1911] The Ottawa Naturalist. 69 



EXCURSIONS. 



The excursion committee having decided to depart from 

 the usual custom of holding excursions every Saturday after- 

 noon during the spring and early summer, field meetings were 

 arranged for every fortnight, each excursion to be devoted to 

 the study of one particular subject. The first outing was held 

 on Saturday, 29th April, at Mechanicsville, and was occupied 

 with the study of the geology of the district along the bank of 

 the Ottawa River. About a dozen enthusiastic workers attended 

 under the leadership of Dr. P. E. Raymond, Mr. Jas. E. Narraway 

 and Mr. W. A. Johnston. Dr. Raymond gave a general view of 

 the structure of the rocks along the river bank by means of a 

 diagram and pointed out where the most interesting geological 

 features were to be found and the best places for collecting 

 specimens. The party then spent two hours very profitably 

 examining in detail the special features indicated by Dr. Ray- 

 mond and in collecting specimens of fossils which were very 

 abundant. 



On the weathered surface of the Black River limestone 

 manv large cephalopods, mostly Ormoceras tenuifilum were seen, 

 and Mr. W. A. Johnston was so fortunate as to find a specimen 

 of a very rare cephalopod, Nanno aulema, a species previously 

 unknown in the vicinity of Ottawa. One specimen of the coral, 

 Columnaria halli, and very numerous brachipods, were also 

 obtained from the Black River; while the lighter coloured and 

 harder limestones of the Lowville yielded the characteristic 

 coral, Tetradium cellulosum, the trilobites. Bathyurus spiniger 

 and cxtans, and numerous little black ostracods, or water fleas. 



W. J. W. 



The second excursion was held on Saturday afternoon, 

 May 13th, to Beaver Meadow, Hull. The party met at 3 o'clock, 

 and two pleasant hours were spent in the woods bordering the 

 meadow. The chief object of the excursion was to observe and 

 studv briefiv some of the plants of the district. Unfortunately 

 onlv a small number of members attended the excursion, but 

 those who were present thoroughly enjoyed the outing. Some 

 collections of plants were made for pressing, and many determined 

 by Leaders as the party proceeded from place to place. While 

 no plants of particularly rare occurrence were seen, si ill a 

 number were found of considerable interest to those present. 



The most conspicuous objects seen on the trees (wild cherry) 

 were the webs of the American Tent caterpillar. These larva? 

 are exceedingly numerous this spring and are dcing mu 



