NOTES GEOLOGICAI. AND ANTIQUARIAN 



Clinton beds in a large flag. It has a conical root ; a 

 flattened main stem which is furnished with numerous 

 alternating branches. The latter are thick near the root, 

 but gradual!}' get quite thin when the}^ reach the top. 

 Had I not obtained the entire plant, and found only its de- 

 tached branches, I certainly would have no hesitation in 

 asserting tliej^ represented distinct species or varieties. 

 This, taken into consideration with the acknowledgment 

 we received from the authorities of the British Museum, 

 that specimens of fossil plants from Hamilton had arrived, 

 clearly establishes Dr. Hall's claim as regards the original 

 sea plant he discovered in the lower Silurians of New York 

 State, 



Perhaps the late Sir W. Dawson was the first to recog- 

 nize marsh plants from the Clinton iron band of the escarp- 

 ment here. 



It was not until the sedimentary Devonian rocks, three 

 miles in thickness, were deposited that we find positive 

 proof of the former existence of true land plants. 



The members of the Section may naturally see no 

 necessity for repeating things they are already acquainted 

 with. Admitting tliis, the object I had in view was to call 

 your attention to the gross ignorance of scientific facts 

 recently displayed at Toronto by some of the clergy of this 

 enlightened Province. A report of the proceedings appeared 

 in a copy of The World of that cit}' and was furnished 

 probabl}^ by some one who recognized the writer as one 

 who held similar views to the Rationalists of the Old 

 Country. A notification of an intended work on this very 

 subject was also received about the same time from an 

 English publisher, and to both I am gratefullj^ indebted. 



In submitting the extract I received to the Section, it 

 is unnecessary to refer to the theological views of some of 

 the members of the Bible League. The Rev. Geo. Jack- 

 son, of Shelbourne Street Methodist Parsonage, in a letter 

 to Tlie Toronto Glob€^ calls attention to the ignorance of his 



