Dorado and Plumas. At Iowa Hill the church bells were rung,
    also at Sacramento. At the latter place and at Forest City,
    clocks, in many of the buildings, were stopped. This earthquake
    extended to the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. At Carson
    City it occurred at 10h. 45m. and very violent; goods were
    shaken off the shelves in many of the stores, and a general
    panic and stampede prevailed.

    November 12th.—A smart shock was felt at Humboldt Bay and its
    vicinity, but no damage was done.

    December 21st, 6h. 30m.—At San Francisco a series of light
    vibrations of the earth occurred, which continued with but two
    remissions for the space of half an hour. These vibrations
    were not perceptible to persons in the building otherwise than
    by mercurial column, which was equal to seven inches of the
    barometer, and was the mercury gauge of an air pump that had
    remained stationary at twenty-four inches for the space of four
    hours. At this time the column in the gauge began to show much
    disturbance by oscillating up and down in a very rapid manner
    without any apparent cause; the stop screws (Faraday’s) were
    all tried at the moment and found perfectly tight as they had
    remained for hours previous.

    The oscillations were watched carefully by Mr. J. Roach and
    myself for half an hour, at which time they ceased. The maximum
    of the mercury column was a fraction over an inch, which was
    attained through vibrations of one-fourth to one-eighth of
    an inch rapidly repeated and continuous, and as gradually,
    through a series of lighter vibrations, the displacement would
    diminish and the column subside to its former level; this was
    three times repeated, the column at no time being at rest. The
    period of time occupied by the column in reaching its maximum
    of disturbance each time was from eight to twelve minutes.
    There was no apparent cause for this disturbance, unless it
    be attributable to a series of light vibrations of the earth
    occurring in a vertical direction, and to that cause I am
    disposed to assign it.

    The passing of carriages on the street did not affect these
    vibrations of the column, for they continued in the same manner
    when those vehicles were not passing. While the oscillations
    were going on, I took a sledge and struck some half a dozen
    blows on an anvil block in the workshop, which did not make any
    perceptible difference in the movements of the column; after
    it had come to rest, the same experiment was repeated, but
    the column did not in any manner react to the concussion thus
    produced.

    1861.

    During 1861 there has been but one earthquake recorded in the
    State.

    July 4th, 16h. 11m.—A severe shock of earthquake occurred at
    San Francisco. It consisted of three distinct waves following
    each other in very rapid succession. Its effects to the east
    of the city in the San Ramon Valley were more severe. Near the
    house of Mr. Larabie it opened a large fissure in the earth. In
    the vicinity of Mr. Porter’s it opened a new spring of water,
    and a small running stream was also caused near Mr. Hunt’s. For
    several days after, light shocks were repeated at intervals.

    1862.

    September 29th, 15h. 5m.—A very smart shock of earthquake at
    San Francisco. This was felt at Petaluma.

    December 23d, 20h. 19m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.

    1863.

    During the year 1863 we have had five earthquakes, and unmarked
    by any serious event.

    January 25th, 2h. 20m.—A severe shock was experienced at San
    Diego, continuing from five to eight seconds. There was no
    undulation in this instance, the shock consisting of a series
    of sharp jars. It was preceded by a profound rumbling sound.

    February 1st, 16h. 1m.—A very smart shock at the Mission San
    Juan, Monterey County. At Gilroys the shock was felt (or
    another) fifteen minutes later. The latter town is near twelve
    miles east of the Mission. At both localities the motion was
    undulatory. The shock was not felt at Monterey, twelve miles
    west of San Juan.

    June.—A smart shock at San Francisco.

    July 15th, 10h. 19m.—A smart shock at San Francisco.

    August 1st, 11h. 6m.—Two light shocks at San Francisco about
    one hour apart.

    December 19th, 12h. 38m.—A very smart shock was felt throughout
    the city; directly afterwards another and more severe one
    occurred. The first was a sharp, sudden jar, the second
    undulatory. The accuracy of the telegraph operator at Santa
    Clara enables us to form a correct idea of the course of this
    wave. His time was 14h. 44m. 31s., and within twenty-nine
    seconds of true time. The elapsed time is 7m. 31s., and gives
    for the direction of the seismic wave a course north and south
    (in lieu of east and west in my first notice which was thus
    in error.) I take this opportunity to express the thanks of
    the Academy to this operator for his accuracy and kindness in
    furnishing us dates in this and other phenomena of scientific
    and public interest.

    The figures derived from our statistics furnish us the
    following interesting results as to the frequency of shocks in
    one season of the year more than in another. The tables below
    furnish the details.

    It is found from these figures that during the thirteen years
    ending December, 1863:

    _First._ The number of days on which earthquakes have occurred,
    is one hundred and ten.

    _Second._ The month in which the greatest number have occurred
    is January, being sixteen; and the months in which the least
    number have occurred, is April and February, the sum of each
    being six.

    _Third._ The winter months have given the largest number in
    the aggregate, the sum being thirty-four. The summer months
    the smallest number; their sum being twenty-three. The
    spring months have given twenty-four, and the autumn months
    twenty-nine.

    _Fourth._ The number of shocks between the equinoxes foot up
    thus. Between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes the sum is
    sixty-four; between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sum
    fifty-two.

    _Fifth._ The number of shocks that have taken place between the
    solstices stand thus. From the winter to the summer solstice
    the sum is fifty-four. From the summer to the winter solstice,
    the sum is fifty-nine.

    TABLE 1.—_Giving the number of shocks in each month of the
    year, for thirteen years._

    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
    TABLE. |1850|1851|1852|1853|1854|1855|1856|1857|
    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
    Jan.   |    |    |    |  1 |  1 |  2 |  5 |  4 |
    Feb.   |    |    |    |  1 |    |  1 |  1 |  1 |
    March  |  1 |    |    |  1 |  2 |    |  2 |  2 |
    April  |    |    |    |  2 |  1 |  1 |  1 |    |
    May    |  1 |  3 |    |    |  2 |    |  2 |  2 |
    June   |  1 |  1 |    |  1 |  1 |  1 |    |  1 |
    July   |    |    |    |  1 |  1 |  2 |    |    |
    August |  1 |    |    |    |    |  1 |  2 |  2 |
    Sept.  |  1 |    |    |  1 |  1 |    |  2 |  2 |
    October|    |    |    |  2 |  2 |  2 |    |  1 |
    Nov.   |    |    |  1 |  2 |    |    |  1 |  1 |
    Dec.   |    |  2 |  1 |  1 |    |  2 |    |  1 |
           +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
    Total. |  5 |  6 |  2 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 17 |
    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+

    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+------
    TABLE. |1858|1859|1860|1861|1862|1863|Total.
    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+------
    Jan.   |    |  1 |  1 |    |    |  1 |  16
    Feb.   |  1 |    |    |    |    |  1 |   6
    March  |    |    |  1 |    |    |    |   8
    April  |    |  1 |    |    |    |    |   6
    May    |    |    |    |    |    |    |  10
    June   |    |    |    |    |    |  1 |   7
    July   |    |    |    |  1 |    |  1 |   7
    August |  1 |  1 |    |    |    |  1 |   9
    Sept.  |  4 |  1 |    |    |  1 |    |  13
    October|    |  1 |    |    |    |    |   8
    Nov.   |  1 |  1 |  1 |    |    |    |   8
    Dec.   |    |  2 |  1 |    |  1 |  1 |  12
    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+------
    Total. |  7 |  8 |  4 |  1 |  2 |  6 | 111
    -------+----+----+----+----+----+----+------

    TABLE 2.—_Number of shocks occurring between the dates of the
    equinoxes and solstices, for thirteen years._

    -------+---------------+---------------+--------------+-------------
           | Sept. 20th to | March 20th to | Dec. 21st to | June 21st to
    TABLE. | March 20th.   | Sept. 20th.   | June 21st.   | Dec. 21st.
    -------+---------------+---------------+--------------+-------------
    1850   |       1       |       4       |       2      |       3
    1851   |       2       |       4       |       5      |       1
    1852   |       2       |               |              |       2
    1853   |      10       |       5       |       8      |       7
    1854   |       5       |       7       |       6      |       6
    1855   |       8       |       4       |       4      |       8
    1856   |       7       |       9       |       9      |       7
    1857   |       9       |       8       |       8      |       9
    1858   |       4       |       3       |       3      |       5
    1859   |       6       |       2       |       2      |       6
    1860   |       4       |               |       3      |       1
    1861   |               |       1       |              |       1
    1862   |       1       |       1       |       1      |       1
    1863   |       3       |       3       |       3      |       3
    -------+---------------+---------------+--------------+-------------
    Total  |      64       |      52       |      54      |      60
    -------+---------------+---------------+--------------+-------------

    I regret that my records of the occurrence of earthquakes upon
    the east coast of the United States is not more complete than
    it is, and also that it does not extend through an equivalent
    period of time as our own, from 1850 to date; but I have no
    authentic records of their occurrence on the other side later
    than 1854; my business at that time, and the subsequent period
    that has elapsed, being such that I was not able to maintain
    their continuation. In order to prove the statement made on
    a preceding page correct as to our relative immunity on this
    coast over equal extent of territory, I here subjoin the totals
    on both coasts during that period of time. This statement
    will also include those shocks which were matters of record
    belonging to the West India Islands, and which properly belong
    to the eastern-coast series.

    The figures relating to this matter, stands thus:

    In California during 1850, five shocks; 1851, six shocks; 1852,
    two shocks; 1853, thirteen shocks; 1854, eleven shocks. Total,
    thirty-seven shocks.

    In United States, east coast. 1850, three shocks; 1851, seven
    shocks; 1852, ten shocks; 1853, thirteen shocks; 1854, eleven
    shocks. Total, forty-four shocks.

    Balance against east coast, seven shocks.

    West India Islands. 1852, seven shocks; 1853, three shocks;
    1854, one shock. Total, eleven shocks.

    These inclusive with the continental series foot up eighteen
    days on which shocks occurred in excess of this coast during
    the same period of time, and thus shows a margin of greater
    frequency of little more than thirty per cent.

    ERRATUM.

    Page 131, line 16 from bottom, for “an oven” read “or even.”

REGULAR MEETING, MAY 2D, 1864.

Dr. Trask in the Chair.

Eleven members present.

Donations to the Cabinet: Specimens of dried plants, the types of species
lately described in these proceedings by Prof. Gray.

Mr. Brewer presented for Mr. Gabb the following paper:

On Cretaceous Fossils from Sahuaripa Valley, State of Sonora, Mexico,
discovered by August Rémond

BY W. M. GABB.

    Mr. Rémond announced in a letter to me, the discovery of
    fossiliferous rocks about a league and a half east of Arivechi,
    Sahuaripa Valley, Sonora, Mexico. The fossils occur in a clay
    slate, and are in a fine state of preservation. He says: “The
    shales rest on sandstones, barren of fossils; feldspathic
    porphyries protrude through them, but no alteration of the beds
    were observed at the points of contact. Even the lamination of
    the fossiliferous strata has not been disturbed, and shells
    are found but a few millimetres from the porphyry.” He adds
    that the fossil bearing strata may attain a thickness of four
    or five hundred feet. The shales are overlaid by thick strata
    of compact blueish limestone. The strata dip to the south-east
    with an inclination of from thirty to fifty degrees, and form
    the first range of foot-bills of the Sierra Madre.

    I have identified the following species on a hasty examination,
    proving conclusively the cretaceous age of the formation.
    It is an interesting fact, that the fossils indicate a
    closer relationship to the eastern deposits than to those of
    California.

    Turritella seriatim-granulata Roem. Cardium Tippanum? Con.
    Chemnitzia (?) gloriosa Roem. Trigonia Evansii? Meek. Neithea
    quadricostata Sow. Exogyra Texana Roem. Turbinolia Texana Con.

REGULAR MEETING, MAY 16TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Fourteen members present.

Rev. Mr. Neri, of Santa Clara, was elected a corresponding member.

Donations to the Cabinet: Volcanic cement, from Sierra County, containing
fossil wood; also a magnesian mineral, from a cavity in a quartz vein
near Nebraska, Sierra County. Mr. Clayton stated that when found it was
gelatinous, semi-transparent, and mixed with loose quartz crystals;
but on drying it shrank greatly in bulk and became fibrous, like fine
Asbestos. The miners say that it is not uncommon in that locality.

Seeds of a large Melon Cactus, from the Colorado deserts; also seeds of a
fine nutritious “bunch grass,” from the dry foot hills near Fresno river,
by Mr. J. E. Clayton.

Mr. Brewer stated that he had obtained further information regarding
the coal brought before the Academy Feb. 15th, by Prof. Blake. On the
authority of J. Ross Browne and another gentleman, he had learned that no
coal occurs in the locality near the Colorado River then mentioned, and
that the specimens were English coal carried up the river by speculators
for the purpose of swindling the public by selling stock in a fictitious
coal mine.

REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 6TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Nine members present.

Donations to the Cabinet: A piece of sandstone resembling in shape a
human foot, by Mr. Ed. Webber.

Donations to the Library: American Journal of Science and Arts for
March, 1864, from the editors. Observations on the Genus Unio, by
Isaac Lea, L.L.D., Vol. 10. How to collect and observe Insects, by H.
S. Packard, Jr. Plants of Buffalo, N. Y. and its vicinity, by G. W.
Clinton. Bulletin of the Museum of Zoölogy of Cambridge, Mass. pp. 29—60.
Report of contributions to the Pennsylvania Relief Association for East
Tennessee. Proc. of the Acad. Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from
October to December, 1863, and January and February, 1864. Contributions
to the Physics, etc. of the Sacramento River, by Thos. W. Logan, M.D.,
extracted from the Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 7,
1864,—from the author.

REGULAR MEETING, JUNE 20TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Eleven members present.

C. W. M. Smith and Dr. McClure, of Redwood City, were elected resident
members.

Donations to the Cabinet: A large crab, from the west coast of Mexico, by
G. O. Haller, through Dr. Cooper.

Donations to the Library: Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1862.

ADJOURNED MEETING, JULY 11TH, 1864.

Dr. Trask in the Chair.

Seven members present.

The following paper was received from the author, in accordance with the
proposition accepted by the Academy Dec. 7th, 1863.

Descriptions of New Marine Shells from the Coast of California.

PART I.

BY PHILIP P. CARPENTER, B.A., PH.D.

_Corresponding Member of the Académies of Philadelphia and California,
etc._

                              WARRINGTON, ENGLAND, May 4th, 1864.

    The shells to be described in these papers were collected
    by Dr. J. G. Cooper, for the State Geological Survey of
    California. Being aware that I was engaged in preparing
    descriptions of the shells of the Smithsonian collections, to
    serve as a handbook on the Mollusca of the western coast, and
    also (at the present time), a “Supplementary Report on the
    present state of our knowledge of the Mollusca of the west
    coast of North America,” for the British Association; he has
    very obligingly transmitted to me such duplicates as could be
    spared from the State collection for identification.

    CALLIOSTOMA SWAINSON, 1840.

    _Calliostoma formosum_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species
    615 a.

    C. t. subelevatá, brunnescens, fusco-purpureo nebulosa, anfr.
    vii. valde tumentibus, suturis impressis; carinis majoribus
    in spirâ duabus, gemmatis, interdum brunneo huc et illuc
    tinctis; serie granulorum minorum prope suturam; serie quartá
    minimorum inter duas carinas; lirulis basalibus circ. ix.,
    fusco maculatis; interstitiis à lineis incrementi corrugatis;
    aperturá subquadratá. Long. 0.47, long. spir. 0.34, lat. 0.43,
    div. 68°.

    _Hab._ San Pedro five; San Diego four dead on beach at low
    water—very rare. It is well distinguished by the two principal
    necklaces, with smaller rows intercalating. In coloring it
    resembles C. eximium Reeve, (versicolor Menke, Mazatlan
    Catal.), from the Gulf of California.

    _Calliostoma splendens_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species
    530 a.

    C. t. parvâ, latiore, tenuiore; exquisité rufo-castaneo et
    purpureo, interdum intensioribus, et livido, varie nebulosâ
    et punctatâ; anfractu primo nucleoso diaphano, granuloso,
    apice mamillato; dein iv. normalibus, subtabulatis; primo
    costibus spiralibus ii. acutis, valde expressis, alterâ parvâ
    suturali; anfr. penult. costis iii. quarum media extantior,
    superior subgranulosa; anfr. ult. aliis intercalantibus,
    supra peripheriam v. quarum tertia magis extans; interstitiis
    à lineis incrementi vix decussatis; costâ circa peripheriam
    angulatam conspicuâ; basi costulis rotundatis, haud
    extantibus, peripheriam et axim versus conspicuis, medio sæpe
    obsoletis; basi nitidâ, subplanatâ; aperturâ subquadratâ,
    intus carneo-nacreâ, valde splendente: operculo tenuissimo,
    levissimo, pallido, diaphano, concavo; anfr. circ. x. crebris,
    parum definitis.

    Long. 0.23, long. spir. 0.15, lat. 0.24, div. 87°.

    _Hab._ Monterey, 20 fms. dredged 2, dead; Santa Barbara, in
    roots of kelp growing in about 10 fms. 13, dredged in 16 fms.
    2, dead; S. B. Island, 2, dead, on beach; Catalina Island,
    30-40 fms. 2, alive; San Diego, 1, dead.

    The specimens here described are probably mature, and are well
    marked in character. The painting is richly lustrous, of a
    fleshy nacre inside; outside, of a rich orange-chestnut or red,
    variously laid on a light ground, sometimes with streaks of
    nacreous purple, often with dots on the ribs. The operculum is
    extremely thin and transparent.

    SOLARIELLA Searles Wood, 1843.

    _Solariella peramabilis_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species
    1025.

    S. t. tenuissimâ, elegantissime sculptâ, lividâ, rufo-fusco
    pallide maculatâ; anfr. nucl. ii. valde tumidis, lævibus,
    apice mamillato; dein anfr. norm. iv. tabulatis, suturis fere
    rectangulatis, supra spiram bi-seu tri-carinatis, carinulis
    aliis postea intercalantibus; totâ superficie elegantissime et
    creberrime radiatim lirulatâ, lirulis acutissimis, extantibus,
    supra carinas subgranulosis, interstitia anfr. primis
    fenestrantibus, postea decussantibus; basi valde rotundatâ;
    carinulis circ. v., anticâ granulosâ, sculptâ; umbilico maximo,
    anfractus intus monstrante, lineis spiralibus circ. iii.
    distantibus, et lirulis radiantibus à basi continuis, concinne
    ornato; aperturâ rotundatâ, à carinulis indentatâ, vix parieti
    attingente, intus iridescente, nacreâ: operculo tenuissimo,
    multispirali, anfr. circ. x., radiatim eleganter rugulosis.

    Long. 0.38, long. spir. 0.19, lat. 0.42, div. 85°.

    _Hab._ Catalina Island, 30-120 fms. 20, both alive and dead.

    The name _Solariella_, given to a crag fossil (tertiary)
    species by Searles Wood, which he afterwards reunited to
    _Margarita_, is here used as a subgenus, in the author’s sense,
    for _Margaritæ_ with large crenated umbilicus. This is one of
    the many instances in which the North Pacific fauna carries out
    the ideas of the English crag. Unfortunately, the name appears
    in Add. Gen. I, 431, for a subgenus of _Monilea_, with which
    these shells have only a limited affinity; and, accordingly,
    the true _Solariellæ_ have been reconstituted as part of
    _Minolia_, A. Ad. That gentleman, however, fully accords with
    the present arrangement. The _Solariellæ_ are known from
    _Trochiscus_, and from all forms of _Solariadæ_, by the normal
    (not inverted) nuclear whirls; and from the Solarids, by the
    nacreous texture.

    Dr. Cooper’s very lovely species of a very lovely group may
    possibly prove to be a variety of the Japanese “_Minolia
    aspecta_ A. Ad.” ms. in Mus. Cuming; but, until more specimens
    from each district have been compared, it is more prudent to
    keep them separate. It seems to have exhausted the powers of
    sculpture on its graceful habitation. Under the microscope,
    the sharp transverse lirulæ, mounting over the keels, dividing
    the interspaces, and even ascending the wide umbilicus, are
    eminently beautiful. Even the operculum is sculptured with
    delicate waved radiating lines. It has the aspect of an
    extremely thin _Torinia_, with a funnel-shaped umbilicus.
    This is not only bounded by a granular keel, but has three
    other distant spiral lines crossing the lirulæ. The radiating
    sculpture is more distant on the upper whirls, where first
    two, then three keels appear, fenestrated by the lirulæ, which
    afterwards become much closer, and are sometimes worn away
    behind the labrum.

    MARGARITA Leach, 1819.

    _Margarita acuticostata_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species
    354.

    M. t. _M. lirulatæ_ simili; parvâ, tenui, albido-cinereâ,
    olivaceo-fusco varie maculatâ, seu punctulatâ; anfr. nucleosis
    ii. lævibus, tumidis, fuscis, apice mamillato; anfr. norm.
    iii. tumidis, tabulatis, suturis rectangulatis; carinis
    acutis in spirâ iii., quartâ peripheriali, æquidistantibus;
    interstitiis spiraliter striatis; in spirâ et circâ basim
    radiatim creberrime striulatis; basi subrotundatà, lirulis
    distantibus circ. ix. ornatâ; umbilico magno, infundibuliformi,
    vix angulato, intus interdum striis spiralibus paucis sculpto;
    aperturâ subrotundatâ, pariete parum attingente: operculo anfr.
    paucioribus, circ. vi. suturis subelevatis.

    Long. 0.18, long. spir. 0.12, lat. 0.19, div. 87°.

    _Hab._ Santa Barbara, in kelp-root, 2, dead; Catalina Island,
    8-10 fms. 20, some alive; Monterey, 20 fms. 4, dead.

    This shell might be taken for a delicate form of _Gibbula
    parcipicta_, which in painting it exactly resembles. It is
    known from the Vancouver _M. lirulata_ by the three sharp keels
    on the spire, between which there are no others intercalating,
    and by the details of sculpture. The patches of color are very
    variable, sometimes scarcely appearing; and are generally
    deeper tinted on the keels, giving a false appearance of
    granulation.

    _Margarita salmonea_ Carp. (? var.) State Collection, Species
    352.

    M. t. inter _M. undulatæ_ et _M. pupillæ_ intermediâ; minore,
    spirâ satis elevatâ; anfr. nucl. iii. purpureis; dein iv.
    normalibus, colore salmoneo; liris spiralibus in spirâ
    viii., quarum ii. suturales, minimæ; suturis haud undulatis;
    interstitiis à lineis incrementi creberrimis, haud elevatis,
    sculptis; basi lirulis creberrimis, æqualibus, circ. xviii.
    ornatâ; aperturâ subquadratâ; umbilico minore, angulato:
    operculo tenuissimo, diaphano, anfr. circ. x. vix definitis.

    Long. 0.22, long. spir. 0.14, lat. 0.22, div. 80°.

    _Hab._ Monterey, 6-20 fms. 5, alive; Catalina Island, 30-40
    fms. 2, alive.

    This shell differs from the common _Margarita_ of the Vancouver
    district (_M. pupilla_ Gld. = _calliostoma_ A. Ad.), in its
    much deeper and salmon-tinted hue; its finer sculpture, absence
    of decussation, and want of distant liræ round the umbilicus.
    From the Norwegian specimens of _M. undulata_ it is known by
    the absence of sutural waves, and by the finer basal riblets,
    of which the interstices are minutely sculptured across.
    The operculum differs from both, in its great thinness and
    smoothness. Additional specimens may better display its true
    relations.[10]

    LIOTIA GRAY, 1842.

    _Liotia fenestrata_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species 1006.

    L. t. parvâ, primum subdiscoideâ, postea variante,
    albido-cinereâ; anfr. nucl. lævibus, planatis, apice depresso;
    anfr. norm. ii. et dimidio, convexis; clathris validis
    distantibus circ. xv. radiantibus, et vii. spiralibus,
    subæquantibus, conspicue fenestratâ; aperturâ circulari, sæpius
    plus minusve declivi, parieti vix attingente; umbilico maximo,
    anfractus monstrante; labio, regione umbilicari, sinuato.

    Long. 0.09, long. spir. 0.04, lat. 0.12, div. 170°.

    _Hab._ Catalina Island; beach to 40 fms. 20, dead.

    This strongly sculptured species varies greatly (in the
    two specimens sent to the Smithsonian Institution), in the
    declivity of the mouth and consequent size of the umbilicus,
    where the labium is, as it were, scooped out.

    _Liotia acuticostata_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species
    519 a.

    L. t. parvâ, subglobosâ, albâ; anfr. nucl. ii. lævibus, apice
    satis extante; anfr. normalibus iii., carinis in spirâ maxime
    extantibus ii., anfr. ult. vi.; suturis subrectangulatis;
    aperturâ circulari; labro extus parum contracto; labio
    conspicuo; umbilico haud magno.

    Long. 0.12, long. spir. 0.06, lat. 0.10, div. 95°.

    _Hab._ Catalina Island, 10-20 fms. 4, alive; Monterey, 4, dead,
    dredged?

    This pretty little Cyclostomoid species is easily recognized by
    the sharp revolving keels, and absence of radiating sculpture.

    AMYCLA H. & A. Adams, 1858.

    _Amycla undata_ Carp. n. sp. State Collection, Species 1067.

    A. t. parvâ rufo-fuscâ, turritâ, epidermide tenui indutâ;
    marginibus spiræ subrectis; anfr. nucleosis iv. lævibus,
    tumidis, apice mamillato; anfr. normalibus v. valde tumidis,
    suturis impressis; costis radiantibus ix. valde tumidis, latis,
    antice et postice obsoletis; interstitiis undatis; liris
    spiralibus acutioribus, distantibus, costas superantibus,
    secundum interstitia eleganter undulatis, quarum vi.—viii. in
    spirâ monstrantur; aperturâ ovali, in canalem brevem rectam
    productâ, intus haud liratâ; labro acuto, labio acuto extanti
    ad suturam juncto; columellâ planatâ: operculo nassoideo. ?

    Long. 0.44, long. spir. 0.20, lat. 0.20, div. 45°.

    _Hab._ Catalina Island, not rare, 30-40 fm. 10, some alive.

    The nuclear whirls in this shell resemble a minute _Paludina_.
    The only operculum in the specimens sent was broken in
    extraction, but appeared to be Nassoid. The sculpture consists
    of elongate knobs swelling in the middle; with spiral lines
    hanging as it were from pier to pier, as in a suspension
    bridge. The aperture is somewhat Columbelloid, the inner and
    outer lips joining at the suture; but neither are lirate
    within, although they have that appearance from the outside
    sculpture showing through.

    [10] Specimens from Monterey, and one from the beach of the
    Farallone Islands, are intermediate between that described
    by Mr. Carpenter (Catalina Island specimen) and the northern
    _M. pupilla_. J. G. COOPER.

REGULAR MEETING, JULY 18TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Nine members present.

Donation to the Cabinet: Specimens of native Sulphur from San
Buenaventura, by Mr. Spence.

Donations to the Library: Annual Report of Harvard College, Mass. Report
of the Insane Asylum of California. Prospectus of the Santa Clara
College. Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Vol. 4, No. 1. American
Journal of Science and Arts, May, 1864. Public Documents from Senator
Conness. Géographie Botanique Raisonée, by Alph. DeCandolle, from the
author.

Dr. Cooper stated that he had lately learned from Mr. Gill, of the
Smithsonian Museum, that the genus AYRESIA, lately described in these
Proceedings, is identical with CHROMIS, of Cuvier, though not _Chromis_
of Richardson, with which Dr. C. had compared it. The name of the fish
must therefore be changed to CHROMIS PUNCTIPINNIS, Cooper.

Col. Ransom presented, on behalf of Mr. John Wilson of this city, some
Indian relics, from the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, accompanied by a
letter of which the following is an abstract:

    The relics consist of part of a foot and hair from different
    mummies, a string of beads made of bone, with a few of blue
    stone, also part of a belt and tassel, and a piece of very
    strong cloth of vegetable material. These were found by Mr.
    Wilson in a cave situated on the western slope of a very high
    mountain of the Sierra Madre, which seems almost to hang over
    the ancient Pueblo of Chiricahui—a name signifying the Mountain
    of Bones. This Pueblo was occupied by the Spaniards soon after
    the conquest by Cortez; and from previous traditions it is
    supposed by the inhabitants that this cave, and another on the
    opposite side of the valley, had been used as a place of burial
    by the natives for several hundred years. It is supposed that
    no bodies have been deposited there for the past hundred and
    fifty years, and perhaps longer.

    On visiting the cave, Mr. Wilson found an excavation in the
    floor made three or four years since by some persons digging
    for saltpetre-earth, partly filled in, but still several
    feet deep; and exposed at the sides of this pit were several
    rows of bodies placed in regular order one above another, in
    a remarkable state of preservation. They were in a compact
    position, the knees bent up to the chin, and the face drawn
    back close to the buttocks, then securely sewed up in the
    remarkably strong and well-woven cloth here presented, which,
    on all of the four or five bodies examined, showed the same
    degree of strength and perfection. Over this was another
    covering of palm-leaves also sewn closely together. The
    bodies were dried and shrunken, but retained their form and
    integuments. Under each body were two small sticks, on which
    the body was laid on its back, the feet towards the mouth of
    the cave.

    The circumference of the cave was about a hundred feet, and the
    height above the floor, thirty or forty feet.

    Mr. Wilson and his companions “came to the very decided
    conclusion,” that the floor of the cave, for a depth of twenty
    feet or more, was formed of bodies similarly arranged in
    layers which had been placed there from time to time, as they
    died, and covered with earth and pebbles from the sides of the
    mountains. There can be no doubt that a thorough exploration
    of these relics would reveal very much of the lost history
    of the Indian tribes of Mexico, and richly reward the labors
    of the antiquarian. The excellent material of the cloth in
    which the bodies were sewn up, surpassing in texture and
    strength anything now manufactured in Mexico, is worthy of
    investigation, as it may still be found valuable for making
    bags, sails, etc. There was no sign of any embalming substance
    by which the bodies and cloth could have been preserved, and
    the only explanation suggested by Mr. Wilson is that it is due
    to the dryness of the atmosphere, and the saltpetre contained
    in the earth. He also suggested that the fibres of the cloth
    may have been derived from the “Maguey,” (Agave Americana) or
    some allied plant.

Dr. Cooper remarked that the condition of the foot was very similar to
those of the Indian Mummy presented to the Academy by Dr. J. B. Stout,
January 21st, 1856, and which had been dried by the action of the air,
while protected from the weather by a cedar canoe inverted over another
containing the body. That was in the moist climate of Shoalwater Bay,
north of the Columbia river, and Dr. Cooper who was present at the time
the body was removed by Capt. Russell in 1854, was a witness of the fact
that no preservatives had been found with it. He also stated that the
Indians of the vicinity could not tell how long it had been there, though
certainly not a hundred years.

REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 1ST, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Eleven members present.

Donations to the Cabinet: A box of fossils from Eureka, Humboldt Bay, by
Dr. Chamberlin. Fossils from Catalina Island, by Mr. J. E. Clayton.

Donations to the Library: Silliman’s Journal for July, 1864, by the
Editors. A Description of Adiantum Jordani, C. Muell of Halle, by R.
Jordan, of Halle, Prussia.

REGULAR MEETING, AUGUST 15TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Three members present. Mr. Miller as a visitor.

Donations to the Cabinet: California Mosses, lichens and liver-mosses, by
Mr. H. N. Bolander.

REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1864.

Vice-President, Dr. Eckel in the Chair.

Nine members present. Prof. B. Silliman, Jr., Dr. Eichler, and Mr.
Ehrenberg as visitors.

Donations to the Cabinet: A specimen of a wild cherry from Catalina
Island, by Mr. J. E. Clayton. A collection of plants from Washoe, by Mr.
Bloomer.

Prof. B. Silliman remarked that in his recent visit to Arizona, east
of the Mohave, he had seen what he presumed were the morains of former
glaciers on the eastern flanks of some of the mountain ranges. They
consist of rudely stratified materials both angular and round, mingled
confusedly together and forming terrace-like spurs or embankments
radiating outwards from the curved range and appearing to have been
left there by glaciers, though no glacial polishing and scratching of
the rocks could be seen as in the Sierra Nevada opposite Mono Lake and
elsewhere. These evidences of glaciers in Arizona were nearly under the
35th parallel of latitude, and he believed that no evidence of glacial
action had before been observed on the Pacific slope at a point so far
south.

Prof. W. P. Blake observed that this was certainly the first observation
upon glacial phenomena in Arizona, and that he had noted evidences of
former glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, as far south as the Tejon Pass,
lat. 35°, where there were large blocks of granite deposited for miles
beyond the opening of the valley.

Prof. Silliman described the peculiar character of the outcrops of the
veins in the regions of the El Dorado Cañon. He found that nearly all
vestiges of the sulphurets were removed from the outcrops, while they
abounded below. The outcrops gave little indication of the metal-bearing
character of the veins. He had observed as he believed, at least three
distinct periods of volcanic activity in that region of the Colorado and
Mohave, two of which periods were sub-aqueous, and the last sub-aerial.
The lava-streams generally appeared to have been poured out after the
face of the country had already assumed its present form. The volcanic
outflows though extensive had not materially modified the topography of
the country.

Mr. Ehrenberg stated that the copper ores in the vicinity of La Paz, and
Mineral City, Arizona, were generally argentiferous, sometimes giving
results by assay as high as $200 per ton. The ores beyond that district
did not appear to contain much. The quicksilver ore at the Eugenie vein
contained both silver and copper.

Doctor Behr presented the following paper:

Notes on Californian Satyrides.

BY HERMAN BEHR, M. D.

    CHIONOBAS NEVADENSIS. Boisduval, _in litteris_.

    A few specimens of this new and as yet undescribed _Chionobas_,
    were caught by Mr. Lorquin, the discoverer of the species,
    and named by Dr. Boisduval. Not possessing a single specimen
    of this rare species, I am not able to give a diagnosis,
    and have only an indistinct recollection, that the species
    bore most resemblance to the _Gerontogeic_, Ch. Tarpeja, a
    Siberian species that has also been found on the summit of the
    Appenines, in Italy, but that in size it is superior to any
    _Chionobas_ known to me.

    SATYRUS STHENELE Boisd.

    Is rather common near San Francisco, where it is found in June.
    Only one generation annually.

    SATYRUS SYLVESTRIS Edwards.

    Edwards’ description shows very clearly the marks by which _S.
    Sylvestris_ can be recognized from _S. Sthenele_. This species
    is found on grassy hills thinly covered with live-oak, where
    its habits show a very marked difference from those of its
    relations, by preferring the underside of oak branches to any
    other seat, while _Sthenele_ and _Boopis_ almost exclusively
    settle on the ground.

    SATYRUS BOOPIS Behr.

    Sthenele similis at limbus non tesselatus, sed linea transversa
    distincte partitus et fœminæ ocelli alarum superiorum in fascia
    dilutiori positi. Alae subtusdimidiatæ pars radicalis brunnea,
    marginalis grisea, marginem versus brunnescens. Utraque
    marmorata, halone ocellorum in alis anticis solo excepto
    dilutiori et concolori.

    This _Satyrus_ is the biggest of our Californian species,
    the male being nearly double the size of the female of _S.
    Sylvestris_. I find this _Satyrus_ in July in Contra Costa, on
    the hills as well as on the plains. In regard to the diagnosis
    of these three closely allied species, I would mention, that
    the presence or absence of one or two more or less distinct
    eye-marks, on the upper or under side near the anal angle of
    the hind wings, is of no diagnostic importance.

    S. ARIANE Boisd.

    I confess I can not find any constant mark of difference
    between this species and _S. Alope_, _Nephele_, and _Pegala_,
    however different at first glance their forms may appear. I
    am very much inclined to consider them local aberrations of
    one far spread species, that gradually slopes from _S. Pegala_
    Fabr., through _S. Ariane_ Boisd. to _S. Nephele_ and _S.
    Alope_ Fabr., in a similar way as the Gerontogeic _P. Egeria_
    L. looks very different from its African form _P. Xiphia_
    Fabr., with which, nevertheless, it is insensibly united by its
    intermediate form _P. Meone_.

    All my Californian specimens agree perfectly with Dr.
    Boisduval’s diagnosis of _S. Ariane_; with the exception of one
    that approaches to _S. Pegala_, by its having only one eye-mark
    on the upper side of the anterior wings, but differs by the
    entire absence of the wide rusty band on the same. The specimen
    was among several undoubted _S. Ariane_, caught near Mono Lake,
    by Prof. Brewer, of the State Geological Survey. Besides the
    above mentioned locality, I received specimens from San Diego
    and Santa Cruz. Near San Francisco the species is wanting.

    As to _S. Sthenele_ and _S. Sylvestris_, I entertain no doubts
    regarding their rights as distinct species, but _S. Boopis_
    being only distinguished by the absence of the series of eyes
    on the under side of the hind wings from _S. Nephele_, may,
    perhaps, prove a local variety or aberration of that most
    polymorphous and far spread species _S. Alope_. In the mean
    time, until the connecting forms are found, I consider it to be
    specifically distinct.

    COENONYMPHA Hubner.

    _C. Galactina_. Boisd.

    I consider this species as identical with _C. Californica_
    Dbld. At least I find in a long series of specimens, no
    point where _Californica_ ends and _Galactina_ begins. _C.
    Galactina_, according to Boisduval, exists also in Kamtschatka.
    In California it is one of the commonest species of Diurnals,
    and is found in the most different localities, in several
    generations throughout the year. There exists a second
    _Cœnonympha_ in some sequestered valleys of the Northern
    Sierra, that approaches in its coloration, the European _C.
    Pamphilas_. I have only seen one pair of this species, and not
    possessing it, I can not give a diagnosis. It may be that it is
    identical with _C. Inornata_, Edw., or _C. Ochracea_, Edw., or
    some other Northern species.

    Extratropical America is not rich in _Satyrides_, if compared
    to the same latitudes in Europe or Asia, and California is
    especially poor.

    EUROPE.        CALIFORNIA.

    _Arge_,             ——
    _Erebia_,           ——
    _Chionobas_,    _Chionabas_,
    _Satyrus_,      _Satyrus_,
    _Pararga_,          ——
    _Epinephele_,       ——
    _Cœnonympha_,   _Cœnonympha_.

    There are seven European genera, each of them represented
    by a whole series of species connecting different types. In
    California there are only three of which none is known to
    contain more than four species.

    The Atlantic States add some tropical genera to the three
    genera already obtained in California, viz.: _Neonympha_
    Hubner, _Hyphthima_ Hubner, _Debis_ Dbld., and _Calisto_
    Hubner. The genus _Calisto_ seems to be confined to subtropical
    North America; the genus _Neonympha_ spreads in numerous
    species through the tropics of America, and trespasses only
    in a few species the _Cancer_; _Hyphthima_ is found in many
    species in the tropics of the Old World, and it is a very
    curious circumstance, that one species of this essentially
    Gerontogeic genus should be found in the Southern States. But
    the two American species of the genus _Debis_, are even more
    interesting, for all other species of this genus, are confined
    to the Indian Archipelago.

    The metamorphoses of the _Satyrides_, are only with difficulty
    to be investigated.

    They feed as far as they are known, on Monocotyledoneous
    plants, the extra-tropical ones, with one exception perhaps,
    exclusively on Graminaceous plants. The Caterpillars shun the
    sunlight and hide themselves in the grass. Some of them bury
    themselves in the daytime in the ground and feed only at night.
    The tropical species feeding on Scitaminaceous, Aroideous
    plants, palms, and arborescent grasses, sport the shady
    thickets of tropical forests, in whose twilight depths, most
    of the species are also found in their imago state. Other ones
    like some of the _Morphonides_, and even some _Nymphalides_
    of the tropics, spend their days hidden under the luxuriant
    foliage of primeval forests and begin their flight only after
    sunset.

    In a most interesting treatise on the characteristics of
    the insect fauna of the “White Mountains,” by Samuel H.
    Scudder, (Boston Journal, Vol. VII, Part IV), I find the
    description of the Caterpillar of _Chionobas Semidea_, Edw.,
    with a notice that it was found on Lichen. This would prove
    a most remarkable exception, as all the other _Satyrides_
    feed on Monocotyledoneous plants. Nevertheless, larvæ of
    Artic types are generally polyphagous, and adapted to some
    degree, to accommodate themselves to circumstances, and so
    I would not entertain any doubts about the feeding plant of
    the _Chionobas_, if it were not for the circumstance that
    Mr. Scudder confesses that he did not succeed in bringing
    the Caterpillar, with Lichen, to perfection. Perhaps the
    Caterpillar fed on grass, or perhaps some _Carex_, and
    was only, by some accident, compelled to crawl to the
    lichen-covered stone, where that gentleman found it. I hope
    to hear very soon about this most interesting object, for I
    consider the discovery of the metamorphoses of one insect, a
    more valuable fact than the diagnoses of ten new species, of
    which we do not know more than the external appearance.

Prof. Wm. P. Blake presented the following papers:

Note on a large lump of Gold found on the Middle fork of the American
River.

BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE.

    In July last, a mass of gold nearly free from quartz, was taken
    out of a placer on the Middle Fork of the American River, about
    two miles above Michegan Bluffs. It weighed, as taken out, 187
    ounces troy, and sold for $17.50 per ounce, netting the finder
    $3,272.50. In melting, a loss of six ounces was experienced.
    There was a further loss to the purchaser, from the poor
    quality of the gold, the assay return of which I have not yet
    been able to obtain. The ordinary gold of the claim is worth
    $17.50. It is a singular fact, often remarked by dealers, that
    the large lumps of gold are almost always poorer in quality
    than the smaller ordinary grains from the same placers.

Note on the Fossil remains of the Horse and Elephant, mingled, at Mare
Island, San Francisco Bay.

BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE.

    The entire lower jaw and teeth of a horse, the fragments of
    which I exhibit to the Academy, were taken by me from the face
    of the shore cliff of Mare Island, together with broken pieces
    of bones of other large quadrupeds. The teeth of an _Elephas_
    had been found in the same place, a few weeks before, by Mr.
    Brown, the Naval Engineer, by whom my attention was directed
    to the place. The fossils occur in a stiff sandy loam, which
    rests on the eroded surface of the Tertiary or Cretaceous beds
    below. Near the surface is a layer of oyster shells, apparently
    an upraised bed, most of the shells being entire. The fact
    that the Horse and Elephant roamed together over our hills
    and plains, at the dawn of, or before the human period, is
    certainly not without interest.

Ammonites or Ceratites from Oregon Bar, Middle Fork of the American River.

BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE.

    The specimen which I exhibit to the Society this evening, is
    from the collection of J. J. Spear, of this city. It was kindly
    loaned to me by that gentleman for examination. Not wishing to
    risk the specimen, by sending it to a paleontologist at the
    East, I had it photographed, and sent a copy to F. B. Meek,
    Esq., of Washington. It is not possible to determine from
    the specimen, whether these fossils are new or not, or even,
    whether they are _Ammonites_ or _Ceratites_. They appear to be
    not unlike the fossils described by Dr. Trask, under the name
    of _A. Chiceonsis_, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Cal.; but it is not
    safe to identify them, without the septæ can be clearly made
    out.

    There are several casts in an argillaceous, somewhat micaceous
    slate. This locality is about 15 miles from Coloma. It is not
    certain, whether the specimen was taken from the slates in
    place, or broken from a loose mass.

Mr. Moore presented the following paper:

On Brushite, a new mineral occurring in Phosphatic Guano.

BY GIDEON E. MOORE, PH. B.

    In the spring of the present year, I received through the
    kindness of Wm. E. Brown, Esq., of Mare Island, in this
    State, a specimen of a mineral discovered by him in a cargo
    of phosphatic guano, at Camden, N. J. The locality from which
    it was derived, is not known, and though letters of enquiry
    have been sent to the parties to whom the cargo was originally
    consigned, no reply has been received up to this date. The
    texture and appearance of the guano would, however, point to
    some one of the Caribbean Islands, and more particularly,
    to the Island of Sombrero, as its probable source. It is
    very probable that the mineral may be recognized among the
    crystallized products occurring in other guano deposits.

    In the specimen in my possession, the mineral occurs filling
    seams in the guano, varying from ⅛ to ¼ of an inch in width.
    The matrix itself is of the variety known as rock guano. It
    possesses an oolitic structure and a brownish white color,
    interspersed with small spots of pure white.

    The mineral is in the form of small but very perfect and
    brilliant crystals with a cleavage in the direction of their
    greatest length, nearly equal to that of selenite; the laminæ,
    being also slightly flexible, as in the case of the latter
    species. Hardness, 2.25 (Moh’s scale). Specific gravity,
    2.208, (mean of two determinations). Color, yellowish white.
    Transparent. Lustre, vitreous splendent, inclining to pearly on
    the cleavage faces.

    When heated in a closed tube before the blowpipe, it whitens
    and gives off water, at an incipient red heat. In the platina
    forceps, it fuses with intumescence, at about 2. of Von
    Kobbell’s scale, tinging the flame with the peculiar green
    characteristic of phosphoric acid. The button formed by fusion,
    crystallizes on cooling, showing numerous brilliant facets.
    Readily soluble, even in coarse crystals, in dilute nitric and
    hydrochloric acids.

    A qualitative analysis, revealed the presence of Lime,
    Phosphoric acid, and water, with barely discernable traces of
    Magnesia and Alumina.

    The quantity of mineral at my disposal was very small, scarcely
    exceeding one gramme in weight. In each of the following
    analyses, the water was determined in 0.2 grammes, the
    remaining 0.3 grammes being employed in the determination of
    the Lime and Phosphoric acid. The results were as follows:

                        1.      2.

    Lime              32.65   32.73
    Phosphoric acid   41.50   41.32
    Water             26.33   26.40
                     ------  ------
                     100.48  100.45

    These figures agree exactly with the composition of the neutral
    tri-basic phosphate of lime (2 CaO., H O, P O₅), with the
    addition of four equivalents of water of crystallization, (2
    CaO, H O, P O₅ + 4 aq.) viz.:

    2 CaO          56.26   =  32.59
    P O₅           71.36   =  41.34
    H O             9.00 } =  26.07
    4 Aq           36.00 }
                  ------     ------
                  172.62     100.00

    In the polarizing microscope, the mineral shows a vivid
    succession of colors. A sample has been sent to Prof.
    J. D. Dana, who has kindly undertaken the study of its
    crystallographic characters, and I hope, in a short time, to be
    able to communicate the results of his investigations to the
    Academy.

    It is with very great pleasure, that I dedicate this species
    to Prof. Geo. J. Brush, of Yale College, to whose unwearied
    zeal and efficient labors, American Mineralogy stands so deeply
    indebted.

REGULAR MEETING, SEPT. 19TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Seven members present.

Prof. Rudolpho H. Philippi, of Santiago, was duly elected an honorary
member, and Mr. W. B. Ewer, of this city, a resident member of the
Academy.

    Donations to the Cabinet: A box of shells, containing 120
    species, from Panama, by the Smithsonian Institution. Another
    box, marked C. S. L., containing 86 species of shells.

    Donations to the Library: Smithsonian Contribution
    to Knowledge, Vol 13. Nachrichten von der
    Georg-Augusts-Universität of Göttingen, Nos. 1 and 2, 1863.
    Verhandlungen der R. R. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft
    in Wien. Jahrgang 1863 Hefte I, II, III, IV von Bd. XIII.
    Verhandlungen des Natur’h Vereins der Preuss. Rheinlande und
    Westphalens 20str. Jahrgang, Bog. 1-10 und Bog. 11-43, 1863.
    Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol 5, 1863. Glossaria
    Linguarum Brasiliensium, von Dr. C. F. Phil. von Martius,
    Erlangen 1863. Monographie der Oestriden von F. Brauer, 3
    vol. Ofversicht of R. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar.
    Stockholm, 1860, 1861, 1862. Sitzungsberichte der K. Bavarian
    Acad. der Wissenschaften zu München 1863, Hefte I, II, III,
    und doppelheft IV, 1863. Rede von J. Freiherrn von Liebig
    1865. Proceedings of the Royal Horticult. Society, 1863.
    Hypsometrie von Mähren und östr. Schlesien, von Carl Koristka
    Brün, 1863. Abhandlungen der Math-phys. classe der K. Bayer.
    Acad. der Vissenschaften Abtheil. 111, Bd. 9, 1863. Von dem
    Rechts Zustande unter den Ureinwohnern Brasiliens von Dr. von
    Martius. Jahrbuch der Geol. Reichsanstalt, Bd. 13, Nm. 2, 3,
    4, 1863. Eilfter Jahres-Bericht des Wiener Vereins, 1861.
    Zwölfter Jahres-Bericht des Wiener Vereins, 1862. Kongliga
    Svenska Vetenskaps Académiens Förhandlingar, Bd. 3, 1859,
    Bd. 3, 1860, Bd. 4, 1861. Nederlandsch. Meteorol. Yaarboek,
    1862. Annals of the Lyceum of Nat. History of New York, Vol.
    7, 1862, Vol. 8, part I, 1863. Der Zoolog. Garten Frankfurt,
    Jahrg. 4, Nrs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Jahrg. 5, Nr. 1. Bericht
    über einige im Niederen Gesenke und im Hartzgebirge ausgeführte
    Höhenmessungen, Wien, 1861. Das Geograph. System der Winde von
    Dr. M. H. F. Prestel Emden, 1863. Mémoires de l’Acad. Imp. des
    Sciences de St. Petersbourg, VII Série, Tome 4, No. 10 et 11,
    Tome 4, feuilles 26 à 36, Tome 5, feuilles 1 à 8.

Dr. Winslow, a former member of the Academy, was introduced by Mr.
Boynton, and made some interesting remarks upon his travels in South
America.

REGULAR MEETING, OCT. 3D, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Eight members present.

Mr. Hinsmann and Baron Thurlow as visitors.

Donations to the Library: A supplement to the Terrestrial air-breathing
Mollusks of the U. S., by W. G. Binney.

Prof. Brewer gave an account of recent explorations in the Sierra Nevada,
by the party connected with the State Geological Survey. The exploration
extended from Kern River to the Yosemite Valley, and was peculiarly rich
in scientific results. The crest of the chain is very high; along the
whole of this distance, the high peaks, rising to above 13,000 feet,
the culmination being between the sources of the Kern and Kings Rivers,
where there are a number of peaks over 14,000 feet, and one about 15,000
feet in height. Along the whole of this, there are abundant traces of
glaciers, some of the morains of which are truly gigantic, far surpassing
anything else of the kind yet found in the State. The cañons of all the
principal streams are very deep and abrupt.

The Big Trees or Sequoias, were found over a large area, extending
perhaps 25 miles along the western slope, along the tributaries of the
San Joaquin, Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern Rivers. The amount of snow
in this part of the sierras, is apparently very much less than usually
occurs.

Prof. Wm. P. Blake, read the following:

Note on the discovery of Fossils in the Auriferous Slate formation of the
Mariposa Estate, California, and the probable geological age.

BY PROF. WM. P. BLAKE.

    During a recent visit to the Mariposa Estate, Mariposa
    County, my attention was called to some organic remains in
    the slates, near Bear Valley, by Miss Errington, a lady who
    takes an enthusiastic interest in the sciences of geology
    and mineralogy, and has for some time past, been seeking for
    fossils in the gold formation of that neighborhood. One of the
    specimens was the cast of a bivalve shell, and appeared to
    me to be a _Plagiostoma_. On further search, we found other
    specimens, some of which much resemble _Inoceramus_, to which
    I am inclined to refer them. Certain long tubular cavities in
    the slates, marked with heavy lines, and slightly converging,
    seemed to be casts of long, nearly cylindrical shells, possibly
    _Nerinæa_. These forms would indicate a Jurassic or Cretaceous
    age for the formation. I propose to submit these specimens to a
    competent Palæontologist, at the East, for examination, and to
    dedicate one of the species, if new, to Miss Errington.

REGULAR MEETING, OCT. 17TH, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Seven members present.

Donations to the Cabinet; A fossil tooth of Elephant, and several fossil
teeth of Horse, from Wellington’s Station, on the road from Carson Valley
to Aurora, by Mr. Clayton. Specimens of silver ore from the Osceola Lode,
Montgomery District, 60 miles S.E. of Aurora, and specimens of silver ore
from Bear Mountain, Calaveras County, by Mr. Clayton.

Donations to the Library: Fragmenta Phytographiæ Australis, Vols. 1,
2, 3, and part of Vol. 4. Transactions of the Philosophical Society of
Victoria, Vols 1 to 5. The plants indigenous to the Colony of Victoria,
Vol. 1. All donated by Dr. Ferdinand Mueller, Director of the Botanical
Garden at Melbourne.

Mr. Clayton made the following remarks in regard to his donations above
mentioned:

The teeth were found near Walkers River, about one mile below the
residence of Mr. G. E. Wellington, on the Carson River and Aurora Road.
This river cuts through a high range of hills immediately west of
Wellington’s, and enters a large basin or valley, which is some thirty
miles long, from north to south, by twenty miles wide, from west to east.
After passing through this valley to the eastward, the river enters
another cañon of considerable extent, and then empties into Walkers Lake,
in the southwest portion of the great basin.

The banks of the river are formed of gravel, sand, and clay cement,
containing soda and calcareous matter, which forms a white crust on the
surface of the stones and pebbles. The cement bluffs along the river, are
from 6 or 8 to 20 feet high, and are cut out by changes in the channel
during high water.

In one of these recent cuttings, the large tooth was found, with part
of the upper jaw and other portions of the skeleton. There has been no
excavation made, as yet, to uncover other portions of the skeleton, but
Mr. Wellington has promised to have it done, and to secure as much of the
skeleton as possible, for the Society’s collections.

The small teeth were found about five feet below the surface in the solid
cement, by some parties that were digging a grave. Quite a number of
teeth were found, but with the exception of the two just presented to the
Society, they were not preserved.

REGULAR MEETING, NOV. 21ST, 1864.

President in the Chair.

Seven members present.

Rev. Horatio Stebbins was duly elected a resident member, Mr.
Edward Bosqui a life member, and Mr. G. E. Wellington, of Nevada, a
corresponding member, of the Academy.

Donations to the Cabinet: Specimens of Corals from the Hiton group of
Islands, also a photograph of a Fungus [Agaricus], from the Society
Islands, by Mr. Hubbard, on behalf of Mr. Andrew Garrett. Two specimens
of Inoceramus, from Seattle, Puget Sound, by Mr. Hubbard.

Mr. Gabb presented the following papers:

Notes on some Fossils from the Gold Bearing Slates of Mariposa, with
description of some new species.

BY WM. M. GABB.

    Through the kindness of Miss Errington, of Bear Valley,
    Mariposa County, I have had the opportunity of examining a
    series of fossils, discovered by that lady on the Mariposa
    Estate. The shells appear to be of Jurassic age. The genera so
    far recognized, are Belemnites, Nucula or Leda, Lima, Pecten,
    and Pholadomya. The following are sufficiently perfect for
    description. Fuller descriptions and figures will be published
    hereafter in the Geological Report of the State.

    LIMA, Brug.

    _L. Erringtoni_ G. Shell very oblique, sides subparallel;
    beaks small; anterior end prominently rounded, sloping with a
    broad curve below to the base; posterior side nearly straight,
    continuing upwards in a long narrow ear; anterior ear obsolete
    (?).

    Surface marked by strong concentric undulations, crossed on the
    upper and posterior portions by fine radiating lines.

    Length, 2.25 inches; width, 1 inch.

    The specimens are all very much compressed, and may be somewhat
    distorted in form, though the outlines are very nearly uniform
    in all of the specimens.

    PHOLADOMYA, Sow.

    _P. orbiculata_ G. Compressed, sub-circular; beaks rather
    prominent, nearly central; anterior end and base regularly
    rounded; posterior end slightly produced, more prominent below
    than above. Surface ornamented by concentric ribs, irregular in
    size, crossed by undulating, radiating lines on the anterior
    half of the shell. These lines become gradually obsolete and
    disappear on or about the middle of all of the specimens,
    although more perfect examples might show them continuing
    further.

    Height, from a slightly distorted specimen, 1.1 inch; width,
    1.3 inch.

    Like the preceding species, all of the specimens have suffered
    considerably by compression; and had we perfect specimens, the
    shell would be found to be quite convex.

    BELEMNITES.

    _B. Pacificus_ G. Long, slender, tapering very gradually and
    with a slight convexity to the tip. Section, sub-elliptical;
    alveolus deep and narrow.

    A specimen 3 inches long, measures .35 in. in diameter in the
    middle. One cast has been found with a diameter of .9 inch at
    the broadest part.

    I first discovered this species, as imperfect casts, in the
    slates near Spanish Flat, El Dorado County. Since then,
    numerous fragments and casts have been found at Mariposa, by
    Mr. C. R. King and Miss Errington.

Communication on the San Luis Obispo Quicksilver Fossils.

BY WM. M. GABB.

    Mr. Attwood has recently presented to the collection of the
    State Geological Survey, a series of Fossils collected by
    himself, in the formation in which the San Luis Obispo cinnabar
    deposits occur.

    Through the kindness of Prof. B. Silliman, Jr. I have had the
    opportunity of examining another small collection, made by
    that gentleman, at the same locality. I consider the result of
    sufficient interest to warrant a special communication on the
    subject.

    The Fossils, though few in number of species, point
    unequivocally to the Miocene formation, the species being among
    the most familiar forms in the middle deposit of that formation
    in California.

    They were: Dosinia ponderosa, Saxidomus aratus, Conus ravus
    = _C. Californicus_ Reeve, Turritella Ocoyana Con., Natica,
    probably N. Recluziana, Pecten Pabloensis Con., Pallium
    Estrellanum Con., Carcharodon rectus Agas. a Balanus and one or
    two small shells too imperfect for determination.

Mr. Moore presented on behalf of Prof. Dana, the following paper:

On the Crystallization of Brushite.

BY JAMES D. DANA, L.L.D., PROFESSOR OF MINERALOGY IN YALE COLLEGE.

    The specimens of the mineral Brushite, which I have had under
    crystallographic examination, were received from Mr. G. E.
    Moore, the discoverer of the species.

    The crystals are slender prisms, not over a third of an inch
    in length. A common form (containing all the observed planes),
    is shown in the annexed figure. The prisms are monoclinic, and
    are often flattened, parallel to the clinodiagonal, as here
    represented.

    [Illustration: FIG. 26.]

    Cleavage is perfect, parallel of the clinodiagonal section, or
    the plane _iì_; also distinct parallel to the line _cl_, as
    apparent often in the cross fractures of the crystals, and by
    occasional striæ. This plane of cleavage may be taken as the
    basal plane _O_.

    The planes _I_ and l are brilliant, especially the former.
    The oblique plane situated on the back side in the figure,
    and which may be called _r_, is quite rough, owing to the
    oscillatory combination between two hemi-octahedral planes. In
    many of the crystals, only the right one of the two planes _I_
    is present, and also only the left one of the two planes l. The
    prisms frequently terminate above in an irregular edge, made by
    the meeting of the one, or two, planes _I_, and the rough plane
    _r_, and this edge is sometimes cut off, more or less deeply,
    by a single oblique plane, which is one of the planes l.

    According to measurements with the reflective goniometer;

    _I_ : _I_   =  142° 26’
    _I_ : _iì_  =  108° 47’
     l  : _iì_  =  101° 40’
     I  :  l    =  156° 20’ (approximately.)

    The inclination of the I on l could not be accurately measured,
    on account of the minuteness of the planes in the crystals,
    in which both planes occur, and the want of perfection in the
    reflection. The angle obtained for l:_iì_ would give, for l:l,
    156° 40’.

    By measurement with a goniometer attached to a compound
    microscope, the plane angle between the lines of cross
    cleavage, or _cl_, and the edge _I_:_I_ (which equals the
    inclination of _O_ on the orthodiagonal section, or a plane
    _ii_) was found to be 117-117½°; and that between edge _I_:_I_
    and edge l:l (which equals _ii_ on l_i_, both unobserved
    planes) 95°-95½°: whence _O_:l_i_ would equal approximately
    147° 30’. The inclination of the rough plane _r_ on the edge
    l:l is about 110°, but varies much.

    The results of calculation, taking as data the above mentioned
    angles _I_:_I_ and l:_ii_, along with the inclination of _O_ to
    _ii_ = 117° 15’, and that of the edge l:l (or l_ì_) to _ii_ =
    95° 15’ are as follows:

    C (= O : _iì_) = 117° 15’ and 62° 45’

    _a_ (vert. axis) : _O_ (clinodiag.) : _c_ = 0.5396 : 1 : 2.614

    l : l = 156° 46’        -l : -l (unobserved planes) = 164° 22’

    The species is related in form to Vivianite, in which

    _a_ : _b_ : 2_c_ = 1.0792 : 1 : 2.614.

    The crystals of the two species are also alike in the perfect
    and pearly clinodiagonal cleavage.

On new Californian Marine Shells. No. II.

BY PHILIP P. CARPENTER, PH. D., OF WARRINGTON, ENGLAND.

    Genus COLLONIA, _Gray_, 1852.

    This genus was established (in English) by Dr. Gray, for
    Turbinate shells having an “operculum circular, with many
    gradually enlarged whirls, with a convex external rib and
    central pit.” The type (still appearing as such in the B. M.
    Col.) is a smooth fossil from Grignon, = Delphinula marginata,
    Lam., with a keeled and crenated umbilicus, like Phillippia.
    Another (African) shell is joined to the diagnosis, with the
    following brief description: “C. striata, _Gray_. Shell red,
    white marbled, striated.” It is quoted by Phillippi, Handb.
    Conch. p. 206, who assigns as a type T. sanguineus, _Linn._
    For this species and its congeners, we now propose a subgenus
    LEPTONYX, as they do not agree with the type. The genus was
    reconstituted by Messrs. Adams, Gen. i. 396 for shells with
    “imperforate axis and contracted aperture:” the description
    of the operculum being copied from Gray. The type is now “C.
    marginata, _Nutt._” pl. 44, f. 2, the operculum of which is
    figured as with _few_ whirls. The same description and figure
    are given in Chenu, Manuel i. 348, f. 2560. The error seems
    to have arisen thus. Mr. H. Adams (who acted for the ‘firm’
    during his brother’s long absence in Japan,) probably took
    Gray’s C. marginata to be the ‘Turbo marginatus, Nutt.’ of
    Reeve, and from this species as type, described the genus to
    be imperforate, etc. Unfortunately, Dr. Gray did not observe
    the error, which had arisen from confounding two different
    shells called marginatus; and in his guide to Mollusca (in
    loco) he adopts the description of Messrs. Adams; so that
    Collonia, _Gray_, (hodie) = Collonia, _Add._, but not Collonia,
    _Gray_, (olim). Of the species arranged by Mr. H. Adams under
    Collonia, some may belong to the original genus: some are
    included under Cynisca, _A. Ad._; and one (Turbo phasianella,
    _C. B. Ad._) appears to be Eucosmia. They appear in the Br.
    Mus. Col. distributed between Gibbula and Photinula. The true
    Turbo marginatus of Nutt. is the ordinary black Californian
    Chlorostoma, like mœstus, and well named from its frilled
    margin near the suture. But the label having become affixed to
    the T. marginatus _Rve._ (which must stand as Reeve’s species
    and not Nuttall’s) the Californian shell was left without
    name, and was described by Mr. A. Adams as Chl. funebrale,
    under which name it must stand as Nuttal’s prior name was
    (unfortunately) in MS. only. The name Collonia marginata must
    stand for the original fossil of Lamarck. It is probable that
    Reeve’s shell belongs to another group; else it must, according
    to the usual custom of honoring error, be called C. Reevei. For
    the Californian species, which are imperforate and have a thin,
    smooth operculum, Mr. A. Adams and I propose to form a subgenus
    _Leptonyx_; a diagnosis of which will appear in the next paper,
    after the foreign species have been examined. The following are
    the Californian forms.

    _Leptonyx sanguineus_, Linn.

    H. t. parvâ, solidâ, rubrâ, anfr. V. subtumentibus, suturis
    plus minusve impressis; costulis spiralibus plus minusve
    rotundatis cinctâ, quarum iv.-viii. in spirâ monstrantur;
    aperturâ subcirculari; columellâ t. adolescente foveâ basali et
    dente ut in ‘Modulo’ munitâ; adultâ, callositate tenui labiali,
    foveam tegente, obscure bidentatâ; labio tenui, continuo;
    umbilico nullo.

    _Hab_. Mediterranean, _Phillippi_, _Hanley_. Japan, _A. Adams_.
    Monterey, _Jewett_, _Taylor_, _Cooper_. Neeah Bay, W.T., _Swan_.

    = Turbo sanguineus, Ln. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, p. 1235:—Phil. Moll.
    Sic. in loco: Hanl. Ips. Lin. Conch, in loco.

    = T. Belliæi, Michaud in Mus. Paris: teste Hanl.

    Non “Turbo sanguineus, Linn.” Rve. Conch. Ic. sp. 55: = T.
    coccineus, _Desh._ = Globulus roseus, Chem. teste Rve. Nec
    (Gibbula) sanguinea, _Risso_.

    Reeve says of his shell. “I am not quite sure that this is the
    T. sanguineus of Linnæus, but _have every reason_ to believe
    it is.” That is, every reason except the one only convincing
    proof, which was so easy to a London naturalist, an inspection
    of the original type in the Linnæan Collection. A mere glance
    at this would have exposed his error. Reeve’s shell is whitish,
    with blood-red spots, and is probably a S. African species.
    Whether Linnæus described from Mediterranean or Japanese
    specimens, cannot be told from his rubbed shells; nor as yet
    have sufficiently perfect specimens been compared from the
    two oceans; but no character has been observed by which they
    can be separated. The great author obtained his Algerine and
    his Philippine shells from the Swedish consuls; and Japanese
    species may have been mixed with the latter. It is very rare in
    the Mediterranean; common in Japan; common also at Vancouver;
    but rare further south. It is, we believe, the only Californian
    shell described by the father of modern Natural History. The
    specimens vary very greatly in strength of sculpture. There is
    also a purple variety.

    _Leptonyx_ (_sanguineus_, var.) _purpureum_.

    H. t. ‘H. sanguineo’ simili, sed purpureo fuscâ; lirulis
    spiralibus crebioribus, interstitiis parvis, labio obsoleto.

    _Hab._ Sta. Cruz, _Rowell_. Monterey, _Cooper_. Neeah Bay,
    _Swan_.

    _Leptonyx bacula_, Carp.

    L. t. “L. sanguineo, jun.” simili; sed rufocinereâ, sculpturâ
    obsoletâ; anfr. iv. planatis, suturis vix distinctis,
    marginibus spiræ valde excurvatis; lirulis obsoletis
    latioribus, et circa basim striis crebris, vix sculptâ;
    apertura rotundatâ, declivi; columellâ vix callosâ.

    Long. 0.08, long. spir. 0.06; lat. 0.14.

    _Hab._ Catalina Is., dead on beach; _Cooper_, No. 1056.

    This unpretending little shell resembles on the back one of
    the small Helicinæ. It differs from L. sanguineus in its small
    size, ashy color, flattened sutures, and nearly obsolete
    sculpture. A groove in the somewhat callous columella,
    continued slightly round the labrum, seems intended for the
    broad-margined operculum of the genus.

ANNUAL MEETING, JAN. 9TH, 1865.

President, Col. Ransom, in the chair.

Twelve members present.

Theodore Bloomer was elected a resident member.

The Annual reports of the officers were received, as follows:

The report of the Treasurer was referred to the Finance Committee. The
reports of the Curators were received and accepted.

The Committee on nominations reported the following list of officers for
the year 1865, which was duly elected.

PRESIDENT.

  COL. L. RANSOM.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

  J. N. ECKEL, M. D., J. B. TRASK, M. D.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

  W. O. AYRES, M. D.

RECORDING SECRETARY.

  T. H. BLOOMER.

LIBRARIAN.

  PROF. J. D. WHITNEY.

TREASURER.

  SAMUEL HUBBARD.

CURATORS.

  _Mineralogy_      G. E. MOORE
  _Palæontology_    WM. M. GABB
  _Botany_          H. N. BOLANDER
  _Zoology_         E. F. LORQUIN
  _Conchology_      R. E. C. STEARNS
  _Entomology_      DR. H. BEHR

Donations to the Cabinet were received as follows: from Dr. C. T.
Jackson, specimen of Corundum and Margarite.

Mr. Gabb presented, on behalf of the authors, the following papers:

On Californian Lepidoptera.

BY HERMAN BEHR, M. D.

    ERYCINIDÆ

    NEMEOBIUS Boisd.

    _N. Dumeti_ Behr.

    Alæ supra nigræ, fasciis duabus albis signatæ, altera medias
    per alas transgrediente, altera per spatium inter fasciam
    mediam et marginem, utraque hinc interrupta vel macalari. Alæ
    anteriores a radice ad fasciam mediam fulvæ, maculis quatuor
    quadrangularibus nigro marginatis signatæ.

    Alæ subtus grisescentes, marginem versus dilutiores. Anteriores
    a radice ad fasciam mediam fulvæ, ceterum ut supra signatæ,
    posteriores fascias demonstrant ut supra, sed confluentes, et
    hinc coufusas.

    This species is found in some parts of California, and always
    in localities that are covered by the peculiar vegetation
    called Chaparral.

    _N Virgulti_, Behr.

    Alæ supra nigræ, fulvo mixtæ, fasciis duabus signatæ, altera
    medias per alas transgrediente, colore fulvo fere ubique
    obducta, altera per spatium inter fasciam mediam et marginem ad
    punctorum alborum seriem reducta.

    Alæ anteriores usque ad marginem fere fulvæ, fascia intermedia
    maculisque disci albis, nigro marginatis. Margo alarum
    anteriorum, alæque posteriores totæ grisescentes punctis
    maculisque albis, nigro marginatis variegatæ.

    This species was found near Los Angeles, by Mr. Lorquin, who
    gave me several specimens. In the male the black color is more
    predominating, in the female the fulvous coloration.

    For the sake of completing this series of diagnoses, I give
    here the description of a third species, that I received, by
    the kindness of Dr. Dinklage, from the Sierra Madre, in the
    neighborhood of Mazatlan. I think it indispensable to give the
    marks of this closely allied Nemeobius, as I am of the opinion
    that thus errors will most effectually be avoided.

    _N. Mejicanus_, Behr.

    Alæ supra fulvæ, marginem versus brunneæ, fasciis maculisque
    ordinariis omnibus albis nigro marginatis instructæ. Subtus alæ
    anteriores fulvæ, apice et margine grisescentes, fasciis et
    maculis ut supra. Alæ posteriores grisescentes, macalis albis
    et nigro marginatis et confluentibus cum colore universali
    irregulariter variegatæ.

    The most positive and striking points of difference would be
    thus:

    1. _N. Dumeti._ Fore wings alone show a fulvous coloration on
    the upperside. Bands and spots perfectly white.

    2. _N. Mejicanus._ All wings are occupied with it, till beyond
    the second band, where the brownish coloration of the margin
    begins. Bands and spots perfectly white.

    3. _N. Virgulti._ Extension of the fulvous as in the preceding,
    but all the space more or less occupied by black. Middle band
    nearly altogether fulvous, other bands and spots white.

    As much as we know, the type of this genus _N. Lucina_ L, was
    the only species known heretofore, and it is another proof of
    the various repetition of types on occidental coasts, that we
    have to add three Pacific representatives of a genus first
    discerned in a single European species.

    The group of the _Erycinides_ belongs essentially to tropical
    America. The beforementioned _Nemeobius Lucina_ is the only
    European representative of this numerous and polymorphous
    group. Besides this, there exist some few Asiatic members of
    this family, very aberrant in their type, scarcely known and
    insufficiently examined, so that possibly they may belong
    somewhere else. In America the tropical genera _Nymphidia_ and
    _Lemonias_, extend beyond the Cancer on the Atlantic side; but
    on the Pacific side reappears the European genus _Nemeobius_,
    extending into the Tropics, and seems to find here its very
    centre.

Description of New Species of Land Shells.

BY W. NEWCOMB, M.D.

    _Helix Blakeana_, Newc.

    Hel. testa unicolor flavido-alba, rotundato, semi-globosa,
    nitida, translucida; umbilico amplo, profundo et parum obtecto;
    apice obtuso; anfractibus sex, convexis, tribus superioribus
    sub-planis, reliquiis rapide accrescentibus, ultimo inflato;
    sutura bene impressa; aperturâ rotundato-lunare; peristomate
    tenue, ex panso-reflexo cum columellâ sub-late dilatatâ, non
    adnatâ.

    Alt. ·7 pol., Diam maj. 1·1 pol., min. 1· pol.

    Hab. Insula Niphon—Japan, (teste Blake).

    Shell uniformly yellowish white, rounded, half globular,
    shining, translucent; umbilicus large, deep and slightly
    covered; apex obtuse; whorls six, convex, the three first
    nearly on the same plane, the balance rapidly increasing, the
    last swollen; suture well marked; aperture roundly lunar; lip
    thin, flatly reflected, at the columella broadly dilated but
    not adherent.

    NOTE.—In general form and color, this species makes a nearer
    approach to _H. candida_, Moricand, than to any species with
    which I am acquainted. It varies in the less elevation, in
    the form of the spire, and in some other respects. Professor
    Blake had remarkable facilities for collecting in Japan, but
    unfortunately the mice proved so destructive to his terrestrial
    shells, as to leave him but few specimens as the result of his
    labor.

    _Helix declivis_, Newc.

    Hel. testa perspectivo-umbilicata, lenticulare, oblique
    striata, tenue, pallide-cornea; anfr. IV, planulatis, ultimo
    declivi, in medio sub-carinato; sutura sub-canuliculata; peris.
    fragile, simplici: apertura obliquo-sub-rotundata.

    Alt. ·1 pol., Diam. maj. ·3 pol., min. ·2 pol.

    Hab. Insula Niphon, (Japan).

    Shell perspectively umbilicate, lenticular, obliquely striate,
    thin, pale horn color; whorls four, planulate, the last
    shelving down to the centre, which is obscurely keeled; suture
    channelled; lip fragile, simple; aperture oblique, almost round.

    REMARKS.—Bears some resemblance to _H. ruderata_, Stud.,
    a species common in Europe, from which it may readily be
    distinguished by comparison.

    NOTE.—The Japanese species herein described, were collected by
    Professor Blake, in the interior of the Island of Niphon, out
    of the range permitted to foreign travel.

    The Professor, who was employed by the Japanese Government as a
    special geologist, had the privilege of penetrating districts
    not before visited by any scientific or mercantile foreigner.
    The following species of Helices were also among those
    collected:

    _Helix peliomphala_, Pfr., (Mon. Hel. viv. Vol. 4, Sp. 1764).
    _H. quesita_, Deshayes, (Reeve’s Mon. fig. 1355).
    _H. Perryi_, Jay, (Perry’s Exped. Vol. 2, page 294, Plate 5,
      fig. 7, 8, 9).
    _H. Simoda_, Jay, (do. fig. 1 to 6).

    Some doubt may exist as to the _H. quesita_ being identical
    with _H. Perryi_. But one specimen was preserved, and this
    fully agrees with the description and figure of the first
    named, but the locality for the species is given as the
    “_Moluccas_.”

    It also agrees (except in colour) with Dr. Jay’s description,
    and also in the very poor figures illustrating the species of
    _H. Perryi_. The only question in my mind is one regarding
    locality.

    _Helix Cronkhitei_, Newc.

    Hel. testa aperta umbilicata, depressa, luteo-cornea sub-lente
    regulariter costulato-striata; spira depressa-convexa; sutura
    excavata; anfractibus quatuor, sub-cylindraceis; umbilica
    ampla, sub-perspectiva; apertura rotundata; peristomate
    simplici, acuto, marginibus conniventibus.

    Alt. ·15 pol., Diam. maj. ·2 pol., min. ·15 pol.

    Hab. Klamath Valley, Oregon, (Gabb).

    Shell openly umbilicate, depressed, yellowish horn colour,
    under the glass regularly rib striated; spire depressed, a
    little convex; suture wide and deep; whorls four, rather
    cylindrical; umbilicus large, indistinctly perspective;
    aperture rounded; lip simple, acute, margins approximating.

    REMARKS.—Mr. Bland may _possibly_ refer to this species as _H.
    striatella_, Anthony, which was obtained by Dr. Cooper on the
    Pacific side of the Rocky Mountains. (See addenda to “Remarks
    on Classification, etc.,” 1863). This species is certainly
    distinct from _striatella_, by its smaller size, rib-like
    costa, and almost channelled suture.

    A few specimens were obtained by Mr. Gabb, of the State
    Geological Survey, in Klamath Valley, which were collected
    jointly by himself and Dr. Cronkhite, U. S. Army.

    _Helix Rowelli_, Newc.

    Hel. testa aperta-umbilicata, orbiculato depressa, alba, opaca,
    polita, minutissimo-oblique striata; anfractibus quatuor
    vel quinque convexis, ultimo magno antice deflexo; spira
    vix elevata, apice sub-mamillato; sutura modice impressa;
    apertura fere circulari; labro tenui, reflexiusculo, marginibus
    continuis ad juncturam; anfr. ultimo adnato.

    Alt. ·4 pol., Diam. maj. ·6 pol., min. ·5 pol.

    Hab. Arizona, (dicto Frick).

    Shell with open umbilicus, orbicular, depressed, opaque white,
    polished, very finely obliquely striate; whorls four and a
    half, convex, the last large, anteriorly descending; spire but
    little elevated, at the apex projecting like a nipple; suture
    moderately marked; aperture truly circular; lip thin, slightly
    reflected, margins continued, adhering to the last whirl.

    REMARKS.—This is another of the Cyclostomoid species of
    which _H. Carpenteri_, Newc., _H. Cærulano_, Muhl., and _H.
    Angasiana_, Pfr. form striking examples. Our species approaches
    nearer in lightness of substance and in its depressed form to
    Muhlfeldt’s shell, than to either the others.

    I take pleasure in dedicating this species to the Rev. M.
    Rowell, of San Francisco.

    _Succinea Japonica_, Newc.

    S. testa ovato-conica, flavido-cornea, lævissima, striatula,
    nitida, pellucida; anfractibus III, nucleo sane mamillato,
    ultimo 4·5 longitudinis fere æquante; apertura elongato-ovali;
    peristomate simplici; columellâ regulariter arcuata ad
    juncturam labro superiorem acuto-angulata.

    Long. ·55, Diam. ·35, Apert. long. ·4, lata. ·233 pol.

    Hab. Japan, (Prof. Blake).

    Shell ovately-conic, yellowish horn color, very smooth, finely
    striate, shining, pellucid; whirls three, nucleus truly
    mamillate, the last four-fifths of the entire length; aperture
    elongately ovate; lip simple; columella regularly arched; at
    the juncture of the lip above, acutely angular.

    _Remarks on Helix Hillebrandi_, Newc.

    At the time of publication of this species, but a single
    recent specimen had been obtained, and that was freed from the
    epidermis. The statement that the shell was _hirsute_, was
    founded upon the cicatrices observed upon the surface, Mr.
    Gabb, who has recently returned from a trip to Mariposa, was
    successful in finding a few specimens, by which the diagnosis
    may be enlarged, and conjecture resolved into certainty. The
    whole surface is covered with an epidermis, of a yellowish
    brown colour, thickly studded with slightly curved rigid
    hairs about one-twentieth of an inch in length. The animal
    is of a reddish brown color, with the tentacles of a smoky
    hue; tentacular sheaths darker than the body, which is small,
    slender, finely granulated and unusually long and tapering
    behind.

    The shell bears the same relations to _H. Dupetit Thouarsi_,
    Deshayes, that _Helix infumata_, Gould, bear to _H. fidelis_,
    Gray. In the description of _infumata_, an important omission
    occurs, owing doubtless to the imperfect condition of the type
    specimen. In good specimens, all of the last whirl, except a
    circle round the umbilicus, is covered with _very short_ and
    thickly studded soft hairs, feeling harsh when dry, but velvety
    to the touch when moistened.

    _Achatinella Alexandri_, Newc.

    Ach. testa perforata, sinistrorsa, elongato sub-cylindracea,
    nitida, rufo-brunnea, nigro-elongato-venulato-inosculante
    picta; anfr. VI convexis, regulariter accrescentibus; apice
    obtusiusculo; sutura modice impressa, non emarginata; apertura
    parva, sub-ovata; labro acuto; columella alba breve, sub-recta,
    truncata, infra in plicam tortam terminante.

    Long. ·6 pol., Diam. ·25 pol., Aper. long. ·2 pol. ·1 lata.

    Hab. Insula Sandwich, (Maui).

    Shell perforated, left handed, elongately sub-cylindrical,
    shining, reddish-brown, with painting of elongate, inosculating
    black veins; whirls six convex, regularly (but slowly)
    increasing; apex a little obtuse; suture moderately impressed,
    not emarginate; aperture small, sub-ovate; lip acute; columella
    white, short, almost straight, truncate, terminating by a
    twisted plait passing within.

    This species is more cylindrical than any of its congeners,
    resembling most _A. Renyi_, Newc., which is longer, not
    umbilicate, more pointed at the apex, with a twisted, not
    truncate columella.

    From _venusta_ and _citrina_, Mighels, it varies both in
    form and color. With some varieties of _picta_ it claims
    analogy only in the general plan of painting. Its striking
    characteristics are its blunt apex, slightly rounded whorls,
    small aperture, short and white columella, umbilicus, and
    general plan of coloring.

    A few specimens were collected at an elevation of 7,500 feet,
    on West Maui, by the Rev. M. Alexander, to whom the species is
    dedicated.

Description of New Species of Marine Shells from the Coast of California.

BY WM. M. GABB.

    The following are a few of the shells collected by Dr. J. G.
    Cooper, of the State Geological Survey, during his explorations
    along the coast of this State. The specimens are preserved in
    the collection of the Survey; most of them appear to be very
    rare in a living state, though I have encountered several of
    them in the later Tertiary deposits, especially in the Post
    Pliocene.

    MUREX, Linn.

    _S. G. Muricidea_, Swains.

    M. BARBARENSIS, G.

    M. t. unicolor, fusca; varicibus V-IX, haud magnis ad angulum
    auctis; varix ultima prælata; anfractu primo lævi, anfractibus
    V supra recte truncatis, infra parum convexis; tota superficie
    liris spiralibus et squamosis induta; apertura subelliptica,
    intus lactea; labio incrassato, polito; labro extante,
    tuberculis intus ornata; canali interdum recto, interdum
    recurvato.

    Long. ·77, lat. ·46, long. aper. ·2, long. canal ·24.

    Shell small, brown; whorl six, the first smooth, the remainder
    angulated, horizontally or a little concavely truncated above
    and very slightly convex below the angle; varices variable,
    from five to nine, usually about six or seven to a whorl,
    angular but not very prominent, except on the angle, where
    they are sometimes prolonged into long recurved processes, in
    other cases only making a prominent angular tubercle; the whole
    surface is covered with strong revolving ribs, crossed by fine
    squamose plates; aperture sub-elliptical, lips prominent, white
    within, the outer lip with five or six tubercles internally,
    last varix forming a broad lateral expansion to the lip; canal
    closed, straight, or more usually a little recurved.

    Hab. Catalina Island, 40 fms., and Santa Barbara Channel, 20-30
    fms. Dr. Cooper.

    Nos. 515 b, c and d, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    PLEUROTOMA, Lam. 1799.

    _Turris_, Bolt. 1798, not _Turris_, Hump, 1797.

    S. Gen. _Surcula_, H. & A. Ad.

    P. PERVERSA, G.

    P. t. sinistra, unicolor, rufo-brunnea; sub-fusiformis;
    anfractibus XI vel XII lævibus rotundato-compressis; apertura
    angusta, labio tenui, acuto.

    Long. 1·2, lat. ·35, long. aper. ·45.

    Shell sinistral, elongate sub-fusiform, apex acute, sometimes
    slightly bent, nuclear whorls two, very convex, loosely twisted
    and white; whorls, eleven or twelve, slightly convex; color
    a light reddish brown, somewhat lighter on the middle of the
    whorl; aperture narrow, canal short, inner lip moderately
    encrusted with a white callus, brown on the outer margin;
    columella twisted; outer lip acute, sinus rounded, shallow,
    broad and adjoining the suture.

    Hab. Catalina Island, 60 fms., Dr. Cooper. Also fossil, not
    rare, in the P. Pliocene at San Pedro. One specimen from that
    locality is two inches long.

    No. 1020, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    P. (S.) CARPENTERIANA, G.

    P. t. fusiformis; anfractibus VIII, prope suturam concavis;
    tota superficie confertim et spiralitur costulata; colore
    aurantiaco, lineis rufo-brunneis interruptis induta; apertura
    angusta; sinu postico lato, haud profundo.

    Long. 2·, lat. ·7, long. aper. 1·1.

    Fusiform, spire high, acute, whorls eight, slightly concave
    near the suture, convex below. Surface marked by numerous
    rounded revolving ribs, sometimes alternating in size,
    especially on the lower part of the body whorl. Color, orange
    with broken revolving bands of a bright reddish brown; these
    lines or bands usually occupy the larger ribs, and are more
    distant on the middle of the whorl and more closely placed
    above and below; they average about a tenth of an inch apart.
    Aperture narrow, growing proportionally broader in older
    shells; canal moderate, slightly twisted, inner lip lightly
    encrusted; outer lip acute, sinus broad and shallow.

    Hab. A beach specimen retaining color, from San Diego, and a
    younger dead shell dredged from 120 fms. by Dr. Cooper. Also,
    two fossil specimens from P. Pliocene, Santa Barbara. The
    finest of these measures long. 3·, lat. 1·1; long. spir. 1·6.

    Nos. 819 and 1021 Survey Moll.

    CLATHURELLA, Carpenter.

    _Defrancia_ Millet, non Müll.

    C. CONSTRICTA, G.

    C. t. albida, solida, lævis, sub-fusiformis; anfr. VII; regione
    infra-suturali haud constricta; apertura lata, labio parum
    incrassato, labro sub-acuto; sinu posteriore profundo, suturam
    attingente.

    Shell white, solid, smooth, sub-fusiform; whorls seven,
    suddenly constricted at the upper portion, near the suture;
    suture impressed; body whorls rapidly expanded below the
    constriction; aperture wide, columellar lip encrusted; canal
    short; outer lip acute, prominent in the middle; posterior
    sinus deep, angular above and adjoining the suture.

    Hab. Santa Catalina Island, 80 fms. Dr. Cooper.

    No. 1055 Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    C. CRYSTALLINA, G.

    C. t. parva, fusiformis; anfr. II lævibus; anfr. normalibus IV,
    supra oblique planulatis, infra, convexiusculis; superficie
    minutis et confertim concentricis costulis instructa, media
    parte sola excepta, in qua sunt III vel IV costæ moniliformes;
    apertura lata; labio parum incrassato; labro crasso, margine
    sub-acuto; sinu postico profundo lato; colore candidissimo,
    nitente.

    Long. ·35, lat. ·13, long. aper. ·16.

    Shell small, fusiform; nuclear whorls two, smooth, normal
    whorls four, obliquely truncated above, angulated, below
    the angle somewhat convex; surface marked by numerous small
    revolving ribs, except on the middle of the whorls, where
    they are larger, more distant and ornamented by small nodes;
    aperture rather broad; inner lip lightly encrusted; outer lip
    thickened behind, sub-acute on the margin; posterior sinus
    moderately deep, round and with a polished and thicked margin,
    placed close to the suture; canal very slightly twisted; color,
    a pure white, polished.

    Hab. Catalina Island, 40 fms. Dr. Cooper.

    No. 1052, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    DAPHNELLA, HINDS.

    D. CLATHRATA, G.

    D. t. parva, fusiformis, tenuis; anfr. III nucleosis, lævibus;
    anfr. normalibus III+ supra oblique truncatis; superficie
    confertim clathrata; striis radiantibus obsoletis circa
    basim; apertura magna; columella parum tortuosa; labio parum
    incrassato; labro acuto; sinu postico sub-profundo, supra
    acuto, ad suturam attingente; colore albido, sparsim brunueo
    punctato.

    Long. ·37, lat. ·14, long. aper. ·22.

    Shell small, fusiform, thin, aperture longer than the spire;
    nuclear whorls three, smooth; normal whorls three or more,
    obliquely truncated above, convex below, this truncation
    is partially obsolete on the last whorl; surface closely
    clathrate, except on the lower part of the last whorl where
    the radiating lines become obsolete; aperture large, columella
    somewhat twisted, slightly encrusted; outer lip thin, acute,
    posterior sinus moderately deep and narrow, adjoining the
    suture and angular at its upper corner; color, brownish white
    with minute brown spots sparsely scattered, usually placed on
    the larger of the revolving ribs.

    Hab. Santa Catalina Island, 60 fms. Dr. Cooper.

    This little shell looks not unlike the young of _Pleurotoma
    Carpenteriana_, _supra_, but on a critical comparison, shows
    several characters incompatible with such a reference; the
    strongest of these is the peculiar shape of the posterior
    sinus. In addition to this, the whorls of the present species
    are much more numerous in proportion to the size, the first six
    whorls of _P. Carpenteriana_ making a shell three or four times
    the diameter of this one.

    No. 1053, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    MANGELIA, LEACH.

    M. HEXAGONA, G.

    M. t. parva, fusiformis, gracilis; apice sub-acuto; anfr. II
    lævibus; anfr. norma libus V, costis radiantibus VI acutis
    induta; tota superficie minute et confertim clathrata; colore
    albido, lineis rufo-brunneis spiralibus fasciato; apertura
    angusta; columella vix tortuosa, labro acuto; sinu postico
    lato, haud profundo.

    Long. ·34, lat. ·1, long. aper. ·15.

    Shells small, slender, fusiformis; spire sub-acute, nuclear
    whorls two, smooth, normal whorls five, slightly sub-angular
    and ornamented by six large acute radiating ribs with broad
    concave interspaces; besides these, the whole surface is
    cancellated by minute raised lines; color brownish white
    ornamented by a few reddish brown revolving bands, one much
    larger than the rest, in the middle of the whorl; aperture
    narrow, columella very slightly twisted; outer lip acute, sinus
    almost obsolete.

    Hab. one specimen from Catalina Island, 40 fms., another from
    the beach at Monterey. Dr. Cooper.

    No. 425, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    TURBONILLA, RISSO.

    _Chemnitzia_, d’Orb.

    T. GRACILLIMA, G.

    C. t. elongata, gracili, albida vertice?; anfractibus XI(?)
    subplanatis; sutura impressa; costis radiantibus, circiter
    XXIII obtusis, sub-obliquis, ad basin evanidis; apertura
    sub-rotunda; columella incrassata.

    Long. ·32?, lat. ·06, long aper. ·04.

    Shell small, very slender, long, white; vertex broken; whorls
    eleven or more, flattened on the sides; suture strongly
    impressed; ribs about twenty-three, large, obtuse, running
    from the suture to the margin of the base; base convexly
    subtruncated, smooth; aperture subcircular; columella thick.

    Hab. Monterey; a single specimen. Dr. Cooper.

    This shell can be readily distinguished by its extremely
    slender form and the strong, slightly oblique ribs.

    CANCELLARIA, Lam.

    S. Gen. _Narona_, H and A. Ad.

    C. (N.) COOPERII, G.

    C. t. subfusiformi; anfractibus II lævibus; anfr. VII
    sub-angulatis; regione infrasuturali excavata, angulo coronato;
    regione infra-angulari oblique costata; costis circiter XII;
    tota superficie concentrice et confertim lirata; colore luteo
    lineis fuscis regulariter et concentrice lirato; canali
    elongato; columella vix tortuosa; plicis II; umbilico nullo;
    labio parum incrassato; labro acuto.

    Long. 2·4, lat. 1·05, long. aper. 1·25.

    Broadly subfusiform, nuclear whorls two, smooth, round; normal
    whorls seven, subangulated, concavely excavated above the
    angle; angle acutely tuberculated; below the angle the surface
    is ornamented by about twelve slightly oblique ribs, each rib
    ending in a tubercle at the upper angle; the whole surface
    is ornamented, besides these ribs, by small, closely placed,
    revolving ribs; color yellowish brown crossed by about a dozen
    brown revolving bands; these bands usually cover the larger of
    the concentric ribs; canal elongate, columella but slightly
    twisted; umbilicus obsolete; inner lip but slightly encrusted,
    bearing two sharp oblique folds; outer lip acute, simple.

    Hab. One beach specimen, San Diego; another inhabited by a
    crab, Monterey, 10 fms., and a fragment much larger than the
    others, Monterey, 16 fms. All collected by Dr. Cooper.

    No. 463, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    CALLIOSTOMA, SWAINS.

    _Zizyphinus_, Gray.

    C. TRICOLOR, G.

    C. t. conica, spira vix elevata; anfr. I nucleari, lævi; anfr.
    VI ad marginem truncatis, supra declivibus, infra planulatis;
    tota superficie confertim costata; costis minute granulatis;
    colore fulvo, lineis purpureis albo maculatis, spiraliter
    fasciato; apertura subquadrata, intus margaritacea; labio
    crasso, labro acuto; umbilico albo.

    Long. ·45, lat. ·5, long. aper. ·19, lat. aper. ·24.

    Shell conical, spire somewhat elevated, nuclear whorls smooth;
    other whorl sloping above, truncated on the margin, nearly flat
    below; surface marked by numerous, finely granulated, revolving
    ribs; color yellowish brown, banded by a variable number of
    spiral purple lines, interrupted by white spots; aperture
    subquadrate, nacreous within; inner lip heavy, outer lip and
    base acute, umbilicus white.

    Hab. San Pedro, five alive on the sand shoal; and Half Moon
    Bay, beach; also San Diego. Dr. Cooper. Also fossil in the Post
    Pliocene, San Pedro.

    No. 602, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    The brown lines are variable in number, the under side of one
    specimen showing two and of another six of these lines. The
    granulation of the ribs is arranged in the lines of growth.

    N. Gen. PTYCHOSTYLIS, G.

    Testa Calliostomati similis, conoidea; spira elevata; apertura
    subquadrata; columella antice truncata, plicis obliquis duabus
    induta, labro acuto, umbilico nullo.

    Shell resembling Calliostoma, Swains, (_Zizyphinus_, Gray,)
    conical not umbilicate, internally pearly, spire moderately
    elevated; aperture subquadrate; columella bearing two oblique
    folds, the lower of which ends abruptly at the end of the
    columella; outer lip and base acute, smooth or internally
    striate; operculum unknown.

    P. CAFFEA, G.

    T. conoidea, tenui; spira elevata; anfr. I nucleari, lævi,
    anfr. V ad marginem subangulatis, supra recte declivis, ultimo
    infra sub-planato; sutura valde impressa; tota superficie
    concentrice tuberculato costata; costis circitur XVIII ad ult.
    anfr.; epidermide flavida; apertura oblique sub-quadrata, intus
    albida.

    Long. ·55, lat. ·58, long. aper. ·26, lat. aper. ·28, ang.
    diverg. 58°.

    Shell conical, thin; spire elevated; one nuclear whorl, smooth,
    five perfect whorls, subangulated at the margin, obliquely flat
    above; body whorl very slightly convex at the base; suture
    strongly impressed; surface marked by revolving tubercular
    ribs, about eighteen on the body whorl, one broad one on the
    margin and about eight or nine on the under side; these ribs
    are less numerous on the preceding volutions, only four can
    be counted on the upper side of the penultimate whorl; the
    tubercles are arranged so as to present an irregular quincunx;
    epidermis a rich coffee brown, darker between the tubercules
    than on their summits; aperture obliquely quadrangular, outer
    lip and base acute, internally pearly white, columella bearing
    two strong folds, the lower one of which borders the truncated
    end and terminates in a faint tubercular enlargement; behind
    the columella is a slight groove running from the base to the
    end of the upper columellar fold.

    Hab. Monterey, 20 fms. Dr. Cooper. Also fossil, not rare, in
    the Post Pliocene of San Pedro and Santa Barbara, where some
    specimens have been found an inch in height.

    No. 355, Mollusca, Survey Collection.

    This shell appears to be allied to the genera _Calliostoma_ and
    _Thalotia_, from which it is separated by the peculiar mouth.
    In the absence of the operculum, it is impossible to define its
    position certainly.

    EMARGINULA, Lam.

    E. BELLA, G.

    E. t. alba, oblongo-ovalis, subelevata, antice parum
    convexa, postice excavata, parte anteriori angustiori; apice
    excentrico, prominente, parum recurvato; sinu mediocri; costis
    radiantibus circiter XIX cum costis minoribus interstitialibus
    irregularitur alternantibus, per lineas concentricas clathratis.

    Long. ·55, lat. ·36, alt. ·22.

    Shell oblong oval, somewhat elevated, narrowest anteriorly;
    apex excentric, posterior, prominent and somewhat recurved;
    outline in front of the apex slightly convex, from the apex
    to the posterior margin slightly excavated, sides descending
    nearly straight; sinus moderate, variable, situated at the
    extremity of a strong rib; surface ornamented by about nineteen
    large radiating ribs, with smaller ones interposed, all crossed
    by moderately prominent concentric ridges; color white.

    Locality Monterey, Dr. Cooper. “Two dredged dead.”

    No. 466, Survey Mollusca.

    GADINIA, Gray.

    _S. Gen. Rowellia_, Cooper.

    Animal tentaculis ultra testam porrectis, latis, compressis,
    margine anteriori rotundato, pectinato; pes mediocris,
    circularis.

    Testa _Gadiniæ_ similis.

    Animal with broad flat tentacles, rounded and pectinated in
    front, projecting beyond the shell; foot moderate, round. Shell
    as in _Gadinia_.

    G. (R.) RADIATA, Cooper.

    Animal album; testa sub-circularis; apex centralis; color
    albus vel ex albo virens; superficies XXX costis radiantibus
    dichotmis induta, per lineas concentricas cruciatis; intus alba
    vel livida, margine crenulato; fovea siphonalis bene impressa,
    margo prope extremam foveam parum incisus.

    Long. ·90, lat. ·85, alt. ·45.

    Animal white; shell sub-circular; apex central or sub-central;
    color white to greenish externally, internally white, livid
    or various shades of a light purple; surface marked by about
    thirty radiating and sometimes dichotomous ribs crossed by
    irregular concentric lines; internal margin crenulated, the
    teeth corresponding to the external ribs; muscular scar
    horseshoe-shaped with a little supplementary scar adjoining the
    left limb; siponal groove rather strongly impressed, producing
    a very faint emargination on the edge of the shell.

    Localities, Farallone Islands, Half Moon Bay, New Year’s Point,
    Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Islands. Cooper and Rowell.

    No. 826, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    TYLODINA, Raf.

    ? T. FUNGINA, G.

    T. testa sub-elliptica, elevata; apice sub-centrali; epidermide
    rufo-brunnea, prope apicem lutea, ultra marginem testæ
    projecta; intus lutea, prope marginem cærulescens.

    Long. 1·3, lat. 1·1, alt. ·5.

    Animal unknown, shell sub-elliptical, elevated; apex
    sub-central, blunt; epidermis reddish brown, yellowish on and
    near the apex, projecting beyond the margin of the shell; color
    internally straw yellow, shading towards the margin into a
    bluish white.

    The above measurements are approximate, making allowance for
    the epidermis which in the dry specimen is contracted and
    incurved around the margins to a width of about a tenth of an
    inch.

    A single specimen, fresh, though without the animal, was found
    by Dr. Cooper on the shore of Santa Barbara Island.

    No. 994, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    CIRCE, Schum.

    S. G. _Lioconcha_, Morch.

    C. (L.) NEWCOMBIANA, G.

    C. t. tenui, trigono-ventricosa, polita, minute et concentrice
    striata; apicibus magnis, subcentralibus; lunula haud profunda,
    cordata, margine arata; colore gilvo, lineis angulatis, rufis
    pieto; intus pallida.

    Long. 1·2, lat. 1·37, alt. ·45.

    Shell thin, trigonally ventricose, polished, marked by minute
    concentric striæ; beaks large, subcentral; anterior end
    prominent, narrowly rounded, posterior a little the widest,
    base convex; lunule not excavated, bounded by an impressed
    line; color yellowish white, variously lined with brown angular
    lines; interior whitish; internal margin smooth; hinge teeth
    delicate.

    Hab. two valves, Catalina Island, 120 fms. Dr. Cooper.

    No. 1058, Mollusca, Survey Cabinet.

    The relative length and width of the two specimens is
    different, the smaller specimen not being so convex at the base
    as the one measured.

    YOLDIA.

    Y. COOPERII, G.

    Y. t. tenui, compressiuscula, valde inæquilaterali, antice
    angusta, postice expansa; umbonibus minutis, per positionem
    anteriorem excentricis; epidermide olivacea, nitida;
    concentrice et confertim lirata; liris minutis, sub lamellosis;
    intus lactea; cicatricibus muscularibus magnis.

    Long. 1·25, lat. 2·6, alt. ·25.

    Shell thin, somewhat compressed, very inequilateral, beaks
    placed about a third of the length from the anterior end,
    minute; anterior end narrow, sub-acuminate, posterior end
    broadly rounded; base most prominent just posterior to the
    middle of the shell; surface sculptured by numerous small
    concentric ribs, rarely dichotomous or anastomosing on the
    widest part of the shell; these ribs are flat and abruptly
    truncated on the side nearest the beak, giving the surface,
    under a glass, the appearance of an overlapping. Epidermis
    shining, olivaceous; internally a bluish white; muscular scars
    large, the anterior triangular, posterior a third the largest,
    broadly suboval.

    A single fresh valve was found on the beach at Santa Cruz,
    Cal., by Dr. Cooper.

Earthquakes in California during 1864.

BY DR. JOHN B. TRASK.

    FEB. 26TH, 0 h. 40 m.—A light shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco. At 5 h. 45 m. a smart shock, having three distinct
    vibrations. On the day previous, an “_Electric Storm_”
    prevailed between Visalia, Tulare Co., and Los Angeles, which
    was very violent in its effects on the telegraph lines.

    On the 27th, a heavy “Norther” commenced and continued till the
    eve of the 28th. This earthquake was felt at San José, fifty
    miles south, at the same hour, and was marked by two very smart
    shocks following each other in quick succession.

    MARCH 5TH, 8 h. 49 m.—A smart shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco. The earthquake began at the above hour. The first
    wave was in a direction north and south, and lasted one and
    three-fourths seconds. Nearly one and a half seconds elapsed
    before the second shock, which occurred at forty-nine minutes,
    three seconds past eight o’clock, and had a duration of one and
    one-half seconds. The motion in this shock was rotatory.

    Magnetism was _not_ suspended in this nor either of the other
    shocks, this year. The total length of time included in this
    earthquake, was nearly 5 seconds. These observations were made
    at the height of 20 feet 4 inches above the ground, but persons
    situated at a greater height felt the vibrations longer and
    more severely.

    We have brief details of this earthquake from Santa Rosa, at
    the north, to Santa Cruz at the south, and from Stockton at the
    east, for which we acknowledge our obligations to the Telegraph
    Company. At Santa Rosa it occurred at 8 h. 50 m. the shock was
    light. At Petaluma 8 h. 50 m., also light. At Stockton _about_
    9 h., shock was severe. At Santa Clara 8 h. 40 m., the shocks
    were very severe. The church spires waved to and fro, and the
    earthquake is reported to have continued over two minutes, with
    light vibrations between the heavier waves. At Santa Cruz no
    time is given.

    MARCH 10TH, 14 h. 8 m.—A light shock was felt in San Francisco.

    ” ” 16 h. 30 m.—Another shock at San Francisco, marked by two
    distinct vibrations and lasting three and one-half seconds.

    MARCH 20TH, 23 h. 45 m.—A light shock of earthquake having
    four distinct tremors, and occupying a little more than three
    seconds.

    MARCH 22D, 13 h. 0 m.—A smart shock was felt at Stockton,
    causing some little commotion.

    MAY 20TH, 18 h. 1 m.—A light shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco. At Stockton the shock was quite severe and occurred
    nine minutes later. At San José it also was very sharp. At Napa
    the earthquake, which was quite severe at this place, occurred
    at 18 h. 57 m. At Sacramento the shocks occurred at 18 h.: and
    was very severe. There were two distinct waves felt at this
    locality. This earthquake was felt as far north as Long Valley,
    in Mendocino County, and was followed by two loud reports like
    artillery, almost instantly.

    JUNE 6TH, 11 h. 7 m.—A light shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco.

    JUNE 22D, 20 h. 53 m.—A smart shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco, consisting of three distinct waves and a profound
    low rumbling sound. Each of the shocks were marked by a
    peculiar abruptness, like sudden sharp jolts. They were
    followed by a series of lessening tremors which gradually died
    away.

    This earthquake was felt as far north as Healdsburg, (about 80
    miles distant), at Napa, at Pacheco, at Stockton, and at San
    José, south of this city fifty-two miles, making a distance of
    one hundred and thirty-two miles, north and south, over which
    its influence was well marked.

    JULY 5TH, 20 h. 3 m.—An earthquake at San Francisco, not
    severe; this consisted of four distinct vibrations occurring
    during a period of seven minutes. The second vibration and the
    longest lasted nineteen seconds. The shortest vibration was six
    seconds in length. The elapsed time between the waves varied
    from forty seconds to one and one-fourth minutes.

    JULY 21ST, 2 h. 7 m.—A smart shock was felt at San Francisco.

    ” ” 22 h. 40 m. 38 s.—A very smart shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco, consisting of two waves at four seconds apart. The
    direction of the motion was north thirteen degrees east. The
    displacement was one and a fourth inches, at twenty feet four
    inches from the ground. Pendulum suspension eighteen inches.

    The earthquake was experienced at San José at the same hour,
    and consisted of four strong shocks. At Stockton the earthquake
    was severe, and took place twelve minutes later than at this
    city. The earthquake was felt at Los Angeles, but was not very
    heavy. No time is given from this latter locality.

    JULY 25TH, 23 h. 56 m.—A shock of earthquake at Los Angeles.

    AUG. 17TH, 22 h. 39 m.—A light shock of earthquake at Nevada
    and vicinity.

    AUG. 18TH, 5 h. 18 m.—A very strong shock of earthquake was
    experienced at Grass Valley and Nevada, which threw down a wall
    of stone and brick in the well of Dr. Fellows. This earthquake
    was felt at Gibsonville at the north and at Marysville to the
    west; at the latter locality it was twelve minutes later than
    at Grass Valley.

    SEPT. 6TH, 10 h. 3 m.—A shock of earthquake at San Francisco.

    SEPT. 20TH, 11 h. 0 m.—A light shock of earthquake at San José;
    it was observed at the Mission Dolores.

    SEPT. 27TH, 10 h. 32 m.—A heavy shock at Mission San Juan,
    Monterey Co.

    OCT. 6TH, 21 h. 9 m.—A smart shock of earthquake at San
    Francisco.

    OCT. 14TH, 1 h. 8 m.—Two heavy shocks of earthquake were felt
    at Mission San Juan, and another severe shock at 10 h. 25 m.,
    the movement was from west to east.

    DEC. 11TH, 20 h. 52 m.—A shock of earthquake at San Francisco.
    This shock was felt at San José at 20 h. 51 m., and was
    evidently more severe there than at San Francisco.

    During 1864, we have had twenty-one days on which earthquakes
    have occurred, and of at number there have been two days,
    (March 10th and July 21st) in which more than one shock has
    taken place within the twenty-four hours of each day.

    The _British Colonist_, of Victoria, Vancouver Island,
    furnishes the following statement:

    From a gentleman who has resided on Vancouver Island for 15
    years, we learn that slight earthquakes have occurred annually,
    with one or two exceptions, during the entire period. Only on
    one occasion (1858) does he remember experiencing a shock at
    all approaching in severity that of Saturday morning, October
    29th 1864. The oscillation, as on this last occasion, has
    almost invariably been from west to east: and he accounts
    for this, by supposing that the internal convulsion of the
    earth beneath, has to find vent in the crater of Mount Baker,
    situated to the east of us. This volcano has not had any
    visible eruption for several years. On the last occasion, it
    sent up a dense volume of smoke, and occasionally a bright
    flame was seen to issue from the fiery furnace. Another old
    resident informs us, that the appearance of the summit of Mount
    Baker has undergone a material change within late years, giving
    room for the conjecture that large portions have crumbled away
    and descended into the yawning abyss of the crater which lies
    between the two highest peaks.

    Relating to earthquakes at San Francisco and its immediate
    vicinity, we have an item of interesting information relating
    to their effects at the Farrallones Islands, situated some
    fifteen miles to the west of the city. It appears, upon the
    testimony of the lighthouse-keeper at these Islands, and who
    has resided there for several years, (seven or eight), that but
    _two_ of the whole number occurring at this city, have been
    felt at the Islands, and of these he made an official record.
    The first was the shock of Dec. 23d, 1862, and that of June
    22d, 1864.

    From 1857 to date, we have seven years, during which time
    twenty-five shocks have been authenticated at San Francisco,
    while two only of the number have been felt at the above
    locality west of the city.

REGULAR MEETING, JAN. 16TH, 1865.

Dr. Kellogg in the chair.

Twelve members present.

Mr. Melville Attwood was elected a resident member.

A communication was read from Rev. J. M. Neri, acknowledging his
election; also one from M. Le Normand.

REGULAR MEETING, FEB. 6TH, 1865.

President in the chair.

Fourteen members present.

Mr. Charles F. Hoffman was elected a resident member.

Prof. J. D. Dana, of Yale College, was elected a Corresponding member.

Prof. W. P. Blake communicated the following:

New Mineral Oil Regions in the Tulare Valley.

BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.

    Recent examinations of prospecting parties, have added largely
    to the well-known oil-bearing portions of the State. A district
    some sixty miles in length, on the inner slopes of the Coast
    mountains, towards the Tulare Valley, has been found to abound
    in oil springs, or indications of oil. Oil exudes from the
    surface in large quantities, and collects rapidly in small pits
    sunk by prospectors. The soil about these pits is very black
    and saturated with oil. The gases escaping from this soil are
    inflammable, and many of the prospectors have been startled to
    see flames spreading over the ground, beyond their camp fires.
    In digging pits about these springs, large quantities of bones
    of various kinds have been thrown out, and all are wonderfully
    well preserved. These bones appear chiefly those of the horse,
    deer, and elk, though there are many others which I have not
    been able to recognize. The teeth of the horse, sent to me,
    are of unusual size, and induce the question, whether they are
    not of greater antiquity than the present race of horses. I am
    assured that the variety of bones and teeth of many kinds is
    very great.

    The oil found gives an excellent article for lubricating
    purposes, and must be very similar to the oil found near
    Zanesville, Ohio, according to the descriptions given of the
    latter.

Note upon the occurrence of Sphene in the Granite of the Sierra Nevada.

BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE.

    Sphene, in small hair-brown or amber-colored crystals, appears
    to be abundantly distributed in the granite of the Sierra
    Nevada. It may be found at the sources of the American River,
    in the exposures of granite about Slippery Ford, and other
    points, and upon the Mokelumne River, further south. The
    crystals are seldom more than the thirty second part of an
    inch in diameter, and are not conspicuous, but may be found in
    almost any specimen of the rocks.

    It appears, that this mineral is also of common occurrence
    in the granite of the British Islands. In a report to the
    British Association, (1863) upon the composition of the granite
    of Donegal, it is stated, that the rock contains, almost
    universally, small crystals of sphene, in some varieties so
    abundantly, as to induce the authors of the Report to term it
    “sphene granite.” It is also observed that this mineral has
    long been known to exist in the granite of parts of Scotland,
    and in that of Galway.

REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 20TH, 1865.

Dr. Kellogg in the chair.

Ten members present.

Discussion as to various matters pertaining to Natural History.

REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 6TH, 1865.

President in the chair.

Twelve members present.

William Hillebrand, M. D., of Honolulu, S. I., was elected a
corresponding member.

Donations to the Cabinet: Dr. Behr, in behalf of Mr. Smith, presented a
curiously formed chicken, having four legs.

REGULAR MEETING, MARCH 20TH, 1865.

President in the chair.

Twelve members present.

Mr. Otto Schmidt and Dr. E. Cohn were elected resident members.

Donations to the Library: Descriptions of new species of Birds; presented
by the author, Mr. George N. Lawrence. Catalogue of the College of
California, 1864-5; Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Vol. 4, No.
4; Supplementary Catalogue of the Library Company at Philadelphia;
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for
September and October, 1864.

Dr. Behr read the following letters from Major Preiss, of Mazatlan, as
to the efficacy of the _Euphorbia prostrata_, as a remedy for the bite of
the rattlesnake and venomous insects:

Euphorbia Prostrata as a remedy for the bite of venomous animals.

BY MAJOR EDWARD PREISS.

                                       Mazatlan, January 7th, 1865.

    ...I send you herewith a sample of Gollindrinera, (Spanish,)
    _Euphorbia prostrata_, (Linn.) It is found growing in the
    territories of New Mexico and Arizona, in the United States,
    and the provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa, in Mexico. In Jalisco
    this plant is more scarce, and occurs mostly in a poor
    condition.

    It thrives in hard, sandy or stony soil, and therefore is most
    frequently found on roadsides, in the streets of villages and
    in house-yards. In Mazatlan I found a plant with branches,
    measuring two feet.

    It is a remedy against the bites of snakes and other venomous
    animals.

    During my voyage in New Mexico, I camped on the 5th of June,
    1864, at noon, between Cubera and Pawate, near a waterhole. A
    Pueblo-Indian approached me, and entered into a conversation.
    He could read and write Spanish, and was very well versed on
    the map of the country. Noticing a snake in the waterhole, I
    asked him whether there were many rattlesnakes in those parts,
    to which he gave an affirmative answer. On questioning him
    whether Indians frequently died from snake-bites, he answered:
    “No, as they have an antidote against the poison.” At my
    request, accompanied by a gift of some cigarritos, he brought
    me a plant, which he gathered from the roadside, and which he
    called “Gollindrinera.” He told me that nobody ever died, not
    even from the bite of a rattlesnake, if this plant was applied
    in time. At the same time he told how it was used.

    In Mexico I also found the country people well acquainted with
    the property of this plant. They apply it when their domestic
    animals are injured by venomous amphibia or insects.

    The branches and roots of this plant contain a quantity of
    a milky sap. This is obtained by pounding and squeezing the
    plant, and is given to the patient in doses of about one
    drachm. The remaining fibres of the pressed-out plant are
    externally applied on the wound. The dose is repeated every
    hour,—or in aggravated cases, every half hour,—until the
    patient feels relieved; which will occur in a few hours. The
    external application must be frequently renewed.

    I ascertained from reliable authority, that two dogs, being
    bitten by rattlesnakes, were cured, one after four, and the
    other after six repetitions of the dose. The poultice was
    frequently changed. Both dogs were perfectly restored within
    twenty-four hours.

                                           Tepic, March 28th, 1865.

    ...Myself and companion arrived on the 14th of March, 1865,
    at 3 o’clock P. M., at San Blas. In the evening, our faces,
    necks and hands were badly bitten by myriads of sandflies. The
    sting of these flies is exceedingly painful, and the effects of
    them last for several days. Every person visiting San Blas will
    not easily forget these insects; each sting produces a reddish
    swelling, which hardens after awhile, and sometimes remains for
    eight days and more. We left San Blas on the 15th of March, at
    1.30 A. M., and arrived at 5 P. M. at Tepic. The fly-bites were
    excruciatingly painful. On the 16th we used liquid ammoniac to
    allay our suffering, but without result. In the forenoon of
    the 17th I found two small Gollindrinera plants in the streets
    of Tepic; I pulled it, roots and all, from the ground, broke
    them into several parts, and rubbed the milky juice over my
    sores. In half an hour all the pain had left. Not being able
    to find any more of the plants, my companion had to suffer for
    several days longer; which proves, however, that my relief from
    the tormenting pain was directly to be credited to the medical
    virtue of the Gollindrinera.

    During my lengthened stay among the natives of Australia,
    I observed that no black man ever died from the bite of
    a venomous reptile,—excepting always the dead-adder,
    (bothrops)—while a white man seldom escaped death. The remedy
    of the blacks is very simple, consisting merely in sucking
    out the wound, and in keeping awake the patient for at least
    twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The dead adder (bothrops)
    of Australia is probably the most poisonous reptile. A black
    man, if bitten by this snake, will be abandoned to death by his
    friends, they being sure that help is out of the question. I
    witnessed once the death of a victim of the dead-adder.

    I read in an Australian paper, that a white boy, who was bitten
    in the finger by a dead-adder, had so much presence of mind, as
    to chop it off with his pocket-knife. The finger had afterwards
    to be regularly amputated, but the boy’s life was saved.

An interesting discussion occurred as to the characteristics of various
species of trees.

REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 3D, 1865.

President in the chair.

Nine members present.

Donations to the Library: Col. Ransom presented a bound copy of Vols. I
and II of the Society’s Proceedings.

Dr. Kellogg exhibited from the Academy’s herbarium, accompanied by a
drawing and description, a new species of _Pentachæta_, very abundant on
the dry hills of Marin County—_Pentachæta purpurea_ of Kellogg.

REGULAR MEETING, APRIL 17TH, 1865.

Dr. Behr in the chair.

Seven members present.

Mr. Stearns made some remarks, and offered an appropriate resolution on
the death of President Lincoln, which was ordered to be spread upon the
Minutes, after which the meeting adjourned.

REGULAR MEETING, MAY 1ST, 1865.

President in the chair.

Ten members present: Messrs. Kennicott, Dall and other gentlemen
connected with the Russian American Telegraph Expedition as visitors.

Donations to the Cabinet: Specimens of native copper and native silver
from the Copper Falls Mine, Keewenaw Point, Lake Superior, presented by
Mr. Stearns.

Donations to the Library: Four volumes of the Congressional Globe:
Finance Report, 1864; Report on the Foreign and Domestic Commerce of
the United States; Patent Office Report, (Agriculture,) 1863; from the
Hon. John Conness. Embryology of the Star Fish, by Alexander Agassiz,
presented by the author; Annual Report of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology of Cambridge; Proceedings of the Essex Institute, Vol. III,
1860-63; Silliman’s Journal for March, 1865; Proceedings of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The following was received from Prof. W. H. Brewer, in reference to the
occurrence of fossils in the auriferous slates of California:

Occurrence of Fossils in the Auriferous Slates of California.

BY PROF. W. H. BREWER.

    I find in published _Proceedings of the Academy_, just
    received, that some remarks I made at the meeting of October
    3d, 1864, were not published, that I wish recorded.

    In the discussion on the occurrence of fossils in the