XXXV1 PROCEEDINGS. 
thanks of the Institute for calling attention to the spread of consumption 
by contagion and its prevention by means of properly constructed 
sanitaria, of which he exhibited a model. In the phenological observa- 
tions of the school children, collected by Dr. MacKay, and in the 
experiments in physics and chemistry conducted by Messrs. Barnes and 
Lindsay—promising young students of Dalhousie College—we see 
hopeful signs of a reviving interest for science in Nova Scotia. Mr. 
Piers has favored us with “ No. 5 of Notes on Nova Scotia Zoology.” 
Dr. Mackay, who is our only authority on the Diatomacee of Nova 
Scotia, has awakened a fresh interest in one of his favorite studies by 
another paper reporting progress, and by exhibiting excellent micro- 
scopic slides of our principal diatoms. 
Upon the whole, then, the work of the year has been of very 
considerable interest and of some scientific importance. 
We have added to our numbers two ordlnary members, one corres- 
ponding member and three associate members. We record with sorrow 
the death in September of one of our oldest and most faithful members, 
Mr. J. J. Fox. He was born in Salisbury, England, in 1818. He 
studied medicine, but preferred a seafaring life, and spent many years 
full of adventure in Egypt, Greece, the West Indies and South 
America. In 1852 he was appointed by the Imperial Government 
comptroller of customs and navigation laws at Magdalen Islands. 
A faithful performance of duties soon led to advancement, and for 
many years he was familiarly known as “governor.” He was charac- 
terized by modesty, bravery and humanity. For valuable services to 
shipwrecked mariners he was presented by the President of the United 
States with a magnificent gold watch valued at $1,000. His intimate 
knowledge of the fisheries made him a most valuable witness before the 
Halifax fishery commission in 1877. After retiring from the civil 
service he lived in Halifax, joined the Institute, and seldom missed a 
meeting. 
To-day brings us sad tidings of the death yesterday of Sir William 
Dawson, the most distinguished member of our Institute and the most 
eminent scientific man in Canada. He was born in Pictou in 1820. 
Ata very early age he began his studies in natural history, thereby 
cultivating his powers of observation, and thus laying the foundation 
for his remarkable achievements in geology subsequently. His success 
in this respect is a good argument in favor of the early introduction into 
our course of study of science teaching. 
