No. 4.] NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 241' 



rocks in the Baie de Cbaleur by Mr. Whiteaves, that by Mr. 

 Charles Robb on the geology of the Island of St. Ignace in Lake 

 Superior, and that of Mr. H. M. Ami on the fossils of the Utica 

 Slate. There were also additional facts and conclusions respect 

 ing the Post-pliocene formations brought forward by Mr. Chalmers 

 and by the writer. 



In Zoology we had an interesting contribution from Dr. Osier, 

 in which he noticed three species of fresh water PoJyzoa which 

 have been recognized in the Province of Quebec. Under thiii 

 head we may also place the notice at one of our meetings of 

 the specimen of a whale exhibited in the city, and which 

 appears to be Baloenoptera muscidua a well known species, 

 though one we rarely have so excellent an oportunity to inspect. 

 We may also notice here specimens of larva and of animal pre- 

 parations exhibited to us by Mr. Muir and other friends in the 

 evening devoted to microscopic work. . 



Botany has scarcely appeared this session at our meetings ; 

 and for this reason I will close with a notice of the remarkable 

 inscription preserved in the interior of a beech tree and exhibited 

 to the Society by Mr. W. Oswald, jr., of Mill Farm, Belle 

 Kiviere. The inscription which consists of religious initials and 

 emblems, enclosed in an ornamental border, has been made on 

 the bark of a beech tree about four inches in diameter. The 

 tree had subsequently grown to the diameter of more than two 

 feet, and had covered the inscription with 160 rings of growth, 

 a fact Mscertained through the kindness of Mr. Oswald by sawing 

 off a slice of the trunk. Yet the inscription was perfectly per- 

 served, and w.is recovered in all its integrity when the tree was 

 cut up for cordwood. Many objects buried in exogenous trees 

 by their annual growth have been obtained in this and other 

 countries ; but this is a very rare instance of the perfect preserr 

 vation in the inner layer of an old tree of an inscription made 

 on the bark, and its recovery after the lapse of more than a cen- 

 tury and a half. The forests of the world must contain many 

 strange records of this kind, though they are brought to light 

 only by very rare accidents. 



In conclusion, the Society is to be congratulated on the im- 

 provements made in its collections and building in the past year^ 

 and I trust that with God's blessing its second half century may 

 be found, when its history comes to be written by some future 

 President, even more successful and useful than that which ha^ 

 passed away. Q 



