210 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



Dr. P. P. Carpenter has given a verbal account of the recent 

 dredgings by Mr. McAndrew, in the Ked Sea, those of Captain 

 Pedersen in the Gulf of California and by Mr. Dall in Alaska. 



III. GENERAL. 



The peculiar appearances of the rose-coloured prominences of 

 the Sun's chromosphere during the solar eclipse of last August, 

 have been described in detail in a paper read by Dr. Smallwood. 

 On that occasion I referred to the want of good astronomical 

 instruments in the city, and now revert to it as a circumstance 

 much to be deplored by those interested in the progress of phy- 

 sical science in our midst. 



Besides the subjects already mentioned Dr. Carpenter favored 

 the Society with two papers. The first on the Vital Statistics of 

 Montreal for 1869 ; with special reference to the great dispro- 

 portion in death rate between the French, the Irish, and the 

 English portions of the population. And the second, on different 

 modes of computing Sanitary Statistics, with special reference to 

 the opinions lately published by Mr. Andrew A. Watt. 



Although not issued under the immediate auspices of the Na- 

 tural History Society, yet I may be permitted here to refer to a 

 publication emanating from one, of whose valuable services to this 

 society and to education generally, we can never too highly or too 

 gratefully speak ; one who, with our President, shares largely the 

 respect and applause of the scientific world — I need scarcely say 

 I refer to Principal Dawson, whom we trust to see soon among us 

 again, occupying the highest place in the directorship of this In- 

 stitution, for its benefit, and our gratification. The issue of the 

 text-book of Canadian Zoology during the past year, must be a 

 matter of congratulation to all members of this Society. The 

 want of such a volume has been long felt, and the name of 

 Principal Dawson is in itself a sufl&cient guarantee of the able 

 way in which the subject has been treated. Let us hopefully 

 look forward to a new edition, in which further details respecting 

 the vertebrata of Canada will be included. 



The list of papers just recited may be fairly regarded as evinc- 

 ing the desire of members to carry out as fully as possible the 

 objects of the Society in one direction ; but they have not been 

 idle in others. One of their efforts to advance the study of 

 natural science in the past year, and which is most likely to be 



