$32 * Scientific News. [ August, 
stone and pushed forward, edge foremost, in such a manner that 
the free end of the knife finishes by resting on the more distant 
end of the stone. Here the blade is turned on its back and 
returned, edge in advance as before, to the place of starting. In 
drawing the blade the utmost care should be taken never to raise 
in the slightest degree the back from the stone; and further the knife 
must not be pressed on the stone, but held lightly by the finger-tips, 
and the xecessary friction be left to capillary adhesion, ‘ 
fter drawing the knife fifteen to twenty times it should b 
tested as before. 
The knives furnished with the Thoma microtome should be 
provided with a wire support (Fig. 1 w) for the back of the knife 
during the process of sharpening. 
SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
—The results of the Hudson’s Bay Expedition, in 1884, under 
Lieut. Gordon, possess much interest, and Dr. Bell’s report on the 
geology of the extreme northern shores of Labrador, as well as 
of Hudson’s strait, contains new matter especially relating to the 
glaciation of that country. As to the botanical collections made, 
Prof. Macoun affirms that it shows conclusively the arctic charac- 
ter of the climate of the straits and that part of Labrador north 
of Nachvak. Raised beaches, 300-400 feet high, were observed 
on Hudson’s strait. Ancient stone structures, erected by the 
Eskimo, were observed, and Dr. Bell observes: “From what I 
have seen of the situations, which the Eskimo in various places in 
Hudson’s bay and strait choose for their camps, there appeared 
to be little doubt that they had lived here when the sea-level 
was 20 to 30 feet higher than it is at present.” . 
The observations made shows that the basin of Hudson’s bay 
may have formed a glacial reservoir, receiving streams of ice from 
the east, north and north-west and south and south-west. The di- 
rection of the glaciation on both sides of Hudson’s strait was 
: d. “That an extensive glacier passed down the strait 
may be inferred from the smoothed and striated character of the 
rocks of the lower levels, the outline of the glaciated surfaces 
pointing to an eastward movement, the composition of the drift, 
and also from the fact that the long depression of Fox’s channel 
and the strait runs from the north-westward towards the south- 
east, and that this great channel or submerged valley deepens as 
_ it goes, terminating in the Atlantic ocean. Glaciers are said to 
_ exist on the shores of Fox’s channel and they may send down the 
__ flat-topped icebergs which float eastward through the lower part 
_ of Hudson's strait into the Atlantic. During the drift period, the 
glacier of the bed of Hudson’s strait was probably joined by a 
contribution from the ice which appears to have occupied the 
site of Hudson’s bay, and by another also from the southward, 
coming down the valley of the Koksok river, and its continuation 
