JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 27 
courses are such that falls are numerous, and sufficient to provide 
water power for the whole world. The only practicable means of 
transportation through this northern country is the canoe, and the 
streams and lakes are so numerous that any part of the country can 
be traveresed by this means. Forest fires have destroyed large areas 
of timber. Near James Bay the country consists largely of muskegs 
—-deposits of peat. This muskeg country may in time be drained 
and so made suitable for agriculture. There is on the uplands what 
is known as the Clay Belt, containing 16,000,000 acres of arable 
land. The mineral wealth of the country consists of gold, nickel, 
copper and iron. Canada has a monoply of nickel, on this continent 
at least. An interesting and extended account of Moose Factory 
was given. The Hudson Bay Company has had a post there for 200 
years. 
The lecture was illustrated by maps and photographs, and was 
most interesting. A hearty vote of thanks was tendered. Meeting 
adjourned. 
Abstract from Minutes of Lecture by Mr. F. B. Alien, M. A., 
Ph.D., on “ The Manufacture of Natural Products.” 
As an illustration of the changes taking place everywhere, ice, 
water and steam were referred to; also the fact that in combustion 
or decay there is no loss in matter, merely a change in form—the 
first being an example of physical change, the second of chemical. 
Some changes, however, are hard to classify, such as the electrolysis 
of water. An element was defined as a product obtained by follow- 
ing out a line of reactions which give us something else than the 
material with which we began, until we arrive at a point where no 
further reactions are possibile. There are at present 80 known 
elements. Many of these are found in the native state, such as iron, 
copper and carbon. Many of them are also manufactured. We 
manufacture iron from compounds of iron with oxygen—hematites 
being the most common. Graphite, a form of carbon, is manufac- 
tured for lubricating purposes from coal. One of the most interest 
ing manufactures is the diamond. Paris is the headquarters for 
this industry. The theory being that the diamond is a piece of 
carbon which has been subjected to enormous pressure, particles 
