Pere he PES 
Non-descript Animal. 399 
cannot be met within any othercountry. It has never been 
examined by scientific men, or at least we have seen no 
work in which it was intimately spoken of. The greater 
part of it, bordering on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, appears 
to be primitive, with generally, along the rivers, the earlier 
formation of rocks. The Saguenay 's, however, a remarka- 
ble exception to this, and as far up as Chicoutimy, 25 
leagues from its mouth, the foot of the high, sometimes bald 
and scantily wooded, granitic mountains are washed on both | 
sides by its waters. The pointe auw bouleaur, on this side 
of its mouth, is an alluvial deposit, aud is perha ps the richest 
soil in the world, being composed of a species of gray marl 
of thirty or forty feet in depth.— Quebec Gazette. 
16. Eye Infirmaries. In Europe experience has fully 
confirmed the utility of institutions devoted particularly to 
curing diseases of the eye. Institutions of {this kind have 
recently gone into successful operation in several of the 
large towns in this country. The Mew. York Eye Iifirmary 
was established in August 1820, by the exertions of a few 
humane and charitable individuals. By the fourth annual 
Report, published in January, 1825, it appears that the num- 
ber of patients admitted into this Infirmary during the year 
1824 was 861, and the whole number admitted since the 
foundation of the Infirmary 3855. ‘lhrough the instrumen- 
tality of this institution, by the donations of individuals, 
together with the bounty of the legislature ef the State re- 
cently extended to this Infirmary, many have been restored 
to sight and usefulness, who would otherwise have remained 
only a burden to themselves, and in most instances a per- 
petual charge upon the respective towns in which they 
resided. 
We have no particular information concerning the Eye In» 
firmaries of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston ; but it is 
presumed that the citizens of those towns will afford such pe- 
cuniary aid as to ensure the usefulness of those important 
institutions. C. H. 
17. Non-descript Animal. The Rev. Dr. Harris, of Dor- 
chester, Mass. has noticed a very curious and beautiful 
animal lately discovered at Machias, in the State of Maine. 
It is a non-descript species allied to the Sorex cristatus of 
Linneus, and seems to hold an intermediate rank between 
Say 
