J^on-descript Animal. 399 



cannot be met with in any other country. It has never been 

 examined by scientific men, or at least we have seen no 

 work in which it was intimately spoken of. The greater 

 part of it, bordering on the Gulf of St, Lawrence, appears 

 to be primitive, with generally, alony the rivers, the earlier 

 formation of rocks. The Saguenay is, however, a remarka- 

 ble exception to thi?, and as far up as Chicoutimy, 25 

 leagues from its mouth, the foot of the high, someiimes bald 

 and scantily wooded, granitic mountains are washed on both 

 sides by its waters. The pointe aux bouleaux, on ihis side 

 of its mouth, is an-alhivial deposit, and is perh;'ps the richest 

 soil in the world, being compo-ed of a species of gray mart 

 of thirty or forty feet in depth. — Quebec Gazette. 



16. Ei/e Infirmaries. In Europe experience has fulJjr 

 confirmed the utility of institutions devoted particuiarl} to 

 curing diseases of th-e eye. institutions offthis kind have 

 recently gone into successful operation in several of the 

 large towns in this country. The JVew York Eyt Iiifirmary 

 was established in August 1820, by the exertions of a- few- 

 humane and charitable individuals. By the fourth annual 

 Report, pui)Hshed in January, 1825, it appears that the num- 

 ber of patients admitted into this Infirmary during the year 

 1824 was 861, and the whole number admitted since the 

 foundation of the Infirmary 3855. Through the instrumen- 

 tality of this institution, by the donations of individuals 

 together with the bounty of the legislature of the State re- 

 cently extended to this Infirmary, many have been restored 

 to sight and usefulness, who would otherwise have remained 

 only a burden to themselves and in most instances a per- 

 petual charge upon the respective towns in which they 

 resided. 



We have no particular information concerning the Eye In- 

 firmaries of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bo-ton ; but it is 

 presumed thai the citizens of those towns will aff)rd such pe- 

 cuniary aid as to ensure the usefulness of those important 

 institutions. C. H. 



17. Nondescript Animal. The Rev. Dr. Harris, of Dor- 

 chester, Mass. has noticed a very curious and beautiful 

 animal lately discovered at Machias, in the State of Maine. 

 It is a non-descript species allied to the Sorex cristatus of 

 Linna;us, and seems to hold an intermediate rank betweec 



