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absence of palwozic forms of life in the deep sea fauna had been 
also alluded to, and it had been suggested, as a probable cause, 
that terrestrial and littoral life must have existed to an extent 
before their debris could have supplied food for deep sea life. 
Another reason was that carbonic acid might have been much 
more largely present in the deep seas than is now the case. It 
seemed to Professor Moseley that all modern forms of the littoral 
fauna were capable of adapting themselves to deep sea life. 
Littoral fauna might have given rise to the whole terrestrial 
fauna. In connection with the address on this subject there 
had been a water weed to which the Professor’s attention had 
first been drawn by a shoemaker at Oxford. On its stalks were 
a series of natural bladders from which antenne projected, 
which guided little fish into the bladders. It had been said that 
Darwin had experimented with the plant, and had come to the 
conclusion that the fish were not digested but were decomposed 
by infusoria and various fungi, and from the decomposed matter 
the plant absorbed protoplasm. An interesting paper had been 
read on the rudimentary hind limbs of the whale, by Professor 
Struthers, of Aberdeen, after alluding to which, as also to other 
papers on subjects of a somewhat kindred nature, Dr. Brown pro- 
ceeded to state that at the committee meeting of the Biological 
Section on the Tuesday, Professor Moseley had read a telegram 
he had received from Sydney. The scientific correspondent of 
the Times had written of that telegram: ‘It is doubtful if ever 
an announcement of greater scientific interest was made at any 
meeting of the British Association. The telegram was to the 
effect that the Monotremus, the very lowest form of mammalian 
life, had been found to lay eggs, and thus by laying eggs, yet 
suckling their young when hatched, they formed a link between 
fish, reptiles and amphibians on the one hand, and ordinary 
mammalia on the other. That forged one more link in the 
Darwinian chain, and pointed to the probability that all mammals, 
including man, had descended through the reptiles, and not 
through the amphibians, as Professor Huxley had been inclined 
to think. Dr. Brown next referred to some interesting papers 
that had been given in the engineering and other sections, also 
to several lectures that had been given by various eminent 
Professors. Finally he referred to the various sources of attrac- 
tion there were in which they had had infinite pleasure, to the 
school system, the privileges of free education, the Universities, 
the Churches, Prince Edward’s Island, the fire brigades, 
electricity, and the Jaws in the Dominion as to the sale of 
intoxicating liquors. 
It should here be stated that Dr. Brown represented the 
Burnley Literary and Scientific Club on the occasion of his visit 
to the Montreal meeting of the British Association. 
