Of bCIE PHOCEEDINaS i3o6ton Socictu of JCatiiral ^istori). VOL. V. 1854 TO 1856. BOSTON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY, 1856. -757^ f^J RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. yA/nf f^-^ 'v-^r '. T^W-KT PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY TAKEN FROM THE SOCIETY'S RECORDS. January 4, 1854. The President, in the Chair. Dr. T. M. Brewer presented a communication on the Ornithological Fauna of Wisconsin, from the Rev. A. Con- stantino Barry, of Racine, Wisconsin, as follows : Order — ACCIPITRES. Family — VULTURIDtE. Cathartes aura. Found in our State only in rare in- stances. Family — FALCONIDiE. BuTEO BOREALis. Very abundant at times, and always met with in considerable numbers about the groves and forests bor- dering our prairies, where they subsist principally upon moles, snakes, frogs, etc ; these being often found in their stomachs bolted entire. B. lineatus. Occasionally met with in this vici- nity, (Racine;) in some portions of the State considerably nu- merous, particularly about the large marshes frequented by water fowl, upon which it preys. B. Pennsylvanicus. A few spe- cimens have been obtained. proceedings B. S. N. H. 1 JULY, 1854. Archi-buteo Sancti Johannis. Very rare, and exceedingly- difficult to be taken. Aquila chrysaetos. Occasionally met with. Two or three fine specimens have been shot near this city. Haliaetus leucocephalus. Only now and then an indivi- dual is latterly seen. Opposite this city on the Michigan shore, is an old pair, that for many years have held undisputed posses- sion of the locality — a " brave old oak," where in the same nest they annually rear their young. Pandion haliaetus. Common along our rivers and lakes. IcTiNEA plumbea. A single bird of this species was seen last spring. Nauclerus furcatus. At one time quite numerous upon our prairies, and quite annoying to us in grouse shooting ; now rarely met with in this vicinity. Falco peregrinus- Rare. Hypotriorchis columbarius. Common. TiNNUNCULUs sparverius. Abundant, and breeds here in considerable numbers. AsTUR PALUMBARius. Abounding largely in this state. A friend of mine in his excursions has shot twenty of them in a season. AcciPiTER CooPERi. Not numcrous. Circus cyaneus. Common. Breeds here. Family — STRIGIDiE. Strix funerea. Found here occasionally. S. pratincola. The only bird of this species known to have been found in the State, and now in my possession, was shot in the vicinity of this city. Nyctea nivea. This regular winter visitor is at times quite numerous upon our prairies ; always most numerous during our severest winters. They generally frequent the vicinity of marshes, and only appear about the farm-houses when driven by hunger. In a i'ew instances they have been known to remain with us during the whole year. Athene passerina. Only now and then met with. I have been able to obtain but a single specimen. Syrnium cinereum. Very rare, unless it may be in quite the northern part of the State. I have met with it in two instances only. S. NEBTJLosuM. Found every.where in our forests. Otus WiLsoNius. Abundant. O. Brachyotus. Very com- mon. Bubo Virginianus. A somewhat rare species. Ephialtes ASIC. Common, and found in almost every grove and thicket upon our prairies. These seem to be their favorite haunts, in preference to the heavy forests. E. n^via. This species 1 have good reasons for believing to be separate and dis- tinct from the former. The difference in plumage, I knoic^ is not owing to different states of the same bird. With the young and the old of both species I am quite familiar. E. Kirt- LANDii. Recently discovered and described by Dr. Hoy, of this city ; a beautiful small species, considerably less than the A. passerinci. Two specimens only have been obtained. Order — PASSERES. Family — CAPRIMULGIDiE. Capri mulctUS vociferus. Among the most common of our birds. Chordeiles virginianus. Very abundant. Family — HIRUNDINID^. AcANTHYLis PELASGIA. Only Occasionally found, Progne purpurea. Visits us in great numbers. Hirundo FULVri. Only a single specimen observed. H. rus- TiCA. Very abundant. H. thalassina. Reported in the inte- rior. CoTYLE riparia. Numerous in early spring. C. serripen- Nis. Occasionally found in conpany with the Sand Martin. Family — MUSCICAPIDiE. Tyrannus intrepidijs. Common. Myiobius crinitus. The only specimen known to have been obtained here was shot by me last spring. M. ater. Rare. M. ACADicus. Numerous early in May, only in rare instances found during the season. M. fuscus. Abundant. M. virens. Ar- rives about the middle of May. It nests here in considerable numbers. Setophaga ruticilla. Makes its appearance quite early in the spring, and frequents low grounds abounding in the willow and poplar, about the blossomed tops of which it darts incessantly in pursuit of its prey. It remains with us during the summer. Vireo flavifrons. Among the rarest of our spring visitors. V. SoLiTARius. Exceedingly rare. I had not seen it in the State until last spring, when I shot a single bird ; a second one, the male, I failed to secure. V. Noveboracencis. Abun- dant. V. GiLVUS. Plentiful during the month of May, and many remain to breed. V. olivaceus. Quite numerous during the warm season. Family — LUSCINIDiE. CuLicivoRA c^RULEA. Quite abundant. IMniotilta * CANADENSIS. Stops with us for a few days, on its northward journey, about the first of May, but rarely remains to breed. M. coronata. In spring very numerous. M. stri- ata. Common. Makes its appearance from the lOth to the * This point (Eacine) seems to be a favorite rendezvous for the whole family of Warblers, with perhaps two or three exceptions, — Lake Michigan forming a sort of guide-post on their northward journey. From the mouth of the Osage they make their way in great numbers across the country to this immediate point; so that half a mile south, or the same distance north, scarcely a bird of them all will be found. Of their numbers, an idea may be formed from an entrj^ in my note book: — " Shot on the moi-nings of May 2d and 3d, 1853, Cerulean Warbler, 3 ; Parti-colored, 6 ; Cape May, 2 ; Tennessee, 1 ; Black-Throated Blue, 4 ; Chestnut-sided, 6. And on the mornings of May 10th, 11th, and 16th, Pine, 1; Blackburnian, 4; Bay-breasted, 5; E. Throated Green, 3; Canada, 3; Mourning, 1 ; together with Finches, Vireos, Thrush, &c. &c. 15th of May. M. superciliosa. Only a single specimen ob- served. M. CASTANEA. Numerous .'about the middle of May, remaining for two or three days only. M. Pennsylvanica. Among the most numerous of our warblers, and one of the ear- liest to visit us in the spring. Occasionally nests here. M. PiNus. Rare. Have met with it only in two or three instances. M. PARus. Like the ill pinus, only an occasional visitor. M. viRENs. Visits us in considerable numbers from the 5th to the 10th of May. A few remain during the breeding season. M. MARiTiMA. Seldom met with save at this point, and here no more than two or three of a season. M. ccerulea. Rather common. M. blackburni^. Among the first to come in the spring. Occasionally very abundant, and a few remain to breed. M. ESTIVA. Rare. M. nigrescens. Seldom found. M. cana- densis. An occasional visitor ; never plenty. M. discolor. A single specimen in the cabinet of Dr. Hoy. M. agilis. Some seasons quite abundant. M. peregrina. Rare. M. rubrica- PiLLA. A iew only visit us in the annual migration. M. Pu- siLLA. Some seasons quite numerous. A few remain to nest and rear their young. Trichas PHILADELPHIA. Very rare ; two specimens only have been obtained. T. marilandicus. Common, and breeds here abundantly. Parus atricapillus. Common in all our wooded districts. Regulus cristatus. Common. R. calendula. Abundant at this point. SiALiA Wilsoni. Common. Enicocichla aurocapillus. Not common. Makes its ap- pearance here in the spring in company with the warblers, and usually journeys with them farther to the north. E. novebg- racensis. Visits us in small numbers. Anthus pipiens. Rather abundant. Family— -CERTHIDiE. Certhia varia. Common, and breeds here in considerable numbers. C. familiaris. Abundant, and remains during the season. SiTTA Carolinensis. Common. S. Canadensis. Abundant in ihe northern part of the State. Troglodytes Americanus. Somewhat numerous. T. ^don. Very abundant. T. arundinaceus. Frequently met with on our marshes, and about our slues. T. brevirostris. Also common, — both species breeding with us. Family — TURDIDiE. MiMUs Carolinensis. Abundant. M. rufus. Common. Turdus migratorius. Abundant. T. mustelinus. Another common, and sweet singer. T. fuscescens. Usually found in considerable numbers. T. solitarius. Generally distributed throughout the forests of our State. Icteria viridis. Extremely rare. Family — FRINGILLIDiE. Otocoris alpestris. Met with everywhere upon our prai- ries, especially along the highways. Mounts upward when it sings. Plectrophanes lapponica. Abundant. P. nivalis. Com- mon. ZoNOTRicHiA grammaca. Common. Z. savanna. Breeds here in considerable numbers. Z. pallida. Rare. Z. so- ciALis. As everywhere in the United States, a common bird. Z. MONTicoLA. Met with occasionally. Z. palustris. Fre- quently met with in our swamp-thickets, where it nests. A very shy bird, and a sweet singer. Z. Lincolnii. Rare. Have seen it only in one or two instances. A nest and eggs were pro- cured by me last spring in the low grounds near this city ; the bird I failed in capturing. Z. iliaca. Common, and frequents low wooded grounds and the borders of streams. Z. melodia. Abundant. Z. Pennsylvanica. Very plentiful. Z. leuco- PHRYS. Common. Z. atricapilla. Met with only occasion- ally. Emberiza passerina. Common. E. Pusilla. Abundant in all settled portions of the State. FrIx\gilla hyemalis. a common winter visitor. F. linaria. Common. F. pinus. Rare. F. Americana. Abundant. Spiza cyanea. Not common. PiPiLo erythrophthalma. Abundant. Carpodacus ptjrpureus. Some seasons quite abundant. LoxiA cuRviROSTRA. Like C. purpureus, at times quite nume- rous. GuiRACA LuDOviciANA. Abundant, making their appearance early in May. CoccoTHRAUSTEs VESPERTINUS. Rare ; a few specimens only have been secured. Pyranga estiva. Rare. P. rubra. Abundant. Family— STURNID^. DoLicHONYx oRYZivoRus. Extremely abundant. MoLOTHRUS FEcoRis. Common. Agelaius xanthocephalus. Seldom found. I have never seen more than a single bird. A. phceniceus. Abundant. Yphantes Baltimore. Common, though not numerous. Xanthornus spurius. Found in considerable numbers near this city, where they breed. QuiscALUS purpureus. Common. ScoLECOPHAGUS FERRUGiNEus. Very abundant. Sturnella LUDOVICIANA. Extremely plentiful. Family — CORVIDtE. CoRvus coRAx. Rare. C. corone. This bird has not yet made its appearance to any extent in our State ; a few only have ever been seen. Pica Hudsonica. Seen only in a single instance. Cyanocorax cristatus. Abundant. Perisoreus Canadensis. Found in the northern part of the State. Family — LANIIDiE. Lanius Ludovicianus. Abundant, and breeds here in consi- derable numbers. L. BOREALis. Rare. A very few only have come under my observation. Family — AMPELIDtE. Ampelis garrulus. Visits us in great numbers during the winter, frequenting our gardens in search of food. Scores of them are taken every season. A. Carolinensis. Common. Family — TROCHILIDiE. Mellisuga colubris. Abundant. Makes its appearance early in May, when it is seen about the tops of the willows and poplars in the low grounds. Family— ALCEDINIDJE. Ceryle alcyon. Common. Order— SCANSORES. Family — PICIDiE. Dryocopus pileatus. Abundant. Pious villosus. Frequently met with, though not plentiful. P. PUBESCENS. Common. P. varius. Common. Melanerpes erythrocephaltis. Common. CoLAPTES AURA-Tus. Very abundant. Family — CUCULIDJE. CoccYzus ERYTHROPHTHALMUs. Rather common. Family — COLUMBIDiE. EcTOPisTEs MiGRATORius. Abundant in spring and fall. E. MARGiNATUS. Abundant. Order — G ALLINiE. Family — TETRAONIDJE. Ortyx Virgintanus. Distributed in immense numbers over the entire State. Even our gardens in the city at times abound with them. BoNASA UMBELLXJS. Abundant. Tetrao Canadensis. Said to be plenty in the extreme northern part of the State. T. cupido. Common. Large num- bers are taken during the shooting season. Forty and fifty are not unfrequently bagged by a single sportsman of an afternoon. T. phasianellus. Occasionally met with. Order — GRALLiE. Family — RALLIDiE. PoRPHYRio MARTiNiCA. A few breed here every season. FuLicA Americana. Common, and breeds here in great numbers. Ortygometra Carolina. Rare. Rallus crepitans. Not unfrequently met with on our prairie marshes, where it undoubtedly breeds. R. Virginianus. Rare. Family — ARDEIDiE. Grus Americana. Often found in very large flocks upon our prairies, and numbers are killed every year. The young are easily domesticated, but make naughty pets. The flesh of this bird is highly esteemed by many. Tantalus loculator. A single bird of this species was shot near Milwaukie a year or two since. Platalea ajaja. Found along the Mississippi within the bounds of our State, and occasionally about our small lakes in the interior. BoTAURUS lentiginosus. Abundant. Breeds here in great numbers. Ardea exilis. Abundant. A. virescens. Occasionally met with. A. occiDENTALis. A fowf of this species visit a large shie in the vicinity of this city every spring, but all our efforts to cap- ture one have thus far proved unavailing. A. Herodias. Com- mon about our rivers and marshes. Nycticorax n^vius. Rare. 10 Family — CH ARADRIDiE. Chakadrius Virginicus. Plenty in spring and fall of the year. Immense bodies of them sometimes gather upon the open prairie, especially upon portions over which fire has run. Ilhave seen hundreds of them thus assembled, and busily engaged in feeding — upon what, I am puzzled to know. C. vociferus. Abundant. C. melodius. Not common. CiNCLUS iNTERPRES. Somcwhat numerous, especially in the vicinity of Lake Michigan. Family — SCOLOPACIDiE. Tringotdes Bartramia. Abounds largely upon our prairies in autumn and spring, where it breeds, though in less numbers. T. MACULARiA. Common. T. canuta. Found in small num- bers about our lakes and ponds. It undoubtedly breeds here, though I have not as yet found its nest. T. cinclus. Visits us in company with others of its species on its annual journey to and from the north. T. subarcuata. At one time quite com- mon in the vicinity of this city, but has entirely disappeared. Found in considerable numbers in unsettled districts about the slues. ToTANUs SEMiPALMATUS. Frcqucnts the shores of our lakes, and occasionally may be seen in large flocks. I found them more numerous about Lake Winnebago than elsewhere. T. MELANOLEUcus. Quitc abundant along our forest streams, and wet, wooded marshes, where it breeds. T. flavipes. Abun- dant. T. GLOTTIS. Have seen two or three only. LiMOSA FEDOA. Rare. I have never obtained more than a single specimen. Gallinago Wilsonii. Very abundant for a few weeks in spring and autumn, and shot in great numbers. Philohela Americana. Found in small numbers, but is evi- dently increasing. Recurvirostra Americana. Rare. 11 NuMENius LONGiROSTRis. Has disappeared from this part of the State, though a few probably visit other and unsettled por- tions. Order — ANSERES. Family — ANATID.E. Bernicla Canadensis. Abounds largely, and occasionally breeds in our State. A curious fact connected with the habits of this bird, is the intelligence displayed in opening and keeping open ponds and slues upon which ice has formed, or is forming. A flock alights upon the thin ice and commences a jumping-up process, at the same time giving hard blows with their wings. When the ice has thus been sufficiently broken to admit them into the water, there begins a splashing process, and this is con- tinued at intervals, by individuals, during the night, preventing ice from forming. Large flocks of this bird frequent our small lakes and ponds during the fall, from whence they go out upon the grain fields to feed. They are shot in considerable numbers at this season. B. Hutchinsii. Rare. B. Brenta. Abun- dant in all parts of the State, and large numbers breed here. Anser Bruchi. An occasional visitor. A, hyperboreus. Frequently found in company with the B. Ca7iadensiSj sometimes in separate flocks. Not very numerous. Cygnus Americanus. Rare. Anas boschas. Exceedingly abundant, and breeds here in great numbers. A. obscura. Found in small numbers in our rivers and lakes during the fall, especially those bordered by the wild rice. Breeds in the State. Chaulelasmus strepera. The first observed in the State, was procured by me in a recent excursion on Fox River. Mareca Americana. Abundant. Dafila acuta. Common. Aix spoNSA. Found here in great numbers ; nearly every wooded stream abounding with them. In autumn they gather in large flocks about the rice marshes, along the margins of our rivers. QuERQUEDULA Carolinensis. Common. 12 Pterocyanea discors. Abundant. Spatula clypeata. Rare. A few only have been seen. Nyroca valisneria. Met with only in rare instances. A large flock was reported to have been seen near our city, No- vember 2d, 1853. N. FERiNA. Abundant during the month of October. Breeds, to some extent, in the northern part of the State. FuLiGULA MARiLA. Not commou. F. coLLARis. Found only occasionally. Erismatura rubida. Rare. Clangula albeola. Abounds on all our rivers, though it breeds generally far north. Harelda glacialis. Exceedingly rare. Mergus Castor. Frequents our lakes and rivers in consider- able numbers ; more abundant in autumn. Breeds in the north- ern part of the State. M. serrator. Common. M. cucullatus. Abundant in all parts of the State. Family — PELECANID^. Pelecanus track yrhyncus. Common about the Mississippi, and occasionally finds its way into our small lakes in the interior. Family — LA RIDiE. Hydrochelidon nigra. Abundant, and breeds in great num- bers in the low, reedy marshes about our lakes and rivers. The young, when able to leave the nest, are fed by the parent birds while upon the wing. Sterna minuta. Not so common as the former, and proba- bly does not breed in the State. Larus Bonapartii. Some seasons quite abundant, particularly in the month of October, and along the shore of Lake Michigan. L. marinus. Common. Family — COLYMBIDiE. Colymbus glacialis. Common. C. septentrionalis. Rare, and seldom found away from Lake Michigan. 13 PoDicEPS CRISTATUS. Common. p. coRNUTUS. Abundant in the fall of the year about Lake Michigan, and the larger streams that empty into it. P. auritus. Reported in the State, though I have not seen it. PoDiLYMBUS Carolinensis. Found only occasionally.* Dr. Brewer also read a letter from Mr. Wm. Hopkins, of Auburn, N. Y., giving a list of some birds obtained there, part of which are sea birds, and others supposed to be in- habitants only of other regions, as follows : — Large White Egret, Egretta alba. Glossy Ibis, Ihis Ordi. Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps rubricollis. Red Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius. Kittiwake Gull, Rissa tridactyla. Mealy Redpoll, Linaria horealis. Large-billed Guillemot, TJria Brunniclii. Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carlo. Prof. J. Wyman gave an account of observations upon the Surinam Toad, Pipa Amer^icana, lately presented to the Society by Dr. Cragin, as follows : As yet, no complete description of this animal has been given, though it is not uncommon in collections. The eggs, when dis- charged, are not permitted to escape into the water, as is the case with the allied species, but are received by the male, after- wards deposited upon the back of the female, and there impreg- nated, when the skin thickens between them, rises, and partly surrounds each egg, forming a kind of sac or pouch. The dark cuticle is found to be prolonged some distance into the pouch, which is covered by a thin operculum, formed of a layer of gela- tinous substance, in a dried state, probably a portion of the gela- tinous matter which previously surrounded the egg. * The abundance and variety of our water-fowl may be inferred from the fol- lowing result of a short himting excursion, only a few miles from this city: — 6 Coot, 5 Eing-neck, 1 Tufted duck, 3 Green-winged Teal, 5 Blue do., 2 Shovel- ler, 1 Dusky, 4 Gadwall, 4 Crested ^Merganser, 6 Buffle-head, 6 Widgeon, 15 Mal- lard, 1 Eedheaded,3 Ruddy, 8 Summer ducks. 14 The yolk is of large size. In the development of the legs, these are seen to be formed distinct from the vertebral column, so that, morphologically considered, they cannot be called ap- pendages of the spine. The external branchiae are developed and disappear at a very early period. The tail is fully formed in the embryo, but afterwards is absorbed, so that when the ani- mal escapes from the egg the latter has disappeared. Prof. Wyman exhibited the embryos in three stages of devel- opment, and a section of the back of the female. The fully formed embryo is larger than the original egg, so that the ani- mal must have absorbed something from the pouch in which it was lodged — a fact in the embryology of batrachians entirely by itself. Prof. W. B. Rogers exhibited a series of fossils from the middle secondary belts of North Carolina, Virginia, Penn- sylvania, and Massachusetts ; chiefly, he said, with the view of calling attention to the evidence afforded by some of them, of the close relation in geological age between what has been called the New P^ed Sandstone of the Middle States and Connecticut Valley, first designated by Prof. H. D. Rogers as the Mi'Qdle Secondary Group, and the coal bearing rocks of eastern Virginia and North Carolina. Prof. R. referred to the existence in Virginia of three distinct belts of these rocks. The most eastern of these, extending almost continuously from the Appommatox River to the Potomac, includes the coal-fields of Chesterfield and Henrico Counties. The middle tract, about twenty-five miles west by south of the preceding, is of much less extent, and has not yet furnished any workable coal seam. Somewhat intermediate in trend to these is a belt of analogous rocks in North Carolina, commencing* some distance south of the Virginia line and stretching south- westwardly across the State, and for a few miles beyond its limits, into South Carolina. This area, first mapped by Prof. Mitchell, includes the coal bearing rocks of Deep River. The western belt extends, with two considerable interruptions, entirely across Virginia, being prolonged towards the southwest in the course of the Dan River in North Carolina, and towards the northeast through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, forming what is usually called the New Red Sandstone Belt. Eastern and Middle Belt of Virginia and Eastern Belt OF North Carolina. From an examination some twelve years ago of the fossil plants of the most eastern of the Virginia belts here designated, Prof. Rogers had been led to refer this group of rocks to the Oolite series on or near the horizon of the carbona- ceous deposits of Whitby and Scarborough in Yorkshire. Some years later he discovered many of the same plants in the middle belt of Virginia, and, in the summer of 1850, he found several of these plants in the coal rocks of Deep River, in North Caro- lina. In each of the latter districts we meet with Equisetum columnare, Zamites, and a plumose plant referred to Lycopodi- tes, and strongly resembling L. Williamsonis of the Yorkshire rocks. These are among the usual forms occurring in the east* ernmost of the Virginia belts. Besides the fossil plants common to these three areas, they contain two species of Posidonomya and two of Cypris. Of the Cypridse, one species has a smooth, the other a beautifully gran- ulated carapace. They are both very small, seldom exceeding ^^ an inch in length and yL- in width. Both species of Posido- nomya differ in proportion from the P. minuta of the Euro- pean Trias, but one of them strongly resembles the P. Bronniioi the Lias, although of larger dimensions. Prof. Rogers remarked upon the uncertainty which exists as to the true nature of the small shell-like fossils, which being as- sumed as molluscs, have been referred to Bronn's genus Posido- nomya. But, whatever may be their zoological affinities, the fossils now under consideration have great interest, as affording further means not only of comparing together the mesozoic belts of North Carolina and Virginia, above referred to, but of approximating more justly than heretofore to the age of the so- called New Red Sandstone, or Triassic rocks which form the prolonged belt lying further towards the west. In the report of Prof. Emmons, published in the autumn of 1852, mention is made of the remains of Saurians in the Deep River deposits, as well as of the Posidonia and Cypris, and of 16 an Equisetites, a Lycopodites and other allied forms, together with a naked, rather spinous vegetable, regarded by him as a cellular cryptogamous plant. In view of the general identity of the fossils thus far found in the Dry River and Middle Virginia belts, with those of the most eastern deposit in Virginia, viz., that including the coal of Ches- terfield, Prof. Rogers maintained that the general equivalency of these three areas may be regarded as established, and therefore the Dry River belt of North Carolina, as well as the Middle Vir- ginia belt, ought to be placed in the Jurasic series, not far proba- bly above its base. Western Belt of North Carolina and Virginia and its Extension towards the Northeast, forming the so-called New Red Sandstone of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and probably of the Valley of the Connecticut. In North Carolina, on the Dan River, where the rocks include one or more thin seams of coal, the same Cypridse or Posido- niae are found in great numbers in some of the fine-grained shales and black fossil slates. The latter were noticed as early as 1839, by Dr. G. W. Boyd, while on the Virginia Geological Survey. Regarding this fossil, of which specimens were also obtained about the same time from the middle belt in Virginia, as identical with the Posidonia of the Keuper, Prof. Rogers had, many years ago, announced the probability that a part or all of the great western belt was of the age of the Trias, instead of being lower in the Mesozoic series. Specimens of the Posidqpise and Cypridse, from both belts in North Carolina, and from the eastern and middle belts in Vir- ginia, were exhibited by Prof. Rogers at the Albany meeting of the American Association of Science in 1851, for the purpose of showing the close relationship between these deposits, in geolo- gical time. Among the specimens from the Dan River, Prof. Ro- gers on the present occasion referred to the impression of a Zamite leaf and a joint of Equisetum Columnare. Prof. Emmons, in the report above referred to, speaking of the marly slate of this sys- tem, says that " it differs in no respect from that of Deep River, bearing the same fossils, Posidonia and Cypris, in great abun- dance." 17 In the. belt in Virginia, toward the Potomac River, Prof. Rogers had lately found immense numbers of the same Posidonice and Cypridse, crowded together in fine argillaceous shales, and at several points he had met, in the more sandy rocks, vegetable impressions, which, although obscure, are strongly suggestive of the leaves of Zamites. In the same belt in Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of Phenix- ville, early last spring, Prof. H. D. Rogers discovered Posidonise in great numbers in a fissile black slate, and on subsequent exa- mination, the same beds were found to contain layers crowded with the casts of Cypridse. Along with these are multitudes of Coprolites, apparently Saurian, resembling in size and form the Coprolites found in the carbonaceous beds on Deep River, and also some imperfect impressions of Zamites leaves. These facts Prof. Rogers considers sufficient to identify, as one formation, the disconnected tracts of this belt in North Carolina and Virginia, and the great, prolonged area" of the so-called New Red Sand- stone of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. As to the geological date of this belt, Prof. Rogers said, that the discovery at various and remote points of its course of Posi- donise, Cypridse, and Zamites, most or all of which are identical with these forms in the eastern middle secondary areas of Vir- ginia and North Carolina, makes it extremely probable that these rocks, formerly referred to the New Red Sandstone, and of late more specially to the Trias, are of Jurassic date, and but little anterior to that of the Coal Rocks of Eastern Virginia. Prof. Rogers considered the frequent occurrence of Cypridoe in all these belts as a strong evidence of their Jurassic age. While only a few species of Cypridse, and many of the. allied genus Cytherina occur in the Silurian and Carboniferous rocks, there is a total absence of these crustacean remains throughout the series of deposits extending from the base of the Permian to the lower limits of the Oolite. But on entering the latter, the Cypridse re-appear, and become very abundant there, there being no less than twelve species known to belong to the Oolite forma- tions of Europe. On comparing the silicified wood, found in the western and eastern belts, Prof. Rogers had found its structure to be the PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 2 OCTOBER, 1854. 18 same, and to agree very nearly with the fossils figured by Witham under the name of Peuce Huttonia. As this particular structure does not appear to have been met with below the Lias, and occurs in that formation, it furnishes another argument in favor of the Jurassic age of all these rocks. Prof. Rogers added, that he had not found in the New Red Sandstone of the Connecticut Valley either the Posidonia or Cypris, although he had met with obscure markings which he was inclined to refer to the latter. He had however satis- fied himself that one of the plants, from the vicinity of Green- field, in Massachusetts, was identical with the form in the Virginia coal rocks referred to Lycopodites, and probably L. Williams onis ; and that, among the other very imperfect impres- sions associated with this, was one which he regarded. as the leaf of a Zamites. On the whole, therefore. Prof. Rogers concluded that the addi- tional fossils from the coal-bearing rocks of Virginia and North Carolina served to confirm the conclusion of their being of Jurassic date, and that the fossils thus far found in the more western belt, and its extension through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, rendered it proper to remove it from the Trias and place it also in the Jurassic period, a little lower probably than the eastern belt of North Carolina and Virginia ; and there could be little doubt, he thought, that the same conclusion would apply to the New Red Sandstone of the Connecticut Valley. January 18, 1854. The President in the Chair. Prof. Wyman stated, that since he had presented to the Society his observations on the Amhlyopsis spelceus or " blind fish " of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, he had, through the kindness of Prof. Agassiz, been furnished with two other specimens, one of which was larger than any he had seen before. 19 He stated at that time, (see Proceedings, Vol. IV, p. 396,) that he had found a lenticular-shaped body connected with the eye, and which might possibly be a lens. He had now satisfied him- self that this body is truly a lens, and though not a perfectly refracting organ composed of fibres, yet it is to be considered as the rudimentary lens of the eye of this fish. Another point, more satisfactorily determined, is the presence of a layer of cells beneath the choroid coat, resembling the retina, and corresponding to it in position. A sclerotic coat, a choroid coat, a layer resembling the retina, a lens, and a nerve, have now been found in the eye of the Amblyopsis. Nevertheless, it is an imperfect eye, and the areo- lar tissue and skin which cover it prevent all transmission of light to it, except in a different condition. It has heretofore been compared with the eyes of the invertebrate animals, but the above observations show that it is more like the eyes of other vertebrates. The organ of hearing was examined by Dr. Wyman, in a dif- ferent manner, and the semicircular canals were seen to be largely developed, and the vestibules to contain large otolithes. The President exhibited one of a series of specimens of Ornithichnites obtained by exchange w^ith Pres. Hitchcock, and numbering from fifteen to twenty different species. This specimen was prepared in a peculiar way, a section having been made directly through the fossil so as to show the impression from four points of view. It was the track of the Ornithopus gracilis. Mr. Sheafe presented a specimen from Dr. Codinse, of Philadelphia, found near Memphis, Tennessee. It resem- bled somewhat an extremity of a large fossil bone, with a central cavity. Dr. Wyman, from a cursory examination, remarked that it probably was not a bone, but one of those clay masses commonly called clay-stone. The specimen could be split in layers at the extremity as well as on the shaft, which is not a character of fossil bone. Its form was imitative of bone, but clay-stones take on great varieties of form. Many sub- 20 Stances resembling bone have been at times mistaken for it. Mr. Edward Daniels, of the State Geological Surveying Corps of Wisconsin, was chosen Corresponding Member of the Society. The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Mrs. Teschemacher, in reply to the resolutions transmitted to her by the Secretary ; also, one from the Editors of Silliman's Journal, thanking the Society for the notice transmitted to them of the life of the late Mr. Teschemacher. Also, a letter from the Linnsean Society, acknowledging the recep- tion of certain volumes of this Society's Transactions. Mr. James A. Dupee was elected a Resident Member. ^February 1, 1854. The President in the Chair. Mr. C. J. Sprague presented, in the name of Dr. Charles Pickering, a specimen of common Eel Grass (Zostera ma- rina) in fruit, and described in detail the mode of reproduc- tion in this plant as made out by Gronland and Hofmeister. Mr. T. T. Bouve remarked that it is very rare to see Zostera in fruit ; he had looked in vain for it for several years along our coast. Dr. Charles Pickering stated that Prof. Asa Gray had seen it in flower not unfrequently on Beverly Beach, and in that neighborhood. Dr. Henry Bryant exhibited the peculiarly formed trachea of the Courlan (Aramus scolopaceus.) It had a remarka- ble bend, so as to present a number of convolutions upon itself in the form of a watch spring. There is no regular- ity in the number of turns, nor in the situation of this pecu- 21 liarity. It is higher up in the neck than a similar anomaly in the Swan, Whooping Crane, and other birds. The President exhibited a specimen of Ornithichnite in shale, split into two layers, the impression of a tetradactylous foot. This, as well as other tracks in the same shale, has the appearance of a double impression, as if two feet had been placed in the same spot, and makes it somewhat doubtful if they are not the impressions of a quadruped. The President also stated that he had received a slab of sandstone, bearing an impression of the Otozoum. The impression is that of four toes, all directed forwards, and each track is twenty inches in length. Prof. Wyman stated that he had recently dissected a Tor- pedo, (T. occidentalis Storer) and had directed his atten- tion particularly to the termination of the nerves in the laminae which compose the efficient part of the battery. The results at which he had arrived agreed with those of Wagner, who has made a special study of the minute structure of the electric apparatus. The plates consist of an exceedingly thin membrane, which appears to be nearly homogeneous, its surface showing only traces of striations. On this membrane are distributed ultimate nerve fibres and capillary vessels. When the primitive nerve tube reaches the plate, it breaks up into numerous fibres, and these in turn subdivide and reunite, so as to form a regular net- work, with large meshes over the whole surface. Connected with these last divisions of the nerve tubes, are to be seen pro- longations, into which the white substance of Schwann either does not enter, or if it does, extends only for a short distance, so that the branch loses its double outline. Tiiis divides into numerous branches, and frequently, at the point of bifurcation, there is to be seen a large nucleated cell ; the ultimate branches terminating, as described by Wagner, in an extremely delicate filament, which seems to be lost on the surface of the plate. Prof. Wyman estimated the whole number of the plates at be- 22 tween 250,000 and 300,000. There were about 100 to the inch in each electric prism, which is less than the number counted by Mr. Hunter, viz. 150 to the inch. The number of prisms in each battery was about 1200, each prism measuring from one to two inches in height. The interval between the plates was filled with a fluid, consisting of about 90 per cent, of water, containing albu- men and common salt in solution. On examining the contents of the stomach, it was found that, during the process of the digestion of the bones, the calcareous matter was removed before the gelatinous matter was dissolved, and Dr. Wyman had noticed the same result in the dissection of other fishes. This is the reverse of what occurs in dogs and hyenas, where the gelatinous matter alone is removed, the calca- reous matter not being dissolved. The stomach of the specimen had been acted upon by the gastric fluid after death, and was perforated in its large curvature. Hydrochloric acid was de- tected in its contents. Prof. Rogers alluded to the analogy between this animal bat- tery and the ordinary metallic battery. The nervous tissue might act both as generator and conductor, generating in its minute ramifications, and conducting by its larger branches. The disproportionate quantity of nervous tissue would not be an objection to this, as batteries are constructed in which the copper plate bears but a small proportion in size to the zinc, not more than one twelfth perhaps, which yet exert a powerful effect, espe- cially when a hot acid is employed. Prof. H. D. Rogers made a communication on the Epoch of the Mammoth or Elephas primigenius. He called attention to the interesting Palceontological bear- ings of a fact, which he thinks demonstrable ; that while the remains of the Fossil Elephant, or Siberian Mammoth of the Eastern Continent, are imbedded in the great Drift Stratum, those of the Fossil Elephant of North America are as invariably above it, lying in superficial deposits of a distinctly later age. It is now generally conceded, that the relics of the Mastodon giganteus of North America, which do not extend beyond this continent, are nowhere involved in the general or earlier drift, 23 but lie upon it, inclosed either in more recent swampy deposits or in the nearly as recent, later, local diluvial clays and gravels of the great lake and river valleys of the country. But the fact that the bones and teeth of the extinct Elephant on this conti- nent are entombed in the same superficial materials, seems not to have been sufficiently adverted to by geologists, or, if pass- ingly stated, its bearings have been overlooked. That the American Elephant was the contemporary of the Mastodon giganteus, is not only proved by the occurrence of great numbers of their teeth and bones, side by side, in the marshy alluvium of Big Bone Lick, but is manifest, on a scru- tiny of the conditions under which its remains are alleged to be imbedded. A careful review of all the cases on record of the positions of the Elephant remains, must satisfy geologists, fami- liar with the more recent strata of this country, that these two colossal animals lived together in the long period of surface tran- quillity which succeeded the strewing of the general drift, (the period of the Laurentian clays,) and were overtaken and exter- minated together by the same changes, partly of climate, partly of a second but more local displacement of the waters ; that namely which reshifted the Drift, and formed our later lake and river terraces. The fact, that these extinct animals thus occur only above the true drift in North America, and in it in Siberia and Europe, would seem to indicate one of two things : either that the Drifts of the two continents are not of the same epoch, or these being of one age, that the fossil Elephants of the two re- gions are not of one and the same species. If we admit, with the great body of geologists, that the general Drift covering of all the northern latitudes of both continents is of one origin and one date, we are constrained to regard the Mammoths of these respective lands as different. Yet the identity of date of the two Drift formations should not be dogmatically pronounced upon in the present incomplete condition of comparative geology. Prof. Rogers exhibited maps of the Arctic discoveries in the years 1850 and 1851, and explained why Albert Land, of the English charts, should be justly called Grinnell Land, the name given to it by Lieut. I)e Haven, its discoverer. 24 Dr. Pickering stated, that between Salem and Danvers were two hills covered with boulders, and between them a plain where no boulders were to be seen. The western hill is of Sienite, the eastern of Greenstone, and the plain level. He had been at loss, until this evening, to account for the absence of boulders in this narrow plain, situated as it is between the two steep hills, but he thought it probable now that boulders would be found under the soil of this plain, if it could be removed so as to expose the curved bed of rock which must be the prolongation of the curved sides of the hills. Dr. James Lewis, of Mohawk, N. Y., was chosen Cor- responding Member of the Society. February 15, 1854. The President in the Chair. Mr. Bouve read extracts from the printed report of a jury trial, which took place in Edinburgh during July and August last. The case involved the right to work a certain mineral as coal, in the lands of Torbanehill, Linlithgow county, Scotland, commonly known as the Boghead gas coal ; and the principal question upon which the whole case turned was, whether this mineral substance was really a coal, or whether it was bitumen, shale, clay, or other sub- stance. The case showed to what extent the most eminent scientific men may differ upon practical points in geology, mineralogy, microscopy, and chemistry, and into what humi- liating exhibitions they are sometimes drawn unawares. Prof. Wyman exhibited the stomach of a lama, which, by the kindness of Fletcher Webster, Esq., he had had an op- portunity of dissecting. 25 The stomach is that of a true ruminant. The paunch, which is of great size, compared with the digestive cavity of the sto- mach, has a large portion of its surface, as in the camel, provided with sacs, which open into the general cavity by a narrow mouth, and capable of retaining water. The necessity for this arrange- ment is not exactly understood, as the lama does not generally inhabit desert regions, but places supplied with water. The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Dr. James Lewis, of Mohawk, N. Y., thanking the Society for his election as Corresponding Member, and transmitting a description of a new species of Shell, Cyclas crocea, as follows : Cyclas crocea Lewis. Shell small, fragile, and translucent; outline simple, rounded, without angles ; beaks nearly central, full, not large, elevated conspicuously above the gently curving hinge margin ; posterior curve distinct from hinge and basal margins, forming a segment of a circle of a radius three times longer than the radius of the anterior curve ; the posterior is separated by a somewhat abrupt turn from the basal margin, which extends forward in a con- stantly diminishing curve, and blends with the curve of the anterior extremity ; the valves are rotund rather than compressed ; surface marked with distinct striations, in some specimens reticu- lated with faint or obsolete radiate scratches ; surface of young shells shining ; adults frequently obscured by a thin ferruginous film. Cardinal teeth, in left valve, two, very projecting ; in right valve not discernible. Lateral teeth delicate, prominent and laterally extended, not elevated above the margin of the right valve. Color. Young specimens yellowish ; adults, orange, with zones of gray and yellow, which are sometimes retained in the dried shells. Young shells dried become nearly colorless, or of a bluish gray. Animal colorless; tubes of the siphon very wide, forming an important distinguishing feature. Dimensions. Long. .275 inch. ; lat. .165 inch. ; ah. 245 inch. 26 Habitat. Swamps and sluggish streams in the vicinity of Otsego and Schuyler's Lakes, in Otsego County, and in Little Lakes, Herkimer County, N. Y. This shell seems to be rare. Found most abundant in the muddy bottoms of sluggish streams, in deep water. Mr. J. M. Barnard, from the Committee on the purchase of the Greenfield Fossils, gave notice that the subscription list was completed ; and on his motion it was Voted, That when the Treasurer's receipt, and the usual vote of thanks are transmitted to the subscribers, that those who have contributed the sum of fifty dollars and over, shall be notified that they are enrolled as patrons of the Society. On motion of Mr. Stodder, it was Voted, That a Committee be appointed to revise the by-laws of this Society, and to report thereon to the So- ciety '\x\ print. Dr. Gould and Dr. Shurtleflf were appointed this Com- mittee. > March 1, 1854. The President in the Chair. The President congratulated the members of the Society, on the reception of the fossils which had lately been pur- chased for the Society, the largest of which were then reposing against the walls of the library. He observed that the best thanks of the Society were due to the Committee for their endeavors in obtaining them, and for the successful accomplishment of their labor. The President also stated that he had the pleasure of notifying the Society of a new act of beneficence in the name of an old friend to the Society, and presented a letter 27 from the daughters of the late Hon. T. H. Perkins, offer- ing the Society his collection of shells and minerals, which they had reason to believe he intended personally to present to the Society. On motion of Dr. Keep, it was Voted, That the dona- tion be gratefully accepted, and that the thanks of the Society be transmitted to the daughters of the late Col. Perkins. Dr. Cabot stated that he was requested to ask the Society to appoint a Committee to take charge bf this collection, and to offer for the acceptance of the Society the cases in which they were now contained, if of any value to the Society. Dr. A. A. Gould, Dr. John Bacon, and the Curators of Conchology and Mineralogy, were appointed this Committee. The Treasurer gave notice that the sum of one thousand dollars had been received from the estate of the late Hon. T. H. Perkins, for the benefit of the Society, and offered the following order, viz. : Ordered, That the sum of one thousand dollars received from the estate of the late Hon. Thomas H. Perkins, on account of a subscription for the purchase of the building now occupied by the Society, be invested by the Treasurer as a commencement of a fund, to be called the Building Fund, and that the income be annually added to the said fund. The order was unanimously adopted. The Secretary read a letter from Dr. James Lewis, com- municating the following observations on a species of Lim- nsea, (L. catascopium,) which presents different appear- ances in different localities. The letter was accompanied by specimens. At certain seasons of the year, Lymnsea catascopium may be observed in considerable abundance, in the water of the Erie 28 Canal, clinging to the stones of the embankment, at the margin of the water. At the close of navigation, each winter, the level of the water is reduced, so that usually there is scarcely more than a thin stratum at the bottom of the canal. In the spring, before the opening of navigation, many of these Lymnsese may be found in the spaces' between the stones of the embankment, far above the water, and in positions where it may be safely assumed they have passed the winter. A greater por- tion of the shells so found, will be observed to have the orifice of the shell closed with a thin transparent membrane, behind which the animal reposes, alive, awaiting the coming of the condition favorable for renewed activity. This fact may be one of import- ance to those persons who are interested in tracing the connection between Lymnczm and Helices, in which latter it is not at all un- common to observe this peculiar membrane, or epiphragm. Previous to the enlargement of the Erie Canal at Mohawk, the canal at the " upper lock " was about sixty or eighty feet north of its present position, and the former bed of the canal for a short distance, and the " old lock " now remain, as several puddles or pools of water, in which may be found many shells no doubt descendants of the ancestors of those which may be also found in the canal proper, at this time. It is worthy of remark, however, that those shells which are found in the most shaded places, amid the ruins of the " old lock" are most like the shells found in the canal ; and those shells which are found more remote from the shade of the lock, and in warmer loca- tions, are of a laj^er and coarser growth, and to one not acquainted with these facts, might appear to be different species. Those shells found most remote from the lock, are subject to various changes of conditions; the water frequently dries away? even so much that the mud becomes hard and fissured ; the shells disappear, but reappear again in the spring, and reach a growth that is never seen in the shells found in the more equally tem- pered water of the canal. The apparent differences between the shells found in the canal, and those found in those parts of the old canal bed most liable to changes, are as follows : — The latter grow to nearly twice the length of the former. The canal shell is of a uniform color generally ; the " old lock " 29 shell exhibits two stages of growth ; the first in color and appear- ance much like the canal shell, and equivalent to the adult shell found in the canal ; the second stage of growth, separated from the first by a very distinct varix or cicatrix, is of a lighter color, usually of an ochraceous yellow, the surface of the shell check- ered or broken up into irregular facets, evidently the result of the rapid growth of the animal, by which the shell was too rapidly enlarged, to be evenly solidified. The " old lock " shell is a less solid shell than the other. Dr. Lewis's communication was accompanied by the fol- lowing note from Mr. T. J. Whittemore. Gray " is of opinion that the calcareous rim within the peri- stome of certain Lymnsese and Planorbes, is formed when the waters they inhabit are nearly dried up ; or in winter, when they are affected hy cold, preparatory to their secretion of a dia- phragm for their protection at these times," (see Haldeman's work on Lymniades,) and this was distinguishable in a variety of L. fragilis, marked D in Jiis work, L. 7, Plate 6 ; and he further says " that the varieties D and E have the minute spiral lines, very distinctly marked, but the irregular reticulations are want- ing ; when these are present, the surface is divided into a series of facets, which have been compared to those upon cut glass." The remarks of Dr. Lewis are very interesting, particularly in regard to the growth and change in appearance of the Lymncea catascopiimi, and appear by the shells to indicate that the two neighboring localities produce the same shell, although so differ- ent in appearance ; yet the old growth has the same appearance. Mr. Bouve called the attention of the Society to some points of interest in the Collection of Ornithichnites, recently purchased for the Society, deferring a more elaborate report to a future meeting. He remarked that the largest and most valuable slabs were then in the room, and of these he called attention to one upon which the impressions of rain drops were very numerous and distinct. Another, of coarser sandstone and of lighter color, exhibited rain drops in relief. 30 One, which was on movable supports, had been sent as a present to the Emperor of Russia, but having been impro- perly directed, was returned. One showed not only the foot prints of an animal, but the passage over its surface of a shell fish or a worm. One exhibited the stride of a gigantic animal, this stride being about nine feet in length. The largest of all had over sixty impressions of feet upon its sur- face. Mica can be seen upon the surface of many of these slabs, and Mr. Bouve thought that this might account for the easy separation of these sandstones into layers. He suggested that in the process of deposition of this rock, mica might have been deposited in greater abundance at certain intervals than at others, and that in these places was the greatest tendency to splitting into layers. Prof. Rogers remarked, that some of these specimens had a shining appearance, as if they were once covered with a kind of slime ; finely comminuted mica would give the proper degree of density and plasticity for preserving slight impressions, and he had always been in the habit of looking for the best impressions on glazed surfaces. Dr. J. B. S. Jackson observed that Mr. Marsh, who had col- lected the specimens in question, had called his attention to what he called " his books," that is, layers of stone in which the impressions grew less distinct towards the surface, upon which merely a line could be traced. This line had often been a guide to Mr. Marsh to search in lower layers. He supposed the impression to have been made in deep and soft mud, which settled in slowly after the foot was with- drawn. Some discussion ensued as to whether certain of these tracks were made by birds or reptiles. Mr. Bouve thought they were made by birds. The arti- culations could be counted, and coproliles, which have on analysis been found similar to guano, are found with them. 31 Dr. Cabot thought that those referred to could not have been made by birds. Birds which walk in soft mud have widely spread toes to support them. An impression sup- posed to be that of the tarsus, could be plainly seen ; but no wading bird touches the tarsus to the ground. He thought these particular impressions may have been made by rep- tiles, or by animals ranking between reptiles and birds. Prof. Wyman remarked that Prof. Owen formerly enter- tained the opinion, that an impression exactly like one of the largest of these, was made by a reptile. Dr. D. H. Storer presented a new species of Fish, from Captain N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, and found in the harbor at that place, which he proposed to call Sebastes fasciatus. Sebastes fasciatus Storer. Body elongated , not convex in front of dorsal fin as in the Sebastes Norvegicus. Four distinct dark, brown, tranverse bands upon the sides, the broadest at the posterior portion of the body. Length, 3f inches. Fin rays as follows : D. 13 - 14. P. 20. V. 1 - 5. A. 3 - 7. C. 19. A communication was received from Dr. W. I. Burnett, upon the Poison-apparatus of the Rattlesnake, as follows : Notes upon the Poison-apparatus of the Rattlesnake. By W. I. Burnett, M. D. In the spring of 1853, I presented to the Society the results of some investigations of mine upon the development of the fangs, and the nature and mode of action of the poison of the common Rattlesnake. But these investigations were not complete in many points, as the specimens examined did not present all the cha- racteristics of structure of this apparatus. Since that time, in some parts of Florida, where these snakes are peculiarly abundant, I have enjoyed rare opportunities for the 32 further study of this subject, and especially as to one or two doubtful points of some interest. The specimen which yielded the most satisfactory results, was one of the largest I have ever seen, being 5^ feet long, and 8 inches in circumference. It was a female, and contained 16 more or less matured eggs. The fangs were very prominent, beincr |. of an inch long from their apex to the point of their insertion in the sockets ; the mucous fold below contained, on each side, seven supplementary fangs of a graduated size, and the development of which in their capsules I described in the previous paper. On the left side, there were two fangs at- tached, of equal size — the old one external, and the new one internal — this coexistence being due to the persistence of the old fang, until the relations of the new one should be fully esta- blished. The canal of this old fang was more or less obstructed, and it was evident that it had not been used for some time. The canal of the new fang, on the other hand, was pervious, but con- tained no poison. The duct of the poison gland did not appear to connect with the base of either fang, but lay between them, apparently in a state of transition from the base of the old fang to that of the new. On the right side, there was only one fang fixedly attached, the next succeeding fang lying in its future socket, but its anchy- losis not yet having taken place. Here, the duct of the gland communicated with the base of the fang, its fibres embracing, fan-like, the portion including the commencement of the canal of the fang, but not, as is stated in books, entering this canal. In this way the current of the poison would be direct and continuous from the duct to the external end of the fang where it is dis- charged into the wound. It would appear, then, from this examination, that the succes- sion of fangs takes place in the following manner : — The new fang appears behind, pushing upwards as it grows ; posteriorly and somewhat internally to the socket of the old fang, it acquires its socket and becomes attached therein ; as this attachment is be- coming complete, it pushes still further forwards, at the same time crowding the old fang outwards, and finally takes its place more or less exactly. By this lateral pressure, the socket 33 of the old fang is absorbed, and the fang itself is probably entirely removed at last, by falling out, or being broken off. But the interesting question which now arises, and one too on which there has been some obscurity, is : How, in this succession of fangs, does the transference of the poison-duct from the old to the new take place ? From the appearances of the specimen in question, it would seem that, as the old fang is pushed aside, the expanded extremity of the duct on its base leaves it, and is finally transferred to the corresponding part of the new fang. There would therefore be a period during which the duct communi- cates with neither fang, but lies between them, as in the case in question. If then, the appearance of a new fang took place simultane- ously on both sides, the snake would be left, for a time, without an effective poison-apparatus ; but, if the present case is a fair example, this does not occur ; for, as above mentioned, there was only one fang attached on the right side, and the new fang lying behind would not probably have become anchylosed before the old fang on the opposite side had been wholly replaced by the new. The phenomena here presented, of the succession of the fang- teeth, with subsequent adaptation of their vessels, appear to be quite like those of the succession of ordinary teeth in the higher animals. The poison-gland, situated in the midst of muscles behind and below the eye, was of a fusiform shape, and of the size of a small almond. It was invested with a thick tunic of fibrous tissue, from which prolongations were given off inwardly, which em- braced and supported each lobule of the gland. The gland is botryoidal, and carefully dissected out from all its investing fibrous tissues, internal and external, it would quite resemble a bunch of grapes ; each grape representing one of its lobules, and the free stem the main duct leading to the fang. As to the microscopic structure, each lobule is composed of the branchings of the pedicle by which it is connected with the main stem or duct. This ramification of canals occurs precisely as in other glands ; but the tubes terminate coecally. These tubes are composed of a basement membrane, covered internally with PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. — VOL. V. 3 OCTOBER, 1854. 34 a single layer of epithelial cells. These cells are undoubtedly the secreting organs. The connection of the glandular tissue with the vascular system, whereby the secretion is effected, is very extensive and complete. The investing fibrous tunic of each lobule is filled with a net- work of blood-vessels, and in this way the secreting tubes are brought inclose contact with the vascular system. These vascu- lar net-works are so dense, that they give the whole gland a very red, spleen-like aspect. This relation of the blood-vessels to the secreting tubes, is worthy of note, from its being exactly the reverse of that found in the kidneys. In these last, the Malpighian bodies consist of a sac-like dilatation of the end of the secreting tube around a knot of blood-vessels ; while in the case in ques- tion, the blood-vessels surround in a capsular manner the secret- ing tubes. The poison, examined microscopically, appeared only as lim- pid, hyaline serum, but I was surprised to find in it crystals resembling those of the ammonio-magnesian phosphate. I may remark, finally, that a microscopic examination of the sheath of the gland showed no muscular fibres there, contrary to the statements of authors. (See Comp. Anat. by Siebold and Stannius, Vol. II. § 107.) But the poison is probably expressed forcibly into the fang by the pressure of the temporal muscle pen the gland during the act of striking. The Corresponding Secretary read a letter from Mr Charles J. F. Binney, making a donation of Bird Skins to the Society. The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. Binney for his donation. Mr. Elijah Swift, of Boston, was elected Resident Member. 35 March 15, 1854. The President, in the Chair. Dr. A. A. Gould made some remarks upon the collection of shells presented to the Society by the family of the late Col. Perkins. Upon examining the collection, he found there were many specimens of species not previously in the pos- session of the Society, and many specimens superior to those already in the cabinet. To one shell in particular, he called especial attention, the large Argonaut, commonly called Paper Nautilus, and which is the largest specimen known to exist. Its measurements are 11| by 11 inches; the next largest specimen, in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London, measures | of an inch less than this. This large specimen was brought from the Indian Ocean. In the collection, is a series of Argonauts of different ages ; some with and some without horns, but otherwise similar in the number of undulations and tubercles. These horns are often different on opposite sides of the shell, and are often wanting on one side. Many of the shells differ in symmetry in other respects, so as to render all external appearances doubtful marks in the determination of species belonging to this genus. The animal has been found to have no fixed connection with the shell, and it has been a question if it were not a parasite. It has, however, been recently determined that the animal found in it truly belongs to the shell. It has the power of sinking and rising in the water ; when crawhng at the bottom or rising, the keel is uppermost ; and upon reaching thesurface, the open portion of the shell becomes uppermost. The animal employs a part of its arms for mo- tive power, and with the remainder the shell is clasped. When the shell is broken, the animal has the pov*^er of 36 repairing it by a secretion from the arms, as has been proved by experiment by Mrs. Powers, in Italy. It has been said that the females alone have shells, and then only at the time of depositing eggs ; this idea seems to have been recently confirmed by specimens carried home by the English Ex- ploring Expedition. Dr. John Bacon exhibited a part of the collection of Minerals, which accompanied the collection of Shells. In the whole, there are somewhat more than 800 specimens, and of these about 400 are from the mines of Peru, and com- prise many valuable gold and silver ores. Amongst them are an ancient Peruvian implement in silver ore, and a speci- men presenting a polished surface, supposed to have been used as a mirror. Specimens of salt and water from the Dead Sea were also received with this collection. Mr. T. T. Bouve stated, that no better arrangement than the present could be made for the Greenfield Fossils. Though they were not in their proper place, nor in a good light to be examined, he thought they might safely remain where they are until accommodations could be provided for them. Dr. Gould said he was reminded by circulars sent from the Natural History Society of Portland, that the Boston Society of Natural History had it in their power to furnish that Society with many duplicates from their shelves, parti- cularly in the department of Conchology. He hoped that such of the duplicates belonging to the Society as might be selected, when the Portland Society of Natural History was ready to receive them, might be presented to that Society. Dr. H. R. Storer stated that he had come to the meeting expressly for a similar purpose, to move that a set of the " Journal " of this Society be presented to the Portland Society of Natural History ; and on his motion it was 37 Votedy That a complete set of the Journal of this Society be presented to the Portland Society of Natural History. On motion of Dr. Gould, it was also Voted, That a series of duplicate shells belonging to this Society be presented to the Portland Natural History So- ciety, whenever they are prepared to select and receive them. Mr. Bouve remarked that probably it was not generally known that perhaps the next best specimens of the Ornith- ichnites of the Connecticut Ptiver Sandstone, after those in Boston, belonged to the Portland Society, and were de- stroyed when its Museum was burned. Dr. Cornehus Kolloch, of Cheraw, S. C, and Dr. A. S. Baldwin, of Jacksonville, Fla., were elected Corresponding Members. Rev. David G. Haskins, of Boston, and Mr. Robert M. Copeland, of Pvoxbury, were elected President Members. DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. A Sturgeon, from Minnesota ; from Dr. Kneeland. BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 31, 1854. Annals of Science. Nos. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. Cleveland, 1853-4. Received in Exchange. American Journal of Science and Arts. Vol. 17, Nos. 49, 50. Received in Exchange. Farmer's Companion. Kos. 1, 2, 3. Vol. 3. 8vo. Pamph. Detroit, March, 1854. Received in Exchange. New York Journal of Medicine. Nos. 1, 2. Vol. XII. New Series. 8vo. Pamph. New York, 1854. Received in Exchange. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences^ of Philadelphia. Vol. VT. No. 12. Index and Title page to Vol. VI. ; and No. 1, Vol. VH. 8vo. Pamph. 1854. Philadelphia. Received in Exchange. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Vols. 4, 5. 4to. Jahresbericht des Wissenschaftlichen Vereins in HaUe. Fiiufter Jahrgang, 1852. 3 und 4 Hefte. 8vo. Berlin, 1853. Received in Exchange. 38 Zeitschrjft fiir Gesammten Naturwissenschaften. January to July, 1853. 8vo. Halle, 1853. Received in Excliange. Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin. Vols. 2, 3, 4, 5. 8vo. Dublin, 1839 - 53. Received in Exchanrje. Bulletin de la Socidt6 Geologique de France. 2ieme sdrie. TonaeX. Feuillcs 17-22. (17 Jan. — 4 Av. 1853.) 8vo. Paris. Received iri Exchange. Transactions of American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. Parts 2, 3, Vol. VII., and Part 2, Vol. VIE. Vol. X. Part 3. New Series. 4to. Philadel- phia, 1853. Received in Exchange. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. Vol. IV., Nos. 36, 37 ; and Vol. V. No. 43, and No. 50; July, Dec, 1853. Received in Ex- change. ■ Mdmoire surles Ph6noni6nes erratiques do la Suisse compar(^s aceux auNord de I'Europe et de I'Amerique, par E. Desor. 8vo. Pamph. 1852. From the Author. Eeport on the Geology of the Lake Superior Land District. By J. W. Foster and J. D. Whitney. Part 2d. With Maps. 8vo.^ Washington, 1851. From the Author. Descriptions of New Species of Eeptilcs, collected by the XJ. S. Exploring Expedition. By C. Girard. 8vo. Pamph. From the Author. Geological Map of Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior. Mounted. By J. D. Whit- ney, assisted by S. W. Hill and W. H. Stevens. From the Authors. Characters of New Genera of Plants, mostly from Polynesia. By Asa Gray. 8vo. Pamph. Cambridge, 1853. From the Author. Destiny of the Solar System. ByD.Vaughan. 8vo. Pamph. Cincinnati, 1854. From the Author. Researches upon Nemerteans and Planarians. By C. Girard. 4to. Pamph. I. Embryonic Development of Planocera elliptica. Philadelphia, 1854. From the Author. Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Eussian America. By John Cassin. Nos. 1, 2, 3. 8vo. Pamph. Philadelphia, 1853-54. Received from the Coiirtis Fund. American Almanac for 1854. 12mo. Boston. Received from the Courtis Fund. Genera of Eeccnt Mollusca arranged according to their Organization. By H. and A. Adams, Nos. 5-8. 8vo. Pamph. London, 1853. Received from the Courtis Fund. Annals and Magazine of Natural History for January and Februaiy, 1854. London. Received from the Courtis Fund. History of British Birds. By William McGillivray. 3 vols. . 8vo. 1837-40. London. Received from the Courtis Fund. Types of Mankind. By J. C. Nott, M. D., and George E. Gliddon. 4to. Philadelphia, 1854. Received from the Courtis Fund. Genera of Eecent Mollusca. By H. and A. Adams. Parts 9 and 10. 8vo. London, 1854. Exchange icith 11. Cuming. Proceedings of Zoological Society of London. Parts 2, 3, 4. April to Decem- ber. 8vo. Sheets. London. Exchange with II. Cuming. Zeitschrift fiir Malakozoologie. Herausgcgeben von K. T. ]\Ienke and L. Pfeifler. Nos. 6 - 12, 1852 ; and 1-9, 1853. 8vo. Sheets. Exchange loith II Cuming. Eeport on the Copper Mine of the North Carolina Copper Company in Guil- ford County, N. C. 8vo. Pamph. Fr" ^o. 2 = 16yV per cent, of pure metallic iron. The limestone or carbonate of lime in it serves perfectly for a flux in smelting the ore in the blast furnace. An average sample made up from all the ores of the mines mixed, yielded, in 100 grains : — Per Oxide of Iron 74.80 Oxide of Manganese Silica Titaniferous Iron Calcareous matters . 2.20 2.20 1.80 19.00 DifT. 100.00 247 This ore contains 52^^^^^ per cent, of pure metallic iron, and if the manganese is all reduced, and alloyed with the iron, it will amount to l^Vo ^^ Manganesium, the proportion which will make the iron into the finest kind of steel. There is one blast furnace now in operation at the Acadian Mines, smelting these ores, and six catelan forges are also em- ployed. The iron produced is remarkable for toughness and strength, and is sold exclusively to steel makers in Sheffield, England. Since the immediate country around is hard wood forest land, an abundance of charcoal fuel can be obtained, and there will soon be other furnaces built near the mines. EXCURSION TO HALIFAX AND TO NICTAU. Having completed our surveys of the numerous mines near the Acadian furnaces, we left for Truro and Halifax, by stage- coach, and from thence went to Windsor, where we crossed over the gypseous formation, and observed some of those numerous inverted, funnel-shaped cavities in the gypsum, which now and then operate as trap-falls for men and animals. Reaching the valley of Annapolis River, we travelled down it to Nictau, where we made a full examination of those inexhaust- ible beds of iron ores, which are worked by Mr. Archibald, and have been named by him the VICTORIA MINES. In 1827, Mr. Francis Alger and myself, made the first geolog- ical examinations of these curious and most interesting ore beds, which are contained in argillaceous slate rocks of Silurian age, having a line of elevation running Northeast and Southwest, and are distinguished by the great profusion of fossil shells which they contain ; the ore being more fossiliferous by far than the slate rocks containing it, seeming to indicate that these ancient mollusca had a preference for an iron bed rather than one of clay. Formerly, the principal fossil shells of these ores were regarded as species of terebratulse, and afterwards they were classed as Delthyris, but now they are arranged under the genus Spirifer, and they approach closely the S. Niagarensis, though none of them agree exactly with Mr. Hall's figures of 248 that species. In 1827, I discovered a trilobite in one of these iron ore beds. It was called Asaphus Crypturus, by Prof. Green, of Philadelphia, who described it for me at the time. Tentacu- lites also occur in the red iron ore of Little River, one of the beds of this group. The species resembles, in form and size, the magnified drawings of T. minutus, of Hall's Clinton group of New York Fossils. There are Orthocera, and several other, as yet unknown or undescribe'd, molluscs in these ores, and it is difficult to determine their species, since we have only the interior moulds of the shells. They all appear to belong to the Niagara and Clinton groups, of the New York system. One of the most curious phenomena presented at these mines, is the magnetic state of some of the ores, while others, not far removed from them, are wholly devoid of magnetism. The ore, when deposited at the bottom of the sea, must have been a fine ferruginous mud of per oxide of iron. Since its formation, and probably at the time of its elevation, the most metamorphosed beds were rendered magnetic iron ore, a mixture of the protoxide and peroxide. A great number of mines have been opened lately on these ores, and some new beds have been discovered since the original survey was made by Mr. Alger and myself There are two principal and parallel beds, which vary in thickness from six to ten feet, and they have been traced, with certainty, five miles in length, and probably extend to Bear River, near Clements, a distance of thirty or more miles ! Whether these two parallel beds, which are near each other, and dip 80*^, constitute one bed, doubled up like the letter U, or are distinct deposits, we were, in the short time allowed us for our examinations, unable to decide. There are, however, several distinct and separate beds, besides the main ones ; some of them are very compact and magnetic, and others are softer, and are not magnetic ore. The last named variety is seen in the red slates of Little River, and the others near Nictau River, and in very numerous pits and trenches, cut for the purpose of tracing the beds. It was found impossible to rely upon the compass needle in surveying the magnetic ore beds, for the needle was astatic over them, and was attracted, even when quite remote from the ore, 249 the North point invariably pointing toward the iron ore. It is quite evident that these mines may be considered, most truly, to be inexhaustible, and the wood of the country around, though it may supply fuel for many years, is not adequate to smelt more than a very small proportion of the ore actually in view. Hence it is advisable to export much of the ore to the United States, as well as to make charcoal iron for steel on the spot, for exporta- tion to England. This we have advised, and have no doubt of its being done, under the new laws of reciprochy in trade with the British Col- onies, which will allow of the introduction of iron ore into this country, and of the exportation of anthracite to Nova Scotia, free of duty ; but the iron made in Nova Scotia cannot be brought to the United States without paying duties, and hence it will be sent to England. This will be mostly fine charcoal iron for making steel. Anthracite will smelt the Nictau ores with great ease, and with but little additional flux, since there is silex in it, and nearly enough lime to make a fusible slag. The Anthracite iron made from this ore will be very strong and good, but not so valuable, of course, as charcoal iron. It will make good foundry pig, and good bar iron. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NICTAU IRON ORE. This ore, dried at 212^, yielded, in 100 grains : — Peroxide of Iron ..... 70.20 Silica . . . . Carbonate of Lime Carbonate of Magnesia Alumina Oxide of Manganese . Gain of Oxygen .... It contains SO^Vcr P^^ c^"^- ^^ V^^^^ ^^o"- 14.40 5.60 2.80 6.80 0.40 100.20 .20 100.00 250 The results of smelting of the ores, and of refining the iron, prove that either white forge, or gray foundry pig iron can be made from them by management of the burden of the furnace, and that the refined or bar iron is nearly, if not quite, equal in toughness to that from Russia and Sweden. It also makes fine cast steel, as has been proved by trials made of it in Sheflield, England. John L. Hayes, Esq., of Washington, Corresponding Member, confirmed Dr. Jackson's statements, with regard to the Nova Scotia Iron. He remarked also, that American Iron, manufac- tured by means of charcoal, was the only iron used in the chain cables of the U. S. Navy, which are all manufactured at the Navy Yard in Washington. He related instances, where cables of the best English iron had been broken in storms, when those of American charcoal iron had held. He thought that the value of charcoal iron over anthracite iron was underrated, especially in places where wood could be obtained, and readily transported, for making charcoal. English manufacturers are now turning their attention to this country, since the supply of Russian iron has failed, and as the supply from Sweden may be cut off* by political causes ; and he believed that preference would be given, at some future time, to charcoal iron from the Acadian mines, from which steel of the highest quality can be made. It is well known, that some irons make better steel than others, and on this account have been said to have a steely propensity. The cause of this is not yet understood, but as manganese is found in all the steely irons, it is very probable that future investigations will establish the fact of manganese being the cause of the steely propensity. Dr. A. A. Hayes read the following communication : — ON THE EXISTENCE OF NATIVE IRON, IN A MALLEABLE STATE, IN LIBERIA, AFRICA. In the African Repository, August, 1854, p. 240, there is a copy of a letter from Rev. Aaron P. Davis, of Bassa Cove, which accompanied a specimen of what Mr. Davis terms " pure ore, just as taken from its native bed." This specimen, bearing 251 the marks of Mr. Davis's chisel, was placed in my hands by Rev. Joseph Tracy, of Boston, it having been forwarded to him by Rev. H. M. Blodgett, to whom it was given by William Coppin- ger, Esq., of Philadelphia, who was the recipient of it from Mr. Davis. The larger mass, which I have the pleasure of exhibiting to the Society, presents a part of the specimen cleaned from oxide, while the small slabs show the texture of the iron in the central parts of the mass. The specimen had been drilled and filed when I first saw it, and my attention was particularly arrested by the filed surface, as the arrangement of the particles, viewed under a lens, was not only unusual, but closely resembled that of the unalloyed part of meteoric iron. In all artificial irons, we find the parti- cles disposed in such a way, that we may arrange the kinds under two heads. 1st, crude, or cast iron. In this the particles crystalline, and often distinctly crystallized^ are separated, by the occurrence of two forms of carbon intermixed with them, as graphitic carbon and pure graphite. These foreign bodies pre- vent the cohesion of the particles, and rarely permit them to come in contact ; hence this variety of iron is brittle ; rarely bending or bearing the hammer without fracture. In that variety of wliite iron, containing the smallest proportion of graphitic carbon and no graphite, the size of the crystals is large, but they are not solid, as their internal structure is impaired by the pres- ence of three or four per cent, of graphitic carbon. As a whole, this white iron often contains more pure iron than is found in some kinds of marketable malleable iron. The variety known as " Kishy " iron, is the exact representative of Meteoric iron; which consists of pure, unalloyed iron, in which alloys of iron and nickel, and nickel and iron are so distributed, as to prevent a regular crystallization. 2d. Malleable, or ductile iron. The removal of the two forms of carbon, by the process of refining crude iron, as usually practised, allows the crystalline particles to unite, so that a degree of perfect malleability is attained. In the iron reduced from the ore directly, by alternate exposure to contact with highly heated carbon and hammering, the oxide partly reduced, 252 and partly forced out of the mass, allows the same kind of con- tact among the particles, as exists in the iron obtained in purify- ing crude iron. Between these forms of iron and natural iron, there exists the same difference as we perceive between hammered copper and native copper. In the natural iron, as in the native copper, the crystals exist without extraneous matter interposed ; precisely as if deposited from solutions by electrolysis ; the masses they form are malleable, but always show flaws at points produced by the presence of earthy minerals, included in a more or less crystal- line form. In artificial ductile iron, the crystalline arrangement is broken down purposely, in order to unite the particles anew. Laminated iron, presents them flattened and shingled over each other, their serrated edges becoming felted. Drawn iron, exhibits an internal arrangement of longitudinal threads, formed from particles whose cohesion, laterally, has been diminished. The native iron presents only minute crystalline grains, which have not been broken or blended. Their color is lighter gray than that of any hammered iron. They are without much lus- tre, resembling iron which has been aggregated by electrical deposition. The mass is tough ; and when a fragment is broken, repeated bending and doubling is required, and the fracture is hackly. The texture is not uniform. Some parts are less com- pact than other portions, rendering the specific gravity of the mass less than that of other iron. Tliis inequality is due in part to the presence, in the mass, of crystalline quartz, magnetic oxide of iron, and a zeolite mineral, having a soda basis in part; conclusively proving that the iron has never been melted arti- ficially. Its chemical composition is, Pure iron, 98 40 Quartz grains, magnetic oxide, iron crystals, and zeolite ..... 1.60 100.00 There are no other metals present ; a fact which prevents us from placing this iron in the class of meteorolites. And the 253 absence of carhon, in any form, removes all doubt in regard to its being possibly of artificial formation. Every form of iron which has been the subject of manufac- ture, contains carbon. And it is an interesting observation in this connection, that, in the large number of samples of ancient irons, and those produced by semi-civilized people, which I have analyzed, not only has carbon been present, but the proportion was always larger than exists in the iron of commercial people. Tt appears that the rude workmen, in producing this useful metal, stop at that point where the half-refined iron is sufficiently duc- tile to take, under the hammer, the required form ; while the purer irons are produced later in history, when the more highly prized qualities become known. The discovery of native malleable iron in Liberia is interesting to science ; and if found in abundance, it will exert its usual civilizing influences, in a quarter to which the eyes and sympa- thies of philanthropists of the world are now directed. I may add, that two scimetars, made by the people of the interior, have been shown to me, and it was apparent, from the cross flaws and unequal texture, that they were not made from European iron. The present specimen came from the tract of country on the St. John's River, recently purchased for the New Jersey Colony. In the country back from Cape Palmas, and also further north, in the Sah-Po country, the natives have sufficient iron to supply their wants, and the evidence, so far as human testimony is con- cerned, is full and complete, that they obtain this iron by heat- ing the rocks, " mixed with brushwood and charcoal, in piles," the iron remaining after the combustion of the fuel ; a mode which could not produce iron from any known ore, even in the state of cast iron. Prof. JeflTries Wyman exhibited some of the results of experiments of the formation of rain impressions in clay. From his investigations, it appears that ordinary rain marks are characterized by the existence of radiating lines around the circumference of the impressions ; which are caused by the frag- ments of the drops, as they are dispersed, often impinging upon the plastic surface. 254 If a mass of water is thrown into the air, and allowed to fall on soft clay, the form of the impression will depend upon the condition of the drops at the time of contact. In descending, the drops assume the following forms, viz : first, that of a flat- tened sphere ; second, that of a cup with the concavity down- wards ; third, that of a ring ; and fourth, those of two or more spheres formed by the rupture of the ring. If the sphere be above a certain size, the impression presents a reticulated appearance in the centre, with radiating lines around the circumference. The impression formed by the cup is retic- ulated in the centre without radiating lines. The ring forms an impression corresponding with its shape, with radiating lines on its inner border, and sometimes on its outer border. Prof. Wyman thought that rain marks could be distinguished from those of spray. The rain mark is modified by the condition of the surface on which it strikes ; if the latter is hard, or of a coarse material, the minuter details are not shown. On examining the fossil rain marks, he had not found that the radiating lines were pre- served. They were doubtless destroyed by the drifting in of the new material by which they were covered up. In other respects, they resembled recent rain marks, and could be accounted for in no other way, than by the contact of drops of falling water. Sonne discussion ensued upon the rain and spray im- pressions, in which the President, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Hayes, Dr. Abbot, and Mr. Bouvc took part. They all recognized the great value of Prof. Wyman's investigations, as valua- ble contributions to science, and hoped that he would con- tinue these practical demonstrations in other and different materials. The Librarian announced the following bequest to the Society, by the late James Brown, one of the Patrons of the Society : — " I give and bequeath to the Boston Society of Natural His- tory, Gould's Ornithology, in sixteen volumes, folio ; Cuvier's 255 Histoire Naturelle, in three volumes, folio ; Hardwicke's Indian Zoology, in two volumes, folio ; Poiteau's Pomologie Francaise, in four volumes, folio ; Lambert's Genus Pinus, in one volume folio, and one volume octavo ; Gray's Genera of Birds, in three volumes, royal quarto." Mr. Dillaway accompanied the announcement of this bequest with the following remarks : — " The Society may well congratulate themselves on this timely donation. For many years we have been in want of these very works, but from their great cost, probably not less than $2,000, have been unable to obtain them. They constitute the most valuable donation ever made to the library, and give a com- pleteness to the ornithological department, unsurpassed in any collection in this country, excepting perhaps that of the Acad- emy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. "This is not the first time we have been indebted to the liberality of Mr. Brown. On many occasions his purse and his influence have been freely offered in aid of our efforts for the promotion of Natural Science. " In the list of our patrons, numbering eighty of the most liberal and public-spirited citizens of Boston, his name stands now among the first. Indeed, with the exception of the bequest of Ambrose S. Courtis, from whose estate we realized $10,000 — and the contribution of the late Amos Lawrence, who presented $5,000 towards the purchase of the building we occupy, the donation of Mr. Brown is one of the largest ever received. "It is not for me to write his eulogy — it has already been written by other and abler hands — but as my acquaintance with him has been a long one, commencing at a time when his whole property could not have purchased one of the volumes he has bequeathed to us — when ^industry, integrity, and a generous heart were all his capital, and reaching to a period when he was able and willing to give his thousands to the promotion of liter- ary, scientific, and charitable objects, I may be permitted to express a belief that Boston has lost by his death a citizen of whom she had good reason to be proud, and our Society a valued friend, whose memory we shall ever hold in honor." 25G The President bore testimony to the great value of the bequest of Mr. Brown. A committee, consisting of Dr. C. T. Jackson, C. K. Dillaway, Esq., and Prof. J. Wyman, was appointed to report appropriate resolutions at the next meeting of the Society. The Corresponding Secretary announced the reception of a letter from the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Berlin, August 27, 1855, returning thanks for numbers of the Journal and Proceedings, and for the Address by Dr. Warren. The Corresponding Secretary also presented, at the re- quest of Mrs. James Brown, of Watertown, a portrait of Mr. Thomas Nuttall, the Naturalist. Dr. Kneeland presented eight rare birds, from the Phil- ippine Islands, among them a Supercilious Ani, (JDactylo- phus super ciliosus.) The Secretary presented, in the name of Mr. G, S. Shaw, of Cambridge, a collection of birds, also from the Philippine Islands, and Australia; among them a specimen of Cuming's Ani, {Dasylophus Cumingii, Fras.) The two Anis comprise all the described species of the genus Dasylophus, which is peculiar to the Philippine Islands. These birds, in addition to the beauty of their plumage, are interesting for the examples they furnish of remarkable changes in the epidermic covering of birds, the feathers in the first species being tipped with shining spangles, and in the latter with hair-like appendages. In Dasylophus Cumingii,) the feathers of the crest, breast, and throat, are changed at their extremity into ovoid horny lamellce of a shining black color — expansions of the true horny structure of the shaft. In D. superciliosus^ the feathers forming a crest over each eye are changed, for three fourths of their extent, into red silky hairs or bristles, the base of the feather 257 being of the usual appearance ; each shaft seems to divide into several of these hair-like appendages. Something of the kind is seen in the Bohemian Chatterer or Wax-Wing, in which some of the secondary and tertial quill feathers end in small, oblong, flat appendages, in color and substance resembling red sealing- wax ; these also are merely expanded, horny prolongations of the shafts of the ordinary feathers. The hairy crest of the Supercilious Ani bears some resemblance to the appendage on the breast of the Wild Turkey, only it is much more silky and finer, and is directly continuous with ordinary feather structure, while the appendage of the Turkey is bristly in its whole ex- tent, showing a complete transition of feathers into hairs. Dr. Durkee was appointed to take charge, temporarily, of the Entomological Cabinet. Mr. Samuel W. Chamberlain was chosen a Resident Member. October 17, 1855. The President in the Chair. An extract was read from a letter of Dr. A. S. Baldwin, of Jacksonville, Florida, addressed to the President, in- forming him that he was engaged in making a collection of the Fresh Water Shells of East Florida, for the Society. A letter was read from Mr. Francis H. Storer, tendering his resignation of the office of Assistant Curator of Min- eralogy. The resignation of Mr. Storer was accepted, and Drs. Abbot and Kneeland were appointed a committee to nominate a candidate in his place. PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 17 DECEMBER, 1855. 258 A communication was read from Mr. John C. Jones, of West Newton, presenting a specimen of Geococcyx {Mexicanus}) — a bird from the coast of Alta California, known among the natives by the name of Correro Camino, or Road-Runner — and giving a description of some of the peculiar habits of this bird. The President exhibited some fossil impressions of rain- drops, and a very distinct impression of a bird's foot, from the Connecticut River Sandstone, and made some remarks upon them, as illustrating the observations of Prof. Wyman, reported at the last meeting. Mr. C. J. Sprague exhibited specimens and drawings of the Cordyceps (Sphoeria) militarisj Fries. This species of fungus is common in Europe, and not un- common in this country ; but it is interesting, from the fact of its being one of those which grow upon the larvse and pupse of insects. The specimens were both found at the roots of the Hamamelis Virginica in loose, black mould. There is another species C. entomorrhiza, which is found at the south. They both belong to the small tribe of the vast genus SpJiceria^ Cordyceps, elevated by Fries into a distinct genus. Mr. Sprague also exhib- ited, in elucidation of a few remarks upon the habits of these fungi, a specimen of S. Lactifluorum, from Maine, which entirely covered and transformed a species of Agaricus. The gills were not at all developed, and the whole plant was studded with the rose-red papillose perithecia of the SpJioeria, shedding their copious white sporidia. Prof. Jeffries Wyman read a part of a memoir on the Footprints discovered by Prof. Henry D. Rogers, in the Carboniferous Strata of Pennsylvania. (Vide Proceedings of meeting of April 4, 1855.) He gave an analysis of the anatomical characters by which Reptiles and Fishes are distinguished from each other, and attempted to dem- onstrate, that although there are but few osteological char- 259 acters, which, taken by themselves, are of absolute value as distinctions between these two classes, yet when the combinations of characters, which exist in any given instance, are considered, there can be but little room for doubt as to the true zoological atHnities. There exist no known forms of recent or fossil reptiles or fishes, which, where all their osteological details are known, cannot be referred unequivocally to one or the other of these classes. A comparison of the Ichthyoid Reptiles and Sauroid Fishes shows, that although it is through them that the two classes approach nearest to each other, yet there are no forms so completely intermediate, as to bridge over the space which separates them. He made comparisons between the form and structure of the feet of reptiles and the fins of fishes, showing, that although they resemble each other as regards their functions, yet morpho- logically they are always distinct. There is no known fish, recent or fossil, the pectoral or ventral fins of which could pro- duce a series of tracks like those discovered in the coal strata of Pennsylvania, by Mr. Lea and Prof. Rogers. Although among Lophioid fishes, the pectoral fins are used for locomotion on the shores, yet they, in every instance, conform to the fish type — are fins and not feet. An analogous condition of things is found among Cetaceans and marine Saurians, where the limbs serve the purpose of paddles, and may be compared to fins, yet, morpho- logically, they can be referred only to the Mammalian or Rep- tilian types. Prof. Wyman therefore thought, that, in the present state of knowledge, there was no ground for denying that the quadrupe- dal tracks found in the coal formations were made by Reptiles. It was voted, that Prof. Wyman be requested to furnish a copy of his memoir for insertion in the Journal. Dr. T. M. Brewer presented, in the name of J. W. Butler, Esq., Treasurer of the American Verd-Anlique Marble Company, specimens of that marble, and of several min- 260 crals — Actinolitc, Asbestos, Dolomite, Talc, Chromic Iron, and Magnetic Iron Ore — from the quarries at Roxbury, Vermont. At the request of Dr. Brewer, Dr. A. A. Hayes gave the Society an account of the characters of the so-called Verd- Antique Marble, polished specimens of which were on the table. IIo remarked, that considerable interest having of late been attached to this material, as an ornamental stone, a committee of the Franklin Monument Association, had requested him to ex- amine it in relation to the action of atmospheric agents, purpos- ing to adopt it as the base of the monument to be erected. It is well known, that the extremes of heat and cold, tlie alternate dryness and humidity of our climate soon deface and even dis- integrate the less compact stones, leaving us but a limited number of materials, for ornamental workmanship exposed to the air. Ordinary marble suffers not only a superficial degradation of surface rapidly, but the new surface produced, becomes a hot- bed for cryptogamous plants, which in turn disfigure it, and greatly aid further corrosion. The classic and beautiful sepul- chral monument, over the remains of Spurzheim, at Mt. Auburn, exhibits the defacement due to combined action of lichen growth and moisture, while near by is a monument to one whose mem- ory is revered by us, of imperfect bronze, also attesting the activity of atmospheric agents, when this metal is freely exposed to them. The samples subjected to trials were sawed, not polished sur- faces ; choice being made of the former, because the natural (laws existing in the material might become filled by the fine powders used in polishing. The stone was first subjected to Braads's test, which, as is well known, quickly shows the unenduring character of sandstones, bricks, and some marbles. The activity of this test was in- creased, but under any mode of application it failed to show any disposition in the material to absorb moisture or disintegrate. Finally, hot diluted hydrochloric acid was applied, and the 261 mineral was heated and immersed in it, without damage. The Quincy sienite and true granite will alone bear this test ; the so-called granite, which is truly gneiss, fails under its application. The enduring qualities of this stone being thus demonstrated, it may safely be used in permanent works, where its variegated shades of white and green will long preserve their polish and beauty. This mineral has been called Verd-Antique Marble, a name not only incorrect, but conveying a false conception of its value in a technical sense, as verd-antique marble does not resist ex- posure to our atmosphere. The experiments alluded to above, proved that the white portions were not marble, and as these portions resisted chemical agents, nearly as well as serpentine does, I was anxious to learn the composition of the whole. Dr. Brewer kindly furnished the specimens, which he took from the quarry during a recent visit, parts of the collection he has now presented. The analytical experiments were first made on the white portion of different masses, and the results established the inter- esting fact, that this part is an anhydrous Carbonate of Magnesia, nearly pure. The white part, often highly crystalline, can be separated from the masses only in small fragments. It then presents a milk-white color, is translucent, the cleavage planes having a high lustre. Generally, it contains scaly talc, of a clear green color, or it is blended with a dark green serpentine. The selected portions of the white parts were used in the following determinations : — 100 parts of the powder lose humidity at 212° F. and at 450° F. ; the whole loss is 0.08. 100 parts of the dried powder afford 47 parts of carbonic acid, as collected ; the total loss of weight was 48.80 parts. 100 parts of the dried powder consist of : — Carbonic acid 48.80 Magnesia 45.60 Talc and a little Silicic Acid . . . 3.60 Silicate protoxide of Iron . . . . 1.96 99.96 262 A more compact variety of the white mineral aiforded : — 0.08 luoisiuie ..... Water from hydrated rock . 0.98 Carbonic Acid .... 47.16 Magnesia 44.24 Talc lamina and Silicic Acid 5.20 Silicate of Alumina . . . , 0.64 Protoxide of Iron from Silicate . 1.53 99.83 The analysis of an average specimen, which exhibited the greenish-black, light green, and white colors intermixed, gave as its component parts : — Moisture 0.40 Carbonate of Magnesia .... 38.00 Talc and Serpentine 61.60 100.00 61.60 consisted of: — Combined Water .... 6.44 Silicic Acid ..... 36.92 Magnesia 10.52 Protoxide Iron and Manganese . 4.80 Alumina ...... 2.06 Chrome Iron 0.63 61.37 The basis rock is therefore an indefinite mixture of serpen- tine and greenish-white talc, with a silicate of alumina and protoxides of iron and manganese, which serves to render it compact, and probably imparts much of the green color. Some specimens also contain actinolite with talc, firmly united, so as to present a close texture, and considerable resistance to fracture. The proportion of chrome iron ore, in crystalline grains, varies in different specimens ; but it is never large enough to seriously interfere with the operations of sawing and polishing. As carbonic acid is often found in the analysis of serpentine, 263 a fact to which Prof. William B. Rogers has recently called my attention, and which may be verified on some well-known varie- ties, it becomes apparent that this compound can hardly be classed as a simple mineral, and we approach nearer the truth when we consider it an aggregate of several distinct minerals constituting a rock. The Committee appointed to prepare a series of resolu- tions, expressive of their appreciation of the valuable bequest to the library, by the late James Brown, report- ed the following preamble and resolutions, which were adopted : — We are called upon to deplore the loss of one of our highly valued members, a Patron of this Society, the late James Brown, Esq., who died at his residence in West Cambridge, on Satur- day, March 10, 1855, at the age of 55 years. Mr. Brown was born in Acton, in this State, on the 19th of May, in the year 1800, and lived, while a young man, in Cam- bridge. He was then poor, but was always respected for the excellence of his character, and for his industiy and fidelity to his employers. By his own industry, intelligent labor, and busi- ness habits, he gradually acquired so large an amount of prop- erty as to be able to make generous presents to the library of the College, and to aid in the advancement of many literary and humane undertakings. He entered into the business of publishing books, first in Cam- bridge, and subsequently in Boston, where he became an active partner in the firm of Little & Brown, a publishing house well known, not only in this community, but all over the Union, for its sterling publications and great fidelity. Mr. Brown soon took a lively interest in the Boston Society of Natural History, and freely contributed to its funds and to its library ; and by his active endeavors induced others also to favor the Society with liberal donations. The rank he took in becoming a Patron of the Society, he always ably sustained during his lifetime, and bore it in remem- brance in his last hours, as is proved by the valuable bequest 264 which he left to its library. Mr. Brown's taste for the beautiful, is admirably exemplified in his selection of the department of Ornithology as his favorite study, and the volumes he has left to the Society, in his last will, prove not only the excellence of his judgment in their selection, but also a most liberal spirit in the purchaser, of such valuable books in his favorite departments of science. Those who knew him well, say that he had a keen relish for the beautiful in nature, and that he enjoyed especially the observation of the habits of birds ; and they attribute much of his cultivated taste to this devotion to one of the most lovely departments of Natural History. In his profession he was an astute critic in judging of the character and value of books, and those whose opinion is entitled to respect say, that there are few men in the country who could have been more safely trusted with carte llancJie in the selection of a good library. The Committee beg leave to offer the following resolutions : — Resolved, That the Boston Society of Natural History is deeply sensible of the great loss it has met with in the decease of its eminent Patron and benefactor, the late James Brown, Esq., for whose numerous donations made during his lifetime, the Society has been under obligations, as also for the kindly exertions often made by him to persuade others to aid in the increase of the Society's means for the promotion of science. Resolved, That this Society, having received from the Execu- tors of the will of their late Patron, a number of magnificent folios on Ornithology and other departments of Natural History, which he had bequeathed to their library, contemplate this, one of the last acts of his life, with sentiments of deep emotion and grati- tude, as evincing the friendship and kind consideration of the testator toward this Society and his generous and kind apprecia- tion of their wants. Resolved, That a copy of the above preamble and resolutions be transmitted to the family of the deceased. Resolved, That the thanks of the Boston Society of Natural History be presented to Mrs. James Brown for her generous donation of a portrait of the distinguished Naturalist, Thomas Nuttall. 265 Prof. W. B. Rogers exhibited a specimen of Aluminium. The Corresponding Secretary announced the reception of the following letters, viz : — From the Royal Geographical Society, June 1, 1855, accom- panying the twenty-fourth volume of the Journal of that Society : — from the Societe Linneenne de Bordeaux, Dec. 20, 1854, the Academic Imperiale de Bordeaux, Dec. 26, 1854, and the Academic Royale de Stockholm, May 31, 1855, returning thanks for copies of the Journal and Proceedings ; — and from the Akademie der Wissenschaften at Vienna, May 1, 1855, pre- senting copies of its publications. November 7, 1855. The President in the Chair. A letter, addressed to the President by Sir John Richard- son, inclosing a copy of a communication from W. J. Christie to Sir George Simpson, dated Fort Polly, Swan River District, January 28, 1855, was read to the Society; the following is an extract : — " With reference to the portion of Sir John Richardson's letter to you regarding a search to be made for the remains of the Mastodon, I have the honor of informing you, that agreeably to the above request, I procured in October last an Indian guide, and proceeded to Shell River, where the bones of that animal were found. The shoulder bones referred to by Sir John Richardson, together with other bones and the teetJi, were found in the river by the Indians several years since, and were taken out and laid on the bank. Owing to some superstitious fear, the Indians, at the time of their discovery, would not bring them here ; but two years afterwards they were sent for, and the 266 shoulder bones, together with a tooth, were brought here ; but whether or not the tooth was sent to Red River with the shoulder bones, I cannot ascertain. On reaching Shell River last fall, I carefully examined the spot where the Indians laid the bones, and found them ; but having been buried, they had decayed so much that they fell to pieces on being touched. A portion of a large bone, and some fragments of what is supposed to have been a tooth, I brought here ; these will be carried to Norway house next spring and disposed of as you may direct." Prof. W. B. Rogers presented the results of calculations, which he had lately made, of the terminal velocity of rain drops of different diameters. As the impinging force of the drop must in all cases depend on its weight and velocity jointly, the determination of the latter quantity, even approximately, would seem to be of considerable interest in connection with the subject of rain-drop impressions, which Prof. Wyman has begun to investigate with so much success. Were the space around the earth a vacuum, a falling body would continue to be accelerated at a nearly equal rate to the end of its descent, and would not attain to its maximum velocity until the moment of its impact on the ground. Such, however, is not the condition of a body descending through the atmos- phere. The particles of air lying in its way oppose a resistance to its motion, and this force increases in a very rapid ratio as the velocity augments. There will therefore in every case be a certain speed at which this resistance acting upward will pre- cisely equal the weight of the falling mass, and when this is once attained all further acceleration must cease. In these conditions, supposing the air to be of uniform density down to the earth, the body will fall though the remaining distance at a uniform rate. This terminal velocity, therefore, is obviously the greatest speed which, under the conditions, the body can acquire by descending through the air, however great the altitude from which it may be supposed to fall. Assuming, what is probably in most cases the fact, that the 267 rain-drops fall from a sufficient height to attain a terminal velo- city before the close of their descent, and taking as the basis of the calculation the formula of Hutton, which expresses numeri- cally the law of resistance, as determined by experiment, in the case of spherical bodies, Prof Rogers, in the first place, com- puted the terminal velocity of a spherical drop of water one tenth of an inch in diameter. Thence he deduced the velocities corresponding to other successively smaller diameters, by the simple rule that for unequal spheres of like material the terminal velocities are proportional to the square roots of the diameters. In this way was calculated the following table of the terminal or greatest attainable speed of spherical rain-drops, ranging in diameter from one tenth to one four thousandth of an inch. Dianaetei Terminal Velocity in feet per second tV inch 71.50 ft. -V ct . . 50.50 ^v it 41.40 ^v ;c . . 35.60 ■fV ;; 32.03 T^^ (i , . 22.70 TcrW a 7.20 Wwu a . . 5.06 ttjVtj a 3.50 These numbers would of course require to be more or less modified, if account were taken of the altered form of the drops as they descend, but as we are ignorant of the nature and amount of this change, we cannot determine its effect on the terminal velocity. If instead of assuming the descending globule to consist of water throughout its whole volume, we suppose it to be a hollow shell of water like a microscopic soap-bubble, it is obvious that for the same diameter the terminal velocity would be greatly less than in the above table. Admitting with Saussure and others that clouds are made up of such hollow vesicles of extreme minute- ness, it can be shown that their descent to the earth would be so slow as to make their gravitating tendency inappreciable during the short time in which we watch them as they float by. 268 Dr. H. R. Storer presented, in the name of Dr. D. H. Storer, some specimens of very large Oyster Shells, probably Ostrea Virginica, taken from the milldam by Samuel Nicolson, Esq. Mr. Nicolson, who was present, was introduced to the Society by Dr. Storer. He stated that, thirty-five years ago, having occasion to remove a portion of the flats beneath one of the large wheels in the mills on the milldaVn, he had found a bed of these shells two or three feet below the surface, forming a porous mass, through which the tide ebbed and flowed. The shells had also been found in the channel of Charles River, a quarter of a mile from the dam, and he supposed that there was an extensive bed of extinct oysters lying between these two points. The shells are long and slender, many of them attaining a length of 12 or 13 inches. Mr. T. J. Whitemore remarked that this oyster has been well known in Charles River for many years, and that occasionally living specimens are yet found there. Dr. C. T. Jackson remarked that there is an ancient oyster bed, near Boothbay, Maine, now sixty feet above the surface of the sea. No living oysters are found in the vicinity. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers said an oyster of this character was found lying over the newest tertiary, near the mouth of the Rappahannock River, of post-pliocene age. He had noticed, that in shape, and in the peculiarity of the hinge, these speci- mens were identical with those from the Rappahannock River. Dr. H. R. Storer reported the results of some recent experiments upon the cohesive properties of different sizes of Gutta Percha Pipe, made in connection with Mr. Charles Stodder. The first trial was with one thousand feet of a pipe, of one inch internal diameter and one and three sixteenths external diameter, intended for an aqueduct at West Cambridge. Upon applying a pressure of 80 lbs. to the square inch, a fine hole was discovered ; this hole being closed with a hot iron, a pressure of 269 100 lbs. was borne with ease. The remainder of the experi- ments were made with short pieces of pipe varying from one to three feet in length. A piece of the same pipe was subjected to the full test ; it bore 266 lbs., and burst at 272 lbs. Another piece of the same diameter internally, with one and five sixteenths external diameter, from a different factory, bore 300 lbs., and burst at 320. Pipe of seven eighths of an inch internal diameter, and one and one eighth external diameter, stood a pressure of 280 lbs., and burst at 304 lbs. Pipe of five eighths internal, and one and one thirty-second of an inch external diameter, stood 320 lbs., and burst at 360 lbs. This is the size used in Boston for the Cochituate Water, and is there subjected to a pressure of not more than 60 lbs. Pipe of one half an inch internal, and five eighths of an inch external diameter, bore 234 lbs., and burst at 240 lbs. Pipe of the same diameter but of another manufacture, intended for an ordinary pressure of 35 lbs., stood 360 lbs., and then burst. Pipe of quarter of an inch internal, and five eighths of an inch external diameter, stood 720 lbs., and burst at 760. This is a stout pipe, used in the shops for effervescing soda water, and generally subjected to a pressure of about 200 lbs. Dr. A. A. Hayes asked at what temperature the experiments were made, as the power of cohesion would vary with the tem- perature. Dr. Storer replied, at the common temperature of the Cochit- uate Water. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers asked if these pipes were of recent manufacture. He had made experiments upon the cohesive properties of Gutta Percha and had found that a very remarkable molecular change takes place, after some length of time, in the material, so that it readily breaks up and becomes utterly worth- less in that condition. Mr. Charles Stodder stated that the material which had been in the market at different times was of very different qualities, and that the crude article itself, was extensively adulterated by 270 the natives before exportation. When first introduced here and into England, much bad material was obtained. Some samples were found to be acid, and lime was recommended for its neu- tralization. This remedy however soon became an abuse, for lime and oxide of zinc were at one time extensively used for its adulteration, no less than fifty per cent, of lime being often introduced. Mr. Stodder has specimens of the pure gum, man- ufactured into different articles several years since, now in good condition. Mr. C. C. Sheafe said he had a pipe, connected with bellows and freely suspended in the air, which had been in use about eight months, and which was now as fragile as glass. Dr. N. C. Keep stated that he had used small quantities of Gutta Percha for several years. He had observed that when allowed to rest untouched for a considerable length of time, it uniformly lost its tenacity ; but on being worked over again with the aid of heat, it appeared as tough and good as at first. The simple process of heating is not sufficient for this purpose, but the material should be re- wrought. The greatest nicety is required in determining the proper degree of heat, as brittleness may be occasioned by overheating. The use which he had made of it was in dental operations, principally as a temporary filling in sensitive cavities, etc. Dr. S. L. Abbot stated that Gutta Percha had been used with success at the Massachusetts General Hospital, at the suggestion of Dr. H. J. Bigelovv, to take impressions of strictures ; but other instances have occurred where this material failed for this purpose and had even given rise to serious trouble from the breaking of the instrument. Dr. C. D, Homans said that the same material was much used at the hospital for splints, it being simply remoulded in each case. Dr. Calvin G. Page remarked that brittleness had been observed in thick sheets, which had lain unused for some time in the hospital,, but these were afterwards re- worked and put into use. Dr. Chas. T. Jackson stated that Gutta Percha varied very much in quality in different specimens. He had noticed this 271 tendency to nfiolecular change. Pelouze has examined the sub- stance chemically, and found it to be identical in composition with caoutchouc. Dr. A. A. Hayes said that Gutta Percha had been thoroughly analyzed in France and its component parts are well known. He had remarked that the molecular change is more readily effected in the light than in the dark. He thought pipes of this material would endure as long as any thing of a vegetable nature could in the soil. The President exhibited casts of the Ichthyosaurus, which he had just received from Germany. To this species had been given the name of Ichthyosaurus platyodon, from its flattened teeth. The length of the head is about four feet, equalling that of the largest mastodon. It is supposed that the total length of the individual was about sixty feet. A cast of the head, and of the anterior extremity or paddle, were the parts exhibited and described by the President. The Committee appointed by the Council to take into consideration the subject of an expedition to California, for the purpose of collecting objects in the various departments of Natural History, in behalf and at the expense of the Society, reported : — That they had made satisfactory arrangements to that effect with Mr. Emanuel Samuels, the Taxidermist and Janitor of the Society, and that he had already left for California in the prosecution of his object. Mr. Samuels was both willing and anxious to go upon the expedition, not only for the interests of the Society, but to extend his own acquaintance with Natural Science, and earn for himself a wider reputation as collector and taxi- dermist. Animated by this desire, pecuniary profit became an unimportant matter, and he expressed a willingness to go to California, remain there a year and employ all his time in the service of the Society, if it would assume the simple expense of the expedition. Were the Society to 272 defray the expense of his passage to and from California, as well as purchase the necessary equipment for such an undertaking, a much larger sum would be necessary than the present funds in the treasurer's hands, or even the income of the current year, could meet. Under these circumstances, the committee would not have advised the undertaking. But an agreement has been entered into with the Smithsonian Institution, by which all the expenses of passage and outfit will be defrayed by that institution, which unites with this Society in the enterprise,, on terms advantageous to both. The Smithsonian Institution will reserve only such speci- mens as are necessary to complete its own collection. Dr. Leconte will name all the Insects, reserving only such as will fill vacancies in his already very extensive cabinet. The Mammals will be given into Dr. Baird's hands, as he is now employed in their especial study. All remaining specimens will come to the Society, and all memoirs or de*scriptions of new species are to be first published either in the Society's Proceedings or Journal. The Committee feel desirous of expressing gratification at the liberal and zealous spirit manifested by Mr. Samuels, who has constantly placed the interests of the Society before his personal emolument. He has been willing to undertake a difficult and laborious task, mainly for the reputation and honor which he may thereby acquire ; and the Committee feel that so advantageous an arrangement could have been made with no other individual. The Report was accepted. Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., presented a young male Golden or Ring-tailed Eagle, {Aquila chrysaUos, Linn.) shot a few weeks since in Lexington, Mass. This bird is common in the northern and northwestern parts of this country, but is quite rare in the southern New England States, and 273 this is the first specimen known to have been obtained in Massachusetts. Dr. Freeman J. Bumstead, of New York, was elected a Corresponding Member. November' 21, 1855. ^ The President in the Chair. Present by invitation, Prof. G. Gajani, of Rome. The following letter was read to the Society. Dijon, France, September 5, 1855. To the President of the Boston Natural History Society : I have learned by the Boston Daily Evening Traveller, sent me by a friend, that the'Report of M. Elie de Beaumont, on my " Researches on Earthquakes," was the subject of discussion at one of the meetings of the Society over which you preside. That I have a great desire to see the report of this discussion, you can readily imagine. I therefore do not hesitate to request you to send me the numbers of your " Proceedings," containing these articles. The Geological Societies of Paris and London, wishing to give me a proof of their willingness to aid me in forming a collection which I am endeavoring to make, have given me, from their memoirs, all the articles relating to Earthquakes and Volcanic Phenomena. May I hope that you will follow their example, and accede to my request ? If your colleague, Mr. Stodder, would send me a copy of his memoir on the " Changes of the Surface of the Earth," I should be very grateful. Accept, Sir, my thanks in advance, and the assurance of my most respectful consideration. (Signed,) Alexis Perrey. PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 18 JANUARY, 1856. 274 On motion of Dr. Chas. T. Jackson, it was voted that the current volume of " Proceedings," containing the articles in question, together with such other papers as it might be in the power of the Society to send, be transmitted to M. Perrey. The President exhibited a specimen of small teeth, probably of a recent fish, found in a cavern in one of the towns on the south shore of Lake Erie, brought to the meeting by Mr. Allen. Prof. Jeffries Wyman gave an account of the dissection of a Black Chimpanzee, (Troglodytes niger,) one of the collection presented by Dr. J. V. C. Smith. The dissection was made particularly with reference to a comparison of the muscular system of Troglodytes with that of man. The following were some of the deviations from the arrangement of the corresponding muscles in man. The Deltoid arose from the whole base of the scapula below the spine, in addition to the origin which it has in man. A Trachelo-clavicular muscle was present on each side ; this is never found in man. The Pectoralis Minor was inserted by a slender tendon into the great tuberosity of the humerus, instead of into the coracoid process, as in man. The Supinator longus was more powerful than in man, being fleshy to within an inch of its insertion. The Flexors of the wrist were more powerful than in man. The Long Extensor of the thumb was very slender. The Short Extensor of the thumb was inserted into the base of the metacarpal bone. * The Extensor Ossis Metacarpi or Long Abductor was inserted into the Trapezium. The Flexor longus PoUicis did not exist ; but in its place there was a small and delicate tendon from the flexor communis profundus. 275 The short muscles of the thumb were very small. Muscles of the Lower Extremity. The Gluteus maximus covered only the lower part of the gluteal region, but had a portion of its origin from the tuber ischii. Its insertion reached as low down as the outer condyle of the femur. The Gluteus medius was the largest of the glutei muscles. The Flexors of the Leg did not allow the limb to be fully extended on the thigh from their shortness. The short head of the Biceps passed beneath the tendon of the long head, became very imperfectly attached to it, and was inserted below it into the fibula. No Peroneus tertius existed. The Gastrocnemius was fleshy to the Os Calcis. The Tendo Achillis was very short. The Flexor longus Pollicis Pedis was united by its tendon to that of the long flexor of the toes. The Extensor brevis Digitorum Pedis supplied the tendons of the second, third, and fourth toes only. The great toe had an independent short extensor. Intestinal Canal. The Caecum was freely movable. The Sigmoid Flexure was very long, reaching the right hypochondriac region. Papillse Circumvallatse of Tongue. Only three existed. The Vertebrse were thirty-four, viz: Cervical, 7. Dorsal, 13. Lumbar, 4. Sacral, 5. Coccygeal, 5. Prof. Wyman also exhibited two Monkeys' skulls as patholog- ical specimens. One of them, that of a young Cynocephalus, presented a spongy disease of the bones of the head, which Prof. W. has frequently met with in monkeys. In each lung of this animal, was found a tubercle, of the size of a hazel nut, at the posterior and lower part of the lower lobe. The second monkey's skull presented a depressed parietal bone on one side, from some unknown cause ; this was a Cebus from South America. Prof. Wyman exhibited two plaster casts of the footprints of a South American Ostrich ; and called attention to the fact, that although the papillee of the skin and other points were represented 276 in detail in the casts, yet the true number of phalanges could not be counted. The pressure upon the foot in taking the impression, as well as the natural weight of a bird's body upon its feet, which have been imprinted in the sands of the sea-shore, tend to straighten and extend the foot and thus obliterate, or render indistinct, the impressions of the phalanges. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers made some remarks upon the Geology of the Southern and Middle States, confirmatory of the observa- tions of Prof. Wyman upon the Footprints of the Carboniferous Strata of Pennsylvania. Mr. Charles Stodder exhibited samples of Gutta Percha, of different qualifies. Dr. T. M. Brewer presented, in the name of Dr. T. H. Webb, a seed vessel and seeds of Nelumbium luteum, Yellovi^ Nelumbo or Water Chinquepin, from Kansas. The seeds are used by the Indians as food. December 5, 1855. The President in the Chair. The following extract from a letter of Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, addressed to the President, was read to the Society. " I am very glad to see, by late numbers of the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, that you have recently received from Mr. Field, of Greenfield, Mass., a slab of the Connecticut Valley Sandstone, displaying unusually interesting surfaces." ( Fit^e Proceedings of meeting of June 6, 1855.) "The footprints of crustaceans are very rare. I hope you will 277 describe and figure these. I do not understand, however, the impression which ' consists of an excavation of about fifteen inches long, and of an inch wide, dividing into two branches.' If there be two branches, they could not have been made by one unio. It is not at all unlikely that two individuals may have been travelling together. " Many of these linear marks and grooves are very obscure, and I am much inclined to believe that many of them, which are regarded as sun-dried cracks, are really of vegetable origin. Some of the AlgcB anastomose, and I do not see why some of these obscure impressions, may not be attributed to that form of imperfect vegetation. Other algae have their branches inoscu- lating, and of course, if impressed on a plastic surface, they would present the form of sun-dried cracks. We are daily getting more and more evidence of the cogeneric vegetation existing in the same horizon whh the footmarks of the so-called New Red Sandstone of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, &c." The President exhibited a cast of Pterodactyl longiros- tris, a fossil flying reptile, and pointed out its peculiarities. The head was very large compared with the body, and the lower jaw very long, whence its specific name. The head and teeth preclude the idea of its belonging to the same class with the bat, an animal which it might somewhat have resembled when flying. Its sternum is oblong as in the Saurians, and does not resemble the sternum of birds. The principal peculiarity is the fold of the skin extending from the tip of the finger along the body, enabling the animal to fly, as has been supposed. Prof Jeffries Wyman remarked that there had always been some degree of doubt whether the pterodactyl had the power of flying, as until recently the sternum had always been found to be a flattened shield without a projecting keel. Herman Von Meyer has quite lately, however, detected a sternum with a broad keel, like that of birds, to which powerful muscles might have been attached, thus rendering flight easy. Dr. Silas Durkee exhibited a portion of a Guinea Worm, 278 (Filaria Medinensis,) and demonstrated, with the aid of the microscope, its minute structure. The fragment was two inches in length, removed from the leg of a man who had recently returned from the Southern coast of Africa. Bundles of wavy fibres were visible upon compression, running longitudinally, and externally an epidermic coat, which could be completely separated from the subjacent muscular coat, presenting parallel rows of dotted markings, resembling those of striated muscle. This portion of the worm was completely filled with young, varying in length from y^^ to yjVit of an inch. They had a bilobed anterior extremity, with an intermediate fissure indi- cating an oral aperture, an appearance of an intestinal canal, and a very prolonged tail running to a very fine point. The dotted markings of the epidermis were also seen in the young. Dr. S. L. Abbot read a translation from the Gazette Medicale of Paris, of July 28, 1855, of an article purport- ing to be an authentic history of the so-called Aztec Chil- dren. These children were exhibited to the Society several years ago, and were the subject of a m.emoir read by Dr. J. Mason Warren, a synopsis of which was published in the Proceedings. They are now exhibiting in Europe with the same narrative, as to their origin, which was circulated whilst they were in America. By this account it appears, that the so-called Aztec Children, were born of mulatto parents in the neighborhood of Jacotal in the State of San Salvador, Central America. They were ob- tained from their parents for public exhibition on condition of re- ceiving half of the profits. The man, however, to whom they were intrusted, sold them in New York, to an American, without the knowledge of the parents, for the sum of eighteen thousand dollars ; and they were taken to Europe, and exhibited in Eng- land and France with the same fabulous story of their origin as accompanied their exhibition in America. The father of the children is a mulatto fisherman of San Miguel, who obtains a 279 subsistence by taking fish in the lagoon of Ulupa. The mother is a young and vigorous mulatto woman, employed on a farm to grind corn for the laborers. Neither of the parents has a drop of Indian blood in their veins. As yet they have been unable to obtain possession of their children, or to get any redress for the grievous wrong done them. Mr. J. A. Dupee, in behalf of O. A. Farwell, Esq., President of the Phoenix Copper Company, presented some specimens of Native Copper, from the company's location on Keweenav^^ Point, Lake Superior. It is well known that the copper veins of that district are usually found in a direction nearly north and south. The speci- mens now exhibited, were taken from what is called in that neighborhood, the "scoriaceous or ash bed." This bed, of 150 to 250 feet in thickness, lies parallel with the geological forma- tion, and has been traced from east to west about nine miles. It has long been known as containing copper. So early as 1844, considerable quantities were taken from it, but it was not ascer- tained to be worth working until 1854. Considerable attention to its value has been paid by the Copper Falls Company, and it is understood with prospect of pecuniary success. Although frequently called an east and west vein, this deposit has not been considered by miners, technically, as such. Mr. Hill, in his annual report to the Phoenix Company, January, 1855, page 8, speaks of it as " holding copper intermixed with the rock and not in a veiny A true vein has at last been discovered in this bed. Mr. Butler, Superintendent, writes to the President of the Phoenix Company under date of the 16th of November, that he has opened a well walled vein, running east and west, in the ash bed, 30 to 40 feet in width, carrying rich stamp work. Aside from any interest this may excite as a mining adventure, the discovery is one of great scientific interest. Hitherto, the formation of Keweenaw Point has been regarded, so far as its cupriferous deposits were concerned, as very diff'er- ent from the district of Portage Lake and Ontanagon. In these places the metallic veins are found, with a single exception at 280 the Quincy Mine, P. L., running with the formation, while at Keweenaw Point, until this year, the veins were supposed invari- ably to cross the formation at nearly right angles. Mr. Dupee requested Dr. C. T. Jackson to express his views with regard to this mineral deposit on Eagle River. Dr. Jackson then stated, that when he first called public attention to the native copper mines on Lake Superior, in 1844, he made a full survey of the whole mining districts on Eagle River, and at Copper Falls, and had published in his reports to the Lake Superior and Copper Falls Mining Companies, very full descriptions of their respective mining " countries," and of the copper and silver veins included in the rocks. On reference to his first Report, in 1844, it will be found that this scoriaceous or " ash bed," as seen on the margin of Eagle River, is described as exhibiting one wall, while for the distance of ninety feet, at right angles to it, the rock is impregnated with particles of native copper and silver, which are most abundant in the "ash bed," there called the "rotten rock." The other wall of this bed was not then found, and he was glad to learn that it had now been discovered by the miners. Regular veins had also been found in this same scoriaceous trap-rock ; and at the time the Lake Superior Company stopped work, through bad counsels, there was a vein with well-defined walls, and rich in copper and silver, at the bottom of their tunnel under the river. Copper mining, at that day, was so little understood by the early adventurers, and so many difficulties stood in their way, in an unbroken wilderness, that the first mining company abandoned their mines before they had fairly commenced regular works. The Phoenix Company, having purchased the property, are now mining with greater advantages, and it is believed with fair prospects of ultimate success. The ash bed, mentioned by Mr. Dupee, is a comparatively soft scoria, or rotten amygdaloid, formed by the mixture of molten trap-rock and fine sandstone, which have been, as it were, melted together into a very spongy kind of scoria, the aqueous vapor having rendered it remarkably vesicu- lar. The amygdaloidal and scoriaceous beds of trap-rock, occur in alternate layers with coarse conglomerate and fine red sand- stone strata, appearing as if immense sheets of the molten trap 281 had been poured out, at different times, through a fissure, and spread over the materials of the sandstone and conglomerate at the bottom of the sea, thus producing ahernating beds of these rocks. In the bed of Eagle River, below the Phcenix Mines, Dr. Jackson's Assistant, Mr. George O. Barnes, had found no less than eleven distinct beds of sandstone and conglomerate alternating with the trap ; and Dr. Jackson had previously described six of those alternations in his notes of the survey of the mining district of Copper Falls. It is true that there are cupriferous beds running with the " country," or parallel to the trend of the trappean range, and of the sandstone strata, which have a course E. N. E., and W. S. W., and that there are also crossing veins, which traverse these at right angles, and are generally rich in metallic lodes, and have well-defined walls and vein stones well characterized, Prehnite being the most common of the outcrop- ping wall stone of the native copper veins, though Leonhardite, Laumonite, and Calcareous Spar, also occur in a similar manner in the mines ; while Analcime, Apophyllite, Mesotype, and Chabasie, are common accompanying minerals. Toward the Ontanagon, and also in Isle Royale, Epidote is the most common vein stone, and even forms large beds filled with small irregular grains of copper, which often amount to eight per cent, of the mass. It is a curious and interesting fact that, although a vein fissure traverses both sandstone and trap-rocks, the only metal- liferous portion of the vein is that which traverses the trap. This, Dr. Jackson explained as the result of the chemical action of protoxide of iron in the trap-rock, which decomposed the vapor of chloride of copper, as it rushed from the interior of the earth through the crevices ; if, as is probable, these wonderful native copper lodes, are the products of sublimation and of galvanic segregation of the metal from vapor. The Corresponding Secretary announced the reception of the following letters, viz : — From the Royal Institution, Oct. 12, 1855, and the Royal Geographical Society, Nov. 14, 1855, returning thanks for copies of the Journal and Proceedings ; from the Zoological Society of 282 London, Oct. 17, 1855, accompanying its Proceedings, Nos. 214 to 291 ; from the Societe d'Agriculture de Lyon, June 23, 1855, transmitting a copy of its Annals, Vol. 6 ; from the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenchaften, July 12, 1855, and the Naturhis- torischer Verein at Bonn, August 15, 1855, accompanying donations of their publications. Mr. Chas. J. Sprague presented a Lichen which he had found in Hinghain and Newton, Mass., and which had been pronounced by Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis, of South Carolina, to be Myriangiwn Curtisii of Berk, and Mont. It had not before been detected in Massachusetts. R. D. Mussey, Jr., Esq., of Cincinnati, was elected a Corresponding Member. December 19, 1855. The President in the Chair. A communication was received from the Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, June 6, 1855, returning thanks for the Annual Address by the President. Prof. W. B. Rogers presented the following table of the terminal velocities of rain-drops, as a substitute for that previously handed to the Secretary, (Vide page 267,) which by mistake had been copied from an unfinished calculation. The present table includes, in addition, the case of vesicular drops, such as have been supposed to form cloud or fog. Diameter. Terminal Velocity in feet per second. iV inch .... 20.55 ft. ^V " . . . . 14.53 28: Diameter. iU 1 5"(T Touo~o Terminal Velocity in feet per second . 11.86 10.27 . 9.182 6.498 . 2.055 1.453 . 1.027 0.647 Assuming the thickness of the vesicle to be a very small fraction of its diameter, the terminal velocity will be simply proportional to the square root of the thickness. Thus a vesicle say xnW of an inch in diameter, and ^-0-0:000 of an inch thick will have a terminal velocity of 0.5034. If the thickness be T.TjW.TT^tr inch, the terminal velocity will be 0.1591 feet per second, or about ten feet per minute. Prof. Rogers also exhibited specimens of Iron ore and shale and shaly sandstone, more or less impregnated with Proto-Carbonate of Iron, from the Bituminous Coal region of the Trans-Alleghany basin, and called the attention of the Society to what he regarded as the most probable and simple theory of the origin and accumulation oftheProto- Carbonate of Iron in coal measures generally. This compound of Iron, as we know, where mined in the coal measures, presents itself in courses of lenticular nodules and interrupted plates usually included in carbonaceous shales and in the fire-clays which underlie the seams of coal, and in such cases it often forms a heavy ore containing but little earthy or organic matter mixed with the Proto-Carbonate. But it is also frequently met with in a diffused condition^ pervading thick strata of shale and shaly sandstone, and causing these rocks to present in their different layers all the gradations of composition, from a poor, argillaceous and sandy ore, to beds of sandstone and shale, with little more than a trace of the ferruginous compound. On comparing the different subdivisions of a system of coal 284 measures, we may remark certain general conditions connected with the abundance or with the comparative absence of the Proto- Carbonate in the strata. One of these is seen in the fact that the lenticular ores and strata impregnated with Proto-Carbonate of Iron are in a great degree restricted to such divisions of the carboniferous rocks as include beds of coal or are otherwise heavily charged with car- bonaceous matter. This is well shown on comparing together the four subdivisions of the carboniferous rocks of the great Trans- Alleghany coal region, as classified under the head of the Serai coal series of the Pennsylvania and Virginia geology. In the first of these, designated as the older coal measures, the Proto-Carbonate is found in large amount, both in the shape of layers of lenticular ore and diffused through the substance of the shaly strata. In the next division above, distinguished as the older barren shales, and which, as the name implies, is compara- tively devoid of carbonaceous matter, much less of the Proto- Carbonate is met with. In the third group, that of the newer coal measures, the ore again abounds, and in the uppermost division, or newer barren shales, it has a second time almost disappeared. The connection between the development of the Proto-Car- bonate in the strata and the presence, either now or formerly, of a large amount of carbonaceous or vegetable matter becomes even more striking on a detailed examination of particular beds. Thus, in the coarse sandstones of the coal measures, which are comparatively destitute of vegetable remains, we find little admixture of the Proto-Carbonate. On the other hand, the fine- grained, flaggy, argillaceous sandstones, which are often crowded whh the impressions and carbonized remains of plants, are at the same time more or less impregnated with this ferruginous com- pound. So, again, the soft argillaceous shales, in the midst of which the lenticular ore so frequently presents itself, show by their dark color and included impressions of plants, as well as by actual analysis, that they are richly imbued with vegetable matter. Nor do the nearly white fire-clays, which in many cases inclose thick courses of the lenticular ore, form any exception to this law. For although in their present state they 285 contain little or no carbonaceous matter, the marks of innumer- able roots of Stigmaria, and parts of other plants which every- where penetrate the mass, show that at one time they must have been crowded with vegetable remains. A further and yet more striking proof of the influence which the contiguous vegetable matter has had, in the formation of the Proto-Carbonate, is seen in the fact, that the most productive layers of the ore are commonly met with quite near to the beds of coal, and that frequently courses of the nodules are found in the carbonaceous shales or partings which lie in the midst of the seam itself. While the strata including the Proto-Carbonate are thus distinguished by the admixture of more or less carbonaceous matter, they are also remarkable for seldom exhibiting a dis- tinctly red tint. Presenting, where not weathered, various shades of greenish gray and olive and bluish black, they only become brown or red where, by exposure to the air, the Proto- Carbonate has been converted into the Sesquioxide of Iron. On the other hand, those divisions of the coal measures which have been but slightly charged with vegetable matter, as for example the barren shales of the Serai Coal rocks before alluded to, contain much red material, both in distinct strata and mottling the general mass, and are throughout more or less impregnated with the Sesquioxide. A like general law as to color would seem to apply to the other great groups of sedimentary rocks, which include in particular beds accumulations of vegetable or other organic exuvise. Thus, in the New and Old Red Sandstone formations, which generally include so large a proportion of sediment colored by the red Oxide of Iron, organic remains are of com- paratively rare occurrence, and when present are met with almost exclusively in the gray and olive and dark-colored strata which are interpolated in certain parts of the great masses of red material. This relation is beautifully shown in the middle secondary rocks of the Atlantic slope, which extend in a pro- longed belt from the Connecticut Valley into the State of South Carolina. In the strata of red sandstone and shale, which form the chief part of the mass, vegetable or animal exuvise are almost 286 entirely absent. But the remains of fish, and impressions of carbonized parts of plants, occurring in this group of deposits, are found embedded in layers of greenish and olive sandstones and dark bituminous shales. So, in the southern parts of the belt in Virginia and North Carolina, where these rocks include seams of coal and extensive beds of sandstone and shale con- taining the remains of plants, the usual red color is found to give place to the gray, olive, and dark tints of the old coal measures, and layers of Proto-Carbonate of Iron show themselves in the vicinity of the coal seams. Taken in mass, the red and mottled strata of the unproductive coal measures, or of the other groups of red rocks above alluded to, would no doubt be found to contain, in an equal thickness, as large an amount of Iron as the Coal-bearing strata which include the layers of Carbonate ; the difference being that, in the former case, the metal remains for the most part diffused through the rock as a Sesquioxide, while in the latter, having assumed the condition of Proto-Carbonate, it has to some extent been con- centrated in particular layers or strata. According to a rough estimate of the amount of Carbonate ore included in the lower coal measures of the Laurel Hill region of Virginia and Penn- sylvania, derived from a detailed examination of the ores and associated strata at several points, it may be safely assumed that the equivalent of Sesquioxide of Iron would not amount to one third of one per cent, of the whole mass of this portion of the coal measures, and a proportion not exceeding this is deducible from the measured sections of ore and accompanying rocks in the carboniferous strata of other tracts subjected to a similar calculation. But even allowing a quantity three times as great as this, to cover the diffused carbonate and the oxide in some cases mingled with it, we should have only about one per cent, to represent the proportion of ferruginous matter in the entire mass ; an amount undoubtedly much less than exists in many of the strata of red and purple shales and shaly sandstones of the carboniferous series or of the groups of red rocks geologically above or beneath it. In attempting to explain the origin of the Proto-Carbonate, 287 under the conditions above described, it is important to keep in view the fact of the diffusion of this compound through many of the strata as a general constituent, and the frequent preservation, even in layers of the ore, of the lamination of the contiguous rock. The supposition of its being a chemical deposit formed from springs charged with carbonic acid, and holding Proto-Car- bonate in solution, is evidently inconsistent with these conditions, and not less so with the fact of the great horizontal extension of individual beds of ore and inrvpregnated shaly rocks. In view of these various considerations it may be con- cluded : — First, That throughout the coal measures and other groups of rocks above mentioned, as well in the portions containing coal and diffused vegetable and animal matter as in the barren parts, the original sediment was more or less charged with Sesquioxide of Iron, and Second^ That this Sesquioxide, in the presence of the changing vegetable matter with which certain of the strata abounded, was converted into Proto-Carbonate, which remained in part diffused through these beds, or by processes of filtration and segregation was accumulated in particular layers. It is well known that during the slow chemical changes by which vegetable matter inclosed in moist earth is converted into Lignite, or Coal, both Light Carburetted Hydrogen and Carbonic Acid are evolved, and that these gases are even eliminated from coal seams and their adjoining carbonaceous strata. The reduc- ing agency of the Carbon and Hydrogen, as they separate in their nascent state from the organic matter, is capable, as we know, of converting certain sulphates into sulphurets, and even more readily of transforming the Sesquioxide of Iron into Protoxide. The latter change would doubtless be favored by the affinity of the Carbonic Acid present in the mass, for the Protoxide as formed, and in this way the sesquioxide would be entirely converted into the Proto-Carbonate of Iron. Conceiving a like process to have operated on a large scale in the coal measures or other strata containing, when deposited, a mixture of Sesquioxide of Iron and organic matter, we have a simple explanation of the general conversion of this oxide into 288 carbonate, and of the loss of the reddish coloring in which these materials more or less participated. As these actions must be supposed to have commenced in each stratum as soon as the organic matter contained in it began to suffer chemical change, we may conclude that the formation of the Proto-Carbonate was already far advanced in the earlier strata when only beginning in those deposited at a later period. Each layer of vegetable matter, as it was transformed into coal, would not fail to impreg- nate the adjoining beds of shale and sandstone with the Proto- Carbonate, and thus the development of this compound was as it were coeval with that of the coal. The gathering of the diffused Proto-Carbonate into bands and courses of ore began no doubt as soon as the production of this compound had made some progress, but it probably continued until long after the completion of the chemical changes above described ; and indeed, it is possible that in some strata it is not yet entirely finished. In this process, which finds a simple explanation in the comhined action of infiltration and the segre- gating force^ it can hardly be questioned that the carhonic acid, pervading the mass of sediment, acted a very important part. The large amount of this gas evolved from the beds of vege- table matter undergoing change, would impart to the water of the adjoining strata the power of dissolving the diffused Proto- Carbonate, which, being then carried by infiltration through the more porous beds, would accumulate above and within the close argillaceous or shaly layers, forming in some cases bands of rock ore, in others courses of nodular and plate ores. Of these, the former would seem to have, resulted from the accumulation by gravity of the dissolved carbonate in the substance of sandy shales near the upper limit of the more impervious beds, while we may regard the latter as having been collected in all direc- tions from the general charge of Proto-Carbonate accumulated in the argillaceous mass, its mobility in the dissolved condition greatly aiding the gathering process of the segregating force. 289 Dr. A. A. Hayes remarked that he had been much interested in the theoretical considerations presented by Prof. Rogers. He had long been aware that the conditions, belonging to deposits of proto-carbonate of iron in the coal measures, are such as to for- bid the supposition that the compound had been deposited from waters holding the carbonate of iron in solution. The view pre- sented, which refers the production of the carbonate from the peroxide, by the reducing action of organic matter undergoing changes in contact with it, harmonizes with a mass of chemical facts and observations already accumulated. The native hydrated peroxides of iron can be thus reduced to protoxides, and in part converted into proto-carbonate of iron, in the laboratory, by the aid of decomposing vegetable matter. In observing this change, it is always found that the reducing action on the peroxide com- mences at the time that the first steps in the decay of the organic matter are observed. Carbonic acid gas, with carburetted hy- drogen gas, appears at a later stage ; the protoxide of iron formed being insufficient in quantity to combine with all the carbonic acid which is produced. It is an essential condition in this change that water, or moisture, be present ; as the organic decomposition — a kind of putrefaction — would not otherwise take place. It is proper in this connection to state the fact, that the ferruginous springs of this country rarely contain carbonate of iron dissolved. The iron salt which is present, is a crenate, originating from the decomposition of organic matter, in contact with ferruginous earth. The crenate of iron exists only as a proto-salt ; it is soluble in water, and when brought in contact with air, hydrate of peroxide of iron falls, usually containing some humus, or coaly matter, resulting from the decomposition of the crenic acid. It is not probable that the crenate can pro- duce the carbonate of iron, if oxygen is present ; but when pro- tected from oxidation, and especially in presence of an excess of carbonic acid, the crenate may form a proto-carbonate of iron, as the crenate of lime, even in the atmosphere, forms carbonate of lime. In referring the production of carbonate of iron, deposited in strata, to the solvent action of carbonic acid dissolved in mineral PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 19 FEBRUARY, 1856. 290 waters, any theory should point out the source from whence the protoxide of iron is taken, to form the dissolved carbonate ; as protoxide of iron does not naturally exist. If a previous reduc- tion of other oxides of iron, by organic matter, is necessary to insure this solution, it will probably be found that crenic acid, instead of carbonic acid, is the solvent. The explanation, as given by Prof. Rogers, becomes, therefore, not only the simpler view, and strictly accordant with known facts, but it seems to be necessary, as a basis for the theory gen- erally received. There is a point of geological interest, in connection with the manner in which the proto-carbonate of iron is included in the coal series, and often in contact with beds of coal. This compound, as before stated, is a hydrate compound, and its varieties generally lose their carbonic acid and become peroxide by a moderate elevation of temperature ; its presence, therefore, in contact with alternating beds of coal, may be considered as indicating that such beds have not been subjected to heat above the tempera- ture at which the carbonate is decomposed. Prof. Jeffries Wyman stated that a year or two since, in the Ohio River, opposite Cannelton, there was noticed a sudden commotion and explosion, followed by a considerable ebullition of the water for some time, so that boats avoided the spot. Imme- diately afterwards, there was found a peculiar substance, light and porous, somewhat resembling pumice-stone, floating around in the neighborhood. Specimens of this substance were presented by Prof Wyman, and placed in the hands of Dr. Hayes, for examination. Dr. C. T. Jackson observed, that the material bore resemblance to slag from iron furnaces. On trial, it was found still to float in water. [Dr. Hayes, having since examined the substance, reports that it contains particles of metallic iron, and is, in com- position, the same as iron slag produced in the blast furnaces. — Secretary.] Prof. Jeflfries Wyman exhibited some impressions, in clay, of Hail, caught during a recent storm. 291 These impressions differed from those of rain, all of them being quite small, and considerably deeper than impressions of rain- drops of the same diameter. Around several of the marks was observed a radiated appearance, caused by a crystallization of the moisture of the clay by the contact of the hailstone, the clay itself being at about the temperature of freezing water. DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. October 3d. A specimen of Aquila nmvia, European Eagle, and one of Otis houbara Gould, Bustard; by Dr. Freeman J. Bumstead, of New York. A speci- men of American Swan, prepared as a skeleton by Mr. Samuels; by Mr. Nathan Robbins, A collection of Fresh Water Shells, Echini, &c.; by Mr. J. J. Dix- well. A specimen of Fossil Starfish; by Mr. Robert Fowlis, of St. John, N. B. A specimen of Polyporus cinnabarinus, a red fungus growing on wood; by Rev. Daniel H. Temple. A specimen of Hawk, species unknown, Halcyon Lindsayi, Lindsay's Kingfisher, old and young, two other undetermined species of Halcyon, Merops Javanicus and eryth'ocephalus, Javan and Rufous-headed Bee-eater, and Dasylophus sxiperciliosus, Supercilious Ani; by Dr. SaiBuel Kneeland, Jr. A collection of birds from the Philippine Islands and Australia, among which were a specimen of Dasylophus Cumingii Fras., Cuming's Ani, a Cuckoo of undeter- mined species, Cinnamon-backed Egret, and Black and White Shrike ; by Mr. G. S. Shaw, of Cambridge, Mass. A specimen of Geococcyx JShxicanus, Mexican Ground Cuckoo; by Mr. J. C. Jones, of West Newton. October 17th. Specimens of Ankerite, Red Oxide of Iron, and Brown Hsematite, from the Acadian Mines, and samples of Steel ; by Dr. C. T. Jackson. Seventeen species of rare birds from the Philippine Islands, all new to the Collection; viz: five species of Parrots, two of Woodpeckers, two of Hornbills, two of Pitta, a Trogon, Rail, Tattler, Babbler, Coucal, and Megapodius — the last being the only specimen of the family in the Cabinet; by Dr. S. Kneeland, Jr. An African Parrot, a specimen of Harelda glacialis. Long-tailed Duck; by Mr. II. Samuels. A specimen of Limosa Hudsonica, Hudsonian Godwit; by Dr. S. Cabot, Jr. An Australian Sanderling; by Mr. G. S. Shaw. A Night Heron, Ruddy Duck, Crossbill, Indigo Bird, and Solitary Vireo; by Mr. A. L. Babcock. November 7th. A Peregrine Falcon, Falco Peregrinus ; by Dr. Samuel Cabot, Jr. The Skull of a Flamingo, and the Sternum of a Red-shouldered Hawk ; by Mr. E. Samuels. The Sword of a Sword Fish; by Mr. Daniel Pratt, Jr., of Chelsea. Some Blind Fish, from the ]\Iammoth Cave of Kentucky ; by Mrs. David Loring. A conical earthen pot, containing a Mummied Ibis, with a dupli- cate mummied Ibis, a mummied Serpent, several young mummied Crocodiles, a Lizard, shot on the Nile, Petrifactions from the petrified forest, near Cairo, Egypt, a bottle of Water from the Dead Sea, &c. ; by Mr. B. Homer Dixon. November 21st. A specimen of Nelumbium luteum, Yellow Nelumbo, or Water Chinquepin, from Kansas; by Dr. T. H. Webb. 292 December 5th. Specimens of Dolomite, Talc, Serpentine, Lignified Abestos, and other minerals from Roxbury, Vermont; by Mr. J. W. Butler. A specimen oi MyriaiKjiuni Curtisii, obtained in Hingham, Mass.; by Mr. C. J. Sprague. Sixty specimens of Shells, of more than thirty-five species, two Echini, and a Cephalopod, from St. Helena,— all species new to the Cabinet — and a small specimen of Haliotis; by Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr. A specimen of Vespertilio pruinosiis, Hoary Bat ; by j\Ir. W. L. Clark. December 19th. A specimen of Scutigera; by Mr. C. J. Sprague. BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE QUARTER ENDING DECEBIBER 31, 1855. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Eighth meeting held at Washington, May, 1854. 8vo. Cambridge, 1855. Frojn the AssQcicdion. Bulletin of the Pottsville Scientific Association, Schuylkill Co., Penn. For January and February, 1855. 8vo. Pamph. From the Association. Eeport of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. 4to. Washington, 1855. From Prof. A. D. Bache. Description of the Lower Jaw and Tooth of ^lastodon Andium ; also of a Tooth and Fragment of the Femur of a Mastodon, from Chili. By Jeffries Wyman. 4to. Pamph. From the Author. Address before the Lyceum of Natural History of Williams College. By Prof. William B. Rogers. 8vo. Pamph. Boston, 1855. From the Author. Address before the American Association for the Advancement of Science. August, 1855. By Prof. J. D. Dana. 8vo. Pamph. 1855. From the Author. Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. 4to. Vol. I. Washington, D. C. From Hon. Charles Sumner. Colored Figures of Enghsh Mushrooms. By James Somerby. 3 Vols. 4to. London, 1797. From John C. B. Jones. Flora of North America. By J. Torrcy and Asa Gray. Vol. H. Part 2. New York, 1843. From C. J. S/)raf/iie. Reports on Phoenix Copper Company. 8vo. Pamph. Boston, 1855. ^lemoir on the extinct Sloth Tribe of North America. By Joseph Leidy, M. D. 4to. Washington, 1855. From the Author. Origin and Operations of the United States Astronomical Expedition. 4to. Pamph. United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere, during 1849-52. Vols. L H. Chili. By Lieut. J. M. Gilliss. From Lieut. J. M. Gilliss. Book of Human Nature. By La Roy Sunderland. 12mo. New York. 293 Book of Physiology. By the Same. 12mo. New York. Theory of Nutrition. By the Same. 12mo. Boston, 1855. From the Author. Conspectus Generum Avium. Auctore C. L. Bonaparte. 8vo. Lugduni Batavorum, 1850. Dissertations sur plusieurs Especes de Fucus. Par Lamouroux. Agen, 1805. From Alexandre Vattemare. Report of Commissioner of Patents in 1854. Mechanical. 2 Vols. 8vo. Washington, 1855. Congressional Globe. Vol. 30. 2d Session, Thirty-third Congress. 4to. 1855. Appendix to ditto. 4to. Vol. 31. Washington, 1855. Patent Office Report. 1855. Agriculture. 8vo. Washington. From Hon. S. K Walley. Report of the Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, for 1853. 8vo. Pamph. Quebec, 1854. Rapport du Suiintendant de I'Educatiou pour le Bas-Canada, pour 1854. 8vo. Pamph. Quebec, 1855. Essai de Logique Judician. Par Bibaud. 12rao. Pamph. Montreal. Les Servantes de Dieu en Canada. 8vo. Pamph. 1853. Par C. D. L. Heron. Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the Natural History Society of Montreal. 8vo. Pamph. Montreal, 1855. From L. A. E. Latour. Birds of Australia. By John Gould, F. R. S. 7 Vols. Folio. London, 1848. A Centuiy of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains. By the Same. Folio. London, 1832. Birds of Europe. By the Same. 5 vols. Folio. London, 1837. Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes. Par ]\L M. Geofiroy St. Hilaire and Frederick Cuvier. 3 Vols. Folio. Paris, 1824. A ]\Ionograph of the Ramphastidse or Family of Toucans. By John Gould. Folio. London, 1834. A Monograph of the Trogonid^e. By the Same. Folio. London, 1850. Illustrations of Indian Zoology. By John E. Gray, F. R. S. 2 vols. Folio. London, 1830-34. Pomologie Fran^aise. Par A. Poiteau. 4 Vols. 4to. Paris, 1846. Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Range of the Himalaya ]\Ioun- tains, &c. By J. B. Fraser. 4to. London, 1820. A Description of the Genus Pinus and other species of the Family of Coniferse. By A. B. Lambert, F. R. S. Text. 8vo. Plates. Folio. London, 1842. A Monograph of the Odontophorinse or Partridges of America. By John Gould, F. R. S. Folio. London, 1850. Genera of Birds. By George R. Gray. 3 Vols. Folio. Loudon. Bequest of James Brown. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol. VII. Nos. 10 and 11. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. Vol. XXIV. 8vo. London, 1854. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Achter Band. Wien, 1854. 4to. 294 Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Band XIV. Heft 1-3. Band XV, Heft 2. 8vo. Wien, 1854-5. Almanach der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 12mo. 1855. Wien. Receuil des Actes de I'Acad^mie Imperiale des Sciences, Belles Lettres, et Arts de Bordeaux. Seizieme Annee. 1854. 2« et 4« Trimestres. 8vo. Bordeaux. Kong. Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar for 1853-4. New York Medical Times. Vol. V. Nos. 1, 2, and 3. October, November, and December, 1855. New York Journal of Medicine. Vol. XV, No. 3. November, 1855. New York. Silliman's American Journal of Science and Arts. No. 60, for November, 1855. Almanach der Koniglich Bayerischer Akademie der Wissenschaften fur das Jahr, 1855. Gelehrte Anzeigen. 4to. Band 3. Miinchen. Verhaudlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins der Preussischen Eheinlande und Westphalens. 8vo. Zweites Heft. Bonn. Sitzungsberichte der Niederrheinischer Gesellschaft fiir Natur-und-Heilkunde zu Bonn. 8vo. Annales des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles publi^es par un Socidtd Impe- riale d' Agriculture, &c., &c. Lyon. 2i6me Serie. Tome VI. 8vo. Lyon, 1854. Memoires de I'Acad^mie Imperiale des Sciences, &c., &c., Lyon. Classe des Sciences. Tomes III. and IV. Classe des Lettres. Tome VIII. Lyon. 8vo. 1853-4. Received in Exchange. Bitumen ; its Varieties, Properties, and Uses. By H. W. Halleck. 8vo. Washington, 1841. Account of Knoepfels Schoharie Cave. New York. 8vo. Pamph. 1853. Neuvitas Mining Copper Company. 8vo. Pamph. New York, 1853. Memoir on the Megatherium, &c. By W. B. Hodgson. 8vo. Pamph. New- York, 1846. Reports of Prof. H. D. Rogers on Wheatley, Brookdale, and Charlestown Mines. Phoenixville, Chester Co., Penn., 1853. Statement of Wheatley Mining Co. 8vo. Pamph. J. L. Smith on the Minerals of the Wheatley Mines in Pennsylvania. 8vo. Pamph. New Haven, 1855. Report on Metropolitan Mine at Homowack, Ulster and Sullivan Counties, New York. 8vo. Pamph. Reports of Prof. S. R. Leeds and A. D. Partz on the Karriker Gold and Copper Company. Jersey City. 8vo. Pamph. 1855. Report on the Vanderburg Mine. By J. T. Hodge. 8vo. Pamph. New York, 1853. Report on Cumberland Coal and Iron Company. 8vo. Pamph. 1855. Report on Ulster Mine at Ellenville, Ulster County, New York. 8vo. Pamph. Ancient Egypt. By G. R. Gliddon. 8vo. Pamph. New York, 1843. Ancient Architecture of America. By R. C. Long. 8vo. Pamph. New York, 1849. Exchange with W. H. B. Thomas. 295 Cyclopoedia of Anatomy and Ph3'siology. By E. D. Todd. Part 47. 8vo. London, 1855. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. No. 93 for September, No. 94 for October, No. 95 for November, No. 96 for December, 1855. Received from the Courtis Fund. Life of J. P. Curran. By his Son, W. H. Curran. 8vo. Redfield, New York. Pictures of Europe framed in Ideas. By C. A. Bartol. 12mo. Boston, 1855. Travels in Europe and the East. By S. J. Prime. 2 Vols. 12mo. New York. Japan as it was and is. By Richard Hildreth. 8vo. Boston, 1855. A Visit to India, China, and Japan, in 1853. By Bayard Taylor. 8vo. New York, 1855. History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain. By William H. Prescott. 2 Vols. 8vo. Boston, 1855. Life and Works of Goethe. By G. H. Lewes. 2 Vols. 12mo. Boston, 1856. ■ Life of George Washington. By Washington Irving. Vols. I. II. 8vo. New York, 1855. Prose Writers of Germany. By F. H. Hedge. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1848. Deposited by the Republican Institution. January 2, 1856. The President in the Chair. The Secretary read a communication from Dr. James Lewis, of Mohawk, N. Y., Corresponding Member, as follows : — Mohawk, N. Y., Dec. 17, 1855. Dear Sir : Previous to commencing the task of packing and sending you some shells for the Boston Society of Natural History, permit me to present you a statement of what I have attempted and what I have accomplished, in tracing out the mollusca of this region during the past season. The season having been an unfavorable one for any success- ful efforts in studying the Naiades of this region, my attention has been more closely fixed on shells of other families, and par- ticularly, on the genus Paludina^ in relation to which I have heretofore communicated. 296 After having collected large numbers of specimens from various localities, I am induced to modify a formerly expressed opinion, based somewhat hastily on conclusions drawn from hav- ing observed reversed specimens among the embryonic young of the shells of this region, namely, — that the reversion of the specimens is a specific feature, I find it extends to the following species : — P. Integra Say. most conspicuously. P. decisa " next. . P. ritfa Haldeman. P. ponderosa Say. P. ? an abundant shell of Mohawk River, very nearly related to decisa, but differing in some constant par- ticulars.* Of the five species above named, I have reversed specimens. My efforts have been directed to procure, by exchange, large numbers of Paludina in alcohol, for the purpose of ascertaining what other species present this feature, and when I have further facts to communicate in reference to it, I will lay them before the Society. I have ascertained that that singular little shell, known as LimncBa gracilis Jay, is to be found in the southern part of Herkimer County, N. Y., (Little Lakes,) and in the northern part of Otsego County, (Schuyler's Lake.) Thus far, I have found only a single fragment in the first-named locality, and a few eroded abandoned shells in the latter. The extreme drought of previous seasons has had the effect, in some of the smaller bodies of water I have examined this season, to destroy great numbers of the bivalve molluscs that inhabit them ; and, in some localities, the Anodonta fliiviatilis Lea, is almost exterminated. Many other molluscs that I have pre- * 1st. The plane of the aperture forms a larger angle with the axis of the shell, than in decisa. 2d. The labrum is usually formed by the margin of the shell continuing around the aperture in the same plane, while in decisa the margin is a little ex- cavated just at or above the extreme periphery of the last whorl. 3d. The shells of the Mohawk River are less liable to erosions than P. integra, which is sparingly associated with them ; while decisa is always more eroded than intcf/ra, when they are found together. 297 viously found abundant, are scarcely to be seen, even in the most favorable localities this season, owing no doubt to the same influences. It may be a subject wortTiy of consideration, to inquire whether a similar mortality among the mollusca, in other regions, may not have some connection with the peculiar oils observed in bodies of water in various parts of the country during the last j'ear; also, to ascertain whether an extensive mortality of this kind would not naturally favor a large development of the microscopic beings that have been studied with reference to this matter. I hope soon to have the pleasure of laying before the Society specimens of an undescribed species of Amnicola that is found in the Mohawk River; also specimens of a minute species of Limncea, which appears to have been erroneously referred to L. caperata Say by De Kay. About four miles from Mohawk, N. Y., is a locality abounding in calcareous tufa, in which, in some places where the formation appears to have attained great age, shells of LiiimcEa eJodes Say, are inclosed. The tufa in question exists in various parts of the State, and in several localities in this county. F. E, Spinner, Esq., of this place, who is conversant with the geology of this county, is of the opinion, that the tufa is derived from water that has filtered through rocks known as the " Water Lime Rocks of the New York Geological Survey." This is inferred from the crumbly texture of the rocks in the vicinity of localities where the tufa occurs, and from the position of the tufa, — it being always just below where the Water Lime Rock crops out, or in a position corre- sponding thereto. There is a small triangular Cyclas found in the waters of this latitude, extending from the Connecticut River, as far west as Kalamazoo River, Michigan. The species in question varies with the locality ; in some instances so much as to have been described by different names. I am induced to regard it as C. edentula Say. It may be embraced under the following synonymy : — Cyclas edentula Say. " rliomhoidea Say, of Adams and Linsley. 298 Cyclas Linsleyii Prime. " modesta " " riigosa (Whittemore ?) The shell in question is analogous to C. solidula Prime, but smaller, and less inflated, with beaks less central. In the northern part of Herkimer County, and in the counties adjoining, north and east, are numbers of small lakes which naturalists seem to be almost wholly unacquainted with. In the waters of those lakes are found numerous species of fish which, too-ether with the deer and other game that abound in the sur- rounding wilderness, sometimes attract the sportsman from the usual haunts of men. From representations made by some ob- serving men who have visited that region, I have formed the intention of visiting it, with the hope of being able to add some new items of interest to my future communications to the Society. Very respectfully, Yours, James Lewis. It may not be unimportant to add, that among the items em- braced in DeKay's descriptions of the mollusca of New York, is the description of Pliysa glabra (DeKay) which applies to the minute slender shell which, in a previous communication, I pro- posed to separate from P. elongata Say, and designate as P. elongatina. At the time my previous communication was made, I was unaware that Dr. DeKay had reference to the shell in question, in his description of glabra. The following paper, on new remarkable gigantic Fossils and Footmarks, was read by the President, Dr. John C. Warren : — Within the last half century many remarkable fossil animals and vegetables have been disclosed to us in rapid succession. That these forms should have remained undiscovered for so many centuries, is easily accounted for by the preference which the most polished nations of former ages have generally given to war and conquest, over the study of nature. It was not till the spirit of inquiry on these subjects had been diff'used by Cuvier and others, that these forms of animal and vegetable life were 299 revealed to us. Among these strange (because unknown) forms, the Sauroid animals are, perhaps, the most remarkable. My principal object at present is to point out some of the pecu- liarities of an animal which seems to connect the Saurian with the Batrachian orders. About twenty years ago, some footsteps were noticed, having a strange resemblance to the human hand ; these footsteps were variously considered by scientific men, and it required a series of years to determine their true character. Having been observed at various places, and at ditferent periods, as will presently be noticed, it was proposed by Prof. Owen to call this newly discovered mixture of Batrachian and Saurian by the name of Labyrinthodon, from the labyrinthic structure of the teeth ; though the earlier appellation of Cheiro- iherium, derived from the appearance of the impressions, is favored by many naturalists. A iew years after the discovery of the impressions, parts of the animal, supposed to have made them, became successively known ; and, lately, the discovery of a large head has crowned the wishes of scientific inquirers. From the occurrence of the bones in the same beds with the footprints, and the consequent fact of the coexistence of the two animals, and the correspondence in size between the animal and the footprint, it is highly probable that the Cheirotherium and the Labyrinthodon are one and the same. I have recently had an opportunity of obtaining a cast of the largest head of this extraordinary animal, which encourages me to present the effigies of a Saurian Frog of hitherto unknown proportions. The head of a common frog being between one and two inches in length and breadth, our wonder is naturally awakened on seeing a Batrachian animal with a head from two to three feet in length and breadth. If the head possess these dimensions, we may suppose the whole body of the animal to have been twelve or more feet in length ; and I have thought it would give a more distinct impression of its character to represent it at full length, necessarily supplying from the imagination many parts of its extraordinary form. The figure I represent is difl?erent from that of Professor Owen's. [A paint- ing of the animal, twelve feet long, was displayed.] In 1828, Rev. Dr. Duncan discovered in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the first o 00 quadrupedal impressions in the red sandstone rocks ; these were afterwards ascertained to be the tracks of a tortoise, named Tes- tudo Duncani. In 1834, at Hildberghausen, in Saxony, foot- prints were discovered in this formation, which first led to the establishment of the genus Cheirotherium by Dr. Kaup, from their striking resemblance to the human hand. At this time Count de Munster and M. Link were of the opinion that they were made by a Batrachian animal. In 1838, at Stourton Hill, near Liverpool, England, similar impressions were found ; a cast or two of these is in the Cabinet of the Society. In 1841, President Hitchcock discovered, in the Connecticut Sandstone, quadrupedal impressions, to which he gave the name of Sauroid- ichnites ; he afterwards described these in Vol. III. of the " Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences," under the genus Anisopus ; the plates of which seem to show that they are allied to Cheirotherium. In 1844, Dr. Alfred T. King discovered in the coal formation at Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, a series of fossil footprints of a reptile allied to Cheirotherium ; his descriptions are in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, for 1844, and in Silliman's Journal for 1845. In the same year. Dr. Deane, who long before had seen Ornithichnites, noticed quadrupedal impressions in the Connecticut sandstone ; they are described in Silliman's Journal for 1845. In 1847, Prof. Von Dechen dis- covered in the coal formation of the Saarbruck district, remains which Dr. Goldfuss described as Archegosaurus Declieni^ adding afterwards A. medius and A. minor, of which the first, the larger, was about three and a half feet long. This genus was a Lahyrin- thodont, rather than a Crocodilian. In 1849, Isaac Lea, Esq., discovered at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where the Schuylkill breaks through the Sharp mountain, a double row of impressions, bearing some analogy to the European Cheirotherium ; these were called by him Sauropus prinicBvus^ and were said by him and Mr. Lyell, to be from a formation equivalent to the old red sandstone of Europe, while Prof. Rogers has maintained that it belongs to the lower series of the coal formation. The Sauropus was a Saurian reptile, with a tail. Saurian bones and teeth were found in the New Red Sand- o 01 stone of Pennsylvania, in 1847, by Dr. Shelley, and described by Isaac Lea, Esq., in a valuable paper published in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 1852, under the name of Clepsysaurus Pennsijlv aniens. Not only footprints, but bones of these animals have been found in the Triassic strata, in England and in Germany. The head and teeth, vertebrce, pelvis, and bones of the extremities have been examined by Prof. Owen, who has constructed an animal intermediate between the crocodile and the frog. From the labyrinthic structure of the teeth, resembling somewhat that of the teeth of Ichthyosaurus, he called the animal Lahyrintho- don ; Cheirotherium and Labyrinthodon, therefore, are terms applied by him to the same animal. The cast exhibited to the Society, is of a specimen from the Keuper coal-beds at Gailsdorf, in Wurtemberg; the original is in the Museum at Stuttgart. This head is figured, and briefly de- scribed by Pictet, in Vol. I. of his " Traite de PaliEontologie," the latest authority (1853) in my possession. Pictet calls it Mas- todonsaurus instead of Labyrinthodon ; the synonyms are Labyrinthodon Jaegeri Owen, Mastodonsaiirus Jaegeri Alberti, Salamandroides giganteus Jaeger, Mastodonsaurus giganteus Quenstedt. Besides the 31. giganteus, Pictet alludes to 31. Vas- lenensis de Meyer, undescribed, and 31. 3Ieyeri Miinster, and 31. Andriani Miinster both of which are doubtful species. Pic- tet is of opinion that the five species of Labyrinthodon, described by Owen, may not belong to the species called above Mastodon- saurus Jaegeri. The length of the head, which comprises only the cranium and the upper jaw, is two feet four inches, and its greatest width, posteriorly, two feet. The general shape of the head is like that of the frog ; but the broad, much depressed, and flattened max- illary and facial surfaces of the skull, and the coarse sculpturings of the outer surface, resemble those of the crocodile. It resem- bles the frog in the double occipital condyles — in the narrowness of the palatal processes of the superior maxillary, which do not reach to the middle line, — and in the formation of the osseous roof of the mouth, principally by a pair of broad flat bones, analogous to a divided vomer of great extent. 302 It resembles the crocodile in the extension inwards of the superior maxillary bones over the top of the skull to the nasal bone, constituting with it a continuous roof to the nasal cavities, — while in the frog there is a wide interval between these bones. The broad and almost continuous flooring, formed by the palate in the roof of the mouth, indicates a nasal cavity having sub- terminal nostrils, separated from the cavity of the mouth, and with their posterior openings far behind the nasal apertures, as in the crocodile, — while, in the air-breathing Batrachians, the nasal passage is very short, the internal apertures piercing the anterior part of the palate. It resembles Batrachians in having a row of small teeth extend- ing transversely across the anterior extremity of the palate bones, consisting (in the English fossils) of three median small teeth, and two outer large ones on each side ; and in having a longitud- inal row of small, equal-sized teeth, continued backward along the exterior margin of the palatine bone, concentric with the maxillary teeth, as in the Amphiuma — teeth of both of which series are recognized in the cast. In the maxillary teeth, it resembles the crocodile, having a large tusk on each side in each jaw, from which the teeth grow smaller as they go backward ; there are teeth anterior to these tusks, which are implanted on the outer edge of the alveolus, every alternate socket being empty to receive those of the opposite jaw. Pictet mentions the original of this cast as having more than one hundred teeth in all, seven of which are in the intermaxillary bone. Owen mentions, as characteristic of the Labyrinthodon, a row of small teeth, as in fishes, anterior and external to the larger teeth. Other parts of the skeleton, as described by Owen, show mingled Batrachian and Crocodilian characters. The symphysial extremity of the lower jaw is abruptly bent inwards, and the angular piece is broad, extending forwards to near the symphysis, as in Batrachians ; the long and slender ramus resembles most nearly that of Amphiuma. The bodies of the vertebroe present biconcave articular surfaces ; the superior arch is anchylosed to the centrum ; the articular surfaces slope in a parallel direction, obliquely to the axis, indicating an habitual inflexion of the spine, as in the frog. The strength and direction of the transverse oUo processes indicate the attachment of ribs, which were rendered probable by the apparatus for breathing by inspiration, (in this respect differing from the frog, and approaching the crocodile ;) the presence of ribs, too, says Prof. Owen, implies that their generative economy was similar to that of existing crocodiles. A bone resembling the episternum of the Ichthyosaurus, with deep and wide grooves, indicates the existence of clavicles; in this, differing from the crocodile and resembling the frog. The humerus, radius, ulna, tibia, and bones of the toes, are eminently Batrachian in their characters. The pelvis resembles that of the crocodile in the articulation of the ilium with the ends of two thickened and expanded transverse processes, instead of one^ as in the frog ; and in most other respects it is Batrachian in its character. The great size of the acetabular cavity shows the same relative superiority in the size of the hinder extremities as in many Batrachians ; this greater size of the hind feet compared with the fore feet is seen in all the footprints of Cheirotherium. Osseous dermal scuta or plates have been found in connec- tion with these bones, showing crocodilian affinities ; but their presence, as Owen says, would not absolutely exclude the Labyrinthodon from Batrachians, as the skin is the seat of the variable characters in all animals ; the Labyrinthodon would not, in this respect, be much further removed from Batrachians, than is Trionyx from ordinary Chelonia. The Labyrinthodon resembles fishes in the absence of any trace of alveoli of reserve for the successional teeth, — in the anchylosis of the base of the teeth to distinct and shallow sock- ets,— and in having a row of small teeth anterior and external to the larger. For other and further details of the resemblances, both Batra- chian and Crocodilian, in the genus Labyrinthodon, we must refer to Mr. Owen's paper, of which there is an Analysis in the "Annals and Magazine of Natural History," Vol. VIII. (Lon- don, 1852: pp. 305-13.) This Sauroid Batrachian, then, as far as the head is concerned, had the facial and nasal parts of the skull formed after the Croc- odilian type, with Batrachian characters, well marked in the intermaxillary, superior maxillary, and inferior maxillary bones, and in the occipital condyles. 304 M. Pictet has come to different conclusions from Jaeger and Owen. He is of the opinion that the Labyrinthodon is a Saurian rather than a Batradiian ; and he grounds his opinion more particularly on the scuta or scales, which exist in the former and not in the latter; furthermore, the teeth of the Labyrinthodon more resemble those of the Saurians, in their form, than they do those of the Batrachians. The size of the tracks varies from four to twelve inches in length ; the head, of which the cast is exhibited, is much larger than any of those described by Owen, and must have belonged to an animal at least twelve feet long. The European Cheiro- therium had five toes on each foot, one of which was turned in like the human thumb ; the hind foot was three or four times larger than the fore foot. There is no evidence of the animal having had a tail. The impressions are in a single series, each fore and hind foot being near together and alternately of the right and left, side. The animal appears to have been made in a clumsy manner, swinging the legs outward in a circular direc- tion, like the course of a scythe. At Hildberghausen, the larger impressions of the hind foot were about eight inches long and five wide. One was twelve inches long. Near each large step, and at a regular distance of one and a half inches before it, is a smaller print of a fore foot, four inches long and three inches wide ; from pair to pair the distance is about fourteen inches ; though differing in size, the fore and hind feet are nearly similar in form. These footmarks are partly concave, and partly in relief. In the American Cheirotherium of Dr. King, there is a double row of tracks, and in each row they occur in pairs ; each pair consists of a hind and fore foot, each being at nearly equal dis- tances from the next pair ; in each parallel row the toes turn the one set to the right, the other to the left. In the American fossil, the posterior footprint is not even twice as large as the anterior, and the fore foot has only four toes ; one toe stands out in each foot like a thumb, turned alternately to the right and left. The American Cheirotherium was evidently, as Mr. Lyell says, a broader animal, and belonged to a distinct genus from that of the triassic age of Europe. 305 In this neighborhood, in Gill, on the borders of Greenfield, two slabs of considerable interest, containing quadrupedal im- pressions have lately been discovered by Mr. Field. One of them, found in the autumn of 1854, was of an irregularly quad- rangular form, and about five feet square ; it was taken from a sandstone rock, near the surface of the earth, inclined at an angle of thirty degrees. The rock is a beautiful red shale, about an inch thick, and is covered with impressions ; there are four lines of tracks of small quadrupeds comprehending in number about two hundred impressions. They are from one to two inches in length, and less than an inch in breadth. Some of the impressions are followed by a linear mark, like that of a tail ; and two or three of them exhibit a distinct brush, behind the footsteps. The tracks sometimes cross each other, but are gen- erally distinct. The toes are usually four in number on the fore feet, and five on the hind, as in frogs. The slab presents in its middle portion three large impressions, a foot and a half distant from each other ; in some respects they represent ornithichnites, but the form is for the most part different from that of any known impression of a bird. A third set of eminences is produced by striae, which have much the appearance of fuci, or seaweed, dragged across the surface of the slab. A fourth set of impres- sions is of small globular bodies about an inch in diameter, probably fruits, or seeds, or ova. Finally, there is an impres- sion of a regular corkscrew form, about two feet long, interrupted in its middle by one of the quadruped tracks. A second slab, discovered the last autumn, is larger than that just described. It is about five feet by six, and is covered with impressions of three kinds. 1st, small quadrupedal impressions; 2d, ornithic impressions, graduated from the smaller to a very large size ; 3d, three extraordinary impressions, the distance between which is twenty-two inches. These last tracks are con- sidered by President Hitchcock (who has a slab containing very perfect impressions of a form similar to these) to be those of a " tailed giant-biped," to which he has given the name of Gigan- dihus caudatus. These last impressions are very remarkable. On our slab they are three in number, each of them measuring PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 20 MARCH, 1856. 306 a foot in length, and seven inches in breadth. The first of them is very distinct, and is directed to the lower part of the slab ; the 2d and 3d are nearly on the same line. They possess three toes and a thumb-like appendage, which is set on the inner edge of the impression. This thumb is more distinct in the first- mentioned impression than in the two others, but undoubtedly existed in all three. [The same thumb-like appendage is seen in two consecutive impressions of the Otozoum Moodii of Presi- dent Hitchcock, now in my possession.] At the first view, these tracks have the appearance of a human foot ; but, on closer examination, they are found to vary from this apparent form, and to approach to that of some quadruped, and even, in some respects, to the ornithichnite form. There is a groove in the direction of the footsteps one sixth of an inch wide, extending from the upper edge of the slab to the posterior part of the upper impression ; from the anterior part of the upper impression to the posterior part of the second ; from the anterior part of the second to the posterior part of the lowest impression, there is some interruption ; from the anterior part of the lowest impres- sion the groove runs to the edge of the slab, showing a continuity of the line in the direction of a fourth impression. On the whole, the groove runs in the direction of the three impressions, and is seven and a half feet in length. Besides these, there is an impression of a large size, very distinct and very beautiful. It has three toes, all the articulations of which are better defined than in any other slab of the same kind. This impression is thirteen inches long by eight inches wide, and appears to be ornithic. The stone on which these marks are engraved is a beautiful, shiny, brown shale, very thin, and in some places cracked, so that it is necessary to inclose it carefully in a frame. These two remarkable slabs are in my possession, and will probably be described more fully hereafter. Dr. Hayes announced the discovery of a second or alter- nating bed of coal, at the Albert Mine in New Brunswick, and exhibited specimens of the coal. A careful examination of the special geology of this mine, at the time of the celebrated trial, 307 had led Dr. Hayes to the conclusion that one or more additional beds would be discovered, and this conclusion was publicly- expressed in the course of the trial. It was found that the working bed of coal had on both sides a layer, of varying thickness, of a mineral, which analysis showed to be the equivalent of fire-clay of the coal measures. This layer rested in contact with the coal, being really distinct from the laminated shales, which were the next members of the series. With this fire-clay the proto-carbonate of iron occurred, inter- mixed in a laminated, though more frequently, a nodular form. The occurrence of the fire-clay on both sides of the bed con- nected the characters of this deposit of coal with those of the well-known cannel beds in Scotland and elsewhere, and made probable a repetition of the bed within a moderate distance. The recent discovery of another bed, represented as being eleven feet in thickness, is important in an economical view, as this coal has already found its applications in the great arts' of gas manu- facturing, and as a basis material in producing oil. . Dr. Calvin Ellis exhibited a cyst of the human liver, contain- ing Echinococci. These entozoa were examined under the microscope, and viewed in different positions ; the circular ar- rangement of their characteristic booklets was visible in most of the individuals. Rev. Elias Nason, of Natick, was elected a Resident Member. January 16, 1856. The President in the Chair. Dr. C. T. Jackson exhibited a vial of blood, taken from the heart of a woman who died from the effects of Chloro- form, inhaled at a dentist's office in this city. 308 Dr. Jackson stated that the blood of this woman had lost the property of coagulation, was of a peculiar, dark cranberry-red color, and quite uniformly liquid. The red blood-globules, in a microscopic examination made by Dr. Bacon, were found to be a little shrunken and distorted ; the white globules were also deformed. At the autopsy, no morbid appearances, of any kind, were discovered in the brain or spinal chord, the latter of which was particularly examined in the portions which give off the respira- tory nerves. The lungs were of a peculiar dark-red color, and much congested with blood ; but still crepitating on pressure, or when cut into. No organic disease was found in any of the viscera, and it was the opinion of all the physicians present, that the deceased came to her death from the effects of chloroform. Dr. Jackson's particular duty in this examination, was to in- vestigate the chemical condition of the blood. He had ascer- tained that it contained ybrmic acid^ which was readily separable by distillation of the blood, by the heat of a chloride of calcium bath. The formic acid, separated, had its peculiar odor, and instantly decomposed nitrate of silver, reducing the silver to its metallic state, so that large flakes of the metal were obtained. The observation that chloroform was decomposed by the blood, with the production of formic acid, he believed to be new ; and it must be regarded as an important physiological fact of no small practical moment. Three atoms of chlorine leave the formyl to combine with the blood, while three atoms of oxygen are abstracted from the blood to unite with the formyl in the pro- duction of formic acid. Thus, the blood is not only deprived of its oxygen, but it is so altered as to be incapable of absorbing vital air, and the patient dies from asphyxia. Such appears to be the probable theory of the cause of death in this case. It becomes us to inquire, whether there is not always a partial decomposition of the blood, effected by the inhalation of chloroform, from which, in cases where it is not carried too far, the system recovers ; while a more complete change results in death. There is still much to be done in the chemical and physiological investigation of this subject. Dr. 309 Jackson was of the opinion, that when chloroform must be ad- ministered, it should be largely diluted with ether ; but the latter agent alone is a much safer anaesthetic, and should always be preferred when it can be obtained ; for no death is as yet known to have been produced by its proper administration, mingled with air; while chloroform, in spite of all proper precautions in its administration, has destroyed life. The chloroform inhaled in this case was found to be perfectly pure. Dr. C. T. Jackson remarked, that in the last number of Silliman's Journal, (January, 1856,) in a description of a new species of Fossil Footmarks, found in the sandstone of the Connecticut Valley, Prof. Hitchcock states that he has found unmistakable evidence of a tail. Elie de Beau- mont expressed the opinion, some time since, that many of these tracks might have been made by bimanous Saurians, but no traces of a tail had been at that time discovered. Prof. Hitchcock, having looked carefully for traces of quad- rupedal character in this animal, and having found impres- sions of two feet only, has given it the name of Gigandihus caudatus, or tailed giant-biped. The President observed that he had some beautiful slabs bearing these impressions, which he would exhibit to the Society at an early opportunity. Dr. J. N. Borland exhibited the Genito-Urinary Organs of the Boa Constrictor, and explained their remarkable peculiarities. The specimen was dissected from a fine male serpent, about twelve feet long. The testes, kidneys, and their tubes, lay one on each side of the abdominal cavity, being loosely, yet strongly, confined within the peritoneal folds, by very tough cellular tissue. The arrange- ment of these parts was similar on each side ; those on the right being larger throughout. The testes lay nearest the centre of the animal, and were long, almond-shaped bodies, the 310 right three inches in length, the left 2^ inches. The vasa defer- entia connected them with the kidneys ; that of the right side being four inches long, and that of the left 2^- inches. The kid- neys were long, lead-colored bodies, divided into numerous lobules. They have been aptly compared to a quantity of flat buttons, strung together. The right kidney was seven inches long ; the left six inches. The vas deferens passing over, and the ureter issuing from the kidney, joined together, and, forming a strong cord, opened together in a papilla on the inner surface of a blind sac, about an inch below its upper extremity. The papillse, in which the end of each side terminated, were side by side, about half an inch apart. Below them, dissimilarity ceased. The ureter of the right side was 21^ inches long; that of the left eighteen inches. The sac itself alluded to, is the nearest approach to the urinary bladder possessed by serpents ; it was 2J- inches long, and of the capacity of a pullet's egg ; on its right side, near its lower part, was the opening of the rectum ; and at its extremity, in the centre, was the external anal opening, on each side of which was seen the double penis with bifurcated extremities. The penis forms, as it were, continuations of the sac, lying usually in the tail of the animal. During sexual excitement it is re- versed, like the fingers of a glove turned inside out, into the sac, and extended through its anal opening. The specimen showed it in this condition, having been distended with gelatine, to show an approximation to its size, and the arrangement of the inner (now outer) mucous membrane. The smooth membrane of the sac extended down about half the length of the penis, which was 4^ inches, where a fold commenced, which wound in spirals to the extremities of the bifurcations. Each penis, or each side of this double organ was bifurcated to the depth of If inches. The urethra was not like the closed canal of the higher animals, but a simple, straight, open groove running from the sac to the spiral fold, where it was lost. The penis is retracted by long muscles, arising from the tail, and inserted into the extremities of the bifurcations. Between the penis and the anus, on each side of the latter, were two long, oat-shaped bodies ; these were the anal sebaceous 311 glands, which emit a strong, musky odor during the rutting season. Mr. Sprague called the attention of the Society to the great and valuable work of Levaillant, on the Birds of Africa, which had been received by the Society from the widow of the late James Brown, in exchange for other works bequeathed by him, of which duplicates were already in the Library. The thanks of the Society were voted to Mrs. Brown and her family, for their kindness in making this exchange. Mr. Sprague read a letter from Mr. E. Samuels, who is now in California, making collections for the Society, con- taining a list of specimens, principally of birds, reptiles, and insects, which he had obtained in the short space of time since his arrival. The prospect seems to be good for his making a large and valuable addition to the Cabinet of the Society. Mr. Whittemore stated that Mr. T. A. Conrad, of Phila- delphia, was desirous of visiting the western parts of the United States, for the study and collection of Shells. Mr. Conrad would like aid or commissions from the North, from gentlemen or societies. It was voted, that the Curator of Conchology, Mr. Whit- temore, be a committee to correspond with Mr. Conrad, on the part of the Society, upon the subject of his collections. February 6, 1856. The President in the Chair. The Secretary read a letter from Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, to the President. 312 Dr. Brewer informed the Society that a second list of specimens collected in California, had been received from Mr. E. Samuels ; and that those catalogued in the first list sent by Mr. Samuels, are now in Washington, on their way to this city. The President remarked, that the Society had recently lost by death two of its oldest and most valued mem- bers, and Natural Science two of its most industrious and eminent cultivators, in Dr. Thaddeus Wm. Harris, of Cam- bridge, and Rev. Zadock Thompson, of Burlington, Vt. Prof. William B. Rogers said, that Dr. Harris was well known throughout the United States and abroad, as a naturalist, particularly in the branch of study which he especially cultivated. He was not personally acquainted with him. With Mr. Thompson, however, he had enjoyed frequent interviews, and he could not allow the present opportunity to escape, without expressing the high respect in which he had held him as a thorough and persevering worker in Geology. He possessed a larger amount of accurate, practical knowledge than would have been sup- posed from his modest and retiring manners, and exhibited a great natural sagacity in those departments of science which he loved. Science had lost in Zadock Thompson a devoted student. Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., read the following sketch of the life of Mr. Thompson : — He was born in Bridgewater, Vt., in 1796 ; he was the second son of Mr. Barnabas Thompson, whose father was one of the early settlers in that part of the country. Early in life, Mr. Thompson showed that strong propensity for observing facts in Natural Science, and for mathematical applications, which made the results of his studies so reliable. Obliged to struggle against pecuniary difficulties, he made steady progress in science, and 313 when he graduated at the University of Vermont, in 1823, he had already acquired a high reputation, which went on increas- ing as long as he lived. Occasionally occupied as a teacher of youth, his chief labors were those of independent investigations into the natural resources of his native State. As the Historian of Vernfiont, he was extensively and honorably known ; his work will always be one of authority on the natural, civil, and political history of the State. In 1853, he was appointed State Naturalist of Vermont, making it his duty to study its Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology. On this work, Mr. Thompson entered with zeal, and he had far advanced towards its completion, when his labors were closed by his death, which took place, from an organic disease of the heart, on the 19th of January, 1856, at Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Thompson delivered the Annual Address before the Bos- ton Society of Natural History, in June, 1850, on the subject of the " Geology of Vermont." He made several valuable com- munications to the Society, which are published in its Proceed- ings ; many specimens have also been added to the Cabinet through his instrumentality. In view of these facts, it seemed proper that the Society should take special notice of his death. Dr. Kneeland, there- fore, moved the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: — Resolved, That in the death of the Rev. Zadock Thompson, the Boston Society of Natural History has lost a valued friend, a distinguished member, and a sincere and truthful coworker in the various departments of Natural Science. Resolved, That this Society deeply sympathize with his be reaved family ; and that the Secretary be directed to communi- cate to them a copy of these Resolutions. On motion of Dr. Charles T. Jackson, a Committee, consisting of Dr. A. A. Gould, Dr. C. T. Jackson, and Dr. "Jeffries Wyman, was appointed to prepare a series of Reso- lutions expressive of the loss the Society has sustained, and of its deep grief, in the death of Dr. Harris. 314 February 20, 1856. Dr. Charles T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. Dr. C. T. Jackson read the following paper on the Chemical Analysis and comparison of Serpentine Marbles known under the name of Verd Antique : — Having made the original geological surveys of the great masses of Serpentine Marbles, vv^hich occur in the northern part of the State of Vermont, and described such as would furnish a marble identical with the celebrated Verd Antique of Europe, I have since been requested to institute a mineralogical and chem- ical comparison of the European and Vermont varieties. The results to which I have arrived possess some scientific as well as practical interest, for they not only show a curious re- placement of carbonate of magnesia for carbonate of lime, the magnesite being most abundant in the Vermont marble, while calcite is the predominant spar in the European variety. It has also been ascertained, by experiments made by me some years since, that the Vermont Serpentine marble, and that mixture called Verd Antique, are uncommonly durable, resisting not only atmospheric agencies, but also the action of acids, and, to a remarkable extent, that of fire. Dr. Hayes, in an interesting report on this marble, has con- firmed these results, and I am happy in being able also to verify his analysis of some of the magnesite veins, while I also add now some new analyses of other veins in the Vermont marble, and of the calcite of the European Verd Antique. I offer like analyses of the serpentine of the Verd Antique, both of Europe and Vermont, showing their identity of composition, and also an analysis I made many years since of the softer serpentine of Lynnfield in this State. Serpentine consists essentially of hydrous silicate of magnesia and silicate of the protoxide of iron, with occasionally a little oxide of chromium — these oxides giving the green color to the 315 serpentine. The presence of water of composition in serpentine materially affects its hardness, the softer varieties containing the largest proportion of water. In some varieties I found as much as 15 per cent., while the lowest was 7 per cent. Both the Verd Antique Serpentine of Europe and of Roxbury, Ver- mont, contain between 12 and 13 per cent, of water. That from Proctorsville, Vt., contains but 7 per cent., and that of Roxbury 13, while that from Europe contains 12.5 per cent., and that of Lynnfield 15 per cent. Verd Antique Marble may be defined to be Serpentine mixed with or containing numerous veins of magnesian carbonate of lime. The relative proportions of these ingredients may vary considerably on account of the isomorphic or rather plesiomorphic characters of the two minerals. Carbonate of the protoxide of iron, in like manner being plesiomorphic with both carbonates of lime and of magnesia, replaces either of those minerals in all proportions, without changing the angles of the crystals more than one degree. It will be observed on examination of the analyses I have made, that in the Vermont Serpentine the white spar veins are chiefly composed of magnesite, while there are also veins con- sisting of mas^nesian carbonate of lime and of carbonate of iron. The relative proportions of these magnesian and ferrous carbon- ates in the Vermont marble are nearly the reverse of those in the European variety, thus beautifully illustrating the law of isomorphous substitution of mineral ingredients. Owing to the refractory nature of Serpentine, and the difficult erosion of the magnesite, the Vermont Verd Antique is less liable to decomposition from atmospheric agencies, and also has the property of resisting a high temperature, and even the action of mineral and other acids far beyond the celebrated Verd An- tique of Italy. When highly polished it is a rich and beautiful green marble, veined with white, and sometimes is richly mottled with magnesite and dolomite spar. Its polished surface is not liable to erosion from atmospheric causes, and will offer no hold for lichens, mosses, or other parasitic vegetation, which so fre- quently mar the beauty of our more open-grained white monu- mental marbles. 316 1st. Chemical analysis of the white veins of European Verd Antique. These veins, picked out with great care to avoid any mixture of particles of serpentine, yielded per cent. — Carbonate of Lime ..... 81.00 Carbonate of Magnesia .... 11.70 Carbonate of Iron ..... 7.30 100.00 2d. Chemical analysis of the white veins of Roxbury, Ver- mont, Verd Antique marble. These veins were quite common in the slabs examined by me. They were picked out with care to avoid any admixture of Serpentine. On analysis, they yielded — Carbonate of Magnesia .... 80.00 Carbonate of Lime . . . . . 15.00 Carbonate of Iron . . . . . 8.50 Silica and loss 1.50 100.00 It will be observed that the carbonate of lime in the European marble is represented by carbonate of magnesia in the Vermont variety, and the carbonate of magnesia by the carbonate of lime, a reversal of these ingredients. 3d. Chemical analysis of the magnesite veins in Roxbury, Vt., Verd Antique. These veins are probably like those analyzed by Dr. Hayes. They yielded per cent. — Magnesia 38.88 Carbonic acid 37.12 Protoxide of Iron 9.00 Undecomposed Serpentine .... 15.00 100.00 The protoxide of iron was originally in combination with carbonic acid in the stone, forming carbonate of iron, an isomorph with carbonate of magnesia. 317 4th. Chemical analysis of the dolomite spar veins in Roxbury, Vt., Serpentine. — A cleavage crystal, with angles of lOG.lb'^, was analyzed, and yielded — Carbonic acid .... 46.50 Lime 30.52 Magnesia 18.47 Protoxide of Iron . . . , 4.25 Silica 0.05 99.79 In this mineral the carbonic acid is combined with the lime, magnesia, and protoxide of iron. 5th. Chemical analysis of the Serpentine of the Verd An- tique of Europe. — It was picked out clean as possible, reduced to small grains, and washed with very dilute muriatic acid, to cleanse it from adhering carbonate of lime. The attack was made by means of carbonate of soda, in the usual manner of rendering insoluble silicates soluble in acids. The results obtained were — Silica 42.40 Magnesia 31.20 Protoxide of Iron 13.90 Water 12.50 100.00 The Roxbury, Vermont, Serpentine, analyzed in the same manner, yielded — Silica 42.60 Magnesia 35.50 Protoxide of Iron and ox-Chromium . 8.30 Carbonate of Lime . 0.60 Water 13.00 100.00 Chemical analysis of Serpentine from Lynnfield, Mass.,- light green and rather soft variety. 318 Silica .... 37.5 Magnesia . 41.0 Protoxide of Iron . ' . 2.5 Carbonate of Lime 4.0 Water 15.0 100.0 This variety of Serpentine is capable of being decomposed by boiling sulphuric acid, and was at one time used in the manufac- ture of sulphate of magnesia. It is too soft to be used for ornamental marble, but it with- stands heat perfectly after it has been gradually baked, so as to expel its water of composition. It comes nearer to the precious or noble Serpentine in compo- sition than to that of the Serpentines of Verd Antique Marble, which are much harder than noble Serpentine. Dr. Hayes remarked that he was pleased to have his analytical results confirmed, and he considered that no doubt, in relation to the ornamental stone from Roxbury being a mixture of anhy- drous carbonate of magnesia, and a magnesian rock, could longer exist. In regard to the presence of any lime in the mixture, the numerous analyses made by himself had not shown a particle, strictly speaking, as belonging to the composition of the rock. Any little cavity showing dolomite crystals or granules is to be considered foreign, as is the case when aggregates of talc crys- tals, or compact asbestos occur. The dark portion of the rock, as has before been stated, can- not be considered as a true Serpentine, but as an assemblage of silicates of alumina and iron, with silicate of magnesia. Such a composition as would be given by a mixture of ordinary slate and serpentine. This mixed rock is cemented, as it were, by the anhydrous carbonate of magnesia, which generally exceeds thirty per cent, of the weight of the average of the rock as worked. That the name " Verd Antique Marble," as applied to this ornamental stone, is a misnomer, must be apparent to every one ; 319 and any resemblance as indicated by the eye, between selected pieces of this and true Verd Antique marble, affords no ground for argument in relation to the name, while the general physical characters and chemical composition show it to be entirely dif- ferent from any marble, scientifically considered. But this beau- tiful mineral has been introduced as an ornamental stone, capable of resisting the destructive effects of our climate, and it is there- fore in its economical and technical relations that its highest value consists. " Verd Antique Marble," as is well known, becomes changed after an exposure of twelve months to the air and storms ; and to class an enduring Serpentine with so perish- able a rock, would be doing injustice to the enterprise to which we are indebted for its ornamental uses. In regard to chemical analyses of such compound rocks, no trustworthy results can be obtained by decomposing them and separating the earths singly, and then, by a reconstruction of compounds, assuming a composition. It is only by a kind of proximate analysis, in which each carbonate, hydrate and silicate is separated from the others present, that we get a truthful and clear view of the composition. By this mode of analysis, the Serpentine of Reading, or Proctorsville, Vermont, proves to be Serpentine, consolidated and variegated by anhydrous carbonate of magnesia ; while the Lynnfield mineral, is a magnesian rock and slate containing carbonate of magnesia also. Prof. William B. Rogers referred briefly to observations recently made by him, and still in progress, on the varia- tions of Ozone in the atmosphere. In making these observations, he uses the prepared paper and scale of colors of Schonbein's Ozonometer, which, although imperfect as a means of comparison, is the best for practical use yet devised. The slip of paper is suspended out of doors in a box open only at the bottom, so as to be shielded from the rain and snow, and from strong light, at the same time that it is freely exposed to the air. Usually, it is allowed to remain in this position for twelve hours, when it is removed for observation, and a fresh slip substituted ; but when there are indications of a 320 • great prevalence of Ozone, the test is exannined, and renewed at shorter intervals. On comparing the recorded observations for the past six weeks, Prof. Rogers had been struck with what seems to be a fixed re- lation between the direction of the aerial current and the amount of Ozone prevalent at the time. As long as the wind has con- tinued to come from Eastern or Southern points, he has found the Ozone to be nearly or quite absent, but whenever the current has changed to West or Northwest, the test-paper has unfailingly- indicated its presence in considerable force. The rapidity and amount of this effect has always been greatest when the wind has hauled suddenly to West and North, and has blown violently, but it has continued to manifest itself, although with slow abate- ment, as long as the current held from this quarter. To illustrate this effect, Prof. Rogers referred to examples within the present month, (February.) Thus, on the 11th, the wind being light from W. by S. and S. W., there was no indication of Ozone, and during the morning of the 12th, the wind continuing from the same general quarter, furnished a like negative result. About ] P. M., however, the current changed suddenly to N. W. with a snow squall, after which it continued to blow in gusts in the same direction until late at night. Two hours after this change, viz : at 3 P. M., the test-paper was found to be charged with Ozone to the amount of ^^ of the maximum of Schonbein's scale, and at 10 P. M., a second paper which had been freshly substituted for the former, gave -f^. Again, on the 15th and 16th, the wind blowing from S. and S. by W. showed no Ozone ; retaining the same general direction through the night of the 16th, and part of the following morning, it gave a like negative result. About 11 A. M. of the 17th, the wind hauled towards West, and about 1 P. M., it began to blow strong from W. by N., after which it continued gusty from this quarter and N. W. until late next day. The test-paper hung out at 9 A. M. of the 17th, was found at 1 P. M., or two hours after the change, to present Ozone amounting to -^^ ; and another substituted at that time, showed at 6 P.M., or five hours after, a change measuring more than ■^^. Although the observations thus far made have indicated the prevalence of Ozone in connection with winds from W. and 321 N. W. and its absence in the case of those moving from the op- posite quarters, they have been continued far too short a time, and have been too local to warrant any positive reference of a general kind. The development of Ozone in the air being probably dependent on temperature, relative dryness, solarization, elec- tricity and other physical conditions which are perpetually changing, we cannot hope to read precise laws in regard to its production and disappearance without long-continued and varied observations. Yet, from the marked contrast in respect to mois- ture, and other properties between our great continental and our oceanic winds, it seems not improbable that some such opposite relations to Ozone as above indicated may be found actually to obtain. Dr. A. A. Hayes observed that an extraordinary accumulation of atmospheric electricity had been frequently noticed when the wind was north. Dr. Thomas M . Brewer read a paper on the short-eared owl of North America, in which he noticed certain differ- ences between that species and the short-eared owl of Europe, Brachyotus palustris, Gould, and the South Amer- ican variety, B. Galapagoensis, Gould. Dr. Brewer proposed for the North American bird the name of Brachyotus Cassinii^ in honor of the author of " Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Eussian America." The B. Cassinii differs chiefly from the B. palustris in its larger size, darker color, and constant variations in the habits of the living birds ; from the B, Galapagoensis in the deeper shade of fulvous in the latter species. The supposition of specific differences between the Southern and the Northern short-eared owls of America, is strengthened by the fact that they are found in entirely different localities, and that there is a long interval between them. Mr. Charles L. Andrews read a paper entitled '• Contri- butions to the Mycology of Massachusetts." Mr. Andrews remarked that Mycology, although beset with se- PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 21 APRIL, 1856. 322 rious difficulties, and requiring patient and persevering labor, offers an immense and exceedingly interesting field of study. A series of years would be requisite to complete a catalogue of those found within the borders of the United States. Fries, the well-known author of a work on Fungi, mentions having found two thousand species comprised within the limits of a square furlong. Their uni- versality is very remarkable, and we find but few substances in nature exempted from their inroads. Every tribe of plants pos- sesses peculiar and characteristic species on the stem or leaf. They are found upon bottles, cloth, thread, opium, roasted meats, dead flies, pigs bristles, old stockings, and in other equally curi- ous situations. Our furniture, clothing, fuel, books, food, in short almost every object forms a congenial habitat for some species or other of these vegetable growths. He had recently been examining some cryptogamous plants detected upon the title-page of a book which had been immersed in sea water, and had recognized Aspergillus candidus, A. roseus, and Eurotium herharioriun. Massachusetts is remarkably fruitful in Fungi, and to these Mr. Andrews had particularly paid attention. Appended to Mr. Andrews's remarks were descriptions of thirty-six species common to England and America. Mr. Andrews's descriptions of the latter being placed in juxtaposition to those of the former by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the differ- ences between them were seen to be very slight. The following is a list of the species described : — Genus Agaricus. Agaricus muscarius, excelsus, procerus, hypothejus, emeticus, ruber, piperatus, giganteus, conicus, oreades, corticola, cam- pestris, semiglobatus, semiovatus, fimiputris, comatus, micaceus. Genus Cantharellus. Cantharellus cibarius, cinereus, cornucopioides. Genus Polyporus. Polyporus versicolor, betulinus, ulmarius. Genus Boletus. Boletus granulatus, subtomentosus, calopus, luridus, edulis. 323 Genus Bulgaru. Bulgaria inquinans. Genus Nidularia. Nidularia campanulata. Genus Racodium. Racodium cellare. Genus Eurotium. Eurotium herbariorum. Genus Aspergillus. Aspergillus candidus, roseus, glaucus. Genus Fusarium. Fusarium trenaelloides. Mr. C. J. Sprague exhibited a specimen of the fruit of the Button wood, Platanus occidentalis, from a tree in this vicinity. The Buttonwood is now in process of fructifica- tion, and there are signs of regeneration in this tree, which has been for some years in an unhealthy condition. The Corresponding Secretary announced the reception of the following letters, viz : from the Geological Society, Dublin, November 14, 1855 ; Die Konigliche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, October 1, 1855 ; the Smithso- nian Institution, October 12,1855; the American Philo- sophical Society, January 15, 1856 ; the Boston Athenaeum, November 14, 1855; the Linnsean Society, London, De- cember 12, 1855, acknowledging the receipt of the Society's publications. Die K. Preussische Akademie der Wissen- schaften zu Berlin, October 1, 1855; Commissioner of In- dian Affairs, January 14, 1856 ; Die K. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien, August 1, 1855, presenting vari- ous publications. R. D. Mussey, Jr., of Cincinnati, January 23, 1856, accepting membership of the Society. George C. Brown, Mount Holly, N. J., February 5, 1856, offering to present objects of natural history. 324 March 5, 1856. The President in the Chair. Prof. Jeffries Wyman, in behalf of the Committee appointed to prepare resolutions expressive of the loss which the Society had sustained in the death of their late member, Dr. Thaddeus William Harris, of Cambridge, offered the following, which were unanimously adopted : — Resolved, That the members of the Boston Society of Natural History have learned, with deep regret, the death of their late associate, Dr. Thaddeus William Harris ; That, in his death, the Society has lost one of its earliest and most respected members, science a faithful and zealous student, as well as a conscientious and truthful observer, the results of whose labors have eminently contributed to the extension of the knowledge of natural history, and have reflected dignity and honor upon American science ; That the members of this Society sympathize with his family in the loss they have sustained in his death. Prof. Wyman, in presenting the resolutions, referred to Dr. Harris's wide reputation as a naturalist at home and abroad, and to his scientific labors. His researches were confined chiefly to Entomology, though he had an exten- sive knowledge of other departments of natural history, especially Botany. As an entomologist, he ranked among those, comparatively few in number, who, with a thorough knowledge of classification, combine the faculty of correctly observing, and accurately recording the habits of insects. His observations, though less numerous, will bear compar- ison with those of Reaumur and De Geer. His very valuable Report to the Legislature of Massachusetts, on Insects Injurious to Vegetation, is an admirable testimonial 325 of his industry and patience, his powers of observation, and his happy manner of portraying the subject of his thoughts. At the time of his death, he was engaged in an investiga- tion of the origin of some of the cultivated plants, and their subsequent distribution by human agency over the world. These researches, which, in the opinion of those competent to decid-e, are of high value, it is hoped, may yet be given to the public. Mr. C. J. Sprague read a paper entitled " Contributions to New England Mycology," as follows : — CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEW ENGLAND MYCOLOGY. By C. J. Sprague. I was requested, last year, by the Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis, of South Carolina, to pay some attention to the Fungi of this local- ity, as 'few collections had been made in our Northeastern States, which offer to the Mycologist a comparatively unexplored field. I began to collect specimens, as my leisure would allow, and I have gathered, during the year, over four hundred species. Some of these are very common ; some, already known in Eu- rope and at the South, have been detected here now for the first time ; others are new to science. I have been cordially assisted in my researches by Mr. Dennis Murray, to whom the study of Mycology has been long familiar, and who has discovered many rare species. Our united collections have all passed under the examination of Dr. Curtis, and have been named by him. What- ever scientific exactness the subjoined list may display is entirely due to him. The list contains the names of such species only as have been determined beyond doubt. Many others yet remain for verifica- tion and description. I have included also a few species com- municated to me by Dr. Curtis and the Rev. Mr. J. L. Russell, of Salem. The list comprises but a fraction of New. England Fungi; but it is laid before you to supply, though partially, a void in this branch of knowledge. If circumstances shall allow, I hope to make extensive additions through future researches. 326 When not otherwise stated the species were all collected near Boston. ORDER I. Hymenomycetes. SuB-ORDEK I. Agaricini, Fr. Agaricus, L. laccatus, Scop, conigenus, Pers. galericulatus, Scop. So. Paris, Me. epipterygius, Scop, campanella, Batscli. salignus, P. applicatus, Batsch. geophyllus, Bull, semiorbicularis, Bull, tener, Schaeff. Portland, Me, variabilis, P. semiglobatus, Batsch. campestris, L. sublateritius, Schaeff. campanulatus, L. Portland, Me. Cqprinus, Pers. comatus, Batt. micaceus, Bull. D. Murray. Coriinarius^ Fr. cinnamomeus, L. PaxiUus, Fr. porosus, Berk. D. Murray. Eygrophorus, Fr. cinnabarinus, Fr. So. Paris, Me. Laciarius, P. piperatus, L. vellereus, Fr. Russula, Fr. alutacea, Fr. Caniharellus, Adans. cibarius, Fr. aurantiacus, Wulf. tubaeformis, Fr. Portland, Me. infundibuliformis. Scop. So. Paris, Me. crispus, P. Nyctalis, Fr. asterophora, Fr. D. Murray. MarasmiuSj Fr. rotula, Scop. M. opacus, B. & C. M. archyropus, Fr. Panus, Fr. P. dorsalis, Fr. Portland, Me. E. S. Morse. P. stipticus. Bull. Schizophyllum, Fr. S. commune, Fr. ♦ Lenziies, Fr. L. betulina, Fr. L. striata, Fr. D. Murray. L. corrugata. L. Klotschii, Berk. L. abietina. Bull. D. Murray. SuB-OEDER II. Polyporei, Fr. Boletus, Dill. B. granulatus, L. D. Murray. B. strobilaceus, Scop. Polyporus, ]Mich. P. brumalis, Fr. P. perennis, Fr. P. squamosus, Huds. Portland, Me. P. elegans, Fr. do. P. lucidus, Fr. do. P. Curtisii, Berk. D. Murray. P. giganteus, P. P. sulphureus, Bull. P. cupulseformis, B. Ik C. D. MuiTay. P. adustus, Fr. Portland, Me. E. S. Morse. P. hispidus. Bolt. D. Murray. P. conchifer, Schw. D. Murray. P. betulinus. Bull. P. scutellatus, SchAV. P. applanatus, Pers. Portland, Me. P. fomentarius, L. do. P. ribis, Fr. D. Murray. P. ulmarius, Fr. P. cinnabarinus, Fr. Bethel, Me. P. hirsutus, Wulf. D. Murray. P. versicolor, L. P. abietinus, Fr. 327 p. pergamenus, Fr. P. ferruginosus, Schrad. P. iBcarnatus, P. D. Murray. P. sinuosus, Fr. P. Sartwellii, B. & C. ined. D. Mur- ray. Trametes, Fr. T. sepium, Berk. D. Murray. Doedalea, Pers. D. unicolor, Fr. Favolits, Fr. F. Europseus, Fr. Merulius, Hall. M. tremellosus, Schrad. D. Murray. M. lacrymans, Wulf. Portland. E. S. Alorse. Sub-order III. Eydnei, Fr. FistuUna, Bull. F. hepatica, SchaeflF. D. Murray. Eydnum, L. H. imbricatum, L. D. Murray. H. subsquamosum, Batsch. H. zonatum, Bats. K. I. A. Metcalf. H. repandum, L. So. Paris, Me. H. compactum, Fr. D. Murray. H. aurantiacum, Alb. & Schw. H. adustum, Schw. H. coralloides, Scop. White Mountains, Oakes. H. ochraceum, Pers. H. mucidum, Pers. H. farinaceum, Pers. Irpex^ Fr. I. sinuosus, Fr. I. cinnamomeus, Fr. Phlebla, Fr. P. radiata, Fr. Portland. E. S. Morse. P. rubiginosa, Berk. & Eav. Kneiffia, Fr. K. setigera, Fr. Sub-order IV. Auricularini, Fr. Craterellus, Fr. C. cornucopioides, L. Thelephora, Ehr. T. caryophyllsea, Fr. T. multipartita, Schw. D. Murray. T. palmata, Fr. D. Murray. T. palhda, Schw. T. pteruloides, B. & C. D. Murray. Stereum, Lk. S. fasciatum, Schw. S. complicatum, Fr. S. Curtisii, Berk. S. purpureum, Pers. S. ochraceo-flavum, Schw. S. hirsutum. Wild. S. rubiginosum, Schrad. S. frustulosum, Fr. S. rugosum, Fr. So. Paris, Me. Coi'ticium, Fr. C. laeve, Pers. C. cinereum, Fr. D. Murray. C. incarnatum, Fr. Eev. J. L. Kus- seU. C. polygonium, Fr. C. corrugatum, Fr. C. Oakesii, B. & C. D. Murray. Guepinia, Fr. G. spathularia, Fr. Cyphelh, Fr. C. fasciculata, B. & C. Sub-order V. Clavati. C'lavaria, L. C. cristata, Holmsk. C. inaequalis, Fr. "White ^Mountains, Oakes. C. contorta, Holms. C. fusiformis, Sow. D. Murray. C. mucida, Pers. D. Murray. Calocera, Fr. C. cornea, Batsch. 328 Sub-order VI. Tremellini. Tremella, Dill. T. mesenterlca, Retz. T. albida, Huds. D. Murray. Exidia, Fr. E. glandules a, Fr. Dacrymyces, Fr. D. tortus, Fr. ORDEE II. Gasteromycetes. Sub-order IV. Trichogastres. Tuhstoma, P. T. mammosum, Fr. D. Murray. Lycoptrdon^ Toum. L. gemmatum, Fr. L. pyrifonne, Schaeff. Geaster, P. G. hygrometricus, P. D. Murray. G. minimus, Schw. D. Murray. Bovista, Dill. B. nigrescens, P. Scleroderma, P. S. vulgare, Fr. Mitremyces, Nees. M, cinnabarinus, Schw. Sub-order V. Myxogaslres. Lycogala, Mich. L. epidendron, L. L. parletinum, Fr. yEthalium, Lk. JE. septicum, L. Leocarpus, Lk. L. vernicosus, Lk. Didymium, P. D. cinereum, Batsch. Physarum, P. P. aureum, P. Stemonitis, Gled. S. ferruginea, Ehr. Arcyria, Hill. A. incarnata, P. A. cinerea, Fr. Trichia, Hall. T. pyriformis, Hoffm. T. serotina, Schrad. T. turbinata, With. Licea, Schrad. L. fragiformis, Bull. Sub-order VI. Nidulariacei. Cyaihus, Hall. C. striatus, Hoffm. D. Murray. C. campanulatus, Sibt. D. Murray. Crucibulum, Tul. C. vulgare, Tul. ORDER III. CoNiOMYCETEs, Fr. Sub-order I. Sphceronemei, Corda, Sphceronema, Fr. Leptothyrium, Kze. '^- seriatura, B. & C. Jned. D. MuiTay. L. punctiforme, B. & C.\ined. Stock- Sphcerqpsis, Lev. bridge. M. A. Curtis. S. raamillaris, B. & C. ined. Cara- Bepazea, Fr. ^"^ge- ^^- ^- ^"^'^^s- D. kalmicola, Schw, Stockbridge. M, Vermicularia, Tode. A. Curtis. V, dematium, P. D. cruenta, Kze. R. I. S. P. Olney. V. oblonga, Desm. D. Murray. 329 Asteroma, Dec. A. pomigena, Schw. Sub-order II. Melanconiei, Corda. 3felanconium, Lk. M. ovatum, Lk. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. Micrqpera, L6v. M. drupaceanim, L6v. D. Murray. Melcwnia, Ldv. M. ulmicola, B. & C. ined. Stock- bridge, M. A. Curtis. Cytispora, Fr. C. carbonacea, Fr. J. L. Russell. Myxosporium, Lk. M. nitidum, B. & C. Ncemasjyoi'a, P. N. aurea, Fr. Portland. E. S. Morse. N. crocea, P. J. L. Russell. DisceUa, B. & Broome. D. obscnra, B. & C. ined. Stockbridge, M. A. Curtis. Coryneum, Kze. C. pulvinatum, Kze. So. Paris, Me. Sub-order IV. Torulacei, Corda. Sporidesmium, Lk. S. lepraria, B. & Broome, bridge. M. A. Curtis. Spiloccea, Fr. S. fructigena, Schw. Stock- SuB-ORDER V. Puccinicei. Aregma, Fr. A. mucronatum, Fr. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. Puccinia, P. P. graminis, D. C. P. junci, Schw. Podisoma, Lk. P. juniperi, Lk. P. macropus, Schw. Sub- ORDER VI. Cceomacei, Corda. Uromyces, Lev. U. Lespedezae violacese, Schw. J. L. Russell. Uredo, P. U. Ari Virginici, Schw. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. U. nitens, Schw. U. pyrolfe, Lk. Rhode Island. Mr. Olney. Epitea, Fr. E. miniata, P. Ustilago, Lk. U. segetum, P. Peridermium, Lk. P. piui, P. White Mountains. P. P. James. Eoesielia, Reben. R. lacerata, Sow. ^■EcicUum, P. JE. compositarum, Schlecht. M. aroidatum, Schw. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. M. berberidis, P. Sub-order I. Isariacei, Corda Capnodium, !Mont. C. elongatum, Berk. & Desm. Ceratium, A. & S. C. hydnoides, Fr. ORDER IV. Hyphomycetes. Sub-order II. Stllbacei. Stilbum, Tode. S. lateritium, Berk. D. Murray. Tubercularia, Tode. T. vulgaris, Tode. 330 T. granulata, Pers. Fusarium, Lk. F. lateritium, Nees. Mr. J. L. Rus- seU. SuB-OKDER III. Bematiei, Fr. Eelminthosporium, Lk. H. macrocarpon, Grev. Macrosporium, Fr. M. cheiranthi, Fr. Mr. J. L. Russell. Cladosporium, Lk. C. herbarum, Lk. Sub-order IV. Mucedines, Fr. Streptoihrix, Corda. S. atra, B. &, C. iued. Trichoihecium, Lk. T. roseum, Lk. Sub-order V. Sepedoniei, Fr. Sepedonium, Lk. S. chrjsospermum, Fr. D. Murray. Artotrogus, Mont. A. astei'ophorus, Fr. Mr. Murray. Glenospora, B. & Desm. G. Curtisii, B. & Desm. ORDER V. AscoMYCETES, Berh Sub-order I. Evellacei, Fr. Helvella, L. H. lacunosa, Apz. So. Paris, Me. Geoglossum, P. G. glabrum, P. D. Murray. G. hirsutum, P. Ilitrula, Fr. M. paludosa, Fr. Sjjatlmlea, Fr. S. flavida, Fr. So. Paris, Me. Leoiia, Hill. L. lubrica, Scop. Jthizina, Fr. R. undulata, Fr. D. Murray. Peziza, Dill. P. macropus, P. P. furfuracea, Fr. P. abietina, P. D. Murray. P. hemisphajrica, Weber. So. Paris, Me. P. Agassizii, B. & C. ined. do. P. coprophila. do. P. scutellata, L. do. P. stercorea, P. do. P. calycina, Fr. P. vulgaris, Fr. Ascobolus, Pers. A. conglomeratus, Schw. M. A. Curtis. Helotium, Fr. H. citrinum, Hedw. CMorosjilenium, Fr. C. Schweinitzii, Fr. D. Murray. C. chlora, Schw. Propolis, Fr. P. versicolor, Fr. D. Murray. P. hysterina, Fr. J. L. Russell. Bulgaria, Fr. B. inquinans, Fr. B. rufa, Schw. Sub-order II. Tuberacei, Fr. ElapTiomyces, Nees. D. muricatus, Fr. D. Murray. Sub-order III. Phacidiacei, Fr. Patellaria, Fr. P. discolor, Mont. D. Mun*ay. Urnula, Fr. U. craterium, Fr. D. Murray. Diclicena, Fr. D. faginea, Fi-. 331 Ehytisma, Fr. R. salicinum, P. R. acerinum, P. R. prini, Schw. R. asteris, Schw. J. L. Russell. Phacidium, Fr. P. pini, A. & S. Hysteriuin, Fr. H. pulicare, Pers. H. flexuosum, Schw. H. rufilabrum, B. & C. ined. Stock- bridge, M. A. Curtis. H. smilacis, Schw. H. rufescens, Schw. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. SuB-OEDER IV. Sphcvriacei, Fr. Eypocrea, Fr. H. Oakesii, B. & C. Ipswich. Mr. Oakes. H. gelatinosa, Tod. H. lactifluorum, Schw. So. Paris, Me. Cordyceps, Fr. C. militaris, L. C. capitata, Holm. C. ophioglossoides, Ehr. D. Murray. Xylaria, Schrank. X. polymorpha, P. X. digitata, L. D. Murray. X. hy poxy Ion, L. Nectria, Fr. N. peziza. Tod. D. Murray. N. muscivora. Berk. N. episphseria. Tod. N. cinnabarrina, Tod. Spliceria, L. S. concentrica. Bolt. Portland. E. S. Morse. S. enteromela, Schw. do. do. S. cohserens, P. White Mountains. Mr Oakes. S. ustulata, Bull. S. multiformis, Fr. S. vemicosa, Dec. D. Mun-ay. S. fusca, P. S. fragiformis, P. S. contorta, Schw. D. Murray. S. stigma, Hoffm. S. verrucseformis, Ehr. S. aculeans, Schw. Stockbridge. M. A. Curtis. S. spiculosa, P. D. Murray. S. errabunda, Desm. Portland. E. S. Morse. S. maculaeformis, P. S. myriadea, Dec. S. fimbriata, Pers. Rhode Island. A. Metcalf. S. coUiculus, Wormsk. D. Murray. S. conospora, B. & C. ined. Stock- bridge. M. A. Curtis. S. subaquila, B. & C. ined. do. do. S. orbicularis, B. & C. ined. do. do. S. Spraguei, B. & C. ined. S. morbosa, Schw. S. Yomitoria, B. & C. ined. D. Mur- ray. Microthyrium, Desm. M. smilacis, Not. Dotludea, Fr. D. ulmea, Fr. D. ribesia, Fr. D. Robertiani, Fr. C. Wright. . D. pteridis, Fr. Rhode Island. l^Ir. Ohiey. SuB-OKDER V. PerispoHacei, Fr. ErysipTie, Hed. Fil. E. phlogis, Schw. Stockbridge. M. A. Cm-tis. Sub-order YI. Onygenei, Berk. Onygena, P. 0. equina, P. D. Murray. Eurotium, Lk. E. herbariorum, Web. D. Murray. Trichoderma, P. T. viride, P. 332 Mr. Sprague read a third letter from Mr. E. Samuels, giving a list of specimens of animals and plants which he had collected for the Society, in California. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers offered a preamble to the resolu- tions adopted at the last meeting, relative to the Naval Board, which was read and adopted. On motion of Dr. C. T. Jackson, it was voted that the preamble and resolutions, as a memorial to Congress, be placed in the hands of one of the Senators from Massa- chusetts. The Preamble and Resolutions are as follows : — The Boston Society of Natural History, feeling a deep con- cern in all measures of the General Government which have a bearing upon the interests of science, and the reputation of its cultivators, — anxious to testify to the public authorities their high estimation of the services of those officers of the navy who of late years have been charged with important scientific duties, — and desirous of seeing established, in connection with the naval marine, some permanent organization by which the scientific labors of its officers may be duly recognized and rewarded, have adopted the following resolutions, which they beg most respect- fully to submit. Resolved, — That the researches of Lieut. M. F. Maury, on the subject of atmospheric and oceanic currents, and other kindred phenomena, being of great value to the mercantile as well as the naval marine of the world, entitle him to the respect and grati- tude of all who honor science or appreciate its application to practical results. Resolved,— That Lieut. J. M. Gilliss, by his successful dis- charge of various public duties of a scientific nature, and especially by his valuable astronomical observations in the late expedition to Chili, is entitled to the high consideration usually accorded to those who successfully devote themselves to such pursuits. Resolved^ — That we regard the encouragement of a taste for science in our naval service as an important means, not only of elevating its intellectual character, but of increasing its useful- ness in time of peace, and its efficiency in war; and that any 333 policy which represses the love of scientific research and dis- tinction in our naval officers must prove a serious injury to the service. Resolved, — That while we would not call in question the just and patriotic intentions of the navy board in its recent action, we cannot forbear expressing our regret that by placing Lieutenants Maury and Gilliss on the " retired list," it has given rise to the impression that the scientific labors to which the officers of the navy may be deputed, are to be regarded as of inferior dignity to the other kinds of active service ; and that, instead of being considered meritorious, they are to constitute an obstacle to pro- fessional advancement. Resolved, Therefore, That we respectfully suggest to the proper authorities a reconsideration of the subject, and such action as will secure to those of our naval officers who may be placed on scientific duty, encouragement to persevere in this arduous branch of the service. Resolved, — That, in the opinion of this Society, the interests of science and of the navy would be promoted by the establishment of a scientific board, composed of naval officers distinguished for their cultivation of science, and that it is recommended to the Society to memorialize Congress to this effect. Dr. C. T. Jackson exhibited a new Water Filter, in which the cleansing medium was formed of four layers of wire gauze closely compressed and bound together. Dr. Jackson stated that the Cochituate water now contains a large quantity of Cyclopean animalcules, and that oil is to be found in them also. The water is now generally considered pure and tasteless. A quantity of Cyclopeans, collected by means of this filter, was shown. Dr. Durkee, by aid of the microscope, exhibited the presence of oil globules in the water, and a few were seen in the bodies of the crustaceans. Dr. S. L. Abbot suggested that one of the causes of the con- tamination of Cochituate water the past year might be the extinc- tion, by drought, in vast numbers, of some species of mollusks, as 334 mentioned by Dr. James Lewis, of Mohawk, N. Y., in a recent communication to the Society. Dr. Hayes observed that he was in possession of facts relative to the contamination of the Albany and Haverhill waters, etc. He would like to have them, together with any observations of Dr. Jackson and others, referred to the Cochituate water com- mittee. The President stated that it had been proposed to add a botanist and an ichthyologist to this committee. This might be a matter for consideration at another meeting. Dr. A. A. Hayes exhibited specimens of Saltpetre Earth from Tennessee, the precise locality from which they came being unknown. The samples were richer in the materials for the production of saltpetre than any he had ever seen. They yielded from eighty to one hundred pounds to the ton. The nitric acid was united to lime and magnesia, and to a trace of potash. An important feature in the speci- mens was the existence of crenates. Dr. Hayes promised to give a more full account at a future meeting. Prof. William B. Rogers remarked, that, from his observations in the caves of the Middle and Southern States, he was satisfied that the earthy deposit containing the nitrates, known in some places as Petre dirt, was chiefly derived from the overhanging and adjacent rocks, and not from sediment brought into the cave by existing or former streams. The limestone, in which the nitriferous caverns are found, often contains a large amount of siliceous and argillaceous matter, and, in some instances, a marked proportion of organic substances. The more pervious layers, gradually deprived of their carbonate of lime by the leaching action of the water infiltering from above, are reduced to an earthy mass, the mere caput mortuum, as it were, of the original rock. In some cases this decomposition pervades the stratum for a great distance ; the residuary, fine-grained, ashy clay retaining the lamination and bedding which it had before o 35 the change. In course of time, the earthy mass falls to the floor by its own weight, aided, perhaps by occasional tremors of the ground, or is detached by the load of stalactites suspended from it below, and thus comes within the levelling and transporting action of the streams flowing through the cave. As to the production of the nitrates with which the Petre dirt is more or less impregnated, Prof. R. thought that it could not, in any large degree, be referred to the excretions and other re- mains of animals occasionally found in these caves ; since the quantity of nitrogen required for this purpose would far exceed such a means of supply. Besides this, the nitrates are found in the earthy mass while it is still adhering to the roof or walls, and far removed from the organic matter supposed to be buried in the floor. Nor can we regard the nitrogen as chiefly derived from organic substances in the decomposing rocks. For, in the case of some caves producing Petre dirt, the surrounding lime- stone contains only a trace of such ingredients. We must, there- fore, refer the formation of the nitric acid, and ultimately the nitrates, to mutual chemical reactions between the porous calca- reous earth and the contiguous atmosphere. Dr. C. T. Jackson thought that, in connection with this subject, an explanation of the manner of fornnation of stalac- tites might be interesting to those not particularly con- versant with their growth. In the grotto at Corneal, near Trieste, where he had observed their formation, the first thing to be noticed was a minute pore or perforation in the rock wall, in which a drop of water, satu- rated with bi-carbonate of lime, had collected. Upon the evapo- ration of the water, the carbonic acid escapes, and the solid material is deposited in the form of a thin ring or hollow crust. Subsequent depositions convert the ring into a tube with very thin walls, and this tube gradually becomes elongated by addi- tional depositions of bi-carbonate of lime. The stalactite then increases externally, commencing at Us upper extremity, and acquires a conical form ; and it may continue to advance until it meets the stalagmite beneath it, which, as is well known, is formed by drippings from the surface of the stalactite. 336 Prof. Rogers added a brief sketch of facts which he had observed in the growth of stalactites. A drop of water, charged with carbonate of lime, is seen to form at a particular point of the roof, and after its descent, another drop, by the same mechanical causes, takes its place. It is not necessary to suppose a hole around which the concretion may collect. Usually there is none. At the margin of the drop where it thins away to a film, evaporation and the loss of car- bonic acid combine to cause a precipitation of part of the dissolved carbonate, which, on separating, attaches itself to the rock in the form of a very delicate white ring, corresponding to the margin of the liquid. Each succeeding drop deposits a similar ring in contact with and beneath that already formed, until the whole is prolonged downwards in the shape of a quill-like tube. This, from its vertical position, invites the water of the adjoining part of the roof to descend along its outer surface, and now an exte- rior and more rapid growth begins. Usually, the former process continues to operate for a long time after the external growth has commenced ; so that the stalactite, in some cases, retains its open central canal until it has reached a length of a foot or more, and a diameter at its base of two or three inches. As the water, which flows along the outside of the tube, parts at each step with a portion of its calcareous charge, and thus grows con- tinually less capable of forming the deposit, the rate of deposi- tion must diminish somewhat regularly from the upper to the lower end of the mass. Hence it is that stalactites, formed in positions where their growth on all sides is freely permitted, have always a sharply conical or tapering form. The drops which fall from these pendants to the floor, still retain a portion of carbonate of lime in solution ; but as the shock of the impact and the spreading of the liquid greatly favor the escape of its carbonic acid, a further deposit must be formed in this position, and thus the stalagmite grows upwards to meet the stalactite growing downwards, until in many cases they unite to form a column reaching from the floor to the ceiling of the cave. As in general the infiltering water follows the joints and planes 337 of stratification of the limestone rock, the fashion or pattern of the stalactitic drapery will he more or less determined by the posi- tion and arrangement of these divisional surfaces. Where, as in parts of Wejer's Cave, in Virginia, these planes of bedding are steeply inclined, and meet the roof in a series of parallel lines, the concretionary action seems to have commenced by forming parallel rows of stalactites along these lines. This process, in certain places, has gone on until by lateral union of the adjoining pendants of each row, they have been transformed into parallel sheets of stone, which, in some instances, extend from the roof to the floor. From their great extent, and a degree of thinness which, in part, renders them translucent, these sheets are capable of being thrown into sonorous vibration by a blow from the heel near the ground, and under these circumstances they emit a mu- sical sound of great depth and force. March 19, 1856. Dr. Chas. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. Prof. Jeffries Wyman exhibited an interesting factitious speci- men, alleged to have been taken from the jaw of the Musk Ox, and presenting, externally, the odor of musk. The specimen was placed in his hands by Dr. A. A. Hayes, for physiological examination. Upon looking at the specimen superficially, it had the appearance of integument, covered with hair, and inclosing some solid substance, and it was evidently prepared to resemble a glandular body secreting the odoriferous substance, and removed with the adjacent integument. It, however, was very clearly not a natural production ; and upon making a section of the speci- men, it was found to be composed of a solid, brownish-black mass, mingled with a certain amount of hairs, but not resembling a glandular secretion. It was apparently a ball of some material, scented, and covered with hairy skin. Dr. Hayes remarked that the material contained in the so- PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. VOL. V. 22 JULY, 1856, 338 called excrescence of the Musk Ox, alluded to by Dr. Wyman, is evidently an artificial mixture, principally of vegetable origin. The specimen was given to him by Samuel T. Dana, Esq., and was supposed to have come from Chinese Tartary. It may be considered a fine specimen of factitious drug manufacture, in which art the Chinese excel other nations. The characters of the contained substance are the following : color, brownish-black ; fracture, even ; full of bubble-cavities, in some of which white rounded granules were contained. These granules were palm-starch, apparently. The brown-black mass dissolved in water almost wholly, and had the odor of cloves. It contained gum and some tannic acid, being an extract from the acacia bark, or a similar pro- duction. The musklike odor of the envelop is not present in the interior. Dr. A. A. Hayes exhibited two war weapons, from the west coast of Africa, made by the natives. He called attention to the peculiar texture of the iron, forming the, blades of these weapons. It was traversed by flaws, which extended deeply into the iron, presenting the same appearance as that produced when the native iron of Africa is heated and subsequently hammered. The iron contained no steel, but had been hardened by condensa- tion under the hammer. Mr. C. J. Sprague exhibited specimens of Spiloccea fructig-ena^ Schw., and Asteroma pomig^ena, Schw., and remarked upon them as follows : — These two funguses are very common upon apples in the winter season, appearing to select no particular variety. The Spilocoea fructiffena appears at first in small black patches under- neath the skin. As it increases in size, it ruptures the skin and invades the surrounding parts, leaving a mottled black and brown scar, which sometimes extends over half the fruit, checking its growth, and rendering the side it affects partially abortive. The circumference of the scar is marked by a deeper and fresher 339 color where the parasite is still strong, feeding upon the un- touched portions, and extending in every direction. Under a microscope, the plant is found to consist of interwoven filaments, septate towards the apex, the last articulation swelling into an oblong vesicle containing two or more nuclei. The, Asteroma pomigena, Schw., appears first as a dark, clouded stain, generally round, from a half to a quarter of an inch in diameter. A microscopic examination of this exhibits a radiat- ing network of branched filaments, which look like a miniature Hypnum. Seated upon this mycelium are minute black peri- thecia, of a depressed, semi-globular form. As these increase in size, the mycelium disappears, leaving them strongly defined in small black dots upon the apple skin. They get finally rubbed off, and leave a minute black ring to mark the place where they were. He had never been able to find any fructification. A single spot, with its radiating mycelium, is a beautiful object under the microscope. These two funguses grow very frequently upon the same fruit, and are so very common that it would require a careful selection to obtain any number of individuals entirely free from their attacks. Dr. A. A. Hayes informed the Society that he had obtained some further analytical results on Serpentines, which, in connection with those previously published, might possess some interest. He alluded to the fact that multiplied trials on the serpentine rock, called Verd Antique Marble, had proved that the composite character was maintained throughout the whole mass which had been quarried ; it being truly an assemblage of magnesian min- erals, cemented by anhydrous carbonate of magnesia. The formation of wiiich this quarry is a part, is extensive, passing through the State from its southerly border to its most northerly township ; including a large collection of magnesian minerals. It was therefore deemed important to inquire, if analytical ex- periments would give analogous results on samples of the serpen- tine taken from different parts of the range. Some early analyses that he had made, confirmed his conclusions in relation 340 to the rock occurring at Troy, Kellyvale, and different points in Roxbury, Vermont ; he therefore chose specimens from Proctors- ville, a village in the township of Cavendish. Dr. Hayes stated that in the year 1827, in company with Rev. John Wheeler, and the resident physician of the place, he took the first specimen from this deposit, which subsequently became well known to mineralogists. The specimen was exhibited, and consisted of compact asbestos, forming veins in a talcose rock. Other polished specimens presented the usual, nearly uniform, deep green color, which renders this material a fine ornamental stone. Its translucency, hardness, and other physical characters, place it among the finer serpentines ; its chemical composition becomes therefore a point of interest. In the analyses, a large number of specimens was used, and as in the case of all com- pound bodies, the proximate mode of analysis was adopted. I. 100 parts of the Proctors ville Serpentine are com- posed of Moisture ...... 0.40 Carbonic Acid 17.05 Magnesia 16.00 Forming the cement . . 33.45 And 66.55 of Magnesian minerals as basis-rock, consisting of combined water . . 6.21 Silicic Acid . . . . . 36.10 Magnesia . 18.70 Proto-peroxides Iron and Mang. . 3.40 Alumina . 1.13 Chrome Iron . . , , . . .92 99.91 " II. The analysis of the darkest-colored specimen afforded — Anhydrous Carbonate of Magnesia . . . 26,40 Compound rock base 73,60 73.60 parts were composed of asbestos, talc, talcose slate, and silicate of iron; containing 36 silicic acid, and 5.60 of combined water. This serpentine has therefore the chemical composition of the so-called Verd Antique Marble, as quarried at Roxbury. 341 The research was afterwards extended so as to embrace speci- mens from a large number of localities, including Hoboken, N. J., Chester, Lynnfield, and Newbury, in Massachusetts, and some European samples of wrought serpentine from ancient cities. These have all afforded anhydrous carbonate of mag- nesia as a constituent part of the composition both chemically and mechanically considered. They also confirm, in a general manner, the evidence that earlier analyses afforded of the com- plex characters of serpentine rock. As an illustration of the chemical and mechanical composition of a Verd Antique Marble from Europe, Dr. Hayes exhibited a polished specimen, which having a mottled surface of green and white, agreeably blended, was a beautiful marble. With the specimen, were the two minerals which formed its basic or green component part, as removed by chemical means, and these were scales of talc, and prismatic fragments of clear green asbestos. The composition of this Verd Antique is, in 100 parts. Granular Carbonate of Lime - 42.60 Compact Asbestos and Talc .... 55.00 Carbonate of Magnesia 1.92 Moisture 12 99.64 The asbestos and talc containing 5.20 combined water, after drying at 212° F. Dr. Jackson, in reply to Dr. Hayes, said that his own analyses of the Serpentines of Vermont and of Massachusetts, agree per- fectly with those of European Serpentine, made by himself, and by many of the most celebrated analytical chemists of Europe ; that he could not conceive how the presence of carbonate of magnesia could possibly have been overlooked by so many chemists, or how their analyses could balance so well as they do, if carbonic acid were present in any considerable quantity, as would be the case if the magnesia were in the state of a carbonate and not a hydrous silicate in Serpentine ; for anhydrous carbonate of magnesia contains 51.69 per cent, of carbonic acid. Pure crystallized Serpentine contains — 342 Silica Magnesia . Protoxide of Iron Oxide of Chromium Water 42.97 41.96 2.48 0.87 12.02 100.30 and the composition of massive Serpentine is nearly the same. He admitted that there are numerous veins of magnesite, as well as of dolomite spar, or magnesian carbonate of lime, in the Koxbury, Vermont, Serpentine Marble, but did not consider the Serpentine itself as composed of carbonate of magnesia in the place of hydrous silicate of magnesia. He had, as the original surveyor of the quarries, and the first who published on the subject of that marble, named it Vennont Verd Antique, on account of its close resemblance to the cele- brated Verd Antique existing among the ancient monuments of Home. He believed this name to be quite appropriate, and it has been adopted by the Company. The analyses which he read at the last meeting of the Society, justified, he believed, this conclusion, and the name will therefore be retained. ' His analysis of the Lynnfield Serpentine was made on the 27th of May, 1837 ; the specimens having been taken from the quarry by himself, while employed by the owners of it. He found it readily soluble in sulphuric acid, and he made from 100 grains of it, 127 grains of anhydrous sulphate of mag- nesia, or 178 grains of crystallized Epsom salts, and then recom- mended the manufacture of that salt from it, as was subsequently done in Koxbury. On the 6th of August, 1839, Dr. Jackson completed his analy- ses of the Serpentine Marbles of Proctorsville, Vermont, and subsequently, in the spring of 1840, surveyed the quarries from .which the marble was obtained. In 1853, he made the first examinations of the Serpentine ledges of Roxbury, Vermont, and directed the owners of them as to the most suitable localities for quarrying the marble, and he had since revisited them and given further directions. In December, 1854, at the request of the company, he made bis 343 analysis of this marble, and passed specimens through the sever- est ordeals, to ascertain the durability of the stone, which proved to be capable of withstanding heat, cold, and all the usual acids and salts. All these facts concerning the various Serpentines and Verd Antique Marbles were published soon after the work was exe- cuted, and these publications Dr. Jackson believes to have been the first in which these localities of workable Serpentine and Verd Antique Marbles, above named, were described* Prof. William B. Rogers remarked that he had been much interested in the facts which had been disclosed in regard to the* composition of this material, especially in the statem^t of Dr. Hayes, that the substance of the white veins was nearly pure an- hydrous carbonate of magnesia, and that neither it nor the green matter contained any carbonate of lime. He had recently made a qualitative analysis of the white substance, and also of the clear rhombic crystals occurring in little groups in the midst of it, and had found both to consist of carbonate of magnesia, with some proto-carbonate of iron, but without any distinct trace of lime. In these experiments, he was struck with the resistance presented by the white matter of the veins to the solvent action of hydrochloric acid, a fact auguring well for the durability of even this part of the rock in many of its applications. Dr. H. R. Storer asked if any change had been noticed in the Cochituate Water recently. He had observed that the water in his father's house, in Winter Street, was impure. Dr. Bacon had noticed a slight impurity in the water, .for a few successive days, a short time since. Prof. Rogers had collected upon a cotton filter, a con- siderable quantity of foreign matter, but no odor was detected in it. On standing, however, for some time, at a temperature of 65 degrees, a peculiar odor became quite apparent. Dr. Jackson suggested that, in some instances, the impurity of the water might be occasioned by impurity 344 of the filter. To cleanse the common sand filter, he re- commended that the filter box be filled with a solution of soda or potash, corked, and allowed to stand a few hours; the operation to be repeated two or three times if neces- sary. Dr. Hayes recommended the employment of the large stone filters, in which the sponge is cleansed every day. DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. January 2d. A specimen of Flying Fish, and some marine animals and plants; by Gen. Samuel Andrews. February 20th. A specimen of Mistletoe growing upon the oak ; by Dr. Henry Bryant. Fossil Shells ; by Master Edward Renouf. BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE QUARTER-ENDING MARCH 31, 1856. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. 8vo. Vol. I. London, 1855. From the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. History of the Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes in the United States. 4to. Vol. 5. Philadelphia, 1855. Frovi the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. 8vo. Pamph. Boston, 1855. From the Association. Salmonidse. No. 1. By A. C. Hamlin, M. D. Bangor, Me. 8vo. Pamph. 1855. From S. Kneeland, Jr. Description of some new Fossil Shells from the Tertiary of Petersburg, Vir- ginia. By Henry C. Lea. 4to. Pamph. Philadelphia, 1856. From the Author. . Observations on Binocular Vision. By Prof. Wm. B. Rogers. 8vo. Pamph. New Haven, 1856. From the Author. The Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena. Plate 12. The Arctic Basin, its limits, &c. By Prof. H. D. Rogers. From, the Author. Memoir of Thomas Haudasyd Perkins. By Thomas G. Gary. 8vo. Boston, 1856. From the Author. Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d'Afrique. By Fran9ois Levaillant. 6 Vols. Folio. Paris, 1799. Received from the Executors of the Estate of James Brown, in exchange for other works bequeathed by Mr. Brown. 345 New York Medical Times. Vol. V. Nos. 4, 5, and 6. . New York Journal of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences. Vol. XVI. Nos. 1 and 2. Silliman's American Journal of Science and Arts. No. 61, for January, and No. 62, for March, 1856. Physikalische Abhandlungen der Koniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. For 1854. 4to. Berlin, 1855. Monatsbericht der Koniglichen Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. January to June, 1855. 8vo. Berlin. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Vol. VII. No. 12, Vol. VIII. No. 1. 8vo. Pamph. Philadelphia, 1856. Also Title Page and Index to Vol. VII. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. VI. No. 54. 1855. Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Nos. 214-291. 8vo. London, 1850-5. Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; with illustrations. 8vo. London. 1851-2. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Vol. XXI. Part 4. 4to. London, 1855. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Nos. 59-66. 1854-5. Notices of the Meetings of the Koyal Institution of Great Britain. Part 6. 8vo. London, 1855. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Neunter Band. 4to. Wien, 1855. Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Band XV.- XVI. 8vo. \Vien, 1855. Jahrbiicher der K. K. Central- Anstalt fiir Metereologie und Erdmagnetismus ; von Karl Kreil. Band III, 1851. Herausgegeben durch die Kaiserliche Akad- emie der Wissenschaften. 4to. .Wien, 1855. Memorie della Accademia delle Scienze dell' Istituto di Bologna. Tome V. 4to. Bologna, 1854. Opere Edite ed Inedite del Professore Luigi Galvani. 4to. Bologna, 1841. Francesco del Giudice. Della Instituzione de' Pompieri Libri Tre. 4to. Bologna, 1852. Francesco del Giudice. Universalita dei Mezzi di Previdenza, Difesa, e Sal- vezza per la Calamita degl' Incendi. 4to. Bologna, 1848. Aggiunta alia CoUezione delle Opere del celebre Prof. L. Galvani. 4to. Pamph. Bologna, 1842. Kendiconto dei Sessioni dell' Accademia delle Scienze dell' Istituto di Bologna. 12mo. Pamph. Bologna, 1853-4. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. New Series. Vol. III. Part 2. 4to. Philadelphia, 1855. Proceedings of the Caliibrnia Academy of Natural Sciences. Vol. I. pp. 67-77. 8vo. 1855. Genera of Eecent Mollusca, arranged according to their organization. By H. and A. Adams. Parts 21-24. 8vo. London. Malakozoologische Blatter. Von Dr. K. T. Menk und Dr. L. PfeifFer. Erster Band. 8vo. Cassel, 1854. Thesaurus Conchyliorum. By G. B. Sowerby. Part XVI. 8vo. London, 1856. Constitution, By-Laws, &c., of the Essex Institute. 8vo. Pamph. Salem, 1855. Received in Exchange. 346 American Almanac for 1856. 12mo. Boston. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Nos. 97 and 98. London. Andrews's Latin-English Lexicon. 8vo. New York, 1855. The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. By J. J. Audubon and J. Bachman. Vols. IL and IIL 8vo. New York, 1851. Received from the Courtis Fund. Encycloptedia Britannica. Vol. IX. 4to. Boston, 1855. Dealings with the Dead. By a Sexton of the Old School. 2 Vols. 8vo. Boston, 1856. Life of Nathan Hale. By J. M. Stuart. 12mo. Hartford, 1856. Biographical and Critical Miscellanies. By Wm. H. Prescott. 8vo. New York, 1845. History of England. By T. B. Macaulay. Vols. HI. and IV. 12mo. Boston, 1856. History of Massachusetts. By J. S. Barry. 8vo. Boston, 1855. Deposited by the Republican Institution. April 2, 1856. The President in the Chair. The following communication from Prof. Edward Daniels, of Illinois, Corresponding Member, addressed to Dr. C. T. Jackson, was, at the request of Prof. Daniels, read to the Society : — Some three years since, in the town of Spring Prairie, about thirty miles west of Racine, Wisconsin, a woman of low standing was delivered of a dead child. It was in midwinter, when the ground was frozen and covered with deep snow. There being no spade, shovel, or other digging implement on the premises, the husband of the'woman threw the corpse of the dead child into the vault, and covered it with snow. Accumulations of fecal matter soon buried the whole to some depth. This burial was known only to the family, and to one or two others in the vicinity. During the past winter, the premises having changed hands, the old privy was removed, and the vault cleared out. While 347 removing the lower portion of its contents, which were frozen solid, one of the wprkmen, who was digging with a pick, felt something burning on his hands, which were sprinkled with the dirt of the soil, and he observed that his hands were smoking. He, in some alarm, went and put his hands into water, but on withdrawing them he again perceived the smoking to recom- mence. The attention of a physician was called, but he was much puzzled at the appearance. A friend of his, Prof. McGoffin, of Carroll College, coming in at the time, recognized the smoking substance as phosphorus, and on examining the vault, discovered numerous small fragments of that substance scattered among the gravel, smoking and burning with great activity. On further examination, he discovered two large pieces, one of which was the precise cast of an infant's femur, and all the pieces of phos- phorus found were in the shape of bones. The phosphorus is quite pure, and cannot be distinguished from that sold at the apothecaries shops. The surfaces are rough, uneven, and covered with a white crust, which may be rubbed off. Prof. Daniels supposes that the phosphorus in the phosphoric acid of the bone phosphate had been in some way reduced to elementary phosphorus. He says the facts here stated may be implicitly relied upon as true, and he wished them to be commu- nicated to this Society, and to ask the opinion of members upon the subject. Dr. C. T. Jackson observed, that this case was so extraordi- nary, and so out of the course of nature's chemistry, as to require a very careful investigation. We are not aware of any instance of the reduction of phosphorus from the phosphate of lime ever having taken place without the liberation of the phosphoric acid, or at least its conversion into super-phosphate of lime, and its decomposition and distillation with carbon at a high temperature. How such a decomposition could take place at the freezing point, he could not conceive. Had phosphorus been thrown into the vault, how could it have formed casts of the bones at a tempera- ture at which it is quite solid ? Could it come from Phosphuretted Hydrogen, derived from decomposition ? It is to be hoped that some of the bone-shaped fragments have been preserved in water, and that we may have an opportunity of inspecting them. 348 Prof. Daniels is now absent on a Geological tour in Kansas, and Dr. Jackson hopes, on his return to Illinois, to hear from him again, and to learn more particulars about this anomalous case. Prof. William B. Rogers remarked that the case was very interesting, but that the strictest inquiry should be made as to the facts in a detailed form, before any explanation could be offered. Mr. T. T. Bouve inquired, if what had the appearance of phosphorus could have been merely a layer of this substance upon the bones. Dr. A. A. Hayes suggested that it would be advisable to re- quest of Prof. Daniels a more particular history and description of the matter. There would be a question as to the disposition of the lime basis of the bones in contact with phosphorus, and as to the presence of phosphuretted hydrogen gas. The Secretary was instructed to request of Prof. Daniels a more minute relation of facts in the case, and at the same time to express to him the thanks of the Society for the communication. Mr. Bouve exhibited some excellent colored lithographs of some of the Fossil Impressions in the Sandstone of the Connecticut Valley, drawn by Dr. James Deane, of Greenfield, Mass. Dr. Deane proposes to prepare a memoir upon the Connecticut Fossils, to be accompanied by drawings of the impressions in the same style as those exhibited, if sufficient encouragement is received from the lovers of science. The President hoped the Society would consider the subject worthy of their attention. For a long time he had seen the necessity of just such a work as Dr. Deane designs to undertake. He has all the materials for his labor, resides upon the spot of their discovery, has great ingenuity, keen powers of observation, and high enthusi- asm ; and, above all, having been instrumental in draw- 349 ing the attention of scientific men to a new class of fossils, has the very best opportunity for a description of them. Prof. Rogers expressed himself much pleased with the exquisite delicacy of the drawings, which, together with the resemblance in color to the original stone, makes them very valuable. Dr. Deane was the fir^t to recognize these impressions as of animal origin, and there could be no question but that he was well fitted to undertake a memoir upon the subject. He thought Dr. Deane should receive a verbal encouragement, at least, from the Society, and accordingly the Secretary was requested to transmit to him an expression of the great interest which the Society feels in the prosecution of his labors, and the assurance that he may expect every encouragement which the Society has in its power to extend. Dr. Hayes submitted the following remarks, on some specimens of guano, which he exhibited, from the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. About two years since, an enterprising commercial firm in this city, discovered on Monks Island, — a small island off the coast of Guyana, — a remarkable rock, covering a deposit of the kind of guano now so well known, as coming from the Atlantic side of South America. The rock and guano were sent to me for chemical analysis, and finding both to possess a high economical value, I recom- mended the introduction of them as sources of phosphate of lime, for agricultural purposes. A large quantity of these pro- ducts has been imported, and numerous analyses by myself and others, have shown a considerable uniformity in the composition of thousands of tons. The specimens now before you, exhibit averages of the two varieties. In the specimen which I have called Guano Rock, we have irregular incrustations of from one inch to two feet in thickness, pale yellowish brown, or nearly white, while its fracture is of 350 some shade of dark brown, and shows bands of very dark, alter- nating with those of a hghter color. Like compact calcareous concretions, the upper surface presents rounded elevations and nodules, while below the mass is full of cavities and irregulari- ties. Its fracture is generally splintery, and its average hardness, greater than that of Fluor spar, is next to that of Feldspar. Sp. Gr. 2.440, (average.) The arenaceous guano may be considered as comminuted fish bones, mixed with minute shells, still retaining organic matter ; and one of the specimens shows the first step in aggregation, by which solid masses form. These eventually by chemical operations, become consolidated, so that the resulting body has all the char- acters of a firm rock. It will be observed that the rounded grains of the arenaceous guano, are generally of the size of mustard seed, and in forming the sandstone aggregate, they show individually as the grains of sand in that rock. In the guano-rock, this individuality is en- tirely lost, and the eye detects nothing in the close-grained and compact banded mass, which indicates its origin. Indeed, it would be difficult to find two bodies mineralogically more diverse than the two specimens before you. It is to this loss of the granular form, and the production of a compact, remarkably close-textured rock, that I wish to call your attention, as it has an important connection with a subject which has long engaged my leisure time, and which has been approached in some papers I have before read here. This guano-rock has a composition not very different from that of the arenaceous guano ; both, however, present a very novel result, by analysis. In stating the composition, I pur- posely omit several constituents which occur in minute quantity only, and keep in view the bone phosphate of lime and organic matter, as the prominent constituents of both. 100 parts of the Guano Rock consist of — Moisture 0.80 Dry Organic Acids, &c. Sulphate of Lime .... Bone rhosphate Lime and Magnesia Sand . . . . . ILOO 7.90 110.20 0.80 130.70. 351 100 parts of the Arenaceous Guano, from below the guano rock, contain — Combined water 6.84 Dry Organic matter . . . . • . 1-80 Sulphate of Lime 7.00 Bone Phosphate Lime and Magnesia . . 114.40 Sand 0.60 130.64 Considering the mineral matter of each, that in 100 of guano rock weighs SS^q, in 100 of arenaceous guano Oly^^ ; the pro- portion of bone phosphate of lime and magnesia becomes 110 nearly in each, when an equal weight is taken. The question, from whence does phosphate of lime, of this composition, come ? — at once arises in the mind of any one who has a recollection of the composition of fish bones, and especially the composition of the ordinary Atlantic guano of the Aves, and other Islands. In 100 parts of calcined ox bone, there are 86 parts of bone phos- phate of lime and magnesia and 14 parts of carbonate and silicate of lime ; rarely 88.5 parts as given by Heintz. Fremy has recently classed the bones of man, elephant, lion, calf, kid, ostrich, serpents, codfish, and other fish as identical in composition. I have found the bone phosphates of lime and magnesia, in the burnt bones of the halibut, to equal 86.80 per cent., while the bone and organic matter of the vertebra of this fish, as extracted by acids, afforded 92 per cent, of the mixed phosphates. Taking, therefore, the highest result on any fish bones, we have in the dry matter only 92 per cent, of bone phosphate of lime and magnesia, while 100 parts of the dry mineral part of the guano rock, afford the phosphoric acid sufficient, when combined with lime, to pro- duce 125 parts of the same salt. As we can look to no natural source for bones having the composition of guano-rock, we inquire into the chemical influ- ences exerted while the excrement of birds, mixed with more or less of other animal remains, undergoes decomposition at a tem- perature never lower than 85'^ F., moisture and water being present. Experiment shows that under these conditions, the putrefac- 352 tion proceeds with the production of acids. The bones of the halibut give to sea-water lime salts, at the expense of a portion of the bone. Abstracting lime from the bone, leaves in excess the phosphoric acid, and the washing away of the soluble salts of lime formed, by rains, adds them to the constituents of sea- water. Recurring to the composition of guano-rock, we see that the proportion of organic salts and other organic matter, is much larger than exists in the guano from which it was derived. The physical characters of the rock are modified by the presence of these compounds, but the most remarkable change is that from a granular to a compact solid. This change could be effected by infiltration, as takes place from calcareous waters ; but as the rock guano is above the mass producing the soluble organic salts, it is necessary to consider another condition. When water holding saline matter in solution evaporates from the surface of the earth, pure water alone escapes, while the saline and colored organic compounds remain at or near the surface. In accordance with this law, the saline matters which can be dissolved, and the colored matters which can be sus- pended, in water, rise to the surface, and so long as capillarity can act, they are deposited in the porous parts, gradually filling the pores and consolidating the surface. Doubtless, while this process is proceeding, rains carry back a part, which is to be raised anew, until finally the surface-rock, no longer pervious, becomes cemented into the compact state it now presents, by this action of capillarity. As the material of the guano-rock has been organized at one time, and may now be considered as mineralized, the specimens present a fine illustration of the action of the minor natural forces in changing the physical conditions of matter, as well as its chemical composition. On the other hand, the putrefaction of fish remains, being often accompanied by the formation of acids, we are able to trace to their sources the organic salts of lime, ^s well as the phosphate of lime, which analyses show to exist in sea-water. The Committee to whom the subject of " Encouraging and extending the various New England Fisheries," was some time since referred, reported : — o r o oho That various kinds of marketable fish now extinct, or nearly so, in this Commonwealth, have been propagated and raised, arti- ficially, and at small expense, by various experimenters in Europe. That there seems no reason why similar experiments should not succeed equally well in this country. That they are of opinion that the subject, if properly devel- oped, might prove of great benefit to the community, and is not unworthy the consideration of this Society. That the late action of Mr. George Baty Blake, of this city, a life-member of this Society, in petitioning the Legislature for the accomplishment of this object, taken as it was entirely inde- pendently of the Committee, without their knowledge, and with- out knowledge of them, meets their warm commendation, and is highly creditable to that gentleman, both as a business man and as a patron of science. That a petition from this Society, in aid of that already sub- mitted to the Legislature, might be of service, as expressing the opinion of the Naturalists of the State. The Committee would therefore recommend such petition, — And that the thanks of the Society be given Mr. Blake for the interest he has shown in this subject, and the efforts he has made. In accordance with the recommendation of the Com- mittee, a form of petition, submitted by them, was adopted, and ordered to be presented to the Legislature. It was also voted — that the thanks of the Society be presented to George B. Blake, Esq., for the interest which he has shown in the subject of the artificial propagation of fish, and for his efforts to have proper measures es- tablished for an experimental investigation into the ques- tion in this State. Dr. H. R. Storer, at the request of the President, briefly stated some of the well known facts relative to the artificial propagation of fish. The operation of obtaining the ova and milt is very simple, consisting merely in pressing the body of the fish, from the PROCEEDINGS B. S.N.H. VOL. V. 23 JULY, 1856. 354 head towards the tail, and collecting the spawn in water in a common vessel. The contents of the vessel should be put in motion occasionally, to prevent the collection of parasitical growths upon the eggs. Freezing, or even complete desiccation of the eggs, does not always necessarily destroy them, so that some kinds may be transmitted from one place to another in the dry state, and ready to be matured. Dr. Algernon Coolidge of Boston has estimated the cost of raising one million of trout to be less than two hundred dollars. Dr. Storer referred to the disappearance from this Common- wealth entirely of salmon, and almost entirely of trout, and to the constant demand for these fish in the market at exorbitant rates ; to the comparatively small supply of salt-water fish, wholly insufficient, if proper efforts were made to extend the country and western trade ; and to the excellence of many species of fish, now unsalable because not generally known, as the whiting, turbot, &c. The feasibility of artificially propagating salmon and trout has been proved in France and Scotland, and that of shad and ale- wives has been proved in Connecticut, on a small scale, by Dr. Wm. O. Ayres, a member of this Society. The capacity, in many species of fish, of adapting themselves to new localities is well known ; from fresh water to fresh water, — as is shown in the instance of the common pickerel placed in the ponds of Berkshire County, where there were none before, and in the instance of the great northern pike of the lakes trans- planted to the Connecticut River ; from salt water to fresh water, — as is illustrated by the presence of smelts in Jamaica Pond ; and from salt water to salt water, — as is proved by the tautog planted in Massachusetts Bay, north of Cape Cod, and consequently in water of much colder temperature. Dr. Storer alluded likewise to the comparatively small expense, both of the preliminary experiments and of the business when established upon a permanent basis ; to the adaptation of many of the waters of this State to the purpose ; and to the advan- tages of a greater supply of fish to the general health, and in reducing the prices of meat. Mr. Sprague read a fourth letter from Mr. Samuels, 355 giving a list of specimens, principally of birds, collected in California for the Society. Dr. J. N. Borland gave a description of a dog brought from Japan by Commodore Perry, and belonging to the breed from which the King Charles Spaniel derives its origin. It was a male of black and white color, of rather large size, and weighing about ten pounds; the forehead was very full and round ; the nose short; the eyes large and far apart; the ears short ; the hair straight and fine ; the tail curled upon its back, as in the Esquimaux dog. It is kept as an imperial pet in Japan. The pair which Commodore Perry obtained cost f 180. The female died on the voyage. April 16, 1856. The President in the Chair. Dr. C. T. Jackson, by request of one of the members, gave an account of the method now employed by the Narraganset Fish Guano Company, in the extraction of oil from Menhaden, and of converting the residual matter into a substitute for Guano. He said that the manufacture of oil, and of artificial guano from fishes, had long been practised in France, where the fish called Merlan was employed for this purpose, and yielded but one and a half or two per cent, of oil, while the Menhaden is a much fatter fish, and produces oil more abundantly. In France, the fish-cake remaining after the extraction of oil, is dried at a steam heat, and is then ground fine, and packed in air-tight casks for sale as a manure. The Narraganset Company are engaged in similar processes, in the conversion of their fish-cake into manure. They first steam 356 tlie fisl], then press out the oil, and afterwards dry and grind the remainder, mixing some gypsum, limestone, or earthy material, in order to render the grinding more perfect. Sometimes they add sulphuric acid to the fish-cake, and convert the bones of the fish into superphosphate of lime, and the flesh into sulphate of ammo- nia and humus, according to the method first indicated by Dr. Hare of Philadelphia. In case this method is employed, the acid fish-cake should be ground with limestone, when the excess of sulphuric acid will form sulphate of lime, and render the addition of gypsum unnecessary. It has been proposed to add a certain proportion of peat to the fish-cake, during the operation of grinding it ; the peat acting as an excellent absorbent of ammonia, and as an antiseptic. This is applicable to the fish-cake that has not been treated with sulphuric acid. Properly prepared fish-cake is fully equal to guano as a fer- tilizer, and it can be prepared at a much lower cost than guano can be brought from the coast of Peru. There are doubtless many places on our coast where fish can be obtained in adequate quantities for the manufacture of this manure. Dr. Charles Pickering gave an account of the late volcanic eruptions upon the island of Hawaii, explain- ing, by means of diagranns, the positions of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, and the course of the lava stream to- wards the coast. Dr. Jackson observed that the Hawaiian lava was one of the most fusible of known lavas, and he instanced the so-called Pele's hair, which is very fusible in the flame of a common candle. Dr. Pickering stated that Pele's hair was a kind of glass, the product of the volcanic eruption under peculiar circumstances. The true lava was no more fusible than that from other localities. A letter was read from Oliver H. Holden, Esq., of Melbourne, Australia, accompanying a valuable donation from the Government Museum of Natural History, at 357 Melbourne. The collection numbered about one hundred and fifty specimens of Australian Birds ; several speci- mens of mammalia, amongst them the Kangaroo, Opos- sum, White Native Cat, Kangaroo Rat, Common Bat, Wallabee, Bandicoot, &c. ; specimens of Fossils ; and some Photographs and Engravings, selections from an illustrated work on Victoria, by Wm. Von Blandowski, Curator of the Museum. This donation was made through Mr. Blandowski, at the instance of Mr. Holden, who was formerly a resident of Boston, in accordance with a suggestion from Dr. Silas Durkee. Dr. C. T. Jackson presented a copy of the Transac- tions of the Philosophical Society of Victoria, Vol. I., published in Melbourne. Dr. Jackson remarked that the progress of this Society had been truly extraordinary. Scarcely three years had elapsed since its organization, and yet it had accom- plished a great deal. Representing, as it does, a whole continent, abounding in peculiar forms of animal and vegetable life, it is destined to become a very important Society. It was voted to present to the Philosophical Society of Victoria, and the Government Museum of Natural History, (which are understood to be connected with each other,) a complete copy of the Journal and Proceedings of this Society. The Curators of the different depart- ments were also requested to prepare a collection of specimens to be presented to the Victoria Museum. The thanks of the Society were voted to the Victoria Museum for their valuable donation, and to Mr. Oliver H. Holden for his kind agency in obtaining and forward- ing them. Dr. Jackson exhibited a specimen of Aluminium, man- ufactured into a thimble. This new metal is still ex- ceedingly rare. 358 Mr. Sprague informed the Society of another arrival, at Washington, of Bird Skins from California, forwarded by Mr. Samuels. It was voted, that after the Annual Meeting, the hour for opening the meetings, during the summer months, shall be 8 instead of 7| o'clock. Franklin Darracott, of Boston, was elected Resident Member. May 5, 1856. Dr. Chas. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. A special meeting was called this evening, to take appropriate measures relative to the decease of the Presi- dent of the Society, Dr. John C. Warren. Dr. Charles T. Jackson, Vice-President, upon taking the Chair, announced, with a few" remarks, the decease of the venerable and much respected President. Remarks were also made by Dr. D. H. Storer, and Prof. Wm. B. Rogers. A Committee, consisting of Dr. D. H. Storer, Dr. Sam- uel Cabot, Jr., Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., Prof. Wm. B. Rogers, and Dr. C. T. Jackson, was appointed to prepare a series of resolutions, expressive of the deep sense of regret which the Society experiences in its recent be- reavement. It was voted to attend the funeral of the late President on Wednesday, May 7, and to meet at the rooms of the Society for this object at IO5 o'clock, A. M. 59 May 7, 1856. ANNUAL MEETING. Dr. Chas. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. Dr. D. H. Storer, in behal'f of the Committee appointed to prepare a series of resolutions expressive of the deep sense of regret which the Society experiences in its recent bereavement, read the following report, which, together with the resolutions, was adopted : — Mr. President and Gentlemen : We are again called upon to mourn ; we meet here to sympathize in our common sorrow. Science has lost a true friend ; her votaries, we would reverently bow to the stroke, Avhile we deeply feel and gratefully ac- knowledge the goodness, which so long averted the blow. He, who for the nine past years has presided over this institution with paternal solicitude — who has performed every duty de- volving upon him with the greatest cheerfulness, with unsur- passed fidelity — who, with the enthusiasm of youth, would not allow the most inclement nights of the last most inclement season to prevent his attendance at your meetings — but who was ever here to encourage you by his presence to increased exertion — has accomplished his work. He has left us forever. He needs no fulsome eulogy. His claims upon the respectful and lasting remembrance of his professional brethren have already, elsewhere, been most eloquently portrayed. The debt we owe his memory can never be repaid ; but, as naturalists, that debt we should recognize. Upon the death of Dr. Amos Binney, our much-loved Presi- dent, Dr. Warren was selected to succeed him. From the day of his appointment, his interest has never flagged ; but has in- creased with his advancing years. His first great desire was to see our valuable collection dis- played in a more safe and commodious building — to accomplish which, his efforts were indefatigable. A large portion of the means required to purchase our present accommodations, was 360 procured directly by liim — and but for the influence he was enabled to exert in his social relations, we could hardly have succeeded in our attempt. Dr. Warren's labors were principally directed to the great object of exciting and keeping alive a taste for Natural History, by constantly presenting its wonders to such minds as he thought susceptible of being thus influenced. He delighted to gather around him those whose tastes were congenial — to enjoy with such the beauties of his country-seat — to extend its hospitalities. How many of us have been made the happier by his yearly festival ! He has, however, done more than this. Three years since he prepared an address, which was published, presenting a history of the Society from its foundation. He became exceedingly interested in Paleontology — he exerted himself to assist in procuring the magnificent slabs, containing the ornithichnites from the Connecticut River, which ornament our Hall. He also made a most valuable private collection of these footprints, and two years ago described some of the most striking of them in a small volume, with the title " Remarks on some Fossil Impressions in the Sandstone Rocks of Connecticut River." At a great expense he purchased the most perfect skeleton of the Mastodon gigan- teus now known to exist ; and his elaborate w'ork upon that subject will ever remain a monument to his zeal, his industry, his munificence. Just previous to his decease, he had prepared a paper on the animal of the Argonauta, all the available species of which genus he had collected, described, and figured. This memoir he had completed, the last page of manuscript having been corrected by him within a week of his death. This was his last labor — his dying legacy to science. Let us cherish his memory; and upon this occasion, upon this altar, renew our devotion. In compliance with the duty devolving upon us, we would present the following resolutions : — Resolved, That in the sudden bereavement which has befallen our Society, we would not suppress the grief so deeply felt. For the long-continued, unwearied interest, manifested by our late President, in our prosperity ; for the readiness, the liberality 361 with which he seconded every effort for our advancement ; for the uniform courtesy with which he presided over our assem- blages, and the kind-heartedness so often evinced there ; for his anxious desire to see around him a band of brothers engaged in the same ennobling pursuits. — actuated by the same spirit, aiming at the same end, we shall ever with gratitude remember him. Resolved, That some member of the Society be appointed to prepare a biographical sketch of our late President, to be pre- sented to the Society at a future meeting. Resolved, That our deep-felt sympathy be extended to his afflicted fjimily. Prof. Jeffries Wyman was chosen, in conformity with the recommendation of the Committee, to prepare a biographical memoir of the late President. The Society then adjourned, out of respect to the memory of the deceased. May 21, 1856. ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING. Dr. Silas Durkee in the Chair. A letter was read from Francis Alger, Esq., notifying the Society of his resignation of the office of Curator of Mineralogy. The Annual Reports of the Curators were read and accepted. The Curator of Ornithology called particular notice to the magnificent donation of birds from the Government Museum of Natural History of Victoria, as one of the most valuable dona- tions ever made to this department of the cabinet ; the collection 362 contained at least one hundred species of birds not before in the museum. Valuable donations have also been received from Dr. vSamuel Kneeland, Jr., Mr. George S. Shaw, of Cambridge, and Mr. E. Samuels, principally of birds from the Philippine Islands and Australia. The Botanical department has been enriched during the past year by several hundred South European plants, presented by Prof. Asa Gray, of Cambridge. To the Geological cabinet has been added a fine series of Fossils from the Paris basin, the gift of George B. Emerson, Esq. The Curator of Comparative Anatomy acknowledged valuable donations from Dr. J. V. C. Smith, George B. Emerson, Esq., and Dr. S. Knee- land, Jr., and called attention to the fact that some of the speci- mens under his charge are materially injured from year to year, in consequence of the increased dampness and other unsuital^le conditions of the building. The Librarian reported the addition to the Library, during the year of 360 volumes and 36 pamphlets. The most valuable donation ever made to the Society's Library was received by bequest of the late James Brown, a full account of which will be found in the printed Proceedings, Vol. V. pp. 254—6. A portrait, in oil, of the eminent naturalist Thomas Nuttall was presented by the widow of Mr. Brown. A Card Catalogue of the library has been prepared, in accord- ance with a vote of the Society at the last Annual Meeting. A portion of the report of the Librarian, relative to the reprinting of certain numbers of the Journal and Pro- ceedings, was referred to the Publishing Committee. The Treasurer read his Annual Report, which was referred to Messrs. Amos Binney and James M. Barnard as Auditing Committee. The Committee appointed to nominate a list of offi- cers for the ensuing year reported, and the report was accepted. The Committee not being prepared to nomi- nate a candidate for the office of President, the election of a President was postponed one fortnight, to the lirst Wednesday of June. 363 The Society then proceeded to ballot for officers for the ensuing year ; and the following officers were de- clared elected : — Vice-Presidents, Charles T. Jackson, M. D., and D. Humphreys Storer, M. D. Corresponding Secretary, Samuel L. Abbot, M. D. Recording Secretary, Benjamin S. Shaw, M. D. Treasurer, Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M. D. Librarian, Charles K. Dillaway. Curators, Thomas T. Bouve, Of Geology. Jeffries Wyman, M. D. Comp. Anatomy. Thomas M. Brewer, M. D. Oology. John Bacon, M. D. Mineralogy. Thomas J. Whittemore, Conchology. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., M. D. Ichthyology. Henry Bryant, M. D. Ornithology. Silas Durkee, M. D. Entomology^ Charles J. Sprague, Botany. J. Nelson Borland, M. D. Herpetology. John P. Reynolds, M. D. Crustacea and Radiata. Cabinet Keeper, Charles Stodder. The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee to nominate a candidate for the office of President, to report at an adjourned meeting to be held upon the first Wednesday of June, viz: Dr. A. A. Gould, Prof. Jeffiies 364 Wyman, Dr. Samuel Cabot, Jr., Dr. N. B. Shurtleff, and Mr. C. J. SpragLie. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers read, by its title, the following paper " On the origin of Greensand, and its formation in the oceans of the present epoch," by Prof. J. W. Bailey, of West Point, N. Y. ON THE ORIGIN OF GREENSAND, AND ITS FORMATION IN THE OCEANS OF THE PRESENT EPOCH, BY PROF. J. W. BAILEY. As an introduction to the subject of this paper, it is proper to refer to various observations which have been made of facts intimately related to those which I wish to present. That the calcareous shells of the Polythalamia are sometimes replaced by silica, appears to have been first noticed by Ehrenberg, who, in a note translated by Mr. Weaver, and published in the L. E. & D. Philosophical Journal for 1841, (Vol. 18, p. 397,) says : — "I may here remark that my continued researches on the Polythalamia of the Chalk, liave convinced me that very fre- quently in the earthy coating of flints, which is partly calcareous and partly siliceous, the original calcareous shelled animal forms have exchanged their lime for silex without undergoing any alteration in figure, so that while some are readily dissolved by an acid, others remain insoluble ; but in chalk itself, all similar forms are immediately dissolved." The first notice of casts of the cells and soft parts of the Polythalamia was published by myself in the American Journal of Science for 1845, Vol. XLVIII., where I stated as follows: — " The specimens from Fort Washington presented me witii what I believe have never been before noticed, viz : distinct casts of Polythalamia. That these minute and perishable shells should, when destroyed by chemical changes, ever leave behind them indestructible memorials of their existence was scarcely to be expected, yet these casts of Polythalamia are abundant and easily to be recognized in some of the Eocene Marls from Fort Washington." This notice was accompanied by figures of well- defined casts of Polythalamia (1. c. pi. iv., fig. 30, 31). Dr. Mantell also noticed the occurrence of casts of Polythala- mia and their soft parts, preserved in flint and chalk, and con\- 305 municatcd an account of them to the Ivoyal Society of London, in May, 1846. In this paper he speaks of the chambers of Polythalamia as being frequently filled with chalk, flint, and silicate of iron. (Phil. Trans., 1846, p. 466.) To Ehrenberg, however, appears to be due the credit of first distinctly announc- ing the connection between the Polythalamia and the forma- tion of Greensand, thus throwing the first light upon the origin of a substance which has long been a puzzle to geologists. In a notice given by this distinguished observer upon the nature of the matrix of the bones of the Zeuglodon from Alabama, (see Monats-Bericht, Berlin, February, 1855,) he says: — " That Greensand, in all the numerous relations in which I have as yet examined it, has been recognized as due to the filling up of organic cells, as a formation of stony casts (Steinkernbil- dung,) mostly of Polythalamia, was stated in July of the pre- ceding year." He then refers to the Nummulite Limestone of Traunstein, in Bavaria, as rich in green opal-like casts (Opalstein- kernen) of well-preserved Polythalamian forms, and mentions them as also occurring, but more rarely, in the Glauconite Lime, stones of France. He then proceeds to give an account of his detection of similar casts in the limestone adhering to the bones of the Zeuglodon from Alabama, and states that this limestone abounds in well-preserved brown, green, and whitish stony casts of recognizable Polythalamia. This limestone is yellowish, and under a lens appears spotted with green. These green spots are the Greensand casts of the Polythalamia, and they often form as much as one third of the mass. By solution in dilute chloro- hydric acid, the greensand grains are left, mixed with quartzose sand, and with a light yellowish jnud. The latter is easily re- moved by washing and decantation. The casts thus obtained are so perfect that not only the genus, but often the species of the Polythalamia, can be recognized. Mingled with these are fre- quently found spiral, or corkscrew-like bodies, which Ehrenberg considers as casts of the shells of young mollusks. AVith reference to the perfection of these casts of the Polythal- amia, and the light they throw upon the structure of these minute animals, Ehrenberg remarks : — " The formation of the Greensand consists in a gradual filling up of the interior space of the minute bodies with a green- colored, opal-like mass, which forms therein as a cast. It is a 366 peculiar species of natural injection, and is often so perfect, that not only the large and coarse cells, but also the very finest canals of the cell walls, and all their connecting tubes are thus petrified, and separately exhibited. By no artificial method can such fine and perfect injections be obtained." Having repeated the experiments of Ehrenberg upon the Zeu- glodon Limestone, I can confirm his statements in every particular, and would only add, that besides the casts of Polythalamia and small spiral mollusks, there is also a considerable number of green, red, and whitish casts of minute anastomosing tubuli, re- sembling casts of the holes made by burrowing sponges (Cliona) and worms. In the Berlin Monats-Bericht, for July, 1855, Ehrenberg gives an account of very perfect casts of Nummulites, from Bavaria and from France, showing not only chambers connected by a spiral siphuncle, but also a complicated system of branching ves- sels. He also gave at the same time an account of a method he had applied for the purpose of coloring certain glasslike casts of Polythalamia, which he had found in white tertiary limestone from Java. This method consists in heating them in a solution of nitrate of iron, by means of which they can be made to assume different shades of yellow and brownish red, still retaining suffi- cient transparency when mounted in balsam to show the connec- tion of the different parts. The interesting observations of Ehrenberg which are alluded to above, have led me to examine a number of the cretaceous and tertiary rocks of North America in search of Greensand and other casts of Polythalamia, &c. The following results were obtained : — 1st. The yellowish limestone of the cretaceous deposits of New Jersey occurring with Teredo tibialis, &c., at Mullica Hill, and near Mount Holly, is very rich in Greensand casts of Poly- thalamia and of the tubuliform bodies above alluded to. 2d. Cretaceous rocks from Western Texas, for which I am indebted to Major W. H. Emory, of the Mexican Boundary Commission, yielded a considerable number of fine Greensand and other casts of Polythalamia and Tubuli. 3d. Limestone from Selma, Alabama, gave similar results. 4lh. Eocene limestone from Drayton Hall, near Charleston, South Carolina, gave abundance of similar casts. 307 5th. A few good Greensand easts of Polytlialamin were found in the residue left on dissolving a specimen of mail from tlie Artesian Well at Charleston, S. C. ; depth 140 feet. 6th. Abundance of organic casts, in Greensand, &c., of Poly- thalamia, Tubuli, and of the cavities of Corals, were found in the specimen of yellowish limestone, adhering to a specimen of Scu- tella Lyellii from the Eocene of North Carolina. 7th. Similar casts of Polythalamia, Tubuli, and of the cavities of Corals, and species of Encrinites, were found abundantly in a whitish limestone adhering to a specimen of Ostrea selloeformis from the Eocene of South Carolina. The last two specimens scarcely gave any indications of the presence of Greensand before they were treated with dilute acid, but left an abundant deposit of it when the calcareous portions were dissolved out. All the above-mentioned specimens contained well-preserved and perfect shells of Polythalamia. It appears from the above, that the occurrence of well-defined or- ganic casts, composed of Greensand, is by no means rare in the fossil state. I come now to the main object of this paper, which is to announce that the formation of precisely similar Greensand and other casts of Polythalamia, Mollusks, and Tubuli, is now going on in the deposits of the present ocean. In an interesting report by Count F. Pourtales, upon some specimens of soundings ob- tained by the U. S. Coast Survey in the exploration of the Gulf Stream, (See Report of U. S. Coast Survey, for 1853, Appendix, p. 83,) the sounding, from Lat. 31" 32', Long. 79^ 35', depth 150 fathoms, is mentioned as " a mixture in about equal proportions of Globigerina and black sand, probably greensand, as it makes a green mark when crushed on paper." Having examined the specimen alluded to by Mr. Pourtales, besides many others from the Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico, for which I am indebted to Prof. A. D. Bache, the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, I have found that not only is Greensand present at the above locality, but at many others, both in the Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico, and that this Greensand is often in the form of well- defined casts of Polythalamia, minute Mollusks, and branching Tubuli, and that the same variety of the petrifying material is found as in the fossil casts, some being well-defined Greensand, others reddish, brownish, or almost white. In some cases I have 368 noticed a single cell, of a spiral Poljtlialamian cast, to be composed of Greensand, while all the others were red or white, or vice versa. The species of Polythalamia whose casts are thus preserved, are easily recognizable as identical with those whose perfectly preserved shells form the chief part of the soundings. That these are of recent species is proved by the facts that some of them still retain their brilliant red coloring, and that they leave distinct remains of their soft parts when treated with dilute acids. It is not to be supposed, therefore, that these casts are of extinct species waslied out of ancient submarine deposits. They are now forming in the muds as they are deposited, and we have thus now going on in the present seas, a formation of Greensand by processes precisely analogous to those which produced de- posits of the same material as long ago as the Silurian epoch. In this connection, it is important to observe that Ehrenberg's observations and my own, establish the fact that other organic bodies than Polythalamia produce casts of Greensand, and it should also be stated that many of the grains of Greensand accompanying the well-defined casts are of wholly unrecognizable forms, having merely a rounded, cracked, lobed, or even coprolitic appearance. Certainly many of these masses, which often compose whole strata, were not formed either in the cavities of Polythal- amia or Mollusks. The fact, however, being established beyond a doubt, that Greensand does form casts in the cavities of various organic bodies, there is a great probability that all the masses of this substance, however irregular, were formed in connection with organic bodies, and that the chemical changes accompanying the decay of the organic matter have been essentially connected with the deposits in the cavities, of green and red silicates of iron, and of nearly pure silica. It is a curious fact in this connection, that the siliceous organisms, such as the DiatomacetT, Polycis- tinece, and Spongiolites which accompany the Polythalamia in the Gulf Stream, do not appear to have any influence in the formation of casts. The discovery by Prof. Ehrenberg, of the connection between organic bodies and the formation of Greensand, is one of very great interest, and is one of the many instances which he has given to prove the extensive agency of the minutest beings in producing geological changes. 369 Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Jr., read the following paper: — ON THE ANIMAL OF THE ARGONAUT SHELL, BY DR. JOHN 0. WARREN. Dr. John C. Warren having obtained, just before his death, a fine specimen of this rare animal, occupying, with its eggs, its shell, intended to take advantage of an early opportunity to exhibit it ; he had illustrated the description of the principal organs by enlarged plates, and had combined in this paper many points of great scientific interest collected from various English and foreign works and journals. He thought that it would be interesting and useful to future observers to have what is known upon this rare animal placed before them at once, as a starting- point for future investigations. He had intended to read this to the Society on the evening before his death, which fact w^ill give a melancholy interest to these, his last words to the scientific world. The term Argonauta, as applied to a Mollusk, is of modern origin, but the animal to which it is now applied was well known to the ancients ; they, however, in describing what we now call the Argonaut, made use of the word Nautilus. About the time of Linnteus, the ancient term Nautilus was taken from the Argonaut, and given to another molluscous animal, not known to antiquity. Aristotle, and the naturalists w^ho preceded him, called the Cephalopod Mollusks Polypi ; an application of the term which at first sight appears strange, but which is, in fact, perfectly cor- rect, as these animals have a great number of feet, — hence the name. This term is now confined to the lowest class of E-adiata. The Argonaut belongs to the Cephalopod Mollusks, which have been divided, from the number of their branchige, into the Dihranchiata and the Tetrahranchiata ; to the former the Ar- gonaut belongs, to the latter the Nautilus. The Dibranchiate Cephalopods have their arms provided with suckers, hence they have been called Acetahulifera by D'Orbigny ; the Tetrahran- chiata have none of these suctorial disks, and are inferior in organization to the former. The Dihranchiata are divided according to the number of their arms, into Octo'pods and Deca- PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H.- — VOL. V. 24 AUGUST, 1856. 370 pods ; to the former the Argonaut belongs. The Octopods are all naked, without external shells, except the Argonaut. This animal is the Nautilus of the ancients ; its shell, however, is not chambered like that of the Nautilus. The Argonaut is found in the Mediterranean and Indian Seas, and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where the shell is often cast ashore by the waves ; it is usually obtained without the animal, which, sinking with its shell below the surface at the approach of danger, is rarely captured by the general naturalist ; it is also said to be nocturnal and crepuscular. The specimen exhibited was the first ever seen here. The best known species of Argonaut are Argonauta argo, Linn., A. nodosa, Solander, and A. Mans, Solander, One species is found fossil in the pleiocene of Piedmont, very like A. argo, but considered identical with A. Mans, now living in the ocean. Specimens of five species of shells were exhibited from the Society's and Dr. Warren's collections. The beautiful specimen of the A. compressa, Blain., presented to the Society by Col. Thomas H. Perkins, was also exhibited ; this shell, which cost him $500, is, according to Dr. Cabot, who has made the com- parison, the largest Argonaut shell in any cabinet in Europe or America. D'Orbigny, in his great work quoted below, gives as the measurements of the largest he had examined : greatest length of the shell, 9^ inches, w^hile in our specimen it is 10 inches ; greatest diameter of the opening 6^- inches, in our speci- men it is 6^ inches ; greatest width of the opening, including the auricular appendages, 3 inches, while in ours it is 4 inches. The animals of these three species of shells have been called respectively Ocytho'e antiquorum, tuherculata, and GrancMi. Dr. Gould * describes a species as A. genicidata, taken near Rio Janeiro. Mr. Conrad,t in a recent monograph, besides these four species, mentions the A. compressa, Blainv., from the Indian Ocean ; A. papyria, Conrad ; A. gondola, Dillwyn, from the South Atlantic ; A. Oweni, Adams, from the South Atlantic ; A. cornuta, Conrad ; A. dispar, Conrad ; A. polita, Conrad ; A. Nouryi, Lorois, from the tropical Pacific ; • A. crassicosta, ■* Mollusca of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, p. 470. t Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences, Vol. 2, 1850-54, Philadelphia, p. 331. 371 Blainville, from Australian Seas ; and A. naviformis, Conrad. A specimen of A. JVouri/i, obtained from Dr. J. C. Parkinson, of New Jersey, was exliibited from Dr. Warren's collection, an extremely delicate and beautiful shell. The principal internal organs were described, illustrated by colored, enlarged, and beautiful drawings. The mantle is thick and fleshy, and adheres to the head pos- teriorly, having a single anterior opening. The arms are eight in number, attached to the cephalic cartilage, the first pair being dilated and membranous at the extremity ; all are pro- vided with two rows of sessile unarmed acetabular or suctorial disks, for purposes of prehension. In an animal from the Gulf of Guinea, described by Dr. W. E. Leach * under the name of Ocythoe Gra7ichii, (the animal of Argonauta Mans,) it is stated that these membranes are generally attached to the sides of the arms, but in one specimen the membranes adhered only by their base below the apex of the arm ; the membrane is subject to great variation in size and form, and is often different on the arms of the same individual. The suckers on the palmated arras extend round the whole circumference of the part, visible to the naked eye ; hence Owen says t it appears as if this characteristic structure arose from the extremities being bent back on them- selves and united to the stem by means of a thin membrane. Having no fins to the mantle, like the Decapods, it must chiefly progress, while swimming, in a retrograde manner by ejecting water from its funnel. The expanded extremities of the dorsal arms, which poets have celebrated as being kept erect to catch the breeze, + cannot be regarded as such by the naturalist ; for in some Octopi, according to Owen,§ similar membranes are found, * Phil. Trans. Vol. 107, 1817, pp. 295-6, London, t Trans, of Zoological Society, London, Vol. 2, pp. 113-119, 1837. X Aristotle, JElian, Oppian, Atheneeus, Pliny, and other Greek and Latin authors, have written both in prose and poetry of this little navigator, which they considered as a special favorite of the Gods, and as the instructor of man in the art of navigation. Modern poets have also sung its praises — among others, Pope and Byron ; the former writes : — " Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." § Cyclopedia of Anat. and Phys. Art. Cephalopoda, London, 183G. 372 and, as these do not inhabit shells, the membranes, even if they could be kept erect, could not be used for wafting the animal along the water. It seems to be beyond question that these expanded arms are not locomotive organs. Madame Power,* who examined a great number of these animals at Messina, from the position of the animal in the shell, with these arms to the right and left, and from repeatedly w-atching its movements, has ascer- tained that it can drag itself along the bottom, or climb madre- pores in search of food, or anchor itself, by the suckers of the other arms, hanging from its shell, which is carried above it supported by the membranous arms. According to Von Siebold,t these dorsal arms, with their terminal cutaneous lobes, are used for keeping the shell in place by their application to its external surface, their movements, as in other Cephalopods, being chiefly due to the contractions of the mantle and the funnel; — it is certain that they can move forwards and laterally, to a certain extent, by the action of their arms ; else they would seem poorly provided with means for obtaining their prey. As will be seen hereafter, the shell is principally secreted by these arms, whose two surfaces have a different structure ; the external surface is quite smooth with many chromatic or coloring cells ; while the internal has hardly any, but is covered with numerous reticulated projecting lines, becoming more prominent as the lobes are con- tracted, and between which are cell-like depressions. The Argonaut has no internal shell like the Cuttle-fish, but an external, monothalamous, symmetrical shell, containing but not attached to its body, either by a siphon or by muscles, as in the Nautilus. The eggs are deposited in the cavity of the shell, as in the specimen exhibited. The arms are not fully united by membranes at their base, as in the Poulp, so that the Argonaut is without the powerful loco- motive organ furnished by the contraction of these webs. Zoolo- gists were for a long time divided in opinion as to whether the Argonaut shell is formed by the animal found in it ; the arguments on both sides will be given hereafter. In the Nautilus, power- ful muscles take their origin from the central cartilage, and form * Report of Brit. Association, 1844, pp. 74-7, London, t Burnett's Translation, p. 276, Boston, 1854. 373 a firm bond of union to the horny girdle of the mantle, and by- means of this to the sides of the last chamber of the shell — in the higher Cephalopods these muscles are always in relation to the development of the internal shell or framework ; in Octopus, Loligo, and Sepia, these muscles arise from the base of the arms and the cephalic cartilage, and are attached to the sides of the mantle and to the capsule of the calcareous plate — in Argonaut, which has no internal shell, these muscles are smaller even than in the naked Octopus, and reduced to a few fibres lost in the mantle ; there is no muscular connection between the body and the external shell. This has been alluded to by Owen,* as affording a strong analogical argument in favor of the opinion that the Argonaut shell does not form an integrant part of the animal which inhabits and deposits its eggs in it ; as it seems hardly probable, says he, considering the intimate relation be- tween the shell and the means of attachment in other Cephalo- pods, that this animal, with a highly developed external shell, should have its attachment reduced to a lower degree than in the naked Octopus. t The Serpula, however, an Annelid, can secrete as true a shell as the Argonaut, and has as little muscular con- nection with it ; it can also take different positions in its shell, quit it and return to it. as is doubtless true of the Argonaut — so that these facts do not prove any thing in favor of the parasitism of the Argonaut. The funnel is entire, and without a valve, articulated to the inner sides of the mantle by a cartilaginous ball-and-socket joint. The eyes are large and sessile ; the organ of hearing is well developed in the substance of the cephahc cartilage. The jaws consist of two horny mandibles, moving vertically, like a parrot's beak. The oral cavity has a well developed tongue, partly papillose, and partly spiny, the points directed * Memoir on the Pearly Nautilus, p. 19, London, 1832. t [In a recent letter to the author, Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, says, in relation to the A. argo : " There is a muscular attachment, and, small as it may be, it is not at all anomalous. In all the spiral shells, the attachment is small, and it is transfen-ed in its position as the individual increases in size, enlarging its ' house.' M. Blauchard procured and examined six living specimens, and ascertained that the hard and soft parts were attached by a ligament." (Ann. Lin. Soc. de Bordeaux, Vol. 3.)] This is opposed to the opinions of the best ■writers on the subject, both English and continental. 374 backwards ; and also salivary glands. The oesophagus is pro- vided with a lateral dilatation or crop, but continues of almost uniform width to the stomach, which is an elongated muscular sac, like the gizzard of a bird, with its cardiac and pyloric orifices close together at its upper portion. At a short distance from the pylorus there is a triangular glandular body, which Owen con- siders a rudimentary paiicreas, communicating with the intestine ; the intestine, nearly straight, terminates in the funnel, within the influence of the respiratory currents, which also expel the excre- ments. The ink-bag is present in the Argonaut, and is situated near the termination of the intestine, into which it opens, — not en- closed within the capsule of the liver. The liver is of large size, extending from the crop to the stomach ; it consists of two lobes, united for a considerable extent along the median line, gradually extending laterally and forwards so as partially to inclose the alimentary canal ; it is simple and undivided, not numerously lobulated as in the Nautilus. The branchiae are two in number, each composed of fifteen pairs of lamellae ; they are concealed and protected by the mantle which forms for them a chamber anterior to the other viscera, into which the rectum and generative organs open. Respiration is affected by the alternate dilatation and contraction of this chamber ; the water rushing in by the anterior opening of the mantle during its dilatation, and being expelled through the funnel during its contraction. The aquiferous system opens by two apertures, one on each side, at the posterior and upper angle of the eye, at the bottom of a slight depression ; and communi- cates with a cavity situated at the upper part of the head, and also with the peritoneal and other cavities. There is a single ventricle or aortic heart, surrounded by a pericardium in the centre of the cavity of the body. At the base of the branchiae are two sinuses, which have been called by some authors branchial hearts and pulmonary sinuses ; according to Von Siebold (pp. cit. pp. 289, 292,) these have no muscular fibres, but have a glandular aspect, and are in close relation with the urinary organs — they, however, require further in- vestigation. The divisions of the vena cava, and other veins enterin^r the 375 pericardiac cavity, are furnished with clusters of spongy cellular or glandular bodies, which open into the veins by conspicuous foramina ; these have been found in all Cephalopods. Owen {ojp. cit.) thinks that these follicles relieve the vascular system by affording a temporary receptacle for the blood when it accumu- lates in the vessels from expansion or from impediment to the circulation from the varying pressure to which the animal may be subjected at different depths in the ocean, analogous to the rete murahile of Cetacea, or the venous sinuses of fishes ; and that they may also purify or modify the blood, somewhat like the spleen of higher animals. These bodies have been regarded as absorbents, a rudimentary portal system, a spleen, accessory branchiae, blood-reservoirs, &c. ; according to Von Siebold, {op. cit. p. 292,) they can now be positively regarded as kidneys, for by chemical analysis it has been found that they secrete uric acid. They consist of a tissue of contractile fibres, among which are branches of the venae cavce — the urine is secreted from the external surface, escaping into the peritoneal cavities. Accord- ing to Harless, these appendages of the veins must be regarded as everted glandular follicles, the urine-secreting cells being situ- ated externally and the bloodvessels within — a curious histo- logical fact. The skin is soft and tender. In the layer analogous to the rete mucosum are immense numbers of chromatic contractile cells, containing a coloring matter ; in the Argonaut, these cells possess the greatest variety of color ; by their contraction and dilatation, and by the action of the surface tissue producing the rapidly changing tints in the skin when exposed to the light. The sexes are distinct, though the specimens usually found are all females, the males having been described as parasites until recently. The ovary is single, situated at the bottom of the visceral sac, consisting of a spherical capsule, and ovisacs at- tached to its internal surface, connected in bunches. The ova escape by a single opening into a short single passage, which divides to form the two oviducts, ascending with several convo- lutions to their widely separated orifices at the base of the branchiae ; there are no laminated glands, as in many genera, serving for the production of an external covering to the ova and for connecting them together; their ova are, therefore, con- 376 nected by the secretion of the lining membrane of the long tortuous oviducts. The ova (of which the specimen showed great numbers, occupying a considerable portion of the shell,) are of an oval form, of the size of mustard-seed, connected in clusters by long filaments entangled together. According to Von Siebold {op. cit.) the shell is formed while the embryo, after its escape from the e.^g, is still persistent in the spawn inside the shell of its parent. Eggs have been found in very small shells, so that the power of reproduction must be very early developed. As to the position of the animal in the shell, which the advocates of parasitism maintain is not constant, Madame Power {op. cit.), from the examination of great numbers, says that the " relative position of the animal to its shell is always the same ; when retracted, the visceral sac is lodged in the spine, the membranous arms to the right and left, the other six arms placed beneath the body in the middle ; the mouth in the centre of the large aper- ture, the eyes being visible on the right and left through the sub-transparent shell ; the siphon (funnel) resting on the open part of the keel, about two lines from its extremity ; " this was the position of the specimen exhibited. According to Mr. Rang, when the Argonaut rises to the surface, it does so with the keel of the shell upwards, turning it downwards when it floats on the water ; the shell being very light, it probably rises to the sur- face by means of its funnel and arms, in the manner of the other Octopods ; when frightened, by retracting its six arms within the shell, and with the jmlmated ones embracing it outside, it can readily sink to the bottom, without any air-chamber such as is found in the Nautilus. Lamark, Leach, Rafinesque, De Blainville, Broderip, Sowerby, Gray, and others, think the animal of the Argonaut is a para- site, the shell being formed by an inferior Heteropodous Mollusk, allied to Atlanta and Carinaria — and for the following reasons : there is no attachment by muscular or any other texture of the animal to its shell ; it may voluntarily quit it, and in this con- dition was described by Rafinesque as the genus Ocytho'e ; it is not found in any regular position in the shell. These objections are answered by the facts in the case of Serpula, above men- tioned; and, from Madame Power's numerous observations, it is evident that the position of the animal in the vast majority of 377 cases is the same. Contrary to the analogy of other testacea, there is little or no correspondence in the disposition of the color of the Ocythoe and its shell ; the external surface of the skin has the same epidermic covering as in the naked Poulp, and yet the shell has also its delicate epidermis in its natural state ; the shell serves very little for the protection of the body, as its cavity is usually found more or less filled with eggs. Poulps were known to occupy shells parasitically for the deposition of their eggs, even by Aristotle. A naked Octopus has been found imbedded in a wooden pot which had been thrown overboard. Desjardins found a Poulp in the shell of a Dolium ; so that this parasitic propensity is not peculiar to Ocythoe. The advocates of non-parasitism — Cuvier, Duvernoy, Ferus- sac,* and D'Orbigny, and others — say that, from the time of Aristotle to the present day, the Argonaut shell has never been found with any other inhabitant than the Ocythoe ; and, what is of greater weight, the Ocythoe has never been found in any other shell than that of the Argonaut — whereas the parasitic Hermit-Crab takes different shells as they fall in his way. The A. argo, nodosa, and Mans, have each a different species of Ocythoe. The shell does not always contain eggs ; Owen alludes to three instances in which it was exclusively and exactly occu- pied by the Cephalopod. In addition to the structure and uses of the palmated arms, as already given, it may be mentioned that the nucleus of the shell has not been observed in the egg, it being formed posteriorly, as quoted from Von Siebold ; the structure of the shell indicates secreting organs different from those of other Mollusks, which organs are the palmated arms, as will presently be seen. Young animals have been taken 300 leagues at sea, their shells still cartilaginous, with others adult ; it is hard to believe that they have come this distance in search of a shell, and that they have not formed it themselves. Van Benedenf observed two shells, broken in different places, which had been entirely repaired by a matter like the rest of * Hist. Nat. des Ct^phalapodes Acetabuliferes, Paris, 1835-48. The most complete account yet published on the Argonaut, and its allied genera — with plates. t Nouv. M^moires de I'Acad. Royale de Belgique, Tome XI. 18.38. 378 the shell. De Blainville believes the Poulp of the Argonaut shell is a parasite ; the exceptional expansion of one pair of the arms, he thinks, is for maintaining the animal in the shell by- embracing its exterior, as the hooks of the Paguri, among Crus- taceans, serve to fix the latter animals in their borrowed shells ; while M. Rang sees in this arrangement a new argument in favor of non-parasitisra. The parts found repaired were the middle of the sides, the lower free border, and near the back. In the first, the reproduced part had not the transverse ribs nor tlie striae of increase ; it was more convex than the shell, with a corresponding internal depression ; it was produced beyond the broken surface, especially on the inside ; laminated like plates of mica. By chemical reaction, the new was shown to be like the old shell ; there being, however, less carbonate of lime according to the superficiality of the layer, the external having very little, and apparently serving for an epidermis — the part broken being thus reproduced like the formation of the entire shell, which at first is membranous.* In the reparation of the free edge there is the same polish as on the rest of this edge, as if it were covered with a layer of enamel. If the palmated arms can thus produce a polished surface on the border, as the Cypraea does over its whole shell by means of its mantle, it is a strong argument in favor of non-parasitism ; for the supposed constructor of the shell allied to Carinaria, could in no way polish this surface. Is it probable, then, that an animal having no shell, should have an apparatus capable of secreting, in case of need, matter proper for repairing with similar tissue a shell not its own, and also of depositing a layer of enamel on the free border at the place where its palmated arms come out in order to embrace the shell? It can hardly be doubted that this Poulp is not only the inhabi- tant^ but the maker of its shell. It is very curious that among the great number of Argonauts examined by different naturalists, not a single male has been * Dr. Warren has also a fine specimen of A. nodosa, in which a fracture of one side of the shell had been completely and beautifully repaired; and a specimen was exhibited showing the partial closing of a fracture by a thin membrane. This reparation, according to Madame Power, takes place with great rapidity; she has seen a large opening covered over by membrane in less than six hours. 379 found ; and yet the males must be very numerous, as almost all the Argonauts carry impregnated ova. In 1825, Delia Chiaje, at Naples, described and figured, under the name of Tricoceph- ahis acetabular is, a small animal, supposed a parasite, on the Argonaut ; he placed it among the Helminthes or Trematode Worms, although it had a double row of suckers, by which it fixed itself to the skin of the Argonaut; similar animals were afterwards described by Cuvier under the name of Hectocotylus. Dujardin seems to have been the first to perceive the true position of these animals, thinking them parts detached from a Cephalopod for purposes of fecundation. In 1842, Koelliker advanced the opinion that these animals were the males of the Cephalopods on which they were found. He maintained * that they have arteries and veins, a heart and branchiae ; that they have the same spermatozoa, contractile pigment-cells, suckers, and remarkable arrangement of the muscular fibres, as exist in the Cephalopods on which they are found ; that they are all males, and live in the neighborhood of the female organs ; and (what is probably not true) that the embryos found in the eggs of some Octopods exactly resemble them. Von Siebold {op. cit. Book 11), following Koelliker, considers the Hectocotylus as the male of an Octopod, though he differs from him in regard to certain points of their structure. Both of these authors have fallen into errors which have been corrected by M. M. Verany and C. Vogt,t the latest writers on the subject, to whom we must refer for details and figures ; the latter con- sider the Hectocotyli, not as stunted males, but as detached arms of Cephalopods organized in a special manner, having neither the intestine nor the heart indicated by Koelliker. M. Verany found in the Mediterranean an Octopus which had, in the place of the right arm of the third pair, a vesicle implanted on a small pedicle furnished with suckers ; on other specimens, this arm was abnormal, instead of a vesicle, the pedicle supporting a very large arm terminated by a globular body resembling the Hec- tocotylus of Cuvier ; this abnormal arm was easily detached, and * Trans, of the Linuean Society, Vol. 20, London, 1846, pp. 9-21. t Annales des Sciences Xaturelles, Tome 17, 1852, Paris, pp. 147-188. 380 its terminal sac contained the white thread (fouet) , a part of the male generative organs. There are, then, male Argonauts, but so very small that they have been mistaken for embryos still carrying the umbilical vesi- cle ; this supposed vesicle of the embryo was one of the trans- formed arms of the adult animal, containing the so-called Hec- tocotylus. (Figures of the adult male Argonaut were exhibited, of the natural size, not quite an inch in length, while the adult female is from six to eight inches long.) H. Muller, who first discovered the male Argonaut, says that it has no shell ; neither has the female, according to him, wdien of the same small size ; the arms are all pointed, not having the palmated appendages of the female.* Belovv the venous appendages are the male organs of genera- tion, consisting of a testicle, vas deferens, a receptacle in the shape of a bottle, and an ejaculatory duct by which the sperma- tophore is expelled during copulation. The greatly developed arm, above alluded to, has for its axis a cylindrical muscular tube, continued beyond the suckers into a long thread-like body {fouet), usually concealed in the terminal sac ; in the middle is a bloodvessel and a series of nervous ganglia, mistaken by Koel- liker for the intestine and its contents ; at the base of the arm is a sac in which the seminal apparatus is contained. A figure of a Hectocotylus, or one of these detached arms of the male Cephalopod, was exhibited, in which was seen the pedicle on which it is implanted and from which it is very readily detached ; oval below, more pointed and truncated above, ter- minating in a sac containing the fouet, or in this organ unrolled and as long as the arm ; it has two rows of suckers. The sepa- ration of these arms takes place without laceration, naturally, and the pedicle which remains undoubtedly reproduces the arm, as in the case of the deciduous horns of Ruminants. The sac * [In the A. genlciilata, Gould, the shell is unknown; it is stated (op. cit.) " that there was no impression on its surface answering to the folds of a shell, so that it had not very recently, if ever, occupied one." M. Rang is of opinion (see Ferussac and D'Orbigny) that the shell is formed by the/e/«a/e Argonaut for the protection of her eggs ; and that, perhaps, the male has no shell — this point requires further investigation.] 381 at the base of the detached arm does not contain the testicle, with its excretory and ejacuUitory ducts and penis, as supposed by Koelliker and Von Siebold ; these organs are situated in the usual position of other male Cephalopods; the seminal appa- ratus, or spermatophore, formed in the internal organs, is trans- planted from the respiratory cavity into the sac at the base of the Hectocotyliform arm ; which, being thus charged, is detached periodically from its pedicle, and attaches itself to the female, probably during the act of copulation, which is known to take place between other Cephalopods ; by means of its suckers it creeps to the female genital openings, where the spermatophore fulfils its mission. H. Miiller,* in a paper on this subject, observes : " It is then proved that the Hectocotylus is formed on a male Argonauta, and is nothing but an arm metamorphosed in a very irregular manner." This is certainly a very curious fact, occurring in a class of animals whose reproduction takes place in the usual way in most of its genera, but in these few in strange contradiction with the supposed established laws of Zoology. The fossil Aptychus, which is now admitted to be the internal shell of a Cephalopod, receives some illustration from the de- velopments in regard to Hectocotylus. Von Siebold {op. cit. p. 274) says that, if the relations of the latter to certain Octo- pods be borne in mind, the idea of Alexander Braun, that the Aptychus may have been the male of certain Arnmonites, merits consideration. If they be considered abortive males, sheltering themselves in the mantle of the females, this would explain why they are so often found at the base of the first chamber of Ammonites. It is also possible that the fragment of a Mollusk, found by Quoy and Gaimard at the Celebes Islands,t may be the Hectocotylus of the long-sought male of Nautilus pompiliiis. Dr. J. N. Borland presented a specimen of Scaphiopiis solitarins, Holbrook, a reptile comnaon to Alabama and Tennessee, but, until recently, almost unknown here. The specimen was taken by Prof. Jeffries Wyman, from *■ Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome 16, 1852, p. 132,. Paris, t Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome 20, 1830, p. 470, Paris. 382 a pond which in summer is dry, near his residence in Cambridge. According to Dr. Holbrook, the animal is sohtary in its habits throughout the year, except during the copulating season, which is in the early spring, when it takes to the water. It commonly lives in moist places, in holes, a few inches or more beneath the surface of the ground, which it excavates by means of the little digging plates attached to the hind feet. In this habitation it quietly waits for its insect-prey. Prof. Wyman gave some account of observations on Scaphio- pus which he had recently made. As already statied by Dr. Borland, it is very rarely found in this section of the country, having been previously noticed in only one locality, viz : in Danvers, by Dr. Andrew Nichols, whose very interesting account of it was published in the Proceedings of the Essex Institute of Salem. The first specimen observed by Prof. Wyman was dug up in his garden in Cambridge about a year since. In the latter part of April of the present year, he obtained about thirty specimens from a small pond in his neighborhood, where they Avere congre- gated for the purpose of depositing their eggs. Those noticed by Dr. Nichols were not found in the water till July, and then in a small pond which was formed after a long rain, and which had only a temporary existence. This shows, in the two cases, a wide difference in the season in which the eggs are deposited. While copulating, the Scaphiopus grasps the female round the pelvis and not under the axilla as do the frogs and toads. The sexual impulse in the males is very powerful, and under its influence they attach themselves to toads and frogs, if they happen to come in their way ; or if one of them is removed from the female, and the finger is placed beneath the male, it is at once so firmly grasped that he may be lifted out of the water before relaxing his hold. In almost every instance observed by Dr. Wyman, the under surface of the abdomen of the female was more or less ulcerated or abraded, in conse- quence of long-continued pressure from the grasp of the male. In one instance, where a male Scaphiopus was united to a female toad, the latter deposited her eggs ; these very soon began to shrivel and very rapidly underwent decomposition. 383 In swimming, the vScaphiopus does not strike the water with the right and left legs simultaneously, but, like the turtles, by alternate strokes. The Scaphiopus is nocturnal in its habits, passing the day deeply buried in the earth ; which is doubtless the explanation of its not having been more frequently observed. The process of burrowing resembles that of the toad, the earth being scraped away by thrusting out the feet laterally ; these being provided with a broad and horny ridge, which serves as an excavator. As fast as the earth is removed, the body is thrust backwards into the hole. The pelvis of this animal is very loosely articu- lated with the sacrum, so as to move very freely backward and forwards upon it, as w^as observed while the animal was making its excavation, as well as on dissection. Dr. Wyman also stated that nearly all the eggs of Scaphiopus, frogs, and toads, deposited in the latter part of April, in the pond above referred to, w^ere destroyed by a parasitic fungus. Only a small number of these and those which were deposited a few weeks later, came to maturity, the larger part perishing before the embryo was able to leave the egg ; and some of them were attacked after the tadpole was sufficiently developed to swim around. The development of the fungus preceded the death of the embryo. Dr. A. A. Hayes asked if any cases of poisoning of animals had been met with from parasitic growths upon their food. He had recently seen several cases of sudden death in horses, where no traces of poison could be detected in the stomach. The food, however, in these instances, which consisted of grain which had been damaged by water, was covered with a parasitic vege- table growth. Mr. C. J. Sprague stated that a specimen of Equiselum arvense, (Horsetail,) was handed him a few weeks since by Dr. C. T. Jackson, and it was asserted that this plant had been the cause of the death of a number of horses recently in Vermont. Prof: Wyman read an extract from a letter of Mr. 384 Robert Howell, proposing an exchange of fossils for a copy of the Society's Journal. The subject was referred to the Curator of Geology. Dr. Kneeland announced a bequest, by the late presi- dent, of a skeleton of a Chimpanzee, an incomplete set of the bones of a Dromedary, and a number of casts of remains of the Iguanodon, Dinornis, Hylaeosaurus, Gavial, and Zeuglodon, and the lower jaw of a Mastodon. A collection of Birds and Reptiles, sent by JVIr. Sam- uels from California, was exhibited, and a sixth letter from Mr. S. read to the Society. A letter from Prof. Baird, of Washington, and a list of the specimens, also accompanied the collection. Mr. Sprague exhibited a brush, made of the fibres of the Mexican Aloe, a material apparently capable of replacing the bristles commonly used in the manufacture of brushes. Mr. N. H. Bishop presented several crystals taken from the surface of the earth in South America. The Secretary stated that he had made a hasty quali- tative chemical examination of them, and had found them to be composed of Sulphate of Soda and Sulphate of Magnesia, with a trace of Chlorine. The specimens were referred to Dr. A. A. Hayes for a thorough analysis. The Corresponding Secretary announced the reception of the following letters, viz : — From the Smithsonian Institution, February IG and March 11 ; — Western Academy of Natural Sciences, February 12 ; — Geological Society, London, November 22, 1855; — Entomo- logical Society, London, December 5, 1855, acknowledging the receipt of the Proceedings of the Society ; — Der Verein fiir vaterliindische Naturkunde in Wurtemberg, December 29, 1855, 38S acknowledging receipt of Proceedings and presenting its own publications ; — Academia di Bologna, May 2G, 1855, presenting its publications and other valuable books ; — George B. Blake, Esq., in reply to the vote of thanks passed at the meeting of the Society April 2. June 4, 1856. ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING. Dr. Chas. T. Jackson, Vice-President, in the Chair. The Committee appointed to audit the accounts of the Treasurer, reported that they had made their exam- ination, and found the accounts correctly cast and prop- erly vouched. The report was accepted. The Committee appointed at the last meeting to nominate a candidate for the office of President, were further instructed to report the names of two or more persons as candidates for this office, at an adjourned meeting; and it was also voted that the meeting, when adjourned, should be adjourned to the time of the next regular meeting, to hear and act upon the report of said Committee. A seventh letter was read from Mr. E. Samuels, giving a list of objects collected in California since his last account. Dr. Brewer called the Society's attention to the fact that Mr. Samuels's letter mentions that he had obtained two specimens of California Red-tailed Hawks, shot on their nests, with their eggs. PROCEEDINGS B. S.N. H. VOL. V. 25 SEPTEMBER, 1856. 386 This is an interesting and important acquisition, and may at last enable us to determine with certainty a disputed point in our ornithology, and to remove whatever confusion still remains. There are three varieties of North American hawks, each of which is probably a distinct species, in regard to which some confusion has prevailed. These are the common Red-tailed Hawk of the Atlantic States, {Buteo horealis,) B. Sivainsoni, and the California Red-tail, described by Nuttall as B. montanus. The last has only recently been admitted to be a good species. In regard to all three there has been some difficulty in determin- ing their specific distinctions, and they have been more or less confounded by writers. Mr. Audubon gives for the B. Swainsoni a figure of the Red-tail, and Mr. Cassin, in his Synopsis of the Birds of Prey accompanying his illustrated work, confounds tlie Western Red-tail with Swainson's Buzzard. Soon after its publication, having an opportunity to examine three genuine specimens of the latter, he is convinced of their distinctness, and that he had till then never seen a genuine B. Swainsoni. In the same paper, however, Mr. Cassin expresses the belief that there is no specific difference between the eastern and western Red-tailed Hawks. This opinion, however, he has since recalled. His attention having been called to differences in their effo-s, in the cries of the bird, and finding also constant differences in their plumage, he has since admitted the Western bird to be a distinct species, to which Mr. Nuttall's name of Buteo inontanus belongs. Mr. Samuels's specimens of the birds and eggs will, without doubt, afford satisfactory evidence of the correctness of these conclusions, and determine this interesting question beyond further doubt. Dr. Kneeland presented, in the name of Dr. James C. Parkinson, of Bridgeboro', New Jersey, descriptions of two new Argonauts, A. Conradi^ and A.fragilis, A. Conradi. — Oblong ovate, surfiice minutely granulated, the granulations being chiefly in the grooves between the ribs, and on the tubercles : very few on the ribs. Sides convex toward the carinas, plane toward the lip. Ribs rather distant, except on the umbo : broad, elevated, except anteriorly, where 387 they become nearly obsolete ; straight, entire, not furcate ; long and short ribs alternating. Back broad, anterior and posterior third convex ; middle third concave, anterior third, studded with small tubercles. Tubercles on anterior and posterior thirds of carinas small, nearly obsolete: on the middle third of each carina, seven very large tubercles, broad at the base ; compressed laterally near the apex ; terminating in an acute edge, curving outwardly. Sinus furnished with a thick callus continued to the margin of the lip. Lips convex. Aperture subquadrate oblong ; narrowing somewhat anteriorly. Angles acute ; spineless ; everted. An- terior half of the shell milk white, except near the sinus, where it is pale purple ; posterior half pale fuscous. Subsinus, carinag, and large tubercles, dark fuscous ; a white, longitudinal, central line running through it, between carinas. Anterior half of shell polished, remainder dull. Length, 2|- inches. Breadth, 1^ inches. Aperture : length, 1^ inches ; width, 1 inch. Obtained at New Nantucket, Pacific Ocean. I have named this shell after the distinguished T. A. Conrad, whose labors in the Testaceological field are well known and universally appreciated. No. 2. A. Fragilis. — Oblong ovate, very thin, frail, sides smooth, without granulations, having numerous opaque, minute milk-white spots distributed over them ; ribs numerous, inter- rupted, a few entire ; subfurcate, somewhat waved. Back narrow, flat. Tubercles many ; rather small ; generally of a size. Sinus large, furnished with a callus, which is attenuated towards the edge of the lip, and is carried across the base of the aperture, from one sinus to the opposite, in a flattened arch ; upon this arch rests one side of the nucleus of the shell ; which is not in- voluted like other species, but rises in a cylindrical form, a half inch above the arch from which the inner side springs ; it has much the appearance, in shape, of the end of the finger of a glove. Around this cylinder are a number of lines of growth ; otherwise it is smooth, somewhat waved, and destitute of tuber- cles for the distance of ^ inch from the apex ; lips convex. Aperture, ovate oblong. Color white, except the apex and posterior half of nucleus which is fuscous, posterior half of carince are also of the same color, with a white, central, longitudinal line running along the centre. Angles, which are rounded in the adult, acute in the young shell, somewhat everted, pale, purplish brown. Shell translucent. Length, 2^ inches. Breadth, 1| inches. Aperture: length, 2 inches ; width, 1^ inches. Dr. Kneeland also presented, in the name of Dr. Parkinson, an uncommonly large and perfect shell of Nautilus pompilius, very much larger than any in the Society's cabinet. Also, a very curious insect from the Sechelles Islands, called the " leaf-fly," or the " fly-leaf," " la mouchefeuilley He read the following description of the insect from the " Mauritius Watchman," of the 8th of January, 1845: — " Among the insects of this Archipelago, none is more re- markable than the mouche-feuille, as it is very appropriately named. The male and female insects differ considerably in appearance ; and it is the latter only which deserves the fore- going title. The male is about an inch and a half long, and possesses some slight resemblance to a grasshopper in the form of the head and horns, nor is the body unlike that of that insect. The wings are of an exceedingly weak gauze-like texture, of a very pale green color, and are rather shorter than the body. Their powers of motion are extremely limited, being confined, as far as our observation has extended, to a slow and feeble walk. We have never seen them attempt to fly, nor do they aj^pear to possess any instinct of danger. "They delight principally in the Badamier, a tree which flourishes remarkably well at Sechelles. To the leaf of this, the female insect bears a most astonishing resemblance. The entire length is from an inch and a quarter to two inches, and the breadth in the widest part about an inch and a quarter. The head might easily be mistaken for the broken stalk of the leaf, to which the neck bears a "perfect resemblance. The wings present the exact form and color of the young leaf, and the veins 389 which traverse them have precisely the appearance of the ribs of the leaf. A kind of suture which seems to unite the wings in the centre, though they are really detached, presents a ridge perfectly analogous to that of the leaf stalk. The legs are flat, and of such a form as closely to resemble those little abortions of leaves which are frequently found on the Badamier. Another remarkable circumstance is the change of color which these insects undergo. As the leaves on which they feed wither, they lose their bright green color, and become yellow ; Avhether they resume their green color with the leaves or not, is not known. No insect is more harmless and defenceless than this ; their sole safety consists in their escaping observation by the close resem- blance to the plant on which they feed. Their greatest enemies are ants, which prey upon them with great avidity, cutting out pieces of their wings and carrying them off, until the poor insect is completely dismembered. They seem sensible of no pain during this attack, for we have repeatedly seen ants eating the wings, while the fly continued its own repast on the badamier leaf without interruption ; nevertheless, death ensues. They eat in the same way as caterpillars, cutting in a circular direction, but they are far from being so voracious as these insects. They drink frequently, plunging their mouths into the dew-drops, and drinking by suction. " The mouche-feuille attains its full growth in about four months, and then begins to lay, and deposits an e^g daily for about three months, when it dies. The eggs are of a dark brown color, and much resemble in shape the Caramhole, but with a little knob at each end. They are about three lines in length, and one and a half in diameter at the largest part. In from eighty to ninety days the young are hatched, and are then of a reddish brown color, nearly an inch long, and perfectly flat, without any appearance of wings. It seems incredible that an insect of such a size could have been contained in such an egg. As they grow, the color gradually changes, and the wings appear, but we are unable to detail minutely the stages of their growth ; but we believe it to differ from that of almost every other insect in that they do not change their skin. They w^ere formerly found in all parts of the islands, but are now rarely met with except in Silhouette." 390 This genus has been called Phyllium by Illiger and Westwood ; and Mantis by Fabricius and Donovan. Dr. Durkee exhibited three living specimens of Plater noctilucus, or Lightning Spring-beetle, brought from the Island of Cuba, eight weeks since. Dr. Zabdiel B. Adams was elected a Resident Member. June 18, 1856. ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING. Prof. Jeffries Wyman in the Chair. The Committee on nomination of a candidate for the office of President, presented a report, in accordance with their instructions at the last meeting. The report was read and accepted. It was voted to defer the balloting for a President until the hour of 9 o'clock. Mr. T. T. Bouve read a letter from Dr. James Deane, of Greenfield, requesting the loan of specimens of fossils, to aid him in the preparation of his work on the fossils of the Connecticut Sandstone. It was voted that the Curator of Geology be em- powered to loan Dr. Deane such specimens as he might desire. An eighth letter was read from Mr. E. Samuels, accompanied by a list of specimens s^it from Cali- fornia. Dr. Brewer read a letter from Mr. Robert Kennicott, 391 of West Northfield, Cook Co., Illinois. Mr. K. proposes to exchange fossils, reptiles, birds, and fishes for a copy of the Journal of the Society. It was voted that a copy of the Proceedings, and of such numbers of the Journal as are not scarce, be for- warded to Mr. Kennicott in consideration of his proposed exchange. Dr. Brewer called attention to an interesting fact noticed by Mr. Kennicott, viz : that Plotus anliinga (Snake Bird) is found in Illinois; also that the Wood Ibis (Tantalus loculator) is common in Southern Illinois, where it probably lays its eggs. Mr. Kennicott saw the latter bird frequently near Cairo, in August and Septem- ber of last year. At the meeting of May 21, Mr. N. H. Bishop presented samples of a peculiar crystalline salt which he had brought with him from South America. Mr. Bishop's account of this peculiar mineral is as follows : — It is found mixed with the soil in greater or less abundance, from San Luis de la punta, (a town on the western side of the pampas of the Argentine Republic, where the grass plains prop- erly end, and the travesia or desert commences,) to the foot of the Andes. San Luis lies in Lat. 33^ 16' S., Long. (^Q"" 21' W., and is the capital of the province of the same name. From this town, westward, the soil is almost worthless, until the River Mendoza is reached, where irrigation commences. The soil is very light and dry, not compact in the least. This is probably caused by the dryness of the atmosphere and absence of water ; for when Mr. Bishop crossed that part of the country, they were obliged to purchase water that had been caught in holes for the use of cattle. Stones are rarely met with ; where they do exist, at the base of the Andes, he did not observe the existence of this salt. There are several spots on the travesia, between San Luis and Mendoza, furnishing a poor quality of 392 grass, which is fed upon by the cattle which are driven across the continent to the coast. With the exception of these spots, the country between the above-named towns, and extending many leagues to the north and south, is a dreary desert, covered with a low growth of thorn bushes and a few species of gnarled trees, some of which bear pods. This substance penetrates the earth from a few inches to a couple of feet. It is particularly abundant at certain places east of the town of San Juan, where the ground is covered with a thin incrustation. It is here exceedingly painful to the eyes from the reflection of the sun's rays, and the inhabitants are constantly affected with inflammation of the eyes. The method of treating the soil by the natives is very simple. The water is conducted from the rivers Mendoza and San Juan (which take their rise in the Cordillera) through a sequia or canal, around squares of level land, at irregular intervals of time, and, to use their own expression, they tvash off the salitre. Then a plough, constructed of two pieces of wood, is brought into service, and turns up from six to eight inches of the soil, which goes through the same washing process as the first. After two or three repetitions of this operation, a shallow soil is obtained, partially free from salitre, in which wheat, clover, pumpkins, melons, etc., are raised. The remaining salitre, ac- cording to the belief of the natives, is exhausted by successive crops, and after several years of tillage, the soil is suitable for the vine. Oranges, peaches, quinces, olives, figs, etc., flourish. Within a few years, large tracts of land have been made exceed- ingly fertile by the process above described, and could the New England plough be introduced there, the process would be far more valuable. Dr. A. A. Hayes, communicated the following as the results of his analysis of the saline mineral, presented by Mr. Bishop : — The specimen was a white, crystaUine solid, formed by the union of two layers of salt, as often results from the evaporation of a saline solution, when the pellicle formed on the surface falls to the bottom. Along the line of junction, crystal facets are seen, 393 but the forms are indistinct. These crystals readily scratch calc spar, and dissolve without residue in water, affording a solution, which, by evaporation at 150'^ F., leaves the salt with some of the original physical characters. It readily parts with a portion of water by heat, and when the temperature is raised to redness, it fuses quietly into a transparent, colorless, anhydrous fluid ; on cooling, an opaque, white, crystalline solid remains. In this climate the specimen attracts moisture, and therefore has not a fixed amount of water constituent. It consists of water, sulphuric acid, soda, magnesia, chlorine. Mixed with it are traces of crenate of iron and lime, with sandy grains of earth. One sample afforded — Water 16.420 Sulphuric acid Soda . Magnesia Chlorine Three fragments from different masse? following substances found : — 49.658 23.758 9.904 .260 100.000 were taken, and the Water ... Sulphate of Soda " Magnesia Chloride Sodium Crenates Lime and Iron with Silicic Acid Sand 16.42 48.00 34.20 1.21 I 0.17 100.00 18.84 45.82 33.19 1.79 0.30 0.06 100.00 19.60 45.74 ' 33.31 1.16 0.13 0.06 100.00 The varying amounts of water given, are illustrative of the absorptive power of the salts in the atmosphere of this place. Dried at 90^ F., the amount of water was 15.20 in 100 parts, which exceeds by four parts, the proportion necessary to form proto-hydrates of the two salts present. Analysis does not show the two sulphates to be in definite 394 proportions in the masses, but the crystals may be a double salt, composed of one equivalent of sulphate of soda, and one equiv- alent of sulphate of magnesia; each retaining an equivalent of water. In the masses, the closest approximation is 42 parts of sulphate of magnesia found, instead of 46 parts required. The communication of Mr. Bishop embraces interesting facts. These saline deserts cover extended areas, in different parts of South America, and, so far as he has been able to learn, the saline matter differs in kind at the different points. The ten- dency of saline matter contained in any soil is to rise through the aid of moisture to the surface, where, the water escaping, the salt is deposited. This effect, contrary to the gravitating influ- ence, is the most common cause of deserts, and may be exerted everywhere, when the evaporation of water from a given surface becomes much greater in amount than that surface receives in the form of rain and dew. The cultivation of saline deserts by washing down the saline matter, exhibits the opposite action of water in restoring fertility, and it is by no means essential that the water should contain organic matter to insure the full effect, as the soil of deserts generally contains all the organic matter of many years' accumulation. Dr. Wyman made a few remarks on some of the habits of the painted tortoise (Emys picta) during the breeding season, which he had recently observed. Dr. Wyman also gave some account of the develO|)- ment of the dorsal cord in the Ale wive, (Alosa vernalis.) The dorsal cord has been generally described as terminating anteriorly between the auditory capsules, and, in consequence, it has been inferred that the true vertebral column does not extend beyond the basilar portion of the occiput; and that the occiput is the only part of the cranium which has a vertebral structure. In the Alevvive, he had seen the dorsal cord, in the earlier specimens, uniformly extending as far forwards as the space between the eyes, and consequently into the region of the an- terior spiienoid ; subsequently, as the face is enlarged, the anterior part of the cranium seems to be carried forwards, and then the 395 dorsal cord is seen between the auditory capsules only. If the dorsal cord is to be regarded as an index of the extent of the jDarts considered serially homologous with vertebras, then it may be inferred that the vertebral column extends originally through the base of the cranium, and consequently that the cranium conforms to the vertebral type. Dr. Wyman also gave some account of the habits of the Alewive in depositing its eggs, as observed in Fresh Pond, in Cambridge. The eggs are about 3V of an inch in diameter, and are laid in April and June in the greatest abundance; the localities selected being usually gravel or sandy bottoms, but sometimes they are laid among small stones, and in five or six inches of water. The alewives move ordinarily in small shoals along the borders of the pond, but varying from two or three to very numerous pairs. The males follow the females very closely, and when entering a small shallow cove, often some of the number are pressed entirely out of the water on the shore. The Corresponding Secretary announced the receipt of the following letters, viz : — From the Royal Society of London, March 8, 1856, acknowl- edging the receipt of the Society's publications ; das Bibliothe- kariat der K. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, January 12, 1856, acknowledging the same, and presenting various works ; from the same, January 20, 1856, asking for duplicate copies of all works presented by the Society, and offering to reciprocate with its own publications ; die K. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, November 1, and December 30, 1855, presenting its pub- lications ; der Zoologisch-botanischer Verein, Wien, December 12, 1855, presenting Vols. 3 and 4, and parts 1, 2, and 3 of Vol. 5 of its Transactions, and inquiring as to the reception of Vols. 1 and 2; George Frauenfeld, Wien, December 12, 1855, presenting publications of his own and asking an exchange on the part of the Society. Dr. Brewer announced the second arrival of specimens, principally, of Birds, Plants, and Eggs, from California, 396 collected by Mr. Samuels, and forwarded by the Smith- sonian Institution, accompanied by a catalogue by Prof. Baird. After some remarks by the chairman upon the advan- tages and feasibility of summer excursions into the country and to the seashore, for the study and collection of objects of natural history, it was voted that a com- mittee be appointed to take into consideration the sub- ject of such excursions ; and Messrs. Bouve, Binney, and Brewer were chosen this committee. The hour appointed for the choice of a President having arrived, Messrs. Ellis and Binney were appointed a committee to collect and count the votes, and after the first ballot, Professor Jeffries Wyman was declared unanimously elected. Prof. Wyman hesitated in accepting the office thus tendered to him, expressing great diffidence in his ability to serve the Society acceptably in the capacity of Presi- dent, at the same time signifying his willingness to promote its welfare in any way that lay in his power. He thought he could do this better in his private capacity than as its presiding officer. Several gentlemen having urged in the most emphatic manner the acceptance of the office so cordially oifered him. Prof. Wyman begged the Society would allow him time for consideration on the subject. Mr. Benjamin J. Jeffi-ies was elected a Resident Member. ) 397 DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. April 16, 1856. A very valuable donation of Australian Birds, Mammals, and Fossils, made by the Government Museum of Natural History, at Melbourne, upon the suggestion of Oliver H. Holden, Esq., of that city, formerly a resident of Boston, as follows : Cindoramplius rufescens^ Rufous-tinted Cincloramphus, male and female; Larus Pacifcus, Great Pacific Gull; Trkhofflussvs Swainsonii, Blue Mountain Parrot, male and female; Porphyrio melanotus, Black-backed Porphyrio, male and female; Casarka iadorndides, Chestnut Shieldrake, or Mountain-duck, male ; Spheiiiscus minoi\ Little Penguin; Lestris cotarractes, Skua Gull ; Ardea Novce HoUandke, White-fronted Heron ; Recurvirostris riibri- colUs, Avocet, male and female ; Edpscdtria Ausiralis, Yellow-breasted Robin, male and female; Xema Jamesonii^ Jameson's Gull; Lohivanellus lobaius, Spur- winged Plover, or Alarm-bird; Hematojms longirostris, White-breasted O^-ster- catclier; SjJatula rkynchotis, Australian Shoveller, male; Little Teal; Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Pink-eyed Shoveller; Spatida rhyn- cJiotls, Shoveller, female; Schoenidus magnus, Great Sandpiper; Anas lyunctata, Chestnut-breasted Duck; Pe<;wa ?»wftico^or. Scarlet-breasted Robin, male and female ; Hhnaniopus kucocejylialus, White-headed Stilt ; Jeracidea berigora, Brown or Eastern Coast HaAvk; Bernida jubata, Wood Duck, male and female; Nydicovax Caledonicus, Nankeen Bird; Biziura lobata^ ]\Iusk Duck, male and female; Anas superdliosa, Aixstralian Wild Duck; Athene (f) connivens, Winking Owl; Cuculus inornatus, Unadorned Cuckoo ; Rallus pedorcdis, Cuv., Pectoral Land Rail; , Little Scrub Pigeon; Peristera cJicd- coptera, Bronze-winged Pigeon ; Cacatua galerita, White Cockatoo ; Dacelo gigantea, Laughing Jackass; Gymnor-hina leuconota, White-backed Magpie; Strix ddicatulus, Delicate Owl; Eemipodius varius^ Painted Quail, male and female; Cygnus atratus, Black Swan, 2; Sdiosnidus Australis, Australian Tringa; En- tomyza cyanotis^ Blue-faced Entomyza; Colluridnda harmonica^ Harmonious CoUuricincla, female; Phcdacrocorax carbo'ides, Common Cormorant; Cthonicola minima, Little Cthonicola; Myzandia garrula, Miner; Euphenia aurantia, Orange- bellied Grass-Parrakeet ; Acantliogenys rufoyularis, Spiny-cheeked Honey-Eater; Tropidorhyndius cornicidaiiis, Friar Bird; Rallus Lewinii, Lewin's Water-Rail; Platycercus Pennaniii, Lory; Anthochoera carimculata, Common Wattle-bird; Amadina Lathamii, Spotted-sided Finch; Cthonicola minima, Little Cthonicola, 2; Tridioglossus condnnus, Red-eared Lorikeet (?); Ptilonorhyndius' holosericus, Satin Bower-Bird, female; Platycercus eximius, Rosella Parrot ; Pachycephala pectoralis, Banded Thickhead, female; Graucalus mentalis, Summer Bird, male; Alcyone azurea, Azure Kingfisher: Euphema jyulchella, Chestnut-shouldered Grass- Parrakeet, female; Pomatorhinus temporalis, Temporal Pomatorhinus; Pachy- cejjhala glaucura, Grey-tailed Pachycephala; Petroica phoenicea, Flame-breasted Robin, female; Gymnorhina organica, Grey-backed Magpie; Seisura inquieta, Razor-Grinder; Cysticola isura, Square-tailed Warbler; Cindosoma 2>unciaium, Spotted Ground-Thrush, female; Artamus sordidus, Common Wood-Swallow; Cindosoma punctatum. Spotted Ground-Thrush; Sericornis citreogidaris, Yellow- throated Sericornis; Pachycephala glaucura, Grej'-tailed Pachycephala, male; P t Hot is fuscus, Fuscous Honey-Eater; Cucuhts insperatus,'Bi-ush Cuckoo; Crac- iicus destructor, Butcher Bird; CoUuricincla hai^monica, Harmonious CoUuricincla; Collocalia arborea, Tree Martin ; Petroica jyhosnicea, Flame-breasted Robin ; 398 Stipiturus malachurns, Emu Wren; Glydphlla fulvifrons, Fulvous-fronted Honey- Eater ; Ajjrosmictus scajjulatus, King Lory, young male; Halcyon sancUis, Sacred Halcyon ; Rhijndura mosncilldides, Black Fantailed Flycatcher ; Sericornis osculnns, Allied Sericornis; Trkhoglossus jmsillus, Little String}'- Bark Parrakeet; Anthus AustraUs, Australian Pipit; Anihochcera hmulata, Little Wattle-Bird; Micrceca mac7-opfera, Great-winged Microeca ; Chrysococcyx lucklus. Bronze- winged Cuckoo; Pachycephala 2)ccloraUs, Banded Thickhead, male; Rhipidura mosaciUdides, Black Fantailed Flycatcher ; Lathamus discolor, Swift Lorikeet, male; ditto, female; Ptilotis leucotis, White-eared Honey-Eater; Anthochxra. lunulnta, Little Wattle-Bird; Ptilotis leucotis. White-eared Honey-Eater; Oriolus virndis. New South Wales Oriole, male;' ditto, female; Micrceca macrojAera, Great-winged ^licroeca ; Chrysococcyx lucidus, Bronze-winged Cuckoo ; Anthus Australis, Australian Pipit; P^iVofes az/'0(/«da, " 110. Alasmodon marginata and A. truncata identical, 121. Alger, Francis, resignation of Curator- ship of Mineralogy, 361. Allanite, 189. Allophane, analysis of, 120. Aloe, Mexican, economic use of, 384. Anthracite from Japan, 207. Aquihx chrysaetos shot in Massachu- setts, 272. Aramus scolopaceus, singular trachea of, 20. Arenicola aetata, Stimpson, 114. natalis, Girard, 88. Argonaut shell, animal of, J. C. War- ren's monograph on, 369 ; largest known specimen of, 35. Argonauta Conradi, Parkinson, 386; fragilis, " 387. Asteroma pomigena, 339. Aztec children, authentic history of, 278. Batrachians, branch of pulmonary ar- tery in, sent to the skin, 51 ; Tubercle on foot of, 84. Alosa vernalis, development of dorsal Bear, New England, habit of, 212. cord of, 394; habits of in breeding, Bequest of J. C. Warren, 384. 395. Aluminium, 265, 357. Amblyopsis spelseus. Prof. Wvman on, 18. Amnicola longinqua, Gould, 130. protea, Goiald, 129 ; sculp- tured like Melanias, 130. Anableps Gronovii, development of, 80. Analogy between animal battery of to the Library from James Brown, 254; Mr. Dillaway's remarks on, 255. Bird, gigantic fossil, found near Paris, 205. Birds, manner of retaining position in roosting, 125. Birds, rare, found in Auburn, N. Y, 13. of Wisconsin, 1. Torpedo occidentalis and a metallic Blackfish Skeletons, 238. battery. Prof. H. D. Piogers on, 22 Analysis of Ankerite, 246. Arenaceous Guano, 351. Guano rock, 350. Native Iron from Liberia, 250. Nictau Iron ore, 249. Ancistropus sanguineus, Stimpson, 112. Ankerite, analysis of, 246. Annehd Tracks in Ireland, 208. Annual Meeting of 1854, 44 ; 1855, 195 ; 1856, 359. Anodon horda, Gould, 229. Blood from a patient Avho died from the effects of chloroform, 307. Boa Constrictor, feeding of, 210; Genito- urinaiy Organs of, 309. Boleosoma fusiforme, Girard, 41. " Books," Mr. Marsh's, 30. Brachyotus Cassinii, Brewer, 321. Brown, James, resolutions concerning, 263. Building Committee, 39. new, report on, 143. Building fund, donation to. by T. H. Perkins, 27. PROCEEDINGS B. S. N. H. — VOL. V. 26 402 Burnett, W. I., announcement of his death, 62 ; Books purchased from Library of, 87; Notice of his Life and Writings, 64 ; Prof. Wyman's resolu- tions on the occasion of his death, 74. Bullfrog, Rana pipiens, habits of, 211. Burmah, Laterite formation of, 227. Buteo lineatus, eggs of, 208. Buttonwood, regeneration of, 323. By-laAvs, committee to revise, 26 ; re- 'port on, 143. California Academy of Natural Science, 241. California, gigantic tree of, 75; Ked- tailed Hawks of, 385 ; Mr. E. Samuels despatched to, 271, •* Carboniferous Strata of Pennsylvania, footprints in, 258. Carcharias Atwoodi, 85. Centrarchus maculosus, Ayi*es, 99. Chemical composition of scales of Gar- pike, 92. Chlorophyl in Cochituate water, 120. Circulation in Frog's lung after removal from the body, 206. Clangula and Mergus, hybrid between, 57, 118. Clathropteris in Connecticut River Sandstone, 212. Clay-stone resembling a fossil bone, 19. Cleavage in Connecticut Sandstone caused by Mica, 30. Coal, bituminous, from Straitsville Mines, Ohio, 124 ; Boghead Gas, 146. Coal mine, Albert, discovery of an alternating bed in, 306. Coal rocks of Virginia and Pennsyl- vania, geological date of, 17. Coccus of locust tree, 58. Cochituate committee, 180. water, Cyclopean animal- cules in, 333, Dr.' A. A. Hayes and Dr. John Bacon on source of impure taste of, 144; Crustacea in, 144; pro- posed remedv for impurity of, 145; impurity of, 343; Dr. C. T. Jackson on, 161; Dr. John Bacon on, 163; oil in microscopic Crustacea found in, 163 ; reply of Dr. Hayes to Dr. Jack- son on, 169; Dr. Jackson's remarks on, 175. Coke, natural, with associated rocks of Virginia, 53. Committee on nominating President instructed, 385 ; report of, 390. Communications, verbal, by Bacon, John, 144. Bishop, N. H. 391. liorland, J. N. 210, 309, 355. Bouvc'-, T. T. 24, 29. Brewer, T. M. 107, 385, 391. Bryant, Henry, 142. Durkee, Silas', 104, 106, 206, 211, 277. Girard, Charles, 81, 89. Haves, A. A. 144, 230, 289, 306, 337. Haves, John L. 250. Jackson, C. T. 62, 63, 92, 120, 230, 280, 307, 335, 355. Kneeland, Samuel, Jr., 256. Nicholson, Samuel, 268. Parker, Theodore, 212. Pickering, Charles, 24, 356. Rogers, H. D. 42, 189, 207. Rogers, W. B. 152, 201, 276, 319, 334, 336. Sprague, Charles J. 258, 338. Stodder, Charles, 136, 231. Warren, J. C. 43, 91, 105, 209, 277. Wvman, Jefltries, 13, 18, 21, 24, 49, 80, 84, 90, 125, 157, 169, 238, 253, 275, 290, 324, 337, 382, 394, 395. Communications, written, by Abbot, S. L. 278. Andrews, Charles L. 321. Ayers, William 0. 75, 94, 103. Bailey, J. W. 364. Barry, A. Constantine, 1. Bouv^, T. T. 39. Brewer, T. M. 321. Burnett, W. L 31, 108. Cabot, Samuel Jr. 118. Dupee, J. A. 279. Girard, Charles, 39, 88, 89. Gould, A. A. 126, 127, 228. Greenleaf, Rev. P. H. 181. Hayes, A. A. 150, 165, 169, 191, 250, 260, 339, 349, 392. Hopkins, William, 13. Jackson, C. T. 62, 161, 242,314. Kneeland, Samuel, Jr. 49, 76, 220, 234. Lapham, L A. 133. Lesquereux, Leo, 63. Lewis, James, 25, 27, 52, 120, 122. Newcomb, William, 218. Parkinson, James C. 386. Rogei-s, Henry D. 22, 182. Rojrei-s, William B. 14, 54, 266, 282, 283. Sprague, C. J. 155, 325. Stimpson, William, 110. Storer, D. H. 31. Warren, J. C. 146, 298, 369. Whitteraore, T. J. 29. Wyman, Jcftries, 64, 194, 258, 274. Connecticut River Sandstone, Clathrop- teris in, 212; fossil bones from, 238; Lycopodites in, 18. Copper from Keweenaw Point, nnd geological character of deposit, 279. Cordyceps militaris, 258 Cornwall, Pa., " Iron mines, 42. 403 Crania, East Indian, measurements of, 194. Crawfish, with eyes, in Mammoth Cave, 57. Crustacean impressions in Connecticut Sandstone, 277. Crystals, South American, from sur- face of ground, 384; account of, 391; analysis of, 392. Curators, annual reports of for 1854, 45; 1855, 196; 1856, 361. Cyclas, three groups of, 122. crocea, Lewis, 25. nobilis, Gould, 229. Cynocephalus, diseased cranium of, 275. Dasylophus, remarks on, 256. Degeneration of hybrids, 222. Distinctive osteological features of fossil reptiles and fishes, 259. Earthquakes, Perrey's theor}'- of, 136; Charles Stodder's,"'l38; discussion on, 139 ; M. Perrey on, 273 ; C. F. Wins- low's theory of, 157. Earthworm, climbing of, 225. Echinococci from human liver, 307. Elater noctilucus, 390. Elephas primigenius, epoch of. Prof. H. D. Rogers on, 22. Emys picta, 394. Entomological cabinet committed to Dr. Durkee's charge, 257 ; to Dr. Bry- ant, 155. Equisetum arvense, said to have caxised the death of horses, 383. Esox ornaius, Girard, 41. European Verd Antique, 341 ; C. T. Jackson on, 341; W. B. Eogers on, 343. Excursions by the Society, 396. Filaria Medinensis, 277. Fish, artificial propagation of in Massa- chusetts, 353; petition in aid of, 353; blind, in Green River, 57 ; from Co- chituate water-pipe, 206 ; dead, shoals of, 207. Fish, new species of, 39; of California, new species of, 94.