PROCEEDINGS FOR 1S97 XXVII 



without' including the numerous local histories — some of considerable 

 meiit — as well as the many elaborate monographs and essays that have 

 been printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. When 

 we consider that Canada is only a country of five millions of people it is 

 surpi'ising that so much literar}^ activity should be shown in a single 

 department of thought and study. In comparison even with the older 

 countries of Europe, or even witn the gi'eat Federal Republic of seventy 

 millions of people to the south of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, 

 the issue of the historical work in Canada is certainly remarkable. The 

 reason of this interesting phase of the intellectual development of the 

 Dominion — a phase hardly ever mentioned in the many essays that appear 

 from time to time on that country — ma}^ be attributed to the national 

 sentiment of the people, to their growing desire to occupy a higher place 

 among the communities of the world, to their deeper appreciation of 

 their own history so full of many interesting and inspiring incidents, 

 worthy of the stud}' of the statesman and the publicist as well as of the 

 lover of the romantic and picturesque. 



In this connection we may refer to the publication of a most valu- 

 able edition of the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, with a trans- 

 lation in English opposite the original French, and with notes by the 

 able editor, Mr. Reuben Gold Thwaites, the well-known Secretary of the 

 State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The publication of such a com- 

 plete work will be invaluable to the student of Canadian history. Mr. 

 Benjamin Suite, one of the most industrious members of the Royal 

 Society from the first year of its foundation, has also performed a useful 

 task in reproducing in the Transactions the original text of a very rare 

 Canadian history, P. Boucher's Histoire Veritable et Naturelle des 

 Mœurs et Productions du Pays de la Nouvelle France (1674). Mr. Suite 

 has given a biographical introduction and bibliographical notes which 

 make the book of still greater service to students to whom the book is 

 not generally accessible. It is hoped that other historical students will 

 imitate Mr. Suite's example and in this way facilitate historical research 

 and inquiry. 



17. Unification of Time at Sea. 



In accordance with a resolution of the societ}^ the council took steps 

 to bring to the attention of the Imperial Government the desirability of 

 giving effect to the sixth resolution of the Washington Prime Meridian 

 Conference of 188-i, which implies the unification of time-reckoning at 

 sea. A memorial was presented to His Excellency the Governor-(jieneral 

 on the subject, setting forth the facts and praying His Excellency to 

 bring the matter under the notice of Her Majesty's Gov^ernment. Com- 

 munications were likewise transmitted to a number of associations in the 

 United Kingdom representing science, commerce and shipping, inviting^ 



