12 NOTES ON SABLE ISLAND—-MACDONALD. 
that I will not readily forget it. I presume that the specimen is 
now in the collection of the Geological Museum, Ottawa. 
There is, therefore, reason to suppose that the Hartley speci- 
mens and our nullipore are analogous, as both have concretionary 
lamellar structure and attached spirorbes, and that the carboni- 
ferous concretionary limestone is coralline or nullipore in origin. 
ArT. III—Notres on SABLE IsLaAnp. By Srmon D. Mac- 
DONALD, F.G.S. 
(Read March 12, 1883.) 
In bringing this Island and its surroundings to your notice 
this evening, I feel I am opening up a rich field for the future 
investigation of this Institute. 
From its geographical position—midway between this coast 
and the gulf stream—it possesses characteristics peculiar to 
itself, and a phenomena so varied that there is work here for 
us all. ' ! 
But not only does this Island invite our attention in the 
interests of science, but demands our attention in the interests 
of humanity. 
Situated directly in the pathway of commerce,—enshrouded 
for weeks together by impenetrable fog—encircled by eddies and 
currents of the most erratic character—its dangerous and ever- 
shifting sand-bars, together with its terrible record of disasters, 
dating back from the earliest history of this country—it has 
earned for itself among mariners the well-merited appellation, 
that of “the grave-yard of North America.” 
And were we to-morrow to visit this island and witness its 
wreck-strewn shores—the ghastly grin of skeletoas protruding 
from the embankment or lying awash on the beach—and listen 
to the sickening tales of the surf-men, we would feel guilty, 
indeed, if we,as members of one of the oldest scientific societies in 
