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of specimens was made possible through a combined use of double corru- 
gated boards and heat. No felt driers were used in exsiccating the speci- 
mens. The plants were placed directly on the corrugated boards and, 
when a press of suitable size had been made up, it was placed on the 
fiddley ladder. The heat from the boilers dried the plants perfectly in 
forty-eight hours or less, the specimens so prepared keeping their colours, 
both in respect to foliage and flowers, much better than plants pressed 
in felt driers. 
From a scientific point of view the expedition was a decided success. 
Ellesmere island, having been thoroughly explored by the Sverdrup ex- 
pedition, yielded one species and one variety not previously reported 
from there. At Dundas harbour, North Devon island, twenty-nine species 
not so far recorded from the island were collected within a radius of about 
a mile from the Mounted Police post, and at Port Leopold, Somerset island, 
probably one of the most barren places in the Archipelago, one additional 
species and two varieties were found. Baffin island, however, gave the 
real surprise. There not less than about forty species and four varieties 
not previously recorded from the island, were collected. Of these, almost 
a score have so far not been known to occur north of Hudson strait. The 
most interesting thing, however, in this connexion, is that some of the 
additions are species that hitherto have not been found east of Hudson 
bay or that are closely related to species characteristic of the arctic main- 
land west thereof. 
During the absence of the Chief Botanist in the Arctic, Mr. Watson 
continued botanical explorations in northwestern New Brunswick until 
the last week of August. The collections from New Brunswick totalled 
about 3,000 herbarium specimens, containing about 550 species. 
DIVISION OF MINERALOGY (GEOLOGICAL SURVEY) 
Eugene Poitevin, Chief of the Division, reports: 
Field Work 
A. T. McKinnon spent two months in Ontario and Quebec collecting 
minerals. No other field work was done. 
Laboratory, Office, and Museum Work 
The laboratory and office work of the various members of the division 
is described in the annual report of the Geological Survey. 
In line with the policy established about two years ago more than 
twenty table cases of economic and other minerals were transported from 
the divisional offices at 227 Sparks street and displayed in the Victoria 
Memorial Museum, making a total of thirty-four upright and table cases 
of mineralogical exhibits there. This entailed much additional work to 
the small staff of the division, in addition to which there has been an in- 
crease in the amount of laboratory work. 
On January 3, Dr. W. F. Ferrier was appointed for six months, and 
carried on some work on the mineralogical collections. During that time 
a very large number of specimens were gone over and more than one thou- 
sand additional specimens were incorporated in the systematic collections 
