NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 219 



same author's paper on the gold-fields of Canada, and in that by 

 Mr. MacFarlane on the extraction of cobalt from Canadian ores. 



In zoology and botany, our work has perhaps been less exten- 

 sive and important than in geology. In these fields, however, we 

 may mention Dr. Lawson's paper on Aphis avence ; Mr. Cooper's 

 on Saperda Candida ; Mr. Scudder's on the Orthoptera of the 

 northwest territory; Dr. Cobbold on a Canadian Taenia; Mr. 

 Billings on Monohammus ; Mr. Whiteaves on the land and fresh- 

 water shells of Canada ; Prof. Bailey on the Diatoms of the St. 

 John River; Mr. Barnston on the Otters of America ; and the 

 completion of Dr. Hall's elaborate paper on the mammalia and 

 birds of Montreal. 



All of these papers contain important new facts in natural 

 history. One of them, that of Mr. Whiteaves, nearly exhausts 

 the subject to which it refers, in so far as present material is con- 

 cerned ; others add new species of the Canadian fauna; and 

 several are of great practical value. 



In their purely scientific aspect, the pursuits of the Naturalist 

 should be highly esteemed, as widening our views of nature, 

 enlarging our minds, and elevating the reputation of our country. 

 They are, however, also of utility to the country in their econom- 

 ical applications. To this I would especially advert, in connection 

 with our proceedings, as establishing a valid claim to considera- 

 tion on the part of the public, independently of our merely 

 scientific discoveries, or of the pleasure to be derived from our 

 collections and lectures. 



In 1862, Mr. Macfarlane of Acton gave us the results of 

 experiments on certain varieties of iron pyrites occurring near 

 Brockville, from which he showed that cobalt and sulphuric acid 

 could be obtained in remunerative quantities. These experiments 

 seem to have led him to further studies of the reactions of sul- 

 phuret of iron and common salt; and the result has been another 

 paper, detailing a new mode of obtaining chlorine and soda, 

 which has been patented in England, and promises to effect a 

 revolution in the manufacture of these important substances, and 

 to cheapen and render more accessible some of the most useful 

 agents in the promotion of comfort, cleanliness and health. 



A little striped beetle, Saperda Candida, burrows when in its 

 larval condition in our apple trees, and soon blasts the results of 

 much expeuditure, and of years of labour. Mr. Cooper of Que- 



