The following
article has been reprinted from an earlier newsletter, March 1992, Vol.1, No.3.
Elkanah Billings,
The first paleontologist of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) contributed significantly
to paleontology in Canada and particularly that of the Ottawa area.
The GSC was formed
in 1841, and had a difficult beginning. Much like today, it was faced with
serious financial constraints. It was nearly destroyed by funding cuts, but a
new Survey Act was passed in May, 1856, increasing the budget to £5,000
($35,000) per year. The Director, Sir William Logan, was able to add four new
full-time members to his staff in the next three years.
Logan first saw
the need to hire a good paleontologist, as they had none. He originally tried
to get James Hall from New York, but Hall declined. Logan then asked Elkanah
Billings, from a prominent pioneer Bytown (Ottawa) family. Billings edited the
Ottawa Citizen and developed an interest in natural history and geology. To
popularize natural history, he founded the Canadian Naturalist (and
Geologist) in 1856, which he edited for several years. Billings was given
complete run of the second and third floors of the Survey Building at Montreal
and was well supported.
Early on, Billings
relied heavily on published reports of New York, British and other surveys.
Soon he felt confident enough to describe new specimens he added to his
collection. Many descriptions were published in international journals, adding
to the reputation of the GSC. He specialized in paleozoic fossils and also did
some entomology. He undertook a systematic study of the Ottawa region’s
fossils.
In 1856 Billings
examined fossils from Anticosti Island. In 1857 he visited the Ottawa and
Bonnechere Rivers looking at the Black River and Trenton Limestone fossils. In
1858 he went to England and Europe to establish personal contacts with leading
paleontologists. In 1860 he worked with Logan on the Quebec group - an
economic deposit with copper and serpentine which presented a problem with
correlation.
Billings is
probably best known for Paleozoic Fossils (1865) which summarized his
work from 1861-1865 and described many significant new Ordovician and Silurian
fossils. By 1863, he had published descriptions of 526 new species.
Billings worked at
the GSC for 20 years until his death in 1876. In the Ottawa area he is
remembered by the presence of the Billings Shale. The Geological Association
of Canada honours him with the Billings Medal, presented every two years to a
paleontologist making a significant contribution to Canadian Paleontology. The
Billings farmhouse in Ottawa is now operated as a small museum, and their
farming and logging work has led to the building of the Billings Bridge over
the Rideau River. Those wishing to see some of the publications are directed
to the Annotated Catalogue of and Guide to Publications of the Geological
Survey of Canada 1845-1917 by W.F. Ferrier, Geological Survey of Canada
Publication 1723 (1920).
Dana Naldret
