66 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 103. 



as having been caused by Professor Laflamme's com- 

 munication to the geographical section of the British 

 association at its late meeting in Montreal. 



They commenced with a very sensational article 

 in the Montreal witness dated Quebec, Nov. 17, aris- 

 ing out of an interview of a reporter with Mr. 

 F. H. Bignell, a gentleman who had just returned 

 from a trip to the Hudson Bay post on Lake Mistas- 

 sini, made for the purpose of taking in supplies for 

 the winter consumption of the party organized and 

 despatched last spring, by the geological survey, to 

 explore that region, and to complete the survey of the 

 lake, which was commenced in 1870, and continued 

 in 1871, as described in the report of the survey for 

 those years, and of which surveys Professor Whitney 

 does not appear to be cognizant, or of my letters to 

 the editors of the Ottawa free press and the Montreal 

 gazette of Nov. 17 and Nov. 25 respectively, in which 

 the substance of the foregoing remarks was stated. 



assigned to it in the geological survey map of 1866, 

 while its outline is also very different. That it con- 

 sists of several almost separate lakes, as described 

 by the old explorers, is, I think, certain ; but the as- 

 sumption that there is a body of water in any way 

 comparable to Lake Superior is exceedingly improb- 

 able, and not warranted by any recorded observa- 

 tions. Alfred K. C. Selwyn, 



Director, geological survey of Canada. 



Lava from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island. 



Three specimens of the lava which was erupted 

 from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, Alaska, in 

 October, 1883, were sent by Sergeant Applegate, the 

 signal-service observer at Unalashka, to the central 

 office in Washington, and referred to the U. S. geo- 

 logical survey for investigation. 



It is gratifying to note rhat an examination of these 



The only published map on which the result of 

 these surveys of 1870 and 1871 by the geological corps 

 is correctly laid down, and which Professor Whitney 

 has probably not seen, is enitled " Carte de la Province 

 de Quebec, Canada. Dresse" au departement des Terres 

 de la Couronne, par Eugene Tache, assistant com- 

 missaire, 1880." The map is on a scale of fourteen 

 miles to one inch; and on the face of it, in the Lake 

 Mistassini region, we find the words ' Explore par la 

 commission geologique.' This map, and the report 

 I have referred to, give the latest authentic published 

 information about Lake Mistassini. The survey of 

 the lake is, I hope, now in progress ; and next year the 

 size of it, and of its numerous arms, will be definitely 

 known from actual measurement. Geologically it is 

 a basin of flat-lying limestones, probably of lower 

 Cambrian age, resting on Laurentian and Huronian 

 rocks. 



I enclose a tracing of the lake as it appears on the 

 Quebec crown-lands map. The latest general map 

 of Canada is that published in 1882 by the Depart- 

 ment of railways and canals, Ottawa. I have not 

 seen the Arrowsmith-Stanford map of 1880; but, in 

 the recent maps I have referred to, the position of the 

 lake is nearly half a degree west, not east, of that 



specimens has verified to the fullest extent the hy- 

 potheses made concerning the source of the vol- 

 canic sand which fell at Unalashka, Oct. 20, 1883, 

 and the mineralogical composition of the lava from 

 which it originated. The facts noted in Mr. Apple- 

 gate's letter of information render it altogether prob- 

 able that the volcanic sand came from the new volcano 

 on Bogosloff Island, and a comparison of the sand 

 with lava from that place removes all doubt. 



The members of the party from the Corwin sank 

 almost to their knees in soft ashes ; and other facts, 

 already published in Science (Nov. 7, p. 432), indi- 

 cate that a considerable portion of the new mountain 

 may be composed of ejectamenta. It has been 

 stated upon the authority of Lieut. Stoney, I believe, 

 that " the mass of the volcano was found to be a 

 species of sand-rock, with large black rocks scattered 

 about the crust. No traces of lava, and but small 

 quantities of pumice, were found." Whether the 

 1 large black rocks ' referred to are portions of lava- 

 streams projecting through the coating of sand and 

 lapilli, or large ejected fragments, is difficult to con- 

 jecture. We are led to believe that the specimens 

 received were taken from such masses. Through the 

 courtesy of Mr. Merrill, I have been able to compare 



