26 The Ottawa Naturalist. 



The country east of Ottawa, and between the Ottawa and 

 St. Lawrence Rivers, in which the rock formations belong to 

 the several divisions of the Cambro-Silurian system, and are 

 largely concealed by drift, was examined by Mr. N. J. Giroux. 

 The attempt was made to obtain here some reliable data as 

 to the thickness of the several formations, in order that a guide 

 might be afforded for future boring operations for water in this 

 area. 



In Quebec also, important practical work was done by Mr. 

 Chalmers in his study of the gold-bearing gravels of the Eastern 

 Townships, more especially of the Beauce and Ditton districts ; 

 while in the great area north of the St. Lawrence, the explora- 

 tions of Dr. Bell- resulted in the mapping of the River Nottaway 

 to the north of the height of land, flowing into James Bay, and 

 the finding of a very considerable area of good land of great 

 value both as a source of supply for timber, and for agricultural 

 pursuits. 



In the Labrador Peninsula continued explorations were 

 made by Mr. A. P. Low in the hitherto unknown area north of 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which have already been referred to. 



In Nova Scotia important work was done both by Mr. 

 Fletcher, in the coal basins of eastern Cape Breton, and by 

 Mr. Faribault, in connection with the structure of the gold- 

 bearing rocks of the Atlantic slope. In both of these areas 

 many questions of great practical interest to the mining com- 

 munity were investigated. 



The branches of Palaeontology, Zoology, Chemistry and 

 Lithology are closely connected with the work of the field staff 

 These received a full amount of attention, and good work was 

 done in all. That of (Chemistry and Mineralogy is of special 

 interest to those engaged in mining, since the determination of 

 the value of the various ores of gold, silver, nickel, iron, etc , 

 is constantly being demanded. 



It is of interest to know that the number of visitors to the 

 Museum increases with every year, and that the total for 1895 

 was very nearly27,ooo. From this it is evident that the Museum 



