I 



igoi] Report of the Council. 9 



Saturday, 19th May. Over eighty excursionists spent the after- 

 noon at Hemlock Lake and vicinity. Two small colonies of 

 Columnaria HaLli were found in the upper strata of the Black 

 River formation at Keefer's Bluff, and both fresh-water and 

 marine shells were found in the Pleistocene deposits round Hem- 

 lock Lake. These and other specimens were described by the 

 various leaders before the party returned to the city. 



On 9th June a successful meeting was held at Britannia, and 

 many summer flowers and insects were secured. 



The first general excursion was held on May 26th to Gil- 

 mour's Grove at Chelsea and was, as is always the case, a delight- 

 ful and instructive excursion. The weather was very fine and the 

 attendance large. Many interesting specimens were collected in 

 all branches of Natural History. 



The second general excursion was to Cumberland by the steamer 

 Victoria, in which over one hundred members left Ottawa at one 

 o'clock and returned in the evening by the steamer Empress, after 

 spending several pleasant hours at the beautiful village of Cum- 

 berland. This locality is a new field for investigation, and several 

 discoveries were made. The entomologists were much pleased at 

 securing a specimen of the larva of the Large Tortoise-shell Butter- 

 fly, Grapta J-aibum^ which had been sought for unsuccessfully for 

 many years. The geologists found several valuable species of 

 fossils, and the botanists succeeded in collecting representatives 

 of no less than sixteen species of ferns along the side of the cliflF. 



The third general excursion was to Kirk's Ferry on the 15th 

 September, when about 150 were present. The day was a perfect 

 type of our Canadian autumn weather, and many interesting 

 specimens were collected and observed. An unusual feature was 

 the large number of plants which were in bloom at this late season, 

 and many of the party were able to regale themselves with ripe 

 raspberries, which were growing in profusion along the railway 

 embankments. 



At all these excursions the members assembled and listened 

 ,to addresses by the various leaders on the collections made during 

 the day and on the natural features of the places visited. 



Volume XIV. of The Ottawa Naturalist, containing eleven 

 numbers and 240 pages of text has been completed, under \^\q 



