Mount Royal Once an Active Volcano 345 



that a positive answer could not be given, unless by one 

 endowed with the gift of prophecy. At the same time, 

 if we can form any conclusion from the evidence before 

 us, we are, I think, fully justified in saying that it is 

 very unlikely there will be a recurrence of active con- 

 ditions. 



In one respect, the Hfe of a Volcano may be com- 

 pared to human life. It has its period of youth, of 

 maturity, of old age and then death. In its old age the 

 only evidence of life shown by a volcano is a slight 

 escape of gases and possibly warm springs in its neigh- 

 bourhood. In the case of Mount Royal, nothing of this 

 kind, so far as I am aware, has ever been observed. Be- 

 sides this, the evidence shows that there has been no 

 eruption during or since the Pleistocene period. At 

 various points in the crater, there are beds and banks 

 of sand and gravel washed up by the glacial sea of that 

 period, which beds have not been disturbed as they 

 would undoubtedly have been if there had been an erup- 

 tion since they were formed, all of which goes to sup- 

 port the opinion that in all probability Mount Royal 

 will not again become an active Volcano. 



NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE 

 BEAVER IN CANADA. 



*By Professor A. "Willey, F.R.S., McGill University. 



The natural history of the beaver has been the sub- 

 ject of so much narrative and speculation that if. is 

 difficult to say anything new about it, so far as its more 

 obvious peculiarities are concerned. Everybody knows 

 how largely the beaver has bulked in the history of 

 Canada, and that there was a time when the entire trade 



*The substance of this article was communicated to the 

 " Natural History Society ", November 25th, 1912. 



