Proceedings of Natural History Society. 181 



mate the amount of good which has thus been done. At 

 the same time it is certain that an endowment of equal or 

 greater amount added now would increase the number of 

 lectures, improve the means of illustration and enable the 

 Society to secure the services of eminent lecturers from 

 abroad. There is here a good field for the exercise of en- 

 lightened liberality. My second suggestion has reference 

 to our journal, the Kecord of Science. This is conducted 

 under some difficulties. Even in older and richer countries 

 such journals are rarely paying enterprises. Here they 

 must necessarily be conducted at some loss, even though 

 the work of writing and editing is done gratuitously; and 

 but for the aid which we have received from the Provincial 

 Government, in conside; ation of our circulating copies 

 abroad, the publication must have been abandoned. I trust 

 that some measure of public assistance will be continued to 

 this useful work, and I would put it to the members of the 

 Society and to all our citizens that they should at least be 

 subscribers to this oldest and most important Record of 

 Canadian Science. I have reason to know that this perio- 

 dical has been the chief book of reference to naturalists 

 abroad in relation to the natural history and geology of 

 Canada. Its nineteen volumes are a mine of information 

 on these subjects, and it is by no means inferior now to 

 what it was in former times. But it is not sufficiently large 

 to accommodate all the matter which deserves publication. 

 It cannot afford sufficient illustrations, and its expense has 

 to be curtailed in several undesirable ways. A larger sub- 

 scription list would greatly tend to remedy these evils. 



Turning now to the scientific work of the Society, I find 

 that of thirteen papers contributed last session, five were on 

 geological subjects, three ethnological, one chemical and the 

 remainder biological. 



Of our geological papers, three related to the more recent 

 periods. Two of them directed our attention to the glacial 

 phenomena and fossils of the Pleistocene beds of the Lower 

 St. Lawrence and of Anticosti. We have, in the terraces 

 and varied beaches of these districts, the evidences of a deep 

 submergence, and extensive drift of boulders over the coun- 



