Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/80

 SCIENCE.

��ms bftving been caused by Professor Laflamnie'B coiii- inunlcatlon to the geographical section of the Britisli aiaocialion at its laie meeting In Montreal.

They coromanceil w!t1i a very sensational article in the Montreal wUnrnn rtaied Quebec. N<i», 17, aris- ing out of ail int«rFiL-w of a reporter with Mr. P. II. BtKneil. a gentleman nho lind jufit returned from a trip to the Hudson Bay post on Lake Miataa- siiii, made fur llie purpoae of taking In supjilies (or the winter consumption of the party ori;anizeil and deepalched last spring, by the geoiogical surrey, to explore that region, and to complete the aurrey of the lake, which was commenced in 1870, and continued in 1871, as described in the report of the surveT for those years, and uf which surveys Professor Whitney does not appear to be cognizant, or of my letters tn the editors of the Ottaaa/ree press and the Monlreal gazette of Nov. 17 and Nov. 26 respectively, in which the substance of the forpgoing remarks was stated.

��assigned to it in the geological survey map of 1386. while its outline is also very different. That it con- sists of several almost separate lakes, as described by the old explorers, is, I tliink, certtdn; but the as- sumption that there is a body of water in any way comparable to Lake Superior is exceedingly improv- able, and not warranted by any recorded observa- tions. Alfred B. C. Sei.wtn,

Director, •jriiliigfeal /nirvey <•/ Canada.

Lava from the nevv volcano on Bogosloff Island.

Three apecimens of the lava wbicb was erupted from the new volcano an Bogosloff Island, Alaska, in October, 1S8S, were sent by Sergeatit Applegalc, the ■iBTial- service observer at Unalaslika, to Lbe central office in Washington, and iL'feried lo the U. r logical survey fbr invesllL;itioii.

It Is gratifying to note i hat an examination of tUesB |

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��The only pubjishcil map on »blcb Ibe result of these surveys of 187(1 and 1371 by Ibe geological corps is com^tly laid down, and which Professor Whitney has probably not seen, iscnltled " Carte de la Province deti^iebec, Canada. Dress^aud^partementdes Torres de la Couronne, par Eugene Tach£. assistant com- mlssaire, 18S0." The map is on a scale of fourteen miles to one inch; and on tlic face of It, in the Lake Histaaainl region, we find the words 'Kxplor^ par la commission g^ologiqiie.' This map, and the report I have referred to, give the latest authentic published information about Lake Uistassitil. The survey of the lake is, 1 hope, now in progress; and next year the slio of it. and of Its numerous arms, will be definitely known from actual measurement. Geologically it is a busin of flat-lylug limestones, probably of lower Cambrian age, resting on Laurentian and Huronlan rooks,

I enclose a tracing of the lake as it appears on the Quebec erown-landn map. The latest general map of Canada is that published in 1SS2 by the Depart- ment of railways and canals. Ottawa. I have not seen the Arrow smith-Stan ford map of 1S80; but, in the recent maps 1 have referred to, the position of the lake is nearly lialf a degree west, not east, of that

���cnnic sand which fell at Unolasbka. Oct. SO, 18S3. and the niineralogical composition of the lavs from which it originated. The facts noted in Ur. Apple- gate's letter of information render it altogether prob- able that the volcanic sand came from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, and a companion ot the sand will) lava from that nlace removes all doubt,

The members of the party from the Corwin sank almost to their knees in soft a'bea; and other facts, already published in Science (Nov. 7, p. 432), Indi- cate that a considerable portion of the new mountain may be composed of ejectamenta. It has been staled upon the authority of Lieut. Stoney, I believe, that " the mass ot the volcano was foimd to be a species of sand-rock, with large black rocks scattered about the crust. No traces of lava, and but small quantities of pumice, were found." Whether Ibe ' lar^e black rocks ' referred to are portions of lava- strearas projecting through the coatiusof sand and lapilll, or large ejected fragments. Is difficult to con- jecture. We are led to believe that the specimens received were taken from such masses. Through the courtesy ot Mr. srerrill, I have been able lo compare

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