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however, to trace out precisely how they start and under what 
•conditions they may be formed. It happens that Dr. Hay and I 
were at Little Kedron Lake in July last (1904) ; had we known 
then of the existence of these balls there we might now possess 
some answer to these questions. 
83. — A Measure of the Rate of Recession of the New 
Brunswick Coast Line. 
Read November 1, 1904. 
All available evidence appears to show that the coast of New 
Brunswick is slowly sinking beneath the sea, the anomalous case 
of Grande Plaine on Miscou Island being, as I shall later show, 
no real exception. The evidence on the subject is summarized 
in an earlier note (No. 43), where also a case permitting a rough 
measure of the rate of recession of the upland, accompanying 
this sinking, is described. This summer I noticed another and 
much better opportunity for such a measurement, which is as 
follows. 
1 he lower of northern end of Beaubears Island at Miramichi 
is a cleared field ' (except for some scattered pines and spruces) 
a few feet above sea level, and it is obviously being rapidly eaten 
away by the sea. A little back from the margin of the turf there 
stood formerly a strong fence, the squared posts of which have 
been cut away close to the ground. As these posts are likely to 
remain untouched for the future, and as they are fairly sound, it 
