100 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. vii. 



(which are usually dead and empty) and the larger calcareous 

 Polyzoa, such as Celleporaria incrassata and Myriozoum suh- 

 gracile. Sometimes the Mollusca are living : on one occasion I 

 dredged an example of Littorina rudis, apparently alive, but 

 certainly with the operculum fitting tightly into the aperture, 

 from upwards of 100 fathoms water. When such is the case, it 

 is often difficult to separate the true denizens of the deep sea 

 from those which are washed down from shallower water. 



Since the above was written, I have re examined the Canadian 

 Thecaphorae, and find among them two examples of what seem to- 

 be T. ihla of Wyville Thompson. It is the spicules of what I 

 take to be this latter species that are spinulate fusiform ; those 

 of T. semisuherites have yet to be studied. 



NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



PROCEEDINGS FOR THE SESSION 1872-73. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The Annual Meeting was held on May 18th, 1872, the 

 President, Principal Dawson, in the chair. 



After the minutes of the last annual meetino; were read, the 

 President delivered the Annual Address. This will be found on 

 pages 1 to 15 of the present volume. 



The Report of the Chairman of Council was next read by Mr. 

 Gr. L. Marler, of which the following is an abstract. The num- 

 ber of new members elected during the past session is eight, while 

 nineteen names have, from various causes, been taken ofi" the list. 

 This decrease was attributed partly to the inaction of the mem- 

 bership committee and partly to the circumstance that the oper- 

 ations of the Society are not as widely known as could be wished. 

 A suggestion was ofi"ered as to the desirability of amalgamation 

 with kindred societies, such as the Mercantile Library and the 

 Fraser Institutes, and the advantages of such a plan were 

 pointed out. The Annual Conversazione and the Field Day 

 held during the past session have each resulted in some pecuni- 

 ary loss, but it was thought that such meetings have a beneficial 

 tendency, and that they should be continued. About 500 per- 

 sons have visited the museum during the year, but as there was 

 no officer residing on the premises during the first three months, 

 an accurate record was not kept. One thousand dollars of the 

 mortgage on the Society's buildings have been paid off, but there- 



