# -V^;: --y^; ^--v-.r^;-'vU^.<:;;v;v^u^;-;v J3<^. r-feV f ^: ^ '^*&p^ ^ ^^afl >L :/ T^ y % ■- .Mi] \ WHITNEY LIBRARY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY THE GIFT OF J. D. WHITNEY, Stuvcjis Hooper Professor IN THE MUSEUM or OOMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY ^^xw^mu\^\\^\ ii ^ THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND ^uai'ltrlg louriral of Sdtiice, WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL. CONDUCTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY. NEW SERIES -Vol. 6. MONTREAL : DAWSON BROTHERS, 55 to 59 ST. JAMES STREET. > 1870. 1^" Tlie Editors of this Journal are responsible only for such communications as bear tbeir names or initials. EDITING COMMITTEE. Acting Editor : J. F. Whiteayes, F.G.S. J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S. T. Sterry Hunt, LL.D., F.R.S. C. Smallwood, M.D., LL.D. E. Billings, F.G.S. P. P. Carpenter, B.A., Ph. D. Dayid a. P. Watt. J. B, Edwards, Ph.D., F.C.S., Chairman. CORRESPONDING EDITORS. Halifax, N.S — Prof. G. Lawson, Ph.D., LL.D. St. Johns, N.B. — G. F. Matthew, Es(j. | London, Ont. — W. Saunders, Esq. Entered, according to Act of the Provincial Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, by Dawson Brothers, in the Office of the Registrar of the Dominion of Canada. CONTENTS. Pagr Aquaria Studies, Parti- By A. S. Ritchie 1 On LaurentiauRoclvs in Eastern Massachusetts. By Dr. T.SterryHunt,F.R.S. 7 Meteorolog:ioal results for Montreal for the year 1869. By C. Smallwood, M.D., LL.D.,D.C.L ]0 On the Graphite oftheLaurentian of Canada. ByPrin. Dawson, LL.D.,F.R.S. 13 Notes on the Genus Eophyton 20 Contributions to Canadian Meteorology. By C. Small wood, M.D.,LL.D..D.C.L. 22 Notes on some of the Plants in the Herbaria of Linne and Michaux. By Prof. D. C. Eaton, M.A 24 On Norite or Labtadorite Rock. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S 31 Notes on the Birds of Newfoundland. By Henry Reeks, F.L.S 38 On the Origin and Classification of Original or Crystalline Rocks. Parts I and II. By Thomas Macfarlane , 47 The Plants of the "West Coast of Newfoundland. By John Bell, M. A., M.D. 54 Why are Insects attracted by artificial lights ? By A. S. Ritchie 61 Notes on Vegetable Productions. ByG.E. Bulger, F.L.S. ,F.R.G.S., 66 On Recent Spectroscopic Observations of the Sun, and the Total Eclipses of 1868 and 1869. By James Douglas, jun 121 On Canadian Diatomaceae. By W. Osler 142 Notes on the Birds of Newfoundland. By Henry Reeks, F.L.S 151 On the Origin and Classification of Original or Crystalline Rocks. Part III. By Thomas Macfarlane I59 Aquaria Studies. Part II. By A. S. Ritchie 165 On Foraminifera from the Gult and River St. Lawrence. By G. M. Dawson. 172 Notes on the Structure of the Crinoidea and Blastoidea. ByE. Billings, F.G.S. 180 On the Geology of Eastern New England. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S . ... 198 Canadian Phosphates considered with reference to their use in Agriculture. By Gordon Broome, F.G.S 417 Science Education Abroad. Extracts from a Lecture by Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S .'263 The Earthquake of October 20th, 1870. By Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S- 282 Notes on the Birds of Newfoundland. By Henry Reeks, FLS 289 On the Origin and Classification of Original or Crystalline Rocks. Part IV. By Thomas Macfarlane 304 Notes on the Botany of a portion of the Counties of Hastings and Addington- By B. J. Harrington, BA 312 A few hours at Cape Town, S. Africa, By G. E. Bulger, F.L.S., F.R.G.S 365 On Spore Cases in Coals. By Principal Dawson, LLD., F.R.S 369 Bivalve Crustacens frpm the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Described by G. S. Bradt, C.M.Z.S 371 Extract from " Notes on Fossil Ostracoda from the Post-Teriary Deposits of Canada and New England." By G. S. Brady, C.M.Z.S., and Rev. H. W. Crosskey, F.G.S 385 Notes on Granitic Rocks. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S 3b;8 Notes on the Birds of Newfoundland. By Henry Reeks, F.L.S., 406 The Correlation of Vital and Physicial Forces. By Prof. Barker 416 The American Association :— Meeting at Troy 120 The Geological Society of London:— Abstracts of the Proceedings 90 The Natural History Society :— The Monthly Meetings 75, 437 The Annual Meeting 206 The Sommerville Lecture? 80, 2C8 The Conversazione 80 The Report of the Council 214 The Treasurer's Account 220 11 The British Associatiox :— The Meeting of 1870 235 The Meeting at Liverpool 319 The President's Address. By Prof. Huxley, F.R.S 319 Geology and Mineralogy : — Notes on the structure of Sigillaria 98 Notes on some new Animal Remains from the Carboniferous and Devonian of Canada 98 Cephalaspis Dawsoni i 222 Embryology of Limulus 223 Cope's Synopsis of American Fossil Batrachia and Reptilia 225 Marine Crustaceans in Lakes 226 Figures of British Fossils 227 Geological Discoveries in Brazil 342 Botany and Zoology:— North American Laminariaeeae 99 The Diffusion of Plants 101 Asiatic Geographical Botany 102 Notes on Canadian Bird? 103, 230 Lower Canadian Land Mollusca 103 Swiss Mammalia 104 The Use of Birds and Worms 107 Uses of the Cockchafer 108 Tomato Worms not Poisonous 109 British Edible Fungi 227 The Gulls of Nova Scotia 231 Position of the Brachiopoda 232 Notice of Fucus serratus found in Pictou Harbour 349 Labrador Plants 360 Saponaceous Plants 352 The Vultures and Humming Birds 357 A Cruise in a Whitebait Boat 463 A New Species of Erythronium 465 Chemistry and Physics:— Hydrogenium llO Metallic Hydrogen Ill Artificial Ice. 112 The Pointing of Pins 113 A new Dye 114 Underground Temperature 230 Microscopy :— Butterfly Parasite 115 Examination of Dust 116 The American Microscopic Society 117 Dr. Carpenter on Microscopic Stands 361 Miscellaneous :— On the Nipigon Territory 118 Scraps from Nature 239 Deep Sea Explorations 468 On Astronomy and Geology 460 Dredging of the Gult Stream 461 Reviews and Notices op Books :— Disinfectants and Disinfection. By R. A. Smith, Ph. D., F.R.S 93 Protoplasm ; or Life, Matter, and Mind. By Lionel S. Beale, M.D., F.R.S. 97 The Cell Doctrine: its History and Present State. By J. Tyson, M.D 97 Lyell's Elements of Geology 341 Mrs. Lyell's Handbook of Ferns 343 Index and Contents THE CANADIAN NATURALIST AND (^uavtinly ioutunl tut Mtmt. AQUARIA STUDIES. Part I. By A. S. EiTCHiE. The rage for aquaria has somewhat subsided in the fashionable world; still fashion reigns to a certain extent, and exerts an influence even in the zoological world. There has been a furore for sponges such as the beautiful Venus' Flower Basket (Enphc- tella spedosct), from the Philippines, for novelties in shells or in insects, and at fashionable prices. AH are not votaries of fashion, — though, in the minds of some, the fickle goddess may fm some latent spark of " Nature's fire " into a flame. While aquaria, in countless numbers, are being sacrificed by the auctioneer, the student of nature watches with intense interest the various productions of animal and vegetable life in his minature fish-pond, and sees, with admiration, their perfect adaptation to their place in the economy of nature. A well-known naturalist writes : " The graceful fish, the brilliant reptiles, the shining insects, that people this rare world, whilom hermetically sealed up from our yearning view, are now displayed in the aquarium, — sporting, feeding, slumbering — pursued and pursuing, — leaping into life, and falling into dissolution, — each in its natural haunts, and yet ' all at home in these crystal palaces.' '' The fresh water aquarium with us, constructed and stocked on scientific principles, should represent faithfully a Canadian pond Vol. V. A :so. 1. 2 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Mai'ch or stream. Nothing mars the effect more than to see marine shells, gay corals, madrepores, and echinoderms, however beautiful and interesting in themselves, in a fresh water aqua- rium. Even gold-fish are out of place among our Canadian fishes there, and detract from the truthfulness of the representation of a local fauna. Our waters contain the beauties of the Creator's hand just as much as those of a foreign shore, and the object of all lovers of aquaria should be to correctly illustrate the habits of native species. The bottom of the tank ought to resemble the bed of a pond or river, with pieces of rock-work here and there, having their tops standing out of the water, to allow those creatures which prefer out-door exercise to breathe the fresh air at pleasure. The principles on which an aquarium should be constructed are the following. The vessel should be either oblong or square, but not globe-shaped, on account of its distorting the image of whatever is contained in it. This should contain animal and vegetable life, in fresh or salt water, which, like the water of a river or sea, need never be changed. The vitalization of the water, without its being changed, constitutes the main principle of the aquarium ; this principle we shall now endeavour to explain. Living animals absorb oxygen, and give off carbonic acid gas. Plants, on the contrary, exhale oxygen, and inhale carbonic acid. What the one accepts the other rejects ; that which would suffocate the one if it was not removed, the other would die from exhaus- tion if it couH not obtain. In stocking an aquarium, judgment and discretion are required, so as to have an equal proportion of animal and vegetable life. It should also be remembered that the more rock you introduce the fewer fish must be put in. A little experience in the keeping of aquaria will soon make people aware of any disproportion in the balance of animal and vegetable life. If plants are in excess, this is shown by the particular clearness of the water and by the restlessness of the fish. Their motions are spasmodic ; they swim backwards and forwards in darts and jerks, as if trying to escape from something. If, on the other hand, there is too little vegeta- tion, the fish swim lazily, with their mouths out of the water, panting for oxygen. Our aquarium is three feet six inches long, by two wide, and twenty inches in depth. It has a glass top or roof-shaped 1870.] RITCHIE — ON AQUARIA STUDIES. 3 covering ; this is to keep out dust, and to prevent some of the inmates going from home, also for the purpose of fern gi'owing. The bottom is covered with about two inches of sand or gravel, having rock-work at each end, with the tops of the stones standing out of the water. These last have cups cut in them for the reception of mosses and ferns, while the portion above water gives the reptiles and crustaceans the opportunity of a short stroll at pleasure. We have grown Aitacharis alsinastrum and Vallisneria spiralis with comparative success, the great enemy to their entire success being the cray-fishes, wliich browse on the plants, and destroy them after a time. We dispense with the larger plants altogether now. The aquarium stands in a darkish corner, and the water is[as clear, and smells as sweet, as when put in two years ago. A little water must be added now and then to compensate for eva- poration. We never clean the glass on the side next the wall, which is covered and grown over with confervse and other lowly plants of various kinds. This, and not crowding too much animal life into the vessel, is the secret of success. We shall now introduce the reader to some of our favourites, and first some odd fishes which possess many and varied traits of character. That dapper little fellow, with his coat shining with scarlet and green, and armed with spines, is the little Stickleback (^Gaster- osteus *). He is the prince of gallants, and will fight for his lady- love to the death. A peculiarity in the economy of individuals of this species is, that they build a nest, the male watching and followmg the young until they can fish for themselves. We have had the nest built in the aquarium of several pieces of weeds that were introduced, but saw no young ones ; if they ever had any the other fish must have devoured them. The female kept possession of the nest, which was in a corner of the tank, while the male kept watch outside. Woe to the unwary minnow, or sun- fish, that comes near his domicile, — his coat becomes more brilliant, his little eyes redden and flash, and with spines erected, he rushes at his enemy and charges him with his numerous bayonets. Our next example is rather a handsome fish, which always swims along the bottom, moves by jerks, and darts to and fro ; from * The scientific names of the fishes mentioned in this article, have been altered in accordance with the latest nomenclature. — J.F.W, 4 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March. his peculiar style of motion, he is named the DsLYter {Boleosoma tesselatum.) He is said to have no air bladder, which accounts for the difficulty he has in rising to the surface. He is a quiet retired character, but always manages to be on hand at feeding time. The Striped Minnow (Rhinicthjs atronasiis) is the dandy of the tribe, — always sporting himself in the fore-ground. He is a little forward at times, and sometimes makes mistakes, such as rushing at a fly that has alighted on the outside of the glass, and only knows his real position (a dandy in prison) when his nose comes in contact with the glass. We have a tyrant in our colony, the common Sun-fish (Fomotis auritus.) He must be king, and his rule is despotic. None are allowed to eat until he has finished, and even afcer getting the lion's share he chases all who dare to attempt to help them- selves. One day he nearly fell a victim in consequence of his bad temper. A fine Cray-fish (Astacus Bartonii) had his home in the corner of the aquarium ; at the close of feeding time he would sally forth to pick up anything that was left ; the sun-fish made a dash at the antennae of the cray-fish (which are always in motion when on a purveying expedition) ; like lightning the claws of the crustacean were thrown up in self-defence. He caught our finny friend above the tail, and only our timely inter- position saved the sun-fish's life. After this we made a close prisoner of him in one of the corners of the tank, by placing a square of glass against the side and end. The most graceful fish in our family is the American Perch (^Perca flavescens), his proportions are so elegant, and his shape is so well adanted for swimming. He has a powerful stroke-oar in his tail, and few can match him on a trip round his domain. His powers of eating are extraordinary. Many a poor minnow pays the penalty of being a little too small for his company. Still, when reo-ularly fed, he behaves himself as well as a respectable perch ouo-ht to do. A very pretty Black Basse (^Centrarchus fasciatus') , is our next friend ; we were not long favoured with his company, — he was too o'ood for such a station. The waters of the St. Lawrence or the Ottawa were his home, and he pined for their gravelly bottoms and rippling waves. . His retiring manner was our admiration j he always loved the shade of the rock-work. Many a stray fly was quietly dropped into his corner, which he never took without 1870 ] RITCHIE — ON AQUARIA STUDIES. 5 a look of recosrnitioa and thankfulness ; but dealh ! — inexorable death ! ! — called him away. The Cat-fish (Amvfrus catus) is one of the hardiest fishes we possess. His chief end is to eat, — which he does almost to suffocation. He refuses nothing. As he roots with whiskered mouth among the gravel at the bottom, he heeds neither the attacks of the stickleback, cray-fish, nor sun-fish. When annoyed he merely gives a shake of his head with the greatest nonchalance and keeps his nose at work, picking up all the rejected bits left by his patrician relations. He is of great use as a scavenger, and two or three specimens are a great acquisition to all aquaria. The Pond Sucker (probably a small species of Catasfomus)is a shy fish, and extremely reserved. In form, its body, from the dorsal fin to the tail, is rather tapering, and in swimming the body appears bent ; — it is covered with beautiful silvery scales. He sometimes, though erroneously, gets the name of " Shiner." He has no teeth in the upper jaw, and is, therefore, unable to bite at his food, which is drawn into the mouth by suction, hence the name. The Jilack Minnow (JJmhra limi) is also of retiring habits, and is easily startled. He asserts his dignity, however, at feeding time, as he moves about with a graceful air, and is one of the first to help himself when there is anything in the way of meat to be had. We have kept the Golden Carp, or Gold-fish (C^prinus auratus) in the tank to please the ladies, but we objected to his presence on account of his being a stupid fish, and not indigenous (although introduced into gentlemen's ponds in Massachusetts, where it thrives well) ; besides, while along with the representative fishes of our waters, our aquarium carried a falsehood on its face. This will never do for science, we said, and were going to turn him out, but all wo could find of him was the backbone and the eyeless head floating on the top of the water. The other fish knew he was a stranger, — perhaps they di4 not like the colour, — at any rate every one was against him, from the perch to the striped minnow. Whenever he attempted to come to the front to feed, there was a general charge at the poor gold-fisli. Beino* thus prevented from feeding, he got so weak as to allow himself to be caught, and thus fell a victim to his cowardice and stupidity. We say cowardice, for he was as large as any fish in the tank, 6 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March and a o-reat deal larger than most. The smallest minnow would make him beat a hasty retreat. The old-fashioned fish globe is the place for the golden carp. This concludes our remarks on the fishes of our aquarium, which contains ten species. At the time we write there were thirty-one specimens in the tank. We shall now pass on to another class : — Reptiles. First in point of size conies our friend the Painted Turtle (Chrt/semi/s plcta). He is about four inches long, and a very lively specimen, — sporting now in the water, now on the rocks. In the water he is at home, and like all the rest of our family, he loves good eating. He devours his food voraciously, and swallows it by a series of gulps. We kept him about six months. He died from disease, as a post-mortem examination proved ; the viscera were overgrown with a black fungus, and now the shell is all that remains ol the poor turtle. The Water Newt (^Tnton millepunctatus) is a great acquisition to the aquarium. At first we had a number of this species, but on account of the depredations of the fish our stock got reduced to two specimens. They liked the water, and would lie quietly on the top of it until the fish made war on their toes — bitins; a toe ofi" this one, and part of a leg ofi" another one, until only two remained unscathed. They took to the rocks and the moss in self-defence, taking an occasional dip, which they accomplish as quickly as possible. They have cast their coats twice with us. Their motions and positions in the water are very grotesque, yet very o-raceful at times. No aquarium is complete without them. They went the way of all newts, however, after a two years' sojourn with us. We always have them replaced by fresh ones. The next in order is a veteran Frog {^Rana Tialecinay When first introduced into our tank he preferred the water ; he would lie carelessly floating on the surface until some of his finny alhes would make a dash at his toes with open mouth, to his great disgust and annoyance. He had the advantage of them, however, and took up his residence on the moss in one of the cups of the rock- work at the edge of the water. He sometimes took a bath, which he only partially enjoyed, as he well remembered the propensity of his friends the fish. He is an adept at fly-catching, which he efi"ects by his tongue as he lies on the moss. Fancy his feelings as he lies under the influence of chloroform on the stage of the microscope, while we examine the circulation 1870.] HUNT — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 7 of the blood in the membrane between his toes. At first he disliked thus being bandaged up like a mummy ; but frogs, like ourselves, can accommodate themselves to circumstances. He has figured before the public, under the microscope, during two winters, but has since died. We shall now glance at a creature of a difi*erent order and class — a crustacean — the American Cray-fish (^Astacus Bai'tonii)^ and a curious creature he is ; almost every thing suits his palate. He is very provident, and lays up what he is unable to eat in the holes under the .rock-work. He is a good gymnast, and can stand on his head, or on his tail, or can walk as it suits him, — as fast the one way as the other, — backwards, forwards, or sideways, — it matters not. He hid himself for a time, as his coat was getting shabby and too small for him. He came forth at last with a complete new suit; roamed about for some time, but has again vanished, with no ostensible reason. This is the first instance of this creature changing his shell in our aquarium. With the exception of a few species of water beetles, dytiscus, aciUus, and coli/mhetes, which the fish gradually mastered — not- withstanding the hardness of their elytra, — the curtain falls on the denizens of our aquarium. We intend, in continuation of our aquaria studies, to lift the curtain once more, and, with the assistance of the microscope, to illustrate some forms of animal and vegetable life which cannot be well seen by the unassisted eye. ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS IN EASTERN MASSA- CHUSETTS. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S.* In a paper read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Washington in April, 1854, and published in this Journal for September in the same year, (vol, xvii, page 193,) I noticed the crystalline limestones of north- * From Silliman'sJournaUor January, 1870. 8 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March eastern Massachusetts, which were described by the late Dr. Hitchcock as enclosed in the great gneissic and hornblendic form- ation stretching through that portion of the state. These lime- stones, which are met with at various points from Bolton by Chelmsford on to Newburyport, present a close mineralogical resemblance to those of the Adirondacks and Laurentides, and also to those of the Highlands of New York and New Jersey, a resemblance which extends to the gneissic rocks which in these various regions accompany the crystalline limestones. I, at that time, accepted without examination the view maintained by Mather and H. D. Rogers, that these limestones in southern New York and New Jersey were altered Silurian strata, although mineralogically identical with those farther north of undoubted Laurentian age. Led by this conclusion to attach comparatively little importance to mineralogical and hthological resemblances, and guided by other considerations given in the paper just referred to, I then suggested that the crystalline limestones and their accompanying rocks in north-eastern i\J assachusetts might probably be of Devonian age. The subsequent investigations of Hall, Logan and Cooke in the Highlands of New l^'ork and New Jersey have however left no doubt that these supposed altered Silurian rocks are really of Laurentian age, and led me to suspect that the same might be the case with those of eastern Massachusetts. This view, which was shared by Prof. James Hall, I ventured to put forward at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Salem in August, 1869, when I showed that it was probable, not only on Hthological grounds, but from the fact that the Laurentian rocks appear to the southward of the great palaeozoic basin in New Brunswick and Newfound- land^ which are geologically but a north-eastein prolongation of New England, and moreover from the outcropping of the lowest Silu- rian strata at Braintree, near Boston. A few days later I visited Newburyport, and in company with Dr. Henry C- Perkins of that place, had, for the first time, an opportunity of observing the gneisses and limestones in question. Their aspect confirmed my suspicion of their Laurentian age, and led me to suggest to him the propriety of searching for Eozoon Canadense in the limestone which there occurs mingled with serpentine. Speci- mens of it were thereupon placed in the hands of Mr. Bicknell of Salem, well known as a skilled microscopist, and shortly after it was announced by Dr. Perkins that Mr. Bicknell had discovered 1870.J HUNT — ON LAURENTIAN ROCKS. 9 in them the Eozoon. This notice, which appeared in September in a Newburyport journal, is reproduced in the American Natu- ralist for November. My own specimens collected in August last near Newburyport, at the locality known as the Devil's Den, jiid not, however, furnish any traces of Eozoon, and I may here remark that I had already, so long ago as 1864, caused slices to be made of a specimen of limestone from that locality, which were then examined by Dr. Dawson with negative results. In November, however, Mr. Bickoell visited Newburyport and got from a quarry, about a quarter of a mile distant from the place just mentioned, specimens of a serpentinic limestone in which he again found Eozoon. Slices which he has kindly sent me have also been examined by Dr. Dawson, who confirms Mr. Bicknell's observa- tion, and finds in them Eozoon Canaderise, though fragmentary and not very well preserved. The tubuli, as in the specimens from Grenville, are injected with serpentine, and may be seen on etched surfaces as well as in transparent slices. A crystalline mineral is however abundantly disseminated in the limestone, and unskilled observers might have difiiculty in recognizing the fossil. Another locality, about twenty-eight miles to the south-westward of Newburyport, has however, afi"orded me much better specimens. In company with Mr. L. S. Burbank of Lowell, a zealous and successful teacher of geology and mineralogy, I visited in October last the limestone quarries of Chelmsford, some five miles from Lowell. This limestone and its accompanying gneiss closely resemble the Laurentian rocks of other regions, and scapolite, apatite and serpentine occur as associated minerals, though the latter was rare in the quarries then visited. A few days after- ward Mr. Burbank kindly sent me specimens of a mixture of limestone and yellowish-green serpentine from another quarry in the vicinity, which I had been unable to visit, and these have proved to be rich in Eozoon Canadense. The continuous and complete calcareous skeleton of the fossil does not appear in these specimens, which seem like some portions of the rock from Gren- ville, as described by Sir W. E. Logan, to be made up of fragments of the calcareous shell of Eozoon, mingled with grains of serpentine, and cemented by crystalline carbonate of lime. In the specimens from Grenville, and from most other localities, the mineral matter replacing the sarcode and filling up the canals and tubuli in the calcareous Eozoon skeleton, is generally serpentine 10 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March or some other silicate. Both Dawson and Carpenter, however, it will be recollected, found that in the fragmentary Eozoon from Madoc, and in some small portions from Grenville, the injected mimpral was, like the shell itself, pure carbonate of lime, though readily distinguishable by differences in texture and transparency from the shell. Such is also the case with all the Chelmsford specimens yet examined, which abound in fragments of shell exhi- biting in a very beautiful manner the cylindrical diverging and branching tubuli. The accompanying serpentine is disseminated in grains, but has no connection with the organic forms, so that, unlike the specimens in which it is the injecting mineral, the structure of these cannot be brought out by etching with acids. These specimens from Chelmsford, it shouldbe said, have been examined and satisfactorily identified by Dr. Dawson. The argument from miueraloo-ical resemblances in favor of the Lauren- tian age of the limestone in question is therefore now supported by the undoubted presence in them of Eozoon Canadense. In this connection it should be said that the crystalline rocks of Newburyport and Salisbury, though separated in Hitchcock's geological map from the gneisses to the south-west, and united to the syenites of Gloucester and Rockport, seem to me very unlike the latter, and closely related lithologically to the gneiss of Chelmsford, which encloses the crystalline limestone. The crystalline limestones occurring with gneissic rocks near Provi- dence, Rhode Island, merit a careful examination for Eozoon, inasmuch as from their lithological characters they may with probability be supposed to be of Laurentian age. Montreal, Dec. 12, 1870, METEOROLOGICAL RESULTS FOR MONTREAL FOR THE YEAR 1869. By C. Smallwood, M.D., LL.D., D.C.L. The following Meteorological Report is condensed from the records of the Montreal Observatory, lat. 45*^ 31 N., long. 4h. 54' 17" West of Greenwich. The cisterns of the barometers are 182 feet above the mean sea level. 1870.] METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. 11 The readings are corrected for any instrumental errors, and those of the barometer have been reduced to 32 F. Atmosj)lieric Fressure. — The highest reading of the barometer occurred at 7 A.M. Isfc January, and indicated 30.390 inches. The lowest reading was at 6 A.M. on the 4th February, and was 28.841 inches, giving an annual range of 1.549 inches. The following table shows the highest and lowest reading for each month in inches : — January. February. March. April. May. June. Highest 30-390 29.129 50.251 29.841 30-201 29- 100 29.967 29.042 29.812 28.842 30.201 29.298 Lowest July. August. September October. November December Highest 30.000 29-275 30-352 29-650 30-375 29.549 30.249 29.349 30.462 29-151 30.643 29 -375 Lowest Temperature of the Air F° — The highest reading of the ther- mometer during the year was on the 26th July, when it was 84°4. The lowest reading was on the Ist March, and was — 9*^9 (below zero), giving a range or climatic difference of 94°3, which shows a difference minus of 26°8 compared with the observations of 1868. The mean temperature for the year was 42°93, which is nearly four-tenths of a degree higher than the mean annual temperature for Montreal. Below is a table showing the monthly mean, also the highest and lowest temperature for each month, with the amount of rain and snow : — Months. January . . February. . March April . May June , July August ... September October . . November December Mean Temper'ture inF.° 20" 1 3 19^^44 24'^ 06 41'= oo 52*^96 58''84 68.51 65.66 65^55 46^13 30° 28 22^^88 Highest Temper'ture 45°9 38^9 53!2 66-^2 78^9 8i°o 84% 76^1 82'^0 66-2 40^7 Lowest Temper'ture -4°o -5=4 -9^9 29-0 32-^6 45°2 52^0 5i°o S5°9 24°7 III -2^3 Rain. Depth in Inches. 0-233 None 1-118 I- 107 2-855 4.000 4-995 8.675 4.096 6.827 0655 1.004 Snow. Depth in Inches. ^8.07 73-76 14.07 1-93 3-14 Inapp. 6.49 13.96 25-95 12 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March The following table shows the mean temperature and the amount of precipitation for each quarter : — Months. Temper'ture Rain. Snow. . i i6°oo 20°I3 19^44 Inapp. 0.223 None 27-96 28.07 -ii nj i J anudry 73-76 |> q; ^ eoruary A/T*iQn 18.52 Amount . - 0-223 129.79 . f WS 1 MTrrh 24^06 4 1 '"bo 52^96 1. 118 1. 107 2-855 14.07 1-93 3-41 •C '*- J A'rnl -S'S 1 ]\[av C/3qj -^^Atiy M can 39''34 Amount . . 5-080 19. 11 ^^ 'S Tune 58«84 68''3i 65^66 4.000 4-995 8.675 5 >- J Tiilv g c3 1 J "^y ^ 3 Anfyimf • c^a ^"S"^^ 6o°93 Amount ■ . 17-670 4.096 6.827 0-655 e oj Sf*ntpmV>er 65=53 46-13 30^25 Inapp. 6.49 13.96 3 h -i Ortnher S 12 Nnvf^mVier •. <30' Mean 47°30 Amount . . T T C?^ '>'^ ^ ^ II • 57" i Ra'^i fell on 86 days, amounting to 35.545 inches. A very heavy storm, accompanied by loud thunder and vivid lightning, occurred on the night of the 19th-20th of August, and the large amount of 3-782 inches of rain fell in 6 hours 15 minutes. Snow fell on 76 days, amounting to 167.37 inches. This large amount includes the heavy fall of February. The first snow of autumn fell on the 27th September, in inappreciable quantity. Winter fairly set in on the 4th of December. Wind. — The most prevalent wind during the year was the N.E. The next in frequency, the W. The least prevalent wind was the S.E. There were 128 clear nights suitable for astronomical purposes. This is about the usual average. The Aurora Borealis was visible frequently during the year, but was not accompanied by any grand display. The meteoric shower of 13th-14th November was rendered in- visible by cloudy weather. 1870.] DAWSON — LAURENTIAN GRAPHITE. 13 The partial eclipse of the moon on the 27th January could not be well observed, owing to clouds and hazy weather. The solar eclipse of the 7th August, which was only partial at Montreal, was visible, and furnished some interesting phe- nomena. ON THE GRAPHITE OF THE LAURENTIAN OF CANADA. By J. W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. (From the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for Feb., 1870.) In my paper of 1864, on the Organic Remains of the Lauren- tian Limestones of Canada, as a sequel to the description of Eozoon Canadense, I noticed, among other indications of organic matters in these limestones, the presence of films and fibres of graphitic matter, and insisted on tl# probability that at least some of the lower forms of plant life must have existed in the seas in which gigantic Foramiuifera could flourish. Dr. Hunt had previously, on chemical evidence, inferred the existence of Laurentian vegetation^, and Dana had argued as to the proba- * " American Journal of Science" (2), xxxi. p. 395. From this article written iu 1861, after the announcement of the existence of laminated forms supposed to be organic in the Laurentian, by Sir "W". E. Logan» but before their structure and affinities had been ascertained, I quote the following sentences : — " We see in the Laurentian series beds and veins of metallic sulphurets, precisely as in more recent formations ; and the extensive beds of iron-ore, hundreds of feet thick, which abound in that ancient system, correspond not only to great volumes of strata deprived of that metal, but, as we may suppose, to organic matters which, but for the then great diffusion of iron-oxyd in conditions favourable for their oxydation, might have formed deposits of mineral carbon far more extensive than those beds of plumbago which wa actually meet in the Laurentian strata. All these conditions lead us then to conclude the existence of an abundant vegetation during the Lauren- tian period." Since the above note was printed in the Quarterly Journal, I have ascertained that it is innacurate as to dates : Dr. Hunt having, in May 1858, before the discovery of Eozoon Canadense, asserted, in an article in the Amer. Journal of Science (xxv. 436), that " the presence of iron ores, not less than that of graphite, points to the existence of organic life even during the Laurentian or so-called Azoic period." The same argument will be found in more detailed form, in his papers Quar. Jom*. 14 TfiE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March bility of this on various grounds^'^ ; and my object in referring to these indications in 1864, as well as to the supposed burrows of annelids, subsequently described by me f, was to show that the occurrence of Eozoon was not to be regarded as altogether isolated and unsupported by probabilities of the existence of organic remains in the Laurentian, deducible from other considerations. Now that the questions which have been raised regarding Eozoon may be considered settled, not only by the adhesion of the greatest authorities in palaeontology and zoology, but by the discovery of similar organisms in rocks of the same age elsewhere, by specimens preserved in such a manner as to avoid all the objections raised to the mineral condition of the fossil J, and by the discovery of such modern analogies as that furnished by Batliyhius, it may be proper to invite the attention of geologists more particularly to the evidence of vegetable life afforded by the deposits of graphite existing in the Laurentian. The graphite of the Laurentian of Canada occurs both in beds and in veins, and in such al^nanner as to show that its origin and deposition are contemporaneous with those of the containing rock. Dr. Sterry Hunt states § that " the deposits of plumbago generally occur in the limestones or in their immediate vicinity, and granular varieties of the rock often contain large crystalline plates of plumbago. At other times this mineral is so finely disseminated as to give a bluish-gray colour to the limestone, and the distribution of bands thus coloured, seems to mark the strati- fication of the rock." He further states : — " The plumbago is not confined to the limestone ; large crystalline scales of it are occasionally disseminated in pyroxene rock or pyrallolite, and Geol. Society, 1859, p. 493, Amer. Jour. Science, July 1860 (xxx., 134, as well as in the last-named Journal for May 1866, as quoted above. — J. W. D. *■ Manual of Geology. I may also be permitted to refer to my own work " Archaia," p. 168, and Appendix D, 1860. t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxii. p. 608. X I cannot, after examination of the specimen, and of others subse- quently obtained by Sir "W. E. Logan, attach any value to the supposition of Messrs. Rowney and King, that the Tudor specimen has been produced by infiltration of carbonate of lime into veins. The mechanical arrange- ment of the laminae and their microscopic structure forbid such a supposition, as well as the comparison of them with the actual calcare- ous veins occurring in the same rock. § " Geology of Canada," 1863, p, 529 ; and Report for 1866, pp. 218-223. 1870.] DAWSON — LAURENTIAN GRAPHITE. 15 sometimes in quartzite and in feldspathic rocks, or even in mae:netic oxide of ii'on." In addition to these bedded forms, there are also true veins in which graphite occurs associated with calcite, quartz, orthoclase, or pyroxene, and either in disseminated scales, in detatched masses, or in bands or layers " separated from each other, and from the wall rock by feldspar, pyroxene, and quartz." Dr. Hunt also mentions the occurrence of finely gran- ular varieties, and of that peculiarly waved and corrugated variety simulating fossil wood, though really a mere form of laminated structure, which also occurs at Warrensburgh, New York, and at the Marinski mine in Siberia. Many of the veins are not true fissures, but rather constitute a net- work of shrinkage cracks or segregation veins traversing in countless numbers the containing rock, and most irregular in their dimensions, so that they often resemble strings of nodular masses. It has been supposed that the graphite of the veins was originally introduced as a liquid hydro-carbon. Dr. Hunt, however, regards it as possible that it may have been in a state of aqueous solution^ at a heat approach- ing ignition; but in whatever way introduced, the character of the veins indicates that in the case of the greater number of them the carbonaceous material must have been derived from the bedded rocks traversed by these veins, while there can be no doubt that the graphite found in the beds has been deposited along with the calcareous matter or muddy and sandy sediment of which these beds were originally composed. The quantity of graphite in the Lower Laurentian series is enormous. In a recent visit to the township of Buckingham, on the Ottawa Kiver, I examined a band of limestone believed to be a continuation of that described by Sir W. E. Logan as the Green Lake Limestone. It was estimated to amount, with some thin interstratified bands of gneiss, to a thickness of 600 feet or more, and was found to be filled with disseminated crystals of graphite and veins of the mineral to such an extent as to constitute in some places one-fourth of the whole ; and making every allowance for the poorer portions, this band cannot contain in all a less vertical thickness of pure graphite than from 20 to 30 feet. In the ad- joining township of Eochaber Sir W. E. Logan notices a band from 25 to 30 feet thick, reticulated with graphite veins to such an extent as to be mined with profit for the mineral. At another * <( Report of the Geological Survey of Canada,' 1866, p. ^'33. 16 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Marcll place in the same district a bed of graphite from 10 to 12 feet thick, and yielding 20 per cent, of the pure material, is worked. When it is considered that graphite occurs in similar abundance at several other horizons, in beds of limestone which have been ascertained by Sir W. E. Logan to have an aggreate thickness of 3500 feet, it is scarcely an exaggeration to maintain that the quantity of carbon in the Laurentian is equal to that in similar areas of the Carboniferous system. It is also to be observed that an immense area in Canada appears to be occupied by these graphitic and ^o2;oo?i-limestones, and that rich graphitic deposits exists in the continuation of this system in the state of New York, while in rocks believed to be of this age near St. John, New Brunswick, there is a very thick bed of graphitic limestone, and associated with it three regular beds of graphite, having an aggregate thickness of about five feet.* It may fairly be assumed that in the present world and in those geological periods with whose organic remains we are more familiar than with those of the Laurentian, there is no other source of unoxidized carbon in rocks than that furnished by organic matter, and that this has obtained its carbon in all cases, in the first instance, from the deoxidation of carbonic acidl)y living plants. No other source of carbon can, I believe, be imagined in the Laurentian period. We may, however, suppose either that the graphitic matter of the Laurentian has been accumulated in beds like those of coal, or that it has consisted of difi'used bituminous matter similar to that in more modern bituminous shales and bituminous and oil-bearing limestones. The beds of graphite near St. John, some of those in the gneiss at Ticonderoga in New York, and at Lochaber, Buckingham, and elsewhere in Canada are so pure and regular that one might fairly compare them with the graphitic coal of llhode Island. These instances, however, are exceptional, and the greater part of the disseminated and vein graphite might rather be compared in its mode of occurrence to the bituminous matter in bituminous shales and limestones. We may compare the disseminated graphite to that which we find in those districts of Canada in which Silurian and Devonian * Matthew in " Quart. Joum. Geol- Soc," vol. xxi. p. 423. " Acadian Geology, p. 662." t Granby, Melbourne, Owl's Head, &c., " Geology of Canada," 1863, p. 529. 1870.] DAWSON — LAURENTIAN GRAPHITE. 17 bituminous shales and limestones have been metamorphosed and converted into graphitic rocks not dissimilar to those in the less altered portions of the Lauren tian.f In like manner it seems probable that the numerous reticulating veins of graphite may have been formed by the segregation of bituminous matter into fissures and planes of least resistance, in the manner in which such veins occur in the modern bituminous limestones and shales. Such bituminous veins occur in the Lower Carboniferous lime- stone and shale of Dorchester and Hillsborough, New Brunswick, with an arrangement very similar to that of the veins of graphite ; and in the Quebec rocks of Point Levi, veins attaining to a thick- ness of more than a foot, are filled with a coaly matter having a transverse columnar structure, and regarded by Logan and Hunt as an altered bitumen. These palaeozoic analogies would lead us to infer that the larger part of the Laurentian graphite falls under the second class of deposits above mentioned, and that, if of vegetable origin, the organic matter must have been thoroughly disintegrated and bituminized before it was changed into graphite. This would also give a probability that the vegetation implied was aquatic, or at least that it was accumulated under water. Dr. Hunt has, however, observed an indication of terrestrial vegetation, or at least of subaerial decay, in the great beds of Laurentian iron-ore. These, if formed in the same manner as more modern deposits of this kind would imply the reducing and solvent action of substances produced in the decay of plants. In this case such great ore beds as that of Hull, on the Ottawa, 70 feet thick, or that near Newborough, 200 feet thick ^, must represent a corresponding quantity of vegetable matter which has totally disappeared. It may be added that similar demands on vegetable matter as a deoxidizing agent are made by the beds and veins of metallic sulphides of the Laurentian, though some of the latter are no doubt of later date than the Laurentian rocks themselves. It would be very desirable to confirm such conclusions as those above deduced by the evidence of actual microscopic structure. It is to be observed, however, that when, in more modern sediments. Algae have been converted into bituminous matter, we cannot ordinarily obtain any structural evidence of the origin of such bitumen, and in the graphitic slates and lime- * " Geology of Canada," 1863. Vol. Y. B Ko. 1 18 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. ' [March stones derived from the metamorphosis of such rocks no organic structure remains. It is true that, in certain bituminous shales and limestones of the Silurian system, shreds of organic issue can sometimes be detected, and in some cases, as in the Lower Silurian limestone of the La (cloche mountains in Canada, the pores of brachiopodous shells and the cells of corals have been penetrated by black bituminous matter, forming what may be regarded as natural injections, sometimes of much beauty. In correspondence with this, while in some Laurentian graphitic rocks, as, for instance, in the compact graphite of Clarendon, the carbon presents a curdled appearance due to segregation, and precisely similar to that of the bitumen in more modern bituminous rocks, I can detect in the graphitic limestone occasional fibrous structures which may be remains of plants, and in some specimens vermicular lines, which I believe to be tubes of Eozoon penetrated by matter once bituminous, but now in the state of graphite. When palaeozoic land-plants have been converted into graphite, they sometimes perfectly retain their structure. Mineral charcoal, with structure, exists in the graphitic coal of Rhode Island. The fronds of ferns, with their minutest veins perfect, are preserved in the Devonian shales of St. John, in the state of graphite; and in the same formation there are trunks of Conifers (^Dadoxijlon onangondianum) in which the material of the cell-walls has been converted into graphite, while their cavities have been filled with calcareous spar and quartz, the finest structures being preserved quite as well as in comparatively unaltered specimens from the coal-formation.* No structures so perfect have as yet been detected in the Laurentian, though in the largest of the three graphitic beds at St. John there appear to be fibrous structures, which I believe may indicate the existence of land-plants. This graphite is composed of contorted and slickensided laminae, much like those of some bituminous shales and coarse coals ; and in these there are occasional small pyritous masses which show hollow car- bonaceous fibres, in some cases presenting obscure indications of lateral pores. I regard these indications, however, as uncertain ; and it is not as yet fully ascertained that these beds at St. John are on the same geological horizon with the Lower Laurentian of Canada, though they certainly underlie the Primordial series of the A.cadian ' " Acadian Geology," p. 535. In calcified specimens the structures remain in the graphite after decalcification by an acid. 1870.] DAWSON— LAURENTIAN GRAPHITE. 19 group, and are separated from it by beds having the character of the Huronian. There is thus no absolute impossibility that distinct organic tissues may be found in the Laurentian graphite, if formed from land-plants, more especially if any plants existed at that time having true woody or vascular tissues ; but it cannot with certainty be affirmed that such tissues have been found. It is possible, how- ever, that in the Laurentian period the vegetation of the land may have consisted wholly of cellular plants, as, for example, mosses and lichens ; and if so, there would be comparatively little hope of the distinct preservation of the forms or tissues, or of our being able to distinguish the remains of land-plants from those of AlgaB. We may sum up these facts and considerations in the following statements : — First, that somewhat obscure traces of organic struc- ture can be detected in the Laurentian graphite ; secondly, that the general arrangement and microscopic structure of the substance corresponds with that of the carbonaceous and bituminous matters in marine formations of more modern date ; thirdly, that if the Laurentian graphite has been derived from vegetable matter, it has only undergone a metamorphosis similar in kind to that which organic matter in metamorphosed sediment of later age has ex- perienced ; fourthly, that the association of graphitic matter with organic limestone, beds of iron ore, and metallic sulphides greatly strengthens the probability of its vegetable origin ; fifthly, that when we consider the immense thickness and extent of the Eozoonal and graphitic limestones and iron-ore deposits of the Laurentian, if we admit the organic origin of the limestone and graphite, we must be prepared to believe that the life of that early period, though it may have existed under low forms, was most copiously developed, and that] it equalled, perhaps surpassed, in its results, in the way of geological accumulation, that of any subsequent period. In conclusion, this subject opens up several interesting fields of chemical, physiological, and geological inquiry. One of these relates to the conclusion stated by Dr, Hunt as to the probable existence of a large amount of carbonic acid in the Laurentian atmosphere, and of much carbonate of lime in the seas of that period, and the possible relation of this to the abundance of certain low forms of plants and animals. Another is the compari- son already instituted by Professor Huxley and Dr. Carpenter, between the conditions of the Laurentian and those of the deeper 20 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March parts of the modern ocean. Another is the possible occurrence of other forms of animal life than Eozoon and Annelids, which I have stated in my paper of 1864, after extensive microscopic study of the Laurentian limestones, to be indicated by the occurrence of calcareous fragments, differing in structure from Eozoon, but at present of unknown nature. Another is the effort to bridge over, by further discoveries similar to that of the Eozoon havaricum of Giimbel, the gap now existing between the life of the Lower- Laurentian and that of the Primordial Silurian or Cambrian period. It is scarcely too much to say that these inquires open up a new world of thought and investigation, and hold out the hope of bringing us into the presence of the actual origin of organic life on our planet, though this may perhaps be found to have been Prelaurentian. I would here take the opportunity of stating that, in proposing the name Eozoon for the first fossil of the Laurentian, and in suggesting for the period the name "Eozoic," I have by no means desired to exclude the possibility of forms of life which may have been precurs^ors of what is now to us the dawn of organic existence. Should remains of still older organisms be found in those rocks now known to us only by pebbles in the Laurentian, these names will at least serve to mark an important stage in geological investigation. NOTE ON THE GENUS EOPHYTON. Until within a few years, the oldest known land plants were a few Lycopodiaceans, forms from the upper part of the Upper Silurian. Recently Barrande and Geinitz have announced land plants probably Lycopodiaceans from olden Silurian beds. Still more lately Torell has described, from Cambrian or Primordial rocks in Sweden, a plant, or supposed plant, which he has named Eophyton Linnmanum. The drawings and descriptions, however, render it very doubtful whether this is not merely a cast of scratches or workings of unknown origin, similar to those which are very abundant on Carboniferous and Silurian rocks in Eastern America, and which have often been described as fucoids. Mr. Hicks has, however, recently described in the Geol. Magazine, Dec, 1869, a fossil from the Lower Arenig rocks of Wales. This plant is a striated stem, showing a very coarse tubular tissue, comparable with that of Nematoezla or Prototoxites of the 1870.] NOTE ON THE GENUS EOPHYTON. 21 Devonian, and perhaps indicates a plant of somewhat high organization. Whether it has any affinity with the Eophyton of Torell is more than doubtful. It is thus described by Mr. Hicks : — " As none of the figures hitherto given of the genus Eoplujton show either its internal structure or articulations of its stems, and as I am in possession of a specimen from the Lower Arenig rocks of Ramsey Island, near St. David's, which resembles in some respects the Eophyton Linnceanum Torell, but which shows both articulations of the stem, and an internal vascular structure, a description of the species may probably be useful, and may tend to elucidate the true nature of Eophyton, con- cerning which so much doubt seems to exist at present. '^ There can be no reasonable doubt of the vegetable nature of this fossil, and I think its affinity to the vascular Cryptogams is most clearly shewn. " These Lower Arenig rocks, from whence the specimen was obtained, rest apparently quite conformable on Upper Lingula- flags,* and underlie the true Arenig or Skiddaw rocks. Nearly all the species obtained from these beds are new, and they indicate a fauna intermediate between Tremadoc rocks and the true Arenig rocks. Indeed, in the report to the British Association, by Mr. Salter and myself, in 1866, they were classed as Tremadoc rocks ; but I have since thought it advis- able to separate them and to place them in an intermediate position. The Brachiopoda from these rocks have been described by Mr. Davidson {Geol. Mag., Vol. V. p. 303), but all the other species are yet undescribed. " Eophyton (?) explanatum, n.sp. — A raised, moderately convex stem, about four lines in breadth ; widening, however, and becoming somewhat compressed at the joints. The surface is ribbed, and furrowed along its whole length. At the lower joint the ribs bend outwards, evidently to form a branch. The joint is obliquely placed, widened out, and its course distinctly marked by a deep sulcus. The cortical substance is very thin, and can be removed to shew the internal structure. The internal * So marked in the Geological Survey Maps. I am inclined, however, to think that they are representatives of the Tremadoc rocks, for Ling. Davisii, which is the only fossil present, is equally characteristic of Tremadoc rocks, and reaches here also into these Lower Arenig rocks. 22 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March structure is made up of compressed columns, running the whole length from joint to joint, evidently of a tabular nature, and bound together by very thin tissue. At the base of the stem, the broken ends are visible. " Unless Eophyton Linnceanum is proved to have a jointed stem and an internal structure similar to our specimen, it will probably be necessary to make a generic distinction ; but at present it is better to retain this under Dr. Torell's generic name." CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANADIAN METEOROLOGY. Compiled from the Records of the Isle Jesus and Montreal Observatories, By Charles Smallwood, M.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Professor of Meteor- ology in the University of McQill College, Montreal. The following table has been drawn up for the purpose of showing the respective dates of the setting in and of the breaking up of our Canadian winters for the past twenty-one years, and for illustrating the climatology of Montreal and its vicinity. The first column gives the years from 1849 to 1869 inclusive ; The second shows the time of the first fall of snow in autumn in however small quantities. This amount, as a general rule, does not exceed a quarter of an inch in depth on the surface, and invariably disappears, lasting but a very short time, and, in some cases, only a few minutes. The third column shows the date, and the fourth the amount in inches of the heavier snow fall. This snow very seldom entirely disappears ; traces may be seen in sheltered places and on the hills and mountains. The dates in the fifth and sixth columns shows the days of the first frost of autumn, and the earliest date that the thermometer marks 32° F. These dates may seem somewhat anomalous, inasmuch as the descent of the thermometer to 32'^ F., (the freezing point,) and the first frost of autumn, do not in all cases coincide. This difference is owing to several causes, such as terrestrial radiation, amount of clouds, direction and velocity of the wind, and the humid state of the atmosphere. The effect of the first frost of autumn is generally perceived on the leaves and flowers of plants. 1870.] SMALL WOOD — CANADIAN METEOROLOGY. and although, in some cases, the thermometer has marked 32^ F., frost has not perceptibly affected vegetation, owing to some of the causes above mentioned. The seventh column gives the date of the last fall of snow, without reference to quantity, which is sometimes very small. The eighth column shows the respective dates at which the thermometer stood at 32° F. for the last time in spring, and is a near approximation to the last frost, but as vegetation is not so prolific in spring, the effects on flowers and plants are not so well marked as in the autumn, although occasionally late frosts have proved very injurious to fruit trees and early vegetables. The ninth column is intended to show the dates when winter may be said to have fairly set in, for the ground is then frozen to some depth, and may also be covered with some snow. The ditches are then full from the previous autumnal rains, and are frozen over, as well as the small rivers, and loads are crossing on the ice, all out-door work is, con- sequently, suspended. The tenth and last column gives the date at which the ice left the River St. Lawrence, in front of the city, the river being clear of ice. The arrival of steamers and small sailing vessels generally occurs in a very short time after wjirds, — sometimes the same day. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9* 10 V. V. < > «,- > 2 men « " i> •t:.S ft c J, i-H 3 C ti ^ <& 5.2 *^ a, *- 2 E ess: • a *^ 9 Oct. :3 Nov. 10 " 1: Oct. I " 2^ " 4 Nov. 5 Oct. 17 Sept. 27 Dec. I Nov. 18 :•• ;[ Oct. 24 Nov. 17 •' 16 Oct. 21 " 15 Nov. 3 " 26 " 26 Oct. 29 Dec. 6 Oct. 14 " 21 " 22 2.00 2.14 I -so 1.20 2.00 1. 10 2.74 1.30 2.01 3-25 2.30 I- 10 0.32 1.84 1.94 3.10 0.66 0.80 1.60 4.92 6.47 Oct 15 " 14 " 2 Sept. 17 " 12 " 11 Aug. 9 " 26 Sept. 7 Aug. 25 Oct. 7 Sept. 3 " 5 Aug. 24 Oct. 24 Sept. 26 Oct. 21 Sept. 16 Oct. 4 Sept. 28 Oct. 6 " 14 " 16 Sept. 29 " 30 " II '' "9 Oct. 4 Sept. 30 Oct. 23 " 8 Sept. 29 Oct. 21 " 10 " 27 " 29 Sept. 24 Nov. 3 Oct. 17 '• 20 Apr, 13 " 14 " 8 " 16 " 14 " 30 " II May 31 Apr. 27 " 2: " 23 May 20 Apr, 17 May 7 " 2 Apr. 18 " 20 May 3 " 2 Apr. 23 May 3 Apr. 18 " 20 " 14 " 24 May I " 7 " 10 " 6 " 14 " 14 Apr. 27 May 20 /' 4 Apr. 27 " 21 "4 May 2 " ; Apr. 29 Dec. 10 '• 7 Nov. 21 Dec. 18 '■'\ " 23 Nov. 29 Dec. 21 " 20 " 10 " 2 " 21 " 19 " 9 " 12 " 72 " 16 " 1 '-: \ Apr. 7 " 9 " 9 " 19 " 24 :::§ " 24 " 18 ■• I " 10 " 24 " 23 " 25 " 13 " 10 " 19 " 22 " 17 " 23 2-i THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March NOTES ON SOME OF THE PLANTS IN THE HERBARIA OF LINNE AND MICHAUX. By Daniel C. Eaton, M.A., Professor of Botany in Tale College. Prof. Eaton, of New Haven, U. S., the eminent American Pteridologist, when in Europe on a visit in 1866, examined many of the standard herbaria, and made notes on the American plants contained in them. He has most liberally placed a series of these notes on the North American Filices in my hands for perusal, has allowed me to take copies of them, and to print such selections from them as I might deem of sufficient interest : those relating to the collections of Linne, now in London, and of Michaux, in Paris, are here given. The herbarium name of each plant is placed within quotation marks, as is also such notes (of habitat, etc.) as were deemed of sufficient interest to be copied from the sheets to which the respective specimens were attached. Mr. Eaton's observations follow. I have not printed these verbatim, as, not being intended for publication, they were, more or less, made up of indications and signs which I have attempted to write out with exactness. One or two observations of my own are placed within brackets, and bear my initial. For convenience of reference I have arranged the species in the order of their occurrence in the Species Plantarum, and in the Flora Boreali-Americana. D. A. Watt. THE LmN^AN" FILICES. Notes made in the hall of the Linnean Society, London, August 7, 1866:— *'Onoclea sensibilis " — one sterile frond and one fertile frond of the true plant. " OsMUNDA Pensylv." — a short sterile leaf of perhaps Stru- thiopteris or probably of Osmunda Claytoniana ; veinlets once and twice forked, segments broad and round, the lowesi) pinnae lono- as any. (It cannot be Struthiopteris, and perhaps is not Osmunda, but some Aspidium. D.C.E., anno 1870.) " Osmunda Lunaria " — consists of two fronds of oar Botry. lunarioides and one frond B. rutcefolium (A. Braun)— the latter very much like the former, and (by its ticket) from Petropolis. There is no true Lunaria in the herbarium. / ITt must be borne in mind that the ancients were very careless about their plants, and very careful about their books. 1870.] EATON — HERBARIA OF LINNE AND MICHAUX. 25 The Lunaria of the Sp. PI. p. 1519 is unquestionably the species we now call by that name. It is, however, not a little singular that Linnd should have had both the American and European forms of the 0. ternatum of Thunberg without recognizing them as distinct from his Lunaria. — W.] " OsMUNDA VIRGINIANA " — is the true Botrychium virginia- num, one frond from Kalm (being marked " K ") and one from Clayton (?) marked " Lunaria matricariae-folio Clayt. n. 706." OsMUNDA REGALis — One unnamed frond from Kalm is put next to another that is marked 0. regalis. " OsMUNDA Claytoniana " — two fronds of this species in which the fructification is 7iot terminal, but the upper sterile pinnae are unexpanded, as noted by Dr. Gray long ago, and recently by Dr. Milde. *' OsMUNDA ciNNAMOMEA " — one fertile and one sterile frond from Kalm ; very good. " AcROSTiCHUM POLYPODioiDES " — is the PoJypodium in- canum of Swartz. " AcROSTiCHUM AUREUM " — vcry good. AcROSTiCHUM AREOLATUM — Sp. PL p. 1526, not found; the Woodwardia angustifolia of Smith is the plant described. ACROSTICHUM PLATYNEURON — p. 1529, not found ; the plant described is Asplenium eheneum. '' ACROSTICHUM ILVENSE " — is our North American Woodsia obtusa. [Here Linne appears to have confounded our particularly distinct Woodsia ohtusa with his Ilvense, and to have missed describing another good North American species. There is no doubt that the Ilvense of his writings is that of modern botanists. — W.] " ACROSTICHUM EBENEUM " — is Gymnogramme calomelanos small form, or possibly G. tartarea ; a West Indian fern. " Pteris aquilina " — very good. " Pteris caudata " — one frond, very delicate, is good cau- data ; one with very broad segments is a caudate but not uncom- mon form of aquilina. "Pteris atropurpurea " — one frond from Kalm of our Pellcea atropurpurea. -'■ Asplenium rhizophyllum " — is Camptosorus from Kalm ; three fronds from one root, and one frond with auricles 1^-2^ inches long. 26 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March " AsPLENiUM Trichomanes " — vcry good. " AsPLENiUM Rut A muraria " — very good. POLYPODIUM VIRGINICUM — not found. " PoLYPODiUM LoNCHiTis " — is Aspidium Lonchitis. Not a North American specimen, as indeed are not several of the following : " PoLYPODiUM AURICULATUM " — three fronds, one of which may be Aspid. auriculatum of Asia, one marked " Pennsylvania" is certainly our Asplenium eheneum, and one marked " K'' (Kalm) our Aspidium acrosticJwides. [Of all Prof. Eaton's notes this is the most remarkable, as showing a confusion of perfectly distinct species. The specimen of Aspl. eheneum probably belongs to the Acros. platyrieuron above quoted, while the distinction between Aspid, auriculatum and A. acrostichoides is very clear, although Swartz said of the latter, " nimium affine prascedenti." — W.] *' PoLTPODiUM Phegopteris " — three fionds of the true plant, and one of Aspidium Thelypteris marked " Pennsilv." '' PoLYPODiUM FRAGRANS " — is Aspidium fragvaiis ; very good. '' PoLYPODiUM fontanum " — is Woodsia glabella, \\ inches high. [It is indeed remarkable that Linne should have possessed this little fern so interesting to American botanists, known as Euro- pean cn^y within the last few years, and still more recently as Asiatic. In the Sp. PI., p. 1550, he gives two localities: — Siberia, where W. glabella occurs ; and Provence, in the south of France, whence the Asplenium Halleri of continental botanists (to which species his P. fontanum is commonly referred) might well have come. Although Linne's description indicates an Asplenium, we may, perhaps, hereafter have to write Woodsia fontana ! Asplenium Halleri is confined to south Europe ; W. glabella is circumpolar, and, while it scarcely occurs south of latitude 45°, has been found in Baffin's Bay nearly thirty degrees further north. — W.] " PoLYPODiUM CRISTATUM " — is Aspidium cristatum, fruiting. «' PoLYPODiUM FiLix MAS " — is One frond of very good As- pidium Filix-mas, and one, not marked, of A. molle. " PoLYPODiUM FiLix-F(EMiNA " — is Very good Asplenium Filix-foemina, " PoLYPODiUM aculeatum " — is vcry good Aspidium aail- eatum. 1870.] EATON — HERBARIA OF LINNE AND MICHAUX. 27 " POLYPODIUM NOVEBORACENSE " — One frond having the lower part gone ; it is not Thelypteris, but is probably our Aspid. novehoracense ; it has simple veins, and is slightly pubescent. " PoLYPODiUM MARGINALE " — One frond 0^ Aspid. ma^^ginale. " PoLYPODiUM BULBIFERUM " — One frond of Cyst, hulhifera marked *' galley fer," a note quite inexplicable. " POLYPODIUM FRAGILE " — is Cyst. fragiUs. " Adiantum pedatum " — two good fronds, •' K " (Kalm). MICHAUX'S FILICES. Notes made in Paris, May 22, 1866. The species are arranged in the order in which they occur in the Flora Bor.-Amer. vol. ii., pp. 260-280. The names in the Flora sometimes differ from those of the Herbarium : — " Pteris line at a — sur les bords de la riv. Aisa-hatcha le ler Avi'il Floride," is a Vittaria — the F. angusti/rons of p. 261. " Pteris atropurpurea — Am. septentrionale j" is our Pellcea atropurpurea. " Pteris gracilis — Rochers pres la Malbaye" is our Pellcea gracilis. "■ Pteris aquilina — Canada ;" is the true plant. Adiantum pedatum — not noticed. " Blechnum Banisterianum — Pluckn. tab. 179, fig. 2. Hab. in montib. Cai'olinae" is a fragment of a sterile frond of Osmunda cinnamomea ; it is the Woodwardia B. of page 263. " Blechnum ONOCLEOiDES—Osmunda caroliniana Walt, in Carolinae, Georgiae;" is Woodwardia angusti/olia, Blechnum serrulatum — not noticed. " Asplenium rhizophyllum — New Jersey" is Camptosorus rhizophyllus. "Asplenium trichomanes — Canada, Pennsylv. Caroline hautes montag;" three small fronds of the true plant. " Asplenium tricho3IANoides — hautes montagnes de Caro- line, Pluckn. t. 89, fig. 8 et t. 287, fig. 2 ;" is AspL ebeneum. "Asplenium angustifolium — Moris, iii., § 14, t. 2, fig. 25, ad ripas Ohio ;" one fertile frond of the true plant. Asplenium thelypterioides — not noticed. " Asplenium Adianthum nigrum — an varietas ? minor, in montium rupibus Carolinae septentrionalis ;" is Aspl. montanum. " Asplenium Buta muraria — in fissuris rupium montium excelsorum Carolinae septentrionalis ;" small specimens of the true plant. 28 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March " PoLYPODiUM ACROSTICHOIDES — Pennsylvania, Carolina, Tennessee et Carol, maritim" is Aspidiuin acrostichoides. " PoLYPODiU3i Thelypterioides — montibus Alle&eni a Canada; Hab. in Canada et ad Carolinanum ; Lac Champlain ;" is Aspid. Thelypteris ; a very small sterile frond on same page is doubtful, it may be Asphnium Filix-foemina. " PoLYPODiUM MARGINALE — Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Nec- toux ;" is Aspidium marginale. " PoLYPODiUM PUNCTILOBULUM — Canada ;" one frond of Dicksoiiia punctilohula. " PoLYPODixJM BULBIFERUM — in Canada ;" two fronds of Gi/st. hidhifera. *' POLYPODIUM FiLix-FCEMiNA ? — in Canada, a rapporter a son esp." is Asphnium Filix-foemina, and " POLYPODIUM ASPLENioiDES — a Nova Anglia ad Carolinam ;" is the same species. " PoLYPODiUM CRISTATUM — Montib. Carolinas ? et certe in Canada ;" is one rather small frond of Aspidium spinulosum. " POLYPODIUM TENUE — Quclec ;" is one frond of Cyst, fragilis. " PoLYPODiUM RUFIDULUM — Hab. in rupibus Canadae, Novae Angliae, et Novae Caesareae ;" is Woodsia llvensis. " POLYPODIUM LANOSUM — Hab. in excelsis montibus saxosis Tennessee et Carolinae septentrionalis ;" is Cheilanthes vestita of Gray's Manual, five medium-sized fronds. [Michaux's appears to be the earliest publication of this species ; the next (with some doubt as to whether he does not refer to Ch. tomentosa) is that of K. Sprengel in Anleitung zur Kenntniss der Gewachse vol. iii. (1804) p. 122, who describes his species as follows : — ^' Adiantum vestitum nenne ich eine Art, die Bosc d' Antic in Carolina fand. Sie hat einen 3-fath gefiederten Wedel, der iiber und iiber mit feinem wolHgtem Haare bedeckt ist. Die Blattchen der iiiii. Ordnung sind ei-lanzettformig, die der letzten Ordnung sind linienformig gekerbt und schlagen sich um die Samenhaufchen zuriick. Bosc nannte diesen Farn Acrostichum hispidum." Where " Bosc named this fern" I have not been able to find out, nor can I see any reason why hispidum should have been changed into vestitum, for if Lamarck (the friend and biographer of Bosc) and Swartz be right, Sprengel did not even alter the genus. Bosc botanized in the Southern States between 1798 1870.] EATON — HERBARIA OF LINNfi AND MICHAUX. 29 and 1800, Michaux more than ten years earlier, though his flora was not published until 1803. There is no good reason why the latter's name should not be restored, and the plant called Ch. lanosa (Michxj, though long usage may justify a continu- ance of error.* It is remarkable that this somewhat common fern, which ranges from New York west to Illinois and south to the Carolinas and Georgia, should have been omitted from Sir Wm. Hooker's Species Filicum, the Ch. vestita of that work being the Ch. gracilis of Fee and Mettenius — the Ch. lanuginosa of Gray's Manual— W.] " PoLYPODiUM Dryopteris — ^juxta L'Assomption in Canada legi;" three fronds of the true plant. " PoLYPODiUM VULGARE — Moris. sect. 14, t. 2, f. 3, P. Yirginiense minus, Hab. in arborib. a Canada ad Floridam ;" one frond of the true plant. " AcROSTTCHUM POLYPODioiDES — Pluckn. t. 89, fig. 9, in ai'boribus Floride;" is the Folypodium incanum of Swartz, the Polyp, ceteraccinum of p. 271. " PoLYPODiUM HEXAGONOPTERUM — IMuckn. t. 284, fig. 2> Hab. in Virginia, Carolina, terrestre ;" one good average-sized frond of our Phegopteris hexagonoptera. " PoLYPODiUM CONNECTILE — Hab. in Canada ;" one good frond of Pheg. polypodioides with the lowest pinnae /i-ee. [Polyp. Phegopteris Linn. Pheg. polypodioides Fee, Pheg. vulgaris Metten. or more correctly Pheg. connectile (3Iichx). — W.] " AcROSTiCHUM AUREUM — sur la riv. Aisa-hatcha Floride ;" part of a fertile frond of the true plant. <' Onoclea sensibilis — Hab. a Nova Anglia ad ... " and on a second sheet " Onoclea an sensibilis ? — ? Connecticut ;" both are that species. " AcROSTiCHUM ? nodulosum — Canada, juxta Montreal, legi ;" is Struthiopteris Germanica. The synonyme of this plant is as follows : — Polypodium lanosum Mickx Herb. Nephrodium lanosum Michx Flora ii. p. 279. Adianthum ? hispidum Bosc ex Lamarck et Swartz. Acrostichum ? hispidum Bosc ex Sprengel. Adiantum vestitum Sprengel Anleit. ili. p. 122 ? Aspidium lanosum Swartz Synopsis Fili- cum, p. 58, et Cheilanthes vestita Swartz Syn. Fil. p. 128 ; Schkuhr Krypt. t. 124 ; Gray^s Manual ed. ist, p. 625 ; Mettenius Cheilanthes No. 27 ; Hooker and Baker Synopsis Filicum p. 134 ;etc. 30 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March " OsMUNDA REGALIS — Hab. a Nova x\Dglia ad Carolinum, Pluckn. tab. 1.81, f. 4 ;" is the true plant. * " OsMUNDA ciNNAMOMEA — Baise Caroline ;" is the true plant. " OsMUNDA INTERRUPTA — Kentucky" and a second specimen with the same name marked "Canada;" are 0. Glaytoniana, " OsMUNDA ViRGlNiCA — Moris. iii., sect. 14, tab. 4, fig. 5, a Canada ad Virginiam et in montibus Carolinse ;" is Botrychium virginianum. " Osmund A lunarioides — in pascuis sabulosis juxta Charleston ;" one specimen of the ordinary form Botry, lunarioides ; a very small two-fronded specimen on another sheet is marked " Osmunda lunarioides ? innominata au bord de monte a peine." " Cteisium palmatum — Hab. in occidentalibus Virginias, Carolina3 septentrionalis ad Kentucky, Tennessee;" a good speci- men of Lygodium palmatum ; a second specimen is marked " Sur Obed river, Dady's creek et plusi. creeks a 25 miles de West Point sur Clinch river." " Ophioglossum vulgatum — New Jersey ;" the true plant. " Ophioglossum bulbosum — in sabulosis Carolinse ;" two small specimens slightly bulbous, one of them 2 — 3-fronded. PoLYPODiU3i Plumula — One frond of this species is in the herbarium bearing no label. These comprise all the Filices which are shewn as Michaux's, and kept separate from the general herbarium. PURSH'S FILICES. [I have Prof. Eaton's very full notes on the North American ferns contained in the Hookerian herbarium at Kew, from which I extract the following relating to one or two of Pursh's more obscure species. The references are to his Flora Americas Scptentrionali^•, vol. ii. London, 1814. — W.] <' WOODSIA HYPERBOREA" — -(p. 660) is the normal form of W. llvensis. " AspiDiUM noveboracense '' — (p. 661) is A. Thelypteris ; it was contained in the species cover of Asplenium thelypteroides. " AsPiDiUM filix-mas " — (p. 662) was included in the species cover of Aspidium Goldieanum, and consisted of a mix- ture of that species and A. cristatum. " Aspidium asplenioides " — (p. 664) is good Aspleniuyn Filix-foemina, and 1870.] HUNT — ON NORITE OR LABRADORITE ROCK. 31 *' AsPiDiUM FiLix-FCEMiNA " — IS the Same species mixed with Ci/st. bulb if era. '' WooDWARDiA virginica" — (p. 670) is the true plant from New Jersey. " Woodwardia THELYPTERioiDES " — (p. 670) consists of a smallish frond of W. Virginica, and one of Aspidium Thdypteris. ON NORITE OR LABRADORITE ROCK. By T. Sterry Hunt, LL.D., F.R.S. [Read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Salem, August, 1869.] {From Silliman's Journal for March, 1870.) The various rocks composed essentially of a triclinic or anorthic feldspar, with an admixture of hornblende, pyroxene, hypersthene or diallage, have by lithologists been designated by the names of diorite, dolerite diabase, hypersthenite and gybbro, among others. The latter name has by many been regarded as synonymous with euphotide. I, however, pointed out many years since that the true euphotide is not a feldspathic rock, but consists of a mixture of diallage with saussurite, a white heavy silicate apparently identical with zoisite. By an admixture of labradorite or an allied feldspar, however, euphotide passes into the so-called gabbro, which I have defined as a diallagic diabase, and which is closely related to norite. The name of hypersthene rock or hypersthenite (sometimes con- tracted into hyperite), was given by MacCulloch* to a rock consisting of labradorite, or a related feldspar, and hypersthene, found by him in the Western Islands of Scotland, and subsequently recognized by Emmons in the Adirondack Mountains of Northern New York. By both of these observers it was regarded as an erupted rock. In 1851, I detected it among the Laurentide hills of Canada, where, as in New York, it extends over considerable areas. Farther examinations of this rock in place showed that though hypersthene, generally in very small proportion, is a frequent element, it is often replaced by a green granular pyroxene, and still more often both of these are wanting, so that we have a ^ MacCulloch, Geology of the Western Islands, i. 385-390. 32 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March rock composed almost entirely of a triclinic feldspar, whose composition is generally near that of labradorite, but varies in different examples from that of andesiue to near that of anorthite. To these rocks I provisionally applied the name of anorthosites, the pure feldspathic type being regarded as normal anorthosite ; associated with which, however, were to be found hypersthenic and pyroxenic varieties. Red garnet, epidote, a black mica, and more rarely dichroite and quartz, are all occasionally found spar- ingly disseminated in these anorthosites of New York and Canada, which cannot be distinguished from those first observed by Mac- Culloch in the Isle of Skye, as I have convinced myself by an examination of the specimens there collected by him, and now preserved in the collections of the G-eological Society of London. Titaniferous iron ore (menaccanite) also occurs in grains and masses frequently in these rocks, both in Skye and in North America, where it sometimes forms beds or masses of considerable size. Details as to the chemical and mineralogical characters of these rocks, will be found in the L. E. & D. Philos. Magazine for May, 1855, and in the Geology of Canada, 1863, pages 588-590. The subsequent investigations of Sir William Logan have shown that these anorthosites in Canada belong to a great series of stratified crystalline rocks, which by the Geological Survey of Canada have been designated the Labrador or Upper Laurentiaa series, and which repose unconformably upon the older or true Lauren tian oueiss and limestones. The area of the Labrador formation most examined lies in the counties of Argenteuil and Terrebonne, to the north and northwest of Montreal, and has a breadth of more than forty miles. It is, however, met with on the north-east shore of Lake Huron, according to Dr. Bigsby,* and at several points below Quebec, notably in the parish of Chateau-Richer, at Bay St. Paul and around Lake St. John on the Saguenay, where it occupies a large area. Proceeding north- eastward along the left bank of the St. Lawrence, Mr. Richardson has lately observed it at the mouth of Pentecost River, about 160 miles below the entrance of the Saguenay, and I have found it forming the shore of the Bay of Seven Islands, forty miles farther down. This area is probably connected with the wide extent of this rock observed by Prof Hind on the River Moisie. In all of these regions it appears to be surrounded and limited by the * Geology of Canada, 1863, page 480. 1870.] HUNT — ON NORITE OR LABRADORITE ROCK. 33 ordinary Laurentian gneiss. Bayfield, moreover, describes a rock with a base of labradorite as forming the coast for several miles toward Mingan. Finally, it is widely spread on the coast of Labrador, where its characteristic mineral was first found, and from whence it takes its name. Prof. A. S. Packard, Jr., has given us valuable information with regard to the occurrence of labradorite rocks at some points on the Labrador coast. ^ One of its localities is at Square Island, just north of Cape St. Michel, were the rock consists chiefly of crystalline labradorite, smoky-gray in color, translucent, and opalescent, with greenish reflections. This feldspar often shows 'cleavage planes two inches broad, and is associated with a little vitreous quartz, and wir.h coarsely crystalline hypersthene, which appears in relief on the weathered surfaces. This labradorite rock, according to Prof. Packard, is surrounded by and probably rests upon Laurentian gneiss. At Domino Harbor he found domes or bosses of a similar labradorite resting upon strata which consist in great part of a slightly schistose quartzite, having for its base a granular vitreous quartz, and enclosing grains of black hornblende, or more rarely hypersthene, black mica, and red garnet. Feldspar is generally wanting, but in some parts these quartzites become gneissic, and they where nowhere seen in un- comfortable contact with the Laurentian gneiss of the vicinity. These quartzose strata Prof. Packard refers, with some doubt, to the Huronian system. The minerals which they contain are not, however, met with, so far as known, in the Huronian quartzites ; and, on the contrary, are very characteristic of the quartzites of the Laurentian system, which attain a great thickness in many parts of its distribution. The overlying domes of labradorite rock, which Prof. Packard was inclined to regard, in this case, as erupted through Huronian quartzites, are probably nothing more than outlying portions of the newer Labrador formation resting upon the Laurentian strata, as already observed by him at Square Island. Along the western coast of the island of Newfoundland Mr. Jukes observed, at Indian Head and at York Harbor, dark colored rocks composed of labradorite and hypersthene and others on albite (?) and hypersthene, which may probably be found to belong to the Labrador series. * On the Glacial Phenomena of Labrador and Maine. Mem. Bost. Acad. jSTat. Hist., vol. I., part ii., pp. 214-217. Vol. Y. C i^o. 1 34 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March Rocks composed chiefly of labradorite or a related feldspar greatly predominate in the Labrador series, but these, at least in the area near Montreal, which is the one best known, are inter- stratified with beds of a kind of diabase, in which dark green pyroxene prevails, with crystalline limestone similar in mineral- ogical character to that of the Laurentian system, and more rarely with quartzites and thin beds of orthoclase gneiss. I have more than once insisted upon the rarity of free quartz, and the general basic character of the rocks of this series, an observation with which I am credited in Dana's Manual of Geology (p. 139), where it seems to be applied to the whole of the rocks there classed as Azoic, including the Laurentian, Labrador and Huronian systems. It is, in fact, remarkable that the silicated rocks of the latter two consist chiefly of labradorites, diorites and diabases; gneissic and granitic rocks being exceedingly rare among them, though quartzites abound in the Huronian. In the Laurentian system, on the contrary, though basic silicated rocks are not want- ing, orthoclase gneisses, often granitoid in structure, and abounding in quartz, predominate. The anorthosite rocks of the Labrador series present great variations in texture, being sometimes coarsely granitoid, and at other times finely granular. They not unfrequently assume the banded structure of gneiss, lines of pyroxene, hypersthene, garnet, titanic iron-ore or mica marking the planes of stratafication. Probably three-fourths of the anorthosites of this series, in Canada, whether examined in place, or in the boulders which abound in the St Lawrence Valley, consist of pure or nearly pure feldspar rocks, in which the proportion of foreign minerals will not exceed five hundredths. Hence we have come to designate them by the name of labradorite rock. The colors of this rock are very generally some shade of blue, from bluish -black or violet to bluish- gray, smoky-gray or lavender, more rarely purplish passing into flesh-red, greenish-blue, and occasionally greenish or bluish-white. The weathered surfaces of these labradorite rocks are opaque white. The anorthosites, which occupy a considerable area in the Adi- rondack region, as described by Emmons in his report on the Geology of the Northern District of New York, and as seen by me in hand-specimens, closely resemble the rocks of the Labrador series in Canada. In all of these localities the coarse or granitoid varieties often hold large crystalline cleavable masses, generally poly synthetic 1870.] HUNT — ON NORITE OR LABRADORITE ROCK. 35 macles, and frequently exhibiting the peculiar opalescence which belongs to labradorite. Although rocks composed of labradorite or similar feldspars, with hornblende or pyroxene, occur in various other geological formations, both as indigenous g:reenstones and as erupted masses, they never, so far as ray observation in North America goes, exhibit the peculiar character just described ; namely, that of a granular or granitoid rock composed of nearly pure labradorite or some closely related feldspar, frequently opalescent, and generally of a bluish color, often violet, smoky- blue or lavender-blue. This type of rock seems in North America to characterize the Labrador series. It may here be remarked as an interesting fact bearing on the distribution of the Labrador series, that two large boulders of labradorite rock, one of the beautiful dark blue variety, are found on Marblehead Neck, on the coast of Massachusetts.^ It does not seem probable that these masses could have been derived from any of the far-off localities already mentioned, and the fact that the gneiss of eastern Massachusetts is, as I have recently found, in part of Laurentian age, suggests that an outcrop of the Labra. dor series may exist in some locality not far removed. In this connection it maybe added that I have lately found characteristic labradorite and hyperite rocks in southern New Brunswick, a few miles east of St. John, occupying a position between the Lauren- tian and the Huronian or Cambrian rocks, which there make their appearance, accompanied by Lower Silurian strata, to the south of the great carboniferous basin of the region. This interesting locality was recently pointed out to me by Mr. G. F. Matthew of St. John, to whom we are indebted for a great part of our know- ledge of the geology of southern New Brunswick. Chester and Bucks counties, in Pensylvania, and the Wachita Mountains, in Arkansas, are cited in Dana's Mineralogy as localities of labrador- ite, but as I have never examined specimens from the.se places, I am unable to say whether they resemble the characteristic anor- thosites of the Labrador formation already described. * Specimens of these rocks, correctly determmed and labelled, are found in the collectious of the Essex Institute at Salem. To these my attention was called at the time of the meeting, in August last, by Prof. C. Hitchcock, after which, in companv with Dr. G. B. Loring and Prof. Packard, I visited the locality at Marblehead iS'eck, and collected farthei specimens of the characteristic labradorite rock. 36 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March The uame of norite, in allusion to Norway, was given by Esmark to a rock composed chiefly of labradorite, which is found in several localities in that country.* I had already remarked the close resemblance between two specimens of norite obtained from Krantz of Berlin, and the labradorite rocks of North America just noticed, when, in 1867, I had the opportunity of examining, at the Universal Exhibition at Paris, a collection of Norwegian rocks selected for ornamental purposes, exhibited by the Royal University of Christ iania. Prominent among these was a series of the norites, which could not be distinguished from the labradorite rocks of the Upper Laurentian or Labrador series of this continent. In a printed note, accompanying this collection from the University, it is said that the numerous varieties of rocks consisting of labradorite with hypersthene, diallage and bronzite, have been, in the geological map of Southern Norway published at Christiania in 1866, designated by the common name of gabbro. This note at the same time suggests that the "name of norite should be preserved for certain varieties of gabbro rich in labradorite, which varieties may in great part with justice be called labradorite rock, since labrador feldspar is their predominent element." With this excellent suggestion I heartily concur, remarking, however, that the name of gabbro. as an ill-defined synonym for certain anorthosite rocks, including in part diorite, diabase, hyperite, and even confounded with the non-feldspathic rock, euphotide, may very well be dispensed with in lithology. By referring to the geological map just mentioned, it will be seen that these so-called gabbros occupy considerable areas in the Laurentian gneiss region of Norway. By the authors of the map, Messrs. Kjerulf and Dahl, tiie gabbros are regarded as eruptive, though they are described at the same time as often assuming the character of stratified rocks. It should, however, be noticed that the geologists go so far as to regard the whole of the granitic gneiss of the region as unstratified and of plutonic origin. The specimens of these norites exhibited in Paris were in blocks, polished on one side^ and as was observed in the note accompanying them, presented a curious resemblance to certain varieties of marble. It is worthy of remark that Emmons, in his report on the Geology of the Northern District of New York, "* See, farther, Zirkel, Petrographie III., 131. 1870.] HUNT — ON NORITE OR LABRADORITE ROCK. 37 suggested tlie application of the labradorite rOcks of Essex County as a substitute for marble (pages 29, 418). An ornamental vase of the same rock, turned in a lathe with the aid of a black diamond, has been in the Museum of the Geological Survey of Canada since 1856. Of the collection of norites from Norway the specimens from Sogudal and Egersund presented fine varieties of grayish or browuish violet tints, while a dark violet norite came from Kra- geroe, and also from the islands of Langoe and Gomoe, and a white granular variety from the gulf of Laerdal in the diocese of Bergen. It is only in rare cases that the cleavable feldspar of these norites exhibits the peculiar opalescence which distinguishes the finer labradorite found in some parts of the coast of Labrador. Opalescent varieties of this feldspar are, however, occasionally met with in the area near to Montreal and in northern New York. In the Paris Exhibition of 1867 there were exhibited from Rus- sia, large polished tables of a beautiful violet colored granitoid norite, portions of which exhibited a fine opalescence. This rock, I was informed, comes from a mountain mass in the Government of Kiew, but of its geognostical relations I am ignorant. These peculiar labradorite rocks, presenting a great similarity in mineralogical and lithological character, have now been observed in Essex County, New York, and through Canada, at intervals, from the shore of Lake Huron to the coast of Labrador. They are again met with in southern New Brunswick, in the Isle of Skye, in Norway, and in south-western Russia, and in nearly all of these localities are known to occur in contact with and apparently reposing, like a newer formation, upon the ancient Lauren tian gneiss. Geikie in his memoir on the geology of a part of Skye,^'^ appears to include the norites or hypersthenites of that island with certain syenites and greenstones, which he describes as not intrusive, though eruptive after the manner of granites (loc. cit. p. 11-14). The hypersthenites are represented in his map as occurring to the west of Loch Slapin. Specimens in my possession from Loch Scavig, a little further west, and others in MacCul- loch's collection from that vicinity, are, however, identical with the North American norites, whose stratified character is undoubt- ed. I called attention to these resemblances in the Dublin Quar. Jour. Geol. Soc , xiv., p. 1. 38 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March Quarterly Journal for July, 1863,^ and Haughton, who in 1864 visited Loch Scavig, has since described and analysed the rock bf that locality, which consists of labradorite, often coarse grained, with pyroxene and menaccanite, and is evidently, according to him, a bedded metamorphic rock (Dublin Quar. Jour., 1865, p. 94). He, it may be remarked, designates it as a syenite, a term which most lithologists apply to rocks whose feldspar is ortho- clase. I desire to call the attention of both American and European lithologists to this remarkable class of rocks, of which the norites may be regarded as the normal and typical form, in the hope that they may be induced to examine still farther into the question of the age and geognostical relations of these rocks in various regions, and to determine whether the mineralogical and lithological cha- racters which I have pointed out are geological constants. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. By Henry Reeks, F.L.S., &c. The foUowiuc^ article, on the Zoology of a part of British America as yet but little explored, is taken from the "Zoologisf^ (London, England,) for 1869. The close similarity between the birds of Newfoundland and those of the Province of Quebec, will be very apparent to Canadian ornithologists. — Ed. Before commencing a systematic list of the avi-fauna of New- foundland, it will perhaps be necessary to say a few words on the island itself. Newfoundland, as my readers are probably * I, at the same time, called attention to the Lameutian aspect of the crystalline limestones of Zona, which I found in MacCulloch's collection. Limestones not unlike these occur in Skye, intermixed with serpentine, and are, according to Mr. Geikie, associated with the protruded syenites of that region. With all deference to the authority of that eminent geologist, I cannot help suggesting that a re-examination of the district would show that the highly -inclined metamorphic crystalline limestones, holding sei-pentine, and associated with syenitic rocks, belong to an older system (probably Laurentiau), and are thus distinct fi-om the nearly horizontal fossiliferous liassic limestones nearby, which are only locally altered by intrusive rocks. American geologists will at once recall the misconception which led most of our best observers during many years to look upon the old Laurentiau limestones of j^ew York and New Jer- sey as altered portions of the overlying paleozoic strata. •REEKS — NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 39 aware, forms one of the valuable British colonial possessions on the coast of North America. Its geographical position lies between lat. 46° 37' and 51° 40' north, and long. 52^ 41' and 59*^ 31' west : it is bounded on the north by the -Straits of Labrador, on the west by the Gulf of St, Lawrence, and on the south and east by the Atlantic Ocean, and has a seaboard of nearly two thousand miles. There is a chain of mountains, or rather in many places high table-land, running almost throughout the island in a N.E. and S.W. direction. The low land is made up of vast savannas, intersected by extensive woods, lakes and rivers — one inland lake alone being sixty-five miles long, and containing an island as large as the Isle of Wight, and which seems to have been the last stronghold of the Red Indians. Since the extermination of this persecuted race (which probably took place not more than thirty years ago) the whole of the interior of the country has been uninhabited. Several " histories" of Newfoundland have appeared from time to time, and amono; the best of these I may mention one by Chief Justice Reeves, published in 1793, another by Anspach in 1820, and the last by the Rev. C. Pedley in 1863 ; but, strange as it may appear, none of these authors give any reliable information on the natural history of this extensive island : which, besides being rich in its fauna and flora, will, I have no doubt, prove equally so in minerals. In some places I have also seen as good a surface-show of petroleum oil as in the well-known oil-regions of Pennsylvania. A two years' residence, under the most favourable circumstances, in a country nearly as large as England, and where the forests are still primitive and in many places almost interminable, is scarcely sufficient time to warrant anything like a correct list of the animals or plants; but when impeded by such a severe accident as I sustained from frost, which kept me a prisoner to the house for several months, no other apology is necessary for the incompleteness of these " Notes," which none can possibly regret more than the writer. There are few inhabited countries, perhaps, on the face of the globe, where the naturaHst gets less assistance in the oological department than in Newfoundland. The whole and sole occupation of the settlers on the north-west coast is fishing and furring, — the former in summer and the latter in winter, — and upon their success entirely depend the stock of provisions they will be enabled to obtain, by barter with the traders, for the long period of nine months, when no vessels visit the unsafe 40 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March hai'bour of Cow Head. Of course the postal arrangements there are not exactly A 1 — never exceeding one delivery a day, and this at intervals of from one month to six weeks in June, July, and August, and usually not at all between the first of September and 1st of the following June. During the nesting season the assistance of a man worth anything could scarcely be obtained under a sovereign a day, and then, for want of knowledge of those birds not used as food, he may bring you a lot of eggs unknown and unidentified, and consequently worthless. My plan was probably better : I offered a fair reward for all eggs with which I was tolerably familiar ; and although I got but few, I ran a far less risk of paying for worthless articles. Although I am answerable for all statements in these " Notes," except when otherwise expressly stated, my friend, Prof. Newton — than whom no one is more competent — has kindly undertaken to look through the list previously to publication, for the purpose of calling my attention to any passages which may require further verification or particularizing, and thereby enhance their value. I have much pleasure in addressing these ''Notes" to Mr. Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, and Mr. G. N. Lawrence, of New York, in remembrance of their kindness to me during my stay in the United States. The classification and nomenclature of the authors of " Birds of North America" has been adopted in the following list. Falconid^. Pigeon Haioh (Falco columbarius, Linn.) — This beau tifullittle hawk, so closely resembling the merlin (i^. jEsalon), is a summer migrant to Newfoundland, and is tolerably common : its food consists chiefly of small birds, especially some of the smaller species of Tringge, which abound on the coast in the fall of the year. Since my return I have compared specimens of this species with others of F. ^salon, and, although I cannot find any material or reliable difference in size, the species are easily separated by examining the tails. Both sexes in F. columbarius have/owr distinct black bars — three exposed, and one concealed by the upper tail-coverts. In F. ^salon the female onli/ has the tail- bars distinct, and they are six in number — five exposed and one concealed. The bars on the tail of the adult male F. ^salon, although six in number, are only partially defined, and conse- quently very indistinct. The bill of F. ^salon is slightly more 1870.] REEKS — ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 41 compressed laterally, but not so much so horizontally as that of F. columbarius. The tibiae in my adult male specimens of the American bird (F. columbarius) are darker ferruginous, with narrower longitudinal lines, than in my English specimens of F. ^salon ; but this distinction may not be constant. I had almost forgotten to state that the inner webs of the tail-feathers of F. columbarius are white, except where crossed by the black bars — in this respect differing from F. ^salon, which has scarcely any variation in either web, both being bluish ash. Greenland Falcon (F. candicans, Gmeliii). — This is the *' white hawk,'' of the Newfoundland settlers. It is pretty regular in its periodical migrations, especially in the fall of the year. I was not successful in obtaining specimens ; I do not think it breeds in any part of Newfoundland. American Sparrov) Hawh (F. sparverius, Linn.^ — A summer migrant to Newfoundland, but not so common as F. columbarius. The following species of Falco may reasonably be expected to occur (and probably do so) in Newfoundland occasionally : — The duck hawk (F. Anaturti) and the Iceland falcon {F. islandicus). American Goshawk (Astur atricapillus, Wilson). — 1 have only the authority of the settlers foi* including the "goshawk'' in my list of Newfoundland birds. I have no reason to doubt their accuracy, as the more enlightened on Ornithology recognised the plate of this species in Faun. Bor. Am., where the scientific name only is given. Cooper's Hawh (Accipiter Cooperi, Bonap.) — A summer migrant; not unjcommon. SharpsMnned HawJc (A. fuscus, Gmelin). — A summer migrant, and about equally common with the preceding. I have not seen the young of this species, but the adult very closely resembles our sparrow hawk (H. Nisus) both in flight and plumage. I have not, however, compared specimens, but hope to do so before the conclusion of these " Notes," and give the result. Redtailed Hawh (Buteo borealis, Gmelin). — A summer migrant, but not so common as on the mainland. I only examined one specimen, shot in Newfoundland. The following species of Buteo probably occur on the island : The redshouldered hawk (2?. Uneatus, Gmel.) and the broadwinged hawk (^B. Pennsijlvanicus, Wilson). I think I have seen the latter on wing, but obtained no specimen. Blach Hawk (Archibuteo Sancti-Johannis, Gmelin') . — Common ; 42 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March more especially in the immature plumage, in which state some specimens so closely resemble A. lagopus that it is hard to distinguish between the species. I had an individual of the former species — A. Sancti-Johannis — which agi-eed so well with descriptions of A. lagopus that I named it as such in my note- book. I kept this specimen aUve for upwards of two months, and fed it almost entirely on trout (Sahno fonfinalis), to which it seemed particularly partial, but invariably refused smelts (Osmerus viridescens), either dead or alive, and fresh from the water. I never tried any other specimens of fish, and cannot account for the bird's dislike to the smelt; it may have been the peculiar cucumber-smell — certainly not the taste — which this delicious little fish possesses. I do not think A. Sancti-Johannis a "fisher" by nature; at least, I never saw it in the act of fishing. Unfortunately I did not preserve the skin of this bird (the feathers got rather shabby during confinement) ; had I done so, I think it would have puzzled more than one good ornitholo- gist to separate it from skins of the European A. lagopus, inas- much as the under surface of the body was no darker than ordinary specimens of A. lagopus, although I never examined any afterwards but what were, as a rule, much darker. My bird was a female and measured twenty- three inches, wing sixteen and three-quarter inches, and, from the appearance of the ovary, would have laid the following year (1867). The black hawk — or, rather it should be buzzard— is a summer migrant to Newfoundland, but, as a rule, remains later in the fall than most of the Falconidae. American Hen Harrier (Circus Hudsonius, Linn.) — Although one of the most abundant hawks in the Atlantic States of America, and said by my old friend Downs to be equally common in Nova Scotia, I did not, strange to say, obtain a single example in Newfoundland, although I found some of the settlers knew the bird by its white rump, and distinguished it by the name of" hen hawk." I am almost certain of having seen it on the wing myself at Cow Head. Without specimens, it is impossible for me to say in what peculiarities of plumage (if ariy), &c., this bird diff"ers from the European C. cyaneus. Bald or Whiteheaded Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Linn.) This handsome bird is called the " grepe" in Newfoundland. It is tolerably common, but as the settlers increase, this noble bird gradually, but surely, decreases. Twenty years ago, or even less, 1870.] REEKS — ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 43 several eyries existed in the immediate neighbourhood of Cow Head, but at present the sites only remain ; it is said to breed on a peculiar island-rock, called " The Prior," in the mouth of the Bay of Islands. I have, on more than one occasion, seen the " grepe" fishing at Cow Head and Bonne Bay, and obtained one eoo- from the latter place. The nest was built in a large pine- tree, and contained two eggs — one addled : the egg is very similar to that of H. albicilla.* The bird is only a summer migrant to Newfoundland. It is not improbable that Aquila canadensis may eventually be found to visit Newfoundland. American Osprey, or Fish Hawk (Pandion carolinensis, Gmel.) — This fine species is common in Newfoundland : it is a summer migrant, coming in May and retiring in the early part of October. Often, on a calm summer's evening, as I lay on the grass smoking my pipe, have I watched two or three pairs of these birds fishing in the harbour. Suddenly the slow circling flight is stopped, — the quick eye discerns its scaly prey, — the body assumes an almost vertical position ; the wings for a moment vibrate rapidly, as if to give their owner impetus, and then with almost unerring aim, like an arrow from a bow, the osprey drops into the water. In a few seconds he reappears, and rising a few feet from the water, the rapid vibration of wings is again observable, but this time only to drive the claws more firmly into the sides of his finny morsel, with which he slowly sails away to some high tree in the woods, where probably is a nest, — " Itself a burden for the tallest tree." This beautiful hawk does not escape the ruthless " gunners" in Newfoundland, although utterly useless after death to the settlers. The osprey builds in trees in the extensive woods, either near the sea-coast or some inland lake. The eggs which I obtained from Bonne Bay cannot be distinguished from European specimens received from the late Mr. Wheelwright. Having no English specimens of the osprey by me, 1 am unable to point out any difl'erences whereby they may be selected from American examples. The authors of ' Birds of North America' give none ; * In the Proc. Zool. Soc. for 1863 (p. 252) Dr. Sclater recorded H. albiciUa as a ISTewfoundland bird, an error which he corrected in the ' Proceedings' of the same Sjciety for 1865 (p. 701). 44 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March both Wilson and Audubon considered the European and American osprey of the same species. Strigid^. American Barn Owl (Strix Pratincola, Bonap,') — Apparently rare in Newfoundland : I only examined one specimen during my residence there, which, having only the first joint of the wing broken, was kept alive several days by the children of the man who shot it : this occurred in August, 1866. It is probably a summer migrant. Great Horned Owl, (Bubo Virginianus, Gmel^ — Visits New- foundland for the purpose of nidification, and is not very uncommon during that season, and more especially later in the summer when the young leave the nests. It is called the " cat owl" by the settlers. The only nest which came under my observation was built on the ground, on a tussock of grass in the centre of a pond. The same nest had been previously occupied for several years by a pair of geese (Bernicla canadensis). I think it the more important to note this observation (which, however, may not be constant even in Newfoundland, as birds of prey are very varying in this respect) as Mr. E. A. Samuels, in the ' Birds of Massachusetts,' says it " nests in hollows of trees, and in high forks of pines." Mottled Owl, or American Screech Owl, (Scops Asio Linn.) — A summer migrant to Newfoundland, and tolerably common. As this is one of the commonest owls in North America, it seems strange that Mr. Downs should not meet with it in Nova Scotia, especially as it frequents the States bordering on the Atlantic more than those inland. American Long-eared Owl, (Otus Wilsonianus, Lesson.) — Not common : I only examined one specimen, which was killed near Cow Head. It appears to be a summer migrant. American Short-eared Owl, (Brachyotus Cassini, Brewer.) — Not common, but I think rather more so than Otus Wilsonianus. It is a summer migrant. Barred Owl, (Syrnium nebulosum Forster). Apparently a summer migrant, but not common ; at least I only obtained one specimen, shot at Cow Head in September, 1866. Saw-whet Owl, (Nyctale acadia Gmelin). — Not uncommon, and well known to the settlers as the "saw- whet." I only 1870.] REEKS — ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 45 obtained one specimen, which was picked up dead at Cow Head, and appeared to be uninjured. It is a summer migrant. Spcnrow Oiol, (Nyctale Richardsoni, Bonap.) — I include this species on the authority of Mr. Downs, who states, in his "Notes on the Laud Birds of Nova Scotia," that it is " abundant in New- foundhmd;" but, strange to say, I never met with a single speci- men, neither were the settlers acquainted with the species : I have very little doubt, however, that it occurs on the island. It is this species which closely resembles the European Nyctea Teng- malmi, but not having specimens I am unable to point out the distinctive characters. Snowy Owl, (Nyctea nivea Dmtdui). — Tolerably common, and probably remains in Newfoundland throughout the year, although very rarely seen during the summer months, but this may be owing to its following in the wake of its chief prey, the polar hare {Lcpus glaciaHs)^ and ptarmigan {Lagopus rupestris), which retire to the high land as soon as the snow partially disappears. The " white owl," as the settlers term this species, is a bold, rapacious bird, and not easily driven from its slaughtered prey. One of the specimens, which I obtained at Cow Head, was feeding on an eider duck — probably a wounded bird which it had killed — and was twice knocked over with stones, the last time apparently killed, before it would relinquish the duck : it had, however, sufficient life and strength to force its claws into the arm of the man who picked it up, although protected with all the clothes he usually wore. A large Newfoundland dog, used for retrieving seals, &c., refused to go near this bird after it was knocked down with stones : the men who were present assured me that the bird kept making a "hissing" noise, apparently at the sight of the dog. During my residence in Newfoundland I heard several amusing anecdotes of the snow owl, but, although I can vouch for the truth of them, it is scarcely necessary to reproduce them all in the pages of the " Zoologist :" I will, however, relate one or two which I do not think have before appeared in print. William Youngs of Codroy (Newfoundland), having continually had the bait stolen from one of his fox traps, determined to watch the trap and shoot the robber : for this purpose he selected a fine moonlight night, with snow on the ground, and, with his gun in his hand, a white swan-skin frock on, and a white handkerchief tied round his cap, he secreted himself in a small bush about 46 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Marcll twenty yards from his trap, fully determined to shoot the first comer ; but his determination proved fruitless, for a large white owl — probably the thief — seeing something white sticking up through the centre of the bush, and evidently mistaking it for a fine plump willow grouse, instantly made a '•' stoop," and, at the same time, sending its claws almost to the man's brains, suddenly disappeared with the cap and white handkerchief : the man was so startled for the moment that he was unable to shoot at the bird. The snowy owl is a frequent attendant — although generally unnoticed — of the sportsman, and often succeeds in carrying off a grouse or duck before the retriever gets to it. On one occasion sonie men were waiting in ice " gazes" for the purpose of shooting wild geese {Bernicla canadensis and B. hrenta), when one of them, named James Carter, left his "gaze" to go and have a chat with his neighbour, incautiously leaving his new white swan-skin cuffs and gun behind him. He had scarcely left his " gaze" when an unseen enemy, in the shape of a fine snowy owl, pounced in and succeeded in getting clear off again with both of the white cuffs. A fine adult bird of this species entered my host's house, via the chimney, and fought so valiantly for its life that the man had to kill it with a " pew" — a piece of pointed iron fastened to a wooden handle about four feet long, and used for throwing codfish from the boats. A good many snowy owls are annually caught in the fox-traps of the settlers ; and when very fat, which they frequently are, are considered good eating by many, and I see no reason why they should not be so, but I could never sufficiently overcome my repugnance to birds of prey as food to taste one. None of the settlers appeared to know anything of the breeding of this bird, although Mr. Downs states that it " breeds in Newfoundland." Mr. Cordeaux has kindly examined parasites of Nyctea nivea from Newfoundland, and informs me that they are identical with others from European specimens. Hawk Oivl, (Surnia ulula Linn.) — Perhaps the commonest owl in Newfoundland, or, from being a day-flying species, is more frequently seen than any other. It is a bold, familiar bird, generally found in the neighbourhood of houses, preying on chicken, tame pigeons, &c., — remaining throughout the year, but not so abundant in the denth of winter as at other seasons. In the fall ot the year, and probably at other times, the hawk owl has a habit of perching on the bare and dead top of high fir trees, 1870.] MACFARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 47 from which it commands a good view of the immediate neigh- bourhood, and suddenly drops upon any unfortunate object in the shape of food that may happen to pass within a convenient distance. (To he continued.^ ON THE ORIGIN AND CLASSIFICATION OF ORIGINAL OR CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. By Thomas Macfarlane. I . — I NTRODUCTION. "All attempts to separate sharply from each other the various " rocks or mineral aggregates of which the earth's crust is com- " posed, and to arrange them systematically, have failed." "We "' cannot consider the rocks as species, nor arrange them in a " system corresponding to their nature, nor even, in describing " them, treat them all in the same manner." * So wrote Bernhard Von Cotta in 1862. On reading such sentences we are tempted to ask : Are species always sharply defined in other sciences ? Are all systems perfect or natural ? Why should lithology be an exception to other sciences, and its students be deprived of the advantages of a systematic arrange- ment of the objects to be studied ? A "natural" system is not demanded, even were such a thing possible, in this or any other science. The more rigid any method of classification, and the more marked and unbeading its divisional lines are made, the more unnatural it becomes. It is exceedingly gratifying to find that, undeterred by the difiiculties of rock classification, such lithologists as Von Hoch- stetter, Kjerulf and Zirkel, have been found willing to attempt it. Their labours, and those of other workers in the same field, have shed a flood of light upon a previously obscure and uninteresting subject. Although a perfect system will, perhaps, never be attained, still each attempt at properly arranging our knowledge of the subject has its value. Chemical analysis and microscopical * Cotta; Die Geisteiuslehre, pp. 1, 4. 48 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March examination of rocks have very much contributed towards render- ing such attempts successful. In the present paper it is proposed to give a systematic view of the various classes and species of crystalline rocks, in arranging which it is intended that their chemical composition shall have greater prominence and weight than has been usual heretofore. However much it may seem desirable in this department of science, where all the systems of classification have been con- fessedly imperfect, to invent a system independent altogether of the ideas, more or less well founded, which prevail as to their origin and age, and in which their physical and chemical charac. ters should only have consideration, it must not, on the other hand, be forgotten that what is still more desirable in such a system is that it should re-arrange our knowledge of the subject in a clearer form, render it more easy of comprehension to the student, and be so dovetailed into the past of the science as to be useful for its advancement in the future. On this account it becomes impossible to neglect even the theoretical views of our forerunners in this science of petrology, far less their arduous and often underrated geognostic labours. It also becomes re- quisite to give a proper value to all the considerations which may have influenced their views, and to build upon the foundation which they have left us, the results of the observations and research of the investigators of our own day. Considerations as to the manner of formation, texture, chemical and mineralogical composition, age and localities of rocks, have all, more or less, influenced geologists in naming and classifying them. The well-known distinction between eruptive and sedi- mentary rocks will occur to every reader as an instance of classi- fication according to origin. Hunt's division of crystalline rocks into indigenous and exotic, and Scheerer's distinction of plutonites and vulcanites are both founded upon their real or supposed manner of formation. Lava and Rhyolite are examples of special rocks similarly named. Then, with regard to texture, probably no other character possessed by rocks has given rise to a greater number of generic terms. Schist, slate, porphyry, trachyte, amygdaloid, conglomerate, and breccia, are examples of this, but of special names founded on texture only a few can be instanced, such as granite and aphanite. The influence of chemical compo- sition on lithological nomenclature is not, as yet, very marked, for it is only recently that the analysis of rocks has had much 1870.] MACFARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 49 attention. Quite lately, however, Cotta has proposed to dis- tinguish as basites those eruptive rocks containing less, and as acidites those containing more than nxtj per cent, of silica ; and Scheerer, Kjerulf and Roth have each indicated methods of classification founded, to a very considerable extent, on general chemical composition. By far the greater number of special names in lithology are based upon mineralogical characters. This is the case with pyroxenite, hornblende schist, quartzite, and many simple rocks, while among those of a compound nature, where it was impossible to indicate their mineralogical com- position in one word, recourse was had to special names, with definite ideas attached to them as to mineralogical constitution. Thus, diorite came to denote a rock composed of triclinic felspar and hornblende ; granulite, a schistose compound of quartz, orthoclase and garnet ; dolerite, a mixture of labradorite, augite and magnetite. As regards classification, the mineralogical nature of .rocks has always been abundantly considered. In this way we have Hunt's orthosites and anorthosites ; Senft's labra- dorites and alabradorites, while Zirkel has made the nature of the difi'erent felspar species the corner-stone of his system of classification, — crystalline or original rocks being divided into orthoclase rocks, oligoclase rocks, labradorite rocks, aoorthite rocks, and rocks void of felspar. The manner in which con- siderations as to geological age influence the names of rocks may be illustrated by the following examples. Sometimes certain porphyries and trachytes are, in hand specimens, scarcely dis- tinguishable from each other. When, however, such rocks occur among carboniferous or peruiian strata, geologists have been inclined to term them porphyries; and, on the other hand, when they are of tertiary or recent age, the name trachyte is generally given them. Exactly the same mode of determination, if such it can be called, has been adopted in the case of greenstone and basalt, or rocks of such indistinct mineralogical composition as trap and aphanite. With reference to locality it has principally occasioned special names, such as syenite, dunite and andesite, or caused varieties of certain other species to be indicated by such terms as banatite, sievite, cherzolite, &c. From these considera- tions it would appear that, generally speaking, origin has been allowed to determine the various divisions and subdivisions among rocks ; that the majority of the generic names have reference to texture, while mineralogical composition and locality YoL. y. D :N'o. 1. 50 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March have had the greatest share in originating the special names of rocks. In striving to attend to what has been indicated as desirable and necessary in any attempt at classifying rocks, it has appeared to us most judicious to attach greatest weight to their various characters in the following order : 1, origin ; 2, texture ; 3, chemical composition ; 4, mineralogical composition ; and 5, locality. If a system be required at all resembling those of other branches of science, these characters might be allowed respectively to determine the classes, orders, families, species, and varieties of rocks. II. — CLASSES OP ROCKS. If we, at the present day, look around us, and ascertain, from actual experience, what the methods are which nature employs in producing rocks, we find that they result from the operation of two very distinct agencies. On the one hand we may see in difi'erent countries, widely separated from each other, streams of melted matter issuing from volcanoes and solidifying to rocks on their sides or at their feet, while on the other hand we may observe, on every sea beach or river delta, sand and clay, the debris of pre-existing crystalline masses or fragmentary strata being gradually consolidated to new rocks. Exactly parallel to these operations of nature are certain artificial processes at work around us, the products of which are entirely analogous to the two classes of rocks just indicated. We may stand before an iron furnace and watch the steady stream of slag flowing from the hearth into a large iron wagon, and there solidifying to a mass of solid, sometimes crystalline rock; and we may also visit a stamp mill where valuable metalhc particles are being extracted from poor vein-stones, and find, in the slime-pits of the establishment, banded layers of half solidified strata, requiring but a little time to eflfect their perfect consolidation. These two means employed by nature in producing rocks have been steadily recognized by the majority of geologists, and the two classes which result have been indicated by a superabundance of names. Unstratified and stratified ; igneous and aqueous ; eruptive and sedimentary; exotic and indigenous; primary and secondary; (protogene and deuterogene;) crystalline and elastic; massive and fragmentary; original and derivate, are all terms which have been used for distinguishing these two great classes, 1870.] MACPARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 51 and the least objectionable among them would appear to be the two last mentioned. The first of these, original (Urspriingliche,) was first adopted by Zirkel* for denoting igneous or eruptive rocks, while the term derivate was first suggested by David Forbesj" as equivalent to secondary or sedimentary rocks. The latter term we have ventured to modify, and in the following pages we shall use the names original and derived for indicating the two great classes. These names would seem to deserve the preference, for the following reasons. It is admitted by geolo- gists, on all hands, that the material which constitutes the various sedimentary formations, consisting of limestone, hardened clay, or consolidated sand, although it may have been immediately derived from pre-existing rocks of a detrital nature, originally came from the decomposition and disintegration of crystalline rocks, of such as are known to constitute the oldest formations of the earth's crust, or to have broken through and deposited themselves on the outside of it. It is further an accepted theorem, universally acknowledged by scientific men, that our globe was originally in a state of igneous fusion, and that all the material which consti- tutes the rocks of our day existed in the form of a melted zone encircling the central part of the globe. It is evident that, before the conditions for the formation of sedimentary rocks could exist, the liquid globe must have become, to some extent, solid ; a crust, at least, must have been formed upon it, from the disintegration of which the material of such sedimentary rocks could have been derived, and upon which that material could have been deposited. This crust, and the rocks which from time to time after its solidification penetrated or were erupted through it, must, conse- quently, have been the first rocks, and they must have yielded the material for all those subsequently formed by aqueous agencies. It would, therefore, appear legitimate to name the former class original, and the latter, derived rocks. Where, as in the case of the volcanic and sedimentary rocks which are being formed at the present day, we can observe the process of their formation, no doubt can arise as to their origin. These rocks, however, form but a very minute fraction of those which build up the earth's crust, and it becomes necessary, in order properly to discriminate among the latter, to point out the * Petrographie I., p. 173. t The Microscope in Geology, p. 6. 52 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.;;^ [Marcid distinguisting characters of original and derived rocks. The further we go back in geological time, and the older the rocks are which we are called on to classify, the greater is the difficulty of doino' so, and the more divergent the opinions of geologists become as to their origin. The stratigraphical relations of rocks are most effective in determining this, but it will be necessary at present to confine ourselves to considerations of a more purely petrological nature. This is the more easily done, since the lithological characters afford abundant means of recognizing original and derived rocks, and distinguishing them from each other. Original rocks are made up of crystalline particles of one or more minerals, principally silicates. These are seldom perfect in crystalline form, are frequently more or less irregular or distorted, and are intimately bound together to a compact whole, without the intervention of any foreign substance as a cementing material. They are thus mutually interlocked to a crystalline mass, which, however, possesses at the same time an average mineralogical and chemical composition. This would seem to indicate that the mass must have been originally liquid, and, to some extent, in the same condition during crystallization, otherwise it would have been impossible for the various chemical constituents to move toward the points where the minerals were being formed into whose composition they enter. On the other hand, this liquidity must have been somewhat limited in degree, for the minerals seem to have pressed against each other, so as to have mutually interfered with their crystalline development, and so as also to have fitted perfectly into each other on complete solidification. The size of the crystalline particles varies from a foot or more in diameter down to that of microscopical minuteness. It is even the case that they become so minute as to occasion a perfectly vitreous structure which even the microscope is incapable of resolving into distinct minerals. In all such cases, although the rock can scarcely be termed crystalline, it remains, what its mode of occurrence plainly shows, an original rock. Derived rocks are made up of the disintegrated fragments or particles, and the chemical constituents of previously existing rocks, abraded or dissolved away by water or other agents. These fragments or particles are sometimes angular, sometimes rounded off, and always bound together by means of an interven- ing cememt, which is independent of, and may be altogether diffe- rent in nature from, the enclosed fragments. They vary in their 1S70.] MACPARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 53 •dimensions even more widely than the constituents of original rocks. There are sometimes found in them blocks of several cubic feet contents ; and, on the other hand, they are frequently composed of the finest particles of dust. The cement which unites these particles is subject to great differences, both as re- gards its quantity and its nature. Sometimes it consists of the material of a newly erupted original rock which has happened to -envelope and bind together fragments of a pre-existing crystalline or sedimentary rock. Sometimes it consists of the finely divided detritus of the rock of which the larger fragments are composed. Sometimes the finely comminuted cement is from a different rock than the fragments. Sometimes it is of an infiltrated crystalline nature. In some cases the fragments, and in others the cement predominates. Apart from the finely divided sandstone or clay which sometimes fills the interstices between the fragments, carbonate of lime, silica and iron oxide are the substances which, more frequently than any others, form the cementing material in these fragmentary rocks. Recent investigations regarding the chemical composition of rocks have rendered the distinction between the original and derived classes still more marked, and made it possible to point out another essential point of difference between them. Original rocks possess a chemical composition in which a definite relation exists between the quantity of silica and that of the various bases which they contain. In derived rocks this definite relation is not to be observed. This peculiarity of chemical composition possess- ed by original rocks was first pointed out by Bunsen, and has been •quite recently insisted upon as a feature distinguishing them from derived rocks by Von Richthofen in his " Communications from the West Coast of North America."^ These two great divisions do not, however, exhaust all the classes into which rocks have been divided. It has Ions: been supposed, and more recently the belief has gained ground, that many of the rocks belonging to the divisions above indicated have experienced, sinre their solidification or deposition, certain changes in their chemical and mineralogical composition, and in their physical characters, whereby they have been rendered quite unlike their originals, and this without their having been disin- tegi'ated or displaced. The influences to which these changes * Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft, vols, xix and xx. 54 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March have been ascribed are various. Heat, water holding different substances in solution, gases, atmospheric agencies acting sepa- rately or combined, have all played an important part in effecting these changes. The rocks thus modified have been called meta- morphic, altered or hypogenous rocks, without very marked refe- rence to the classes from which thev have resulted. In the following pages the name altered will be applied only to those original rocks, and the term metamorphic only to those derived rocks which have experienced, in situ, such changes as those here indicated. It is not, however, proposed in the present paper to discuss the relations of derived and metamorphic rocks, but, in endeavouring to classify those of the original class, the altered rocks sometimes resulting from them will be noticed. (To be Continued.) THE PLANTS OF THE WEST COAST OF NEW- FOUNDLAND. By John Bell, M.A., M.D. The account of the plants of the west coast of Newfoundland, in a recent number of this journal, ended with my visit to St. George's Bay. As we sailed south, from that locality to the harbour behind Cod Roy Island, I observed that the forests had in some places been burned by the devastating fires, which are so often carelessly originated in these parts, and that grass had sprung up in the areas thus cleared, on which large herds of cattle were pasturing. These cattle belong to the people of the island-harbour village, which is composed of about thirty or forty families, whose school- master visited us on our arrival. Large patches of snow still lay glistening in the sun on the tops of this somewhat elevated range of hills. On the following morning, July 6th, we started on an expedi- tion up the Great Cod Roy River, which, like many of the smaller rivers entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has its stream level for a few miles inland, until it reaches the mountain region, when it becomes more rapid and less navigable. It resembles them, too, in the manner of its debouche. On nearing the place where the river seemed to empty, we could at first see 1870.] BELL — PLANTS OP NEWFOUNDLAND. 55 no entrance, but upon coming closer to the shore we found a deep narrow channel at the end of a long tongue of sand and gravel enclosing a lake or broad expanse of river, which at the time of our arrival was literally covered with gulls. Near this lake was a swamp overgrown with hoary alders, in and around which I found the Marsh Marigold (^Caltlia pahistris), Spotted Touch- me-not (^Impatiens fulva). Great Water and Curled Docks (^Riimex hydrolapathum et crispiis), Hemp-Nettle (^Galeopsis tetrahit), Chickweed (^SteUaria media), two Plantains (^Plantago major et Virginlca), Thyme-leaved Speedwell (^Veronica serpyUi- folia), with some Clovers and Bedstraws. After ascending the river for a short distance, we stopped on the north shore, at the house of a settler named James Ryan, in whose garden I was surprised to find a great variety of cultivated vegetables and flowers. At this place I found vegetation to be about a fortnight in advance of what it was in St. George's Bay, doubtless the result of its more sheltered position and southern exposure. With his great variety of flowers and vegetables Kyan had also imported a great variety of European weeds, for at no place on the coast did I observe so many vegetable pests as at this settlement. Some of his cultivated and pasture fields presented as many imported weeds as those of some of the older farms of Canada. The Yellow-Rattle (^Rliinanthus crista-galli), that pest of the maritime provinces, grew everywhere, and Ryan complained that it killed out all kinds of grass. It was accom- panied by the Heal-all (Bninella vulgaris), the common Dande- lion (^Taraxacum dens-leonis) , and Canada Thistle (^Cirsium arvense), which did not confine itself to places under culti- vation. Along a boggy rill were growing, in flower, the American Brook- lime ( Veronica Americana), the bristly and creeping Crowfoots (^Ranunculus Pennsylvanicus et repens), Canadian Burnet (Sangui- sorba Canadensis), Bound-leaved Dogwood (^Cornus circinata), with other herbs and bushes already mentioned in my former paper. The view from this place was magnificent. The river, like a long narrow lake, lay below the house and stretched away inland, here and there dotted with boats and salmon nets, or in- tersected by points on which were settlers' houses and out-build- ings, whose sides and shingled roofs seemed like marble in the glistening rays of the sun, while separated .from the river by a strip of low wooded laud, towered up the high, deep-gullied 56 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March mountains, with patches of snow near their bare heathy summits. As we paddled upwards above this place the scenery was very beautiful, — each bend in the winding river presented some new and enchanting combination of water, meadow, wood, and moun- tain, in varying shades and colours. Along the river bank, which was bordered with green and hoary alders, beaked hazel, red dogwood {Cormis stolon if era), and other species of Comus, I picked up the Water Horehound (^Lycopus Europceus), Mouse- ear Chick weed (^Cerastium vulgatum), and Small-flowered Crow- foot (^Ranunculus ahordvus'). About twelve miles from the month of the river the Balm-of- Gilead Poplar (Populus halsami/era), gi*ew in clumps along the stream and in their shade the Cow parsnip attained an immense size. On the alluvial flats bordering the river the magnificent Ostrich and Cinnamon Ferns (^Strutliiopteris Germariica et Os- munda cinnamomea) , spread out their luxuriant fronds in the form of great green vases among the high cranberry bushes (Viburnun opalus), and the water and straight yellow-leaved avens shot up their wiry stems amongst the grass and sedges. Quantities of several species of Pondweeds formed tangled masses in the quiet pools, on whose surface floated the round shining leaves and yellow flowers of the Spotted Dock. In some places along the river the ground in the wood was covered with a thick soft carpet of various mosses, {Hijpnum Boscii, crista-castrensis, splendens et delicatulum), and the trunks of the trees were matted with tufts of Nechera pennata. In these rich damp woods the sweet, little one-flowered Pyrolas (J\'Ioneses uni/iora), hid their single white blossoms in the mossy carpet, and the False Beech-drops (Monotropa hypopiti/s) pushed up their wax-like stems. Here, too, the smaller Lady's Slipper (Ct/pripedium parviflorimi) nodded its mocassin-like flowers to its plainer cousins, the Dwarf and Northern green Orchids (^Flatanthera ohtusata et dilatatd), and the many flowered Coral-root {CoraUorrhiza nmltiflora). Among the many ferns observed were the Lady Fern (Asplenium filix-foemina) and the New York Shield-Fern (Aspidmm Novce- horacense), with numerous bushes of the swamp Gooseberry (^Rihes lacustre), wild Red Currant (^Eibes ruhrum), Few-flowered Arrow wood (Vihurnum paucijiorum) , the Swamp Fly-honey- suckle [^Lonkera ohlongifolmm), Low and Alpine Birch {Betula pumila et nana), while the tall wild nettle gave a sharp reminder of its presence with its pungent hairs. 1870.] BELL — PLANTS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 57 At about fourteen miles from the mouth of the Great Cod Roy River some of the party went four or five miles south to the summit of the mountain range running east and west. At first our course lay through a hardwood bush and over several little streams, whose banks showed that they had been raging torrents earlier in the spring. In this bush I got the Spring Beauty (^Chytonia Cciroliniana), and a Galium with four broad leaves and little white flowers. As we ascended the damp, chilly mountain side, the trees became smaller, and the white birch and fir trees more numerous, until near the top nothing remained but stunted spruces, with trunks not thicker than a man's arm, but as hard as horn and probably as old as their taller brothers below. In some places these dwarfs were growing so closely together, and their tops had become so flattened and matted with the weight of snow in winter, that I actually walked for a considerable distance upon them like on an elevated pavement. The very top of the mountain presented a bare, desolate appearance. Large patches of snow twenty or thirty feet deep remained in the shaded depressions, while others were filled with boggy lakes, on the little islands in which the sea gulls seemed to have their nests, from the wild manner in which these birds screamed and flew around as we approached the ponds. In some places the gneiss rocks were broken and bare, in others covered with lichens, mosses and heaths. Among these I found the Bearberry Willow {Salix uva-2(,rsi), the Alpine Bearberry {Arctostaphylos alpina), with the Phyllodoce (P. taxifolia), and other heaths already mentioned. On returning to the schooner, a botanical survey of the little island of Cod Roy was rewarded by the discovery that the Cornus Suecica grew everywhere in profusion with its Canadian sister. This Cornus I afterwards found to be quite as common as the Canadian bunchberry all along the western Newfoundland coast, and on the north shore nearly as far west as Pointe des Monts. The other plants worthy of note on the island were the Fall Dandelion (^Leonfodon antumnalc), the common Am.;rican Cranberry {Vaccinium macrocarpon) , the Wood- Rush (Luzula campestris) , the Cloudberry {Rubus chamcemonis), the Mountain Cinquefoil, and a variety of the beach pea, so downy with short soft hairs as to look almosi glaucous. During the 11th and 12th July we ran up to Long Point, north of Cape St. George. In a boggy meadow near the end of 58 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Mai'ch the point I found the Alpine Bistort in flower (^Polygonum vivi- paru7n), the Arrowgrass {Triglochin maritimum), and Mountain Fly-honeysuckle (^Lonicera cceruled). At West Bay, a little farther down the east side of this long point, the shallows are studded with the Fall Bulrush (^Scirpus lacustris), and near the shore the common Soft Bush (Juncus effusiis) grew in clumps in the mud. On the banks the Hedge Bindweed {Calystegia sepium) drew its trailing stems over the hushes, and from the rocks the common Bladder. Fern (^Cystopteris fi'agilis) spread its fragile and varying fronds. We next sailed north to the Bay of Islands, which is a long narrow inlet divided into two arms, a short distance from the sea, and, as its name indicates, it contains a number of small rocky islands. At its mouth is a round granite island, whose steep sides dip perpendicularly into the deep channel on either side, through which the tide rushes with considerable rapidity as it rises and falls. On the south side of the entrance are several very high mountains, whose sides are nearly perpendicular, and form a bare wall, against which the waves perpetually lash, and against which we were almost wrecked on entering the bay, owing to the rapid flow of the tide and the strong shifting gusts of wind which blew around the crags, and to which I have no doubt these peaks owe the not very euphonious but expressive name of the Blow-me-down Mountains. As the early French navigators sailed along these newly discovered shores, they generally called the various points of interest after the name of the saint on whose day they arrived at the place, while the English names have too often been repetitions of those of some European place, or have been suggested by some passing fancy of the sailor. A few miles up the Bay of Islands I found the common bitter Cress (Cardamine hirsuta), and the Marginal fruiting Shield-Fern (Aspidium marginale), growing at the foot of a slaty clifl". The Humber River enters at the head of the south arm of the Bay of Islands. This noble river is the outlet of Grand Pond, and with its tributaries winds through a large portion of New- foundland. It is, or could easily be, made navigable up to the main fork, a distance of about forty miles, for flat-bottomed steam- boats like those used on the Ohio. Along the river flats, in the valleys and on the '^ barren," when these are drained and the country is a little more cleared, there will be room for thousands of farms, and the hills will afford walks for immense flocks of sheep 1870.] BELL — PLANTS OP NEWFOUNDLAND. 59 and pasture for countless herds of cattle, the surplus of all which will find a ready market at the ports and fishing stations, at the lumbering, manufacturing and mining establishments, which ere long will make this old and neglected colony one vast scene of active and profitable industry. The climate of the island is favourable to the developement of its agricultural resources of every kind. Instead of the cold foggy atmosphere, which is generally supposed to hang over this island, quite the reverse is the case — the air is clear and warm, and the temperature during the year remarkably equable, the mercury in winter seldom falling ' below zero of Fahrenheit's scale, or in summer rising above 90°, while the mean temperature of the year is about 44°. I never saw finer weather than during the two months I was on the island. It is only on the S.W. corner that fogs prevail to any extent, from the proximity of that part to the Gulf stream. At half the distance between the sea and the main fork of the Humber, the river spreads out into a broad expanse of about fifteen miles in length, called Deer Lake, from which the moun- tains rise range after range, and stretch away into the dim distance. Along the banks of the river, before reaching Deer Lake, I observed the Black Ash (^Fraxinus sambuci/oUa) to be quite abundant. The Aspen Poplar (^Populus ' tremuloides) was not uncommon^ and the Scarlet-fruited Thorn (^Cratcegus coccined) here and there shewed its spring branches along the rocky banks. . A pretty little white composite f ower grew on the damp rocks with the pinguicula and violets ; but I was unable to get a speci- men of it. In other places the green and hoary alders, red osier dogwood, sweet-gale and dwarf willows bordered the stream to the water's edge. The woods were principally composed of the follow- ing trees : — Black and white Spruce and Balsam-fir (^Abies nigra, alba et balsamea), Mountain Ash (^Pyrus AmericarM^, Black Ash, Choke and wild Red Cherries (Primus Virginiana et Pennsyl- vanica), Cranberry trees and Sweet Viburnum (^Viburnum opulus et lantago). On a little island on the north side of Deer Lake I found the Mountain Painted Cup (^Castilleia septentrionah's) and one of the deciduous Equisetums. In the shallows of the lake the Water Milfoil {My riophyllian spicatum) floated in abundance, with other weeds. On entering the Humber at the upper end of Deer Lake, our progress was often arrested by the oars becoming entanged in masses of Ee]-2;rass and Pond-weeds, which filled the dark-brown waters at the sides of the slowly flowing stream. lu 60 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March the neighbourhood of the fork no plants were observed different from those aheady mentioned; but one expedition to Grand Pond, in the centre of the island, brought back specimens of the Bastard Toad-flax (Comandra livida,) Epllohium latifoUum and avgusti- folium and Viburnum opidus. After spending a few days at the main fork of the Humber, we started down the river, and after a long pull of from ten in the morning till eleven at night, reached the schooner in safety. At the mouth of the river we passed several long salmon nets, some of which . were stretched so far across the stream as to render it almost impossible for any salmon to reach their spawning ground. In buying some salmon from one of the fishermen, it was singular to find how very ignorant he was of the value of the various silver coins in common use, so general is the system of obtaining by barter all goods imported to these stations. For two nights after our arrival we had the rare opportunity of seeing the woods on fire on a magnificent scale, on the north side of the south arm of the bay, This grand conflagration commenced from a "smudge," or smouldering, smoking fire of rotten wood, lighted by some woodmen at the head of the bay to keep away mosquitoes. The weather had been warm and dry for some time previously, and had prepared the firs, birches, fallen wood, and even the vegetable mould for this terrific bon-fire. As the fire spread along the ground, and from tree to tree, it sent immense clouds of smoke and wreaths of flame upwards to the sky, and created a draught for itself, which added yet greater fierceness to the devouring element, and carried up ashes and burning cinders, which again fell to the ground only to be new foci of destruction. The crackle, roar and crash of the burning and falling trees could be heard for miles ; and as the fire, with almost the rapidity and violence of an explosion, ran up the immense fir and birch trees on the tops of the hills, it made a sight which, when once seen, can never be forgotten. As the fire travelled along the hills towards the fishing station, opposite which the schooner was anchored, the ashes and cinders covered the deck, and it required constant watching to prevent the sails from catching fire, while the ship's crew were away helping to tear down fences to prevent the spread of the fire, and to save the houses of the settlers. A fall of rain on the morning of the 22nd of July quenched the ardour of the conflagration, and a smart easterly breeze springing up the same afternoon, gaily 1870.] BELL — PLANTS OB* NEWFOUNDLAND. ()1 carried us homeward-bouud, through the imposiDg portals of the Bay of Islands. WHY ARE INSECTS ATTRACTED BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS? . By A. S. Ritchie. This question has given rise to many speculative answers, — none of which as yet are generally satisfactory. Mr. Guy on writes thus in Science Gossip ^ : — "If a room were thoroughly darkened, with the exception of a small opening, such as a key-hole, through which the outer daylight was allowed to enter, such an aperture would appear from within, by contrast, almost as bright as the flame of a candle, and any winged insects enclosed in such a room would be pretty certain to direct their flight to the opening. Moths in a room are probably under a sense of being lost and confined, and as bees hurry up and down the window, so nocturnal lepidoptera knock against the ceiling, or dash into the candle flame, perhaps equally with the impulse to escape. Insects seem to be under a fixed impression that the direction of the light is the way out." The same author writes : " The idea has often occurred to me — though it may be rather a fanciful one, — that possibly the insects might regard the flame as light shining from an aperture through which they might make their escape, — somewliat as children imagine the stars to be pin- holes in the sky." These remarks, so far as we understand them, do not tell us what brings insects from their various haunts into our rooms. They only prove that these creatures prefer light to darkness, — a very natural conclusion, we think, seeing that nature has supplied them with well-developed eyes. The second answer given to the question runs as follows : — " Most of the night-loving insects are so affected by the sudden appearance of light, that when a candle is introduced, they rush madly into the flame as though they were deliberately inclined to commit suicide." • • • <' The true cause of this proceeding has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It has been suggested * Yol. for 1869, page 57. 6^ She CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March that their eyes do not absorb (as in most insects), but reflect the light — an organization which enables them to distinguish objects in a state of partial darkness, but which leads to their destruction when the light is strong. Blinded, as it were, by excess of radiance they lose all discernment in the blaze, and perish in the flame." Our opinion with regard to the structure and office of the eyes of insects is in accordance with the above remarks ; all that is answered, however, is the cause of their perishing in the flame, which we attribute to paralysis of the optic nerve by the excess of light. The third answer to the question runs thus : — " We know," (' I have often seen it,' says the writer), " that certain flowers emit of an evening a strong phosphorescent light, visible at some some distance. How many do so whose light is only visible to the keen eyes of insects we do not know ; but I think it probable that many more do than we are aware of. Is it too wild a sug- gestion that nature has supplied those storehouses of insect food, — the flowers, — with this phosphoric glow as a beacon light to these hungry night rovers, and responding to the invitatation, they make for our lighted windows as to a banquet hall ? " We venture to make the following remarks on the quotations cited : — If it be true that plants give ofi" a peculiar light, this, to a certain extent, answers the question, and goes far to prove that insects are attracted by the light to feed. Dr. W. B. Carpenter says on this subject : " It has been asserted that many plants, — especially those of an orange colour, such as Tropceolum majus (Nasturtium), 6'a/e?icZM?(i officinalis (Marigold), Helianihus animus (Sunflower), — disengage light in serene and warm evenings, sometimes in the form of sparks, sometimes in a more uniform manner, and many physiologists are disposed to question these assertions, from their not having been themselves able to witness the phenomenon." We have spoken on this subject to several botanists who have never witnessed this light-giving property in plants. We shall now give our opinion on this subject, and will do so as fully and clearly as possible, by answering the following questions : — • pirst. — What species of insects are generally attracted to our open windows by artificial lights, such as lamps, &c. ? Secondly. — What are the habits of those species, and for what purposes are they attracted ? 1870.] EITICHU — INSECTS BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. 63 Thirdly, and lastly. — Is it on dark or moonlight nights that insects are attracted to artificial lights ? In answering these questions, our opinions are based upon actual observation and experience. To the first question, viz.: What species of insects are gener- ally attracted to our open windows by artificial lights? we suggest the following reply : We have taken representatives of nearly all the orders of insects in our rooms by lamplight during the past ten years, — but mainly Lepidoptera (or moths). The following is a statement taken from notes of captures on an evening in July, 1869. Working with the microscope at an open window, with the lamp burning on the table, the following insects were attracted by the light : — First, a beetle (^Harpcdus Pennsylvanicus), rather a strange fellow to be about at this hour; next visitor, a water beetle (^AcUius frafernns), then followed several moths, principally small species ; the mosquito also made its appearance, and some small Ephemeroe. They flew out and in at the window, and in the reflected light across the street, numbers of moths could be seen as they crossed the rays from the lamp. Compara- tively few rushed into or against the lamp, — evidently finding the light too strong for them, they flew out of the window to join in the dance going on outside, where the greatest number appeared to be. This answers the question in regard to the species gener- ally attracted. We shall now consider the second question, viz. : — What are some of the habits of those species, and for what purposes are they attracted ? Without going into particulars about the habits of the several species, we will confine ourselves to the several orders as regards their being attracted by lights. Nearly all the specimens we have seen are nocturnal, — these feed and seek their mates by night. There are exceptions to this, as to most other rules, for in the case of some of the insects named, e.g., Harpalus and Acilius, — both are diurnal species. The first named was abundant last summer, flying into lighted rooms in numbers, perhaps awakened by the light shining from the window on the side-walk, under which it had retired for the night, and so got up a little ahead of time. The other, Acilius, has been found at fault before, as also some of the large species of the family Dytiscidce. They have been seen to pitch themselves on the glass roofs of conservatories, probably taking the shining glass for the surface of a pool or pood. 64 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Marcll The reason for the appearance of water beetles at such un- seasonable hours may be accounted for thus : — In summer the little ponds and pools are dried up, when it becomes necessary for them to shift, and in their wanderings they are no doubt dazzled and attracted by the light. The order Lepidoptera comprises the majority of our evening visitors, such as moths. T'liere are three classes of these creatures, divided into diurnal, twilight and nocturnal flyers. The eyes of the nocturnal species are constructed something Hke the owls, that is they are incapable of bearing the bright light of the^ sun. Any one conversant with the habits of these creatures will have noticed on confining a moth in a small box or in a partially darkened room, how its eyes shine. This shews that a difference exists between moths' eyes and those of other insects, — for instance, in those of the dragon fly, which spends its day in the rays of the sun, placed in a like position, no such effect is observed. This bears out the suggestion that the visual organs of nocturnal Lepidoptera reflect, and do not absorb, light. On the other hand, observe the appearance of some of the Splingidae and other nocturnal moths. In the day-time we have often observed them sticking to the trunk of a tree, or in the crevice or corner of a fence. Failing to secure them instantly, they would fly foolishly hither and thither, evidently annoyed by the sunlight, darting among the brushwood and bushes till at last they were captured, — none the better as cabinet specimens, on account of their wings being rubbed or antennae broken. The purposes for which these creatures come out at night are two-fold, — I speak here of the typical night flyers of the order Lepidoptera. The first of these purposes is for feeding. The following cir- cumstance will corroborate this view: — Having sugared some trees on the mountain, I hung a lantern about two feet above where the sugar was spread. The night was very suitable for mothing, — dark and warm. We had not to wait long with our nets before several moths made their appearance, and with ready mouth, licked the sugar. Specimens of diptera also congregated, attracted by the smell as well as the light. Few flew to the light, but rested on or near the part rubbed with the sugar. The second purpose is with a view to finding their mates in order to perpetuate their species. It may be mentioned here that one of the chief aims of an insect's life seems to be to accomplish this 1870.] RITCHIE — INSECTS BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. 65 end. This is more particularly the case with regard to moths, as may be seen from the following circumstance, which happened £bur years ago: — Sitting, with the window open, and a lamp burnine: on the table, a lars-e moth flew into the room. I shut the window and captured it. It was a female of lelea poIyphemus. The window was scarcely closed when something flew against it ; knowing it to be another moth, the sash was again opened ; in a very few seconds in the moth came, and flew up and down the ceiling, when the inevitable net soon enclosed it. This moth was the male of the above species, and its visit was, no doubt, a clear case of love-makino;. I mention another circumstance with resrard to the females of the larger moths in particular, which I have observed frequently. A female never dies without depositing her eggs in some way or other. I have pinned moths time and again on the trunk of a tree, and in every instance (if not at the time of piercing the creature on the tree) always in the box before she died, when they are ejected on the introduction of the pin ; they are unformed and soft. The creature, apparently aware of some change coming over her, does her best for the continuation of her kind up to the latest moment of her existence. Insects, especially Lepidoptera, copulate on the wing, and sometimes at great heights. We had an opportunity of witnessing this at Beloeil mountain on the occasion of the field meeting of this Society last summer. Examples of PapllHo turnus were abundant, — flying higher than the trees, — and higher than the old ruin on the top of the mountain. Vanessa antiopa was also observed, evidently enjoying them- selves, as they flew towards the sun, — away above trees and other objects, — for diurnal Lepidoptera pair, and fulfil the end of their being in the bright beams of the sun. May we not draw the same conclusion with regard to the nocturnal species ? On moonlight nights where are the moths ? No doubt flying at great heights, seeking each others company for the purpose of perpetuating their kind ; and on moonless nights — as will be shewn further on, — those creatures are attracted by artificial lights for the same purpose. I would venture to offer the following suggestions : I have always found that moonlight nights were bad nights for mothing. On clear, moonlight nights these creatures find all they require in the broad expanse of field and forest. The journeys they take, and the enjoyment they have are uninterrupted on such occasions ; but when a moonless, warm, moist, but not wet, YoL. Y. E Xo. 1. 66 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March evening comes, they are aroused by artificial lights, which to them, I believe, is their best substitute for moonlight. The conclusions I arrive at are, that nearly all insects which come out at night,« come either for the purpose of feeding, or of continuing their species. They cannot, on account of the structure of their eyes serve one of the purposes for which they were made, during the bright sunshine. The pale, mellow beams of the moon is their Pharos, and suits them best. You may sit at your open window, with your lamp or lamps, on a bright, moonlight night, and the number of typical night flyers, or insects of any kind, will be few indeed ; experience is the best teacher, and so it has been in the present instance. But on a moonless night, with your lamp, you may make many captures. Insects on dark nights then seem to be attracted by lights, either in your rooms or by lanterns in the woods, because such light come nearest to the light they love and enjoy, namely, that of that " Orbed maiden, with white fire laden, ■Whom mortals call the moon." NOTES ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.* By Geo. E. Bulger, F.L S., F.R.G.S., C.M.Z.S., &g. Seeds of the Wild Liquorice (Ahrus precatorius Linn.) — These seeds are the produce of a twining plant, which seems to have been brought originally from the West Indies, though it is now common enough in India and other eastern countries. It belongs to the papilionaceous division of the natural order Leguminosce. The English call it wild-liquorice, and the French liane ct reglisse. There are several varieties, and three difi'erently- coloured kinds of seeds are well known — black, white and scarlet. The last mentioned have a jet-black spot at one end, and, as they are very hard, glossy and brilhant, they are a good deal in request as beads for necklaces and other ornaments amongst the Hin_ doos. They are called retti-weights in India, and are used by jewellers and druggists, each seed being popularly supposed to be equivalent to one grain ; but Dr. Mason says he has weighed * Part of a small collection recently presented to the Museum of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 67 many of them, and found them to vary from one to two grains. The native goldsmiths are said to make an adhesive compound from them, which is employed in the finer work of jewellery. Several parts of the plant are applied to various medicinal purposes. The root is used as a substitute for liquorice — hence the English name — and Lunan says that a decoction of the leaves is drunk in the West Indies instead of tea. According to Linnaeus the seeds are very deleterious, but, as the Egyptians use them for food, they can hardly be so injurious as the great botanist has led us to suppose. As a plant, the Ahrus precatorius does not possess much beauty, and the pale-purple flowers are neither gay nor striking. I have not seen it growing very abundantly in India, though I have found it pretty widely distributed in that country, as well as in Burmah. Mr. Gosse says it is a common hedge-climber in Jamaica, and it is doubtless equally plentiful in the other islands of the West Indies. The derivation of the generic name is from ahros (pretty), in allusion, probably, to the beauty of the little seeds ; and Loudon says the specific designation, precatorius, is due to the fact of their being used as beads for rosaries. Seed-pod of the Moreton-Bay Chestnut Tree (Castano- spermum Australe Cunn.) — The Gastanospermum Australe, as its English name imports, is an inhabitant of the forests near Moreton Bay, in Australia. It is a handsome tree, belonging to the nat. ord. Legiiminosce, with an abundance of elegant foliage ; and, in the season of bloom, the bright saff"ron-orange papiliona- ceous flowers are very gay. The seeds are large, and, in some slight degree, resemble chestnuts in taste and appearance. They are enclosed in an inflated legume or pod, which is hard and woody in its texture, and of a pale, reddish-brown colour. They are nearly globular in shape, and each pod contains from two to five seeds. Is is said that they furnish an article of food to the natives of the country where they grow, and that Europeans have been known to subsist upon them for some time without any injurious efiects. The tree — the only one of its genus known to science — is very ornamental, and has been successfully cultivated in East Indian gardens, including the famous Lai Bang at Banga- lore. The generic name is compounded from castanea, a chest- nut, and sperma, a seed. NiCKAR Berries (seeds of Guilandina honduc H. K.) — Guilandina honduc is a thorny, climbing shrub of the nat. ord. 68 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March Ltguminosce. It grows abundantly in India, and is also common in the West Indies and other tropical countries. Burton mentions it in his Aheohiita, and in Harvey and Sender's Flora Capensis it is enumerated as an inhabitant of South Africa. Two species are described under the names, respectively, of bonduc and bondiiceUa, but, if the latter is distinct, I have not seen it, and several botanical writers of repute ignore it entirely, excepting as a synonyme of bonduc. * The flowers of bonduc are yellow, the leaves abruptly pinnated, and the whole plant is plentifully armed with ferocious spines. The prickly legumes usually contain two only of the grey and shining seeds, which, being very hard, are used as beads and marbles. They are extensively employed in medicine amongst the natives of the East, and are reputed, in Egypt, to be prized as charms against sorcery. They are frequently called bonduc-nuts, and are so strongly coated with silex, that, Sir Emerson Tennent tells us, they are said to strike fire like a flint. Royle asserts that Guilandina bonduc was the akutmooht of Avicenna, and that there are grounds for supposing * Since the above was written, Mr. Whiteaves has drawn my attention to a paragraph in the Treasury of Botany, wherein, on the authority of Mr. A. Smith, Guilandina bonduc is described as having solitary prickles on the leaves, and producing yellow seeds, whereas bonducella is stated to have prickles in pairs, and lead-coloured seeds. Mr. "Whiteaves has also shewn me specimens from the West Indies of both kinds of seeds, which are certainly very distinct in coloration. I am unable to solve the problem, or to decide whether the differently-colom-ed seeds belong to the same species or not ; but I never saw the yellow ones in India, where I gathered, with my own hands, many hundred specimens of the grey kind ; and I have the high authority of Wight and Arnott to sup- port me in my opinion that the so-called species of bonduc and bonducella are identical. I quote from the Prodromus Florce Peninsulce Indice OrientaUs, as follows : " It might be thought preferable to adopt the name Bonducella, as it was of that form only that Linnteus had seen specimens, Bonduc having been taken up from Plunkenet's figure ; but the two being identical, not even varieties, we have preferred that which is simpler, and not a derivative of the other." I suspect that many of the less important characters of the species are very inconstant, and hence the confusion which has arisen. Indeed I find in Sir "William Jones' Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants, which appeared in the Asiatic Researches, vol. iv, the following statement regarding G-ititowdiwa: " The species of this genus vary in a singular manner ; on several plants, with the oblong leaflets and double prickles of the Bonducella, I could only see male flowers as Rliecde has described them ; they were yellow, with an aromatic fragrance : others, with similar leaves and lyrickles, were clearly polygamous,^'' 1870. J BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 69 it to have been one of the kinds of eagle-stone of the ancients. Ainslie identifies it with the caretti of Kheede, and describes the seeds as yellow, finely variegated with annular saflfron-coloured zones, but these characters are not applicable to the common form, in which the seeds are of a uniform grey, with the annular markings very faint indeed. In Scotland they are often thrown upon the sea-shore, and are there known as molucca-beans. The genus was, according to Paxton, named in honour of Melchior Guilandina, of Prussia, a great traveller, and a Professor of Botany at Padua. Eagle-Wood (^Aquilaria agallocha Rox.) — It is now pretty generally thought that the far-famed lign-aloes of sacred history was the produce of a tree belonging to the genus Aquilaria of the nat. ord. Aquilariacece ; and there are even grounds for supposing it to have been furnished by the Aquilaria agallocha of Roxburgh, fi'om which is obtained at least one kind of the precious and fragrant resin known as calambac ; but, until more accurate and precise information is forthcoming, the uncertainty that has hitherto enshrouded the identity of this delightful and glorious substance can scarcely be removed, or the halo of romance and mystery which hangs around it entirely dispelled. Aquilaria agallocha is stated by Roxburgh to be a native of the mountainous parts of India, east and south of Silhet, in about the latitude of 24 '^ to 25*^ north; but, as there is abundant and reliable testimony to show that a fragrant heart-wood, similar in most respects to the produce of that tree, is brought from many other countries, including Malacca, Java, Siam, and Cochin-Chin a, it is quite evident that either the species under consideration, or others possessing like qualities, are pretty widely distributed over the continent and islands of Asia. Indeed, in works on eastern botany two or three difl'erent kinds are recognized, but, so far as I can learn, they have never been compared with Roxburgh's agallocha, with a view towards ascertaining if they really are specifically distinct. I have not seen the tree of Aquilaria agallocha, but it is stated to be of immense size, and to possess a white, soft, light and inodorous timber, the heart-wood alone being heavy, hard, dark coloured, and highly fragrant. From the latter are extracted the rich essential oil known in India as ugger^ and the costly resin called calambac. Both of these are extensively used as perfumes, and in the manufacture of incense. There are said to be several 70 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March qualities of eagle-wood, and different kinds of resin procurable from it, which vary in value as in name, but, although I carefully searched the bazaars of Madras, Calcutta, Benares, Delhi, Agra, and other large Indian cities, assisted by an interpreter, I failed in obtaining more than one variety of each, and I could not learn that any others were even known. The multitude of synonymes, which seem to be the property of eagle-wood and its products, have added, in no small degree, to the confusion which exists regarding it, and the imperfect and often conflicting accounts of travellers have rather increased the mystery than otherwise, and thus have almost nullified the advantage of their researches. On the whole, this interesting subject requires clearing up, and it is to be hoped that, ere long, it will receive the attention it so well deserves. I cannot credit the statement that the fragrant wood is only found in trees which are diseased and decaying, for all the speci- mens that I examined were apparently sound and in the most absolute health, with the cells full of the precious and sweet- scented resin. The origin of the scientific names is obvious, but their relevancy is not so clear. Capsule of the Frangipanni-Flower Tree (Plumieria alba Jacq.) — The history of this beautiful tree is very roman- tically associated with the visit of Columbus to the West India Islands, and with Mercutio Frangipanni, a botanist of the expe- dition. I find, in Notes and Queries, that Frangipanni lived in 1493, was a famous botanist and traveller, and belonged to a noble and celebrated Italian family. When the great explorer's vessel approached Antigua, the sailors observed that a delicious fragrance pervaded the air, and, upon landing, they found the island abounding in plants of Plumieria alba, laden with blossoms, and rich in " odours of Paradise." From the circumstance of Mercutio Frangipanni having expressed his great admiration of this lovely plant, it is called, by the inhabitants of Antigua, the Frangipanni- flower, and from it is distilled the famous essence of the same name. This tree was long ago introduced into India, and it is now very plentiful in that country. At Bangalore, in the Mysore territories, no garden is without it, and, although leafless for a considerable portion of the year, it appeared to me to be never entirely out of bloom. When destitute of its rich and elegant foliage,, it is not very attractive, owing to the somewhat peculiar 1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 7l and rather ungraceful growth of the branches ; but, about the middle of March, there are few more beautiful objects, and so abundant is the perfume, that it is literally wafted hither and thither by " — every breeze that roams about." The flowers are white, fleshy and bell-shaped, with a yellow tube ; and the leaves are large, lanceolate and of a dark and glossy green. The loveliness of the plants themselves, and the rich fragrance of their delightful blossoms, have attracted the attention of all travellers, and Gosse, in his most charming works on Jamaica, has more than once touched upon the beauty of the Spanish jasmines, as the two species, Plumieria alba et rubra^ which grow there, seem to be called. Bates, in The Naturalist on the Amazons^ mentions Plumieria phagedoeiiica as one of the most singular ornaments of the campos. Plumieria acuminata is called the pagoda-tree in India, and is included, as well as the other species, in the native pharmacopoeia. The genus belongs to the nat. ord. Apocynacem^ and was named in honour of Charles Plumier, author of Plantm Americance. Gru-gru Nut (seed of Acrocomia sderocarpa, Martins.) — These nuts, so-called, are the seeds of a noble South American palm, which, owing to its great height and stately growth, is one of the most majestic representatives of the kingly race to which it belongs. The Journal of Horticulture says the fruit are about the size of Orleans plums, perfectly globular and smooth, and, when fresh, of an olive-green colour. They have a thin, woody rind, beneath which is a layer of fibrous, gelatinous pulp surrounding the hard stone or gru-gru nut, and this again contains a single seed. The seeds of all the species of this eenus contain hard stones, resembling in some degree those under notice; they are polished and carved by the natives of South America, and applied to many ornamental purposes. Both pulp and kernal are said to be eatable — the latter being white and pleasantly tasted. The tree belongs to the nat. ord. Palmacece, and the generic name is derived from akros, top, and kome, a tuft. Seeds of the Perim-Kara Tree (^JElceocarpus ohlongus, Gsertn.) — The Perim-kara is a noble tree, and a great ornament to the forests of the Neilgherries and Southern India, where it grows; especially at the end of the cold season, when the elliptic- oblong leaves assume a most brilliant scarlet-crimson tint before 72 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March they fall. The blossoms are brown and white, ana possess a very unpleasant odour ; the fruit is a drupe, not unlike the olive in appearance, only larger, and it contains a rugose nut, which, after being polished, is applied to many ornamental uses. Accord- ing to Royle, the fruit of at least one species is eaten like olives, and those of other kinds are pickled and used by the natives of India, in their curries. The nuts are strung and employed as sacred beads by the Brahmins, and Royle says they are set in gold, and even sold as ornaments in the shops of Europe. I am unable to trace the origin of the native name, but the generic one is derived from elaia, the olive tree, and karpos, a fruit, in allusion to the resemblance between the fruits of the Perim-kara and the olive. Nat, ord. Elaeocarjmcece. Seeds of the Red-wood Tree (^Adenanthera pavonina^ Linn.) — This is a large tree, and, amongst the natives of India, its timber is known as one of the red sandal-woods. The flowers are small, fragrant, and of a yellowish white ; the seeds are scarlet, glossy and hard. Like those of Ahrus precatorius, the latter are used by the Hindoo jewellers as weights — each one being supposed to be equal to four grains ; but, as they vary a good deal in size, they are, of course, not to be depended upon for this purpose. Bruised and beaten up with borax and water, we are informed that a cement is made from them, and their pulp, when mixed with honey, is used medicinally. The timber is very hard, of a deep red colour, and exceedingly durable ; it aflbrds a dye, which does not appear to be either very much used or very valuable. The tree was long since introduced from the East into the West Indies, and it has become very abundant there. In Jamaica, according to the Journal of Horticulture, the bi-convex seeds are known as Circassian beans. Lady Coote beans, and St. Vincent beans, and they are used for necklaces and other orna- ments. Loudon, in his list of synonymes, quotes bastard flower- fence as the property of this tree. It belongs to the nat. ord. Legumuiosce, and the seeds are produced in a twisted, sickle-shaped pod, which usually contains about ten or a dozen. The generic name is derived from the fact of the anthers being gland-tipped — from aden, a gland, and anthera, an anther. Sandal-wood (^Santalum album, Linn.) — Sandal-wood, some- times called Sauuders-wood, is the produce of SanUdum album of the nat. ord. Santalacece. It is a native of India and other countries of the East, and is a small, handsome tree, with 1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 73 numerous little flowers, which are first straw-coloured, and afterwards of a deep purple. The fruit is a round, black berry. The outer timber is white and almost inodorous — the fragrant portion being only the yellow heart-wood, which is very hard and very handsome. The perfume extracted from sandal-wood is highly prized amongst the Easterns, and it is, perhaps, more extensively used than any other. Medicinal qualities are at- tributed to the essential oil, as also to the powdered heart-wood. The Santalum album is supposed, by some authors, to be identical with the almug or algum trees of Scripture. The name is derived from the Persian word sandid. Indian Shot (Canna Indlca, Linn.) — This pretty little shrub, with its large leaves and bright scarlet flowers, is very ornamental, and, consequently, cultivated extensively in gardens. It is a native of the tropics in both hemispheres. The seeds are round, black and glossy, resembling shot — hence the English name. The root-stalk of some of the species is edible, and, from one kind at least, is obtained the substance called tous les mois. The leaves are used as thatch, and from the seeds is prepared a beautiful purple dye; the roots, seeds, etc., are employed in Hindoo medicine, Loudon says that, in America and the Brazils, the Canna is called wild plantain, and that the leaves are used as envelopes for many articles of commerce, — hence, probably, the French name halisier — halija being Spanish for envelope. Francis Buchanan tells us (Asiatic Researches, vol. vi.) that this plant is peculiarly sacred to Bouddha, as it is supposed to have sprung from his blood, when, once on a time, he had cut his foot, by striking it against a stone ; and that, therefore, the Burmese value the seeds for rosaries. It belongs to the nat. ord. Marantacece, and its name is derived from a Celtic word signifying a cane or mat. Great A^ierican Aloe (Agave Americana, Linn.) — The romance which made the so-called American Aloe a centennial flower has passed away, and it is now well known that the in- tervals between its periods of bloom are very much shorter than was supposed, and that they depend, when the plant is under cultivation, pretty much on the mode of treating it. It is a noble and striking object, especially when its long, stately flower- scape towers up to the height of 18 or 20 feet from the centre of its clustre of sword-like, succulent leaves. The various species are applied to many useful purposes in the difi"erent parts of the 74 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March world, where they are naturalized and abundant. They furnish an excellent fibre called _^i^«, which is manufactured into a superior and durable rope of great strength and power. This rope is stated to have been subjected to a course of experiments in India, and found to have been stronger than the productions of coir, country- hemp and jute. A bundle of the agave-fibre bore 270 lbs. weight, and that of ].lussian hemp only 160 lbs. It is a famous hedge- plant, and is much used for that purpose at the Cape of Good Hope and in the East. Loudon informs us that it is either wild or acclimated in Sicily, the south of Spain and in Italy. It is abundant in the West Indies, and Humboldt says that it is common everywhere in equinoctial America, from the plains even to elevations of 10,000 feet. In Mexico, where it is sometimes called maguey, a liquor is obtained from its juice, which, when fermented, is known as pulque; and from this is distilled an ardent spirit named aguar- diente de maguey. The leaves of one kind are, acccording to Mollhausen, baked and eaten under the appellation of mezcal, and they are elsewhere used to make paper of, as also an excellent and impenetrable thatch. It is said that the juice possesses strong healing properties, and, in Jamaica, Long tells us that a species of soap is prepared from it. I have often employed strips of the dried flower-stem — which is a light, pith-like substance — instead of cork for the lining of insect cases ; and Bennett records the same use of it in Australia. He also says that, owing to the minute particles of silica which it contains, razor-strops are made of it in that country ; and I have possessed and used with great success several that were brought from the West Indies. Chapman, in his poem called Barhadoes, speaks of this plant as the May-pole. " Here, towering in its pride, the May-pole glows, "Whose pointed top a bee swarmed circlet shews Of waving yellow ; whose high-branched stem Takes back the rapt thought to Jerusalem, Shewing the candlestick that stood of old In the first temple, chased in purest gold." The Agave belongs to the nat. ord. AmarylUdacece, and the name is derived from agaus, regal. Seeds of the Gela (Untada purscetha, DeC.) — This is an enormous climbing plant of the nat. ord. Leguminosoe. Its stem, which is thick, rope-like and very long, ascends to the 1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 75 highest trees, whence depend its beautiful foliage, small, yellow flowers and immense seed-pods, which Sir Emerson Tennent met with six inches wide and fully five feet in length. He says the Kandyans call it maha-pus-ivael, meaning great hollow climber, and that probably the mountain region of Pusilawa, which he describes as very beautiful, and one of the finest cofiee-districts in Ceylon, takes its name from this plant. The seeds, he adds, which are handsome brown beans of an immense size, furnish the natives of Ceylon with tinder-boxes, which they make by scooping out a portion of the interior. They are also used in medicine and as a detergent. The plant seems widely distributed, and is in- cluded in the Cape Flora. The seeds, according to Harvey and Sonder, are the common sword-beans of the East and West Indies, and of the tropical Pacific. The generic name is of Indian origin — entada being the Malayalam designation. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. MONTHLY MEETINGS. (Proceedings from January \st to April 30^^-, 1870.) Third monthly meeting, January 31st, 1870; Rev. Dr. De Sola presiding. DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY. R^apparition du Genre Arethusina, Barrande; and Faune Silurienne des Environs de Hof, en Baviere — paf Joachim Barrande. From the Author. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. (Nos. 9 to 13). From the Trustees. PROCEEDINGS. Prof. J. W. Marsh, of Pacific College, Forest Grove, Oregon, was elected a corresponding member of the Society. The following resolutions, having been moved by Principal Dawson and seconded by Rev. Dr. De Sola, were carried unani- mously : — "That this Society, in presenting its medal to Sir W. E. 76 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March Logan, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., although it cannot add appreciably to the many honours which he has received, desires to place on record, not merely on its own behalf, but on that of all the students of Natural Science in Canada, its high estimation of the value of his services in creating, as well as directing, the geological survey of this country, in promoting the development of its mineral resources, in stimulating and aiding the efforts of scientific institutions, and in extending throughout the world the name of Canadian science. We desire also to express our high appreciation of Sir William's admirable personal quaHties, and our hope that he may be spared for many years to Canada and to science, and that the relief from official cares may give him the opportunity to pursue to completion the researches in physical geology in which he is now engaged." Mr. E. Billings read a paper "On the occurrence of Gastero- poda in the Primordial Zone." He commenced by giving a short account of palgeontological discoveries recently made in other countries, and then exhibited a fossil that had been collected during the summer of 1869 by Mr. T. G. Weston, of the Geolo- gical survey, in the Primordial slates of St. John, N. B, The specimen was a small species of Ophileta, and its geological position tvas several thousand feet below the lowest beds in which any Gasteropoda had been heretofore found in America. The rocks were of the same age as the Lower Lingula Flags of Wales, the "Menevian group" of the late Mr. Salter. Another species, but of a different genus, has been found by Mr. Murray in New- foundland, in rocks which appear to be Primordial, but whose age cannot yet be determined with certainty for want of sufficient fossil evidence. Prof. R. Bell then read a paper " On the Intelligence of Animals." He spoke of the reasoning powers in many of the higher and larger animals as being too well established to require a plea, and devoted the greater part of his paper to the considera- tion of instances of what might be regarded as intelligence in such small creatures as insects. Many arguments were adduced, based on the organization and development of these creatures, und more especially on their habits, for regarding them as pos- sessed of something more than mere instinct. Amongst other proofs of the possession of a reasoning power, the fact was men- tioned, that insects, if baffled in one means of accomplishing 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 77 their object, will generally try another ; and that we find them as prompt and skilful in overcoming exceptional and artificial diffi- culties, as in performing the ordinary duties of their lives. The habits of insects, like those of the larger and higher animals, appear to be in a great measure the result of the accumulated experience of many generations. The term instinct, the writer said, has too general and vague a signification, and is often used as a convenient way of accounting for what it is found difficult to explain. After the reading of this paper, a discussion ensued, in which Drs. De Sola and Evans, and Messrs. Billings, Ritchie, Whiteaves and other members took pait. Fourth monthly meeting, February 28th, 1870 ; Rev. Dr. De Sola in the chair. DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY. Geology of Tennessee, Saffi)rd. Presented by Dr. A. Got- tingen, State Librarian, Nashville, Tenn. On the Chemical and Mineralogical composition of the Dhurm- salla Meteoric Stone, by Rev. S. Haughton, M.D., F.R.S., &c. From the Author. The Principles of ^Esthetic Medicine, by Dr. J. B. Catlow. From the Author. Le Glacier de Boium, en Juillet, 1868, par S. A. Sexe; and two other 4to pamphlets. From the Royal Society of Christiania. PROCEEDINGS. Mr. A. S. Ritchie read a paper entitled ''' Why are insects attracted to artificial light," which will be found entire at page 61 of the present volume. Prof. R. Bell gave a verbal account of the zoology and botany of the Nipigon country. Principal Dawson made some remarks on this communication, and said that it was much to be regretted that, when parties were sent by the Geological Survey to explore distant and comparatively unknown parts of the Dominion, no competent naturalist formed part of the expedition. Much prac- tical knowledge as to the agricultural capabilities, &c„ of the region explored was thus lost to the community. 78 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Marcll Fifth monthly meeting, Blarch 28th, 1870 ; the President, Rev. Dr. De Sola, in the chair. DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY. North American Oology, by Thomas Brewer, M. D. Part I. Quarto. Plates, uncoloured. Zoology of H. M. S. Samarang. Fishes. By Sir John Rich- ardson. Quarto. Plates. Both from G. Barnston. PROCEEDINGS. The two following resolutions, having been moved by Dr. Smallwood, seconded by Dr. Carpenter, (in the absence of Prin- cipal Dawson, were unanimously adopted : 1. " That as Mr. Whiteaves has liberally offered to place his private collections of recent shells and British Jurassic fossils in the Museum of the Society, and to make them accessible to members and others, for the purpose of study, so long as he shall remain in Montreal, and under the rules applicable to the collec- tions of the Society, the Treasurer be authorized to expend a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, in providing the necessary cab- inets and materials for mounting and preserving the collections — it being understood that Mr. Whiteaves will himself mount and label the specimens ; also, that the Treasurer be authorized and requested to insure this collection for a sum of not less than one thousand dollars, but not to exceed two thousand, so long at it remains within the building of the Society." 2. " That whereas, it is important to the cause of science, and conducive to the interests and reputation of this Dominion, that researches, by dredging, should be prosecuted in the Gulf and River St. LawrenceJ in order to ascertain the character of marine life in the greater depths, and at the confluence of the fresh and salt waters of the river ; and whereas this Society, and individual members thereof, have so far entered upon such researches as to prove their feasibility and importance, but have not the means of continuing them effectually ; it is the opinion of the Society that aid should be afforded to such operations by the Government, in the manner in which this has been done in Great Britain, and other countries, especially by giving, for a short time in summer, facilities on board government vessels, to a party to be furnished and fitted out by this Society, which would undertake to provide observers, and scientific apparatus, and to make reports upon such 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. » 79 results as might be obtained; that Drs. Smallwood and P. P. Carpenter, also Messrs. E. Hartley and J. F. Whiteaves be a committee to correspond with the Dominion government, through the Hon. the Minister of Marine, with the view of effecting the desired results ; that Principal Dawson be requested, when in London, to obtain information as to the best methods of making such subsidiary observations on the temperature, chemical consti- tution, etc., of the waters at great depths, as have been made in the recent dredging operations under the auspices of the British government, and, if possible, to procure specimens of the necessary apparatus." The two following papers were read by Dr. P. P. Carpenter : 1. On some Peculiarities in Local Faunas, exhibited in the Dredgings, by Mr. McAndrew, in the Red Sea ; by Captain Pedersen, in the Gulf of California, and by Mr. Dall, in Alaska. 2. On the Vital Statistics of Montreal for 1869, with special reference to the great disproportion in death-rate between the French, the Irish, and the English portions of the population. Sixth monthly meeting, April 25th, 1870 ; Rev. Dr. De Sola presiding. DONATIONS TO THE LIBRARY. Hooker's Icones Plantarum. Octavo. London. Half Morocco. Presented by E. Hartley, Esq. Reliquiae Aquitanicae. Part 10. From the executors of the late Henry Christy, Esq. Temperature de la mer entre I'lrlande, I'Ecosse, et la Norv^ge. Avec cinq cartes, par H. Mohn, Christiania ; from the Royal Society of Christiania. A flora and fauna within living animals, by Joseph Leidy, M.D., 4to, Washington ; from Gr. Barnston, Esq. PROCEEDINGS. John Thomas Molson was elected a life member. Gordon Broome, F.G.S., and James Dakers were elected ordinary members. Alfred Bell (of London, England) was elected a corresponding member. The following resolutions having been moved by A. S. Ritchie, and seconded by G. Barnston, were unanimously adopted : — " That the members of this society regret deeply the resignation 80 , THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March of their jaDitor and taxidermist, Mr. W. Hunter, who has so satisfactorily filled the joint situation for a number of years. They also sympathize with him in his bereavement, and in his continued ill health, the immediate cause of his resignation. It is hereby recommended to the society that steps be taken to present Mr. Hunter with a suitable testimonial in consideration of his Ions; and valuable services." Messrs. G. Barnston, John B. Goode, and the mover, were appointed a committee to carry out these resolutions. Dr. Smallwood read a paper '' On some phenomena of the Solar Eclipse of August, 1869." Mr. A. S. Ritchie read an essay entitled : " Aquaria Studies, No. 1." This will be found at page 1 of the present volume. SOMERVILLE LECTURES. The six lectures of this course were delivered as follows : — 1. February 10th, 1870. " Explorations in the Nipigon country," by Professor R. Bell, C.E., F.G.S. 2. February 17th. " Recent discoveries in Solar Physics, and the total eclipse of August 7th, 1869," by James Douglas, jr., President of the Literary and Historical Society, Quebec. 3. February 24th. '• The chemistry of Iron and Steel," by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S. 4. March 10th. " Oq Deep Sea Dredging," by Principal Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S. 5. March 17th. '' On Gold," by Dr. G. P. Girdwood. 6. March 24th. "On Economic Mineral Deposits," by G. Broome, Esq., F.G.S. ANNUAL CONVERSAZIONE. The eighth annual conversazione was held at the rooms on the evening of Wednesday, March 9th, 1870. The whole of the ground floor was tastefully decorated with evergreens, under the superintendence of Mr. D. McCord. Fine geological maps and sections were kindly lent for the occasion by the officers of the Geological Survey of Canada. Messrs. Theodore Hart and Hugh Allan also kindly contributed bouquets of choice cut flowers from their respective greenhouses. A number of microscopes, with objects, were placed in the library, this department being under the special superintendence of the Montreal Microscopic Club. Mr. J, M. Young sent one of 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 81 Powell & Lealand's large binocular instruments, with all the newest accessories. This is probably the finest microscope ever imported into Canada. Other instruments were contributed by Dr. J. B. Edwards, Messrs. James Ferricr, jr., A. S. Ritchie, D. B. Scott, R. McLachlan, and J. F. Whiteaves. Mr. Scott shewed the circulation of the blood in the web of the foot of the Shad Frog, also beautiful living examples of Vorticella campanularia, V. ne- hulifera, Stentor cceruleus, and other infusoria from his own aqua- rium. Mr. A. S. Ritchie illustrated details of insect structure, especially elytra of exotic beetles, and wings of tropical butterflies and moths. He also exhibited some good diatom slides, and a photograph, of microscopic animals and plants from a pond at Leytonstone (near London, England) by H. C. Richter. Mr. R. McLachlan shewed German examples of trichina spiralis, and Mr. Whiteaves some choice polariscope objects, while Messrs. Young and Ferrier contributed a number of fine slides by English preparers. The string band of the P. C. 0. Rifle Brigade was in attendance and performed a choice selection of music during the evening. A little after 8 o'clock, H. R. H. Prince Arthur, attended by Lieut. Picard, entered the building, where he was received by a deputation of tho senior officers of the society. The following address to H. R. H. was then read by the acting presi- dent. Rev. Dr. De Sola : — To His Royal Highness Prince Arthur Patrick William Albert, Knight of the most ancient and most noble order of the Thistle ^ Knight of the most illustrious order of Saint Patrick, &c., &c. May it please Your Royal Highness. We, the officers and members of the Natural History of Montreal, beg leave to approach your Royal Highness with our most respectful salutations, and to tender you a very cordial welcome on this occasion, when we are honoured with your presence amongst us. We beg to assure your Royal Highness of the reverence and regard in which we hold the exalted virtues and beneficent rule of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. Our Society has existed as a corporate body for 38 years, during which time it has ever had as its chief object the advancement of the study of Natural History in this city and throughout Canada. It has erected this building, in which we have collected and arranged a museum which is attaining a magnitude that will bear YoL. Y. F i^o. 1. 82 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March favorable comparison with ordinary public museums in England, and is essentially valuable for its exhibition of local specimens. It has created the nucleus of a useful library of reference on scientific subjects. It has sought to promote original investigation and to foster a taste for the study of nature by its lectures, its papers regularly read, and by its organ the " Canadian Naturalist " which spreads the best attainable information on the natural productions of Canada, not merely among students in the Dominion, but throughout the scientific world where it is favorably known. We believe that the aims and labors of such an associa- tion as ours will enlist the fullest approval of your Royal Highness as they did that of your honoured and lamented father, whose name is revered wherever science is cultivated, as one of its most earnest friends and efficient promoters. To which His Royal Highness read the following reply : To the Officers and Members of the Natural History Society of Montreal, Gentlemen, — It is to me a source of great satisfaction to receive this address of welcome at the hands of a Corporation so learned and distinguished, many of whose members have battled so bravely in the cause of science. Their achievements in the field of Geology and Organic Che- mistry are well-known, not only to Canadians, but to the scientific world at large, and the meritorious literary contributions in other branches of science afibrd clear indications of the ability and of the attainments of the various members. The establishment of this excellent museum, so full of objects of deep interest, reflects great credit upon this Society. Most praiseworthy are the efforts of the members to popularise the natural sciences, and most sincerely do I off'er to them my congratulations on the success that has attended their undertaking. ARTHUR. Dr. De Sola said : May it please your Royal Highness ; Ladies and Gentlemen: The annual conversazione of the Natural History Society, always a gala season for its members, becomes especially so this evening, when we are privileged to welcome to it the honored son of our highly revered and dearly beloved Queen, on whom may God bestow many years of happiness and blessing. On so 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 83 memorable an occasion in the history of this society, there devolves upon me a duty that could have been more worthily and ably discharged by another — the pleasant duty of extending to you, ladies and gentlemea, on behalf of the society, a very cordial welcome to the entertainment we are enabled to offer you. I beg to assure you that we experience a very high degree of gratifica- tion in believing that your presence on this and other occasions is intended to evince your sympathies with the objects of our society. May we be permitted to hope that these sympathies will lead you to become, instead of mere annual visitors, permanent, earnest co- labourers with us. I at least propose in a few remarks on some of the intellectual and utilitarian aspects of the study that engages us here, to show you that we have some warrant for the invitation we give you to labor with us in its great and glorious cause. In its most extended sense Natural Science means an investi. gation into the laws governing, and the elements composing, the whole of God's material works ; the heavens above, and the earth beneath. The boundlessness of such a field of inquiry, I could not on this occasion, more forcibly and, I trust, more appropria- tely, impress on you, than by quoting the words of that excellent and lamented Prince, whose like in respect to his extensive attain- ments in literature and science, and his judicious and successful efforts to promote them, Britain has never yet seen ; who, in his life, afforded us a noble illustration of all that dignifies humanity, and in his death, left us a precious example how the time and talents Grod bestows on us may be most beneficially employed for the best interests of mankind. Need I say I refer to Albert the good ? These are his words addressed to the British Association at Aberdeen, in 1859 : — " But in gaining new centres of light from which to direct our researches, and new and powerful means of adding to its ever increasing treasures, science approaches no nearer to the limits of its range, although travelling further and further from its original point of departure. For God's world is • infinite , and the boundlessness of the universe, whose confines appear ever to retreat before our finite minds, strikes us no less with awe when, prying into the starry crowd of Heaven, we find new worlds revealed to us by every increase of the telescope, than when the microscope dicloses to us in a drop of water or an atom of dust new worlds of life and animation, or the remains of such as have passed away." 84 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March A society such as ours has to regard Natural Science in its more limited sense. It is only from a few salient points that we can hope to penetrate a field which is not more distinguished by its boundlessness than by its variety. But in its immense variety we discover the more we advance in the study, a prevailing uniformity that speaks of plan and system. And as the astronomer has shown that the slight deviations and perturbations of the spheres in their course are, equally with the regularity of their movements, the result of fixed laws, so the scientific naturalist holds it as one of his highest duties to discover and exhibit the principle governing not merely the uniformity of structure and habits of living nature, but all those deviations from it, that at first sight seem so unaccountable and perplexing. If this be so, then, all persons of all degrees, stations and occupations, should aid in some way or other a Natural History Society. For the scientific naturalist wants facts and results of observations ; and he frequently wants those facts which may appear trivial and unimportant, but which he is able by his powers of generalization to show when connected with other facts already obtained, possess a very great value in connecting what is vague, contradictory or erroneous in his former deductions. And the contributor of these facts need not to be a scientific one. Every one with ordinary powers of observation may make important additions to the stores of scientific knowledge. Some of the most valuable contributions to Natural History have been made by unscientific travellers, who simply but faithfully described what they saw and collected. But we need not go to foreign countries to pursue our investigations; there is quite enough room for them in this Canada of ours. For not to speak of the specially interesting field we have for geological and mineralogical research, there is ample scope for observation and enquiry into the structure and vital actions of even our lowest plants and animals, not by any means thoroughly investigated ;* and it may be safely promised the dilio-ent collectors among our insects and marine tribes, that their labors will not always remain unrewarded by the discovery of some species hitherto unknown, and thus valuable contributions made to an important department of natural history— the geograph ical distribution of animals. The duty of acquiring and imparting knowledge from observa- tion thouo-h a very evident one, inasmuch as it advantages society as well as the individual, is yet one very generally neglected. We 1870.J NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 85 have heard of a pedagogue in a small village, who having joined a crowd anxiously engaged in watching an eclipse of the sun, and who having been asked in deference to his superior learning what was the cause of this extraordinary appearance, replied, ** It is only a phenomenon." The truth seems too evident to repeat that if, when we behold anything extraordinary in nature, we check our instinctive curiosity by saying to ourselves: " It is only a phenomenon ; " we shall not be one step nearer any rational knowledge of the appearance than if we had never observed it. " How many singular phenomena," exclaims the zealous natural- ist, in accents of bitter regret, ^'how many rare and precious fossils have been lost to the world, seen by blind eyes. How many gas lamps might have trembled at sounds before a Lecomte observed under what conditions the ball-room lights responded to the tones of a violoncello." But the study of Natural History is not merely valuable as a means of cultivating the powers of observation, but of educating all the faculties of the mind. Advancing as it does from the study of the simple to the analysis of the complex it must necessarily bring into play all those mental powers that men are called upon to exercise in all the engagements of life. " The process by which truth is attained" says Mill, " reasoning and observation, have been carried to their greatest known perfection in the physical sciences." Natural History being concerned rather with the knowledge of things than of words, can lay claim to an exactness which is not the least of its merits. Another of its advantages is, that it supplies us with great ideas of natural law and harmonious adjustment. Finally, it bestows on us a general quickness of perception, for the habits of observation it necessitates, gives to the intellect a superior aptitude of understanding and enjoying the thing observed. Were this the occasion to dwell on the utilitarian aspects of the study, we might refer to the countless blessings it has bestowed on man in the shape of all those things essential to his wants and comforts. We might point to an improved agriculture and horti- culture — to the protection of crops from the devastions of insects, to the multiplication of the ores, the coal, the useful and precious stones and metals ; we might poinl to the wondrous triumphs of science applied to the arts ; to the labour-saving processes which enable all to possess so cheaply the comforts and elegancies of life 86 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March formerly attainable only by the very few. Especially might we point to these in the mother country, but they are not entirely absent in this Dominion, even with a sparse population of compar- aratively scant leisure and opportunities. For where first stood the primeval forest in which roamed only savage man and wild beasts, now rise large cities, important centres of commerce, pleasant villages and smiling hamlets ; where formerly prevailed unbroken stillness and solitude is now heard the busy hum of industrv, the cheerful sound of civilized man's labour in his work Siiops and in his factories, with his labour saving implements and- machines and engines, and his countless devices for multiplying force and velocity, all originating in science and directed by science, the friend of art and the guide of industry. Where the Indian canoe slowly bore its untutored occupant in his short journeys on the bosom of onr noble streams, now rides the majestic steamboat carrying its hundreds of passengers hundreds of miles, even through a night's sleep, on their errands of business, pleasure and duty ; where on the banks of these streams could only be seen a few rude wigwams approached by the narrow bridle path or painful trail, now stand thousands of commodious houses and palatial mansions, everywhere connected with broad and easy roads or well furnished railways, along which rushes the mighty locomotive, so fearful in its energy and power, with its freight of human beings, and all that ministers to their wants in distant settlements, speeding on its way through tunnelled hills and mountains, over the marvellous tubular and suspension bridges that hang over gorges of dizzy depths ; following the telegraph wire, along which the lightning with its proper rapidity conveys man's messages, wishes and behests ; over the canals that science has substituted for rivers not navigable ; along rich corn fields and beautiful gardens replete with lovely flowers, luscious fruits and perfumed exotics, all multiplied and improved by scientific culture ; such are some of the results which science, applied to the arts, has obtained for us in Canada ; and there is not one of her sons or daughters who may not yet aid in further developing these blessed results. But, it is no mere material, grovelling earthly science that we laud and . advocate in this Institution, but a science whose eye alternates between earth and heaven ; — below, seeking the advan- cement and good of humanity ; above, finding communion with the Great Creator and Architect of all ; acquiring the fuller 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 87 knowledge of wisdom and design, and adaptation and harmony everywhere displayed. " To see in part That all, as in some piece of art, Is toil co-operant to aa end," — and that end the elevation and felicity of man. Yes, the benevolence, the wisdom and the omnipotence of Him, who formed all and maintains all, are made more and more manifest to us as we advance step after step in the study of natural science. We hear the voice of God on the mighty waters, when He thun- dereth and when He flasheth the flames of fire that shiver the mighty cedars. We raise our eyes and we see his infinite and unapproachable wisdom displayed in the delicate adjustments and felicitous arrangements of the varied forces that astronomy reveals. We see it in the mechanical, chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere, in the efi"ects of light and heat, in developing and fostering all the varied beautiful animal and vegetable life ; in the production of cooling winds and fructifying showers. We read this testimony in the towering rocks and giant trees as in the grains of sand and petals of the flowers ; in the nerves and veins and arteries which permeate this wondrous frame of ours, as in the vessels that convey the sap from the root to the leaf in the vegetable world, in short in all the countless adaptations and modi- fications everywhere visible, everywhere needed. And when we pass from the known to the unknown ; from the revealed to the unrevealed ; from the study of the stupendous and inimitable organisms, it is given us to understand, to the contemplation of the mysterious powers and qualities and forces in nature which seem almost for ever destined to baflSe man's puny efi*orts to resolve them, we cannot fail to carry away a sentiment of the most profound humility, a deep seated conviction of the utter weakness and insignificance of our powers. Yes, from the study of nature, from this. house in which it is specially cultivated, we should and we must carry into the active occupations of our lives, in our daily intercourse with our fellow beings, an earnest desire to emulate, as far as we may, the attributes of the Creator, as revealed to us by nature ; to select the most comprehensive of these attributes, — benevolence, as the main spring of all our thoughts and actions ; so that we may look upon all men, no matter what their origin, color or creed, as equally the objects of the one Creator's care and the one Creator's love and so that we 88 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March may learn to practice that toleration for each other's cherished opinions, political or religious, that shall ever banish from amongst us the bitter wrangling of dogmatism and the rancour of sectarian strife, and shall secure among us the rule of that harmony every- where prevalent in nature, and everywhere taught by her, — the harmony that shall prove " The chain of love, Combining all below and all above." Principal Dawson, in a short address, rapidly epitomized the work done by the Society since its establishment, more than thirty years ago, in gathering and recording facts in Canadian natural history ; also in promoting the origination of the Geolo- gical Survey, and, incidentally, in being instrumental in the founding of the Somerville course of lectures. He also pointed out in detail the peculiar functions of the Society as being, to compare small things with great, in one respect at least, somewhat analogous to those of the British association, — at least, in so far as either of them might urge on the attention of the public and the Government any opening of new paths of scientific local enquiry. It gathered facts and preserved a record of them in the " Canadian Naturalist," — facts which would otherwise have been lost, or retained no scientific value. Tt had one of the most important museums in the city ; and outside of its more proper sphere, it had lent its countenance and assistance to ob- taining the passage of the Act for the protection of insectivorous birds, to the promotion of city sanitary effort, and to the formation of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It was, however, to be regretted that Canada did not show herself more disposed to take part amongst the nations in some departments of scientific investigation ; likewise, that competent zoologists and botanists were not invited to accompany the expeditions sent out by the Geological Survey, as they might do with great advantage and at a light expense. The Chairman called on Dr. J. Baker Edwards, F.C.S., to make some remarks on APPLIED SCIENCE, AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE USEFUL PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM COAL. Dr. Edwards stated that the direction of his remarks would not be towards a chemical demonstration of the miscellaneous products derived from coal, but, by the enumeration of their character and 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 89 importance, to derive an encouragement for the spread of scien- tific knowledge throughout all classes of the community, Canada, being a country full of mineral wealth, might look to the educa- tion of the industrious classes as one of the great sources of her future wealth and importance ; and although coal was not one of her mineral treasures, yet we should not fail to see that we are as much interested as consumers of its products, as if we were pro- ducers of it as a mineral. The different varieties of coal — anthra- cite, cannel, albertite, &c., — were then described, and the produc- tion of coal-gas illustrated by a large diagram showing the interior of a gas works. The first product of coal, illuminating gas, being illustrated by a photometer, by which the Montreal gas was declared to be equal to 21 sperm candles, which, he believed, was superior to any in Canada, and equal to most of the large towns of the north of England, the " applied science " was to be found in the choice of suitable admixtures of coal to form the best coke as well as the best and purest gas. The use of gas as fuel, by Siemann's Regenerative Furnaces, was next described ; and this mode was recommended as the most economi- cal for any coal containing much gas; by its aid a new process for the production of soda ash was now being worked with much success in Liverpool. In the necessary purification of gas for illuminat- ing purposes, quantities of tar and ammoniacal liquor are pro- duced ; and by the chemical treatment of the tar especially, new and valuable products are obtained. The benzole so largely em- ployed for the solution and manufacture of rubber compounds is derived from this source, as also the asphalt of our pavements, roofing and tarpaulings. In cookery and perfumery we meet with nitro-benzole under the name of almond flavour, from which is derived aniline, the base of that beautiful series of colours well known as the aniline dyes. Important as these are in a com- mercial point of view, they are surpassed in social importance by the production of carbolic acid, which now stands at the head of our disinfecting agents. From this substance is also obtained a yellow dye, picric acid, which is said to possess explosive proper- ties rivalling gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine. Finally, from the ammonia and sulphur recovered from the process, we have valu- able fertilizing agents which, when returned to the soil, complete the great cycle of vegetable existence. From this brief review of the value of applied science to coal, Dr. Edwards urged the importance of the establishment of schools of technical science 90 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March to supply an existing want in this community, and to enable the coming generation to develop the immense mineral resources of this rich country. Illustrations of the luminous and chromatic properties of flame were shown after the lecture by the aid of the photometer, the electric light, the sodium light, &c. ; also, the process of dyeing silk by Aniline colours. His Royal Highness then proceeded to examine with some care the various objects in the museum, the curator pointing out any of special interest. He paid particular attention to the collection of mammals and birds, also to the series of Canadian insects, the study of entomology, particularly of the lepidoptera, seeming to have had special attractions to His Royal Highness. The company separated a little after eleven o'clock. j. f. w. ABSTRACTS OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. At a recent meeting of the Geological Society of London, the following communications were made, of which we present abstracts to our readers : " Notes on some specimens of Lower-Silurian Trilobites." By E. Billings, Esq., F.G.S., Palaeontologist of the Geological Survey of. Canada. The author first described a s^eGimen of Asa^hus platycephalus, in which the hypostome was not only preserved in situ, but also the remains (more or less well preserved) of eight pairs of legs, corresponding with the eight segments of the thorax, to the underside of which they had been attached. The appendages take their rise close to the central axis of each segment, and all curve forwards, and are thus most probably ambulatory rather than natatory feet. They appear to have had four or five articu- lations in each leg. Three small ovate tubercles on the pygidium may, perhaps, indicate the processes by which the respiratory feet were attached. Mr. Billings referred to the large number of Trilobites which have been examined, and expressed his belief that only the most perfectly preserved specimens are likely to have the organs on the underside preserved. 1870.] GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 91 Mr. Billings next described the doublure or pleura in the Tri- lobites, comparing it to that of Lwiulvs. He then proceeded to describe a row of small scars and tubercles on the underside of the pleurae, to which both Dr. Volborth and Dr. Eichwald believed soft swimming feet or hard horny legs had been attached. As these were first seen by Dr. Pander in a Russian Trilobite, Mr. Billings has called them " Panderian organs." He thinks soft natatory appendages may have been attached to these scars. Mr. Billings directed attention to the Frotichnites and CH- mactichnites, which he thinks may now be referred to Crustacea belonging to the division Trilohita. Finally, Mr. Billings described a section of a rolled-up Oi/mene senaria, the interior cavity of which appears to be full of minute ovate bodies, from l-80th to 1-lOOth of an inch in diameter. — These small ovate bodies the author believes to be eggs. " Note on the palpus and other appendages of Aaajphus, from the Trenton Limestone, in the British Museum." By Henry Wood- ward, Esq., F.G.S., F.Z.S. Mr. Woodward, when comparing the Trilobite sent over by Mr. Billings with specimens in the British Museum, presented by Dr. J. J. Bigsby, F.R.S., discovered upon the eroded upper surface of one of these, not only the hypostome exposed to view, but also three pairs of appendages, and what he believes to be the palpus of one of the maxillae. This furnishes an additional fact to Mr. Billings's most interesting discovery, besides confirming its con-ectness. Mr. Woodward considers the so-called " Panderian organs" to be only the fulcral points upon which the pleurae move, and showed that such structures exist in most recent Crustacea. He considered that the evidence tended to place the Trilobita near to, if not in, the Isopoda Normalia. He remarked that the prominence of the hypostome reminded one strongly of that organ in Apus, and suggested that we might fairly expect to find that the Trilobita represented a more gene, ralized type of structure than their representatives at the present day, the modern Isopoda. Discussion. Mr. Woodward had carefully examined Mr. Billings's specimen and agreed with him in considering that there was undoubted evidence of the presence of walking-appendages under the thorax. 92 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March The presence of such limbs might a priori have been expected ; and the nature of the test suggested that Trilobites were walking rather than swimming forms of Isopods. The branchiae had pro- bably been under the telson ; and this would account for its large development. It was not more surprising to find highly organized Trilobites than it was to find such highly organized crustaceans as Pterygotus, Eurypterus and SUmonia in the same beds. Prof Rupert Jones, Principal Dawson, and Sir Wm. Logan made some remarks, more especially on Protichnites and Cli- mactichnites, the latter having been explained as galleries of Crustacea by Prof. Jones, when first exhibited in England. " Notes on the Geology of Arisaig, Nova Scotia." By the Rev. D. Honeyman, D.C.L., F.G.S. The author referred to a previous paper on the Upper Silurian Rocks of Nova Scotia, which he stated appeared to him now to be generally repetitions of his Arisaig series. He noticed the occur- rence of fossils in one of the beds previously supposed to be almost destitute of organic remains, and described the occurrence, in Arisaig township, of a band of crystalline rocks which appeared to contain Eozoon and were probably of Laurentian age. A note from Prof Rupert Jones, giving an account of the fossils referred to by Dr. Honeyman, was also read. Discussion. Sir W. Logan said that Dr. Hunt had seen the specimens of serpentinous limestone, and considered that they might be Lau- rentian. Sections of them appeared to Dr. Dawson to show tubulation rather difi'erent from that found in Laurentian Eozoon* They might, therefore, belong to a difi'erent age. The following among other specimens were exhibited to the Meeting : — Specimens of Sigillarioe, Calamites, etc. ; exhibited by Principal Dawson. Specimens of Trilobites ; exhibited by E. Billings, Esq. 1870.] REVIEWS AND NOTICES OP BOOKS. 93 REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. Disinfectants and Disinfection, by R. A. Smith, Ph.D. F.R.S. — {Contimied from No. 2, page 228.) — A large portion of the experimental and original investigations of our author were made by Royal Commission, in conjunction with Professor Crookes, F.R.S. , in an enquiry into the nature of and remedy for the Cattle Plague of 1865-66. A subject of so great national and world-wide importance demanded the closest scientific scrutiny ; — and whilst, on the one hand, the microscope was made the instrument of valuable infor- mation as to the cause of the disease, (viz : the existence of organic spores in the atmosphere which attended the outbreak and marked the duration of the disease) ; the materials of disinfection which proved most valuable, after a long series of experiments, were, as already indicated, the Tar Acids — in the form of Carbolic Acid, and as Carbolate of Lime.^ In referring to tar and its accompanying products, our author treats us to a very learned and interesting historic review, (pp. 8- 17) and enters into the chemical history of <'tar acids," (page 59). By the distillation of wood tar, we obtain creosote and acetic acid (vinegar). By the distillation of coal tar, we pro- duce carbolic and cresylic acids. Of creosote we know — that it kills and preserves from decay, insects, fishes, and animals, that it stops the flow of blood in man and preserves flesh from decay. In the coal tar acids — we find some difi'erences. Carbolic acid is poisonous, but less bo than creosote. It coagulates, but does not stop bleeding. It exercises preserving and antiputrescent powers in wonderfully dilute solutions. The action of the car acids our author thus explains (page 62) : — " There is neither " life nor decay without motion. Tar acids arrest that motion "■ which takes place in decay. They are, therefore, antiseptic — " they antisept. As soon as the decay ceases, the putrid gases *' cease to arise. The acids are, therefore, disinfectant. They * Misprinted "Carbonic Acid" and "Carbonate of Lime" in the former notice. 94 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March " prevent oxidation of organic, but not of inorganic substances ; " tliey will not prevent iron from rusting." Pettenkofer states that ^' they arrest, but do not destroy fermentation." This seems, however, to depend greatly on the strength of the acids used, and the conclusion drawn by the author is that all vital action may be destroyed by strong acids, and that in various degrees of dilution they are more or less potent on the lower organisms — both animal and vegetable. Experiments made by Mr. Crookes showed that a solution containing 1 per cent of carbolic acid: — 1** preserved meat with fresh odour; 2° preserved gut skin, size, and glue; 3° stopped the fermentation of yeast in a saccharine solution ; 4° killed cheese-mites, infusoria fish, caterpillars, beetles, and gnats. Cresylic acid, which accompanies carbolic acid, is also a power- ful antiseptic, and has much less coagulating power over albumen, than carbolic acid. It has a stronger smell, bears greater dilu- tion, and is probably a more powerful disinfectant than carbolic acid, and better adapted for injection into the veins of diseased animals — a process which was found of great service during the Cattle Plague. " Petroleum is a very poor disinfectant compared to tar acids. " Probably it contains a little either of carbolic acid or of some " allied compound, to which it owes all its disinfecting power. '' Tar oils which most resemble petroleum have also a weak disin- " fecting power ; but, when the acids are washed out by water, " there is no disinfecting power remaining." Lime is a good disinfectant, but very weak. As it is, however, cheap and abundant, it is an excellent auxilliary, especially applied as lime-wash to the walls of buildings. It is, certainly, greatly raised in value by admixture with carbolic acid, which is thus retained in contact with large surfaces of air which it com- pletely disinfects. The process, however, needs frequent repeti- tion, if the generation of air poisons be continuous, as in stables, cattle sheds, or slaughter-houses. After consideration of the several metallic salts, which have been recommended as disinfectants, (of which our author forms a less favourable opinion than of the tar acids,) attention is called to the necessary removal of manure and refuse by water-closets and sewers, earth closets and middens. Of the first he says : — "The water-closet system is a great luxury, unquestionably, but " like all other luxuries, it is taxed. ^ * ^ It is the very 1870.] REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 95 " symbol of abundance and extravagance. The mechanism must '' be very excellent, and, with the best, a little chemical assistance *^ from disinfectants is often needful. Water-closets which are " not carefully attended to are unsafe. It is an immense advance " upon the old cess-pools, which were found after much loss of " life to be manufactures of disease of the most active nature. " But unless we get good sewers, we have similar evils from the " water system. ' There are sewers and sewers.' The liquid '' matter, when neither removed rapidly, nor disinfected, is our " old enemy, the cess-pool, with a territory extending miles long " instead of feet. The midden is better than the bad sewer. I " believe we shall never see the extinction of either middens or " water-closets; we may remedy some of the evils. To allow " bad air to form in the sewers, and then draw it into the houses, " or permit it to rush into the streets, is bad engineering. The " sewers may be ventilated, and filtered through charcoal ; or the " formation of bad air may be prevented by a proper use of disin- " fectants." On the earth closet question, our author remarks : — " One may very correctly look upon the soil as the greatest agent " for purifying and disinfecting. Disinfection by its means is per- " feet so long as the decomposing matter can be perfectly dried " up by it ; but, should moisture be in excess, a dangerous " condition of malaria is apt to ensue." Admitting the conditions which Mr. Moule lays down, viz., two cwt. of dry earth per week for six persons, he says : — '* Nobody can doubt the disinfecting *' power ot the soil, and certainly, Mr. Moule has found a mode '' of applying it in many cases." The author's treatise is rendered especially valuable by a series of original experiments on the comparative power of disinfectants, which are expressed in a tabular form, for which our space is too limited. The objects of the experiments, however, may be thus stated : — 1st. To show the amount of gas evolved when the disinfect- ants act on organic substances in water. 2nd. To show the amount of certain disinfectants required to prevent the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen. 3rd. Amount of certain disinfectants required to remove putrid smells. 4th. Influence of volatile substances in preventing putrefaction. 5th. Comparative power of antiseptics in preserving meat. 6th. The antiseptic effects of certain gases on flesh. 96 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March The value of air and water are then considered, as the great natural disinfectants. Air, especially ozonized air, is a most powerful disinfectant ; and the use of water in the bath is advocated and lauded in the following quotation from Martial, " The Joys of a Life in the Water " : " Baiae, the prince of watering-places, Somehow the weather's always fine; The light is long, and the day's decKne Is very slow, and * going away ' Are words one never thinks to say. Eocks with all beauties there abound Cut out of many a distant ground ; Warm breathing onyx fat and fine, And various-coloured serpentine. If hot Laconian vapours please, Here lie, though melting, at your ease ; Two streams supply you all you crave, The Yirgo and the Marcian wave, "Water so bright and clear and fair, You think no hquid can be there." The comparative value of disinfectants to prevent decomposition of organic matter, i.e., as antiseptics, is thus given : COST. 100" Common Salt 1.0 1" Cresylic Acid 4.9 23^2 Chloride of Lime 7.0 9".3 Carbolic Acid 14.0 o Special directions are given for the best mode of preservin cattle skins, horn tips, salted and dry cattle-gut, melted tallow in casks, cows' hair, pigs' bristles, sheep's wool, fresh bones, skins and guts, raw flesh, wagons, platforms, cattle-pens, and ships. On the general subject of disinfection our author wisely remai'ks : — " It is a very complicated problem. Disinfection is ^' not a magic act, performed by a small piece of a substance, " which removes all evils at once. There are many evils in various " conditions, and each must be attacked in its own peculiar mode. " People must use their reason. Everyone must pick out the '^ cheapest and most convenient disinfectant, according to the " circumstances of the case. Chloride of lime destroys smells " rapidly ; Condy's fluid, ditto, and is itself without smell. Tar " acids (carbolic and cresylic) are good for continuous action, 1870.] REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 97 *' especially for closets and the open air. Burnett's fluid, for " preserving moist bodies long." — (pp. 133-134). The work is eminently practical and suggestive. Perhaps it would be more acceptable to the public if it had been more dogmatic and positive in its generalizations. It is a valuable accumulation of facts carefully chronicled, and we may hope that some Liebig will arise to give us the great deductions which are involved in this most important subject — which are still " desiderata." J. B. E. Protoplasm ; or, Life, Matter, and Mind. By Lionel S. Beale, M.D., F.K.S. 2nd Edition. London: Churchill, 1870. — We have only to state in reference to this the second edition of Dr. Beale's interesting book, that it is much enlarged and contains a new section on the Mind. It is an able display of the author's well-known views in reference to the early development of the tissues, and embraces an attempt to apply these views to some of the problems, half physical, half metaphysical, which of late years have attracted the attention of thinking biologist. Whatever opinions may be held as to the dispute between Dr. Beale and Mr. Huxley, it is certain that the volume itself is full of interest both to the microscopist and the ordinary educated man. — Monthly Microscopical Journal. The Cell-Doctrine : Its History and Present State, &Q. Jy James Tyson, M.D., Lecturer on Microscopy in the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Lyndsay & Blakiston, 1870. — It is surprising how very little is known by medical men generally of the arguments for and against the cell-doctrine of Schwann and Schleiden. Notwithstanding the admirable essay published by Professor Huxley many years since in the ' Medico- Chirurgical Review,' and the numerous fine memoiis which Dr. Beale has given from time to time, it is still a fact that very few know how the question as to the mode of origin of the tissues now stands. It was to meet this want, and, at the same time, to help to promulgate Dr. Beale' s views, that the author of the pre- sent volume prepared this treatise. — Monthly Micro. Journal. YoL. V. G No. 1. 98 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. At a meeting of the Geological Society of London, held December 22nd, 1869, the following papers were read : Notes on the Structure op Sigillaria, by Principal Dawson, F.R.S., F.G.S., Montreal. — In this paper the author criticised the statements of Mr. Carruthers on the structure of Sigillaria (see Q. J. G. S. xxv. p. 248). He remarked that Sigillaria, as evidenced by his specimens, is not coniferous ; that the conifer- ous trunks found in the coal-formation of Nova Scotia do not present discigerous tissue of the same type as that of Sigillaria ; that no Conifer has a slender woody axis surrounded by an enormously thick bark ; that Calamodendron was probably a Gym- nosperm, and allied to Sigillaria ; that although Stigmaria may not always show medullary rays, the distinct separation of the wood into wedges is an evidence of their having existed ; that the dif- ference in minute structure between Sigillaria and Stigmaria involves no serious difficulty if the former be regarded as allied to Cycadaceas ; and further, that we do not know how many of the Stigmarise belong to Sigillaria proper, or Favularia, or to such forms as Clathraria and Leioderma, which may have been more nearly allied to Lepidophloios ; that the fruit figured by Goldenberg as that of Sigillaria is more probably that of Lepidophloios, or may be a male catkin with pollen ; and that he has found Trigon- ocarpa scattered around the trunks of Sigillaria, and on the surface of the soil on which they grew. He agreed with Mr. Carruthers in regarding Mr. Binney's Sigillaria vascularis as allied to Lepidodendron. Discussion. — Professor Morris thought that Clathraria and Lepidophloios ought to be discriminated from the Sigillarias, as being rather more nearly allied with cycadaceous plants, especially the former. He pointed out the maner in which certain vascular bundles communicating between the centre of the stem of Sigil- laria and allied genera and their bark might be mistaken for medullary rays. Note on some New Animal Remains from the Car- boniferous AND Devonian of Canada, by Principal Dawson, F.R.S., F.G.S., Montreal. — The author described the characters 1870.] GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 99 presented by the lower jaw of an Amphibian, of which a cast had occurred in the coarse sandstone of the coal-formation between Ragged Reef and the Joggins Coal-mine. It measured 6 inches in length ; its surface was marked on the lower and posterior part with a network of ridges inclosing rounded depressions. The an- terior part of the jaw had contained about 16 teeth, some of which remained in the matrix. These were stout, conical, and blunt, with large pulp-cavities, and about 32 longitudinal striae, corresponding to the same number of folds of dentine. The author stated that this jaw resembled most closely those of Baphetes and Dendrerpe- ton, but more especially the former. He regarded it as distinct from Baphetes planiceps, and proposed for it the name of B. minor. If distinct, this raises the number of species of Amphibia from the Coal-measure of Nova Scotia to nine. The author also noticed some insect remains found by him in slabs containing Sphenophyl- lum. They were referred by Mr. Scudder to the Blattariae. From the Devonian beds of Gaspe the author stated that he had obtained a small species of Cephalaspis, the first yet detected in America. With it were spines of Machairacanthus and remains of some other fishes. At Gasp^ he had also obtained a new species or variety of Psilophyton, several trunks of Prototaxites, and a species of Cyclostigma. Discussion. — The president objected to the term Reptiles being applied to Amphibia, from which they were totally distinct. He questioned the safety of attributing the jaw to Baphetes, of which no lower jaw had been previously found. Mr. Etheridge remark- ed that the Cephalaspis difiered materially in its proportions from any in either the Russian or British rocks. BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. North American Laminariace^. — x\t a late meeting of the Nova Scotian Institute, Prof. Lawson read a short paper on this group of sea weeds, of which we give an abstract. He commenced by stating that although many subjects interesting to science had been the objects of study to members of the Institute, yet that the LaminariacegB of our coast and harbors had 100 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March been entirely neglected ; and he expressed a hope that some of them would qualify to supply the omission. The study had long engaged the earnest attention of celebrated naturalists. He enumerated the following species, which are fully described in Dr. Harvey's Nereis Boreali-Americana. Alaria escidenta — On rocks about low water mark, extending south to Cape Cod. A. Pylaii. — On rocks near low water mark, Newfoundland. Laminar ia Fascia. — A very small and delicate plant, only a few inches in length, found in Halifax harbor, on rocks and stones near low water mark by Prof. Harvey — widely distributed — occurring not only at Halifax and on the New York coast, but also on the Atlantic and Mediterranean shores of Europe, and at the Falkland Islands. Specimens of the allied L. dehilis were shown from Kutzing. L. lorea. — Shores of Newfoundland. L. dermatodea. — On rocks at and below low water mark, Newfoundland. L. saccharina. — At and below low water mark. Harvey gives it as common on rocky shores from Greenland to New York, and cast up from deeper water on the New Jersey coast. Prof. Lawson has a specimen collected by Dr. Rae at Montreal Island. L. longlcruris. — Abundant below low water mark along the shores of Halifax harbor, at Point Pleasant and around the wharves at the city. The species abounds along the shores from Greenland to Cape Cod, and occurs in Newfoundland. It occurs likewise in Europe, but there the range is quite northern as it scarcely extends beyond the limits of the Arctic Sea^ whence ragged fragments are sometimes drifted upon the Northern coasts of Scotland and Ireland, Its reported occurrence in the Bahama Islands is probably a mistake. L. trilaminata. — Found floating near Narragansett, Rhode Island ; it is probably an abnormal form of L. saccharina. L. digitata. — On rocks at and below low water mark, common as far as Cape Cod. Dr. Harvey's impression that possibly more than one species is confounded under this name should induce observers to examine the numerous forms with much care. Agarum Tumeri. — The species of Agarum differ notably from Laminaria in the flat frond being pierced throughout with holes, 1870. J BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 101 hence the common name, Sea Colander, by which they are known. This species grows below low water mark, and is thrown up in quantities by southern gales at Point Pleasant. It extends from Greenland to Cape Cod, and has likewise been collected on the coast of Russian America, but it is unknown on the European shores. A. pertuswnu — Newfoundland. This plant is distinguished by its less regularly shaped and smaller and fewer perforations.. Chorda filum. — The frond is of great length attached by a small disc and very slender at the base, thickening towards the middle, and again attenuating. It is often so long that when taken out of the water it ressembles a fishing line. It occurs between tide marks and extends into deep water, and is often abundant. C. lomentaria. — Extends from our coast south to Charleston, o. C Dr. Lawson, in conclusion, read a letter from Dr. A. F. Le- Jolis, of Cherbourg, France, in which he states — that he is engaged in a monograph of the whole group of the Laminariaceas, that for such a study materials are never too numerous, and that he would be happy to receive a fresh supply of specimens from North Amer^'ca. He asks Dr. Lawson's help, and that he would inte- rest his friends in his favour. It is not necessary that the specimens be prepared for the herbarium. On the contrary, he had rather they were coarsely dried, without being washed in fresh water or compressed. The parcels may be addressed to him, and sent by any vessel sailing for France, or, if convenient, through the steam packets from New York to Hamburg, which stop at Cherbourg on their return from America. — Newspaper Report. The Diffusion of Plants. — Prof. Delpino, of Florence, has published some interesting researches on the relation between the diffusion of plants and animals. The life of every plant has three principal objects : its nourishment, its reproduction and the distribution of its seeds ; for each of these three objects special bio logical conditions being requisite. The fertilisation of many plants can be effected only by some particular animal : as Arum italicum, Aristolochia, and Asaimm, by gnats ; the fig tribe by different species of Cynips (or gall-fly) ; Arum dracunailus, Sta. pelia, and Rafflesia, by blue-bottle flies ; many others by different kinds of flies or bee-like insects (^Hymenopterd) , and some even 102 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March by small birds belonging to the family of TrochiUdoe, or humming- birds ; Rosa^ Poeonia, and Magnolia^ qrandiflora, by beetles of the chafer tribe ; others again by small slugs. If in any particular locality the animal necessary for the fertilisation of a particular plant is absent, it is certain that the plant cannot spread ; and thus the conditions for the diffusion of plants are dependent on the geographical distribution of animals. A remarkable illustration is furnished by two plants belonging to the same genus, grown in the botanic gardens in Italy, Lobelia syphilitica and L.fidgens; the flowers of the former are abundantly visited by Bomhris ter- restris and italicus, and freely produce seeds ; the latter, not- withstanding its beauty and its great store of honey, is never visited by insects in the neighbourhood of Florence, and never bears seeds spontaneously, but can be readily fertilized by artifi- cial impregnation. Prof. Delpiuo conjectures that it is naturally fertilised by humming-birds. He believes that the scarlet colour of the corolla, so common in the tropics, but comparatively rare with us, is especially attractive to small birds, but offensive rather than otherwise to Hymenoptera. As a rule, scarlet flowers are large, bag-like in form, horizontal in position, and with the nectar completely separated, which would of itself perfectly prevent their fertilisation by insects. The largest European flowers, such as the paeony and^arge bird-weed {Convolvulus sepium) are fertilised by sphinxes and rose-chafers. — Botanishe Zeitung. National Museum of Bohemia, Nov. 24, 1869.— M. T. Palacky explained his views of the botanical geography of Asia. M. Grisebach has recently divided Asia into four botanical provinces : (1) Western, or that of the Steppes ; (2) Eastern, or Chinese ; (3) Boreal, or Siberian ; and (4j Southern, or that of India. M. Palachy admits only two provinces — the one Southern, the other Boreal— including in the latter the whole of Asia beyond the Himalayas, because the first three provinces of M. Grisebach do not appear to him to differ more from one another in regard to their flora than the sub -provinces of each do. The author lays special stress upon the tropical species inhabiting China — where they are not arrested by the steppes — as far north as Pekin, and even as the Amoor. According to M. Palachy, the existing flora of Central Asia is an invasion of the Mediterranean flora which took place after the elevation of the Turcoman plateau in place of the ancient post-tertiary sea 1870.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 103 between Europe and Asia. The principal obstacle in the way of researches connected with botanical geography, is the diversity of the views adopted by various botanists ; one species of Hooker, Wallich and others being equivalent to at least twenty-five species of Maximowicz, Ruprecht and most of the German botanists. — Nature, No. 9. Notes on Canadian Birds. — The occurrence of the following rare birds in Lower Canada deserves placing on record. Falco Candicans, Gmelin. The American Jer Falcon. — The Rev. D. Anderson, M.A., of Point Levis, an acute ornithologist, informs the writer that he has in his collection an adult specimen of this rare species, which was shot on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, near the Bay of Seven Islands. Mr. Hancock has shewn that there are two species of Gyr- falcon, both of which are now included in the list of American birds. It is just possible that the specimens described by the late Dr. Hall as Falco Dawsonls (this Journal, Vol. 7, page 62), are the young of the American Jer falcon. Nijctale alhifrons, Shaw. The White-fronted or Kirtland's Owl. — A specimen of this scarce species was procured by the Rev. D. Anderson, which was shot at a place called Breakey's Mills, about six miles from the mouth of the Chaudiere river, near Quebec. Cardinalis Virgmianus, Bonaparte. The Summer Red Bird. — In the early part of June, 1862, Mr. W. Hunter saw two individuals of this species on Montreal mountain, one of which is now in his possession. It seems to be of rare occurrence, at least in Lower Canada. j. F. w. Lower Canadian Land and Fresh Water Mollusca. — Since the publication of my paper on the above subject, a few additional species have been found in Lower Canada, as follows : Bithinia tentaculata, Linn. This common European species has been found living in the Lachine canal, by Mr. G. T. Kennedy. According to Mr. G. W . Binney, this shell has been taken in Greenland. Helix Morsei (?), Tryon. Montreal mountain. Mr. R. J. Fowler. Helix (^Pseudohyalind) exigiia, Stimpson. West Farnham, P. Q. Mr. R. J. Fowler. 104 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March Helix (^Punctwni) minutissimum, Lea. Same locality and collector as for the preceding species. Notes on other Species. — Vahata humeralis (?), Say. (^Can. Nat., Vol. 8, page 102.) Though this may not be the true Humeralis of Say, in my judgment the shells in question are perfectly distinct from any varieties of V. tricarinata, or of V. siiicera. Mr. Binney refers them to the former, and the late Dr. Gould, to whom I sent specimens, to the latter species. Dr. Lea referred them doubtfully to V. humeralis. Our shells are covered with a thickish olivaceous epidermis, and are strongly transversely ribbed. Planorhis macrostomus. Probably it would be better to unite this form, together with the PL trivolvis, lentus and corpulentus of Say, under the general name of PI. trivolvis. Say. Helix exoleta, Say, so far as I am aware, does not occur in Lower Canada. Prof. Bell's specimens, said by him to have been determined by Mr. Binney, are all H. dentifera, Binney. Pupa simplex, Gould. The shells catalogued under this name, are all Pupa badia, C. B. Adams. j. f. w. Lower Canadian Marine Mollusca. — Since the appear- ance of my paper on dredging in Gaspe, in vol. iv., p. 270 of the new series of this journal, a few species of shells, which I had no means of identifying in Montreal, have been sent to Mr. J. G. Jeffreys, F.R.S., etc., for identification. Having been compared with specimens named by Moller, Mr. Jefi'reys recognizes the following species, which must now be added to our list of Lower Canadian marine molluscs : — Utriculus turritus, Moller. Rissoa scrohiculata, Moller. Bela Plngelii, Moller. Bela impressa. Beck. The shell supposed by me to be Philine lineolata, Gouth., Mr. Jeffreys informs me, is Philine lima, Brown. In like manner, the Margarita I referred to Gould's M. argentata, is M. Glauca, Moller, sp. ; and the species queried as Diaphana dehilis, Gould, is probably Utriculus hyaUnus. j. F. w. Swiss Mammalia. — M. Fatio gives the number of mammals inhabiting Switzerland in the wild state — that is, excluding the cat, dog, horse, ass, ox, sheep, and goat — as fifty-eight, or as sixty- one, if the rabbit (which is not indigenous, but has been imported 1870.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 105 of late years) be reckoned, and the two minute forms, Sorex pygmceus and Mus minutus, which have been said to occur, but which M. Fatio has not himself succeeded in finding. This list does not include the ibex, the stag, or the 3fus agrarms, which have become extinct. Some mammals which occur in adjoining countries are remarkable for their absence in Switzerland : thus, the two bats, Rhinolophus clivosus and i?. Eiiri/ale, which occur in Lombardy, 3Ius agrarius, occurring near the Rhine on the north, and by Como to the south, Arvicola suhterraneiis, also found near the Rhine, and A. Savil, found in Lombardy, are not met with in Switzerland. M. Fatio has increased the catalogue of Swiss mammals, as given by some of his predecessors, by the addition of nine species of bats, two insectivora, and four rodents, one of which is consi- dered a new species altogether. This new species of M. Fatio, is a little black mouse, very much like the common house mouse (^Mus musculus). but having a very dark black-coloured fur ; the two presenting much the same contrast as do the Mios rattus and 3Ius Alexandrinus, which M. Fatio agrees with M. Arthur de I'Tsle in considering one and the same species. The new mouse, however, which is called Mus Poschiavinus, from the locality where it was observed, presents more important differences when compared with Mus musculus than those of colour and proportion only. The palatine ridges in M, Poschiavinus are four in number, in place of Jive in the common species, and the anterior simple ridges are of a different form. The strange thing about this little black mouse, which is found at Poschiavo in the Grisons, is that it lives on tobacco. It was first noticed in a tobacco-factory, and was found to make great ravages among the stores of the nicotian weed. When first caught, M. Fatio thought he had possibly got hold of young specimens of the black rat, but subsequently he obtained specimens bearing evident signs of maturity. It does not appear to have suggested itself to M. Fatio's mind, that his Mus Poschiavinus may be only a sample of the deleterious effect of indulgence in the noxious herb to which these rodents are addicted. What if this new black mouse is but a stunted race of the black rat ? It would furnish an invaluable argument to the anti-tobacconists. A very pretty coloured plate, representing two Poschiavinian mice helping themselves to cigars, illustrates the description of this species. It is not a little remarkable that an animal should 106 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March normally feed on tobacco. Monkeys, as is well known to the frequenters of menageries, are exceedingly fond of the end of a cigar, and an elephant has been seen gravely to accept such an oifering ; but one would have supposed that the amount of nicotine in a pinch of snuff was enough to make a mouse unwell. The indifference of these mice to the toxic action of tobacco, calls to mind the similar indifference on the part of pigeons (rodents are like birds in many things) to the toxic action of opium in the largest doses, as lately noticed by Dr. Weir Michell. Among the rarer and more interesting forms noticed by M. Fatio as still existing, or as having existed — for he notices the contents of the quaternary deposits in Switzerland — are the Bear (Jlrsus arctos), the Wolf (^Canis lupus'), the Wild Cat (^Felis catus), the Lynx (^Fells lynx), the Bouquetin or Ibex (^Capra ibex), the Chamois {Capella rufricapra), and the Stag (^Cervus elaphus). With regard to this last, it appears that, eighty years since, very jfine specimens inhabited the Swiss valleys ; now it only appears when driven from the German forests lying to the north ; its remains are found in quaternary deposits. The fallow-deer is represented neither in the present nor in the quater- nary fauna ; the Roebuck, or Chevreuil, is the only cervine species still inhabiting the country. Wolves, lynxes, and wild cats are not uncommon in the forests of the Jura ; but the lynx has not been found in the quaternary deposits, which is noteworthy, since Dr. Ransom, of Nottingham, has found it in England in snch beds. The bear is commonest in the Grrisons; every year there is some bear-hunting to be done in these wild and elevated valleys. The ibex, though no longer found in the Swiss ' Alps, occurs in the immediately adjacent territory of Lombardy ; where, however, it is now strictly preserved. The ibex of the Alps, of the Pyrenees, of Siberia, and of Crete, each have very distinctive characters, in the direction and length of their horns, but are hardly to be considered as distinct species. Some naturalists, however, disting-uish a second species in Spain, as JEgycei^os Hispanicus, occurring farther south than the so-called JEgyceros Fyrenaicus. The domesticated Capra hircus, has no doubt largely taken the place of the indigenous ibex ; natural hybrids between the two are not uncommon. The industrious Swiss have sometimes exhibited to curious tourists an eccentric specimen of the common goat as a living idex. M. Fatio mentions such an 1870.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 107 instance, which may put naturalist travellers on their guard. A specimen presented by the King of Italy may be seen in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park. The chamois are still very numerous in Switzerland, though the large herds of eighty and a hundred, which used to be seen in past times, are not now met with. A certain amount of care is exercised now in regard to the time of hunting, and the animals are allowed to breed in security, so that they are on the increase in localities where they had become scarce. M. Fatio mentions an old hunter who boasted of having killed as many as 3,000 chamois. The Alpine marmot, which is so common and so well known to Alpine tourists, is not the mammal which attains the highest elevation of habitat in Switzerland ; another little rodent, the Arvlcola nivalis, has that distinguished honour, living at a greater altitude than any other European mammal. Both this species and the marmot live among tho oases of rock and herbage which stand out amidst the vast masses of moun- tain ice. The Bobac marmot does not occur in Switzerland, being confined to the north-eastern districts of Europe. The Alpine marmot inhabits the Carpathians and the Pyrenees, as well as the Alps. — From a Review of Dr. V, Fatio' s Faune des Vertebres de la Suisse. Part I. Mammals. By Dr. E, Ray Lankester, in " Nature.^^ The Use op Birds and Worms. — Worms and birds are great friends to grass-turf. Where there are plenty of black- birds and thrushes you will generally find the grass to thrive. No doubt the reason is that these cheerful creatures, like other cheerful creatures, have a desire to be useful. They know they cannot live upon song, and they cannot live by singing, for no one ever thinks of paying them for their merry minstrelsy ; so they work for their crust, and on the grass find wireworms, slugs, snails and leather-jackets ; the last named being the destructive grub, or the " Daddy Long-legs," the most outrageous destroyer of grass in the world. As to earth-worms, if you drive them out of your lawn, you must expect the grass to die. They are the cultivators of it. For any other crop we dig and manure constantly. For grass, we, as a rule, do neither. But we cut down a crop of it now and then, and carry it away. Now the worms dig and manure ; that is to say, they bore holes and throw up common 108 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March soil in little heaps, and in time will reverse the order of all the articles of the top crust. — Gardener' & Magazine^ Uses of the Cockchafer. — " Through the columns of the Moniteur Scientijique we learn that nothing can be better to grease machinery with, and prepare salad, than cockchafer oil. In Prussia the people have reached the advanced stage of making cockchafer flour, which, at present, is only used for the purpose of making cakes for young pheasants, partridges, and quails. In this country (France) an attempt has been made to introduce the white worm or larva of the cockchafer into the kitchen, as a sub- stitute for the snail ; but gentlemen who are voracious when Helix pomatia is concerned, turn up their noses at the grub of Melolontha vulgaris. A servant of the name of Jonglet, proposes to extract from the cockchafer colouring matter, which, it is said, will make rapid strides in industry, and create a small revolution in the commercial world. He states that he can get yellow out of the obnoxious insect of a colour between chro- mium and gold, — and that each insect yields a few centigrammes. Several specimens of silk, dyed with this new colour, have been exhibited and much admired. Taken all in all, the cockchafer, what with the amount of manure he furnishes when slain in proper quantities, and the uses above mentioned, stands a fair chance of being classed as a valuable insect, and some day we may hear philanthropic persons calling out against its wanton destruction." — Land and Water. The Melolontha vulgaris of Europe is represented in Canada by Lachnosterna fusca^GOvamonXy called the May bug. In refer- ence to the appearance of this creature, we may state, that it occurs in immense numbers every three years ; at least, such is our experience since 1855. The years 1858, 1861, 1864, and 1867, are those when this insect appeared in greatest numbers, and in 1870 we shall probably have another visitation of cock- chafers. It must not be inferred from the above statement that no examples of these insects occurred in the intervening years, for it is always a common species in Canada. But there are years when certain species prevail in such numbers as to be noticed by everybody. One reason why the cockchafer should be tri-yearly may be owing to the circumstance that it remains in the larva state for three years. Here, then, an opportunity occurs for testing some of the alleged practical uses to which these insects may be put. A. s. R. 1870.] BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 109 Tomato-Worms not Poisonous. — The Tomato-worm belongs to an extensive group (the Sphinx family), almost all of which have a stiflf pointed horn growing out of their tails — a merely ornamental appendage, such as those which are distributed in considerable numbers over the body of another magnificent larva which we illustrated some time since. Why or wherefore it is impossible to say, but this poor unfortunate Tomato-worm has been selected by the popular voice, out of about fifty others belonging to the same family, and found within the limits of the United States — all of which have a similar horn growing out of their tails, — to be falsely accused of using this horn as a sting. The Tomato-worm and the Tobacco-worm are as Hke as two peas, and produce moths which resemble each other so closely, that entomologists for a long time confounded them together. Each has exactly the same kind of horn growing on the hinder extremity of its body ; yet while the Tomato-worm is generally accused of stinging folks with his horn, nobody, so far as we are aware, ever yet said that the Tobacco-worm would or could do so. The real truth of the matter is that neither of them can sting, either with his tail or with his head, or with any part of its body. Yet not a season elapses but the newspapers publish horrible accounts of people being stung to death by Tomato-worms, and earnestly recommended those who gather tomatoes to wear heavy buckskin gloves. These stories, however, have been contradicted so flatly and so often, that latterly the penny-a-liners have struck off upon another tack. Tomato-worms, it appears, do not sting with the horn that grows on their tails, but they " eject with great violence a green caustic fluid from their mouths to a distance of from 3 to 15 in." ! Now, what is the real truth about this matter ? Tomato- worms do really discharge from their mouths, when roughly handled, a greenish fluid, and so do the larva of almost all moths, and so does every species of grasshopper with which we are ac- quainted, and so do many different kinds of beetles. But it is not true that they can spit out this fluid even to the distance of a quarter of an inch, much less to the distance of 15 or even of 3 in. ; and especially it is not true that the fluid is poisonous. If it were so, we should have been in our graves long ago ; for we have had it repeatedly daubed over our fingers, but without the least ill effects therefrom, and so have scores of other entomologists in this country. The strangest thing of all is, that of two worms almost exactly alike, one of which eats tomato-leaves, and the 110 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March other eats tobacco-leaves, the tomato-chewer should be accused of spitting, and the tobacco-chewer should be held to be guiltless of this offensive practice. Now, then, gentlemen of the public press, if tomato-worms neither sting nor spit, what is the next charge that you are going to bring against them ? Why not assert that they can leap a distance of from 10 to 20 ft., having taken deadly aim at the human eyes, which they forthwith proceed to gouge out with their rough rasp-like pro-legs ? Of course you would follow this up by recommending everybody never to go near a tomato patch, without a large pair of green goggles to protect the eyes from being destroyed. — American Entomologist. CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. Hydrogenium. — The last researches of the late lamented Prof. Graham, the Master of the Mint, were devoted to the study of a new condition of hydrogen antithecal to that of oxygen in the form of ozone; and to this condition of the element he gave the name of Hydrogenium. By all analogy the new substance should be considered metallic, but like ozone, it has not been isolated. The details of Prof. Graham's researches, communicated to the Royal Society, were devoted to the rela- tions of hydrogen to palladium. He had also observed hydro- genium in meteoric iron. Concluding an account of his re- searches to the Royal Society, Prof. Graham thus remarks on the chemical properties of hydrogenium which distinguish it from ordinary hydrogen : — <' The palladium alloy precipitates mercury and calomel from a solution of the chloride of mercury without anydisengagement of hydrogen ; that is, hydrogenium decomposes chloride of mer- cury, while hydrogen does not. This explains why Mr. Stanislas Meunier failed in discovering the occluded hydrogen of meteoric iron, by dissolving the latter in a solution of chloride of mercury ; for the hydrogen would be consumed, like the iron itself, in preci- pitating mercury. Hydrogen (associated with palladium) unites with chlorine and iodine in the dark, reduces a persalt of iron to the state of protosalt, converts red prussiate of potash into yellow 1870.] CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. Ill prussiate, and has considerable deoxidizing powers. It appears to be the active form of hydrogen, as ozone is of oxygen. " The general conclusions which appear to flow from this in- quiry are, that in palladium fully charged with hydrogen, as in the portion of palladium wire now submitted to the Royal Society, there exists a compound of palladium and hydrogen in a propor- tion which may approach to equal equivalents.^ That both substances are solid, metallic, and of a white aspect. That the alloy contains about 20 volumes of palladium united with a volume of hydrogenium ; and that the density of the latter is about 2, a little higher than magnesium, to which hydrogenium may be supposed to bear some analogy. That hydrogenium has a certain amount of tenacity, and possesses the electrical conduc- tivity of a metal. And finally, that hydrogenium takes its place among magnetic metals. The latter fact may have its bearing upon the appearance of hydrogenium in meteoric iron, in associa- tion with certain other magnetic elements." Metallic Hydrogen. — At a recent meeting of the Lyceum of Natural History in New York, a paper was read by Dr. Loew, Assistant in the College of New York, •' On the Preparation of Hydrogen Amalgam." The researches of Graham went to show that hydrogen could be alloyed with palladium, and that it was also contained in meteoric iron. He condensed the hydrogen in the palladium, and came nearer proving its metallic character than any other person had done. Schoenbein, in his search for ozone, found a method for making the peroxide of hydrogen which brought him to the very threshold of discovering hydrogenium. Schoenbein's experiment was this: — An amalgam of zinc and mercury is violently agitated in water ; the water is then filtered, and, on being examined with iodide of starch and protosulphate of iron, will be found to contain peroxide of hydrogen or oxyge- nated water. Dr. Leow has carried the investigation further, and has, instead of oxidizing the hydrogen, succeeded in combining it with the mercury. He takes an amalgam composed of no more than three or four per cent, of zinc, and shakes it with a solution of bichloride of platinum ; the liquid becomes black, and a dark powder settles to the bottom. The contents of the flask are then thrown into * Proceedings of the Royal Society. 1868, p. 425, 112 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [March water, and hydrochloric acid added to dissolve the excess of zinc. The amalgam of hydrogen and mercury at once forms in a brilliant voluminous mass, resembling in every way the well-known ammonium amalgam. It is soft and spongy, and rapidly decom- poses, but without any smell of ammonia. The hydrogen escapes, and soon nothing but pure mercury is left in the dish. The experiment appears to show conclusively that an amalgam of hydrogen and mercury can be formed, and that hydrogen is really a metal. It would also throw some doubt upon the existence of the amalgam of ammonium and mercury, and offer an explanation of that compound on the basis of its being the same amalgam of hydrogen and mercury that is prepared in the way now pointed out by Dr. Loew. The smell of escaping ammonia must be traced to some other source than the existence of that radical in combi- nrtion with mercury. — ' Scientific American.^ Artificial Production of Ice. By P. H. Vander Weyde, M.D. Calculation of the amount which can he jpio- duced fromi a given ainount of coal in the modern ice machine. — The amount of ice produced by an ice machine, worked by means of an exhaust or condensing air-pump, driven by steam power, is easily determined, theoretically, from the amount of coal burned in the furnace of the steam boiler. It has been proved that the combustion of one pound of anthracite coal produces, in round numbers, 14,000 units of heat, and that in order to freeze water of 72° Fahr., it is necessary to abstract, besides 40*^ of sensible heat, 140® of latent heat — together 180 — which for one pound of water is, of course, equivalent to 180 units of heat. As this number of the units is the eightieth part of the 14,000 units produced by the combustion of one pound of coal, it is clear that the heat produced by the combustion of one ton of coal is equivalent to the heat to be abstracted from 80 tons of water of 72®, in order to change it into ice. But in practice we find here exactly the same state of affairs as is the case with the steam engine. Theoretically, a steam engine ought to produce at least 700 units of force (foot-pounds) for every unit of heat consumed ; in practice, good machinery only produces from about 70 to 100 foot-pounds, from about one-tenth to one-seventh part of the theoretical amount. In the best ice machines thus far constructed, instead of freezing 80 tons of water for every ton of coal consumed^ only from about 8 to 11 tons of 1870.] CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. 113 ice are produced also, from one-tenth to one-seventh part of the theoretical amount, proving, thus, the remarkable fact, that in both the steam engine and the ice machine, exactly the same relation exists between the theoretically calculated effects and the practical results. As, however, all the best ice machines accomplish the conversion of the heat of the fuel into the freezing operation by the interven- tion of a steam engine, the fact that they practically produce only from one-tenth to one-seventh of the amount of the cold they theoretically should produce, is solely due to the other fact, that the steam engine itself practically produces only from one-tenth to one-seventh of the amount of power which would be strictly equivalent to the number of heat units consumed. It must not be lost sight of that it is only the power of the steam engine which generates the cold in the freezing machines, and that therefore, improvements in the steam engine, which bring its practical results nearer to the theoretical standard, will at once exert their influence on the amount of ice the ice machines can produce, and, consequently, also on the cost of the ice manufac- tured in these machines. Moreover, it appears that the kind of freezing machines in question, which convert power into cold, notwithstanding they are yet in their infancy, have already attained such a degree of excellence, that they are ahead of that class of machines which convert heat into power, either by steam, hot air, or any other possible means, as it is proved that they produce the full theoretical equivalent of cold (negative heat) for the number of foot-pounds employed ; namely, cooling one pound of water one degree for a power equivalent to 700 pounds, descending one foot, which, expressed in the adopted scientific manner, is one unit of negative heat for every 700 foot-pounds consumed. — Scientific American. Pins pointed by Electricity. — A recent discovery has been made by M. Cadery, telegraph inspector on the Western Swiss railroad, ahd is now applied with success at Aix la Chapelle (Belgium), whence needles and pins are shipped to all parts of the world. On passing a metallic wire (brass, copper, iron or steel), connected with the negative pole of a Bunsen's battery, through the bottom of a glass tube, closed in such a way as to hold an acidulated liquid, and leading the other wire of the positive pole through the superior opening of the glass tube, closed in such a YOL. Y. G No. 1. 114 THE CANADIAN NATURALISE. [March way as to allow the positive wire to plunge into this acidulated liquid, taking care to leave a small interval between the extremi- ties of the wires ; the electric current thus established through the acidulated fluid as a conductor, produces the following phenomena. Very soon the extremity of the positive wire takes a conical point of more or less sharpness, depending on the free distance existing between the two wires plunging into the acidulated liquid. Dur- ing this phenomenon, which takes from 5 to 15 minutes, according to the acid used, its strength, the coinposition of the wire, its degree of thickness, and also the intensity of the electric current, very fine sections of the wire are seen to separate from the wire. Water, acidulated with sulphuric acid, appears to be more effica- cious, especially for iron and steel wires. Nitric acid is used in preference for brass and copper wires. The same effect will take place if to the positive pole (superior) an indefinite number of wires are tied together and dipped in the acidulated water, instead of the single wire, care being always to keep this positive wire at a Httle distance from the negative wire. I have seen a hundred brass wires after having been submitted to this operation, present points as sharp as the best English pins, although the electric current was produced by a very small Bunsen's battery. It ap- pears to me very desirable that this new method should receive proper encouragement, and everything should be tried to bring it into general use. The operation of making the points of needles and pins in their manufacture is a dangerous and costly one. Medical men in large manufacturing cities have long recognized the dangerous eff"ects produced by the fine metallic dust resulting from it, on the health of the workmen. The remedies for this evil are very imperfect, little used, and very impracticable; in- haling apparatus communicating with the outside air has been tried, but every danger would be suppressed by the method above described. — Scientific American. Another New Dye. — The aniUne dyes, it seems, have now a rival which not only vies with them in brilliancy and variety, but is of a less fleeting or more fixing character. The new colouring matter, according to the Mechanics' Magazine^ is a pure- ly vegetable extract, the plant from which it is obtained being imported from the western part of Africa, and also from the West Indies. The colouring matter is variously treated, according to 1870.] MICROSCOPY. 115 the colours required and the dyes to be prepared from it. The process of production is carried on with machinery of a special character, which has been designed by the patentees, Messrs. Walker & Co., for this manufS^. acuta, Sm. — Rare. Sandy Cove ; River Don. S. dilatafa, Sm. — Rare. Burlington Bay. S. gracilis, Ehr. — Common. Island Ponds, Toronto ; Humber Ponds. • 1870.] OSLER — ON CANADIAN DIATOM ACE^E. 149 S. punctata, Kutz. — Kare. River Don. S. linearis, Ehr. — Very rare. Pond near Niagara Falls. S. anceps, Ehs. — Common. De^jarJin Canal ; Kempenfelt Bay. PLUROSIGMA, SM. P. attenatum, Sm. — Not uncommon. Outlet of Grenadier Pond; Don Marsh; iiurliugton Beach. P. Spencerii, Sm. — Rare. Mr. Saunders' farm, London ; Des- jardin Canal. SYNEDRA, EHR. S. luiiaris, Ehr. — Bare. Humber Bay ; Stream at Barrie. S, tninutissimay Kutz. — Common. River Thames, London. S. radians, Sm. — Very common. Streams at Dundas, Weston, Paris, London, etc. S. capitata, Ehr. — Common. Sandy Cove ; Grenadier Pond. S. ulna, Ehr. — Not uncommon. Niagara Falls ; Humber Bay. S. hngissima, Sm. — Rare. Sunken boat, Humber River. S. fasciculata, Kutz. — Common. Stream at London. COCCONEMA, EHR. C. lanccolatum,Wi\v. — Common. Grenadier Pond ; Desjardin Canal. C. parvum, Sm. — Rare. Pond at Ancaster. C. cistula, Ehr. — Not uncommon. Sandy Cove; Humber Bay. GOMPHONEMA, AG. G. geminatum, Ag. — Common. On Cladopliora glomerata, in swiftly running streams, and on wharves. G. oUvaceum, Ehr. — Common. Trinity College stream, and streams at Weston. G. acuminatum, Ehr. — Not uncommon. Grenadier Pond. G. cristatum,, Ralfs. — Rare. Mouth of the Humber. G.dicJiotomum,Kuiz. — Common. Wharves, Toronto; Grena- dier Pond ; St. Lawrence, at Prescott, (Rev. W. A. Johnson.) G. curvatum. — Not uncommon. Grenadier Pond ; Desjardin Canal. MERIDION, AG. 31. circulare, Ag. — Common. Cedar swamp, Weston; streams at WesLon, Dundas, and Toronto. 31. constriction, Ralfs. — Rare. Island Pond, Toronto. 150 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June HIMANTIDIUM, EHR. H. arcus, Sm. — Not uncomnioD. Burlington Bay , Humber Ponds. H. 2>ectinalc, Kuiz. — Common. Grenadier Pond; stream at Paris. M. majusy Sm. — Rare. Kempenfelt Bay. ODONTIDIUjI, kutz. 0. mutahile, Sm. — Common. Saudy Cove ; Lake Simcoe ; stream at London. 0. Tabellarla, Sm. — Bare. Mouth of Dcsjardin Canal. 0. parasiticum, Sm. — Bare. Sandy Cove ; Lake Simcoe. 0. Harnsonii, Sm. — Frequent. Kempenfelt Bay; stream at Dundas. 0. anomalum, Sm. — Not uncommon. Don Marsli ; Grenadier Pond. FRAGILARIA, LYNG. F. ccqmcina, Desm. — Common. Streams at Dundas, Toronto, London, and Oakville. F. viresceiis, Balfs. — Not uncommon. Desjardin Canal. ACHNANTHES, BORY. A. exiUs, Kutz. — Not uncommon. Stream at Hamilton ; Humber Ponds. DIATOM A, DEC. D. vulgarc, Bory. — Very common. Grenadier Pond and else- where. D. dongatum, Ag. — Common. Desjardin Canal; stream at Orillia. TABELLARIA, EHR. T.flocculosa, Kutz.— Frequent. Humber Ponds; Burlington Bay; Cedar Swamp, Weston. T. fenestrata, Kutz.— Common. Biver Thames, London. MELOSIRA, AG. 31. vartans, Ag.— Common. Stream near Dundas ; wharves at Toronto. ORTHOSIRA, THWAITES. 0. oriclialcea, Sm. — Bare. Sandy Cove ; Lake Simcoe. 0. spinosa, Sm. — Rare. Buoy in Burlington Bay. 1870.] REEKS — ON BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 151 ENCYONEMA, KUTZ. E. prostratum, llalfs. — Common. Wharves at Toronto ; water trough near Dundas. COLLETONEMA; ERIE. C. vulgare, Thw. — Rare. Mill-stream, Dundas. C. neglccium, Thw. — Not uncommon. River Don ; Toronto Island ; Kempenfelt Bay. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. By Henry Eeeks, F.L.S., &g. ( Continued from page 47.) PiciD^. The Woodpeckers. Hairi/ Wooclpechei\ or Sapsucher (Picus villosus, Linn.) — Tolerably common, and does not migrate. Newfoundland specimens appear to agree with Professor Baird's variety — medius. jDoiimi/ Woodpecher, or Sapsucher (P. pubescens, Linn.') — Very common, and, like the preceding species, is non-migratory. Black-hacked Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus, Swains.) — This fine species is tolerably common in Newfound- land throughout the year ; and, often when the snow is drifting through these dreary forests, no other sign of animal life is noticeable than the " Woodpecker tapping " in search of the larvae of several fine species of Sirex which abound there. Banded Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides hirsutus, Vieill.) — Scarcely so common as the preceding species, but, like that, is a resident throughout the year. I shot several males, but had a difficulty in getting a female, though I succeeded at last in killing one specimen. It is a rather darker bird than the male, and is without the yellow patch on the crown, having that part spotted with white. The transverse bands on the back are similar to those on the male. Black Woodcock, or Logcock (Hylotomus pileatus, Linn.) — This is the "great black Woodpecker" of the Newfoundland 152 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [JuDG settlers, and appears to be rather rare, as I did not meet with it during my stay there. It is probably a summer migrant. Flichcr (Colaptes auratus, Limi.) — This species is a summer visitor to Newfoundland, where it is called the " English Wood- pecker," and is tolerably common. It has a peculiar note, which bears a flmcied resemblance to that of the green Woodpecker (^Piais viridis ;) hence the name bestowed on it by the settlers. Three other species of Woodpecker probably occur in New- foundland, but I did not meet with them, viz., Sphyraplcus varius, Linn. ; Centurus Carolirius, Linn. ; and 3Ielanerpcs cri/throcej)halus, Linn. Cypselid^. The Swifts. American Chimney Swallow TChastura pelasgia, Linn.') — Lpparently rare, at least at Cow Head. I only examined one pecimen, shot in June, 1868. It is, of course, a summer migrant. American Nlgkt Haich (Chordeiles popetue, Vieill.) — Well ^nown to the settlers as the " Night Hawk,'' but I did not meet with a specimen. It is a summer migrant. ALCEDiNiDiE. The Kingfishers. Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon, Linn.) — Tolerably common during the summer months, and, like the British species of King- fisher, builds in banks, often at a considerable depth, and lays five or six white eggs. I have always found the belted King- fisher a very shy bird, and difficult to get a shot at. Tyrannid^. The Tyrant Flycatchers. King Bird, or Bee Martin (Tyrannus Carolinensis, Linn.) — Visits Newfoundland for nidification, and is tolerably abundant. I have shot them after the first fall of snow in the autumn. Peivee (Sayornis fuscus, Gmelin.) — A summer migrant, but not common. Wood Peiccc (Contopus virens, Linn.) — A summer migrant, arriving in May. Not common. Least Lly catcher (Empidonax minimus, Baird.) — A single specimen, obtained in the month of June, 1868. It is a summer migrant. Green-crested Flycatcher (Empidonax Acadicus, Gmelin.) — Not very common. Frequents woods in the neighbourhood of houses, and is a summer migrant. 1S70.] REEKS — ON BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 153 Yellow-heUled Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris, Baird.) — Apparently a common summer migrant, arriving in May. TuRDTD.^. The Thrushes. Hermit Thrush (T. PaUasi, Cahanis.) — A common summer visitor, and tolerably good songster. Arrives about the middle of May. Wilson's Thrush (T. fuscescens, Stephens.) — A summer migrant, but not so common as the preceding species. One specimen, obtained in May, 1868. Olive-hacked Thrush (T. Swainsoni, CaZ>.) — A summer migrant? but scarcely so common as T. Pallasi. Migratory Thrush, or American Rohin (T. migratorius, Linn?) — A summer migrant, and by far the commonest of all tlie Turdidge. Arrives in April, and soon commences building. I have taken the eggs early in May. This bird is called the "Robin" by the English settlers, evidently from its redbreast and familiarity; it is, however, about the size of the Fieldfare [T. pilaris,') and much resembles that bird in habits. The eo-o-g are not quite so large, and of an unspotted blue. A pair of these birds occupied the same nest at Cow Head for six consecutive years. Considering the vast number of " Robins" which annually breed in Newfoundland, this habit may account for the scarcity of old nests, so apparent in passing through the thick fir woods. Blue Bird (Sialia sialis, Linn.) — A summer migrant, and said, by the settlers, to be occasionally common. I did not, however, meet with it. Ruhy-crowned Wren (Regulus calendula, Linn.) — Not un- common. Arrives in Newfoundland in May. \Uydrol)ata Mexicana, Bonap. — Has this species really occurred in Nova Scotia? Vide Downs on the "Land Birds of Nova Scotia."] Sylvicolid^. The Warblers. American Tit Lark (An thus Ludovicianus, Gmclin.') — 1 do not think this bird breeds in Newfoundland, as I have only seen it in August, or during the autumnal migration. Black and White Creeper (Mniotilta varia, Linn.) — Appar- ently a common summer migrant. Maryland Yellow thi'oat (Geothlypis trichas, Linn.) — A sum- mer migrant. Common. YoLY. K N"o. 2. 154 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Juiie Nashville Warbler (HelminthopTiaga ruficapilla, Wilson.') — A summer migrant, but apparently rare. One specimen, obtained in June, 1868. Oven Bird, or Golden- crowned Thrush (Seiurus Aurocapillus, Linn.) — A summer migrant, but not common. Black-throated Green Warhler (Dendroica virens, Gmelin.) — A summer migrant, and tolerably common, arriving towards the latter end of May. Yellow-rumped Warhltr (T>. coronata Linn.) — A common summer migrant, arriving early in May. Bay-hreasted Warhler (D. castanea, Wilson.) — Tolerably com- mon. Arrives in Newfoundland early in June. Chestnut-sided Warhler (J). Pennsylvanica, Linn.) — Tolerably common throughout the summer. Black-poll Warhler (D. striata, Forster.) — x\pparently not un- common in summer. Yellow Warhler (D. gestiva, Gmelin.) — A common summer migrant, and called, bv the settlers, ''Yellow-hammer." It makes a pretty little nest in low bushes, somewhat resembling that of our English Goldfinch. Yellow Red-poll Warhler (D. palmarum, Gmelin.) — One of the arliest spring migrants, and tolerably common. Black and Yellow Warhler (D. maculosa, Gmelin.) — Arrives in May, and is tolerably common. Green Black-cap Flycatcher (Myiodioctes pusillus, Wilson.) — A summer migrant. Arrives in June, but is not very common. Canada Flycatcher (M. Canadensis, Linn.) — Arrives in June, but not common. American Redstatt (Setophaga ruticilla, Linn.) — A summer migrant, but rare in the north of Newfoundland. It is called " Goldfinch" by the English settlers. Arrives about tiie middle of May. HiRUNDiNiD^. The Swallows. Barn Swallow (Hirundo horreorum, Barton.) — A rare summer migrant at Cow Head. Cliff Swallow (H. lunifrons, Say.) — An equally rare summer migrant with the preceding species. White-hellied Swallow (H. bicolor, Vieill.) — A summer migrant, and very common at Cow Head ; in fact, the only species of swallow to be seen there throughout the summer. 1870. J REEKS — ON BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 155 Bank Swallow, or Sand Martin (Cotyle riparia, Linn.) — Very- rare at Cow Head, but said to be very common about the Bay of St. George, and further south. Purple 3Iartin (Progne purpurea, Linn.') — This beautiful species appears rare in Newfoundland ; at least I only obtained one specimen, shot at Daniels' Harbour in June, 18G8. The settlers did not seem to be acquainted with the bird, or know anything of its breeding habits. [Note. — Of the Bombycillidae, Ampelis cedrorum, Baird, be looked for in Newfoundland.] Laniid^. The Shrikes. Great Northern Shrike, or American Butcher Bird (Collyrio borealis, Vieill.) — Visits Newfoundland in its periodical migra- tions, but appears rare. Perhaps a few remain to breed on the island, although I have no evidence at present to prove it. Yellow-throated Flycatcher (Vireo flavifrons, Ftei7Z.) — A sum- mer migrant, and appeared tolerably common in 1868 arriving in June at Cow Head. Liotrichid^. Winter Wren (Troglodytes hyemalis, Vieill.) — Common, and resident throughout the year. Certhid^. American Creeper (Certhia Americana, Bonap.) — Apparently a summer migrant, but not very common. I am inclined to think this bird may not migrate, although I did not observe it in the depth of winter. Red-hellicd Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis, Linn.) — Perhaps a resident on the island. The only one obtained was in April, 18G8. It is certainly a rare bird at Cow Head. Parid^. Blach-cap Titmouse (Paris atricapillus, Linn.) — Common, and resident throughout the year. Breeds in holes in trees ; some- times adopts deserted holes made by Picus j^ubescens. Iludsonian Tit. (P. Hudsonicus, Forster.) — Common, and non-migratory. Breeds in holes in trees, and associates with the preceding species in winter, at which season the juvenile New- foundlanders frequently amuse themselves by calling these little 156 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June birds around them and knocking them off the boughs with a stick, or even the ramrods of their guns. My specimens were obtained for me in this manner. Fringillid^e. American Pine Grosbealc (Pinicola Canadensis, Briss.') — Com- mon throughout the year, but apparently more abundant in winter, when they get together in small flocks of about two broods. They feed on the huds only of Vinus, Abies, Larix, &c., and are very tame, being often killed with sticks. Pro- vincial name, "Mope." Yellow Bird, or Thistle Bird (Chrysomitris tristis, Linn.") — A common summer migrant. Pine Pinch (C. pinus, Wilson.) — A summer migrant, but apparently not so common as the preceding species. From my short residence in Newfoundland the observations on the distribution of some of the smaller species belonging to the Fringillidce, Sylvicolidce, &c., may not be of much value — e. g.^ it is very probable that some birds, especially of these families, which are not uncommon, and even generally distributed over the island, may have altogether escaped my notice, while, on the other hand, some rare, or otherwise not regular migrants, may have fallen to my gun on more than one occasion during the summers of 1867 and 1868. In such cases I have naturally stated the birds to be frequent, or common, as the evidence may tend to show. American Crosshill (Curvirostra Americana, Wilson.) — Com- mon throughout the year, and an early breeder. Feeds on the seeds of Coni/erce, and is called by the settlers the 'Marge spruce bird," to distinguish it from the following species. White-winged Crosshill (C. leucoptera, Gmelin.) — These pretty little birds are common throughout the year, but more abundant during winter, when they congregate in small flocks of from five to twenty individuals, feeding principally on the cones of the White Spruce (Ahies alha.) When feeding these birds are usually very tame, and easily approached. I kept an old " Joe Man ton," loaded with small shot, in the house, for the purpose of shooting Crossbills and other small birds, and remember, on one occasion, snapping three percussion caps at a small flock of C leucoptera, within fifteen yards of me, without causing them sufficient alarm to take wing. They have a very pleasing note) 1870.] REEKS — ON BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 157 much resembling the song of the canary. The provincial name is "Spruce Bird." MeaJjj Redpole (^'Egiothus linaria, L'uinS) — Very common, and does not migrate. Breeds early, and generally in alder bushes ; hence its provincial name of " Alder Bird." Feeds on the buds of ConifercB, &c., when the ground is covered with snow. Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis, Linn.) — Yery common in its periodical migrations, but, I scarcely think, breeds on the island, although I saw a good many there in June last (1868.) Provincial name, " Snow Bird." I did not meet with P. lapponicus, Linn., but it is probably seen in some parts of the island. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus Savanna, WUson. — Abundant throughout the summer. Frequents grassy places, building its nest on the ground. Provincial name, " Grass Bird." White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys, Forster.) — A common summer migrant, arriving in May. White- throated Sparrow (Ti. albicollis, Gnielin.) — A summer migrant, and equally common with the preceding species. Arrive in May, usually towards the latter end of the month. Snow Bird (Junco hyemalis, Linn.) — A summer migrant, arriving about the last of May, and tolerably common throughout the summer. Chipping SparroiD (Spizella sccialis, Wilson.) — A common summer migrant. Fox-coloured Sparrow (Passerella iliaca, Merrem.) — This fine species of Sparrow is a summer migrant, and very common. It is called the "Hedge Sparrow" by the settlers, and is very trouble- some in gardens, scratching up fine seeds. Breeds sometimes on the ground, at others in low bushes. ICTERID.^. Rusty Blachhird (Scolecophagus ferruginous, Gnielin.) — A regular and common summer migrant, remaining generally until after the first fall of snow. Crovj Blachhird (Quiscalus versicolor, Linn.) — A summer migrant, but rare ; at least I only saw one specimen at Parson's Pond, about twelve miles north-east of Cow Head. CORVID.^. American Raven (Corvus carnivorus, Bartram.) — Common 158 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [JuUG throughout the year. I think Wilson and Audubon were right in not separating this bird from the European C. Co7'ax. I cannot see the least diiFerence — at least, not more than would be found in examining a quantity of either species, if they are distinct. The more slender bill is more individual than typical of the American bird. The eggs certainly cannot be separated, but this is also the case with several of the Corvidce, which are otherwise well marked and well-known species. American Crow (C. Americanus, J[itc?zzZ)o?i.) — A common sum- mer migrant to Newfoundland, arriving in April. Frequents the sea coast, breeds in trees, and lays four or five eggs much resembling those of C. frugiJcgus. It is called the " Otter Crow" bv the settlers. Pica Hudsonica, Sahhie — May reasonably be expected to occur in Newfoundland, but I am inclined to think it does so only as a straggler. Blue Jay (Cyanura cristata, Linn.) — A summer migrant, but not common. Breeds in Newfoundland, and is called the '' Silken Jay" by the settlers. Canada Jay (Perisoreus Canadensis, Linn.) — Common, and remains throughout the year. In some of its habits, and especially its familiarity, this bird much reminds the English sportsman of Robin Redbreast at home. When camping in the woods, miles back in the country, the Canada Jay, or, as it is often called, " Whiskey Jack," was ever my constant, and, frequently, only feathered companion. Like others of its tribe it appears very partial to raw meat for food, although, when in the vicinity of houses, it becomes almost omnivorous, eating bread, fish, potatoes &c., with an evident rehsh. It is said to collect and store away large quantities of cranberries for winter use. I have never met with any of these '-stores," but have often noticed the Jays picking the berries, especially in the spring of the year, where the snow has disappeared in patches in the open marshes. In a state of nature I think the Canada Jay is even tamer than the Robin. I remember on one occasion, particularly when deer-hunting in the country, I had the hearts of three caribou hanging to the " tilt," or camp, within four feet of my head, and, although unable to leave the "tilt" for the whole day, from bad weather, the Jays managed to eat all the fat from the hearts, notwithstanding I continually drove them away, but, like vultures and carrion crows, with every re-appcarance there seemed a re-inforcement, until at 1870. MACFARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 159 last, to save my venison, I had to amuse myself by firing balls at them from my rifle as they sat on and picked a fine fat quarter of caribou only a few yards distant from the camp. My specimens were obtained by tying a piece of meat to the pan of a rat-gin and retiring a few yards from the trap : they were invariably caught by the bill. The settlers, strange to say, cannot succeed in keeping this bird alive in confinement. I did not meet with any of the Columhidoe in Newfoundland,. Ectopistes migratoria, Linn., may prove an occasional straggler there. (To he continued.) ON THE ORIGIN AND CLASSIFICATION OF ORIGINAL OR CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. By Thomas Macfarlame. {Continued from March Nuniber.) III. — TEXTURE OF ORIGINAL ROCKS. In adverting to the origin of rocks, those which have been called original were described as analogous in nature to furnace scoriae. This may seem a forced comparison, and it may be supposed that crystalline rocks are not likely to be influenced by heat ; but the truth is that nearly every one of them have been shewn, experimentally, by Hall, Bischof, Delesse, and Sorby, to be fusible, and to be reduced by a high temperature to the same condition as furnace scoriae. But while the latter generally exhibit, on cooling, a homogeneous mass, original or compound crystalline rocks are most frequently seen to be composed of various and difi"erent minerals. While the furnace slao-s, in rapid cooling, had no time during which their chemical con- stitutents could arrange themselves into difi'erent compounds, the greater number of original rocks, having solidified in enormous masses, and, doubtless, during long periods of time, their con- stituents had opportunity for arranging themselves in such a manner as their chemical affinities suggested. The minerals, which were the result of this re-arrangement of the chemical elements, are not, however, always readily recognized in rocks. The latter have in some rare cases solidified so hurriedly that 160 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June they present merely the appearance of natural glass. Others, have had time to lay aside the vitreous character and assume a, stony appearance, but they appear so homogeneous and fine- grained that their compound nature would scarcely be suspected. This is, for instance, the case with basalt, which, on this account, was at one time regarded as a simple mineral. On grinding it to powder and washing it, however, Cordier found it to consist of several minerals with distinct physical characters. A good many other rocks are seen, on examination, to be distinctly compound, but their constituent minerals are developed in such minute grains that their determination becomes a matter of very great difficulty. It is only in the coarser and large grained rocks that the constituent minerals can be readily recognized by the student, and their physical and chemical properties easily tested. These variations in the size of the constituent minerals aro accompanied by differences in their form and position, and, both tof^ether, give rise to what is called the texture of crystalline rocks, — difference in which may easily and at once be detected by the student. Coarse and fine grained, schistose and slaty, vitreous, porous, and other such names, are used for characteriz- ing peculiarities of texture, which are not at all to be regarded as merely trifling accidents in the history of rocks, but which really possess a deeper meaning than we are inclined at first to imagine. Although neither the furnace nor the volcano can give us any conception of the magnitude of the scale upon which the earlier original, or, as they have been named, the plutonic rocks, were erupted, still, they furnish us with hints which we cannot afford to neglect. To the metallurgist, it is an every day occur- rence to observe that the same scorioD yields either a vitreous slag or a stony mass, accordingly as it has been quickly or slowly cooled. Slag cakes, a few inches in diameter, are found to be impalpable or glassy on the outside, while on breaking them, the interior is found to be porcelain-like or crystalline. Bischof made some interesting experiments on this matter at the iron-works of Magdesprung in the Hartz. He allowed common iron furnace slag to run into cold water, where it disengaged sulphuretted hydrogen, and yielded a white, easily friable pumice stone. He next allowed the slag to solidify upon cold, somewhat moist, sand. This gave a harder pumice, still retaining some of the original color of the slag. In the next experiment the slag was allowed to cool on a completely dry bottom of sand, and the result was a 1870.] MACFARLANE — OX CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 161 brownisli-green transparent glass. Under a protecting cover of dry sand, the solidified slag was found to contain crystalline quadriitic prisms in considerable numbers, and between them lay spherical concretions, consisting of regular radiating fibres, ex- tending from the middle point in every direction. In the last experiment the slag was exposed to slow cooling in a basin lined with a warm mixture of charcoal powder and clay. When broken, after cooling, it did not exhibit a trace of vitreous substance nor any quadratic prisms, but a fine radiated texture had spread itself equally throughout the whole mass. The ex- periments of Sir James Hall have often been mentioned in con- nection with this subject. Nearly seventy years ago he applied experiment, for the first time, to the elucidation of geological phenomena. It occurred to him to melt a small piece of basalt, and the result was a dark vitreous substance. But on fusing a much larger quantity, and allowing it to cool slowly, he obtained a crystalline mass. Since that time geologists gradually became accustomed to look upon the original rocks of a glossy appearance, which occur in nature, as the products of rapid, and those of a granular texture as the products of slow, cooling. Nor are there wanting instances to show that other physical causes have in- fluenced the structure of such artificial silicates as slaos. At the Eglinton iron-works in Scotland, and those of Bethlehem, Penn- sylvania, the writer observed that there is frequently developed in the slags, as they flow from the furnace, streaked bands of diff"erent colors, not at all unlike those developed in many slate rocks. Then again, when the workmen, at the establishment first named, tap off the iron and cool the small amount of scorise which follows after it with a plentiful supply of water, the slag froths up and solidifies to a porous cellular substance, the exact parallel of which is to be found in the pumice stone of volcanoes. In observing the slags of copper furnaces, nothing is more com- mon than to see those which are allowed to flow over damp ground rise up into porous scoria, while those which run over wet portions of the smelting-house floor, boil up into loose pieces, or throw themselves about in the form of little volcanic bombs and lapilli. Similar phenomena are observed in the lava streams of active and extinct volcanoes. Those of Alta Vista, in Teneriffe, consist, on the surfoce, of glittering, transparent bottle-glass-like obsidian, which, towards the interior, changes into a less glittering pitchgtone-Uke mass, which is so filled with crystals as to resemble 162 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June a crystalline rock. These instances have been given in order to show that, in studying the varying textures of original rocks, it is "well to bear in mind that such textures are, in all likelihood, the result of the influence of the physical conditions under -which their respective rocks solidified, and of the temperature and plasticity of the mass from which they were produced. The followin": modifications in the texture of orisrinal rocks may here be distinsuished : — 1st. The constituent minerals are of a comparatively large size, ranging from several inches to one eighth of an inch in diameter, generally large enough to be easily tested as to hardness, cleavage, and other physical characters. The mode of their arrangement is altogether irregular, and, although the individual minerals may sometimes have a greater length than thickness, no parallelism of their larger axes can be noticed. Granite, syenite, and diorite are examples of this order of texture, which may be called the coarse and small grained. 2nd. The constituent minerals are of a size varying from the smallest individuals to those of an inch in diameter. One or more of them have their longest axes arranged in the same direction and parallel with each other, there being thus developed a fibrous or laminated texture. This may be called the schistose order, to which gneiss and hornblende schist belong. 3rd. The constituent minerals are finer grained than in the preceding order, and more difficult of determination. A similar parallel structure, however, is visible, which occasions an easie fracture of the rock along a particular plane, or what is called a slaty cleavage. Common roofing slate may be regarded as the type of this slaty order of texture. 4th. The next order of texture to be distinguished is the porphjritic. Large individuals, or crystals of one or several minerals, are enclosed in a fine-grained or impalpable matrix. Augitic, syenitic and felsitic porphyry are examples of this order of texture, the rocks of which are distinguished from each other as well by variations in the nature of their matrices as in the compositions of the crystals developed in it. 5th. The next order may be called the varioUtic, and regarded as incipient porphyritic texture. In a fine-grained matrix, small rounded concretions are developed, without, however, being sharply separated from it. These concretions sometimes possess a fibrous structure in the interior, the fibres radiating from the 1870.] MACFARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. IGo centre, and their existence is frequently betrayed by the weather ing of the rock. 6th. The minerals are here of a much smaller size than in the coarse-grained order, so as to be in most cases difficult of deter- mination. This texture is the same as that often possessed by the matrices of porphyries, and, being destitute of parallel structure, bears the same relation to the coarsely schistose texture. Trap and felsite belong to this order, which may be called i\iQ fine-grained. 7th. In a small or fine-grained matrix, rounded cavities have been formed, and afterwards partly or wholly filled up with various minerals. On account of the resemblance between the long drawn and flattened shape of these mineral aggregations and almonds, this texture has been called the amijgdaloidal. Trap- pean amygdaloid and the spilite of French lithologists may be cited as examples. 8th. The next order of texture includes certain fine-grained and globular rocks, characterized by their containing very ap- preciable quantities of water. The globular texture resembles the variolitic, but the concretions, instead of possessing a radiated structure, are composed of concentric layers. Pearlstone is the type of this species of rock, which is intimately connected, geologically, with pitchstone and other impalpable rocks belong- ing to this order. Phonolite and basalt -are examples of the fine-grained members of the order, which, as above-mentioned, are distinguished from the fine-grained order already mentioned by their containing a considerable percentage of water. It may, therefore, be called the fine-grained and hydrated. 9th. This order may be denominated the trachytic, and, although its rocks have frequently a porphyritic development, they are distinguished from those of that class, in having a rough porous, sometimes even cellular, matrix, and felspar crystals developed in it of a vitreous appearance and full of small fissures. The same rough uneven surface and fracture is developed in those trachytic rocks which contain no largely developed crystals, and even in many of a much more basic composition than what are usually termed trachytes. Pthyolite, andesite and dolerite are examples of this order. 10th. In this order of texture the porous appearance above referred to is developed to such a degree that a ^coriaceous or cavernous structure results. This structure is peculiar to volcanic 164 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June rocks, which also afford examples of purely vitreous texture, in which no "grain " nor any mineralogical constituents are observ- ablCj but an impalpable glassy appearance predominates. This order may be called the lava texture, and lava pumice-stone, and obsidian, mentioned as examples of it. It is not to be supposed that these varieties of texture are at all sharply separated from each other. On the contrary, rocks the most varied in their structure are found to be connected with each other by insensible gradations. Thus, vitreous rocks are gradually found to assume an impalpable and then stony character. Then again, they frequently become porous and cellular, and graduate into scoriaceous lavas. Rocks of the latter order have very often well-defined minerals developed in them, and when also the cellular texture becomes more subdued, trachytic rocks result. These, when they gradually become more compact or their felspars gradually lose their vitreous and fissured appearance, become indistinguishable from felsites and porphyries. Further, when the matrices of the last-mentioned rocks gradually become coarser grained and their crystals reduced in size, they pass into thoroughly granular rocks. When, on the contrary, the well-developed crystals of porphyries gradually disappear, fine-grained rocks are the product. Nothing is more common than to find the latter gradually assuming a slaty structure or gradually becoming coarser in the grain, and so giving rise to schistose or granular rocks. And nothing is more common than to find the constituents of granular rocks, little by little, arranging themselves in a given direction, and so producing coarsely schistose structure. But with all the frequency of gradation between original rocks of various textures, it is to be remarked that those which differ widely from each other in structure, do not exhibit sudden transi- tions the one into the other. Cavernous and coarsely granular rocks are never found to constitute part of one and the same mass, or to pass into each other, without gradually assuming the character of intermediate impalpable and fine-grained rocks. Nor is it ever the case that coarsely schistose rocks become trachytes all at once. A certain consistency or method is recognisable in all these transitions, and it is only those orders which are more nearly related to each other as regards texture, or arc more intimately associated, geologically, that graduate into each other ^n the manner above described. In the description of tliQ various 1870.] MACFARLANE — ON CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 165 species of texture given above, those have been placed nearest to each other which are most prone to pass into each otlicr by modifications of texture. To account satisfactorily for these variations of texture among original rocks is no easy matter ; but if the facts already given, as regards the solidification of artificial silicates, have any value as applied to lithogy, they would lead us to suppose that the coarsely schistose rocks solidified very slowly during the lapse of great intervals of time and under the influence of widely extended movements of the crystalline, but still fluid mass; that the coarsely granular rocks solidified very slowly, but in comparative rest; that porphyritic and small-grained rocks cooled more quickly than coarse granites, although crystallisation evidently took place while they were in a plastic condition ; that fine-grained schistose rocks solidified while in motion, but are the products of compara- tively rapid cooling ; that porous trachytes cooled rapidly, but in comparative rest; that very cavernous rocks came into contact with water during cooling, and we may suppose that, where that element was present in great quantity, many original rocks underwent disintegration while their solidification was in process, giving rise to the tufaceous series of derived rocks. Many of those generalisations are supported by observations recently made on the microscopic structure of rocks to which, however, it is impossible here to refer. (To he continued.^ AQUARIA STUDIES. (Part II.) By a. S. Eitchie. In the last number of this journal a description was attempted of some of the difi'erent representatives of animal life contained in our aquarium, of what may be termed its visible beauties, that is, such creatures as may be seen with unassisted vision. The present sketch is connected still further with its denizens, as beautiful in their structure, and, notwithstanding their minute- ness, no less wonderful in their design. The unassisted eye can only look at relatively few of the creator's works: it cannot enter the inner shrine of nature's 166 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June temple, or take cognizance of the myriad manifestations of the power and wisdom which enables these animated atoms to live, move, and have their being, and to enjoy themselves as well as the more complex productions of the Infinite. The microscope, however, gives us an insight into worlds here- tofore hidden from view, and shows us creatures more strano-c than "fancy ere had feigned or fear conceived." We may see in <' the small dimensions of a point" a world peopled with creatures, to which, as we believe, there is no limit. More powerful glasses are only wanted to lead us farther into the labyrinth of the creative wonders of the Almighty. Comparatively few enquire into this world of hidden wonders in order to become acquainted with its inmates, still, a few philosophical spirits are yet to be found, who^ like Sir Thomas The Good, " "Would pore by the hour O'er a weed or a flower, Or the slugs that come crawling out after a shower." At the outset of the present sketch we would premise that the glass side of our aquarium which is placed next to the wall, is never cleaned, and, in consequence of this, it is soon covered over with a growth of what botanists call Confervce. The Confervce are among the lowest forms of Algce, a group which contains a great number of very minute microscopic plants, which have been, of late years, specially studied by microscopists. Among the lower forms of these Protophytes are the Diatomacece, Desmidice and Vohocince, plants of very simple organization, only lately removed from the animal kin2:dom. Other orders are the Pahnellacea\ likewise plants of humble type; Ulvacece, plants of a rather more complex character ; Oscillato7'iacecc, remarkable for a peculiar kind of motion ; JS^ostocliacece, Ulvacece, Siplionacece, and Co7i- fervacece. First, let us scrape some of the growth off the glass at the back of the tank, then place it in the live box with a drop of water over it, and, having adjusted our microscope, what do we see? First of all notice the vegetation contained in this drop of water^ That long pointed ribbon, having the green colouring matter twisting and curling through the centre, is one of the Confervce, a species of Spirogyra, and close beside it there is another jointed species having the chlorophyll or colouring matter in patches : 1870.] RITCHIE — ON AQUARIA STUDIES. 167 this is a variety of Stlgeodonium. These are purely vegetable, and are the resort of many little creatures which revel and hide themselves among their tiny clusters of bands. The first intruder in the field of the microscope we would call attention to is that shapeless mass near the centre. It looks like a small piece of clear jelly with little black dots or granules within. But see, it has changed its shape : it is, as it were, running out ; a finger-hke process is flowing out here and there; the granules also are moving. Again we look; it has now assumed a shape something like an outline of a map of Italy. While you are looking it has again changed. You ask, what is that? That is one of the simplest forms of animal life; it is called the A^nccba or Proteus. In the Amceha we see an animal that breathes without lungs or gills, digests without a stomach, moves without limbs, and contracts without muscles. Like other animals, of simple type, which live for the most part in the deep sea, and which from the possession of root-like feet, are called RJiizojpods, its body is composed of a jelly-like substance called sarcode. Some of these creatures have siliceous and some calcareous shells, while others have none at all. You will ask how does the Amceha live, and how does it feed ? We shall endeavor to shew. Although with- out a nervous system, it is nevertheless very sensitive, as will be seen. That other creature near it is a Rotifer or wheel-bearer. If you watch you will now see how and upon what the Amceha feeds. As its body flows and contracts, it is nearing the Rotifer which is attached by its foot to the glass, nnconscious of his fate. Presently the little mass of jelly flows and touches him, but too late for the Rotifer to make his escape ; as if stimulated by the contact, the Amceha has fairly covered him, and through its transparent body the Rotifer s struggles for life are perceptible. All is over with it now, the laws of absorption have so decreed it, and soon nothing will be left of it but its silicious covering. This is the way the Amceha feeds, by absorbing the juices of its victim. This creature is reproduced by fission, that is, by splitting or dividing itself into pieces, each of which pieces becomes a perfect animal. The wheel animalcule (Rotifer vulgaris) will be our next subject for examination. He is many degrees higher in the scale 1G8 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June than the Amccla ; his body is constructed in some degree on the principle of the tube of a telescope ; he can also draw himself into a ball at pleasure ; he has a mouth and jaws, which are constantly at work; his eyes are distinctly visible. When fishing he attaches himself by a foot or tail-like process either to the glass or to the stems of aquatic plants and stretches himself out, when the entrance to his mouth opens and the cilia, or hair-like appendages with which his mouth is furnished, commence moving or rushing, thus causing a current or small whirl-pool in the water, by means of which monads and other animacules are drawn in, and amongst others, our friend the Amceha falls in, so that the victor of yester- day is the victim of to-day. Rotifers are produced from eggs, although in one species {^Actinurus Neptunius) we have distinctly seen the young one in the body of the parent, and not only so, but have noticed its jaws going as if the creature was feeding. The red eyes of the young Actinurus could also be distinctly seen. When swimming, the Rotifer is a very graceful creature, with his crown of cilia extended, he glides across the field of view with amazino; swiftness. We well remember when young at microscopy, the anxiety experienced to possess a Rotifer; the quantities of infusions of leaves of all sorts we made, including hay, straw and sage, but all to no purpose. We could get lots of monads and other varieties, but no rotifer. For two years this state of things went on, when we were tempted to bottle some water from one of the street puddles, taking some of the sediment with it. The bottle was placed, uncorked, in the window, so that the full benefit of the sun-light might be obtained. As soon as business was over that day the bottle was produced, the animalcule cage filled, the focus of the microscope adjusted, and, to our delight, the water was swarming with rotifers ; and, from that day to this, we have been close companions. This water was kept for nearly three years, and fresh water now and then added to compensate for evaporation, with a little piece of pond weed (Anacharis alsinastrum.) or duck-weed (Lemna,) to keep the water sweet. Many generations of Rotifers lived and died in that bottle, as their siliceous skele- tons testified, the sediment being full of them. Temperature has very little efi"ect on Rotifera. We have had a bottle of water containing these creatures frozen solid, and, on thawin"- them, they were as lively as ever. We have also placed 1870.] RITCHIE — ON AQUARIA STUDIES. 169 a large-sized drop of water on a slip of glass, and held it over the flame of a lamp, loDg enough for the glass to be uncomfortable to the fingers, with the like result. They only appeared to be a little more active after their warm bath. The old experiment of evaporating a drop of water on a slide containing Kotifers we have also tried, and, on again wetting the spot, have resuscitated some of them. We have had them the twenty-fifth to the thirtieth part of an inch in length ; about the fiftieth part of an inch is the usual size. A little to the left of the Kotifer, attached to a piece of Conferva, is a beautiful cluster of bell-shaped animalcules, Vorticella campaindaria. They sre attached to the plant by means of a stalk, which has a contractile muscle running from the base to the upper end : they have a ciliated mouth. Just watch that little cluster of crystal bells. They have, by means of the muscle, drawn back, until they look like an irregular mass of gelatine. Now they slowly move out again, as if all were guided by the same will. Now they are at full stretch, with cilia revolving, fishing and feeding. Again, they are all retracted with a jerk. Some of them look as if they were double. Reproduction is going on in these : it is elfected by fission. Bye-and-bye these will separate and detach themselves, and swim about till matured, when they attach themselves, to go through the same existence as their progenitors. A smaller species, Vorticella nehiilifera, is to be found attached to the bodies of some Entomosiraca, as Cijclops quadrlcornis, and on Lynceus. Another species (Carchesmm poli/pimnn) is also found attached to these creatures. We have a specimen of Cyclops mounted as a microscopic object, having Vorticella nehulifera attached to the back of the crustacean. The presence of the Vorticella on the slide was accidental, as the object was intended to be Volvox glohator only. It evidently got in either attached in some way to some of the Coiifervce, or from the water. The stalks in Carchcsium are not retractile ; the body, however, has the power of closing up by muscular action. These we have not found in nuiubors in our aquarium, but in the ponds near the city they are to be met with in abundance. Another beautiful creature— the Blue Stentor (Stentor ca^ruleus)—h'dii attached itself to a little bit of weed ; its beautiful crown of cilia is expanded, and moves rapidly, creating quite a YOL. 5. L Xo. 2. 170 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [JuDC small whirlpool, into which the uDfortunatc monads are drawn in and engulphed into its stomach. It is of a beautiful blue colour, and is found in ^reat abundance at times on the tops of ponds? ■which look then as if the water was covered with coal dust. On taking another drop of water from the aquarium, with more of the vegetable matter, we observe other and different creatures, resembling snakes, twisting and entwining each other in their folds : these are called Lurcos or Gluttons. They are well named, for they are very voracious, feeding on animal and vegetable life ; their bodies are aunulose, or composed of rings havin*'- hair-like processes on each segment, which enables them to move at out with considerable quickness; their mouth is capacious and ciliated ; the intestinal canal is plainly seen, and their food can be well observed through their transparent bodies. \^ c have seen them devour rotifers, monads, bell animalcules, and other species; in fact, they refuse nothing. They are produced from eggs. That slipper-shaped species is very common, and found in great numbers : it can be seen by the unassisted eye as a tiny speck coursing across the animalcule cage. It is called the Chr\'salis animalcule (^Paramecium af/relia.) It is ciliated all round the sides of its body, and moves about very swiftly ; it is like a por- poise in a shoal of herrings — dashing here and there, devouring the smaller species, such as monads, in all directions. It under- goes many changes, and assumes many shapes during its metamor- phosis ; it is produced by fission as well as from the egg. That restless little fellow with four horns is Cyclops quadricor. nis. The only way to get a good look at him is to bring a little pressure to bear by giving the cover of the live-box a slight squeeze so as to keep him still. lie is very active, and measures about the sixteenth of an inch in length. His head is furnished with four antenuai or horns, and the creature is provided with five pairs of feet, and a long tail, which is terminated by bristles. It has, in the centre of its forehead, a single red eye — hence the name Cyclops, after Vulcan's Workman. The legs of the Cyclops, at each of the joints, are furnished with hairs, evidently to help the creature in swimming, as is is also the case with aquatic beetles. The female carries two ovaries at the extremity of the abdomen, where the eggs are hatched, and, on the young leaving these sacs, they fall off. The young, according to Carpenter, undergo five changes in their development. 1870.] KITCIIIE — ON AQUARIA STUDIES. 171 Besides these little creatures Ave have mentioned there are many more about Avhich nmch might be said. We have monads, vibrios in great numbers, always present in the water of our aquarium : not only there, we may state, but in the Montreal water this spring we detected, in two instances living vibrios in the water immediately taken from the pipe. In concluding this sketch of the inhabitants of our aquarium the following remarks may not be out of place. How little is known, by the great mass of mankind, of the various creations possessed with the wonderful and unknown princi- ple, " life," respecting which much more might, perhaps, be known by means of patient microscopic research. By its aid we may learn how admirably each little organ plays its part, and how the various members contribute to each of these creatures happiness in their struggle for life, for, for some wise purpose, every animated being, from the monad to the whale, is battling for existence. There is not, perhaps, a single species of animated being whose existence depends not, more or less, upon the death or destruction of others. In the plan of nature death and dissolution seem to be indis- pensable for the support and continuance of animal life. Man may be said, with a few exceptions, to have universal empire over the other animals. Carnivorous animals and birds are also engaged in this general work of destruction. In fishes, also, as their habits demonstrate, from the least to the greatest, their appetite is almost insatiable, and their object in Kfe seems to be either to devour other fishes or to avoid their own destruction. Insects, also, are no exception to the rule. We find the same struggle going on among them, each preying on, or being preyed on by other species. Even in our aquarium this struggle can be witnessed, as illus- trated in the first part of these sketches; also among micro- scopic creatures, the subject of the present paper. They also have their enemies, the fish swallow them in countless thousands while the smaller ones supply the larger with food. In the economy of nature no creature lives for its own happi- ness alone, but, by its destruction, contiibutes to the happiness of others. The balance of power is not entrusted to any particular class or species, and lie who in wisdom made them all governs and guides the whole. 172 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June ON FORAMINIFERA FROM THE GULF AND RIVER ST. LAWRENCE. By G. M. Dawson. By way of introduction to these notes, I may state that the reader will find some account of the curious and interesting animals to which the paper relates, with figures of characteristic examples, in Vol. IV, new series, of this Journal, page 413 ; and that several species found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have been catalogued by Principal Dawson, in the same Journal, Vol. V> page 188 et seq. The following table is, however, the only approach to a complete view of the species and their distribution hitherto attempted. Many of the deeper samples were small quantities of mud brought up in sounding, bj Capt. Orlebar, R.N., of the Coast Survey, and by him kindly presented to Dr. Dawson. The specimens from Labrador were obtained from material dredged by the officers of the Geological Survey; those from Prince Edward Island, were from a specimen secured by C. Robb, Esq. ; and those from the Bank of Newfoundland, were obtained from the late Sherifi" Dickson, of Kingston. The somewhat extensive series from Gaspe Bay was obtained during a dredging expedition in the summer of 1869. The mud was sampled when brought up by the dredge, and reserved for examination, the depth being ascertained as carefully as possible. Several very rich and interesting samples are also from the dredgings of Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, F.G.S., in Gaspe and its vicinity. Mr. Whiteaves has also gone over this material with care, and has detected some additional species. The means were unfortunately not at hand for ascertaining the temperature at the bottom. But, though there is reason to believe that the water at Gaspe Bay is somewhat warmer than the Gulf of St. Lawrence in general, the mud as it came over the boat's side felt icy cold to the hand, showing even here what a great eifcct the iceberg-laden Arctic current has on the bottom temperature. The number of species tabulated must not in every instance be taken as a criterion of the relative richness of the localities, as much often depends on the amount of material at disposal. This is especially the case when comparing dredgings with soundings. 1870.] DAWSON — ON FORAMINIFERA. 173 The general aspect of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Foraminifera is northern, and in many places closely resembles the fauna of the Greenland coast and the Hunde Islands, as given in Parker & Jones' Memoir.''"^ The Gulf, at least so far as its Foraminifera are concerned, evidently belongs to the Arctic province, the limits of which skirt the Banks of Newfoundland and pass from thence southward to Cape Breton. The refrigeration of its waters depends on the Arctic current, which, entering the Straits of Belle Isle, floods the whole bottom of the Gulf with water almost at the temperature of the Arctic seas. To these conditions the series of collections from Gasp6 offers somewhat an exception, and is of a slightly more southern character, both as regards the species represented and the deve- lopement which they attain. This difference depends on purely local causes, which, while slightly changing the character, give opportunities for a very abundant developement of Foraminifera, more especially of the arenaceous forms. Gaspe Bay in no part exceeds 50 fathoms in depth ; is about 20 miles in extreme length, well land-locked, and disturbed by no other current than that caused by the ebb and flow of the tide. The depth is not so great as to allow of the incursion of the cold and deep layer to any great extent, and the proximity of land and the shelter thus afforded tend still further to modify its temperature. The bottom, in most of the deeper parts, is composed of fine sand and mud, and this it is which favors the very large deve- lopment of arenaceous forms. Past the mouth of Gaspe Bay sweeps the very strong tidal current of the St. Lawrence, and immediately we pass the shelter of Ship Head and come within its influence, the changes in the Foraminifera become strikingly apparent. The bottom consisting' for the most part of clean gravel or coarse sand, most of the arenaceous forms disappear at once, and instead of the abundance of Nonioninas and Miliolas previously found, a very large proportion consist of Planorbulina lobatula, which can hold its own, attached to seaweeds and polyzoons. Polystomelia Arctica also becomes somewhat prominent, while the liagenidas and Entosolenida3 appear in abundance. What few sandy forms do occur are depauperated and com- posed of very coarse particles. The Foraminifera as a whole however are very abundant, and in some samples dredged by Mr. * Philosophical Transactions, 1865. 174 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June Wliiteaves almost equal in quantity those in the deeper Atlantic soundino'S. In the estuary of the St. Lawrence itself, Bulimina pyrula be- comes a somewhat common form. Among' forms which in the Gulf of St. Lawrence may be mentioned as specially characteristic of deep water, are Nodosaria (Glandulina) h:evi,c!;ata, Globigerina bulloides, very small ; Bulimina, principally B. squamosa, also small ; Uvigerina pygmcea, Cassidulina. From depths greater than 100 fathoms all the Foraminifera are very small and delicate ; and Lagenidas, Baliminidre, Globigerina bulloides, together with a few depauperated Nonioninse, constitute the greater part of the fauna. From these depths also come many Diatoms, mostly Coscinodiscus, and Sponge spicules. Polysto- mella striatopunctata is almost everywhere prevalent, though it nowhere attains to any very great size, and below about 30 fathoms, becomes small and generally rare, and continues increas- ing in rarity till it almost disappears at 300 flithoms. In some localities, at about 30 fathoms, P. Arctica is abundant, and greatly surpasses in size the ordinary Polystomella^ occurring along with it. The remaining P. striatopunctata) also at tliis depth often show a remarkable proneness to run into modifications resembling- one or other of the numerous species and varieties into which the genus is silbdivided, but as the transition series are complete, it is very difficult to place the bulk of the specimens satisfactorily under them. It has been thought better in the table to include as many as are easily seen to be modified striatopunctata3 under that name. Nonionina Labradorica, though not so universally distributed as the above, is a very characteristic species in the Gulf. It seems to be best developed and in largest numbers at about 30 fathoms. It thins off both in numbers and size as we go into shallower water, and decreases much in size, though not so perceptibly in numbers as the water deepens to 100 fathoms and below. There is a remarkable absence of Miliolas in the estuarine parts of the Gulf, which strongly contrasts with their abundance in Gaspe Bay, and also on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, and south. One specimen of a curious sandy form of Cornuspira foliacea was obtained at a depth of 18 fathoms at Gaspe. Biloculina ringens scarcely occurs above 30 fathoms. At Murray Bay, which is only about GO miles below the point where, at least, the surface of the St. Lawrence becomes perma- 1870.] DAWSON — ON FOIIAMINIFEUA, 173 iiently fresh, the roraininifcra become very scarce and poor. Polystomeihi striatopimctata is the most couimon, but it has become very small. Nonionina Labraclorica, Lituola Canarien.sis, and Trochammina inflata also occur, but all much reduced iu size, and scarce relatively to the amount of material examined. On passinp; from the Gulf to the cast of Newfoundland, or to the south of Cape Breton, a change from the Gulf Fauna is imme- diately detected. Polystomella striatopuuctata, there so com- mon, becomes rare. Nonionina Labradorica to a great extent ceases to appear, and Uvigerina p3^gmaea and Cassidulinida; become more frequent. The arenaceous liippocrepina, (Fig. 2,) and Lituola) (Figs. 1 and 3) are most plentiful at depths less than 20 fathoms. Lituola. scorpiurus (Fig. 4) goes down to the greatest depths in Gaspe Bay, and is yet abundant at 10 fathoms, while the immense Rhabdopleura abyssorum (Fig. G) only appears at about 20 fathoms, and continues from that point increasing in numbers and size to the depth of 50 fathoms, which is the greatest depth in Gaspe Bay, where alone it has been found. The distribution of these Foraminifera would tend, with other facts, to show that these organisms, together with most other marine animals of low organization, do not depend, to any great extent, on the depth or intensity of daylight, but almost entirely on the temperature of the water, as Dr. Carpenter maintains in his account of his recent deep-sea dredging, so that they would not give very satisfactory evidence of the conditions of deposit ol' Post pliocene or other beds, unless other facts were at disposal to show the depth, when the Foraminifera would give valuable assistance with regard to the climatic conditions at that depth. The quality of bottom has however, much to do w^ith the general fades of the Foraminifera, as with other animals. For, as shown above, calm water, with a bottom composed of fine sand and sediment, is particularly favorable to the arenaceous forms, though, even under these conditions, they do not thrive in the very cold, deep water (such as that below 100 fathoms) in the open Gulf. A strong current at once causes all sandy Ibrms to disappear, mostly, no doubt, from want of the fine materials necessary for their shells, and brings in a large preponderance of Truneatulinas, Lagenida3, &c. * The figures refer to tlio numbers oftlio W(iOLl-cat>. 176 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June The arenaceous forms, witli the exception of those which are tubular, constitute a series parallel to the calcareous forms, and the members of which graduate into one another. It seems not improbable that the individuals of the same species may assume either appearance. It does not appear, however, that the same individual can present both forms at successive periods. On the other hand, the sandy forms may really constitute a distinct group parallel to the others. Sketches of some interesting forms are given which do not appear to be precisely similar to described species. These have been kindly examined by Dr. Parker, of London, who regards the Lituolte represented in figs. 1 and 3 as new species, to which he assigns the names L. Jindens and L. cassis. The form represented in fig. 2 he regards as the type of a new genus, to which, from the horse-shoe shaped form of the aperture, he gives the name Ilippocreplna^ naming the species H. indivisa. 1870.] DAWSON — ON FORAMINIFERA. 177 r' 6j 6; \S ■MM 'A E f /' JLv_ -<^ /%5 ^■m ^g^ II Fig, 1. Lituola lindens, P. Fig. 2. Jlippocrepina indivisa, P. Fig. 3. Lituola cassis, P. Fig. 4. Lituola scorpiurus. Fig. 5. JS'onionina scapha, var. Labradorica (313 ftms.) Fig. 6. Bulimina Presii., var. squamosa (313 ftms.) Fig. 7. Ehabdopleura ? Fig. 8. Poljstomella Arctica. Fig. 9. Biloculina riugens. Fig. 10. Lagena sulcata, var. Fig. M. Entosolenia striato-punctata. Fig. 12. Entosolenia marginata. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 are drawn to a scale half that of the other figures. ■**»., C .*.'-. «,,rx:jr 'H 178 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [J une ^ 5^ <. C •% P «s o • (U C/3 !-«*» •OJ ^ I, r^ ^N^ ri Cv. Hsj >-■ "^1 ^-^ !^ t~^ t? "5^ 's. m '■Ji- CO ^ •5 (J ft Ui r< «3^ ^^ cS « •^ F Cb 5^ M f^ o (/5 rC> ■^ 'S' CO f5 "li O .'?^ 5 1 o u •siuoqiHjj o^ O} Si 'Akq /i-euni-ii 'aouajMurf -jg -aj^ \ • : ; : : : : ■^^^IHA -laiso^ 9dE3 j[jo '9DU3JAVBT -Jg J3AI^ 'OdSBQ * - * • • « I * • : a : : : • * . . . •3A03 s,32ao3f3 •;g ; : '3AajQ apuTjjQ 'X^a odsHQ ; : ■ * . '■ '■ I ci I ! I ! ♦ * .... : : K c< : ■ • * * •suioq;E j^ oS oj of '3A9ag ; * * • J I '. * • • . .* .... •suioqjE j[ ol' o; o£ 'PE3H diqg ijo '^dsEO • • . * « I . * . . K « M I I * * * * . .* • iO CO I I I « « • • • * * •suioqjEjj S£ '3A0af3 CO • * . • * * ♦ '■ '. (ooii poD uo dn « » * * . * ►J u ♦ * * * « M * ♦ ♦ » ft! * •2ui3p34Q; \ 1 •Suipunos * i * • 'J '■ * ■ •Suipanog u '• * * . * '• to « * . - ; - » - * * - - - - - •3uipunos u • • * • J ; -■ * * '• •Suipunog * * * * • « 0< * * 01 i * • * W - * • •Suipunog » u : * in ' * ;* !* •Suipunog t c \ 1 t c c •J c > :^ ' I • C 1 n i \ ■0 a I < r : 1 . c • i. ' i • 'c ; i • r • r 3 5 ^ » -« K, 3 C 5 \ 3 \ i 3 J L> 3 « 4 A r c 1 :j '. i ^ J J ^). -1 r \ ■t 3 3 3 5 ! r . a C 5 I 3 r ^^ il * i S r » i 1 • (1 I r ' • C 3 ^ ■4 ■ •- • S r > n • 3 r 1 1 = J > ■*- r 6 1 5 r ' r i c c c J3 >■ - u 3 >- " (. 3 n 3 > ; r -*■ i c 3 r f •*■ c (. f r i (. 3 (. - a sp: > u . )■ . c :!^ ■ V ■ r • ^ • f • 1 : c 3 J - 3 : ^0 3 H 3 3 3 s" 3 r ;; r 3 r 3 : - ^ > « 3 ; r ; r ^ Z ; C I C 1 : c '. 'C ! " ■ r . > 3 C 3 u fj'i. 3 C ' r. : c ^ u 3 C 1 r (. 1 i > ' r i ^ ■• r A I- •x r u r z 'I c '. r . _(. • 'u • C • -r n • i- • r \ "a ■ >— • »■ . r \\ } 1 3 h il , r "■ r 3 - r r S r "c P 3 r n 3 rv 3 P : 1 : c. 3 p ; f 3 3 c 5 >■ ' C : E ■ r 3 3 J : r ^ r 1, a 3 C 3 : • T : c }• r 3 3 n 3 r ! « : ^ 3 : 3 t • 3 P » ? 1 I i 'C : r ■■ y 3 C " r- 1 1 3 3 It <^ ."a 5 >. ' P r U C c 1 3 iO J 3 3 3 p 5 p J ; 3'J: n ■*- r C 'u : c i t : c : c ) - J t ; Z 3 ) 3 I 180 Table II. THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [JuDG -Supplementary List of Peculiar Arenaceous lurms. (See Figs, i to 4, and Fig. 7.) £ 4> 0) c rt ■T3 '^^ , /— N c j; c^ u ^ s • i ^2 01 > c FORAMINIFERA. ^c ca ° U J.i • rtfe ^^ '^^ rttrn rS IT) rt TO f,, • !5 w y Mopq W t. M r^ M '^ ^s ^P4 vO) -t- v^ '"' vO '-' VO a> W) S o< o2 cSs 0^0^ cS^ 00 00 .5 rt Lituola findens, Parker — Ficj. i *CL* * *R *CL*C * *r *CL * l^itiinla ^^ro'T'niiirn'fc — Kio^. a * *r *CI * *r *r T *r *r *rx Var — Fio^ a *C L *r T Rhabdonlenra — YW 7 1 * *CL * *CL *ri 1 NOTES ON THE STEUCTUEE OF THE CRINOIDEA, AND BLASTOIDEA. By E. BiLLixGS, F.Gr.S., Paleontologist of Geological Survey of Canada. Reprinted from (lie Am. Journal, Sc, and Arts, Vol. L., Septr. ISTO ; and concluded from this Journal, N. 6. Vel. 4, pp 42C— 133. G. On some points relating to the Structure of Pentremites. 1. V ..Z^r. 771- Fig 1. — Calycine plates of Pentremites, — 1), the basals ; /, one of five forked plates ; d, deltoid plate ; ?, lancet plate ; os, oral spiracle ; s, spiracle. Fig. 2. — Caryoeystites testudlnarhis, Hisiuger, — h, basal plates ; r, radials ; m, mouth. 1870.] BILLINGS— ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 181 Professor Wyville Thompson has proposed a division of the skeleton of the existii\2; Crinoid, Antcdon rosaceus into two sys- tems of plates, which he terms respectively the " i?«cZia/," and the " Fcrisomatlc " systems.^ These he considers to be thor- oughly distinct from each other in their structure and mode of growth. The radial system consists of the joints of the stem, the centrodorsal plate, the radial plates, the joints of the arms, and also those of the pinnules. In the perisomatic system he, includes the basal and oral plates, the anal plate, the interradial plates, and any other plates or spicula which may be developed in the pcrisome of the cup or disc. This I think a good arrange- ment, except in so far as it regards the stem, which appears to me to be, always, an appendage of the perisomatic, rather than of the radial system. Throughout the whole range of the Criuoidea, the plates of the radial and perisomatic system, are easily distinguished from each other. In general, the Cystidea have no radial plates in their calyces except, perhaps, in a small area around the ambu- lacral orifice. This accords well with an important observation of Professor Thompson's on the structure of Antedon, while in the earlier periods of its growth. " The entire body of the Pen- tacrinoid is," he says, " at first, while yet included within the pscudembryo and during its earliest fixed stage, surrounded and inclosed by plates of the perisomatic system alone, and it is quite conceivable that plates belonging to this system may ex- pand and multiply so as to form a tessellated external skeleton to the mature animal, the radial system being entirely absent, or represented only in the most rudimentary form." (Op. cit., 5-11). Such is the structure of all of the Cystidea. On refer- ring to fig. 2, it will be seen that the whole of the body of Carijo- cijstites tcstudiiiarius, is coverered with polygonal plates, without any trace whatever of a radiated arrangement. The plates are disposed in nine transverse ranges, girding the body like so many rings. This species is, (and so are most of the elongated sub- cylindrical Cystideans), annulated rather than radiated, so far as regards the external integument. The lower range, below the line, h, consists of the basals, whilst the upper, above the line, r, may possibly, be radiated. In all the globular or ovate Cysti- *0n the Embryogeny of Antedou rosaceus Linck (Comatula rosacea of Lamarck). By Professor "Wyville Thompson, L.L.D., &c. Philo- sophical Transactions of the Eoyal Society, vol. civ, Part II, p. 540. 182 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST, [June deans, with numerous plates, sucli as Sphceronifes, Malocystltes, Comaroajst'itcs, Amygdaloci/stites, and others, the shell is neither annulated nor radiated, but composed of an indefinite number of plates, reasing with the age of the individual, and arranged without any well defined or constant order. It seems clear, there" fore, that the test of the Cystidea belongs mostly to the periso- matic system. In Peniremltes the three plates wdiich arc usually called the basals, consist each of two pieces, one placed above the other, and, in general, closely anchylosed together. The lower pieces have each a re-entering angle , in their upper edges, for the re- ception of the upper pieces which stand upon them. This structure was first pointed out by Mr. Lyon (Geol. Ky., vol. iii, p. 468), and is not generally admitted, although I believe it cer- tainly does exist. It is said that the lower pieces consist of the upper joint of the column, divided into three by vertical su- tures. To me they appear to calycine plates. It is true that they do not form the bottom of the visceral cavity, but this may be due to the growth inward of the lower edges of those of the upper series. Something like this occurs in Antedon, where, at first, the bottom of the cup is formed by the basals, but after- wards principally by the first radials. The forked plates are usually called " Radials,'^ but they cer- tainly do not belong to the radial system. If they did, they would represent the first radials of the Crinoidea, and therefore they should support the bases of the ambulacra. A. little con- sideration will, however, enable any one to perceive that in Pentremites the bases of the ambulacra are situated in the apex of the fossil, and do not come in contact with the forked plates. The apex of Pentremites is identical with the actinal centre of Sea-urchins and Star fishes, in which the mouth is situated. It is here that the ambulacra originate and grow outward by the addition of new plates to their distal extremities. There can be little doubt that such was the mode of growth of the ambulacra of the Pentremites. The smaller extremity, therefore, of their ambulacra, which is received into the forked plate, is not the base, but corresponds with the apex of the ambulacrum of a Sea- urchin or of a Star-fish. It also represents the tip of the arm of a Crinoid. If the forked plate is radial, then the arrangement of the ambulacrum must be the same as that which would be exhibited in a Crinoid, with the upper end of the arm down- 1870.] BILLINGS — ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 181^ ward, aud resting on the first radial, whilst the lower end would be upward, the tip being formed of the second radial. From this it follows that the forked plates do not belong to the radial but to the perisoniatic system. The five deltoid plates alternate with the forked plates, and are also perisomatic. It is not certain that the lancet plates represent any of those plates which in the Crinoidea arc usually called "radials." They are so arranged that if they were loosened from the walls of the cup, and their smaller extremities turned upward, whilst their bases or larger ends retained their position, they would stand in a circle around the apex, as do the arms of an ordi- nary Crinoid. Their bases would alternate with the apices of the deltoid plates. They would form the outside of the arms whilst the grooves aud pinnula3 would be inside. Each would bear, on its outer or dorsal aspect, two elongated sacks, the two hydrospircs that belong to the ambulacrum. I believe that the small groove in the ambulacrum of Penfremites was occupied by the ovarian tube only. If this be true, and if, also, the lancet l>lates represent the radial plates of the arms of the Crinoids then the arm of Pentremltes w^ould have the respiratory portion of the ambulacral system on its dorsal, and the ovarian portion on its ventral aspect. In the true Crinoids, both the respiratory and ovarian tubes are situated in the groove in the ventral side of the arm.-^ In the Crinoids the pinnula) are attached to the radial joints of the arni. In Pcntremitcs they are not connected with the lancet plate, but with tlie pore plates. In P, piriformis they appear to me to to stand in sockets excavated in the suture between the pore plates. Midler compared them to the series of azygos * Thomas Say, who was the first to recogaize the Blastoidea as a group distinct from the Crinoidea, also supposed the function of the amhiiiacra to be respiratory. He says, " I think it highly probable that the branchial apparatus ccuimunicated with the surrounded fluid through the pores of the ambulacra, by means of filamentous processes ; these may also have performed the office of tentacula, in couveyiu<'- food to the mouth, which was, perhaps, provided with an exsertile proboscis ; or may we not rather suppose that the animal fed on the minute beings that abounded in the sea water, aud that it obtained them in the manner of the Ascidia, by taking them in with the water. The residum of digestum appears to have been rejected through the mouth." (Jour. Acad. X. S. Phil., voL iv, p, 296, 1825). 184 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June plates, which uuderlie that portion of the ambulacrum of Pentacrinus that runs from the mouth to the base of the arm. These resemble the lancet plates, in their being azygos and not connected "with pinnulce; but then, on the other hand, they differ from them in having, a portion at least, of the respiratory tubes on their ventral aspect. Mr. Rofe says that, " in many species of Pentremite, if not in all, this lancet plate is in reality a com- pound plate, formed of two contiguous plates, extending from the bottom to the to the top, and then turning right and left round the summit-openings, they pass down the adjoining sinus to form half its lancet-plate, leaving at the apex of the body a pen- tagonal aperture supposed to be the mouth. In some weathered specimens, the two parts of the lancet plate are separate; and in many they appear to meet only at the top and bottom of the cross section, leaving a lozenge-shaped opening between them." (Geol. Mag., vol ii, p. 249.) In a large specimen of P. ohesus (Lyon and Cassiday) which was given to me by Mr. Lyon, a polished section shows that one of the lancet plates is thus divided, but in general no trace of a suture can be seen in these plates. There are several points in the structre of the ambulacra of Pentremites that are well worthy of the study of those who have plenty of well preserved specimens. Among these, I would direct special attention to the markings in the ambulacrum of P. piriformis.. The median groove, which I suppose to have been exclusively occupied by the ovarian tubes, sends off branches right and left alternately, towards the sides of the ambulacrum. These branches do not run directly to the ambulacral pores. Each of them terminates at a point between the inner extremities of two of the pores. There is at this point a small pit which appears to be the socket of an appendage quite distinct from the pinnule. The groove docs not reach the socket of the pinnule, which is situated further out, between two of the pores. On the other hand a small groove runs from each pore inward, and termi- nates at another socket, about half-way between the pore and the main median groove of the ambulacrum. It would thus appear that besides the ordinary pinnules, there were two other rows of appendages on each side of the median groove. The general conclusions at which I have arrived from the above, are, that all the principal plates that compose the shell of Pentremites^ belong to the perisomatic system of Professor 1870.] BILLINGS— ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 185 Wyville Thompson; that it is doubtful whether or not the lancet plates arc homologous with the radial plates of the Crinoids; and that the ambulacra are more complicated in their structure than is generally supposed. 7. On the Structure of the genus Nucleocrinus. 4. m y 6. 6 Fi^. 3.— Apex of Xudeocrinus VerneiiiUi Troost. g, ambulacral groove : J), pore throiig:h which groove enters into the interior ; s, one of the ten spiracles; mv, oro-aual aperture. 4. Anterior side of a specimen; a, the anterior interradial. 5 Apex of a specimen which has lost the integu- ment that covered the centre. 6. Diagram of the plates of the test ; a, amhulacral plate ; i, the hasals ; c, plates of the apex ; d, one of the interradials ;/, forked plate. The body of this remarkable genus is ovate, elliptical or oblong, and inclosed in a shell of strong perisomatic plates, which are, in general, so closely anchylosed that the sutures between them cannot be distinguished. According to Mr. Lyon, who, through his long continued geological researches, has collected and studied a vast number of specimens, there are three minute lozenge-shaped, or quadrilateral basal plates, situated at the bottom of the YoL. Y. M Xo. 2. 186 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June columnar pit; always concealed when the column is present. These are surrounded by three other plates, the six altogether corresponding to the six pieces which constitute the compound basal plates of Pentremites. They are represented at fig. 6, h, as figured by Mr. Lyon (Geol. Ky., vol. iii, pi. v, fig 1, h.) In the next series there are five plates which are undoubtedly the homologues of the five forked plates of Pentremites. They are very short and confined to the base of the body. They form a shallow basin with ten re-entering angles in its margin. Fig. 6,/. Alternating above the forked plates, are five pieces correspond- in"- to the deltoid or interradial plates of Pentremites. Some of these are lanceolate in form (fig. 6, d), their broader extremities fitting into the angles between the forked plates. They taper to a point upward, and their sides are bevelled so as to pass under the ambulacral plates, to which they are, in general, so closely united, that the line of junction is indicated only by the difference in the markings of the surface. Owing to this structure, these plates have not always been recognised by the authors who have described this genus. They were first pointed out by Mr. Lyon. The fifth deltoid or interradial plate is truncated at its apex for the reception of the oro-anal orifice (??iv, figs. 4, 6). The sutures on each side of this plate are generally distinctly visible, especially in the upper part of the body. The ambulacra are narrow — one line wide in a specimen fifteen lines in length, with a fine median groove, about large enough to accommodate a tube of the size of a horse-hair. There are two rows of pores, those on one side of the groove alternating in posi- tion with those en the other side. These pores lead into the hydrospires. There appear to be only two rows of ambulacral ossicles. The pores are situated in the sutures between them. On each side of the ambulacrum there is a broad transversely grooved marginal plate. From each pore a small rounded ridge runs across this plate. The grooves between the ridges originate at the outer extremities of the ambulacral ossicles. In well-pre. served specimens the surface of these marginal plates exhibits no other structure than the transverse grooves and ridges; but in one weathered specimen that I have examined, they seem to be composed of a number of narrow elongated pieces, arranged trans- versely in such a manner that two of them abut against the outer extremity of each of the ambulacral ossicles, and extend outward toward the interradials. This seems to prove that the marginal 1870.] BILLINGS — ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 187 plates belong to the ambulacra, as pointed out by Mr. Lyon, and not to the interradials, as represented by other authors. Although I have studied a large number of specimens, none of them were sufficiently perfect to enable me to make out the whole structure of this part of the test of Nucleocrinus. I have, however, seen enough to convince me that the ambulacra are much more com- plex than is usually supposed. The lancet plate, if it occur at all in this genus, must be very narrow. The ambulacral groove, as in Pentreniites, sends off branches, right and left. There is also evidence of the existence of minute marginal plates on each side of the groove. The hydrospires are ten elongated sacks, each with two deep folds. They are perfectly homologous with those of Pentremites, only differing therefrom in not being united in pairs ; consequently there are ten spiracles instead of five. The mouth, or oro-anal orifice, is larger in proportion to the size of the body Fig. 7. Transverse section ,•, • • • • n ^ -^ h,t -^^ i through a specimen which hits than it IS in Fentremites. Mr. Meek all the hs'drospires preserved. • n ai, i. j.-l xi • r> h, the two ariteripr hydro- mtorms me that the mouth in some of hf^rli&rrtfni'Ttl the Blastoidea is protected by a single ^'^^''''- valve that covered it like the lid of a jug. From the structure of the orifice, I am inclined to think that in Nucleocrinus it possessed a similar protection. In the apex, nearly all the space within the circle of apertures is covered by a thin integument of small plates, fig. 3. When this is not preserved, a large snb- pentagonal aperture is seen, as shown in fig. 5. This aperture occupies the position of the mouth in the existing echinoderms. The integument, as will be shown further on, represents that which covers the mouth of an embryonic Star-fish. Mr, Conrad described this genus in 1842, as having only one aperture in the summit. " This genus differs from Pentremites, Say, in having only one perforation at top, which is central." (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., vol. viii, p. 280, pi. XV, fig. 17). His figure represents the fossil with the apex downward. Dr. Ferd. Roemer, showed that, when perfect, there is no central opening, and he made this one of the grounds for separating the genus from Pentremites. He described the apex as being provided with six apertures, five of which were divided by a partition within each. These he considered to be the ovarian 188 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June orifices. The sixth he supposes to be both mouth and vent, which accords with my view. (Mon. der Blastoideen, p. 378). In 1868 I discovered the five small pores at the apical extremities of the ambulacral grooves. (This Jour., II, xcvii, p. 353, and Annals Nat. Hist., IV, vol. 4, p. 76). In general it is difiicult to to see these pores, but if a silicified specimen, tvhich has been fossilized in a calcareous matrix, be placed in an acid for two or three minutes, the acid cleans them out and they then become distinctly visible. I believe these to be the pores through which the ovarian tubes passed outward along the grooves to the pinnulae. There are thus, sixteen apertures in the apex oi' Niideocrimis, — ten spiracles, five ovarian orifices, and one oro-anal aperture. There are no true radial plates. The whole of the test with the exception, perhaps, of the ambulacra belongs to the perisomatic system, 8. On the occurrence of Embryonic forms among the Paleozoic Echinoderms. 8. 9, 10. 11. TTlV Fig. 8. Bipinnaria asterigeraSsiVS, (copied from Muller). a, the stomach; b, part of the body of the larva; c, ambulacral centre, position of the permanent mouth, in this stage not open ; d, one of the five ambulacral canals; e, sand canal; /, madreporic plate ; ?», entrance into the stomach ; o, oesophagus ; j:>, larval mouth or pseudostome ; y, oesophageal ring; v, vent. 9. Ideal figure de- scribed below. 10. Codonites stelliformis, ohlique view to show both body and summit. 11. Summit of fig. 10. No proposition in Natural History has been more clearly demonstrated than this : — That, in general, the paleozoic animals 1870.] BILLINGS— ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 189 resemble, both ia external form and internal structure, the embryonic stages of those of the same class at present existing. Prof. Agassiz has long taught in his lectures and various publica- tions, that this is especially observable in the Echinodermata. Judging from the figures and descriptions of Muller, Agassiz, Thomson, Carpenter and others, T should say, that in this class, the most striking; resemblance is that which occurs between the adult stages of the Cystidea, Blastoidea, and paleozoic Crinoidea,, on the one hand, and the embryonic Star-fishes on the other. The structural character that has the most important bearing on the subjects discussed in these notes, is, that in all four of these groups, the mouth is situated in one of the interradial areas, — not in the ambulacral centre, as it is in the adult forms of the existing Echinodermata. In Bipinnaria asterigera Sars, according to Muller, the digest- ive cavity is a sub-globular sack without any extensions into the rays, as there are in the adult Star-fishes. The oesophagus, fig. 8, 0, is a fleshy, consistent tube, with a large mouth or pseudos- tome, p. It passes through the wall of the stomach by an open- ing somewhat smaller than the mouth, and situated in one of the interradial spaces at ni. The madreporic plate, /, and sand canal, e, the latter holding the convoluted plate (when it occurs), are situated above the orifice, m, and between it and the ambulacral centre, c. The circular space at c, is undoubtedly the homologue of the central space in the apex of Mideocrinus, figs. 3 and 5, tjnd of Codonites, figs. 10 and 11. It is also the position of the mouth in the adult Star-fish ; but in the larval stage it is com- pletely closed by the soft external skin and sarcode of the body. In the fossils it is also closed, by an integument of thin calca- reous plates. The Bipinnaria is nourished by minute particles of matter diffused through the water, and drawn into the digestive sack through the mouth and oesophagus by the action of internal cilia. I believe [that all the fossil Crinoidea, Blastoidcca and Cystidea, ingested their food in this way, and without any aid whatever from the arms or pinnulte. Perhaps there is no embryologist who will not admit, that it is possible for an animal like Bipinnaria to develope organs of reproduction and propagate its species, none of its other parts making any further advance. Such an animal, with some slight modifications, would not be very widely difi"erent from a paleozoic Crinoid. If the sarcodic body wall were to be consolidated into a 190 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June thin calcareous integument, witli the mouth even with the surface, the swimming appendages aborted, and the vent closed up, it would resemble the cup of an Actinocrinus, fig. 9, a. The lateral orifice would then be both mouth and vent, as it is, at first (according to Prof. A. Agassiz, Seaside Studies, p. 125), in the embryo of Asteracanthion BeryUnus, The ambulacral canals oi Bipinnaria are the homologues, in a general way, of those which are found beneath the vault of Actinocrinus, and extend out into the grooves of the arms. If the ventral perisome of the Crinoid were to be removed (the internal organs remaining undis- turbed) the arrangement disclosed would be that represented in fig. 9, — a convoluted plate in the centre with the canals radiating from it. The most striking difi'erence is the absence of the oesophageal ring. According to the organization of Actinocrinus there could be no cesphagus at that point, and consequently there is no ring. The convoluted plate represents the madreporic ap- paratus. The sucking feet of the Star-fish, most probably, re- present the respiratory tentacles that border the grooves of the Crinoids, but modified into prehensile and locomotive organs. Bipinnaria and Actinocrinus agree in having the mouth in one of the interradial areas, and in the absence of an orifice through the perisome at the ambulacral centre. These two characters are enbryonic and transitory in the Star-fish, but they were perma- nent in most paleozoic Crinoids. In Codonites steUiformis (^Pentremites stelliforniis Owen and Shumard), figs. 10, 11, the ambulacral centre, c, is completely closed. Five minute grooves radiate out to the extremities of the five angles of the disc. These grooves are identical with those of Pentremites and Nucleocrinus, and were occupied by the ovarian tubes. The ambulacral canals of the true Crinoids and of the Star-fishes are represented in a rudimentary condition, in this species, by the hydrospires which open out to the surface through the ten fissure-like spiraclea, s. The oro-anal orifice is interradial. G. steUiformis in external form, the interradial posi- tion of the mouth, and the closed ambulacral centre, resembles Bipinnaria and Actinocrinus, but differs importantly in having its respiratory organs arranged in ten separate tracts, all totally disconnected from each other. It is a lower form than Actino- crinus, which in its turn is lower than Bipinnaria, and yet all three are constructed on the same general plun. G. SteUiformis, although much resembling a Pentremite, is a 1870.] BILLINGS — ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 191 true Cj'stidean. Its affinity to Cadaster was first pointed out by Dr. C. A. White, who also suggested that it should be assigned to a distinct group. (Bost. Jour, N. II., vol. vii, pp. 486487). The main difference between the Cystidea and the Blastoidea is, that in the former the hydrospires do not communicate with the piunula3, whilst in the latter the cavities of the pinnulse and hydrospires are directly connected by the ambulacral pores. The developement of the recent Crinoid, Antedon rosaceus, as described by Prof. Wyville Thomson (Phil, Trans., 1866), pur- sues a course that could not possibly result in the production of such an animal as Actinocrinus. The pseudembryo, as it is called by Prof. Thomson, is a small ovate organism, with four transverse, ciliated bands, a large key-hole-shaped mouth (pseudostome), and a small circular vent (pseudoproct). These orifices are connected by a rudimentary intestine (pseudocele). In this stage there is no trace of radiation, and the mouth, therefore, cannot be said to be interradial in its position. The nascent Crinoid originates within the pseudembrjo, but developes a mouth, vent and and stomach, of its own, all quite distinct from those of its nurse. The new, or permanent mouth, is for a short time both oral and anal in its function, but although in this respect it resembles that of Actinocrinus, its position in the centre ot the ambulacral system, shows it to represent the mouth of the adult Star-fish, while that of Actinocrinus rather homologates with the oral orifice of the Bipinnaria, At no time during its development does the ventral perisome exhibit the structure of that of the paleocrinoids, i, e., no orifice in the ambulacral centre, and at the same time one in an interradial space. In the central position of its mouth, and in the possession of an oesophageal ring, Antedon stands above Actinomnus in rank, and between it and the adult Star-fish. In none of its stages does it resemble a Bipinnaria either in form or in structure. 9. ON SOME or THE OBJECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ADVANCED AGAINST THE VIEWS ADVOCATED IN THE PRECEDING NOTES. In all the known species of the existing Echinodermata, the mouth is situated in the centre of the ambulacral system, and it is contended that this fact proves that such must have been its position also in the paleozoic forms. This reasoning is not strictly logical. It is true that in the 192 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June known existing species, the mouth is in the centre, but it does not certainly follow that it is so in all the Echinodermata, living and extinct. Whether it be so or not in any particular fossil species, whose structre may be under investigation, is a question of wliich fact can only he j^ositively determined hy direct observa- tion of specimens. On appealing to these we find that, in a large proportion of the fossil forms, there is no aperture in the peri- some at the ambulacral centre. It also becomes evident by the comparison that, in general, the paleozoic species resemble the embryonic stages of some of the recent Echinoderms, and that in these, (^Bipinnaria for instance), the mouth is interradial. Kules such as are relied on in this case, afford a certain amount of pre- sumptive evidenc3, which, however, cannot prevail against mate- rial and visible facts. When we can see clearly that there is no aperture in that point in the vault of a Crinoid, beneath which we know the ambulacral centre is situated, it is perfectly useless to supply one by deduction. ^^ The second objection is, that many of the fossils have a Platy- ceras attached to them, in such a position so as to cover the aper- ture which I call the mouth, and under such circumstances as to induce the belief that it lived parasitically on the Crinoid. The only answer I can make to this is that, admitting the facts, we must suppose that space was left for a stream of water to pass under the edge of the shell, into the mouth of the Crinoid. In general, where one animal lives parasitically upon another, it does not destroy his host. Some of the gasteropods of the Devonian and Carboniferous ages, were carnivorous, as is proved by the bored shells and Crinoids that are occasionly found. I have seen a great number of such specimens, and several years ago I read a paper on the subject (which was never publiished) before the Natural History Society of Montreal. There were several good Conchologists present, and the specimens exhibited were compared with bored shells of existing species. All pronounced the style * The positiou of the ambulacral centre may thus he found. "When the mouth is eccentric, the ambulacral tubes usually converge to the centre of the vault. But when the mouth is central, we first find the azygos interradius, in general easily recognized by its possessing a greater number of plates than do any one of tho other four iuterradii. On the opposite side of the fossil is the azygos arm. The ambulacral centre is always situated between this arm and the month, never on the side of the mouth torward the azj^gos interradius. 1870.] BILLINGS — ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 193 Fig. 12. Streptorliynchus Pan- dora. A specimen bored at o by a carnivorous gasteropod. From the Corniferous Limestone, Devonian, Canada, of workmanship to be precisely the same. I have the proboscis of an Act'uiocrlnus that is bored near the base, and among the fossils lent me by Mr. Wachsmuth is a Codonites stelUformis, that is bored through one of the ambul- acra. The view I took of the sub- ject in my paper, was that the gas- teropod ascended the stalk of the Crinoid, and thrust its proboscis into the mouth of the latter. The Crinoid then slowly drew its arms together and held the shell fast until both died. A third objection is the small size of the aperture in some of the species. In general, where there is no proboscis the orifice is from one-twentieth to one-tenth of an inch in diameter, quite suffi- cient for an animal that subsists on microscopic organisms. It is stated by Meek and Worthen that where there is a proboscis, the aperture is sometimes scarcely '• more than one-hundredth of an inch in diameter." I believe in many such instances the tube is filled up by calcareous deposits on its inside, and that when entirely obstructed, either a new aperture is opened out in the side of the proboscis, or that the animal died. In Mr. Wachsmuth's collect- ion, I saw a specimen with a second aperture in the process of formation. A ticket was attached to it by him, giving this ex- planation. I am also informed that in some of the existing species of Antedon " the mouth is an exceedingly minute aper- ture." A fourth objection is thtjt the aperture is so situated that the arms could not have conveyed food to it. It is however proved by Dr. W. B. Carpenter, that in the recent Crinoids the arms are not prehensile organs. The animal while feeding remains motionless, attached by its dorsal cirrhi to a stone, shell, or other object on the bottom. Its arms are either stretched out to their full length, or more or less coiled up, but quite immovable. As Dr. Carpenter's remarks have a very important bearing upon the subject, I shall take the liberty of quoting the following : — '' Whatever may be the purpose of the habitual expansion of the arms, I feel quite justified that it is not (as stated by several authors whom I cited in my historical summary) the prehension of food. I have continually watched the results of the contact of small 194 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June animals (as Annelids, or Entomostracans and other small Crusta- ceans) with arms, and have never yet seen the smallest attempt on the part of the animal to seize them as prey. Moreover, the tubular tentacula with which the arms are so abundantly furnish- ed, have not in the slightest degree that adhesive power which is possesed by the " feet" of the Echinidea and Asteriada ; so that they are quite incapable of assisting in the act of prehension, which must be accomplished, if at all, either by the coiling-up of a single arm, or by the folding- together of the arms. Now I have never seen such coiling up of an arm as could bring an object that might be included in it into the near neighbourhood of the mouth ; nor have I seen the contact of small animals with a single arm produce any movement of other arms towards the spot, such as takes place in the prehensile apparatus of other animals. Moreover, any object that could be grasped either by the coiling of one arm, or by the consentaneous closure of all the arms together upon it, must be far too large to be received into the mouth, which is of small size and not distensible like that of the Asteroid A." ^ Farther on Dr. Carpenter says : " It was affirmed by M. Dujardin (I'lnstitut, No. 119, p, 268) that the arms are used for the acquisition of food in a manner altogether dissimilar to ordinary prehension ; for recognizing the fact that the alimentary particles must be of small size, he suppos- ed that any such, falling on the ambulacral (?) furrows of the arms or pinnae, are transmitted downwards along those furrows to the mouth wherein they all terminate, by mechanical action of the digitate papillae which fringe their borders. This doctrine he appears to have abandoned ; since in his last account of this type (Hist. Nat. des Echinoderms, p. 194) he affirms that the trans- mission of alimentary particles along the ambulacral (?) furrows is the result of the action of cilia with which their surface is clo- thed. Although I have not myself succeeded in distinguishing cilia on the surface which forms the floor of these furrows, yet I have distinctly seen such a rapid passage of minute particles along their groove as I could not account for in any other mode, and * Eeaserches on the Structure, Physiology, and development of Ante- don {Comatula, Lamk.) rosaceus.—Voii I. By ~W. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S. Philosophical Transactions of the Eojal Society, vol. clvi, Part II. 186G. 1870.] BILLINGS — ON CRINOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 195 am therefore disposed to believe in their existence. SucJi a power- ful indraughtf moreover, must he produced about the region of tJie mouth, hi/ the action of the large cilia tuhich (^as I shall hereafter descrihe^ fringe various parts of the internal loall of the alimen- tary canal, as loould materially aid in the transmission of minute particles along those portions of the amhulacral (^?) furrows which immediately lead torward it ; and it is, I feel satisfied, by the conjoint agency of these two moving powers that the alimentation of Antedon is ordinarily affected. In the very numerous speci- mens from Arran the contents of whose digestive cavity I have examined, I have never found any other than microscopic organ- isms; and the abundance of the horny rays, Peridinium tripos, (Ehr.) has made it evident that in this locality that Infuso- rian was one of the principle articles of its food. But in Ante- dons from other localities, I have found a more miscellaneous assemblage of alimentary particles ; the most common recogniz- able forms being the horny casings of Entomostraca or of the larvae of higher Crustacea." (Op. cit., p. 700). The existence of large cilia within the intestinal canal, capable of producing a powerful indraught of water, renders any move- ment or concurrent action of the arms quite unnecessary in the ingestion of food. It does not matter, therefore in what part of the body the mouth of a Crinoid may be situated, or how remote from the reach of the arms. Attached permanently to the bottom of the sea by their columns, the Crinoidea, Cystidea and Blast- oidea remained, while feeding, most probably motionless, drawing in streams of water through their mouths by the action of their intestinal cilia. The long tubular proboscis with which many of the species are provided, would be, thus, analogous in function to the siphon of the acephalous mollusca. The indigestible particles would le, from time to time, thrown out the mouth, just as a Star-fish or a Zoophyte frees itself of the refuse portion of food, by casting it out of the same aperture through which it entered. 10. On the theory that the ambulacral and ovarian orifices are the oral apertures. Assuming that the four objections above noticed are suflBcIent to prove that the aperture which I call the mouth is not that organ, it is contended that the Cystidea, Blastoidea and Palseocrin- idea ingested their food through their ambulacral and ovarian 196 . THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June orifices. This appears to me in the highest degree improbable. In the recent Crinoids the grooves of the arms are occupied by four sets of tubes, which Dr. Carpenter calls the caeliac, the sub- tentacular, the ovarian and the tentacular canals. None of them communicate with the stomach. It is impossible that the most minute particle of food could gain acess into the interior of the animal through any of them. The structure of the arms of the paleozoic Crinoids is such, that we must presume that their grooves were occupied by similar tubes, which passed through the ambul- acral orifices into the perivisceral space. In the Cystidea and Blastoidea the respiratory organs were not situated in the grooves of the arms, and the ambulacral orifices were therefore only ovarian in their function. The improbability of their being also oral apertures is best shown by an illustration. In fig. 13, is represented (natural size) the apertures of the 13. 14. smallest specimen of Caryocrhius ornatus in our collection, selected for the present purpose because in the young of this spe- cies, the valvular orifice is larger in pro- portion to the disCj than it is in the adult. It is in this specimen, about one- third of the whole width of the apical disc, while in a full grown Carijocrinus it is only one-ninth of the width. The same proportional size of the mouth accord- ing to age, occurs in the Antcdon rosaceus. The valvular mouth at first is as wide as the disc. But as the age of the animal in- creases the disc grows wider but the mouth does not. The ova- rian pores in Caryocrhius are however as large in the small ones (once they make their appearance) as they are in those full grown. For recognizing these as ovarian pores we have the following reasons: — 1. T he v are situated at the bases of the arms where the ovarian tubes must pass from the grooves into the perivisceral cavity. 2. When compared with the ovarian pores of a Sea-urchin they have the same size, form and aspect. Fig. 14 represents the ovarian pores of the Sea-urchin Toxopneustes DrohacJiiensis Ag. natural size and arrangement. It may not appear at first view that this latter comparison has any probative efl"ect. But it has, in this way. If these apertures in Caryocrinus were large open- ings a line wide, as are some of the ambulacral orifices of the Crinoids, I would say that they were unlike true ovarian aper- tures. According to the new theory, this Echinoderm, Caryocrinus 1870.] BILLINGS ON CRISTOIDEA AND BLASTOIDEA. 197 ornatus, was a polystome animal, and drew in its food through its six ovarian apertures, the large valvular orifice being the anus. To me this appears uterly incredible. In fis;. 14 I have represented the mouth of Leshia mirahilis Gray, Both Dr. J. E. Gray and Prof. Loven have pronounced this aperture to have the structure of the valvular orifice of the Cystidea. I have not the slightest doubt whatever but that the mouth of the Cystideans foreshadows that of the Sea-urchins. There is nothing whatever in its structure to show that it is nob the mouth but the contrary. The new theory is not founded upon any peculiarities in the structure of the ambulacral orifices, which would show that they are oral apertures, but only upon the four objections above noticed. The first of these is not logical, while at the same time it is purely theoretical, and avails nothing against material and visible facts. The fourth is completely disposed of by Dr. Carpenter's observations, which prove that in the Crinoidea the arms have no share whatever in the ino-estion of food. Tho second and third objections are the same in substance, i. e., accord- ing to the second the supply of water to the mouth, is diminished by the occurrence of a Platyceras over it, while, according to the third, the same effect is produced by the small size of the aperture itself in some instances. It does not require much consideration to convince one, that if these two objec- tions are fatal to my views, they are equally so to the opposite theory. In G. stelUformis, for instance, the pores through which we must suppose the ovarian tubes issued from the interior are only large enough to admit of the passage of a fine hair. They are scarcely visible to the naked eye. The tube, under any circumstances, must have filled them entirely. If any space at all were left for the passage of a stream of water through the pore by the side of the tube it must have been exceedingly minute. When weighed as above, therefore, the evidence gives the following results : — The first and fourth objections avail nothing. The second and third militate against both theories. But when we take into account that in no instance in the existing Echinodermata, where ovarian pores occur, are they at the same time oral orifices, the balance seems to be in favour of my view. This is all I desire to say upon the subject at present. Although I now firmly believe that the valvular orifice in the Cystidea, the 198 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June larger lateral aperture of the Blastoidea, and the so-called pro- boscis of the paleozoic Crinoids are all oro-anal in function, yet I shall not maintain that view obstinately against good reason shown to the contrary. ON THE GEOLOGY OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND. By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S. (Frovi a letter to Prof. James D. Dana, reprinted from the American Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. L., July, 1870.) When, more than twenty years since, my attention was turned to the geology of New England, there was no evidence of the existence between the old gneisses of the Adirondacks and the coal measures, of any other stratified rocks than those of the Huronian series, and the New York system, from the Potsdam formation, upward. It is true that Emmons had, before that time maintained the presence, in western Vermont and Massa- chusetts, of a system of fossiliferous sediments, lying unconform- ably beneath the Potsdam, but the evidence up to this time adduced with regard to these so-called Taconic rocks, has failed to show that they include any strata more ancient than the Potsdam, while most of them are certainly younger. The researches of Sir William Logan, up to 1848, had led him to refer to a period not older than the Lower Silurian the crys- talline sediments of the Appalachian region of Canada, between Lake Champlain and Quebec. These form a chain of hills, the continuation of the Green Mountains, and were found by him to be followed immediately, to the southeast, by more or less calca- reous and somewhat altered strata, associated with Upper Silurian fossils, and succeeded across the strike, near the sources of the Connecticut River, by a series, several miles in breadth, of micaceous schists and quartzose strata, occasionally containing chiastolite, garnet and hornblende. These two series of rocks, extending from the base of the Green Mountains to Canaan on the Connecticut, it was suggested by Sir William Logan, in his Report on the Geological Survey, 1847-1848, might be the altered representatives of the rocks of Gaspe, including the Lower Helderberg group, and the succeeding members of the New York system to the top of the Chemung. I then as now 1870.] HUNT — GEOLOGY OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND. 199 conceived that these micaceous and argillaceous schists, often holding garnets and chiastolite, were identical with those which make so conspicuous a figure in the White Mountains and else- where in Eastern New England, and when, in 1849, I laid before the American Association at Cambridge, the results of the Geo- logical Survey of Canada (Sill. Jour., II, ix, 19), suggested that to the Gaspe series, as above defined, ''may perhaps be referred, in part, the rocks of the White Mountains." Lesley, subsequently, in 1860 (Proc. Philad. Acad. Nat. Sciences, page 363), adduced many reasons for believing that the rocks of these might be strata of Devonian age.-^ In the large geological map of Canada and the northern United States, lately published by Sir William Logan, no attempt is made to delineate the geology of New Hampshire, but the rocks in question, to the north of the United States boundary, are represented as Upper Silurian, with the exception of a belt of the Quebec group, which has been recognized in that region. In fact the schists and gneisses of the White Mountains are clearly distinct, lithologically,Trom the Laurentian, the Labradorian and the Huronian, as well as from the crystalline rocks of the Green Mountains, and from the fossiliferous Upper Silurian strata which lie at the southwestern base of the Canadian prolongation of the latter. Having thus exhausted the list of known sedimen- tary groups up to this horizon, it was evident that the crystalline strata of the White Mountains must be either (1) of Devonian age, or (2) something newer (which was highly improbable) ; or (3) must belong to a lower and hitherto unknown series. In the absence of any proof, at that time, of the existence of such a lower system, the first view, which referred these strata to the Devonian period, was the only one admissible. * In this connection should be recalled the views put forth in 1846, by Messrs. H. D. and "W. B. Kogers, in a paper on the Geological Age of the White Mountains, (Sill. Journal, II, i, 411). They there, for the first time, pointed out that the great mass of these mountains consists of more or less altered sedimentary strata, which upon the evidence of sup- posed organic remains they referred with some little doubt, to the Clin- ton division of the Upper Silurian. In 1847, however, they announced that the supposed fossils, on which this identification had been founded, were not really such, (Sill. Jom-nal, II, v, 116). Future explorers may,' it is hoped, be more successful, and yet discover among the strata of the White Mountains evidences of organic life, probably of primordial Silurian age. 200 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June When, however, further investigation showed that the great and progressive thickening which takes place in the paleozoic formations from the west, eastward, is not confined to the aug- mentation of existing subdivisions, but inckides the intercala- tion of new ones ; when the few hundred feet of typical Pots- dam sandstone in New York are represented in Vermont, Quebec and Newfoundland, by thousands of feet of strata lithologically very unlike the type ; while the Quebec group, not less in volume, appears representing the beds of passage between the Calciferous and Chazy divisions of New York, we begin to conceive that con- ditions of sedimentation, very unlike anything hitherto suspected in the west, prevailed to the eastward. When, moreover, we find widely separated areas of Labradorian and Huronian rocks, — remaining fragments of great series, — resting upon the Laurent- ian, from Lake Huron to Newfoundland, we get evidences of a process of denudation in past ages, not less remarkable than the sedimentation. My observations of last year have led me to a conclusion, which had previously been taking shape in my mind, that there exists above the Laurentian, a great series of crystalline schists, including mica-slates, staurolite and chiastolite-schists, with quartzose and hornblendic rocks, and some limestones, the whole associated with great masses of fine-grained gneisses, the so-called granites of many parts of New England. The first suggestions of this were given me by the observation of Dr. Bigsby, confirm- ed by specimens since received from that region, that there exists to the northwest of Lake Superior, an extended series of crystal- line schists, unlike the Laurentian, and resembling those of the White Mountains. I have already called attention to this re- semblance in a review of the progress of American Geology, in 1861 {Can. Naturalist, VI., 84). It was contrary to my notions of the geological history of the continent to suppose that rocks of Devonian age could, in that region, have assumed such litholog- ical characters, and I was therefore led to compare these rocks with a great series of crystalline schists, abounding in mica-slates and micaceous limestones, which occupy considerable areas in the Laurentian region in Hastings county^ to the north of Lake Ontario. The distribution of this series has been traced out by Mr. Vennor, who in 1869, was able to show that, although much contorted, it rests unconformably upon the old Laurentian gneisses, while it is, at the same time overlaid by the horizontal 1870.] HUNT — ON GEOLOGY OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND, 201 limestones of the Trenton group. This intermediate series, which attains a thickness of several thousand feet, is terminated by calcareo-micaceous schists, in which Eozoon Canadense has been found, both in Madoc and in Tudor. In these localities, as shown by Dawson and Carpenter (Sill. Jour.. II., xlviv, 3G7), the calcareous skeleton of the Eozoon, insttal of being injected by serpentine or another silicate^ is simply filled with impure calca- reous and carbonaceous matter. The presence of this fossil serves to connect these rocks with the Laureutiau system, with which they had provisionally been classed, although their lithological dissimilarity had long been noticed, and in 186G Sir William Logan had remarked their resemblance to the mica-slate series found near the sources of the Connecticut Eiver (Report Geol. Survey, 1866, p. 93). Mr. Alex. Murray's report of his explorations in Newfound- land, published in 1866, throws much light on the history of the rocks immediately succeeding the Laurentian in that region. He found'in the great northern peninsula, about the Clouds Mountains and Canada Bay, not less than 5400 feet of strata, referred by him to the Potsdam group. Of these the lower 2500 feet consist of bluish-gray slates, holding near the summit, beds which become conglomerate from the presence of quartz pebbles, and are follow- ed by a mass of purplish amygdaloidal diorite, holding epidote and jaspery red iron ore. Then follow 2000 feet of argillaceous and somewhat micaceous slates with beds of quartzite and of limestone, generally impure. These contain, besides numerous fucoidal markings, the remains of a Lingula, and of Olendlus Vermontanus, a fossil characteristic of the Potsdam group. To this second division succeeds a third, consisting of about 900 feet additional of limestones and slates. Somewhat farther southward, at Great and Little Coney Arms, the lower half of the above series is not observed, but a succession of strata, supposed to represent the upper portion of the Potsdam, is more particularly described. It consists, at the base, of 300 feet of pale bluish- gray mica-slates, with iron stains, '' softer more finely laminated, and more uniform both in colour and in texture" than some micaceous strata described by Mr. Murray as occuring in the Laurentian in that region. To these succeeded 430 feet of sim- ilar soft bluish-gray mica-slates, holding numerous thin seams of dark colored limestone, and followed by 1000 feet of impure limestones and slates, often micaceous and calcareous, among Vol V. N No. 2. 202 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [JuDG •which are a few beds of white compact marble. No indications of fossils, savefucoidal markings, were met with in this section. At Coney- Arm Head there is seen a series of " whitish granitoid, very quartzose mica-slates," which appear to have a thickness of from 1500 to 2000 feet. The same rock is found in White Bay^ where it overlies what is supposed to be J vaurentian gneiss. The relations of these whitish granitic mica-slates are still obscure, but Mr. Murray was inclined to regard them as occupying a position beneath the Potsdam group. The latter, in Canada Bay is immediately followed by the unaltered fossiliferous limestone, and shales of the Quebec group. From these investigations of Mr. Murray we learn that between the Laurentian and the Quebec group, there exists a series of several thousand feet of strata, including soft bluish-grey mica-slates and micaceous lime- stones, belonging to the Potsdam group ; besides a great mass of whitish granitoid mica-slates, whose relation to the Potsdam is still uncertain. To the whole of these we may perhaps give the provisional name of the Terranovan series, in allusion to the name Newfoundland. Imperfect gneisses and schists are found in several parts of the province of New Brunswick, associated with what has been de- scribed as a great grantic belt. These rocks have been examin- ed by Prof. Hind, and by Mr. Eobb, on the St. John and Mirimichi rivers ; and the former of these observers some years since pointed out the indigenous character of the so-called granites. In th3 summer of 1869 I had an opportunity of ex° amining, with Prof. L. W. Bailey, the region about St. Stephen, on the river St. Croix, where he had already observed a series of ferruginous quartz ites and imperfect gneisses, accompanied by soft bluish mica-slates sometimes holding chiastolite, staurolite, and garnet. These highly crystalline schists are not more than five miles removed from unaltered shales of the Gaspe series containing fossils of Upper Silurian or Lower Devonian types, and rest unconformably upon older granitoid rocks, which Prof Bailey regards as probably Laurentian. We subsequently ex- amined the crystalline schists of the St John, which are apparent- ly identical with those of the St. Croix, and these also overlie, unconformably, an older granitoid gneiss. ^ * Subsequent examination and comparison leads me to conclude that the underlying granitic rock here referred to, which occurs on the St. .Tohn near the mouth of the Shogamoe is not an indigenous rock, but an 1870.] HUNT — ON GEOLOGY OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND. 203 More recently Prof. Hind has pointed out that some of the so-called granites of Nova Scotia are ancient gneisses, probably of Laurentian age, and have shown that between these and the gold-bearing slates of that province, there is found, near Windsor, and near Sherbrooke, a series of beds of no great thickness, consisting of imperfect gneisses, quartzites and micaceous schists, which rest unconformably on the Laurentian, and are sometim^^is wanting altogether. These include mica-schists with chiastolite and garnet, and appear identical with those already observed by Dr. Dawson in other parts of Novia Scotia, which I had already recognized as the same with those of the White Mountains, and those of the St. Croix, just noticed. Prof. Hind, in a late paper, has called these, from their position in Nova Scotia, Huronian ; but the Cambrian or Huronian rocks recognized by Messrs. Matthew and Bailey in New Brunswick, where they are widely spread along the north side of the Bay of Fandy, consist of massive diorites and quartzose feldspar-porphyries, with occasion- al sandstones and conglomerates, and are very unlike the gneissic and micaceous rocks in question, which I believe to belong, like those of the St. Croix and the St. John rivers, to the great lerran- ovan series. The micaceous and homblendic schists, with inter- stratified fine grained whitish gneisses (locally known as granites) which I have seen in Hallowell, Au2;usta, Brunswick and West- brook, in Maine, appear to belong to the same series ; which will also probably include much of the gneiss and mica-schist of eastern New England. If this upper series is to be identified with the crystalline schists which in Hastings County, Ontario, overlie unconformably the Laurentian, and yet contain Eozoon Canadense, the presence of this fossil can no longer serve to identify the Laurentian system. To this lower horizon however, I have referred a belt of gneissic rocks in eastern Massachusetts, which are lithologically unlike the present series, and identical with the Laurentian of New York and Canada. To the upper series appear to belong the great endogenous granitic veins so well known to mineralogists as containing beryl, tourmaline and other fine crystallized minerals. The fine-grained white granitoid gneisses, often present an apparently bedded structure, which enables them to be removed in large plates or layers, lying at no great angle, and apparently con- iutrusive granite. The same view must probably be extended to the granite rocks of the St. Croix. 204 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June formable to the present surface of the country. This structure, which I conceive to have been superinduced by superficial changes of temperature, is often quite independent of the bedding, as may be seen in the quarries near Augusta in Maine, and in the cuttings on the Grand Trunk Railway near Berlin Falls, New Hampshire. It is also observed in exotic or intrusive granites, like those of Biddeford, Maine. This is, in fact, the concentric lamination of granite, long since observed by Yon Buch, and, I believe, correct- ly explained by Prof. N. S. Shaler to be due to movements of contraction and expansion in the mass, caused by variation of temperature during the changes of the seasons. He has not however observed this structre at greater depths than from three to five feet, while in some rocks I have found it penetrating prob- ably twenty feet. (See Shaler's paper, read before the Boston Nat. History Society, Feb. 3, 1869, and published in the Proceed- ings of the Society, vol. xii, page 289). While however I admit the existence in the Dominion of Canada and in eastern New England, of a great series of crys- talline schists, distinct from' the Laurentian, and apparently the same with those found by| Mr. Murray between the Laurentian and the Quebec group in Newfoundland, it is not less certain that we have in these regions rocks of Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian age, holding the characteristic fossils. These strata in Maine and New Brunswick are generally but little altered. In the Connecticut valley at Bernardston, Massachusetts, near Lake Memphremagog in Vermont, and further northward in the province of Quebec, fossils of this horizon are found in rocks which in some localities, are more or less altered and crystalline. I believe however that much of the calcareous mica-slate of eastern Vermont will be found to belong to the Terranovan series. The extent of these newer rocks, and the limits between them and the more ancient schists, of the ruins of which they are prob- ably in part composed, remain problems for farther investigation. For the solution of these Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, by his labours ill Vermont, is already well prepared, and it cannot be doubt- ed that he, with his able assistants, will in the Survey of New Hampshire, now in progress, throw much light on New England geology. It is worthy of remark, that strata holding fossils of Lower Helderberg age, or thereabouts, are not confined to the shores of Maine and New Brunswick, and the vallevs of the Connecticut and St. John rivers, but are found beyond the Green Mountains? 1870.] HUNT — ON GEOLOGY OF EASTERN NEW ENGLAND. 205 in the valley of the St. Lawrence near Montreal ; where, on the island of St. Helen they rest unconformably on the Utica slate, and at Beloeil Mountain, near by, on intrusive diorites, which there break through the shales of the Hudson River group. The relations of this Terranovan series to the porphyries and diorite rocks which, in New Brunswick, have been called Cam- brian and Huronian by Mr. Matthew (first distinguished by him as the Coldbrook group), yet remains to be determined. These rocks are found near to the city of St. John resting directly on what has been regarded as Laurentian, and are overlaid by the uncrystalline schists which contain the primordial ftiuna now so well known by the descriptions of Prof. Hartt. Rocks which I regard as identical with the same Coldbrook or Cambrian group, are found along the coast of New Brunswick, and constitute the diorites and porphyries of Eastport, Maine. They appear more- over to be the same with those met with near Newburyport, and Salem, Lynn, and Marblehead, Massachusetts. Farther research- es about Passamaquoddy Bay, where the mica-slates are found not far removed from these porphyries, will probably enable us to determine their relation to each other. It will be remembered that Giimbel has found, in Bavaria beneath the oldest fossiliferous clay-slates, a mica-gchist (and * hornblende-schist) series, reposing upon the Hercynian o-neiss which contains crystalline limestones, with graphite, serpentine and Eozoon Canadense, and which he has identified with the Laurentian of North America. He distinguishes beneath this a great mass of red gneiss, apparently without limestones, to which he has given the name of the Bojian gneiss. It will however be remembered, that in his studies of the Laurentian system on the Ottawa, Sir William Logan has shown that this immense series (his Lower Laurentain), some 20,000 feet in thicknesss, includes four great masses of gneiss and quartzite, divided by three lime- stone formations, and that it is in the uppermost of these, which is, in some parts, 1500 feet thick, that the Eozoon Canadense jia.s been found. Some of the lower gneisses of this vast system may very well represent the Bojian of Giimbel, who has not reco"-- nized in Bavaria either the Labradorian (Upper Laurentian) or Huronian series. (See Giimbel on the Laurentian of Bavaria, trAi: slated and published in the Canadian Naturalist for December 1866). Comparative studies of this kind should not be neglected in the investigation of our American rocks. 206 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. PROCEEDINGS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, Held May ISth, 1870. The annual meeting; of this Society was held at its rooms on the evening of May 18th, the Acting President, Rev. A. De Sola, LL.D., in the absence of Sir W. E. Logan, in the chair. Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, the Recording Secretary, read the minutes of the last annual meeting ; after which the usual annual address was delivered as follows : — In the notice calling this meeting, it was announced that there would be an address by the Acting President. I fear, however, that I shall have now to prove there would be more of courtesy than of justice in dignifying my few remarks, illustrative of the work done in the past year, with a title that has frequently, even if not invariably, conveyed on such an occasion the idea of a scientific treatise. When I had the honor of last filling the presidential chair, I called your attention to '' some points of interest in the study of Natural History" ; but this evening, I do not follow this course, for two reasons, which I trust you will regard as quite sufficient. The first is, that I — and I venture to add most others in my situation — would but little desire to give opportunity of contrast with what, had he been present, our learned President, Sir Wm. Logan, would have favored us. And the second is, that multifarious and urgent official and other duties would have prevented me, however I might have felt dis^ posed to intrude in such a direction. In uniting with me, as I am sure you will, in regretting the absence of our President on this occasion, we may yet have the satisfiiction of recalling the fact that on Sir William Logan's recent retirement from the active duties of Director of the Geological Survey, this Society, which in the past had done something to help Sir William in creating the Survey, availed itself of the occasion of his with- drawal to present him with its silver medal, accompanied with resolutions expressive of the Society's desire — although it could not add appreciably to the many honors which Sir William had 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 207 received, by presenting to him its medal — yet its earnest desire to place on record, not merely on its own behalf, but on that of all the students of natural science in Canada, its high estimation of the value of his services in creating, as well as directing, the Geological Survey of this country ; in promoting the development of its mineral resources; in stimulating and aiding the efforts of scientific institutions, and in extending throughout the world the name of Canadian science. The resolutions also express our high appreciation of Sir William's admirable personal qualities, our hope that he may be spared for many years to Canada and science, and that the relief from official cares may give him the ojDportu- nity to pursue to completion the researches in scientific geology in which he is now engaged. Tu the sentiments of these resolu- tions I am sure all who are here to-night, but who were absent when they were offered, will full and cordially concur, and at the same time unite with me in felicitating the " Survey" and the cause of geological science, that Sir William's mantle should have fallen on so worthy a successor as Mr. Selwyn, whose laurels already gathered as director of the Geological Survey in Victoria will doubtless multiply and extend themselves in the new and larger field to which he has been called. The proceedings to which I have just adverted will find record in the Society's organ, The Canadian Naturalist, and it may be proper that I should here say a few words respecting this publi- cation, especially as I have not been editorially or otherwise connected with the volume just completed. This volume forms the fourth of the new series and the first of its publication as a quarterly, and I venture to say that we have much cause for gratification and pride at its appearance, especially when we look to the difficulties attendant upon its production. These difficulties are both of a financial and literary character — the various valuable articles consisting entirely of voluntary contributions — and it is to be feared that not all the members of this Society sufficiently realize or ponder these great difficulties. It must be a source of congratulation to the Editing Committee that they have been enabled to publish the volume within the year — a feat not always accomplished either by the Naturalist, or by the publications of sister societies in the Dominion. We need but look at the varied and valuable contributions in this volume to be satisfied that it has not been surpassed by any before it. And what will be considered a very gratifying fact is, that the original articles of 208 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June the Naturalist are now copied ui extenso in some of the scientific journals of tlie Mother Country and the United States. Thus, not less than six of these articles of the last volume have been wholly reproduced in the London Scientific Opinion, to wit, two by Dr. Edwards, one by Dr. Hunt, one by Mr. Ritchie, and two by Dr. Sraallwood. Articles and the monthly proceedings of this Society are also copied in Nature and other periodicals. This important testimony to the value of the book must needs prove especially gratifying to those engaged in this labor of love, and should stimulate members to extend to the journal a more general and earnest support. I would ask leave to bring before you here a list of the original papers read by members during the past year, some of which appeared in the Naturalist and reappeared, as I have said, in English periodicals. These are in addition to the interesting lectures given in the Sommerville course, which have been six in number, and which I will enumerate first : — 1. Feb., 10th, 1870. "Explorations in the Nipigon Country," by Professor R. Bell, C.E., F.G.S. 2. Feb. 17th. " Recent discoveries in Solar Physics, and the total eclipse of August 7th, 1869," by James Douglas, jr.. Presi- dent of the Literary and Historical Society, Quebec. 3. Feb 24th. '' The Chemistry of Iron and Steel," by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F. R. S. 4. March 10th. '■'' On Deep Sea Dredging," by Principal Dawson, L.L.D., F.R.S. 5. March 17th. " On Gold," by Dr. G. P. Girdwood. 6. March 24th. '' On Economic Mineral Deposits," by G. Broome, Esq., F.G.S. I will notice and classify the papers read as follows : — I. GEOLOGY. Principal Dawson's paper on "some new Gaspe fossils," after giving a general sketch of the geology of the peninsula of Gaspe, adds some newly acquired information as to the fossil plants of the Devonian rocks of that locality, and records the occurrence in these beds of fossil fishes of the genus Macliair acanthus, also of the genus Cephalaspis, — the first time this latter genus has been observed in America- 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 209 Mr. Billings has contributed two papers in the department of paloeontology. In the first, he shows that the puzzling fossils called Scolithus and ArenicoUtes are not the burrows of marine worm?, as was formerly supposed, but casts of sponges. In the other, he states that marine univalve molluscs, of the genus Oj)Jiileta, occur in beds several thousand feet lower down in the ireolojiical series than had been hitherto recorded. II. ZOOLOGY. Mr. A. S. Ritchie has brought before the Society three suggestive papers in this department of Natural History. In the first, the history of the introduction of the white cabbage butterfly, from Europe to the immediate vicinity of this city, is given. A careful description follows of the species in its three stages, with its peculiar habits, and suggestions are offered as to the best means to be adopted to check the ravages of the caterpillar of this species in our fields and gardens. The second attempts to answer the difficult question : " Why are insects attracted to artificial light ?" The third is an interesting account of the habits of some of our smaller fresh water fishes, reptiles, and crusta- ceans, as observed in the writer's own aquarium. Professor E. Bell has contributed observations on the Zoology and Botany of the Nipigon country, a district rarely visited by the naturalist. It is to be regretted that when parties are sent by the Geological Survey to explore places of which little is known, that a Zoological and Botanical investigation of the region in question should not, as in the United States, be made in addi- tion to the Geological Survey. Professor Bell also read a paper on the intelligence of animals. It seems a task of no ordinary difficulty to define where animal instinct ends, and the reasoning power is clearly seen to commence. The recent dredgings by Mr. Whiteaves in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, have added many facts to our knowledge of the creatures which inhabit Canadian seas. The marine mollusca have been carefully monographed, and instead of 60 or 70 species, we now know of nearly 130, the number having been thus nearly doubled. The careful identification of the inhabitants of the deep sea, in addition to its Zoological importance, will do much to illustrate the conditions under which the Canadian post-tertiary peposits have been accumulated. 210 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June Dr. P. P. Carpenter has given a verbal account of the recent dredgings by Mr. McAndrew, in the Ked Sea, those of Captain Pedersen in the Gulf of California and by Mr. Dall in Alaska. III. GENERAL. The peculiar appearances of the rose-coloured prominences of the Sun's chromosphere during the solar eclipse of last August, have been described in detail in a paper read by Dr. Smallwood. On that occasion I referred to the want of good astronomical instruments in the city, and now revert to it as a circumstance much to be deplored by those interested in the progress of phy- sical science in our midst. Besides the subjects already mentioned Dr. Carpenter favored the Society with two papers. The first on the Vital Statistics of Montreal for 1869 ; with special reference to the great dispro- portion in death rate between the French, the Irish, and the English portions of the population. And the second, on different modes of computing Sanitary Statistics, with special reference to the opinions lately published by Mr. Andrew A. Watt. Although not issued under the immediate auspices of the Na- tural History Society, yet I may be permitted here to refer to a publication emanating from one, of whose valuable services to this society and to education generally, we can never too highly or too gratefully speak ; one who, with our President, shares largely the respect and applause of the scientific world — I need scarcely say I refer to Principal Dawson, whom we trust to see soon among us again, occupying the highest place in the directorship of this In- stitution, for its benefit, and our gratification. The issue of the text-book of Canadian Zoology during the past year, must be a matter of congratulation to all members of this Society. The want of such a volume has been long felt, and the name of Principal Dawson is in itself a sufl&cient guarantee of the able way in which the subject has been treated. Let us hopefully look forward to a new edition, in which further details respecting the vertebrata of Canada will be included. The list of papers just recited may be fairly regarded as evinc- ing the desire of members to carry out as fully as possible the objects of the Society in one direction ; but they have not been idle in others. One of their efforts to advance the study of natural science in the past year, and which is most likely to be 1870.] NAURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 211 crowned with uscftil and beneficial results, was their determination to avail themselves of an offer made them by their esteemed curator, Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, to place his private collection of shells and fossils in the Society's museum, in such a way as to be accessible to students and visitors, on the very liberal conditions that the collection be kept separate — that the Society find cabinets, &c., for its reception, and insure the collection, Mr. Whiteaves himself undertaking to mount and label the specimens. In avail- ing themselves of such an offer, and voting the amount required to carry out its conditions, the Society was merely doing what other Societies in the mother country have done before them, and in this way : Possessors of a large and valuable collection which they were unable or unwilling to part with entirely, and still desired that the votaries of science generally should benefit by, would offer to deposit, uuder certain restriction, their collection in the museum of a society such as ours, which not having present means to acquire a valuable collection, would only be too glad to avail themselves of such an offer, and thus the cause of science would become well served. Now, although Mr. Whiteaves deposits his collection in this way, and retains the right of withdrawin"- it after notice be given to that effect, yet I am sure I do but echo the general opinion that the Society is greatly indebted to that gentleman for his liberal and considerate offer, and indulge the hope that ultimately both Mr. Whiteaves and the Society will find the way of securing his unusually valuable and varied collec- tion as a permanent addendum to the Society's Museum. Another of the members' efforts in the good cause calling for notice on this occasion, was the originating of the Montreal Micro- scopic Club. Although formed in 1868, this Club has not hitherto received the notice at our annual retrospects of work done, which I think it deserves. Founded for the promotion of microscopic knowledge among its members, by regular meetings for practical microscopic work, and for the interchange of ideas and experiences on microscopical subjects, it has done good and useful work at its fortnightly meetings, which are eminently of a social character, and are held during the winter season. I need scarcely say here how very acceptable we find the presence of our microscopic-brigade, with their costly, improved instruments and beautifully prepared specimens, at our annual conversazione, and how pleasant we regard the evidences of their useful investigations not merely on those occasions, but in the pages of the Society's 212 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June journal and in other directions. In England, such clubs have proved very useful and successful. The modus operandi is very simple, and is thus described by the honorary secretary of our Montreal organization. " The club appoints a secretary, who arranges for the meeting, and suggests a special subject for illustrations at each. The host for the evening is the president of the club ; minutes are recorded and read ; visitors introduced ; miscellaneous business discussed and microscopic investigations proceeded with. At 10.30 p.m., the president announces the adjournment, the microscopes are returned to their cases, and a parting cup of coflfee closes the seance." The chairman of the Council, in his report, will doubtless refer to the Society's more general social reunions, the field day at Belceil, and the annual conversazione, both of which were very successful. The latter occasion was distinguished by the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, to whom the Society presented an address. It was cause of great regret to the Committee to feel that, while they could safely direct the special attention of the Prince to the museum, at the extent and arrangement of which, indeed, His Royal Highness expressed to me much gratification and approval, they felt more than ever, that the library might be considered as display ins: evidence of apathy and neglect — evidences which it is earnestly hoped will soon give way to others of a more fitting and gratifying character. One of the most important measures contemplated by the Society outside its immediate sphere of action, during the past year, is the dredging of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence. Those who were privileged to hear Dr. Dawson's most interesting lecture on deep sea-dredging, delivered during the past winter's Sommer- ville course, will need no farther exposition of the importance for pursuing such investigation, as will certainly not those who have attentively read the proceedings of the last meeting of the British Association at Exeter. Professor Forbes had previously surmised as a result of his investigations in the ^gean and Mediterranean Seas, that life probably did not exist in the sea below 300 fathoms in depth. His views never received, however, anything like oeneral acceptance with scientific men, and at that Exeter meeting, a most interesting letter was read from Professor W. Thompson on the successful dredging of H.M.S. " Porcupine," in 2,435 fathoms. Professor Sars, in a communication on the distribution of animal life in the depths of the sea, has enumerated not less 1870.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCITEY. 213 than 437 species ; and as a result of an expedition originated by the British Government, who sent the " Lightning " to dredge in the sea between the Hebrides and the Faroe Islands, we learn — and especially from an account of the expedition, given by Dr. Colhns, in the Transactions of the Royal Society — that there were found to be currents of different temperature running side by side. In one place the temperature of the surface was 54^, and at the bottom 48°, and in the other the surface was 54*^ and the bottom 38^. Dr. Collins considered that one was the back current of the water that had coursed from the tropics to the poles. These and many other interesting facts which