The fonds consists mainly of documents relating to Gales' private life, including correspondence with family and friends during the war years (1931-1946) and correspondence documenting his social networking amongst graduates (1978-1985). The fonds also includes agendas (1967-1982), covering his years working at McGill University and into retirement.

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 concerns Pugsley’s contacts with McGill economics professors during his senior year and as a recent graduate, and his enthusiasm for McGill sports.

His correspondence comprises a letter from Prof. J.P. Day, 1934, responding to Pugsley's views on the roles of government and the banks in the extension of credit, and two letters from Stephen Leacock, one, 1934, commending a review-article by Pugsley, the second, 1935, declining an invitation to give an address. A number of clippings from the McGill Daily and city newspapers record McGill sports events, ca 1932. Two reels of film provide campus views, interior views of classrooms, and sport events at McGill.
Also includes notes and examinations for Economics classes from his student years.

Fonds consists mainly of Perrin's typescript lectures (1922-approximately 1929). Some of the lectures are in series, and were probably used in teaching university courses. Some consist of introductory or graduation addresses to music students. Predominant topics include music education, music in Canada, national musical styles, formal and genre developments, aesthetics, and the work of individual composers. Perrin's correspondence comprises a general file (1912-1949) concerning faculty matters, concerts, publications, and personal affairs, a file regarding concert and speaking engagements (1911-1929), and a few letters about the publication of Perrin's Canadian Song Book (1918). Some essays and answers to examination questions stem from Perrin's student years.

Typed copies of the official and private correspondence, 1814-1821, held in the McCord Museum in the William MacKay Papers. They consist mainly consist of military records such as commissions, 1813-1814, correspondence between members of the British Indian Department, including Lt. Col. Robert McDouall and his description of the siege of Prairie du Chien, with reference to the Omaeqnomenew (Menominee), Hocak (Winnebago), and Meskwaki (Fox) warriors who fought alongside British forces, as well as to the Potawatomi leader Main Poc (referred to as Marpock), 1814-1815 and copies of correspondence of Capt. Thomas Anderson with Lt Col. Robert McDouall on military actions, supplies and Indian relations, 1814-1815. There is also a newspaper clipping about Alexander MacKay and the partnership agreement admitting William MacKay and David Mackenzie into the North West Company in 1796.

Consists of letter from Lord Selkirk to Captain Benjamin Walker dated 14 June 1816 concerning the sale of Selkirk’s land at Salmon River, New York, and his impending departure for the Red River.

Kiang's papers cover the few years he was employed by McGill. His teaching materials include course outlines and examinations, as well as examination papers for a course in Oriental philosophy he gave at the University of Oregon Summer School in 1930. The administration of the Department of Chinese Studies is documented by requisitions and invoices for equipment and furniture, correspondence on library purchases, and letters regarding possible posts in the department, the curriculum, Kiang's salary and appointment, the Gest Chinese Library and general administrative matters. Kiang's personal files concern his work with the Hung Tao Society, his collaboration with Witter Bynmer, current events in China, and Kiang's publications and speaking engagements.

Fonds consists primarily of correspondence between Hertel de Rouville and members of the Canadian government, including Chief Secretary of Lower Canada Sir Thomas William Clinton Murdoch (1809-1891) and Governors General Lord Gosford and Charles Bagot, regarding financial losses he incurred during the rebellions of 1837, 1838, and 1839, and half-pay claims dating from his time as captain of the Canadian Voltigeurs during the War of 1812. Also included are five envelopes with wax seals intact.

Fonds consists of six autograph signed letters written at Montreal by Ann Adams, dated between 24 March 1834 to 26 December 1937, to her son Edward H. in Providence, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia. Letters contain local news (churches and organs built, the railroad to St. Johns, fires, printing and publishing, cholera, etc.), observations on the worsening tensions between Papineau and the "Canadiens" and the "Loyalists," and accounts of preaching by an Indigenous convert to Christianity.

The project files which occupy most of the archives of J.T. Donald and Co. fall into two series: ordinary business and special assignments. Both series contain the firms report's, and correspondence. Special assignments were largely connected with wartime armaments production. A few files concern work for the Imperial Munitions Board in World War I, but most consist of reports for the Chemical and Explosives Branch of the Department of Munitions and Supply, 1939-1948. Ordinary projects involve consultation for food, pulp and paper, petroleum, and chemical manufacturies, as well as for some government departments, 1888-1940. Outgoing correspondence from 1881 to 1909 is contained in letterbooks. A file of legal documents, 1924-1946, refer to claims against the company, agreements, and partnerships. Also included are an undated notebook on chemical analysis, and scrapbooks and files of newsclippings of professional interest (e.g. reports of explosions caused by oil and gas) covering the period 1916-1958. There are also reports on mining and energy sources prepared by Donald alone and also in partnership with J.H. Ross for various private and government bodies.