1024 



SCIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 287. 



The present communication forms the 

 fifth of a series of papers, four of which 

 have already appeared in the transactions 

 of this Society, three of these are upon the 

 recent marine sponges of the Pacific and 

 one on those of the Atlantic or eastern 

 coast of Canada, mainly from the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence and the coast of Nova Scotia. 

 The paper now submitted is supplementary 

 to the one last mentioned and treats of the 

 more northern forms. It is based upon a 

 collection received from Professor D'Arcy 

 Thompson of University College, Dundee, 

 Scotland. The Monaxonida, Tetractinel- 

 lida, and Calcarea are represented by 

 twenty species, half of which are described 

 as new. Six octavo plates of drawings illus- 

 trate the descriptions and show the spicules 

 and their position in the skeleton as well 

 as the general form of the sponges. 



The Cerebral Neurons in relation to Memory 

 and Electricity : By Sib James Grant, 

 K.C.M.G., M.D. 



The brain neurons and cells, like the cells 

 in other tissues of the body, as years pass 

 on, give evidence of lessening power and 

 activity. The line of present investigation 

 demonstrates that the electrical current 

 through the brain rotates its molecules to 

 such a degree as to produce a most notice- 

 able physiological response, in the direction 

 of improved memory. 



Un eboulement a St. Tlmribe-de-Vincennes, 

 comte de Champlain : Par Mge. J. C. La- 



FLAMME. 



Modifications remarquables eausees dans le regime 

 de la riviere Ste-Anne par Veboulement de St- 

 Alban: Par Mge. J. C. Laflamme. 

 These two papers by the Rector of Laval 

 University, Quebec, deal with important 

 geological phenomena affecting the Pleisto- 

 cene or later Quaternary boulder clays, ma- 

 rine clays, sands and gravels of the north 

 shore of the St. Lawrence. There the 

 streams which flow into this river are now 



cutting into these newer and uncemented 

 rock-materials in order to form a river bed, 

 and what appears to be a period of unstable 

 equilibrium has set in, leading to many dis- 

 astrous landslides and landslips in which 

 many human lives have been lost, not to 

 speak of destruction of other life and prop- 

 erty. 



The Honorary Secretary's Annual Report 

 dealt with the progress of research in the 

 various sections throughout Canada. The 

 preservation of the site of Louisbourg, 

 Nova Scotia, the proposed National Mu- 

 seum, the death and loss to science and 

 the Society of its first president, Sir "William 

 Dawson, the proper equipment of a Hydro- 

 graphic Survey for Canada, tidal observa- 

 tions and other historical as well as literary 

 results were referred to in an able and em- 

 inently practical manner. 



The following is a list of the ofiScers of the 

 society elected for the ensuing year : Pres- 

 ident, Dr. Louis Honore Frechette, C.M.G.; 

 Vice-President, President Loudon of Toronto 

 University ; Honorary Secretary, Sir John G. 

 Bourinot ; Honorary Treasurer, Dr. James 

 Fletcher. 



In the Geological and Biological Section 

 the following ofiicers were elected : Chair- 

 man, Dr. A. H. Mackaj', Halifax, Nova 

 Scotia; Vice- Chairman, Professor F. D. 

 Adams, McGill University, Montreal ; Sec- 

 retary, Professor G. U. Hay, St. John, New 

 Brunswick. 



In the Physical and Mathematical Science 

 Section, the following were chosen : Chair- 

 man, President Loudon; Vice- Chairman, Dr. 

 R. F. Ruttan ; Secretary, E. Deville, Sur- 

 veyor-general of Canada, Ottawa. 



H. M. Ami. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 The Logical Bases of Education. By J. Welton, 



M.A. London, Macmillan & Co. 1899. 



Pages xvi + 288. 



This book is one of a series, ' Macmillan's 

 Manuals for Teachers,' edited by Oscar Brown- 



