308 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Aug. 



corn, oats, potatoes, &c., greatly injured, and in some instances 

 ■wholly destroyed. The pieces of ice were from half an inch to over 

 two inches diameter, round, angular, and square ; some of them had 

 small spicule round their edges. A farmer told me that on his 

 land the hail covered the ground from three to four inches deep, 

 hard and closely packed ; but the most extraordinary thing is, that 

 a respectable farmer of undoubted veracity says he picked up a 

 piece of hail or ice, in the centre of which was a small green frog 

 dead. Deeming such a thing rather rare in meteorology, I com- 

 municate it to you. I may remark that the heaviest hail-storms 

 occur here in the month of July. — Bristol, Julij 13, 1864. 



NATUEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 

 Report of the Scientific Curator. 



In this account of the work done since the last annual meeting, 

 I propose to adopt a natural history order. A large case, divided 

 into five compartments, has been erected (at a cost of $120) for 

 the reception of the Society's collection of mammals. A few 

 species, viz., the moose, the white whale of the St. Lawrence 

 {deJphinapterus) and two seals, are too bulky to be admitted into 

 this case without much disturbing the general classification : these 

 have accordingly been omitted. With these exception?*, the rest 

 of the collection has been arranged as far as practicable in accord- 

 ance with Prof Baird's elaborate monograph on North American 

 mammals. Large printed labels have been attached to each 

 species, the nomenclature adopted being that of the author just 

 quoted. Several new specimens have been put up ; and the col- 

 lection now contains eighty-nine specimens, illustrating forty-nine 

 North American species. 



The miscellaneous mammalia have been grouped in one com- 

 partment by themselves, and have been named according to the 

 most recent authors. It would be very desirable if a small sum 

 of money could be voted annually for the purchase of specimens 

 of such of the wild animals of Canada as are wanting to complete 

 our local collection. I propose in the annual report of this year 

 to publish a list of all the Canadian species of mammals, birds, 

 reptiles, and fishes contained in the museum, so that our friends 

 may see what species we want. The collection of birds has been 

 re-grouped, and a number of additional cases full of specimens 



