198 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



Cyatidea ; but the more general characters, such as a jointed crinoi- 

 dal column, the arms or pinnulae, and the peculiar orifices which 

 characterise all true Cystideans, are not forthcoming. It is barely 

 possible that his view may be the correct one. 



The fossil called Sphceronites tesselatus (Phillips), from the 

 English Devonian rocks has the surface covered with hexagonal 

 plates, and resembles, in general aspect, a species ofPasceolus. Mr. 

 Pengelly has figured a specimen in the Geologist, vol. iv, which shows 

 the interior, covered with a net-work of vertical and horizontal 

 ribs, giving the appearance of the inner surface of the specimen of 

 Receptaculites calciferus above noticed. He proposes a new gen- 

 eric nome, JSphcerospongia, for it. If the specimen figured by him 

 be truly of the same species as that described by Phillips, it would 

 seem that an internal structure like that of Recaptaculites is not 

 inconsistent with an integument of hexagonal instead of quadrila- 

 teral plates. I do not see, however, how the net-work figured by 

 Mr. Pengelly ean be made to fit hexagonal plates in the way that 

 the squares formed by the stolons of Receptaculites are adjusted. 



M. M. Edwards and Hainie have referred Eichwald's genus 

 Cyclocrinus to the Zoantharia. Whether they are right or not 

 with regard to the Russian species, I can most confidently assert 

 that Pasceolus is not a coral. It may be allied to Receptaculites, 

 but its true zoological position is quite undecided at present. 



( To be continued. ) 



GOLD MINES AND GOLD MINING IN NOVA SCOTIA. 



By Henry F. Perley, Esq., Halifax, N. S. 



As in other parts of the world where gold is now being pro- 

 duced, the discovery of the precious metal in Nova Scotia was 

 made by accident. A man drinking at a small brook ; a few specks 

 of the shining metal found in the sands of the sea-shore ; particles 

 of gold in a piece of loose quartz, — first brought the auriferous 

 character of the Tangier, the Wine-Harbor, and the Renfrew Gold- 

 Districts into notice. In other localities, search was made among 

 the quartz-boulders which had lain undisturbed and unnoticed for 

 years, and they proving auriferous, led to the establishment of 

 such localities into gold districts. It is somewhat strange that 



