Presidents Annual Address. 
29 
Many years have now elapsed since the discovery of Eozoon 
(the dawn-animal) and its description by Sir Wm. Dawson,* 
without any important associated fauna having been found. 
It has been stated that the same, or a similar organism, 
has been found in various countries, as Bavaria, Ireland, and 
Massachusetts, but apparently Eozoon alone, and no other 
animal with it, and the animal itself in some of these cases 
very imperfectly or doubtfully preserved. It is true that Sir 
William records the occurrence at Cote St. Pierre of minute 
spherical bodiesf in connection with Eozoon, but these he 
explains to be an open growth of Eozoon at the upper sur- 
face of an Eozoonal colony, and not an independent organism. 
He also mentions the presence of a crystalline structure, 
such as is highly characteristic of crinoidal remans, when pre- 
served in limestone. But we are informed that the more dense 
parts of Eozoon sometimes show this structure, though less 
distinctly, it is evident, therefore, that we cannot put much 
reliance on this structure as showing the presence of organ- 
isms other than Eozoon. The same remark applies to the 
observations of Sir William respecting the presence of minute 
grains simulating the forms of foraminiferous shells. 
A more positive evidence of the presence of other creatures 
than Eozoon in the seas in which this animal lived, may be 
drawn from the perforations discovered in the limestone of 
Madoc, Ontario, which Sir William supposes may have been 
made by worms, having the habit of Scolithus (or Arenicolites). 
Despite these observations, it is evident that very little 
positive evidence is known of the existence of creatures con- 
temporary with Eozoon. 
The nearly entire absence of other animal remains from 
the rocks containing Eozoon, and the fact that a stout fight 
has been made by certain English and German chemists in 
favor of its mineral origin, has caused many to doubt the 
animal nature of the object which goes under that name. 
Among these doubters are many of the leading geologists of 
America. No better test of opinion on the subject could have 
* Can. Nat., 2nd Ser., Vol. II., 1865. 
t Called Archaeospherina. 
