questionable lion of the day. Talking of lions reminds us that the Red Lions have had their annual feed; this time under the presidency of Prof. Huxley. There have been excursions num. berless; the students of Geology riding chiefly to Shotover; the lovers of Art chiefly to Blenheim. The Duke of Marlborough has paid the members of the British Association the delicate compliment of throwing open his noble grounds and galleries at the hours most convenient for their visits, and in cases where proper applications have been made, of allowing the treasures of his pri vate apartments to be inspected in the most liberal manner. Hundreds have accepted His Grace's generous invitation to Blenheim, where the grounds are in perfect beauty, and the glorious Raffaelles, Rubens', and Van Dycks have recently been arranged and noted by the accomplished hand of Mr. Scharf. Yet the main interest of the week has unquestionably centred in the Sections, where the intellectual activities have sometimes breathed over the courtesies of life like a sou'-wester, cresting the waves of conversation with white and brilliant foam. The flash, and play, and collisions in these Sections have been as interesting and amusing to the audiences as the Battle at Farnborough or the Volunteer Review to the general British public. The Bishop of Oxford has been famous in these intellectual contests, but Dr. Whewell, Lord Talbot de Malahide, Prof. Sedgwick, Mr. Crawford, and Prof. Huxley have each found foemen worthy of their steel, and made their charges and countercharges very much to their own satisfaction and the delight of their respective friends. The chief cause of contention has been the new theory of the Development of Species by Natural selection-a theory open-like the Zoological Gardens (from a particular cage in which it draws so many laughable illustrations)—to a good deal of personal quizzing, without, however, seriously crippling the usefulness of the physiological investigations on which it rests. The Bishop of Oxford came out strongly against a theory which holds it possible that man may be descended from an ape,-in which protest he is sustained by Prof. Owen, Sir Benjamin Brodie, Dr. Daubeny, and the most eminent naturalists assembled at Oxford. But others conspicuous among these, Prof. Huxley-have expressed their willingness to accept, for themselves, as well as for their friends and enemies, all actual truths, even the last humiliating truth of a pedigree not registered in the Herald's College. The dispute has at least made Oxford uncommonly lively during the week. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY'S ROOMS. Montreal, November 5th, 1860. The Society held its usual monthly meeting. The President, the Lord Bishop of Montreal, in the Chair. The Minutes of last meeting and the report of the Council were read and adopted, several new members were balloted for, and others proposed. The following donations were presented :— From Geo. Barnston, Esq., Michipicoton. From Mr. Cunninghame. Specimens of Copper Ore from Acton. From Mr. Blackwell. A fine Bust of the late Dr. Buckland. The thanks of the Society were voted to the donors. Thereafter it was resolved, viz: That on occasion of the decease of the late Andrew F. Holmes, M.D., L.L.D., this society desires to record its high appreciation of his personal and scientific character, and its gratitude for his services as a pioneer of Natural Science in Canada, and more especially as one of the founders of this Society, a zealous promoter of its interests in its earlier years, and an important contributor to its collections. And that in testimony of respect for the deceased and sympathy with his surviving relatives, a copy of this resolution be transmitted by the corresponding secretary to Mrs. Holmes. The ordinary business having been finished, and a large number of members being assembled in the Library, the President called upon Principal Dawson to read a paper "On the recent Earthquake with notices of previous Earthquakes in Canada." This paper was of much interest, and will be found among the articles of this number of the Naturalist; it elicited an animated discussion. From the report of the Committee on Lectures, and papers for the monthly meetings, it appears that this winter there will be a succession of scientific subjects of a novel and instructive kind brought before the Society. The next meeting will be held on Monday evening, December 3. L), FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1860. ea, 118 feet. WEATHER, CLOUDS, REMARKS, &c. &c. [A cloudy sky is represented by 10, a cloudless one by 0.] [A cloudy sky is represented by 10, a cloudless one by 0.] ARTICLE XLIX, -On certain theories of the formation of mountains. No. 1. The causes of the elevation of mountains above the general contour of the earth whether in the shape of isolated peaks or continuous chains have always been favourite subjects for speculation among physical geologists. In Europe the Alps situated as they are in the very centre of the cradle of civilisation have naturally received the greatest amount of consideration, while in America the origin of the long ranges of the Appalachians has been, ever since the dawn of science upon this continent, the all important problem to be solved. It is principally upon the theories of the elevation of these last mentioned mountains that we shall in this paper make a few observations. The Appalachian system occupies a belt of mountainous country extending from Cape Gaspé, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, south-westerly, through eastern Canada to the Province line near Lake Champlain where it enters the State of Vermont and is then continued in the same general direction to the State of Alabama. The total length of the belt is more than one thousand miles and its width from thirty to one hundred and fifty. It consists not o a single line of peaks but of numerous long parallel ridges separ CAN. NAT. 1 VOL. V. No. 6. |