CEs : BrrrisH COLUMBIA. 1924 

The Director also arranged, with the consent of the Honourable Provincial Secretary, for 
an illustrated lecture on “Indian Art in relation to Canadian Trade-marks and Designs,” to 
be given in the Museum for the Natural History Society of British Columbia by Mr. Harlam I. 
Smith, Archeologist, Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. This lecture was given on the evening 
of September 27th, the main floor of the Museum being once more arranged to accommodate 
the members of the Society and their friends. The lecturer gave a highly intelligent talk on 
Indian archeology and illustrated on the screen many beautiful trade-marks and designs that 
had been copied from Indian designs. Over 100 persons were present and a unanimous vote 
of thanks was extended to Mr. Smith for his very instructive lecture, which was greatly 
appreciated by all present. 
Many complimentary remarks and letters have been received by the Department with 
reference to the Annual Report and the excellent scientific work that is being carried on in 
this Province, and it is very gratifying to note that the work carried on by this Department 
with such a small staff is so greatly appreciated. 
Towards the end of the year a room on the main floor which has been an office for some 
._ time has been converted into the Provincial Herbarium. New cabinets having been constructed, 
the specimens are now being installed. There are over 6,000 specimens representing the flora 
of the greater portion of British Columbia, which are now available for study and which will 
be of great interest to those who take up the study of botany in British Columbia. It is the 
object of the Department to have these specimens as easily available as possible, and on account 
of the number of teachers who bring their classes at different times through the year to visit 
the Museum, the Department will have many of the specimens, more particularly the common 
flora within the vicinity of Victoria, exhibited in glass-covered double frames, mounted on stands, 
and therefore easily viewed by the children in their study of the wild flowers of this district. 
There is also a duplicate collection, approximately one-half the number of specimens, which 
are kept for study and comparison, showing the variations due to altitude and climatic con- 
ditions. Further notes in regard to the botanical section will be found in the report by Mr. 
W. R. Carter, the Assistant Biologist of the Department. 
The thanks of the Director are extended to C. VY. Piper, E. W. Nelson, Dr. C. F. Newcombe, 
and numerous persons whose names are in accessions for their donations received. 
Professor C. V. Piper, who is the Agrostologist of the Department of Agriculture, Washing- 
ton, D.C., has given a good deal of advice and has spent considerable time in the examination 
and determination of many specimens for this Department. Professor Piper was in this city 
in September; he is a native son of Victoria and had not lived here for over forty years. The 
Director, accompanied by Dr. C. I’. Newcombe, Mr. J. R. Anderson, and the President of the 
Natural History Society, Mr. W. N. Kelly, spent an afternoon in going around the suburbs of 
Victoria with Professor Piper, who wished to see many of the old places of his boyhood days, 
also to see as much as possible of the plant-life of this vicinity. He expressed the desire to 
return to Victoria at an early date, and kindly offered to help in identifying any specimens that 
were sent to him, and to do all he could to help the Herbarium of the Provincial Museum. 
Mr. Edward Nelson, who is the Chief of the Biological Survey, U.S. Department of Agricul- 
ture, Washington, D.C., and his staff gave much gratuitous help in determining many species 
of small mammals which could not be done in this Department, as it is necessary to have a 
large series to work on and to have the types close at hand. 
Among the interesting specimens donated was a portion of a mammoth tusk which was 
presented by Mr. B. H. Lamont, Victoria, B.C. This was picked up at low tide on Island View 
Beach, Saanich Peninsula, opposite James Island, near Victoria. This is a tusk of one of the 
prehistoric elephants which had roamed throughout the northern portions of North America 
before the glacial period, and it is in a fairly good state of preservation. Several molar teeth 
of this extinct large prehistoric mammal have been taken in the vicinity of Victoria, one having 
been taken on James Island, another at Cordova Bay, and, more recently, fragments of one in 
the sand-pit at Mount Tolmie, near Victoria, B.C. 
Another very interesting specimen was presented to the Provincial Museum by the Rey. R. 
Connell and Ira I. Cornwall—namely, a tooth of an extinct sirenian Desmostylus sp.? This 
is the second specimen of this kind which has been taken from the fossiliferous sandstone cliff 
near the mouth of Coal Creek, Sooke, V.I., on exhibition in the Provincial Museum, the first 
one having been found by Miss Egerton in the summer of 1916. (See An. Rep. Proy. Mus., page 
2, 1916.) 
