Notes Geological and Antiquarian. 



Bead before the Hamilton Scientip,c Association, 

 March 2nd, 1908. 



BY COL. C. C. GRANT. 



Talk as we may, as members of the Hamilton Scientific 

 Association, of confining ourselves to the mere organic 

 remains of a Silurian district little known on the American 

 continent, assuredly the restriction was never intended by 

 the early liberal original framers of the rules of the Associ- 

 ation, still existing for the guidance of the members, and 

 which, as far as the writer can see, have never been can- 

 celled. 



The Geological Section of the Association always 

 accepted that prominent assertion in every copy of our 

 Proceedings, that " the writers were solely responsible for 

 statements published." But even years ago we recognized 

 the fact, as Sir A. Geikie stated, that the flint-flake human 

 productions. Palaeolithic or Neolithic specimens, should be 

 recognized also as scientific advance, inasmuch as human 

 productions wherever buried also revealed the past history 

 of life on earth, perhaps even better than many of the ele- 

 vated sea beds, where we have little difficulty in recogniz- 

 ing the coral and countless inhabitants which left their 

 remains for science to record the history. Neither can we 

 altogether separate Geology from the far more ancient 

 science, Astronomy, since we are compelled to acknowledge 

 that it alone possesses the key to the early creation of the 

 earth we inhabit. 



Confined as our researches naturally must be, do we 

 not find, even in the very interior of our limestone used for 

 building purposes in this city, indelibly recorded by the 

 Great Creator far more reliable evidence than Pagan tradi- 



