146 Canadian Record of Science. 



cene deposits exposed in the vicinity of the city, and he 

 undertook a detailed study of them, and especially of the 

 remarkably rich fossil fauna which they contain. He 

 also studied subsequently the pleistocene deposits of the 

 Lower St. Lawrence, and instituted comparisons between 

 them and the present fauna of the Grulf of St. Lawrence 

 and of the Labrador coast. The results of these studies 

 appeared in a series of papers as the work progressed, and 

 were finally embodied in a volume entitled " The Canadian 

 Ice Age," which was issued in 1893 as one of the publica- 

 tions of the Peter Eedpath Museum of McGill University. 

 This is one of the most important contributions to the 

 palfeontology of the pleistocene which has hitherto 

 appeared. 



Sir William's name is also associated with the renowned 

 Eozoon Canadense, discovered by the Geological Survey of 

 Canada in the Grenville limestones of the Canadian 

 Laurentian, and described by him in 1864 as a gigantic 

 foraminifer. Concerning this remarkable object there 

 has been a widespread controversy and a great divergence 

 of opinion. Some of the most experienced observers 

 in the lower forms of life, such as Carpenter, accepted it 

 as of organic origin, while others considered it to be 

 inorganic. And, while the balance of opinion now pro- 

 bably favors the latter view, its resemblance microscopi- 

 cally to certain organic forms is certainly most remark- 

 able. The literature of this subject, which includes many 

 papers by Sir William, is quite voluminous, but the chief 

 facts are summed up in his book, entitled " The Dawn of 

 Life," which appeared in 1875. 



Sir William was also a prolific writer of popular works 

 on various geological topics. Among these may be men- 

 tioned his " Story of the Earth and Man," his " Fossil Men 

 and their Modern Eepresentatives," his " Meeting Place 

 of Geology and History," and his " Modern Science and 

 Bible Lands." These books, all written in a very enter- 



