146 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



morning meal he had provided for his mate and the hungry- 

 progeny they recently raised. 



The rarest fossils I discovered in the island were in that por- 

 tion between the last named and Mareld River. One, now in the 

 Redpath Museum. Montreal, belongs to the new genus Cyclocys- 

 toides, (Salter and Billings). This extraordinary family seems to be 

 a connecting link between the star-fishes and extinct cystidese. "The 

 choice lies between them," was the final conclusion of these distin. 

 guished palaeontologists. Their first impression was that they had un- 

 doubted evidence before them of the existence of circular star-fishes. 

 At that time, however, the two-fold nature of many of the paleozoic 

 organic remains was not generally accepted. I had no means of 

 comparing mine with the two described previously ; but as it was ap- 

 parently unknown to Sir Wm. Dawson, I may infer it may be a new 

 species. A star-fish, possessing the peculiarity of subdivided rays, 

 and bearing a resemblance to the Maltese Cross, I unfortunately lost 

 between Indian River and English Bay, A rough sketch of it was 

 taken when I was staying at Macdonald's Cove, which may convey 

 its general appearance. As the plates are not present, it can hardly 

 admit of restoration, a circumstance the more to be regretted, as it 

 differs so widely from all other palaeozoic star-fishes figured or de- 

 scribed. 



Ice Beneath the Soil at Anticosti in Autumn. 



' During my stay on the island in 1885, a singular circumstance 

 was brought to my notice by a gentleman who was sent from Que- 

 bec to replace some telegraph poles that had given way there. He 

 informed me he found a solid ice sheet underlying the soil some six 

 feet below the surface. Now the winter in Anticosti is less severe 

 than in Ontario ; cattle from a wrecked vessel have survived a win- 

 ter's residence unattended and uncared for in the open air. Old 

 residents assured me the frost does not penetrate more than twelve 

 inches even when the ground is unprotected by snow. It may be 

 rash to suppose it represents a survival of the great Ice Age. 



