October, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



123 



Since the first discovery of Desmostylus remains 

 by O. C. Marsh in 1888, the exact systematic 

 position of this little-known genus has been the 

 subject of much discussion. Marsh described it 

 as a sirenian, and it was later referred to the 

 Halicoridse.^ In a paper by Dr. Othenio Abel read 

 before the Vienna Academy of Science, he states, 

 in part, "That Desmostylus belongs neither to the 

 Sirenians nor to the Proboscideans nor to the 

 Ungulates, and indeed is not a placental mammal 

 at all!" He further states, "there can scarcely be 

 any serious doubt left that in Desmostylus we 

 have a marine herbiverous Multituberculate."^ 



On the east bank of Kirby creek and about 

 half a mile from the shore the fossil beds are well 

 exposed in the cliffs, Some of the shells from this 

 locality have been determined by Dr. B. L. Clark 

 as fresh, or brackish water species. Two of these 

 are Gerithidea newcombei n. sp. Clark & Arnold, 

 and Goniobasis sookensis n. sp. Clark & Arnold. 

 A specimen of a very rare coral was also collected 

 at this locality, and was determined by Dr. T. 

 Wayland Vaughan as Siderastrea vancouverensis n. 

 sp. This specimen is now in the American 

 National Museum. 



Another exposure of particular interest is at 

 Sandstone creek, about three miles east of Jordan 

 river. Here the creek falls over the cliff to the 

 beach, making a fall of about ten feet. There are 

 two more falls quite near the coast, one about a 

 mile from the mouth of the creek and the other 

 about a mile and a half. Below the falls the bed 

 of the creek is covered with boulders washed from 

 the glacial deposits through which the creek has 

 cut. From the mouth of the creek to within a 

 short distance of the first fall the water runs on the 

 surface of the sandstone, which is uncut except for 

 occasional pot-holes and little channels cut at 

 lines of weakness in the sandstone. The two falls 

 do not appear to have been caused by faulting, or 

 by cutting back by the creek, but may have been 

 the result of wave action forming cliffs when the 

 land was at a lower level. This was partly con- 

 firmed by the finding of two wave-cut caves, one 

 above the other. These are in the cliffs between 

 Glacier Point and Sandstone creek. One cave is 



at the present sea level, and the other is about 

 eighteen feet above it. The formation at this 

 locality consists of alternate bands of coarse 

 conglomerate and brown sandstone. 



At almost all places where the base of the Sooke 

 formation is exposed it is composed of conglo- 

 merate which rests on the eroded surface of the 

 volcanics. We have only found fossils at one 

 place in the basal conglomerates, which was on a 

 small island in a bay about half a mile east of the 

 mouth of Sandstone creek. Here we found 

 specimens of Acmaea geometrica Merriam, and 

 broken remains of Ostrea sp., and Mytilus sp. 



As the Sooke formation becomes better known 

 and more carefully worked it will probably be 

 divided into different horizons, as there is a 

 marked difference in the fauna collected from the 

 different exposures. 



As this coast is being rapidly cut away by wave 

 action, and new material is thus constantly 

 exposed it amply repays a visit each year. For 

 several years Messrs. Connell, Downes and the 

 writer have spent a few weeks each summer 

 camping at different points along the coast and 

 collecting specimens. Dr. Bruce L. Clark has 

 kindly determined many of these for us, and some 

 have proved to be new species. These will 

 probably be described by Drs. Clark and Ralph 

 Arnold in the Bulletins of the University of 

 California Publications. 



REFERENCES 

 iClapp, C. H., Memoir 96, Sooke and Duncan Map-Areas. 



Geol. Surv. Can., No. 80, pp. 329-340. 

 -Dal Pia.z,G.," On Some Remains of Squalodont From the 



Miocene Sands of Bulluno." Palaeontographia Italia. 



Vol. VI, 1900. 

 ^Lambe, Lawrence M., Report of B.C. Prov. Museum, 



pp. 42-43, 1916. 

 JQ.J.G.S., Vol. LXXVIII, part 2. No. 310, 1922. 

 'Merriam, John C.,"Noles on the Genus Desmostylus of 



Marsh." Univ. of Cal. Publications, Vol. 6, No. 18, 



pp. 403-412, 1911. 

 6Hay, Oliver P.," A Contribution to the Knowledge of the 



Extinct Sirenian Desmostylus Marsh." Proceedings of 



U.S. National Museum. Vol. 49, No. 2113, pp. 381- 



397, 1915. 

 'Yoshiwara, S., and Iwasaki, J., Jour. Coll. Sc. Imp. Univ. 



Tokyo. Vol. 16, art. 6, 1902. 

 sFlower and Lydekker, "Mammals Living and Extinct". 



pp. 223. 

 'Abel, Othenio, "Desmostylus, a Marine Muliituberculale 



from the Miocene of the \orth Pacific Coast Region". 



Abstract of the proceedings of the Vienna Academy of 



Sciences. 1922. 



BLADDERWORTS OF ONTARIO 



By F. Morris 



MORE than twenty years ago, when I 

 was just on the threshold as it were of a 

 nodding acquaintance with the wild 

 flowers of Ontario, I first discovered the showy 

 blossom-spikes of the Larger Bladderwort {Utri- 



cularia vulgaris), while I was roaming along the 

 shore of Lake Ontario near Port Hope; they were 

 growing in great abundance on the surface of a 

 small lagoon in the sand. The flowers were 

 decidedly handsome and attractive. It was easy 



