268 The American Geologist. Mas-, 1901 
organ of the Natural History Society of ■Montreal. Of this 
society he was regularly elected a vice president for 14 years, 
having declined the office of president, proffered to him on. 
many occasions. 
In 1858 Mr. Billings made a visit to Europe, where he came 
in contact with leading geologists of the time and examined 
various collections in geology in Great Britain. These he 
studied most zealously and made a comparison of the Silurian 
(including both the lower and upper Silurian of Murchison) 
and Devonian fossils of western Europe, with those of Cana- 
da, and arrived at the conclusion that there were but few 
species identical with those of Canada. In April, 1858, when 
in London, he was elected a fellow of the Geological Society 
of London ; Sir Roderick ]\Iurchison, Professor A. Ramsay 
and Professor T. H. Huxley, having nominated him. He 
visited Paris where he met a number of distinguished men, 
amongst others the great Bohemian paleontologist, the Abbe 
Joachim Barrande, with whom and in conjunction with Sir 
William Logan, a most interesting discussion arose regarding 
the age of several rock formations occurring in the province 
of Quebec, to which Sir William Logan gave the name "Que- 
bec Group"-;-a controversy which included many difficult 
problems of which the "Laconic Question" was a conspicuous 
factor. 
The term "Quebec Group"" will invariably be associated 
with the excellent work performed by Sir William Logan and 
Mr. E. Billings. 
In 1854, two years before his appointment on the Geologi- 
cal Survey staff, Mr. Billings accompanied Mr. James Rich- 
ardson in an examination of the fossiliferous rocks of Point 
Levis, Que. ; in the following year he also accompanied the 
same field geologist in his explorations at Point Levis, Que., 
and Thetford, in the township of Bosanquet, County of 
Lambton. Ontario. 
Of ^Slr. Billings' work prior to 1863, Sir William Logan 
gives the following succinct account on page 7 of the "Pre- 
face" in his "Geology of Canada," published in 1863 : 
"Mr. Billings was appointed paleontologist to the survey 
in 1856 and since then his unremitting attention has been de- 
voted to the study of the palaeozoic fossils of Canada, of 
