Ixvi. president's address. 



appearances which were observed in the Valparaiso earth- 

 quake of Aug. 16, 1906, and to which I alluded in my address 

 last year, the evidence, on being sifted, has proved somewhat 

 contradictory, and as a storm was raging over part of Chile 

 at the time, it is considered that there is no sufficient proof 

 that the luminosity was connected with the earthquake in 

 any way. A violent eruption took place at Katmai in the 

 Aleutian Isles on June 6 last, when a terrific explosion is 

 said to have taken place, followed by a steady stream of 

 volcanic fragments and ash which are estimated to have 

 covered 300 square miles of fertile country and fell in a thick 

 layer on the decks of a vessel 70 miles away. The Address 

 of the President of the Geological Section of the British 

 Association dealt with the relation between the Cambrian 

 faunas of Scotland and N. America, and is full of interest 

 to geologists, one of the conclusions being the resemblance 

 of the Lower Cambrian fauna of the N.W. Highlands to that 

 of N. America, whereas it differs essentially from the Lower 

 Cambrian fauna of the rest of Europe. From this and other 

 facts the arrangement of land and water at that period is 

 deduced, reference being made to our Hon. Member, Mr. 

 Jukes-Browne, whose work in this branch of Geology is well 

 known. From a boring near London were lately obtained at a 

 depth of over 1,100 feet specimens of Upper old red Sandstone 

 with characteristic fossils. Recent discoveries in Texas 

 and New Mexico have demonstrated the existence in the 

 Permian strata of reptiles and amphibians, which have 

 also been found elsewhere of this very early date, thereby 

 complicating the theories of descent in these groups and 

 making us hesitate to express opinions until more facts have 

 been brought to light. The development of the higher 

 fossil plants seems equally unknown, and Angiosperms have 

 lately been found as far down as the Lower Greensand. 

 In Cambrian rocks in British Columbia, at an elevation of 

 about 8,000 feet, there is a spot where the fossils are in a most 

 wonderful state of preservation. They consist chiefly of 

 orabs, marine worms, and even jelly fish, which latter actually 



