Beside these, we have reprinted in the Naturalist several important papers by Dr. Hunt, Mr. Billings, and others, with the view of making them more fully known to students of nature in Canada.

ERRONEOUS PUBLIC OPINIONS.

Of the scientific value of these papers, and of the amount of original work which they evince, it is unnecessary that I should speak; but it is sometimes alleged that societies of this kind are of no practical utility; that their labours are merely the industrious idleness of unpractical dreamers and enthusiasts. Nothing could be more unjust than such an assertion. Science, cultivated for its own sake, and without any reference to practical applica tions, is a noble and elevating pursuit, full of beneficial influence on mental culture, and by the training which it affords, fitting men for the practical business of life better than most other studies. Further, it is by this disinterested pursuit of science, for its own sake, that many of the most practically useful arts and improvements of arts have had their birth. Besides this, most of the investigations of the naturalist have a direct bearing on utilitarian pursuits. In illustration of this statement I need go no further than our own last volume. An eminent example is afforded by the paper of Mr. Gordon Broome on Canadian phosphates. Here we have set before us three pregnant classes of facts: First -Phosphates are essential ingredients of all our cultivated plants, and especially of those which are most valuable as food. In order that they may grow, these plants must obtain phosphates from the soil, and if the quantity be deficient so will the crop. Of the ashes of wheat, 50 per cent consist of phosphoric acid, and without this the wheat cannot be produced; nor if produced would it be so valuable as food. Second-The culture of cereals is constantly abstracting this valuable substance from our soils. The analyses of Dr. Hunt have shown long ago that the principal cause of the exhaustion of the worn-out wheat lands of Canada is the withdrawal of the phosphates, and that fertility cannot be restored without replacing these. In 292,533 tons of wheat and wheaten flour exported from Montreal in 1869, there were, according to Mr. Broome, 2,340 tons of phosphoric acid, and this was equal to the total impoverishment of more than 70,000 acres of fertile land. To replace it would require, according to Mr. Broome, 5,850 tons of the richest natural phosphate of lime or 13,728 tons of super-phosphates as ordinarily sold, at a cost of more than

$480,000. These facts become startling and alarming when we consider that very little phosphoric acid in any form is being applied to replace this enormous waste. Yet so great is now the demand for these manures that super-phosphates to the value of $8,750,000 are annually manufactured in England from mineral phosphate of lime, beside the extensive importations of bones and guano. Third-Canada is especially rich in natural mineral phosphates, as yet little utilized, and might supply her own wants, and those of half the world beside, if industry and skill were directed to this object.

Putting these three classes of facts together, as they are presented by Mr. Broome, we have before us, on the one hand, an immense abyss of waste, poverty and depopulation yawning before our agricultural interests; and on the other, inexhaustible sources of wealth and prosperity lying within reach of scientific skill, and the conditions necessary to utilize which were well pointed out in the paper referred to. It is true that these facts and conclusions have been previously stated and enforced, but they remain as an illustration of scientific truths of important practical value still very little acted on.

Naturalists are sometimes accused of being so foolish as to chase butterflies, and the culture of cabbages is not usually regarded as a very scientific operation; yet any one who reads a paper on the Cabbage butterfly read at one of our meetings by the late Mr. Ritche, may easily discover that there may be practical utility in studying butterflies, and that science may be applied to the culture of the most commonplace of vegetables. A valuable crop, worth many thousands of dollars, is hopelessly destroyed by enemies not previously known, and appearing as if by magic. Entomology informs us that the destroyer is a well known European insect. It tells how it reached this country and that it might have been exterminated by a child in an a hour on its first appearance. But allow it to multiply unchecked, it soon fills all our gardens and fields with its devastating multitudes, and the cultivators of cabbages and cauliflowers are in despair. But Entomology proceeds to show that the case is not yet hopeless, and that means may still be found to arrest its ravages.

Unfortunately, we have as yet no public official bureau of Entomology, and therefore we must be indebted for such information to men who, like our late associate Ritchie, snatch from arduous business pursuits the hours that enable them thus to benefit their

country. Ontario is in advance of us in this, and has in the present year produced an important contribution to practical science in the report of the Fruit Grower's Association, which includes, among other matters, three papers on applied Entomology; that on Insects affecting the Apple, by Rev. C. T. S. Bethune; that on Insects affecting the Grape, by Mr. N. Saunders; and that on Insects affecting the Plum, by Mr. E. B. Reed. These are most creditable productions and of much practical value.

I would mention here that though we have among us several diligent and successful students of insects, yet we have no one at present who has taken up the mantle of Mr. Ritchie as a describer of their habits. I trust that some of our younger members will at once enter on this promising and useful field.

WORK DONE.

Looking at the amount of work done by our Society in the course of the year, I think it will bear comparison with that of similar societies elsewhere. We have not before us so large an amount of matter as that accumulated by the great central societies of the Mother Country and the United States; but we exceed in this respect most of the local societies of Great Britain, outside of London, and most of those in America with the exception of a few of the more important. With regard to the quality of scientific matter, we can boast many papers of which any society might gladly take the credit, while all of the papers which we publish are at least of local value and importance. This Society is, on this account, now recognized as the chief exponent of Canadian Natural History, and its journal is sought by all interested in the aspects of nature in this part of America. The responsibility which devolves upon us in this aspect of our work, is, I think, worthy of our consideration, with reference to our future operations, and to this subject I would desire to devote the remainder of this address.

One of our functions as a local society I think we have well and efficiently performed. It is that of accumulating and arranging for study the natural productions of this country. Our collections of mammals, birds, insects and mollusks of Canada are now nearly complete up to the present state of knowledge, and we have also valuable collections in other departments of Zoology. Our curator, Mr. Whiteaves, has done very much to give to these collections a scientific value by careful and accurate arrangement.

We have not specially cultivated Canadian Geology, because we cannot hope to rival in this department the admirable collection of the Geological Survey; but we have aimed at and secured a general collection, useful in educating the public taste and for giving aid to learners. Our collections in American Ethnology are not contemptible; and at our last annual conversazione, by laying our friends under contribution, we were able to exhibit an admirable series of illustrations of the rude and simple arts of the tribes which preceded us in the occupation of this country.

Of our library I cannot speak in as high praise as of our Museum. It should undoubtedly be one function of a Society like this to collect for the use of naturalists at least those books of reference which they would require to consult, and especially all books of value bearing on American Natural History. It is true that the University Library and that of the Geological Survey to some extent supply this want; but there is still a large field in this department which we might occupy, and we should at least place the scientific periodicals of the day conveniently within the reach of our members. Nor is there anything more likely to prove attractive to the public than a well-stocked library and reading room, devoted especially to the scientific subjects which we cultivate. This subject is one with reference to which the Society should move vigorously in the coming year, either by soliciting special contributions for this purpose, by increasing the amount of its annual contributions from members, or by allying itself with other societies. It seems to have been an error in the construction of our building not to have provided larger space for accommodating a library and reading room, and if possible some amendment should be effected in this.

In our proper scientific work a boundless field lies before us. Scarcely any department of the natural history of this country has been satisfactorily worked out, and any active naturalist can find almost anywhere the material for original investigations, the results of which we are at all times ready to give to the public. I have already referred to the subject of Entomology as applied to practical purposes; and the natural history of our spiders, millepedes, and worms, is almost an untrodden field, while our microscopists have a vast and little explored domain in Canadian waters, with their multitudes of inhabitants of the humbler grades. There is much also yet to be done in Canadian fishes and reptiles. Mr. Whiteaves has made much progress in cata

loguing Canadian mollusca, but his work is by no means complete; and such groups as the Nudibranchiates, the Tunicates and the Polyzoa, still lie in a very imperfect condition, though some materials have been accumulated. In connection with this subject, I would refer to the desirableness of exploring the deeper parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in which, no doubt, many important additions to our fauna might be discovered, and which might throw much light on the post-pliocene geology of Canada. It is further much to be desired that an attempt should be made to ascertain the precise limits of the various marine animals in the brackish portions of the River St. Lawrence. In dredging in Murray Bay, in the past years, I have been surprised to find so rich a boreal fauna in that part of the river, and I have no doubt that it must extend much further upward, sustained by the cold salt water which forces its way under the warmer and fresher water of the surface. It would be interesting to know how far the marine animals extend, and also what varietal changes occur in the species as they approach the fresher portions of the river. To prosecute such researches we would require public aid, and the want of this has hitherto limited our work in this direction. Last year a committee was appointed to consider the matter, but nothing was done. With a view to some action in the coming summer, I have, as President of the Society, invited the attention of the Hon. the Minister of Marine to the subject, and have requested a passage for an observer appointed by the Society in one of the Government steamers or schooners. I have much pleasure in stating that he has entered heartily into my views, and that there is a prospect that, with the aid thus afforded, we may be able to reach with the dredge the deepest portions of the Gulf. Though these depths are small in comparison with those which have been reached in the Atlantic, I feel confident that they will afford a rich harvest of marine forms, not hitherto known to us, and that the results will be equally creditable to this Society and to the Government of Canada, which may thus, with little trouble and expense, emulate the Mother Country and the United States in the efforts which they are making to extend the knowledge of Marine Zoology. It is probable also that facts may be obtained of practical value with reference to the fisheries.

In Botany the two points which have chiefly engaged our attention are Geographical Distribution and the Cryptogamic orders. In the former, Mr. Drummond, Dr. Bell, and Mr. Matthew have