PROCEEDINGS FOR 1883. XLI. 
fishes, and shells are already very complete. Each year they are added to, and new ones commenced, 
The papers are altogether upon local subjects, and partake both of scientific and economic interest, 
A few titles will convey an idea of their character: Geology of the Ottawa Paleozoic Basin, by 
Dr. Selwyn; Cystidian Life, by Dr. Grant; Laurentian Rocks, by Mr. Adams; Asbestos, by Mr. 
Anderson; and Coleoptera, by Mr. Harrington. 
The Museum which we aid our sister society, the Literary and Scientific, in maintaining, also par- 
takes of our exclusive character, consisting entirely of collections made in this vicinity. In afew years 
we hope to have a museum in which the whole natural resources of this district may be easily studied, 
Our steady growth and extending influence are very gratifying. Our club is under the distinguished 
patronage of His Excellency the Governor-General, and the roll shows some 120 members; among 
them being the names of no less than eighty Fellows of your honorable Society. Letters seeking infor- 
mation are continually received not only from residents of this neighborhood, but also from more dis- 
tant towns. Our ‘Transactions’ and our system have been most favorably commented upon by the 
leading scientific journals of America, England and Europe ; and the continued energy of our members 
leads us to hope that the vigor of our future will be as marked as that of our past. 
From the Geographical Society of Quebec, through Con, Raopes :— 
Ihave the honor to report that the Geographical Society of Quebec was incorporated on the 
15th May, 1879, by an Act of the Parliament of Canada, with the necessary powers common to all 
such Societies. The Honorable P. Fortin was named the first President, with the Honorables H. G. 
Joly and G. Ouimet, and Dr. Miles, as Vice-Presidents. The Society has been continuously active 
since that date, and has published two volumes of Transactions which accompany this report. 
The Society is now in communication with almost all the important Geographical Societies of the 
world and is exchanging its publications with them, receiving in return many very valuable maps 
and books. These interchanges have a double value, inasmuch as they afford an opportunity of 
making the Dominion of Canada known amongst travellers and explorers, and so bring our country 
under the notice of intending emigrants of all nations. 
This Society enjoys the high patronage of His Excellency the Governor General, and of their 
Honors the Lieutenant-Governors of the different Provinces of the Dominion, and as we have been 
favoured with an invitation to send a representative to this meeting of the Royal Society, we take 
this opportunity of tendering to you our best thanks. 
From the Natural History Society of Montreal, through Mr. James T. Donat :— 
The Natural History Society of Montreal, whose delegate I have the honor to be, has just com- 
pleted the 53rd year of its existence. It now possesses a commodious building, has accumulated a 
valuable museum, and owns a useful library composed to a large extent of the proceedings of literary 
and scientific societies of America and Europe, received in exchange for the Canadian Naturalist. 
During the past year several of the papers read before the society have presented facts new to 
Science. Dr. Dawson, in his notes “On portions of the skeleton of a whale from gravel on the line 
of the Canada Pacific Railway, near South Falls, Ontario,” records the discovery of the remains of 
Megaptera longimana at a locality thirty-one miles north of the St. Lawrence, at a height of 440 feet 
above sea level. This is, it is believed, the first instance on record of remains of the larger whales 
being found so far inland. 
Dr. T. Sterry Hunt’s paper on the “Taconic Controversy in Geology” was a lucid statement of 
the author’s views concerning the relation existing between the Paleozoic and Older Crystalline rocks 
of North America. It also set forth his reasons for believing the great belt of rocks that form the 
Taconic Hills of Eastern New England, together with the familiar rocks found in Nova Scotia, Trini- 
dad, South America and British India, to be below the recognized Cambrian horizon, 
Pro. 1883. F. 
