June 29, 1006.] 



SCIENCE. 



973 



Brunswick, as well as the study of new 

 material collected later by Messrs. Wilson, 

 Stead, Mcintosh, Leavitt and others. This 

 new material, it is hoped, will give more 

 completeness to the results. 



The need of a reexamination of these 

 plants is forced upon us not only by the 

 changes in nomenclature that have been 

 accepted since Sir William wrote his classic 

 essays on this subject, but also by the fact 

 that eminent paleobotanists have ques- 

 tioned the reference of these plants to the 

 Devonian age, and have asserted that they 

 were Cai'boniferous. 



The writer does not propose to take up 

 at present the stratigraphical evidence upon 

 which is based the reference of the terrane 

 which holds "these plants to the Devonian 

 age, but only to study the plants themselves 

 and note the beds from which they have 

 come; the stratigraphy may be left to a 

 later occasion. It was in connection with 

 the labeling of the types of Sir William's 

 species, in the Museum of the Natural His- 

 tory Society of New Brunswick, that such 

 revision was found to be necessary. 



Since Sir William 's work was performed 

 new species have been found in these 

 beds, including some novel types of the 

 calamarias and the ferns (as well as in- 

 sects and myriapods). These will be de- 

 scribed and figured in this series of articles 

 and the writer hopes may prove of interest 

 to paleobotanists. 



The terrane in which the plants are 

 found is thought to cover a considerable 

 interval of time and not to be confined to 

 the Middle Devonian as Sir William Daw- 

 son's determination of the flora has led 

 many to suppose. While there is a group 

 of species of wide range of time {e. g., 

 Calamites Suckovii) in these beds, there 

 are others that are confined to special por- 

 tions of the terrane and it is these species 

 which give character to the fauna. 



'On some Fossils from Northern Canada, 



collected by Commander Low, during the 

 Expedition of 1903-04, together with 

 Notes on the Geological Horizons to which 

 they Belong,' by Dr. H. M. Ami. 



This paper contains descriptions of 

 the species of fossil organic remains sup- 

 posed to be new from Beechy Island, Cape 

 Chidley, and from Southampton Island, 

 collected by Commander A. P. Low, during 

 the cruise of the steamer Neptune in 1903 

 and 1904, in the Arctic regions and other 

 portions of northern Canada, together with 

 notes on other forms occurring in that por- 

 tion . of the Dominion. The geological 

 formations to which the fossils known to 

 occur in that portion of Canada belong 

 will also be discussed and an attempt made 

 to correlate them with geological horizons 

 elsewhere in the Dominion. 



'Note sur les Bassins Hydrographiques 

 des Rivieres Montmorency et Ste. Anne,' 

 by Abbe J. C. K. Laflamme. 



A rather remarkable anomaly exists re- 

 garding the quantity of water in the val- 

 leys of the Ste. Anne and Montmorency 

 Rivers. The two hydrographic basins ap- 

 pear to be about equal as regards areas 

 drained, and, moreover, they are side by 

 side. They both receive the same quantity 

 of precipitation. The paper deals with the 

 probable reasons for the differences in the 

 amount of water each carries. 



' Notes on the Mineral Fuels of Canada, ' 

 by Dr. R. W. Ells. 



This paper discusses the varioiis kinds of 

 mineral fuels found in Canada, including 

 the various kinds of coals, from anthracite 

 to the newest lignite, anthraxolite, albertite 

 bituminous shales, petroleum, natural gas, 

 peat, etc., with their distribution in so far 

 as at present known in all the provinces of 

 the Dominion, mode of occurrence, extent 

 and economic value. 



'A Remarkable Outgrowth from the 

 Trunk of a White Birch,' by Professor D. 

 P. Penhallow. 



