“Among the pioneers in Canadian Geology, no observer was more
accurate than Dr. J. J. Bigsby, secretary to the Boundary Commissioners
under the Treaty of Ghent. His range of investigation extended
from Quebec to Lake Superior, and beyond the limits of the province in
that direction; and he has accumulated and published a great store of
facts, upon the exactness of which the greatest reliance can be placed.
He is in consequence frequently quoted in this volume as an authority.”
Sir William Logan, 1863, Geology of Canada, page x
Sir William Logan is generally considered to have been Canada’s greatest geologist. Elkanah Billings is considered to have been Canada’s greatest paleontologist. Logan established the Geological Survey of Canada and served as its director from 1842-1870. Billings was appointed the first Paleontologist to the Geological Survey of Canada in 1856 and served in that position until he died in 1876. Before Logan and before Billings, John Jeremiah Bigsby was considered the person most knowledgeable on the subjects of geology and paleontology in Upper and Lower Canada.
John Jeremiah Bigsby was the son of Dr. John Bigsby of Nottingham, England, and as he followed in his father’s profession, the son was almost invariably referred to in his lifetime by his full name, or as Dr. John J. Bigsby or as Dr. J. J. Bigsby.
In previous postings (from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) I have mentioned four medical doctors who contributed to the early understanding of geology of Ontario and Quebec: Dr. James Wilson (1798-1881) who practiced as a physician in Perth, Canada West from 1821 to 1869, and provided the first specimens of Perthite and Peristerite, and the trace fossil that Logan named Climactichnites Wilsoni; Dr. Andrew Fernando Holmes (1797 -1860), who practiced medicine in Montreal, whose geological collections formed the nucleus of McGill’s collection and who was instrumental in founding a medical institute in Montreal that later became McGill’s faculty of medicine; Dr. Edward Van Cortlandt, (1805-1875) who arrived in Bytown in 1832 as the medical officer for the troops, before setting up in private practice (while continuing his association with the military); and Dr. Robert Abraham (1804-1854), who as owner and publisher of the Montreal Gazette was the first to report on the tracks from Beauharnois that Logan and Owen named Protichnites.
Like Dr. James Wilson, Dr. Robert Abraham and Dr. Holmes, John Jeremiah Bigsby took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Edinburgh University. It is also worth mentioning that William Edmond Logan registered in 1816 as a medical student at Edinburgh University, but did not complete hia degree. Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby graduated with a Doctor of Medicine from Edinburgh in 1814. His doctoral thesis was entitled Disputatio medica inauguralis quaedam de vi arsenici exitiosa complectens. Various sources suggest that he initially practiced as a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Two years later he published a paper entitled “On the Effects of Arsenic as they appear in the Human Body After Death” which appeared in The London Medical Repository, Volume 5, No. 6, February 1, 1816 pages 97-104, which occurred while he was at York Hospital, Chelsea.
On March 14, 1816 Dr. J. J Bigsby joined the British Army as an Assistant Surgeon, was initially stationed at the Isle of Wight and then posted to the Cape. In 1817 Bigsby was sent to British North America as an assistant staff surgeon stationed at Quebec City, Lower Canada.
There are three important further stages to John Jeremiah Bigsby’s professional career:
- from 1818 to 1826 he served as a physician with the British military in Upper and Lower Canada, but devoted most of his time and energy to geology;
- from about 1827 to 1846 he practiced medicine at Newark in Nottinghamshire, England and wrote articles devoted principally to medicine; and
- in 1846 he moved to London with his second wife where he devoted himself to writing– principally on geology– until he died in 1881.
Below I will expand on each of those periods and highlight some of his accomplishments.
It is worth noting that before Bigsby little knowledge was available on the geology of Upper or Lower Canada. In, 1752 Guettard had published a geologic map of North America which shows the locations of over twenty occurrences of iron ore, copper, marble, talc, emery, etc. in what are now Ontario and Quebec. Reed, Wheeler and Tucholke (2005) set out what is covered by the map. Little else had been reported. The British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and in 1763 the Treaty of Paris awarded New France to Great Britain. The Province of Upper Canada was a part of British Canada established in 1791 The locations of numerous ore deposits were known and exploited by the British settlers. (For example, the first iron smelter in Upper Canada was established in 1802 in Furnace Falls, now known as Lyndhurst, smelting iron ore from near Delta, Ontario.) Rock was also quarried from numerous locations. However, little was known about the geology.
1817 to 1826
In 1817 Bigsby went to Canada as Medical Officer to a detachment of a German Rifle Regiment in the British Service. In 1819, while stationed at Quebec City, he was commissioned to travel through Upper Canada and make a report on its geology. As a result of those activities he undertook journeys to Lake Huron in 1820 and the north shore of the St. Lawrence in 1821 and Niagara Falls in 1822. In 1822 he was appointed British Secretary and Medical Officer to the Boundary Commission established under the Treaty of Ghent (the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom) to set the boundary between the United States and the Upper Canada. In 1823 he helped explore and map the region between Fort William on Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods.
Barlow (1907) in a report geology of the District of Nipissing, Ontario and of the County of Pontiac, Quebec mentions:
“The first geological account of the region in question was that of Dr. J. J. Bigsby, who had come to Canada as medical officer to a regiment. About the year 1820 he received an appointment from the Colonial Government to make a general report on the geology of Upper Canada, the absurdly small sum of twenty-six pounds, as he informs us, being granted as pecuniary aid to carry out this extensive undertaking. Dr. Bigsby first made an examination of the Ottawa, Mattawa and French rivers, together with Lake Nipissing, having been granted a free passage to Sault Ste. Marie in one of the Northwest Company's canoes. He gives a good account of the Ottawa river itself and of the country adjoining this stream, and mentions that the Mattawa river, which was the western branch of the Ottawa, often called the Little Ottawa, was known as the Tessouac river by the Indians. The occurrence of crystalline limestones at the Talon chute is noticed, among other interesting facts. The position of 'La Ronde,' a Northwest Company's post, is noted as being situated at the mouth of the Vase river, as well as its subsequent removal to one of the islands in Lake Nipissing.”
In the period from 1820 to 1826 John Jeremiah Bigsby published about 10 papers devoted to the geology and geography of North America. His first paper, entitled, “Remarks on the Environs of Carthage Bridge, near the mouth of the Genesee River” appeared in Silliman’s American Journal in the year 1820. Here is a list of some of his accomplishments. For Canada he was:
- first to report on the geology and geography of Lake Huron region
- first to report on the geology and geography of Lake Superior region
- first to report on the geology and geography of Lake Ontario region, including the first to report on the Oak Ridge Moraine north of Toronto
- first to report on the geology and geography of the St. Lawrence valley
- first to report on the geology of the Island of Montreal and other parts of Quebec
- first to report on many mineral locations in Canada
- first to find the mineral Petalite (lithium aluminum silicate) in North America
- in 1824 the first to report that the basal sandstone beneath the limestone extends from near Kingston, Upper Canada to St. Anne’s, 25 miles northwest of Montreal
- In 1820 the first to collect a new species of Trilobite from North America, Asaphus platycephalus (now Isotelus platycephalus (Stokes)), the first trilobite from what is now Ontario to receive a name, and in 1824 the first trilobite from North America to be described (it was described by Stokes in an appendix to Bigsby’s paper on Lake Huron)
- in 1825 described a new species of trilobite, Arctinurus castelnau (Bigsby), from shales at Lockport, New York– the second report of a new species of trilobite from New York State – which became the type of Arctinurus
- first to report on many other new species of fossils, including the following cephalopods:
Actinoceras backi, Stokes 1840 [Othocerae, Bigsby 1824]
Actinoceras Bigsbyi, Bronn 1837 [Othocerae, Bigsby 1824]
Actinoceras whitei, Stokes 1840 [Othocerae, Bigsby 1824]
Discosorus remotus, Bigsby 1824
Discosorus conoideus, Hall 1851 [Columns compose of circular discs, Bigsby, 1824]
Endoceras Rottermundi, Barrande 1866 [Orthoceras, sp., Bigsby 1824]
[see https://books.google.ca/books?id=Z08YAAAAYAAJ
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/196423#page/5/mode/1up
Catalogue of Fossil Cephalopoda in the British Museum, Part 1 ]
- the first to collect numerous other new species of fossils, which he was generous enough to give to others to describe, including Caryocrinites ornatus (Say) 1824; Caryocrinites loricatus (Say) 1824; Hurona vertebrallis, Stokes 1824, Huronia turbinata, Stokes 1824; Huronia obliqua, Stokes 1824;
In 1823 Bigsby was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society and in 1824 an honorary member of the American Geological Society.
Entomologist
While serving as British Secretary and Medical Officer to the Boundary Commission Bigsby collected 1,200 specimens of insects, including 90 new species and two new genera. Bigsby commented on his collection of insects as follows:
“I employed my leisure in the examination of the geology of the country, and in the collection of insects. I met with ninety new species of insects and two new genera. They have been described, and some of them figured, by the Rev. W. Kirby, F.R.S., in the “Fauna Boreali-America” of Sir John Richardson. A list of them will be found in the Appendix. It was remarkable, that when I had to all appearance exhausted any given locality, the insect population of the next station, ten or fifteen miles distant, consisted one half of new species, and so on from place to place,—and this, perhaps, from a difference in the vegetation and in the season of the year. Compassion—deep and irresistible—has made me forswear the occupation of the entomologist, whose very mercies are the cruelties of other men, whether he kill by scalding water or the red-hot iron wire. I glued to a tray, in a dark charnel-house of 1200 dead insects, a large and beautiful butterfly, of a sky-blue colour, supposed to be dead. There it was during six months of travel. When I examined my treasures at Quebec, on my return, this imprisoned Peri slowly raised and gently shook its wings to greet the returning light. Was not this a torture to be shuddered at?"
( See: Shoe and the Canoe, Volume 2 pages 166-7 and Appendix.)
In 1823 he was elected Fellow the Linnean Society of London, the world’s oldest active biological society.
In 1825 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society
1826 to 1846
By the summer of 1826 Dr. J.J. Bigsby had returned to England, where he married Miss Sarah Jamson in July, 1826 at Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire. From late 1826 to 1846 Dr. J.J. Bigsby practiced as a medical doctor in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. During parts of that time he also served as a magistrate, alderman and mayor of Newark-on-Trent.
From 1827 to 1829 he read two papers before the Geological Society of London on the geology of Canada, and published four geological papers:
Bigsby, J.J. 1827, On the Fixed rocks of the Valley of the St. Lawrence, in North America; Philosophical Magazine New Series, Volume 2, 217-220; read May 18 and June 1, 1827 before Geological Society.
Bigsby, J. J. 1828, On the geology of Quebec and its vicinity, Philosophical Magazine, New Series, Volume 3, 132-133; read December 5, 1827 before Geological Society.
Bigsby, J. J. 1829, A sketch of the Topography and Geology of Lake Ontario; Philosophical Magazine, New Series, Volume 5, 1-15, 81-87, 263-274, 339-347, 424-431, with map;
From 1832 to 1841 he found time to publish a number of medical or socially conscious/activist articles, including:
Bigsby, J.J. (1832), A brief exposition of those benevolent institutions, often denominated self-supporting dispensaries: with a view to recommend them to the patronage and support of the public, as tending to raise the moral character and improve the condition of the laboring classes. Printed by S. and C. Ridge, 67 pages https://archive.org/details/b22300892
Bigsby, J.J. (1835), Diseases of the Spleen, in the Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, volume 4, Supplement, pages 55-61, edited by John Forbes, Alexander Tweedy and John Conolly
Bigsby, J.J. (1835), Observations, pathological and Therapeutic, on the diseases of the Pancreas; Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, 44: 85-102
Bigsby, J.J. (1836), Suggestions toward the Improvement of the Dispensary at Newark; Founded on an estimate of the Remedial Wants of the Town and Neighbourhood, 29 pages, and two tables containing Tabular Views of the Management and Results of 30 English Dispensaries, Printed by S. And C. Ridge
Bigsby, J.J. (1836), A lecture on Mendicity: its ancient and modern history, and the policy of nations and individuals in regard to it; as delivered before the Worksop Mechanics' Institute, on the 14th of April, 1836, 44 pages
Bigsby, J.J. (1839), Use of Oil in Painter’s Colic, London Medical Gazette, New Series, volume 1, 229-230; Summarized as: On the use of Oil in Colica Pictonum. By J. J. Bigsby, British and Foreign Medical Review, 1839, Volume VII, page 284
Bigsby, J.J. (1839), Small Pox and Vaccination in Newark, London Medical Gazette, Sept. 29, 1839, Vol. XXV, p. 18-26
Bigsby, J.J. (1839), On the Medical Relief of the Poor, London Medical Gazette, June 1, 1839, New Series, Vol. II, p. 383-388
Bigsby, J.J., (1841) The Seaside Manual for Invalids and Bathers: or a brief description of the effects of seaair and sunbathing on the human frame, in health and disease. London. Whittaker and Co., 119 pages
As recently as 2002, John Howard and Walter Hess state that Bigsby’s “comprehensive paper” on the pancreas “is a classic in the early clinical history of the pancreas. That paper also includes the first report of pancreatic cancer.
Bigsby’s report on small pox is also a classic. There was a epidemic of small pox in Newark-on-Trent in 1839. Dr. J.J. Bigsby undertook to examine all of those in his area and looked at over 1,000 people.
1846 to 1881
In 1846 Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby and his second wife, Caroline, moved to London and he devoted himself to geology. In the period 1851 to 1878 he published ten papers and books on geology, the most noteworthy of which were:
Bigsby, J.J., 1868, Thesaurus siluricus: the flora and fauna of the Silurian period, 214 pages
Bigsby, J.J., 1878, Thesaurus devonica-carboniferus, 447 pp
Thesaurus siluricus was published with aid of a grant from the funds of the Royal Society. It is a list of described Silurian Fossils, and was published in Dr. J.J. Bigsby’s 76th year. Thesauraus devonica-carboniferus was published in Dr. J.J. Bigsby’s 85th year. He was hard at work on a Permian Thesaurus when he died.
Charles Doolittle Walcott (1881) in Correlation Papers Cambrian mentions that “An excellent summary of the Potsdam sandstone was given by Dr. J.J. Bigsby in 1858 in a paper on the Paleozoic Basin of the state of New York.”
Further, in an article published in 1864 he was one of the first to promote what we now call stromatolites as evidence of life in the Precambrian. He reported that he had found on the North shore of the St. Lawrence, at the base of Cape Tourment, 36-40 miles below Quebec City, in close-grained quartzose gneiss, “circular, cup-like, organic (?) body, two or three inches in diameter, with much the look, as well as the size, of a Maclurea[a large gastropod], not, however, with gyrations, but with concentric rings, one within another; the summits are rounded and not sharp-ridged; no radiating striae nor reticulations were observed in it, but they may exist. ... It is probably organic...” http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97056#page/238/mode/1up
In 1869 Dr. J.J. Bigsby was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London and received the Murchison Medal from the Geological Society. In 1869 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, with the notation that he was “distinguished as a geologist and paleontologist.”
In 1881 he served as president to the Geological Society
Bigsby as Writer, Artist and Historical Commentator: The Shoe and Canoe
The most quoted of Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby’s works is a book that he wrote to record his travels in Upper and Lower Canada:
Bigsby, J.J. 1850, The shoe and canoe, or, Pictures of travel in the Canadas : illustrative of their scenery and of colonial life : with facts and opinions on emigration, state policy, and other points of public interest, Two volumes, London : Chapman and Hall, 1850, 698 p.: illustrated, with maps.
It is quoted as source of customs in Upper and Lower Canada in the early 1800's. It is also quoted in books written on the Boundary Commission. It contains the only known description of David Thomson, map maker and astronomer.
The Shoe and Canoe contains 18 engraved plates, a number of which were prepared from Dr. J.J. Bigsby’s sketches made in the Canadas. Library and Archives Canada has acquired a number of collections of Bigsby’s works including two grangerized volumes of Bigsby’s The Shoe and Canoe, which are believed to be the author’s copy, including sketches by Bigsby that were not published. Library and Archives Canada has an interesting take on Dr. Bigsby’s activities, noting that “he developed an interest in geology, and undertook a number of sketching and geological excursions in Lower and Upper Canada.” The sketches contain some excellent examples of fur trade posts and native settlements.
Here are Bigsby’s drawings of ‘The Black Falls on Lake Superior’, which was the Frontispiece of Volume 2 of the Shoe and the Canoe, and ‘The Rat Portage, Lake of the Woods’.
Awards
Above I mentioned that Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, a Fellow the Linnean Society of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was also honoured by having the following islands and lakes named after him:
- Bigsby Island in Georgian Bay in Lake Huron
- Bigsby Island in Lake of the Woods
- Bigsby Inlet in the Queen Charlotte Islands
- Bigsby Lake in Cook County, Minnesota
In addition numerous fossils have been named after him, including:
Actinoceras bigsbyi, Bronn 1837
Agelecrinus bigsbyi, Schmidt 1874
Ampelita (Helix) bigsbyi, Tryon 1870
Anomocare bigsbyi Walcott
Edriocystis bigsbyi Haeckel
Edrioaster bigsbyi, Hall 1858
Edriocaster bigsbyi
Edriophus bigsbyi
Edriocystis bigsbyi, Haeckel
Graptolithus bigsbyi, Hall, 1865
Huronia bigsbyi, Stokes 1824
Leiopteria bigsbyi, Hall 1884
Liopteria bigsbyi, Hall, Clarke and Swartz, 1913
Lichas (Conolichus) bigsbyi, Hall
Maclurites bigsbyi, Hall, 1861
Oriostoma bigsyi, Walcott
Stromatocerium bigsbyi, Webby 2008
Tetragraptus bigsbyi, Hall, 1858
Bigsby Medal
The Bigsby Medal is awarded biennially by the Geological Society of London, and is one of the most prestigious awards of that society. It was founded and funded in 1876 by John Jeremiah Bigsby, “and is to be awarded ‘as an acknowledgement of eminent services in any department of Geology, irrespective of the receiver’s country’. The recipient of the medal must have done no more than 25 years’ full-time equivalent research, ‘thus probably not too old for further work, and not too young to have done much’.” [See https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/About/Awards-Grants-and-Bursaries/Society-Awards/Bigsby-Medal ]
The Obverse side of the medal is a Portrait of the head of John Jeremiah Bigsby. The Reverse is a representation of a fossil echinoderm Agelacrinites Dicksoni from the Trenton Limestone (Ordovician), that was found in 1822 by John Jeremiah Bigsby at the Chaudière Falls, Ottawa River, Canada close to what was then Hull, Lower Canada. (Bytown was founded in 1826.)
Friendly, Kindly, Courteous, Venerable, Generous
One thing that I was struck by in my research was number of kind things that were said about. Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby. Here is a sampling of comments:
In the anniversary address of the President of the Geological Society of London, reporting Dr. Bigsby’s death, Robert Etheridge commented that Dr. Bigsby “one of the oldest of our Fellows, and a man endeared to all who knew him by many amiable qualities, died...”
The obituary notice published by the Royal Society contained the following paragraph:
“Dr. Bigsby’s scientific attainments were not more remarkable than his many estimable qualities in private life. For many years–indeed to the end of his life–he was noted for his unostentatious charity, and for the unceasing interest he took in the education of the poor children in the immediate neighbourhood. His well-stored mind and his geniality rendered him a most agreeable companion, and endeared him to a large circle of attached friends.”
His obituary notice in Nature mentions “Yet another of the links that have bound geologists of the present time in association with the early leaders of their science has been severed by the removal of the kind and venerable form of Dr. Bigsby.”
Horace Woodward (1908), who served for four years as Assistant in the Library of the Museum of the Geological Society of London, commented in his book entitled “The History of the Geological Society of London”:
“During later years [Dr. Bigsby] devoted himself to the catalogues of Paleozoic fossils... While engaged in those tasks, between the years 1862 and 1868, no one borrowed more books from the Library of the Society, and no Fellow showed greater kindness of heart and consideration for subordinates. To the Library assistant it was indeed a pleasure to work at all times, even after official hours, for a man who commanded not only respect but affection.”
Dr. John Jeremiah Bigsby was also generous with his knowledge and the specimens that he collected. While serving with the Boundary Commission Dr. Bigsby came into contact the Major Stephen Long’s 1823 expedition to find the source of the St. Peter’s River (now known as the Minnesota River). William Keating (1824), a Professor of Mineralogy and Chemistry in the University of Pennsyvania, Geologist and Historiographer to the Expedition, mentions that Dr. Bigsby “kindly communicated several [localities of minerals] to us, and in mentioning them we shall always state to whom we are indebted for this. With this acknowledgment we beg leave to offer to that gentleman our thanks for the liberal access he afforded us to his valuable collections, as well as for the information he freely and kindly imparted.”
Bigsby also contributed to Silliman’s (1824) book ‘Remarks made on a short tour between Hartford and Quebec’, providing details of the succession of strata at the Falls at Montmorenci that Silliman included in his book.
Others also reported on specimens that Dr. J. J. Bigsby shared. For example, Gerard Troost (1824) reported on the mineral Petalite provided by Dr. J. J. Bigsby ; Gerard Troost (1825) reported on a number of minerals provided by Dr. J. J. Bigsby, including the first occurrence of apophyllite in North America, a new form of Laumonite and an enigmatic crystalline form of amphibole; while Thomas Say (1824) thanked Bigsby for donating crinoid specimens.
Before Sir William Logan and before Elkanah Billings, the person considered most knowledgeable on the subjects of geology and paleontology in the two Canadas was John Jeremiah Bigsby, M.D. While Bigsby was eclipsed by Logan and Billings, his early work laid the foundation for those that followed.
Christopher Brett
Ottawa
References and Suggested Reading
Anonymous, 1827
Localities of Canadian Minerals, with Notes and Extracts, Chiefly collected from the Writings of John Bigsby, M.D., F.L.S., M..G.S.. The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. 73 pages
https://books.google.ca/books?id=rNdhAAAAcAAJ
Barlow, Alfred Ernest, 1907
Second Edition of a Report on the Geology and Natural Resources of the area included by the Nipissing and Timjskaming Map-Sheets Comprising portions of the District of Nipissing, Ontario and of the County of Pontiac, Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada, Separate Report no. 962, 319 pages https://doi.org/10.4095/225770
Bigsby, John J., 1820
Remarks on the environs of Carthage Bridge, near the mouth of the Genesee River; The American journal of science and arts. Volume 2, 250-254
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51607#page/262/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1821
Geological and Mineralogical Observations on the North West Portion of Lake Huron. The American journal of science and arts. Volume 3, 254 -272
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97120#page/270/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1822
Notes on the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron. Transactions of the Geological Society.
ser.2 v.1 , 175-209, including Appendix I - On a Trilobite from Lake Huron. By Charles Stokes; Appendix II -. List of some of the Recent Shells of Lake Huron; and. Appendix III - Account of an Explosion in a Vein of Pyrites.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111775#page/273/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1822
Outline of the Mineralogy , Geology, &c. of Malbay, in Lower Canada, The American journal of science and arts. Volume 5, 205-222
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97162#page/229/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1824
A list of mineral and organic remains occurring in the Canadas. Am. Jour. Sci., vol. 8, 1824, pp. 60-88. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97257#page/72/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1824
A Sketch of the Geology of the Island of Montreal, By J. J. Bigsby, M. D., Read Dec. 13, 1824.
Annals of the Lyceum Natural History of New-York., volume1, 198-215
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54048#page/7/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1825
Notice of a Cave containing Bones, in Lanark. Upper Canada. The American journal of science and arts. Volume 9, 354-355
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97107#page/378/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1825
Description of a new Species of Trilobite. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol 4. 365-368
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79352#page/379/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1825
On the utility and design of the science of geology, and the best method of acquiring a knowledge of it; with geological sketches of Canada,” Canadian Review and Literary and Historical Journal (Montreal), 1 (1824–25): 377–95. Reprinted in Anonymous, 1827, Localities of Canadian Minerals, with Notes and Extracts, Chiefly collected from the Writings of John Bigsby https://books.google.ca/books?id=rNdhAAAAcAAJ
Bigsby, John J., 1826
Notes on the geography and geology of Lake Superior; The Quarterly Journal, vol. 18: 1-34, 228-289
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hs1fsf&view=image&seq=1
Bigsby, John J., 1827
On the fixed rocks of the valley of the St. Lawrence in North America (abstract). The Philosophical Magazine. New Series, 2: 217-220; https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53109#page/241/mode/1up
Geological Society of London, Proceedings 1, 23-25
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105792#page/31/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1828
On the geology of Quebec and its vicinity (abstract of talk), Geological Society of London, Proceedings. Volume 1:37-38
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105792#page/45/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1828
A General Description of Lake Erie, Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and the Arts. 358-382; 1828 (July -December)
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19863#page/374/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1829
A sketch of the topography and geology of Lake Ontario. The Philosophical Magazine. New Series, vol. 5, 1-15, 81-87, 263-274, 339-347, 424-431, map
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53111#page/15/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1829
Topography of the River Niagara. Quarterly Journal of Science 27: 39-56 1829 (January to June)
https://books.google.ca/books?id=rpMwAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=1829+quarterly+journal+of+Science+volume+27&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWssCHyfvrAhWCdN8KHS_pAecQ6AEwAHoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bigsby, John J., 1850
The shoe and canoe : or, Pictures of travel in the Canadas,
Volume 1. London: Chapman and Hall. 352 pages
https://archive.org/details/shoecanoeorpictu01bigsuoft
Volume 2. London: Chapman and Hall. 346 pages
https://archive.org/details/cihm_28072/page/n5/mode/1up
map at: https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.40911/page/354/mode/2up
Bigsby, John J., 1851
On the Erratics of Canada. Quarterly Journal Geological Society of London, vol. vii, pp. 215–238. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108768#page/351/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1852
On the Geology of the Lake of the Woods, South Hudson's Bay. Quarterly Journal Geological Society of London, vol. viii, pp. 400-406.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109911#page/574/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J. 1852
On the physical geography, geology, and commercial resources of Lake Superior. R. Inst., Pr. 1: 154-162; Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal 53:55-82
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/131100#page/71/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J. 1853
On the Geology of Quebec and its environs. Quarterly Journal Geological Society of London, vol. ix, pp. 82–101, with map and 4 engravings.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108767#page/202/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J. 1854
On the geology of Rainy Lake, south Hudson Bay. Geol Society of London, Q. J. 10:215-22
Bigsby, John J., 1858.
On the Palæozoic Basin of the State of New York. Part i. The Stratigraphy and Classification of the Series. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond., vol. xiv, pp. 241, 305, 306, and 335–427.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111684#page/578/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1858
On the Palæozoic Basin of the State of New York. Part ii.Classification of the Palæozoic strata of the State of New York Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond., vol xiv, pp 427-452
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111684#page/679/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1858
On the Palæozoic Basin of the State of New York. Part iii. An Inquiry into the Sedimentary and other External Relations of the Palceozoic Fossils of the State of New York. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond., vol xv, pp 251- 333 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111474#page/328/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1864
On the Cambrian and Huronian formations; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond., vol 19, pp 36-52
Bigsby, John J., 1863
On the Organic Contents of the Older Metamorphic Rocks : a Review and a Classification.
The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, new series, vol 17, 171-197.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=Gk8EAAAAYAAJ
Bigsby, John J., 1864
On the Laurentian Formation: its mineral constitution, its geographical distribution, and its residuary elements of life. Geological Magazine, Dec. 1, vol. i, pp. 154-158, 200–206..
J. J. Bigsby, 1867
A Brief Account of the 'Thesaurus Siluricus,' with a Few Facts and Inferences.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 15 (1866 - 1867), pp. 372-385
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/138616#page/420/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1868
Thesaurus Siluricus: the flora and fauna of the Silurian period, with addenda (from recent acquisitions). London : J. Van Voorst, 1868, 214 pages
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/73263#page/9/mode/1up
Bigsby, John J., 1878
Thesaurus Devonico-Carboniferus: The flora and fauna of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. London : John Van Voorst, 1878, 447 pages
https
Brett, Christopher P., 2012
New Display of Dr. James Wilson’s Mineral And Fossil Collection at the Perth Museum. Blog posting October 9, 2012
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-display-of-dr-james-wilsons-mineral_9.html
Brett, Christopher P., 2013a
Perthite from Burgess Ward, Tay Valley Township, Lanark County, Ontario. Blog posting dated January 14, 2013 http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2013/01/perthite-from-burgess-ward-tay-valley.html
Brett, Christopher P., 2013b
Abraham, Logan and Owen: The Discovery of the First Protichnites trackways – Part 1; Blog posting dated August 29, 2013. http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2013/08/abraham-logan-and-owen-discovery-of.html
Brett, Christopher P., 2014
Peristerite and its Connection With Lanark County, Blog posting dated 28 April 2014
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2014/04/
Brett, Christopher P., 2015
Dr. Edward Van Cortlandt, M.D., (1805-1875) of Bytown and Ottawa, Surgeon, Field Naturalist, Museum Curator and Amateur Geologist. Blog Posting dated Tuesday, 17 March 2015
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2015/03/dr-edward-van-cortlandt-md-1805-1875-of.html
Etheridge, Robert, 1881
“Obituary Notice: John Jeremiah Bigsby,”, in Anniversary Address of the President. Geological Soc. of London, Quarterly Journal, 37 (1881), [pt.ii]: 39–41 in 37-235 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/150452#page/893/mode/1up
Guettard, J.É., 1752,
Carte Minéralogique où l’on voit la Nature des Terrains du Canada et de la Lousianne, in Mémoire dans lequel on compare la Canada à la Suisse par rapport à ses mineraux: Histoire de l’Académie Royale des sciences, v. 4, p. 189, plate VII.
Map at: http://www.corpusetampois.com/cse-18-guettard1752carteducanada.jpg
Howard, John M., and Hess, Walter, 2002
History of the Pancreas: Mysteries of a Hidden Organ. Springer.
Keating, William H., 1825
Narrative of an expedition to the source of St. Peter's River, Lake Winnepeek, Lake of the Woods, [etc.] : performed in the year 1823, by order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the command of Stephen H. Long, Volume II. London: Geo. B. Whittaker.
https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped00keat_1
Leggett, R. F., 197?
The Bigsby Medal. Geoscience Canada, Volume 2, Number 1, 64-65
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/gc/article/view/2901/3418
Morgan, Henry James, 1867
Bibliotheca Canadensis: Or, A Manual of Canadian Literature. Ottawa: G. E. Desbarats
[Bigsby at page 31; Billings at page 31-35; Logan at 228 -232; Robert Abraham 4-5; Andrew Fernando Holmes at 193]
Rasporich, Anthony W., 2003
“Bigsby, John Jeremiah,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 11, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed September 21, 2020, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bigsby_john_jeremiah_11E.html.
Reed, John C. Jr.; Wheeler, John O.; and Brian E. Tucholke;.2005
Decade of North American Geology Geologic Map of North America—Perspectives and explanation. The Geological Society of America. 28 pages
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/gmna/meta_and_manu/gmna_explan_pamphlet.pdf
Say, Thomas, 1825
On two genera and several species of Crinoidea. By Thomas Say. Read March 1st, 1825
Journal Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. i p. 289-296
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79352#page/303/mode/1up
Silliman, Benjamin, 1824, second Edition
Remarks made on a short tour between Hartford and Quebec. New-Haven: S. Converse
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn7zv8&view=image&seq=19
Troost, Gerard, 1824
Description of the American Petalite from Lake Ontario. By G. Troost, M. D. Read January 13th, 1824. Journal Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. 3. p. 234-237
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79390#page/252/mode/1up
Troost, Gerard, 1825
Description of a new crystalline form of Apophyllite, Laumonite, and Amphibole, and of a
variety of Pearlstoxe. .By Gerard Troost, Read May 17, 1825. Journal Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. 5. p. 51-56
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79357#page/61/mode/1up
Wilson, Leonard G., 2013
John Jeremiah Bigsby, MD: British Army physician and pioneer North American geologist.
book chapter in A History of Geology and Medicine. Edited by: C. J. Duffin. Geological Society London Special Publications 375(1):375-394 [ Not Read ]
https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.20
