22 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 19 



was well maintained. The Huronian rocks with many of their characteristic minerals 

 formed the principal study, while local fossils and minerals of the Devonian period re- 

 ceived due attention. Visits for the purpose of securing specimens were made to inter- 

 esting localities in Ontario and Michigan, bv members of the Section, and our table was 

 frequently well supplied with the essentials of this department of Nature Study. 



The Society mourns the loss of one of its charter members, Mr. Thos. Green, who 

 passed away at the ripe age of eighty-seven years. His brother, who is over eighty years 

 of age, is still a member of our Section. Until a short time before his death, Mr. Thos. 

 Green was an energetic student of Nature, and materially added to the profit of our 

 meetings. 



The Chairman reported as follows: "I have made a special trip to Manitoulin Island 

 and the Georgian Bay District for the purpose of obtaining characteristic fossils and 

 minerals of these regions, as a basis for the study of the Huronian formation during the 

 winter. I travelled in all by water 450 miles, and secured a great variety of vein 

 matter consisting of quartz, mica, plumbago, feldspar, molybdenite, bornite and other 

 copper ores, as well as many specimens of corals. 



Manitoulin Island abounds in fossil coral, and good specimens were obtained, as you 

 may see from the collection befote you. We will make a detailed study of these during 

 the ensuing year." 



Our Chairman and Mayor Rumball of this city, also visited a farm in West Nissouri 

 township to inspect the remains of what was one of Earth's most mighty creatures. 

 During the Western Fair this year there were exhibited about thirty bones of gigantic 

 size supposed to be those of a Mastodon or some closely related species of that class. 

 Owing to the absence of teeth and most of the bones of the head, it has not been identi- 

 fied 80 far. These bones were uncovered recently by some men while excavating a drain 

 through a peat bed, and are in a good state of preservation. The tusk measures more 

 than nine feet in length. It is curved like a cow's horn and tapers to a point. The cor- 

 rugations on the tusk where it entered the head are easily discernible. The femur is 

 three feet in length and where it entered the socket, it is three feet in circumference. 

 The tibia and fibula are well preserved and the foot bones are entire. Four ribs of large 

 size are made to articulate with the vertebrae by ball and socket joints, attesting the great 

 antiquity of the fossil. 



From the position in which the bones were found, it would appear, that the giant 

 becoming mired in the bog fell over and lodged probably against some partially sub- 

 merged log and strangled. From a careful inspection of the locality where the bones 

 were found our Chairman thinks other parts ef the skeleton may yet be discovered, as no 

 thorough search has yet been made. It is hoped by many citizens, as well as by the 

 members of our Section, that London may be the final resting place of these interesting 

 remains. 



Efforts are now being made to establish a public museum in the city in connection 

 with the Free Library. The question has been mooted in the press, and was thoroughly 

 discussed at a meeting of the Library Board, and there is reason to hope that this 

 treasure will not be allowed to leave our district. 



In (Jonnection with the museum. Dr. Wolverton and other citizens have offered to 

 loan valuable collections for a term of years and as only a small expense would have to 

 be incurred in fitting up the rooms in the library building, there would appear no sufii- 

 cient reason why we should not have this important means of education secured to us. 



Our correspondent, Rev. Dr. Philp, of Petrolea, sent us two very interesting accounts 

 of trips he made to points in Lambton County. The first was to a point near Shetland 

 on the Sydenham about eight miles north of Bothwell, to inspect the shale beds which he 

 found exposed there for some distance along the river bed. They belong to the Portage 

 Chemung group. The shale is very dark, almost black, bituminous and filled with 

 nodules of iron pyrites. These shales are beautifully stratified and " we were com- 

 pelled," he says, " to think of ice sawn for storage." The shale in every respect resem- 

 bled that at Kettle Point. Fragments of very large concretions (Kettles) were discover- 

 ed, hemispherical in shape, the tops apparently cut off by the ice when the water was 

 about sixteen inches higher than at present. We also found in the vicinity several 

 kettles firmly embedded in the shale, each of them five feet in diameter. 



