THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 3 1 



discovered." Our visitor's views most probably are entertained by a 

 great many representative men at Ottawa, and sarcastic remarks we 

 may expect from our relatives south of us, until a superior class, 

 educated in Canadian Universities, are selected by members of the 

 Dominion Legislative Assembly to replace many whose sole ambition 

 seems to be merely to advance their own interests. Party feeling, 

 appealing to ignorance, a purchased press, " Tory, Grit or Indepen- 

 dent," sums up the glorious record of Canadian democracy. But 

 despite all the disadvantages imposed on our Section by the Domin- 

 ion Parliament or Grand Trunk Railway (and no person can imagine 

 the infamous clause of the Railway Act was inserted without the 

 knowledge and concurrence of the Company) I am enabled to sub- 

 mit for the information of the members, a considerable addition to 

 the list of Clinton fossils published by Dr. Spencer, even though 

 debarred for many years from prosecuting research along the base of 

 the escarpment at "the bluif" and other interesting points. I annex 

 the lists. I feel, however, at the same time, that in the. latter many 

 others are omitted which were obtained several years before specimens 

 were placed in our museum cases. 



Despite all our disadvantages and the very restricted portion 

 of the Clinton or Mayhill Sandstone series now exposed to research, 

 we have succeeded in securing some specimens of considerable 

 interest. One is well-preserved Crinoid, with jointed arms, some- 

 thing like a Lecanocrinus, yet I do not think it can be brought 

 under that head; indeed, for that matter, I am unable to find any 

 typical representative figured either in Hall or Billings. Dana 

 mentions that a few Crinoids and fragments are known in this series, 

 but all I see regarding them is in the works I consulted. Two only 

 are named (common also to Niagaras). Another specimen from 

 the shales above the Medina Greyband, also recently obtained, 

 owing to its imperfect state of preservation presents a very puzzling 

 appearance The writer and our chairman agreed on one point, 

 viz., that it was neither a sponge or coral, although some resemblance 

 to each was noticed ; finally we determined to submit it to the 

 Palaeontologist of the Dominion Geological Survey, Prof. Whiteaves, 

 for examination, who thought it was an Echinoderm, a Blastoid 

 probably. No doubt it belongs to the Radiates, and it bears a 

 marked likeness to the upper surface of a Blastoid. Yet it may be 



