Thus I have endeavoured to place before you a sketch of one of the denizens of our Tennessee woods, and if my effort has at all interested you, it will give me pleasure to repeat it should you call on me on another occasion.

[Prof. Williamson, in remarking upon the above paper, stated to the meeting that he had not observed the Cornus florida in the immediate neighbourhood of Kingston, but he had seen it in the Niagara district.

Prof. Lawson exhibited specimens of the plant from various parts of the United States, and alluded to its wide range, but apparently southern tendency. It is no doubt correctly regarded as a Canadian species; but it is absent from Prof. Barnston's list of the Holmes' herbarium, Montreal; from Mr. Billings' list of Prescott plants, and other accessible local lists, as well as from the various collections made in the neighbourhood of Kingston. It is not difficult to trace the distribution of so showy a plant, and it is to be hoped that Prof. Blackie's remarks will lead to the publication of Canadian localities.]

ARTICLE II-A popular Treatise on the Fur-bearing Animals of the Mackenzie River District. By BERNARD ROGAN Ross, C. T.

[Presented to the Natural History Society of Montreal.]

In submitting the following Treatise to the notice of the Natural History Society of Montreal, I will, previously to entering on my subject, mark out the extent of country to which only, my remarks apply.

A residence of thirteen years in this District, during the greatest part of which time I have been a not unsuccessful trapper, has afforded me many opportunities of observation upon the nature and habits of the various fur-bearing animals inhabiting these high northern latitudes. I have throughout studied accuracy rather than effect, and the style of my remarks is doubtless rather popular than scientific; yet the hope that my humble endeavours. may perchance clear one doubtful point, or illustrate some new truth has lightened my labour, and will, if such should in reality happen, prove an ample recompense for my toil.

The boundaries of the Mackenzie River District may be considered to extend from Salt River, a tributary of the Slave to the Arctic Sea, and from 100° W. long. to the Rocky Mountains.

I cannot here omit mentioning the aid which I have received, in the scientific parts of the Treatise from the splendid, complete, and accurate work of Prof. Baird on North American Mammals. The general characteristics of Families are quoted verbation from his work.

LYNX, Rafinesque.

Gen. ch. Molars the small anterior premolar of Felis wanting. Tail considerably less than half the body, exclusive of the head and neck, generally not much longer than the head, and abruptly truncate at tip. Baird.

LYNX CANADENSIS, Raf.

Sp. ch. Size between that of a Fox and Wolf. Tail thickly furred, shorter than the head, and tipped with black. Paws densely covered with hair, and armed with strong claws. Color in winter, a silver grey on the back, paling towards the belly, which is sometimes white; a rufus undershade mixes with tints. The ears are pointed, not large, and tipped with a pencil of long black hairs. Whiskers generally white. Length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail about 3 feet. Average weight about 25 lbs.

This species is the largest of the North American Lynxes, and is the only one found in the Mackenzie River District. It is called by the "winterers" indifferently either Lynx Cat, Loup Cervier, or Pichen. In appearance it is rather formidable; its teeth are long and sharp, while its powerful claws and immense spring render it a dangerous opponent to any animal that it encounters. In its habits it is predatory. Hares and mice it devours with avidity; birds it pursues to the tops of the loftiest trees, and it even kills fish in their own element; while it has no objection to carrion, and, when pressed by hunger will even eat its own kind. Tales of the ferocity of this animal have been told by the early writersof its attacking and mastering deer-but they are without foundation. It is a solitary beast, and I should consider its unaided strength perfectly incompetent for such a purpose.

In its motions, though very active, the Lynx is rather an ungainly animal. Its favourite pace is a succession of long leaps much in the manner of the American Hare (Lepus Americanus), which it also slightly resembles in shape. It is stupid, and easily caught. A sudden and loud cry from the hunter pursuing it is

sufficient to arrest its course for a time long enough to permit him to fire, and sometimes several shots are obtained at the same animal in this manner. It is easily killed, a not very heavy blow being sufficient to fracture its skull.

The colour of the fur varies much with the seasons. In winter the hair is thick, long, and silky. The grey markings are of a dark silver colour, while the rufus undershade is scarcely observable. In some specimens the dark stripe down the back would not disgrace a silver fox. In summer it wears a rusty look, the hair is short and thin; and there is more rufus and little of the silvery grey in the tints, while the skin is marked with black spots, which serve to distinguish a prime from a common fur, in trading with the Natives. These spots appear generally in April and disappear in November.

The Lynx is found all over this District, in greater or lesser numbers, wherever there are trees, even within the Arctic Circle. It is subject, like most of the other Fur Animals, to periodical migrations, which appear to occur with great regularity in periods of ten years, and which in its case depend on the Hare its principal food. One of the most curious of the idiosyncrasies of this animal is its passion for perfumes; and particularly for the odor of castoreum, which forms the basis of all the "medicines " used by trappers in effecting the capture of the Lynx.

There are four methods in which the death or capture of the Lynx is effected-by hunting-by the use of the steel-trap, or gin -by the simple snare-and by the medicated cabin: all of which I shall pass briefly in review :

By hunting.-In this method the hunter pursues the animal generally aided by a dog, and follows its track in the snow, until he forces it to take refuge in a tree, when it is shot: yet so tenacious is the death grip of its powerful claws, that it is sometimes necessary for him to fell the tree, in order to obtain the body.

By the steel-trap. The gin covered inside the jaws, with a well fitting "pallet" of birch bark, is placed indifferently either under or upon the snow, and on the pallet a piece of hair skin, well rubbed with the 'medicine' is tied. The Lynx on scenting his favourite perfume endeavours to withdraw the skin with his paw, and consequently springs the trap. It does not, like most of the other fur animals drag the trap to a distance, or make violent efforts to escape, it generally lies down until aroused by the ap

proach of the hunter when it endeavours rather to spring at him than to take to flight.

By the simple snare.-A running noose of platted sinew, thread, or deer-hide thongs, is set in the track that the animal usually follows; this snare is attached to a pole of sufficient weight to toss up the body, and it remains hanging until the hunter passes. The body is sometimes found devoured by crows, wolverines, and Lynx.

By the medicated Cabin.-This is the most efficacious method of catching the Lynx. A round enclosure of some three feet in diameter is made of small willows, or branches of trees, loosely planted in the snow, and about four feet high. Two entrances are left at the opposite sides, each fitted with a snare. In the centre of the enclosure, the medicated skin is placed, inserted in a cleft stick, about eight inches distant from the snow. The snare is more commonly tied to the middle of a loose stick, about 30 inches long, by 3 in diameter, and which is supported on two pronged branches set on each side of the entrance, when circumstances are favorable the tossing pole is sometimes used, and it is the most certain fashion. The animal on scenting the castoreum, inserts its head, or sometimes its forefoot into the noose, which, owing to the long tips on the Lynx's ears, remains securely on the neck when once passed there. After enjoying and rolling itself in the perfume, it moves off; but on finding the stick thumping after its heels, it becomes alarmed and makes for the nearest woods; the stick soon catches in the bushes, and in a short time, the animal, instead of cutting the line, strangles itself, or if caught by the paw remains fixed until the hunter arrives to give it a coup de grâce," if he does not find it already frozen stiff. On some occasions it will gain the top of a lofty tree, and on springing off to rid itself, as it fancies, of the stick, it hangs itself in a superior manner, and puts the trapper to the trouble of cutting down the tree, which is generally a large one.

66

As an article of food, the flesh of the Lynx, is highly esteemed both by the natives and the white residents. It is of a light colour, and well flavored, the fat, which is soft like that of the bear, lying mostly on the ribs.

CANIS (LUPUS) OCCIDENTALIS. VAR. GRISEUS (Richardson).

Grey or Strongwood Wolf.

Var. White and Barren ground Wolf.*

Sp. ch. Size that of a large mastiff dog, but stands rather higher. Hair long and not coarse, under fur very thick and woolly. Tail very full but not so long in proportion as that of a fox. Colour varies. In barren grounds, variety generally white, in strong wood, dark grey, length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail about 6 feet, weight about 50 lbs.

This is the only species of Wolf in the Mackenzie River District but I am inclined to divide it into two varieties; the dark grey, or the strong wood, and the white, or barren ground. These two are doubtless the same species, though in colouring, locality, and habits there is a considerable difference between them.

The general appearance of both varieties of wolf is rather prepossessing, resembling a good deal that of the native dogs. The head is full, broad between the ears, and tapering towards the snout. The legs, though rather long, are stout with good muscular development. The paws are large, furnished with strong claws, and well furred. The teeth are long and white; and the jaws are of immense power. The eyes are placed obliquely, the inner corner tending downwards. The tail is moderately long and very bushy.

The white wolf is found inhabiting the barren grounds, and the wooded country bordering on them; its migrations being dependent on the movements of the Rein-deer, its principal food. This kind of wolf lives in considerable bands, which unite in hunting parties to run down or surround the deer, driving them over cliffs, or into rivers or lakes as is most convenient. In size they are smaller than the grey variety, though much larger than the Prairie wolf. Their colour is generally a dirty yellowish white with most commonly a stripe of grey down the back; but not always.

The dark grey, or strong-wood variety, which I have styled "Argentatus" from the resemblance of its color to that of the silver Fox, inhabits the wooded country. It most commonly is seen alone, but as many as 6 have been observed in a band. The only specimens of its skin which I have seen, were received at Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake, and it is evidently still rarer