386 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. X. 



excavations for the Intercolouial Railway, on the south side of 

 the Baie des Chaleurs, and were described by Gilpin in the Trans- 

 actions of the Nova Scotia Institute of Natural Science.* Bones 

 have also been found in the brick-clays near Montreal, and a speci- 

 men was discovered several years ago in sand holding Saxicava, 

 near Cornwall, Ontario. The last-named specimen was studied 

 by Mr. Billings, and its bones compared with those of the modern 

 species in the McGill College Museum. On this evidence Mr. 

 Billings concluded that it belonged to the modern species, and I 

 believe extended this conclusion to Dr. Thompson's specimen, the 

 distinctive characters of which, as stated by that naturalist, seem 

 not to exceed the individual differences in modern specimens. 



But though the Beluga, which now extends its excursions far 

 up the St. Lawrence, and has even been captured in the vicinity 

 of Montreal, occurs as far west as Cornwall, no remains of the 

 larger whales have, so far as I am aware, been found so far in- 

 land until the discovery of the specimens referred to in the 

 present note. These were found, as I am informed by Archer 

 Baker, Esq., General Superintendent of the Canada Pacific Rail- 

 way, " in a ballast pit, at Welshe's, on the line of the C. P. 

 Railway, three miles north of Smith's Falls, and thirty-one miles 

 north of the St. Lawrence River, in the Township of Montague, 

 County of Lanark. They occurred in gravel at a depth of 30 

 feet from the surface, and about 50 feet back from the original 

 face of the pit." 



Mr. Peterson, C.E., has been kind enough to obtain for me 

 the elevation of the place where the remains were found, as in- 

 dicated by the railway levels. It is 420 feet above the level of 

 the St. Lawrence at Hochelaga, or as nearly as possible 440 feet 

 above sea level. It is interesting to observe that this corresponds 

 exactly with the height of one of the sea terraces on the Mont- 

 real mountain, and is only 30 feet lower than the well-marked 

 beach with sea shells above Cote des Neiges, on the west side 

 of the Mountain. The highest level at which Post-pliocene 

 marine shells are known to occur on Montreal Mountain, is near 

 the park-keeper's house, at an elevation of about 520 feet. These 

 marine deposits of Montreal are of the same geological period 

 with the Cetacean remains in question, so that the animal to 

 which these belonged may have sailed past the rocky islet which 



* Vol. II., 1874. 



