Part 1, 8vo., Washington, 1863. Researches upon the Hydrobiinæ and allied

forms, by Dr. W. Stimpson, 8vo., Washington, 1865. Monograph of American Corbiculadæ, recent and fossil, by Temple Prime, 8vo., Washington. Catalogue of Minerals, with their formulas, etc., by T. Egleston, 8vo., Washington, 1863. Land and Fresh-water Shells of North America, by W. G. Binney, Parts 2 and 3, 8vo., Washington, 1865. Check list of the Invertebrate Fossils of North America; Eocene and Oligocene, by T. A. Conrad; Cretaceous and Jurassic, by F. B. Meek, two 8vo. pamphlets, Washington, 1864-6.

All of the above were published and presented by the Smithsonian Institution.

Prof. W. P. Blake presented the following communication:

Miscellaneous Notices.

BY WILLIAM P. BLAKE,

Professor of Mineralogy, Geology, and Mining, Dept. Sci. Coll. of California.

I. NEW LOCALITY OF FOSSILS IN THE GOLD-BEARING ROCKS OF CALIFORNIA.

I have obtained specimens of _Ammonites_ from the cut in the rocks on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, about two miles below Colfax, and in the heart of the main gold belt of the State.

The rock is a compact argillite, somewhat altered and much discolored by the peroxydation of iron. The strata are boldly flexed and are interstratified with coarse grits and a thick bed of conglomerate, so much altered that the pebbles are homogeneously cemented.

The substance of the fossils has been removed by percolating waters, but very perfect casts of them remain and show the details of the external form, but do not permit the septæ to be seen. It is thus not possible, perhaps, to determine the specific characters; and considering, also, the absence of a typical collection and works of reference, I do not attempt a minute description, preferring to refer the specimens to a palæontologist. It may, however, be observed that the fossils are undoubtedly of the secondary period; and that they are apparently specifically identical with those from the American river, in the same vicinity, of which I sent photographs to Mr. Meek, at the Smithsonian Institution, in 1863, and afterwards noticed at one of the meetings of this Academy, in September, 1864. They are, also, apparently identical with the species found in the Bear Valley, Mariposa, slates. If this species has not been already named, I desire to connect with it the name of Mr. Spear, in whose cabinet at Georgetown, the earliest specimen was carefully preserved. I obtained one specimen at the locality, and another was presented to me by Mr. Richard Carroll, it having been saved by the quarry-men, under the impression that it was a petrified rattlesnake. It is about six inches in its longest diameter, being elliptical and evidently distorted by lateral pressure.

II. TOOTH OF THE EXTINCT ELEPHANT, PLACER COUNTY.

I have received from Mr. Baker and Mr. Thompson, through the hands of Mr. E. Tyler, all of Placer County, a single molar tooth of _Elephas_ found in the auriferous gravel near Michigan Bluffs, thus adding another locality to the list showing the former general distribution of the ancient elephants over this coast.

III. SHARK TEETH AND OTHER MARINE REMAINS, TULARE COUNTY.

When at Ocoya or Posa Creek, in 1853, I collected a great number of shark teeth from the tops of the hills, at the base of the Sierra Nevada, on the east side of the Tulare Lake. These were described and figured in my Report to the U. S. Government. Having recently revisited that region, I found other localities, and made another collection, a part of which I now exhibit to the Academy. The following genera and species are represented: _Oxyrhina plana_, _O. tumula_, _Lamna clavata_, _Galeocerdo productus_, _Prionodon antiquus_, _Hemipristis heteropleurus_, _Notidanus_, (Nov. Sp.?) and _Zygobates_, a genus of the family of Skates, having pavement-like teeth. Vertebratæ, apparently of the whale, are abundant, and some fragments of the head. These remains are now at least twelve hundred feet above the sea, and being in unbroken horizontal strata, show a very great and general uplift of the region in comparative late times. The strata were referred to the Miocene in my Report, but I am now inclined to regard them as Post-Pliocene. It is interesting to note that these strata rest undisturbed upon granite, which is traversed by gold-bearing veins, not over five miles from the point where the fossils are found, and so low that the veins must have been covered by the sea prior to the elevation of the region.

IV. QUARRY OF GOLD-BEARING ROCK.

The Baker or Whiskey Hill Mine of Placer County, a few miles from Lincoln, presents the novelty of profitable gold mining from a _quarry_ in the slates without any well defined quartz vein. A hill with a rounded outline is covered with rough outcrops of rusty slate, over a breadth of two hundred feet or more. A quarry at one end exposes the slate, with a great variety of colors, from white to brown and red and black, the whole of it being soft and ochraceous, and in places stained green and blue with carbonate of copper. These variegated slates are like those commonly known, among California copper prospectors, as “calico rocks,” and the ground was first located and prospected for copper.

It is evident that the formation consists of beds of iron pyrites (mundic) with a small but variable portion of copper pyrites, and that the rusty, upper portions are due to the gradual decomposition of the sulphurets above the permanent water-line, or where the atmosphere has had access. Below the water-line we may not expect to find the rusty ochrey slates. This is shown, also, at a shaft which has reached the water. Blocks of mundic, taken out of that shaft, are interstratified with talcose slate. At one point, in the bottom of the quarry, a layer of green and blue carbonate of copper is found, and this is evidently the result of a gradual concentration of the copper from the decomposed ground above. The soft slate, as quarried, is trammed to a five-stamp mill, with very coarse grates, and nearly forty tons are run through it daily. The pay is said to vary from two to twenty dollars, but the average is reported to be from five to six dollars per ton.

Mr. Stearns read the following:

Since my communication to the Academy of date July 16th last, on the Shells of Baulines Bay, additional specimens (4) of _Haliotis rufescens_ have been found by Mr. Harford and Dr. Kellogg; also many specimens of _Katherina tunicata_, and one of _Mopalia Hindsii_; from between the umbos of very large specimens of _Mytilus Californianus_, collected by the same gentlemen, several specimens of _Barleia? subtenuis_ Carp.

In addition to the above marine forms, the following species were found by the same parties in a gulch at Belvidere Ranch, not far from Capt. Morgan’s house, south side of Baulines Bay: _Helix Nickliniana_, _H. arrosa_, _H. infumata_, _H. Columbiana_ (hirsute var.) and _H. Vancouverensis_. Also, near a small stream on the same ranch, _Bythinella Binneyi_, Tryon. The last named species had previously been found in this neighborhood by Rev. J. Rowell.

Prof. Blake mentioned that a tooth of a mastodon had been found about three miles from Antioch, near Monte Diablo, by Capt. Stevens.

Mr. Stearns gave an account of the Helix, its anatomy, geographical distribution, and use as an article of food and for medicinal purposes, in both ancient and modern times.

Prof. Blake stated that he had in his possession a portion of a human skull said to have been taken from a depth of 250 feet below the surface, near Columbia, in Tuolumne County.

REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 3D, 1866.

President in the chair.

Twelve members present, and Mr. A. Wood as a visitor.

Mr. John Swett was elected a Resident Member.

Donations to the Cabinet: Two specimens of fishes from Dr. Kellogg and Dr. Behr; specimen of a fungus, _Polyporus igniarius_, from Dr. Kellogg.

Dr. Kellogg called the attention of the Academy to the remarkable specimen of fungus presented by him, _Polyporus igniarius_, which was found growing upon the Bay tree, _Oreodaphne Californica_; and gave a description of _Fungi_ in general; alluding particularly to the destructive effect of many species, some producing the dry rot in ships, others destroying buildings, producing the disintegration of mortar in masonry, and seriously affecting the health, or destroying animal life.

Dr. Kellogg also remarked on the use of some species of Fungi for food, particularly by the natives of Australia, who regard them with especial favor for that purpose. The rapid growth and poisonous effect of certain species of Fungi were mentioned, also the use made of some species in the arts.

Mr. A. Wood, who has recently returned from a botanical exploration of Oregon, being present as a visitor, was invited to speak, and gave the following narrative of the recent ascent of Mount Hood, by himself and a party of gentlemen:

On the 20th of August last, in company with Dr. Atkinson, of Portland, and the Rev. J. Deardorff, of Walla Walla, and three others, I stood upon the summit of Mount Hood in Oregon. From our last camp on the summit of the Cascade Range to this point, the summit of Mount Hood is eleven miles of constant and weary ascent, at angles about as follows: Five miles in the first, 12 to 15°; two miles to eternal snow, 25 to 30°; one and one-half miles to the gap in the rim of the crater, about 45°; the remaining ascent traversing the ancient crater, nearly or quite 60°! The day was cloudless; a strong, warm wind from the southeast softened the surface of the snow and favored our ascent, although it gave us much anxiety lest it should loosen some of the tremendous acclivities of snow and overhanging drifts from above us.

Starting from camp at daylight, on horseback four miles, we arrived at the top at a quarter past two P.M., in nine and a half hours.

Our apparatus for measuring the heights consisted of two barometers, (aneroid) a thermometer, a tin cup, and a spirit lamp. Both barometers failed us, the index ceasing to turn after something more than a complete revolution on the dial. They were not made for such heights. But we made good use of our thermometer.

The ascent was exceedingly difficult, and not without danger. The long summer heat had undermined the snows, causing their surface to conform more to the ruggedness of the mountains, and the slides had opened chasms of invisible depths across our path. We looked down into several of these chasms and saw that the massive walls below consisted of solid, blue ice, and terminated at length in the blackness of darkness. We could hear the noise of running water, apparently in torrents. One of these chasms was unavoidable—_and must be crossed_. Its transverse length was nearly a mile, and its width from ten to one hundred feet. By the aid of a rope, forty-five yards in length, and five pike-poles, each eight feet, we crossed, (of course at the narrowest place) and afterward by rope and poles, tugging, panting, dizzy, we dragged ourselves up to the terrific crest of this Mountain Monarch.

The summit area is of very limited dimensions—a crescent in shape, half a mile in length, and _three_ to forty or fifty feet in width. It is a fearful place, as it is the imminent brow of a precipice on the north, sheer down not less than a vertical mile of bare columnar rock!

This height is lifted so far above all other heights (except the four distant snow-clad peaks to the north and Mount Jefferson on the south) that the country beneath seemed depressed to a uniform level, and the horizon retreated to the distance of more than two hundred miles, including nearly all Oregon and Washington Territory. The sublimity and grandeur of that view I must leave to the imagination of the reader. A cañon of enormous depth plunges down along the southeast flank, and is filled in part by a glacier evidently in motion, and having below a very abrupt termination. Terminal and lateral _moraines_ mark its course, and a torrent of water issues from beneath. While we delayed here, an avalanche of rocks, an immense mass, started by the wind, thundered down the left wall of this cañon several thousand feet, and its track was marked by a trail of white smoke.

On the west side of the ancient crater, at the base of a vast craggy pinnacle of rocks, (a portion of the ancient rim of the crater) is still an open abyss, whence issue constantly volumes of a strongly sulphurous smoke. That there is also heat there is evident from the immense depression of the snow about this place—depressed not less than a thousand feet below the snows which fill to the _brim_ other portions of the ancient crater.

As I have already stated, we found our barometers useless in these vast heights, and were reduced to the use of the thermometer alone. By this we learned the boiling point of water at four several stations, as follows: At the camp, the summit of the Cascade Range, it stood in boiling water at 204° Fah. At the upper verge of the forest, it indicated 195½°. At the highest reach of all apparent vegetation, 192°; and finally at the summit, where, after the most persevering and determined efforts, (on account of the violence of the wind) we at length, by means of a spirit lamp, changed a portion of snow to a cup of boiling water, the mercury stood firm in the cup at 180°! These several results being changed to _feet of elevation_, according to the rule universally approved in such cases, indicate heights as follows, viz: At the summit of the Cascade Range, and foot of Mt. Hood proper, 4,400 feet; at the limit of forest trees, about 9,000 feet; at the highest limit of vegetation, 11,000 feet; at the summit of the mountain, 17,600 feet.

We earnestly hope that these results may be hereafter tested by the barometer; and by triangulation. Until then, we must adopt the estimate here made, as the height of that sublime peak, and accord to Mount Hood the distinction of being the highest land in the United States, if not the highest upon the North American continent.

REGULAR MEETING, SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1866.

Mr. Stearns in the chair.

Ten members present.

Messrs. B. P. Avery, James Spiers, and B. R. Norton were elected Resident Members.

Donations to the Library: Proceedings of the Mannheim Academy, from Dr. Behr.

The following paper was presented by Dr. J. G. Cooper:

On a New Species of Pedipes, inhabiting the Coast of California.

BY J. G. COOPER, M.D.

PEDIPES UNISULCATA, Cp. Fig. 29.

Sp. ch. _P. t. Lacunoida_, oblique ovata, peripheria laterali subrhomboidea, translucente succineo-brunnescente, spira producta, apice obtusa, anfr. iv et dim.; tertio tumido, sulcis iv, posteriori solum valde impresso, in ultimo evanescente; ult. lineis incrementis irregularibus sulco undulatis; punctis impressis numerosis sparsim ornato; apertura ovata, labro acuto purpurescente intus callo duplicato medio subtuberculoso; labio columellari albo, calloso, in piano aperturæ expanso; margine interno subverticali dentibus duobus subacutis, superiori majore; callo tenui expanso in parietem interno, dente lamellari valido in plano parietis externi expanso, dimidium latitudinis aperturæ transeunte; intervallis dentium parietumque equalibus.

_Specific Characters._—Shell like a _Lacuna_, obliquely ovate, the lateral outline subrhomboid, translucent, amber-brown, the spire produced, apex obtuse, whorls 4½, the third swollen, with four shallow grooves, the posterior one only much impressed, but vanishing on the last whorl; body with irregular lines of growth undulating across the groove; numerous scattered impressed points; aperture ovate, the outer lip acute, purplish, with a double callus within slightly tuberculate at the middle; columellar lip white, callous, expanded in the plane of the aperture; its inner margin subvertical, with two subacute teeth, the upper largest; a thin callus expanded over the inner wall, with a strong lamellar tooth expanded in the plane of the outer wall, and crossing half the width of the aperture; intervals between the teeth and walls equal.

Long. 0.32 unc. = 8 mill. Lat. 0.22 ” Long. spiræ 0.12 = 3 ” Long. apert. 0.25 unc. Lat. ” 0.19 unc. Div. 40° and 45°.

_Hab._—San Pedro, Cal., estuaries.

Only four specimens were found dead near the old landing, close to the mouth of the bay, in October, 1861. I supposed them to be _P. brata Binn_, but they are nearly three times as large, not lirate, etc. That species is catalogued by Carpenter as among the collections from San Diego, in the Supp. Rep. etc., 1863, pp. 612, 647, 673, but I do not find it in the State collection. Those described are fresh and shining in the mouth—dull, but not much worn, outside.

This is a very interesting shell, being one of the links between the land and marine mollusca—the species of the genus being chiefly tropical, occurring at Cape St. Lucas, Panama, West Indies, Africa, and Isle of France, according to Binney, who says that they inhabit crevices of rocks, especially those exposed to the full force of the tide; but being pulmonate, they can probably live long with but little moisture. On the rocks the living shell would be mistaken for a _Lacuna_ or _Littorina_, and the form of our species reminds one strongly of _Succinea Oregonensis_.

A communication was received from Dr. Canfield of Monterey, giving an account of the discovery in Monterey Bay, of a fish, pronounced by the naturalists of the Smithsonian Institution to be a new species of _Bdellostoma_, a genus not previously known to exist nearer than the coast of Chili.

Mr. Falkenau made some remarks on the use and value of the spectroscope in chemical analysis and in other scientific investigations.

REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 1ST, 1866.

President in the chair.

Fourteen members present.

Messrs. A. Winslow Boynton, and T. C. Leonard were elected Resident Members.

The resignation of Royal Fisk, Resident Member, was received and accepted.

Donations to the Cabinet: A specimen of black oxide of manganese from Red Rock, by Mr. Stearns; fossils from near Nanaimo, by Dr. Comrie.

Dr. Behr made some remarks upon the _Lepidoptera_ and the four different stages of their development, noticing the fact that the length of time of the egg state in some species, for instance the Chinese silkworm, admits of the transportation of the same to foreign countries, while in the Californian silkworm, _Saturnia ceanothi_, the period of the egg state is so brief as to render it impossible to transport the eggs either to New York or Europe. Dr. Behr also explained the difference between the larva state in the _Lepidoptera_ and other classes of insects, and referred to the importance of the larva condition in insects as a basis for classification, and mentioned many interesting proofs of the tenacity of life during the _chrysalis_ or _pupa_ state; alluding to the different classes of moths in which wingless females occur, a peculiarity that is unknown to the butterflies.

Mr. Bolander stated that in his “Remarks on California Trees,” made at the meeting of October 16th, 1865, and published in the current volume, (p. 225) he had referred a small pine growing on the plains between Mendocino City and Noyo, to _Pinus murcata_; but he could now state positively that it is the true _Pinus contorta_ of Douglas. He stated also, that No. 7, noticed on page 227 of that article, is _P. muricata_. Farther, on page 229, _Quercus Wislizeni_, Englm. is wrongfully referred to _Q. agrifolia_. _Q. Wislizeni_ is a well characterized species with biennial fruit; the fruit of _Q. agrifolia_, on the other hand, is annual. These two oaks differ also materially in their distribution. _Q. Wislizeni_ is found chiefly in the lower Sierra, and in the small valleys east of the redwoods in Mendocino County. _Q. agrifolia_ occurs almost exclusively in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, and on the banks of streams emptying into it. It extends also southward, approaching the coast more nearly as we reach Monterey.

REGULAR MEETING, OCTOBER 15TH, 1866.

Dr. Kellogg in the chair.

Eleven members present.

Mr. A. L. Bancroft was elected a Resident Member.

Donations to the Library:

Bodemann and Kerl’s Treatise on Assaying, translated by W. A. Goodyear, presented by the translator.

Prof. W. P. Blake read the following:

Mineralogical Notices.—No. II.

BY WM. P. BLAKE.

_Kerargyrite._—Chloride of silver in remarkably fine specimens occurs in the “Poorman lode,” Idaho, associated with Proustite (light red silver ore), native silver and native gold. Sheets of the chloride are taken out of the soft clay of the vein, and are from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in thickness. It is also found in irregular massive aggregations of crystals, in cubes, without any modification, and over an eighth of an inch square. The color of my specimens is brown, passing into violet blue in some portions.

_Proustite._—The “ruby silver” which occurs with the chloride in the Poorman lode, as above, is often in masses of several ounces, or even pounds, in weight, and it is reported to be occasionally seen in beautiful crystals, but none have yet come under my observation.

_Copper Glance_, _Red Oxide of Copper_, _Native Copper_.—These species are found together in the “Red Cap claim,” Klamath County, California, in serpentine. The metallic copper is seen in points throughout the massive sulphuret, and is sometimes enveloped in red oxide. Both copper and oxide are most abundant in the outer portions of the ore, as found, and they are apparently formed by the gradual decomposition of the sulphuret.

_Danaite._—A cobaltic variety of mispickel is found associated with iron and copper pyrites at Meadow Lake, Nevada County, California. It is in distinct, well formed, brilliant crystals, of a tin-white color, and about a quarter of an inch in diameter. They are modified nearly as in fig. 289, Dana’s Min. This mineral gives cobalt reactions before the blowpipe, and appears to contain a large per centage of this metal. The ore is said to contain _nickel_, also, and is being mined for shipment.

_Cinnabar in Calcite._—Cinnabar of a beautiful vermilion color is found in an unusual form in Idaho, being abundantly spread through a gangue of massive, compact limestone or marble. It is so compact and homogeneous that specimens may be cut and polished like marble. There are no evidences in the ore that I have received of the presence of other minerals, not even of quartz.

COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA, Nov. 17, 1866.

Mr. Stearns read the following:

It is my painful duty to inform the Academy of the decease of Robert Kennicott. The meager information received furnishes no particulars, further than that he died suddenly, in the month of May last, at Nulato Bay, in Russian America.

The services rendered to science by Mr. Kennicott are worthy of something more than a passing notice. In the month of May, in the year 1859, we find him starting upon a prolonged exploration of Russian America, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute, assisted by the University of Michigan, the Audubon Club of Chicago, and the Academy of Sciences of the same city. This exploration, including also a portion of the territory held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, extended from May, 1859, to the date of his return in October, 1862. From the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institute we learn that “the route traversed by Mr. Kennicott was from Lake Superior along the Kamenistiquoy River and Rainy and Winnipeg Lakes, up the Saskatchewan River to Cumberland House; thence nearly north to Fort Churchill, on English River, up the latter to Methy portage, at which point he first reached the head waters of the streams flowing into the Arctic ocean; thence along the Clear Water River and Athabasca Lake, down Peace River into Great Slave Lake, and along the Mackenzie River to Fort Simpson. At this place Mr. Kennicott spent a part of the first winter, making excursions up the Liard River to Fort Liard in autumn, and again on snowshoes in January. Before the close of the same winter he went up the Mackenzie to Big Island, and thence northwest to Fort Rae, near the site of old Fort Providence. From this point he traveled on the ice across Great Slave Lake to Fort Resolution, at the mouth of Peace River, where he spent the summer of 1860. He next descended the Mackenzie to Peel’s River, and thence proceeded westward across the Rocky Mountains and down the Porcupine River to the Youkon, in the vicinity of which he spent the winter of 1860-61 and the summer of the latter year. The winter of 1861-2 was spent at Peel’s River and LaPierre’s house in the Rocky Mountains, and in traveling from this point to Fort Simpson and back to Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie. He left the last mentioned place on the first of June, 1862, and reached home in October. This enterprise terminated favorably, the explorer having returned richly laden with specimens, after making a series of observations on the physical geography, ethnology, and the habits of animals of the regions visited, furnishing materials of great interest to science.”

Aside from the extensive collections in every department of natural history, the geographical information acquired by Mr. Kennicott was of the greatest importance.

In 1865, the Western Union Telegraph Company having determined to extend their wires so as to connect the old world and the new by an overland line passing through Russian America across Behring’s Sea to Russia in Asia, and thence to the central cities of Europe, Mr. Kennicott’s knowledge of the territory through which the proposed line was to pass made his services indispensable to the Company. He was sought out, and his cooperation at once secured. He entered upon this new labor, hoping not only to do whatever lay in his power to make this enterprise a success, but hoping also still further to serve the great cause that was so dear to him; and while thus engaged in the enthusiastic performance of this self-imposed duty, in the prime of life, he has passed away.

Dr. Gibbons made some remarks on the relations of our climate to that of the Great Basin, and the Eastern States.

He also made some observations on _Zirphea crispata_, living in the bay near Alameda.

REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 5TH, 1866.

President in the chair.

Fourteen members present.

Rev. S. D. Simonds and Dr. J. Morrison were elected Resident Members, and Dr. W. P. Gibbons, of Alameda, a Corresponding Member.

Mr. Bolander presented a curiously fruited specimen of _Quercus densiflora_, the acorns being only about one-third of the ordinary diameter, although nearly the usual length, and having a peculiar constriction near the apex. It was collected by Mr. Wertheman, near Coarse Gold Gulch, Fresno County.

Mr. Stearns exhibited a specimen of an _Astrophyton_, caught in the Ochotsk Sea, off Cape Lepatka, Kamschatka, by the crew of the fishing brig Angenette.

Dr. H. Gibbons called the attention of the Academy to the near approach of the season during which we might look for the recurrence of the “meteoric shower,” which he witnessed in the year 1833.

Some remarks were made by Messrs. Gibbons, Keyes, Kellogg and others in reference to the phenomena of meteors, and considerable discussion followed as to the various ideas and theories advanced in regard to them by different authors.

Mr. Stearns exhibited several specimens of _Acmæa asmi_, Midd., collected by him at Baulines Bay; remarking that upon a recent trip to the locality named, he found this species exceedingly numerous, attached to _Chlorostoma funebrale_, A. Ad.; that he had not seen in a single instance this Acmæa upon the rocks. Mr. Stearns further submitted for the inspection of the Academy, a specimen of _Haliotis Cracherodii_, which he had collected alive last month, on the rocks near the outlet of Lobitas Creek into the ocean. The Haliotis had been attacked by a pholad, probably _Navea Newcombii_, and had defended itself by adding coating upon coating of nacre, as the Navea progressed, until a large knob or protuberance had been created in the interior of the shell. From a partial examination of the borer, a specimen of which he had dug out from another portion of the same Haliotis, he believed it to belong to the species recently described by Mr. Tryon, viz: _Navea Newcombii_.

REGULAR MEETING, NOVEMBER 19TH, 1866.

President in the Chair.

Thirteen members present.

Mr. J. B. Russell and Dr. E. Belle were elected Resident Members.

Donation to the Cabinet: Specimens of Copper ore from Chihuahua, by Mr. R. C. Jacobs.

Donation to the Library: On the Corals and Polyps of Panama, with descriptions of new species, by A. E. Verrill, 8vo. pamphlet.

Prof. Whitney presented the following communication from Wm. M. Gabb:

On the Subdivisions of the Cretaceous Formation in California.

BY WM. M. GABB.

The recent appearance of a check list published by the Smithsonian Institute, and entitled “Check List of the Invertebrate Fossils of North America—Eocene and Oligocene—by T. A. Conrad,” renders it necessary that I should state more clearly than has been done heretofore, the relations between the two members of the Californian Cretaceous rocks; and should give all of the proofs that have yet presented themselves, in support of my views.

In 1856, Mr. Conrad published a paper in Vol. 5, Pacific Railroad Reports, pages 320, _et seq._, in which he described fifteen shells from the “Eocene” rocks of the Cañada de las Uvas, near the present site of Fort Tejon. Of these, eleven were considered by that author as being new to science. The other four were referred to previously described Eocene forms.

These specimens were procured by Mr. Wm. P. Blake, geologist of the expedition. They were obtained from a single boulder, the only one found by that gentleman.

In consideration of the scanty material, it is by no means surprising that Mr. Conrad should have made the determination that he did. The fossils of this locality, and, in fact, of this member of our Californian rocks, have a marked Tertiary aspect. This holds good, both as applied to the appearance of the specimens and also to the grouping of the genera. Mr. Conrad’s reference of these fossils to an Eocene age was perfectly justified by the light that he then possessed. Any other palæontologist, with the same specimens, would no doubt have done as he did. But I propose to prove that, after having studied this formation for five years, both in the field and in the closet—both palæontologically and stratigraphically—after having traced it upwards of four hundred miles, and after having collected fossils from it at a dozen localities, I, on the other hand, am perfectly justified in pronouncing it most unequivocally Cretaceous.

It is, to use a mild term, rather surprising that Mr. Blake, from whom Mr. Conrad obtained his material, should not have collected more specimens. According to his report, Mr. Blake reached the depôt camp at Tejon, on the third of September, 1853, and did not leave that vicinity until October 10th. During that time he traversed the distance between Tejon and the Cañada de las Uvas, four times. I am familiar with every foot of the ground on which he camped or on which he travelled; and I speak from personal observation, when I say that in going from one point to the other he could not avoid passing thousands of boulders and pebbles, full of fossils, similar to the single one sent to Mr. Conrad. In riding from the Ranch house of Tejon to Fort Tejon, on Mr. Blake’s trail, Professor Brewer and myself collected upward of _forty_ species of mollusca in less than one hour, and without diverging ten feet from our route!

The Californian Cretaceous formation is easily separable into two main divisions. The older of these, designated in the Report as “Division A,” is the equivalent of the upper portions, Nos. 4 and 5, of Meek and Hayden’s section in Nebraska, and the later beds of New Jersey and the Gulf States. It is possible that this group may be separated hereafter into two sub-groups; but that has no bearing on the question at issue. The upper or more modern member, found overlying the lower one conformably in various places, as about Monte Diablo and at Martinez, has no apparent equivalent in America. It is probably, however, the American representative of the Maestricht beds, the ‘Danien’ of French authors. It is _not_ a transition from Cretaceous to Tertiary, but is the most modern member of the former formation.

It has many points in common with the Maestricht beds of Europe. It contains but a single species, so far as known, of the complex-chambered group of Cephalopods. A solitary ammonite, represented by half a dozen specimens, has been found by myself, in place, even to the very top of the formation.

Of 280 species of fossils recognized and named in the Californian Cretaceous rocks, 107 are found in this upper member. Of these, 84 are peculiar, and 23 are found in common between undoubted members of this group and undoubted members of the older group. Besides this, I was fortunate enough to discover a locality near Clear Lake, this fall, where, within a space of two feet, I found an admixture of upper and lower forms, proving the existence of a transitionary bed or perhaps group of beds. The following table will exhibit at a glance the grouping of species at each of the principal localities; showing at the same time which species are found in the intermediate deposit, and which exist in common in both the upper and lower divisions. The various localities are designated by letters, as follows: M, Martinez; C, Clayton to Marsh’s; T, vicinity of Fort Tejon; G, a locality 10 miles west of Griswold’s near New Idria; I, New Idria; D, San Diego; LL, Lower Lake Village, 1 mile S.E. of the town.

TABLE OF SUBDIVISIONS OF CRETACEOUS FORMATION.

===========================+==============+=======+=================== | | Inter-| | Upper |mediate| Lower Division, | Division. | Beds. | and Remarks. ---------------------------+--------------+-------+------------------- Callianassa Stimpsonii |C. T. | |Chico. Aturia Mathewsonii |M. C. T. | |Martinez. Nautilus Texanus |C. | |Shasta Co. Ammonites, n.s. |C. M. | |Curry’s; Benicia; | | | Martinez. Typhis antiquus |M. T. | | Fusus Martinez |M. T. | | F. Mathewsonii |M. C. | |Curry’s. F. Diaboli |C. | | F. aratus |M. | | F. Californicus |C. T. |LL. | Hemifusus Hornii |T. | | H. Cooperii |C. D. | | H. Remondii |M. C. T. G. | | ? Neptunea supraplicata |C. D. | | N. gracilis |M. | | Perissolax brevirostris | |LL |Many localities. P. Blakei |M. C. T. | | Turris Claytonensis |C. T. | | Turris raricostata |C. | |(_varicostata_ by | | | error in Rep.) Cordiera microptygma |T. | | Tritonium Hornii |C. T. | | T. Diegoensis |D. | | T. paucivaricatum |T. | | T. Whitneyi |T. D. | | Buccinum liratum |M. |LL | Nassa cretacea |M. T. G. | | Pseudoliva lineata |M. | | Pseudoliva volutæformis |T. | | Olivella Mathewsonii |M. T. G. C. | | Ancillaria elongata |C. D. | | Fasciolaria læviuscula |C. |LL | F. sinuata |T. D. | | F. Io |T. | | Mitra cretacea |M. | | Whitneya ficus |T. | | Ficus mamillatus |T. | | Natica Uvasana |T. | | Lunatia Shumardiana | |LL |Martinez and | | | elsewhere.[29] L. Hornii |T. | | L. nuciformis |C. T. (D.?) | | Gyrodes expansa | |LL |Almost everywhere. Neverita secta |T. | | N. n.s. |G. I. | | Naticina obliqua |M. T. | | Amauropsis alveata |M. C. T. G. D.|LL |Curry’s; S. of Mt. | | | Diablo. Morio tuberculatus |M. T. C. G. D.| | Scalaria (Opalia) | | | Mathewsonii |M. | | Niso polita |M. T. | | Cerithiopsis alternata |M. C. | | Architectonica cognata |M. C. T. | | A. Hornii |T. | | Margaritella crenulata |D. | | Conus Remondii |M. C. T. D. | | C. Hornii |T. | | C. sinuatus |T. | | Rimella canalifera |M. T. | | R. simplex |C. D. | | Aporrhais angulata |M. | | Cypræa Bayerquei |M. C. | | Turitella Uvasana |M. C. T. G. | | T. Saffordii | |LL |M. and Solano Co. T. infragranulata |M. | | Galerus excentricus |M. C. T. D. I.|LL | Spirocrypta pileum |T. I. |LL | Gadus pusillus |M. T. | | Dentalium Cooperii |M. D. | |Curry’s; S. of Mt. | | | Diablo. D. stramineum |M. D. | |Curry’s; S. of Mt. | | | Diablo. Bulla Hornii |T. | | Cylichna costata |M. C. T. D. | |M., Texas Flat, | | | and many other | | | localities. Megistostoma striata |M. | | Martesia clausa |G. | |Pence’s, Texas | | | Flat, etc. Solen parallelus |M. C. T. | | Solena Diegoensis |D. | | Corbula Hornii |T. | | C. parilis |G. M. D. | | Neæra dolabræformis |M. | | Mactra Ashburnerii |M. C. T. | |Nearly everywhere | | | in both | | | Divisions. Gari texta |M. | | Tellina longa |M. C. T. | | Tellina Remondii |C. T. | | T. Hoffmanniana |G. | |M., Pence’s, and | | | elsewhere. T. Hornii |T. | | T. Californica |C. T. | | Meretrix Uvasana |M. C. T. I. G.| | | D. | | M. Hornii |T. | | M. ovalis |T. | | Dosinia elevata |T. | | D. gyrata |M. C. T. G. | | Tapes Conradiana |G. M. T. |LL | T. quadrata |M. T. | | Cardium Cooperii |M. T. D. | | C. Brewerii |M. C. T. G. | | Cardita Hornii |M. C. T. I. G.| | Lucina cumulata |T. | | L. cretacea |C. | | Mysia polita |M. C. I. | | Crassatella grandis |M. T. |LL | C. Uvasana |T. | | Mytilus ascia |T. | | Modiola ornata |M. C. T. I. | | Septifer dichotomus |T. | | Crenella concentrica |M. | | Avicula pellucida |M. G. |LL |S. Louis Gonzaga. Arca Hornii |T. | | Cucullæa Mathewsonii |C. |LL |M. Barbatia Morsei |D. | | Axinæa sagittata |M. T. G. | | A. Veatchii | |LL |M., Tuscan Springs, | | | etc. Nucula (Acila) truncata |M. T. | |Everywhere. Leda protexta |M. C. T. G. | |M. Placunanomia inornata |D. | | Flabellum Remondianum |C. | | ---------------------------+--------------+-------+-------------------

On studying the foregoing table, the following deductions present themselves: 1st, that the rocks of the upper division, at the various localities quoted, are all of the same geological age; and 2d, that they are intimately connected with the older groups by a passage of nearly a fifth of all the contained species of fossils from this, either into the intermediate beds, or into the lower group itself.

In anticipation of a possible objection that may be raised here, it will probably be as well, before going further, to state that in the Division B, there has been no confounding of two groups. The same grouping of species extends to the extreme upper limits of the fossiliferous rocks, which are everywhere overlain by an immense deposit of non-fossiliferous sandstones. Another objection, which has already been raised, that the acknowledged Cretaceous fossils have become mixed with more modern species by the breaking up and re-cementing of an older formation, I shall not even attempt to refute. Had such been the case, I would ere this, in common honesty, have acknowledged it.

In support of the two conclusions arrived at above, we have the following synopsis of the table:

Of the 107 species of fossils found in Division B, 44 are found at Clayton, 67 at Tejon, 54 at Martinez, 22 at San Diego, 18 near Griswold’s, and 7 near New Idria. It is not intended to be understood that these are all of the species found at these localities; but that, up to the present time, these are all that have been identified or described. Future work will undoubtedly change the above figures.

Of the species found at the above localities, 50 are peculiar to one or another locality; 29 are found at two localities only, 14 at three localities, and 14 at four localities or more.

Taking the three typical localities, Martinez, Clayton and Tejon, 21 species are common to Martinez and Clayton, 30 to Martinez and Tejon, 25 to Clayton and Tejon, and 20 are found at all three localities.

Now, having given what I believe ought to be considered proof conclusive to any candid mind in support of my first proposition, I shall endeavor to establish the second.

It will be seen that 16 species, found in the upper member, also extend into the older group, Division A. In addition to this, at the locality near Lower Lake Village, Lake County, besides several species encountered for the first time, I found 15 species in the same bed, within a superficial area of two feet. Of these, 3 were previously known to be common to the upper and lower division. Besides these 3, 7 of them were common to this locality, and localities of Division B, and the remaining 5 were, before this discovery, considered peculiar to the lower member. One of these 5 is found in the Mississippi Valley, in the “Ripley Group,” and another belongs to a peculiarly Cretaceous genus.

As to the species found at the several typical localities, independent of each other, and which would serve to show their individual relations to the older formation without corroborative evidence, Clayton has 10 species in common with Division A, Tejon has 7, and Martinez 11. With the Lower Lake bed, Clayton has 5 species in common, Tejon 5, and Martinez 6.

In glancing over Mr. Conrad’s “check list,” I find that out of the 107 species found in his “Older Eocene of California,” he has only included 74 in his enumeration. He has omitted Callianassa Stimpsonii, Ammonites n. s., Nautilus Texanus, Cylichna costata, Mactra Ashburnerii, Cucullæa Mathewsonii, Nucula truncata, and Leda protexta; eight species, which I mentioned in the Journal of Conchology, (Vol. 2, p. 88) as being found in common in the two members of the Cal. cretaceous, stating distinctly the localities in which they had been found. At the same time he includes five other species, from the same list, in his Eocene catalogue. Whether this be carelessness, or an unfair avoidance of a difficulty, I leave to others to decide. It is far easier to ignore such a difficulty than it is to explain it away.

In regard to the distribution of the genera and species in this and the associated rocks. All of the species are peculiar to this group, or to this and _underlying_ rocks; _not one_ has been found associated either with living forms, or with species known to occur in the recognized Tertiaries of California. Five of the genera are peculiar to the Secondary. An Ammonite ranges entirely through the group to the top of the highest fossiliferous strata. The genera Perissolax, Gyrodes, Margaritella, and the sub-genus Anchura, of the genus Aporrhais, are all recognized as strictly characteristic of the Cretaceous; so much so, that the presence of a single undoubted representative of either of these genera would be strong presumptive evidence of the Cretaceous age of any rocks in which it might be found. On the other hand, the presence of such genera as those in the list given below, would point to a very modern era in the Cretaceous, to say the least.

It must be borne in mind that we have much to learn yet in palæontology, especially in the matter of the vertical range of genera. Every year we find genera, nay, whole families, extending themselves beyond what had been fixed by previous authors as their limits. A few years ago, the presence of mammalian remains was considered characteristic of the Tertiaries. Now we know of Marsupials in the Trias, and who dare say that we cannot find mammals in palæozoic rocks? I therefore maintain, that though we have here such genera as Aturia, Typhis, Cordiera, Pseudoliva, Nassa, Mitra, Ficus, Morio, Cerithiopsis, Cypræa and Galerus, still, the only inference that can be drawn is, that the group is on or near the verge of the formation, a sort of prophetic member, presaging by some of its genera the formations to come, but indissolubly bound by specific ties with the eras preceding.

[29] This species was referred by inadvertence to Div. B. instead of A. This is the first time it has been found beyond the limits of the lower member.

Prof. Blake stated that he considered the collections made by him, in and near the Cañada de las Uvas, as not meager. There was a sufficient number of species to make a quarto plate of figures.

Prof. Blake read the following notice:

Fossil Fish in the Great Basin, Nevada.

BY WM. P. BLAKE.

Fossilized fish are found in a light-colored clay shale, in the mountains a few miles north of Silver Peak, a mining district in the Red Mountain or Salt Basin region, about one hundred and fifty miles south of Austin. The vertebral columns, ribs and fins are very distinctly shown, and the specimens are exceedingly interesting. They remind me of the specimens from the famous locality of Mount Bolca, in Europe. The specimen that I have here, does not appear to belong to an ancient period, but I will not venture to refer it without an opportunity of making comparisons, or submitting it to a competent ichthyologist, which I propose to do.

COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA, Nov. 19. 1866.

Prof. Blake also directed the attention of the Academy to specimens of fossil vertebræ, collected by him in Tulare County. These specimens are about twenty in number, and are from two to six inches in length, and two to three inches in diameter. He believed them to belong to large marine saurians, like crocodiles, but wished to make further study and comparison previous to making a more formal communication to the Academy. If correct in his opinion, it was, he believed, the first instance of the discovery of saurian remains on the Pacific Coast of the United States, and the discovery will be rendered still more interesting by the fact that the remains occur in strata reputed to be miocene, associated with sharks’ teeth and numerous marine remains, at least fifteen hundred feet above the present ocean level.

Professor Whitney remarked that the remains of the crocodile, and ichthyosaurus had been discovered on this coast by the Geological Survey, and the fact published a year ago.

Professor Whitney read the following communication:

Notice of the occurrence of the Silurian Series in Nevada.

BY J. D. WHITNEY.

At a meeting of the Academy in May last, I gave some account of the geology of the State of Nevada, with particular reference to the age of the stratified deposits occurring there, as determined from the collections of fossils brought from that region to the office of the Geological Survey, by J. E. Clayton, and various members of our corps. In that communication I spoke of the probable future discovery of rocks older than the Carboniferous or Devonian, in the mountain ranges near Austin. This expectation has been realized, and we are now in possession of a very interesting collection of fossils, obtained by Mr. A. Blatchley, in the vicinity of the Hot Creek Mining District about one hundred miles southeast of Austin. This collection enables us to state positively that both Upper and Lower Silurian rocks occur in that district, and that they are well filled with fossils; not less so indeed, to judge from the specimens received, than the strata of the same age in New York, Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin, which they resemble in a most marked degree, both lithologically and palæontologically.

The fossils from the Hot Creek District are mostly weathered out on the surfaces of thin slabs of bluish-gray argillaceous limestones, and are crowded together in the same profusion with which they have often been noticed by myself and others as occurring in the Lower Silurian shales and limestones of the Wisconsin Lead Region, around Big Bay des Noquets, and in many other localities in the country bordering on the Great Lakes.

Both the upper and lower divisions of the Silurian appear to be represented by the fossils of the Hot Creek District; but the lower Silurian seems to be much the most prolific in fossils, as is the case in Wisconsin and Iowa. The particular period to which these lower Silurian forms may be referred is the Trenton, including the Chazy, Birdseye, Black River and Trenton limestones of the New York Geologists, and the Buff and Blue limestones of the Western surveys. Nearly all the prevailing types of the Eastern rocks of this age, are represented in the Hot Creek collection, namely: Brachiopods, Gasteropods, Cephalopods, Crinoids, Trilobites, and Corals; and there are among them several of the most widely-distributed and most characteristic species of the Lower Silurian. The following have been identified: _Maclurea magna_, a characteristic Chazy species, and _Pleurotoma lenticularis_, _Orthis testudinaria_ and _Chætetes lycoperdon_, all of which are abundant in the Trenton limestone of New York, and the rocks of the same age farther West. Among the fragments of Trilobites, two or three different genera may be recognized, especially _Asaphus_, which is represented by a species apparently new. There are also fragments of crinoids or cystids closely resembling the species figured by Hall, in the Palæontology of New York, Vol. I, as _Echino-encrinites anatiformis_.

The rocks containing the above mentioned fossils crop out in the sides of a deep cañon; and overlying them, at a perpendicular distance of about a thousand feet, is a series of beds containing numerous fragments of corals and crinoids, silicified and weathered out from the surface of a bluish-gray limestone, which I refer without much doubt to the age of the Niagara limestone of New York. Among the corals, _Heliolites spinipora_ and _Syringopora_ are recognizable; and among the crinoidal fragments are stems of what appears to be _Caryocrinus ornatus_.

With the exception of the Potsdam sandstone fossils, described by Meek and Hayden as occurring at the base of the fossiliferous series, in the Black Hills, no recognizable Silurian forms have been observed by geologists, in the Rocky Mountains, or anywhere to the west of them, unless possibly in New Mexico. The Silurian Series, with the possible exception of the Potsdam sandstone, seems to be entirely wanting in the Rocky Mountains proper, the Black Hills being a sort of outlier of the main ranges, and lying as far east as the one hundred and third to the one hundred and fifth meridian. Dr. Hayden says, in his paper, on the Geology and Natural History of the Upper Missouri, published in 1862, that “hitherto no indications of the existence of any other member (than the Potsdam sandstone) of the Silurian period has been discovered along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains within the boundary of the United States.” He considers it probable that the Potsdam sandstone is represented in the Rocky Mountains, although no fossils of that member of the series has been as yet discovered anywhere to the west of the Black Hills.

On the Mexican Boundary Survey, a few fragments of fossils were found in the superficial detritus, near El Paso, (Longitude, one hundred and six degrees) which indicated the existence of Silurian rocks in that vicinity; but none appear to have been found in place. Professor Hall remarks that “the specimens referable to strata of this age (Devonian and Silurian) are few, and they are in such condition as to give little satisfactory information regarding the rocks in place.” The specimens obtained are figured in the Mexican Boundary Report, but not described, nor is their locality accurately stated.

Dr. Newberry, in his Report in the Geology of the Colorado River region, refers the lower portion of the strata exposed in the grand cañons of that river to the Devonian and Silurian Series; but as no recognizable fossils were discovered by the Ives’ Expedition from any rocks lower than the Carboniferous, this reference can only be taken as expressing a conviction based on lithological characters and stratigraphical considerations.

In view of the above cited facts, it will be seen at once how interesting this discovery is of undoubted Silurian rocks west of the Rocky Mountains; and the more so, since we have in this remote region a recurrence of conditions and forms of animal life so closely allied to those with which we are familiar in the States east of the Mississippi. It is a very remarkable fact that these rocks have not been discovered in the Rocky Mountains; and should farther explorations fail to reveal their presence, it will throw a new light on the history of the physical development of the central and western portions of this continent. Taking into view what has now been communicated, and what was stated in my previous paper in regard to the existence of the older stratified rocks in the Silver Peak District, it will appear that Dr. Newberry’s generalizations were, in all probability, correct, and that we may expect to find in southern and southwestern Nevada the outcropping fossiliferous edges of the strata underlying the Carboniferous of the great Arizona or Colorado plateau, and that they will be proved to occupy an extensive area, and to yield a profusion of organic remains.

Among the specimens collected by Mr. Blatchley, as also by Mr. Clayton, Mr. Melville Attwood, and Dr. C. L. Anderson, and now at our office, there is a considerable number which demonstrate the existence of an extensive fresh-water Tertiary deposit in Nevada. This formation, which belongs to a very late Tertiary epoch, evidently occupies a considerable area, as our specimens come from localities hundreds of miles distant from each other. The existence of any marine formation more recent than the Jurassic, in Nevada, has not yet been proved; but, as Mr. Gabb obtained evidence, in 1864, of the occurrence of rocks of Cretaceous age on Crooked River, in Oregon, east of the Cascade Range, it is possible that this member of the series may yet be discovered in Nevada.

All the fossils referred to in this and my previous communication on the geology of Nevada, will receive, in due time, thorough investigation at the hands of Messrs. Meek and Gabb, or other competent palæontologists; and we expect that our collections from that State will be largely increased during the present year.

The death of the eminent naturalist, Dr. A. A. Gould, of Boston, was announced by Dr. Gibbons.

REGULAR MEETING, DECEMBER 3D, 1866.

President in the chair.

Nineteen members present.

Donations to the Library:

Sechster Bericht des Offenbacher Vereins für Naturkunde, 8vo., 1865. Jahrbuch der k. k. geologischen Reichsanstalt, xvi Band, No. 1., 8vo., Wien, 1866. Monatsbericht der königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Jan.-Mai, 1866, 5 parts, 8vo., Berlin, 1866. Acta Universitatis Lundensis, 1864, 2 parts, 4to., Lund. 1864-5. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 1,