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general excursions of the whole Club, the usual periodical excursions into the 

 surrounding country for the purpose of making collections have been held. I 

 regret exceedingly that owing to absence I was only able to attend the last of 

 these ; but from all accounts they were quite ag enjoyable and 

 profitable as those held during the previous seasons. Of the four excursions 

 arranged by the Council during the season, the first was to the Chelsea Hills, on 

 the 26th May ; the second, the chief one of the year, was to Montebello, to meet 

 the members of the Montreal Natural History Society. At this joint excursion it 

 was decided by your Council to offer three prizes for the best collections made 

 during the day, and there were two others given by the Natural History Society, 

 of these, that for the best botanical collection, named and arranged without the 

 assistance of a book, was taken by Mr. H. M. Ami, of our Club, with 80 species; 

 the others were all taken by members of the Montreal society. The Hon. J. L. 

 Papineau's kindness in throwing open his grounds and museum to the Naturalists 

 increased materially tho enjoyment of the day. Joint excursions of this nature 

 are of the utmost value, giving Naturalists from different districts an opportunity 

 of exchanging ideas and comparing notes. I hope we shall always be able to 

 arrange at least one every year with our Montreal friends. The next excursion 

 was to Meach's Lake, three miles beyond Chelsea. This is a favourite locality for 

 the conchologist. It was here that Mr. Heron detected the rare mollusk Physa 

 Lordi, which has not been found in any other locality in Canada except British 

 Columbia, where it was first found by its discoverer, Mr. J. K. Lord. It is a very 

 handsome and distinct species, and was well figured in Part I of our Transactions. 

 Here, too, Mr. Latchford found a few of the handsome Limniea megasoma, and 

 there are many other interesting shells to be found there. 



The last excursion of the season was on the 27th August, to the Black 

 Eapids, on the Eideau Kiver. This was a locality we had long wished to visit, 

 but had been prevented by the want of a suitable boat. Dr. Wicksteed, however, 

 again this year put his steam yacht The Princess Louise and her crew at the 

 disposal of the Club for one day ; the Committee then decided to make this oft 

 spoken of trip. It proved most enjoyable. The scenery is very beautiful ; it 

 was a fine day, and some interesting specimens were collected. 



Our corresponding members still continue to take a lively interest in the 

 Club. Mr. A. J. Hill, now in British Columbia, has been collecting most energet- 

 ically, and I have received from him several packets of plants, insects and seeds 

 during the past summer, the duplicates of which I shall distribute among the 

 members of the Club as soon as I have named them all. Many of them have never 

 been recorded on the Canadian lists. One of the plants, called Lewisia rediviva, is of 

 peculiar interest, and is worthy of a short notice here. It belongs to the order Portu 

 lacaceie. Mr. Hill writes me from Ashcroft in May last as follows : — ■' I send you 

 specimens of a beautiful little pink flower, which is now in blossom here in oae 



