354 Canadian Record of Science. 



cene of Canada. There would thus be wide scope and 

 probably abundant food on what is now the fertile plain 

 of the Province of Quebec, for the Beluga and the Green- 

 land seal, whose bones are found associated with it in the 

 Leda clay. 



Note by Prof. Pexhallow on the Specimen of Wood 

 referred to in paper ox beluga. 



The specimen of wood found in association with the 

 whale skeleton obtained from the Leda clay, Montreal, 

 consisted of a small branch about three-fourths of an inch 

 in diameter and five inches in length. It proved not to 

 be impregnated by mineral matter, and readily yielded to 

 the softening influence of water, increasing considerably 

 in volume. Upon microscopical examination it was found 

 that the structure was in an advanced stage of decay, and 

 was penetrated in all directions by the mycelium of a 

 fungus. The structure was so far broken down that 

 nearly all the secondary growth of the cell walls had dis- 

 appeared, and together with this, the markings upon 

 which a distinction of the species must rest. The generic 

 characters, however, were sufficiently preserved to satis- 

 factorily ascertain that the wood is a Picea, and among 

 existing species it approaches most nearly to P. Nigra, 

 which it, in all probability, is. 



Timber of Canada. 



Paper Read Before the Society by Hon. J. K. Ward. 



There are about 6,000 sawmills in the Dominion, em- 

 ploying during the season of, say, 150 days, not less than 

 15,000 men in and around the mills, sawing, piling, 

 shipping, etc. In the woods during winter, getting out 

 the logs and timber, and river driving, there are about the 

 same number. Six thousand mills, averaging each 400,000 



