir Edmund 322
Heer on the Fossil Flora of Greenland 403
Hitchcock on the Marbles of Vermont 294
" on a Geological Map of Maine , 302
" on distorted Pebbles in the Conglomerate 302
" on the Geology of Vermont 305
Homothetus fossilis 205
Hooker, Distribution of Arctic plants 325
" on seeds and saplings of forest trees 453
Hungerford on the Climate of the Glacial Epoch 303
" on the Ripton Sea-beaches 304
Hunt on the Objects and Method of Mineralogy 110
" on Petroleum 121
" on the Chemistry of the Primeval Earth 225
" on the Mineralogy of Laurentian Limestones 123
" on the Primeval Atmosphere 117
Hypnum ynolluscum 466
" other species noticed 467
Icebergs, Dawson on 33
Insects, Dawson on Palaeozoic 202
" Parkes on the Respiratory System of 417
Scudder on Fossil 203, 293
Jacchua vulgaris, 29
Junco hyemalis 414
Kalmia angustifolia 412
Larix Americana 407
Laurentian system in Bavaria 81
" limestones and their Mineralogy 123
Leda, species noticed 70, 71, 75, 207
Lejndodendron, species noticed and figured 369
Lepidophloios, species noticed and figured 372
Leskia mirabilis 437
Lignilites, Marsh on the origin of 293
Limestones, Hartt on Carboniferous 212
Lithentomum Harttii 206
Logan, on new specimens of Eozoon 306
London University, Scientific Education in 267
Lord on Musk-rats 45
Loven on Leskia 437
Lycopodium alpinxim 436
Lutken on Leskia 437
1868.] index. 479
Page
Lyman, on brown Haematite 302
Macfarlane on the Rocks of Portage Lake 1
" on the extraction of Copper from its Ores 457
" on the Geology of Lake Superior 177, 241
Macoun, Catalogue of Carices 56
Manitoulin Islands, Vennor on the Zoology of 22
Marble of Colchester, Vermont 294
Markgraf, translation by 81
Marsh on the Origin of Lignilites 293
'* on some new Fossil Sponges 301
" on the weathering of Fossils 305
Matthew on Palaeozoic rocks 387
Microscopic illumination 79
Mineralogy, Hunt on the objects and method of 110
" of Laurentian limestones 123
Minnesota, Hale on the Geology of 120
Montreal, sanitary statistics of. 134
Morgan on the American Beaver 301
Mosses, Braithwaite on the Organization of 462
Milium hornum 472
Musk-rats, Lord on 45
Natural History Society (See table of contents).
Newberry on Modern Scientific Investigation 278
" on new fossil Fishes 297
" on fossil Reptiles from the Carboniferous 299
Nomenclature, Tillman on a New 115
Obituary notice of Sir E.W.Head 322
Orthoptera, Scudder on the study of 293
Orthotrichum crispum 469
Oryctes boas 31
Oxford, Scientific Education in 264
Ozone, Smallwood's lecture on 374
Palaeozoic Rocks of New Brunswick 387
Paris Exposition, Hooker's report on 453
Parkes on the respiratory system of insects 417
Petroleum, Hunt on 121
Picea, species figured and described 102
Pinus sylvestris 415
" other species noticed 455, 456
Plants, Dawson on Post-pliocene ? 69
Platephemera antiqua 205
Pleuridium subulatum \ 471
Pogonatum aloides 473
Polytrichum, species noticed 467
Populua bahamifera 72
Potamogeton perfoliatus 72
" pusillus, etc 73
Potentilla Canadensis 71
Pottia truncata 466
Pre-historic man in America 416
Preserving Fluid, Verrill on a new * 78
480 INDEX.
Page
President's Address by Dr. Srnallwood 125
by Dr. DeSola 445
Pteropus polioccphalus 29
Putnam on the Fishes of Lake Champlain 305
Quercus robur 415
" other species noticed 455
Respiration of insects, Parks on 417
Ritchie on the Walking-stick Insect 66
Rugby, Scientific Education at 271
Sanitary statistics of Canada 134
Schools, scientific education in 257
Scientific education in schools 257
" investigation, Newberry on 278
Sciurus maximus 30
Scudder on the Orthoptera of North America 293
" on fossil insects 203, 293
Scyllarus arctus 31
Sigillaria, species noticed and figured 362
Srnallwood, President's Address by 125
" on Ozone 374
Smith, Mr. Titus, quotation from 407
Smith's work on ferns noticed 158
Solemya, species noticed ' 30
Somerville Lecture by Dr. Srnallwood 374
Spectrum femoratum 66
Sphseronites pomum 443
Splachnum amprdlacium 476
" other species noticed 473
Sponges, fossil from the Lower Silurian, etc 301
Spruce, Brunet on the various species of 102
Superior, Macfarlane on the Geology of Lake 177, 241
Sylvia sestiva 414
Tetraphis pellucida 464, 473
TetrognatJia gigas 31
Texius Megerlei 31
Thuja occidentalis 72
Tillman on a new nomenclature 115
Turdus migratorius 413
Vennor, section of Laurentian rocks, by 310
" fossils discovered by 307
" on the Birds of the Manitoulin Islands 22
Vital Statistics, Carpenter on 134
Verrill on the affinities of corals 294
" on a new Preserving Fluid 76
" on the distribution of the radiates 303
Watt's catalogue of Ferns 158
" review by 157, 236
Whiteaves on recent additions to the Museum 27
Whittlesey on the Sea Level during the Glacial Period 304
Woodsia, species noticed 160, 175, 237, 341
Worthen on the Coal Measures of Illinois 295
Xenoneura antiquorum 206
Zoology: —
Discussions on the Game Laws 19, 22, 23
Lord on Musk-rats 45
Morgan on the Beaver 301
Putnam on the Fishes of Lake Champlain 305
Ritchie on Spectrum femoratum 66
Vennor on the Birds of the Manitoulin Islands 22
Verrill, Papers by 294, 303
Whiteaves on additions to the Museum 31
Work on the Birds of N. A 76
Zoological Nomenclature 309
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