122 JOP.NAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



The Section is much indebted to the indefatigable exertions of our 

 chairman, Col. C. C. Grant, for the many additions of new speci- 

 mens made from time to time within the last year to the Pal^on- 

 tological museum ; also for the papers given during the last six 

 months. 



The members of the Section have read several papers of geo- 

 logical interest, which have been the means of elucidating many 

 points heretofore only partially understood. 



The Section has held six meetings, the first on November 22nd, 

 1889, was devoted to the election of chairman and secretary, and 

 other business in connection with the work of the Section, The 

 second meeting was held December 27th, 1889, when Mr. A. E. 

 Walker read a very interesting paper on the " Structure of Corals 

 and Life of the Polyp." After referring briefly to the modern coralg 

 respecting their mode of growth and process of multiplication, form- 

 ing colonies, which in turn form the well known reefs, barriers, etc. 

 He then took up the Palceozoic corals, and from specimens showed 

 that the process of petrifaction was owing to the presence of carbon- 

 ates, sulphates, and silicates, and that their preservation up to the 

 present time was in a more or less state of perfection, according to 

 the nature of the permeating element. , On January 24th, 1890, 

 Mr. Henry Moore read a paper on the Niagara escarpment. He 

 dealt more particularly with the outcrop at Niagara in an ascending 

 order, begining with the Medina formation, giving the various thick- 

 ness of the different strata, rock composition, and the fauna peculiar 

 to each of the fossiliferous deposits. 



Februray 28th Col. C. C. Grant read a paper, being the first of 

 a series of geological notes entitled : 



NOTES ON "BEATRICEA"— (BILLINGS.) 



A NIAGAEA AND JAMBKO-SILURIAN FOSSIL OF ANTICOSTI. 



Perhaps no fossil (Eozoon Canadense excepted) has led to a 

 greater difference of opinion among Palseontologists than the very 

 remarkable one I have selected as the subject of a few brief re- 

 marks on the present occasion,— The " Beatricea of the late Mr. 

 Billings. 



Its classification still remains a matter of dispute. The tree- 

 like appearance presented first led to its being considered a plant, 

 but when sections were prepared for microscopical examination that 



