NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Excursion of the Vancouver Natural 

 History Society. On Saturday, August 31, and 

 Sunday, September 1 , the members of the Vancouver 

 Natural History Society held their annual excursion 

 for the study of the local alpine flora, the slopes and 

 valleys of Grouse and Dam mountains being the 

 objectives. 



The season was so far advanced that many of the 

 plants found in previous years were past flowering 

 and were in fruit. 



During the evening of the first day the memb8rs 

 had an opportunity of becoming familiar with quite 

 a number of different trees, as for instance the Sitka 

 spruce of so much value at the present time for aero- 

 plane work, red alder, Sitka a'd;r, dogwood, wild 

 cherry, giant cedar, white pine, douglas fir, hemlock, 

 yew tree in fruit, besides a number of willows and 

 shrubs constituting the undergrowth of the forest. 



Next morning by 8.30 the party was on the trail 

 again. On account of the rather open nature of 

 the mountain along the bluffs, there were numerous 

 specimens found, including ferns, sa.xifrages, pent- 

 stemons and other rock-loving plants. The plateau 

 was reached about 1 1 a.m. Here the vegetation 

 was of an entirely different character; instead of a 

 covering of salal was a covering of red and white 

 false heathers, some belated specimens of both were 

 found in flower. The underbrush was composed 

 of white rhododendron, copper bush, two or three 

 species of large, luscious blueberries like grapes, 

 and mountain ash with beautiful clusters of coral- 

 red fruits in a background of dull green. 



Proceeding by the lake and over the peak of 

 Grouse, the members continued to the slopes of Dam 

 mountain, where they found further alpine or sub- 

 alpine specimens, including the marsh mangold, false 

 hellebore (a poisonous plant), mountain flea-bane, 

 arnica, grass of Parnassus, with its beautiful white 

 flowers, Alpine speedwell often called forget-me- 

 not, and the Sitka valerian, but one of the most 

 interesting was a little moss-like flowering plant, 

 Hippuris montana, or mountain mare's tail, which is 

 recorded as found on flats along Glacier Creek in 

 the Selkirks, and also in Strathcona Park. Van- 

 couver Island. The plant is so small that individual 

 specimens are readily overlooked, but there are 

 several large patches on both Grouse and Dam 

 mountains. 



Lunch and rest was enjoyed on the summit of 

 Dam mountain, from which an extensive view of 

 the surrounding country was obtained, from Mt. 

 Baker, with its glacier-covered northern slopes to 

 the mountains of Vancouver Island, and the moun- 

 ta:ncus country to the north. 



After lunch a number of the more seasoned 

 climbers ascended Goat mountain and were reward- 

 ed by the discovery of Tolmie's saxifrage, Saxifrage 

 Tolmei. a small fleshly leaved species usually found 

 in regions of glaciers and perpetual snow. This 

 year, however, the snow was practically all gone, 

 there being only a small patch at the base of Crown 

 mountain. 



Numerous birds, butterflies and other insects were 

 observed during the outing. J. D. 



Transformations. Bide-a-Wee Island, Blue 

 Sea Lake, Que., July, 1918. One morning lately 

 at breakfast, in our open-air dining-room, we heard 

 a slight thud on the ground. We went to see the 

 cause. Various were the explanations of the strange 

 looking object we found. One was: "A dragon-flv 

 has a beetle." Another: "A bug has a darning 

 needle." It took some time to grasp the true explan- 

 ation, so swift were the contortions of the mystery. 

 It was a large, splendid dragon-fly struggling to 

 emerge from a small, repulsive-looking black case, 

 which shortly before had been a dragon-fly nymph. 

 How was it possible for that large, great, gorgeous 

 creature, with its gauzy, shimmering wings, and 

 brilliant black-green-gold body, to be enclosed in 

 that small blackish object? After emerging, it rested 

 on a branch of a tree for some hours, then after a 

 few short trials it flew off strongly, into the nearby 

 weeds. 



B:de-a-Wee Island, Blue Sea Lake, Que., July, 

 1917. One mornmg this summer, while we were 

 out on the water, suddenly we noticed its surface 

 was almost covered with what looked like dead 

 minnows. Mrs. Wisewoman explained that there 

 had probably been a disease that had attacked the 

 baby fishes, and their lifeless bodies had risen to the 

 top. Next evening at sunset we were again on the 

 water. That time we suddenly noticed that there 

 was life in the thought-to-be dead little bodies. The 

 surface was fairly quivering with motion. Out of 

 these bodies shad-flies were struggling to emerge. 

 Some came out gaily after a few convulsive efforts. 

 Others had to try again and again, each time sinking 

 back into the water, but at last they rose triumphant. 



As we looked at the gauzy wings quivering and 

 sparkling in the sunset rays and then down at the old, 

 forlorn, shrivelled-up cases, we marvelled again 

 over the wonder of Nature's creation. M. E. C. 



One of the results of the European war was a 

 great shortage of dyes because the German supply 

 was cut off. In 1917, the United States made 

 enough to supply 75 per cent of their needs, and of 



