No. 1.] THE president's ADDRESS. 7 



loguing Canadian mollusca, but his work is by no means com- 

 plete ; and such groups as the Nudibranchiates, the Tunicates 

 and the Poljzoa, still lie in a very imperfect condition, though 

 some materials have been accumulated. In connection with this 

 subject, I would refer to the desirableness of exploring the deeper 

 parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in which, no doubt, many 

 important additions to our fauna might be discovered, and which 

 might throw much light on the post-pliocene geology of Canada. 

 It is further much to be desired that an attempt should be made 

 to ascertain the precise limits of the various marine animals in 

 the brackish portions of the River St. Lawrence. In dredging in 

 3Iurray Bay, in the past years, I have been surprised to find so 

 rich a boreal fauna in that part of the river, and I have no doubt 

 that it must extend much further upward, sustained by the cold 

 salt water which forces its way under the warmer and fresher 

 water of the surface. It would be interesting to know how far 

 the marine animals extend, and also what varietal changes occur 

 in the species as they approach the fresher portions of the river. 

 To prosecute such researches we would require public aid, and 

 the want of this has hitherto limited our work in this direction. 

 Last year a committee was appointed to consider the matter, but 

 nothini;' was done. With a view to some action in the comino- 

 summer, I have, as President of the Society, invited the attention 

 of the Hon. the Minister of Marine to the subject, and have 

 requested a passage for an observer appointed by the Society in 

 one of the Government steamers or schooners. I have much 

 pleasure in stating that he has entered heartily into my views, 

 and that there is a prospect that, with the aid thus afforded, we 

 may be able to reach with the dredge the deepest portions of the 

 Gulf. Though these depths are small in comparison with those 

 which have been reached in the Atlantic, I feel confident that 

 they will afford a rich harvest of marine forms, not hitherto 

 known to us, and that the results will be equally creditable to 

 this Society and to the Government of Canada, which may thus, 

 with little trouble and expense, emulate the Mother Country and 

 the United States in the efforts which they are making to extend 

 the knowledge of Marine Zoology. It is probable also that facts 

 may ba obtained of practical value with reference to the fisheries- 

 In Botany the two points which have chiefly engaged our at- 

 tention are Geographical Distribution and the Cryptogamic orders. 

 In the former, Mr. Drummond, Dr. Bell, and Mr. Matthew have 



