MEMOIR OF N. J. GIROUX. 377 



The following memorial was read by F. D. Adams in the absence of 

 the author.* 



MEMOIR OP N. J. GIROUX 

 BY R. W. ELLS 



It is with feelings of very deep regret that we have to announce the 

 somewhat sudden death of one of our members, Mr N. J. Giroux, of the 

 Canadian Geological Survey, Ottawa, which occurred at his father's house 

 in River Beaudette, province of Quebec, on the 30th day of November, 

 1896. Mr Giroux was held in high esteem by all his confreres on the 

 staff, and aside from the general feeling of regret at his unexpected death, 

 his loss at this time is especially unfortunate, since the results of his last 

 two years' work in the interesting area between the lower Ottawa and 

 the Saint Lawrence, in the study of which he has recently been engaged, 

 were nearly ready for publication and would have made a very valuable 

 contribution to our knowledge of this interesting field, both as regards 

 the distribution and the fossil contents of the Paleozoic formations of 

 the Ottawa basin. 



Mr Giroux was born at River Beaudette on October 22, 1859. He 

 graduated from L'Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, in affiliation with 

 Laval University, in 1880, taking the degree of C. E. from that institution 

 and the gold medal for standing in his year. After a year in the north- 

 west territories, in connection with the Dominion Lands Survey, he was 

 engaged as assistant engineer on the Grenville canal, leaving that work 

 in 1883 to join the staff of the Geological Survey of Canada as assistant 

 to Dr Ells. In this capacity he did much excellent work for some years, 

 and in 1890 took charge of surveys in the rough country north of the 

 Saint Lawrence, in the vicinity of the Saint Maurice waters. After three 

 years in this arduous field, he took charge of his last field of work, to the 

 south of the lower Ottawa river, which he was rapidly bringing to com- 

 pletion when his labors were cut short by his death. 



Mr Giroux's principal publications have appeared in his summary 

 reports of progress, which are issued in connection with the annual re- 

 ports of the Geological Survey. The five volumes, 1891-1897, contain 

 his writings. Among other papers is one on the serpentines of Canada 

 in the Transactions of the Ottawa Naturalist; but he had laid well the 

 foundations for an active and useful life, which would doubtless have 

 been productive of valuable results to the scientific world, and his death 

 is therefore regarded as a very serious loss to the field staff of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of Canada. 



*The memorial was read on Wednesday morning, as Dr Adams was not present when it was 

 reached in regular order Tuesday morning, but it is inserted here in its appropriate place, 



