2o8 The Ottawa Naturalist. [February 



Such Bibliog-raphies are a necessity nowadays. 



During- his lifetime Mr. Billing-s received many tokens of ap- 

 preciation. In 1867 the Natural History Society ot Montreal voted 

 him its silver medal for " his life-long- efforts for the promotion of 

 science in Canada." He was awarded a bronze medal (in Class I) 

 by the Jurors of the International Exhibition ot London in .862 

 and a similar one at the Paris Exposition of 1867. 



In connection with this evening's programme comes the pre- 

 sentation of the portrait of the late Mr. E. Billings to the Geologi- 

 cal Survey of Canada, and after these few remarks by your 

 President on the career and work of that eminent Canadian, it 

 may not be out of place for me to read three or four extracts of 

 notes and communications received from a number of well-known 

 palaeontologists and others whose words appear to me to show the 

 eminently high esteem in which Billings is held to-day after a lapse 

 of twenty-four years since he died. These communications include 

 letters from the Hon. C. D. Walcott, Director of the United 

 States Geological Survey ; Prof. R. P. Whitfield, Curator of the 

 Geological Department of the American Museum of Natural 

 History, Central Park, New York City ; Prof. Charles Schuchert 

 of the U. S. National Museum and Smithsonian Institution; Prof. 

 J. M. Clarke, N. Y. State Palaeontologist at Albany, and the suc- 

 cessor of the late Prof. James Hall. 



Prof. J. M. Clarke writes: "I sincerely regret that circum- 

 stances do not permit me to tQsUiy propria persotia, on the occasion 

 of the presentation of the Billings memorial portrait, to my profound 

 appreciation of the great work accomplished by Mr. Billings for 

 his elect science of palaeontolog-y. My admiration for his keen- 

 ness of observation and correctness of orientation grows with the 

 continued study of his results. At one time and another I have 

 had occasion to study some part of his work with critical care, and 

 no instance occurs to me in which any ot his determinations 

 appeared open to question. In this day we often seem to be build- 

 ing for others to pull down, and one works with the ever present 

 consciousness of a multitude of critical witnesses, but Billings's 

 tenacious adherence to facts and his ability to recognize the truth, 

 have rendered his work stable and enduring. Mr. Billings was in 



