354 



THE PKIZE ESSAYS. 



[1855. 



nada, and the remaining portion of tlic work, embracing fifty- 

 five pages, is occupied witli a narration of tlio social position 

 of tlie inhabitants of the country. The absence of a good, 

 copious index is much to be regretted. Dr. Lillie has shown an 

 extraordinary degree of industry in preparing this essay for 

 competition ; and the number and diversified character of the 

 authors he quotes, testify to the large amount of literary labour 

 he has bestowed upon the comprehensive subjects of which he 

 treats. Here again we have to regret the shortness of the 

 time which was allowed to competitors. We do not hesitate 

 to say, that several startling discrepancies which occur in the 

 first part of Dr. Lillie' s work would have been avoided, if the 

 subj eet had been leisurely, instead of hastily, treated. It is also 

 extremely probable that if more time had been allowed, the 

 author would have seen cogent reasons for rejecting certain au- 

 thorities he has advanced, and for bringing into more harmon- 

 ious form the disjointed descriptions of the geological structure 

 of the Province, which, in their present shape, will we fear, 

 sadly puzzle even an " intelligent stranger." Take for example 

 the statement on page 12 and compare it with the actual con- 

 dition of things. "In New York and Canada it (the third 

 division of the Lower Silurian) bears the name of Utica Slate 

 and Hudson Eiver Group. * * * Graptolites with fragments 

 of Trilobites are the only fossils found in this division." The 

 Hudson Eiver Group, which extends from the Eotige to the 

 Credit, and at very small depth immediately underlies the City 

 of Toronto, is eminently fossiliferous, containing besides Grap- 

 tolites and Trilobites, Corals, Fucoids and numerous genera and 

 species of shells in vast abundance. On referring to Marcou's 

 work we found that he had evidently misled our author, for 

 Marcou says : " Fossils are rare in this division, the only ones 

 are Graptolites, sometimes in great abundance, and fragments 

 of Trilobites, esijecially the Trinucleus Caractaci." Anliour's 

 inspection of the quarry opposite the parliament buildings, or 

 of the rocks in the Humber river valley would have satisfied 

 Dr Lillie of the value of M. Marcou as an authority. On page 

 13 we find the following : " Beds of Eock Salt are often found 

 in America, in connection with the Upper Silurian." It is pos- 

 sible that the occurrence of salt springs may have given rise to 

 this supposition, but we are not aware that any proof of so re- 

 markable a phenomenon has ever been obtained in America. M. 

 Marcou appears to be the authority in this instance also. 



We are thus induced to direct attention to these discrepances 

 as Dr. Lillie's has not only drawn largely from M. Marcou's 

 work, but also made very copious extracts from the reports of 

 Messrs. Logan and Murray, and adopted a style of descriptive 

 narrative in scientific language, which removes the subject be- 

 yond the reach of the class of general readers. At pages 12 

 and 13 our author adopts M. Marcou's distribution of the" rocks 

 in Western Canada, simply styling them Lower Silurian, Upper 

 Silurian, and Devonian, and from pages 58 to 64 he goes over 

 the same gi-ound, following Mr. Mun-ay's classification, using 

 the terms applied to the subordinate members of the rocks 

 before named,_ without stating how widely Mr. Mun-ay and M. 

 Marcou differ in their classification, or in their enumeration of 

 the fossil remains distinguishing them. This is to be regretted, 

 and we yenture to say that the object would have been 

 better attained if Dr. Lillie had expressed in his own language 

 a general view of the geological stnicture of the country, based 

 upon the reports of the Canadian sui-vey. We question whether 

 Dr. Lillie is aware that of Marcou's classification of the mountain 

 system in America— from which he has drawn to the extent of 

 nearly four pages of his work— -it has been said by a truly 



eminent geologist, " if we needed a jiarody on Elie DeBeau- 

 mont and his systems of mountains, we have it here." 



The chapter on the soils of Canada East and West, consists 

 chiefly of extracts from the report of Mr. Hunt. On the climate 

 of Canada chiefly of abridgments of articles contained in this 

 Journal, and the same may be said of the enumeration of the 

 natural productions of the country. 



The second portion of the essay before us consists of extract.? 

 from a great variety of sources and authorities. Numerous 

 passages from Dr. Lillie's own pen cause us however to regret 

 that he had not adhered more closely throughout to an original 

 form of expression, rather than content himself with transcrib- 

 ing the precise words of his authority. Here is a graphic 

 picture, far more interesting, impressive and useful to the 

 general reader than half a dozen extracts from " authorities :" 



"Canada is constantly ontgrowing the deseriptions ■which are being 

 given of her. The picture ■which ■was correct a few years ago thus 

 misleads, -if, instead of being regarded as exhibiting ■what was, it is 

 viewed as illustrative of 'what is. And so it will continue to be. With- 

 out the gift of prophecy, the production now of a work which shall be 

 true to the facts of even half a dozen years hence is an impossibility. 

 It is only by frequent revisal, bringing them up every few years to the 

 state of things ■which has grown up since their first appearance, that 

 the very best works can be made to possess a permanent value as 

 sources of information. Thus it is that the works of Mr. Macgregor 

 and Montgomery Martin make the approximation which they do to the 

 present actual state of the country. 



' ' By way of example, we shall present a few statements fiom the 

 works of Talbot, who published in 1824; and of Buckingham, whose 

 travels in America appeared so late as 1843. 



" Toronto, our inquirer will learn from the same authority, (Talbot 

 who published in 1824) should he consult him, contains 133-5 inhabi- 

 tants, with about 250 houses, many of which exhibit a very neat 

 appearance. Its public buildings are a Protestant Episcopal Church, 

 which is a plain timber building of tolerable size, livith a steeple of the 

 same material ; a Koman Catholic chapel, not yet completed, which is 

 of brick, and intended to be very magnificent ; a Presbyterian and a 

 Methodist meeting house ; the Hospital, which he pronounces the 

 most extensive public building in the Province, describing it, at the 

 same time, as showing a very respectable external appearance ; the 

 Parliament House, and the residence of the Lieutenant General. As 

 for its streets, which are regularly laid out, intersecting each other at 

 right angles, but being in wet weather unhappily, if possible, muddier 

 and dirtier than those of Ivingston — only one of them is as yet finished. 



"Lay down Talbot, and take up Buckingham's "Canada, Rova 

 Scotia, and New Brunswick," — bearing date London, 1843 — and you 

 will learn (p. 101) that the city of which you have been reading has 

 advanced so far as to have 13,000 inTiabitants, with over 200 brick 

 buildings, and nine newspapers, chiefly weekly, some t^wice, and some 

 thrice, but none daily. So soon as you have got over your sui'prise at 

 this prodigious growth, look into Tremenheere, if you can lay your 

 hand upon it, and he will tell you, on the authority of the last census, 

 that the population of Toronto amounted, in 18.51, or rather beginning 

 of 1852, to 30,763. At last you feel that you have got at the truth ; 

 the truth you have got certainly as to January or February, 1852 ; but 

 this is January 1855. The population now, according to information 

 received by me at the Chamberlain's office, is somewhere in the neigh- 

 bourhood of 45,000. In 1851, the estimated value of property, real 

 and personal, was £2,116, 400 ; the assessed value (calculated at six 

 per cent, on the estimated) iei86,983^s. Last year the assessed value 

 amounted to £226,500 real, with £64,450 personal— in all, £290,950; 

 and the estimated to £3,775,000 real, ivith £1,110,000 personal — 

 making together, £4,885,000." 



The third part of this essay is devoted to the social condition 

 of the people of Canada, and like the preceding divisions, con- 

 tains an immense amount of information, chiefly in the form of 

 quotations. In taking leave of Dr. Lillie's essay we confess to 

 two regrets, one being that a work containing so much valuable 

 information, and giving evidence of considerable industry and 

 application in its production should, by any alleged defect in 

 the manuscript, have been passed unnoticed by the judges} 



