a ‘ 1 eitpstietet * pega LTT rignate : eslilactesebester (ey mee oi) Pehater esa yes ae or ORD eeapeetiin “wy a] ler ehyueberterdetaileetect se i : iespetegtigerecerpy pert ra : THervabbisetareeedtiens Pisectiprte Theegriapegde etoelivie oth daset : : ; ftregey ves oii oe Ooty aay : beeGeuseyy 13) ag a St : Lagi ranyn Netasirign deen stent 1 : _¢ LUTE z : yintistiiterie ener: PPSAR CATES RIES + : bah The reeeraeer; garrigye philipeei eateries ‘ % OV atisobesdiationdyrs bitgschorbieder BERR tsar barrsiiseg fey hanequatesh ates isa } Warparitsy sayy % }) Sip ghrp Manet ’ * 5 $741 4 : .35 , aites Se Saati ceeeady Pupaeds ‘fs er 1 2% y Sbaebastesaatatigs tetieaelper ) - + (te, Wpeapiepeauaiger PUPA ig + s Tebebtsagisaiyre bhi] wt Tee t) eshishet 4H sLasga dtett Sata bier Meteibesb i rebate t ietibeatistiteeleieanteey Chibbeaosbray gel redeecrtitra ler ‘ 7 : W333) an Litas Ayala Upsala fee fehalsigele Hits solvate eu pr ae isertii tat) ayy . theletiara } [htbbitepabecs SOF sat Sheet ol as [SPeeneuberibaiade VE SASSER EME oa tenis] Sbibs - LOT herbals a : shat teilead «: : Ti TESIVETT) ensretts ete ea Oe <8 te 7 MAtea IT ottoei that) ws 7 . ; PR Dany ' é siaedaiyeagyl a3} saps as asharledicdgegt oa * 4 : MUTE ‘. . srdbbeddargaraales SNE Thea sae Hit n pat, oh a Wabessuias hak - esibead) Heed pas ite ” or a : fe i oe is ‘, i ws Salsvissaate Toront “y i ote ‘ij bigs al hie apreaiener sat! ie ib if ob aieey) iy iricre) Ol ? > Ritceeatentibati PUSH st Ht Pete be nabs srbaela ety seg pecs a tats. Rtesteterestt aitbitee fairs aes rye ws +H wetacer aarr riresivee is fet a pats Pr aig bhi oppe at Ak nthe ited Sal atid ess fee SRP ee tise red Srdby $b) i. 4 que US SESS TCSESSSteRI SS] AREA ea Srete \ i SSETtERtEBT INEST ENeNS Steet + at $435 iS loge neste ee eke ety My ea Thy EROSCURS TERS EYES TAU SEP Uh Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Toronto http -/www.archive.org/details/canadianfieldnat27v28otta \ AP * 1913. VOL. XXVII. 1914. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Being Volume XXIX of the TRANSACTIONS OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB 4 i) pe % 7 Incotporated March, 1884. Organized March, 1879. LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB 1913-1914 Agni, HM Awe As, DiSe:F.G.S.,. | Cameron, H.-R.) MA: FeR SG. Cameron, Roy. Ami, S. T. Anderson, Miss Constance. Anderson, James R., (Victoria, B.C.) Anderson, Lieut.-Col. W.P., IVT ASE BGe HAG OS Ardley, Edw. (Montreal). Arnold, Edw. (Montreal). Attwood, A. E., W.A. Baldwin, J. W. Ballantyne, James. Bangs, J. S. Bate, Miss Marjorie St. H. Beaupre, Edwin, (Kingston, Ont.) Bell, W. A., (Camp Creek, Lake Nepigon, Ont.) Bennett, H. C. Bennett, Miss K. E. Bentley, Miss W. K. Billings, C. M. Binme Ta H., B.SvAN Blackader, Dr. E. H. Blackadar, Lloyd. Blair, Prof. S., Kentville, N.S. Blythe, Mrs. Geo. Bond, W. Borden, Hon. Sir F. W., M.D. Brainerd, Dwight, (Montreal). Brewster, W., (Cambridge, Mass.) Brittain, W., B.S Brock, R. W., M.A Brown, F., B.S.A. Brown, Mrs. R. D. Brown, W.J., (Westmount, Que.) Brown, T. A. Bryce, P.H., M.D. Buck, T. E., B.S.A. (Toronto). Bunting, Prof. T. G., (Macdonald College, Que.) Burgess, T. J. W., M.D., F.RSC., (Montreal). Burt, Miss F. M. Butterfield, F., (Lennoxville, Que.) Calder, Alex., (Winnipeg). Calvert, E. W., (Guelph, Ont.) Calvert, J. F., (London, Ont.) .A. (Vernon, B.C.) | Carr, F. S., (Toronto). Carter, alle i Campbell, A. D., B.S.A., (Calgary, Alta.) Campbell, D. A.; B.A. Campbell, R. H. Cheney, Miss A. M. Clark (GELB. S-AY Clarke: Ti 4B. “BAS BB: Paed. Cobbold, Paul A., (Haileybury, Ont.) Cole, John E., (Westboro’, Ont.) eis: J. Franklin, (Providence, ale) |. Connor, M. Fo B.S6é ) Cox Mrs]. C: Cram) AWS. Criddle, N., Currie, A. E. Crozel, G., (Oullins, Rhone, France). Curries We Curry, ‘Miss E. E. (Treesbank, Man.) Davanson;) John, F f2S2) FeBeSue: (Vancouver, B.C.). Deam, C. C., (Indianapolis, Ind.) Dempsey, J. H. C., (Hamilton). Dewar, Miss Ethel. Dixon, F. A. Dod, F. H. Wolley-, (Midnapore, Alta. ) Doherty, T. K., B.A. Donaldson, W. Dowling, D. B., B.A.Sc. Dreher, W., B.S.A. Duff, H. C., B.S.A., (Norwood, Ont.) Dwight, Jonathan, ye, DED:: York). Dymond, J. R. Eastham, A., Eastham, J. Eddy, E. D.., Eifrig, Rev. Evans, John Evans, T. C., Ewart, D. S.A. BSc: S.A. 7. G., (Addison, Ill.) C.E., (Trenton, Ont. Vis Sc. iB W., 1B Pr 1D D. (Tor.). 4 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. Farley, Miss J. E. Farley, F. L., (Camrose, Alta.) Farr, Miss E. M., (Philadelphia). Fenn, Miss L. Ferrier, W. F., (Toronto). Finn, J./P.5, 2:44 Fisher, Hon. Sydney A., B.A. FitzHenry, W., (Myrtle, Man.) Fitzpatrick, Hon. Chas. Fleck, A. W. Fleming, J. H., (Toronto). Fleming, R. F Fleming, Sir Sandford, K.C.M.G., (Olt RD OSG) GP OE Pansy Es Forster, E. L. C., M.A. Fortier, Miss F. M. Fraser, Geo., (Ucluelet, B.C.) Fyles, Miss F., B.A. Gallup, A. H., (Saskatoon, Sask.) Gibson, Arthur. Gibson, J. W., M.A. Gilbertson, Miss B. Godson, F. P., B.A. Gorman, M. J., LL.B. Graham, Grant, Mrs. E. C. Grant, W. W. (New York). Grant, Sir J. A., K.C.M.G., M.D., FRG:S.«. Bain. FRSC, FG.S. Grisdale, J. H., B.Agr. Grist, Miss Mary L. : Groh, H., B.S.A., (Preston, Ont.) Gussow, H. T:, F.R.M.S. Halkett, Andrew. Harcourt, Geo., (Edmonton, Alta.) Hargrave, Miss I., (Sherbrooke, Que.) Harmer, Miss G., (Entwistle, Alta.) Harrington, W. Hague. Harrison, Lieut.-Col. Edward. Hart; F.'C., B.S.A., (Galt, Ont.) Harterre, J. S. Harvey, R. V., (Victoria, B.C.) Hay,iG. DSc, MAS Ph.B., FOR S:.G., (St.John, NB.) Hayes, J. A., (Sheffington, Que.) Hennessey, F. C. Henry, J. K., (Vancouver, B.C.) Herriot, W., (Galt, Ont.) Hewit, H. O. Hewitt, C. Gordon, D.Sc., F.E.S. Higgins, Dr. C. H. Hobson, W. D., (Woodstock, Ont.) Hodge, C. F., Ph.D., (Worcester, Mass.) Holmes, Miss A. S Hope, James. [April Houghton, J. A., (Bennington, Vt.) Howes, E. A. : Hudson, Prof. G. H., (Plattsburg, N.Y.) Hudson, H. F., B.S.A. Irwin, Lieut.-Col. D. T. Jackson, Miss Carrie, (Ventnor, Ont.) Jacobs, Miss C. M., (Hamilton, Ohio.) Jacombe, F. W. H., M.A., M.F: Johnson, Miss A. E. Jamieson, Thos., B.A. James, C. C., M.A., (Toronto). James, L. E., (St. Thomas, Ont.) Jenkins, S. J., B.A. Jennings, O. E., (Pittsburg, Pa.) Jenny, C. F., (Boston, Mass.) Joanes, Arthur. | Johnson, G. S., B.A., (Meaford, Ont) Johnston, W. A., B.Sc. Johnstone, Miss A. Johnson, Miss A. E. Kearns, J. C. Keefer, Thos. C., C.M.G.,,G.E;, 1B IR GSE ; Keele, J., B.A.Sc. Kingston, A. G. Kitto, V. Klotz, Dr. Otto. Klotz, Julius, 1/.D., (Lanark, Ont.) Knechtel, A. Labarthe, J., (Trail, B.C.) Lajeunesse, Rev. J. A. Lambart, Hon. O. H. Lambe); 4b. My YEG Sue '!G-S.A;; FRS. Ge Landsborough, J., (Pemberton Meadows, B.C.) Latchford, Hon. F. R., B.A. Lawler, James. Leclasre, J... Lee, Miss K. G., (Clinton, N.Y.) Lees, Miss V. Lemieux, E. E. Le Sueur, E. A. Lewis, J. B., C-E. Leyden, Miss M. : Lochhead, W., B.A., M.Sc., (Mac- donald College, Que.) Lyman, H. H., W.A., (Montreal). McCurry, H. McCready, Prof. S. B., (Guelph, Ont.) McDougall, Miss J. C. 1913] McElhinney, Dr. M. G. McGill, A., B.A. , B.Sc. McGillivray, [2 McInnes, Wm., B.A. McMillan, H. R., B.S.A. McMillan, G. A., M.A. McMillan, Thos., (Seaforth, Ont.) McNeill, Alex. MacCracken, John I., B.A. Mackay. A... LEDs B.Sex FURIS:C.; (Halifax): Macnamara, C., (Arnprior, Ont.) Macoun, Proj. John, WVEAS Ae pS... F.R.S. C., (Sidney, Bie.) Macoun, J. 'M., C.M.G. Macoun, W. T. Malcolm, John, (Fergus, Ont.) Mallock, G. S., B.A. Malté, M. on Ph.D. Matthews, Miss Annie L. Martin, D. A., (Lawson, Sask.) Mason, A. E., Pairk BC.) Megill, W. H. T., B.A. Metcalfe, W. Michaud, Geo. Miller, Prof. W. G., (Toronto). Milne, Wm. Moore, W. H., (Scotch Lake, N.B.) Morris, F. J. A., B.A., (Port Hope, Ont.) Morris, H.U. woe J. A., (Okanagan Landing, : B.C.) Murphy, John. Murray, James, B.S.A., Man.) (Brandon, Narraway, J. E. Nash, C. W., (Toronto). Newcombe, C. F., M.D., BC.) Newman, L. H., B.S.A. Nicholls, A. Nunnick, F. C.,.B.S.A. (Victoria, O’Brien, S. E. Oakely; Mrs, W. D. Oberholser, H. C., (Washington, D.C.) Odell, W. S. Orde, J. F. Patterson, A. M. Perney, F. E., B.A. Phillips, Rev. E. Phillips, P. B., (New York). Plastetts j2.S., Sees GC. Poole, T: C. THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 5 Prince, Proj. BE. E., B.A., F.L.S. Putman, jor, BAY, Be Paed. Raine, Walter, (Toronto). Raymond, Dr. Percy E., (Cam- bridge, Mass.) | Richard, Rev. A. E., (Perkins, Que.) Ritchie, Miss Isabella. Robertson, C. N., (Montreal). Robinson, "Hiram. Rush, M. L., B.A. Sanders, G.-E., B.S.A. Saunders, W. E. , (London, Ont.) Scott, C. Harry. Scott, Miss Mary McKay. Scott, W., B.A. » (Wereito)s Scott, Rev. C. T., (Brantford, Ont.) Seton, E. Thompson, (Coscob, Conn.) Shannon, Frank, (Saskatoon, Sask.) Shearman, F. J. W. pare Est, WA! y el, BG Ss F.R.S.C. Simpson, Willibert. sirett, ET.) 5.3:A. Sitwell, Capt. L. H. Skales, Howard, (Mt. Forest, Ont.) Sladen, aE OW. Li Small, H. Beaumont, M.D. Smith, Harlan I. | Soper, John. Sowter, T. W..E. Speechly, H. M., (Pilot Mound, Man.) Spreckley, 2.0. Summerby, Wm. J., M.A., (Russell, Ont.) Sutton, Mrs; L. L. Swaine, ‘J. M., M.Sc. Sweaton, W., B.A. Symes. P. B. Taylor, F. B., (Fort Wayne, Ind.) | Taverner, Terma Mae (St. Lambert, Que.) Topley, Mrs. W. if. yscreibs |. tea. LOG: BGS, EG STAG (Toronto). Venables, E. P., (Vernon, B.C.) Waddell, Miss K. T. Walker, ‘Sir Edmund, (Toronto). | Walker, E.M.,B.A. MB. , (Toronto). Walker, Bryant, (Detroit). Wallace, J. S., (Toronto). Wallis, if BY (Winnipeg, Man.) 6 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. Warwick, F. W., B.Sc., (Bucking- ham, Que.) Watson, J. F: White, E. G. White, George, R. White, James, (Snelgrove, Ont.) White, J. FF. WAl BED: Whyte, Miss Ida V. Whyte, Miss Isabella. Whyte, R. B. Wickware, A. B., V.S. Wight, E. C. Williams, Miss M. B., B.A. [April Williams, J. B. Aah oronto). Williams, N. Y. Willing, TN. (Saskatoon, Sask.) Wilson, Morley, E Wilson, W. J., Ph.B. Wilson, E., (Armstrong, B.C.) Winchester, H. S. Young, A. N. Young, C. H. Ziemann, Arthur. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. BETHUNE, REV. C; J. S.A D.C. wh RSG, (Guelph, Oat. GREENE, Dr. E. L. ,United States National Museum, Washington, D.C. Hitz, AuBert J., M.A., C.E., New Westminster, B.C. Hom, THEOopoR, Ph.D., Brookland, Washington, D.C. Merriam, Dr. C. Hart, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. Wicxuam, Pror. H. F., Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Vor. XXVIL. APRIL, 1913 No. 1 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB, 1912-13. During the past year a good deal of quiet, steady work has been done by the officers and members of the Club. The Council has held six meetings during the year. The following is a brief synopsis of its work. At the first the various committees were appointed, and arrangements were made for an extra lecture by Mr. C. Leden on “Our Neighbours of the North.” At the second the spring outings were arranged for, a delegate was appointed to attend the meetings of the Royal Society in May, and a com- mittee of four was appointed to consider the advisability of publishing the Constitution. This, as you have seen, was done in the October number of THe Ortawa NaTuRAListT. In September a meeting was held to arrange for some fall excursions. At this meeting twelve new members were elected. At the next meeting the programme of winter lectures, as proposed by the inde- fatigable chairman of the Lectures Committee, was received and ordered to be printed. And, at the last meeting the reports of several committees and branches were received, and a vast amount of routine work dealt with, including some valuable suggestions for the next Council, and the election of seven more members. MEMBERSHIP. In all 21 new members have been elected, 12 have resigned, leaving a total of 330 members now on the books. One of the corresponding members, the Rev. G. W. Taylor, has died, as reported in the September issue of THE OTrawa NATURALIST. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE. As no matters of a sufficiently important nature to warrant the calling together of the Committee arose during the past year no special meetings were held. The chief work of the Committee, namely, the publication of THE Ottawa NATuRALIsT, has proceeded very satisfactorily, thanks to the careful work of our Editor, Mr. Arthur Gibson, to whom we wish to express our indebtedness and appreciation of the regular manner in which our journal has appeared. It has contained a number of interest- ~ ing and important papers which have not been confined to our local fauna and flora. 8 THE Otrawa NATURALIST. [April The Librarian, Mr. A. E. Currie, has arranged the back issues of THE Orrawa NATURALIST So that we now know definitely what numbers are available. : The report of the Libsarian is as follows:— A short while ago the surplus copies of THE Orrawa NATURALIST, issued since April, 1910, were transferred from the residence of Mr. Arthur Gibson to the Osgoode St. School, and placed along with the older numbers. About a year and a half ago, while first arranging the back numbers of the NATURALIST in an accessible position, there were five parcels found, each bearing the legend, ‘‘ Nos. required to complete this set, Sept., 1891; April, 1892; Jan., 1895; Feb., 1895, and March, 1896.’ Recently, while examining these parcels and loose numbers more closely, it was found that the five numbers were never issued. There are, therefore, five com- plete sets of THE Otrawa Narturatist still available and no doubt at least another two sets could be compiled from the loose numbers. — During the year the various publications received through exchange have been placed, with the library of the Club,on the north-west stack of the second floor of the Carnegie Library. Excursions COMMITTEE, As the experience of the preceding season seemed to indicate that a programme of fortnightly excursions did not give a sufficient number of excursions after the deduction of those inevitably cancelled through bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances, it was decided to revert to the practise, previously followed by the Club, of holding an excursion every week during the earlier part of the season. A programme of weekly excursions was accordingly arranged for. The first excursion was on April 27th to Beechwood, and the two succeeding ones on May 4th and May 11th to Blueberry Point and Britannia respectively. Notwithstanding the backward season these were well attended and in every way successful. Detailed reports of them will be found in THE OTTaAwaA NATURALIST. < An excursion was held on Saturday, June 1st, to Chelsea, at which several leaders and a large number of members took part. While waiting for the return train the leaders gave an instructive account of the botanical and geological specimens that were observed and studied. Ne account of this was published. The excursion to Ironsides on June 8th was spoiled by a deluge of rain,which rendered it impossible to make observations. On June 22nd a few members held an enthusiastic and successful excursion to the Mer Bleue. . 1913] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 9 On October 5th an excursion was held to the Experimental Farm, but, owing perhaps to the lateness of the date, only a small number of members attended. And the following Saturday a small but very enthusiastic party did some explorations near MacKay’s Lake. It would seem that if the attempt to revive fall excursions is to be successful they must be arranged for dates a little earlier in the season. LECTURES COMMITTEE. During the winter season five public lectures were held, all of which were well attendedc. All of the lectures were held in the Assembly Hall of the Normal School. The following printed programme was carried out :— November 29, 1912—‘‘School Gardens as a Factorin Education,”’ Prof. H. L. Hutt, B.S.A., Professor of Horticulture and Landscape Gardening, Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Ont. December 10th, 1912—‘‘ Short Talks on Local Natural History,” by members of the Club.* January 28th, 1913—‘‘Modern Museum Work for the Scientist. the Teacher and the Public,’ Mr. Harlan I, Smith, Archeologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa. February 11th, 1913—‘‘Heredity: Its Meaning and Application,”’ C. Gordon Hewitt, D.Sc., Dominion Entomologist, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. February 25th—‘‘Some Conditions of Progress in the Plant World,’’ Prof. W. T. MacClement, D.Sc., Professor of Botany, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. March 18th, 1913—AnnuaL Meetinc. President’s Address. L. H. Newman, B.S.A., Secretary, Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, Ottawa. (Carnegie Library). In addition to these there was one lecture in the spring, shortly after the last annual meeting. It was delivered by Mr. Christian Leden,on the Esquimaux, and was illustrated by views, and also by phonographic reproductions of their weird music. *At the meeting on December 10th, the following members took part: J. W. Gibson, ‘‘On some Problems in Animal Ecology, with special reference to Insects’; (2) J. W. Eastham, ‘‘The Life History of a Slime Mould, and Notes on some Ottawa species’; (3) E. E. Lemieux, ‘‘Notes from Blueberry Point, and Observations on Fish and Game on the Pete- wawa’; (4) J. M. Swaine, ‘‘Some Forest Insects in Clark’s Bush’’; (5) F. E. Buck, ‘‘The Rose’’. 10 Tue OTtawaA NATURALIST. [April BotranicaL BRANCH. There have been eight meetings of this branch held during the past year. Two meetings have been held at the residences of the following members: Messrs. W.T.Macoun,R.B. Whyte and G. H. Clark; and one at the residences of Messrs. A. E. Attwood and J. J. Carter. A synopsis of three of these have been published, one will appear next month, and one will be published in full. It is hoped that a report of the other meetings will be obtained and published. The subjects presented at these meetings were: Problems in Horticulture of Interest to Botanists, by W. T. Macoun; A Summer in Britain, illustrated with lantern-slides, by R. B. Whyte; Nature Study of Plants in Relation to their Identifica- tion, by Dr. M. Oscar Malte; The Ottawa Flora from an Ecologi- cal Point of View, by J. M. Macoun; A Trip to Bermuda in January, by R. B. Whyte; Common Fungi on Wood, by J. W. Eastham; Elevator Screenings as a Means of Plant Dispersal, by J. R. Dymond; The Shade Trees of Ottawa, by Dr. E. H. Blackader; The Effect of Temperature on Fruit and Trees, by W. T. Macoun; Hardiness from a Physiological’Standpoint, by L. H. Newman. The attendance has been good and the interest sustained at all these meetings. ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH. During the past year considerable field work was accom- plished by members interested in this branch of the Club’s activities. Large numbers of insects were collected throughout the Ottawa District and some of these have been found to be new to science. Certain groups were sought after particularly, and many of these have been determined, and definite records for the locality obtained. The most important outbreak of an insect which has occurred for many years was that of the Forest Tent Caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria, which devastated miles of forest country in the Gatineau Valley, north of Ironsides. The foliage of certain, trees, particularly poplar and birch, was entirely eaten by the caterpillars and for a certain period the trains leaving Ottawa for Kazabazua and Maniwaki were unable to make the grade between Ironsides and Chelsea, owing to the thousands of cater- pillars which were present on the rails. The Treasurer’s report shows a balance on hand of $9.79. The thanks of the Club are due to Principal White for the use of the Normal School Hall, to the Library Board and the Librarian of the Carnegie Library for the use of the lecture and * tong ee ee 1913] THE Ortawa NATURALIST. 11 committee rooms on several occasions, to the gentlemen who have so kindly and willingly assisted us in our course of winter lectures, and to the press of the city for the free insertion of notices of meetings and publication of the lectures and excursions of the Club. All of which is respectfully submitted, . H. BLACKADER, Secretary. TREASURER’S STATEMENT FOR YEAR ENDING 18TH MArcuH, 1913. RECEIPTS. Balaneevroutewent 1941-1222 Se he ek $203. 285 Subscriptions: ET Te Me hk eRe oP. chad AL: Mas $ 34.00 APE eset NA see oe Rola oh veneer! athe 178.45 OS nA eter PERE RR tats RAMONE LOL bis, 26.00 -- 238.45 Advertisements in OTTAWA NATURALIST ......¢...... 109.50 (rua Mere AL IST SOIG. oo ed oe ee ee SE es 15 AiGior ee eipas SOLGe 28! 62 2 Pe Oe SUMP SL, 16.20 arracriient Creation ee FL er eS es SLA 200 .00 $578.15 EXPENDITURE. Printing OtraAwa Naturauist, Vol. XXVI, nine Bier e WIL GOV ELS... < os ot eke to oes $342.76 MUCrmEr ope ar ee oe ale on hate, athe 16°22 Pee URC EAS oe ce te 3 cy ne eg 46.30 Miscellaneous Printing: circulars, mailing Li SIELUISO CSIR (EL ap ele RAR el Se rt gaa S2e ro $440..04 Postace on OTTAWA NATURALIST... 252... 25. 33.14 TE GIEABOME, «5 eh we ee eee eS tc ca 50.00 SP Ae pads, reap WORM CIEMISCS cc's eA, 5B cye cies sae, @ leon Nate eye eee 24.82 Sundry Expenses: postage, envelopes, etc............, 20.36 ee ae ee hetort Dia ate 9.79 $578.15 W. T. Macoun, Examined and found correct. Treasurer. J. BALLANTYNE, E) C, Wicut Auditors. 12 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [April MEETINGS OF THE BOTANICAL BRANCH. Feb. ist, at the residence of Mr. R. B. Whyte, members present: Messrs. F. E. Buck, L..H. Newman, F. Jones, W. T. Macoun, G. O. McMillan, W. Dreher, E. D. Eddy, A. E. Attwood, J. J. Carter, G. H. Clark, J. R. Dymond, C. J. Tully, Dr. Black- ader and the host, Mr. Whyte, who gave a very interesting account of his impressions of Bermuda after a short visit there in January. The Bermudas consist of five large islands, bridged together, viz.: Bermuda, St. George, St. Davids, Somerset and Ireland. The total length is 25 miles, and from half to three wide. The highest point is 260 feet above tidewater. To the north-west there is a long, low coral reef, andthe entrance to the harbor is from the east. One of the pleasure trips is to take a glass-bottomed boat and go out towards the reef, and see the marine organisms at a depth of 5 to 50 feet below through the clear water. The temperature of the water is 71°. Bermuda is entirely of coral formation, resting on a sub- stratum of limestone. The temperature in January was 65- 68°. The minimum for the year is 57° and the maximum 80°, The rain falls on an average 200 days in the year, with a total rain-fall of 65 or 70 inches. Nearly all the drinking water is collected from the roofs of the houses, and conducted and stored in cemented cisterns. Some few wells are sunk into the coral rock, but if sunk too deep the water is salty. The total area is 12,378 acres, of which 2,300 is in cultiva- tion; of this 1,000 is good, 1,000 fair, and 300 poor. Agriculture is very primitive. The farms are all small, and cultivation is done mostly by hand and with the spade, quickly followed by the rake. The soil is red and very friable, and has to be fertilized after every second or third crop. The chief crops are onions, potatoes, lily bulbs and flowers, parsley, carrots, beets, radishes, arrowroot, beans, tomatoes and peas. Animal life is scarce, excepting introduced and more or less domesticated species. The native birds are the Ground Dove (Chaemepelia passerina bermudiana), Redbird (Cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis), Bluebird (Sialia sialis sialis), Catbird (Dumetella caroliniensis) and Bermuda Vireo, or Chick-of-the- village (Vireo griseus bermudianus). The crow, partridge and English sparrow are also common. The white-eyed vireo is also seen. The indigenous plants are the cedar (Juniperus Bermudi- ensis), palmetto (Sabal umbraculifera), mulberry (Morus rubra), seashore grape (Cocoloba uvifera), mangrave (Rhizophora mangle), argemone (A. mexicana), creeping sorrel (Oxalis virginica), bay 1913] THE Otrawa NATURALIST. 13 bean (Dolichos roséus), butterwood (Conocarpus procumbens), ~Burrbush (Triumfetta althaeoides), passion flower (Passtflora minima and P. coerulea), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), prickly pear (Opuntia vulgaris), vervain (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), sage bush (Lantana crocea and L. odorata), bindweed (Polygonum convolvulus), spurge (Euphorbia buxtfolia), pigeon-berry (Duranta plumiert), Spanish bayonet (Yucca alorfolia), aloe (Aloe soccotrina). There are 27 ferns, including a very pretty Maiden-hair. A list of plants which had escaped from gardens, noticed during the visit was presented as well as one of introduced weeds. Numerous specimens and views were shown by the speaker as well as some fruit, but unfortunately this latter had not kept well. Several questions were asked by members present, and altogether it was a most interesting meeting. Beh Bs Feb. 15th, at the home of Mr. Geo. H. Clark, the following members being present: Messrs. G. H. Clark, R. B. Whyte, fT Asussows. J. We \Bastiiam- J: “Ro Dymond; H.. Ay Honey, A. Kastham, B.D. Eddy, J.°° J... Carter,.-D, Freeman and J. W. Gibson. Two topics were presented, (1) “Elevator Screenings as a Means of Plant Dispersal,’ by Mr. J. R. Dymond, of the Seed Branch of the Department of Agri- culture. (2) “Common Fungiin Wood,” by Mr. J. W. Eastham, Chief Assistant Botanist of the Experimental Farm. Both topics were treated by the respective leaders in a thoroughly capable manner and were discussed by the members present. Mr. Dymond, who has made a thorough investigation of the uses as well as the dangers connected with elevator screen- ings, having spent some time at the large elevators at Fort William, first dealt with the great menace to agriculture arising out of the rapid spread of noxious weeds in Canada. He gave some figures that cannot but challenge the attention of every- body interested in our leading i i He stated that no less than 10,000 tons of weed seeds were screened from western grain handled at the elevators at Fort William annually, and estimated that the cost of harvesting, threshing, freighting and screening weed seeds was in the neighbourhood of half a million dollars per year. These seeds, however, were not entirely worthless, and sometimes represented quite a con- siderable revenue to the elevator companies, who shipped them in car load lots to Chicago and other American cities, where they were used as fodder. From $10 to $12 a ton is paid for such elevator screenings at Fort William, so that the con- 14 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [April sumer has to pay from $15 to $18 aton forthem. Such screen- ings frequently contain seeds injurious to the health of animals, but it has been found that sheep are able to eat them without any apparent injury, and indeed thousands of sheep are fattened on such screenings every year. The feeding value of such screenings depends largely upon the character of the fodder grains found in them. For example a composite sample of wheat screenings was found to give the following analysis:— 20 per cent. wheat and barley; 12 per cent. oats and wild oats; 30 per cent. buckwheat screenings; 12 per cent. lamb’s quarters; 3 per cent. tumbling mustard; 2 per cent. other mustards; 2 per cent. other weed seeds; 19 per cent. chaff, etc. It was explained how, that on account of this gigantic waste the present system of grain inspection has been evolved. All grain, practically, coming to Fort William, is docked. The average dockage in wheat is 24 per cent., and on flax is 5 per cent. to 7 percent. Asa rule the elevator companies get what- ever revenue comes from the sale of all screenings. The total dockage for 1911-12 was as follows:- wheat, 23,000 tons; flax, 14,000 tons; oats, 1,500 tons; barley, 750 tons. In conclusion Mr. Dymond pointed out the importance of doing two things: (1) To provide some means whereby grain screenings could be devitalized on a commercial basis, and (2) to take out such seeds as are injurious to stock, and to dispose of the saleable part to Canadian stock men rather than to Americans, In discussing fungi, Mr. Eastham first reviewed some general characteristics of the class, such as absence of chlorophyll, parasitism and saprophytism. He referred to the injurious nature of parasitic fungi in causing many diseases in plants and to the equally beneficial nature of saprophytic fungi in reducing fallen leaves, trees and other organic debris to simpler materials which at once become the food of growing plants again. He stated that there was no hard and fast line separating sapro- phytic from parasitic fungi, as for example, when a certain species of parasitic fungus had worked the destruction of a living tree it might still continue to exist upon the wood of the dead tree (saprophytic). He pointed out that the part that one sees above the substratum on which it grows is but the fruiting body, whereas the part which actually destroys the wood, viz., the mycelium, is buried out of sight and is found penetrating the fibres of the wood sometimes for several feet from the point where the external fruiting body is located. He traced the evolution in the structure of the fruiting body from the simplest of freely exposed plate-like discs to the more complex gill-bearing and tube-forming species. In this connection it was also noted 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 15 that each species had its own peculiar adaptation for the success- ful distribution of its spores. In-one case, viz., that of the common polypore which grows on the sides of trees, it was admirably shown by an excellent specimen that the vertical position of the spore-bearing tubes is essential to distribution of spores and that when the position of the fruiting body had been altered by the falling of the tree that a re-adjustment of the plane of the fruiting body through 90° had taken place the succeeding season. Another specimen exhibited showed the effects of the mycelium in changing the colour of the wood fibres from the normal shade to a brilliant green. During the discussion which followed Mr. Eastham’s address Mr. Gussow referred to several peculiar uses of the tissue pro- duced by the fruiting bodies of certain fungi that grow on wood. He cited an instance which had come under his own observation where the silk-like fibres from the under or spore- breeding surface of a polypore had been used ir the making of a remarkably good cap. He also referred to the peculiar way in which rude fire-arms were discharged at the time of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. Some of the dry and spongy fibres collected from the fruiting bodies of certain wood fungi were used somewhat after the manner of a fuse. This was ignited by sparks from a steel and flint and ‘‘cventually”’ the gun went off. ; Jie Wi. ee. NOTES ON THE OCCURRENCE OF INTERESTING FORMS. OF CYPERACEAZ IN QUEBEC. By Bro. Victorin, LONGUEUIL CoLLEGE, LONGUEUIL, QUE. Very little is known of the distribution of our local Cyper- acee. Being of slight or no economic value, these plants are of no interest to the average man, and even botanists them- selves frequently overlook them. Apart from any utilitarian consideration, the sedges play an important part in nature. It is by means of this type of organism that plant life takes hold of marshes, shoals, river- banks and damp places generally. If the finality of the multitude of individuals appears obvious, that of the immense number of species is yet an unsolved problem. It is to be remembered that the study of the Carex species alone, number- ing about 1,000, constitutes a whole science by itself, and demands the labour of numerous specialists. The object of these notes is to make known several species, or varities, of this family, collected by the writer, in Quebec, which are, he believes, mostly new for that province, if not for Canada. 16 THE Otrawa NATURALIST. [April 1.—Cyperus Schweinitzu Torr.: Collected at Oka, P.Q., on the alluvial barrens bordering the Lake of Two-Mountains. It was hitherto known in Canada only from the Great Lakes region, southern Ontario and the Northwest. The limits of this Cyperus are, therefore, considerably extended; it will probably prove to be fairly abundant in the Lower Ottawa Valley, when properly separated from common C., esculentus L. In the field, C. Shcweinitzit can be readily distinguished from C. esculentus L. by its much more slender culm. 2.—Scirpus Torreyt Olney: Collected at St.-Eustache, P.Q., in the Ottawa River, near the outlet of the Lake of Two-Moun- tains. This large Bulrush belongs to the group of common Scirpus Americanus Pers. Up to the present time, the northern limit of Scirpus Torreyi was not supposed to intersect the boundary line between Canada afd United States. The present discovery would lead us to conclude that it occurs throughout the waterways of western Quebec. Scirpus Torreyr fruits later than any other tall Bulrush in the east. In early August, the St-Eustache specimens were yet poorly developed though sufficiently mature to permit certain identification. 3.—Scirpus pedicellatus Fernald: St-Bruno, P.Q. In clear-~ ings, on peat, August, 1912. Recently separated by Prof. Fernald, of the Gray Herbarium., 4.—Scirpus atrocitctus Fernald: Alluvial banks, Lake Nominingue, P.Q., August, 1912. Also recently separated. Will prove abundant in Quebec. Many herbarium specimens labelled S. cyperinus are likely this species. 5.—Scirpus atrocinctus Fernald, var. brachypodus Fernald. Chateauguay, P.Q., July, 1912. Spikelets in dense, irregular _clusters, the boreal form of the species. 6.—Scirpus cyperinus (L) Kunth, var. pelius Fernald. Alluvial banks, Lake Nominingue, P.Q., August, 1912. Growing intermingled with S. atrocinctus. The very long involucral bracts characterize the species as does the deep colour of the involucels for the variety. The plant begins to fruit when S. atrocinctus is already mature. 7.—Scirpus subterminalts Torr.: Aquatic, nearly submerged Species. First collected in 1908, in Megantic Co. -(Nat. Can. XXXVI, No. 5; mai, 1909). Found again in a small lake near St-Jerome, Terrebonne Co. This interesting species must range throughout Quebec. That further investigation will add much to our knowledge of the Cyperacee in Quebec. is beyond doubt. More material, however, and a close study of collections already made, are necessary before a complete treatment of the subject can be undertaken. 1913] - Tue Orrawa NaATurRALIsT. 17 BOOK NOTICE. CANADIAN ALPINE JOURNAL; Special Number; pp. 96, with map and many plates. This special number of the Canadian Alpine Journal is made up of reports on the mammals, birds and plants collected and noted by the naturalists who accom- panied the Alpine Club expedition to Jasper Park, Mount Robson, and the Yellowhead Pass, in July and August, 1911, and forms a supplement to the detailed, fully illustrated report of the Topographical Section of the Alpine Club published in Vol. IV of the Canadian Alpine Club Journal. Copies of both the Journal and the special number here reviewed may be had from the Secretary-Treasurer of the Alpine Club, Sidney, B.C., the price of the latter being $1.00. About half of the special number is made up of Mr. N. Hollister’s report on the ‘“‘ Mammals of the Alpine Club Expedi- tion to the Mount Robson region,’’ which is prefaced by a short itinerary and the delimitation of the life-zones represented in the region covered by the expedition. Six new mammals are described, two bats (Myotis pernox and Myotis altijrons), a marmot (Marmota sibila), a chipmunk (Eutamias ludibundus), a spermophile (Callosperophilus lateralis tescorum) and a caribou (Rangifer jortidens). Very full descriptive and other notes make this list of mammals the most valuable one that has been publish- ed on the Canadian Rocky Mountain region. It is followed by a short list of the Reptiles and Batrachians. In his paper on the birds collected or observed on the expedition, Mr. J. H. Riley enumerates seventy-eight species, and while no new forms are described not the least valuable part of Mr. Riley’s contribution is his notes on the habits of some of the more important birds, and the plumage and other varia- tions noted. Altogether his list will be of great value to visitors to Jasper Park and will serve as a basis for future work in that region. As no species are enumerated which were not collected or noted by the Alpine Club party the list is not complete, but is all the more valuable on that account, asno doubtful species are included. Messrs. Hollister and Riley made in connection with their work a small collection of plants, 147 in all. These plants have been determined, and four species described, by Mr. Paul C. Standley. It is unfortunate that Mr. Standley should have prefaced his paper by saying that: ‘It was to be expected that plants from this particular area, where previously no botanical collections had been made, would contain many things of in- terest.’’ As a matter of fact many of Drummond’s types were collected in or near this very area, and, in 1898, Mr. William Spreadborough, of the Geological Survey staff, spent the whole 18 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. — [April collecting season in the Jasper Park region. No complete list of Mr. Spreadborough’s plants was published, but many new species were described in Pzttonia,* by Dr. Greene, and notes on interesting species by the writerin THe Orrawa NATuRALIST.f Drummond’s plants are all labelled ““Rocky Mts. between Lat. 52° and Lat. 56°,’”’ but it is known that he went west from Edmonton to the Rocky Mountains and worked north. All four of the species described by Mr. Standley (Carex atrosquama, Vagnera pumila, Gatllardia bracteosa and Artemisia levigata) were collected by Spreadborough and are in the herbarium of the Geological Survey. None of them were thought worthy of specific rank or even of separation from well known species, although Carex atrosquama, now described by MacKenzie, may stand as a segregate from the C. atrata group. Of Vagnera pumila it may be said that none of the characters given by Mr. Standley as separating it from V. trifolia are peculiar to the Jasper Park plant,many of our northern Canadian specimens exhibiting all of them; the best that can be said of this proposed species is that if separable from V. trifolza ot the United States it extends from Newfoundland to the Northern Rockies; among Spreadborough’s specimens we find the lcng-exserted raceme and those barely longer than the leaves among plants of the one collecting. An attempt was made by Prof. John Macoun in 1884t to separate the forms of G. aristata, but they so intergraded that it was found to be impossible. An examination of some thirty sheets from western Canada shows a wide range of varia- tions and Spreadborough’s specimens from Maligne River and from near Henry House give between them all the characters used by Mr. Standley to separate G. bracteosa from G., artstata, Without comparison with a large series of Canadian specimens G. bracteora might stand as a species, but after comparison it must be considered to be only one of the many intergrading forms of G. artstata, Artemisia levigata may be all right, but it also belongs to a very variable group from which many segregates have been described. It was first collected by Drummond in the Rocky Mountains in Lat. 52°. Drummond’s plant was referred to A. Norvegica by Hooker and to A. arctica by Torrey and Gray. Spreadborough collected it in the Yellowhead Pass. The list of plants, notwithstanding the above criticisms, is a most useful one and the only one available for the Jasper Park region. This special number of the Alpine Club Journal brings together just the kind of information that will be wanted by ‘isitors to Jasper Park and should be in the hands of everyone who goes there. Joe. *Pittonia Vols. IV and V. Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XII, p. 161 et seq.; Vol. XIII, p. 166 et seq.; Vol. XV, p. 269 et seq.; Vol. XVI, p. 217 et seq. t¢Cat. Can. Plants, Vol. I, p. 250. 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST! 19 PRELIMINARY LIST OF OTTAWA SPHARIIDA. In the NAtuRALIsT for March, 1890, the late Revd. Geo. W. Taylor and the writer published a catalogue of the recent Mollusca of Ottawa, as recorded in the publications of the Club up to that time. The list included five Spheria—sulcatum, striatinum, stamineum, rhomboideum and occidentale; four Musculia—partumeium, securis, rosaceum -and truncatum; and five Pisidia—virginicum (as adamsi), compressum, abditum ventricosum, and rotundatum. Three of the Pisidza are listed with a (?), indicating doubtful identification. ; In many of the years that have since elapsed, but little work was done. Not much leisure until recently fell to the lot of any of the remaining few who were disposed to interest them- selves in things so uncommercial as our inland shells. During the past three summers, however, opportunities afforded for the first time were taken advantage of. The hunting grounds of other days and manners were revisited; and new ones sought farther afield. A very large quantity of material was collected— some species in thousands—and submitted to Dr. V. Sterki of the Carnegie Museum, who is recognized the world over as the supreme authority in the Spheride. The list which follows has in every case the sanction of his identification. I am under the deepest obligation to him. J also desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. C. W. Johnson, of the Boston Museum of Natural History, for his kindness in comparing specimens from Ottawa with Prime’s types, or with shells bearing Prime’s labels. Dr. Sterki has in addition generously presented me with co-types of many of the species which he has described. While the list which follows is intended to be merely pre- liminary, it is believed to be correct as far asit goes. No species has been included from localities not in the Ottawa Valley, and with few exceptions the shells have been found within or near the limits of the Capital City. ; SPHZRIUM. . sulcatum, Lamck. . Striatinum, Lamck. . stamineum, Con. . rhomboideum, Say. . occidentale, Prime. . aureum, Prime. . crassum, Sterki. - . emarginatum, Prime. . flavum, Prime. . torsum, Sterki. DOMMIAN PWN NNNNNNnNNMNNMN 20 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [April MUuSCULIUM. 11. M. partumeium, Say. 12. M. securis, Prime. 13. M. rosaceum, Prime. 14. M.truncatum, Linsley. 15. M.transversum, Say. 16. M. parvum, Sterki. 17. M. ryckholti, Norm. 18. M. winkleyi, Sterki. 19. M. declive, Sterki. PISIDIUM. 20. P. virginicum, Gm. 21. P.compressum, Prime. 22. P.abditum, Hald. 23. P.ventricosum, Prime. 24. P. rotundatum, Prime. 25. P.aequilaterale, Prime. 26. P. affine, Sterki. ’ 27. P. glabellum, Sterki. 28. P.milium, Held. 29. P. minus, Adams. 30. P.noveborascense, Sterki. 31. P.ohioense, Sterki. 32. P. pauperculum, Sterki, 33... Pc politum, Stem: 34. P.rotundatum, Prime. 35. P.sargenti, Sterki. 36. P.splendidulum, Sterki. 37. P. streatori, Sterki. 38. BP, strengi, Sterki. 39. P.subrotundum, Sterki. 40. P.succineum, Sterki. 41, P. variabile, Prime. 4 42. P. walker, Sterki. te There is a quantity of material still under consideration and much more will, it is hoped, be secured during next summer. Several additions will, I think, be made to the list of Sphzria and Musculia, and many to the already lengthy catalogue of our Pisidia. These minute shells occur everywhere throughout the district in such great numbers and variety that their determina- tion is a matter of extreme difficulty. When Dr. Sterki has further studied the specimens now before him and the collections of 1913, a fairly complete list might be published, with the localities in which they are found, and figures of the larger or more beautiful species. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VoL. XXVII MAY, 1913 No..2 THE MANUS IN A SPECIMEN OF TRACHODON FROM THE EDMONTON FORMATION OF ALBERTA.* By Lawrence M. LamBgE, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., Vertebrate Paleontologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada. The present paper has particular reference to the osteology of the front feet,or hands,of a specimen of Trachodon discovered last summer in the Edmonton formation (upper Cretaceous) of Red Deer river, Alberta, by the Geological Survey vertebrate paleontological field party under Charles H. Sternberg. This specimen is now being mounted in high relief preparatory to being placed on’ exhibition in the museum of the Geological Survey, Ottawa. The skeleton of this Trachodon is almost complete from the front margin of the snout to the sixth caudal vertebra, but the remainder of the tail is missing. This defect, however, can be remedied to a great extent in mounting the specimen as fortunately a large portion of the tail of another individual of similar size was found at the same locality and can be used to take the place of the missing vertebre. This skeleton was found on its right side with the head bent downward, the front legs stretched out, and the long hind legs drawn up. Although it has been subjected to considerable pressure, the effect of which is apparent, there has been remark- ably little displacement of any of the bones. The specimen is being mounted in the exact position in which it was discovered. The rock is a sandy clay, mostly soft and easily cut away, but a tenacious layer of clay iron-stone coats some parts of the skeleton and is removed with difficulty. The bones have undergone a varying amount of silicification and are in parts considerably fractured. A clear and sharp impression of the tuberculated skin is preserved to the left of the mid-line of the back, above the sacrum, for a distance of about four feet. Large polygonal tubercles, * Communicated with the permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. 22 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [May averaging about } of an inch in diameter, are here seen to form oval shaped clusters, from 2 to 3 inches in maximum diameter, surrounded by small tubercles, about rs of an inch in average diameter. occupying the intervening spaces, which are about + of an inch across. Of particular interest is the lattice-like arrangement of the ossified tendons in three tiers, or layers,on each side of the neural spines of the back. These rod shaped tendons have been known to occur in Trachodon, but in no specimen, so far as the writer is aware, has their exact disposition been revealed and described. Inthe Red Deer river specimen of last summer’s collection some of thetendons areseen to fork, or bifurcate, and theirarrangement in a triple series is shewn in a very clear and perfect mannez. A somewhat similar disposition of ossified tendons, in a double series, in the back and tail has been suggested in published descriptions of Iguanodon and Camptosaurus. The Red Deer river specimen is in an excellent state of preservation as a whole, and is one of the most complete of the skeletons of Trachodon mounted in the museums of this con- tinent. As it is unusual to find the front feet with most of the bones represented, and but little disturbed, a short description of them is here given. It is proposed to publish, at a later date, particulars regarding the shape and position in this skeleton of the ossified tendons, and of such other structural characters of interest as further study of the osteology of the individual may bring to light. : Of the four digits in the manus all the phalanges are re- presented with the exception of the terminal one of digit IJ. As digits III, IV and V ended distally in a hoof (or nail) carrying bone it is probable that digit II, the inner finger, bore a terminal hoof-phalanx also. The phalangeal formula presented by this specimen is as follows :-— E Digit IJ..Three phalanges, the terminal one presumably a hoof-bone. Digit Il]. .Three phalanges, the terminal one a hoof-bone. Digit IV. .Two 5 es a“ € Dipti Vow ~* + a “ = This formula differs materially from the one given by Mr. Barnum Brown in a paper entitled ‘‘The Osteology of the Manus in the Family Trachodontide*”’ and descriptive of the fore foot of a specimen of Trachodon annectens (Marsh) in the American Museum of Natural History, Cat. No. 5060, from the Lance * Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. xxxi, art. x, pp. 105-107, fig. 1. New York, U.S.A., May 28th, 1912. 1913] ' Tue Orrawa NaturRAList. 23 formation of Converse County, Wyoming, U.S.A., a specimen remarkable for the completeness of the skin impression which has been made the subject of a recent memoir by Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn .** : The phalangeal formula of the fore foot of this specimen of Trachodon annectens is given by Mr. Brown as being Pent PTE. 0 with three phalanges, the third a hoof. joerg Oe re ca ef a a es pity PV a oe s a 7 no hoof. Digit We aes oe ae oe ae ae It is thus evident that this formula, as interpreted by Mr. Brown, is not applicable to the family Trachodontide as a whole. In the Red Deer river Trachodon from the Edmonton beds the fore feet were in the position indicated in plates I and III. In removing the rock particular care has been taken to keep each bone in the exact position in which it was found, so that any observer of the mounted skeleton, or any reader of this paper, with the aid of the illustrations provided, would be in a position to interpret for himself the phalangeal formula presented. This policy of nondisturbance of the bones has been carried out in the preparation and mounting of the entire skeleton. In both hands the metacarpals II, ITI and IV are grouped together in close contact, whilst the fifth metacarpal lies some- what apart. In the right manus the dorsal surface of digit II, and the palmar surface of the other three digits are presented to view. Owing to the pressure to which the specimen has been subjected digits IV and V have been brought to the same levei as digit III. Digit Il is at a higher level, directly over and pressed down on digit IIT. In the left manus the palmar surface of digits II and III, and the dorsal surface of digits IV and V are uppermost. Digits II and III lie in the same horizontal plane whilst digits TV and V are at a higher level, digit IV resting on digit ITI. The right ulna and radius are seen from behind, and the left ulna and radius obliquely from without and behind. The ulna and radius in each arm, and some of the meta- carpals and phalanges, shew the effect of vertical compression, to a varying extent, in an exaggerated breadth. This distortion is given inthe accompanying figures, but is probably most clearly expressed in plate IIT, reproduced from a photograph. ** Memoirs Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., new series, vol. I, part II, Integu- ment of the Iguanodont Dinosaur Trachodon, pp- 33-54, plates V-X, sith seventeen text figures. New York, 1912. 24 THE Orrawa NATURALIST. [May Regarding the fore feet as webbed and adapted for swim- ming, the digits were most probably capable of being spread laterally to some extent, probably more than is indicated in the figure forming plate II, which is intended to represent the hand in a moderately quiescent state. As shewn in plates I and III, the metacarpals II, Il] and IV of both hands are parallel to each other and pressed together, with metacarpals II] and IV brought round metacarpal III toward each other; the result probably of the contraction of the skin after the death of the animal and not indicative of the proper position of these bones when the creature was alive. Mr. Brown, in figure 1 of his paper, already cited, representing the ‘‘ Manus of Trachodon correctly assembled” places metacarpals II, III and IV in this position of close contact which is not, in the writer’s opinion, the true position of these bones in a fore foot capable of being used with much effect in swimming. In the Red Deer river specimen the different bones of the digits are distinctive in shape and can be recognized in each hand. Metacarpals III and IV are of about equal length. Metacarpal II is considerably shorter, and metacarpal V is less than half as long as Nos. III and IV. The distal end of meta- carpal II] is enlarged, but in the other metacarpals the proximal end is the larger, the difference in size between the two ends being not so great in metacarpal II. The articulating surfaces of these bones are evenly rounded. Plates I and III shew accurately the relative position of the bones of the hands to each other as found. Digit V has two phalanges, of which the terminal one is smaller than that of digits II] and IV. It has a more rounded outline, but, as in the others, is thick proximally and thin toward the distal margin. This terminal bone is well preserved in the right hand, is in position, and is in all respects a typically shaped hoof-bone. In the left hand a fragment regarded as the proximal end of the corresponding bone of digit V is shewn slightly in advance of the first phalanx. ~ The hoof-bone of digit IV of the mght hand was found slightly out of place, as indicated in plates I and HI. The corresponding bone in the left hand was missing and has been restored in plaster. The three phalanges of digit III of the left hand are pre- served and were found practically in place as shewn. The second phalanx of digit ITI of the right hand was missing and has been restored from the left hand, the restoration being placed in the sacpe found between the first and third phalanges. Wt SEV Peed eS >. a a a ae eee... 1913] THE Orrawa NATURALIST. 25 The only bone not represented in either of the hands is the terminal phalanx of digit II, which is shewn in dotted outline in plate II, as a true hoof-bone on the assumption that, as the other three digits bore flattened hoof-bones, it is probable that the moderately long digit II had a terminal phalanx of this nature also. Two fragments found lying near and in front of the second phalanx of digit II of the left hand may be part of the missing hoof-bone in this hand, but it was not found possible to identify them as such. The second phalanx of digit II is a distinctly triangular bone and is preserved in both hands, where it occurs with its pointed side directed inward. A similarly shaped bone is described and figured by Mr. Brown as occurring in the manus of Trachodon anneciens as the second phalanx of digit IV with its narrow side pointing outward. A carpal bone is preserved in each hand, in the same position, viz., at the ulnar side of the end of the radius. In addition, a smaller carpal bone was found in the right hand, at the middle of the end of the ulna, but a corresponding second carpal was not found in the left hand. The teeth of the Trachodon from the Edmonton formation: _whose. fore feet are described above, agree in size, shape and marginal sculpture with those of Trachodon marginatus, Lambe*, from the lower horizon of the Belly River formation, whose beds are exposed a few miles farther down Red Deer river to the south-east. As the marginal sculpture of the teeth is one of the principal specific characters of T. marginatus the specimen from the Edmonton formation is regarded as belonging to the species from the Belly River formation until evidence is obtained to prove that a specific difference exists between them. EXPLANATION OF PLATES. Piate I—The fore feet of the specimen of Trachodon from the Edmonton formation of Red Deer river, Alberta, Cat. No. 8399, shewing the bones in the position in which they were found. One-sixth the natural size. Priate II]—The right fore foot of the same specimen, dorsal aspect, with the bones in, what is considered to be, their natural position. One-sixth the natural size. Pirate I]]—Reproduction from a photograph of the fore feet, of the same specimen, as mounted. One-sixth the natural size. * Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, vol. III (quarto), part II, 1902. New genera and species from the Belly River series. 26 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [May A FURTHER NOTE ON CRYPTOLITHUS VERSUS TRINUCLEUS. By Percy E. RAyMmMonp. Judging from the protests which I have received since the publication of my note on ‘‘Some Changes in the Names of the Genera of Trilobites”’ in the February number of the Natur- ALIST, there is a deep and universal feeling against giving up the familiar name Trinucleus. It is readily admitted by all that the name Trinucleus has no standing, but it has existed so long and has become so familiar, that the general opinion seems to be that it would be unwise to give it up now. It is interesting to note how this same feeling has come down through the litera- ture. It will be remembered that Cryptolithus was described in 1832 by Green’, who gave a recognizable description and figure. In describing Trimucleus in 1839, Murchison’ cites Cryptolithus as a synonym of the Trinucleus, Lhwyd, 1698, but after his generic description he adds: ‘‘Seeing that these dis- tinctions, as above defined, prevail in several species of Trilo- bites, I have formed them into a mew genus under an old name assigned to one species of an animal of this kind of Lhwyd.”’ In this same year, Emmrich*® referred four of Murchison’s species to Cryptolithus, and Goldfuss in 1843 also used Crypto- lithus, as did Emmrich again in 1845. In these same years, however, (1840-1845), Milne-Edwards, Eichwald, Burmeister, Munster, Portlock, and Lovén all used Trinucleus, either under the influence of the prestige of Murchison, or for the reason which influenced Hall* in 1847 in ‘‘adopting the generic name of Lhwyd as given by Murchison.’”’ Hall evidently believed in priority, but the third edition of Linneus had not then been fixed upon as the point beyond which one should not go in reviving old names. Barrande, in 1852, gave a good resumé of the uses of the names, and while he decided for Trimucleus on account of priority, he says: ‘‘Quelques savans, au nombre desquels nous distinguons Bronn et Goldfuss, ont maintenu le nom de Crypto- lithus qui, sous certains reports, a le droit de priorité. La plupart des paléontologues ont employé de préférence la dénomi- nation plus ancienne de Trinucleus, bien qu’elle date d’une époque oti la nomenclature systématique n’était pas encore in- troduite dans la science. I] y a lA une question de droit, qui *Monthly American Journal of Geology, vol. 1, No. 12, p. 560, 1832. *Silurian System, p. 659, pl. 23, 1839. *De Trilobitis, etc., p. 49, 1839. *Paleontology New York, vol. 1, p. 249, 1847. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 27 nons semble compliquée. Il nous appartient pas de la résoudre, et dans le doute, nous avons adopté le nom généralement admis dans tous les pays, et que nous voyons introduit jusqu’en Amérique, par J. Hall, dans son bel ouvrage sur la Paléontologie de New-York.’” The next year, Salter®, in speaking of the name Trinucleus says: ‘The name of the genus can only be retained by general consent, for the typical species was formerly denominated Cryptolithus, and sufficiently descriLed by Green;”...... “But in this case strict priority may be allowed to yield to classical feeling.” In 1854, Angelin' used the family name Crypto- lithidy though he employed Trinucleus for the genus. From 1854 to 1890 Cryptolithus seems to have been pretty effectually submerged, but attention was drawn to it in the latter year by Vogdes*, who says of Cryptolithus: ‘‘This generic name should replace that of Trinucleus’’; and again: ‘‘Sir. R. I. Murchison has revived this old name of Lhwyd’s, and all subse- quent paleontologists have adopted it. Lhwyd’s description meant no more than the general name trilobite of the more modern writers, and could not, except by courtesy, set aside Dr. Jacob Green’s genus Cryptolithus.”’ Thus we may divide the users of these names into three classes: first, those writers who from 1832 to 1854 used Crypto- lithus; second, those who, like Hall, Barrande, and their follow- ers, turned to Trinucleus on the ground of supposed priority; and third, men like Murchison, Salter, and many modern writers, who knew that Cryptolithus had priority, but who preferred the better name. On the mere ground of sentiment, which of course should have no weight at all, there would seem to be as much in favor of Cryptolithus as Trinucleus, and as a matter‘of simple justice everything points to the former name. The only argument against returning to Cryptolithus is the one of present convenience, and I must admit that is, practically, a very weighty argument. TJrinucleus has gotten such a firm hold upon us that it will take more than ordinary courage to give it up. And it should be pointed out that we are in a fair way to saddle ourselves with more cases of this same kind. It will be interesting to see whether present day paleontologists are going to allow such names as some of those recently proposed by Jaekel for Agnostid genera or the still more flagrant Glockeria of ®Systeme silurien du centre de la Boheme, vol. 1, p. 610, 1852. *Memoirs Geol. Sur. Unit. Kingdom, Dec. 7, p. 5, 1853. 7Palaeontologia Scandinavica. Pars 1. Fasc. 2, p. 64 of 3d ed., 1878. *Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey, No. 63, pp. 107, 148. 28 Tue Orrawa NaTurRALIsT. _ [May Wedekind’ to get the same standing that Trinucleus has. Enough of the destructional phase of the subject. When I. wrote before I did not see any way in which the name T71- nucleus could be retained, but after studying the large collection in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, a way has presented itself. The present tendency is to split our large genera up into a number of smaller groups, and ‘‘ Trinucleus’’ must doubtless be so divided. There are at present only two divisions in use, Cryptolithus or Trinucleus, and Tretaspis, McCoy. As stated in my previous paper, Murchison’s first species, Trinucleus caractact, 1s strictly congeneric with Cryptolithus tessellatus, but fortunately Murchison described six species when first proposing Trinucleus. The fifth of these species, Trinucleus nudus, is well known to be an Ampyx, and the sixth, Trinucleus? asa- phoides, was referred. by Salter to Ogygiocaris. buchiit, This leaves four species, the first and fourth of which, Trinucleus caractact and T. lloydi, belong to the earlier genus Crypiolithus. The second and third, Trinucleus fimbriatus and T. radiaius have been referred by Salter” to Tretaspis. Now the type of Tretaspis is Trinucleus seticornis, (Hisinger), as that species was under- stood by McCoy". Tretaspis differs from Cryptolithus in having only the anterior part of the glabella bulbous, while the posterior part is constricted and shows two pairs of deep glabellar furrows. The cheeks also show eye-lines and simple eyes are present, even in the adult. Young specimens of some species of Cryptolithus show a poor development of these same characters, but as they are retained in the adult of Tretaspis seticornis, T. bucklandz1, and other forms, (Tretaspis reticulatus, Ruedemann is a good American example), the genus is a valuable one, and well found- ed. Tvrinucleus fimbriatus and T. radiatus do not, however, conform strictly to the type of either Cryptolithus or Tretaspis. ‘Since my previous paper was written, this recent blunder, for such it seems, has come to my attention. Wedekind, in an article on the “ Klassifikation der Phacopiden”’ in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geol. Gessellschaft, Bd. 63, heft 3, p. 323, 1912, has proposed the generic name Glockeria with Phacops glockeri as the type. Reed, as recently as 1905, on page 226 of the Geological Magazine of that year, proposed the name Phacopidella with Phacops glockeri as the type. Wedekind refers fre- quently to Reed’s paper, and quotes Phacopidella, though he nowhere says that that name is preoccupied or otherwise unusable. Wedekind’s Glockeria is not the same as Reed’s Phacopidella, but it seems obvious that we can not found two genera upon a single species. I regret to have to add that the name Reedia was used by Ashmead in 1904 for a genus of wasps (Canadian Entomologist, 36, p. 9), so that Wedekind’s intended compliment to Professor Reed is lost. In passing, it might be noted that Phacops fecundus Barrande, is not the type of Phacops s. s. as Wedekind has made it. 1°Mem. Geol. Sur. Unit. Kingdom, Dec. 7, p. 8, 1853. 11Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 2, vol. 4, pp. 401, 410, 1849. 1913] THE OtTTawA NATURALIST. 29 Speaking principally of T. fimbriatus, which is the better known species, it has glabellar furrows, though not so well developed as in the typical Tretaspis, but, so far as I can learn, lacks the simple eyes and eye-lines of that genus. But the greatest obvious peculiarity of the species is the character of the fringe, which, instead of being marked by concentric rows of perfora- tions, is crossed by a system of radiating ridges and furrows. Reed has recently studied the fringes of the various English species of ‘‘ Trinucleus”’, and he speaks thus of the fringe in Trinucleus fimbriatus:” ““The upper surface has all the pits arranged in radial sulci except near the genal angles.’”’ And again; ‘‘the dividing radial ridges vary from the extreme de- velopment in T. fimbriatus, Murchison, to the scarcely differ- entiated structures in T. nicholsoni.”’ I am aware that Reed also says of the arrangement of the pits in concentric or radial rows that ‘‘ Frequently different stages occur in the same species or different parts of the fringe of the same individual,’ and that he does not seem to give very high classificatory value to the pattern of the fringe. Still, we have here an extreme develop- ment along one line, which, taken with the other characteristics of the specimens, form a combination which may have the value of a generic group. The principal characters seem to be as follows: Glabella obovate, glabellar furrows present, but weaker than in Tretaspis, eye-lines and simple eyes absent in the adult, fringe ornamented with radiating furrows separated by strong ridges. I would therefore propose to select Murchison’s second species, Trinucleus fimbriatus, as the type of Trimucleus, and let the genus stand or fall on the basis of that species. Ruedemann’s Tretaspis diademata® would certainly belong to the genus as thus restricted, and probably Trimucleus coscinorhinus, Angelin™, as well. Professor F. R. Cowper Reed has announced his in- tention of revising the British species of Trinucleus, and it will be interesting to see if, when the species are better known, such a grouping will be of value. We seem to have four possible courses open to us, and of them I personally prefer the fourth: First, use Cryptolithus and make Trinucleus a direct synonym. Second, ignore Cryptolithus and continue to use Trinucleus on the score of convenience. Third, make Trinucleus fimbriatus the type of the genus and make a broad enough definition to include the type of Tretaspis, in which case Trinucleus would replace Tretaspis, the latter 12Geological Magazine, vol. 9, Dec. 5, pp. 349, 385 .1912, 15Bull. N. Y. State Museum, No. 49, p. 46, pl. 3, figs. 12-14,1901. 14Pal. Scandinavia, vol. 1, 3d ed., 1878, p. 65, pl. 34, fig. 4. 30 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [May genus going into the synonomy. This would be practically the position of Salter except that we would use Cryptolithus for Trinucleus, and Trinucleus for Tretas pis. Fourth, use the three names, Cryptolithus for the type of tessellatus and caractact, Trinucleus for fimbriatus and its allies, and Tretaspis for seticornis and the like. ZAPUS PRINCIPS MINOR. A New Mouse Recorp For MANITOBA. The mouse whose name appears above was one of a small collection recently determined through the courtesy of Dr. H. W. Henshaw, of Washington, who informs me that its capture at Aweme, Manitoba, constitutes, not only a record for the Province, but also extends the known range of this rodent considerably further eastward. As a matter of fact, however, these mice appear to be the usual race met with in south-western Manitoba, as we have yet to discover any other. They are found not infrequently on the edges of woods among low bushes and occasionally in tall grass in open situations. Like other members of the genus, they are by no means easy to capture and their long jumps (from five to seven feet) combined with their habit of doubling, often completely mystify a dog, as they would doubtless a coyote or fox; besides this they have an instinctive knowledge of their colour resemblance to the surrounding objects and so, after a few puzzling leaps, will crouch down and remain perfectly motionless until danger seems past, when they creep silently away. This is when they have strayed from their burrows. When their homes are at hand they quickly vanish beneath the ground. Zapus princips minor may be described briefly as follows: length 219 mm., tail vertabre 131, hind foot 30; colour agaty, sides ochraceous, moderately covered with black tipped hairs; lower parts yellowish with a slight tinge of pink fading to white beneath. It resembles closely other species of the genus, partic- ularly Z. hudsonius campestris, from which it differs, however, in being slightly smaller and more brightly coloured. But one of these mice has previously been recorded for Manitoba, namely Z. hudsonius, the type locality for which is Hudson’s Bay. Probably at least one other—campestris— will eventually turn up within our boundaries, and since the extension of the Province to Hudson’s Bay, others may well be discovered in the north country. Stuart CRIDDLE. 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 31 THE SHADE TREES OF OTTAWA.* In this paper several introduced species are included, but only in a few cases are varieties referred to. Those who wish to learn about the most valuable varieties can readily do so at the Central Experimental Farm, where all hardy and useful varieties are being tested. We exclude from consideration in this paper all evergreens and fruit trees. SALICACEAE. There are about six species of native Willows that attain the character of trees, yet few of them can stand the dry soil of a city. They are more common in the country and along the borders of streams. As a family they have soft pliant wood, slender branches, and large fibrous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness and tenacity of life. There are several large willows in a vacant lot near Rideau Gate, and throughout lower town they are more frequent than in the other parts of the city. I am not sufficiently familiar. with the particular characteristics of this family in the winter to say to which species they belong—whether Salix alba, S. nigra, or S. fragilis, but think they belong to the first, the white willow. This willow possesses some of the more important qualities requisite for a shade tree: it can readily be transplanted and it has great tenacity of life. As long as it has sufficient moisture it will grow. And yet it is not a tree to be recommended. It cannot compare in beauty either of foliage or of outline with other trees. Yet there are some exceptions. The Weeping Willow, Salix Babylonica, is an introduced species, and deserves mention as a remarkably graceful tree, although it is more commonly associated with cemeteries than as a city shade tree; and I do not know of one growing in the city, although it is included in the catalogue of trees and shrubs that grow at the Experimental Farm, and is classed as “‘hardy.”’ There are about 150 species or varieties of willow planted there, of which one half are counted as hardy, and possibly more would have thrived if planted on the low ground near the Canal. The Wisconsin Weeping Willow, S. Babylonica dolorosa, has been introduced along the Driveway and is doing well. Among the Poplars the most important is an introduced one, Populus nigra pyramidalis, the Lombardy Poplar. This tree possesses a very characteristic outline, even more so than the elm, and is therefore well known to everybody. This outline is just as marked in the winter asin the summer. Its branches *Paper read by}Dr. E. H. Blackader at a meeting of the Botanical Branch held at the residence of Mr. J. J. Carter, March 1st, 1913. 32 Tue Ottawa NaTuRALIST, [May are perpendicular and long, the terminal twigs having a slight inward curve. When blown by the wind the whole tree sways with a graceful feathery effect. Perhaps the best known of these poplars are the ones that can be seen from the Plaza in Major Hill Park. They overlook the canal, and from their position show to good effect, and form a picturesque sky-line. There are many other Lombardy Poplars throughout the city, and their number might well be increased, for ‘this is a handsome tree, holding its leaves late into the autumn. The Balsam Poplar, P. balsamtfera, is a native species, and holds its own in the city, although it appears to be rarely trans- planted to the street line, but grows in gardens or in neglected lots. In some cities it is recommended where there is much coal smoke. It is a large, handsome tree, with several shades of yellow or greenish-yellow to brown on the large limbs. The Cottonwood, P. monilifera or deltoides, grows to a large size and is fairly common. One great objection to this poplar is the enormous quantity of cottony stuff that falls for two or three weeks in the early part of the summer, and is carried everywhere by the wind. The Abele, or Silver or White Poplar, P. alba, probably also grows about the city, and may be recommended where there is plenty of space. The peculiar white-tomentose matter on the under surface of the leaves is characteristic, and the peculiar mingling of green and white makes this tree a very effective ornamental one. This beautiful silveriness of the under surface is rather heightened in the twilight. One great dis- advantage of this tree is the numerous suckers it produces. JUGLANDACEA. The Butternut, /uglans cimerea, grows commonly all around Ottawa, and there are probably some growing within the city limits. When in the open its huge branches spread out almost horizontally. Its terminal twigs are large, and its leaves are late in coming out and fall early. Nevertheless, the large compound pinnate leaves give a very handsome effect, and the tree is well worthv of cultivation where there is plenty of space. The Walnut, /. nigra, deserves to be planted more commonly around thecity. The branches are much more upright or ascend- ing than the butternut. The bark is darker in color. and the leaves are quite smooth above. The only tree I know of in the city is situated well in from the street line at the south-west corner of O’Connor and Somerset Sts. The Hickory, sub-family Carya, is mentioned more for the wish to see it than the fact that it exists here. Carya alba or Hiceria ovate, the shell-bark hickory, is the most important and 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 33 the most characteristic of the family. Its wood is so valuable that possibly it has become exterminated in this locality. It ought to be replanted, especially in the large parks at Rockcliffe or Britannia, or if the Government provide for a National Park. It appears to be spreading on Mount Royal Park at Montreal. No doubt the fruit would be appreciated both by squirrels and boys. The bark of this tree is characteristic and peculiar. It breaks up into oblong plates, the ends of which curve outwards. while they cling at the centre. This peels off easily, hence the name, shell-bark or shag-bark. BETULACE#. (Including the Birches and the Hornbeams.) Of the Birches the most ornamental and therefore the most valuable are the cut-leaved and pendulous or weeping varieties. How many varieties there are, I am not prepared to say, but they all seem related to B. alba or B. populifolia. Of course these beautiful varieties are of use only on lawns, but they are fairly common about the city. Their lower limbs come too low for them to be used along the street line, to say nothing of how much and how quickly they would be ruined by horses and passers-by. The Common White Birch, B. populifolia, is common at Rockcliffe, and is too easily recognized to need description. The Yellow Birch, B. lutea, also grows at Rockcliffe, but is much less common. It prefers rich, moist woodland. There are several trees in the hollow near where the new artesian well has been sunk. This is a beautiful tree in its native haunts. The bark of the trunk is of a vellowish or silver-grey color, which detaches horizontally in thin filmy layers which curl up like ribbons. In the spring the inner bark is a rich golden yellow. The catkins are upright, sessile, and very short in proportion to their breadth. Of the Ironwoods the Hop Hornbeam, Ostrya Virginiana, is the only species, so far as I know, that is represented in the city. There is one on Gladstone Ave. near Metcalfe St., and several in Major Hill Park on the bank overlooking the pond. It is a tree that is more conspicuous and beautiful in the winter than in the summer, although the peculiar hop-like strobiles on the terminal twigs may attract the attention of some. But in the winter. and when standing all alone, then the tiny graceful birch-like twigs, tipped with bunches of two or three upright catkins, appear in all their native beauty. The trunk also is characteristic. It gives the appearance of strength. The bark is grey and split into numerous partly exfoliated strips, much narrower and tinier than on any other tree. 34 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [May The other Hornbeam, Carpinus carliniana, may not grow within the city limits. A peculiarity of its growth is the manner in which the sinews of the branches are prolonged down the trunk, giving a peculiar muscular or Gothic effect. This is seen also to some extent in the beech, This tree is recommended for arbor-walks in the parks in some cities. FAGACEA, This includes the Beech, Fagus ferruginea or grandijolia, and the Oaks, Quercus, of which we have only two representa- tives. (The Chestnut, Castanea dentata, is rather a fruit tree, and does not thrive well here), The Beech deserves to be planted much more commonly than itis. One great objection is that it is apt to be destroyed by boys with their penknives. It is surprising, since our trees are leafless one half of the year, that so little attention is paid to planting for winter beauty. The winter beauty of the beech is considered quite equal to that of the elm. It is no less charming in early spring, and in the summer-time a forest of beeches has a most beautiful and be- witching effect. The compact, light grey bark of the beech tree is characteristic. This remains unbroken to a great age, and is perpetuated on the branches. Another noticeable feature is the muscular or buttress effect running down from the large branches, and more marked as the tree gets older. There are several varieties of the Purple or Copper Beech, which add a beauty to a large lawn or park. Some fine specimens may be seen along the Driveway. There are two species of oak that may be found in the city as shade trees, the Mossy-cup Oak and the Red Oak. The Mossv-cup or Bur Oak, Q. macrocarpa, is very common in Ottawa South. The corky ridges on its branches gives it some resemblance to the Corky Elm. But the branches them- selves are very different. In the elm the branches have all an outward and downward direction, in the oak they are contorted and angular, and never drooping. The Common Red Oak, Q. rubra, is the prevailing type at Rockcliffe and in Rideau Hall grounds. This species belongs to the second group of oaks. Their leaves are bristle-pointed, and the fruit matures the second vear. It most nearly approaches the English Oak, R. robur, in the effect it gives of massy strength and durability. These two species have the widest range, especially to the north, of any of the native species. 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. as URTICACE. The American Elm, Ulmus americana, is deservedly the best known and the most popular of all our shade trees. Whether in the city or the country it is equally well known and equally useful and beautiful. It possesses many advantages. It can be readily transplanted, and stands a great amount of cutting and pruning. It thrives on almost any kind of soil. It is a fairly rapid grower, and soon spreads out in a broad umbrageous out- line. Its lowerlimbs may be pruned away, leaving plenty of space for air and sunshine, and not losing in beauty of outline, Besides the Common White Elm, there are several other interesting and valuable species in the city. The Cork or Rock Elm, U. racemosa, is a valuable timber tree and is commonly planted. Perhaps it is too common, for the large corky ridges on its lower branches have a rather un- gainly effect. The corky ridges on the lower branches are characteristic and probably more pronounced in the city than in its native soil. The Slippery Elm, U. fulva, probably also grows in the city. It is a fortunate thing for its life that it is not so easily recognized. Its limbs are more rigid and divide at a slightly greater angle than the common elm. Its terminal branches and twigs do not have the outward and downward sweep that is so characteristic of the common White Elm. The simplest way of identifying this elm is to bite and moisten a twig with the saliva. The mucil- aginous or slippery quality is then easily recognized by rubbing between the fingers. The English Elm, U. campesiris, and the Scotch Elm, U. glabra, are also planted about the city. There is one English Elm near the arcade on Parliament Hill. On Gloucester St. between Bank and O’Connor streets, there are several Scotch Elms, VU. glabra. The Hackberry, Celtis occidentalis, is mentioned more for the wish than the fact of its growing here. There was one tree growing along the banks of the Rideau River, in Ottawa South. but it perished last year in the march of city growth. There is’ no reason why this tree should not grow well along the Driveway. The hackberry has the outline of. the elm, but it is out of its range here and rarely produces its fruit so far north, Red Mulberry, Worus rubra, grows on Lisgar St., a few doors east from Bank St., on the south side. It is probably the only specimen in the citv. The bark is scaly, and has a reddish tinge. 36 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [May The terminal twigs are fine, and have an elm-like appearance. It seems to be a valuable and long-lived shade tree. ROSACEA, The only species that calls for our attention as a shade tree is the Mountain Ash. This is fairly common. Its bright red berries are conspicuous during the fall and early part of the winter, and make it a deservedly popular ornamental tree. There are several varieties of the European Rowan Tree, Pyrus aucuparia.* The American one, P. americana is at its best in our latitude. It becomes a shrub farther south, and extends far north to the shores of James Bay. LEGUMINOS&. The Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymnocladus dioica or canadensis is far from home in this latitude. There is only one specimen, so far as I know, growingin the city. Itison the Normal School grounds on Elgin St., but there are several at the Experimental Farm. This tree is remarkably homely in winter. Its smaller branches are so thick and blunt, and its leaves so late in coming out that it has earned the title, Chicot, the dead tree, among our French-Canadian neighbors. But, in summer its leaves are characteristic and beautiful. It is one of the very few trees that produce doubly compound leaves. The only other large tree that produces such leaves is the Honey Locust, Gleditsia triacanthos. It grows at the Experi- mental Farm and is marked as half-hardy. The Common Locust, Robinia pseudacacia would be far more valuable both as a shade tree and for its timber if it could be effectually protected from the ravages of boring insects. There is almost an avenue of these trees near Rockcliffe, and the street is appropriately named, Acacia Avenue, but it is a rare tree in other parts of the city. Some say it is not a beautiful tree in winter. Its bark is deeply furrowed, and inclined to scale; the trunk is often twisted, the branches are irregular and contorted andtwiggy. Theseed-pods hangon the tree all winter. (To be continued.) * One member here stated that all the mountain ashes about the city belong to the introduced European species, and that it is even spreading to nearby woods. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VoL. XXVII JUNE-JULY, 1913 Nos. 3-4 REVISION OF THE SILURIAN OF ‘SOUTH-WESTERN ONTARIO. By M. G. Wiiiams.* At the 1912 meeting of the Paleontological Society of America; Professor Charles Schuchert read a paper entitled “The Cataract, a New Formation at the Base of the Silurian in Ontario and New York.’ During the summer of 1912 the writer was engaged by the Geological Survey of Canada in revising the Silurian of Manitoulin Island and Georgian Bay, and was with Professor Schuchert during his field observations in these regions. A preliminary statement of the results of the work will appear in the Summary Report of the Geological Survey of Canada for 1912. In the meantime, it may be stated that the ‘‘Cataract’’ formation in the Georgian Bay region consists of two very distinct divisions—a lower dolomite member 11 or 12 feet thick near Collingwood, and 50 feet or more in thickness on parts of Manitoulin Island: and an upper shale member of varying thickness. For the dolomite division of the Cataract formation the name ‘‘ Manitoulin member”’ is proposed, because of its import- ance on Manitoulin Island. Here it rests upon soft green shale at the top of the Richmond formation. At Cabot Head 6 feet or more of soft, red shale intervene between the green Richmond shale and the base of the Manitoulin dolomite. The red clay-shale, which forms the upper division of the formation on Manitoulin Island, is well exposed along the road between the villages of Kagawong and West Bay, at a locality north-east of Kagawong Lake. For this division, the name “Kagawong member” is proposed. In the Manitoulin region the Kagawong shale is overlain by about 6 feet of green shale about 6 feet thick which appears to grade upward into the argillaceous dolomite of the Lockport formation. At Cabot Head probably 16 feet of firm red shales underlie soft red clay- shale similar to that on Manitoulin Island. Firm red shale, *Published by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. 38 THe Otrawa NaTuRALIsT. | June-July containing bryozoa, overlie the Manitoulin dolomite along the south side of Georgian Bay. According to the interpretation of the writer, all the red shales are to be included in the Kagawong member. The age and complete stratigraphic relations of a considerable thickness of gray to green shales, occurring above the red shales at Cabot Head, are not yet definitely determined, although they may, in part at least, represent a later phase of the Kagawong sedimentation. They are overlain by about 6 feet of green shale beneath argillaceous dolomite of Lockport age, as is the case with the Kagawong shale on Manitoulin Island. THE SHADE TREES OF OTTAWA. (Continued from page 36). ACERACES. The Maple family. It is difficult to decide which 1s the most valuable among so many useful species. The Sugar or Rock Maple, Acer saccharum, probably ranks first because of its well known and valuable qualities. It is among the finest forest trees, and it is handsome and thrives well in the city as long as there is not too much dust and coal smoke. The barkis rugged or shaggy with deep long furrows; the trunk is straight and opens into a shapely oval outline. It isa slow-growing tree, but long-lived. The Black Sugar Maple, A. nigrum, grows near the city and may grow along the streets, but it is difficult to distinguish it in winter. The White or Silver Maple, A. saccharimum, is one of the commonest, and is deservedly popular. Itis a fast grower. The trunk soon divides into 3 or 4 secondarv stems with an upward sweep, from which side branches droop outward and downwards. The bark on the branches is smooth and of a light grey color until of considerable size. Both in poise and outline this tree suggests the elm, and the method of city pruning increasesthe effect. It is one of the first trees to blossom in the spring. The Norway Maple, A. platanoides, is an introduced species and deservedly ranks high. The leaves resemble the Sugar Maple, but are thicker and of a darker green. They remain on the tree a week or more longer than the other maples, and fall without turning color. The petioles exude an acrid milky juice which coagulates. This is characteristic, and is a test easily made. The bark closely resembles the White Ash. On the upper limbs it is of a brownish-grey color. The trunk is apt to divide too low into numerous small branches, forming a broad, rounded head. At an early stage it should be pruned well up. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 39 The Red or Swamp Maple, A. rubrum, is somewkai allied to the White Maple. It is also a soft maple and a rapid grower. It does not grow to such a large size, and its branches are more upright. It isin its native home in the fcrest that it appears in all its glory and sheds its characteristic halo of beauty over all the autumn woods. The Red Maple is appropriately named. Its first blossoms flush to a bright red before the leaves appear, the keys ripen scarlet in June, its leaves swing on scarlet stems all summer, and its young twigs are reddish, and in autumn its leaves turn a magnificent scarlet before they fall, and there is a characteristic tinge of red in the bark in. the winter. The Striped Maple, A. Pennsylvanicum, and the Mountain Maple, A. spicatum, hardly attain to the dignity of trees. The Box Elder or Manitoba Maple, Acer negundo or N. aceroides, comes last in value among the maples as a shade tree. It grows very rapidly, and for this reason it may be grown as a protection for more valuable trees. The trunk divides into several wide-spreading branches and numerous lofig straggling branchlets. This is the only maple that has compound leaves. These leaves have no beauty in the fall. And the pendulous bunches of keys remaining on the tree all winter are not attract- ive:-and sooner or later its thicket of branchlets so cut off the light that the whole tree has to be cut down. SAPINDACE. The well-known Horse Chestnut, Asculus hippocastanum, is a handsome tree in summer, but in the winteris homely. It is recognized by its large terminal buds, which are covered with a resinous gum. The branches have the double compound curve, and the terminal twigs point upwards. This tree is much more common in Toronto and other western cities. We might well have more of them here. ~- TILIACEA. The Linden, or Basswood, tree may be considered famous in that it gave its name to the father of the great botanist, Linneus (or in its Swedish form, Linné). Our species, Tilia americana, deserves to be planted more frequently in the city than it is. It has a fairly characteristic outline. The large trunk gradually tapers as it gives off numerous side branches with a double compound curve. The trunk is not lost until fully two-thirds way up in the oval-columnal outline of branches. The leaves are larger and unequal-sided. The flowers come out in June and are very sweet-scented, and attract large numbers of honey bees. 40 THe OtTtawa NATURALIST. [June-July The European Linden, T. europea, is distinguished by its smaller and more regularly heart-shaped leaves. OLEACES. The family is represented by the Ash, Fraxinus,of which the common White Ash, F’. americana, is the best species. The bark is a brownish-grey tinged with red. It is furrowed on old trees, but smoother on the upper branches. ‘This is a forest tree, but is well adapted to city life. Its lower branches have the com- pound curve. They can be pruned off, and. leave a tall, columnar stem reaching above the highest dwellings and casting a grateful shade. BIGNONIACEZ. Represented by the Catawba or Catalpa, C. speciosa. The barkis very rugged. The pods remain on the tree all winter and appear to be longer in the cultivated tree than in the wild one. They grow nearly a foot long. The fragrant flowers grow in an erect terminal panicle somewhat like the horse-chestnut , and are very beautiful. Two large specimens of this tree grow in front of the porch at Rideau Hall. There are two trees, both closely related to the evergreens, that deserve to be more commonly planted as shade trees. One is the European Larch, Larix Europea, which is of a deeper shade of green than our native larch, L. laricina; its needles area trifle longer, its branches droop more, and its cones are longer, and have more scales. Finally, the Japanese Ginko tree or Maidenhair Tree, Ginko bilobata, although a slow grower, is quite hardy and deserves special mention as a shade tree. The terminal twigs are upright. In summer, when clothed in its bright green, thickish leaves, it is indeed very beautiful. The leaves somewhat resemble the leaflets of ourMaidenhair Fern, hence its common name. USEFUL WILD PLANTS OF CANADA. By J. W. Eastuam, B.Sc. With a flora so extensive and as yet so little studied from an economic point of view as that of Canada, it is reasonable to expect that future investigation will bring to light many plants of economic value amongst those which at present we do not consider useful. A brief account indicating the richness of our flora in such useful plants, even with our present knowledge, may help to stimulate interest and enquiry in this direction. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. ~ 41 Foop Pxiants. Our supply of such important fruits as Cranberries, Blueberries and Huckleberries is derived largely from plants growing without cultivation, while the Wild Rasp- berry and related species of Rubus and the June or Service-berry (Amelanchier) are also well known and appreciated. Such nuts as the Butternut and Hickory must also not be omitted. Most, however, of our other wild fruits and nuts will not be considered by most people satisfactory substitutes for our common cultivated ones. There is, however, one large group of food plants almost ignored by the majority of people, namely, the Fleshy Fungi. Most people classify these plants into one particular kind which they term ‘the mushroom” and lump the rest together under the name of ‘‘toadstools,” a name intended toimply properties if not actually poisonous at any rate more or less disagreeable. This is unfortunate since many of these fungi are ds good for table purposes as the Common Mushroom (Agaricus campestris L.) and some of them are much more abundant in many places or at certain times. of the year, e.g. the Morels (Morchella), the Fairy Ring Mushroom (Marasmiius oreades), the Lepioias, the Coral fungi (Clavaria), the Shaggy Mane Coprinus and others. No doubt the fact that certain fungi are very poisonous has caused the whole group to be viewed with suspicion, but with a very little trouble it is possible to recognize at sight at least a dozen common and delicious kinds. Another plant which may be mentioned here is the Wild Rice (Zizania), the large seeds of which are esteemed by many as a delicacy. If due care is taken in the selection of a suitable locality and in the introduction of the seeds or plants, it is fairly readily established, and apart from any value it possesses in supplying an article of human food, it affords food and shelter for water fowl wherever it may be desired to encourage them. Fopper Piants. There are many situations in which the natural plants will probably always have to be depended upon for fodder purposes, as being better adapted to their environment than any likely to be introduced, as, for example, the Marsh o1 Cord grasses (Spartina) of the Salt Marshes of the Maritime Provinces and the Buffalo Grasses (Bouteloua) and Western Rye Grass (Agropyron tenerum Vas.) of the West. It is also possible that amongst the great variety of Western leguminous plants some will be found of special value as forage plants. Druc Prants. A large number of plants are credited in a greater or less degree with medicinal properties, from such popular remedies as Burdock and Dandelion to officinal drug plants like Golden Seal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) and Seneca Snake-root (Polygala Senega L.) and Rhamnus Purshiana DC., a British Columbia plant from which the well-known Cascara By gene THe Otrawa NATURALIST. [June-July Sagrada is obtained. In certain localities these drug plants may be sufficiently abundant to make the collection of them remunera- tive, although in most cases the plants are specially cultivated for the preparation of a drug on a commercial scale. In such cases it is necessary to reproduce as nearly as possible the natural environment of the plant. While there is a considerable demand for drug-plants on the part of many wholesale firms and druggists, it may be said that with the present high price of laborin Canada the cultivation of drug plants is not likely to prove very re- munerative, and the collecting and drying of the wild plants is in most cases a somewhat precarious source of income. In addition to these plants of established medicinal value we have in our native flora plants belonging to the same genera as certain drug plants of the Old World, e.g. Arnica, Aconitum, and some of these may be found to be of value for the same purposes, while again, other drug plants of foreign origin as the Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger L.) and the Thorn-apple (Datura Stramonium L.) have become established in certain localities. In connection with medicinal plants mention must be made of the Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.). This plant is not now valued very highly by the medicinal practitioner of western countries, but is regarded as possessed of almost supernatural virtue by the Chinese, with whom there is an extensive demand for it at very high prices. It is a native of the rich, cool woods of Eastern Canada, but owing to its scarcity and slowness of growth those who wish to profit by its high market value will find it necessary to cultivate it. Honey Prants. As the desirability of bee-keeping as a source of income receives greater recognition, the subject of honey-yielding plants becomes one of importance. While there are probably no wild plants in this country which occur in such masses as to influence the location of apiaries in the same way as the Heather moors do in Britain, the Basswood (Tuzla americana L.) is exceedingly valuable and so to a less degree are the Maples (Acer), and an adjacent “bush”’ of this kind is a valuable adjunct to an apiary. The planting of these trees for ornamental and shade purposes where bee-keeping is followed can, therefore, be recommended. The Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum L.), a common plant of swampy ground, is a very heavy yielder of honey, and its growth in such places should be encouraged, but although many other wild plants are valuable sources of honey it is probably not worth while to cultivate or encourage the growth of them in preference to such plants as white clover, buckwheat or orchard trees and bushes which are of so much more use in other ways. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 43 In addition to those already mentioned there are other wild plants which find employment in various ways, as, for example, the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum Marsh) whose sap yields maple syrup and maple sugar, the Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa L.) often cultivated in gardens for its fragrant essential oil, Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens L.) yielding the well- known “‘oil of wintergreen,” the Cherry or Sweet Birch (Betula lenta L.) which also yields the same oil, and whose sugary sap when fermented gives Birch Beer, while closer study will possibly reveal amongst our native flora, fibre plants of commercial value. . EARLY WINTER BIRD NOTES: 1912-13. By L. MclI. Territy, St. LAMBERT, QUE. Though winter conditions set in fairly early, during the latter part of November, lengthy intervals of mild or rainy weather have left us at present (January 25th) with very little snow— perhaps an average of three or four inches—many wind-swept fields being practically bare. The following notes are from two localities: Montreal, and Bury,.a village in Compton County, 125 miles east of Montreal. This latter place is in the heart of a hilly, well-wooded district, where the snowfall is more uniformly retained and birds are more evenly distributed than in the level, wind-swept and sparsely- wooded district about Montreal. My walks, in the vicinity of Montreal, were taken chiefly on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. HERRING GuLL, Larus argentatus.—Seen almost daily above the river, at St. Lambert, until January 12th, when the last bird was noticed. GoLpDEN-EYE, Clangula clangula americana.—Both of these ducks fairly common on the river near Laprairie;last seen January 12th. CanaDA Goose, Branta canadensis canadensis ——Last seen at Bury, December 13th, when two flocks of four and five birds flew‘south over the St. Francis River. CANADA SPRUCE PARTRIDGE, Canachites canadensis canace.—One shot December 9th, at Bury. (Becoming quite scarce in this district). Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos——One heard at Bury, December 14th. December 18th, saw about 35, } 44 THE OTtawa NATURALIST. [June-July singly, and in companies of two and three, at several points between South Stukely and Montreal. December 29th, commonly noted throughout the day at Ahuntsic, a few miles from Montreal. Though there was a considerable flock in this locality, I have not seen them elsewhere near the city. Probably the many fields of uncut corn, fringed with woods in the background, offered the best food and shelter. Following their tracks near the woods I came across several places where the Crows had uncovered the two or three inches of snow from clusters of Sumac seed (probably Rhus glabra). The same tracks led me into a second-growth thicket where a greater depth of snow had been removed from other piles of sumac debris. Apparently it was not chance that led the birds to the dozen or more isolated clusters of seed. As a parallel instance, I have seen piles of potato parings and other refuse, in ditches by railway tracks, exposed in hollows in the snow at a depth of six inches. Have crows a well-developed sense of smell? On the other hand the abundance of fruit panicles adhering to sumac shrubs seem to be untouched by the Crow, though I have seen Robins, in late fall, feeding on them, and Grouse and Pine Grosbeaks, during the winter. Biuge Jay, Cyanocitta cristata crisiaia—December 13th, one heard at Bury; apparently unusually scarce; at least very seclusive. NorTHERN Harry WoopPECKER, Dryobates villosus leucomelas.— Noted daily at Bury during my stay in the locality from December 9th to December 17th inclusive. December 15th, Bury; watching one at work 30 feet from the ground, was surprised to see it fall, an inert bundle, to pick up its fallen prey from the snow. Occasionally noted at Montreal to date. Downy WoopPEcKER, Dryobates pubescens medianus— About as numerous as villosus. Arctic THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, Picoides arctwus.—First seen near Montreal on October 6th. Last noticed December 1st (3 birds). NorTHERN PiLEATED WoopPECKER, Phlewotemus pileatus abiett- cola—Bury; seen or heard daily from December 9th to 17th. Their cackling calls were usually heard during or preceding mild weather. Several times saw their tracks in the snow encircling the bases of trees. A common permanent resident in this district. Pine GrosBEeak, Pinicolas enucleator leucura.—First seen at Montreal, December ist. Fairly common to present date. 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 45 Very common at Bury, December 9th to 17th. December 15th, watched one extracting seeds from cones of White Pine trees; at the same time heard two singing from the tops of neighboring pines. Reppo.ty, Acanthis linaria linaria—Not seen at Bury until December 14th; a few noted between that date and December 17th. Scarce at Montreal; noted small flocks on two dates only, December 29th and January 1st. Go.LpFINcH, Astragalinus tristris —As notable by its presence as is the absence of the Redpoll. Bury; commonly noted daily from December 9th to 17th, generally in small flocks, some- times singly. One evening, after dark; I brushed the lower branches of a Balsam in passing, and disturbed a Goldfinch, which tumbled out of its bed and went dipping away. As it flew, the sudden note of alarm was instantly followed by the musical flight notes. The Goldfinch has scarcely a harsh note in its repertoire and therein differs from the Redpoll. Montreal, December 29th, one flock of from 20 to 30 birds seen feeding on seeds in tops of Yellow Birches. SNowBiIRD, Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis—Bury ; noticed several times in small flocks from December 9th to 17th. Montreal; first seen November 3rd; very common from that date to the present time. On November 10th unusually large numbers were seen near Laprairie, roughly estimated at 4,000 birds. They were feeding amongst grass and low weed growth about a chain of shallow surface pools. Continually shifting their position, small bands were con- Stantly in view. As I slowly approached they kept bobbing into sight, from 15 to 25 feet ahead of me, alighting again after a short flight. It seemed incredible that so many conspicuously-colored birds could be so effectively concealed in the scanty growth, and it was only when an individual, plover-like, raised its wings above its head, that I discovered some of them squatting closely. Nearing the ponds I saw that the main body of birds were feeding about the margins— some of them wading into the water with a see-saw, sand- piper-like walk. Whilst thus feeding the chorus of notes reminded me strongly of the twitter of a flock of Bank Swallows about their nesting-place. As the birds arose, by little bounds, they invariably uttered the usual tremulous twitter, followed, on the second bound, by a single lark-like note. NORTHERN SHRIKE, Lantus borealis——Montreal, January 1st. Saw one fly to perch in tree-top. As I approached it again flew in a northerly direction, but almost immediately 46 THe Ottawa NaTurRALIsT. [June-July swerved upwards and turned due south, in zig-zag pursuit of several Redpolls. BRrowN CREEPER, Certhia jamiliarts americana.—Montreal; three or four seen December ist, and five on January 19th. Bury, December 9th to 17th; noticed daily; generally only two or three noticed in a flock, though there were probably usually more, as it is difficult to detect all in a flock. RED-BREASTED NutHatcu, Sttta canadensis ——Bury, December 9th to 17th; noted daily in considerable numbers. Seen more commonly on ridges of White Pine. During mild weather I was often attracted to flocks of this species, some- times numbering fully 75 individuals, by their chorus of insistent call-notes—scarcely a well organized chorus, however, pronouncing their views with various degrees of i i itable babel. This species spends much more time amongst the foliage in tree-tops than the White-breasted. It 1s a common permanent resident in the vicinity of Bury—of course numbers may migrate, but enough remain to make it a common bird. GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, Regulus satrapa satrapa.—Montreal ; last seen December Ist. Rosin, Planesticus migratorius migratorius.—Bury, December 10th; two plainly seen and heard. chirping. Robins are usually gone from this locality by the end of October. Have only two records for November and none later. Montreal; last seen November 3rd. I have omitted mention of the ever-present Chickadee and the Owls—of the latter I noticed only the Barred and Saw- whet at Bury. MEETINGS OF BOTANICAL BRANCH. Held at the home of Mr. James M. Macoun, Saturday evening, April 19th, the following members being present: James M. Macoun, G. H. Clark, A. Eastham, A. E. Attwood, R. B. White, Mr. Honeyman, Dr. M. O. Maite, J. R. Dymond, J. J. Carter, F. E. Buck and L. H. Newman. Mr. Macoun reviewed Dr. L. H. Pammel’s ‘Manual of Poisonous Plants”’ as follows :— THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF CANADA.* While it is not possible to summarize in a few paragraphs *Part of a Summary of Pammel’s “Manual of Poisonous Plants” made forthe Botanical Branch of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, by J. M. Macoun. Published by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada. 1913] THe Orrawa NATURALIST. 47 an exhaustive work of nearly a thousand pages, a general idea of the nature and scope of Dr. Pammel’st book can be given and special reference may be made to the various kinds of vegetable poisons and the species or groups of species of plants which are most injurious to man and other animals. An idea of the completeness with which Dr. Pammel’s work has been done may be gathered from the fact that 1,097 books and papers are enumerated in the bibhography of poisonous plants which concludes the volume. The introductory chapters deal with Bacterial Poisons: Dermatitis or skin diseases caused by plants; Forage Poisoning, Ergotism and Aspergillosis, the latter caused chiefly by moulds; and Poisoning from Fungi. It is, however, chiefly plants of the higher orders that will be referred to in this summary and only the commoner or best known species, the order followed in their enumeration being that of Engler and Prantl and Gray’s Manual. The only fungi that need be mentioned are of the genus Amanita of which A. muscarta, Fly Agaric,and A. phalloides, Death Cup, are the commonest and most dangerous species. As distinguished from the ordinary mushroom, both species have white gills and a bulbous base, while the mushroom has pink or brownish gills and is without a bulbous base. Both species of Amanita grow usually in woods or along the borders of woods and seldom on lawns or in open fields. . There are no ferns that are known to be very injurious to animals, although some are suspected of being so, but Equisetum arvense when in large quantity frequently poisons and sometimes kills horses. This has been proved by recent experiments, but fortunately it seems to be only the dried plant that is injurious. Hay which contains much /quisetum should not be used either for food or bedding. Many grasses are poisonous under certain conditions, but recent research shows that much of the poisoning that has been attributed to grasses is due to fungus growths rather than to the grasses themselves. Lolium temulentum, Poison Darnel, has long been known to be poisonous, its effects being usually seen when it is ground up with wheat. Some species of Aracee such as Acorus Calamus, Symplocarpus jetidus, Calla palustris and both species of Arisaema are acrid and under some conditions poisonous. Only a few species of liliaceous and orchidaceous plants are poisonous. Zygadenus frequently poisons sheep and other stock in the west, but so far as experiments have gone only before the plants flower, and animals are usually killed by eating the leaves, or more frequently the bulbs, before the plant {Manual of Poisonous Plants, by L. H. Pammel, Ph. D.: The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.A. 48 Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. [June-July has blossomed in the spring. The local name for Zygadenus is in many places “ Lobelia,” and cases of poisoning are so common in Oregon and Nevada that the term “‘lobeliaed’’ has been used to indicate the result from this kind of poisoning. In one band of sheep 2,000 were poisoned and 100 died, in another 200 were poisoned and 90 died. Zygadenus is common is southern Alberta and throughout British Columbia. Veratrum viride, American Hellebore, is well known to be poisonous both to man and animals, but as the plant is acrid it is not relished by stock; young animals sometimes eat it with fatal results; chickens have been killed by eating the seeds. Trilliums have long been con- sidered poisonous, and the roots are certainly emetic. The fruit should be regarded with suspicion. The underground roots of Iris versicolor, Blue Flag, are known to be very poisonous. As the roots are very acrid there would be little danger of their being eaten were it not for the resemblance of the commoner name to that of Calamus, Sweet Flag; if eaten it would prove seriously if not fatally poisonous. It was not until 1875 that it was discovered that at least two species of Cypripedium, C. hirsutum and C. pubescens, produce dermatitis very much resembling that produced by Poison Ivy. Prof. MacDougal’s experiments with stems and leaves upon individuals have shown that more than half of them were affected. It was discovered that these plants are provided with glandular hairs which cover the whole surface of the stem and leaves and contain a poisonous oil which is especially abundant at the fruiting season. Later experiments by Nestler have shown that C. hirsutum is by far the most poisonous species. Many species of Ranunculaceé are poisonous, but the genus Delphinium is the only one to which the poisoning of stock in large numbers has been directly traced, and,in Alberta, D. glaucum has done the most injury to cattle. It is in the early spring, before green food is abundant, that the worst tffects are noticed and experiments have also shown that the plants are more poisonous at that time. Observations in the United States have also shown that very frequently after a light snow-fall other vegetation is covered and larkspur, being the only green food, is eaten. Sheep are not often affected by this species probably because they are not on the high ranges where it grows at a time when more palatable food is not to be had. D. Menztesu, how- ever, which grows in southern Alberta and throughout British Columbia is often eaten by sheep. Of 600 sheep that were affected on one range in Montana in May, 1897, 250 died. Other species of Canadian Delphiniums are nearly, if not quite, as poisonous as the two mentioned above, but, except on Vancouver 1913] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 49 Island, do not grow in quantity where they are likely to be eaten by cattle. All the species of Aconite are more or less poisonous, but no injury to cattle has been recorded. RK. sceleratus is the most dangerous species of the genus Ranunculus, growing as it does in marshes and along ditches where cattle are likely to eat it with other forage plants; it is also the most poisonous species. The juice of several species will, if rubbed on the skin, produce blisters and sometimes ulcers. Although the berries of Mountain Ash, Pyrus Aucuparia, are poisonous to man, Prunus is the only rosaceous genus that causes Serious injury either to man or stock. The leaves of all the species may be eaten while fresh, but when wilted contain a virulent poison, hydrocyanic or prussic acid. P. serotima is the most poisonous species in the north, although P. pennsylvanica and P. virginiana are almost equally so. Poisoning is frequently caused by cattle and sheep eating the wilted leaves, and children occasionally die from eating the kernels of the seed. So many sheep are killed by browsing Prunus leaves when being driven along trails in the west that in many places the bushes have been cut out, in others the dangerous places are marked by flags. Leaves wilted in bright sunlight to about 75 per cent. of their original weight, or until they appear slightly limp, yield the maximum amount of prussic acid. Many of the Leguminosae are injurious to stock and it is to this family that all the “loco weeds’ belong. Of these, in Canada at least, Oxytropis causes the greatest damage to sheep, horses and cattle. No Canadian species of Astragalus is known to cause injury. One effect of eating any of the “loco weeds” is that a depraved appetite is developed and the animals prefer the ‘‘loco weed” to wholesome food, and will even dig up the roots to satisfy their craving. The first stage of the disease is the effect on the nervous system, which in time drives the animal frantic; in the second stage there is emaciation, exhaustion and finally death from starvation. Thermopsis rhombijolia, which is common in the prairie country, is said to be injurious to stock, and several cases of children having been poisoned by eating the seeds are recorded by the Canadian Department of Agriculture. It is only in recent years that it has been shown that poisoning from lupine occurs almost’ always when the plant is fruiting, and experiments in Germany have shown that the active poison, ictrogen, is found chiefly in the seeds and pods. It is after the first frosts destroy other vegetation that the lupine is eaten in the greatest quantity. Of one band of 200 sheep let into a field of lupine fora short timewhen ina hungry condition, 100 had died within a few hours and 50 others succumbed later on, and on another occasion 150 rams were given a feed cf lupine hay and Ste. THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [June-July during the night 90 of them died. In the first instance the lupine pods were fully formed but the seeds not ripe; in another case 1,150 sheep died out of a band of 2,000, and in still another 1.900 out of 3,000. The first symptom after eating lupine is excitement followed by frenzy and then spasms and falling fits. In many cases death occurs within an hour. The common lupine in southern Alberta is L. argenteus, one of the most poisonous species. Poison Ivy, Rhus Toxtcodendron, is known to everyone, though comparatively few people are affected by it. No case of poisoning among the lower animals has been recorded. Of the many cures recommended for Ivy poisoning the best is powdered sugar of lead dissolved in a 50 per cent. solution of alcohol. Various methods for the destruction of poison ivy patches have been tried; the certain way is, of course, rooting it out, but covering with tarred paper creosoted below is said to be effective and Dr. Pammel recommends pouring a solution of two pounds of commercial sodium arsenic to 10 gallons of water around the roots. Whether R. Vernix, Poison Sumac, R. diversiloba, Poison Oak, or R. Toxicodendron is the most poisonous has not yet been determined. The family Umbellijere contains the best known and most poisonous plants, at least in the east, and the resemblance of innocuous species to those that are deadly poison has caused many deaths. Conium maculatum, Poison Hemlock, though not indigenous is a common species in waste places. Poisoning has arisen from eating the seed for that of anise, the leaves for parsley and the roots for parsnips, also from blowing whistles from hollow stems; many domestic animals have been killed by eating the plant. All the species of Czcuia, Water Hemlock, are very poisonous, especially C. maculata, Cowbane, in the east, and C. vagrans in the west ; many cases of human poisoning, especially among children, have been recorded, the roots being mistaken for those of edible plants such as parsnips, horse-radish and artichokes: stock of all kinds are frequently killed, generally in the spring, when the ground is soft and the roots pull up easily. The deadly nature of the root has been shown by cutting one in small pieces, mixing it with carrot and feeding to a two-year-old heifer. It died in an hour and a half, though only a small portion was eaten; two grams were found in the stomach. A further experiment made with the same lot of roots showed that it was only when in the dormant state that they were poisonous. After some of them had been grown a monthina greenhouse they were found to have no injurious effect at all. So many persons believe the wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, to be poisonous that it is well to record the fact that there are no authentic cases of such °1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 51 poisoning. Many experiments on man and other animals has proved conclusively that no ill effect results from eating the roots. The flowers and leaves do, however, sometimes produce dermatitis when brought in contact with damp skin, some persons are also affected by the carrot in the same way. One would hardly expect to find poisonous plants among the Ericacee, but all the species of Kalmia are very poisonous, and K. angustifolia, Sheep Laurel, and K. Jatzjolia, Mountain Laurel, destroy many sheep and cattle, and chickens are said to have been poisoned by eating the vomited matter from poisoned animals. The flesh of partridge is said to be rendered poisonous when the birds eat the buds, and honey derived from the nectar of the flowers appears to be poisonous. Many of the Solanaceous plants are more or less poisonous, but the genus Solanum is the only one that causes much injury. The berries of S. nigrum, Common Nightshade, are often cooked for food, but when green are poisonous to man, and cattle are poisoned by eating the leaves of either this species or S. Dulcamara, A few species of Composite are poisonous. Among these Senecio Jacobaea has done the greatest damage, though its bad effects on cattle seem so far to be confined to parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where it is supposed to be the cause of what is known as Pictou disease. It is most dangerous in its young state. Helenium autumnale also occasionally causes death when eaten by cattle, and many genera such as Artemisia andTanacetum are poisonous to man if the volatile oils are taken in large doses. Eupatorium urticefolium, White Snake Root, is generally ‘believed to cause the “‘trembles’’ in cattle, horses and sheep and milk sickness in man. The trembles cause many deaths among cattle, and butter and cheese made from the milk of affected ‘animals is poisonous to man. Until quite recently there seemed to be no doubt that Eupatorium was responsible for the trembles, but recent investigators do not believe this to be the case unless it should be at times the carrier of some pathogenic organism. The pollen of several composite plants such as ragweed, golden- rod and chrysanthemum are said to cause hay fever. Ambrosia artemisiifolia is regarded as specially troublesome as an exciting cause with reference to hay fever. There is as yet, however, no conclusive proof that hay fever is ever caused by pollen or that pollen has any greater irritating effect on the air passages of sensitive people than any other dust of an organic character. In the discussion which followed the above review some interesting observations were made as to the action of various plants which were believed to produce poisonous effects in man or beast. The common rhubarb was claimed by Mr. White to be ke a THe Ottawa NATURALIST [June-July on exceedingly poisonous during the early stages of its growth when the early shoots were only an inch or two in length. The poison- ous element here was believed to be oxalic acid, which, in the young shoots as well as in the tissue of the leaf, is very prevalent. In discussing the effects of Equisetum (Horse Tail), reference was made to a statement in the book in question which claimed that this plant produces the same effect when fed to cattle as that produced by mouldy corn, viz., diarrhea. Reference was made to the claim by Freeman that Lolium temulentum is poisonous in one part of the United States and not in certain others. An example to show the poisonous effects of Zygadenus venenosus Wats. on sheep, in southern Alberta, was cited by Mr. Clark. In Lupines and certain other plants the seeds rather than the vegetative parts of the plants are poisonous. In the well-known loco weed (Oxytropis Lambertt) paren is generally believed to be the poisonous element. Water Hemlock was believed to be the most poisonous plant of all those belonging to the family Umbelliferae. The Common Wild Parsnip was shown to produce dermatitis quite in the same manner as poison ivy and certain other plants. In discussing the peculiar effects of Ledum palustre, Dr. Malte referred to the fact that the European form of this plant was used during the pre-Christian era in Scandinavia in beer to produce a certain effect. An interesting experience was cited by Mr. White in con- nection with the common elderberry which had produced an intense secretion of saliva. The Wonderberry, which is said to be a cross between certain western forms of Solanum Nigrum was claimed by some to have a poisonous effect, although the author of the above book seemed to think otherwise. Seeds of Lychnis Githago were believed to be poisonous to poultry, although in Scandinavia and Russia these seeds are eaten by boys without any apparent effect. Reference was made to an experiment at the Poultry Department of the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph, Ont., where screenings were fed to poultry with injurious effects. Reference was also made to an experiment in feeding common mustard seed to animals for a long period of time, which resulted in the production of ulcers and blisters which were believed to be identical with the blisters formed by the applicaton of mustard plasters. Before the meeting ajourned Dr. Malte outlined the work which had been done by Prof. Macoun, Mr. James M. Macoun a 1913] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 53 and himself in the production of a new “Ottawa Flora”’ and expressed the hope that the Botanical Branch would co-operate in seeking to perfect this work. He believed that each member of the Branch could assist very materially by specializing on a certain genus and in this way bring together information which might be of great value in connection with this work. He also thought that excursions of the Branch might be held to ad- vantage. These excursions were not to take the place of the ordinary excursionsof the Club, but would rather be supple- mentary to these. Excursions by a few persons desiring to do exact work would, in his opinion, contribute most to our present knowledge of the flora of the Ottawa district. The ordinary excursions of the Club are concluded just at a time when special work can be done to best advantage sothat there should be no difficulty in arranging for this extra work. Mr. Macoun offered an excellent suggestion to the effect that the meetings of the Botanical Branch should continue until the excursions are finished, a meeting being held on each evening of the Saturday on which the excursion took place. By this arrangement there would be an inducement for members of the Branch to attend the excursions for the purpose of collecting specimens which might be used as a basis for discussion at the evening meeting. As a beginning in this direction Dr. Malte agreed to discuss ‘‘The Plants of the Season”’ at a meeting of the Club on Saturday evening, May 3rd, an excursion of the O.F.N.C. being held on that day. L. H. NEWMAN. Held at the home of Mr. R. B. Whyte, Saturday evening, May 3rd, the following being present: Messrs. Whyte, Carter, Attwood, Dwight, R. Campbell, Dymond, Malte, J. M. Macoun, Newman. An account of the different species and forms of violets growing in the vicinity of Ottawa was on this occasion given by Messrs. Macoun and Malte. The study of the wild violets to which this spring much attention has been paid by the said gentlemen has proven to be extremely interesting from many a point of view. At the meeting of the Club the members present were given an opportunity to study the characters of the different species on living specimens collected in the field and by the obliging kindness of Mr. R. B. Whyte, kept in pots for the meeting. The discussion was opened by Mr. Macoun, who explained that many species are now recognized which had at first been lumped under one species or variety known as V. cucullata or 54 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [June-July V. palmata var. cucullata. This fact, and the number of the species into which this group was subsequently divided, is explained in an article published by Mr. Macoun in a former number of THE Orrawa NaTuRALIST.* In connection with this discussion the interesting fact was brought out that practically all of the forms, first separated in the field by Mr. Macoun and described by Dr. Edward L. Greene, of Washington, D.C., have proven te be quite worthy of the species-rank given them by Dr. Greene. Dr. Malte defined the different groups of violets as found in the vicinity of Ottawa and illustrated, by means of the specimens mentioned, the differences which are to be found between these groups. It was explained that the violets in this group belong all species with leafy stems and which produce flowers in the axils of the leaves. Under the second group are placed all species, the flowers of which are borne on peduncles produced directly from rootstocks (acaulescent violets). From the first group two sub-divisions can be separated, one of which has entire stipules and the other fringed stipules and blue or violet flowers. In the first sub-division three well-defined species are found, namely, V. pubescens Ait, V. scabriuscula Schwein and V. canadensis L. To the second of these sub- divisions the following four species belong, namely, V. labradorica Schrank, V. conspersa Rchb., V. rostrata Pursh and V. leucopetala Greene. Regarding the latter species the opinion was expressed that it might possibly better be regarded as an albino form of V. conspersa than a species proper. Under the second main group of violets, namely, the acaulescent or stemless forms, two divisions are made. Under one division are placed all stemless violets having a fleshy and thickened rootstock without runners, while in the second division are placed those species, the rootstocks of which are long and filiform and generally produce slender runners. The following species belonging to the first division of the stemless violets were demonstrated at the meeting, viz, V. cucullata Ait, V. soror1a Willd, V. septentrionalits Greene, V. Macounu Greene, V. venustula Greene and V. Fletcheri Greene. Of these only the three first mentioned are recognized as good species in the last edition of Gray’s Manual of Botany. V. venustula is considered synonymous to V. affints Le Conte. However this may be, the plant described by Dr. Greene as V. venustula is a very clearly defined species, flowering two weeks *Notes on Some Violets, Ottawa Naturalist, 1899, pp. 181-187. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. he or more later than the other acaulescent violets. V. Macounu is not mentioned in Gray’s Manual. It is, however, a well defined species, growing on limestone foundation. It differs from all other acaulescent violets in having all petals hairy on the inside. (The other species have at most three petals hairy on the inside). Regarding V. Fletcheri, its specific value is less clear and the opinion was expressed that it might turn out to be V. septentrionalis out of place. Under the second division of the stemless violets, i.e., those which possess rootstocks which are long and-filiform, seven species have been recorded from the Ottawa district. Of those the follow- ing were demonstrated and explained at the meeting, viz., V. pallens (Banks) Brain, V. blanda Willd and V. renzfolia Gray. The specimens of V. pallens presented at the meeting were collected at Biueberry Point by Messrs. Macoun and Malte. When collecting the specimens it was noticed that among the typical plants were growing individuals, characterized by having much larger flowers and by being much hairier all over. In other respects they resemble V. pallens very closely, and the opinion was expressed that they represent a hairy variety of V. pallens not sufficiently distinct from that species to be con- sidered a species of its own An interesting discussion took place regarding the biology of violets, it being explained that while, in the acaulescent species, seed usually was produced from cleistogamous flowers developed after the showy spring flowers had disappeared, it was occasion- ally found that plenty of seed could be produced by the spring flowers which generally are sterile. Such a phenomenon had been observed, during one season, by Mr. Macoun to be qnite frequent in V. Macounzt. One of the most interesting features in connection with the discussion of the evening was the exhibit and examination of a strange form which was believed to be a hybrid betweeno V cucullata and V. septentrionalis. An examination of the pollen by Dr. Malte had shown that at least 90% of this was unde- veloped. Undeveloped pollen is an indication of hybridity. Before closing the discussion, Dr. Malte announced that Mr. Macoun and he were arranging to study the different species and forms of violets during the fruiting season, and to note any peculiarities which might be utilized in distinguishing the different Species. Any observation of value might be used, if necessary, in connection with the key to the genus, which key, it was hoped, would be available for distribution before the violet season opens next spring. L. H. NEWMAN. 56 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [June-July EXCURSIONS. The first excursion of the year was held to Rockcliffe and vicinity on Saturday, May 3rd. .Owing to the warm weather of the previcus two weeks, a large number of spring flowers were found. Hepaticas were almost gone, but Claytonia virginica, Erythronium americanum, Trillium grandiflorum and T. erectum, Ducentra canadensis, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Uvularia grandiflora, Asarum cana- densis, Dentaria diphylla, Viola pubescens and V. canadensis were quite common. Ranunculus abortivus, Sambucus canadensis, Thalictrum dioicum and Mitella diphylla were also collected. The Tent Caterpillars were just becoming prevalent. At 5 o'clock short talks on collections made were given, at the pavilion, by Messrs. Halkett, Dymond, McGillivray and Carter and Miss Matthews. pe ee ale The second excursion was held to Leamy’s Lake, Hull, on Saturday afternoon, May 10th. The day was rather cold, there having been severe frost during the previous night. The party divided into three groups, with the following leaders: Mr. Halkett, Zoology; Dr. Williams, Geology; Mr. Newman, Botany. At 5 o’clock the divisions re-united for the usual talks by the leaders. Mr. Halkett spoke on Daphnia, a fresh-water crustacean, and of a species of Helicoid or air- breathing mollusc. Dr. Williams discussed Brachypods and Trilobites: In Botany, the interesting find was that of Viola vostrata, a rather uncommon species, by Miss Ruth Burpee. Other violets collected were V. pubescens, B. scabriuscula, V. canadensis and V. conspersa. BS oP BIRD NOTES. On December 18th, 1912, while driving through the hills north of Kaladar Station, Lennox County, Ont.. I saw a flock of seven or eight Canada Jays. When I next visited the same locality, January 28th of this year, although I kept a sharp look- out, I did not observe any; but a few days later, some distance south, I saw one flying about in a farmer’s barn yard. It will be interesting to know whether these birds have been observed as far south in other parts of the province. None have been noted near Kingston, Ont. On February 12th the first flock of Pine Grosbeaks was observed at Kingston, and on the 23rd, Evening Grosbeaks. Ep. BEAUPRE, KINGSTON, ONT. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VoL. X XVII. August-September, 1913 Nos. 5-6 DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF TESTUDO, AND. OF A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN OF STYLEMYS NEBRASCENSIS, FROM THE OLIGOCENE, OF WYOMING, U.S.A.* By LAWRENCE M. Lamse, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., Vertebrate Palzontologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada. The specimen of Testudo to be described below is one of a small collection of turtles from the Oligocene of Wyoming, U.S.A., lately acquired by the Geological Survey, Canada. The collection, consisting altogether of ten well preserved specimens, was made by Charles H. Sternberg and C. M. Sternberg, in 1911, at Seaman’s old ranch, Sage creek, a branch of Old Woman creek, Niobrara county (formerly included in Converse county), Wyoming. The majority of these specimens, with the exception of the one regarded as representing an undescribed species of Testudo, are for the present referred to Stylemys nebrascensis, Leidy. The principal character distinguishing this Testudo from other species of the genus is the great development of the epiplastral lip which forms a very conspicuous feature of the plastron. Of the known species of Testudo which shew a decided enlargement of the epiplastral lip, 7. thomsoni, Hay, from Oligocene deposits in South Dakota, U.S.A., approaches most closely to the Sage creek form. TJ. thomsoni was described by Dr. O. P. Hay, in 1908, in his monumental work on North American turtles’ from ‘‘the skull, the greater portion of the anterior lobe of the plastron, some cervical vertebre, and parts of the left foreleg” .... “obtained in 1904, by Mr. Albert Thompson, of the the American Museum of Natural History, *Communicated with the permission of the Director of the Geological Survey, Canada. : ‘The Fossil Turtles of North America, by Oliver Perry Hay, Washington, D.C. Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1908. 58 THe Ottawa NaTuRALIsST. [Aug.-Sept. New York, at Corral Draw, in Ziebach county, South Dakota” ... . “in a block of limestone which had come from the Lower Oreodon beds.’’ A comparison of the imperfect anterior lobe of the plastron of T.. thomsoni, the only portion of the shell of this species known, with the corresponding part of the plastron of the Sage creek specimen discloses in the latter the much greater proportionate size of the epiplastral lip and differences through- out in the proportions of the elements forming the lobe. The Sage creek specimen consists of the carapace and plastron in a good state of preservation. The sutures between the bones are clearly seen and the sulci indicating the boundaries of the scutes are distinct. The carapace has been injured in the neighbourhood of the eighth neural, and that bone is missing. The plastron has been crushed in between the inguinal notches with the result that in this portion of the shell the sulci and sutures have been partly destroyed. The fractured humerus of both of the fore limbs protrudes from the rock which fills the axial notches, and the distal ends of the tibia and fibula of the left hind leg are exposed in like manner behind. The carapace has been slightly flattened and its breadth in this way increased to some extent, but as it now is the maximum breadth is 410 mm. and the greatest length 479mm. It rises 120 mm. from its lateral margin to the centre. Viewing it from above, its breadth decreases more rapidly forward than back- ward, so that the posterior is greater than the anterior half and has a squarer outline. This is caused mainly by the enlargement of the peripherals above the hind limbs. The lateral peripherals and the pygal continue the general convexity of the shell down- ward at an increased angle; the peripherals in front are produced almost horizontally forward toward their free edges whilst the more posterior lateral ones are only moderately inclined. The nuchal bone measures 90 mm. along its free margin in front. It broadens slightly backward to its maximum breadth of 103 mm. and then rapidly narrows to its full length of 95 mm. It is notched behind to receive the front edge of the first neural. Of the eight neural bones the first is the longest; it is much longer than broad, narrows toward the front, and its outline is convexly rounded in front and behind. The second is hexagonal with the two short sides directed backward, and the front and back edges incurved or concave. The third is quadrangular, longer than broad, with its front edge convex and the hinder one straight. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh are hexagonal with their two short sides directed forward. There are two suprapygal bones of which the first is deeply notched behind, with the forks in contact with the pygal and the eleventh peripherals. Its surface is broadly convex in all 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST, 59 directions and has a maximum breadth behind of 102 mm., with a length, measured from its sutural junction with the pygal to the centre of its front margin, of 84mm. The second suprapygal is diamond shaped, slightly longer than broad, * and more pointed in front than behind. The surface of the pygal is longitudinally and transversely convex, broader in front than behind, with a length slightly exceeding the front breadth; its dimensions are—anterior breadth 62 mm., posterior breadth 47 mm., length 70 mm. The second, fourth, sixth and eighth costal bones are greatly expanded distally, with a resultant decrease in the distal breadth of the third, fifth and seventh costals. The proximal end of the second costal abuts against the first and second neurals, and the third is in contact with the second, third and fourth neurals. The proximal ends of the seventh and eighth costal bones came within the area of injury, which has resulted in the loss of the eighth neural and the posterior half of the seventh, and are missing. The first and third vertebral scutes are about as broad as long. The sulcus marking the back border of the third curves sharply forward in the centre whilst crossing the fifth neural. The second and fourth vertebral scutes are slightly longer than broad. The fifth vertebral is greatly expanded behind and its laterai sulcus passes down the midlength of the tenth peripheral bone. The nuchal scute is 34mm. ‘long and 26mm. broad. The supracaudal scute is 145 mm. broad behind at the free border of the shell, and 73 mm. long in its middle line, its anterior sulcus crossing the second suprapygal 15 mm. in advance of the centre of the latter’s posterior margin. The dimensions of the neural and costal bones and vertebral scutes are given in mm. in the following table :-— . Neural bones Costal bones Vertebral scutes | l / ees i [p No. Length| Breadth | No. ALE te Sata rari No. Length | Breadth | | TRSIow Fo | 1 68 44 1 1 | 100 97 2 40 47 2 36 94 if) Bik 82 Sulla Ak 34 3 52 DD 3 Gans 88 Arley, 3] daa 48 4 40 85 4 = 82 5 36 / 45 Hi agaisd 39 ti, 5 = 162 6 34 | 44 6 35 73 | 7 — 44 7 — 19 | S| ee ase 67 | | / | THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. The plastron has a length of 493 mm. Its most conspicuous and interesting feature is the greatly extended epiplastral lip which projects 28 mm. beyond the line of the front margin of the carapace. The entoplastron is roughly five sided, and is sharply pointed in front with its maximum breadth far back; its hinder edge is broad and shghtly convex. It measures 86 mm. in length and 90 mm. in breadth. The anterior lobe is 163 mm. long, with a breadth of base of 229mm. The posterior lobe is 147 mm. long, and 239mm. broad at the base. It is divided behind by a V shaped notch, 40 mm. deep, on each side of which the free border curves rather broadly round to the side. Through- out the plastron the free border comes to an acute edge. The anterior lip has a length of 72mm., in advance of a line drawn between the outer termination of the gulo-humeral sulci; its breadth is 98 mm. It is 19 mm. thick on each side of the deeply impressed gular sulcus and thins outward to the acute lateral border. On the upper surface it is more convex trans- versely than beneath, where it ha sa flat slope outward from the midline. It maintains the same breadth forward from the base to near the front, where it ends in two apices widely separated by a V shaped notch 22mm. deep. The border within the notch 1s smooth and thick, but on either side in front it is thin and irregular. The gular scutes appear to extend on to the entoplastron, but the sulci here are not preserved. The humero-pectoral and the pectoro-abdominal sulci cross the plastron 25 mm. and 59mm. behind the back edge of the entoplastron respectively. The pectoral scutes are thus very narrow, meeting along the midline of the plastron for a distance only of 34mm. The abdomino-femoral and the femoro-anal sulci are not preserved toward the centre of the plastron, but measured between their outer terminations the abdominal scute is 131mm. long from front to back, near the bridge, and the femoral scute has a length of 85 mm. at the free border. The characters revealed by the Sage creek specimen place it in the genus Testudo. The great enlargement of the epi- plastral lip distinguishes it from all other described species of the genus. Another interesting character is the extreme differentiation of the costals in breadth, an alternation in the size of which is found in a greater or less degree in some species of Stylemys as well as of Testudo. The neurals, as a series, more nearly approach those of Stylemys in shape than those of Testudo, in which there is usually an alternation of octagonal with tetragonal neurals. The first, second, third and fourth neurals and their manner of contact with the three anterior costals are somewhat after the pattern found in Testudo laticunea, 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 61 Cope, from the Oligocene of Colorado. Regarding the present specimen as representing an un- described species of Testudo, the name preextans, having refer- ence to the marked prominence and size of the epiplastral lip, is here proposed for the species with this specimen (Cat. No. 8401) as the type. In plates I and II, shewing the carapace and plastron respectively, the sutures between the bones and the sulci marking the boundaries of the scutes are well shewn and can be readily traced. Of the specimens belonging to the collection of turtles from the Oligocene of Sage creek, mentioned in the opening paragraph of this paper, and regarded as referable to Stylemys nebrascensts, Leidy, one in particular is of interest. In this specimen certain abnormalities occur in the carapace which are considered of sufficient importance to warrant descrip- tion. The plastron appears to be quite normal. The shell as a whole has been somewhat distorted. A horizontal pressure on the left side has caused the left costal bones to be unduly bent down and the bridge peripherals to be incurved below. The plastron has been moved to the right and pressed upward along its longitudinal midline. Otherwise the specimen is splendidly preserved. The carapace is 276mm. long and 215 mm. broad in its present state; its highest central point is about 119mm. above the lower edge of the peripherals near the bridge. Plates III and IV, reproduced from photos graphs, shew the carapace and plastron with the bones and scute- clearly defined and reference need only be made here to the divergence of the carapace from the normal type of structure. In the carapace there are seven costal scutes on each side instead of the usual four, and an additional vertebral scute between the fourth and the broad posterior one. Also an accessory bone occurs between the eighth neural and the first suprapygal, and there is a ninth pair of costal bones. With the exception of the above structural peculiarities the carapace conforms to the usual type of S. nebrascensis. The first neural bone is of an _ elongated quadrangular form, and the succeeding ones are hexagonal. The costal bones shew a slight differentiation in distal breadth. The marginal bones reach the usual number of eleven on each side, as do also the marginal scutes. There are two suprapygal bones, of which the first 1s bifurcated behind; the second is diamond shaped and much broader than long. The nuchal scute is extremely narrow. The supracaudal scute is undivided. These characters are normal to the species. 62 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. As regards the peculiarities of structure in the carapace of this individual. The first costal scute is the largest, but its hinder sulcus has been crowded forward to some extent. The succeeding six are narrow antero-posteriorly, and take the place of the large second, third and fourth costal scutes which occur in nearly all fossil turtles with the exception of those belonging to the Trionychoidea. The first and second pair proceed outward on either side from the second vertebral scute, the third and fourth pair from the third vertebral, the fifth and sixth pair from the fourth vertebral, and the seventh pair from the accessory fitth vertebral. The relative position and size of the bones of the carapace and of their overlying scutes can be best understood by reference to plate III. The costal scutes correspond exactly on either side of the shell in each pair. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh measure distally, in an antero-posterior direction, 39, 26, 29, 26, 28 and 38 mm. respectively. The sulci between them pass down the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh costal bones. The hinder sulcus of the seventh scute is on the eighth costal bone in advance of the latter’s hind margin. The additional vertebral scute is small in comparison with the others, is broadest in front, and measures 28 mm. in length and 44mm. in breadth anteriorly. Its front sulcus crosses the seventh neural and the hinder one the accessory plate. The accompanying text-figure, one-half the natural size, shews the shape, reiative size and position of the bones and scutes of the carapace in the neighbour- hood of the additional vertebral scute, the boundaries of the scutes being indicated by the heavy outlines. The seventh neural bone is hexagonal, but differs from the preceding hexagonal ones with two short sides directed forward, in having its four lateral margins N. 7, N. 8, neural bones 7, 8; about equal. Both the eighth Ape eee plate; = C97. 8, Clo sccned anes eR neural and the. accessory plate SP. 1, first suprapygal bone. are slightly irregular in shape. The eighth has six sides, of which two are short Brae are directed obliquely backward. The acces- sory plate is hexagonal with two short sides toward the front, and it joins the preceding eighth neural in an irregular manner, as shewn in the figure. The eighth pair of costal bones are in contact with both the eighth neural and the accessory plate. 1913] THE OtTTaAwa NATURALIST. 63 The ninth pair abuts proximally against the accessory plate only. The neurals of S. uebrascensis shew variations to a limited extent. In the majority of specimens of this species the second © and succeeding neurals are hexagonal with the maximum breadth well forward. In the type of Testudo culbertson1, Leidy, now generally regarded as properly referable to S. nebrascensis, the second neural is octagonal and the third quadrangular; also there is an additional bone between the eighth neural and the first suprapygal. The presence of a ninth pair of costal bones, seven pairs of costal scutes and an additional vertebral scute is considered to be, in the specimen from Sage creek, a unique example of extreme individual variation. So far as the writer is aware, in no turtle, belonging to any of the groups having large epidermal scutes in the carapace, has so great a develop- ment of vertebral and costal scutes hitherto been recorded. EXPLANATION OF PLATES. Plate I—Carapace of Testudo preextans, viewed from above; one-fourth the natural size. Plate II—Plastron of the same shell, inferior aspect; one-fourth the natural size. Plate I11—Carapace of Stylemys nebrascensis, as seen from above; to shew the abnormal: number of costal and vertebral scutes etc.; one-half the natural size. Plate [V—Plastron of the same eieciiion. Btn aspect; one- half the natural size. IS BARTRAM’S SANDPIPER DISAPPEARING FROM THE PRAIRIES? Twenty years ago the Bartramian Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) was a common summer resident on the prairies of ~ Alberta, but for the past ten years it has become one of our rarest birds, at least in central Alberta. During the summer of 1892 and several years following one could see a dozen pairs in as many miles. About the year 1900 I did not see this many in awhole season, and from that time until the present they have gradually become rarer each year until this present season I have only seen one pair. _ I cannot find a reason for this disappearance, and I would like to have the experience of other observers of this bird given in the NATURALIST. F. L. Fariey, Camrose, Alberta. 64 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept i THE BROAD-STRIPED SKUNK. (Mephitis hudsonicus Rich.) By NoRMAN AND STUART CRIDDLE. The subject of this article, including its various races and relations, covering the continent, has a reputation that none will envy and few appreciate until they come into actual contact with the animal in its vicious moments, when, closely pressed and in danger of death, it gives forth that fetid odor for which it is notorious. In modern times it has become an instinct to consider that the name skunk implies an animal wholly obnoxious, and in consequence the name itself has become synonymous of all that is odious and depraved. The impression arrived at is, of course, due to lack of knowledge combined with the far too common practice of exaggeration. We hope in this little sketch to dispel some of these notions and to prove by the narrative that although the odor is very real, it is not necessarily a part of the animal’s every-day life. The Broad-striped Skunk was, in days gone by, a common mammal in Manitoba, and at our home at Aweme its numerous encounters with coyote, dog and probably owl, often impregnated the air with an unsavory odor which was far from pleasant. As time went on, however, conditions changed and constant persecution greatly reduced its numbers, so that to-day we have but a remnant of what went before, although the animal seems to be holding its own fairly well in the less-settled districts. There are few handsomer mammals than skunks in this part of the world, and of the whole genus few, if any, equal the species under discussion. Unlike the eastern animal its stripes of white along the back are broad and prominent and show up strikingly in contrast to the black. In addition, it has a large white patch at the back of its head and a narrow stripe down the nose which often varies sufficiently to enable one to be separated from another; besides this there is the magnificent tail which almost wholly hides the back when held over it. Skunks in many respects are not unlike weasels; thisis particularly so of the head, but the body increases in width towards the tail in such a manner as to give the animal a wedged-shaped appearance when viewed from above. In gait they are clumsy. The walk is a wabble. and in running they gallop. They are by no means fast in move- ment and it seems that the immunity afforded by the terrible weapon of self-defence has been to some extent acquired at the expense of speed, or possibly with such a weapon speed is no longer necessary. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 65 In preparing for her young the female skunk seeks out some hole or covered place, such as that afforded by a barn or old building, where she can make her way beneath the foundation. She then locates a convenient grass patch where the old growth lies thickly and by means of her long claws rakes this up into bunches and drags it to her burrow, always moving backwards, by which means the long claws are used to full advantage. Several nights are occupied over this work and a vast amount of grass taken in before she becomes satisfied. In this nest are born several young, six probably being an average. Here they are reared and remain out of sight for some little time. Later they follow their mother in her wanderings after food, but it is quite late in the season before they finally separate; indeed, on some occasions they are said to winter in the same burrow. Our species seems to be an almost omnivorous feeder, readily devouring anything in the animal line from an evil- smelling bug to a rabbit, while various fruits as well as ordinary vegetable matter is consumed. Nor must we forget. eggs, of which they are very fond. But the choicest titbits of all seem to be insects; grasshoppers are taken wholesale and eaten with the utmost relish. If it were not for their habits of raiding poultry houses and their fondness for eggs it seems probable that skunks would be classed as almost wholly beneficial, but on account of these habits death is unfortunately often a necessity as it is practically impossible to drive them away. We have known them to take eggs from beneath a brooding hen without disturbing her, and likewise young chickens; at other times fully grown poultry were killed, but as a rule these are not molested when eggs or young are available. In winter time such food as is eaten must be made up almost wholly of rodents and vegetable substances. We have little evidence under this head, but on one occasion, at this season, a freshly cleaned out home revealed much Horsetail (Equtsetum), which suggests that this plant was used for food and that perhaps, like weasels, skunks store up food for future use. With reference to the powerful odor for which the animal has become celebrated, much misconception prevails. We are usually led to believe that this scent is carried about as a sort of attraction, not unlike some people’s scent bottles, and that a liberal amount is sprinkled over the animal for that purpose, but as a matter of fact nothing is further from the truth, and to meet an odoriferous skunk is as unusual as it is objectionable. In reality they. are by no means anxious to part with their perquisite and only do so when closely pursued and when life is endangered. When such emergencies arise, however, they make full use of this weapon, and woe to the enemy that gets 60 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. in its way or stands within thirty feet of the line of fire. It is not, however, the skunk that carries the odor thereafter. To show how sparingly such a defence is resorted to we may relate that the junior writer has on various occasions trapped skunks and that in no instance did they make use of it. While more than once he actually liberated them and permitted them to run off without even an indication of unpleasantness, which is more than can be said of most mammals. But, kill one, no matter how suddenly, and the scent glands seem to be at once released, causing the yellow fluid to be scattered broadcast, accompanied by that never-to-be-forgotten odor. Like the badger and the bear, skunks appear to sleep fairly constantly during the winter months and only emerge from their burrows occasionally; there is seldom a week, however, that they do not show signs of activity, though long journeys are seldom indulged in before March. The males do not seem to take any part in the family welfare and on this account are seldom met with, in fact, there is even reason to suspect that they are undesirable visitors near the home and that they might perchance make a meal of a newly born young if opportunity offered, though we have no direct evidence in favor of such a supposition. On June 10th, 1912, a family of skunks was located beneath the foundations of an old building and as we wished to study their habits the junior writer set to work in the endeavor to catch them. He commenced operations by placing a shallow tin of bread and milk close to the burrow, to which the skunks proved very partial, and ate readily. It was but a short time before they appeared in his presence, and within ten days they had become sufficiently tame to readily partake of the milk while under observation. Did he get too close however, the mother angrily demonstrated her displeasure, and with hair erect and tail well over her back made short jumps towards him hitting the ground a sounding blow with her fore feet. On June 23rd a trap was devised consisting of an apple barrel sunken in the ground, with a collapsible top, this latter being level with the surface and covered sufficiently to look natural. At dark some bread and milk was placed on the opposite side from the burrow, while the trapper waited events close at hand. As was their nightly custom, the young skunks soon appeared, and with that instinctiveness for which all wild mammals are celebrated, made a careful inspection of the trap. They would move carefully a little way on.and then back off again, repeating the manceuvre a number of times, until finally they went round and soon had their noses in the milk. It was not long, however, before one, getting a little alarmed, 1913] THe Otrrawa NATURALIST. 67 made a short cut for its home, forgetting the trap in its haste, and promptly fell in. The watcher then deliberately pushed in another with his foot. Meanwhile the mother, observing that all was not well, remained at the entrance of her burrow thumping the ground continuously with her feet. It being now dark, how- ever, operations were suspended until next morning, when the mother and another baby were found secured, the parent having evidently been trying over night to release her children and fallen in in the attempt. The old one was not, however, a desirable acquisition, so she was helped out by means of a board and at once made her way to the remaining young, and finding them safe brought them out in broad daylight to eat the freshly placed bread and milk, the night exertions having evidently made her hungry as well as fearless, as she showed no regard for the observer within reach, who taking advantage of his nearness picked up another small one and placed it with its captive companions, thus making four and leaving two for the mother. To those not familiar with skunks and having regard only to the story-book tales, these proceedings will be thought some- what risky, but as a matter of fact they were amply justified by the results, the captures and all connected with them being accomplished with no more fuss than if the captives had been kittens and as if the celebrated odor. had formed no part of them. While the mother continued for a time to reside beneath the building, the young were placed in a box within which they remained until the end of August when, becoming pugnacious, or too rough in their play, they were transferred to a room some twelve feet square, in which they were able to romp with im- punity. They soon became extremely tame, and apart from always being at the door at meal-times, would race round and round the visitors feet in their eagerness to get at the food. Nor did they hesitate to rear and set their front feet upon an out- stretched hand to secure the titbit offered. They would also permit being taken up without protest, though this practice was never to their liking. In the morning they were often in a playful mood and would jump and thump the floor in pretended anger, but it was at night when they were seen to full advantage. Then, quite regardless of a lantern, they would run about, frisk and climb eagerly up to shove their noses greedily into the bread and milk-pail before we had even time to place it upon the floor. There was a resemblance to a pig in these actions, particularly in the habit of shoving each other with their shoulders to retain the dish for themselves, but otherwise they lapped up milk much as acat does. With bread they either grabbed it with their teeth, or putting both feet in the pail made quick jerks backwards, 68 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. usually upsetting the contents, when they would draw a lump into a corner, always with the same characteristic backward movements. Grasshoppers invariably proved a great treat, and being abundant, were sometimes collected in large quantities with the aid of a sweeping net, but never in sufficient numbers to appease the appetite of our hungry pets. It was particularly interesting to watch them catch the living ones. Moving slowly forward they sniffed about until one was located, when they immediately pounced upon it with their fore paws, and speedily took it within. Moths too were relished and were often chased round the lantern and not infrequently knocked down with the feet as they fluttered past. Twice the senior writer discovered a prowling Lion Beetle (Calosoma calidum) which, in spite of the strong odor peculiar to this species, was greedily devoured. Rabbits, when divided, were partaken of with relish, so were gophers and mice, and many a fight was witnessed over them, as our friends invariably desired the same portion, and in their endeavors to secure it would pull, snap, squeak and whistle, as well as shove with all their might, but eventually each was provided with a portion and would retire to a separate locality to devour it. Their hunger being thus appeased, they would curl themselves up together on their bed of hay until the shades of night produced renewed animation and activity. Repeated experiments demonstrated that insects formed the most palatable food, next came meat in its various forms, and after this vegetable matter such as cherries (Prunus pennsylvanica and P. virginica), also carrots, raspberries, straw- berries, acorns, broad beans (green), wheat heads, wild buck- wheat (Polygonum), lamb’s-quarters, peas, grass and various other vegetable substances too numerous to mention. Our pets continued to flourish and grow until the end of September, when they were almost fully developed. At this time one became unwell with what appeared to be a sort of distemper, and in spite of every care, got rapidly worse and died without a struggle. A few weeks later another took sick and shortly after all had died. Two. of these were magnificent creatures at the time of their death and but a few days previous had been at the height of activity and health as well as extremely fat. The senior writer had at that time held two of them up in his arms while they, with a total disregard for what was going on, were both ardently engaged in a battle to see which should get its head in the bread and milk can first. The very next day they were ill, and a few days afterwards were dead, from a cold that seemed to lead to sleep and from sleep to death. We were all very sorry to lose our pets, particularly our sister, who had 1913] THe Orrawa NATURALIST. 69 tended them almost daily and given them various titbits. All the horror which the name skunk implied had vanished and in its place we found a pretty, attractive animal, surpassed by few in cleanliness. When they were attended to and their house kept thoroughly clean, little, if any, of that odor for which they are famous was discernible. The mother remained about for some time, but eventually acquired a habit of visiting the poultry house and stealing the chickens. She was trapped by the junior writer, but given her liberty again in the hope that the lesson would prove sufficient. She remained perfectly quiet while being released, and only by persistent chasing could be made to leave the premises, which she did at last without any reminder that would suggest a skunk. Returning a few days later she encountered the dogs, much to their discomfort and ours, but even this did not restrain her from her nightly raids, so eventually necessity obliged u&8 to make away with her. As a parting, she left a by no means desirable legacy, which remained in evidence for at least a couple of months afterwards. Of the two remaining young little is known, but from the fact that a dog met with a somewhat hasty check near the old home late in the season we have reason for hoping that at least one has survived. SCARCITY OF BUMBLE-BEE NESTS'IN THE VICINITY OF OTTAWA. Queens of Bombus terricola, ternarius, fervidus and borealis were common on the Experimental Farm in the spring, and those of seven other species, pennsylvanicus, perplexus, vagans, mpatiens, rujocinctus, afjinis (only one) and separatus (one only) were observed. During July and early August, however, very few workers were seen and no nests could be discovered. The trial plots of red clover, a plant that never fails to attract large numbers of Bombi in Europe, were seldom visited by bumble-bees, though in a red clover field at Danford Lake, Que., numerous workers of B. borealis, an uncommon species in the United States, were noticed. Why are bumble-bee colonies so rare around Ottawa? Is it because the queens cannot find suitable nests? Or are they destroyed by parasites or larger enemies, such as skunks? Observations on the nests that have survived might reveal the main cause of the scarcity, and the writer would be very pleased to hear of any nests that may be found in the district or else- where, in order that he may make a careful investigation. F. W. L. Suapven, Asst. Entomologist for Apiculture, Division of Entomology, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 70 THE OrTTawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept CORRESPONDENCE. Epiror, The Orrawa NATURALIST: It is with pleasure that I am able to report that for the fourth year in succession ‘‘ Tyrannus verticalis’’ has migrated hither. A pair are now (May 26) looking over last year’s nest with a view to re-occupation. Probably they are the original pair. Inany case, they are far more welcome than their cousins, T tyrannus, . H. M. Sperecuty, Pilot Mound, Man. NEST OF BELTED KINGFISHER. A nest of this species with the eggs and parent bird has been acquired by the Canadian Fisheries Museum. The nest is from Meach Lake, Gatineau District, P.Q., and was found by Mr. Alex. C. Finlayson, Inspector of Fish Hatcheries, and his son, on 24th May. It was situated in a sand-pit about 10 feet from the ground and about 3 feet from the top of the pit. An excavated tunnel about 8 feet in length led from the entrance to the nest—the diameter of the entrance being about 24 inches, and the extremity of the tunnel, where the nest was, was dome- shaped, and about 8 inches across and some 6 inches high. The nest was placed on the sand of the pit, and was merely composed of clean fish-bones and scales, upon which was the full com- plement of eggs—7 in number, fresh, semi-spherical, and pure white, only that their contents before being blown gave them a pinkish hue. The parent bird, which was found in the burrow, is the male, which lacks the chestnut band across the breast characteristic of the female. The nest, eggs and bird, when together exhibited in the museum, will form a graceful object. BELTED KINGFISHER (Ceryle alcyon). ‘‘This is the familiar bird whose loud, coarse, rattling notes are heard along our streams. It may be seen perched upon the lower branches of a tree overhanging the water or on the top of a dead stump; these places furnish a favorite outlook, from which it plunges beneath the water to secure its prey, which is chiefly fish. It is a curious fact that Mr. W. E. D. Scott frequently met with this bird in the © desert region of Southern Arizona, far from water, feeding on the large insects and lizards.’’ (Oliver Daire, in ‘“‘Nests and Eggs of North American Birds.’’) ANDREW HALKETT. ———————————EE a 913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 71 "OCCURRENCE OF THE COTTON MOTH IN ONTARIO IN 1912. By ARTHUR GIBSON. : The first record I have of the occurrence of the Cotton Moth (Alabama argillacea Hubn.) in Canada, in 1912, is its abundance at Woodstock, Ont., where the moths appeared on the evening of October 9th, or morning of the 10th. Mr. James Dunlop, who reported the flight, stated that he first saw them on an electric light pole near the Canadian Pacific Railway Station, soon after 8 am. Many specimens were on the pole and on the ground nearby. Visits were then made to other electric light poles in the vicinity. An immense number of the moths were seen on and near the second pole. “The pole was on one side of the sidewalk and on the other side under some trees among the grass, the moths were covering everything. They could have been literally shovelled up. There was a large flock of hens that had also discovered them, but they did not seem to make the least impression in their numbers. Next morning very few were to be seen, just an odd one here and there In the Canadian Entomologist, April, 1913, a short note was published, chiefly to accompany an illustration made from a photograph of a flight taken at London, Ont., by Mr. J. F. Calvert. With the photograph, Mr. Calvert sent the following note: ‘‘Late Thursday night, or early Friday morning (October 10th-11th), there appeared in London, great numbers of the Cotton Moth. They were most noticeable around the Canadian Pacific Railway Station, the Grand Trunk Railway Station, the Grand Trunk Railway Round House, and at a few other points where powerful arc-lights were located. In some places there were heaps several inches deep under these lights. By the following Sunday (October 13th) very few were to be seen.” At Dunnville, Ont., a flight was observed in the morning of October 11th. Mr. J. C. Payne, who reported the occurrence, stated that the moths “covered, thickly, the windows and store fronts, and lay on the ground like autumn l¢aves. There was a rain storm during the night (10th-11th), and the moths were here in the morning, after the rain.”’ ; On the evening of October 12th, I saw numbers of the moths in New York City, particularly in store windows and in restaurants. At Ottawa few specimens were seen, and only during one evening, viz., October 15th, when seven were observed. 72 THe Otrawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. EXCURSIONS. BriTANNIA, May 17th. After-a brief address from the President, Mr. Newman, as to plans of excursion, place of meeting for the discussion of specimens collected, etc., the party divided themselves into two groups: botanists and zoologists. The former, with several leaders, went towards Britannia Highlands. The zoologists took the opposite direction, judging the low- lands better suited for the aquatic life which they were seeking. Notwithstanding the sounds of the woodman’s axe and the carpenter’s hammer, in clearing for and erecting homes, the denizens of the woods have not yet learned (here at least) to fear the advance of civilization. The squirrels seemed to enjoy the luxury of boarded sidewalks, which form the avenues of the future village. Not expecting to find many of the early spring flowers, we were surprised to see the trilliums in such profusion, whose beauti- ful white wax-like petals adorn and beautify any landscape. The following is a list of the flowers collected: Trillium (Trillium grandtflorum), Jack-in-the- Pulpit (Arisaema tri- phyllum), Toothwort (Dentar1a diphylla), Bellwort (Oakesia sessuifolia), Ground-nut (Aralia trifolia), Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaults), Clintonia (Clintonia borealis), Squirrel-corn (Dicentra canadensis), Starflower (Grientalis americana), Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla), Goldthread (Coptis trifolia), Corydalis (C. glauca), Liverwort (Hepatica triloba), Twisted-stalk (Sireptopus roseus), Maianthemum (WM. canadense,) Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), also four species of violets. The birds seen or heard were as follows: Swallows, robins, red-and-buff-shouldered black-birds, bronzed grackles, a crow, certain sparrows, and a flicker. A burrow of some mammal, perhaps that of a wood-chuck, was seen. The pools contained numerous insects, such as aquatic beetles and hemipterons, a scarlet-coloured arachnid, and an isopod (Asellus aquaticus), besides different kinds of pulmonate water snails, such as Limnea stagnalis and Planorbis. An interesting insect found was a specimen of Meloe, which is related to the blister beetle of commerce. Facts concerning its structure, such as the rudi- mentary elytre etc.; life-history, such as how the adult insect feeds on the leaves of the buttercup; the fate of the young larve, which are conveyed by bees to their nests, etc., were stated. A few tadpoles, upon one of which the larva of a neuropterous insect was preying ,were shown in a glass jar. After a most delightful afternoon we returned to the Pavilion, where ~‘Talks” were given by Dr. Blackaaer, Mr. J. W. Eastham, Mr. A. Halkett, Mr. Newman and others. A.L.M. 1913] THe Ortawa NATURALIST. 73 AyitmerR. The district around Queen’s Park, Aylmer, was the locality chosen for the excursion of the club, held Saturday afternoon, May 31st. It was necessary to change the place of meeting from Tronsides, owing to wrong information having been received about the train service; this caused several to miss the outing. The excursionists left the electric railway landing about 3.30, and after walking through the park, along the railway track and through woods for an hour and a half, they took possession of one of the vacant cottages along the lake to discuss the finds of the day. The specimens most frequently encountered, and one which nature seems to have been making a specialty of for two years, was the forest tent caterpillar. These creatures were everywhere, on leaves, in the grass, on the rail- road rails, as well, in fact, as on most of the people, but the other works of nature more than compensated. Mr. L. H. Newman, president of the club, presided, and also presented the botanical specimens. The district is not especially rich in wild flowers, although a fair number of specimens were collected. A few lady’s slippers were found, a number of violet species, the beach pea, bishop’s cap, lousewort, shepherd’s purse, pennycress and the fruit of poison ivy. A very interesting talk on the wild fruits of the district was given by Mr. W.T. Macoun, Dominion Horticulturist. Mention was made that in this district there is only one native species of wild plum, the Canada plum, whichis hardy, but formany years has not porduced fruit because of the severe attacks of a fungus disease. Some transplanted trees, grown under good orchard culture, are now producing paying crops. This is a striking illustration of the benefits of spraying for the prevention of disease in fruit trees. The native varieties of cherries here are the choke, pin and black. A specimen of the native prickly gooseberry was collected. This species is being used 1n crossing to breed hardi- ness into the larger cultivated sorts. Specimens of the common wild black currant and the common wild red raspberry were found. The latter is the species from which most varieties of cultivated red raspberries have been developed. Most of these have been produced in southern districts and are, therefore, not hardy in cold climates. At the Experimental Farm work is being done on the plants found in the locality to produce hardier varieties. Nearly all the cultivated varieties of strawberries too have come from one of the two wild species found here; many of them are tender because grown in a southern district and hardier strains are being developed. The geology of the district was discussed by Dr. Williams of the Geological Survey. The three distinct types of rock found were blue limestone, sandy shale and ‘sandstone. It was ex- 74 Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. plained how the limestone, found along the lake shore, formed in deep water, and the sandstone, further back on higher land, in shallow water with the shale intermediate. An exceptionally fine specimen of sandstone, made of tiny round pebbles cemented together by pressure, was found, and an interesting piece of fossil rock composed almost entirely of snails. The birds, insects and snails were locked after by Mr. A. Halkett of the Fisheries Museum and Mr. Winterberg of the Geological Survey. Among the birds Mr. Halkett noted the oriole, kingbird, bobolink and song sparrow. The yellow swallow- tail butterfly was seen and a number of small insects and larve collected, including the destructive cutworm. Hy ail eorex: STITTSVILLE. The excursion to Stittsville on June 14th was the last arranged for by the council for the summer season, and the afternoon’s outing was much enjoyed by the goodly number of excursionists. The locality proved to be a rich field for the collector and observer. Various species of plants were collected under the leadership of the botanists, observations were made of rock formations, and a winding stream visited by some of the members proved to be a regular natural aquarium for the general zoologist. Mr. L. H. Newman, president of the club, named most of the plants which had been collected during the outing. Among these he showed the tall meadow-rue, bunch-berry, mouse-ear chickweed, silvery cinquefoil, small-flowered crowfoot, star- flower, lady’s slipper, clintonia, dwarf raspberry, mitre-wort, twin-flower, cleavers, anemone, and a number of different sedges. He referred to the abundance of silv ery cinquefoil and mouse- ear chickweed on the knolls and ridges, where the soil was lighter and inclined to be sandy. This was a good illustration of plant adaptation. Referring to specimens of Viola selkirki collected during the afternoon, Dr. Malte gave a brief account of the seed forma- tion in the stemless violets. It was pointed out that, as a rule, the showy spring flowers are not able to produce seed, this function being taken over by so-called cleistogamous flowers, i.e. insignificant bird-like flowers which are. self-fertilized auto- matically without being opened. These cleistogamous flowers behave very differently in different species, and offer very good characters for their identification. Only occasionally the spring flowers are fertilized, either by pollen from the same species or from other ones. In the latter case the result will be the pro- duction of hybrids, characterized by a large per cent. of un- 1913] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. AD developed pollen unfit for fertilization. Inthe vicinity of Ottawa four hybrids between different Viola species have been found this spring. The occurrence of Antennaria canadensis (Everlasting) in the district visited induced Dr. Malte to deal briefly with the phenomenon called parthenogenesis, 7.e. the faculty of egg-cells of certain genera and species to develop the new normal individuals without the assistance of male organs. He pointed out that parthenogenesis in plants was in fact first discovered ina species of Antennaria, it having been observed that in this genus, which is dicecious, the male plants generally are extremely rare; and he also referred to a number of other parthenogenetic genera, such as Taraxacum and Hteracium, and finished his remarks by calling attention to the remarkable investigations on the parthenogenetic development of eggs of sea-urchins and star- fishes, which, during recent years, have been carried out by scientists in the United States and France. Mr. McGillivray collected specimens of gneiss of a typical gray colour, and also in a decayed state; samples of limestone, red granite, sandstone and a kremoloid; and he also had with him to show specimens of different kinds of minerals which he had previously collected on the island at Chelsea and at the Ironsides mine. Except in stagnant pools, there has been for years past at the localities which the naturalists have visited, little opportunity for the study of aquatic forms of life, but the stream at Stittsville afforded excellent facilities for such study. The brook is full of small cyprinoids and other kinds of small fishes, besides a great variety of aquatic invertebrates. The fishes netted or observed were these: specimens of Red-bellied Dace (Chrosomus erythro- gaster), a Minnow (Leuciscus neogeus), a small specimen of the Common Sucker (Catostomus commersoni1), a few specimens of the Brook Stickleback (Eucalia inconstans), a specimen of a Darter presumably the Johnny Darter (Boleosoma nigrum) or perhaps its variety, the Tessellated Darter (Boleosoma nigrum olmsted1), but the specimen was lost before it could be examined ; and numerous specimens of a Miller’s Thumb (a cottoid) were seen in the stream, but none were netted. One or two specimens of a Crayfish (Cambarus), larve of a Caddis-fly with their tubes made of broken pieces of wood, one or two tiny fresh-water mussels, and various other aquatic invertebrates were also found in the brook. The excursions of the season have been a great success, every Saturday has been fair, and the last held, at Stittsville, proved to be one of the most enjoyable and instructive. Nail 76 THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. [Aug-Sept. THE WESTERN GREBE IN ONTARIO. There have been a good many records of the occurrence of this bird in the province, but probably not one is capable of being substantiated. All those that have been investigated have proved to be the Red-necked Grebe, which is a regular and frequent migrant through all of Ontario, and the uncertified remainder are doubtless of the same class. It is a pleasure, therefore, to put in print a genuine record for which the skin is in evidence. Some months ago in examining the collection of Mr. J. E. Keays, of London, Ontario, I found an immature specimen of the Western Grebe which had been obtained from Mr. H. D. Carman, about 1892, and which was taken at Sarnia. The date of capture is unknown, but it was in the neighbourhood of 1888. There is little doubt but that this species, so common in the west, strays into the regions of Lakes Superior and Huron each year, but its numbers would probably be few and only rarely would one be seen or captured by anyone competent to identify it. W. E. SAUNDERS: BIRD NOTES. The following notes were given to me by Mr. I Turner, who has spent the past winter near the “end of steel” on the Transcontinental Railway, about fifty miles east of Cochrane. Wittow Prarmican (Lagopus 1. lagopus). Abundant during the greater part of the winter, from about the middle of December, 1912, to March 20th,-1913. The birds were very tame, and would seldom take wing on the approach of a human being; more likely one of the males would strut ahead of the flock and with trailing wings advance, as if to challenge the intruder. CANADA SPRUCE PARTRIDGE (Canachites canadensis canace). Common, and like the preceding species, very tame. NORTHERN RAVEN (Corvus corax principalis). Common; usually to be found in vicinity of the camps, where they fed on offal and other refuse. CaNapba Jay (Perisoreus c. canadensis). Common; another camp-follower. L.. Mcl... Terria: THE OTTAWA NATURALIST October, 1913 No. 7 DOES THE TYPE OF PROTOPALASASTER NARRAWAYI PRESENT AN ORAL OR ABORAL ASPECT: (PLates VIII-[X, Ficure 1). By GEorGE H. Hupson. During my first study of this tvpe, careful search was made for items of evidence for both sides of this question and these items were classified and recorded. The evidence was so long and so overwhelmingly in favor of an oral aspect that it was decided not to burden my paper [A]* with it. In the last paragraph, however, I mentioned three of the most important adverse items, anticipated criticism, and promised a defence of my position. Dr. Raymond uses these items, with others, in favor of an aboral aspect [B]. I propose here to weigh carefully his evidence and present some items which are decidedly against his view. INFERO-MARGINALS. I. The vertical radial outlines of the interradial shown in [A] plate II, fig. 4, and in our present text figure 1; together with the transverse vertical outlines seen in [A] plate III, fig. 5: show a markedly convex surface without the slightest degree of summit flattening and such outlines prove conclusively that no interradial supero-marginal ever developed in contact with the exposed surface of these plates. . II. On the orad margins of each of these plates there are ‘three concavities—the central one the most pronounced. They Suggest comparison with the hollows or depressions in the plates of Goniasteridae and Linckiidae into which the jaws of the pedicellariae rest when open. Dr. W. K. Fisher writes me that he believes ‘“ The impressions are intended to receive the epineural plates,”’ and that they are, therefore, oral surface features. “Papers to which reference is made are indicated by capital letters in brackets. A list of these is placed at end of this artiole 78 THe OTtTawa NATURALIST. {Oct. IlI. The absence of granular ornamentation on the exposed faces of the arm marginals is alout equal in transverse width to the area which would be covered with the opened epineurals. Dr. Raymond, [B] p. 106, lines 42-43, cites this peculiarity as evidence that supero-marginals must have rested over these. In [C] I have published stereograms of three different regions from the undoubted oral surface of Paleaster niagarensis, Hall, which show the same smooth surfaces, and Prof. Fisher writes me that naked areas on these plates “‘are especially numerous in the Goniasteridae, in the genera Tosia, Goniaster, Pseudarchaster, Plinthaster.’’ The evidence here is at least no stronger for an aboral than an oral surface. IV. Dr. Raymond, [B] p. 106, lines 38 and 42, calls the exposed surface of the marginals “‘truncated”’ and “‘flat.’”?’ We have seen that this is far from being the condition of the inter- radials and in [A] plate II, figures 3 and 4, we may see that it does not accurately describe the arm marginals. The first of these has a fairly well rounded surface, while the second to the fifth possess well marked angles a little orad of the centre of the plates. That these plates were convex on transverse vertical section is also seen in figures 5 and 7 of this plate—note particular- ly the right-hand side of figure 7. Photomicrographs made under gum possess a flat lighting that is sometimes very deceptive. My study of such, like the one used in figure 2 of the plate just referred to, led me also to call these plates flat and deny them re-entrant angles for the oral longitudinal muscles. If now we will examine in [A] plate III, fig. 4, the marginals numbered from 2 to 7, we shall see these plates in normal lighting and their appearance is very decidedly that of original free surfaces and against both Dr. Raymond’s descriptive terms and his deduction therefrom—that these surfaces were produced by intimate contact with a series of supero-marginals. Many forms, both living and fossil, show a more decided oral flattening of these plates than that revealed in this figure. V. In our present plate IX, fig. 1, the right hand marginals 5 and 6 are fairly well preserved and the fields of their common flexor clearly outlined both by form and also by the blackened remains of some of their muscle fibers. Such large bundles of flexors would occur only on arm surfaces. Of the five items given by the marginals the third is of little value and is only included because it formed a part of Dr. Raymond’s evidence against an ‘“‘oral side up” decision. Item IV, when the real facts are given, is for such a decision, and items I, II and V are of a most positive and unequivocal character, 1913] THE Ottrawa NATURALIST. 19 ADAMBULACRALS. VI. The exposed flat faces of the first: adambulactz (mouth plates) dip strongly inward. Tle true oral surfaces of these plates in Paleaster parviusculus have similar flat faces which also dip inward. See stereogram in [C] plate III. VII. Prof. Fisher says of the angular ridge towards the furrow, which is shown by all the adambulacrals, ‘‘This strongly suggests the attachment area of the ‘furrow comb’ of spines * * * * such a ridge is quite characteristic of many species. It is well seen in Astrupecten, Psilaster, Persephonaster, etc.” VIII. Dr. Raymond says of these adambulacrals[B] p. 105, lines 9-11, “And each plate was provided with a cup-like pit into which the proximal end of a covering plate fitted.’’ He then says of the Urasterella which he figures, [B] 106, lines 1-2; plate V1, fig. 1; that its apparent ‘Covering pieces”? (ambulacra) ‘‘are supported by small plates with a pit on top, just as in Protopaleaster narrawayl.’’ Now, in the first place, ambulacra never have their adambulacral ends fitting into cup-like pits to form ball and socket joints. There is, however, a pit or depres- sion between each pair of plates, and this is occupied by the ambulacro-adambulacral muscle. In the second place, the adambulacra now in question do not possess ‘“‘cup-like pits,’’ but they show angular, flat or slightly depressed muscle fields. In the third place, the proximal ends ‘of the epineurals in P.narrawayi not only donot “‘fit’’ these muscle fields, but they are im every case placed alternately wtih them, Thisis the only evidence that Dr. Raymond deduces from the adambulacrals, and it is too widely at variance with the facts to have been carefully considered. The alternate arrangement just specified is strong evidence against Dr. Raymond’s interpretation. On giving these adambulacrals additional study by means of new stereograms, I am inclined to abandon my idea that the muscle fields in question were for attachment of epineural adductors. The muscle fibers, which remain attached to them, . are small and more probably served to open the “furrow combs.” In our plate IX, fig. 2, much heavier bundles of muscle fibers are to be seen next the marginals and between adambulacra—note particularly the remains of the bundle between the last two adambulacra on the left. In addition to the evidence given, [A] p. 46, lines 32-37, to show that the epineurals were arranged alternately with the adambulacra, I here present fig. 1 of plate IX. There maining ends of several epineurals are to be seen in place in the left-hand row of this figure, but probably crushed in a little by the force that displaced the epineural below. In figure 2 of this plate it will be seen that the median bosses 80 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Oct. projecting inwardly from the last. preserved marginals do not extend through to the aboral surfaces of the plates, but they served for attachment of the epineurals. We may still see that the 3rd and 4th marginals on the left each possessed two of these bosses though the corner ones have been nearly lost By weather- ing. IX. Where adambulacra possess long vertical axes these are usually somewhat imbricated, the oral ends being tipped toward the mouth, never away from it. The broken ends of rays II to V all show this inclination. See stereogram in [Cl ray V and our plate IX, figures 1 and 2. The angle of inclination is about 25°. The slight imbrication is an adaptation to secure greater flexibility in the arms and to help in thrusting the food content of the furrow toward the mouth. Such evidence cannot be lightly set aside. EPINEURALS. Although asserting that the “‘covering pieces’’ had their origins in the pits of the oppositely placed adambulacra, Dr. Ray- mond calls them ‘‘alternating plates”’ (p. 105, line 6). A study of their distal endsis of interest. The younger pieces, plate VIII, fig. 2, meet, though very irregularly, by their end faces: ‘The furrow here is in a contracted condition, and this should have opened the end faces, were these ambulacra, and displayed the muscle fields of the transverse dorsal ambulacral muscles. Not the least trace of such muscles is anywhere to be seen. The older epineurals, following the law of biogenesis, are less like primitive covering pieces and meet only by their inner edges, plate VIII, fig.1. The fallen 8th, the covered 5th and the two shifted 3rds in this figure indicate that the meeting ends were free. The varied imbrication of the szdes of these pieces and the absence of traces of longitudinal muscles is also evidence against their being ambulacra. The epineurals marked as first could by no Paci means have had their distal ends bound to their opposite neighbors. To conceive these first members of a series as ambulacra is therefore wholly out of the question. The evidence of plate IX, fig. 2, is that the epineurals were borne by the marginals. The latter plates have lost much of their original surface, but there is here and there a suggestion that they also bore large spines outside of the epineurals. For one instance note the structure of the raised central portion of the more perfectly preserved fifth marginal in plate IX, fig. 2. The only spine fragment preserved in the matrix, however, is 1n 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 81 interradius 1, but this when magnified about 20 diameters reveals a striated surface as if belonging to a sea-urchin. VERTICAL SECTION. XI. The last item of evidence to be here given from the oral skeleton is derived from the sequence and form of outline of the vertical section given in text figure 1. Scale in mm. 7a, Des A= . ; ' a is 3 a 6 Fic. 1. Outlines from vertical section of P. narrawayi passing in through one interradius to center and out by one of the interradiu next the opposite radius. Slight offsets have been made to include suboral epineurals and secondary jaws. It is not a difficult matter to account for these plates, their form and position, if the outline is that of the true oral surface. If, however, this outline is of the aboral surface of the oral skeleton, we are face to face with an apparently insuperable difficulty. How are we to explain the presence of the deep concavity on the now aboral inner face of the marginal—the large paired plates which now become supra- orals—the beveled inter tor faces of the mouth plates—and the function of the “secondary jaws.’ Are we to suppose that the circumgastric ring of ten radially situated pieces (our first epineurals) rested against or over the borders of the stomach and served for “Internal massage’ or for a compress to aid in the emptying of the stomach cavity? Was the ring of ten double-headed internal ‘crushers of the oesophagus”’ an essential adjunct of this new and wonderful: mechanism? Those against an oral aspect must explain this apparently senseless arrangement of heretofore wholly unknown plates. Should further. study establish their view we may properly expect that the biological story told by these plates will be one of intense interest. THE, ABOR MES OKELETON: The balance of Dr. Raymond’s evidence is contained in the paragraph commencing on p. 106, line 44, of his criticism and is derived from the plates marked (x) and (y) in our plate VIII, fig. 1. Iagree with him that for these ‘‘a place cannot be found in the structure of the specimen”’ (p. 106, lines 45-46). He 82 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Oct. finds, however, that ‘‘they are not far from their original position”’ (p. 107, lines 18-19). That they were thrust to their present position after the burial of the specimen is made manifest, not only by the plates in the immediate vicinity, but plates now lost must have communicated this thrust to interradius 1, and there not only turned the secondary jaws, but displaced one of the mouth plates and the oral. Dr. Raymond’s assertion that “if these were plates foreign to this specimen, they would not maintain their natural position in relation to each other, but would be separated,” is evidently meant to indicate that the overriding movement was not of great magnitude. He must have frequently found forms buried serially over each other, without necessarily finding all the plates of the upper specimens ‘““separated.’’ An examination of our plate VIII, fig. 1, with a stereoscope leads me to doubt if (y) belongs to (x) any more than (z) does. I find plate (y) depressed; the meeting faces neither parallel nor of the same form; and if the plate really belonged to (x) shifted a little toward radius I, though I should have expected the thrust to have made it slip in an opposite direction. The movement instead of separating these plates has thrust them together. Dr. Raymond asserts that (y) cannot be an adambulacral of another specimen (p. 107, lines 12-14) because it ‘‘is larger and of different shape.’’ It has two dia- meters perpendicular to its sides of about 0.8 mm each, which is a little less than the transverse diameter of the adambulacral just back of the undisturbed mouth plate in radius II. Turn this adambulacral on its side and you will havea plate displaying an area greater than that now shown by (y). Plate (x) “‘is pointed at the wider end”’ (p. 107, line 6), but I cannot be positive that the faces on each side of the angle are either true sutural faces or that this is the original orad end of the plate. The smaller face seems to possess the granular ornamentation of the aborad end of a marginal and the lines of blackened organic fragments buried in the plate run parallel to the long face while in the stereograms (photographs) these lines are distinctly sub- parallel with the sides next the first arm marginals. If plate (vy) belonged to the aboral skeleton it is sheltered enough to have retained some ornamentation, but it is as smooth as a sutural face of an adambulacral. As all other plates have been com- pletely weathered away we must credit the remaining big plate with a serious loss of its original surface. I would not like to assert of this plate, which shows rotation on both its long and short axes in addition to great loss of surface, that it has the ““same form” (p. 107, line 19-21) as an interradial supero- marginal of Paleaster matutina, Hall. 1913] Tue Ottawa NaTuRALIST. 83 XII. Mr. Narraway’s very kind second loan of the type has,enabled me to make a number of stereograms of it, and since returning the specimen to him, I have found three among them that offer more important ev idence concerning the nature of the aboral skeleton than I had before noted. In plate VIII, fig. 1, the present floor of the oral cavity shows a number of very small ossicles having diameters of between 0.10 and 0.15mm, These are most clearly seen around the inner margin of the ‘‘torus,”’ in interradius 1. To the right of the whiter of these ossicles there are a number of darker molds or thinly covered ossicles having similar diameters and an alternate arrangement. The half tone process will hardly allow these to be seen, but in plate IX, fig. 2, thin, angled plates with a diameter of 0.2 mm should be visible on the dark background of the upper part of the figure. A transverse row of three of these will be found just above the last adambulacral and marginal at the right. There is also one quite clearly revealed two centimeters (measured on the stereo- gram) above the right-hand marginal and on a line with its inner face. These plates are very regularly arranged and each has a small central projection about 0.03 mm in diameter. Twenty- five or more of these plates can be recognized in the photographs from which this figure is produced. There is a median row of slightly larger plates, and on each side of this at least five other rows arranged in regular alternation. A number of the same plates may also be seen neartheendofray IV. As P. narrawayi can hardly have had its oral skeleton sandwiched between two aboral skeletons, I think this case does not need further argument. Dr. Raymond in his criticism has kindly sought to share a responsibility for my errors and to make Mr. Narraway assist him in this, by frequently using the pronouns ‘‘we”’ and “our” to represent an offending trio who persisted in their error even though (p. 105, line 24) ‘it must be confessed, all dissented from - our view.”’ This use of these pronouns is misleading. Dr. Raymond had a manuscript copy of my paper before its publica- tion and duplicates of some of my photomicrographs. My experience with ‘ ‘paleontologists and students of recent echin- oderms’’ was not as he unwittingly represents it. On p. 106, lines 28-32, he states: ‘‘The chief reason that Narraway, Hudson and myself had for thinking that Protopaleaster narrawayt was exposed from the actinal side was that the cover- ing pieces did not look like ambulacral plates, * * * *”. Here again I believe the statement would have gained in accuracy had the first two names been omitted. It must be evident at least that Dr. Raymond did not know my reasons. To Mr. Narraway is due the credit of recognizing the true character of the “covering pieces.”’ Aside from agreeing with him in this, 84 THE Otrawa NATURALIST. {Oct. my study of his specimen was wholly my own, and neither he nor Dr. Raymond are in any manner responsible for errors in my paper. REFERENCES. A. -A fossil starfish with ambulacral covering plates. By George H. Hudson, Ottawa Narturatist, Vol. XXVI, p. 21-26, 45-52 (May, June-July, 1912). B. On the nature of the so-called ‘‘Covering plates,” in Protopaleaster narrawayi. By Percy E. Raymond, Ottawa Naturatist, Vol. XXVI, p. 105-108» Plate VI (December, 1912). C. The use of the Stereogram in Paleobiology. By George H. Hudson, New York State Museum Bulletin, 164, p. 103 to 130, plates I-XIII; Annual Report of the Director of the Science Division for 1912. EXCURSIONS. BILLInGs’ BRIDGE, Sept. 20, 1913.—A most delightful fall excursion of the Club was held near Billings’ Bridge on the above date. About 25 members were in attendance. The chief object of the excursion was to study the aquatic plants which grow in such profusion near the Islands, a short distance from Bank Street. A sufficient number of boats had been arranged for, and under the guidance of Miss F. Fyles, Assistant Botanist of the Experimental Farm, observations were made and collections gathered of many of the water plants of the vicinity. In midsummer the beauty of our Canadian water gardens is SO apparent as to attract the attention of even the unobservant: masses of waxen arrowheads, gayly brighi-blue pickerel weed and water lilies, yellow, pink and white, bladderworts, or yellow sunbonnets and water arums all in flower at once. But, in the autumn, when the flowers have shed. their bright petals, the interest is in the fruiting heads of the reeds and rushes and in the less conspicuous submerged plants; of the latter class, the water-weed (Elodea canadensis), which becomes a great pest in shallow canals, almost completely filling the passage with its dense growth. Belonging to the same family is the ribbon grass. EEE 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 85 (Vallisneria spiralis). This plant, which might better be called water ribbon, as it does not belong to the grass family, was still blooming. Some of the white pollen of the staminate flowers was seen on the surface of the water floating to meet the pistillate flowers, which had arisen with sudden growth to receive it. Several species of the pondweed were found, one of the most abundant being the clasping-leaved pondweed (Potamogeton perjoliatus), and entangled with these was the mud plantain (Heteranthera dubia), which earlier in the season raises its pale yellow flowers just above the water; and in the same company, the hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) and water milfoil (Myriophyllum sp.). These two last-named plants somewhat resemble one another in general appearance, but on closer examination we find a readily remembered distinction in the feather-like leaves of the latter. Closer to the shore, where the Cat-tails (Typha latifola) and the Wild Rice (Zizania sp.) are always in evidence, were seen the artistic globular heads of the bur-reeds (Sparganium eurycarpum and S, americanum var. androcladum) with many members of the Sedge family, chiefly the club-rush (Scirpus validus), nut-grass (Cyperus esculentus), the dark green bulrush (Scirpus atrovirens), and the Dulichium arundinaceum. Floating among the stalks of these plants was the vivid green of the little duck-weed (Lemna minor), and the greater duck-weed (Spirodela polyrhiza) and the large lily pads. The different species of water lilies were distinguished, apart from the shape of the leaves, which is rather uncertain, by the seed vessels. The fruit of the yellow pond lily (Nymphaea sp.) remains above the water to ripen its seeds, while the pink and white water lilies (Castalia sp.) complete their maturity beneath the surface. On the edge of the shore, as a graceful background to the straight lines of the reeds and rushes, the trees were noticed to be festooned with the orange-berried bitter-sweet (Celastrus scandens) and the rich, blue, grape-like clusters of the Moonseed (Mentspermum canadense) and bending over into the water, the long, red-leaved stems of the water-willow (Decodon verticillatus). Several of the members proceeded direct to one of the islands to examine land plants and collect insects, and other zoological specimens. Unfortunately, however, the collections made were small. At 4.30 the whole party met on the Island and short addresses were given by several of the leaders. Miss Fyles spoke of many of the plants which are mentioned above, and answered questions regarding them. Mr. H. McGillivray referred to the geological formation of the district, it being of the Utica rock formation. A specimen of 86 THE Otrawa NATURALIST. [Oct. a fresh water shell of the genus Unzo, collected on the Island, was discussed, and the statement made that a large number of specimens of rocks and shells secured in the Ottawa district had been collected during the summer. These he hoped to exhibit to members of the Club at a later date. Mr. J. R. Dymond, of the Seed Branch, Department of Agriculture, discussed many of the plants which had been found growing on the Island. A number of species were shown and identified. None of these were of uncommon occurrence, but their names were asked for by some of the members present. The common leopard frog, which frequents the damp places of the Island, was shown by Mr. Andrew Halkett, and remarks made upon its life-history. A tadpole of another species of frog was also shown, and explanations given as to how the gill apertures become closed as the frog assumes its lung-breathing function, and how the paired limbs develop. Specimens of land-mollusks, viz.: juveniles of a helicoid, snails with their Shells of the genus Succinea, and two small shells of a gastropod, requiring determination, were exhibited. Mr. F. W.L. Sladen, Assistant Entomologist for Apiculture at the Experimental Farm, showed some males of Vespa diabolica captured at raspberry flowers, in which the markings varied. He called attention to the neglected field of the study of wasps and wild bees, viz.: the superfamilies, Vespoidea, Sphecoidea and A poidea. During the past season he had taken two or three thousand specimens of these in the Ottawa district, consisting of over 300. different species, not a few of which are probably new to science. Mr. Arthur Gibson, First Vice-President of the Club, who had charge of the excursion, spoke in conclusion on certain insects which were noted, mentioning particularly the Burdock Gelechiid (Metzneria lapella), the larve of which are so useful in destroying the seeds of burdocks and which hibernate in the heads, and the galls of Pontania pomum, known as the Willow Apple Gall, which had been found abundantly on the leaves of Salix discolor. Freshly emerged specimens of the beautiful large dragon fly, Anax junius, were also shown. EXPERIMENTAL Farm, September 27th, 1913.—Thirty members of the Club met at the end of the car line at 3 o’clock. A visit was first made to the memorial erected to the memory of the late Dr. James Fletcher, one of the founders of the Club. The party then, under the guidance of Mr. Arthur Gibson, 1913] THe Ortrawa NATUuRALIST. 87 First Vice-President, and Mr. F. E. Buck, of the Horticultural Division, examined the climbing vines on certain of the Farm buildings, the remarkable collection of hedges, undoubtedly one of the best to be found anywhere, and afterwards many of the groups of trees and shrubs in the arboretum. The flowering plants were later visited and information given as to those most worthy of cultivation. The Insectary of the Division of Ento- mology was shown, and the method of studying the life-histories of destructive insects described. BEAVER MEApvow.—The last of the fall excursions for 1913 was held on the afternoon of October 4th to the Beaver Meadow, near Hull.~ Since the previous excursion to Beaver Meadow, the lower end of this locality has changed considerably owing to ts having been divided into building lots, on which already a fair sprinkling of homes have been established. The beautiful wood to the right of the stream, on entering the meadow, is a “thing of the past,’ but fortunately, as yet, from the naturalists’ point of view, the upper end is unchanged, and it is sincerely hoped that this may be left as it is for very many years. The locality has always been a favourite haunt of the Club, and many happy hours have there been spent by its members. After wandering about for nearly two hours, the party re- assembled and listened to brief remarks by leaders present. Mr. Andrew Halkett spoke of batrachians which had been collected, viz.: the Leopard Frog, the Wood Frog and the Com- mon Toad. A fine specimen of the Garter Snake was shown and remarks made on snakes in general and their habits. Mr. Arthur Gibson spoke on certain insects and showed specimens of the large Water-strider, which skates over the surface of the stream; the Hedge-hog Caterpillar, which was crawling about in search of a convenient place to hibernate; and the Lesser Migratory Locust, which this year has been very destructive near Ottawa in fields of barley, oats, potatoes and corn. Mr. E. C. Wight showed specimens of Meadow Rue, Joe- Pie Weed, Butternuts, etc., confining his remarks chiefly to their medicinal properties. He also referred to several bad weeds, particularly the Blueweed, aften called Blue Devil, which is so common in Ontario and the eastern provinces and which is much enquired about by farmers. Mr. H. McGillivray exhibited specimens of rocks and shells which he had found in the district. A most interesting specimen was a nodule on which there was the impression of a petrified capelin, a specimen of fish which is yet extant. 88 THE Ortawa NATURALIST. [Oct. THE JUBILEE MEETING OF. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. One of the most important gatherings of entomologists which has ever taken place in Canada was that which met at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, on August 26th, 27th and 28th, 1913, to celebrate the Jubilee Meeting of the Ento- mological Society of Ontario. Among the distinguished ento- mologists from outside of Canada who were in attendance were: Professor J. H. and Mrs. Comstock, of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; Dr. E. P. Felt, Albany, N.Y.; Prof. T. J. Headlee, New Brunswick, NJ"; Prof. PP. j.-Parrott, Geneva, Nv Dr A. D. MacGillivray, Urbana, Ill.; Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall, Edinburgh, Scotland; Mr. Geoffrey Meade-Waldo, London, England; Prof. F. M. Webster, Washington, D.C., and Dr. W. M. Wheeler, Boston, Mass. The following entomologists from Canada were present: Rev. Prof. C. J. S. Bethune, Guelph, Ont.; Rev. Dr.°T W. Fyles; Ottawa; "Mre Ts be Lyman, Montreal; Prof. W. Lochhead, Macdonald College. Oue.. C. Gordon Hewitt, Messrs. Ae Gibson! Foo We Spry ORaEe De. E. M. Waller: Dr: A. Cosens, Mr. Js Ba Willams, Deronte; Prot T. D. Jarvis, Messrs. L. Caesar, A. W. Baker, G. J. Spencer, Guelph; Prof. John Dearness, W. E. Saunders, London, Ont.; John D: ‘Evans, *Trenton, Ont); FF. J: A> Morris, Peterboso, Ont. Ro S. -Hamulton, Galt, Ont.. R. © “Vrehere, Agassiz. biG. }). DeTothill, LS. Mclaine,’ Fredericton, N-B:; G. -E, Sanders, Bridgetown, N.S.; C. E. Lape Covey Hill, Que; J-C.-Chapais, St. Denis (En bas), Ore. A. Ross, Vineland Station, Ont.; HH. &.. Hudson; Strathroy, nile In the afternoon of August 27th, President Creelman, of the Ontario Agricultural College, welcomed the entomologists to the College and in a bright, happy speech, spoke of the value of the practical side of the study of insects to the agriculturist © and the community at large. Addresses to the Society on its having attained fifty years of service were presented by delegates, representing a large number of Universities, Colleges of Agri- culture, Societies, etc., the world over. Greetings from the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club were presented by Mr. Arthur Gibson. During the two days’ session at Guelph important papers were presented by Rev. Dr. Fyles, Rev. Dr. Bethune, Dr. A. D: MacGillivray, Dr. A. Cosens, Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall, Prof. F. M: Webster and Mr. F. J. A. Morris. On the evening of August 27th the delegates and members were entertained by Dr. and Mrs. Creelman, and on the following 1913] Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. 89 evening Dr. W. M. Wheeler delivered a most delightful and instructive lecture on “‘Ants.’’ This was illustrated by a collec- tion of exceptionally good lantern slides. All of the papers, etc., presented at the meeting will be published in full in the Annual Report of the Society. On August 29th the Society entertained the members and delegates to an excursion to the Grimsby district, where collec- tions of insects were made and several orchards visited, which showed full well the value of spraying ,etc., to control injurious insects. Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist, Ottawa, was elected President of the Society for 1913-1914. The City of Toronto was decided as the place of the next meeting. POPULARITY AND ROLE OF THE: ROSE.* By F. E. Buck, Experimental Farm, Ottawa. The popularity of the rose is rapidly increasing. To such an extent is this true that quantities of beautiful roses belonging to the Hybrid Tea class are now being planted in sections of country where up till recently it was thought impossible to grow with safety roses of this class at all. For instance, several rose lovers in Canada have recently planted large quantities, of the best varieties that it was possible to import, of these roses. With slight winter protection many of them are apparently quite adapted to conditions of climate as far north as Montreal and Ottawa. In connection with the spread of this flower, it may be apropos to ask why it is that it has always held the premier position amongst flowers? In the spread of culture and the aesthetic spirit throughout the world the role which the rose has played has been an im- portant one, and in this paper it is the intention to briefly discuss that role. The fact that somewhere during every hour of every day and night the sun is shining somewhere in that vast empire called British is often emphasized. Another fact equally significant to us perhaps in another way is that that same sun every day of the 365 of every year calls into fragrance and beauty somewhere in that same vast empire blossoms of one of the most perfect of flowers, the rose. Although this statement may perhaps sound exaggerated, it is nevertheless true. Roses *—Paper presented at meeting of O.F.N.C., Dec. 10,1912. 90 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Oct. to-day are in bloom in some parts of the same country for about nine months out of every twelve of the year. The wealth of bloom in some of the Rose Gardens of Europe is magnificent and the variety wonderful. At the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, a new Rose Garden has been recently planted with the object of testing most of the best of these modern roses, for hardiness and suit- ability for Canadian conditions. Is the popularity of the rose likely to go on increasing and to what cause or causes is its popularity to be ascribed? These are two questions similar to the one already asked and it is hoped that an answer will be at least suggested in what follows. In the first place it may be mentioned that the esteem in which the rose is held is by no means of modern growth. The following account of the birth of the rose will show how the Ancients prized it: “Of the birth of the rose, the queen of flowers, it is related in fable that Flora, having found the corpse of a favorite nymph, whose beauty of person was only surpassed by the purity of her heart and chastity of mind, resolved to raise a plant from the precious remains of this daughter of the Dryads, for which purpose she begged the assistance of Venus and the Graces, as well as all the deities that preside over gardens, to assist in the transformation of the nymph into a flower that was to be by them proclaimed queen of all the vegetable beauties. The ceremony was attended by all the Zephyrs, who cleared the atmosphere, in order that Apollo might bless the new created progeny with his beams. Bacchus supplied rivers of nectar to nourish it, and Vertumnus poured his choicest perfumes over the plant. When the metamorphosis was complete Pomona strewed her fruit over the young branches which were then crowned by Flora with a diadem that had been purposely pre- pared by the Celestials to distinguish this Empress of flowers.’ This fable suggests the place which the wild or native roses held in the world of floriculture. The modern rose, with the co-operation of man, is a much more perfect creation than the rose alluded to in the foregoing, and through it nature has called into exercise the highest qualities of mankind. For this reason the rose has played and is still playing a role which is immensely potent in influencing the ethical history of the human race. The role which each great man plays in life does not always influence the race for good. The role played by the Emperor Nero can scarcely be said to have influenced the world for good, and even that played by such as Napoleon is questionable. Indeed the role played by most men. and women affects hardly 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 91 at all the destinies of the race; but the role played by the rose, if we may consider the good influences exerted by it, in this way, has always been beneficent or interesting, and to such an extent is this true that it is quite easy to divide this influence into various phases. One of the very pleasing minor duties of the rose has been to hand on to us, as it were, a little series of biographical or historical notes on those personages who have had their names immortalized through association with the ‘“‘queen of flowers.”’ One instance will be sufficient perhaps to indicate what is meant. It may be best given in the form of a story of one of the most prized of the older roses; it 1s a dainty story of a notable rose from France. ‘‘When Niel, a brave French general, was return- ing from the scene of his victories in the war between France and Austria, he received from a peasant, who wished to honor the hero, a basket of beautiful pale yellow roses. One of the stems, which happened to have a root clinging to it, the general took to a florist in Paris, in whose care it remained until it became a thriving bush covered with blossoms. Niel then took the plant as a gift to the Empress Eugenie. She expressed great admira- tion for the exquisite flowers and on learning that the rose was nameless said significantly “Then I will name it. It shall be ‘The Marechal Niel’ and at the same moment she bestowed upon the astonished general the jeweled baton that betokened his promotion to the high office of Marechal of France.”’ Lord Penzance, who has given us some beautiful brier roses, will be remembered as a great lawyer, but much as law may do to carry his name down the pages of history, his rose creations will do much more. William Allen Richardson is an unknown entity, but known in literature because his name became that of a rose, and Dorothy Perkins, Mrs. John Laing, and many others are names which will be household words for many years at least because their possessors loved the rose. The only other minor role of the rose which we shall men- tion is one which is of greater interest to those interested in it from the botanical and historical standpoints than it is to the average grower. Botanists well know that the rose is native only to the temperate parts of this world; they also know that we have about nine species native to this country. The genus Rosa is not large, Gray mentions only fifteen species. Great Britain and Denmark claim about twenty species. The interest- ing part about these native species is that in working with them the hybridist found that they responded in a remarkable way to cross-fertilization. Until the year 1867 new roses other than the original species were few in number and mostly plants of chance. When, however, about that date a Mr. Bennett, in 92 THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. [Oct. England, and other men in France, began some pioneer work in cross-fertilization of roses, a new era began in the world of floriculture, and the role which the rose has played in the efficient development and understanding of the art of plant improvement 1s only realized when we compare a modern plant catalogue, and especially a rose catalogue, with one printed less than fifty years ago, and then, few, we suppose, really grasp the meaning of the difference in such lists. But let these few last words be for the consideration of the real role of the rose. One has said ‘‘What muse has been able or language sufficient, to do justice to a plant that has been denominated the Daughter of Heaven, the Glory of the Spring, and the Ornament of the Earth. . . . To paint this universal emblem of delicate splendor in its own hues, the pencil should be dipped in the tints of Aurora when arising amidst her aerial glory. Human art can neither colour nor describe so fair a flower. Venus herself finds a rival in the rose, whose beauty is composed of all that 1s exquisite and graceful.’’ And it may be justly concluded that to possess such a flower and to grow it for its fragrance and beauty has been a potent desire which has led to the creation of many of those beautiful gardens not only around the ‘‘Stately Homes of England,” but in ever increasing number on this continent also, and standing in one of these gardens and beholding the roses, or sitting in the doorway of one of the humblest cottages of the land, and scenting the fragrance of roses climbing around tiny windows, can any being revel in gross selfishness or remain unconscious to the fact that such flowers would win him to magnanimous conduct and invite him to be their messengers. to carry fragrance and cheer to the sick and afflicted of mankind? And is there a man who can sell himself to pure utilitarianism when around him are examples of a type of beauty which has won multitudes of mankind to taste through the joys of the aesthetic life the real fulness of living? And surely none can be mere animal only in passions when forms so perfect in symmetry and shape appeal to him to witness their perfect modesty and grace? The rose, Queen of Flowers, has a true role in this world, and that role no mortal may dare make light of. To take chief part in shaping the aesthetic taste in man, to encourage the love of the garden, the love of fragrance, of beauty of form, of exquisite color is a task of no mean order, and yet the modern rose 1s encouraging, more than ever before, a more clamorous appetite, a‘truer aesthetic thirst for these things, a true indication, surely, that her supremacy is secure and her role a beneficient one. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Von? XEVIT. November, 1913 No. 8 THE HAUNTS OF SOME OF OUR NATIVE FERNS. By A. Cosens, M.A‘, PheD:; Toronto. A plant is dependent on its surroundings for the raw materials of the food necessary for its nutrition, also the energy required to manufacture this food is supplied from agents that are without the body of the plant. Even the important functions of pollination and seed dispersal are left very largely to the care of external forces. A consideration of these facts leads us to see that each plant has definite and vital relations to the various components of its environment. These life relations are often so numerous and complicated as to be only partially understood. As the component factors of any environment are never stable for any considerable length of time, the welfare of the individual plant is dependent on the fact that it exhibits a certain degree of plasticity in relation to its surroundings. If a plant is to exist it cannot present an unyielding front to the forces surrounding it. A certain structure is transmitted to a plant by its ancestors; an ever changing environment tends to vary this transmitted form. This feature of plant life is of such universal application that we may consider a pathological condition as a variation from the normal to such an extent that the life of the plant is endangered. The study of the habitats of our native ferns presents several points of interest and opensup many avenues for investigation. As a rule these plants do not exhibit plasticity of structure to nearly the same extent as our ordinary flowering plants. As a consequence of this the conditions under which the various ferns can flourish are much more restricted. The chief factors of the environment of these plants, arranged in the order of their importance, are: light, water, drainage, soil; of less importance are heat and wind. -Their relations to other plants will be considered in connection with light, as many of the plants with which they are associated have important shade producing qualities. 94 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Nov. In some cases a fern is so restricted in distribution that it is a matter of little difficulty to decide upon its natural habitat. In others, certain species are found in various locations presenting different conditions, and a comparison has to be made of plants and stations before a conclusion can be arrived at. As a general rule, a fern of normal size, of a healthy color and spore producing is growing in its natural location. The conclusions of the writer are based on investigations made chiefly in the counties of York, Peel, Waterloo, Huron, Grey and Bruce. PTERIS AQUILINA L. (Common Brake or Bracken). Is so widely distributed that we may say it is found almost through- out this hemisphere. In some localities the specimens are gigantic in comparison with ours. In Oregon it attains a height of six to seven feet; in the Andes of fourteen feet. It is found also in Great Britain. In the Journal of the Linnaean Society, Boodle gives its height in England as seven to eight feet. Its occurence in the Highlands of Scotland is evident, as Sir Walter Scott mentions it several times in ‘““The Lady of the Lake”’: ‘“From shingles gray their lances start, The bracken brush sends forth the dart.”’ ‘‘Each warrior vanished where he stood, In broom or bracken, heath or wood.”’ “The next all unreflected shone On bracken green or cold gray stone.” A plant of such wide distribution must be capable of an extended range of variation without endangering its life processes. But as it often occurs in large patches extending over localities that introduce different ecological factors, a conclusion can be arrived at with a fair amount of confidence by a comparison of specimens from different parts of the station. The preferred habitat of Pteris is the top or slope of a dry hill covered with sandy loam. The shade producing plants almost invariably present are poplars, paper birch, sumach, pin cherry and hemlock. It is found near Credit Forks on sand- stone strata covered by only a few inches of loam; in this locality it is associated with Aspidium spinulosum and shaded chiefly by pin cherry and paper birch. On passing in from the face of the cliff the loam becomes of greater depth and the timber consequently larger and of greater variety. The additional shade producing plants are hardfand¥soft maple and beech. This shade dwarfs the Pieris in‘spite of the increased depth of loam. 1913] Tue Ottawa NAarTurRALIist. 95 In the denser. shaded stations the fern was in company with Asplenium Filix-femina"and Cystopteris fragilis. Before proceeding to a consideration of the cliff ferns, it will be necessary to give a short description of a station already mentioned, namely, Credit Forks. This location is situated in the northern part of Peel County; there the Credit River has cut through the Niagara escarpment, leaving an exposure of clay and rock of about 345 feet in height. Commencing below the level of the Credit River a slope of red clay extends upward for 175 feet; overlying this is about 20 feet of Medina sandstone, while the top of the section furnishes an_outcrop of 150 feet of almost vertical limestone of the Niagara formation. The clay clope is covered with a talus of blocks of sandstone and limestone fallen from the cliff above, and in the crevices of these rocks many ferns find roothold. CRYPTOGRAMMA STELLERI (Gmel.) Prantl. (Slender Cliff Brake). Found usually on narrow, moist, shaded ledges of limestone cliffs. It roots, in company with moss, in detritus derived from the weathering of the rock. It isa frail and delicate species, very sensitive to sun and to lack of moisture. PELLABA ATROPURPUREA (L.) Link. (Purple Cliff Brake). In crevices of limestone cliffs; not nearly so sensitive to lack of shade and moisture as the former species. It is often found in dry situations under full illumination. It thus shows closer affinities with Pterts. The two cliff brakes we have just considered are both found in the vertical limestone section of the Credit Forks’ escarpment. It is worthy of note that they are entirely absent from the blocks of rock which cover the clay slope. SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE Sm. (Hart’s Tongue). This fern is found abundantly in Europe; in England it is reported as hanging from old ruins and even drooping from the stone curbs of wells. In America, however, it is exceedingly rare; it is found in Tennessee and New York, while in Ontario it is confined to the district between Collingwood and Owen Sound. At Woodford, near Owen Sound, it is found rooting in soil on the top of lime- stone rocks and cliffs; there it is associated with Polystichum Lonchitis and Polypodium vulgare. The ferns are shaded by paper birch, small maple and beech, with an occasional hemlock. It grows at Owen Sound from crevices in the walls of fissuresin limestone rocks; but under these conditions, however, it does not thrive as well. PotysticHum Loncuitis (L.) Roth. (Holly Fern). Has nearly the same distribution in Ontario as Scolopendrium and its habitat is practically the same. 96 THe Ottawa NaTurALIst. [Nov. PoLyPoDIUM VULGARE L. (Common Polypody). Found on the tops and upper ledges of rocks where the soilis well drained; the usual shade-producing plants associated with it in this habitat are poplar, paper birch, small hard maple and hemlock. Also found rarely on clay banks where the soil contained a little sand; in this habitat it was practically unshaded as the slopes were typical hemlock ridges. The plants under the latter con- ditions were dwarfed, probably from lack of shade rather than from the nature of the soil. CAMPTOSORUS RHIZOPHYLLUS (L.) Link. (Walking Fern). Is found usually in crevices in limestone and sandstone rocks, but sometimes rooting in moss on narrow ledges.* Appears to prefer the shady side of the rocks, but thrives fairly well in the sun. It is found in abundance on the rocks that cover the clay slope at Credit Forks. ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES L. (Maidenhair Spleenwort), and ASPLENIUM VIRIDE Huds. (Green Spleenwort) are found rooting in the crevices of shady rocks and cliffs; usually lmestone or sandstone. They are not sensitive to lack of moisture, but A. viride does not stand exposure to the sun so well as the other species. Both the ferns are associated at Credit Forks among the talus on the clay slope. ASPIDIUM THELYPTERIS (L.) Sw. (Marsh Fern). The ideal habitat of this fern is decidedly wet, as it is found growing usually with cat-tails. Shade is not an indispensable factor, but the fern is sheltered when thriving best. The shade producers are commonly cedar, black ash, soft elm, hemlock and occasion- ally basswood. In moist situations, under full illumination, the fern thrives and it will grow in a fairly dry situation until crowded out by grasses and sedges. It shows a high degree of plasticity in relation to the environment, more so than any of our native ferns, unless perhaps Pleris. ASPIDIUM NOVEBORACENSE (L.) Sw. (New York Fern). In direct contrast to the preceding species, this fern is found in dry soil, but always under dense shade in the typical “cool woods.”’ It is very abundant in a woods near Lake Huron; there it is associated with partridge berry, pyrolas, and shaded by birch, hemlock and maple. Maple and beech underbrush were also important factors in shade production. As only a few inches of humus was covering a somewhat impervious substratum of sandy loam, sufficient moisture was ensured. The rootstocks of the ferns did not penetrate below the humus. In mucky parts of the same woods Polystichum acrostichoides and Adiantum pedatum were associated with this fern. 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 97 AsPIDIUM SPINULOSUM var. INTERMEDIUM (Muhl.) D. C. Eaton (Spinulose Wood Fern), and AspIpDIUM MARGINALE (L.) Sw. (Evergreen Wood Fern). Both of these ferns thrive well in a moist, typical ‘“‘cedar swamp,’’ with a mucky soil. They are usually shaded in such a habitat by cedar, hemlock, black ash and mountain maple. The latter species is impatient of too dense shade and will thrive in a fairly open situation. The former will also stand exposure, but as a rule thrives better if the shade is fairly dense. The glandular character of the indusium of this fern varies with the environment. These ferns also thrive well in clay loam, especially on the face of slopes. In this location they are shaded by hard maple, beech and ironwood, with cedars and an occasional hemlock. AsPiIpiIum cristatum (L.) Sw. (Crested Shield Fern). This fern prefers a mucky soil; its locations overlap those of Aspidium Thelypteris and Onoclea. ‘Trees peculiar to such a situation, such as ash, cedar and mountain maple furnish the necessary shade. In comparison with its associates, however, it appears always to select a somewhat higher station and is found growing on logs and around stumps. It stands exposure fairly well; this may be due to the fact that the sun exercises a directive influence on the position of the pinnae. ; PoLysTICHUM ACROSTICHOIDES (Michx.) Schott. (Christmas Fern), and Apianrum Pepatum L. (Maidenhair). These ferns are both very sensitive to exposure and are found only where the shade is very dense. Their habitat seldom overlaps with Aspidium spinulosum and A. marginale in their cedar swamp location, but often does in the hardwood station. Thus ona slope where the humus overlies a clay loam the four ferns may often be found. A dense shade is produced in a typical location by maple and beech, while an occasional hemlock and basswood may also be present. In such a habitat, P. acrostichoides will almost invariably be found towards the top of the slope, while A. pedaium selects the rather more moist and sheltered location at the foot. ASPLENIUM FILIx-FEMINA (L.) Bernh, (Lady Fern). This fern is found at its best when growing at the edge of a mucky soil location. Under these circumstances it will be shaded by cedars and hemlocks, but trees peculiar to the transition zone, such as birch, soft elm and basswood, will also be found. It stands exposure to the sun very well. Sometimes it is found associated with Aspidium cristatum, but, in general, it prefers a habitat that is wetter. ASPLENIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM Michx. (Narrow-leaved Spleen- wort). In astation examined in Peel County this fern was growing 98 THE Otrawa NATuRALIST. [Nov. in a shaded ravine through which water flowed in the spring. It was rooted in clay loam and shaded densely by. beech and maple. It was associated with Adianium and Aspidium spinulosum var. imtermedium. In Huron County the fern was found in abundance in rather mucky soil at the bottom of a ravine, which served as a water course during a part of the year. A dense shade was given by maple and beech, with an occasional hemlock. The ferns associated with it were those mentioned above and Polystichum acrostichoides. With the exception of the soil, the two stations are identical. The fact of the water course underlying the habitat in each case is important in the facilities it gives for drainage. ASPLENIUM ACROSTICHOIDES Sw. (Silvery Spleenwort). This fern requires a mucky, springy situation, but dense shade does not appear to be a necessity. The fern is found associated with /mpatiens and fraternizing with Onoclea Struthiopteris and Cystopteris bulbijera. The station has usually scattered trees of beech, maple, ash and birch. PHEGOPTERIS Dryopreris (L.) Fee. (Oak Fern). The favorite habitat of this fern is at the edge of mucky soil, especially where it is shaded by maple and beech. It is found growing, also, in cedar swamps, on knolls, in mucky soil. Shade in this case is produced by pines and cedars. In this station the fern is sometimes associated with A. marginale. This fern is able to do well under decidedly dry conditions if it is not exposed to the sun. Growing in the open it becomes invariably infested with a blight that shrivels the fronds. PHEGOPTERIS POLYPODIOIDES Fée. (Long Beech Fern). In most cases this fern and the preceding are associated, but the Beech Fern is much more sensitive to lack of moisture and requires shade that is extremely dense. A typical locality noted was one in which the fern was found growing in a slightly mucky, reddish clay loam, where the soil was overlying a sand- stone stratum and was of little depth. The timber, in consequence of this lack of soil, was small, but so close together as to produce a very dense shade. Shade producing plants present were beech, maple and hemlock, but occasionally also birch and basswood. The location described is situated at Inglewood, in Peel County, about three miles south of Credit Forks. The same escarpment is found there as at the Forks, but the overlying limestone is absent. ~DIcKSONIA PUNCTILOBULA (Mich.) Gray. (Hay-scented Fern). This fern was found in the same locality as the preceding but the soil, while slightly mucky, was less so than in the habitat of that species. ———— 1 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. : 99 ONocLEA STRUTHIOPTERIS (L.) Hoffm. (Ostrich Fern), and ONCCLEA SENSIBILIS L. (Sensitive Fern). The well known Ostrich and Sensitive Ferns are almost invariably found together, and it seems impossible to differentiate between their habitats. Their typical station is a moist clay or sandy loam in a locality that is overflowed by spring freshets. Shade is not an important factor if other conditions are favorable. The most luxuriant growth of these ferns that the writer has found was in Huron County. Here they were shaded by only a few straggling willows. The ferns were associated with Virginia creeper, Impatiens, wood nettle and turtle head. A spring creek nearby would overflow the station in flood time. In “Ferns and their haunts’’ W. N. Clute gives O. Siruihiopieris as, “at its best in the wet, sandy soil of a half-shaded island or river shore.” WoopwARDIA virGinicaA (L.) Sm. (Chain Fern), and OsMUNDA CINNAMOMEA L. (Cinnamon Fern). May be considered the peat bog ferns. Woodwardia is found growing in sphagnum moss and extending out nearly to the edge of the lake that often occupies the centre of the bog. It is associated with pitcher plants and orchids, such as Calopogon, and only slightly shaded by Ledum, Kalmia and Cassandra, with an occasional small black spruce. In fact, shade is almost a negative factor. In a typical location examined the Osmunda formed an outer zone in immediate contact with the preceding fern. Its location, however, was drier and better shaded than that of Woodwardia. The shade producing plants were hemlock, larger black spruce and tamarack. Ledum; Cassandra and Kalmia were also present, but these were not thriving as well as in the inner zone. Occasional specimens of this fern are found also in the moist, mucky soil of cedar swamps, but locations that furnish peaty materials seem to be its natural habitat. CYSTOPTERIS BULBIFERA (L.) Bernh. (Bulblet Bladder Fern), and CysToPreris FRAGILIS (L.) Bernh. (Fragile Bladder Fern) have well differentiated habitats. C. bulbijera is sharply marked out by the fact that spring water is an essential com- ponent of its environment. As long as this factor is present, others are not so important. As a consequence, it is found on dripping rock ledges or springy clay in cedar swamps bordering spring creeks, and in other habitats which present springy conditions of soil. Drainage is here a very important factor, as stagnant water does not present the proper conditions. Aspidium Thelypteris and Onoclea are not nearly so sensitive in this respect. One typical station examined presented the fern associated with Indian turnip and enchanter’s nightshade near the base ofa ridee with a decidedly springy soil. Another station 100 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Nov. selected by this fern isamucky, springy soil, shaded by hemlocks and cedars, with an occasional mountain maple. In this same locality the fern was found near the edge of a spring creek or on mossy logs overhanging the water. When growing under these conditions it is often the most convenient vegetation that can be found to line a trout basket. The bulblet loaded tips of this fern often approach so close to the water of the creek that it almost seems a legitimate conclusion that the running water is an important factor in the dispersion of these bulblets. At Credit Forks it grows along the base of the limestone cliff wherever springs issue. C. fragilis is found associated with C. bulbijera along the base of springy clay banks and cliffs. It is found, also where that species will not grow, in crevices of shaded limestone and sandstone rocks, where spring water is not present. It does not stand exposure tothesun. It is found growing in mucky loam, shaded by cedars and basswood, often associated with C. bulbifera, if the station is springy. In this case it selects the drier locations around stumps and logs. AN UNUSUAL COLOURED RUDBECKIA. It is well known that plants are liable to produce progeny unlike the parents, in some striking particular, such as those with additional petals, odd shapes or variations in colour. A well known example of the latter is found in the brown- blotched Lepachys, which occasionally turns up among -the vellow ones, and though a mere colour variety has been given the name pulcherruma. An homologous example, which I have not observed recorded, was discovered this summer near here and consists of a blotched form of Rudbeckia hirta, in which the rays had about a third of their basal portion rich brown, being in fact almost identical to the Lepachys in that respect. The plant consisted of seven heads, all alike, which I had marked with the idea of securing seeds, but being close to a roadway they were unfortunately destroyed before reaching maturity. Fortunately, however, the species is perennial, and so, if all goes well, will flower again next year. NORMAN CrRIDDLE, Treesbank, Man. 1913] THe Otrawa NATURALIsT?. 101 ON THE GENERA OF THE, EODISCIDAE. By Percy E. RAaymMonp. It has long been known that the name Microdiscus, in com- mon use for small trilobites of Lower and Middle Cambrian age, is untenable, the genus Muicrodiscus having been founded by Emmons on a young specimen of Crypiolithus (Trinucleus). The name Eodiscus was suggested in manuscript by Professor Hartt when he was describing the Middle Cambrian fossils found near St. John, New Brunswick, for Dawson’s Acadian Geology, but on the advice of Billings, he replaced it by Mucrodiscus at the time of publication. This name was, however, mentioned in Walcott’s paper on the fauna of the Middle Cambrian (1884), and in 1896 Matthew used the name for a section of the genus Microdiscus.' Recently the writer proposed to raise the section name Eodiscus to generic rank, replacing Microdiscus. The type suggested was Microdiscus schucherit Matthew, which was the first species listed by Matthew under his section Kodiscus.” It seems wise, however, not to apply the term Fodiscus in too broad a sense, but to use it in much the same way in which Matthew did. In reviewing the various species which have been referred to Microdiscus, omitting the M. quadricostatus of Emmons, we find three distinct types of shields. The first and most common is that typified by EKodiscus schuchertt or E. punctatus, in which the glabella and axiai lobe of the pygidium are both definitely defined by the dorsal furrows, and the cheeks of the cephalon and the pleural lobes of the pygidium are smooth. A second type of shield is seen in forms like Muicrodiscus lobatus or M. dawsoni, where the dorsal furrows are strong on both shields, and the pygidium has well defined ribs on the pleural lobes. To a part of this second section Matthew gave the name Dawsonia, a name which had been used in manuscript by Hartt for his Microdiscus dawsoni, and which had appeared in print in the Second Edition of the Acadian Geology, though not used as a generic name. This section name of Matthew’s would also be raised to generic rank were it not for the fact that the name is no longer available, having been applied by Nicholson in 1872 to certain bodies found associated with graptolites. I therefore propose Goniodiscus for this section, with A gnostus lobaius Hall as the type. 1. Amer. Geologist, 1896 , vol. 18, p. 29, and Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci. vol. 15, p. 237, 1896. 2. Ottawa Naturalist, 1913, vol. 26, p. 139. 102 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Nov. The third group contains but a single species, the A gnostus? nobilis of Ford. This form differs from all other known Eodiscidae in lacking the dorsal furrows on both cephalon and pygidium, and has thus the appearance of an Agnostus of the laevigatt group. A nearly complete specimen of this species was recently found at the Lower Cambrian exposure on Pearl Street, North Weymouth, Mass., by Mr. T. H. Clark, and the specimen is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoolog gy at Harvard University. The species has previously been known only by the single specimen which served Ford as a type. That specimen was poorly preserved, and has been lost since its description, so that the rediscovery of the species is of consider- able interest, and it adds a new species to the rather scanty fauna of the Paleozoic of Massachusetts. Mr. Clark’s specimen shows nearly all the dorsal shield, though the head is displaced from the body, and a part of one side of the thorax is missing. The presence of three segments in the thorax shows conclusively that this species belongs to the Eodiscidae and not to the Agnostidae. Both cephalon and pygidium are nearly circular, both have a narrow flattened border, and this border on the cephalon shows the row of small tubercles so often seen in this family. Neither cephalon nor pygidium shows the dorsal furrows or other markings, though by holding the specimen at a certain angle it 1s possible to make out the outline of a wide median lobe onthe pygidium. The specimen is 7.5mm. long. Since the type of Agnostus? nobilis is lost, this specimen may now take its place, and it becomes the type of the third group of the Eodiscidae, to which the name Weymouthia may be applied. FamiLy EopiscipAE, RAYMOND. Hypoparia of small size, cephalon and pygidium sub-equal, free cheeks absent from the dorsal side, thorax of three segments. Pygidium annulated or smooth. Lower and Middle Cambrian. Northern Europe and Eastern North America. GENus Eopiscus, MaTTHEw. Eodiscidae with short glabella, and long or blunt neck spine, pygidium with a long ringed axial lobe and smooth side lobes. Type, Eodiscus schucherti, Matthew. Lower and Middle Cambrian. Europe and North America. GENUS GONIODISCUS, NOV. Eodiscidae with long glabella, usually blunt neck spine, and pygidium with rings on “the axial lobe and ribs on the pleural lobes. Type, Muicrodiscus lobatus, Hall. Lower and Middle Cambrian. England and Eastern North America. GENUS WEYMOUTHIA, NOV. Eodiscidae without dorsal furrows on cephalon or pygidium, 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 103 both shields being smooth. Type, Agnostus? nobilis, Ford. Lower Cambrian. Eastern North America. BIBLIOGRAPHY. The writer will be very glad to receive additions and corrections to this bibliography. GeENus EopIscus. E. belli-marginatus (Shaler and Foerste), Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1888, 16, p. 35, pl. 2, fig. 9 Walcott, 10th Ann. Rept. US. G.S., 1891, p« 630, pl. 81, fiss:2; 2a, b=-Grabau, Occ. Papers Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1900, 4, p. 670. E. belli-marginatus Mut. insularis Matthew, Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 1899, se~. 2, vol. 5, sect. 4, p. 75, pl. 3, figs, 6a, b- E. comleyensis (Cobbold). Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., 1910; 66, p. 21, pl. 3, figs. 1-4. E. connexus (Walcott). Am. Jour. Sci., 1887, 34, ser. 3, p. 194, pl. 1, figs. 4, 4b; 10th Ann. Rept. U.S. G8, 1891, pad, pl. 80, figs. 9, 9a, b—Matthew, Am. Geol. 1891, p. 287., E. eucentrus (Linnarsson). Sveriges Geologiska Undersok- ning, 1883, ser. C, No. 54, p. 30, pl. 4, figs. 19, 20. (Referred by Lake to E. punctatus, and by Groenwald to a variety of EF. scantus). E: helena (Walcott). Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 1889, 12, p. 41; 10th Ann. Rept. U.S. G.'S., 1891, p: 632, pl. 81, figs. 1, la.— Cobbold, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1910, 66, p. 23, (Blogg figs. 14-16. E. cf. helena. Burr. Am. Geol., 1900, 25, p. 47.— Grabau, Occ. Papers Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1900, 4, p. 671, pl. 33, Ao. S. E. meeki (Ford). Am. Jour. Sci., 1876, 11, ser. 3, p. 371.— Walcott, Bull. 30, U. S. G.'S., 1886, p. 155, pl. 16, fig. 4; 10th Aan Rept, US, G.’S., 1891, p. 632, pl.81, fig. 3. E. praecursor (Matthew). Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1896, 15, p. 239, pl. 17, fig. 7. Non text fig. E. pulchellus (Walcott). Bull 10, U.S. G. S., 1884, p. 24, pl. 2, figs. 1, 1a-c—Matthew, Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1896, 15, p. 242, pl. 17, figs. 8a-f. E. punctatus (Salter). Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1864, 20, p. 237, pl. 13, fig. 11—Matthew, Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1896, 15, p.244.—Lake, Brit. Camb. Tril., 1907, p. a5: pl: figs. 11-17—Cobbold, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1913, 69, p. 37. E. punctatus, non Salter. Whiteaves, Am. Jour. Sci., 1878, 16, ser. 3, p. 225:—Walcott, Bull. 10, U. S. G. S., 1884, p. 24, pl. 2, figs. 1, 1a-c—Foerste, Bull. Den. Univ., 1888, 3, p. 11%, pl. 13, fig. 5.—E. pulchellus. 104 Tue Otrtawa NATURALIST. [Nov. E. punctatus praecursor (Matthew). Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 1885, 3, sect. 4, p. 75, pl. 7, fig. 13 —E. praecursor. E. punctatus pulchellus (Matthew). Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 1885, 3, sect. 4, p. 74, pl. 7, figs. 12a-c—E. pulchellus. . E. scanius (Linnarsson). Sveriges Geologiska Undersokning, 1883, ser. C, No. 54, p. 29, pl. 4, figs. 17, 18 —Groenwald, Born- holms Paradoxideslag, p. 79, 1902. (Referred by Lake to FE. punctatus). E. scanius eucentrus (Linnarsson). Groenwald, Bornholms Paradoxideslag, 1902, p. 79, pl. 1, fig. 20. (Referred by Lake to EF. punctatus). E. schuchertt Matthew. Amer. Geol., 1896, 18, p. 30.—Trans. N. Y.. Acad. Sci., 1896, 15, p. 238, pl. 17, figs. 4a-b. Ee speciosus (Ford): Am. Jout-sci., -1873,%6, ser. 3, op. wade figs. 2, a, b:; [bidem, 1877, 13, p. 147—Walcott, Bull. 30; U- S: G..S., 1886; p. 154; pl-16;:figs. \3a-c; 10th Ann) Rept. U. S=Gis., 1891, p.1632, pl. 81, figs: 5, sa=c.— Matthew, Trans) No YoiSead: Sci., 1896, 15, p. 236, pl. 17, fig. 6—Lake, Brit. Camb. Trilobites, 1907, Ponss,, Die 3,.hie> 7. Cobbold,” Quart, Jour “Geol soe. London, 1910, 66, p. 23. GENUS GONIODISCUS. . G. dawsoni (Hartt). Acadian Geology, 2d Ed. 1868, p. 654, p:. 228.--Wiuteaves; Am. Jour,(5c15 873) 910,/serad)° pa 22a Walcott, Bull. 10,.U. S. G. Sz, -1884,-p. 23, pl. 2, figs.>3, 3a— Matthew, Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., 1885, 3, sect.4, p. 75, pl. 7, figs. Ida-e; “Trans: j Nz VY... Acad Sciwels96, 15.9. 240 slaaine figs. Sa-e.-(? 5a, 5b). G. lobatus (Hall). Agnostus lobatus Hall. Pal. N. Y., 1847, 1, p. 258, pl. 67, figs. 5a-f—Rogers, Geol. Penna., 1858, 2, p. 820, fig 614 (1-4).—Mucrodiscus lobatus. Ford, Am. Jour. Sci., 1873, 6, ser. 3; ‘p.-139. tootnote:-— Walcott, Bull. 30, Us) G.-5- see, p.-156; pl. 16;figs: a,b: 10th Ann. Rept. USiG.s., S90 p.6s2. pl. 81, figs. 4a, b—Shaler and Foerste, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.,- 1888, 16, p. 36, pl. 2, fig. 13—Matthew, Amer. Geol., 1896, 18, p. 30.—Grabau, Oce. Papers Bos. Soc., 1900, 4, p. 671.—Lake, Mon. Brit. Camb. Tril., 1907, p. 32, pl. 3, figs. 4-6-——Cobbold, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1910, 66, p. 22, pl. 3, figs. 17, 18. G. parkers(Walcott).- Bull. 30,,U0 S) GwS.,°1886)4p. sv; pl. 16, figs. 2, 2a; 10th Ann. Rept. U.S. G. S., 1891, p. 632, pl. 80, figs. Ws (ae G. sculptus (Hicks). Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1871, 27, p. 400, pl. 16, figs. 9, 9a, 10, 10a.—Lake, Brit. Camb. Tril., 1907, DxBo, Pl.S7 AresO 1 OF GEeNuS WEYMOUTHIA. W. nobilis (Ford). Agnostus? nobilis Ford. Am. Jour. Sci., 1372, 3, ser. 3, p..419) figs..1,:2-—Walcott, Bull 30, Uso -G. or 1913] Tue OTTAwA NATURALIST. 105 1886, puds0rpl> 16, fig: 7; 10th Ann. Rept. U: S. G. S., 1891, . 629, pl. 80, fig. 7, 7a—Microdiscus? nobilis. Vogdes, Am. Geol., 1892, 4, p. 383. EXPLANATION OF .FIGURES. 1. Eodiscus punctatus (Salter). Middle Cambrian, Wales. After Lake. 106 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [ Nov. 2. E. pulchellus (Walcott). Middle Cambrian, New Brunswick. After Walcott. 3. E. speciosus. (Ford). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Walcott. 4. E. connexus (Walcott). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Walcott. 5. E. schuchertt (Matthew). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Matthew. 6. E. helena (Walcott). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Walcott. 7. E. belli-marginatus (Shaler and Foerste). Lower Cambrian, Eastern Massachusetts. After Walcott. 8. EF. praecursor (Matthew). Middle Cambrian, New Brunswick. After Matthew. 9. E. meekt (Ford). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Walcott. 10. E. scanius (Linnarsson). Middle Cambrian, Sweden. After Linnarsson. 11. Gontodiscus lobatus (Hall). Lower Cambrian, Eastern New York. After Walcott. 12. G. sculptus (Hicks). Middle Cambrian, Wales. After Lake. 13. G. parkert (Walcott). Lower Cambrian, Vermont. After Walcott. 14. G. dawsoni (Hartt). Middle Cambrian. New Bruns- wick. After Matthew. 15. Weymouthia nobilis (Ford). Lower Cambrian. Near Troy, New York. After Ford. 16. W. nobilis (Ford). Lower Cambrian, Pearl Street, North Weymouth, Mass. Original. NOTES ON A CATERPILLAR. By Annie G. H. Wuirte, Toronto. September 22nd, 1912—-Found a large green caterpillar of the Cecropia Moth on a lilac bush. Brought it in and put a branch of the lilac with caterpillar under a large battery jar. Sept. 24—Caterpillar commenced spinning about 10 o’clock a.m. ‘“ 25—Outer wall of cocoon finished; looks like a transparent silk basket. 26—Cocoon alniost opaque; looks like an airship; egg- sé 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 107 shaped, 3? in. long, 1% in. at widest part; cater- pillar can still be faintly seen moving. Sept. 28—Cocoon complete; caterpillar quiet. Oct. 8—7 o’clock p.m.: heard a scratching noise like tearing of silk, continued all the evening and next day. 9—8 o’clock p.m.: must see what is going on, cannot resist. 10—The caterpillar life is over and the pupa lies within its silken case, not to move again till June awakens it. How to tell what I saw! Words can scarcely express its wonder. I carefully clipped the cocoon with a scissors, making two incisions, to a point at the top, so that I could bend down the section like a door. The caterpillar lay within the smooth inner wall. It did not look any different than when last seen. Using a large lens, so as not to lose a single item of its proceedings, I set myself to watch. Presently it rose and fell as if heaving a deep sigh; then it began swaying round and round, then from side to side, very much like the motion of a bear. After some time of this a crack appeared in the skin at the back of its neck. The motion became more violent. Extending itself, it raised its first pair of legs upward as if ‘‘throwing high hands to Heaven” in appeal for help. Then drawing back and down it crouched as if in depths of humility or despair. Looking more deeply into the cocoon I saw the object of these movements and also why a caterpillar wears spines and knobs. In moving, the spines on the segments rubbed against the wall of the cocoon, and assisted in the removal of the cater- pillar-skin, which was the object worked for. The crack in the skin" had gradually lengthened down the back. Then the head parts and legs seemed‘to slide downward, just like a child’s dress comes off after it is unbuttoned. Now the new form of the insect appeared. Soft and of a velvety, indescribably beautiful, yellow, the heavy antenne and legs looking as if made of gelatine. This new creature kept up the swaying till the whole caterpillar-skin was neatly packed beneath it like a concave cushion in which it rested in the bottom of the cocoon. After this the pupa kept on moving slightly for some time. Then from around the legs and antenne (which were now folded flat and close) and from the segments a yellowish glassy fluid seemed ’to"ooze, which hardened and turned brown as it covered the pupa till it became as if varnished. All movement now “ce oe 108 THe Ortawa NATURALIST. [ Nov. ceased, and I closed the opening with adhesive plaster, leaving the place at the top as near to nature as possible, so that I might see the moth emerge in its full beauty and thus will have watched a part of the life cycle of one of Nature’s little children. PROGRAMME OF WINTER LECTURES. NOVEMBER 25TH, 1913, (Tuesday). Open Meeting. Exhibits and Addresses by members. (Normal School Assembly Hall). DECEMBER 97TH, 1913, (Tuesday). “The Old Iroquoian Religion and the Handsome Lake Reform.” (Illustrated ) Dr. C. M. Barbeau, Assistant Ethnologist, Geological Survey. (Normal School Assembly Hall). JANUARY 137TH,*1914, (Tuesday). ‘Forestry and Conservation.”’ (Illustrated) Dr. Clyde Leavitt, Commission of Conservation, Ottawa. (Normal School Assembly Hall). JANUARY 27TH, 1914, (Tuesday). “The Shedding of Leaves, Flowers and Fruits.’’ (Illustrated) Dr. Francis E. Lloyd, Department of Botany, McGill University, Montreal. (Normal School Assembly Hall). FeBRuARY 10TH, 1914, (Tuesday). ‘Protection of Birds in and around Ottawa.”’ (Illustrated) Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. (Collegiate Institute Assembly Hall). FEBRUARY 24TH, 1914, (Tuesday). “Views in the Dominion Parks.’’ (Illustrated) Mr. A. Knechtel, Chief Forester, Dominion Parks. (Carnegie Library) Marcu 10TH, 1914, (Tuesday). “The Mackenzie River Region.” (Illustrated). Mr. Charles Camsell, Geologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa. (Carnegie Library) Marcu 247, 1914, (Tuesday). Annual Meeting and Presidential Address. ‘‘The Breeding of Economic Plants.” L. H. Newman, B.S.A., Secretary, Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, Ottawa. (Carnegie Library) THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Vor XX VII: December, 1913 No. 9 A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF CERATOPSIA FROM THE BELLY RIVER FORMATION OF ALBERTA.* By Lawrence M. Lampe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., F.G.S.A. Vertebrate Palzontologist to the Geological Survey, Canada. STYRACOSAURUS, gen. nov. Skull massive, elongate, pointed in front, and greatly ex- tended behind to form a neck-frill with long, robust, tapering outgrowths projecting obliquely backward and outward from its posterior border. Fontanelles of moderate size within the coalesced parietals. Squamosals somewhat quadrangular and entering largely into the formation of the front part of the frill. Postfrontal fontanelle large. Supratemporal fosse opening widely behind. Nasal horn-core large, upright, straight, rising from the back of the nasals. Supraorbital horn-core incipient. STYRACOSAURUS ALBERTENSIS, Sp. nov. The skull of this species is remarkable for the largeness of the nasal horn-core, the remoteness of the same from the acute rostral apex, and for the great development of back- wardly directed spike-shaped processes on the posterior margin of the coalesced parietals. The horned dinosaur above named is represented by the skull only, which is the type of the proposed new genus and species. This magnificent specimen was discovered last sum- mer in the Belly River formation on Red Deer river, Alberta, by the vertebrate paleontological expedition of the Geological Survey under Charles H. Sternberg. It is almost perfect on the left side and is in a splendid state of preservation. It occurred imbedded horizontally, in a natural. position, in a thick layer of light grey clayey sandstone with the neck-frill and the upper surface as far forward as the anterior part of the nasals exposed to view. Later it was found that the lower jaw and the rostral bone were not present. At the time of the discovery of the skull the nasal horn-core had been broken off a little below its mid-height, and the foremost and last of the *Communicated by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. 110 THe Otrrawa NATURALIST. [ Dec. large posterior processes of the frill on the left side had lost about three and six inches respectively from off their pointed ends. These parts were not found. On the right side, the jugal had fallen to pieces and the lateral border of the frill had suffered some damage from exposure. The posterior processes had been broken off and fractured, but, with the exception of a few fragments, they were recovered and have been restored and replaced in position. The front part of the skull has been crushed down to some extent. This has caused an overlapping of some of the bones, notably at the junction of the nasals with the premaxille and maxille, and along an irregular line through the lachrymal foramen, the lower rim of the orbit and the lower edge of the postfrontal. The orbits and the lateral temporal fosse have ’ been reduced in vertical diameter and the left jugal has been squeezed slightly outward below. This specimen brings to light an entirely new phase of frill development, which is unique among the horned dinosaurs. It may be regarded as one of the most complete and best pre- served of the Ceratopsian skulls hitherto discovered in Cre- taceous deposits of this continent. The name selected for this genus has reference to the shape of the large processes on the frill, which resemble spikes, and must have made this bristling reptile in life a veritable moving chevaux de frise. Viewed from above, the skull presents a facial wedge-shaped portion from the orbits forward, a middle section which broadens abruptly into a somewhat circular expansion and includes the anterior half of the neck-frill, and a hindermost part formed of the widely divergent posterior processes which add so greatly to the length and breadth of the frill. In lateral aspect the skull is depressed and very long in contrast with its height. The spike-shaped processes double the length of the frill, which, without them, would compare favourably in relative size with the corresponding expansionin later forms of the Ceratopsia, such as Triceratops, in which the orbit is but slightly in advance of the mid-length of the skull. Behind the nasal horn the upper outline is straight, then some- what depressed near the middle of the crest, finally rising to its highest point at the termination of the hindermost process. The orbital rim rises above and breaks the continuity of the superior outline of the head. Midway between the posterior rim of the orbit and the anterior end of the nasal the straight nasal horn rises abruptly, with a slight inclination forward, and is the most conspicuous feature of the anterior part of the head. 1913] THE Ottawa NATURALIST 111 The nasal outline in advance of the horn is highly arched and descends rapidly in front to ‘the premaxilla. The sinuous border of the squamosal slopes upward and backward, and its general direction is continued behind by the anterior free margin of the parietal. From this aspect the processes are given off one above the other in an ascending series. The inferior outline of the premaxilla is obtusely angular and drops to a point considerably lower than the alveolar border of the maxilla. In general terms the skull’s greatest depth, without considering the nasal horn-core, is,at the orbit, whence it is reduced to some extent forward, and very conspicuously so backward. At the time of writing, the upper and side surfaces only of the skull had been freed from the matrix. Some of the sutures are distinct and can be traced, others, where coossification has taken place, are not seen with certainty or are entirely obliterated. The neck-frill or crest is formed of the squamosals and the immense expanse of the coalesced parietals. The main part of the squamosal is slightly broader than long and has its lateral free edge regularly sinuous. Behind this, for a short distance, the anterior, lateral border of the parietal is conspicuously tortuous. “The massive, tapering projections or outgrowths are given off postero-laterally from the frill, three on each side. ' These processes conform to the general slope of the part of the frill from which they spring. The two forming the hindermost pair are the largest and are directed backward and slightly outward. Those of the next pair in advance are nearly as large and point more outward than backward. The two an- terior ones are the smallest, are nearly parallel to the middle ones and spring partly from beneath them. The processes have a perceptible curve outward. The central part of the posterior border of the frill, between the hindermost processes, is thick and rounded, its outline, as seen from above, being regularly concave with a decided convexity at the base of the processes. The intraparietal fontanelles are irregularly oval in outline, with the longer diameter from back to front. They are set obliquely in the frill, being slightly divergent forward. They are more distant from each other than from either the central concavity of the posterior border, or the lateral sinuous margin of the frill. Their anterior end approaches closely to the squamoso-parietal suture. The nasals. are greatly enlarged posteriorly for the support of the nasal horn-core, whose anterior basal surface is slightly behind their mid-length. In advance of their union with the 1 1 THe Ottawa NATURALIST [ Dec. maxille they send down a short, stout process to meet an ascend- ing process from the premaxille. This process is displaced upward and forward on each side of the skull. -The one on the left side is seen, in the figure of the lateral aspect of the skull, as a triangular projection silhouetted against the back part of the nasal opening. In advance of the horn the nasals con- tract rapidly and continue forward as a vertically narrow, laterally compressed arch, which descends anteriorly in a sweep- ing curve to join the premaxilla. A vertical nasal septum, contributed to by each nasal, descends from their longitudinal junction to form the upper margin of the nasal opening and in front to join the premaxille: This. septum supplies to the nasals anteriorly a large vertical surface of contact and greatly strengthens them. An admirable provision for the support of the nasal horn-core is seen in the formation of the nasal bones, which, under the horn, form a massive, transverse arch, and in front a longitudinal arch braced beneath by the septum, the whole wonderfully adapted to withstand heavy strains trans- mitted from the horn above. The maxilla narrows rapidly to the front, where it reaches the premaxilla. Its upper half, which is overlapped behind by the jugal, overhangs the lower half, whose concave hinder end is covered by the triangular transverse bone. The premaxilla has a smooth surface, is narrow in front and flares outward below. In lateral aspect it is obtusely angular in front and beneath. It consists of a well defined marginal strip of nearly the same breadth as, and in continuation down- ward and backward of, the arched portion of the nasal, standing out from and circumscribing below a sunken, inflected area, which rises as a thin plate to meet the nasal septum anteriorly and to form the lower free edge of the nasal opening behind. It is overlapped at its front angle by the rostral bone, which fits into a sutural groove between the premaxille in front and is closely applied to them as far back as the lower angulation. Posteriorly an ascending process reaches the descending process of the nasals. , The exact boundaries between the frontals, prefrontals, postfrontals and lachrymals have not been determined, as these bones were coossified and the sutures between them are for the most part obliterated. The frontals were not large and met in the midline for a short distance only, as indicated seemingly by impressed markings, which appear to be the remains of a fronto-postfrontal suture. The postfrontals, however, were extensively developed. In the midline anteriorly they met for some distance in sutural contact, but posteriorly they were widely separated by a _ long postfrontal fontanelle. They 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 113 formed the posterior border of the orbit and met the jugal and the squamosal below and the parietal behind. The upper orbital rim is thickened and overhangs the orbit, and rises conspicuously above the level of the flat postfrontal surface between the orbits. The lachrymal probably forms the an- terior rim of the orbit and the prefrontal the overhanging upper margin of the same. Set well back posteriorly on the raised ridge above the eye-opening.is a small, shallow, smooth depression, irregularly oval in outline, which indicates the position of an extremely small, or incipient, supraorbital horn-core, which appears to have been present as a separate ossification and to have become detached. The jugal had much the same shape as in Triceratops; it was pointed below, and, in its upper part, extended to either side, anteriorly to overlap the maxilla and posteriorly to meet the squamosal. It formed the lower rim of the orbit and the whole of the upper margin of the lateral temporal fossa, which was enclosed below by a forwardly directed process from the squamosal. The thin upper end of the quadratojugal is wedged between this process and the quadrate, which is seen in the lateral aspect of the skull, passing beyond the quadratojugal to effect a union with the under surface of the squamosal. The squamosal is well developed, of a fair size, roughly quadrangular in shape, and a little broader than long on its main outer surface. At the middle’of its anterior breadth it sends forward an outwardly flat process, which encloses the lateral temporal fossa below and behind. Its lateral free mar- gin is smooth, rounded, and regularly undulating with five somewhat vertically compressed convexities to the outline. The neck-frill in its anterior half is saddle-shaped. The surface of the coalesced parietals between the fontanelles is equal to their transverse diameter and.is flatly convex across and slightly concave longitudinally. The bone surrounding the fontanelles is very thin at the edge. Between these openings it remains moderately thin, but toward the lateral free edges and posteriorly it becomes thickened, especially so at the bases of the large processes and along the posterior border. Behind each fontanelle the surface of the bone rises into a rough, obliquely placed short ridge or keeled boss. Proximally the posterior processes are‘ somewhat vertically compressed, but outwardly they become more nearly circular in transverse sec- tion. The median portion of the coalesced parietals is con- tinued forward, in advance of the fontanelles, as a distinct raised surface with parallel sides, +o meet the postfrontals, where it probably formed the hinder margin of the postfrontal fon- tanelle. This anterior part of the parietal is damaged, but on 114 THE OTTawA NATURALIST [ Dec. each side of the posterior end of the postfrontal fontanelle and between it and the supratemporal fossa a small part of it re- mains, shewing its sutural contact with the postfrontal. Where the upper median portion of the parietal has been broken there is a short transverse bar across the midline, which appears to mark the posterior limit below of the postfrontal fontanelle. Behind this bar is a small, shallow, oblong depression. The very large excavations beneath the postfrontals, the supra- temporal fosse, debouch widely backward with a smooth, lower surface, or floor, formed of the parietal and the squamosal. Although mainly beneath the postfrontal, this fossa extends laterally at its exit beneath the squamosal on the outer side, and the anterior end of the parietal inwardly, these three bones together composing the roof of the excavation at its mouth where they come to a sharp, overhanging, free edge, which slopes upward from about the middle of the back part of the squamosal, obliquely forward and inward and then descends backward, apparently without interruption, if the specimen were perfect, as the lateral edge of the median portion of the parietal. The smooth floor of the supratemporal fossa extends backward beyond its main opening toward the anterior end of the parietal fontanelle and inward beneath the median portion of the parietal, which it undercuts, leaving a free, overhanging edge, and at a higher level enters a subsidiary fossa, which is directed obliquely inward and backward and terminates next to the midline of the skull, where it is separated only by a thin bony partition from the corresponding excavation on the other side. These subsidiary fosse, one on each side of the midline, beneath the parietal, are behind the transverse bar already mentioned, The parietal crest evidently rose behind at a rather steep angle during the life of the animal. In the specimen now de- scribed the crest has been crushed and bent downward, with the result that the parietal has been broken across behind the post- frontal fontanelle and pulled back, leaving the gap in the upper surface, as seen in the two photographic reproductions of the skull accompanying this paper. The bone forming the margin of the postfrontal fontanelle comes to a thin rounded edge and within the fontanelle near its anterior end is another transverse bar not so stout as, but longer than, the one behind. The lachrymal foramen is seen between the maxilla and the nasal in advance of the back end of the former bone. It has been reduced in vertical diameter by the downward pressure to which the skull has been subjected. 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Le As with most Ceratopsia, the outer and upper surfaces of the skull are marked by vascular grooves, notably so on the horn-core, the postfrontal’ above, and the posterior processes. The magnificent specimen here described has been skill- fully prepared for study by Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, who discovered it last summer on Red Deer river, Alberta, on the south-west side of the river, about twelve miles below the mouth of Berry creek. The plates are reproductions from excellent photographs taken by Mr. Geo. G. Clarke. The genus Styracosaurus is distinguished from Ceratops, Marsh, by having incipient instead of well developed supra- orbital horn-cores, by the shorter squamosals, and by the intraparietal fontanelles of moderate size, instead of greatly enlarged ones enclosed by the squamosals and parietals together. From Monoclonius, Cope, it differs in its greater size, the smaller fontanelles of the frill, the larger squamosals, and in having a straight, upright nasal horn instead of one which curves backward. In Styracosaurus the shape and position of the nasal horn- core, the spike-shaped outgrowths from the back of the frill, the long postfrontal fontanelle, and the great size of the supra- temporal fosse are additional characters separating this from all other known genera of Ceratopsia. It is not possible to arrive at a definite conclusion regarding the generic and specific affinities of Monoclonius sphenocerus, Cope, from Montana, on account of the fragmentary condition of the material on which this species is based, and the very small part of the skull represented. The general resemblance of Cope’s specimen, which includes the nasals, the nasal horn- core and the left premaxilla, to the corresponding parts of Styracosaurus albertensis suggests the advisability of referring the Montana species to the genus Styracosaurus. It is likely, however, that the species are not the same. In so far as a comparison can be made between M. sphenocerus and Styra- cosaurus albertensis it is seen that in Cope’s species the nasal horn-core is farther forward on the nasals, is proportionately shorter, and more laterally compressed, with a much greater antero-posterior diameter at the base. The nasals in front of the horn descend rapidly instead of rising conspicuously before they curve downward, and the nasal opening is larger and placed more under the horn. These differences are regarded as prob- ably indicating a specific but not a generic distinctness. MEASUREMENTS. Feet. Inches. Maximum length of specimen from midway between the points of the back processes. . 6 14 4 Greatest breadth of same across the processes.. 4 84 116 THE OTTaAwa NATURALIST [Dec. Length of squamosal from the posterior termina- Feet. Inches. tion of its free edge to the back margin of. THE JUGal. eas. ee oe ee eee a 1 32 Breadth of same from its lowest point to the top of the squamoso-postfrontal suture...... 12% Length of nasal horn-core as found.......... 9% Transverse diameter of same, at break ......... 3 DCongitudinals San nee saan at J AR ek 34 Transverse diameter of same, at base.......... 42 Longitudinal ‘ oe Lily) Saath Deere tee, ae rN 62 Length of nasal horn-core as restored........ i 3 NotTe—Since the above was written, a specimen collected last summer and consist- ing of the squamosal, jugal and postfronal of the right side, with the front margin of the orbit completing the circumference of the eye-opening, proves to be referable to S. albert-_ ensis. This specimen was obtained from the Belly River formation, about four miles up stream from where the type was discovered. In it a narrow, flat process is seen to proceed backward from the jugal below the lateral temporal fossa and to overlap the forwardly directed process of the squamosal as far as the middle of the lower margin of this opening. This process was not at first re scognized in the type, but is now cleariv seen. It has been broken from the main portion of the jugal, but is in place between the posterior termina- tion of the quadratojugal and the lateral tempor, al fossa. In all particulars this second specimen fully-agrees with the t\ "pe. Above the eye a similar smooth surfaced depression marks the position of the supraorpital horn-core oa the free margin of the postfrontal fontanelle and supratemporal fossa is present EXPLANATION OF PLATES. PLate X.—Lateral aspect of type of Styracosaurus albertensis, one-twelfth the natural size. Pirate XI-~-The same specimen viewed from above and similarly reduced. PLate XII.—Restored outline of the same specimen, viewed from the side and similarly reduced. A bbreviations.—F ,~ frontal; J, Jagat; £, lachrymal ae, maxilla; N, nasal; NO, nasal opening; P, parietal ; ge le postfrontal; Q, quadrate; Q/, quadratojugal; S, squa- mosal; SH, surface for supraorbital horn-core; SR, surface for overlap of rostral; 7, transverse; A, parietal fontanelle; B, postfrontal fontanelle; C, supratemporal fossa; D, lateral temporal fossa. BIRD NOTE. Pitot Mounp, Man., Sept. 18.—My opposite neighbour has a nest of Spinus tr istris, the goldfinch, with two half-fledged nestlings out of a clutch of four « eggs. Two of the eggs did not hatch out. I wonder whether Mr. Norman Criddle can beat this for a record of late nesting in Manitoba. Usually we have frost enough by Sept. 15th to kill all half-hardy plants in the garden, but this year we have escaped frost entirely, up to date. H. M. SPEEcHLY. a 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 117 NEW AND OTHERWISE INTERESTING LICHENS FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. By G. K. Merrit. Parmelia olivacea var. multisporum (Schneid.) Merl. Bryologist - XII, 4, 1909, p. 73. Alder trunks. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Asci containing from eight to forty spores. The eight-spored conditions absolutely inseparable from P. olivacea, and no reason appears for giving the polysporous anomaly other than a varietal rank. . Lecanora (Callopisma) atrosanguinea sp. nov. Thallus effuse, thin, whitish or ashy, smooth or roughened, K—, C—. Apothecia sessile, small (less than 1 mm.), at first plane, then convex, opaque or shining, rounded or lobed, sometimes connate or composite, often proliferous, margin persistent, slightly elevated, concolorous with the blackened- crimson disk. Spores 8, ellipsoid, the terminations acute, polar-bilocular, 15-18 x 10-11, hypothecium reddish, asci ventricose, paraphyses distinct, slender, coherent, tips dark or reddish-black, hymenium in section gives a violet or purple reaction with K. Trunks of willows, alders and birches. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Type in herbarium Merrill. Differs from L. ferrugineum Pollini, for which it might be mistaken in the color of the apothecia, epruinose disk, and the persistent and concolorous margin. Lecanora epibryon Ach. Syn. p. 155 (1814). L. subjusca b. hypnorum Schaer, of Tuckerman’s Synopsis. Humus and decayed mosses. Yoho Valley, British Columbia; and mosses, Jumping Pound Creek, Athabasca; Prof. J. Macoun. The specimen from Yoho Valley is remarkable from afford- ing a hymenial reaction with Iodine like that of L. subjusca. The apothecia are medium, disk somewhat convex, blackish, with an inconspicuous fuscescent exciple. The apothecia of the Athabascan plant are concave with an elevated exciple similar in color to the thallus. Lecanora (Kimodina) exigua (Ach.) Nyl. Flora 1873, p. 197. Rinodina sophodes e. exigua Fr. of Tuckerman’s Synopsis. Trunks of willows, maples, alders and Douglas fir. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. 118 THE OTTAWA NATURALIST [Dec. The various specimens present a great diversity of colora- tion and conditioning for the thallus. The colors, white, whitish-ashy, ashy to sordid-glaucous, and the thallus from smooth and continuous to verruculose or rugged and more or less rimulose. The spores are variable in size and shape, ranging from 10-26 x 7-14y, either bilocular with approxi- mate sporoblasts, the cells without nuclei, or more or less nucleolate with a connecting canal visible. In the greater ‘part of the material the thalline margin of the apothecia is perfectly to be made out, and is variously entire or crenulate, but a condition occurs in which the margin is obliterated, and the plant may then be correlated with:— Lecanora exigua forma lecideoides (Crom.) comb. noy. L. exigua var. lecideoides Cromb. Grevillea XVIII, p. 46 (1889). Apothecia black, convex, and the magrin wholly excluded. Found on willows with the species. When found unassociated with the normal forms of the species, the present may easily be mistaken for a Lecidea of the section Buellia. The hypothecium is destitute of color, however, and in thin section algae are always to be found in the envelope. Lecanora exigua forma pruinosa f. nov. Entirely like the species in thallus, apothecia and spores, and differing only in that the disk of the apothecia becomes gray-pruinose. The pruina does not extend to the exciple. The very dubious Rinodina Halli Tuck. Synopsis, Pt. I, p. 208, in some of its exhibits is no different from the present. On the same trees with the species. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Type in herbarium Merrill. Lecanora (Rinodina) colobina Ach. Lich. Univ. p. 358 (1810). Thallus effuse or sub-limited, thin, granulate, the pre- dominent color blackish. Apothecia small (0.05 mm), adnate, plane, the disk black with a conspicuous thickened entire margin. Spores 8, ellipsoid, bilocular, nucleolate, with a connecting canal, 20-25 x 10-12y, paraphyses distinct. Willows. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Previously unrecorded from America. Phlyctis speirea sp. nov. Thallus effuse, tartareous, granulate, cinereo-glaucous, K +red. Apothecia small, difform, erumpent, the thalline margin irregular, lacerate-dehiscent, margin white, nucleus depressed, darker. Spores 2, ellipsoid or oblong- ellipsoid, muriform, hyaline, or yellowish, 100-120 x 25-404, hymen- 1913] THE OTtTawa NATURALIST 119 ium and hypothecium without color, paraphyses distinct, . slender, discrete, asci inflated, hymenial gel. with I+ faint blue. Bark of willows. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Near to Phlyctis argena (Ach.) Koerb, but differing in the color of the thallus and aspect of the apothecia. The whole appearance of the plant is that of a Pertusaria. Type in herbarium Merrill. Biatora (Biatorina) Griffithii var. Pacifica (Tuck.) comb. nov. Biatora mixta Pacifica Tuck. Syn. Pt. 88, p. 30. Thallus thin, ashy for the most part, limited and decussated by black hypothalline lines. Apothecia small to minute, depressed, plane or convex, from waxy, through various shades of brown, or finally blackening, sometimes pruinose, margin persistent or sub-persistent, but not conspicuous, not showing the color mutation of the disk and commonly brown. Spores 8, fusiform or oblong-ellipsoid, straight or curved, one-septate or rarely with two septa, 12-15 x 4-5y, hymenium and hypothecium without color, asci ventricose- clavate, paraphyses distinct, coherent, epithecium fuscescent downward, hymenial gel., with I + intense blue. Bark of alders, willows, oaks and other trees. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Apothecia sometimes strongly convex, blackening, and excluding the margin. When the disk is pruinose or light colored the margin is conspicuous from its darker hue. Biatora (Biatorina) Columbiana sp. nov. Thallus effuse, thin and granulate, or thicker and areolate, cinerous or greenish-cinereous. Apothecia small or moderate (1-2 mm.), at first concave with a relatively thick margin, but ultimately strongly convex and immarginate, brownish- black or black, the margin concolorous. Spores 8, ellipsoid or fusiform-ellipsoid colorless, 16-18 x 4.5—-6y, hymenium hyaline or suffused with purple, hypothecium blue or green, asci clavate or ventricose-clavate, paraphyses distinct, slender, discrete, tips purple, hymenial gel., with I + blue. Bark of alders, maples and Douglas fir. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. The affinities of the plant are with B. Laurert, and B. atro- purpurea. The hypothecium is often imposed on a stratum of con- fused hyphema of a distinctly purple color. Under the microscope the hymenium is a beautiful object. 120 THe OTtTawa NATURALIST [Dec. Biatora (Bilimbia) sabuletorum forma simplicior Nyl. Scand. p. 205 (1861). Thallus not differing from that of the species. Apothecia within brownish-yellow. Spores variable in form and size, oblong or fusiform-oblong or somewhat cymbiform, usually one, sometimes two or three septate, 11-18 x 4—5y, asci inflated-clavate with a thick apical wall, hypothecium sometimes fuscescent, hymenial gel. with I + blue. Over mosses. Pipestone Pass, Rocky Mountains; Prof. J. Macoun. Not heretofore recorded from a Continental North American station. Biatora (Bilimbia) syncomista (Flk.) comb. nov. B, arivia Ach.) Tuck: Gen.-pAte2 872): Mosses over rocks. Pipestone Pass, Athabasca; Prof. J. Macoun. Th. M. Fries in Lich. Scand., Pt. II, p. 336, states that the original specimens of Lecidea artyta Ach., as designated in the Acharian herbarium, are to be referred to Stereocaulon tomentosum b. alpinum and S. denudatum b. pulvinatum. Acharius in Synopsis p. 20, cites Lecidea sabuletorum b. syncomista Flk. in Berol. Mag. 1808, p. 310, as equivalent to his own L. sabuletorum b. geochroa. On page 33 of the Synopsis he defines Lecidea artyta. This may only be construed as a definite opinion of the distinctness of the two plants. Schaerer in Spiclg., p. 151, cites L. artyta, L. sabuletorum geochroa of Acharius and L. sabuletorum b. syncomista of Floerke as synonymous with his own L. sabuletorum b. muscorum. Tuckerman asserts that Schaerer knew Lecidea artyta, as sent to Acharius by Schleicher, and there is evidence that he was acquainted with the Floerkeian plant, for it is cited with a magk of emphasis. There seems to be a total lack of definite know- ledge regarding L. artyta, and Tuckerman’s effort to save the name is merely an example of ingenious inference. . While in most of the essentials the authors agree in their descriptions of the species, there are discordances that prove perplexing. The hypothecium is noted to be extremely variable in color, ranging from yellowish to deep black, and the hymenial reaction is given as blue, deep-blue, violet, blue followed by violet and sordid-violet, sordid- yellow or wine-red. The following description of our specimen is inserted for purposes of comparison. Thallus indeterminate, granulose-squamulose, the squamules small, thickened, crenate-lobulate, more or less contiguous, grayish-white K—, C—. Apothecia sessile, aggregated, 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST iZzf often 3-7 connate, plane and thinly margined when young, at length strongly convex and immarginate, disk blackish- brown with the epithecium roughened. Spores ellipsoid, oblong-ellipsoid or cymbiform, one to three septate, 14-34 x 3-6u, paraphyses distinct, concrete or somewhat lax, bluish-green at the apices, hypothecium reddish-brown, hymenial gel., with I + blue, the color persisting. The species is reported from Port Clarence, Alaska, Green- land and Newfoundland, under the generic synonym of Lecidea of its section Toninia, and from Lake Nipigon, Ontario, Arctic America, Islands of Behring Straits, and from the Canadian Rockies under the name of Buatora artyta. Lecidea sublatypea Leight. Lich. Flora G. Brit. ed. I, p. 271 (1871). Thallus effuse or sub-determinate, granulate, ashy-fuscous, K—, C—, Apothecia small (0.5 mm.), sessile, scattered or connate, plane or concave, with a persistent or evanescent, opaque or shining entire margin, disk black. Spores 8, ellipsoid, simple, 12x6.5y, hypothecium brown, asci ventricose, paraphyses distinct, compacted, tips blackish- green, hymenial gel., with I + deep-blue. Granite rocks. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. Previously unreported from America. Xylographa micrographa sp. nov. Thallus hypophlaeous, the hyphema ramifying through the superficial fibers of the substratum, algae Palmella, few and scattered, K—, C—, Apothecia innate, scattered, parallel with the fibers, small (less than 1 mm. in length), lirelliform or fusiform, accuminate, typically concave, but sometimes plane, with a prominent slightly inflexed margin, or the margin reduced and the disk nearly plane, black. Spores 8, ellipsoid, simple, nebulous, filled with granular protoplasm or developing nucleoli, 11-13 x 7h, hymenium and hypothecium colorless, asci inflated-clavate, paraphyses distinct, slender, lax, abundant. Old decorticated log. Sidney, Vancouver Island; Prof. J. Macoun. The thallus visibly whitens the wood, and is effuse. The internal characters ally the plant with X. parallela (Ach.) Fr., the external with X. hians Tuck. Type specimen in herbarium Merrill. Rockland, Maine. £22 THE Otrawa NATURALIST [Dee: SOME RARE CASES OF ALBINISM IN ANIMALS. By Proressor Epwarp E. Prince, LL.D., D.Sc., F.R.S.C. Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, Ottawa. In a paper which I contributed to THE Orrawa NATURALIST, Nov., 1906, I summarized my views upon the large subject of Animal Coloration, and I dealt with the evolution of the colors of living creatures, attempting to classify exhaustively a large variety of examples known to me. In referring to ‘‘Physio- logical Coloration’’ I made mention of a closely allied phenome- non, which I regarded as ‘‘Pathological,’ and due to abnormal or diseased conditions, grouping thereunder albinos, such as white crows, hawks, peacocks, moles, etc. I mentioned, as a likely cause, a diseased or defective peripheral nerve supply; a white hedgehog (Erinaceus) being found to have an abnormal condition of the peripheral nerve twigs ending in the skin, and resulting in a lack of the usual color or pigment in the integu- ment, or rather in the spines and hairs developed from the skin. I stated that, according to Darwin, white cats have blue eyes, are, as a rule, deaf, and, if Dr. Lawson’s statement be correct, are always tom-cats. The eyes of most animals are dark or colored, owing to pigment massed in the retina, and in the iris; but in albinos, color being absent, the retina is without it and the rich blood-supply renders the eyes red or pink, as well as the nose and tips of the ears, as in albino rabbits and white rats and mice. All white animals are not albinos, because the absence of ‘color in the fur or plumage may be due to seasonal and other normal causes. Thus the grey harbour seal is snow white when very young, but its nose “and eyes are jet black. The Polar bear, ‘Arctic fox, the stoat or ermine, the varying hare, the ptarmigan, and other animals, are permanently or seasonally white, and thus resemble their wintry surroundings. Dr. Starr Jordan observes that the white color of Arctic animals‘may be useful not alone in rendering them inconspicuous, but may also serve a direct physiological function in preventing loss of heat from the body by radiation. He adds, ‘‘the dark colors of animals may be of value in absorbing heat rays and thus helping to keep them warm. But by far the most widespread use of color is to assist an animal in escaping from its enemies or in capturing its prey.’’ Now, while cold and dryness tend to produce whiteness, damp and warm conditions result in darken- ing the fur or plumage and the external color of animals generally. 1913] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 123 ‘“Melanic varieties, as they are termed,’’ says Beddard, “often occur on islands and other situations where the climate is moist as well as warm.’’ On the other hand, in such a country as New Zealand, white, or what are called albino, varieties of birds, and many living forms, are said to be frequent owing to very dry seasons or periods of drought, and to the presence of snow on the lofty ranges of mountains, which for height and grand scenic features resemble our own Pacific coast mountains. The whitening process in our Northern Hare (Lepus americanus, Erxl.) has been carefully studied, and it has been proved that the summer coat actually bleaches, but the change is accompanied by a growth of new hair, so that the coat is thicker than in summer and the hairs are longer. The outer border of the ears remains black, but the rest of the fur becomes pure white, the blanching successively passing from the black tip of each hair down the reddish middle part to ithe basal leaden-colored part. The hairs of the forehead and shoulders are the last to change and a few long black hairs are always present above and below the eyes and extend back- wards. One observer, Mr. Welch, tells us that the entire change occupies about three months, from early in October till late in December, but further north, in the latitude of Quebec, it is said to be, usually, early in November, and the whitening 1s also more rapidly accomplished. Sir John Ross observed a lemming on board his vessel change color in a week, in February. Whether the assumption of a white winter coat is due to Arctic environment, or to natural selection and heredity (the white examples surviving when other examples were more readily seen by enemies and exterminated), it is not necessary here to discuss. The brown musk-ox, the black raven, the sable and other northern animals do not change, and thus the matter is a complicated one. But the term albino should not be ap- plied to forms which are white normally, or turn white seasonally as an established feature in their life; but should apply rather to the somewhat erratic and abnormal cases of whiteness and lack of normal coloration due to some congenital cause, apparent- ly allied to a diseased or pathological condition. An extremely rare and interesting case of this true albinism was discovered this season (1913) at the St. Andrew’s Biological Station, New Brunswick. A specimen of the common sea- urchin (Strongylocentrotus drobrachiensts) of our Atlantic shores, over three inches in diameter, instead of exhibiting the reddish purple and variegated colors of typical specimens, was of the purest chalk-white, the plates of the somewhat depressed globular test or shell, as well as the crowded sharp-pointed moveable spines, being entirely destitute of color. Even the eye spots, 124 THe Orrawa NATURALIST [Dec. which are rudimentary colored visual organs on the five ocular plates, alternating with the five genital plates round the peri- proctal space at the aboral pole, did not show any pigment. It was a perfect albino, and, so far as I have been able to ascer- tain, the first albino sea-urchin ever seen. It was a beautiful object, appearing as though its characteristic apple-shaped form were delicately carved in white marble. It is now conspicuous in the faunal collection of fishes and invertebrates at the Dominion Biological Station, St. Andrews, N.B. An interesting albino specimen of the lobster (Homarus americanus), from the Pictou shore, Nova Scotia, came into my possession some time ago. Pale tinted specimens of lobsters have long been known, some of which, in place of the dark blackish blue of the usual type, show reddish or yellowish coloration; but the specimen which I secured was dappled all over with irregular patches of yellowish white and the blue- black color was confined to small, irregular spots, chiefly on the upper parts of the tergum, or dorsal portion of the body and tail-segments. This very unusual specimen was only 8 inches in length and cannot have been more than three or four years old. It might be suggested that, instead of being an albino, the specimen merely retained some of the varied coloration of the infantile stages, for when half-an-inch long, at the stage when salts of lime and pigment first appear in the delicate shell, the general color is maroon, or sometimes pale brown with green intermingled, and especially prominent are some chalk- white spots, four or five in number, apparently marking the attachments of the tendons of the cephalo-thoracic muscles inside. These spots are even more distinct at the sixth stage, about the fifth week after hatching, when its length is three- fifths of an inch. At the seventh stage (seventh week), when three-quarters of an inch in length, a definite pigment layer appears below the external cuticle. In the adult lobster this pigment layer, called by Dr. W. B. Carpenter the areolar layer, is a canaliculated stratum crowded with lime salts, and is hypodermic in origin, and mainly constitutes the thick, dense shell. A tubular layer occurs beneath, likened by some authori- ties to dentine, being thick and dense, and forming the gleaming white part which is seen when the shell is broken. Lowest of all is a thin lamellar non-calcified layer. The color in the areolar layer is due to chromogens, which are converted by boiling, dehydration by alcohol, etc., and even by exposure to excessive light, into a red lipochrome. Every one is familiar with the change, by boiling, of a dark blue or blackish-green lobster into a bright scarlet one. The normal prevailing color of lobsters on the Atlantic coast is blackish-blue, sometimes of ee — - eo 1913] - THe Ottawa NATURALIST 125 a greenish cast, those on rocky bottoms being darkest, as off the western Nova Scotia shores,’but on sandy, shallower areas, as off Prince Edward Island, the color is paler, and often greenish or even brownish. Professor Herrick records a very black specimen, only 6 or 7 inches long, found among eel-grass in three-fathom shallows off the Maine coast, and the captor, a, fisherman, thought at first that it was coated with coal-tar. It was regarded asa melanic specimen, and it may be mentioned that melanism has been noticed also in crabs. Abnormally colored lobsters have been reported of a red or reddish-yellow color, when alive; others are cream colored, i.e., color is practically absent, but mottled specimens, blue-green and yellow, are not rare, while pied examples, showing bold green and light yellow spots, are less common. The specimen secured by me was, in the main, of a yellowish-white, as already stated, but small blue-black spots occurred here and there, on the highest parts of the back. No doubt the example was a pathological or ‘‘abnormally physiological’’ specimen and a near approach to the typical albino. The third case of albinism recently brought to my notice is that of an albino porpoise (Phocena phocena, L.), which was captured in Scotland, and a photograph of which was sent to me by my friend Professor McIntosh, F.R.S., of St. Andrews. The London Globe, some years ago, gave an account of an English specimen obtained near Ventnor, Isle of Wight, which was described as white, but of a reddish color on the under side. It was shipped alive to the famous Brighton aquarium and exhibited there, according to a correspondent, Mr. R. Blake, of Ventnor. The normal color of the porpoise, as is well known, is a deep, shining black, but the breast and under surface is dirty white; but this albino specimen, studied at the Gatty Marine Biological Station, St. Andrews, Scotland, was a female of a dull yellowish color, with a faint longitudinal band, somewhat dusky, along the upper lateral region on each side, while a band of the same dusky appearance curved in a crescentic course round the front of each eye, reaching to the corner of the mouth. It measured 2 feet 10 inches in length and was rather more than half grown. Professor McIntosh notes that it seemed to retain the coloration of the very young porpoise, for a specimen 6 inches long, secured at St. Andrews, on Nov. 18th, 1911, was dusky over the dorso-lateral region, the head very dark above as far as the neck and the breast flippers, dorsal fin and horizontal tail-flukes were blackish, the under surface of the last being verv 126 THE OTTAWA NATURALIST [Dec. dark. An older specimen, also before birth, and obtained on Feb. 6th, 1912, was 17 inches long and the color of the young specimen was now replaced by deep black, but. becoming paler down the sides. Adult specimens of various whales show at times increase in white coloration. Thus the Humpback (Megaptera) is black above, but white beneath, varied with black spots, but sometimes the black underneath decreases to an indefinite marbled arrangement, or, in some cases, the black disappears and the under surface is white. The huge rorquals or fin-back whales show similar variations, and Mr. Lyddeker surmises that age or special food causes this tendency to al- binism. The Right whale of the Arctic is very black above, but white beneath and where the two tints meet there occur irregular patches of white extending into the black color. The Killer whale or Grampus is black above, but in one specimen I observed a white patch above each eye, or there may be a white patch below the eye and a transverse crescentic patch of white behind the huge erect dorsal fin. It is hardly necessary to point out that the albino porpoise above described recalls the small beluga or white-whale (Del- phinapterus leucas, Pallas), which is creamy white all over and abounds in the mouth of the River St. Lawrence and round Hudson’s Straits into Hudson’s Bay, and along Baffin’s Land and as far north as Barrow Straits.* Mr. A. P. Low expressed the view that the white-whale industry might become an important one in many places in Hudson Bay and Straits owing to its abundance, and the Hud- son Bay Company, as well as the Eskimo, have long taken considerable numbers for oil and leather, while the boiled skin is a native dainty and the dark colored meat is also used as food. It is impossible 1n this place to enter into the somewhat profound and complicated subject of the origin of albinos, and to define the essential differences which divide them from merely pale examples, or seasonal varieties. Melanism can be explained partly at any rate, as due to environment, but albinism is no doubt due to causes which are congenital, possibly pathological. Merely white varieties are not albinos, and the so-called albino skunk, reported as seen last year in Delaware Park, near Buffalo, was not an albino. Curator Crandall, who saw it, described it as blue, with apparently no black or white hairs intermingled and it may be compared to the blue variety of Arctic fox, which is blue, or rather slate grey, all the year round, and less numerous in the more northerly regions than in the more southerly. In the *Lilljeborg states that the young beluga is greyish-brown in color, 1913] THe Ottawa NATURALIST ay litters of this blue variety of the Arctic fox there frequently occur pure white specimens, but a whole litter of white cubs has not been recorded. Some interesting figures in a recent report of the Conservation Commission may be here referred to. Thus on St. George Island (Pribyloft Islands), in a total of 772 so-called blue foxes killed in 1897, no less than 40 were white. In 1898, 18 were white in a total of 885 foxes, but in 1903 only 15 were white, out of 1,061 foxes taken, and in 1907-8, out of a total of 1,005 only 8 were white, indeed, only 3 were pure white, the others were bluish white. These pale or white specimens are not valued, and every effort is made to exterminate them and prevent the increase of a white variety. The ordinary variety of dirty brownish colored Arctic fox, which turns pure snow-white in winter, though recently fashionable, was not many years ago regarded with contempt by fur dealers, and Indian trappers were usually ‘“‘called down” severely for taking the trouble to bring such little-valued pelts to Edmonton and other fur-receiving centres in the North-west. White deer, like white house-sparrows, have not unfre- quently been reported, but whether such are true albinos with pink eyes is not recorded. A red deer of almost snowy white- ness was reported up the Gatineau region some years ago. A white form of the Scottish red deer has been established asa distinct variety, and in Welbeck Park, Langley Park, near Slough, Windsor, and Woburn Castle, in England, there are herds of cream-colored or white deer, believed to be originally of German origin, though the Duke of Portland has regarded them asa Danish variety. It is interesting to note that a creamy or white colored variety of the black bear was discovered not many years since in British Columbia, north of Rivers Inlet, and at the head-waters of the Skeena River and at other points. This small bear has been called ‘‘Ursus Kermodev’” by Hornaday, who first described it. The whole subject of albinism is deserving of investigation, but it may be clearly stated that white animals, whose eyes are dark, or the tips of the ears, the tail, tip of the nose, etc., are black, are really not albinos, for albinism in mammals involves pink eyes, pink nose, and a general absence of pigment. MEETING OF THE BOTANICAL BRANCH. November 8th, 1913, at the residence of Mr. R. B. Whyte. Owing to the rainy ree ier only a small number of members were present. 128 THE Ottawa NATURALIST [per After a short discussion it was decided that, for the meet- ings of the approaching winter, the members should bring to each meeting specimens of botanical interest for exhibition and discussion. It was thought that the adoption of this suggestion would make the meetings more interesting and educative. It is hoped, therefore, that the members will respond heartily in bringing material for each meeting’s discussion. It was then decided that those present, who had made interesting observations during the summer, should give the others present brief accounts of them. Mr. H. T. Gussow very entertainingly described some broom-growths he had seen on trees in British Columbia and some experiences he has had with - the seeds of a certain mistletoe growing in the same part of the country. A little later in the evening he also referred to bacteria of the soil in their relations to soil fertility, and to the disease potato scab. Mr. L. H. Newman gave a short account of the recent activities of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, referring chiefly to the efforts which are being made to produce corn and potatoes of a high standard quality and in quantities large enough for wide distribution. : eRe: BOOK NOTICE. ForTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL Society oF OnTARIO. This publication has recently made its appearance and we are glad to see fully maintains its previous reputation. It contains no less than 23 papers contributed by the leading entomologists of Canada. These contributions cover a wide field of research and on account of their economic value should be in the hands of every Agriculturist and Horticulturist not alone in Ontario, but throughout the whole Dominion, for, while the papers deal more particularly with Ontario pests, the insects discussed recognize no boundaries and are often as in- jurious without as within. This, too, applies with equal reason to pests discussed from other provinces which, though com- paratively harmless in Ontario to-day, may at any time become troublesome. Thus we find articles wisely included from various provinces, all of which add to the value of the report. It is, as usual, profusely illustrated, and contains as a frontispiece a portrait of the Society’s President for 1912, Dr. E. M. Walker. N: ¢: THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Vout. XXVII. January, 1914 No. 10 ON THE FORE-LIMB OF A CARNIVOROUS DINOSAUR FROM THE BELLY RIVER FORMATION OF ALBERTA, AND A NEW GENUS OF CERATOPSIA FROM THE SAME HORIZON, WITH REMARKS ON THE INTEGUMENT OF SOME CRETACEOUS HERBIVOROUS DINOSAURS.* By LAwrence M. LaAmsg, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., F.G.S.A. Vertebrate Palzontologist to the Geological Survey of Canada. An unusually perfect skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur, lately added to the collections of the Geological Survey, is of special interest on account of the preservation in it of one of the front legs. The specimen comes from the Belly River for- mation on Red Deer river, Alberta, and forms part of the very large collection of reptilian and other remains made last summer by the vertebrate paleontological party which explored the rich dinosaurian beds below Berry creek. ¥ The structure of the fore-limb in the large carnivorous dinosaurs of the Cretaceous has been to a great extent con- jectural. In this new specimen the right limb is preserved and it is hoped that the left one will be revealed as the work of removing the sandstone matrix proceeds. - The first impression received of the fore-limb is its extremely small size. The arm has been pressed upward so that the humerus lies beside the back border of the blade of the scapula with its front face directed forward and its inner surface outward, its head remaining within the glenoid cavity. The fore-arm is flexed downward and the manus is closed with the claw-bones uppermost. The ulna and radius lie together, and the digits, of which there are two, are in place. From the regular succession of the phalanges of the digits to each other it is presumed that none of them is missing. The digits are regarded as Nos. II and III, and there is a vestigial metacarpal IV, consisting of a short, slender bone, slightly curved and tapering to its distal end. * Communicated by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. 130 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Jan. Metacarpal II is very short, being only about one-half the ength of metacarpal III. There are only two phalanges to digit II, an elongated one and a comparatively large, laterally compressed, Curved and sharply pointed ungual. In digit III the first phalanx is short, the second long, and the distal one claw-shaped but smaller than that of digit II. In the ungual phalanx of digit II there is a decided claw-groove. The first phalanx of digit II and the first and second of digit III have a deep pit on each side of the distal end. In the corresponding part of the metacarpals there is only a slight irregular depression. Four carpal bones are preserved between the ulna and radius and the metacarpals, but they are slightly displaced. One is roughly discoidal and larger than the others, which are compressed ovoidin shape. The largest one occurs at the proxi- mal end of metacarpal III, the other three lie together at the distal end of the radius. The ulna and radius are solid except for a small axial area of cancellous bone. As already mentioned, the elements of the manus follow each other in regular succession and are apparently all in place with none of the phalanges missing. The phalangeal formula revealed is therefore probably the correct one. The figure accompanying this description shews the relative size of the fore-limb and the scapula with the coracoid. The limb is here shewn in lateral aspect, in a natural position below its articulation with the scapula, and with the digits only slightly curved. Attention is drawn to the extreme shortness of metacarpal II and the elongation of the penultimate phalanx in each digit. A similar lengthening of the corresponding phalanges is seen in the manus of the small Jurassic Oruitholestes hermann1, Osborn,* in which also there are two digits, a vestigial metacarpal IV, and an enlarged ungual phalanx in digit II. The estimated length of this dinosaur, which, for the present, is referred to the genus Deinodon, is between twenty-eight and thirty feet. Why its front limbs were so diminutive is difficult toexplain. That they were of much use in feeding is improbable. The discoverer of this splendid specimen was Charles Sternberg, Jr., who was one of the vertebrate paleontological field party of 1913. MEASUREMENTS. Feet. Inches. Length of humerus. 7128 o> oe eee = 128 04: aaAtpel? 95 Teddies, cette SIAL = Senne cee. 64 es 4 poy cliadiser i < 20a! Wage oa oo pecPenee ee ein oe 64 “3 ‘metacarpal-Dll oy as iehs: sto petekeitent > if * Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York, vol. xix, article xii, pp. 459-464, figs. 2 and 3. 1914] THe Ottawa NaTurRALIST. 131 MEASUREMENTS. [Continued] Feet... Inches. teaemmormersearmalll1.. 2... 2... <2 ees 3% Fees Bn icln dink 9. 24 4 arte pnalanx. of dagtt Eli), ie: skies 3g ‘i Pacha 7 ie a ener, See 34 i; “ first OS Ey eae Bh Geet enna s 24 oy BESCCONGI ME Me (cl 6.65. s cee 34 : ‘““ scapula and coracoid together ....... 3 6 ‘Cacpal bonewith diameter of /.... . 2. a. vga kee Of + ee SMES EE el 2 ow cise SE Of Two carpal bones withlengtheach of........... 02 PROTOROSAURUS, gen. nov. Skull large, broadly triangular in superior aspect, with an abbreviated facial portion and a greatly expanded posterior crest ending squarely behind. Coalesced parietals forming a slender frame-work enclosing large subtriangular fontanelles. Squamosals very long and narrow with a scalloped free border. Epoccipitals present. Supraorbital horn-core small, upright. Orbit small. Supratemporal fosse not greatly developed. Body covered with non-imbricating plate-like, and tubercle-like scales. This genus is proposed for the reception of the Belly River Cretaceous ceratopsian species originally described by the writer under the name Monoclonius bellt. The species was established in 1902* on a large portion of the coalesced parietals discovered by the writer in 1898 in the Belly River formation on Red Deer river, Alberta, below the mouth of Berry creek (Steveville). In the original description the opinion was expressed that the species represented was “probably ancestral to such later forms as Torosaurus latus and T. gladius of Marsh, from the Laramie of Wyoming.’ This belief is strengthened by the discovery during the past summer of a skull, with most of the skeleton, of one individual of this species at the type locality. It is now evident that this Belly River form is generically distinct from both Monoclonius, Cope and Ceratops, Marsh, and that its affinites are with Torosaurus, Marsh, to which it apparently leads in a*direct line of descent, and from which it differs by well-marked primitive characters The characters in Protorosaurus which are regarded as primitive in comparison with Torosaurus are its smaller size, the greater relative length of the skull in front of the orbits, the retention of the scalloped free margin in the squamosal, the greater size of the intraparietal fontanelles which have been * Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, vol. iii (quarto), pl. ii, On vertebrata of the mid-cretaceous of the North-west Territory, 2. New genera and species from the Belly River series, p 66, pl. xx, figs 1 and 2. 132 Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. [Jan. reduced in Torosaurus by a broadening of the parietal framework, and the much smaller supraorbital horn-cores which are upright instead of being curved forward. The finding of the skull of Protorosaurus belli completely does away with any idea as to the specific identity of this species with Mono clonius canadensis, Lambe, also from the Belly River Cretaceous of Alberta; a consideration at no time entertained by the writer. With the skeleton of P. bellt were found well preserved impressions of the integument.* These impressions seem to refute the hitherto generally accepted idea of the presence in the Ceratopsia of bony scutes such as are found in the Stego- sauride, notably in Euoplocephalus (Stereocephalus) tutus, Lambe, from the Belly River formation. We now know that the in- tegument of P. bell1 was of the same general character as that of the trachodonts, and probably the other horned dinosaurs were similarly covered. The natural impressions of the integument of P. belli consist of smooth polygonal surfaces, ranging in diameter from about one-eighth of an inch up to one inch and one-eighth, indicative of the presence in the living animal of non-imbricating scales or plates, fitting closely to each other, and having generally five or six sides. The plates themselves are not preserved but they have impressed their shape in the sandstone (moulds) from which natural casts have been made by the matrix replacing the plates. The larger plates have a flat or very slightly convex surface and are defined by a circumscribing groove. The smaller sized plates have the form of low or flattened tubercles and were apparently present over a large area. The larger plates are assembled and increase in size toward a somewhat central one which is the largest, and which may be polygonal or roundedin outline. There is evidence of polygonal plates at least two inches in diameter and of others with a nearly circular outline equally large. In the larger sized plates the sunken peripheral margin has a crinkled appearance due to the presence of short grooves at right angles to, and ending at the edge of the plate. The impressions of the plates so far seen are mostly from the trunk region in the neighbourhood of the shoulder where the increase in size seems to be from below upward. Other im- pressions from lower down on the body are of the small tubercles apparently indicating an absence here of the larger sizes of plates. The collection of 1913 from the Belly River formation on Red Deer river also includes natural moulds and casts of large * This specimen, with skin impressions, was discovered by Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, in charge of the Geological Survey vertebrate paleontological expedition of 1913. : 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 133 areas of the skin of the species described by the writer in 1902,* under the name Trachodon marginatus. A figure of the surface markings of a small portion of the skin of this species accom- panied the writer’s original description, but the new material brings to light with wonderful distinctness features additional to those already known, and discloses a tubercular pattern of surface ornamentation as unique as it is unexpected. Trachodon marginatus was founded on an admirably pre- served maxilla and lower mandibular ramus, with teeth in place having a definite marginal sculpture, and on many bones of one individual with skin impressions. Provisionallyassigned to this species were slender ischia ending distally in a foot-shaped ex- pansion, a pubic bone, a femur, tibie and other elements of the skeleton. That the association of the footed-ischium with T. marginatus was correct is borne out by the remains of two individuals** collected last summer with which the maxille and lower jaw are present in one, and the ischia in both. Acom- parison of the new material with that on which the species was based entirely establishes the correctness of the writer’s original description. It is with one of these specimens of last summer’s collection that the skin impressions are preserved. These im- pressions are from the side in the trunk region, and along the tail. In the former, depressed conical plates or scales, having an oval basal outline, occur at intervals with much smaller, polygonal, tubercle-like, non-imbricating plates filling the inter- spaces. The conical plates strongly resemble limpets in shape, and are about twice their diameter apart. They reach a size of about one and a half inches in length and one and a quarter inches in breadth, with a height of about five-sixteenths of an inch. The comparatively small, intervening plates resemble the smaller sized plates of Protorosaurus belli, and of Trachodon annectens, Marsh, as described by Osborn.t{ They range in diameter from about one-eighth up to two-eighths of an inch, an increase in size occurring toward the conical plates round which the largest ones form a ring. A marked feature of the conical scales is a radial crinkling which is most pronounced at the basal circumference and extends about half way up the sloping surface. In the tail the same scale pattern is continued but in a less striking manner, its component parts being reduced in size. The conical plates are more nearly circular in basal outline, with a diameter of about half an inch, and a proportionately lower relief. They are relatively farther apart than those of the trunk, * Op. cit., p. 71, pls. iii-x. **Expedition of 1913; found by Mr. Charles H. Sternberg. t+ Memoirs of Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., new series, vol. 1, pl. ii; Integument of the Iguano- dont dinosaur Trachodon, p's. vi and vii. 134 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Jan. being about four to six times their diameter distant from each other. The polygonal ones have an average diameter of about three-sixteenths of an inch, and, asin the trunk, a slight increase in size is observed in those near the conical plates. Along the side of the body the conical plates have their long diameter in a fore and aft direction. The scale patterns above described are probably distinctive of the species, and will no doubt, with the known ones of other Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs, prove a reliable aid in specific determination. The skin impression of a third Cretaceous herbivorous dino- saur, shewn in plate XVII accompanying this paper, is part of a large area of epidermal markings, from above the hip, preserved with an almost complete skeleton of a trachodont obtained by the vertebrate paleontological expedition of 1912 from the Edmonton formation on Red Deer river, and now exhibited as a panel mount in the museum of the Geological Survey. This specimen was thought to be referable to Trachodon marginatus of the Belly River formation and was provisionally assigned to that species. As the scale pattern of the integument of T. mar- gmmatus is now definitely known and proves to be quite different from that of the Edmonton specimen it is clear that the latter is not referable. to 7. marginatus. It is now known with certainty that T. marginatus had a footed-ischium but unfortunately in the Edmonton specimen the distal ends of the ischia are not preserved. The epidermal markings found with the Edmonton specimen and already briefly described in a paper* by the writer, are natural moulds and casts of non-imbricating scales of which some are larger than others. The larger ones are flat or slightly con- vex, polygonal in outline, and average about a quarter of an inch in diameter; they are aggregated in irregularly oval clusters from two to three inches in greater diameter, and about three- quarters of an inch apart. Between the clusters are minute, tubercle-like scales averaging about one-tenth of an inch in diameter and forming the general ground-work of the pattern. This scale pattern is of the same general character as that of Trachodon annectens (Marsh), as described and figured by Osbornt in a specimen from upper Cretaceous beds in Converse county, Wyoming, U.S.A., but is more pronounced; the oval clusters of plate-like scales are larger, and the scales composing them have a greater average diameter. The small sized tubercle-like scales are much the same as in the Wyoming specimen. * The Ottawa Naturalist, May, 1913, The manus ina specimen of Trachodon from the Edmonton formation of Alberta. + Op, cit. 1914] THe Ottawa NaTurRALIsT. 135 EXPLANATION OF PLATES. Pirate XIII.—Right fore-limb of carnivorous dinosaur; one- eighth the natural size. Pirate XIV.—Fig. 1. Natural cast of integument of Pro- torosaurus belli shewing large, polygonal, plate-like scales; natural size. Fig. 2. Cast of large scale with a rounded outline; natural size. Fig. 3. Cast of large scale probably polygonal in outline; natural size. Fig. 4. Cast shewing transition from’ small tubercle-like scales to larger polygonal ones; natural size. Fig. 5. Cast of polygonal scales; natural size. Fig. 6. Mould of the same; natural size. PratE XV.—Natural mould of integument of Trachodon mar- gimatus from the side of the body: natural size. Prate XVI.—Natural mould of integument of the same in- dividual from the side of the tail: natural size. Pirate XVII.—Skin impression (mould) of trachodon from the Edmonton formation; natural size. MEETING OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH. Held at the home of Mr. Arthur Gibson, January 8th, 1913. Present: Rev. Dr. Fyles, W. H. Harrington, J. M. Swaine: V. Kitto, Bro. Germain, Bro. Martial, G. Beaulieu, N. Criddle, A. Halkett, F. W. L. Sladen, J. W. Baldwin, J. I. Beaulne, J. R. Fryer, E. H. Strickland and A. Gibson. Dr. Fyles gave a charming account of his first visit to Gomin Swamp (near Quebec City), over fifty years ago, in searchiof the interesting butterfly Gineis jutta, a swamp-loving species. He also described the life-history of the insect. In a small case specimens of the adults were exhibited as well as specimens of Ceneis macounii and O. katahdin. This latter is given varietal rank in Dyar’s List of N. A. Lepidoptera. Attention was called to the large number of forms placed in this list under norna. Mr. Gibson spoke of his first experience with O. juita at the Mer Bleue, near Ottawa, mentioning the habit of the butterfly of resting on dead branches and trunks of trees, where it is protected considerably owing to the resemblance of the under side of its wings to the bark. By holding plates XV, XVI and XVII upside down the concave surfaces appear convex, giving a vivid representation of the scale pattern as it was in the living animal. 136 THE Otrrawa NATURALIST. [Jan. Mr. Harrington showed twigs of oak from Meach Lake, Que., from which he had reared the cerambycid, Elaphidion parallelum. The larva tunnels the twigs for several inches and pupates therein, finally emerging through the base of a broken twig. This beetle is a close relative of the well known Oak Twig Pruner, Elaphidion villosum, which was quite injurious to oaks on the St. Lawrence Island Parks in 1912 and 1913. The well known habit of these larve in girdling the twigs, causing them to drop and owing to which injury they are broken during wind storms, was discussed. Mr. Swaine exhibited specimens and work of Ambrosia- beetles collected by him the past summer in British Columbia, and briefly discussed the habits ofthe genus Gnathotrichus, and of a new species of the genus Platypus from the West Coast. Tunnels of G. sulcatus Lec. were shown from Western Hemlock. Their black tunnels, about the size of a pencil lead, penetrate the wood for about six inches, and give off lateral branches parallel with the wood surface. Along the sides of the tunnels egg-niches are cut, in which eggs are laid. The grubs enlarge the niches to a length slightly greater than their own when mature, and pupate therein with the head towards the tunnel. These short larval tunnels are known as larval or pupal cradles. After transformation the young adults enter the egg-tunnel, and after remaining a longer or shorter time in the tunnels or in the cradles, they emerge in early summer through the entrance tunnel cut by the parent beetles to attack fresh logs and stumps or dying trees. The chief food of the larve, and an important food of the adults, is a species of fungus w hich grows 1n a dense glistening layer on the tunnel walls. Mr. Swaine has recently worked out the life-history of several of these interesting and little known fungi. The fungus is carried by the beetles to new tunnels and rapidly spreads over the fresh wood of the tunnel sides and upon the walls of the larval cradles. The fungus stains the walls of the tunnels black for several millimetres. The habits of the species of Platypus are somewhat similar to the above, but the eggs are deposited free in the tunnels. Mr. Criddle spoke upon certain phases of his investigations into the habits and life-histories of the various species of June Beetles (Lachnosterna) which he had been studying as a field officer of the Division of Entomology. He related how the different species were often quite local in distribution owing to each having preferences in matters of soil and moisture as breed- ing places. Thus, L. dubia was taken in all its stages within an area of a few feet and the duration of its life cycle probably discovered in a single day. He also spoke upon the hibernating habits of the larve, instancing how some species remained Oe ee ee 1914] THe Ottawa NaTuRALIST. £37 within a foot or two of the surface while one, viz., L. rugosa, was found at depths varying from 47 to 91 inches. Mention was also made of the remarkable manner in which skunks sought out the larve for food, thus doing much good. An interesting discussion followed on the habits and food of skunks in general. Mr. Sladen exhibited twelve species of wasps of the genus Odynerus taken in the Ottawa district and described the habits of O. spintpes, a European species. It provisions its cell with small green caterpillars. The egg is attached to the roof of the cell by a thread so that it is not disturbed by the wriggling victims. He also showed a parasitic bee, Coelioxys rufitarsus, withits host, Megachile latimanus, a leaf- cutter bee, and ex- plained how, according to Graenicher, the parasite pierces the leaves lining the cell of the Megachile by means of its conical sharp-pointed abdomen, and inserts its egg. The Coelioxys larva is at first provided with enormous mandibles with which it kills the Megachile larva, but after the first moult the mandibles are of the small size found in other bee larve, and thence forward it feeds entirely on the pollen that the Megaghile has provided. Mr. Harrington remarked that in Ottawa, as in England, Megachile is very fond of cutting circles out of the leaves of the garden rose to line its cells. It also often chooses maple leaves. He had noticed that if the surroundings of a solitary bee’s or wasp’s nest were disarranged the insect could not find its way in. It seemed to have committed to memory every detail; this was done by circling round the spot many times. Mr. Sladen said that queen bumble bees he had got to lay eggs in captivity, when allowed to fly, never returned, though they marked the spot carefully, and he believed they lost the power to learn the position of their nest as soon as they began to lay. Mr. Strickland spoke upon the subject of parasites in Simulium larve. After briefly describing the acquatic habits and structure of the early stages of the Black fly, and pointing out the interest that is centred upon this fly as the- possible carrier of the human disease Pellagra, he gave an account of the parasites he had found infecting their larve in the streams in the vicinity of Boston, U.S. These consisted of a worm and various protozoa, all of which were fatal to their larval host, and occurred in sufficient numbers to be of considerable economic value. The worm is a species of Mermis that inhabits the abdominal region of the body cavity, where it lives coiled up and almost motionless absorbing the body fluids of its host, till the latter is full grown. It then ruptures the skin and escapes, killing the larva in the process. When the worm only is present it is 3cm. long, or about three times the length of its host. As many as 12 were found in one larva, in which case they all 138 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Jan. remained small. The most interesting effect of this parasite is that it stops all growth of the external adult organs (legs, wings, etc.) in the larva. In a normal larva these organs are well developed at the time of maturity and are readily seen through the transparent skin of the thoracic region. The parasitised larva grows to an abnormal size, as if at the expense of these organs. The protozoan parasites, with the exception of one, belong to the genus Glugea and are closely related to the Pébrine disease of silkworms. Several species were present in different larve. All of them form large masses of parasitic material in the body cavity, which, at maturity, are resolved into innumer- able minute spores, which spread the disease in the water upon the death of the host. The other protozoan proved tobe a Gregarine that formed a vast number of small cysts in the body cavity, from which, later, motile ‘‘spores”’ escaped. Mr. Beaulieu, who is working on a monograph of Canadian Elateridz, showed a collection in which there were representa- tives of the 25 genera found in our fauna. He also exhibited a specimen each of two new species, Limonius venablesi Wek., and Corymbitis weidti Ang. The following figures, showing the distribution of the species of this interesting family, were given: Known 5 aaa in the world fauna, about 5,500; American species, about 2,260; American species north of Mexico, about 500; Canadian species, about 190. Described genera, world fauna, 285; American genera, 129; American genera north of Mexico, 47; Canadian genera, 25. Mr. Gibson exhibited his collection of Canadian arctiid moths of the genus A pantesis. These were shown in five large cases. Attention was directed to certain of the species which had been reared from the egg. In some of the series larve in all stages were present, and with many species adult larve and pupae. These moths, known popularly as ‘“‘tiger moths,’ are very beautiful insects. The larve are clothed with dense clusters of hairs, usually black or reddish. In spring they may often be found under pieces of board, etc., along railway ‘tracks. Species which occur in the Ottawa district are virgo, virguncula, parthen- ice, arge, celia, figurata, nais and vittata. Other interesting exhibits which were brought to the meet- ing were: by Bro German, specimens of Saperda concolor and its work, and a hymenopterous parasite reared therefrom; also a rare beetle, Carabus nemoralis, taken at Montreal. This is supposed to be a European species, but Mr. Beaulieu stated that Dr. Lapouge, the French authority in the genus Carabus, con- sidered that this was not the true nemoralis; by Mr. Kitto, a collection of Cerambycide and Elateride, taken in the Ottawa district, some interesting species were represented; by Mr. i ee ted, Des 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 139 Halkett, ants’ nests from Germany, specimens of Calosoma sycophanta, and the Blind Worm, Anguis fragilis, also from Europe. ee NOTE ON THE AMERICAN MAGPIE (Pica pica hudsonica). This bird appears to be rare north of the 53rd degree of latitude in central Alberta, and even 50 miles south of that line it is not by any means common. I have never seen it north of Camrose, nor does Mr. Spreadborough mention having seen it in his travels north from Edmonton down the Athabasca or McKenzie Rivers. On the west side of the mountains along the coast it is found as far north as the Arctic Circle. During the past twenty-two years I have only seen it three times, as follows: one near the Big Bend of the Red Deer River in December, 1894; two near Wolf Creek, north of Lacombe, in October, 1912, and one on September 28th, 1913, six miles west of Camrose, near Bittern Lake. I have known of several colonies breeding on the Knee Hill Creek, about 30 miles east of Olds, and I believe this to be the northern limit for nesting. F. L. Fartey, Camrose, ALTA. THE FOLLOWING BOOKS, WHICH WILL BE QF INTEREST TO MANY MEMBERS OF THE ‘CLUB, HAVE RECENTLY BEEN PLACED ON THE SHELVES OF THE CARNEGIE PuBLic LIBRARY. Earth Features and Their Meaning, by W. H. Hobbs. An in- troduction to Geology. (Ample treatment, of interest to those who care to be able to read,in the landscape, the history of the vicissitudes which the region under observa- tion has undergone). Influences of Geographic Environment, by E. C. Semple. (Amplified presentation of Ratzel’s theories that geographic conditions are the chief factor in the physical, intellectual and social development of man.’ Climate—Considered Especially in Relation to Man, by R. TD. Ward. The Wanderings of Animals, by Hans Gadow. (Sketch of the distribution of the animals over the earth’s surface. Cambridge Manual Series). The Earth—Its Shape, Size, Weight and Spin, by J. H. Poynting. The Non-Metallic Minerals, Their Occurrence and Uses, by G. P. Merrill. (Important work on minerals of value other than as ores of metals). Natural Philosophy, by W. Ostwald. (Brief survey of the 140 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Jan. sciences, their general import and unification of present knowledge concerning them. A general introduction to science and to one view of philosophy). The Ways of Planets, by M. E. Martin. (Discusses in a simple, informal manner the origin, position and characteristics of the various planets). The Solar System—A Study of Recent Observations, by C. L, Poor. (‘Not too obstruse, thoroughly entertaining and timely ’’—Nation). Darwinism and Human Life, by J.A. Thomson. (‘‘Authoritative, interesting and easily comprehended statement of the history and present status of evolution’”’—A.L.A.) The Origin and Nature of Life, by B. Moore. (Home University Series. Clear and concise statement of the problem from the chemical point of view’’—A.L.A.) College Zoology, by R. W. Hegner. (An excellent text designed for beginning college students). Agriculture, by W. Somerville. (Makes the results of laboratory work at the university accessible to the practical farmer). MEETINGS OF THE BOTANICAL BRANCH. December 6th, 1913, at the home of Mr. R. B. Whyte, the following members being present: R. B. Whyte, Dr. M. O. Malte, G. H. Clark, L. H. Newman, J. M. Macoun, N. Criddle, W. T. Macoun, C. J. Tulley, A. E. Attwood and J. R. Fryer. In response to the call for botanical specimens from members Mr. Criddle exhibited an interesting specimen of the genus Neslia (Ball Mustard) and one of the genus Setaria (Foxtail Grass), on the latter of which was an abnormal foliaceous development of the bracts. Mr. Newman exhibited a sample of wheat which took the world’s prize at Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October, 1913. Mr. W. T. Macoun showed a couple of Peli nuts which were characterized by an exceedingly hard shell. They were somewhat larger than ordinary nutmegs and more angular in shape. Dr. M. O. Malte spoke on ‘‘Some Results of the Summer’s Work in Botany” and dealt especially with the species Mentha, Viola and Juncus. Specimens of true Mentha arvensis L., collected by him in Nova Scotia, were shown and the statement made that on account of the characters of the calyx the true M. arvensis L. can scarcely be grouped with other Canadian species of Mentha now regarded as varieties of it. Dr. Malte was of the opinion that the Menthas which now are called M. arvensis L., var. canadensis (L), Briquet, and var. lanata Piper, are specifically distinct from M. arvensis, and furthermore, 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 141 that the difference between canadensis and lanata are so great that both deserve specific rank. The latter supposition was borne out by Mr. J. M. Macoun, who stated that in British Columbia, where both are frequently growing together, the differentiating characters seem to be perfectly constant. Dr. Malte also exhibited specimens of Viola rostrata Pursh, from Chats Falls, Ont., collected by Mr. J. M. Macoun and himself last spring, and explained that this was the second time the species had been found in the Ottawa district. It was growing with V. conspersa Rchb. Perfectly typical hybrids representing the combination V. conspersa x rostrata, foundamong the parents, were shown. They were intermediate in all respects as to morphological characters and had over 90% of the pollen undeveloped and unfit for fertilization. The speaker further exhibited a number of species of Juncus primarily with the object of demonstrating the ease with which many plant species which to the unexperienced student may seem difficult and puzzling, can be identified. With the use of a Zeiss binocular microscope, kindly placed at the Club’s disposal by the Topley Company, characters on the seed only, sufficient for the correct identifica- tion of such species as J. articulatus L. J. brevicaudatus (Engelm) Fernald, /. canadensis J. Gay, etc., were explained. In this connection a completely sterile form, collected at Bridgetown, N.S., was exhibited. This form was found to represent the com- Pee ian ]. articulatus x canadensis. Mr. Uhlemann, a visitor, spoke briefly on the Zeiss binocular microscope, stating that this instrument is probably one of the best of its kind in the world. ARAB December 20th, 1913, at the home of Mr. J. M. Macoun, the following members being present: W.T. Macoun, L. H. Newman, Geo. H. Clark, N. Criddle, Mr. Honeyman, Dr. Malte, Dr. Blackadar, A. Eastham, T. W. Dwight, A. E. Attwood, R. B. Whyte, J. M. Macoun, os J. Tulley and J. R. Fryer. Mr. C. J. Tulley and Dr. Malte were the speakers for the evening. Mr. Tulley first reviewed the evolutionary steps in reproductive processes in some of the lower plant forms. Com- mencing with the unicellular plant forms, the speaker briefly compared their cytological features with those of the simplest animal form, Amoeba, and explained that the reproductive method in unicellular plants is one of continuous cell multiplica- tion, one individual becoming two by cell division. This method of reproduction was designated Cell Division, as distinguished from the other two methods, Asexual and Sexual. In plants 142 THE OTTawa NATURALIST. [Jan. somewhat higher than the simplest of unicellular forms the reproductive method is slightly different. The products of cell division are dissimilar, certain daughter cells being specialized for reproductive purposes. These reproductive cells are called spores, and in cases where they are similar one to the others, the method of reproduction is known as the Asexual method. In forms still higher, some algae, for example, another method of reproduction is suggested. The spores produced are similar in appearance, but do not develop directly into new individuals. They first unite in pairs, forming in each case of union, a zygote, which develops into an adult individual. This method of re- production is known as the Sexual method, and where the uniting cells are similar the fusing process is known as Conjugation or Isogamy. In other forms the fusing cells are dissimilar, in which case the type of sexual reproduction employed is termed Heterogamy. In such cases the gametangia (organs bearing the gametes) are also differentiated. Mr. Tully referred especially to Ulothrix, an organism which bears two kinds of spores. One kind has two cilia on each spore, the other kind has four. The smaller two-ciliated spores unite in pairs, resulting in the development of a new filament. The speaker believed these similar gametes to be the beginning of the sexes. These methods were illustrated by microscopic specimens, those of Spirogyra and Vaucheria being especially fine. Mr. Tully then briefly described a method of preparing microscopic sections. Hard stems are first soaked in a mixture of glycerine, plus 95 per cent. alcohol, to soften the tissue for sectioning; tender stems are soaked in water and softer plant tissue, such as leaves, in a mixture of chromic acid, plus glacial acetic acid, plus water. The specimen is then cut with a microtome and the sections dropped into a little wire gauze basket, which may be immersed with the sections into the stain. The stains used are meihyl violet, which brings out the ligneous tissues, and congo red, which colors the softer tissues. Hosin may also be used for the softer parts. After staining the sections are washed in water and then in alcohol. This method was beauti- fully illustrated by some sections of stems taken from Mr. Tulley’s own collection. Dr. Malte then said a few words on fixing and staining vegetable tissue. He referred to the fact that nuclei in life are irregular in shape, having ramifications which extend not only to the cell wall, but pass through it, thus establishing direct communication between the cell and its neighbors. Dr. Malte suggested the possibility of these nuclear ramifications being responsible for the conveyance of stimuli which pass from one 1914] : THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 143 tissue to another in the leaf of Mimosa (Sensitive Plant) when this leaf responds by its phenomenal movement to the touch of a foreign object. He stated that under the ordinary method of fixing, these ramifications are dissolved by the alcchol and the nucleus is represented in a spherical form quite different from its shape in natural life. To overcome this difficulty and fix nuclei as in their natural state, Dr. Malte gave the following method: Treat the specimen from 10 seconds to 14 minutes in fumes of Osmic acid (10 per cent.); then a few minutes in 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 per cent. alcohol respectively. Keep in 60 per cent, alcohol 24 hours and then proceed to absolute alcohol as usual., sae sco 2 January 3rd, 1914, at the home of Mr. G. H. Clark, the following members being present: Gt. ‘Clark. R. Bt Whyte, W. T. Macoun, J° M. Macoun, A. Eastham, J. Dickson, E. D. Eddy, H. A. Honeyman, J. H. Grisdale, T. W. Dwight, L. H. Newman, N. Criddle, A. E. Attwood, J. R. Fryer.. Mr. G. H. Clark led in a discussion of the clay belt of New Ontario. A large number of interesting photographs, showing the character of the country along the right of way of the National Transcontinental Railway, which had been made avail- able for the evening by Mr. D. MacPherson, of the National Transcontinental Railway Commission Staff, and also a collec- tion of photographs showing progress in “clearing and cropping in the Temiskaming district and north, which had been loaned by G! a. Galbraith, district representative for agriculture of New Liskeard, proved to be of special interest. Mr. Clark, in company with the Director of the Dominion Experimental Farms, spent ten days traversing the clay belt along the new railway lines. Of the 275 miles covered, from Abitibi westward, only 14 per cent. was considered as useless for agriculture. An additional 26 per cent. was relatively flat, covered with black spruce and poorly drained naturally. The balance, 60 per cent., " as viewed along the right of way, was rated 21 per cent. excellent, 39 good, from the viewpoint of the settler. Limitations as to kinds of crops, because of the northerly climate, formed a con- siderable part of the discussion. It was thought that the information at present available was not to be considered reliable, and that as the forest is cleared away the length of the season will be much extended, as was the case in Old Ontario. Particular mention was made of the luxurious growth of grasses and clovers, as seen under agricultural conditions in the few settled localities near Cochrane and south, and around the construction camps to the west. 144 Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. [Jan. Mr. Honeyman, who had visited Hearst, in New Ontario, spoke briefly on the climatic conditions of that district, with special reference to late spring and early fall frosts, and listed the following plants which he found growing there: Spruce, balsam, white birch, cedar, poplar, mountain ash, gooseberry, blueberry, dogwood, clintonia, anemone, buttercup, great willow-herb, labrador tea, pitcher plant, yellow pond lily, ferns and botrychium. Mr. J. M. Macoun exhibited some English walnuts which had been produced by a Canadian grown tree. Members of the Club tested these nuts and found them to differ but little from the regular English walnut. fe reas BIRD NOTES FROM AWEME, MANITOBA. An interesting instance of how lack of snow is-largely instrumental in retarding the migratory movements of certain birds was brought prominently to our notice during the present winter, the details of which seem worthy of record. The Lapland Longspur (Calcarius Lapponicus) is an early migrant, as wellasalate one. In autumn its movements depend largely upon weather conditions, particularly snow, but, as a tule, it leaves us in Manitoba early in November. In 1913, all had left Aweme by November 16th, but soon after that date the weather turned mild again, causing the small amount of snow to vanish, thus exposing many seeds to view. On December 3rd, Longspurs began to arrive from the south in small flocks of from 15 to 20, and by the 17th were on the fields in hundreds, singing and flying about as if it were springtime. They remained common until the 24th, at which date the temperature dropped to 19 below zero, preceded by a light fall of snow, causing many of the birds to depart. A number remained, however, until the end of the year. On January 1st and 2nd, 1914, nearly 3 inches of snow fell, causing the last Longspur to depart. This, I believe, constitutes a record for lateness of that species in Manitoba; at all events it does so in our parts. It also suggests that snow covering the food supply, possibly supple- mented by cold, is the chief factor in driving the species south. Sruart CripDLe. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST - VoL. X XVII. February, 1914 No. 11 ON GRYPOSAURUS NOTABILIS, A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF TRACHODONT DINOSAUR FROM THE BELLY RIVER FORMATION OF ALBERTA, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE SKULL OF CHASMO- SAURUS: BELLI.* By Lawrence M. Lampe, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., F.G.S.A., Vertebrate Palezontologist to the Geological Survey, Canada. In two papers lately published the writer has described some of the dinosaurian material included in the 1913 collection, made by the Geological Survey’s vertebrate paleontological party in the Belly River formation on Red Deer river, Alberta, . under Mr. Charles H. Sternberg. The present paper is descriptive of a skull representing a new genus and species of trachodont, and of that of Chasmosaurus belli, both forming part of last summer’s collection. The skull of the trachodont is remarkable for its splendid state of preservation. The elements composing it are singularly free from breaks and displacement, there is little or no distor- tion, and the specimen is as close an approach to perfection as can be expected in a fossil vertebrate of large size. With the skull were found about twenty feet of the verte- bral column, most of the pectoral arch, about half of the ribs, the pelvic arch, one hind limb with part of the foot, and impres- sions of the skin from between the femur and the base of the tail. - The discoverer of these remains was George F. Sternberg, who has also prepared the skull as shown in side view, on plate XVIII. For the genus and species represented the name Grypo- saurus notabilis is proposed, the generic term having reference to one of the most striking features of the skull, viz., the pro- minence attained by the upper marginal curve of the nasal bones. The genus may be defined as follows:—Skull large, narrow and very deep, with highly arched nasals. The lower anterior border of the premaxilla expanded laterally. Orbit much smaller than the lateral temporal fossa. Quadrate high, partially *Communicated by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. 146 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. ! [Feb. separated from the jugal by a small quadrato-jugal. Mandible robust. Predentary expanded laterally and deflected in its hinder half, and posteriorly bifurcated below at the midline. Neural spines of the anterior dorsal vertebre long. Ischia not expanded distally. Body covered with small, polygonal, non-imbricating, tuberculate scales of rather uniform size. In no other member of the Trachodontide is the skull so deep anteriorly as in Gryposaurus notabilis. The nasals rise. to an extraordinary height a short distance in advance of the orbits. The top of the curve of the nasals is as high as the highest point of the back of the skull, viz., the summit of the squamosal behind the supratemporal fossa, The depth of the head at the apex of the nasal bones is equal to about half the maximum length of the skull. For the present, the characters of the species will be taken for the most part from the skull. Viewed from the side, the superior outline of the head is most depressed above the front border of the orbit, rising abruptly forward by a short ascent to the summit of the nasals, whence it descends rapidly to the anterior end of the premaxilla in a long curve whose general convexity is broken by a slight dip at midlength. From above the orbit the outline slopes gradually upward to attain the highest posterior point of the dorsal surface of the head a little in advance of the upper end of the quadrate. Seen from above, the broadest part of the head is along the surface of the jugal beneath the lateral temporal fossa, whence it contracts upward to the dorsal surface and forward to a point beneath the hinder end of the nasal opening, to expand again to a moderate extent in the lower premaxillary border. In the dorsal surface of the skull there is a slight diminution in breadth from behind the orbits backward, a somewhat equal contraction forward above the orbits, continued in a much greater degree, in the front half of the skull, by the narrow - median elevation of the nasals and premaxille. The sutures in this skull are so distinct that the position, shape and connections of the various elements composing it can be readily understood by reference to its photographic re- presentation in lateral aspect in plate XVIII. The narial opening is extremely long and narrow. It is enclosed behind and mostly above by the nasal, and in front, and for the greater part below, by the premaxilla. The orbital opening is higher than wide, somewhat quad- rangular in outline, and narrower below than above. The upper rim is formed equally by the prefrontal and postfrontal, and has ‘a tugose surface. In the rim between these bones is what appears 1914] THe Otrawa NATURALIST. 147 to be a small separate bone, which is regarded as a supraorbital. The slender postorbital bar is formed by a process sent down from the postfrontal to meet one rising from the jugal. The opening is bounded beneath by the jugal, and in front by the prefontal, lachrymal and jugal. In the upper anterior part of the opening there is a conspicuous emargination of the rim bounded in front and above by the prefontal and below by the lachrymal which sends up a short, stout process from its posterior border behind the emargination. What appears to be the opening of the lachrymal canal is here visible ras the indentation. The lateral temporal fossa is more than twice as high as wide and is narrowly rounded at its front lower termination. It is bounded in its lower half by the jugal, and in its upper half by the postfrontal anteriorly, by the postfrontal and squamosal above and by the squamosal and quadrate posteriorly. The jugal connects with the quadrate for some distance above the upper end of the quadrato-jugal. Anteriorly, the jugal effects a strong union with the maxilla below and the lachrymal above. The lachrymal meets the maxilla below in advance of its union with the jugal and connects with the nasal for a short distance, separating the prefontal from the long, backwardly directed lower limb of the premaxilla. The nasal extends back as far as the posterior end of the postfrontal and meets the frontal in a coarsely dentate, trans- verse suture. The frontal is about as broad as long and does not reach the orbital rim. Antero-laterally this bone connects with the postfrontal and supraorbital, postero-laterally it. is met by the postfrontal and behind by the parietal. The naso-frontal surface between the eyes is flat and at a slightly lowel lever than the upper orbital rims. The supratemporal fossa is angularly oval, with the greater diameter fore and aft. It is enclosed in front about equally by the parietal and postfrontal, and on the outside by the post- frontal and squamosal. The frontal does not quite reach the anterior margin of the fossa. The squamosal passes inward behind the opening to meet the parietal, but to what extent the latter bone contributes to the formation of the posterior border is not known, as the position of the squamoso-parietal suture has not yet been determined. The coalesced parietals form a narrow median bar, separating the two openings. Viewing the skull from the side, the thin edge of the angular is visible for a short distance beneath the posterior end of the dentary, and the articular appears to a limited extent at the extreme end of the mandible above the surangular. This last 148 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Feb. bone, which supplies the greater part of the cotylus for the articulation of the quadrate, is stout and ascends in front against the back surface of the coronoid process. i The teeth are of the usual trachodont type and are in from two to three rows in the grinding surface of the lower jaw. A satisfactory examination of the inner enamelled surface of the lower teeth has not been possible, but in two of the teeth seen from the inner side, the margin appears to be smooth, or nearly so. The edentulous part of the dentary is short and decurved and is covered in front for a little more than half of its length by the predentary. The front margin of the premaxille, for a distance of 24+ inches on each side of their median sutural union, is notched in a regular manner. On each side of the dentate edge the margin curves concavely upward and then merges into the extensive, depressed, lateral expansion. ' Superiorly, the predentary conforms to the shape of the premaxillaries. Its antero-lateral border rises on each side of a sunken median portion which would receive the notched end of the premaxillaries if the jaws were brought together. Postero- laterally, the predentary expands outward, producing a surface which is concave above and conforms to the shape of the lower surface of the lateral premaxillary expansion. This concave surface terminates outwardly behind in a short pointed process. Antero-laterally, the bone is excavated beneath the border of the upper surface. The retreating lower median surface ends posteriorly in two processes, one on each side of the symphysis, the anterior end of the dentaries being excavated to receive them. These processes are longer than broad and thin vertically. The predentary is one-third the length of the dentary and one- fourth that of the complete lower jaw. The skin impressions found with the skeleton to which this skull belongs are natural moulds and casts from the hinder part of the body between the femur and the base of the tail. The im- pressions are of non-imbricating, polygonal scales, smooth and convex on the upper surface, and varying in diameter from 4 up to 2 of an inch, with an average breadth of about ve of an inch. In the considerable integumental area revealed, the scales vary in size between the above limits without any definite pattern arrangement. It may be found by further study and comparison that the Belly River species Trachodon selwynt, established by the writer in 1902,* principally on the evidence of teeth, is the same as *Contributions to Canadian Paleontololgy, vol. III (quarto), pt. IT. 1914] Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. 149 Gryposaurus notabilis, in which case the species would be known as Gryposaurus selwynt. MEASUREMENTS. Feet. Inches. Height of head from lower edge of dentary to ame yoriu OL aasal:.c |) - 2. ‘oc Sees 1 75 Height of same from lower edge of surangular to highest point of squamosal................. 1 8 Length of same from anterior end of premaxilla to pestehiorcdsevofequamosal-)>\. S37 Tels hs. 3 Breadth between upper rim of orbits............ 92 Breadth between expanded lower anterior border of premanalle o's. Qs. i eee ta 9 Length of lower jaw, including predentary....... 2 = Depth of lower jaw at midlength from outer alveolar border to lower edge ‘of dentary... .s. Retsiiver quadaite: Myles a ocd hi eye. ab ger 1 4s Length of dental grinding surface of lower jaw in y “advance of the anterior margin of the coronoid Prmeesse 7k os ae lLNws tert es od ree eects 2) Bréadtinof sate atampidleno then 05 (ie dre nos Ld Length of supratemperabiossaij.es s4 ure 2 . es Witting samen” ge isp lied 1 Seat ie wi) Be Height (oblique) of lateral temporal fossa........ Width (horizontal) of same at midheight.:....... Height (oblique) of orbital opening............... Width Giotizontalof same): . flu isniiiee sc baer Rane pireatmasdl pei noes! si.) ice i. eiee ts lew acest. 1 Widthot samevatmidiength.. 2022. sector. be Greatest length of premaxilla from front margin to termination above lachrymal............. 1 Greatest lenath of predentary..\..5...02s).. hawt § Length of nasal, in a straight line............... 1 Length of frontal at-midline of head... .......... ies pteae boonsame ell. ei.) . otmethaven- Length of coalesced parietals (approx.).......... Last summer Mr. Sternberg’s party on Red Deer river was fortunate in discovering also a fairly complete skeleton with the skull, including skin impressions, of Chasmosaurus belli, a species founded by the writer in 1902,* on part of the coalesced parietals, and at that time assigned by him to the genus Monoclonius. The characters of the skull have revealed a new generic type, for which the name Protorosaurus** has lately been proposed.*** Oo ae — NOmOoOme BAe © bol bole HOO tole o2|5> Zh “IH Ww ~100 © He lco Colon colon cola *Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, vol. III (quarto), pt. II **The Ottawa Naturalist, vol. XXVII, No. 10, January, 1914 *#*See foot-note. p. 155 150 THe Orrawa NATURALIST. [Feb The lower surface of the skull has not yet been freed from the matrix, and the remainder of the skeleton is also in the state in which it was brought from the field and awaits description, but the skin impressions found with the remains of this individual have been described and figured by the writer in the paper above mentioned, in which the genus Chasmosaurus 1s defined. When found, the front part of the head above and in advance of the midlength of the maxillaries had gone to pieces through weathering, as had also the left side of the face as far back as the outer margin of the squamosal. The plane of weathering had not reached the rami of the lower jaw, which are present, but the predentary is missing. The large squamoso-parietal frill is in a particularly excellent state of preservation. On the right side the orbit and jugal are intact,“and both supraorbital horn- cores are present. This specimen was found with the dorsal surface uppermost, in a bed of clayey sandstone impregnated with iron. It has apparently suffered little distortion. The right jugal is pressed outward to some extent, and the squa- mosals, particularly toward their outer border, appear to be less inclined downward than they should be. The mandibular rami, as also the right quadrate and quadrato-jugal, were slightly displaced, but without distortion. The genus Chasmosaurus is regarded as ancestral to Torosaurus of Marsh from the Laramie of Wyoming, U.S.A. Its main characters, as already defined, are as follows:— Skull large, broadly triangular in superior aspect, with a narrow, abbreviated facial portion, and a broad and greatly extended posterior crest ending squarely behind. Coalesced parietals forming a slender framework enclosing large sub-triangular fontanelles. Squamosals very long and narrow with a scalloped free border. Epoccipitals present. Supraorbital horn-cores small, upright. Supratemporal fosse of moderate size. Postfrontal fontanelle present. Jaws robust. Teeth large, of the ceratopsian type. Body covered with non- imbricating, small plate-like, and smaller tubercle-like scales. In this skull of C. belli, discovered by Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, the length is 14 times the breadth, the distance forward of the anterior end being given with a fair degree of accuracy by the mandibular rami. The very great size of the crest or neck-frill, as compared with the rest of the head, is one of the most striking features of the skull, the length of the former to that of the latter being in the proportion of about 24 to 2. The frill is almost square, while the oe facial portion narrows rapidly to the front. The crest, composed of the dodaci parietals and the squamosals, is remarkably flat; it extends backward and 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 151 laterally in almost a horizontal plane. Its length is to its breadth in the proportion of about 7 to 8, with the maximum breadth near the posterior border. The parietal portion, which forms more than half of the frill, is broadly triangular in shape with the apex of the triangle in front. The squamosals are narrowly triangular, broadest in front, and extend backward to within a short distance of the crest’s postero-lateral angulation. Within the coalesced parietals are two sub-triangular fontanelles, longer than wide, and narrowing to the front, and so large as to reduce the posterior two-thirds of the parietals to a mere slender framework consisting of a median longitudinal shaft, separating the openings, a transverse posterior bar en- closing them behind, and narrow lateral bands forming their outer margins. There are seven low, sub-conical epoccipitals on the lateral free border of the right squamosal, eight apparently on the left, and one, with agreater proportionate height, at each side of the parietal portion on its postero-lateral angle. These separate ossifications have a lengthened oval or lenticular basal outline, the greater diameter being fore and aft, and the under surface is excavated. They are in shape similar to the epoccipitals of Triceratops and are applied to and cover the convexities of the sinuous margin of the frill in a like manner. Of the series the parietal one is the largest and there ts agradual diminution in size forward. Of the five horned dinosaurs known from the Belly River formation of Alberta, the present species and Centrosaurus apertus only have epoccipitals. The parietals in advance of the fontanelles form a broad. surface, flat throughout, except along the median line, where there is a low, rounded ridge which, becoming more pronouncea toward the front, terminates anteriorly in a small but well defined upwardly inclined platform which reaches the level of and effects a union with the postfrontals. This platform comes to a sharp edge laterally, where it is undercut by the supra- temporal fosse in a somewhat similar fashion as, but to a less extent than, in Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus. The longitudinal parietal shaft is oval in cross section with the greater diameter transverse. The posterior transverse bar is bow-shaped, bending slightly backward on each side of the median line and curving rapidly forward at each end to form the postero-lateral angle of the frill. On its upper surface there is a narrow ridge along the curved posterior border, and also a similar thickening on the back margin of each fontanelle. The main upper surface of the bar between the ridges is shallowly excavated. 152 THe Otrawa NATURALIST. [Feb. The squamosal of Chasmosaurus is remarkable for its length, although in comparison with the total length of the head it is shorter than in Torosaurus gladius, Marsh of the Laramie. It is transversely concave throughout its length and from near the squamoso-parietal suture slopes downward and outward with a slight upward flare at the free border. - Anteriorly, it effects a long sutural junction with the postfrontal and is over- lapped by the jugal. It encloses the lateral temporal fossa behind and throws forward a process which forms the greater part of the lower margin of this opening. Its front free border is at right angles to the length of the bone and constitutes the back border of a well defined quadrate notch. Its antero- lateral angle is evenly rounded. Behind its union with the -post- frontal its superior surface is broadly rounded transversely and descends rapidly backward to the genetal level of the parietal portion of the frill. Behind the jugal its surface is almost vertical. In its hinder half the broad front elevation is con- tinued backward as a narrow ridge next to the squamoso- parietal suture. Anteriorly within it overhangs the opening of the supratemporal fossa. In lateral aspect the jugal is narrow in its lower portion, and evenly rounded at the extremity. Above, it enters into the formation of the lower margin of the orbital rim to some extent. Laterally in front it ov erlaps the maxilla, and posteriorly above it meets the postfrontal and sends out an extension which forms the front and upper margin of the lateral temporal fossa and overlaps the. squamosal for some distance back of this opening. Its posterior border does not assist in enclosing the lateral temy oral fossa below, Fut what appears to be a broken surface on the border beneath the level of the opening suggests a con- vexity in the outline of the bone at this point. The forwardly directed process from the squamosal beneath the lateral temporal fossa does not reach the jugal and the lower margin of the opening is completed by the quadrato-jugal. Both the quadrate and the quadrato-jugal have been forced out of place, upward, to some extent. A rugose area on the outer posterior surface of the lower end of the jugal suggests that an epijugal may have been present. The orbit is higher than wide and slightly oblique, with the greater diameter directed downward and. forward. The supra- orbital horn-core rises immediately above the eye-opening. It is short and upright, and broadly oval in cross section near the base, with the oreater diameter fore and aft. Its basal outer surface is flattened and lies in the same vertical plane as the orbital rim. Behind the horn-core the postfrontal is tumid, and between this convexity and the orbital rim the surface is sunken. ¢. 1914] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 153 The lachrymal forms the greater part of the front rim. of the orbital opening, and meets the jugal below. It is injured anteriorly, and the frontals are not preserved. The postfrontals between the supraorbital horn-cores form a flat surface which slopes downward in front but descends much more rapidly behind. The tumidity of the surface behind the horn-cores merges into the broad anterior elevation of the squamosals. The suture between the postfrontals is not visible in front, but in the midline of the postfrontal surface there is a long, narrow fontanelle which extends back from a point in line with the posterior half of the horns to the anterior .end of the raised parietal platform which enters into the formation of the posterior margin of the fontanelle. This opening is rounded behind and in front, and comes to a sharp_ edge at the margin. Within, the excavation has a smooth floor and extends to each side for some distance beneath the postfrontals. Three smooth prominences occur in line on the broad anterior ridge of the squamosal, and in continuation there is an indistinct one in advance of the postfrontal suture, the tumid surface behind the supraorbital horn-core being one of the series, and the horn-core itself may be considered as the anterior culmination. In the midline of the coalesced parietals two obscurely marked elevations of a like nature occur in advance of the median shaft. The coalesced parietals form the floor and side walls of the posterior end of the postfrontal fontanelle, to what extent is not known, but the parieto-postfrontal suture is probably at the anterior end of the narrow surface of bone seen in the superior view of the skull separating the fontanelle from the sup- ratemporal fossa. This entry of the parietal into the formation of the postfrontal fontanelle occurs in both Styracosaurus and Centrosaurus. The mouth or opening of the siigivabeeeitsnaill fossa is rather narrow, and in coming from beneath the postfrontal it deeply undercuts the parietal platform and the squamosal, more especially the latter. The whole of the floor of the fossa at its mouth is supplied by the parietal, the squamoso-parietal suture being at the extreme outer limit of the floor. The sharp over- hanging edge of the mouth of the fossa is continuous 1n its curve and is contributed to by the parietal, squamosal and post- frontal, to a less extent by the last than by the other two elements. In advance of the parietal platform the surface of the bone drops to a slightly lower local level, leaving the anterior termination of the platform sharply defined. The lower jaw is strong and robust. The depth of the dentary at its midlength, measured from the inner alveolar 154 THe OrTtawa NATURALIST. [Feb. border, is a little over one-third of its length. The angular enters largely into the exterior surface of the jaw posteriorly, its sutural junction with the dentary having much the same general direction as in Ceratops canadensis. Its external surface is much farther forward beneath the base of the coronoid process than in Triceratops. The surangular, articular and splenial are pre- served and will be described at a later date. The coronoid process is strong and terminates anteriorly above in a narrowly rounded hook. The height of the alveolar border above the lower margin of the dentary decreases only slightly from front to back, and in this respect the direction of the border differs materially from that of C. canadensis, otherwise there is a general resemblance in the mandible of these two species. T he lower teeth bear a very high keel, and the grinding surface, as display- ed by those teeth which have been in use, is almost vertical. The dorsal surface of the skull of Chasmosaurus is rather smooth throughout. Small vascular markings occur on the parietals behind the inclined platform and on the platform itself. The upper surface of the postfrontals show these grooves to a greater extent but not in so decided a manner as the supra- orbital horn-cores and the epoccipitals which are the most rugose parts of the skull. The skull has been prepared, as it appears in the figures, by its discoverer, Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, and his son, Mr. CG. M. Sternberg. MEASUREMENTS. Feet. Inches. Estimated length of skull from midway between apices of parietal epoccipitals to front edge of rostralsbonewabotiinvewa 25:20 ca Se ee 5 <) Length of skull along median line from posterior parietal border to anterior end of dentary..... 4 Maximumebreadithtof eresteae Bir: tear 3 5$ Breadth between centre of orbits...... 11 Breadth between lower margin of lateral temporal Lo sGeeis HEE Reo Sia ae ee ee Rie ee 1 65 Antero-posterior diameter of supraorbital horn- eorertiearsbasenti: G2 6 AF Shee ae RR 2 Transverse diameter.of samemnear: bases og. Sk J. 2 lueneth, of samesitipwrestorcdtice Oh. Ruane . Serie 3 Length of squamosal from front end of process under lateral temporal fossa to back termina- Length of coalesced parietals along median line from posterior border to front edge of raised portion between supratemporal fosse........ bo O& 1914] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 13 Maximum length of intraparietal fontanelle A 2) ne” eee RRB a each cr eg ge 1 8 ee ec ee Pee ee 1 1% Transverse diameter of pencil shaft at midlength 2% Length of lower jaw from back end of articular to front end of dentary..... 1 82 Depth of dentary at midlength from inner - alveolar Merder to lower marca. ..1°°° YS eae hie 5 Vertical diameter of orbital OPE. eres. vee 4g Horizontal diameter of orbital opening.......... 3 Vertical distance of postfrontal surface between orbits above lower end of jugal.......-..... 1 Breadth of crown of tooth of lower jaw.......... Peneie oO posuiroutal tottaneie’. 06 oft. oe ce eg MCP weet SAEIPCTAULLY 02 os ine oa es oan 2 Depth of same posteriorly ..................... Height of posterior edge of postfrontal above floor of Wise | any sh es0i8 6/6, fe hid 10 ( aie Sat ae rem ee Naa 3 —_— WNW O Wh RH Horns EXPLANATION OF PLATES. PLATE XVIII.—Lateral view of skull of Gryposaurus notabilts, one-sixth the natural size. PATE? XIX. —Skull of Chasmosaurus bell1, from above; one- tenth the natural size. PLATE XX .—Side view of same, similarly reduced. Abbreviations —A, parietal fontanelle; AN, angular; AR, articular; B, postfrontal fontanelle; C, supratemporal fossa ; D, lateral temporal fossa; DN, dentary; EO, epoccipital; FP, postfrontal; /, jugal; L, lachrymal; MX, maxilla; N, nasal; NO, nasal opening; OR, orbit; PD, predentary; PF, prefrontal; PM, premaxilla; Q, quadrate; QJ, quadrato-jugal; S, squa- mosal; SA, surangular; SO, supraorbital. Note.—The fact that the generic term Protorosaurus is already in use was overlooked by the writer, who now substitutes Chasmosaurus to designate the Belly River ceratopsian from Alberta. The new name has reference to the openings in the skull, more particularly to the great size of the intraparietal fontanelles. SALIX HOOKERIANA Barratt. This willow, so abundant in low ground and swamps in the Lower Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island, is, I think, not understood by the makers of books on the flora of Washing- ton State, or perhaps the plant reaches fuller development in British Columbia. The capsule is very variable in its indument, being either densely tomentose, quite glabrous, or glabrous below or on the sutures and tomentose above, sometimes 156 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Feb. becoming nearly glabrous in this intermediate form. According to Hooker’s description and figure the capsule is glabrous; but glabrous forms are not so common as tomentose. They occur both on the mainland and on Vancouver Island. S. Hookeriana flowers at Vancouver in March, shortly after S. Scoulertana, from which it is easily distinguished by its furry-tomentose branchlets, which are very brittle at a point just above the fork; by its long style and short stigmas, and by its usually very large, exeet. fertile catkins. S. Scouleriana has little or no style, long : stigmas, merely puberulent branchlets and the fertile catkins soon recurve. The staminate catkins of S. Hookeriana are larger than those of S..Scoulertana, and some- times in two sets—the second set not flowering for a month or six weeks after the first, when apparently no, late pistillate catkins are in flower. It rarely produces stipules, a point about which Hooker was doubtful. The closest allies of S. Hookeriana in British Columbia seem to be S. Barrattiana of the Rockies, which always has large stipules, and S. Piper: Bebb, if a few clumps occurring at Van- couver can be so assigned. These clumps have large, oblong leaves shining above and glaucous-pubescent below, and so far agree very well with Bebb’s description; but the branches are shghtly pubescent, the leaves firm rather than thin, and the capsule may have a very slight pubescence at the apex. The willow is thus, as far as the pistillate plant is concerned, inter- mediate between the form of S. Hookeriana with glabrous or slightly pubescent capsules, and S. Piper1. The staminate flowers have not been observed. In the autumn form this willow quite differs from S. Hookeriana. Its leaves turn yellow, and fall late; while those of S. Hookeriana turn more or less blackish, and fall earliest of the coast willows. As the type of S. Pipert came from Seattle, this species may be expected to occur in southern British Columbia. J. K. Henry, Vancouver, B.C. MEETING OF THE BOTAN ICAL BRANCH. Held at the University Club rooms, 150 Elgin Street, on the evening of January 17th, the following members being present’) EX BD: Eddy, R. B. Whyte, L. H. Newman, C. J. Tulley, T. W. Dwight and j. R. Fryer. Mr. L. H. Newman led in the discussion of a review of some recent work dealing with the phenomenon of variation in plants. He first reviewed some work done by Fruwirth on potatoes. Fruwirth investigated the variations occurring in successive ss — Oo Fors} >> THE OTTawa NATURALIST. 157 generations of potatoes. In order to eliminate variations due to hybridization he sowed seeds taken from potato balls grown naturally, that is, no artificial crossing had been practised in producing this seed. After the first generation each succeeding one was produced from the tubers and not the true seeds of the preceding. Careful comparisons were made between the mothers and their respective progeny in different generations in order to observe and record any apparent deviation that might occur. Special attention was given to the colour of the skin and of the flesh of the tubers harvested, together with the size and shape of these. The variations in these features were very marked. Most of them were readily explainable by the principles of heredity, but in one case there were found in the second generation four plants which produced yellow-fleshed tubers, although the flesh of the mother sort was not yellow, but white. This form can- not be explained as recessive because yellow was dominant. No very satisfactory explanation was given for this occurrence. From the results of his investigation Fruwirth concludes “that it is possible to improve our present potato sorts by the con- tinuous selection of desirable hills.”’ Mr. Newman then discussed briefly variations in pure lines of self-fertilizing plants. He stated that recent work indicates that in plants which are normally self-fertilizing there is practi- cally no variation. While it seems certain that we must abandon the idea of the existence of continuous variation in certain classes of plants, yet we know from experience that strange forms do sometimes occur even in our so-called ‘‘pure”’ lines. While the appearance of many of these strange forms may be accounted for as crossing products, it has not been definitely proven that new forms cannot arise quite independently of intersexular combination. Forms appearing in this way have been termed ‘‘mutants’’ or ‘‘mutations’’ by DeVries, who believes that most new forms arise in this sudden independent fashion. The speaker then reviewed an account published last year by Dr. Kiessling, of Bavaria, on an elaborate investigation into the origin of a form of two-rowed barley, which seems to show that this form is undoubtedly a mutation. In 1898, Dr. Kiessling obtained a sample of old Austrian barley from a farmer and tested it at the breeding station at Weihenstephan. From the crop of 1900 a number of plants were selected for pure line work. One of these survived the test and came to be propagated in a pure condition from year to year. In 1908, eighteen plants were selected out of this line to prove its constancy. The progeny from each of these plants proved to be constant with one 158 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. ; [Feb. exception. In this case the plants; on May 10th, were recorded as being somewhat less upright than those in the other cultures. The plants thus deviating were closely studied and their progeny carefully compared from year to year with the progeny of the original pureline. In 1911, it was found that the aberrant type was much more susceptible to cold than was the original mother line. Other evident differences between the two showed con- clusively that a new form had arisen. Moreover, the new form showed its own modification curve, and therefore cannot be regarded as a modification of the original line. After much discussion as to an explanation of the origin of this new form Kiessling finally concludes the new type is an example of DeVries mutations. Te eel NOTES ON THE APOTHECIAL STAGE OF SCLEROTINIA CINEREA IN ONTARIO. By J. E. Howitt, O.A.C., GueLpu, ONT. This fungus was known as Monzilia fructigena, Pers., until placed in the genus Sclerotinia by Woronin in 1899. Recent investigations show that the American Brown Rot fungus of stone fruits is not identical with Sclerotinia fructigena occurring in Europe on pome fruits. It agrees more clearly with Sclero- tinia cimerea and should be referred to that species. In the spring of 1902, Norton found the apothecial stage in abundance in peach and plum orchards in Maryland. In 1906, this stage was reported as being very common in the United States through- out the west. Up to the present time, however, pathologists have not regarded the apothecial stage of importance in the propogation of the fungus. Conidia adherent to bark or bud scales and the mycelium of the mummied fruits or blighted twigs have been considered to be the chief sources of infection. While these are undoubtedly important sources of infection, observa- tions made by the writer during the spring of 1912 point to the possibility that in wet seasons the apothecial stage may be of primary importance in the dissemination of the fungus and the chief source of blossom infection. In the course of some studies on the life-history of Sclerotinia cinerea a careful watch was kept for the appearance of the apothecial stage. On May 25th, 1912, Mr. W. A. McCubbin, my colleague in this work, found numerous apothecia under wild plum trees (Prunus americana) at Cedar Mills, Ontario. The soil in this locality is a sandy loam. Apothecia were produced from old plums buried from one to two inches in the sand and 1914] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 159 loam. These old pliims had evidently been buried for some time in the soil, as last year’s plums were still on the surface of the ground. When the apothecia were gathered it was observed that the asci in the more mature ones were discharging their spores. The blossoms at this time had nearly all fallen. On May 29th, the writer paid a visit to Fruitland, in the Niagara district, Ontario, in search of the apothecial stage. A well cultivated plum orchard (chiefly Lombards) was visited. The soil was a fairly heavy clay loam. Numbers of apothecia were found growing from sclerotia in old dried mummied plums covered by moist earth or lying on the surface of the ground in low spots where water had lain for some time. © A closer examina- tion revealed the stipes of numerous apothecia that had evidently withered up as soon as the mummied fruit from which they were growing had been dried by the sun. In another plum orchard, the soil of which varied from clay loam to light sandy loam, many more apothecia were observed, and countless withered stipes indicated how prevalent the apothecial stage had been. When the apothecia were disturbed, the spores were discharged in fine brown dust-like clouds. The petals by this time had nearly all fallen but most of the calices were still intact. A peach orchard on light, sandy loam was next inspected. In this orchard a heavy cover crop of winter rye was growing. Very few.mummied fruits were found on the serface of the soil A number of apothecia were found, however, growing from the mummies buried in the sand. These were most abundant where the cover crop was heaviest and the soil dampest. This was the first year that the apothecial stage was ob- served in Ontario. The continual wet weather during May without doubt accounted for the abundance of this stage of the fungus. It was observed that the apothecia were not produced except after heavy rains, and that they dried up and disappeared within a few hours after the weather became dry and warm. The very brief duration of the apothecia probably accounts for the fact that this stage has not been more generally observed by pathologists. On the same dates that the apothecia were found in such abundance, mummied fruits and blighted twigs were examined to see if the mycelium was producing spore pustules. Though large numbers of mummies and twigs were examined none showed signs of spore pustules. These were not observed until a much later date. As the blossoms had nearly all fallen at this time, it would appear that the source of blossom infection is either conidia adherent to the bud scales or the apothecial stage pro- duced from mummied fruits beneath the trees. It would seem 160 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Feb. from the observations made that large numbers of apotheica are produced in wet seasons and that the asci discharge immense numbers of spores during the blossoming period. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the apothecia are one of the chief sources of blossom infection which later may result in twig blight. It is also possible that the ascospores account for much of the infection of the young fruit. It also seems likely that the apothecia are produced in more or less abundance every spring, but as they wither very quickly when the weather becomes dry they have not been observed, and hence the apothecial stage has been regarded of little importance in the propagation of the fungus and the continuance of the disease. The writer hopes to continue these observations, as it is desirable to ascertain definitely the extent of the infection due to the production of apothecia in order that proper measures may be recommended for the control of this disease. Plowing under the mummied fruits has hitherto been considered one of the best means of preventing infection but if the apothecia are produced from old fruits which have been buried a year or more in the soil and brought to the surface by fresh plowing, this method would appear to be of little value. Observations on this funguswere continued inthe spring, of 1913. The apothecial stage was found in comparative abun- dance in plum orchards near St. Catharines. In order to deter- mine whether the apothecia developed from mummied plums which had been buried in the soil for a year or more, or from mummied plums of the previous season, a number of mummied plums gathered in the spring of 1912 (the plums having been destroyed by the Brown Rot during the summer of 1911) were buried in loam and sand at different depths and left outside, exposed to climatic conditions until the spring, of 1913. They were then dug up and placed in moist chambers. Not a single apothecium developed from any of them nor were there any ones of the formation of sclerotia. Some mummied plums gathered last spring, which had hung on the trees or lain on the eround under the trees for the winter, were placed in moist chambers at the same time. On one mummied plum which had lain on the ground for the winter, a number of stunted, poorly-developed apothecia appeared. This experiment, though by no means conclusive, suggests that the apothecia may be developed from mummies of the previous years. These experi- ments and observations will be continued with the hope of clearing up this and other obscure points in the life-history of Sclerotinia cinerea. ‘THE OTTAWA NATURALIST ~ s ——— Vou. XXVII. March, 1914 No. 12 THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS IN AND AROUND OTTAWA#* By C. Gordon Hewirr, D.Sc., F.R.S.C. Domim2on Entomologist, Ottawa. It is the purpose of this address to discuss, first, the gen- eral question of the protection of birds and the reasons why this is necessary; secondly, the economic value of certain common birds which we desire to protect; and thirdly, a proposal for the protection of the native birds around Ottawa. The motives behind the widespread and increasing move- ment respecting the protection of our native birds may be includ- ed in two classes, namely, sentimental and practical. Most people, even in this material age, are sensible of feelings of affection towards our birds and are delighted when the return of . the first spring migrants announces the termination of our long birdless winter. But the practical considerations underlying the movement are not so generally appreciated and for that reason esthetic feelings will be assumed and the practical motives dis- cussed. Few people realize the place of insect pests in the general economy of life, but when it is understood that were it not for their controlling factors insects would in a few years destroy every form of vegetation, and consequently all animal life on the face of the globe, the significance of such controlling factors will be appreciated. Inthe United States it is estimated on a con- servative basis that the annual loss on agricultureal and forest pro- ducts is about eight hundred million dollars ($800,000,000). I have estimated that in Canada, on our field crops alone, the minimum annual loss due to injurious insects cannot be less than fifty million dollars; this does not take into account the enormous aggregate cost of controlling insect pests. And yet the most valuable insecticidal agencies we have are not only not en- couraged but in many cases ruthlessly destroyed. Sucha short- sighted and wasteful policy cannot and must not be continued, *Abstract of an illustrated lecture delivered before the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 10th February, 1914. . 162 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. We are endeavouring to increase the productiveness of the soil; birds will assist in doing this by destroying those agencies, name- ly, insect pests which decrease the amount produced. The quantity of insect food consumed by birds is almost incomprehensible, but the facts set forth by various investigators on this continent and in Europe give us some idea of the extent to which insects go to make up the diets of birds. Insects constitute 65 per cent. of the total yearly food of woodpeckers, 96 per cent. of that of fly-catchers, and 95 percent. of the yearly food of wrens. Upwards of 5000 insects have been found in asingle bird’s stomach. The value of the birds is increased by the fact that at the time when insects are most abundant birds are most active and require most food, especially animal food, to feed their young. A bird normally requires a large amount of food owing to its active habits and high temperature, all of which bodily functions demand a constant and plentiful supply of fuel in the shape of food. A young crow will eat twice its weight in food; a robin weighing three ounces was found by Nash to consume five and one-half ounces of cutwormsina day. Itis calculated that a pair of tits and the young they rear will consume about 170 pounds of insect food during a year. These facts and others to be given later will indicate the enormous destruction of insect life that is accomphi- shed by the presence of birds. They constitute one of the fortunate balances of nature. But man is constantly upsetting the balance. Woodlands are cut down and give place to open fields; snake fences give way to wire; subdivisions and town lots obliterate the waste places and often the swamps. All these circumstances tend to drive away the birds formerly resi- dent and breeding in such localities. Then outbreaks of injurious insects occur and their depredations are increased and prolonged by reason of the absence of such important enemies. ‘Therefore, our aim should be to restore the balance by attracting the birds back to our parks and natural reservations. Not only do birds destroy insect pests, but they contribute to the destruction of weeds. Certain species of our native sparrows are large consumers of such weed seeds as bindweed, lamb’s quarters, ragweed, amaranth, pigeon grass, etc. Judd records the result of the examination of over 4000 stomachs of twenty species of sparrows. It was found that for the entire year weed seeds form more than half their food, and during the colder. months of the year these seeds constitute about four-fifths of the food of many species. A single bird will often be found to have eaten 300 seeds of pigeon grass or 500 seeds of lamb’s quarters or pigweed. Beal estimated that the tree sparrow may consume one- quarter.ounce of weed seed per day, and on that basis, in a state ——— whe . ; « ; eee a ee ae * F “7 ie Vo led. 3 ae” rf sae! os co ea 3 se “Tur -OTTawa NATURALIST. 163 the size of Jowa, this species would consume about 800 tons of seeds annually. It is important to point out, however, that the weed-de- stroying power of graminivorous birds may be exaggerated if the question is not investigated with great thoroughness, for while the powerful gizzards of some birds may grind up the hardest coated seeds, in other cases seeds may be capable of germination after passing through the digestive tract, as Collinge has shown in a number of cases in English birds. In such instances the birds would act as disseminators of weed seeds. Then again, in the case of insectivorous birds, besides destroying noxious insects, they will destroy various kinds of insects which are useful by reason of their parasitic habits upon noxious insects. These facts indicate that the question of the economic status ofa birdis not always an easy matter to determine and demands thorough investigation in each case. In certain instances useful birds eat grain or fruit. The Horned Larks occasionally eat grain, vegetable food constitu- ting about 80 per cent. of their total food. Six-sevenths of this total amount of vegetable food consists of the seeds of such weeds as foxtail, amaranth, ragweed, and bindweed. It surely is not too much to ask that, in view of the good they effect, a little injury shall be overlooked, especially as they make no charges for the.good work they accomplish. It has sometimes seemed to me that in the case of those useful bifds which sometimes take to fruit eating, it is cheaper to protect the fruit from the birds than from the insects. As insecticides, birds are the cheapest and most generally efficient that can be found. The feeding habits of a few of our common species of birds which should be protected may now be considered. The Robin (Planesticus migratorius) probably comes first. Early in the year it feeds extensively on cutworms, those insidious enemies of our garden plants and crops; in March they constitute over a third of the robin’s food. It is accused of fruit eating, and yet of all the vegetable matter it consumes a large proportion con- sists of wild fruits; 330 stomachs contained 58 per cent. vegetable matter, of which 47 per cent. consisted of wild fruits and 4 per cent. cultivated fruits.* The Bluebird (Szalia sialis) is not so common as formerly in the Ottawa district, having probably been driven away by the encroachments of man. Charming in its habits it responds readily to encouragement, building in hollow trunks and cavities. Insects such as grasshoppers, beetles and cater- pillars constitute about 68 per cent. of its food. *E xcept pees it is specifically stated otherwise, these analyses of stomach contents are taken from the publications of the Biological Survey of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, to which the reader is referred for further details.§ Shan ae Sea Ste Se PN iy SO LOM 164 | Tue Orrawa NaTuRALIST. et ec With the possible exception of the house wren, probably no other birds so readily take advantage of artificial nesting places as the Chicadees (Penthestes atricapillus and others) and Tits. Their unremitting search for insects on every branch, twig and leaf is a fascinating sight and the good they accomplish is diffi- cult to conceive. A Blue Tit will destroy six and a half million insects in a year, and in bringing up a family of about twelve to sixteen young ones, about twenty-four million insects would ultimately be accounted for. Especially valuable are they in the destruction of the eggs of certain species of defoliating cater- ‘pillars, such as the canker worms and tent caterpillars, the moths of which deposit their eggs on twigs. Graf, in Switzerland, states that three blue-tits and three cole-tits consumed 8000 to 9000 insect eggs daily ; three marsh tits. one cole-tit, a long-tailed tit anda golden crested wren consumed 600 caterpillars in 100 minutes. The pupae of the codling moth and the hibernating forms of plant lice do not escape the sharp eye of these small acrobats. The little White-breasted Nuthatch (Szita carolin- ensis) which may be seen running notonly upwards but also downwards on the trunks of trees, has somewhat similiar habits to the Chicadees. Over 50 per cent. ofits food consists of insects. The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) has suffered much by the inroads of the quarrelsome English sparrow which drives it out of its nesting places on every possible occasion. Nevertheless, this confiding little bird which charms us so much with its little bubbling song and exacts sucha heavy toll on insect life will gladly accept a nesting box out of which the sparrows may be kept by hanging it rather low down, and having the entrance hole as small as possible. The Purple Martin (Progne subis) formerly nested in hollow trees, but the advent of man encouraged it to nest about his domicile. In some parts of the country, I have noticed the fact particularly in certain sections of New Brunswick, one may see martin houses erected on poles and this form of encouragement is very successful, although the English sparrows are a constant source of trouble to the rightfulowners. The value of the martins and swallows around the house and buildings as insect destroy- ers is appreciated by all who haveencouraged them. The Tree Swallow (/ridoprocne bicolor), which nests in hollow trees, is not so abundant in certain sections of Ontario as formerly. Reporting the success of nesting boxes during 1913, Mr. W. E. Saunders, of London, Ont., writes: ‘‘Another lot of boxes which were put in place on an island in the Rideau Lakes were a source of actual competition among the tree swallows, there being more pairs than there were nests, and considering the fact that these } oe 1914] = THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 165 birds are almost extinct in south-western Ontario, where they were formerly tolerably common, it would seem an excellent policy to encourage them in the Ottawa district while you have them there’’. Two of the woodpeckers may be attracted by the use of nesting boxes. The Flicker (Colaptes auratus), which occurs in and around Ottawa, feeds largely on ants; a single stomach has been found to contain over 5000 ants. In another instance 28 white grubs, one of our worst pests of grass land and certain crops, were found in the stomach of a flicker which feeds largely on the ground. Italso feeds upon wild fruits, such as the wild black cherry. The Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) is a most valuable ally, as it feeds largely on beetles that destroy trees by boring into the bark and timber. An examination of 723 stomachs showed that 76 per cent. of the diet was animal food, consisting chiefly of insects. Reference has already been made to the weed-destroying habits of our native sparrows. - One ofthe first birds to arrive in the spring, breaking the long winter silence with its welcome little song, is the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), which is very domestic in its habits. About three-fourths of its food consist of weed seeds and one-fourth of insects. Beetles, especially weevils, form the greater portion of the insect food. A thick hedge, dense shrubs or piles of logs provide suitable nesting places for this most welcome of our sparrows. The Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina), whose confiding ways give it a warm place in our affection, has somewhat similar nesting habits to the former. It is,moreover, the most insectivorous of our sparrows. About 42 per cent. of its food consists of insects and spiders, and caterpillars make up the major portion of the insect food, especially when the young are being reared, when as manyas 17 feedings per hour, on an average, for a brood of our nestlings have been recorded. The retiring and sombre Juncoor Snow- bird (Junco hyemalis), destroys insects and teeds on weed seeds. An examination of 500 stomachs gave 23 per cent. animal food (caterpillars, bugs and beetles), and 77 per cent. vegetable food, of which over 61 per cent. consisted of weed seeds. In September the proportion of weed seeds may rise as high as 95 per cent. of the food. Before discussing the details of the proposal for the protec- tion of the Ottawa birds, it will be of interest to refer to the results of certain schemes of bird protection which have been adopted in other countries. - 166 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Mar. The greatest exponent of the practice of bird protection is undoubtedly Baron von Berleyisch, andto him we are indebted for the splendid example he has given at Seebach in Germany. His ideas have been adopted by various states inGermany and in the countries where the protection of birds andthe provision of nesting boxes constitute an important and necessary adjunct of forestry methods. Aninstance, given by Baron von Berlepsch, of the practical value of bird encouragement may be quoted. The Hainich wood, south of Eisenach, which covers several square miles, was stripped entirely bare in the spring of 1905 by the caterpillars of the Oak Leaf-roller Moth(Tortrix viridiana). The wood of Baron von Berlepsch, in which there had long been nesting boxes, of which there are now more than 2,000, was un- touched. It actually stood out among the remaining woods like a green oasis. At a distance of a little more than a quarter of a mile farther, the first traces of the plague were apparent, and at the same distance farther on still it was in full force. It was plain proof of the distance the tits and their companions had gone during the winter and after their breeding time. Similiar observations were made during a plague of the same insect (Tortrix viridiana) in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, where the pro- tection of birds has been carried on in a sensible and energetic fashion for over ten years. Of 9,300 boxes hung up by the Government in the State and Communal woods of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 70 to 80 per cent. were occupied in the first year and in 1907 all were inhabited. On and near Baron von Berlepsch’s Seebach estate, 90 per cent. of 2,000 nest boxes inone wood were occupied, and nearly all of 500 and 2,100 in other localities. In Hungary similar measures are taken largely owing to the admirable work of Otto Hermann, one of the foremost European advocates of bird protection. Some years ago when investigating the depredations of the Larch Sawfly (Nematus erichsonit) in the English Lake district I was impressed with the value of birds as natural means of con- trol,and as birdsin the worst infested district, namely Thirlmere, were not so abundant as they should have been, it was recom- mended that they should be protected and encouraged by means of nesting boxes. The corporation of the city of Manchester owns Thirlmere, this lake being their water supply, and they distributed nesting boxes of the pattern which I devised and which is illus- trated herewith. (Fig. 1). The advantage of this box was that it could be made out of the slabs or rejected outer portions of the lumber bearing the bark. Three equal lengths of the slab are nailed together to form three sides of a long box, the outside of which, bearing the bark, The fourth side is made of a flat piece wood. Several holes should be bored in S THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 167 was round and the inside square. of wood forming the back of the box; this. piece is longer than the other sides and projects above and below the box, thus providing means of attaching the box to the tree (see Fig. 2). The top and bottom of the box may be made of slab the bottom, which is nailed on, to keep the nest dry. The top is hinged to the back board and when in use is fastened down by means of a screw, which permits the lid to be opened for the purpose of , cleaning out the oldnests.. By so utili- zing waste lumber, these boxes were made very cheaply at the sawmill. A boy could readily make similar boxes. Plate X XI shows such a box in use. In the first year (1908) 60 boxes were distri- buted and 31 per cent. were occupied. The number of boxes was increased yearly until in 1911 there were 347 boxes, of which 66 per cent. were occupied.* Fig. 1 I am informed that in 1913, 75 per C€Nt. Nesting Box Made‘of Slab-wood* of the boxes were occupied. In addition Ready for Hanging. 5-4 ¢ to the provision of nesting boxes, feeding houses-of the Hessian type (Plate XXII) were erected for the purpose of feeding the _ birds in the winter In addition to the provision of nesting places for those birds nesting in cavities and hollow places, the protection of birds involves the carrying out of other measures also. For birds nesting on or near the ground piles of logs or brushwood may be left in sheltered places and thickets of closely growing shrubs and vines permitted to remain here and there. Piled logs will also provide shelter for many birds during inclement weather. While most of our birds leave us during the winter, *For further particulars and iltustrations see Buil. 10, Second Series of the Experimental Farms, Dept., Agric., Canada, entitled ‘“‘The Large Larch Saw Fly.”’ The Berlepsch Nesting Boxes in various sizes may bg obtained from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 23 Queen Anne’s Gate, London, S.W., England, who will gladly furnish a price list; or from the manufacturer: Hermann Scheid, Btren, Westphalia, Germany. 168 Tue Otrawa NATURALIST. [Mar. except in certain places where the chicadees may be found, there are certain occasions where feeding may be adopted with advantage. Not infrequently after the arrival of certain of our early migrants in the spring a cold spell and snow occurs. On such} occasions feeding can be resorted to with great advan- tage. The fact that birds require water is not so generally Fig. 2 Structural Details of Nesting Box Shown in Fig.1 B.—Lid on Front of Box. C.—View of Box from Back. realized as one would wish. Especialy is this the case during our hot summer months. One of the most attractive additions which can be made to a garden is a bird’s drinking trough or fountain. This should be shallow enough to permit the birds to take a bath. The best type of artificial bird water supply for a garden is a shallow pool, two or three feet in diameter, and a few inches deep, in which a few reeds and water plants are 1914] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. 169 planted. If this is placed in a wooded corner of the garden or shrubbery it will be constantly visited by all kinds of small birds. The foregoing discussion of the advantages and methods of bird protection leads me to the chief object of this lecture, namely, the outlining of a definite scheme for the protection and encouragement of the birds of Ottawa, which scheme, lam pleased to say, has been enthusiastically adopted by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. Those who have lived in Ottawa for ‘a number of years will have observed with regret the destruction one by one of places which were the haunts of many wild birds The rapid growth of the city and the outward march of the streets and houses have driven the birds from their former quarters. We are now witnessing the destruction of one of the most de- lightful of all nature spots around Ottawa, namely Beaver Meadow. The city is gaining in population and taxes at the expense of natural beauty. But as we cannot and should not wish to prevent such extension, we should take every means possible to offset the losses in natural beauty so occasioned. There are within the city limits, but at present on the outskirts of the built-over districts, two areas unequalled by their natural beauty for the purpose we have in view. I refer to Rockcliffe Park and the grounds and Botanical Garden of the Dominion Government’s Experimental Farm. The former, being a piece of woodland and forest rescued from the hand of the lum- berman and builder, is one of the most beautiful natural parks in eastern Canada. The Experimental Farm, laid out and planted about twenty-six years ago,is even better suited to the purpose in view, owing to the abundance of trees and shrubs of all kinds, especially those bearing wild fruits. Since the establishment of the farm, efforts have been made to prevent the destruction of the birds and the robbing of their nests and Mr. W. T. Macoun, the Dominion Horticulturist, showed great zeal in this protection. ~ It is proposed to regard these two areas as bird sanctuaries in which steps shall be taken not only to prevent the destruc- tion of the birds and the despoiling of their nests, but also to encourage their presence by providing those species which nest in holes and cavities with nesting boxes and sites. I am very pleased to say that the Ottawa Improvement Commission have consented to provide and distribute this spring two hundred and fifty nest boxesin Rockcliffe Park, and to constitute the same as a bird sanctuary. The Director of the Experimental Farms has agreed to the distribution in the spring of one hundred and sixty nesting boxes in the grounds of the Farm and the Botan- ical Garden, which wlll constitute a sanctuary. Apart from 170 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Mar. the esthetic motives, the practical value of the encouragement of birds in both these places is of inestimable importance, as they constitute the most efficient protective agencies of the trees that can be secured, and the cost of their assistance—the cost of the nesting boxes, etc.—regarded in the light of an insurance premium against insect depredations, is at the lowest rate imagin- able. The existence of two such bird sanctuaries will undoubtedly tend to prevent the gradual disappearance from the Ottawa district of a number of birds which are becoming less abundant than formerly. Further, it is reasonable to expect that when the northerly migrations are taking place in the spring, the en- couragement we are arranging to offer will meet with a response, and birds which otherwise would have passed on will stay with us through the season to our profit in every way. The scheme will afford the best check that we can adopt in preventing, so far as is possible, the gradual departure of a number of our native birds from the Ottawa district. The successful carrying out of this scheme will require the sympathy and willing co-operation of all. The Field-Naturalists’ Club is honoured by having as its patron H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, Governor-General of Canada, who has requested me to express his warm sympathy and interest in this proposal. Mr. Borden, the Prime Minister, to whom I explained the scheme wrote: ‘‘It is needless to say that the proposal which you have in hand commands my entire sympathy.”’ Sir Wilfrid Laurier has for some time urged the adoption of such a scheme. The Field-Naturalists’ Club feels that it can rely upon the assistance of all those who have the preservation of the beauty and charm of our city and its surroundings at heart. With a view to assist- ing in the suppression of the wanton destruction of nests by robbing and birds by small rifle shooting on the part of boys in and around the city, the assistance of the Boy Scouts is being secured. Col. A. P. Sherwood, Commissioner of Dominion Police, writes: ‘“‘I assure you that you could not have appealed to anybody more sympathetic in regard to the protection of our native birds, and I will certainly have this matter taken up at once by the Local Council of Boy Scouts’. It seemed to to me that as protectors of bird life and as policemen, the Boy Scouts would furnish an unrivalled auxiliary in this work. The idea is in accord with the spirit of the Boy Scout movement and the influence of such boys upon their more wayward and less enlightened brothers would undoubtedly be beneficial. Finally, we must remember that the results of our action along the lines I have indicated will not influence Ottawa alone. 1914] THe Otrawa NATURALIST. C74 The activities of the Capital are observed and recorded through- out the country, not always to our credit The force of example in such a protective movement will surely have effect on other places. Those who have travelled throughout Canada know how lightly the protection of birds is regarded, especially by those to whom it is most essential. The Provincial Governments have their regulations governing the protection of birds, but it is only by education and example that any real progress will be made in this movement which has for its object the guarding of our allies in the protection of our crops and the preservation of the most beautiful forms of animal life. LITERATURE WuicH May Be ConsuLTED ‘Useful Birds and their Protection,” by E. H. Forbush, Massa- chusetts State Board of Agriculture, 437 pp., 171 figs., 56 plates. 1905. “Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture,’ C. W. Nash, Ontario Department of Agriculture, 124 pp., figs. 1913. ‘“How to Attract and Protect Wild Birds,’’ Martin Hiesemann, Trans. by E. S. Buchheim, Witherby & Co., London, 86 pp., figs. 1908 Bulletins, Nos. 3..9,.13,.15, 21,: 23,24, 30, 32,.34,.37, 44,.ofthe Biological Survey, Farmers Bulletins Nos. 54, 497, 506, 513, and Year Book for 1895, of the U.S. Department of Agri- culture. Farmer’s Bulletin No. 513 entitled ‘‘ Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard” was also republished in the National Geographic Magazine, June, 1913. MEETING OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH The third meeting this winter was held at the residence of Mr. F. W. L. Sladen on the evening of February 5th. Present: Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Messrs. W. H. Harrington, A. Halkett, Arthur Gibson, J. M. Swaine, Norman Criddie, V. Kitto, A. E. Kellett, J. I. Beaulne and F. W. L. Sladen. Mr. Sladen opened the proceedings by exhibiting his world collection of Bumble Bees, and drew attention to the different colour schemes they displayed. These colour schemes are not confined to the natural groups but to particular regions. In Europe one common colour scheme is a uniform tawny yellow, another, probably the commonest, a black ground with two yellow bands and a white or tawny tail. Black with a bright red tail is a third pattern. This is a form of melanism. In 172 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [ Mar. Denmark and Southern Scandanavia nearly all the species are much darker than usual. Surrounding this region is a wide circle including Britain and the Swiss Alps, in which the species are less extensively darkened. Outside this circle, for example, the Pyrenees and Northern Scandanavia, there is hardly any tendency to melanism. A colour scheme common to Europe and America is dull yellow with a black inter-alar band. The dominating pattern in North America is pale greenish yellow with a broad black tail, exemplified in Bombus vagans, perplexus and impatiens. Another North American pattern is pale yellow with a black band across the thorax and a red band across the abdomen. These instances of regional convergence are some- times stronger in the queen than in the male, and Mr. Sladen suggested that this might be because the queen probably needs to display warning colours more than the male on account of a period in the life cycle of the bumble bee, lasting about a month, in which the existence of the race depends upon a small band of slow-flying, heavily-laden queens that would easily fall a prey to any bird that might care to pursue them. Mr. R.I. Pocock, Curator of the London ‘‘Zoo’’, found that bumble bees were distinctly distasteful to birds. Dr. Hewitt brought forward a recently published monograph, by Dr. F. W. Cragg, of the Indian Medical Service, on the com- parative anatomy of the proboscis in the blood-sucking flies, in which the author shows that these flies can be arranged in a series commencing with those flies which are blood-suckers by habit but have no biting mouth parts, namely, certain species of Musca, and passing on through those which are provided with more or less efficient biting organs, such as Philaematomyia and Hematobia, to those forms, such as Stomoxys and Glossina, which have entirely lost the characteristic structure of the labella by means of which the non-biting flies absorb nourish- ment. The probable evolution of the blood-sucking muscidae from the non-blood-sucking forms has a possible bearing on the the theory concerning the origin of the Haemoflagellates. Dr. Hewitt also called the attention of the members to Dr. Graham-Smith’s recent book on “‘ Flies and Disease’’ in which he brings forwarda greater amount of evidence, chiefly original, in regard to the dissemination of bacteria than has hitherto been submitted by any investigator in the field. Mr. Harrington showed specimens of the Cotton Boll Weevil, and referred to the enormous damage done by this insect in the Southern States. Dr. Hewitt said that at the recent Meeting of the Entomological Society of America at Atlanta, Dr. Hinds had read a most interesting paper in which he showed ities 6 1) & 1914} THE OTtawa NATURALIST. 173 that this pest had been an important factor in rousing the farmers to practice better methods and to adopt rotation and co-operation, and had uplifted them socially and in other ways. Mr. Harrington also showed some Curculionidae that he had taken in Japan, and called attention to their large size and bright colours as compared! with the representatives of this family in Canada. Mr. Gibson exhibited Sir George Hampson’s recent volume (XIII) of the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalenz in the British Museum, the subject of which is the classification of a part of the subfamily Catocaline and the subfainilies Momine and Phytometrine. He mentioned specially two genera, viz., Zale and Phytometra. The latter includes species which were placed under the old name of Plusia. The volume is of much value to Canadian students. He also spoke briefly on “Some little-known Cutworms.’’ The species discussed were Barathra curialis, Mamestra atlantica, Agrotis aurulenta, and Porosagrotis orthogonia. The life history of two former species were studied some years ago. The larvae of the first named occurred throughout eastern Canada in 1905, and much loss was occasioned through its ravages to garden plants, both vegetable and ornamental. The last named species, which has been referred to under the name delorata in publications of the Division of Entomology, was chiefly discussed. This cut- worm, which is a new destructive form, occurs in southern Alberta and during 1911and1912 thousands of acres of grain were destroyed by it. Mr. Gibson explained the work which the Division has been doing in the study of the life history, habits of the larvae, control measures, etc. A general discussion of sundry subjects, entomological and otherwise, brought a very pleasant evening to a close F.W.L.S. CORRESPONDENCE. Eprror, Orrawa Naturauist: In 1913, a number of bird - nesting boxes were put up in various parts of the country for the accommodation of birds that nest in cavities. This work was furthered through your own kindness in allowing a notice of the importation of these boxes to appear in the columns of the OrrawA Naturatist and the result was that the demand for these nesting boxes which were supplied to the inquirers at actual cost was greater than the supply, and consequently I am bringing out a further quantity this year. = peat - Soh “A ‘ > x é > Co ; s i aes J ~ = =i ~ ¥ - . < a rey 174 Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. ; ‘[Mar. fm - =e The reports from the use of these boxes are very encouraging. One friend near Hamilton put up several Flicker boxes and had every one of them occupied. He also had Bluebirds and Wrens in the smaller sizes. Another lot of boxes which were put in place on an island in the Rideau Lakes were a source of actual competition among the Tree Swallows, there being more pairs than there were nests, and considering the fact that these birds are almost extinct in south-western Ontario, where they were formerly tolerably common, it would seem an excellent policy to encourage them in the Ottawa district while you have them there, The last importation of these Berlepsch Nesting Boxes cost 43 cents for the Wren size, 55 cents for the Bluebird size and $1 . 29 for each of the two sizes for Flickers and Screech Owls. It is expected that the cost this year will be just about the same. I shall be glad to reserve for members of the Ottawa Field- Naturalists’ Club any number that they may request and would suggest that in shipping to Ottawa I might make a single ~ shipment to some central point, as otherwise the expense for freight on shipments of one or two boxes would be unreasonably high. The birds which most readily use these nests are Wrens, Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Flickers, all of which are not only worthy of protection and encouragement but are also delightful on, W. E. SAUNDERS, Lonpon, Ont: BOOK NOTICE. Birds oF ONTARIO IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.—By Charles W. Nash: Ontario Department of Agriculture; Bulletin 218: 5th edition, 124 pages, 48 illustrations. A copy of the new edition of this publication recently came to hand. The importance of a study of our insectivorous birds _ cannot be overestimated. The service they render to the agriculturist, or horticulturist, in feeding upon injurious insects, destroying field mice, etc., and in devouring weed seeds, is of the utmost value. The author has, for many years, studied specially the feeding habits of our birds, and the results of such work is invaluable. Much original information, therefore, appears in the bulletin; the illustrations are from his own draw- | ings. In the discussion of the different species, descriptive notes are given of the adult, the young, and the nesting habits. The _ fact that it has been found necessary to print five editions of this bulletin speaks volumes for its usefulness. | A. G. ees 1914] ee THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 175 MEETING OF THE BOTANICAL BRANCH. February 14th, at the home of Mr. A. E. Attwood, the - following members present: L. H. Newman, N. Criddle, J. - Diekson, R. B. Whyte, C. J. Tulley, Dr. Blackadar, W. T. Macoun, A. E. Attwood, J. R. Fryer. Mr. W. T. Macoun led in a discussion of the subject, ‘‘The Wild Fruits of Canada,’’ describing many forms, especially those which give promise of economical usefulness. AppLE—Two species of wild apple growing in Canada were mentioned—Pyrus coronaria (American Wild Crab Apple) and Pyrus rivularis, a western species. The former is the poorest we have and not much use is likely to be made of its fruit. A double-flowered variety of a species closely related to this, known as Bechtel’s Crab, blooms at the end of May, and its flowers are so large and fine that it would make a beautiful ornamental tree. The tree may be obtained by grafting or budding. Pitums—Four species were referred to—Prunus nigra, P. americana, P. pumila (sand cherry) and P. maritima (Beach plum). Prunus nigra is found from Newfoundland to Manitoba along the Great Lakes. It isa very tough tree and is not broken down by heavy snowfalls. In this respect it is in contrast to P. americana. The fruit of nigra is all red, or all yellow, or red on one side and yellow on the other. Its skin is soft and dis- solves easily. The period of ripening is early and lasts about a month. There is probably a great future for P. nigra. These trees are practically self-sterile, so that'it is necessary for two or more individuals to grow together. P. pumila bears some very good fruit and some that is of no use. P. maritima has not as yet proved to be of any value. CHERRY—Prunus serotina (Wild Black Cherry), P. virginiana (Choke Cherry) and P. pennsylvanica (Bird Cherry) were men- tioned. P. serotina is a large tree, the main value of which is in its wood. The fruit has a strong and a trifle bitter taste. P. virginiana grows as far north as latitude 62. The fruit of this plant varies tremendously. Some bushes bear fine fruit, others very poor. P. pennsylvania grows far north and as far west as British Columbia. Its fruit is small, but varies somewhat in size and has a fine acid flavour. It is used for stock on which ordinary cherries are grafted. Grape—Vitis vulpina grows wild in Manitoba, and there are great possibilities of developing from it a grape which will be useful as fruit to the western provinces. Vitis labrusca (Fox 176 Tue Orrawa NATURALIST. | {Mar. i Grape) will not thrive in Manitoba; its fruit bale are usually killed by frost in the spring. Rubus idaeus aculeatissimus, formerly Rupes strigosus, (Wild Red Raspberry) grows very far north. Rubus occidentalis (Black Raspberry) does not range far north. Cultivated varieties are not hardy at Ottawa. These two species hybridize, giving a form known as R. neglectus, the fruit of which is larger than that of either of the original species. The Blackberry has not a wide range. It does not grow in Manitoba. In British Columbia there is araspberry known as the Salmon Berry, Rubus spectabilis, for which one has to acquire a taste. Rubus triflorus is a low- growing form and its fruit is a red berry with a delicious flavour R. Chamaemorus has a very seedy berry for which a taste has to be acquired. _ Currant—Ribes hudsonianum grows as far north as latitude 57 and R. floridum (Wild Black Currant) as far as latitude 54, while R. lacustre (Swamp Black Currant) runs almost to the Arctic Circle. The Missouri Currant grows in southern Alberta and is quite hardy. The gooseberries mentioned were Ribes oxyacanthoides (Smooth Gooseberry) and Ribes Cynosbatt (Spring Gooseberry). BLUEBERRY—These were represented by Vaccinium penn- sylvanicum, but there are several species which produce good ~ fruit. These do not grow on sweet soil; they require acid soil. This explains why attempts to grow them have often been un- successful. ; CrANBERRY—Cranberries are cultivated in Nova Scotia ae Prince Edward Island. They grow in bog land. The main difficulty is to prevent freezing. Vaccinium oxycoccus remains under the snow in good condition and is therefore a valuable | species. Viburnum Opulus, var. americanum is a high bush form growing in the western provinces. Its fruit is ees es for | cranberries and used chiefly for jellies. JunEBERRY—This fruit is appreciated in the prairie pro- vinces. Amelanchier alnifolia grows in the west and Amelanchter canadensis abounds in Ontario. STRAWBERRY—The strawberry grows almost to the Arctic Circle. Two species were mentioned—Fragaria virginiana and F. chiloensis, the latter of which grows from Alaska to South America and from it originated the English strawberry. There are many of our wild fruits which have delicious flavour and many others which by improvement can be developed into fruits quite as fine and valuable as those we ae value most. : Re-E: - Bird Notes... INDEX TO THE OTTAWA NATURALIST, VOL. XXVII, 1913-14 ed PAGE Peanihis linaria linaria..... 45 Acer (ES Bane ne Pare 38 PEP UMMO Sons iv win hens 39 “" Pennsylvanicum........ 39 Se MPUALAMOTIES 00. 5 aoe. Slocg ou 38 eee SHCCHGTUM 232. 38 ““ saccharinum........... 38 MT MOTUIU «Sets cce Secon Sees 39 Adiantum pedatum......... 97 Zésculus hippocastanum...... 39 Alabama argillacea.......... 71 Albinism in Animals, some PEC LRa Se S Olt achen sit tine > = 122 PIS EF VV eTRE OMe te ee! ea ES «ae 40 Pee WEGIL ANTI carrie col. abs . - 36 Antennaria canadensts...... 75 Aspidium cristatum......... 97 marginale... ey Zi noveborancense. e906 s Thelypteris... 96 spinulosum var. intermedium., . 97 Asplenium acrostichoides.. 98 ‘ ang ustifolium. . 97 Fulix-femina. . 97 “ Le ele e 96 - Astr agalinus tristts.. Saha e O Bartramia longicauda,....... 63 ASS W OO SA ey fetigiys & 39 Beaupre, Ed., note by.. 56 Bermuda, notes on fauna and ERURREAMEN Mee Stee at Ores pels core 2 12 SPUN O i 8. es es 33 iS populsfolia. 2.2... 33 Biatora syncomista.......... 120 ¢ sabuletorum forma stmplictor.....<.. + 120 “ columbiana,........ 119 “ _ Griffithii var. pacifica 119 Birch, Common White 33 .43,56, 76, 116, 144 Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture. . 174 Birds, protection ‘of, in and ‘around Ottawa........... 161 Blackadar, E. H., Report of, as Secretary O.F'N.C..... Blackadar, E. H., article by. 31 Botanical Branch, report of.. 10 PAGE Botanical Branch, meetings Of 2 aeeda 46512. 75 1402156 17-5e Book Notices....... 17128 leet Branta canadensis canadensis 43 Buck, F. E., article by.. 89 Bumble Bee Nests, scarcity of, in vicinity of Ottawa.. 69 Butfemnut) suc. ite. oahu 352 i? Camptosorus rhigophyllus.... 96 Canadian Alpine Journal, review of special number.. 17 Canachites canadensis canace 43 Carpinus carliniana......... 34 COrye Goa er sis. eee ae Catawba, or Catalpa:-... 3222 2468 Caterpillar, Notes ona...... 106 Catalpa speciosa....:....... 40 Cecropia Moth Caterpillar... 106 Ceratopsia, from Belly River 109 129 Certhia familiarts amecicana. 46 Celtis occidentalis........... 35 Chasmosanrus bellt.......... 145 Clangula clangula americana, 43 Coffee. Tree, Kentucky. - 2s. 36 Corre spondence, Corvus brach yrhynchos brachy- FI VRCNOS. eo.) ie de re Ape ae PAGE PAGE “Maple, Black Ste. Re 58 Poplat “Balsamic. 2. 6 oO. S32 1 ein ge > Manitoba; ~ or Box % ' Lombardy.. Sy 31 BOR OR 3 13 | a 39 ce Silver, or White..... 32 Br a ee 38 Populus> alba... . jo. eed. 32 Seeger eRed.-or Swamp:..... 39 es balsamifera........ co eer uriped.. 6s. es. 39 ‘s monilifera......... 32 ae See wupar, Or Rock. 2.2 .:. 38 4, nigra Pe g4 eo dee =< White, or Silver =... 38 Prince, E: E., article by....> 122 Bae o> Membership, O.F.N.C.. Se Protopaleaster narrawayi, es Mephitis-hudsonicus... 64 does the type Oe an Jed Merrill, G. K., article by... 117 oral or aboral aspect...... 77 BEOFUS. THOF Oss OE EO 35 Protosaurus, gen, nov....... 131 ’ Mountain Ach= 3.5, 2a 6 <. 36 Pteris aquilina SAR ae soe aa 94 Mouse, new record for Mani- Publications Committee, Re- jhS ois Sei: seen ea ee eae 30 ORO cas ser. a Aa A se try eRe ee eh ak: 35 Pyrus americana,........... 36 Musculium, species found at 20 ily ene ee aes Quercus macrocarpa......... 34 46 a LUDTOR PEN Te ala 34 Nuthatch, Red-breasted..... Raven; Northern, : 32. bas 76 Oak, Bur or Mossy-cap..... 34 Raymond, Percy E., articles 2 WeeGonimon Red. 7 esee 34 Dayo ee on eee amet 26, 101 3 Onoclea struthiopteris.....>.. 99 Medpoil, io. st oe een 45 = sensibilis... 0.2. .4 6: 99 Regulus satrapa satrapa...... 46 Osmunda cinnamomea. eee PRODIEES Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. VOU. OCLs Prarie xX Xx. THe Ottawa NATURALIST. Wots OO LI ae Ae, Nesting Box in use at Thirlmere, Cumberland, England. w eS aN $48 Soe as: THe Ottawa NATURALIST. Viet =Poare en. Hessian Food-house; One of a Number Erected on the Manchester Corporation Waterworks’ Estate, Thirlmere, Cumberland, England for the Winter Feeding of Birds. at, my ry ‘ a ree ; { + 4 1 i} iG PS Fo) THe Ottawa NATURALIST. Von. SOX Ville Powe ee et = 6 AZ METTLE Poin YY fy Map of Ottawa Showing the Location (Outlined in Black) of the two Bird Sanctuaries: Rockcliffe Park and the Experimental Farm. Being Volume XXX of the TRANSACTIONS OF THE Incorporated March, 1884. - The Ottawa sfield-Maturalists’ Club. Patron : IfIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE, OF CONNAUGHT, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA. Council 1914-1915 President : Mr. Arthur Gibson. Vice=Presidents : Mr. gt I. Smith. Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt. Secretary: Treasurer: Mr. E. D. Eddy, B.S.A. Mr. J. F. Watson. (Seed Branch, Dept. of Agriculture) (Experimental Farm) Boditor: Librarian: Mr. Arthur Gibson. Mr. J. R«Fryer! B.A. (Entomological Branch, (Seed Branch, Dept. Dept. of Agriculture) of Agriculture) Mr. J. W. Gibson, M. A. Dr. M. O. Malte. Mr. W. T. Macoun. Mr. J. R. Dymond, B.A. Mr. J. J. Carter. Miss A. L. Matthews. Dr. M. Y. Williams. Mrs. W. D. Oakely. Miss F. Fyles, B.A. Past-President: Mr. L. H. Newman, B.S.A. Standing Committees of Council: Publications: Dr. C. G. Hewitt, A. Gibson, J. R. Fryer, W. T. Macoun, H. I. Smith, E. D. Eddy. Excursions: A, Halkett, J. J. Carter, J. W. Gibson, Dr. M. O. Malte, Dr. M. Y. Williams, Mr. J. F. Watson, Miss A. L. Matthews, Mrs. Oakely, Miss F. Fyles. Lectures: H. I. Smith, Dr. C. G. Hewitt, J. W. Gibson, J. R. Dymond, Dr. M. Y. Williams, Miss A. L. Matthews, Mrs. W. D. Oakely. ULeaders at Excursions: Archeology: T. W. E. Sowter, J. Ballantyne, H. I. Smith, F. W. Waugh. Botany: W.T. Macoun, J. M. Macoun, L. H. Newman, Dr. M. O. Malte, J. R.. Dymond, J. R. Fryer, E. C. Wight, Miss F, Fyles. Entomology: A. Gibson, W. H. Harrington, Dr. C. G. Hewitt, J. M. Swaine, F. W. L. Sladen. Geology: W. J. Wilson, H. M. Ami, T. W. E. Sowter, Dr. M. Y. Williams, H. McGillivray. Ornithology: A. G. Kingston, P. A. Taverner, Dr. M. Y. Williams, A. E. Kellett. Zoology: A. Halkett, E. E. Lemieux, E. A. LeSucur, C. H.. Young. Auditors; J. Ballantyne. E. €. -Wight. Membership Fee to O.F.N.C., with “Ottawa Naturalist” $1.00 per annum. - ex ae puatie. the MVE A ;, “D.Sct z e. ba FR. S.C. Bets ; ee ‘sepia te 2 Anderson. James R., (Victoria, B.C.) is Anderson, “Li.-Col. W. P., M. Insi. (eS i Oe a eae _ Ardley, Edw., (Montreal). Arnold, Edw., (Montreal). Attwood, A; Bu, M.A. FG... Ta SoBeidwin, To W.. Ballantyne, James. Bangs, J. S. Beanhey; G.,.B.A., LLB. mibeauine J. ik. Beaupre, Edwin, (Kingston, Ont.) Bennett, Miss K. E Billings, C. M. Blackader, Dr. E. H. - Blair, Prof. S., (Kentville, N.S.) Blythe, Mrs. Geo. Boomer, A. H. _ Borden, Hon. Sir F. W., - Bothwell, G. E. - Brainerd, Dwight, (Montreal). Brewster, W., (Cambridge, Mass.) Brittain, "Proj. W., (Truro, N.S.) ~ Brock, R. W., M.A Brown, A. aN (Chatham, N.B.) Brown, Mrs. A. ‘Brown, Mrs. R. D. - Brown, W. AN ner ee Que.) Brown, dey Bryce, Pp. i, WD. Bullock, Rev. C. S. : reuniting, Prof... TL. G., College, Que.) BebnG@kiH i. pa 5, At iBproess “Po J. W., — (Montreal). Burt, Miss F. M. Butterfield, Frank, (Lennoxville, Que.) Calder, Alex., (Winnipeg). Calvert, EB. W. ae Ont.) A, M.D. (Macdonald M.D., F.R.S.C., - Calvert (eau Cameron, E. R., ~ Carter, i: Ap ean i> f Ot 4-101 Campbell, A. D., B.S.A,, Alta.) Campbell, D. ‘A., B:A. Campbell, R. H. Cheney, Miss A. M. Chrystat Ri ET By Se. Clark Gis B.S.A. Clarke, whe E., B.A., B. Paed. Cobbold, Paul A. , (Haileybury, Ont.) Cole, John Bi (Westboro’, Ont.) Connor, M. BR, Buse: Cram, gS) Criddle, oe (Treesbank, Man.) Criddle, S., (Treesbank, Man.) Crozel, Ce , (Oullins, Rhone, France). Currie, Pe 'W. Curry, Miss .E. E. (Calgary, Davidson, John, Or me B.C.) Davis, M. B., Deam, Cre) te eS Ind.) Delahey, Miss Emma. Dempsey, J. H. C., (Hamilton). Dent, Miss E. Dewar, Miss Ethel. Dickson, James. Dixon, BoA: Dod, F. H. Wolley-, Alta. ) Donaldson, W. Dowling, D. B., B.A.Se. Dreher, W., B.S.A. Duff, H. C., B.S.A., (Norwood, Ont.) Dwight, Jonathan, Jr., W@.D., (New York). Dymond, J. R., B.A. (Midnapore, Basthamien4 2.5.40 Eastham, ]. W., B.Sc. Eddy, E. i Bese. Eifrig, Rev. Prof. G., (Oak Park, Ill.) Elford, F. C. Byans,. john -—D. Ces Ont.) Evans;T. €., DV Sc. (Tors) Ewart, D. (Trenton, Farley, F. L., (Camrose, Alta.) Farr, Miss E. M., (Philadelphia). a : 3 a = .% z 4 . List oF MEMBERS [April Fenn, Miss L. Ferrier, W. F., Vee Finn, 1. Ps Be Fisher, Hon. Sedan B.A. FitzHenry, W., (Myrtle, Man.) Fleck, A. W. Fleming, J. H., (Toronto). Fleming, Sir ‘Sandford, K.C.M.G., Ce PRG Tet ng Gc Forster, Bek. CAgit Ay Fortier, pees M. , (Annapolis, N.S.) Fryer, 4; R., Fraser, Geo., ‘Clciuclet, B.C») Fyles, Miss Bo Bak Fyles, Miss Winnifred Gallup, A. H., (Saskatoon, Sask.) Gibson, Arthur. Gibson, J. W., B.A. Godson, Tele ea eiw al Gorman, M. Te EBs Gormley, L., (Arnprior, Ont.) Grant, Sir }. A KG AVG, FRG'S. Edin. FR SCS EGS: Grant, Mrs. E. G: Grant, W..W., (New York). Graham, W. L., B.S.A. Grisdale, J. H., B.Agr. Grist, Miss Mary L. Groh, H., B.S.A., (Preston, Ont.) Gussow, H. T., F.R.M.S. Halkett, Andrew. Harcourt, Geo., (Edmonton, Alta.) Harmer, Miss G., (Entwistle, Alta.) Harrington, W. Hague. Harrison, Lt.-Col. Edward. Hart, F. ce B.S.A., (Toronto). Harvey, oe 'V. (Victoria, B.C.) Hayes, J. A , (Sheffington, Que.) Henry, J. K., (Vancouver, B.C.) Herriot, W.., (Galt, Ont.) Hewit, H.O. Hewitt, C. Gordon, D.Sc., Higgins, Dr. = H. FESS: Hobson, W. D., (Woodstock, Ont.) Hodge, C. BR. Ph.D., (Worcester, Mass.) Holmes, Miss A. S. Hope, James. Howes, E. A., B.S.A. Houghton, Js A. Benet Vt.) Hudson, Proj. G , (Plattsburgh, N.Y. Hudson, HoaF.,; B.S.A- Hughson, W. G., B.Sc. M.D., Irwin, Lt.-Col. D. T. Jacobs, Miss C. M., (Hamilton, Ohio), Jacombe, F. W. H., M.A., M.F. Jamieson, Thos., B.A. James, C, C., M.A. , (Toronto). James, L. E., (St. Thomas, Ont.) Janssen, J. AS (Hillsdown, Bee Janson, J. T , B.Sc. Jenkins, S. iS B.A. Jenny, C. F., (Boston, Mass.) Jennings, O. Ee (Pittsburg, Pa.) Joanes, Arthur. Johnston, W. A., B.Sc. Johnstone, Miss A. Johnson, Geo. S., (Meaford, Ont.) Kearns, J.C. Keefer, "Thos. C35G.M:G; 4 GaBe F.R.S.C. Keele, J. BiAsSc. Kellett, A. E. Kingston, A. G. Kitto, V. Klotz, Dr. Otto. Klotz, Julius, M@.D., (Lanark, Ont.) Klugh, A. B., (Kingston). Knechtel, A. Labarthe, J., (Trail, B.C.) Lajeunesse, Rev. fA Lambart, Hon. O. H. ; L. M., F.G.S., E.GS Agee Landsborough, cE Meadows, B.C.) Latehford, Hon. F.~. R26 Bae (Toronto). Lawler, James. Leclaire, J. M., Que.) Lee, Miss K. G., (Clinton, N.Y.) Lees, Miss V. Lemieux, E. E. Le Sueur, E. A. Lewis, J. B., C.E. Leyden, Miss M. Lochhead, W., B.A., M.Sc., donald College, Que. ) Lloyd, Prof. F. E., Hyori. Lyman, H. H., M.A., (Montreal). McCready, Prof. S. B., (Guelph). McCurry, H. McDougall, Miss J. C. McElhinney, Dr. M. G. ; McGill, A., B.A., B.Sev (Pemberton (Macdonald.College, (Mac- McGillivray, H. McInnes, Wm., BVA. EERENC.; (Halifax). Macnamara, C., (Arnprior). Macoun, Prof. John, M.A., F.LS., F.R.S.C., (Sidney, B.C.) Macoun, J. "M. Macoun, W. T. Malcolm, John, (Fergus, Ont.) Sage e S., B.A. Malte, Or Ph.D. Morin | D. A., (Lawson, Sask.) Matthews, Miss Annie L. Mason, A. E., (Vancouver, B.C.) Megill, W. H. Ts aA, SeMeritl Gok: (Rockland, Me.) “Metcalfe, Wire Michaud, Geo., (Quebec). Millen, Miss C., (Hull, Que.) ~ Miller, ’ Prof. W. G., (Toronto). Milne, Wm. 71 Mitchell, P. C., (Brandon, Man.) Moore, W. H., (Scotch Lake, N.B.) ~ Morris, H. U. Morton, B. Munro, J. A., BC.) eeDEY: John. (Okanagan Landing, Narraway, J. E. Nash, C. W., (Toronto). Newcombe, c F., M.D., B.C.) ~Newman, L. H., B.S.A. Nicholls, A., (Sault St. Marie, Ont.) Noble, ee Ww. EPepdons Ont.) Nunnick, F. ey iO (Victoria, O’Brien, S..\E. Oakely, Mrs. W. D. Odell, W. S. Orde, J. F. Be H. C., (Washington, - ) : Phillips, A. M. Bidskett, J. S. ’ D.Sc., F.R.S.C Prince, Prof. E Bee Dep oe es Tae Ea Putman, heey B.A, B. Paed. List oF MEMBERS McMillan, He R., B.S.A., (Victoria, + B ) McMillan, G. O., M.A. “MacCraken, John BA: MacKay, A! i. Si es, BEG: Raine, Walter, (Toronto). Raymond, Dr. P. E., (Cambridge, Mass.) Reynolds, Miss G. B. Richard, Rev. A. E., (Perkins, Que.) Ritchie, Miss Isabella.- Robertson, C. N., (opera Robinson, ‘Hiram. Rose, B. Rush, M. L., B.A. Russell, Miss Maud. Russell, Miss Margaret. Sanders, G. E., B.S.A., N.S.) Saunders, W. E., (London, Ont.) Scotty Cr H. Scott, Miss Mary McKay. Scott, W., B.A., (Toronto). Scott, Rev. C. T., (Victoria, B.C.) Seton, E. Thompson, (Coscob, Conn.) Shannon, Frank, (Saskatoon, Sask.) Shearman, F. J. W. Suodie,. bul = MAS Ash Care Gases IER Sap sil Gp Simpson, Willibert. Sirett, H., B.S.A., (Brighton, Ont.) Sitwell, Capt. be RGSS. Skales, Howard, (Mt. Forest, Ont.) Sladen, F. W. L., F.E.S. Small, H. Beaumont, M.D. Smeaton, W., B.A. Smith, Harlan I. Soper, John. Sowter, T. W. E. Speechly, Dr. H. M., Man.) Spreckley, R. O. Sternberg, C. H., M.A. Stewart, A. T.,; B.A. Summerby, Wm. J., M.A., Ont.) Sutton, Mrs. L. L. Swaine, J. M., M. Sc. Symes, P. B. (Bridgetown, (Pilot Mound, (Russell, Taverner, P. A. Taylor, F. B., (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Terrill, L. M., (St. Lambert, Que.) Topley, Mrs. W. J. Treherne, R. C., (Agassiz, B.C.) Tuer, Miss Margaret, (Port Hepe, Ont. ) athts. eo Tyrrell, J. F 5A. Be DA aC: (Toronto), PGS. 6 List oF MEMBERS Venables, E. P., (Vernon, B.C.) Victorin, Rev. Bro., (Longueuil, Que.) Waddell, Miss K. T. Walker, Sty Edmund, (Toronto). Walker, E. M., iB see M.B., ' (Toronto). Walker, Bryant, (Detroit). Wallace, J. S., (Toronto). Wallis, J. B., (Winnipeg, Man.) Warwick, F. W., B.Sc., (Bucking- ham, Que.) Watson, J. F. Watterson, A. E. Waugh, F. W. White, Mrs. Annie G. H., (Toronto). White, George R. : White, James, (Snelgrove, Ont.) White, O. C., B.S.A. Whyte, Miss Ida V. Whyte, Miss Isabella. Whyte, R. B. Wickware, A. B., V.S. Wight, E. C. Williams, Miss M. B., B.A. Willams, J. B., (Toronto). Williams, M. Y. Willing, T. N., (Saskatoon, Sask.) Wilson, Morley E. Wilson, W. J., Ph.B. Winchester, H. S. Wintenberg, W. J. Young, A. N. : Young, C. H. 4 Ziemann, Arthur. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 8.) M.A DCL. BLR.S.G.,, Guelph; Ong GREENE, Dr. E. L., United States National Museum, Washington ,D.C. Hitt, Arsert J., M.A., C.E., New Westminster, B.C. Hom, Tueovor, Ph.D., Brookland, Washington, D.C. Merriam, Dr. C. Hart, Washington, D.C. Wicxuam, Pror. H. F., Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. BeTHUNE, Rev. C. J fia et Se Re Ne eee SID PS. oT oad be at SATURDAY SPRING EXCURSIONS, 1914. The following spring excursions have been arranged by the Excursions Committee :— May 2—Rockcliffe. ‘“_9—Above the Chaudiere Falls—north shore Ottawa ns 16—Britannia. 23—Ironsides. 30—Leamey’s Lake. oe ee June 6—Rideau Canal by motor boats. ‘ 13—Stittsville. “* 20—Fairy Lake via Chelsea Road. Ts 27—Experimental Farm. ce { / ¥ - -—" f mE Ae aie ain ad oe petty ie Oa ad Aa bed ott eM ha - River. ANDREW HALKETT, Chairman of Committee. ~ piste PO Ree a ( vy). YP ma if ims tp he Fer th de bP om. rh oe a ie BC ia i Sey ai a | * ARE ne ob: oon. ees od ay wis THE OTTAWA NATURALIST Oe 6 lin ah 2 eT ES VOL. XXVIII. OTTAWA, APRIL, 1914 No. 1. prereset ee ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB, 1913-14. On the completion of the thirty-fourth year of the existence of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, the Council begs to present a summary of the work undertaken and accomplished during the past season. Eight meetings of the Council have been held. The stand- ing committees, the editor and associate editors of THE OTTAWA NatTuRALIsT, the librarian and the excursion leaders were appointed at the first meeting. The membership of the Club is now 311. During the year 14 members were elected, 11 resigned, 7 were removed from the list for non-payment of dues and there was one death, making a total loss of 19. The Club was represented at the Jubilee Meeting of the Entomological Society of Ontario, which was held at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, August 27th-29th, 1913, by Mr. Arthur Gibson, and at the meetings of the Royal Society, held in Ottawa, by the President, Mr. L. H. Newman. The usual work under the direction of the various com- mittees has been conducted along much the same lines as followed in previous years, and some new field operations have been commenced from which much is expected. Steps are being taken to interest the proper authorities in the preserva- tion, in the natural condition, of certain areas in the Ottawa district which are especially valuable for natural history study, instead of allowing them to be subdivided into building lots. PRESERVATION OF BirD LIFE. A prominent feature of the Club’s work this year has been the attention given to the preservation of bird life, as a result of which bird sanctuaries will be established at Rockcliffe Park and the Experimental Farm. In the Rockcliffe sanctuary 250 8 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [April a nest boxes will be put up this spring and at the Experimental Farm 160, under the direction of the Club. The question of protecting birds, the economic value of certain common species and the proposal of the Club for the protection of the native birds around Ottawa were dealt with at one of the winter lectures by Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist. An abstract of this address was printed 3 in the March number of THE Ore AWA NATURALIST. THE Ottawa NATURALIST. Under the direction of the Publications’ Committee, THE | Orrawa NarurRAList, the official organ of the Club, has appeared regularly during the year and Volume X XVII is now complete. Mr. Arthur Gibson has continued to edit it. The ten numbers issued (two of which were double numbers) comprise 180 pages, in addition to which 23 plates appeared. This large number of plates adds very much to the appearance of our journal, and, of course, increases its value very materially. The following are the most important papers which have _ appeared in the volume :— Notes on the Occurrence of Interesting Forms of Cyperaceae in Quebec. By Bro. Victorin, Longueuil, Que. Preliminary List of Ottawa Sphaeriidae. By F. R. Latchford. The Manus in a Specimen of Trachodon from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta. By L. M. Lambe. The Shade Trees of Ottawa. By E. H. Blackader. Useful Wild Plants of Canada. By J. W. Eastham. Description of a New Species of Testudo, and of a Remarkable Specimen of Stylemys epeasc from the Oligocene of Wyoming, U.S. A. By L. M. Lambe. The Broad-striped Skunk. By Norman and Stuart Criddle. Does the Type of Protopalaeaster narrawayi Present an Oral or Aboral Aspect. By G. H. Hudson. The Haunts of Some of Our Native Ferns. By A. Cosens. On the Genera of the Eodiscidae. By P. E. Raymond. A New Genus and Species of Ceratopsia from the Belly River Formation of Alberta. By L. M. Lambe. New and Otherwise Interesting Lichens from Vancouver Island and the Rocky Mountains. By G. K. Merrill. Some Rare Cases of Albinism in Animals. By E. E. Prince. On the Fore-limb of a Carnivorous Dinosaur from the Belly River Formation of Alberta, and a New Genus of Ceratopsia from the Same Horizon, with Remarks on the Integument of Some Cretaceous Herbivorous Dinosaurs. By L. M. Lambe. . E . d -4 3 = | | : 4 nit ~ i ike 1914] Tue Ortrawa NATURALIST. 9 {On Gryposaurus notabilis, a New Genus and Species of ‘Trach- odont Dinosaur from the Belly River Formation of Alberta, with a Description of the Skull of Protorosaurus belli. By L. M. Lambe. Notes on the Apothecial Stage of Sclerontinia cinerea in Ontario. By J. E. Howitt. The Protection of Birds In and Around Ottawa. By C. Gordon Hewitt. THE LIBRARY. Several new publications have been added to our exchange list during the year, some of which are valuable contributions to current scientific literature. There has been quite a demand for back numbers of THe Orrawa Narturatist, and in most cases the requests were for a number of volumes. . The most important exchange was a shipment of 10 volumes to the Natural History Museum of Hamburg, Germany, for which we received a number of volumes of their Society Bulletin, which is an excellent one. The Club Library at present contains a number of extremely valuable books, bulletins and periodicals, which, at present, are little used, owing to the lack of an index. It is hoped, however, that an arrangement will soon be made whereby a suitable cataloguing of the exchanges will be maintained. ; EXCURSIONS. The excursions arranged for by. the committee in charge were all well attended, and much interest was taken in local natural history. The work accomplished at the various outings has been reported in Tue Orrawa Naruratist. The following is the list of excursions held:— Spring and Summer Series: May 3 Rockcliffe and McKay’s Lake. 10 Leamy’s Lake 17 Britannia. a1. Ay lover June 7 Points along Rideau Canal by motor boats 14 Stittsville. Sept. 20 Billings’ Bridge. 27 Experimental Farm. Oct. 14 Beaver Meadow. LECTURES. _ The series of lectures presented during the winter was also very successful. The attendance was good and the subjects dis- cussed of much interest. The following is the programme as carried out :— 10° Tus Orrawa Narurauist. ern ae Nov. 25—-Open meeting, with exhibits and addresses by mem- bers. Dec. 9—The Old Iroquoian Religion and the Handsome Lake Reform (illustrated). By C. M. Barbeau, Assistant Ethnologist, Geological Survey. Jan. 13—Forestry and Conservation (illustrated). By Dr. Clyde Leavitt, Commission of Conservation, Ottawa. Jan. 27—The Shedding of Leaves, Flowers and Fruits (illustra- ted). By ‘Dr. Francis. E. Lloyd, Department of Botany, McGill University, Montreal. Feb. 10—Protection of Birds In and Around Ottawa (llustra- ted). By Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Ento- mologist, Ottawa. Feb. 24—Views in the Dominion Parks (illustrated). By A. Knechtel, Chief Forester of Dominion Parks, Ottawa. Mar. 10—Mackenzie River Region (illustrated). By Charles Camsell, Geologist, Geological Survey, Ottawa. Mar. 24—-Annual Meeting and Presidential Address on the Breeding of Economic Plants. By L. H. Newman,’ Secretary, Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, Ottawa. THE BoTaNnicaL BRANCH. There have been six meetings of this branch during the fall and winter. The first two were held at the residence of Mr. R. B. Whyte, one at the University Club Rooms and one at the residence of each of the following members: Messrs. J. M. Macoun, G. H. Clark and A. E. Attwood. Synopses of the meet- ings were published in THe Orrawa NATURALIST. In the fall it was suggested that the members should bring specimens of botanical interest to each meeting for exhibition and discussion, but the number presented has been smaller than was anticipated. At the first meeting the members present gave brief accounts of observations which they had made during the summer. The subjects presented at the other meetings are as follows:— Some Results of the Summer’s Work. By Dr. M. O. Malte. Some Conditions affecting Organic Progress. By C. J. Tully. The Clay Belt of Northern Ontario. By G. H. Clark and Mr. Honeyman. A Review of Some Recent Work dealing with the Phenomenon of Variation in Plants. By L. H. Newman. The Wild Fruits of Canada. By W. T. Macoun. THE ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH. Several meetings of the Entomological Branch have been held during the winter now drawing to a close. The attendance ‘ 1914] — eereg. S THE OTTawa NATURALIST. Fei _ at these meetings has been good and the discussions have been extremely interesting. | During the season of 1913 large collections of insects, particularly in the orders Hymenoptera and Diptera, were made, many additions being added to the local lists. The prospects are bright for successful field work during the approaching collecting season. The tent caterpillars, which were referred to in our last report, were, also in 1913, the most abundant insects in the district. Although certain areas of forest lands, chiefly of birch and poplar, were again defoliated, the damage was not so wide- spread as that of 1912. The natural parasites and fungous diseases which control the tent caterpillars are increasing, and we do not expect to again see, for many years, such enormous outbreaks of these insects. - At the conclusion of the Club year, the balance on hand is $28.59. For accommodation for lectures and Council meetings, the thanks of the Club are due to the management of the Carnegie Library, the Normal School and the Collegiate Institute, and to the press of the city for the free insertion of notices and the publication of reports of excursions and lectures. Respectfully submitted, E. D. EDDY, Secretary. WINTER NOTES ON ALBERTA HAWKS AND OWLS. There has been a noticeable absence this winter of the Great Gray Owl, American Hawk Owl and the Snowy Owl in this district. These birds are all irregular winter visitors, arriving from the North about the middle of November and remaining until the middle of March. Some winters they are comparatively plentiful, as many as one or two of each variety may be seen in a single day. In November, 1896, I counted a dozen Hawk Owls in a day’s drive of thirty miles, while the following winter, very few, if any, were seen. Different reasons have been advanced for their irregular migration, the most likely of which is the supply of natural food. Hunters returning from the country away north of the Saskatchewan River say that the Rabbit is very plentiful this winter and this no doubt accounts for their not having to move South. I have never seen any of these birds in this locality in the summer. 3rd April, 1914. F. L. FARLEY, CAMROSE, ALBERTA. = : wee ; ae oe u 19 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. = OPT ae TREASURER’S STATEMENT FOR YEAR ENDING 17TH MARCH, 1914. RECEIPTS. Balanceirom prewmious year s.o8 a.com a ee ete Eas $ 9-79 Subscriptions :— Anerearns. (205 2 iret os acs, caedanee oe near eae ae eer $ 39.00 RONSETG 1 Ae Me WALES, ein een en aerate Aeorene 194.00 1OTASO LS im AC VANCE 2 onus ee ere eer ieee eres 31.00 r =———— 264.00 Advertisements in OTTAWA NATURALIST............. 103.90 Aqithors extras SOlds =». eee eee i een eee 225.631 KGovernament. Grant wa occa ull tree ane ee 200 .00° $803 .00 EXPENDITURE. 3 Printing Ortawa Naturatist, Vol. X XVII, 10 Nos., ATTCIUECIMOACOVETS fein rete ne eee eee eee $362.00 MStratiomSsn: ethonestke aco ease Oe pe es eee 152.47 PANT HONS SC RLLAS 02 cys Gane bee <. Mes ane hese oes eee ees 120.69 Miscellaneous printing: circulars, mailing envelopes, 5 cee ig nce SS rete ie i ES UP Re ee ey aoe ES 17.88 Postage-on OTTAWA NATURALIST... ......ce: 22 we eae 28.34 VCE RE Breast ot Soa ot RETR a stois Some Ce hee ay eon 50.00 $731.38 HVE CLUTTER PETISES. 3) sere atin ants 1e Se bean nn enone ae pete ona 26.89 Sundry expenses, postage, bank exchange, etc ....:.......... 16.14 Balan Ceres x i sede eetes Sooo he Bee Te ee oo ee nS 28.59 $803 .00 W. T. MACOUN, Treasurer. - Examined and found correct, J. BALLANTYNE, | Auditors. BCG WiGE MEMBERSHIP FEES, 1914-1915. Subscriptions for the Club year beginning April, 1914, are now due and should be made payable to the new Treasurer, Mr. J. F. Watson, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. THE OrtrawA NATURALIST. 13 ON A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF CARNIVOROUS - DINOSAUR FROM THE BELLY RIVER FORMATION oa OF ALBERTA, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE i. ‘SKULL OF STEPHANOSAURUS MARGINATUS FROM THE SAME HORIZON.* By LAWRENCE M. Lanse, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., F.G.S.A., = Vertebrate Paleontologist to the Geological Survey, Canada. ae ae 32 The osteological characters of one of the carnivorous dino- = saurs of the Cretaceous are revealed in a wonderful manner by . A a nearly complete skeleton obtained. last summer by the ss Vertebrate Paleontological expedition of the Geological Survey of Canada to Red Deer river, Alberta, where a magnificent collection of dinosaurian and other reptilian remains was obtained from es the Belly River formation. The expedition was in charge of Mr. a Charles H. Sternberg, and this skeleton was discovered by his a son, Charles M. Sternberg, 34 miles below the mouth of Berry ag creek (Steveville), on the south side of Red Deer river, near the prairie level. The specimen includes the head, the greater part of the vertebral column, the pectoral and pelvic arches, one at least of ie the fore-limbs complete, both hind-limbs also complete, the et ribs, and apparently the entire series of abdominal ribs. " The cervical vertebre appear to be missing, but as all 4 of the sandstone matrix has not yet been removed, they, or some of them, as well as the other fore-limb, may yet be uncovered. The extreme end of the tail, back of the twenty-second caudal vertebra, was not found. The mandible is present and all of the teeth, both upper and lower, are in place, giving the complete dentition. The writer has already published a short description of the fore-limb,** which has not hitherto been known in any of the Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaurs. Nor has a complete series of ventral ribs in any of these reptiles previously been discovered. For the undescribed genus of Theropodous dinosaur, brought to light by this magnificent specimen, the name Gorgosaurus 1s proposed. The species may be called libratus in reference to the animal’s probable well-balanced and easy gait. GORGOSAURUS LIBRATUS, gen. et sp. Nov. Carnivorous dinosaur of large size, reaching a length of about twenty-nine feet; head narrow and moderately elongate; * Communicated by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. Ges The Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXVII, No. 10, January, 1914. 14 Tue Orrawa NATURALIST. | [April trunk compact; fore-limbs minute; hind-limbs long and robust; tail nearly half the total length of the animal, tapering, and with only a slight lateral compression. In the skull there is a large antorbital vacuity, preceded by a very small opening in the centre of a depressed area. No triangular alveolar plates on the inner sides of the jaws. A foramen present in the surangular, far back and near its upper border. No presplenial. Teeth trenchant, powerful, 4 premaxillary, 13 maxillary and 14 dentary. First tooth of the maxilla similar in shape and size to those of the premaxilla. Vertebre slightly amphicoelous, concave on the sides and beneath; 2 cervico-dorsals, 11 dorsals, 5 sacrals, and about 34 caudals. Neural spines short throughout the vertebral column. Chevron bones short, beginning with the first caudal. Transverse processes of the caudal vertebre de- creasing in size to and ending with the 14th vertebra. Anterior zygapophyses of the posterior caudals greatly lengthened. Scapula longer than the fore-limb. Humerus twice the length of the ulna. Two digits, Nos. IJ and III, to the manus, of which the phalangeal formula is 2 II, 3 III, the terminal phalanges being claw-bones. Metacarpal IV represented by a proximal vestigial bone. Ilium elongate, plate-like, with a flat upper out- line and rounded ends. Preacetabular part shorter than the hinder portion, of which both are strengthened on the outer surface by a prominent, overhanging flange running horizontally at midheight. Ischium terminating narrowly below. Pubis ending in a horizontally expanded foot, of which the posterior extension is the greater. Femur about the same length as the tibia. Metatarsals II, III and IV elongate, of which III, the longest, is nearly two-thirds the length of the femur. Meta- tarsal I represented distally by a short vestigial bone, and metatarsal V represented in a similar manner proximally. Four clawed digits to the pes, viz.: Nos. I, H, III and IV, of which the phalangeal formula is 21, 3 IJ, 411] and 51V. Ventral ribs composite, sixteen in number, overlapping at the longitudinal mid-line of the body, and bearing distally slender, closely applied supplementaries. Gorgosaurus libratus, apart from its dentition, is remarkable for the extreme shortness of the fore-legs and the great length of the hind ones. The long, narrow ilium rises slightly above the short sacral spines, and, in addition to the horizontal flanges, already mentioned, there are two small strengthening buttresses running upward from the centre of the acetabular border. The length of the metatarsals is surprising. The close application of the vestigial distal end of metatarsal I to metatarsal II is in- dicated by a-slightly concave surface on the latter bone, which eh ee ey ee 1914] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 15 gives digit I a forwardly rather than a backwardly directed position in the foot, The vestigial proximal end of metatarsal V is in place in each leg, recalling to mind a similarly reduced bone in Ornithomimus altus, Lambe, alsolfrom the Belly River formation of Alberta. ee Each abdominal rib consists of two well ossified, flattened aa lengths, which overlap at their inner ends. Outwardly, each a lateral half is slightly grooved on its front margin for the recep- a tion of a slender rod-like bone (supplementary), which lies — closely against the rib and projects but slightly beyond its outer -: end. == The four premaxillary teeth are remarkably long and slender, with a keel on each side of a slightly convex inner or lingual a - surface. They are latterly compressed to a slight extent, evenly ae rounded in front, with their fore and aft diameter a little greater Be than their breadth. The first or anterior tooth of the maxilla —_ is similar to the premaxillary teeth, in which respect Gorgosaurus = differs from other known. genera of Cretaceous carnivorous 4 dinosaurs. The other maxillary teeth are long and powerful, of the Megalosauroid type, with two serrate keels, one along the front edge, the other behind. In the second maxillary tooth the anterior keel in descending passes slightly toward the inner side of the crown, and this is seen in a lessening degree in the next two or three succeeding teeth. A similar slight variation 1s seen also in the more anterior teeth of the dentary. “ae The chevron bones are intervertebral, but with a greater es &- surface of attachment to the front vertebra of the two, The more anterior ones are bent slightly backward from their mid- length. This angulation in succeeding ones becomes more pronounced until the lower edge of the distal half is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tail. By a gradually increased development and prolongation forward of the anterior angula- tion at the mid-length of the bone, a ‘‘meat-chopper”’ shape is attained and adhered to with a gradual diminution in size, more icone in the depth of the bone than in the length of its =tOOL: The long and slender anterior teeth (premaxillary and first maxillary) of Gorgosaurus are very different in shape from the robust supposed anterior teeth of Deinodon horridus of Leidy. In all the large Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaurs, the majority of the teeth, apart from the more anterior ones, are remarkably similar in the different genera and do not afford data for generic distinctions. RPE NS 16 Tur Orrawa Naturalist. _ [April Another large form of carnivorous dinosaur, having support- ing alveolar plates on the inner sides of the jaws, occurs in the Belly River formation of Alberta and is represented in the collection of 1913. MEASUREMENTS. Feet. nee Total length of specimen (estimated)............ 29 Skull, length to occipital condyle (approx)....... 3 5 ‘depth to lower border of maxilla, through middle of antorbital opening........... 1 0 depth to lower border of dentary, through qmiddie-of Samepening "5, eae ares 1 92 Mand: bley lengthsob-3 275 fin ies eo eee eee eee 3 24 Third premaxillary tooth, Length below alveolar margin.............. D Breadth ...°..... * 24 Hote and att tuameter c+) are eee Ot Pransverse diameter .; 2% Cac ioteelok ote ae 02 Maxillary tooth, longest (6th), length below ; wiveolar marina). Laat ea ee te 34 Dentary tooth, longest (5th), length above alveolar MALO ex > ee eR cares, ere tee eae eae 22 Cervical vertebre (atlas, axis, 7 cervicals and 2 cervico-dorsals), estimated length........... 4 + _ Dorsal vertebre with sacrum (11 dorsal, 5 sacral). 7 6 Caudal vertebrz, 1st to 22nd, both inclusive..... 10 4 ss ‘9 23rd to 34th, both inclusive (estintahed onsite rates las orcs 5) ie meapula with coracoid, lenSth iri as ah eet lee 3 5 Pigmerus; Went wee a. Suntec ee ee our bree cs 123 ina, lengthens, ws. eict trae ee ee ee eee 64 Feats: lenoth:, £ 23h cee aise oo ee ew ene er 64 Ilium, length (antero-posterior). ..............7. 3 [lium, height above lower end of ischial peduncle.. 1 iseitum, length. oo) 50425 Te ee eee oe eee 2 ets Jlengthyiec5 2 2 5 /ORSe ee ee eee 3 34 Pubis, fore and aft length of foot of.............. 1 Menmcsength:. Pt.) 'o Utell phe eee eee 3 Tibia (including astragalus), length. So eee 3 . | Tae Orrawa WiruxKeOSe. ; ae 9 Tibia, eee Seki “chee aes SR ge eed, og A ete Ge 3 3 - Metatarsal, tse dia nit ae a See Oe gh he he 44 he igh Ria ieee tee ht FS toi OA Se ae Bae 1 94 i etirrdgl IE RE Ne SE RTPA. te Neen eee 2 04 * "a jad. Se ee SaaS Me - 10 ry Der ae tg. nS 2 Ae At mee eae, 3 84 -Digit I of Pes, dength oe tes Coeccee act se Ret or 8 pee ate ntt a Gh ge Sn) bcc. a WS ee 1 43 SS a eee 2 CR ee ee een rig em ae 1 8 heated Gal ane ebtrasd , k See eee me aa 1 44 1st Dorsal vertebra, length Of Céntrigii ef one. ae Side: ot! seigk an pa ee = 2nd Rib, length....... ts he REE et esto e-s 3 9 _ Posterior sacral vertebra, lene of centrum of.... 64 ist Caudal vertebra, length of centrum of........ 6 Ets 4: height of anterior end of Cent Puri Ole yes he os A 74 5th Caudal vertebra, length of centrum of........ 6 “ ~ height of centrum of, x ag “neural Spiess oes oh 114 eae 4 ne length of chevron bone of... 8 i = 2th * * length of centrum of....... 52 Sere fe a height of anterior end of. ag aS Ceti ram Ol or ak kis oe ds 34 22nd ..“ = length of centrum of.. +3 - - height of anterior end of CO rtrg aie e XGA oa 1g fore and aft length of foot of chevron bone of.. bt + 5th iain rib, length of lateral half ofser Se. 2 1 Outer supplementary pmicame, denoth.ot; os Ss OS ! STEPHANOSAURUS, gen. nov. This genus is established for the reception of the species from the Belly River formation of Alberta, originally described, under the name of Trachodon marginatus, by the writer in 1902* from a ramus of a lower jaw and a maxilla, and from the remains of one individual. With the species were provisionally associated other elements, notably a slender footed-ischium, which associa- - tions have since been proved to be correct by further material _ included in the collection of 1913 from the Belly River formation of Red Deer river. These additional remains, discovered by *Contributions to Canadian Paleontology, Vol. III (quarto), pt. II. abate i. 18 . Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. [April | Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, are of*two individuals to which the writer has lately referred} in describing the integument of the species. With one of these specimens the skull reproduced in _ plate I is preserved. Part of another skull (collection of 1913), found separately, assists in elucidating the characters displayed by the more perfect skull, and provides additional evidence regarding some of those elements to whose great development is mainly due the surprising shape of the head of this species. The skull of Stephanosaurus rises to a great height in front of and above the eye opening. In recently describing Grypo- saurus, also from the Belly River formation of Alberta, the writer commented on the anterior depth of the skull occasioned by the height to which the nasal rose. In the skull of Stephanosaurus, however, the height attained by the nasals is proportionately twice as great as in Gryposaurus; the depth of the skull above its midlength is equal to its total length. Viewing the skull from the side, the facial outline is sigmoid, at first concave, ascending rapidly from the front until it is vertical, whence it continues upward and reaches a point directly above by an even convex curve; this, the highest point preserved in the specimen, is vertically above the midlength of the skull. The general slope of the head behind is rapidly downward to the squamosal, but as this part of the specimen is imperfect, the exact outline is unknown. The almost vertical quadrate and the sinuous horizontal contour of the slender mandible below com- plete the profile of the head. The orbit is small and its centre is below the midheight of the skull. The enlargement of the skull in front of and above the orbit is due to the great development mainly of the prefrontal and nasal bones, the latter of which rises upward in front of the pre- frontal and passes backward over it and beyond it. This ex- tension of the nasal beyond the upper limit of the prefrontal appears to be supported from below by the frontal, although this last bone has not been satisfactorily recognized. Above the prefrontal and the supposed frontal, the nasal points almost directly upward. In the specimen its upper termination has been broken off, but it probably formed with the other nasal a stout spine somewhat of the shape suggested by the dotted outline in the figure. The prefrontal is a large triangular bone with its base rest- ing for the most part on the lachrymal, which latter is long and + The Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. XXVII, No. 10, January, 1914. im ¥ 5 =e : 1914) es Tur Ortrawa NATURALIST. $9 narrow, meets the jugal below, and posteriorly enters largely into the formation of the orbital rim. By referring to the figure it will be seen that the maxilla, the jugal, the quadrato-jugal, the quadrate, and the mandible have much the same proportions as in Trachodon. The jugal is small, but it has the general shape characteristic of this element in all known members of the Trachodontide. Anteriorly, the premaxilla is somewhat depressed, but laterally much expanded. Its upper surface, next to the median line of the head, is continued in a curve outward anteriorly and backward laterally as a marginal area enclosing a wide depression in advance of the long and narrow nasal opening. In the speci- men, the outermost portion of the laterally expanded premaxilla is crushed down. The nasal opening is enclosed above by the nasal and below by a backwardly directed extension of the pre- maxilla. This extension, or lower limb, of the premaxilla passes along the upper front surface of the maxilla and abuts against the prefrontal. Above, posteriorly, it unites with the nasal behind the nasal opening in a short sutural contact. It is not known how far forward the nasal extends, as its suture with the -premaxilla in front has not been detected. The squamosal is preserved in part, as shewn in the figure. The postfrontal is probably represented toward its anterior end, but here its limits are not recognized, and posteriorly the bone is imperfect. As in other members of the Trachodontide, it no doubt contributed to the formation of the postorbital bar. The orbital opening is narrowly elliptical, with its longer diameter directed obliquely downward and forward. It is more than twice as long as wide. The lateral temporal fossa is larger than the orbit and is also longer than wide, with a similar obliquity of length. Detailed descriptions, with illustrations, of the maxilla, the mandible, the teeth, the ischium, the pubis, and the principal bones of the fore- and hind-limbs of Stephanosaurus marginatus were published when the writer established the species in 1902. The characters of the integument are known from the writer’s recent description (op. cit.). The nearest approach to Stephanosaurus is Saurolophus of Brown from a higher horizon of the Cretaceous of Alberta (Edmonton formation). In this latter genus the facial slope of the skull is about midway between that of Stephanosaurus and Trachodon. The upwardly directed nasal spine of Stephano- saurus may have heralded the backwardly sloping nasal crest 20 - Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. [April of the later Edmonton dinosaur. The two genera appear to be closely allied and in both the footed form of ischium is present. EXPLANATION OF PuLaTeE I. Left lateral aspect of skull of Stephanosaurus marginatus; one- fifth the natural size. Abbreviations.—D, lateral temporal fossa; DN, dentary; J, jagal; L, lachrymal; MX, maxilla; N, nasal; NO, nasal opening; OR, orbit; PD, predentary; PF, prefrontal; PM, premaxilla; Q, quadrate; Q/, quadrato-jugal; S, squamosal; SA, surangular. THE LONDON BIOLOGICAL. CLUB. This club, which was formed on February 6th last, has twenty chartered members. It is the intention to hold monthly meet- ings and conduct field excursions. On March 6th, Dr. Hill, of the Institute of Public Health, gave an address on“ Life’, and on April 3rd Dr. Woolverton delivered a lecture on ‘“‘The Mammoth Cave’’. Recently the club presented a memorial to the Honourable Minister of Game and Fisheries, Toronto, which called attention to many native birds which have become seriously depleted in numbers, chiefly owing to shooting by sportsmen and others. Direction was drawn to the scarcity of quail in certain localities and the hope expressed that continuous protection be given so that the birds would have every chance to recover, in time, their former numbers. Other birds mentioned were the Eagle, Fish Hawk and Great Blue Heron, which have now become exceedingly rare. Many of the beneficial smaller birds are also in need of protection. In the opinion of the club, the easiest way to increase the amount of protection given by the present laws is to enact and enforce a license for all firearms except military rifles, which would prevent a great deal of the thought- less slaughter at present carried on. It was also suggested that the Government purchase abandoned woods and other cheap areas of land and marsh on which hunting could be prohibited, thereby forming breeding sanctuaries. The officers of the London Biological Club are: President, Dr. H. W. Hill; Vice-President, Dr. S. Woolverton; Curator, Mr. J. F. Calvert; Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. J. W. Noble. We extend to this new sister club our warmest greetings and best wishes for success in all branches of its work. The motto of the club, ‘‘Learn to live andlive tolearn,”’ is an ideal one. A. G. a F ie Sa! Oe Daten Ah ’ eee eae ey PU ee. THe Ottawa NATUuRALIS’ ae) XXVIII. Prate I. VoL. Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VOL. XXVIII. OTTAWA, MAY, 1914 No: 2. THE WATERWAYS OF THE MACKENZIE RIVER BASIN* By CHARLES CAMSELL. INTRODUCTION. The Mackenzie is one of the great rivers of the earth, with a drainage basin covering about one-fifth of the.total area of Canada, exclusive of the islands of the Arctic. The subject, therefore, is too big a one to discuss in all its details within the limits of a short paper such as this, and I will make no attempt to do so. I wish, however, to draw particular attention to what I consider one of the most important features of the region, and one on which, to a very large extent, its future development depends, namely, its navigable waterways. The importance of these waterways, first in the exploration of the region and later in its settlement and the development of its natural resources, cannot be overestimated, and these waterways can and will be used far beyond the limited extent to which they are used at present. ; I have selected the Mackenzie river region for two reasons. In the first place, I am familiar with much of its geography, its natural resources and its inhabitants, and I am able to speak of them with some degree of knowledge gathered throughout many years of residence in the region. For many years I wandered over much of the northern part of the region, from the barren lands on the east to the Pacific coast on the west, travelling in summer by canoe and in winter on snowshoes. During these years I travelled over nearly all the main routes, besides some that had not previously been explored. In the second place, the Mackenzie river region is at present beginning to attract a good deal of attention among men who are anxious to develop its natural resources in minerals *Paper read at the meeting of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club on March 10th, 1914. to bo” THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [May and agriculture.. The agricultural portion, namely, that within the basin of the Peace ‘and Athabasca rivers, has been widely advertised as ‘“The Last West,” and is being gradually settled up. This portion of the Mackenzie basin, together with that immediately to the north of it as far as the Liard river, contains the greatest area of unoccupied agricultural country in Canada, and it is the direction in which Canadian expansion in agri- cultural pursuits is bound to take place. The northern and eastern portion, however, is still largely unexplored and, while it is never likely to support a large agri- cultural population, offers a vast field of possibly great value to the prospector and the mining man. To develop the Mackenzie basin, railway companies are building lines into it from the south, one going north-westward from Edmonton into the Peace river, and another down the Athabasca river, and still others are asking for charters to cross it from Hudson bay to the Pacific. Its magnificent system of waterways, with thousands of miles of river and lake navigation, combined with the transportation that will be afforded by the proposed railway lines, will make the development of the more accessible parts a quick and easy matter. Although it is more than 100 years since the first explorer descended the Mackenzie river to its mouth, yet at the present time practically all we know of most of the region north of Athabasca lake is confined to the valleys of the main streams and the shores of the Great Lakes, and that knowledge is very imperfect. The vast extent of country lying between the river courses is still virtually unknown, except to the Indians. What those portions of the country contain in the way of mineral resources it is impossible to say and unsafe to hazard a guess, in view of the surprises we have already received in opening up similar country in northern Ontario. Twenty-five years ago the basin of the Mack ete. was the subject of an investigation by a select committee of the Senate of Canada. The report of that committee summarizes the information that was available at that time on its climate, inhabitants and natural resources. That information is valuable to-day, but little new information has since been obtained on a great part of the region. The time is at hand, therefore, when we should endeavour to learn more about this region. PHYSICAL FEATURES. The Mackenzie river is on the Arctic watershed, draining an area of 682,000 square miles, a territory covering about one- fifth of the total area of Canada. 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. “ae The basin of the Mackenzie comprises three main physical features: On the west is the great series of parallel mountain ranges known as the Rocky Mountain system, into which many of the stronger tributaries of the Mackenzie cut deeply. On the east is the low-lying, rocky, broken Laurentian plateau, which in its northern part is treeless and is known as the Barren Lands. Between these two strongly marked features lies the broad low- land, through which the Mackenzie flows northward to the Arctic. The Mackenzie lowland is the northward extension of our own Great Plains region. It is a country of numerous lakes and of rivers flowing in shallow valleys, and its general level is only broken by occasional low ranges of hills.. It. corresponds to a.certain extent with the region to the-'south, through which the Mississippi flows southward to the Gulf of Mexico. In con- trast to the Mississippi region, however, the Mackenzie lowland is forested northward to its mouth and it embraces also within its limits some of the largest lakes on the continent. The physical features of the Mackenzie basin then are these: A mountainous highland on the west, a low-lying, rugged, rocky and partly treeless plain on the east, and in the middle a broad, almost level, forested lowland, with the trunk stream, like a great artery, flowinz northward to the Arctic sea, fed on the one hand from the melting snows of the mountains and on the other hand from the numberless lakes of the plateau region on the east. The Mackenzie ranks as one of the eight large rivers of the earth. It is exceeded in length, drainage area and volume by the Mississippi, but has a greater length and drainage area than the St. Lawrence. Its length is reckoned at 2,550 miles to the head of the Peace river and its volume at about half a million cubic feet per second, or nearly ten times as great as the mean volume of the Ottawa river. It is navigated by river steamers for 1,300 miles without a break, from itsmouth up, and above that again on the Peace, Athabasca and other tributaries for a total length of about 1,400 miles in three sections. If we include its great lakes and those tributary streams that have already been explored, it has an estimated length of navigable river and lake shore line of nearly 7,000 miles in length. History. The history of the Mackenzie river district is intimately bound ttp with that of the fur trade, and particularly with that of the Hudson Bay Company. Organized in 1670, under the name of ‘‘The Honourable Company of Merchant Adventurers 24~ THe Ortawa NATURALIST. [May Trading into Hudson Bay,” a charter was obtained from Charles the Second, which carried with it not only the right to trade, but the ownership of most of the region now included in northern and western Canada. For 100 years after its formation, ‘‘The Company” as it is familiarly known all over this vast territory, confined its operations to the immediate shores of Hudson bay. In 1770, however, they were induced to send an expiorer, Samuel Hearne, into the country west of the Bay for the purpose of finding the locality from which the Esquimaux obtained the native copper which they made into arrow heads and other implements. Hearne’s first two attempts to reach the locality failed, because, as his Indians told him, he had no women on the party. ‘““Women,” they said, ‘““were useful to draw the toboggans and carry the loads, while the men hunted; and, besides that, they could easily subsist on the bones from which the men had eaten the meat.’”’ On his last journey, Hearne discovered Great Slave lake, and explored the Coppermine river to the Arctic coast. His journey is one of the most remarkable that has ever been made in the history of northern inland travel, and for a year and a half he travelled with a band of Chipewyan Indians, living as one of themselves, under the conditions of the greatest hardship. About this time other fur trading companies, financed from Montreal and Boston, began to enter the field in opposition to the Hudson Bay Company. Competition, however, soon became so keen that they had to unite under the name of the North- West Company. Between this and the Hudson Bay Company the rivalry was so fierce that it often led to bloodshed, but it greatly stimulated explorations in the Mackenzie basin. The North-West Company was the more aggressive of the two and pushed their outposts far into the interior. In 1778 we find them establishing a post near Athabasca lake, and in 1785 they reached Great Slave lake, fifteen years after Hearne. It was from Athabasca lake that in 1789 Alexander Mackenzie, an employee of the North-West Company, started on his voyage of exploration northward. On this journey he crossed Great Slave lake, and descended the Mackenzie to its mouth, the first white man to make the trip. He was six weeks in descending the river, and during this time he met with many discouragements. Meeting a party of Indians at the mouth of Great Bear river, he was told that it would still take Vears to reach the mouth, and they would be all old men before they returned. a, ee 1914] — Tue Orrawa NATURALIST. Rie Three years later Mackenzie explored the Peace river, and crossed over to the Pacific, being the first white man to cross the continent north of Mexico. ‘In 1821 the two fur trading companies, finding that their profits were being reduced by competition, amalgamated under the name of the older company, and thus was ended one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the Northern Interior of Canada. In 1819 Franklin made his first journey into the Mackenzie basin, when he explored the Coppermine river and apart of the _ Arctic coast to the east, a journey which cost him the lives of many of hisparty. In 1825 he madea second and more successful trip to the mouth of the Mackenzie and along the coast to the east and west. Franklin’s journeys mark the beginning of much Arctic exploration, and in the succeeding years the Mackenzie was traversed by such men as Dease, Simpson, Rae, Richardson and many others. Many of these explorers were sent out to search for traces of Franklin’s last expedition, from which neither he nor any of his party ever returned. Much of the details of geographical work in the Mackenzie basin was filled in by the officers of the Hudson Bay Company, but few of them considered it worth while to record their observa- tions in writing or were trained for that kind of work. In more recent times, Father Petitot did a great dealof unobstrusive exploratory work, and later still we have such men as Macoun, McConnell, Ogilvie, Russell, Bell, Preble and many others. The most important geographical and geological work in this field in the present generation is that of McConnell, whose expeditions in 1887-88 and later, added more to our knowledge of the geology and natural resources of the region than any other expeditions since. There is still much exploratory work to be done, and there are many blank spaces on the map of the Mackenzie basin to be filled in. UNEXPLORED AREA. In 1890, Dr. George Dawson, in a paper before the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, made an estimate of the area of un- explored territory in Canada, exclusive of the islands of the Arctic. His results were obtained in this way. All lines along which reasonably satisfactory explorations had been made, he gave a width of 50 miles, that is to say, he assumed that the explorer learned something of the country 25 miles on either 26 | Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. [May side of his route. The area between these lines was measured, and in this way he calculated that out of a total area of 3,729,665 square miles, there were about 1,000,000. square miles of unexplored territory in Canada. About 600,000 of this lay in western Canada, the rest being in what are now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. No area less than 7,500 square miles was included. Recently I had occasion to revise this estimate, but believing that the 50-mile strip was too wide, I took a strip 15 miles on either side of the explorers’ route and reduced the explored lines to a width of 30 miles, which I think is quite enough. The result is that I find in western Canada there are areas aggregating 600,000 square miles in extent which must still be considered as unexplored. Of this area 240,000 square miles le within the drainage basin of the Mackenzie river, an area which is almost equal to the area of the Province of Saskatchewan. In commenting upon the area of unexplored territory that we have within the borders of the Dominion, Dawson remarked that it might be considered a reproach upon Canadians as in- dicating a lack of justifiable curiosity on what our country contains. That reproach still remains on us, and will continue so long as such a large proportion of our country remains un- known. Expeditions into the Arctic are useful in their way and add much to our knowledge of those little known regions, but it seems to me imperative that we should devote more of our attention to the more accessible parts of our unexplored region, on the chance of finding something on which to build productive industries and open fresh outlets for our national energy. Every explorer, even at the present time, going into the north country, away from the regular lines of trail, takes a certain amount of risk, though that risk is not as great as it might appear to those who have no knowledge of that kind of work. Life, even for the natives, is a constant struggle, and the law of the survival of the fittest holds more rigidly in that region ° than in southern latitudes. It is not so much the severity of the climate and the intense cold of the winter season that take their toll of human life, but the uncertainty of the food supply. Game is very plentiful in certain parts and at certain seasons of the year, but the habits of some of the animals are migratory, especially the cariboo, on which such a large proportion of the inhabitants depend for food, and it is absolutely necessary to know those habits before one ventures without a sufficient food supply into regions distant from the few scattered trading posts. ’ 1914] THe OrTrawa NATURALIST. ag A change in the course of the migration of the cariboo or the periodical failure of the rabbits has always been attended by starvation and hardship among the natives, and has, in the past, been the cause of occasional lapses towards cannibalism. [If it were not for the food supply of fish, it would be exceedingly difficult for the natives to live at all, and it is safe to say that no country in the world has such a large quantity or excellent quality of food fishes as the lakes and streams of the Mackenzie basin. INHABITANTS. The population of the Mackenzie basin, at the present time, numbers only a few thousands, the larger proportion of which are Indians and half-breeds. Most of the white population is segregated on the southern fringe of the region. The widely separated posts in the central and northern parts of the basin average perhaps a dozen white people each, and these posts are usually about 150 miles apart. As far northward, however, as the Liard river and Great Slave lake, which might be considered the northern limit to which any considerable settlement of an agricultural population will take place, there is within the basin of the Mackenzie an area of about 200,000 square miles, which should be able to support a population of at least 2,000,000 people, or about ten persons to the square mile, and that mainly from agriculture. WATERWAYS. One of the most important features of the Mackenzie basin, ‘and one on which to a very large extent the development of the region depends, is its system of waterways. These waterways are the main highways of the region, and except for the very southern fringe of the region, where railways and wagon roads are now being built, constitute the only routes of travel in winter as well asin summer. Until 25 or 30 years ago, the only craft plying on them were the York boats of the traders and the canoes of the natives. Since that time river steamers have been built and now run on all sections of the main waterway. At the present time steamers are running on the Athabasca, Peace, Slave and Mackenzie rivers. The Mackenzie system of waterways, on which steamers can and do run, has a known length of river and lake shore line of 6,900 miles. This system is divided naturally into four sections, each section being separated from the adjoining one by natural obstructions of falls or heavy rapids which the steamers cannot surmount. These sections I have named for convenience :—(1) The Athabasca river section; (2) the Peace 28 THe Ortawa NATURALIST. [May river section; (3) Athabasca lake section, and (4) the Lower Mackenzie section. The navigable river and lake shore line of these sections have been arranged in tabular form in the sub- joined table. The figures are given in round numbers. NAVIGABLE WATERS OF MACKENZIE BASIN. Lower Mackenme river section: Mackenzie river, below Great Slave lake........ 1,000 miles Peéel river, to-mouth of Wind river 4... 3.2 DSO Ae BGar grvers tes bed Cae eee ea ee 90-255 Shoreline, Great: Bearlake.4/or hie. Aa oe Ir SOO TRS LAarO ai eth Or eRe nels ee ee ne eae eee 440 ‘ Shore ime; Great Slave lake 2 22 ee eek 1,440." “ Slave river, Fort Smith to Great Slave lake.... 200° “ Metals. 2 Nghe BE Cea Tagen eh a Oona aeea a A. 7 80 Ae Athabasca lake section: Slave river, Athabasca lake to Graham landing. 100 miles Peace river, Slave river to Vermilion falls...... 220 ‘ Shore line. Athabasca lakes |e ere tie 50070 Athabasca river, Athabasca lake to McMurray... 170 ‘ (Heaiwater SIMED 7 het Sd) aerate ee ar ea 80.8 Boas bc Rate occ Pon iy fie tee a COED Rea are 11305 ae Peace river section: Peace river, Hudson’s Hope to Vermilion falls.. 550 miles Athabasca river section: Athabasca river, Grand Rapids to McLeod river. 325 miles KResser: Slaveswiversandwlakest) cio, = tao eee ie Fro aie ars Metal ene, OC Nok PO en 2 ee ee Se 440 Total tor whole Mackenzie bastnt +20)... oo eee 6 200nace The Athabasca river section has a length of navigable river and lake of about 440 miles, on which steamers drawing two feet of water may run. This includes the distance from the mouth of McLeod river to the Grand rapids on the Athabasca and Lesser Slave lake and river. This section 1s separated from the Athabasca lake section by 90 miles of rapids on the Athabasca river, extending from Grand rapids to Fort McMurray, which is navigable with difficulty for scows and canoes. Navigation of this section of waterways will soon be done away with on the completion of 4 1914] Tue OtrawaA NATURALIST. 29 the railways now being built to Fort McMurray and Peace River Crossing. The Peace river section is 550 miles in length and extends from Hudson’s Hope down to V ermilion falls, and is navigable for steamers with a 24 foot draft. The Loon river, a tributary of the Peace, in this section is said by McConnell to be navigable for powerful river steamers for a distance of 150 miles, but is not included in the table. This section is interrupted at its upper end by the Peace river canyon, where the river breaks through the Rocky Mountains, and is separated from the Athabasca lake section by the rapids known as Vermilion falls, where there is a fall in the river of about 25 feet. T his obstruction could possibly be improved to such an extent as to allow steamers to pass from the Peace river section into the Athabasca lake section. The Peace river section will shortly be connected by railway with Edmon- ton on the completion of a line from that point to Peace River Crossing. The Athabasca lake section has a length of navigable river of 570 miles for boats of 24 foot draft, and a shore line on Athabasca lake of about 560 miles in length, making a total of 1,130 miles. This section includes the Athabasca river from Fort McMurray to Athabasca lake, 170 miles in length, 80 miles of the Clearwater river, the Slave river from Athabasca lake to Graham’s landing, 100 miles, and the Peace river from its mouth up to Vermilion falls 220 miles. It is separated from the Lower Mackenzie section by a series of rapids on Slave river about 16 miles in length, where there is a total fall estimated at 250 feet. This break in navigation is now overcome by a wagon road of 16 miles from Graham’s landing to Fort Smith, but scows and light craft are usually taken down through the rapids by making four short portages. On the completion of the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, the Athabasca lake section will be directly connected with the main system of Canadian railways and there will not be the necessity for traversing the 90 miles of rapid, broken river which now separates it from the end of the railway at Athabasca Landing. Steamers are now running on this section throughout the summer season, which usually lasts about five months. The Lower Mackenzie section is by far the most important of the whole system, covering as it does about 4,780 miles of known river and lake shore line, on which a depth of water, ranging from two feet to six feet, may be found. T his section 30 THE OTTawa NATURALIST. [May embraces the trunk stream from Fort Smith-down to the Arctic coast, a distance of 1,300 miles, over which a depth of five feet of water can be obtained. This, with the shore line of Great Slave lake, 1,440 miles in length, and the small part of Peel river, is the only part of the section that is now being used by steamers. The remainder of the navigable waters of the section are only available for ight draft-steamers and cannot be navigated by the deeper draft steamers that now ply on the portion previously mentioned. The Liard river is obstructed on its lower part by a strong rapid which, however, could be ascended by powerful light draft steamers with the aid of a line, making the navigable water on this stream 440 miles in length. Great Bear river, 90 miles in length, also has a shallow rapid about half way up its course which could be ascended in the same way. With this obstruction removed or overcome, the whole of Great Bear lake, with a shore line of about 1,360 miles, becomes con- nected with the Mackenzie system. Peel river is navigable for shallow draft steamers from the Mackenzie to the mouth of Wind river. The Mackenzie has a number of other tributaries about which little or nothing is known, but which, on exploration, might prove to be navigable for certain distances. Among these are Little Buffalo river, Willow river, Hareskin river, Arctic Red river and some others. The Lower Mackenzie section is navigated at present by a few small steamers that are operated solely for the benefit of the fur traders and the missions. In spite of its greater length and the depth of its channel, it is, however, used less than any of the other three sections. This, because of its remoteness. Taking the Lower Mackenzie section and the Athabasca lake section together, it will readily be understood how import- ant they become in connection with the exploration and develop- ment of the whole Lower Mackenzie region and a great part of the region to the east, which cannot easily be reached from Hudson bay. — These two sections of the waterways are to-day suffering from the handicap of being separated from railway connection by obstructions which are not easily surmounted. This handicap will, however, be removed when the promised railway to Fort McMurray is built. It would greatly increase the value of these waterways if the obstruction of 16 miles at Fort Smith could be overcome, either by a tramway or a system of locks, and it is probable that one or the other of these projects will one day be carried out. ei < igre? a Sa eee ee OS a ee ee ee *.. * : "- ip Pag = “4 q rm ‘ , = . e - 4 >, ee fe A a ea SS = ee er ms = 7 w+ = a en et ee eee orn — 1914] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 31 It is difficult to over-estimate the value of the waterways of the Mackenzie basin, not only to the region itself but to Canada asawhole. They constitute an asset of the first importance in the development. of the natural resources of the region. Not only have they been the channels of trade and exploration in the past, but they will continue to be in the future the means by which further exploration, settlement and development will be carried out. In the early history of the region the waterways formed the routes by which the explorers traversed the country, and while, at the present time, most of the main streams have been explored, yet there are vast areas between these main streams, aggregating 240,000 square miles in extent, that are still unknown and the smaller streams and watercourses con- stitute the easiest and only natural means by which these areas are to be explored. To-day, with hardly any exceptions, the settlements of the region are situated on the waterways, and for a long time to come these waterways will determine the location of the centres of population in the region. No doubt, in the future, mining camps may be opened up in the interstream areas and agricultural communities formed in sections where the land is,suitable, as is now being done in the south-western portion of the region, but in the early stages of development and growth of.either of these two classes of communities, the watercourses must be used before other routes of travel are opened up. Railways will eventually be built into the region from the south, and this period is now beginning for the extreme southern fringe of the Mackenzie basin, but unless there is some extra- ordinary mineral development in the northern part of the basin, the limit northward, to which the future railways will extend, will be determined by the limit at which successful farming operations can be carried on, for, except in certain exceptional cases, the products of agriculture furnish the bulk of the traffic for the railway lines. Until these railways are built, however, water transporta- tion must be practically the only means by which the traffic of the region is handled, and, indeed, the building of railway lines will by no means do away with the navigation of the lakes and rivers, when there is such a magnificent system of water- ways, because of the difference in the cost of the one method of transportation over the other. Of course, on account of the climate, it is not possible to navigate the lakes and rivers of the region for a longer period than four to five months of the vear. On the other hand, how- 32 THE Ottawa NATURALIST.” [May ever, the winter routes, at the present time, all follow the river courses, either horses or dogs being used, in different parts. The winter mail that is sent down the Mackenzie valley by the Govern- ment to the various posts eventually reaches Herschel island, in the Arctic ocean, and for the whole of the distance from the end of the railway line at Athabasca landing—a distance of about 2,000 miles—the route is over the ice of the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie rivers, and the conveyance in toboggans drawn by dog teams. Again the waterways are of importance, because the natural resources that are known to exist on them, and those which will in the natural course of events be developed first, are to be found along them. The best agricultural land, and that. which will be first utilized, is situated along the banks of the streams where the drainage is good. There is undoubtedly much that lies back from the stream courses, but this will not be taken up and worked until the available area along the valleys is occupied. The best timber also is situated on the banks of the streams. Not only are the waterways of the Mackenzie basin import- ant from the point of view of navigation and transportation, but because of the quantity and variety of food fishes:which they contain. The fisheries of the Great Lakes of the Mackenzie basin— namely, those of Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear lakes— are among the most valuable of the assets of the region. Hundreds of thousands of excellent whitefish are caught in Athabasca and Great Slave lakes every year. A great many more were caught annually a few years ago, when the trading posts were more dependent on the native food supply than they are now, and McConnell’s estimate of half a million pounds of whitefish being taken from Great Slave lake in the autumn fishery of 1887 is not too large. The fisheries of Athabasca lake are equally good in proportion to its size, but both of these lakes are outdone by Great Bear lake in the size, quality and variety of its fish. Whitefish there go up to 12 pounds in weight and trout to 50 pounds or more, besides which there is the herring, which is not found in either of the other lakes. Even at present, whitefish form a very important item in the diet of the natives, and it has been proved by long years of experience that a man can live and thrive on a diet of whitefish, and white- fish alone. He will tire of any other kind of fish, even of trout, but the whitefish never. In fact, the taste for whitefish increases with the use of it. Other natural resources which will be developed by means of the water routes are”the minerals, among which are oil and 7) , - ; i oe < r i ee - i a 1914] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 33 gas, coal, iron ore, salt, gypsum, and gold, silver and copper ores. The best known of these, and possibly one of the most important, _ is the oil, which is known to occur as seepages at points from one end of the region to the other. With the exception of placer gold from the Omenica and Cassiar districts, however, no pro- duction has yet been made of any of these minerals. Furs are the chief products of the region at present exported, and the Mackenzie river region is considered by the Hudson Bay Company to be the best fur-producing portion of Canada. LICHENS FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND. By G. K. MERRILL. The lichens here commented upon were collected by Prof. John Macoun in the vicinity of Sidney, Vancouver Island. With two exceptions, the plants are new to the Canadian flora, and several are recorded as hitherto unreported from the North American Continent. Other interesting discoveries of Prof. Macoun await future comment. CLADONIA FURCATA Var. CONSPERSA Wain. Mon, Clad. I., p. 335 (1887). Thin earth over rocks, Beaver Lake and Fowl Bay. Podetia erect, colored above is in the var. palamaea, below glaucescent, above more or less densely squamulose and isidio-squamaceous, cortex continuous below but above rimose-diffract. Unreported previously from America. UsSNEA CAVERNOSA Tuck. in Agass, L. Superior. | Appendix (1850). Branches of trees, Sidney. Remarkable because of the main branches showing articula- tions in the manner of U. articulata, and from the fact that the cortex here and there is papillose or papillose-scabrous. LECANORA (ASPICILIA) GIBBOSA var. ZONATA Wain. Medd. Soc. pro F. at Fl. Fenn. t. VI (1881), p. 168. Rocks, Sidney. This is a remarkable condition of the species characterized by a sub-effigurate thallus, which is zonate toward the circumference. New to America. 7 34 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [May . LECANORA (ASPICILIA) GLAUCOMELA Tuck. Gen., p. 118 (1872). 4 Alder trunks, Beaver Lake. . Spores rounded, short-ellipsoid or ovoid, ‘serially disposed in cylindrical asci, hymenium and hypothecium without color, the paraphyses distinct and lax. The thallus varies from greenish-ashy in the specimens from Prof. Macoun to sordid-greenish-brown in examples from Washington collected by Mr. A. S. Foster. Tuckerman was inclined to make the present a sub-species of L. oculata, an assumed relationship that no one but an arrant Sporologist may assent to. BIATORA ATROFUSCA Flot. in Hepp. Exs. p. 268 (1857). Bark of maples and Douglas fir, Sidney. Spores oblong-ellipsoid 15-19 x 7-8 y, hypothecium brown, paraphyses distinct but coherent, tips thickened and brown, hymenial gelatin with I + intense-blue. Thallus less developed than in the muscicoline conditions collected in Maine, where it was found over rocks and about the base of trees. Without question, Tuckerman united the present with B. sauguineoatra, and the distribution cited for that species must, in some part, represent the plant of this note. Biatora (Biatorina) lenticularis (Ach.) comb. nov. forma nigricans Arn. in Flora 1860, p. 14. Rocks, Sidney. Spores ellipsoid or variously difform, bilocular, the epispore distinct, 10-12 x 5-5.5y, hymenium and hypothecium hyaline, paraphvses distinct, more or less discrete, tips enlarged and black, asci inflated-clavate or oblong, hymenial gel. with I + sordid-blue. Previously unrecorded from America. LECIDEA LATYPEA Ach. Method. Suppl., p. 10 (1803). Fragmental rocks, Sidney. Spores ellipsoid 15-18 x 8 wy; hymenium colorless, hypothe- cium brown, paraphyses distinct, slightly discrete, tips blue-green, asci ventricose, hymenial gel. with I + intense- blue. Thalline reaction K +, C + orange-red. While resembling forms of L. parasema externally, the internal characters preserve specific distinctness. , Macoun’s Canadian list cites the plant from Newfoundland, . and it has since been collected in Alaska, California and : Washington. v 1914] Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. eee LecmeEA LATYP1zA Nyl. Obs. Pyr. Orient, Bull. Soc. Linne. de Norm. 2 serie VII, p. 201° (1872). Rocks, Sidney. Differing from L. latypea only in the absence of reaction with Ca Cl. It has also been collected in California and Washington. LECIDEA CONFLUENS forma oxypaTA Leight. Lich. Fl. G. Brit. Ed. III, p. 304 (1879). Schistose rocks} Sidney. Spores ellipsoid, 16-18 x 8-9 yw, hymenium hyaline, hypo- thecium dark-brown, paraphyses distinct, compacted, tips brown, hymenial gel, with I + deep-blue. Hypothallus little visible in our specimens. Unreported from America previously. LEcIDEA (RHIZOCARPON) DisTINCTA Stiz. in Lich. Hyperb., p. 47 Rocks by the roadside, Sidney. ‘Spores colorless, 4-loe. halonate 25-29 x 10-12 y, eight, or fewer, in the ascus, hypothecium and tips of the paraphyses purplish-brown, hymenial gel, with I + blue or here and there violet. This is one of the multifarious exhibits of the section Rhizocarpon of Lecidea. In thalline characters it is similar ‘to many other species of the section and depends for its specific standing wholly upon ‘the hymenial characters. Unreported previously from America. XYLOGRAPHA HIANS Tuck. Syn. IJ, p. 113 (1888). Dead wood, Sidney. Hymenial gelatine with I + faint blue. Also detected in material sent by Mr. A. S. Foster from Washington. OPEGRAPHA BETULINA Sm. Engl. Bot. t. 2281 (1811). Young trees, Sidney. Spores 2—4 locular, typically 4, halonate, 22-28 x 8-10 p, hypothecium brownish, paraphyses distinct, slender, not coherent, tips brown, asci oblong or inflated-clavate, hymenial gelatine with I + wine-red. Under the synonym of O. atrorimalis Nyl., reported from ‘California, but little is known of the species in America. OPEGRAPHA VARIA forma DiAPHORA (Ach.) Nyl. Scand., p. 253 (1861). 7 Various rough barks, Sidney. Occurs in Washington on both smooth and rough barks. 36 THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. [May Arthonia (Arthothelium) Macounii sp. nov. Thallus hypophloedes albus vel cinereo-albidus effusus; apothecia .10—.05mm. lata orbicularia- et elliptica vel angulosa plana vel leviter emersa nigra; sporae hyalinae cylindrico-abovoideae 40-47 x 13-14 y muriformi-multi- loculares, loculus superior reliquis multo major; hypothe- cium hyalinum, asci saccato-abovoidei 8 spori; gelatina hymen. iodo vinose-rubens. Est valde affinis A. ampliatae Kn. et Mitt. Ad corticem Abietum juniorum. Sidney. Young spores 4-loc., cells of those mature commonly once divided, but sometimes twice, the large cell at times ir- regularly septate. Proportion of the large cell to remainder of the spore 3-10 of its length. VERRUCARIA AETHIOBOLA vat. ACROTELLA (Ach.) A. L. Sm., Britelachs Al 7262.91. Rocks, Sidney. Thallus a filmy dark stain, spofes 22 x 9 yw, agreeing well with the measurements given by Nylander. The relatively feeble development of the variation prevents its easy recognition. Unrecorded from America. LIST OF PLANTS IN FLOWER IN THE VICINITY OF SIDNEY, VANCOUVER ISLAND, MARCH, 1914.* By Joun Macoun, M.A., F.R.S.C. The following is, I believe, the first list of Vancouver Island spring flowers that has been published, and as most of the genera and some of the species are also found in eastern Canada, it may prove of interest to readers of THE Ottawa NaTurRAtist. Fifty- seven species of phanerogams were noted in bloom during the month. It may be said that a visit to Victoria during the last week in March would probably have added ten or more species to the list. | March 1—Alnus oregana, Nutt. ‘* 2——Stellaria media, (L.) CGyrill. Brassica campestris, L. Taraxacum officinale, Weber. - *Published by permission of the Director of the Geological Survey. —12 15 AGF AND SIZE OF BOLLS AT SHEDDING. Figure 2. Graphs for age and size of bolls at shedding in percentage of the total shed. (Gossypium herbaceum). The so-called ‘‘shelling” of grapes, which may greatly reduce the crop just at the period of maturation, appears to be the result of a definite abscission process comparable to the 2 _. shedding of the cotton boll, except that the plane of separation a occurs at the base of the ripened ovary and not at the base of Bs the pedicel. > There are instances of indehiscent fruits in which excep- ‘i tional behaviours may be seen, of which that of Polygonum virgintanum and of the wild rice (Zizania spp.), may be quoted. ® Based upon data collected by my then assistant, Mr. C. S$. Ridgway, who has kindly referred them to me. 48 . THE Ottawa NaturRaList. °* [June-July The former, according to Reed and Smoot (16) is peculiar in having a layer of compressed pith cells enclosed in the vascular cylinder which remains unbroken until touched, although the cortex already shows complete abscission. Impact sufficient to break the vascular tissue allows the expulsion of the fruit, to a considerable distance. Those who have become familiar with the wild rice recall the fragile character of the stem below the spikelet, which breaks away at a slight touch. It needs not to do more than recall the various behaviours of plants which, like the compositae, set free their one-seeded fruits, sometimes singly, asin Adenostemma (Yapp, 17) and indeed in the majority of the family, and sometimes in groups, as in Parthenium, in which each of the five achenes is accompanied by two sterile flowers, while all the remaining staminate flowers are set free en masse (Lloyd, 8).' Since the abscission of flowers and fruits results from a transverse or oblique cutting off of the stem, we should expect that the plane of separation would fall at or near the base of an internode. According to Hannig, however, this takes place immediately beneath the flower at the top of the pedicel in several species (Nicotiana, Salvia, etc.), and in the middle of the pedicel in others (Solanum, etc.). In still other species, the abscission plane falls just above a very small bract, these, therefore, according with the general rule. It may be mentioned in this connection that while separation near the base of the chief axis of the inflorescence may take place (Mirabilis and Oxybaphus, Hannig; Impatiens Sultan), it is no less worthy of note that, in many plants, even after the usefulness of the inflorescence has passed, their chief axes remain as permanent encumbrances. I have been able to find the traces of them in Parthenium argentaium after the passage of five years or longer. Among our own plants one easily finds similar examples, e.g., Rhus, Negundo, Syringa, etc. And there are very many plants (palms, agaves, ferns, etc.) to which the leaves cling indefinitely, until they are worn or rotted away. A case requiring special explanation is to be found in the Cotton (Gossypium), in which the plane of abscission may pass transversely through the base of the pedicel, or may extend downwards along the internode below, even as far as the next node. The diagram (Figure 3c) presents these diversities in graphic form. It has long beenapuzzle to those concerned with this plant to account for this peculiarity, recorded in a bulletin on the diseases of the cotton by Atkinson (18) in 1897. To 7 The separation of such parts may be passive and involve no special abscission mechanism of living cells. 1914] : THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 49 understand it, the morphological character of the flowering branch, aS modified by dorsiventral development and by dis- harmonic growth in a longitudinal sense as between the upper and lower moieties of the axis, must be comprehended. The flowering branch is sympodial, but this is frequently much masked by displacement due to elongation of the nodal segments. That such elongation occurs is proved by the position of the stipular ridges* and occasionally by the actual longitudinal renting in twain of the stipular blade, and the distant separa- tion of its two moieties by intercalary growth in the axis. In A B Cc Figure 3. (a) The position of the abscission layer in the peduncle of cotton when it is downwardly displaced; (b) the same when, instead of total displacement, the base of the peduncle is elongated; (c) diagram to indicate possible positions of the abscission layer aS determined by the elongation of the peduncle base. In (a) and (c) the stipule of the hidden side is indicated by a broken line. (Gossyprum herbaceum). extreme cases of this kind, what appears to be an internode is really a much extended node, in which event the peduncle, which is the chief shoot, will be downwardly displaced as a whole (Figure 3a) (it may be to the lower limits of the stipular ridge), or its base will be correspondingly drawn out (Figure 3b). If 8 Cook, O. F., (20) has discussed this point, but does not draw any unequivocal conclusion, inclining the view that the flowering branch 1s monopodial, which myself found it difficult to avoid, until the evidence forthcame. % 50 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. - [June-July this displacement does not occur, the abscission plane of the peduncle is transverse through the base; if displacement has intervened, the abscission plane runs down-the false internode, as it may be called, and, in extreme instances, as far as the node below. It should te stated that the displacement in question is always greater on the upper side of the dorsiventral shoot in such a manner as to cause a slight axial rotation of the reduncle. We must, therefore, conclude that akscission in the cotton is always through the base of the peduncle, and when it is decurrent it is so because the base of the peduncle is stretched out in con- sequence of the extension of the nodal zone. The position of © the plane of separation is marked by a low ridge. There 1s, _indeed, especially visible in flower buds and quite youn gbolls a slight groove parallel and close to the base, but this has no con- stant relation to abscission, contrary to Ball’s statement. THE ABSCISSION OF FLORAL PARTS. The separation of the parts of the flower may,,on similar grounds, be compared with that of the leaf. It occurs normally toward the close of anthesis, and, indeed, may be taken as its index, just as the unfolding of the flower-bud marks the begin- ning of this critical period. The whole matter is too complex and varied for brief presentation, so that it must suffice to make a mere summary. With the culmination of flowering, any of the organs taken separately, or any structural segregate of them, may be found to fallaway. The sepals (e.g., in Sanguinaria Impatiens, Cruciferae, etc.), petals, stamens, anthers or styles ‘may do so, or the corolla as a whole in the sympetalae, or the corolla and androecium in one piece (Malvacee) synchronously with, but independently of, the style, and so on. Conversely, these parts may be variously adherent, and wither i situ, affording another case of disharmony. _Witness the frequent adherence of the calyx (Rosaceae), of the androecium (Legumin- osae) and even the corolla (e.g., many Orchids, etc.), specific instances being afforded by the previously cited Cereus Thurbert by Echinocactus Emoryi, and by Habenaria among the orchids. The position of the abscission plane, as in the leaf, is near the base of the organ or complex of organs involved. Its direction is, however, subject to more variation than it is in the leaf, and may run much more obliquely. For example, this direction in the corolla of the cotton flower varies from transverse (which is rare) to an obliquity of 45 per cent., which is usual. The style of this plant calls for special notice in this connection. Separation of this organ begins during the second afternoon of anthesis, and may usually be detected at about 3 o’clock. But instead of being confined to one level, it occurs at several, so 1914] a" THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 51 that one may descrike the process as a fragmentation of the lower part of the style. In the course of a short time, the raw edges of the fissures become brown by oxidation, thus discover- ing them to the eye. The separation of the corolla proceeds at the same time, although the actual cadence is evident only on the following morning. The abscission plane in the tobacco corolla is irregular and lies a millimeter above the base of the tube (Kubart, 19), while in the epigynous forms it is found above the ovary, and so not at all near the morphological base of the elements of the corolla. It is only rarely that in leaves there is any externally visible structural indication of the position in which abscission will ensue, and it frequently haprens that grooves which are some- times taken for such indications tear no relation at all to the process. It is probable that in the case of the corolla, or of the individual petals, it is more frequently the case that a more constricted region is made use of. Fitting points this out especially in Geranium, Erodium, etc., describing it as an extremely narrow, isthmus-like reduction of the blade——a very usual condition. Nevertheless, such a reduced region is entirely wanting in many other species, so that it seems hardly probable that there is any necessary connection between the two phenomena. ‘ PERIODICITY IN ABSCISSION. We consider, under the head of periodicity, more especially that of leaf abscission. It is true that external conditions affect also that of floral organs, and, to the careful studies of Fitting (20) and Hannig (12) more especially, reference will be made beyond. The apparent synchrony between the fall of the leaf and the énd of the growing season being the most widely recognized, it is convenient to discuss this especially. I say apparent, since, in a large measure, we are deceived in temperate and boreal regions, as well as in the tropics, by the continuity of verdure in its entirety. The constant dying-off of leaves escapes attention, albeit a little careful observation will discover the fact. During, or soon after, the unfolding of the buds in spring, the bud-scales suffer abscission, and as the _new-shoots advance in age the earlier formed leaves in their turn drop off. Nevertheless, the majority of the leaves produced during the season are, under normal seasonal conditions, shed within a rather short space in the autumn, the exceptions to this rule being the so-called evergreens, in which the life of the - leaf is extended over a longer period, namely, two seasons or more. Obviously, in these the longevity of the leaf is pre- dominant, seasonal responses being seen in the growth of stem 52 THe Ortawa NATURALIST. [June-July and new leaves in the spring. ._ In the tropics various factors may be effective at various times, which may also be said of the warmer desert regions, where rain may induce the produc- tion of foliage at any time of the year. (Fouquieria, Cannon, 22 The loss of foliage in areas of marked seasonal change is a response to environmental stimuli, found in conditions which are usually and-on the whole unfavourable for growth or for the physiological processes which take place in the leaf. If it happens, as in exceptional years it will, that such or analogous unfavourable conditions intervene at unusual times, general defoliation will ensue just as promptly and completely as at the usual time. Only last year (1913) in Nebraska, an almost unprecedented period of high temperatures and meagre rainfall, together with low relative humidity, caused, in addition to a far-reaching prejudice to crops, a marked shortening of the usual vegetative period. Herbaceous plants hastened to fruitage, and “early leaf maturity and leaf fall was common among native and exotic forest trees.’”’ During the late summer, after the drought had been broken, refoliation occurred, but the new leaves were small (Pool, R. J., 23). Klebs (24), cites a similar occurrence in Germany during the summer of 1910, caused by dryness in July and August, followed by refoliation, and speaks of the case as a natural experiment on a large scale to support his contention that the periodicity of trees expressed in leaf-fall is a response to external conditions, and not, as Volkens (25) has argued, especially in regard of tropical plants, a periodic phenomenon independent of the external environment, and dependent on inherited and inherent causes. The basis for this view was Volkens’ failure to observe any relation between the march of climate and defoliation, as, e.g., in Ficus fulva. Klebs insists, however, that the time of defoliation may be shifted by disturbance in surrounding conditions, and cites, among others, the fact that tropical plants could be made to shed their leaves in the very short time merely by a reduction of light. However the attack on this problem may turn out, it is worth while to indicate that a conclusion, such as Volkens arrives at, is a sort of mental anesthetic, which, like the vitalistic theory, lulls the mind and inhibits vigorous and critical attack. As Klebs very rightly puts it, every life-process depends in’some degree upon the external world, and it is only by experimental methods that we can hope to come at a right analysis of this complex relation. (To be continued) y * i] 1914] Tue Orrawa NATURALIST. 53 A PLEA FOR THE PUBLICATION OF A NEW ILLUSTRATED. ‘FLORA OF “THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. In the annual report of ‘‘ The Quebec. Society for the Protection of Plants’’ for 1911-1912, the following statement appears: ‘“‘Many years ago Abbé Provancher published a work entitled ‘Flore du Canada’ in two volumes, which has been out of print for some years, and isnow very difficult to procure. No work on systematic botany has takenits place in Quebec, con- sequently this phase of the study of plant life has been, toa large extent, neglected in the French schools of the province. I would, therefore, suggest that the society request the Government of the province not only to reprint a revised edition of Provancher’s work, but also to publish a school edition of the same. The publication of these two editions would give a stimulus to the study of plants, and indirectly would tend to a better knowledge of weeds on the part of the rising generation.”’ As an admirer of Abbé Provancher, and one who, more- over, has followed closely in his footsteps for the past ten years, I beg leave to express an opinion on the matter. There is no doubt that the name of Provancher has a prominent standing in the history of Canadian science. Under struggling circumstances, without special training or laboratory facilities, far from technical libraries, he, however, accomplished a stupendous amount of work and cleared the ground most efficiently for future workers. The ‘‘ Flore Canadienne” was a most extraordinary achieve- ment for the time, and, although fifty years have passed,—ftty years of feverish activity—even though it is now largely obsolete on account of the steady advance in botanical studies, we must admit whatever our language is that no other book, as yet, has attempted to displace it. Nevertheless, the proposal of reprinting Provancher’s work is arather sad acknowledgment of inability; to state my opinion briefly, I consider that such a reprint, if the essential features are preserved, would be a step backwards. In the course of the last half century the systematic botany of North America has benefited by the labour of a host of serious workers. Unknown regions have been penetrated, thousands of new species established and the nomenclature more than once disturbed and subjected to new investigations. Mentioning only the Province of Quebec, the careful survey of Prof. M.L. Fernald and his Harvard friends has shown, in the Gaspé Peninsula, the existence of an altogether unknown flora akin to that of the Rockies. Of this fact, of course, Provancher had no suspicion. 54 Tur Orrawa NATURALIST. [June-July Such genera as Isoetes, Potamogeton, Juncus, Carex, Rubus, and especially Crataegus, have revealed an amazing wealth of species. Everybody knows the hawthorn, and appreciates it more or less, but very few would suppose that the American species now number about 1,000. The joint work of C. S. Sargent and J. G. Jack have shown the limestone ridges of Montreal and the contiguous shales to be one of the richest tegions in the whole world in forms of Crataegus. Although there is much vet to do in the genus, it can already be foreseen that the new Flora of Quebec will be bound to include as many as 60 or 70 species. I do not wonder now about my perplexities while first trying to separate the Longueuil Crataegi with Provancher as a guide. It was only when I opened the pages of the seventh edition of Gray’s Manual, and when I was made acquainted with Mr. C. S. Sargent, that I began to understand something regarding them. Provancher believed the distribution of plants in Canada to be zonal, according to latitude, and, consequently, to be approximately identical from the Atlantic to the Pacific; this belief he had in mind when he entitled his work “Flore Canadienne.’’ This generalization has not proved successful. We know to-day, by the collections of Macoun and others, that the prairie region, the Rockies, the Pacific slope, have each a distinct flora, and a ‘“‘Canadian Flora’? embodying the whole of the territory, would be an immense enterprise. Properly speaking, Provancher covers but the central portion of the Province of Quebec. The list, with analytical keys, annexed by Abbé Moyen to his own “‘ Traité de Botanique,” though more complete, is yet fragmentary, and must undergo the very serious criticism of lacking the descriptions necessary to every one except the trained specialist. I think that the demand is for a new ‘“‘Flore Ilustrée de la Province de Quebec,’’ embodying the Ungava territory, and brought up to the present state of botanical science. Such a publication is no easy task. Difficulties are numerous, -and foremost among them would be the cost of production, including the necessary illustrations. These latter alone would cost a large sum. I hardly think that any private enterprise . in this line would be possible. It seems that the Provincial Government should take charge of the work, through one of its departments, subsidizing it as the work goes on. ~Brotuer M. VIcTORIN, Longueuil College, P.Q., of Christian Schools. March 24th, 1914. 1914] THe Ortawa Naruratisr. 55 PUBLICATIONS OF THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF WASHINGTON LATELY PLACED ON THE SHELVES OF THE REFERENCE ROOM, CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY, OTTAWA. Botanical Features of the Algerian Sahara. By Wm. A. Cannon. Handbook of Indians of Canada. Ed. by F. W. Hodge. Determinate Evolution in the Color-Pattern of the Lady Beetles. By R. H. Johnson. Studies in Heredity as Illustrated by the Trichomes of Species and Hybrids of Juglans, Oenothera, Papaver and Solanum. By Wm. A. Cannon. The Conditions of Parasitism in Plants. By D. T. Macdougal and W. A. Cannon. Studies of Inheritance in Rabbits. By W. E. Castle. Distribution and Movements of Desert Plants. By V. M. Spalding. — THE CARDINAL GROSBEAK IN WINTER IN NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, ONTARIO. A specimen of the Cardinal Grosbeak was observed at . Brighton, Northumberland County, on the morning of February 22nd last. The day was very cold, with strong wind and snow- drift. The bird was quite tame, and was evidently a female on account of lack of bright plumage. Those who called my attention to the bird did not recognize it, neither did I at first, never having seen one alive in a wild state. I suspected the species, however, on account of the large, ivory, reddish beak and a red cast in the plumage and in the tail feathers. On my return home I looked up the description of the species, and was at once satisfied that I had diagnosed it correctly. I suppose this is about as far east an Ontario record as we have. fa may mention that the migration of Warblers in this section this spring has been an exceedingly slim one. I have seen scarcely any in their usual haunts—only the yellow and one other. Gyr}: Youne: The Rectory, Madoc, Ont. 56 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [June-July REVIEW OF A REVIEW. To the Editor of THE OTTAWA NATURALIST: | It is to be regretted that the slips alluded to in a review of the ‘Check List of the Fishes of the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland,’ in the May issue of the NATURALIST, are not pointed out by the reviewer. In the introductory remarks of the book it is stated that “it is subject to amendment in regard to species to be added to the list as records or discoveries reveal them; and not only so; but in regard to species, and such are apparently few, to be eliminated from the list as having no right there.” But that given by ‘“‘C,”’ as an instance of an occasional slip, can hardly be regarded in that way, because the occurrence of Thymallus tricolor montanus is queried in the text, and the foot-note does not suggest that the so-called grayling 1s, as “‘C”’ puts it, that species, for the words are these: ‘‘A little salmonoid in rivers of southern Alberta, locally called the gtayling, may be this sub-species.”” Besides, even if this salmonoid turns out to be a species of whitefish (Coregonus williamsont), as ‘‘C” says the Alberta Fishery Commission stated distinctly, and not a grayling at all, yet as Thymallus tricolor montanus occurs over the Albertan border, in Montana, its mention in the list, with a query, is quite in keeping with what the list. purports to be, as is explained by the following temark in the introduction: ‘‘Species which occur close to our borders . . . . although not actually recorded from our waters, are provisionally admitted.” This is what has been done sometimes in other lists of the kind, and thereby a purpose may be served in stimulating research on the part of any who seek to ascertain what the entire geographical range of a species in particular may be. It might then be hazardous for ‘“C” to state positively that the Montana grayling does not occur in southern Alberta lest it might be found there, and its provisional mention with a query in the list does not, therefore, appear to be amiss. Indeed, it is quite likely to be found north of the United States boundary, for it is doubtless a post-glacial survivor, and the clear, cold streams of southern Alberta, flowing down as they do from the mountains, seem well adapted for the requirements of this little fish as a habitat. If, then, slips occur in the list, that singled out by “‘C” as an example does not seem well chosen. The book itself must stand or fall according to its merits, and if it is lacking ‘‘in completeness of matter” and in “‘compact description and arrangement”’ it has, nevertheless, been com- plimented by eminent authorities and has been applied for widely by naturalists. In point of fact, it was never meant to 1914] - - Tue Ortawa NATURALIST. 57 be descriptive, so that to dispute its value because it affords no information concerning “‘the spawning period and the nature of the eggs” is surely beside the mark. The aim of the book is uniformity in its subject matter, not description, and its object is clearly stated in the introduction as the following quotation will show: ‘‘The technical name, governed by the rules of priority; the vernacular name when the fish has one . . the environment concisely , and the geographical distribution of each fish are given.’ Concerning the ficures, if ‘‘C”’ had examined the specimens in the Canadian Fisheries Museum, from which the photographs which he criticizes were taken, he would have seen that the majority of the figures are from mounted specimens of the fishes themselves—a minority only being from casts (which, moreover, are actual impressions of specimens), viz.: the steel- _ head salmon and the five species of Oncorhynchus of the Pacific slope; whereas ‘‘C” says they “‘are in very many. cases from defective coloured casts.”” [Italics mine]. ANDREW HALKETT. A WELL-EARNED~ HONOUR. Many members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club learned, with much pleasure recently, that the University of Toronto had conferred upon Mr. F. T. Shutt, M.A., F.R.S.C., Assistant Director of the Experimental Farms and Dominion Chemist, the degree of Doctor of Science. Mr. Shutt has always taken a keen interest in the work of our Club, being for many years a valued member of the council. From 1892 to 1895 he was vice-president of the Club, and during the years 1895 to 1897 he occupied the office of president. It was with apprecia- tion, therefore, that notice of such honour reached us early in the present month (June). The degree was conferred on June 5th. i= Such an honorary degree, when it comes to one who has : really accomplished valuable results in science, is indeed worth having, and not only honours the one receiving it, but also honours the seat of learning conferring it. In the present in- stance, we think the University of Toronto has chosen wisely. Dr. Shutt, during the last 27 years, has given the best part- of his life to a study of the science of chemistry in relation to agriculture. His researches towards the economic maintenance of fertility of soils and the factors that influence their nitrogen content; in the composition and relative values of Canadian grown fodders and feeding stuffs; on the influence of environ- enter i J » Ue a Uae wo hela fu . Pre At et bot!’ tp Ae” 1 Loser aes, = 4 ae Lik rite eae F| 58 Tue Orrawa NatvurALIst. [June-July ment on the composition of cereals; on the nature and values of insecticides and fungicides; on the suitability of various districts throughout Canada for the growth of sugar-beets; on the quality of Canadian waters as occurring in lakes, streams and springs, etc., have given results of far-reaching importance. Dr. Shutt has published many papers of a scientific character in various journals and publications and has lectured before many important societies. The results of much of his work has appeared from year to year in the annual reports of the Experi- mental Farms and in special bulletins which he has prepared. In 1885, Dr. Shutt received the degree of Master of Arts from Toronto University, and for about two years was Demonstrator in Chemistry at his alma mater. In 1887, he was appointed chemist to the Dominion Experimental Farms, ‘and in 1909, owing to the widening field of work, his title was changed to Dominion Chemist. In 1911, the added. responsibility of Assistant Director was given him. Dr. Shutt enjoys fellowship in the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain, the Chemical Society of England and the United States, the Royal Society of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The members of the Ottawa. Field-Naturalists’ Club, who have the privilege of knowing Dr. Shutt, will feel a deep sense of pleasure in the conferring of this well-earned honour, and we take this opportunity of extending to Dr. Shutt our congratula- tions and best wishes for a continuance of the very useful work he is doing in the upbuilding of Canadian agriculture. AY GE EXCURSION TO ROCKCLIFFE. The first excursion of the season was held at Rockcliffe on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd. Mr. Arthur Gibson, President ~ of the Club, presided, and the following leaders of branches were in attendance:—Entomology, Messrs. Gibson and Sladen; Geology and Ornithology, Dr. Williams; Zoology, Mr. Halkett; whilst the Botanical Branch was represented by Mr. Carter, a member of the Council. After exploring the park, the excursion- ists assembled at the log-cabin, where short addresses were delivered by the leaders. Dr. Williams told about the bird-boxes which have been placed in trees of the park for nesting purposes by the Ottawa Improvement Commission, under the direction of the Club. : “ ee a a, er~ we - 2 , y 1914] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 59 He then spoke of the birds which had been observed, which were these: A sharp-shinned hawk, a northern flicker, a herring gull, numerous examples of the American crow, several American robins, and presumably a pair of song-sparrows, the observation of which was not favourable enough for definite determination. Judging from the size of the sharp-shinned hawk, Dr. Williams considered it to be a female, and that it evidently was hunting for small birds. It flew past the party several times and, accord- ing to him, its speckled brown breast, short wings and com- paratively long tail were sufficiently well noted to identify the species. He remarked also on the perching habits of the flicker (an unusual thing among woodpeckers), and the example seen alighted on a dead branch near the top of-a tree and afforded an opportunity to several members of the Club to observe it carefully through field-glasses. Other names applied to the northern flicker, given by Dr. Williams, are: The golden-winged woodpecker, the high-holder and the yellow-hammer; and besides the birds, he also spoke about the geological features of the park. Mr. Carter spoke about certain of the trees in the park, viz.: White pine, hemlock spruce, balsam fir and white cedar. He described the leaves of the trees, remarking that those of the white pine are long and needle-shaped, five in number, and spring from a common centre; those of the white spruce are short, stiff, needle-like, four-sided, pointing in all directions; while the leaves of hemlock spruce are flat, lighter in colour beneath, and pointing in two directions only. The leaves of this latter are quite soft and are often used by campers and hunters to make camp beds. Unlike the white pine and the white spruce, the cones of the hemlock spruce are persistent. The leaves of the white cedar are in four rows on the two-edged bracklets and so closely packed and overlapping each other as to resemble shingling. The cones are persistent, with the scales pointless and seeds broadly winged all round. Mr. Sladen, followed by Mr. Gibson, spoke of the insects observed during the afternoon, the former chiefly of a specimen of solitary bee, and the latter of two species of butterflies, the Mourning Cloak and the Large Tortoise-shell, both of which hibernate beneath logs, flat stones, or other objects which afford shelter during the winter months. Specimens of the Hedgehog Caterpillar were collected and the life habits of this arctian, or woolly-bear, described. Interest was also shown in the young tent caterpillars, which were about to hatch from the egg- clusters on the trees. Fitea) aE 60 Tur Orrawa Naturatisr. [June-July BOOK NOTICE. ANIMAL COMMUNITIES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA. A study in animal ecology—designed to serve as a reference work and text-book. By Victor E. Shelford, Ph.D., of the Department of Zoology of the University of Chicago. Illustrated with 300 figures, maps and diagrams; 380 pages, 8 vo, cloth; price, post- paid, $3.22. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, II. A copy of this recently published book has been received. Following the introduction, the work is divided into fifteen chapters, in addition to which there is an Appendix (methods of study), a Bibliography, an Index of Authors and Collaborators and an Index of Subjects. The chapters are again divided into sub-sections, as, for instances, Chapter I on ‘‘Man and Animals” —i, Introduction; ii, The Struggle in Nature; iti, Man’s Relation to Nature; iv, The Economic Importance of Animals. Chapter II on “The Animal Organism and the Environmental Relations ’’— i, Nature of Living Substance; ii, The Relation of Form or Structure to Function; ii, The Basis for the Organization of Ecology; iv, Scope and Meaning of Ecology; v, Communities and Biota; and so forth. The book, which is designed to serve as a reference work and text-book, is indeed a most valuable contribution to the subject of field ecology. The material used by Dr. Shelford in the preparation of the volume has been accumulated during ten years of field-study, from the view-point of modern ecology, in various parts of the United States, though most of the material is drawn from the Chicago region. The habitat records include: Lower Invertebrates, 32 species; Mollusca, 95 species; Crustacea, 54 species; Spiders and Arachnids, 80 species; Insects, 457 species, divided as follows: Aquatic Insects, 52 species; Orthop- tera, 53 species; Hemiptera, 100 species; Coleoptera, 175 species; Lepidoptera, 30 species; Diptera, 47 species; Fishes, 75 species; Amphibia and Reptiles, 27 species; Birds, 85 species; Mammals, 28 species. Much care has been exercised by the author in choosing good illustrations to represent the various types of animal com- munities and their characteristic modes of life. The printing and the paper used in the book are excellent and the whole subject matter presented in a most interesting manner. Canadian students should find this book of much value in con- nection with their work. A de ) ’ THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VOL. XXVIII. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1914 Nos. 5 and 6: ABSCISSION. By Francis E. LioypD. (Continued from page 52) This dependence upon external conditions is frequently illustrated by the behaviour of plants in temperate and boreal regions. The weather conditions about Montreal during October and November of the year just past (1913) were peculiar, and they were reflected in the behaviour of shrubs and trees. Many of them began to push out their spring flower buds, and in some instances (Hydrangea) partially opened their flowers, while the usually prompt disappearance of foliage in many trees and shrubs was much delayed. The poplars were especially notice- able, retaining their leaves even in exposed situations so that many were retained far into November, while a few still remain at the present writing. Ampelopsis Veitchtt was also note- worthy in this respect, the conditions having been such that, in some cases, a full half or more of the leaf complement still remains adherent, though dry and dead (February, 1914). I examined these plants and found that the process of abscission had been started, but had been prevented from completion. ® Perhaps, having been delayed by the unusual prolongation of warm weather, the abscission was overtaken by a sudden change and stopped by killing the leaves, whereas, normally, the abscission would have been completed before such intervention. It is possible that an examination of such trees as the black-jack oak, which often fails to shed its leaves, would throw light on this habit. A red beech, planted on the campus of McGill University, constantly retains its leaves, but those especially on the shorter lateral shoots. According to my late colleague, Professor Alcock, this tree shows each year an increasing * Tison found that the marcescent leaves of Hamamelis differed from the normally caducous in having an incomplete abscission mechanism or it is not even initiated. a 62 Tue Ortawa NaTuRALIST. [Aug.- Sept. tendency in this direction. I am able to confirm this observation as regards 1912 and 1913. This last year, the plant has retained practically all its leaves except those on the outermost new shoots. It would have occasioned less surprise if the change in tendency of leaf shedding has moved in the opposite direction. I find in this plant also, that a partial abscission layer was formed. The indefinite prolongation of green foliage in plants which show definite periodicity in temperate regions is not difficult to attain under experimental conditions. Flammarion (26) caused seedlings of Quercus robur to retain their leaves by transfer to a greenhouse. By removing the lower leaves from a shoot, Dingler (27) was able to postpone abscission of its upper leaves The age of the organ thus enters in as a factor. The cotton plant in the open field begins to show a decreasing activity in mid- summer, even in mid-Alabama. The exact date in 1911 at Auburn was August 14th. When kept under constantly favour- able conditions, as in a greenhouse, its period may be prolonged very greatly. I have grown it for over a year, without any evidence that it could not have been kept in activity for a still longer period. The guayule, Parthenium argentatum, and its congeners, P. hysterophorus, P. lyratum and P. incanum, may be similarly controlled. The shrubby species show a periodicity related to rainfall in their natural habitat (the Chihuahuan Desert), but it was found possible in the driest part of a very dry year to stimulate the plant to renewed growth by cutting back the branches, thus showing that the moisture supply alone was the limiting factor, and when the balance between outgo and income was disturbed in favour of the latter, growth became possible. Ampelopsis Vettchit normally sheds tendrils only at the close of the season, but I found them being shed during dry weather from plants which spread over boulders (New York Botanical Garden, July, 1913) and were so exposed to high temperature and isolation. Such examples very much strengthen the view that the periodic phenomena of growth and leaf-fall stand in a delicate relation to the environmental factors, a disturbance in any one of which is sufficient to induce a change in behaviour. The analysis of this relation is possible only, as Klebs has said, by experimental means. We may, therefore, profitably examine this aspect of our problem, in order to see what results are at present available. THE RELATION oF ABSCISSION TO EXTERNAL FACTORS. The intricacy and much detail of the work which has been done, far too little as it,’at present, may be, will prevent more than a rather curtailed summary, but sufficient, it is hoped, to direct attention to the chief results. Sa ee 1914] TuHeE Orrawa NATURALIST. 63 Transpiration. It has been a readily attained and rather generally accepted view that the abscission of leaves may be induced by disturbances in the water relations. The promptness with which many desert plants lose their foliage with approach- ing drought and their readiness to refoliation, even though stimulated thereto by such moisture as might be absorbed by their branches from rain (Lloyd, 28), as I have shown experi- mentally to be the case in Fouquierta; the dropping of leaves by houseplants on too meagre or too generous watering, both go to show that, directly or indirectly, such conditions may induce abscission. The early shedding of tendrils in Ampelopsis, above cited, may have been due to excessive transpiration. That merely reduction of water content of the leaf is, however, in- adequate, in itself, to produce the result is shown by the fact that daily “incipient drying” and actual wilting, which we know from observation (Lloyd, 29), (Livingston and Brown, 30) to occur, is not followed by any such result. Desiring to produce abscission by reducting the water supply to organs known to be able readily to be caused to shed, I did the following experi- ments: A large sector (90°) of tissue was removed in a dozen cases from the stem below the insertion of the tendril in Ampelopsis Virginiana, and it was found impossible to induce abscission, although it will occur in cut branches mm 36 or 48 hours in a moist chamber, without measureable loss of turgor, though doubtless there was some. The wounds healed, and they were later examined microscopically, and all the vascular supply to the tendrils was found to be extirpated for a distance of 5 to 10mm. The water supply must then have passed around the wound, travelling laterally below and above it, yet either without the least prejudice to its movement or quantity, which is difficult to believe, or, if such prejudice obtained, without inducing abscission. For some time I held the view that the peculiar anatomical relation in the flowering branch of the cotton was responsible for much of the boll-shedding. The view had been expressed that the shedding of fruit by orchard trees, said more often to occur near the ends of the branches, is due to the more favour- able position of the proximal, since these are nearer the source of supplies.” The occurrence of the vascular tissue in an organ of limited secondary thickening (the flower-stalk) alongside that in one of unlimited secondary thickening, namely, the function- ally chief axis, seemed to supply a possibility for an increasing prejudice to the water supply of the boll as growth of the whole 10Sorauer, P. Abwerfen der Frtiichte. Handbuch der Pflanzen- krankheiten. 64 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. ~ shoot proceeds. Indeed, the much more restricted secondary thickening of the vascular tissues to the boll strengthened my belief. But experimental evidence is all against it. I removed large sectors of tissue from the axis below leaves and below bolls, in twenty cases" on August 19th. On the 21st one boll was shed, but the injury had been made beneath the corresponding leaf. On the 22nd one, and on the 23rd two bolls were shed, the injury having been made beneath them. After this there was no shed- ding till the 28th, when two more bolls fell, beneath which the- operation had been done. In no case was the leaf affected, and the shedding of bolls later than August 23rd must in any event be excluded. The bolls were all small when shed, as the opera- tions were done when the flowers were open. It can be shown that the number of losses is accountable for in other ways, and we must conclude that disturbance due to wounding is absent. On the other hand, Balls (33), working in Egypt, was able to cause practically complete shedding of leaves, flower-buds and tolls within four days by pruning the roots, and so limiting the ability of the plant to take up water. I have repeated the experiment with positive, but less striking and perhaps not unequivocal results, in North Carolina. Cultivation, which unavoidably causes some damage to the shallower lateral roots, is believed by planters to be responsible in part for shedding. Such treatment as root-pruning is certain, if at all extensive, to cause visible wilting in an unusual amount, and too great a loss in this manner may interfere with the mechanism of abscission. It would seem that, if a reduction of water activates the process . it must be when only in a small measure,-such as we may suppose happens in cut branches when kept in a moist chamber, a method which was used even by von Mohl (34) in his studies. The relation is, at the present moment, a puzzling one. In the case of flowers, Hannig was unable to find any effect on the rate of abscission beyond that of ordinary laboratory air, buds, open flowers and young fruits falling away equally rapidly in both. Fitting arrived at the same conclusion, from which we may argue that the greater loss of water by evaporation, supposedly” attributable to drier air, has no effect on the abscission of the corolla. This organ is, however, especially resistant, as is shown by the fact that a cotton flower-bud, removed on the evening before opening, will open and remain turgid on a laboratory table for an entire day, even though the bracts and calyx wilt and even wither. And I have observed that the petals of desert plants (e.g., Sidalcea) remain turgid while the whole plant shows Sor marked wilting during the hottest period of the day. The fact 11Exp. 11, West Raleigh, N.C., Aug. 19th, 1913. : ' ye < . 2 Py ; wa 5 _ ea eal ei eee ee a” a 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 65 that abscission may occur under water (poplar, maple, horse chestnut, etc.) is, of course, to be accounted for in some other way than reduction of water. In general, therefore, we must conclude, in view of the effects of drought upon trees and shrubs, that there is a relation between lack of water and defoliation, but it is not possible to attribute abscission directly to a reduction of water content, such as may be measured. It may, however, result indirectly by the dis- turbance of some other relation. As we shall see, very slight departures from the normal condition of the environment in other regards are sufficient to cause or to hasten abscission. MECHANICAL CAUSES OF ABSCISSION. This apparently indirect effect is further exemplified in the abscission response to mechanical stimuli. For convenience we regard as mechanical, stimuli such as shaking and wounding, though we cannot consider these as working directly. Shaking. It is to Darwin (35) that we owe the observation that, if the flower stalk of the mullein (Verbascum) is sharply jarred the corollas will presently fall off. Fitting, having satisfied himself that the falling of the corolla was not due to accident or to the movement of the calyx, as held by Devaux, found by repeating Darwin’s experiment, that separation was consum- mated in from 45 seconds to 5 minutes, but for the most part in from 1 to 3 minutes. This is equally true of young and older flowers, so that it is not due to their age. He found a similar behaviour in Geranium pyrenaicum, with a reaction time of from 30 seconds to 6 minutes. This phenomenon has been little studied, and only few plants are known to show it. Wounding. The importance of the effect of wounding on abscission will at once be realized in view of the great economic losses occurring each year from the dropping of buds, flowers and fruits from the plants of our orchards and gardens, as a result of insect and other injury in the form of wounds. Young peaches, when wounded by curculio, drop. The great loss to cotton growers in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, and the great financial disturbances accompanying it, caused by the boll- weevil, to which must be added the immense expenditures involved in scientific research in finding a way out of the difficulty, have caused a highly dramatic interest to attach to the problem. This case will serve, therefore, as a good example for the present discussion. The boll-weevil lays its egg in a young ‘‘square”’ or flower bud. In from 1 to 22 days” the square falls to the ground, the 12T am indebted to the United States Bureau of Entomology, through the courtesy of Dr. L. O. Howard and Dr. W. D. Hunter, for the use “of valuable data on the shedding of bolls after weevil injury. 66 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. average time being from 8 to 10 days. A very peculiar feature, but following also on other causes, occurs in squares just previous to falling, namely, an outward movement of the bracts (flaring). Sometimes, if abscission does not intervene, the bracts will move inwardly again. This movement is of very great theoretical interest, since it indicates that there is no lack of turgor (though it does not prove it), and, if this be true, an undue loss of water, it is probable, is not a factor. It is evident, from the data which are at hand, that there is some relation between the amount of injury and the time which intervenes between the first insect puncture and the final separation, since, by means of other experiments, I have found that it 1s possible to cause the abscission of 100 per cent. of young bolls by means of suitable injury (a transverse cut across the ovary), within 48 hours, and 90 per cent. have been shed within 24 hours in one series. ‘“Squares”’ (flower-buds) are not so sensitive, shedding 35 to 55 per cent. in 36 hours; 40 to 75 per cent. in 48 hours, and the rest later. Larger bolls respond only after a longer period, namely, in from 3 to 6 days, or not at all if too large, though they may die without becoming detached. From this we see that a point of development and induration of the tissues of the peduncle may be reached when abscission is not more possible. Shedding of the very young bolls may also be caused by cutting off the style before pollination, but this, as Fitting found in Geranium and Erodium, depends on the absence of pollination. In &. Manescavi, the petals fall away much sooner after the style was injured than in the uninjured flower. Hannig also found that cutting off the petals, stamens or stigma, from un- pollinated flowers, and still more readily by removing the ovary, before or after pollination, caused abscission of the whole flower. Wounding of the peduncle did not do soifa portion of the tissue was left, indicating, as I have above shown, that a reduced amount of vascular tissue was able to carry on the function of the whole. Much has been said about the effect of the wounding of leaves by cutting off the blade, and it is generally believed that such injury causes abscission. The results thus obtained are, however, very inconstant and uncertain, as I have found in my own experience. Only a single example. I cut off the petiole (in Ampelopsis) from one leaf 10 mm. from the base, and allowed the next lower leaf to remain. The latter separated in 24 hours (in a moist chamber), while the stump of the cut petiole remained attached. I have done similar experiments with other species with like results, and I have observed injured leaves in nature, finding them to adhere just as long and firmly as un- 1914] Tue Ottawa NarurAList. wpe injured, in many cases. We must therefor say, as Hannig has, that wounding as such does not induce abscission, but works in a round-about way. Tue EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE UPON ABSCISSION. The occurrence of abscission at the time of the year whén the cold is increasing, and the dropping of leaves in great numbers on frosty mornings, must not be thought to indicate that low temperatures cause abscission. Fitting found that Geranium pyrenaicum sheds its petals in a much shorter time (2.5 minutes) only when the temperature is raised to over 40° C. Lower temperatures, but yet as high as 33° to 34° were necessary, for certain other species, and in all cases the rapidity was ereatest in a saturated atmosphere. Some species have their reaction time reduced from 25 seconds te 60 seconds (Linum, Verbascum, etc.). Hannig also found that temperatures higher than the normal laboratory ones caused a more abundant shedding of flowers and that sudden change was more effective than gradual. On the other hand, a lowering of temperatures inhibited it. That the higher, more effective temperatures increased the rate of abscission, and even cause them, as Wiesner (35) has suggested in the case of inner leaves, which may become over-heated does not militate against his explanation of abscission in consequence of frost, which may be procured, according to him, by the macerating (hydrolysing) effect of organic acids escaping from the frozen cells of the abscission layer or by the differences of tension produced at the limits of the dead leaf- stalk tissues and the still living and turgescent cells of the leaf- base. Entire killing of both leaf and abscission layer may be followed by the rotting away of the tissues, and thus ending in separation., High osmotic pressures, held by Wiesner and his pupils to be important in the case of ordinary abscission, have no place in frost defoliation. Tue Errect or CHEMICAL AGENTS. The air and soil of cities and in the neighbourhood of certain kinds of mills and factories is usually more or less contaminated, and, as a result, there is much detriment to the health of vegeta- tion. Among the first symptoms to be noticed is the shedding of leaves, and this is doubtless a sensitive, and perhaps a very sensitive, indication of an abnormal condition. Harvey (36) found, for example, that one part of ethelene in 1,000,000 of air was sufficient to cause abscission of the cotyledons of the castor- oil plant (Ricinus), which is perhaps a more delicate reaction than would be observed in trees. It is significant, however, and we may expect to find similar behaviours in many plants. Even the small amount of illuminating gas found in the ordinary air 68 — Tue Orrawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Se; t. of the laboratory was sufficient, according to Fitting, to produce abnormally quick shedding of petals, this result following dosage with carbon dioxide, tobacco smoke, chloroform, ether, and other agents. Brown and Escombe (40) found that other organs are similarly affected by disturbance of nutritive relations. Hannig got similar results, except in the case of carbon dioxide. 0.00002 vol. per cent. of illuminating gas caused the abscission of flowers (Mirabilis, etc.). A high concentration did not cause this directly up to 14 hours exposure, but indirectly after removal from the gas. Carbon dioxide, in concentrations tip to 10 per cent., produced no effect, in accord with experiments of Demoussy (1903, 1904, see Hannig). On the other hand, leaves ‘are shed if kept in air free of carbon dioxide (Loewi). It is evident that more work on this point, as indeed on all others, would be welcome. Light. Light is the source of energy for green plants, so that much disturbance of this relation would be expected, indirectly at least, to lead to abnormal behaviours. It would be expected that changes in light intensity would have less effect on floral parts than on green parts, but. Hannig and Fitting came to different results. Wiesner (39) believes that leaf abscission > occurs in early summer in the leaves less favourably exposed to light because of the reduction of the absolute savailable light supply. I may observe that this kind of leaf-fall, as regards the time of occurrence, takes places whether shade is present or not. I have seen it on young plants of Negundo, which were com- pletely illuminated, in which it seems more in accord with the appearances to recall Dingler’s paper, earlier cited. Leaves shaded by the outermore foliage nevertheless do become yellow and fall (Vitis, Ampelopsis, Euonymus, etc.), and the earliest leaves in the White Birch in the autumn are those on the inner branches, irrespective of their age. In the climate of Quebec the question of high temperature is probably not important, and in such cases it seems quite proper to explain this, in the absence of more exact experimental observation, as due to the reduction of light. THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE ACT OF SEPARATION PROPER. By this is meant the time occupied by the process of separation itself to the exclusion of the period required to institute it (latent period). It would seem on general grounds that when cell division is involved, the process would require more time than otherwise. In some organs (petals) in which no cell-division occurs, the evidence (Fitting) shows that it may be quite brief, less than 30 seconds indeed, but we cannot say in any case exactly what it is. Oh Slt i el te ll 1914] ; THe OtTtawa NATURALIST. 69 There can be no doubt, furthermore, that the age of an organ has some influence. In the small cotton boll (8 mm. diam.) no evidence of separation (following injury) can be seen at the end of 16 hours, but at 20 hours the process is practically complete, as shown by the ease of removal of the peduncle. In larger ones cell-divisions in the separation layer can be seen for a day previous. However, the act of cell-division is not necessarily a precursor of separation, since in the young bolls above men- tioned no cell divisions are to be seen at the moment of separa- tion of the cells concerned, there being only a slight elongation of them, accompanied by a chemical alteration of the cell walls, causing the loosening. The essential phase of the process of abscission may, even in older as well as younger cotton bolls, be of much shorter duration than above indicated, less, namely, than four hours. With reference to petals, Fitting found that in the dark, at temperatures of 31°-32°, they are shed earlierthan normally, and the older the more quickly. On the other hand, petals of younger flowers were found by Fitting to be less sensitive than older, an apparent reversal of things which may be regarded as a ‘phenomenon of interference,’ between increasing adaptability and shortening of reaction time.” In petals, however, there is no development of mechanical elements, such as quickly appear in many leaves, to increase the amount of preparation before , separation may become effective. Early in the season I have observed that abscission (in a moist chamber) will overtake older leaves frequently more rapidly than younger. The slow- ness of separation in indurated organs may simply mean inter- ference by tissues or mechanical elements in which separation takes place only passively or not at all, as, e.g., in the non-living or moribund pith in older cotton peduncles. THE MECHANISMS OF ABSCISSION. By ‘‘mechanism”’ is meant that histological behaviour resulting in the separation of one organ, or a part of it, from another organ or part. To the best of our present understanding “it may be purely mechanical, either by a break (a) passing directly across the tissue irrespective of the position of the cell walls (rhexolysis, according to Correns 1, 372, e.g., Dicranum scopartum), or (b) passing along the middle lamella, causing separation of entire cells (schizolysis, Correns). In the latter alternative the separation is believed by some to result from a marked increase in turgor, the pressures causing the cells to 18The character of the behaviour of petals under various stimulants has led Fitting to insist on a conception of abscission as an active separa- tion of an entirely living organ in response to stimulation, quite analogous tomovements, etc. He proposes the term ‘“‘chorism”’ for this phenomenon. 70 THe Ottawa NaruraList. [Aug.-Sept. become spherical and thus reducing their contact surfaces to nearly nil (Loewi, Fitting, Hannig). Or it may be a result of chemical alteration (a) of a part or (b) of the whole of the cell wall. The middle lamella may be dissolved, in this way loosening the secondary walls from each other; or the whole or part of the secondary membrane may be altered (Tison). Such chemical alteration may or may not be preceded by cell-division in the cells directly involved. Even in species in which this usually takes place, it may be omitted (Tison, Loewi) either entirely or in a part of the separation layer, as I have myself observed. When cell-division does occur, it is an expression of a resumption of growth (secondary meristem of previous authors), but as cell growth obviously does not necessarily lead to cell-division, this may be absent. The amount of growth may vary with external conditions, and itis usually much more marked under water or when high relative humidity prevails, and may lead to callus hypertrophy (Kuster, 40, p. 289). And in species where growth is usually omitted (¢.g., Ampelopsis, Impatiens) cell-division accompanying separation is still occasionally observable. Rhexolysis, while frequent in the mosses, is, so far as I know, generally quite rare, and its precise nature and the causes leading up to it needinvestigation. Tison believes it to occur in Aristo- lochia Stpho (leaf), but Loewi questions the accuracy of Tison’s observations, basing his criticism on the similarity of Tison’s description and drawings to appearances seen by him (Laurus, etc.), and leading to separation by the joint action of chemical alteration in the cell-wall and turgor. In view of my own work, Loew1's criticism is justified. An apparently true case of rhexolysis, however, occurs in the style of Gossypium. Several minute transverse fissures appear at different levels somewhat above the apex of the ovary. These deepen and gape. Microscopically, they are seen to pass transversely through the tissues without relation to the position of the cell-walls, and without any evidence of separation of entire cells. The protoplasts, with their inclusions, are found m situ and the protoplasm torn through. Experiments indicate that external mechanical relations (pull or pressure of the staminal tube) are not factors. The fissures are not to be discovered before the latter half of the second day of anthesis. Schizolysis is, on the other hand, general, but presents widely divergent appearances. The simplest cases (primary meristem) are those in which, by the solution of the primary membrane (middle lamella), the involved cells—usually occupy- ing an ill-defined and irregular zone—can fall apart. Loewi, assigning to alteration of the membranes a very minor réle, believes that separation, as exemplified in Ampelopsis, is accom- a a i we a ee 1914] THE OTTAWA NATURALIST. Wisi plished chiefly by turgor increase, the greater surface curvatures reducing the contact areas and so setting the cells free. Kubart ascribes to chemical alteration a larger share in the process, still attributing, however, the chief place to turgor, e.g., Syringa. Fitting excludes such alteration in the case of petals studied by him and sees, in a general sudden increase in volume of the cells, the active cause. I findin Ampelopsis and in Impatiens positive evidence against Loewi’s view of the matter, separation not being found to involve any change in the shape of the cells, while evidence of chemical alteration, involving both primary and secondary membranes, has been clearly seen. Similarly, abscission of the corolla in Gossypium is without doubt accom- panied by a decrease in turgor, being otherwise similar in operation to Ampelopsis (leaf, tendril, internode). But in this form the primary membrane dissolves first, and this is, not preceded, at any rate to an appreciable extent, by alteration of the secondary membrane. Hannig’s explanation of the process in Salvia, etc., and Kubart’s in part of that in Nicotiana accord with my own, the latter finding in the organic acid released from the cells involved the agent of dissolution. Different are, e.g., Lonicera, Syringa, Hydrangea, and a number of others, chiefly, however, in that the secondary membranes are also attached, but more vigorously, and showing marked and measureable swelling. The collenchyma behaves peculiarly—the thickened walls resisting attack and lying free in the mucilaginous matrix. Aside from the last mentioned observation™ Tison recognizes, in essence, this type of abscission. Kubart would designate it as ‘‘maceration.”’ Finally, abscission may be accompanied by growth, usually longitudinal, but, as regards the axis of the organ, may be more or less oblique. The growth (under special conditions very limited in amount) may or may not be accompanied by cell divisions, the occurrence of which has impelled earlier observers to regard the separation tissue as a secondary meristem. Before growth sets in, however, the cell walls are altered chemically (but only slightly) often in a restricted transverse zone about the cell, and the elongation of the wall takes place here (Loewi). But this chemical alteration may not be so restricted, but may rather be very general, as in the collenchymatic region of the leaf of Populus and of Euonymus, producing a condition directly comparable with that in the leaf of Lonicera, above cited, so that we may agree with Loewi in saying that there is no sharp line of demarkation to be drawn between these processes, the one 14Hannig (12, p. 428) appears not to have observed this peculiar behaviour, and no one else, so far as I can determine, has done so. 72 THe Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. being supplanted by the other even in the same organ. Thus, in Gossypium (the flower-peduncle), normally one to three divisions occur, previous to separation, but they may be quite absent in the peripheral tissues; and when rapid abscission. follows a suitable stimulus, none at all are to be observed. The cells of the abscission layer may separate from their secondary walls at their distal extremities, and, in addition, the outer daughter cells may separate also from each other, one clinging to the distal rejected wall, but from which it is usually free, and one (or more) remaining permanently incorporated with the proximal wall. The separation in younger or thin- walled tissues may follow the plane of the middle lamella, but more frequently it occurs between a very thin innermost: membrane (2.e., that which immediately surrounds the lumen) and the earlier formed secondary membranes; or this membrane may have been laid down anew, during growth, against, but not incorporated with, the earlier formed secondary membranes. The evidence favours the former alternative; but this I cannot at.present decide. The crux of the problem of abscission lies in the manner of separation. It is conceivable that the mere increase of turgor is sufficient to cause separation along the place of the middle lamella. The smaller the cells, the more efficient can the energy at the disposal of the cell be applied; and small cells are found to characterize the abscission layer in many cases. Fitting favours this view in the light of the rapidity of reaction which, he believes, allows too short a time for swelling of the membranes, and because he could not see any such change in them. Renewed growth in these and increased turgor he regards as the responsible factors. (Fitting 21, p. 244-5). Strasburger (41), Tison (except in cases of rhexolysis) Lee (42) and others have taken a quite different position, seeing in the chemical alteration of the membranes a factor of primary importance. Tison calls the product of this change a _pecto-cellulosic mucilage. The membrane lining the cell lumen does not take part in this. Growth contributes a relatively small part to the process. Hannig, too, takes the same position, except in the case of the peduncle of Mirabilis, in which occurs what he considers to be an undescribed method—a lysigenous one, involving the total destruction of the membranes. The appearances seen by him could, I believe, be reconciled with a method already known. This will, however, be discussed elsewhere. Between these extreme views lie those of Wiesner, Kubart and Loewi, who, without denying a réle to chemical alteration (by the excretion of organic acids, or perhaps enzymes), see in ee lB 1914] Tue Ottawa NATURALIST. 73 turgor changes the more important factor. They believe, indeed, that in some instances chemical change is absent. The study of about 30 odd species leads me to the con- clusion that chemical change is always present to some extent whether growth and turgor changes intervene or not. I found that under the influence of a hydrolysing agent (5% KOH) the walls of the abscission cells break down more readily than those of the neighbouring tissues above and below (Cheiranthus), and may be so treated as to stimulate advanced autolysis, both in the swollen condition of their walls and in their behaviour toward stains. Concerning turgor effects it may be said that in such forms as Ampelopsis and Impatiens, which present ideal material for study, the abscission cells show a no higher osmotic equivalent at the time of abscission (of floral parts, peduncles, leaves) than others. In the case of the axis, the cells of the cortex and epidermis are pulled apart, apparently by elongation of the central tissues, since in partially wilted peduncles the faces of the abscission-wound remain juxtaposed, although abscission actually takes place. Before, during or after abscission, secondary changes in neighbouring tissues take place. They consist of suberization, sclerification and lignification in various degrees, and all are either extensions of periderm or are of the nature of wound responses. This phase of the subject, beyond this very general statement, lies beyond the present purpose. Numerous details have been worked out by Tison and by Lee. It is, however, pertinent to indicate that, on the abscission of decurrent peduncles in Gossypium there may follow an extensive sacrifice of tissues, including all the living element of the stem, resulting in the formation of a wound-cavity of sometimes large extent, and not unlike gum pockets in appearance. Some of these phenomena recall the abnormal behaviours seen by Loewi, which, however, may readily occur in other species* (Ash, Poplar, etc.) under special conditions. CITATIONS. i. Correns, C. Vermehrung der Laubmoose. Jena. 1899. 2. Tison, A. Recherches sur, la chute des feuilles chez les Dicotylédones: Mém.soc. Linn. Normandie. 20: 125. 1900. * At going to press, a paper by Gortner and Harris (Am. Jour. Bot. 1: 48-50, Jan., 1914) on ““An Axial Abscission of Impatiens Sultani asa result ot traumatic stimuli’ comes tohand. They leave undecided the question of the method of abscission. 74 THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [Aug.-Sept. Leewi, E. Blattabloesung und verwandte Erscheinungen. Proc. Vienna Acad. Math-nat. ClassI. 166: 983. 1907. Ramann, E. Die Wanderung der Mineralstoffe beim herbstlichen Absterben der Bletter. Landw. Ver- suchsstath. Gel Dot, s1012: Combes, R. Les Opinions actuelles sur les phenoménes physiologiques qui accompagnent la chute des feuilles. Rev. Gen. Bot. 23: 129. ©1911. Goebel, K. Pflanzenbiologische Schilderungen. Marburg, 1899. Lloyd, F; E. Vivipary in Podocarpus. Torreya, 2: 113. 1902. Lloyd, F. E. Guayule. Carn. Inst. Wash. Publ. 139, 1911. Cook, O. F. The Culture of the Central American Rubber Tree. Bull. 49, Bur. Pl. Ind., U. S. Dept. Agr. 1903. v. Hoehnel, F. R. Ueber den Abloesungsvorgang der Zweige, “1. Sow. Mitth. forstl. Vers..Oest- 2 14255... 48 7a2 v. Hoehnel, F. R. Weitere Untersuchungen ueber den Ablosungsvorgang u. s. w. tbid. 2: 247. 1879. Hannig, E. Untersuchungen ueber das Abstossen von Blueten u. s. w. Zeitschr. f. Bot. 5: 417. 1913. Wylie, R. B. The Morphology of Elodea Canadensis. Bot. Gag esile Ac Si OOz: Svedelius, Nils. On the life history of Enalus acoroides. Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden. 2: 267. 1904. Balls, W. L. Cotton investigations in 1909 and 1910. Caito:Sci,jout. 52 224" VAT: Reed, H. S., and Smoot, I. The mechanism of seed-: dispersal in Polygonum virginianum. Bull. Torr. Bot. Chibe'93 34377.) 2906: Yapp, R. H. Fruit dispersal in Adenostemma viscosum. Ann. Bot, 20431171906: Atkinson, G. F. Alabama Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 41. Kubart, B. Die organische Abloesung der Korollen nebst Bemerkungen ueber die Mohlsche Trennungschicht. Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wein. Math.-nat. K]. 115: 1491. 1906. Cook, O F. Bur. Plant Indust., U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull’s 198 and 222; Circ. 109. Fitting, H. Untersuchungen ueber die vorzeitige Ent- blatterung von Blueten. Jahr. f. Wiss. Bot. 49: 187. 1911. Cannon, W. A. The effects of high relative humidity on plants. Torreya 6: 2-25. 1906. Pool, R. J. Some effects of drought upon Wepelalion, Science: n.-Ssh SsvS220 eer Samosa. 1914] THE Ottawa NATURALIST. 75 24. Klebs, Georg. Ueber die periodischen Erscheinungen tropischer Pfanzen. Biol. Centralbl. 32: 257-285. 20 May, 1912. 25. Volkens,G. Laubfall und Lauberneuerung in den Tropen. Berlin, 1912. 26. Flammarion. Bul. mens. off. Paris, 1907. 27. Dingler, H. Versuchen und gedanken zum Herbstlichen Laubfall. Ber. d. Bot. Gesellsch. 23: 463. 1905. 28. Lloyd, F. E. The artificial induction of leaf-formation in the ocotillo. Torreya. 5: 175-179. Oct., 1905. 29. Lloyd, F. E. Leaf water and stomatal movement in Gossypium, and a method of direct visual observation of stomata in situ. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club. 40: 126.- Yana 1 913). 30. Livingston, B. E.,and Brown, W.H. Relation of the daily march of transpiration to the variations in the water content of foliage leaves. Bot. Gaz. 53: 309. 1912. 31. Balls, W.L: See 15, above. 32. Mohl, H. Ueber den Ablcesungsprozess saftiger Pflanzen- organe. Bot. Zeit. 18: 273; -1860. 33. Darwin Ch. The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. London, 1877. 34. Bull. 114, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric. 35. Wiesner, J. Ueber Hitzelaufall. Ber. d. Bot. Gesellsch. 22: 501. 1904. 36. Harvey, E. M. The castor-bean plant and laboratory air. Bot. Gaz. 56: 439. Nov., 1913. 37. Brown, H. T., and Escombe, F. The influence of varying amounts of carbon dioxide in the air on the photo- synthetic process of leaves and the mode of growth of plants. Proc. R. Soc. London. 70: 397. 1902 38. Demoussy, E. Sur la végétation dans les atmosphéres riches en acide carbonique. Compt. rend. acad. Wese. Paris: EeOss2 oO. . £903, 1592 883. ° 1964 39. Wiesner, J. Ueber Laubfall infolge Sinkens des absoluten Licht genusses. (Sommerlaubfall). Berd) Bot. Gazell. 22: 64. 1904. 40. Kuster, E. Pathologische Pflanzenanatomie. Jena, 1903. 41. Strasburger, E. Das Botanische Praktikum. 349. 1913, 42. Lee, E. The morphology of leaf fall. Ann. Bot. 25: 51. 1906 DEPARTMENT OF Botany, McGiLu UNIVERSITY. 76 Tue Ottawa NArtuRALIstT. [Aug.-Sept. GALL MIDGES AS FOREST INSECTS. By E. P. Fert, Albany, N.Y. The minute gall midges or Itonididae have been practically ignored by the forester and, taken as a group, little is known of their economic importance under average woodland conditions. The larger, frequently abundant deformations produced by the gall-making wasps, Cynipidae, and the sawflies, Tenthredinidae, are relatively much better known, though it is probable that they are of less economic importance. Numerous gall midges, referable to the Lestreminae and Heteropezinae, live as larvae in decaying woody tissues and materially hasten the process of disintegration. Species of Miastor and Oligarces inhabit the inner bark of various trees in incipient stages of decay, while some species of Monardia, such as M. lignivora Felt have been reared from the fungous affected heart-wood of pine and undoubtedly hasten decay. Some Epidosariae inhabit dead, mostly dry, woody tissues. : All of the foregoing species are of less importance than the gall-making forms infesting living trees. The deformations of the latter may be conveniently classified according to the part affected. Seed of fruit-inhabiting midges, such as Dasyneura canadensis Felt, may destroy a considerable proportion of seed in spruce cones. The same is true of Olzgotrophus betulae Winn. and birch seed, while Jtonida catalpae Comst. infests Catalpa pods and is a pest of some importance. Whitish, flower-shaped, fungoid galls, probably a bud and possibly a fruit deformation, are numerous in some parts of the South on Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum, and,are caused by Jtonida anthict Felt. The extent to which fruit infestation may go in this group is shown by the rearing of seven species from the fruit of various wild cherries. Bud galls are produced by many species and usually mean the death of the affected part, or at least a resultant deformation. The Catalpa midge, mentioned above, not only infests the seed pods but destroys the greenish tips and produces stunted, com- paratively worthless trees. Phytophaga ulmi Beutm. and Dasyneura ulmea Felt infest lateral and terminal buds of elm sprouts and occur somewhat abundantly, though their injuries have not as yet been considered of much practical importance. The Box Elder in the West suffers from the attack of two gall midges, namely, Cecidomyia negundinis Gill., a bud-inhabiting > a ee $ —_ 1914] THe Orrawa NATURALIST. 77 form, and Contarinia negundijolia Felt, a species which attacks the leaves while still within the bud. Contarinia coloradensis Felt infests and destroys the terminal buds of Pinus scopulorum in Colorado and occasionally appears to be somewhat abundant. Spruce buds are destroyed in Canada and probably in the Adirondacks by Phytophaga isugae Felt and the terminal ones in part by Rhabdophaga swanei n. sp. RHABDOPHAGA SWAINEI Nl. Sp. The midges described below were reared by Mr. J. M. Swaine, Ottawa, Canada, the latter part of May, 1914, from spruce bud galls. This species apparently confines its attack to the terminal bud. It is easily differentiated from other known species of Rhabdophaga by the characters given below. Gall. The enlarged bud has a length of about 7 mm. and a diameter of 4 mm., the lateral scales being somewhat reflexed and the apical portion of the gall loose and open. It contains a central, oval cell about 1.5 mm. long. Male.—Length 2.25 mm. Antennae probably nearly as long as the body, dark reddish brown, presumably with 14, and possibly with more, segments, the fifth with a stem about 4 the length of the basal enlargement, which latter has a length 24% times its diameter. Palpi: first segment ovoid, the second + longer than the first, moderately stout, the third 4 longer than the second, more slender, the fourth 4} longer than the third, slender. Mesonotum shining dark brown, the submedian lines sparsely gray-haired. Scutellum, postscutellum and abdomen dark brown, the latter sparsely haired. Genitalia reddish brown. 'Halteres, coxae and femora basally reddish brown, the distal portion of femora, tibiae and tarsi mostly dark brown; claws moderately stout, curved, minutely unidentate, the pulvilli + longer than the claws. Genitalia: basal clasp segment moder- ately stout; terminal clasp segment rather short, swollen near the middle; dorsal plate deeply and triangularly emarginate, the lobes divergent, the outer margin tapering roundly to a narrowly rounded setose apex; ventral plate rather long, broad, deeply and roundly emarginate, the lobes short, stout, “sparsely setose. Harpes broad, broadly rounded and thickly setose apically; style short, tapering, narrowly rounded distally. Female.—Length 2.25 mm. Antennae probably extending to the second abdominal segment, sparsely haired, light brown. Mesonotum dull dark brown, the submedian lines sparsely fuscous haired. Scutellum dark brown, postscutellum a variable yellowish and dark brown. Abdomen dark brown, the margins and ovipositor reddish orange, the venter reddish brown. Halteres yellowish orange. Coxae yellowish brown; femora and 78, Tue Orrawa NATuRALIST. [Aug.-Sept. tibiae dark yellowish brown, the tarsi darker, almost black. Ovipositor moderately stout, as long as the body; terminal lobes broad, the length thrice the width and thickly setose. Other characters practically asin the male. Type Cecid a2520. LeAr GALLS. The primary infestation, as we have shown elsewhere, frequently begins in the bud. Deformations belong- ing in this class are not very important, though Thecodtplosis liriodendr1 O.S. is responsible for serious disfiguration, and probably some weakening of tulip leaves, particularly in the latitude of North Carolina. The recently established box leaf miner, Monarthropalpus buxi Lab. of Europe, appears to be a serious pest of the highly prized ornamental Box. The young leaves of the Black Locust, Robinia, may be seriously deformed by the larvae of Dasyneura pseudacaciae Fitch, or the margins rolled by those of ‘Obolodiplosis robiniae Hald. Contarinia- canadensis Felt, the probable producer of the midrib gall on ash, is so abundant locally in the Hudson valley as to seriously affect the foliage of saplings. The extent to which leaf infestation may go 1S shown by the fact that some 22 species of gall midges are known to infest the leaves of hickory and about "20 those of oak. Most of these, as well as numerous other leaf-inhabiting forms, are of comparatively little importance. Stem GALLs. Irregular, subcortical galls are produced in living tissues by species of Rhabdophaga and Lastoptera, the former being confined mostly to willow. The European Rhabdophaga salicis Schr. has become established in some localities where basket willows are grown and causes consider- able loss by ruining the shoots for both basket work and the binding of bundles of nursery trees. Willow twigs are attacked by 21 American species of gall midges. Lastoptera querciperda Felt lives in the subcortical tissues of white oak twigs, producing genarly areas and, presumably, defects in the wood. Several species of [tonida, I. resinicola O. S. and I. resinicoloides Wlms. attack the inner bark of young pines, and in some instances. considerable pitch exudes and rather serious injury may result. in the case of individual trees. Jtonida inopis O.S. is a sub- cortical form, the larvae producing a swollen, gouty condition of the twigs and a marked lowering in the vigor of badly infested trees. Root galls are known in only a very few cases, probably because of the difficulty of discovering them, and, so far as forest trees are concerned, none of importance have been recorded. A general survey of the gall midges known to infest forest trees, shows that the hickories, the oaks and the willows, and to a less extent the poplars, all representing genera with a number 1914] THe Ortawa NATURALIST. 79 of closely allied species, are subject to attack by numerous gall midges, indicating an extremely close relation between the infested plant and the insect dependent thereupon. The bud- inhabiting gall midges are potentially the most destructive, and, owing to the known prolificacy of certain gall midges, it is to be expected that injuries by species referable to this group will become more, rather than less, apparent with the advance of time. EXCURSIONS. The second excursion of the season was held on the after- noon of Saturday, May 9th, the locality visited being the north shore of the Ottawa River above the Chaudiere Falls. The rock formations were rich in fossils; the trees and general vegetation, at this season, were assuming their spring verdure, and the pools by the banks of the river contained a variety of forms of life. A large attendance of members was present and much interest- ing material was examined and collected. The President, Mr. Arthur Gibson, was in charge of the party. At the close of the outing addresses were delivered at the side of a grassy knoll close to the river, and the first leader called upon to speak was Mr. Halkett, of the zoological branch. Specimens of two kinds of small crustaceans—one an amphipod (Gammarus) and the other an isopod (Asellus aquaticus), as well as several kinds of fresh water pulmonate gastropod mollusks were passed around and points explained regarding their life-habits. Miss Fyles spoke of the plants which had been observed or collected. Several specimens of Geaster hygrometricus were found. It was pointed out that.the Geasters were distinguished from the puffballs by the outer coat, which breaks and spreads out in the form of a star, whence the name Earth-star. This odd and interesting fungus is very sensitive of moisture, spreading out its star-like coat in wet weather and folding in its points when the atmosphere is dry. Miss Fyles also gave an interesting account of the life-history of the Horse-tails (Equisetum spp.)and of many other plants which were handed to her to name. - A very interesting account of the herbs used by the Iroquois medicine men was given by Mr. Waugh, a leader of the archeo- logical branch, the substance of which he has since supplied in manuscript notes, which, given in his own words, are as follows :— ‘“‘A large number of animal and vegetable materials are used in the Iroquois medicines. Although many of the herbal or vegetable preparations are most effective from a therapeutic standpoint, a great deal of reliance is placed in sympathetic 80 THe Ottawa NarturRALIST. [Aug.-Sept. magic or the idea that like cures like. For instance, bloodroot is used to purify the blood because the juice is red. This’idea is at the bottom of a large percentage of Iroquois remedies. A decoction of stoneroot is given to children in the belief that it will make them hardy. Quite a number of effective laxatives and emetics are known where barks are used. These are scraped up or down according to the action required. Among the laxatives are mandrake root, also a decoction of butternut bark. A hunting medicine is made of the early leaves of Prenanthes or lion’s foot, from a fancied resemblance of these to the heads of a buck and a doe: A decoction is made and the rifle-barrel washed with it inside and out. The small spherical bulb found attached to the dwarf ginseng is crushed and tied to fishing tackle to give luck in fishing. A selling medicine is obtained by chewing a small wood anemone (Anemone quinque- jolia) and rubbing the juice on the hands when about to offer anything for sale. The person to whom the articles are offered will not be able to resist buying. A medicine to give speed in running is derived from the toad rush (Juncus bujonius). A decoction is made and the body and limbs washed with it, the idea being that, as the plant grows beside the runner’s pathway, it will assist him in running. Love medicines are very common. Every native medical practitioner has several. These are also usually based on sympathetic magic. For instance, two leaves of Aster cordifolia, which lean one upon the other, are taken, and a decoction made and rubbed upon the face and hands. A remedy for snake-bite is obtained by finding a root of the white ash which sticks up like a snake’s head. This must be kicked off with the foot. A decoction is made of this and applied to the bite. Among the most important medicines are a couple of secret preparations belonging to medical societies. These are found to consist largely of a number of fanciful or mythical ingredients. These medicines are considered the most effective of any and their administration is connected with a series of ceremonies.” The next speaker, Dr. Williams, spoke of. the birds, observed, viz.—the herring gull, the spotted sandpiper, the ruffed grouse, the northern flicker, the American crow, and the tree swallow. This last-mentioned useful little bird is very common in the vicinity of Ottawa this spring, and it is to be hoped that some may take possession of the nesting boxes either at Rockcliffe or at the Experimental Farm. In addition to the above, brief addresses were also delivered by the President and the Rev. Seymour Bullock. A.H. : THE OTTAWA NATURALIST VOL. XXVIII OCTOBER, 1914. No a | THE PROBLEM OF BIRD ENCOURAGEMENT. By W. E. SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONT. The question is, How toincrease the number of our birds. Hardly anyone doubts the statement that ‘‘More birds would be a benefit to mankind,’’ and the popularity of the efforts being made in that direction speaks volumes for the state of public sentiment; but ‘‘How’’ are we to do it? The people to whom such encouragement will mean the greatest financial return are the farmers, and not only have they the best opportunity of producing an increase in bird numbers, but all the expense called for is the rental of an acre or two of ground, and the labor of fencing and planting it with the proper trees, shrubs and vines. From such an outlay, the revenue returned should be a good one, and the results are liable to be better if the planting is of the most attractive character than if it is done in a haphazard manner. In a general way, the principle may be stated that most of our insectivorous birds like a little fruit at times, and the best way to provide this for them is to plant little shrubs bear- ing the native fruitsin their little jungle, rather than to attract them to the orchard and there feed them with high-class grapes, English cherries, etc. The size and location of sucha bird reserve will vary accord- ing to the enthusiasm and ability of the owner. An acre or two would make a splendid jungle, and in southern Ontario would probably be used even by the quail, which is one of the most useful of all insect eaters. In the bulletin on the chinch bug recently issued by the Di- vision of Entomology, at Ottawa, the quail is given credit for being the only bird that is specially useful in fighting this particularly injurious insect. Those farmers near London, whose crops suffered so severely, in 1913, from thisinsect, would probably be willing to give serious consideration to the question \ 82 THE OTTawa NATURALIST. [Oct. of bird reserves, realizing that such reserves would have meant money in pocket if they had been established years ago. The area selected for the jungle should be well fenced, preferably with heavy netting at the bottom. Dogs, and if possible, cats should be excluded, as well as rabbits. The “ experience of the western sheepmen who fenced a large section of land to exclude coyotes, should be remembered; after the fence was completed they found they had fenced some coyotes in. A few clear spaces among the planting are desirable, but the bulk of the ground might be thoroughly covered to good advantage. Shrubs and vines of rapid growth should be introduced even if they are not so desirable for permanent use’ most essential, however, is the planting of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, which will be used as food by such species as desire it. Almost every kind of tree has some features that are de- sirable from the standpoint of the birds; for instance, the foliage of basswood is subject to aphis, which makes it very attractive to warblers and other small insect eaters. As supply of insect food of some sort, however, is found on every tree and shrub, in these trees only those that are especially adapted in some way to the purpose of bird encouragement, arehererecommended. ® Inthe list should be a couple of hemlocks at good distances apart. These trees are the most attractive of all to the cross- bills in winter, hemlock seeds being their favorite food. Six Manitoba maples are recommended because: the fruit hangs all winter, and when the rare Evening Grosbeak visits us it is very fond of it. This tree varies a great deal in its seed pro- ducing qualities, and for that reason six are recommended, but only two ought to be left and those two should be selected for their seed bearing qualities. A few mountain ash trees will provide berries for the late fall and winter birds, while mulberries and the native shadbush are needed for summer fruits. In an investigation by the U.S. Biological Survey, Washing- ton, a very few years ago, it was found that the berry which was most widely eateemicd by the birds was the elder; there- fore it would be well to plant a number of these. Thorn bushes make excellent bird covers and the fruits are used by some birds in the autumn. The native Viburnums, with berries varying from white to black, are also used by the thrushes and other birds. The wild blackberry should be planted for the purpose of making a tangle, which the birds delight 1914] Tue Ottawa NaturRALIistT. 83 in, and as they have long been accustomed to it, it will be specially acceptable. The wild red raspberry is much fre- quented and desired by some birds: Currants, while not particularly desirable would doubtless add to the generai attractiveness of the jungle. Then there should be climbers, particularly the two bitter sweets, the climbing bitter sweet - and the annual one. But the best and most useful climber of all is the wild grape. Plant these beside a brush heap and they will soon cover it and make ideal protection for many of the seed eaters, and food for larger birds. Small willows are not only desirable’as providers of insects, but also because of the ease with which they take root and grow. There is no good reason why some ornamental shrubs should not be used, particularly on the sides facing the house and road. Spirea Van Houtte, (the Bridal Wreath) Lilacs, Philadelphus or Mock Orange, Exochorda, and others, could be used with advantage and beautiful effect, moreover, many of these are already popular with the birds we are trying to attract. And while some objection may be raised tothem on the score of expense, yet that objection does not apply to lilacs, which sucker freely: so that one can obtain a hundred small plants by digging and dividing a single old one. Consideration should be paid to the future appearance from the farm house; the tallest growing plants should be farthest away, the height graduating down, with only very dwarf things on the side next the house. This plan’will give a much more extended view from the house, than if high vegetation is placed on the side next the house. All these trees and shrubs should be planted not closer together than ten feet, unless enthusiasm and opportunity are unusual, and if so planted, it will be five to ten years before any require to be taken out. When they grow into one another, it would be well to remove some of them, as by that time the birds would have ample cover. At first there will appear to be a great deal of unused space, and such might be planted to millet and buckwheat. This would of course apply only to the first season as after that it should be left so that the shrubs could have their own way. Two weeds whose seeds are very much admired by winter birds are ragweed and pigweed. If a patch of these weeds is planted, it should be on the house side and not closer than twenty or thirty feet from the edge of the jungle, so as to prevent the weeds from spreading into the neighboring cultivated land. When the first vear’s growth has taken place there is little danger of the spreading of such weeds over what will then be unculti- vated ground. ji 84 THe Ortawa NATURALIST. [Oct. The above list contains most of the plants that are specially suitable for the purpose, but while endeavoring to procure as many of them as possible, the planter will of course use largely the shrubs that happen to be most available, employing also such wild perennials as golden rod, aster, etc. Old stumps will prove an attractive addition to the reserve and will be an attraction to the chickadees in the nesting season. If these birds can be induced to locate there, they may bé easily held for the whole year by a little feeding in winter, and no bird is more useful in the orchard than this species. For the first few years there will be no place in this plot where robins can rest. This lack will seldom be very notice- able, as most farms have already some old trees in which they may nest, but, if there is absolutely no opportunity for them the. need may be easily supplied, by a piece of 2 x 4 scantling driven into the ground, with two cross pieces near the top, forming a suitable nest foundation, the whole to be covered with a collection of dead vines, etc., leaving space for the birds to enter. If some wild cucumber is planted at the base of this, it will cover the post after a few weeks of growth. A few nesting boxes stuck up on posts or on large trees would serve to attract bluebirds, tree swallows and house wrens, but care must be taken to keep down the English sparrows by means of trap and gun, or else these native species that nest in cavities will be unduly harassed and prevented from breeding. It is well worth while to put up on a pole a house for the Purple Martin. If these birds can be induced to come, they will form a very important addition to the ranks of insect destroyers. On May 24, 1913, I saw a little home-made Martin house on a pole in a farm yard about 25 miles north-west of London, and it had three or four pairs of Martins domesticated in it. What one farmer has accomplished, another may do. Red squirrels should be persistently destroyed. These animals are second only to the domestic cat as bird exterminators, and will devour every available brood of nestlings unless they are prevented. A path winding through the jungle would be no detriment and may often be a convenience. It should go near the trees, and as these will prevent any thick growth coming beneath them, wild flowers can be added to the collection when they are partly grown. ~ ¢ 1914] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 85 During the first vear or two, the occasional use of the hoe around the newly introduced plants will hasten growth, but during the season of bird nesting, from May 1st to July 1st, too frequent presence on the reserve is not desirable until the birds have become thoroughly at home. A plot of ground set apart for a bird reserve and treated as described above ought to begin to show practical resultsin the second year, and it will be surprising what a tremendous difference in bird numbers can be made by a little attention to their needs. That this attention will give a substantial return in dollars and cents cannot be gainsaid, while for those fortunate country residents who already love the birds, and desire their presence, the results will be a constant joy. Personal inquiries on this subject are invited by the writer. MYOSURUS IN CANADA—I. By EpwArpD L. GREENE. Throughout the whole of Eastern North America the genus Myosurus is very scantily and feebly represented, and that too, in as far as our knowledge goes by the single species, M. min- mus,an old world plant and the type species of the genus; and this is so great a rarity here at the east as to have been observed hitherto in no more than two localities, east of the Ohio river. One of these stations is Belleville, in south- eastern Ontario, the other Norfolk, inthe extreme southeastern corner of Virginia. The. two stations are about 500 hundred miles apart in linear distance. For none of the intervening states of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, or for any of those of New England or the Maritime Provinces of Canada, is there any record of Myosurus; and for further demonstra- tion of the complete isolation of the plant at Belleville, let it be taken note of that from that point southwestward to south- central Illinois, where it occurs again, the distance is some 750 miles. Then measuring the distance westward and within the Dominion, to where it occurs again in Assiniboia, we have -950, if not a round 1000 miles. 86 THr Otrawa NATURALIST. [Oct. At the time when the plant. was first detected at Belleville its isolation there would have appeared still more pronownced if the matter of its very sparing occurrence in North America had been taken into consideration; for in 1878, when Professor John Macoun brought forward specimens from there, the Virginian habitat was not vet known, and the nearest known stations for it eastward and southward were as very far away as Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. At Norfolk, Virginia, it was not detected until 1893, or fifteen years later than Pro- fessor Macoun’s obtaining it at Belleville. Mr. F. V. Coville, the discoverer of the Norfolk habitat, re- marked that the plant had the appearance of a recent arrival there: but in the case of the station in Ontario, Professor Macoun registers no supsicion that it is other than indigenous there. Indeed, he took it to be native, as we shall see later: and in this he may have submitted to the opinion of authors within the United States, not one of whom, in writing of M. minimus as occurring with us here, and there southwestward and far westward, expresses a doubt about its being native. Accepting this doctrine, there was, with the discoverer of the Ontario station, no occasion to question how the plant came there, however strangely isolated it was. But here I must reproduce his very interesting first notes about it in the first volume of the Catalogtie of the Plants of Canada, P. 15. “On ground subject to overflow and on limestone shingle at the ferry house opposite Belleville, Ontario; rocky pastures west of Albert College, Belleville, Ontario.”’ Here are given as many as three different kinds of en- vironment for the plant as it was found growing in the vicinity of Belleville, now almost forty years since; and I know of no other more recent mention of Myosurus as being there. Results of a diligent, renewed investigation of the locality after so long a lapse of time would be very interesting, what- ever they might be. One thing, however, which the language of Professor Macoun suggests to me is the possibility of there being in the Belleville neighborhood more than one species of the genus. I refer to the different kinds of environment, in each of which he found the plant growing. The expression, “eround subject to overflow’’, though not very definite, im- plies the prevalence of a good degree of moisture; but whether some stretch of low plain be meant where a temporary pool is formed after every good rain, or whether it were a stream bank where waters rise and fall at intervals—all these are uncer- tainties. But the European plant is said to grow there nowhere butin low, moist lands. This is not, however, true of all the

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LeMay -article Dyan aeLe Lark, Prairie-horned......:. 172 Gall midges as forest insects. 76 Lecanora gibbosa, var zonata. 33 Gallinules Florida... 7.220... 170 a glaucomela........ 34 Gals ueatiw. te ee eee ees 78 Lichens from Vancouver Is- Ege hadrs es an Whetba abel ser = ps Hess iy 78 Lear Chk Alas ENB) Ton Aiea 33 po RROD B.S ai ir Cie Se A 78 Lecidea confluens ea 35 Garten snakes 4).). Ogee 103 me distincta. . Y gual seo Gelechiid, Burdock, 26 Lecidea lalypea............. 34 Geological Museum Work on - lath pPreden e") ean eee Pt Pelee: 2: 7 tac eae 97 Linnemyia picta........... 114 Gibson, Arthur, articles and Lloyd, F. E., articles by...41, 61 notes by 20, 57, 60, 94,96, 143, London Biological Club..... 20 151 EGON tase oc. ane ee 169 Gla Hib eset se jatacen ne 172 GOMGLCEPUGLOLN. Ant ae 115 Mackenzie River Basin, Gorgosaurus uN n. sp. 13 Waterways of.. ios st Grackle, Bronzed. peach id [2 Macnamara, Chas., article by 110 1915] THe Ottawa NATURALIST. 179 PAGE PAGE Macoun, John, article by.... 36 Ottaway ose eee eee. 151 Macoun, J. M., article by. 145-160 Peripatus, New Zealand.... 134 Macoun, W. T., Report as Perognathus fasciatus........ 130 Perens AOL De. Geo kpe noe es 12 Phytometra @rea, larva des- Malte, M. O., article by. 145-160 f cribed .. OLoe Mammals as destroyers of ts @reotdes,*} larva HoXIOUS Mipecig ras, . to 1-119 Re described..... 153 Martin, Purplesctiaticin. o<. 172 re ampla,....... Ree Maryland Yellowthroat..... 173 3 batlucaies 2c. lan. 154 Masicera eufitchie.......... 115 : bDeLoOG. sa ee ee 152 ease SLOT GI sett wea sss Ll He braSSIOGA:.. weed oe Meadowlark... 2.2... b 172 a bimaculata...... 153 Merrill, G. K., article by.. 33 ft contextas |... 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