Fonds consists of original documents and printed materials concerning King’s research, but there is also some general correspondence, student materials, and personal papers.

Research materials comprise manuscripts, addresses, and research notes. The manuscripts and addresses (1901-1933) contain essays on fog-signals and the transmission of sound, radiation, the physics of viscous fluids, the hot-wire anemometer, astronomy, and theoretical problems. The research notes (1904-1935) comprise approximately 50 files. Eight of these concern fog-signal research (1915 1926) and include some correspondence. Other topics include radiation, physics of gases and liquids, acoustics, astronomy, electromagnetism and mathematical problems.

General correspondence covering the years 1908-1936 contains letters from his fellow physicists, including Rutherford, A.N. Shaw, E.S. Bieler and H.T. Barnes, on research and personal matters. There are also letters of introduction (1905), correspondence regarding his appointment at McGill, letters to the editor of Nature (1926), the National Research Council (1933-1934), and the Central Computing Bureau (1918). As well, files concerning ice research (1920), tests at Prescott, including his diary of the expedition (1920), and the St. Lawrence waterway (1931-1932) can be found here.

King's private papers comprise a diary for 1902, reading notes and reviews of Maria Chapdelaine (1919-1921), his pension papers, and an inventory of periodicals in his library. There are also two formal photographs and a number of snapshots of school groups, Cambridge scenes, and laboratory equipment.

Fonds documents Thomson's research, his consultations with government, and his involvement in learned societies and university associations. As well, a significant percentage of the material is of a nonprofessional and private nature, focussing on Thomson as a public speaker.

Papers devoted to research consist of 18 cm of background notes, summaries and extracts on nutrition, protein and carbohydrate metabolism, and vitamins. Approximately .6 m of card indexes contain summaries of Thomson's professional reading in the 1920s and 1930s. For the 1940s and 1950s, the papers deal mainly with consulting. They consist of correspondence and reports for the Defence Department (1942- 1946), the Canadian Council on Nutrition (1946-1955) and the Canadian Council on Dietary Standards (1950-1957). Nutrition and research in this field are also the subjects of correspondence with the Royal Society, the Medical Research Council, and the Canada Council during this period. Thomson's work as a university teacher is documented by lecture outlines and examination question papers. His administrative positions led to his involvement in the National Council of Canadian Universities. These correspondence files (1946-1949) deal with academic exchange, scholarships, travel funds and conferences.

Speaking engagements are recorded by correspondence (1953-1954) and in drafts for speeches delivered between 1950 and 1961. Only a few of these discuss scientific topics; most discuss the nature of education, the relation of science to society, and of science to literature. There are also book reviews and background files of quotations and humorous poetry. Correspondence files, which Thomson generated as the Chairman of the Nutrition Committee of the Montréal Council of Social Agencies, are also found here (1939-1944).

Financial affairs, personal purchases and charities, travel expenses, and publications (particularly his Life of the Cell) dominate the private papers (1925-1963). There are also correspondence files maintained by Thomson's secretary during his last illness.

Fonds consists of Dr. Ewen Cameron's teaching materials, articles, addresses, and a file of material regarding the Nazi leader Rudolf Hess and his claims of amnesia during the Nuremberg trials in 1946, as well as a couple files of biographical interest on Cameron. Teaching materials consist of notes for a seminar on tension and anxiety for military psychiatric personnel (1943). Articles and addresses comprise a draft, with letter from the McGill Medical Journal, an article on psychiatric education (1944) an address to the American Psychiatric Association on day-hospitals (1947), opening remarks for the World Congress of Psychiatry meeting (1961), and "Some thoughts on my years as director of the (Allan Memorial) Institute" (1964). There are also a few reprints of articles on memory, psychiatric training, and hospitalization. The file on Rudolf Hess contains trial transcripts, examination reports, Cameron's contemporary notes on Hess's condition, and some later comments on and correspondence about the proceedings (1945-1947). Biographical materials consists of a copy of Cameron's letter of appointment at McGill (1943), and a biographical sketch by Dorothy Trainor of the Allan Memorial Institute.

Fonds consists of general professional correspondence, 1913-1961, including Maass’ outgoing letters for 1946-1954. Topics covered include defence research, the Pulp and Paper Institute, N.R.C. appointments, visits of scientists, and political questions (e.g. letters to and from Lester Pearson on NATO and the nuclear deterrant). There are also letters of recommendation by Maass, and personal communications from colleagues. A special binder of congratulatory letters marks his election to the Royal Society (1940), and there are similar files on his retirement (1955), and of condolences to his widow at his death (1961). Maass also assembled photostat copies of letters by eminent 19th century British scientists addressed to his great uncle, Prof. Plucker of Bonn.

Studies and research are documented by a physics laboratory notebook (1908-1909), and a "summary of data on hydrogen peroxide" collected in collaboration with W. Hatcher (1918-1919). A few addresses on the Canadian Institute of Chemistry (1939), the Pulp and Paper Research Institute (1945), and the relation between the Defence Research Board and the universities are included.

Fonds reflects Jones’ work as a scientist, but not her activities as a poet. Over two-thirds of the materials are student notes coupled with quizzes, laboratories and reports. These largely stem from her Cornell period, and cover graduate seminars in population genetics and biochemistry as well as her doctoral research in plant breeding and plant physiology. There are also notes for courses on statistics, genetics, agriculture and animal physiology from the University of the West Indies.

Materials related to Jones' research comprise laboratory notes and graphs, drafts of papers and correspondence with publishers, scientific supply companies, and other scientists in her field. Administrative papers related to research include applications to the National Research Council, budget statements, requisitions and invoices for equipment, records of laboratory assistants and summer students, and correspondence on travel arrangements.

Her teaching of genetics and zoology is illustrated by her class and seminar notes, laboratory outlines, reading lists, and examinations. The administrative side is represented by memoranda on course changes and course evaluations, correspondence on the rental of films and the purchase of equipment, files on freshman counseling and the supervision of graduate students and letters of recommendation for students. Supplementing this are minutes of faculty meetings and materials relating to the McGill Association of University Teachers.

Biographical material on Jones may be found in a file containing curricula vitae, obituaries, and correspondence concerning the Barbara Jones Fund.