1.88 Rece?it Qeological Discoveries. 



Perhaps the most curious fact of all, connected with the exis- 

 tence of animal life in high latitudes during the most severe 

 temperatures, is that some ptarmigan are found throughout the 

 winter in Melville Island and Banks Land. I might also add, 

 that they have likewise been seen by officers who wintered at 

 Beechey Island ; where a small covey was flushed in the depth of 

 the winter 1852-53. But it is best on this point to give th.e re- 

 marks of an officer who has had admirable opportunities of 

 observing the fact — Captain F. L. M'Clintock, R. N. : he says : — 



" The willow grouse never goes north of Bearing Island, the 

 common j)tarmigan {tetrao lagopus) is the only bird of that species 

 found on Melville Island. They are most numerous in April, ge- 

 nerally in pairs, and in September they collect into coveys, 

 sometimes of as many as fifteen or twenty birds, previous to a 

 flight southward. After that month a few were seen, and those 

 were birds which probably had not paired during the previous 

 season. Some ptarmigan were shot in January and February, in 

 excellent condition ; of these the largest weighed 2^ lbs., and its 

 crop contained 2^ ounces of the slender shoots of the dwarf willow ; 

 many of these shoots were as thick as a crowquill, and | inch long ;, 

 when ready for cooking, the bird weighed l^lb. ; no starveling this! 

 Six hundred and eighty-four ptarmigan were shot on Melville Island 

 in twelve months, by the people of the ' Resolute' and ' Intrepid,' 

 being more than the Investigators got altogether." There is reason 

 to believe that these hardy birds burrow under the snow for 

 waiTnth, protection, and food, as the hare and lemming do. Mc 

 Clure's Discovery^ page 17. 



RECENT GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 



{Supplement to the Fifth edition of LyeWs Manual of Elemen- 

 tary Geology. London: 1857.) 



There is no pause in the progress of geological knowledge. 

 The very old in the earth's history is perpetually producing 

 things very new to science. It is " a philosophy which never 

 rests, its law is progress, a point which yesterday was invisible is 

 its goal to-day, and will be its starting point to-morrow." In ac- 

 cordance with this, the motto of his fifth edition. Sir Charles now 

 presents to us a supplement of 34 pages, including a startling 

 amount of new discovery, to giome of the more important items 



