FOURTH REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I907 69 



which appears from the records preserved in contemporary docu- 

 ments to be the severest disturbance this continent has ever suffered 

 from terrestrial dislocations. This earthquake was evidently a 

 movement of the Paleozoics against the crystalline . shield along 

 the course of the St Lawrence river or the St Lawrence fault, and 

 its destructive effects from Montreal down to Tadousac were tre- 

 mendous. It seemed to the speaker quite reasonable to infer that 

 this displacement must have been continued along the contact line 

 of the Paleozoics and the crystallines in the direction of the Cham- 

 plain fault, although the historic records for this region are very 

 meager. 



After lunch the party divided, one portion spending the afternoon 

 on the shores of Valcour island studying stratigraphy and paleon- 

 tology. The others sailed southward to the delta of Ausable river, 

 where a landing was made and photographs taken showing some 

 of the recent shore-line changes. Thence this party sailed across 

 the lake between Stave and Providence islands, and then northward 

 along the Vermont shore, returning to Cliff Haven. 



In the evening in the auditorium of the Catholic Summer School 

 the one formal gathering of the Plattsburg meeting took place. The 

 Rev. John Talbot Smith LL.D., president of the summer school, 

 welcomed the geologists in the name of the authorities of Champlain 

 Assembly and introduced the vice president of Section E, Dr Alfred 

 C. Lane, who gave his vice presidential address on the '' Early Sur- 

 roundings of Life." 



Prof. B. K. Emerson thanked the authorities of the Champlain 

 Assembly for their hospitable reception of Section E. 



On Sunday vai"ious features of the local geology were visited by 

 members of the section. Others attended services at the chapel on 

 the grounds. 



At noon the party were entertained most delightfully by the Hon. 

 Smith M. Weed and his family at his summer home on the shores 

 of Lake Qiamplain. In the aftemoon another sail was taken in 

 a steam launch on Lake Champlain. 



In the evening Prof. George 11. LIudson, of the Plattsburg Normal 

 School, fhowed the laboratories and some of the work of his stu- 

 dents. The members then met in the science classroom, and listened 

 to an informal talk by Professor Hudson on " Blastoidocrinus and 

 its Type," illustrated by 50 lantern slides. The slides of Billings's 

 type were from negatives possessing an amplification of 10 diam- 

 eters, and showed in a remarkable manner many points of structure 



