March, 1920] 



The Canadian Field-Natukalist 



57 



sils. Being an accomplished artist, he took the 

 greatest care in supervising the execution of the 

 drawings which illustrated the remarkable series of 

 fossils which he has described during the last eight 

 years. Among these were the first specimens of 

 horned dinosaurs which had ever been found show- 

 ing the character of the skin. The vertebrate 

 fauna described by Lambe included many enormous 

 heavy boned reptilian creatures of most fantastic 

 appearance. One of these which bears the name of 

 Styracosaiirus albertensis possessed a skull six feet 

 in length. The top of the skull extended backward 

 from the great hooked mandibles, expanded like a 

 shield over the neck where it was bordered by six 

 powerful horns projecting from its posterior margin. 

 Among the important papers which he prepared 

 in recent years were those describing the Triassic 

 fishes of the Rocky Mountains. We are also in- 

 debted to him for important contributions to our 

 knowledge of the Devonian fishes of New Bruns- 

 wick. But it is with the wonderfully rich and 

 varied vertebrate fauna of the Red Deer River 

 valley of Alberta collected by the Sternbergs that 



Lambe was chiefly occupied in recent years. His 

 various papers dealing with the Cretaceous faunas 

 of the west show admirable illustrations of many of 

 these bizarre creatures cf the Canadian Cretaceous. 

 Several new genera were described from the Al- 

 berta material. 



A complete list of the papers of Lawrence Lambe 

 will be published in an early number of the Bulle- 

 tin of the Geological Society of America. 



Mr. Lambe was elected a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society of Canada in 1901, and was a member of 

 various other scientific societies. 



Lawrence Lambe belonged to that small group 

 of men who find in their work their greatest plea- 

 sure. Palaeontological work was to him indeed a 

 labour of love. The little worries of life seemed 

 never to penetrate his optimistic temperament. His 

 friends will long remember the cheery smile and 

 kindly word with which he always greeted them. 

 Lambe accomplished much toward revealing Can- 

 ada's early vertebrate life, and wherever such 

 knowledge is cherished his passing will be deeply 

 regretted. E. M. KiNDLE. 



Walter R. Billings. 



Through the death cf Walter R. Billinps. Can- 

 ada has lost a citizen of unusual attainments. His 

 death occurred on March 1st, in his 71st year at his 

 home in Ottawa. Mr. Billings was an architect 

 by profession and a palaeontologist by natural 

 taste and inclination. Although palaeontology was 

 an avocation with Mr. Billings which he actively 

 followed during only a portion of his mature life, 

 the work which he has left forms a substantial and 

 valuable contribution to the science. 



The ancestry of Walter R. Billings on the pa- 

 ternal side was rather complex including Welsh, 

 English, Scotch and Irish elements. The family 

 seemed to have, as tersely stated by Chas. Billings, 

 "nearly the whole British Empire" at their backs. 

 The grandfather cf Walter R. Billings was born 

 in Massachusetts; the grandmother in New York. 

 Braddish Billings, grandfather of Walter, was the 

 first white settler in Ottawa. The grandparents of 

 Walter came to Ottawa when there was nothing to 

 suggest the future city of Ottawa which developed 

 later over a part of the 1000 acre tract of land 

 which they acquired. The mother of Walter Bill- 

 ings was a daughter of Capt. Walter Ross. Walter 

 R. Billings was a nephew of Elkanah Billings the 

 distinguished first palaeontologist of the Canadian 

 Geological Survey. To palaeontologists the death 

 of the nephew will recall the birthday of paloeon- 

 tological science in Canada, which may be said to 

 coincide with the publication of Elkanah Billings' 

 first paper on the Cystidea. To this able and 



remarkable man Canadian naturalists owe a debt 

 of gratitude for starting at his own expense the first 

 magazine devoted to natural history published in 

 Canada. The eloquent declaration of E. Billings 

 in a letter to Sir Wm. Logan at the time of sending 

 him the first copy of the Canadian Naturalist and 

 Geologist, is worth recording here as evidence of 

 the fine courage and enthusiasm which dominated 

 the father of Canadian palaeontology. To Sir 

 William he wrote, "I have abandoned my profes- 

 sion, (journalism) and intend to devote the rest of 

 my life to the study of natural history." One pur- 

 pose of the new magazine he stated in this letter 

 was to arouse "if possible the youth of this coun- 

 try to pursuits for which they have everywhere most 

 unrivalled facilities." 



With such a sponsor in E. Billings it is small 



wonder that palaeontology made a strong appeal 



to the subject of this sketch. Inspired no doubt 

 by the work of his uncle, Walter R. Billings be- 

 came an ardent collector of fossils. That his col- 

 lections came to include many rare and beautifully 

 preserved specimens is sufficiently attested by the 

 published rsferences of foreign palaeontologists to 

 them. Dr. Bather of the British Museum has re- 

 ferred in various papers to specimens collected by 

 W. R. Billings. The generous spirit of Billings 

 led him to loan his collections freely to those pre- 

 pared to make use of them and some of his rarest 

 specimens were presented to the British Museum. 



