
Dec. 8, 1870 | 
NATURE 
119 

fect. The skull and upper jaws are much damaged, and some 
of the parts lost. Thirty-five of the vertebra, the two shoulder 
blades, most of the ribs, and a number of small bones were col- 
lected. The length of the animal was probably about fifteen 
feet. The lower jaws have the sockets of eight teeth upon the 
right side, and of seven on the left. The number of teeth in the 
upper jaw could not be ascertained. In the head of a white 
whale belonging to the cabinet of M ‘Gill Colleze, there are nine 
teeth in the right lower jaw, and eight in the left. The teeth of 
the fossil, judging from the size of the sockets, were longer than 
those of the white whale. In 1849, a small whale was discovered 
in Vermont about twelve miles south of Burlington, in a railway 
cutting, through a deposit of clay of the same formation as that 
of Cornwall. Judging from the figures and description pub- 
lished in Sv//iman’s Four nal by the late Professor Thompson, there 
ean be little doubt that ours is the same species which he de- 
scribed, and which he cilled Beluga vermontana. Another 
specimen consisting of about half of the backbone, was dis- 
covered several years ago near the city of Montreal, and is now 
in the Museum of the Geological Survey. The locality at Corn- 
wall is about half a mile from the railway station, sixty feet above 
the St. Lawrence, and overtwo hundred feet above the level of 
the sea.—The President, in inviting a discussion on the pheno- 
mena observed during the recent earthquake, said that there 
were records published or preserved of the appearances observed 
during 83 earthquakes in Canada and neighbouring parts of N. 
America. <A severe shock was felt in Canada in 1860, an ac- 
count of which might be found in the Canadian Naturalist for 
that year. Many of the phenomena noticed in 1870 were ob- 
served in the shock of 1860, Judging from the facts on record, 
there wouid seem to be a periodicity in earthquakes. They 
seem to occur much oftener in autumn and winter than in spring 
or summer, and between the 60th or 7oth years of acentury. On 
this ground he had stated that the shock of this year might prove 
to be the beginning of a series, if the law of periodicity holds 
good. A slight shock was, however, felt in Canada in the spring 
of 1864. The president next referring to the causes which pro- 
duce earthquake, said that here there are no centres of active 
igneous agencies, as in Southern Italy and elsewhere. He sug- 
gested the idea that large masses of sediment are drained off by 
rivers from this continent and deposited on the Atlantic 
coast, and when, in addition to this, a pressure amount- 
ing to many millions of tons of atmospheric air is removed 
from the denuded portion, vibrations occur from long-con- 
tinued tension of the earth’s crust, and finally a break takes 
place. It was found that during the last earihquake the 
mercury in the barometer was an inch lower than the average. 
Dr. Smallwood gave a description of peculiar phenomena 
observed in the heavens before and after the earthquake. Among 
these were noticed several clusters of spots on the sun’s disc in 
connection with peculiar auroral displays. He exhibited 
diagrams showing the barometrical and thermometrical appear- 
ances presented before and during the shock. During the con- 
tinuance of the vibration the descent of the mercury was’ most 
marked in this respect, confirming Dr. Dawson’s view. From 
telegrams received by the courtesy of Mr. Dakers, it would 
appear that the first shock was observed at Owen Sound, at 
10.52 A.M. local time, and the latest at St, John’s, N.B., at 
11.45 A.M. local time. Accounts were received also from 
Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, and intermediate places. Judging 
from the accounts received, the extent of the vibration thus 
recorded would appear to have been from S.W. to N.E., and 
the shock to have occupied fifty-three minutes of time in 
traversing the 840 miles, without calculating for the difference of 
longitude between the places. This would give a rate of about 
sixteen miles per minute, but if the differences of longitude were 
calculated the rate would be about thirty-:wo miles per minute. 
This last estimate would agree nearly with that given by Hum- 
boldt and Mallet. The width or amplitude of the vibration, 
judging only by telegrams received by the speaker, would 
appear to have been some 340 miles. After some remarks by 
Dr. J. B. Edwards and others, the meeting adjourned. 
HALirax, Nova Scoria 
Institute of Natural Science, November ‘14.—J. M. Jones, 
F.L.S., president, in the chair. Rey. D. Honzyman, F.G.S., 
read a paper, entitled ‘‘ Record of Observations on the Geology 
of Nova Scotia from 1855, Part 1.;” from which it appeared 
that Dawson’s ‘‘ Acadian Geology,” first edition, was published 
in 1855, and that in this work the author of the present paper 

was introduced as an explorer in the Nova Scotian field. His 
attention had been chiefly directed to the ‘* Silurian (?) and 
Devonian rocks,” so designated in that volume, and to the lower 
carboniferous conglomerates, grits, sand-stones, argillites, lime- 
stones, and gypsums. He had also made gleanings in the coal 
field. Since that period Dr. Dawson and the author, with the 
aid and advice of Sir R. Murchison, Hall, Salter, and Barrande, 
had deprived the Devonian system of its ascendancy in Middle 
and Eastern Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton; taking away the 
mark of interrogation from the Silurian and affixing it to the 
Devonian. This was done chiefly bya thorough investigation of 
the palzontology and geology of the thoroughly typical district 
of Arisaig on the south-east coast of Northumberland Strait, in 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; and the application of this type 
to the geology of the province. It was shown by the author that 
while the fossils of the series of rocks of Avisaig had so great a 
resemblance to those of the British Silurian, that Mr. Salter 
could without hesitation designate the respective groups according 
to the British nomenclature ; still, the series could be more 
satisfactorily and thoroughly compared with the Silurian of the 
United States; consequently, the Arisaig series were now arranged 
thus, in ascending order :—Oneida conglomerate, Medina sand- 
stone, Clinton (Middle Silurian), Niagara limestone, Lowes 
Helderberg (Upper Silurian), Oriskany sandstone (?) (Devo- 
nian). In this locality these are overlaid unconformably by 
conglomerate with interstratified traps and limestones (Lower 
Carboniferous). The Silurian and Devonian (?) haye been thrown 
into a synclinal by greenstone and amygdalvids of Lower Car- 
boniferous age. The Arisaig fossiliferous series are bounded on the 
north by Northumberland Strait, on the south by mountains 
formed of another series of the same age, but different from the 
other in being highly metamorphic and, apparently, non- 
fossiliferous ; the lowest member of the series is a conglomerate 
with cleavage, This series has been elevated by the upheaval 
of syenite. These conjointly attain to an elevation of from 
1,000 to 1,010 feet above the sea level, according to Captain 
Bayfield’s measurement ; this being about the highest eleva- 
tion of mountains in Nova Scotia. While numerous localities 
named in Dawson’s ‘‘ Acadian Geology,” and others discovered 
by the author since 1855, have fossiliferous rocks of the Arisaig 
type, the general character of the rocks of the principal ranges 
of the mountains of Nova Scotia is Arisaig metamorphic non- 
fossiliferous. The President read a paper ‘‘On the Diurnal 
Lepidoptera of Nova Scotia, Rhopalogera, Part 1.” The follow- 
ing species were common in the province, Papilio turnus Lina. ; 
Pieris oleracea Harris, P. rape Boisd., Colias philodice Godt., 
Argynnis aphrodite Fabr., Argynnis myrina Cram., Mlitea 
tharos Cram., Grapta C. argenteum Kirby, Vanessa antiopa Linn., 
Pyramets cardut Vinn., P. huntera Smith, Nymphalis ar- 
themis Drury, Erebia nephele Kirby, Satyrus alope Fabr.; 
while Danais archippus Fabr., Melitea tsmeria Boisd., Grapta 
interrogationis Godt:, G. comma Harris, Vanessa F. album 
Boisd., V. jmilberti Godt., Pyramtets atalanta Linn., Nymphalis 
disippus Godt., Debis Portandia Fabr., wererare. The author 
dwelt upon the introduction of Perzs rape into this part of the 
Canadian dominion within the last few years, an 1 alluded to its 
abundance last summer in the neighbourhood of Halifax, where 
it did an immense amount of damage to the cauliflower crops. He 
mentioned the probable benefit that would arise from the intro- 
duction of the house-sparrow of England (Pyrgita domestica) that 
great enemy of caterpillat life, which wouldamply repay the trouble 
and expense of importation, At the present time the caterpillars 
were almost free from molestation, and it was but proper, when 
possible, on the introduction of an insect pest, to introduce also 
its known enemy, ‘The author had observed that even in so 
small a country as Nova Scotia many species of butterflies were 
yery local in distribution, and species quite common on one side 
of the province were altogether unknown on the other, although 
the distance between such positions was not more than thirty 
miles. Several Hesperians were yet unnamed, and these when 
identified with some Lyczenians, would be included in Part 11. 
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND 
Philosophical Society, September 17.—Dr. D. Hector exhi- 
bited a preparation showing the egg of the large Kivi (Apeux 
australis) in utero. The bird had recently died in confinement, 
and was sent to the museum to be skinned. The egg, though 
full-sized, is soft, and squeezed out of shape by the pressure 
against the pelvic bones.—‘‘ Critical Notes on the Ornithological 
Portion of the Rev. R. Taylor's recent work on New Zealand.” 
